Chapter Summaries

Yu Huatian emerged from the Black Sandstorm alive, and Yan Shisan followed after him, having survived their duel. Yu Huatian explained the Fourteenth Sword and persuaded Yan Shisan to join him, leaving the swordsman ready to serve.

• West Depot agents and martial artists gathered outside the storm and discussed claiming treasure from the Great White Upper Kingdom's capital.
• Yue Buqun saw Yu Huatian return and realized Yan Shisan had failed to kill him.
• Yan Shisan emerged from the storm, and Yu Huatian explained that the Fourteenth Sword transformed death into life.
• Yu Huatian told Yan Shisan that a swordsman should cultivate his heart and use his sword to oppose injustice.
• After Yu Huatian mentioned the possibility of further swords beyond the Fourteenth, Yan Shisan agreed to follow him.

Yu Huatian recruited Yan Shisan, killed Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze with formless sword qi, and claimed Yue Buqun’s Violet Mist Manual. As the Black Sandstorm subsided, rival groups discovered the ancient White-Shang Kingdom city and raced toward it.

• Yu Huatian brought Yan Shisan into the West Depot, and Yan Shisan identified Yue Buqun as the man who had hired him to kill Yu Huatian.
• Yu Huatian let Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze flee, then struck them down with formless sword qi and took the Violet Mist Manual from Yue Buqun’s body.
• Lu Xiaofeng recognized Yu Huatian’s Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi, and Yu Huatian warned Lu Xiaofeng, Hua Manlou, and Fu Hongxue to keep his martial art secret.
• As the Black Sandstorm ended, Yu Huatian led the West Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard into the desert while Chai, Feng Lidao, and their allies emerged from a tunnel beneath the Dragon Gate Inn site.
• Chang Xiaowen’s group found the golden roofs of the White-Shang Kingdom’s ancient city, and Yu Huatian and another armed force rode toward it.

Yu Huatian reached Blackwater City, killed Feng Lidao and the others who had tried to seize its treasure, and began searching the palace. The chapter left him facing a new group led by a handsome gentleman and an armored man from Great Yuan and Western Xia.

• A group of treasure hunters entered Blackwater City and began looting the golden palace before Yu Huatian and the West Depot arrived.
• Yu Huatian confronted the looters, let Lu Xiaofeng refuse the gold, and exposed Feng Lidao, whose face resembled his own.
• Yu Huatian killed Gu Shaotang and Feng Lidao with sword qi, then ordered the West Depot to kill the remaining looters and Dragon Gate Inn's people.
• Yu Huatian entered the palace's golden main hall and headed toward the dragon throne, where he spotted a figure on the desk.
• A handsome young gentleman and an armored man entered with a group of martial artists, and Yu Huatian identified their origins as Great Yuan and Western Xia.

Zhao Min and Helian Tieshu attempted to recruit Yu Huatian after poisoning his people, but Yu Huatian countered with Sorrowful, Crispy Breeze and revealed a Ming army surrounding Blackwater City. Jiang Yan arrived with thirty thousand Dragon Gate Pass troops awaiting Yu Huatian’s orders.

• Ma Jinliang reported that the guards outside were dead as Zhao Min and Helian Tieshu entered the palace with Mongolian and Western Xia forces.
• Lu Xiaofeng identified Zhao Min and Helian Tieshu, and Zhao Min invited him and Yu Huatian to join Great Yuan.
• Zhao Min revealed that she had poisoned Yu Huatian’s people with Ten Fragrance Muscle-Softening Powder.
• Yu Huatian’s Sorrowful, Crispy Breeze poisoned Zhao Min, Helian Tieshu, and their followers, leaving them weak and in tears.
• Ming troops surrounded Blackwater City, and Jiang Yan reported that thirty thousand soldiers from Dragon Gate Pass had arrived to receive Yu Huatian’s orders.

Yu Huatian poisoned Zhao Min’s forces, killed Zhao Min and the Mongol-Yuan and Western Xia experts, and began looting the palace with Jiang Yan’s troops. A Great Grandmaster appeared and ordered Yu Huatian to cure the survivors and withdraw, leaving her identity unresolved.

• Yu Huatian revealed that he had poisoned Zhao Min’s forces and killed Zhao Min when she begged him to spare her.
• Yu Huatian killed the Mongol-Yuan experts who attacked him, then ordered Jiang Yan to evacuate his people and carry away the gold.
• Yu Huatian killed the poisoned Mongol-Yuan experts, including Li Sicui, Gangxiang, Fan Yao, Cheng Kun, Crane-Pen Weng, and Deer Staff Guest.
• Helian Tieshu pleaded for his life and offered to keep Western Xia from opposing Ming, but Yu Huatian prepared to kill him.
• A woman appeared on the golden roof, knocked Yu Huatian’s sword aside, and ordered him to cure the poisoned survivors and leave the palace.
• Yu Huatian recognized the woman as a Great Grandmaster.

