Chapter Summaries

Ye Xingge prepared Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for Hongyu, then the Emperor of Yan and his inner circle discussed showcasing Ye Xingge at the birthday banquet. The chapter ended with news of trouble at the Jinghe Hot Springs, where Han Feng had hidden his son, and Wang Jinzhong concealing his reaction.

• Ye Xingge served Hongyu his Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, and she enjoyed it while he teased her beneath the table.
• At the palace banquet, Cao Xiong praised Ye Xingge’s progress, while Han Feng worried that Ye Xingge might pursue his son over a recent robbery and murder.
• Wang Jinzhong proposed having Ye Xingge compete at the Emperor of Yan’s birthday banquet to prove his abilities to foreign envoys and powerful clans.
• After Murong Xie raised security concerns, Cao Xiong agreed to guard the palace, and the Emperor of Yan ordered Fan Nu'er to notify the Heaven-Observing Pavilion.
• A young eunuch reported trouble at the Jinghe Hot Springs, prompting Cao Xiong to look at Han Feng, while Wang Jinzhong briefly showed a cold sneer.

Ye Xingge went to Jinghe Hot Springs to investigate Han Zhongwu and met A Fei, who offered to help locate him. While An Yurou and Shen Yueyao discussed whether Magistrate Shen intended to arrange Yueyao’s marriage to Ye Xingge, Ye Xingge changed into a bathrobe and entered a private pool.

• Ye Xingge reviewed testimony linking Han Zhongwu to the disappearance of merchant Yang Chun and went to Jinghe Hot Springs to find Han Zhongwu.
• A Fei met Ye Xingge and said he would ask around for Han Zhongwu, then guided him toward Hibiscus Pool.
• Shen Yueyao asked An Yurou whether her father planned to betroth her to Ye Xingge, and An Yurou said it seemed possible.
• Xiyue welcomed Ye Xingge and tried to help him change so she could look for a dragon-patterned mark, but he refused and changed by himself.
• Ye Xingge entered a small bathing pool while An Yurou and Shen Yueyao remained in the women’s pool.

Ye Xingge received a lead that Han Zhongwu was behind a merchant’s disappearance and left the Jinghe Hot Springs to confront him. Han Zhongwu waited anxiously at Snow Plum Pool as a silent, saber-wielding figure appeared outside the tea hall.

• Ye Xingge flirted with Luo Xuanqing through the United Hearts Plaque while she was on duty, and she sent Chen Xuance to check on him after she feared she had hurt him.
• Ye Xingge overheard people say that Han Zhongwu would be sent out of the city and that the missing merchant’s corpse was hidden in a well in Second Bridge Lane.
• Ye Xingge dressed, left the bathing room through its window, and headed after the speakers.
• Xiyue arrived with wine and snacks but found Ye Xingge’s bathing room empty.
• Han Zhongwu and Fan Zhe discussed finding protection and arranging Han Zhongwu’s escape while Meng Wanshan watched the window.
• A silent figure carrying a saber appeared outside the tea hall, and Han Zhongwu, Fan Zhe, and Meng Wanshan fell silent.

Ye Xingge confronted Han Zhongwu and Meng Wanshan over Yang Chun’s disappearance, then fought off masked rescuers who abducted Han and Fan. He rushed to Hibiscus Pool after An Yurou called, but arrived just in time to glimpse her and Shen Yueyao retreating behind a closed dressing-room door.

• Ye Xingge presented evidence that Han Zhongwu had cheated Yang Chun and that Meng Wanshan had taken him away, then revealed that Yang Chun’s corpse had been found in a well.
• Meng Wanshan attacked Ye Xingge in the courtyard, but Ye Xingge cut him in half and forced Han Zhongwu to offer a confession.
• Four masked fighters arrived and battled Ye Xingge while two others carried Han Zhongwu and Fan Zhe over the wall.
• Ye Xingge recognized the rescuers as a coordinated group with northern jianghu techniques, and Great Beauty warned him not to pursue them because they might serve the Cao Clan.
• An Yurou called Ye Xingge to Hibiscus Pool after hearing the fight, and she hurriedly took Shen Yueyao into the dressing room as he arrived.
• Ye Xingge stopped at the bathhouse window, glimpsed An Yurou and Shen Yueyao behind the closing door, then checked for enemies and asked whether anything was wrong.

Ye Xingge uncovered a suspicious rescue at Jinghe Hot Springs that appeared designed to frame the Cao Clan, while Huang Guan and Wang Zhengan discussed their scheme to implicate the clan in an upcoming assassination plot. After reporting the incident, Ye Xingge returned to Hibiscus Pool to continue his plan involving Xiyue and the mark on his body.

