Chapter Summaries

Gu Hui consolidated Mount Hua’s power, prepared Yue Buqun’s succession, and distributed powerful manuals while strengthening the sect. Linghu Chong mastered the Nine Swords of Dugu and became an elder, while Feng Buping and the others struggled to cultivate the manuals safely.

• Gu Hui explained to Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze that granting Feng Buping and the others manuals and status would win their loyalty while keeping them in check.
• Mount Hua announced that Yue Buqun would pass leadership to Gu Hui in three months, and Fortune Pavilion sent invitations throughout the martial world.
• Feng Qingyang contributed the Nine Swords of Dugu to Mount Hua’s Scripture Depository, and Gu Hui began teaching it to junior disciples.
• Linghu Chong quickly learned the Nine Swords of Dugu, reached first-class combat strength, and became Mount Hua’s first disciple elder.
• Feng Buping, Cheng Buyou, and Cong Buqi failed to master the internal cultivation manuals, while Mount Hua’s training grounds and pavilions continued to develop.

Gu Hui practiced swordsmanship while planning a new art that combined techniques from the Five Mountain Sword Sects and the Nine Swords of Dugu. The Mount Hua Escort Agency’s first delivery faced sabotage, but Feng Buping, Cheng Buyou, Cong Buqi, and Linghu Chong protected it.

• Gu Hui supervised his junior disciples, urged Linghu Chong to travel and broaden his experience, and then practiced alone at the Cliff of Repentance.
• Gu Hui experimented with the sword arts he knew, hoping to build a new sword art on the Nurturing Self Sword Art and combine it with the strengths of the Five Mountain Sword Sects and the Nine Swords of Dugu.
• Feng Qingyang, Yue Buqun, Ning Zhongze, Feng Buping, and the others watched Gu Hui practice and then discussed the escort agency with him; Yue Buqun cautioned Gu Hui not to rush his plans.
• Gu Hui meditated on his internal arts and sword techniques, recorded ideas for his new art, and continued practicing.
• The Mount Hua Escort Agency’s first delivery met sabotage and attempted seizure, but Feng Buping, Cheng Buyou, Cong Buqi, and Linghu Chong guarded the shipment and kept it safe.

Gu Hui took over as Mount Hua’s sect leader at a gathering attended by leading figures from across the martial world. He accepted the responsibility and called for unity among the orthodox sects against the Demonic Cult.

• Leaders of Shaolin, Wudang, the Five Mountains, and other groups wondered why Yue Buqun was passing down his position to Gu Hui.
• Lin Zhennan decided to attend the ceremony with Lin Pingzhi and support the newly established Mount Hua Escort Agency.
• Zuo Lengchan provoked Feng Buping and Yue Buqun by bringing up Mount Hua’s past divisions, while Yue Buqun praised Gu Hui and clarified that he was not retiring.
• On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, martial world figures gathered at Mount Hua for the succession ceremony.
• Gu Hui performed the rites before Mount Hua’s ancestral tablets, accepted the sect leader’s token, and took Yue Buqun’s place.
• Gu Hui urged the gathered leaders to unite for peace and resist the Demonic Cult, arguing that Dongfang Bubai could not make the whole cult invincible.

Gu Hui welcomed Lin Pingzhi into the Mount Hua Sect after Lin Zhennan asked him to take the young man as a disciple. After Lin Pingzhi’s parents departed, Gu Hui encouraged him to build a strong martial arts foundation on Mount Hua.

• Gu Hui backed Zuo Lengchan’s leadership while opposing the merger of the Five Mountains sects and declaring that Mount Hua would not seek the alliance leadership.
• Lin Zhennan asked Gu Hui to accept Lin Pingzhi into Mount Hua, and Gu Hui agreed to make him Yue Buqun’s disciple and his own junior martial brother.
• Lin Pingzhi completed the Mount Hua apprenticeship ceremony before Yue Buqun, while the gathered heroes congratulated the sect and considered how the alliance would protect the Fortune Prestige Escort Agency.
• The visitors left Mount Hua, while the Fortune Prestige Escort Agency stayed to discuss an alliance with the Mount Hua Escort Agency.
• Lin Pingzhi remained on Mount Hua as his parents departed, and Gu Hui told him to begin with Mount Hua Basic Swordsmanship before learning more advanced techniques.

