Recaps

Xu Xiao captured A Zhu and forcibly kissed her, then immobilized her when she tried to resist. He released Jiumozhi on Swallow Dock and turned back to A Zhu, intending to continue.

• Xu Xiao caught A Zhu, removed her disguise, and recognized her.
• Xu Xiao kissed A Zhu despite her protests, and she bit his lip.
• A Zhu tried to escape and then attempted to bite her tongue, but Xu Xiao stopped her and tapped her Tiantu acupoint to immobilize her.
• Jiumozhi advised Xu Xiao on striking the acupoint, then praised his Telekinesis.
• Xu Xiao freed Jiumozhi, who hurried away across Swallow Dock.
• With Jiumozhi gone, Xu Xiao reached for the immobilized A Zhu again.

Xu Xiao killed Bao Butong after he interrupted him with A Zhu, then captured A Bi and took both women to Swallow Dock. The next morning, A Bi accepted her fate, but A Zhu repeatedly tried to kill herself, leaving Xu Xiao struggling to restrain and comfort her.

• Xu Xiao stopped Bao Butong’s attack with Telekinesis, then killed him when he rushed to intervene.
• A Bi arrived, mourned Bao Butong, and Xu Xiao drew her to him and sealed her acupoints.
• Xu Xiao took A Zhu and A Bi to a room at Swallow Dock, where he spent the night with them.
• A Bi made breakfast the next morning and accepted what had happened, while A Zhu resisted and tried to kill herself.
• Xu Xiao unsealed A Zhu’s acupoints, stopped her attack with Telekinesis, and tried to comfort her as she continued to resist.

Xu Xiao tried to convince A Zhu that the heroes she admired were flawed, revealing her parentage and criticizing Murong Fu and Qiao Feng. He declared his intention to build power across worlds and told A Zhu he would take her traveling to witness his rise.

• A Zhu cursed Xu Xiao and condemned him for forcing himself on her, while Xu Xiao defended his actions and dismissed her admiration for Qiao Feng and Murong Fu.
• Xu Xiao revealed that A Zhu's father was Duan Zhengchun and her mother was Ruan Xingzhu, citing the Duan tattoo and gold lock as proof.
• Xu Xiao criticized Murong Fu's restoration ambitions and told A Zhu that Qiao Feng was Khitan.
• Xu Xiao said he planned to accomplish great feats and develop the martial world as a source of power for his travels between worlds.
• Xu Xiao urged A Zhu not to kill herself and promised to take her across the land to witness the rise of a new power.

Xu Xiao took A Zhu and A Bi to Mantuo Manor, where he planned to take Wang Yuyan for himself. After revealing that A Zhu and Wang Yuyan shared a father, he reached the flower bushes where Wang Yuyan and her maids were gathered.

• A Zhu stopped resisting Xu Xiao and ate with him, while A Bi served the meal and listened to his promises of wealth.
• Xu Xiao announced that he would go to Mantuo Manor and take Wang Yuyan, and A Zhu and A Bi privately worried about what would happen to their young mistress.
• Xu Xiao flew with A Zhu and A Bi to Mantuo Manor, where he said Madam Wang's camellias reflected her feelings for Duan Zhengchun.
• Xu Xiao told A Zhu that Wang Yuyan was her younger half-sister, then pulled A Zhu back when she angrily walked away.
• Xu Xiao strolled through the manor with A Zhu and A Bi and headed toward the flower bushes after hearing women giggle nearby.

Xu Xiao entered Mantuo Manor, overpowered its maidservants, and forcibly took Wang Yuyan with him. He then lifted A Zhu and A Bi into the air and carried all three women toward Gusu City.

• The Wang family maidservants attacked Xu Xiao after finding him in the camellia grove, but he restrained and flung them away with Telekinesis.
• Wang Yuyan called out, and Xu Xiao found her in a pavilion among the camellias.
• Wang Yuyan urged Xu Xiao to leave, but he seized her and carried her in his arms despite her protests.
• Xu Xiao dismissed Wang Yuyan's defense of Murong Fu and declared that no one could oppose him.
• A Zhu and A Bi arrived, and Xu Xiao lifted them with Telekinesis before taking all three women toward Gusu City.

Xu Xiao abducted Wang Yuyan and flew away from Mantuo Manor with her, A Zhu, and A Bi. When Wang Yuyan spotted her mother’s boats on the lake and appealed to her family’s influence, Xu Xiao descended toward them to confront Li Qingluo.

