Chapter Summaries

Wang Chong visited Heaven-Scraping Ridge, entrusted Qin Gao with its defense, and then set out for Green Mountain Pass with Gan Ci. After Gao Gun departed with the Wind-Treading Cavalry, Wang Chong and Su Luoyan encountered a man fighting Grassland Horse Thieves and recognized his saber technique as Wudang’s Chaotic Wind-Slaying Saber Technique.

• Wang Chong met Qin Gao at Heaven-Scraping Ridge, where Gao Gun read an imperial edict promoting Qin Gao to Commandant of the Zhechong and keeping him under Wang Chong’s command.
• Wang Chong praised Heaven-Scraping Ridge’s strategic defenses and asked Qin Gao to guard the stockade.
• After spending seven or eight days at the ridge, Wang Chong returned to Ba Prefecture City and agreed to take Gan Ci to Green Mountain Pass.
• Wang Chong handed Shi Chuangshan’s family wealth and the Wind-Treading Cavalry to Gao Gun, then escorted him beyond Green Mountain Pass with Su Luoyan.
• Wang Chong and Su Luoyan heard fighting on their return and found a black-clad man holding off several dozen Grassland Horse Thieves.
• Wang Chong recognized that the man was using Wudang’s Chaotic Wind-Slaying Saber Technique.

Wang Chong joined Mo Zhenxing of Wudang in fighting a band of mounted raiders, while Su Luoyan supplied him with a fan containing martial arts and a lightness technique. After defeating the raiders, Wang Chong killed several captives to force the survivors into submission so he could question them about the grasslands.

• Su Luoyan gave Wang Chong an old fan containing the Twelve Flower-Plucking Kills and the lightness technique Moonlit Eve, Flower-Filled Morning.
• Wang Chong joined Mo Zhenxing, introduced himself as a lay disciple of Wudang, and helped defeat the mounted bandits.
• Su Luoyan shot down the bandits who tried to escape, and Wang Chong called her his wife in front of Mo Zhenxing.
• Wang Chong killed captives who refused to submit or whom he judged insincere, then accepted the surviving bandits' surrender.
• Su Luoyan brought the horses over, and Wang Chong confirmed that he intended to question the bandits about affairs on the grasslands.

Wang Chong rescued Mo Zhenxing from horse bandits and used the encounter to send Gan Ci and three hundred cavalry toward the bandits’ lair. Mo Zhenxing discovered that Wang Chong’s claims about controlling the region were true, while Wang Chong and Su Luoyan continued toward the lair and decided to wait for reinforcements.

• Mo Zhenxing explained that he had fought the horse bandits over a belt full of valuable jewels, and Wang Chong declined his offer to share them.
• Wang Chong told Mo Zhenxing that he controlled the land east of Green Ox Pass and ordered the captured bandits to gather their horses, weapons, and clothes.
• Wang Chong gave Mo Zhenxing a Folding Fan and sent him with two bandits and dozens of horses to find Gan Ci and request three hundred light cavalry.
• Gan Ci recognized Wang Chong’s Folding Fan, assembled three hundred cavalry, and disguised himself and several soldiers as horse bandits before setting out with Mo Zhenxing.
• Wang Chong and Su Luoyan followed three bandits toward their lair, and Wang Chong agreed to wait for Gan Ci’s troops rather than attack alone.

Wang Chong and Gan Ci led a surprise attack on Yi Mofeng Dong Qing’s mounted bandits, and Wang Chong defeated their leader. After Dong Qing surrendered, Wang Chong offered him a choice between serving him and leaving, but Dong Qing suspected the offer was a trap.

• Wang Chong learned about Dong Qing’s mounted bandits and rested near their hideout while waiting for Gan Ci to catch up.
• Gan Ci arrived with his cavalry, and Wang Chong armed Mo Zhenxing with Shi Lushan’s war saber before the troops prepared to attack.
• Gan Ci’s men launched a surprise assault on the bandits, and Wang Chong’s force charged into the hollow to join the fighting.
• Wang Chong recognized Dong Qing’s Fire-Burning Eyebrows Sword Technique, while Dong Qing mistook Wang Chong for Mo Zhenxing; Wang Chong knocked him from his horse with his spear.
• Gan Ci struck the fallen Dong Qing, who surrendered and ordered his men to drop their weapons.
• Wang Chong offered Dong Qing the choice to serve him or leave, but Dong Qing suspected that Wang Chong would kill him if he refused.