• Ye Xingge told An Yurou that masked fighters had rescued Han Zhongwu and Fan Zhe, and they suspected someone was manipulating events behind the scenes.
• Huang Guan and Wang Zhengan reviewed their plan to use the rescue to connect the Cao Clan to the assassins expected to strike at the birthday banquet.
• At Jinghe Hot Springs, Ruan Jinyu and Gongsun Yanwu questioned witnesses while Ye Xingge described the masked fighters and the snake-pattern tattoo he had glimpsed.
• Ye Xingge reported the incident to Great Beauty Luo through the United Hearts Plaque, then shared the fighters' weapons and tactics with the investigators.
• Hongyu told Ye Xingge that Zhang Jin's watchers had found no contact with the people in the shadows, and she warned him to avoid getting caught in the capital's power struggle.
• Ye Xingge headed to Hibiscus Pool, hoping Xiyue would see the temporary mark and mistake him for the Crown Prince of Western Shu.

Ye Xingge traveled with An Yurou and Shen Yueyao while Xiyue discovered a dragon-shaped mark that convinced An Yurou he was Western Shu’s crown prince. Meanwhile, Ye Gucheng noticed two suspicious martial artists before Magistrate Shen Songnian and Constable Wang Shouyin arrived at the Wujian Inn.

• An Yurou and Shen Yueyao rode with Ye Xingge, and Xiyue massaged him while looking for his identifying mark.
• Shen Yueyao asked Ye Xingge about her father, and he spun a story about meeting Magistrate Shen during a famine.
• Xiyue uncovered part of Ye Xingge’s dragon-shaped mark, leading An Yurou to suspect he was the Dragon Flower Cult’s holy son and Western Shu’s future heir.
• Ye Yuanshan and Liu Ping'er worried that Ye Xingge’s relentless crime-fighting was hurting the Wujian Inn’s business.
• Ye Gucheng spotted two veiled female martial artists, one accompanied by an eagle he suspected was an Azure Luan.
• Magistrate Shen Songnian and Wang Shouyin visited the Wujian Inn, where Ye Gucheng greeted them.

Ye Xingge learned that he would fight in a martial arts match for the emperor’s birthday, where the court intended to judge his ability, and prepared for the bout. The chapter ended with him studying in his room and contacting Luo Xuanqing before using the Yellow Strip to summon Yu'er.

• Wu Yi told Ye Xingge that he would fight an unnamed opponent in a fists-and-feet-only match at the emperor’s birthday celebration, and urged him to give everything he had.
• Ye Xingge agreed to do his best and played a close chess game against Wu Yi before leaving the Heaven-Observing Pavilion.
• Ye Xingge took a foundation-enhancing pill and began studying the Twelve Stances Art and other martial manuals to prepare for the match.
• Ye Xingge sent Luo Xuanqing a teasing message through the United Hearts Plaque, and she replied from the Myriad Phenomena Tower.
• Ye Xingge put down the plaque, took out the Yellow Strip, and tried to summon Yu'er by thinking of the Great Longevity Peach.

Hongyu dined with the Cloud and Rain Tower master while Ye Xingge struggled to master the Twelve Stances Art, and Luo Xuanqing dreamed of the Nine Qi circling overhead. The next morning Ye Xingge visited the Wujian Inn, where he reunited with Wang Shouyin and heard that a mysterious woman with an eagle had stayed there.

• Hongyu listened as the Cloud and Rain Tower master warned her not to indulge Ye Xingge, then ignored his call to return and practice with him.
• Luo Xuanqing dreamed of nine colored Qi coiling across the sky as Ye Xingge practiced the Twelve Stances Art through the night.
• Ye Xingge told Luo Xuanqing he had stayed up practicing, and she advised him to rest before the challenge matches at the Emperor of Yan's birthday celebrations.
• Ye Xingge reached the Wujian Inn, gave Ye Gucheng the Twelve Stances Art manual, and learned Magistrate Shen had gone out to visit an old friend.
• Wang Shouyin told Ye Xingge that a veiled woman with an eagle had stayed at the inn, but Ye Xingge learned she had already gone out.

Ye Gucheng and Ye Yuanshan studied a borrowed cultivation manual while Shen Songnian revisited his memories of Ye Xingge and nearly proposed him as a husband for An Yurou. The next day, Ye Xingge traveled to the imperial palace for the birthday banquet and arena competition, suspecting the attackers might strike again.

