Chapter Summaries

Shi Chun organized a force of more than three thousand people and led them to encircle a small search party. The surrounded group claimed it had no insect core crystals, but Shi Chun ordered the central columns to attack.

• Shi Chun chose forces from Di Continent, Tail Continent, and Horn Continent as targets and arranged for spies to track a small group and plant insect core crystals among them.
• Shi Chun drilled his force through the night, using scouts from six sects to gather information, and ordered everyone to assemble at daybreak.
• Young Master Nan arranged for Shi Chun to appear in the Sky-Gazing Mirror, revealing that Shi Chun commanded thousands of Mystic Continent fighters and alarming the Tournament Grounds.
• A scout contacted Xiang Lan'er after leading Shi Chun's force to the target's location, and Shi Chun ordered Wu Jinliang to begin the encirclement.
• Shi Chun's force surrounded the search party of nearly forty people, whose leader insisted they carried no insect core crystals.
• Shi Chun ordered the two central columns to kill the surrounded group.

Shi Chun led his massive force to crush two groups of opponents and collect their Insect Core Crystals. After marking everyone with chalk crosses to prevent friendly-fire injuries, he hurried them toward another target, whose defeat yielded more crystals.

• Shi Chun's forces killed the surrounded Horn Continent fighters, and the group found 103 Insect Core Crystals among their belongings.
• Shi Chun had Chu Jingtang recount and safeguard the crystals, bringing the group's total to 1,940, then marked Chu Jingtang with chalk crosses and forehead powder to distinguish allies.
• Shi Chun contacted Xiang Lan'er and led the group toward a new target, while the followers copied the markings to avoid injuring one another.
• Shi Chun ordered the two central columns to attack the next encircled group, and they killed all the targets without friendly-fire injuries.
• The group searched the battlefield and found more Insect Core Crystals among the dead.

Shi Chun led his several-thousand-strong force through another raid, gathering insect core crystals while keeping the group moving. After the day’s haul was counted and stored, he secretly arranged to replace the crystals with stones, leaving Chu Jingtang uneasy about the plan.

• Shi Chun ordered the group to pursue a new target, and they surrounded and defeated a few dozen people, finding 293 insect core crystals.
• The group relocated to a mountain area, where Chu Jingtang counted the day’s total as 2,387 crystals, including 550 from the three raids.
• Shi Chun sent Wu Jinliang on patrol, and Wu returned after dark with bundles wrapped in clothing.
• Shi Chun showed Chu Jingtang that the bundles held stones shaped like insect core crystals and asked him to swap them for the real crystals.
• Chu Jingtang agreed to let Wu Jinliang take the real crystals, though he remained uncertain about Shi Chun’s plan.

Shi Chun explained to Xiang Lan'er how repeatedly staging robberies of his own Insect Core Crystals would pressure Mulan Qingqing's side into breaking the contest agreement and help him claim first place. He left Xiang Lan'er to arrange the next robberies while Wang Sheng's battlefield success continued to unsettle Mulan Qingqing.

• Mai Zhanchang learned that scouts from the Righteous Heaven Gate, the Northern Court Sect, and Spirit Gathering Valley had visited Shi Chun, then spotted Wang Sheng leaving on Wind Scales.
• Wan Daoxuan reported that Wang Sheng's forces had collected five hundred and fifty Insect Core Crystals in three small battles, and Mulan Qingqing was struck by how effectively he commanded his newly inherited troops.
• Shi Chun gave Xiang Lan'er 2,387 Insect Core Crystals and instructed her to stage more large-scale robberies the next day.
• Xiang Lan'er questioned why Shi Chun was repeatedly robbing his own crystals, and Shi Chun explained that he wanted to make Mulan Qingqing's side pursue first place until they rejected the agreement.
• Xiang Lan'er understood Shi Chun's plan and agreed to help him, while he returned to his forces.

Shi Chun led the Mystic Continent Forces through successive surprise attacks, collecting large caches of insect core crystals while secretly passing them to Xiang Lan'er. During a fierce battle in Rocky Gorge, he absorbed an immense amount of killing aura, healed the scars on his face, and saw a fiery Monster Bird feeding on the same aura.

