Recaps

Lian Youming discovered that Third Brother Xie had returned to the mountains with two dangerous companions, seeking wild ginseng and the Kwantung Army's treasure. After sending Yan Lingyun to alert Uncle Qin, Lian Youming returned to track them and found a murdered forager before spotting their campfire.

• Lian Youming recognized the limping Third Brother Xie and identified his two companions as skilled martial artists.
• Lian Youming overheard the Russian demand to see the Kwantung Army's treasure and realized Third Brother Xie had returned for it as well as the wild ginseng.
• Lian Youming carried Yan Lingyun down the mountain and told her to alert Uncle Qin and bring armed men while he followed the group.
• Lian Youming hid his extra gear, raced back to Pinecone Ridge, and returned to the forest after Yan Lingyun went to contact the commune.
• Lian Youming found a mountain forager's severed head hanging from a tree and realized the men had killed him.
• Lian Youming followed the stream through the woods and spotted firelight near the men's camp.

Lian Youming discovered Lei Hu and White Ape abusing Oroqen villagers and conspiring against the crippled Third Brother Xie, then used their infighting to lure White Ape away. He revealed himself and began smashing White Ape into the ground.

• Lian Youming saw Lei Hu kill a village woman and found two bound Oroqen children nearby.
• Lei Hu and White Ape argued with Third Brother Xie over the villagers, the White Lotus Sect, and the map of the Kwantung Army's underground fortress.
• Third Brother Xie refused to give the map to Lei Hu and White Ape, and the two attacked him together, targeting his good leg.
• Lian Youming shouted for help and fled, drawing White Ape away from the fight.
• Lian Youming feigned a fall, grabbed White Ape by the ankle when he approached, and began slamming him into the ground.

Lian Youming fought White Ape, using his immense strength and tough body to overpower the martial artist. White Ape escaped Lian Youming’s crushing charge at the last moment, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Lian Youming battered White Ape against the ground and birch trees, then faced his opponent’s sudden claw-and-fist attack.
• Lian Youming blocked White Ape’s killing strike and met his fist head-on, surprising White Ape with his strength.
• Lian Youming charged to seize White Ape, whose punch failed to penetrate Lian Youming’s externally conditioned body.
• Lian Youming locked White Ape in his arms and charged through birch trees toward a boulder.
• White Ape spat blood into Lian Youming’s eyes and wrenched himself free while Lian Youming’s vision was obscured.

Lian Youming killed White Ape after surviving his deadly attack, then returned to find Third Brother Xie losing to Lei Hu. Lian Youming and Third Brother Xie joined forces against Lei Hu, leaving their own dispute for later.

• White Ape attacked Lian Youming from above, but Lian Youming hurled them both toward a boulder and broke White Ape’s leg.
• Lian Youming drew his cattle-slaughtering knife, cut White Ape in half, and mutilated his body before heading into the White Birch Grove.
• Lian Youming found Lei Hu forcing the injured Third Brother Xie back toward a burning fire.
• Lian Youming mocked Third Brother Xie, told Lei Hu that he had killed White Ape, and said he would not let Lei Hu leave after the village woman’s death.
• Third Brother Xie denied having any part in the woman’s abuse, and he and Lian Youming agreed to fight Lei Hu together before settling their old scores.

Lian Youming and Third Brother Xie joined forces to fight Lei Hu, whose Iron Shirt training made him nearly impervious to their attacks. The battle turned when Third Brother Xie severed his own arm to escape Lei Hu’s grip and clawed out one of his eyes, then launched another attack.

• Third Brother Xie warned Lian Youming that Lei Hu had mastered Shaolin Five Elements Fist and Iron Shirt training.
• Lei Hu bent Lian Youming’s saber with a punch, and Lian Youming countered with a spiraling hand technique while Third Brother Xie circled behind him.
• Lian Youming intercepted Lei Hu’s attack so Third Brother Xie could strike, but Lei Hu’s hardened body resisted the old man’s claws.
• Lei Hu traded a flurry of punches with Lian Youming while Third Brother Xie tried to seize his leg, leaving both men battered.
• Third Brother Xie severed his trapped arm, sprang behind Lei Hu, and clawed out his right eye.
• Third Brother Xie wrapped his leg around Lei Hu’s neck and reached for his remaining eye.

Lian Youming and Third Brother Xie joined forces to kill Lei Hu, but Third Brother Xie was mortally wounded. Before dying, he gave Lian Youming the fortress map and a jade case, and asked him to look after his granddaughter from afar.

