Chapter Summaries

Yue Changlong stormed into the Cao Family Prince's Mansion to kill Cao Zhengchun, rejecting his claims of royal status and defying the nation's order. As Cao Zhengchun faced death, armies from five great clans arrived and surrounded the mansion.

• Cao Yuyao and the Cao Family members panicked and fled as Yue Changlong entered the mansion, though he headed straight for Cao Zhengchun.
• Cao Zhengchun invoked the Cao Family's royal lineage and Redemption Edict, but Yue Changlong declared that the land belonged to the people and dismissed royalty as no better than ordinary people.
• Cao Zhengchun accused Yue Changlong of rebellion and demanded to know whether he feared punishment, but Yue Changlong refused to explain himself, leaving Cao Zhengchun despairing.
• Armored vehicles and thousands of soldiers from the Yan, Yi, Flower, Cloud, and Long families surrounded the mansion, and their five family heads came to the front of their forces.

Yue Changlong confronted the five Family Heads who arrived to stop him from pursuing the Cao Family, rejecting their offer to restore his honors and release him from prison. He demanded repayment for the bloodshed, while Yue Xiaofei accused the clans of framing his father and trying to kill him to bury the truth.

• Long Xiaotian led Yun Tianhe, Hua Wuque, Yan Nantian, and Yi Tianxing into the ruined Prince's Mansion, where Cao Zhengchun pleaded for help.
• Yue Changlong turned to face the five Family Heads and dismissed them as the losers he had defeated five years earlier.
• Yi Tianxing offered to help restore Yue Changlong's honors and free him from prison in exchange for ending the confrontation, but Yue Changlong rejected the offer.
• Long Xiaotian argued that Yue Changlong's family owed the Cao Family a debt, and Yue Changlong declared that he had come to collect a debt of blood.
• Yue Xiaofei accused the clans of colluding with foreign forces, framing Yue Changlong for the South Mountain Massacre, and plotting to kill him after he uncovered the truth.

Yue Changlong exposed the Cao Family’s treason and declared that he would deliver judgment in blood, prompting Long Xiaotian to order an attack. Before the allied forces could charge, a chaotic convoy arrived, led by Jin Dapao, who demanded to know who had surrounded their company commander.

• Yue Xiaofei accused the Cao Family of causing the South Mountain Massacre and committing treason, and Yue Changlong said he had evidence.
• Cao Zhengchun admitted the crimes and offered compensation, but Yue Changlong rejected his plea and vowed to destroy the Cao Family.
• Yue Changlong warned Long Xiaotian and the other family heads not to interfere, or their families would face the same fate.
• Long Xiaotian ordered the allied troops to attack Yue Changlong, and the tens of thousands of soldiers prepared to charge.
• A large, mismatched convoy arrived with police helicopters and military vehicles, and Jin Dapao jumped out of a riot-control truck carrying a heavy machine gun and challenged the forces surrounding their company commander.

Veterans of the 7th Armored Company gathered outside the Prince's Mansion to stand with Yue Changlong. Their reunion and oath left Yue Xiaofei understanding that his father had never been alone.

• Jin Dapao recognized Yue Changlong inside the Prince's Mansion and tried to force his way past the guards.
• Wang Dachui, Li Aiguo, Xu Sanqiang, and other former members of the 7th Armored Company arrived and reported for duty.
• More than a hundred veterans gathered outside the mansion, ready to follow Yue Changlong into battle.
• Yue Changlong greeted his former comrades, and they roared their oath: "7th Armored Company! Never abandon! Never give up!"
• Yue Xiaofei watched the reunion and understood the comradeship behind his father's words, "Who said I was alone?"

Yue Changlong’s former comrades and military allies surrounded the five clans’ army with overwhelming forces by land and air. As the Ironblood Division prepared to fire, the allied army faced imminent destruction.

• The veterans of the 7th Armored Company rallied to Yue Changlong, frightening the five clans’ army and making Yan Nantian regret joining the conflict.
• Dozens of White Emperor stealth fighters appeared overhead, and Lei Zhen ordered the ground troops to surrender or face a saturation bombing.
• Zhou Weiguo led the Ironblood Division’s tanks, fighting vehicles, and helicopters into the area and ordered his troops to prepare to fire on the Cao Family’s allies.
• Yue Xiaofei watched the forces gather for his father and realized Yue Changlong’s name would become a living myth.

Yue Changlong arrived with Lei Zhen’s [White Emperor] forces and Zhou Weiguo’s [Ironblood Division], overwhelming the coalition surrounding the Prince’s Mansion. He declared that he was acting by imperial decree to punish the Cao Family for treason, and Yan Nantian and Yi Tianxing began withdrawing their forces.

