Chapter Summaries

Lin Taichu discovered that Wu Yin had bought out the Auction House to search for a hidden Wuming Sect treasure, then noticed Dantai Ming’s anger might be connected to Wu Yin’s actions. He returned to Zhao Family Manor to investigate further.

• Wu Yin spent five hundred thousand Spirit Stones buying every item in the Auction House, while Lin Taichu followed him through Luofeng City.
• After Wu Yin disappeared into an alley, Lin Taichu questioned the manager and found the Wuming Sect’s aura near the storeroom entrance.
• Lin Taichu concluded Wu Yin had used the bulk purchase as cover to search for a valuable item among the Auction House’s undisclosed goods.
• Lin Taichu saw Dantai Ming leaving with several angry Dantai Family cultivators and suspected his fury was connected to Wu Yin’s purchase.
• Lin Taichu returned to Zhao Family Manor and went straight to the Council Hall.

Lin Taichu and Zhao Feng investigated Wu Yin’s Auction House purchase and the unrest in Luofeng City. A captured troublemaker named the Xuesha Sect as the instigator, leaving Lin Taichu questioning why the distant sect had targeted the city.

• Lin Taichu and Zhao Feng suspected Wu Yin and the Dantai Family were competing for a hidden item in the Auction House goods, and Zhao Feng agreed to watch Wu Yin’s shipments.
• Lin Taichu went with Zhao Feng to question the black-clad Cultivators who had caused trouble in the city.
• Lin Taichu used the Mo Wei Mental Method to make the group’s leader reveal that the Xuesha Sect had hired them to create chaos for Spirit Stones.
• The leader told Lin Taichu that the Xuesha Sect’s agents had instructed them to meet at Luofeng City’s north gate after their mission.
• Lin Taichu wondered why the distant Xuesha Sect had come to stir up trouble in Luofeng City.

Lin Taichu uncovered the Wuming Sect’s scheme to use the Xuesha Sect as a scapegoat, destabilize Luofeng City, and seize control. He ordered tighter security while Wu Yin’s sealed freight carriages headed toward the city’s poorly guarded south.

• Lin Taichu questioned why the Xuesha Sect would attack Luofeng City and suspected the captured cultivator had named it to misdirect them.
• Zhao Feng’s scouts confirmed that the Wuming Sect and Xuesha Sect were mortal enemies, and Lin Taichu deduced that the Wuming Sect was funding the troublemakers to frame its rival.
• Lin Taichu explained that the Wuming Sect intended to provoke the Zhao and Dantai Families into destroying the Xuesha Sect while weakening Luofeng City and preparing to seize control.
• Zhao Feng reported that Dantai Ming was investigating the Xuesha Sect, while Lin Taichu recognized that the Dantai Family was unlikely to suspect the Wuming Sect.
• Lin Taichu ordered the captured cultivators kept secretly under guard and increased patrols to investigate unfamiliar Rogue Cultivators.
• Lin Taichu watched as Wu Yin’s sealed freight carriages, escorted by Wuming Sect disciples, departed for the remote southern area of Luofeng City.

Lin Taichu learned that the Dantai Family planned to blockade every road into Luofeng City and told Zhao Feng to buy up the city's grain and supplies. He aimed to use control of the dwindling food supply to force the Wuming Sect to act.

• Lin Taichu overheard Dantai Ming's men confirm that ten Half-Saint elders would blockade Luofeng City's trade routes within three days.
• Lin Taichu surveyed the city's northern outskirts and judged that the Dantai Family would focus its blockade on the western and southern roads.
• Zhao Feng told Lin Taichu that the city's grain would last no more than twenty days once outside cultivators were included.
• Lin Taichu ordered Zhao Feng to buy all stored grain at a premium and secure it in the City Lord's Mansion warehouses.
• Lin Taichu told Zhao Feng to make the purchase conspicuous so the Wuming Sect would be forced to respond.

Lin Taichu planned to manipulate the Wuming Sect and the Dantai Family into fighting in Luofeng City’s northern outskirts while preserving the city and the Zhao Family’s interests. The Zhao Family began withdrawing to Qingxi Town, and Zhao Feng handed Lin Taichu five hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

• Lin Taichu told Zhao Feng to raise grain prices fivefold so the Wuming Sect would drain its Spirit Stones and eventually be forced to act.
• Lin Taichu planned to move the grain to a newly announced granary in the north, drawing the Wuming Sect and the Dantai Family into a battle away from the city’s trading grounds.
• Lin Taichu ordered Zhao Feng to evacuate the Zhao Family to Qingxi Town before the trade routes were blockaded, leaving a few Guards behind to maintain appearances.
• Lin Taichu cultivated overnight as the first groups of Zhao Family members left Luofeng City in disguise.
• Zhao Feng reported that the evacuation was underway and gave Lin Taichu a Storage Bag containing five hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

Lin Taichu surveyed Luofeng City as the Dantai Family’s blockade drove up grain prices and emptied the streets. After watching the Wuming Sect’s sealed inn, he followed one of its disciples who slipped out.

