Chapter Summaries

Wang Yuan confronted Liu Youcai at Liu Mansion over the Lu Family Annihilation Case and his men’s surveillance. After defeating Liu Mingxuan and a Bitao Sect deacon, Wang Yuan seized Liu Youcai and dared the sect to challenge him at Kaoshan Sect.

• Wang Yuan entered Liu Mansion with Lin Xiaoyu and identified himself as a Kaoshan Sect disciple, demanding to see Liu Youcai.
• Wang Yuan accused Liu Youcai of knowing about the Lu Family Annihilation Case and sending people to monitor them, but Liu Youcai denied it.
• Liu Mingxuan attacked Wang Yuan, who caught his wrist and threw him into a table.
• A Bitao Sect deacon attacked Wang Yuan with Bitao Wave Palm, but Wang Yuan’s aura repelled him and left him injured.
• Wang Yuan seized the terrified Liu Youcai and challenged the Bitao Sect deacon to seek an explanation at Kaoshan Sect.

Wang Yuan interrogated Liu Youcai and learned that the greedy landowner had no connection to the Lu Family Annihilation Case, so he followed the pharmacy clue into the Southwestern Old Forest with Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu. After three fruitless days, Wang Yuan reconsidered the clue and suspected the killer might be hiding near the forest rather than inside it.

• Wang Yuan revealed his identity to the Bitao Sect steward, then took Liu Youcai back to Qinghe Inn and frightened him into confessing.
• Liu Youcai explained that he had watched Wang Yuan's group only to protect his plans to acquire the Lu family's properties, and Wang Yuan let him go after confirming he knew nothing about the killings.
• Wang Yuan told Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu that the grey-clothed hat guest's trail led toward the Southwestern Old Forest, and the three set out to search it.
• Wang Yuan, Li Dashan, and Lin Xiaoyu searched the forest for three days but found no convincing trace of the suspect.
• Wang Yuan realized that heading toward the Southwestern Old Forest did not mean the suspect had entered its depths, and reasoned that the killer might be lying low nearby while waiting for the search to ease.

Wang Yuan suspected that Lu Yu was an impostor and the Lu family’s killer, then returned to Qinghe Town with Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu to investigate her residence. They found the courtyard empty, and Lu Yu had vanished.

• Wang Yuan reconsidered Lu Yu’s account and identified details that suggested she might be the killer in disguise.
• Wang Yuan ordered Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu to return to Qinghe Town and investigate the Lu Family Old Residence at night.
• Near dawn, Wang Yuan and his companions entered town and reached Lu Yu’s courtyard beneath the old locust tree.
• Wang Yuan searched the house and found no sign of Lu Yu or any hidden chamber.

Wang Yuan discovered signs that Lu Yu had recently left the small courtyard, then learned she was selling the Lu family’s properties before leaving town. He went with Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu to the auction, where Lu Yu began selling the family assets to eager buyers.

• Wang Yuan found a faint blood-and-fishy odor on a bronze mirror and footprints suggesting Lu Yu had recently fled with others.
• Wang Yuan, Li Dashan, and Lin Xiaoyu returned to Qinghe Inn and waited until morning instead of pursuing her in the dark.
• Wang Yuan heard that Lu Yu was selling the Lu family’s land and shops, and concluded she planned to take the money and disappear.
• Wang Yuan and his companions went to the Lu Family Old Residence, where Lu Yu appeared in mourning clothes and announced the sale of the family properties.
• A steward began reading out the Lu family’s deeds and low starting prices, and wealthy buyers started bidding.

Wang Yuan confronted the supposed Lu Yu during her auction of the Lu family properties, accusing her of lying about her whereabouts on the night of the massacre. When she tried to deny it and her two armed maidservants moved to shield her, Wang Yuan suddenly attacked.

• Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu watched angrily as the alleged Lu Yu auctioned properties bought with the Lu family's blood and labor.
• Wang Yuan scrutinized Lu Yu and her maidservants, concluding that Lu Yu was likely a fake and involved in the massacre.
• Lu Yu noticed Wang Yuan in the crowd and grew uneasy when he approached the auction table.
• Wang Yuan asked Lu Yu where she had been from midnight until the hour of the Tiger, and she claimed she had been resting at the old residence.
• Wang Yuan said he had found her room undisturbed and bloodstains on her dressing mirror, causing Lu Yu to panic and her maidservants to shield her.
• Wang Yuan declared that he was telling Lu Yu rather than asking her, then suddenly blurred forward as the crowd heard a loud bang.

