Chapter Summaries

The Imperial Merchant Bureau was established, and Zhen Yang Shi became Da Rong’s first female outer-court civil official. The court finalized plans for a Martial Temple and Martial Arts Pavilion, but Yang Zhengshan declined the Martial Temple leadership and chose to head the Pavilion, leaving the Temple Minister’s appointment unresolved.

• Emperor Yanping appointed Li Changxiao bureau director and named the Six Major Agents, including Zhen Yang Shi, as directors of the Imperial Merchant Bureau.
• Zhen Yang Shi thanked Yang Zhengshan for his support, and he urged the directors to earn silver for the emperor while helping Chongshan Town repay its debts.
• Yang Zhengshan and the court settled plans to establish the Martial Temple and Martial Arts Pavilion, with the Pavilion covering martial arts, military strategy, troop training, equipment, and medicine.
• Emperor Yanping offered Yang Zhengshan the post of Martial Temple Minister, but Yang Zhengshan requested the lower-ranking post of Martial Administrator of the Martial Arts Pavilion instead.
• Zhou Mao proposed Marquis Wuding, Guo Ying, as Martial Temple Minister, but Duan Rui objected that Guo Ying could not be transferred from Yunling Town.

Yang Zhengshan received an imperial appointment as Junior Tutor and Martial Administrator of the Martial Arts Pavilion, along with a valuable suit of Bright Light Armor. The chapter left him admiring the armor and hoping to wear it on a future battlefield.

• Emperor Yanping and his officials agreed to ask Marquis Jianchang to oversee the Martial Temple and assigned other senior posts.
• Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi discussed Wang Mingzhe's marriage and planned for Jiang He to serve as Registrar of the Martial Arts Pavilion.
• Eunuch Chen delivered an imperial decree appointing Yang Zhengshan Junior Tutor and Martial Administrator, rewarding his work settling refugees.
• Chen Zhongshu presented Yang Zhengshan with a Flowing Gold Bright Light Armor, which Yang Zhengshan tried on and praised.
• Yang Zhengshan placed the decree in the ancestral hall and had the armor put away.

Yang Zhengshan organized the first staff and preparations for the Martial Arts Pavilion while the Imperial Court began establishing the Martial Temple and its divisions. He then learned that Yang Chengye’s wife had given birth to a healthy boy, and the Yang Family held a third-day washing ceremony attended by relatives and an imperial emissary.

• The Imperial Court granted the Martial Arts Pavilion an estate in the Royal Hunting Ground, and Yang Zhengshan arranged its staff, selected its first instructors, and assigned officials to prepare the site and recruit disciples.
• Yang Zhengshan returned to the Marquis Mansion and learned that Yu Qingyi had given birth to a boy, then held the newborn and checked that he was healthy.
• The Yang Family announced the birth and held a third-day washing ceremony, where relatives from the Marquis of Dongping Mansion added gifts to the basin.
• The Empress’s female official brought gifts and added a gold ingot to the basin, delighting the birth attendant who presided over the ceremony.

After Yang Zhengshan named Yang Chengye and Yu Qingyi’s newborn son Yang Qinyuan, the Imperial Court issued the Martial Promotion Decree, forcing sects across Da Rong to decide how to respond. The chapter leaves the Nanshan Sect divided over whether to submit to the court or resist despite the danger of destruction.

• Yang Zhengshan named Yang Chengye and Yu Qingyi’s son Yang Qinyuan after the washing-three ceremony.
• The Imperial Court promulgated the Martial Promotion Decree, and copies spread throughout Da Rong, shaking the jianghu.
• Ji Hai brought the decree to Ji Zhen, who ordered him to go to the Capital and seek guidance from the Marquis of Jing'an.
• Li Zhen discussed the decree with Li Zhongzhen and his disciples, then ordered Zhang Qingyu and Lu Zhihua to take thirty disciples to the Capital and serve Marquis Jianchang, Zhang Luan.
• Fu Ting rejected the decree at the Nanshan Sect, while its elders warned that resisting the Imperial Court could lead to the sect’s extermination.

