Chapter Summaries

Lian Youming and Song Huaizhen fought fiercely atop the Golden Hall, where Song Huaizhen revealed a youth-restoring technique that transformed his aged body. To keep others from interfering, they carried their battle from the Golden Summit into the mountains, leaving Wu Jiu and the Taiji heirs hoping Lian Youming could defeat him.

• Lian Youming and Song Huaizhen traded powerful close-range attacks across the Golden Hall, and Lian Youming discovered that Song Huaizhen had also mastered a Soft-Bone Skill.
• Song Huaizhen shed his robe and hairpin, then transformed into a younger, muscular fighter as his body restored its vitality.
• Onlookers identified Song Huaizhen's technique as the Pure Yang Child Skill, while Lian Youming realized the spectators could disrupt their dangerous battle.
• Lian Youming and Song Huaizhen exchanged a glance and leaped from the Golden Summit, continuing to fight as they descended through the mountains.
• Wu Jiu stopped Yang Shuang and the others from pursuing Song Huaizhen, warning that pursuit might make him flee, and the Taiji heirs placed their hopes in Lian Youming.

Lian Youming and Song Huaizhen fought a brutal battle in a mountain cave, each trying to outlast and kill the other. Song Huaizhen appeared to win with a hidden Half-Step Crushing Fist, but Lian Youming struck back with a force that Song Huaizhen recognized as Heavenly Dipper Strength.

• Lian Youming and Song Huaizhen raced through the mountains, exchanging attacks until they reached a cave containing a recluse’s skeletal remains.
• The two men stood their ground and traded a savage barrage of punches, damaging each other’s protective inner strength and leaving blood across the cave.
• Lian Youming realized Song Huaizhen was trying to exhaust him, but deliberately intensified his attacks to lure the old Taoist into seizing an opening.
• Song Huaizhen unleashed a hidden Half-Step Crushing Fist, sent Lian Youming crashing into the cave wall, and grabbed him by the throat before he could recover his breath.
• Lian Youming laughed, struck the earlier wound with his palm, and unleashed thunderous power that Song Huaizhen identified as Heavenly Dipper Strength.

Lian Youming overcame Song Huaizhen in a brutal cavern fight, enduring his hidden jade sword pellets and final Black Tortoise Skill attack. The chapter ended with Lian Youming holding the defeated Song Huaizhen aloft as he began to die, lamenting that Heaven had let Lian Youming master Heavenly Dipper Strength.

• Lian Youming broke Song Huaizhen's grip, damaged his body with a Phoenix-Eye Fist, and used Heavenly Dipper Strength to recover from his own injuries.
• Lian Youming pressed his attack, battering Song Huaizhen with successive blows and driving him into the depths of the cavern.
• Lian Youming struck Song Huaizhen down, but Song Huaizhen spat two concealed jade beads toward his eyes as a dying counterattack.
• Lian Youming used Bone-Shrinking Skill to evade the sword pellets and charged Song Huaizhen as he gathered himself for a final strike.
• Song Huaizhen unleashed Black Tortoise Skill, but Lian Youming answered with a thunderous chant and struck him down, holding him aloft as he began to die.

Lian Youming killed Song Huaizhen, recovered from their battle, and took the Golden Toad Sect leader’s Martial Way insights from the Golden Hall. He learned that fighters had gone to Guangfu City to seize the Taiji Gate’s resources and hurried down Wudang Mountain, followed by Situ Qingqing.

• Song Huaizhen recalled his past with Xuanming, revealed his Sword Pellet technique and the insights beneath the Golden Hall’s deity statue, and died after Lian Youming shot a jade pearl between his brows.
• Lian Youming returned to the Golden Summit badly injured, where Wu Jiu, Yang Shuang, and the Taiji successors guarded him while he recovered and studied Song Huaizhen’s techniques.
• Lian Youming retrieved Song Huaizhen’s Martial Way insights from beneath the deity statue and decided to prepare for his coming voyage to sea.
• Situ Qingqing told Lian Youming that experts had gone to Guangfu City to seize the Taiji Gate’s resources, prompting him to hurry down the mountain with her following.
• The six-hundred-year-old lamp in the Golden Hall flickered after Lian Youming left, though no one noticed that someone had replenished its oil.

