Chapter Summaries

Jiang Wang broke through to the Soaring Dragon Realm while crushing Shi Jing and the Yin Yang Wandering Kill Formation. After his allies routed the Jia City guards, a powerful newcomer appeared and threatened them.

• Jiang Wang killed Shi Jing by repeatedly smashing him with the Heaven and Earth Gate, then used it to break through the Yin Yang Wandering Kill Formation.
• Jiang Wang opened the Heaven and Earth Gate, established a hundred-li Heaven and Earth Isolated Island in his Torso Sea, and entered the Soaring Dragon Realm.
• Jiang Wang unleashed Exploding Flame Sparrow, throwing the five-thousand-strong formation into chaos.
• Xiang Qian, Zhu Biqiong, and Zhang Hai led the three hundred martial artists from Green Sheep Town Hall into the disorganized ranks and helped defeat them.
• Jiang Wang ordered the surviving Jia City guards to drop their weapons and kneel, and many surrendered.
• A commanding stranger arrived and declared that the group would not be spared, even if they begged for mercy.

Jiang Wang fought the Dragon Bone Masked One, but the Inner Palace Realm expert overwhelmed him and forced him to rely on Flame Meteor to evade. As the Rabbit Bone Masked One and Monkey Bone Masked One arrived and threatened Green Sheep Town, a flash of cold light appeared just as the Monkey Masked One moved to attack the townspeople.

• Manager Qian fled Green Sheep Town, while Jiang Wang attacked the Dragon Bone Masked One with the Carp Pattern Red Flag and his sword.
• The Dragon Bone Masked One tore apart Jiang Wang's blood sea and flag, then broke through Tiger Binding and nearly struck him down.
• Jiang Wang escaped with Flame Meteor, and the two battled in a chase across the sky.
• The Rabbit Bone Masked One and Monkey Bone Masked One arrived with the bodies of the fleeing Four Seas Merchant Alliance cultivators.
• The Monkey Bone Masked One tried to force Jiang Wang to defend Green Sheep Town, but Jiang Wang kept evading the Dragon Bone Masked One.
• The Monkey Bone Masked One charged toward the townspeople, and a point of cold light suddenly flared.

Xiang Qian used his Flying Sword to battle the Monkey and Rabbit Bone Masked Ones while Zhu Biqiong, Dugu Xiao, and Hu Shuanzi tried to help. After Hu Shuanzi was killed defending Green Sheep Town, Xiang Qian unleashed his sword formation and killed the Monkey Mask, then found unexpected satisfaction on Hu Shuanzi’s face.

• Xiang Qian revealed his Soaring Dragon Realm cultivation and sent his Flying Sword after the Monkey Bone Masked One as the Dragon Mask pursued Jiang Wang.
• Zhu Biqiong’s illusion briefly obstructed the Rabbit Bone Masked One, while Dugu Xiao threw a saber to save Zhu Biqiong.
• Hu Shuanzi urged Green Sheep Town’s people to fight, but the Rabbit Masked One hurled Dugu Xiao’s saber through his chest.
• Xiang Qian unleashed the sword formation he had prepared at Jiang Wang’s request and killed the Monkey Bone Masked One with his Flying Sword.
• Xiang Qian approached Hu Shuanzi’s corpse and noticed that his face held a strangely satisfied expression.

Jiang Wang and Xiang Qian joined forces against Dragon Mask as Rabbit Bone Masked One revealed her true nature and struck him with a Heart-Loathing Thorn. Jiang Wang killed Dragon Mask, who realized Zhang Linchuan had been behind the betrayal.

• Jiang Wang refused Jiang Yan’s offer to take over his body and continued fighting Dragon Mask.
• Xiang Qian killed Monkey Mask, then wounded Dragon Mask with his Flying Sword before Dragon Mask knocked the sword aside.
• Jiang Wang’s Exploding Flame Sparrows left Dragon Mask reeling, allowing Xiang Qian’s Flying Sword to wound him again.
• Rabbit Bone Masked One revealed her bloodthirsty side and stabbed Dragon Mask with a Heart-Loathing Thorn.
• Jiang Wang drove Longing through Dragon Mask’s crown, and the dying Dragon Mask cried out Zhang Linchuan’s name.