Wang Chong gained Dong Qing’s allegiance after learning his hatred of the Green Mountain Sect, then assigned troops to him and Mo Zhenxing at Green Mountain Pass. The next day, Mo Zhenxing challenged Dong Qing, and Wang Chong watched as Mo opened with the Candle-Bearing Sword Technique.

• Gan Ci reorganized the bandits, and Dong Qing learned that Wang Chong was Prince of Yan and had defeated the Yegeluo Clan, killed Shi Lushan, and taken Ba Prefecture.
• Dong Qing pledged himself to Wang Chong and explained that the Green Mountain Sect had killed his father and likely his mother.
• Wang Chong promised to help Dong Qing and asked him to assist in reclaiming Yanzhou; Mo Zhenxing also agreed to join the venture.
• After the group returned to Green Mountain Pass, Wang Chong transferred more than a thousand of Gan Ci’s men to Dong Qing and several hundred to Mo Zhenxing.
• The next day, Mo Zhenxing challenged Dong Qing and used a deadly opening move from the Candle-Bearing Sword Technique, impressing Wang Chong.

Wang Chong helped Mo Zhenxing break through to the Innate Realm and promised to train Dong Qing, keeping him at the pass for several days. As he prepared to return to Ba Prefecture City, scouts reported that the Shangtuo Tribe’s army was approaching the fortress.

• After watching Mo Zhenxing and Dong Qing duel, Wang Chong gave Gan Ci a copy of the Vajra Prajna Palm.
• Mo Zhenxing’s sword broke, and Wang Chong challenged him with a powerful strike that forced him to use every last bit of his potential.
• Mo Zhenxing broke through to the Innate Realm, and Wang Chong congratulated him on grasping the technique.
• Wang Chong offered to spar with Dong Qing and Mo Zhenxing to help improve Dong Qing’s swordsmanship, and Dong Qing called him Brother Wang Chong.
• Wang Chong stayed at the pass for over a dozen days to train with Dong Qing, Mo Zhenxing, and Gan Ci.
• As Wang Chong considered returning to Ba Prefecture City, scouts reported that the Shangtuo Tribe’s army was advancing toward the pass fortress.

Wang Chong learned that Gao Gun had lured eight thousand Shangtuo troops away from their homeland by promising them riches and a share of Chang'an, leaving the tribe vulnerable. He began a high-stakes campaign to seize Yanzhou and annex the Shangtuo Tribe within twenty days, while Gao Gun led the Shangtuo army away and his own commanders set out to attack.

• Wang Chong welcomed Gao Gun and the young lord of the Shangtuo Tribe at Green Mountain Pass, then let the Shangtuo army cross the border.
• Gao Gun explained that he had promised the Shangtuo Tribe wealth, territory, and the right to plunder Chang'an in exchange for eight thousand troops, leaving their homeland exposed.
• Wang Chong asked Gao Gun to take the Shangtuo troops to Tongzhou and delay news of their movements while he summoned Monk Xuangang, Qin Gao, and Sun Mingke with their forces.
• Gao Gun led the eight thousand Shangtuo camel troops and cavalry away from Green Mountain Pass after buying Wang Chong several days to assemble his forces.
• Wang Chong ordered Gan Ci and Dong Qing to attack North Ba Prefecture and South Xi Prefecture, while Mo Zhenxing remained behind.
• Dong Qing considered recruiting more mounted bandits now that Wang Chong could support an expanded force.

Wang Chong advanced through Yanzhou, absorbing surrendered soldiers and merchants while Gan Ci, Sun Mingke, and Qin Gao captured cities rapidly. At Yanzhou Prefecture, five Shangtuo caravan leaders offered their support, and Wang Chong began considering how to govern the newly taken territory.

