Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhao feared Commander Bai was preparing to strike Lingwu City while he was away in Liang Prefecture. In Lingwu City, Dragon City learned that the Divine Might Army had fallen to Meng Zhao and argued with an ally over the value of their rebellion plans.

• Ji Rulin returned the Heavenly Evil Battle Casket to Meng Zhao and reported that his journey had gone smoothly.
• Meng Zhao suspected Commander Bai was targeting Lingwu City and hoped Liang Muqiu and a mysterious protector could defend it.
• Two days earlier, Dragon City received news that the Divine Might Army had surrendered to Meng Zhao and raged over the loss.
• A middle-aged man urged Dragon City to take command of another army, but Dragon City said losing the Divine Might Army made capturing Lingwu City unlikely and questioned their rebellion plans.

Dragon City rejected a plan to seize or weaken the Yangwu Army, explaining why Meng Zhao’s control of it could not be replicated. He concluded that the army could defend Lingwu City even against an attack by Pudu Cult.

• Dragon City considered the prospects Commander Bai had promised: using the Divine Might Army to join Pudu Cult in capturing Lingwu City and expanding into the Northern Lands.
• A man urged Dragon City to seize the Yangwu Army while Meng Zhao was away, arguing it was stronger than the Divine Might Army.
• Dragon City refused, explaining that Meng Zhao had taken the Divine Might Army through a rare combination of timing, preparation, and influence.
• Dragon City described how Imperial Court recognition, local power networks, and Meng Zhao’s family and marriage ties made the Yangwu Army impossible for him to usurp.
• When the hawk-nosed man suggested wearing down the Yangwu Army instead, Dragon City said it could defend Lingwu City with the support of local forces.

Dragon City and Commander Bai’s hawk-nosed man discussed how to retaliate against Meng Zhao after losing the Divine Might Army, settling on targeting one of Meng Zhao’s women. The chapter ended with Dragon City urging them to use Ding Zhanyun as bait for a trap intended to kill Meng Zhao.

• The hawk-nosed man pressed Dragon City to propose a way to make Meng Zhao pay for taking the Divine Might Army.
• Dragon City argued that Meng Zhao’s women were his weakness and agreed to target one of them through Commander Bai’s people, keeping himself out of the operation.
• Dragon City identified Ding Zhanyun as a possible target because she was Ding Yuqin’s half-sister and could offer a connection to the Ding Family.
• The hawk-nosed man proposed kidnapping Ding Zhanyun to force Meng Zhao to surrender command of the Divine Might Army and the Yangwu Army.
• Dragon City dismissed the idea of bargaining for the armies and recommended using Ding Zhanyun to lure Meng Zhao into a trap and kill him.

Dragon City urged the hawk-nosed man to persuade Commander Bai to help kill Meng Zhao, whom he feared would become the ruler of the Northern Lands. The hawk-nosed man agreed to consult Commander Bai, and Dragon City prepared to infiltrate Meng Family Manor and seize more of Meng Zhao’s women as leverage.

• Dragon City argued that Meng Zhao’s growing power and fortune made him a threat who had to be killed before he rose further.
• The hawk-nosed man rejected the idea of Commander Bai personally attacking Meng Zhao, but agreed to discuss the plan with him.
• Dragon City proposed capturing Ding Zhanyun and using threats or poison to help assassinate Meng Zhao.
• The hawk-nosed man suggested Dragon City infiltrate Meng Family Manor and capture more of Meng Zhao’s women for leverage.
• Dragon City agreed to scout the manor while Meng Zhao was away.

Dragon City infiltrated Meng Family Village to spy on Meng Zhao’s household, but a hidden expert discovered him and forced him to flee. The expert confronted him beyond the village and unleashed a blazing attack that left Dragon City howling in agony.

• Dragon City slipped past the village’s defenses and approached the inner residence, where patrols led by Innate Realm Warriors made him realize Meng Zhao’s influence had strengthened the family’s security.
• A concealed man noticed Dragon City and moved to watch him as he evaded a patrol and triggered an intense sense of danger.
• Dragon City suspected a powerful hidden expert was tracking him and cautiously retreated from the village while the killing intent followed.
• After escaping into the wilderness, Dragon City apologized to the unseen expert, who demanded that he endure one attack to earn his freedom.
• The hidden expert raised a blazing sun in the night, and its heat tormented Dragon City’s body and soul until he howled.

Dragon City used Sleeve Green Dragon and a strange concealment device to escape a Meng Family expert’s Red Flag Order. The expert suspected Dragon City might be a threat to Meng Zhao but decided to spare him as a whetstone for Zhao’er.

