Chapter Summaries

Huang Xiao watched the Beggar Gang elders vote after Chi Si defeated Hong Yi in the first match. Five elders chose Hong Yi, setting up a deciding third match between Huang Xiao and Xu Wuyu.

• Chi Si knocked Hong Yi off the platform, but his Forbidden Art backlash left him more gravely injured, and Huang Xiao found Hong Yi was still alive.
• Huang Xiao declined to treat Hong Yi after Hong Yi insisted he save his strength for a possible third match, and Yi Heng declared Chi Si the winner of the first match.
• Yi Heng, Zhang Che, and Jiang Sheng voted for Hong Yi, while Yuan Bi, Bi Bo, and Tu He chose Chi Si, leaving the elders' vote tied at three each.
• Wu Jin and Xu Chou both voted for Hong Yi, giving him five votes and causing the shocked Chi Si to faint.
• Hong Yi told Huang Xiao that the deciding match was now in his hands, and Xu Wuyu said he had wanted the vote to lead to a third match so he could settle things with Huang Xiao.

Huang Xiao faced Xu Wuyu in a life-or-death third-round match, while Xu revealed he had arranged the elders’ recommendations partly to draw Huang Xiao into his reach. Huang Xiao resisted Xu’s attacks and began unleashing his transformed True Qi, leaving Xu Wuyu to suspect he had learned the Everlasting Spring Youth-Restoring Art as the fight continued.

• Hong Yi urged Huang Xiao to concede, but Huang Xiao and Xu Wuyu agreed to settle their grudge in a fight to the death despite Elder Yi Heng’s objections.
• Xu Wuyu privately told Huang Xiao that he had influenced the elders’ recommendations and had come to kill him; Huang Xiao remained wary but entered the arena.
• Xu Wuyu attacked with the Taixuan Three-Shock Sound, but Huang Xiao resisted it and countered, while the sound injured and knocked out nearby Beggar Gang disciples.
• Huang Xiao and Xu Wuyu exchanged swift attacks, each detecting and countering the other’s movements.
• Huang Xiao transformed the Northern Darkness True Qi in his dantian into Everlasting Spring Ageless True Qi, and Xu Wuyu connected his power to Poison God Valley and Medicine King Hall.

Huang Xiao and Xu Wuyu fought fiercely as Huang Xiao used his perfected Blazing Yang Palm, imitated Taixuan Three-Shock Sound, and unleashed the Heavenly Demon Subduing Tiger Fist. The duel continued before the watching experts, with Xu Wuyu weathering Huang Xiao’s relentless attacks and Hong Yi realizing how far Huang Xiao surpassed him.

• Huang Xiao surprised Xu Wuyu with a far stronger Blazing Yang Palm, forcing Xu Wuyu to retreat before he dispersed the invading palm force.
• Huang Xiao interrupted Xu Wuyu’s apparent preparation with an explosive shout and struck him with Fourfold Force, but Xu Wuyu recovered and counterattacked.
• Huang Xiao imitated the Taixuan Three-Shock Sound with help from the Heavenly Demon Illusion Art, briefly stunning Xu Wuyu and prompting him to recognize the imitation.
• Huang Xiao launched the Heavenly Demon Subduing Tiger Fist with Fourfold Force, and Xu Wuyu blocked his repeated, power-consuming attacks.
• The experts watched the fierce duel in shock, while Hong Yi realized Huang Xiao was far stronger than he had thought.

Huang Xiao fought Xu Wuyu for an hour before being driven to the edge of the arena and badly injured. When Xu Wuyu attacked again, Huang Xiao met him with a palm and began using the Northern Darkness Absorption Method to drain his power.

• Huang Xiao and Xu Wuyu exchanged attacks for an hour, with their defenses and healing keeping them nearly even.
• Xu Wuyu gradually gained the upper hand and forced Huang Xiao backward as his strength and meridians weakened.
• Huang Xiao vomited blood, but refused to concede despite Hong Yi urging him to stop.
• Xu Wuyu paused at the arena’s edge, intending to wear Huang Xiao down and kill him on the platform.
• Huang Xiao decided to try the Northern Darkness Absorption Method before resorting to the Heavenly Demon Skill.
• Xu Wuyu’s palm force entered Huang Xiao’s meridians, and Huang Xiao began absorbing his internal power.