Gu Hui learned of Liu Zhengfeng’s retirement ceremony and decided to take Mount Hua’s disciples to Hengyang, suspecting trouble. After hearing that Qingcheng disciples had been appearing in Fujian, he confronted a failure in his intelligence network and summoned Lin Pingzhi and his second junior brother.

• Mount Hua’s disciples made striking progress in martial arts under Gu Hui’s supervision, while Lao Denuo became a trusted assistant to Ning Zhongze and the others.
• Feng Buping gave Gu Hui Liu Zhengfeng’s invitation to his retirement ceremony, scheduled for the fifteenth day of the seventh month.
• Gu Hui decided that Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze would stay at Mount Hua while Feng Buping and the other martial uncles accompanied him and the disciples to Hengyang City.
• Feng Buping told Gu Hui that Qingcheng disciples had recently appeared often in Fujian, prompting Gu Hui to demand better reports about activity within the Five Mountains.
• A mysterious young man appeared, accepted blame for the intelligence failure, and promised to report every stir within the Five Mountains.
• Gu Hui asked Feng Buping to summon Lin Pingzhi and his second junior brother, while privately reflecting on the ambitions surrounding Mount Hua’s finances.

Gu Hui revealed the reach of his secret intelligence force and sent Linghu Chong and Lin Pingzhi to protect the Lin family in Fuzhou. Feng Buping warned Cheng Buyou and Cong Buqi to abandon their ambitions after realizing Gu Hui had been watching them all along.

• Gu Hui explained that Lin Ke and nine other rescued youths had become powerful, secret Controllers of the Fortune Pavilion, then told Lin Ke to leave.
• Gu Hui ordered Linghu Chong to take Lin Pingzhi to Fuzhou at once because Yu Canghai and the Qingcheng Sect threatened the Lin family, and told them to seek help from the Fortune Pavilion if needed.
• Gu Hui instructed Linghu Chong and Lin Pingzhi to meet him in Hengyang after resolving the matter, and told Feng Buping to prepare Mount Hua to depart in a month.
• Feng Buping gathered the Mount Hua disciples, then warned Cheng Buyou and Cong Buqi that Gu Hui had an unseen intelligence force and would not tolerate their ambitions.
• Cheng Buyou and Cong Buqi were horrified to learn that Gu Hui commanded a Peak Martial Artist whom even senior figures at Mount Hua did not know about.

Ning Zhongze and Yue Buqun confronted Gu Hui about the changes on Mount Hua, and he revealed how he had curbed internal scheming and built a hidden force of experts. He assigned two Pinnacle Realm guards to protect them, leaving the couple reassured about Mount Hua’s future.

• Ning Zhongze brought Yue Buqun to Gu Hui’s study and asked whether he had caused the recent changes on Mount Hua.
• Gu Hui explained that he had warned Feng Buping about the scheming and expected him to keep Cheng and Cong in line.
• Gu Hui summoned Lin Ke and Liu Xu, then assigned Lin Ke to guard Yue Buqun and Liu Xu to guard Ning Zhongze.
• Gu Hui revealed that he had rescued and trained ten people in the Evil-Warding Sword Art, making them capable of matching Pinnacle Realm experts, and told Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze to keep the art secret.
• Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze returned to their room reassured that Gu Hui would protect and govern Mount Hua.

Gu Hui kept Mount Hua in order while teaching its disciples and dealing with threats beyond the sect. News that a woman at a Huayin County brothel was claiming to be Dongfang Bubai caught his interest, and he went to investigate.

• Feng Qingyang warned Feng Buping and the others against meddling in matters beyond their assigned duties.
• Gu Hui told Feng Qingyang that Linghu Chong and Lin Pingzhi had handled Abbey Master Yu in Fuzhou, and that he had warned Yu Canghai to leave the Fortune Prestige Escort Agency alone.
• Gu Hui supervised the disciples' sword practice, testing their adaptability by flicking pebbles at them.
• Feng Buping told Gu Hui that a woman called Dongfang Bubai was reportedly the courtesan queen of Fleeting Years in Huayin County.
• Gu Hui recalled Dongfang Bubai's appearance and hurried off to see whether the report was true.

