Chapter Summaries

Hu Xiaotian and Xiong Tianba ambushed Li Chang'an, Yan Huxiao, and Xu Fengwu at Falling Star Plain, where the Xu Family’s plan to eliminate Qin Yutong was revealed. Xiong Tianba and his bears battled a pack of Blue Wolves as Hu Xiaotian descended on Li Chang'an from above.

• Hu Xiaotian decided to strike the three enemies with Xiong Tianba, while Xia Changming warned him about their strength.
• Xiong Tianba climbed Dingjin Mountain with his three armored bears as Hu Xiaotian and Zhan Peng watched from the air.
• At Falling Star Plain, Xu Fengwu told Li Chang'an and Yan Huxiao that they had to eliminate Qin Yutong after Xia Changming, and said Zeng Xiaorou had been tasked with killing her.
• A guard wolf spotted Xiong Tianba and his bears, prompting Yan Huxiao to pursue them on Black Panther while Li Chang'an took to the air on a Snow Eagle.
• Thousands of Blue Wolves attacked Xiong Tianba and the bears, who fought back as Li Chang'an summoned a vast flock of birds.
• Hu Xiaotian sent Flying Owl plunging through the birds toward Li Chang'an, who realized an attacker was bearing down on him.

Hu Xiaotian and Xiong Tianba’s forces defeated Li Chang'an and Yan Huxiao, leaving Xu Fengwu to face Hu Xiaotian alone in the Maple Forest. Xu Fengwu tried to use the Soul-Seizing Art on Hu Xiaotian, whose eyes began to glow green.

• Hu Xiaotian killed Li Chang'an with the Heaven-Breaking Sword after the Flying Owl tore apart Li Chang'an’s Snow Eagle.
• Xiong Tianba and his three giant bears overwhelmed Yan Huxiao and his Black Panther, killing both and scattering the Blue Wolves.
• Xu Fengwu fled deeper into the Maple Forest as the wolves dispersed, then found Hu Xiaotian blocking his way.
• Xu Fengwu tried to draw Hu Xiaotian’s attention to his eyes and began using the Soul-Seizing Art.

Hu Xiaotian’s surprise attack ended with Xu Fengwu’s capture and suicide, while Hu Buwei confronted Xu Fengmei over her campaign against Hu Xiaotian. In the Northern Frontier, Yuchi Chong watched the Black Hu People retreat for winter as Huo Shengnan urged him to leave his self-imposed isolation, but he remained unable to choose a side.

• Hu Xiaotian blinded and defeated Xu Fengwu, then learned from Zhan Peng that Xu Fengwu had killed himself with poison before revealing the Xu Family’s plans.
• Xiong Tianba arrived with the Beast Demon Yan Huxiao’s head, and Zhan Peng joined Hu Xiaotian after their successful surprise attack.
• Hu Buwei confronted Xu Fengmei over the deaths of Xu Fengwu, Yan Huxiao, and Li Chang'an, and she admitted acting against Hu Xiaotian without consulting him.
• Xu Fengmei accused Hu Buwei of fearing the Old Madam and said she intended to act despite the risk of her discovering their plans.
• Yuchi Chong and Huo Shengnan watched the Black Hu People withdraw for winter, while Yuchi Chong worried about Great Yong’s shortages and political turmoil.
• Huo Shengnan urged Yuchi Chong to leave the Northern Frontier and join Hu Xiaotian’s side, but Yuchi Chong remained unable to overcome his loyalty to Great Yong.

Huo Shengnan reunited with Hu Xiaotian, who then visited Yuchi Chong and tried to understand why he refused to leave the Northern Frontier. The chapter ended with Yuchi Chong saying that both his daughters wanted him to return home, but did not understand his difficulties.

• Huo Shengnan urged Yuchi Chong to consider his soldiers and their families, but he rode away without changing his mind.
• Hu Xiaotian secretly entered Huo Shengnan’s tent, and the two reunited before he told her about his mission to recover two skulls from Brahma Sound Temple.
• Huo Xiaotian warned Huo Shengnan that Great Yong’s internal power struggle was worsening and said Yuchi Chong could not avoid it by remaining at the frontier.
• Huo Shengnan brought Hu Xiaotian, disguised as a guard, to meet Yuchi Chong, and Hu Xiaotian presented Yuchi Pingting’s letter.
• After reading the letter, Yuchi Chong said both his daughters wanted him to return home, but neither understood the difficulties he faced.

