Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhao explained that Su Hongtu’s evil weapon could let its wielder reach the Grandmaster realm and perhaps even glimpse the realm of Gods and Devils, stirring the martial artists’ desire to claim it. As Xiang Qing and Si Peng eyed each other over the weapon, Shen Zhihang and Si Peng questioned Meng Zhao’s knowledge and whether he was one of Commander Bai’s pawns.

• Wei Hua asked why Su Hongtu had died before becoming a Grandmaster, and Meng Zhao explained that Su Hongtu had been on the verge of success but was killed before he could complete his breakthrough.
• Meng Zhao claimed that Su Hongtu’s death had further empowered the evil weapon, making it possible for a wielder to reach the Grandmaster realm or perhaps even become a Celestial or glimpse the realm of Gods and Devils.
• Xiang Qing and Si Peng developed covetous thoughts about the weapon and began clashing through their saber and sword intents as the other martial artists grew restless.
• Shen Zhihang decided Meng Zhao was not Commander Bai’s pawn and asked how he knew so much about the Evil Weapon Limit Break and Su Hongtu’s plans.
• Si Peng echoed Shen Zhihang’s suspicion and asked whether Meng Zhao, like Mo Li and Qiu Lian, had been planted by Commander Bai.

Meng Zhao refused to hand over the Heavenly Evil Battle Casket, prompting Xu Fei to attack him. Meng Zhao effortlessly broke Xu Fei’s spear and grievously wounded him, leaving the assembled officers wary of challenging him.

• Si Peng urged Meng Zhao to hand over the Heavenly Evil Battle Casket so they could deal with the evil weapon.
• Meng Zhao refused and invited the others to take the Battle Casket by force.
• Xu Fei launched his Flying Dragon Probes the Head technique at Meng Zhao.
• Meng Zhao caught Xu Fei’s spear, snapped off its head, and sent it flying back at him.
• Meng Zhao’s Dragon Form Qi struck Xu Fei and left him grievously wounded.

Meng Zhao revealed that he had held back against Xu Fei, then challenged four of the Five Holy Emissaries to test their Innate Five Elements Annihilation Grand Array. The four formed an incomplete but formidable formation around him, and onlookers believed Meng Zhao was doomed.

• Meng Zhao explained that his overwhelming strength let him break Xu Fei’s spear technique, snap his spearhead, and seriously injure him without killing him.
• Mo Li questioned Meng Zhao’s strength, while Shen Zhihang realized Meng Zhao had concealed his true abilities during their earlier fight.
• Meng Zhao challenged Si Peng, Xiang Qing, Luo Ning, and Wei Hua to deploy their grand array, offering them the Heavenly Evil Battle Casket and evil weapon if they won.
• Si Peng and Xiang Qing used Secret Voice Transmission to coordinate with Luo Ning and Wei Hua, and the four encircled Meng Zhao in formation.
• The four Holy Emissaries joined their powers and manifested the elements of wood, fire, earth, and water, creating a dazzling four-colored radiance around Meng Zhao.
• Mo Li, He Xin, Shen Zhihang, and Yuan Qing saw the formation’s power and believed Meng Zhao was doomed.

Meng Zhao exploited the weaknesses in the Innate Five Elements Annihilation Grand Array and broke through the four Great Envoys’ formation. He left Xiang Qing and Luo Ning grievously injured, while Si Peng and Wei Hua huddled together to face him.

• Meng Zhao used the Emperor's Qi Gazing Technique to identify flaws in the weakened Four-Colored Divine Light formed by the four Great Envoys.
• Meng Zhao evaded the array’s attacks and maneuvered the four Great Envoys apart, weakening their formation.
• Meng Zhao broke Luo Ning’s Thousand Wave Palm with his fire-attributed true qi, then sealed her qi apertures and rendered her unable to fight.
• Meng Zhao struck Xiang Qing with a purple true dragon qi force, leaving him grievously injured and breaking the grand array.
• Si Peng and Wei Hua drew together and guarded themselves against Meng Zhao.

Meng Zhao explained how he had broken the incomplete Innate Five Elements Annihilation Grand Array and left its surviving fighters in awe of his strength. Shen Zhihang pieced together Meng Zhao’s abilities and identified him as the Dragon King Meng Zhao of the Meng Family of Earl of Nan'an.

• Meng Zhao said the array was incomplete because He Wuji was absent, leaving a flaw in its Power of the Five Elements.
• Si Peng and the others realized Meng Zhao had found the array’s weakness through the Emperor's Qi Gazing Technique and speculated that he could challenge the Grandmaster realm.
• Si Peng asked Lu Yang to reveal his true identity, noting that he seemed to have no intention of killing them.
• Shen Zhihang connected Meng Zhao’s fire and dragon-path martial arts to the Red Flag Order divine art and identified him as the Dragon King Meng Zhao, known as Northern Meng.

