Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhao explained that the Heavenly King Gang’s weapons were meant to cultivate an evil weapon for the Heavenly King to use in the Evil Weapon Limit Break method and reach the Grandmaster Realm. He described the method’s extreme risks and concluded that the Heavenly King either had extraordinary luck or was being guided by someone powerful.

• Meng Zhao told Zeng Dong that the weapons were vessels for the Killing Intent and metal qi needed to forge an evil weapon, possibly for the Heavenly King’s breakthrough.
• Zeng Dong and Ji Rushuang reacted with shock when Meng Zhao suggested the Heavenly King was seeking the Grandmaster Realm.
• Meng Zhao explained that Evil Weapon Limit Break replaced part of the body with an evil weapon to break through, and that the Heavenly King likely intended to transform an existing divine weapon.
• Ji Rushuang asked about the method’s dangers, and Meng Zhao described its rare requirements, deadly failure rate, and the inner demons that plagued practitioners.
• Meng Zhao said the Heavenly King’s plan suggested either extraordinary luck or an unseen guide, and that the matter ran deep.

Meng Zhao considered the dangers and possible conspiracy behind the Evil Weapon Limit Break method, then decided to use the affair to plant a piece and profit from it. He rewarded Zeng Dong with a Six Revolutions Yuan Pill and a plan to earn the Heavenly King Gang’s favor before leaving with Ji Rushuang for Hu Mountain.

• Meng Zhao recalled that the Evil Weapon Limit Break method used an evil weapon rooted in Flesh Tai Sui to overcome a martial artist’s limitations, but it could cause death or turn its user into a puppet.
• Meng Zhao considered whether the Heavenly King planned to use the method himself or had been targeted by a Demonic Path conspiracy, and decided the affair might offer him a chance to benefit.
• Meng Zhao warned Zeng Dong not to become entangled in the matter and promised to help him gain the Heavenly King Gang’s regard by presenting it with a rare weapon.
• Meng Zhao gave Zeng Dong a Six Revolutions Yuan Pill and warned him to wait for a third pill before attempting to break into the Innate Realm.
• Meng Zhao told Zeng Dong that he and Ji Rushuang were going to Hu Mountain to seek traces of the Dan Chi Clan, while warning Zeng Dong that he could not simply rid himself of Meng Zhao.

Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang crossed Hu Mountain toward a Dan Chi Clan camp, where they discovered a giant tiger had recently been killed and its eyes and heart removed. Meng Zhao suspected the Heavenly King of the Heavenly King Gang had taken them to refine an evil weapon.

• Meng Zhao led Ji Rushuang through Hu Mountain toward the first camp marked on Master Craftsman Luo's map and warned her about a fierce tiger on the mountain.
• Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang found the giant tiger dead on the snowy summit, with no obvious signs of a struggle.
• Meng Zhao examined the tiger and found its eyes gouged out and its abdomen cut open, with its heart missing.
• Meng Zhao concluded that the killer had drugged the tiger and taken its eyes and heart, possibly for the Heavenly King of the Heavenly King Gang's evil weapon.

Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang discovered that a vicious tiger had been drugged and killed, possibly as part of the Heavenly King Gang’s effort to gather materials for Evil Weapon Limit Break. Fearing that the Dan Chi Clan might be involved or in danger, they hurried to find Ji Rushuang’s clansmen while Flood Dragon Little Nine stayed behind to devour the tiger.

• Ji Rushuang noticed that the vicious tiger had no signs of fighting, and Meng Zhao deduced that it had been drugged and killed for its heart and eyes.
• Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang suspected that the Heavenly King Gang might be using vicious beasts to forge evil weapons and might seek the Dan Chi Clan’s knowledge of the mountains.
• Ji Rushuang feared that her father and clansmen could clash with the Heavenly King Gang, so Meng Zhao agreed to hurry with her to find them.
• Meng Zhao left Flood Dragon Little Nine behind to devour the tiger, and Little Nine grew into a massive flood dragon.

Divine Strength Vajra Yuan Qing and Bronze Arm Vajra Qiu Lian harvested ferocious beasts in Hu Mountain for Heavenly King while discussing their gains and the Eight Vajras’ rivalries. They continued deeper into the mountains as Indestructible Vajra Geng Pomo sought a marked map of the region.

• Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian traveled through Hu Mountain carrying sacks of ferocious beasts’ flesh and blood gathered with Heavenly King’s Bewitching Incense.
• Yuan Qing praised Qiu Lian’s progress with the Crimson Blood Body Cleansing Technique, while Qiu Lian said Yuan Qing had gained more from the hunt.
• Yuan Qing regretted that the other five Vajras had not joined them, but Qiu Lian said the three trusted Vajras benefited from keeping the work to themselves.
• Yuan Qing warned Qiu Lian not to voice his schemes around the other Vajras or anger Heavenly King.
• Qiu Lian asked whether they should reserve some beast essence for Geng Pomo, but Yuan Qing said their Eldest Brother’s martial arts were too advanced for ordinary flesh and blood.
• Yuan Qing said Geng Pomo might find more valuable prey by obtaining a marked map of Hu Mountain.

Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian traveled to meet the Heavenly King, discussing his strange orders and the marked map of ferocious beasts. They entered his hidden cave and discovered a furnished chamber where a Three-legged Cauldron simmered over blue flames.

• Qiu Lian doubted that Eldest Brother could find a marked map of ferocious beasts, while Yuan Qing believed their Heavenly King had a reason for his unusual requests.
• Qiu Lian worried that the Heavenly King's orders to gather women's menstrual blood and dead infants suggested a turn toward evil.
• Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian reached a cave that felt warm despite the snow and sensed fiery qi mixed with a sinister aura inside.
• After paying their respects and leaving their sabers outside, the two entered the cave at the Heavenly King's invitation.
• Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian passed through a dark tunnel into a bright, arranged chamber filled with strange objects and a Three-legged Cauldron burning over azure-blue flames.

Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian returned to the Heavenly King, who revealed that the creature in his Qian Yuan Cauldron was a mind-bewitching Flesh Tai Sui. He planned to use it to advance his cultivation and expand his influence in Liang Prefecture, leaving the two men anticipating his rise.

• Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian entered the cave and saluted the Heavenly King, who praised their gains and physical cultivation.
• The Heavenly King poured the contents of their sacks into the Qian Yuan Cauldron, and its fragrance and sounds nearly drove the two men mad with hunger.
• Yuan Qing asked what was inside the cauldron, and the Heavenly King identified it as a rare, living Flesh Tai Sui that could influence the mind.
• The Heavenly King warned Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian not to enter the cave unless summoned because the Flesh Tai Sui could overpower them.
• Qiu Lian congratulated the Heavenly King on his treasure, and the Heavenly King explained that he intended to use it to advance his cultivation and make a place for himself in Liang Prefecture.

The Heavenly King explained that the Flesh Tai Sui and the gathered materials were essential to his risky Evil Weapon Limit Break secret art, which he hoped would let him reach the Grandmaster Realm. Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian accepted his decision and were left responsible for carrying out their important tasks without mistakes.

• The Heavenly King said he had a fifty percent chance of reaching the Grandmaster Realm by following a secret art and using the Flesh Tai Sui.
• Qiu Lian asked the Heavenly King to explain the secret art, while Yuan Qing listened anxiously.
• The Heavenly King revealed that Evil Weapon Limit Break required forging an evil weapon and using it to replace part of his body, with the Flesh Tai Sui vital to the process.
• The Heavenly King explained that the gathered beast essences, cave materials, and Hundred Man Kill weapons were all needed to sustain the Flesh Tai Sui and forge the evil weapon.
• Yuan Qing and Qiu Lian warned that the method was dangerous, but the Heavenly King insisted that he had studied it carefully and ordered them to ensure their tasks were done without error.

Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang found Dan Chi Clan activity deep in Hu Mountain and hurried toward it after hearing angry voices. They arrived to find dozens of Dan Chi warriors confronting a bald man whom Ji Rushuang feared and hated.

• Flood Dragon Little Nine hunted fierce beasts in Hu Mountain, then shrank into a black belt and caught up with Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang.
• On their ninth day in the mountain, Ji Rushuang recognized distant voices as Dan Chi Language and rejoiced that her clansmen were nearby.
• Meng Zhao heard the speakers shouting angrily and suspected Ji Rushuang's clansmen were in trouble, so he rushed toward them with her.
• Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang reached a rocky vantage point and saw about thirty Dan Chi warriors armed and facing a bald man.
• Ji Rushuang reacted to the bald man with fear and hatred as he stood his ground against the warriors.

Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang observed Geng Pomo confronting the Dan Chi Clan and learned that he had killed Ji Rushuang’s father-in-law. The clan continued trying to avoid a fight, but Meng Zhao recognized that Geng Pomo’s strength far exceeded theirs.

• Meng Zhao concealed Ji Rushuang from the others and asked why Geng Pomo unsettled her.
• Ji Rushuang identified Geng Pomo as the Heavenly King Gang’s Eight Vajras leader and said he had killed her husband’s father, the Liu Family patriarch.
• Meng Zhao lent Ji Rushuang true qi so she could hear the conversation between Geng Pomo and the Dan Chi Clan.
• Ji Rushuang explained that the clan was negotiating because casualties could weaken or destroy its tribes.
• Meng Zhao realized the Dan Chi Clan had correctly sensed Geng Pomo’s danger but had no real chance of moving him.

