Recaps

Xu Xiao explained why he planned to win the Beggar Clan through Qiao Feng and ideals rather than force. He learned Qiao Feng would reach Hebei the next day and intended to prevent the events that would expose Qiao Feng as a Khitan.

• Wu 1 reported that Qiao Feng was heading for the Beggar Clan headquarters and would arrive by noon the next day.
• Xu Xiao ordered Wu 1 to watch Qiao Feng and bring him to Xu Xiao if he entered the city.
• Xu Xiao told A Zhu, A Bi, and Wang Yuyan that the martial world required different methods from the imperial court, and that Qiao Feng could lead the Beggar Clan.
• Xu Xiao said he would prevent Qiao Feng's Khitan identity from becoming known and eliminate those who knew it.
• Xu Xiao changed the subject and led the three women away with him.

Wu 1 brought Qiao Feng to meet Xu Xiao, the Military Command Commissioner, who offered him a chance to cooperate and presented Kang Min and a letter as a gift. After reading the letter, Qiao Feng asked Xu Xiao where it had come from.

• Wu 1 intercepted Qiao Feng on the road and invited him to meet Xu Xiao at the Military Command Office.
• Qiao Feng accepted the invitation and followed Wu 1 to a heavily guarded manor.
• Xu Xiao received Qiao Feng in a pavilion and said he had a great opportunity to offer him.
• Xu Xiao had Kang Min brought in under guard and gave Qiao Feng an envelope.
• Qiao Feng read the letter, then asked Xu Xiao where it had come from.

Xu Xiao revealed the truth behind Qiao Feng’s framing and secured Kang Min’s confession, then asked Qiao Feng to cooperate with the Martial Command Office. The chapter ended with Qiao Feng rejecting Xu Xiao’s proposal to absorb the Beggar Clan.

• Xu Xiao showed Qiao Feng Wang Jiantong’s letter and recounted the truth about Qiao Feng’s past and his framing.
• Xu Xiao forced Kang Min to confess that she had conspired with Bai Shijing and Quan Guanqing to murder Ma Dayuan and frame Qiao Feng.
• Qiao Feng tried to strike the pavilion in anger, but Xu Xiao stopped his palm with Telekinesis.
• Xu Xiao killed Kang Min, and Qiao Feng accepted that he had acted on his behalf.
• Xu Xiao proposed that the Beggar Clan merge into the Martial Command Office and leave the martial world, but Qiao Feng refused.

Xu Xiao urged Qiao Feng to disband the Beggar Clan and bring its fighters into the Martial Command Office, arguing that their unsanctioned raids caused needless deaths and reprisals against civilians. Qiao Feng’s Khitan identity left him conflicted, while Xu Xiao made clear that refusal could mean the Beggar Clan’s destruction.

• Qiao Feng defended the Beggar Clan’s resistance to the Tatars and its aid to disaster victims.
• Xu Xiao argued that the clan’s poorly planned attacks cost its disciples their lives and brought harsher retaliation upon border residents and merchants.
• Xu Xiao proposed uniting the jianghu and Great Song’s military under the Martial Command Office to defeat Liao and Western Xia.
• Qiao Feng hesitated because he had learned he was Khitan and questioned whether he could fight for Great Song.
• Xu Xiao offered to protect Qiao Feng and support him if he joined, but threatened to destroy the Beggar Clan if he refused.

Xu Xiao sent Qiao Feng to propose that the Beggar Clan join the Martial Command Office, while preparing troops to enforce his plans if Qiao Feng failed. At Apricot Grove, Qiao Feng presented the proposal to the clan, prompting objections from Quan Guanqing.

• A Zhu questioned Xu Xiao about trusting Qiao Feng, and Xu Xiao warned the women not to interfere in men's affairs.
• Wu 1 reported that Qiao Feng had called a Beggar Clan meeting at Apricot Grove, and Xu Xiao ordered his backup forces prepared.
• Qiao Feng opened the meeting before Quan Guanqing could accuse him over Ma Dayuan's death.
• Qiao Feng told the Beggar Clan that the Martial Command Office wanted suitable disciples to join and serve the country, which would end the clan's existence.
• Quan Guanqing objected to Qiao Feng's proposal.

