Chapter Summaries

Cao Jinxing captured Qiu Luan and helped expose and crush the plot to collude with the enemy, prompting Jiajing to order severe punishments and reward the three Guardians. In Xuanfu, Toghto learned that Hou Rong and Qiu Luan had been captured and their covert agents imprisoned.

• Cao Jinxing defeated Qiu Luan, and Han Xinting and Shen Xiang restrained him before he could escape or kill himself.
• Han Xinting ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guards to seal Qiu Luan's residence, while the Valiant Cavalry Battalion and Iron Cavalry Battalion arrested his loyal commanders.
• Jiajing ordered Qiu Luan and his family punished, and Lü Fu sent Liu Zhenyuan rewards for the three Guardians.
• Chen Gui hosted a banquet as Zhu Qi showed signs of recovering from the poison.
• Hundred Faces told Toghto that Secretary Cong had died in a lightning strike, and a Mongolian warrior reported that Hou Rong and Qiu Luan had been captured and their covert agents imprisoned.

Toghto abandoned the plan to use Qiu Luan to open Xuanfu and instead plotted to assassinate Chen Gui with disguised members of the Thirteen Wings. At the Commander-in-Chief's Residence, Cao Jinxing learned that Zhu Qi was recovering and heard that Toghto's group had already left their hiding place.

• Toghto learned that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had exposed Qiu Luan's alliance pact and arrested his accomplices, ruining the Mongols' plan to take Xuanfu through him.
• Toghto decided to have Hundred Faces and the surviving Thirteen Wings disguise themselves, use Blood Rose, and assassinate Chen Gui before opening Dushikou Pass to the Mongol army.
• Toghto ordered a pigeon message sent to his adoptive father to assemble the army and told his followers to watch for the man who commanded lightning.
• Huang Fangling told Cao Jinxing that Zhu Qi's poison would be cleared by dawn and accepted Spirit Liquid and a wine flask from him.
• Han Xinting and Shen Xiang reported that they had learned the Thirteen Wings' fighting styles but arrived too late to find them.

Cao Jinxing and his allies uncovered the Thirteen Wings’ base and prepared for a possible attack, while Toghto’s infiltrators tried to impersonate Zhou Yun and enter the commander-in-chief’s residence. The scheme failed when Cao Jinxing revealed himself and trapped the attackers inside.

• Cao Jinxing learned from Hou Rong’s confession that the Thirteen Wings had used the Mohu Inn as their base, and he warned Han Xinting and Shen Xiang that Toghto might strike.
• Shen Xiang reinforced the night patrols, and Han Xinting arranged for Chen Gui to send Zhou Yun, Jiang Qianhu, and Xu Qianhu with five cannons to Dushikou Pass.
• A guard captain discovered that Blood Rose had incapacitated Zhou Yun and his men, and that Toghto’s group had killed them and stolen their armor.
• Hundred Faces impersonated Zhou Yun and led Toghto and the others into the commander-in-chief’s residence, where Poison King released Blood Rose and Hundred Faces presented a false dispatch to Chen Gui.
• Cao Jinxing exposed himself after Hundred Faces burned her hands on the poisoned command arrow, and he challenged Toghto’s group to fight.

Cao Jinxing and Chen Gui’s forces ambushed Toghto and the Thirteen Wings at the commander’s residence, where Cao Jinxing countered the Gangdong Horn and helped devastate the attackers. Toghto fled with several of his allies dead or gravely wounded, while Cao Jinxing pursued him and drew his bow.

• Toghto revealed the Gangdong Horn and used its Buddhist melody to stun the commander’s residence, allowing the Thirteen Wings to attack.
• Cao Jinxing broke the horn’s influence with his flute, killed Hundred Faces with a flying sword, and helped Shen Xiang and Han Xinting drive back their opponents.
• Poison King’s poisonous smoke failed against Cao Jinxing’s wind and ice powers, and Chen Gui struck the escaping attackers down, killing Sparrow Plume and Chain Snake.
• Red Mastiff died shielding Toghto from Han Xinting’s palm strike, while Poison King, Wind Eagle, and Bone Demon stayed behind to cover Toghto’s retreat.
• Cao Jinxing killed Arrow God with a curving fourth arrow as Toghto escaped onto the roof, then pursued him with Han Xinting and Shen Xiang.

