Chapter Summaries

Wen Tiancheng established his authority by defeating two challengers in life-and-death duels, with Wenlong secretly helping him in the first fight. As the Huaxia Sect prepared for its founding ceremony and the village enjoyed a prosperous New Year, Wenlong resolved to grow strong enough to face the dangers ahead.

• Wenlong urged Wen Tiancheng to challenge his opponents to life-and-death duels, and Wen Tiancheng signed an agreement with a hulking man.
• Wen Tiancheng fought the hulking man while Wenlong secretly struck him with a Shadowless Needle, allowing Wen Tiancheng to kill him.
• A man in black signed a second agreement and attacked Wen Tiancheng with a broadsword, but Wen Tiancheng cut through the weapon and killed him with his black blade.
• The Huaxia Sect celebrated Wen Tiancheng's growing prestige as craftsmen completed the dragon pillars and plaque for the sect's founding ceremony.
• Wenlong stayed home to care for his pregnant mother while villagers and disciples enjoyed a comfortable New Year.
• Wenlong reflected on the dangers of their society and vowed that his many advantages would let him defy Heaven.

Wenlong celebrated the founding of the Huaxia Sect and welcomed his newborn brother, whom he named Wen Yuan. He then organized the sect’s rules and recruitment, which rapidly expanded its disciples and slave population.

• Wen Tiancheng unveiled the Huaxia Sect’s gate and Coiling Dragon Pillar, officially establishing the sect and appointing its elders.
• Wenlong hurried home from the celebration and welcomed his newborn brother alongside his relieved and joyful family.
• At the baby’s one-month celebration, Wenlong teased his parents about their proposed name and suggested Wen Yuan, which they accepted.
• Wenlong established rules for the Huaxia Sect and ordered recruitment notices posted in Brightlight City, with Kai members to be detained and sent to the Slave Camp.
• Wenlong entered the Secret Passage to practice martial arts and study medicine while the sect began selecting young disciples.
• Wen Tian'gang accepted more applicants than planned, raising the disciple count above five hundred, while Shitou’s hunts increased the slave population to over six hundred.

Wenlong directed the Huaxia Sect to defeat and kill three challengers who came to test its strength. At a meeting the next day, the Wen clan turned to Wenlong again for ideas about handling its growing population and grain consumption, and he urged them to think for themselves.

• Wen Tiancheng hurried to the sect gates after the Security Squad reported that more than a hundred challengers had arrived.
• Wenlong signaled Shitou to kill, and Shitou cut down the first challenger with one saber stroke.
• Wenlong gave Daniu the same signal, and Daniu beheaded the spear-wielding challenger.
• Wen Tiancheng dodged the burly leader's attack and severed his head, impressing the Huaxia Sect's disciples.
• At the next meeting, Shitou reported on the Security Squad and Wen Tiancheng raised concerns about grain supplies as the population grew.
• Wenlong said the clan needed to develop its own solutions instead of relying on him, while Wen Tiancheng privately took comfort in the whole clan sharing that dependence.

Wenlong established Huaxia Sect’s ranks, halls, uniforms, and business plans, then led the younger Wen members to test their skills against a Kai party. After Shitou’s successful ambush, Wenlong set his sights on attacking Wan Family Town and repaying the Kai for the Wen’s blood debt.

• Wenlong outlined Huaxia Sect’s badges, clothing ranks, halls, construction plans, and expansion of its workshops and trade.
• Shitou’s scout reported that a Kai party was approaching from Brightlight City, and Wenlong ordered Shitou to ambush them with the Security Squad.
• Shitou’s forces attacked the Kai from wooded hills with crossbows, killing several dozen and capturing nearly a hundred survivors.
• Wenlong praised Shitou and the younger Wen members for their clean victory, then planned a surprise attack on Wan Family Town.

Wenlong helped the Wen prepare for further conflict with the Kai while the Huaxia Sect’s businesses grew through He Da’s partnership. After He Da asked the sect to help his family replace the city lord, Wenlong argued that the alliance would give the Wen a friendly City Lord’s Residence and room to grow.

• Wenlong planned attacks on Wan Family Town, raided the Kai for wealth, and left scouts to watch the remaining clansmen as many Kai fled.
• Shitou brought the youths back to train, while the Wen expanded trade and Wenlong proposed selling weapons and medicines made by the Manufacturing Hall and Pill Hall.
• He Da’s frequent visits brought trade to the Huaxia Sect, and he asked Wen Tiancheng to accept his eleven-year-old son as a disciple.
• He Da revealed that the City Lord’s Residence had sent challengers against the Huaxia Sect and asked the sect to help his family replace the city lord in exchange for twice its current tax payment.
• At the elders’ meeting, Wenlong first angered Wen Tiancheng with a careless retort, then argued that the Wen should help the He Family secure a friendly City Lord’s Residence.

