Chapter Summaries

Shen Tang appointed Lu Ji as her personal guard and proposed a risky plan to outflank Zheng Qiao at Ao Mountain. Gu Chi then revealed that Zheng Qiao had secretly approached Tao Yan, who might betray the alliance for promises of status and power.

• Shen Tang encouraged Lu Ji to balance training with rest, then appointed her as a personal guard; Lu Ji eagerly accepted.
• Yang Ying sparred with Yun Ce using a saber after agreeing to restrict their techniques.
• Shen Tang warned Lu Ji to conceal her hatred of Huang Lie at the alliance meeting.
• Shen Tang proposed leading an elite force west along the Miao River to attack Ao Mountain from the rear, and Huang Lie assigned Tao Yan to accompany her.
• Gu Chi told Shen Tang that Zheng Qiao had secretly contacted Tao Yan and offered him what he wanted most.
• Gu Chi explained that Tao Yan and his supporters valued status and power more than restoring their kingdom.

Shen Tang exposed Tao Yan’s secret negotiations with Zheng Qiao but let him believe his betrayal remained hidden, then led an elite force west at breakneck speed. Zheng Qiao learned Shen Tang had truly marched and began questioning whether she possessed the National Seal at all.

• Gu Chi and Shen Tang discussed using Tao Yan’s betrayal against Zheng Qiao, while Gu Chi admitted he had made no progress perfecting his Way of the Scholar.
• Tao Yan’s trusted aide urged him to accept Zheng Qiao’s offer, and Tao Yan persuaded Lady Feng to support his plan by claiming he would use Zheng Qiao to build strength and eventually restore their homeland.
• Shen Tang set out with most of her elite troops before Tao Yan could relay information to Zheng Qiao, and she refused Tao Yan’s attempts to slow the march.
• Shen Tang led the army west along the Miao River, taking remote mountain paths and completing in half the expected time despite Tao Yan’s complaints.
• Zheng Qiao received word that Tao Yan had submitted and that Shen Tang had led troops elsewhere, but he doubted the report until an official confirmed seeing her force march away.
• Zheng Qiao sensed that the National Seal had not moved with Shen Tang and wondered whether she had ever possessed it.

Zheng Qiao ordered his garrison to ambush and kill Shen Tang, while Shen Tang secretly led her forces across the Miao River and prepared to strike Tao Yan’s troops. As Shen Tang drew her bow to launch the attack, Kang Shi stormed into Huang Lie’s tent to accuse him of something.

• Zheng Qiao confirmed Shen Tang did not have the National Seal and ordered the garrison to ambush and kill her.
• Shen Tang ordered her troops to cross the Miao River at night and confronted Tao Yan when he refused to cooperate.
• Shen Tang’s troops and Tao Yan’s forces crossed on black-covered rafts, with Shen Tang’s vanguard reaching the opposite bank first.
• Shen Tang, Chu Yao, Gu Chi, and Jiang Sheng prepared a plan to attack Tao Yan’s troops mid-crossing and frame him for betraying the alliance.
• Shen Tang raised her silver dragon bow as Tao Yan’s main force reached the middle of the river.
• Kang Shi kicked open Huang Lie’s tent and demanded to know what the alliance leader was doing.

Kang Shi confronted Huang Lie with evidence that Tao Yan had plotted against Shen Tang and secured Huang Lie’s promise to send help. On the Miao River, Shen Tang ambushed Tao Yan’s force, and Feng Clan urged the commanders to retreat the vanguard through the wings.

• Kang Shi accused Tao Yan of colluding with the enemy and showed Huang Lie the stitched corpse found at Tao Yan’s camp, while Huang Lie promised to send a messenger after Shen Tang.
• Kang Shi told Lü Jue that Huang Lie would benefit whether Tao Yan or Shen Tang was weakened, and Lü Jue worried about their lord’s safety.
• Tao Yan worried that Shen Tang’s army would reach the city before he could pass along his message to Zheng Qiao.
• Shen Tang’s troops ambushed Tao Yan’s forces as they crossed the Miao River, wounding Tao Yan and driving many of his soldiers into the water.
• Tao Yan ordered his troops to form a Shield Wall, while Feng Clan, injured on the raft, urged the commanders to retreat the vanguard through the wings.

Shen Tang's forces ambushed Tao Yan's army on the Miao River, where her generals and allies overwhelmed the enemy and captured Tao Yan alive. The battle ended with Tao Yan in Wei Shou's hands, while Bai Su collapsed from her depleted martial energy.

• Shen Tang's forces struck Tao Yan's vanguard in the middle of the Miao River, trapping his troops among the rafts and attacking them with archers and spear-wielding soldiers.
• Tao Yan ordered his men to counterattack, while Bai Su fought through his guards and Shen Tang instructed Lu Ji to prepare fire arrows to burn the rafts.
• Xun Ding arrived atop his giant blue crocodile and joined Bai Su in fighting Tao Yan, while Wei Shou entered the battle and Yun Ce blocked Tao Yan's retreat toward shore.
• Wei Shou knocked Tao Yan back and tried to seize him, but a mysterious large fish leaped from the river and struck Tao Yan before Wei Shou captured him alive.
• Wei Shou asked Yun Ce about the fish's owner, and Bai Su was left pale and drained of martial energy after the fish disappeared.

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.