Chapter Summaries

Mu Yi was gravely wounded after shielding Xu Yan Yun from Wan Qingteng, while Ran Chou struggled against Fang Chongyi. Worried that Sun Simiao might return, Wan Qingteng called off the fight and led the group toward the Back Mountain to retrieve what he wanted.

• Wan Qingteng struck Li Cong aside and attacked Xu Yan Yun, but Mu Yi intercepted the blow and suffered shattered chest meridians.
• Xu Yan Yun and Li Cong tried to help the dying Mu Yi as Wan Qingteng prepared to finish them off.
• Fang Chongyi drove Ran Chou back with his Evil Dao cultivation method while Mu Jingfei warned that Sun Simiao might return soon.
• Wan Qingteng urged Fang Chongyi to postpone his feud with Ran Chou and go to the Back Mountain, reminding him of their agreement over the Seven Spirit Blades.
• Fang Chongyi spared Ran Chou for the moment, and Wan Qingteng's group set out for the Back Mountain.

Mu Yi died after reconciling Xu Yan Yun and Li Cong, urging them to be together and saying he had no regrets. Meanwhile, Wan Qingteng led Mu Jingfei and Fang Chongyi toward a hidden treasure on the mountain behind the hall, which he intended to use to weaken Medicine King Hall and increase his own strength.

• Mu Yi told Xu Yan Yun and Li Cong that he regretted keeping them apart, then joined their hands and asked Li Cong to care for her.
• Xu Yan Yun held Mu Yi as he died, while Li Cong and Ran Chou mourned him.
• Wan Qingteng led Mu Jingfei and Fang Chongyi through the mountain's powerful formations and mechanisms.
• Wan Qingteng said the object ahead would greatly diminish Medicine King Hall's strength and boost his own chances against Sun Simiao.
• The three heard flowing spring water as Wan Qingteng pointed out that they were nearly at their destination.

Mu Jingfei and Fang Chongyi followed Wan Qingteng to the Medicine King Hall’s Ageless Spring and watched him break open the cliff at its source. He uncovered a green crystal and explained that it enhanced cultivation and protected practitioners, leaving its full value clear as he held it before them.

• Wan Qingteng showed Mu Jingfei and Fang Chongyi the Ageless Spring and described its power to speed recovery from injuries.
• Wan Qingteng said he intended to destroy the spring because the Medicine King Hall no longer had anything to do with him.
• Wan Qingteng struck the spring outlet in the cliff until the broken rock revealed a pale green glow.
• Wan Qingteng retrieved a palm-sized emerald-green crystal from the recess and showed it to Mu Jingfei and Fang Chongyi.
• Wan Qingteng explained that the spring and its crystal enhanced the Everlasting Spring Youth-Restoring Art, strengthened internal power, and guarded against heart demons and cultivation deviation.

Wan Qingteng explained that the Ageless Crystal produced the Ageless Spring’s miraculous water and planned to use it to improve his cultivation. He and Mu Jingfei and Fang Chongyi left the Medicine King Hall, and Sun Simiao soon arrived with an unfamiliar monk.

• Wan Qingteng showed Mu Jingfei and Fang Chongyi the Ageless Crystal and explained that its emerald mist gave the spring water its miraculous properties.
• Wan Qingteng said the crystal could help him break through, while Fang Chongyi asked to borrow it to guard against his heart demons and agreed to pay a satisfactory price.
• Mu Jingfei urged them to leave, and the three men agreed to return and seek the Esoteric Sect’s help against Wu Longfeng, Tuoba Xiongzhen, Sun Simiao, and their allies.
• Wan Qingteng, Mu Jingfei, and Fang Chongyi left the Medicine King Hall unnoticed, having abandoned hope of taking the lower volume of the Medicine King Scripture from Xu Yan Yun and Li Cong for now.
• Sun Simiao arrived at the Medicine King Hall with an unfamiliar monk, and disciples urgently told him that Wan Qingteng was there and asked him to hurry to the Main Hall.

Ran Chou explained how he came to the Medicine King Hall, where he found Mu Yi dead after Wan Qingteng and his allies attacked. Sun Simiao arrived, confirmed Mu Yi could not be saved, and set out for Back Mountain with Ran Chou, while Xu Yan Yun stayed to mourn; Sun Simiao identified the monk with Ran Chou as someone surnamed Duan.

• Ran Chou told Li Cong and Xu Yan Yun that Sun Simiao had sent him to the Medicine King Hall to help guard against Wan Qingteng.
• Li Cong explained that Wan Qingteng, Fang Chongyi, and Mu Jingfei had gone to Back Mountain seeking the Ageless Spring, and that they had been unable to stop them.
• Sun Simiao arrived, examined Mu Yi, and told Xu Yan Yun that he could not be saved.
• Xu Yan Yun stayed with Mu Yi while Sun Simiao asked Li Cong to handle the arrangements and prepared to go to Back Mountain with Ran Chou.
• Sun Simiao thanked Ran Chou for his help and said the monk accompanying him had the surname Duan.

