Recaps

Chu Tianshu and Zhong Jinqiu attacked the opera troupe after discovering its members had abducted and abused children, killing Troupe Leader Chen and several fighters. Chu shot the old eunuch, but the bullet only wounded him, and he rose again.

• Troupe Leader Chen died after Chu Tianshu killed him and destroyed his Red-Tailed Swallow with the peachwood scabbard and sword hilt.
• Chu Tianshu fought Liu Siniang, using her loss of footing and a series of strikes to kill her.
• Zhong Jinqiu charged into the courtyard with his bamboo spear, killing troupe members and creating an opening for Chu Tianshu to defeat the remaining fighters.
• Chu Tianshu and Zhong Jinqiu reached the rear hall, where Zhong warned that Old Ma would wake if they approached.
• Chu Tianshu fired his last revolver bullet at the old eunuch, but the old eunuch dodged the fatal shot and rose with only a wound to his cheekbone.

Shopkeeper Ma’s remote suppression of the old eunuch failed, and Chu Tianshu and Zhong Jinqiu fought him in the courtyard. After Zhong was badly injured and the old eunuch was wounded, Chu recognized the source of his opponent’s control over the fight and changed his Aperture Opening state.

• Shopkeeper Ma’s talisman shattered and the lamps around the pit went out, so he and Meng Lianfa’s companions ran toward town as their plan to suppress the old eunuch faltered.
• The old eunuch recovered from the gunshot and charged Chu Tianshu and Zhong Jinqiu, who struck back and discovered his Coin Body Armor.
• The old eunuch overwhelmed Zhong Jinqiu with rapid punches, but Zhong lodged a fishbone in his eyelid and struck his chest with Taiji Immortal Force while Chu Tianshu followed with another blow.
• The old eunuch sent Zhong flying and injured his shoulders, but Chu’s follow-up sent the old eunuch crashing through a courtyard wall and wounded his lung.
• The old eunuch accused his enemies of colluding with insiders and boasted of his toughness, while Chu Tianshu studied his control of the fight and realized he was using dual cultivation.
• Chu Tianshu switched his Aperture Opening state from inward to outward, forming a faint five-meter circle beneath his feet as the old eunuch’s expression darkened.

Chu Tianshu used his newly sharpened battlefield insight to defeat the old eunuch, then destroyed the evil creation in the mansion and helped secure the rescued children. Adjutant Zhou returned to find the aftermath and accepted Meng Lianfa’s cover story that Chu and his companions had retired to the mountains.

• Chu Tianshu drew in his Spirit Communication Aperture Opening and used his heightened perception to strike the old eunuch’s ear, exploit his dizziness, and kill him.
• Zhong Jinqiu knocked out the two fleeing servants, while Chu Tianshu used cinnabar talisman ink to disperse the tattoo’s sinister Qi and smash the jade coffin.
• Shopkeeper Ma and the others left the mansion with the rescued children as the town head and Wang Fu arrived to investigate the screams.
• Adjutant Zhou returned in armor, and Meng Lianfa claimed that the old master had died fighting villains and that Chu Tianshu and his companions had gone back to the mountains.
• Adjutant Zhou hid his suspicions, then entered the mansion and loudly lamented the old master’s death.

Chu Tianshu, Zhong Jinqiu, and Shopkeeper Ma traveled into the mountains to hide from Adjutant Zhou, where Chu used the old eunuch’s magical armor to deduce an improved fist technique. At an abandoned tea shelter, they encountered two villagers leading a donkey with a sickly-looking man riding it.

• Chu Tianshu and Zhong Jinqiu watched the town from the mountain woods and discussed the old eunuch’s armor and the future of machines with Uncle Ma.
• The three traveled deeper into the mountains, planning to stay away from Yuannan City while Chu continued his martial arts training.
• Zhong Jinqiu brought them to an abandoned tea shelter and explained the Golden Toad Sect’s Taiji Fist to Chu Tianshu.
• Chu Tianshu used the Gold-Swallowing Beast Face and Red-Tailed Swallow to deduce the Toad Art Palm Thunder technique.
• After nightfall, Chu Tianshu and Shopkeeper Ma heard a donkey, then saw two villagers leading it through the woods with a hunched man riding on its back.

