Chapter Summaries

Chen Changsheng’s escort reached the territory of Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts, where he planned to deliver a letter rather than fight. Along the way, he tested Yan Qing and the others’ strategic thinking by asking how they would attack the fortified region.

• Yan Qing emerged from the carriage, distressed over receiving a score of sixty-seven, and Ling Siyuan tried to assess his condition.
• Chen Changsheng confirmed that the escort had reached the river bordering Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts and told Ling Siyuan they would deliver the box the next day.
• The escort entered Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts in a large procession, while Chen Changsheng praised its natural defenses and strategic position.
• Chen Changsheng asked Lin Tianlang and Yan Qing how they would attack Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts if they commanded troops.
• Lin Tianlang proposed cutting off trade and using water- and Earth-type Spells, while Yan Qing proposed infiltrating the region to destroy key nodes in its Grand Formation.

Chen Changsheng tested Yan Qing and Lin Yuan on how a ten-thousand-man army could defeat Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts, then made a one-coin wager with Lin Yuan about who would score higher after a rival began studying the 'Peerless Cultivation Method.' When Flying Dart Wang Rat blocked the convoy, Chen Changsheng stepped forward to face him and reveal his strength.

• Chen Changsheng praised Yan Qing’s approach and asked Lin Yuan for his opinion on attacking Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts.
• Lin Yuan proposed secretly poisoning the rivers, then cutting off the forts’ upstream water sources to collapse their formation.
• Chen Changsheng praised Lin Yuan’s flexible thinking, but said a rival would eventually begin studying the 'Peerless Cultivation Method' too.
• Lin Yuan wagered one coin that his average score would exceed the rival’s within three months, and Chen Changsheng accepted.
• The convoy stopped when Flying Dart Wang Rat blocked the road, and Ling Siyuan warned that his flying dart skills were unmatched.
• Chen Changsheng declined to retreat and walked toward Wang Rat, saying he would handle the bandit himself.

Chen Changsheng killed Flying Dart Wang Rat and single-handedly destroyed the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts after telling its leaders to deliver a message to Jiang Shan. He ended the escort with Ling Siyuan and departed, leaving the surviving bandits stunned by his power.

• Chen Changsheng killed Wang Shu with one sword strike and burned his body to ash.
• Bai Ze told Lin Tianlang that Chen Changsheng had hired the escort to find capable people, not because he feared the bandits.
• Xing Piaopiao and the bandit leaders confronted Chen Changsheng, who gave them a box and asked them to send greetings to Jiang Shan from an old acquaintance.
• Chen Changsheng crushed the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts' formation and razed the stronghold with his Heaven and Earth Avatar.
• Chen Changsheng told the surviving bandits to seek Jiang Shan, ended the escort with Ling Siyuan, and left in the carriage pulled by four demonic beasts.

As Great Song searched its archives for Jiang Shan, Chen Changsheng explained how powerful prodigies sometimes sealed themselves away and revealed that Jiang Shan had waited partly because of a woman in the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts. Chen Changsheng and Jiang Shan reunited, then gathered their followers and formed the first core members of Shui Po Liang Shan.

• News spread through Great Song that Jiang Shan had broken through the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts, prompting people to search old archives for his identity.
• Chen Changsheng told Lin Yuan and Yan Qing that some prodigies sealed themselves away to wait for a better era or avoid fighting friends, and said Jiang Shan had also been held back by his feelings for a woman.
• Lin Yuan guessed the box held only a hundred-thousand-year longing, and Chen Changsheng confirmed it contained no treasure, only Jiang Shan’s old friend’s name.
• Chen Changsheng’s carriage stopped, and he greeted Jiang Shan, who said he felt ashamed that Chen Changsheng had traveled to help him over personal affection.
• Chen Changsheng had the gathered followers introduce themselves, then named them the first core members of Shui Po Liang Shan.

Chen Changsheng organized his new followers and set the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts as their first target, while an old woman left to seek a way to save them. Jiang Shan then helped Lin Yuan find enjoyment in studying the Peerless Cultivation Method and pointed out the arrogance in Lin Yuan’s challenge.

