Chapter Summaries

Liu Fuyan drugged Gu Chenfeng and demanded to learn his true identity before they spent the night together. The next morning, Gu Chenfeng set out for the Northern Territory, while Gu Beiwu explained that he was sending him away because danger was gathering in the Imperial Capital.

• Liu Fuyan admitted she had drugged Gu Chenfeng and confessed her feelings, insisting that he reveal who he really was.
• Gu Chenfeng transformed back into his familiar appearance, and Liu Fuyan recognized him as the Gu Family's Third Young Master before they spent the night together.
• Gu Chenfeng departed for the Northern Territory with Ding Si and the Blood Tiger Guard as Gu Yanshuang and Gu Beiwu saw him off.
• Gu Beiwu told Gu Yanshuang that the Imperial Capital would soon become dangerous because he had to guard something in a mineral vein from experts of the Four Great Sects.
• Gu Beiwu revealed that his old injuries remained suppressed rather than healed, and said he might last another three to five years.

Gu Chenfeng traveled north to enlist under the assumed name Li Zicheng, leaving Liu Fuyan behind and preparing to grow stronger in the Northern Territory. After reaching Black River City, he registered with the Black River Legion as a Hundred-Household Commander in the Seventh Thousand-Household Battalion.

• Gu Chenfeng recalled his night with Liu Fuyan, resolved to become strong enough to protect those he loved, and set out north with Blood Tiger Guards led by Ding Si.
• During the seven-day journey, Gu Chenfeng reviewed his resources, cultivation, and plans to improve his strength and learn about his father, Gu Lingxiao.
• The escort left Gu Chenfeng near Eagle Sorrow Gorge, and he paid Ding Si before briefly seeing the bald head hidden beneath his bamboo hat.
• Gu Chenfeng reached Black River City and registered for enlistment using the name Li Zicheng and the papers prepared by the old man.
• The registration veteran confirmed that Li Zicheng was assigned to the Black River Legion's Seventh Thousand-Household Battalion as a Hundred-Household Commander.

Gu Chenfeng arrived at the Black River Legion’s Seventh Thousand-Captain Command to report as the newly appointed captain of the Tenth Company. He met the officers amid a dispute over the appointment, where Zhou threatened to fight the newcomer to the death.

• A veteran named Huang San learned Gu Chenfeng was a company captain and escorted him to the thousand-captain’s headquarters.
• Huang San explained the Black River Legion’s organization, the northern garrisons, and the cultivation required for military ranks.
• Gu Chenfeng gave Huang San a silver ingot and entered the headquarters to report for duty.
• Zhou protested to Deputy Thousand-Captain Yang that he had been passed over for promotion to captain of the Tenth Company.
• After Gu Chenfeng arrived, Zhou and the other officers stared at him, and Gu Chenfeng formally greeted Deputy Thousand-Captain Yang and the assembled officers.

Gu Chenfeng completed his enlistment as the new hundred-captain of the Tenth Hundred-Captain Office, where his penal conscription papers revealed that his appointment came with danger and little protection. After cultivating the Azure Dragon Transformation overnight, he led his new unit out of Black River City for his first patrol in the Northern Plains Forest.

• Deputy Thousand-Captain Yang inspected Gu Chenfeng's appointment papers and discovered he had been sentenced to penal conscription, prompting the officers to assume his family had lost its influence and he would not last long.
• Deputy Thousand-Captain Yang verified Gu Chenfeng's Source Sea Realm strength and completed his enlistment, then assigned Zhou Bin to guide him to the Tenth Hundred-Captain Office.
• Zhou Bin showed Gu Chenfeng the barracks, introduced him to the office's 287 soldiers, and told him they would leave for a patrol at dawn.
• Gu Chenfeng cultivated the first level of the Azure Dragon Transformation in the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins and resolved to obtain a Source Core Realm demonic beast's core and essence blood for Fourth-Rank Body-Tempering Pills.
• Before dawn, Gu Chenfeng led the Tenth Hundred-Captain Office out of Black River City's north gate toward the Northern Plains Forest for his first assignment.