Wenlong persuaded Wen Tiancheng to support the He Family by sending Daniu and Wenzhu to protect He Da and Wen Tie to gather intelligence in Brightlight City. Daniu swiftly humbled a He Family Attendant who challenged him, while Wen Tie prepared for his own mission under the protection of selected companions.

• Wenlong convinced Wen Tiancheng to send Daniu and Wenzhu to protect He Da and Wen Tie to Brightlight City to gather information.
• Wenlong stayed close to his mother to avoid Wen Tiancheng's anger, then trained Wen Tie and reminded him to act cautiously.
• Wen Tiancheng met He Da at the Huaxia Sect and agreed to cooperate, assigning Daniu and Wenzhu to protect him.
• A He Family Attendant challenged Daniu, who pinned the man with his saber before he could land a blow.
• Wen Tiancheng selected three companions to accompany Wen Tie and told them to protect him as he gained experience.

Wenlong prepared a covert strike with the He Family to seize Brightlight City, insisting that the Huaxia Sect's role remain secret. Before the attack began, he infiltrated the City Lord's Residence and looted its Treasure Vault, leaving some silver for the He Family.

• Wen Tie set out for Brightlight City with three companions, determined to repay those who had bullied him as long as it did not interfere with their mission.
• Wenlong planned the Wen family's territorial development and ordered Shitou to lead fifty youths into Brightlight City in separate groups with crossbows and defensive gear.
• Wenlong told Shitou and the He Family that the strike team must leave no witnesses who could identify them, and explained that the Huaxia Sect could not risk being seen as bandits.
• He Da agreed to keep the City Guards under control while Wenlong's people eliminated the commanders, after which the masked fighters would withdraw and deny having been there.
• Wenlong used Shadow Step to enter the City Lord's Residence, found its Treasure Vault, and took its valuables and gold while leaving some silver for the He Family.

Wenlong returned from a successful raid on Brightlight City and resumed training while Huaxia City expanded. After learning that the Kai Lineage planned to flee Wan Family Town, Wenlong ordered preparations for a campaign to avenge his family.

• Wenlong killed the City Lord and helped his squad escape Brightlight City without casualties.
• Wenlong rested, then returned to the Secret Passage to practice martial arts and study medicine as construction began on Huaxia City.
• Shitou reported that the Kai Lineage had lost more than half its members and planned to leave Wan Family Town after the New Year.
• Wenlong reassured Wen Tiancheng that the Kai Lineage would not escape because scouts were tracking them.
• Wenlong ordered Shitou to form a Combat Force of at least five hundred people and told Wen Tiancheng to arrange for more than five hundred Crossbows and twenty thousand Crossbow Bolts.

Wenlong prepared the Wen clan and the Huaxia Sect to protect their secret formulas and respond to the Kai clan’s suspicious movements. When the Kai clan gathered in Wan Family Town, Wenlong launched a surprise attack and drove its members toward ambushes, leaving the battle underway.

• Wenlong gave Wen Tiancheng plans for a guarded formula room and a trusted group of alchemists, then gave Linzi's mother formulas to develop and ordered He Da to search for sulfur.
• After the harvest, a scout reported that the Kai clan was secretly gathering, so Wenlong assembled the Wen clan and sect forces and ordered them to spare noncombatants.
• Wenlong and Shitou devised a plan to provoke the Kai clan members in Wan Family Town into fleeing toward ambushes at the town’s exits.
• Wenlong led six fighters into Wan Family Town at night and attacked sleeping Kai clan men with darts, triggering chaos and scattering the clan.
• Shitou’s squads repelled Kai clan members at the exits with crossbow volleys, while Wenlong ordered his forces to funnel them toward one route and continued attacking those who resisted.

Wenlong’s forces defeated the Kai at Wan Family Town and captured most of them, but he opposed his family’s plan to kill the prisoners as sacrifices. When the elders refused to reconsider, Wenlong threatened to leave with his mother and younger siblings and return everything in the Secret Passage.

• Wenlong and Shitou drove the fleeing Kai into an encirclement, where the fighters killed those who resisted and bound the survivors.
• Wenlong returned to Wan Family Town, ordered the wounded treated and the battlefield cleared, then learned the Kai elders had been found dead.
• The Wen Lineage celebrated its revenge and honored its dead at the Grandmother Shrine Hall and Ancestral Hall.
• Wenlong opposed his father and the elders’ plan to kill the Kai prisoners as sacrifices, arguing that further slaughter would perpetuate the feud.
• When the elders remained set on killing the prisoners, Wenlong said he would leave with his mother and younger siblings and return everything in the Secret Passage.

