Chapter Summaries

Li Musheng forced Huo Xian to reveal that Cang Yinyue was being held by the Huo Family, then followed him to a concealed stronghold beneath a secluded compound in Shangyang City. There, Cang Yinyue broke out of her cell and reunited with Li Musheng.

• Li Musheng suppressed Huo Xian and Huo Zhen, revealing that Huo Xian had recovered his martial strength, and demanded to know where Cang Yinyue was.
• Huo Xian agreed to take Li Musheng to Cang Yinyue, while ordering Huo Qifeng to keep his recovered cultivation and the day’s events secret.
• Li Musheng told Huo Mu that he would teach her a stronger spear technique, then left the Huo Family estate with Huo Xian and the others.
• Huo Xian led Li Musheng’s group through a hidden passage into an underground stronghold and opened the chamber where Cang Yinyue was detained.
• Cang Yinyue attacked Huo Xian as she emerged, but her strike stopped short; she spotted Li Musheng and hurried to his side.

Li Musheng rescued Cang Yinyue and obtained another Heavenly Revelation Secret Treasury Key from the Huo Family, while Li Ru'an and Huo Xian discussed whether he might claim the throne. Meanwhile, the Dugu Family learned that the Huo Family had defeated its people and began preparing to seek revenge.

• Li Musheng asked Cang Yinyue about the Eldest Princess and the Heavenly Revelation Secret Treasury Key, and she explained that the Huo Family had imprisoned her after she followed the Eldest Princess.
• Huo Xian gave Li Musheng a Heavenly Revelation Secret Treasury Key and insisted it was the only key the Eldest Princess possessed.
• After Li Musheng and his companions left, Li Ru'an told Huo Xian that she believed Li Musheng was the person destined to unite the realm, despite his apparent lack of interest in the throne.
• Li Musheng returned to the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters with three keys and decided to wait for the Hidden Kill Pavilion while studying them.
• Dugu Changkong found his son gravely injured and, after the blue-robed old man blamed the Huo Family, the Dugu elders learned that their attempt to seize the Huo Family Spear Manual had provoked the fight.

After the Dugu Family learned that Li Musheng had intervened at the Huo residence, they decided not to confront him directly and instead focused their anger on the Huo Family. In Fengyi Palace, four princes discussed Li Que’s death and the threat posed by Li Musheng, while the Queen told them to avoid provoking him until the Emperor emerged from seclusion.

• A white-dressed girl identified the Eighth Prince, Li Musheng, as the one who had secretly helped Huo Mu, and Dugu Changkong ordered his movements investigated.
• After reading a report about Li Musheng, the Dugu Family elders urged Dugu Changkong to consult Wu Mu and avoid provoking the prince; Changkong agreed but vowed to punish the Huo Family and ordered spies to watch Li Musheng.
• Li Xuan, Li Zi, Li Qeng, and Li An met in Fengyi Palace and condemned Li Musheng for killing Li Que, with Li An pleading that he did not intend to contest the throne.
• The Queen arrived and told the princes not to provoke Li Musheng until the Emperor returned from seclusion, offering them temporary protection in the palace.

The Queen learned that Li Musheng had attacked the Dugu Family, while several princes stayed in the imperial palace awaiting the Emperor. After Jadebright Mountain accused Li Musheng of killing Mu Tianxing, Youshan resigned as Heavenly Secrets Pavilion master and warned his officials to watch the overlooked Sixth Prince; Song Xingwei then arrived to address the pavilion’s new leadership.

• The Queen told the princes that no one could move against Li Musheng without the Emperor’s order, and Fourth Prince Li Zi, Sixth Prince Li An, First Prince Li Xuan, and Fifth Prince Li Qeng chose to stay in the imperial palace.
• An eunuch reported that Li Musheng had gone to the Huo Family residence and acted against members of the Dugu Family.
• Rumors spread that Jadebright Mountain had identified Li Musheng as the person who ambushed and killed Mu Tianxing, the Martial Saint.
• Youshan resigned as master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, advised its officials to avoid the conflict around Li Musheng, and warned them not to overlook the Sixth Prince.
• Song Xingwei arrived, revealed that she had recorded the officials’ conversation, and criticized Youshan for endangering the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.

