Chapter Summaries

Si Ming recognized his classmate Nie Wanzhi fighting in an underground match and asked Yuezheng Qiong to ensure she received her prize money. Nie Wanzhi used lightning-enhanced martial arts and clever footwork against the much larger Steel-Fisted Iron Tower, slipping beneath his punch as the fight continued.

• Si Ming recognized Nie Wanzhi as the masked fighter Thunderbolt Beauty and declined Yuezheng Qiong's offer to have her removed from the ring.
• Si Ming asked Yuezheng Qiong to make sure the organizer did not keep Nie Wanzhi's earnings.
• Yuezheng Qiong teased Si Ming about his interest in Nie Wanzhi, then joked with him over wine before their conversation ended as the fight began.
• Nie Wanzhi attacked Steel-Fisted Iron Tower head-on, dodged his counter, and struck his abdomen with electricity.
• Nie Wanzhi darted behind Steel-Fisted Iron Tower and hit him again, then compressed her force and slipped beneath his sweeping fist.

Si Ming told Murong Qing that Nie Wanzhi fought in illegal matches, and Murong Qing decided not to report her. She then chose to befriend Nie Wanzhi so the Mutual Aid Society could help if needed.

• Nie Wanzhi defeated Steel-Fisted Iron Tower with a lightning-fast assault, and the host declared her the winner.
• Yuezheng Qiong teased Si Ming about Nie Wanzhi and drove him back to Linked Mountains University.
• Si Ming told Murong Qing that Nie Wanzhi took part in illegal fights, possibly to earn money.
• Murong Qing decided not to report Nie Wanzhi because her fighting had not harmed anyone and reporting her could cut off her livelihood.
• Murong Qing proposed that they become Nie Wanzhi's friends so they could offer help, and Si Ming could not refute her logic.

Si Ming and Murong Qing found Nie Wanzhi confronting martial arts club president Chu Gengyin over a rule barring first-years from becoming regulars, and Chu defeated her in a fight. Ke Chajing and Hu Jixian challenged Chu’s reasoning and the rule’s fairness, and he offered to let the first-years vote on it.

• Si Ming and Murong Qing learned that Nie Wanzhi had gone to the martial arts hall to protest a new rule reserving regular team positions for upperclassmen.
• Chu Gengyin defeated Nie Wanzhi and argued that she lacked the strength to be a regular, but she insisted that she could not wait another year.
• Si Ming questioned Chu about the rule, and Murong Qing challenged its fairness before Chu defended it as a way to give fourth-years a final opportunity.
• Ke Chajing objected that the rule had stripped Si Ming and Murong Qing of their chance to compete, while Hu Jixian challenged Chu’s appeal to universal love.
• Chu defended the committee’s decision and offered to let the first-years vote on the rule.

Chu Gengyin refused to change the martial arts club’s new rule, and Ke Chajing quit after clashing with him. After Si Ming clarified that she had misunderstood why he and Murong Qing were there, Ke Chajing decided to form a rival martial arts club, with Si Ming offering to help recruit members.

• Hu Jixian proposed letting freshmen challenge the martial arts team’s substitutes and vote on the rule, but Chu Gengyin insisted that the club’s majority would decide.
• Ke Chajing argued with Chu Gengyin, refused to follow the club’s rules, and said she would submit her resignation application.
• Si Ming advised Chu Gengyin to practice cultivating his composure, then later told Ke Chajing that he and Murong Qing had not been protesting the new rule.
• Ke Chajing explained that she had long disliked Chu Gengyin and decided to establish a second martial arts club with Hu Jixian and their allies.
• Si Ming offered to find two strong recruits, and he suggested naming the new group the Second Martial Arts Club.

Ke Chajing established plans for the Second Martial Arts Club while Si Ming and Murong Qing learned why Nie Wanzhi wanted to advance quickly: her family still owed eighty million after her father’s death. Si Ming reviewed the strengths of their internal cultivation arts and told Nie Wanzhi that she would need to switch from the Jade Crane Art to progress in the Martial Dao League, leaving her uncertain about how to find guidance after leaving the club.

• Ke Chajing took the withdrawal forms and went with Hu Jixian to apply to establish the Second Martial Arts Club.
• Nie Wanzhi apologized to Si Ming and Murong Qing for their leaving the club, then explained that she wanted to become famous quickly to earn money.
• Nie Wanzhi revealed that her father had died after being trapped in illegal fundraising, leaving her family with eighty million in debt and a dangerous creditor.
• Si Ming explained the evaluation of internal cultivation arts and compared the Jade Crane Art with Murong Qing’s Glacier Divine Art.
• Si Ming said Nie Wanzhi would need to switch from the Jade Crane Art to advance in the Martial Dao League, and Nie Wanzhi said she had planned to seek a martial arts doctorate’s guidance through the club.

