Chapter Summaries

Qin Yan slaughtered the bandits at Black Wind Stronghold with Cao Lian’s saber, which he renamed Qin, then killed the captives’ tormentors and the three chiefs’ children. The chapter ended with the stronghold’s bandits and their families dead.

• Qin Yan beheaded Cao Lian and took his long saber, naming it Qin.
• Qin Yan shot down bandits fleeing through Black Wind Stronghold’s main gate, then charged in and killed the rest.
• Qin Yan rescued a girl from a bandit holding her hostage and killed the man.
• The captive women beat an old woman to death after identifying her as a bandit’s mother.
• Qin Yan killed everyone in the eastern wing, including the three chiefs’ children.

After wiping out Black Wind Mountain, Qin Yan divided silver among the rescued women and took Zong Xiaoshan on as a follower. He returned to the village with his loot and Xiaoyi learned that he had killed every bandit in the stronghold.

• Qin Yan gained Sha Qi and improved his skills after killing the bandits, then looted more than 1,800 taels of silver, 27 taels of gold, and two manuals.
• Qin Yan gave the rescued women ten taels each and let Xia E and the others remain temporarily on Black Wind Mountain until they could find somewhere to live.
• Qin Yan burned the bandits’ bodies and left the mountain with the loot and weapons.
• Zong Xiaoshan thanked Qin Yan for avenging his sister and agreed to follow him as his subordinate.
• Qin Yan returned to the village, where Qin Xiaoyi greeted him and heard that he had killed all the bandits.

After wiping out Black Wind Mountain, Qin Yan armed the village youths and began training them while news spread of man-eating monsters near Qinghe Town. Alarmed that the world might hold supernatural dangers, he intensified his own training, leaving Zong Xiaoshan astonished by his strength.

• Qin Yan gave Qin Xiaoyi a large pile of weapons and promised to teach the youths saber techniques, while villagers and the old village chief praised his victory over Black Wind Mountain.
• Elder Chun suggested recruiting Qin Yan through a marriage alliance with Jiang Wan, but Madam Chen and Jiang Wan rejected the idea.
• Qin Yan welcomed the injured Zong Xiaoshan and began teaching the village teenagers the Six Harmonies Saber Technique with weapons taken from the bandits.
• News spread that man-eating monsters had appeared near Qinghe Town and that the county commandant had called in Green Mountain Camp and a reclusive expert to deal with one.
• Qin Yan feared the world held supernatural threats and began training more fiercely, carrying a thousand-jin boulder as Zong Xiaoshan watched in disbelief.

Qin Yan trained with Zong Xiaoshan and his followers while worrying about dwindling grain supplies. When Mu Feng tried to buy villagers’ farmland at a steep discount, Qin Yan offered Li You a better price and struck Mu Feng after he threatened him.

• Qin Yan sparred with Zong Xiaoshan, improving his strength, speed, and combat skills.
• Qin Yan fought Song Bao and the other ten youths in the training ground, leaving them battered.
• Zong Xiaoshan warned Qin Yan that their grain was running low, and children told Qin Yan that strangers had arrived in the village.
• Mu Feng of the Mu Lineage pressured farmers to sell their prime farmland for five taels of silver per mu and had Li You dragged away when he protested.
• Qin Yan offered to buy Li You’s fields for ten taels per mu, then slapped Mu Feng and asked whether the Mu Lineage was so impressive.

Qin Yan fought off Mu Feng and his servants, then abandoned his plan to buy land in Clear Water Village after the villagers tried to pressure him for money. He left with Zong Xiaoshan and the others to buy land elsewhere, while ordering Shi Hu to teach Qiao Laizi a lesson.

• Zong Xiaoshan, Qin Xiaoyi, Shi Hu, and Song Bao defeated Mu Feng’s servants, and Qin Yan beat Mu Feng until he begged for mercy.
• Qin Yan offered Li You ten taels of silver per mu for his land, but rebuked villagers who demanded loans and withdrew his offer.
• Li You tried to accept Qin Yan’s offer, but Qin Yan refused and returned home, saying he would buy land elsewhere.
• Qin Yan promised his followers land, houses, and wives once he succeeded, then told Shi Hu to teach Qiao Laizi a lesson.
• Qin Yan led his followers out of Clear Water Village with a chest of silver to buy land, ignoring villagers who wished he would buy their fields instead.

Qin Yan bought nearly 160 mu of land in Shanghe Village and faced retaliation from the Mu Lineage. He defeated Mu Youcheng’s men and had Mu Feng’s legs broken.