• Third Brother Xie and Lian Youming attacked Lei Hu together, but Lei Hu overpowered them and grievously wounded Third Brother Xie.
• Lian Youming shot out Lei Hu's remaining eye with a slingshot, allowing Third Brother Xie to escape and strike him.
• Lian Youming drove Lei Hu into a tree and killed him with a powerful punch, then confirmed he was dead.
• Lian Youming gave Third Brother Xie Yellow Essence and helped him smoke while asking why he had returned with the map.
• Third Brother Xie gave Lian Youming the map and a jade case containing his granddaughter's photograph and address, asking him to check on her from afar.
• Third Brother Xie warned Lian Youming about the White Lotus Sect and martial arts beyond Hua Jin, then asked him to burn his body before dying.

Qin Yuhu’s unit reached the mountain hideout and found Lian Youming alive after the outlaws’ infighting had left Third Brother Xie, Lei Hu, and White Ape dead. Lian Youming then offered to hand over a map of a Kwantung Army underground fortress, leaving Qin Yuhu stunned and asking where it was.

• Qin Yuhu led more than thirty soldiers through the mountains to find Lian Youming, while Yan Lingyun hurried with them.
• The soldiers found Bai Fu’s corpse and then reached the birch grove, where they discovered the mutilated woman, two sleeping children, and Lei Hu’s body.
• Lian Youming survived the soldiers’ initial weapons being aimed at him, then explained that Third Brother Xie, Lei Hu, and White Ape had killed one another and that he had burned Third Brother Xie’s body.
• Qin Yuhu scolded Lian Youming with his belt, but Yan Lingyun’s concern interrupted him and Lian Youming reassured her.
• Lian Youming offered Qin Yuhu a map of a Kwantung Army underground fortress, and Qin Yuhu demanded to know where it was.

Lian Youming returned to Tahe with Yan Lingyun after recovering an intact eighth-leaf wild ginseng and helping Qin Yuhu’s group bring back the bodies of two wanted criminals. At Qin Yuhu’s home, he examined the maps from Third Brother Xie’s Jade Casket and decided to hide the mysterious leather map and casket while keeping the paper map out.

• Qin Yuhu thanked Yan Lingyun for bringing the news and promised her a meal, then hurried to inspect the corpses and consider the rewards for the group’s fallen brothers.
• Lian Youming showed Yan Lingyun the eighth-leaf wild ginseng he had carefully dug up, and she admitted she had feared for his life.
• The group gathered the bodies and returned to Pinecone Ridge, where Lian Youming looked back at Third Brother Xie’s ashes before leaving the forest.
• After reaching Tahe, Lian Youming washed, changed, and cooked a meal at Qin Yuhu’s home while Qin Yuhu went to report the news.
• Lian Youming studied the two maps in Third Brother Xie’s Jade Casket, suspected the leather map had originally accompanied the casket, and put both away while keeping the paper map out.

After dinner with Qin Yuhu’s family and Yan Lingyun, Lian Youming reflected on his first killing and spent the sleepless night replaying the battle. The next morning, a powerful young man arrived and introduced himself as Li Da, revealing that Gong Wuer was his younger sister.

• Yan Lingyun told Shen Qinghong that she had seven older brothers and two younger sisters, and explained that her father had become clan head to preserve their diminished family.
• Lian Youming and Qin Yuhu broke their wooden bed, so Lian slept on the floor and reflected on killing White Ape, Lei Hu, and Third Brother Xie.
• Lian Youming spent the night practicing the opponents’ moves and wondering what awaited him in the martial world.
• The next morning, Lian Youming sensed a formidable young man in the courtyard and went downstairs to meet him.
• The young man introduced himself as Li Da and told Lian Youming that Gong Wuer was his younger sister.

Li Da revealed his martial arts credentials to Lian Youming and offered him a choice of a job, money, or a journey to an underground fortress. After Li Da demonstrated the skill Bird Not Flying, Lian Youming handed him the map, and Li Da departed, leaving the trip for later.

• Li Da explained that he and Gong Wuer took different surnames and paths, then told Lian Youming he had once beaten a young Xue Hen.
• Li Da identified himself as a military martial arts instructor who placed third in a secret competition and described the treasures and secrets inside the underground fortress.
• Li Da offered Lian Youming a job, money, or a chance to explore the fortress, while assuring him that his uncle and the others would receive commendations regardless.
• Li Da demonstrated Bird Not Flying by holding a yellow bird in his open hand so it could not escape, then let it fly when he passed it to Lian Youming.
• Lian Youming handed Li Da the map, and Li Da left, saying their journey would begin after a delay of at least half a month.

Lian Youming spent time with Yan Lingyun before she returned to the city, then resumed work at the Logging Camp and arranged to live alone so he could practice. He received Yan Lingyun’s letter urging him to come find her.