Wang Yuan exposed the impostor posing as Lu Yu and defeated her with a single punch, then demanded to know where the real Lu Yu and the Lu family were. The wounded impostor began recovering and revealed a second disguise, leaving her identity and the real culprit unresolved.

• Wang Yuan struck the false Lu Yu's maidservant and attacked the disguised Lu Yu, revealing her sinister aura and ice-needle techniques.
• Wang Yuan repelled the landlords who tried to intervene and shattered the impostor's arms with his fist.
• The impostor's disguise collapsed, exposing an unfamiliar woman as she fell among the broken table and scattered property deeds.
• Wang Yuan demanded to know where the real Lu Yu was and who had killed the Lu family.
• The wounded impostor unleashed a freezing aura, reset her broken bones, and shed another layer of disguise to reveal the face of a man in his early thirties.

Wang Yuan confronted the two Bone Forging Realm killers who had murdered the Lu family and disguised themselves as Lu Yu and her maidservant. He revealed that he had deliberately baited them into showing themselves, and the chapter ended as a dangerous golden-red flame appeared in his eyes.

• The fake maidservant and the supposed Lu Yu recovered from their injuries and revealed themselves as a pair of Bone Forging Realm Evil Cultivators.
• The two killers’ icy pressure overwhelmed Li Dashan, Lin Xiaoyu, and the gathered wealthy men, while the woman threatened Liu Youcai with an ice needle.
• Wang Yuan held back the pair’s frosty Force Power and said he had expected them to reveal themselves together.
• Wang Yuan explained that he had followed their planted clues and staged a show of recklessness to make them lower their guard and rush to sell the Lu family property.
• Wang Yuan said he cared only about finding who had manipulated him, then revealed a golden-red flame in his eyes that made the man realize something was wrong.

Wang Yuan revealed his overwhelming strength against two Bone Forging Evil Cultivators who had led him around for four days. After crushing their weapons and wounding them, he launched a decisive attack on the Man with Green Birthmark.

• Wang Yuan punched the Man with Green Birthmark back five steps and badly wounded his palm.
• Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu watched in shock as Wang Yuan unleashed his Killing Intent and Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone.
• Wang Yuan shattered the woman’s Ice Thorns with a punch and sent her flying, leaving her coughing Black Blood.
• Wang Yuan charged the Man with Green Birthmark, tore through his Body-Protecting Yin Mist, and reached him before he could defend himself.

Wang Yuan defeated the two Bone Forging Evil Cultivators and learned that they had killed the Lu family to steal a three-hundred-year-old Nine-Leaf Green Lotus. The woman revealed the plant’s history but stayed silent about where it was as her junior brother suddenly moved from the rubble.

• Wang Yuan seized the Man with Green Birthmark, knocked the woman into the gatehouse rubble, and brutally beat the man.
• Wang Yuan demanded that the woman explain why the pair had killed all seventy-two members of the Lu family.
• The woman said the Lu family had found a three-hundred-year-old Nine-Leaf Green Lotus after the family patriarch dug up a treasure site described by a dying Old Beggar.
• The woman revealed that the Lu family planned to offer the lotus to the Kaoshan Sect for protection, but word of the treasure had reached the Evil Cultivators.
• When Wang Yuan asked where the lotus was, the woman glanced at her junior brother, and his apparently dying body suddenly moved.

Wang Yuan defeated the two Evil Cultivators who ambushed him at the Lu Family Old Residence, then forced the surviving woman to reveal where the medicine was hidden. After paying the jailer to keep quiet, Wang Yuan prepared to retrieve it and return to the sect with Lin Xiaoyu and Li Dashan.

• The woman and the Man with Green Birthmark launched a desperate pincer attack, but Wang Yuan broke through their strikes and killed the man while gravely wounding the woman.
• Wang Yuan questioned the woman about the medicine, then had Li Dashan find a jailer to interrogate her when he suspected she was lying.
• The jailer tortured the woman until she revealed that the medicine was buried in an iron box beneath the third old locust tree behind an abandoned Mountain God Temple southwest of town.
• Wang Yuan paid the jailer to keep the events secret, while Lin Xiaoyu longed to return to the sect.

