Chapter Summaries

Hu Liena tracked Tie Qing and uncovered a split within the Tie Shan Faction over whether to keep supporting Tang Hao and Tang San. She chose to follow the faction’s goods to its contacts, leaving the investigation poised to reach another layer of the hidden line.

• Hu Liena identified Tie Qing as a frightened insider rather than the core of the operation and ordered the Deacons to watch him.
• Tie Qing slipped away to meet his sister-in-law, who revealed that Old Tie still supported Tang Hao while she wanted to flee with the faction’s hidden goods.
• Tie Qing’s sister-in-law disclosed a plan to move Star Sand Iron and a Crossbow Blueprint from the North Mine Secret Warehouse to Gray Stone Post using a key left by Tie Shankui.
• Hu Liena refused to arrest Tie Qing or his sister-in-law and ordered three groups to watch them, investigate Gray Stone Post, and follow the shipment.
• Hu Liena sent Di Yao word that the Tie Shan Faction had split between those still backing Tang San and those seeking to abandon Tang Hao’s line.

Di Yao deduced from Hu Liena’s letter that Tie Shankui had left Iron Furnace Town to meet someone more powerful or dangerous, possibly the hidden Iron Sect Master. He chose to let the Elder Palace enter the Northern Territory and sent Hu Liena instructions to follow the shipment and locate its recipient while continuing to lead the operation.

• Di Yao concluded that Tie Shankui had prepared an escape route before leaving and was probably meeting a higher-ranking figure among the Clear Sky Remnants.
• Di Yao identified the Iron Sect Master as the likely true leader behind the Tie Shan Faction, rather than Tie Shankui.
• Gui Mei reported that Elder Palace agents had headed toward the Heaven Dou Northern Territory, ostensibly to investigate Wang Chamber of Commerce account ledgers.
• Di Yao decided not to stop the Elder Palace agents, planning to use their presence to force the Tie Shan Line to accelerate its shipment transfer.
• Di Yao asked Yue Guan to send Hu Liena instructions to follow the goods to Gray Stone Post, identify the recipient, and avoid capturing Tie Qing or the woman.
• Di Yao added that Hu Liena’s judgment was correct and told her to continue leading the line.

Hu Liena intervened when Elder Palace agents attacked a transfer at Gray Stone Post, saving the Tie Shan survivors and capturing no one because the attackers killed themselves. The woman revealed an underground route beneath Iron Furnace Town and said the Iron Sect Master would meet Tang Hao at Black Stone Valley if Tie Shankui did not return within three days.

• Tie Qing and his sister-in-law brought the North Mine Secret Warehouse keys, part of a Crossbow Blueprint, and Star Sand Cold Iron to Gray Stone Post to meet a Bamboo Hat Man.
• The Bamboo Hat Man revealed that Tie Shankui had gone to see the Iron Sect Master, who ordered the group to return to Iron Furnace Town and guard its route.
• Three black-clad agents attacked to seize the goods and capture the Bamboo Hat Man, and Hu Liena and her deacons joined the fight to protect the group.
• The attackers killed themselves with poison capsules before Hu Liena could take them prisoner, and she found modified Spirit Hall-standard fabric on one corpse.
• The woman agreed to tell Hu Liena what she knew and revealed that an old mine tunnel beneath Iron Furnace Town had served as a Clear Sky Outer Line transport route.
• The woman told Hu Liena that Tie Shankui had named Black Stone Valley as the meeting place for the Iron Sect Master and Tang Hao, and Hu Liena ordered the deacons to inform Di Yao.

After Hu Liena’s intelligence revealed a meeting between the Iron Sect Master and Tang Hao at Black Stone Valley, Di Yao persuaded Bibi Dong to let him lead a small squad there. He left Spirit City to preserve the evidence and capture the Iron Sect Master, while Hu Liena waited outside the valley with three prisoners.

• Hu Liena’s letter informed Di Yao and Bibi Dong about the Iron Sect Master’s planned meeting with Tang Hao and the Elder Palace deathsworn’s involvement.
• Di Yao argued that he needed to go to Black Stone Valley to capture the Iron Sect Master, secure the Clear Sky Outer Line List, and obtain evidence against the Elder Palace.
• Bibi Dong approved Di Yao’s mission but ordered him not to pursue Tang Hao or use the Corona Emperor Domain a second time.
• After Di Yao left Spirit City with six elite Spirit Hall Deacons, Bibi Dong told Gui Mei to watch the Elder Palace.
• Hu Liena waited outside Black Stone Valley and kept Tie Qing, the woman, and the Bamboo Hat Receiver imprisoned separately.