Ke Chajing established the Linked Mountains University Second Martial Arts Club and gathered enough members to enter team competitions, while Si Ming helped Nie Wanzhi choose a cultivation method suited to her constitution. Liu Qingqing introduced a device that could identify martial arts, leaving Si Ming baffled by how it worked.

• Si Ming examined Nie Wanzhi and found that her yang-metal destiny suited a yang-aligned method, recommending the Chan Sun Martial Scripture and Golden Bell Cover.
• Ke Chajing officially established the Second Martial Arts Club and led a profane chant against Chu Gengyin.
• Si Ming introduced Liu Qingqing and explained that three friends had agreed to join, giving the club enough members for its roster.
• Liu Qingqing showed the club the Martial Arts Illustrated Compendium, a device gifted by Senior Zhu that recorded and analyzed martial arts.
• Nie Wanzhi demonstrated Swift Thunder Palm, and the compendium identified its traits and suggested techniques to pair with it.
• Si Ming questioned how the device could recognize a martial art from its movements, calling its technology incomprehensible.

Nie Wanzhi and Hao Shuai sparred at Linked Mountains University, with Nie attacking using Whirlwind Leg and Hao responding with threadlike force. Hao countered her crescent-shaped blast and struck toward her face.

• Nie Wanzhi practiced Whirlwind Leg against Hao Shuai at the university training ground.
• Nie moved swiftly and launched a crescent-shaped blast of force at Hao’s face before following in to attack.
• Hao dispersed the blast with threadlike force and countered by striking toward Nie’s face.

Nie Wanzhi trained with Hao Shuai while Si Ming advised her on combining her martial arts and changing her Internal Cultivation. Si Ming demonstrated a mysterious palm print before leaving, but Nie Wanzhi and Hao Shuai could not discern its secret.

• Nie Wanzhi used Whirlwind Leg to keep Hao Shuai at a distance, then combined its footwork with Swift Thunder Palm to overwhelm him until he surrendered.
• Si Ming identified Hao Shuai's Buried Love Thousand Threads Hand and explained how Nie Wanzhi's two techniques could complement each other.
• Nie Wanzhi told Si Ming that converting her level-nine Jade Crane Art into the Chan Sun Martial Scripture had caused her True Qi to clash and nearly brought on Qi deviation.
• Si Ming recommended that Nie Wanzhi first convert to the related Shi Moon Dharma Scripture, but she doubted his expertise and challenged him to spar.
• Si Ming struck a nearby rock, leaving a palm print with a raised 卍 symbol, then left; Nie Wanzhi and Hao Shuai could not figure out its secret.

Ke Chajing and the others discovered that Si Ming’s palm print showed extraordinary control, including intricate symbols and a matching mark on the rock’s underside. Yuezheng Yao tried to draw Si Ming into a public scandal at Linked Mountains University, but he escaped with her and confronted her about the stunt.

• Ke Chajing noticed that the sunken part of Si Ming’s palm print was formed from densely packed 卍 symbols.
• Hu Jixian flipped over the rock and found an identical palm print on its bottom.
• Yuezheng Yao waited outside Linked Mountains University, attracting fans and reporters as she watched for Si Ming.
• A burst of holy light blinded the crowd, and Si Ming and Yuezheng Yao disappeared from the gates.
• Si Ming accused Yuezheng Yao of trying to entangle him in a scandal, and she said she had wanted to repay him and blamed him for ignoring her invitation.
• Yuezheng Yao defended her public persona as a comforting role, and Si Ming explained that the masks during the street performance had protected Sister Qiong from unwanted attention.

Si Ming and Lin Qingtong went to an abandoned building to discuss matters privately, but first Si Ming warmed up for a fight. The chapter ended before their confrontation began.

• After performing with Yuezheng Qiong, Si Ming agreed to learn the dizi from her.
• Si Ming sensed someone following him and confronted Lin Qingtong, who had been watching from the darkness.
• Si Ming and Lin Qingtong exchanged blows, then agreed to leave and talk somewhere private.
• Nie Wanzhi emerged after they left and wondered whether to follow them because she wanted the Martial Arts Illustrated Compendium back.
• Si Ming and Lin Qingtong reached an abandoned building, and Si Ming stretched before their discussion.

Lin Qingtong tried to persuade Si Ming to undergo metalization, but he rejected the risky, unproven procedure. Their disagreement turned into a fight, where Si Ming used newly mastered Shaman School techniques to counter her swordsmanship before Lin Qingtong unleashed a powerful attack.

