Chapter Summaries

Hu Xiaotian reunited with Shi Xuedong, who delivered Qiqi’s apology and the returned Jade Pixiu. Hu Xiaotian responded by asking Qiqi to attend his upcoming wedding, leaving Shi Xuedong afraid of how she would react.

• Hu Xiaotian welcomed his sworn brother Shi Xuedong in Eastern Liang Commandery and caught up with him about his and Shi Buchui’s forced return to service.
• Shi Xuedong gave Hu Xiaotian the Jade Pixiu and relayed Qiqi’s message that she was wrong.
• Shi Xuedong warned Hu Xiaotian that Qiqi was trying to improve relations with him and advised him to test her sincerity by inviting her to meet.
• Hu Xiaotian told Shi Xuedong to inform Qiqi that he would marry on the eighth day of the fifth month at Cloud Marsh and hoped she would attend.
• Shi Xuedong worried that Qiqi would be furious because Hu Xiaotian was marrying someone else.

Qiqi learned that the Reincarnation Tower was complete and discussed Hu Xiaotian’s movements and their possible alliance with Quan Dean. Shi Xuedong returned from Eastern Liang Commandery with a wedding invitation from Hu Xiaotian, leaving Qiqi outwardly calm but Quan Dean worried.

• Hu Xiaotian told Shi Xuedong that Qiqi was possessive, while Hu Xiaotian said she should blame him rather than Shi Xuedong.
• Hong Beimo told Qiqi that the Reincarnation Tower was complete but that he had not found the skull needed to finish the Star Chart.
• Hong Beimo reported rumors linking Hu Xiaotian to Jian Rongxin’s disappearance, and Qiqi angrily insisted that she and Hu Xiaotian had no relationship.
• Quan Dean discussed Qiqi’s willingness to meet Hu Xiaotian and her interest in combining their forces to retake Western Sichuan.
• Shi Xuedong returned with Hu Xiaotian’s wedding invitation for Qiqi, who read it without showing anger.

Qiqi learned that Hu Xiaotian planned to marry Princess Yingyue and decided to attend the wedding if it went ahead. At the Sandbar Horse Ranch, Hu Xiaotian learned that Tang Tiehan and nearly three hundred men had been slaughtered by horse bandits, and he vowed to avenge them.

• Qiqi told Quan Dean that Hu Xiaotian had invited her to his wedding to Princess Yingyue and said she would go if the wedding happened without a hitch.
• Hu Xiaotian discussed Shengnan's journey to the Northern Frontier with Long Xiyue and Jian Rongxin at the Sandbar Horse Ranch.
• Tang Qingxuan arrived in tears and told Hu Xiaotian that Tang Tiehan had been murdered and beheaded by horse bandits near the Ankang Grassland.
• Hu Xiaotian returned with Tang Qingxuan to the ranch headquarters, comforted the grieving Tang Family, and promised Tang Wenzheng that he would secure justice.
• Hu Xiaotian questioned the six surviving soldiers, learned the masked attackers had spoken a foreign tongue, and suspected Guo Guangbi had arranged the massacre as revenge.

After learning that Guo Shaoxiong had attacked Hu Xiaotian’s men, Guo Guangbi and Xie Jian feared retaliation and planned ways to contain the fallout. Hu Xiaotian set out for Ji City with Tang Qingxuan and a small disguised force, and the party reached the outskirts of the city.

• Guo Guangbi slapped and berated Guo Shaoxiong for raiding Hu Xiaotian’s forces and risking their safety.
• Xie Jian advised Guo Guangbi to send Guo Shaoxiong away, control the participants, blame the Yulan Kingdom, and find the horse merchant.
• Hu Xiaotian decided to travel to Ji City to seek justice for Tang Tiehan, while placing Tang Tiecheng under house arrest and bringing Tang Qingxuan along.
• Hu Xiaotian assembled a fifty-man force that included Zong Tang, Visa, Xiong Tianba, and Liang Yinghao, and they traveled west disguised as a merchant caravan.
• After enduring a long journey and a three-day sandstorm, Hu Xiaotian announced that Ji City was just ahead.

Hu Xiaotian’s party reached Ji City, gathered information about Guo Guangbi and the missing horse caravan, and prepared to investigate the Marshal’s Residence. The chapter ended with Hu Xiaotian slipping over its outer wall while Liang Yinghao and Visa waited outside.

