Recaps

Chu Qing killed Zheng Xilong and the old man from the Rebel Army, then collected their rewards and traveled with Madam Shi and Ximen to Prosperous Land. He entered the settlement to exchange his resources, where its residents reacted to him with fear because he had recently slaughtered criminals there.

• Chu Qing presented Zheng Xilong's head, claimed both sets of victory resources, and crushed the head after the old man from the Rebel Army warned that Zheng Zhisheng and his father would seek revenge.
• Chu Qing killed the old man from the Rebel Army, and the Vice Principal awarded him both sets of victory resources and invited him to the prefectural city next month.
• Madam Shi bandaged Chu Qing, and Ximen brought the rewards; they found over three thousand taels in Black Gold Vouchers and more than three thousand taels in gold notes on the old man's body.
• Madam Shi carried Chu Qing to Prosperous Land, where she stayed outside while Chu Qing and Ximen went in to exchange the resources.
• The residents of Prosperous Land cowered and hid from Chu Qing, and he told Ximen that he had slaughtered some criminals there a few days earlier.

After completing the Blackwater Bone Refining Method’s promotion, Chu Qing returned to Stone Ridge Mountain and found Zheng Zhixiang’s Rebel Army attacking it. He planned to raid the Rebel Army camp that night and teach Nangong and Cui Moyang by example.

• Chu Qing consumed black gold, promoted the Blackwater Bone Refining Method to Proficient, and discovered that it greatly accelerated his bone refinement.
• Chu Qing, Madam Shi, and Ximen traveled back to Stone Ridge Mountain, where they found the Rebel Army attacking under Zheng Zhixiang.
• Cui Moyang, Nangong, Zhao Wuji, and the others defended the mountain, rotating quarry workers through battle and killing deserters.
• Chu Qing declared Zheng Zhixiang his mortal enemy for trying to seize his pearls and asked Madam Shi to prepare secret medicine and heavy armor.
• Chu Qing told Nangong and Cui Moyang he would raid the Rebel Army camp that night, despite Nangong warning that Zheng Zhixiang and his disciplined troops made it nearly certain death.

Chu Qing refined his Blackwater Bone Refining Method before charging alone into the Rebel Army camp and causing a devastating riot. Zheng Zhisheng sent wave after wave of troops against him, but Chu Qing defeated them, leaving Zheng Zhisheng furious and his Rōnin still searching for an opening.

• Chu Qing raised the Blackwater Bone Refining Method to Proficient Level and improved his bone-refining speed with secret medicine.
• Chu Qing armed himself with Cui Moyang and Nangong’s help, then charged toward the Rebel Army camp in heavy armor.
• Chu Qing smashed through the camp defenses, shouted that Zheng Zhisheng was dead, and sent the Rebel Army into a riot.
• Zheng Zhisheng rallied his soldiers and sent sword-and-shield troops and three hundred iron-armored elites to stop Chu Qing, but Chu Qing killed them.
• Zheng Zhisheng ordered archers, strongmen, cavalry, and Jianghu Rōnin to attack Chu Qing, but Chu Qing routed the troops while the Rōnin continued searching for an opportunity.

Chu Qing devastated the Rebel Army’s camp before retreating to recover, while Zheng Zhisheng requested expert reinforcements. As the Armored Soldier Sect backed the rebels, Song Zhe led cloaked disciples to Zheng Zhisheng’s camp, where they confronted him and mocked his defeat by Yu Ji.

• Zheng Zhisheng abandoned his attempt to pursue Chu Qing and ordered his troops to gather around the central army banner while pigeons carried requests for expert reinforcements.
• Chu Qing rampaged through the Rebel Army camp for over an hour, then withdrew when the soldiers formed an Army Formation; Nangong and Cui Moyang returned with him and joined his cultivation.
• Madam Shi learned that the Armored Soldier Sect and nearby Wu Fortresses had pledged support to the Rebel Army, while the Martial Academy headmaster remained absorbed in examining a White Jade Capital disciple’s corpse.
• Song Zhe volunteered to answer Zheng Zhisheng’s request and led more than a dozen cloaked disciples toward Stone Rock County, despite other Inner Disciples warning him not to interfere in Yu Ji’s affairs.
• At dusk, the cloaked group killed more than a hundred soldiers who tried to stop them, entered Zheng Zhisheng’s command tent, and mocked him about being beaten by Yu Ji.

