Recaps

Gu Chi captured Tao Yan and confronted him over the massacre of his family, then resolved to execute him by fire. After the Feng woman was captured, she chose to die by her own hand, while the battle’s survivors were dealt with.

• Bai Su replenished her martial energy through Gu Chi’s Word Spirit and continued fighting, while Gu Chi pursued Tao Yan’s fleeing forces instead of confronting him directly.
• Gu Chi captured the Feng woman and Tao Yan’s remaining troops, then returned to Shen Tang after the battle entered its cleanup stage.
• Shen Tang presented the bound Tao Yan to Gu Chi, who demanded to know whether Tao Yan regretted the massacre of his family.
• Tao Yan claimed he had not ordered the massacre but refused to name the men responsible, and Gu Chi decided to burn him in retribution for his mother’s death by fire.
• Gu Chi offered the Feng woman his sword, and she used it to take her own life.

Gu Chi executed Tao Yan after learning that Lady Feng had died, then chose to leave Tao Yan’s children alone rather than continue his revenge. Shen Tang’s army moved on to prepare an ambush, while a defending general in Ganzhou marched out to intercept them.

• Gu Chi buried Lady Feng, confronted Tao Yan about the deaths of his family, and burned him alive after Tao Yan begged him to spare his children.
• Bai Su told Gu Chi that the decision to continue his revenge was his, and Gu Chi admitted that his hatred no longer compelled him to hunt Tao Yan’s children.
• Shen Tang led her troops away from the Miao River, while a few surviving soldiers debated returning with news of Tao Yan’s defeat and one set out for the Alliance Army’s encampment.
• Shen Tang’s troops reached their ambush site, rested in shifts, and compared conflicting maps of the terrain with Wei Shou’s help.
• A messenger informed the defending general that Zheng Qiao had ordered him to intercept Shen Tang, and the general assembled his elite troops and rode out to attack her.

The defending general led three thousand troops into Xun Zhen’s maze formation, hoping to ambush Shen Tang, but his force was caught in a counter-ambush. Wei Shou attacked the general while Shen Tang’s soldiers struck from the surrounding terrain, and their duel continued as the chapter ended.

• The defending general left the city with three thousand troops, intending to kill Shen Tang and earn military merit.
• Xun Ding alerted Xun Zhen that the target had arrived, and Xun Zhen ordered his soldiers to prepare for the enemy.
• Shen Tang and her allies waited while the maze formation diverted the defending general’s troops into a horn-shaped valley.
• The defending general sensed danger, discovered the formation, and ordered his troops to retreat, but Shen Tang’s forces launched their ambush.
• Wei Shou kicked the defending general from his horse and fought him, while Chu Yao directed soldiers to send boulders rolling down on the enemy.

Shen Tang’s forces crushed the ambush, and Wei Shou killed the enemy general. Shen Tang planned to seize a stronghold by posing as prisoners, and her disguised force approached its gates at night.

• Wei Shou fought the general while Bai Su picked off enemy officers, and Luan Xin and Jiang Sheng sealed the bottleneck to split the ambushers.
• Wei Shou killed the general, and the demoralized enemy soldiers surrendered.
• Shen Tang ordered her troops to collect enemy uniforms and planned to trick the stronghold’s guards by posing as prisoners.
• Jiang Sheng advised waiting until nightfall, so Shen Tang’s disguised force set out in the third watch.
• A sleepy guard on the city wall spotted a line of approaching lights in the darkness.

Lu Ji tricked the deputy general into leading more than two thousand troops out of the city, then seized the city and took control of the Prefectural Yamen before dawn. The deputy general realized the returning soldiers and urgent messenger had been part of a con, but his army was already trapped in a gorge under attack.

• The general's fellow townsman convinced the deputy general that the returning army had defeated Shen Thief and brought back two thousand prisoners, while Lu Ji posed as the general's new favorite.
• After a messenger delivered a false urgent dispatch, the deputy general refused to send Lu Ji and instead led more than two thousand men out of the city to reinforce the general.
• Once the deputy general's troops had departed, Lu Ji used the general's name to reassign guards, seized key locations, and replaced the city flag with one bearing "Shen."
• Lu Ji took over the Prefectural Yamen, where an unfamiliar clerk learned only afterward that the city had changed hands.
• The messenger led the deputy general's army into a gorge, vanished, and revealed the trap as arrows and attackers descended from the surrounding hills.

