Recaps

Lu Moniang returned to Taiyi Abbey seeking help against the villain White Chrysanthemum and discovered her young junior brother Sun Mingke’s remarkable swordsmanship. Daoist Guanlong emerged from seclusion, taught the disciples the completed Nine Profound True Scripture, and sent Sun Mingke to help Lu Moniang.

• Lu Moniang arrived at Taiyi Abbey and met her second senior brother and young junior brother Sun Mingke.
• Lu Moniang tested Sun Mingke’s swordsmanship and found that his skill let him defend against her attacks; Sun Mingke also identified flaws in her moves.
• Daoist Guanlong emerged from seclusion and taught his disciples the Nine Profound True Scripture, which Sun Mingke recognized as a method he had already partly learned.
• Daoist Guanlong strengthened Sun Mingke’s internal power and explained that he had trained him using an earlier version of the scripture.
• Lu Moniang told Daoist Guanlong that White Chrysanthemum had assaulted women and killed martial artists, and Daoist Guanlong ordered Sun Mingke to help her hunt the villain.

Monk Xuangang found a newborn infant in a river and was ordered by his master, Kong Chan, to find the child a wet nurse. In Pengshan City, he met Su Luoyan, who asked him to track down the villain White Chrysanthemum, and Xuangang immediately asked how much she would pay.

• Xuangang discovered a newborn in a floating basket and brought him to Kong Chan, who named the child Xuan Ye and ordered Xuangang to find a wet nurse.
• Kong Chan warned Xuangang to return within three days, and Xuangang descended Yanyun Mountain carrying money and weapons.
• Xuangang reached Pengshan City, disguised himself in black clothes, and went to its largest restaurant to eat meat.
• At the restaurant, Xuangang recognized the Taoist nun as Su Luoyan, who revealed she had delivered Xuan Ye and asked him to help hunt White Chrysanthemum.
• Su Luoyan explained that White Chrysanthemum had killed her younger brother and said she had arranged a wet nurse and servants; Xuangang asked how much she would pay.

Turkic Gan Luoyi escorted Princess Ayi on a diplomatic mission to the Central Plains while pursuing revenge against White Chrysanthemum for torturing his beloved to death. He vowed to kill the rapist, leaving Fuli Fa unable to dissuade him.

• Gan Luoyi introduced Huo Qingge and Xiao Yiguli as formidable disciples of the Eternal Life Holy Church traveling with him.
• Fuli Fa asked Gan Luoyi whether the Turks had major plans, but Gan Luoyi said he had come to the Central Plains for a private matter.
• Gan Luoyi revealed that White Chrysanthemum had tortured his beloved to death after she had been forced to part from him because their homelands were enemies.
• Fuli Fa urged Gan Luoyi to act cautiously and avoid clashing with the Central Plains martial world.
• Gan Luoyi swore to kill White Chrysanthemum himself and warned that anyone who interfered would face the new generation's Wolf God of the Turks.

Jade Slave ambushed Fang Jingru at East Emperor Abbey and swiftly defeated him, Qin Han, and Zhou Yuchen. She complained that the young martial artists had spoiled her plan to make White Chrysanthemum her first opponent.

• Fang Jingru denounced White Chrysanthemum before the gathered young martial artists at East Emperor Abbey.
• Jade Slave attacked Fang Jingru near the rear mountain, turned his Wind and Thunder Fan Divine Skill against him, and sealed his acupoints with beans.
• Qin Han confronted Jade Slave, but she struck his shoulder and overwhelmed him.
• Zhou Yuchen tried to ambush Jade Slave, but her smile disrupted his move and she knocked him down.
• Jade Slave lamented that she had wanted to save her first fight for White Chrysanthemum.

Sun Yanqi learned that her beloved would not marry her after his mother threatened suicide, and he did not follow when she rushed to rescue Iron Sister from White Chrysanthemum. The chapter left Sun Yanqi racing to save Iron Sister while the young man lamented his betrayal.