Huang Xiao absorbed some of Xu Wuyu’s internal power, then used the Heavenly Demon Skill to defeat him with a devastating punch. After nearly killing Xu Wuyu and turning on anyone who intervened, Huang Xiao regained control of himself through Master Kongming’s Buddhist Clear-Mind Mantra and left Xu Wuyu defeated and furious.

• Huang Xiao absorbed Xu Wuyu’s internal power, while Xu Wuyu struggled to break free from his grip.
• Huang Xiao circulated the Heavenly Demon Skill and struck Xu Wuyu with a greatly strengthened punch, knocking him down and preparing to kill him.
• The Elder of Martial Instruction blocked Huang Xiao from stomping on Xu Wuyu, and Master Kongming used the Buddhist Clear-Mind Mantra to bring Huang Xiao out of demonic madness.
• Hong Yi checked on Huang Xiao, who said he needed several days to recover, while Tu He tried to help Xu Wuyu.
• Huang Xiao taunted Xu Wuyu and warned that he would kill him the next time they met; Xu Wuyu vowed that he would not spare Huang Xiao next time.

Hong Yi became the Beggar Gang Leader after Huang Xiao defeated Xu Wuyu, while Huang Xiao chose to remain at the Beggar Gang to recover and support him. After healing, Hong Yi asked Huang Xiao about the powerful cultivation method he had used against Xu Wuyu.

• Xu Wuyu withdrew to tend to his injuries after losing to Huang Xiao, and Huang Xiao let him go to avoid provoking the Taixuan Sect.
• Elder Yi Heng declared Hong Yi the winner and gave him the Green Jade Demon Slayer Staff, and the Beggar Gang members and Jianghu experts saluted and congratulated their new leader.
• Huang Xiao accepted Hong Yi’s promise of help and agreed to stay at the Beggar Gang while he recovered, as Hong Yi faced his new responsibilities.
• Tuoba Xing left the Beggar Gang after witnessing Huang Xiao’s strength, and Huang Xiao and Hong Yi returned to Hong Yi’s residence to heal.
• Six hours later, Huang Xiao and Hong Yi discussed their recovery and Hong Yi’s uncertainty about leading the gang before Hong Yi asked whether Poison God Valley possessed a cultivation method stronger than the Everlasting Spring Art.

Huang Xiao told Hong Yi that Poison God Valley’s Everlasting Spring Art came from Medicine King Hall’s Everlasting Spring Youth-Restoring Art, while concealing the truth about the Heavenly Demon Skill. After discussing their cultivation and the Beggar Gang’s future, Huang Xiao left to meet a Six Gates constable about a private matter that stirred his killing intent.

• Huang Xiao explained that Poison God Valley’s founding master had been a Medicine King Hall disciple and created the Everlasting Spring Art from the Everlasting Spring Youth-Restoring Art.
• Huang Xiao admitted he had learned the Everlasting Spring Youth-Restoring Art but had only scratched the surface, and he avoided Hong Yi’s question about the Demonic Art he had used against Xu Wuyu.
• Huang Xiao revealed that he had not reached the Peak Realm through his own cultivation, and Hong Yi estimated that a breakthrough could raise his strength to Upper Peerless.
• Hong Yi said he would leave Chi Si alone for now because of the deputy gang leader’s supporters and his possible Taixuan Sect connection.
• A Beggar Gang disciple announced that a Six Gates constable had come to see Huang Xiao, and Huang Xiao left at once after saying the private matter was extremely important.
• Hong Yi noticed that Huang Xiao had hidden killing intent and decided to ask him about it later.

Huang Xiao learned that Du Tianchou and his master were connected to the attack on Green Ox Temple and had been searching for something tied to him. He suspected they had targeted his Eldest Senior Brother to force him to surrender the Seven Spirit Blades.

• A First-Class Constable told Huang Xiao that escaped Peaceful Heaven Sect disciples had burned Green Ox Temple, and that Du Tianchou was among those who escaped.
• Huang Xiao withdrew to a secluded courtyard at the Beggar Gang Headquarters, where Jiang Ying met him in secret.
• Jiang Ying identified Du Tianchou and his master as the perpetrators and said they appeared to be searching for something related to Huang Xiao.
• Huang Xiao concluded that Du Tianchou and his master likely wanted to use his Eldest Senior Brother to obtain the Seven Spirit Blades.