Star Moon Sect's Seven Star Hall struggled with the consequences of the Martial Promotion Decree, while a mysterious young man planned to provoke conflict between the Imperial Court and the jianghu. In the capital, Yang Zhengshan advised visiting martial powers to cooperate with the court, mourned Lu Songhe's death, and welcomed Li and Yang Wanying as the Yang Family prepared for Yang Chengmou's wedding.

• Cui Kai and his advisers worried that the Martial Promotion Decree would end Seven Star Hall's wealth-gathering operations and leave it with no reason to exist.
• A young man told Yan Huichun to release news about Cuixian Valley, hoping to make the Imperial Court and the jianghu clash and buy his side three years.
• Yang Zhengshan noticed the rain and the world around him seemed newly wondrous, then learned Lu Songhe had died and sent Yang Mingcheng to Anning County.
• Yang Zhengshan advised Ji Hai, Shang Mingde, and Hua Jinqiu to follow the Imperial Court's plans for the Martial Temple and its offices, and recommended Ji Hai and Shang Mingde to Marquis Jianchang.
• Li arrived in the capital with Yang Wanying, who told Yang Zhengshan about seeing a whale and asked him to catch it for her.

Yang Zhengshan learned that Snow Spirit Palace wanted to trade with the Yang Family for precious medicines and spirit fruits, while the Martial Arts Pavilion opened and the Martial Temple stirred controversy by naming eight first-class sects. The chapter ended with Yang Zhengshan investigating a report that a Star Origin Fruit Tree grew near Cuixia Valley.

• Yang Zhengshan read Yang Mingzhi’s letter about Fuzhou’s growth and Snow Spirit Palace’s wish to deepen trade with the Yang Family, then asked them to come to the Capital to discuss it.
• Yang Zhengshan hosted Yang Chengmou’s wedding, welcomed guests including Liang Chu, Prince An, Prince Dai, and Liu Zhe, and saw the family celebrate the marriage.
• The Martial Arts Pavilion recruited more than three hundred disciples, and Yang Zhengshan supplied its wells with Spirit Spring Water to aid their cultivation.
• The Martial Temple named eight sects first-class, prompting widespread objections among jianghu forces, while Yang Zhengshan observed that the Hengdao Sect would face particular scrutiny.
• Wu Zheng told Yang Zhengshan that a Star Origin Fruit Tree might grow near Cuixia Valley in Wanshan Ridge, and Yang Zhengshan consulted a book about spiritual fruits.

Yang Zhengshan learned that the Star Origin Fruit Tree in Cuixia Valley was real and that its fruit could be used to make True Origin Pills, drawing the Imperial Court’s attention to the coming harvest. He warned Emperor Yanping that the rumor might be a plot to undermine the Martial Promotion Decree, then proposed paying every Innate Martial Artist an annual salary of one Three-Yellow Plum and one True Origin Pill.

• Yang Zhengshan found records describing the Star Origin Fruit Tree and sent Wu Zheng to search Cuixia Valley for it.
• Yang Zhengshan met Marquis Jianchang Zhang Luan outside Taiji Hall and agreed to give him three jars of Hundred Herb Brew and two jars of Peach Blossom Brew.
• Emperor Yanping told Yang Zhengshan and Zhang Luan that the Secret Martial Guard had found a newly fruiting Star Origin Fruit Tree in Cuixia Valley, and that the Imperial Hospital could refine True Origin Pills from its fruit.
• Yang Zhengshan suspected that someone had deliberately exposed the tree to provoke a battle among Innate Martial Artists and damage the Imperial Court’s authority and the Martial Promotion Decree.
• Yang Zhengshan proposed that the Imperial Court use the opportunity to bring Innate Martial Artists under its influence by giving each one a Three-Yellow Plum and a True Origin Pill every year.

