Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yuan destroyed the Wuqi Tribe’s warships in the Reed Marshes, then used Water Control and the Taotie Saber to kill the warriors who pursued him. He returned to Gold Sand Island with a blood-soaked sack, alarming the powerful figures at the Battle Merit exchange point.

• Zhang Yuan cleaved through the Wuqi warships one by one while evading the warriors who tried to surround him underwater.
• After destroying the final ship, Zhang Yuan used Water Control to restrain the pursuing Wuqi warriors and snap the necks of some of them.
• A Fourth Order Wuqi warrior broke free and charged Zhang Yuan, who killed him with a slash of the Taotie Saber.
• Zhang Yuan used Water Control and the Taotie Saber to slaughter the remaining Wuqi warriors, turning the Reed Marshes red with blood.
• Zhang Yuan returned to Gold Sand Island with a bloodied sack and caused a sensation at the Battle Merit exchange point, alarming the big shots.

Zhang Yuan met Gold Sand Gang leader Fan Tai after earning an extraordinary amount of Battle Merit by killing Wuqí barbarians. Fan Tai offered him access to the gang’s secret exchange treasures, and Zhang Yuan spotted Qilin Grass in the booklet.

• Zhu Shenghua escorted Zhang Yuan to Ming Guang Hall after Zhang Yuan exchanged more than two hundred barbarian ears, including ears from Fourth Order experts.
• Zhang Yuan used some of the Source Essence he had earned to upgrade the Black Giant Ant and Golden Grasshopper, while saving the rest for a future host.
• Fan Tai arrived, recognized Zhang Yuan as a Fifth Order martial artist, and told him that anyone who killed barbarians was a friend of the Gold Sand Gang.
• Fan Tai gave Zhang Yuan a booklet of secret treasures that could be exchanged for Battle Merit.
• Zhang Yuan read the booklet and found Qilin Grass among the treasures.

Zhang Yuan exchanged six thousand Battle Merit for Qilin Grass and a supplementary volume to cultivate the Six Harmonies Qilin Body, despite Fan Tai warning him that the technique consumed vast resources. Fan Tai also warned that the Wuqi Tribe would send powerful shamans after Zhang Yuan, while Zhang Yuan suspected Fan Tai had forcibly advanced to the Sixth Order and feared for Gold Sand Island’s future.

• Zhang Yuan asked to exchange for the Qilin Grass, and Fan Tai recognized that he planned to cultivate the Six Harmonies Qilin Body.
• Fan Tai explained that the technique could eventually refine a true qilin body but required increasingly precious resources to advance quickly.
• Fan Tai offered Zhang Yuan a copied supplementary volume listing the needed materials, and Zhang Yuan decided to proceed with the exchange.
• Zhang Yuan paid six thousand points of Battle Merit and received the Qilin Grass and supplementary volume.
• Fan Tai warned Zhang Yuan that the Wuqi Tribe would target him with powerful shamans after his victories.
• Zhang Yuan suspected Fan Tai had forcibly broken through to the Sixth Order and worried that Gold Sand Island might not survive the conflict.

Zhang Yuan gave Wang Wu two martial arts manuals, then consumed Qilin Grass to cultivate the Six Harmonies Qilin Body. After enduring its violent medicinal power, he crossed the technique’s threshold.

• Zhang Yuan summoned Wang Wu and gave him the Dragon Tiger Strength manuals to help him advance in martial arts.
• Wang Wu thanked Zhang Yuan and resolved to serve him as he began studying the manuals.
• Zhang Yuan set aside hunting and Battle Merit farming to focus on cultivating the Six Harmonies Qilin Body.
• Zhang Yuan swallowed the Qilin Grass and suppressed its destructive medicinal power while following the technique’s method.
• Golden bloodlines and scales appeared on Zhang Yuan’s skin, and he crossed the threshold of the Six Harmonies Qilin Body.

