Chapter Summaries

The Martial Suppression Bureau exposed the Red Lotus Holy Mother’s gathering as a Demonic Sect conspiracy involving Northern Barbarian spies and a man-eating river monster. As the battle erupted, Su Qingwan revealed herself and fought Wugutai and the black Giant Python, while Zhao Feng faced a deadly attack from Chu Fan and Su Chi.

• Zhao Feng and Xu Commandant surrounded the Altar, but Su Chi and Wugutai burst from beneath it and killed more than a dozen soldiers.
• Xu Commandant exposed True Person Qingxuan and the Red Lotus Holy Mother as Demonic Sect collaborators, prompting their warriors and the Bureau’s forces to clash.
• Huo Yao attacked Abbess Pure Mystery, while Su Qingwan revealed her identity and wounded Wugutai.
• Abbess Pure Mystery summoned the black Giant Python, whose appearance made the assembled crowd doubt the supposed divine gathering.
• Su Qingwan fought Wugutai and the Giant Python as Zhao Feng drove back Su Chi and confronted Chu Fan.
• Chu Fan and Su Chi attacked Zhao Feng from opposite sides, trapping him between their blood-red sword and curved saber.

Zhao Feng defeated Chu Fan and drove Su Chi into the river while the battle around him shifted in his allies’ favor. After shooting Abbess Pure Mystery and giving Huo Yao the chance to turn their fight around, Zhao Feng killed Chu Fan.

• Zhao Feng fought Chu Fan and Su Chi together, using his spear and movement techniques to withstand their attacks.
• Zhao Feng lured Chu Fan into a powerful close-range collision that shattered Chu Fan’s protective true qi and left him gravely wounded.
• Su Chi fled through the fleeing civilians and toward the river, but Zhao Feng shot him with two arrows, sending him into the water.
• Zhao Feng shot Abbess Pure Mystery beneath the ribs, allowing Huo Yao to attack and reverse the fight.
• Zhao Feng killed the wounded Chu Fan with an Eight Extremes Fist strike.

Zhao Feng and Huo Yao helped defeat the Demonic Sect, while Su Qingwan killed Wugutai and drove the black giant python into the river. The surviving believers learned that the Red Lotus Holy Mother's supposed divine power was a fraud, and Zhao Feng explained that he had waited for the moment when the deception would cause the greatest backlash.

• Huo Yao killed Abbess Pure Mystery after her fighting strength fell, shattering the believers' faith in the Red Lotus Holy Mother.
• Xu Commandant and the Big Stone County fighters routed the remaining Demonic Sect followers after Chu Fan and the Blood Mystery Protector died.
• Su Qingwan fought Wugutai and the black giant python, wounded both, and forced Wugutai to flee.
• Zhao Feng shot three arrows at Wugutai, making him pause long enough for Su Qingwan to kill him with her sword.
• Su Qingwan severed the python's tail, but it escaped into the river; she then thanked Zhao Feng for helping her.
• Su Qingwan asked why Zhao Feng had not stopped the sacrifice sooner, and he said he had waited for the right moment to expose the sect's lies.

After defeating the Clear Profound Temple, Zhao Feng and Xu Commandant uncovered evidence of the Red Lotus Holy Cult’s crimes, while Su Qingwan departed to pursue her mission. The crackdown spread across the three counties, and Zhao Feng returned to his mansion to study the Blood Soul Secret Art.

• Su Qingwan warned Zhao Feng that the Northern Barbarian Shaman’s search for the Dragon Eye was likely connected to the Demonic Sect, then left to carry out her mission.
• Huo Yao asked that Chu Fan’s body be taken back, while Xu Commandant ordered the Clear Profound Temple surrounded and searched.
• Zhao Feng, Huo Yao, and Xu Commandant discovered stolen wealth, pill ingredients, a blood pool, and dozens of Medicine Persons in the temple’s underground chambers.
• Xu Commandant divided the recovered treasure with Zhao Feng, who shared it with the Martial Masters and took thirty thousand taels for himself and Huo Yao.
• After the Imperial Court ordered a purge of the cult’s backers across three counties, Huo Shan arranged Chu Fan’s burial and thanked Zhao Feng for his help.
• Zhao Feng returned to his mansion in Nine Virtues Ward, turned away most visitors, and began studying the Blood Soul Secret Art.

