Chapter Summaries

Yang Ling’s interrogation of Wu Xiaoshuai exposed a plot to bomb the Sifang Inn during the Sixth Rank Top Hundred Battle, prompting the Command Department to take over the investigation. Zhao Yingying apologized to Yang Ling, and the Eldest Princess asked how he had uncovered Wu Xiaoshuai’s involvement.

• Ji Kongliu read Wu Xiaoshuai’s confession, and Li Zhong ordered Yun Buchuan to retrieve explosives from the Wu residence.
• Wu Xiaoshuai admitted that he had urged Zhao Yingying to cause trouble for Yang Ling and planned to kill Tong He out of resentment.
• The Eldest Princess revealed the planned bombing at the Sifang Inn in two days, where she and many martial artists would be present, and Li Zhong ordered the Command Department to take over the case.
• Yun Buchuan’s men returned with the explosives, whose blast demonstrated they could kill or seriously injure nearby martial artists; Li Zhong ordered Wu Xiaoshuai and Wu Yanjun arrested.
• The Eldest Princess rebuked Zhao Yingying for acting rashly, and Zhao Yingying apologized to Yang Ling.
• The Eldest Princess asked Yang Ling how he had discovered Wu Xiaoshuai was involved.

Yang Ling exposed Wu Xiaoshuai’s role in the explosives plot and received a Great Tun Tian Restoration Pill from the Eldest Princess. Li Zhong then suspected the Immortal God Cult and the Heavenly Wolf Guard planned a far deadlier attack on the Sifang Inn, and summoned Yang Ling to help investigate the arrested conspirators.

• Yang Ling explained how he identified Wu Xiaoshuai as an explosives buyer, and the Eldest Princess rewarded him with a Great Tun Tian Restoration Pill.
• The Eldest Princess departed, and Li Zhong ordered Ji Kongliu to interrogate Wu Xiaoshuai and Wu Yanjun while Xu Wenjun took Xu Qingnian away.
• Yang Ling warned Li Zhong that the Immortal God Cult posed a serious threat and described the deadly attack on refugees in Xiangfeng Prefecture.
• Li Zhong concluded that the Immortal God Cult and the Heavenly Wolf Guard may have targeted the Sifang Inn to retaliate against the Iron Clothes Department.
• Yun Buchuan reported that over a hundred people connected to the fire oil had been arrested, and Li Zhong summoned Yang Ling to join his interrogation.
• Yang Ling swallowed the Great Tun Tian Restoration Pill and followed Li Zhong.

Yang Ling and Li Zhong traced the fire oil planted near the Sifang Inn to a warehouse rented by an unwitting Li family member, while suspecting Luo Kai had engineered the plot against the Iron Clothes Department. Li Zhong went to investigate the Cao Gang docks, and Yang Ling realized the scheme may also have been designed to turn the Eldest Princess against him.

• Yang Ling and Li Zhong found more than a hundred disguised barrels of fire oil at a warehouse in Zhengyang Gate Street.
• Li Run said he had rented the warehouse to unknown men, and Yang Ling’s Insight Technique showed he had committed no wrongdoing recently.
• Li Zhong recognized Li Run as a member of his own family branch and ordered him taken to the Iron Clothes Department for questioning rather than treated as a culprit.
• Li Zhong and Yang Ling concluded the fire oil plot might target the Iron Clothes Department, and Yang Ling suspected Luo Kai was behind it.
• Li Zhong sent Yun Buchuan to investigate the Cao Gang ship and explained that surviving evidence could implicate the Iron Clothes Department in the Sifang Inn attack.
• Yang Ling realized the plot might be intended to make the Eldest Princess resent him, and he followed Li Zhong toward the Cao Gang docks.

Yang Ling accompanied Li Zhong to investigate the Cao Gang docks, where they found a barrel of Fire Oil deliberately left on a ship and arrested over a hundred Cao Gang disciples. The next morning, Yang Ling gained eight levels from the case’s experience, rising from level 90 to 98.

• Li Zhong explained that the Cao Gang was deeply entwined with the Zhao State and warned Yang Ling not to blame the organization as a whole for the Fire Oil case.
• Yun Buchuan’s team found Yang Ling’s boat and discovered that someone had deliberately left a barrel of Fire Oil aboard.
• Cao Xiaoshu cooperated with Li Zhong, providing the ship’s records and helping the Iron Clothes Department investigate its crew and cleaners.
• Yun Buchuan’s team discreetly arrested over a hundred Cao Gang disciples while the docks continued operating normally.
• Li Zhong dismissed Yang Ling from the investigation and told him to rest before his trip to Fire Flood Dragon Island.
• The next morning, Yang Ling received enough experience to gain eight levels, raising his level from 90 to 98.

