Chapter Summaries

Dituo'er’s Western Liang cavalry was ravaged by Bloodthirsty Poison Bats and led in circles through the mountain paths, costing them many men. After finding their way out, Dituo'er rallied the survivors and pursued the Great Chen ambushers, while Fang Yizhi watched the cavalry approach the road to Lanzhou.

• Bloodthirsty Poison Bats attacked the Western Liang cavalry, scattering the riders and killing many with bites, ravines, traps, and miasma.
• Dituo'er gathered the survivors and ordered them down the wider fork, but Hanisha repeatedly led the army back around the same mountain.
• Dituo'er struck Hanisha after realizing the abandoned armor and clothing marked the same ground they had already crossed.
• Dituo'er cleared the boulders, saw the mountain paths clearly, and blamed a Great Chen Magic Array for the army’s disorientation.
• Dituo'er rallied fewer than three thousand remaining riders and led them down the mountain in pursuit of the Great Chen ambushers.
• Fang Yizhi watched from a cliff as the Western Liang Cavalry advanced toward the road to Lanzhou, unsure whether reinforcements would arrive in time.

Fang Yizhi and a small force of Great Chen soldiers held off Dituo'er’s Western Liang Cavalry at Dragon Pool Ravine until Duan Ping arrived with reinforcements, though nearly all the defenders died. After awakening from seven days unconscious, Fang Yizhi asked that the fallen soldiers receive recognition, while a middle-aged man could only temporarily suppress the strange Blazing Yang True Qi afflicting him.

• Dituo'er led the Western Liang Cavalry into Dragon Pool Ravine, where Fang Yizhi’s troops unleashed bombs, boulders, logs, and spears in an ambush.
• Fang Yizhi and his soldiers fought the Western Liang force for two days and a night, and Lu Xiaoliu died after killing many enemy riders.
• Duan Ping arrived with ten thousand reinforcements, forcing Dituo'er and the surviving Western Liang Cavalry to flee.
• Duan Ping’s men found twelve surviving defenders and carried them, including the wounded Fang Yizhi, back to Lanzhou City.
• After waking seven days later, Fang Yizhi asked the middle-aged visitor to seek recognition for his fallen soldiers rather than reward him.
• The middle-aged man eased Fang Yizhi’s pain with his True Qi but said he could only temporarily suppress the Blazing Yang True Qi in his meridians.

Fang Yizhi warned General Cui Canyun against seeking a decisive battle with the Western Liang Army, but Cui rejected his advice and marched to fight. In Luoyang, He An and Fan Dazhi heard a storyteller recount the defeat at Great Green Ravine before constables raided the hall, while Bi Yunfei slipped away.

• Ling Wenyue introduced himself to Fang Yizhi, explained the danger of the yang true qi in his meridians, and said he would arrange an escort to Luoyang.
• Cui Canyun visited Fang Yizhi and insisted on hearing his report about the Western Liang Army.
• Fang Yizhi and Ling Wenyue urged Cui Canyun to avoid battle and wait for the Western Liang Army to weaken, but Cui dismissed their advice and left to pursue victory.
• Fang Yizhi traveled toward Luoyang as news spread that the Chen army had suffered a disastrous defeat at Great Green Ravine.
• He An and Fan Dazhi listened as a storyteller recounted the battle, while Bi Yunfei quietly slipped out of the hall.
• Constables burst into the hall and accused the storyteller of spreading rumors.

At the Knowledge and Practice Institute, Wei Zhilin and Cheng Zi Ya worried over Minister Ding’s incurable illness and Fang Yizhi’s severe injuries, while Fang Yizhi encouraged his students to value the lives of their comrades over personal honor. After visiting him, Han Chanjuan returned home troubled and was startled by someone entering the gate.

• Wei Zhilin and Cheng Zi Ya discussed Minister Ding’s failing health, Cui Canyun’s defeat, and Ling Wenyue’s defense of Lanzhou.
• Wei Zhilin and Cheng Zi Ya saw He An, Han Chanjuan, and Fan Dazhi together, and Wei Zhilin took special notice of Han Chanjuan.
• Fang Yizhi welcomed He An, Fan Dazhi, and Han Chanjuan, then told the boys that guarding the realm and its people mattered more than personal honor.
• He An offered to join Fang Yizhi at the frontier, but Fang Yizhi told him and Fan Dazhi to continue studying for now.
• Han Chanjuan returned to her residence in Yongning Ward in a gloomy mood and was startled when someone entered through the front gate.

