Chapter Summaries

He Guang delivered Li Dingguo’s orders for Wu Hong'ai and Pan Jinghua to intercept Huang Taiji’s supply fleet, while Huang Taiji’s army continued toward Huigouzhai Fort. Warned that Li Dingguo might have reached Sixth-Tier Cultivation, Huang Taiji resolved to kill him personally and pressed on.

• He Guang told Wu Hong'ai and Pan Jinghua that Huang Taiji had left Laoniuwan with his army and ordered their fleets to catch and surround the Later Jin supply ships.
• Wu Hong'ai and Pan Jinghua hurriedly prepared their Treasure Ships and sailed downstream to intercept the enemy fleet.
• Fan Yubin described Huigouzhai Fort and the supplies aboard the fleet, while Huang Taiji declared he would storm the fortress with a Military Killing Formation rather than waste Soul Beads.
• Fan Yubin warned Huang Taiji that Li Dingguo might have reached Sixth-Tier Cultivation, prompting Huang Taiji to consider the danger and vow to kill Li Dingguo with forty thousand Solun Death Soldiers if he appeared.
• Huang Taiji ordered the march to resume, sending Fan Yubin’s fleet east along the Yellow River while leading his eight hundred thousand cavalrymen west toward Huigouzhai Fort.

Li Dingguo’s fleets ambushed and destroyed Huang Taiji’s river fleet, then drove his cavalry away from the riverbank. Huang Taiji spotted Li Dingguo alone in the sky and charged him, while Li Dingguo’s taunt about Dayuer and Dorgon enraged him into attacking.

• Li Dingguo watched as Black Tortoise Second Battalion, Black Tortoise Battalion Three, and the Vermilion Bird Legion encircled the Tartar fleet and opened fire.
• The Revival Army’s repeated cannon and crossbow volleys shattered the enemy ships, killing most of the Tartar logistics troops and Han Army Three Banners soldiers; Fan Yubin and a few other Qi Refining Realm experts escaped to shore.
• Huang Taiji ordered his cavalry to form Military Killing Formations, but the Revival Army kept bombarding them, forcing him to order a retreat.
• Huang Taiji saw Li Dingguo atop the Great Golden Eagle, believed he could kill him, and flew toward him on a Sea Eastern Green.
• Li Dingguo confirmed Huang Taiji had reached Sixth-Tier Cultivation and baited him with the story that Dayuer was having an affair with Dorgon.
• Huang Taiji flew into a rage, summoned his Martial Dao Avatar and Mysterious Primordial Water Control Banner, and lunged at Li Dingguo.

Li Dingguo used the Mysterious Yellow Chaos Bell and Human Emperor Cauldron to seize Huang Taiji’s Imperial Seal of Succession, forcing Huang Taiji to retreat. Afterward, Li Dingguo subdued the Sea Eastern Green and captured its mate and offspring, leaving him with four spirit birds.

• Li Dingguo revealed the Mysterious Yellow Chaos Bell, clashed with Huang Taiji’s Mysterious Primordial Water Control Banner, and baited Huang Taiji into attacking with the Imperial Seal of Succession.
• Li Dingguo used the bell to suppress time and space, then captured the Imperial Seal of Succession in the Human Emperor Cauldron and burned away Huang Taiji’s soul imprint.
• Great Golden Eagle captured the Sea Eastern Green while Huang Taiji, injured and outmatched, fled back to his army under the protection of the Mysterious Primordial Water Control Banner.
• Li Dingguo subdued the Sea Eastern Green in the Human Emperor Cauldron and learned that its mate and two offspring were nearby.
• Li Dingguo and Great Golden Eagle captured the three other Sea Eastern Greens, and Li Dingguo contracted all four as his spirit birds.

After Li Dingguo defeated Huang Taiji and captured the Later Jin clan’s Sea Eastern Greens, Huang Taiji led his army toward Huigouzhai Fort to force a battle with the Revival Army. The chapter left the eight hundred thousand Later Jin soldiers approaching the fortress, with Fan Yubin and Fan Wencheng questioning why Li Dingguo had not tried to intercept them.