• Hu Xiaotian’s party entered Ji City disguised as merchants and took shelter at the Tang Family’s Windblown Sand Hall, where Fu Xing reported that he had heard nothing about Tang Tiehan’s fate or Guo Guangbi’s response.
• Hu Xiaotian and Visa explored the city and learned that Guo Guangbi’s forces included many Dangyi Tribe recruits, while the stolen horses might have been taken to the tribe’s market at the Returning Ruins.
• The party shared a welcoming banquet at the Windblown Sand Hall, and Zong Tang showed Hu Xiaotian a refined-iron scimitar he had found in the market.
• Hu Xiaotian told Liang Yinghao he planned to investigate the Marshal’s Residence that night, and Visa insisted on joining them.
• Hu Xiaotian sent Liang Yinghao and Visa to wait outside, then leaped over the compound wall and landed inside the Marshal’s Residence.

Hu Xiaotian searched Guo Guangbi’s residence, caught a Dangyi groom stealing its hidden treasure, and learned that Guo Guangbi and Guo Shaoxiong had argued and would be away. On the grassland, Tang Qingxuan’s search for her brother’s killer led through tangled horse-trading clues, and Hu Xiaotian spotted Zan Buliu at the market.

• Hu Xiaotian broke into Guo Guangbi’s study, found no useful clues, and pocketed a jade ruyi scepter.
• Hu Xiaotian followed a Dangyi intruder into a secret treasure chamber, knocked him unconscious, and carried him away with a sack of riches.
• Visa used her Soul-Seizing Art to question the thief, who revealed that he was a groom and that Guo Guangbi and Guo Shaoxiong had argued and would not return soon.
• Hu Xiaotian and Liang Yinghao suspected Guo Shaoxiong had acted alone in Tang Tiehan’s massacre and that Guo Guangbi was hiding from retaliation.
• At Returning Ruins, Tang Qingxuan found Tang-branded horses linked to several Dangyi tribes, while Hu Xiaotian urged her not to rush after the scattered leads.
• Zong Tang pointed out Zan Buliu at the market, and Hu Xiaotian wondered whether Xue Shengjing was nearby too.

Hu Xiaotian met Zan Buliu on the frontier and used Visa’s Soul-Seizing Art to question him about his ties to Xue Shengjing and the massacre of Tang Tiehan’s caravan. He learned Zan Buliu was headed to the Yulan Kingdom to find Huo Xiaoru with a jade plaque, but Zan knew nothing about the attack or Xue Shengjing’s whereabouts.

• Hu Xiaotian met Zan Buliu at the Returning Ruins and accepted his invitation to visit his nearby camp.
• At Zan Buliu’s camp, Hu Xiaotian asked about the massacre of Tang Tiehan’s caravan, and Zan suspected it had been more than a robbery.
• Visa clouded Zan Buliu’s mind and learned that he had worked with Xue Shengjing for years, handling matters the Prince of Yan could not attend to openly.
• Zan Buliu revealed that Xue Shengjing had sent him to the Yulan Kingdom to find Huo Xiaoru and give her a jade plaque bearing unfamiliar characters.
• Hu Xiaotian suspected the plaque’s script might connect to the Lightsaber and explain why Huo Xiaoru had avoided him, then left Zan Buliu’s camp after Zan regained his senses.

Hu Xiaotian learned that the Dangyi Tribe was pursuing his party and chose to hold their ground at an abandoned fortress after Zan Buliu warned him of an impending attack. More than two thousand riders surrounded the fortress, and Visa began playing her Soul-Enthralling Hujia Melody as the battle was about to begin.

• Liang Yinghao told Hu Xiaotian that suspicious Dangyi Tribe members had been secretly following them, and Hu Xiaotian continued buying horses while keeping the discovery from the others.
• Hu Xiaotian comforted Tang Qingxuan as she mourned her murdered eldest brother, then learned that Zan Buliu had sent a warning that a thousand Dangyi men planned to attack.
• Hu Xiaotian, Zong Tang, Liang Yinghao, and Xiong Tianba decided to defend the abandoned fortress and use their Star-Chasing Repeating Crossbows rather than flee.
• After midnight, Hu Xiaotian spotted three enemy forces approaching, numbering more than two thousand, and his party assembled to meet them.
• Visa joined Hu Xiaotian on the beacon tower and played her Hu Flute while his men protected their ears with special earplugs.