After helping his family farewell him, Zhao Feng returned to Prefecture City and reported his accomplishments to the Nine Yang Gate and the Martial Suppression Bureau. He used his merit points to obtain an earth-element cultivation art and spent more than two months cultivating at home.

• Zhao Feng gave pills and advice to his relatives, then left Big Stone County aboard a Tower Ship with Huo Yao.
• Lin Ziwei identified Chu Fan’s medicines as Blood Yang Pills, Blood Poison Powder, and its antidote.
• Zhao Feng returned to the Nine Yang Gate, where Mu Xuanzhou praised his actions and offered him a Deacon position.
• At Ink Fragrance Alley, Xia Commandant credited Zhao Feng with merit points and told him he had been promoted to Chief Banner Officer.
• Zhao Feng exchanged merit points for the Rock-Steadfast Thick Earth Art and trained in Beautiful Water Alley for more than two months.

Zhao Feng advanced his cultivation to late pill embracement and tested the growing power of his fused true qi, while the Blood Lotus Sect struggled under pressure from the Martial Suppression Bureau and righteous sects. The cult sought help destroying the dragon eye as Zhao Feng prepared to raise his other forms of true qi to match his strongest ones.

• Zhao Feng continued cultivating the Rock-Steadfast Thick Earth Art with Thick Earth Pills, relying on his savings rather than taking another deacon position.
• Elder Ma confronted Pockmarked Huang and Night Asura over the losses suffered by their branch halls and demanded an explanation for Chu Fan's death.
• Pockmarked Huang and Night Asura discussed the Pure Moon Convent's watch on the Northern Barbarians, and Elder Ma said the cult was seeking a geomancer with Daoist arts from the Corpse Yin Cult.
• Zhao Feng searched for knowledge about fusing different kinds of true qi, concluded that their cultivation levels needed to be balanced, and focused on perfecting his Nine Yang and Jasper Wave techniques.
• Four months later, Zhao Feng had reached late pill embracement and demonstrated four-layer Eight Extremes Fist strikes and Four-Star Chain Shot using his fused yang and water true qi.

Zhao Feng perfected the Bone-Shift Shape-Changing Art as the Martial Suppression Bureau expanded its reach and prepared to strike the Blood Lotus Sect. Lord Fu discussed the empire’s dangers, praised Zhao Feng, and ordered a covert agent activated, while the Yellow Dragon Taoist arrived at a Blood Lotus Sect hideout.

• Zhao Feng used the perfected Bone-Shift Shape-Changing Art to transform into a woman and then imitate a Northern Barbarian archer, realizing it could help him copy people more completely.
• The Martial Suppression Bureau established its headquarters in the Prefecture City, drew in sect disciples, and effectively took command of the Five Sects Alliance.
• Lord Fu told Qianhu Fan and Qianhu Dong that he intended to destroy the Blood Lotus Sect’s branch halls and use its search for the Dragon Eye to trap its forces.
• Lord Fu discussed Great Yan’s political and supernatural dangers, identified Zhao Feng as a promising young guard, and noted his promotion to Chief Banner Officer.
• Lord Fu ordered the covert agent planted in the Blood Lotus Sect activated.
• Elder Ma welcomed the Yellow Dragon Taoist into an underground hideout, where Pockmarked Huang and Night Asura were also present.

Yellow Dragon Taoist used the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass to locate a hidden dragon acupoint beneath the Lancang River, intending to destroy its dragon eye and steal Great Yan’s national fortune. He identified the site and began arranging a Dragon-Locking Formation with Elder Ma, Pockmarked Huang, Night Asura, and the Blood Lotus Sect followers.

• Yellow Dragon Taoist arrived in Ever-Peace Prefecture and eagerly took the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass from Elder Ma.
• After the flood season ended, Yellow Dragon Taoist surveyed stretches of the Lancang River while Elder Ma, Pockmarked Huang, and Night Asura watched from the reeds.
• The compass needle stopped at a calm, unremarkable stretch of water, and Yellow Dragon Taoist identified an exceptionally fortunate water dragon acupoint about a hundred zhang below.
• Yellow Dragon Taoist warned Pockmarked Huang not to dive in recklessly and explained that they needed to form a Dragon-Locking Formation before destroying the dragon eye.
• Yellow Dragon Taoist instructed the Blood Lotus Sect followers to bury eight formation flags at designated locations along both riverbanks, and Elder Ma and the branch leaders ordered them to comply.