Meng Zhao deduced that Geng Pomo was demanding a map of Hu Mountain's ferocious beasts for the Heavenly King Gang, and that the Gang was gathering their essence for an Evil Weapon Limit Break ritual. He saw the Heavenly King as a potential source of intelligence and a powerful puppet, and began considering how to capture him.

• Meng Zhao asked Ji Rushuang what Geng Pomo wanted and said he would prevent the Dan Chi Clan from being slaughtered.
• Ji Rushuang listened to Geng Pomo and confirmed Meng Zhao's guess that he wanted a map of ferocious beasts in Hu Mountain.
• Meng Zhao connected the map demand and the slain beasts to the Heavenly King Gang's Evil Weapon Limit Break method.
• Meng Zhao reasoned that the Heavenly King was likely conducting the ritual in Hu Mountain and might be connected to the Rebel Army and the origins of Dragon City.
• Meng Zhao considered using his Purple Origin Dragon Body to plot against the Heavenly King and turn him into a Grandmaster-level puppet.

Meng Zhao reassured Ji Rushuang that Geng Pomo could not threaten her clan while the Dan Chi warriors refused to surrender their valuable beast map. When the warriors fired arrows at Geng Pomo, he stood firm and shattered every arrowhead against his body.

• Meng Zhao considered the danger of a hidden force behind the Heavenly King but believed he still controlled the situation.
• Ji Rushuang explained that her clan feared Geng Pomo would make further demands if they handed over the beast map.
• Meng Zhao assured Ji Rushuang that Geng Pomo could not turn the situation upside down with him present.
• A young Dan Chi warrior fired an arrow at Geng Pomo, and the other archers followed to force him back and create an opening.
• Geng Pomo let the arrows strike him, and their arrowheads shattered without wounding him.

Meng Zhao weighed whether to kill, capture, or drive away Geng Pomo after the warrior withstood the Dan Chi fighters’ arrows. He decided to capture Geng Pomo for information despite the risk of alerting the Heavenly King, and prepared to act.

• Geng Pomo endured the Dan Chi warriors’ arrows, shocking them and frightening Ji Rushuang.
• Ji Rushuang clung to Meng Zhao and worried that Geng Pomo’s strength would put him at risk.
• Meng Zhao dismissed Geng Pomo’s claim to an indestructible body and considered how killing or capturing him might affect his plans involving the Heavenly King and the Dan Chi Clan.
• Meng Zhao concluded that capturing Geng Pomo was the best option and resolved to accept the risk of disrupting his plans.
• Meng Zhao fixed Geng Pomo with a sharp gaze, ready to seize him.

Meng Zhao stepped in to protect the Dan Chi Clan warriors and challenged Geng Pomo to a wager to prove the supposedly Indestructible Vajra’s body-hardening technique could be broken. Geng Pomo mistook him for an assassin and, enraged by the taunt, prepared to kill him.

• Geng Pomo taunted the Dan Chi Clan warriors by blasting them with an exploding snowball, provoking their anger.
• Ji Rushuang asked Meng Zhao to intervene before her clansmen charged Geng Pomo and suffered needless casualties.
• Meng Zhao removed his coat, landed between Geng Pomo and the Dan Chi warriors, and concealed his identity behind an Energy Wall.
• Meng Zhao praised Geng Pomo’s body-hardening technique, then proposed a wager to test whether he could break it without killing him.
• Geng Pomo suspected Meng Zhao had come to kill him and searched for hidden accomplices, but found none.
• Meng Zhao said Geng Pomo was unworthy of the title Indestructible Vajra, and Geng Pomo accepted the challenge, vowing to kill him.

Geng Pomo attacked Meng Zhao with his self-created Nine Seizing Eagles, but Meng Zhao matched his claws and steadily dismantled every variation. Geng Pomo realized Meng Zhao surpassed him in Martial Dao and suspected he was deliberately limiting his strength.

• Geng Pomo unleashed the fifth variation of Nine Seizing Eagles, Eagle Pouncing on Rabbit, intending to kill Meng Zhao.
• Meng Zhao recognized the claw art’s distinctive potential and decided Geng Pomo was worth studying.
• Meng Zhao met Geng Pomo’s bloody claws with his own, and their attacks clashed with the force of weapons.
• Meng Zhao’s claw technique grew more powerful through their exchanges and shattered the intent behind Nine Seizing Eagles.
• Geng Pomo used all nine variations, but Meng Zhao repeatedly countered them with different techniques.
• Geng Pomo concluded he was no match for Meng Zhao in Martial Dao or true qi and sensed that Meng Zhao was holding back.