Hu Xiaotian urged Yuchi Chong to join forces with him, revealing that Great Yong planned to sacrifice its long-hidden agent, Wen Chenghuan, while Yuchi Chong explained why he would not betray Great Yong. Meanwhile, Zhou Ruiyuan confronted the imprisoned Wen Chenghuan and exposed that he knew his real identity was Li Mingzuo.

• Hu Xiaotian told Yuchi Chong that Great Yong faced upheaval and revealed that Wen Chenghuan was the long-hidden Great Yong agent Li Mingzuo.
• Yuchi Chong said Great Yong would eventually eliminate him, described his efforts to secure the Northern Frontier troops, and refused to join Hu Xiaotian because he would not bring dishonor on his soldiers.
• Yuchi Chong explained that if Great Yong murdered him, his death would unite the soldiers against the Imperial Court and protect their future.
• Qiqi assigned Zhou Ruiyuan to investigate Wen Chenghuan after his arrest and the search of his residence.
• Zhou Ruiyuan accused Wen Chenghuan of corruption and treason, then confronted him with his identity as Li Mingzuo and his correspondence with Xue Shengkang.

Zhou Ruiyuan confronted Wen Chenghuan with evidence that he was Li Mingzuo, a Great Yong prince who had infiltrated Great Kang, and explained that the real target was his son, Li Chenzhou. After hearing of Wen Chenghuan’s imprisonment, Li Chenzhou left Xue Lingjun’s residence, while Xiang Liren urged her to distance herself from the scandal; she denied delivering Wen Chenghuan the Duke of Jing’s calligraphy but asked Xiang how the matter should be handled.

• Zhou Ruiyuan told Wen Chenghuan that a letter by Li Mingzuo had exposed his identity and that Li Chenzhou’s ambitions had provoked the Great Yong Imperial House.
• Wen Chenghuan admitted to Zhou Ruiyuan that he was Li Mingzuo, the second son of Great Yong’s Duke of Jing, and had come to bring down Great Kang.
• Li Chenzhou was refused entry to Xue Lingjun’s residence again, then left after his deputy general reported that Wen Chenghuan had been imprisoned in Great Kang.
• Xue Lingjun watched Li Chenzhou leave as Xiang Liren questioned her about the imprisonment and rumors that Wen Chenghuan was Li Xuangan’s son.
• Xue Lingjun denied giving Wen Chenghuan the Duke of Jing’s calligraphy, then asked Xiang Liren how he thought she should handle the matter.

Li Chenzhou learned that Xue Daoming planned to travel to the Northern Frontier and saw the emperor’s absence as a chance to secure power and save his father. Meanwhile, Hu Xiaotian reached Lone Eagle Fortress to prepare for his meeting with Liu Yuzhang, where he reunited with Xia Changming and Xiong Tianba and hoped to see Ji Feihua again.

• Xue Daoming summoned Li Chenzhou to discuss Yuchi Chong’s refusal to leave the Northern Frontier and his demand for provisions.
• Xue Daoming announced that he would travel to the Northern Frontier, and Li Chenzhou privately welcomed the chance to make plans while the emperor was away.
• Hu Xiaotian flew to Lone Eagle Fortress, left the Flying Owl outside town, and found Xia Changming waiting for him at the Yellow Sand Inn.
• Xiong Tianba returned with supplies, reunited with Hu Xiaotian, and learned the Changing Appearance technique from him.
• Hu Xiaotian disguised himself as a Hu man and walked through Lone Eagle Fortress with Xia Changming, who told him that some pilgrims had frozen to death on their way to Brahma Sound Temple.

Hu Xiaotian reunited with Master Yuanmu and met Master Xiangyin in Lone Eagle Fortress, where Xima was escorting supposed sacred bone relics to Brahma Sound Temple. Yuanmu passed along an invitation from Ji Feihua for Hu Xiaotian to explore Buddha Heart Tower at midnight.

• Master Yuanmu stopped Black Hu riders from trampling an unconscious believer, and Master Xiangyin fought a warrior who attacked him before Xima intervened.
• Hu Xiaotian revealed himself to Yuanmu, who introduced him to his old friend, Master Xiangyin.
• Xia Changming reported that Xima was escorting sacred bone relics and staying at Buddha Heart Tower in Lone Eagle Fortress.
• Yuanmu and Xiangyin joined Hu Xiaotian's party at the Yellow Sand Inn, where Xiangyin eagerly ate mutton and drank with Xiong Tianba.
• Yuanmu told Hu Xiaotian that Ji Feihua had invited him to explore Buddha Heart Tower at midnight.

