Chapter Summaries

Gu Hui visited Taihu Lake, met A Bi, and reached the Xiantian Realm while performing a qin and flute duet with her. He asked to enter seclusion at Fragrance-Listening Waterside Pavilion to sort through his gains.

• Gu Hui warned Duan Zhengchun and Duan Zhengming that Jiumozhi was heading to Dali, then set off for Gusu with Ye Erniang and Gu Yu.
• Gu Hui met A Bi by Taihu Lake, joined her boat, and followed her to Fragrance-Listening Waterside Pavilion.
• Gu Hui shared the score of Xiao Ao Jiang Hu Qu with A Bi, and they performed the duet together.
• Gu Hui's inner force completed a heavenly cycle during the music, allowing him to attain the Xiantian Realm and appear younger.
• Gu Hui asked A Bi to let him enter seclusion for three to ten days, and she agreed to take him to a place to rest.

Gu Hui refined his martial arts after reaching a clearer state of mind, then confronted Jiumozhi, who had brought Duan Yu to the pavilion. After Duan Yu helped drive Jiumozhi away, the group went to Canhe Manor, where Duan Yu left after the Murong Clan’s retainers mocked him for his interest in Wang Yuyan.

• Gu Hui gave A Bi the Seven-String Invisible Sword manual, then realized his Hunyuan Skill, Gu Sword Formula, and Intent Sword had improved.
• A Bi told Gu Hui that Jiumozhi had arrived with Duan Yu and wanted to visit the master, so Gu Hui went to meet them.
• Gu Hui recognized Jiumozhi and mocked his excuse for taking Duan Yu to obtain the Six Meridian Divine Sword.
• Ye Erniang fought Jiumozhi while Gu Hui urged Gu Yu and Duan Yu to help; Duan Yu used finger qi to wound Jiumozhi and make him flee by boat.
• A Zhu and A Bi led the group to Canhe Manor, where the Murong Clan’s four retainers mocked Duan Yu for gazing at Wang Yuyan, and he left reluctantly.

Gu Hui reunited with Qiao Feng and Duan Yu at the apricot grove, where Qiao Feng was exposed as a Khitan and chose to investigate the truth with his sworn brothers. Gu Hui warned that Western Xia soldiers had trapped the gathered martial artists, but the soldiers poisoned the crowd and attacked.

• Gu Hui left Taihu Lake with Ye Erniang and Gu Yu, then encountered Duan Yu and took them into the mountains to gather herbs.
• At the apricot grove, Gu Hui recognized the wounded Qiao Feng, removed the crescent blades from his body, and introduced himself to Duan Yu as Qiao Feng’s sworn Second Brother.
• After Kang Min exposed Qiao Feng as a Khitan, Gu Hui and Duan Yu stood by him, and Qiao Feng agreed to investigate the accusations with their help.
• Gu Hui warned that Western Xia troops were approaching and urged Qiao Feng to save the martial artists, then brought A Bi, A Zhu, and Wang Yuyan to his side.
• Helian Tieshu arrived with Western Xia soldiers, whose poison incapacitated the gathered martial artists, while Ye Erniang attacked the general on Gu Hui’s orders.

Gu Hui and his companions reached Thunder Drum Mountain, where Wuyazi revealed that he was Wang Yuyan’s maternal grandfather and identified the men involved in a thirty-year-old ambush on a Khitan couple. Qiao Feng learned that the infant brought back from the ambush might be connected to his own past, but left to investigate the details himself.

• Gu Hui used a hidden box of needles to immobilize Helian Tieshu and the others, then dispersed the antidote to Sorrowful Drunken Breeze so the poisoned martial artists could recover.
• Gu Hui told Qiao Feng and Duan Yu that he belonged to the Free and Unfettered Sect, and the six companions traveled to Thunder Drum Mountain.
• Su Xinghe and the elders greeted Gu Hui as their martial uncle, and Gu Hui introduced Qiao Feng, Duan Yu, A Zhu, A Bi, and Wang Yuyan.
• Wuyazi emerged from the cave, recognized Wang Yuyan as the daughter of Li Qingluo, and revealed that he was her maternal grandfather.
• Wuyazi recounted that Central Plains experts had ambushed a Khitan couple outside Yanmen Pass thirty years earlier and named Zhiguang, Wang Jiantong, Zhao Qiansun, and Xuanci as survivors.
• Gu Hui told Qiao Feng to investigate whether he was the infant brought back from the ambush, and Qiao Feng thanked him for helping uncover the lead.

