Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhao negotiated with Fire Envoy Si Peng over the Dan Chi Clan’s merger into the Divine Might Army, and Si Peng agreed to the clan’s demands in exchange for Meng Zhao’s personal loyalty. Meng Zhao accepted Si Peng’s command while intending to use the opportunity to enter the Rebel Army.

• Si Peng weighed the risks of admitting five thousand Dan Chi warriors and decided the clan’s proposed conditions could be negotiated.
• When Meng Zhao suggested ending talks and retreating, Si Peng stopped him and agreed to both conditions without changes.
• Si Peng demanded that Meng Zhao become a Guard General under his command and ignore Xiang Qing’s orders.
• Meng Zhao considered his options, then bowed and agreed to serve Si Peng on behalf of the Dan Chi Clan.

Meng Zhao agreed to bring five thousand Dan Chi warriors into Si Peng’s main camp, and Si Peng arranged for their transfer while managing the risk of conflict with Purple Butterfly. The chapter left Purple Butterfly assigned to stay with Meng Zhao’s father-in-law and oversee the Dan Chi tribesmen.

• Si Peng praised Lu Yang for joining the Divine Might Army and promised that the Dan Chi warriors would receive equal treatment.
• Si Peng asked Meng Zhao for a token and secret phrase so a messenger could summon the five thousand warriors without Meng Zhao leaving the camp.
• Meng Zhao gave Si Peng a peacock-shaped jade pendant and the words “Southward Flight,” warning that Purple Butterfly might refuse to cooperate.
• Si Peng decided to keep Purple Butterfly with the Dan Chi Clan to assist Meng Zhao’s father-in-law and prevent a clash between Purple Butterfly and Meng Zhao.
• Meng Zhao approved Si Peng’s arrangement.

Si Peng took Meng Zhao away and accepted four guards into his service as General Lu Yang’s guards. He Xin found Meng Zhao’s tent empty and blamed Lu Yang and Xiang Qing for leaving him with nothing to show for his efforts.

• The four guards knelt before Si Peng and begged him to protect them from Wood Envoy Xiang Qing.
• Si Peng took the four guards in and assigned them to serve General Lu Yang, promising to transfer their files.
• Meng Zhao welcomed the guards, seeing their ties to the Divine Might Army as useful for gaining authority.
• He Xin arrived at Meng Zhao’s empty tent and realized Lu Yang had willingly gone with Si Peng.
• He Xin resented Lu Yang and Xiang Qing, then decided to go plead guilty.

Meng Zhao learned about the Divine Might Army’s backers and rival factions from Si Peng, then saw a possible route to taking command himself. He remained wary of the army’s tangled alliances as he continued into the camp.

• Meng Zhao followed Si Peng deeper into the main camp, where Si Peng explained that the five Holy Envoys had helped establish the Divine Might Army and that powerful factions supplied its resources.
• Si Peng said he planned to help an important ally become Divine Might General and wanted Meng Zhao, the Dan Chi warriors, and the Dan Chi Clan to support him.
• Meng Zhao inferred that Si Peng’s ally was Su Tianwang, while He Xin and Xiang Qing likely backed Dragon City, and he decided that opposing Dragon City served his interests.
• Meng Zhao reasoned that Su Tianwang’s likely failure could weaken Si Peng and create an opportunity for him to support Si Peng and eventually gain control of the army.
• Si Peng described the six Guard Generals’ divided loyalties, warning Meng Zhao to watch for schemes from Xiang Qing’s allies; Meng Zhao suspected the factions’ true allegiances might be more complicated than Si Peng claimed.

Si Peng brought Meng Zhao and the Dan Chi Clan to meet his allies in the Divine Might Army, beginning with the difficult and self-interested Mo Li. They then headed to meet the respected Hong Tianzheng, whom Si Peng offered as a possible trainer for Meng Zhao’s five thousand warriors.

• Si Peng explained Mo Li’s reputation and warned Meng Zhao to avoid his taboos, giving him a Crimson Gold Carp as a meeting gift.
• Meng Zhao and Si Peng met Mo Li, who showed little courtesy until he received the Crimson Gold Carp.
• After they left, Si Peng advised Meng Zhao to avoid competing with Mo Li and said Mo Li was allied with his sworn brother in Yongjian Commandery.
• Si Peng introduced Hong Tianzheng as a respected commander whose five thousand guards were the Divine Might Army’s strongest elite force.
• Si Peng offered to have Hong Tianzheng help train the Dan Chi Clan’s warriors if Meng Zhao needed assistance.

