Chapter Summaries

Ning Chen was chosen to retrieve a needle from boiling oil during Great Xia’s contest with the Zhenji Kingdom, and he succeeded despite appearing to suffer severe burns. Qing Ling then challenged the five Zhenji Kingdom envoys to a test of martial prowess.

• Qing Ling rushed Ning Chen to Heavenly Edict Hall, where he told Changsun how to prepare for the needle-from-the-oil-cauldron challenge.
• The Zhenji Kingdom envoy selected Ning Chen, and Changsun urged him to proceed while promising to protect him.
• Ning Chen plunged his hand into the boiling oil and retrieved the needle, prompting cheers from the Great Xia court.
• Changsun ordered Qing Ling to return the needle to the cauldron, and Qing Ling challenged the Zhenji Kingdom envoys to step forward.

Qing Ling defeated Jin Yi in the first contest, and Ning Chen used a rigged boiling-oil challenge to force the Zhenji Kingdom envoy to concede the round. Later, Ning Chen’s cultivation surged into Martial Arts First Rank, but his unstable qi alarmed Qing Ling.

• Qing Ling challenged the Zhenji Kingdom envoy, then overwhelmed the Eighth-Rank Jin Yi despite her injuries.
• Changsun let Ning Chen choose the next contestant, and he selected the injured Jin Yi for the boiling-oil needle test.
• Jin Yi failed to find the needle and conceded the first round after scalding his arm; the envoy threatened to announce the second round the next day.
• Ning Chen explained that he had replaced the oil with soybean oil and made the needle from tin so it would melt, then Changsun sent him back to confinement.
• Ning Chen’s true qi surged into a silver vortex as he broke through to Martial Arts First Rank, but Qing Ling rushed in when his qi became chaotic and tried to stabilize it.

Ning Chen recovered from a dangerous qi deviation, then escaped Weiyang Palace despite Changsun’s order and reached Heavenly Edict Hall as Great Xia struggled with the Zhenji Kingdom’s literary contest. With Changsun’s approval, he answered two of the envoy’s couplets, winning praise from the court, while the final couplet remained.

• Qing Ling stabilized Ning Chen’s raging qi sea, then left him to rest after he refused to let her examine his injuries.
• Ning Chen woke after dawn, slipped past the palace guard by knocking him unconscious, and reached Heavenly Edict Hall with Ling Xiao’s help.
• Ning Chen saw that Great Xia’s ministers had answered the contest questions except for three couplets, while the Zhenji Kingdom envoy arrogantly claimed The Master as his countryman.
• Ning Chen asked Changsun to let him answer, and she recommended him to the Xia Emperor with a warning not to disgrace Great Xia.
• Ning Chen wrote matching couplets for the temple and trigram questions, earning the ministers’ praise and a faint smile from the Xia Emperor.

Ning Chen mocked the Zhenji Kingdom envoy after losing the second contest, then learned that the missing old eunuch’s corpse had been found and began planning his escape from Weiyang Palace. He asked Xia Xinyu to help him join the marriage procession in exchange for securing Great Xia’s victory, and then went to see Qing Ling about the Golden Pages.

• The Zhenji Kingdom envoy secretly extinguished the incense, forcing Ning Chen to lose the second contest, but Ning Chen mocked him with a couplet and a sharp retort.
• The Xia Emperor admitted Great Xia’s defeat in the round, and Changsun confiscated the one hundred taels of gold he awarded Ning Chen.
• Ning Chen learned that the missing old eunuch’s corpse had been recovered from Qingyuan Lake and resolved to escape before an investigation exposed him.
• Ning Chen asked Xia Xinyu to help him join the marriage procession, promising to help Great Xia win the final contest; she said she would consider it.
• Ning Chen remembered Qing Ling had saved him and went to her residence to ask about the Golden Pages.

As Great Xia faced the Zhenji Kingdom’s third challenge, a maze race, Changsun asked Ning Chen for a solution. Ning Chen won her approval and left to prepare a plan with a general.