Di Yao questioned Tie Mo and learned the Iron Sect Master's identity, the secret route into Black Stone Valley, and Tang Hao's position. Hu Liena and Di Yao prepared to close the net, with Di Yao entering the valley to meet Tie Wumen.

• Hu Liena briefed Di Yao on the interrogation records and the groups that had entered Black Stone Valley.
• Di Yao concluded that Tang Hao would watch from Broken Ridge and persuaded Hu Liena to help question Tie Mo.
• Di Yao convinced Tie Mo that the Tie Shan Faction was being used and learned that the Iron Sect Master was Tie Wumen, formerly of the Clear Sky Sect Outer Sect Forging Convergence Line.
• Tie Mo revealed an Old Mine Tunnel behind the third cracked boulder on the valley's eastern side and confirmed that Tang Hao would stand on western Broken Ridge.
• Di Yao assigned Hu Liena to seal the eastern passage, Yue Guan to watch Broken Ridge, and himself to enter the valley and meet Tie Wumen.

Di Yao confronted Tie Wumen in Black Stone Valley and demanded records linking the Tie Shan Faction to the Clear Sky remnants, Tang San’s hidden weapons, and the Elder Palace. The talks ended when Elder Palace assassins tried to kill Tie Wumen, forcing Di Yao to face their attack.

• Hu Liena went to seal the eastern secret passage while Di Yao entered Black Stone Valley and Yue Guan watched from the shadows.
• Di Yao met Tie Wumen and learned that the Tie Shan Faction had supplied materials to Tang San and worked with the Black Market and Black Crow Hall.
• Di Yao demanded the Clear Sky Outer Line List, records of supplies to Tang San’s hidden weapon line, and evidence of the Elder Palace’s inspection evasion.
• Di Yao offered to protect ordinary blacksmiths and young members if the Tie Shan Faction cooperated, presenting Heaven Dou’s Inspection Order and the Pope Palace’s duplicate seal.
• An assassin fired a short arrow at Tie Wumen, but Di Yao burned it with the Great Sun Golden Flame before three attackers rushed from the shadows.

Hu Liena confronted the wounded Tie Shankui in the east-side mine passage and persuaded him to cooperate by revealing that others were targeting his faction. After learning Iron Sect Master could use a Soul-Shocking Nail against Di Yao, she led Tie Shankui and her Deacons deeper into the passage to reach Di Yao before the negotiations turned dangerous.

• Hu Liena stopped Tie Shankui in the mine tunnel, recognized him, and convinced him she wanted to keep him alive rather than capture or kill him.
• Tie Shankui explained that Tang Hao wanted Tang San's Hidden Weapon Supply Line cut off and that an unknown group using the Tie Shan Faction's secret signals had attacked him and killed his companions.
• Tie Shankui warned Hu Liena that Iron Sect Master possessed a Soul-Shocking Nail capable of disrupting Di Yao's Soul Power.
• Hu Liena ordered a Deacon to alert Yue Guan, then led Tie Shankui and her people deeper into the hidden passage to reach Di Yao.

Di Yao protected Tie Wumen from the Death Soldiers and forced him to confront Tang Hao’s exploitation of the Tie Shan Faction. After Tang Hao silenced a Death Soldier and fled, Tie Wumen agreed to hand over evidence in exchange for Iron Furnace Town being spared.

• Di Yao recognized Tie Wumen’s Soul-Shocking Nail and warned him not to use it, then explained that Tie Wumen’s death would benefit Tang Hao.
• Tie Wumen cursed Tang Hao for abandoning the Tie Shan Faction, and Tang Hao denied telling him to take the blame for Xiao San.
• Tie Wumen summoned his Black Iron Furnace as Di Yao and Yue Guan fought the Death Soldiers, but Tang Hao struck down the Whistle-Blowing Death Soldier to silence him.
• Tie Wumen identified the wounded Death Soldier’s Gray Whistle mark and said Tang Hao or the Heaven Dou Branch of the Elder Palace had hired them; Tang Hao then escaped.
• Tie Wumen gave Di Yao a key to records in the North Mine Secret Warehouse, and Di Yao promised to spare Iron Furnace Town if its people cooperated.

Di Yao, Hu Liena, and the Tie Shan Faction leaders uncovered weapons records, hidden networks, and evidence that an Elder Palace intermediary helped the faction evade inspections. With the evidence secured, they headed to Iron Furnace Town to seize its furnace room before Old Tie could destroy the remaining records or finish Tang San’s order.