• Lin Taichu told Zhao Feng that neither the Dantai Family nor the Wuming Sect would consider him a threat as long as he stayed out of their way.
• A cultivator told Lin Taichu that the Dantai Family planned to blockade trade routes, causing Spirit Rice prices to triple and businesses to close.
• Lin Taichu saw the Auction House shut down, the Dantai Family strengthen its guard, and shops in the south close amid long lines for grain and water.
• At a tea stall, Lin Taichu heard that the Wuming Sect’s inn had been noisy overnight before its residents sealed the doors and windows.
• Lin Taichu recognized a Wuming Sect disciple leaving the inn and followed him.

Lin Taichu watched as Wu Yin and the Wuming Sect trapped the Dantai Family over the grain, forcing Dantai Ming and his people into battle. The Dantai Family suffered mounting casualties, and Dantai Ming realized they could not sustain a war of attrition.

• Dantai Ming demanded that the black-clothed leader leave the grain, but Wu Yin arrived with Wuming Sect Disciples and hired Cultivators to surround the Dantai Family.
• Dantai Ming ordered an attack, and the two sides clashed outside the warehouse while Lin Taichu watched from inside.
• Wu Yin used black mist and needle-like attacks to break the Dantai Family's formations, allowing his forces to wound several Clan Members.
• Dantai Ming drove toward Wu Yin and fought him evenly, while the black-clothed leader pursued him and the larger battle grew bloodier.
• Wu Yin offered the hired Cultivators five thousand Spirit Stones each for completing the mission, restoring their resolve as Dantai Ming saw his people suffering heavy losses.

Lin Taichu and the Zhao Family captured Wu Yin and the Wuming Sect after Dantai Ming escaped, securing the grain and temporarily resolving Luofeng City's crisis. The Dantai Family’s ten Half-Saint-realm elders were still on their way to seize the city.

• Dantai Ming led the Dantai Family cultivators through a gap in the Wuming Sect’s encirclement and escaped north, while Wu Yin ordered his people to take the warehouse grain.
• Lin Taichu alerted Zhao Feng, whose Zhao Family Elites surrounded the warehouse as the Wuming Sect moved the grain.
• Wu Yin and the black-clothed man leader tried to break out, but Zhao Feng and the Zhao Family Guards overwhelmed them and captured them.
• Zhao Feng reported the casualties and asked whether to pursue Dantai Ming, but Lin Taichu said the Dantai Family would learn of the situation and lift its trade-route blockade.
• Lin Taichu ordered Wu Yin held for later interrogation and recognized that Luofeng City remained threatened by the Dantai Family’s approaching elders.

After the Zhao Family defeated the Wuming Sect and drove the Dantai Family from Luofeng City, Dantai Ming reported the defeat to Dantai Hong, who paused the trade-route blockade. Luofeng City’s trade boomed under Lin Taichu’s plans, but Lin warned Zhao Feng that the Dantai Family was waiting for an opportunity to strike.

• Dantai Ming led the surviving Dantai Family members away from Luofeng City and blamed Lin Taichu and the Zhao Family for the ambush that destroyed their forces and captured the Wuming Sect.
• Dantai Ming returned to the Dantai Family encampment and told Dantai Hong that Lin Taichu had orchestrated the trap and that Wu Yin had been captured alive.
• Dantai Hong ordered the elders to withdraw their trade-route blockade and postponed action against Luofeng City because the city’s Restriction and Zhao Family Guards made an attack too costly.
• Zhao Feng reported that Luofeng City’s trading grounds had grown, grain prices had fallen, and the Zhao Family had earned four hundred and twenty thousand Spirit Stones that month.
• Lin Taichu told Zhao Feng that the Dantai Family had not abandoned its plans and was waiting for Luofeng City to lower its guard or reveal an opening.

Lin Taichu questioned the imprisoned Wu Yin about the Wuming Sect and the Dantai Family, then offered to release him in exchange for intelligence. Wu Yin revealed details about the Dantai stronghold, while Lin Taichu decided to wait for the family’s next move in Luofeng City.