• Xu Xiao carried Wang Yuyan, A Zhu, and A Bi through the air while telling Wang Yuyan she would not return home soon.
• Xu Xiao declared that Wang Yuyan, A Zhu, and A Bi were all his women, and Wang Yuyan panicked when she realized he had abducted her.
• Xu Xiao threatened Wang Yuyan into silence and flew with the three women toward Gusu City.
• Wang Yuyan spotted boats bearing the Wang name and shouted that her mother, Li Qingluo, had returned.
• Wang Yuyan warned Xu Xiao that the Wang Clan would make trouble for him, so he descended toward Li Qingluo’s boats to challenge her.

Xu Xiao confronted Li Qingluo aboard her boat and declared that Wang Yuyan would be his woman. After Li Qingluo and her attendants attacked him, he immobilized them and crushed five escort boats with Telekinesis, leaving the survivors terrified.

• Li Qingluo heard what seemed to be Wang Yuyan calling to her while crossing Lake Tai, then dismissed it as an illusion.
• Xu Xiao appeared with Wang Yuyan, prompting Li Qingluo to rush onto the deck and threaten him while her servants and escort boats closed in.
• Li Qingluo and two attendants attacked Xu Xiao despite Wang Yuyan being in his grasp.
• Xu Xiao immobilized Li Qingluo and her attendants, then used Telekinesis to crush five boats and the people aboard them.
• Xu Xiao introduced himself to Li Qingluo and declared that he had taken a liking to Wang Yuyan and intended to make her his woman.

Xu Xiao defeated the warships on Lake Tai, took Wang Yuyan with him, and promised to marry her alongside A Zhu and A Bi. He flew toward Kaifeng, planning to hold a wedding in the Great Song imperial palace and confront the emperor, while Li Qingluo began plotting to rescue her daughter.

• Xu Xiao used Telekinesis to destroy five warships on Lake Tai and rejected Li Qingluo's plea to release Wang Yuyan.
• Xu Xiao took Wang Yuyan, A Zhu, and A Bi into the sky, while Li Qingluo vowed to seek help from Dali and the imperial court.
• Xu Xiao passed over Gusu City and told the women he intended to hold a wedding for them in Kaifeng.
• Xu Xiao learned the direction to Kaifeng from a merchant caravan and set out north, intending to enter the imperial palace and hold a wedding feast there.

Xu Xiao brought A Zhu, A Bi, and the third woman to Kaifeng and declared that they would become brides in the imperial palace. After General Gao ordered the guards to attack, Xu Xiao stormed into the palace, where Emperor Zhao Xu prepared to flee as reports claimed the imperial forces had been nearly defeated.

• Xu Xiao flew with the three women toward Kaifeng, and they marveled at the capital from the sky.
• Xu Xiao announced that the women would become brides in the imperial palace and carried them toward the palace.
• Emperor Zhao Xu heard Xu Xiao call for him and learned that an intruder had entered the palace.
• Xu Xiao asked the guards to arrange an audience with Zhao Xu, but General Gao dismissed him as a threat and ordered the imperial city guards to attack.
• Xu Xiao retaliated against the guards, and Zhao Xu withdrew from the imperial study after hearing that his army was nearly defeated.

Xu Xiao slaughtered the soldiers at Xuande Gate and carved a bloody path into the imperial palace, where five retainers of the Zhao-Song Imperial Family set out to stop him. As the retainers reached Daqing Hall, Xu Xiao deflected the old general’s arrows and sent his iron weapons after him.

• Xu Xiao stopped the arrows aimed at him, then used Telekinesis to send them back and kill the soldiers at Xuande Gate.
• Xu Xiao unleashed five alloy iron pieces, killed the remaining soldiers there, and flew into the imperial city with A Zhu and the other two women.
• Xu Xiao threatened to slaughter the palace unless the emperor came out and continued killing Palace Front Army soldiers on his way to Daqing Hall.
• Two old eunuchs, a monk, a Daoist, and an elderly general set out to confront Xu Xiao as the five retainers of the Zhao-Song Imperial Family.
• The old general attacked Xu Xiao with a spear and then three arrows, but Xu Xiao shattered the spear, redirected the arrows, and sent his iron pieces at the general.

Xu Xiao fought the imperial retainers from the sky, killing Elder Qin and thwarting the two eunuchs’ ranged attacks with Telekinesis. He then unleashed a crushing force against the eunuchs, leaving their fate unresolved.

