Chapter Summaries

Zhao Feng investigated the rumors and strange corpses while Emperor Jing gave him ten days to solve the monster case before the Lantern Festival court assembly. At court, Zhao Feng encountered Su Qingwan, who had come as a ceremonial officer, and brought her back to the Martial Suppression Bureau despite her protests.

• Yue Lang reported that disasters and rumors were spreading across Great Yan, and Zhao Feng learned that a storyteller's old tale had been used to link the monster incidents to Emperor Jing.
• Zhao Feng examined the eleven corpses with Old Zhou and found abnormal lividity and a sinister, icy powder that might require a Dao arts expert to identify.
• At his first court session, Zhao Feng saw Emperor Jing reinstate Qin Yan and confirm that the Martial Suppression Bureau had ten days to solve the case.
• Emperor Jing appointed Su Qingwan as the Lantern Festival assembly's temporary ceremonial officer, and Zhao Feng followed her out of the palace.
• Su Qingwan denied that anything remained between them, but Zhao Feng brought her to the Martial Suppression Bureau, where she rode beside him in silence.

Zhao Feng and Su Qingwan investigated the deaths in the Upper Capital and discovered that the killer used the Nine Nether Demon Sect’s Nine Nether Blood-Devouring Art to make the murders look like the work of sinister creatures. A tracking talisman led them to an abandoned residence in the eastern district, where they found traces of the killer and began piecing together a burned letter.

• Su Qingwan examined the eleven corpses and identified the Nine Nether Blood-Devouring Art as the cause of their deaths.
• Su Qingwan explained that the Nine Nether Demon Sect was likely allied with the Northern Barbarians, and Zhao Feng ordered his subordinates to investigate suspicious arrivals from the past three months.
• Su Qingwan sent a Tracking Talisman Crane over the city, and it detected a strong concentration of residual yin baleful energy in the eastern district.
• Zhao Feng, Su Qingwan, Yue Lang, Jiang Chen, Luo Xiong, and the others followed the talisman’s trail to an abandoned residence and located the strongest traces in a side room.
• Zhao Feng found cold ashes and charred paper scraps in the side room, then pieced the scraps together as part of a letter.

Zhao Feng and Su Qingwan tracked the Nine Nether Demon Sect to an underground lair at Boulder Ridge, but its occupants fled as the Martial Suppression Guard attacked. Zhao Feng pursued two Innate Realm fugitives and fired at them with his Tiger-Subduing Bow.

• Zhao Feng found a partially burned letter in the abandoned hideout and ordered the Dark Guard to watch the surrounding area.
• Su Qingwan divined three likely hideouts, and Zhao Feng ordered surveillance of each location.
• Xie Qiu reported suspicious activity at Boulder Ridge, so Zhao Feng and Su Qingwan went there and used a talisman to locate an underground palace.
• Zhao Feng and Su Qingwan found the palace abandoned, then rushed outside when Yue Lang's group clashed with the escaping sect members.
• Jiang Chen and Xie Qiu were injured by Innate Realm fighters, while Yue Lang, Luo Xiong, and Mu Xingze pursued the other fugitives with the Martial Suppression Guard.
• Zhao Feng and Su Qingwan chased the two Innate Realm fugitives through the reeds, and Zhao Feng fired six Inkfeather Arrows at their backs.

Zhao Feng uncovered the Nine Nether Demon Sect’s plan to exploit a natural disaster and attack the Shangyuan Festival court assembly, then received Emperor Jing’s authority to investigate a suspected insider. He traced Nether Concubine to Qing'er, a new concubine in Ding Huai’s household, and confronted the chief censor at his residence.

• Zhao Feng defeated and captured several Nine Nether Demon Sect members while Su Qingwan pursued and killed the spellcaster who tried to flee.
• Zhao Feng interrogated the triangular-eyed prisoner, who revealed that Nether Concubine was the young master's trusted confidante and that the sect planned to sow panic and strike at the Shangyuan Festival court assembly.
• Su Qingwan reasoned that Nether Concubine’s new identity had likely been arranged by a high-ranking insider, and Zhao Feng persuaded Emperor Jing to give him an imperial Golden Token.
• Yue Lang reported that Qing'er, Ding Huai’s new concubine, had a questionable background, so Zhao Feng and Su Qingwan went to investigate her.
• Zhao Feng asked Ding Huai about Qing'er, noticed his brief flash of panic, and heard Ding Huai object to the investigation.