Qiao Feng tried to put the Beggar Clan’s merger with the Martial Command Office to a vote, but Quan Guanqing exposed his Khitan ancestry and disrupted the gathering. The Martial Command Office then arrived in force, taking Quan Guanqing away as its officers appeared throughout Apricot Grove.

• Quan Guanqing and the four elders opposed Qiao Feng’s plan to merge the Beggar Clan with the Martial Command Office.
• Qiao Feng asked the gathered disciples whether they wanted to remain in the Beggar Clan or join the Martial Command Office and serve the country.
• Quan Guanqing accused Qiao Feng of being a Khitan and betraying his ancestors, while the other disciples angrily defended their clan leader.
• A voice from afar said it would interrogate Quan Guanqing, and a terrifying force dragged him over the disciples to a group a hundred meters away.
• Two or three hundred Martial Command Office officers in black training clothes appeared throughout Apricot Grove, armed with sabers and crossbows.

Xu Xiao surrounded the Beggar Clan gathering with the Martial Command Office and took charge of a public inquiry meant to clear Qiao Feng’s name. After Bai Shijing confessed to his role in Ma Dayuan’s murder and the plot against Qiao Feng, Xu Xiao killed him and began questioning Elder Xu.

• Wu 1 confronted the Beggar Clan as the Martial Command Office surrounded its gathering, and Qiao Feng ordered the disciples to put down their weapons.
• Xu Xiao arrived and brought Quan Guanqing, Bai Shijing, Elder Xu, and others before Qiao Feng, declaring that he would try the case.
• Quan Guanqing slandered Qiao Feng, so Xu Xiao crushed him to death with Telekinesis.
• Xu Xiao threatened Bai Shijing until he confessed that he had helped Kang Min kill Ma Dayuan and frame Qiao Feng.
• Xu Xiao killed Bai Shijing after his confession and demanded that Elder Xu explain why he had joined Quan Guanqing’s accusations.

Xu Xiao questioned the Beggar Clan elders and witnesses about the plot against Qiao Feng, executing Elder Xu and sparing Zhao Qiansun and Zhiguang under punishment. After Qiao Feng accepted that Murong Bo was the culprit behind his family’s misfortune, Xu Xiao asked whether the Beggar Clan would join the Martial Command Office.

• Elder Xu confessed that he had conspired with Quan Guanqing to regain control of the Beggar Clan, and Xu Xiao had him beheaded.
• Xu Xiao restrained Qiao Feng when he tried to stop the execution, then warned him that the Beggar Clan could be destroyed if he ignored their agreement.
• Zhao Qiansun and Monk Zhiguang recounted the events at Yanmen Pass and admitted they had wronged Qiao Feng.
• Xu Xiao spared Zhao Qiansun and Zhiguang, ordering Zhao Qiansun to cripple his martial arts and Zhiguang to remain in his temple.
• Qiao Feng said he would pursue Murong Bo, while Xu Xiao absorbed Internal Energy from the remaining witnesses.
• Xu Xiao reminded Qiao Feng to keep his promise and asked whether the Beggar Clan would join the Martial Command Office.

Xu Xiao pressed the Beggar Clan to join the Martial Command Office while Qiao Feng hesitated because of his Khitan identity. Xu Xiao revealed he wanted Qiao Feng to lead in his absence and promised to help him capture Murong Bo and meet his birth father.

• Western Xia cavalry headed for the Beggar Clan’s headquarters, but Martial Command Office scouts spotted them and sent a carrier pigeon to Xu Xiao.
• Qiao Feng refused to decide for the Beggar Clan, so Xu Xiao addressed the disciples and offered them places or jobs if they submitted to the Martial Command Office.
• The Beggar Clan disciples stayed put rather than oppose Xu Xiao, and he asked Qiao Feng to join and serve the Great Song.
• Qiao Feng said he could not accept because he was a Khitan and had urgent matters to settle, prompting Xu Xiao to decide he wanted Qiao Feng to take charge in his absence.
• Xu Xiao promised to eliminate the Khitan and Western Xia royal families, erase the distinction between Han and foreigner, and help Qiao Feng capture Murong Bo and meet his birth father.

