Chapter Summaries

After Uncle Mu died, Xu Yi carried his body into the duel against Wan Tengyun, vowing that he, Qiu Wa, and Uncle Mu would face the fight together. Wan Tengyun’s renewed assault failed to hurt Xu Yi, and the chapter ended as Xu Yi caught his wrist and began pummeling him until his mid-grade magic robe burst apart.

• Gao Junmo found Uncle Mu dead, and Xu Yi carried him away while promising not to kill Wan Tengyun.
• Xu Yi returned to the platform with Uncle Mu on his back and Qiu Wa in his arms, then declared they would fight together.
• Wan Tengyun returned healed and armored, attacked Xu Yi with repeated sword strikes and Sonic Flying Daggers, and failed to penetrate his defenses.
• Wan Tengyun proposed a draw, but Xu Yi challenged him to land one more strike; Wan Tengyun agreed and attacked.
• Xu Yi sensed Wan Tengyun’s approach, caught his wrist, and repeatedly punched him until his mid-grade magic robe burst apart.

Xu Yi defeated Wan Tengyun and forced him to bow to Uncle Mu, then challenged the Black Dragon Hall to a duel. The challenge left the Hall with one incense stick to accept or leave Guang'an City.

• Xu Yi broke Wan Tengyun’s ankles, beat him, and ordered him to bow three hundred times to Uncle Mu’s corpse.
• Wan Youlong tried to attack, but Elder Shui stopped him, and Gao Junmo reminded him that Wan Tengyun was still alive.
• Wan Tengyun passed out before completing the bows, so Xu Yi crushed his other calf to wake him and make him continue.
• Xu Yi carried Uncle Mu away as the crowd recognized him as the winner of the duel.
• The Adjudication Hall announced Xu Yi’s challenge to the Black Dragon Hall and demanded its answer within one incense stick, or the Hall would have to leave Guang’an City.

After Uncle Mu’s death and Qiu Wa’s grievous injuries, Xu Yi invoked the dueling rules to counterchallenge the Black Dragon Hall. He left more than a dozen of its Body Tempering Peak fighters defeated in moments, still holding Uncle Mu’s body with one arm.

• Li Zhongshu explained that a victorious challenged party could counterchallenge immediately, without giving the opponent seven days to prepare.
• Xu Yi returned to the arena carrying Uncle Mu’s body and called on the Black Dragon Hall to fight.
• Wan Youlong summoned the hall’s Body Tempering Peak fighters and offered rewards, but they were afraid to face Xu Yi.
• Ma Wensheng reminded the fighters that refusing the challenge would bring the hall’s punishment, and Wan Youlong told them to stall Xu Yi or surrender if necessary.
• More than a dozen Black Dragon Hall fighters took turns fighting Xu Yi and were defeated in less than a cup of tea, while he held Uncle Mu with one arm.

Xu Yi defeated every challenger and forced Black Dragon Hall to face its final match, while Wan Youlong begged Elder Shui to intervene. Elder Shui tried to halt the duel, but Xu Yi ignored him as the deadline approached.

• Xu Yi defeated the challengers, demanding that each kneel and kowtow to Uncle Mu three hundred times; those who refused were killed.
• After Xu Yi won his thirteenth match, Black Dragon Hall's leaders gathered anxiously as the hall faced defeat or expulsion from Guang'an City.
• Wan Youlong knelt before Elder Shui and begged him to punish Xu Yi, with the other Black Dragon Hall members following his lead.
• Elder Shui asked Gao Junmo to spare Black Dragon Hall, but Gao Junmo refused to interfere in Xu Yi's personal vendetta.
• Elder Shui used the arena's sound-amplifying formation to urge Xu Yi to end the feud, but Xu Yi did not respond.
• Ma Wensheng realized that Xu Yi was deliberately stalling for time.

Xu Yi forced the Black Dragon Hall to withdraw from Guang'an City, then scattered Uncle Mu’s ashes in the Nielong River and vowed to avenge him and protect Qiu Wa. Two days later, Yuan Qinghua showed Xu Yi the fortune he had raised from the battle’s winnings and equipment.

• Xu Yi insulted Elder Shui, who could not force him to back down and ordered the Black Dragon Hall to withdraw.
• Ma Wensheng persuaded Wan Youlong to accept the retreat, and the Adjudication Hall ordered the Black Dragon Hall to leave Guang'an City.
• The crowd applauded Xu Yi after he carried Uncle Mu’s body from the arena.
• Xu Yi scattered Uncle Mu’s ashes into the Nielong River and vowed to avenge him and bring Qiu Wa back to health.
• Two days later, Yuan Qinghua showed Xu Yi the gold notes he had earned by selling the battle’s spoils.

