Chapter Summaries

Tiger Bro fled with his surviving bandits after their failed raid, but Second Head and Third Head tracked them down. Second Head killed Tiger Bro and the remaining bandits, then Third Head crushed the informant who had led them there.

• Tiger Bro refused to return to the stronghold and persuaded the surviving bandits to flee with him through a hidden mountain road.
• Second Head and Third Head arrived with the scrawny bandit Tiger Bro had sent back, revealing how they had found the fugitives.
• Tiger Bro recognized the informant and accused him of betrayal as the other bandits knelt and begged for mercy.
• Second Head broke Tiger Bro's sword and killed him, then slaughtered the remaining bandits.
• Third Head questioned the informant about where the others had gone, then crushed his skull when he could not answer.

After escaping the bandits, Lu Xuan returned to the Lu Family Residence and prepared to enter seclusion to pursue greater strength. He went to the family herb storehouse to obtain medicinal supplies, where its middle-aged keeper greeted him.

• The Second Head and Third Head discussed withdrawing from the mountains after their master’s clash with Chief Constable Chen Shi, and feared the Blackbird Guard would find them.
• Lu Xuan and his companions reached Azure Cloud County City, and Liang Cheng reflected on how dangerous their investigation and journey had been.
• Liang Cheng escorted Lu Xuan to the Lu Family Residence, then hurried to report to the county magistrate.
• Lu Xuan told Li San he would enter seclusion and went to the Lu Family Pharmacy’s herb storehouse.
• Lu Xuan entered the room holding the family’s medicinal herbs and supplements, where the middle-aged keeper stood to greet him.

Lu Xuan spent System Points to deduce the Crimson Flame Blade Art and broke through to the Inner Qi Realm, then used Great Supplement Medicines to recover from the breakthrough. He spent the next three days in his courtyard mastering his new realm.

• Lu Xuan asked Wang Fu for his usual medicinal herbs and an additional Crimson Essence Ganoderma, surprising Wang Fu with how quickly he seemed to be advancing.
• Lu Xuan used 30 System Points to deduce the Crimson Flame Blade Art and broke through his bottleneck into the Inner Qi Realm.
• Lu Xuan tested his new Inner Qi with a palm strike that blasted a deep pit into the ground, then decided not to risk using the Crimson Flame Blade Art in his courtyard.
• Lu Xuan ate the prepared Great Supplement Medicines to restore his strength, gaining only 2 System Points after absorbing them.
• Lu Xuan spent the next three days in his courtyard becoming proficient in the mysteries of the Inner Qi Realm.

After returning to the county office, Liang Cheng concealed Lu Xuan's involvement in the Willow Ditch Village deaths, and the case was quickly closed. Lu Xuan later asked Liang Cheng about county-town experts who might teach him a movement technique, but learned none cultivated one and began considering the prefecture.

• Liang Cheng reported that poisonous insects and beasts had killed the people in Willow Ditch Village, concealed Lu Xuan's appearance, and saw the case closed without trouble.
• Three days later, Lu Xuan summoned Liang Cheng to Lu Family Hall and asked about martial experts in the county town.
• Liang Cheng listed Chief Constable Chen Shi and four other Bone Refining Realm experts, but said none cultivated movement techniques.
• Lu Xuan considered seeking a movement technique in the prefecture, then asked Liang Cheng about martial artists below the Bone Refining Realm.

Lu Xuan learned that Zhang, a wanted movement-technique user, was hiding in a ruined temple after avenging his daughter’s death. When Lu Xuan asked Zhang about the technique, Zhang attacked him, but Lu Xuan stopped and shattered the blade with two fingers.

• Liang Cheng told Lu Xuan that Zhang had been a peak Flesh Refining instructor whose daughter was violated and driven to suicide by a rich young master.
• Zhang had attacked the young master, failed to kill him, and escaped the county office Chief Constable Chen Shi using a movement technique.
• Lu Xuan and Liang Cheng went to an abandoned temple outside the city to find Zhang, but found it empty at first.
• Zhang arrived with rats he had caught, ignored Lu Xuan, and threatened Liang Cheng after he called him a court lackey.
• Lu Xuan asked Zhang about his movement technique, and Zhang swung a kitchen knife at him.
• Lu Xuan caught the knife between two fingers and shattered its blade, leaving Zhang stunned.

