Chapter Summaries

Hu Xiaotian operated on Xue Shengjing, the Prince of Yan, and put him to sleep with a Tranquility Pill afterward. Xue Shengjing awoke and received recovery instructions, while the operation’s success remained uncertain until the wound healed.

• Hu Xiaotian recruited Tie Zheng as his assistant and warned him that the operation carried risks.
• Xue Shengjing hesitated over whether to use anesthetic, then agreed to endure the pain without it.
• Hu Xiaotian completed the operation and gave Xue Shengjing a Tranquility Pill that put him to sleep.
• Xue Shengjing woke an hour later and asked whether the operation had cured him; Hu Xiaotian said they would have to wait for the wound to heal.
• Hu Xiaotian instructed Xue Shengjing to avoid intimacy, keep the gauze dry, and follow dietary precautions, then left and agreed to return for a follow-up examination.

Hu Xiaotian met with Eldest Princess Xue Lingjun and agreed to perform double-eyelid surgery the next morning, then hurried to meet Great Kang envoy Xiang Jimin. Xiang told him that Great Kang’s emperor had fallen gravely ill, leaving the Crown Prince to govern with Empress Jian ruling from behind the curtain.

• Hu Xiaotian declined Jian Ping’s invitation at first, but welcomed Xue Lingjun when she came to Qichen Palace in person and apologized for Wanyan Chixiong’s behavior.
• Hu Xiaotian accepted Xue Lingjun’s request to call her Sister Jun and promised to perform her double-eyelid surgery the next morning with an assistant.
• Yang Xuan delivered Xiang Jimin’s letter, and Hu Xiaotian rode to the Grass Slope Teahouse after checking that no one was following him.
• Xiang Jimin told Hu Xiaotian that Great Kang’s emperor had become gravely ill, the Crown Prince was handling court affairs, and Empress Jian was governing from behind the curtain.
• Hu Xiaotian urged Xiang Jimin to wait for further news and continue carrying out his duties, while Xiang mentioned Hu’s confrontation with Wanyan Chixiong.

Hu Xiaotian investigated after spotting Tang Qingxuan and discovered that Zha Wan’s men had abducted her and Tang Tiehan to force them to surrender the Record of Fine Steeds. The siblings remained captive at Zha Wan’s estate as he threatened to search Tang Qingxuan.

• Xiang Jimin warned Hu Xiaotian that Great Yong favored the Black Hu delegation and that Wanyan Chixiong had threatened him, and he reported that the emperor had not answered their request for an audience.
• Hu Xiaotian spotted Tang Qingxuan riding with two strangers, followed her to the Horse Market, and saw Black Hu men carry her away while her companions accepted a purse.
• Hu Xiaotian tracked the abductors to an estate and watched them release Tang Qingxuan from a bundle and bring out her bound brother, Tang Tiehan.
• Zha Wan demanded that Tang Tiehan hand over the Record of Fine Steeds and threatened to have his men search Tang Qingxuan when Tang Tiehan denied having it.

Hu Xiaotian rescued Tang Qingxuan from Zha Wan’s manor, but their escape left Tang Tiehan captive and led to a pursuit up Doghead Mountain. The chapter ended as Little Gray reared suddenly with pursuers closing in.

• Zha Wan threatened Tang Tiehan and ordered his men to take Tang Qingxuan to his room, seeking the nonexistent Record of Fine Steeds.
• Hu Xiaotian killed two guards, freed Tang Qingxuan, and escaped with her over the manor wall while leaving Tang Tiehan behind.
• After the Black Hu men discovered the bodies, Hu Xiaotian and Tang Qingxuan fled on Little Gray as arrows and riders pursued them.
• Hu Xiaotian turned Little Gray up Doghead Mountain to escape the riders, while Zha Wan ordered his men not to injure the valuable horse.
• Little Gray galloped ahead of the pursuers, but Hu Xiaotian suddenly hauled on the reins and the mount reared, nearly throwing Tang Qingxuan.

Hu Xiaotian and Tang Qingxuan escaped the Black Hu warriors by crossing a ravine with Little Gray, then became lost in the mountains as Tang Qingxuan grew mysteriously ill. Hu Xiaotian spotted the lights of Yong Capital, but Tang Qingxuan disappeared into a pool, prompting him to dive in after her.

