Chapter Summaries

Lian Youming learned that an elderly female Daoist from his lineage was imprisoned on an island, then fought Tang Tian after he injected himself with more drugs. Their battle tore apart the fishing boat, and Tang Tian’s overwhelming strength continued to press against Lian Youming’s defensive Taiji techniques.

• A bald young man told Lian Youming that an elderly female Daoist and captured martial-world disciples were imprisoned on an island, and Lian Youming killed him after confirming she was alive.
• Tang Tian introduced himself and injected three syringes of drugs into his neck, greatly increasing his strength and speed.
• Lian Youming met Tang Tian’s first punch with Half-Step Crushing Fist but was driven backward.
• Tang Tian killed the wounded Muay Thai expert and used the man’s corpse to conceal attacks against Lian Youming.
• Lian Youming countered Tang Tian’s attacks with Taiji Listening Jin and Taiji Cloud Hands as their fight wrecked the fishing boat.

Lian Youming fought Tang Tian aboard a collapsing fishing boat, but his chest injury gave Tang Tian an opening to unleash Three Salutes of the Master. Lian Youming countered with a Daoist Sect Elixir Sword and Half-Step Crushing Fist, killing Tang Tian, who revealed a route map to an island before he died.

• Tang Tian explained his resentment toward his former sect and pressed Lian Youming with a relentless barrage of attacks as their fight damaged the fishing boat.
• Lian Youming used Taiji Hua Jin to defend and wear down Tang Tian, but a hidden chest injury flared and disrupted his internal breath.
• Tang Tian seized the opening and attacked with Three Salutes of the Master, breaking through Lian Youming's defense and leaving his chest exposed.
• Lian Youming spat a Daoist Sect Elixir Sword at Tang Tian's Shanzhong Acupoint, then followed with Half-Step Crushing Fist to strike his chest.
• Tang Tian collapsed and told Lian Youming that a route map to the island was left in the wheelhouse; Lian Youming acknowledged him and stamped him dead.

After defeating Tang Tian’s group, Lian Youming rescued Sun Duhe and learned that a Sea Island may hold an imprisoned female martial artist who could be his senior martial aunt. He returned to the Green Gang Branch, where he questioned the surviving Ryukyuan fighter and began examining the three antique paintings.

• Lian Youming questioned the wounded Ryukyuan disciple, who identified himself as Matsumura Munemasa and revealed that he and the Thai fighter had become entangled with Tang Tian’s group after a storm at sea.
• Lian Youming found Sun Duhe at the docks, recovered the three antique paintings, and left the cleanup of the boat and prisoners to the Double and his men.
• Lian Youming brought Sun Duhe back to the Green Gang Branch, where Sun reunited with Yan Tao while Lian Youming considered how to reach Sea Island and rescue the imprisoned Female Daoist.
• Matsumura Munemasa followed Lian Youming and said an assassin organization operated around Sea Island, though he had never been allowed onto it.
• Matsumura Munemasa revealed that his Chinese name was Wang Mazi, then believed Sun Duhe’s claim that he could teach him divination.
• Lian Youming took the three antique paintings from Sun Duhe and opened one under lamplight.

Lian Youming investigated three antique paintings tied to a vanished tomb in the Eastern Mausoleum, where three jade coffins and a mysterious stone stele were said to lie. After his double arranged the paintings together, Lian discovered that they formed a map.

• Sun Duhe told Lian Youming that the paintings came from a carpenter whose ancestor had explored a hidden tomb beneath the Eastern Mausoleum.
• Lian Youming learned that the tomb supposedly held three jade coffins, treasure, and a stele bearing the words, “Should anyone dare proclaim himself emperor, I shall strike him down.”
• Sun Duhe said the hidden entrance vanished and that Tang Tian had silenced the appraiser who had examined the paintings.
• Lian Youming told Sun Duhe and his family to rest, then restored Wang Mazi’s broken arms; Wang Mazi asked to follow him, and Lian accepted.
• Lian Youming’s double examined the three seasonal landscape paintings, overlapped them, and revealed that they formed a map.