• Xu Xiao used Telekinesis to disrupt Elder Qin’s defenses and killed him with five iron shards aimed at his vital points.
• The monk, Daoist, and two eunuchs rushed toward Xu Xiao after Elder Qin fell, but the monk and Daoist hesitated.
• One eunuch attacked Xu Xiao with golden needles while the other launched more than twenty spears and lances at him.
• Xu Xiao stopped the needles with a Telekinesis shield and deflected the weapons, alarming the two eunuchs.
• Xu Xiao squeezed the two eunuchs with ten tons of Telekinesis, overwhelming their protective True Qi.

Xu Xiao defeated the two old eunuchs and caught the monk and Daoist as they fled. He demanded their help finding the emperor of Zhao Song, and the monk claimed he knew a way.

• Daoist Xuanxiao and Master Fakong chose to wait and watch rather than risk fighting Xu Xiao.
• Xu Xiao used the iron sheet and Telekinesis to fatally wound Old Eunuch A Guang and Old Eunuch A Lin, leaving them alive for the moment.
• Xu Xiao chased down Daoist Xuanxiao and Master Fakong and forced them to stop.
• Xu Xiao offered to spare the pair if they helped him locate the emperor of Zhao Song.
• Master Fakong agreed and said he knew a way to find the emperor.

Xu Xiao used a mind-bewitching sound attack to locate Zhao Xu, who was fleeing through the palace, while Daoist Xuanxiao offered to treat Xu Xiao’s frail body to save his own life. Xu Xiao flew off to confront the emperor, leaving Xuanxiao waiting in the palace.

• Xu Xiao’s sound attack reached Zhao Xu and the soldiers escorting him, making them answer aloud until Eunuch Huang broke the enchantment and hurried the emperor onward.
• Xu Xiao heard Zhao Xu’s reply, and Fakong praised him for quickly learning the Brahma Sound Formless Consciousness-Seeking Sutra before taking his leave.
• Xu Xiao prepared to drain Daoist Xuanxiao’s internal energy, but Xuanxiao persuaded him that his knowledge of medicine and Daoist texts could help restore Xu Xiao’s health.
• Xu Xiao agreed to spare Xuanxiao if he treated him, warned him not to run, and flew off to meet Zhao Xu.

Xu Xiao searched the palace for Zhao Xu while promising Wang Yuyan, A Zhu, and A Bi that he would stop killing anyone who did not resist. Zhao Xu and Eunuch Huang tried to escape through a hidden tunnel, but Xu Xiao uncovered it and confronted them.

• Xu Xiao freed Wang Yuyan, A Zhu, and A Bi from the ceremonial pillar and promised not to kill anyone else unless they resisted.
• Xu Xiao used the Brahma Sound Formless Consciousness-Seeking Sutra to search the palace and call for Zhao Xu.
• Eunuch Huang found a hidden passage beneath a floor tile in Zichen Hall and went down to inspect it.
• When Zhao Xu nearly answered Xu Xiao's call, Eunuch Huang pulled him into the tunnel and led him onward.
• The tunnel shook as Xu Xiao tore away its covering and lifted Zhao Xu and Eunuch Huang into the open.
• Xu Xiao confronted Zhao Xu, who asked whether he was the villain who had entered the palace.

Xu Xiao captured Zhao Xu after tearing apart the palace, then forced the young emperor to summon Kaifeng’s officials for an emergency court session. Xu Xiao planned to seize control of the court while leaving Zhao Xu on the throne as a puppet, and the officials gathered unaware of the upheaval awaiting them.

• Xu Xiao pursued Zhao Xu through the palace, used telekinesis to expose the tunnel, and captured the emperor hiding underground.
• Xu Xiao told Zhao Xu he had come to take control, not kill him, and hurled him into the ruins when Zhao Xu spoke to him with an air of authority.
• Xu Xiao threatened Zhao Xu and promised to keep him emperor if he obeyed, then demanded that he summon Kaifeng’s officials to court.
• Zhao Xu agreed to issue the summons, hoping to reclaim power from the empress dowager and the court’s aristocratic families.
• Xu Xiao and Zhao Xu gathered palace soldiers and eunuchs to summon the officials to a late-night emergency court session.