• Qin Yan bought nearly 160 mu of farmland in Shanghe Village and purchased a wasteland plot from Lin Xiangfu for a future residence.
• Mu Youcheng learned that Qin Yan had bought land he wanted and ordered Mu Feng to gather men and deal with him.
• Lin Xiangfu warned Qin Yan that the Mu Lineage would retaliate, and Chen Ergou reported that Mu Feng had arrived with more than thirty men.
• Mo Yan attacked Qin Yan with a sword, but Qin Yan struck him in the groin and crippled him.
• Qin Yan and his men routed Mu Feng’s group, then Qin Xiaoyi smashed Mu Feng’s legs at Qin Yan’s command.

Qin Yan raided the Mu Lineage compound, killed Mu Youcheng, and stole a locked box of silver before encountering the Green-Faced Corpse Monster. After a fierce fight, Qin Yan fled as cavalry approached, leaving the monster amid the collapsed buildings.

• Qin Yan ignored Zong Xiaoshan’s concern about Mu Lineage revenge and sent his group back to Clear Water Village.
• Mu Youcheng vowed to report Qin Yan to the authorities after his household servants returned badly injured.
• Qin Yan infiltrated the Mu Lineage compound, killed Mu Youcheng, and found a heavy box that seemed to contain at least a thousand taels of silver.
• Qin Yan encountered the Green-Faced Corpse Monster, which attacked the Mu Lineage servants and then lunged at him.
• Qin Yan struck the monster repeatedly, smashing it through buildings, then escaped with the box when he sensed cavalry approaching.

The Green Mountain Army commandant and Chen Daoist investigated the ruined Mu residence and speculated that Qin Yan’s master had killed Squire Mu and fought the Green-Clothed Walking Corpse. The commandant then summoned Qin Yan, leaving Qin Yan to convincingly deny responsibility while his companions stood by him.

• The commandant arrived at the Mu residence with Chen Daoist, killed the wounded Green-Clothed Walking Corpse with one slash, and found signs of a separate battle and murder.
• Chen Daoist linked the Mu Lineage’s recent conflict with Qin Yan to the deaths, but the commandant suspected Qin Yan’s master had been responsible.
• The commandant and Chen Daoist left the revenge killing to local authorities, and the commandant said he wanted to meet Qin Yan.
• Qin Yan learned that the Green Mountain Army had come to the Mu residence and worried that Mu Youcheng’s death might bring him trouble.
• Chen Ergou told Qin Yan that soldiers had arrived in the village, and Qin Xiaoyi, Zong Xiaoshan, and Shi Hu offered to flee with him if needed.
• Qin Yan met the commandant, who questioned him about the Mu Lineage’s attack, and Qin Yan indignantly denied any involvement.

Qin Yan rejected Lu Xiao’s offer to join the Green Mountain Army and continued training while Qinghe Town’s gates remained closed. He broke through his physical limits, gained the Heart Burst skill, and hurled a thousand-jin boulder through a tree.

• The old village chief told Lu Xiao that Qin Yan had wiped out the Black Wind Mountain bandits and taken their spoils.
• Lu Xiao invited Qin Yan to join the army, but Qin Yan refused and Lu Xiao left with his men.
• Lu Xiao told his guard he suspected Qin Yan might have killed the Mu Lineage people, but chose not to pursue him.
• Qin Yan told Zong Xiaoshan the authorities would not come after them for now and decided to seek help from his gang leader over the Mu Lineage trouble.
• Qin Yan pushed through nearly a thousand squats while carrying a thousand-jin boulder and broke his body’s limits.
• Qin Yan gained the Heart Burst skill, increased his strength and spirit, and threw the boulder through a tall tree.

Qin Yan recovered from using Heart Burst and, with grain supplies dwindling, went into the mountains to hunt. He captured a White Jade Centipede and killed a giant black bear, then returned to the village with the bear as villagers marveled at his growing strength.

• Qin Yan recovered quickly from Heart Burst but warned himself to save the skill for emergencies.
• Qin Xiaoyi told Qin Yan that local wealthy families refused to sell grain, and Qin Yan decided to hunt in the mountains.
• Qin Yan captured a White Jade Centipede and shot a giant black bear between the eyes.
• Xiaoxuan ran into the forest to greet Qin Yan, who promised the little black cat some bear meat.
• Zong Xiaoshan and the villagers admired the giant bear, while the old village chief reflected on Qin Yan's rapid growth.

Qin Yan sold the giant bear’s hide and paws, then took the remaining bear paws and a huge snow-white centipede to Qinghe Town to find buyers. After Li Chun offered to help with Qin Yan’s trouble with the Mu Lineage in exchange for a future favor, Qin Yan entered town and learned that the centipede was a Mountain Treasure.