Lian Youming studied the blood-stained map, spoke with his Double about protecting his family, and learned that Gu Feiyan had announced a Martial Way Tournament. He decided to challenge the Taiji Gate and claim its position as Gate Master.

• Lian Youming found blood obscuring part of the map and wondered about its purpose before setting it aside to focus on rescuing his senior martial uncle.
• Lian Youming told the Double that he wanted them to protect his wife and children rather than die in his place, and the Double agreed.
• After the Double left at dawn, Lian Youming recognized their internal breath as the Daoist Sect's Elixir Skill.
• Zhu Wu told Lian Youming that Gu Feiyan had invited martial experts from every country to a tournament and offered their side ten spots.
• Lian Youming learned that the Taiji Gate had not attended and ordered a written challenge, declaring he would settle their grudges and claim the position of Taiji Gate Master.

Lian Youming resolved to challenge the Taiji Gate to settle the Mountain-Guarding Old Man’s grudge and secure Yang Shuang’s standing. After bringing Sun Duhe, his family, and Wang Mazi to the Baji Martial Arts Hall, he announced the challenge, leaving Wu Jiu alarmed but Yang Shuang ready to follow him.

• Lian Youming told Zhu Wu he would challenge the Taiji Gate before honoring his promise to take Zhu Wu as a disciple.
• Sun Duhe decided to stay in Guangzhou, gave Lian Youming the antique paintings containing a map, and learned that a martial arts method had been hidden in the scripture he once gave him.
• Lian Youming offered to take Sun Duhe’s daughter as a true disciple when she was older, while Yan Tao asked to train and was directed to a female fist master.
• Lian Youming brought Sun Duhe’s family and Wang Mazi to the Baji Martial Arts Hall, where Wang Mazi said he could use the map to locate the moving ship.
• Lian Youming told Yang Shuang he would challenge the Taiji Gate in the first half of the year, and Yang Shuang agreed to follow his lead while Wu Jiu warned him of the danger.

Lian Youming weighed rescuing his martial uncle against attending Gu Feiyan's Martial Way Assembly, then returned to Wuzhou and settled family concerns. In Cangzhou, Xu Tian learned that Taiji Gate had accepted Lian Youming's challenge and revealed that the Baji Sect had a lead on a one-eyed man held overseas.

• Lian Youming told Wu Jiu that he might skip the Martial Way Assembly to pursue a chance to rescue his martial uncle, while keeping his plans secret.
• Lian Youming offered Wang Mazi a place in the Green Gang after the Taiji Gate fight if Wang Mazi helped locate the ship, and asked Yang Shuang to teach Yan Tao basic Stake Work.
• Liu Wudi arrived at the martial arts school, reunited with Wu Jiu, and joked with him after seeing A Xing.
• Lian Youming returned to Wuzhou and reassured his family that his companions were safe, prompting his father to return early to Xijing with Zhao Lanxiang.
• Xu Tian learned that Taiji Gate had accepted Lian Youming's challenge and set off for Guangzhou with fellow Baji Sect members after revealing a report of a one-eyed man surnamed Chen held on an island.

At Yongnian Guangfu City, Taiji Gate elders received a challenge from the Taiji Demon, the disciple of Xuanming who had defeated Gu Chan and inherited several powerful techniques. They accepted his wager for the position of master of the Taiji Gate and prepared to summon the other branches and the Chen Family.

• Gu Chan and ten other martial artists practiced through the night in the snow, while Gu Chan demonstrated his formidable Taiji skills.
• A female disciple brought a challenge letter to the old masters inside the Residence of Master Luchan.
• The fat old master recognized the challenger as Xuanming's disciple, known as the Taiji Demon, and linked him to the battle at Mount Lu.
• The blind Daoist recalled that Xuanming's Elixir Sword had destroyed his eye and agreed to settle his grudge with the disciple who had learned the Toad-Fishing Skill.
• The fat old master ordered the Sun, Wu, and Wu branches and the Chen Family to be notified, then announced that they accepted the challenge and told the challenger to choose a place.