• Huang Taiji told Ao Bai that Li Dingguo had defeated him and captured his Sea Eastern Green, while Tuerge reported that the other three spirit birds had also vanished.
• Huang Taiji rejected retreat and ordered the Later Jin army to march toward Huigouzhai Fort after the Revival Army’s Treasure Ships withdrew along the Yellow River.
• Fan Yubin and Fan Wencheng discussed Li Dingguo’s hidden fortune and hoped Huang Taiji would win at Huigouzhai Fort.
• Fan Yubin noticed that the Later Jin army had crossed hundreds of li without encountering Revival Army troops, and the army reached sight of Huigouzhai Fort.

Li Dingguo prepared Huigouzhai Fort for Huang Taiji’s attack and recognized that Huang Taiji intended to drain the Revival Army’s defensive supplies with repeated military formations. He ordered concentrated fire followed by an encirclement, turning Huang Taiji’s siege plan to his own advantage as the battle began.

• Li Dingguo gave Marrow Cleansing Pills to four Sea Eastern Greens and planned to study the Imperial Seal of Succession after the battle.
• Dajin reported that Huang Taiji’s army of eight hundred thousand cavalrymen was approaching Huigouzhai Fort, and Li Dingguo ordered Cao Yongxiang and Li Mei to prepare their legions for battle.
• Huang Taiji and his commanders assessed Huigouzhai Fort’s defenses, then Huang Taiji ordered the army to form eight Military Killing Formations and assault the city.
• Li Dingguo ordered ten rounds of concentrated fire from the Firearm Battalions and Spirit Crossbow Carts, followed by an encirclement attack when the Tatar formations were weakened.
• Li Dingguo’s messengers relayed his orders, and the great battle began.

Li Dingguo’s Revival Army lured Huang Taiji’s 800,000 Later Jin troops into attacking Huigouzhai Fort, then launched a coordinated counterattack after the Tartars had exhausted much of their strength. Huang Taiji ordered a retreat as the Revival Army encircled the battlefield, while Li Dingguo pursued him and the Solun Death Soldiers.

• The Tartars’ eight Military Killing Formations endured cannon fire, then unleashed giant wolf phantoms against the City Protection Array as Spirit Crossbow Carts struck back.
• Li Dingguo’s signal flares summoned the Revival Army’s four legions and its fleets to attack from multiple directions with their own Killing Formation Divine Abilities.
• Huang Taiji realized the Revival Army had prepared an encirclement and ordered the exhausted Later Jin soldiers to scatter and retreat.
• The Revival Army’s formations attacked the fleeing Tartars, inflicting heavy casualties while Li Dingguo’s formation clashed repeatedly with Huang Taiji’s giant wolf.
• Huang Taiji fled with the Solun Death Soldiers, and Li Dingguo pursued him beyond the battlefield.

Huang Taiji escaped Li Dingguo’s pursuit by leading his exhausted army east through Yongquan Fort and beyond the passes, while the Revival Army secured key fortresses and territory. The chapter ended with Wei Jinfan reporting the Revival Army’s immense gains in captured horses, ships, supplies, and resources.

• Fan Wencheng warned Fan Yubin that Huang Taiji was exhausting the Solun Death Soldiers to weaken their tribe and advised the Fan Family not to rely on Later Jin’s mercy.
• Fan Yubin predicted that Li Dingguo’s forces would intercept Huang Taiji near Piantou Pass, and Fan Wencheng urged Huang Taiji to change course.
• Huang Taiji ordered Ao Bai to bypass Piantou Pass and Old Ox Bay and led his army east toward Yongquan Fort.
• Li Dingguo followed Huang Taiji from the air but could not attack his fleeing army, and Huang Taiji escaped beyond the passes into the grasslands.
• Li Dingguo returned to Old Ox Bay Fortress, which the Revival Army had captured, while Cao Bianjiao and You Shilù continued conquering the northern grasslands.
• Wei Jinfan reported that no more than 180,000 Tatar soldiers had escaped and that the Revival Army had seized over a million Spirit Beast Warhorses, three High-Grade Treasure Ships, and the enemy’s supplies and resources.

