Chapter Summaries

Yang Ge brought Zhao Miao home to visit the gravely ill Old Shopkeeper, then prepared a reunion dinner surrounded by family. As they shared the meal, Liu Degui peacefully died with his loved ones beside him.

• Yang Ge checked the Old Shopkeeper and kept him indoors, then promised to fetch Zhao Miao and cook him sizzling pork kidney.
• Yang Ge flew to Luoyang and returned with Zhao Miao a little over two hours later.
• Yang Ge cooked a reunion dinner, and the Old Shopkeeper praised his sizzling pork kidney as the family gathered around the table.
• Yang Ge and Liu Mang discussed the grain market and possible news from Fang Ke while the family ate.
• Liu Degui stopped responding during dinner, and Yang Ge and the family realized he had died peacefully among them.

As Liu Degui’s funeral drew Road Pavilion’s residents and powerful figures together, Yang Ge struggled with his grief and rejected attempts to draw him back into politics. The chapter ended when news arrived that Yang Zaixian and thirty-two Southwest chieftains had rebelled, prompting Yang Ge to order Zhao Hong, Shen Fa, and Nangong Feiying out.

• Road Pavilion residents gathered at the Old Liu Family home for Liu Degui’s funeral, while Yang Ge remembered how the Old Shopkeeper had welcomed him seven years earlier.
• Zhao Miao stayed beside Yang Ge as he mourned, and Tang Xiong arrived with an Imperial Edict granting Liu Degui a hereditary viscount title and full funeral honors.
• Tang Xiong told Yang Ge that the Sovereign was coming, but Yang Ge ordered him to turn back and leave Road Pavilion’s affairs alone.
• Zhao Hong, Shen Fa, and Nangong Feiying arrived in disguise to pay their respects, and Yang Ge allowed them to offer incense and kowtow.
• Flea reported that Yang Zaixian had raised troops in rebellion and that thirty-two Southwest chieftains supported him; Yang Ge told Zhao Hong, Shen Fa, and Nangong Feiying to leave at once.

After Old Shopkeeper’s death, Yang Ge urged the rebel chieftain Yang Zaixian to remember why he had risen and protect the people, while Zhao Miao accepted that Yang Ge would not help her family without seeing them prove themselves. As the Court prepared a major campaign in the Southwest, Yang Ge and his friends worried the Tartars might exploit the war, and Yang Ge left open whether he would support the Zhao family or let them be replaced.

• Yang Ge asked Flea to tell Yang Zaixian to rebel properly and avoid harming the people, and Flea promised to pass on the message and watch the chieftain.
• Zhao Miao told Yang Ge she understood his position and accepted him as her fate.
• Yang Ge and the mourners buried Old Shopkeeper, while Little Yellow mourned the old man who had always brought it an egg.
• Yang Ge, Yang Tiansheng, and Li Jincheng discussed the Court’s announced 400,000-man campaign and the possibility that the Grasslands might unite and invade while the Court was occupied in the Southwest.
• Yang Ge said he would wait to see whether the Zhao family could rise to the occasion, and that he would help them once more if they could; otherwise, he would accept replacing them.
• Zhao Miao called the men to dinner, and Yang Ge eagerly followed her while Yang Tiansheng and Li Jincheng teased him.

The Gold Envoy of Tower Beyond Towers visited Yang Zaixian to deliver Yang Erlang’s warning that the Southwest rebellion must punish its true oppressors and spare ordinary people. Yang Zaixian resolved to summon the lineage chiefs, while Deng Wuxie decided he had to leave the doomed rebellion.

• The Gold Envoy entered Yang Zaixian’s room, displayed his skill to stop the guards, and summoned Deng Wuxie to join their conversation.
• The Gold Envoy told Yang Zaixian that Yang Erlang expected him to control the rebellion and punish chieftains who harmed common people, warning that Tower Beyond Towers was watching him.
• Deng Wuxie explained Tower Beyond Towers’ reach and warned Yang Zaixian against trying to use Yang Erlang as a weapon, comparing the gap between Yang Erlang and himself to the gap between Yang Zaixian and Great Wei’s entire court.
• Yang Zaixian abandoned the idea of recruiting Yang Erlang, thanked Deng Wuxie for his warning, and ordered that all the lineage chiefs be invited to a banquet.
• Deng Wuxie privately decided to leave the rebellion before it led him into disaster.

