Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan took Huang Xiao out of Linhuang Prefecture City and told him that the Esoteric Sect had helped push Khitan toward war with Great Song. She revealed that the Sect Master was in the imperial palace, while Huang Xiao learned that Dalhe’s breakthrough had emboldened the Esoteric Sect; as someone appeared in the distance, Huang Xiao recognized the approach of Yelü Mengdu.

• Xiao Yan ordered two horses prepared and rode out with Huang Xiao, despite the steward’s offer to arrange an escort.
• Huang Xiao told Xiao Yan that he had come to find the Sect Master and try to stop the campaign against Great Song.
• Xiao Yan said the Sect Master was in the Khitan Imperial Palace and warned that the Esoteric Sect’s recent moves had made entering the palace dangerous.
• Xiao Yan explained that the Esoteric Sect had won ministers’ support for war, prompting the Sect Master to take control of the army.
• Huang Xiao revealed that Dalhe had reached the eleventh layer of the Wild Elephant Esoteric Sect Divine Skill, and Xiao Yan connected this to Yelü Mengdu’s growing arrogance.
• Huang Xiao spotted someone approaching and remarked that Yelü Mengdu had arrived.

Huang Xiao confronted Yelü Mengdu after finding him pestering Xiao Yan, and Yelü Mengdu summoned Esoteric Sect experts to kill him. Huang Xiao prepared to strike before they arrived.

• Huang Xiao told Xiao Yan he would put an end to Yelü Mengdu's harassment of her.
• Yelü Mengdu arrived with two followers and recognized Huang Xiao as the man who had defeated him.
• Xiao Yan openly sided with Huang Xiao, angering Yelü Mengdu.
• Yelü Mengdu sent up a signal to summon Esoteric Sect experts and threatened Huang Xiao's life.
• Huang Xiao revealed his killing intent and said he would finish Yelü Mengdu before the experts arrived.

Huang Xiao killed Yelü Mengdu after he tried to flee, and Xiao Yan killed his two followers. As they prepared to return to the city, four Esoteric Sect experts arrived, including Sangbie, leaving Huang Xiao and Xiao Yan facing them.

• Xiao Yan tried to stop Huang Xiao from killing Yelü Mengdu, but Huang Xiao refused and Yelü Mengdu attempted to escape.
• Huang Xiao caught Yelü Mengdu and killed him with a single palm strike.
• Xiao Yan killed Yelü Mengdu's two fleeing followers, and Huang Xiao praised her improved martial power.
• Huang Xiao suggested Zhao Yunhui could help Xiao Yan with formations, and Xiao Yan teased him about his relationships with other women.
• Xiao Yan warned that Esoteric Sect experts might arrive, and four men soon confronted them, including Sangbie, an aide to State Preceptor Dalha.

Huang Xiao confronted Sangbie and three Persian Black Fire Sect envoys after they arrived in Khitan. Sangbie went after Xiao Yan while the envoys kept Huang Xiao occupied, leaving the fight unresolved as Huang Xiao’s first strike was redirected.

• Huang Xiao recognized the three Westerners as envoys of the Persian Black Fire Sect, and Sangbie confirmed they had come to kill him.
• The three envoys surrounded Huang Xiao while Sangbie rushed toward Xiao Yan to seize her.
• Xiao Yan told Huang Xiao not to worry and began fighting Sangbie, holding him off for the moment.
• Huang Xiao raised his Heavenly Demon Skill to the Eighth Stage and attacked one of the envoys with Heavenly Demon Subduing Tiger Fist.
• The envoy redirected Huang Xiao’s punch with his palm but still suffered a slight injury from its force.

Huang Xiao struggled to break through the Black Fire Sect emissaries’ Nine-Turn Heaven and Earth technique while watching Xiao Yan battle Sangbie. He used a sudden reversal to drain one emissary’s internal power, but the man’s allies closed in to help him.

• Huang Xiao found that the three Black Fire Sect emissaries used Nine-Turn Heaven and Earth to divert his attacks and keep him occupied.
• Huang Xiao realized the emissaries could use their internal cultivation method to drive copied martial arts, including his Blazing Yang Palm.
• Huang Xiao watched Xiao Yan and Sangbie fight evenly and decided he could not let their battle continue for long.
• Huang Xiao withdrew his palm force, causing one emissary’s internal power to surge uncontrollably into his meridians.
• Huang Xiao switched places with the emissary, leaving the other two attackers behind their companion as he begged them for help.

Huang Xiao used the Northern Darkness Absorption Method to drain the Persian Three Envoys while Xiao Yan fought Sangbie. After the envoys died, Sangbie tried to flee, but Xiao Yan moved to stop him as Huang Xiao was free to join the fight.