Yuetuo captured Lingshan Guard City and waited to join forces with Dahai’s navy before attacking Lingshan Island, while Wan’er’s fleet ambushed and nearly destroyed the Later Jin navy in Lingshan Bay. Wan’er then split her forces to intercept the Jin merchants and strike Yuetuo’s army at the great dock.

• Yuetuo captured Lingshan Guard City and hurried to the great dock, intent on joining Dahai’s navy and taking revenge on Li Dingguo’s forces.
• Wang Dengku rushed to the dock, where he and representatives of the other Great Jin Merchants waited alongside Yuetuo’s troops for Dahai’s fleet.
• Wan’er’s five fleets surrounded the Later Jin naval fleet in Lingshan Bay and opened fire with spirit energy cannons and Spirit Crossbow Carts.
• The Revival Army destroyed most of the Tartar ships and killed or drove the surviving crew into the sea before boarding and capturing the vessels.
• Big Fierce reported that the Jin merchants’ fleet was approaching Lingshan Guard City, so Wan’er sent Liang Liping to intercept it and led the other four battalions toward Yuetuo’s army.

The Revival Army fleet surprised Yuetuo and Manggūltai’s forces at the main dock, killing more than one hundred thousand soldiers and exposing the failure of Dahai’s navy. After realizing the Jin merchants’ fleet might also be under attack, Yuetuo accepted Wang Dengku’s plan to seize Southern Merchant Alliance ships and marched his army toward Langxie Mountain.

• Manggūltai spotted the approaching fleet, but Yuetuo recognized it as an enemy fleet and ordered the Tartar soldiers to prepare for battle.
• The Revival Army fleet bombarded the main dock with Spirit Energy Cannons and Spirit Crossbow Carts, killing over one hundred thousand Tartar soldiers and devastating the Jin merchants there.
• Wan'er ordered the fleet to turn away after its surprise attack, while Yuetuo and Manggūltai cursed Dahai and Kong Youde for allowing their navy to be destroyed.
• Manggūltai warned that the Revival Army might also be targeting the Jin merchants’ fleet, and Yuetuo ordered Wang Dengku to contact it; Wang said the fleet was likely already under attack.
• Wang Dengku proposed seizing Southern Merchant Alliance ships around Nanlong Bay, and Yuetuo approved the plan and ordered the allied army to march toward Langxie Mountain.
• Yuetuo, Manggūltai, and Shuoto led roughly 650,000 Manchu-Mongol soldiers south under Wang Dengku’s guidance.

Liang Liping and Liang Dingming’s navy crushed a Jin merchant fleet and prepared for another strike against Yuetuo’s army, while Duke Chengguo, Zhu Chun Chen, plotted with Liu Zeqing to attack the Revival Army’s rear. He Guang warned Black Tortoise Battalion One that Zhu Chun Chen’s fleet was heading for the Yellow River entrance, where they were ordered to stop it.

• Liang Dingming and Liang Liping’s forces destroyed the Jin merchant fleet, captured its ships, and planned to join Wan’er’s main force.
• Liang Liping explained that the Revival Army could not seize Lingshan Garrison City while Yuetuo’s remaining troops threatened its land forces.
• Zhu Chun Chen persuaded Liu Zeqing to lead 150,000 soldiers against Shangping Pass and Wubao Fortress while Huang Taiji fought the Revival Army.
• Liu Zeqing agreed to march with Zhu Chun Chen’s troops and attack the Revival Army’s rear.
• He Guang told Huang Zhanglong that Zhu Chun Chen’s fleet was approaching the Yellow River entrance and ordered Black Tortoise Battalion One to block it.

