Recaps

Chu Xisheng faced Mad Saber Wang Ming in the capital and defeated him with a lightning-fast saber strike before outmaneuvering his Void Method. After Wang Ming conceded, Chu Xisheng called for Si Huangquan, but Li Xiuchang stepped forward to take the next fight.

• Chu Xisheng practiced the Origin-Nourishing Art, ate breakfast with Ji Qianqian, and headed to West Wharf while martial-world visitors watched and wagered on his fights.
• Chu Xisheng met Wang Ming at the Eastern Sky Society arena, where Wei Flying Dragon agreed to referee their match.
• When Wei Flying Dragon’s coin hit the ground, Chu Xisheng drew first blood with one strike, then used Trace of Wind to counter Wang Ming’s Void Method and cut off his hair.
• Wang Ming began gathering black mist, but Wei Flying Dragon declared that he had lost, and Wang Ming withdrew his power and conceded.
• Chu Xisheng challenged Si Huangquan to fight next, but Li Xiuchang leaped down from the restaurant to face him instead.

Chu Xisheng defeated Li Xiuchang in five moves and Si Huangquan in four, then left the capital by boat for Eastern Province. As assassins hired by a Court of Judicial Review Vice Minister followed him, Mo Qilin set out to catch up and challenge him.

• Li Xiuchang interrupted Chu Xisheng’s planned match with Si Huangquan, but Chu Xisheng defeated him in five moves and left the spectators stunned.
• Chu Xisheng fought Si Huangquan at full strength and defeated him in four moves, while promising to fight him again once he retrieved his hands.
• Chu Xisheng announced that no one challenged his place among the Ten Divine Talented Young Blades, then left for Eastern Province after buying donkey meat soup and flatbreads.
• Ji Qianqian warned Chu Xisheng that Gold Medal Assassins from the Life-Reaping Tower were following their boat, but he chose to face them on the river and noted that he had not yet used his strongest or fastest saber strike.
• At the North Wind Martial Academy, Mo Qilin learned that Li Xiuchang had lost to Chu Xisheng and rode off to catch up with him for a challenge.

Chu Xisheng was attacked on the Canglang River by Life-Reaping Tower assassins, but a Qin Muge character card and Divine Sorrow’s power let him cut down his attackers with single slashes. Ji Qianqian killed the assassins sent after her and learned that Chu Xisheng had already overwhelmed his attackers, so she hurried back to see his strength for herself.

• Chu Xisheng redeemed Divine Sorrow (Stage Six) and used a Near Ink, Blackening Supernatural Power Card on Ji Qianqian as she warned him that pursuers were closing in.
• Ji Qianqian ran ashore and drew four Life-Reaping Tower assassins away, while Chu Xisheng spotted two disguised boatmen carrying Thousand-Leaf Silver Flowers and killed them before they could attack.
• A Black-Covered Fast Boat tried to block Chu Xisheng’s ship, and a spellcaster used Golden Threads to restrain the Heluo Fish zombie as more assassins charged from both directions.
• Chu Xisheng activated the Qin Muge Twelve-Year-Old Character Card and killed a Sixth Grade Lower assassin and two Seventh-Rank assassins with single slashes.
• Chu Xisheng used Trace of Wind to kill a Sixth Grade gold-medal assassin, breaking his wind-escape spell, while the remaining assassins watched in terror.
• Ji Qianqian killed the four assassins pursuing her, then learned from Du Honglian that Chu Xisheng had slain every attacker with one slash and hurried toward the river.

Chu Xisheng killed the Life-Reaping Tower assassins, defeated Mo Qilin, and continued toward Wang'an City with Ye Zhiqiu and Ji Qianqian. At Formless Divine Mountain, the Blood-Yazi Saber reacted strangely to Chu Xisheng’s blood while Qingxu Zi praised his martial insight and placed his booklet among the sect’s top secret arts.