Qiao Feng agreed to join the Martial Command Office, and Xu Xiao set the Beggar Clan’s dissolution and absorption in motion. Xu Xiao then led the clan toward an ambush on the Western Xia First-Class Hall, where the surviving riders faced a second attack from elite Martial Command Office troops.

• Qiao Feng instructed the Beggar Clan’s senior members to send their disciples to the nearest Martial Command Office assessment site.
• Wu 1 told Xu Xiao that the Western Xia First-Class Hall had entered the encirclement, and Xu Xiao ordered him to rally the Beggar Clan for battle.
• Qiao Feng and the Beggar Clan members joined the Martial Command Office’s forces as they marched toward the Western Xia First-Class Hall.
• Three thousand Hebei garrison troops fired a volley of arrows at Helian Tieshu’s cavalry, killing most of the riders.
• Helian Tieshu and a few survivors, including Li Yanzong in disguise as Murong Fu, tried to retreat, but Martial Command Office soldiers attacked them with crossbows and sabers.

Murong Fu fought the Martial Command Office soldiers, killed Helian Tieshu, and was trapped by their formation. Xu Xiao persuaded Qiao Feng to help bring the martial world under Great Song’s control, leaving Qiao Feng bound for Shaolin and tasked with breaking up the martial organizations within two months.

• Murong Fu used Star Shifting to throw two Western Xia riders into a volley of crossbow bolts, then killed Helian Tieshu and revealed himself as a Great Song spy.
• Murong Fu tried to break through the Martial Command Office soldiers, but their disciplined formation kept him surrounded as Xu Xiao and Qiao Feng watched.
• Qiao Feng told Xu Xiao that the soldiers’ formation made escape nearly impossible, and Xu Xiao explained his plan to unite the martial world for Great Song.
• Xu Xiao praised Qiao Feng regardless of his Khitan origins and said they would next go to Shaolin, where Qiao Feng could settle his grievances.
• Xu Xiao ordered Qiao Feng to dismantle Great Song’s established martial organizations and recruit their best members within two months, and Qiao Feng accepted.

After Murong Fu's death, Xu Xiao continued his campaign to bring the jianghu under the Martial Command Office's control. Duan Yanqing led Xu Xiao's forces to Ding Chunqiu, whom they trapped inside a burning inn and waited to capture.

• Xu Xiao ordered the Western Xia First-Class Hall's dead burned and increased compensation for the Martial Command Office's fallen and wounded.
• The Martial Command Office began absorbing the Beggar Clan in Hebei, and Xu Xiao's party traveled toward Henan.
• Duan Yanqing met Xu Xiao and reported that Ding Chunqiu had returned to the Central Plains; Xu Xiao agreed to pursue him in exchange for promised information.
• Duan Yanqing tracked Ding Chunqiu to an inn where the Xingxiu Sect was staying.
• Xu Xiao's soldiers surrounded the inn, fired volleys of arrows, and threw in jars of oil before setting the building ablaze with flaming arrows.
• Ding Chunqiu was trapped in the raging fire as the Martial Command Office's soldiers waited outside with crossbows.

Xu Xiao’s forces captured Ding Chunqiu after Qiao Feng and Wu 1 ambushed him as he escaped a fire. Back at the mansion, Xu Xiao began telling Duan Yanqing the truth he had been waiting to learn, leaving the revelation unfinished.

