Chapter Summaries

Chen Zihang tried to claim the Fire Rain Spiritual Light bracelet Chen Cheng had bought, but Fang Siyao persuaded him to choose another item instead. After Chen Zihang left, the shopkeeper offered Chen Cheng a discount to make amends, and Chen Cheng questioned whether she could afford to offend him either.

• Chen Zihang demanded the Fire Rain Spiritual Light bracelet, while the shopkeeper anxiously explained it had already been sold to Chen Cheng.
• Fang Siyao persuaded Chen Zihang to let the bracelet go and choose the Jade Stream Hairpin instead.
• Chen Zihang warned Chen Cheng to guard his possessions, then bought the hairpin for Fang Siyao and left with her.
• The shopkeeper apologized to Chen Cheng and offered him a twenty percent discount on the bracelet.
• Chen Cheng asked the shopkeeper why she thought she could afford to offend him if she could not offend Chen Zihang.

Chen Cheng bought the Fire Rain Spiritual Light for Yan Lingji using Murong Yan’s Six-Pattern Purple-Gold Card, prompting the shop owner to recognize his importance and treat him as a valued guest. After Chen Cheng and Yan Lingji left, the employees discussed how Chen Zihang’s interference had affected their sales, and the shop manager approached them.

• Chen Cheng paid for the Fire Rain Spiritual Light with a Six-Pattern Purple-Gold Card after Yan Lingji admired it.
• Xiaomei and the shop owner discovered the card represented the status of a Dou Wang expert, and the owner urged Xiaomei to handle the sale quickly and carefully.
• Chen Cheng took Yan Lingji and left the shop after Xiaomei completed the transaction.
• The shop’s employees complained that Chen Zihang’s visit had disrupted their business, while Xiaomei lamented that the twenty percent discount reduced her commission.
• The shop manager quietly walked up behind the employees as they discussed Chen Zihang.

Yu Wen revealed why she had tolerated Chen Zihang and reconciled with her employees, while Chen Cheng learned from Murong Zhi that Chen Zihang was a formidable rival for the Chen Family heirship. Chen Cheng left Murong Zhi wondering whether he would enter the succession contest himself.

• Yu Wen told her employees that Chen Zihang’s spending benefited the shop, but she disliked dealing with him and had endured the strain to protect the business.
• Yu Wen’s employees apologized for the trouble they had caused and invited her to forgive them; she demanded they all join her for dinner at Jade Boat House Grand Restaurant.
• Chen Cheng met Murong Zhi after leaving Qingzhu Workshop, and Murong Zhi warned him that Chen Zihang was exceptionally powerful and would resent his appearance.
• Murong Zhi described Chen Zihang’s talent, military support, and victory over three Dou Wang experts during a thunderstorm, explaining that a suitable Cultivation Method could make him far stronger.
• Chen Cheng asked Murong Zhi whether he would compete for the Family Head Position, then left with Yan Lingji before Murong Zhi could answer.

Chen Cheng welcomed Red Serpent back, received her upgraded Zhen Yu Qian Ye poison, and gave her a powerful Dou Technique. After five days of sparring and cultivation, he reached Dou Qi Fifth Stage and improved his combat ability; the chapter left him preparing to attend the Chen Family tournament.

• Murong Zhi watched Chen Cheng leave and lamented that, as Chen Yuan's disciple, he could not compete with Chen Cheng's status as Chen Yuan's son.
• Chen Cheng returned to Linjiang Courtyard, where Red Serpent greeted him and met Yan Lingji.
• Red Serpent gave Chen Cheng her upgraded Zhen Yu Qian Ye, which he understood would take effect as an airborne poison but become ineffective near fire.
• Chen Cheng gave Red Serpent the Profound Rank poison-element Dou Technique Fallen Body Needle.
• Chen Cheng sparred with Yan Lingji for five days, reached Dou Qi Fifth Stage, and raised his Low-Level Combat ability to LV2, bringing his overall combat power to One-Star Dou Zhe.
• A steward summoned Chen Cheng to the Chen Family tournament, and Chen Cheng said he would arrive shortly.

