Recaps

Wang Chong cleared up Tie Mingzhu’s misunderstanding before four powerful grassland fighters arrived to avenge Tie Mole. He prepared to face Narihai in a one-on-one fight, using deception to make his swordsmanship and martial arts seem weaker than they were.

• Tie Mingzhu apologized to Wang Chong after realizing she had mistaken him for White Chrysanthemum, and he told her to leave.
• Narihai, Wuzhumuqin, Basal, and Wendu Cheng approached the garden, and Narihai announced that he had come to avenge his junior brother Tie Mole.
• Wang Chong asked the four fighters their names and called for Yuzao to bring him his sword.
• Wang Chong deliberately displayed flaws in his sword flourish and charged Narihai while pretending to use less than his full strength.
• Narihai believed the reports that Wang Chong had killed Tie Mole in a group attack and dismissed Wang Chong’s apparent martial skill as weak.

Wang Chong tricked and killed Narihai, then fled from Wuzhumuqin, Basal, and Wenducheng while recovering his strength. His companions followed at a distance as he led the three pursuers away.

• Narihai attacked Wang Chong, but Wang Chong countered with Nine-Headed Fire Dragon Flash and wounded him severely.
• Wang Chong followed with a rapid series of palm strikes, broke Narihai’s Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability, and killed him.
• Basal urged Wuzhumuqin and Wenducheng to join him in pursuing Wang Chong, who escaped southeast using Soaring Clouds, Treading the Wind.
• Yuzao told Wang Dong, Nan Xinlan, and Tie Mingzhu to follow at a distance and leave a trail, then went to find Monk Xuangang.
• After running seventy or eighty li and recovering much of his True Qi, Wang Chong saw that his three pursuers stayed together and decided to lead them around.

Wang Chong tried to split up the three grassland masters pursuing him, but Monk Xuangang’s arrival forced him to fight Wuzhumuqin and Wenducheng while Xuangang battled Basal. Wang Chong used taunts and schemes to provoke his opponents, leaving the battle unresolved as Basal struggled to hold out.

• Wang Chong assessed the strengths of Wuzhumuqin, Basal, and Wenducheng and decided to target Wenducheng first because his lightness skill was the weakest.
• Monk Xuangang charged into the fight against Basal, and Wuzhumuqin and Wenducheng joined in, forcing Wang Chong to return and intercept them.
• Wang Chong urged Xuangang to kill Basal quickly, then challenged Wuzhumuqin to a ten-move duel in an attempt to manipulate the battle.
• Wuzhumuqin grew angry at Wang Chong’s taunts and attacked him with her golden staff as he defended himself with the Folding Fan.
• Wang Chong claimed he had secretly been with Huo Qingge and Xiao Yiguli, enraging Wenducheng and making him attack more viciously while Basal called for help.

Wang Chong maneuvered Wuzhumuqin and Wenducheng away from Basal and Monk Xuangang, then used a concealed sword technique to defeat Wenducheng. He left Wenducheng sprawled on the ground as the fight continued around them.

• Monk Xuangang fought Basal while withholding the Vajra Prajna Palm, hoping to finish the battle quickly and help Wang Chong.
• Wang Chong assessed Wuzhumuqin’s cautious attacks and Wenducheng’s unhealed injuries, then drew them away from Basal and Xuangang.
• Wang Chong feinted toward Basal, used Xuangang’s palm to change direction, and charged at Wenducheng while Xuangang held off Wuzhumuqin.
• Wenducheng unleashed his prized finger technique and knocked Wang Chong’s Folding Fan away, but Wang Chong drew his sword and used Sword Candle Great Desolation.
• Wang Chong’s concealed sword strikes pierced Wenducheng, and he kicked him face-first into the ground.

Wang Chong defeated Wenducheng and used bluffs to drive Wuzhumuqin and Basal away, then returned to Pengshan County with Monk Xuangang. After recovering his strength, he experimented with channeling all his pure Yang True Qi into his sword and mastered the Innate Pure Yang Formula.