• Chu Xisheng killed the Sixth Grade Spellcaster and the remaining assassins, then reunited with Ye Zhiqiu, who revealed she had secretly accompanied him to protect him.
• Ji Qianqian returned after her pursuers fled, and Ye Zhiqiu grew suspicious of her connection to people hiding near the river.
• Mo Qilin challenged Chu Xisheng, who defeated him with a single exchange and left the spectators sending reports of the fight across the realm.
• Qingxu Zi read Chu Xisheng’s booklet, recognized the value of his integration of White Horse Is Not a Horse into martial arts, and added a True-Meaning Diagram before ordering Ren Daoxing to place it among the sect’s finest secret arts.
• Zong Lingwei dripped Chu Xisheng’s blood onto the Blood-Yazi Saber, which repeatedly rejected and drew the blood back before leaving it as a red line along the blade.

While sailing north, Chu Xisheng advanced his martial arts and stocked up on items from the Martial Dao Treasury before taking secret medicine to strengthen his cultivation. Ye Zhiqiu received word that the Blood-Yazi Divine Saber had not chosen Chu Xisheng as its successor, but the Zhengyang Martial Academy had named him a reserve candidate and ordered his protection.

• Chu Xisheng saw his Martial Dao Points surge, continued training, and brought Wind-Chasing Blade and Light-Cloud Movement to the Seventh Layer.
• Ye Zhiqiu joined Chu Xisheng's voyage, warned him about Ji Qianqian, and clashed with her during the journey.
• After reaching He'an Commandery, Chu Xisheng prepared secret medicine for himself and Little Flathead, then delayed drinking it when the system warned that Treasury prices would change at Seventh-Rank cultivation.
• Chu Xisheng expanded his Storage Slots, stockpiled pills and Qin Muge Character Cards, bought the Wind-Thunder Mysterious Armor, and redeemed Seventh-Rank Supreme Communication with the Divine.
• Chu Xisheng drank the secret medicine and underwent a powerful transformation as Little Flathead absorbed its own portion.
• Ye Zhiqiu read a confidential message stating that the Blood-Yazi Divine Saber had not identified Chu Xisheng as its chosen successor, but the academy would treat him as a reserve candidate and protect him.

After advancing to seventh-rank lower cultivation, Chu Xisheng tested his greatly increased abilities and received word that the gravely wounded criminal Wang Sheng was nearby. He killed Wang Sheng aboard his ship, while Du Honglian’s role in arranging the encounter remained hidden from him.

• Chu Xisheng awoke after his breakthrough, inspected the revised system and treasury, and found his strength, True Essence, and spiritual awareness had increased dramatically.
• Chu Xisheng tested his Divine Sense and Divine Knowing with Little Flathead, then received Cao Xuan’s message about the fugitive Wang Sheng.
• Chu Xisheng decided to pursue Wang Sheng to earn merit for the Embroidery Guard and headed onto the ship’s deck to search the river.
• Du Honglian released Wang Sheng after ordering that his injuries be worsened, intending for Chu Xisheng to kill him and gain merit.
• Wang Sheng fled across the river and attacked Chu Xisheng’s boat, but the Heluo Fish zombies restrained him and Chu Xisheng beheaded him with one saber strike.

Chu Xisheng killed the wounded Blood Dripper Wang Sheng and gained recognition and rewards from the Embroidery Guard. In Eastern Province, the Martial Discourse Tower accepted that Chu Xisheng’s rise could no longer be suppressed, while Wang Chaoyang prepared to attack him through a written article.