Meng Zhao met Hong Tianzheng and sensed that the upright Divine Might Army general possessed a Star Body. After Meng Zhao defended Si Peng’s intervention in negotiations with the Dan Chi Clan, Hong agreed to support Si Peng while urging him to explain matters to He Wuji.

• Si Peng brought Meng Zhao to Hong Tianzheng’s plain tent, where Hong welcomed them and served late-night refreshments.
• Meng Zhao’s Ziwei Imperial Star flared when he met Hong, leading him to suspect Hong had a Star Body and might be destined to aid him.
• Si Peng asked Hong to side with him after he intercepted Lu Yang and negotiated with the Dan Chi Clan, warning that Xiang Qing might retaliate.
• Hong questioned Si Peng’s handling of the negotiations and said the five envoys should settle the matter together.
• Meng Zhao explained that Xiang Qing had refused to meet him and that Si Peng’s intervention had prevented him from preparing for war.
• Hong agreed to support Si Peng but advised him to explain the situation to He Wuji, and Si Peng said he would not let Xiang Qing prevail.

Meng Zhao waited in the Stone House while Si Peng and Xiang Qing struggled over how to handle him, and he used the time to devise a method for strengthening the five thousand Dan Chi warriors. He perfected the Iron Wall Art with the Heaven-Illuminating Divine Mirror, intending to make the warriors his own formidable force.

• Meng Zhao remained in the Stone House under guard as rumors spread that Si Peng and Xiang Qing had nearly come to blows before He Wuji intervened.
• Meng Zhao learned about the Divine Might Army’s categories and grades of cultivation resources from the four guards.
• Meng Zhao devised the Iron Wall Art, a resource-intensive method that strengthened combat power and defense while causing rigidity and other side effects.
• Meng Zhao used the Heaven-Illuminating Divine Mirror to perfect the Iron Wall Art and paired it with the Coiling Serpent Transformation to offset its drawbacks.
• Meng Zhao planned to train the five thousand Dan Chi warriors as his personal force and eventually develop stronger methods for them.

Meng Zhao refined the Iron Wall Art while training four guards, then received an invitation from Hong Tianzheng after the army’s internal troubles had been settled. He visited Hong Tianzheng’s residence and was invited to wait for dinner before they spoke.

• Meng Zhao coached four guards as they cultivated the Iron Wall Art and recorded improvements to make it suitable for thousands of soldiers.
• A guard delivered Hong Tianzheng’s invitation, which said Si Peng had largely resolved the trouble involving Xiang Qing and promised help integrating the five thousand Danchi warriors.
• Meng Zhao brought two guards to Hong Tianzheng’s residence and observed the discipline of its soldiers and the maidservants in the courtyard.
• Meng Zhao greeted Hong Tianzheng in the hall, and Hong Tianzheng asked him to sit and wait for the wine and dishes before they talked.

Meng Zhao dined with Hong Tianzheng and his frail wife, realizing that Hong was a devoted husband rather than a lecher. He praised their marriage and quietly considered recruiting Hong, leaving their relationship warmer than before.

• A maid invited Meng Zhao and Hong Tianzheng to dinner, and Meng wondered whether the young women in Hong's residence were his lovers.
• Hong introduced his ill wife, and Meng saw the couple's deep affection for one another during the meal.
• After his wife left, Hong toasted Meng and Meng described how his opinion of Hong had changed from admiration to disdain and then respect.
• Meng privately considered Hong a potential Star Body and thought about recruiting him, while cautioning himself not to trust destiny blindly.
• Hong blushed at Meng's praise of his marriage, and Meng recognized that his flattery had brought them closer.

Meng Zhao asked Hong Tianzheng about Madam Hong’s failing health, prompting Hong to recount their lifelong love and the events that left her poisoned and near death. Hong explained how he avenged her and fled south with her, eventually settling in Liang Prefecture, where he joined the Rebel Army.

• Meng Zhao noticed Madam Hong’s frail condition and asked Hong Tianzheng what illness she suffered from.
• Hong admitted that A Yuan was close to death despite his efforts to use true qi to slow her decline.
• Hong recounted how he and A Yuan grew up together, fell in love, and planned to marry after he returned from sect assignments.
• A powerful man’s son drugged A Yuan, but she escaped by using her father’s secret art, leaving her with a cold toxin that damaged her martial arts and threatened her life.
• Hong broke through to the Innate Realm, later tortured and killed the culprit, and fled south with A Yuan under pursuit from the man’s influential father.
• Hong and A Yuan eventually settled in Liang Prefecture, where Hong joined the Rebel Army and trained its soldiers.