Chu Tianshu examined a wheezing traveler and discovered that the man was poisoned rather than ill. Zhong Jinqiu recognized him as Cai Yin, Cai Shanjun, and Chu Tianshu offered to help him regain power and deal with Commander Xu.

• Uncle Ma welcomed three travelers into the abandoned tea shelter, and the sickle-bearing man asked Chu Tianshu to examine their wheezing companion.
• Chu Tianshu examined the patient and privately told Zhong Jinqiu that the man had been deeply poisoned and was likely a powerful sorcerer.
• Zhong Jinqiu told Uncle Ma that he recognized the patient as Cai Yin, Cai Shanjun, the former grand governor who had fought against opium in Yi Province.
• Zhong Jinqiu said he wanted Chu Tianshu to help Cai Yin briefly before they left, because becoming involved in Cai Yin's troubles could be dangerous.
• Chu Tianshu revealed that he had wanted to kill Commander Xu and his adjutant, then said he would help Cai Yin if doing so could bring down evil by saving a life.

Chu Tianshu treated the poisoned Cai Shanjun, who hired him and his two companions to help him regain power. After three days of travel, they reached a secluded stronghold, where a Miao girl announced Cai Shanjun’s return.

• Chu Tianshu used acupuncture to suppress Cai Shanjun’s poison, giving him about a month to move around while warning that the treatment could not cure him.
• Cai Shanjun agreed to Chu Tianshu’s demands for escorting him: a home for Zhong Jinqiu and Shopkeeper Ma in Kunming, ten gold bars, and the Yi Province Military Academy’s best boxing and spell manuals.
• Cai Shanjun told the group he was taking them to a beautiful stronghold where they might borrow something to reduce the danger of crossing the river.
• The group shared provisions, rested overnight, and followed Cai Shanjun through remote mountain paths for three days.
• They emerged from a grove at a scenic stronghold, where a Miao girl saw Cai Shanjun and shouted that Cave God Lady’s husband had returned.

Cai Shanjun brought Chu Tianshu and his companions to Wu Clan Stronghold and recounted how he had escaped the Cave God’s cave with the Rainbow Cloud Flute. The stronghold welcomed them warmly, but the clan chief grew wary when Cai Shanjun asked to borrow the flute.

• Cai Shanjun explained that he had once been chosen as the Cave God Lady’s husband, entered the cave, and returned with the Rainbow Cloud Flute.
• Cai Shanjun said the waterfall would not run dry for several years and described how the stronghold’s custom had changed from sending a bride into the cave to sending a husband.
• Wu Tugu and Wu Zewa welcomed Cai Shanjun and his companions across the river, and the clan chief led the stronghold in a festive welcome.
• A Bang served the guests insect tea, oil tea, and flower tea, while Chu Tianshu sampled the teas and learned how they were made.
• Cai Shanjun asked the clan chief to lend him the Rainbow Cloud Flute, and the clan chief objected that Cai had already received generous gifts and the flute had only recently recovered in the ancestral hall.

Cai Shanjun urged Stronghold Chief Wu to lend him the treasure, warning that foreign powers threatened Yi Province and insisting that only his return could spur its leaders to act in time. Stronghold Chief Wu agreed to decide the matter through three contests, and Chu Tianshu sealed the pact in Cai Shanjun’s place by grasping Wu’s fist in the flames.

• Cai Shanjun reminded Stronghold Chief Wu of Wu Clan Stronghold’s past suffering over its treasure and warned that foreign powers would eventually threaten Yi Province.
• Stronghold Chief Wu questioned whether Cai Shanjun could regain power and protect the province, and Cai Shanjun argued that his return would prompt decisive action.
• Stronghold Chief Wu invoked the ancestors’ rules and proposed three contests to determine whether Cai Shanjun’s companions could borrow the treasure.
• Cai Shanjun stepped forward to grasp Stronghold Chief Wu’s burning fist, but Chu Tianshu took his place and gripped it in the flames, sealing the pact.