Zhang Yuan tested the Six Harmonies Qilin Body and found that it defended him against blunt and sharp attacks alike, but its cultivation required increasingly rare and costly treasures. After suspending his training, he learned that the Gold Sand Gang had driven the Wuqi Tribe from its territory, though a possible alliance with the Hongmin threatened to worsen the conflict.

• Zhang Yuan had Wang Wu strike him with a copper staff and a Hundred-Forged Goose Feather Saber to test the Six Harmonies Qilin Body's defenses.
• Zhang Yuan concluded that the technique protected him evenly against all attacks but required costly, progressively higher-quality treasures to cultivate quickly.
• After five days, Zhang Yuan suspended his training because the Qilin Treasure Grass's medicinal power had been exhausted and ordinary cultivation would take years.
• Zhang Yuan asked Wang Wu about events during his seclusion, and Wang Wu reported that the Gold Sand Gang had reclaimed dozens of Land Islands from the Wuqi Tribe after a major battle.
• Wang Wu said Hongmin martial artists had joined the fighting and that the Wuqi Tribe might return with the Hongmin to threaten the Gold Sand Gang.

After hearing that a man resembling White Wolf had appeared on Green Bamboo Island, Zhang Yuan searched the island for several days but found no trace of him. He returned to Gold Sand Island and resumed hunting Wuqi barbarians.

• Wang Wu brought Xiao Liang to Zhang Yuan with news that a man in white, possibly White Wolf, had appeared on Green Bamboo Island.
• Xiao Liang described how the man’s icy gaze had frightened him and showed Zhang Yuan a rough portrait.
• Zhang Yuan took Xiao Liang to Green Bamboo Island, rewarded him, and asked him to search through his local connections.
• Zhang Yuan searched the island himself and used the Red-Eyed Crow to check uninhabited areas, but neither he nor Xiao Liang found the man.
• After searching for five days, Zhang Yuan left Green Bamboo Island and returned to Gold Sand Island.
• The next morning, Zhang Yuan went out to attack Wuqi barbarians, whose forces had become harder and more dangerous to pursue.

Zhang Yuan arrived at a merchant fleet under attack by Wuqi warships, and his fearsome reputation drove the attackers to flee. When the Hundred Peace Merchant Guild’s leader offered him intelligence, the man suddenly poisoned him and struck him, sending Zhang Yuan flying from the ship.

• Zhang Yuan spotted the Hundred Peace Merchant Guild’s ships surrounded by Wuqi warships and rushed to help.
• A Wuqi warrior recognized Zhang Yuan as the Blood Saber Human Butcher, and the panicking Wuqi forces fled, with one crew jumping into the water.
• The merchant guild’s leader, a blood-spattered middle-aged martial artist, thanked Zhang Yuan and invited him aboard to discuss important intelligence.
• The leader handed Zhang Yuan a bloodstained letter, and Zhang Yuan’s fingertips went numb as a faint black gleam appeared on his skin.
• The leader revealed his hostile intent and punched Zhang Yuan, who was caught off guard and sent flying from the merchant ship.

Zhang Yuan survived a fifth-rank martial artist’s ambush, then was attacked by the Wuqi Tribe’s Great Shaman and swarms of black insects. As the middle-aged martial artist and barbarian warriors entered the water to hunt him, Zhang Yuan surrounded himself with a current that trapped the insects and spotted his attacker.

• Zhang Yuan realized the Hundred Peace Merchant Guild fleet had been a trap and identified the middle-aged martial artist who struck him as a fifth-rank powerhouse colluding with the Southern Barbarians.
• Zhang Yuan survived the ambush with help from his Dragon Carp Armor and Six Harmonies Qilin Body, while the Great Shaman fired a black ray that grazed his shoulder and sent him underwater.
• The Great Shaman punished the middle-aged martial artist and ordered him to kill Zhang Yuan or die; the man obeyed and jumped into the water.
• Wuqi warriors returned to the fight, cut their cheeks, and leaped into the water as the Great Shaman began chanting and released black smoke.
• Zhang Yuan used the White Dragon Loach’s Water Control ability to trap thousands of black insects in a spinning current, then saw the middle-aged martial artist enter the water.