Daoist Huanglong and the Demonic Sect leaders used the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass to uncover an underwater palace and draw out what they believed was Great Yan’s national fortune. The palace and fortune turned corrupt, revealing the dragon vein was fake, and its collapse trapped the group amid a devastating whirlpool.

• Daoist Huanglong activated eight formation flags and the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass, causing an underwater palace to emerge beneath the river.
• Daoist Huanglong asked Elder Ma, Pockmarked Huang, and Night Asura to help destroy the palace’s dragon eye and disable its mechanisms.
• The group’s formation cracked the palace and released golden energy that Daoist Huanglong identified as Great Yan’s national fortune.
• The fortune turned murky and the palace rotted and began collapsing, leaving Daoist Huanglong unable to explain the change.
• Night Asura realized the dragon vein was fake, and Elder Ma ordered everyone to retreat as the collapsing palace created a giant whirlpool and killed cultists along the banks.

The false Southeast dragon vein collapsed, injuring Yellow Dragon Taoist and drawing the Blood Lotus Sect leaders into battle with the Five Sects Alliance and Huaiyuan Four Sects. During a simultaneous assault on a Demonic Sect branch hall, Yin Zheng learned that his traitorous senior brother Wan Haifeng had secretly been working as a Martial Suppression Bureau agent, while Zhao Feng searched for the treasury.

• Elder Ma, Yellow Dragon Taoist, and the others escaped the collapsing river, discovered the dragon vein was a trap, and argued over the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass.
• Bloodied cultists reported that the Martial Suppression Bureau had attacked both branch halls, as Five Sects Alliance and Huaiyuan Four Sects experts arrived and fought the Blood Lotus Sect leaders.
• Zhao Feng and the other allies attacked a Demonic Sect branch hall, where Yin Zheng confronted his senior brother Wan Haifeng and learned that Wan had been a hidden agent acting under Fu Fengxing's orders.
• Zhao Feng left Yin Zheng and Wan Haifeng to continue searching for the treasury, while Xue Yang found a room of chests and reached for treasure medicine before a huge black shadow burst from the cave.

Zhao Feng confronted the injured Blackwater Giant Python in the treasury cavern and survived long enough for Mu Xuanzhou and Xiao Li to kill it. The Demonic Sect’s Changning and Huaiyuan Branch Halls were destroyed, and Zhao Feng returned to the Nine Yang Gate as the orthodox forces began hunting Yellow Dragon Taoist for the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass.

• The Blackwater Giant Python swallowed Xue Yang, but Zhao Feng met its charge with his spear and knocked out its remaining fang before Mu Xuanzhou intervened.
• Mu Xuanzhou fought the giant python while Zhao Feng collected the fang and entered the cavern where the others were searching the chests.
• After a day and night of fighting, Mu Xuanzhou and Xiao Li killed the python, and the Five Sects Alliance divided its remains while Zhao Feng came away with little treasure.
• The orthodox forces wiped out nearly all Demonic Sect experts at the two Branch Halls and dragon vein; Pockmarked Huang and Night Asura died, while Elder Ma and Yellow Dragon Taoist escaped badly injured.
• Zhao Feng sold the python’s fangs, treasure medicine, and Wugutai’s White Bone Staff in Ever-Peace Prefecture, bringing his savings to roughly fifty thousand taels.
• Back at the Nine Yang Gate, Zhao Feng heard that the orthodox forces and Martial Suppression Bureau were hunting Yellow Dragon Taoist and his Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass.

Zhao Feng joined the search for Ma Yuan and Yellow Dragon Taoist in Jinyang Prefecture, hoping to obtain the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass. He traveled there with Yin Zheng and Huo Yao, arriving in a region known for its mines and the Hundred Refinements Gate.

• Lin Ziwei explained that the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass contained earth vein essence that could improve earth element true qi, and Zhao Feng considered seeking it from the wounded Yellow Dragon Taoist.
• Mu Xuanzhou asked the Nine Yang Gate disciples to help hunt Ma Yuan and Yellow Dragon Taoist in Jinyang Prefecture, and Zhao Feng volunteered.
• Mu Xuanzhou gave Zhao Feng the prized steed Red Shadow and a Fire Thunder Bomb, warning him to run if the mission became too dangerous.
• Huo Yao invited Zhao Feng to travel with Yin Zheng, and the three set out for Jinyang Prefecture the following day.
• On the journey, Yin Zheng said the Five Sects, the Huaiyuan Four Sects, local sects, and the Martial Suppression Bureau were all pursuing the pair; Zhao Feng suspected another treasure had drawn them.
• After reaching Jinyang Prefecture, Yin Zheng described its mineral wealth and the Hundred Refinements Gate, whose members specialized in forging weapons and devices.