Zhao Feng exposed the Nether Concubine’s doppelgänger in Ding Huai’s residence and, with Su Qingwan’s help, tracked her true body to an underground drain. He ambushed her when she emerged before the Shangyuan Festival court assembly, pursued and defeated her, but she killed herself before he could question her about the Nine Nether Demon Sect’s young master and plans.

• Zhao Feng used the imperial golden token to search Ding Huai’s residence, where the Nether Concubine’s doppelgänger exploded and killed Ding Huai before her true body escaped.
• Su Qingwan tracked the Nether Concubine’s true body to a drain in the southeastern Upper Capital, and Zhao Feng arranged to watch its entrance until the Shangyuan Festival.
• The injured Nether Concubine emerged from the drain before dawn, and Zhao Feng intercepted her as she fled toward the imperial palace.
• Zhao Feng pursued the Nether Concubine with arrows and the Nine Yang Sword Technique, wearing her down until she could no longer escape.
• Zhao Feng demanded that the Nether Concubine reveal the young master’s whereabouts and the sect’s next plan, but she took her own life before he could interrogate her.

Zhao Feng solved the Nine Nether Demon Sect’s killings on the final day of his deadline and reported the case to Emperor Jing during the Lantern Festival court assembly. Emperor Jing publicly praised him before the Western Regions envoys, while the identity and whereabouts of the Demon Sect’s young master remained unknown.

• Zhao Feng ordered Yue Lang to take the Nether Concubine’s intact corpse to a coroner for examination.
• Su Qingwan presided over the sacrifice to Heaven, impressing the Western Regions envoys with her power and lending Emperor Jing’s court added prestige.
• Emperor Jing welcomed the envoys and warned that Great Yan would crush those who threatened its peace.
• A Yuezhi envoy raised rumors that demons were killing people in the Upper Capital, and Zhang Jie emphasized that Zhao Feng’s ten-day deadline ended that day.
• Zhao Feng arrived with the case files, reported that the Nether Concubine had been slain and three sect members captured, and presented her sword as evidence.
• Emperor Jing accepted Zhao Feng’s files and praised him before the court and envoys for solving the case within the deadline.

Zhao Feng exposed the political fallout from Ding Huai’s ties to the Nine Nether Demon Sect, helping Emperor Jing dismantle the Empress Dowager’s faction before being granted a first-rank duke title. As Su Qingwan prepared to return to her sect, Zhao Feng confronted her about their relationship, and she questioned his overbearing manner while resting in his arms.

• At the court assembly, Zhao Feng told Zhang Jie that Ding Huai had been a Nine Nether Demon Sect agent and that the Nether Concubine was his concubine Qing'er, leaving Zhang Jie terrified and politically vulnerable.
• Yue Lang and Jiang Chen confiscated Ding Huai’s residence and found hidden bribes and account books implicating dozens of officials.
• Zhao Feng used evidence from Ding Huai’s case to arrest officials aligned with the Empress Dowager, and Emperor Jing stripped Zhang Jie of his post and exiled him.
• Emperor Jing granted Zhao Feng the title of First-Rank Duke Who Assists the State, while Zhao Feng remained uneasy about the Empress Dowager’s unseen plans.
• Zhao Feng found Su Qingwan packing to return to her mountain and challenged her claim that they were only old friends.
• Zhao Feng pulled Su Qingwan into his arms, and she gradually softened against him before asking why he was always so overbearing.

Zhao Feng parted from Su Qingwan after kissing her, then focused on preparing for the coming decisive battle against the Northern Barbarians. During a month of intense cultivation, he completed his perfect golden body and greatly advanced his martial techniques, leaving him far stronger as war approached.

• Zhao Feng kissed Su Qingwan before she left, and he vowed that she would not escape him.
• Zhao Feng reviewed reports predicting a decisive battle against the Northern Barbarians and worried that their Royal Court could flee beyond Great Yan's reach.
• Zhao Feng cultivated the Tai Chi Golden Body Art until he completed a perfect golden body that resisted blades and sinister yin forces.
• Zhao Feng pushed the Nine Yang Divine Fist and Nine Yang Sword Technique to their limits, unlocking Nine Suns Incinerate Heaven and Nine Suns Return to One.
• Zhao Feng trained the first five Seven Heaven-Cleaving Forms to minor accomplishment, demonstrating their destructive power on the Bureau's training grounds.

