Chapter Summaries

At Yu Zhentian’s retirement ceremony, a masked member of the Scum River Seven Bandits appeared and demanded revenge for a battle twenty years earlier. He threatened to kill everyone who remained at the Yu Family Martial Arts School, and the guests fled in panic.

• Li Musheng and Zhang Dazhuang went to fetch tables as Yu Zhentian’s hand-washing ceremony drew a crowd.
• A masked man announced that he had come to kill Yu Zhentian, and Yu Zhentian and Hao Shen went to confront him.
• Li Musheng warned Zhang Dazhuang that the masked man was too powerful for him to challenge.
• Yu Zhentian recognized the masked man as one of the Scum River Seven Bandits, who sought revenge for Yu Zhentian severing his Fifth Brother’s arm.
• Scum Third gave everyone outside the Yu Family ten breaths to leave or be killed, and the guests fled.

Yu Zhentian faced the Scum River Seven Bandits as the guests fled and his allies abandoned him. With the martial arts school surrounded, he ordered his disciples to fight, but even his strongest disciples did not move.

• Yu Zhentian clashed with Scum Third and held his ground until five more members of the Scum River Seven Bandits arrived.
• Scum Third gave the courtyard guests six breaths to leave, and most of them fled rather than face the bandits.
• Li Musheng told Zhang Dazhuang he could leave, but Zhang hesitated over whether the bandits would let the school’s people go.
• Yu Zhentian asked Hao Shen to help fight the bandits, but Hao Shen claimed he would fetch the city guards and then left unchallenged.
• Li Musheng mocked Yu Zhentian for being abandoned, and Yu Zhentian ordered his disciples to take up arms, but his three strongest disciples remained still.

Yu Zhentian’s disciples learned he had left them behind as bait, while the Scum River Seven Bandits captured his children and forced him into a fight. As Yu Zhentian battled five bandits, Zhang Dazhuang and Li Musheng moved to rescue his children, though Li balked at carrying the wounded Yu Ermei.

• Zhu Fang and two disciples fled after Scum Third gave them two breaths, and Yu Zhentian struck them down as the other trainees scattered.
• Zhu Fang accused Yu Zhentian of sending his disciples to die while secretly evacuating his family, and Zhang Dazhuang and Li Musheng chose to remain for their own reasons.
• Scum Second’s men revealed the captured Yu Xian and Yu Ermei, whose limbs and bodies had been badly injured.
• Yu Zhentian leapt onto the roof and fought Scum Third and four other bandits, revealing strength his disciples had never seen.
• Yu Zhentian ordered the disciples to take his children away, and Zhang Dazhuang rushed to help Yu Xian while Li Musheng hesitated over Yu Ermei.

Li Musheng revealed extraordinary speed and skill when he stopped the Scum River Seven Bandits from escaping and sealed six of their acupoints. He left Yu Zhentian and the martial arts school, taking a one-hundred-tael banknote as payment.

• Zhu Fang and the other disciples tried to flee, but Scum Second blasted apart the courtyard wall and blocked their escape.
• Yu Zhentian told Zhang Dazhuang and Li Musheng to help Yu Ermei and the others escape, then confronted Scum Second, who demanded an item.
• When Scum Five attacked Li Musheng, Li Musheng vanished; he reappeared behind Scum Second and sealed the acupoints of six bandits.
• Yu Zhentian asked Li Musheng who he was, and Li Musheng said he was leaving the martial arts school and demanded his promised payment.
• Yu Zhentian offered a one-hundred-tael banknote, which Li Musheng took before leaving.

Li Musheng exposed the Scum River Seven Bandits’ disguised leader and revealed that he had reached the Innate Realm before leaving the Yu Family Martial Arts School. As he packed to depart, he gave Zhang Dazhuang a martial art that could help him protect himself.

• Li Musheng subdued the disguised Yu Xian, revealing him as Bandit Chief Zha, the missing leader of the Scum River Seven Bandits.
• Yu Zhentian discovered that Bandit Chief Zha had impersonated his son, while Bandit Chief Zha recognized Li Musheng as an Innate Realm expert.
• Li Musheng left the bandits to Yu Zhentian and departed with Zhang Dazhuang for the rear courtyard.
• Li Musheng packed his belongings and told Zhang Dazhuang that his strength came from his own exceptional talent.
• Li Musheng gave Zhang Dazhuang the Indestructible Vajra martial art and assured him that perseverance, not natural aptitude, was what it required.

After repaying his debt to the Yu Family, Li Musheng left Shun'an City to seek the legendary realm of Transcendence. At the city wall, he confronted a veiled woman who had secretly followed him for five days.