After learning that Chen Yuan had found his missing son, the Izumo Emperor summoned his ministers to discuss the threat of the powerful Chen Family. Unable to risk war, he agreed to seek peace and asked for an envoy to negotiate with them.

• A eunuch told the Izumo Emperor that Chen Yuan had found the son who vanished eleven years earlier, and the Emperor urgently summoned his ministers.
• Minister Shen urged the court to send troops to Yanling County and suppress the Chen Family before they could rebel.
• Lord Han and other officials condemned Minister Shen, while most military officials avoided supporting him because the Chen Family was too powerful.
• Prime Minister He argued that war would doom the empire and advised seeking peace, prompting Minister Shen to accuse him of colluding with Chen Ye.
• A prince supported Prime Minister He's assessment of the Chen Family's strength, and the Izumo Emperor agreed to negotiate peace and asked for an envoy.

The Chen Family Grand Competition began, with branch family disciples competing for a chance to join the main family. Chen Cheng unexpectedly drew a match against Chen Xiangnan, and Chen Yuan and Chen Yang suspected someone had secretly added his name to the list.

• Chen Guang explained the competition rules, and Chen Ming began drawing lots for the matches.
• Chen Yi defeated Chen An, while Chen Linna prepared to fight Chen Xiaoyue after Chen Yunrou persuaded her with the promise of dinner.
• Several branch family disciples stood out and were selected to join the main family as matches continued through the afternoon.
• Chen Ming drew Chen Cheng's name as Chen Xiangnan's opponent, despite Chen Yuan's order that Chen Cheng not compete.
• Chen Yuan and Chen Yang vowed to investigate who had tampered with the list, while Chen Zihang looked forward to testing Chen Cheng's combat ability.

Chen Cheng defeated Chen Xiangnan, a Dou Qi Seventh Stage opponent, in seconds despite everyone believing Chen Cheng was only at the Fourth Stage. Chen Yuan realized Chen Cheng had already advanced to the Fifth Stage and planned to let him cultivate the family’s Source of Deadly Poison if he had the poison attribute.

• Chen Xiangnan charged at Chen Cheng, who struck him with a precisely timed punch and sent him flying backward.
• Chen Cheng chased after Chen Xiangnan and knocked him off the arena with a second punch, winning the match in under three seconds.
• The crowd and Chen Yuan, Chen Yang, and Chen Ming praised Chen Cheng’s strength and battle awareness, while Chen Xiangnan returned to his family’s seats bewildered and frustrated.
• Yan Lingji congratulated Chen Cheng, who dismissed the victory as unremarkable and said Chen Xiangnan’s combat skills were inferior to hers.
• Chen Yuan told Chen Yang that Chen Cheng had reached the Dou Qi Fifth Stage, then said he would allow Chen Cheng to cultivate the Source of Deadly Poison if he tested positive for the poison attribute.

Chen Cheng copied Yan Lingji’s Fire Control ability and continued cultivating before Chen Yuan proposed a marriage alliance with the Izumo Empire. Chen Cheng agreed to meet the princess, while the Izumo Emperor raged over the Chen Family’s demands and ultimately considered accepting them.

• Chen Cheng used his copying opportunity on Yan Lingji and obtained Fire Control, then continued cultivating the Fallen Body Needle after reaching Dou Qi Level Seven.
• Chen Yuan visited Chen Cheng and offered him access to family resources, then explained that the Izumo Empire had proposed a marriage alliance to secure peace.
• Chen Cheng examined the princess’s portrait and asked Chen Yuan to have her sent over so he could meet her.
• Prime Minister He returned to the capital with the Chen Family’s demands, including three commanderies and Princess Ruoxue as a concubine for a Chen Family son.
• The Izumo Emperor furiously denounced Chen Yuan’s demands, but the Imperial Concubine urged him to accept, and he eventually sighed in resignation.

