Chapter Summaries

After discovering that possession by a Malevolent Spirit could get him burned alive, Chen Mu feared his changed handwriting would expose him. He found a Proficiency system that could improve his writing and began practicing in secret at Qingfeng Temple.

• Chen Mu learned that people believed to be possessed by Malevolent Spirits were burned to death, and he worried Daoist He might suspect him.
• Chen Mu tried copying characters in the library and realized his handwriting differed from the previous owner's.
• Chen Mu considered injuring his wrist to explain the handwriting change, but a gray wall appeared before him with his writing Proficiency displayed.
• Chen Mu discovered that focused writing raised his Proficiency and gave him insight into improving his characters.
• Chen Mu used water to practice copying the previous owner's handwriting without wasting paper or leaving evidence.

Chen Mu advanced his calligraphy by practicing through the night and completed a page of scripture at Second Order. Cheng Yi, convinced Chen Mu was possessed by a Malevolent Spirit, lured him toward the Ancestral Master Hall to suppress him with the Heartless Bell.

• Chen Mu practiced calligraphy all day, raising his skill to 8673/10000/First Order, and hid his brush in his sleeve to continue working in his room.
• Cheng Yi and Daoist He suspected Chen Mu was a Malevolent Spirit because he practiced calligraphy despite already having elegant handwriting, and planned to trap him in the Ancestral Master Hall with the Heartless Bell.
• Chen Mu practiced through the night and copied a page of scripture, advancing his calligraphy to 103/10000/Second Order.
• Cheng Yi visited Chen Mu in the Library and claimed he needed a replacement Thousand-Character Treasure Sutra copied urgently.
• Chen Mu agreed to go with Cheng Yi to the Ancestral Master Hall, while Cheng Yi clenched his fist beneath his sleeve, believing his plan had succeeded.

Cheng Yi tried to use the Heartless Bell to expose and suppress the Malevolent Spirit he believed had possessed Chen Mu. The bell had no effect, leaving Cheng Yi drained and uncertain as Chen Mu continued copying the scripture and saw his writing experience increase.

• Cheng Yi delayed taking Chen Mu to the Ancestral Master Hall while Chen Mu ate and watched the Daoists practice martial arts.
• Cheng Yi led Chen Mu into the hall and pointed out the scripture for him to copy.
• Cheng Yi drew blood to activate the Heartless Bell twice, but Chen Mu only froze briefly and said the bell sounded pleasant.
• Cheng Yi concluded that Chen Mu might not be possessed and left the hall to find medicine after the bell drained his strength.
• Chen Mu noticed his writing experience had increased and resumed copying the scripture.

Chen Mu finished copying Daoist scriptures for Cheng Yi, glimpsed martial arts and heard of another Malevolent Spirit, then returned home and faced the cost of food and rent. He resolved to seek adventure but realized he first needed a reliable way to earn money.

• Cheng Yi praised Chen Mu’s copied scriptures and paid him for his calligraphy, ending their copying arrangement.
• Chen Mu watched a runner race up Little East Mountain and asked Cheng Yi about learning Qingfeng Temple’s martial arts, but Cheng Yi said only direct disciples could learn them.
• Constable Lu arrived seeking Daoist Feng Ren because another place had been plagued by a Malevolent Spirit, and Cheng Yi hurried inside with him.
• Chen Mu bought White Wheat in Qingshan County and worried that his money would not cover food and other necessities for long.
• Chen Mu returned to his late parents’ home, where Steward Li collected three months’ rent, leaving Chen Mu with only 232 copper coins.

Chen Mu chose to shut himself away and practice painting so he could earn a living drawing portraits, using his Gray Proficiency Wall to guide his progress. After a month and a half of focused work, he reached Tier 2 in painting and created a lifelike portrait.

• Chen Mu found that writing commissioned letters paid too little and watched an old painter earn a better living in Anle Ward, though the old man warned him away from the trade.
• After drawing a poor self-portrait, Chen Mu weighed safer ways to survive against spending his savings on intensive painting practice.
• Chen Mu stocked his home with food, oil, salt, and firewood, then shut the gate and began practicing detailed, lifelike portraits.
• Chen Mu practiced on fine soil, reviewed each attempt, and recorded lessons to steadily improve his painting.
• A month and a half later, Chen Mu completed a lifelike portrait of a beauty, added a poem, and saw his painting proficiency reach Tier 2.

