Recaps

Chu Qing defied Zheng Zhixiang and the fortress lords, then forced the wounded rebel leader to kneel before offering him two conditions for the Rebel Army. Zheng Zhixiang rejected the first offer, and Chu Qing demanded that the rebels stay out of Stone Rock County.

• Chu Qing challenged the fortress lords to kill him, and they declared they would protect him rather than harm him.
• Zheng Zhixiang urged the fortress lords to join the Rebel Army, then attacked Chu Qing with a saber when Chu refused to yield.
• A hidden expert struck Zheng Zhixiang from the air, and Chu Qing used his 365 golden sinews to force the wounded leader to kneel.
• Chu Qing offered Zheng Zhixiang a choice: pay him daily resources while occupying Stone Rock County, or keep the Rebel Army out of the county.
• Zheng Zhixiang rejected the payment condition and threatened to invade with tens of thousands of soldiers, while Chu Qing claimed he could kill hundreds of them each day.

Zheng Zhixiang sent more than six thousand reinforcements to surround Stone Rock County and force Chu Qing to show mercy, while powerful figures discussed Chu Qing’s growing influence. As the rebels prepared to march, Chu Qing strengthened his Black Gold Bone and his Profession Slot completed its transformation.

• Zheng Zhixiang ordered the Chief Subordinate to lead more than five thousand reinforcements to Stone Rock County and kill anyone who left, hoping Chu Qing would hesitate to slaughter them.
• Chief Constable Shi raged against Chu Qing, but Madam Shi beat him and declared that Chu Qing, not the Rebel Army, represented the glorious tide of the age.
• Senior Brother Zhang sent letters to his allies and the Armored Soldier Sect’s patron, praising Chu Qing and judging Zheng Zhisheng unfit for great responsibility.
• The Principal and the Vice Principal discussed Chu Qing’s ties to Yu Ji and wondered whether he would kill thousands of rebel soldiers if they attacked.
• The Chief Subordinate gathered more than six thousand reinforcements and promised they would march on Stone Rock County the next day.
• Chu Qing gained Black Gold Bone +1, and his Profession Slot completed its transformation.

After refining his first Black Gold Bone, Chu Qing discovered that his second Profession Slot offered many choices, but he decided to wait for a profession linked to black gold and dragon sinew. While restoring his depleted foundation, he learned that a Rebel Army force was approaching Stone Rock County and prepared to meet it.

• Chu Qing completed his first bone refinement, gaining a Black Gold Bone and a major increase in strength.
• Chu Qing examined the new Profession Slot and considered Alchemist and Actor, but chose neither because he wanted to wait for the profession being nurtured through contact with black gold and dragon sinew.
• Chu Qing decided to seek dragon sinew and planned to make Zheng Zhixiang surrender before turning his attention to the fort masters.
• Chu Qing replenished his foundation with secret medicines, Golden Incense, and Nourishing Paste, using up more than half his accumulated resources.
• An oval-faced maid told Chu Qing that five or six thousand Rebel Army soldiers were heading toward Stone Rock County, and he ordered her to summon Cui Moyang and the others with their weapons.

Chu Qing faced a several-thousand-strong Rebel Army outside Stone Rock County and slaughtered them alone, completing the third condition for the Dual Mantis Sword. He stood atop a mountain of corpses, exhausted but alive, and demanded clean clothes and a bath barrel.

• The chief subordinate led the Rebel Army toward Stone Rock County without sending scouts, while Chu Qing and his companions waited outside the closed gates.
• Chu Qing charged the rebels alone and fought until the Dual Mantis Sword reached Great Completion.
• Chu Qing slaughtered the rebels for hours as they mindlessly rushed him, while Cui Moyang and the others watched in shock.
• The chief subordinate tried to summon reinforcements with a white pigeon, then fled with his underlings when the army was wiped out.
• Chu Qing stood atop the corpse mountain and shouted for new clothes and a bath barrel, terrifying his companions and the spectators on Stone Rock County's walls.

After Chu Qing slaughtered thousands of Rebel Army soldiers, Stone Rock County feared him, while the Martial Academy praised and rewarded him. The fortified village lords sent him bone-refining medicine to win his favor, and the county historian recorded his deed as a legendary event.