• Shi Chun surrounded and defeated a force of nearly two hundred before it could leave, then his men found 1,088 insect core crystals and another 68 nearby.
• Shi Chun led another surprise attack that yielded over a thousand more insect core crystals, rested his troops, and secretly handed Xiang Lan'er the crystals he had taken for safekeeping.
• After Xiang Lan'er sent word that everything was ready, Shi Chun led his force to attack another group in Rocky Gorge.
• Shi Chun sensed and saw dark red killing aura rising from the fighters, and his Demon-Bathing Art drew it into his body.
• Shi Chun's facial scars disappeared as he absorbed the aura, while a fiery Monster Bird swooped through the gorge and devoured the killing aura unseen by the combatants.

Shi Chun absorbed an enormous surge of vitality from a Monster Bird while leading his force to repeated victories and amassing more than sixty thousand fictitious Insect Core Crystals. As he tried to slow their campaign near the end of the Skyfall Meteor Assembly, his battle-hardened followers blocked his cave to demand that the fighting continue.

• Shi Chun absorbed the Monster Bird's fiery Blood Qi when it flew into him, and the startled bird fled; a second Monster Bird later appeared over the battlefield.
• After the battle, the force counted its gains, and Chu Jingtang announced a false total while Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang secretly took genuine crystals from him.
• Shi Chun led more than three thousand fighters in daily battles around the Moon Sea, where their coordination and morale grew even as their numbers fell.
• Shi Chun accumulated over sixty thousand fictitious Insect Core Crystals and reduced the frequency of attacks as the Skyfall Meteor Assembly neared its end.
• The wounded fighters gathered outside Shi Chun's cave in an armed remonstrance, insisting that the force keep fighting so they could secure high rankings for their sects.

Shi Chun stopped his troops from attacking Di Continent’s remaining forces, then learned that their failed armed remonstrance had drawn Mulan Qingqing’s leaders’ attention. Mai Zhanchang described Shi Chun’s hands-off, often infuriating leadership, but could not explain why the troops still obeyed and respected him.

• Shi Chun faced a crowd of armed followers who demanded that he continue fighting and target Di Continent’s force of about two hundred.
• Shi Chun refused to risk their lives without a favorable opportunity and ordered them to rest, threatening to give their insect core crystals to Mulan Qingqing’s side if they disobeyed.
• The crowd backed down, but news of their armed remonstrance reached Mulan Qingqing and the other leaders.
• Mulan Qingqing’s leaders summoned Mai Zhanchang and questioned him about how Shi Chun had made the troops so obedient and eager to fight.
• Mai Zhanchang said Shi Chun neglected his duties, pursued his own pleasures, and was cursed behind his back every day, yet everyone listened when he spoke.

Mulan Qingqing heard Mai Zhanchang praise Wang Sheng’s military ability, then led the Mystic Continent Forces in an assault on the Winnowing Basket Continent’s gathered troops. She left the battle hovering above the field, using her sword and Silverglow Assassins to prevent the enemy from fleeing as her side overwhelmed them.

• Mai Zhanchang told Mulan Qingqing that Wang Sheng’s drills and precise command had made him an exceptional leader.
• Mulan Qingqing agreed with Li Shanshan that their forces should act, and the next day she ordered them to converge on the Winnowing Basket Continent’s troops.
• Mulan Qingqing’s elite forces attacked the nearly two thousand assembled enemies, with Wan Daoxuan and Guan Yingjie leading the charge.
• Mulan Qingqing intercepted a fleeing enemy with her sword, while Silverglow Assassins killed those who tried to escape through the sky.
• Chi Rang praised Mulan Qingqing’s strength as spectators watched the Mystic Continent Forces overwhelm the Winnowing Basket Continent’s troops.