• Fan Lingyue learned that Ning Chen had left the palace with Zhangsun Wuyou and ordered a general to force him out of the imperial palace.
• Qing Ling concealed her returning injury after Ning Chen failed to reach her, and reflected on how Changsun hoped to keep him in the palace.
• Changsun brought a sleepy Ning Chen to court, where the Zhenji Kingdom envoy proposed that one person from each side race through a maze in the imperial palace.
• The ministers hesitated to volunteer, and Ning Chen told Changsun he had a solution if she and the Xia Emperor were willing to part with something.
• Changsun approved Ning Chen’s plan, and he left court to confer with a general before they headed to the Imperial Medical Institute.

Ning Chen prepared black gunpowder with Ling Xiao and secretly arranged to use it in Zhengqi Palace’s maze wager against Zhenji Kingdom. He emerged from the western gate after explosions shook the palace, securing Great Xia’s victory and leaving the envoy stunned.

• Ning Chen and Ling Xiao gathered medicinal stones and other materials at the Imperial Medical Institute, and Ning Chen warned Ling Xiao to keep their discovery secret.
• Ning Chen and Ling Xiao hurried to the Ministry of Works Workshop while Changsun secretly signaled the Xia Emperor to delay the wager.
• The Xia Emperor offered to raise the stakes, but the Zhenji Kingdom envoy declined and the two sides proceeded to Zhengqi Palace.
• Ning Chen entered the palace carrying a pack of supplies, while four Tian Xin practitioners used the Five-Body Shared Mind Technique to guide the Zhenji Kingdom entrant.
• Ning Chen set off repeated explosions inside Zhengqi Palace and escaped through the western gate, winning the wager for Great Xia.
• Changsun declared Great Xia the winner, while the Zhenji Kingdom envoy was left shaken and unable to explain the explosions.

After the Xia Emperor appointed Ning Chen to escort Princess Miaoyu to Zhenji Kingdom, Changsun confronted him and Xia Xinyu, furious that they had arranged his departure from the palace. Ning Chen refused to recant, and after collapsing from three days of kneeling, he recovered and began training with Qing Ling as the wedding approached.

• The Xia Emperor decreed that Xia Miaoyu would marry into Zhenji Kingdom and named Ning Chen as part of the bridal escort.
• Changsun struck Ning Chen with a teacup and punished Xia Xinyu with the remaining five months of his confinement after learning she had helped him leave.
• Ning Chen refused Changsun's final offer to forgive him if he returned after the escort, then knelt in Weiyang Palace's main hall through the night.
• Ning Chen collapsed after three days without food or water, and Changsun ordered that he be cared for.
• Qing Ling gave Ning Chen Heavenly Frost Grass and began teaching him movement techniques, starting with a one-legged stance.

Ning Chen endured Qing Ling’s training and departed with Princess Miaoyu’s marriage alliance procession, while the Xia Emperor ordered guards to protect him and kill if necessary. As Night Martial Lord returned and the world’s powers stirred, Ning Chen tried to befriend the elderly swordsman assigned to the princess; when he reached for the man’s sword, a flash of light filled the carriage.

• Ning Chen used his true qi to ease his injured leg and persisted through Qing Ling’s movement training until the marriage alliance procession was ready to leave.
• The Xia Emperor learned that the seventeen medicinal stones could not reproduce their explosive effect, ordered further tests, and directed the Dark Dragon Guard to protect Ning Chen but kill if circumstances changed.
• Night Martial Lord emerged from seclusion, summoned the divine halberd Tianhuang, and drew the attention of powerful figures across the Divine Continent.
• Ning Chen kowtowed at Changsun’s sleeping hall, then left with Princess Miaoyu’s procession as Changsun and Qing Ling watched him depart.
• Ning Chen tried for days to win over the elderly swordsman traveling beside Princess Miaoyu, eventually gaining permission to sit in his carriage.
• Ning Chen reached for the old man’s sword, and a flash of sword light swept through the carriage.