Ran Chou learned that the monk traveling with Sun Simiao was Duan Siping, the supposedly dead founding emperor of Dali, and heard how Fang Chongyi and Tuoba Xiongzhen had gained formidable powers. Sun Simiao said Tuoba Xiongzhen’s origins felt strangely familiar, leaving him troubled by the possibility that the man was someone from his distant past.

• Ran Chou recognized Duan Siping, who asked him to treat him only as a monk.
• Sun Simiao led Ran Chou and Duan Siping toward the Back Mountain while Ran Chou recounted Wan Qingteng, Fang Chongyi, and Mu Jingfei’s attack at the Medicine King Hall.
• Ran Chou concluded that Fang Chongyi had obtained an Evil Dao cultivation method after disappearing, while Sun Simiao suspected Fang Chongyi and Tuoba Xiongzhen had both secretly trained in powerful new methods.
• Duan Siping explained that he had left seclusion because Sun Simiao’s presence gave him confidence to challenge the Taixuan Sect.
• Sun Simiao said Tuoba Xiongzhen’s origins felt familiar, as though he were someone Sun had known long ago, but he could not be certain who.

Sun Simiao, Ran Chou, and Duan Siping discovered that Wan Qingteng had taken the Ageless Crystal, leaving the Medicine King Hall's spring powerless. They discussed the Seven Spirit Blades and the need to cooperate against the Taixuan Sect before Sun Simiao urged Duan Siping to address Dali, leaving Ran Chou startled by the prospect of challenging the Taixuan Sect's control there.

• Ran Chou and Duan Siping examined the damaged Ageless Spring, and Sun Simiao confirmed that Wan Qingteng had taken the Ageless Crystal that gave the water its miraculous properties.
• Ran Chou called for the Ageless Crystal's recovery, but Sun Simiao said they had to prioritize the threats surrounding the Seven Spirit Blades and the Taixuan Sect.
• Sun Simiao explained that the Medicine King Hall's Seven Spirit Blade had been given to Ling Tianya to secure his support against the Taixuan Sect.
• Sun Simiao argued that Ling Tianya would stand with Huang Xiao, and Duan Siping expressed interest in meeting the young Sect Master.
• Sun Simiao told Duan Siping they needed to resolve Dali's affairs, and Ran Chou was startled at the possibility of confronting the Taixuan Sect's control there.

Duan Siping explained that he had ordered Duan Siliang to depose Duan Siying, who later joined the Taixuan Sect and helped bring about the Dali usurpation. Sun Simiao and Duan Siping asked Ran Chou to seek a Heavenly Demon Sect alliance, and Ran Chou agreed to present the proposal to his Sect Master.

• Duan Siping and Sun Simiao told Ran Chou that Wu Longfeng was preoccupied with the Seven Spirit Blades and might not intervene in Dali.
• Duan Siping revealed that he had secretly directed Duan Siliang to depose the incompetent Duan Siying and take the throne.
• Duan Siping said Duan Siying later became a Taixuan Sect elder and urged the sect to support the usurpation in Dali.
• Duan Siping and Sun Simiao asked Ran Chou to help form an alliance between Medicine King Hall and the Heavenly Demon Sect.
• Ran Chou said he could not decide for the sect but would take the alliance proposal to the Sect Master.

Ran Chou decided to return to the Heavenly Demon Sect and send word to Huang Xiao rather than seek him in Kaifeng. Back in Kaifeng, Huang Xiao reassured Duan Ying about Great Song’s response to Dali, then went to the Imperial Study, where he heard Zhao Yuankan angrily reacting to more bad news.

• Sun Simiao told Ran Chou that Huang Xiao had gone to Khitan to find Ling Tianya, so Ran Chou returned to the Heavenly Demon Sect and arranged for someone to notify the Sect Master.
• Huang Xiao returned from Khitan and encountered Duan Ying outside the Imperial Palace as Duan Ying sought Great Song’s help reclaiming Dali.
• Huang Xiao promised Duan Ying he would raise his situation with the new emperor and asked Du Ge to escort him home.
• Huang Xiao entered the Imperial Study to see Zhao Yuankan and heard the emperor roar about more trouble and bad news.

Huang Xiao returned to the imperial court with news that the Khitan army had abandoned its southward march, easing Zhao Yuankan and his ministers’ fears. The court remained cautious about the northern border, while Huang Xiao learned that Dali’s dispute with the Taixuan Sect could not yet be resolved.