Gu Chenfeng learned that border soldiers relied on Northern Plains Forest to make up for stolen supplies and joined Zhou Bin’s patrol there. After receiving a map of dangerous areas, he headed into the forest, apparently intending to seek them out rather than avoid them.

• Zhou Bin told Gu Chenfeng that soldiers gathered supplies in Northern Plains Forest because officials skimmed the provisions sent by the court.
• Zhou Bin led the patrol into the forest, where squads spread out to hunt Origin Beasts and collect spirit herbs.
• Gu Chenfeng observed Zhou Bin and the soldiers’ fighting skills while using his Divine Sense to monitor nearby dangers.
• Zhou Bin killed a charging Rock-Armored Wild Boar with one slash, and the patrol continued without further incident.
• Zhou Bin showed Gu Chenfeng a map marking areas frequented by Source Sea Realm beasts and Source Core Realm great demons.
• Gu Chenfeng thanked Zhou Bin for the map and disappeared into the forest toward its marked danger zones.

Zhou Bin led the Tenth Hundred-Household Command in killing a herd of Silver-Horned Deer, only to discover that a pack of Frost Wolves had tracked the deer and surrounded his soldiers. As the wolves attacked, Zhou Bin’s formation held for the moment, but he feared they could not withstand the three wolf kings and wondered why Hundred-Captain Li had not arrived.

• Zhou Bin responded to a signal and found a herd of more than twenty Silver-Horned Deer, then ordered his soldiers to encircle them.
• Zhou Bin and his soldiers attacked the herd, killed all the deer, and suffered only one minor injury.
• Zhou Bin noticed fresh claw wounds on the deer and ordered his soldiers to gather together.
• A pack of thirty to forty Frost Wolves emerged and surrounded the soldiers, including three wolf kings with Source Sea Realm cultivation.
• The Frost Wolves charged, and Zhou Bin’s soldiers formed a defensive ring that held off the attack for the moment.
• Zhou Bin watched the three wolf kings and worried that Hundred-Captain Li had not come to help.

Gu Chenfeng arrived just as Zhou Bin was about to be killed by three Frost Wolf Kings and killed them all with his spear, saving the Tenth Hundred-Captain Office. On the ride back to Black River City, Zhou Bin thanked him and asked whether he had offended someone in the Imperial Capital.

• The three Frost Wolf Kings broke through the soldiers’ defensive circle and lured Zhou Bin into an ambush.
• Zhou Bin fought all three Wolf Kings but was wounded and overwhelmed while his soldiers could not reach him.
• Gu Chenfeng killed the three Wolf Kings with precise spear strikes, and the remaining Frost Wolves fled.
• The Tenth Hundred-Captain Office returned to Black River City with its quarry, and the soldiers regarded Gu Chenfeng with awe and gratitude.
• Zhou Bin thanked Gu Chenfeng for saving his life, then asked whether he had offended someone in the Imperial Capital.

Gu Chenfeng learned about the dangers facing officers sent to the Border Pass and the strengths and divisions among its four major garrisons. After days of searching the Northern Plains Forest, he finally found a Source Core Realm Great Demon in a deep natural pool.

• Zhou Bin warned Gu Chenfeng that political enemies could arrange for penal soldiers to die on dangerous missions, and Gu Chenfeng thanked him for the warning.
• Zhou Bin apologized for his earlier conduct and explained that he sought promotion to afford medicine for his injured younger brother.
• Zhou Bin described the Heavenly Journey, Xuan Prefecture, Black River, and Northern Desert Garrisons and their differing forces and backgrounds.
• Gu Chenfeng shared the Source Crystals from the patrol's prey equally among the Tenth Hundred-Household Unit, earning the soldiers' gratitude and acceptance.
• Gu Chenfeng searched the forest on repeated patrols and, on his fourth trip, located a Source Core Realm Great Demon living in a natural pool.

Gu Chenfeng hunted the Frostfang Venomous Viper Crocodile for its Beast Core and essence blood, but a Black River Army Thousand-Household Commander intervened after they both struck the beast. They fought over the Inner Core, and she charged Gu Chenfeng to decide who would claim it.