Gu Hui reunited with the members of the Free and Unfettered Sect and helped Duan Yu, Wang Yuyan, A Zhu, and A Bi learn martial arts while continuing his medical work. After learning that Qiao Feng and A Zhu had headed toward Yanmen Pass amid repeated ambushes, Gu Hui heard why Wuyazi planned the Thunder Drum Mountain Assembly: he wanted to pass on his inner power before his death.

• Gu Hui introduced Duan Yu to Wuyazi, who agreed to guide him in the Northern Abyss Divine Skill, while Gu Hui warned Xue Muhua not to interfere in Qiao Feng's affairs.
• Wuyazi taught Duan Yu and Wang Yuyan, and Wang Yuyan, A Zhu, and A Bi received the Formless Skill; A Zhu soon left to find Qiao Feng.
• Gu Hui continued treating patients on and around Thunder Drum Mountain, where Wang Yuyan, A Bi, and Duan Yu accompanied him.
• Xue Muhua told Gu Hui that Qiao Feng was suspected of killing Master Xuanku, that Ye Erniang had saved Qiao Feng's adoptive parents, and that A Zhu had joined Qiao Feng on the road to Yanmen Pass.
• Gu Hui said Qiao Feng was not responsible for Xuanku's death and questioned Wuyazi about the planned Thunder Drum Mountain Assembly.
• Wuyazi explained that he meant to pass on his inner power before his death, but would not choose Gu Hui as sect leader because Gu Hui would not accept the constraints.

Gu Hui helped lay Wuyazi to rest after the Exquisite Chess Puzzle was solved, then advised Qiao Feng on investigating the conspiracy behind his Khitan identity and the ambush on his birth parents. The group set out with Qiao Feng considering a visit to Shaolin, while Gu Hui reminded Ye Erniang that Xuanci owed the Free and Unfettered Sect a debt.

• Gu Hui discussed Wuyazi's legacy and the risks of inheriting another person's inner power.
• A young Shaolin monk solved the Exquisite Chess Puzzle, and Wuyazi died after the gathering; Gu Hui buried him and marked his grave.
• Gu Hui told Qiao Feng that his birth surname was Xiao, and Qiao Feng confirmed that he was Khitan.
• Gu Hui suggested Qiao Feng question Abbot Xuanci about the mistaken ambush on Qiao Feng's birth parents, and Qiao Feng decided he should visit Shaolin.
• Ye Erniang asked why Xuanci owed the Free and Unfettered Sect favors, and Gu Hui pointed to the decades of inner power his senior brother had lost.

Gu Hui settled in Gusu with A Bi, married her, and welcomed their child while Ye Erniang stayed to atone for her past. After receiving an invitation to a gathering at Shaolin to choose a martial alliance leader, Gu Hui agreed to go with A Bi, and they set out early.

• Ye Erniang left Gu Hui to search for her son, while Gu Hui and A Bi moved the Free and Unfettered Sect's books to Gusu City.
• Xuanci told Qiao Feng the full account of the events surrounding the attack at Yanmen Pass, and Qiao Feng left Shaolin with the A Zhu sisters to visit his adoptive parents.
• Gu Hui settled in Gusu, where A Bi became his wife and gave birth; Ye Erniang later returned after finding her son, who had inherited the Heavenly Mountain Child Elder's and Li Qiushui's internal energy.
• Ye Erniang brought Gu Hui an invitation from the Beggars' Sect to a heroes' gathering at Shaolin, where they planned to choose a martial alliance leader.
• A Bi asked to attend the gathering, and Gu Hui agreed; the group set out early for Shaolin, sightseeing along the way.

Gu Hui killed Ding Chunqiu, then Xiao Feng faced Murong Fu and Zhuang Juxian as the Central Plains heroes turned against him. Xu Zhu joined Xiao Feng, Gu Hui, and Duan Yu in renewing their sworn brotherhood, and the brothers drank together before Xu Zhu attacked Zhuang Juxian.