Meng Zhao learned how Si Peng had earned Hong Tianzheng’s loyalty by helping treat Madam Hong’s cold toxin, then offered to ease her suffering himself. Hong Tianzheng eagerly described how her illness began and how the Cold Heart Art, poison, and Fierce Fire Pill combined to create her unusual condition.

• Meng Zhao realized that treating Madam Hong might win Hong Tianzheng’s support in the Divine Might Army.
• Meng Zhao asked Hong Tianzheng about Madam Hong’s symptoms and offered to help, and Hong Tianzheng accepted with hope.
• Hong Tianzheng explained that Madam Hong had used the forbidden Cold Heart Art to suppress a potent aphrodisiac after she was poisoned.
• Hong Tianzheng described how the Cold Heart Art’s icy power, the poison, a Fierce Fire Pill, and other resources fused in Madam Hong’s bloodline and caused her present condition.

Meng Zhao proposed martial blood changing as a possible way to help Madam Hong, whose cold poison was intertwined with her altered bloodline and body. Hong Tianzheng found new hope when Meng Zhao revealed that he had undergone blood changing himself and could share his experience.

• Meng Zhao explained that Madam Hong's condition could not be cured by ordinary medicine or martial skill because the power of ice had fused with her entire being.
• Hong Tianzheng said a divine physician had ruled out medical blood changing because the cold poison would regenerate with Madam Hong's body.
• Meng Zhao suggested martial blood changing could transform Madam Hong's innate foundation and might delay the poison's effects.
• Hong Tianzheng doubted that Madam Hong could survive such a rare and dangerous method.
• Meng Zhao revealed that he had successfully changed his blood during his postnatal stage and offered to share his experience, giving Hong Tianzheng renewed hope.

Meng Zhao proposed that Madam Hong could eventually learn to control the icy power within her rather than rely solely on a martial blood exchange. He showed Hong Tianzheng an icy technique and offered to analyze it after Madam Hong’s health improved, leaving their search for a cure to proceed gradually.

• Meng Zhao suggested that Madam Hong might save herself by mastering the power of ice fused into her body, but Hong Tianzheng said her frail health and his own lack of Great Grandmaster insight made it too dangerous.
• Meng Zhao demonstrated a simple icy technique that gathered cold qi, and Hong Tianzheng recognized its potential to help Madam Hong control her power.
• Meng Zhao said the technique was only a fragment of an art his wife, Ji Rushuang, had learned at a secret place in the Danchi Ji Clan’s former mountain range.
• Hong Tianzheng asked when Meng Zhao would explore the place, but Meng Zhao explained that his other plans kept him from leaving Hu Mountain soon.
• Meng Zhao proposed first nursing Madam Hong back to health, then analyzing and teaching her the icy art according to her abilities.

Meng Zhao persuaded Hong Tianzheng to bring him to Madam Hong so he could examine her and help treat her condition. They reached her private courtyard, but Madam Hong reacted with embarrassment and annoyance to Hong Tianzheng’s explanation, leaving Meng Zhao unsure what had gone wrong.

• Hong Tianzheng agreed to take Meng Zhao to Madam Hong and pledged his life if Meng Zhao could cure her.
• Hong Tianzheng shared details about his devotion to Madam Hong and the conflict among the Five Envoys as they walked to her courtyard.
• Meng Zhao saw the warm, flower-filled courtyard and realized Hong Tianzheng had likely joined the Divine Might Army to secure resources for Madam Hong’s recovery.
• Hong Tianzheng brought Meng Zhao into the main hall, where Madam Hong shook her head with embarrassment and annoyance after he explained the situation through Secret Voice Transmission.

Meng Zhao proposed using suspended-thread pulse diagnosis to examine Madam Hong without violating her boundaries, after learning she refused treatment that required close physical contact. Hong Tianzheng welcomed the idea but doubted that a pulse and his descriptions could reveal enough about her complex Martial Dao condition.

• Meng Zhao confronted Hong Tianzheng after Madam Hong refused the proposed Martial Dao blood replacement.
• Hong Tianzheng explained that Madam Hong could not accept another man examining her body, despite the risks to her health and cultivation.
• Meng Zhao suggested suspended-thread pulse diagnosis as a way to assess Madam Hong without touching her directly.
• Meng Zhao explained how the technique worked and said Hong Tianzheng could provide additional details about her symptoms.
• Hong Tianzheng questioned whether the method and his descriptions could accurately reveal the circulation of Madam Hong's qi and blood and the condition of her organs, bones, and meridians.