• Sun Yanqi asked the young man what they should do after Iron Sister went to confront White Chrysanthemum, whom Sun Yanqi had falsely accused of abducting her.
• The young man told Sun Yanqi that his mother had threatened suicide unless he refused to marry her.
• Sun Yanqi declared that she would fight White Chrysanthemum to rescue Iron Sister and ran off, but the young man stayed behind.
• Sun Yanqi looked back and saw that the young man had not followed her.
• The young man called her Lianmei and lamented that he had betrayed her, even though he knew she was innocent.

Wang Chong awoke in a ruined temple with no memories, learned he possessed martial arts, and accepted the girl in green’s claim that he was Mo Yuncong of the Wudang Sect. After mastering his internal cultivation and sword skills, he freed her and demanded answers.

• Wang Chong woke in a ruined temple with a cut hand, a green longsword, and a bound girl in green beside him.
• Wang Chong pulled the gag from the girl, who called him a lecher, and she claimed he was Mo Yuncong of the Wudang Sect.
• Wang Chong discovered Qi in his dantian and made a breakthrough while the girl tried to reach the Green Maple Sword and escape.
• Wang Chong picked up the sword and instinctively performed an expert sword art, while the girl realized he had retained his martial skills.
• After four to six hours of practice, Wang Chong cut the girl’s ropes and told her to answer more questions before she could leave.

Wang Chong learned that he was in the eighth year of Linde under the rule of the Heavenly Empress, then tested the formidable martial arts of the body he had taken over. He caught up with the fleeing girl in green, Tie Mingzhu, who believed he had come to defile her and threatened to kill herself.

• Wang Chong returned the Green Maple Sword to the girl in green and questioned her about the era, its ruler, and his own martial arts.
• The girl told Wang Chong that the Heavenly Empress ruled in the eighth year of Linde and identified his strongest martial art as Ice Soul Finger.
• Wang Chong let the girl go, and she ran dozens of li before pausing to recover.
• Wang Chong tested his extraordinary lightness skills and killed a squirrel by flicking a leaf at it.
• Wang Chong decided to leave by the mountain path rather than risk crossing the forest, then caught up with Tie Mingzhu.
• Tie Mingzhu laid the Green Maple Sword against her neck and threatened to take her own life rather than be defiled.

Wang Chong fled through the mountains, discovered that his folding fan was a resilient weapon, and disguised himself as a scholar after reaching an inn. He overheard women in the neighboring courtyard discussing the notorious lecher White Chrysanthemum and his abduction of Nan Xinlan, leaving Wang Chong confronted with the reputation attached to his face.

• Wang Chong reached an official road after escaping through the mountain woods and recalled several martial arts he knew, none of which involved Ice Soul Finger.
• Wang Chong found a hidden folding fan that resisted damage and used his internal power to erase its painted peonies and writing.
• Wang Chong passed a wary Flying Tiger escort convoy, whose members recognized his movement technique as resembling their school's Soaring Clouds, Treading the Wind.
• Wang Chong rented a private courtyard at a roadside inn and ordered a scholar's outfit, toiletries, hot water, and food.
• Wang Chong heard women in the neighboring courtyard say that White Chrysanthemum had abducted Nan Xinlan, the Lotus Fairy, and ruined her expected match with Young Master Sun.

Wang Chong disguised himself as a pale scholar and tried to convince a group of Qingcheng Sect cultivators that he was not the lecher White Chrysanthemum. His poems won over Chu Qiuzi and her junior sisters, who left without discovering his identity, while Wang Chong remained anxious about his martial arts and whether he really was a lecher.

• After overhearing the women discuss their hunt for White Chrysanthemum, Wang Chong changed his appearance and destroyed his original clothes.
• When Chu Qiuzi and her junior sisters entered his courtyard to question him, Wang Chong pretended to be an offended, upright scholar.
• Wang Chong recited impressive but unfinished poems, persuading the Qingcheng Sect women that he was not the lecher they sought.
• Wang Chong mocked the women with a final poem, then barred his door; Chu Qiuzi chose to leave without taking offense.
• After confirming the women had gone, Wang Chong went to bed but could not sleep, and wondered whether he was actually a lecher.