• Gu Hui dispersed Ding Chunqiu’s poisonous mist, restrained him with silver needles, and killed him with One Yang Finger.
• Xiao Feng arrived, and Murong Fu challenged him while Zhuang Juxian accused him of killing his father.
• Xiao Feng fought Murong Fu and Zhuang Juxian together, driving them back and breaking Zhuang Juxian’s mask.
• Xu Zhu joined Xiao Feng, Gu Hui, and Duan Yu, and the four swore brotherhood before the gathered heroes.
• Xiao Feng and his brothers drank with his eighteen loyal Khitan warriors, then Xu Zhu leaped forward to fight Zhuang Juxian.

Gu Hui helped spare Xu Zhu from Shaolin’s punishment as Xiao Feng and Xiao Yuanshan exposed Murong Bo’s role in the Yanmen Pass tragedy. The two pairs of fathers and sons fought inside Shaolin’s Scripture Depository while Gu Hui and A Bi left the mountain, unable to intervene.

• Gu Hui gave Duan Yu a mechanical weapon and scolded Gu Yu for his martial arts progress.
• Duan Yu explained that A Zi had disfigured Kang Min, who later killed herself, and Gu Hui urged Xuanci to deal leniently with Xu Zhu.
• Xiao Yuanshan acknowledged Xiao Feng as his son, and Xiao Feng accused Murong Bo of spreading the false message that led to the Yanmen Pass massacre.
• Murong Bo revealed himself and left his life in the hands of Xiao Feng and Xiao Yuanshan, who began fighting him and Murong Fu.
• The four fathers and sons fought into Shaolin’s Scripture Depository as the other heroes were kept outside.
• Gu Hui took A Bi to the town below the mountain and reassured her that she need not feel guilty about the Murong Clan.

Gu Hui rescued Duan Zhengchun, Duan Yu, and their companions from Li Qingluo, Murong Fu, and Duan Yanching, killing the two men who threatened them. He brought the party back to his Taihu Lake courtyard, where Duan Yu raised the subject of Gu Hui's unfamiliar finger technique and A Bi quietly reacted to Murong Fu's death.

• Xiao Feng visited Gu Hui in Gusu and said that an eminent Shaolin monk had reconciled his father and Murong Bo, who had become the monk's disciples.
• Gu Hui followed Duan Zhengchun's party to Mantuo Villa and overheard Li Qingluo, Murong Fu, and Duan Yanching discussing their plans.
• When Murong Fu attacked Bao Butong, Gu Hui intervened, then killed Murong Fu and Duan Yanching with finger qi.
• Gu Hui freed Duan Yu, Duan Zhengchun, and the others, warned Li Qingluo to change her ways, and invited the party to stay at his courtyard.
• Duan Zhengchun thanked Gu Hui for saving them, and Duan Yu asked about the finger technique Gu Hui had used as A Bi reacted to Murong Fu's death.

Gu Hui comforted Duan Yu over his family troubles and revealed that Gu Yu was likely Duan Zhengchun’s son with Kang Min. The group agreed to keep Gu Yu’s parentage secret to prevent unrest in Dali.

• A Bi said she did not blame Gu Hui for killing Murong but felt sad that the Murong family line had ended.
• Gu Hui teased Duan Yu about his beloved women being his sisters, and Duan Yu admitted he was deeply troubled.
• Gu Hui explained that he had sent Gu Yu out to travel the martial world.
• Gu Hui revealed that Gu Yu had survived as a baby and was likely the son of Duan Zhengchun and Kang Min.
• Duan Zhengchun and Duan Yu thanked Gu Hui and agreed to conceal Gu Yu’s origins until Duan Yu became emperor.

Gu Hui and his allies rescued Xiao Feng from Liao captivity, but Yelü Hongji’s army surrounded them outside Yanmen Pass. Xiao Feng captured the Liao emperor with Xu Zhu and Duan Yu, and demanded a promise before releasing him.

• Gu Hui demonstrated that he had mastered the first-rank One Yang Finger and deduced the Six Meridian Divine Sword’s energy circulation.
• After two years, Duan Yu became emperor of Dali, while Gu Hui’s business empire spread across several nations.
• A Zi told Gu Hui that the Liao Emperor had imprisoned Xiao Feng for refusing to lead an invasion of Great Song, and Gu Hui organized a rescue.
• Duan Yu and other allies tunneled into Shangjing City to free Xiao Feng, while Gu Hui helped A Zhu and her children escape the city.
• Yelü Hongji’s hundreds of thousands of soldiers intercepted the group outside Yanmen Pass, whose Great Song commander refused to open its gates.
• Xiao Feng, Xu Zhu, and Duan Yu captured Yelü Hongji, and Xiao Feng said they would release him only if he made them a promise.