• Chen Changsheng named Jiang Shan chief, Xiao Hei second chief, and himself strategist, then put Lin Yuan in charge of training everyone in the Peerless Cultivation Method.
• Chen Changsheng told Jiang Shan that the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts were their first target and that surrendering early was their chance to survive.
• At Iceheart Lake, Xing Piaopiao asked the old woman about Jiang Shan, and the old woman ordered everyone to wait while she went to meet an old acquaintance from a hundred thousand years ago.
• Jiang Shan advised Lin Yuan to treat studying the Peerless Cultivation Method as enjoyment rather than exhausting rote work.
• Jiang Shan told Lin Yuan that challenging him was more arrogant than Jiang Shan’s own pride, leaving Lin Yuan stunned.

Jiang Shan encouraged Lin Yuan and explained why their master valued him, then reunited with an old woman after a hundred thousand years apart. He offered her a Di Yuan Fruit despite learning she had married someone else, and she confessed that she had nearly died waiting for him.

• Jiang Shan challenged Lin Yuan’s arrogance, praised his potential, and revealed that Lin Yuan’s recruitment had won their master’s wager.
• Jiang Shan told Lin Yuan that their master had given him a living heart and had cultivated both of them into who they were.
• Lin Yuan left to continue studying, while Jiang Shan encountered an old woman and greeted her after a long separation.
• Jiang Shan offered the old woman a Di Yuan Fruit that could extend an Immortal King Ninth Grade cultivator’s lifespan by ten thousand years.
• The old woman said she had married someone else and questioned Jiang Shan’s devotion, but he insisted the fruit was hers and admitted he could not take revenge on her.
• The old woman laughed through tears and said she had almost not lived long enough to wait for Jiang Shan.

Chen Changsheng questioned Hong Jing about the origins of her cultivation and discovered that the Greenwood Epoch's Immortal King technique matched an ancient version from his own past. He suspected someone he knew was hiding in the Greenwood Epoch and vowed not to let them escape.

• Hong Jing revealed that she had never married Jiang Shan and had helped him compete against a rival, while Chen Changsheng urged Jiang Shan to replenish her lifespan with the Di Yuan Fruit.
• Jiang Shan gave Hong Jing the fruit, but Chen Changsheng stopped her restored youth from showing so he could question her.
• Hong Jing said the imperial court had apparently killed Jiang Shan's family because of his origins, and she described the tangled sources of the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts' cultivation techniques.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Hong Jing to keep her aged appearance in public and warned her not to investigate his identity before sending her away.
• Chen Changsheng explained that Hong Jing's Bitter Sea System was outdated and that the Greenwood Epoch's Immortal King method was the unusual technique Supreme Sage had used in his time.
• Chen Changsheng asked how Supreme Sage's ancient Immortal King method had reached the Greenwood Epoch.

Chen Changsheng deduced that Limitless Celestial was likely alive and secretly manipulating the information-isolated Greenwood Epoch, possibly behind Jiang Shan’s family’s massacre. He promised Jiang Shan the hidden mastermind’s life and began sealing the realm with the Four Extremities Grand Array.

• Chen Changsheng explained that the original Immortal King cultivation method was known only to Ascension Road-era experts and connected its appearance in the Greenwood Epoch to a hidden force.
• Chen Changsheng identified Limitless Celestial as the likely culprit, reasoning that the Golden Core founder could have survived if Zhang Bairen had left some of his Golden Core fragments intact.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze discussed how Limitless Celestial might have sealed off information to conceal his presence and how he could have arranged the killing of Jiang Shan’s family.
• Chen Changsheng agreed to let Jiang Shan claim the hidden mastermind’s life if their guess proved correct.
• Chen Changsheng sent four clones to the Greenwood Epoch’s borders, where they began forming the Four Extremities Grand Array to trap the person in hiding.

Chen Changsheng left Jiang Shan to purge and reorganize the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts while he prepared to travel to Capital City and investigate a suspected hidden powerhouse. He revealed his confidence in Jiang Shan’s schemes, accepted Xing Piaopiao as an attendant, and departed with plans to return within a year.