• Lian Youming rode with Yan Lingyun, who asked him to come south and find her, and she confessed that she liked him before running off.
• Yang Dapao led the educated youths back to the mountain, where Lian Youming noticed that one female educated youth was missing.
• Lian Youming asked Yang Dapao to let him live alone in the hidden chamber, which the Logging Camp would use as a cellar.
• Lian Youming endured the demanding logging work and brought back a wild boar to share with the other educated youths.
• After more than half a month, Lian Youming found a letter and wooden box from Yan Lingyun and read her message: “Remember to come find me!”

Lian Youming discovered a hidden coffin beneath the stone bed in the Logging Camp chamber and found a skeleton marked by a powerful fist strike. He uncovered a passage about the art of the striking gaze, a method that could subdue an enemy with a glance.

• Lian Youming studied the poem and fist imprints in the hidden chamber, then trained his Golden Bell Cover through the night.
• Lian Youming’s stone bed flipped open while he slept, dropping him into a cramped coffin filled with bones.
• Lian Youming found the coffin’s mechanism and opened the stone slab, then examined the skeleton and recognized a fist imprint on its skull.
• Lian Youming noticed writing on the coffin wall describing the art of the striking gaze and its power to subdue enemies.

Lian Youming trained through the summer, received Yan Lingyun’s letters and health exercise booklet from Guangxi, and discovered an apparent attack waiting as he rode back to camp. The chapter ended with him leaping from the truck after a close-range attempt on his life, suspecting the White Lotus Sect.

• Lian Youming struggled to understand the Witnessing Art and injured his eyes by staring at the rising sun to practice it.
• He worked and trained through the summer, gradually gaining weight and strength while learning to control his Coiling Silk Force.
• On Army Day, Lian Youming visited Qin Yuhu’s home and received letters from Yan Lingyun, who explained his physical changes and sent him a Five-Animal Exercise booklet.
• Lian Youming wrote back to Yan Lingyun and mailed her letters and a parcel before catching a timber truck back to the Logging Camp.
• Lian Youming spotted a man and a woman clinging to the truck, then evaded the driver’s sudden attack by leaping through the rear door and suspected the White Lotus Sect.

Lian Youming captured a woman from the White Lotus Sect and learned that the Underground Fortress supposedly contained a life-prolonging medicine formula. After escaping, he returned to the Logging Camp, where Li Da told him they were leaving at once.

• Lian Youming ambushed three people who jumped from a truck, blinded the woman among them with grit, and seized her as a hostage.
• Lian Youming learned from the woman's companions that the Underground Fortress was rumored to hold a formula for old medicine that could prolong life, and that they also sought revenge on the Mountain-Guarding Old Man.
• Lian Youming refused to reveal the Mountain-Guarding Old Man's whereabouts, released the woman, and escaped by boarding a truck toward the mountains.
• Lian Youming worried that the White Lotus Sect would hunt down Yang Shuang and resolved to repay the Mountain-Guarding Old Man for teaching him two martial arts.
• Lian Youming returned to the Logging Camp and found Li Da waiting; Li Da said they were leaving immediately and had already informed his platoon leader.

Li Da led Lian Youming on a punishing journey toward the Kwantung Army's Underground Fortress, teaching him to conserve strength and explaining the martial path. After several days of running, Lian Youming opened his Lung Meridian and improved his leg technique; they reached Jilin on the morning of the fourth day.

• Li Da made Lian Youming run while carrying their provisions and taught him to use restraint and conserve strength through his steps.
• Li Da explained the importance of a strong lower foundation, the northern wrestling arts, and the need to guard both others and one's true heart.
• Lian Youming watched Li Da move through falling leaves without being touched and copied his leg movements as he chased after him.
• After two days and three nights, Lian Youming opened his Lung Meridian, with signs that his Kidney Meridian was beginning to open as well.
• Li Da said his leg technique came from a Springing Leg routine associated with Broadsword Wang Wu, and Lian Youming continued training through several more days of travel.
• Li Da and Lian Youming entered Jilin on the morning of the fourth day, with Lian Youming's legs nearly numb and his supplies of Yellow Essence exhausted.

Lian Youming and Li Da reached the mountains where an underground fortress might hide, with the White Lotus Sect and Japanese soldiers among the dangers they expected. After Li Da went ahead alone, Lian Youming hid in an abandoned cabin and rescued a bound girl from a White Lotus Sect man, then fled as three pursuers gave chase.

