Chapter Summaries

Fang Yuan hid a second wild boar in a snowy ditch and went to the Rural Market to sell his family's prepared meat and hide. He traded with Hu Lao San for salt and polished rice and left the rest of the sale to be exchanged for money.

• Fang Yuan concealed the extra wild boar in a snow-covered ditch and marked nearby crooked-necked trees so he could retrieve it later.
• Fang Yuan carried his family's smoked wild boar meat and hide to the Rural Market and sold them to Hu Lao San for three taels of silver.
• Hu Lao San introduced himself as a steward of the Baimao Merchant Guild and invited Fang Yuan to bring him future goods.
• Fang Yuan ordered at least two jin of coarse and fine salt, three dou of polished rice, and the remaining sale proceeds in copper coins and broken silver.
• Hu Lao San's assistants brought out ten jin of mixed salt and a large sack of polished rice.

Fang Yuan learned that war in Hanshan Commandery was driving up grain prices and that village recruitment notices might soon appear. Seeking safety in the county town, he asked Hu Lao San about settling there, and Hu offered to introduce him to the owner of the Baimao Merchant Guild.

• Hu Lao San told Fang Yuan that polished rice had risen to 120 coins per measure because of the war and urged him to stockpile grain.
• Fang Yuan bought another measure of rice and asked whether the fighting might reach their area.
• Hu Lao San said the war news was tightly controlled, soldiers were increasing patrols, and village recruitment notices might soon be posted.
• Fang Yuan asked how he could settle in the county town, and Hu Lao San explained that he would need a residence or respectable work.
• Hu Lao San offered to introduce Fang Yuan to the owner of the Baimao Merchant Guild.

Fang Yuan discussed joining the Baimao Merchant Guild with Hu Lao San, who offered him a foundational method for condensing Qi and blood. The chapter ended as Hu Lao San began explaining the different kinds of vital energy, starting with Essence of Grains.

• Hu Lao San offered Fang Yuan work, help relocating his family to the county town, and household registration through the merchant guild.
• Fang Yuan questioned whether the guild's mountain-goods routes needed guards, prompting Hu Lao San to assess his martial potential and suspect he was close to condensing Qi and blood.
• Hu Lao San explained that martial artists needed a special method to gather and condense vital energy in the Dantian, then offered the guild's foundational method as a reward for service.
• Fang Yuan asked whether a Cultivation Method was essential, and Hu Lao San described how vital energy came from the world and how its quality could shape future cultivation.
• Hu Lao San began listing types of vital energy and named Essence of Grains as the most common.

Hu Lao San explained the different grades of energy and warned Fang Yuan that seeking Celestial Phenomenon Energy could waste years or bring disaster. Fang Yuan decided to hear out the Baimao Merchant Guild’s Qi Gathering Method and asked what it would take to obtain it.

• Hu Lao San told Fang Yuan that the Baimao Merchant Guild’s Qi Gathering Method could cultivate someone to the second grade, a respected level in the county town.
• Fang Yuan judged that second grade would not be enough for his ambitions and asked where he could find a method that could draw Celestial Phenomenon Energy.
• Hu Lao San warned that profound methods were guarded by Noble Families and powerful clans, then recounted how chasing a legendary method had left him stuck at the bottom of the first grade.
• Fang Yuan pretended to accept Hu Lao San’s advice and asked what conditions he would have to meet to obtain the merchant guild’s Qi Gathering Method.
• Hu Lao San explained that the method was a foundation of the merchant guild and could not be casually given to outsiders.

Fang Yuan learned that the Baimao Merchant Guild granted its Qi Gathering Method only in exchange for exceptional service or a long-term contract, and he left the choice undecided. After buying provisions and cotton for winter, he departed the market for Fang Family Village.

• Hu Lao San explained that Fang Yuan could earn the Qi Gathering Method through great service to the guild or by signing a long-term or death contract.
• Fang Yuan recognized the guild’s offer as a trade of service or freedom for cultivation resources and told Hu Lao San he would consider it.
• Hu Lao San calculated Fang Yuan’s purchases and rounded his remaining payment up to two taels of silver.
• Fang Yuan bought six jin of cotton with 108 Copper Coins to help keep three cotton-padded coats warm.
• Fang Yuan packed his supplies and set off through the night toward Fang Family Village.