Zhang Yuan was surrounded underwater by Wuqi warriors who transformed into monstrous, aquatic creatures after black insects burrowed into their bodies. He unleashed his enhanced strength and killed the first attacker, as the underwater battle began in earnest.

• Zhang Yuan watched hundreds of Wuqi warriors encircle him underwater without attacking.
• Black insects escaped the undercurrent and burrowed into the warriors, transforming the middle-aged fifth-rank martial artist and his men into fishlike monsters.
• The transformed Wuqi warriors roared and charged Zhang Yuan together.
• Zhang Yuan activated his strength and agility enhancements and Dragon Carp Armor, then collided with a powerful mutated warrior and killed him.
• Zhang Yuan seized the dead warrior's steel fork and hurled it forward.

Zhang Yuan slaughtered the mutated Wuqí warriors underwater while their fifth-order leader absorbed the black insects escaping from their bodies and transformed into a gigantic Human-Headed Snake Fish. After the creature attacked with poisonous water and vanished into it, a scarlet Blood Light suddenly appeared above Zhang Yuan.

• Zhang Yuan used a steel fork and a water arrow to kill several Wuqí warriors, then cut down the surrounding barbarians with the Taotie Saber.
• The fifth-order middle-aged warrior attacked Zhang Yuan with black spikes, but Zhang Yuan destroyed them with his saber and evaded him.
• As Zhang Yuan killed the Wuqí warriors, black insects escaped their bodies and the middle-aged warrior swallowed them, triggering a further mutation.
• After Zhang Yuan killed the last barbarian, the middle-aged warrior had transformed into a gigantic Human-Headed Snake Fish and charged at him.
• The Human-Headed Snake Fish spread poisonous water and disappeared into it, while Zhang Yuan retreated and sensed a scarlet Blood Light coiling toward him.

Zhang Yuan evaded a shaman’s Blood Light ambush and identified the Southern Wilderness Shaman controlling the attack. He countered the Human-Headed Snake Fish with his Water Tornado and Taotie Saber, but its powerful tail strike sent him flying.

• Zhang Yuan used Thousand Catty Drop to evade the Human-Headed Snake Fish’s poisonous water and the Blood Light pursuing him from above.
• Zhang Yuan used the Red-Eyed Crow’s perspective to identify a Black-Robed Old Man as a Southern Wilderness Shaman controlling the attack.
• The Black-Robed Old Man noticed the Red-Eyed Crow, so Zhang Yuan flew it away and turned his attention back to the battle underwater.
• Zhang Yuan launched his Water Tornado at the Human-Headed Snake Fish and pierced its body with the Taotie Saber.
• The wounded Human-Headed Snake Fish struck Zhang Yuan with its tail, collapsing the Water Tornado and sending him more than ten zhang away.

Zhang Yuan survived the Human-Headed Snake Fish’s final counterattack and killed the Black-Robed Wizard who controlled the Flying Corpse Blood Gu. After destroying the remaining Gu King, he returned to Gold Sand Island injured and wary of further enemies.

• Zhang Yuan escaped the pursuing Blood Light and burst out of the water after the Human-Headed Snake Fish died.
• The Black-Robed Wizard attacked Zhang Yuan with his Serpent Staff as the Flying Corpse Blood Gu swarmed after him.
• Zhang Yuan launched the Crimson Blood Blade, cut off the Serpent Staff’s snake head, and killed the Black-Robed Wizard.
• The uncontrolled Gu Worms devoured the Black-Robed Wizard and fought among themselves until a thousand-legged Gu King remained.
• Zhang Yuan killed the Gu King with the Crimson Blood Blade, searched the merchant ship, took the fifth-order martial artist’s head, and returned to Gold Sand Island.

After surviving the Wuqi Tribe’s ambush, Zhang Yuan suspected that spies had been tracking his movements on Gold Sand Island. He caught a Gold Sand Gang patrol guard who had been watching his residence and, after recovering from his injuries, set off to confront the gang’s leaders.