Black Tortoise Battalion One ambushed the imperial fleet on the Lishi River, destroying most of its ships and inflicting catastrophic casualties. Zhu Chun Chen and Liu Zeqing escaped, and the Revival Army fleet continued toward Yongning Prefecture City.

• Zhu Chun Chen and Liu Zeqing sailed toward the Yellow River with an imperial fleet, expecting to exploit the Revival Army's weakened heartland.
• Zhu Chun Chen spotted the Revival Army fleet approaching and ordered his soldiers to prepare, but they had no time to activate their ships' Guardian Array Formations.
• Huang Zhanglong ordered Black Tortoise Battalion One to unleash a concentrated volley of Spirit Energy Cannons and Spirit Crossbow Carts, devastating the imperial fleet.
• Zhu Chun Chen and Liu Zeqing escaped by diving into the river as the Revival Army soldiers charged aboard the surviving ships.
• Huang Zhanglong ordered his troops to kill wounded enemies and salvage the surviving ships, while Wu Xilin lamented that Zhu Chun Chen had escaped.
• The Revival Army fleet sailed upstream toward Yongning Prefecture City to capture the stronghold.

After defeating Huang Taiji’s Western Army, Li Dingguo secured Yongning Prefecture City and hurried south to reinforce Wan’er on Lingshan Island. He arrived as Yuetuo prepared an assault using a powerful ship supplied by the Fuqing Ye Family, leaving the Revival Army facing a difficult siege.

• Li Dingguo learned that Zhu Chun Chen and Liu Zeqing had escaped, then heard Wu Xilin report on the capture and planned administration of Yongning Prefecture City.
• Li Dingguo set up Yongning’s Guardian Great Array, collected the city’s official seal, and flew toward Jiaozhou Bay to join Wan’er.
• Liang Liping told Wan’er that Yuetuo’s army had seized more than a hundred ships, including a Peak-Grade Treasure Ship supplied by the Fuqing Ye Family, and that the defenders had withdrawn from Fushan Qian Suo to Lingshan Island.
• Big Fierce flew out to meet Li Dingguo, who arrived on Big Gold and praised Wan’er and Liang Liping for their victories against the Tartar navy, its Logistics Camp, and the Jin merchants’ fleet.
• Liang Liping explained that Yuetuo planned to attack Lingshan Island within two or three days and was drilling tactics to counter the Revival Army’s naval weapons, leaving Li Dingguo to face the threat of a direct assault.

Yuetuo berated Dahai for the Later Jin army’s devastating naval defeat, then prepared to attack Lingshan Island with Manggūltai. On the island, Wan’er successfully broke through to the Sixth-Tier Early Stage and awakened a Beginner Postnatal Spirit Body, leaving her and Li Dingguo to make final preparations for the coming battle.

• Yuetuo blamed Dahai for the loss of the navy, the Han Three Banners soldiers, and much of the Later Jin army, while Dahai admitted his negligence and said Kong Youde and other Han soldiers had fled.
• Yuetuo told Dahai that he and Manggūltai would lead 650,000 soldiers toward Lingshan Island the next morning and planned to slaughter its Han inhabitants after taking it.
• Li Dingguo guarded Wan’er as she used a Phoenix Blood Fruit to break through from the Fifth-Tier Peak to the Sixth-Tier Early Stage.
• Wan’er awakened a Beginner Postnatal Spirit Body and told Li Dingguo that she could defeat Yuetuo or Manggūltai with her Overturning Heaven Seal.
• Li Dingguo cautioned Wan’er that Later Jin’s powerful luck could give its leaders unexpected advantages, and they returned to the City Lord’s Mansion to prepare for battle.

Yuetuo led the Later Jin fleet to attack Lingshan Island, where Li Dingguo and Wan'er prepared the Revival Army to defend its Island Protection Array. After both sides began trading cannon fire and Military Killing Formation attacks, Yuetuo launched a second wave, leaving the battle in full swing.