• Chu Qing returned to Stone Rock County and blamed the Rebel Army for forcing him to kill, inviting people to report its activities to the Martial Academy.
• The Vice Principal publicly praised Chu Qing and rewarded him, while the principal told the Vice Principal that Chu Qing’s ruthless resolve would carry him further than they had gone.
• Madam Shi painted Chu Qing standing atop a mountain of corpses, while Chief Constable Shi feared Chu Qing and resolved to ask permission to kill him.
• The fortified village lords abandoned plans to join the Rebel Army and sent Chu Qing more than a thousand portions of bone-refining medicine through Lan Lan.
• Chu Qing told Lan Lan that her family could stop contributing medicine and promised to help if needed, then the county historian recorded Chu Qing’s slaughter in the county annals.

Chu Qing focused on refining Black Gold Bones while Zheng Zhixiang’s rebels captured counties around Stone Rock County, leaving a larger assault looming. After reaching thirteen Black Gold Bones and the Fourth Floor of Stone Building, Chu Qing learned that a peddler had bought a Mysterious Great Tendon and reacted with murderous intent.

• Chu Qing discovered that his Black Gold Bones restored his reserves faster than the special Golden Bones cultivated by Nangong and Cui Moyang, and he devoted himself to bone refinement.
• Chu Qing urged Nangong and the others to prioritize realms over techniques, while he set a goal of perfecting his Golden Bones and advancing to the Imperial Capital Martial Academy before the Great Gan Empire collapsed.
• Zheng Zhixiang’s rebels seized Qinghe County and several other county towns, surrounding Stone Rock County without attacking because of Chu Qing.
• Chu Qing reached thirteen Black Gold Bones and advanced to the Fourth Floor of Stone Building, gaining increased daily resources and Academic Credit.
• Chu Qing sent Lan Lan to ask the fort masters for funds and medicinal ingredients after Pharmacist Li reported that supplies were running low.
• Chu Qing learned from Tang Wuming’s letter that a peddler had secretly bought a Mysterious Great Tendon, then tore up the letter and vowed revenge.

Chu Qing prepared to leave Stone Rock County to retrieve the dragon sinew, entrusting the Martial Academy and Madam Jin to others. Madam Shi warned that rebels might destroy the county while he was gone, but Chu Qing remained determined to leave and tried to reassure her by promising to protect Madam Jin.

• Chu Qing told Cui Moyang and the others to keep the Martial Academy running, refine secret pearls themselves, and protect Madam Jin while he was away.
• Chu Qing visited Madam Jin, reassured her with a false story about visiting a friend, and left after she asked him for a massage.
• Madam Shi warned Chu Qing that Zheng Zhixiang could besiege Stone Rock County within two months and destroy the Martial Academy’s resources.
• Chu Qing said he still had to retrieve the dragon sinew and asked Madam Shi to look after Madam Jin if the rebels took the county.
• Chu Qing used his strength to push Madam Shi’s hanging basket like a swing, and she enjoyed the ride.

Chu Qing hurried toward the Eight Hundred Li Water Marsh to recover his lost dragon tendon, learning along the way that news of it had spread among martial artists. When a group at a roadside eatery confirmed they knew about the tendon, Chu Qing killed one of them and demanded to know where they had heard the news.

• Madam Shi ordered her servants to bring Madam Jin to live with her and stock supplies at a bamboo lodge, then sent a letter from the groom to Pharmacist Li.
• Chu Qing traveled day and night toward the Eight Hundred Li Water Marsh, worrying that the peddler had discovered and used the dragon tendon.
• Along the way, Chu Qing saw that ordinary people were impoverished because most of their grain went to the lords of fortified manors.
• A storm forced Chu Qing to shelter at a roadside eatery, where he bought food from the proprietor's family.
• A group of armed martial artists arrived and discussed the Mysterious Great Tendon, saying it could speed Tendon Training and boost their Second Brother's combat power.
• When one martial artist insulted him, Chu Qing smashed the man's head against a table, killed him, and demanded that the others reveal where they had heard about the tendon.