• The Martial Command Office set fire to flush Ding Chunqiu out, and he threw poisonous powder toward the soldiers as he escaped.
• Qiao Feng dispersed the poison while Wu 1 attacked Ding Chunqiu, and together they wounded him and pierced his limbs with a spear.
• Wu 1 sealed Ding Chunqiu’s mute acupoint, bound him, and took him to the city lodgings under guard.
• Xu Xiao asked Duan Yanqing about his old injuries, then promised to explain the matter Duan Yanqing had hoped to learn.
• Xu Xiao said Duan Zhengming’s family had taken Duan Yanqing’s throne and that Duan Zhengchun had wronged many men, then began recounting what had happened in the past.

Xu Xiao told Duan Yanqing the truth about Duan Yu and sent him to Dali with a warning for its ruling clans. The next day, Xu Xiao’s party arrived at Deaf-Mute Valley with the captive Ding Chunqiu, and Su Xinghe agreed to inform Wuyazi of their visit.

• Xu Xiao told Duan Yanqing that Duan Yu would become emperor of Dali, and Duan Yanqing vowed to seek out his child.
• Xu Xiao ordered Duan Yanqing to tell the Gao Clan and Duan Clan to submit, then let him leave.
• Xu Xiao received his returning subordinates and decided to bring Ding Chunqiu to Wuyazi as a gift.
• The Martial Command Office party reached Deaf-Mute Valley, where Wu 1 told Su Xinghe they had come to visit Wuyazi.
• Su Xinghe recognized the bound Ding Chunqiu and nearly struck him, but Wu 1 stopped him.
• Su Xinghe agreed to alert Wuyazi, and Wu 1 sent an attendant to tell Xu Xiao the way was clear.

Xu Xiao brought Wang Yuyan to meet her grandfather, Wuyazi, at Mount Leigu, using their family connection and his knowledge of the Northern Darkness Divine Art to win Wuyazi’s trust. The meeting ended with Wuyazi joyfully welcoming his granddaughter, while Xu Xiao prepared to seek his guidance in Carefree Sect martial arts.

• Xu Xiao sent A Zhu and A Bi to enjoy the mountains and took Wang Yuyan into the valley to meet her grandfather.
• Su Xinghe recognized Xu Xiao’s Northern Darkness Divine Art and was startled by Wang Yuyan’s resemblance to Li Qiushui.
• Xu Xiao killed Ding Chunqiu, carried his head as a gift, and broke through the hidden entrance to Wuyazi’s chamber.
• Wuyazi mistook Wang Yuyan for Li Qiushui at first, then learned she was his granddaughter and joyfully welcomed her.
• Xu Xiao reassured Wang Yuyan and planned to use their family bond to gain Wuyazi’s knowledge and guidance.

Wang Yuyan reunited with her grandfather Wuyazi and introduced Xu Xiao as her husband. After Xu Xiao presented Ding Chunqiu’s severed head and asked for Wuyazi’s help, Wuyazi recognized Xu Xiao’s Northern Darkness Divine Art.

• Wang Yuyan spent half an hour telling Wuyazi about her family and introduced Xu Xiao as her husband.
• Wuyazi examined Xu Xiao’s internal cultivation and praised it as among the best in the world.
• Xu Xiao presented Ding Chunqiu’s head, and Wuyazi rejoiced that his old enemy had been killed.
• Wuyazi asked Xu Xiao what he wanted in return for avenging him, and Xu Xiao displayed his internal energy.
• Wuyazi recognized the Northern Darkness Divine Art and asked Xu Xiao where he had learned it.

Xu Xiao sought Wuyazi’s guidance after reaching a limit in his Northern Darkness Divine Art cultivation. Wuyazi made him head of the Carefree Sect and prepared to reveal its greatest secret, sending Wang Yuyan away first.

• Xu Xiao explained that he had learned the Northern Darkness Divine Art about a month earlier and absorbed his Internal Energy from martial-world enemies.
• Wuyazi recognized that Xu Xiao had reached a cultivation bottleneck and said he could offer a line of thought, though he did not know the solution himself.
• Wuyazi described the Carefree Sect’s four inheritors and explained that their separate arts did not represent the sect’s true essence.
• Wuyazi offered Xu Xiao the position of sect leader, and Xu Xiao accepted, promising to restore the sect’s greatness.
• Wuyazi passed Xu Xiao the Seven-Treasure Ring after Xu Xiao swore his oath, officially making him the Carefree Sect’s new head.
• Wuyazi sent Wang Yuyan to wait in an empty room before revealing the secret reserved for the sect leader.