Yang Zhengshan proposed granting stipends and the title of Imperial Venerable to Innate Martial Artists, and Emperor Yanping approved the plan and assigned troops to guard Cuixia Valley. As martial artists flocked to the valley and the Secret Martial Guard secured the Star Origin Fruit Tree, Yang Zhengshan learned that Luo Jinsong had reached the Half-Step Innate Realm.

• Yang Zhengshan proposed reducing the Three-Yellow Plum stipends for Three Mountain Valley's seniors, providing pills to other Innate Martial Artists, and naming them Imperial Venerables; Emperor Yanping approved and put him in charge.
• Emperor Yanping ordered the Yaowu Camp and Lianwu Camp to garrison Cuixia Valley while Yang Zhengshan asked for support from senior martial artists.
• Wu Zheng arrived at Cuixia Valley, met Pei Du of the Xilou Sword Sect, and learned that the Star Origin Fruit Tree lay about ten li inside the valley.
• Wu Zheng's guards found that the Secret Martial Guard had secured the tree with over a thousand Ti Cavalry, and Wu Zheng entered the valley to see the gathering martial artists.
• After Wu Zheng reported that dozens of groups had gathered around the tree, Yang Zhengshan summoned Luo Jinsong, who revealed that he had condensed Innate True Qi and reached the Half-Step Innate Realm.

Yang Zhengshan sent Luo Jinsong to Cuixia Valley to reinforce Wu Zheng, then negotiated with visitors from the Snow Spirit Palace over Ice Heart Fruits and the Jade Bone Ice Heart Pill recipe. The visitors agreed to trade, and Yang Zhengshan warned them not to interfere with Da Rong’s Star Origin Fruit Tree as they stayed at the Yang residence.

• Yang Zhengshan congratulated Luo Jinsong on condensing Innate True Qi and ordered him to take the Yang Family Guard Battalion to Cuixia Valley with the Marquis Seal.
• Lu Shou reported that Xue Qiao'er, Xue Zhongjin, an elderly woman, and four young women from the Snow Spirit Palace had come to visit Yang Zhengshan.
• Xue Zhongjin presented an Ice Heart Fruit, and Xue Qiao'er explained its value as an ingredient in the Jade Bone Ice Heart Pill.
• Yang Zhengshan agreed to help gather the Snow Spirit Palace’s listed medicines after Xue Qiao'er gave him the pill recipe and offered Ice Heart Fruits in exchange for precious medicines.
• Xue Qiao'er said the visitors planned to inspect the Spirit Plant, and Yang Zhengshan warned them not to interfere because it belonged to Da Rong.
• The elderly woman accepted Yang Zhengshan’s warning, and Wu Hai arranged a guest courtyard for the visitors at the Yang residence.

Yang Zhengshan advanced toward Cuixia Valley as thousands of martial artists gathered around the Star Origin Fruit Tree, while the Star Moon Sect ordered its agents to destroy it. The chapter ended as Yan Bo faced a hostile crowd whose insults and threats pushed the Secret Martial Guard camp toward a clash.

• Yang Zhengshan ordered Xue Ou to lead five thousand cavalry ahead toward Cuixia Valley while Lv Shizhi brought up the rear, fearing that delay could bring unforeseen changes.
• At the Tianquan Star Hall, Deng Maoqi proposed exploiting tensions between the jianghu and the Secret Martial Guard, but Qu Fusheng arrived and ordered Cui Kai and the others to destroy the Star Origin Fruit Tree on the Sect Master's command.
• Cui Kai reluctantly accepted the order and told Deng Maoqi and the others to prepare to go to Cuixia Valley the next day.
• Zhang Ye told Daoist Xuan Zhen that the Emperor would grant all Innate Martial Artists the title of Imperial Venerable, along with a yearly stipend of a Three-Yellow Plum and a True Origin Pill.
• A burly martial artist challenged the Secret Martial Guard's blockade, and Yan Bo's attempt to restore order was met with a growing crowd's insults and threats.