Yang Ge emerged from his grief when a famine-stricken mother and son arrived at the inn, then learned that grain prices remained high across the provinces despite the Court’s efforts. After condemning the Court’s failure to relieve the people, he ordered his ceremonial regalia brought to him and prepared to go to the capital.

• Xiao Baoqi worried that Yang Ge had lost his spirit after Old Shopkeeper’s death, while Zhao Miao said he was still finding his way forward.
• Zhao Miao welcomed a hungry mother and son from Zhangde and served them rice; Yang Ge asked about the famine and promised to help them settle in Road Pavilion.
• Yang Ge learned that grain prices in the provinces remained elevated and summoned Fang Ke to explain the situation at Court.
• Fang Ke described the Court’s severe grain shortages and the ministers obstructing the Sovereign, but Yang Ge argued that hungry people could not wait for relief.
• Yang Ge ordered Fang Ke to bring his Duke of Road Pavilion regalia and assemble men to accompany him to the capital.

Zhao Hong agreed to let Yang Ge investigate the soaring grain prices, while Shen Fa and Nangong Feiying tried to limit the coming bloodshed. After arriving in Luoyang, Yang Ge killed Minister of Revenue Meng Ziqian and demanded the whereabouts of Vice Minister Jin Zhihua.

• Zhao Hong learned that Yang Ge was entering the capital and, after hearing Shen Fa and Nangong Feiying's warnings, agreed to welcome him and appoint him Investigating Censor over the grain-price crisis.
• Nangong Feiying welcomed Yang Ge outside Luoyang, but Yang Ge immediately demanded to know where Minister of Revenue Meng Ziqian was hiding.
• Nangong Feiying led Yang Ge and his riders to Meng Ziqian's hideout, where Embroidered Uniform Guards seized the minister.
• Yang Ge beheaded Meng Ziqian despite his plea to redeem himself by persuading powerful families to release grain.
• Yang Ge asked Nangong Feiying where Vice Minister of Revenue Jin Zhihua was, and Nangong Feiying grabbed his saber arm and begged him to stop charging ahead.

Yang Ge launched a brutal purge of corrupt officials and the Prince of Wu, while Nangong Feiying regained his resolve and joined him. As rebel troops entered the capital, Emperor Zhao Hong learned that Yang Ge was pursuing them alone and cutting them down.

• Nangong Feiying led Yang Ge to the Moon-Inviting House, then denounced the Prince of Wu and ordered the city gates and districts sealed.
• Yang Ge identified Jin Zhihua among the officials at the brothel and killed him and the other officials there, then rode to find Wen Renjian.
• Yang Ge killed Wen Renjian, other officials, the Prince of Wu, and guards at their residences before his force was ambushed and wiped out at the Marquis of Guangde's Residence.
• Emperor Zhao Hong received reports of Yang Ge's killings and learned that Xiao Siyi had opened the Upper East Gate to the Five Guards of the Prefectural Army.
• Zhao Hong sent Tang Xiong to the Upper East Gate and rebuked Shen Fa for failing to detect the conspiracy.
• Tang Xiong returned and reported that Yang Ge was chasing twenty or thirty thousand rebels alone and cutting them down.

Yang Ge crushed the Imperial Guard rebellion at Upper East Gate and began a sweeping purge of officials he blamed for the grain famine. By dawn, executions and arrests had left the capital’s court terrified, with Yang Ge preparing for the next stage of his crackdown.