• Wang Chong set out last with Monk Xuangang and Su Luoyan, bringing the Wind-Treading Cavalry and following the forces already advancing into Yanzhou.
• Wang Chong reached North Ba Prefecture, where Gan Ci had defeated the defenders, and incorporated surrendered soldiers and merchants into the Tailwind Army.
• Wang Chong recruited selected newcomers into the Wind-Treading Cavalry to encourage their loyalty, and his forces grew as he moved through four prefectural cities.
• Gan Ci and Sun Mingke captured territory quickly, while Qin Gao defeated Yanzhou Prefecture's defending army in an ambush and seized the capital.
• Five caravan leaders from the Nanlou, Fantuo, Dajialin, Chilu, and Yuezhi clans offered to support Wang Chong in return for freer trade and lower taxes.
• Wang Chong explained that he would stop advancing with his oversized army and began assessing why the Shangtuo clans were willing to defect from their high chieftain.

Wang Chong secured the Five Tribes’ support, completed the conquest of Yanzhou, and set out to reinforce Dong Qing at Red Camel City. Meanwhile, Gao Gun diverted toward Pengshan County, where Wen Yanqing offered the Wen Family’s Thirty-Two Stone Slabs in exchange for Gao expelling Wen Zhengchun from his tutelage.

• Wang Chong won the Five Tribes’ support by offering the Tailwind Army’s transport services and three years without commercial taxes.
• Dong Qing captured the Six Prefecture Cities and attacked Red Camel City, while Sun Mingke and Gan Ci took Yanzhou’s final prefectural city.
• Wang Chong left Monk Xuangang in command of Yanzhou and rode with Su Luoyan to reinforce Dong Qing.
• Gao Gun diverted toward Pengshan County with the Shangtuo troops, reflecting on Wang Chong’s rise and the Tailwind Army’s organization.
• Wen Yanqing met Gao Gun and offered the Wen Family’s Thirty-Two Stone Slabs if Gao expelled Wen Zhengchun from his tutelage.

Gao Gun received Wen Yande’s stone slab from Wen Yanqing and plotted to disgrace Wen Yande while escorting Yanqing toward Pengshan County. Meanwhile, Wang Chong led an assault on Red Camel City and broke through its wagon defenses, where he encountered the city’s formidable female defender.

• Gao Gun learned that the Empress had sent him to borrow troops from the Great Grassland to quell a rebellion, then accepted Wen Yande’s stone slab from Wen Yanqing.
• Gao Gun devised schemes to ruin Wen Yande’s reputation and invited Wen Yanqing to visit Pengshan County.
• Wang Chong received intelligence that Yueliduo was defending Red Camel City while A Hai was away at the Heroes’ Assembly.
• Wang Chong ordered a coordinated attack on Red Camel City and led his cavalry through the wagon barricade.
• Wang Chong entered the city and saw a cold, dashing female general riding toward him with a saber.

Wang Chong and Su Luoyan fought Grand Consort Yueliduo as the Wind-Treading Cavalry attacked Red Camel City, but the defenders set the outer ring of wagons ablaze and forced them to retreat. Wang Chong regrouped and declared that he would capture the city and name it Shangzhou.

• Wang Chong discovered that Grand Consort Yueliduo was a Grandmaster and fought her to prevent her from reaching his cavalry and Red Camel City.
• Wang Chong and Yueliduo exchanged fierce attacks, with Su Luoyan joining during their pauses to disrupt Yueliduo and give Wang Chong time to recover.
• Yueliduo ordered the defenders to set the outer ring of wagons on fire and retreat behind the next ring, forcing Wang Chong to withdraw his cavalry.
• Wang Chong regrouped on a hill with Dong Qing, Gan Ci, Sun Mingke, Mo Zhenxing, and Qin Gao, whose forces numbered more than twenty thousand.
• Wang Chong declared that he would take Red Camel City and rename it Shangzhou, then planned to bring Sun Mingke and Mo Zhenxing to fight Yueliduo next time.

Wang Chong rode out to accept Grand Consort Yueliduo’s challenge and fought her in a fierce duel. He asked to continue on foot, where Yueliduo took up a great staff and Wang Chong drew the Coiling Dragon Sword.

• Grand Consort Yueliduo rode out from the Shangtuo Tribe’s formation and challenged Wang Chong to a duel.
• Wang Chong charged down the hill and clashed with Yueliduo, matching her saber with his spear through dozens of exchanges.
• Wang Chong asked Yueliduo to fight on foot so he could use his sword, and she handed off her saber and took up a great staff.
• Yueliduo claimed that only the Eternal Heaven Staff Technique was practiced on the Great Grassland, and Wang Chong drew the Coiling Dragon Sword and opened with the Candle-Bearing Sword Technique.