Mystic Continent’s forces won a major battle and gathered more than ten thousand insect core crystals, but their later raids yielded little, leaving Mulan Qingqing’s side likely to lose to Wang Sheng. Wan Daoxuan and the others planned to deceive Wang Sheng’s group into accepting a new wager, while Wang Sheng’s forces celebrated their apparent lead.

• Mystic Continent’s forces defeated the Winnowing Basket Continent coalition and collected 10,753 insect core crystals, while hundreds of survivors escaped.
• Mulan Qingqing’s forces won further raids but found their hauls shrinking, and one enemy leader released his group’s crystals before they could be seized.
• Wan Daoxuan, Tang Zhen, and Li Shanshan warned Mulan Qingqing and Guan Yingjie that they were likely to lose, then proposed publicly inflating their future hauls to persuade Wang Sheng’s side to gamble again under changed rules.
• Mulan Qingqing reluctantly approved the plan after the others argued that Wang Sheng’s group would choose to take the bait themselves.
• Wang Sheng’s forces celebrated their apparent advantage, while Shi Chun watched from a hill with a restrained smile.

Shi Chun let his followers launch a raid despite warning them against it, while secretly arranging for Xiang Lan'er’s people to leave before dawn. The raid against Di Continent’s elite ended in a bloody rout, and observers at the Royal Capital questioned whose side Shi Chun was really on.

• Shi Chun suspected Mulan Qingqing’s reported crystal hauls were falsified and warned Chu Jingtang to keep the suspicion secret.
• After Mulan Qingqing’s forces reported another haul exceeding ten thousand crystals, Shi Chun’s followers demanded a raid, and he gave them the location of Di Continent’s remaining elite forces.
• Shi Chun contacted Xiang Lan'er through the Mother-Child Talisman and told her people to leave before dawn.
• Nearly three thousand of Shi Chun’s followers attacked about two hundred Di Continent fighters, but the attackers were routed, leaving over a thousand dead and only about fifty Di Continent survivors.
• At the Royal Capital, Chi Rang demanded to know why Shi Chun had not fought, while Wei Mo pointed out that Shi Chun was a native of Life Continent.

After orchestrating a crushing defeat for Mystic Continent’s disobedient forces, Shi Chun continued concealing his group’s true harvest while Mulan Qingqing’s side prepared to secure first place. As the assembly neared its end, Shi Chun ordered his people to gather, setting the stage for the final test.

• After Di Continent’s elites devastated the Mystic Continent Forces, the surviving troops knelt outside Shi Chun’s cave and begged forgiveness, but Shi Chun sent Wu Jinliang to tell them to rest.
• Shi Chun let the defeat explain Mystic Continent’s shrinking harvests, while Tang Zhen, Li Shanshan, Wan Daoxuan, Guan Yingjie, and Mulan Qingqing planned to keep their lead small and provoke a rules change.
• Mulan Qingqing ordered the leaders to notify her if they found the Di Continent people and to leave no survivors.
• On the final day, Mai Zhanchang told Shi Chun that Mulan Qingqing’s forces had finished only five thousand ahead, while Shi Chun’s exhausted people could no longer make up the difference.
• After Mulan Qingqing sent the gathering point, Shi Chun told Wu Jinliang to move out and warned Chu Jingtang to guard his bags as the forces assembled.

Xiang Lan'er concluded that Shi Chun was not a member of the Demonic Path, while Mulan Qingqing’s side prepared to use counterfeit insect core crystals to claim the competition’s top prize. When Wang Sheng’s battered contingent arrived, Mai Zhanchang challenged the leaders over why one side should receive all the credit, and Wan Daoxuan allowed him to speak.

• Xiang Lan'er watched the relocation and concluded that Shi Chun had learned a Demonic Art in the Land of Exile but did not belong to the Demonic Path.
• Mulan Qingqing and the other leaders prepared counterfeit crystals to combine their haul with Wang Sheng’s and secure first place, while Mulan warned them not to mention her relationship with Wang Sheng.
• Wang Sheng’s exhausted contingent arrived at the camp, where Wan Daoxuan, Tang Zhen, and the others welcomed them and mocked the size of their haul.
• Shi Chun calmly acknowledged the defeat and apologized to his followers, while the welcoming leaders concealed their guilt over the planned deception.
• Mai Zhanchang questioned why one side should receive all the credit when the two hauls were close, and Shi Chun denied directing him as Wan Daoxuan allowed him to speak freely.

