Chapter Summaries

Li Mengchao vowed to avenge himself on Qin Yu and discussed the Li Family’s plans for Lin Yue, while Yang Jing returned to the martial arts school and received a warm welcome from Sun Yong after placing fourth in the Parade Ground Trial. Yang Jing recounted his final matches to his master, crediting Jin Lian’s pill and Zhou Tong’s injury for helping him win.

• Li Mengchao swore to personally take revenge on Qin Yu, while Li Haitao and the gray-robed elder discussed monitoring Lin Yue and potentially eliminating him if he turned against the Li Family.
• Yang Jing ate breakfast, went to the Sun Clan Martial Arts School, and practiced Mountain Collapse Fist while carefully nursing his injuries.
• Sun Ningxiang summoned Yang Jing to the inner courtyard, where Sun Yong welcomed him and asked her to brew precious green sprout jade leaf tea.
• Yang Jing told Sun Yong that Jin Lian’s Hundred Herbs Spirit Pill helped him defeat Xu Guangwei and that Zhou Tong’s injured arm helped him win their final match.

Sun Yong praised Yang Jing’s rise in the Parade Ground Trial, warned him to keep proper boundaries with Miss Jin Lian, and gave him careful martial guidance as he recovered. The chapter ended with disciples announcing that the official ranking had been posted and Yang Jing had placed fourth.

• Sun Yong recognized Yang Jing’s strength and cautioned him against becoming too close to Miss Jin Lian.
• Sun Ningxiang grew distracted after hearing Sun Yong discuss Yang Jing, while Sun Yong privately considered whether she and Yang Jing might suit each other.
• After two days of recovery, Yang Jing practiced at the Sun Clan Martial Arts School as the disciples increasingly treated him as their core figure.
• Sun Yong personally corrected Yang Jing’s Mountain Collapse Fist and Surging Wave Leg techniques.
• Disciples arrived with news that the official Parade Ground Trial ranking named Yang Jing fourth among the five successful candidates.
• A disciple told Yang Jing that officials were announcing the result in the candidates’ ancestral hometowns and might be heading to his home.

Yang Jing’s fourth-place finish in the Parade Ground Trial brought new prestige to the Sun Clan Martial Arts School, while Sun Yong warned the injured Lin Yue against entanglement in the Xiao and Li families’ feud. The chapter ended with Sun Yong recognizing Yang Jing as the school’s new standard-bearer and resolving to nurture him.

• Yang Jing hurried to collect his belongings and return to Yang Family Village after Sun Yong urged him not to keep the officials waiting with the good news.
• The disciples celebrated Yang Jing’s achievement, and Sun Yong went to the city gate to see his name on the ranking before visiting Lin Yue at the Jishi Medical Hall.
• Lin Yue blamed Li Mengchao for his injuries and vowed revenge, but Sun Yong told him to stop involving himself with the Xiao Family and focus on recovering.
• Sun Yong revealed that Yang Jing had placed fourth, leaving Lin Yue shocked and bitter that the junior brother he had looked down on had earned the ranking he had wanted.
• Zhang Tong congratulated Sun Yong and warned that other factions might try to recruit Yang Jing, prompting Sun Yong to resolve to train and protect the school’s new standard-bearer.

Lin Yue fainted after jealousy and resentment over Yang Jing’s ranking triggered his qi and blood to surge, while Zhang Tong judged his temperament a danger to his future. In Yang Family Village, Yang Lao San announced that Yang Jing had placed fourth in the Parade Ground Trial, and an official party arrived at Yang Jing’s home to deliver the news.

• Lin Yue spat blood and fainted after becoming overwhelmed by jealousy and anger, and Zhang Tong found that his internal injuries had not worsened.
• Zhang Tong concluded that Lin Yue’s narrow-minded temperament, rather than an injury flare-up, had caused his collapse.
• Yang Lao San learned at the city gate that Yang Jing had placed fourth, then rushed home to announce the result to Yang Family Village.
• Liu Cuiling, Yang Shouzhuo, Madam Qin, and the villagers reacted with joy and disbelief when Yang Lao San said Yang Jing had passed the Martial Arts Examination.
• A party of armored soldiers and an old official arrived at Yang Jing’s home, and Yang Lao San recognized the soldiers as the County Magistrate’s personal guards.