Huang Xiao learned from Jiang Ying why Zhao Guangyi destroyed the Peaceful Heaven Sect and uncovered a possible link between the sect’s attack on the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion and the pavilion’s weakened experts. Jiang Ying also explained how Phoenix Mountain Manor’s mass-produced hidden weapons may have led to its destruction, while the search for Qingfeng and Du Tianchou remained unresolved.

• Jiang Ying reasoned that the Peaceful Heaven Sect might have captured Qingfeng to learn the secrets of the Seven Spirit Blades, and Huang Xiao hoped his eldest senior brother was still alive.
• Huang Xiao asked Jiang Ying why Zhao Guangyi had wiped out the Peaceful Heaven Sect, and Jiang Ying said the sect had targeted the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion and its pavilion master.
• Jiang Ying explained that the Peaceful Heaven Sect had coveted the Pavilion’s Blissful Art and attacked its female disciples before making a move against the pavilion master.
• Jiang Ying said the Peaceful Heaven Pavilion’s senior experts had recently died or been injured, possibly giving the Peaceful Heaven Sect an opening, and suggested the matter might connect to Phoenix Mountain Manor’s destruction.
• Jiang Ying told Huang Xiao that Zhao Xin’er’s mother was a surviving descendant of Phoenix Mountain Manor and that the manor’s ability to mass-produce hidden weapons may have made it a target.

Jiang Ying told Huang Xiao that hidden experts were likely Imperial Court agents protecting him, while Huang Xiao held out hope of finding his eldest senior brother. Xu Chou then began revealing the Beggar Gang’s buried history to Hong Yi, correcting the accepted account of how its senior Peerless Realm experts died.

• Jiang Ying told Huang Xiao that several Upper Peerless experts were secretly following him, and they suspected the Imperial Court had sent them to protect him.
• Huang Xiao returned to Hong Yi’s residence, explained his concern for his eldest senior brother, and shared food and wine with Hong Yi.
• Hong Yi visited Xu Chou, who explained the gang leader’s duties and promised to support Hong Yi’s choices for trusted subordinates.
• Xu Chou urged Hong Yi to focus on martial training so he could become a Peerless Realm expert and help restore the Beggar Gang’s strength.
• Hong Yi asked Xu Chou why the elders had followed Xu Wuyu’s demands during the leadership contest, prompting Xu Chou to explain that the gang’s seniors had died amid a struggle over Ling Tianya’s Ten Thousand Demons Canon.
• Xu Chou revealed that the seniors had not all died at Ling Tianya’s hands as Jianghu rumors claimed, leaving Hong Yi astonished.

Xu Chou explained to Hong Yi that the Beggar Gang’s seniors had survived their battle with Ling Tianya only to be ambushed and killed by unknown enemies, and revealed how the Taixuan Sect’s old bargain shaped the gang leader election. Hong Yi learned that Xu Chou supported him and held the deciding authority if the elders’ vote was tied.

• Xu Chou told Hong Yi that unknown attackers had ambushed and killed the Beggar Gang’s wounded seniors after their fight with Ling Tianya, and urged him to remember their blood debt without endangering the gang.
• Xu Chou explained that the Taixuan Sect had once secured permission to intervene in the Beggar Gang’s affairs after the gang was left vulnerable and other sects coveted its information network.
• Xu Chou confirmed that Xu Wuyu had invoked that agreement to set three election matches, expecting Chi Si to win, while Xu Chou had planned for a draw to keep the Taixuan Sect from dictating the outcome.
• Xu Chou said Wu Jin supported Chi Si, but he supported Hong Yi because Chi Si had accepted Taixuan Sect benefits and lacked Hong Yi’s potential.
• Xu Chou told Hong Yi that his authority as Elder of Martial Instruction gave him half a vote more than the other elders, allowing him to break a tie in Hong Yi’s favor.

Xu Chou gave Hong Yi the Beggar Gang’s secret manuals and The Beggar Sutra, a scripture rumored to have inspired the gang’s supreme techniques. Hong Yi returned to Huang Xiao and prepared to open the chest while Huang Xiao waited outside to avoid suspicion.