Yang Ling learned that the Wu Xiaoshuai case had been solved and that he had received its chief credit, then discovered that the Fourth Prince had advanced to the Upper Sixth Rank and was joining the Fire Flood Dragon Island trip. He arrived at the Fourth Prince’s residence, where Zhao Yingying and Mama Wang confronted him.

• Wei Constable told Yang Ling that Wu Xiaoshuai would be executed, the Wu estate had been sealed, and thirty-seven Immortal God Cult members had been arrested.
• Wei Constable explained that Branch Head Ji had given Yang Ling the chief credit for solving the case, and Yang Ling accepted the attention without concern.
• Yang Ling found Shopkeeper Ou’s recommended residence sealed as the Wu estate, then saw Dongfang Haojie, Chi Qingyao, Hui Kong, and Chen Zuo, who had all advanced to the Lower Sixth Rank.
• Yang Ling asked Ji Kongliu to let him interrogate the cult members, but Ji said the case was closed and told him the Fourth Prince wanted to see him.
• Ji Kongliu told Yang Ling that the Fourth Prince had advanced to the Upper Sixth Rank and would join the Fire Flood Dragon Island trip.
• Yang Ling went to the Fourth Prince’s residence, where Zhao Yingying challenged him and Mama Wang stood beside her.

Yang Ling joined Zhao Yingying to visit Zhao Zheng, who warned them that Fire Spirit Pearls were about to emerge on Fire Flood Dragon Island and asked them to work together to claim them. Zhao Zheng revealed he had been named the Pacify the Rong King, while Yang Ling wondered how Zhao Zheng had advanced so quickly.

• Yang Ling accompanied Zhao Yingying to see Zhao Zheng and learned that Mama Wang had cared for Zhao Zheng and Zhao Yingying when they were children.
• Zhao Yingying confronted Zhao Zheng for defending Yang Ling, then asked about their upcoming trip to Fire Flood Dragon Island.
• Zhao Zheng warned Yang Ling and Zhao Yingying that the Fire Spirit Pearls were nearing emergence and that other factions would compete for them.
• Zhao Zheng asked Yang Ling to protect him on the way to a secret location where at least three Fire Spirit Pearls would form, and Zhao Yingying said she had promised to travel with Tong He and the others.
• Zhao Zheng revealed that he had been named the Pacify the Rong King, and Yang Ling wondered whether the title or Zhao Zheng's Imperial Profound Heaven Scripture explained his rapid cultivation progress.

Zhao Zheng explained how the Xiangfeng Prefecture case helped him earn the title of Pacify the Rong King and rewarded Yang Ling with a Qilin Xuanshen Pill. The chapter ended with Yang Ling discovering the pill’s ability to grant 10,000 experience points to any internal energy technique and learning that Fire Flood Dragon Island held dangers unknown even to Zhao State and the Rong Tribe.

• Zhao Zheng told Zhao Yingying to keep his new title secret until the Sixth Rank Top Hundred Battle ended.
• Zhao Zheng explained that the Xiangfeng Prefecture case had led the emperor to grant him the prestigious title of Pacify the Rong King, boosting his cultivation to the peak of Upper Sixth Rank.
• Zhao Zheng credited Yang Ling for helping him earn the title and gave him a Qilin Xuanshen Pill made with Water Bodhi.
• Yang Ling told Zhao Zheng that Xu Wenjun had said Fourth-Rank and Fifth-Rank experts avoided Fire Flood Dragon Island because it suppressed their recovery.
• Zhao Zheng revealed that Grandmasters and Minor Grandmasters who entered Fire Flood Dragon Island faced an unknown danger, while Sixth-Rank experts did not.
• Yang Ling returned to his room and found that the Qilin Xuanshen Pill increased experience in any internal energy technique by 10,000 points.

Yang Ling advanced the Vajra Mingwang Technique to Entering the Hall and Room, bringing his qi and blood to perfection and transforming his defensive skill into the Vajra Mingwang Body. After testing his new abilities and training, he received a notification and arrived at the Sifang Inn almost simultaneously with Xu Qingnian.