Xu Yi collected the proceeds from selling equipment and ordered Yuan Qinghua to buy as much Precious Medicine as possible, while refusing a tempting offer to earn money through endorsements. He used the medicine to nourish Qiu Wa’s wooden carving, but she showed no improvement, and he went to the Patrol Division for his first day on the job.

• Yuan Qinghua gave Xu Yi 28,000 gold from the betting ticket and equipment sales, and Xu Yi rewarded him with 100 gold and told him to buy Precious Medicine.
• Yuan Qinghua suggested Xu Yi accept payment for promoting shops, but Xu Yi threw him out the window.
• Xu Yi stewed three Precious Medicines to nourish Qiu Wa’s wooden carving, but it barely improved and she did not wake.
• Xu Yi promised to cure Qiu Wa, then went to the Patrol Division in uniform for his first day on the job.

Xu Yi entered White Tiger Hall and Gao Junmo appointed him head of the Patrol Division’s Second Enforcement Department, prompting Li Zhongshu and the others to challenge the promotion. The dispute ended with the constables demanding that Gao Junmo reconsider, leaving Xu Yi’s appointment contested.

• Xu Yi passed the Patrol Division’s security checkpoints and entered a crowded White Tiger Hall, where the assembled constables watched him.
• Gao Junmo introduced Xu Yi by his real name and appointed him head of the Second Enforcement Department, overseeing the First, Fifth, and Ninth Squads.
• Xu Yi accused the assembled constables of resenting his appointment and provoked them into openly voicing their displeasure.
• Xu Yi singled out Li Zhongshu, who argued that Xu Yi lacked experience in criminal law and squad leadership and had not truly driven the Black Dragon Hall from Guang'an.
• Qi Baihan, Song Peilin, Li Zhongshu, and the other constables urged Gao Junmo to reconsider Xu Yi’s promotion.

Xu Yi took command of the Second Enforcement Department after Gao Junmo wagered that he could drive Black Dragon Hall out of Guang'an within seven days. As Xu Yi searched the department’s records for a way to bring the gang down, he discovered that Tianshui County’s files contained no mention of the Zhou Family massacre.

• Gao Junmo wagered that Xu Yi would expel Black Dragon Hall from Guang'an within seven days, and the officials accepted the bet.
• Xu Yi told Gao Junmo he would not let Black Dragon Hall go, then headed to Courtyard No. 9 to take charge of the Second Enforcement Department.
• Xu Yi ordered Section Chief Xing to bring him Black Dragon Hall’s case files and records of Guang'an’s major crimes.
• Xu Yi read Black Dragon Hall’s files and found that every recorded crime had been officially resolved, leaving him no clear way to crush the gang.
• Xu Yi searched the Tianshui County records for the Zhou Family massacre but found no mention of the massacre or Zhou Family Village.

Xu Yi uncovered a major unsolved case that sent him rushing to find Gao Junmo, while Wan Youlong gathered Black Dragon Hall’s leaders to plan their departure from Guang'an. His men insisted they kill Xu Yi before leaving, and Wan Youlong agreed to act that day.

• Xu Yi found a colossal unsolved case in the final book of criminal files and hurried to the Red Mansion to see Gao Junmo.
• Wan Youlong told Black Dragon Hall’s leaders that they would leave Guang'an and relocate west to Dejiang Prefecture under the Shui Family’s protection.
• The gathered leaders remained silent, then voiced their anger over fleeing Guang'an without killing Xu Yi.
• Wan Youlong defended Ma Wensheng and said he would not force anyone to leave, prompting the room to recall Jiang Shaohuan.
• The monkey-faced deputy hall master urged Wan Youlong to kill Xu Yi before Black Dragon Hall departed, and Wan Youlong agreed to make a move that day.

Xu Yi stormed into the Shui Family Villa and confronted Wan Youlong and the Shui family over their defiance of the law. He summoned a force of constables to surround the estate and challenged Wan Youlong to break through.

• Xu Yi kicked open the villa doors and entered as Wan Youlong and the others surrounded him.
• Xu Yi revealed his full name, then slapped the white-clothed scholar twice when he tried to assert the Shui family's authority.
• Xu Yi accused Wan Youlong and the Shui family of ignoring the Adjudication Hall's ruling, sheltering a wanted fugitive, and threatening an officer.
• Xu Yi fired a Cloud-Piercing Arrow, signaling the black-uniformed constables surrounding the estate with heavy crossbows.
• Wan Youlong dismissed the constables as too weak to stop him, and Xu Yi challenged him to fight his way out.

Xu Yi arrested Wan Youlong and the Black Dragon Hall under the Adjudication Hall’s authority, turning their refusal to cooperate into a humiliating public ordeal. As Xu’s men hauled them away in prisoner carts, Wan Youlong regretted ignoring Ma Wensheng’s warning.