Wang Yuan recovered an iron box containing the Nine-Leaf Green Lotus and sold the Lu family's abandoned properties, sharing part of the proceeds with Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu. After reflecting on the seventy-two people killed at the Lu Family Old Residence, the three returned to the Kaoshan Sect with the two Evil Cultivators' heads.

• Wang Yuan found a sealed iron box buried beneath a locust tree near the abandoned Mountain God Temple and brought it back to Qinghe Town.
• Wang Yuan ordered Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu to inventory the Lu family's deeds, then decided to sell the properties and reserve the proceeds for a possible descendant.
• Wang Yuan sold the Lu family's farmland, shops, residences, and woodland through Zhang Bancheng for thirteen thousand taels in gold notes.
• Wang Yuan gave Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu four thousand gold notes to share, then noted that the Nine-Leaf Green Lotus made the mission worthwhile.
• Wang Yuan, Li Dashan, and Lin Xiaoyu left the Lu Family Old Residence with the heads of the two Evil Cultivators and rode toward the Kaoshan Sect.

Feng Chong and Li Wanjun expected Wang Yuan to miss the Core Disciple Minor Competition or fail his mission, but Wang Yuan returned to the sect ahead of it. When Feng Chong visited to question him, Wang Yuan calmly said the task was already completed.

• Li Wanjun praised Feng Chong for assigning Wang Yuan a dangerous mission that could keep him from the Minor Competition.
• A Punishment Hall disciple reported that Wang Yuan had returned with Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu, and Li Wanjun ordered Feng Chong to check on the mission.
• Feng Chong assumed Wang Yuan had spent too little time investigating and planned to use any failure or missed competition to punish him.
• Feng Chong visited Wang Yuan at Listening Brook Cottage and asked how the Qinghe Town case had gone.
• Wang Yuan told Feng Chong that the task was already completed, leaving Feng Chong stunned.

Wang Yuan returned from the Lu family mission after killing two Bone Forging Realm Evil Cultivators, shocking Feng Chong and forcing him to retreat. Li Wanjun learned of Wang Yuan’s feat and began to take a more serious interest in him.

• Wang Yuan showed Feng Chong the heads of the two Evil Cultivators and explained that the mission was complete.
• Lin Xiaoyu and Li Dashan described how Wang Yuan killed the two Bone Forging Realm attackers, leaving Feng Chong stunned.
• Wang Yuan dismissed Feng Chong, who left in a panic after recalling his earlier threats.
• Li Dashan worried that Elder Li and Feng Chong would continue causing trouble, but Wang Yuan warned them against trying.
• Feng Chong reported the deaths to Li Wanjun, who responded with interest and resolved to pay closer attention to Wang Yuan.

Wang Yuan brought the Azure White Twin Fiends' heads to the Mission Hall and proved he had completed the Lu Family Annihilation Case. He received 1,500 Contribution Points, while the Mission Hall agreed to claim an additional government reward for the heads.

• Wang Yuan went to the Mission Hall with Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu, carrying two bloodstained bundles.
• Wang Yuan presented the heads as proof that he had completed the Lu Family Annihilation Case, and Steward Sun recognized them as the Azure White Twin Fiends.
• Li Dashan testified that Wang Yuan had killed both Bone Forging Realm Evil Cultivators alone during their attack.
• Steward Sun verified the mission and credited Wang Yuan with 1,500 Contribution Points.
• Wang Yuan let the Mission Hall keep the heads so it could claim the authorities' reward for him, then left as the gathered disciples marveled at his strength.

Wang Yuan arrived at the Kaoshan Sect Core Disciple competition after killing two Bone Forging Evil Cultivators, drawing intense attention from the sect. He was paired against Chen Feng in the first round, but Chen Feng surrendered before the fight began.

• Wang Yuan gave Li Dashan and Lin Xiaoyu 200 Contribution Points each and headed with them to the Training Ground for the competition.
• The Kaoshan Sect Master Situ Lie announced the competition's rules and rewards, while Li Wanjun oversaw the drawing of lots.
• Wang Yuan drew lot number thirty-two and was paired with Chen Feng, a favored competitor who had placed fourth the previous year.
• After the first thirty-one matches, Wang Yuan and Chen Feng stepped onto the fighting platform, where Chen Feng immediately surrendered.