• Yang Ling swallowed the Qilin Xuanshen Pill and chose to upgrade the Vajra Mingwang Technique.
• The technique reached Entering the Hall and Room, raising Yang Ling's spirit and bringing his qi and blood to 20,000, its perfection point.
• Yang Ling discovered that the technique had evolved his Indestructible Vajra Body into the Vajra Mingwang Body, with health lock, tenfold defense, and unconditional reflection of saber- and sword-type damage.
• Yang Ling activated the Vajra Mingwang Body and found it consumed 100 qi and blood per second, while the upgrade also gave him 40 Free Attribute Points.
• Yang Ling trained in the courtyard, then received a notification and arrived at the Sifang Inn moments apart from Xu Qingnian.

Yang Ling joined the Sixth Ranks gathering at the Sifang Inn and learned the rules and risks of the expedition to Fire Flood Dragon Island. He boarded one of twelve heavily guarded ships with Xu Qingnian and the others, as the fleet prepared to depart.

• Yang Ling and Xu Qingnian arrived at the Sifang Inn courtyard, where the Eldest Princess briefed the assembled Sixth Ranks on the island’s extreme heat and gave each person two Fire-Avoidance Pills.
• The Eldest Princess said another hundred Sixth Ranks would land for separate tasks and warned the group to avoid conflict with overseas sect disciples.
• The Eldest Princess sent the group to the docks, where Zhao Zheng described the fleet’s Grandmasters, soldiers, Iron Clothes, and Cao Gang disciples.
• Xu Wuji and Zhang Wei joined Yang Ling at the docks, and Yang Ling noticed the Player gang leaders and other grain transport workers aboard the ships.
• Zhao Zheng led Yang Ling and the others onto one of the twelve ships, and Yang Ling worried that the Players might suffer heavy losses if the expedition went wrong.

Yang Ling joined the guarded fleet sailing toward Fire Flood Dragon Island and learned that Yun Ruo had returned to the Capital's Iron Clothes Department. On board, he confronted Nine Immortal Dao Palace disciples who looked down on the Iron Clothes Department, just as Li Ruhai arrived.

• Twelve Cao Gang ships departed for Fire Flood Dragon Island with Iron Clothes masters and soldiers guarding against Rong Tribe spies.
• Zhao Zheng told Yun Buchuan and Zhao Xun that the fleet had strict security and that the journey would take about half a month.
• Yun Ruo explained to Yang Ling that she had returned to the Capital's Iron Clothes Department as an ordinary Seventh Rank Iron Clothes.
• Hua Zhuo urged Yun Ruo to return to the Nine Immortal Dao Palace and disparaged the Iron Clothes Department, prompting Yang Ling to defend it.
• A disciple muttered that the Iron Clothes were imperial dogs, and Yang Ling demanded an apology, threatening to slap Hua Zhuo.
• Li Ruhai arrived and challenged Yang Ling over his past acceptance of Peiyuan Pills from the Nine Immortal Dao Palace.

Yang Ling confronted the Nine Immortal Dao Palace and Divine Sect on the ship bound for Fire Flood Dragon Island, then stunned the watching experts by slapping Hua Zhuo twice without being seen. As Hua Zhuo retreated and the crowd reacted, Jie Hai approached Yang Ling and asked if he remembered him.

• Yang Ling addressed Li Ruhai as a peer and demanded an apology from Hua Zhuo, drawing the attention of the gathered factions.
• A Star Gazing Academy disciple challenged Yang Ling on Hua Zhuo's behalf, and Yang Ling struck Hua Zhuo twice before anyone could follow his movements.
• Hua Zhuo apologized for his junior, concealed his anger, and left after noticing Iron Clothes officers had aimed their Sixth-Rank crossbows at the confrontation.
• Yun Ruo told Yang Ling that Hua Zhuo ranked among the Nine Immortal Dao Palace's top three disciples of his generation, and Yang Ling praised his quick reactions.
• Jie Hai approached Yang Ling with a guarded expression and asked whether he remembered him.

Yang Ling agreed to release Jue Ming and his disciples after learning they had no ties to the Rong Tribe, then arranged to visit Arhat Temple under the pretense of studying Buddhist teachings. After the fleet entered the open sea, Zhao Zheng summoned the leading contestants and revealed a box of Fire-Avoidance Pills that could extend their stay on Fire Flood Dragon Island.