Zheng Zhisheng welcomed Song Zhe and the Armored Soldier Sect, who promised to kill Chu Qing, while Chu Qing and his companions weighed the Rebel Army’s latest attack. Zheng Zhixiang suspected Chu Qing might outthink their trap, but Song Zhe dismissed the danger as Zheng Zhixiang kept the camp on guard.

• Zheng Zhisheng told Song Zhe that Chu Qing was hiding in the chaotic mountains and would likely raid the main camp that night, and Song Zhe vowed to kill him.
• Cui Moyang and Nangong washed in a mountain spring, discussed Chu Qing’s intense training, and learned Ximen disliked Nangong’s closeness to him.
• When the Rebel Army attacked Stone Ridge Mountain, Chu Qing suspected Zheng Zhixiang had set a trap and agreed with Nangong and Cui Moyang to wait until dawn before striking.
• At a banquet, Song Zhe predicted Chu Qing would attack at dawn, while Zheng Zhixiang feared he might launch a midnight raid or anticipate their plan.
• After the banquet, Zheng Zhixiang kept half the soldiers resting and remained armored in the command tent, growing uneasy as Song Zhe continued partying with dancing girls.

Chu Qing infiltrated the army camp and killed eighteen of its cloaked commanders before confronting Song Zhe, Zheng Zhixiang’s powerful reinforcements. After discovering Song Zhe’s secret and defeating him, Chu Qing was left staring at Song Zhe’s unrecognizable corpse.

• Chu Qing slipped into the camp during the first half of the night and assassinated eighteen cloaked figures in their tents.
• Chu Qing confronted Song Zhe, exposed that Yu Ji had destroyed his manhood, and provoked him into attacking.
• Chu Qing and Song Zhe fought fiercely, matching each other’s strength and martial skills until Chu Qing wounded Song Zhe with his Chain Spear.
• Chu Qing used Song Zhe’s secret to distract him, bound him with the Chain Spear, and struck his throat, eyes, temples, and heart.
• Song Zhe smashed his head against the ground until it burst apart, leaving Chu Qing stunned.

Chu Qing returned after killing Song Zhe and the Armored Soldier Sect disciples, then rested at Bamboo Lake and grew closer to Madam Jin. Meanwhile, Chief Constable Shi resolved to try giving Yu Ji the special medicine sent by the sect, even if it meant harming her.

• Chu Qing searched Song Zhe's corpse, took a martial arts booklet and money, and left without revealing himself.
• Zheng Zhixiang learned that Song Zhe and more than a dozen Armored Soldier Sect disciples had been killed, and ordered their bodies examined and sent to the sect.
• Madam Shi wondered how the Armored Soldier Sect had declined so quickly, while Chu Qing returned to Bamboo Lake and reunited with Madam Jin and the others.
• Chu Qing rested, arranged cold black water for martial arts practice, and later entered Madam Jin's red-decorated room after declaring that he had come to pluck flowers.
• Fatty Jin gazed at the moon and worried about his wife, while Chief Constable Shi decided to try giving Yu Ji the special medicine to secure his own future.

Chu Qing endured painful ink drinking to promote the Blackwater Bone Refining Method while Madam Shi learned that the Rebel Army and the Armored Soldier Sect were preparing for conflict. After the method advanced, Chu Qing learned why its early Promotion Condition was simple, and the dean looked forward to Chu Qing’s future influence in the Imperial Capital.

• Madam Shi decoded a family letter revealing that the Rebel Army, the Armored Soldier Sect, Wu Fortresses, and aristocratic clans were preparing to use the Millennial Tribulation to expand their power.
• Zheng Zhixiang withdrew his troops after learning his younger brother Zheng Xilong was dead, and Chu Qing reasoned that the Rebel Army would drill its soldiers before a winter assault on the prefectural capital.
• Zheng Zhixiang and other Rebel Armies began large-scale military drills, while the people of Stone Rock County returned and the martial academy reopened.
• Chu Qing continued drinking ink painfully until the Blackwater Bone Refining Method was promoted, revealing a new condition to soak in black water for three days and three nights.
• The headmaster explained that top-tier secret arts had difficult early stages but simple Promotion Conditions once their initial hardships were endured.
• After Chu Qing revealed that he had mastered another secret art, the dean sent him away, then laughed and vowed that the Imperial Capital would one day beg at Chu Qing’s feet.