Wang Yuan swept through the Core Disciple Minor Competition and won the championship without suffering a single injury. Sect Master Situ Lie promoted him to True Disciple Candidate and granted him access to the Intent Refining Tower and Earth Vein Blood Pool.

• Chen Feng surrendered to Wang Yuan before they exchanged blows, and the referee declared Wang Yuan the winner.
• Wang Yuan defeated or received the surrender of his opponents in the next rounds, then beat last year’s champion Meng Cangjiang with a single punch.
• Wang Yuan’s final opponent surrendered immediately, making him the Minor Competition champion after four matches.
• Situ Lie announced Wang Yuan as champion and promoted him to True Disciple Candidate, granting him permission to cultivate in the Intent Refining Tower and Earth Vein Blood Pool.

Wang Yuan advanced Nine Heavens Mountain to its third level in the Intent Refining Tower and tested its power at Sword Testing Cliff. Zhang San then told him that Feng Chong had secretly gone to Qingshi Town, leaving Wang Yuan with a lead on the Punishment Hall deacon.

• Wang Yuan entered the Intent Refining Tower and absorbed the Martial Dao Imprints left by Kaoshan Sect's predecessors.
• After three days, Wang Yuan emerged with Nine Heavens Mountain stabilized at the third level and had vaguely touched the fourth-level threshold.
• Wang Yuan tested Mountain Range Force at Sword Testing Cliff, carving a half-foot-deep fist mark into the rock.
• Zhang San told Wang Yuan that Feng Chong had left the mountain for Qingshi Town after meeting Elder Li's people.
• Zhang San revealed his grudge against Feng Chong and said he wanted to help Wang Yuan.

Wang Yuan tracked Feng Chong to Qingshi Town, spared him briefly, then killed him to eliminate the threat. The next morning, Wang Yuan entered the Earth Vein Blood Pool and discovered his physique could still grow stronger.

• Zhang San led Wang Yuan to the house where Feng Chong was hiding in Qingshi Town.
• Wang Yuan waited until night, confronted Feng Chong, and let him go before killing him as Feng Chong fled.
• Wang Yuan arrived at the Earth Vein Blood Pool the next morning and began a seven-day tempering session.
• Wang Yuan endured the pool's pain as its blood energy strengthened his bones, fascia, blood vessels, and organs.
• On the third day, Wang Yuan realized his physique remained far from its limit.

Wang Yuan absorbed the Earth Vein Blood Pool for seven days, filling his Talent Bead and advancing to Mid-stage Hua Jin. He left after learning someone sent by Elder Mu was waiting for him, while the pool guard discovered Wang Yuan had drained the pool completely.

• Wang Yuan felt the Vital Blood strengthen his body and push his Talent Bead from 70% to 99%.
• Wang Yuan learned the pool contained precious medicinal herbs and demonic and exotic beast blood accumulated by Kaoshan Sect.
• Wang Yuan filled the Talent Bead and broke through to Mid-stage Hua Jin, gaining enough strength to fight Peak Bone Forging martial artists.
• The bare-chested burly man told Wang Yuan that someone sent by Elder Mu was waiting outside with urgent news.
• After Wang Yuan left, the bare-chested burly man discovered that the blood pool had faded completely.

After Wang Yuan drained Kaoshan Sect’s Blood Pool and advanced to mid-stage Hua Jin, Elder Mu warned him to prepare for the Yunzhou Martial Gathering and prioritize survival. Wang Yuan overheard hints of a dispute involving the Imperial Court, a Rebel Army, and Cloud Province, leaving him convinced the gathering would involve more than martial competition.

• The burly man discovered Wang Yuan had drained nearly all the sect’s Blood Pool in seven days and marveled at his talent.
• Elder Mu told Wang Yuan he had advanced from early-stage to mid-stage Hua Jin and dismissed his apology for consuming the Blood Pool.
• Elder Mu explained that Wang Yuan would represent Kaoshan Sect at the Yunzhou Martial Gathering in three months, where powerful rivals from the Four Great Sects and two families would compete.
• Elder Mu warned Wang Yuan that the gathering might not be a friendly contest and urged him to value staying alive above all else.
• Wang Yuan overheard Elder Mu’s confidant discussing the Imperial Court, the Rebel Army, and whether Cloud Province’s sects and families should resist or submit.