• Wang Chong let Wuzhumuqin and Basal escape after killing Wenducheng, though his exhausted state left him barely able to move.
• Wuzhumuqin and Basal returned to test Wang Chong, but he bluffed with renewed confidence and drove them into fleeing again.
• Monk Xuangang carried Wenducheng's corpse as he and Wang Chong returned to the garden estate, where Wang Chong thanked Yuzao and told Wang Dong to fetch constables.
• Wang Chong meditated until noon the next day, then forced all his pure Yang True Qi into his sword and mastered the Innate Pure Yang Formula.

Wang Chong reached the third realm of the Innate Pure Yang Formula and named his sword Coiling Dragon. After learning more about the White Chrysanthemum case, he received a visit from constables across Tongzhou who came to pay their respects and ask about the investigation.

• Wang Chong emptied his True Qi into his sword and cultivated new pure Yang Qi, advancing to the heaven-piercing earth-entwining realm and gaining the ability to produce Innate True Flame Sword Threads.
• Wang Chong noticed his sword had changed after absorbing his True Qi and named it Coiling Dragon.
• Yuzao told Wang Chong that the two captured men had carried Eagle Letters and planned to attack the Prince of Yan, and that Master Xuangang had identified Wenducheng's technique as the Ice Soul Finger.
• Wang Chong decided to inform Constable Li about the Ice Soul Finger and learned that Yuzao's young lady was staying at Constable Li's Daoist temple.
• Wang Dong told Wang Chong that constables from across Tongzhou had arrived to pay their respects, and they asked Wang Chong for guidance on the White Chrysanthemum case.

Wang Chong accepted gifts from the constables, then arranged to identify and aid families whose members had died from venomous snakebites. He left the captured snakes secured and learned that one item taken from his enemies belonged to the Ten-Thousand-Year Fox Manor.

• The constables brought Wang Chong five chests of silver and a cage of venomous snakes, and he praised their work.
• Wang Chong told Yuzao to store the gifts and ordered Wang Dong to find families in the area who had lost someone to snakebites.
• Wang Chong decided to give each bereaved family fifty taels of silver, while Yuzao took the chests away to count the money.
• Wang Chong pondered how to handle the snakes safely, then went to speak with Monk Xuangang.
• Monk Xuangang offered Wang Chong the valuables taken from Narihai and Wen Ducheng, then revealed that one item belonged to the Ten-Thousand-Year Fox Manor.

Wang Chong learned that Wenducheng had killed Su Luoyan’s younger brother and returned the Chess Sword Linglong jade pendant. After exchanging martial arts insights with Monk Xuangang, Wang Chong developed and tested a new palm technique before encountering riders fleeing an archer.

• Monk Xuangang gave Wang Chong the jade pendant to return to Chess Sword Linglong and asked him to call him senior brother.
• Wang Chong and Monk Xuangang compared their Vajra Prajna Palm skills, and Wang Chong demonstrated that he could unleash more than five layers of palm force.
• Their discussion helped Wang Chong shape a new variation of his palm art, which he tested in a deserted wood by breaking dozens of trees.
• Wang Chong named his creation Nine-Headed Dragon King Aspect · Vajra Prajna Palm Force · Eighteen Flying Dragon Forms and headed back toward Pengshan County.
• Wang Chong saw five or six riders fleeing an archer, who shot one of them in the left arm and sent him falling from his horse.

Wang Chong tried to avoid a fight between a mounted killer and his fugitives, but the killer targeted him and slaughtered the fleeing group. After learning the killer was Wen Zhengming, a retainer of the Prince of Yan, Wang Chong faced him and realized he could not use Wudang martial arts.

• Wang Chong deflected an arrow from the rider and cut his bow apart with a leaf, provoking the rider to attack with a spear.
• The fugitives turned back and begged Wang Chong for help, but he fled into the forest and watched from a tree as the pursuer killed them.
• The burly middle-aged fugitive revealed that the killer was Wen Zhengming, a retainer of the Prince of Yan, and claimed to carry a great secret.
• Wen Zhengming inspected the bodies, finished off the wounded, and challenged Wang Chong, who was watching from the treetop.
• Wen Zhengming recognized that Wang Chong was not Wenducheng, revealing that he had met the frontier warrior and leaving Wang Chong puzzled about the Prince of Yan's ties to the grassland tribes.
• Wen Zhengming charged Wang Chong with his spear, and Wang Chong prepared to fight while deciding he could not use Wudang martial arts.