Chu Qing traveled to Tang Wuming’s stronghold at the Eight Hundred Li Water Plain, killing martial wanderers who sought the Mysterious Great Tendon along the way. After questioning the fisherman who had sold it, Chu Qing suspected the fisherman’s son knew more and condemned Tang Wuming for failing to investigate him.

• Chu Qing killed and buried groups of martial wanderers heading to the Eight Hundred Li Water Plain in search of the Mysterious Great Tendon.
• Chu Qing arrived at Tang Wuming’s fish market and reunited with Tang Wuming and Daughter of Stonemason Xu.
• Chu Qing learned that the Mysterious Great Tendon and the peddler who bought it were still missing, and told Tang Wuming he would kill anyone who stood in his way.
• Tang Wuming took Chu Qing to his lake islands, where Chu Qing questioned the imprisoned fisherman about the Rainbow Fish and the sale of the tendon.
• The fisherman admitted that his son had secretly asked the peddler about the tendon, and Chu Qing rebuked Tang Wuming and ordered him to bring the son in and test the fisherman’s tendons.

Chu Qing ordered Tang Wuming to search the Eight Hundred Li Water Plain for the Mysterious Great Tendon and traced the missing peddler to Loach Village, where he learned that the peddler had left with a mysterious old man. As Chu Qing began looking for them, Brocade Clothes martial artists clashed with the Rebel Army and threatened to destroy them.

• After Tang Wuming reported that the fisherman's son had been killed, Chu Qing ordered a search using footprints, wound analysis, a census, paid informants, interrogations, and searches of nearby estates.
• Chu Qing threatened Tang Wuming into pursuing the Mysterious Great Tendon and took several hundred blade-wielders to Loach Village to find the peddler.
• Chu Qing exposed villagers who hid the peddler's connection to a godfather, seized grain from each household, and learned that the peddler had left with an old man several days earlier.
• At a nearby grove, Chu Qing found a trampled clearing and deduced that the old man was an expert who might have recognized the Mysterious Great Tendon's value.
• Chu Qing ordered Tang Wuming to have an artist draw the peddler and the old man, then saw Brocade Clothes martial artists fighting the Rebel Army and threatening to wipe them out.

Chu Qing killed Eight-armed Swordsman Song Zhe and his followers after they tried to drive him and Tang Wuming away. When Song Zhe’s survivors sought help from Golden Spear Li Wen, Li Wen recognized Chu Qing’s portrait and killed them instead, leaving the martial world alliance stunned.

• Tang Wuming tried to negotiate with Song Zhe, but Song Zhe killed several rebels and ordered the army to leave.
• Chu Qing killed Song Zhe with one strike and slaughtered the other martial wanderers who threatened him, while two escaped.
• Tang Wuming asked whether they should pursue the survivors, and Chu Qing said they could kill everyone who came seeking revenge.
• The two survivors begged Golden Spear Li Wen to avenge Song Zhe and identified Chu Qing from a portrait.
• Li Wen killed the two survivors with his golden spear, shocking the hundreds of martial wanderers gathered around him.

Li Wen exposed Chu Qing’s fearsome record, causing the martial folk to abandon their search for the Mysterious Great Tendon and disband. After refining another Golden Bone, Chu Qing learned that his men had found the peddler and demanded to know where he was.

• Li Wen showed the martial folk Chu Qing’s portrait and had his deeds read aloud, frightening them into abandoning the revenge mission and the search for the Mysterious Great Tendon.
• The martial folk hacked the two messengers’ corpses apart, then followed Li Wen back to the County Town, where their alliance disbanded.
• Tang Wuming and Daughter of Stonemason Xu sorted intelligence gathered by Tang Wuming’s subordinates while Chu Qing left to rest.
• Chu Qing’s demand for rapid results kept Tang Wuming and his subordinates awake all night, and the rebel soldiers began killing people who resisted or delayed them.
• Chu Qing refined a twentieth Golden Bone, replenished his reserves, and was told that his men had found the peddler.
• Chu Qing grabbed Tang Wuming by the collar and demanded to know where the peddler was.

Chu Qing tracked the peddler to a small island and forced him to reveal that the Mysterious Great Tendon was with his adoptive father. After surrounding the island, Chu Qing found an underground cave but lost the soldiers sent inside and ordered poisonous smoke released.

