Chapter Summaries

Chu Qing reunited with Nangong and Cui Moyang before learning that Bai Fei had replaced Cao Shuang as his Inner Court assessment opponent and planned to kill him. Cao Shuang warned Chu Qing, then asked for his betting money back so he could wager on Bai Feisheng.

• Cao Shuang explained that the previous class had many powerful cultivators, and Chu Qing realized Cao Shuang might be training his skin and flesh.
• Nangong returned with Cui Moyang, who revealed she had killed her way to two hundred Golden Bones and wanted to become a free assassin.
• Chu Qing, Nangong, and Cui Moyang discussed their plans and vowed to grow strong enough to kill Zheng Zhisheng.
• Cao Shuang warned Chu Qing that Bai Fei had replaced him as Chu Qing's Inner Court assessment opponent and intended to beat him to death.
• Chu Qing challenged Bai Fei's threat, while Cao Shuang asked for his thousand taels of black gold back so he could bet on Bai Feisheng.

Cui Moyang gave Chu Qing her two-thousand-liang black gold exchange notes, while Bai Fei planned to kill him to build momentum for the Heaven-Connecting Path Competition. Vice Principals Lu and Ma offered Chu Qing entry into the Inner Court in exchange for learning how he cultivated golden tendons and suppressing noble-family students, but Chu Qing refused and declared he would defeat anyone who blocked his way.

• Cui Moyang revealed that the Cui Family had offered her two thousand liang of black gold to return to them, but she kept the money and bet it on Chu Qing.
• Nangong Xiao cultivated in Chu Qing's palm through the night to improve her secret transmission of Heavenly Demon Volume Two, then fell asleep exhausted.
• Bai Fei told his followers that he had spread a false rumor about pursuing a noblewoman and intended to kill Chu Qing to raise his chances in the Heaven-Connecting Path Competition.
• A teacher invited Chu Qing to meet Vice Principals Lu and Ma, who offered him entry into the Inner Court if he revealed how he and Nangong Xiao cultivated golden tendons.
• Vice Principals Lu and Ma warned Chu Qing that Bai Fei intended to kill him and described Bai Fei's cultivation, but Chu Qing refused their terms and vowed to defeat anyone who stood in his way.

Chu Qing refused the Vice Principals’ offer to join their faction and considered how to gain the Inner Court’s approval, then trained through the night before his challenge against Bai Fei. As the match approached, Inner Court students doubted Chu Qing, while third-year students questioned whether Bai Fei could truly build the momentum needed to compete for a Heaven-Connecting Path Quota.

• Chu Qing rejected the Vice Principals’ offer of support and resources because he would not help them suppress aristocratic clan heirs or serve as their fighter.
• A teacher warned Chu Qing that defeating Bai Fei would not be enough; he needed approval from one-third of the Inner Court students to enter the Inner Court.
• Chu Qing asked Big Brother to arrange meetings with faction leaders, but only one agreed to see him after he entered the Inner Court.
• Chu Qing practiced martial arts through the night as Nangong accompanied him, then headed to breakfast with her before the challenge.
• Inner Court students expected Bai Fei to kill Chu Qing and use the victory to build momentum for the Heaven-Connecting Path Quota.
• Third-year students dismissed Bai Fei’s plan to gain invincible momentum by killing Chu Qing, while praising Chu Qing’s courage despite his lack of backing.

Bai Fei prepared to fight Chu Qing and confidently promised to kill him, while the crowd gathered expecting Bai Fei to win. Chu Qing arrived at the challenge grounds and entered the stone house despite the taunts, leaving the outcome of their fight unresolved.

• Bai Fei rejected the first-year students’ black gold and told his followers he would beat Chu Qing to death.
• Outer Court and Inner Court students gathered at the challenge grounds, where most spectators and bettors favored Bai Fei over Chu Qing.
• Chu Qing ate with Nangong and arrived at the challenge grounds, where he and Bai Fei recognized each other as experts.
• An Inner Court Martial Master explained that the challenge would end when one fighter left the stone house and that injury or death was allowed.
• A coffin seller and Bai Fei mocked Chu Qing, but Chu Qing ignored them, gave Nangong money to bet on him, and prepared to enter the stone house.

Chu Qing fought Bai Fei inside the stone house, where their battle lasted far longer than the crowd expected. Chu Qing ultimately burst through the shattered door with Bai Fei in his grasp and continued attacking him as the story left the fight unresolved.