Meng Zhao revealed that he had come to take control of the Divine Might Army rather than destroy it. He left the surviving commanders facing submission as the way to save their lives and preserve their army.

• Meng Zhao confirmed that he was the Dragon King and asked whether the commanders thought he would kill them.
• Shen Zhihang reasoned that Meng Zhao had come to prevent the Divine Might Army from threatening Lingwu City, but suspected he did not want to kill them.
• Si Peng guessed that Meng Zhao planned to subdue the commanders and take control of the Divine Might Army.
• Meng Zhao confirmed Si Peng's guess, saying he knew about the army and intended to have its members serve under him instead of killing them.
• The commanders suspected Meng Zhao's stated concern for lives and Heaven concealed his desire to claim the army's tens of thousands of troops.

Meng Zhao sought to bring the defeated Divine Might Army and Danchi warriors under his command, while Si Peng weighed the benefits of serving him. Yuan Qing pledged his loyalty to Meng Zhao and offered him Yongjian Commandery City and the Heavenly King Gang.

• Meng Zhao used a plea to protect the Divine Might Army as a pretext to win the soldiers’ support and expand his power.
• Si Peng considered Meng Zhao’s strength, reputation, and political backing, and decided that surrendering to him could be more profitable than serving Commander Bai.
• Wei Hua considered fleeing with Si Peng and later urging He Wuji to mobilize the army against Meng Zhao.
• Yuan Qing knelt before Meng Zhao, pledged his loyalty, and offered Yongjian Commandery City and the Heavenly King Gang as proof of his sincerity.

Meng Zhao accepted Yuan Qing's allegiance and placed the Heavenly King Gang under his command, then pressed Si Peng to submit the Divine Might Army. He acknowledged the threat posed by Commander Bai while arguing that Bai's reliance on secrecy and schemes would ultimately leave him vulnerable.

• Meng Zhao made Yuan Qing the head of the Heavenly King Gang and promised to send Meng Family experts to oversee its operations and personnel.
• Meng Zhao asked Si Peng to submit the Divine Might Army, promising to preserve its current status and Si Peng's real power while placing his own experts among its ranks.
• Si Peng warned Meng Zhao that He Wuji could challenge the Grandmaster realm and that Commander Bai would not surrender control of the army's more than thirty thousand troops.
• Meng Zhao said he would deal with He Wuji and admitted that Commander Bai's schemes made him a formidable opponent.
• Meng Zhao claimed Commander Bai relied on the Demonic Path and secrecy, while revealing his own ties to that path; his words strengthened the others' confidence in him and deepened their doubts about Bai.

Meng Zhao declared that his martial insight surpassed Commander Bai’s and offered Mo Li a chance to live by swearing loyalty. He Xin submitted, while Mo Li refused to choose, so Meng Zhao prepared to kill him.

• Meng Zhao claimed the Heaven-Illuminating Divine Mirror gave him superior martial insight and said he could take control of the Divine Might Army.
• Mo Li offered to contact Commander Bai in exchange for his life, but Meng Zhao rejected the offer and demanded that Mo Li kneel and swear loyalty.
• He Xin judged that joining Meng Zhao was his safest choice and knelt to submit.
• Meng Zhao promised He Xin safety, wealth, and honor, then turned back to Mo Li and said he would send him on his way.

Meng Zhao forced Mo Li to kneel and accept his command, then persuaded the remaining Divine Might Army commanders to submit rather than risk death. By the chapter’s end, Si Peng, Wei Hua, Shen Zhihang, and Xu Fei had also pledged themselves to Meng Zhao, bringing the elite forces of two guards under his control.

• Meng Zhao used his overwhelming martial pressure to make Mo Li kneel, then promised him future glory in exchange for serving under him.
• Yuan Qing, He Xin, and Mo Li bowed to Meng Zhao and joined his command.
• Meng Zhao told Si Peng he could bow instead of kneeling, and Si Peng accepted him as his new superior.
• Wei Hua followed Si Peng and bowed to Meng Zhao.
• Shen Zhihang and Xu Fei accepted that resistance was futile and bowed to Meng Zhao, surrendering the elite forces of their two guards.

Meng Zhao secured the arena but acknowledged that Commander Bai had hidden another force beneath the abyssal lake. Xiang Qing remained reluctant to surrender, and the chapter left Meng Zhao facing the lake while assessing the concealed threat.