Wang Chong defeated and captured Great Consort Yueliduo, then seized Red Camel City and won the admiration of his troops. He chose to remain in the city and began reorganizing his forces and administration while addressing his shortage of capable officials.

• Wang Chong used Sword Candle Mountain Sea to overpower Yueliduo, then tricked her into letting him recover and sealed her acupoints before capturing her.
• Wang Chong handed Yueliduo to Su Luoyan and ordered her kept alive until the Shangtuo Tribe surrendered and Red Camel City was taken.
• Wang Chong’s forces routed the Shangtuo warriors and took Red Camel City by nightfall, greatly increasing his subordinates’ respect for him.
• Wang Chong discussed the city’s garrison with Su Luoyan and decided to stay in Red Camel City, while she agreed to remain with him.
• Wang Chong ordered Qin Gao and Gan Ci back with their troops, summoned Monk Xuangang to Cloud-Gathering Mountain, transferred the Ya Office to Yanzhou, and kept Sun Mingke, Dong Qing, and Mo Zhenxing in Red Camel City.
• Wang Chong selected elite men from his forces and replenished his subordinates’ contingents with Shangtuo tribesmen.

Wang Chong strengthened his forces and defenses in Red Camel City while consolidating his control over the surrounding territory. He refused Yueliduo's request to leave and learned that Shi Bao had gained refuge with the Yegeluo Clan through a ghost marriage.

• Wang Chong expanded the Tailwind Army, appointed Gan Ci to command Green Mountain Pass and the Two White Ox Passes, and received reports that Ling Prefecture remained quiet.
• Wang Chong demolished Red Camel City's old town and built stone platforms topped with archery towers that left room for cavalry to charge through.
• Yueliduo asked Wang Chong to release her, but he threatened to fabricate a death poem blaming A Hai and inflame Red Camel City's people against the Shangtuo Tribe.
• Wang Chong sent Yueliduo back to confinement, where she watched Red Camel City grow busier with merchants and trade under his rule.
• Wang Chong learned that Shi Bao had fled to the Yegeluo Clan, arranged a ghost marriage with Princess Pijia's corpse, and become the clan's great consort's son-in-law.

Wang Chong abandoned the idea of attacking the weakened Nine-Bend Alliance because his forces could not govern another territory. Gao Gun then set out with Ye Lihei and the Shangtuo Tribe’s eight thousand cavalry, secretly planning to capture Chi Prefecture for Wang Chong’s student Yuzao.

• Wang Chong discussed the temptation of attacking the Nine-Bend Alliance with Su Luoyan, who reminded him that his manpower and resources were already stretched thin.
• Wang Chong predicted that Gao Gun would keep the eight thousand Shangtuo cavalry rather than return them, because they were alike as teacher and student.
• Gao Gun falsely told Ye Lihei that the Empress had ordered the Prince of Yan arrested and urged the Shangtuo army to return home by way of Chi Prefecture and the Nine-Bend Alliance.
• Ye Lihei agreed to Gao Gun’s plan, and the army set out toward Chi Prefecture.
• Gao Gun sent Yuzao a letter promising to give her Chi Prefecture as her dowry, leaving her startled by his chosen route.

Yueliduo told Su Luoyan how she had risen within the Shangtuo Tribe and offered to take a secret drug to secure her survival, but Su Luoyan declined to decide her fate. Wang Chong then showed Su Luoyan his new Eighteen Prairie-Fire Strikes, which she forbade him to use after recognizing that it consumed the user's lifespan.

• Yueliduo told Su Luoyan that she had been sent to the Shangtuo Tribe after losing her bid to become Holy Mother, and that she had strengthened the tribe through her management.
• Yueliduo offered to take a secret drug from the Ten-Thousand-Year Fox Manor, but Su Luoyan said no such drug existed and left the decision to Wang Chong.
• Su Luoyan told Wang Chong about Yueliduo's proposal, and Wang Chong decided to wait until he had killed A Hai before considering whether to release or keep her.
• Wang Chong showed Su Luoyan the Eighteen Prairie-Fire Strikes, a spear art he had created to improve on his earlier techniques.
• Su Luoyan recognized that the Eighteen Prairie-Fire Strikes consumed its user's lifespan and told Wang Chong he was not allowed to use it.

