Recaps

Yang Ge persuaded Zhang Xuansu to back him in confronting the old monster, then reunited with Xiang Wudi, Yang Tiansheng, and Li Jincheng at Bright Summit. After learning Xiang Wudi had brought back potato and corn seeds from Luzon, Yang Ge offered to make him a Marquis in Great Wei.

• Yang Ge asked Zhang Xuansu to support his fight against the old monster, and Zhang agreed after hearing Yang Ge explain that he acted to protect everyone under heaven.
• Yang Ge arranged to meet Zhang Xuansu in Datong three days later, then flew to Bright Summit and reunited with Xiang Wudi, Yang Tiansheng, and Li Jincheng.
• Xiang Wudi described his voyage to Luzon, where he fought the Red-Haired Devils and returned with treasure.
• Yang Tiansheng revealed that he had reached the Grandmaster Realm, prompting Xiang Wudi and Li Jincheng to angrily roughhouse with him.
• Xiang Wudi told Yang Ge he had brought back potato and corn seeds, and Yang Ge excitedly offered to make him a Marquis in Great Wei.

Yang Ge welcomed Zhao Miao home, then reunited with Liu Mang’s family before traveling to Datong to assess the Tartar threat and study the Nine Border Garrisons’ defenses. He met Liu Tang’s Embroidered Uniform Guard officers and awaited his invited allies, ending with the arrival of Zhang Xuansu and Jiang Ping, the ninth-generation sect leader of Mount Hua.

• Yang Ge and Zhao Miao settled into his courtyard together, where they welcomed Liu Mang, Liu Deng-shi, and Little Guangzong.
• Yang Ge arrived at Datong and reunited with Liu Tang and the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers on the city wall.
• Liu Tang explained the Tartar threat and showed Yang Ge the Border Defense Map of the Nine Border Garrisons and their troop deployments.
• Yang Ge reasoned that the Tartars’ main attack might target somewhere other than Datong and told Liu Tang to continue his intelligence work.
• Zhang Xuansu and Jiang Ping arrived by sword light, and Zhang introduced Jiang as Mount Hua’s ninth-generation sect leader.

Yang Ge fought off the Tartar assault on the Great Wall while hoping to draw out the hidden old monster, but the enemy withdrew without revealing him. Afterward, Yang Ge learned that Lan Ying was heading to Datong and that the Tartar force attacking the wall had been only a fraction of the army, leaving the main force’s whereabouts uncertain.

• Yang Ge joined the defense at the Great Wall while Zhang Xuansu and Jiang Ping remained ready to ambush the old monster if he appeared.
• Yang Ge slaughtered Tartar troops at a breach, destroyed their nearby catapults, and killed a towering Return to the True warrior, but the old monster did not emerge.
• The Tartars withdrew after half an hour, and Yang Ge remained uneasy about the battle.
• Liu Tang told Yang Ge that the Sovereign had appointed Lan Ying General Who Conquers the Barbarians and sent him north to Datong.
• Liu Tang revealed that no more than seventy thousand Tartars had attacked the wall, and Yang Ge suspected the main force had gone elsewhere.

Yang Ge helped Ji Prefecture repel two fierce Tartar assaults, then met with Lan Ying after reinforcements arrived. He ordered Lan Ying to pursue the retreating Tartars and gather their scattered armies for a decisive battle intended to draw out the force directing them.

• Yang Ge reported that the Tartars had split into three armies totaling at least four hundred thousand troops, and urged the commanders to reinforce Ji Prefecture.
• Yang Ge flew to Taiyuan to bring Lan Ying, while Yu Guanhai arranged for troops from Datong, Xuanfu, and Shanxi to reinforce Ji Prefecture.
• When the Tartars attacked Ji Prefecture with heavy artillery, Yang Ge destroyed their cannons and helped the defenders withstand the assault.
• Bobei launched a second siege, but Zhou Fu's defenders held until fire oil drove the Tartars back, leaving both sides badly depleted.
• Lan Ying arrived with reinforcements, and Yang Ge ordered him to pursue the retreating Tartars and bring their other armies together for a decisive battle.