• Ye Gucheng and Ye Yuanshan concluded that the borrowed manual was an outer-door art and discussed how Ye Gucheng could practice it without exposing his true cultivation.
• Shen Songnian recalled how Ye Xingge had helped his family and the Qingxi yamen, then brought Ye Xingge's childhood wooden sword to Shen Yueyao.
• Shen Songnian suggested Ye Xingge might make a suitable husband for An Yurou, prompting Shen Yueyao to object that An Yurou should choose for herself.
• Ye Xingge rode toward the palace with Chen Xiaobao and reviewed intelligence reports that had failed to locate Fan Zhe and the others.
• Ye Xingge suspected an attack might occur at the birthday banquet and learned that Chen Xiaobao belonged to the Wuxi Chen Clan's main line.

Ye Xingge attended the Emperor of Yan’s birthday banquet, where officials and nobles prepared to watch him defend an arena against young martial artists. After the festivities, he entered the plaza and waited for his first opponent as spectators watched from inside and outside the imperial city.

• Ye Xingge arrived at the imperial city with Chen Xiaobao while Zhang Zhiqing and Old Master Yan discussed the dangers of the arranged fights and the political tensions surrounding the Cao Clan and Eight Pillars Hall.
• Xiao Bieli arrived at the banquet, and Zhang Zhiqing explained that Yuchi Jingnan had damaged his foundation years earlier.
• Ye Xingge sat among the guests, tried to contact Great Beauty Luo and Baby Bunny with the United Hearts Plaque, and heard from Great Yu'er that the assassin remained missing.
• As the performances ended, Eunuch Fan announced that Ye Xingge could be the first to defend the arena, where three victories would earn a reward.
• Ye Xingge bowed before Emperor Xiao Cang, entered the white stone plaza, spotted his family and friends watching from the Myriad Images Tower, and waited for a talented young man to challenge him.

Ye Xingge fought Dugu Xuan in a court-arranged martial arts trial and killed him with a single strike, shocking the Emperor of Yan and the assembled guests. As physicians rushed to save Dugu Xuan, Ye Xingge feared the Eldest Princess would have him executed, while the court prepared for his next match.

• Dugu Xuan stepped forward to challenge Ye Xingge, and Eunuch Fan explained that Duke Zhang had sealed Dugu Xuan's meridians to equalize their strength.
• Ye Xingge and Dugu Xuan displayed the Great Nine Yang technique before charging at each other in the square.
• Ye Xingge changed his attack mid-strike, slipped past Dugu Xuan's guard, and struck his heart with supreme yang Qi.
• Dugu Xuan was sent flying and collapsed with a fatal chest wound, leaving the crowd and Emperor of Yan stunned.
• Ye Xingge pleaded with Sun Wang and the imperial physicians to save Dugu Xuan, while Cao Xiong called for help and Zhang Zhiqing insisted the next match would be harder.

Ye Xingge defeated Cao Ba in a palace-square bout, first breaking through his defense and then countering his secret techniques with precise timing. Cao Xiong recognized Ye Xingge’s extraordinary combat insight and wondered whether the young fighter had been possessed by an old devil.

• The Emperor of Yan sent Cao Ba to test Ye Xingge after Dugu Xuan was carried away unconscious.
• Ye Xingge struck Cao Ba with a flying knee and elbow, then hit him with a palm strike that Cao Ba endured using Earthbound Heavenly Communion.
• Cao Ba attacked with Immortal's Knock, but Ye Xingge evaded it and struck Cao Ba's Jingmen acupoint with an inch-force elbow, making him fall.
• Cao Xiong and the other experts realized Ye Xingge had reached the realm of Penetrating the Subtle in practical combat.
• Cao Xiong reflected on Ye Xingge's implausibly advanced skills and wondered whether Ruan Jinyu had been right about an old devil seizing his body.

Ye Xingge defeated Cao Ba and then faced Cui Zitang in the final match, while asking to spar with the strongest fighters present. Their opening exchange left the observers expecting Ye Xingge to be struck down, but Cao Xiong was stunned by what happened next.

• Ye Xingge defeated Cao Ba twice, and Cao Ba conceded after being sent flying by his kick.
• Cui Zitang of the Linchuan Cui Clan was introduced as Ye Xingge’s final opponent and a powerful contender for the Heaven-Observing Decree.
• Ye Xingge asked to spar with Mei Wuchang instead, but the elders refused and Cao Xiong urged him to fight Cui Zitang.
• Cui Zitang used the Righteous Qi Art and met Ye Xingge’s shifting attacks with a half-step snapping palm aimed at his ribs.
• The experts expected Cui Zitang’s palm to defeat Ye Xingge, but Cao Xiong reacted in disbelief at the last moment.