Shen Tang used the city she had captured to plan another ambush, while Zheng Qiao learned about Huang Lie’s Great Strength God Pills. The chapter ended with Huang Lie offering the pills to the Dragon Slaying Bureau's Alliance Army, and Gu Ren responding with suspicion.

• Jiang Sheng and Ning Yan reached the captured city, where Xun Ding explained that Shen Tang had restored its original flag to hide the change of hands.
• Shen Tang sent Ning Yan to deliver a request for aid to a neighboring county, hoping to lure its troops into another ambush before Zheng Qiao learned the city had fallen.
• Zheng Qiao learned that Huang Lie’s Heavy Shield Warriors were protected by a convoy and explained that Great Strength God Pills created them, though most people who took the pills died.
• Zheng Qiao ordered his general to watch for news of Shen Tang’s ambush after his fishing hook came up empty twice.
• Huang Lie revealed Great Strength God Pills to the alliance leaders and offered to share them, but Gu Ren rejected the offer with suspicion.

Huang Lie offered the alliance Great Strength God Pills, and Kang Shi and Yu Zi recognized them as a trap that could weaken the alliance while giving Huang Lie lasting control. Zheng Qiao prepared to retaliate if he fell, then erupted in anger when he learned Shen Youli had slipped into his territory.

• Huang Lie offered Great Strength God Pills to the alliance, and Wu Xian accepted them without promising to use them.
• Zhao Feng urged Wu Xian to reject the pills, while Kang Shi and Yu Zi explained that Huang Lie's offer could force the alliance into a costly arms race and leave him with a lasting advantage.
• Kang Shi condemned Huang Lie and the other allies for sacrificing people through the pills, and the group concluded that Wu Xian's forces should not take them.
• Zheng Qiao laughed at Huang Lie's scheme, ordered the nobles and former officials of Xin Country taken into custody, and requested information on everyone in the Dragon Slaying Bureau.
• Zheng Qiao learned that Shen Youli had entered his territory and angrily blamed the city's defenders for failing to detect her or report her arrival.

After Shen Tang seized Cunshan, Zheng Qiao ordered a small force to contain her and privately gave an old minister a chance to flee Ganzhou. The minister prepared to escape with his family and Zheng Qiao’s broken sword, while an unexpected palace visitor appeared and the chapter foreshadowed Ning Yan confronting Zheng Qiao.

• Zheng Qiao heard that Shen Tang had taken Cunshan and, rejecting his generals’ calls for a costly assault, ordered a force to contain her instead.
• A civil official warned Zheng Qiao that retaking Cunshan would require tens of thousands of troops, then met privately with him by the lake.
• Zheng Qiao reminisced with the minister about their school days and gave him one night to leave Ganzhou with his family.
• The minister returned home carrying Zheng Qiao’s broken sword and decided to flee to Longwu Commandery, intending to deliver the sword to Ning Yan.
• A palace eunuch arrived while the minister’s family packed and asked whether he planned to leave; the chapter ended by revealing that Ning Yan was coming for Zheng Qiao with a sword.

A eunuch secretly delivered Yan Xingning’s ashes to Kang Shi, who fled with his family and chose to seek refuge in Cunshan. There he reunited with Ning Yan, whose Literary Heart Sigil and aura stunned him into realizing that Tu Nan was a man.

• A eunuch revealed that he had saved Yan Xingning’s remains from being fed to animals and asked Kang Shi to find them a proper resting place.
• Kang Shi promised to deliver the ashes to Xingning’s widow, and his family left before dawn with the ashes and Zheng Qiao’s broken sword.
• Kang Shi changed course toward Cunshan, hoping to find refuge with Kang Jishou and secure a safe foothold amid the coming conflict.
• Zhao Wei recognized Kang Shi as an old friend of Strategist Kang, escorted his family into Cunshan, and reported his arrival to Shen Tang.
• Kang Shi encountered Ning Yan in Cunshan and blurted out that Tu Nan was a man, prompting Ning Yan to warn him not to say anything so outrageous.

Ning Yan learned that Xie Qi had brought back Yan Xingning’s remains, while Shen Tang sensed something alive inside Zheng Qiao’s broken sword. The chapter ended with Shen Tang planning to compare it with Xingning’s broken sword to discover whether Zheng Qiao had tampered with it.