Hu Xiaotian met Ji Feihua at Buddha Heart Tower, where they overheard that Princess Xima loved Hu Xiaotian and learned she was being betrothed to Shajia’s Huo Ge. Ji Feihua suggested Hu Xiaotian use Xima’s access to reach the elusive Living Buddha Jialuo, leaving Hu Xiaotian indignant at the proposal.

• Hu Xiaotian met Ji Feihua on top of Buddha Heart Tower, and they listened to Xima’s conversation through a lit window.
• Ji Feihua told Hu Xiaotian that Xima had fallen for him, then carried him away with the Winged Armor to a snow cave.
• Hu Xiaotian confessed his love to Ji Feihua, who told him that the Black Hu Khan had yielded the throne to Wanyan Liezu.
• Ji Feihua explained that Wanyan Liezu planned to betroth Xima to Huo Ge, whose wife Li Mochou had lost her family’s protection.
• Ji Feihua said Xima wanted to meet the Living Buddha Jialuo and suggested Hu Xiaotian win her over so she could guide him to the Living Buddha.
• Hu Xiaotian objected indignantly when Ji Feihua suggested he seduce Xima for their public and private interests.

Hu Xiaotian agreed to use his charm to help infiltrate Brahma Sound Temple and recover the two skulls, while Xima received his secret message arranging a meeting. He remained conflicted about the scheme and Ji Feihua’s feelings as he prepared to meet Xima that night.

• Liu Yuzhang joined Hu Xiaotian and Ji Feihua at their snow cave and explained that Living Buddha Jialuo held the skulls at Brahma Sound Temple.
• Liu Yuzhang and Ji Feihua proposed using Xima’s visit to infiltrate the temple, with Hu Xiaotian courting her and Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian disguising themselves as her attendants.
• Xima received a note from Hu Xiaotian promising to visit her at Hai Hour and wondered how he could have reached Lone Eagle Fortress.
• Hu Xiaotian worried that manipulating Xima was immoral, but Xia Changming argued that she preferred Hu Xiaotian to Huo Ge and that the scheme could help save people.
• Hu Xiaotian admitted he no longer resisted the plan but worried about Ji Feihua’s indifference, then complained when Xia Changming urged him to prepare for the rendezvous.

Hu Xiaotian sneaked into Xima’s room and promised to take her away from her politically arranged marriage to Huo Ge. After Yasu brought Xima’s attendants for her required bath, Hu Xiaotian hid in a cupboard, then returned to Xima after they left and drew her into his arms as the tower’s lamp went out.

• Hu Xiaotian entered Xima’s room through the window, and Xima threatened him with her crossbow and scimitar before he confessed that he liked her and offered to take her away.
• Xima embraced Hu Xiaotian and told him she thought about him every day, while he decided he would take responsibility for his promise and rescue her.
• Yasu arrived with four attendants to bring Xima her required midnight bath, and Hu Xiaotian hid in a cupboard rather than escape through the window.
• Xima told Yasu she did not want to marry Huo Ge and felt that her family treated her as a political tool, while Hu Xiaotian watched from the cupboard.
• After Yasu and the attendants left, Xima let Hu Xiaotian out of the cupboard and asked him to stay and look after her.
• Hu Xiaotian pulled Xima into his arms and opened her bathrobe, while a solitary figure watched the Buddha Heart Tower and its lamp went out.

Hu Xiaotian and Xima planned to retrieve two skulls from Brahma Sound Temple while rescuing Xima from the Black Hu Empire. Hu Xiaotian infiltrated the temple, while Xima and Ji Feihua entered the Golden Summit Hall to meet the Living Buddha, where they were left waiting under an unseen watcher’s gaze.

• Xima urged Hu Xiaotian to leave rather than risk himself, but he promised to take her away and told her he had come to retrieve two skulls from Brahma Sound Temple.
• Xima, accompanied by Ji Feihua disguised as High Priest Yasu and Hu Xiaotian disguised as a maid, arrived at Brahma Sound Temple.
• After a young monk led him to a guest courtyard, Hu Xiaotian knocked him unconscious, took his robes, and headed toward the Buddhist Sutra Pavilion.
• Xima and Ji Feihua entered the Golden Summit Hall, where a novice monk left them waiting after saying he would summon his master.
• Ji Feihua sensed someone watching them from the shadows, and the novice returned to say that his master invited them inside.