• Yuetuo warned Dahai that the Great Golden Eagle was watching the fleet and ordered the Later Jin forces to attack Lingshan Island's Guardian Great Array.
• Li Dingguo ordered the Revival Army to use concentrated cannon fire to weaken the Tartars before launching a counterattack with Military Killing Formations.
• Yuetuo sent his Peak-Grade Treasure Ship ahead as cover while two formations of one hundred thousand soldiers each attacked the Island Protection Array.
• The Revival Army's cannons battered the leading ship and exhausted the first two Tartar formations, which withdrew after striking the array with their Killing Formation Divine Abilities.
• Yuetuo sent four more Tartar formations into the attack, and the second round began before the first clash had fully ended.

Li Dingguo, Wan'er, and Little Stone launched a devastating counterattack at Lingshan Island, annihilating the Tartar assault formations and forcing Yuetuo's fleet to flee. Wan'er destroyed Jin Li's retreating army while Li Dingguo and Little Stone attacked the ships, leaving the Later Jin forces on the verge of total destruction.

• Jin Li and Lausa ordered their exhausted armies to withdraw, but Li Dingguo's Mysterious Yellow Great Bell shattered Lausa's formation and killed him and nearly all his soldiers.
• Wan'er broke another Tartar formation with her white tiger phantom and used the Overturning Heaven Seal to kill its surviving generals and soldiers.
• Li Dingguo reinforced Little Stone's attack, and their combined forces wiped out another one-hundred-thousand-man Tartar army.
• Yuetuo realized the Great Khan's army had likely been defeated and ordered the remaining fleet to retreat from Lingshan Bay.
• Wan'er caught Jin Li's retreating army and destroyed it with the Overturning Heaven Seal.
• Li Dingguo and Little Stone attacked the fleeing fleet, smashing its treasure ships and slaughtering the soldiers aboard.

Yuetuo, Shuoto, and Manggūltai’s Tatar army suffered a crushing defeat at Lingshan Bay, though its leaders and some soldiers escaped underwater. After ordering spirit birds to hunt down the survivors, Li Dingguo planned to seize Jiaozhou first and lead a fleet south to destroy the Fuqing Ye Family.

• Yuetuo ordered his soldiers to abandon their ships and flee underwater, and Manggūltai and Shuoto joined him.
• Li Dingguo unleashed the Mysterious Yellow Chaos Bell’s sonic and space-time suppression attacks, killing more than two hundred thousand Tatars and forcing the survivors to dive deeper.
• Wan'er joined Li Dingguo after the victory, and he revealed that Big Gold, Big Fierce, Big Green, and Little Green were searching for the fleeing Tatars.
• Liang Liping and Wei Ying urged Li Dingguo to seize Dengzhou and Laizhou, but he chose to wait while the Great Ming fought Dorgon and Dodo.
• Li Dingguo assigned Little Stone, Liang Liping, and Wei Ying to occupy Jiaozhou while he and Wan'er prepared to lead a fleet south against the Fuqing Ye Family.

Li Dingguo prepared a southbound fleet to destroy the Fuqing Ye Family while arranging the Revival Army’s expansion into Jiaozhou. At Juyong Pass, Dorgon and Dodo were trapped by Ming forces and struggled with the news of Huang Taiji’s crushing defeat, leaving their next move uncertain.

• Wan'er urged Li Dingguo to destroy the Fuqing Ye Family, and he agreed to lead a fleet south while the Revival Army’s leaders planned their expansion into Jiaozhou.
• Li Dingguo planned to take three Peak-Grade Treasure Ships, nine High-Grade Treasure Ships, and ten thousand soldiers to Dongying Bay, then raid Fuqing City with Wan'er and the Great Golden Eagles.
• Dorgon and Dodo found their six hundred thousand soldiers trapped inside Juyong Pass after Lu Xiangcheng and Hong Chengchou blocked the routes and cut off supplies.
• Dodo condemned Huang Taiji after learning that his million-strong army had suffered a crushing defeat and only about one hundred and eighty thousand soldiers remained.
• Dorgon and Dodo learned that Huang Taiji ordered them to hold Juyong Pass for seven days until his remaining troops arrived, while Lu Xiangcheng and Hong Chengchou’s armies blocked their advance.