Chu Qing perfected the Blackwater Bone Refining Method, rapidly refined more Black Gold Bones, and traveled with Madam Shi to the Prefectural City to seek resources and a dragon tendon despite the danger. At the Martial Academy Exchange Competition, he challenged the students and offered ten thousand taels of silver for a guaranteed victory.

• Chu Qing completed the promotion condition and perfected the Blackwater Bone Refining Method, which now required a dragon tendon to break its limit.
• Chu Qing tested the perfected method, refined seven Black Gold Bones a day, and raised his total beyond seventy.
• Chu Qing told Madam Shi he needed to travel to the Prefectural City for cultivation resources and dragon tendons, and she agreed to accompany him.
• At the Prefectural City Martial Academy, the Vice Principal warned Young Lady Ren that the city might fall and explained that Zheng Zhisheng was a dangerous threat to Chu Qing.
• Chu Qing arrived at the Exchange Competition, startling the students with his blood-soaked appearance, and offered ten thousand taels of silver to anyone who would accept his challenge and let him win.

Chu Qing defeated Young Lady Ren in the prefectural city Exchange Competition and returned to Stone Ridge Mountain with Madam Shi. Along the way, they learned the Rebel Army had emptied villages by seizing their people, and Chu Qing wondered whether war was being used to reduce the population; he still planned to win ten championships and enter the State City Martial Academy, though the prefectural city might not last that long.

• Young Lady Ren challenged Chu Qing, but her Mountain Crushing Seal failed to harm him, and he battered her until she fainted.
• The Martial Master declared Chu Qing the winner, gave him his rewards, and urged him to leave because the prefectural city had Rebel Army spies.
• Chu Qing and Madam Shi returned toward Stone Ridge Mountain without encountering Rebel Army forces or the Ximen Lineage, and they noticed the roads and farmland were nearly deserted.
• In a village, Chu Qing and Madam Shi learned that the Rebel Army had seized able-bodied men, women, and children, leaving only a few elderly, foolish, and crippled residents.
• Chu Qing suggested that war might reduce a population burdened by land shortages and inadequate food, though he suspected the Millennial Tribulation involved more than that.
• Chu Qing said he wanted to enter the State City Martial Academy by winning ten consecutive championships, and Madam Shi questioned whether the prefectural city would survive long enough for him to do so.

After months of rapid cultivation and repeated victories, Chu Qing prepared to flee Stone Rock County with Nangong as the Rebel Army’s elite forces approached. The group made a portrait to remember their friendship, then separated, leaving Cui Moyang to wonder whether Chu Qing’s humble birth would limit his future.

• Chu Qing forged three hundred Black Gold Bones by winter, while Nangong and Cui Moyang had each managed about a hundred golden bones despite their dwindling resources.
• The Rebel Army’s elite main force advanced toward Stone Rock County, prompting the Martial Academy and local lineages to split between joining the rebels and retreating to the prefectural city or provincial capital.
• Seven members of the nine-person group chose to return to the prefectural city, while Chu Qing and Nangong decided to go to the provincial capital.
• Before parting, Chu Qing arranged for the group to pose together in a snowy portrait, and everyone added their personal seals to the paintings as keepsakes and proof of their bond.
• Cui Moyang urged Nangong to return to the prefectural city for combat experience and resources, but Nangong chose the provincial capital and said she had no intention of becoming Chu Qing’s woman.
• Cui Moyang asked Nangong whether birth mattered, then sought Chu Qing out, repeatedly told him to take care, and hurried away.

Chu Qing left the prefectural city with Madam Jin and a large convoy bound for the State City, while Zheng Zhisheng secretly arranged ways to make his arrival miserable. As the convoy neared Prosperous Land, local merchants fled after learning it came from Stone Cauldron Prefecture.

