Chapter Summaries

Lian Youming used the Green Gang’s dragon head token to claim the seat of honor, and Yang Lian killed a fellow elder who questioned his origins. Yang Lian verified Lian Youming’s standing but warned him that the token could draw danger from a mysterious enemy, then revealed his own Axe Gang background and helped establish Lian Youming’s authority.

• The Green Gang elders recognized Lian Youming’s thumb ring as the dragon head token, and the elder in blue granted him the seat of honor.
• When the elder in black began probing Lian Youming’s origins, the elder in blue attacked him, and Lian Youming helped turn the clash against him.
• The elder in blue killed the elder in black for betraying his sworn brothers and then explained that Lian Youming still needed to reunite the scattered Green Gang forces.
• The elder in blue warned Lian Youming to keep the token secret, citing rumors that a powerful hidden enemy had threatened Du Xinwu and other underworld leaders.
• Yang Lian revealed that his branch came from the Axe Gang and that he had taken the generation name Xue, then warned Lian Youming that his cigarette trick was unconvincing.
• Lian Youming took responsibility for the corpse, summoned the others aboard, and Yang Lian had the eight young men pay their respects to him.

Lian Youming left the Zhang family with a warning and traveled to Guangzhou with Yan Lingyun and Yan Weidong. At the pier, he provoked two Taiji Gate experts and separated them, then arrived at the Yan family’s apartment building, where Yan Lingyun reunited with her sister-in-law and met the children.

• Lian Youming told Zhang Asi to warn his father not to covet the old medicine and asked him to watch over the Yan family.
• Yan Weidong arrived at the Yan home, introduced himself to Lian Youming, and prepared to take the siblings to Guangzhou.
• Lian Youming, Yan Lingyun, and Yan Weidong traveled by passenger boat to Guangzhou, where Lian Youming recognized two Taiji Gate experts at the pier.
• Lian Youming used the Toad-Fishing Skill to provoke the Taiji experts, then framed the fat one for groping a woman and caused him to leave the pier in pursuit.
• Lian Youming ignored the fat man's challenge and went with Yan Lingyun and Yan Weidong to their apartment building in an old Guangzhou neighborhood.
• Yan Lingyun embraced her sister-in-law at apartment 305, and two children came out to greet her.

Lian Youming settled into a new apartment with Yan Lingyun, then went to Dashatou Pier to meet the Hidden Blades fighter who had challenged him. After Sun Qiusheng recognized him as a mysterious member of the Green Gang’s Tong generation, Lian Youming struck him twice in the chest.

• Yan Lingyun and Lian Youming cleaned and furnished apartment 307, and Yan Lingyun insisted that it was their home even if they lived there only a few years.
• Yan Lingyun helped her brother’s children Xiaolei and Aying with their homework while Lian Youming left for Dashatou Pier to meet his challenger.
• Lian Youming and Sun Qiusheng identified themselves and traded taunts before moving to a secluded spot to fight.
• Sun Qiusheng and Lian Youming tested their strength in a fierce contest of inner force, then Sun Qiusheng spat blood into Lian Youming’s face and struck his chest with Iron Sand Palm.
• Lian Youming’s body expanded back to its full height, and Sun Qiusheng recognized him as a mysterious member of the Green Gang’s Tong generation before Lian Youming hit him twice in the chest.

Lian Youming fought Sun Qiusheng, revealing his hidden identity and demonstrating his mastery of Taiji techniques against Sun Qiusheng’s Iron Sand Palm. He defeated Sun Qiusheng with a counterattack after evading his concealed knee daggers, leaving him motionless on the ground.

• Lian Youming revealed that he had been the masked man in the Greater Khingan Mountains and taunted Sun Qiusheng for seeking his martial techniques.
• Lian Youming attacked with Spirit-Beating Whip and Taiji Hammer, while Sun Qiusheng used Iron Sand Palm to injure him.
• Lian Youming endured his injuries and continued attacking until Sun Qiusheng’s defense weakened and his ear and shoulder were badly hurt.
• Sun Qiusheng threw sand at Lian Youming, then attacked with concealed daggers hidden in his knees.
• Lian Youming used Gaze Attack to distract Sun Qiusheng, evaded the daggers, and struck his back with a kick and punch, sending him crashing to the ground motionless.