Lian Youming told Yan Lingyun about his recent experiences and the future memories he believed he carried, but she suggested they might be foreknowledge gained through the Martial Way rather than proof he came from the future. As the memories began to fade, he chose to focus on his family and the present.

• Lian Youming used his Inner Strength to clear Yan Lingyun's meridians and temporarily make her body more nimble.
• Yan Lingyun worried that Lian Youming's martial progress would let him stay young while she grew old, and he reassured her that she completed his life.
• Lian Youming told Yan Lingyun about his journey Northward to Exterminate Demons, the Mountain Guardian, his Green Gang identity, and his belief that he had come from the future.
• Yan Lingyun suggested Lian Youming's memories might be foreknowledge or a mental ability connected to the Martial Way, and he reconsidered what they meant.
• Lian Youming found that memories of his future self were fading, then soothed their waking son and agreed with Yan Lingyun to focus on the present.

Lian Youming learned that Yan Beitong had preserved a hidden collection of old medicines and manuals, including a fragmentary sword manual by Song Weiyi. He also found a curved saber connected to Wang Yaqiao and set out to search for the abandoned house where it had been found.

• Yan Beitong told Lian Youming about the Taiji Demon’s challenge to the Taiji Gate and asked whether he was confident; Lian Youming said he was.
• Yan Beitong showed Lian Youming and Yan Lingyun a hidden chamber filled with medicinal wine, old books, and secret records, and Yan Lingyun claimed a Youth-Restoring Pill.
• Lian Youming found half of a handwritten sword manual by Song Weiyi among the old Daoist texts.
• Lian Youming discovered a curved saber marked “Evil-Slaying” and “Jiuguang,” recognized its resemblance to his Gall-Illuminating Sword, and connected it to Wang Yaqiao.
• After Yan Beitong described where the saber had been found, Lian Youming decided to search for the abandoned house outside town.

Lian Youming investigated the ruins where Wang Yaqiao had been ambushed and reconstructed the fight, concluding that a hidden expert had struck a decisive blow. After learning that the Golden Cicada Sect and several Taiji schools would join the coming conflict, he chose Wudang Mountain for the battle and set the date for mid-June, then left to train on a long journey.

• Lian Youming and Yan Lingyun searched the ruined residence and found signs of a large ambush against Wang Yaqiao, including weapon marks, footprints, and an Iron Ball.
• Lian Youming inferred that several attackers had surrounded Wang Yaqiao and that a hidden expert had wounded him suddenly, forcing him to abandon his saber.
• Yan Lingyun urged Lian Youming to avenge her master, and he agreed to continue toward that goal.
• In Foshan, Yang Qing warned Lian Youming that the Golden Cicada Sect and several Taiji schools were joining the conflict, and she supplied him with crates of firearms and explosives.
• Lian Youming showed Yang Qing Wang Yaqiao's curved saber and chose Wudang Mountain as the battlefield, setting the battle for mid-June.
• Lian Youming said he would travel to train hard and promised to contact Yang Qing when he arrived.

Lian Youming encountered Sweet Potato Ying after she fought off boys bullying her and her puppy, then trained in Leizhou while she and her brother watched. On the eighth day, thunder finally broke over the coast, and Lian Youming began mastering Heavenly Dipper Strength amid the storm.

• Sweet Potato Ying fought off three boys who bullied her and threw her puppy into the sea, and Lian Youming returned the rescued dog to her.
• Lian Youming warned Sweet Potato Ying that the puppy could be used against her, then resumed preparing for the coming battle and studying an ancient incomplete manual.
• Sweet Potato Ying and her brother watched Lian Youming demonstrate his breath training and sword-like exhalation at the tidal flats.
• Over seven days, Lian Youming trained and reconstructed techniques from past opponents while the siblings secretly observed him.
• On the eighth day, thunder and a fierce storm finally reached Leizhou, and Lian Youming rose to master Heavenly Dipper Strength.