Ning Chen traveled with the wedding escort across the wasteland and watched a wolf pack attack Princess Miaoyu’s carriage. When the old man did not intervene, Ning Chen killed the first wolf to break through, leaving the assault ongoing.

• Ning Chen spent the journey cultivating in the old man’s carriage while considering the political motives behind Princess Miaoyu’s marriage alliance.
• The wedding escort entered the wasteland, where a huge wolf pack gathered around the convoy after a flute sounded.
• The wolves charged toward Princess Miaoyu’s carriage, and the Imperial Guards struggled to hold them back.
• Ning Chen stood guard beside the princess’s carriage while the old man remained seated and did not draw his sword.
• A wolf broke through and pounced on Ning Chen, who evaded its attack, grabbed its head, and bit its neck until it died.

Ning Chen protected Xia Miaoyu from an assassin’s arrow during a wolf attack, and she discovered that he was a Fake Eunuch. After he woke, Xia Miaoyu confronted him about his identity, leaving their uneasy alliance unresolved.

• Ning Chen killed a wounded desolate wolf, then watched as Desolate Wolf Kings overwhelmed the Imperial Guards.
• An unknown archer forced the old man away from Xia Miaoyu’s carriage, and Ning Chen took the arrow meant for her.
• Xia Miaoyu revealed her Martial Arts Ninth Rank strength, stopped the arrow, and led the party onward after the wolves retreated.
• Xia Miaoyu discovered that Ning Chen was a Fake Eunuch and treated his wound while he was unconscious.
• Ning Chen woke in Xia Miaoyu’s carriage, and she confronted him about entering the palace under false pretenses.

Ning Chen absorbed the Golden Pages’ remaining cultivation method and broke through to Houtian Second Rank, drawing the attention of Xia Miaoyu and Sword Enshrined. Jun Shaoqing arrived demanding the Scroll of Life, but abruptly abandoned the battle after sensing an evil aura, leaving Xia Miaoyu to order the group to break camp.

• The Golden Pages entered Ning Chen’s dantian and revealed a deadly move that could cripple its user, but he chose to cultivate it anyway.
• Ning Chen’s cultivation surged, and Xia Miaoyu and Sword Enshrined helped stabilize his breakthrough at Houtian Second Rank.
• Jun Shaoqing, the Divine Son of the Eternal Night Divine Cult, demanded that Xia Miaoyu hand over the Scroll of Life and attacked when she refused.
• Xia Miaoyu and Sword Enshrined fought Jun Shaoqing, while he drove off the Imperial Guards’ commander and seven experts with Thunder of Darkness.
• Jun Shaoqing overpowered his opponents, but withdrew when he sensed an evil aura from afar.
• Xia Miaoyu ordered the group to break camp, while the Zhenji Kingdom envoy concealed his disappointment that she had survived.

After the Divine Son’s attack, Ning Chen resolved to grow stronger and earned Sword Enshrined’s promise to teach him swordsmanship. As the wedding convoy struggled through the mountains, Ning Chen began practicing basic sword swings and thrusts without yet learning any formal techniques.

• Ning Chen reflected on Jun Shaoqing’s overwhelming strength and committed himself to cultivating harder to protect the secret of the Scroll of Life.
• The convoy continued through the mountains, and Xia Miaoyu ordered it onward despite the rugged road and the risk of camping late.
• Ning Chen asked Sword Enshrined to teach him martial techniques, and Sword Enshrined offered to teach him one move if he could endure a single attack without falling.
• Ning Chen survived Sword Enshrined’s sword strike without falling, so Sword Enshrined agreed to teach him swordsmanship.
• Sword Enshrined gave Ning Chen a black iron sword and ordered him to practice swinging it, then thrusting it, while the convoy’s difficult passage through the mountains stretched into three days.

