Chapter Summaries

Yue Hongling guided Zhao Changhe in cultivating his Inner Breath after a spy scare and an awkward visit from Cui Yuanyong. Zhao Changhe broke through to the Second Level of the Profound Pass, and Yue Hongling was astonished by the power of his cultivation method.

• A bandit reported that someone had triggered a trap on the mountain, so Zhao Changhe went to investigate and left Yue Hongling in his room.
• Cui Yuanyong appeared outside the window, teased Yue Hongling about what he had witnessed, and fled after she attacked him with her sword.
• Yue Hongling and Zhao Changhe realized someone in the stronghold had leaked news of her arrival, but Zhao Changhe said he would handle the spy himself.
• Yue Hongling set aside the misunderstanding and resumed guiding Zhao Changhe's breathing and teaching him a cultivation formula.
• Zhao Changhe entered a meditative trance and broke through to the Second Level of the Profound Pass, leaving Yue Hongling amazed by his powerful cultivation method.

Yue Hongling examined Zhao Changhe’s extraordinary true qi and explained the limits imposed by his late start in cultivation. When she challenged him to spar, Zhao Changhe unleashed Gods and Buddhas Scattered with startling power, reopening Yue Hongling’s wound before he called for another fight once she healed.

• Yue Hongling examined Zhao Changhe’s true qi and was astonished by its exceptional quality.
• Yue Hongling explained that Zhao Changhe’s fully formed meridians and dantian would limit his future cultivation despite his powerful art.
• Zhao Changhe asked whether he could use his true qi to perform Gods and Buddhas Scattered, and Yue Hongling said the move would retain its power but lose some baleful effects.
• Yue Hongling drew her sword and pursued Zhao Changhe to spar with him, and he turned to meet her with Gods and Buddhas Scattered.
• Yue Hongling blocked Zhao Changhe’s powerful strike, but the effort reopened her wound and sent him crashing into a courtyard wall.
• Zhao Changhe laughed and asked to spar again after Yue Hongling’s injury healed.

After their duel, Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling recovered together at the inn and discussed his adaptable true qi, the great clans, and his interest in their history. Yue Hongling ended the conversation by offering to teach him a long-range killing technique.

• Yue Hongling explained that Zhao Changhe had combined blood and qi with true qi during his ultimate technique, and that his art could eventually absorb other forms of power.
• Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling meditated through the night while recovering from their injuries and exhaustion.
• The next morning, Yue Hongling reflected on Zhao Changhe's perseverance as he endured the Blood Baleful Art's pain, then accepted breakfast delivered by the cook, who mistook her for the boss's wife.
• Over breakfast, Zhao Changhe asked Yue Hongling about the Qinghe Cui clan and requested an introduction to Cui Yuanyong so he could learn about the great clans' history.
• When Zhao Changhe asked about the third thing she had promised to teach him, Yue Hongling demonstrated a chopstick attack and offered to teach him Long-Range Killing, Soul-Chasing Execution.

Zhao Changhe practiced Yue Hongling’s hidden-weapon technique and discovered he could wield a powerful bow, though his excitement left him injured. Yue Hongling continued teaching him and stood up to Helmsman Fang’s people, while Zhao Changhe was left puzzling over her feelings.

• Yue Hongling taught Zhao Changhe the Falling Feather Flying Plume hidden-weapon art, and he quickly hit a sparrow with a stone.
• Zhao Changhe found a Three-Stone Bow in the armory and pierced a target with an arrow, but strained his shoulder by putting all his strength into the shot.
• Yue Hongling carried Zhao Changhe back to his cabin and massaged his shoulder as the bandits cheered for her as the chief’s wife.
• Zhao Changhe said Yue Hongling had come to teach him and expected him to overcome his enemies himself, and she agreed to continue teaching him.
• Yue Hongling told the bandits to reject Helmsman Fang’s reprimand because Zhao Changhe was injured, leaving Zhao Changhe surprised by her defense of him.

Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling reorganized the Mountain Stronghold and made arrangements for her to stay there while she recovered. In town, Cui Yuanyong warned his sister to abandon her assignment to capture Zhao Changhe, but she left without saying whether she would obey.

• Zhao Changhe resumed training the bandits and managing the stronghold as Yue Hongling surveyed its traps.
• Yue Hongling ordered the bandits to remove dangerous spikes from traps inside the stronghold, improve its defenses, and consider planting crops.
• Zhao Changhe offered Yue Hongling a separate room with a tub, and she agreed to stay while continuing to spar with him.
• Cui Yuanyong's sister worried that Lin Feihu and other gang figures had come to exploit Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling's injuries.
• Cui Yuanyong told his sister that Zhao Changhe was more formidable than he had assumed and ordered her to abandon her assignment to capture him.
• Cui Yuanyong's sister joked about the rumor that Yue Hongling treated Zhao Changhe like a cat, then left in a huff.