• Wei Hua and Shen Zhihang urged the wounded Xiang Qing and Luo Ning to surrender, but Xiang Qing remained hesitant.
• Si Peng explained that Xiang Qing still trusted Commander Bai's plans and doubted Meng Zhao could help him reach the Grandmaster realm.
• Xiang Qing admitted he was waiting to see whether Commander Bai had another move, and Meng Zhao agreed that Bai had made further preparations.
• Meng Zhao revealed that Commander Bai's hidden forces were likely concealed beneath the mist-covered abyssal lake.
• Meng Zhao recalled detecting a trace of aura in the lake after Su Hongtu's sword qi disturbed its waters, then considered how long the hidden fighters had endured there.

Meng Zhao deduced that Commander Bai had hidden a deadly force beneath Abyss Lake, but refused to risk testing it. Si Peng identified the likely attackers as either the Death Sword Guard or the Death Thunder Guard, leaving Meng Zhao to suspect they were armed with a devastating Water Thunder method.

• Meng Zhao explained how Commander Bai's hidden warriors could ambush him and turn the newly submitted forces against him, but estimated their plan had only a twenty or thirty percent chance of success.
• Meng Zhao decided not to provoke the hidden force, recognizing that whatever Commander Bai had prepared to counter Su Hongtu could threaten even a Grandmaster.
• Si Peng recalled that Commander Bai commanded the Death Sword Guard, whose Death Spirit Sword Qi killed its targets at the cost of the user's life, and the Death Thunder Guard, known for devastating concealed weapons.
• Meng Zhao suspected that the force beneath Abyss Lake was the Death Thunder Guard, using the lake's waters to amplify a Water Thunder attack capable of endangering even a Grandmaster.
• Meng Zhao considered the thunder arts' limited flexibility and high cost, but recognized their destructive power against ordinary people and their potential danger in an enclosed space.

Meng Zhao learned that Commander Bai’s Death Thunder Guards had emerged from Abyss Lake to demand the Heavenly Evil Battle Casket, offering to let him take the Divine Might Army. Meng Zhao refused to give up the weapon and resolved to claim it for himself.

• He Xin warned Meng Zhao that the figures beneath Abyss Lake were likely Death Thunder Guards who could use the Water Thunder Method, and advised him not to take risks.
• Four scarred men emerged from Abyss Lake and announced that Commander Bai would concede the Divine Might Army but demanded the return of the Heavenly Evil Battle Casket.
• Xiang Qing grew furious at Commander Bai’s willingness to sacrifice the army for the weapon, while Meng Zhao recognized the weapon’s unique value and potential.
• Meng Zhao suspected Commander Bai’s demand was driven partly by the weapon’s connection to Dragon City, but he doubted surrendering it would prevent future conflict.
• Meng Zhao decided to keep the Heavenly Evil Battle Casket, refusing to retreat even if Commander Bai himself confronted him.

Meng Zhao faced the Four Death Thunder Guards and learned that Commander Bai had prepared a valley-wide Thunderbolt Child and Water Thunder trap capable of killing everyone there. He asked for half an hour to consider what to do, leaving the others waiting under the threat of disaster.

• Meng Zhao challenged the Four Death Thunder Guards, declaring that he feared neither them nor Commander Bai.
• Two guards detonated Thunderbolt Child charges, demolishing rocky mountains and shaking the valley.
• Si Peng feared that Commander Bai’s hidden explosives could destroy the valley and everyone in it.
• Meng Zhao identified the valley-wide trap and said he alone could likely escape its detonation.
• Xiang Qing and Luo Ning realized that almost everyone present might die, while the guards remained focused on obtaining the evil weapon.
• Meng Zhao asked for half an hour to think, and the Four Death Thunder Guards agreed to wait.

Meng Zhao rejected Commander Bai’s demand for the evil weapon, prompting the Four Death Thunder Guards to try to trigger their hidden weapons and destroy everyone at Abyss Lake. He had secretly disabled the lethal setup, forcing the guards to emerge and marvel at how he had done it.

• Meng Zhao spent half an hour standing still before declaring that only he could control the evil weapon and that Commander Bai would have to come take it himself.
• The Four Death Thunder Guards leapt into Abyss Lake to activate their killing move, while Si Peng and the others prepared to defend themselves.
• The lake’s waves and vortex abruptly subsided, and the Four Death Thunder Guards returned to shore without detonating the weapons.
• The leading Death Thunder Guard accused Meng Zhao of severing the mountain terrain from the water veins and destroying three nodes.
• Si Peng, Xiang Qing, Wei Hua, Luo Ning, Mo Li, and the others were astonished that Meng Zhao had thwarted Commander Bai’s killing move.