• Tie Wumen opened the North Mine Secret Warehouse, where Tie Shankui and Di Yao found weapon blueprints linking Tang San’s concepts to the Tie Shan Line.
• Hu Liena examined the Clear Sky Outer Line List, while Tie Wumen explained that Tang Hao’s remaining support depended on hidden allies and people hoping Tang San could restore the Clear Sky Sect.
• Di Yao found a letter signed Gray Owl and command plaques indicating that an Elder Palace intermediary had helped the Tie Shan Faction evade inspections in exchange for refined Cold Iron and crossbow components.
• Tie Wumen revealed a backup list of surviving Tie Shan Faction members, and Di Yao agreed to use it to distinguish the guilty from those who could be spared.
• Di Yao and Hu Liena set out for Iron Furnace Town to take control of the furnace room before Old Tie could destroy evidence or complete Tang San’s order.

Di Yao and Hu Liena shut down the Tie Shan Faction’s forge in Iron Furnace Town, cutting off Tang San’s final materials supply and exposing Tang Hao’s abandonment of the blacksmiths. Tang San left with a clearer plan for surviving without relying on others, while Di Yao prepared to pursue another lead.

• Hu Liena confronted Old Tie with evidence that Tang Hao had silenced witnesses, and Tie Wumen confirmed the accusations were true.
• Old Tie attacked Di Yao, but Di Yao destroyed the thrown Cold Iron with Great Sun Golden Flame and Tie Wumen persuaded the blacksmiths to stand down.
• Hu Liena ordered the furnaces sealed, the Crossbow Blueprint confiscated, and the final batch of materials for Tang San secured.
• Tang San watched from outside town as Tang Hao explained how Di Yao had fractured the Tie Shan Faction, and Tang San resolved to find and hide materials and win allies himself.
• Di Yao ordered the inventory sent to Spirit City and asked Gui Mei to investigate Gray Owl, while Hu Liena warned that Tang San would hate him more.

Di Yao presented Iron Furnace Town’s evidence to Bibi Dong and argued that Tang San’s detailed material specifications linked him to a lethal Hidden Weapon supply chain. Bibi Dong elevated the investigation to the Heaven Dou Black Market Armament Case and ordered Di Yao to pursue the lead at White Stone Warehouse.

• Di Yao showed how Iron Furnace Town’s materials and records matched the parts of a Soul-Breaking Crossbow designed to kill low-level Soul Masters.
• Hu Liena reported how she seized Iron Furnace Town’s furnaces and earned primary merit for the operation.
• Di Yao pressured Tie Shankui into revealing that the true Master Ledger and relayed messages were at White Stone Warehouse, thirty li north of Heaven Dou City.
• Tie Shankui said Tang San’s detailed Hidden Weapon specifications had been forwarded through the Black Market, strengthening the case against him.
• Bibi Dong reclassified the investigation as the Heaven Dou Black Market Armament Case and ordered Di Yao to continue investigating White Stone Warehouse.

Di Yao turned the Elder Palace’s attempt to take over the Iron Furnace Town and White Stone Warehouse cases into a demand that it accept responsibility for every risk, forcing it to back down. Bibi Dong granted Di Yao authority to investigate and seal Heaven Dou Black Market sites, and he set out with Hu Liena and Gui Mei to strike White Stone Warehouse before its people could escape.

• Elder Gray demanded that the Elder Palace take charge of the investigation, but Di Yao offered the case and its ledger only if the Elder Palace accepted responsibility for every possible failure.
• Elder Gray declined to take the case after Di Yao laid out the risks, and Hu Liena realized he had made the Elder Palace choose between the credit and the blame.
• Di Yao asked Bibi Dong for an Inspection Order to investigate and seal Heaven Dou Black Market sites, including those tied to nobles, the imperial family, or covert lines within Spirit Hall.
• Bibi Dong granted Di Yao authority to mobilize Heaven Dou Branch Hall Deacons and execute first, report afterward; Gui Mei and Hu Liena joined the operation.
• Di Yao left with the token and declared that White Stone Warehouse would be his first strike, moving faster than Tang San, the Elder Palace, and the people behind the warehouse.

Di Yao negotiated with Qian Daoliu to bring the Worship Hall into the White Stone Warehouse investigation in exchange for one day of access to the Sacred Fire Ancient Records. He left for Heaven Dou with Falling Devil Douluo as the Worship Hall’s witness, intent on studying the connection between Angel Holy Flame and the Great Sun Golden Flame.

