Chapter Summaries

Bai Yang decided to capture a formation master from the Blood Lotus Sect to help him keep satellites aloft, then flew alone to Qingmu County to check on Lan Shuang and the others. He reached the besieged county and prepared to enter the city in disguise before infiltrating the sect.

• Bai Yang searched his formation inheritance for a way to suspend satellites, then decided to seize a formation master rather than study formations himself.
• Bai Yang told Little Cat he would leave for Qingmu County the next day, and Little Cat prepared his bath before they spent the night together.
• Bai Yang left Gourd Valley alone, carrying a large supply of talismans, and flew to Qingmu County in a few hours.
• Bai Yang saw hundreds of thousands of Blood Lotus Sect forces besieging Qingmu County and a massive battle underway against the outnumbered Chen Dynasty army.
• Bai Yang used a Stealth Talisman and circled around the battlefield to enter Qingmu County, where he planned to find an acquaintance and then capture a formation master.

Bai Yang returned to war-torn Qingmu County, entered through its guarded gates after Wang Erji confirmed his identity, and saw how the war had driven up food prices and left ordinary people hungry. He ordered his household to distribute porridge and halve grain prices, ending with a warning to anyone who objected to his decision.

• Bai Yang discovered that a powerful Formation protected Qingmu County and blocked intruders from entering over its walls.
• Bai Yang approached the gate openly, and Wang Erji identified him to the soldiers so they let him into the city.
• Bai Yang rewarded the gate guards with a hundred million coins for drinks and entered the desolate streets with Wang Erji and his entourage.
• Wang Erji told Bai Yang that grain prices had risen tenfold and that the Bai Mansion had profited from selling grain during the shortage.
• Bai Yang ordered Wang Erji to use thirty percent of their remaining grain for fifty porridge stations and to halve prices, then warned that anyone who disagreed could come find him.

Bai Yang reunited with Qing He, who was struggling in poverty, and lent her one billion coins without asking why she needed it. After she left, he discovered she planned to buy a Life-Extending Pill for the gravely wounded Xiao Lan and wondered what had happened to them.

• Bai Yang encountered Qing He outside Guest's Welcome and invited her inside to eat.
• Qing He asked to borrow one billion coins, and Bai Yang agreed while promising not to investigate her troubles.
• Qing He told Bai Yang she was staying in the poor quarter, then returned to a hut where Xiao Lan lay gravely wounded.
• Qing He said Xiao Lan needed a Life-Extending Pill, and Bai Yang secretly watched as his servant delivered the money.
• Bai Yang recognized that Xiao Lan had a fatal wound near her heart and wondered what had happened.

Bai Yang discovered that the Blood Lotus Sect had been tormenting Qing He to force her to persuade him to join them. After learning the truth, he gave Qing He a Life-Extending Pill for Xiao Lan and killed the sect agent, knowing the threat would continue.

• Bai Yang ordered an investigation into Qing He's past while she used his loan to cook porridge for the dying Xiao Lan and set out to buy medicine.
• A Blood Lotus Sect agent confronted Qing He and threatened Xiao Lan unless she helped recruit Bai Yang.
• Bai Yang intervened, protected Qing He, and demanded the agent explain the sect's scheme to capture him through his friends.
• Qing He and Bai Yang each took responsibility for the suffering caused by their connection, and the agent gave her a Life-Extending Pill for Xiao Lan.
• The agent again invited Bai Yang to join the Blood Lotus Sect, but Bai Yang killed him with the Blood-Patterned Sword and vowed to oppose the sect.

Bai Yang saved Xiao Lan with a Life-Extending Pill, brought Qing He and the others to the safety of Bai Mansion, and headed to the county barracks to meet Mo Yuan Chi. There, he learned about a mysterious swordsman repeatedly attacking the Blood Lotus Sect and recognized him as Ling Jiao.

• Bai Yang killed the Blood Lotus Sect middle-aged man, and Qing He gave Xiao Lan the Life-Extending Pill that healed her fatal injuries.
• Bai Yang learned that Mo Yuan Chi had become Qingmu County's first Grandmaster in over a hundred years, then invited Qing He and the others to stay at Bai Mansion.
• Qing He returned Bai Yang's money and agreed to stay at his mansion until the fighting ended.
• Wang Erji informed Bai Yang that Mo Yuan Chi could meet him, and Ding You escorted Bai Yang to the barracks.
• Ding You told Bai Yang that Jiang Shan had gone to search the Iron Sword Sect ruins for the Life Fruit, then described a powerful swordsman who repeatedly charged the Blood Lotus Sect.
• Bai Yang saw the swordsman standing atop White Stone Tower and recognized him as Ling Jiao.