• Ye Zhiqiu recognized Wang Sheng’s remains, and Chu Xisheng explained that the Embroidery Guard had sent word to intercept him.
• Chu Xisheng recovered Wang Sheng’s Blood Dripper sword and Blood Suanni necklace, then agreed to hand over the sword in exchange for twenty-four Five-Revolution Golden-Body Pills.
• Cao Xuan praised Chu Xisheng’s role in Wang Sheng’s death and promised to seek a substantial reward for him.
• The chief master of the Martial Discourse Tower ordered Wang Chaoyang to stop interfering in Eastern Hall affairs and told the Eastern Province branch to prepare for Chu Xisheng’s entry into the Azure Cloud Overall Ranking.
• Xie Zhenqing received word that Chu Xisheng had killed Wang Sheng, prompting the vice minister of rites to order the branch to give him special attention and rank him accurately.
• Wang Chaoyang wrote an article praising Chu Xisheng and ordered it published, intending to use the praise to harm him.

Chu Xisheng reached Xunyang Commandery, learned that the Iron Banner Gang had made a temporary peace with the Long Household, and provoked Long Heng into a battle on the river. With a Heluo Fish helping him wreck Long Heng’s cargo ships, Chu Xisheng and Long Heng exchanged attacks and struck each other at the same time.

• Iron Banner Gang boats welcomed Chu Xisheng, and Li Dehou summoned him to the headquarters’ incense assembly on Tie Kuangren’s behalf.
• Chu Xisheng perfected Returning Lightning Slash with his system and integrated it into Lightning-Pursuing Finger while traveling toward Xiushui City.
• Li Dehou told Chu Xisheng that the commandery governor had mediated a temporary truce, but Chu Xisheng confronted Long Heng and challenged him over their old grudge.
• Chu Xisheng leaped onto Long Heng’s ship, and his allies used arrows and a Heluo Fish to support him as he fought Long Heng and damaged the Long Household’s cargo ships.
• Long Heng unleashed Cold Heaven Slash, and Chu Xisheng answered with Trace of Wind; their attacks struck each other almost simultaneously.

Chu Xisheng fought Long Heng on the river, badly wounded him with help from the Heluo Fish zombie, and stopped when Wei Lai enforced a government ban on fighting near the wharf. At an Iron Banner Gang meeting, Tie Kuangren named Chu Xisheng Young Banner Chief and assigned preparations for war before announcing that his own advancement to fourth rank was the next matter to discuss.

• Chu Xisheng exchanged devastating attacks with Long Heng, then used his strengthened body and armor to withstand Long Heng’s sword and drive him back with the Heluo Fish zombie’s help.
• Wei Lai halted the battle under orders from the commandery governor, and Chu Xisheng returned to the Iron Banner Gang headquarters after sheathing his saber.
• Chu Xisheng socialized with the gang’s leaders and members, then attended a council meeting where Tie Kuangren announced his appointment as Deputy Banner Chief and Young Banner Chief.
• Chu Xisheng reluctantly accepted the gang’s support without making a firm promise, while Tie Kuangren ordered the halls to build their strength and prepare for future conflict.
• Tie Kuangren assigned Chu Xisheng’s West Mountain Hall recruitment and expansion tasks, then announced that he intended to advance to fourth rank.

Chu Xisheng accepted the position of Young Banner Chief and prepared West Mountain Hall to protect Xiushui while Tie Kuangren planned a dangerous breakthrough. After attending the Iron Banner Gang’s grand appointment ceremony, Chu Xisheng learned that the Divine-Intent Diagram he had ordered had arrived in Xiushui.

• Tie Kuangren and Tie Xiaosheng persuaded Chu Xisheng to become Young Banner Chief, and Lin Shi warned him to prepare West Mountain Hall to defend Xiushui during Tie Kuangren’s coming breakthrough.
• Chu Xisheng invited Jia Dali to talk, but Jia Dali remained distant and returned to Ancient Market Town.
• Li Shenshan, Wei Yang, and Zhou Liangchen reported West Mountain Hall’s rapid canal construction, stronger fighters, and growing settlements to Chu Xisheng.
• Chu Xisheng attended the Iron Banner Gang’s incense-hall ceremony, received his appointment as Young Banner Chief, and was kept at headquarters overnight after drinking heavily.
• Chu Yunyun and Lu Luanli visited Chu Xisheng, and Chu Yunyun told him that the Zhou Family’s item had arrived: the Divine-Intent Diagram made for the Divine-Intent Death-Touching Saber.

