Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhao questioned Geng Pomo about Su Tianwang and learned that the Heavenly King was preparing a dangerous ritual in Hu Mountain, apparently to strengthen himself for an impending contest. Their deductions pointed to someone standing above Su Tianwang and to divisions of power within the Rebel Army, though the leader and rival remained unknown.

• Meng Zhao learned that Su Tianwang was hiding in Hu Mountain and would likely complete the Evil Weapon Breaking Blade Ritual in about a month to a month and a half.
• Meng Zhao and Geng Pomo discussed Su Tianwang's persistent urgency, and Geng Pomo suggested that the Heavenly King was competing with someone for something.
• Geng Pomo described Su Tianwang as domineering and unwilling to serve beneath another, leading him to suspect that someone stood above the Heavenly King.
• Meng Zhao considered the Rebel Army's factions and wondered who controlled it and who served as its leader.

Meng Zhao analyzed why Su Tianwang was desperate to reach the Grandmaster realm and suspected that the people behind him had maneuvered him into the dangerous ritual. Geng Pomo revealed that Su Tianwang had met someone through an underground force before abruptly abandoning his expansion plans, bringing Meng Zhao closer to uncovering the plot.

• Meng Zhao reasoned that Dragon City's reputation could help him lead the Rebel Army, but Su Tianwang could seize command if he became a Grandmaster first.
• Geng Pomo grew afraid of Meng Zhao after realizing that Meng Zhao had seen through Su Tianwang's ambitions.
• Meng Zhao asked whether Su Tianwang had made unusual moves or met anyone before preparing the ritual.
• Geng Pomo recalled that Su Tianwang had met someone outside the city through an underground force, then halted recruitment and focused on the ritual.
• Meng Zhao suspected that the people behind Su Tianwang were trying to eliminate him, empower Dragon City, and gain a Grandmaster-level puppet.

Meng Zhao questioned Geng Pomo about Su Tianwang and the other Vajras, then weighed using him as a spy against the danger of letting him return. He killed Geng Pomo to protect his plan to observe the Evil Weapon Limit Break ritual, and Flood Dragon Little Nine began devouring the corpse.

• Meng Zhao discussed Su Tianwang’s shortcomings and questioned Geng Pomo about his knowledge of the great Vajras while Ji Rushuang slept nearby.
• Geng Pomo asked Meng Zhao whether he would kill him or use him, and Meng Zhao considered sending him back as a spy.
• Meng Zhao decided that Geng Pomo might expose his existence and disrupt the plan involving the Evil Weapon Limit Break ritual, so he killed him with a strike to the brow.
• Ji Rushuang woke at the sound of Geng Pomo’s death, and Meng Zhao told her he had already decided to kill him.
• Meng Zhao coaxed Ji Rushuang back to sleep, then let Flood Dragon Little Nine crawl over to feed on Geng Pomo’s corpse.

Meng Zhao spent the night plotting how to bring the Dan Chi Clan and the Rebel Army into his growing power, with Ji Rushuang as the key to winning over her father. In the morning, he reassured Ji Rushuang that Geng Pomo’s corpse had been disposed of, and she prepared to take him to her clan’s settlement.

• Meng Zhao considered using Ji Rushuang’s marriage lie, his identity, and promises of a broader future to persuade the Dan Chi clan chief to cooperate with him.
• Meng Zhao imagined gaining the Rebel Army and Dan Chi warriors as forces for his ambitions while cautioning himself not to draw the Imperial Court’s attention too soon.
• Meng Zhao watched Ji Rushuang sleep and recognized how important she was to his plans.
• Ji Rushuang woke to find Meng Zhao warming the room and asked about Geng Pomo’s corpse.
• Meng Zhao assured Ji Rushuang that he had disposed of the corpse, and she said she would help him when they returned to her clan’s settlement.

Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang reached the Dan Chi Clan settlement, where the tribe cautiously welcomed them and Ji Rushuang went to see her father. Meng Zhao stayed in a guest house, considered learning the Dan Chi Language, and waited to meet the Ji Clan branch chief.