Emperor Jing appointed Zhao Feng commander of a hundred-thousand-strong Eastern Route Army tasked with attacking the Wolf and Bear Tribes and cutting off the Northern Barbarians’ supply lines. Zhao Feng organized preparations with his trusted subordinates, and the army was set to assemble in Bing Province within a month.

• Emperor Jing summoned Zhao Feng and explained that Sun Chenzong’s western advance needed support from an eastern campaign against the Northern Barbarians’ grasslands.
• Emperor Jing appointed Zhao Feng Marshal of the Eastern Expedition, assigned Qin Zhongwu and Helan Tie as his deputies, and authorized him to choose the army’s weapons and equipment.
• Zhao Feng accepted the command and warned that the allied troops from the small Western Regions states might be difficult to lead.
• Zhao Feng assigned Qin Zhongwu to organize infantry and logistics, Helan Tie to train the allied cavalry, and the Martial Suppression Guards to serve as the army’s central strike force.
• Zhao Feng ordered Yue Lang to survey the terrain, Jiang Chen to monitor the tribes, Xie Qiu and Luo Xiong to train the guards, and Mu Xingze to manage weapons and provisions.
• Alone in the main hall, Zhao Feng thought of Su Qingwan and prepared himself for the coming campaign.

Zhao Feng arrived in Bingzhou City to organize the Eastern Route Army and prepare for war against Na Hachu. After assigning his generals and consolidating intelligence and supplies, he prepared to lead the army beyond White Spring Pass.

• Zhao Feng led ten thousand Martial Suppression Guards to Bingzhou City, where Tang Jiyuan and Shao Kai welcomed him and reported on preparations and intelligence.
• Shao Kai gave Zhao Feng Ba Tu’s letter promising that more than a dozen breakaway tribes would aid the army, and Zhao Feng ordered continued intelligence gathering.
• Helan Tie questioned Zhao Feng’s youth and the army’s readiness, but Zhao Feng outlined a plan for the allied cavalry to harass Na Hachu’s forces and supply lines.
• Zhao Feng assigned Qin Zhongwu to train the Southern Provinces’ infantry, Helan Tie to organize the allied cavalry, Tang Jiyuan to manage logistics, and Shao Kai to unite the intelligence networks.
• Shao Kai showed Zhao Feng a map of Na Hachu’s troop movements, and Zhao Feng considered using Ba Tu’s tribes to aid the campaign.
• Lin Ziwei told Zhao Feng she had arranged supplies, medicinal herbs, and transfer stations for the army, while Zhao Feng looked ahead to leading the force beyond White Spring Pass.

Zhao Feng led Great Yan’s army to White Spring Pass and prepared to counter Na Hachu’s plan to lure them deep into the grasslands. He organized a cautious advance and welcomed local allies, while Fourth Madam joined Lin Ziwei to protect the army’s supply lines and intelligence network.

• Qin Zhongwu and Helan Tie trained the infantry and cavalry as Zhao Feng studied maps before the hundred-thousand-strong army marched out of Bingzhou.
• The army crossed Great Wan and reached White Spring Pass, where Zhou Meng reported that Na Hachu had withdrawn his outposts and planned to ambush them in the grasslands.
• Zhao Feng ordered Qin Zhongwu to set a steady infantry pace and assigned Helan Tie’s cavalry to patrol the flanks and clear Northern Barbarian scouts.
• Ba Tu and a dozen tribal chiefs arrived with more than two thousand cavalry, and Zhao Feng incorporated them into the scout battalion as guides and intelligence gatherers.
• Fourth Madam arrived from Quicksand Market, and Zhao Feng sent her to work with Lin Ziwei to safeguard the army’s logistics and intelligence network.

Zhao Feng led his army across the grasslands toward Gulda City, preparing for Na Hachu’s ambushes and protecting the supply train from fire. As the army entered Karhun Valley in battle formation, dust swept down from the hills and darkened the sky.

• Zhao Feng studied Ba Tu’s map of Karhun Valley and ordered the army to maintain tight formations, scout ahead, and protect its supply line.
• Northern Barbarian cavalry harassed the marching army, while Jiang Chen recognized their raids as probes of the army’s reactions and formations.
• Zhao Feng ordered Lin Ziwei’s fire-resistant canvas and additional shield and elite-soldier guards to protect the baggage train.
• When Ba Tu reported enemy troops hiding in the hills by Karhun Valley, Zhao Feng refused to send the vanguard after them and led the army into the valley in battle formation.
• As the army advanced into Karhun Valley, wind carried sand and dead grass from the hills, filling the valley with a gray-yellow haze.

