Chapter Summaries

Wang Hao and his companions discovered Feng Lun’s secret escape passage and loaded his treasure onto a rail cart while preparing to destroy the passage with gunpowder. As General Shen led soldiers toward the treasure chamber to seize the loot, Wang Hao and the others were already escaping through the tunnel.

• Old Cheng told Wang Hao he had killed the wounded Super-First-Rate expert, and Wang Hao began cutting through the secret chamber’s iron wall.
• Wang Hao broke through the wall and found a tunnel containing gunpowder barrels, iron rails, and a flatbed cart.
• Wang Hao loaded more than a hundred boxes of treasure onto the cart and headed down the tunnel with Wangcai, while Zhou Xueyi followed with Feng Lun’s head.
• Old Cheng moved the gunpowder into the chamber, lit its fuse, and raced after the others.
• The chief steward told General Shen that Feng Lun was dead and the villains were in the treasure chamber, and General Shen led his soldiers inside to seize the treasure.

General Shen’s attempt to seize Feng Lun’s treasure ended in a gunpowder blast that destroyed the residence and killed his soldiers, while Wang Hao and his companions escaped through the secret passage. After reaching a ship outside Hangzhou, Wang Hao learned that Zhou Xueyi now owed him her life rather than a marriage.

• General Shen’s soldiers triggered a massive gunpowder explosion beneath the Feng residence, destroying the grounds and killing the troops inside.
• General Shen questioned the chief steward about the passage’s exit, then ordered Hangzhou’s routes sealed and travelers searched.
• Wang Hao, Zhou Xueyi, Old Cheng, and Wangcai survived the blast, though Zhou broke her arm and Old Cheng suffered serious injuries.
• Wang Hao opened the passage’s sealed end and discovered it emerged from a dry well in an abandoned temple outside Hangzhou, beside a river.
• Wang Hao brought the others and the scattered treasure aboard their ship, where a physician began treating Old Cheng.
• Wang Hao asked Zhou Xueyi about her promise to marry Feng Lun’s killer, and she said she had changed it so that the killer would own her life.

Wang Hao tried to reassure Zhou Xueyi after Wangcai ate the offerings she had made for her father, then offered to forge her a better spear. At the forge, he selected Profound Iron for the weapon but instead picked up the wokou leader’s saber.

• Yushu reported that Zhou Xueyi had been settled in and Lin Zhennan had departed, and Wang Hao asked whether he was ugly before hoping the Thousand Faces Divine Technique could permanently change his looks.
• Wang Hao found Zhou Xueyi making offerings by the sea and learned that her father and his men had been buried beneath the water after their defeat.
• Wangcai ate Zhou Xueyi’s sacrificial meat, so Wang Hao offered to forge her a spear suited to her; she agreed to provide her spear technique and inner cultivation method the next morning.
• Wang Hao went to the forge, ordered his new disciple Zhu Yuanwai to light the furnace, and chose Profound Iron as a possible material for Zhou Xueyi’s spear.
• Wang Hao set down the Profound Iron and solemnly picked up the saber carried by the wokou leader of Peach Blossom Island.

Wang Hao studied the Japanese saber’s brittle forging technique and used what he learned to forge twenty sets of paired hard and soft longswords while teaching Zhu Yuanwai the basics of forging and Explosive Force. After finishing the overnight work, he was confronted by Zhou Xueyi, who was astonished by the swords he had made.

• Wang Hao examined the chipped Japanese saber, broke it apart, and used its qualities to inform his ideas about forging weapons.
• Wang Hao taught Zhu Yuanwai basic forging knowledge and Explosive Force as they worked through iron ingots.
• Wang Hao forged a hard sword and a soft sword from refined steel, intended as paired weapons for Yushu and the other young women.
• Wang Hao completed twenty sets of longswords by the end of the night, then prepared to teach the women the Foundation Establishment Sword Art.
• Zhu Yuanwai, exhausted from working the bellows, thanked Wang Hao and jumped into a nearby pond to cool off.
• Zhou Xueyi entered the forge and asked in disbelief whether Wang Hao had forged all twenty sets overnight.

Wang Hao recognized that Zhou Xueyi’s martial arts came from Mu Nianci’s legacy and learned how she had found them. He kept her manuals to study, promised to forge her a divine spear in two months, and gave her a body-tempering method to prepare for a different path of cultivation.