• The Persian Three Envoys pressed their hands against their companion to help him, but Huang Xiao drew their true qi into his dantian.
• Huang Xiao refined the absorbed power as the three envoys struggled and their strength rapidly dwindled.
• Sangbie looked away from Xiao Yan to see Huang Xiao overpowering the Persian Three Envoys, giving Xiao Yan an opening to attack with the Heavenly Mirror Skill.
• Sangbie realized he was losing ground to Xiao Yan and considered retreating, but denied that he feared her.
• The Persian Three Envoys screamed and fell silent, and Sangbie understood that they had died.
• Sangbie tried to escape, but Xiao Yan pursued him, confident in her growing strength and mastery of the Heavenly Mirror Skill.

Huang Xiao and Xiao Yan cornered Sangbie, and Xiao Yan used the fight to deepen her understanding of the Heavenly Mirror Skill before Huang Xiao killed him. After Xiao Residence guards arrived, Xiao Yan asked Huang Xiao when he wanted to enter the palace, and he said they should go as soon as possible.

• Huang Xiao and Xiao Yan blocked Sangbie's escape and joined forces against him.
• Huang Xiao let Xiao Yan use Sangbie as a sparring opponent, and she gradually overwhelmed him with her attacks.
• Huang Xiao killed Sangbie with a palm strike after Xiao Yan had weakened him.
• Xiao Yan explained how fighting Sangbie helped her understand the Heavenly Mirror Skill's focus on fearless offense.
• Xiao Residence guards arrived, recognized the dead men, and regarded Huang Xiao with awe.
• Xiao Yan asked when Huang Xiao wanted to enter the palace, and he answered that they should go as soon as possible.

Huang Xiao stayed at the Xiao Residence after killing Yelü Mengdu, Sangbie, and the Persian Three Envoys, then went with Xiao Yan to the Imperial Palace the next day. He entered a rear hall and recognized the two familiar people waiting inside, though his grandfather was not among them.

• Huang Xiao decided to delay visiting the palace until the next day so he and Xiao Yan could recover and he could see how the Esoteric Sect reacted to the deaths.
• News of Yelü Mengdu and Sangbie's deaths spread through Linhuang Prefecture, and Huang Xiao spent a sleepless night worrying about meeting his birth parents.
• Xiao Yan came to fetch Huang Xiao in the morning, and they waited until after court before heading to the Imperial Palace with him disguised as her guard.
• Xiao Yan persuaded an Imperial Guards Commander to let Huang Xiao enter the palace with her, despite the rules against bringing guards inside.
• Xiao Yan led Huang Xiao to a rear hall, where he sensed two familiar people and realized they were his birth parents.

Huang Xiao reunited with his birth parents, Yelü Yushi and Ling Fan, in Khitan. He learned that Khitan’s campaign against Great Song was likely inevitable, but insisted on meeting his grandfather Ling Tianya and trying to persuade him to stop it.

• Xiao Yan brought Huang Xiao into the palace, where Yelü Yushi and Ling Fan welcomed him as their son.
• Yelü Yushi explained why she and Ling Fan had been unable to find Huang Xiao, and Huang Xiao called them Mother and Father.
• Huang Xiao asked his parents to help stop Khitan’s planned war against Great Song, but they said Ling Tianya was unlikely to change his decision.
• Ling Fan and Yelü Yushi revealed that the campaign was also tied to vengeance against Great Song’s Righteous Sects and interference from the Esoteric Sect.
• Huang Xiao said he would speak to Ling Tianya in person, and Xiao Yan encouraged the idea while Yelü Yushi teased her for supporting her husband.

Huang Xiao confronted his grandfather, Ling Tianya, over the decision to invade Great Song, arguing that revenge should not drag ordinary people into the conflict. Ling Tianya refused to reconsider the campaign and the family argument ended with him furious and Huang Xiao still unwilling to back down.

• Huang Xiao asked where Ling Tianya was, and Ling Tianya entered and rebuked him for underestimating the Taixuan Sect and risking his life.
• Ling Tianya criticized Huang Xiao for coming to Khitan alone and fighting the Esoteric Sect's masters despite the danger from Dalhe.
• Huang Xiao argued that Ling Tianya should punish those responsible for the past without invading Great Song or harming its people.
• Ling Tianya said he needed no reason to kill and insisted that the campaign against Great Song would go ahead.
• Huang Xiao called Ling Tianya utterly beyond reason, and Ling Tianya angrily told him he could stay or leave as he pleased.
• Yelü Yushi tried to calm Ling Tianya and urged Huang Xiao to yield, while Ling Fan could only sigh.