• The peddler hid in a rock crevice, but Chu Qing's hounds found him and Chu Qing dragged him out with his Chain Spear.
• The peddler told Chu Qing that the Great Tendon was with his adoptive father, who was hiding on the nearby island.
• Chu Qing ordered Tang Wuming to summon the others and surrounded the island with boats.
• Chu Qing's men searched the island, and Chu Qing broke open a huge boulder to reveal an underground cave.
• Chu Qing killed two Rebel Army soldiers who refused to enter the cave, then sent more soldiers down, but none returned.
• Chu Qing ordered poisonous smoke released into the cave and waited with his Two-handed Greatsword.

Chu Qing pursued the old man who had taken the Dragon Sinew, fighting him across the island and into the County Town. After the old man finally collapsed and revealed the tendon was promised to a powerful figure in the main city, Chu Qing killed him and claimed the Dragon Sinew.

• A wounded old man burst from the cave after hurling Rebel Army soldiers aside, and the peddler identified him as his godfather and the thief of the Mysterious Great Tendon.
• Chu Qing killed the peddler, demanded the Dragon Sinew from the old man, and attacked when he refused to hand it over.
• Chu Qing and the old man fought with fists and the Chain Spear until the old man fled by boat, while Chu Qing told Tang Wuming and the others to search the island instead of pursuing.
• The old man warned Chu Qing that a powerful figure from the main city wanted the Dragon Sinew, but Chu Qing continued chasing him and cut down martial artists and townspeople who blocked his way.
• After the old man collapsed, he revealed the Dragon Sinew was meant for an important figure in the main city; Chu Qing pierced his throat and took it.

Chu Qing used the dragon tendon to complete a condition for the Blackwater Bone Refining Method and discovered a diary revealing the dead man’s history with White Jade Capital and an Otherworlder. He took the man’s corpse and headed back to Stone Rock County, avoiding Tang Wuming and the growing crowd of martial wanderers.

• Chu Qing learned that his second profession required entering the main city Martial Academy and witnessing the Hundred Schools Weapon Arts, and decided the wait was worthwhile.
• Chu Qing used the dragon tendon to fulfill the Blackwater Bone Refining Method’s second condition, consuming the tendon.
• Chu Qing found three thousand taels of black gold and a diary belonging to Bai Qianli, an Outer Disciple of White Jade Capital.
• Chu Qing learned from Bai Qianli’s diary that a powerful Otherworlder had appeared in Stone Rock County ten years earlier and that Bai Qianli’s injuries had caused him to lose his realms.
• Chu Qing decided the Third Limit corpse could be valuable to study, packed it up, and headed for Stone Rock County instead of meeting Tang Wuming.

Chu Qing returned to Stone Rock County with the dead former Third Limit powerhouse and brought the corpse to the headmaster for study. The headmaster discovered a hidden, half-finished Dragon Tendon Method that Chu Qing could still cultivate, and Chu Qing suggested that the headmaster test it first.

• Chu Qing heard martial wanderers discuss the Mysterious Great Tendon and falsely told them that his companion had died fighting for it.
• Chu Qing traveled for several days with the old man's corpse and found Stone Rock County thriving as workers extended its crushed-stone roads.
• Chu Qing entered the Martial Academy at night and showed the corpse to the headmaster, who began examining it.
• The headmaster found a piece of human skin hidden on the corpse and used ointment to reveal writing on it.
• The headmaster identified the writing as a half-finished Dragon Tendon Method that could be cultivated by someone with 365 golden tendons, even after beginning bone training.
• Chu Qing asked the headmaster to try cultivating the method first and summarize his experience.

Chu Qing returned to the Martial Academy, received the principal’s incomplete human-skin martial art, and learned that the Rebel Army and several great clans were growing more closely connected. He planned to handle his unfinished affairs and target Zheng Zhixiang’s recruited experts while improving his cultivation.