• Lin Qingtong revealed her metalized arm and offered to metalize Si Ming, claiming the process would improve his strength, health, and lifespan.
• Si Ming refused, arguing that metalization was experimental and could have unknown side effects, and said he would wait until the technology was perfected.
• Lin Qingtong challenged Si Ming, and her Collapse Sword overwhelmed his unarmed defense, forcing him back and numbing his arm.
• Si Ming used Water Moon Mirror Dance and Shaman Steps to divert Lin Qingtong's sword, explaining that he had trained to overcome her techniques since their previous fight.
• Lin Qingtong summoned a Wenlin beast phantom, spun into Peng's Heavenly Whirl, and slashed at Si Ming with a powerful tornado of Gang Qi.

Si Ming defeated Lin Qingtong in a battle that brought down a seven-story building, then approached her as she lay badly injured. Lin Qingtong warned that she had been careless and would not be caught off guard again, while Si Ming laughed and felt his cultivation advance.

• Si Ming countered Lin Qingtong’s techniques and battered her with absorbed force and compressed air currents.
• Lin Qingtong collapsed the floor to evade Si Ming’s attack, but he unleashed a blood-red palm strike through the building as she answered with a powerful sword strike.
• Their attacks collided, and the seven-story building collapsed; outside, Nie Wanzhi watched in shock.
• Si Ming emerged from the rubble and found Lin Qingtong with her sword arm severed, then mocked her metal transformation.
• Lin Qingtong said she had been careless and would not be so lucky next time, while Si Ming laughed and advanced in cultivation.

Si Ming defeated Lin Qingtong, but a masked peacock woman intervened and rescued her. Si Ming pursued the woman, only to have her escape with an unfamiliar technique that weakened his attacks.

• Lin Qingtong regenerated her severed arm and attacked Si Ming, but his Blood Sha Qi repeatedly severed her limbs and left her unable to fight effectively.
• Si Ming subdued Lin Qingtong and prepared to capture her, but a resonant syllable disrupted him and let her escape.
• A peacock-masked woman intercepted Si Ming, wounded him with her strange True Qi, and helped Lin Qingtong flee.
• Si Ming recovered while trading taunts with the masked woman, then attacked her with the Great Brahma Sacred Palm.
• An invisible force weakened Si Ming's attack as he approached, and the peacock woman used the recoil to escape into the darkness.

Si Ming discussed the Remote Heaven Society’s mysterious aims and possible metalization experiments with Yu Shuying, who agreed to gather information through the Azure Flood Dragon Gang. He later encountered Yuezheng Yao and remained unsure whether she was the Peacock Woman he had fought the previous night.

• Si Ming recovered Lin Qingtong’s heavy Collapse Sword from the ruins and wondered whether the Peacock Woman’s voice had been meant to mislead him.
• Nie Wanzhi brought Si Ming her questions about the Shi Moon Dharma Scripture and firmly agreed to practice it.
• Si Ming told Yu Shuying about his encounter with the Remote Heaven Society, and she offered to investigate the group through the Azure Flood Dragon Gang.
• Si Ming and Yu Shuying speculated that the Remote Heaven Society might be researching metalization and seeking suitable test subjects.
• Si Ming went to his elective music class, met Yuezheng Yao at the classroom door, and decided against testing whether she was the Peacock Woman.

Yuezheng Qiong and Si Ming performed together, then shared tea while discussing his quick progress with music and tea brewing. Yuezheng Qiong revealed that her younger sister Yao had once surpassed her at the guqin in only three months, leaving her bitter despite Yao’s gratitude.

• Si Ming and Yuezheng Qiong finished their masked park performance to applause from a growing audience.
• Yuezheng Qiong took Si Ming to A Teahouse, where the owner teased her about seducing him.
• Si Ming demonstrated expert tea-brewing skills, impressing Yuezheng Qiong with his precise preparation.
• Yuezheng Qiong remarked on Si Ming’s rapid improvement at playing the flute during their performance.
• Si Ming asked whether Yuezheng Qiong had been thinking of another genius, and she explained how her younger sister Yao surpassed her at the guqin after only three months of instruction.

Si Ming learned that Yuezheng Qiong and Yuezheng Yao had both sacrificed their interests for each other, then took the Martial Dao League more seriously after Yuezheng Qiong encouraged him. Two months later, Si Ming and the Second Martial Arts Club arrived at the Linked Mountains City qualifiers, ready to compete.