• The coalition soldiers panicked under the threat of the [White Emperor] fighters and [Ironblood Division], dropping their weapons and surrendering despite Yan Nantian’s orders.
• Long Xiaotian accused Lei Zhen and Zhou Weiguo of rebellion, but they said they were striking down traitors by imperial decree.
• Lei Zhen and Zhou Weiguo reported that their forces were assembled and asked Yue Changlong for orders.
• Yue Changlong accused the Cao Family of colluding with [Skull and Bones] and leaking military secrets, then gave the Family Heads an ultimatum to stand aside or be treated as accomplices.
• Yan Nantian denounced Cao Zhengchun, ordered his troops to retreat, and cut ties with the Cao Family.
• Yi Tianxing declared that the Yi Family would not conspire with traitors and led his forces aside.

Marshal Long Qianshan and Elder Chen arrived as Long Xiaotian, Yun Tianhe, and Hua Wuque threatened the Cao Family Prince's Mansion, and Elder Chen ordered the clan leaders to withdraw. Yue Changlong confronted Elder Chen over the nation's failures to deliver justice, and citywide screens began displaying evidence as the standoff continued.

• Marshal Long Qianshan and Elder Chen arrived with soldiers and police as Long Xiaotian hesitated over whether to retreat.
• Elder Chen condemned Long Xiaotian, Yun Tianhe, and Hua Wuque for using private armies, and they withdrew their forces.
• Elder Chen told Yue Changlong that he had crossed the line, and Yue Changlong recounted the Cao Family's crimes and the nation's failures to protect him and his men.
• Yue Changlong declared that he would take justice into his own hands, leaving Elder Chen unable to answer.
• Screens throughout Longdu flickered on and began displaying photographs, videos, and financial records.

Yue Changlong rejected Elder Chen’s order to detain Cao Zhengchun and began a public trial, using evidence to expose the Cao Family’s collusion with Skull and Bones and its role in the South Mountain Massacre. He presented the lives and grieving families of the 137 fallen Night Watchers, leaving the crowd furious and Cao Zhengchun broken.

• Man-Rat broadcast irrefutable evidence of the Cao Family’s collusion with Skull and Bones across the city, and Elder Chen ordered Cao Zhengchun and the family’s core members detained.
• Yue Changlong rejected detention and investigation as too slow, and Elder Chen allowed him to proceed with his own trial.
• Yue Changlong summoned Man-Rat to project encrypted messages, financial records, and video calls showing Cao Zhengchun conspiring with Skull and Bones.
• Cao Zhengchun broke down as the crowd saw the evidence proving his crimes.
• Yue Changlong displayed portraits and stories of the 137 Night Watchers killed at South Mountain, followed by scenes of their grieving families.
• Long Xiaotian, Yan Nantian, and the crowd turned against Cao Zhengchun in fury.

Yue Changlong executed Cao Zhengchun and saw the Cao Family arrested and destroyed. After the crowd hailed him, he turned to Elder Chen and said it was time to discuss what the nation owed him.

• Cao Zhengchun confessed to his crimes, then tried to implicate Long Xiaotian, Yan Nantian, and Hua Wuque before Yue Changlong.
• Yue Changlong pronounced Cao Zhengchun guilty of treason, collusion with the enemy, and murdering loyal defenders, then shot him dead.
• The crowd erupted in support of Yue Changlong, while Cao Yuyao fainted and Zhou Weiguo's soldiers arrested the Cao Family's remaining core members.
• Yue Xiaofei realized that his father's momentum came from the conviction and hopes of the people and the fallen heroes.
• Yue Changlong told Elder Chen he would leave the rest of the case to the nation, then asked to discuss what the nation owed him.

Yue Changlong demanded that the Dragon Kingdom abolish hereditary privileges and royal clans, and Elder Chen agreed. Ye Jincheng then arrived and asked how Yue Changlong had escaped the Kunlun Ruins, where Yue Changlong said he could remain outside for only seven days.

• Yue Changlong rejected offers of rank, position, and money, and demanded that the Dragon Kingdom end its royal clans and hereditary privileges.
• Yan Nantian, Yi Tianxing, and the other clan heads were alarmed, while Yue Xiaofei admired his father's purpose.
• Elder Chen agreed to abolish hereditary privileges, declaring that princes would face the same punishment as commoners.
• Ye Jincheng appeared and questioned Elder Chen's decision, then asked Yue Changlong how he had escaped the Kunlun Ruins.
• Yue Changlong said the Old Lord was watching over the Kunlun Ruins and that he could stay outside for only seven days.