• Hu Xiaotian and Tang Qingxuan used Little Gray’s sudden stop to fly across the ravine, and Hu Xiaotian survived by catching a crack with the Dark Nether Yin Wind Claw.
• Little Gray overcame its fear and leapt across the ravine, allowing Hu Xiaotian and Tang Qingxuan to escape into the woods while Zha Wan threatened Tang Tiehan as a hostage.
• Hu Xiaotian and Tang Qingxuan wandered through Doghead Mountain after losing the trail, and Tang Qingxuan developed a feverish heat and unbearable itch.
• Hu Xiaotian found a pool where Tang Qingxuan drank, then spotted the lights of Yong Capital from a nearby boulder.
• Hu Xiaotian heard a splash and saw Tang Qingxuan had vanished from the pool, so he stripped down and jumped in after her.

Hu Xiaotian rescued Tang Qingxuan from a pool filled with stinging jellyfish, then fought off her drugged advances. A Purple Giant Python dragged him into a deep underwater cavern, where his Playing Dead Dog technique kept it from eating him, but he landed on an unknown soft heap.

• Hu Xiaotian found Tang Qingxuan sinking underwater and carried her through a swarm of jellyfish to the bank.
• Hu Xiaotian revived Tang Qingxuan with CPR, then resisted her drug-induced advances and plunged her into the cold pool to clear her head.
• Hu Xiaotian pulled Tang Qingxuan out of the pool when the jellyfish swarmed again, but a Purple Giant Python seized his legs and dragged him underwater.
• Hu Xiaotian used the Playing Dead Dog technique to fool the Purple Giant Python, which dragged him through a cavern and flung him onto a soft heap.

Hu Xiaotian survived being dragged into the Purple Giant Python’s lair, while Tang Qingxuan hid from Lahan and Zha Wan’s men as the python attacked them at Peach Blossom Pool. Trapped in the cave and suffering severe swelling and numbness, Hu Xiaotian watched the python return with another corpse and approach a strange glowing fruit.

• Hu Xiaotian woke in the python’s lair, found himself lying in sludge among human remains, and discovered a glowing plant with an orange fruit.
• Tang Qingxuan hid in the grass as Lahan’s warriors arrived, and she watched the Purple Giant Python swallow one man and drag another into the pool.
• Lahan and Zha Wan learned from a local guide that Peach Blossom Pool was known for disappearances, then decided to report the python to the Fourth Prince.
• Hu Xiaotian realized his body was swelling and going numb, feared he had been poisoned, and hid when he heard movement outside the cave.
• The Purple Giant Python returned with another corpse and moved toward the glowing fruit as Hu Xiaotian watched from the sludge.

Hu Xiaotian survived a severe allergic reaction by eating the red fruit, leaves, and rootstock of the plant the Purple Giant Python guarded. After balancing the fruit’s scorching energy with the rootstock’s cooling energy, he recovered and prepared to escape the cavern.

• Hu Xiaotian, near death from swelling and suffocation, recognized that the red fruit might counteract his poison and ate it.
• The fruit unleashed scorching energy through Hu Xiaotian’s body, and he used the Formless Divine Skill to control it.
• Hu Xiaotian ate the plant’s glowing leaves and cool blue rootstock, then circulated the combined energies until his pain and swelling disappeared.
• Hu Xiaotian discovered that his skin had turned dark brown and identified the corpse the Purple Giant Python had dragged into the cavern as a Black Hu Warrior.
• Hu Xiaotian took the warrior’s saber, found a huge two-handed sword buried in the sludge, and decided it might help him fight the python as he headed for the exit.

Hu Xiaotian used the Strange Fruit’s newfound strength and senses to kill the Purple Giant Python and escape its lair. He surfaced near dawn, discovered Tang Qingxuan had taken his clothes, and saw that his skin had turned dark brown.

• Hu Xiaotian waited underwater and ambushed the Purple Giant Python, stabbing it and opening a long wound in its belly.
• Hu Xiaotian fought the wounded python, lodged his greatsword in its throat, and fled toward its lair as it pursued him.
• The Purple Giant Python went berserk searching for the vanished Strange Fruit, then weakened and died; Hu Xiaotian confirmed its death and recovered his sword.
• Hu Xiaotian swam through the pool and surfaced near dawn, noticing that his senses and strength had greatly improved.
• Hu Xiaotian found his clothes gone and a tattered robe resembling Tang Qingxuan’s, then realized she had apparently left wearing his clothes.
• Hu Xiaotian examined his reflection and found that his skin had turned dark brown after eating the Strange Fruit.