Fang Yuan fought off four starving men who tried to rob him on the road and recognized the robbery as a sign of growing disorder. He returned home with his supplies, where Liu Wanwan and Little Bean Sprout waited, and stored the food safely.

• Fang Yuan noticed four men following him and turned onto a secluded path to confront them.
• The men demanded food, and Fang Yuan swiftly disarmed and beat them before warning them not to rob people again.
• Fang Yuan worried that roadside robberies meant chaos was spreading and that he needed to leave sooner.
• Fang Yuan returned home and found Liu Wanwan sewing while Little Bean Sprout watched over the sleeping Purple Sable.
• Fang Yuan hid the salt and seasonings, then poured his polished rice into the nearly empty rice jar.

Fang Yuan secured more winter supplies for his family, then worried that heavy snow might collapse their earthen house. He carried a whole wild boar to Hu Lao San and sold it for four taels of silver and one thousand Copper Coins.

• Fang Yuan checked on the sleeping Purple Sable and remembered that he had forgotten to ask Hu Lao San about the red berries.
• Fang Yuan left home with his chopping knife, telling Liu Wanwan he was returning to the market, after worrying that heavy snow could bring down their house.
• Fang Yuan found the frozen wild boar he had hidden in a gully and decided to sell it whole to avoid drawing attention by making another large sale of meat.
• Fang Yuan carried the boar to Hu Lao San, who offered five taels of silver for it.
• Fang Yuan accepted the offer and asked Hu Lao San to pay four taels of silver and one thousand Copper Coins, then checked the payment.

Fang Yuan learned from Hu Lao San that the trading company sought rare mountain treasures, then discovered that the four berries he carried were valuable Crimson Sun Fruits. He left with their identity and worth concealed, having learned that each fruit could sell for five hundred taels of silver.

• Fang Yuan asked Hu Lao San why a skilled martial artist worked collecting ordinary mountain goods, and Hu explained that rare treasures and precious medicines made the trade profitable.
• Fang Yuan asked how to identify such treasures, and Hu lent him the trading company's illustrated Compendium of Mountain Goods Identification.
• Fang Yuan recognized the four berries in his robes as Crimson Sun Fruits, which could strengthen qi and blood and add a hundred jin of strength per fruit.
• Hu Lao San told Fang Yuan that the trading company paid five hundred taels for each intact Crimson Sun Fruit and that martial artists competed fiercely for them.
• Fang Yuan hid his excitement, returned the booklet, thanked Hu Lao San, and left the tent with the four fruits concealed in his robes.

Fang Yuan resisted selling his Crimson Sun Fruits, deciding he needed strength and secrecy before he could safely use their value. After attracting attention in the market, he was led into Wang Laowu's tent, where the shopkeeper hinted he knew about Hu Lao San's offer.

• Fang Yuan considered selling a Crimson Sun Fruit for silver but decided that revealing his treasure would put him in danger.
• Fang Yuan weighed consuming the fruits or trading them for a Qi Gathering Method and resolved to consider both options carefully.
• Noticing greedy eyes following him through the market, Fang Yuan tried to leave, but Wang Laowu blocked his way and invited him to discuss a deal.
• Fang Yuan agreed to enter Wang Laowu's tent rather than risk a confrontation in the crowded market.
• Wang Laowu praised Fang Yuan's hunting and asked whether Hu Lao San had offered him a price and promised to recommend him to the Baimao Merchant Guild.

Wang Laowu tried to lure Fang Yuan away from Steward Hu by offering flexible deals and connections, then revealed that a Ghost Market might provide access to a Qi Gathering Method. Fang Yuan learned that the market operated secretly in the county seat, but the chapter ended before he decided whether to pursue it.

• Wang Laowu warned Fang Yuan that Steward Hu would make him sign a contract and offered to buy his goods and arrange other opportunities.
• Fang Yuan rejected Wang Laowu’s proposal, introduced himself only by his surname, and prepared to leave.
• Wang Laowu noticed Fang Yuan’s interest in scarce goods and guessed that he wanted the Qi Gathering Method.
• Fang Yuan asked Wang Laowu what alternatives existed to signing a contract to enter the Martial Dao.
• Wang Laowu criticized the Baimao Merchant Guild’s internal succession struggle and told Fang Yuan about a secret Ghost Market in the county seat.

Fang Yuan rejected Wang Laowu’s invitation to the Ghost Market but recognized that it offered a possible route to a Qi Gathering Method. Returning to Fang Family Village, he resolved to investigate the county seat and grew wary of Wang Laowu after spotting what appeared to be stolen tomb goods.