• Zhang Yuan reasoned that the Wuqi Tribe’s elaborate ambush meant someone had been monitoring his movements and spotted a suspicious man near his residence.
• Zhang Yuan seized the man, Wang San Gou, and forced him to admit that Outer Hall incense master Kuang Wei had ordered him to report whenever Zhang Yuan left the island.
• Wang San Gou revealed that Kuang Wei was the younger brother-in-law of Outer Hall Master Gong Xin He.
• Zhang Yuan had Wang Wu bind and guard Wang San Gou while he healed his injuries in the Quiet Room.
• After recovering most of his strength, Zhang Yuan brought Wang San Gou to the Gold Sand Gang to demand an explanation, attracting attention from passersby and gang members.

Zhang Yuan brought the captured Wang San Gou through Gold Sand Island and accused him of spying for the barbarians. Wang San Gou revealed that Kuang Wei had ordered him to monitor Zhang Yuan, leaving the Gold Sand Gang crowd to confront the implications of a possible conspiracy involving Gong Xin He.

• Wang Wu escorted the bound Wang San Gou through Gold Sand Island while onlookers recognized the Outer Hall disciple but hesitated to intervene because Zhang Yuan led the group.
• A burly Gold Sand Gang warrior challenged Zhang Yuan, who used his Killing Intent to force the man back and said Wang San Gou was a barbarian spy he would hand over to Gang Leader Fan.
• Wang San Gou denied being a spy and blurted out that Incense Master Kuang had ordered him to watch Zhang Yuan and report whenever he left by boat.
• Zhang Yuan told the crowd that Wuqi warriors and a Southern Wilderness Shaman had ambushed him that morning, making the reason for the surveillance clear.
• The crowd realized the accusation implicated Kuang Wei and Hall Master Gong Xin He, while Zhang Yuan chose to expose the matter publicly rather than handle it privately with Fan Tai.

Fan Tai interrogated Wang San Gou over the Gold Sand Gang’s suspected collusion with the barbarians and promised Zhang Yuan an explanation. Zhang Yuan’s proof that Fan Dongliu, a Great River Gang elder, had joined the ambush left Fan Tai fearing the Gold Sand Gang could soon face several enemies at once.

• Fan Tai stopped Wang San Gou from kowtowing and ordered him to recount his dealings with Kuang Wei, then sent for Kuang Wei and Gong Xin He.
• Fan Tai assured Zhang Yuan that he would answer for the betrayal, while Zhang Yuan presented a sack containing the head of an attacker.
• Fan Tai recognized the head as Fan Dongliu and asked whether he had joined the barbarians’ ambush; Zhang Yuan did not need to answer.
• Fan Tai apologized for losing his composure and considered what Fan Dongliu’s betrayal meant for the Great River Gang’s stance.
• Fan Tai feared the Great River Gang might join the Wuqi Tribe and the Hongmin against the Gold Sand Gang, deepening the tension in the hall.

Fan Tai interrogated Kuang Wei and uncovered his collusion with the Wuqí barbarian tribe, then ordered Gong Xin He to investigate those involved. Zhang Yuan accepted Fan Tai’s apology gift and left as black clouds gathered over the city.

• A gray-clad man brought Kuang Wei before Fan Tai while Gong Xin He entered carrying a bamboo rod to accept punishment for failing to discipline his brother-in-law.
• Fan Tai questioned Kuang Wei, whose will collapsed under the pressure, and Kuang Wei confessed that an outsider had recruited him to spy for the Wuqí barbarian tribe.
• Kuang Wei revealed that he had monitored Zhang Yuan and agreed to serve the barbarians in exchange for protection after Gold Sand Island fell.
• Fan Tai ordered Kuang Wei taken away for severe interrogation and gave Gong Xin He a chance to redeem himself by arresting everyone involved.
• Fan Tai apologized to Zhang Yuan and gave him a Jade Box, which Zhang Yuan accepted through Wang Wu.
• Zhang Yuan and Wang Wu left the Hall of Gathering Righteousness as thunder rumbled beneath dark clouds overhead.