• Li Chun bought the bear hide and front paws for 249 taels and warned Qin Yan that Mu Youcheng’s wife planned to accuse him of murder.
• Qin Yan accepted Li Chun’s offer of help in exchange for a promise to assist him later, and Li Chun gave him a letter for County Magistrate Jiang.
• Qin Yan told Qin Xiaoyi to inform Uncle Seven and Uncle Zhao Yang that they could resume collecting mountain produce, then took Qin Xiaoyi and Zong Xiaoshan to Qinghe Town.
• Qin Yan paid the gate soldiers, ate at a noodle shop, and sold the remaining bear paws to Shopkeeper Wang at Abundant Harvest Tower for thirty-five taels each.
• Qin Yan showed Shopkeeper Wang a giant snow-white centipede, and Wang identified it as a Mountain Treasure.

Qin Yan learned that the White Jade Centipede was a valuable Mountain Treasure and took it to the Rising Cloud Medicine Shop to sell. After Shopkeeper Lu offered a low price, Qin Yan prepared to leave, but Helmsman Ye arrived and asked to buy the creature.

• Shopkeeper Wang warned Qin Yan that the White Jade Centipede was a rare Mountain Treasure and recommended the Rising Cloud Medicine Shop as a safe place to sell it.
• Zong Xiaoshan sensed two people following them, so Qin Yan led the group through an alley before they continued to the Rising Cloud Medicine Shop.
• Qin Yan sold a bear gallbladder to Lu Wenqing for thirty taels and showed him the White Jade Centipede, which Lu identified as Snow-Seen Red.
• Lu Wenqing offered Qin Yan two hundred taels for Snow-Seen Red, but Qin Yan rejected the offer and prepared to leave.
• Helmsman Ye entered the medicine shop and asked Qin Yan to sell him the treasure, while Qin Yan and Li Wenqing recognized each other.

Qin Yan and Zong Xiaoshan clashed with Qian Fei at the Rising Cloud Medicine Shop, but Li Wenqing settled the dispute and offered to take Qin Yan as his disciple. After rival buyers competed for Qin Yan’s Snow-Seen Red, Li Wenqing bought it for two thousand five hundred taels.

• Qian Fei berated Qin Yan for selling the Mountain Treasure, and Zong Xiaoshan attacked him when he insulted him.
• Li Wenqing moved to intervene, but Qin Yan blocked him while Zong Xiaoshan and Qin Yan brought Qian Fei down and injured him.
• Qin Yan apologized to Li Wenqing while insisting that the Snow-Seen Red remained his to sell, and Li Wenqing accepted his explanation.
• Ye Xian tried to recruit Qin Yan to the Canal Gang, prompting Li Wenqing to offer to take Qin Yan as his personal disciple; Qin Yan agreed.
• Ye Xian offered two thousand taels for the Snow-Seen Red, Lu Yunqing bid two thousand two hundred, and Li Wenqing bought it for two thousand five hundred taels.

Qin Yan secured Li Wenqing’s formal acceptance as his disciple and gained a residence in town. After delivering Uncle Chun’s letter to Jiang Fuji, he met his new senior siblings and completed the ceremony, while Jiang Fuji privately judged him a promising talent.

• Li Wenqing invited Qin Yan to bring future treasures to his shop, and Qin Yan declined Ye Xian’s offer to join the Cao Gang.
• Qin Yan gave silver to Zong Xiaoshan and Qin Xiaoyi, praising them as brothers and encouraging them to keep working hard.
• Jiang Fuji received Uncle Chun’s letter, welcomed Qin Yan as Uncle Jiang, and privately described him as a fine blade.
• Qin Yan arrived at the gambling house and met Li Wenqing’s other disciples, Tie Peng, Li Ping'er, and Li An.
• Li Wenqing formally took Qin Yan as his fourth personal disciple and gave him a small courtyard residence in town.

Qin Yan impressed Li Wenqing with his Six Harmonies Saber and received the Eight Desolations Six Harmonies Saber manual. At the training grounds, Qin Yan confronted Chang Xianwen over Zong Xiaoshan’s injury to Qian Fei, and the dispute escalated toward a fight.

• Qin Yan demonstrated that he had reached major accomplishment in the Six Harmonies Saber, astonishing Li Wenqing and Tie Peng.
• Li Wenqing demonstrated the Eight Desolations Six Harmonies Saber, then gave Qin Yan its manual and told him to seek Tie Peng’s guidance.
• Li Wenqing promised to use a Mountain Treasure to prepare a Foundation Establishment decoction for Li An, while Tie Peng and Qin Yan pledged to support him.
• Tie Peng brought Qin Yan to the training grounds, where Chang Xianwen and his men demanded an explanation for Zong Xiaoshan injuring Qian Fei.
• Qin Yan insulted Chang Xianwen and ordered Zong Xiaoshan to teach the men a lesson; Chang Xianwen declared he would teach Zong Xiaoshan a lesson.

