Chapter Summaries

Government officials arrived at Zhao Youlin’s home with the news that Zhao Feng had passed the Martial Examination with distinction, placing seventh on the county’s C List. Zhao Feng returned as the soldiers saluted him, while the officials still had documents to deliver.

• Qian Shi insisted that Zhao Sheng would pass the Martial Examination and repay the neighbors who had lent the family money.
• A government official and six soldiers arrived in Jiazi Ravine Village and asked the village head to lead them to Zhao Youlin’s home.
• The official announced that Zhao Feng had passed the Martial Examination with distinction, ranking seventh on the county’s C List.
• Zhao Youlin and his family reeled with joy, and he offered the officials their remaining silver and coins.
• Zhao Feng arrived at his home, where the soldiers greeted him with a salute as Lord Zhao.

Zhao Feng received his Martial Scholar honors, along with his household’s exemption from taxes and corvée labor, and learned he had to report to the Tuanlian Camp. As his family celebrated, Li Jinbao visited to make amends and congratulate him.

• Fang Datong delivered Zhao Feng’s announcement, gifts, and news that his household and holdings were exempt from regular taxes, levies, and corvée labor.
• Fang Datong told Zhao Feng to report to the Tuanlian Camp within three days, while Qian Shi learned that Zhao Sheng had failed the examination and collapsed.
• Zhao Youlin rejoiced as the villagers decorated Zhao Feng’s courtyard and celebrated his success.
• Li Jinbao learned that Zhao Feng had ranked seventh in the county Martial Scholar examination and decided to visit him with generous gifts.
• Li Jinbao arrived at Zhao Feng’s home and humbly paid his respects before the watching villagers.

After becoming a Martial Scholar, Zhao Feng received gifts and silver from Li Jinbao, who sought forgiveness and returned Zhao Youfu's loan papers and property deeds. Zhao Feng left for town after arranging a village feast, while Zhao Youfang waited anxiously for confirmation of his exam result.

• Li Jinbao apologized to Zhao Feng and presented him with bolts of cloth, food, wine, and about two hundred taels of silver.
• Li Jinbao returned Zhao Youfu's loan papers and property deeds, but Zhao Feng told him to handle his uncle's debt as usual.
• Zhao Youfu tried to repay Zhao Youlin and appeal to Zhao Feng, but Zhao Youlin shut the gate and refused him.
• Zhao Youlin offered the silver and gifts to Zhao Feng, who kept the money for his training, left twenty taels for a village feast, and rode back to town.
• Qiao'er reassured Zhao Youfang that Zhao Feng's name had appeared in seventh place on the Martial Examination results.

Zhao Feng returned home after passing the Martial Examination, then reported to Xu Commandant at the Tuanlian Camp and received his Martial Scholar appointment. Xu Commandant warned him about the tangled forces in the provinces and the obligations attached to his new status, and Zhao Feng returned to training wary of the unrest around him.

• Zhao Feng told Zhao Youfang that he had passed, and she wept with relief while Qiao'er eagerly agreed to begin basic martial training.
• Zhao Feng rode to the Tuanlian Camp to report to Xu Commandant and encountered Zhu Gui leaving the command tent.
• Xu Zhongda questioned Zhao Feng about his archery and horsemanship, then described the powerful forces and worsening disorder across the provinces.
• Xu Zhongda gave Zhao Feng his Martial Scholar Appointment Certificate and explained his privileges and possible emergency military conscription.
• Zhao Feng watched the militia drill, sensed unrest in the county town, and returned to the Martial Arts School to train.

As the Militia Soldiers’ inspections drove Chu Fan away from the Martial Arts School and its other disciples grew distant, Zhao Feng remained steady and became a support for the school. Huo Shan praised Zhao Feng’s progress, asked him to help with school affairs, and raised the possibility of marrying Huo Yao, which Zhao Feng refused in favor of martial arts.

• The disciples took down the school’s plaque as Chu Fan argued with Huo Shan and then left the Martial Arts School.
• Wang Yu, Zhou Xue, and Wei Yuan began visiting less often, while Zhao Feng continued training and guiding the other disciples.
• Huo Shan watched Zhao Feng demonstrate the Eight Extremes Fist and praised his growing mastery, promising to teach him the Six Harmonies Great Spear once he perfected the first two sequences.
• Huo Shan asked Zhao Feng to help with the school’s affairs, and Zhao Feng agreed.
• Huo Shan asked whether Zhao Feng would consider marrying Huo Yao, but Zhao Feng said he wanted to focus entirely on martial arts.

Zhao Feng learned how the power struggle in Big Stone County had put Wei Yuan and other families under pressure, while the Zhu Family faced investigations and seizures. After declining Xue Xiangling’s invitation, he unexpectedly met Lin Ziwei at Hongxing Tower, where Wei Yuan noted that she seemed to think highly of him.