After killing Sun Qiusheng, Lian Youming hid his body and returned home, where he treated his injuries with the Golden Bell Cover. The Taiji Gate learned of Sun Qiusheng’s death and announced a thirty-thousand-yuan challenge, assigning Peng Bubai to fight Lian Youming.

• Lian Youming confirmed Sun Qiusheng was dead, hid the body, and returned to the Tube-Shaped Apartment Building with sweet soup for Yan Lingyun.
• Lian Youming spent the night using the Tiger Roaring Golden Bell Cover to heal the palm injuries Sun Qiusheng had inflicted.
• Lian Youming asked Yang Lian to dispose of Sun Qiusheng’s body and deliver the bloodstained clothes to the Taiji Gate, then gave Zhang Asi his address.
• Yang Lian’s men delivered Sun Qiusheng’s bloodstained clothes to the Taiji Gate’s Foshan school, where the disciples learned he had died.
• The Taiji Gate Grand Boxer announced a thirty-thousand-yuan prize for a contest of skill with Lian Youming and ordered Peng Bubai to face him.

Lian Youming took Yan Lingyun shopping, reunited with Sun Duhe, and accepted appliances from his old friend. After Yang Shuang warned him that Taiji Gate had offered a thirty-thousand-yuan reward for a challenge, Lian Youming decided to confront them and set the match for one month later.

• Lian Youming rode with Yan Lingyun to People's Department Store and bought her clothes, food, and other necessities.
• Sun Duhe recognized Lian Youming, offered to drive them home, and promised to provide a television, fan, and radio from his appliance business.
• Yang Shuang told Lian Youming that the Yan Family was safe but Taiji Gate had offered thirty thousand yuan for him to challenge them.
• Lian Youming said he would confront Taiji Gate, partly to help Yang Shuang and Aunt Chen, and asked Yang Shuang to pass along his challenge for one month later.

Lian Youming reunited with Sun Duhe, then enrolled in the Chinese department and learned that military training was about to begin. The chapter ended with Yan Lingyun teasing him about smelling of scented soap when he returned home.

• Sun Duhe told Lian Youming how he had learned to repair appliances, married Yan Tao, and built a successful business in Guangzhou.
• Lian Youming hosted Sun Duhe and his family for dinner, then gave him 2,500 yuan and agreed to become godparents to each other's children.
• Lian Youming prepared for the coming Battle Date, worried that the Taiji Gate Grand Boxer and another challenger might make it dangerous to leave.
• Lian Youming enrolled in the Chinese department, received a military uniform and textbooks, and met Zhu Yuan, a martial-arts-trained graduate student serving as adviser.
• The school announced medical examinations followed by four weeks of military training, and Lian Youming received his meal and dish coupons.
• Yan Lingyun smelled scented soap on Lian Youming when he returned home and demanded an explanation, prompting him to protest his innocence.

During military training, Lian Youming overheard adviser Zhu Yuan arguing with her younger brother about his plans to fight in Hong Kong’s Walled City. When the young man challenged Lian Youming with a hostile gaze, Lian subdued him without a fight and walked away.

• Lian Youming avoided the crowded dining hall and ate Yellow Essence beside an artificial lake.
• Lian Youming overheard Zhu Yuan warn her younger brother against entering the Walled City, where he hoped to test his martial arts and pursue Gong Wuer.
• Zhu Yuan told her brother that Zhao Yunzhong had been killed by Liu Wudi, news he had missed while in Hong Kong.
• The young man noticed Lian Youming as he passed and turned to confront him with a hostile gaze.
• Lian Youming looked back with a terrifyingly fierce presence, causing the young man to lose his nerve and drop his coin.
• Zhu Yuan hurried over, accused her brother of trying to attack her student, and Lian Youming continued on without further confrontation.