Wu Clan Stronghold held the first of three trials, Pillar in Midstream, where challengers had to face bamboo hurtling down a fast river. Wu Zewa broke 144 lengths, while Zhong Jinqiu used Cloud Hands to trap and split the bamboo in a whirlpool, and Chu Tianshu declared his count to be 300.

• At the evening gathering, Wu Tugu told Chu Tianshu that he expected to face him in one of the stronghold’s trials and took him to watch Wu Zewa prepare for Pillar in Midstream.
• The next morning, Stronghold Chief Wu explained that challengers had to avoid 300 lengths of fast-moving bamboo and break as many as possible with their bare hands and feet.
• Wu Zewa stood in the river and broke 144 lengths of bamboo, demonstrating his water-trained snake-fist techniques.
• Zhong Jinqiu entered the river fully clothed and used Cloud Hands to gather the bamboo into a whirlpool, splitting the lengths as they circled him.
• Zhong Jinqiu leaped out of the collapsing whirlpool, and Chu Tianshu declared that he had broken all 300 lengths.

Zhong Jinqiu won the first trial at Wu Clan Stronghold by using Taiji Fist to deflect bamboo in the river, and Chu Tianshu shared a new fist mnemonic with him. The group prepared for the next contests as Chu Tianshu began testing whether his needling skills could improve his training.

• Zhong Jinqiu used Taiji Fist to deflect the bamboo in the river and won the first contest, while Wu Zewa accepted the result and applauded.
• Chu Tianshu treated Zhong Jinqiu’s injured hands, and Stronghold Chief Wu warned that the next two contests would be harder.
• Cai Shanjun and Shopkeeper Ma chatted about books as they returned to the stronghold, leaving Old Yu and Little Huo wondering how much of Cai Shanjun’s references they had missed.
• Chu Tianshu recited a Taiji Fist mnemonic that impressed Zhong Jinqiu, who said it could inspire his fighting methods even though mastering it would take months.
• Chu Tianshu explained that he planned to combine his needling knowledge with methods for stimulating acupoints to develop a more effective way to train.

A Bang learned that outsiders were competing for the Rainbow Cloud Flute, while the shrine keeper reacted with anger and spent the night brooding over the shrine. The next day, Wu Tugu faced a wild bull in the stronghold’s second trial, and the contest was still underway when he seized its horns.

• A Bang told the shrine keeper that an outsider had won the first trial and that the clan had agreed to lend him the Rainbow Cloud Flute if he passed all three trials.
• The shrine keeper objected to lending the flute, then refused A Bang’s invitation to watch the next contest and played her flute by the shrine late into the night.
• Chu Tianshu reflected on his progress in Dragon Coils Around the Body and Eating Makes an Immortal before joining Cai Shanjun and the others at the second trial.
• Stronghold Chief Wu explained that the trial reenacted a Miao king subduing a bull, and the rules limited contestants to bare hands and ten dodges.
• Wu Tugu dodged the charging bull three times, then charged at it and clamped both hands onto its horns.

Chu Tianshu subdued the Wild Bull King on his fourth attempt while investigating strange mosquitoes that disrupted the contest. He caught two of the insects alive and showed them to Stronghold Chief Wu, who identified them as the shrine's Great Acid Mosquitoes.

• Wu Tugu wrestled the Wild Bull to the ground, earning cheers from the onlookers.
• Chu Tianshu dodged the bull's first two charges while studying how it moved and exerted force.
• Chu Tianshu prepared to strike during the third charge, but abruptly dodged when mosquitoes flew toward him and burst apart after his needles hit them.
• On the fourth charge, Chu Tianshu struck the bull's front legs and head with precise force, knocking it unconscious and winning the round.
• Chu Tianshu showed Stronghold Chief Wu two mosquitoes he had caught alive, and Stronghold Chief Wu identified them as the shrine's Great Acid Mosquitoes.

Chu Tianshu and Stronghold Chief Wu pursued the ancestral hall guardian into Hidden Immortal Cave after she took the Rainbow Cloud Flute and set off its dangerous insects. The guardian admitted she had sabotaged the trials because she treasured the flute, leaving the group to find a way to retrieve it without letting the cave’s poisons escape.