Ye Xingge defeated Cui Zitang with a daring counterattack and showed how easily he could adapt martial techniques, prompting the Emperor of Yan to end the matches and reward him. As Chen Xiaobao prepared to arrange a banquet for Ye, he spotted a suspicious eunuch heading toward the Diligent Governance Tower and went to investigate.

• Ye Xingge struck Cui Zitang's heart gate with Immortal's Knock, then explained how he had adapted Great Nine Yang and changed one move three times.
• Cui Zitang realized Ye Xingge had used their fight to test a move, while Sun Wang carried him away for treatment.
• Zhang Zhiqing claimed he had taught Ye Xingge the techniques beforehand, and the Emperor of Yan stopped the matches and awarded Ye one hundred pieces of imperial-grade material and a qilin robe.
• A messenger told Chen Xiaobao that Vice Minister Chen wanted him to befriend Ye Xingge, and Chen began imagining an extravagant banquet.
• Chen Xiaobao noticed a suspicious eunuch heading toward the Diligent Governance Tower and followed him toward a side room.

Ye Xingge followed a wine-stain arrow to Chen Xiaobao and intervened when an assassin attacked him in a corridor. The assassin killed himself before questioning, and the officials recognized the twin daggers as weapons tied to the River-Spanning Pavilion, leaving Cao Xiong to answer for the breach.

• After returning from his arena match, Ye Xingge noticed a wet wine stain shaped like an arrow on his table and realized a Mountains and Rivers Association agent was warning him.
• Ye Xingge saw Chen Xiaobao heading toward a room in the west corridor and hurried after him.
• An assassin hidden beside the doorway attacked Chen Xiaobao, but Ye Xingge grabbed the assassin’s wrist and shielded him.
• Ye Xingge fought the eunuch-robed assassin, identified his sword technique as Pure Yang Nine Palaces Sword, and pinned him down after disarming him.
• Mei Wuchang, Ruan Jinyu, Gongsun Yanwu, and imperial guards arrived as the assassin died by poison; Cao Xiong admitted he had been negligent.
• The Emperor of Yan and senior officials inspected the two daggers, and Ye Xingge recognized them as Green Water Beetle Twin Stingers associated with the River-Spanning Pavilion.

After an assassin carrying Cao family weapons attacked Emperor of Yan, Ye Xingge and Chen Xiaobao received titles for protecting the throne while suspicion fell on Cao Xiong’s household. Meanwhile, Cloud and Rain Tower discovered a dangerous underground palace beneath Xiao Bieli’s residence, then possessed Hongyu to secretly treat Ye Xingge.

• Cao Xiong and Imperial Uncle Cao were questioned after an assassin with Twin Flowers on One Stalk daggers and a snake tattoo was identified as the swordsman from Jing River Hot Springs.
• Murong Xie found a palace access token and a map of the emperor’s route on the assassin, who had swallowed poison.
• Emperor of Yan rewarded Ye Xingge and Chen Xiaobao with viscount ranks, residences, and imperial fabric for protecting the throne.
• Cloud and Rain Tower investigated the underground palace beneath Xiao Bieli’s residence, was struck by yin baleful force, and returned to Wujian Inn to recover.
• Hongyu exchanged garments with Cloud and Rain Tower so he could use the Hundred-Blaze Garment, and he possessed her to begin inserting needles into Ye Xingge.

After receiving a gift from Chen Xiaobao, Ye Xingge followed the Ceremonial Phoenix Bureau’s armed riders to Wujian Inn, where he discovered a powerful woman meditating in a chilled room. He recognized her as one of two First Rank women, but the chapter ended before he determined which one she was.

• Chen Xiaobao offered Ye Xingge sword-nurturing materials as thanks for saving his life and asked him to support his bid to become Inspection Bureau grand commander.
• Ye Xingge spotted the Ceremonial Phoenix Bureau riding toward the outer city and left Chen Xiaobao’s carriage to follow them.
• Ye Xingge contacted Great Beauty Luo and Yu'er, but neither could explain the Bureau’s business, so he continued following the riders.
• The riders searched the outer city near Wujian Inn, prompting Ye Xingge to return to the inn and check for trouble.
• Ye Xingge found Fat Snow guarding a freezing room and saw a white-robed woman meditating inside.
• Ye Xingge recognized the woman’s Mountains and Rivers Pouch and concluded she was either Perfected Jiuhua, Liu Yi, or Cloud and Rain Tower.