Bai Yang reunited with Ling Jiao at the White Stone Tower and persuaded the peerless martial artist to abandon his planned raid on the Blood Lotus Sect and help with Bai Yang’s task. Ling Jiao eagerly followed after Bai Yang promised to introduce him to a girl, leaving Ding You stunned.

• Mo Yuan Chi and the County Governor watched Ling Jiao atop the White Stone Tower and worried that he would not return safely from another raid on the Blood Lotus Sect.
• Bai Yang called up to Ling Jiao from the tower’s base, and Ling Jiao jumped down and recognized him as an old friend.
• Bai Yang teased Ling Jiao about his lack of experience with girls, while Ding You watched in disbelief as the renowned fighter acted like a bashful country bumpkin.
• Bai Yang asked Ling Jiao to help with an upcoming task, and Ling Jiao initially refused because he did not want to serve as Bai Yang’s muscle.
• Bai Yang promised to find Ling Jiao a pretty girl, and Ling Jiao agreed to accompany him, forgetting his plans to attack the Blood Lotus Sect.

Bai Yang visited the military camp, reunited with the children he had rescued, and learned the Blood Lotus Sect's headquarters was beneath the flag at its central command tent. After confirming that Lan Shuang and the others were alive, he left with Ling Jiao and proposed that they take on a dangerous task.

• Bai Yang and Ding You reached the central command tent but waited while Mo Yuan Chi and the County Governor handled reports from the battle.
• Hong Yi and the other children greeted Bai Yang in a side tent, and he rewarded them with spicy strips.
• Bai Yang met Mo Yuan Chi and the County Governor, learned the Blood Lotus Sect's headquarters was beneath its camp flag, and heard that the sect had powerful fighters and cultivators guarding it.
• The County Governor confirmed that Lan Shuang, Lan Qingfeng, Niu Jian, and Niu Lanshan were alive but withheld further details because the information was classified.
• Bai Yang left the camp with Ling Jiao and asked if he would join him in taking on something big; Ling Jiao asked whether there would be girls.

Bai Yang persuaded Ling Jiao to infiltrate the Blood Lotus Sect during the battle outside the city, using disguises and talismans to reach its camp. They made it behind the sect’s lines and prepared to blend into the fighting as dead members.

• Bai Yang convinced Ling Jiao to help eliminate the Blood Lotus Sect’s key members by infiltrating its camp.
• Bai Yang obtained Chen Dynasty armor, plain clothes, disguise pills, and Stealth Talismans, then explained his plan to Ling Jiao.
• Bai Yang and Ling Jiao used Stealth Talismans to leave the city and skirt the battlefield, while Ling Jiao deflected arrows aimed at them.
• The two reached the rear of the Blood Lotus Sect’s lines and prepared to use disguise pills and blend into the battle.

Bai Yang and Ling Jiao infiltrated the Blood Lotus Sect’s army and survived a daylong battle by pretending to fight while staying near the rear. After the survivors returned to camp, Bai Yang was unexpectedly chosen as a squad leader by nine men who mistook his performance for real enthusiasm.

• Bai Yang and Ling Jiao disguised themselves, joined the Blood Lotus Sect’s forces, and fooled a minor officer into giving them weapons.
• During the battle, Bai Yang and Ling Jiao blended into the rear ranks, feigned effort, and avoided drawing attention as both armies suffered enormous losses.
• At sunset, a bell ended the fighting, and Bai Yang and Ling Jiao returned with the survivors to the Blood Lotus Sect’s camp.
• Black-robed Blood Lotus Sect members scattered powder that dissolved the corpses, while the Qingmu County forces did the same on their side.
• A Blood Lotus Sect General reorganized the survivors into new units and announced Bone Strengthening Pills as rewards for their commanders.
• Nine men chose Bai Yang as their squad leader because they believed he had fought more enthusiastically than anyone else.

Bai Yang rose from squad leader to platoon leader by paying recruits to support him, while Ling Jiao doubted he could advance further. At the battalion leader selection, Bai Yang stepped forward to claim a position and faced immediate ridicule.

• Bai Yang's fellow soldiers chose him as squad leader, and he joined the contest for platoon leader positions.
• Bai Yang offered recruits ten thousand coins each to nominate him, gaining enough supporters to become a platoon leader.
• Bai Yang told Ling Jiao to fight anyone who challenged his authority, promising her a chance to meet fair-skinned girls.
• The platoon leaders gathered to choose battalion leaders, and five positions went to candidates with Martial Warrior cultivation.
• Bai Yang announced his bid for battalion leader and was immediately mocked by opposing candidates.

Bai Yang used his Earth-made weapons to silence the men opposing his bid for battalion commander, and the Blood Lotus Sect confirmed his appointment. He joined the other commanders as they gathered to receive their assignments and rewards.