Wang Chong reflected on his martial arts and avoided being drawn into the Flying Tiger Escort Agency’s attempt to recover its stolen shipment. After learning he might be a Wudang disciple, he was approached by Chu Qiuzi, who asked about his lineage.

• Wang Chong reviewed his martial arts and resolved to focus more on swordsmanship while avoiding use of his distinctive fan.
• Zhang Xingzhou and his companion asked Chu Qiuzi and the Qingcheng disciples to help recover a shipment stolen by the Qinghe Gang, but Luo Lingxi refused because they were pursuing White Chrysanthemum and rescuing Nan Xinlan and Tie Mingzhu.
• When the companion insulted the captives, Bai Lingxi pierced his ear with a Crane's Cry Divine Needle, and Zhang Xingzhou left with him.
• The escorts tried to recruit Wang Chong, but he stayed silent behind his gate until they gave up.
• Wang Chong wondered whether he was truly Mo Yuncong of Wudang, then Chu Qiuzi vaulted into his courtyard and asked which Wudang elder had taught him.

Wang Chong met Chu Qiuzi, who invited him to join the hunt for White Chrysanthemum, the notorious martial artist suspected of abusing and killing women. As Chu Qiuzi grew interested in him and returned to her junior sisters, Wang Chong remained unsure whether he was White Chrysanthemum or Mo Yuncong.

• Chu Qiuzi recognized Wang Chong’s martial arts and invited him to help the Qingcheng Sect hunt White Chrysanthemum, but he avoided accepting.
• Chu Qiuzi described White Chrysanthemum’s crimes, his Wudang Swordsmanship and Ice Soul Finger, and the government’s six-thousand-tael reward for his capture.
• Wang Chong worried that his own skills might mean he was White Chrysanthemum, then tried to conceal his suspicions from Chu Qiuzi.
• After talking with Wang Chong for hours, Chu Qiuzi asked whether he was married, and he claimed he planned to study in the capital.
• Chu Qiuzi returned to her five junior sisters, while Bai Lingxi and Luo Lingxi privately considered Wang Chong a possible husband for their senior sister.

Wang Chong fled an inn after being mistaken for the lecherous criminal White Chrysanthemum, killing two attackers while defending himself. Fang Jingru intervened and persuaded the pursuers that Wang Chong was not their target.

• Wang Chong left the inn before dawn and hurried to a roadside inn, where martial men accused him of being White Chrysanthemum.
• When the Hao brothers attacked, Wang Chong used the Hundred Styles of Wind and Cloud to deflect their iron plaques, killing them both.
• As the other martial men charged, Wang Chong fled and dodged their hidden weapons with his lightness skill.
• Fang Jingru intercepted Wang Chong with a powerful palm strike, then recognized his orthodox Wudang internal power and asked who he was.
• Wang Chong identified himself, and Fang Jingru defended him from the pursuers, demonstrating the Celestial Masters Mansion Wind-Thunder Fan Divine Skill until they withdrew.

Wang Chong was mistaken for a fellow Wudang disciple and invited to join Fang Jingru’s Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance, leaving him reluctantly following Fang Jingru to help the others. They arrived as seven young martial artists fought a tall Turk warrior, who unleashed a last-resort saber-and-sword technique.

• Fang Jingru admired Wang Chong’s folding-fan martial arts and invited him to join the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance to hunt White Chrysanthemum.
• Fang Jingru persuaded Wang Chong to come along after a firework signaled that Sanlang and the others had encountered an enemy.
• Fang Jingru tested Wang Chong’s lightness skill and wondered whether he might be a hidden Wudang secret disciple.
• Wang Chong and Fang Jingru reached the fight, where seven young martial artists surrounded a powerful Turk warrior.
• The Turk warrior recognized that reinforcements had arrived and unleashed his combined saber-and-sword technique.