General Li’s Izumo escort was ambushed and captured by the Chen Family’s Black Armor Soldiers while transporting Princess Ruoxue to Anyang City. As the prisoners and princess were taken toward the city, General Li recognized the Yanling Army’s superior discipline and doubted Izumo could defeat the Chen Family.

• General Li led a hundred-man escort carrying Princess Ruoxue toward Yanling County and ordered his soldiers to stay alert in Thief Chen’s territory.
• A hidden horse line tripped the leading riders, injuring several soldiers and forcing the escort to stop in a forest.
• A thousand Black Armor Soldiers surrounded the escort with Armor-Piercing Crossbows, and their commander questioned General Li about the carriage.
• General Li surrendered, and the Izumo soldiers laid down their weapons before the Black Armor Soldiers bound them.
• The Black Armor Commander inspected Princess Ruoxue and then led her carriage and the prisoners toward the city.
• General Li noticed the Black Armor Soldiers’ strict discipline and concluded that Izumo would stand little chance against the Chen Family.

Princess Feng Ruoxue arrived in Anyang City under guard and waited at a post station until Chen Cheng summoned her to Jade Boat House. Their first meeting ended with Chen Cheng criticizing her maid, Hong Luan, leaving Feng Ruoxue fearing the consequences.

• A Black Armor Commander escorted Feng Ruoxue to Anyang City and warned her to wait at the post station for Chen Cheng’s summons.
• Feng Ruoxue paid an attendant five Gold Coins, then reflected on Yanling County’s prosperity and her empire’s weakness while Hong Luan complained about their treatment.
• Chen Cheng learned of Feng Ruoxue’s arrival and instructed her to meet him at Jade Boat House the following day.
• Chen Cheng received Feng Ruoxue and Hong Luan at the restaurant, and Feng Ruoxue reprimanded Hong Luan for demanding that he kneel.
• Chen Cheng remarked that Hong Luan did not understand manners, and Feng Ruoxue sensed that his words could bring trouble.

Chen Cheng punished Feng Ruoxue’s maid, Hong Luan, for her insolence, then sent her and the guqin player Liu Tong out of the room. He invited Feng Ruoxue to sit and said he had prepared a meal to welcome her.

• Chen Cheng ordered a Guard to slap Hong Luan twice for forgetting her manners.
• Feng Ruoxue rushed to Hong Luan, treated her with a healing pill, and sent her outside.
• Chen Cheng dismissed Liu Tong, who had been playing the guqin.
• Chen Cheng invited Feng Ruoxue to sit and explained that he had prepared food to welcome her.
• Feng Ruoxue thanked Chen Cheng as he sent a Guard to hurry the dishes along.

Feng Ruoxue quietly admired Chen Cheng over lunch before he left to meet his grandfather, Chen Ye. Chen Ye finally reunited with the grandson he had lost for eleven years and vowed to protect him.

• Feng Ruoxue watched Chen Cheng during lunch and accepted his explanation that he could not accompany her around the city.
• Chen Cheng returned to the Chen Family estate and discovered that Duan Jianghai, the man sent to escort him, was an Eight Star Dou Wang.
• Chen Cheng entered the secluded room and identified the gray-robed man as his grandfather, Chen Ye, a Nine Star Dou Huang.
• Chen Ye touched Chen Cheng to make sure he was real, then explained that he had watched him from the shadows because he feared their reunion was only a dream.
• Chen Ye told Chen Cheng that he would never allow anyone to hurt him again.

Chen Ye reunited with Chen Cheng and explained why he suspected Chen Cheng had the Calamity Poison Body. He described the Chen Family’s history with the constitution and the Source of Deadly Poison, leaving Chen Cheng to ask what had confirmed the diagnosis.