Cao Jinxing and his allies captured Toghto, uncovered his plan to assassinate Chen Gui and signal a Mongolian army to enter Dushikou Pass, and seized the chance to turn the scheme against the Tatars. The chapter leaves them preparing to use the dead bodyguards’ armor in a counterattack.

• Cao Jinxing’s arrows wounded Toghto severely, and Han Xinting and Shen Xiang killed the thirty-six bodyguards who tried to shield him.
• Cao Jinxing hypnotized Toghto into revealing the plan to kill Chen Gui, signal with Skyward Smoke Firework, and bring the army into the city.
• Han Xinting found the fireworks among the bodyguards, while Cao Jinxing drained most of Toghto’s internal energy with the Absorbing Power Great Method.
• Cao Jinxing brought the barely living Toghto back to Chen Gui and explained the plot.
• Chen Gui agreed to use the bodyguards’ armor to spring a counterattack against the Tatars.

Altan Khan and Dailaisun prepared to invade Dushikou Pass, while Huangtaiji led a vanguard to investigate after the planned attack went awry. Huangtaiji and Timur rushed to rescue the wounded Toghto, unaware that the apparent survivor was deliberately putting on an act to lure them in.

• Altan Khan chose to attack Dushikou Pass and the Defeat-the-Barbarians Guard rather than march directly on the Ming Capital, and Huangtaiji volunteered to lead five thousand vanguard troops.
• Huangtaiji and Timur waited near the pass after their scouts reported no unusual activity, but a signal shot and a report of Toghto's failed assassination made them suspect something had gone wrong.
• Huangtaiji held the vanguard back and went with Timur to the wall, where Toghto and twelve guards fought Assistant Commander Chen Shi.
• Toghto used the Great Brahma Sacred Palm to drive Chen Shi back, then Huangtaiji and Timur hurried to intervene.
• The apparent Toghto continued smearing blood on himself and inwardly rejoiced that Huangtaiji and Timur had taken the bait.

Cao Jinxing and the defenders lured Huang Taiji and Timur into opening Dushi City’s gates, then turned the invading cavalry’s advance into a trap. As five thousand enemy troops entered, Xuanda Governor-General Chen Gui sealed their retreat, leaving Huang Taiji and Timur cut off inside the city.

• Huang Taiji and Timur reached the gate tower, where Chen Shi triggered a hidden passage that dropped Toghto into the gateway and raised the alarm.
• Timur wounded Chen Shi with his whip as the defenders mobilized, and five thousand armored cavalry charged toward the gates.
• Huang Taiji discovered that the apparent Toghto was Cao Jinxing, but Cao and his allies wounded and poisoned him before Shen Xiang and Han Xinting attacked.
• Huang Taiji revealed his Earth God Power, drove Shen Xiang and Han Xinting back, and opened the city gates for the cavalry.
• Cao Jinxing, Shen Xiang, and Han Xinting feigned defeat and drew the cavalry into the city as Huang Taiji’s poison began to take effect.
• Chen Gui descended with his saber and shut the gates behind the invading force, trapping Huang Taiji, Timur, and the five thousand cavalry inside.

Chen Gui’s forces trapped Huang Taiji’s vanguard at Dushikou, killed and captured many soldiers, and used poison to break down Huang Taiji’s cultivation until Timur surrendered. When Altan Khan learned his son was captured, Zhao Quan urged him to seek help from Shi Mohe to rescue him.

• Chen Gui and the garrisons surrounded Huang Taiji’s five thousand cavalrymen, and Ouyang An ordered the archers to fire.
• Huang Taiji charged Chen Gui, but Toghto, Cao Jinxing, and the others fired five cannons from the gate tower, devastating the trapped cavalry.
• Huang Taiji fought Chen Gui and then discovered that Power-Dissolving Powder was draining his true qi; Timur surrendered to save him.
• Chen Gui ordered the army to take prisoners and sent Altan Khan a demand to surrender, pay tribute, and submit.
• Altan Khan read the message and threatened to attack Datong, but Zhao Quan urged him to ask Shi Mohe for help; Altan Khan sent Buyan to invite the sect master.

After the Thirteen Wings were defeated, Han Xinting warned that Zhao Quan and the Demon Cult might incite Altan Khan to start a war. As Zhu Qi took over guarding Huang Taiji and Timur, Shi Mohe arrived at the prison to rescue them, while Liu Zhenyuan sensed the danger and raced toward Dushikou Pass.