• A hidden Meng Family expert trapped Dragon City in a sea of fire with the Red Flag Order, pushing him to the brink of death.
• Dragon City unleashed Sleeve Green Dragon, whose divine weapon Green Dragon cut through the expert’s Fire Force and opened an escape route.
• Dragon City threw a black iron object that released dark mist and concealed his escape after the flames dissipated.
• The Meng Family expert suspected Green Dragon could restrain dragon-lineage powers and wondered whether Dragon City was Meng Zhao’s nemesis.
• The expert considered Dragon City’s unusual Trump Cards and Ninjutsu-like escape method, then chose to spare him as Meng Zhao’s whetstone.

Dragon City returned from spying on Meng Family Manor shaken after a Grandmaster martial artist using the Red Flag Order nearly killed him. He and the hook-nosed man were left wondering why the Grandmaster had spared him and how their plan could proceed.

• Dragon City arrived at the hook-nosed man's residence in a panic and accused him of nearly getting him killed.
• Dragon City explained that he had infiltrated Meng Family Manor to investigate Meng Zhao's women and secrets, but a powerful guardian discovered him.
• The hook-nosed man wondered whether the Meng Family guardian was a Grandmaster, and Dragon City confirmed that the man used the Red Flag Order in a devastating attack.
• Dragon City said he escaped using hidden trump cards but believed the Grandmaster had held back and had not intended to kill him.
• Dragon City and the hook-nosed man fell silent as they questioned the Grandmaster's motives and reconsidered their plan.

Dragon City and the hooked-nosed man reconsider their plot against Meng Zhao after learning of his hidden martial arts grandmaster and questioning whether his apparent devotion to women was a calculated weakness. Convinced that Meng Zhao’s power and schemes are beyond their reach, Dragon City gives up his ambitions in the Northern Lands and leaves his future dependent on the Pudu Cult.

• The hooked-nosed man warns Dragon City that the Meng Family’s grandmaster and Meng Zhao could defeat them, even with Commander Bai’s intervention.
• Dragon City questions whether Meng Zhao deliberately exposed his supposed weakness for women to lure enemies into a trap.
• The hooked-nosed man tells Dragon City that Meng Zhao took Ji Rushuang, a pregnant widow and daughter of a Ji Clan chief, as a concubine to gain the Dan Chi Clan’s support.
• Dragon City concludes that Meng Zhao’s forces are too strong to challenge and tells the hooked-nosed man to inform Commander Bai that he is abandoning his bid to rule the Northern Lands.
• Dragon City says he will wait to see whether the Pudu Cult can defeat Meng Zhao and will head south if it cannot.

Zhou Wangqiao investigated the devastation left by a Meng Family Grandmaster and saw Meng Zhao’s power as a chance to gain protection and take revenge on the Pudu Cult. He considered pledging allegiance to Meng Zhao, though he had not yet acted.

• Zhou Wangqiao examined the ruined land and deduced that a Peak Grandmaster with a tyrannical divine art had caused the devastation.
• Zhou Wangqiao recognized that the Grandmaster’s strength and Meng Zhao’s army could help him oppose the Pudu Cult and his former Eldest Senior Brother.
• Zhou Wangqiao weighed Meng Zhao against other potential allies, noting that Meng Zhao might accept a demonic-path cultivator into his service.
• Zhou Wangqiao concluded that Meng Zhao was his best option and considered pledging allegiance to him.

Zhou Wangqiao sought out the Meng Family Grandmaster and asked to pledge himself to Meng Zhao, hoping to gain resources and eventually rebuild the Zhou Family. The Grandmaster bore him no grudge and considered his request, leaving Zhou Wangqiao’s refuge with Meng Zhao under discussion.

• Zhou Wangqiao secretly approached Meng Family Village and used his aura to draw out the Meng Family Grandmaster.
• The Meng Family Grandmaster met Zhou Wangqiao, recognized him as a former disciple of Hui Kong, and asked whether he sought treatment for his injuries.
• Zhou Wangqiao worried the Grandmaster might attack him but admitted he had come seeking help.
• Zhou Wangqiao explained his feud with the Pudu Cult and asked to serve Meng Zhao so he could recover and rebuild the Zhou Family.
• The Meng Family Grandmaster considered Zhou Wangqiao’s request and reflected on Meng Zhao’s standing as a powerful young leader.

The Meng Family Grandmaster agreed to shelter Zhou Wangqiao in Meng Family Village until Meng Zhao could decide whether to accept him. Meanwhile, the Pudu Cult’s rapid growth amid the snow disaster led its followers to rampage through Wu Hai County, where they attacked the County Yamen.