Gu Hui encountered Dongfang Bubai, who was posing as a courtesan at Fleeting Years and tried to question him about the martial-world experts gathering near Mount Hua. Their encounter turned into a fight, and they raced out of Huayin County to a reed marsh, where Gu Hui stopped to face her.

• Gu Hui entered Fleeting Years and recognized the dancing courtesan Dongfang Bubai from their earlier meeting on Black Wood Cliff.
• Dongfang Bubai chose Gu Hui as her guest and asked him why so many martial-world experts had come to the area.
• Dongfang Bubai attacked Gu Hui with an embroidery needle after he pretended to leave, but he evaded her strike and revealed that he knew her identity.
• Gu Hui and Dongfang Bubai exchanged insults before she launched dozens of needles at him.
• Gu Hui fled onto the rooftops and out of the city, while Dongfang Bubai pursued him to a reed marsh, where he stopped and faced her.

Gu Hui and Dongfang Bubai fought to a stalemate, then negotiated an exchange of martial arts knowledge, but neither accepted the other's terms. After Dongfang Bubai left, Gu Hui warned Mount Hua not to provoke her, and later learned that the Sun Moon Divine Cult had withdrawn its Huayin County base.

• Gu Hui recalled meeting Dongfang Bubai at Black Wood Cliff ten years earlier, when he searched for Wudang's Taiji Fist Sutra and saw her imprison Ren Woxing.
• Gu Hui offered to trade knowledge of the Evil-Warding Sword Art for the Taiji Fist Sutra, while Dongfang Bubai demanded his improved Hunyuan Skill; both refused the other's request.
• Dongfang Bubai left, predicting that she and Gu Hui would meet again in Hengyang City.
• Gu Hui returned to Mount Hua and told Feng Buping and the others that Dongfang Bubai had been visiting out of boredom and that they should not spread word of her presence.
• A few days later, Gu Hui learned that Fleeting Years in Huayin County had closed, changed into an inn, and been vacated by the Sun Moon Divine Cult.

Gu Hui’s Mount Hua party stopped at a wedding, where they reunited with Dongfang Bubai and Lin Pingzhi. After Lin Pingzhi revealed that Tian Boguang had abducted a Hengshan junior sister, Gu Hui arranged for his disciples to fight Tian Boguang for practice, and the bouts began.

• Gu Hui and the Mount Hua disciples accepted a wedding host’s invitation to eat and paid for their meal.
• Dongfang Bubai, disguised as Dongfang Bai, joined Gu Hui and teased him about his past behavior toward her.
• Lin Pingzhi crashed through a window and told Gu Hui that Tian Boguang had seized a Hengshan junior sister and tried to force her into marriage.
• Gu Hui praised Lin Pingzhi’s progress, asked him to bring the junior sister over, and warned Tian Boguang not to abduct women again.
• Gu Hui sent groups of Mount Hua disciples to spar with Tian Boguang, and Lao Denuo, Gao Genming, and Ying Bailuo fought him first before the next group charged in.

Gu Hui led his Mount Hua disciples toward Hengyang, speaking with Dongfang Bubai and revealing that she was a woman disguised as a man. During a long journey of deliberate detours, he studied qin and flute and visited musicians in Luoyang and West Lake, leaving the group nearing the Golden Basin Hand-Washing Ceremony with Gu Hui pursuing another purpose.

• Tian Boguang defeated the Mount Hua disciples who took turns challenging him, then left after Gu Hui compensated their host for the damage.
• Gu Hui explained his humble treatment of the homeowner, and Dongfang Bubai agreed with his view before leaving to attend Liu Zhengfeng’s ceremony.
• Gu Hui told the disciples that Dongfang Bubai was a woman disguised as a man, prompting Feng Qing’er, Cong Yu, and Yue Lingshan to become wary.
• Gu Hui led the group on a three-month route through Luoyang and West Lake, practicing the qin and flute while ensuring the Mount Heng Sect knew Yilin was with them.
• In Luoyang, Gu Hui sought instruction from an old man in Green Bamboo Alley, then visited Plum Manor at West Lake and met Huang Zhonggong and his brothers.

Gu Hui endured a Heart Demon trial in Hengyang that strengthened his inner energy, then discovered Dongfang Bubai confronting Qu Yang over his friendship with Liu Zhengfeng. He intervened, took the Smiling, Proud Wanderer score, and introduced himself to Qu Yang.