Lu Xuan confronted Senior Zhang, a hidden martial artist who possessed a Movement Technique, but refused to risk helping him kill a court official for it. When Zhang revealed that a Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom was tied to his daughter’s death and offered to let Lu Xuan merely hold off the victim’s guards, Lu Xuan turned back to hear him out.

• Liang Cheng attacked Senior Zhang, but Lu Xuan blocked the blow with two fingers, and Zhang fled before Lu Xuan caught him.
• Lu Xuan explained that he wanted to learn Zhang’s Movement Technique, not harm him on behalf of a county official.
• Zhang offered the technique in exchange for Lu Xuan killing the County Magistrate Assistant and another man, but Lu Xuan refused.
• As Lu Xuan started to leave, Zhang offered to reveal why he had disappeared for half a month and named the Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom.
• Zhang asked Lu Xuan only to hold off the guards while he killed the man who had caused his daughter’s death, and Lu Xuan asked how he could trust Zhang’s story.

Lu Xuan obtained the Wind Chasing Steps manual from Senior Zhang and agreed to help him find the Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom and kill the Mutated Beast. After changing clothes, Senior Zhang confronted a young man he called a beast in a deserted alley.

• Senior Zhang told Lu Xuan about the Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom and the Mutated Beast that had killed his friends.
• Lu Xuan used 20 System Points to deduce the incomplete Wind Chasing Steps, then agreed to help Senior Zhang.
• Senior Zhang retrieved clean clothes from a buried chest containing his daughter's keepsakes and changed before returning to Lu Xuan.
• At Dwelling Fragrance Pavilion, Brother Huang left with four guards after mistreating the women accompanying him.
• Senior Zhang and another figure blocked Brother Huang in a deserted alley, and Senior Zhang revealed his face and confronted him.

Zhang Heng confronted the young man who had abused and driven his daughter to suicide, while Lu Xuan intervened to defeat the young man’s guards. Lu Xuan left as Zhang Heng began torturing the young man, choosing vengeance over escape.

• The young man recognized Zhang Heng and ordered his four guards to kill him.
• A mysterious man accompanying Zhang Heng struck down two guards with ease, revealing his overwhelming strength.
• One guard threatened the mysterious man with the deputy county magistrate’s influence, but the man appeared behind the remaining guards and knocked them unconscious.
• The mysterious man was revealed to be Lu Xuan, who departed after reflecting on Zhang Heng’s willingness to sacrifice his life for revenge.
• Zhang Heng broke the young man’s limbs and repeatedly cut him with a kitchen knife as the young man begged for mercy.

Zhang Heng killed Huang Xuanjie and his four guards, then took his own life. Chief Constable Chen Shi arrived at the scene and took charge of the politically dangerous case, while Liang Cheng recognized Zhang Heng and worried that he and Xuan-ge would be implicated.

• Zhang Heng killed Huang Xuanjie and his four guards, then struck his own chest and died.
• A yamen runner told Chen Shi that Huang Xuanjie had been killed, and Chen Shi learned the victim was secretly the County Magistrate's biological son.
• Liang Cheng celebrated Huang Xuanjie's death until Chen Shi reprimanded him, then Chen Shi took him to the scene.
• The Huang Family Head Butler tried to interfere with the corpse, but Chen Shi stopped him and ordered the yamen to remove the bodies.
• Liang Cheng recognized Zhang Heng and resolved to find a way to keep himself and Xuan-ge out of the case.

Lu Xuan rode to Chenpo Village to find Tongling Peak and search for the Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom Zhang Heng had mentioned. After learning that beasts had gone mad on the mountain, he paid Zhang Dachun to watch his horse and set off alone up the trail.

• At the county office, Chen Shi kept Zhang Heng and the Huang family members’ bodies in the morgue and planned to report the case to the County Magistrate.
• Lu Xuan rode out of the county town and headed for Tongling Peak after investigating the area and confirming Chenpo Village lay at its foot.
• Lu Xuan met Chen Dachun at the village entrance and asked him for directions to Tongling Peak.
• Chen Dachun warned Lu Xuan that beasts from the summit had gone mad and attacked villagers, but Lu Xuan said he could handle them and was only seeking medicinal herbs.
• Lu Xuan gave Chen Dachun copper coins to watch his horse, then went alone up the mountain path.

Lu Xuan reached Tongling Peak in search of the Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom, where he encountered and killed a sentient Mutated Beast. The System awarded him points for the kill, confirming his suspicion that demon beasts could yield points too.