Song Xingwei ordered the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion to search for the Fire Qilin and announced that its new Pavilion Master would arrive in Shangyang City. Meanwhile, Li Musheng dismissed efforts to clear his name over the Jadebright Mountain Martial Saint’s death, while Ji Song plotted to use the accusation against him; the chapter ended as a Hidden Kill Pavilion assassin confronted General Shen at the Music Bureau.

• Song Xingwei recorded a demerit against a Heavenly Secrets Pavilion overseer, announced the new Pavilion Master’s imminent arrival, and ordered a search for the Fire Qilin.
• Yu Jin and Shen Anran proposed investigating the Martial Saint’s death, but Li Musheng refused and said they should wait for his enemies to reveal themselves.
• Ji Song read the report about the Martial Saint’s death and planned to use it alongside other accusations to ruin Li Musheng’s reputation.
• General Shen hired a gold-ranked Soul-Chasing Hall assassin to protect him from the Hidden Kill Pavilion as he traveled toward Shangyang City.
• A young man entered the Music Bureau, and the blue-robed assassin identified him as a possible Hidden Kill Pavilion assassin; the young man said he had hoped to complete his task alone.

A Hidden Kill Pavilion assassin killed General Shen with help from Phantom Swan and Lady Lian Xing, while the Pavilion’s senior assassins discussed the coming attempt on Great Li’s Eighth Prince. In the Heavenly Prison, Li Zhi received a reply from someone Shen Qiming had contacted and asked whether there was news of the Eighth Prince.

• The young Hidden Kill Pavilion assassin pursued General Shen at the Music Bureau, where Lady Lian Xing appeared beside Phantom Swan and the blue-clad assassin from the Soul-Chasing Hall died without warning.
• Phantom Swan subdued General Shen, and the young assassin killed him with a small blade before thanking the seniors.
• Ghost Dwarf and the Black-and-White Rakshasas arrived, and Phantom Swan revealed that the Pavilion had two remaining strikes against the Eighth Prince and might even send its Pavilion Master.
• Ghost Dwarf and the Black-and-White Rakshasas left for Shangyang City, and Phantom Swan agreed to take the young assassin with him.
• In the Heavenly Prison, Shen Qiming delivered Li Zhi a sealed reply, and Li Zhi asked whether anyone had heard news of the Eighth Prince.

Li Zhi learned that Li Musheng had returned to the capital and that the Hidden Kill Pavilion planned to attack him, while a three-sect alliance announced plans to unite Great Li’s martial sects. Li Musheng dismissed the alliance as someone else’s concern, and Li Yuanling told him about a persistent young man who had been pursuing her.

• Shen Qiming told Li Zhi that Li Musheng had killed Li Que, wounded the Dugu Family, and remained at the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters without making a move against Li Zhi.
• Li Zhi learned that the Hidden Kill Pavilion planned to target Li Musheng with an Assassin Saint and possibly its Pavilion Master, and he resolved to use the time to improve his own martial cultivation.
• Shen Qiming reported rumors that Li Musheng had killed Jadebright Mountain’s Martial Saint, Mu Tianxing, and Li Zhi said his strength relative to a Martial Saint remained uncertain.
• The Taiyin Origin Sect, the All-Under-Heaven Alliance, and the Great Yan Sword Sect formed an alliance and invited Great Li’s martial sects to join a new Martial Alliance.
• Yu Jin informed Li Musheng of the alliance, but Li Musheng told the others to take the matter to Lord Fu and Emperor Yuanwu instead of involving him.
• Li Yuanling told Li Musheng that a young man she had helped was pestering her, tracking her residence, and insisting she attend poetry gatherings and outings with him.

Li Musheng learned that the Hidden Kill Pavilion had challenged him to a battle outside Shangyang City in three days, while Li Yuanling planned to watch. Meanwhile, a disguised prince of Great Chu plotted to marry Li Yuanling through an alliance that he intended to exploit as Great Li weakened.

• Li Yuanling asked Li Musheng to stop a persistent suitor from bothering her, and Yu Jin agreed to handle it.
• Li Yuanling warned Li Musheng that the three great sects' Martial Alliance was tied to his destruction of Falling God Peak, but he refused to take responsibility for it.
• A Heavenly Brocade Guard attendant delivered a letter from the Hidden Kill Pavilion inviting Li Musheng to battle outside Shangyang City in three days, and Li Yuanling and Shen Anran planned to attend.
• A disguised Great Chu prince learned that Li Yuanling had visited Li Musheng and declared that he intended to marry her.
• The Great Chu prince explained that he would use a marriage alliance to gain leverage over Great Li while preparing for the Four Kingdoms to divide its territory.