• Chen Changsheng ordered Jiang Shan to build a disciplined army by purging or expelling the bandits, warning that Lin Yuan could replace him if he failed.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that he would let Jiang Shan confront the suspected hidden powerhouse, explaining that Jiang Shan had concealed his strength and planned far ahead.
• Chen Changsheng predicted that the current Chief Bandit would seek his help, and Xing Piaopiao arrived soon afterward, sent by the Great Grandmaster to attend him.
• Chen Changsheng told Xing Piaopiao to call him Young Master and instructed Xiao Hei to stay and help Jiang Shan stabilize the situation.
• Chen Changsheng announced his trip to Capital City and told Xing Piaopiao to warn Lin Tianlang that he would bring back a Princess for him to marry.

Chen Changsheng traveled toward the Capital City with Xing Piaopiao, questioned her about the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts’ backing, and discovered she knew he had come from another world. He warned her to guard her knowledge, then accused her of sharing responsibility for her bandits’ crimes, leaving her kneeling before him.

• Chen Changsheng teased Xing Piaopiao about recognizing that their trip to the Capital City meant bowing to others’ whims, then said he would teach her skills and leave her future to her own abilities.
• Xing Piaopiao identified the Duke Who Pacifies the Nation, Tie Yunpeng, as the patron of the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts and described his role alongside Grand Preceptor Pang in Great Song’s political power.
• Xing Piaopiao recounted how Tie Yunpeng helped suppress a rebellion by four princes after the emperor granted him a royal title.
• Chen Changsheng demanded to know how Xing Piaopiao knew Great Song’s secret history, and she confessed she had deduced he came from another world after learning Great Grandmaster had once left theirs.
• Chen Changsheng warned Xing Piaopiao not to speak carelessly about what she knew, then told her she bore at least half the blame for the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts’ evils; she dropped to her knees.

Chen Changsheng confronted Xing Piaopiao over the bandits’ crimes, then planned to visit the emperor and eliminate the powerful figures backing the bandit groups. Jiang Shan prepared to purge the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts, while Tie Yunpeng weighed the threat Chen posed and suspected he might be in the Heavenly Emperor Realm.

• Chen Changsheng warned Xing Piaopiao that she would die with her master and grandmaster if she continued supporting bandits, then decided to go straight to the capital and see the emperor.
• Jiang Shan told Hong Jing he might keep none of the bandits, and said he would drive her away rather than kill her if she refused to abandon them.
• Hong Jing embraced Jiang Shan and encouraged him to use the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts as a path to power.
• Tie Yunpeng rejected a proposal to strike Chen Changsheng first, reasoning that doing so could give the emperor and Grand Preceptor Pang an opening against him.
• Tie Yunpeng punished an attendant for speaking treasonously about the emperor, then wondered whether Chen Changsheng had reached the Heavenly Emperor Realm.

Chen Changsheng explained to Xing Piaopiao how he had arranged his slow journey to make the Great Song court expect his arrival, then began selling an ordinary stone as a peerless treasure outside the Hundred Flowers Garden. The Emperor used the commotion as an excuse to summon Chen Changsheng and Xing Piaopiao into the banquet, where the court’s power struggle between him, Tie Yunpeng, and Grand Preceptor Pang was already on display.

• Chen Changsheng told Xing Piaopiao that his slow journey gave the capital’s leaders time to learn of his power and anticipate his audience with the Emperor.
• Chen Changsheng bragged that the Emperor would welcome his help against Grand Preceptor Pang and Tie Yunpeng, while Xing Piaopiao doubted his arrogance.
• Chen Changsheng promised to teach Xing Piaopiao a peerless cultivation method if she lived long enough to see why she should be convinced.
• Xing Piaopiao called out that they were selling peerless treasures as Chen Changsheng prepared to present an ordinary stone.
• At the Hundred Flowers Garden, the Emperor questioned Tie Yunpeng about bandits in his jurisdiction, then doubled his salary while reminding him of his dependence on the throne.
• The Emperor seized on Xing Piaopiao’s cries to order Chen Changsheng and Xing Piaopiao brought into the banquet.