• The Meng Family Grandmaster told Zhou Wangqiao he disliked and distrusted him but would hide him until Meng Zhao returned and made his own decision.
• Zhou Wangqiao agreed to wait, realizing the Meng Family Grandmaster held Meng Zhao in extraordinary regard and that Meng Zhao might accept him.
• The Great Snow Disaster drove desperate people across Yanzhou to join the Pudu Cult, whose growing branches became difficult for its main branch to control.
• Pudu Cult members slaughtered residents and looted and burned businesses throughout Wu Hai County City.
• Pudu Cult forces attacked the County Yamen, killing nearly two hundred of its three hundred soldiers and pressing the survivors toward defeat.

Wang Hong tried to turn the Pudu Cult followers against Wu Jian, but Wu Jian restored their resolve with promises of a better future. With the county yamen lost, Wang Hong chose to fight to the death, while Wu Jian planned to use the uprising to build an army and discard the Pudu Cult.

• Wu Jian urged his old acquaintance Wang Hong to surrender and join the Pudu Cult, promising to protect his family.
• Wang Hong denounced Wu Jian and used a sound-wave technique to make the Pudu Cult followers question their rampage.
• Wu Jian rallied the wavering followers by framing their violence as a sacrifice for their descendants and their cause.
• Wang Hong gave his remaining troops permission to flee, then charged the Pudu Cult with the soldiers who stayed.
• Wu Jian anticipated seizing the county yamen's wealth and equipment so he could raise an army and eventually abandon the Pudu Cult.

Wu Jian seized the Wu Hai County Yamen under the Pudu Cult’s banner and planned to escape with its wealth before the Imperial Court could respond. He left his inner circle confident that the Cult would be too distracted to pursue them, while he eyed a future built on the stolen riches.

• Wu Jian and his inner circle discussed the danger of the Imperial Court’s army arriving after the seizure of the County Yamen.
• Wu Jian explained that they would take the county’s reserves and city wealth, flee in batches, and leave the Pudu Cult to bear the blame.
• Wu Jian revealed that he had used the Pudu Cult as cover for his ambitions and had prepared false identities and escape plans for himself, his brothers, and his family.
• When his men worried that the Pudu Cult might track them down, Wu Jian argued that the Imperial Court’s response and public backlash would keep it occupied.
• Wu Jian’s inner circle regained confidence in him, and he laughed while glaring at the smashed “Bright Mirror Held High” plaque.

Meng Zhao reassured the anxious, pregnant Ji Rushuang about joining his household and advised her to build relationships with his other women. As they rested near Lingwu City, he sensed the Greedy Wolf Star Lord appearing in the heavens.

• The guards stopped the carriage so Ji Rushuang could rest on the mountain road toward Lingwu City.
• Ji Rushuang worried that Meng Zhao's other women would reject her because she was a widow carrying another man's child.
• Meng Zhao promised to protect Ji Rushuang and told her to seek Han Lu's help if she faced trouble in the household.
• Meng Zhao urged Ji Rushuang to build good relationships with the other women and learn to manage on her own.
• Meng Zhao looked toward the sky and glimpsed a great star transforming into the malicious Greedy Wolf.

Meng Zhao contained the Ziwei Star Power within himself after Greedy Wolf appeared, then considered the rare potential of the Seven Killings, Army Breaker, and Greedy Wolf configuration. In Wu Hai County, Wu Jian briefly worried about the Pudu Cult and considered seeking Meng Zhao's protection, but his ambition soon returned.

• Meng Zhao suppressed the Ziwei phenomenon inside his body to avoid revealing his Star Destiny to the Great Yong Dynasty.
• Meng Zhao reflected that Greedy Wolf could potentially devour Army Breaker and Seven Killings, yet dismissed it as no threat to his Ziwei Heavenly Destiny and Purple Origin Dragon Body.
• Meng Zhao hoped Army Breaker and Seven Killings would emerge so he could bring their masters under his command.
• In Wu Hai County, Wu Jian asked his brothers how they would defend themselves if the Pudu Cult attacked after they recruited troops.
• Wu Jian proposed that they could turn to Lord of the Northern Meng Dragon King if they had no other choice.
• Wu Jian's Greedy Wolf nature reignited his ambition, and he decided he still wanted to carve out a world of his own.

Meng Zhao returned to Meng Family Village and heard Liang Muqiu's report on the Yangwu Army, whose strength had grown to nearly one hundred thousand troops. He asked Liang Muqiu to help Ji Rushuang integrate into the family, while delaying his plans to pursue Tan Cai'er until he prepared for a Grandmaster breakthrough and secured his position.