Chu Xisheng had Wu Meiniang inscribe the dangerous Divine-Intent Diagram, completing his second-stage symbiosis with Little Flathead and moving closer to awakening Yazi Blood. He learned that someone was demanding four arenas at the South Street Temple Fair and headed toward a new confrontation.

• Zi Yun berated Jia Dali for giving up after Chu Xisheng’s promotion and West Mountain Hall’s expansion, and a blue light appeared in her eyes as Jia began considering how to stop Chu Xisheng from inheriting the Iron Banner Gang.
• Chu Xisheng asked Wu Meiniang to inscribe the Divine-Intent Diagram, and she warned him that twenty-three people had died trying to draw out its Heavenly Dao resonance.
• Wu Meiniang successfully inscribed the diagram on Chu Xisheng, whose symbiosis with Little Flathead reached the second stage and whose lifespan increased by a month.
• Wu Meiniang fell asleep after finishing the tattoo, and Chu Xisheng paid her before discussing the final step of awakening his Yazi Blood talent with Chu Yunyun.
• Chu Yunyun told Chu Xisheng that the new Commandery Assistant’s brother-in-law had caused trouble at the South Street Temple Fair and demanded four arenas, so Lu Luanli and Ji Qianqian had gone to investigate.

Chu Xisheng watched Liu Ruoxi defeat a powerful opponent before confronting Yuan Ding and Xiahou Shen over their attempt to seize the South Street Temple Fair business. After killing Xiahou Shen’s bodyguard with his newly revealed Dual Saber Astral Force, he ordered the two young men whipped and demanded their families answer to the Iron Banner Gang.

• Chu Yunyun told Chu Xisheng about organizing Zuo Qingyun’s former martial instructors and urged him to fund secret medicine for Li Shenshan and Wei Yang.
• Liu Ruoxi killed her iron-tower-like opponent with one strike, and Chu Xisheng praised her progress.
• Chu Xisheng rejected Yuan Ding’s offer to buy the South Street Temple Fair business and ordered him and Xiahou Shen out of the Victory and Defeat Building.
• Xiahou Shen ordered his bamboo-hatted bodyguard to cripple Chu Xisheng, but Ji Qianqian and Lu Luanli subdued the guards and restrained the two young men.
• Chu Xisheng killed the bodyguard with a concealed second layer of saber astral force, then struck Xiahou Shen and ordered both young men whipped and their families held accountable.

Chu Xisheng dealt with a suspected scheme involving the Eastern Province Circuit Inspector, expanded West Mountain Hall, and profited from the new canal. After gaining registered disciple status at Zhengyang Martial Academy, he reached the Library Tower, where Ye Jingyuan gave him the Divine Wind Bright Mirror Saber.

• Chu Xisheng ordered Xiahou Shen and Yuan Ding whipped, heard that the gamblers’ attack might have been caused by a mental illusion, and asked Wu Meiniang and Lu Pingyuan to investigate.
• Xiahou Dong and the Circuit Inspector’s steward apologized to Chu Xisheng with gifts and took Yuan Ding and Xiahou Shen away; Xiahou Dong later concluded that a mental illusion had manipulated them and suspected the commandery governor.
• Chu Xisheng arranged to fund Ji Qianqian’s sixth-grade secret medicine and resolved to raise Li Shenshan’s and Wei Yang’s cultivation.
• Chu Xisheng expanded West Mountain Hall to twenty-five branches, promoted Li Shenshan and Wei Yang to deputy hall masters, and oversaw the small canal’s opening and its first revenues.
• Chu Xisheng passed Lei Yuan’s assessment, received a registered disciple waist token, and went to the Library Tower, where Ye Jingyuan handed him the Divine Wind Bright Mirror Saber.

