Chapter Summaries

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.

Chu Qing fled across the desert while pursuing Bronze Masked Cloaked Figures from King Shiyu’s Mansion closed in on him. He neared the requirement to advance, but his attackers proved far stronger than he expected and drove him back toward the group exploring the ruins.

• Chu Qing left the slow-moving group to run ahead and build progress toward advancing, while the Daoist Nun warned him about the desert.
• Bronze Masked Cloaked Figures asked the group about Chu Qing, and a wandering martial artist who pointed them in his direction died when their reward box released concealed weapons.
• A second party arrived with a sedan chair carrying the Princess Consort, who ordered her people to leave the group alone and continue toward the ruins.
• Chu Qing neared the thirty-thousand-li progress requirement before Bronze Masked Cloaked Figures caught up and demanded that he return to answer for killing the King's son.
• Chu Qing attacked with Eight Divine Hands: Sun and Moon, but a cloaked figure blocked the strike and sent him flying, leaving him injured as he fled.
• The pursuers said the Princess Consort was following them, while Chu Qing kept sprinting and swinging his arms, telling them he wanted to level up.

Chu Qing combined Thousand Arms with Eight Divine Hands: Sun and Moon, allowing him to unleash ten peak attacks per second and defeat the cloaked men pursuing him. He chased the survivors back to their companions, revealing his identity as the masked youth to the Daoist Nun and the Brocade World martial wanderers.

• Chu Qing promoted Eight Divine Hands: Sun and Moon and Thousand Arms, then realized Thousand Arms let him deliver ten maximum-power Sun and Moon attacks in a second.
• Chu Qing turned to fight the foremost cloaked man, overwhelmed him with a barrage of attacks, and drove the other cloaked men to flee.
• Chu Qing pursued the cloaked men, defeating those who turned to fight and rejecting their pleas for mercy because they had hunted him after he killed the King's most beloved son.
• The wounded cloaked men warned their companions that Chu Qing could unleash ten powerful ultimate moves in one second.
• The yellow sand settled, and the Daoist Nun and Brocade World martial wanderers recognized Chu Qing as the masked youth who had been traveling with them.

Chu Qing fought off more than twenty Bronze Masked Cloaked Figures, whose attacks could not overcome his perfect physical foundations and recovery. After they fled, he discovered that empowering his blood with his dragon tendons rapidly weakened the Otherkin tracking mark, and he continued trying to erase it.

• A Bronze Masked Cloaked Figure attacked Chu Qing with an ultimate move, but Chu Qing blasted him backward and blocked the other figures’ assault.
• Chu Qing fought the cloaked figures for hours, growing more vigorous as they became exhausted and desperate.
• Chu Qing revealed that his Golden Sinews and Golden Bones had reached Perfection and that he had cultivated Golden Blood, Golden Flesh, and golden internal organs.
• The cloaked figures feared Chu Qing had a powerful guardian and scattered in all directions, while the Daoist Nun and the people of Brocade World had already left.
• Chu Qing tried to clear the Otherkin mark with his blood qi, then empowered his blood with his dragon tendons and rapidly faded the mark.

Chu Qing cleared the tracking mark and traveled through the desert to find Tiger Jade, reaching an underground inn where he reunited with the Daoist Nun and people from Brocade World. The Daoist Nun invited him to explore the ruins with her the next day.

• The Princess Consort learned that her tracking mark was being cleared and decided to leave the ruins to capture Chu Qing, while ordering the eight Third Limit experts not to harm him because he used Xiaoyu’s Eight Divine Hands: Sun Moon.
• Chu Qing finished clearing the tracking mark and set out to find Tiger Jade before returning to the Martial Academy to use his accumulated blood-refining secret medicine.
• Chu Qing followed the map to a lively desert inn and discovered that its main level lay beneath the sand.
• Chu Qing saw the Daoist Nun playing games with wandering martial heroes while the people from Brocade World watched him warily.
• The Daoist Nun welcomed Chu Qing and invited him to enter the ruins with her the following day.

Chu Qing stayed at the inn marked on the treasure map to search for Tiger Jade, turning down Daoist Nun’s invitation to explore the ruins with her. The two talked about their distant homelands and went to admire the moon, where they found several couples on the rooftop.

• Chu Qing refused to explore with Daoist Nun and said he would rest at the inn for two days while searching for Tiger Jade.
• Chu Qing bathed in his room, and Daoist Nun picked the door bolt with a small blade and entered before he was dressed.
• Daoist Nun told Chu Qing she had been temporarily assigned to Brocade World and would return to her Taoist Temple in the Great Zhou Empire after the ruins expedition.
• Daoist Nun described Great Zhou’s drought and Millennial Tribulation, and Chu Qing compared its troubles with the snow, Rebel Army, and deaths in Great Qian.
• Chu Qing and Daoist Nun went to the rooftop to look at the moon and found several couples there; Daoist Nun called the men ugly.