Recaps

Chu Qing and Nangong returned to Youjian Restaurant and killed Qin Wushang after he sent the Pipa Woman to assassinate Chu Qing. They looted the floor and left with a mysterious Heaven-character token.

• Qin Wushang waited at Youjian Restaurant for the Pipa Woman to kill Chu Qing, unaware that Chu Qing and Nangong had returned.
• Nangong killed a noblewoman who noticed them, while Chu Qing’s spear narrowly missed Qin Wushang’s throat.
• Chu Qing and Nangong overwhelmed Qin Wushang with sound attacks and strangled him with the Chain Spear before Chu Qing destroyed his head.
• Nangong killed the musicians who had witnessed the attack, and she and Chu Qing searched the restaurant for valuables.
• Chu Qing found a nearly indestructible token marked with the character Heaven, and Nangong told him to keep it.
• Chu Qing and Nangong took the remaining valuables and left the restaurant.

After Qin Wushang was murdered at Youjian Restaurant, the Qin Family launched a furious investigation while the extraordinary people secretly covered for Chu Qing. The chapter ended with investigators reconstructing the killing and searching for anyone skilled in sonic attacks or the Overlord Spear.

• The Pipa Woman returned to Youjian Restaurant and discovered Qin Wushang and the others dead on the ninth floor.
• The Qin Family head ordered the restaurant's staff killed and demanded that everyone cooperate with the investigation, throwing the prefectural city into turmoil.
• The Martial Academy and great clans received news of Qin Wushang's death, but no one suspected Chu Qing.
• An extraordinary person revealed that Chu Qing had killed Qin Wushang and that he had helped clean the scene because Chu Qing had dragon sinew and cleared Yu's obsession.
• The extraordinary person in the Red Sedan Chair decided to prepare Chu Qing a gift, hoping he would not cause more trouble before it was ready.
• A Qin Family investigator reconstructed the murder and ordered a search for experts in sonic attacks or the Overlord Spear.

The Qin Family’s investigation into Qin Wushang’s death found no viable suspects, while Chu Qing and the women discovered the precious Eight Divine Hands manual among their haul. They memorized its three moves, and Chu Qing identified sun and moonlight as a possible way to begin cultivating the first move, Sun and Moon.

• The Qin Family questioned experts who knew the Overlord Spear or had mastered sonic techniques, but verified that each had an alibi for Qin Wushang’s death.
• Chu Qing, Nangong, and the others examined their treasure haul, and Madam Shi claimed a conspicuous violet flexible sword for herself.
• Chu Qing opened the Eight Divine Hands manual, and Nangong, Madam Shi, and Madam Jin explained its value, its rumored connection to the path beyond the Third Limit, and its effect on descendants’ chances of becoming anomalous people.
• Chu Qing and the women memorized the manual’s three moves: Sun and Moon, Wind and Water, and Earth and Fire.
• Chu Qing examined the cultivation requirements for Sun and Moon and found that a hundred hours of sun and moonlight could make him Initiated.

Chu Qing and the women secured martial arts and secret medicines from the Qin Family’s cache, then waited through the night as the family searched for Qin Wushang’s killer. The next morning, Chu Qing practiced the Eight Divine Hands before returning to the Martial Academy, where the Qin Family questioned him and refused to honor Qin Wushang’s promise without further trials.

• Madam Shi and Nangong accepted that the Eight Divine Hands would take time to master, while Chu Qing registered several other martial arts and set aside the secret medicines for whoever reached the Skin Marrow Realm first.
• After Nangong left, Chu Qing stayed with Madam Jin and Madam Shi, telling stories as the storm eased and Qin Family searchers moved through the streets.
• Madam Shi warned Chu Qing that worsening weather and political unrest would bring more deaths and rebels, and urged him to cultivate so he could protect himself.
• In the morning, Chu Qing practiced the White Dragon Blood Refining Method and worked on Eight Divine Hands: Sun and Moon by training in the sunlight, while Madam Shi pondered how to convert power into special forces.
• Chu Qing returned to the Martial Academy, where Qin Family members questioned students about Qin Wushang’s death; Chu Qing said he had been considering Qin Wushang’s offer, but a Qin Family member told him the family would not honor it without further trials.

After the Qin Family’s inquiry ended, Nangong told Chu Qing that Sun Gold and Moon Jade would appear at a Black Harbor auction in ten days. At the Martial Academy, Chu Qing claimed all five remaining portions of blood-refinement secret medicine after recounting the violence he had committed for resources.