Fan Tai faced the looming threat to Gold Sand Island as the Great River Gang sided with the Wuqi Tribe, while Zhang Yuan arranged to take his loyal subordinate Wang Wu to safety. Zhang Yuan left Wang Wu on East Lu Island and continued on alone, knowing their paths would likely never cross again.

• Fan Tai asked his gray-robed martial uncle what to do about the barbarians, and his martial uncle urged him to abandon Gold Sand Island or seek aid from Xia Ruins.
• Fan Tai's martial uncle left in the rain to plead for help at Xia Ruins, while Fan Tai blamed the Great River Gang for forcing his hand.
• Zhang Yuan told Wang Wu that Gold Sand Island was too dangerous for him and offered to send him away.
• Wang Wu chose East Lu Island rather than Xia Ruins, and Zhang Yuan agreed to take him there.
• Zhang Yuan sailed through the night with Wang Wu and left him on East Lu Island, then prepared to continue under a different identity.

Zhang Yuan received a three-hundred-year-old Qilin Grass from Fan Tai and continued cultivating the Six Harmonies Qilin Body as rumors of an impending invasion spread across Gold Sand Island. The Gold Sand Gang began destroying its boats to commit to defending the island, and Zhang Yuan surrendered his own vessel while turning his thoughts toward the Xia Ruins.

• Zhang Yuan examined the Qilin Grass Fan Tai had given him and reflected on how the Six Harmonies Qilin Body was helping his broken ribs heal.
• Zhang Yuan continued training and hunted Wuqi scouts, but the tribe had withdrawn and his gains remained small.
• Rumors spread that the Great River Gang, the Wuqi Tribe, and the Hongmin were joining forces against Gold Sand Island, prompting people to flee.
• Zhang Yuan used the Red-Eyed Crow to see Gold Sand Gang members burning boats at the Main Dock District.
• Warriors requisitioned Zhang Yuan's boat by Fan Tai's order, and Zhang Yuan surrendered it while looking toward the Xia Ruins.

Zhang Yuan entered Gold Sand Gang’s fortified inner city as the Three-Family Alliance Army prepared to attack Gold Sand Island. Fan Tai offered him a five-hundred-year Qilin Grass to help defend the city, but Zhang Yuan chose to fight outside and received the treasure anyway.

• After refining his second Qilin Grass, Zhang Yuan left home and saw Gold Sand Gang tearing down the outer city to fortify the inner city.
• Zhang Yuan entered the crowded inner city and saw its walls armed with heavy crossbows and catapults.
• Fan Tai told Zhang Yuan that the Great River Gang, the Hongmin, and the Wuqi Tribe would attack in two days, and that he had requested aid from Xia Ruins.
• Fan Tai offered Zhang Yuan a five-hundred-year Qilin Grass if he stayed to defend the island, but Zhang Yuan said he preferred to hunt in the open.
• Fan Tai gave Zhang Yuan the Qilin Grass and asked him to kill more barbarians.

Zhang Yuan prepared a new disguise for the coming battle over Gold Sand Island by taking the face and identity of a captured Wuqi warrior. He hid in his Reed Marshes stronghold to cultivate while the Three-Family Alliance Army approached, waiting for a better chance to act.

• Zhang Yuan ambushed Wuqi scouts, destroyed two warships, captured one, and left a young warrior alive long enough to learn that Yinshan Great Shaman would seek revenge.
• Zhang Yuan used the Soul-Devouring Mask to take the captive's face and appearance, then dressed as the Wuqi warrior.
• Zhang Yuan hid his ship and entered his secret stronghold in the Reed Marshes as the allied army approached Gold Sand Island.
• Zhang Yuan sensed that the Taotie Saber had grown more spiritual after absorbing Blood Fiend Qi from the slain barbarians, but he sheathed it rather than feed it more blood.
• Zhang Yuan ate a leaf of five-hundred-year-old Qilin Grass and began cultivating, intending to wait before entering the battle.