Wang Chong survived a deadly exchange with Gan Luoyi and impressed Fang Jingru and the other young martial artists. After joining their gathering, he spotted Chu Qiuzi arriving and felt awkward because he had turned her down but come to meet the others.

• Gan Luoyi broke through seven opponents and charged at Fang Jingru and Wang Chong, but Fang Jingru stepped aside while Wang Chong fought him with the Folding Fan.
• Wang Chong matched Gan Luoyi's attack, and Gan Luoyi praised Wudang's Hundred Styles of Wind and Cloud before leaving.
• Fang Jingru introduced Wang Chong to the young martial artists, and Wang Chong realized a comment about White Chrysanthemum's Candle-Bearing Sword Technique could expose his own familiarity with it.
• Fang Jingru introduced Qin Liaokong and the others, and Wang Chong mingled with the group while learning about their connections and backgrounds.
• The Qingcheng fairies arrived, and Wang Chong recognized Chu Qiuzi, feeling embarrassed because he had turned her down before coming to the gathering.

Wang Chong joined the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance at Chrysanthemum-Killing Manor, where he built connections and grew closer to Chu Qiuzi through poetry. News that Nan Xinlan had rescued Tie Mingzhu left him fearing that his secrets might be exposed.

• Fang Jingru introduced Wang Chong to Chu Qiuzi and the other women of Qingcheng, while both Wang Chong and Chu Qiuzi mistook their past acquaintance for evidence of respectable connections.
• Fang Jingru led the group to Chrysanthemum-Killing Manor, where the alliance planned to await news from its scouts.
• Wang Chong talked poetry with Chu Qiuzi on the way, and she promised to speak with him again that night.
• Wang Chong joined Qin Han's circle to cultivate useful ties with officials' families and learned that many Wudang disciples served at court as disciples of the Heavenly Empress.
• An ally announced that Nan Xinlan had rescued Tie Mingzhu, and Wang Chong panicked at the news.

Wang Chong concealed his identity and joined the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance while secretly honing his martial arts. When the alliance received word of White Chrysanthemum’s trail in Pengshan County, Wang Chong eagerly joined the hunt and rode out with Qin Han’s group.

• Tie Mingzhu and Nan Xinlan concealed their encounters with Wang Chong, and the messenger reported that Tie Mingzhu had never met White Chrysanthemum.
• Wang Chong realized Tie Mingzhu would likely keep his identity secret to protect her own reputation, while Nan Xinlan and Tie Mingzhu stayed away from the gathering.
• Wang Chong ingratiated himself with the alliance members and became its sixty-second brother on his third day at Chrysanthemum-Killing Manor.
• Wang Chong secretly practiced his martial arts and reflected on his growing skill with the Candle-Bearing Sword Technique and the Flying Flowers, Plucking Leaves Hand.
• After reports placed White Chrysanthemum in Pengshan County, Wang Chong volunteered to join the hunt and departed with Qin Han’s group.

Wang Chong accepted Qin Han’s payment for helping him claim credit for killing White Chrysanthemum, then secretly left the group and got lost while heading toward Yanyun Mountain. He rescued a man from a river, but grew suspicious when the stranger avoided giving his name or explaining how he fell in.

• Qin Han paid Wang Chong more than two thousand strings in banknotes for his help claiming White Chrysanthemum’s death, and Wang Chong accepted.
• The group reached Pengshan County, where reports said a monk and a woman had knocked White Chrysanthemum into a river.
• Wang Chong slipped away from the inn with his horse, intending to visit Jinshan Temple and escape his obligation to Qin Han.
• After losing his way in the dark, Wang Chong camped beneath a tree and heard someone calling for help from a nearby river.
• Wang Chong used his lightness skill to reach the river, pulled a struggling man ashore, and asked his name and how he had fallen in.
• The exhausted stranger asked Wang Chong to build a fire and let him explain later, making Wang Chong suspect he was not a good sort.

Wang Chong captured Sun Yanqi, discovered two Buddhist martial arts manuals hidden on him, and tried to stop Monk Xuangang from killing him. While Wang Chong fought Xuangang, a tearful young woman stabbed Sun Yanqi through the heart.