Luo Jinsong tried to prevent the jianghu martial artists from attacking the Secret Martial Guard camp, but a staged riot turned into a battle when Cui Kai led Tianquan Star Hall in an assault. Pei Du and Duan Siniang fled to a nearby slope and realized the attackers were unfamiliar, weak martial artists.

• Luo Jinsong led two hundred guards between the Secret Martial Guard camp and the crowd, killing the burly instigator and intimidating many martial artists.
• Jing Changyuan challenged Luo Jinsong, but Pei Du defused the confrontation until Jing insulted Duan Siniang and Pei Du fought him.
• Cui Kai recognized Luo Jinsong and led over a hundred members of Tianquan Star Hall in a charge, triggering attacks on the Secret Martial Guard camp.
• Pei Du took Duan Siniang up a slope to escape the fighting, where they noticed the attackers were unfamiliar faces with surprisingly low strength.

Cui Kai led Tianquan Star Hall and jianghu forces in an assault on the Secret Martial Guard camp, but Yang Zhengshan arrived with the Yaowu Battalion and crushed the attackers. After Duan Siniang implicated Jing Changyuan in stirring up trouble, Yang Zhengshan killed him and threatened to wipe out Lingxiu Villa for defying the court’s laws.

• Cui Kai fought Luo Jinsong, who overwhelmed him and broke his blade, while the attackers pressed toward the Star Origin Fruit Tree.
• Yan Bo warned Luo Jinsong that the tree was threatened, and Luo Jinsong drove Kou Rong back as the Guard Battalion moved to defend it.
• Yang Zhengshan and Xue Ou led the Yaowu Battalion into the battle, routing the jianghu attackers and killing Cui Kai and Deng Maoqi with thrown swords.
• Duan Siniang told Yang Zhengshan that Jing Changyuan had incited the jianghu forces against the Jing'an Marquis Mansion.
• Yang Zhengshan questioned Jing Changyuan, then speared him and vowed to destroy Lingxiu Villa for disregarding the laws of the court.

Yang Zhengshan secured Cuixia Valley and discovered that Spirit Spring Water could nourish the Star Origin Fruit Tree and hasten its fruit’s ripening. As soldiers built up the camp, Princess Mingxi and Granny Meng arrived, while the Imperial Court’s larger plans for the Innate Martial Artists remained in motion.

• Zhang Ye told Daoist Xuan Zhen that Emperor Yanping sought to make Yang Zhengshan an Imperial Venerable and bring all Innate Martial Artists under imperial command.
• Yang Zhengshan ordered Cuixia Valley sealed, and Luo Jinsong reported that Star Moon Sect members had led the camp attack, while no trace of the Shenyang Sect had been found.
• Yang Zhengshan watered the Star Origin Fruit Tree with Spirit Spring Water and discovered its fruit’s glow and red coloring had increased, showing that the water nourished Spirit Plants and hastened ripening.
• Lv Shizhi brought the Soldiers of Lianwu Camp and Yaowu Camp to Cuixia Valley, where Yang Zhengshan arranged roadwork and construction of a military camp.
• Princess Mingxi and Granny Meng arrived at Cuixia Valley, and Yang Zhengshan respectfully welcomed them.

Yang Zhengshan assembled eighteen Innate Martial Artists at Cuixia Valley to discuss the Star Origin Fruits and announce Emperor Yanping’s decree making them Imperial Venerables. After Jing Mingzhou challenged the decree, Yang Zhengshan presented the gathered seniors with a stark choice, and several sects began agreeing to comply.