• Gu Chenfeng approached the Frostfang Venomous Viper Crocodile in secret and attacked it with his Mountain-Splitting Great Axe.
• The beast deflected Gu Chenfeng's strike and tried to flee into the pool, but he disrupted its mind and cut off its head.
• A flaming crossbow bolt pierced the beast's heart, and an unseen attacker shot at Gu Chenfeng as he tried to claim the Inner Core.
• Gu Chenfeng clashed weapons with the attacker and discovered she was a Thousand-Household Commander in the Black River Army.
• The woman claimed she had ambushed the beast for three days and demanded the Inner Core, then charged Gu Chenfeng to settle the dispute by force.

Gu Chenfeng fought Zuo Yutang in the Northern Plains Forest, took the Frostfang Venomous Viper Crocodile’s inner core and heart’s blood essence, and escaped without revealing his identity. He later learned Zuo Yutang was his superior in the Blackwater Army, and she began searching his patrol team for the man who had stolen the beast’s remains.

• Gu Chenfeng and Zuo Yutang fought to a standstill with their signature weapons and ultimate techniques, then both fell after punching each other in the chest.
• Zuo Yutang realized Gu Chenfeng was a Xiantian-level Body Cultivator, but he escaped with the crocodile’s inner core and heart’s blood essence while she was recovering.
• Gu Chenfeng restored his appearance, reunited with Zhou Bin, and returned to the edge of the Northern Plains Forest with the patrol teams.
• Zhou Bin introduced Zuo Yutang as the Seventh Thousand-Household Battalion’s commander, and Gu Chenfeng realized she was his immediate superior.
• Zuo Yutang asked the patrol teams to report a black-clad man carrying a Mountain-Splitting Great Axe, then questioned Gu Chenfeng and punched his chest twice without recognizing him.
• Zuo Yutang told the patrol teams to keep watch for the thief and promised a reward for information about his whereabouts.

Gu Chenfeng refined and consumed a Primordial Marrow-Refining Pill, improving his cultivation but discovering that many more pills would be needed to reach the diamond realm. Meanwhile, a Barbarian Tribe prince prepared a covert operation against the Great Li Dynasty and the Gu Clan.

• Gu Chenfeng concealed his quarters and refined a medium-quality Primordial Marrow-Refining Pill.
• Gu Chenfeng consumed the pill and used the Azure Dragon Transformation Technique and Heaven-Opening Creation Art to refine its power.
• Gu Chenfeng reached the peak of the warrior realm in physique cultivation and nine-star source sea realm, but realized he needed seven or eight more pills to break through.
• Gu Chenfeng concluded he would need to return to the Northern Plains Forest for more demonic beast cores and essence blood, despite the risk of encountering Zuo Qianhu.
• A Barbarian Tribe prince confirmed that his forces and Imperial Court Shamans were carrying out a secret operation in the Northern Plains Forest.
• The Barbarian Tribe prince vowed to capture Gu Lingxiao and avenge the Gu Clan, hoping to secure the Crown Prince position.

Gu Chenfeng escaped Zuo Yutang and two Blackwater Army commanders while hunting Origin Beasts in Northern Plains Forest, then discovered a hidden formation concealing a gorge where hundreds of barbarians had gathered. He left the chapter investigating the mysterious gathering.

• Gu Chenfeng killed a Three-Star Source Core Realm python and broke through Zuo Yutang and two commanders’ attempt to capture the masked bandit.
• Gu Chenfeng reflected that he had refined five Primordial Marrow-Refining Pills and was close to breaking through, but Zuo Yutang and the Blackwater Army commanders had repeatedly disrupted his hunts.
• Gu Chenfeng traveled west beyond the Blackwater Army patrol zone to hunt in a remote part of the forest.
• Gu Chenfeng followed a wounded Blood-Patterned Leopard’s trail to a mountain that he recognized as an illusion created by a formation.
• Gu Chenfeng questioned a bird Origin Beast and learned that hundreds of people had gathered in a hidden gorge behind the mountain, then realized they were barbarians.