• Huang Taiji lost all his true qi, and Timur let Chen Gui seal his internal energy so he could remain imprisoned with him.
• Cao Jinxing, Han Xinting, and Shen Xiang discussed whether Altan Khan would surrender and worried that Zhao Quan might use the prisoners' capture to provoke war.
• Zhu Qi joined the three Guardians at the prison and agreed to take over guarding Huang Taiji and Timur while they rested.
• Liu Zhenyuan sensed a powerful presence in Dushi City and rushed toward Dushikou Pass in a fury.
• Shi Mohe entered the prison and declared that he had come to save lives; Cao Jinxing recognized that he intended to rescue the prisoners and erase the guards' memories.

Shi Mohe infiltrated the prison to free Huang Taiji and Timur, but Liu Zhenyuan arrived and defeated him with thunder techniques. Cao Jinxing killed the wounded Shi Mohe, and Liu Zhenyuan took his corpse toward the Mongolian camp as Altan Khan tried to blame Zhao Quan for the failed plot.

• Shi Mohe fought Cao Jinxing, Zhu Qi, Han Xinting, and Shen Xiang, sealing their acupoints and trying to draw Cao Jinxing into betraying Ming.
• Liu Zhenyuan stormed into the prison and struck Shi Mohe with the Thunder Tribulation Finger and Five Thunders Strike the Crown, severely injuring him.
• Altan Khan and Dailaisun realized Shi Mohe had been exposed and ordered their troops to seize Zhao Quan, who escaped amid the chaos.
• Cao Jinxing stabbed Shi Mohe through the heart and finished him with a palm strike and beheading.
• Liu Zhenyuan freed Zhu Qi, Han Xinting, and Shen Xiang, then carried Shi Mohe's corpse toward the Mongolian camp with Cao Jinxing following.

Liu Zhenyuan arrived at the Mongolian camp, killed Shi Mohe, and forced Altan Khan to surrender rather than risk a devastating war. Altan Khan offered tribute and swore fealty, while Liu Zhenyuan left with the surrender letter and promised that Huang Taiji and his wife would be released after the tribute reached Dushikou Pass.

• Liu Zhenyuan killed Shi Mohe and confronted Altan Khan's forces, then demanded that the Vajra Guru, Panchen Sonam Zhaba, answer for the attack.
• Panchen Sonam Zhaba warned Altan Khan that Mongolia faced natural disasters and could not sustain a war with the Ming, and Altan Khan agreed to surrender.
• Altan Khan handed Zhao Quan and the other Maitreya Sect followers to Liu Zhenyuan, who killed them, and presented tribute as proof of Mongolia's surrender.
• Altan Khan swore to remain a loyal outer vassal, and Liu Zhenyuan accepted his letter of surrender while warning him not to break his oath.
• Liu Zhenyuan left with the tribute animals and told Altan Khan to send the remaining tribute to Dushikou Pass before Huang Taiji and his wife would be released.
• Altan Khan's envoy delivered gold, silver, and horses to Dushikou Pass, ending the month-long Ming-Mongolian standoff.

Liu Zhenyuan reported Altan Khan’s surrender, and the Ming court accepted his submission, granted titles, and opened regulated horse markets. After peace was established, Cao Jinxing and the others returned to Xuanfu with the tribute and found a treasure vault beneath Qiu Luan’s bed.

• Liu Zhenyuan told Chen Gui that Altan Khan had surrendered and handed over the letter of submission.
• Liu Zhenyuan distributed rewards to the Guardians, including the Snake-Coiling Formation to Cao Jinxing, and said they could search Qiu Luan’s hidden passage.
• Jiajing approved Altan Khan’s investiture as Prince of Shunyi, authorized limited horse markets, and granted Cao Jinxing permission to view half of the Heavenly Book Stele.
• The Grand Secretariat’s approval reached Dushi City, and Altan Khan accepted the terms and sent tribute to the Ming court.
• The Ming reinforcements withdrew, and Cao Jinxing and the others returned to Xuanfu with Altan’s tribute.
• Cao Jinxing and the others searched the passage beneath Qiu Luan’s bed and discovered a treasure vault.

Cao Jinxing found the sinister medical text Transplanting Flowers and Grafting Trees in Qiu Luan’s treasure vault and gave it to Huang Fangling, who recognized its techniques as useful. Huang Fangling also revealed that the Flower-Transplanting Palace may once have possessed the Tiger Wing Formation, giving Cao Jinxing a lead in his search for the Eight Formation Diagram.