Mai Zhanchang and the returning group challenged the elites over how the Insect Core Crystals would be credited, while Shi Chun insisted he would honor the original wager. Wan Daoxuan proposed another contest as a compromise, and Mai Zhanchang asked what form it would take.

• Mai Zhanchang rallied the returning group to protest that their contributions had been unfairly credited, sparking arguments with the elite forces.
• Shi Chun said he would keep the original agreement and count both sides’ Insect Core Crystals, but Tang Zhen and Wan Daoxuan urged settling the dispute without causing a public feud.
• Wan Daoxuan offered both sides another contest, with the winner taking all the crystals and the loser agreeing to stop making trouble.
• Shi Chun initially declined the offer, but Mai Zhanchang and others persuaded him to let them decide for themselves.
• After Shi Chun and his companions withdrew, Mai Zhanchang asked Wan Daoxuan what form the new contest would take.

Shi Chun let the rival groups argue over how to divide the insect core crystals, then rejected their proposed best-of-three contest and offered to settle the dispute in a single fight himself. The opposing side was left to choose his opponent, time, and place.

• Shi Chun rested in the cave while the motley rabble debated a contest, and he told Wu Jinliang that undercover traitors would keep them from reaching a decision.
• After nearly an hour of failed proposals, Wan Daoxuan and Li Shanshan insisted on three combat bouts, but Mai Zhanchang and the others sought Shi Chun’s approval.
• Shi Chun emerged and questioned who had settled on the best-of-three arrangement, restoring the motley rabble’s confidence.
• Shi Chun proposed one fight, with himself representing his side and the opponents choosing the fighter, time, and place, then returned to the cave.

Shi Chun agreed to represent his side in a duel and estimated his chances against Mulan Qingqing at fifty percent, or seventy with more preparation. After learning that Wang Sheng might be more formidable than they expected, Mulan Qingqing volunteered to fight him herself.

• Mai Zhanchang and the other leaders urged Shi Chun to reconsider the duel, but he argued that their opponents would not agree to a fairer arrangement and took responsibility for fighting.
• Shi Chun told Wu Jinliang and Chu Jingtang that he had a fifty-percent chance against Mulan Qingqing, rising to seventy percent with further preparation and the Treasure Garment.
• Wan Daoxuan and his companions informed Mulan Qingqing that Wang Sheng had proposed a one-battle challenge to settle the dispute.
• Mulan Qingqing warned that none of the three leaders might be able to defeat Wang Sheng, and Guan Yingjie admitted he was not certain he could beat him either.
• Mulan Qingqing offered to fight Wang Sheng herself.

Mulan Qingqing accepted Wang Sheng’s challenge, and both sides agreed to a duel at dawn that would decide who claimed all the insect core crystals and end the tournament dispute. Meanwhile, Bian Jixiong arrived at the Royal Capital tournament grounds and faced public criticism from Jieyun Mountain’s elders over Mount Wukang’s actions.

• Mulan Qingqing volunteered to fight Wang Sheng, and the group agreed to hold the match at daylight in a clearing behind the mountains.
• Xiang Lan’er arrived at Shi Chun’s cave, and Shi Chun accepted the terms Wan Daoxuan announced: one duel would decide the crystals and end the dispute.
• Mulan Qingqing prepared for the duel by sitting cross-legged and repeatedly wiping her longsword with a white handkerchief.
• Bian Jixiong entered the Tournament Grounds with Elder Ke and Yin Huixin, then was summoned by Wu Handong and Elder Lin.
• Wu Handong accused Mount Wukang of abandoning Jieyun Mountain and working with Mystic Continent, while Bian Jixiong apologized and praised Jieyun Mountain’s performance.