• The Qin Family’s inquiry into Qin Wushang’s death ended quickly, and Chu Qing was unconcerned about being implicated.
• Nangong told Chu Qing that Sun Gold and Moon Jade would be auctioned in Black Harbor in ten days, and they agreed to meet there.
• Chu Qing attended class, received his secret medicine, and watched students claim the remaining resources one by one.
• Chu Qing recounted his bloody history of killing for resources and warned the students not to provoke him.
• Ran Ran asked how many portions Chu Qing wanted, and he declared that he wanted all five remaining portions.

Chu Qing fought the students who challenged his demand for five portions of secret medicine and effortlessly defeated them, including Ran Ran. The students conceded, but a Martial Master warned that several absent experts would return and contest his claim.

• Chu Qing told the students that the weak had no right to claim resources, then nearly severed a student's hands when he challenged him.
• Ran Ran recognized that Chu Qing's hand blade combined many limit-breaking techniques and challenged him to spar.
• Chu Qing trapped Ran Ran's hand, injured her wrist, caught her kick, and subdued her until he released her; she stormed away without taking the secret medicine.
• The remaining students dropped their objections, and Chu Qing asked for five portions of secret medicine to be delivered to his room.
• A Martial Master warned Chu Qing that several academy experts away on assessment missions would likely challenge him for the resources when they returned.

Chu Qing used his secret medicine to refine his blood, then tracked down the three Class Nine experts on Craggy Mountain. He announced that he would take five extra portions of secret medicine each day and warned them not to interfere.

• Chu Qing learned that students could collect extra resources in person or through a student capable of protecting them, then took his secret medicine and left the academy.
• Chu Qing refined his blood six times in six hours by consuming secret medicine while sunbathing.
• Chu Qing visited Human World's intelligence organization, paid for information, and learned that Xiao Chen, Gong Qing, and Qin Wubing were on Craggy Mountain with more than thirty experts nearby.
• Xiao Chen, Gong Qing, and Qin Wubing discussed how to clear out Craggy Mountain's bandits without asking their Lineages for help.
• Chu Qing arrived at the mountain, introduced himself to the wary experts, and declared that he would take five extra portions of secret medicine from Class Nine daily, threatening anyone who tried to take them.

Chu Qing forced Qin Wubing and two other prodigies to kneel and accept his authority, then advised them on how to complete their assessment task. They followed his instructions and resolved it, while Chu Qing continued growing stronger.

• Chu Qing explained that he had taken five portions of secret medicine meant for others, and Qin Wubing objected that the choice harmed their reputation.
• Chu Qing seized Qin Wubing by the throat and threatened to kill him unless the prodigies obeyed.
• The two prodigies and more than thirty servant experts knelt and greeted Chu Qing as Master Qing, and he released Qin Wubing.
• Qin Wubing asked Chu Qing for help with a problem, and Chu Qing advised them to use cannon fodder, Fire Oil, and poisonous smoke to burn the mountain and deal with its tunnels.
• Qin Wubing and the others followed Chu Qing's advice, completed their final assessment task, and kept the encounter secret.
• Chu Qing continued his steady training, gaining strength several times faster than the other prodigies.

As Chu Qing cultivated with secret medicine, he reached Bronze Blood and gained Internal Vision, which he used to repair narrowed blood vessels and strengthen his body. Nangong told him the provincial city Black Market auction opened the next night and invited him to scout the market with her.

• Chu Qing accepted Gong Wudi’s offer of 150 doses of blood-refining secret medicine and 10,000 taels of black gold to join the Heaven-Connecting Path Competition.
• Chu Qing spent several days consuming secret medicine until he reached Bronze Blood and gained Internal Vision.
• Chu Qing used the White Dragon’s secret teachings to widen damaged blood vessels and found that his strength had improved.
• Nangong revealed that she had 300 golden bones and said she had been practicing limit-breaking techniques.
• Nangong told Chu Qing that the Black Market auction opened the next night and asked him to explore the market with her.

Chu Qing and Nangong entered Black Harbor and found Cui Moyang facing a group of assassins who were trying to drive her away. After Cui Moyang began killing them, a hidden enemy’s killing intent nearly made her kill herself, but Chu Qing stopped it and challenged the unseen foe.

• Chu Qing and Nangong disguised themselves and entered Black Harbor, where Nangong warned that many street vendors were assassins.
• They recognized Cui Moyang selling tea, and several assassins surrounded her and demanded that she leave.
• Cui Moyang wounded the assassins with her sword, but a hidden enemy’s killing intent overwhelmed her and made her raise her sword to her own neck.
• Chu Qing used his killing intent to block the hidden attack, restoring Cui Moyang’s clarity, and told her to kill the assassins.
• Cui Moyang and Nangong killed several assassins while Chu Qing clashed with the hidden foe through their killing intent.
• The hidden foe asked how Chu Qing had so much killing intent, and Chu Qing replied that they should kill a few more people.