• Ning Yan revealed that she had condensed a Literary Heart as a woman, shocking Xie Qi, and Zhao Wei introduced herself to him.
• Xie Qi admitted he had come to find Ning Yan and asked Zhao Wei to fetch two items from his lodging.
• Xie Qi gave Ning Yan a clay jar containing Yan Xingning’s remains and explained that palace attendants had hidden them at risk to their lives.
• Xie Qi revealed that the broken sword in the case belonged to Zheng Qiao, and Ning Yan said she wanted it thrown away.
• Shen Tang sensed something alive inside Zheng Qiao’s broken sword, though Ning Yan, Xie Qi, Zhao Wei, and Bai Su could not detect anything unusual.
• Ning Yan suggested comparing Zheng Qiao’s sword with Yan Xingning’s broken sword to see whether Zheng Qiao had altered it.

Shen Tang and Chu Yao discovered that Zheng Qiao had hidden a National Seal inside the broken sword, possibly as part of a plan to plunge the world into chaos. Shen Tang accepted the burden of defeating him, while Xie Qi faced pressure from his wife to ask Ning Yan to teach their daughter.

• Shen Tang sensed that Zheng Qiao's broken sword contained something alive, and Xie Qi recounted how Zheng Qiao had entrusted it to him for Ning Yan.
• Chu Yao tested Shen Tang's reaction to the sword while she was drunk and confirmed that it contained a National Seal.
• Chu Yao explained that Zheng Qiao held the National Seals of conquered small states and might use the broken sword to ensure every faction gained one, sowing further conflict.
• Chu Yao said Shen Tang's National Seal had merged with Xin Country's seal and urged her to unite the continent; Shen Tang promised she would not let him down.
• Xie Qi's wife insisted that he ask Ning Yan to teach their daughter after hearing that Ning Yan had formed her Literary Heart.

Xie Qi and his wife asked Ning Yan to take their two talented daughters as disciples, and Ning Yan accepted them in a formal ceremony witnessed by Shen Tang. Xie Qi then pledged himself to Shen Tang and presented her with a map of Ganzhou's granaries, leaving her with a valuable new recruit and a major intelligence asset.

• Xie Qi's wife pressured him to seek a future for their daughters, and he took his family to Ning Yan's residence in the middle of the night.
• Ning Yan agreed to accept Xie Qi's two older daughters as disciples and invited Shen Tang to witness the ceremony.
• Shen Tang welcomed Xie Qi as a capable governance official and arranged for his household to join her territory.
• Ning Yan formally accepted the two girls, while Xun Zhen reserved a place as a future teacher for their youngest sister.
• At a private meeting, Xie Qi presented Shen Tang with a map showing the locations of Ganzhou's granaries.

Shen Tang learned that Ganzhou’s granary might offer a decisive advantage, but she refused to destroy its food and planned to take it without harming the people. Meanwhile, Xie Qi’s family discovered Shen Tang was a woman, and the Alliance Army faced growing tensions over Huang Lie’s pills and accusations against Tao Yan.

• Xie Qi revealed the location of Zheng Qiao’s granary in Ganzhou, and Shen Tang weighed the risk of a trap before deciding to plan a careful seizure rather than burn the grain.
• Shen Tang welcomed Xie Qi’s daughters as Ning Yan’s pupils, while Xie Qi’s wife and daughters realized Shen Tang was a woman and Xie Qi reaffirmed his loyalty.
• Huang Lie’s allies tested his Great Strength God Pills and learned that only one in ten recipients became a Heavy Shield Warrior, prompting Kang Shi, Gu Ren, and others to condemn their allies’ exploitation of soldiers.
• A former subordinate of Tao Yan accused Shen Tang’s troops of ambushing him, but Huang Lie told him Tao Yan had conspired with Zheng Qiao against Prefect Shen and claimed there was conclusive evidence.

After learning that Shen Tang’s forces had taken Mount Cun, Huang Lie and the Alliance Army prepared to launch their decisive campaign against Zheng Qiao before the Miao River flooded. Shen Tang planned to strike the troops guarding Mount Cun and proposed using the river route to evade their watch, as the final battle drew near.