• Li Musheng warned Zhang Dazhuang to leave the troubled Yu Family Martial Arts School, gave him the Indestructible Vajra Art, and departed after they bid farewell.
• Zhang Dazhuang discovered that Li Musheng had also left him a one-hundred-tael banknote.
• Li Musheng reflected on how his extraordinary comprehension had let him create powerful martial arts and reach the peak of the martial path.
• Li Musheng left the Yu Family Martial Arts School after resolving the Yu Family's crisis and leaped onto Shun'an City's wall to look toward the distant mountains.
• Li Musheng revealed that he had noticed a veiled woman following him for five days and teased her by asking whether she had taken a liking to him.

Cang Yinyue, a Silver-Pattern Secret Agent of Great Li’s Hidden Spy Bureau, told Li Musheng that he might be the lost Seventh Prince and invited him to Shangyang City. After explaining the prince-switching investigation, she left with him to confirm his origins, though Li Musheng remained uncertain.

• Cang Yinyue introduced herself as a Hidden Spy Bureau agent and said Li Musheng might be Great Li’s missing Seventh Prince.
• Li Musheng agreed to travel with Cang Yinyue after she promised to answer his questions, and she returned with two horses.
• Li Musheng rode out in the wrong direction, and Cang Yinyue caught up to correct him.
• At a campsite near a remote town, Cang Yinyue explained that a secret letter had revealed the current Seventh Prince was switched at birth and had triggered a search for the true prince.
• Li Musheng asked Cang Yinyue whether she was certain he was the Seventh Prince and what she would do if he was not.

Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue discussed his uncertain identity and the dangers awaiting him in Shangyang City. After Li Musheng revealed he had taken the wooden box Cang Yinyue retrieved from the Yu Family Martial Arts School, he immobilized her with a technique he claimed to have invented.

• Cang Yinyue promised to protect Li Musheng and offered him another hundred taels if he turned out not to be the Seventh Prince.
• Cang Yinyue warned Li Musheng that powerful geniuses awaited him in Shangyang City and said the imprisoned Seventh Prince had been a leading heir to the throne.
• Li Musheng deduced that Cang Yinyue had visited the Yu Family Martial Arts School and taken an item sought by the Scum River Seven Bandits, then showed her the wooden box he had stolen from her bundle.
• Cang Yinyue attacked Li Musheng to reclaim the box, but Li Musheng immobilized her with an acupoint technique.
• Li Musheng lifted Cang Yinyue's veil despite her protest, then replaced it when he saw her furious reaction.
• Cang Yinyue asked how Li Musheng had stopped her, and he said he had invented the Sunflower Acupoint Hand.

Li Musheng learned that the wooden box might be one of seven keys to the Heavenly Revelation Secret Treasury and abandoned his plan to go to Shangyang City in favor of seeking the vault. Cang Yinyue warned him that the box might be false and revealed that the last emperor of Great Qi had gathered all seven keys a hundred years earlier.

• Li Musheng insisted that he had created his acupoint-sealing technique, while Cang Yinyue tried and failed to break his seal.
• Li Musheng asked Cang Yinyue about the six-sided wooden box, and she told him about the Heavenly Revelation Secret Treasury left by the Apocalypse Emperor.
• After hearing about the vault, Li Musheng released Cang Yinyue's acupoints and asked her to take him to find it.
• Cang Yinyue attacked Li Musheng as soon as she was freed, but he sealed her acupoints again.
• Cang Yinyue said the box might be fake and that seven keys were needed to open the vault.
• Li Musheng asked whether anyone had already opened the vault, and Cang Yinyue said the last emperor of Great Qi had gathered all seven keys a hundred years earlier.

Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue continued their journey toward Shangyang City after agreeing that he would try to remove the mark on her face in exchange for three conditions. They entered Chongzhou, where Cang Yinyue warned him that a conflict among major martial world factions made the territory dangerous.

• Cang Yinyue explained that the Heavenly Revelation Secret Treasury required seven keys, which had disappeared when Great Qi fell, and said the wooden box could not open it alone.
• Li Musheng released Cang Yinyue’s acupoints and offered to remove the character carved into her facial bones; she promised three conditions in return if he succeeded.
• Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue agreed to discuss removing the mark after reaching Shangyang City and continued their journey the next morning.
• After traveling for several days, Li Musheng asked how long remained before they reached the capital, and Cang Yinyue estimated ten days to Jing Province and another day to the capital at their current pace.
• The pair entered Chongzhou, where Cang Yinyue explained that major martial world factions were nearing war and that they were within the Bloodbath Alliance’s sphere of influence.

Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue traveled through secluded mountain trails toward Jing Province and encountered three wary strangers. Cang Yinyue recognized the middle-aged man as connected to General Wu'an, and Li Musheng suggested that the two groups continue together.

• Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue discussed Great Li’s tangled balance of power between the court and the martial world as they traveled through the mountains.
• Li Musheng spotted three travelers on a nearby trail, and both groups grew wary when they met at a fork in the road.
• Cang Yinyue identified the middle-aged man’s military background from his footwork, saber, and martial true qi, linking him to General Wu'an and the Wu'an Army.
• Li Musheng praised Cang Yinyue’s deductions and proposed that their groups travel together.

Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue suspected that Meng Shan, Yuan Mei, and the scholar they protected were hiding something as they traveled toward Shangyang City. After spotting a roadblock ahead, they slipped into the woods so the three could scout it first, while Meng Shan and Yuan Mei discussed protecting the scholar, whom they addressed as Your Highness.

• Li Musheng offered to let Meng Shan and his companions travel with him and Cang Yinyue, but Meng Shan declined.
• Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue speculated that the scholar might have a special identity and noticed that his journey to Shangyang City resembled theirs.
• Li Musheng spotted a stockade blocking the road, and Cang Yinyue suggested letting Meng Shan's group investigate it first.
• Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue hid in the forest while Meng Shan and Yuan Mei discussed killing them if an opportunity arose.
• Meng Shan addressed the scholar as Your Highness, and the scholar said he would reward his protectors after seeing Imperial Father.

Meng Shan and Yuan Mei were ambushed by a band of armed men led by a bald Innate Realm Hall Master, who mistook them for spies. Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue watched from the forest as the fight turned against the bandits, and the Hall Master fired a red signal flare.

• Meng Shan and Yuan Mei found that Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue had vanished from the mountain road and cautiously continued onward with the scholar.
• A bald Hall Master and his red-headscarved men emerged from the forest, accused the travelers of being spies, and blocked their path.
• Meng Shan tried to explain that the group came from Jing Province, but the Hall Master refused to believe him and threatened them.
• Meng Shan and Yuan Mei attacked, killing the Hall Master's men while Meng Shan fought the Innate Realm expert.
• Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue watched from a tree and discussed how the bandits might clear the way for them.
• The Hall Master, pressed by Meng Shan, fired a dazzling red flare into the sky.

Cang Yinyue and Li Musheng traveled along a mountain path after Meng Shan drew off the bald brute, but they were soon blocked by Bloodbath Alliance fighters. Cang Yinyue’s Imperial Secret Police identity failed to protect them, and she attacked the men’s leader.

• Meng Shan drove the bald brute back and fled down the mountain path, drawing him in pursuit while Cang Yinyue and Li Musheng continued on their mule-horses.
• Cang Yinyue realized the Bloodbath Alliance would know the hidden paths and that their route might be dangerous.
• A group of Bloodbath Alliance followers blocked Cang Yinyue and Li Musheng beside the bodies of red-scarved men.
• Cang Yinyue presented an Imperial Secret Police token, but the gray-robed man accused them of being infiltrators and ordered his subordinates to seize them.
• Cang Yinyue rushed past the saber-wielding men and attacked the gray-robed man, who met her with both war hammers.

Cang Yinyue defeated Yu Changlu and revealed that she was a Half-Step Master, while Li Musheng demonstrated that he could seal acupoints from afar without being seen. Cang Yinyue recognized his skill as a powerful defense that could improve their chances of completing the journey, and Yu Changlu remained at her mercy.

• Cang Yinyue severed Yu Changlu’s arm tendons and held a blade to his throat, explaining that she was only a Half-Step Master.
• Yu Changlu noticed that his subordinates had been immobilized, though neither he nor Cang Yinyue had seen Li Musheng act.
• Li Musheng claimed he had used his self-created Sunflower Acupoint Hand and challenged Cang Yinyue to watch closely.
• Li Musheng sealed Cang Yinyue’s acupoints from afar, then released them with a flick of his finger.
• Cang Yinyue acknowledged Li Musheng’s skill and said his defensive ability would help them break through during the rest of the journey.

Cang Yinyue led Li Musheng and the crippled Yu Changlu down the mountain, where they discovered that someone had been slaughtering Bloodbath Alliance members with increasingly powerful poison. Cang Yinyue realized a single formidable poison artist was responsible, leaving the group to decide whether to continue into danger.