Chu Xisheng learned advanced martial arts, gained a promotion and new resources from the Embroidery Guard, and strengthened West Mountain Hall before leading a large force against Nine-Blade Stronghold. As the stronghold’s Xi Quan fled from the advancing army, Chu Xisheng received word that Tie Kuangren had chosen that day to attempt his breakthrough.

• Chu Xisheng studied Divine Wind Bright Mirror Saber, Formless Art, Divine Thunder Insight-Piercing Finger, and Phantom Cloud Trace, then selected Wind-Driven Thunderbolt and Mighty God Pillar Art from the Embroidery Guard’s martial repository.
• Cao Xuan promoted Chu Xisheng to deputy thousand-household commander and offered him Ninefold Refinement Ultimate Origin Purple-Gold Body and Five-Revolution Golden-Body Pills; Chu Xisheng later learned that Mo Qilin’s duel had increased his Blood Essence Points.
• Chu Xisheng learned that Tie Xiaosheng had advanced to lower fifth grade, inspected Dong Family Village, and secured its hunters’ support for the campaign against Nine-Blade Stronghold.
• Chu Xisheng assembled a force of nineteen thousand and ordered Spellcasters to conceal the stronghold in smoke; Xi Quan ordered his men to retreat north rather than face West Mountain Hall’s experts.
• Chu Xisheng received a flying-sword letter from Iron Banner Gang Main Headquarters informing him that Tie Kuangren would attempt his advancement that day.

Tie Xiaosheng discovered that a 17,000-man army was closing on Mi Family Manor while Tie Kuangren was still advancing underground. Jia Dali exposed Pine-Wind Sword Lin Shi as the traitor and died charging the enemy, while Tie Kuangren emerged from the fortress with gray hair, apparently having stopped his advancement.

• Tie Xiaosheng explained that Mi Family Manor sat above rich black iron and heavenly realm fine gold, then learned that 17,000 troops were approaching the fortress.
• Tie Xiaosheng accused Jia Dali of betraying the Iron Banner Gang, but Jia Dali attacked Pine-Wind Sword Lin Shi and revealed that Lin Shi had concealed his lower-fifth-grade cultivation.
• Jia Dali declared his innocence and charged the opposing army, where cavalry trampled him to death; Lin Shi escaped to Sikong Chan and accepted an appointment as commander of a Tianping Army naval camp.
• Sikong Chan attacked Tie Xiaosheng with sword lights as he pursued Lin Shi, forcing Tie Xiaosheng back while the enemy army overwhelmed the fortress's defenders.
• Tie Kuangren emerged from the fortress with his hair and brows turned gray-white, and Sikong Chan and Han Yuyan took his premature appearance as a sign that his advancement had failed.

Tie Kuangren failed to advance, gave Tie Xiaosheng the corrected Iron Armor Mixed Origin Power, and charged the Inner Palace Army in the Iron Futu, leaving his fate uncertain after a devastating battle. With enemy forces closing in, Chu Xisheng rejected Governor Sikong Chan’s surrender terms by killing Du Wenyuan and ordering West Mountain Hall to advance into battle.

• Tie Kuangren told Tie Xiaosheng that the Iron Armor Mixed Origin Power had been corrupted, gave him a jade slip with a correction, and urged him to protect the Iron Banner Gang and endure.
• Tie Kuangren donned the Iron Futu and attacked the Inner Palace Army, killing thousands of soldiers and salt laborers and gravely wounding Ren Dongliu and Sikong Chan.
• Tie Kuangren killed Han Yuyan and continued fighting until he exhausted his blood energy, then sank underground with the Iron Futu and disappeared.
• Lu Pingyuan told Chu Xisheng and the assembled leaders that Tie Kuangren’s fate was unknown and that the Commandery Army, Tianping Army, and Seventeen Linked Forts threatened them.
• Du Wenyuan offered to spare the Iron Banner Gang if Chu Xisheng surrendered key properties and canal shares, but Chu Xisheng beheaded him and ordered the army to raise fog and advance.