Wang Chong killed Wen Zhengming after a brief clash and burned the bodies to conceal what happened. Back in Pengshan County, he spent days discussing a way to disguise his martial arts before constables arrived with a serious matter, just as another visitor appeared.

• Wang Chong defeated Wen Zhengming with the Nine-Headed Dragon King Aspect's Vajra Prajna Palm Force, but Wen Zhengming died before he could reveal that he recognized him.
• Wang Chong searched Wen Zhengming, burned the bodies and broken bow, and staged the deaths as a fiery clash.
• Wang Chong returned to Pengshan County and sent Yuzao to deliver Wen Zhengming's jade pendant to Su Luoyan.
• Wang Chong stayed at the garden residence with Monk Xuangang, Nan Xinlan, and Tie Mingzhu, discussing martial arts for seven or eight days to develop a way to conceal his identity.
• Constables from nearby prefectures arrived to seek Wang Chong's help, and another visitor came before they could explain what had happened.

After the Su Family thanked Wang Chong for avenging Su Luoyan’s younger brother, Tongzhou constables begged him to help them avoid execution over Wen Zhengming’s murder. Wang Chong promised to find a way and recruited their young relatives, leaving his garden packed with men amid rumors that the Prince of Yan was rebuilding the Yulin Army.

• A third-rank official from the Su Family visited Wang Chong to thank him for killing Wenducheng and offered him books and writing supplies.
• The constables told Wang Chong that the Prince of Yan had given them ten days to find Wen Zhengming’s murderer or face execution.
• Wang Chong reassured the constables and asked them to send him young men from their families, promising to secure them official positions.
• The constables hurried away to send their sons and nephews, and Wang Chong began accepting the young men they brought.
• By the tenth day, Wang Chong’s garden was packed with recruits, and rumors claimed the Prince of Yan was rebuilding the Yulin Army.

Wang Chong learned that a brutal cavalry force from the Nine-Bend Alliance was approaching Pengshan County and had to decide whether to flee or defend its people. He chose not to abandon the county and acted quickly as the attack drew near.

• Yuzao refused to keep feeding the hundreds of men who had gathered around Wang Chong, while Xuangang rebuked Wang Chong for making reckless promises and suggested he lead them into the mountains.
• Liao Bian told Wang Chong that Luo Dayong of the Qinghe Gang had come with news of an approaching cavalry force.
• Luo Dayong reported that about two thousand horsemen from the Nine-Bend Alliance were heading for Pengshan County and would arrive within two hours.
• Luo Dayong identified their leader as Yelüge Clan Ye Hu, the Fragrant Marshal, and described his history of massacring civilians and roasting human flesh.
• Wang Chong decided he could not flee and leave Pengshan County's people to die, then sealed Luo Dayong's acupoints.

Wang Chong gathered Pengshan County’s people and whatever weapons and supplies he could find to defend the town from the Nine-Bend Alliance’s cavalry. As the attack began, he risked a desperate leap toward the enemy commander and struck with Sword Slashes the Star River.

• Wang Chong persuaded Luo Dayong to gather the nearby Qinghe Gang members, then recruited Pengshan’s officials and able-bodied men, seized weapons and grain, and prepared the county’s defenses.
• Monk Xuangang warned that Pengshan’s weak walls and hastily assembled defenders could not withstand the Yaoluoge Clan’s elite cavalry, but Wang Chong insisted they resist rather than face a massacre without fighting.
• As the cavalry arrived under its armored commander, Wang Chong asked Xuangang to launch him toward the enemy and shouted that he wished to surrender.
• Xuangang struck Wang Chong’s foot and sent him soaring toward the commander, while Wang Chong used his lightness skill to close the distance.
• The commander thrust his spear, and Wang Chong met him with the full force of Sword Slashes the Star River, clashing with him hundreds of times before spotting an opening.