• Zhou Xueyi watched Wang Hao forge a pair of swords from four-thousand-forged steel and was astonished by the twenty pairs he had made.
• Zhou Xueyi gave Wang Hao her martial arts manuals, and he identified Carefree Wandering, the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, the Quanzhen Great Dao Song, and the Yang Family Spear.
• Wang Hao inferred that Zhou Xueyi had found Mu Nianci’s legacy, and Zhou Xueyi explained that she had discovered the manuals hidden beneath a statue in a ruined temple.
• Wang Hao explained that the manuals had been left by Yang Nianci, whose husband had met his end at the Iron Spear Temple, and learned that Old General Qi had obtained the Yang Family Pear Blossom Spear for Zhou Xueyi.
• Wang Hao said he would study Zhou Xueyi’s manuals and forge her a divine spear in two months, then gave her the Body Tempering True Scripture and instructed her to switch from internal cultivation to external force after her arm healed.
• Wang Hao reassured Zhou Xueyi that external training would prepare her to become a pre-Qin Qi cultivator and would not leave her permanently muscular.

Dongfang Bai learned that Wang Hao had sent her a chest of powerful martial arts manuals, including two Xiantian Grandmaster techniques, and realized he might have known her identity all along. After Granny Song urged her not to live only for hatred, Dongfang Bai reunited with the white fox whose blood had awakened her power and left her with fox ears.

• Dongfang Bai reunited with Granny Song, who revealed that a mysterious man had sent a precious gift to the Dongfang Lineage.
• Dongfang Bai examined the manuals and found dozens of martial arts, including two Xiantian Grandmaster-level techniques.
• Granny Song showed Dongfang Bai the letter reading “Advance hand in hand,” and Dongfang Bai recognized Wang Hao’s handwriting.
• Granny Song teased Dongfang Bai about Wang Hao, then urged her to stop devoting her life to hatred before leaving Black Wood Cliff.
• Dongfang Bai wondered whether Wang Hao had resisted her Soul-Bewitching Zither Music and known her identity from the beginning.
• The white fox climbed into Dongfang Bai’s arms and knocked loose her hairpin, revealing the fox ears caused by her use of the Body Tempering True Scripture.

Wang Hao prepared to forge Zhou Xueyi's divine spear after two months of improving his forging and Explosive Force, and gained Fortune Points when Dongfang Bai received the manuals he had sent. With Zhou Xueyi and Zhu Yuanwai helping maintain the fire, Wang Hao began forging the spear blade from pure profound iron.

• Wang Hao finished a batch of divine swords, advanced his Explosive Force cultivation, and told Zhu Yuanwai to invite Zhou Xueyi for the spear forging.
• Wang Hao shaped a dragon-scale-patterned red-gold shaft in a mold Zhou Xueyi had carved, while explaining that he planned to leave the remaining red gold for Yushu and the other girls to make into armor.
• Xiao Mengmeng notified Wang Hao that Dongfang Bai had received the secret manuals, awarding him 3,130 Fortune Points.
• Wang Hao used the new Fortune Points to prepare to forge the spear, then drank Nine-Flower Jade Dew Liquid while Yushu, Zhou Xueyi, and Zhu Yuanwai joined him.
• Wang Hao heated Feng Lun's profound iron and forged it with his hammer as Zhou Xueyi and Zhu Yuanwai took turns working the bellows.

Wang Hao finished forging the Startled Dragon Divine Spear for Zhou Xueyi after three exhausting days and nights, then prepared to use the Dao Comprehension Function to master Explosive Force. Zhou Xueyi tested her new weapon and was ordered to complete her Body Tempering True Scripture cultivation before Wang Hao left at the beginning of next month.

• Wang Hao used the Dao Comprehension Function to complete the Ten-Thousand-Refined True Steel and forge it into a spearhead, advancing his Explosive Force in the process.
• Wang Hao finished the spear and collapsed from exhaustion, while Zhu Yuanwai fell asleep and Yushu arranged for the ruined forge to be cleaned.
• Zhou Xueyi retrieved the completed Startled Dragon Divine Spear and tested its extraordinary sharpness before thanking Wang Hao.
• Wang Hao scolded Zhou Xueyi for her slow progress in transforming her internal force and told her to finish the Body Tempering True Scripture before he left next month.
• Wang Hao returned to his room, bathed, and activated the Dao Comprehension Function to study Explosive Force.