• Lin Taichu visited Wu Yin in the City Lord’s Mansion dungeon and explained that Luofeng City had stabilized after the Dantai Family withdrew.
• Wu Yin said the Wuming Sect sought control of the Trading Holy Land, while Lin Taichu explained why Luofeng City’s restrictions made it difficult for outside forces to seize.
• Lin Taichu offered to release Wu Yin if he revealed the Dantai Family’s base, strength, and weaknesses.
• Wu Yin described Dantai Town’s location, defenses, and more than thirty Half-Saint cultivators, including patriarch Dantai Hong.
• Lin Taichu said he would not attack Dantai Town but would wait in Luofeng City for the Dantai Family to come after the Trading Holy Land.
• Wu Yin asked whether Lin Taichu feared being deceived, and Lin Taichu replied that he had learned about the trade-route blockade from Wu Yin’s subordinates.

Lin Taichu took Zhao Feng and twenty disguised Zhao Family Elites from Luofeng City to Dantai Town to investigate the Dantai Family’s plans without provoking a fight. The group reached the town, where Lin Taichu intended to pose as merchants while gathering information.

• Lin Taichu confirmed that Wu Yin’s intelligence about the Dantai Family was reliable and decided to investigate before choosing a response.
• Lin Taichu planned a discreet journey with twenty capable Half-Saint Realm cultivators, avoiding direct combat and potential ambush sites along the route.
• Zhao Feng selected twenty loyal men, and the group left Luofeng City dressed and armed like ordinary travelers.
• The group passed through Green Wolf Mountain and spent the night at a village, where Lin Taichu said they would investigate Dantai Town by doing ordinary business.
• Lin Taichu and his group reached Dantai Town at dusk and surveyed its busy streets and shops.

Lin Taichu and Zhao Feng gathered intelligence in Dantai Town and learned that the Dantai Family was preparing a major move against Luofeng City. Lin Taichu went alone to observe the family’s main residence and spotted Dantai Ming among a group led by a powerful-looking man.

• Lin Taichu rented ten rooms at the Yingke Inn and told Zhao Feng to have the guards pose as merchants while gathering information about the Dantai Family.
• Over several days, the Zhao Family guards learned that the Dantai Family was questioning merchant caravans about Luofeng City’s grain prices, defenses, and cultivators.
• Lin Taichu concluded that the Dantai Family was preparing to act, then decided to inspect its main residence alone.
• Lin Taichu sat at a tea stall near the Dantai Family’s main residence and watched its members enter and leave.
• A man in a black robe led more than a dozen people out of the residence, and Lin Taichu recognized Dantai Ming among them.

Lin Taichu learned that the Dantai Family planned to attack Luofeng City and devised a plan to delay the assault by spreading rumors among Dantai Town’s merchants. He then studied a map and identified a gorge where he could ambush the advancing army.

• Lin Taichu learned from Dantai Town’s merchants that the Dantai Family was preparing a major action, then told Zhao Feng that the family planned to attack Luofeng City soon.
• Lin Taichu explained that merchants’ fear of risk could discourage the Dantai Family from funding an attack, and ordered Zhao Feng to spread rumors about Luofeng City’s stronger Restriction and the losses the family had suffered there.
• Lin Taichu told Zhao Feng to gradually spread word that an attack would also damage the Dantai Family’s business ties with Luofeng City’s merchants.
• Lin Taichu concluded that rumors would only buy time and that the Dantai Family had to be defeated in battle to abandon its plans.
• Lin Taichu studied a map and found a narrow gorge between Green Wolf Mountain and the three rivers where his forces could ambush the Dantai Family’s army.

Lin Taichu spread rumors in Dantai Town to make merchants doubt the cost of supporting the Dantai Family’s attack on Luofeng City. After learning the Dantai Family planned to send two hundred people south, he pointed out a narrow stretch on the map as he began planning an ambush.

• Lin Taichu sent Zhao Feng and ten Guards around Dantai Town to spread news that Luofeng City’s restriction had strengthened and the Dantai Family had lost several elders there.
• Merchants discussed the reports across town, and the Dantai Family sent cultivators to deny them, which only deepened merchants’ suspicions.
• Lin Taichu observed that merchants were reluctant to supply grain and goods for an attack that might only benefit the Dantai Family.
• Lin Taichu overheard merchants say the Dantai Family was preparing to send two hundred people south.
• Lin Taichu told Zhao Feng they could not allow the force to reach Luofeng City and tapped a narrow marking on the map.

Lin Taichu led twenty Guards to ambush the Dantai Family's force in a canyon after the family set out to attack Luofeng City. The hundred cultivators entered the canyon, and Lin Taichu waited for them to be in position.

• Lin Taichu told Zhao Feng that twenty men would ambush the Dantai Family in a canyon and make the family fear attacking Luofeng City.
• The Dantai Family collected nearly two hundred thousand Spirit Stones from merchants, then Dantai Hong ordered a force of one hundred Half-Saint cultivators to set out.
• Dantai Lie led the Dantai Family force south from Dantai Town while Lin Taichu watched from an inn and prepared to follow.
• Lin Taichu led twenty Guards on a detour to the canyon near Green Wolf Mountain and ordered them to hide on its slopes.
• The Dantai Family's scouts passed through the canyon, followed by the main force, and Lin Taichu held his position as the cultivators entered.

