Chapter Summaries

Qiguan Sui fought Sima Yunshan, who had gathered allies and formed a trap to kill the Canon Guardian and seize the Way of the Yellow Heaven scriptures. Wang Chong arrived as a second Great Grandmaster, wounded the Enforcement Dragon Head, and joined Qiguan Sui against the attackers.

• Sima Yunshan attacked Qiguan Sui with Dragon Gate Leap to Attain the First Fruit, but Qiguan Sui redirected his blows with the Eighteen Heaven-Swapping Hands.
• After more than ten exchanges, Qiguan Sui reflected Sima Yunshan’s palm force back at him, revealing that Qiguan Sui was stronger than the Beggar King had expected.
• Sima Yunshan summoned the Transmission Dragon Head, the Enforcement Dragon Head, and three masked allies, who formed the Six-Escape Formation of the All-Encompassing Azure Heavens around Qiguan Sui.
• Wang Chong arrived and revealed himself as another Great Grandmaster, then met Sima Yunshan’s attack with his own palm force.
• The Transmission Dragon Head and Enforcement Dragon Head launched surprise attacks; Wang Chong blocked the first and wounded the second with his blade force.
• Qiguan Sui held off the three masked allies while Wang Chong raised his lance and attacked Sima Yunshan and the Transmission Dragon Head.

Wang Chong defeated Sima Yunshan and the Dragon Heads, then captured or recruited the remaining opponents with Qiguan Sui and his allies. Jiang Wenjun revealed that Jiang Zongwang had not been entered into the Jiang Clan genealogy, leaving Wang Chong to consider sparing him under a new surname.

• Wang Chong used the great lance and his martial arts to defeat Sima Yunshan and seal the acupoints of the Beggar King and two Dragon Heads.
• At Qiguan Sui's request, Wang Chong captured the blue-robed fighter, who surrendered and was identified as Divine Arrow Tiger, Xue Poshang.
• Wang Chong defeated the yellow-robed Innate Realm fighter and helped his allies overwhelm the final Grandmaster.
• The last Grandmaster removed his mask and identified himself as Jiang Zongwang, a Jiang Clan Member of Emperor Hou's generation.
• When Wang Chong prepared to kill Jiang Zongwang, Wenjun asked him to spare the man if he changed his surname to Wang, explaining that he had never been entered into the clan genealogy.

Wang Chong confronted Sima Yunshan and the Beggar’s Gang’s Dragon Heads, offering to spare their chief if they submitted to him. The gang split over the decision, and Wang Chong left the two elders with the gang’s sacred manuals and staff after securing their allegiance.

• Wang Chong learned that Sima Yunshan belonged to the Sima Family and had opposed him because he had killed two of its Eight Dragons.
• Wang Chong offered to spare Sima Yunshan if the Beggar’s Gang’s Dragon Heads acknowledged him as their chief, while Sima Yunshan urged them to resist.
• The Transmission Dragon Head agreed to submit, but the Enforcement Dragon Head refused and revealed where the gang’s secret manuals and inherited staff were kept.
• Wang Chong took the manuals, mastered the Seventeen Divine Dragon Forms and Mysterious Heaven Divine Palm, and then returned the manuals and staff to the two elders.
• The Transmission Elder accepted the manuals, and the Enforcement Elder kept the staff as Wang Chong let Sima Yunshan continue cursing him.

Wang Chong planned to reshape the Way of the Yellow Heaven into a self-supporting mutual aid organization while Gao Gun urged him to seek official recognition for his expanding territory. The chapter ended with Wang Chong consulting his teachers about the realm’s divided powers and their advice that he rest and marry.

• Wang Chong’s party returned to Leizhou Prefecture, while the master of Marvelous Hand Ban Manor realized that nobody had asked who he was.
• Wang Chong decided the Way of the Yellow Heaven would become a civilian mutual aid and education organization, funded only by its own earnings.
• Gao Gun returned from the Great Grassland and urged Wang Chong to seek an investiture from the court for his nineteen provinces.
• Gao Gun warned Wang Chong that he would eventually have to confront the Jiang Family, prompting Wang Chong to reflect on his unknown father and his ties to the Jiang and Wen families.
• Wang Chong summoned Qiguan Sui and discussed the realm’s division among six powers, but they could not settle on a course of action.
• Gao Gun and Yuan Guansui advised Wang Chong to rest and marry, and Wang Chong did not resist the idea.

Wang Chong returned to Shangzhou after entrusting the Yellow Heaven Assembly to Qiguan Sui, and Su Luoyan’s attendants reflected on Yuzao’s rise as Holy Maiden of the Way of the Yellow Heaven. He reunited with Su Luoyan outside Red Camel City and rode back with her in his arms.