Hu Xiaotian escaped Doghead Mountain with his strength greatly increased and his skin turned black, then brought the poisoned Tang Qingxuan to the Divine Farmer Society for treatment. After leaving her with Liu Changsheng, he returned to the South Wind Inn, where Xiong Tianba mistook him for an impostor and attacked him.

• Hu Xiaotian killed two Black Hu men, took one man's clothes, and made his way down the mountain.
• Hu Xiaotian found Little Gray, who carried him to the unconscious Tang Qingxuan, and he rode with her to the Yong Capital.
• Liu Changsheng diagnosed Tang Qingxuan's poisoning and treated her with a Nine-Turn Blood-Cleansing Pill and a medicinal bath.
• Hu Xiaotian told Liu Changsheng about the New Moon Jellyfish and the python, then left Tang Qingxuan in his care.
• Hu Xiaotian went to the South Wind Inn, where Xiong Tianba failed to recognize him and punched him.

Hu Xiaotian reunited with Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu after learning that Tang Tiehan and the Tang siblings had been abducted, but the estate where they were held had been burned down. He showed his brothers the sword he found in the snake cave, and they identified it as Heaven-Slayer and recounted the history of its former owner, Lin Baitao.

• Hu Xiaotian blocked Xiong Tianba's punch, and Zhou Mo stopped Xiong Tianba before Hu Xiaotian could explain who he was.
• Hu Xiaotian told Zhou Mo that Tang Tiehan had been abducted, so Zhou Mo gathered Brat and Liang Yinghao to hurry to the estate.
• Hu Xiaotian and the others found the estate burning and returned to the city without learning whether Tang Tiehan had survived.
• Hu Xiaotian met Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu at Treasure Abundance Hall and told them about his ordeal and the sword he had found.
• Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu identified the sword as Heaven-Slayer, once wielded by the Sword Demon, Dongfang Wuwu, and Xiao Tianmu recounted Lin Baitao's history.

Hu Xiaotian learned the history of the Heaven-Slaying Sword and the Violet Lightning Giant Python, then sought news from the awakened Tang Qingxuan and resolved to rescue her captured elder brother. As he prepared to return to Qichen Palace, Liu Yucheng noticed something happening to his face.

• Xiao Tianmu recounted Lin Baitao’s disappearance, the attack on Great Yong’s emperor, and the sword’s connection to the Sword Palace, so Hu Xiaotian asked Xiao Tianmu to keep the Heaven-Slaying Sword hidden.
• Xiao Tianmu explained the Violet Lightning Giant Python’s legend and its connection to the Wind-and-Cloud Fruit, and Hu Xiaotian planned to return to the pool for the python’s remains.
• Xiao Tianmu suggested asking Tang Qingxuan about the Record of Fine Steeds, and Hu Xiaotian went to the Divine Farmer Society after Zhou Mo declined to accompany him.
• Hu Xiaotian learned that Tang Qingxuan had awakened, and she told him that her family did not possess the Record of Fine Steeds.
• Hu Xiaotian reassured Tang Qingxuan that he would rescue her elder brother and asked Liu Yucheng to care for her before heading toward Qichen Palace.
• Liu Yucheng warned Hu Xiaotian that the Eldest Princess was searching for him, then pointed out that Hu Xiaotian’s face was itching and changing.

Hu Xiaotian recovered his appearance and sought Xi Yan’s help after learning that the Black Hu had captured Tang Tiehan. He postponed Xue Lingjun’s surgery and secured her promise to support him if he could prove Wanyan Chixiong was involved.

• Hu Xiaotian scrubbed off his blackened skin and regained his handsome appearance.
• Hu Xiaotian told Xi Yan that Tang Tiehan had been captured and persuaded her to help in exchange for a copy of the Record of Fine Steeds.
• Yang Xuan summoned Hu Xiaotian to meet Xue Lingjun, who was angry that he had missed their appointment.
• Hu Xiaotian told Xue Lingjun that Lahan and Zha Wan had pursued him and one of his subordinates had been captured, while admitting he had not seen Wanyan Chixiong.
• Xue Lingjun agreed to investigate and speak up for Hu Xiaotian if Wanyan Chixiong was implicated.
• Hu Xiaotian postponed Xue Lingjun’s surgery for two days and planned to handle the rescue despite the Black Hu’s superior forces.