Qin Yan settled into a courtyard in Qinghe Town and learned that Zhang Dangxing, who was connected to his father's death, planned to flee with his family. Qin Yan intercepted them on the river and killed the whole family, leaving their fate undiscovered at the dock.

• Zong Xiaoshan defeated Chang Xianwen, and Qin Yan left with his companions.
• Qin Yan moved into a courtyard, met the scholar Huang Chao, and sent grain to his new neighbors.
• After hearing that the Qiao Family had been robbed and its elders and third daughter-in-law killed, Zhang Dangxing decided to flee Qinghe Town.
• Qin Xiaoyi reported Zhang Dangxing's plans to Qin Yan, who ordered his men to watch him.
• Qin Yan disguised himself as the boatman and confronted Zhang Dangxing and his family on the river.
• Qin Yan drowned Zhang Dangxing's whole family, and a boatman later found their boat empty at the dock.

Qin Yan expanded his property and businesses in town and Shanghe Village as his fortunes grew. When Azure Blade Gang thugs demanded protection money at his bun shop, they learned who he was, and Chen Hui arrived to apologize and punish his men.

• Qin Yan bought three shops and two courtyards in town, acquired nearly three hundred and fifty mu of farmland, and built courtyards in Shanghe Village.
• Qin Yan opened a bun shop managed by Xia E and established Qin-Style Braised Delicacies while preparing to open a hot pot restaurant.
• A group of Azure Blade Gang thugs surrounded the bun shop and threatened Xia E for refusing to pay a security fee.
• Zong Xiaoshan and Qin Xiaoyi beat the thugs and brought their leader before Qin Yan, whose identity as the gang leader's personal disciple terrified them.
• Chen Hui arrived, beat the fat thug, apologized to Qin Yan, and took his men away after Qin Yan warned him not to let it happen again.

Qin Yan claimed Qinghe Town’s west district after defeating its gang leaders and ordering the area cleaned up. As he left, Di Feng offered him an internal cultivation manual in exchange for handling a favor, leaving Qin Yan curious about the offer.

• Qin Yan completed impact-resistance training and independently learned beginner Body Control, increasing his strength and resistance.
• Shi Hu reported that Qin Yan’s men had taken the west district, and Qin Yan sent him to buy food and wine for the group.
• Qin Yan confronted the west district’s three gang leaders, ordered them killed, and told Qin Xiaoyi to clean up the district and deal with the human traffickers.
• Qin Yan put Shi Hu in charge of the west district and ordered him to recruit loyal, reliable subordinates.
• Di Feng approached Qin Yan and offered an internal cultivation manual if Qin Yan helped him with a favor.

Qin Yan agreed to help Di Feng and Daoist Chen investigate a strange pregnant corpse in a river pool, hoping to earn an internal cultivation manual. As fog closed around them, Daoist Chen also learned that Qin Yan had seen a tomb robber connected to a crisis at Mass Grave Mound.

• Di Feng offered Qin Yan a cultivation method that reached the Qi Origin Realm in exchange for help luring out a corpse, and Qin Yan agreed.
• Di Feng took Qin Yan downstream, where they met Daoist Chen, who explained that a red-clad pregnant corpse lay in a deep pool near Guiliu Village and that Liu Erhe had recently drowned after approaching it.
• Daoist Chen said his sect elders were occupied suppressing corpses at Mass Grave Mound and gave Qin Yan a talisman to protect him from ordinary evil entities.
• Qin Yan recalled seeing the tomb robber before the authorities removed his corpse from town, but he knew nothing about what the robber had obtained or whom he had met.
• Di Feng noticed that fog had risen around them, and he shivered.

Qin Yan, Di Feng, and Daoist Chen became trapped in a Ghost Wall and went to Guiliu Village to find the expert controlling it. They discovered the village deserted and tracked an evil entity until it destroyed Daoist Chen’s paper crane and spoke from the fog.

• Qin Yan sensed something unclean in the fog, and Daoist Chen’s divination revealed they were trapped in a Ghost Wall with only one chance of survival.
• Daoist Chen led Qin Yan and Di Feng toward Guiliu Village because they had to find the person controlling the trap to escape.
• The three searched the village and found that all its residents had vanished and its chickens had died without visible wounds.
• Daoist Chen used an Evil-Repelling Talisman on a dead chicken, confirming that an evil entity had affected the village, while Qin Yan sensed something watching them.
• Daoist Chen sent a paper crane to track the entity, but a child’s voice called out from the fog and destroyed the crane.