Yin Zheng brought Zhao Feng and Huo Yao to the Hundred Refinements Gate to collect a commissioned weapon and learn about Jinyang Prefecture’s major sects. There, they met Fire Origin Gate elder Tang Fan and his disciple Wu Nanxing, who recognized Zhao Feng’s Tiger Ranking placement.

• Yin Zheng explained the Hundred Refinements Gate’s unusual cultivation methods, spirit weapons, and the balance of power among Jinyang Prefecture’s major sects.
• Yin Zheng led Zhao Feng and Huo Yao to the Hundred Refinements Gate to collect the treasure weapon he had commissioned from Lu Hang.
• Lu Hang discussed forging Golden Flame Mother-and-Son Sabers for Tang Fan’s disciple, Wu Nanxing, and learned that Yin Zheng had arrived.
• Lu Hang introduced Yin Zheng, Zhao Feng, and Huo Yao to Tang Fan and Wu Nanxing, and Yin Zheng explained the alliance among the Five Sects of Ever-Peace Prefecture.
• Wu Nanxing recognized Zhao Feng as the Nine Yang Gate disciple ranked number 299 on Great Yan’s Tiger Ranking.

Zhao Feng reunited with Meng Youwei while visiting the Hundred Refinements Gate, where talk turned to the hunt for demonic followers and rumors of the Nine Nether Demon Sect’s supreme treasure. Wu Nanxing challenged Zhao Feng to a spar, and Zhao Feng accepted after charging him a fee, leaving them set to fight at the Inner Gate’s Martial Arts Arena.

• Lu Hang welcomed Zhao Feng, Yin Zheng, Wu Nanxing, and Tang Fan, and Zhao Feng recognized Meng Youwei among the serving disciples.
• Tang Fan asked Yin Zheng about the hunt for Ma Yuan and the Yellow Dragon Taoist, and Yin Zheng denied that the pursuit was driven by rumors of a supreme treasure.
• Wu Nanxing challenged Zhao Feng to a spar, hoping to test himself against another Tiger Ranking expert.
• Zhao Feng explained that challengers had to pay a fee of ten thousand taels of silver, and Wu Nanxing paid it.
• Lu Hang suggested they move to the Inner Gate’s Martial Arts Arena for the spar.

Zhao Feng fought Wu Nanxing in the Hundred Refinements Gate’s Martial Arts Arena and won by combining his two kinds of true qi with Eight Extremes Force. After the spar, Zhao Feng noticed Meng Youwei signaling for a private conversation.

• News of Zhao Feng and Wu Nanxing’s spar drew the Hundred Refinements Gate’s inner disciples to the arena.
• Wu Nanxing attacked with his twin sabers, but Zhao Feng’s Overlord Sun-Splitting Spear Technique steadily suppressed him.
• Wu Nanxing unleashed Meteor Pierces the Sun, and Zhao Feng countered with a spear attack strengthened by Eight Extremes Force.
• Zhao Feng shattered the arena stones, disarmed Wu Nanxing, and made him concede defeat.
• Wu Nanxing thanked Zhao Feng for the guidance, and Zhao Feng noticed Meng Youwei signaling to speak outside.

Yin Zheng collected his new Star Radiance Sword while Zhao Feng reunited with Meng Youwei and learned that Yan Yunkun had shown hostility toward him. As orthodox sect experts gathered in Jinyang Prefecture, the Martial Suppression Bureau identified the Blood Lotus Sect’s branch hall in the Black Mountain Ore Vein and prepared an assault.

• Lu Hang gave Yin Zheng the Star Radiance Sword, and Yin Zheng paid the remaining hundred thousand taels for it.
• Zhao Feng met Meng Youwei, learned how he had joined the Hundred Refinements Gate and developed his forging talent, and gave him pills to aid his cultivation.
• Meng Youwei told Zhao Feng that Yan Yunkun had mentioned him with hostility while visiting Elder Lu Hang.
• Experts from the three prefectures gathered in Jinyang Prefecture as news spread that the Blood Lotus Sect’s branch hall was hidden in the Black Mountain Ore Vein.
• Thousand-Household Officer Miao organized orthodox sect experts to attack the mine and destroy the Blood Lotus Sect’s Jinyang branch hall.