• Chen Ye tearfully welcomed Chen Cheng and explained that he had tested Chen Cheng’s foundation during the family tournament.
• Chen Ye identified Chen Cheng’s rapid cultivation and use of Poison Art as signs of the Calamity Poison Body.
• Chen Ye revealed that a Chen Family ancestor had possessed the Calamity Poison Body and developed the Source of Deadly Poison to control it.
• Chen Ye explained that the Source of Deadly Poison restrained other poison masters but limited its cultivators to Nine Star Dou Huang unless they seized a Calamity Poison Body.
• Chen Cheng connected the Chen Family’s history to Xiao Yi Xian’s rise in the original story and asked Chen Ye how he had identified Chen Cheng’s constitution.

Chen Ye revealed how the Chen Family’s generations of poison cultivation could let them control a descendant’s Calamity Poison Body, then showed Chen Cheng hidden allies and led him toward a secret chamber. The chapter ended as a purple pearl scanned Chen Ye and Chen Cheng at the chamber door.

• Chen Ye explained that the Chen Family’s bloodline restriction passed down poison origins so the family could control a Calamity Poison Body, and hoped Chen Cheng would help restore its former glory.
• Chen Ye led Chen Cheng away and introduced Duan Jianghai, whose cultivation Chen Cheng identified as an eighth Dou Wang before claiming he sensed energy fluctuations through his physique.
• Chen Ye summoned Nie Shan He, and Chen Cheng used the Summoning System to discover that the concealed man was a One Star Dou Huang unknown to most of the Chen Family.
• Chen Ye praised Chen Cheng for seeing through Nie Shan He’s concealment and warned him not to reveal his ability to outsiders.
• Chen Ye opened a hidden passage beneath a rockery and led Chen Cheng to a stone chamber, where a purple pearl appeared and cast beams of light on them both.

Chen Cheng endured a painful attempt to awaken the Calamity Poison Body, but the awakening failed even as the poison raised his cultivation. After he recovered, Chen Ye tested Chen Cheng’s attributes and reacted with astonishment at the three colors in the Spirit Guiding Pearl.

• Chen Ye led Chen Cheng into the underground chamber and had him enter the pool of Source of Deadly Poison to awaken his constitution.
• Chen Cheng endured the formation’s poison as his cultivation rose to Dou Zhe, but the Calamity Poison Body showed no signs of awakening.
• Chen Cheng collapsed, and Chen Ye stopped the formation and rescued him from the pool.
• Chen Cheng woke two days later, and Chen Ye concluded that he could absorb poison but likely possessed another special constitution.
• Chen Cheng checked his status and discovered he had reached Five-Star Dou Zhe.
• Chen Cheng used the Spirit Guiding Pearl, which revealed violet-black, crimson red, and colorless energies and left Chen Ye astonished.

Chen Ye showed Chen Cheng the Chen Family’s secret collection of high-ranked cultivation methods and fighting skills, including the poison method Source of Deadly Poison and the Heaven Rank High-Level Emperor Flame Sacred Art. Chen Cheng planned to seek a Heavenly Flame and realized the man Chen Ye had killed might have been named Xiao something.

• Chen Ye led Chen Cheng into a hidden chamber containing the Chen Family’s Earth Rank and higher cultivation methods and fighting skills.
• Chen Cheng examined Source of Deadly Poison, and Chen Ye told him to cultivate it using poisons and the underground Curse Poison Qi.
• Chen Ye warned Chen Cheng to have his subordinates kill anyone with a Calamity Poison Body, prompting Chen Cheng to think of Xiao Yi Xian.
• Chen Ye gave Chen Cheng the Heaven Rank High-Level Emperor Flame Sacred Art and explained how he had taken it from a powerful Dou Wang he killed more than ten years earlier.
• Chen Cheng learned the art required a Heavenly Flame and considered going to the Tagor Desert for the Green Lotus Core Flame.
• Chen Cheng noticed the Three Mysterious Transformations of Heavenly Flame and asked about the dead Dou Wang, whom Chen Ye recalled as possibly being named Xiao something.