• Bai Yang asked the Blood Lotus Sect member whether he could challenge the others and learned that deaths during the contest would be accepted.
• Bai Yang shot ten men in the shoulders with his pistol, then injured a charging ninth-layer Martial Artist with a grenade.
• The Blood Lotus Sect member appointed Bai Yang battalion commander and assigned the wounded men and the burly fighter to his command.
• Bai Yang introduced himself as Song Yidao to Zhong Yue, Lu Yuxi, and the other commanders while the remaining posts were filled.
• The Blood Lotus Sect member summoned the ten battalion commanders to the platform to assign quarters, identity tokens, pills, and rewards.

Bai Yang and the other nine newly appointed brigade commanders received their supplies and instructions from the Blood Lotus Sect, then agreed to keep most of the rewards for themselves. Bai Yang settled his thousand men into camp and was interrupted by Mei Ye and the other company commanders seeking an audience.

• Black Robe explained the ranks, rewards, saber manuals, and duties assigned to the ten brigade commanders.
• Zhong Yue, Lu Yuxi, and the others discussed withholding most of their subordinates' supplies, and Bai Yang proposed giving them only ten percent.
• The brigade commanders took the valuable pills and manuals from their chests, then used the maps to lead their troops to their quarters.
• Bai Yang brought his thousand men to camp, left them to find their tents, and offered Ling Jiao the chest's contents, which Ling Jiao dismissed as useless.
• Mei Ye arrived with the other company commanders to see Brigade Commander Song, and Bai Yang reluctantly agreed to meet them.

Bai Yang used Ling Jiao to beat down the ten company commanders who demanded their rewards, then gave them the pills and cultivation manuals after making them submit. He left the Ninth Brigade’s commanders with identity tokens, orders to train their men, and instructions to collect supplies with him the next day.

• The ten company commanders visited Bai Yang to demand their identity tokens and the rewards they had earned.
• Bai Yang appointed the men to company commands, distributed their identity tokens, and denied that any pill rewards were owed.
• Mei Ye led the commanders in advancing on Bai Yang to take their shares, so Bai Yang ordered Ling Jiao to beat them down.
• After the commanders admitted defeat, Bai Yang revealed that the box held their pills and cultivation manuals and let them take their shares.
• Bai Yang told the commanders to focus their men on cultivation and said the First Brigade would collect supplies with him the next day.

Bai Yang coached Ling Jiao on how to attract Lu Yuxi, then brought him to submit the company roster to Shang Guan. Ling Jiao’s shy glances caught Lu Yuxi’s attention as they waited outside Shang Guan’s tent.

• Ling Jiao pressed Bai Yang to explain how to pursue Lu Yuxi, and Bai Yang told him to make an impression by silently sneaking glances at her.
• At dawn, Ling Jiao hurried Bai Yang to see the general, but Bai Yang first collected the roster, supplies, and assigned duties to the First Company.
• Bai Yang and Ling Jiao reached Shang Guan’s tent, where the other company commanders were waiting to submit their rosters.
• Ling Jiao followed Bai Yang’s advice and repeatedly glanced shyly at Lu Yuxi, who noticed him and grew curious instead of angry.
• After about an hour, Shang Guan called the waiting commanders into his tent.

Bai Yang learned that the Blood Lotus Sect was using mass casualties to train an army for an attack on Qingmu County, and uncovered the deadly purpose behind its formation. He slipped into the Black Robe's tent to interrogate him but had to restrain him when the man resisted his psychic control.

• The Black Robe told Bai Yang and the brigade commanders that hundreds of thousands of cannon fodder were being sent to fight Qingmu County, with survivors formed into new armies.
• Bai Yang pretended to share the commanders' enthusiasm for Blood Lotus Sect membership while planning to destroy the sect's camp that night.
• Bai Yang coached Ling Jiao on how to make Lu Yuxi pursue him, then focused on planning his own move against the Blood Lotus Sect.
• Bai Yang recognized that the Blood Lotus Sect's Break Thousand Armies Formation could combine soldiers' strength to attack Qingmu County, while draining their lifeblood and ruining their foundations.
• Bai Yang used God-Slaying Gold to conceal himself and approached the Black Robe's tent, but the Black Robe sensed his psychic power and nearly raised the alarm.
• Bai Yang bound the Black Robe with his chain and entered the tent, keeping him restrained so he could question him.

Bai Yang infiltrated the Blood Lotus Sect camp and learned that a powerful Formation protected its central area, so he lured the Formation master out with bait involving God-Slaying Gold. After capturing him with tranquilizers, Bai Yang prepared to target the Blood Lotus Sect’s core members.