Wang Chong fought the Yegeluo Clan cavalry to protect Pengshan County, while Yuzao rallied the defenders by spreading false claims that their commander had been killed. As Wang Chong neared exhaustion, he awakened the Army-Breaking Bodhisattva Aspect, leaving the battle poised for a dramatic turn.

• Wang Chong wounded the Yegeluo Clan leader and seized his horse, then charged into the cavalry before they could form up.
• Monk Xuangang recognized that the fallen commander was not Yegeluo Ye Hu, while Yuzao shouted that the chieftain had been killed and promised rewards to spur the defenders into action.
• Wang Dong charged out after Wang Chong, and Monk Xuangang followed to retrieve him; Yuzao's cries and covert kicks sent more defenders pouring from the walls.
• Wang Chong fought the enraged Yegeluo Clan cavalry until his True Qi ran out and he barely evaded a spear strike.
• Wang Chong recalled the Buddhist scripture about killing to save the innocent, and the Army-Breaking Bodhisattva Aspect formed in his sea of consciousness.

Wang Chong and his allies turned the battle against the Yegeluo Clan cavalry, while he fought his way out of the encirclement and chose to return rather than abandon them. After Luo Dayong arrived with reinforcements, Wang Chong broke the enemy’s morale by announcing that the dynasty’s army was coming, prompting horsemen to flee.

• Wang Chong used the Army-Breaking Bodhisattva Aspect to kill six Yegeluo Clan horsemen and create room to recover.
• Yuzao directed Pengshan County’s defenders, while Xuangang, Tie Mingzhu, and Nan Xinlan helped fight the cavalry.
• Wang Chong fought through the encirclement but turned back rather than leave Xuangang and the others behind.
• Luo Dayong arrived with seventy or eighty fierce fighters who formed battle groups and cut down Yegeluo Clan horsemen.
• Wang Chong shouted that the dynasty’s army would arrive within an hour and that their chieftain was dead, breaking the cavalry’s morale and starting a wave of desertions.

Wang Chong’s forces defeated the Yegeluo Clan cavalry, and Gan Ci of the Hengjiang Tigers pledged himself to Wang Chong after he promised to secure honors for the bandits. Wang Chong recovered his strength while Gan Ci organized the troops and gathered the battlefield spoils, leaving Wang Chong responsible for their valuable and potentially illegal armor.

• Gan Ci introduced himself to Wang Chong, who promised to secure official honors for the Hengjiang Tigers in return for their service.
• Wang Chong ordered Gan Ci to kill the enemy troops who had not escaped, and Gan Ci led his men to finish them off.
• Monk Xuangang reminded Wang Chong that Yuzao had promised rewards, while Tie Mingzhu and Nan Xinlan offered money to help fulfill them.
• Wang Chong reassured Yuzao and the others, then recovered his True Qi by practicing the Innate Pure Yang Formula for over four hours.
• Gan Ci killed the remaining Yegeluo Clan troops, organized captains, and collected horses, armor, and weapons before leaving Wang Chong to deal with the spoils.

After defeating the Yegeluo Clan cavalry, Wang Chong led a small force to destroy their supply camp and decided to make it his base. As new riders arrived and Monk Xuangang identified their leader as Yelüge Clan Ye Hu, Wang Chong killed a scholar who seemed to recognize him.

• Wang Chong had Luo Dayong search for the enemy's supply camp, then assigned Gan Ci to organize his troops and sent Yuzao, Tie Mingzhu, and Nan Xinlan to buy food.
• Luo Dayong reported a camp twenty li away where routed Yegeluo Clan soldiers were regrouping, so Wang Chong selected a small force to attack it before the enemy recovered.
• Wang Chong, Monk Xuangang, and Gan Ci led the surprise assault, routing and killing the camp's defenders within the time it took a stick of incense to burn.
• Wang Chong found the camp suitable as a base and told Gan Ci to bring the rest of their people there.
• A dozen riders arrived, and Monk Xuangang identified their armored leader as Yelüge Clan Ye Hu and engaged him while Wang Chong attacked a scholar among the newcomers.
• The scholar began to recognize Wang Chong, but Wang Chong killed him with seven hairs before he could finish speaking.