Meng Zhao used his superior martial arts to defeat Geng Pomo’s Nine Seizing Eagles and injure him through his hard-body defenses. Geng Pomo realized his strength could not protect him and considered fleeing or risking everything.

• Geng Pomo grew more frantic and forceful, but Meng Zhao continued to suppress him while studying his claw technique.
• Meng Zhao broke through Geng Pomo’s attacks, changed his claws into fingers, and struck the Taiyuan acupoint on his wrist with alternating cold and hot qi.
• Geng Pomo’s wrist was injured, and blood appeared despite his Bronze Statue Technique and Crimson Blood Body Cleansing Technique.
• Geng Pomo recalled their wager, recognized that his body could not withstand Meng Zhao’s attacks, and weighed escape against a desperate counterattack.
• Meng Zhao reflected on how alternating cold and hot qi could break hard-body arts and concluded that Geng Pomo’s defenses were far weaker than Gebhu Dharma King’s.

Meng Zhao overwhelmed Geng Pomo by breaking through his hard-body defense and mastering a superior version of Geng Pomo’s own Nine Seizing Eagles. He left Geng Pomo shaken and questioning whether the Heavenly King could match him.

• Geng Pomo healed his wrist, strengthened his body, and launched an all-out attack on Meng Zhao.
• Meng Zhao met Geng Pomo’s Nine Seizing Eagles with his own version of the claw art and inflicted dozens of marks on him.
• Geng Pomo recoiled when Meng Zhao’s improvised Nine Seizing Eagles proved more refined and powerful than the original.
• Meng Zhao told Geng Pomo that their abilities were far apart and asked whether the Heavenly King could match him.
• Geng Pomo compared Meng Zhao’s skill, precision, and apparent reserves of inner force with the Heavenly King’s, concluding that Meng Zhao surpassed him.

Meng Zhao defeated and crippled Geng Pomo, then joined Ji Rushuang and a Dan Chi hunting party traveling toward her clan’s settlement. Ji Rushuang introduced Meng Zhao as her husband to gain him acceptance, and he planned to meet her father and recruit the Dan Chi Clan’s strength.

• Meng Zhao overwhelmed Geng Pomo, pierced his limbs, and sealed his cultivation, leaving him helpless and in agony.
• Ji Rushuang revealed herself to the Dan Chi warriors and spoke with them in their language, earning their joyful welcome.
• Ji Rushuang explained that the hunting party had encountered Geng Pomo, who demanded the clan’s ferocious beast identification map, and proposed traveling with them to the clan’s settlement.
• Meng Zhao agreed to bring Geng Pomo along for questioning and asked Ji Rushuang to arrange a meeting with her father.
• Ji Rushuang told Meng Zhao she had introduced him as her husband so the Dan Chi Clan would accept him, and Meng Zhao welcomed the chance to gain their support.

Meng Zhao brought the captured Geng Pomo to a Dan Chi Clan outpost and settled in for the night, while considering Ji Rushuang’s marriage alliance and the clan’s military potential. He crippled Geng Pomo’s martial arts, then fed him as he prepared to interrogate him.

• Meng Zhao weighed the Dan Chi Clan’s vast manpower and considered Ji Rushuang a valuable marriage alliance despite her pregnancy and existing marriage.
• Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang had the Dan Chi warriors bind Geng Pomo and return with him to a mountain outpost.
• The group settled into the outpost’s wooden cabins after hunting for food, and Ji Rushuang stayed beside Meng Zhao for safety.
• Meng Zhao explained that Geng Pomo’s martial arts had been crippled and his true qi sealed by Locking Dragon Force.
• Meng Zhao untied Geng Pomo and gave him roasted meat, which the starving captive quickly ate.

Meng Zhao questioned Geng Pomo about the Heavenly King and learned that the Heavenly King was likely backed by a larger power, including a well-armed Rebel Army in Hu Mountain. Geng Pomo revealed the army’s approximate strength and location, giving Meng Zhao intelligence that largely confirmed Wang Xu’s account.

• Geng Pomo, hoping to survive, agreed to answer Meng Zhao’s questions in exchange for a chance at freedom.
• Meng Zhao asked Geng Pomo about the Heavenly King, and Geng Pomo said the Heavenly King’s surname was likely Su and that he practiced the Blood Fiend Spear Canon.
• Geng Pomo explained that the Heavenly King had inherited an existing network of power in Yongjian Commandery and maintained close ties with a major force in Hu Mountain.
• Geng Pomo estimated that the Hu Mountain Rebel Army had twenty to thirty thousand well-equipped men and included former bandit chieftains.
• Geng Pomo gave Meng Zhao the Rebel Army’s location, which broadly matched the information Wang Xu had provided.