Wang Chong completed the Jade-Ice Earthworm heart method and revised the Eighteen Iron Horse and Ice River Strikes, then received alarming news that Gao Gun had captured Chi Prefecture and vanished. Yuzao had seized control of the prefecture and sent its officials to Red Camel City.

• Wang Chong promised Su Luoyan he would never use the Eighteen Prairie-Fire Strikes, then feigned distress to draw her into comforting him.
• Wang Chong created the Jade-Ice Earthworm heart method and revised the Eighteen Iron Horse and Ice River Strikes into a third version.
• Wang Chong had army scribes copy the new martial arts for the Wind-Treading Cavalry squad leaders to learn.
• Wang Chong received a seven-hundred-li military dispatch reporting that Gao Gun had captured Chi Prefecture with eight thousand Shangtuo Tribe cavalrymen and disappeared.
• Wang Chong, Sun Mingke, Dong Qing, and Mo Zhenxing learned that Yuzao had taken over Chi Prefecture, occupied its eighteen prefectural divisions, and arrested its officials.

Wang Chong considered Yuzao’s conquest of Chi Prefecture and planned relay stations to support wounded veterans. He then gave Yueliduo a chance to win her freedom by leading five hundred men to subdue nearby mounted bandits, accepting the risk that she might betray him.

• Wang Chong praised Yuzao for capturing Chi Prefecture and considered assigning its officials to administer Shangzhou.
• Wang Chong and his commanders planned relay stations where veterans who could no longer fight could serve and settle.
• Yueliduo offered to serve Wang Chong, but he told her they could discuss it after he killed A Hai.
• Yueliduo revealed the scars she had inflicted on her face, and Wang Chong let her choose five hundred men to subdue nearby mounted bandits in exchange for her freedom.
• Wang Chong told Su Luoyan that if Yueliduo joined A Hai and attacked Red Camel City, he would use the betrayal as a chance to defeat A Hai.

Gao Gun persuaded Wang Chong to attend the Heroes' Assembly and seek support to become the Shangtuo Tribe's Great Chieftain, while revealing that he had brought the White Camel Tribe and Nine-Bend Alliance under his influence. As Wang Chong set out with Gao Gun, Shi Bao and his mother fled the destruction of the Yegeluo Clan and headed for the same assembly, hoping to regain power.

• Gao Gun warned Wang Chong that his victories would not protect him from the grassland tribes and urged him to attend the Heroes' Assembly.
• Gao Gun said the White Camel Tribe and Nine-Bend Alliance would support Wang Chong's bid to lead the Shangtuo Tribe, and revealed that he had taken control of both.
• Wang Chong agreed to attend the assembly, left Su Luoyan in charge of Red Camel City, and departed with Gao Gun and a caravan of soldiers and goods.
• Shi Bao reported that he had driven off pursuers, while his mother mourned the betrayal and destruction of the Yegeluo Clan.
• Shi Bao's mother decided to take him to the Heroes' Assembly to seek recognition for the Nine-Bend Alliance and recruit allies to reclaim their power.

Gao Gun explained the grassland competitions to Wang Chong, then disguised himself as Alanti, the White Camel Tribe’s great chieftain, and presented Yueliduo as his daughter, the Moonlight Princess. Yueliduo accepted the false identity under Gao Gun’s overwhelming pressure and received the White Camel Skill before they set out for the Heroes’ Assembly.

• Gao Gun told Wang Chong that Grandmasters could not enter the Divine Generals selection and described the prestigious contest for the Four Great Beast Gods.
• Gao Gun disguised himself as Alanti, and the White Camel Tribe’s people hailed him as their great chieftain.
• Yueliduo arrived after subduing several hundred horse bandits, and Wang Chong invited her to join them at the Heroes’ Assembly.
• Gao Gun claimed that Yueliduo was his daughter, Aydana, and that she was the Moonlight Princess.
• Yueliduo submitted to Gao Gun’s Great Grandmaster pressure and greeted him as Father Khan.
• Gao Gun gave Yueliduo a copy of the Great Asura Sect’s White Camel Skill and instructed her not to use Eternal Life Holy Church martial arts at the Heroes’ Assembly.