Lian Youming and the Taiji Gate heirs hurried to Guangfu City after learning that the Remnants of the Old Era were involved there. They arrived to find Yang Ning leading an ambush, but Xu Tian’s allies intervened, and Lian Youming killed her with a sharp cry; afterward, Gong Qitian reported that the enemy’s leader had escaped.

• Wu Shouzheng and the Taiji elders told Lian Youming about Gan Danran and the treasure map behind the Taiji Gate’s reserves as they descended Wudang Mountain.
• The group reached the Yang Clan’s ancestral grounds in Guangfu City and found black-clad Japanese fighters surrounding the courtyard.
• Yang Ning revealed that she had drugged the Yang Clan members and threatened Lian Youming, offering to withdraw if someone killed him.
• Xu Tian’s allies arrived over the walls and attacked the black-clad men, while Lian Youming killed Yang Ning with a piercing cry.
• Xu Tian’s wife greeted Lian Youming and learned that the Taiji Gate had won at Wudang, but Gong Qitian said the enemy leader had escaped.

Six Golden Toad Sect disciples followed a mysterious map to a ruined mountain temple, where three monks attacked them for the Toad-Fishing Skill and took the map and a box containing black incense. After the incense awakened the faceless clay statue, it broke free and identified itself as the White Bone Daoist, one of the Five Elders of the Mountain Guardians.

• The Golden Toad Sect disciples followed a map to a remote temple after being promised a way to avenge Song Huaizhen.
• Three disguised monks caught the disciples, incapacitated them, and took the map and a wooden box.
• The scar-faced monk demanded the method for Great Toad Breath, and the young disciple recited it while the monk lit a black incense stick.
• The incense smoke flowed into the clay statue’s nostrils, and the monks attacked the statue with iron balls and gunfire.
• The statue dodged the bullets, shed its clay shell, opened its eyes, and announced that it was the White Bone Daoist, one of the Five Elders of the Mountain Guardians.

After the Yang Clan branch was exposed for colluding with Japanese martial artists, Lian Youming challenged its elders over their suspicions and demanded the Taiji Gate legacy. The Yang Clan split over honoring its promise to him, until a fox-eyed young man arrived with a white-haired elder at his feet.

• The Taiji schools and Lian Youming’s group discovered that Yang Clan disciples and an elder had conspired with Japanese martial artists, while Gu Chan’s maternal grandfather escaped with the map to the Taiji Gate legacy.
• Elder Yang Second Brother and Elder Yang Third accused the visiting martial artists of arriving suspiciously, and Lian Youming and Gong Qitian rebuked them.
• A middle-aged woman tried to strike Xu Baishi after she mentioned the stolen map, but Lian Youming checked her with his half-drawn sword.
• Lian Youming rallied the other schools behind him and demanded the legacy, then asked Yang Zhen to honor his promise by bringing the memorial tablet into the ancestral hall.
• Yang Zhen, Yang Wu, and other disciples pledged to keep their word despite the elders’ objections.
• A fox-eyed young man entered the courtyard with a white-haired old man at his feet, and his killing aura left everyone struggling to breathe.

The Fox-Eyed Youth stopped the Yang Clan elders from fighting and took them to Four-Nine City over their dealings with the Japanese, while giving Lian Youming a wooden box containing a hidden map. After the Mountain-Guarding Old Man’s spirit tablet was honored, Lian Youming declared that all grievances with the Yang Clan were settled.