Visa’s Hujia Flute Music turned the Dangyi Tribe’s forces against one another until a monk’s horn disrupted her attack, prompting Hu Xiaotian and Xiong Tianba to enter the battle. Hu Xiaotian killed the horn-playing monk and discovered that his former teacher Unenlightened had come to kill him on Princess Yongyang’s orders; the two prepared to fight.

• Visa used the Hujia Flute Music to drive hundreds of Dangyi tribesmen into a frenzy, while Hu Xiaotian and the others watched from the fortress.
• A red-robed monk played a horn that weakened Visa’s music, and Hu Xiaotian ordered Zong Tang to take charge before leaping toward the monk.
• Zong Tang’s warriors fired their Star-Chasing Repeating Crossbows as Xiong Tianba charged into the enemy ranks with his iron hammers.
• Hu Xiaotian defeated the red-robed monk, knocking a golden ring out of the fight and turning the monk’s horn shaft into the weapon that killed him.
• A black-cloaked figure approached Hu Xiaotian, and he recognized the man as Unenlightened, his former teacher.
• Unenlightened told Hu Xiaotian that Princess Yongyang had hired him to kill him, and Hu Xiaotian challenged him to leave or face a fight.

Hu Xiaotian fought his former master Unenlightened while his allies battled the Dangyi tribesmen outside the ancient fortress. Hu Xiaotian wounded Unenlightened by gouging out both his eyes, but Unenlightened escaped into the crowd as Hu Xiaotian pursued him.

• Xiong Tianba and Liang Yinghao charged into the Dangyi ranks while Zong Tang’s warriors provided covering fire, and Visa’s melody sent more enemies into confusion.
• Hu Xiaotian and Unenlightened exchanged blows with the Tiger-Subduing Dragon-Seizing Hand before Unenlightened unleashed the Arhat Vajra Palm.
• Hu Xiaotian used his sword energy to stop Unenlightened’s palm and gouged out both of his eyes.
• Unenlightened slipped into the crowd, and Hu Xiaotian roared after him.

Hu Xiaotian defeated the Dangyi attackers and learned that Guo Shaoxiong and the Han'erjin Tribe were behind the assault and Tang Tiehan's murder, though he suspected a larger plot. He accepted Zan Buliu's offer to seek refuge with the Tanan and Lijianhe tribes, whose leaders were willing to join him against the Han'erjin Tribe.

• Hu Xiaotian blinded Unenlightened and drove the Dangyi attackers into retreat, then captured prisoners who revealed that Guo Shaoxiong had hired them and was hiding with the Han'erjin Tribe.
• Hu Xiaotian ordered the prisoners executed, and Tang Qingxuan learned that Guo Shaoxiong and the Han'erjin Tribe had worked together to kill Tang Tiehan.
• Hu Xiaotian suspected the attack was part of a larger scheme to lure him, while Liang Yinghao warned that the Han'erjin Tribe's more than twenty thousand people could overwhelm them.
• Zan Buliu arrived with commanders from the Tanan and Lijianhe tribes and led Hu Xiaotian's party toward Eagle Ravine for safety.
• At Eagle Ravine, Zan Buliu said the Tanan and Lijianhe leaders wanted to join Hu Xiaotian against the Han'erjin Tribe, and he explained that their tribes sought to end its oppression.

Hu Xiaotian uncovered how the Tanan and Lijianhe Tribes intended to use his group as bait against the Han'erjin Tribe, then proposed a strike on the Han'erjin home base instead of a direct battle. He left Eagle Ravine with Xiong Tianba to infiltrate the tribe and investigate the forces behind the grassland conflict.

• Hu Xiaotian agreed to Zan Buliu's proposed alliance and warned him that dealing with Xue Shengjing was like asking a tiger for its skin.
• Hu Xiaotian realized that Zan Buliu and the tribes had brought him to Eagle Ravine to lure the Han'erjin army there.
• Huali told Hu Xiaotian that seven tribes planned to unite against the Han'erjin Tribe, but Hu Xiaotian warned that their forces might not cooperate well enough to win a direct battle.
• Hu Xiaotian proposed drawing the Han'erjin army away while another force attacked its home base, with someone infiltrating the settlement to coordinate the strike.
• Hu Xiaotian chose to infiltrate the Han'erjin settlement with Xiong Tianba, while Tang Qingxuan, Visa, Zong Tang, Liang Yinghao, and the others stayed in Eagle Ravine.