Lian Youming tried to perfect Heavenly Dipper Strength by joining his awareness with the thunder, but discovered that the ocean’s force could also enter him. He began combining thunder and waves through martial arts and the Six-Syllable Mantra, while a fat monk heard his roars and came looking for him.

• Lian Youming practiced the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Stance and the Three Great Neijiaquan in the storm, using thunder to guide his movements and deepen his Heavenly Dipper Strength.
• Lian Youming released control of his senses to experience the will of heaven, but discovered a second force rising from the ocean and was struck from the reef by a wave.
• Lian Youming plunged into the waves and used Dragon Form to seek control of the ocean’s force, drawing both water and thunder into his body.
• Lian Youming used the Six-Syllable Mantra and the Sound Strike method to suppress and blend the opposing forces, then combined them with sword techniques.
• A fat monk at a distant pier recognized Lian Youming’s roars as the Sound Strike method of Esoteric Buddhism and set out to find him.

Lian Youming fought the Shaolin traitor numbered 4 amid a storm, testing the unusual forces he had been trying to unite. As the monk’s Lion’s Roar disrupted him, thunder helped the two forces in Lian Youming’s body blend seamlessly.

• Lian Youming used the storm and waves to practice merging two forces within himself as he waited for an attacker.
• The fat monk numbered 4 arrived, recognized Lian Youming as Taiji Demon, and revealed that he had once sought Bodhidharma’s teachings before turning traitor to Shaolin Temple.
• Lian Youming and the monk exchanged sword strikes, fists, palm attacks, and iron prayer beads as they battled across the waves.
• The monk submerged himself, then burst from the water and grabbed for Lian Youming’s ankle while unleashing Lion’s Roar.
• Thunder sounded overhead, and Lian Youming realized the two forces within him had begun to blend seamlessly.

Lian Youming fought Monk Zhikong through a storm, using the monk’s attacks to temper the two forces within him as he pursued a new martial art. The chapter ended with Zhikong unleashing a faster, deadly assault after Lian Youming demanded more speed.

• Lian Youming let Zhikong grab his leg and used Listening Jin to study how the monk’s Lion’s Roar affected the conflicting forces within him.
• Lian Youming struck at Zhikong, then kicked the monk in the throat and forced the two apart.
• Zhikong mocked Lian Youming’s ambition to create an extraordinary force, but Lian Youming declared that he would keep striving beyond his predecessors.
• Zhikong revealed that he was named Zhikong, explained that he had used up his drugs while pursuing Xue Hen, and walked across the waves toward Lian Youming.
• Zhikong used One-Finger Zen and Bodhidharma Swordsmanship to attack with a storm of sword fingers, while Lian Youming parried and let the impacts temper his inner forces.
• Lian Youming attacked without defending and shouted that Zhikong was too slow, prompting Zhikong to tear his sleeve and roar, “Die!”

Lian Youming fought Zhikong on a storm-tossed reef while trying to unite the forces of water and thunder, and he realized that the key was Heaven-and-Man Resonance. As the storm faded and Zhikong launched an unavoidable attack, Lian Youming answered with a wave and renewed thunder, meeting the monk's finger with his own sword-forming fingers.

• Lian Youming and Zhikong exchanged a hundred fierce attacks on the crumbling reef as Lian Youming drew on water and Thunder Force but could not blend them.
• Zhikong taunted Lian Youming as the storm began to pass, then unleashed a blood-powered finger attack and used his robe to trap Lian Youming's sword in a vortex.
• Lian Youming understood the principle of Heaven-and-Man Resonance as Zhikong's robe concealed a killing finger aimed between his brows.
• Lian Youming released his sword and stepped back to harness momentum, summoning a great wave and rising with renewed thunder to meet Zhikong's attack with his sword fingers.

