Chapter Summaries

Tian Hao explained to Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze what had happened at Fleeting Years, exposing Linghu Chong’s conduct and deepening Yue Buqun’s doubts about his eldest disciple. The chapter ended with Yue Buqun furious after learning Linghu Chong had attacked Tian Hao to protect White Bear.

• Linghu Chong told Ning Zhongze that Tian Hao had framed and tortured Brother Bai, while Yue Buqun urged everyone to wait for Tian Hao’s account.
• Tian Hao returned with Zhao Bulu and the others, and they gathered in the Quiet Chamber to discuss the incident privately.
• Tian Hao said that he and Linghu Chong had visited Fleeting Years, where Dongfang Bubai invited Linghu Chong upstairs for a drink.
• Ning Zhongze and Yue Buqun became angry when Linghu Chong admitted through his hesitation that he had accepted the courtesan’s invitation.
• Tian Hao recounted that White Bear tried to kill him, and Linghu Chong drew his sword against Tian Hao to help White Bear escape.
• Yue Buqun cursed Linghu Chong for attacking his fellow disciple and protecting an outsider.

Tian Hao exposed Linghu Chong’s ties to the Desert North Duo, prompting Yue Buqun to punish his chief disciple and accept Yang Jian and Yang Chan. Tian Hao then warned Yue Buqun and Zhao Bulu that Dongfang Bubai might be the Top Courtesan at Fleeting Years and could be targeting Mount Hua for information about Feng Qingyang.

• Tian Hao recounted how Linghu Chong had protected White Bear and how he and Zhao Bulu helped the authorities capture the Desert North Duo, then asked Yue Buqun to take in Yang Jian and Yang Chan.
• Yue Buqun struck Linghu Chong and sent him to Reflection Cliff for violating sect precepts and associating with the Desert North Duo.
• Ning Zhongze took Yang Jian and Yang Chan from the Quiet Chamber while Yue Buqun and Zhao Bulu discussed Linghu Chong’s conduct.
• Tian Hao warned that the Top Courtesan at Fleeting Years was likely Dongfang Bubai, whom he sensed was stronger than Yue Buqun and possibly an Innate Realm expert.
• Tian Hao told Yue Buqun that Dongfang Bubai had asked about Feng Qingyang and that he had claimed Feng Qingyang was still alive to deter her.

Yue Buqun decided that Mount Hua would avoid a direct fight with the Demon Cult and accelerate its preparations inside the mountain. As Tian Hao moved to forge black iron, he and Yue Buqun realized the sect’s buried predecessors might hold lost teachings, leaving Yue Buqun to consider seeking them out.

• Yue Buqun ordered the Mount Hua Sect to hide its black-iron forging ability, move equipment into the mountain, and avoid confronting the Demon Cult for now.
• Yue Buqun revealed that Mount Hua’s ancestors were buried in a cavern that the sect would need to disturb to create Mountain City, and Zhao Bulu reassured him.
• Tian Hao dismantled his furnace and moved into the cavern, where he saw the stone coffins of Mount Hua’s predecessors.
• Tian Hao recognized an inscription from the Warring States period, and Yue Buqun explained Mount Hua’s ancient origins and how much of its martial heritage had been lost.
• Tian Hao suggested that the ancestors might have taken martial teachings into their graves, prompting Yue Buqun to consider searching the coffins for lost manuals.
• Tian Hao left to make more coke in preparation for forging black iron.

Tian Hao built and fired a furnace capable of heating meteoric iron to a bright golden color, then began forging it into Black Iron with his improvised Wild Wind Hammer Technique. Yue Buqun and the others worried that Tian Hao was exceeding his physical limits, but Ning Zhongze believed he was safe and sensed his extraordinary potential.

• Tian Hao completed the furnace and used coal, heated air, and stored oxygen to raise its temperature enough to turn meteoric iron bright gold.
• Yue Buqun and the Mount Hua Sect members watched as Tian Hao ordered an ingot removed from the furnace.
• Tian Hao struck the hot iron with his Wild Wind Hammer Technique, using each rebound to build greater force.
• Yue Buqun and the others feared Tian Hao was using a dangerous secret technique or drug, but Ning Zhongze stopped them from intervening.

Tian Hao demonstrated a hammer technique he had adapted from the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand, prompting Yue Buqun to explain the perfection realm of martial arts. After realizing Tian Hao had begun forging his own path to perfection, the group watched him test his refined techniques against Wu Buyi.

• Tian Hao tested his knockoff Wild Wind Hammer Technique and found that its stacked force peaked at three times its original strength.
• Ning Zhongze praised Tian Hao’s comprehension, while Yue Lingshan compared his achievement to the Chongling Swordsmanship she had made with Linghu Chong.
• Yue Buqun explained the two paths to the perfection realm and said Tian Hao had begun creating a new martial art from the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand.
• Yue Buqun asked Tian Hao to demonstrate the perfected technique, and Wu Buyi volunteered to spar with him.
• Tian Hao met Wu Buyi’s Primordial Chaos Palm Art with a force-channeling punch, shook the elder’s stance, and immediately struck again.