Hu Xiaotian infiltrated the Buddhist Sutra Pavilion to set a distraction while Ji Feihua and Xima met the Living Buddha. Ji Feihua exposed Jialuo as Master Minghui of Heavenly Dragon Temple, and Jialuo unleashed his killing intent as their confrontation began.

• Hu Xiaotian hid from passing Fan Monks, recognized Ghost Physician Fu Wan’s supposedly mute attendant Mute, and followed him toward the Buddhist Sutra Pavilion.
• Hu Xiaotian used Mute’s arrival as cover to reach the pavilion roof and fired five Phosphorus Fire Arrows through a ventilation window.
• Ji Feihua and Xima entered a hidden hall where the Little Novice Monk revealed a Lotus Pond beneath the rotating Swastika Platform and told Xima to bathe.
• The pond opened beneath Xima, but Ji Feihua saved her before Living Buddha Jialuo emerged from the water and exposed their deception.
• Ji Feihua released Xima and told her to flee, then confronted Jialuo and identified him as Master Minghui, formerly of Heavenly Dragon Temple.
• Jialuo acknowledged his identity and filled the hall with murderous intent while Ji Feihua remained composed.

Hu Xiaotian set fire to the Buddhist Sutra Pavilion and fought Mute while Xiangyin and Liu Yuzhang attacked Brahma Sound Temple to distract its monks. As Xima faced the Little Novice Monk inside the Golden Summit Hall, Hu Xiaotian rode the Flying Owl toward her and struck at the hall’s wall.

• Hu Xiaotian ignited the Buddhist Sutra Pavilion with phosphorus-fire arrows, fought off the Fan Monks’ prayer wheels, and clashed with Mute before firing a signal arrow.
• Xiangyin and Liu Yuzhang entered Brahma Sound Temple, using the bell and drum to injure and scatter the Fan Monks.
• Tens of thousands of crows darkened the sky as Xima tried to escape the Golden Summit Hall, but the Little Novice Monk attacked and wounded her.
• Xima blew her Jade Flute for help while Hu Xiaotian spotted her location, mounted the Flying Owl, and flew toward the hall.
• Hu Xiaotian drew the Black Iron Sword and slashed at the Golden Summit Hall’s wall with all his strength.

Hu Xiaotian rescued Xima from the little novice monk, then returned to the Golden Summit Hall as Ji Feihua confronted Living Buddha Jialuo. Their fight revealed that Jialuo was once Master Minghui and had exposed Chu Yuanhai, while Ji Feihua trapped him in a shrinking space around the butter lamp.

• Hu Xiaotian broke through the Golden Summit Hall wall, saved Xima from the little novice monk, and sent Xia Changming to take her away.
• Hu Xiaotian returned inside and left the little novice monk alive as Ji Feihua and Living Buddha Jialuo continued their duel.
• Ji Feihua recognized Living Buddha Jialuo as Master Minghui and recalled how he had once given a lamp to the bullied child known as Little Flower.
• Ji Feihua accused Jialuo of helping bring down Ling Jiazi and exposing Chu Yuanhai, and Jialuo admitted that he had informed the Imperial Court.
• Ji Feihua sent the butter lamp toward Jialuo, who tried to strike it but found himself confined within a contracting space.
• Living Buddha Jialuo used the Void Zen Method to resist Ji Feihua’s pressure, then asked how Ji Feihua had discovered he was still alive.

Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian cornered the fleeing Living Buddha Jialuo, who admitted to Yuanmu that he was Minghui and begged to die by his hand. Minghui revealed his secret blood asura cultivation and attacked Yuanmu, but Yuanmu clung to him until Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian arrived; Minghui remained trapped as the confrontation continued.

• Yuanmu arrived as Ji Feihua and Living Buddha Jialuo fought, and Ji Feihua explained that he had used the theft of the Skull to uncover Jialuo’s survival.
• Living Buddha Jialuo broke through the golden roof and escaped the rear hall, while Yuanmu followed him toward the mountain summit.
• Yuanmu confronted Jialuo beneath the prayer flags, and Jialuo revealed that he was Minghui and asked Yuanmu to kill him rather than let an outsider do so.
• Minghui blinded Yuanmu with red light and tried to escape, but Yuanmu seized him in a crushing embrace despite Minghui’s repeated blows.
• Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian arrived and blocked Minghui’s path, while Yuanmu insisted that the matter belonged to the Heavenly Dragon Temple.
• Minghui bit Yuanmu’s neck, but Yuanmu’s body resisted the attack without being pierced.