Hu Xiaotian prepared a rescue for Tang Tiehan while Wanyan Chixiong and Zha Wan discussed the Record of Fine Steeds and responded to Hu’s exchange offer. As Zha Wan’s party approached the burned manor, Hu Xiaotian, Zhou Mo, Xiong Tianba, and Liang Yinghao prepared to free Tang Tiehan, with Huo Shengnan’s Women’s Army hidden nearby.

• Hu Xiaotian secured Huo Shengnan’s agreement to have the Women’s Army intervene if the rescue went wrong.
• Wanyan Chixiong and Zha Wan discussed forcing Tang Tiehan to reveal the Record of Fine Steeds, and Lahan reported that two of their men had been killed on Doghead Mountain.
• Wanyan Chixiong received Hu Xiaotian’s offer to exchange the Record of Fine Steeds for Tang Tiehan and ordered Lahan to watch the Great Kang Mission; Zha Wan sought the Two Elders of the Nether River.
• Huo Shengnan hid fifty soldiers near the burned manor while Hu Xiaotian, Zhou Mo, and Xiong Tianba prepared to rescue Tang Tiehan through Liang Yinghao’s tunnel.
• Hu Xiaotian spotted seven riders and a carriage approaching and identified Zha Wan and Lahan among them.

Hu Xiaotian, Zhou Mo, and Xiong Tianba confronted Zha Wan’s men to rescue Tang Tiehan, but discovered the carriage was a trap and fought the Black Hu warriors instead. As Zhou Mo pursued Zha Wan and Xiong Tianba battled Lahan, Huo Shengnan watched from the woods while Hu Xiaotian charged into the enemy ranks.

• Hu Xiaotian demanded Tang Tiehan’s release and offered to exchange the Record of Fine Steeds, but Zha Wan’s carriage revealed two hidden archers who shot at Hu Xiaotian and Zhou Mo.
• Zhou Mo caught an arrow, Hu Xiaotian knocked another aside with his saber, and Xiong Tianba smashed the carriage with a boulder, exposing that Tang Tiehan was not inside.
• Hu Xiaotian ordered Zhou Mo to capture Zha Wan, and Zhou Mo struck down a mounted warrior as Zha Wan fled behind two other Black Hu fighters.
• Lahan smashed Xiong Tianba’s boulder and charged him, but Xiong Tianba lured Lahan off his horse into the ruins, where they fought with heavy hammers.
• Huo Shengnan held back her troops to observe the battle, while Hu Xiaotian drew enemy attention and blocked a scimitar attack before striking at a Black Hu warrior.

Hu Xiaotian and Zhou Mo battled Zha Wan’s Black Hu Warriors and faced two powerful elders who came to their aid. Meanwhile, Xiong Tianba learned Lahan’s hammer techniques during their duel and drove him back with a powerful blow.

• Hu Xiaotian shattered a Black Hu Warrior’s arm and accidentally killed him with the flat of his saber, while Zhou Mo sent two more warriors sprawling.
• Zhou Mo grabbed Zha Wan’s horse by the tail, dodged his hidden crossbow, and hurled him and his mount to the ground.
• A short, skinny old man riding a black mastiff caught Hu Xiaotian’s saber and attacked him, but Hu Xiaotian evaded his claws with the Dog-Dodging Eighteen Steps.
• A brown-robed old man descended from a vulture and fought Zhou Mo, trading powerful kicks and claw strikes with him.
• Xiong Tianba recognized Lahan’s hammer techniques from the figures on his great hammer and copied them as they fought.
• Xiong Tianba struck Lahan hard enough to force him back several steps and split the skin between his thumbs and forefingers.

Hu Xiaotian and Huo Shengnan drove off the Two Elders of the Nether River and captured Lahan, then planned to trade him to Wanyan Chixiong for Tang Tiehan. Wanyan Chixiong learned of the defeat and was discussing the search for the state preceptor’s remains when Hu Xiaotian arrived at his post station.

• Huo Shengnan emerged from hiding and helped Hu Xiaotian fight the short, scrawny old man, while Hu Xiaotian injured the mastiff with his saber.
• Zhou Mo and Xiong Tianba defeated their opponents, and the Two Elders of the Nether River fled with the vulture and the wounded mastiff.
• Hu Xiaotian’s group captured Lahan, and Hu Xiaotian told Huo Shengnan he would trade him to Wanyan Chixiong for Tang Tiehan.
• Huo Shengnan identified the attackers as the Two Elders of the Nether River and warned Hu Xiaotian and Zhou Mo to beware of them.
• Wanyan Chixiong rebuked Zha Wan for the failed mission, dismissed the Record of Fine Steeds as likely nonexistent, and said finding the state preceptor’s remains was their real purpose.
• A guard announced that Hu Xiaotian had requested an audience, and Wanyan Chixiong mocked Zha Wan for threatening to kill a Great Kang envoy at the post station.