Huang Xiao asked Ling Tianya to withdraw his troops to prevent war, but the two quarreled and Huang Xiao left the palace. Xiao Yan tried to persuade her grandfather to reconsider and was left facing Ling Tianya’s silent, intimidating response in his study.

• Huang Xiao rejected Ling Tianya’s rebuke and said they would meet on the battlefield if Ling Tianya refused to withdraw his troops.
• Huang Xiao left the Main Hall, and Xiao Yan followed him, giving him a token to leave the palace and asking him to wait at the Xiao Residence.
• Ling Tianya told Yelü Yushi that he had his own plans and asked her to send Xiao Yan to his study when she came back.
• Xiao Yan returned to the Main Hall, then went to Ling Tianya’s study to plead for Huang Xiao and explain that he had come to apologize.
• Ling Tianya admitted he had deliberately caused the past misunderstanding, set down his brush, and walked toward Xiao Yan as she grew nervous.

Xiao Yan tried to stop Ling Tianya from sending troops to avenge Huang Xiao, but he refused and warned her against interfering. After learning that mobilization required the Tiger Tally and his handwritten order, she returned to his study and found an order scheduling the army’s departure for the next day, leaving her determined to forge a counterorder.

• Xiao Yan supported Huang Xiao’s request for Ling Tianya to avoid a large-scale campaign, but Ling Tianya refused to reconsider.
• Ling Tianya explained that the army needed the Tiger Tally and an order written in his own hand to deploy, then showed Xiao Yan half of the tally.
• After Ling Tianya left for the secret chamber, Xiao Yan returned to his study despite a guard’s warning.
• Xiao Yan found Ling Tianya’s handwritten deployment order on the desk and discovered that the army was due to depart the next day.
• Xiao Yan decided to forge an order canceling the deployment and hoped it might delay the campaign.

Xiao Yan found the Tiger Tally hidden in her grandfather’s study and forged an order directing Khitan’s assembled army to return to its garrisons. When she brought both to Huang Xiao, he realized her grandfather had never intended to march against Great Song.

• Xiao Yan discovered the Tiger Tally in a hidden compartment beneath her grandfather’s desk.
• She used his existing order as a handwriting reference to forge an order dispersing the assembled army, then restored the study and left with the Tiger Tally and forgery.
• Xiao Yan returned to Huang Xiao and revealed the Tiger Tally and forged order, explaining that her grandfather had refused to stop the planned march.
• Huang Xiao questioned how a stranger could deliver the order and use the Tiger Tally, then concluded that Xiao Yan’s grandfather had never intended to march.

Huang Xiao explained to Xiao Yan that Ling Tianya had deliberately arranged for her to find the tiger tally and had likely already stopped the army from marching against Great Song. He suspected Ling Tianya had his own reasons for concealing the truth, and the chapter ended with Huang Xiao keeping one further explanation to himself.

• Xiao Yan urged Huang Xiao to act before Ling Tianya discovered she had the tiger tally, but Huang Xiao told her there was no need.
• Huang Xiao asked Xiao Yan how she had found the tiger tally and concluded that Ling Tianya had deliberately encouraged her to return to the study.
• Huang Xiao reasoned that Ling Tianya had arranged the study mechanism to open when Xiao Yan reached for writing supplies, allowing her to find the tiger tally.
• Huang Xiao suspected the tally was fake and that the army had already been ordered not to march against Great Song, though Esoteric Sect forces might resist Ling Tianya.
• Huang Xiao suggested Ling Tianya had his own plans and concealed another possible reason for his actions from Xiao Yan.

Huang Xiao promised Xiao Yan he would honor their betrothal, then rode with her to confirm that the Khitan army was abandoning its southern campaign against Great Song. Afterward, he prepared to escort her back before returning to Great Song, but a troop of cavalry rode up to them.

• Huang Xiao recognized that his grandfather had arranged matters to make him appreciate Xiao Yan and promised to honor their marriage agreement without letting her suffer injustice.
• Xiao Yan admitted she was jealous of Lian'er, and Huang Xiao told her she would meet his other women and become their sister.
• Huang Xiao and Xiao Yan rode out to scout the Khitan army's main camp, where they saw that more than half the tents had been packed away.
• Huang Xiao confirmed the army was abandoning its southern campaign and said he had to return to Great Song.
• Huang Xiao and Xiao Yan headed toward Linhuang Prefecture City, but a troop of cavalry charged toward them and stopped in front of them.

Xiao Yan and Huang Xiao encountered Xiao Dalin, who had been appointed to command the garrison outside the city, and Xiao Yan suspected he was ambitious for power within the Xiao Clan. After they left, Xiao Dalin revealed his secret alliance with the Esoteric Sect and vowed to seize control of the clan, while the sect planned to build strength before confronting Ling Tianya.