Zhao Feng’s preparations foiled Hakuru’s ambush on the Supply Train, and Great Yan’s forces annihilated the Northern Barbarian cavalry in the valley. After Qin Zhongwu and Helan Tie apologized to Zhao Feng, he asked what they thought Na Hachu would do next.

• Hakuru’s Northern Barbarian cavalry attacked the Supply Train with flaming arrows and torches, but Zhao Feng’s iron shields and fireproof tarpaulins protected it.
• Qin Zhongwu’s infantry and Helan Tie’s cavalry encircled the attackers, while Luo Xiong, Mu Xingze, and the Martial Suppression Guard broke apart their ranks.
• Hakuru set fire oil alight in a final attempt to burn the supplies, but the Supply Train had moved away behind its defenses.
• Luo Xiong and Mu Xingze killed Hakuru together, and Great Yan’s forces defeated the remaining Northern Barbarian cavalry, taking prisoners and suffering two or three thousand casualties.
• Qin Zhongwu and Helan Tie apologized to Zhao Feng for doubting him, and Zhao Feng asked them to predict Na Hachu’s next move.

Zhao Feng’s army reached the outskirts of Gulda City after enduring Na Hachu’s supply-line raids, then camped rather than risk a suspected ambush. A Pure Moon Convent disciple, Jingxuan, arrived with word that the Barbarian God Hall’s missing High Shaman might be nearby and revealed that Su Qingwan had been punished because of Zhao Feng.

• After destroying Hakuru’s cavalry, Zhao Feng’s army marched west for fifteen days while Ba Tu, Lin Ziwei, Fourth Madam, and the rearguard protected its supplies from Na Hachu’s repeated raids.
• Ba Tu reported suspicious signs of hidden troops near Gulda City, and Zhao Feng ordered the army to camp fifty li away while scouts continued searching.
• A guard announced that Jingxuan, a disciple of the Pure Moon Convent, had arrived seeking an urgent audience, and Zhao Feng briefly hoped she was Su Qingwan.
• Jingxuan told Zhao Feng that the Barbarian God Hall’s High Shaman had disappeared a month earlier and might be near Gulda City.
• Jingxuan said Mingchen had begged her to visit Zhao Feng and revealed that Su Qingwan had been punished by the Convent Master because of him.

Zhao Feng’s army attacked Gulda City, where Moro Ke used shamanic witchcraft to disrupt the Yan ranks and launch a cavalry ambush. Jingxuan broke the spell with the Pure Moon Heavenly Light Mirror, turning the battle in Great Yan’s favor; Zhao Feng pursued Wo Le into the city and confronted a Barbarian God Hall expert.

• Jingxuan warned Zhao Feng that Moro Ke would use witchcraft against the army and asked him to keep her presence secret until the shaman committed to his spell.
• Zhao Feng and Qin Zhongwu led the Great Yan army toward Gulda City, where Moro Ke cast a shamanic illusion that disoriented the soldiers as Northern Barbarian cavalry attacked from ambush.
• Jingxuan revealed herself and used the Pure Moon Heavenly Light Mirror to dispel Moro Ke’s spell, allowing Zhao Feng and Qin Zhongwu to restore the Yan formations.
• Helan Tie led thirty thousand cavalry against the Northern Barbarian forces, and Great Yan defeated them and pursued the survivors into Gulda City.
• Zhao Feng chased Wo Le through the city, killed the guards who tried to stop him, and deflected a dark purple attack from a Barbarian God Hall expert.
• Zhao Feng launched the Great Sun Wheel technique against the expert, who raised his sabers to block the golden sword qi.

Zhao Feng defeated the Barbarian God Hall expert, captured Gulda City, and prepared to draw the grassland tribes away from the Northern Barbarian Royal Court before the battle for Zhamur City. With Moro Ke escaped and the final battle approaching, Zhao Feng continued cultivating and caught his first glimpse of the power of heaven and earth.

• Zhao Feng killed the Barbarian God Hall expert as Great Yan's army destroyed the Northern Barbarian forces at Gulda City, where Wo Le had taken his own life.
• Zhao Feng discussed the coming battle for Zhamur City with Qin Zhongwu and Helan Tie, concluding that Na Hachu would likely stake everything on a final stand.
• After receiving the emperor's approval for a Western Regions Protectorate, Zhao Feng tasked Ba Tu with persuading undecided tribes to submit to Great Yan.
• Daoist Master Jingxuan told Zhao Feng that Moro Ke had escaped, and they agreed that he would likely join Na Hachu at Zhamur City.
• As the army rested and prepared for the decisive battle, Zhao Feng cultivated and sensed the power of heaven and earth for the first time.

