Chapter Summaries

Hua Zizai surrendered to Han Pu and the Yangwu Army, while Envoy Wang remained determined to resist and escape. Han Pu prepared to storm Hua Manor and capture or kill the holdouts.

• Hua Zizai agreed to submit to Meng Zhao and told Han Pu to deal with the other people in his manor as he saw fit.
• Two Innate Martial Artists bound Hua Zizai with divine-iron chains, and his surrender eased the threat of a bloody battle.
• Envoy Wang blamed Hua Zizai for surrendering and recalled how his plots to rescue Wu Huaien had failed, leaving his allies captured and their forces devastated.
• Envoy Wang decided against fleeing alone and resolved to break through the encirclement, later seeking revenge on Zhu Kuan and Tu Liang for betraying him.
• After waiting and confirming that Envoy Wang would not surrender, Han Pu ordered Zhu Kuan, Tu Liang, and the Meng Family retainers to prepare to enter Hua Manor.

Envoy Wang tried to escape Hua Manor, but the Yangwu Army blocked his Innate attack and surrounded him. Zhu Kuan and Tu Liang resolved to help ensure Envoy Wang died, fearing his revenge against their families.

• Envoy Wang blasted apart Hua Manor’s outer wall, but the Yangwu Army deflected the stone fragments with a coordinated formation.
• Envoy Wang emerged from the smoke and found himself facing the army and more than a dozen Innate experts.
• Envoy Wang appeared with a powerful woman and his two servants, then used a sound-art technique to threaten Zhu Kuan and Tu Liang.
• Envoy Wang secretly urged the woman to flee separately and seek revenge on the Zhu and Tu Families if she escaped.
• Zhu Kuan and Tu Liang weighed their fear of the Hell Path against Envoy Wang’s personal vendetta and decided he had to die at Hua Manor.

Zhu Kuan and Tu Liang attacked Envoy Wang of the Hell Path, but his strange Shifting Form and Shadow technique misdirected their strikes. Han Pu sensed the deception and struck Envoy Wang as he emerged from underground, leaving the envoy exposed and furious.

• Zhu Kuan launched jade pebbles with the Wild Mountain Stone-Throwing Art while Tu Liang attacked with his family's triple-layered divine palm.
• Envoy Wang created two convincing forms, causing the attackers to split their strikes and hit illusions instead of him.
• Han Pu sensed something wrong and slashed his palm-blade toward the surging earth, forcing Envoy Wang to burst out from underground.
• Envoy Wang revealed that he had learned the escape technique from the Hell Path Formless Ghost True God Diagram and glared at Han Pu with hatred.

Envoy Wang of the Hell Path used a costly secret art to escape Han Pu, then fought off a host of Innate Masters with a powerful martial manifestation. A woman with an extraordinary physical bloodline joined the battle, and Han Pu considered recruiting her to Meng Zhao's side.

• Envoy Wang split his essence blood and true qi into two divine forms to mislead Han Pu and flee, leaving himself weakened.
• Han Pu read Envoy Wang's diminished aura and sent the Meng Family's retainers, Zhu Kuan, Tu Liang, and other Innate Masters to attack him.
• Envoy Wang formed a black, bone-spiked savage beast manifestation and held off the surrounding martial artists.
• A brawny woman covered in scarlet flames struck the besiegers and drove back several Meng Family retainers with her powerful qi and blood.
• Han Pu recognized the woman's likely Special Physique and thought Meng Zhao could develop her abilities if she joined his ranks.

Han Pu ordered his men to keep the woman alive while they fought Envoy Wang, then moved to subdue her himself. Envoy Wang erupted in anger and drove back several attackers as Han Pu confronted the woman with his powerful fist technique.

• Han Pu told his men to fight Envoy Wang without restraint and leave the strong woman alive for him to capture.
• The Meng Family retainers guessed that Han Pu wanted to recruit the woman and began watching her fight closely.
• Envoy Wang grew furious at being treated as less important than the woman and unleashed the Three Yin Silk Palm, forcing several attackers back.
• Han Pu used his Qian Heaven Great Method and a fist technique infused with saber force to attack the woman.
• The woman met Han Pu's attack head-on, gathering her blood, qi, and brute strength into her hands.

Han Pu defeated and captured the brawny Hell Path woman after she fought him with a secret art that strengthened her body. Envoy Wang remained surrounded and was badly wounded after seeing her capture, leaving his defeat close at hand.