A hidden faction and the Great Li princes reacted to the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s coming duel with Li Musheng, each making plans against the Eighth Prince. The princes formed an alliance and agreed to turn the martial world’s new Martial Alliance against him.

• The Azure Jade Scorpion King urged the masked figure’s followers to exploit the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s move, but the figure refused to act, and the middle-aged man warned that the Pavilion sought a successor rather than Li Musheng’s death.
• The middle-aged man gave the former spies True Essence Pills and told them to watch Li Musheng’s duel outside the city in three days.
• First Prince Li Xuan, Fifth Prince Li Qeng, Fourth Prince Li Zi, and Sixth Prince Li An met and feared Li Musheng’s power if he became the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s Pavilion Master.
• Li Xuan and Li Qeng persuaded Li An to join them, while Li Zi pressed him to commit; Li An agreed despite privately mocking their schemes.
• The four princes discussed the three great sects’ plan to establish a Martial Alliance and decided to make the sects confront Li Musheng.

New Heavenly Secrets Pavilion master Zhu Wuming learned that Li Musheng had sought the pavilion’s help and hoped to settle the conflict, but testing a black cat hair Li Musheng had sent left him overwhelmed by its martial intent. The hair disintegrated after forcing Zhu Wuming to his knees and draining his martial true qi.

• Song Xingwei told Zhu Wuming she was leaving to watch the duel between the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s Saint of Assassins and her sworn elder brother, then departed after hearing Zhu Wuming’s account of witnessing Lü Xianzhi fight.
• Zhu Wuming opened an overdue letter from the elderly storyteller in Lanzhou City and learned about Li Musheng’s past encounter with the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion and his request for help.
• Zhu Wuming examined the black cat hair Li Musheng had sent and sensed a powerful martial will when he tried to destroy it with true qi.
• Zhu Wuming used black-and-white cloud qi to test the hair, but its martial intent overwhelmed his consciousness and forced him to kneel.
• Zhu Wuming recovered as the cat hair’s martial intent faded, then realized his true qi had dispersed and watched the hair crumble into ash.

Song Xingwei and Zhu Wuming traveled to Setting Sun Wall to witness Li Musheng’s duel with the Hidden Kill Pavilion, while Huo Qifeng’s party encountered a mysterious Daoist and Monk Shenshu playing chess nearby. Li Musheng arrived with Li Yuanling but found the roads blocked, and the big black cat demanded to join him.

• Zhu Wuming joined Song Xingwei on her trip and asked about her connection to the Eighth Prince, hoping to reconcile the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion with him.
• Crowds gathered at Setting Sun Wall for Li Musheng’s confrontation with the Hidden Kill Pavilion, where Huo Qifeng’s family noticed a green-robed Daoist and Monk Shenshu playing chess.
• Monk Shenshu said he had come to pay respects to the deceased Li Que and was still considering whether to reclaim a key he had given him.
• Huo Qifeng identified the monk as the renowned Shenshu of Coldlight Temple and told Huo Shan that Li Musheng could handle himself.
• Li Musheng and Li Yuanling arrived near Setting Sun Wall, but the packed road stopped their carriage; the big black cat meowed for Li Musheng to take it along.

Li Musheng arrived at Setting Sun Wall with the big black cat, drawing the attention of the gathered spectators and the Hidden Kill Pavilion. As the cat basked in its sudden fame, Li Musheng sensed the assassins’ arrival and the air around the summit darkened.

• Li Musheng used his movement art to take the big black cat to the summit of Setting Sun Wall, where Shenshu and the blue-robed Daoist noticed his arrival.
• The blue-robed Daoist told his disciple that Li Musheng’s martial talent was extraordinary, while Shenshu tried to recruit the boy into the Buddhist sect.
• Dugu Changkong and his family watched Li Musheng from the crowd, and Dugu Changkong hoped the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s assassination saint would avenge his youngest son.
• Phantom Swan and other Hidden Kill Pavilion assassins discussed Li Musheng, the choice of their next Pavilion Master, and whether Soul-Chasing Hall might interfere.
• The big black cat paraded beside Li Musheng and attracted the crowd’s attention, while Li Musheng waited for the assassins.
• Li Musheng announced that the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s assassins had arrived, and darkness spread around the summit as the crowd fell silent.