• The principal explained that an enemy had removed one of his Golden Tendons and part of his Golden Bone, then gave Chu Qing a half-finished martial art to study.
• Chu Qing learned that Zheng Zhixiang had recruited martial world experts before leaving for the Eight Hundred Li Water Plain to seize Dragon Tendons.
• Back at the academy, Chu Qing found that Madam Jin had moved into the Shi residence and learned that Zhao Hongxiu and Lan Lan were at the quarry.
• Nangong told Chu Qing that their companions could only cultivate Silver Bones because ordinary secret inheritances required too many resources, and Chu Qing offered to help them cultivate.
• Chu Qing learned that the Rebel Army had gained experts, several great clans were contacting it frequently, and a woman from Imperial Brocade wanted to meet him.
• Chu Qing planned to meet the Imperial Brocade woman, thank Madam Shi, speak with the great clans, deal with Zheng Zhixiang’s experts, and advance his Blackwater Bone Refining Method secret inheritance.

After returning to the Martial Academy, Chu Qing enjoyed attentive care before visiting Pretty Widow’s tavern. She pleaded for his help against the county magistrate and powerful clans, warning that they might be plotting against him, while Chu Qing pressed her about what intelligence she had uncovered.

• Zhao Hongxiu and Lan Lan discussed their sinew cultivation and agreed they wanted to bear Chu Qing’s child.
• Shi Tiezhu told Zhao Hongxiu about his progress and plans, but she declined his invitation to take missions and left to speak with Zhao Wuji.
• Chu Qing visited Pretty Widow’s tavern, where she pulled him into a side room and begged him to save her from the county magistrate and powerful clans.
• Chu Qing told Pretty Widow to take up her Brocade Saber and kill her enemies, but she said the blade was too rusty.
• Pretty Widow offered to serve Chu Qing and warned that powerful clans were contacting the Rebel Army and might move against him.
• Chu Qing asked Pretty Widow what benefits she could offer and what secret intelligence had made the powerful clans want her dead.

Pretty Widow asked Chu Qing to protect her from powerful clans allied with the Rebel Army, and he agreed after taking her black gold. At the Shi Estate, Madam Shi warned him about his slaughter and told him the martial world called him Butcher.

• Pretty Widow told Chu Qing that powerful clans and county magistrates wanted to kill her after the King of Brocade's execution, and she offered him more than a hundred taels of black gold in exchange for help.
• Pretty Widow asked Chu Qing to shelter her if the Empire fell into trouble, and he agreed to her request.
• Chu Qing arrived at the Shi Estate, where he met Madam Shi and Madam Jin in the rear garden.
• Madam Jin revealed that Madam Shi had been asking for news of Chu Qing every day, and both women admitted they had worried about him.
• Madam Shi warned Chu Qing against using a cultivation technique that required human lives and reminded him of the people he had killed.
• Madam Shi told Chu Qing that the martial world had nicknamed him Butcher, leaving him bewildered by the title.

Chu Qing learned that Madam Shi's secret teaching could cultivate dragon tendons, then shared with her a technique he had obtained for cultivating strange dragon tendons. After agreeing to visit the Prefecture City for monthly challenges, he set out to hunt Rebel Army experts with his fellow students.

• Madam Shi revealed her dragon-tendon teaching, and Chu Qing showed her a technique for cultivating strange dragon tendons; she proposed fusing the two methods and cultivating together.
• Madam Shi explained the power of her thirty dragon tendons and invited Chu Qing to challenge Prefecture City Martial Academy students for resources; Chu Qing agreed to go at month's end.
• Cui Moyang, Nangong, and the other students reported the locations of Rebel Army experts, and Chu Qing assigned teams to pursue targets in Small Bamboo County and Black Stone County while he took Liufeng County.
• Chu Qing reassured the others that they could retreat if necessary, then left beneath the moonlight for Liufeng County.

Chu Qing and the other Martial Academy students headed toward separate counties while powerful families and Rebel Army experts prepared ambushes to kill them. In Liufeng County, Niu Jieshi armed himself with heavy armor and medicine as Chu Qing approached, convinced he needed to be cautious despite his confidence in victory.