Wei Zhilin found the coachman, who was actually Mo Qianshan, and persuaded him to treat Fang Yizhi in exchange for help finding Xue Qingyi. Meanwhile, Ding Fengyuan warned Ding Feiyong that his illness was suspicious and urged him to trust only the Knowledge and Practice Institute before a sudden storm broke over Luoyang City.

• Wei Zhilin visited Han Chanjuan and assured her he would speak with the coachman after she pleaded with him not to send He An to the front lines.
• Wei Zhilin identified the coachman as Sect Master Mo and asked him to treat Fang Yizhi, whose meridians had been damaged by blazing yang true qi.
• The coachman agreed to attempt the treatment if Wei Zhilin helped him find Xue Qingyi, the former Attendant of Great Liang.
• Ding Wenruo brought medicine to her ailing grandfather, Ding Fengyuan, who asked her to invite He An to visit.
• Ding Fengyuan showed Ding Feiyong the red spots on his leg, said his symptoms resembled the Former Emperor's, and warned him to trust only the Knowledge and Practice Institute.
• Spring thunder erupted, and a sudden storm swept over Luoyang City.

He An advanced the Immortal-Slaying Finger while Mo Qianshan treated Fang Yizhi’s injuries at the Knowledge and Practice Institute. At court, Chancellor Ding’s death sent Emperor Chen into grief and fury, and he ordered Imperial Physician Hua Zhong to be executed.

• He An practiced the Immortal-Slaying Finger on the rear hill and unleashed a blast that collapsed the old pavilion and snapped trees.
• Mo Qianshan used the Mysterious Heaven Art to refine the Blazing Yang True Qi in Fang Yizhi’s body, exhausting himself in the process.
• A servant told Wei Zhilin that He An’s attack had wrecked the rear hill.
• A junior eunuch announced Chancellor Ding’s death during court, and Emperor Chen collapsed before awakening in grief.
• Emperor Chen and his ministers visited the Ding Residence to pay their respects to Ding Fengyuan.
• Emperor Chen blamed Imperial Physician Hua Zhong for Chancellor Ding’s death, kicked him down, and ordered the guards to execute him.

After Chancellor Ding Fengyuan died, Ding Feiyong questioned Emperor Chen’s unusual conduct, while Western Liang’s Second Prince Kan Yong planned to secure Han Zongwang’s support through marriage. He An grieved for Ding Wenruo and prepared annotated textbooks for her before she left to mourn her grandfather, but Han Chanjuan stopped him after lessons.

• Emperor Chen granted Ding Feiyong’s request to bury Ding Fengyuan in his homeland instead of beside the imperial mausoleum, while Ding Feiyong privately wondered why the emperor had killed Hua Zhong so suddenly.
• In Wuwei City, Kan Yong’s adviser Sahami urged him to seek a marriage to Han Zongwang’s granddaughter to win the grand commandant’s support.
• Kan Yong learned that Ling Wenyue had burned nearly half the Western Liang army’s provisions and inflicted heavy casualties, then decided to visit his father.
• He An and his companions visited the grieving Ding Wenruo, and He An later walked Han Chanjuan home.
• He An bought books and spent two sleepless nights annotating them for Ding Wenruo’s studies before she left to observe three years of mourning.
• After lessons, Han Chanjuan called He An to a stop as he was about to return to his annotations.

He An’s annotated books reached Ding Wenruo as she departed the capital, while Emperor Chen appointed Cui Yizhong Chancellor. The chapter ended with an ascetic monk confronting a band of brigands after they beat and robbed him.

• He An refused Han Chanjuan’s invitation so he could finish annotating books for Ding Wenruo, and Han Chanjuan angrily accused him of neglecting her feelings.
• At Changxia Gate, Gu Qingzhou persuaded He An to let him present the annotated books to Ding Wenruo, who recognized He An’s handwriting and wept.
• Emperor Chen appointed Cui Yizhong Chancellor, and Cui Zhixia agreed to meet Bi Yunfei at the Grand View Tower.
• Chen Long and his brigands surrounded an ascetic monk, robbed his belongings, and struck him until he warned them that he would deliver their souls.