• The brawny woman redirected Han Pu’s fist force, but he pressed her with the Burning Heaven Palm Technique.
• The woman used the Ghost Devouring Secret Art to strengthen her Qi and blood, then fought Han Pu through repeated exchanges.
• Han Pu gained the upper hand and used a Grappling Hand technique to seal the woman’s Qi and blood and dantian before binding her with divine-iron chains.
• Envoy Wang used Shifting Form and Shadow and Golden Cicada Sheds its Shell to evade his attackers and injure two Meng Family retainers, but his strength and blood essence dwindled.
• Envoy Wang saw the woman captured, then Zhu Kuan struck his right arm with the Stone Striking Technique and left him badly wounded.

Han Pu tried to kill the wounded Envoy Wang, but the Hell Path envoy revealed a terrifying power that halted the attack and crushed the surrounding martial artists with its aura. The chapter left the battle unresolved as a colossal hand of blood and bone emerged from Envoy Wang.

• Envoy Wang threatened Han Pu with the Hell Path’s vengeance, but Han Pu dismissed the threat and pointed out the Hell Path’s losses to the Meng Family.
• Envoy Wang surged with confidence, causing Zhu Kuan, Tu Liang, and the other Innate Martial Artists to hesitate and let him walk away.
• Han Pu drew the Changyang Divine Saber and unleashed the Burning Wind Slash at the weakened Envoy Wang.
• Envoy Wang pressed a palm to his chest and summoned a strange force through a fissure in his forehead.
• A colossal hand formed from blood and bone, binding and crushing the surrounding Innate Martial Artists with its terrifying aura.

The Hell Path Envoy Wang unleashed a Blood Water Bone Hand that shattered Han Pu’s attack and threatened to crush him. Han Pu burned away the demonic influence with his starfire ability, but the deadly hand still advanced as golden Buddhist radiance appeared behind him.

• The Blood Water Bone Hand shattered Han Pu’s saber slash and suppressed the people outside Hua Manor.
• Han Pu sensed the attack’s demonic influence and used his Shihuo Pig bloodline ability to burn away the demonic shadows within himself.
• Han Pu’s starfire tempered his body and strengthened his Martial Dao Will, but he still faced the approaching hand.
• The Hell Path Envoy Wang used the Hell Path Master’s sealed remnant move, sacrificing his chance to enter the Grandmaster Realm to survive Han Pu’s slash.
• As the Blood Water Bone Hand neared Han Pu, golden Buddhist radiance flashed from his brow and spread behind his head.

Han Pu’s golden wheel and dragon-roar sutra repelled the Hell Path Master’s Blood Water Bone Hand and healed Han Pu, leaving Envoy Wang gravely weakened. The witnesses took the exchange as proof that Meng Zhao had surpassed the Hell Path Master, shaking the Hell Path disciples’ faith.

• The Pure Golden Light Wheel appeared around Han Pu and freed the people outside Hua Manor from the Blood Water Bone Hand’s suppression.
• A dragon-roar sutra transformed the golden light into dragons that battered the Blood Water Bone Hand back into Envoy Wang’s brow.
• Envoy Wang staggered, vomited blood mist, and was left pale and near death as Han Pu’s golden light healed him and advanced his cultivation.
• The Meng Family’s soldiers and martial artists became more confident in their choice to follow the Lord of the Northern Meng Dragon King.
• Envoy Wang, the captured strong woman, and Hua Zizai watched their belief in the Hell Path Master’s invincibility falter, seeing Meng Zhao’s hidden move as superior.

Meng Zhao’s Buddhist power defeated the Hell Path’s attack on Han Pu, and Han Pu returned with the Hua Family subdued. Meng Zhao explained the Demon Subduing Great Incantation to Han Lu and considered how to handle the Hell Path without creating another enemy.

• Meng Zhao’s Demon Subduing Great Incantation drove the Hell Path’s Senluo Ghost Hand out of Envoy Wang’s Niwan Palace and saved Han Pu.
• Han Pu subdued the Hua Family and the Yangwu Army, then brought them back to Meng Family Village to report to Meng Zhao.
• Meng Zhao wrote the thirty-character Demon Subduing Great Incantation and explained its Buddhist and martial arts properties to Han Lu.
• Meng Zhao told Han Lu that his power had protected Han Pu from a life-threatening attack, and he assured her that Han Pu would return safely.
• Meng Zhao weighed the Hell Path against his goals and decided that provoking it would be unnecessary while he focused on strengthening himself and advancing his broader plans.

Meng Zhao considered settling his feud with the Hell Path through negotiation rather than a costly fight, then assessed the captives Han Pu brought back. He decided Hua Zizai could serve as a link to the Hell Path, while he intended to subdue the unusually gifted woman and questioned Envoy Wang about the Hell Path Master's strength.