• Meng Zhao watched the Dan Chi warriors practice their thirty-six physical movements as the group traveled back toward the settlement.
• Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang crossed a narrow mountain path and reached the Dan Chi Clan encampment.
• Meng Zhao observed the lively settlement and realized that the language barrier left him feeling isolated.
• Ji Rushuang went to see her father, while Meng Zhao remained alone in a guest house and considered learning the Dan Chi Language.
• Influential Dan Chi tribesmen hosted Meng Zhao and left him gifts, but he still did not know when the Ji Clan branch chief would meet him.

Meng Zhao met Dan Chi Clan patriarch Ji Zhenyun and his nephew Ji Rulin after saving Ji Rushuang. He explained that he had helped her out of compassion and a bargain, and admitted that he wanted to care for her and might marry her, leaving Ji Zhenyun’s response unresolved.

• Meng Zhao opened the cabin door and met Ji Zhenyun, Ji Rulin, and Ji Rushuang.
• Ji Zhenyun introduced himself and explained that he had arranged Ji Rushuang’s marriage partly to give his family a fallback through the Liu Family.
• Ji Zhenyun asked Meng Zhao what he needed in return for saving Ji Rushuang.
• Meng Zhao said he had saved Ji Rushuang out of compassion and because she had offered him a martial art as part of a bargain.
• Meng Zhao told Ji Zhenyun that he wanted to look after Ji Rushuang and might marry her, so he did not need repayment.

Meng Zhao revealed that he was betrothed to a noblewoman and already had six concubines, offering Ji Rushuang a place as another concubine. Ji Rushuang reconsidered the risks of joining his household, while Ji Zhenyun was stunned by Meng Zhao’s powerful origins.

• Ji Zhenyun questioned whether Meng Zhao could marry and care for Ji Rushuang given his noble background and his family’s say in marriage.
• Meng Zhao admitted he belonged to a founding noble family of the Great Yong Dynasty and was betrothed to a noblewoman from Yanzhou.
• Meng Zhao said he could take Ji Rushuang as a concubine and disclosed that he already had six concubines.
• Ji Rushuang worried about her standing and future in Meng Zhao’s large household, while Ji Rulin envied his many partners.
• Ji Zhenyun wondered how a man from such a powerful family had come to remote Liang Prefecture and Hu Mountain.

Meng Zhao revealed that he had come to Liang Prefecture to investigate a hidden force in Hu Mountain that planned to overthrow Great Yong. Ji Zhenyun feared Meng Zhao might suspect the Dan Chi Clan of rebellion and pressed him to clarify his intentions.

• Ji Zhenyun agreed that Ji Rushuang could marry Meng Zhao as a concubine, then asked what he wanted from the Dan Chi Clan as her dowry.
• Ji Zhenyun suspected Meng Zhao needed the Dan Chi Clan’s help and tested whether his plans would benefit or endanger them.
• Meng Zhao said a force concealed in Hu Mountain was plotting rebellion and asked whether Ji Zhenyun knew of it.
• Ji Zhenyun grew tense and asked whether Meng Zhao believed the Dan Chi Clan was that force.
• Ji Zhenyun worried that any association with rebellion could put all one million Dan Chi tribesmen at risk, but reasoned that Meng Zhao would not implicate himself if he intended to marry Ji Rushuang.

Meng Zhao secured the Ji Clan’s trust by promising to marry Ji Rushuang as a concubine and care for her and her unborn child. After the marriage was settled, Ji Zhenyun asked whether Meng Zhao still suspected the Dan Chi Clan of aiding the Rebel Army, and Meng Zhao pointed instead to the Heavenly King Gang’s links to the rebels.