• Huo Shan postponed discussing a possible match for Huo Yao after Zhao Feng warned him to consider Chu Fan and the consequences.
• Wei Yuan congratulated Zhao Feng on becoming a Martial Scholar and gave him about fifty taels of silver.
• Wei Yuan told Zhao Feng that Xu Commandant was investigating the Zhu Family, and that Wei Yuan’s family and others were facing pressure because of their ties to the County Magistrate and Chu Fan.
• Wei Yuan invited Zhao Feng to tour the gardens with Xue Xiangling, but Zhao Feng asked him to decline on his behalf.
• Lin Ziwei greeted Zhao Feng at Hongxing Tower, and Wei Yuan told him she was popular among the county’s young elites and seemed to think highly of him.

Zhao Feng advanced his saber and leg techniques while struggling to afford the food and medicine his training required. He agreed to escort Wei Yuan’s caravan to dangerous Pine River County, where Zhao Shuo had disappeared, and the caravan set out under Seventh Great-Uncle’s leadership.

• Zhao Feng practiced the Cloak Saber Technique with the Wind God Leg Technique and found that the two arts complemented each other.
• Zhao Feng realized his training expenses would prevent him from buying a house in the Inner City for now.
• Wei Ping told Wei Yuan that the Wei Family planned a risky shipment to Pine River County, and Wei Yuan accepted responsibility for the Fourth Branch’s escort run.
• Zhao Feng agreed to accompany Wei Yuan because he owed the Wei Family and hoped to learn what had happened to Zhao Shuo.
• Wei Yuan and Zhao Feng joined Seventh Great-Uncle, Xu Song, and the guards as they departed with sixteen wagons for Pine River County.

The Blood Wolf Bandits ambushed the Wei Family convoy near Pine River County, but Zhao Feng used his archery and martial skills to devastate the attackers and turn the fight in the convoy’s favor. The bandit leader ordered a retreat after Zhao Feng’s intervention ruined their plan.

• The Wei Family convoy traveled through Cross Pass Town overnight and continued toward Pine River County, fending off minor bands of robbers along the way.
• More than thirty Blood Wolf Bandits attacked the convoy from the hills, splitting into groups to strike its front, middle, and rear.
• Zhao Feng shot six riders from their horses, then used his saber and Eight Extremes Fist to kill the leader’s subordinates and defeat their leader.
• Zhao Feng fired arrows into the bandits fighting Wei Yuan and the guards, helping the convoy withstand the attack.
• A Blood Wolf Bandit leader realized Zhao Feng had ruined their plan and ordered the surviving attackers to retreat.

Zhao Feng helped the Wei Family convoy defeat the Blood Wolf Bandits and learned that the missing Corvée Laborers had been taken by Black Cloud Stronghold. After returning to Big Stone County, he reported the bandits to Xu Commandant, while the captives’ danger left him with little time to act.

• Zhao Feng defeated the Blood Wolf Bandits attacking the Wei Family convoy, and Seventh Uncle ordered the survivors captured and questioned.
• Zhao Feng learned the bandits knew nothing about the missing Corvée Laborers, then helped the convoy deliver its goods in Pine River County.
• Seventh Uncle used his connections to discover that Black Cloud Stronghold had abducted some returning Corvée Laborers, and Zhao Feng feared they would be killed once the stronghold was finished.
• The Wei Family rewarded Zhao Feng with over two hundred taels of silver after the convoy returned to Big Stone County.
• Zhao Feng reported the Blood Wolf Bandits to Xu Commandant, who said the authorities were investigating their hidden leaders and middlemen.

Zhao Feng began cultivating Golden Bell Shield to strengthen his defenses, while Zhao Youfu lost the Zhao Family ancestral home after failing to repay his debts. The village condemned Zhao Youfu for his greed, and Zhao Feng welcomed Village Head Chen Changgui after he helped settle the dispute.

• Zhao Feng studied Golden Bell Shield and began its painful skin-tempering practice, spending two hours to reach beginner progress.
• Master Li's men evicted Zhao Youfu and Qian Shi from their mortgaged home and fields after they failed to repay the loan.
• Zhao Youfu begged Zhao Youlin for money, but Zhao Youlin refused and shut the gate in his face.
• Chen Changgui rebuked Zhao Youfu for seizing his siblings' inheritance and blaming Zhao Feng, and the villagers joined in condemning him.
• Zhao Youfu fled toward town to find his son, while Zhao Feng thanked Chen Changgui and invited him inside to discuss his visit.

Zhao Feng agreed to preside over Greenhouse Township’s New Year sacrifices, then moved his family to a grand residence in Big Stone County to protect them from raids. After reconnecting with the martial arts school’s disciples following the New Year, he watched the warm atmosphere turn cold when Chu Fan arrived.