• The Fox-Eyed Youth arrived with Gu Chan’s maternal grandfather, confronted Elder Yang Second Brother, and warned the Yang Clan against colluding with Japanese people.
• Elder Yang Second Brother and Elder Yang Third apologized and agreed to go with the Fox-Eyed Youth to Four-Nine City, while he gave Lian Youming a wooden box containing a map.
• Gu Chan’s maternal grandfather ruptured the blood vessels of his heart and died as the gathered martial artists watched.
• The Sun Clan’s one-armed elder explained that the map was hidden inside the patterned box, which could only be opened by correctly assembling its faces.
• Yang Zhen brought out the Mountain-Guarding Old Man’s spirit tablet, and the Yang Clan disciples paid their respects in the ancestral hall.
• Lian Youming declared that all grievances between him and the Yang Clan were settled.

Lian Youming arranged for Yang Shuang to lead the reunited Taiji Gate before preparing to leave overseas. He also opened the wooden Box and found that the Gan Clan’s legacy was hidden in the Ming Tombs, then said farewell to his companions as he set out with Wang Mazi.

• Lian Youming warned the assembled martial artists that the Mountain Guardians might threaten the newly reunited Taiji Gate, then proposed Yang Shuang as its leader.
• Yu Feishuang agreed, and Yang Shuang signed the Alliance Charter; the other lineage representatives followed and formally saluted her as Sect Leader.
• Lian Youming told Yang Shuang to return to Cangzhou, build her strength, and seek Yang Lian’s help in secret while he traveled overseas.
• Lian Youming opened the wooden Box, discovered a Stone Key and an inscription placing the Gan Clan’s legacy in the Ming Tombs, and instructed Yang Shuang to memorize the location and hide the key.
• Lian Youming announced that he and Wang Mazi had something to take care of, and Wu Jiu, Liu Wudi, Zhu Wu, Sun Duhe, and Xu Baishi wished him well.

Lian Youming met Situ Qingqing outside Guangfu City, where she warned him that a Mountain Guardian had emerged after Golden Toad Sect disciples were found drained of blood in a mountain temple. As they boarded a train with Wang Mazi, Lian Youming discovered that White Lotus Sect members using Changing Form and Appearance had followed them.

• Lian Youming tried to continue toward the south, but Situ Qingqing caught up and insisted on accompanying him.
• Situ Qingqing told Lian Youming that Golden Toad Sect disciples had died in an old temple, drained of blood, and that a clay statue had disappeared; Lian Youming suspected the Shape-Nourishing Skill and a Mountain Guardian.
• Situ Qingqing revealed that her brother, Situ Wudi, had gone to confront the newly emerged Mountain Guardian, whom he considered a chance to test his strength.
• Lian Youming, Situ Qingqing, and Wang Mazi reached the railway station, where Lian Youming sensed several concealed hostile gazes.
• Situ Qingqing identified the watchers as White Lotus Sect members using Changing Form and Appearance, and the three boarded the train.

On the train, Lian Youming was confronted by the White Lotus Sect Master and Situ Wudi, two formidable figures who recognized his identities and challenged his place among the Three Teachings. As their tense gathering began, Lian Youming’s vision revealed that everyone around him had become a skeleton in a world of bones.

• Situ Qingqing tried to learn Lian Youming’s identity, and he exposed her attempt to investigate him through flirtation.
• Lian Youming recognized the White Lotus Sect’s people and greeted the woman beside Situ Qingqing, but the White Lotus Sect Master appeared and unnerved the carriage.
• Situ Wudi joined Lian Youming and identified his connections to Foshan, the Green Gang, and Taiji Gate.
• The White Lotus Sect Master asked whether Lian Youming wanted to exchange blows, while Situ Wudi discussed his lineage and past identities.
• Lian Youming saw the White Lotus Sect Master and Situ Wudi turn into white skeletons, then realized the entire carriage seemed to have become a world of bones.

Lian Youming confronted the White Lotus Sect Master's White Bone Contemplation and learned she had deliberately tied a strand of her mind to him, intending to kill him one day to perfect her Way. He chose to travel overseas, and three days later he and Wang Mazi met Yang Lian in Guangzhou, where the boat was ready.

