Gao Chong’s wicked plot of colluding with Xue Fang, the Hanged Ghost from the Ghost Valley, to get rid of Zhao Jing, the last obstacle, was finally exposed when it failed, and the news threw the whole pugilist world into uproar.

In an instant, everything could be clearly explained--knowing the precise location of every piece of the Lapis Armour, and the weaknesses of every single person; able to steal the Lapis Armour from the Zhao Family Manor with ease, to manipulate all the heroes under the sky in the palm of his hand, to trick Shen Zhen out of the Lapis Armour, and steal from under his own tight surveillance...other than Hero Gao, the possessor of the Realm’s Command, was there anyone else who could accomplish all these?

Those who had been duped so wholly finally saw the light. At once, many emotions surged within them, but they did not know how to articulate them.

Gao Chong died roaring with laughter, as though he had gone mad. The Hanged Ghost Xue Fang was injured and missing, Zhao Jing was heavily injured, and no one knew where the Lapis Armour was.

Subsequently, there were rumours that before the Huashan sect leader Yu Qiufeng had gone to the Shen Clan, he had schemed late into the night with Gao Chong in secrecy...on the day the Zhao Family Manor’s Lapis Armour had gone missing, Yu Qiufeng’s son, Yu Tianjie, had fled from the Zhao Family Manor late at night. At first, the masses had all believed that he was killed by the Hanged Ghost. However, the body that had been found was headless; reflecting upon it now, who could truly verify that the deceased was Yu Tianjie back then?

Did they still have to explain the winding complexities to this?

Deng Kuan was dead, Gao Xiaolian was missing. As though they had schemed it beforehand, everyone in the Gao Family Manor had scattered like a flock of alarmed creatures, and Yu Qiufeng’s whereabouts were unknown--at present, the worst case was that all five pieces had landed in the hands of the Ghosts. The martial store of thirty years ago was about to be unlocked, and that demonic Six Harmonies Cultivation Mantra was about to be unveiled once more.

The darkest moment of the pugilist world in the Central Plains had descended.

On the seventh night they were staying at the inn, a good while after midnight, Zhou Zishu caught his breath after the torment of this night. Unable to sleep, he cradled a jar of wine in his arms, took a chipped bowl, and sat on the roof to sip at it.

Gu Xiang was sitting in the small courtyard, dazedly staring up at the sky, her back to Zhou Zishu. Even with her level of martial ability, she did not detect that there was someone on the roof behind her.