• Meng Zhao celebrated his return to Meng Family Village and met Liang Muqiu to hear about the Yangwu Army's progress.
• Liang Muqiu reported that Meng Zhao commanded nearly one hundred thousand capable troops across the Yangwu Army and Hu Mountain, though he still intended to lie low.
• Meng Zhao told Liang Muqiu about Ji Rushuang, and she objected to the reputational and household complications of accepting her.
• Meng Zhao explained Ji Rushuang's importance to the Dan Chi Clan and asked Liang Muqiu to persuade the other women to accept her.
• Liang Muqiu agreed to protect Ji Rushuang but said her place in the family would depend on her own conduct.
• Meng Zhao said he would focus on reaching the Grandmaster realm and protecting his foundations before pursuing Tan Cai'er, and Liang Muqiu agreed to oversee the inner residence.

Meng Zhao maintained his routine while monitoring Dragon City and weighing the political and military situation in Yanzhou. News of a devastating Pudu Cult attack in Wu Hai County left him suspecting that rogue individuals had acted without the cult’s leaders’ knowledge.

• Meng Zhao secretly met Ding Yuqin, gave her martial arts guidance and resources, and ordered her to watch Dragon City while promising to marry her into his household.
• Meng Zhao learned that Pudu Cult followers had killed nearly three thousand people and devastated Wu Hai County, while Yanzhou’s response remained limited to sending neighboring county troops to maintain order.
• Meng Zhao considered how Great General Tan Changming’s fear of losing his military authority to the Imperial Court might explain his inaction.
• Meng Zhao concluded that the attack’s harm to poor commoners made it unlikely to serve the Pudu Cult’s interests, and suspected that certain individuals had acted privately without the leadership’s knowledge.

Meng Zhao prepared Lingwu City and the Yangwu Army for the growing danger from the Pudu Cult and the possible arrival of Ji Prefecture troops in Liang Prefecture. He left the story warning Cao Zhan to move the hidden Divine Might Army before it was exposed.

• Meng Zhao wrote to the Yanzhou Governor's Mansion, urging officials to avoid provoking the Pudu Cult and to delay open conflict if possible.
• Meng Zhao warned Beitang He of the danger and urged Lingwu City to strengthen its defenses; Beitang He entrusted him with command of ten thousand elite soldiers.
• Meng Zhao assigned a thousand of those soldiers to protect the Yanping Commandery Prince's Mansion under the pretext of guarding the imperial clan.
• Meng Zhao learned that Prince Fu Beitang Shu might send Meng Jizu or Lei Wanche to Liang Prefecture to suppress unrest and take control of its military forces.
• Meng Zhao feared Lei Wanche would discover the Divine Might Army hidden in Hu Mountain, so he warned Cao Zhan to stay alert and relocate the encampment.

Meng Zhao completed the True Dragon Profound Dao, unifying his many combat arts under the Myriad Heavens Imperial Dragon Ziwei Emperor Scripture. He assessed his ability to contend with Grandmasters and resolved to perfect the Heaven Swallowing Sun Devouring Great Law before advancing.

• Meng Zhao manifested five kinds of True Dragons while testing the combat art he had developed atop Guangping Mountain.
• He declared the True Dragon Profound Dao complete and explained how it harmonized his diverse techniques with his fundamental scripture.
• Meng Zhao judged that his new system greatly improved the unity and potential of his martial arts, though his cultivation and immediate combat strength had changed little.
• He assessed that he could defeat weaker Grandmasters and contend with stronger ones, but would still fall short against exceptional geniuses such as He Wuji.
• Meng Zhao compared himself with Li Yuanba, concluding that he remained somewhat inferior but could approach his level after perfecting the Heaven Swallowing Sun Devouring Great Law.
• He decided not to waste time pursuing absolute invincibility and planned to advance into Grandmaster martial Dao once his foundation was complete.

Meng Zhao met Zhou Wangqiao, the former Zhou Family ancestor, on Guangping Mountain and concealed his role in the Zhou Family’s destruction. Zhou Wangqiao sought Meng Zhao’s help against the Pudu Cult, while Meng Zhao questioned whether Huikong stood behind the cult’s attack.

• Meng Zhao sensed a familiar Grandmaster aura below Guangping Mountain and called its owner to reveal himself.
• Zhou Wangqiao arrived, and Meng Zhao recognized him as the Zhou Family ancestor he had previously helped expose to the Pudu Cult.
• Meng Zhao greeted Zhou Wangqiao and expressed regret over Zhou Gushan’s death, though he had orchestrated events that led to the Zhou Family’s destruction.
• Zhou Wangqiao introduced himself as Gushan’s grandfather and explained that he had faked his death to evade an enemy and cultivate martial arts.
• Meng Zhao asked whether the Pudu Cult Master had attacked the Zhou Family because of the enemy Zhou Wangqiao had fled.