• Xiao Yan met Xiao Dalin as he headed to take command of the garrison camp outside the city.
• Xiao Yan told Huang Xiao that Xiao Dalin was a power-hungry member of a collateral Xiao Clan branch who had regained military authority.
• After Xiao Yan and Huang Xiao departed, Xiao Dalin discussed Huang Xiao and the failed plan to use the Taixuan Sect to provoke a war against Great Song.
• An Esoteric Sect expert told Xiao Dalin that the sect needed years to prepare before challenging Ling Tianya, and warned him not to trust the Taixuan Sect.
• Xiao Dalin reaffirmed his commitment to the Esoteric Sect and declared that the Xiao Clan's power should belong to him.

Mu Yi, Xu Yan Yun, and Li Cong restored order to the Medicine King Hall and prepared to punish Ge Gu for serving Wan Qingteng. Wan Qingteng arrived with Mu Jingfei and another man, then killed Ge Gu for offering to betray him.

• Mu Yi questioned Ge Gu and announced that the Founding Patriarch had ordered his cultivation crippled and his life imprisonment.
• Ge Gu begged to keep his cultivation and offered to help capture Wan Qingteng, drawing Xu Yan Yun’s scorn.
• Wan Qingteng, Mu Jingfei, and an unidentified man entered the hall as Ge Gu called for his master to save him.
• Wan Qingteng killed Ge Gu with a palm strike despite Mu Yi’s attempt to stop him.
• Mu Jingfei criticized Wan Qingteng for killing his disciple, and Wan Qingteng angrily told him to shut his mouth.

Wan Qingteng entered the Medicine King Hall with Mu Jingfei and Fang Chongyi to seize something hidden on the mountain behind it. The three Medicine King Hall disciples confronted them, and Wan Qingteng began overpowering Li Cong and Xu Yan Yun while Mu Yi fought Fang Chongyi.

• Wan Qingteng confronted Mu Yi, Xu Yan Yun, and Li Cong, while Mu Jingfei said he would not fight unless Wan Qingteng was endangered and Fang Chongyi declared he wanted to test the Medicine King Hall’s techniques.
• Wan Qingteng revealed he had come for something on the mountain behind the hall and charged at the disciples, with Fang Chongyi joining the attack.
• Mu Yi moved to stop Fang Chongyi and ordered Xu Yan Yun and Li Cong to face Wan Qingteng.
• Wan Qingteng’s palm blast overpowered Xu Yan Yun’s matching attack, and his fist force badly damaged Li Cong’s meridians.
• Xu Yan Yun rushed in to help Li Cong confront Wan Qingteng.

Wan Qingteng and Fang Chongyi overwhelmed the Medicine King Hall’s defenders, injuring Li Cong and forcing Mu Yi onto the defensive. As the disciples hesitated under Wan Qingteng’s lingering authority, Ran Chou arrived at the Hall’s entrance seeking an audience with the Three Great Patriarchs.

• Li Cong’s attempt to strike Wan Qingteng failed, and Wan Qingteng injured Li Cong’s right arm before attacking Xu Yan Yun.
• Li Cong blocked Wan Qingteng’s punch to protect Xu Yan Yun, but the impact severely injured Li Cong’s left arm.
• Fang Chongyi pressured Mu Yi and revealed a strange cultivation method that Mu Yi recognized as belonging to the Evil Dao.
• Wan Qingteng intimidated the Medicine King Hall disciples gathered at the doorway, and Mu Yi ordered them to withdraw rather than risk their lives.
• Ran Chou introduced himself as a Commander of the Heavenly Demon Guard and asked the Medicine King Hall disciples to announce his arrival to the Three Great Patriarchs.

Ran Chou entered Medicine King Hall, heard fighting in the Main Hall, and rushed in to help Mu Yi against Fang Chongyi. He took on Fang Chongyi while Mu Yi moved to confront Wan Qingteng, but Mu Yi suddenly warned his junior sister to watch out.

• Ran Chou heard fighting near the Main Hall and hurried toward it despite the disciples’ attempts to stop him.
• Ran Chou broke through the disciples guarding the hall and saw Fang Chongyi attacking Mu Yi.
• Ran Chou interrupted Fang Chongyi’s attack, saving Mu Yi from taking the full force of a palm strike.
• Ran Chou told Mu Yi to deal with Wan Qingteng while he fought Fang Chongyi, and Mu Yi warned Ran Chou about Fang Chongyi’s sinister Evil Dao cultivation method.
• Mu Yi charged toward Wan Qingteng, then abruptly called out to warn his junior sister.