• In the imperial study, Tang Xiong described Yang Erlang as an unprecedented, unrestricted martial genius, and Wang Jiangling declared that sharing an age with him was a blessing.
• Yang Ge defeated the Imperial Guards at Upper East Gate, forced them to surrender, and ordered Nangong Feiying’s forces to secure the battlefield.
• Yang Ge ordered arrests across the court, demanded files on officials implicated in rising grain prices, and summoned every capital official to the next morning’s grand court assembly.
• Yang Ge and Nangong Feiying agreed to work together, and Western Factory agents and Feathered Forest Guards spread through the capital to carry out his orders.
• At the Western Surveillance Bureau, Yang Ge ordered the beheading of several senior officials and sent Nangong Feiying to arrest Shen Shi.
• Officials across the capital spent the night in fear as Yang Ge’s purge continued, while ordinary people slept through the night.

Yang Ge executed more than twenty officials and gave the rest half a month to bring grain prices under control, while Zhao Hong used the killings to consolidate his authority at court. Yang Ge then asked Nangong Feiying to help spare the families of Southwest chieftains and arrange for the chieftains to die fighting at the Northern Frontier, explaining that he did not feel burdened by helping others.

• Yang Ge ordered more than twenty officials beheaded and warned the surviving ministers to normalize grain prices within half a month.
• Zhao Hong addressed the court after Yang Ge left, claimed credit for protecting the ministers, and took control of appointing the next Minister of Revenue.
• Yang Ge told Nangong Feiying to distribute the executed officials’ case files and asked about the campaign in the Southwest.
• Yang Ge asked that corrupt Southwest officials be handed over to him and that the chieftains be given a chance to die fighting at the Northern Frontier while their families were spared.
• Nangong Feiying reluctantly agreed to petition Zhao Hong, and Yang Ge said helping others did not feel like hardship.

Yang Ge reflected on the soldiers killed while stopping the mutiny and told Zhao Hong that the emperor had to handle the remaining court reforms. He offered to help for another half month and urged Zhao Hong to make a decision about the Southwest chieftains before the chapter ended with their policy dispute unresolved.

• Fang Ke arrived in the Capital City, heard conflicting rumors about Yang Ge's actions, and learned that Yang Ge was at the Western Surveillance Bureau.
• Yang Ge ordered the files on corrupt officials returned to them, explaining to Nangong Feiying that he wanted them to fix the grain crisis and leave the remaining punishments to the emperor.
• Yang Ge mourned the thousands of soldiers killed under his blade and declined Nangong Feiying's suggestion that he retreat to the Eastern Isles, saying he planned to return home and farm.
• Zhao Hong visited Yang Ge at the Western Surveillance Bureau, and Yang Ge told him to inspect the files and gradually replace the corrupt officials while he remained in the capital for half a month.
• Zhao Hong questioned Yang Ge's proposal to offer the Southwest chieftains a way out, but Yang Ge argued that prolonged conflict there would drain resources needed against a possible Tartar invasion.

Yang Ge’s intervention brought grain prices back down across the Fourteen Provinces, and he left Capital City after the half-month deadline. In the Southwest, a Tower Beyond Towers envoy urged Yang Zaixian to surrender to Second Master, but agreed to delay the message so Yang Zaixian could attempt a final victory first.

• Junior officials cleared grain routes and forced grain prices down, bringing relief to the common people across the Fourteen Provinces.
• Yang Ge stayed in the Western Factory compound while Zhao Hong reorganized the Imperial Guards and officials worked to stabilize grain prices.
• After reports confirmed that grain prices had fallen, Yang Ge left Capital City with Fang Ke and the others.
• The Gold Envoy visited Yang Zaixian, whose eight thousand troops were surrounded, and offered the generals a path to surrender while protecting their families.
• Yang Zaixian agreed to attempt a planned reversal within ten days before considering surrender, and promised that Second Master's word would carry great weight in the Southwestern Three Provinces.
• The Gold Envoy urged Yang Zaixian to demonstrate his respect for Second Master through concrete action, citing the Erlang Temples in Jiangzhe.

Yang Ge left Fang Ke and the Welcome Inn behind and traveled home, where familiar sights and memories eased his grief. He reached his childhood courtyard and met a boy named Yang Erchui, then decided to wait for the boy’s parents.