Wang Chong fought Yegeluo Clan Ye Hu and his expert followers, then lured them away from Monk Xuangang and the camp. As Ye Hu pursued him into the mountains, he fired an arrow at Wang Chong.

• Wang Chong killed a scholar with a surprise attack while Monk Xuangang fought Yelüge Clan Ye Hu.
• Wang Chong fought through Ye Hu’s followers, stole a horse, and urged Xuangang to flee with the camp’s men.
• Ye Hu caught up with Wang Chong, but Wang Chong used a sword and horse to evade his strike before attacking with the Candle-Bearing Sword Technique.
• Wang Chong escaped on horseback after surviving Ye Hu’s counterattack, and Ye Hu recognized him as the killer of Pishaluo.
• An arrow killed Wang Chong’s horse, so he fled into the forest and up the mountain while Ye Hu’s men pursued him.
• Ye Hu drew a bow and fired an arrow infused with icy True Qi at Wang Chong.

Wang Chong escaped Ye Hu and the Yegeluo Clan pursuers by capturing Princess Pijia and using her as a hostage, then faking her death to buy time. Alone, hungry, and unsure where to go, he fled while Gan Ci and Monk Xuangang prepared to defend the camp outside Pengshan County against Ye Hu’s expected return.

• Wang Chong deflected Ye Hu’s ice-imbued arrows and captured Princess Pijia after defeating her in a clash.
• Wang Chong threatened to kill Princess Pijia, secured fifty breaths without pursuit, and then faked her death to delay Ye Hu further.
• Ye Hu discovered Princess Pijia was alive and stopped to release her acupoints, allowing Wang Chong to escape farther.
• Wang Chong realized he could not return to Pengshan County, had no money or supplies, and continued fleeing after recovering some True Qi.
• Gan Ci argued that the camp outside Pengshan County should be held to capture more Yegeluo Clan soldiers, while Monk Xuangang worried about Ye Hu’s return.

Wang Chong, pursued by Ye Hu's forces, faced Bone Demon and a whip-wielding woman who tried to trap him together. He wounded the woman with Wudang's Object-Borrowing Power Transmission and turned to confront Bone Demon, though his own injuries left the fight uncertain.

• Wang Chong reflected on his three-day flight from Ye Hu's trackers and his inability to reach Tongzhou Prefecture.
• Bone Demon and a whip-wielding woman blocked Wang Chong's escape and threatened him and Chu Qiuzi.
• Wang Chong charged the woman to keep Bone Demon from joining her, then used Nine-Headed Fire Dragon Flash against her.
• The woman countered with a poisoned iron claw, but Wang Chong struck through it with Wudang's Object-Borrowing Power Transmission and kicked her away.
• Bone Demon hesitated after seeing Wang Chong's ferocious counterattack, while Wang Chong recovered his True Qi and challenged both pursuers.

Wang Chong avoided a dangerous fight with Bone Demon and Tall Woman, then rescued martial world fighters from grassland warriors and discovered rumors of his earlier exploits had made him famous. He left alone while the fighters mistakenly believed he was pursuing several notorious enemies single-handedly, and their claim sent Bone Demon and Princess Pijia after him.

• Wang Chong escaped Bone Demon and Tall Woman, then rested overnight after finding no more pursuers.
• Wang Chong learned Tongzhou Prefecture was nearby, ate at a town eatery without money, and fled with flatbreads.
• Wang Chong rescued a group of martial world fighters by killing the grassland warriors attacking them.
• The fighters recognized Wang Chong and praised his rumored victories, then asked him to lead their group to protect the Prince of Yan.
• Wang Chong declined to travel with them and left in borrowed clothes after naming the enemies pursuing him.
• Bone Demon left to find help after hearing Wang Chong had killed the grassland warriors, and Princess Pijia rode after Wang Chong when the fighters pointed her in his direction.