• Lian Youming followed Li Da through the mountains after three days and four nights on the trail, growing leaner and stronger along the way.
• Li Da warned Lian Youming that the White Lotus Sect and possibly hidden Japanese soldiers might be near the underground fortress, then left him with a Type 54 pistol and told him to meet at entrance number two before dark.
• Lian Youming avoided the marked fortress route, found an abandoned cabin, and rested his bruised legs while hiding from an approaching stranger.
• A rough middle-aged man carried a bound young girl into the cabin, but left when a woman outside scolded him for neglecting the Vice Sect Leader's plans to follow Li Da.
• Lian Youming saw the girl plead for help, grabbed her, smashed through the cabin wall, and ran as the White Lotus Sect pursuers chased them.

Lian Youming realized the White Lotus Sect had used him as bait and carried the suspicious girl toward the Underground Fortress while trying to stay alive. His escape brought White Lotus Sect and Xingyi Sect fighters into confrontation, which he left behind as he ran ahead.

• Lian Youming realized the girl and his rescue were part of a trap, and that the White Lotus Sect members were herding him toward the Underground Fortress.
• Lian Youming freed the girl’s wrists and ankles, then carried her on his shoulder while guarding himself against a possible attack.
• Two Xingyi Sect fighters caught up, and Lian Youming claimed to know Xue Hen and asked them for help.
• The Xingyi Sect fighters reacted angrily to Lian Youming’s connection to Xue Hen, while the White Lotus Sect members challenged their interference.
• Lian Youming told both groups they were after treasure and lifespan-extending Old Medicine in the Kwantung Army Underground Fortress, provoking them into a standoff.
• Lian Youming ran ahead and shouted insults at both factions as they prepared to fight.

Lian Youming escaped through the forest with the girl while beasts driven into a frenzy by the White Lotus Sect’s technique closed in around them. He found a hidden entrance and jumped into the fortress with her as martial-world factions gathered above, leaving him to descend while listening to their arguments.

• Lian Youming tested the girl and found no sign that she had unusual abilities, then carried her away when a tiger’s roar sent beasts stampeding through the forest.
• The girl guided Lian Youming toward Erman’s Birch Forest, where he uncovered a hidden metal hatch beneath a rock.
• A tiger appeared with a bloody body in its jaws as armed figures surrounded Lian Youming and the girl.
• Lian Youming cursed Li Da, grabbed the girl, and leaped into the fortress entrance.
• The factions above argued over sect members who had joined the White Lotus Sect, while Lian Youming listened and then slid farther down the fortress wall with the girl.

Lian Youming and Xiao Li descended into the Underground Fortress, where they found Japanese soldiers and a martial artist dead with their throats torn open and their blood drained. Suspecting a blood-cultivating martial artist was hidden inside and that Third Brother Xie’s map might be bait, Lian Youming followed a scream and found a dying young man.

• Lian Youming and Xiao Li landed on a rope net among several dried corpses in the cavern below the passage.
• Lian Youming chose a tunnel and led Xiao Li through the Underground Fortress, where they saw carvings and a stone tablet warning trespassers to die.
• Lian Youming found a recently killed martial artist in a burial chamber, with broken limbs and a throat wound but little blood.
• Lian Youming suspected that a hidden martial artist was draining victims’ blood and wondered whether Third Brother Xie’s map had lured them into a trap.
• Lian Youming followed a scream with Xiao Li and found a young man who begged for help before coughing up blood.

Lian Youming tried to save a dying intruder, but a strange man seized Xiao Li and defeated him with an unfamiliar internal technique. After Lian Youming learned Xiao Li was an ordinary girl caught up in a coincidence, the White Lotus Sect surrounded him and forced him to lead them through the tunnels.

• Lian Youming pitied the dying young man, tried to stop his bleeding, and took two gold bars from him after he died.
• Xiao Li’s frightened expression warned Lian Youming of danger, and a strange man ambushed him from the ceiling and carried her away.
• Lian Youming fought the strange man, recognized his Coiling Silk Force, and was struck by a technique that left him temporarily numb.
• Lian Youming chased the stranger through the tunnels, but three White Lotus Sect members appeared and told him Xiao Li had been abducted by chance.
• Lian Youming realized he had wrongly suspected Xiao Li of acting and turned to continue his search, but the White Lotus Sect and other pursuers surrounded him and demanded he lead the way.

Lian Youming learned why martial artists feared dissipating cultivation while the factions searched a treasure-filled Kwantung Army fortress. Li Da confronted the White Lotus Sect, and as the group split up, a tiger charged toward Lian Youming while Li Da faced the sect’s Vice Sect Leader, Gu Yutong.