Huang Taiji learned that Yuetuo’s Eastern Army had been nearly annihilated by Li Dingguo’s Revival Army, on top of the Western Army’s defeat, and ordered his forces to withdraw Beyond the Pass. He planned to regroup and return next year with the nine Sixth-Tier flood dragons to kill Li Dingguo and seize his treasures.

• Huang Taiji read Dorgon’s report that Lu Xiangcheng had reached the initial Sixth-Tier realm and discussed the danger of being trapped between the Great Ming army and the advancing Revival Army with Fan Wencheng.
• Fan Wencheng advised Huang Taiji to recall Dorgon and Dodo’s Two White Banners and retreat Beyond the Pass before the Revival Army cut off their route.
• Tuerge reported that Yuetuo, Shuoto, and Manggūltai’s Eastern Army had been crushed at Lingshan Island, with more than ninety percent of its eight hundred thousand raiding cavalry lost.
• Huang Taiji roared in fury, coughed blood, and fainted before Ao Bai helped him recover.
• Huang Taiji ordered Ao Bai and Tuerge to tell Dorgon to withdraw immediately and prepare to leave the passes with the remaining Later Jin forces.
• Huang Taiji resolved to found a state, then return next year with the nine Sixth-Tier flood dragons to kill Li Dingguo and reclaim the Imperial Seal of Succession and Human Emperor Cauldron.

Hong Chengchou learned that Dorgon and Dodo had withdrawn from Juyong Pass after Li Dingguo’s Revival Army routed Huang Taiji’s western army and Yuetuo’s eastern army. The news left Hong Chengchou wary of the court and convinced that the Revival Army threatened the Ming Dynasty, while he considered expanding his own power.

• Hong Yuanfeng reported that Dorgon and Dodo had withdrawn their troops, and Hong Chengchou ordered his army toward Juyong Pass while refusing to pursue before learning why they had retreated.
• Hong Chengchou explained that he valued command of his elite army more than a higher court position and intended to expand his forces rather than seek greater service at court.
• Butler Hong reported that Li Dingguo had routed Huang Taiji’s million-strong western army, and Hong Chengchou learned that both Li Dingguo and Huang Taiji had reached the Sixth-Tier Early Stage.
• Hong Bingyan delivered intelligence that Li Dingguo had also defeated Yuetuo and Manggūltai’s million-strong eastern army at Lingshan Island, where another Revival Army commander had reached the Sixth-Tier Early Stage.
• Hong Chengchou concluded that Li Dingguo and the Revival Army had become an unstoppable threat and that the Ming Dynasty might soon fall.

Lu Xiangcheng received Hong Chengchou’s plan to pursue Huang Taiji’s retreating army and ordered his forces to march, sending a vanguard to garrison Juyong Pass. At the Qingshui River, Huang Taiji struggled to evacuate his troops quickly and ordered Ao Bai to delay the Ming armies.

• Jiang Xiang urged Lu Xiangcheng to seize Juyong Pass for military credit, but Lu refused to act without coordinating with Hong Chengchou.
• Yang Guozhu delivered Hong Chengchou’s message ordering Lu Xiangcheng to send ten thousand troops to Juyong Pass and march the main army toward Chadaokou to join the pursuit.
• Lu Xiangcheng ordered his generals to prepare for an immediate march and sent Lu Xiangguan with ten thousand soldiers to secure Juyong Pass.
• Huang Taiji asked Fan Yubin for more Treasure Ships to speed the crossing of the Qingshui River, but Fan said none could arrive in time.
• Huang Taiji ordered Ao Bai to lead seventy thousand Solun Tribe warriors to block Lu Xiangcheng and Hong Chengchou while the Later Jin army crossed the river.