• Ma Wensheng warned Wan Youlong that fighting Xu Yi in Guang'an City would bring the Patrol Division down on them, so Wan Youlong ordered the Black Dragon Hall to stand down.
• Xu Yi summoned a hundred constables and Dragon Binding Ropes, then ordered them to bind the Black Dragon Hall for violating the Adjudication Hall’s regulations.
• Wan Youlong stopped the monkey-faced deputy hall master from attacking Xu Yi and offered his hands to be bound, while secretly vowing revenge.
• The constables bound Wan Youlong and the others and carried them away as Ma Wensheng urged the white-clothed scholar to contact Elder Shui.
• The white-clothed scholar ignored Ma Wensheng’s request and hurried to a pharmacy, hoping Xu Yi would torment the Black Dragon Hall further.
• Xu Yi loaded the bound men onto prisoner carts and had constables slap them until they stopped cursing, leaving Wan Youlong ashamed and regretful.

Xu Yi publicly executed Wan Youlong and the Black Dragon Hall’s other captured leaders, then destroyed their surviving souls with Soul Scattering Incense. At the Patrol Division, Qi Baihan, Song Peilin, and Li Zhongshu argued over who might take Xu Yi’s position if he failed to eliminate the Black Dragon Hall.

• Xu Yi led Wan Youlong, Ma Wensheng, and the other captives to the North City execution ground as a crowd gathered.
• Xu Yi ordered the executions, and the Yellow Turban Strongmen beheaded nearly thirty Black Dragon Hall members.
• Xu Yi used Soul Scattering Incense to destroy the dead Qi Sea Realm experts’ souls, then prayed for Uncle Mu.
• Qi Baihan, Song Peilin, and Li Zhongshu met to discuss the future head of the Second Enforcement Department, since they believed Xu Yi would fail his task.
• Qi Baihan’s attempt to mediate between Song Peilin and Li Zhongshu failed, and the two argued over whose daughter he would choose to marry.

Qi Baihan mediated a dispute over Xu Yi’s post, but the men’s agreement collapsed when they learned Xu Yi had killed Wan Youlong and wiped out the Black Dragon Hall’s leadership. Li Zhongshu then convinced himself Xu Yi had unlawfully executed them and expected a backlash from Guang’an’s powerful clans.

• Qi Baihan proposed that Li Zhongshu take Xu Yi’s steward post and give up command of the Tenth Squad to Song Han.
• A man in black reported that Xu Yi had killed Wan Youlong and the Black Dragon Hall’s leaders at the market entrance.
• The three men doubted the report until the compound erupted in cheers for Steward Xu.
• Qi Baihan reasoned that Xu Yi had lured Wan Youlong and the others into submitting to execution without resistance.
• Li Zhongshu decided Xu Yi had wrongfully executed Wan Youlong and predicted that Guang’an’s Aristocratic Clans would retaliate.

Xu Yi led Patrol Division soldiers to surround the Shui family's estate after killing Wan Youlong, while Gao Junmo revealed he had approved Xu Yi's operation. Elder Shui arrived and struck Xu Yi with a powerful punch, leaving both men astonished by the other's strength.

• Li Zhongshu, Qi Baihan, and Song Peilin mistook Gao Junmo's arrival for a chance to stop Xu Yi's escape, but Gao told them he had authorized Xu Yi's operation.
• Gao Junmo said Xu Yi had probably already visited the Shui family, and Li Zhongshu collapsed in shock.
• Xu Yi surrounded Elder Shui's private residence with Patrol Division soldiers and had Shui Shisan slapped while asking where Shui Zhongjing was.
• Elder Shui arrived on a giant white crane and punched at a constable, but Xu Yi stepped in and blocked the blow with his Dragon Crocodile Armor.
• Xu Yi and Elder Shui were both astonished that Xu Yi had withstood the Qi Sea Realm punch.

Xu Yi confronted Elder Shui over his iron essence, claiming it was stolen from a royal birthday tribute caravan. The chapter left Elder Shui facing Xu Yi’s revelation that the caravan robbery had been solved and planned by Jiang Shaohuan.

• Xu Yi shielded a black-clad constable from Elder Shui’s strike and accused Shui Zhongjing of attacking a royal official.
• Elder Shui demanded to know why Xu Yi had executed Wan Youlong and the others, while Xu Yi said he had been carrying out official business.
• Xu Yi revealed that he had come to investigate a piece of iron essence in Elder Shui’s possession, and Elder Shui admitted he had bought it at auction from Linglong Pavilion.
• Xu Yi said a tribute caravan carrying iron essence had been robbed at Eagle Worry Gorge three months earlier.
• Xu Yi revealed that the robbery had been solved and that Jiang Shaohuan, Hall Master of Black Dragon Hall’s Baima Branch Hall, had planned and carried it out.