• Su Luoyan took her Four Attendants and Eight Maidservants out of Red Camel City, while Xingxian learned how Yuzao had risen from maidservant to Holy Maiden of the Way of the Yellow Heaven.
• Su Luoyan waited restlessly outside the city, thinking about Wang Chong and the man she had dreamed of marrying as a child.
• Su Luoyan spotted Wang Chong approaching with the Wind-Treading Cavalry and recognized him as the man who fulfilled her childhood hopes.
• Wang Chong rode up to Su Luoyan, lifted her into his arms, and told her to return to the city with him.
• Wang Chong rode toward Red Camel City with Su Luoyan in his arms, laughing loudly as his troops followed.

After three days of secluded time with Su Luoyan, Wang Chong reviewed the prosperous regions she governed and agreed to seek an imperial decree to marry her. He left Jiangzhu in charge of Shangzhou and White Province, then traveled with Su Luoyan and her large retinue toward Leizhou, planning to join Gao Gun’s party to Chang'an in disguise.

• Wang Chong returned to Red Camel City with a small force and announced three days of seclusion with Su Luoyan, spending the time composing suggestive poems.
• After emerging, Wang Chong inspected Shangzhou and White Province and found that Su Luoyan had overseen their growth and governance effectively.
• Su Luoyan asked Wang Chong to formally seek her hand, and he proposed obtaining an imperial decree through Gao Gun before proposing to the Su Manor.
• Wang Chong suggested that he and Su Luoyan secretly accompany Gao Gun to Chang'an, and Su Luoyan agreed after he promised to leave Jiangzhu in charge.
• Wang Chong left Jiangzhu with two thousand Wind-Treading Cavalry to govern the regions and departed for Leizhou with Su Luoyan and several hundred attendants and guards.

Wang Chong visited Yuzao in Tongzhou, then checked on the Way of the Yellow Heaven Assembly in Leizhou. After arranging affairs there, he disguised himself and left with Gao Gun’s delegation for Chang’an.

• Yuzao welcomed Wang Chong and Su Luoyan outside Tongzhou, where Su Luoyan saw how greatly Yuzao’s status and bearing had changed.
• Yuzao hosted Wang Chong and Su Luoyan in Tongzhou’s Military Compound and explained that the Wang Clan Martial Canon and the Way of the Yellow Heaven’s texts had strengthened her True Qi.
• Wang Chong stayed in Tongzhou for several days before traveling to Leizhou, where the Yellow Heaven Assembly’s business competition was underway.
• Sun Mingke led the rankings after plundering a mountain stronghold, while Lei Dongtian placed second.
• Wang Chong spent two days arranging matters in Leizhou, then disguised himself and departed for Chang’an with Gao Gun’s delegation of envoys.

Wang Chong and his companions traveled toward Chang'an in disguise while Sun Mingke and Jiang Wenyue sparred and discussed their martial progress. As Wang Chong offered Jiang Wenyue advice, a rider and a large force of horses appeared on the horizon.

• Wang Chong and Su Luoyan traveled toward Chang'an with a small disguised party, bringing Sun Mingke, Jiang Wenyue, and five Wudang Disciples.
• Jiang Wenyue reflected on his new life and hoped to bring his mother from the Turks to the Central Plains.
• Sun Mingke sparred with Jiang Wenyue, defeated him, and wagered a spear art against Jiang's martial progress.
• Wang Chong advised Jiang Wenyue to connect the martial arts he had learned and apply their principles across different techniques.
• A rider on a white horse appeared in the distance, followed by countless galloping horses.

Wang Chong learned that the girl demanding tolls from travelers was his betrothed, Princess Hongluan, and that her father was a fearsome Great Grandmaster sworn brother to Wang Chong’s father. The girl rode away before Wang Chong could speak with her, leaving him wary of offending her powerful family.

• A lively girl in yellow demanded a toll from Wang Chong’s party outside Leizhou, and Wang Chong sent Gao Gun to handle her.
• Su Luoyan told Wang Chong that the girl was one of the five Princesses of Yan betrothed to him by the Empress.
• Gao Gun explained that the girl’s father was Wang Chong’s father’s sworn brother, a Great Grandmaster who had killed another Great Grandmaster.
• Wang Chong learned that the Empress had raised the girl, named Princess Hongluan, and taught her civil and military arts.
• Gao Gun revealed that the girl’s name was Longji, and Wang Chong worried that her father might return and seek revenge.

As the procession approached Chang'an, Wang Chong learned that Third Lord Jiang had repeatedly tried to strip him of his title and humiliate Su Luoyan, so he decided to kill Jiang. After Third Lord Jiang obstructed Gao Gun’s request for Su Luoyan’s marriage and jailed a Su family member, Gao Gun agreed to take Wang Chong with him on a disguised nighttime strike.