Yue Changlong showed Ye Jincheng a death list of powerful figures who had betrayed the [Night Watchers], and Ye pledged the Ye Family's support for his campaign. Yue Changlong left to pursue the traitors while Yue Xiaofei stayed behind to take the unconscious Ning Family Girl for treatment.

• Yue Changlong revealed that the Cao Family were not the only traitors and showed Ye Jincheng a death list naming influential figures, beginning with Lin Xiao.
• Ye Jincheng warned that killing everyone on the list would shake the Dragon Kingdom, but pledged the Ye Family's support.
• Yue Xiaofei asked to accompany his father, but Yue Changlong told him to take the severely depleted Ning Family Girl to Longdu Military Region General Hospital.
• Yue Changlong vanished into the night, saying Yue Xiaofei would only slow down his blade.

Yue Changlong returned to the hospital covered in blood and revealed that he had killed 937 people in one night, prompting Bureau 7 to declare the massacre the Purification Operation. He told Yue Xiaofei that martial arts were only the lowest form of power and introduced the higher-order force known as “rules” in the Kunlun Ruins.

• Yue Xiaofei waited outside the VIP Ward, and Yue Changlong appeared at dawn in a combat uniform soaked with blood, saying it was not his own.
• Yue Changlong told Yue Xiaofei that he had killed 937 people the previous night.
• Yue Xiaofei read Bureau 7 reports describing the overnight deaths of corrupt officials, powerful figures, and spies, while agents praised the unknown killer and classified the incident as the Purification Operation.
• Yue Xiaofei asked how Yue Changlong had killed so many targets alone, and Yue Changlong asked what lay at the end of the martial path.
• Yue Changlong dismissed shattering the void as a limited view and explained that the Kunlun Ruins called a higher order of power “rules.”

Yue Changlong explained rule power and the Hidden Sects to Yue Xiaofei, then revealed that Ning Hongye’s curse was worsening and required three legendary treasures to break. The chapter left Yue Xiaofei facing the task of finding them as Ning Hongye’s life weakened.

• Yue Changlong explained that rule power could impose judgments beyond worldly martial arts and promised to take Yue Xiaofei to the Kunlun Ruins when he could control his inner power.
• A chief physician told Yue Changlong and Yue Xiaofei that Ning Hongye was dying as an undetectable destructive energy consumed her life force.
• Yue Changlong examined Ning Hongye and said the curse of the Spear of Longinus had worsened.
• Yue Changlong named the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Herb, the Mingwang Relic, and fountain of youth water as the three items needed to break the curse.
• Yue Changlong revealed that the treasures belonged to ancient Hidden Sects, including Ning Hongye’s Ning family, which were stronger and older than public orthodox sects.

Yue Changlong told Yue Xiaofei that the Yue Family had saved several hidden sects in the past and would now collect what they were owed to find a cure for Ning Hongye. They left Longdu for the Golden Palace of the Sorcerer Sect, where Yue Changlong vowed to destroy the sect if it opposed them.

• Yue Changlong explained that the Yue Family had once helped the Golden Palace, Great Thunderclap Monastery, and the shamans of Changbai Mountain, and said they would collect those debts.
• Yue Changlong called Ye Jincheng and entrusted him with protecting Ning Hongye while they searched for a cure.
• Yue Changlong and Yue Xiaofei drove out of Longdu in a Maybach taken from the confiscated Cao Family assets.
• Yue Changlong described the Golden Palace's power and its brutal exploitation of children and the people of the Miao Borderlands.
• Yue Changlong warned Yue Xiaofei that he would wipe out the Golden Palace if its members tried anything.

Yue Changlong and Yue Xiaofei reached the Golden Palace during the Witch God Festival, where pilgrims were unknowingly brought as sacrifices. When Witch Gate disciples confronted them, Yue Changlong revealed he had returned five years after slaughtering his way through the palace and told the survivors they had lived only because they were too weak to be worth killing.

• Yue Xiaofei saw pilgrims kneeling toward the Golden Palace, and Yue Changlong explained that the Witch King used the Witch God Festival to gather sacrifices.
• Yue Changlong and Yue Xiaofei arrived at the palace, where a Witch Gate disciple challenged them for trespassing.
• Yue Changlong announced himself and demanded that the Witch King come out to meet him, enraging the Witch Gate disciples.
• Yue Changlong warned the disciples he had come to collect a debt and recognized the minor leader from his visit five years earlier.
• The minor leader recognized Yue Changlong as the man who had fought through the Golden Palace and been imprisoned in the Kunlun Ruins.
• Yue Changlong told the terrified survivors they had been spared five years earlier only because they were too weak to be worth killing.