• Si Ming tried to comfort Yuezheng Qiong about her talent gap with Yuezheng Yao, and Yuezheng Qiong explained that her sister had deliberately avoided competing with her.
• Si Ming realized Yuezheng Qiong had also hidden her love of singing for Yuezheng Yao's sake, and he admired both sisters for making sacrifices for each other.
• Yuezheng Qiong urged Si Ming to take the team competition seriously and promised him a reward if the Second Martial Arts Club won the Linked Mountains City division.
• Si Ming reconsidered the team's chances and decided to focus on improving Nie Wanzhi's strength.
• Two months later, Si Ming, Nie Wanzhi, Ke Chajing, and the other Second Martial Arts Club members attended the qualifiers' opening day at the Linked Mountains City Martial Dao Arena.

Si Ming and his teammates drew the formidable Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School as their first opponent in the youth league qualifiers, but they resolved to fight hard and make a name for themselves. A live-broadcast host introduced the matchup before Lulu angrily berated her nervous co-host for discussing Rivers and Mountains’ previous upset loss.

• Ke Chajing returned from the draw and told the team that they would face the Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School in the first round.
• Hao Shuai explained that Rivers and Mountains was a strong team forced into the qualifiers after Glacier Martial Arts School eliminated them in last year’s selection tournament.
• Si Ming’s teammates reacted to the draw with confidence, and Ke Chajing declared that their opening battle would make their name.
• Lulu and Mantou introduced the qualifiers on a live broadcast and announced Rivers and Mountains’ first-round match.
• Lulu pulled Mantou aside and scolded him for his stiff hosting, mistaken wording, and mention of Rivers and Mountains’ loss to Glacier.

The chapter introduced the tournament’s team-match rules and opened the qualifier bout between the Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School and Linked Mountains University’s Second Martial Arts Club. Nie Wanzhi faced Guan Li, who launched the first attack as the match began.

• Lulu berated Mantou, then interviewed Yue Xuan, who said the Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School had trained to reclaim what it lost to the Glacier Martial Arts School.
• Lulu secretly discarded the team’s autographs and explained to Mantou that the school had arranged the interview to promote itself and challenge its former rival.
• Lulu began commentating on the opening match and praised Guan Li, but Mantou pointed out that Guan Li was already close to losing.
• The chapter explained the arena setup, the alternating individual and pair bouts, and how teams could use lineups and intelligence to gain an advantage.
• Nie Wanzhi entered the ring as the Second Martial Arts Club’s opening fighter, and the referee reviewed the rules before starting the match.
• Guan Li attacked first, sending a powerful surge of force toward Nie Wanzhi with a palm strike.

Nie Wanzhi defeated Guan Li of the Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School with her lightning-based attacks and Whirlwind Leg, giving the Second Martial Arts Club the first victory. As Si Ming and Chen Shimi faced the school's next fighters, Si Ming considered how to win without humiliating them.

• Nie Wanzhi countered Guan Li's Mountain-Pushing Palm with her Swift Thunder techniques and used the Whirlwind Leg to seize control of the fight.
• Nie Wanzhi overwhelmed Guan Li with repeated lightning-charged strikes and knocked him off the stage, winning the match for the Second Martial Arts Club.
• Yue Xuan told Guan Li that he had lost because he underestimated Nie Wanzhi and fell into her fighting rhythm.
• Guan Li warned Ye Zhaozhong and Deng Ming not to underestimate the Second Martial Arts Club before they went to fight Si Ming and Chen Shimi.
• As the next match began, Si Ming considered a decisive attack but chose to avoid giving the Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School an unnecessarily humiliating defeat.

Si Ming and Chen Shimi defeated Ye Zhaozhong and Deng Ming in the tournament’s first round, with the Rivers and Mountains Martial Arts School pair conceding after Si Ming’s saber techniques showed them they could not win. The chapter ended as they returned to their rest area and apologized to their captain, Yue Xuan.

• Si Ming and Chen Shimi faced Ye Zhaozhong and Deng Ming, who attacked with coordinated tactics against the Sword Control Technique.
• Si Ming drove Ye Zhaozhong and Deng Ming back with his Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique, then blocked their combined Rain-Covering Sword Technique with the Bodhi Demon-Subduing Saber Art.
• Ye Zhaozhong and Deng Ming unleashed their ultimate move, Stars Part and Rain Scatters, but Si Ming countered with Bodhi Immortal.
• Si Ming’s saber intent brought clarity to the fighters’ minds, and Ye Zhaozhong and Deng Ming realized they had no chance of winning and conceded.
• Chen Shimi stayed out of the fight and claimed the defeated opponents were not worthy of his effort, while Si Ming privately felt overshadowed.
• Ye Zhaozhong and Deng Ming returned to the rest area, ignored their teammates’ complaints, and apologized to their captain, Yue Xuan.