• A White Lotus Sect woman explained that aging could weaken a martial artist’s spirit and cause their essence and Qi to erupt, dissipating their cultivation.
• Lian Youming and his captors entered a cavern filled with military supplies, treasure, antiques, and skeletons, where members of various martial sects converged.
• Li Da arrived and offered the White Lotus Sect members a chance to leave with two items each, then effortlessly evaded their coordinated attacks.
• Li Da revealed that the fortress passages led toward a great tomb and warned that the map was incomplete before leading the group out.
• Lian Youming suspected that a black-clad Xingyi Sect woman was the White Lotus Sect’s hidden Vice Sect Leader and noticed the beast-luring scent around her.
• The woman revealed herself as Gu Yutong and said she had lured a tiger toward Lian Youming, while Li Da prepared to fight her.

Lian Youming fought a vicious tiger in the Underground Fortress, killed it with a breakthrough punch, and found Xiao Li among the remains in a hidden chamber. He rejoined Li Da, who was fighting a group of martial artists and began identifying their styles.

• Lian Youming climbed onto the tiger and stabbed and punched it as their struggle broke through walls into hidden chambers filled with remains and weapons.
• Lian Youming found Xiao Li among several unconscious people, then used a bayonet and his fists to fight the tiger as it attacked the others.
• Lian Youming broke through the second barrier of Golden Bell Cover and killed the tiger with a full-strength punch.
• Lian Youming gathered grenades and a light machine gun, then led Xiao Li back through the tunnel to help Li Da.
• Li Da told Lian Youming not to shoot and identified the fighting styles of the martial artists attacking him.

Li Da and Lian Youming fought their way through the Underground Fortress after discovering the White Lotus Sect had lured them into a trap, then escaped separately through the tunnels. Li Da reunited with Lian Youming outside, but after they left, Xiao Li revealed a sinister nature and returned to the fortress.

• Li Da fought the White Lotus Sect members while Lian Youming covered him with a light machine gun, and Li Da pressed toward Vice Sect Leader Gu Yutong.
• A strange man intervened and used Taiji Cloud Hands against Li Da; Gu Yutong revealed that the map was bait and the Underground Fortress was the White Lotus Sect's stronghold.
• Li Da told Lian Youming to escape, and Lian Youming fled through the tunnels with Xiao Li before a burly man attacked him at Entrance No. 2.
• Lian Youming struck the burly man, threw his last grenade, and escaped with Xiao Li as the blast collapsed the entrance beneath the waterfall.
• Li Da met Lian Youming outside with a tiger and gave him a pouch of Eastern Pearls, then explained that he had driven the White Lotus Sect members deeper into the tombs.
• After Lian Youming and Li Da left Xiao Li at her courtyard, she revealed her sinister personality and returned toward the mountain.

Lian Youming spent six days eating tiger meat and practicing, healing his wounds and strengthening his body before preparing to return to Tahe. On the journey, Li Da told him the Underground Fortress had been buried, explained his senior brother’s age, and gave him a handwritten copy of Journey to the West that might help him fight Xue Hen.

• Lian Youming ate and digested the tiger meat while practicing until the pot was empty, then slept for two days.
• Li Da returned, was surprised that Lian Youming had eaten all the meat, and noted that his bearing had changed toward the Ming Jin stage.
• Lian Youming packed the tiger hide and bones, gold bars, and Eastern Pearls, and asked Li Da about the mountain.
• Li Da said the White Lotus Sect had blown up the entrances to the Underground Fortress, though he suspected another way in and out remained.
• On the truck ride back, Li Da told Lian Youming that his senior brother was eighty-three and promised him books introducing the martial arts schools and sects.
• Li Da gave Lian Youming a handwritten copy of Journey to the West, saying it might show him how to fight Xue Hen within three to five years.

Lian Youming returned to the Logging Camp, reunited with the educated youths, and read Yan Lingyun’s advice on martial training. As the group prepared to leave the mountain, he sang at their farewell gathering, where the first snow marked autumn’s end and the time to go down the mountain.

• Lian Youming returned to the Logging Camp with supplies, hid the treasures he had brought back, and received nearly twenty pages of letters from Yan Lingyun.
• Lian Youming read Yan Lingyun’s guidance on avoiding harmful habits, preparing medicinal wine, and practicing the Witnessing Art with the rising sun and moon.
• Platoon Leader Yang arranged for the educated youths to leave the mountain early, and Lian Youming caught two roe deer and bought snacks for their farewell show.
• Wu Kui played the accordion as the educated youths performed, and the others urged Lian Youming to sing.
• Lian Youming sang “Lan Huahua,” and the first snow fell as he realized another autumn had arrived and it was time to leave the mountain.