• Yang Zhengshan welcomed An Yuxing, Zhang Ye, Xuan Zhen, and other Innate Martial Artists who arrived at Cuixia Valley over several days.
• Ji Zhen arrived with Emperor Yanping’s handwritten order inviting the Innate Martial Artists to discuss distributing the Star Origin Fruits.
• Yang Zhengshan prepared a gathering and confirmed that the boxes held 383 Star Origin Fruits, then welcomed eighteen Innate Martial Artists, including Zhang Luan.
• Yang Zhengshan announced that all Da Rong Innate Martial Artists would receive the title of Imperial Venerable, equivalent to first grade, and explained that the title did not require them to serve in the capital.
• Jing Mingzhou challenged the decree, and Yang Zhengshan declared that rejecting the title would count as resisting the imperial command and refusing obedience.
• After a tense pause, Li Zhen’s Tyrant Tiger Sect and Ji Zhen’s Hengdao Sect agreed to accept the title.

Yang Zhengshan recruited Innate Martial Artists to serve as Imperial Venerables and guard Cuixia Valley by offering annual stipends and rewards. After filling the four guard positions, he announced how others could collect their stipends and began trading Hundred Herb Brew for precious herbs.

• Yang Jiushi asked about compensation, and Yang Zhengshan offered each Imperial Venerable a Three-Yellow Plum and a True Origin Pill annually, with extra rewards for guarding Cuixia Valley.
• Yang Jiushi and Ji Zhen volunteered for the guard posts, followed by Zhang Shouning, who said he wanted one last chance to pursue Entering the Dao before his life ended.
• Yang Zhengshan awarded the final post to Wu Anchou because he had no family or disciples to tie him down, while Lu Zhongji withdrew to care for his sect.
• Yang Zhengshan explained how the remaining Imperial Venerables could collect their stipends at Fengxian Hall and asked them to pass the news to absent martial artists.
• Wu Anchou, Ji Zhen, and Zhang Shouning requested Hundred Herb Brew, and Yang Zhengshan offered to exchange five jars for each precious herb.

Yang Zhengshan joined a discussion about methods of Entering the Dao, then helped direct the Martial Temple’s plans to establish authority over Da Rong’s martial world. As he traveled back to the Capital, Lingxiu Villa was annihilated in a disastrous operation that exposed the decay of Yungui’s guard forces.

• Yang Zhengshan listened as Zhang Ye, Granny Meng, Xuan Zhen, Li Shouning, and Master Dezhao discussed the methods of Entering the Dao, but he remained unable to understand the method of the self alone.
• After the gathering ended, Yang Zhengshan urged Zhang Luan to destroy Lingxiu Villa swiftly and proposed that the Martial Temple later target Star Moon Sect as a whetstone.
• Zhang Luan and Li Zhen left for Jiujiang Prefecture that night, while Granny Meng and Princess Mingxi escorted the Star Origin Fruit to the Capital and others stayed to guard Cuixia Valley.
• Yang Zhengshan remained at Cuixia Valley for seven or eight days, then began his leisurely return to the Capital with two hundred personal guards.
• Zhang Luan led a force against Lingxiu Villa, killed Jing Mingzhou and more than three hundred others, and lost sixteen military officers in the operation.
• After receiving the battle report on the road, Yang Zhengshan shook his head at the losses and ordered his party to hurry back to the Capital.

Yang Zhengshan proposed using rewards and regular gatherings to draw Innate Martial Artists closer to the Imperial Court, then received two Star Origin Fruits and a pill recipe from Emperor Yanping. Back at his mansion, he found Xue Qiao'er growing close to Yang Wanqing and learned Liu Zhe had moved into his own home.

• Yang Zhengshan advised Emperor Yanping to establish a Venerable Hall with bounty tasks and hold an Innate Martial Arts Banquet every three years to encourage cooperation and build ties with Innate Martial Artists.
• Yang Zhengshan asked Emperor Yanping for two Star Origin Fruits and the True Origin Pill recipe, and Emperor Yanping granted his request.
• Yang Zhengshan returned to his mansion and found Xue Qiao'er and Yang Wanqing going shopping together; Xue Qiao'er said she had returned from Cuixia Valley the day before and planned to stay until she found enough precious medicines.
• Yang Zhengshan greeted Granny Xue and learned that Yu Qingyi had been asking her for martial guidance.
• Yu Qingyi told Yang Zhengshan that Liu Zhe had moved into a two-courtyard residence in East City after taking a post at the Imperial Academy.