Feng Ruoxue and Hong Luan disguised themselves and explored Anyang City while Chen Cheng learned that the Chen Family intended to overthrow the Izumo Empire. Chen Ye warned Chen Cheng against falling for Feng Ruoxue, leaving him troubled by the consequences of her marriage into the family.

• Feng Ruoxue agreed to disguise herself and explore Anyang City with Hong Luan, who arranged for men's clothes and other disguise materials.
• Feng Ruoxue and Hong Luan toured the prosperous streets, bought goods, and headed to a teahouse when Feng Ruoxue grew tired.
• Chen Ye told Chen Cheng that the Chen Family planned to overthrow the Izumo Empire and that Feng Ruoxue would become an enemy if the Feng Family fell.
• Chen Ye warned Chen Cheng not to develop feelings for Feng Ruoxue, and Chen Cheng replied that he knew where to draw the line.

Chen Cheng summoned Jiang Yu Yan as a powerful, loyal bodyguard and planned to pursue the Calamity Poison Body and Green Lotus Core Flame to improve his cultivation method. At Qinglan Teahouse, Feng Ruoxue’s attendant Hong Luan provoked the gathered patrons by insisting Feng Ruoxue’s qin skills surpassed theirs.

• Chen Cheng summoned Jiang Yu Yan, whose Two-Star Dou Ling cultivation and Flower Shifting Grafting Art could absorb dou qi from opponents below a major realm higher than her.
• Chen Cheng outlined his plans to cultivate the Source of Deadly Poison, seek Xiao Yi Xian’s Calamity Poison Body, and later pursue the Green Lotus Core Flame.
• Chen Cheng left his courtyard and went to Qinglan Teahouse, where Feng Ruoxue listened to Han Jingya perform the qin.
• Hong Luan insulted Han Jingya’s playing and compared it unfavorably with Liu Tong’s, while Feng Ruoxue tried to stop her.
• Hong Luan urged Feng Ruoxue to demonstrate her qin skills and teach the teahouse patrons what true mastery sounded like.

Disguised as a man, Feng Ruoxue faced an angry crowd after Hong Luan claimed her guqin skills surpassed Han Jingya’s, then apologized to calm the tea house. Han Jingya invited Feng Ruoxue to play, and Feng Ruoxue agreed to perform a melody shaped by her thoughts of Chen Cheng and her helpless fate.

• Tea house patrons angrily denounced Feng Ruoxue after Hong Luan defended her guqin skills and insulted Han Jingya.
• The shopkeeper sent a server to report the disturbance to the authorities as the crowd continued arguing.
• Feng Ruoxue quieted the crowd with her martial presence and apologized for Hong Luan’s behavior.
• Han Jingya approached Feng Ruoxue, introduced herself, and asked her to offer guidance on the guqin.
• Feng Ruoxue recalled her fateful meeting with Chen Cheng, then told Han Jingya she had a melody for her to critique.

Feng Ruoxue played a sorrowful zither piece in a teahouse, where Chen Cheng recognized her despite her disguise and chose not to expose her. As Feng Ruoxue tried to avoid him, ten Black Armor Guards entered and demanded to know who had caused trouble.

• Feng Ruoxue produced an ancient zither from her Storage Ring and played a melody that moved the teahouse patrons to tears.
• Feng Ruoxue named the piece Linjiang Rhapsody and put her zither away after a scholar praised it.
• Hong Luan spotted Chen Cheng at the teahouse, and Feng Ruoxue hurriedly sat with her back to him to avoid being recognized.
• Chen Cheng recognized Feng Ruoxue through his system but kept quiet as he sat with Yan Lingji and Red Serpent.
• Ten Black Armor Guards entered the teahouse and demanded to know who had caused trouble.