• Powerful families and Rebel Army experts split up to ambush the students in Black Stone County, Small Bamboo County, and Liufeng County.
• The Ma Family Head dismissed his daughter's plea to avoid opposing Chu Qing and sent experts toward Liufeng County, while she secretly left the family with her valuables.
• A Blood Tempering expert in Black Stone County learned that four students were coming and prepared to face them with two helpers.
• A warrior in Small Bamboo County received warning of an attack and ordered his servants to prepare an ambush with iron nets and weapons.
• A middle-aged expert in Liufeng County crushed the pigeon carrying news of Chu Qing's approach, while Niu Jieshi put on heavy armor and prepared secret medicines for the coming fight.

Chu Qing ambushed Yang Fei in Liufeng County, quickly defeated him, and slaughtered the servants before carrying him toward Niu Jieshi’s residence. Niu Jieshi unleashed his full strength and charged Chu Qing, who chose to meet the attack head-on.

• Chu Qing raced to Liufeng County as four Lineage and Rebel Army experts followed behind him.
• Chu Qing chose to attack the weaker Yang Fei first, reasoning that the stronger Niu Jieshi would come to help.
• Yang Fei threw a beauty at Chu Qing and used the Autumn Wind Whip, but Chu Qing seized his arms, injured him, and knocked him unconscious.
• Chu Qing attacked Yang Fei’s servants, then carried him out of the courtyard as three pursuing experts headed toward Niu Jieshi’s residence.
• Niu Jieshi prepared to fight with the three experts’ support, but Chu Qing crashed into him before the reinforcements arrived.
• Niu Jieshi swallowed secret medicine, activated a technique that unleashed his potential, and charged Chu Qing, who refused to dodge.

Chu Qing defeated Niu Jieshi and killed the Rebel Army reinforcements who tried to stop him. After the last expert died, Chu Qing regretted losing his chance to use them for practice.

• Chu Qing used the Dragon Subduing Stake and a barrage of punches to overwhelm Niu Jieshi, despite Niu Jieshi’s heavy armor and desperate resistance.
• Three great-clan Rebel Army experts arrived, but Chu Qing hurled Niu Jieshi from a room and cut off his limbs with a Guan Dao, killing him.
• When a fourth Rebel Army member shouted for Chu Qing to stop, Chu Qing killed him and pursued the other three experts.
• Chu Qing killed all three fleeing experts, then tried to save the last one so he could practice with him, but the man died.

Chu Qing slaughtered servants looting his valuables, burned the estates, and returned to Stone Rock County before joining Cui Moyang, Nangong, Mingyue, Wang Yinyang, and the others after their fights with Rebel Army forces. The group planned to recover from their injuries and then confront the great clans.

• Chu Qing killed the servants and nearby residents looting Niu Jieshi’s estates, collected the valuables, and set the manor ablaze before leaving.
• Constables recognized the dead as Rebel Army experts and delayed handling the bodies because they feared the Butcher, Chu Qing.
• Chu Qing returned to Stone Rock County, then went to Small Bamboo County and found Cui Moyang, Nangong, and Mingyue wounded but alive after killing three attackers.
• Chu Qing told the women he had killed six Blood Tempering Realm martial artists, while Cui Moyang explained that the attackers had used iron nets and arrows to ambush them.
• Chu Qing found Wang Yinyang and the others carrying four heads as proof of their victory, and ordered everyone to recover before confronting the great clans.
• Mingyue lamented that she had forgotten to loot valuables before setting fires that burned them away.

After killing Rebel Army soldiers and members of powerful Lineages, Chu Qing visited Madam Shi, sparred with her, and learned she would soon leave Stone Rock County. Madam Shi promised to negotiate compensation from the great clans and ordered them to send Chu Qing Bone Refining Realm resources.

• Chu Qing arrived at the Shi residence before dawn, and Madam Shi made him fetch water and wash off the blood on his clothes.
• Chu Qing sparred with Madam Shi but could not overcome her, and she carried him inside when servants approached.
• Madam Shi gave Chu Qing a golden robe and asked how many Rebel Army soldiers and powerful Lineage members he had killed.
• Madam Shi told Chu Qing she would leave Stone Rock County at the end of the year and planned to demand resources from the great clans instead of destroying them.
• Madam Shi gave Chu Qing her secret art and told him to study whether he could use it to cultivate dragon sinews.
• Madam Shi ordered Feng Nü to demand two portions of Bone Refining Realm resources from each great clan every day, threatening to kill any that refused.