Chen Changsheng confronted Emperor Song and Tie Yunpeng by offering a pebble as a peerless treasure in exchange for the lands of the Four Provinces. After the banquet, Emperor Song invited Chen Changsheng to a private gathering and tried to win his favor with Spiritual Fruit.

• Chen Changsheng told Emperor Song that a mysterious box could reveal a peerless treasure only to someone fated to open it, and named the lands of the Four Provinces as its price.
• Emperor Song opened the box and found an ordinary pebble, but Tie Yunpeng declared it a peerless treasure and offered his fief in exchange for it.
• Tie Yunpeng asked Emperor Song to appoint someone to govern his bandit-ridden fief, and Emperor Song ended the banquet to consider whom to appoint.
• Tie Yunpeng confronted Chen Changsheng about wiping out a fort and protecting Xing Piaopiao, then left after Chen Changsheng defended his actions.
• Emperor Song welcomed Chen Changsheng to the Hundred Fruit Garden and presented him with Spiritual Fruit, explaining that he had prepared the garden for him.

Chen Changsheng negotiated with Emperor Song for control of the Four Provinces and the authority to clear Great Song of bandits in exchange for removing the emperor’s political obstacles. After Emperor Song appointed him National Teacher, Chen Changsheng warned Xing Piaopiao that the emperor’s influence made their position dangerous.

• Chen Changsheng accepted Emperor Song’s offer of the Hundred Fruit Garden, then demanded the whole of Great Song as his price for helping the emperor.
• Chen Changsheng pledged to remove Tie Yunpeng within three thousand years and Grand Preceptor Pang within five thousand years, and Emperor Song agreed to issue an Imperial Edict.
• Chen Changsheng demanded control of the Four Provinces’ taxes, appointments, and life-or-death authority, and arranged for Lin Tianlang to marry a Great Song Princess.
• Emperor Song agreed to clear the Lin Family brothers of false charges and appointed Chen Changsheng National Teacher.
• Chen Changsheng told Xing Piaopiao that Emperor Song’s extensive informant network and Duke Who Pacifies the Nation’s hostility put them at risk, and warned her to serve him faithfully.

Chen Changsheng warned Xing Piaopiao that her fear of Tie Yunpeng made her schemes dangerous and left her kneeling. In the East Palace, Grand Preceptor Pang explained to the Crown Prince how the emperor’s power struggle could force them into conflict with Tie Yunpeng, and they planned to exploit the turmoil.

• Chen Changsheng questioned Xing Piaopiao’s loyalty, ordered her to keep kneeling, and left her to reflect on how thoroughly he had seen through her schemes.
• In the East Palace, the Crown Prince asked Grand Preceptor Pang why Chen Changsheng had induced Tie Yunpeng to surrender the Four Provinces.
• Grand Preceptor Pang explained that the emperor was using Chen Changsheng as an excuse to reclaim power from Tie Yunpeng and warned that the Crown Prince could be the next target.
• The Crown Prince realized the emperor had prepared for both outcomes of his cultivation and might provoke a rebellion to eliminate Grand Preceptor Pang and Tie Yunpeng.
• Grand Preceptor Pang predicted that Tie Yunpeng would try to provoke war to escape the Capital City and proposed throwing all three sides into turmoil so they could profit from the conflict.

Chen Changsheng encouraged Xing Piaopiao to devote her life to creating hope for people trapped by the Cultivation World's oppression, and she accepted. He then took her to the imperial palace, where they discussed choosing a wife for Tianlang.

• Chen Changsheng told Xing Piaopiao that hope had to be fought for and built across generations, and she asked whether even a small effort could make a difference.
• Xing Piaopiao agreed to spend her life pursuing hope, despite hardship, temptation, or threats of death.
• Chen Changsheng took Xing Piaopiao to the imperial palace to see the Princess.
• Chen Changsheng asked Xing Piaopiao what kind of wife they should choose for Tianlang, and he corrected her when she suggested Yin-Yang Replenishment.