• Wang Laowu told Fang Yuan that the Ghost Market sometimes sold Martial Arts manuals, though the goods were risky and expensive, and offered to connect him with buyers and sellers.
• Fang Yuan declined to commit, thanked Wang Laowu, and left the market.
• Wang Laowu watched Fang Yuan go and decided to keep a connection open, hoping to profit from him later.
• Fang Yuan concluded that he needed to go to the county seat to seek the Martial Dao and that signing Baimao Merchant Guild’s contract should be a last resort.
• Fang Yuan recalled seeing Bronze Artifact Fragments and a Jade Pendant in Wang Laowu’s crate and suspected Wang Laowu was testing and pressuring him with stolen burial goods.

San Zhuang’s hunters grew jealous of Fang Yuan’s success and resented that he had not shown gratitude to his supposed life-saving benefactor. Fang Yuan returned home, where his family shared a generous meal and Liu Wanwan cared for him, then she reflected on how much he had changed.

• San Zhuang’s hunters complained about sharing their boar meat and envied Fang Yuan’s hunting success and apparent wealth.
• A hunter claimed San Zhuang had saved Fang Yuan from dying in the snow, and the men called Fang Yuan ungrateful; San Zhuang grew resentful.
• Fang Yuan avoided the noisy celebration at San Zhuang’s home and returned to his own courtyard.
• Fang Yuan reassured Little Bean Sprout about the sleeping Purple Sable and told Liu Wanwan to prepare a generous dinner.
• Fang Yuan fed his family, and Liu Wanwan washed his feet and prepared a warmer bed while reflecting on his transformation.

Liu Wanwan wondered why Fang Yuan did not notice her efforts to care for him, while he slept through the night. The next morning, Fang Yuan found the Purple Sable beside him and realized its speed had increased as it dodged Little Bean Sprout.

• Liu Wanwan quietly prepared Fang Yuan's bed, then felt disappointed when he fell asleep without noticing her efforts.
• Liu Wanwan went to bed with Little Bean Sprout and silently wondered why her mother's advice about winning over a husband had not worked on Fang Yuan.
• Fang Yuan woke to find the Purple Sable curled beside him, its fur glossier than before.
• The Purple Sable tried to return to the mountain forest, but Fang Yuan told it to stay until it grew stronger and he could escort it.
• Little Bean Sprout tried to hug the Purple Sable, which swiftly leaped away; Fang Yuan noticed that its speed had increased.

Fang Yuan settled the Purple Sable into the household and planned to train, seek a method for drawing in qi, and investigate the Ghost Market in the county town. After eating, he swallowed the Crimson Sun Fruit and began furiously practicing saber techniques to withstand its overwhelming power.

• Fang Yuan calmed the wary Purple Sable and let Little Bean Sprout feed it jerky, helping the two grow accustomed to each other.
• Fang Yuan received a Basic Beast Language proficiency increase and set goals to strengthen his body, find a method for drawing in qi, and visit the county town to investigate the Ghost Market.
• Liu Wanwan prepared food and sewed warm clothes while Little Bean Sprout tried to befriend the Purple Sable.
• Fang Yuan ate a hearty meal, swallowed the Crimson Sun Fruit, and rushed into the courtyard when its fierce heat surged through his body.
• Fang Yuan swung the Chopping knife repeatedly, channeling the fruit's energy into his body as his Basic Saber Technique proficiency increased.

Fang Yuan absorbed the Crimson Sun Fruit and learned that masked thugs had begun robbing neighboring villages, prompting him to prepare his family for danger. Meanwhile, the injured Wang Meng grew impatient waiting for his brother’s help and asked about the gang’s recent robberies.

• Fang Yuan finished absorbing the Crimson Sun Fruit, noticed improvements to his strength and appearance, and continued training his footwork.
• Old Madam Chen warned Fang Yuan that masked thugs had robbed households in Little Wang Village and Li Family Village while the men were away.
• Fang Yuan promised to keep his family indoors at night and told Liu Wanwan they should hide their grain and meat more securely.
• Wang Meng learned that his Third Brother could not leave the County yamen and angrily rejected being told to wait for revenge against Fang Yuan.
• Wang Meng asked whether the group of desperate men and deserters had carried out the neighboring village robberies and how much grain they had taken.

