Chapter Summaries

Wang Chong and Sun Mingke trained together before joining the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance to hunt another White Chrysanthemum. Wang Chong arranged for Qin Han and the others to join the pursuit, while Sun Mingke learned that Wang Chong had sold the previous White Chrysanthemum’s capture for five thousand strings of cash and a house in Chang’an.

• Wang Chong and Sun Mingke sparred with swords and bare hands, each recognizing the other’s growing skill.
• Wang Chong told Sun Mingke that the alliance had located another White Chrysanthemum, who wielded the Vajra Prajna Palm, and challenged him to see who could kill the man.
• Wang Chong and Sun Mingke visited Qin Han, who had been discouraged from pursuing the credit after killing Sun Yanqi.
• Wang Chong persuaded Qin Han to guide them to the target without competing against the alliance’s members, and the group set out together.
• Sun Mingke asked how much Wang Chong had received for the previous White Chrysanthemum, and Wang Chong said he had received five thousand strings of cash and a house in Chang’an.
• Wang Chong indicated that Lu Zongfeng’s family connection to Lu Moniang had helped him secure the deal.

Wang Chong and his companions tracked White Chrysanthemum to a hill where he was surrounded, then joined the fight. Wang Chong pinned down the Western Regions giant, allowing Lu Zongfeng to kill him and claim the credit.

• A Qinghe Gang messenger reported that White Chrysanthemum had killed a constable and injured two others, and Qin Han offered to make the gang return the Flying Tiger Escort Agency's stolen goods.
• The Qinghe Gang sent Wang Chong and his companions gifts after Wang Chong described his dealings with the Flying Tiger Escort Agency.
• Wang Chong's party learned that White Chrysanthemum was trapped on a hill and hurried there, where more than a hundred constables and several Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance members had gathered.
• Wang Chong climbed the hill and fought the giant, who called himself Tie Mole, while Sun Mingke, Lu Zongfeng, and the others followed.
• Wang Chong trapped Tie Mole in a contest of internal power, and Lu Zongfeng stabbed him through the heart; Wang Chong then used the Pure Yang Formula to prevent a final counterattack.

Wang Chong and the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance found a letter ordering the grassland tribes to capture the Empress's son, who was traveling near Tongzhou. After Qin Han took the letter away to report it secretly, Wang Chong learned that the Empress's son’s safety was complicated by the power of her birth Lineage.

• Wang Chong urged Sun Mingke to search the dead Western Regions man and found an Eagle Letter bearing the seals of the Eighteen Tribes of the Grasslands.
• Qin Han read the letter, learned that Khan He Xuan had called on the tribes to capture the Empress's son, and decided to report the matter directly to the imperial court.
• Wang Chong reflected on his fight with the giant and realized that his internal power and martial techniques had let him withstand the man's strength.
• After returning to Pengshan County, Wang Chong told Su Luoyan, Lu Moniang, and Li Qingge what had happened, and Qin Han disappeared with the letter.
• Li Qingge warned that the matter would cause enormous trouble, and Su Luoyan explained that the realm's power rested with the Empress's birth Lineage rather than her husband's family.

Wang Chong and his companions discussed the danger surrounding the Empress's hidden son before Lu Zongfeng brought them a handwritten Vajra Prajna Palm manual recovered from Tie Mole. Wang Chong and Sun Mingke memorized the manual, while Lu Zongfeng left pleased with the chance to strengthen their friendship.

• Li Qingge hurried off to report the possible appearance of the Empress's hidden son, while Wang Chong privately wondered about his own origins.
• Su Luoyan identified Tie Mole as a senior disciple of the Green Mountain Sect and warned Wang Chong and Sun Mingke against provoking the sect.
• Lu Zongfeng visited Wang Chong and Sun Mingke, showing them Tie Mole's leg wraps, which held a Vajra Prajna Palm manual and a message to his son Zhu'er.
• Lu Zongfeng let Wang Chong and Sun Mingke copy the manual in exchange for keeping it secret, hoping to build a closer connection with them.
• Wang Chong offered the manual to Sun Mingke, who had already memorized it, and tested his memory by reciting lines for him to continue.

Wang Chong experimented with combining the Vajra Prajna Palm and the Nine-Headed Dragon King Aspect, producing fierce, fire-generating palm strikes unlike the original Buddhist art. Near dawn, he encountered Nan Xinlan and Tie Mingzhu and began considering how to deal with Tie Mingzhu.

• Wang Chong tested the Vajra Prajna Palm in a mountain forest, where his strikes shattered trees and ignited one from within.
• Wang Chong discovered that full-strength strikes produced a single powerful blow, while slower strikes unleashed nine scorching layers of palm force.
• Wang Chong spent the night practicing until he could use the altered palm technique with ease, leaving twenty-eight trees broken.
• Wang Chong met Nan Xinlan and Tie Mingzhu on horseback as he prepared to return to Pengshan County.
• Nan Xinlan thanked Wang Chong for helping her previously, while Tie Mingzhu pretended not to recognize him.
• Wang Chong suspected Tie Mingzhu might expose him and considered killing her and blaming the White Chrysanthemum.