• The old woman took the Rainbow Cloud Flute from the ancestral hall and fled into Hidden Immortal Cave as Chu Tianshu and Stronghold Chief Wu pursued her.
• The old woman used her flute to gather venomous insects, which burst into flames and forced Chu Tianshu to retreat from the cave entrance.
• Stronghold Chief Wu explained that the cave contained dangerous insects and poisonous fungi, and that its only entrance made a careless attack risky.
• The old woman told Wu Tugu and Stronghold Chief Wu that she had helped sabotage the trials to protect the Rainbow Cloud Flute from being lent out.
• Chu Tianshu and the others concluded that the old woman had acted on her own rather than as part of an outside plot.
• When Stronghold Chief Wu suggested waiting for the old woman to emerge, Chu Tianshu rejected waiting a month and asked whether another way existed.

Chu Tianshu entered the insect-filled cave wearing a lamp-oil cloak and fought through its flames and poisonous insects to reach the old woman guarding the shrine. He defeated her after resisting the jade flute’s attack on his internal organs and knocked her unconscious.

• Stronghold Chief Wu explained how eggs attracted Gu insects and described the Wu Clan Stronghold’s dangerous Path Through Fire trial.
• Chu Tianshu decided to enter the cave in a lamp-oil cloak and seize the old woman before the day ended.
• Chu Tianshu charged through the cave, using his speed and burning cloak to scatter the insects and withstand bursts of flame.
• The old woman switched from her broken bamboo flute to a jade flute that struck at Chu Tianshu’s internal organs.
• Chu Tianshu roared, released a burst of force that suppressed the flute’s effect, and knocked the old woman unconscious.

Chu Tianshu rescued the shrine-keeping granny and returned the Rainbow Cloud Flute to Stronghold Chief Wu, who gave it to Cai Shanjun after losing all three trials. As Cai Shanjun played, a mysterious sound answered from Flying Waterfall Cave, and he took it as a blessing for their journey to Kunming.

• Chu Tianshu carried the unconscious shrine-keeping granny out of the cave, returned the Rainbow Cloud Flute, and left Stronghold Chief Wu to treat and punish her.
• Stronghold Chief Wu handed the flute to Cai Shanjun and offered Wu Tugu, Wu Zewa, and A Bang as companions, but Cai Shanjun declined them for the journey.
• Shopkeeper Ma asked for cinnabar, and Stronghold Chief Wu offered spell paper and weapons while Chu Tianshu said they could choose later.
• Cai Shanjun praised Chu Tianshu's growing mastery of his martial art, then played the Rainbow Cloud Flute as Chu Tianshu listened.
• A mysterious sound answered from Flying Waterfall Cave, prompting villagers to call it the Cave God Lady, and Cai Shanjun said it was blessing their journey.

Commander Xu pursued Cai Shanjun while cultivating the president’s favor, and he learned that Liu Zhixiang would support him once Cai was eliminated. Encouraged by the promised military backing, Commander Xu resolved to patrol the ferry crossings every day until Cai died.

• Commander Xu misread a teacher’s recitation of Li Bai’s poem as an auspicious sign and rewarded him.
• Commander Xu and Adjutant Zhou discussed their alliance with the president and the benefits they expected from serving him.
• Meng Daizong warned Commander Xu that Cai Shanjun had not yet attempted to cross the river, despite being poisoned and weakened.
• Commander Xu exposed a black-clad ninja hiding behind a pillar, and Meng Daizong introduced him as one of the reinforcements.
• Commander Xu read Liu Zhixiang’s letter promising troops to support him after Cai Shanjun’s death and ordered daily inspections of the major ferry crossings.

Cai Shanjun and his companions attacked the guarded dock near Yuannan City, where Wu Bao’s men mistook their approaching car for the target’s and opened fire. The assault left the dock defenses under attack, and one of the attackers seized Wu Bao and accused him of betrayal.