Lian Youming followed Zhu Yuan’s kidnappers to White Cloud Mountain and discovered the Zhang Family had abducted her to draw out her younger brother, Zhu Wu. After revealing himself as the Taiji Demon, he asked the old man whether he could kill them all.

• During military training, Lian Youming practiced his martial arts and sensed that the fifth barrier of Golden Bell Cover was beginning to loosen.
• On Mid-Autumn Festival, Lian Youming spotted Zhu Yuan motionless in a red car and followed her kidnappers by bicycle toward White Cloud Mountain.
• Lian Youming found the car and let one of the kidnappers lead him to Zhu Yuan at a disorderly burial ground.
• Zhu Yuan warned Lian Youming to run, while Old Master Zhang explained that they had taken her to force Zhu Wu to return something stolen from the Walled City.
• Old Master Zhang recognized something about Lian Youming, who identified himself as the Taiji Demon and asked whether he could kill the three men.

Lian Youming and Zhu Yuan fought men tied to the abductions and the Walled City, and Lian Youming learned that the Zhang family was involved in the criminal business. After they buried the dead, Zhu Yuan invited him to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with her, but he suddenly remembered something and hurried back toward school.

• Zhu Yuan joined Lian Youming against the old man in the Tang suit and two other attackers, then pursued the young man who had led them there.
• Zhu Yuan used her Flying Meteor Hammer against her opponent while Lian Youming fought the old man and the middle-aged man with the iron crutch and Monkey Fist.
• Lian Youming killed both men, learned from the dying old man that Zhang Asi was involved in the wider business, and ran to find Zhu Yuan.
• Zhu Yuan defeated her opponent, while the tall man from her school escaped into the hills; she told Lian Youming that the man had helped her and gone to the Walled City.
• Lian Youming and Zhu Yuan buried the three bodies and agreed to sell the car, then Zhu Yuan offered to support Lian Youming when he challenged the Taiji Gate.
• Lian Youming suddenly remembered something, picked up his bicycle, and hurried down the mountain, telling Zhu Yuan they would talk at school the next day.

On Mid-Autumn Festival, Lian Youming found a Walled City token and ledger hidden in his bag, then shared a moonlit dinner with Yan Lingyun. After she admitted she had added medicinal herbs to the food and liquor, the two grew intimate, and Yan Lingyun turned up the television.

• Lian Youming returned to the apartment and found mooncakes and soda Brother Sun had brought.
• Lian Youming discovered a golden Sticky Pole Office token marked “Chief Commander” and a strange ledger in his bag, and suspected Zhu Wu had stolen them from the Walled City.
• Yan Lingyun arranged a moonlit dinner for herself and Lian Youming and poured them liquor brought by Brother Sun.
• Lian Youming felt heat after eating and drinking, and noticed Yan Lingyun was also flushed and feverish.
• Yan Lingyun pressed Lian Youming’s hand to her chest and admitted she had added medicinal herbs to the food and liquor.
• Lian Youming stopped resisting as Yan Lingyun turned on the television and raised its volume.

After military training, Lian Youming learned that Zhu Wu was still missing and that dangerous fighters were searching for him, while Baji Sect members had arrived in Foshan ahead of a major martial arts confrontation. The chapter ended with Lian Youming encountering Wu Jiu and his master, Liu Wudi, outside his apartment building.

• Lian Youming woke after spending the night with Yan Lingyun and noticed that his spleen meridian felt clearer; Yan Weidong and his wife discovered the medicinal feast and liquor left behind.
• At school, Lian Youming spoke with Zhu Yuan about her missing brother, Zhu Wu, and suspected Zhu Wu had entrusted him the token and ledger for a purpose.
• Zhu Yuan reported that two of her martial uncles had been injured fighting a vicious expert on White Cloud Mountain, and that Baji Sect fighters led by someone surnamed Wu had arrived in Foshan.
• Lian Youming completed military training without seeing Zhu Wu, whose survival remained unknown.
• After the school’s three-day National Day break began, Lian Youming saw Wu Jiu and Liu Wudi waiting by the entrance to his alley.