A monk from Drepung Monastery killed Chen Long and set out for the Knowledge and Practice Institute in Luoyang to prove the Way through martial prowess. In the capital, Bi Yunfei revealed his political predictions to Cui Zhixia and sought a post in the Ministry of Justice, while Cui Yizhong warned that the ambitious man could not be trusted too far.

• The monk used his cultivation to slaughter Chen Long’s bandits, then continued toward the Knowledge and Practice Institute in Luoyang to challenge the legacy of the lame-legged man who had defeated his master.
• Bi Yunfei showed Cui Zhixia his newly achieved earth-attribute primordial energy and said he had withdrawn from the Knowledge and Practice Institute.
• Bi Yunfei predicted that the emperor would investigate the institute’s officials and claimed that the emperor was prolonging the war with Western Liang to strengthen his authority.
• Bi Yunfei asked Cui Zhixia to help him enter the Ministry of Justice so he could investigate corruption among the institute’s faction, and Cui Zhixia agreed to support him.
• Cui Zhixia told Cui Yizhong about Bi Yunfei’s plans, and Cui Yizhong cautioned that Bi Yunfei could be useful but must not be given too much power.

He An and his friends gathered at the Grand View Tower as several students prepared to leave the Knowledge and Practice Institute. Their farewell meal turned into plans to enlist and travel with He An to the Lanzhou front, while Zhuge Guagua explained why he would remain behind.

• He An found a paper crane from Han Chanjuan and regretted how he had treated her before she disappeared.
• Yangduo arrived in Luoyang and met Fan Dazhi, who tricked him into offering up the coins in his alms bowl.
• At the Grand View Tower, Gu Qingzhou told He An that Bi Yunfei had left the Knowledge and Practice Institute and announced that he would leave too.
• He An said he was considering joining Teacher Fang Yizhi on the Lanzhou front, and Gu Qingzhou volunteered to go with him.
• Feng Chun asked to enlist so he could earn military merit and bring honor to his family.
• Zhuge Guagua said he would stay because his family ran a cloth shop and the court had rejected him as an official for being cross-eyed.

Yangduo arrived in Capital Luoyang seeking the strongest student at the Knowledge and Practice Institute and learned that He An ranked first. After defending Zhuge Guagua and Xu Zhen from Dragon Gate Academy students, Yangduo went with them to He An’s residence and waited for him to return.

• Yangduo asked around the city for the best fighter at the Knowledge and Practice Institute and learned He An’s name.
• Yangduo stopped Zhuge Guagua as he fled a brawl with Dragon Gate Academy students, then endured Cui Qingfeng’s punch without injury.
• Yangduo drove off Cui Qingfeng and the other attackers with a single effortless palm, and Zhuge Guagua introduced himself and Xu Zhen.
• Yangduo told Zhuge Guagua and Xu Zhen that he admired He An and followed them to He An’s residence.
• When He An had not returned by nightfall, Yangduo stayed outside and fell asleep in a tree beside the house.

He An practiced his techniques on the rear mountain, where the visiting monk Yangduo challenged him and revealed extraordinary Buddhist powers. Fan Dazhi joined the fight, and Yangduo recognized the Black Tortoise Scripture on Fan’s chest as their confrontation continued.

• He An practiced Spirit-Shocking Finger and Cloud-Riding Hand on the cleared rear mountain, drawing Yangduo’s attention.
• Yangduo introduced himself and pressed He An to spar, then attacked when He An tried to leave.
• He An evaded Yangduo’s opening palm and fought back, prompting Wei Zhilin to identify Yangduo as possessing an immaculate constitution.
• Yangduo summoned an earth-made Vajra Warrior, and He An dodged its powerful whip strikes.
• Fan Dazhi arrived and created a misty Vajra Warrior that destroyed Yangduo’s earth warrior before Yangduo recognized him from Vermilion Bird Avenue.
• Yangduo attacked Fan Dazhi, whose body resisted a punch and revealed the Black Tortoise Scripture.