• The White Lotus Sect Master’s White Bone Contemplation stripped Lian Youming’s senses, but he resisted with Fists Suppress the Mountains and Rivers and his Seven-Step Heaven and Earth.
• The White Lotus Sect Master explained that Lian Youming had shown her kindness and affection, while Situ Wudi revealed she had anchored a strand of her mind in him and planned to kill him to prove her Way.
• Lian Youming challenged the White Lotus Sect Master to set a Battle Date if he returned alive from overseas, and Situ Wudi said he was also heading overseas to deal with a related matter.
• Situ Wudi left the train with Situ Qingqing, while the White Lotus Sect Master shared a meal with Lian Youming and then departed, telling him she would await his return.
• Three days later, Lian Youming and Wang Mazi arrived at Guangzhou Railway Station, where Yang Lian told them the boat was ready.

Yang Lian brought Lian Youming to an estate left by Boss Du and showed him a shrine honoring the heroes who fought to exterminate demons. Before leaving overseas, Lian Youming paid his respects and began recovering at the shrine, resolved to grow strong enough to face the threats ahead.

• Yang Lian took Lian Youming to the estate and explained that Boss Du had left its properties and businesses as a contingency for a determined fighter opposing the Remnants of the Old Era.
• Yang Lian led Lian Youming to a cabin containing spirit tablets for more than a hundred martial heroes and the genuine banners reading “Heroes gather in China” and “Bound by a blood oath.”
• Yang Lian told Lian Youming to rest for one day before leaving overseas, then left him alone with the shrine.
• Lian Youming studied the memorial and reasoned that the old battle against demons continued, while fighters in Four-Nine City prepared for a coming conflict.
• Lian Youming paid his respects to the honored predecessors and sat down to regulate his breathing before his departure.

Lian Youming and Wang Mazi left to rescue Lian Youming’s martial uncle, traveling secretly from Hong Kong aboard a ship bound for Australia. On the voyage, they discovered several martial artists among the passengers, including old acquaintances, and suspected they were also headed to the Martial Way Tournament.

• Yang Lian and Yang Qing outfitted Lian Youming with a coat, boots, weapons, and poison pills before he departed with Wang Mazi.
• Lian Youming and Wang Mazi traveled to Hong Kong, where Yang Qing arranged new identities for them and passage aboard a chartered ship.
• As the ship carried hundreds of emigrants out to sea, Wang Mazi and Lian Youming discussed why people were leaving Hong Kong and their hopes for the future.
• Wang Mazi sensed martial artists aboard, and Lian Youming identified a former Southern Shaolin successor, a Heavenly Principle Sect member, an old man, a stern middle-aged man, and a Japanese man in a kimono.
• Lian Youming and Wang Mazi suspected the martial artists were bound for the Martial Way Tournament, while the others noticed them and grew wary.

Lian Youming encountered Ghost Monk and Miss Hua aboard the ship and exposed his identity after they attacked him. He learned about the Martial Way Tournament and asked Hua Linglong to team up with him, leaving her response unresolved.

• Lian Youming learned by reading Miss Hua’s lips that several powerful martial artists were heading to the Martial Way Tournament for its prizes.
• Miss Hua approached Lian Youming, whose White Bone Contemplation vision revealed her as a skeleton, but he recognized her from their meeting in the Walled City.
• Ghost Monk attacked Lian Youming from behind while Miss Hua tried to distract him, but Lian Youming twisted Ghost Monk’s arm and struck Miss Hua to stop her.
• Lian Youming revealed that he was the Taiji Demon, and Miss Hua and Ghost Monk recognized his reputation.
• Hua Linglong told Lian Youming that the tournament ship was among Indonesia’s islands and that entrants without teams would be assigned randomly.
• Lian Youming asked Hua Linglong to team up with him.

Lian Youming and his companions learned the Martial Way Tournament’s rules and traveled by sea to Jakarta, where they found a route to their destination. At the pier, Lian Youming unexpectedly saw Gu Chan boarding another fishing boat, and they briefly recognized each other as their boats departed.