Xiao Feng forced Yelü Hongji to swear that Liao would never invade Great Song again, then tried to take his own life before Gu Hui stopped him. Twenty years later, Gu Hui’s corporation had become a major force, while his son Gu Wei had taken control and was traveling the martial world with the daughters of Gu Hui’s sworn brothers.

• Xiao Feng threatened to die alongside Yelü Hongji unless he withdrew Liao’s armies and swore never to cross Great Song’s borders, and Yelü Hongji agreed and broke his saber to seal the oath.
• Xiao Feng tried to kill himself with the broken blade, but Gu Hui knocked him unconscious and later persuaded him to live for A Zhu, A Zi, and their children.
• Xiao Feng recovered, promised to live for his family, refused the Beggars’ Sect leadership, and took his wife and children beyond the borderlands.
• Over the next twenty years, Gu Hui built an orphanage and trained Gu’s Hundred Heroes, who became the backbone of Gu Corporation and its escort agency.
• Duan Yu became a supreme martial artist and a powerful figure in Dali, while Gu Wei gradually took control of Gu Corporation.
• Gu Wei traveled through the martial world with several daughters of the sworn brothers, drawing their fathers’ ire and secretly delighting Gu Hui and A Bi.

Gu Hui lived through the fall of Northern Song, the deaths of his old companions, and the growth of the Gu family into a powerful clan overseas. At over a hundred years old, he reunited with Xiao Feng and Gu Wei, both Primordial Technique masters, and spoke of the loneliness and difficulty of advancing in that realm.

• Gu Hui hid his immense wealth in a mountain and entrusted its management to Gu Wei as rebellion and turmoil spread across Great Song.
• The Gu family moved overseas to Gu Sword Manor before Dajin captured Bianjing and Northern Song fell.
• Duan Yu became a monk, Xu Zhu returned to Shaolin after Li Qinglu's death, and Xiao Feng eventually retired south with his family after decades beyond the frontier.
• Xiao Feng reached the Primordial Technique realm, while Gu Hui remained unable to make substantial progress despite decades of cultivation.
• Ninety years later, Gu Hui visited Thunder Drum Mountain after Xu Zhu's death and received the Nine Yang Manual and Nine Yin Manual from him.
• Xiao Feng and Gu Wei joined Gu Hui, who reflected on their lost companions and urged them to advance further in the Primordial Technique realm.

Gu Hui traveled the world while the Gu Clan built its influence and stored wealth, then became famous again as the Medicine Immortal amid the turmoil over the Nine Yin Manual. Beneath Zhongnan Mountain, he treated Lin Chaoying’s hidden ailments and left her to decide how to handle her feelings for Wang Chongyang.

• Gu Hui returned to Gu Sword Manor, where Gu Wei enjoyed family life as Gu Clan descendants managed Gu Group and built treasure-filled Ancient Tombs for future generations.
• The Nine Yin Manual resurfaced, and Wang Chongyang announced a Mount Hua contest to decide who would receive it; rumors also spread that the Medicine Immortal had appeared again.
• A young ruler in Dali, an overseas elder, Xiao Feng, and others reacted with surprise to news of Gu Hui’s renewed fame.
• Gu Hui met Lin Chaoying beneath Zhongnan Mountain, watched her martial arts, and warned that her emotion-rejecting cultivation had left her close to death.
• Gu Hui sent innate true essence through Lin Chaoying’s meridians to expel her hidden ailments, advised her that only she could resolve her feelings, and continued on his way.

Gu Hui watched Wang Chongyang win the Mount Hua Tournament and become Central Divine Power, then approached him with an offer to treat the damage caused by his Primordial Technique in exchange for examining its manual. Wang Chongyang agreed and invited Gu Hui to Zhongnan Mountain for treatment, while Gu Hui revealed he had known and treated Lin Chaoying twenty years earlier.

• After seven days and nights, Wang Chongyang defeated the other four remaining fighters and became Central Divine Power, while Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng, Duan Zhixing, and Hong Qigong became known alongside him as the Five Greats.
• Gu Hui met Wang Chongyang as he prepared to leave Mount Hua and recognized that the Primordial Technique had badly damaged his meridians.
• Gu Hui offered to cure Wang Chongyang in exchange for examining the Primordial Manual, and Wang Chongyang handed it over.
• Gu Hui examined the manual, judged it a method for tempering essence, qi, and spirit, and said he could treat Wang Chongyang in about a month.
• Wang Chongyang invited Gu Hui to Zhongnan Mountain, and Gu Hui explained that he had treated Lin Chaoying and taught her a technique twenty years earlier.