Xu Xiao backed Zhao Xu at a grand court assembly and secured an imperial decree granting himself authority over the military, provoking furious objections from officials. The chapter ended with Xu Xiao rising into the air to confront them.

• Zhao Xu refused to meet Empress Dowager Gao before the assembly, and Xu Xiao urged him to rule without relying on her or the ministers.
• Xu Xiao and the three women joined Zhao Xu at Daqing Hall, where officials gathered amid evidence of the palace bloodshed.
• After the officials paid their respects, Zhao Xu ordered Eunuch Huang to proclaim a decree appointing Xu Xiao Military Command Commissioner and granting him sweeping honors and powers.
• Officials who did not know what had happened in the palace protested the decree, while those who knew watched Xu Xiao in silence.
• Xu Xiao called the protesting ministers wine sacks and rice bags, then rose into the air to face them.

Xu Xiao forced the court to accept his appointment as Great Song's Military Command Commissioner by killing officials who hesitated or resisted. He established the Martial Command Office, ordered the court to surrender control of the army and jianghu, and demanded that ministers donate half their family wealth.

• Xu Xiao killed two officials who challenged him, then crushed left chancellor Lü Dachun when he hesitated to answer whether he agreed with the emperor's decree.
• Xu Xiao killed more officials who could not promptly declare their agreement, while the remaining dignitaries and the emperor submitted.
• Xu Xiao announced that he was Great Song's Military Command Commissioner and established the Martial Command Office to control the country's armies.
• Xu Xiao ordered Great Song to bring the three teachings, nine schools, and jianghu under the court's control, and demanded half of each minister's family property to fund his office.
• Xu Xiao killed an official who pleaded poverty and warned the court that anyone who disobeyed him or plotted against him would face death and the destruction of their entire clan.

Xu Xiao explained to Zhao Xu why the officials were likely to rebel despite agreeing to his demands, and prepared to crush their resistance that night. He ordered Zhao Xu to test the imperial guards’ loyalties while Xu Xiao planned to demonstrate his power.

• Xu Xiao took Zhao Xu and the three women into the inner palace after dismissing the court.
• Xu Xiao explained that the officials might seek to replace Zhao Xu because his actions threatened their interests and they had not yet seen Xu Xiao’s full power.
• Xu Xiao reassured Zhao Xu that he would protect him through the coming night and that the court’s proposals would take effect afterward.
• Xu Xiao ordered Zhao Xu to send trusted men to the imperial guard camp, keep the guards from acting rashly, and identify which guards obeyed him.
• Xu Xiao said he would personally show the officials what irresistible power looked like.

Gao Heng received Empress Dowager Gao’s approval for a rebellion to replace the young emperor and ordered the conspirators to prepare to seize the imperial city. As the plotters gathered for their attack, one uneasy conspirator questioned how Xu Xiao had taken control of the emperor, but joined the conspiracy despite his doubts.

• Gao Heng read a message from Empress Dowager Gao confirming that she supported installing a new emperor and would help mobilize the Imperial Army.
• Gao Heng told the gathered officials and gentry leaders to prepare to enter the imperial city at the third watch, using fireworks as their signal.
• A conspirator asked what had happened to the Palace Front Army corpses and warned that Xu Xiao might have killed the soldiers, but the others mocked and threatened him into silence.
• After the gathering broke up, the uneasy conspirator wondered how Xu Xiao had seized the emperor and whether the three thousand Palace Front Army soldiers could have protected him.
• The conspirator decided he could not withdraw from the rebellion and resolved to fight with his life on the line.

Yu Wenzhao weighed the danger of choosing sides as emissaries from the empress dowager, aristocratic clans, and emperor sought his support. Eunuch Huang told him to keep his troops outside the city while the emperor’s allies handled matters within, and Yu agreed.

• Yu Wenzhao received emissaries from the aristocratic clans and the empress dowager, then learned that an envoy from the emperor had arrived.
• Yu Wenzhao feared that either helping or abandoning the palace would bring punishment, and he considered siding with the aristocratic clans.
• Eunuch Huang told Yu Wenzhao that the emperor only required him to keep his troops outside the city.
• Eunuch Huang warned Yu Wenzhao not to ruin himself, then left to contact the commanders of the other imperial guard units.
• Yu Wenzhao promised to control his troops and prevent them from entering the city.

Rebel forces backed by the empress dowager entered Kaifeng and began marching on the imperial palace, while Xu Xiao kept Zhao Xu and the others in Daqing Hall near Xuande Gate. Xu Xiao promised to protect the young emperor, whose throne—and whose future relationship with Xu Xiao—remained uncertain as the battle began.