As the Tartars began retreating from the Northern Frontier, Yang Ge reunited with Shen Fa and Wang Dashi and prepared to join the pursuit beyond the pass. Leading fifty thousand troops, he shattered the Tartar rear guard with a single strike and continued after the fleeing main force.

• Yang Ge reunited with Shen Fa and Wang Dashi, who came to see him before his final campaign.
• After Zhou Fu reported that Bobei's main force was fleeing and thirty thousand infantry were covering its retreat, Yang Ge agreed to go with the army.
• Yang Ge allowed Wang Dashi to command ten thousand cavalry after warning him to protect his soldiers, and assigned Shen Fa to oversee the right wing.
• Yang Ge packed his textbooks, took the Cold Moon Saber, and was reunited with Erhei before marching north with fifty thousand troops.
• Yang Ge's enormous blade strike broke through the Tartar infantry's defenses and reshaped the mountain road, stunning the Great Wei soldiers.
• Yang Ge led the army in defeating the Tartar rear guard and pursued the fleeing main force into the night.

After the three Wei armies united to pursue the Tartars, Yang Ge ordered an attack at dawn and gave Xie Yu command of the Seven Guards Cavalry. When an aged voice called on Yang Ge to make peace, he put away his unfinished Pinyin Textbook and went out with the Cold Moon Saber to face it.

• At Liaodong Garrison, Jiang Kui received orders and rallied his soldiers to leave the fortress and seek revenge with reinforcements from Ji Prefecture Garrison.
• At Datong Garrison, Yu Guanhai received the General Who Conquers the Barbarians' dispatch, and Liu Tang volunteered to scout ahead as the army prepared to march.
• The three Wei armies joined forces near Three Gorges Pass, where the three Tartar armies had gathered with three hundred thousand soldiers.
• Yang Ge ordered Zhou Fu to act as commander and planned an all-out assault at dawn, assigning Xie Yu the Seven Guards Cavalry.
• Yang Ge told Shen Fa that he was waiting for the old monster, while Shen Fa acknowledged he could not dissuade Xie Yu from his course.
• An aged voice called for peace outside Yang Ge's tent, and Yang Ge put away his manuscript, took up the Cold Moon Saber, and went out as golden saber light rose through the night.

Yang Ge defeated the demon monk Yang Lianzhenga with help from Zhang Xuansu and Jiang Ping, then returned to the battlefield and helped the Great Wei army break the Tartars’ command line before collapsing. Three years later, he was teaching at Gezhi Academy while Zhao Miao, pregnant with their child, came to fetch him after class.

• Yang Ge and Yang Lianzhenga fought fiercely until Yang Ge’s allies blocked the monk’s escape and Yang Ge struck him with his new move, End the War; Yang Lianzhenga detonated and died.
• Jiang Ping identified the dead monk as Yang Lianzhenga, and Zhang Xuansu gave the badly injured Yang Ge Great Restoration Pills.
• Yang Tiansheng led sixty-one riders, including the returning Eastern Expedition companions, into the Tartar army and advanced toward its command banner.
• Yang Ge returned to the battlefield on Erhei and cut down the Tartar soldiers surrounding the command banner, then collapsed after Yang Tiansheng angrily shook him.
• Three years later, Zhao Miao visited Yang Ge at Gezhi Academy and found him teaching children after class had ended.

Xiaolou thanked readers and editors after finishing the book, explained why he shortened its original six-volume plan, and reflected on Yang Erlang’s ending and his own immersive writing process. He planned to rest before preparing a lighter new book, though he was uncertain when it would appear or how many more books he could write.

• Xiaolou reported that the book finished with 16,000 subscriptions and thanked readers, editors, and himself for reaching that milestone.
• Xiaolou explained that feedback about his previous protagonists’ oppressive endings led him to cut the planned six-volume outline and give important characters better outcomes.
• Xiaolou said Yang Erlang could protect the people he cared about and live peacefully, while the book’s themes of friendship, ideals, and reconciliation reached satisfying conclusions.
• Xiaolou described how immersion shaped his writing and led him to develop Zhao Miao’s relationship with Yang Erlang through companionship.
• Xiaolou planned to rest for two months and prepare a lighter new book, but admitted that its release and his future writing remained uncertain.