Wang Hao perfected the Thousand Faces Divine Technique and created the safer Blood Sacrifice Instruction before completing the training of Yushu and the other women on Peach Blossom Island. He prepared to leave so he could continue improving his cultivation and pursue a martial arts treasure.

• Wang Hao spent Fortune Points mastering the Thousand Faces Divine Technique and devised the Blood Sacrifice Instruction, a safer method for awakening Bloodline Power and Bloodline Divine Abilities.
• Wang Hao trained Yushu and the other women in combat against Japanese pirate techniques, and they advanced toward the Second-Rate realm through relentless practice.
• Wang Hao explained that the Blood Sacrifice Instruction required only First-Rate external cultivation and could awaken weaker abilities that would strengthen as cultivation advanced.
• Wang Hao's hundred-forged Japanese saber broke during training, so he stopped the fight and declared that the women had completed their training.
• Yushu and the other women celebrated their readiness to fight the Japanese pirates, while Yushu worried that Wang Hao would soon leave.
• Wang Hao decided to leave Peach Blossom Island to resume improving his cultivation and plan to obtain a martial arts treasure.

Wang Hao left Peach Blossom Island after Zhou Xueyi completed the Body Tempering True Scripture, unaware that she was considering him as a husband before rejecting him over his looks. After Wangcai wrecked their boat, a tornado swept Wang Hao and the dog into its violent waterspout.

• Zhou Xueyi told Wang Hao she had completed the Body Tempering True Scripture, and Yushu explained that Zhou's suddenly fuller figure came from removing her chest binder.
• Yushu gave Zhou Xueyi the Foundation Establishment Spear Art and Blood Sacrifice Instruction that Wang Hao had prepared for her; Zhou admired his work but decided she could not accept him as a husband.
• Wang Hao regretted leaving Zhou behind as he rowed away, but Wangcai pulled up the boat's keel and broke the vessel apart.
• Wang Hao and Wangcai fell into the sea, and Wang Hao chased the dog while clinging to the wreckage until a tornado approached.
• Wang Hao and Wangcai dove underwater to escape the tornado, but its vortex sucked them in and seawater and fish battered Wang Hao.

Wang Hao survived the tornado with Wangcai, recovering from severe injuries and improving his Golden Bell Shield through a perilous breakthrough. He traveled to Mount Hua to seek the Five Mountains Sword Sect’s sword techniques, then learned from an inn waiter that the sect was nearly empty and that Jade Maiden Peak was the only area he should avoid.

• Wang Hao woke on the beach after the tornado and had Wangcai bring him fish so he could restore his Bloodline Power and heal.
• Wang Hao set Wangcai’s broken legs, then ate seafood and checked his status, finding that his Golden Bell Shield and cultivation had advanced at the cost of most of his Fortune Points.
• Wang Hao traveled for half a month and reached the foot of Mount Hua, intending to enter the Cliff of Reflection for the Five Mountains Sword Sect’s sword techniques.
• Wang Hao avoided going up Mount Hua immediately, changed clothes at a nearby inn, and ordered thirty roast sheep to take away.
• Wang Hao asked the waiter about Mount Hua, and the waiter said the sect had few people left after a plague and advised him to avoid Jade Maiden Peak.

Wang Hao explored the Cliff of Reflection, copied the Five Mountains Sword Sect techniques, and fought Feng Qingyang while pretending to be a Sword Faction disciple. He challenged Feng Qingyang to declare his allegiance, gambling that the old man’s loyalty would lead him to teach Wang Hao the Nine Swords of Dugu.

• Wang Hao and Wangcai finished a cartload of roast sheep outside Mount Hua, then Wang Hao climbed to the Cliff of Reflection.
• Wang Hao found the hidden cavern containing the Demon Cult elders’ skeletons and copied the Five Mountains Sword Sect techniques carved on its walls.
• Wang Hao integrated Mount Hua sword moves into the Foundation Establishment Sword Art, gathered the weapons, and tried to leave before Feng Qingyang confronted him.
• Wang Hao fought Feng Qingyang with two swords, then identified him as Grand Martial Uncle Feng Qingyang and claimed Feng Buping was his master.
• Wang Hao challenged Feng Qingyang to choose between the Sword Faction and the Qi Faction, secretly hoping to obtain the Nine Swords of Dugu.