Ning Chen and Sword Enshrined returned from an exhausting night of secret training as the wedding procession approached Shanmen Pass, only for Jun Shaoqing to block their route. After Sword Enshrined and Xia Miaoyu wounded the Divine Son, Ning Chen intervened to save Sword Enshrined and fell toward the cliff.

• Sword Enshrined took Ning Chen away from camp for a grueling night of training, and they returned exhausted before dawn.
• The wedding procession spotted Shanmen Pass, but Jun Shaoqing appeared behind them and confronted Xia Miaoyu and Sword Enshrined.
• Sword Enshrined and Xia Miaoyu fought together, wounded Jun Shaoqing, and were badly injured when he unleashed the Thunder of Darkness.
• As Jun Shaoqing moved to kill Sword Enshrined, Ning Chen thrust his iron sword at him, forcing him to turn and strike Ning Chen instead.
• Ning Chen was hurled toward the cliff, and Sword Enshrined reached for him but lacked the strength to stop his fall.

Jun Shaoqing withdrew after Marquis Buyi intervened, and Sword Enshrined rescued the mortally wounded Ning Chen from beneath the cliff. Sword Enshrined brought Ning Chen to Weiyang Palace, where Changsun learned the truth about his secret and faced the urgent question of how to save him.

• The Dark Dragon Guard attacked Jun Shaoqing, but Jun Shaoqing shattered his sword and crippled his cultivation before Marquis Buyi’s blade aura forced Jun Shaoqing to retreat.
• Xia Miaoyu gave Sword Enshrined two precious pills, and Sword Enshrined jumped from the cliff to search for Ning Chen.
• Sword Enshrined found Ning Chen falling from the sky after killing a giant bird, fed him the pill, and rushed him back to the Great Xia Imperial Palace.
• Sword Enshrined brought Ning Chen to Changsun at Weiyang Palace and begged her to save him, while Qing Ling discovered how gravely injured he was.
• After Qing Ling revealed Ning Chen’s secret, Changsun grew furious at the Eunuch’s Quarters, then quieted herself to consider how to save him.

Changsun arranged for the crippled Ning Chen to be saved and sent to Tiancang Academy, while the Northern Mongol Royal Court and the Eternal Night Divine Cult moved toward war with Great Xia. Ning Chen settled into a quiet life at the academy, and the chapter ended with him serving as an acting teacher proctor for the year-end assessment.

• Changsun sent letters arranging for Ning Chen to be delivered to the Headmaster of Tiancang Academy, then learned that the Northern Mongol Royal Court had raised its army under Fan Lingyue.
• Fan Lingyue ordered a trade of thirty thousand warhorses for ten thousand sets of Divine Hall heavy armor and prepared to invade Great Xia despite her failing health.
• The Eternal Night Divine Cult's Martial Lord emerged from seclusion, and Blood-clothed Marquis prepared for war as Great Xia received reports from the northern and western fronts.
• Ning Chen survived but was left crippled, entered Tiancang Academy as a handyman, and spent his days chopping firewood, cultivating, and attending the Master's lessons.
• An unexpected heavy snowfall delayed the war by four months, while Ning Chen's cultivation advanced to Houtian Fourth Rank and his injured legs worsened in the cold.
• Ning Chen was assigned to proctor the Master's course during the academy's year-end assessment, becoming its first acting teacher to do so.

Ning Chen caught several students cheating while invigilating and later learned that a familiar presence had become the world’s sixth innate expert. With nowhere to go after the academy’s break began, he told the Master his story and set out north at the Master’s suggestion.

• Ning Chen confiscated and destroyed cheating tools from Lin Wan'er and three other students, then warned Lin Wan'er when she tried cheating again.
• Yin Yifei thanked Ning Chen after the exam and began pushing his wheelchair, while Ning Chen refused to let him help chop firewood.
• A pillar of light appeared in the east, announcing the rise of a sixth innate expert, and Ning Chen suspected the familiar aura belonged to Mu Chengxue.
• After the academy students left, Ning Chen stayed behind and continued chopping wood because he had no home to return to.
• Ning Chen told the Master about his origins and confusion, and the Master advised him to travel north without needing a destination.
• At daybreak, Ning Chen left the academy and headed north.