Jiang Wang defeated Dragon Mask and dealt with the aftermath in Green Sheep Town. Chongxuan Sheng and Shi Si arrived, and Jiang Wang agreed to escort the captured Jia City soldiers back to the army.

• Jiang Wang killed Dragon Mask, while Rabbit Mask fled from the battlefield.
• Jiang Wang helped Xiang Qian and arranged for the old healer to tend to Xiang Qian and Zhu Biqiong.
• Jiang Wang ordered the City Guard soldiers disarmed and left Dugu Xiao in charge of Green Sheep Town.
• Chongxuan Sheng and Shi Si arrived after Chongxuan Sheng killed Manager Qian.
• Chongxuan Sheng offered to take the prisoners to the army, and Jiang Wang agreed to escort them.

Jiang Wang escorted the surrendered soldiers from Jia City's City Guard to the Autumn Killing Army camp and confronted Chongxuan Chuliang over their fate. Chongxuan Chuliang agreed to spare them for now, leaving them guarded until the war ended.

• Jiang Wang asked Chongxuan Sheng why he had been asked to escort the prisoners, and Chongxuan Sheng said they were going to see his uncle, Chongxuan Chuliang.
• Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng brought the surrendered soldiers to the Autumn Killing Army camp, where Jiang Wang felt the overwhelming military aura.
• Jiang Wang learned that the Mo Family had been captured trying to leave Yang State and that Chongxuan Chuliang planned to kill them on the pretext that they had colluded with Chu.
• Jiang Wang reminded Chongxuan Chuliang that he had promised the surrendered soldiers they would be spared if they laid down their arms.
• Chongxuan Sheng backed Jiang Wang, and Chongxuan Chuliang ordered the soldiers kept under guard until the war ended, when they would be assigned forced labor.

Jiang Wang chose to return to Green Sheep Town despite the danger, while Chongxuan Sheng revealed his ambition to use the town to undermine Yang State’s court and secure influence over the spoils of conquest. Jiang Wang accepted his role in the plan and left the military camp to protect his people.

• Jiang Wang apologized to Chongxuan Sheng for putting Chongxuan Chuliang in a difficult position, but said he would return to Green Sheep Town because his subordinates and friends were there.
• Chongxuan Sheng told Jiang Wang that Wang Yiwu had broken through the Heaven-Connecting Realm’s limit and warned that he and Chongxuan Zun were close allies.
• Chongxuan Sheng revealed that he and Chongxuan Chuliang had staked their political resources on claiming all of Yang State and gaining the power to divide its spoils.
• Chongxuan Sheng asked Jiang Wang to make Green Sheep Town a refuge that Yang State’s people would yearn for, and Jiang Wang said his efforts there were sincere.
• Jiang Wang gave Chongxuan Sheng the Azure Cloud Sheep and left the military camp to return to Green Sheep Town.

Chongxuan Sheng explained why he wanted Jiang Wang as a friend and chose not to pursue Zhang Yong, then accepted punishment for breaking military law. Jiang Wang returned to Green Sheep Town, where he secured the town’s position and reassured Xiang Qian that he would protect his sword-formation secret, though Rabbit Mask remained a threat.

• Chongxuan Sheng told Chongxuan Chuliang that Jiang Wang’s integrity and ties to Green Sheep Town made him a valuable friend, and that he would not compete for Zhang Yong.
• Chongxuan Chuliang ordered Chongxuan Sheng to take a hundred strokes of the rod for breaking military law.
• Jiang Wang returned to Green Sheep Town, where the victory over the Black Plague had united the people and soldiers and made gathering evidence against the Four Seas Merchant Alliance easy.
• Jiang Wang visited Xiang Qian and promised to keep Zhu Biqiong and Zhang Hai from revealing Xiang Qian’s sword formation.
• Jiang Wang warned Xiang Qian that Rabbit Mask might expose or exaggerate the power of his Flying Swords, and Xiang Qian fell silent as he considered the worst outcome.