• Chu Qing entered the stone house with Bai Fei, who vowed to kill him and use the victory to build invincible momentum.
• Bai Fei attacked at the speed of sound, but Chu Qing matched his speed and strength, and they exchanged punishing blows.
• Bai Fei used the Blood and Flesh and Five Viscera and Six Bowels realms to recover, but Chu Qing continued fighting him for over a minute.
• The crowd mistook the shaking stone house for evidence that Chu Qing was losing, until its walls and door began cracking under the impacts.
• Chu Qing burst through the shattered stone door with Bai Fei flying ahead of him, grabbed Bai Fei by the ankle, and hurled him back toward the stone house while continuing to strike him.

Chu Qing fought Bai Fei in a brutal battle over the Inner Court and killed him after binding them together with chains. He emerged from the collapsing stone house and demanded to know who would oppose his entry.

• Bai Fei survived Chu Qing’s barrage and counterattacked at supersonic speed, shocking the Martial Masters watching outside.
• Bai Fei activated an explosive secret transmission and struck Chu Qing hard enough to send him through a stone wall.
• Chu Qing seized Bai Fei, wrapped him in chains, and used repeated headbutts to overpower him.
• Bai Fei begged Chu Qing to stop, but Chu Qing kept attacking until Bai Fei’s skull shattered and he died.
• Chu Qing picked up his brocade robe and walked out as the stone house collapsed, then demanded to know who opposed his entry into the Inner Court.

Chu Qing killed Bai Fei, then sought approval to enter the Inner Court and quickly gathered the required signatures. Though he suspected someone had arranged the easy approval, Nangong assured him that she would remain in the Outer Court and support him alongside Moyang.

• Chu Qing demanded to meet the second-year students immediately, and Nangong collected Bai Fei's blood to use as ink.
• Outer Court students escorted Chu Qing toward the Inner Court while the Martial Masters hurried to alert the Vice Principals.
• Third-year Inner Court faction leaders sent messages encouraging second-year leaders to approve Chu Qing's entry.
• Second-year students readily supported Chu Qing, and he used Bai Fei's blood-red ink to collect enough signatures in under two hours.
• Chu Qing worried that someone was controlling the approval process, while Nangong said she would stay in the Outer Court with Moyang and support him.

Chu Qing settled into the Inner Court, tested the Blood Tempering mystic medicine, and learned how his White Dragon Blood Tempering Method improved him. After receiving an invitation from third-year student Qin Wushang, Chu Qing decided to attend the banquet with Nangong.

• Chu Qing assigned Zhao Hongxiu the Inner Court follower slot and studied the class rules, deciding to observe Class Nine before competing for extra mystic medicine.
• Chu Qing told Nangong he had to enter the Inner Court for resources, then swallowed a dose of Blood Tempering mystic medicine while she watched over him.
• Chu Qing completed a Blood Tempering session with the medicine and found that his wound healed about one-fiftieth faster; he later completed another session without medicine in five hours.
• A servant delivered Qin Wushang's invitation, which said the third-year student had helped Chu Qing gain the second-year faction's recognition and enter the Inner Court.
• Chu Qing accepted the invitation and told Nangong to get ready to attend the banquet with him as a trusted friend.

Chu Qing received competing invitations from Inner Court students claiming they had helped him, then heard Gong Wudi’s offer to recruit him for the Heaven-Connecting Path Quota competition. After warning Chu Qing to find a patron before his enemies came for him, Gong Wudi left, and Chu Qing went to meet Qin Wushang at Youjian Restaurant.

• Over twenty people sent Chu Qing calling cards claiming they had secured Inner Court signatures for him, and he replied that they could meet him with Qin Wushang.
• Gong Wudi asked Chu Qing to help him in the Heaven-Connecting Path Quota competition, offering blood-training secret medicines in exchange for killing opponents or holding someone off.
• Chu Qing asked for Phoenix Blood as payment, but Gong Wudi had never heard of it, so Chu Qing said he would consider the offer.
• Gong Wudi warned Chu Qing that powerful people would target him after the competition and urged him to find a patron.
• Chu Qing went with Nangong to Youjian Restaurant to meet Qin Wushang, and learned that Qin Wushang’s family held a small share in the imperial restaurant chain.

Qin Wushang tried to make Chu Qing accept him as a patron, but Chu Qing rejected his terms and walked out with Nangong. Qin Wushang ordered his people to kill Chu Qing before dawn and bring Nangong to his bed before midnight.

• Qin Wushang made Chu Qing and Nangong wait while musicians played, but they ignored the performance and cultivated.
• Qin Wushang claimed he could protect Chu Qing and offered the kneeling aristocratic woman as an example of his power.
• Chu Qing asked what Qin Wushang expected in return, then mocked his demand for obedience and flipped over the table.
• Nangong joined Chu Qing as he left, and Chu Qing rejected Qin Wushang’s threat that he would regret walking out.
• Qin Wushang ordered the Pipa Woman to bring him Chu Qing’s head before dawn and Nangong before midnight.

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.