Cheng Wen and county soldiers brought Yang Jing news that he had placed fourth in the parade ground trial and received official standing, along with court gifts and tax privileges. After the officials left, Yang Jing’s family celebrated the end of their tax and corvée burdens, while villagers began considering what his new status might mean for them.

• Yang Shouzhuo welcomed Cheng Wen, who announced that Yang Jing had placed fourth in the parade ground trial and been entered on the official register.
• Cheng Wen’s soldiers draped red silk over the Yang family gate and presented two chests containing court-bestowed armor and a saber.
• Yang Jing returned home, and the soldiers saluted him with marked respect before Cheng Wen explained that he could pursue the prefecture examination for regular government support.
• Cheng Wen told Yang Jing that five hundred mu of land registered in his name could be exempted from taxes and that his family would no longer face corvée labor.
• Yang Jing gave Cheng Wen twenty taels of silver as a token of thanks, and Cheng Wen and the soldiers departed.

After Yang Jing gained official status, Yang Shouzhuo forgave Yang Ji for taking the family’s land, while Ning Xuezhi learned Yang Jing had placed fourth in the Parade Ground Trial Ranking. The chapter left Ning Xuezhi panicking over his past attempt to force the Yang Family to sell their land.

• Yang Shouzhuo invited the villagers to celebrate Yang Jing’s achievement, and Yang Ji handed Yang Lao San the silver hairpin he had wagered.
• Yang Ji knelt before Yang Shouzhuo and Yang Jing, apologized for taking their land, and begged them to spare his family.
• Yang Shouzhuo pulled Yang Ji to his feet and forgave him, recalling his close friendship with Yang Ji’s father.
• Ning Xuezhi toured his fields and threatened Wang Laowu over his overdue rent grain.
• Li Zhong rushed to Ning Xuezhi and reported that Yang Jing had placed fourth in the Parade Ground Trial Ranking and gained official status.
• Ning Xuezhi feared Yang Jing could destroy the Ning Family and regretted sending Feng Lei to pressure the Yang Family into selling two mu of land.

Ning Xuezhi apologized to Yang Jing and was spared after blaming Feng Lei for their past dispute. A month later, Yang Jing continued training under Sun Yong, who gave him pills and a token granting him a large monthly supply of superior exotic beast meat.

• Ning Xuezhi decided to visit Yang Family Village, blame Feng Lei for the past wrongdoing, and send his second wife back to the Feng Family in case he needed to sever ties with them.
• Ning Xuezhi arrived with lavish gifts, apologized to Yang Jing, and received a stern warning before Yang Jing chose not to pursue the dispute.
• A month later, Sun Yong corrected Yang Jing's Mountain Collapse Fist and praised his focus on martial training.
• Sun Yong gave Yang Jing two bottles of Qi Gathering Pills and asked about his dietary resources and rejected offers from the Chen Family and Jiang Family.
• Sun Yong offered Yang Jing a wooden token that allowed him to collect twenty jin of superior exotic beast meat each month.

Yang Jing received Sun Yong’s monthly allotment of premium exotic beast meat and improved his training with his master’s corrections. As Qi Yun reconsidered her past feelings for Yang Jing, Zhao Wenzheng grew jealous, while Shen Lie arrived to watch the martial arts school and seek a chance to target Yang Jing.