• Chu Qing prepared a large convoy and selected several hundred quarry workers to train as guards before setting out with Cui Moyang and the others for the prefectural city.
• After twenty days on the road, Chu Qing parted from Cui Moyang's group at the prefectural city, where Ximen warned him about the Thousand Eyes Alliance and Nangong told Ximen to return after reaching the Second Limit.
• Zheng Zhisheng learned that Chu Qing had left for the State City and revealed that he had placed a bounty on him and enlisted local powers and friends to obstruct him.
• Chu Qing's convoy continued toward the State City as he trained his Black Gold Bone and kept his guards alert, despite seeing no sign of Zheng Zhisheng's forces.
• The convoy reached Prosperous Land, where merchants fled after discovering it had come from Stone Cauldron Prefecture.

Chu Qing entered the Prosperous District after Zhao Hongxiu and two groups of his servants disappeared there, and found its residents too afraid to help him. He confronted the Cloth-clothed Blade Master, demanding help to find his missing people and threatening him when he denied responsibility.

• Zhao Hongxiu and more than a dozen men entered the Prosperous District to investigate why vendors avoided the convoy, but they did not return.
• Chu Qing sent more than twenty servants into the district to find Zhao Hongxiu, but they also disappeared inside a restaurant pavilion.
• Chu Qing told Madam Shi what had happened, then entered the district himself while Madam Shi and Nangong stayed behind to protect Madam Jin.
• Chu Qing found that residents and merchants avoided him, and he could not locate Zhao Hongxiu or the missing servants.
• Chu Qing followed a blade-wielder to the Cloth-clothed Blade Master's courtyard and demanded help finding his people.
• The Cloth-clothed Blade Master denied responsibility, so Chu Qing pulled his blade from a tree and threatened to make him lose all decency.

Chu Qing massacred the blade wielders at their headquarters after they refused to help him find Zhao Hongxiu and the others. He returned to the convoy and proposed searching the Prosperous Land room by room.

• Chu Qing threatened the Cloth-Clad Blade Master and killed blade wielders when they refused to help find Zhao Hongxiu and the others.
• Blade wielders from across the Prosperous Land rushed to headquarters, where Chu Qing slaughtered them with blade fragments and his Chain Spear.
• The Cloth-Clad Blade Master admitted that fear of a powerful figure or organization kept everyone from helping, and Chu Qing tore off his head.
• Chu Qing killed the nearby blade wielders, left the Prosperous Land, and returned to Nangong and Madam Shi as locals celebrated his departure.
• Nangong proposed killing more people, while Madam Shi offered to write to an old friend; Chu Qing rejected both ideas and suggested searching room by room.

Chu Qing attacked the Prosperous District and set its houses ablaze to force the people holding Zhao Hongxiu and his other servants to release them. After they were freed, he led his convoy toward the provincial city, while carrier pigeons warned the city of his arrival.

• At the Immortal Guest Inn, Zhao Hongxiu warned the captors that Chu Qing would slaughter them unless they released her and his other servants.
• Chu Qing ransacked houses, killed residents who refused to reveal where his servants were, and set buildings on fire to pressure the Prosperous District.
• Zhao Hongxiu told the captors that Chu Qing cared about face and urged them to release the prisoners before he burned the district down.
• As the flames spread, the Immortal Guest Inn's manager ordered Zhao Hongxiu and the others released, and the servants hurried to Chu Qing.
• Chu Qing led his rescued servants out of the Prosperous District toward the provincial city as carrier pigeons flew ahead with warnings.

Chu Qing entered State City with Madam Jin and tried to find a residence, but brokers across the city refused to sell or rent to him because of a coordinated effort against him. The chapter ended with Chu Qing realizing that an invisible network was blocking his path and wondering whether his opponents were trying to provoke him into violence.

• Aristocratic families and wealthy clans received messages about Chu Qing and decided to shun him.
• Madam Shi told Chu Qing she would leave after they reached State City, while Madam Jin warned him not to kill people casually.
• Madam Shi and Nangong parted from Chu Qing near the city gate, leaving him to enter State City with Madam Jin and the convoy.
• A constable told Chu Qing that entering the inner city required owning a residence, so Chu Qing visited brokers to find a house.
• Brokers in every district claimed no properties were available and mocked Chu Qing, despite property listings displayed in their offices.
• Chu Qing concluded that his opponents were using their connections to trap him and considered whether they were forcing him to break the deadlock with violence.