• Yang Ge changed out of his python robe, told Fang Ke to return to the city, and flew south while Fang Ke watched him go.
• Yang Ge followed the Yangtze upstream, recognized Ten-Yuan Note, and reached Linjiang, where he ate yin rice porridge and wandered through the old town.
• Yang Ge found the slopes and trail near his childhood home, remembered his family and youth, and walked toward the courtyard.
• Yang Ge met a herdboy at the courtyard gate, gave him a pastry, and learned his name was Yang Erchui.
• Yang Ge told Yang Erchui not to accept food from strangers, called himself the boy’s big brother, and asked him to bring a chair while he waited for the boy’s parents.

Yang Ge settled into village life, built his courtyard with his extraordinary strength, and then learned that Yang Zaixian had defeated the Court’s troops in Guizhou. He confronted the Gold Envoy and Yang Zaixian, sparing the envoy but ordering Yang Zaixian to remain on the Northern Frontier for life.

• Yang Ge leveled a large foundation overnight, showed Yang Dashan his strength, and offered to help renovate the Yang family’s courtyard.
• Yang Ge built his own house and Yang Dashan’s courtyard, then went into Linjiang County after his neighbor urged him to find work or buy land.
• Yang Ge overheard scholars discussing Yang Zaixian’s victory over the Court’s army and flew to the rebel camp in Guizhou.
• Yang Ge struck the Gold Envoy for disobeying his order to end the fighting, and the envoy explained that he had let Yang Zaixian negotiate and resist the Court to protect his troops.
• Yang Zaixian accepted responsibility for the decision, and Yang Ge spared the Gold Envoy but ordered Yang Zaixian to remain on the Northern Frontier for the rest of his life.

Lei Heng and Liu Meng learned that the Tartars and Oirat had united to invade south, while Zhao Hong received reports about the Duke of Road Pavilion and the threat to the passes. The chapter ended with Zhao Hong summoning Shen Fa to explain the Northern Frontier’s defenses.

• Lei Heng and Liu Meng saw more than two hundred thousand Tartar troops gathering and decided the grassland tribes had chosen to raid south for survival.
• Lei Heng told Liu Meng to take their mountain brothers inside the pass and warn their second brother, while he planned to lead thirty thousand Eastern Isles Auxiliary Army troops into the grasslands so they would not join the Tartars.
• Nangong Feiying demonstrated his martial skill for Zhao Hong, and Tang Xiong revealed that he ranked among the strongest experts in the Inner Court Three Offices.
• Nangong Feiying reported that the Duke of Road Pavilion had reprimanded Yang Zaixian and warned Zhao Hong against using the Liu Family to persuade the duke to stay near the capital.
• Nangong Feiying reported that the Tartars and Oirat had united and were preparing to attack the passes, explaining that the snow disaster had driven them south and that the Duke had predicted the invasion.
• Zhao Hong ordered the Junior Eunuch to summon Shen Fa so he could learn about the Northern Frontier’s defenses.

Yang Ge returned to the Welcome Inn, reunited with Zhao Miao, and appointed Xun Shi to take charge of the inn. After hearing reports about Emperor Xiping’s suspected murder and a massive Tartar-Oirat invasion, Yang Ge prepared to make his old home a confidential base, but remained uncertain how to defeat the Tartar Earthly Immortal.

• Yang Ge finished renovating his courtyard and returned to the Welcome Inn, where Zhao Miao embraced him and Little Yellow greeted him.
• Yang Ge warned Xiao Baoqi to tell Tang Qing that the Eastern Isles could not become an independent country, and told Flea and Hooligan to pass messages to their respective leaders.
• Yang Ge asked Xun Shi to take over the Welcome Inn, and Xun Shi accepted the responsibility.
• Flea reported that Cheng Dingjiang might have been involved in Emperor Xiping’s death, and Yang Ge ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s Shen Fa to verify the accusation.
• Flea reported that more than two hundred thousand Tartars and Oirats were marching toward Datong, and Yang Ge asked him to establish a confidential outpost near his old home in Linjiang County.
• Yang Ge considered that defeating the invading army would require him to overcome its Earthly Immortal, a foe he believed he could at best fight to a draw without risking his life.

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.