• Wang Chong sealed Sun Yanqi's acupoints and searched him, finding two Buddhist secret manuals hidden in an oilpaper package.
• Sun Yanqi claimed that Monk Xuangang and an unknown woman had mistaken him for White Chrysanthemum and attacked him, while Wang Chong suspected he was lying.
• Monk Xuangang arrived and accused Sun Yanqi of being a vile criminal, while Sun Yanqi denounced the monk as an outlaw seeking the bounty.
• Wang Chong took the manuals, refused to let Xuangang kill Sun Yanqi, and proposed bringing them before the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance.
• Xuangang attacked Wang Chong, and as they fought, a young woman drove her sword through Sun Yanqi's heart.

Wang Chong discovered that Sun Yanqi had been identified as White Chrysanthemum, brought his corpse back to Pengshan County, and let Qin Han claim credit for killing him. The chapter ended with Wang Chong asking how the others had confirmed the dead man’s identity.

• Su Luoyan explained that Sun Yanqi had betrayed and abducted Nan Xinlan, and that she and Master Xuangang had rescued her before Sun Yanqi was exposed as White Chrysanthemum.
• Wang Chong agreed to conceal Su Luoyan’s role in Sun Yanqi’s death, while Xuangang and Su Luoyan left with Nan Xinlan.
• Wang Chong carried Sun Yanqi’s corpse back to Pengshan County and told Qin Han he had found and defeated the badly wounded man.
• Qin Han took the corpse into town, and the others declared that he had killed White Chrysanthemum after confirming the man’s identity.
• Wang Chong asked how they had confirmed the corpse was White Chrysanthemum.

Qin Han claimed credit for killing White Chrysanthemum after two women identified Sun Yanqi, and the young heroes celebrated in Pengshan County. Wang Chong slipped away to read with Chu Qiuzi, then asked her about a lost Buddhist scripture and learned of Xuanhuang Dao’s history.

• Qin Han announced that Sun Yanqi was White Chrysanthemum after two alleged victims identified him, and Wang Chong accepted the claim despite lingering doubts.
• Qin Han and Fang Jingru led a lavish celebration in Pengshan County, while Wang Chong avoided the revelry and went to read alone.
• Chu Qiuzi joined Wang Chong with wine and candles as her junior sisters watched from a rooftop and teased her about him.
• Wang Chong asked Chu Qiuzi about the Fundamental Scripture for Cultivating the Divine Transformations of the Thirty-Two Marks, and she explained that Xuanhuang Dao had stolen it and lost it more than a century ago.

Chu Qiuzi explained the origins of Xuanhuang Dao and identified Wang Chong’s Correct Explanation of the Four Marks as a dangerous scripture tied to the western Vajrasana Monastery. She revealed that the fourth Dao Lord had called it a Supreme Demon Scripture and forbidden his disciples to read it, leaving Wang Chong with the mystery of what made it so perilous.

• Chu Qiuzi explained that Xuanhuang Dao had been destroyed after backing the King of Chongxiao, Yang Sui, against the Founding Emperor, though its surviving disciples founded new sects.
• Wang Chong showed Chu Qiuzi the Correct Explanation of the Four Marks, and she warned him to keep its existence secret before identifying it as a work connected to the Fundamental Scripture for Cultivating the Divine Transformations of the Thirty-Two Marks.
• Chu Qiuzi recounted how Ronakasantī created the Fundamental Scripture and how Moon-Hidden Auspicious Wisdom later wrote the Correct Explanation of the Four Marks.
• Chu Qiuzi explained that the fourth Dao Lord of Xuanhuang Dao obtained both scriptures from Vajrasana Monastery and called the Correct Explanation of the Four Marks a Supreme Demon Scripture, forbidding his disciples to read it.
• Moon-Hidden Auspicious Wisdom declared himself an enemy and destroyer of the Buddha and Dharma, and a heavenly demon unlike any the world had seen.