Li Musheng faced Hidden Kill Pavilion’s Killing Saint atop Setting Sun Wall and accepted the challenge to withstand three moves. After dismissing the first two attacks, he neutralized the Killing Saint’s devastating final palm with a single finger, leaving the duel’s outcome poised in his favor.

• The Killing Saint announced that Li Musheng would win if he endured three moves, and Li Musheng agreed to the challenge.
• Li Musheng caught the Killing Saint’s first blade of killing intent between two fingers and shattered it, calling the attack too weak.
• The Killing Saint engulfed Li Musheng in the Slaughter Mist, but the mist vanished and Li Musheng reappeared unharmed, urging him to use his final move seriously.
• The Killing Saint unleashed a withered palm that threatened to destroy Setting Sun Wall, while the onlookers wondered whether Li Musheng could withstand it.
• Li Musheng flicked a finger at the palm, making it withdraw as the killing intent dispersed and Setting Sun Wall’s summit steadied.

Li Musheng defeated the Hidden Kill Pavilion's Killing Saint and secured the position of its future Pavilion Master, then departed from Setting Sun Wall. The crowd fawned over his big black cat, while the Dugu Family feared the consequences of opposing him.

• The Killing Saint admitted Li Musheng was stronger, conceded defeat, and accepted him as the Hidden Kill Pavilion's new Pavilion Master.
• Li Musheng left the mountain after telling the big black cat to descend on its own.
• The crowd surrounded the big black cat and offered it gifts in hopes of winning Li Musheng's favor.
• A Dugu Family youth suggested killing the cat, but an elder struck him down and warned the family against provoking Li Musheng.

After the Eighth Prince defeated the Killing Saint, the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s assassins accepted his claim to become their next Pavilion Master, though their current master feared the prince’s imperial ties would destroy the organization’s independence. Meanwhile, Emperor Yuanwu and his companion secretly returned to the capital, where the Hidden Kill Pavilion Master confronted them and raised his concerns about the Eighth Prince.

• Dugu Changkong returned to the city with the Dugu Family elders, while the defeated Hidden Kill Pavilion assassins departed in low spirits.
• Lian Xing rebuked the assassins for doubting their path, and Ghost Dwarf praised her resolve.
• Daoist Qingye and Monk Shenshu discussed the Heavenly Revelation Secret Treasury, the changing state of the world, and the key now held by the Eighth Prince before ending their chess game in a draw.
• Song Xingwei agreed to help Zhu Wuming resolve the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s misunderstanding with the Eighth Prince.
• The Hidden Kill Pavilion Master intercepted Emperor Yuanwu and a black-haired elder in an alley after they secretly returned to the capital.
• The Hidden Kill Pavilion Master told Emperor Yuanwu that the Eighth Prince was entitled to lead the pavilion but warned that his imperial identity could compromise its independence and bring about its destruction.

Emperor Yuanwu discussed the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s future with its masked master, while Li Musheng assured the master that he would not involve the organization in court or martial-world struggles. The Hidden Kill Pavilion Master recounted how he inherited the Hidden Kill Order, then revealed that the Pavilion’s succession method might be a deception.

• The Hidden Kill Pavilion Master asked Emperor Yuanwu to keep Li Musheng from using the Pavilion for Great Li’s court affairs, and Emperor Yuanwu said he would consider the request.
• After Emperor Yuanwu and the black-haired elder left, Li Musheng appeared behind the Hidden Kill Pavilion Master and admitted he had heard their conversation.
• Li Musheng said he wanted the Hidden Kill Pavilion mainly to have it find things for him and claimed he had no interest in the throne or martial-world disputes.
• The Hidden Kill Pavilion Master described his sect’s massacre, his pursuit of the Hidden Kill Order, and how he eventually became Pavilion Master.
• The Hidden Kill Pavilion Master asked why he had obtained the Hidden Kill Order and then claimed that the Pavilion’s method of choosing its master had always been a deception.