Jiang Yan revealed that Xiang Qian’s Only-Me Sword Dao was one of the Three Peaks of Flying Sword and warned Jiang Wang about Xiang Qian’s origins and the White Bone Venerable God’s vast power. Meanwhile, Yang Jiande abandoned hopes of surrender and prepared to risk Yang State in war, as a mysterious veiled woman arrived in Yinguang City.

• Jiang Yan told Jiang Wang that Xiang Qian’s Only-Me Sword Dao was one of three peerless sword paths from an earlier age and urged him to stay wary of Xiang Qian.
• Jiang Wang questioned whether Jiang Yan’s knowledge came from the White Bone Venerable God, and Jiang Yan warned that the deity’s defeat was only a brief setback across the Long River of time.
• Yang Jiande rejected the possibility of Chongxuan Chuliang accepting his surrender and ordered Yang State’s armies to mobilize against Slaughterer.
• Yang Jiande sent Chongxuan Chuliang a challenge to settle their unfinished conflict from thirty years earlier, committing Yang State to war.
• Qi State’s formations contained Yang State’s borders while neighboring nations, including Rong Kingdom, remained silent.
• A mysterious woman wearing a black veil entered an ordinary inn in Yinguang City, drawing everyone’s attention.

Lu Yan revealed to Rabbit Mask that the White Bone Sect's Holy Lord was using the Dao Child's body to refine an avatar and told her to warn Zhang Linchuan that the plan had changed. At Chongxuan Chuliang's camp, Fu Miao challenged the army's detention of Four Seas Merchant Alliance members, while Chongxuan Sheng accused the alliance of profiteering from disaster relief.

• Rabbit Mask reported Dragon Mask and Monkey Mask's deaths to the White Bone Sect's Holy Lord, who dismissed her.
• Lu Yan told Rabbit Mask that the Holy Lord was refining an avatar from the Dao Child's body using shattered national destiny, Calamity Qi, and death qi.
• Lu Yan told Rabbit Mask to contact Zhang Linchuan outside the White Bone Sect and say the plan had changed.
• Fu Miao asked Chongxuan Chuliang when the detained Four Seas Merchant Alliance people and goods could return to Qi, and Chongxuan Chuliang told him to return in three days to collect the corpses.
• Chongxuan Sheng accused the Four Seas Merchant Alliance of exploiting Yang State's disaster relief, and Fu Miao protested the army's treatment of Qi citizens.
• Chongxuan Chuliang challenged Fu Miao to bring any dissatisfied honorary executives to face him.

Chongxuan Sheng confronted Fu Miao with evidence that the Four Seas Merchant Alliance had profited from Yang State’s Black Plague relief while harming its people. Chongxuan Chuliang punished Fu Miao for his repeated insults and sent a defiant message to the alliance leader.

• Chongxuan Sheng revealed that the Four Seas Merchant Alliance had secretly sold cheap grain at enormous prices in Yang State and presented evidence of its exploitation.
• Fu Miao denied the accusations, then offered one hundred thousand Dao Essence Stones to Chongxuan Chuliang in exchange for the alliance being left alone.
• Chongxuan Sheng called Fu Miao’s offer a bribe and rejected his claim that the confrontation was personal.
• Fu Miao invoked the alliance leader to pressure Chongxuan Chuliang, who ordered that Fu Miao’s left ear be taken and asked what the leader could do to him.

Chongxuan Chuliang’s army punished Fu Miao and threatened the Four Seas Merchant Alliance with the execution of its detained members, while Chongxuan Sheng’s alliance with the Treasure Gathering Chamber of Commerce was revealed as a plan to cripple their rival. In Green Sheep Town, Jiang Wang cultivated after opening the Heaven and Earth Gate and learned how his new beacon could guide him through the dangerous Five Palaces Sea.