• Chu Tianshu and Little Huo surveyed the dock’s defenses while Cai Shanjun decided the group would act that day.
• Cai Shanjun used his jade flute as Adjutant Zhou’s patrol approached, while Wu Bao waited eagerly for the major criminal to appear.
• Wu Bao’s men recognized the unfamiliar car and its occupants as their target, and Wu Bao ordered them to open fire.
• Three men burst from the speeding car as the soldiers shot the driver and the riders accompanying it.
• One attacker crushed the Madsen machine gun, grabbed Wu Bao by the throat, and accused him of betraying him.

Commander Xu and Adjutant Zhou fought the soldiers who had opened fire on their convoy, while Meng Daizong realized the men were trapped in Cai Shanjun’s illusion and sent ninjas after its source. The ninjas reached the woods where Chu Tianshu and Cai Shanjun waited, and killing intent descended.

• Commander Xu demanded that the soldiers surrender, but a grenade attack triggered a chaotic battle at the dock, killing Wu Laoliu.
• Meng Daizong learned from a ninja that Cai Shanjun’s illusion had fooled the ordinary soldiers, then ordered the ninjas to find and kill its source.
• The mouse in Meng Daizong’s cage chose a direction, and he sent a ninja to follow it toward the woods.
• Chu Tianshu watched the ninjas vanish from the road and prepared to meet them at the edge of the woods.
• Cai Shanjun played the Rainbow Cloud Flute as Chu Tianshu, Shopkeeper Ma, Little Huo, Old Yu, and Zhong Jinqiu held their positions.
• The ninjas entered the woods, where Chu Tianshu stood waiting as killing intent descended.

Chu Tianshu and his companions fought the concealed ninjas in the woods, using gunfire, spirit birds, talismans, and martial arts to expose and kill them. Chu Tianshu overwhelmed the attackers, but a ninja with an iron shield struck Little Huo and sent him flying.

• Little Huo fired six shots that exposed and wounded concealed ninjas, and Chu Tianshu killed several by striking through trees.
• Shopkeeper Ma used sparrow spirits to locate the ninjas, then unleashed talismans that blinded some of them with a burst of light.
• Old Yu and Zhong Jinqiu killed ninjas in the glare, but an exploding prosthetic limb wounded Old Yu with poisoned shrapnel.
• Chu Tianshu used his insight to find and kill the remaining ninjas, snapping one invisible katana and defeating the attackers with powerful blows.
• Shopkeeper Ma warned Little Huo of an attack, but an advancing iron shield deflected his bullets and slammed into him, sending him flying.

Chu Tianshu fought Meng Daizong while Cai Shanjun used his Mind Power to make a donkey knock Meng Daizong back. Chu Tianshu broke Meng Daizong’s saber with a ritual cord, and the chapter ended with Meng Daizong dead from a needle in his brain.

• Meng Daizong charged Cai Shanjun with a shield, but Cai Shanjun directed the donkey to kick him back.
• Chu Tianshu intercepted Meng Daizong and fought him as Meng Daizong attacked with his shield and saber.
• Chu Tianshu countered Meng Daizong’s assault with a powerful palm strike, but Meng Daizong spun and slashed at him.
• Chu Tianshu blocked the slash with a knotted ritual cord on his arm, shattering Meng Daizong’s saber.
• Adjutant Zhou called out to Chu Tianshu as Xu Youjiang rushed toward Meng Daizong, but Meng Daizong stopped rolling with a thick silver needle embedded in his brain.

Chu Tianshu and Xu Youjiang faced off in the woods while Zhong Jinqiu and Old Yu held Adjutant Zhou back. Xu Youjiang attacked by tearing down a tree and hurling it at Chu Tianshu.

• Zhong Jinqiu and Old Yu coordinated their attacks to force Adjutant Zhou to retreat, though his heavy armor kept their sabers from hurting him.
• Xu Youjiang recognized Chu Tianshu and taunted him and Cai Shanjun, while Chu pointed out how much Xu had exhausted himself fighting through the battlefield.
• Xu Youjiang reflected on his incomplete Skanda Body-Tempering Striking Art and questioned whether he could outlast Chu Tianshu.
• Chu warned that Adjutant Zhou would be vulnerable when he unleashed his strength, and Xu agreed to wait for the fight to develop.
• Xu Youjiang suddenly broke a tree with his fist, tore it free, and launched it at Chu Tianshu.