• Cang Yinyue made Yu Changlu lead them down the mountain while Li Musheng followed without correcting her mistaken view of his strength.
• Yu Changlu found the dying bald brute in roadside grass and accidentally killed him with a kick before he could speak.
• Cang Yinyue identified signs of a sinister poison technique on the bald brute, and Li Musheng told Yu Changlu to leave survivors next time.
• The group encountered numerous poisoned Bloodbath Alliance corpses, including Innate-level hall masters, along the mountain road.
• Yu Changlu urged Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue to turn back, while Cang Yinyue concluded that one powerful poison artist had killed the victims and was growing stronger.

Cang Yinyue, Li Musheng, and Yu Changlu continued through the mountains and found the Bloodbath Alliance surrounding Meng Shan, Yuan Mei, and a masked woman. The masked woman repelled an attack with her poison arts and said the longer the standoff lasted, the more deeply the poison would seep into her enemies.

• Cang Yinyue warned that they might encounter a Grandmaster Realm expert skilled in poison arts, but Li Musheng insisted they keep moving, forcing Yu Changlu to continue with them.
• The group traveled for over an hour and found a valley sealed by nearly a hundred Bloodbath Alliance members.
• Yu Changlu considered calling for help, but Cang Yinyue threatened him with her blade and he backed down.
• Cang Yinyue and Li Musheng saw Meng Shan, Yuan Mei, and a masked woman surrounded by the Bloodbath Alliance as bluish-black poison mist filled the area around them.
• The black-robed leader attacked the four with a palm print of dead leaves, but the masked woman used the mist to corrode it into black water.
• Meng Shan urged the masked woman to break through the encirclement, but she said the delay would make the poison seep deeper into the Bloodbath Alliance members.

The masked woman poisoned the Bloodbath Alliance disciples and pursued three elders, while Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue watched from outside the valley. Li Musheng revived their poisoned mounts but left Yu Changlu suffering, and Cang Yinyue told him not to save the villain.

• The masked woman poisoned the Bloodbath Alliance disciples with Wild Goose Devouring Poison Powder and pursued three elders who fled the valley.
• Yu Changlu, who had been watching from outside, succumbed to the poison and begged Li Musheng for help.
• Cang Yinyue took a detoxification pill, while Li Musheng said his Indestructible Golden Body made him immune to poison.
• Li Musheng revived the poisoned mules and Cang Yinyue's horse, astonishing Yu Changlu and Cang Yinyue.
• When Li Musheng approached Yu Changlu, Cang Yinyue told him not to save the man because he deserved to die.

Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue discussed the Great Li Court’s plans for the martial world and left Yu Changlu behind after Cang Yinyue killed him. Their journey was interrupted when the masked woman, now pursued by the Bloodbath Alliance, revealed that its leaders had set a trap; she called for her junior brother as they attacked her.

• Cang Yinyue explained that the Hidden Spy Bureau and other government agencies were gathering information on the martial world and its criminals.
• Li Musheng asked whether the Court could take control of the martial world, and Cang Yinyue killed Yu Changlu before they continued toward Shangyang City.
• A wounded masked woman fled past Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue, pursued by the black-robed middle-aged man and two old men from the Bloodbath Alliance.
• The Bloodbath Alliance surrounded the masked woman in a valley, where she accused them of secretly taking antidotes and sacrificing their disciples to lure her into a trap.
• As one old man charged the masked woman, she shouted for her junior brother to attack.

The shabby scholar revealed that he had mastered the Formless Puppet Technique and used it to control the black-robed middle-aged man and two old men who had attacked his Senior Sister. After helping her defeat them, he targeted Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue, whose movements he had already restrained from beyond the range of the incomplete technique.

• The shabby scholar revealed his cold confidence as Meng Shan and Yuan Mei suddenly collapsed, while his wounded Senior Sister struggled against the black-robed middle-aged man and the old men.
• The black-robed middle-aged man launched a palm strike at the masked woman, but he and the other two old men found their bodies and true qi becoming sluggish.
• The scholar formed invisible qi threads and forced the three Grandmasters to attack and mutilate one another.
• Cang Yinyue recognized the technique as the Formless Puppet Technique, a legacy of the destroyed Myriad Form Demon Sect.
• The masked woman removed her veil and asked to use the three men to cultivate her Blood Aspect Poison Claw Technique, while the scholar promised her Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue as well.
• Cang Yinyue tried to flee and summon her shadow, but the scholar restrained her from far beyond the ten-zhang range of the incomplete technique.