Chu Xisheng rallied West Mountain Hall and its reluctant allies to fight Sikong Chan rather than submit, arguing that delay would allow the governor to destroy the Iron Banner Gang. With mourning clothes donned and a plan built around fog and a coming wind shift, he ordered his army to advance against the larger Xiushui Allied Army.

• Liu Ruoxi carried Du Wenyuan's severed head toward the front lines, while Chu Xisheng ordered mourning clothes gathered and demanded his allies' support.
• Chu Xisheng persuaded Dan Chiling and the local magnates that submission would cost them their wealth, then ordered Wei Yang to execute anyone on the left wing who disobeyed, shirked fighting, or fled.
• Chu Xisheng rallied the hunters by recalling West Mountain Hall's protection and presented a battle plan that relied on a predicted shift to a southwest wind.
• Chu Yunyun dressed Chu Xisheng in mourning clothes, and Chu Xisheng explained to Lu Luanli that Sikong Chan would seize the Iron Banner Gang's businesses to compensate his powerful ally.
• Wang Zheng and Xiang Kui declared their willingness to fight while privately distrusting each other's motives, and Ji Qianqian suspected their loyalty concealed ulterior purposes.
• Spellcasters spread white mist across the battlefield, and Chu Xisheng's dispatch riders announced rewards as West Mountain Hall's nineteen thousand-odd troops advanced toward the Xiushui Allied Army.

Shen Zhou ordered the Xiushui Allied Army to meet West Mountain Hall in the mist, while Dan Chiling and his sons transformed and attacked the enemy formations. A hidden expert slaughtered high-ranking fighters with Red Fire Slash, and Ji Qianqian pursued the figure before Shangguan Shenhao intercepted her and was badly beaten.

• Shen Zhou arranged the allied forces in formation, assigned the Shangguan Clan's armored cavalry to attack West Mountain Hall's rear, and distributed Red Light Talismans as the mist engulfed the battlefield.
• Dan Chiling and his sons transformed into half-demons and tore through the Shi Clan's ranks, killing Shi Fengguo before pushing into the Shen Clan's formation.
• Dan Chiling and his sons fought Shen Xiu, but a hidden figure killed Shen Xiu and the sword-riding woman with distant saber strikes that resembled Red Fire Slash.
• Ji Qianqian cut down Commandery Army officers and pursued the hidden figure toward the Shangguan Clan's formation, where she fought Shangguan Shenhao and destroyed his mechanical iron hand.
• Shangguan Shenhao fled after Ji Qianqian struck him down, while Ji Qianqian lost the chance to catch the mysterious Red Dragon Half-Demon and vowed to kill Shangguan Shenhao.

Chu Xisheng’s forces defeated the Xiushui Aristocratic Families Allied Army, while hidden experts helped West Mountain Hall and Lu Luanli concealed her role in the fighting. After the victory, Chu Xisheng rallied the Iron Banner Gang, ordered its forces to seize supplies, and sought a powerful hireling as Tie Xiaosheng arrived.

• Chu Yunyun cut through the Shangguan Clan’s formation, found Shen Zhou missing from the gate tower, and raced back toward Chu Xisheng’s army as the southwest wind began dispersing the fog.
• Lu Luanli killed Long Nanshu and several other attackers, then withdrew before the wind exposed her identity; she returned to Chu Xisheng’s side and described the unknown experts fighting across the battlefield.
• Wang Zheng and Xiang Kui discovered that their altar had carved a deep gap through the enemy formation, while Ji Qianqian saw Chu Xisheng’s hunters unleash volleys of arrows from the southwest.
• Shen Zhou ordered a retreat, and the Xiushui army routed; Chu Xisheng sent his troops after the fleeing soldiers but kept them from storming Xiushui City.
• Chu Xisheng entered the Iron Banner Gang’s headquarters, ordered boats and reinforcements mobilized, and sent forces to capture nearby manors and gather supplies.
• Chu Xisheng hired Lu Pingyuan to find a powerful martial cultivator, then greeted Tie Xiaosheng as he arrived.