• Huang Xiao entered Zhao Yuankan’s study and found the new emperor overwhelmed by memorials and court affairs.
• Huang Xiao told Zhao Yuankan that the Khitan army would not march south, and Zhao Yuankan summoned Tong Jiuyang and Min Yijiang.
• Huang Xiao confirmed that the Khitan forces had dispersed, while Tong Jiuyang and Min Yijiang urged continued vigilance and kept the northern troops at the border.
• Huang Xiao mentioned meeting Duan Ying, and Tong Jiuyang explained that the Imperial Court and Heavenly Demon Sect lacked the strength to force the Taixuan Sect to yield over Dali.
• Huang Xiao accepted that Duan Ying would have to wait, while Min Yijiang said a change might bring hope in the future.

After returning from the Imperial Study, Huang Xiao visited Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin'er, who revealed the paired swordsmanship they had begun developing to challenge him. They tested it in the courtyard, where their unexpected follow-up attack forced Huang Xiao to evade and retreat.

• Huang Xiao left the Imperial Study, considered how to protect Duan Ying, and went to see Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin'er.
• Zhao Yunhui told Huang Xiao that she and Zhao Xin'er had developed the beginnings of a paired sword style based on the Fuxi Eight Trigrams and formations from the Scripture of Great Peace and the Fuxi Emperor Chapter.
• Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin'er challenged Huang Xiao to a sword match and led him into the courtyard.
• Huang Xiao easily evaded their first simultaneous strike, but their reversed swords caught him off guard and forced him to leap away.
• Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin'er pursued Huang Xiao after he escaped their follow-up attack.

Huang Xiao tested Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin'er's newly created paired sword art while limiting himself to half his strength, and they defeated him. After assessing its strengths and unusual coordination, he warned that the art might be difficult for anyone else to learn.

• Huang Xiao struggled against Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin'er's coordinated sword formation and had his robe cut.
• Huang Xiao admitted defeat, and the two women celebrated their victory.
• Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin'er asked Huang Xiao to assess their sword art, and he praised its moves and footwork but noted flaws in their coordination.
• Huang Xiao recognized that the sisters' unspoken understanding produced unexpected effects during their exchanges.
• Huang Xiao concluded that not just anyone would be able to practice their sword art.

Huang Xiao analyzed Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin’er’s twin swordsmanship and discussed how its yin-yang principles could expand into larger formations. Zhao Yunhui proposed creating forward-derived Yang Two Principles Swordsmanship and a reverse-derived Yin Two Principles Swordsmanship, leaving the sisters eager to explore the idea.

• Huang Xiao told Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin’er that their swordsmanship relied on the natural mental connection between its practitioners.
• Huang Xiao explained that the sisters’ swordsmanship united yin and yang, and asked whether its principles could extend beyond two people.
• Zhao Yunhui proposed arranging multiple practitioners into yin-yang groups, allowing paired groups to combine into larger formations.
• Huang Xiao praised Zhao Yunhui’s idea and asked how she would distinguish yin from yang in the expanded swordsmanship.
• Zhao Yunhui proposed deriving the current swordsmanship forward as Yang Two Principles Swordsmanship and creating Yin Two Principles Swordsmanship through reverse derivation.

Zhao Yunhui, Zhao Xin'er, and Huang Xiao developed a formation combining yin-aligned saber techniques with yang-aligned swordsmanship, envisioning 4,096 variations. The sisters secretly chose partners for the saber techniques, while Huang Xiao returned to Willow Shade Villa and discovered Duan Ren of the Heavenly Demon Sect waiting in his study.

• Huang Xiao proposed pairing the sisters’ swordsmanship with saber techniques to create a formation based on yin and yang.
• Zhao Yunhui outlined how the saber and sword styles could combine into 4,096 variations and resolved to develop the techniques as far as she could.
• Huang Xiao asked who would perform the saber techniques, and Zhao Xin'er and Zhao Yunhui silently settled on candidates but refused to reveal them.
• Huang Xiao left the palace, telling the sisters he would visit often while they remained there for Zhao Guangyi's funeral arrangements.
• At Willow Shade Villa, Huang Xiao entered his study and called in Duan Ren, who had been hiding in the shadows.

Huang Xiao read Ran Chou’s letter about an alliance and a request to help Old Sun and Duan Siping deal with the Dali crisis. He agreed to both matters and planned to return to the Heavenly Demon Sect in two days, while learning that Persian forces might be heading toward Khitan.