Yue Hongling finished training Zhao Changhe and prepared to leave, but Lin Feihu’s attack gave her one last reason to draw her sword. After she departed, Zhao Changhe resolved to leave North Mang once he reached the third level of the Profound Pass.

• Zhao Changhe sparred with Yue Hongling and recognized how much her guidance had improved his saber work and combat skills.
• As they approached the house, Zhao Changhe asked Yue Hongling to stay for the Lantern Festival, but they were interrupted by Lin Feihu of the Black Tiger Gang.
• Lin Feihu mistook Yue Hongling for Zhao Changhe’s wife and tried to seize her, so Yue Hongling killed him with a single sword strike.
• Yue Hongling said she had to leave, changed back into her red robes, and bid Zhao Changhe farewell.
• Zhao Changhe watched Yue Hongling depart and decided he would leave North Mang when he reached the third level of the Profound Pass.

Zhao Changhe pushed himself to build the vitality and blood needed to reach the third level of the Profound Pass, while his bandits mistook his training for grief over Yue Hongling’s departure. Elsewhere, Cui Yuanyong encouraged his younger sister to keep training, and she resolved to beat Zhao Changhe to her next breakthrough.

• Zhao Changhe decided that Xia Longyuan’s legacy could support the Blood Baleful Art and make an attempt at the third level worthwhile.
• The Mountain Stronghold bandits noticed Zhao Changhe eating and training intensely after his wife left, while he worked to build the vitality and blood required for a breakthrough.
• Zhao Changhe learned that the town had only a small supply of the medicinal ingredients he needed because Helmsman Fang’s people also used them, and he sent Tiezhu to search farther away.
• Cui Yuanyong gave his younger sister Pure Profound Pills and urged her to continue training so she could break through sooner.
• Cui Yuanyong told his sister that Zhao Changhe was also trying to reach the third level after only about three months of practice, and she vowed to beat him.

Zhao Changhe faced Fang Buping’s demand for half the stronghold’s resources as his supplies dwindled and his plans to leave grew firmer. His attempt to break through to the third level of the Blood Baleful Art failed, and he learned that a skilled swordswoman had been caught in a trap after breaking into the stronghold.

• Fang Buping’s envoy demanded half the stronghold’s resources, and Zhao Changhe ordered Dashan to hand over half the supplies.
• Zhao Changhe demonstrated his masterful archery and decided to attempt a breakthrough to the third level that night.
• Zhao Changhe endured the Blood Baleful Art’s pain while using Xia Longyuan’s art to keep his reason and ease his suffering.
• Zhao Changhe failed to break through and destroyed his bathing tub in frustration.
• A bandit told Zhao Changhe that an intruder caught in a trap had fought off the stronghold’s men with superb swordsmanship.

Zhao Changhe captured a young woman from the imperial court, then released her when Helmsman Fang arrived to claim her. After taking a pill she gave him, Zhao Changhe killed Wang Dashan and broke through to the third layer of the Blood Baleful Art.

• Zhao Changhe stopped the bandits from stabbing the woman in the trap and forced her to surrender by threatening to pee on her.
• Zhao Changhe sealed the woman’s acupoints and questioned her, but she refused to answer and revealed that her brother would come for her.
• After Helmsman Fang came to claim the captive, Zhao Changhe secretly unsealed the woman, returned her sword, and sent her out through the back gate.
• The woman gave Zhao Changhe two pills that could help him break through, then hurried off to find reinforcements.
• Zhao Changhe swallowed a pill, entered the Righteous Gathering Hall, and killed Wang Dashan to obtain blood baleful energy.
• Zhao Changhe broke through to the third layer of the internal profound pass and the Blood Baleful Art, smashed the hall’s plaque, and left.

Zhao Changhe lured Fang Buping into the rear mountain and defeated the stronger helmsman with traps, a bow, and a handful of lime. As Cui Yuanyong and his sister arrived, the Book of Troubled Times announced Zhao Changhe’s victory and ranked him ninety-first on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.

• Zhao Changhe led Fang Buping away from the stronghold, intending to fight him without being surrounded.
• Zhao Changhe used precise saber strikes and a hidden trap to slow Fang Buping, then shot him with an arrow and attacked with his saber.
• Zhao Changhe blinded Fang Buping with lime and killed him with a slash to the throat.
• Exhausted, Zhao Changhe recovered his saber and headed down the mountain as Cui Yuanyong and his sister hurried toward the fight.
• The Book of Troubled Times announced Fang Buping’s death and placed Zhao Changhe ninety-first on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.