• Bai Yang hypnotized a bound Blood Lotus Sect member and learned that a Formation blocked outsiders from entering the camp’s center.
• Bai Yang ordered the controlled member to lure the Formation master out by claiming he had found a piece of God-Slaying Gold.
• The Formation master killed the messenger and the accompanying guards to keep the God-Slaying Gold secret, then hurried to the tent.
• Bai Yang revealed himself when the Formation master approached the bait and knocked him unconscious with dozens of tranquilizer syringes.
• Bai Yang had the Formation master bound and planned his next move against the Blood Lotus Sect’s core members.

Bai Yang’s attempt to seize the formation master went awry when a poisonous centipede attacked, forcing him to set the Blood Lotus Sect’s camp ablaze and flee amid the chaos. Ling Jiao escaped with the formation master and kidnapped Lu Yuxi, while Bai Yang stayed behind as the sect’s experts arrived to investigate.

• A black centipede hidden on the formation master attacked Bai Yang, released lethal poison, and grew into a ten-meter giant before Bai Yang burned it to ash with blue flames.
• Bai Yang used Stealth Talismans to carry off the formation master, then set thousands of tents on fire across the Blood Lotus Sect’s camp.
• The County Governor and Mo Yuan Chi saw the fires from Qingmu County and ordered the county to prepare for possible trouble.
• Bai Yang handed Ling Jiao the invisible formation master and told him to flee to Qingmu County while he remained to make more trouble.
• Ling Jiao knocked Lu Yuxi unconscious and carried her away alongside the formation master.
• Bai Yang ordered the Ninth Brigade to fight the fires and search for enemies, while a Grandmaster arrived with more than a dozen Martial Masters and ordered the camp sealed.

Bai Yang used his flames to kill a Grandmaster-level expert and more than ten Martial Masters, then set the Blood Lotus Sect’s camp ablaze. Seeing the sect in chaos, Mo Yuan Chi and the County Governor launched Qingmu County’s army in a decisive attack, while Ling Jiao wondered whether Old Bai had caused the fire.

• Bai Yang used a Stealth Talisman and his Psychic Power to reignite the camp, then burned a Grandmaster-level expert to ashes with blue flames.
• Bai Yang killed more than ten Martial Masters who tried to retreat, leaving the Blood Lotus Sect’s forces leaderless and terrified.
• Bai Yang flew across the camp, setting tents ablaze as a gale spread the fire throughout the encampment.
• Mo Yuan Chi and the County Governor saw the burning camp and decided to attack while the Blood Lotus Sect was in disarray.
• The County Governor signaled the assault, and tens of thousands of Qingmu County soldiers marched toward the camp as Ling Jiao watched, wondering if Old Bai was responsible.

Bai Yang’s fires and Qingmu County’s attack plunged the Blood Lotus Sect’s camp into chaos, while a vast armed force joined the battle. The Blood Lotus Sect revealed that the fighting had fed a hidden blood formation, which its leaders activated and sent surging toward Qingmu County.

• Bai Yang’s fires spread through the Blood Lotus Sect’s camp as the Qingmu County army charged in and broke through its defenses.
• Mo Yuan Chi and the County Governor watched an enormous, ragged force join the battle and help turn the fighting against the Blood Lotus Sect.
• Bai Yang and Mo Yuan Chi noticed that the Blood Lotus Sect’s central camp had not responded, then sensed a terrifying aura rising from it.
• The Blood Lotus Sect’s leaders revealed a blood pool and formation that had gathered blood from the battlefield, and two divine path True Persons entered the pool to activate it.
• The Blood Sea Formation sent a vast pillar of blood into the sky, which burst into waves sweeping toward Qingmu County as both armies stopped to stare.

Bai Yang, Ling Jiao, and Mo Yuan Chi faced the Blood Lotus Sect’s Blood Sea Formation as it threatened to destroy Qingmu County and kill millions. Ling Jiao and Mo Yuan Chi set out to break the Formation, while Bai Yang attacked its guards and destroyed one Yin Spirit before fourteen more confronted him.

• The Blood Sea Formation covered the sky and repeatedly battered Qingmu County’s defensive Formation, while falling blood corroded the city and killed people outside its walls.
• Bai Yang found that his flames could destroy the blood, but his Psychic Power could not cover the entire sea of blood.
• Ling Jiao called for volunteers to break the Formation, and Mo Yuan Chi joined him as they headed toward the Blood Lotus Sect’s camp.
• Bai Yang also rushed toward the Formation’s pillar of blood and attacked the Blood Lotus Sect members guarding the blood-red lotus.
• Bai Yang burned a Yin Spirit to nothingness, prompting fourteen more Yin Spirits to rise and confront him.