• Kang Shi spared Tao Yan’s former subordinate after he accepted the evidence against Tao Yan, then sent him away with supplies; the soldier headed toward Longwu Commandery.
• Shen Tang’s messenger reported that she had taken Mount Cun, prompting Huang Lie and the Alliance Army to prepare for an attack before the Miao River rose.
• Zheng Qiao learned that the Alliance Army was advancing, ordered his forces to draw them in, and announced that he would personally oversee the battle.
• Shen Tang decided to attack the troops guarding Mount Cun, and her commanders debated how to break through their defenses.
• Shen Tang proposed using the river route along the steep bank to approach unseen.

Shen Tang persuaded her advisers to adopt a surprise attack across the Miao River cliffs, then led five hundred elite soldiers west while Wei Shou prepared to strike the enemy head-on. As Shen Tang’s force crossed the cliffs and Zheng Qiao’s general struggled to interpret their movements, Wei Shou marched his troops toward battle.

• Shen Tang explained that her small elite force could cross the Miao River cliffs using weapons as footholds, and the advisers approved a two-sided attack with Wei Shou leading the vanguard.
• Xie Qi learned from Ning Yan that Shen Tang had killed Jiang Ao and cultivated both civil and martial paths.
• Chu Yao prepared supplies and selected five hundred elite soldiers, who departed Cunshan City with Shen Tang and Xun Ding before dawn.
• Zheng Qiao’s general received reports that Shen Tang’s force had crossed the river and ordered continued scouting, unable to determine its purpose.
• Shen Tang’s soldiers traversed the cliffs on wooden stakes and safety ropes, while Bai Su helped Gu Chi across despite his discomfort near the river.
• Wei Shou rallied his troops with a speech about earning military honors and ordered them to move out.

Shen Tang’s surprise force and Wei Shou’s cavalry attacked Zheng Qiao’s army during a storm, using Luan Xin’s literary energy to evade detection. Wei Shou’s troops broke into the enemy camp, and he spotted a disturbance in the rear that threatened his opponent.

• Shen Tang ordered her force to hurry through the rain and rest before launching a surprise attack on Aoshan Commandery.
• A general serving Zheng Qiao dismissed the danger of an attack in the storm, but a messenger reported that the enemy was approaching.
• Luan Xin used [Silent Nurturing] to conceal Wei Shou’s army from the enemy’s scouting Word Spirit creations.
• Wei Shou led the cavalry through the enemy defenses and into the main camp, where they clashed with a much larger force.
• Wei Shou fought Zheng Qiao’s general and noticed trouble breaking out at the rear of the camp.

Shen Tang’s forces attacked Zheng Qiao’s camp from the front and rear, defeating the defenders and capturing their surviving soldiers. After counting more than six hundred casualties, Shen Tang ordered a short rest and a rendezvous with the troops from Cunshan City before facing Zheng Qiao’s main force.

• Shen Tang’s rear attack used the [Fire Bull Formation] to scatter the camp’s defenders, while Xun Ding and Bai Su fought enemy generals and Martial Gall Totems.
• Bai Su’s fish totem helped Xun Ding defeat the leopard totem, and Bai Su claimed the enemy general’s head before Xun Ding could.
• Wei Shou forced Zheng Qiao’s general onto the defensive and continued attacking after the general survived a devastating blow.
• Shen Tang trapped fleeing soldiers inside a barrier while Xu Quan and the other commanders killed enemy leaders, and Yun Ce cut down defenders with his icy spear.
• After half a shichen of fighting, the two forces joined in the camp’s center, leaving the enemy dead or captured.
• Wei Shou brought the head of the enemy’s leading general to Shen Tang, who ordered a half-day’s rest and called for the troops from Cunshan City to gather before the campaign against Zheng Qiao’s main force.

Huang Lie’s alliance confronted the rapidly rising Miao River and decided to freeze it so their army could cross and attack Zheng Qiao. As the river froze, Zheng Qiao chose not to interfere and pointed out that a resulting flood downstream could devastate Yanzhou because of the allies’ own neglect.

