Chapter Summaries

Lianshan Xin left with Huang Jingji after using the Nine Heavens’ hidden agents to impress and warn him. Back at home, Lianshan Jingcheng and He Miaojun discussed their son’s youthful ambition and discovered Huang Jingji had some history with Lianshan Jingcheng, while neighbors praised the family over Lianshan Xin’s recommendation to White Deer Grotto Academy.

• Lianshan Xin asked Huang Jingji about his ties to Kong Liulang and considered Huang’s attempt to serve multiple sides as he pursued the Golden Scale Alliance and the Kong Family.
• Du Jiu summoned a disguised Nine Heavens member, showing Huang Jingji how thoroughly the group could conceal its agents.
• Lianshan Xin followed Huang Jingji out, while Lianshan Jingcheng watched him with concern and He Miaojun asked what was wrong.
• Lianshan Jingcheng told He Miaojun that Huang Jingji had once bullied him, and He Miaojun was stunned.
• Neighbors congratulated Lianshan Jingcheng and He Miaojun on Lianshan Xin’s recommendation to White Deer Grotto Academy, and the couple enjoyed the praise.

Lianshan Xin accompanied Huang Jingji to the Thorn Gang Headquarters, where Huang sought his wife Luo Panlan’s forgiveness and help separating from the Kong Family. As Lianshan Xin’s talent revealed a private conversation, he discovered that Huang’s cultivation technique had made him sterile and that Luo Panlan had concealed the truth.

• Huang Jingji told Lianshan Xin that Kong Sanlang had trapped him with a honey trap and that he suspected Kong Sanlang was targeting the Golden Scale Alliance.
• Huang Jingji explained that the Golden Scale Alliance was expanding beyond Jiangzhou and admitted he wanted to cut ties with the Kong Family amid suspicions of its connection to the Demon Cult.
• Lianshan Xin asked about Kong Ningyuan’s standing, and Huang Jingji said Kong Ningyuan had reconciled with his father and retained his position in the Kong Family.
• Huang Jingji brought Lianshan Xin to the Thorn Gang Headquarters and confessed to Luo Panlan that he had fathered a son with another woman.
• Lianshan Xin’s talent showed him Luo Panlan telling Wei Rong that Huang Jingji’s cultivation technique had made him sterile, though Huang did not know it and she had borne him two daughters.

Lianshan Xin settled the dispute between Luo Panlan and Huang Jingji by guaranteeing the Thorn Gang would not pass to Huang Jingji’s illegitimate child, then accompanied Huang Jingji to end his affair. Before he left, Luo Panlan warned him that Zeng Ningbing, a famous young martial artist, had entered the White Deer Grotto Academy and would become his fellow student.

• Wei Rong angrily confronted Luo Panlan about seeing other men, but she pointed out that he was not her husband.
• Luo Panlan demanded that Huang Jingji cut ties with the woman carrying his child, and Lianshan Xin assured her the child would not inherit the Thorn Gang.
• Huang Jingji agreed to end the affair and promised to make the Spring Revival Hall the Thorn Gang’s designated clinic.
• Lianshan Xin offered to accompany Huang Jingji to the other residence, while Luo Panlan told him Zeng Ningbing had passed the White Deer Grotto Academy entrance examination.

Lianshan Xin learned that Zeng Ningbing blamed him for taking the White Deer Grotto Academy nomination slot intended for her, then dismissed Luo Panlan’s attempt to intimidate him. He brought Huang Jingji to Lianshan Jingcheng for an examination, which revealed that Huang had been infertile for ten years despite having many descendants.

• Luo Panlan told Lianshan Xin that Kong Ningyuan had reassigned the Kong Family’s nomination slot to him, angering Zeng Ningbing, who believed he had taken it from her.
• Lianshan Xin responded to Luo Panlan’s warnings about Zeng Ningbing’s cultivation and left the Thorn Gang with Huang Jingji.
• Lianshan Xin questioned Huang Jingji’s confidence in his bedroom skills and decided to take him to Lianshan Jingcheng for an examination.
• Lianshan Jingcheng examined Huang Jingji and concluded that his cultivation technique had likely made him infertile ten years earlier.
• Lianshan Xin reassured Huang Jingji that, although he could not father children, he already had a house full of children and grandchildren.

Lianshan Jingcheng diagnosed Huang Jingji’s infertility as damage caused by his cultivation technique, and Huang Jingji sought Lianshan Xin’s help to get revenge on the Golden Scale Alliance and Kong Sanlang. Lianshan Xin promised to obtain a suitable technique and help him recover through Nine Heavens, while Huang Jingji agreed to remain undercover and wait for his chance.

• Lianshan Jingcheng told Huang Jingji that his damaged kidney essence could recover only if he changed to a sufficiently powerful technique that replenished primordial yang.
• Huang Jingji realized that the Golden Scale Alliance and the Kong Family had exploited and humiliated him, and he vowed to take revenge on them.
• Huang Jingji asked Lianshan Xin for a cultivation technique and pledged his life in return; Lianshan Xin offered to seek one through Nine Heavens.
• Lianshan Xin urged Huang Jingji to keep playing his role in the Golden Scale Alliance and promised to leave his enemies to him if the opportunity came.
• Lianshan Jingcheng said Huang Jingji needed regular treatment and a Returning Essence Pill refined by the Celestial Master, leaving Lianshan Xin to help secure both.