Tian Hao realized that Innate Spirit offered the best value for improving his martial arts comprehension and considered seeking more women with tragic fates, even wondering whether men transformed by forbidden manuals might qualify. As Mount Hua prepared for its trip to Putian Shaolin Temple, Yue Buqun arranged for the martial uncles to train with heavy practice swords before receiving black-iron weapons.

• Tian Hao sparred with Wu Buyi and used the principles of his perfected martial art to disrupt Wu Buyi's balance and gain the advantage.
• Ning Zhongze explained how perfected martial arts could enhance other techniques, and Yue Lingshan wondered whether combining several perfected arts could make someone invincible.
• Tian Hao concluded that Innate Spirit was more valuable than Innate Qi or Innate Essence, then considered traveling to find more candidates for the Heaven-Defying Mirror.
• Tian Hao speculated about using the Bixie Sword Manual or Sunflower Manual to turn male martial experts into women who might qualify as candidates.
• A Mount Hua smith reported that the meteoric iron still needed many rounds of refining before it became black iron, while the elders estimated that the resulting longsword would weigh about twenty jin.
• Yue Buqun told Tian Hao to forge twenty-jin hundred-forged steel practice swords so the martial uncles could adapt to the weight before their trip to Putian Shaolin Temple.

Linghu Chong and Lu Dayou uncovered Tian Hao's past and plotted to drive him from Mount Hua, while Guan Ji arrived with a plan to capture him. The Guan family prepared to lure Tian Hao away from Mount Hua and escape by boat.

• Lu Dayou told Linghu Chong that Tian Hao was the foreign tribesman who had survived Guan Family Fort's destruction and urged that he be expelled from Mount Hua.
• Linghu Chong showed Lu Dayou the hidden cave on Reflection Cliff and its lost sword techniques, keeping the discovery secret from Yue Buqun and his wife.
• Linghu Chong instructed Lu Dayou to recruit reliable junior brothers so they could unite against Tian Hao.
• Guan Ji learned that Tian Hao was at Mount Hua and wore meteoric-iron chainmail, while Guan Feng vowed to kill him for their family's deaths.
• Guan Ji warned his people not to provoke the Western Depot, then left for the Yellow River and ordered Guan San to lure Tian Hao into a trap.

Tian Hao finished forging black iron swords for the Mount Hua Sect and had his heavy black iron armor completed. He left Yue Lingshan with a deadline to improve her Iron Shirt training while preparing to rely on weapons, armor, and stronger martial arts to become nearly invulnerable.

• Tian Hao finished the fortieth black iron longsword, and Qian Bunu tested its ability to condense Sword-Qi.
• Yue Lingshan objected that Linghu Chong still lacked a black iron sword, but Tian Hao claimed Linghu Chong was destined to master a swordless swordsmanship and refused to forge one for him.
• Tian Hao ordered Yue Lingshan to reach minor achievement in Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt within one month or accept his help training.
• Wu Buyi brought Tian Hao the completed three-hundred-jin black iron Chainmail and fish-scale armor.
• Tian Hao explained that he preferred heavy armor for protection and planned to combine it with powerful defensive martial arts.

Tian Hao sealed away Mount Hua's secret oxygen-making equipment, donned his heavy black iron armor, and rushed to help his master. He arrived to find Yue Buqun, Ning Zhongze, and Linghu Chong fighting black-clad intruders while Feng Qingyang faced Dongfang Bubai on a lake.

• Tian Hao asked Wu Buyi to heat and color his black iron armor, then put it on after it was quenched.
• Tian Hao and the Mount Hua martial uncles secured the oxygen-making equipment in a hidden shaft and sealed it against discovery.
• Wu Buyi told Tian Hao that black-clad intruders had infiltrated Mount Hua and that Yue Buqun and the others had not returned from Reflection Cliff.
• Tian Hao left Wu Buyi to watch Yue Lingshan and used the Heaven-Defying Mirror to locate Ning Zhongze and Dongfang Bubai together.
• Tian Hao reached the battle and saw Yue Buqun, Ning Zhongze, and Linghu Chong fighting intruders as Feng Qingyang confronted Dongfang Bubai on the lake.

Tian Hao fought through the Demon Cult’s attack and rescued Yue Buqun, Ning Zhongze, and their companion from the encirclement. After nearly defeating Tong Baixiong, he joined the others and claimed to be Linghu Chong, leaving Tong Baixiong to retreat with the group unable to capture them.

• Tian Hao charged into the Demon Cult’s ranks and cut down five attackers before Tong Baixiong challenged him.
• Tian Hao exchanged powerful blows with Tong Baixiong, whose saber could not pierce his armor, while Tian Hao’s strength grew through their clashes.
• Tian Hao trapped Tong Baixiong’s wrist and repeatedly smashed him into the ground, but a flying needle from Aunt Dongfang numbed Tian Hao’s hand and let Tong Baixiong escape.
• Tian Hao forced his way through the Demon Cult’s encirclement and reached Yue Buqun, Ning Zhongze, and their companion.
• Tong Baixiong demanded Tian Hao’s name, and Tian Hao claimed to be Linghu Chong before Tong Baixiong acknowledged that the Demon Cult could not win that day.