The Martial Suppression Bureau and the Righteous Alliance launched an assault on the Blood Lotus Sect's Jinyang Branch Hall in Crow Mountain's abandoned mines. As the battle turned against the demonic disciples, Zhao Feng studied a mine map to predict where the Branch Hall's experts would flee.

• Ji Wuming planned to flee with Ma Yuan and the Yellow Dragon Taoist, but the assault began before they could escape.
• Miao warned the advancing forces of an ambush, and the righteous disciples fought their way through the tunnels against the Blood Lotus Sect.
• Xiao Li, Elder Chen, Elder Wang, Elder Hou, and Elder Xu killed demonic fighters as their allies gained the upper hand.
• Yan Yunkun searched for Zhao Feng while fighting, hoping to reclaim the Wood Marrow Heartflow.
• Zhao Feng dodged an ambush, killed a Pill Embracement Dharma Protector with his Condensed Edge spear, and consulted a mine map to anticipate the experts' escape route.

Zhao Feng disguised himself as a Demonic Sect disciple and hid in the Black Mountain mine passages, where he found the wounded Yellow Dragon Taoist and Ji Wuming. After Yellow Dragon Taoist killed Ji Wuming, Zhao Feng attacked him and ran his spear through his chest.

• Zhao Feng studied the mine map, stripped a dead Demonic Sect disciple’s clothes, and hid on the third underground level.
• The righteous sects routed the Demonic Sect’s Jinyang Branch Hall and divided its treasury as the surviving fighters fled underground.
• Zhao Feng killed a wounded Guardian Dharma Protector and followed the secret passage to the chamber where Yellow Dragon Taoist and Ji Wuming were healing.
• Ji Wuming demanded the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass, but Yellow Dragon Taoist sprayed him with Bone-Dissolving Water and killed him with a palm strike.
• Yellow Dragon Taoist mistook Zhao Feng for a frightened disciple and invited him to guard him while he healed.
• Zhao Feng charged and thrust his short spear through Yellow Dragon Taoist’s chest before he could recover his strength.

Zhao Feng killed Yellow Dragon Taoist, took the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass, and escaped Ma Yuan by collapsing an underground passage with a Fire Thunder Bomb. Two days later, the righteous sects had destroyed the Demonic Sect branch halls, while Ma Yuan’s fate remained unknown.

• Zhao Feng searched Yellow Dragon Taoist’s corpse, took the compass and valuables, then fled when Ma Yuan arrived and found the bodies of Yellow Dragon Taoist and Ji Wuming.
• Ma Yuan recognized Zhao Feng and pursued him through the tunnels as Zhao Feng raced toward the upper level.
• Zhao Feng threw a Fire Thunder Bomb behind him, collapsing the passage and escaping to the second underground level.
• Yan Yunkun watched Zhao Feng go against the flow of the crowd and suspected he had come from below.
• The righteous sects found and destroyed the remaining Demonic Sect hideout, then divided its treasures.
• Two days later, Yin Zheng told Huo Yao and Zhao Feng that Ma Yuan’s body had not been found and that he might have escaped with the missing valuables.

Zhao Feng learned that Ma Yuan had escaped and agreed to attend the Hundred Treasures House auction with Yin Zheng and Huo Yao. Meanwhile, Yan Yunkun persuaded Yu Shi to target Zhao Feng over the Wood Marrow Heartflow and what he might know about the secret chamber, while Zhao Feng advanced his cultivation in private.

• Yin Zheng told Zhao Feng that Ma Yuan had escaped and discussed the weakening of the Demonic Sect and the upcoming Martial Examination in the capital.
• Zhao Feng noticed Yan Yunkun and the Golden Wind Valley disciples exchange glances, then accepted Yin Zheng's invitation to attend the Hundred Treasures House auction with Huo Yao.
• Yan Yunkun urged Yu Shi to take Zhao Feng's Wood Marrow Heartflow and revealed that he had seen Zhao Feng escape from below the collapsed mine tunnel.
• Yu Shi agreed to capture and interrogate Zhao Feng if an opportunity arose, while avoiding an open conflict with Yin Zheng and the Five Sects Alliance.
• Zhao Feng cultivated in his inn room and planned to use the Nine-Palace Dragon-Settling Compass's earth-vein essence to advance his Rock-Steadfast Thick Earth Art.