Chu Qing and Nangong reunited with Cui Moyang in the Black Market, where she connected them with a client offering Sun Gold and Moon Jade for killing the Third Butler of King Shiyu's Mansion. Chu Qing accepted the dangerous mission and obtained a detailed map and intelligence, then prepared to act with the two women.

• Chu Qing intimidated a hidden observer after killing the surviving assassins, then reunited with Cui Moyang and Nangong.
• Cui Moyang led Chu Qing to a client in a quiet grove of the Black Market who was seeking assassins to kill the Third Butler of King Shiyu's Mansion.
• Chu Qing accepted the mission after learning the client had four more sets of Sun Gold and Moon Jade, despite Cui Moyang warning that assassins had disappeared and the mansion was dangerous.
• Chu Qing led Nangong and Cui Moyang to a Human World intelligence point and demanded a detailed mansion map and information on the Third Butler.
• The intelligence broker quickly supplied detailed intelligence, while Chu Qing and the women examined the map.

Chu Qing planned to assassinate the Third Butler for Sun Gold Moon Jade and Moon Jade, then waited outside King Shiyu's Mansion for an opportunity. After advancing Eight Divine Hands: Sun Moon, he changed his plan when the Third Butler appeared alongside the night-soil cart.

• Chu Qing rejected several assassination plans and persuaded Nangong and Cui Moyang to join him in attacking the Third Butler inside King Shiyu's Mansion.
• Chu Qing watched the mansion through the night and completed the promotion of Eight Divine Hands: Sun Moon after basking in moonlight.
• Chu Qing grew more confident in killing the Third Butler after mastering the beginner-stage Eight Divine Hands: Sun Moon.
• Chu Qing spotted the Third Butler leaving the mansion at the same time as the night-soil cart arrived.
• Chu Qing abandoned his planned ambush and slipped beneath the night-soil cart.

Chu Qing assassinated Third Butler inside the royal residence and defeated two First Limit guards with a single technique. Nangong and Cui Moyang watched in shock as he escaped with Third Butler’s head.

• Third Butler fantasized about rising in the royal residence, taking the Princess Consort, and later settling his grudge against Chu Qing.
• Third Butler confronted a night soil cart that had arrived early, unaware that Chu Qing was hiding inside it.
• Chu Qing burst from the cart and killed Third Butler with a Sonic Boom Barrier, prompting guards to charge him.
• Chu Qing used Eight Divine Hands: Sun and Moon to kill two First Limit guards with one strike, then retrieved Third Butler’s head and fled.
• Nangong and Cui Moyang watched from a nearby building, stunned by Chu Qing’s strength.

After Chu Qing killed King Shiyu’s Third Butler inside the mansion, the provincial city reacted with celebration, alarm, and political maneuvering. King Shiyu ordered a limited search, and the Princess Consort sent two powerful Third Limit experts to help hunt down the assassin.

• A Second Limit expert heard that the Third Butler had died, claimed the dead man’s sedan chair, and ordered the bearers to take him home.
• News of the Third Butler’s assassination spread through the provincial city, where commoners celebrated and aristocratic families sent people to investigate.
• King Shiyu questioned his servants and guard captains about the threat to his household, then gave them until noon to find the assassin.
• The guard captains asked the Princess Consort for tracking and combat experts, and she assigned Golden Fur Dog Xue Ren and Sky-Splitting Hand Zhu Feng to the hunt.

Chu Qing escaped the royal residence’s pursuit by swimming and running a thousand miles after killing the Third Butler. The King accepted a scapegoat to close the case, while the Princess Consort ordered the search for Chu Qing to end after learning he might have obtained Yi Renyu’s Eight Divine Hands.

• The two Third Limit Experts discovered that the guards’ wounds suggested a martial art resembling the Eight Divine Hands, then tracked Chu Qing’s trail to a river and lost it.
• The experts decided they needed a Second Limit scapegoat, and one martial artist accused Zhang San of secretly practicing Palm Techniques.
• The royal residence mutilated Zhang San, presented him as the killer, and executed him and his family on the King’s order.
• The King learned that Chu Qing had escaped but ended the investigation, while the Princess Consort told the experts to forget the murderer because he had learned Little Yu’s Eight Divine Hands.
• Chu Qing rested in a ruined temple a thousand li away after swimming more than three hundred li and running through the snowy wilderness.

Chu Qing took shelter in a ruined temple with an old man and a group of scholars traveling to the main city for examinations. He composed a poem naming Mi Mei “Consort Mei,” leaving the old man convinced Chu Qing had committed treason and determined to report him.