Lianshan Xin argued with Lianshan Jingcheng about medicine and the Heavenly Physician, then left Spring Revival Hall determined to work harder. His parents discussed his ambition and their wish to protect him, while news arrived that Qi Shiyun was breaking through and might expose a secret.

• Lianshan Xin asked whether Lianshan Jingcheng had deliberately used Huang Jingji’s treatment to keep him under control, but his father denied it.
• Lianshan Jingcheng scolded Lianshan Xin for neglecting proper medicine and urged him to learn from the Heavenly Physician, but Lianshan Xin rejected the comparison.
• Lianshan Xin gave up hoping that his family was secretly wealthy and left Spring Revival Hall to work harder.
• He Miaojun worried that her illness had caused Lianshan Xin’s ambition, and Lianshan Jingcheng agreed that they should support and protect him.
• Lianshan Xin received word that Qi Shiyun was breaking through and feared that a secret would soon be revealed.

Heavenly Sword told Lianshan Xin that Qi Shiyun had cultivated ninety-one Chosen One Sons of Heaven and explained the deadly history of their lineage. He then revealed that the Golden Scale Alliance expanded after the emperor urged the prominent Second Prince to strive harder because the Crown Prince was often ill.

• Heavenly Sword told Lianshan Xin that Qi Shiyun's advancement probably had nothing to do with him and that he was her ninety-first Chosen One Son of Heaven.
• Heavenly Sword described how thirty-five members of Lianshan Xin's lineage had died, leaving Qi Shiyun as its only surviving seedling and putting her in danger.
• Lianshan Xin decided he needed to strengthen himself quickly and asked Heavenly Sword about the Golden Scale Alliance and its ties to the Demon Cult.
• Heavenly Sword explained that Consort Shu was the Jiangzhou Governor's elder sister and that her son, the Second Prince, outshone the Crown Prince in ability and prominence.
• Heavenly Sword told Lianshan Xin that the Golden Scale Alliance began expanding aggressively after the emperor said the often-ill Crown Prince meant the Second Prince should strive harder.

Lianshan Xin discussed the Golden Scale Alliance and the Second Prince with the Heavenly Sword, then learned how the Heavenly Sword had dealt with a princess who pursued him. The Heavenly Sword warned Lianshan Xin to avoid acting rashly, though his own story suggested he had not always done so.

• Lianshan Xin explained that he pitied the Second Prince, who had been forced into the struggle for the throne by the emperor’s words.
• Lianshan Xin said he intended to deal with the Golden Scale Alliance because Zeng Ningbing might provoke him, but the Heavenly Sword warned him that she was the Second Prince’s beloved confidante.
• The Heavenly Sword told Lianshan Xin that Qi Shiyun had killed the Crown Prince’s retainer because the Crown Prince had tried to kill her after his sweetheart fell for her while she was disguised as a man.
• Lianshan Xin asked what he should do if the Golden Scale Alliance was colluding with the Demon Cult, and the Heavenly Sword said they should be killed if the collusion was genuine.
• The Heavenly Sword recounted how a princess pursued him and threatened his wife, so he made the princess blind and became the Heavenly Sword.

Lianshan Xin learned from the Heavenly Sword about the Nine Heavens’ investigation into the Golden Scale Alliance and Thousand Faces. He boldly suspected that the mystery surrounding Thousand Faces was tied to the struggle between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, and resolved that the Nine Heavens must act.

• Lianshan Xin praised the Heavenly Sword and set a goal of reaching the top ten of the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
• The Heavenly Sword tasked Lianshan Xin with uncovering the Great Grandmaster behind the Golden Scale Alliance, who had rescued Thousand Faces and broken his sword.
• The Heavenly Sword revealed that an unknown person had sent the Nine Heavens a letter exposing Thousand Faces at White Deer Grotto Academy.
• Lianshan Xin speculated that the Jiangzhou Governor, the Second Prince, or the Crown Prince might be connected to Thousand Faces and the Golden Scale Alliance.
• The Heavenly Sword cautioned Lianshan Xin not to draw conclusions without evidence, while Lianshan Xin decided the Nine Heavens had to resist being used in the princes’ conflict.

Lianshan Xin discussed evidence for the Chosen of Heaven lineage’s involvement in the struggle for the throne with Zhang A-Niu, who revealed his humble beginnings and explained Qi Shiyun’s prospects. Zhang A-Niu warned that young, hot-blooded heirs from the Nine Heavens were coming to Jiangzhou, leaving Lianshan Xin with little time to prepare.

• Lianshan Xin promised Zhang A-Niu he would gather solid evidence against the Chosen of Heaven lineage and asked his superior’s name.
• Zhang A-Niu told Lianshan Xin that he had begun as a cowherd, learned sword arts from dying martial artists, and was named Zhang A-Niu.
• Zhang A-Niu explained that Qi Shiyun would enter the domain realm and pursue Great Grandmaster after breaking through, then compared her talent with his own.
• Zhang A-Niu said a person’s strength, battle achievements, and talent could outweigh bloodline, and Lianshan Xin agreed that he needed to establish his value.
• Zhang A-Niu revealed that the Imperial Court and Nine Heavens were sending young, hot-blooded heirs to support him and warned Lianshan Xin that his time was running out.