• Sun Yong gave Yang Jing a token for twenty jin of premium exotic beast meat and corrected two flaws in his Mountain Collapse Fist.
• Sun Yong privately worried that Lin Yue might expect the token back after recovering from his injuries.
• Yang Jing practiced Mountain Collapse Fist and Surging Wave Leg, while his progress in both techniques continued to advance.
• Qi Yun watched Yang Jing and wondered whether he had once tried to get close to her because he liked her.
• Zhao Wenzheng noticed Qi Yun watching Yang Jing, grew jealous, and left the martial arts school in anger.
• Shen Lie encountered Zhao Wenzheng, then hid near the school to watch Yang Jing.

Yang Jing sparred with Xu Hong at the Sun Clan Martial Arts School, using the exchange to test his movement technique and Mountain Collapse Fist. Sun Yong recognized that Yang Jing’s internal energy had surpassed Xu Hong’s and considered how far he might go if his second martial art reached hidden strength.

• Yang Jing and Xu Hong agreed to spar as disciples gathered to watch, including Qi Yun and Sun Ningxiang.
• Yang Jing evaded Xu Hong’s attacks with the Surging Wave Leg’s footwork, impressing the spectators with his agility while testing his progress.
• Yang Jing began exchanging Mountain Collapse Fist blows with Xu Hong and discovered that his internal energy slightly exceeded that of the veteran peak hidden strength expert.
• Yang Jing gained the upper hand by combining smooth, forceful punches with subtle redirection, while Sun Yong watched from the inner courtyard.
• Sun Yong judged Yang Jing’s strength remarkable but decided he should focus on the Mountain Collapse Fist rather than risk slowing his progress by pursuing a breakthrough in a second martial art.

Yang Jing defeated Xu Hong in a head-on spar, received advice from Sun Yong, and learned that Shen Lie planned to attack him with hired fighters. He returned home to train Surging Wave Leg, hoping to break through to hidden strength.

• Yang Jing and Xu Hong traded dozens of blows until Xu Hong conceded, and Sun Yong praised them while pointing out flaws in their techniques.
• Sun Yong urged Xu Hong to make one final attempt to break through to transforming strength within the next year, and Xu Hong promised to try.
• Shen Lie watched the spar from outside the school and decided to recruit peak hidden-strength fighters to ambush and injure Yang Jing, while also seeking revenge on Zhao Yuman.
• Yang Jing skipped a visit to Liu Medical Hall and went home to train Surging Wave Leg after dinner, believing a breakthrough would greatly increase his strength.
• Yang An practiced the basic Surging Wave Leg moves, cooked spirit fish for Yang Jing, and secretly drank the leftover broth and chewed the fish bones.

Yang Jing broke through to hidden strength in Surging Wave Leg, greatly increasing his power and resolving to eliminate Shen Lie. After preparing a disguise, he slipped out at night and reached Shen Lie’s residence in Anxing District, South City.

• Yang Jing practiced Surging Wave Leg for hours while Yang An watched, and he broke through from bright strength to hidden strength.
• Yang Jing tested his newly strengthened martial arts and concluded he could now overwhelm Xu Hong, then decided to kill Shen Lie to protect his family.
• Yang Jing waited until deep night, changed into Night-Traveling Garb, and covered his face with a Black Cloth Mask.
• Yang Jing left Tongyi Ward and traveled through the alleys to Anxing District in South City, where he hid near Shen Lie’s courtyard to survey the surroundings.

Yang Jing broke into Shen Lie’s courtyard intending to kill him, but found it empty and waited for him to return. When Shen Lie came home drunk, Yang Jing struck him down and prepared to finish him, leaving Shen Lie pleading for his life.

• Yang Jing searched Shen Lie’s courtyard, confirmed he was absent, and decided to wait for him to return.
• Shen Lie came home drunk after boasting to friends about wanting to teach Yang Jing a lesson.
• Yang Jing ambushed Shen Lie as he entered the main house and struck him in the back, leaving him badly injured.
• Shen Lie failed to recognize the masked attacker and begged for mercy, offering his wealth in exchange for his life.
• Yang Jing ignored Shen Lie’s pleas and brought his fist down toward Shen Lie’s skull.