• Meng Zhao explained why the Dan Chi Clan’s recent move to Hu Mountain had made him suspect a connection to the Rebel Army.
• Ji Rushuang denied that her clan was involved, and Ji Zhenyun recognized that the timing of their relocation made them vulnerable to false accusations.
• Ji Zhenyun asked Meng Zhao to confirm that he would take Ji Rushuang as a concubine and support her unborn child, and Meng Zhao promised to raise the child as his own.
• Ji Zhenyun accepted Meng Zhao as family, and Ji Rushuang felt reassured by his promises.
• After settling the marriage, Ji Zhenyun asked whether Meng Zhao still suspected the Dan Chi Clan, and Meng Zhao said the Heavenly King Gang had many ties to the Rebel Army.

Meng Zhao cleared the Dan Chi Clan of suspicion and deduced that the Rebel Army in Hu Mountain was trying to recruit them. Ji Zhenyun confirmed they had repeatedly approached his branch and said he was considering moving the clan to escape their pressure.

• Ji Zhenyun realized Ji Rushuang had known Su Tianwang’s connection to the Rebel Army but had kept it from him.
• Meng Zhao said he had captured Geng Pomo and concluded that the Dan Chi Clan had clashed with, rather than colluded with, the Rebel Army.
• Meng Zhao inferred that the Rebel Army wanted to absorb the Dan Chi Clan and recruit its warriors, impressing Ji Zhenyun and Ji Rulin.
• Ji Zhenyun revealed that the Rebel Army had made seventeen recruitment attempts and had supplied his people with goods and aid during the Great Snow Disaster.
• Ji Zhenyun said he was considering moving his branch away from its settlement, possibly out of Hu Mountain, as the Rebel Army grew more impatient.

Meng Zhao warned Ji Zhenyun and Ji Rulin that the rebels’ renewed friendliness and lavish gifts might conceal plans for a surprise attack and that traitors could already be among the Dan Chi Clan. He advised against fleeing Hu Mountain and urged the clan to prepare to defend itself, leaving Ji Zhenyun facing a dangerous fight on multiple fronts.

• Meng Zhao told Ji Rulin and Ji Zhenyun that the rebels might be using gifts and renewed friendliness to lower the Dan Chi Clan’s guard before attacking.
• Ji Zhenyun recognized the danger in the rebels’ changing attitude and called for stronger defenses and a countermeasure.
• Meng Zhao warned that the rebels might know of a hidden route into the settlement and could have bought over some clan members.
• Ji Rulin insisted that no clansmen would betray the clan, while Ji Zhenyun privately acknowledged that traitors were possible and feared internal unrest.
• Meng Zhao rejected migration as too dangerous and advised the Dan Chi Clan to strengthen its forces and prepare for a long war in Hu Mountain.
• Ji Zhenyun considered the rebels’ tens of thousands of battle-ready warriors and realized that neither fleeing nor holding their ground would be easy.

Meng Zhao urged the Dan Chi Clan to join the Rebel Army as a temporary measure, promising that his ties to the Imperial Court could protect them later. Ji Zhenyun remained suspicious, but Meng Zhao argued that the clan was strong enough to swallow the rebels instead, leaving Ji Rulin eager to support the plan.

• Ji Zhenyun asked Meng Zhao how the Dan Chi Clan could survive, and Meng Zhao advised joining the Rebel Army rather than fighting or fleeing.
• Ji Rulin rejected surrender, while Ji Rushuang stayed on Meng Zhao's side.
• Ji Zhenyun worried that the clan would be purged by Great Yong if it joined the rebels, then accused Meng Zhao of being a rebel agent and unleashed his martial aura.
• Meng Zhao denied having ties to the rebels and argued that his honesty and the Dan Chi Clan's strength showed he was acting in their interest.
• Ji Zhenyun withdrew his aura as Meng Zhao proposed that the Dan Chi Clan could overpower the Rebel Army, and Ji Rulin enthusiastically backed the idea.

Meng Zhao persuaded Ji Rulin and Ji Zhenyun that the Dan Chi Clan could join the Rebel Army while secretly preparing to take control of it. He outlined the rebels’ likely plans to divide and control the clan, then left Ji Zhenyun trusting him to negotiate from a position strengthened by Meng Zhao’s martial power.