• Qin Jingzhong led elite troops into Kaifeng and waited for the signal to attack the imperial palace.
• After a flare and fireworks signaled the revolt, Qin Jingzhong rallied his troops to storm the palace and clear the emperor's side.
• Palace reports informed Zhao Xu that the Palace Front Army had defended Xuande Gate, the empress dowager had left the palace, and rebels were advancing through the city.
• Xu Xiao insisted that Zhao Xu, the three women, and the eunuchs remain in Daqing Hall, where he could protect them near Xuande Gate.
• Zhao Xu offered to make Xu Xiao his adoptive father if he saved him, but Xu Xiao refused and reassured him that their interests were aligned.

Qin Jingzhong’s rebel forces besieged Xuande Gate, where Zhao Hu rallied the Palace Front Army to defend the young emperor. When the rebels attacked with arrows and fire cannon, Xu Xiao appeared above the gate and halted the flaming projectiles, leaving the battle poised for his intervention.

• Qin Jingzhong received orders to attack Xuande Gate while the other rebel armies assaulted the palace’s remaining gates.
• Qin Jingzhong ordered siege engines, eight-ox crossbows, and fire cannon deployed, then promised rewards to the first troops to enter the palace.
• Zhao Hu urged the Palace Front Army to defend the emperor and shot an arrow that pierced three advancing rebel soldiers.
• The Palace Front Army and rebels exchanged volleys of arrows as Qin Jingzhong’s forces advanced.
• Qin Jingzhong ordered the fire cannon launched, but Xu Xiao appeared above Xuande Gate and froze the flaming projectiles in midair.

Xu Xiao confronted the army besieging the imperial city, using Telekinesis and the soldiers’ own weapons to defeat its commanders and break its resolve. After Qin Jingzhong was killed, the soldiers surrendered, leaving Xu Xiao in control of the battlefield.

• Xu Xiao arrived at Xuande Gate and told Zhao Hu to fall back as he faced the besieging army alone.
• Xu Xiao used spinning fireballs to destroy an incoming volley of arrows, then flew toward the enemy formation and bombarded it with fireballs.
• Xu Xiao identified Qin Jingzhong as the army’s leader and gathered weapons across the battlefield into a massive airborne ring.
• Xu Xiao declared himself the Great Song’s Military Command Commissioner and unleashed the weapons, killing Qin Jingzhong and the generals around him.
• Xu Xiao threatened the remaining troops with another attack, and the soldiers laid down their weapons and surrendered.

At Donghua Gate, Gao Heng’s forces attacked the palace, but Imperial Army troops armed with eight-ox crossbows and cavalry turned against them. Xu Xiao joined the counterattack, and the rebellion was crushed across the other gates as well.

• Gao Heng ordered his soldiers to seize Donghua Gate and promised a lavish reward to whoever reached its tower first.
• The three Wang brothers charged toward the gate, but Imperial Army crossbow bolts struck their path and overwhelmed them.
• Imperial Army cavalry units Pangri and Tianwu attacked Gao Heng’s troops, and an arrow wounded Gao Heng before he fell beneath a horse’s hoof.
• Imperial Army forces switched sides at the other two gates and slaughtered the rebels under Xu Xiao’s orders.
• Xu Xiao joined a unit in the fighting, and the rebellion was dismantled.

Xu Xiao established the Martial Command Office and began targeting the Beggar Clan as part of his plan to bring the martial world under control within a month. In Hebei, his men captured Zhang Quanxiang for spreading dissent, and Xu Xiao learned that Qiao Feng had not yet returned to the clan headquarters.

• Kaifeng soldiers arrested officials and prominent families, executed the men, and sent the women to the Imperial Music Bureau.
• A week later, a storyteller in Hebei repeated claims about Xu Xiao's strength and his plan to bring the martial world in Great Song in order within a month.
• Zhang Quanxiang, a Beggar Clan disciple, challenged the Martial Command Commissioner's authority in a teahouse and was captured by Martial Command Office men.
• Wu 1 reported to Xu Xiao that Beggar Clan members were plotting against their leader, but Qiao Feng had not yet returned to headquarters.
• Xu Xiao ordered Wu 1 to keep watch for Qiao Feng and reflected that his intervention had disrupted the original timeline.