Lian Youming reunited with Wu Jiu and Liu Wudi, learned that Gan Xuantong and the White Lotus Sect Master were in Hong Kong, and prepared to face the Taiji Gate. After sharing a meal and discussing Liu Wudi’s new marriage, Lian Youming told Yan Lingyun he would be away for several days and left the next morning.

• Wu Jiu and Liu Wudi visited Lian Youming and warned him that Gan Xuantong and the White Lotus Sect Master had come south.
• Lian Youming recognized that Wu Jiu had damaged his liver and lungs by practicing the Dragon Roaring Iron Shirt and offered to help with its medicinal prescriptions.
• Lian Youming, Wu Jiu, Liu Wudi, and Yan Lingyun ate together and heard how Liu Wudi had met and married a younger woman.
• Lian Youming told Yan Lingyun he had to leave for two or three days, and she said she understood his involvement in the Martial Way and had prepared medicinal pills for him.
• Lian Youming left early the next morning, his bearing changing as he set out to face the Taiji Gate.

Lian Youming visited Yang Lian’s barbershop before his challenge fight, where she groomed him and revealed that she and other Green Gang veterans hoped he would avenge Boss Du. After noticing a mysterious old photograph, he left with Yang Shuang, Wu Jiu, and Liu Wudi to greet the Taiji Gate.

• Lian Youming arrived at Yang Lian’s barbershop in Foshan and discussed Zhu Wu, the woman surnamed Chen, and the Walled City with her.
• Yang Lian told Lian Youming that few expected him to survive the next day’s fight, but he remained confident.
• Yang Lian explained that she and other people who owed Boss Du a debt hoped Lian Youming would avenge him and lead them if he proved worthy.
• Yang Lian shaved and styled Lian Youming’s hair, and he studied a burned photograph of figures that included someone resembling Divine Spear Li Shuwen.
• Yang Shuang, Wu Jiu, and Liu Wudi arrived and told Lian Youming that the Taiji Gate had set up the platform; he then headed there to greet them.

Lian Youming visited the Taiji Gate with Wu Jiu and the Baji Sect before his scheduled fight with Peng Bubai, facing threats and attempts to intimidate him. He accepted the life-and-death duel and demanded that the Taiji Gate break its signboard if Peng Bubai lost; the battle was set for after dark.

• Lian Youming arrived at the Taiji Gate and learned that its towering life-and-death platform would host the fight at night.
• Taiji Gate disciples insulted Lian Youming and tried to attack him, but his fierce presence made them retreat.
• Wu Jiu challenged Senior Uncle Liu over the Taiji Gate's treatment of Lian Youming, while Liu Wudi bluffed the Grand Boxer with his imposing martial bearing.
• Peng Bubai demanded Sun Qiusheng's corpse and threatened the Baji Sect, but Wu Jiu backed Lian Youming's decision to fight without holding back.
• Lian Youming demanded that the Taiji Gate break its signboard if Peng Bubai lost, and Peng Bubai agreed to fight after dark.

Lian Youming and his allies prepared for the night platform fight as Chen Family Fist experts arrived with apparent intent to kill him. After signing the Life-and-Death Agreement and collecting the promised thirty thousand yuan, Lian Youming reached the platform alongside Peng Bubai and discovered that its black surface made Peng Bubai difficult to see.

• Wu Jiu and the Hung Fist group noticed two hostile Grand Boxers near the Taiji Gate, and the woman in black identified them as Chen Family Fist practitioners.
• The woman in black explained that the Chen Family Fist fighters were outsiders, while Lian Youming sensed their killing intent and suspected they had come for him.
• Wu Jiu agreed to handle one Grand Boxer, and Lian Youming chose to wait until after the platform fight before making plans for the others.
• At midnight, Lian Youming signed the Life-and-Death Agreement, took Peng Bubai's thirty thousand yuan for Yang Shuang, and watched Peng Bubai climb the rope toward the platform.
• Lian Youming and Peng Bubai reached the platform together, where Lian Youming realized its black surface blended with Peng Bubai's black clothes.

