Chapter Summaries

Li Qinwu fought One-Ear and the tattooed giant, who kept rescuing each other and wore him down by attacking together. After realizing he could not defeat them by fighting fair, Li Qinwu decided to use dirty tricks.

• Li Qinwu battered One-Ear, but the tattooed giant repeatedly interrupted and knocked him away.
• One-Ear and the tattooed giant teamed up, landing a series of blows that knocked out Li Qinwu’s teeth and sent him crashing to the ground.
• Li Qinwu recovered quickly and realized that neither opponent could beat him alone, but their teamwork kept him pinned down.
• Li Qinwu nearly threw One-Ear, but the tattooed giant kicked at his groin; Li Qinwu blocked the kick, grabbed the giant, and slammed him to the ground.
• One-Ear kicked Li Qinwu away before he could finish the tattooed giant, and both opponents got back up.
• Li Qinwu recognized their cycle of stamina and interruptions, then decided to use dirty tricks of his own.

Li Qinwu fought the tattooed giant and One-Ear, enduring their coordinated assault while waiting for an opening. He incapacitated the tattooed giant and rose to face One-Ear in a one-on-one fight.

• The tattooed giant and One-Ear teamed up to attack Li Qinwu, who traded brutal blows with them and tore off One-Ear’s scalp, ear, and facial skin to escape his hold.
• One-Ear and the tattooed giant battered Li Qinwu from opposite sides, and One-Ear dislocated Li Qinwu’s jaw with a heavy punch.
• Li Qinwu used the force of the punch to spin around and crush the tattooed giant’s throat, then struck his crotch, dropping him in agony.
• Li Qinwu reset his jaw, taunted One-Ear, and charged at him for a one-on-one fight.

Li Qinwu killed One-ear and the tattooed giant with brutal attacks, then checked the other fights and saw that they were still underway. Yellow Sand was holding off three fighters, Gadriel was badly wounded, and Swift Shadow was being kicked around by two Cultists.

• Li Qinwu battered One-ear with punches, shattered his jaw, and killed him with a knee strike to the spine.
• Li Qinwu caught the retreating tattooed giant, threw him to the concrete, and killed him by tearing out his innards.
• Li Qinwu saw Yellow Sand defend against three Fifth and Sixth Turn fighters without attacking.
• Li Qinwu saw two veteran Ultramarines Astartes down beside nine fighters while Gadriel fought the last opponent despite severe injuries.
• Li Qinwu found Swift Shadow curled into a ball as two Cultists kicked him after he had killed one of his three attackers.

Li Qinwu and his allies defeated the Cultists who had been attacking them, but the final Seventh Turn warriors soon surrounded the survivors. Li Qinwu surprised them by drawing a Boltgun and killing all seven, leaving the Blood Trial’s outcome in his hands.

• Li Qinwu, Gadriel, and Yellow Sand killed the Cultists attacking them and rescued Swift Shadow, who passed out after seeing his battered face.
• Gadriel collapsed from his injuries, and Yellow Sand found that his two battle-brothers were alive but in suspended animation.
• Li Qinwu challenged the seven Seventh Turn warriors, who descended from the Tank Mountains to fight him and Yellow Sand.
• While Yellow Sand checked on Gadriel, Li Qinwu produced a golden Boltgun and unleashed a barrage that killed all seven Seventh Turn Cultists.
• Li Qinwu shot the fallen Cultist's head, and it exploded.

Khorne watched Li Qinwu kill his followers in a Duel Arena and recalled how the Blood Demon had engineered the crisis on Thunder Saint Alliance. Grand Inquisitor Oluka had fallen to Chaos and planned to sacrifice millions to summon power through the Brass Cauldron.

• Khorne saw Li Qinwu shoot seven of his followers in a Duel Arena.
• The Blood Demon had arranged for the Death Lord Warband to lure the Tyranids to Thunder Saint Alliance and had hidden the Brass Cauldron on Raesmon.
• As the Tyranids overran Thunder Saint Alliance, Grand Inquisitor Oluka used the Brass Cauldron to empower his aides and stabilize the front lines.
• Over ten years, the Blood Demon corrupted Oluka, who began ordering his cultists to hunt Imperial troops and stage deadly duels.
• Oluka ordered eight Duel Arenas built around the Grand Fortress, intending for 130 million people to produce eight warriors whose blood would summon power into realspace.