Gu Chenfeng discovered a Barbarian Tribe battalion hiding in a gorge and overheard plans tied to the Sixth Prince and a coming attack on the Northern Territory's Border Pass. After a strange bird exposed him, the barbarians surrounded him, and he fought to escape and warn the Blackwater Army.

• Gu Chenfeng climbed a cliff and spotted nearly a thousand barbarians gathered in a gorge, including two Source Core Realm captains and a black-robed Shaman.
• Gu Chenfeng overheard the captains and Shaman discuss waiting until nightfall to act and the Sixth Prince's plan, while the Shaman recovered his spiritual power with Holy Water.
• Gu Chenfeng realized the battalion threatened the Border Pass and decided to alert the Blackwater Army's senior officers.
• A strange bird spotted Gu Chenfeng, and a black-feathered arrow struck the cliff as he tried to descend.
• The barbarian captains and soldiers surrounded Gu Chenfeng, and the Shaman ordered them to seize him before he could warn the Great Li army.
• Gu Chenfeng raised his Mountain-Splitting Axe and fought the two captains, determined to break through and reach the Border Pass.

Gu Chenfeng fought two Barbarian Tribe company commanders and overwhelmed them with his strength, physique, and battle axe. As he moved to finish them, a hidden spiritual power attack came from behind, and he countered it with his divine sense.

• Gu Chenfeng battled a five-star and a six-star Source Core Realm Barbarian Tribe commander, forcing them to activate their berserk transformation.
• The transformed commanders attacked relentlessly, but Gu Chenfeng held them off and then launched a fierce counteroffensive.
• The commanders tried to exploit Gu Chenfeng’s apparent lack of defense and attack him at close range, but his body withstood their blows while his own strikes injured them.
• Gu Chenfeng unleashed the Iron Elephant Art, revealed his Xiantian-level body cultivation, and battered the commanders until they were badly wounded.
• Gu Chenfeng struck the commanders with his axe and moved to kill them, but sensed a concealed spiritual power attack behind him and countered with his divine sense.

Gu Chenfeng used his divine sense to wound the Barbarian Tribe priest, then faced the army’s rotating battle-formation charges. He lured the troops into a gorge and stood waiting at its blocked end as their combined charge reached its peak.

• Gu Chenfeng shattered the priest’s attack with his divine sense, prompting the priest to order the Barbarian Tribe commanders to kill him with their battle formations.
• The Barbarian Tribe commanders led successive three-hundred-soldier charges that drove Gu Chenfeng back, while the priest recovered and summoned Origin Beasts.
• Gu Chenfeng charged toward the priest, broke through the soldiers near the gorge, then darted into it instead of attacking the priest.
• The priest sealed the gorge entrance, and nearly a thousand Barbarian Tribe soldiers charged toward Gu Chenfeng at its blocked end.
• As the army’s momentum peaked, Gu Chenfeng charged straight toward it.

Gu Chenfeng used the Mountain-Splitting Third Form, Earth-Splitting Form, to devastate the Barbarian Tribe army charging through the gorge. Though the strike left him exhausted, he rose to face the remaining soldiers, who could not break his defenses as he continued cutting them down.

• Gu Chenfeng fought off the two Barbarian Tribe captains with the first and second Mountain-Splitting Forms, but their attacks drove him back and left him injured.
• Gu Chenfeng planted his axe in the ground, activated the Azure Dragon Transformation, and unleashed the Mountain-Splitting Third Form, splitting the gorge and disrupting the army's charge.
• The Earth-Splitting Form killed both Barbarian Tribe captains and swept through two to three hundred soldiers, leaving a trench of destruction across the gorge.
• A Barbarian Tribe company captain urged the surviving soldiers to attack Gu Chenfeng while he was weakened, and they charged through the trench.
• Gu Chenfeng entered the trench, endured the soldiers' attacks with his powerful body, and continued slaughtering them with his axe.