• Xu Chou credited Huang Xiao with helping Hong Yi secure his position and praised their friendship before leading Hong Yi to the Beggar Gang’s hidden manuals.
• Xu Chou gave Hong Yi the locked chest containing the Dragon-Capturing Divine Palm and the Demon-Slaying Staff Technique, allowing him to take it back and study them.
• Xu Chou gave Hong Yi The Beggar Sutra and explained that, according to tradition, the Founding Patriarch had derived the two martial arts from it, though generations of leaders had found no secrets in its pages.
• Xu Chou advised Hong Yi that he could investigate the scripture but should not waste too much time on it, then warned him to seek help if he ran into trouble.
• Hong Yi returned to Huang Xiao, who handed back his key and insisted on waiting outside while Hong Yi opened the chest, since only the gang leader was permitted to read its manuals.
• Hong Yi took the key and unlocked the remaining brass lock on the chest.

Hong Yi opened the chest and obtained the Dragon-Capturing Divine Palm and Demon-Slaying Staff Technique manuals, but doubted he could master either. After Huang Xiao suggested The Beggar Sutra might conceal secrets despite their inability to decipher it, Hong Yi resolved to study it seriously, hoping it could help him avenge his master and the fallen Beggar Gang elders.

• Hong Yi opened the chest, found the two martial arts manuals, and began studying the eighteenth palm of the Dragon-Capturing Divine Palm.
• Hong Yi showed Huang Xiao The Beggar Sutra and explained why he believed the legend that the Founding Patriarch learned two techniques from it was false.
• Huang Xiao read the scripture but found nothing, then argued that their failure to understand it did not prove it held no secrets.
• Huang Xiao suggested that hidden mysteries might lie in the scripture's writing, characters, or arrangements, as with other wondrous texts.
• Hong Yi resolved to study The Beggar Sutra and said it might be his hope for avenging his master and the Beggar Gang elders, but Huang Xiao pointed to the complete Dragon-Capturing Divine Palm as another path.

Huang Xiao advised Hong Yi to seek greater power or develop new Dragon-Capturing Divine Palm moves before leaving for Kaifeng. At a frontier tavern, Boss Hu’s men encountered an old man and a beautiful woman, and a mysterious voice revealed that both were over a hundred years old.

• Huang Xiao urged Hong Yi to use The Beggar Sutra as a path to creating stronger palm techniques, and Hong Yi compared the idea to Dugu’s effort to simplify the Nine Heavenly Sword Forms.
• After five days of exchanging martial arts insights with Hong Yi, Huang Xiao recovered and set out for Kaifeng.
• An old man and a woman arrived at a sparsely populated town on Great Song’s northern frontier and stopped to eat at its tavern.
• Boss Hu and his men took over the tavern, drove out the other customers, and discussed their profitable trade with the Khitan.
• When one of Boss Hu’s men threatened the woman, Boss Hu stopped him and warned the old man that the frontier was dangerous.
• A sudden burst of laughter from an unseen speaker shook everyone in the tavern, and the voice called the old man and woman century-old fossils, addressing the woman as Old Lady Fang.

Fang Jin and Fang Min, weakened by Nether Spirit Ghost Incense, were cornered by the Chiyin and Liangyin Ghost Kings, who revealed Fang Ketian had hired the Ghost Gate to eliminate them. As the Ghost Kings prepared to kill them, an unknown voice challenged the Chiyin Ghost King.

• Boss Hu and his men recovered after the old man and woman fled the inn, realizing how powerful their visitors were.
• In the forest, the Chiyin Ghost King confronted Fang Jin and Fang Min and said Fang Ketian had paid the Ghost Gate to poison them with Nether Spirit Ghost Incense.
• The Liangyin Ghost King appeared and revealed that he had killed Fang Jin and Fang Min's second brother while the siblings escaped.
• Fang Jin and Fang Min attacked the Ghost Kings but were easily thrown back because the poison had reduced their strength to less than a tenth.
• The Ghost Kings said Fang Ketian planned to unite the former forces of the Heavenly Demon Sect with Ghost Gate's help, while Fang Jin and Fang Min feared for the Fang Family's future.
• An unknown voice challenged the Chiyin Ghost King just as he threatened to wipe out the Heavenly Demon Guard.

Senior Ran rescued Fang Jin and Fang Min from Chiyin Ghost King and urged them to join the Heavenly Demon Guard as the Heavenly Demon Sect prepared to return to the Jianghu. He revealed that a candidate for sect master had obtained the Heavenly Demon Canon, but kept the candidate’s identity secret.