• A messenger told Huang Lie that the Miao River was rising rapidly, and Kang Shi pressed him for a plan while the allies debated whether to retreat or fight.
• Huang Lie proposed freezing a stretch of the river, and Kang Shi warned that an ice jam could cause flooding downstream; Gu Ren objected to sacrificing the people, but the alliance accepted the plan.
• Kang Shi’s and Gu Ren’s forces declined to contribute Literary Scholars, citing a shortage of capable people, while the other allies pooled enough power to freeze the river.
• Zheng Qiao heard that the river was rising after waking from a nightmare, recalled his painful childhood in Xin Country, and later slept peacefully in the rain.
• Zheng Qiao learned that the Miao River was being frozen by a Word Spirit, decided not to try to stop it, and prepared to fight the alliance on land.
• Zheng Qiao noted that a Miao River tributary flowed into Yanzhou and mocked the allies for neglecting flood defenses while accusing him of corruption.

After the Miao River froze, Zheng Qiao’s army challenged the Alliance Army to a duel, and Wu Xian’s general lost to Zheng Qiao’s seasoned fighter. The next opponent Zheng Qiao sent out was another Fifteenth Rank Shao Shang Zao, leaving Old General Jiang and Chu Jie suspicious of the enemy’s strength.

• Wu Xian’s soldiers chanted that Heaven’s Mandate belonged to them, while Zhao Feng and his old friend discussed their willingness to stop hiding their strength.
• Zheng Qiao chose a seasoned general to fight, and Wu Xian’s Fifteenth Rank Shao Shang Zao general stepped forward to meet him.
• The generals fought across the frozen river, but Zheng Qiao’s fighter overwhelmed his opponent and forced him to retreat badly wounded.
• Wu Xian comforted his defeated general, while the Alliance Army considered whom to send into the next bout.
• Zheng Qiao recalled his fighter and sent out another Fifteenth Rank Shao Shang Zao, prompting Old General Jiang and Chu Jie to suspect something was wrong.

The Alliance Army tied the general duels at one win apiece, but Qi Cang’s overwhelming strength threatened to decide the third battle. Just as Huang Lie’s black-clothed guard prepared to answer Qi Cang’s challenge, Gongxi Chou arrived and confronted him.

• A martial officer under Huang Lie volunteered for the second duel and defeated Zheng Qiao’s fighter, but Qi Cang crushed the wounded man’s skull and drove the victor off the field with a giant phantom palm.
• Qi Cang revealed himself as a Sixteenth-Rank Grand Shang Zao and challenged the Alliance Army, leaving Huang Lie and Wu Xian struggling to choose someone for the third duel.
• Huang Lie’s black-clothed Martial Gall Warrior volunteered to fight Qi Cang, while Wu Xian and Gu Ren suspected he was Huang Lie’s hidden trump card.
• Qi Cang’s laughter caused soldiers’ palms to bleed, and the black-clothed Martial Artist sensed someone approaching.
• A dark green light streaked toward the battlefield, and Qi Cang met its arrival with a punch; after their clash, Tu Rong recognized the newcomer as Gongxi Chou, who taunted the crowd.

Gongxi Chou arrived at the riverbank, revealed that he had advanced to the Sixteenth Rank, and exposed Huang Lie’s concealed strength as the Alliance Army’s hidden general fought Qi Cang. The duel escalated as Qi Cang unleashed a devastating attack, and Gongxi Chou summoned a colossal serpent to block it.

• Gongxi Chou confronted Qi Cang, then told Kang Shi that he had come to find Mama and that his injured eyes would recover in time.
• Gongxi Chou confirmed that he had recently advanced to the Sixteenth Rank and said he could match Qi Cang in a fight.
• The Black-clothed Martial Artist revealed an aura equal to Qi Cang’s, prompting Gu Ren to accuse Huang Lie of hiding a powerful general while Shao Chong risked his life for the Alliance Army.
• Huang Lie claimed his general had been unable to fight because of the trials of advancing, and Gongxi Chou explained the trials while calling Huang Lie’s excuse a coward’s move.
• Qi Cang unleashed a massive sword attack toward the Alliance Army, and Gongxi Chou summoned a colossal serpent to shield the riverbank.

Qi Cang defeated the Black-clothed Martial Artist in the final generals’ duel, but Gongxi Chou’s presence kept Qi Cang from joining the ensuing battle. Zheng Qiao watched the armies clash and hinted that he had arranged a deadly surprise for his enemies.