He An and Han Chanjuan reconciled and exchanged protective jade treasures before He An departed for the Lanzhou Garrison Camp with Fang Yizhi and the others. Han Chanjuan set out for He An’s hometown to teach, while Bi Yunfei entered the Ministry of Justice.

• Fan Dazhi and He An stopped fighting with Yangduo and shared buns with him.
• Fang Yizhi recovered from his illness, advanced to the middle stage of the Void Return Realm, and prepared to return to battle.
• Han Chanjuan resolved to avoid a marriage to a prince by applying for an outreach teaching assignment, then met He An and reconciled with him.
• Han Chanjuan gave He An a jade pendant to protect him, and He An gave her a jade token that could withstand a Dao Integration Realm master’s full-force strike.
• He An, Fan Dazhi, Gu Qingzhou, Feng Chun, and the others departed for the Lanzhou Garrison Camp with Fang Yizhi and Pei Yan.
• Han Chanjuan left Luoyang for Watermill Head Village to teach, while Bi Yunfei entered the Ministry of Justice.

Yangduo was drugged at a murderous roadside inn and rescued by Bai Xiang Shou, whom he recognized as the man who had once defeated thirteen masters of Drepung Monastery. A year later, Bai Xiang Shou returned to the monastery, where Zen Master Listening to Snow discussed Buddhist teachings with him as he sought the final insight toward great perfection.

• Yangduo traveled toward Drepung Monastery after sparring with He An and Fan Dazhi and receiving guidance from Wei Zhilin and Academy Head Cheng.
• At a frontier shelter, the proprietor and a group of armed men drugged Yangduo and prepared to kill him.
• Bai Xiang Shou defeated the proprietor and the men, rescued Yangduo, and learned that he had challenged He An and Fan Dazhi without either side winning.
• Bai Xiang Shou took Yangduo toward Drepung Monastery and burned the shelter as they left.
• More than a year later, Bai Xiang Shou meditated beneath the monastery's bodhi tree and asked Zen Master Listening to Snow about Buddhist texts.
• Zen Master Listening to Snow thanked Bai Xiang Shou for helping Yangduo and explained the meaning of the Mahayana Commentary on the Abhidharma.

Bai Xiang Shou broke beyond the sixth realm after hearing Zen Master Listening to Snow’s teaching, drawing the attention of powerful figures across the world. He flew beyond a protective formation and met a short, fat old man who revealed himself as the dragon Pulao.

• Zen Master Listening to Snow taught Bai Xiang Shou about emptiness, and Bai Xiang Shou broke through to the human immortal realm by fusing Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist true qi.
• Zen Master Listening to Snow regained his confidence and received immortal aura, while Yangduo unknowingly absorbed several rays of light.
• Powerful figures across the world, including Xin Wuming, Meng Xinghe, Dongfang Shikai, Fan Youfu, and an old man in blue robes, noticed the western light; the blue-robed old man’s dan foundation shattered.
• A mysterious voice called Bai Xiang Shou upward, and he passed through a vast five-colored Magic Array that a sage had established to protect his world.
• Bai Xiang Shou met a short, fat old man who scolded and struck him, then transformed into the dragon Pulao.

Pulao Ao Tian revealed that he was a dragon and sent Bai Xiang Shou to intercept a red-glowing intruder targeting the formation. After Ao Tian killed the intruder, he led Bai Xiang Shou through a hidden passage to a burial ground bearing the names of legendary figures.

• Pulao Ao Tian revealed his dragon form and scolded Bai Xiang Shou for taking a year and a half to reach the Human Immortal Realm, costing him a wager with Du Kang.
• Ao Tian told Bai Xiang Shou to attack a red-glowing man and prevent him from escaping, then flew with him to a remote stretch of sky and split off.
• Bai Xiang Shou ambushed the man near a focal point of the formation, but the stranger deflected his attacks and nearly overwhelmed him with a powerful strike.
• Ao Tian appeared, bound the man with golden threads, and destroyed his fleeing Primordial Spirit before telling Bai Xiang Shou to cultivate harder.
• Ao Tian opened a hidden passage and brought Bai Xiang Shou into a world rich in Primordial Energy, where they found a burial ground marked with the names Xuanyuan, Shennong, Fuxi, Zhurong, and Houyi.