• Liu Zhenyuan led the group into Qiu Luan’s treasure vault, where Han Xinting and Zhu Jingzhong found valuable gloves and martial arts manuals, while Shen Xiang and Cao Jinxing chose antidote pills.
• Cao Jinxing discovered Transplanting Flowers and Grafting Trees, and Liu Zhenyuan and Han Xinting explained how its author, Xu Qingwei, had founded the infamous Flower-Transplanting Sect.
• Cao Jinxing decided to give the book to Huang Fangling for its useful medical techniques, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard loaded and sealed the vault’s treasures.
• Cao Jinxing gave Huang Fangling the book, and she praised its medical insights before recalling that the Flower-Transplanting Palace had used the Tiger Wing Formation during its destruction.
• Huang Fangling told Cao Jinxing the palace had stood in Jade Embroidery Valley, Jinan Prefecture, and offered to take him there to search for the formation.

After studying the Heavenly Book Stele, Cao Jinxing created the Primordial Chaos Art and the devastating Great Void Finger. He demonstrated his new techniques to the Grand Protectors, leaving them astonished and celebrating his breakthrough.

• Liu Zhenyuan escorted Qiu Luan, the tribute, and the treasures to the capital, while Cao Jinxing received permission to study the Heavenly Book Stele.
• Cao Jinxing studied the stele for a day and a night, combining insights from his existing martial arts into a new kind of true qi.
• Cao Jinxing emerged with an elusive presence and matched Liu Zhenyuan's Tongyou Peak palm strike despite being only at the fourth level of Tongyou.
• Cao Jinxing named his new internal art the Primordial Chaos Art and its true qi Primordial Chaos True Qi.
• Cao Jinxing demonstrated the Great Void Finger, which disintegrated the Black Iron vault doors, and explained that its power required reversing his true qi.
• Han Xinting, Zhu Jingzhong, and Shen Xiang demanded a feast, and Cao Jinxing agreed to treat everyone.

Cao Jinxing and the other Thirteen Guardians discussed signs that powerful figures were searching for a Divine Beast, possibly using the [Heaven-Covering Formation]. Liu Zhenyuan warned of coming upheaval, then agreed Cao Jinxing could visit Jinan Prefecture after he helped oversee the Elephant House’s elephant-bathing preparations alongside Lu Yi.

• Cao Jinxing lavishly ordered food and wine at the Under Heaven Residence Restaurant, and Liu Zhenyuan asked when he would begin secluded cultivation at Flying Tiger Pool.
• Liu Zhenyuan revealed that old martial-world figures were gathering, and Shen Xiang suspected they were pursuing a Divine Beast.
• Cao Jinxing connected the search to the [Heaven-Covering Formation], and Liu Zhenyuan identified Heavenly Secret Twenty-Five as the likely instigator.
• Liu Zhenyuan warned the group that a Divine Beast could trigger chaos across the Jianghu and urged them to cultivate while they had time.
• Cao Jinxing asked to visit Jinan Prefecture to seek the [Tiger Wing Formation], and Liu Zhenyuan agreed on the condition that he first oversee the elephants’ bath at Shichahai with Lu Yi.

Cao Jinxing studied three foreign languages with Zhang Chengfeng, rewarded him with pills and restorative wine, and then went to Xuandu Temple for seclusion. There, Lu Bing questioned him about the Heaven-Covering Formation and left him wondering what divine beast the commander sought.

• Cao Jinxing tempered his Primordial Chaos True Qi and welcomed Zhang Chengfeng, who brought him guides to Japanese and the Greater and Lesser Frankish languages.
• Cao Jinxing gave Zhang Chengfeng two Heavenly King Pills after learning that the Red Lotus General’s power had increased by thirty percent, and Zhang said his father had recovered enough to help manage the manor.
• Cao Jinxing learned the three languages’ basic writing and grammar during a six-hour lesson, then sent Zhang home with wine made using the Wine God Stone.
• Cao Jinxing arrived at Xuandu Temple, where Lu Bing emerged from Earth Dragon Cave and asked whether Cao had used the Heaven-Covering Formation.
• Cao Jinxing told Lu Bing that the formation had shown him “Changbai Heavenly Lake, Phoenix Wings Set the Plains Ablaze,” and Lu gave him a Divine Concealment Cloak before departing.