• A Worship Hall Soul Sage summoned Di Yao to meet Qian Daoliu, and Di Yao went alone despite Hu Liena’s concern.
• Di Yao told Qian Daoliu that his own ambition and Spirit Hall’s strength aligned, then outlined how White Stone Warehouse might connect the Clear Sky Remnants, Heaven Dou nobles, and hidden agents within Spirit Hall.
• Di Yao offered the Worship Hall a place in the investigation but demanded access to the Sacred Fire Ancient Records as its price.
• Qian Daoliu granted Di Yao one day to read the records and ordered Falling Devil Douluo to accompany him to Heaven Dou as a witness.
• Di Yao insisted that Falling Devil Douluo not interfere with the investigation or kill suspects without consulting him, and Qian Daoliu agreed to the terms.
• After Di Yao left, Qian Daoliu observed that Di Yao’s Dark Gold Fire Intent had endured beneath the Angel Statue’s holy light and said the boy was worth watching.

Tang San planned to use real goods and misleading accounts at White Stone Warehouse to lure Di Yao toward the North Border Mountain Path, while Di Yao recognized the trail as bait and planned to watch who reacted. As the convoy approached Heaven Dou City, Di Yao prepared a false announcement to draw out whoever feared an inspection of the warehouse.

• Tang San concluded that White Stone Warehouse needed real goods and fake transit accounts pointing north, and he sent Xiao Wu to arrange the trap through the Black Market.
• Tang San told Tang Hao that he would protect only Xiao Wu, his teacher, and his father, treating the other allies as expendable.
• Di Yao noticed that the Iron Furnace Town, White Stone Warehouse, and North Border Mountain Path accounts fit together too neatly and suspected Tang San had planted the trail.
• Di Yao refused to storm White Stone Warehouse and decided to find out who wanted him to inspect it.
• Di Yao planned to announce that he would enter White Stone Warehouse with Hu Liena and ten Deacons, hoping to provoke someone into acting.

Di Yao refused to enter White Stone Warehouse and used a false announcement to expose three groups spying on it: Tang San’s people, the Heaven Dou Noble Chamber of Commerce, and a mole in Spirit Hall’s Heaven Dou Branch. He ordered the warehouse sealed and headed to the Crown Prince’s Mansion to bring Xue Qinghe into the investigation.

• Di Yao had Hu Liena spread word that he would enter White Stone Warehouse with only her and ten deacons, using the claim to bait whoever was watching.
• Hu Liena caught a Grey Pigeon carrying a message that urged its recipients to lure Di Yao north, and Di Yao identified Tang San as the likely source.
• Gui Mei captured a man with a Heaven Dou Noble Chamber of Commerce token and an unsent order to transfer goods from the Three North Suburb Warehouses.
• Falling Devil Douluo caught a Spirit Hall deacon sending a message under Vice Hall Master Luo Qian’s orders; the deacon admitted he had watched White Stone Warehouse for half a year.
• Di Yao decided not to enter the warehouse until Heaven Dou’s authority was involved, ordered Hu Liena, Gui Mei, and Falling Devil Douluo to secure the area, and set out for Xue Qinghe’s residence.

Di Yao confronted Xue Qinghe with evidence that Tang San, the Heaven Dou Noble Chamber of Commerce, and Spirit Hall’s Heaven Dou Branch were tied to White Stone Warehouse. He secured a Crown Prince’s writ to investigate the warehouse and related sites, while Xue Qinghe decided to watch him cautiously.

• Di Yao presented Xue Qinghe with three intercepted messages linking Tang San, the Noble Chamber of Commerce, and Spirit Hall’s Heaven Dou Branch to White Stone Warehouse.
• Di Yao told Xue Qinghe he was tracing who had supplied Tang San with a blade and asked for an official writ to investigate the warehouse and other suspected sites.
• Xue Qinghe agreed to issue the writ on the condition that Spirit Hall did not investigate the Imperial Treasury unless later evidence implicated it.
• Di Yao warned that refusing would send the evidence to the Pope Palace, Worship Hall, and Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, so Xue Qinghe stamped a writ sealing White Stone Warehouse, inspecting the Northern Border Chamber of Commerce, and locking three noble warehouses.
• Di Yao told Hu Liena that he and Xue Qinghe were using each other to investigate Heaven Dou’s warehouses, then left with the writ.
• Xue Qinghe ordered his aide to watch Di Yao from a distance, warning that getting too close would mean getting burned.