Bai Xiang Shou visited an ancient cemetery and met Divine Flute Jia Hu, who revealed the Flame-Yellow Realm's history of invasion and the coming great war. Jia Hu's account was interrupted by a crane's cry that alarmed him and Pulao Aotian.

• Bai Xiang Shou saw the tombs of famous heroes and kowtowed to those who had died defending his world.
• Pulao Aotian led Bai Xiang Shou to Jia Hu, who welcomed him and served him Spirit Velvet Spring Tips.
• Jia Hu said Li Xingzhi could have ascended ten years earlier but had suppressed his cultivation and remained in the world below.
• Jia Hu told Bai Xiang Shou to cultivate for three years because a great war was approaching.
• Jia Hu explained that immortals had invaded the Flame-Yellow Realm seeking the Primordial Chaos Fruit, and that Xuanyuan and Shennong defeated Chi You with the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden's help.
• Jia Hu began recounting how the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox later brought chaos to the Flame-Yellow Realm, but a crane's cry made him and Pulao Aotian react with alarm.

Bi Yunfei tortured Sui Tang into implicating Liu Daxia in bribery, and Chancellor Cui Yizhong used the confessions to spur an investigation. Emperor Chen publicly ordered action while privately doubting the evidence, and the Ministry of Justice’s arrests spread fear through the court.

• Bi Yunfei tortured Sui Tang and coerced him into confessing that he had paid Liu Daxia for a military post.
• Bi Yunfei interrogated more officials, gathered evidence implicating Liu Daxia in over two hundred thousand taels of bribes, and delivered it to Cui Yizhong.
• Emperor Chen ordered Cui Yizhong to investigate corruption and directed Zhao Delu to announce Liu Daxia’s imprisonment at the Court of Judicial Review.
• Emperor Chen privately suspected that Cui Yizhong was exploiting the case and doubted Liu Daxia would have dared sell offices for bribes.
• The Ministry of Justice arrested more than fifty officials, many connected to the Knowledge and Practice Institute’s faction, leaving the court in alarm.

Censor-in-Chief Qin Lie visited the imprisoned Liu Daxia and learned that the general had taken some gifts but had been framed over the alleged two hundred thousand taels. Qin Lie urged him to yield to Emperor Chen, while Liu Daxia insisted on his innocence and integrity; he was left in prison as Qin Lie departed.

• Qin Lie entered the Court of Judicial Review prison and bribed a jailer to direct him to Liu Daxia’s cell.
• Qin Lie disguised himself as a palace eunuch and tricked Liu Daxia into thinking Emperor Chen was questioning him, then revealed himself and joked with him.
• Qin Lie asked whether Liu Daxia had accepted bribes, and Liu Daxia admitted taking gifts worth only twenty or thirty thousand taels while denying the larger accusation.
• Qin Lie explained that Liu Daxia had become a target in the court’s political struggle and urged him to yield to Emperor Chen to survive.
• Liu Daxia refused to abandon his principles, told Qin Lie to leave, and watched him go with tears in his eyes.

Emperor Chen sent Tong Huan to pressure Liu Daxia into confessing to corruption and implicating the Knowledge and Practice Institute, but Liu Daxia refused and was beaten after Tong Huan reported a distorted account of their encounter. Liu Daxia confessed that he had diverted funds to support soldiers and their families, then hanged himself in prison.

• Emperor Chen refused to meet Wei Zhilin and ordered Tong Huan to question Liu Daxia about his guilt.
• Tong Huan urged Liu Daxia to falsely accuse the Knowledge and Practice Institute, and Liu Daxia beat him after realizing Tong Huan had been deceiving him.
• Tong Huan told Emperor Chen that Liu Daxia had assaulted him and defied the throne, so Emperor Chen ordered thirty strokes of the paddle.
• After the beating, Liu Daxia confessed to diverting silver to soldiers' widows, wounded veterans, and grain supplies for the Lanzhou Garrison Camp.
• Liu Daxia denounced the injustice, was returned to his cell, and hanged himself before morning.