• Zhao Feng accepted Chen Changgui’s request to preside over the township’s sacrifices and revealed that he had secured the deeds to his father’s old house and farmland.
• Zhao Feng decided to move his family into town because nearby villages had been attacked by refugees and bandits, and his parents reluctantly agreed to leave their land.
• Zhao Feng presided over the Mountain God sacrifices, paid for a New Year’s Eve meal for the villagers, and visited his maternal relatives with his family.
• After the New Year, Zhao Feng bought a two-courtyard residence in Nine Virtues Ward through Wei Yuan and moved his family in while keeping the Willow Tree Alley courtyard.
• Zhao Feng returned to the Huo Family Martial Arts School, accepted Sun Qing’s New Year gift, and saw the disciples’ cheerful gathering fall silent when Chu Fan entered.

Zhao Feng watched political tensions erupt into open conflict as Xu Commandant’s troops destroyed the Three Harmonies Gang. He left the gang’s members to die, including his cousin Zhao Sheng, and continued pursuing his own advancement.

• Chu Fan returned to the Martial Arts School and faced the disciples’ resentment, while Zhao Feng gave Huo Shan a valuable New Year’s gift.
• Huo Shan told Zhao Feng that Emperor Jingzong was preparing to rule and that Xu Commandant’s faction was moving against County Magistrate Cheng’s influence.
• After two months of training, Zhao Feng heard that Xu Commandant had surrounded the Three Harmonies Gang and declared its members rebels.
• Zhao Feng inferred that the gang had been abandoned by its allies, then secretly headed out to take advantage of its downfall and replenish his money.
• Zhao Feng watched soldiers slaughter a group of Three Harmonies Gang members, including Zhao Sheng, and made no attempt to save his cousin.

Zhao Feng watched Zhu Mingshou capture and torture Wang Kui while searching for the Three Harmonies Gang’s hidden ledger. The next day, Zhao Feng pressured Li Jinbao into revealing Bald Zhang’s whereabouts, but the chapter ended before Li answered.

• Zhao Feng tracked Wang Kui to a riverside hideout and waited for Bald Zhang to arrive.
• Zhu Mingshou entered the hideout, killed Wang Kui’s two trusted men, and captured Wang Kui while demanding the ledger.
• Zhao Feng chose not to shoot Zhu Mingshou and left after hearing Wang Kui’s screams fade into silence.
• The next day, Zhao Feng watched Li Jinbao bid farewell to a dangerous-seeming merchant called Kong the Benefactor.
• Zhao Feng confronted Li Jinbao in his study, accepted his money, and demanded to know where Bald Zhang was hiding.

Zhao Feng killed Bald Zhang, seized his money and incriminating ledgers, and returned to Willow Tree Alley. At the riverside market, he found Chu Fan injured after a clash with Han Dong and the Han Family.

• Bald Zhang tried to flee Three Yang County with a subordinate, but Zhao Feng broke in and killed them both.
• Zhao Feng burned the bodies and took Bald Zhang's money, treasure medicine, and ledgers implicating County Magistrate Cheng and the Zhu Family.
• Zhao Feng hid the ledgers and considered how to deal with Chu Fan while keeping himself out of trouble.
• An apprentice told Zhao Feng that Chu Fan had clashed with the Han Family, so Zhao Feng took several apprentices to the riverside market.
• Zhao Feng found Chu Fan badly injured as Han Dong claimed Chu Fan had started the fight, and bystanders supported Han Dong's account.

After Chu Fan was injured in a confrontation with Han Dong, Physician Hu warned that a crack in Chu Fan’s Dantian could keep him from fighting unless he obtained a rare medicine. As the martial arts school’s leaders worried about the Blood Lotus Sect’s return, Zhao Feng continued training amid rising tensions in Big Stone County.

• Zhao Feng accepted responsibility for taking Chu Fan back to the Huo Family Martial Arts School after Han Dong injured him, and Chu Fan collapsed on the way.
• Physician Hu found tiny cracks in Chu Fan’s Dantian and said only a precious secret medicine or an extraordinary method could restore his ability to fight.
• Shi Mao suspected the Han Family had baited Chu Fan into striking first so Han Dong could cripple him, while Huo Shan grieved over Chu Fan’s condition.
• Huo Shan discussed the Blood Lotus Sect’s renewed activity with Duan Zeyuan and Tong Hu, who feared the sect might have agents in Big Stone County.
• Over a month later, Zhao Feng advanced his Cloak Saber Technique, Wind God Leg Technique, and Golden Bell Shield as clashes between the Zhu and Han Families intensified and he remained uneasy about Bald Zhang’s ledger.