Wenlong and Wen Tiancheng clashed over how to treat their defeated enemies, and Wenlong withdrew to cultivate while Wen Tiancheng went into seclusion and appointed Shitou Acting Huaxia Sect Master. Shitou organized the clan and its captives, while Wenlong continued searching for Qi Induction and wondered whether spiritual energy existed in the world.

• Wenlong argued that killing powerless enemies would destroy the Wen's standing, then left the Council Hall to cultivate in the Secret Passage.
• Shitou explained Wenlong's plans for protecting the Huaxia Sect's reputation and the Wen lineage, leaving Wen Tiancheng ashamed and prompting him to appoint Shitou Acting Huaxia Sect Master.
• Wen Tiancheng went into secluded cultivation, and the clan elders accepted Shitou's leadership and summoned him to a sect meeting.
• Shitou organized the Kai captives, assigned duties across the sect and city, and punished the teams of children who tried to escape before offering better-behaved slaves small favors.
• Wenlong failed to achieve Qi Induction despite sensing changes in his body and questioned whether the world had spiritual energy, since he could find no records of immortals on the continent.

Wenlong descended into a hidden spring-filled valley, where he found signs of ancient human activity and settled in to rest. His peace ended when a glowing wolf attacked him, while his family feared he had not returned from seclusion.

• Wenlong collected spirit water for his little brother and began climbing down the cliff on its vines.
• Wen Tiancheng's wife activated Wenlong's alarm after he failed to return, then fainted from worry when the stone door stayed shut.
• Wenlong reached a warm, lush valley beneath the snowy mountains, found old traces of human activity, and made a shelter.
• Wenlong rested in the valley and considered his ancestor's records about immortals and the unknown.
• A huge glowing wolf emerged from the woods and lunged at Wenlong, who dodged and counterattacked with his dagger.

Wenlong returned to Wen Family Village after hearing that his mother was dying and saved her with spirit water. As she recovered, he stayed by her side and resolved to leave home for experience more often so his absences would not hurt her as much.

• Wenlong defeated the wolf in the sinkhole and decided to return home after several carefree days.
• Wen Tiancheng and the family grieved as Long'er's mother grew weaker, while Linzi's mother could not make the Life-Extending Pill without all the herbs.
• Shitou rang the emergency bell and told Wenlong that his mother was dying, so Wenlong rushed to the village using Shadow Step.
• Wenlong fed his mother spirit water, and her complexion and breathing improved until she could wake and eat.
• Wenlong gave his mother the remaining spirit water, stayed by her as she recovered, and decided to visit home more often in the future.

Wenlong left to temper himself in White Cloud Mountain, where he fought bears and a cheetah while gathering medicinal herbs. After entering a mysterious glowing mist, he was attacked by an unseen opponent whose fierce blows overwhelmed him.

• Wenlong inspected the Huaxia Sect and Huaxia City, gave Shitou a copy of The Art of War, and prepared to leave.
• Wenlong used the search for ingredients for the Life-Extending Pill as an excuse to leave home and set out into White Cloud Mountain.
• Wenlong fought a female black bear for experience, escaped when exhausted, and later fled from two bears before training against lone bears.
• Wenlong killed an adult male black bear and stored it in his space, then continued deeper into the forest and gathered medicinal herbs.
• Wenlong evaded a cheetah's ambush, fought it until it fled, and then entered an eerie glowing mist.
• Wenlong sensed an attacker in the mist and struggled to block its fierce strikes.

Wenlong gathered the ingredients for the Life-Extending Pill by defeating a lone adult male tiger after escaping a family of four. He left the mountains, reached a town, and bought a white horse to begin his journey back.

• Wenlong escaped a mist that had caused him to hallucinate and continued gathering medicinal herbs, including the blood lingzhi.
• After hearing a tiger roar, Wenlong found a family of four tigers and fled rather than fight them.
• Wenlong changed his plan, set up a temporary camp, and searched for a tiger alone.
• Wenlong followed a lone adult male tiger, climbed onto its back, stabbed its eye and throat, and killed it.
• Wenlong stored the tiger and, having gathered all the ingredients for the Life-Extending Pill, left the mountains and rested at an inn in town.
• Wenlong bought a white horse at the market, and the inn attendant quietly warned him to be careful before leaving.

Wenlong fought off repeated groups of bandits on his journey to Huaxia City, then urged the Huaxia Sect to protect the region. Shitou adopted the name Wen Ji, and the sect began planning a paid expedition to eradicate nearby bandits.