Lin Taichu led twenty Guards in an ambush against the Dantai Family column, then withdrew before their position could be surrounded. He brought the group to a second ambush site, where Zhao Feng found that the Dantai Family had already searched the area.

• Lin Taichu and the Guards ambushed the Dantai Family in a gorge, killing and wounding several Cultivators before the column organized a counterattack.
• When the Guards ran low on arrows, Lin Taichu ordered them to retreat into the woods, and Dantai Lie chose not to pursue.
• Dantai Lie identified the Zhao Family of Luofeng City as the likely attackers and ordered his column to continue south toward Green Wolf Mountain.
• Lin Taichu explained to Zhao Feng that the ambush was meant to intimidate and slow the Dantai Family, creating time for further attacks.
• Lin Taichu led the Guards to a second ambush site, where Zhao Feng reported that the Dantai Family had already searched the area.

Lin Taichu devised a plan to unsettle the Dantai Family’s camp by using grave phosphorus to create ghostly blue flames. The Dantai Family camped at Green Wolf Mountain under heavy guard, while Dantai Lie remained wary of the unknown enemy.

• Lin Taichu and Zhao Feng found that the Dantai Family had swept the road ahead for ambushes and was marching quickly with heavily loaded carts.
• Lin Taichu ordered the Guards to rest in the woods and asked Zhao Feng where the Dantai Family would camp for the night.
• Lin Taichu sent Zhao Feng to a village to obtain phosphorus from old graves.
• Zhao Feng returned with phosphorus, and Lin Taichu ordered the men to scatter it around the Dantai Family’s camp to make blue flames that would frighten the soldiers.
• The Dantai Family set up camp at the foot of Green Wolf Mountain with trenches, lanterns, and three layers of sentries, while Dantai Lie watched the darkness uneasily.

Lin Taichu used phosphorus powder to unsettle the Dantai Family camp with drifting blue flames while Dantai Lie tried to determine the threat. The chapter ended with Dantai Ming leading twenty cultivators toward the northern woods to investigate.

• Dantai Lie learned that the Zhao Family had blocked access to Luofeng City and ordered his troops to cross Green Wolf Mountain the next morning.
• Lin Taichu led Zhao Feng and the guards to the woods north of the Dantai Family camp and chose to light phosphorus powder from a distance.
• Lin Taichu and the guards ignited twenty heaps of phosphorus powder, sending blue sparks drifting toward the camp on the wind.
• The Dantai Family cultivators mistook the eerie flames for ghost fire, and Dantai Lie ordered a sentry to inspect the northern woods.
• After the sentry stopped short of the woods, Dantai Lie ordered Dantai Ming to lead twenty cultivators in a search.

After the phosphorus-fire scare failed to stop Dantai Lie, Lin Taichu reconsidered how to delay the Dantai Family and began looking for a weakness in their march. He focused on the supply convoy traveling at the rear of their force.

• Dantai Ming found only burned phosphorus powder in the woods, and Dantai Lie ordered the camp watch tightened and everyone kept awake.
• Dantai Lie deduced that the Zhao Family’s strategist was trying to delay the march, but remained determined to reach Luofeng City and seize the Trading Holy Land.
• Zhao Feng worried that the Zhao Family could neither stop the Dantai Family on the open road nor defeat them inside Luofeng City, while Lin Taichu recognized that he had underestimated Dantai Lie’s resolve.
• Lin Taichu asked which road the Dantai Family would take after crossing Green Wolf Mountain, and Zhao Feng identified the middle road to Luofeng City as open and difficult to ambush.
• Lin Taichu asked about the Dantai Family’s supplies and learned that their supply convoy traveled at the very rear of the group.

Lin Taichu planned to seize the Dantai Family’s supply convoy to delay Dantai Lie’s army, then led twenty men to the plain south of Green Wolf Mountain. After the convoy fell behind the main force, Lin Taichu’s group moved into position beside the road and prepared to strike.

• Lin Taichu rejected an ambush at Green Wolf Mountain and planned to cut off the Dantai Family’s grain on the plain south of it.
• Lin Taichu and Zhao Feng rested overnight, then led the twenty men toward the village near the plain before dawn.
• Lin Taichu hid the group in an empty village house while Zhao Feng watched for the Dantai Family’s force.
• The scouts, vanguard, center led by Dantai Lie, and rear guard passed the village before the eight-wagon convoy arrived with fifteen men escorting it.
• Lin Taichu led the Guards through the farmland and positioned them behind an earthen slope less than a hundred paces from the convoy.