• Chu Qing met armed travelers and scholars at the ruined temple, then learned that both men and women could take the examinations.
• Mi Mei gave Chu Qing food, guessed that he was being hunted, and later played in the snow while the other scholars composed poems.
• When Mi Mei asked him for a poem, Chu Qing recited lines praising her as “Consort Mei.”
• Mi Mei blushed and fled behind a plum tree, while the old man decided to report Chu Qing and have him wanted.

Chu Qing escaped the mountain gathering after his poem naming Mi Mei Consort Mei alarmed the scholars, then reunited with Nangong Xiao and Cui Moyang in the prefectural city. He upgraded Eight Divine Hands with Sun Gold Moon Jade and prepared with the women for an upcoming auction.

• Chu Qing startled Mi Mei and the gathered scholars with his poem, then fled at immense speed; the old scholar warned everyone to keep the poem and Chu Qing's identity secret.
• Mi Mei wondered about Chu Qing's strength and the prospect of traveling with him, while the young scholars discussed martial arts and their upcoming examination.
• Chu Qing reunited with Nangong Xiao and Cui Moyang, and Nangong Xiao told him that King Shiyu's Mansion faced growing suspicion after the killings.
• Nangong Xiao gave Chu Qing five portions of Sun Gold Moon Jade, which he used to advance Eight Divine Hands and reveal that his next promotion required killing one hundred enemies.
• The three discussed their funds for the coming auction, and Nangong Xiao said she wanted to join future fights to help repay her debts.

Chu Qing, Nangong, and Cui Moyang attended a Black Market auction, where rare cultivation materials and the mysterious Eight Divine Hands drew their attention. Chu Qing bid three thousand black gold for the first portion of Sun Gold Moon Jade, but another bidder immediately raised the price to four thousand.

• Chu Qing, Nangong, and Cui Moyang pooled their exchange notes into twenty-three thousand black gold and went to the Black Market auction.
• The three cultivated while the auction progressed through bulk goods, property, and martial arts items, then watched as rare cultivation materials came up for sale.
• Chu Qing wondered whether the special animals that yielded valuable materials could be bred to provide resources and boost cultivation.
• The auctioneer announced ten portions of Sun Gold Moon Jade, a material said to aid cultivation of the Eight Divine Hands, and revealed that a fragmentary scroll would be auctioned next.
• Chu Qing bid three thousand black gold for the first portion of Sun Gold Moon Jade, but another bidder countered with four thousand.

Chu Qing clashed with an arrogant Young Prince at the auction, who seized the Sun Gold Moon Jade and the incomplete Eight Divine Hands. After the Young Prince left, Chu Qing and his companions decided to pursue and kill him.

• Chu Qing raised his bid for Sun Gold Moon Jade, and the Young Prince threatened and publicly humiliated him.
• The Young Prince claimed the Sun Gold Moon Jade and bought several portions while the auction crowd mocked Chu Qing.
• Chu Qing learned the youth was the Young Prince of King Shiyu's Mansion, but he remained intent on killing him.
• The Young Prince bought the incomplete Eight Divine Hands for one hundred thousand black gold and left the auction with his guards.
• Chu Qing left with Nangong and Cui Moyang and declared that they would slaughter the Young Prince.

Chu Qing and the Nangong sisters attacked the Young Prince’s convoy near Black Harbor, and Chu Qing overwhelmed the guards with Sun and Moon. As the Young Prince’s protectors faltered and the town raised its highest alert, the Young Prince offered an incomplete Eight Divine Hands scroll and his friendship to whoever killed Chu Qing.

• Chu Qing and the three Nangong sisters split up to track the Young Prince as his convoy left Black Harbor.
• Nangong and Cui Moyang killed half the ordinary guards from the rear before the convoy noticed the attack.
• Chu Qing arrived and killed a First Limit Expert with Sun and Moon, increasing his advancement progress.
• The guards focused on protecting the carriage, allowing Chu Qing to charge through them and smash or injure the black-robed experts.
• Black Harbor’s guards set off their highest-level warning fireworks as townspeople recognized the Young Prince’s carriage and gathered to watch.
• The Young Prince offered an incomplete Eight Divine Hands scroll and his friendship to anyone who killed Chu Qing.

Chu Qing slaughtered the Black Market fighters who attacked him for the Young Prince’s reward, then turned on the Young Prince himself. The Young Prince charged out of his carriage and was blasted back inside, leaving him wounded amid the wreckage.