Yue Changlong demanded the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Herb from the Witch King, who could not stop him with his Witch God Curse. The Witch King challenged Yue Xiaofei to fight a Witch Gate youth for the herb, and Yue Xiaofei accepted.

• The Witch King emerged from the Golden Palace and demanded to know how Yue Changlong had escaped the Kunlun Ruins.
• Yue Changlong demanded the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Herb and threatened to defeat everyone in the palace if the Witch King refused.
• The Witch King’s Witch God Curse struck Yue Changlong but vanished without harming him.
• The Witch King offered the herb if Yue Xiaofei defeated a Witch Gate youth, threatening to destroy it if Yue Changlong tried to seize it by force.
• Yue Xiaofei stepped forward and accepted the challenge.

Yue Xiaofei accepted the Witch King's challenge and killed Zhu Jiu with overwhelming force, terrifying the Witch Gate disciples into silence. Desperate to stop Yue Xiaofei from winning again, the Witch King offered his successor's position and the Golden Palace's resources to anyone who could defeat him.

• The Witch King sealed the agreement, and Zhu Jiu stepped forward as the Witch Gate's challenger.
• Zhu Jiu attacked Yue Xiaofei with his S-Level strength, but Yue Xiaofei caught his wrist and crushed his arm.
• Yue Xiaofei battered Zhu Jiu into a mangled heap and demanded to know who would challenge him next.
• The Witch Gate disciples were too afraid to step forward, while the Witch King realized Yue Xiaofei might surpass Yue Changlong.
• The Witch King promised to make whoever killed Yue Xiaofei the next Saint Son, grant him the Golden Palace's resources and Witchcraft, and name him the next Witch King.

After Yue Xiaofei challenged the Witch Gate’s disciples to attack together, Yue Changlong taught him the first of the Yue Family’s Eight Thunderclap Forms. Yue Xiaofei used the forms to defeat the gathered prodigies and confronted the Witch King for the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Herb.

• The Witch King offered the title of Saint Son and succession to the Witch Gate to whoever defeated Yue Xiaofei, prompting Shi Gandang, Hibiscus Flame, and other prodigies to volunteer.
• Yue Xiaofei mocked the Witch King’s threat and demanded that all the disciples attack him together.
• As dozens of prodigies launched their witchcraft, Yue Changlong taught Yue Xiaofei the Eight Thunderclap Forms and explained how they empowered the emperor engine.
• Yue Xiaofei used Thunderclap on Flat Ground to destroy the combined attack, then defeated Shi Gandang and killed Hibiscus Flame with subsequent forms.
• Yue Xiaofei slaughtered or crippled the Witch Gate’s prodigies and asked the terrified Witch King to hand over the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Herb.

The Witch King activated the Witch God Array, sacrificing his followers to gain immense power and trap Yue Changlong and Yue Xiaofei inside the Golden Palace. He attacked Yue Xiaofei, who mocked him without showing fear.

• The Witch King revealed that his earlier contest had been a stalling tactic and activated the Witch God Array with his blood.
• The array drained the lives of hundreds of worshippers at the foot of the mountain and sent their blood-red energy into the Golden Palace.
• The Witch King transformed into a powerful middle-aged man and summoned a barrier that sealed Yue Changlong and Yue Xiaofei inside the array.
• The Witch King declared himself invincible and struck at Yue Xiaofei with an enormous blood-red hand.
• Yue Xiaofei mocked the Witch King's appearance, and the enraged Witch King threatened to grind him to dust.

Yue Changlong used the power of his spoken rules to destroy the Witch King's attack and dismantle the [Witch God Array]. He crushed the Witch King beneath an overwhelming force as the Witch King begged for mercy.

• Yue Changlong told Yue Xiaofei to stand back as the Witch King redirected his blood-red hand to strike him.
• Yue Changlong recited “White Jade Capital in Heaven,” freezing the space inside the [Witch God Array] and shattering the Witch King's enormous hand.
• Yue Changlong recited “Twelve Towers and Five Cities,” causing the Golden Palace to crack and severing the Witch King's connection to the array.
• Yue Changlong pressed his hand down through the air, crushing and shrinking the Witch King until he pleaded for his life.
• Yue Changlong recited the final line, “Binds my hair and grants me everlasting life!”