Ning Chen reached Falling Moon City, where he stopped a runaway horse and met Yue Ling before investigating reports of a ghost carriage at Falling Moon Gorge. As he and Yue Ling parted ways north and south, she told him of three rare remedies that might heal his legs, though Ning Chen dismissed her claim.

• After five days crossing the snowbound wilderness, Ning Chen arrived in Falling Moon City and stopped a charging horse with one hand before snapping its rider’s sword with his Woodcutter’s Blade.
• Ning Chen and Yue Ling separately went to Falling Moon Gorge to investigate the Underworld Ghost Carriage, then Yue Ling pushed his wheelchair back toward the city.
• Ning Chen introduced himself to Yue Ling as Ning Fan, and they walked through the city while discussing ghosts, their travels, and the soap sold there.
• Yue Ling examined Ning Chen’s pulse and said his leg injuries might be healed by the Heavenly Book of the Eternal Night Divine Cult, the Heavenly Pool of the Northern Mongol Royal Court, or the Xiantian Pill of the Great Xia Imperial Palace.
• Ning Chen laughed softly and told Yue Ling she must be joking.

Ning Chen witnessed the Underworld Ghost Carriage and failed to affect it, leaving him uncertain whether ghosts and gods existed. After Yue Ling gave him the Ink Sword and departed, he crossed Falling Moon Gorge, found a massacred group of travelers, and pursued their killers, ending the chapter after killing all thirteen bandits.

• Ning Chen attacked the Underworld Ghost Carriage but was struck down by Horse-Face's soul-hooking gaze.
• Yue Ling gave Ning Chen a pill to ease his pain, then left at dawn and gifted him the Ink Sword.
• Ning Chen crossed Falling Moon Gorge through deep snow and found the bodies of travelers murdered by bandits.
• Ning Chen tracked the thirteen bandits to a forest and killed them with the Ink Sword and Woodcutter's Blade.
• Ning Chen wiped the blood from the Ink Sword with snow and felt no regret for killing the bandits.

Ning Chen traveled north with Little White Horse after taking a sealed letter from slain bandits, then sheltered with a village family and eased the suffering of their bedridden father. The letter’s pursuers found him that night, and the old eunuch’s overwhelming strength left Ning Chen injured and his blade ruined as their fight began.

• Ning Chen freed the bandits’ horses, kept Little White Horse as a companion, and took an unopened letter whose contents troubled him.
• A man, a woman, and an old eunuch found the bandits’ bodies and pursued Ning Chen, but the snow covered his tracks and scattered their search.
• Ning Chen stopped at a village when Little White Horse refused to continue, stayed with a poor family, and used his true qi to ease the bedridden old man’s pain.
• The old eunuch tracked Ning Chen to the village and attacked him, sending him and his wheelchair crashing through Little White Horse’s hay shelter.
• Ning Chen returned to his wheelchair with a ruined blade and a mouthful of blood, realizing the old eunuch vastly outmatched him.

Ning Chen defeated the old eunuch in a desperate fight, buried his body, and left the village to avoid bringing danger to its residents. While he and Little White Horse traveled north, a golden pillar of light appeared nearby, and they headed toward its source.

• Ning Chen used the sedative on the Woodcutter's Blade and poison on the Ink Sword to cripple the old eunuch's qi sea and kill him, though he suffered grave injuries.
• Ning Chen had Little White Horse carry the old eunuch's corpse away, and they buried it before returning to the village.
• Ning Chen rested through the night, left silver for the man and young girl, and departed at dawn with Little White Horse.
• Ning Chen and Little White Horse traveled north through the snow as a golden pillar of light rose from the northern horizon.
• Ning Chen judged the light came from an inanimate object and slowly headed toward the nearby ancient ruin, while martial artists across the north rushed toward it.