The black-robed Shaman abandoned the trapped Barbarian Tribe soldiers and tried to flee, but Zuo Yutang and the Blackwater Army captured him. In the Gorge, they found a slaughtered battalion and recognized the Masked Bandit as the warrior responsible, then hurried to report the suspected conspiracy.

• The black-robed Shaman sensed that the Great Li warrior had destroyed the Barbarian Tribe force, then chose to flee and leave the surviving soldiers trapped in the Gorge.
• Zuo Yutang and several Blackwater Army thousand-household officers intercepted the Shaman, who fainted when Zuo Yutang seized his neck.
• The officers entered the Gorge and found the remains of a Barbarian Tribe battalion scattered across a blood-soaked battlefield.
• Zuo Yutang identified the fighting traces as the Masked Bandit's and concluded that he had killed the battalion alone.
• Zuo Yutang ordered the officers to take the captured Shaman to Blackwater City and report the suspected conspiracy to the Garrison Commissioner.

Gu Chenfeng returned to camp after wiping out a Barbarian Tribe battalion, while the Sixth Prince prepared a new plan in response. As rumors about Gu Chenfeng and Zuo Yutang spread through Blackwater City, Gu Chenfeng refined and swallowed a Primordial Marrow-Refining Pill to attempt a breakthrough to the Diamond Realm.

• Gu Chenfeng told Zhou Bin that he had been exhausted fighting beasts, while Zhou explained that Blackwater City's red signal marked the army's highest alert.
• The Sixth Prince learned that a young Great Li body cultivator with divine sense had destroyed the Eighth Battalion, and ordered his general to carry out a prepared second plan.
• Blackwater Army patrols doubled after news spread that a Barbarian Tribe shaman had been captured and a battalion wiped out.
• A patrolman claimed Gu Chenfeng was the masked bandit who destroyed the battalion, and an older veteran spread a rumor that Zuo Yutang pursued him after an affair.
• Gu Chenfeng took leave, refined a high-grade Primordial Marrow-Refining Pill, and swallowed it to try to reach the Diamond Realm and master the first level of the Azure Dragon Transformation.

Xiao Lie realized the Barbarian Tribe had redirected its main force toward Blackwater City, while Gu Chenfeng was interrupted just short of a breakthrough by the army’s emergency assembly signal. The chapter left Gu Chenfeng hurrying to join the troops as the enemy advanced.

• Xiao Lie learned that the Barbarian Tribe Shaman’s feint was devised by Sixth Prince Huyan Ji and initially concluded that Northern Desert Garrison was the target.
• Xiao Lie discovered Barbarian Tribe forces in all three other garrisons’ patrol zones and realized they were decoys meant to conceal a change of target.
• Scouts reported that Origin Beasts were stampeding toward Blackwater City with a large barbarian army advancing behind them.
• Gu Chenfeng finished absorbing the pill, restored his condition, and came close to mastering the first level of the Azure Dragon Transformation Technique and reaching the Diamond Realm.
• Gu Chenfeng heard the camp’s assembly bells and war drums and hurried out to join the army.

Gu Chenfeng and the Seventh Thousand-Household Battalion prepared Blackwater City’s defenses as a massive Barbarian Tribe army advanced from the north. Zuo Yutang suspected Gu Chenfeng might be the warrior who had single-handedly wiped out a Barbarian battalion, but her attempt to check him left her embarrassed as the city faced a perilous battle.

• Zuo Yutang told the assembled Seventh Thousand-Household Battalion that a Barbarian Tribe army was attacking, and Blackwater City activated its defensive array.
• Zuo Yutang led the battalion outside the city to build defenses as a huge force of Origin Beasts, siege vehicles, and Barbarian soldiers approached.
• Zuo Yutang rallied the troops with confident words, while Gu Chenfeng privately judged that the enemy’s strength and unusual attack made the battle dangerous.
• Zuo Yutang watched Gu Chenfeng swing a pickaxe and suspected his movements resembled those of a warrior she knew, so she seized his collar and exposed his chest to search for clues.
• The soldiers teased Gu Chenfeng after Zuo Yutang walked away, while she privately regretted the awkward incident and worried Blackwater City might fall.