Yuanmu turned Minghui’s blood-based inner power against him, while Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian fought off an army of white-furred monsters with light weapons. After the monsters fled into the ruins on Sound of Brahma Mountain, a hidden man demanded to meet Ji Feihua alone, and Ji Feihua entered the opening beneath the hall.

• Yuanmu used Withered Wood Meets Spring to absorb Minghui’s blood qi and drain his strength as they rolled down the snowy slope.
• Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian fought white-furred monsters, then discovered that the Lightsaber and Lone Moon Slash could kill them.
• Xia Changming returned with the birds to help, and Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian drove the monsters back into an abandoned hall on Sound of Brahma Mountain.
• Liu Yuzhang threatened to destroy the ruins, prompting a hidden man underground to warn that he could destroy the mountain in return.
• The hidden man demanded that Ji Feihua come inside alone, and Ji Feihua walked into a hole that opened in the ground despite Hu Xiaotian’s warning.

Yuanmu crippled Minghui and demanded that he return to Heavenly Dragon Temple, but Minghui refused and insisted that he was Jialuo. Meanwhile, Ji Feihua crossed a chasm and met a survivor of the spaceship crash, who revealed that the crash had been deliberate and tied to a woman they had rescued.

• Yuanmu struck Minghui's dantian, explained that Minghui had secretly learned the forbidden Blood Asura art, and demanded the Spirit-Link Buddha Bone and his return to Heavenly Dragon Temple.
• Minghui challenged Yuanmu over his concealment of the truth about Chu Yuanhai, Ling Jiazi, and the Spirit-Link Buddha Bone, then refused to return, saying he was Jialuo and Minghui was dead.
• Ji Feihua followed a passage, crossed a chasm on floating stones, and encountered a strange elder rising from a misty pool.
• The elder told Ji Feihua that they had been one of fifty-two crew members aboard the crashed spaceship and that only nine had survived.
• The elder explained that the crash had been deliberate and that the captain changed course and destroyed the Star Chart after discovering the ambition of a woman they had rescued.

Ji Feihua learned from the old man how the Lightwing Clan survivors became stranded, broke their laws to survive, and shaped the history of their descendants. The old man revealed the fate of the Heavenly Man Myriad Images Diagram and the deaths of his companions before retreating into his refuge, where he was nearing the end of his life.

• The old man explained that the crashed spacecraft had left nine survivors, who fled Great Kang’s pursuit and later lost four companions to illness in the Northern Desert.
• The old man revealed that a surviving companion brought ten pregnant women to help them live, and that their descendants suffered severe defects because the hostile life-form had secretly caused their illness and manipulated their treatment.
• The survivors eventually destroyed the hostile life-form, while their descendants created the Heavenly Man Myriad Images Diagram in hopes of correcting their defects and extending their lives.
• The old man described how the surviving teammates fought over the diagram, were ambushed by outsiders, and lost the diagram after one of the attackers took it.
• The old man told Ji Feihua that the teammate who owned his Winged Armor had died and that the other survivors were gone, then returned to the pool in his refuge.

Ji Feihua learned that his father was Chu Yuanhai, a Fated One, and that Ling Jiazi may have been the Phantom who caused the spaceship crash and killed him. After the Otherworldly Elder gave him a blue crystal and tasked him with killing Phantom, Ji Feihua escaped Sound of Brahma Mountain with Hu Xiaotian and Liu Yuzhang as the mountain collapsed, leaving its buried secrets unexplained.

• Hu Xiaotian sent Xia Changming and Master Xiangyin to search for Master Yuanmu while he kept watch on Liu Yuzhang.
• The Otherworldly Elder told Ji Feihua that his father was Chu Yuanhai, a Fated One, and that Ling Jiazi might be the Phantom responsible for the spaceship crash and his father's death.
• The Otherworldly Elder urged Ji Feihua to find and kill Phantom, saying there was a certain method, and showed him a blue crystal.
• Ji Feihua returned after four hours and told Hu Xiaotian they had to leave, while refusing to answer Liu Yuzhang's questions about what he had found.
• Sound of Brahma Mountain shook and collapsed, and Hu Xiaotian carried Liu Yuzhang to safety on his Flying Owl as Ji Feihua flew ahead.