• Duan Ren delivered Ran Chou’s letter to Huang Xiao, which described the alliance and the unexpected return of Duan Siping amid the Dali crisis involving Wu Longfeng.
• Duan Ren relayed Ran Chou’s request for Huang Xiao to return to the Heavenly Demon Sect so they could discuss the risks of confronting the Taixuan Sect.
• Huang Xiao agreed to both matters in the letter and told Duan Ren that preparations could begin while Ran Chou took charge until his return in two days.
• Duan Ren reported seeing Persians travel from Uyghur territory into Xiazhou, possibly on their way to Khitan, and Huang Xiao decided his main concern remained Dali.

Huang Xiao visited the Six Gates to ask Du Ge where he could find Duan Ying, who was under secret protection. Du Ge revealed that Huang Qitao, Chen Feidiao, and Jiang Ang had stepped down as Arrest Sages and left Kaifeng after Mu Jingfei reached an agreement with the Founding Patriarch.

• Huang Xiao went to the Six Gates and was stopped at the entrance until You Yidao recognized him as the Leisurely Marquis and escorted him inside.
• Huang Xiao asked Du Ge to help him see Duan Ying, while Du Ge explained that he was overseeing extra work after three Arrest Sages departed.
• Du Ge told Huang Xiao that Huang Qitao, Chen Feidiao, and Jiang Ang had relinquished their posts and left the Six Gates.
• Huang Xiao suspected the three had fled to avoid Imperial Court punishment and asked how they had been allowed to leave Kaifeng.
• Du Ge said Mu Jingfei had sent word to the Founding Patriarch and promised not to oppose the Imperial Court if the three were allowed to leave safely.

Huang Xiao and Du Ge left the Six Gates to visit Duan Ying, but Huang Xiao sensed a Taixuan Sect elder among the men following them. When the elder tried to flee, Huang Xiao caught up and blocked his path.

• Du Ge explained that Tong Jiuyang had agreed with Mu Jingfei not to act against Great Song, and Huang Xiao said he trusted Senior Tong.
• Du Ge and Huang Xiao left Kaifeng City for Duan Ying’s residence, while Du Ge explained that Dali’s spies were under the Six Gates’ surveillance.
• Huang Xiao sensed an expert following them and identified him as likely being an elder of the Taixuan Sect.
• The Taixuan Sect elder recognized Huang Xiao and withdrew with the other followers.
• Huang Xiao pursued the fleeing elder, got ahead of him, and blocked his path.

Huang Xiao killed a Taixuan Sect elder who had pursued him and Du Ge, then discussed how the death might discourage further attacks on Duan Ying. Huang Xiao revealed that Duan Ying’s ancestor, Duan Siping, was still alive and would come for him.

• The Taixuan Sect elder tried to flee from Huang Xiao, who crushed him beneath his Thousand-Jin Overhead Press and shattered his bones.
• Du Ge killed the elder’s followers and reflected on how easily Huang Xiao had defeated a Taixuan Sect expert.
• Du Ge said the elder’s death might make Dali’s forces withdraw from Kaifeng for a while.
• Huang Xiao said Duan Ying’s protection still needed strengthening and revealed that Duan Ying’s ancestor would come for him.
• Huang Xiao named Duan Siping, and Du Ge was shocked to learn that he was still alive.

Huang Xiao brought Duan Ying to a secluded villa and told him that although the Great Song would not send troops to Dali, there might be another way to resolve its troubles. He revealed that Duan Siping, Duan Ying’s founding emperor ancestor, was still alive, leaving Duan Ying stunned.

• Huang Xiao asked Du Ge to help protect Duan Ying until Duan Siping arrived in Kaifeng, and Du Ge agreed.
• Du Ge took Huang Xiao to the secluded villa where Duan Ying was staying.
• Huang Xiao told Duan Ying that the Great Song was unlikely to send troops to Dali but that another solution might exist.
• Huang Xiao revealed that Duan Siping was still alive, and Duan Ying froze in shock.

Huang Xiao told Duan Ying that Duan Siping was alive and would soon arrive in Kaifeng, then arranged stronger protection for Duan Ying with Tong Jiuyang and Min Yijiang. He went to see Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin'er to bid them farewell but hesitated outside their quarters.

• Huang Xiao explained to Duan Ying that Duan Siping would not support Duan Siying and that Duan Ying could leave safely with his ancestor when he arrived in Kaifeng.
• Huang Xiao improved the formations around Duan Ying's residence before parting from Du Ge and returning to Kaifeng.
• Du Ge returned to the Six Gates to strengthen protection for Duan Ying, while Huang Xiao entered the palace to speak with Tong Jiuyang and Min Yijiang.
• Tong Jiuyang promised to personally protect Duan Ying, and Min Yijiang offered Dragon Guard experts to assist with the conflict in Dali.
• Huang Xiao approached Zhao Yunhui and Zhao Xin'er's quarters to bid them farewell but hesitated until the two women came out and called to him.