• Lu Xuan fought through the beasts on Tongling Peak and found Zhang Heng's marker beside the trail to the Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom cave.
• A Mutated Beast ambushed Lu Xuan, survived his palm strike, and fled after he realized it had become sentient.
• Lu Xuan pursued the Mutated Beast and killed it with the Crimson Flame Blade Art.
• The Point Addition System showed Lu Xuan had 17 points, confirming that killing the Mutated Beast had earned him points.

Lu Xuan gained System Points from killing a Mutated Beast, collected rare medicines, and secured the Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom on Tongling Peak. He descended the mountain and left Chenpo Village for the county town, while the village guards realized how powerful he was.

• Lu Xuan gained 15 System Points from killing the Mutated Beast but found that Wind Chasing Steps still had not prompted a derivation.
• Lu Xuan extinguished the fire around the beast and found several kinds of Great Supplement Medicine outside a cave.
• Lu Xuan overturned a boulder and collected the Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom growing beside it.
• Lu Xuan leapt down the mountain through the treetops as Zhang Dachun and Chen Xiong's guard squad gathered at its foot to search for him.
• Lu Xuan thanked the guards and rode away from Chenpo Village toward the county town, while Chen Xiong praised Zhang Dachun for meeting him.

Lu Xuan deduced Wind Chasing Steps with System Points gained from a Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom, then planned to seek more points from bizarre creatures and mutated demon beasts. Meanwhile, the leader of Black Wind Stronghold sent Second Head and Third Head to Azure Cloud County to steal Great Supplement Medicine.

• Lu Xuan ate half the Purple Blood Spirit Mushroom, spent 20 System Points to deduce Wind Chasing Steps, and found his speed and cultivation had improved.
• Lu Xuan consumed the mushroom’s remaining half, saw that he still lacked enough System Points, and decided to investigate bizarre creatures and mutated demon beasts.
• At Black Wind Stronghold, the injured old master told Second Head and Third Head that he needed more Great Supplement Medicine to recover his strength.
• The old master promised to teach them Black Fiend Palm after healing and ordered them to obtain medicine in Azure Cloud County.
• Second Head planned to identify the family with the most Great Supplement Medicine, then sneak in with Third Head, kill its members, and steal the herbs.

Fang Sheng revealed that the White Lotus Holy Seed was parasitizing his body and that he planned to use it to reach the Inner Qi Realm. The next morning, Liang Cheng visited Lu Xuan to report Zhang Heng’s death and ask for martial arts guidance.

• Fang Sheng recalled how the Lanshan County officials had betrayed him and blamed him for the Black Wind Stronghold extermination.
• Fang Sheng revealed the White Lotus Holy Seed in his chest and hoped to consume it once it matured.
• Liang Cheng told Lu Xuan that Zhang Heng had died after killing five people from the Huang Family, including the County Magistrate Assistant’s nephew.
• Liang Cheng assured Lu Xuan that the County Magistrate had closed the case and said the deaths would not implicate them.
• Liang Cheng asked Lu Xuan to guide his martial arts training, and Lu Xuan teased him about his past visits to Dwelling Fragrance Pavilion.

Liang Cheng decided to train seriously after realizing how vulnerable he was, while Lu Xuan planned to use his uncle’s county office connections to investigate unusual cases. Meanwhile, Second Head and Third Head entered the county town and tried to infiltrate the Lu Family through its pharmacy.

• Liang Cheng told Lu Xuan he had taken leave and was serious about practicing martial arts, and Lu Xuan agreed to train him at the Lu Family.
• Lu Xuan planned to ask his uncle by marriage, the county office’s records clerk, about past cases involving supernatural anomalies.
• Second Head and Third Head visited a small pharmacy, where the clerk directed them to the Lu Family Pharmacy as the town’s largest pharmacy.
• Second Head warned Third Head to behave discreetly because the county’s Chief Constable had recognized them before.
• Second Head and Third Head posed as Flesh Refining martial artists seeking work, and Lu Jiahe came out to meet them.
• Second Head presented Lu Jiahe with forged identity documents and travel permits.

Lu Xuan arranged for Liang Cheng to spar with martial artists, then recognized that two newly arrived Lu Family guards were actually concealed Bone Refining Realm fighters plotting an attack. He confronted them and struck the Second Head before their planned assault that night.