• Meng Zhao’s proposal reignited Ji Rulin’s ambition, and Ji Rulin agreed that the Dan Chi Clan should risk joining the Rebel Army and eventually swallow it whole.
• Ji Zhenyun worried that the rebels would split the clan apart, and Meng Zhao agreed that this was likely.
• Meng Zhao predicted the rebels would separate the clan’s warriors from its elderly, weak, women, and children, then use the latter as hostages and gradually break up the warriors.
• Meng Zhao urged the Dan Chi Clan to negotiate for the greatest possible rights and benefits, and Ji Zhenyun agreed to trust his judgment.
• Meng Zhao recognized that his martial strength and ties to the Dan Chi Clan could give him the force and opportunity to influence the Rebel Army.

Meng Zhao urged Ji Zhenyun to let him guide the Dan Chi Clan’s negotiations with the Rebel Army, claiming he could overpower their experts and turn the alliance to his advantage. After Ji Zhenyun recognized him as the Lord of the Northern Meng Dragon King, the clan’s future rested in Meng Zhao’s hands.

• Meng Zhao proposed using his martial strength to suppress the Rebel Army’s experts and make the Dan Chi Clan the foundation of his power in Liang Prefecture.
• Ji Rushuang felt reassured by Meng Zhao’s confidence, while Ji Rulin doubted that he could face a Grandmaster Realm martial artist.
• Ji Rulin explained that the Dan Chi Clan knew of Southern Shen and Northern Meng through its contacts with the Rebel Army.
• Meng Zhao said he could do anything Northern Meng could do, prompting Ji Zhenyun to recognize him as Meng Zhao of Earl of Nan'an's line.
• Ji Zhenyun realized Meng Zhao had come to Liang Prefecture to gain the Dan Chi Clan’s support and concluded that Meng Zhao alone could determine the clan’s course.

Meng Zhao revealed his identity to Ji Zhenyun and Ji Rulin, then proposed a plan to prepare the Dan Chi Clan to face the Rebel Army. Ji Zhenyun agreed to support him, and the chapter ended with arrangements for Meng Zhao to command five thousand warriors and learn the Dan Chi language from Ji Rushuang.

• Ji Rulin reacted with disbelief when he realized the young man before him was Meng Zhao, while Ji Zhenyun was already inclined to believe him.
• Meng Zhao proposed that the Dan Chi Clan purge infiltrators and select five thousand elite warriors for him to train and lead against the Rebel Army.
• Meng Zhao outlined a plan to take the five thousand warriors into the Rebel Army's camp while the remaining Dan Chi clansmen stayed behind as a safe base and supply source.
• Ji Zhenyun agreed to support Meng Zhao and protect the warriors under his command.
• Ji Zhenyun said Meng Zhao could be presented as his son-in-law and temporarily appointed to command a five-thousand-man guard unit, provided he lived as a real husband with Ji Rushuang.
• Ji Zhenyun recommended Ji Rushuang as Meng Zhao's teacher in the Dan Chi language.

Meng Zhao secured the Dan Chi Clan’s support and gained authority to form a five-thousand-warrior guard unit, then moved into the clan’s settlement with Ji Rushuang. He reassured Ji Rushuang that he would treat her and their child well and promised her a belated wedding after matters in Liang Prefecture were settled.

• Ji Zhenyun presented Meng Zhao, using the alias Lu Yang, as his son-in-law and proposed forming a five-thousand-warrior guard unit under Meng Zhao’s command.
• When the clan elders disputed the proposal, Meng Zhao defeated their chosen fighters in single moves, and the elders approved the unit.
• Ji Rulin took Meng Zhao deeper into the clan settlement, where Ji Zhenyun had assigned Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang a furnished wooden home.
• Meng Zhao rearranged the home’s decorations, and Ji Rulin accepted his fussiness as fitting for a nobleman.
• Meng Zhao embraced Ji Rushuang and reassured her that he accepted her and their child, then promised to hold a belated wedding with his other wives after he resolved matters in Liang Prefecture.