Lian Youming discovered a peculiar force by merging the thunder above with the water beneath him, then used it to defeat Monk Zhikong. The chapter ended with Zhikong falling into the sea after Lian Youming named his technique the Three Yin Seven Killings Sword.

• Lian Youming merged the forces of thunder and water within his body, creating a new force that broke Zhikong’s finger and struck his chest.
• Zhikong challenged Lian Youming’s claim that he had understood the force, then attacked with Lion’s Roar and Shaolin Pounding Fist.
• Lian Youming retreated onto the sea and stood between the thunder and waves, channeling heaven and earth’s killing intent.
• Zhikong accepted Lian Youming’s challenge and charged him on the reef.
• Lian Youming used a precise touch to disrupt Zhikong’s punch, crossed past him, and held his sword fingers against the monk’s Jade Pillow Acupoint.
• Lian Youming named his technique the Three Yin Seven Killings Sword, and Zhikong fell into the sea.

Lian Youming survived his battle with Zhikong, though he was badly injured, and realized his new force had broken through another layer of Golden Bell Cover. He found and rescued Li Yinhuan and other imprisoned martial artists, then sent them toward Guangzhou while he pursued a dark-skinned man at the pier.

• Lian Youming killed Zhikong but suffered severe injuries while testing his new force, which he believed could unite the killing intent of heaven, earth, and man.
• Lian Youming went to the pier and secretly boarded a guarded fishing boat after suspecting someone there had been waiting for Zhikong.
• Lian Youming subdued the two guards and found Li Yinhuan, who told him that other martial artists were imprisoned below deck.
• Lian Youming freed the captives, including Ding Sanjie, who said Gong Wuer had disappeared after fighting Gu Feiyan.
• Lian Youming told Ding Sanjie to take the others to Guangzhou to find Uncle Xu, then pursued the dark-skinned man, who fled when he saw him.

Lian Youming pursued a gunman into the hills, where a sniper and three armed men ambushed him. After defeating them, he found photographs of ancient tombs and the Eastern Mausoleum’s Antique Paintings, along with a letter saying Chen was still alive.

• Lian Youming followed the dark-skinned man into the hills and spotted a sniper aiming at him.
• The dark-skinned man and the gunmen on the ridge opened fire, but Lian Youming evaded their shots and killed two attackers before subduing the middle-aged quick-draw shooter.
• Lian Youming removed a bullet from his shoulder and wondered whether the gunmen were connected to the Mysterious Force.
• Lian Youming entered the house and found photographs of ancient tombs, the Hong Kong Walled City coffin, a member of the Remnants of the Old Era, and the three Antique Paintings from the Eastern Mausoleum.
• Lian Youming read a letter stating that the man named Chen was not dead and ordering someone to find him.

Lian Youming uncovered evidence that the Thirteen Hongs were monitoring the martial world and that Chen, a former Number One Under Heaven, might still be alive. Liu Wudi and Yang Shuang arrived with news of the Martial Way Tournament, and Lian Youming prepared to develop a new force before his deadly fight with Taiji Gate.

• Lian Youming found letters and paintings at a messaging outpost, including clues about Chen, the Five Elders of the Mountain Guardians, and the Thirteen Hongs of Canton.
• Lian Youming collected the photographs and letters, buried the four bodies, and returned to the shore to train.
• Yang Shuang and Liu Wudi visited Lian Youming, noticed his gunshot wound, and gave him clothes and medicinal pills.
• Yang Shuang told Lian Youming that the Martial Way Tournament would begin on the first day of the seventh month overseas, with ten rising talents selected by the schools.
• Lian Youming resolved to win his fight with Taiji Gate in the middle of the sixth month so he could save his martial uncle, and he asked Liu Wudi to discuss Martial Way principles as he developed a new force.