Chapter Summaries

Fang Han agreed to escort Sun Xuanhe and Xiao Qian out of Azure Cloud City in secret, then left the City Lord’s Manor with them by carriage. Before departing, he tested whether moonlight essence could interact with the strange power in his blood dantian and sensed it begin to awaken.

• Fang Han and Sun Moting discussed Sun Xuanhe’s secret journey to the prefectural seat while playing Go, and Fang Han agreed to escort him without additional guards.
• Fang Han practiced the Moonlight Pulse Recovery Classic at the City Lord’s Manor and carefully brought moonlight essence near the gray-white power in his blood core, making it respond.
• A steward summoned Fang Han after nightfall and led him to a secluded rear gate, where an ordinary carriage waited.
• Fang Han boarded the carriage and joined Sun Xuanhe and his maid, Xiao Qian, as they set out to leave Azure Cloud City unnoticed.

Fang Han, Sun Xuanhe, and Xiao Qian traveled by a hidden trail toward Lingzhou Prefecture, reaching the dangerous Soul-Severing Mountain. As they approached, Fang Han sensed several people advancing through the red maple woods.

• Sun Xuanhe explained that his father had arranged a secret route and half-blood demon horses to avoid the official roads.
• Xiao Qian led Fang Han and Sun Xuanhe along a secluded mountain trail for three days until they emerged onto an abandoned official road.
• Xiao Qian warned that Soul-Severing Mountain was controlled by bandits led by a Transformed Force expert.
• Sun Xuanhe continued toward the mountain, while Fang Han used his Qi Observation Art to watch the surrounding woods.
• Fang Han ordered the others to stop after sensing several people approaching from Soul-Severing Mountain.

Fang Han detected an ambush by powerful Soul-Severing Mountain bandits and rode into the maple grove alone while Sun Xuanhe and Xiao Qian waited behind. He confronted the stronghold’s second and third chiefs, and drew his saber to face them.

• Fang Han sensed several bandits hiding in the maple grove, including two Grade Entry experts, and warned Sun Xuanhe and Xiao Qian.
• Sun Xuanhe and Xiao Qian suspected his departure had been exposed and quietly planned to escape if Fang Han held off the bandits.
• Fang Han assured them it would not be much trouble and rode alone into the grove.
• The second and third chiefs watched Fang Han approach; the cautious second chief stopped the third from attacking immediately.
• Fang Han identified the bald third chief as Eighth Grade Minor Accomplishment and the younger second chief as Eighth Grade Perfection, then dismounted and drew his saber.

Fang Han faced the Soul-Severing Stronghold’s third chief while the second chief and eight bandits formed a carefully planned encirclement around him. He concealed his true realm and prepared to use the two chiefs as opponents to test his strength before heading to the Provincial Capital.

• The third chief mistook Fang Han for a transformed force martial artist as eight bandits surrounded him and blocked his escape routes.
• The second chief warned the third chief that Fang Han might be concealing his aura, then took up a thousand-shi bow and aimed a poisoned arrow at him.
• Fang Han recognized the danger posed by the second chief’s archery and assessed the three-layer formation surrounding him.
• Fang Han decided to fight the two chiefs to test his strength, while the third chief raised his axe and the second chief readied his arrow.

Fang Han ambushed the Soul-Severing Stronghold chiefs and killed them and their eight bandits in the Maple Forest. Sun Xuanhe and Xiao Qian waited outside, uncertain whether Fang Han had survived, until footsteps approached from within.

• Golden Gourd attacked Fang Han with his great axe, but Fang Han’s armor absorbed the blow.
• Fang Han killed Golden Gourd with one slash of the Acala Saber, then evaded and endured Chen Baibu’s arrows before defeating him.
• Fang Han pursued and killed the eight fleeing bandits in fewer than ten breaths.
• Sun Xuanhe and Xiao Qian listened to the battle from outside the Maple Forest and prepared to flee when it fell silent.
• Sun Xuanhe and Xiao Qian waited beneath the moonlight until footsteps sounded from deep within the Maple Forest.

Fang Han emerged from the Maple Forest after killing ten Soul-Severing Stronghold bandits, leaving Sun Xuanhe wary of his hidden strength and baffled by the missing corpses. As the group rode toward Soul-Severing Mountain, Fang Han told Sun Xuanhe the bandits had likely attacked them by chance, not through a leak in the City Lord's Manor.

• Fang Han told Sun Xuanhe that he had killed the two leaders and eight bandits in the Maple Forest.
• Sun Xuanhe asked whether Fang Han had attained Grade Entry, and Fang Han warned him that curiosity killed the cat.
• Sun Xuanhe and Xiao Qian followed Fang Han through the bloodstained forest and found no bandit corpses, while Sun Xuanhe wondered where they had gone.
• Fang Han explained that the bandits had probably been waiting for travelers and encountered them by chance, embarrassing Sun Xuanhe, who had suspected his movements were exposed.
• The three riders continued toward Soul-Severing Mountain and the Soul-Severing Stronghold.