Wang Chong arrived in Tongzhou Prefecture and took up his official posts while Li Qingge told him about new complications in the White Chrysanthemum case. He began to suspect someone was committing crimes under White Chrysanthemum’s name, as local chief constables sought his favor after his victory over the Yegeluo Clan.

• Wang Chong entered Tongzhou Prefecture with help from Zhu Hongru and visited Li Qingge before assuming office.
• Li Qingge said White Chrysanthemum had struck again, clues pointed toward people around the Prince of Yan, and Wen Zhengxi was blocking an investigation.
• Li Qingge told Wang Chong that the former head of Tongzhou's Ministry of Justice bureau and former chief constable might have been framed, then asked him to help investigate.
• Wang Chong suspected someone was using White Chrysanthemum’s name to commit crimes and asked Li Qingge to accompany him as he assumed his posts.
• Wang Chong took charge of the Ministry of Justice bureau and met Tongzhou’s prefectural chief constables, who sought his favor after his victory at Pengshan County.

Wang Chong received gifts and offers of young retainers from the prefectural chief constables, then admitted local gangs into the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance. A visitor named Wen Zhiwei arrived to discuss the Prince of Yan, and Wang Chong misunderstood her family’s Chrysanthemum-Slaying Plan as a plot to turn him into White Chrysanthemum and kill him.

• Wang Chong accepted gifts from the chief constables and welcomed their younger relatives as retainers.
• More chief constables arrived with gifts, and Wang Chong admitted eight local gang members into the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance for protection.
• Wang Chong spent the day receiving visitors, then sent a young subordinate to repay the shop where he had eaten without paying.
• Wen Zhiwei visited Wang Chong privately and said the Wen Family and Wudang shared concerns about Wen Zhengchun, the Prince of Yan.
• Wen Zhiwei said she and Wen Zhengxi had devised a Chrysanthemum-Slaying Plan, and Wang Chong guessed that it involved turning the Prince of Yan into White Chrysanthemum before killing him.

Wen Zhiwei revealed the Wen Family’s plan to frame the Prince of Yan and have the Eighteen Tribes of the Grasslands kill him, then asked Wang Chong whether he knew where the missing prince was. Wang Chong exposed himself as Wen Zhengchun and, after appearing to trust his sister, struck her with a lethal attack.

• Wen Zhiwei told Wang Chong that the Wen Family had framed Wen Zhengchun as White Chrysanthemum to drive him from Chang'an and arrange his death by the Eighteen Tribes of the Grasslands.
• Wen Zhiwei said the Prince of Yan had disappeared, and Wang Chong denied knowing his whereabouts.
• Wen Zhiwei left after insisting she disdained the question of whether the prince had to die, but Wang Chong stopped her by claiming he knew where he was.
• Wang Chong washed off his disguise, revealing himself as Wen Zhengchun, and Wen Zhiwei recognized him as her little brother.
• Wen Zhiwei approached Wang Zhengchun with relief, and he unleashed Nine-Headed Fire Dragon Flash against her, destroying her organs and chest and abdominal bones.

After learning that he was Wen Zhengchun, the Prince of Yan, Wang Chong returned to the Tongzhou Prefectural Governor's Residence to reclaim his identity publicly. He left with Qin Han and Fang Jingru, drawing them into his faction as the court dispute over the prince continued.

• Wang Chong resolved to reclaim the identity of Wen Zhengchun, the Prince of Yan, after learning the truth from Wen Zhiwei.
• Wang Chong hid Wen Zhiwei's corpse and forced his way into the Prefectural Governor's Residence, defeating servants and guards who tried to stop him.
• Wang Chong announced himself as Wen Zhengchun, Prince of Yan, before the gathered residents and officials, including Wen Zhengxi, Qin Han, and Fang Jingru.
• Wang Chong declared that he would celebrate with the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance and left with Qin Han and Fang Jingru, leaving other matters to Wen Zhengxi.
• Qin Han offered to give Wang Chong credit for killing White Chrysanthemum, but Wang Chong dismissed the achievement as insignificant.