• Meng Zhao explained the Demon Subduing Great Incantation to Han Lu and sent her to bring in Han Pu and his group.
• Han Pu presented Envoy Wang, Hua Zizai, and a powerful woman captured during the operation.
• Meng Zhao recognized Hua Zizai and judged him intelligent and useful as a possible intermediary with the Hell Path.
• Meng Zhao detected the woman's extraordinary physical potential and decided he wanted to subdue her.
• Meng Zhao questioned Envoy Wang about the power within him and inferred that the Hell Path Master was likely a Peak Grandmaster.

Meng Zhao questioned Hua Zizai about his ties to Hell Path, and Hua proposed negotiating peace between them. Hua asked Meng Zhao to release Wu Huaien in exchange for pursuing talks, leaving Meng Zhao to consider the proposed terms.

• Meng Zhao told Hua Zizai he regretted learning that Hua belonged to Hell Path, and Hua said his involvement had been beyond his control.
• Hua explained that Meng Zhao had spared him and the Hua Family because fighting Hell Path would bring little benefit and create needless trouble.
• Meng Zhao praised Hua for understanding his intentions and asked him to arrange peace talks with Hell Path.
• Hua agreed to pursue negotiations if Meng Zhao released Wu Huaien, arguing that Hell Path could not abandon a hired assassin without damaging its standing.

Meng Zhao negotiated with Hua Zizai over peace between the Meng Family and Hell Path, agreeing to release Wu Huaien but refusing to free Envoy Wang and the special-bloodline woman. He demanded that Hell Path stop targeting him and share its intelligence network in Ji, Liang, and Yan, leaving Hua Zizai to consider whether Hell Path could accept the terms.

• Hua Zizai asked Meng Zhao to release Wu Huaien, Envoy Wang, and the special-bloodline woman as part of peace talks.
• Meng Zhao agreed to return Wu Huaien but refused to release Envoy Wang or the woman, citing Hell Path's hostility and her potential value.
• Hua Zizai recognized that Meng Zhao was testing Hell Path's sincerity and asked what terms he wanted for peace.
• Meng Zhao demanded that Hell Path stop troubling him and give him access to its intelligence networks across Ji, Liang, and Yan.
• Hua Zizai feared Hell Path would never surrender those networks, but Meng Zhao clarified that he wanted cooperation and an exchange of equal value for information.

Meng Zhao proposed turning his truce with Hell Path into a lasting alliance based on shared interests, but Hua Zizai warned that a powerful faction would resist because the Southern An Meng Family had killed its Grand Elder. Meng Zhao sent the Hell Path Master a sheet bearing the Demon Subduing Great Incantation and awaited his answer.

• Meng Zhao explained that an alliance with Hell Path would give the Lingwu Meng Family another source of support and intelligence.
• Hua Zizai warned Meng Zhao that the slain Hell Path Grand Elder's disciples and descendants would oppose sharing Hell Path's intelligence network.
• Meng Zhao argued that the Hell Path Master could suppress dissent and would benefit more from ties with him than from provoking him.
• Meng Zhao sent Hua Zizai the Demon Subduing Great Incantation, whose force severed Hua Zizai's divine iron chains.
• Hua Zizai accepted the paper and departed to deliver it to the Hell Path Master while Meng Zhao promised to release the Hua Family.

Meng Zhao recruited Wang Ying, a Hell Path member with the Zhuyuan Body, by promising to guide her cultivation and protect her from the Hell Path. He assigned her to work and train alongside Zhou Hu while he searched for a method suited to her physique.

• Meng Zhao questioned Wang Ying about her Zhuyuan Body and learned that the Hell Path Master believed it came from an ancient Demon God bloodline.
• Meng Zhao urged Wang Ying to leave the Hell Path and offered to help her develop her physique and surpass the Hell Path Master.
• Wang Ying weighed Meng Zhao's claims and her ties to the Hell Path, then agreed to work for him despite fearing the Hell Path would not let her go.
• Meng Zhao promised to shield Wang Ying, learned her name, and arranged for her to work with Zhou Hu, who also trained in external-body martial arts.
• Meng Zhao broke the divine metal chains around Wang Ying and released her.

Meng Zhao decided to pursue peace with Hell Path despite possible objections from the Southern An Meng Family, while preparing to expel Hell Path from Lingwu City if negotiations failed. He ordered Han Pu to monitor not only the Hua Family but everyone closely tied to Hua Zizai.