Wuyazi explained the origins of Carefree Wind Riding and revealed that its cultivation could lead to immortality, though the world’s Spiritual Qi had become scarce. Xu Xiao learned the art’s three-stage method and was left eager to pursue it.

• Wuyazi told Xu Xiao that Carefree Wind Riding was the Carefree Sect’s supreme art, from which its three other arts had been derived.
• Wuyazi explained that Carefree Wind Riding required the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, which generations of cultivators had depleted.
• Xu Xiao became excited at the prospect of cultivating immortality and asked Wuyazi to teach him the method.
• Wuyazi described how the Northern Darkness Divine Art, Ageless Everlasting Spring Art, and Minor Formless Art formed the three parts of Carefree Wind Riding.
• Wuyazi recalled that he and his fellow disciples had intended to study Carefree Wind Riding together, but their conflicts had prevented them.

Xu Xiao persuaded Wuyazi to stay alive and help him obtain martial arts from Wu Xingyun and Li Qiushui. As Wuyazi accompanied him on the journey, Xu Xiao focused on cultivating the Northern Darkness Divine Art while the Martial Command Office gathered rare medicinal ingredients for him.

• Xu Xiao stopped Wuyazi from taking his own life and explained that he needed Wuyazi's help securing the two women's cooperation and preserving the Carefree Sect.
• Wuyazi agreed to live on, make amends for the conflict he had caused, and see whether Xu Xiao could master Carefree Wind Riding.
• Xu Xiao sent agents with Wuyazi's letters to Vulture Palace and Western Xia, while Wu 1 led a search for the valley where the martial art's principles were carved.
• Wuyazi guided Xu Xiao in compressing his Northern Darkness True Qi, and Xu Xiao devoted himself to cultivation during the journey.
• The Martial Command Office procured rare medicinal ingredients from across the country for Xu Xiao, giving Wuyazi a glimpse of the power behind his cultivation.

As Xu Xiao’s convoy approached Shaolin, foreign powers massed troops at the Great Song’s borders while the court’s purge drew the jianghu’s attention. Wu 6 arrived at Shaolin and ordered the temple dissolved, its property seized, and its monks stripped of their privileges, leaving the monks terrified.

• Reports reached Xu Xiao that Liao, Western Xia, and Tubo were gathering troops at the border, but he remained determined to deal with Shaolin and then confront them himself.
• Black-armored cavalry arrived at Mount Song, where Prefectural Army troops had already sealed off the mountain and frightened Shaolin’s monks.
• Wu 6 led eighteen mounted riders to the temple gate and criticized Shaolin’s wealth and its monks’ privileged lives.
• Xuanci welcomed Wu 6, who taunted him about the killings at Yanmen Pass and said Qiao Feng was waiting at the foot of the mountain.
• Wu 6 announced Xu Xiao’s order to dissolve Shaolin, confiscate its scriptures and property, and make the monks pay taxes and perform compulsory service, threatening those who resisted.

Xu Xiao’s ultimatum to Shaolin Temple ended in armed resistance, giving him the pretext to destroy the temple and make an example of it for the martial world. As Qiao Feng relayed the order to set fires, Shaolin prepared to face the encircling army.

• Xuanci rejected Wu 6’s demand that Shaolin disband, surrender its scriptures and property, and have its monks pay taxes and perform corvée labor.
• Xuanci ordered Xuannan and Xuanji to seize Wu 6, but eighteen cavalrymen fired crossbows at the monks, and Wu 6’s men threw explosive jars that set Shaolin’s buildings ablaze.
• Xuanci summoned Shaolin’s disciples and ordered them to find a way to preserve the temple as the monks prepared to resist.
• Xu Xiao explained that he had surrounded Shaolin to intimidate martial sects across the land, while allowing martial-world observers to witness the campaign.
• After Wu 6 reported Shaolin’s resistance, Xu Xiao ordered Qiao Feng to tell the troops to light the fires, and Qiao Feng agreed to carry out the plan.