• Lu Xuan harshly trained Liang Cheng and ordered servants to bring Flesh Refining Realm martial artists for him to practice against.
• The Second Head and Third Head planned to attack the Lu Family that night and kill everyone except the old master and his relatives.
• Li Mingzhong brought five martial artists to Lu Xuan, who recognized Black Tiger and Black Wind as concealed Bone Refining Realm fighters.
• Lu Xuan dismissed the other three fighters and told Black Tiger and Black Wind to spar with him, pretending he was stuck at a Flesh Refining Realm bottleneck.
• The Second Head agreed to spar, and Lu Xuan immediately punched him flying.

Lu Xuan killed the Second and Third Heads after learning that their master was Fang Sheng, the Black Wind Stronghold Chief. In Azure Cloud County, Magistrate Ye Qingshan learned that the Blackbird Guard was coming to capture Fang Sheng, and his daughter Ye Qingxuan prepared to meet them at the city gates.

• Lu Xuan killed the Third Head with one stomp and then exploded the Second Head's head after learning Fang Sheng's location.
• Chief Constable Chen Shi told Ye Qingshan that the County Magistrate had emerged from seclusion but had done nothing about Huang Xuanjie's death.
• Ye Qingshan told Chen Shi that the prefecture had assigned the Blackbird Guard to capture Fang Sheng and asked him to greet the arriving delegation.
• Ye Qingxuan entered and revealed that her superior, Li Yanran, was leading the Blackbird Guard team; she asked to go with Chen Shi to the city gates.
• Ye Qingshan agreed to let Ye Qingxuan accompany Chen Shi to welcome the Blackbird Guard.

Li Yanran and the Blackbird Guard arrived in Azure Cloud County, where Ye Qingxuan rebuked Su Tianqi for addressing her familiarly. After Lu Xuan killed two bandits targeting the Lu Family, he decided to investigate their alleged Blood Refinement Realm master in the Lofty Mountain Range.

• Chen Shi and Ye Qingxuan waited at the county gate to welcome Li Yanran and the two Blackbird Guard members traveling with her.
• Ye Qingxuan told Su Tianqi not to call her by name, and Chen Shi escorted Li Yanran's party to the county office.
• Liang Cheng asked Lu Xuan what to do with the two dead bandits, and Lu Xuan said he would arrange their disposal inside the Lu Family.
• Lu Xuan decided to visit the Lofty Mountain Range because the dying bandit had claimed their master was a Blood Refinement Realm martial artist.
• Liang Cheng asked about Lu Xuan's Martial Realm, and Lu Xuan joked that he was only a tiny hundred-million-bit higher.

Lu Xuan headed into the Lofty Mountain Range to verify a bandit's claim about Black Wind Stronghold, while Li Yanran's group also approached the stronghold to deal with Fang Sheng. As Fang Sheng lost his sanity and slaughtered his own bandits, Lu Xuan encountered Li Yanran and her companions near the mountain.

• Lu Xuan set out for Black Wind Stronghold to investigate the threat to the Lu Family.
• Li Yanran, Chen Shi, Ye Qingxuan, and Li Yanran's two other companions made their way toward the stronghold, with Ye Qingxuan and Chen Shi staying outside.
• Fang Sheng's White Lotus consumed his Qi and Blood, driving him into a ravenous frenzy.
• Fang Sheng killed the bandits who entered the hall and looked at them as food.
• Lu Xuan met Li Yanran's group at the foot of the mountain, and he and Li Yanran recognized each other.

Lu Xuan encountered Chen Shi, Ye Qingxuan, and their group as they headed to raid Black Wind Stronghold, while Su Tianqi grew jealous and accused him of bandit ties. Lu Xuan sensed a Blood Refinement Realm martial artist among them and followed after they departed; Li Yanran reached the apparently deserted stronghold and smashed open its gates.

• Su Tianqi accused Lu Xuan of colluding with the bandits, but Chen Shi and Ye Qingxuan defended him.
• Chen Shi warned Lu Xuan to leave, then led Li Yanran and the others toward Black Wind Stronghold.
• Lu Xuan sensed a Blood Refinement Realm martial artist in the group and realized they were pursuing the bandit chief Fang Sheng.
• Chen Shi noticed the approach was strangely free of bandits and traps, but Li Yanran pressed on toward the stronghold.
• Li Yanran ordered Su Tianqi and Chen Lingfeng to handle any bandits while she confronted Fang Sheng, then blasted open the stronghold gates.