After recovering Wang Chongyang, Gu Hui stayed at Zhongnan Mountain to study the Primordial Technique and tried to mediate between Wang Chongyang and Lin Chaoying, but left them to resolve their feelings themselves. He went down the mountain to treat the poor, encountered Hong Qigong, and ended the chapter studying the Primordial Technique at an inn.

• Gu Hui explained that he had taught Lin Chaoying the Formless Skill, and the group later arrived at Zhongnan Mountain, where he treated Wang Chongyang until he recovered.
• Gu Hui compared the Primordial Technique with Free-and-Easy Imperial Wind and began preparing to compress and refine his primordial true essence in his dantian.
• Lin Chaoying defeated Wang Chongyang and claimed the Ancient Tomb, while Gu Hui teased Wang Chongyang about his refusal to accept her feelings before leaving the mountain.
• Wang Chongyang told Lin Chaoying that Gu Hui had cured him after the Mount Hua Tournament, and Lin Chaoying revealed that Gu Hui had saved her twenty years earlier without changing his appearance.
• Gu Hui treated commoners in town, spoke briefly with Hong Qigong, then went to an inn and resumed cultivating the Primordial Technique.

After spending five years on Zhongnan Mountain, Gu Hui visited Gu Manlou in Lin'an and encountered Gu Xin, the young-looking manager of the Gu Clan’s Southern Song businesses. He left alone, while Gu Xin decided to travel by herself.

• Gu Hui spent five years on Zhongnan Mountain, where Wang Chongyang and Lin Chaoying remained alive, and Zhou Botong repeatedly wandered down the mountain after his confinement ended.
• Gu Hui visited Gu Manlou, the towering Lin'an restaurant founded by Gu Hui’s ancestor, where Gu Xin managed the porridge stall serving refugees.
• Gu Xin recognized Gu Hui and asked why he was standing in line, then learned he claimed to have arrived by chance.
• Gu Hui praised Gu Xin’s management and martial arts before teasing her about marriage, but he left quickly when she considered traveling with him.
• Gu Xin decided to travel alone, while Gu Hui reflected on her strength and the Gu Clan’s many powerful martial arts and experts.

Gu Hui traveled toward Zhongdu with Qiu Chuji, discussed the wager to train Yang Kang and Guo Jing, then changed course toward the Western Regions and encountered the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan. He recognized the quality of Han Xiaoying’s sword technique and told her she had only learned its surface.

• Gu Hui warned Qiu Chuji to teach Yang Kang how to be a good person as well as how to fight, and Qiu Chuji agreed.
• Gu Hui and Qiu Chuji parted ways, with Gu Hui choosing a detour and eventually heading west.
• Gu Hui met Han Xiaoying, Ke Zhen'e, Zhu Cong, Han Baoju, Nan Xiren, Zhang Aseng, and Quan Jinfа on the road.
• Gu Hui interpreted the character “Jing” as an auspicious sign for their northward journey, though the group treated him as a charlatan.
• After watching Han Xiaoying practice, Gu Hui praised her sword technique but said she had not grasped its surface.

Gu Hui gave Han Xiaoying the Evil-Warding Sword Art, then helped her group rescue villagers from Jin soldiers and warned her of a future calamity. After exhausting and restoring his true essence, he reached great perfection in the innate realm and continued toward the Esoteric Sect of the Western Regions.

• Gu Hui exchanged the Evil-Warding Sword Art for Han Xiaoying's sword art and urged her to cultivate it, saying mastery might let her join the Five Greats.
• Han Xiaoying and the others attacked Jin soldiers abusing villagers, but Gu Hui killed the surviving soldiers with flying pebbles.
• Gu Hui gave Han Xiaoying his donkey and warned her that she would face a life-and-death calamity she could overcome by reaching the absolute peak realm.
• Gu Hui exhausted his innate true essence with his lightness skill, meditated for a day and night, and reached great perfection in the innate realm.
• Gu Hui continued toward the Esoteric Sect of the Western Regions.