Chu Qing bought land in the slums for a residence, learned that his opponents’ influence was limited, and kept cultivating while waiting to enter the Martial Academy. Nangong joined the Thousand Eyes Alliance and qualified to compete for its upper ranks, while Chu Qing prepared to attend the academy’s Exchange Competition as a transfer student.

• Chu Qing bought more than six hundred mu of slum land and arranged for his servants to begin planning a residence.
• The larger inns refused to host Chu Qing, but a smaller inn accepted him, and he learned that his opponents could not control every business in the State City.
• Nangong joined the Thousand Eyes Alliance after a ritual marked thirteen Vertical Eyes on her back, qualifying her to compete for the alliance’s upper ranks.
• Chu Qing brought Madam Jin and Zhao Hongxiu to the slums, then returned with Madam Jin to the inn and told Zhao Hongxiu to keep a low profile and remember their enemies.
• Chu Qing spent three days cultivating quietly and, on the day of the Martial Academy’s Exchange Competition, prepared his two Recommendation Letters and set out to enter the academy.

Chu Qing fought his way through repeated assassination attempts as he headed for the State City Martial Academy. After the middle-aged scholar’s hired killers failed, the scholar returned Zheng Zhixiang’s money and arranged to send Chu Qing a calling card if the Martial Academy accepted him.

• Chu Qing bribed the constables who blocked him at the inner-city boundary and continued toward the Martial Academy.
• A blind erhu player attacked Chu Qing with sword strikes, and Chu Qing killed him and his wine-drinking donkey.
• A woman arrived and wept over the blind man’s corpse, while Chu Qing continued toward the Martial Academy unaware of her grief.
• Assassins attacked Chu Qing at intersections and along the road, but he killed them all, including the Eight Diamond Guardians.
• A middle-aged scholar learned that his assassins had failed, decided to return Zheng Zhixiang’s money, and ordered a calling card sent to Chu Qing if the Martial Academy accepted him.

Chu Qing and Nangong reached the State City Martial Academy after surviving attacks, but the academy eliminated most applicants in trials based on their Golden Sinews and Golden Bones. Only seven entered, and with four spots available, Chu Qing and Nangong prepared to face academy students in a thirty-second test.

• Chu Qing met Nangong outside the academy gates, and she revealed that members of an organization had tried to kill her.
• A Martial Master eliminated applicants who had not perfected their Golden Sinews, then dismissed those who had not forged Golden Bones.
• Chu Qing memorized the faces of the eliminated applicants before following Nangong and the other qualifiers into the academy.
• The Martial Master announced that only four spots were open and that applicants had to last thirty seconds against academy students.
• A brocade-clad youth offered Chu Qing and Nangong two thousand taels to leave, but they ignored him and prepared for the challenge.

Chu Qing and Nangong passed their martial arts assessments, but the final selection panel immediately tried to reject Chu Qing over his bloodied, disheveled appearance. Chu Qing angrily challenged the Martial Master who ordered him to leave.

• Ye Zi arrived to examine Chu Qing, whom she had once met, and failed to defeat him even after three minutes of fighting.
• A student examiner fought Nangong for two minutes before admitting defeat and withdrawing.
• The other students passed their assessments, while Han Qin Hu defeated his examiner in seconds and introduced himself.
• Martial Master told the students that only four slots were available and privately explained to Chu Qing and Nangong that eliminated candidates could challenge slot holders.
• Inside the pavilion, a Martial Master said Chu Qing could not enter the Martial Academy because his clothes were disheveled and his body was stained with blood, and Chu Qing demanded to know who he was.

Chu Qing confronted the State City Martial Academy’s selectors after they filled all four places and tried to exclude him by condemning his past. He invoked his right to challenge, and the opponent he chose knelt and begged him to pick someone else.