Meng Zhao spent the morning with Ji Rushuang, then met Ji Rulin to fulfill their agreement to spar. Ji Rulin revealed the Dan Chi Clan’s Raging Waves Angry Whale True Skill and prepared to test it against Meng Zhao.

• Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang grew closer and discussed the Dan Chi language and the clan’s future.
• Meng Zhao studied Dan Chi speech with Ji Rushuang and learned to understand much of it.
• Meng Zhao went to meet Ji Rulin and agreed to spar with him at a secluded mountain pass.
• Ji Rulin explained that he wanted to test Meng Zhao’s famous skills and summoned the power of his Raging Waves Angry Whale True Skill.
• Meng Zhao’s eyes flashed with violet light as he began to answer Ji Rulin’s challenge.

Meng Zhao defeated Ji Rulin in one move, then explained that his opponent had faced a forbidden technique comparable to Grandmaster-level power. Ji Rulin recovered some confidence and grew even more impressed with Meng Zhao.

• Ji Rulin reflected on his swift defeat and realized Meng Zhao’s abilities far exceeded the martial arts he had shown before.
• Meng Zhao saw that Ji Rulin was discouraged and reassured him that his skills were strong by ordinary standards.
• Meng Zhao explained that he had combined more than a dozen martial arts into a forbidden move that even Ji Zhenyun could not withstand.
• Ji Rulin accepted Meng Zhao’s explanation and asked whether Shen Tianci could defeat him.
• Meng Zhao declared that no one in the Innate Realm could beat him, leaving Ji Rulin even more impressed.

Meng Zhao explained to Ji Rulin how he could use the Dan Chi Clan’s potential to deter the Rebel Army, while Ji Rulin learned that enemy agents had deeply infiltrated the clan. The chapter left Meng Zhao considering how to influence the clan and build a lasting partnership beyond his role as a son-in-law.

• Meng Zhao asked Ji Rulin to select five thousand experienced, strong warriors, including several dozen men able to keep their units organized and follow orders.
• Meng Zhao told Ji Rulin that the Dan Chi Clan could threaten the Rebel Army if he led its forces and unleashed their full potential.
• Ji Rulin considered the danger of the Rebel Army and learned that Ji Zhenyun’s investigation had uncovered dozens of people leaking clan information to outsiders.
• Meng Zhao explained that the infiltration made the Dan Chi Clan vulnerable to a surprise attack, while his own martial strength could help turn a battle in their favor.
• Ji Rulin asked Meng Zhao about noble life, prompting Meng Zhao to consider ways to influence the Dan Chi Clan and make it a long-term partner.

Meng Zhao discussed the Dan Chi Clan’s future with Ji Rulin, then returned with him to find Ji Zhenyun exhausted from securing the clan and preparing a force of five thousand warriors. Ji Zhenyun settled on a cautious troop selection and limited supplies, leaving Meng Zhao to lead the force toward the Rebel Army.

• Meng Zhao described the luxurious lives of the powerful to Ji Rulin, hoping to plant a desire for life beyond the mountains.
• Meng Zhao and Ji Rulin returned to the clan and found Ji Zhenyun worn out from managing the elders, investigating suspected Rebel Army contacts, and choosing warriors.
• Ji Zhenyun proposed sending two thousand elite warriors, two thousand ordinary warriors, and one thousand physically declining tribesmen, explaining that Meng Zhao’s own ability mattered more than the force’s quality.
• Meng Zhao accepted Ji Zhenyun’s arrangement and emphasized that the Ji Clan line was also his foundation.
• Ji Zhenyun allocated basic weapons, three thousand suits of rattan armor, two hundred suits of iron armor, and one hundred hand crossbows, and Meng Zhao promised to do his utmost.