Chen Changsheng visited Heshuo Third Princess to learn why the princesses rejected Lin Tianlang, but Xing Piaopiao’s forced entry led to a fight that destroyed Heshuo’s palace. Watching the battle, Chen Changsheng investigated why Greenwood Epoch cultivators seemed unable to advance beyond Title Immortal Venerable and suspected someone behind the scenes had intervened.

• Chen Changsheng gave a maid a Variant Divine Source and asked her to explain the thirteen princesses, learning that none wanted to marry Lin Tianlang because he was a bandit.
• Chen Changsheng sent Xing Piaopiao to challenge the princesses and chose Heshuo Third Princess as their first visit.
• Heshuo Third Princess refused to receive Chen Changsheng, so Xing Piaopiao broke into Jade Terrace Palace and fought her.
• Xing Piaopiao and Heshuo Third Princess battled evenly, reducing the jade palace to ruins while Chen Changsheng watched.
• Chen Changsheng examined a law and wondered why Greenwood Epoch cultivators had not reached the Immortal King Realm, concluding that someone behind the scenes had been at work.

Chen Changsheng punished Heshuo Third Princess for attacking Xing Piaopiao, then visited Zhaoyang Princess to discuss a marriage alliance with Lin Tianlang. He left without making a choice and continued assessing the other princesses.

• Heshuo Third Princess pierced Xing Piaopiao, but Chen Changsheng took control of Xing Piaopiao and used three powerful sword strikes to defeat and severely wound the princess.
• Chen Changsheng warned Princess Huoshuo about opposing the strong and explained that marriage alliances were political, then left with Xing Piaopiao.
• Chen Changsheng visited Zhaoyang Princess, praised her tea, and proposed that she marry Lin Tianlang.
• Zhaoyang Princess asked for time to consider the proposal, and Chen Changsheng gave her a Spirit Stone Fruit before leaving.
• Xing Piaopiao asked whether Chen Changsheng had chosen Zhaoyang Princess, and he said that her good attitude did not settle the matter before asking about another princess.

Chen Changsheng delayed choosing a Princess and stayed in the capital as a hostage to preserve the marriage alliance. Back at the Hundred Fruit Garden, he made Xing Piaopiao train through the night and began teaching her how to fight with her greatsword.

• Chen Changsheng told Xing Piaopiao that choosing a Princess required caution and that he would remain in the capital while Jiang Shan and the others reorganized the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts.
• Emperor Song watched Chen Changsheng leave, ordered the palace maid to attend him, and sent her to the Hundred Fruit Garden.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Xing Piaopiao to swing her blade five thousand times without divine power, then watched her train the next morning.
• Chen Changsheng made Xing Piaopiao eat the dusty halves of a Spiritual Fruit after she cut it, then revealed that the fruit had held a blade technique she wanted to learn.
• Chen Changsheng examined Xing Piaopiao's Silver Ring Greatsword and explained that mortal martial arts and close-quarters combat could help cultivators use their weapons effectively.

Chen Changsheng trained Xing Piaopiao to control her strength, explaining how her body could withstand the bitter sea system’s power and demonstrating a devastating saber strike. He told her ranged combat required wealth and warned that robbing powerful cultivators was dangerous, leaving Xing Piaopiao questioning whether she could target cultivators at her own realm.

• Chen Changsheng criticized Xing Piaopiao’s weak saber strikes and ordered her to stop using divine power to cancel their momentum.
• Xing Piaopiao struck a spiritual fruit, destroying it and the floor beneath it while breaking both arms.
• Chen Changsheng explained that her strength exceeded her body’s limits and taught her to control force, then demonstrated a slash that shattered the Silver Ring Greatsword.
• Chen Changsheng told Xing Piaopiao that mastering close combat would require her body to tear more than thirty thousand times, and that ranged combat demanded expensive training and resources.
• Xing Piaopiao suggested stealing what she needed, and Chen Changsheng warned that powerful owners of valuable treasures could be too dangerous to rob.