After completing his seclusion, Cao Jinxing organized the annual elephant bathing at Shichahai and met Lu Yi, Lu Bing’s youngest son, who trained in the School Sect’s Yin-Yang Arts. The elephants suddenly went berserk and charged into the panicked crowd, leaving Cao Jinxing and Lu Yi facing an imminent disaster.

• Cao Jinxing ended his ten-day seclusion, donned his Flying Fish Uniform, and kept Lu Bing’s [Divine Concealment Cloak] after considering its history.
• Cao Jinxing sent Lu Jiaming, Sun Lang, Gu Yanzhu, and Su Yunsheng to bring the elephants from the Elephant House and Imperial Estates to Shichahai.
• Cao Jinxing met Lu Yi at Shichahai, and they discussed the yearly elephant bathing and Lu Yi’s training under the School Sect.
• Cao Jinxing recognized the School Sect as one of the Three Hidden Sects and its Yin-Yang Arts as an ancient inheritance.
• One elephant suddenly went berserk and charged toward the spectators, and the other elephants followed, throwing the bathing area into chaos.

Cao Jinxing and Lu Yi captured a Water Monkey and the boy who had attacked Lu Yi to save it, then learned the pair had fled Wild Ghost Village. Yi Yi began revealing that a man called Luo Lie, known as the Snake Doctor, had performed experiments there, leaving Cao Jinxing to investigate who was behind the abductions.

• Cao Jinxing used the Snowbound Siege Song to calm the charging elephants and stop the crowd from stampeding while Lu Yi searched the water.
• Lu Yi restrained a Water Monkey with the Water Dragon Chant, and Cao Jinxing shot and pinned a boy who attacked Lu Yi with the Water Monkey's transplanted hand.
• Cao Jinxing and Lu Yi took the boy and the Water Monkey to prison, where the boy identified himself as Yi Yi and explained that he had attacked to save A Wen.
• Yi Yi said A Wen had been poisoned with a Madness Pill, and they had come to the Capital City seeking a Divine Physician at Carp Mountain.
• Cao Jinxing questioned Yi Yi about Wild Ghost Village's renewed human experiments, and Yi Yi identified Luo Lie, the Snake Doctor, as the man who performed the transplants.

Yi Yi revealed that Snake Doctor Luo Lie had taken over Wild Ghost Village and was using its people for transplant experiments while searching an underground palace beneath the ancestral hall. Cao Jinxing agreed to lead an official expedition to stop him, with Lu Yi and Huang Fangling joining the dangerous mission, and the force set out for Jinan Prefecture.

• Yi Yi told Cao Jinxing that Luo Lie descended from Snake Demon Luo Yuan, had secretly seized Wild Ghost Village, and conducted deadly Alien Beast transplant experiments there.
• Yi Yi revealed that Luo Lie had repeatedly sent villagers into an underground palace beneath the village ancestral hall to search its branching, trapped passages.
• Cao Jinxing agreed with Lu Yi to eliminate Luo Lie, and Yi Yi agreed to guide them in exchange for treatment for A Wen, the Water Monkey.
• Huang Fangling treated the Water Monkey and persuaded Cao Jinxing to let her join the expedition with her Seven-Treasure Box and other weapons.
• Cao Jinxing arranged additional Seven-Treasure Boxes for the Ghost Guards, and the group assembled with government forces before setting out for Jinan Prefecture.

Cao Jinxing’s party approached Wild Ghost Village while keeping their arrival secret from Jinan’s authorities, then discovered that Luo Lie had fused Jia Shi with the Thunder Eagle. Cao Jinxing killed the Wind Eagle and Jia Shi with two arrows, leaving Yi Yi to witness how an expert could overcome his fear.

• Cao Jinxing and Lu Yi decided not to alert Jinan’s authorities until they had investigated whether officials were ignoring or aiding Luo Lie.
• Yi Yi recognized the circling Wind Eagle and revealed that Luo Lie had used the Thunder Eagle in a transplant on Jia Shi.
• Cao Jinxing drew the Ten-Thousand-Dan Bow and killed the Wind Eagle with a single arrow.
• Jia Shi slaughtered members of a Fuwei Escort Agency party and killed its second young master before noticing the Wind Eagle’s death.
• Cao Jinxing fired a second arrow from the mountaintop, killing Jia Shi, then told Yi Yi that strength could overcome fear.