Khorne brought the incomplete Blood Demon into realspace and set him against Li Qinwu, who had been marked with one-eighth of the daemon’s power. Blood Demon appeared in the Grand Fortress, punished Oluka for failing to complete the sacrifice, and prepared to confront Li Qinwu.

• Li Qinwu’s Bolt Pistol killed the seven fighters in the arena, disrupting the ritual that was meant to summon Blood Demon with all eight portions of power.
• Khorne used the Brass Cauldron to summon Blood Demon into realspace with only seven-eighths of his power, flooding the chamber with blood and nearly drowning Oluka.
• Blood Demon formed from the blood, revealed himself as a Greater Daemon of Khorne, and greeted realspace with delight.
• Oluka begged Blood Demon for power, but Blood Demon pinned him underfoot and blamed him for providing only seven portions of blood.
• Blood Demon saw Li Qinwu in the Grand Plaza and explained that Khorne had locked the missing eighth of his power onto him.
• Khorne challenged Blood Demon to defeat Li Qinwu and reclaim that power, or lose it permanently while Khorne gave his authority to Li Qinwu.

Blood Demon carved his way out of the Grand Fortress while Li Qinwu received the power of the Duel Arena and Khorne’s blessing. As Khorne’s power drove Li Qinwu toward a bloodthirsty transformation, the God-Emperor intervened with golden power.

• Blood Demon kicked Oluka aside and dug a passage through the Grand Fortress walls, promising to grant him power after his duel.
• After Li Qinwu killed the seven seventh-stage fighters, their accumulated blood energy flooded into him and completed Khorne’s kill mission.
• Li Qinwu’s body grew to three meters as his strength surged, and he warned Yellow Sand not to touch him while the power transformed him.
• Overcome by a violent urge to kill, Li Qinwu called on Neos for help and begged him to prevent his corruption.
• Golden power poured into Li Qinwu after his plea, while the God-Emperor’s interest in him was revealed.

Luca emerged from the Portal in a heavily armored Centaur Knight Mech and charged the Blood Demon, using his new weapons and speed to fight him in the Duel Arena. After the Blood Demon's spear pierced Luca's shield with its bleeding power, Luca circled the arena to build momentum for another lance charge.

• The Iron Skull Archmagos's modifications had combined Luca's Lancer Knight Mech with a Heavy Cannon Quadruped chassis, creating the fast, heavily armed Centaur Knight Mech.
• Luca charged out of the Portal and drove his Power Spear through the Blood Demon's chest, carrying him hundreds of meters and lifting him into the air.
• The Blood Demon hurled his Bloodletter Spear, which pierced Luca's shield and made the adamantium bleed and soften, so Luca threw the shield away.
• The Blood Demon pulled himself off Luca's spear and attacked with his Rending Blade, but Luca kicked him in the chest and sent him crashing to the ground.
• Luca circled the Duel Arena to build speed, then wheeled around and charged the Blood Demon with his Power Lance aimed at his chest.

Luca defeated Blood Demon in the Duel Arena while Li Qinwu rushed the wounded Astartes into the Vault for treatment and attempted to extract Gadriel’s gene-seed. The chapter left Gadriel conscious during the extraction and Blood Demon beheaded, though he vowed to return.

• Luca charged Blood Demon with his Centaur mech, while Li Qinwu brought Yellow Sand, Swift Shadow, Gadriel, and two Astartes into the Vault for urgent treatment.
• Li Qinwu ordered the Tech-Priests to cut open the Astartes’ armor and inject them with Green Needles, and Yellow Sand told him his former Chapter had refused Primaris conversion.
• After Yellow Sand reminded him about gene-seed, Li Qinwu hacked open Gadriel’s chest to extract the gene-seed, while Gadriel began to regain consciousness.
• Luca repeatedly impaled Blood Demon with his Power Spear until the daemon was pinned to the Tank Wall and too weak to fight back.
• Luca lit his Giant Sword with Golden Flame and beheaded Blood Demon in the name of the God-Emperor.