• The Young Prince offered a hundred thousand black gold for Chu Qing’s capture or death, prompting a mob of armed Black Market fighters to attack.
• Chu Qing used Eight Divine Hands: Sun Moon to kill and cripple the attackers, raising the technique’s proficiency and learning its Great Completion conditions.
• Nangong and Cui Moyang followed Chu Qing, guarding his flanks as the Black Market fighters and the Young Prince’s guards began to flee.
• Chu Qing pursued the retreating Black Market crowd, killed three hundred people, and completed one condition for advancing Eight Divine Hands: Sun Moon to Great Completion.
• Chu Qing charged toward the Young Prince’s carriage, and the Young Prince leapt out to fight him.
• Chu Qing struck the Young Prince back into the carriage, which exploded, leaving the Young Prince coughing blood as the beauties stared at him resentfully.

Chu Qing defeated and killed the Young Prince after overpowering him with Eight Divine Hands and his dragon sinews. He escaped with Nangong and Cui Moyang, leaving the Black Market’s elite soldiers to fear that the King would punish them all for the Young Prince’s death.

• The Young Prince recovered from Chu Qing’s earlier assault, attacked with secret techniques, and briefly held his ground against Eight Divine Hands. Sun and Moon.
• Chu Qing unleashed his dragon sinews and relentless Eight Divine Hands, broke the Young Prince’s arms, and beat him into a deep pit while naming the offenses that fueled his anger.
• The Young Prince begged Chu Qing to stop, while voices from the town demanded that Chu Qing spare him and threatened to punish his family.
• Chu Qing killed the Young Prince with a punch, and a burning tattoo turned into green smoke and entered Chu Qing’s chest.
• Chu Qing twisted off the Young Prince’s head and fled with Nangong and Cui Moyang as the Black Market’s elite soldiers arrived.
• The soldiers argued over whether to pursue Chu Qing and feared the King would make the entire Black Market pay for the Young Prince’s death.

After killing the Young Prince, Chu Qing fled the Black Market with an Otherkin tracking mark and began training Eight Divine Hands as he ran. King Shiyu learned of his son’s death and ordered his hundreds of retainers to kill themselves and be buried with him.

• Chu Qing took Sun Gold Moon Jade and an Eight Divine Hands fragment from Nangong, then learned his tiger tattoo was an Otherkin tracking mark that he could wear away with blood qi or escape by traveling far enough.
• Chu Qing left Nangong and Cui Moyang, ran at the speed of sound, and practiced Eight Divine Hands: Thousand Arms while heading toward a treasure said to contain Tiger Jade.
• The Princess Consort learned the Young Prince had died and sent a maidservant to inform King Shiyu.
• King Shiyu heard that the Young Prince had been killed in the Black Market and asked his retainers what he should do.
• Hundreds of retainers volunteered to become King Shiyu’s children, but he ordered them to kill themselves and accompany the Young Prince in death.

After the Young Prince was killed, King Shiyu sent the Princess Consort and a force of experts to hunt down Chu Qing. As the news spread, the provincial city and surrounding territories descended into turmoil, while the Black Market and local lineages struggled to understand the killing.

• King Shiyu ordered the armored soldiers to destroy the Black Market and demanded that every organization help find his son's killer.
• King Shiyu asked the Princess Consort to track down the killer, and she agreed so she could leave the mansion and see him for herself.
• King Shiyu sent the Princess Consort in a bronze sedan chair, carried by eight Third Limit experts and accompanied by more than a hundred Second Limit experts.
• News of the Young Prince's death spread through the provincial city, prefectural cities, and County Towns, prompting lineages and Wu Fortress masters to plot and debate whether the Rebel Army was involved.
• The provincial city's lineage heads and Black Market members learned that Chu Qing had killed the Young Prince after being humiliated, and they questioned his motives and extraordinary combat technique.

Chu Qing reached a rundown stone city on the edge of the desert and learned that an ancient ruin tied to the Eight Divine Hands and the otherkin had drawn crowds from across the region. After joining a large group bound for the ruin, he traded suggestive banter with a Daoist-clad woman who seemed connected to both Brocade World and the sects.

• After running for three days, Chu Qing reached a stone city and planned to rest before searching the desert for Tiger Jade.
• Chu Qing learned that an ancient ruin had appeared in the desert and that many travelers were heading there to seek its inheritance.
• Chu Qing bought five days of rations, prompting other travelers to demand refunds for their extra supplies, then feasted before setting out.
• Chu Qing joined a group of more than fifty travelers, including Brocade World experts, sect members, bandits, a blind man, and a cripple.
• A Daoist-clad woman asked Chu Qing if she was pretty, and he replied with a sexual joke that made the wandering martial artists laugh.