As Shaolin Temple faced destruction, Xuanci led the monks down the only unburned route, where Xu Xiao’s forces attacked them. The Sweeper Monk stepped forward to shield the monks and charged toward Xu Xiao amid a barrage of battlefield weapons.

• Xuanci and the Shaolin monks abandoned their escape plan when soldiers set Mount Shaoshi ablaze, and Xuanci ordered them to carry the scriptures and valuables down the main road.
• Xu Xiao’s forces surrounded the road, and Wu 6 ordered arrows fired as the monks descended, killing most of them in the first volley.
• The Sweeper Monk emerged and deflected arrows with his three-foot Qi wall, prompting Xu Xiao to order bed crossbows and catapults to attack.
• The Sweeper Monk used his Qi wall and a seized crossbow bolt to deflect the heavier barrage, then charged toward Xu Xiao.

The Sweeper Monk tried to capture Xu Xiao, but Qiao Feng intervened until Xu Xiao chose to face the monk himself. Xu Xiao’s compressed Northern Darkness True Qi broke through the monk’s protective Qi, and their duel began with neither side yet defeated.

• Wu 6 and Xu Xiao’s guards tried to stop the Sweeper Monk, but he swept them aside without killing them.
• Qiao Feng blocked the Sweeper Monk’s path and struck him with The Proud Dragon Repents, but the monk forced him back.
• Qiao Feng refused to retreat from Xu Xiao’s carriage until Xu Xiao ordered him to stand down and take revenge among Shaolin’s ranks.
• Xu Xiao challenged the Sweeper Monk and threatened Shaolin and Buddhism in Great Song if the monk lost.
• Xu Xiao used Lingbo Weibu and his compressed Northern Darkness True Qi to break through the Sweeper Monk’s protective Qi, forcing the monk to dodge and retreat.

Xu Xiao defeated the Sweeper Monk after using Telekinesis to immobilize him and striking him with overwhelming force. Reflecting on the fight, Xu Xiao decided to rely on strengthening his internal energy, Telekinesis, and body rather than focusing on martial techniques.

• Xu Xiao and the Sweeper Monk exchanged attacks, but Xu Xiao's Northern Darkness True Qi absorbed or deflected the monk's strikes while Xu Xiao's blows hurt him.
• The Sweeper Monk stopped meeting Xu Xiao head-on and relied on evasion, hoping to exhaust Xu Xiao's True Qi.
• Xu Xiao warned the Sweeper Monk, then used Telekinesis to bind him and propel himself into a rapid attack.
• Xu Xiao's punch broke through the Sweeper Monk's Qi wall and smashed his face, killing him.
• Xu Xiao concluded that he could compensate for weak techniques by improving his internal energy, Telekinesis, and physical condition.

Xu Xiao destroyed Shaolin Temple, brought Qiao Feng and Xiao Yuanshan into his service, and tightened the Martial Command Office’s control over the jianghu. After Liao, Tubo, and Western Xia invaded Great Song, Xu Xiao assigned his commanders to track down foreign leaders and prepared to lead the fight himself.

• Xu Xiao watched Qiao Feng and Xiao Yuanshan fight Shaolin’s forces before the Martial Command Office annihilated the temple and burned its corpses.
• Qiao Feng and Xiao Yuanshan thanked Xu Xiao, pledged their loyalty, and agreed to serve under him.
• The Martial Command Office announced that martial artists must register and urged jianghu sects to disband or join its ranks.
• Three days after Shaolin’s destruction, Liao, Tubo, and Western Xia invaded Great Song, while domestic jianghu factions began stirring.
• Xu Xiao ordered Qiao Feng to maintain control of the domestic jianghu, sent deputy commanders to locate foreign leaders, and declared he would personally destroy the invading armies.