Wang Chong and Chu Qiuzi read together through the night, and Chu recommended a Qingcheng junior as his book attendant. They met Su Luoyan, who invited them to her garden, where Wang Chong’s poem impressed Jiangzhuer and made Chu Qiuzi uneasy.

• Chu Qiuzi warned Wang Chong that the Correct Explanation of the Four Marks was too dangerous for anyone but a rare master to understand, and he refused to practice it.
• After reading through the night, Chu Qiuzi offered a Qingcheng junior as Wang Chong’s book attendant, and Wang Chong accepted.
• Wang Chong and Chu Qiuzi met Su Luoyan, who was passing through on her way to Chang'an, and Wang Chong told her that Qin Han had killed White Chrysanthemum.
• Su Luoyan invited Wang Chong and Chu Qiuzi to a garden banquet and introduced her maid Jiangzhuer.
• Wang Chong praised Jiangzhuer with a line of poetry, and she responded warmly while Chu Qiuzi privately felt that he gave her no peace of mind.

Wang Chong impressed Su Luoyan, Chu Qiuzi, and Jiangzhuer with his poetry, calligraphy, and painting, then prepared to continue toward Chang'an with new companions. The chapter ended with Su Luoyan offering him her maid Liuxian, while Chu Qiuzi revealed that a Qingcheng junior would also accompany him.

• Wang Chong explained that his mother trained him strictly in writing, prompting Su Luoyan and Chu Qiuzi to ask him to recite a poem.
• At Jiangzhuer's urging, Wang Chong wrote a lyric and calligraphy that awed Su Luoyan, Chu Qiuzi, and Jiangzhuer.
• Wang Chong asked Jiangzhuer to provide painting supplies instead of apologizing, then painted Chu Qiuzi's figure on his Folding Fan.
• After learning Wang Chong was traveling to Chang'an, Su Luoyan offered him her maid Liuxian as a companion.
• Chu Qiuzi said she had already arranged for a Qingcheng junior to accompany Wang Chong as his page.

Wang Chong received a maid from Su Luoyan and learned about Xuangang’s exceptional martial prowess before news arrived that Qian Luoyi had challenged Qin Han over White Chrysanthemum’s murder. Su Luoyan rode out with Wang Chong and Chu Qiuzi to confront Qian Luoyi and his companions, and they spotted three fine horses ahead.

• Su Luoyan gave Liuxian to Wang Chong as a maid, and Wang Chong reassured the frightened girl.
• Su Luoyan told Wang Chong and Chu Qiuzi that Xuangang was an Innate Realm prodigy with a promising future.
• A maid reported that Qian Luoyi had challenged Qin Han, wounded him in fewer than twenty moves, and escaped a surrounding attack with two Western Regions helpers.
• Su Luoyan learned that Qian Luoyi’s helpers were Huo Qingge and Xiao Yiguli, then decided to confront them with Wang Chong and Chu Qiuzi.
• Su Luoyan assembled her household’s armed attendants and led the party out of Pengshan County, where they saw three magnificent horses grazing.

Wang Chong met Qian Luoyi’s challenge and fought him to an even draw with his Folding Fan, impressing Huo Qingge and Xiao Yiguli. As he began to fall behind, he paused to take a sword from a maid and announced that Qian Luoyi was in trouble.

• Huo Qingge recognized Su Luoyan as her intended opponent, while Qian Luoyi challenged Wang Chong to resume their unfinished fight.
• Wang Chong and Qian Luoyi exchanged 117 blows with fan and saber, then resumed fighting with Qian Luoyi’s Wolf God’s Twelve Kills and Wang Chong’s Hundred Styles of Wind and Cloud.
• Wang Chong and Qian Luoyi remained evenly matched, though Huo Qingge and Xiao Yiguli judged that Wang Chong would soon fall behind.
• Xiao Yiguli offered Wang Chong mutton if he could last thirty moves, and Wang Chong called for a pause to change weapons.
• A maid tossed Wang Chong her sword, which he drew and praised before telling Qian Luoyi he was in trouble.