Yang Zhengshan inspected the Martial Arts Pavilion and then experimented with refining Bone Strengthening Pills at home. He discovered that his Spirit Spring-grown ingredients changed the paste’s color without affecting its medicinal effect, and Wang Mingzhe began learning about medicine refining.

• Yang Zhengshan visited the Martial Arts Pavilion, inspected its construction and military training, and approved of the disciples’ progress.
• Yang Zhengshan studied pill recipes and began refining Bone Strengthening Pills, but repeatedly discarded the gray paste because he thought it had failed.
• Yang Zhengshan tested the paste on a sheep and himself, confirming that it had the Bone Strengthening Pill’s medicinal effect.
• Yang Zhengshan found that using ordinary ginseng made the paste black, revealing that Spirit Spring-grown ingredients caused the color difference.
• Yang Zhengshan rolled the medicinal paste into more than twenty pills and offered Wang Mingzhe ginseng so he could practice refining medicine.
• Yang Zhengshan encouraged Wang Mingzhe to study pharmacology and offered to ask Sun Wanzhen to teach him.

Yang Zhengshan traded Hundred Herb Brew for precious medicines, received three Ice Heart Fruits from Xue Qiao'er, and arranged to sell his wine through a shop. Xue Qiao'er prepared to leave for the Jinlong Dynasty to seek Flame Red Lotus, but Yang Zhengshan refused Yang Wanqing’s request to go with her.

• Yang Zhengshan exchanged Hundred Herb Brew for precious medicines and received a Golden Jade Camellia needed for Xue Qiao'er's prescription.
• Yang Zhengshan showed Xue Qiao'er, Granny Xue, and Xue Zhongjin nine of the thirteen precious medicines they needed; Xue Qiao'er said they would travel to the Jinlong Dynasty to seek Flame Red Lotus.
• Xue Qiao'er gave Yang Zhengshan three Ice Heart Fruits, and he planted two of them in the Spirit Spring Space.
• Yang Zhengshan told Yang Mingcheng to convert the family's West City grain shop into a shop that would trade Hundred Herb Brew for precious medicines.
• Yang Wanqing asked Yang Zhengshan to let her accompany Xue Qiao'er to the Jinlong Dynasty, but he refused because she was too young and the journey was dangerous.

Yang Zhengshan learned that Lin Zhan had been appointed Prefectural Magistrate of Yuzhou after sea raiders devastated the city, and he promised to support his disciple as he took on the urgent post. The chapter left Yang Zhengshan preparing to give Lin Zhan medicine and guards before his departure.

• Yang Zhengshan explained to Yang Wanqing that Xue Qiao'er and her attendants were powerful enough to travel to the Jinlong Dynasty, while Yang Wanqing would be better off staying behind.
• Four years after leaving Chongshan Town, Yang Zhengshan learned Zhou Lan had paid off its debts and planned to appoint Luo Feiyu as Assistant Regional Commander of Dinghu Guard.
• Yang Zhengshan warned Yu Qingyi that the Wuliang Hu Tribe might attack Dinghu Guard and wrote Zhou Lan a letter urging caution.
• Lin Zhan told Yang Zhengshan that sea raiders had breached Yuzhou's prefectural city, killing more than ten thousand people, and that the Ministry of Personnel had appointed him its new Prefectural Magistrate.
• Yang Zhengshan reassured Lin Zhan, promised to provide him with a squad of guards, and opened a chest of celadon bottles as Lin Zhan prepared to leave for Yuzhou.