• A Martial Master argued that Chu Qing deserved a chance, but Principal Liu and others objected to his character and reputation.
• Han Qin Hu and three other candidates introduced themselves and won the four available places before Chu Qing and the remaining candidates could speak.
• Principal Liu dismissed Nangong and another youth, then accused Chu Qing of mass killings and rejected him from the Martial Academy.
• Chu Qing insisted the rules gave him the right to challenge for a place, and several Martial Masters supported his claim.
• After Principal Liu reluctantly allowed the challenge, Chu Qing chose an unlucky candidate, who pleaded with him to choose someone else and then knelt before him.

Chu Qing and Nangong secured places at the State City Martial Academy after Chu Qing’s opponents knelt and begged him not to challenge them. Master Li explained the Academy’s divisions and resources, then revealed that he and his allies wanted to invest in Chu Qing because he had fought the Rebel Army.

• The Brocade Clothes student and another prodigy knelt and begged Chu Qing to spare them, and Principal Liu granted Chu Qing admission.
• Nangong asked to challenge someone, and Principal Liu gave her the final available slot.
• Master Li gave Chu Qing and Nangong their identity seals and explained that they would enter as Outer Court students, with monthly chances to challenge for Inner Court places.
• Chu Qing learned that even Outer Court students received substantial daily cultivation resources at the State City Martial Academy.
• Master Li described the conflict over whether the Academy should favor prominent families or cultivate commoners, then told Chu Qing that his faction wanted to invest in him.
• Chu Qing welcomed Master Li’s offer.

Chu Qing and Nangong settled into the State City Martial Academy, where Nangong discovered how fierce the competition was and the pair agreed to train together. After students at dinner tried to summon and mock them, Nangong condemned them for abandoning their pride to curry favor with Brother Wang, and she left with Chu Qing.

• Master Li assigned Chu Qing and Nangong neighboring dorm rooms, beside Han Qin Hu, and Chu Qing wrote letters to Madam Jin, Tang Wuming, Cui Moyang, and the others.
• Chu Qing studied Song Zhe's Sunflower Palm manual, but abandoned the idea of practicing it when its promotion condition required him to repeat an embarrassing phrase one hundred times.
• Nangong told Chu Qing that the academy was full of formidable students and agreed to resume training with him, while insisting he not grope her recklessly.
• At dinner, a student summoned Chu Qing and Nangong, but Chu Qing took Nangong's hand and walked away; Han Qin Hu told the others who Chu Qing was, and they plotted to teach him a lesson.
• Nangong rebuked the students for currying favor with Brother Wang and called them unworthy scions of great lineages before leaving with Chu Qing.

Chu Qing and Nangong collected resources at Class Nine, rejected the class leader’s protection fee, and learned they would face a dangerous Collective Assessment in ten days. After failing to find top-tier martial arts at the Library Pavilion, Chu Qing forged a Black Gold Bone and prepared to confront the brokerages that had mistreated him and his godmother.

• Chu Qing and Nangong collected their Class Nine resources without paying the big brother in charge for protection.
• The big brother in charge announced that Class Nine would undergo a dangerous Collective Assessment Mission in ten days, but Chu Qing and Nangong left without joining his group.
• Chu Qing and Nangong searched the Library Pavilion for top-tier martial arts but found none they wanted and returned to their room.
• Chu Qing used up his resources to forge one Black Gold Bone, then told Nangong he planned to confront the brokerages that had mistreated him and his godmother.
• Chu Qing asked Nangong to use the Thousand Eyes Alliance to investigate the Martial Master who had made trouble for him and Principal Liu.

Chu Qing learned that local gangs, building firms, and real estate agencies were making trouble for him because they thought he lacked backing, so he set out to establish his authority. After killing the brokers at thirteen agencies, he encountered Gold-robed Constable Chen Fei, who asked him to help find Chu Qing.

• Chu Qing visited Madam Jin and Zhao Hongxiu, learned of the gangs, construction firms, and Human World Organization invitation, and decided to establish his authority.
• Disguised and armed with a greatsword, Chu Qing entered Four Seas Real Estate Agency and killed the brokers who had mocked and refused him.
• Chu Qing visited thirteen real estate agencies that night, killing their brokers and nearly completing his Sunflower Hand progress.
• The next morning, Chu Qing saw constables investigating the killings and met Gold-robed Constable Chen Fei, who asked him to lead them to Chu Qing.
• Chu Qing agreed to take Chen Fei and the constables to find him, despite being Chu Qing himself.