• Yang Ling greeted Jie Hai and met the monks from Arhat Temple and Ku Jue Temple, including Jieshu.
• Yun Ruo reported that the investigation had found no connection between Jue Ming and the Rong Tribe, so Yang Ling decided to release Jue Ming and his disciples.
• Yang Ling claimed an affinity with Buddhism and accepted Jieshu's invitation to visit Arhat Temple after the Sixth Rank Top Hundred Battle.
• Yun Buchuan and Zhao Xun suspected Yang Ling might be pursuing a lead about Rong Tribe spies at Arhat Temple.
• After the fleet sailed into the vast ocean, Zhang Wei brought Yang Ling to Zhao Zheng's cabin, where Zhao Zheng presented Fire-Avoidance Pills to the gathered experts.

Zhao Zheng offered Yang Ling and the others extra Fire-Avoidance Pills in exchange for helping him explore dangerous sect ruins on Fire Flood Dragon Island. After the other guests declined, he revealed that the ruins belonged to the Crimson-Refined Fire Flood Dragon Sect and that he sought its Fire Spirit Pearls and possible martial arts inheritance.

• Zhao Zheng offered everyone extra Fire-Avoidance Pills and asked them to help with a dangerous venture on Fire Flood Dragon Island.
• Qin Kunlun declined on behalf of the Divine Sect group, Zhao Yingying left with them, and Hua Zhuo also refused to join Zhao Zheng.
• Zhao Zheng gave Yang Ling and Xu Qingnian five Fire-Avoidance Pills each, then revealed his title of Pacify the Rong King and his intention to obtain the island's Fire Spirit Pearls.
• Zhao Zheng explained that the island held the ruins of a likely first-rate sect, reachable through fierce flames and dangerous exotic beasts.
• Zhao Zheng named the ruins the Crimson-Refined Fire Flood Dragon Sect and said his safer route still involved at least three Fifth Rank beasts, so the group would have to cooperate.

Yang Ling and Xu Qingnian learned about the powerful forces sailing to Fire Flood Dragon Island, while Yang Ling prepared for the White Bone Cave instance reset and warned Zhang Wei that the Immortal God Cult might target them. When a player reported being threatened aboard another ship, Yang Ling leaped across the sea to intervene.

• Zhao Zheng told Yang Ling and Xu Qingnian that fifth-rank exotic beasts might appear and that his group had a Divine Machine Crossbow and sixth-rank allies to support them.
• Zhao Zheng revealed that several princes and powerful officials were traveling to Fire Flood Dragon Island, then warned Xu Qingnian not to let his maternal grandfather’s case affect his duties.
• After several days of storms, Yang Ling discussed the upcoming White Bone Cave reset with Zhang Wei and chose to repeat B- difficulty rather than risk B+ difficulty.
• Yang Ling warned Zhang Wei that the Immortal God Cult might arrange an ambush in the instance, and Zhang Wei agreed to take the risk to pursue fifth rank.
• Yang Ling received a message that players were threatening someone aboard another ship, then leaped across the sea toward it as Zhang Wei stared in shock.

Yang Ling arrived on the grain ship and found Lu Xiangdi and the other gang leaders bound and accused of stealing pills and rare herbs. He challenged Wei Xing’s authority to punish his subordinates without hearing them out and demanded that the supposed victims come forward.

• Yang Ling landed on the ship, where Iron Clothes recognized him and lowered their weapons.
• Yang Ling found Lu Xiangdi, Sun Jiayi, Wang Baozhu, Yang Yi, and their gang members kneeling in restraints.
• Yang Ling identified the captives as Iron Clothes under his command and ordered their release, but Wei Xing refused.
• Wei Xing accused the group of breaking in to steal pills and rare herbs and threatened to throw them overboard.
• Yang Yi called the accusation a frame-up, and Yang Ling shielded her from Wei Xing’s pressure before threatening Wei Xing.
• Yang Ling demanded that the victims come forward, leaving the surrounding experts visibly angry.

Yang Ling challenged the four Sixth Rank complainants’ account of the thefts and questioned the grain transport workers who had implicated his subordinates. Suspecting the witnesses had been coached, he privately offered them rewards to tell him what really happened.

• Mingfa and three other Sixth Rank cultivators accused Lu Xiangdi, Sun Jiayi, Wang Baozhu, and Yang Yi of stealing their pills and rare herb.
• Yang Ling mocked the complainants for leaving their belongings unattended and demanded an account of how the thefts were discovered and the suspects caught.
• Mingfa said the four had left their valuables in their cabins, gone out together, and reported the losses to Steward Nangong, after which workers identified the suspects near the cabins.
• Yang Ling asked which workers had seen the suspects, then noticed the witnesses’ nerves settling and suspected someone was directing them through the Divine Realm Chat Channel.
• Yang Ling privately offered each grain transport worker a chance to enter the beginner White Bone Cave instance and ten thousand liang of silver in exchange for an honest account that could clear his subordinates.