• Gongxi Chou revealed his enormous Martial Gall Totem, and Qi Cang used his own hidden totem to ambush and badly injure the Black-clothed Martial Artist, who escaped alive.
• Gu Ren warned the Sixth Brother that Huang Lie might become a threat after the dragon-slaying, and they resolved to prepare for war against him and Zhang He.
• Zheng Qiao and Huang Lie ordered their armies to attack, and the two forces collided across the frozen Miao River.
• Gongxi Chou kept Qi Cang from joining the fighting, and Qi Cang eventually returned to Zheng Qiao’s formation.
• Zheng Qiao told Qi Cang he had arranged a good show, while the battle continued and he anticipated his enemies’ reaction to his gifts.

After the Alliance Army pursued Zheng Qiao across Ganzhou, rumors of destroyed granaries caused his troops to rout, and the pursuit resumed once the truth emerged. Zheng Qiao repeatedly evaded the encircling armies, leaving Huang Lie’s forces to capture only an attendant dressed in his clothes.

• Qi Cang intercepted the Black-clothed Martial Artist, while Gongxi Chou pulled him to safety during the fighting at the Miao River.
• Zheng Qiao’s troops suddenly broke after rumors spread that their granaries had been breached, and Gu Ren and Kang Shi led a pursuit despite Huang Lie’s doubts.
• Kang Shi interrogated captured soldiers and learned that the rumors of burned granaries had caused the rout; Gongxi Chou urged them to find Shen Tang and secure the Sacred Object.
• Wu Xian’s troops captured a fleeing palace attendant carrying treasures and Zheng Qiao’s personal seals, while the Alliance Army resumed its pursuit of Zheng Qiao.
• Zheng Qiao led his dwindling troops through Ganzhou as the Alliance Army split up to block his escape routes.
• Huang Lie’s forces cornered an attendant dressed as Zheng Qiao at a dead-end cliff and ordered the pursuit to continue after discovering Zheng Qiao had escaped.

After learning through Kang Shi’s Way of the Scholar that Zheng Qiao was fighting the Alliance Army, Shen Tang’s forces burned supplies near his granaries and helped break the enemy’s morale. Shen Tang joined Ning Yan and Wei Shou in tracking Zheng Qiao to an abandoned school, where their confrontation ended with him recognizing Shen Tang and mocking her for coming after him.

• Shen Tang’s bad luck from Kang Shi’s Way of the Scholar revealed that Zheng Qiao and the Alliance Army might already be fighting, so she and her allies chose to raid his rear and set fires near his granaries.
• The fires sent Zheng Qiao’s troops fleeing, and the Alliance Army swept through Ganzhou, but Zheng Qiao escaped and led his pursuers on a wild-goose chase.
• Ning Yan said she could guess where Zheng Qiao was headed, and Shen Tang insisted on accompanying her and Jiang Sheng despite their objections.
• Zheng Qiao visited the abandoned school where he had studied and remembered his teacher, his classmates, and the peaceful years of his youth.
• Ning Yan revealed herself to Zheng Qiao, who questioned her identity after seeing her familiar face and Literary Heart Sigil, while Wei Shou and Shen Tang also emerged from hiding.
• Shen Tang admitted she had come to support Ning Yan and answered Zheng Qiao’s taunt by saying his previous gift had not satisfied her.

Shen Tang confronted Zheng Qiao about his rule and the suffering he used to justify his cruelty, while Ning Yan sought revenge for Yan Xingning. Zheng Qiao died from poison and Jiang Sheng beheaded him, but Qi Cang warned that Zheng Qiao’s real scheme was only beginning.

• Zheng Qiao realized Shen Tang had possessed the National Seal and questioned why Yan Xingning had chosen to help her.
• Shen Tang explained that she would have guarded Longwu Commandery even without the National Seal, and Zheng Qiao allowed Qi Cang to leave with the carved bird and fish.
• Zheng Qiao revealed he had taken poison and argued that his suffering justified his deeds, while Shen Tang challenged his excuses and asked whether he had any regrets.
• As the poison overwhelmed him, Zheng Qiao invited Ning Yan to take revenge, but Ning Yan gave her sword to Jiang Sheng, who beheaded him.
• Qi Cang returned to collect and bury Zheng Qiao’s body, then told Shen Tang, Wei Shou, Jiang Sheng, and Ning Yan that the real excitement had only just begun.