As the participants began leaving the Western Extremity, Bian Weiying waited for Shi Chun and was threatened by Bai Shuchuan, who wanted to exploit her. Shi Chun reassured her through the Mother-Child Talisman as he led his group toward the exit, where Mulan Qingqing was waiting.

• Yin Huixin and the spectators waited for the Sky-Gazing Mirror's projection as the Regional Lords arrived and the images appeared.
• Shi Chun told Bian Weiying to leave first, and she waited until daylight before flying to the exit.
• Bian Weiying waited outside the Xun Gate and attracted the attention of guards, who confirmed she was from Mount Wukang.
• Bai Shuchuan and his battered allies returned to the exit, where he threatened Bian Weiying after she demanded Mount Wukang's share of their spoils.
• Bian Weiying told Shi Chun about Bai Shuchuan's threat, and Shi Chun promised to deal with him.
• Shi Chun led his group toward the exit and spotted Mulan Qingqing among the waiting crowd.

Shi Chun and Mulan Qingqing agreed to fight over the Insect Core Crystals, while the elite forces feared that their hidden fraud would be exposed. After Shi Chun declined to inspect either side’s bags, he and Mulan Qingqing entered the arena to begin their match.

• The Sky-Gazing Mirror focused on Shi Chun and Mulan Qingqing, drawing the attention of the assembled sects and Mount Wukang’s leaders.
• Mulan Qingqing and Shi Chun discussed their earlier arrangement, but Shi Chun proposed counting the crystals instead of fighting before agreeing to face her in the arena.
• Wan Daoxuan and the others urged them to proceed with the match, then placed their bags of Insect Core Crystals on a stone platform.
• Shi Chun used his right-eye ability and noticed that the elite forces’ bags appeared to contain other material beneath a layer of genuine crystals.
• Wu Jinliang brought over Shi Chun’s group’s bags, and Shi Chun invited the other side to inspect them, but Wan Daoxuan declined and pushed to start the match.
• Mulan Qingqing and Shi Chun leaped into the arena as the gathered spectators watched.

Shi Chun and Mulan Qingqing faced off in a duel, each aware that the other could counter their techniques. Mulan unleashed her killing move, and Shi Chun used a prepared powder and his knowledge of her Silverglow Assassins to survive their assault, though the spectators feared he was finished.

• Spectators and observers suspected that Shi Chun and Mulan Qingqing's duel concealed a deeper purpose, while Ji Qinghe worried that Mulan did not know Shi Chun had killed Chao Zhilin.
• Shi Chun and Mulan studied each other across the rocky clearing, and Shi Chun used his saber to cut a blind spot through Mulan's domain network.
• Mulan warned Shi Chun that her killing move might be uncontrollable, and they publicly agreed that the duel would end their marriage agreement.
• Mulan unleashed twelve Silverglow Assassins, and Shi Chun struck the ground and released a prepared Powder Packet to engulf himself in dust and white mist.
• Shi Chun shielded his head and feet from the assassins' attacks, endured their limited-strength strikes, and countered with a storm of saber blows as the horrified spectators watched.

Shi Chun used his saber, Treasure Garment, and white powder to survive Mulan Qingqing’s attacks and turn her sight-based Suyuan Art against her. The fight continued with Mulan unable to see through the mist while Shi Chun attacked the threads of her Domain and evaded her returning sword.

• Shi Chun destroyed Mulan Qingqing’s Twelve Spell Weapons with a saber strike, survived their assault, and quickly healed wounds inflicted during the exchange.
• Mulan Qingqing summoned the Twelve Spell Weapons again and launched her sword at Shi Chun, whose Treasure Garment protected him as the strike tore through his clothing.
• Shi Chun spread prepared white powder through the mist, blocking Mulan Qingqing’s sight while his right eye let him see through it.
• Mulan Qingqing stopped using attacks that required sight and began repairing the Network Gap, but Shi Chun leaped out and slashed at its threads.
• Mulan Qingqing sent her sword after Shi Chun when he attacked the threads, and he evaded it before resuming his assault.