Hu Xiaotian and Xiong Tianba infiltrated the Han'erjin Tribe's vulnerable camp to disrupt its attack on Eagle Ravine. Hu Xiaotian discovered that Unenlightened had manipulated Guo Shaoxiong, then attacked the monk as Xiong Tianba's diversion sent livestock stampeding through the camp.

• Hu Xiaotian explained that attacking the Han'erjin Tribe's home camp could force its army to turn back from Eagle Ravine, and Xiong Tianba agreed to help create a diversion.
• Hu Xiaotian and Xiong Tianba entered the camp in disguise, then split up so Xiong Tianba could drive the livestock out while Hu Xiaotian approached the main tent.
• Hu Xiaotian saw Guo Shaoxiong arguing with his betrothed, Chajin Kecha, after she caught him with her maid.
• Hu Xiaotian overheard Guo Shaoxiong asking Unenlightened for an antidote and learned that the monk had forced him to attack Tang Tiehan and lure Hu Xiaotian to the camp.
• Xiong Tianba's diversion set the horse pens ablaze and sent cattle and horses stampeding, while Hu Xiaotian punched Guo Shaoxiong and charged at Unenlightened with his sword.

Hu Xiaotian and Unenlightened fought desperately, but Unenlightened turned Hu Xiaotian’s Void Art against him and began destroying his meridians from within. Just as Unenlightened moved to kill him, Li Yuncong revealed himself in disguise and attacked Unenlightened with the same art.

• Unenlightened and Hu Xiaotian clashed, and their battle destroyed the tent and sent Guo Shaoxiong flying onto a bull’s horn, killing him.
• Hu Xiaotian struck with the Heaven-Breaking Sword, but Unenlightened caught the blade and forced the fight into a close-range brawl.
• Hu Xiaotian grabbed Unenlightened’s wrist and used the Void Art to absorb his internal power, but Unenlightened sent a frigid current through Hu Xiaotian’s open meridians to threaten his dantian.
• As Unenlightened prepared to tear out Hu Xiaotian’s eyes, a disguised Dangyi elder struck him from behind and used the Void Art to drain his internal power.
• The elder revealed himself as Li Yuncong and told Unenlightened he had to kill him to escape his pursuit for good.

Hu Xiaotian and Li Yuncong drained Unenlightened’s internal power as the brothers revealed their bitter history and fought over Hongying and her child. Li Yuncong took Unenlightened captive, then turned his attention to the immobilized Hu Xiaotian, leaving his intentions uncertain.

• Hu Xiaotian recovered enough to absorb Unenlightened’s internal power alongside Li Yuncong, and Li Yuncong revealed that he was Mu Yuming, Unenlightened’s brother.
• Unenlightened and Li Yuncong accused each other of plotting, and Li Yuncong blamed Unenlightened for killing Hongying after the brothers’ affair.
• Unenlightened revealed that Hongying had been pregnant before they entered the Heavenly Dragon Temple, but refused to tell Li Yuncong what happened to the child.
• Li Yuncong attacked two Dangyi Tribe members who challenged him, beat Unenlightened, and carried him away alive to torment him.
• Hu Xiaotian reminded Li Yuncong of their agreement concerning the Imperial Mausoleum, but Li Yuncong approached him while warning that Hu’s martial arts might make him dangerous in the future.

Li Yuncong tried to drain Hu Xiaotian’s internal power, but the mutant true qi overwhelmed his dantian and forced him to pass his own power into Xiong Tianba. Hu Xiaotian struggled to seal the breach while Xiong Tianba trembled under the sudden influx of power.

• Li Yuncong explained that he had mastered the complete Void Art and forced his inner breath into Hu Xiaotian’s dantian.
• Li Yuncong broke through Hu Xiaotian’s dantian defenses and began draining his internal power, but found he could not convert it.
• Xiong Tianba arrived and attacked Li Yuncong, who caught his hammer and held him fast.
• Li Yuncong discovered Hu Xiaotian’s scorching mutant true qi was expanding his dantian and could not be stopped.
• Li Yuncong struck Xiong Tianba’s crown and transferred his own internal power into him while Hu Xiaotian tried to seal the breach.