Nan Xinlan decided to conceal her identity and become Wang Chong’s sword-bearing maid after he discouraged her from giving up on life. Meanwhile, Monk Kong Chan secretly sent Monk Xuangang to accompany Wang Chong and taught him the Withered Meditation Method, leaving Wang Chong unaware that Nan Xinlan planned to join him.

• Nan Xinlan told Wang Chong and Tie Mingzhu that she had wanted to become a nun because she felt she could no longer live with her ruined reputation, and Wang Chong urged her to see her suffering as a passing setback.
• Wang Chong left the women, doubled back in secret, and followed them from a distance.
• Monk Kong Chan praised Wang Chong’s concern for Nan Xinlan and ordered Monk Xuangang to follow and serve him without revealing their connection.
• Monk Kong Chan promised to teach Monk Xuangang the Withered Meditation Method, and Xuangang quickly crossed its first threshold by extinguishing his distracting thoughts.
• Nan Xinlan told Tie Mingzhu that she planned to hide her name and become Wang Chong’s sword-bearing maid, shocking Tie Mingzhu as Wang Chong listened nearby.

Wang Chong reunited with Tie Mingzhu, then learned that Monk Kong Chan had assigned the formidable Monk Xuangang to accompany him. He returned to Pengshan County with Xuangang and Tie Mingzhu, where Yuzao reported that another woman wanted to join them.

• Nan Xinlan sealed Tie Mingzhu's acupoints and fled before Tie Mingzhu could stop her.
• Wang Chong confronted Tie Mingzhu, but Monk Kong Chan and Monk Xuangang arrived before he could question her further.
• Kong Chan praised Wang Chong, assigned Xuangang to accompany him, and departed for Shaolin.
• Wang Chong tried to give Xuangang back his original name, but Xuangang insisted on remaining a monk.
• Wang Chong brought Xuangang and Tie Mingzhu to his lodgings in Pengshan County, where Yuzao said another woman wanted to join him.
• Wang Chong mischievously introduced Tie Mingzhu and Xuangang to Yuzao as his Fourteenth and Fifteenth Ladies.

Tie Mingzhu and Nan Xinlan sought refuge as Wang Chong’s maids, while Monk Xuangang struggled with the personality effects of Withered Meditation. Wang Chong traded him the Vajra Prajna Palm for the meditation method, then told Yuzao who the two newcomers were and asked her to teach them to act like maids.

• Tie Mingzhu reunited with Nan Xinlan and wept after arriving at Wang Chong’s quarters as a maid.
• Wang Chong brought Monk Xuangang to visit Su Luoyan, where Xuangang explained that Kong Chan had taught him Withered Meditation.
• Monk Xuangang told Wang Chong that the meditation method had left him strangely calm and asked for help understanding it.
• Wang Chong offered the Vajra Prajna Palm in exchange for Withered Meditation, and Monk Xuangang eagerly accepted before going to practice.
• Yuzao realized the two new maids were pampered young ladies, and Wang Chong identified Tie Mingzhu and Nan Xinlan and told Yuzao to teach them their duties.

Wang Chong was appointed chief of the Ministry of Justice's Tongzhou Bureau and tasked with investigating the White Chrysanthemum case after Li Qingge exposed corruption among local officials. The appointment left Wang Chong responsible for the remaining cases, while Li Qingge departed to protect the Prince of Yan.

• Wang Chong copied the Withered Meditation Method and the Vajra Prajna Palm's inner cultivation method into martial manuals for his descendants, then entrusted the books to Yuzao.
• Li Qingge reported that he had solved nine White Chrysanthemum incidents and left fourteen unresolved before being summoned to protect the Prince of Yan.
• Li Qingge told Wang Chong that the Prince of Yan had appointed him a sixth-rank bureau chief and chief constable, placing him in charge of the White Chrysanthemum case.
• Wang Chong learned that his predecessor and the former chief constable had been imprisoned for jointly committing four of the crimes, whose victims included the courtesan Xiangxiang.
• Li Qingge explained that Ma You's complaints about extortion had revealed evidence against the two officials, helping him break open the case.

Wang Chong learned that the Prince of Yan faced a grassland plot and watched his companions leave to join the prince or avoid his faction. At the garden estate, Tie Mingzhu explained that she had mistaken Wang Chong for White Chrysanthemum because she thought anyone who used a fan was a lecher.

• Li Qingge told Wang Chong that twelve grassland chieftains had signed a plot to abduct the Prince of Yan, prompting the prince to summon the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance for protection.
• Su Luoyan and Lu Moniang left the garden estate because they feared the Prince of Yan would summon and molest them.
• Li Qingge brought Wang Dong to the estate, and alliance members later departed to join the prince while some warned Wang Chong to keep his distance from him.
• Wang Chong stayed behind rather than visit the Prince of Yan, then went looking for Monk Xuangang and found him in seclusion.
• Wang Chong found Tie Mingzhu practicing swordplay and asked her about their earlier encounter.
• Tie Mingzhu admitted that she had attacked Wang Chong because she mistook him for White Chrysanthemum, believing that anyone who used a fan must be a lecher.

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.