Meng Zhao explained how his Profound Creation Technique let him dismantle Xiang Qing’s Thunderbolt Children array, then revealed that Brocade Mouse Gou Shuping and his spirit beast had helped him. The others learned Gou Shuping had secretly become Meng Zhao’s subordinate, and Gou Shuping said his actions had saved everyone.

• Meng Zhao explained that he had used the Profound Creation Technique to read the mountain’s qi and disrupt the Thunderbolt Children array’s lifeline.
• Meng Zhao claimed that his blessings turned calamity into fortune, then summoned Brocade Mouse Gou Shuping and his spirit beast to receive a reward.
• Gou Shuping appeared on the ritual platform, surprising Xiang Qing, Luo Ning, Xu Fei, Shen Zhihang, and the others who had overlooked him.
• Gou Shuping knelt before Meng Zhao and credited him with the success, while the others realized Gou Shuping and his spirit beast had helped undermine the array.
• Xiang Qing deduced that Meng Zhao had subdued Gou Shuping during their earlier trip into the mountains, and Gou Shuping said he had obeyed Meng Zhao to survive and had now helped save the people there.

After Gou Shuping’s spirit rat and Meng Zhao’s hidden Flood Dragon neutralized the Death Thunder Guards’ traps, Meng Zhao kept his second hidden piece secret and won Si Peng and the others’ allegiance. The guards charged the altar, where Shen Zhihang and Mo Li attacked them, but four explosions followed Meng Zhao’s warning about their Poison Thunder self-destruction.

• The others realized Gou Shuping’s spirit rat had broken the mountain vein’s Fire Thunder, while Meng Zhao’s Flood Dragon Little Nine had destroyed the Water Thunder hidden in the water vein.
• Meng Zhao claimed Gou Shuping was only one of his hidden pieces and refused to disclose his other secrets.
• Si Peng abandoned his doubts and decided to follow Meng Zhao, while Mo Li, Xu Fei, and the others became more fearful of him.
• The Death Thunder Guards charged the ritual altar after their traps and killing move had been neutralized.
• Shen Zhihang and Mo Li leaped down to attack the Four Death Thunder Guards, and Meng Zhao warned them to watch for Poison Thunder hidden in the guards’ bodies.
• Four explosions rang out after Meng Zhao’s warning.

After the Death Thunder Guard self-destructed and poisoned Mo Li and Shen Zhihang, Meng Zhao explained the guards’ destructive power and why their numbers were limited. As the spreading poison fog threatened the group, the evil weapon flew into it and began devouring the poison.

• The Death Thunder Guard released a toxic blood mist when they self-destructed, and Mo Li and Shen Zhihang lost thirty percent of their True Essence while escaping it.
• Meng Zhao explained that the Death Thunder Guard and Death Sword Guard were specialized weapons against armies and top experts, respectively, and could not be produced in large numbers.
• Si Peng worried that Commander Bai might have many such guards, but Meng Zhao argued that their forbidden methods required rare aptitudes and great resources.
• The poison fog continued spreading toward the group, but the evil weapon flew into it and voraciously absorbed the poison.

After defeating Commander Bai’s final attack, Meng Zhao secured Xiang Qing’s submission and brought the surviving valley experts under his authority. He chose to win their loyalty through the way of kings rather than poison before turning to subdue the Heavenly Evil Battle Casket.

• Meng Zhao declared that he had surpassed Commander Bai and offered Xiang Qing another chance to serve him, promising to support his pursuit of the Grandmaster path.
• Xiang Qing accepted Meng Zhao’s offer, and Luo Ning calmly saluted beside him.
• The surviving experts in the valley submitted to Meng Zhao, advancing his plan to seize authority over the Divine Might Army.
• Meng Zhao considered using poison to control the experts but rejected it, reasoning that coercion would breed resentment and future betrayal.
• Meng Zhao resolved to win the experts’ loyalty through upright leadership and prepared to subdue the Heavenly Evil Battle Casket.

Meng Zhao summoned the evil weapon and took hold of it, enduring its assault on his mind as lightning ravaged the valley. The others watched anxiously, while Si Peng reasoned that Meng Zhao’s prior preparations gave him a fair chance of subduing it.

• Meng Zhao restored Luo Ning’s sealed Qi Meridians and ordered everyone to guard him while he subdued the evil weapon.
• Meng Zhao entered the poisonous mist, summoned the evil weapon, and revealed that he had secretly stirred its killing intent to make it kill Qiu Lian.
• Meng Zhao grasped the evil weapon, and its savage will attacked his mind as his spiritual power fought back.
• Divine thunder and lightning battered the valley, which Luo Ning realized would remain a lifeless ruin for decades.
• Xiang Qing questioned who had killed Qiu Lian, and Si Peng concluded that Meng Zhao had prepared to control the weapon and was likely confident he could subdue it.