• Wenlong cut down the hands of three men who tried to steal his white horse and rode away after maiming their leader.
• Wenlong charged into a group of roadblock bandits, defeated them, and warned their leader not to commit evil again.
• Wenlong reached Huaxia City, spoke with Wen Tiancheng, and went to the Huaxia Sect to find Shitou.
• Wenlong suggested Shitou take the more dignified name Wen Ji, and Shitou and the grand elder agreed.
• Wenlong proposed that the Huaxia Sect eliminate the bandits surrounding the city, and Wen Ji approved a paid expedition after the elders and administrators discussed the plan.

Wenlong refined Life-Extending Pills that restored his grandmother’s youth, then presented rules for distributing the scarce pills and proposed reforms for the Wen clan. The clan accepted his suggestions, and Wenlong turned his attention to strengthening the Huaxia Sect while seeking a way to earn his mother’s trust and freedom.

• Wenlong began refining Life-Extending Pills with the clan’s healers, and after a dangerous first attempt he successfully produced twenty pills.
• Wenlong’s grandmother took a Life-Extending Pill and regained her black hair, smooth skin, and upright posture, while Huang Jinlian failed to recognize her.
• Wenlong proposed reserving the pills for clan members who made great contributions or faced grave danger, and the clan members agreed.
• Wenlong proposed that clan members marry at eighteen or older, encourage husbands to join the Wen clan, and distribute Treasure Vault wealth as rewards for contributions; the clan adopted his suggestions.
• Wenlong planned to help the Huaxia Sect grow stronger while easing his mother into letting him venture out and temper himself.

Wenlong and Wen Ji held a martial tournament to select talent for the Huaxia Sect’s Special Training Class, then expanded the Sect’s inner ranks and tightened its oversight. After Sun Hao exposed a disciple abusing the Sect’s name in Brightlight City, Wen Ji punished the offenders and established new safeguards.

• Wenlong proposed a martial tournament, and Wen Ji announced that the top twenty would enter the Special Training Class while the top three would be recorded on the Honor Stele.
• Lin Yu, Zhao Xuan, and Sun Hao reached the tournament final, where Zhao Xuan won first place, Sun Hao second, and Lin Yu third.
• Wenlong added improvement awards, while Wen Tiancheng appointed Shitou’s mother, Daniu’s mother, and Ninth Uncle as elders to oversee new inner disciples and peaks.
• Wen Ji sent Sun Hao and Law Enforcement Hall elites to Brightlight City, where they caught a third-year disciple forcing merchants to trade and oppressing the people in the Sect’s name.
• Wen Ji expelled and crippled the corrupt disciple, punished the local tyrant, and established public reporting stations while strengthening the disciples’ moral education.

Huaxia City and the Huaxia Sect prospered as new residents and disciples arrived, but an approaching army of roughly five thousand men forced the Wen clan to prepare for a confrontation. The army halted outside the city after claiming that a prince wanted to visit, and Wen Tiancheng refused entry to the troops.

• Huaxia Sect recruited two hundred new disciples, and Wen Ji accepted a determined boy from a remote mountain village as a probationary disciple.
• Wen Wangcai alerted Wenlong that roughly five thousand armed men were approaching Huaxia City, and Wenlong hurried to the sect.
• Wen Ji reassembled the original five-hundred-strong Action Squad, while Wen Tiancheng gathered the sect's elders and managers to plan their response.
• Wenlong and the masked youths joined the defenders on Huaxia City's walls as Wen Tiancheng ordered them to aim their bows at the approaching army.
• A messenger said the prince intended to enter Huaxia City and visit the Huaxia Sect's sect master, but Wen Tiancheng replied that the prince could come alone and the troops could not enter.

Wenlong blocked Sima Lai’s army from entering Huaxia City and allowed the third prince to visit the Huaxia Sect with only his attendants. At the Sect, a life-and-death martial contest began, and after Wen Daniu narrowly killed a general, Zhao Xuan stepped forward to face the prince’s swordsman.

• Wenlong threatened the prince’s messenger and stopped an opposing soldier from shooting down the Mighty Dragon Banner, then made Sima Lai keep his army outside the city.
• Wen Tiancheng opened the gates after the army withdrew to camp, while Wenlong proposed raising an army to protect Huaxia City.
• At the Huaxia Sect, Wenlong urged the First Grand Elder to establish their authority, and the elder agreed to a life-and-death contest.
• Wen Daniu fought a general and killed him after Wenlong secretly struck the general with a Shadow Needle.
• A swordsman from Sima Lai’s entourage signed up for another duel, and Zhao Xuan stepped forward to face him.