Zhao Feng’s army advanced toward Zhamur City with a massive supply of weapons and firearms, overcoming Na Hachu’s probing cavalry raids as it approached. Moro Ke appeared beside Na Hachu on the city walls, confident that he still had hidden cards to play against Jingxuan.

• Lin Ziwei and Fourth Madam delivered firearms, war wagons, bows, crossbows, and arrows to Zhao Feng in Gulda City.
• Ba Tu’s intelligence reported that Na Hachu had forcibly conscripted the grassland tribes, and Qin Zhongwu proposed a three-column advance to surround Zhamur City.
• Zhao Feng ordered Helan Tie to clear the Hun River forts while Qin Zhongwu led the main force, and the army marched north the next morning.
• The Yan army swept through abandoned and lightly defended forts, then camped less than eighty li from Zhamur City five days later.
• Na Hachu’s repeated nighttime cavalry probes were shattered by the army’s wagon defenses, bows, crossbows, and firearms.
• Moro Ke joined Na Hachu atop Zhamur City’s walls and said he still had cards to play against Jingxuan.

Zhao Feng discovered that Na Hachu had been sustaining Zhamur City with a hidden stronghold inside Graystone Mountain. He led a surprise raid that captured the stronghold and wiped out its resistance, leaving its provisions and captured families in Great Yan's hands.

• After Zhamur City held out for a month, Zhao Feng studied the map and suspected Graystone Mountain and the Hun River tributary concealed the reason.
• Ba Tu reported a hidden stronghold inside Graystone Mountain, and Fourth Madam confirmed it with a detailed map from her informant.
• Zhao Feng ordered a night assault, assigning Qin Zhongwu to feint at the southern gate, Helan Tie to block escapees, and Fourth Madam to intercept messages.
• Zhao Feng led ten thousand Martial Suppression Guards through the concealed entrance and had Yue Lang and Xie Qiu silently eliminate the sentries.
• Zhao Feng killed the Barbarian Tribe's Innate Realm guard as his troops overwhelmed the stronghold's defenders, while Jiang Chen and Helan Tie stopped those who fled.
• The Martial Suppression Guards captured the stronghold's provisions and gathered its families under guard.

After Zhao Feng seized Zhamur City's supplies and families, Na Hachu turned to High Shaman Moro Ke for a last resort against the Yan army. Moro Ke's poison failed to harm Zhao Feng, and his Bone-Eating Scale Beast rampaged through the Yan camp as Jingxuan and the guards faced the attack.

• Zhao Feng ordered the captured provisions and livestock transported, prisoners separated, and secret passages sealed after the raid on the new stockade.
• Zhao Feng began repeated assaults on Zhamur City, while Na Hachu's commanders argued over their dwindling supplies, declining morale, and lack of reinforcements.
• Na Hachu met secretly with Moro Ke, who revealed the Heart-Eroding Mist and decided to attack the Yan command tent that night.
• Moro Ke infiltrated the Yan camp and released the mist, but Jingxuan used the Pure Moon Talisman to dispel it and revealed she had been waiting for him.
• Moro Ke unleashed his Bone-Eating Scale Beast, which tore through the camp and wounded Mu Xingze and Xie Qiu when they tried to stop it.

Zhao Feng wounded the barbarian beast, forcing it to flee, while Jingxuan drove Moro Ke away. The Yan army captured Zhamuer City after messages from Great Yan prompted the tribesmen to open the gates, and Na Hachu killed himself as the city fell.

• Zhao Feng struck the barbarian beast with Nine Suns Return to One, and it fled despite Moro Ke's attempt to summon it back.
• Jingxuan pierced Moro Ke, who escaped using a secret art, and Zhao Feng ordered an all-out assault for the next day.
• Na Hachu learned that Zhao Feng was alive and discussed how to hold Zhamuer City as the Yan army approached.
• The Yan army sent letters over the walls promising safety for the tribes' families, prompting tribal chiefs and their followers to open the southern gate.
• Qin Zhongwu, Helan Tie, Yue Lang, Xie Qiu, Mu Xingze, and Luo Xiong led the Yan forces in seizing the city and crushing the Bear Tribe's remaining troops.
• After Bateer and Huricha died fighting, Na Hachu stayed in his command tent and took his own life.