Wang Meng ordered Wang Lao Er to secretly direct the desperadoes toward Fang Yuan’s home so they could destroy his family, while Wang Lao Er reluctantly agreed. As fear spread through Fang Family Village after nearby homes were robbed, villagers learned that the county constables had investigated briefly and left without taking action.

• Wang Meng told Wang Lao Er to leak word that Fang Yuan had grain, meat, and silver, hoping the desperadoes would attack him and his family.
• Wang Lao Er feared approaching the bandits but decided he would have to go himself rather than risk Wang Meng’s anger.
• News of robberies in nearby villages spread through Fang Family Village, and residents barred their doors and eyed one another with suspicion.
• Villagers whispered that the robbers must have local informants because they knew which households were wealthy and when their men were away.
• A villager said two constables had visited the robbed homes, asked a few questions, and left without pursuing the thieves or recovering anything.

Fang Yuan realized the authorities could not protect the village and ordered Liu Wanwan to secure their home at night. Meanwhile, a band of deserters and refugees planned a major raid on Fang Family Village, with their leader deciding it would be their final job before disbanding.

• Fang Yuan overheard villagers lamenting that the authorities would not help and resolved to leave as soon as possible.
• Fang Yuan told Liu Wanwan to reinforce the doors and windows and said he would keep watch at night.
• A band of deserters, refugees, and local thugs learned that Fang Family Village held plentiful grain, meat, and silver, and urged their leader to raid it.
• The leader warned his men against striking the same place twice and ordered them to kill the villager who had revealed the wealthy household.
• After his deputy cautioned that the band might fracture without greater spoils, the leader decided to raid Fang Family Village as their final job before disbanding.

A bandit leader ordered his men to scout Fang Family Village before planning a swift raid, while Village Chief Li’s family decided to lure the bandits toward Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan reinforced his home for the coming danger and postponed his plan to deal with Village Chief Li’s family.

• The bandit leader ordered Monkey to scout Fang Family Village and warned his men not to act without orders.
• Village Chief Li’s wife worried that bandits would target their household, and Village Chief Li blamed Fang Yuan for their troubles.
• Village Chief Li, his wife, and Er Gouzi agreed to reveal Fang Yuan’s new wealth to the bandits so they would attack him.
• Fang Yuan judged that his weak home could not withstand the bandits and decided to wait until the next day to deal with Village Chief Li’s family.
• Fang Yuan used lumber, rope, and an axe to reinforce his doors and windows, hoping to buy time and raise an alarm.

Fang Yuan prepared his home against a possible bandit attack and recruited Purple Sable as a nighttime alarm. When rumors revealed the bandits numbered over a hundred and included armed rogue soldiers, he abandoned his original plans and hurried to seek Hu Lao San’s help arranging safer passage.

• Fang Yuan reinforced the doors and windows, then taught Purple Sable to cry out if strangers approached at night.
• Fang Yuan and Little Bean Sprout settled in with Purple Sable keeping watch, allowing Fang Yuan to rest before martial arts training.
• Villagers in Fang Family Village heard that more than a hundred armed bandits, including defeated soldiers, were threatening the area.
• Fang Yuan decided the mountain road was too dangerous and considered offering Hu Lao San one or two Crimson Sun Fruits for help joining a Baimao Merchant Guild caravan.
• Fang Yuan told Liu Wanwan to guard the house and hurried along a back path toward the Rural Market to find Hu Lao San.

Fang Yuan sought a merchant convoy to take his family to the county town, but Hu Lao San revealed that a military defeat and fleeing soldiers had made the roads and travel arrangements dangerous. Hu Lao San pointed him toward a risky chance to appeal to the Third Master's trusted steward the next day, and Fang Yuan returned to a fearful, nearly deserted Fang Family Village.

• Fang Yuan asked Hu Lao San whether the merchant guild had a safe, fast convoy to the county town that could carry his family of three.
• Hu Lao San warned Fang Yuan that the army had been defeated in Hanshan Commandery and that the guild was refusing travelers of uncertain origin because deserters and robbers might be among them.
• As Fang Yuan prepared to leave, Hu Lao San told him that the Third Master's trusted steward would arrive around noon the next day and might hear his plea.
• Fang Yuan thanked Hu Lao San and hurried back to Fang Family Village, deciding that he would need to prove his worth to the steward.
• Fang Yuan found Fang Family Village unusually empty, with doors shut and villagers hiding in fear.