Di Yao and Hu Liena uncovered hidden black-market armaments inside White Stone Warehouse after Di Yao used the Great Sun Golden Flame to reveal concealed layers in ordinary ore crates. The discovery implicated the warehouse’s managers and raised questions about a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Outer Gate merchant seal, as its representative arrived and demanded that the investigation stop.

• Hu Liena presented Pope Palace and Crown Prince's Mansion orders authorizing the search, and Di Yao warned Chang Gui that anyone connected to prohibited armaments would be investigated.
• Di Yao had the warehouse opened, and the first thirty crates contained only ordinary minerals, prompting Chang Gui to claim the search had found nothing.
• Di Yao used the Great Sun Golden Flame to expose hidden Star Sand Cold Iron, crossbow strings, poison capsules, and other armament components concealed beneath ordinary iron.
• Hu Liena ordered every box tested, and the Deacons uncovered additional prohibited materials while Di Yao questioned Chang Gui about the internal seals and planned movement of goods.
• A Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Outer Gate merchant seal was found, and Ning Guang arrived demanding that Di Yao halt the investigation.
• Di Yao noted that Ning Guang had arrived so quickly that he seemed to have known trouble was coming.

Di Yao refused to let Seven Treasure Outer Gate steward Ning Guang halt the White Stone Warehouse investigation and exposed the Merchant Seal as a fake. Ning Guang revealed that an unsigned letter had sent him to suppress the inquiry, leading the investigation toward Soul-Falling Slope and Dugu Bo’s Abandoned Herb Manor.

• Ning Guang asked Di Yao to hand over the Seven Treasure Merchant Seal so Seven Treasures could verify it, while Hu Liena insisted the investigation continue.
• Di Yao burned the seal with Great Sun Golden Flame, ordered Ning Guang detained, and summoned Chen Xin to answer for Seven Treasures.
• Chen Xin arrived and confirmed the burned seal contained no Seven-Colored Mineral Powder, proving it was fake.
• Ning Guang admitted an unsigned letter had sent him to suppress the investigation and threatened to expose Seven Treasure Outer Gate trade routes.
• Ning Guang identified Soul-Falling Slope and Dugu Bo’s Abandoned Herb Manor as the location named by the letter’s sender.

Di Yao exposed the White Stone Warehouse’s forged Seven Treasures seals and uncovered a warning that the Soul-Falling Slope Medicine Manor would erase its trail that night. He headed there with Hu Liena and Falling Devil Douluo, suspecting the manor concealed something beyond the Black Market weapons trade.

• Di Yao stopped Chen Xin and Falling Devil Douluo from clashing near the evidence, then pressed Ning Guang until he revealed the Medicine Manor planned to cut off its trail that night.
• Di Yao decided Chen Xin should stay behind and investigate Seven Treasures’ records, while his group went to Soul-Falling Slope and used Dugu Yan as a possible way to make Dugu Bo speak.
• Di Yao and Hu Liena traced the Medicine Manor through coded accounts and Poison Sac Seal Tube shipments, but Di Yao doubted Dugu Bo supplied poison to the Black Market.
• Chen Xin agreed to hand over Seven Treasures’ weapons accounts and ordered the sect to investigate the warehouse case independently.
• Di Yao, Hu Liena, and Falling Devil Douluo left for Soul-Falling Slope, where Di Yao suspected a place connected to fire lay beyond the Medicine Manor.

Di Yao confronted Dugu Bo at Soul-Falling Slope, burned a path through his poison mist, and used concern for Dugu Yan’s inherited poison to persuade him to enter the Medicine Manor. Di Yao went inside alone with Dugu Bo while Hu Liena and the others waited outside, and a strange aura of ice and fire began to rise within the mist.

• Di Yao’s group reached Soul-Falling Slope, where poison mist nearly overwhelmed a scouting Deacon.
• Di Yao stopped Falling Devil Douluo from forcing their way in and called Dugu Bo out, burning through the poison mist with the Great Sun Golden Flame.
• Dugu Bo emerged and clashed with Falling Devil Douluo before attacking Di Yao with poison, but Di Yao burned open a path and demanded access to the Medicine Manor.
• Di Yao warned Dugu Bo that Dugu Yan’s inherited poison would threaten her life, convincing Dugu Bo to let him enter the Medicine Manor alone.
• Di Yao followed Dugu Bo into the poison mist as Hu Liena, Falling Devil Douluo, and Gui Mei stayed outside, and an unusual ice-and-fire aura began to rise within.