• Gu Hui traded Mount Hua’s lost Sun Moon Divine Cult sword techniques to Huang Zhonggong for the Seven-String Invisible Sword and mastered its qin techniques over two months.
• In Fortune Pavilion, Gu Hui fell into the Heart Demon’s world, endured visions of his wife and unborn child being killed, then awoke with a clearer mind and much greater combat strength.
• After resting, Gu Hui went alone to Jade Gathering Garden and overheard Dongfang Bubai questioning Qu Yang about his relationship with Liu Zhengfeng.
• Qu Yang explained that he and Liu Zhengfeng had become friends through qin and flute music and asked Dongfang Bubai to let them retire together.
• Gu Hui appeared, avoided Dongfang Bubai’s attack, took and memorized the Smiling, Proud Wanderer score, and introduced himself to Qu Yang.

Gu Hui warned Dongfang Bubai that Mount Song might disrupt Liu Zhengfeng’s golden-basin handwashing ceremony, then watched the ceremony begin in Hengyang. It ended in turmoil when Fei Bin stopped Liu and accused him of secretly colluding with Dongfang Bubai.

• Gu Hui told Dongfang Bubai that Mount Song’s leaders might cause trouble at Liu Zhengfeng’s ceremony and asked her to intervene if they went too far, but she refused to make a deal.
• Gu Hui spent the following days in Hengyang, visiting Liu Residence and meeting with Qu Yang and Liu Zhengfeng before the ceremony.
• Fei Bin arrived with Mount Song disciples and a command banner, demanding that Liu Zhengfeng postpone washing his hands in the golden basin.
• When Liu Zhengfeng refused, Fei Bin overturned the basin and struck him, while Mount Song disciples brought Liu’s family into the hall.
• Liu Zhengfeng threatened the Mount Song disciples over his family’s safety, and Fei Bin accused him of secretly colluding with Dongfang Bubai.

Gu Hui intervened when the Songshan Sect tried to force Liu Zhengfeng to kill Qu Yang and threatened his family, arguing against Ding Mian’s cruelty and winning support from the other Five Mountains leaders. When Ding Mian attacked him, Gu Hui called on his Mount Hua disciples to face the Songshan elders and swiftly incapacitated the Songshan disciples himself, leaving the hall stunned.

• Liu Zhengfeng refused to betray Qu Yang, and Fei Bin killed his disciple Mi Weiyi before Liu subdued Fei and took him hostage.
• Liu offered to leave the Central Plains and cut ties with both Qu Yang and the Five Mountain Sword Sects, but Ding Mian rejected the compromise and threatened Liu’s family.
• Gu Hui stopped Ding Mian’s attack on Madam Liu, condemned the Songshan Sect’s conduct, and persuaded Heaven’s Gate, Dingyi, and other martial artists to support him.
• After Ding Mian ordered Liu to release Fei Bin, Gu Hui demanded that the Songshan disciples release Liu’s family and disciples, and Ding Mian relented.
• Ding Mian attacked Gu Hui, who ordered his Mount Hua disciples to engage the Songshan elders and then sent twenty or thirty Songshan disciples flying with blinding speed.

Gu Hui revealed his overwhelming strength, denounced the Songshan Sect, and proposed a truce between Mount Hua and Dongfang Bubai’s Sun Moon Divine Cult. He and Dongfang exchanged martial arts insights, and Gu Hui ended by proposing marriage, leaving the onlookers stunned.

• Gu Hui condemned Ding Mian and the Songshan Sect’s conduct, then defeated Ding Mian and two other First-Class Experts with ease.
• Dongfang Bubai and Qu Yang entered the hall, and Dongfang challenged Gu Hui about whether he intended to unite the righteous and demonic sides.
• Gu Hui proposed that Mount Hua and the Sun Moon Divine Cult leave each other alone and revealed that he had opened six extraordinary meridians.
• Dongfang gave Gu Hui her Taiji Fist Sutra booklet and said she wanted to see whether he could reach the Innate Ultimate Realm.
• Gu Hui revealed that his second junior brother was also a Peak Martial Artist, then asked Dongfang to marry him because they had held each other in their arms.