• Chongxuan Chuliang authorized Chongxuan Sheng to punish Fu Miao, who lost an ear without resisting.
• Chongxuan Sheng sent Fu Miao away with a three-day warning before the army executed the detained members of the Four Seas Merchant Alliance.
• The Treasure Gathering Chamber of Commerce’s apparent defeat in the Yang State disaster-relief business was revealed as a ruse to help it surpass the Four Seas Merchant Alliance.
• Jiang Wang cultivated in Green Sheep Town and found that opening the Heaven and Earth Gate had doubled his Dao Essence production.
• Jiang Wang’s Star-Entwining Python began absorbing Dao Essence independently and showed a territorial instinct toward the Underworld Candle.
• Jiang Wang studied the risks of exploring the Five Palaces Sea and recognized his Divine Ability Seed as a beacon through the Fog of Ignorance.

Yang Jiande prepared to lead Yang State’s scattered forces against Chongxuan Chuliang as the Black Plague and failing public support weakened the kingdom. Before battle, he sent Liu Huai to find and remove Yang Xuance, leaving his son a jade pendant and a belated apology.

• Yang State gathered troops for war, but Hengyang answered more readily than Chiwei and Rizhao, where the Black Plague and distrust of the court weakened recruitment.
• Yang Jiande learned that Song Guang had hoarded troops and provisions in Rizhao while sending only a token force to the capital.
• Yang Jiande reflected that his army needed a swift victory because Qi State was powerful and Yang State’s forces and people were divided.
• Yang Jiande told Liu Huai to find Yang Xuance among Cangfeng City’s volunteers and take him away, insisting that Liu Huai go personally.
• Yang Jiande gave Liu Huai the Coiled Dragon Jade Pendant for Yang Xuance, then called after him to tell his son, “I’m sorry.”

As Qi and Yang prepared to fight in Red Tail Prefecture, Chongxuan Sheng explained why Song Guang’s uncertain allegiance threatened the Autumn Killing Army. He volunteered to negotiate Song Guang’s surrender in person, despite the danger.

• Yang Jiande assembled 210,000 troops and marched toward the Qi border, while Chongxuan Chuliang sent letters protesting his innocence.
• Jiang Wang kept Green Sheep Town secure from the mutated Black Plague and received Chongxuan Sheng, who came with Shi Si.
• Chongxuan Sheng explained that Yang Jiande had been forced to march through Red Tail Prefecture, making it the likely battlefield.
• Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng discussed the risk that Song Guang, who commanded 70,000 troops in Rizhao, might ambush Qi’s army after it entered Red Tail.
• Chongxuan Sheng volunteered to negotiate Song Guang’s surrender on behalf of the Chongxuan Family and the Qi Army.

Chongxuan Sheng persuaded Jiang Wang to help him use a supposed apology to assassinate Song Guang and earn military merit. They reached the Prefecture Office, where Song Guang received them in his tearoom, and the meeting began with all sides wary.

• Chongxuan Sheng explained that he needed to neutralize Song Guang and earn accomplishments before Chongxuan Zun could claim them, and Jiang Wang agreed to help.
• Chongxuan Sheng, Jiang Wang, Shi Si, and Xiang Qian flew to the prefectural city and left Shi Si and Xiang Qian outside the inner courtyard.
• Steward Song escorted Chongxuan Sheng and Jiang Wang into Song Guang's tearoom, where guards stood outside and Song Guang sat with a heavily made-up woman.
• Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng sat on the floor, and Song Guang welcomed them to drink tea.

Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng confronted Prefecture Governor Song Guang under the pretense of discussing the Black Plague and cooperation. Chongxuan Sheng attacked Song Guang, and Jiang Wang’s Daoist Art restrained him long enough for his head to be cut off.

• Song Guang questioned Jiang Wang about Shi Jing’s death while his fourth concubine accused Jiang Wang of killing her godson.
• Chongxuan Sheng insulted the concubine and demanded that Song Guang show sincerity before they could cooperate.
• Chongxuan Sheng used the Chongxuan Secret Art to pull Song Guang toward him from fewer than ten steps away.
• Song Guang detonated one of his Inner Palaces to break free of Chongxuan Sheng’s gravity.
• Jiang Wang used Five-Qi Tiger Binding to restrain Song Guang briefly, and Song Guang was beheaded.

Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng killed Song Guang and the Rizhao Prefecture Office guards, then attacked the military camp to prevent the seventy thousand soldiers from becoming a threat. They slaughtered the camp’s generals and extraordinary cultivators as the army fell into chaos.

• Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng killed Song Guang, Steward Song, his fourth concubine, and the guards who rushed into the tea room.
• Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng fought their way through the Rizhao Prefecture Office while Shi Si and Xiang Qian helped prevent its cultivators from organizing or sending word.
• Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng flew to the military camp and Chongxuan Sheng claimed he had reached an agreement with Song Guang and come to take command.
• Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng killed the generals who confronted them, then cut down the extraordinary cultivators who tried to rally the camp.
• The soldiers’ attempts to form ranks failed as Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng continued killing, leaving the military camp in chaos.

Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng routed Song Guang’s seventy thousand soldiers outside Rizhao Prefecture, securing the Autumn Killing Army’s flank. Afterward, Chongxuan Sheng explained how his father’s death had shaped his life and urged Jiang Wang to flee rather than die proving his courage.

• Chongxuan Sheng announced Song Guang’s execution and promised the soldiers they would be spared if they laid down their arms, while Jiang Wang urged them to go home.
• Most of the soldiers fled as Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng killed those who resisted and broke the camp’s remaining resistance.
• A young officer broke through to the Soaring Dragon Realm, rallied the fleeing soldiers, and charged at Jiang Wang, but Jiang Wang and Chongxuan Sheng killed him.
• Xiang Qian and Shi Si reached the camp and found it abandoned, leaving the Autumn Killing Army free to move against Yang Jiande’s army at Red Tail.
• Chongxuan Sheng told Jiang Wang that his father’s battlefield death had left him disadvantaged and driven him to fight desperately, then advised Jiang Wang to run if they ever lost.

Chongxuan Chuliang’s army advanced through Chiwei Prefecture toward Yang Jiande’s forces as both sides prepared for a decisive battle. Meanwhile, the White Bone Holy Lord absorbed Calamity Qi and continued transforming.

• The Yang State’s Nation-Protecting Array was rendered useless after it was linked to Qi State’s array, allowing Chongxuan Chuliang to march into Chiwei Prefecture.
• Chongxuan Chuliang led the Autumn Killing Army onward, while Xiang Qian returned alone to Green Sheep Town to protect it.
• Chongxuan Sheng joined the army after arranging for Jiang Wang to serve as a staff officer, and Chongxuan Chuliang warned him not to underestimate Yang Jiande.
• Chongxuan Chuliang advanced cautiously, securing positions and inspecting surrendered soldiers as Yang Jiande’s army approached from the opposite direction.
• The White Bone Holy Lord absorbed Calamity Qi in a woodland clearing as his body transformed and he sang the Song of White Bone Without Life.

Yang Jiande explained why he was delaying the Yang State army’s battle with Chongxuan Chuliang, despite the officers’ demands for an immediate attack. He left his generals waiting for an unpredictable turn that might give them a chance against the Autumn Killing Army.

• Yang Jiande slaughtered the Yang Clan’s royal family and executed witnesses to conceal his cultivation of the Blood Demon Canon of Extinguishing Emotion and Desire.
• Yang Jiande’s generals urged him to attack the Qi army before it could secure its position in Red Tail, but he asked them to assess their chances against the Autumn Killing Army.
• Ji Cheng estimated that the Yang State army had only a one-in-a-hundred chance of winning a direct battle.
• Yang Jiande declared that he would fight to protect the people and sovereignty of the Yang State, but insisted that the army had to wait rather than rush into battle.
• Yang Jiande revealed that he was waiting for an unpredictable variable that Chongxuan Chuliang could not anticipate.