Yang Jing killed Shen Lie and searched his home, taking gold, silver, and cultivation medicines before hiding evidence of his visit. He returned home safely, but expected Shen Lie’s death to cause a major stir in Yuhe County and the Pashan Martial Arts School.

• Yang Jing killed Shen Lie, then searched his room and found six gold ingots and four bottles of cultivation medicines.
• Yang Jing searched Shen Lie’s corpse, taking over thirty taels of silver and five Qi Gathering Pills, then mangled the body to conceal how he had killed him.
• Yang Jing slipped out of Shen Lie’s home and took a winding route back to Tongyi Ward to ensure no one was following him.
• Yang Jing burned his bloodstained night clothes, washed himself, and changed before returning to his room.
• Yang Jing reflected that Shen Lie’s death would draw attention, but believed no one would suspect him because others did not know the full extent of his strength.

Yang Jing concealed his newly increased strength while practicing the Mountain Collapse Fist at the Sun Clan Martial Arts School. He advised the nervous Jiang Haoyang on his technique and invited him to ask for guidance in the future.

• Yang Jing ate breakfast with Yang An, then left for the Martial Arts Hall without hearing any news about Shen Lie's death.
• Yang Jing practiced the Mountain Collapse Fist, carefully controlling his enhanced internal energy so his strength appeared unchanged.
• The arriving disciples watched Yang Jing with reverence after his victory over Xu Hong, while Yang Jing continued training.
• Jiang Haoyang nervously asked Yang Jing for help with the Mountain Collapse Fist, and Yang Jing agreed to watch his routine.
• Yang Jing identified flaws in Jiang Haoyang's punching and footwork, then invited him to seek guidance during future breaks.

After Shen Lie’s death became public, Yang Jing concealed his role and worried that the circumstances might lead suspicion to the Sun Clan Martial Arts School. The news also reached Zhao Yuman, who reacted with disbelief when Qing He told her that Shen Lie was dead.

• Jiang Haoyang thanked Yang Jing for agreeing to guide him, and Yang Jing returned to practicing the Mountain Collapse Fist.
• A disciple told the Sun Clan Martial Arts School that Shen Lie had been killed at home, and other disciples soon confirmed the news.
• Zhao Wenzheng said he had seen Shen Lie near Chengping Ward the day before, making Yang Jing suspect Shen Lie had come looking for him.
• Yang Jing worried that Shen Lie’s visit and death might draw suspicion to the school, but concluded that he had left no trace and would handle any trouble as it came.
• At the Zhao Clan Escort Agency, Zhao Yuman prepared a cargo shipment and reprimanded Qing He for rushing in disheveled.
• Qing He told Zhao Yuman that Shen Lie was dead, and Zhao Yuman angrily dismissed the report as nonsense before Qing He insisted the news had spread throughout Anxing District.

After Shen Lie was reported murdered, Zhao Yuman learned his death had ended her plans to recruit him, while Wang Kui investigated the killing at the Pashan Martial Arts School. The chapter left the school with a possible lead: Shen Lie had drunkenly threatened to take revenge on Yang Jing shortly before he died.

• Qing He told Zhao Yuman that rumors said Shen Lie had been murdered, and Zhao sent Laifu to verify them.
• Laifu confirmed Shen Lie had been killed in his home, leaving Zhao stunned by the loss of a powerful potential ally.
• Wang Kui summoned Zhao Hu, Qi Yuanfang, and Sun Lei to discuss Shen Lie's death, but they had few useful leads.
• Li Cheng reported that neighbors heard no disturbance apart from a muffled thud, and he found no signs of a struggle or suspicious footprints.
• Zhou Ling reported that Shen Lie had drunk with Qian Tong and Li Xiaoliang the night before his death and had threatened to badly injure Yang Jing.

After Shen Lie was murdered, Wang Kui sent Zhou Ling to question Yang Jing while ordering the Pashan Martial Arts School to investigate the killing. Zhou Ling arrived at the Sun Clan Martial Arts School, where Sun Yong brought Yang Jing into the inner courtyard to meet her.