• Wang Chong perfected the Earthly Fiend Art during the journey and strengthened his lightness skill and Candle-Bearing Sword Technique.
• Near Chang'an, Wang Chong learned that Third Lord Jiang had petitioned to strip him of his title and had interfered with his residence and Wen Chan’er’s engagement.
• After the procession entered Chang'an, Gao Gun went to court to seek the Empress’s approval for Su Luoyan’s marriage to Wang Chong.
• Gao Gun told Wang Chong that Third Lord Jiang had blocked the marriage, demanded that Su Luoyan be given to a commoner, and had a Su family member imprisoned.
• Wang Chong planned to kill Third Lord Jiang, and Gao Gun offered to guide him there in disguise after teaching him the Thirty-Six Heavenly and Earthly Transformations.

Wang Chong mastered a new form of the Thirty-Six Heavenly and Earthly Transformations and went with Gao Gun to assassinate Third Lord Jiang. As Wang Chong’s killing strengthened his mental power, he sensed a terrifying presence beyond the heavens and sealed his violent impressions inside the Huayan Kasaya.

• Wang Chong combined the Heavenly Dragon Scripture with his studies of the transformations and awakened the Mani Jewel, advancing his martial prowess.
• Gao Gun tested Wang Chong’s progress and was startled when a simple punch’s mental force briefly overcame him.
• Wang Chong and Gao Gun went to Third Lord Jiang’s Residence to kill the powerful Jiang Clan patriarch.
• Wang Chong used mental visions of heavenly and earthly disasters to kill the residence’s watchmen and everyone else in his path.
• As each death increased his mental power, Wang Chong sensed something struggling within a hole above the nine heavens and directed his ferocity and resentment into the Huayan Kasaya.

Wang Chong and Gao Gun slaughtered their way through Third Lord Jiang’s residence and confronted Jiang Zongda, a Great Grandmaster. Jiang Zongda called for the hidden Jiang family fighters to attack, and Wang Chong assigned him to Gao Gun.

• Wang Chong killed his way through the residence while Gao Gun identified several of the victims as members of the Jiang family.
• Wang Chong and Gao Gun entered the rear compound and claimed to be An Dushan and Zhao Feishan when Jiang Zongda challenged them.
• Jiang Zongda appeared and recognized that both intruders possessed Great Grandmaster-level power, though their martial arts and identities seemed mismatched.
• Wang Chong mocked Jiang Zongda for failing to notice the massacre and for boasting about the Jiang family fighters gathered in a hidden chamber.
• Jiang Zongda summoned the other fighters to attack, and Wang Chong told Gao Gun to face him.

Wang Chong broke into the Jiang Clan’s ancestral hall and slaughtered its members while Gao Gun fought Jiang Zongda outside. He battled the experts guarding Third Lord Jiang until Gao Gun called for him to withdraw.

• Jiang Zongda summoned the Empress, while Gao Gun warned that they had to retreat within an incense stick.
• Wang Chong used the True Treasure Sign-Huayan Kasaya to distract Jiang Zongda, then charged into the Jiang Clan’s great hall.
• Wang Chong smashed through the hall wall, killed Wenbian and several others, and discovered that the surviving experts were protecting Third Lord Jiang.
• Wang Chong used the Thirty-Six Heavenly and Earthly Transformations to kill an Innate Realm expert, then fought six Grandmaster Realm experts and seven Innate Realm experts guarding Third Lord Jiang.
• Wang Chong failed to lure the guards away from Third Lord Jiang, until Gao Gun shouted for him to leave.

Wang Chong returned to Chang'an, killed Third Lord Jiang, and risked revealing himself to the Empress by calling her “Mother.” The Empress let him escape and took control of the Jiang Clan, while Wang Chong left the city determined to return openly one day.

• Wang Chong broke off his fight with Jiang Zongda and fled with Gao Gun as the Empress's presence swept toward Third Lord Jiang's Residence.
• Wang Chong doubled back, abandoned his disguises, and called the Empress “Mother” as he passed her; she let him go.
• Wang Chong killed Third Lord Jiang with a punch and escaped while the Empress ordered her people to protect her instead of pursuing him.
• Gao Gun helped Wang Chong reach the city wall and told him he would bring Su Luoyan out to him in a few days.
• The Empress assumed temporary leadership of the Jiang Clan, ended Wenbian's claim to the crown prince title, and granted him the title of Commandery Duke.
• Wang Chong left Chang'an, vowed to return with his head held high, and felt his True Qi nearing a breakthrough.

After leaving Chang'an alone and penniless, Wang Chong was taken in by Princess Hongluan’s band of riders. At Azure Luan Manor, he joined their feast, and Hongluan selected him to spar for the group’s entertainment.