• Senior Ran struck Chiyin Ghost King away, and Liangyin Ghost King carried him off as Senior Ran warned Gui Jiu that he would challenge him.
• Senior Ran offered Fang Jin and Fang Min a choice between submitting to the Heavenly Demon Guard and waiting for death, but they initially refused.
• Senior Ran told them that a sect master candidate had been chosen and that Fang Ketian’s Fang Family could not rejoin the Heavenly Demon Sect under his leadership.
• Fang Min recognized that Fang Ketian had allied with the Ghost Gate to seize the Fang Family and asked whether Senior Ran intended them to rebuild it.
• Senior Ran explained that the candidate had obtained the Heavenly Demon Canon and that the sect would accept the fifth layer of the skill as sufficient, but he withheld the candidate’s identity.

Fang Jin and Fang Min agreed to return to the Heavenly Demon Sect, accepted the Life Demon Seal, and were cured of the Nether Spirit Ghost Incense by Commander Ran. Commander Ran warned them about the seal’s annual flare-up and explained that the Heavenly Demon Skill could remove it, then hinted that the seal also had benefits.

• Senior Ran told Fang Jin and Fang Min that the Nether Spirit Ghost Incense would soon kill them and offered to cure them if they returned to the Heavenly Demon Sect.
• Fang Jin and Fang Min agreed to obey the Sect Master, and Senior Ran planted the Life Demon Seal in them.
• Senior Ran gave them pills and helped force the Nether Spirit Ghost Incense from their bodies, though their internal power remained severely diminished.
• Fang Jin and Fang Min asked about the Life Demon Seal, and Commander Ran explained its yearly flare-up, the pills that suppressed it, and the danger of revealing its timing.
• Commander Ran said only the Heavenly Demon Skill could remove the Life Demon Seal and suggested that the seal could also serve as a supplementary method of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

Commander Ran explained how the Life Demon Seal had helped neutralize the Nether Spirit Ghost Incense and promised to help Fang Jin and Fang Min regain their strength. Meanwhile, Xu Wuyu arrived at the Taixuan Sect's Guangzhou foothold and backed down from claiming the East Warm Pavilion when Cao Wuxin returned.

• Commander Ran told Fang Jin and Fang Min that the Life Demon Seal aided Demonic Arts cultivation and helped counter the Nether Spirit Ghost Incense.
• Fang Jin apologized, and Commander Ran led the two brothers out of the woods to help restore their strength.
• Xu Wuyu arrived at the Taixuan Sect residence in Guangzhou and demanded the East Warm Pavilion from the steward.
• Li Wujing told Xu Wuyu that Cao Wuxin had been staying in the pavilion but had been away for a month.
• Cao Wuxin returned and told Xu Wuyu he could not stay in the East Warm Pavilion, so Xu Wuyu awkwardly offered to choose another place.

Cao Wuxin learned that Huang Xiao had returned to Kaifeng and decided to go there to settle their past grudge before continuing to Dali. Back at the Six Gates, Huang Xiao noticed an unusual number of people and asked Du Ge what had happened.

• Cao Wuxin taunted Xu Wuyu about his defeat at the Beggar Gang, then learned from his subordinate that Huang Xiao had beaten him and become an Arrest Sage.
• Cao Wuxin recognized Huang Xiao as one of the people who had escaped him before and decided to travel to Kaifeng to confront him.
• Cao Wuxin told his subordinate to stay behind and prepare for their later journey to Dali, then set off for Kaifeng.
• Huang Xiao returned to the Six Gates, summoned Du Ge, and asked why the place seemed to have so many additional people.
• Du Ge said he had to tell Huang Xiao about the situation, while Huang Xiao wondered whether it involved something outside the Jianghu.

Huang Xiao learned that Khitan envoys had been murdered in Great Song, threatening to spark another war, and was summoned to meet Third Prince Zhao Yuankan. Zhao Yuankan revealed that he had volunteered to travel to Khitan as an envoy, and Huang Xiao was left to consider the danger and political motives behind his decision.

• Du Ge told Huang Xiao that Khitan envoys had been ambushed and killed in Great Song, and the Six Gates was searching for the killers.
• Huang Xiao and Du Ge discussed rumors that the court might send Zhao Yuankan to Khitan to secure friendly relations.
• Zhao Yunhui summoned Huang Xiao to the palace, where Zhao Xin'er was also present.
• Zhao Yuankan met Huang Xiao and said he had volunteered to go to Khitan as an envoy because he believed the risk was worth taking.