After reaching the second tier in drawing, Chen Mu displayed his lifelike portrait of Xiaoqian at Ruyi Abode to attract customers. Steward Li took him to the Wang Family Compound, where Chen Mu discovered he had been hired to paint a portrait of the family’s gravely ill master before he died.

• Chen Mu used his improved drawing skills to paint lifelike portraits and set up a stall outside Ruyi Abode, hoping to earn money from the singers’ servants.
• Master Yan recognized Chen Mu’s talent and ordered two men to investigate him and break his hands if he had no powerful backing.
• Steward Li arrived, saw Chen Mu’s portrait, and took him away from Anle Ward to the Wang Family Compound.
• Steward Li revealed that the Wang family’s master was gravely ill and asked Chen Mu to paint a likeness for his descendants.
• Chen Mu realized he had been hired to make a posthumous portrait instead of painting a beautiful young woman.

Chen Mu earned ten taels of silver and a year of free rent by painting Master Wang’s portrait, then was ambushed by two men who demanded to break his hands. Constable Lu appeared and swiftly knocked both attackers down.

• Chen Mu painted Master Wang as he looked when healthy, impressing Steward Li and earning ten taels of silver and a year without rent.
• Chen Mu bought pork belly and watched the White Cloud Martial Arts School, but its training did not explain Constable Lu’s extraordinary leaps.
• The next day, Chen Mu headed out to sell paintings and encountered a Tall Burly Man and a Short Man blocking the alley.
• The Short Man and Tall Burly Man demanded Chen Mu’s hands, then attacked him when he refused to submit.
• Constable Lu appeared and struck down both men before they could injure Chen Mu.

Chen Mu was rescued from two men sent by Master Yan, then taken to the County Office, where officials suspected him of involvement in the Wang Family Massacre Case. Constable Lu confronted him with a headless portrait Chen Mu had painted and threatened to put him in a cell unless he could clear himself.

• Constable Lu rescued Chen Mu from two men, and Chen Mu stamped on the Short Man's hand before leaving the alley.
• Constable Lu told Chen Mu that the attackers seemed to work for the Wonderful Painting Workshop in East Market, and Chen Mu suspected Master Yan had ordered them to stop his painting business.
• At the County Office, County Lieutenant Du and Cheng Yi debated whether Chen Mu could be a Malevolent Spirit responsible for the Wang Family Massacre Case.
• Cheng Yi left the main hall after warning that Chen Mu would eventually reveal himself, while Chen Mu remained confused about the taoist's hostility.
• Constable Lu showed Chen Mu the headless portrait of the deceased and said that the Wang Family's direct relatives had been found beheaded.
• Constable Lu told Chen Mu he would be held in a cell unless he could prove he had nothing to do with the massacre.

After proving that someone had deliberately erased the head from the Wang Family portrait, Chen Mu was cleared of involvement in the massacre and recruited to help the County Office draw wanted portraits. Back home, he resolved to protect himself and began training with Flying Locust Stone, gaining his first insight into throwing.

• Chen Mu convinced Constable Lu that pigment residue beneath the portrait could prove he had painted it complete, and a mounting master confirmed his claim.
• County Lieutenant Du cleared Chen Mu of the Wang Family Massacre Case and asked him to draw wanted portraits for the County Office.
• Chen Mu suggested that painters at the Wonderful Painting Workshop might know about the pigment-removal method, so County Lieutenant Du sent Constable Lu to bring them in for questioning.
• Back at the Chen Family Residence, Chen Mu decided to prepare lime powder and seek a practical way to defend himself.
• Chen Mu practiced throwing pebbles into a wooden basin, gained an insight that improved his technique, and saw his Throwing skill appear on the gray wall.

Chen Mu tried to find a way to earn money and strengthen himself, then secretly beat Master Yan and took his silver. As the County Office pursued the Wang Family massacre, Constable Lu summoned Chen Mu to draw a wanted portrait after Wonderful Painting Workshop’s pigment-removal formula helped uncover a clue, leaving Chen Mu wondering whether the workshop’s formula matched his own.

• Chen Mu worried about Master Yan’s threat and resolved to earn money and learn martial arts.
• Master Yan left the County Office after paying silver to distance himself from the Wang Family massacre investigation, then Chen Mu knocked him out with a sack and club.
• Chen Mu spent the next few days training Flying Locust Stone at home as yamen runners searched Qingshan County for clues.
• Constable Lu told Chen Mu that the County Office had found a lead and wanted him to draw a wanted portrait.
• Constable Lu explained that Wonderful Painting Workshop’s formula for removing pigments had helped investigators trace the culprit to the city’s Medicine Shops, and Chen Mu wondered whether their formula was the same as his.