Wang Hao tried to persuade Feng Qingyang that the Sword Faction could return to Mount Hua through the Foundation Establishment Sword Art and a new path of cultivating Sword Qi. Feng Qingyang left without teaching him the Nine Swords of Dugu, and Wang Hao was confronted by a woman on Jade Maiden Peak as he carried away weapons to sell.

• Wang Hao fabricated a tale of hardship to make Feng Qingyang feel guilty and explain why the Sword Faction wanted to reclaim Mount Hua.
• Wang Hao defended the Foundation Establishment Sword Art, claiming it could lead to external cultivation at the Grandmaster Realm and the creation of Sword Qi; he revealed his Sword Intent.
• Feng Qingyang, persuaded that Wang Hao’s path might work, sighed and vanished without teaching him the Nine Swords of Dugu.
• Wang Hao cursed Feng Qingyang, collected the weapons he had brought from the cave, and decided to sell them for money.
• A woman on Jade Maiden Peak saw the weapons on Wang Hao’s back, accused him of stealing at Mount Hua, and drew her sword.

Wang Hao fought Ning Zhongze on Mount Hua until Feng Qingyang intervened, and his words helped calm her and prompt her to rush back up the mountain. Feng Qingyang gave Wang Hao a palm art manuscript and taught him the Nine Swords of Dugu, then warned him to keep their meeting secret; afterward, he considered whether Wang Hao’s ideas could help Mount Hua rival Shaolin and Wudang.

• Wang Hao exchanged blows with Ning Zhongze, who attacked him furiously after learning he was from the Sword Faction.
• Feng Qingyang arrived and defended himself against Ning Zhongze, who demanded that he return her son; Wang Hao’s accusations about Feng’s loyalty made her pause.
• Feng Qingyang secretly told Ning Zhongze something that filled her with joy, and she hurried back up Mount Hua; Wang Hao suspected Linghu Chong was her son with Feng Qingyang.
• Feng Qingyang gave Wang Hao the Primordial Chaos Palm Art manuscript for his master and two companions, then taught him the Nine Swords of Dugu.
• Feng Qingyang warned Wang Hao not to reveal their meeting or return before a true Xiantian Grandmaster appeared, then watched him leave and wondered whether Mount Hua could rise again.

After earning Fortune Points from martial arts manuals, Wang Hao tracked down 9527 and his Blood Robe Tower team beyond the Helan Mountains. He joined their secret mission, then prepared to use his new Fortune Points to comprehend the Nine Swords of Dugu and the Five Mountains sword techniques.

• Wang Hao memorized the Primordial Chaos Palm Art, sent the Nine Swords of Dugu to Dongfang Bai, and used Wangcai to track 9527.
• Wang Hao caught up with 9527's party, fought off their initial attack, and reunited with Tie Niu.
• Wang Hao assured 9527 that no one else was following them and asked to join the mission; 9527 agreed on the condition that Wang Hao obey his orders.
• 9527 ordered Wang Hao to lead the team fifty li to a concealed campsite while he went into the forest on urgent business.
• Wang Hao learned that Dongfang Bai's receipt of the manuals had earned him more than a thousand Fortune Points, then prepared to comprehend the sword techniques.

Wang Hao joined 9527’s mission to capture Yang Jingzhong, a vice minister accused of selling military supplies to foreign tribes. He prepared a disguise and entered the inn with 9527, leaving the group poised to attack.

• Wang Hao reviewed his improved Ten Stances of Bloody Battle and sensed 9527 returning with news of their target.
• 9527 explained that Yang Jingzhong was suspected of selling Bright Armor and other military supplies to the grassland tribes, and the group set out to capture him alive.
• At the Gobi inn, Wang Hao warned that Yang Jingzhong might escape through a tunnel, so he and 9527 planned to enter first and watch him from inside.
• Wang Hao went into the mountains, ate a large feast of wild game, and returned covered in blood to disguise himself as gravely injured.
• Wang Hao pretended to collapse onto 9527, who nearly buckled under Wang Hao’s immense weight before carrying him toward the inn.