Li Yuncong lost control of the internal power he had absorbed, and Xiong Tianba gained immense strength before killing Li Yuncong and Unenlightened. As Guo Guangbi’s army approached the burning Hanerjin camp, Hu Xiaotian urged the Enke chief to stand and fight, leaving the decision—and the danger—unresolved.

• Li Yuncong’s struggle with Hu Xiaotian returned Hu Xiaotian’s power to him while transferring Li Yuncong’s and Unenlightened’s power to Xiong Tianba, who killed Li Yuncong with his hammer.
• Xiong Tianba seized Unenlightened as he tried to escape and crushed his cervical vertebrae, killing him; Hu Xiaotian then found the second half of the Void Art on his body.
• Xiong Tianba demonstrated his new strength by knocking a horse and rider into the air, then charged into the battle at the Hanerjin Tribe’s camp as the Enke warriors attacked.
• Guo Guangbi rode toward the burning camp with more than ten thousand men, while Hu Xiaotian asked the Enke chief to stay and fight rather than retreat.

Hu Xiaotian and Xiong Tianba tricked Guo Guangbi’s army into believing they held Guo Shaoxiong hostage, then captured Guo Guangbi and revealed that his son was already dead. They left Guo Guangbi unconscious and faced his forces, with Xiong Tianba striking down Liu Hutou as Xie Jian hesitated over Hu Xiaotian’s threat to Ji City.

• Xiong Tianba threatened Guo Guangbi’s army with the supposed hostage Guo Shaoxiong while the Enke Tribe withdrew.
• Hu Xiaotian broke free of his ropes, defeated the arrows with his astral force, and took Guo Guangbi hostage.
• Xie Jian recognized Hu Xiaotian, who said he would take Guo Guangbi away and later release him.
• Xiong Tianba returned, and Guo Guangbi learned from him that Guo Shaoxiong was dead.
• Hu Xiaotian knocked Guo Guangbi unconscious and privately threatened Xie Jian with an attack on Ji City if the army resisted.
• Liu Hutou charged to rescue Guo Guangbi, but Xiong Tianba crushed him and his horse with his hammers.

Hu Xiaotian killed Guo Guangbi after capturing him and left Guo Guangbi’s army leaderless, then returned to Eagle Ravine and comforted Tang Qingxuan. After riding secretly to Ji City, he met Xie Jian inside the Marshal’s Residence, where Xie Jian warned him that one shout could get him killed.

• Xie Jian sent cavalry after Hu Xiaotian but knew Guo Guangbi’s capture left him with little chance of changing the outcome.
• Hu Xiaotian hurled Guo Guangbi to the ground and killed him, while Xiong Tianba helped him escape the pursuing army.
• Hu Xiaotian and Xiong Tianba avoided the returning Han'erjin Tribe troops, then reached Eagle Ravine, where Tang Qingxuan learned her brother’s killers had been executed.
• Hu Xiaotian comforted Tang Qingxuan and promised to protect her, then camped near Ji City and rode there alone after nightfall.
• Hu Xiaotian found Xie Jian in the Marshal’s Residence, and Xie Jian warned him that he could summon guards to kill him.

Hu Xiaotian persuaded Xie Jian to join him, and Xie Jian eliminated Guo Guangbi’s remaining generals in a fire at Lingkong Pagoda. Meanwhile, Qiqi heard that Great Yong’s wheat harvest might fail, while Wen Chenghuan remained committed to helping his son Li Chenzhou bring down Great Kang.

• Hu Xiaotian urged Xie Jian to abandon his plans for seclusion and help him secure Ji City, and Xie Jian agreed to remove the obstacles to his control.
• Xie Jian arranged funeral rites at Lingkong Pagoda, then left before the pagoda burned with Guo Guangbi’s principal generals trapped inside.
• Hu Xiaotian watched the fire with Zong Tang and Liang Yinghao, then asked Liang Yinghao and Zong Tang to stay in Ji City and help Xie Jian stabilize the troops.
• Qiqi heard Zhou Ruiyuan report that abnormal spring snow had damaged Great Yong’s wheat seedlings, and she welcomed the news.
• Wen Chenghuan reflected on his changing loyalties and resolved to help Li Chenzhou bring ruin upon Great Kang.