Chen Mu used his painting skills at the County Office, trained his Flying Locust Stones until they could punch through walls, and went to West Market hoping to earn money with his art. He was lured into painting another funeral portrait for an old man.

• Chen Mu followed Constable Lu to the County Office, drew an intentionally inaccurate portrait of the Wang Family Massacre culprit, and let Master Yan's portrait be selected for the wanted poster.
• Chen Mu advanced his Flying Locust Stones practice until a thrown stone sent a copper coin flying and blasted a crater in an earthen wall, while his training nearly emptied his savings.
• Chen Mu decided to seek customers in West Market and brought his mounted painting of Xiaoqian as proof of his skill.
• A beautiful maid invited Chen Mu to paint her mistress, and he followed her through a grand residence into a rear garden.
• Chen Mu discovered that the supposed portrait customer was an old man who wanted a handsome funeral portrait.

Chen Mu sought genuine martial arts training for self-defense and paid Sheng Hong a hundred taels to teach him the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique. After seven frustrating days without mastering a single move, Chen Mu left believing the lessons had been a waste, while Sheng Hong and Constable Lu planned to draw him back for more payments.

• Chen Mu used his portrait-painting earnings to consider learning martial arts and asked Constable Lu for guidance.
• Constable Lu took Chen Mu to meet retired yamen runner Sheng Hong, who offered seven days of instruction for a hundred taels.
• Sheng Hong taught Chen Mu the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique, including its forms, breathing method, and secret medicine, but Chen Mu struggled to understand it.
• On the final day, Chen Mu asked Sheng Hong to demonstrate the moves again, then left angry that he had learned so little.
• Sheng Hong gave Constable Lu fifty taels and explained that Chen Mu would likely return for more lessons.

Chen Mu struggled to learn the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique and copied its manual, planning to sell it after mastering it. After Zhang Qing and Li Fan were released from prison and plotted to rob Chen Mu, he ambushed them and broke their legs, then searched their pockets.

• Chen Mu failed repeatedly at practicing the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique but decided to keep training and later sell copies of his hand-drawn manual.
• Zhang Qing and Li Fan were released from prison after the main culprit in the Wang Family Massacre Case was caught, and they blamed their misfortunes on Chen Mu.
• Zhang Qing and Li Fan sought work and compensation from Master Yan, received only a few taels, and plotted to cripple him and rob Chen Mu.
• Chen Mu followed Zhang Qing and Li Fan, struck their shins with stones, and knocked them unconscious.
• Chen Mu lamented their treachery and slipped his hand into their sleeves to search their pockets.

Chen Mu advanced his martial training and discovered that the man publicly executed for the Wang Family Massacre was not the real criminal. Meanwhile, Master Yan learned that Wonderful Painting Workshop wanted to recruit Chen Mu and began plotting to have him killed.

• Chen Mu practiced Flying Locust Stone, reached its second tier, and made progress with the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique until it appeared on the Gray Wall.
• Chen Mu bought secret medicine ingredients from several shops and spent the next half month training, eating heavily, and earning money through portrait work.
• At East Market, Chen Mu saw the prisoner being executed for the Wang Family Massacre and recognized that the man did not match the real bandit.
• Master Yan heard that Wonderful Painting Workshop wanted to recruit Chen Mu and agreed to approach him, then decided to arrange Chen Mu's death to protect his own position.

Chen Mu advanced his Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique while earning money from portrait commissions and considering a trip to his hometown to gather cheaper medicine ingredients. Meanwhile, Master Yan arranged Chen Mu’s death but was killed by a mysterious figure who resembled the Wang Family massacre culprit, and Chen Mu brushed off Constable Lu’s attempt to steer him toward martial arts lessons.

• Chen Mu trained with the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique Secret Medicine, gained 15 points of Proficiency, and calculated that Muscle Strengthening could take about half a year.
• Chen Mu earned more than ten taels painting a wealthy man’s portrait and considered returning to his hometown to collect Thousand Beard Grass and reduce his expenses.
• Master Yan visited a Ghost Market and arranged for Chen Mu to die in an apparent accident, fearing Chen Mu would take away his portrait business.
• A mysterious figure stopped Master Yan’s carriage and stabbed him to death; the figure resembled the culprit behind the Wang Family massacre.
• Chen Mu met Constable Lu outside the County Office, pretended he had given up martial arts because training was too tiring, and walked away before Lu could persuade him.