Xu Yi revealed how he had uncovered Black Dragon Hall’s robbery and used the case to accuse Shui Zhongjing of helping the criminals and obtaining stolen iron essence. Shui Zhongjing refused to surrender it, and Xu Yi rode off with his constables, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Xu Yi had traced the stolen iron essence to Jiang Shaohuan, secretly interrogated Black Dragon Hall members with Gao Junmo’s support, and secured an arrest order from the Ministry of Punishment.
• Xu Yi accused Shui Zhongjing of sheltering Black Dragon Hall and suggested that his iron essence had been bought with money returned by Wan Youlong.
• Shui Zhongjing denied the accusations, insisted he had won the iron essence at auction, and threatened to report Xu Yi for abusing his office.
• Xu Yi asked Shui Zhongjing to surrender the iron essence, but Shui refused, so Xu Yi mounted his horse and led the constables away.
• Shui Shisan praised Xu Yi’s retreat, and Shui Zhongjing silenced him by striking him over the courtyard wall.

After Xu Yi returned from destroying Black Dragon Hall, Li Zhongshu challenged his methods and saw through his plan to use King Feng Jian’s authority against the Shui family. The Shui family sent the iron essence to the Patrol Division, easing the immediate conflict as Gao Junmo ordered Li Zhongshu not to provoke the great clans.

• Elder Shui received a message from a Green Bird and smashed the estate gate in anger as Xu Yi returned to the Patrol Division.
• Gao Junmo, Qi Baihan, Song Peilin, and Li Zhongshu praised Xu Yi’s destruction of Black Dragon Hall, while Li Zhongshu criticized his methods.
• Xu Yi refused to answer Li Zhongshu’s question about the iron essence, and Li Zhongshu inferred that Xu Yi planned to set the Shui family against King Feng Jian.
• Gao Junmo ordered Li Zhongshu to tell the Shui family that the Patrol Division would not protect them if they withheld the iron essence.
• A white-clothed scholar delivered a red box containing the iron essence, and Gao Junmo opened it in White Tiger Hall.

While guarding the iron essence taken from Shui Zhongjing, Xu Yi discovered that his own iron essence could absorb it. He left the cause unclear as Li Zhongshu arrived to take over the watch.

• Gao Junmo and Xu Yi both felt the iron essence grow hot when they channeled palm force into it.
• Gao Junmo assigned Xu Yi, Li Zhongshu, Qi Baihan, and Song Peilin to guard the iron essence in shifts at White Tiger Hall.
• Xu Yi took the first watch and waited until nightfall before experimenting with the two pieces of iron essence.
• Xu Yi found that energy flowed between the pieces and that his own iron essence was devouring the one in the case.
• Li Zhongshu relieved Xu Yi, who remained absorbed in trying to understand the discovery.

While guarding the iron essence, Xu Yi discovered that activating the larger piece in his arms made the smaller piece drain away even from a distance, and he decided to take advantage of the secret exchange. He left the case with Li Zhongshu and departed, while Li Zhongshu grew complacent and let his guard drop.

• Xu Yi recalled how the two iron essence pieces had reacted when activated together and grew increasingly tempted to keep the piece in the square case.
• During his night watch, Xu Yi found that activating the iron essence in his arms made the piece in the case shrink, even when he stood fifty zhang away.
• Xu Yi deduced that activating both pieces earlier had opened a lasting passage between them, allowing energy to flow whenever he supplied power to his own piece.
• Xu Yi concealed his excitement, then handed the square case to Li Zhongshu during the shift change and left without engaging with his taunts.
• Li Zhongshu played with the iron essence, put it back in the case, and sat down with his eyes closed and his guard lowered.

When Gao Junmo discovered the iron essence was missing, Li Zhongshu suspected that Gao had taken it and demanded an investigation by the Guang'an Prefecture Governor. Gao Junmo, furious at the accusation, realized Li Zhongshu had turned against him, and Li waited for an outside investigator to clear his name.

• After keeping watch through the night, Li Zhongshu joined Gao Junmo, Xu Yi, Qi Baihan, and Song Peilin for breakfast.
• Gao Junmo opened the square box and found the iron essence missing, then demanded an explanation from Li Zhongshu.
• Li Zhongshu ruled out Xu Yi, Qi Baihan, and Song Peilin, then began to suspect Gao Junmo had taken the treasure when they exchanged the box.
• Li Zhongshu asked the Guang'an Prefecture Governor to investigate, signaling that he no longer trusted Gao Junmo.
• Gao Junmo angrily rebuked Li Zhongshu, who stayed silent and waited for the Prefecture Governor's office to send someone.