The Hidden Kill Pavilion Master revealed that the Pavilion’s succession was secretly controlled by choosing candidates with the White Tiger Baleful Fate, but Li Musheng had become Pavilion Master through his own strength. After learning that the Hidden Kill Order came from White Emperor City and was linked to the ancient White Tiger, Li Musheng decided he would have to go there.

• The Hidden Kill Pavilion Master explained that previous Pavilion Masters preselected successors with the White Tiger Baleful Fate, and the Hidden Kill Order’s apparent trials merely led the chosen candidates to the position.
• The Hidden Kill Pavilion Master admitted that Li Musheng was not his chosen successor, but he had allowed Li Musheng to take the position and hoped he would preserve the Pavilion.
• Li Musheng refused the burden of leading the Hidden Kill Pavilion, but the Hidden Kill Pavilion Master said he would need to visit White Emperor City to take command of its affairs.
• Li Musheng asked about the bronze Hidden Kill Order, and the Hidden Kill Pavilion Master said it came from White Emperor City and was reputedly left by the ancient fiend beast White Tiger.
• Li Musheng connected the White Tiger’s legacy to his search for treasures that could advance his martial arts and resolved to visit White Emperor City.
• After the Hidden Kill Pavilion Master left, Li Musheng dismissed his encounter with Emperor Yuanwu and headed to the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters to pursue martial transcendence.

After Li Musheng defeated the Hidden Kill Pavilion’s Saint Assassin, officials and princes abandoned their plans to oppose him. Li Ru'an decided to kill Li Zhi herself, accusing him of murdering the consort who raised him.

• Li Musheng returned to his residence, where the big black cat showed off its gifts and he ordered the golden arowanas cooked for dinner.
• Ji Song’s former students and allies told him they would no longer help impeach Li Musheng, leaving him isolated.
• Li Zi, Li Xuan, Li Qeng, and Li An agreed to avoid confronting Li Musheng until Emperor Yuanwu emerged from seclusion.
• Li Ru'an told Huo Xian she would kill Li Zhi with her own hands, claiming Li Zhi had known he was not Consort Jing’s son and had murdered her.

Li Ru'an planned to kill Li Zhi in the Heavenly Prison, while Fu Yu ordered surveillance on Cang Yinyue and considered seeking Green Mountain Tower's help. Daoist Qingye asked the Hidden Spy Bureau director to lend Great Li's Dragon-Controlling Divine Sword so he could rescue their senior sister from the Great Xuan Imperial Palace, but the director refused and doubted his account.

• Li Ru'an told Champion Marquis Huo Xian she intended to enter the Heavenly Prison and kill Li Zhi, and Huo Xian agreed to accompany her in disguise.
• Ji Feiyun, Gong Lishan, and Fu Yu discussed Li Musheng's defeat of the Killing Saint; Fu Yu decided to stop investigating the Second Prince's murder and ordered continued surveillance of Cang Yinyue.
• Daoist Qingye and his young disciple presented a token at a tavern and waited to meet the director of Great Li's Hidden Spy Bureau.
• Daoist Qingye asked his martial uncle to lend him the Dragon-Controlling Divine Sword, but the director refused because it was Great Li's imperial divine artifact.
• Daoist Qingye revealed that Great Xuan had abducted their senior sister from Azure Cloud Temple and imprisoned her in its palace, and the blue-robed Daoist child confirmed his account.

Daoist Qingye learned that the Dragon-Controlling Divine Sword had been taken by the Eighth Prince, and his junior brother proposed that Qingye bargain with the prince for its loan to rescue Senior Sister. The chapter ended with Qingye considering the plan and being told where to find something the Eighth Prince wanted.

• Daoist Qingye revealed that the Azure Cloud Sect's founding ancestor had used the Longevity Scripture to live for more than two centuries, though the scripture had cost him his martial cultivation.
• Daoist Qingye's junior brother said the Dragon-Controlling Divine Sword had been lost, then identified the Eighth Prince as the one who had taken it and given it to a subordinate.
• Daoist Qingye suspected his junior brother wanted him to seize the sword, but his junior brother advised him to ask the Eighth Prince for a loan instead.
• Daoist Qingye's junior brother said the Eighth Prince was interested in the Heavenly Revelation Secret Treasury key and the divine beast Fire Qilin, and offered to help Qingye find something to trade for the sword.