• Zhou Ling told Wang Kui that Shen Lie had planned to teach Yang Jing a lesson, but she knew of no other conflict between them.
• Wang Kui dismissed the idea that Yang Jing could have killed Shen Lie and ordered Zhou Ling to tactfully ask him about any recent contact or disputes with Shen Lie.
• Wang Kui assigned Zhao Hu, Qi Yuanfang, and Sun Lei to investigate unfamiliar experts, Shen Lie's associates, and the authorities' inquiries.
• Yang Jing practiced Mountain Collapse Fist as Sun Yong noticed his improving strength and corrected his technique.
• When Zhou Ling arrived seeking to question Yang Jing, Sun Yong admitted her to the inner courtyard and called Yang Jing to meet her.

Sun Yong questioned Yang Jing about Shen Lie’s death before Zhou Ling came to ask whether Yang Jing had recently seen or contacted Shen Lie. Yang Jing denied any involvement, and after Zhou Ling left, Sun Yong reflected that Yang Jing’s internal energy seemed to have grown considerably stronger.

• Sun Yong asked Yang Jing whether he had anything to do with Shen Lie’s death, and Yang Jing denied it while hiding his alarm.
• Zhou Ling visited Sun Yong’s inner courtyard and questioned Yang Jing about his contact with Shen Lie and the circumstances of Shen Lie’s death.
• Yang Jing maintained that he had not seen Shen Lie since their Parade Ground Trial bout, and Zhou Ling accepted his answers and left.
• Sun Yong told Yang Jing that strength determined whether a person could stand firm in the martial world, then sent him back to practice.
• Sun Ningxiang objected to Zhou Ling’s questioning of Yang Jing, while Sun Yong privately recalled that Yang Jing’s internal energy seemed stronger than before.

While recovering from Li Mengchao’s beating, Lin Yue grew resentful toward his master and refused Qi Yun’s advice to let the feud go. Hearing that Yang Jing had defeated Xu Hong and was receiving more of Master Sun Yong’s attention, Lin Yue became jealous and suspected Yang Jing had received his Exotic Beast Pavilion token.

• Lying injured at Jishi Medical Hall, Lin Yue resented Li Mengchao and blamed Master Sun Yong for taking back his Exotic Beast Pavilion token and visiting infrequently.
• Xu Hong, Zhao Wenzheng, and Qi Yun visited Lin Yue, and Qi Yun urged him to focus on recovering instead of seeking revenge on Li Mengchao.
• Lin Yue rejected Qi Yun’s advice and vowed to repay Li Mengchao for his injuries.
• Zhao Wenzheng told Lin Yue that Yang Jing had easily defeated Xu Hong and was making rapid progress under Master Sun Yong’s guidance.
• Lin Yue felt threatened by Yang Jing’s progress and suspected Master Sun Yong had taken his token to give it to Yang Jing.

Two months after Shen Lie's death, Yang Jing made rapid progress in the Mountain Collapse Fist under Sun Yong's training and grew more confident in his strength. He and Jiang Haoyang headed to the Liu Medical Hall to check on Liu Maolin, whose recent clash with the Flying Horse Bandits had left him injured and absent from the school.

• Qi Yun, Xu Hong, and Zhao Wenzheng left Lin Yue to rest after Zhao's words worsened Lin Yue's troubled mood.
• Two months passed without the authorities finding Shen Lie's killer, while the Pashan Martial Arts School's investigation lost urgency.
• Yang Jing practiced the Mountain Collapse Fist, followed Sun Yong's advice to balance hardness and softness, and saw his skill nearing peak hidden strength.
• Jiang Haoyang praised Yang Jing's progress and accompanied him toward the Liu Medical Hall because Liu Maolin had missed several days at the school.
• Yang Jing recalled that Liu Maolin had injured a hidden-strength bandit leader and escaped the Flying Horse Bandits while escorting medicinal herbs to the Prefectural City.