• Meng Zhao had Envoy Wang of Hell Path dragged away to be killed after dismissing him as a threat with no future.
• Han Pu warned Meng Zhao that negotiating with Hell Path could damage his relationships with the Beitang Imperial Clan and the Southern An Meng Family.
• Meng Zhao argued that continuing to fight Hell Path would endanger him and the Meng Family, and said he would not serve as a shield for the Southern An Meng Family.
• Han Pu suggested asking Fifth Young Master to mediate, but Meng Zhao rejected the idea and said he had his own plans for Nan'an.
• Meng Zhao told Han Pu that failed negotiations would mean driving Hell Path out of Lingwu City and turning the city into a stronghold.
• Meng Zhao ordered Han Pu to monitor the Hua Family and everyone deeply connected to Hua Zizai, warning him to remain vigilant and show no softness.

Hua Zizai delivered Meng Zhao’s offer to negotiate peace to the Hell Path, whose leaders debated whether to accept it. The Hell Path had suffered repeated setbacks against the Meng Family, and the leaders weighed the risks of further conflict.

• Inside Impermanence Palace, a Hell Path faction leader called Meng Zhao arrogant and rejected exchanging intelligence channels for Wu Huaien’s release.
• Another faction leader mocked Old Wen for underestimating Meng Zhao, who had defeated Wu Huaien.
• A Hell Path leader questioned Hua Zizai about delivering Meng Zhao’s message, and Hua Zizai explained that Meng Zhao held his family and that peace might benefit the Hell Path.
• The leaders recognized that their plans against the Meng Family had failed for the third time and considered whether to commit their forces to fighting Meng Zhao.
• The Hell Path leaders hesitated to confront Meng Zhao because victory offered little reward while defeat could cost them their lives.

Hua Zizai argued that the Hell Path should reconcile with Meng Zhao while seeking revenge against the Southern An Meng Family, and he persuaded several leaders that Meng Zhao might become an ally against Meng Jizu. The Hell Path members left considering whether they could exploit the rift between Meng Zhao and the Meng Family.

• A Hell Path leader challenged Hua Zizai’s call for reconciliation, warning that yielding to Meng Zhao would make the sect appear weak.
• Hua Zizai cited Meng Zhao’s strength, growing power, and potential fortune as reasons the Hell Path should avoid making him an enemy.
• Hua Zizai argued that the Hell Path could pursue revenge against Meng Jizu while reconciling with Meng Zhao, since the two were not necessarily close.
• The Hell Path leaders considered exploiting the conflict between Meng Zhao and the Southern An Meng Family and began viewing Meng Zhao as a possible ally against Meng Jizu.

Hua Zizai’s account of Wang Mian’s capture convinced most of the leaders of Impermanence Palace that Meng Zhao was too dangerous to challenge and that peace negotiations were worth pursuing. The Hell Path Master, however, became intrigued by Meng Zhao’s strength, leaving the others to caution him against risking Hell Path’s future in a confrontation.

• The Hell Path Master asked how Wang Mian had been captured and whether Meng Zhao had personally intervened.
• Hua Zizai recounted the capture in full, prompting the Hell Path Master and the nine high-ranking figures to compare Meng Zhao’s Buddhist technique with the Hell Path Master’s Senluo Ghost Hand.
• The Hell Path Master acknowledged Meng Zhao’s strength and showed excitement and killing intent at the prospect of facing him.
• Several leaders argued that the comparison did not prove Meng Zhao could surpass the Hell Path Master and urged him to remain calm.
• The nine leaders favored negotiating with Meng Zhao because they feared a confrontation could cripple Hell Path and cost them their power.

Hua Zizai delivered Meng Zhao’s mysterious Buddhist writing to the Hell Path Master, unleashing a golden dragon’s overwhelming aura and a confrontation of wills. The others survived, but the Hell Path Master’s condition remained unclear, and Hell Path feared a crisis far greater than the Grand Elder’s death.

• The Hell Path Master dismissed the others’ judgment of martial strength and asked Hua Zizai to compare him with Meng Zhao.
• Hua Zizai revealed that Meng Zhao had entrusted him with a strange piece of calligraphy and, on the Hell Path Master’s command, handed it over.
• The paper released a sacred golden aura and a dragon phantom that immobilized everyone in Impermanence Palace while the Hell Path Master confronted a dragon-like will through the Thirty Character Demon Subduing Great Curse.
• After the palace returned to calm, a Hell Path higher-up accused Hua Zizai of helping Meng Zhao scheme against them.
• Hua Zizai protested that the Hell Path Master had told him there would be no danger, while the others grew alarmed about the Sect Master’s fate and feared a major crisis.