Yang Ling exposed the paid false testimony against Lu Xiangdi and the other Iron Clothes, then accused Cao Gang steward Nangong Linghe of framing them. The case ended with a Cao Gang subordinate admitting he had planted the items, turning the incident into an internal dispute.

• Yang Ling privately offered a reward to the first grain transport worker who confessed and threatened the others, prompting one player to admit he had been paid to testify falsely.
• The remaining three player witnesses admitted taking money, and a Divine Realm grain transport worker confessed he had asked them to frame Lu Xiangdi and his companions over a grudge.
• Yang Ling rejected Nangong Linghe's attempt to hand the matter over and accused him of being a Rong Tribe spy who had framed the Iron Clothes.
• Yang Ling ordered Lu Xiangdi and the others to take Nangong Linghe into custody, but a Cao Gang subordinate admitted he had planted the items to punish Lu Xiangdi and his companions.
• The admission cleared Lu Xiangdi and the other Iron Clothes of suspicion and revealed the incident as an internal Cao Gang dispute.

Yang Ling exposed Zhao Yan’s role in targeting the Iron Clothes, and Ji Kongliu took over the case before a higher-ranking official ordered Yang Ling to handle it. Yang Ling immediately killed a Cao Gang seventh-rank expert, leaving the ship stunned.

• Nangong Linghe offered compensation and called the incident an internal Cao Gang dispute, but Yang Ling questioned why sect experts had targeted his subordinates.
• Yang Ling accused the group of attacking the Iron Clothes Department and suspected Monk Mingfa, three other sect experts, and Nangong Linghe of working for the Rong Tribe.
• Ji Kongliu arrived, took over the case, and pressured Monk Mingfa and the others into admitting that Zhao Yan had asked them to falsely claim the pills and herbs belonged to them.
• Ji Kongliu questioned Zhao Yan, who admitted she had targeted the grain transport workers because their smell had tainted her clothes and offered to compensate them.
• A shadowed official ordered Yang Ling to handle the case as he saw fit, and Yang Ling broke the neck of the Cao Gang’s seventh-rank expert and threw him into the sea.

Yang Ling punished those who framed Lu Xiangdi and his group, killed a Cao Gang Seventh-rank Expert, and secured compensation for the victims. After the incident, he explained to Ji Kongliu that he had taken the blame of offending the Cao Gang to preserve the Iron Clothes Department’s dignity.

• Yang Ling ordered Nangong Linghe to jump overboard, but Ji Kongliu stepped in to question him before Yang Ling could act.
• Monk Mingfa and representatives of two other factions paid five thousand taels each, while Xu Zegang covered Zhao Yan’s compensation; Yang Ling confined Zhao Yan to her cabin for the rest of the journey.
• Ji Kongliu let Nangong Linghe off lightly, and the Iron Clothes took away the three remaining false witnesses to face punishment in Zhao State.
• Yang Ling gave Lu Xiangdi’s group the silver, confiscated pills, and Purple Sunflowers as compensation.
• Yang Ling told Ji Kongliu that he had killed the Cao Gang expert because someone had to bear the consequences and protect the Iron Clothes Department’s dignity; Ji Kongliu said Yang Ling had been wronged.

Yang Ling traced the false accusation against the Iron Clothes Department to Wang Hang, an Immortal God Cult member protected by the Fifth Prince and powerful eunuchs. When Li Zhong arrived with Wu Xiaoshuai, Yang Ling recognized Wang Hang as the aide who had recruited Wu Xiaoshuai, giving him a new lead in the supposedly closed explosives case.

• Ji Kongliu was called away, and Yang Ling reassured Lu Xiangdi and the others that they had been caught up in a plot aimed elsewhere.
• Yang Ling confronted Lin Dayuan about the player who had directed him, and Lin admitted that Wang Hang was aboard the ship.
• Lin Dayuan led Yang Ling to Wang Hang, who denied knowing anything and stood beside the Fifth Prince, Zhao Yuan, and his eunuch godfather.
• Wang Hang privately taunted Yang Ling and relayed a threat from the Immortal God Cult Master, including a message about Fire Flood Dragon Island.
• Li Zhong arrived with Wu Xiaoshuai and identified Wang Hang as the Immortal God Cult member who had sold Wu Xiaoshuai explosives on Luo Kai's behalf.