Wang Hao and 9527 ambushed Yang Jingzhong and the Five Mountains Sword Sect members who were helping him escape, but Yue Buqun proved a dangerous opponent. As Wang Hao fought Yue Buqun and identified the other swordsmen, Wangcai's urgent howls warned that a new danger had appeared.

• Yang Jingzhong told Yue Buqun and the other martial artists that he planned to flee beyond the frontier, then paid them with Profound Iron.
• Wang Hao and 9527 extinguished the inn's candles and led assassins in an attack to capture Yang Jingzhong alive.
• Wang Hao fought Yue Buqun, recognized his Mount Hua Swordsmanship, and identified the gathered martial artists as members of the Five Mountains Sword Sect.
• Wang Hao recognized Dingzhen as one of Mount Heng's Five Dings and mocked her bald head while she fought three assassins.
• Wangcai howled urgently, warning Wang Hao that it had discovered a new threat.

Wang Hao and the assassins survived an attack by Yang Jingzhong’s grassland allies, then escaped the burning inn after Yue Buqun tried to ambush him. Wang Hao spared the naive Dingzhen and teased her into giving him her first kiss.

• Wang Hao ordered 9527 and the assassins to fight desperately, but Yang Jingzhong escaped when grassland cavalry arrived with the Peak Grandmaster High Person Linghui.
• Wang Hao led everyone into the inn’s cellar and set the building ablaze to keep Linghui from attacking; Yang Jingzhong left with Linghui and the cavalry.
• After the cavalry departed, Wang Hao escaped the burning inn and blocked Yue Buqun’s surprise attack, forcing Yue Buqun to retreat.
• Wang Hao stopped the assassins from surrounding Dingzhen and warned her that her actions could implicate the Mount Heng Sect.
• Dingzhen kissed Wang Hao to secure his promise not to report her, then explained that she had grown up exchanging kisses with the women at her sect.

Wang Hao reassured Dingzhen that the Five Mountains Sword Sect would not report his identity, then set off with her to pursue Yang Jingzhong across the grasslands. They reached a snow-covered mountain guarded by cavalry, where Wang Hao prepared a sheltered camp and Dingzhen called him a wonderful man for helping with her frozen clothes.

• Wang Hao told the innkeeper to recover the Profound Iron from the burned inn and sell it in the Central Plains, then agreed to let Dingzhen accompany him on the condition that she obey his orders.
• Wang Hao learned the grassland language from the innkeeper, and he and Dingzhen followed the cavalry tracks for three days to a snow-covered mountain guarded by more than ten thousand riders.
• Wang Hao sent Dingzhen to wait in a hollow while he planned to steal horses from the cavalry camp; she found a stream and bathed, but her clothes froze in the winter cold.
• Wang Hao returned at night with five horses, broke the ice on Dingzhen's clothes, and dug a cave for shelter while she gathered firewood.
• Dingzhen praised Wang Hao as a wonderful man for drying her clothes, then lit a small fire in the cave while Wang Hao washed and changed.

Wang Hao infiltrated Five Wheels Temple to reach Yang Jingzhong and overheard him conspiring with Prince Dula and High Person Linghui over the Great Yuan Treasure and a plan to overthrow the Great Ming dynasty. High Person Linghui refused to join, but Prince Dula chose to proceed, just as Linghui sensed something amiss.

• Wang Hao ate five warhorses, left roasted innards for Wangcai, and took Dingzhen toward Great Snow Mountain.
• Wang Hao gave Dingzhen the Mysterious Water Sword and ordered her to guard a mountain path while he infiltrated Five Wheels Temple.
• Wang Hao disguised himself as a steppe warrior and listened outside the room where Yang Jingzhong, High Person Linghui, and Prince Dula were meeting.
• Yang Jingzhong revealed that he wanted the steppe forces to seize Yanjing and destroy the Great Ming imperial family so his allies could replace the dynasty.
• High Person Linghui refused to join the plan and warned Prince Dula that the steppe forces could be betrayed, but Prince Dula chose to proceed.
• High Person Linghui suddenly sensed something was wrong and looked at Prince Dula in disbelief.