Lian Youming faced Peng Bubai, whose assassin’s footwork and concealed attacks pushed him onto the defensive during their fight on the platform. After Lian Youming struck back and broke through the platform, Peng Bubai used discarded garments to hide his movements and launched a sword attack from behind.

• Lian Youming invited Peng Bubai to use every means to kill him, while the spectators reacted to his confidence and the Taiji Gate’s hostility toward him.
• Peng Bubai vanished from Lian Youming’s sight and attacked from changing directions, tearing his shirt and forcing him to keep parrying.
• Lian Youming used his Toad Croak and eight heavy steps to shake the platform, and Peng Bubai disappeared beneath it.
• Peng Bubai thrust a short sword through the planks toward Lian Youming’s foot, but Lian Youming waited above and smashed the platform’s edge as Peng Bubai tried to climb up.
• Lian Youming and Peng Bubai exchanged sword and hand strikes until the planks gave way beneath Peng Bubai.
• Peng Bubai shed layers of black clothing to confuse Lian Youming, then thrust his sword from behind a garment as the clothes fell to the ground.

Lian Youming fought Peng Bubai through a collapsing arena, surviving his deadly Whip Technique with a blood-powered strike and killing him. He returned to the arena standing alone beneath the moon.

• Lian Youming used a black garment to distract Peng Bubai, then withstood his short sword with his hardened muscles and struck him with the Taiji Hammer.
• Peng Bubai redirected the punch's force, revealed that the Taiji Gate sought resources for Fist Challenges the World, and explained that Lian Youming and a girl resembled Xue Hen.
• Peng Bubai broke through the arena floor and struck Lian Youming with his Spirit-Beating Whip, then pinned him beneath his palms as they fell through the structure.
• Lian Youming shot a stream of blood into Peng Bubai's Celestial Chimney Acupoint, interrupting his internal breath, then escaped his palms and kicked him to death.
• Lian Youming used the force of the kick to leap back onto the tottering arena and stood alone beneath the moon.

After defeating Peng Bubai, Lian Youming learned that Taiji Gate intended to kill him before dawn and decided to strike first. He and his companions met the four Grand Boxers in the street, where Yang Lian and the others drew off two opponents while Lian Youming prepared to face Liu Ruotong.

• Lian Youming defeated Peng Bubai, and Liu Ruotong crushed Taiji Gate's signboard to honor the wager.
• Liu Ruotong ordered his disciples to return North and resolved to attack the wounded Lian Youming before dawn, while warning them not to act rashly if he failed to return.
• Lian Youming told Wu Jiu and the others that he had spotted a fourth Grand Boxer and proposed taking the initiative against Taiji Gate.
• As the four Grand Boxers approached, Wu Jiu and the black-clad woman pursued two of them, while Yang Lian lured Soul-Chasing Hand Yuan Tong away.
• Lian Youming introduced himself to Liu Ruotong with the word "Tong" and challenged him to a fight.

Lian Youming and Liu Ruotong fought a brutal battle beneath the moon, each using powerful boxing techniques and trying to cripple the other. After Liu Ruotong threw him into the air, Lian Youming broke free and revealed his Dragon Roaring Iron Shirt, leaving Liu Ruotong wary.

• Lian Youming led Liu Ruotong out of the city, while Yang Shuang followed to support him.
• Lian Youming and Liu Ruotong collided in the clearing, and Liu Ruotong tested Lian Youming’s strength before launching his attacks.
• Lian Youming and Liu Ruotong exchanged punches, stomps, and whip-like strikes, with Liu Ruotong’s strength bruising and bleeding Lian Youming’s arm.
• Liu Ruotong caught Lian Youming’s wrist and flung him into the air, but Lian Youming expanded his body, broke free, and kicked Liu Ruotong.
• Liu Ruotong recognized Dragon Roaring Iron Shirt as Lian Youming tore off his ruined shirt and stood ready to continue fighting.