After learning that unrest and bandit attacks had spread beyond Qingshan County, Chen Mu decided to focus on training and prepare for the future. He explored the mountains near Chen Family Village, bought Thousand Beard Grass, and discovered that the forest made his Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique training especially effective.

• Chen Mu learned from Butcher Zheng that bandits and rebellions had disrupted other regions, and resolved to train before traveling beyond Qingshan County.
• Chen Mu joined hunters from Chen Family Village to explore the back mountain and learn about its terrain.
• Chen Mu bought several dozen stalks of Thousand Beard Grass from villagers at far below the city price.
• Chen Mu detoured into the mountains and tested his speed and stamina while running through the forest.
• Chen Mu practiced the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique near the hunters' Wooden Cabin and gained more than seventy points of Proficiency in six training sessions.

Sole Crimson Tower assassin Jie Jia tracked Chen Mu to the mountains to kill him, but a messenger bird canceled the contract before he could act. Jie Jia left wary of Chen Mu, who had concealed a pouch he claimed held lime powder.

• Jie Jia received a contract to kill Chen Mu for one hundred taels and left Tianyi Hall to find him.
• Chen Mu hunted game with Flying Locust Stones and practiced dressing a rabbit at the Hunter's Cabin.
• Jie Jia watched Chen Mu and planned to stage his death as an accident or a venomous insect sting.
• Jie Jia approached Chen Mu for water, but the Mysterious Bird delivered a note saying the employer was dead and the mission had been canceled.
• Jie Jia accused Chen Mu of carrying lime powder, and Chen Mu denied it before taking the waterskin back inside.
• Jie Jia wondered whether Chen Mu had poisoned the water as Chen Mu returned to the Wooden Cabin.

After a White-Haired Old Man threatened him, Chen Mu moved into safer quarters and intensified his training, then accepted a position as chief painter at the Wonderful Painting Workshop. He discovered Master Zhen had genuinely hired him and left without poisoning him.

• Chen Mu escaped the forest, returned to Qingshan County, and rented two neighboring residences to use as a home, practice space, and decoy.
• Chen Mu increased his use of Secret Medicine and trained harder, raising his Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique Proficiency while drawing fewer portraits.
• After a month, Chen Mu slowed his training and resumed portrait work because his savings and medicinal supplies were running low.
• Master Zhen invited Chen Mu to become the Wonderful Painting Workshop's chief painter, offering to find him commissions and pay him a monthly stipend of ten taels of silver; Chen Mu accepted.
• Chen Mu secretly listened outside Ruyi Abode and learned Master Zhen had truly hired him, so he knocked the ginseng tea from his attendant's hand to prevent the man from being poisoned with his snake venom.

Chen Mu balanced his painting work and growing income with secret martial arts training, then sought a discreet way to restock the medicine his training required. He arranged to hire a Silver Boots runner through the Xue Family Warehouse and sent his bodyguards away early, waiting for the warehouse representative that night.

• After nearly killing someone, Chen Mu reaffirmed that he needed to keep his martial arts training secret.
• Chen Mu discovered the Culinary skill, experimented with recipes, and enjoyed cooking improved meals for himself.
• His work at the Wonderful Painting Workshop doubled his pay per portrait, while his County Office duties and two assigned bodyguards continued.
• Chen Mu’s Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique proficiency rose more slowly, and his Secret Medicine ran out as the guards’ presence restricted his training.
• Chen Mu asked Old Li to arrange for a Silver Boots runner to discuss secretly buying medicinal ingredients through the Xue Family Warehouse.
• Chen Mu cooked pork, gave some to his guards, sent them away early, and waited for the warehouse representative.

Chen Mu hired Jie Jia, the assassin posing as Silver Boots, to buy medicinal herbs, then trained until the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique advanced to its second tier. He discovered that Muscle Strengthening had greatly improved his physical abilities and left to reward himself with a good meal.

• Chen Mu mistook Jie Jia for Silver Boots and paid him twenty taels to purchase medicinal herbs.
• On December 23, Chen Mu cooked breakfast, fed his five hens, and practiced the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique in his courtyard.
• Chen Mu completed a training cycle and broke through to the second tier, gaining Muscle Strengthening.
• Chen Mu tested his tougher skin, increased strength and speed, and greater throwing power by sprinting, stopping near a wall, and throwing a pebble through it.
• Chen Mu smelled the cooked White Wheat Rice and decided to celebrate his breakthrough with a hearty meal.