• Hua Linglong and Ghost Monk agreed to serve Lian Youming, who questioned them about the tournament and learned that the former Thirteen Hongs were involved in plans to prolong the lives of wealthy old men.
• Wang Mazi asked why Lian Youming would join their team, and Lian Youming said he had his own path to follow.
• An Indian martial artist exchanged blows with Wang Mazi, and Lian Youming recognized the fighter’s unusual yoga techniques.
• Lian Youming and his companions traveled by passenger liner to Jakarta, then followed Wang Mazi to a pier where they could pay for passage onward.
• Lian Youming spotted Gu Chan boarding a fishing boat, and the two briefly met each other’s gaze before their boats moved apart.

Lian Youming and his companions reached a floating black market, where Gu Chan secretly told him to find her after boarding the approaching ship. They reached the passenger liner hosting the Global Martial Arts Tournament, and an announcement directed participants to register.

• Lian Youming and Wang Mazi arrived at a floating black market, where the Indonesian guards accepted gold as payment.
• Lian Youming saw bound women who appeared to be bait hiding murderous intent, then Ghost Monk spotted Gu Chan in the market.
• Gu Chan passed Lian Youming and silently told him to find her after he boarded the ship.
• A bell announced the approaching ship, and Lian Youming's group saw a huge passenger liner followed by two smaller liners.
• Lian Youming crossed the waves and used ropes to pull Wang Mazi, Hua Linglong, and Ghost Monk aboard the liner.
• An announcement asked all Global Martial Arts Tournament participants to register with staff.

Lian Youming surveyed the armed passenger ship and assessed the international martial artists gathered aboard, then reunited with Feng Xiong, Zhang Weiyi, and their companions. He formed a team of nine and recruited Li Zhenguo as their tenth member.

• Lian Youming watched Gu Chan board the ship, then joined the martial artists gathering to register on the forward deck.
• Lian Youming and Hua Linglong examined a powerful black boxer, and Lian Youming said he could likely kill him within three moves in a death fight.
• Lian Youming encountered Feng Xiong and Zhang Weiyi, who had arrived with Zhao Danxia and the two successors to the Yue Maiden Sword, and they registered together with Wang Mazi and the others as a nine-person team.
• Lian Youming invited the overlooked young martial artist Li Zhenguo to join the team, making him their tenth member.

Lian Youming discovered the brutality and scale of the Hidden Killing Society’s shipboard fighting rings before Gu Chan secretly gave him a map to the island he sought. The chapter ended with him learning that a powerful expert guarded the island and that he had only one chance to reach it in time.

• Zhang Weiyi showed Lian Youming and the others the ship’s fighting rings, where Three Energies Martial Artists fought to the death and spectators wagered on the bouts.
• Li Zhenguo described the immense stakes wealthy spectators placed, while Lian Youming and the others reacted to the Hidden Killing Society’s influence.
• Lian Youming told his companions to keep his identity and whereabouts secret, then left to find the island before the Martial Arts Tournament began.
• A middle-aged woman led Lian Youming to Gu Chan, who offered him a marked route map and explained that the ship would pass near the island by early night.
• Gu Chan warned Lian Youming that an exceptionally capable expert was stationed on the island, and he asked to stay in her room a little longer.

Lian Youming left the passenger ship and searched the islands near East Timor for the island marked on his map. After finding clues of martial training and following a native supply boat, he finally spotted a guarded island and sank beneath the water to approach it.

• Lian Youming handed Li Yinhuan the map before secretly leaving the passenger ship aboard a fishing boat.
• Lian Youming reached a string of deserted islands and found three bodies bearing heavy-punch wounds and deep practice footprints on a reef.
• Lian Youming searched more islands, then spotted local natives loading spices, salt, and clothes onto a fishing boat.
• Lian Youming clung beneath the supply boat until it led him to a guarded island with patrol boats, smoke, and a watchtower.
• Lian Youming released his Inner Strength, let go of the supply boat, and sank into the seawater.