After West Mountain Hall routed the Xiushui Allied Army, Chu Xisheng took command of the Iron Banner Gang and sent Tie Xiaosheng upstream to aid Lu Jiuli against the Seventeen Linked Forts. Tie Xiaosheng gained Tie Kuangren’s talents through Chu Xisheng’s template cards, while Sikong Chan plotted to bring down the gang by hiring the Bloodwind Bandits and giving Lin Shi another task.

• Chu Xisheng rejected Tie Xiaosheng’s suggestion to retreat and ordered him to command the Iron Banner Gang’s forces upstream against the Seventeen Linked Forts.
• Tie Xiaosheng accepted Chu Xisheng as Banner Lord and agreed to gather ships and men to reinforce Lu Jiuli, while leaving Chu Xisheng enough forces to block the Tianping Army.
• Chu Xisheng used the Tie Kuangren Character Template Card and Iron Madman Template Enhancement Card on Tie Xiaosheng, awakening his talents and greatly increasing his speed and power.
• Sikong Chan learned that West Mountain Hall had crushed the Xiushui Allied Army and regretted his attempt to destroy the Iron Banner Gang.
• Sikong Chan agreed to pay Bloodwind Sword Li Daogui an additional hundred thousand taels of demon silver and asked Lin Shi to carry out another plan against the Iron Banner Gang.

Tie Xiaosheng lured Ren Daoxing into an ambush and severely wounded him, turning the river battle in the Iron Banner Gang’s favor. At Ancient Market Town, Wei Lai received Chu Xisheng’s message as the Gang withdrew its ships, leaving him caught between the threat of its growing power and the danger of crossing the river.

• Ren Daoxing led an assault on Tie Xiaosheng, but Tie Xiaosheng revealed his powerful talents and used the Iron Banner Gang’s crossbows and poisoned needles to defeat him.
• The Seventeen Linked Forts’ fighters and the Jiangnan Commandery Naval Camp’s cultivators retreated, while the Iron Banner Gang celebrated Tie Xiaosheng’s victory.
• Dong Tianyue flew downstream to save Ren Daoxing as Tie Xiaosheng pursued him, fearing the Iron Banner Gang would otherwise press into Xunyang.
• At Ancient Market Town, Wei Lai refused the local gentry’s pleas to cross the river and received Chu Xisheng’s letter demanding an answer about Xiushui Commandery’s imperial and government holdings.
• After the Iron Banner Gang’s ships withdrew from the blockade, Wei Lai learned that Tie Xiaosheng had nearly killed Ren Daoxing; Jian Zangfeng said Chu Xisheng now wanted the Tianping Army to cross.

Chu Xisheng negotiated for military crossbows, strengthened his Heluo Fish zombie, recruited Li Manshan, and hired Bu Yancheng to protect the Iron Banner Gang. The chapter ended when a large group of powerful attackers ambushed Chu Xisheng aboard the Ten-Thousand-Material Ship.

• Chu Xisheng rejected a Vajra Puppet and bargained with Mr. Zhong for heavy crossbows, runic bolts, and Four-Armed God-Slaying Crossbows, while accepting a Heaven-and-Earth Flying Sword from the Demon War Tower.
• Chu Xisheng fed true god blood to his Heluo Fish zombie, implanted a God-Control Seal, and gave it a Water Scripture Disc.
• Chu Xisheng offered Li Manshan a deputy hall master's post, and Li Manshan accepted.
• Wei Yang brought Bu Yancheng to meet Chu Xisheng, who agreed to pay him two hundred thousand taels of demon silver per month for protection.
• Li Daogui and other attackers ambushed Chu Xisheng aboard the ship, and Bu Yancheng fought Li Daogui as additional fifth- and sixth-grade fighters broke into the cabin.