Chu Tianshu fought Commander Xu through a brutal close-quarters battle, using his medical knowledge to exploit a vulnerable sinew in Xu Youjiang’s foot. He killed Commander Xu by smashing his head against a boulder, then hurled the corpse toward the battlefield where Zhou was fighting.

• Chu Tianshu slid beneath the falling tree, used his shoulder to lever it against Commander Xu, and attacked him with silver needles and punches.
• Commander Xu endured Chu Tianshu’s blows with his hard-trained body, seized his arm, and gained the advantage in their grappling struggle.
• Chu Tianshu used Palm Thunder to meet Commander Xu’s hammering arms, then stomped the vulnerable sinew where Xu’s big toe joined his foot.
• As pain weakened Xu’s headbutt, Chu Tianshu kicked him into the air, grabbed his leg, and smashed his head against a boulder.
• Chu Tianshu swung Commander Xu’s corpse and hurled it toward the battlefield where Zhou was fighting.

Zhong Jinqiu and Old Yu killed Adjutant Zhou after Chu Tianshu distracted him with Commander Xu’s corpse, and the group escaped across the river. At a friendly regiment’s headquarters, Chu Tianshu discovered that his fate had overflowed, allowing him to bring material objects when he returned home.

• Adjutant Zhou was fatally wounded by Zhong Jinqiu after Old Yu forced him to block a powerful saber strike, and Chu Tianshu challenged his claim that victors made the rules.
• Chu Tianshu treated Little Huo’s displaced organs with internal force, and the group used a sailboat to cross the river.
• Cai Shanjun and the others discussed what they would choose to become as they traveled toward safety.
• The group reached Commander Xie’s regiment, where Cai Shanjun’s former students welcomed them and sent telegrams to Kunming.
• Chu Tianshu checked the token and found that his fate had overflowed, with the excess usable to bring material objects home.

Chu Tianshu gave Cai Shanjun prescriptions, including instructions for producing penicillin, then learned that he had to leave soon. Li Genyuan arrived and began drawing poison from Cai Shanjun before presenting Chu Tianshu with two secret manuals, including Record of Breaking into Shaolin.

• Chu Tianshu wrote down prescriptions and detailed instructions for producing penicillin, then brought his notes to Cai Shanjun.
• Cai Shanjun invited Chu Tianshu to teach at the Military Academy, but Chu Tianshu said his sect’s rules required him to leave within days.
• Cai Shanjun said his old friend Li Genyuan was coming with the promised secret manuals, and a swarm of white butterflies soon arrived with him.
• Li Genyuan used his Mind Power and butterflies to draw poison from Cai Shanjun, easing the need for some rare medicines.
• Li Genyuan gave Chu Tianshu copies of Secret Incantations of Vertical and Horizontal and Record of Breaking into Shaolin, which Chu Tianshu opened and read.

Chu Tianshu studied Yu Dayou’s boxing manual and watched Zhong Jinqiu demonstrate precise staff control before helping Cai Shanjun take a medicinal decoction. A telegram revealed that Liu Yanqi had moved against Liu Zhixiang in Bashu, and Cai Shanjun prepared to set out for Kunming as Chu Tianshu took his leave.

• Chu Tianshu read Yu Dayou’s boxing manual while Principal Li and the others went to prepare the medicinal decoction.
• Chu Tianshu learned that Shopkeeper Ma planned to teach at the Military Academy, while Zhong Jinqiu said he would join later and demonstrated how he controlled a staff with exceptional precision.
• Shopkeeper Ma brought the decoction, and Chu Tianshu examined it before Cai Shanjun drank it.
• Commander Xie delivered a telegram from Bashu, and Li Genyuan announced that Liu Yanqi had made his move against Liu Zhixiang.
• Cai Shanjun decided to travel to Kunming and send a nationwide telegram in support of Liu Yanqi, while Chu Tianshu promised to return with delicacies from his hometown.