Gu Hui and Dongfang Bubai left Hengyang after arranging their marriage and freeing Qu Yang from the Sun Moon Divine Cult. On the road, Dongfang Bubai reunited with her long-lost younger sister Yilin, and the group continued toward Mount Hua.

• Dongfang Bubai agreed to marry Gu Hui, who apologized to the martial elders and announced their New Year's Day wedding.
• Gu Hui freed Qu Yang from the Sun Moon Divine Cult, and he and Liu Zhengfeng planned to retire from the martial world.
• News spread that Gu Hui was nearly an Innate master, Dongfang Bubai was a woman, the Songshan Sect had raised bandits, and Gu Hui and Dongfang Bubai would marry.
• Gu Hui gave Dongfang Bubai the Hunyuan Skill, and she advanced to the level of five extraordinary meridians.
• Dongfang Bubai found Yilin's sachet, waited for the Mount Heng Sect, and reunited with Yilin, her younger sister.

Gu Hui brought Dongfang Bubai back to Mount Hua, where they settled into life and martial arts training together. Meanwhile, Ren Yingying used Xiang Wentian and Linghu Chong to rescue Ren Woxing from Plum Manor by West Lake.

• Zuo Lengchan was enraged by rumors of Gu Hui's strength, while Chongxu and Fangzheng discussed the threat and Mount Hua's growing stature.
• Gu Hui and Dongfang Bubai traveled leisurely toward Mount Hua as Feng Buping and two others returned ahead, and Linghu Chong set off on his own.
• Gu Hui explained his way of delegating Mount Hua's affairs to Dongfang Bubai, while Feng Qing'er, Cong Yu, and Yue Lingshan struggled with her presence.
• After two months, Gu Hui and Dongfang Bubai reached Mount Hua and paid their respects to Yue Buqun, his wife, and Feng Qingyang.
• Gu Hui and Dongfang Bubai secluded themselves on Cliff of Repentance to discuss martial arts and develop his swordsmanship.
• Ren Yingying, aided by Xiang Wentian and Linghu Chong, found Ren Woxing's prison and rescued him from Plum Manor by West Lake.

Ren Woxing reclaimed leadership of the Sun Moon Divine Cult and prepared to attack Mount Hua, but Gu Hui’s hidden arrangements drove him back to Black Wood Cliff. Linghu Chong returned to Mount Hua after failing to stop Ren Woxing, while Gu Hui revealed that his powerful assassins had been trained with the Evil-Warding Sword Art.

• Ren Woxing escaped and retook the Sun Moon Divine Cult, while Gu Hui had already monitored his movements through an intelligence network.
• Ren Woxing ordered an attack on Mount Hua despite Ren Yingying and Xiang Wentian warning him about Gu Hui.
• Gu Hui told Dongfang Bai that Ren Woxing would never reach Mount Hua and said Linghu Chong would learn from his mistakes.
• Linghu Chong confronted Ren Woxing on Black Wood Cliff, but Xiang Wentian arrived with reinforcements and forced Linghu Chong to flee.
• Ren Woxing encountered several formidable assassins and retreated to Black Wood Cliff, while Mount Hua’s Feng Buping recognized the rumors as evidence of Gu Hui’s hidden strength.
• Gu Hui explained to Dongfang Bai that he had rescued the assassins from imperial nobles and trained them in the Evil-Warding Sword Art.

Gu Hui and Dongfang Bai married at Mount Hua, where the wedding guests tried to get Gu Hui drunk. After the celebration, Gu Hui and Dongfang Bai discussed her efforts to perfect the Sunflower Manual, and the chapter ended with their newlywed teasing.

• Zuo Lengchan accepted that he could not challenge Mount Hua after the Sun Moon Divine Cult suffered a setback.
• On New Year's Day, Gu Hui and Dongfang Bai held their wedding at Mount Hua, with Yue Buqun and his wife standing in for the elders.
• Lu Dayou and the other disciples tried to get Gu Hui drunk, but Gu Hui drank a jar of wine and sent them away to rest.
• Gu Hui greeted the guests, then entered the bridal chamber and secretly spat out the wine to sober himself up.
• Gu Hui encouraged Dongfang Bai to continue working toward perfecting the Sunflower Manual, and she agreed to take it one step at a time.