Yu Huatian confronted Li Qiushui, the Western Xia royal consort and a great grandmaster, while continuing to seize the gold at Dragon Gate Pass. He unleashed his Fourteenth Sword and sent her crashing into the mountainside, leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Li Qiushian arrived at Dragon Gate Pass and ordered Yu Huatian to stop moving the gold, while Yu Huatian told Jiang Yan to continue.
• Helian Tieshu recognized Li Qiushui and begged her to save him, but Yu Huatian killed Daoist Nine Wings and warned the other Western Xia experts to stay silent.
• Li Qiushui threatened to kill Yu Huatian, and he challenged her to do so before they prepared to fight.
• Yu Huatian attacked with his Fourteenth Sword, which tore through Li Qiushui’s White Rainbow Palm Force and shattered her protective astral energy.
• The sword strike injured Li Qiushui and hurled her into the mountainside as the golden roof burst apart.

Yu Huatian fought Li Qiushui above Blackwater City, outmaneuvered her with a hidden sword technique, and forced her to flee before the Black Sandstorm arrived. He then collapsed from his wounds after taking a Great Restoration Pill, leaving his allies to rescue him.

• Yu Huatian wounded Li Qiushui with the Fourteenth Sword, but she recovered and counterattacked with her Great Grandmaster strength and Formless Skill.
• Yu Huatian used the Sunflower Manual’s Seventy-Two Sword Forms to defend against Li Qiushui while the approaching storm threatened the Western Xia experts.
• Yu Huatian feinted with the Fourteenth Sword and struck Li Qiushui with Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi, wounding her and making her wary.
• Li Qiushui recognized Yu Huatian as Guan Qi’s successor, seized Helian Tieshu, and escaped into the desert as the Black Sandstorm approached.
• Yu Huatian collapsed after the battle, swallowed a Great Restoration Pill, and lost consciousness as Jiang Yan and the others rushed to help him.

After recovering from his battle with Li Qiushui, Yu Huatian considered how to reach the Great Grandmaster realm and decided to seek a chance to visit Wudang. He spent 100,000 fate points on a gold-tier draw and obtained Indestructible Golden Body.

• Yu Huatian woke aboard the West Depot fleet and found that the Great Restoration Pill had healed his injuries and hidden ailments.
• Yu Huatian reasoned that reaching the Great Grandmaster realm required improving the quality of his true qi, not merely increasing its quantity.
• Yu Huatian considered Zhu Wushi, Gu Santong, Shangguan Jinhong, and Zhang Sanfeng as possible sources of guidance, then decided to visit Wudang after returning to the capital.
• Yu Huatian checked his status and saw that he had 117,698 plundered fate points after the battle at Blackwater City.
• Yu Huatian used 100,000 fate points for a gold-tier draw and received the martial art Indestructible Golden Body.

Yu Huatian recovered from his three-day unconsciousness, tested his Indestructible Golden Body, and directed his men to secure the treasure and monitor martial factions as the fleet carried the gold toward the capital. Lu Xiaofeng, Hua Manlou, and Fu Hongxue followed the fleet, while Lu Xiaofeng worried over Yu Huatian’s vast ambitions.

• Yu Huatian stopped Yan Shisan’s sword with his Indestructible Golden Body and learned that the fleet had safely left the desert with the treasure.
• Ma Jinliang reported that the Mongolians and Western Xia experts had been buried in Blackwater City, and Yu Huatian ordered surveillance of the factions involved in the desert struggle.
• Yu Huatian identified Murong Qiudi as Heavenly Venerable’s creator, dismissed Black Stone as a weakened threat, and had Ma Jinliang safeguard the former Great White Upper Kingdom’s jade seal.
• Yu Huatian gave Ma Jinliang manuals for the Star-Absorbing Great Method and the Violet Mist Manual, urged his men to improve their skills, and ordered the fleet to hurry to the capital.
• Lu Xiaofeng explained to Hua Manlou and Fu Hongxue that he followed the fleet to protect the treasure for famine relief, and he reflected warily on Yu Huatian’s ambitions.

Yu Huatian returned to the capital with the treasure and learned that the emperor had fallen ill after an accident, prompting him to suspect Lu Wenzhao and rush to the palace. Meanwhile, Zhu Wushi assessed Yu Huatian’s growing influence and introduced Cheng Shifei as Dragon Guard Mountain Villa’s Yellow No. 1 secret agent.

• Cao Zhengchun welcomed the returning fleet and planned to let the West Depot’s enemies undermine Yu Huatian’s growing reputation.
• After Ma Jinliang told Yu Huatian that the emperor had fallen into the water, Yu Huatian suspected Lu Wenzhao’s involvement and warned that he would kill him if the emperor died.
• Yu Huatian left Cao Zhengchun to escort the gold, returned to the capital, and rode straight to the palace after dismissing officials and warning the Embroidered Uniform Guard commanders to choose their allegiance.
• Ma Jinliang suspected Lu Wenzhao was connected to the emperor’s accident and sent Ding Xiu to follow him.
• Zhu Wushi defended Yu Huatian’s rise as deserved, rebuked Duan Tianya, Guihai Yidao, and Shangguan Haitang for their shortcomings, and introduced Cheng Shifei as their new junior fellow disciple.