Zhao Feng learned that the Zhu Family was preparing to produce two transformation force experts amid shifting political power, then gave Xu Commandant evidence of the family’s crimes in exchange for weapons and other rewards. Xu Commandant launched a campaign against the Zhu Family, leaving Big Stone County on the verge of upheaval.

• Zhao Feng saw Chu Fan abandoned and broken at the Huo Family Martial Arts School, and took his fall as a warning to strengthen himself.
• Wei Yuan told Zhao Feng that Zhu Gui and Zhu Mingshou were using a Secret Elixir to attempt breakthroughs, and that the political balance in the Prefecture City was shifting against County Magistrate Cheng.
• Zhao Feng returned home, saw his family, and resolved not to gamble with their safety.
• Zhao Feng visited Xu Commandant and offered account books proving the Zhu Family’s collusion with the Three Harmonies Gang in exchange for a Treasure Saber, a Treasure Bow, and three places at the planned Martial Academy.
• Xu Commandant announced that troops would encircle the Zhu Family, declaring its members and retainers wanted and calling on martial artists to help capture them.

Xu Commandant led the seizure of the Zhu Family estate after publicizing accusations that the family colluded with rebel bandits. The Zhu Family’s defenders were defeated, and the soldiers began searching the residence for evidence.

• Xu Commandant circulated a Court Gazette accusing the Zhu Family of colluding with bandits and rebels, prompting growing support for action against them.
• Xu Commandant’s troops surrounded the Zhu Residence and broke down its gate after the family ignored his order to report to the Militia Camp.
• County Magistrate Cheng challenged the confiscation, but Xu Commandant presented the garrison commander’s sealed wartime authorization.
• Zhu Jing fought off the soldiers and crossbow bolts until Han Ao joined the battle and Xu Commandant ordered the forces to enter the estate.
• The attackers overwhelmed the Zhu Family’s fighters; Zhu Jing fell to crossbow bolts, and Zhu Hanzhou was pinned down after losing an arm.
• The soldiers searched the Zhu Residence and ransacked its belongings.

Xu Commandant uncovered evidence tying the Zhu Family to Black Cloud Stronghold and pursued its fleeing descendants, while Zhao Feng waited on a mountain route to intercept them. He recognized Zhu Mingshou among four disguised fugitives just as danger struck.

• An officer found letters and a stronghold token in a hidden compartment, and Xu Commandant ordered the evidence collected and submitted for review.
• Xu Commandant discovered a secret passage from the Zhu Residence and ordered his men to pursue the fugitives and issue wanted notices.
• Independent Martial Masters and other groups looted the Zhu Family's properties as Zhao Feng kept watch on a mountain path toward the Black Cloud Mountains.
• After three days in ambush, Zhao Feng spotted four disguised youths led by Zhu Mingshou, who urged them onward toward Black Cloud Stronghold.
• Zhu Mingshou rallied the exhausted youths, but a sudden sense of danger made his hair stand on end.

Zhao Feng ambushed Zhu Mingshou and three Zhu Family youths, then killed Zhu Mingshou in a fierce fight. After taking their money and hiding their bodies, he left the mountains without revealing his identity.

• Zhao Feng shot two Zhu Family youths dead and wounded the seventeenth younger brother as Zhu Mingshou tried to protect them.
• Zhao Feng fought Zhu Mingshou with his Treasure Saber, broke Zhu Mingshou's broad saber, and endured his Iron Sand Palm attack with the Golden Bell Shield.
• Zhu Mingshou recognized Zhao Feng's Eight Extremes Fist and grew afraid after realizing Zhao Feng had concealed his strength.
• Zhao Feng overwhelmed Zhu Mingshou with Pigua Chain Strikes and killed him with a blow to the chest.
• Zhao Feng checked the four men's pouches, took their money, disposed of their bodies, and left while still masked.

Zhao Feng returned to the martial arts school and learned about the Zhu Family’s downfall before witnessing Chu Fan’s bitter confrontation with Huo Shan. After Chu Fan accused his master and fellow disciples of abandoning him, Huo Shan expelled him from the Huo Family Martial Arts School.

• Wang Yu told Zhao Feng that the Zhu Family’s wealth had been seized and said Huo Shan had been looking for him and Second Senior Brother.
• Chu Fan demanded the Secret Elixir, and Zhou Xue coldly told him he might have to wait ten or twenty years for one.
• Chu Fan knocked over the medicinal decoction from Huo Shan’s wife and accused Huo Shan of refusing to heal his Dantian.
• Chu Fan insulted Huo Shan, Wang Yu, and Zhao Feng, claiming they had all turned against him.
• Huo Shan expelled Chu Fan, struck him unconscious, ordered his name removed from the school rolls, and shattered the plaque honoring master and disciple.