• Wang Chong left Chang'an without money, weapons, or companions and wondered how he would get by.
• Princess Hongluan, riding with several hundred cavalrymen, found Wang Chong and gave him a horse to join her company.
• At Azure Luan Manor, Wang Chong sealed the acupoint of a man who ordered him to tend the horses and walked into the manor.
• Hongluan celebrated her group’s raid on the Prince of Yan’s delegation at a banquet, where Wang Chong ate heartily.
• Hongluan noticed Wang Chong and ordered him to come out and spar.

Wang Chong tried to win a poetry contest at Longji’s gathering, but his moon poem angered her when she mistook its wording for a taunt about Wen Chan'er. Longji recognized him as her childhood fiancé and confronted him privately, leaving Wang Chong bewildered by their past and her old habit of beating him.

• Longji set a literary contest on the bright moon, and Wang Chong recited a famous poem about it.
• Longji took the poem’s reference to Chanjuan as a mockery about Wen Chan'er and ordered Wang Chong beaten.
• After recognizing Wang Chong, Longji had him tied to a tree and revealed that she and Wen Zhengchun had grown up together.
• Longji confronted Wang Chong about pretending not to know her and demanded that he call her elder sister.
• Wang Chong asked why Longji had never visited him in Tongzhou, and she replied that she had not wanted to see him with Wen Chan'er.
• Longji recalled beating Wang Chong as a child because he provoked her despite being older and weaker in martial arts.

Wang Chong returned to Chang'an in secret and disguised himself as one of Longji’s female sword attendants. At the palace, he learned that the Empress had arranged for a marriage envoy to propose to Su Luoyan, and Longji threatened to ruin the match after discovering his feelings for her.

• Longji told Wang Chong to hide his identity, and Wen Qi disguised him as an Emei female disciple.
• Longji left her martial-world followers at Azure Luan Manor and took Wang Chong with her sword attendants toward Chang'an.
• Wang Chong and Longji found Chang'an sealed while the court searched for the assassins of Third Lord Jiang.
• Longji brought Wang Chong into the palace, where he heard the Empress appoint a marriage envoy to propose to Su Luoyan on her son's behalf.
• Longji guessed Wang Chong was involved with Su Luoyan and threatened to go out and spoil the marriage arrangement.

Wang Chong reunited with the Empress, who welcomed him as her son and arranged for Longji to accompany him as a military commander and Marriage-Bestowing Envoy. He stayed in the palace with his sword attendants, unaware of the women waiting at his residence, until Longji found him being bathed by Emei disciples.

• Longji volunteered to serve as Marriage-Bestowing Envoy, and the Empress agreed while appointing Gao Gun as her deputy.
• Wang Chong revealed himself to the Empress, who tearfully welcomed him and asked him to call her Mother.
• The Empress appointed Longji Three-Provinces Military Governor and Female Commander of the Army, and told Wang Chong to stay in the palace until the marriage mission departed.
• Wang Chong spent his days keeping the Empress company while remaining unaware that Chu Qiuzi and the Qingcheng heroines were at his residence.
• Wang Chong bathed with help from Zhou Xiruo and another Emei disciple until Longji entered and looked displeased.

Wang Chong and Longji reaffirmed their marriage after a meddling official tried to make her break off the engagement. Wang Chong secretly killed the official, then left Chang'an with Longji and Gao Gun for Su Manor in Chenzhou.

• Longji told Wang Chong that an official had urged her to marry someone else, and she explained that he had been her father's beneficiary who presumed to dictate her affairs.
• The official forced his way in and urged Longji to reject Wang Chong and choose a match from the Jiang or Wen families, but Longji declared that she willingly accepted the marriage.
• After the man left, Wang Chong killed him with a hair launched by Flying Flowers, Plucking Leaves Hand, and his death was mistaken for a sudden illness.
• Wang Chong stayed in the palace for half a month, then left Chang'an with Gao Gun and Longji for Su Manor in Chenzhou, while Su Luoyan followed with her own party.

Wang Chong tested his increased strength with Longji and her Sword Attendants, then promised to create a martial art for her and taught her the Ten-Thousand-Victory Flower Spear and Brocade Red Phoenix. After Longji enhanced the spear art with Emei’s secret techniques, Wang Chong rejoined the convoy and slipped away to visit Su Luoyan.

• Wang Chong held his ground against Longji and her Sword Attendants in a rope-pulling contest until their combined strength pulled him off his footing.
• Longji asked Wang Chong to teach her a martial art, and he promised to create a unique spear style and internal method for her.
• Wang Chong taught Longji the Ten-Thousand-Victory Flower Spear and disguised the True Treasure Sign · Huayan Kasaya as the Brocade Red Phoenix internal method.
• Longji combined Wang Chong’s spear sequences with Emei’s Cloud-Piercing, Moon-Shattering, Hundred-Turn Flowing-Light Crane-Shadow Spear, expanding the style to a hundred and eight sequences.
• Wang Chong returned to the convoy, informed Gao Gun, and went to meet Su Luoyan, who welcomed him with food and wine.