Chu Xisheng fought off a coordinated Bloodwind Bandits and Blood Bat Mountain assassination, killing several attackers and wounding Blood-Rain Sword Yu Chiyang with powerful saber techniques. As Chu Xisheng and the Heluo Fish zombie struggled to hold Yu Chiyang back, Wei Lai and a host of Tianping Army and city-wall experts converged on them, leaving Chu Xisheng in grave danger.

• Ji Qianqian, Ye Zhiqiu, Chu Yunyun, Bu Yancheng, and Chu Xisheng's Guards defended Chu Xisheng as Blood Bat Mountain and Bloodwind Bandits attacked from the ship, shore, and river.
• Chu Xisheng evaded Blood-Rain Sword Yu Chiyang's attack, then killed Zhu Bloodclothes and Wang Yuguan with his saber.
• Chu Xisheng used Returning Light to turn much of Yu Chiyang's sword force back against him, then fought him across the river with help from the Heluo Fish zombie.
• Wei Lai tried to attack Chu Xisheng, but Jian Zangfeng intercepted him and refused to let him pass.
• Dozens of Tianping Army officers and more than twenty figures from Xiushui Commandery City's wall rushed toward Chu Xisheng as his Blood Essence Points rose wildly.

Chu Xisheng fled downstream from the forces trying to kill him, while Bai Xiao Zhao arrived and helped him badly wound two pursuers. As they neared Prince's Lake, Bai Xiao Zhao explained her sudden growth and revealed that she had brought Chu Xisheng Yazi Essence Blood.

• Chu Xisheng escaped underwater on the Heluo Fish zombie and announced that Chu Yunyun and Tie Xiaosheng would lead the Iron Banner Gang in his absence.
• Spellcasters in Xiushui Commandery and Ancient Market Town came under attack, forcing many of Chu Xisheng's pursuers to turn back and defend both locations.
• Bai Xiao Zhao intercepted Yu Chiyang, and Chu Xisheng joined the fight with the Three-Aspect Divine Saber, severely wounding Yu Chiyang and Lü Han.
• Chu Xisheng continued toward Prince's Lake with Bai Xiao Zhao, who called him her father before agreeing to call him elder brother.
• Bai Xiao Zhao told Chu Xisheng that the Emperor's Flowing Essence had raised her cultivation and that she had obtained two drops of Yazi Essence Blood for him.

Sikong Chan secured support for a provincial crackdown on Chu Xisheng and posted a two-million-tael bounty on him. While allies set out to protect Chu Xisheng, he awakened his Yazi bloodline in hiding and triggered the distant Blood-Yazi Divine Saber to fly south.

• Sikong Chan revealed his marriage agreement with Mu Dong'e and offered Xiahou Dong succession, assets, and silver in exchange for expedited charges against Chu Xisheng and Tie Xiaosheng.
• Xiahou Shen accepted Sikong Chan's terms on his father's behalf, Bao Butian pledged enforcement of a warrant, and Cao Xuan refused to participate.
• Sikong Chan posted a two-million-tael bounty at the Life-Reaping Tower for Chu Xisheng to be killed within seven days.
• Lu Luanli advanced to Upper Sixth Grade and left to find Chu Xisheng after learning that Ji Qianqian had already gone to protect him.
• Chu Xisheng hid in an underground cave with Bai Xiao Zhao and absorbed Yazi Essence Blood alongside Little Flathead to awaken his Yazi bloodline.
• The Blood-Yazi Divine Saber sensed Chu Xisheng's awakening and flew south from the Formless Divine Sect as Li Changsheng and the grand elders appeared.