Meng Zhao used his Heavenly Silkworm Silk to examine Madam Hong’s failing body and promised to develop a way to restore her qi and blood. As the silk drew in the Cold Heart Art’s freezing power, Meng Zhao let it enter his body so he could study its mysteries.

• Meng Zhao revealed that his Heavenly Silkworm Silk could probe a person’s qi, blood, and meridians, convincing Hong Tianzheng to trust him with Madam Hong’s treatment.
• Hong Tianzheng brought Meng Zhao to Madam Hong, who agreed to let him examine her.
• Meng Zhao sent the silk through Madam Hong’s Shaohai acupoint, and she felt her qi and blood stir as warmth returned to her body.
• Meng Zhao sensed that Madam Hong’s body was close to collapse and that mixed forces were protecting her heart meridians.
• The Cold Heart Art’s freezing power surged through the silk, frosting it over, and Meng Zhao allowed the power to enter his body to investigate Worldly Power.

Meng Zhao absorbed the cold poison from Madam Hong, freezing over as he safely contained its power. The experience brought him a rare opportunity to understand Worldly Power, and he continued deepening his comprehension as icy power gathered around him.

• Meng Zhao drew the cold poison from Madam Hong, leaving her feeling warm and restored while his body rapidly froze.
• Hong Tianzheng reassured Madam Hong and stopped himself from interfering, trusting Meng Zhao’s skill and seeing her vitality return.
• Meng Zhao used his imperial qi and silken threads to contain and absorb the icy power without letting it seriously harm him.
• Meng Zhao entered a state of enlightenment and gained insight into how Worldly Power, martial arts, and divine essence were connected.
• As Meng Zhao continued comprehending icy power, his aura grew colder, the ice on his body thickened, and more icy power gathered around him.

Meng Zhao examined Madam Hong’s worsening ice affliction and proposed a treatment based on strengthening her qi and blood with medicinal materials and the Heavenly Silkworm Silk. Hong Tianzheng agreed to provide what was needed, and Meng Zhao prepared to compile a body-tempering method for her.

• Meng Zhao absorbed the power of ice and told Hong Tianzheng that Madam Hong’s condition was too severe for martial blood changing alone to cure.
• Madam Hong’s weakness returned as the ice power regenerated in her body, leaving Hong Tianzheng distraught.
• Meng Zhao reassured the couple that Madam Hong could recover after obtaining the complete martial art his wife had learned.
• Meng Zhao proposed strengthening Madam Hong’s qi and blood with medicinal pills and baths, while using the Heavenly Silkworm Silk to help her absorb the medicine.
• Hong Tianzheng promised to supply the precious herbs, and Meng Zhao estimated that about ten treatment sessions could improve Madam Hong’s condition enough for her to begin body-tempering training.

Meng Zhao secured Hong Tianzheng’s support and brought five thousand Dan Chi warriors into the Divine Might Army, where their training quickly impressed the army’s leaders. The warriors settled into camp and strengthened Meng Zhao’s position as commander of the Seventh Division.

• Hong Tianzheng pledged to help Meng Zhao for Madam Hong’s sake, giving Meng Zhao influence over the general’s elite five thousand soldiers.
• Meng Zhao coordinated supplies, training, and a campsite for the arriving Dan Chi warriors, with two of Hong Tianzheng’s scholars helping him.
• The five thousand Dan Chi warriors arrived with Ji Rulin, settled into camp, and devoted themselves to training under Meng Zhao.
• The Dan Chi warriors’ discipline and strength impressed the Divine Might Army’s officials, while their growing support solidified Meng Zhao’s command.
• Ji Rulin concluded Meng Zhao needed no further help, said farewell, and returned to the Dan Chi tribal lands.

Meng Zhao balanced cultivating Madam Hong, building ties in the Divine Might Camp, and improving his martial strength before Si Peng summoned him and Hong Tianzheng to discuss a request from Su Hongtu. Meng Zhao recognized the request as connected to Su Hongtu’s hidden Evil Weapon Limit Break plan and saw a chance to address the matter through the camp.

• Meng Zhao helped Madam Hong refine medicinal pills, reducing the harmful effects of the ice power in her body.
• Hong Tianzheng accompanied Meng Zhao to Si Peng’s tent after Si Peng’s guard summoned him.
• Si Peng praised the Dan Chi warriors’ training, and Meng Zhao said he had prepared an Iron Wall Formation for them.
• Si Peng revealed that his ally Su Hongtu, known as Su Tianwang, needed a large quantity of ferocious beast blood-and-flesh essence.
• Meng Zhao recalled that Su Hongtu’s request concealed an Evil Weapon Limit Break ritual and recognized a possible turning point in dealing with him.