Hu Xiaotian exchanged Tang Tiehan for Lahan and then went with Zhou Mo and Xiong Tianba to Peach Blossom Pool to retrieve the Violet Lightning Giant Python's skin. There, they witnessed masked killers slaughter Black Hu Warriors and divers, then leave a Sword Palace token to frame the sect.

• Hu Xiaotian confronted Wanyan Chixiong and gave him four hours to return Tang Tiehan in exchange for Lahan.
• Tang Tiehan returned to the South Wind Inn, and Hu Xiaotian sent him and Tang Qingxuan away from the Yong Capital.
• Hu Xiaotian, Zhou Mo, and Xiong Tianba watched Black Hu men hire two divers to search Peach Blossom Pool for the python's lair.
• When the divers refused to keep searching, masked swordsmen killed the Black Hu Warriors and the divers, leaving no survivors.
• Hu Xiaotian found a Sword Palace token planted at the scene and suspected the killers meant to frame the sect and inflame its feud with the Black Hu people.
• Hu Xiaotian told Zhou Mo to set aside the murders and help retrieve the python skin.

Hu Xiaotian recovered the Violet Lightning Giant Python’s hide and several relics, including a kasaya and a plaque that fitted the Black Iron Sword. As the group prepared for rising suspicions over the killings and Princess Anping’s wedding plans, Hu Xiaotian revealed that Long Yelin had gone mad and Ji Feihua had seized control in the Kang Capital.

• Zhou Mo and Hu Xiaotian entered Peach Blossom Pool, where New Moon Jellyfish attacked Zhou Mo but avoided Hu Xiaotian, who had eaten the Wind-and-Cloud Fruit.
• Hu Xiaotian returned to the python’s lair, skinned the Violet Lightning Giant Python, and excavated weapons, a red kasaya, and a heavy iron plaque from the remains nearby.
• Hu Xiaotian, Zhou Mo, and Xiao Tianmu examined the kasaya and plaque; the plaque fitted the Black Iron Sword’s hilt, but they could not activate any mechanism.
• Xiao Tianmu warned that the wooden Sword Palace plaque Zhou Mo had taken could make Black Hu suspect them, while Hu Xiaotian said Tang Tiehan and his sister had left for Great Kang and Princess Anping was reconsidering her plan to assassinate Xue Daoming.
• Hu Xiaotian told Xiao Tianmu and Zhou Mo that Long Yelin had gone mad, First Prince Long Tingsheng was presiding over court affairs, and Empress Jian was governing from behind the curtain.
• Hu Xiaotian suspected Ji Feihua had ousted Long Yelin after the emperor tried to reclaim power, and Xiao Tianmu cautioned them not to assume the upheaval would benefit them without knowing more.

Hu Xiaotian tried to win Xi Yan over by revealing political upheaval in Great Kang and arguing that the Western Sichuan Li Clan should not help Great Yong destroy it. Xi Yan remained wary, but Hu left her facing the possibility that Great Yong—not Great Kang—posed the greatest threat to her clan’s future.

• Hu Xiaotian told Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu that he planned to return to the capital and rescue his parents from Ji Feihua, while Xiao Tianmu offered to make arrangements for them.
• Zhou Mo and Xiong Tianba entered Qichen Palace, and Liang Yinghao found an underground escape route into the palace.
• Hu Xiaotian confronted Xi Yan about joining their side and revealed that he had traded Lahan for Tang Tiehan and sent the Tang siblings away.
• Hu Xiaotian told Xi Yan that Great Kang’s emperor had gone mad and that Crown Prince Long Tingsheng and Empress Jian had taken over governing.
• Hu Xiaotian warned Xi Yan that killing Xue Daoming could give Great Yong a pretext to invade Great Kang and ultimately threaten the Western Sichuan Li Clan.
• Hu Xiaotian argued that Great Kang and the Li Clan should recognize Great Yong as their common enemy, since Great Yong’s alliance with Black Hu was meant to secure its rear for unifying the Central Plains.