Chapter Summaries

Li Qing and Qi Kang escaped Wangyuan City during a Liang Kingdom siege and traveled toward the Feng Kingdom’s imperial capital. After nearly ten days on the road, they reached the outskirts of Shengtian City, ready to enter.

• Li Qing and Qi Kang set out from Wangyuan City, but Three-Bow Ballistas began bombarding its eastern gate as the Liang Kingdom attacked.
• Li Qing spotted Thousand-Commander Qian Hong on the wall, avoided staying in the city, and left through the western gate with Qi Kang.
• The Liang army increased its ballistas to eight and repeatedly breached Wangyuan City’s gates, but the Wu Li Army drove back its assaults and the fighting stalemated.
• Li Qing and Qi Kang traveled for nearly ten days through the Feng Kingdom’s central heartland and arrived near Shengtian City.

Li Qing settled in Shengtian City and bought the medicinal ingredients he needed from Quanshan Herbal Shop, where he learned the Star-Picking Divine Thief had stolen a four-hundred-year-old wild ginseng. After deciding to open a blacksmith shop, he looked for a way to avoid the trouble of obtaining permits.

• Li Qing entered Shengtian City with Qi Kang, found an inn, and tasked Qi Kang with gathering information about the city.
• Li Qing visited Quanshan Herbal Shop and saw a Wanted Poster offering a reward for the Star-Picking Divine Thief, who had stolen a four-hundred-year-old wild ginseng sought by the Prince's Estate.
• Li Qing bought the medicinal ingredients on his list and arranged to collect the five poisonous ingredients the following year.
• Wandering martial artists flocked to Quanshan Herbal Shop after hearing about the bounty and spread news of the Star-Picking Divine Thief across Shengtian.
• Li Qing decided to open a blacksmith shop but found that strict iron regulations made permits difficult to obtain, so he considered taking over an existing shop.

Li Qing continued running his blacksmith shop through the winter and brought Qi Kang to a banquet at the Green Mountain Martial Arts School. The chapter revealed how the city’s martial arts factions controlled neighborhoods and collected protection fees, while Qi Kang dreamed of learning martial arts to oppose them.

• As the Star-Picking Divine Thief hunt stirred Shengtian City, Li Qing exchanged his jade for silver and leased a blacksmith shop, where he hired Qi Kang as an apprentice.
• Li Qing forged a kitchen knife and sent Qi Kang to sharpen and deliver it, then reminded him they would attend the Green Mountain Martial Arts School’s banquet.
• Li Qing and Qi Kang arrived at the banquet, where Xu Qingshan welcomed Li Qing and accepted his gift money.
• Qi Kang’s gathered intelligence revealed that the Green Mountain Martial Arts School answered to the Flying Cloud Martial Arts School, while the three great schools and the Nine Lotus Sect divided Shengtian City and collected protection fees.
• Qi Kang privately resented the factions’ exploitation and wished to learn martial arts to defeat them, while Li Qing cautioned him to keep his anger to himself.

At a banquet honoring Xu Qingshan, Zhang Lai of Flying Cloud Martial Arts School used the search for the Star-Plucking Bandit to justify raising Chiming Street's protection fee. The merchants were pressured into accepting the increase, while Li Qing remained detached and Qi Kang stayed silent.

• Xu Qingshan welcomed Zhang Lai, a personal disciple of Flying Cloud Martial Arts School, to the banquet and praised the school’s efforts to catch the Star-Plucking Bandit.
• Li Qing cautioned Qi Kang to stay calm, and Qi Kang later understood why when Xu Qingshan proposed raising Chiming Street’s monthly protection fee by one tael.
• Zhang Lai initially claimed the fee could not simply be raised, but accepted after Xu Qingshan insisted that the street should support the school’s pursuit of the bandit.
• Xu Qingshan announced the increase to the guests and promised the fee would return to its former amount once the Star-Plucking Bandit was caught.
• Several merchants backed the increase, leaving the rest of the guests grim and resentful, while Li Qing continued eating without concern.

Li Qing’s blacksmith shop gained a customer when Green Mountain Martial Arts School student Zhong Hui commissioned a saber for an expedition to a newly discovered tomb. Li Qing accepted the order but refused Qi Kang’s hopes of joining the dangerous search, leaving Qi Kang disappointed.

• As winter neared its end, Li Qing’s blacksmithing business improved, and Zhong Hui asked him to forge a weapon.
• Li Qing showed Zhong Hui his finely forged weapons and agreed to make a fifty-jin horse-chopping saber for eighteen taels of silver.
• Zhong Hui offered eleven taels as a deposit and revealed that Prince Yu’s Mansion had hired martial arts school enforcers to explore an Internal Energy expert’s tomb at Little Cui Ridge.
• Zhong Hui said the Nine Lotus Sect and other martial-world figures might also seek the tomb, explaining why he needed the saber for protection.
• After Zhong Hui left, Qi Kang asked about the tomb, but Li Qing said he would not pursue it because Prince Yu’s Mansion and the Nine Lotus Sect were involved.

Zhong Hui collected his Fine Iron Battle Halberd, and Qi Kang left Li Qing’s blacksmith shop to pursue martial arts. Li Qing began cultivating the Golden Body Technique and discovered it could operate alongside the Turtle Breath Technique.

• Zhong Hui collected the battle halberd from Qi Kang and promised to pay the remaining silver soon.
• Qi Kang kowtowed to Li Qing, then left the blacksmith shop to seek peerless martial arts and change the world.
• Li Qing accepted that Qi Kang had chosen his own path and began studying the Golden Body Technique.
• While practicing the Golden Body Technique, Li Qing discovered that the Turtle Breath Technique activated at the same time without conflict.
• Li Qing resumed cultivating the Turtle Breath Technique alongside the Golden Body Technique.

Li Qing discovered that practicing the Turtle Breath Technique alongside the Golden Body Technique had allowed him to cultivate Internal Energy, and he resolved to keep it secret. After the war between Liang Kingdom and Feng Kingdom ended in a costly truce, news finally emerged that people had died at Little Cui Ridge, but the details were not yet revealed.

• Li Qing cultivated Internal Energy overnight and decided to conceal the breakthrough from the martial world.
• Li Qing remembered that Qi Kang had left and learned that Liang Kingdom and Feng Kingdom had agreed to cease fighting for the winter.
• Li Qing read reports of heavy casualties on both sides, including the deaths of nearly twenty Outer Strength Martial Artists and an Internal Energy expert from the Wu Li Army.
• Li Qing spent the following days forging iron, practicing martial arts, and gathering news at a nearby inn.
• A man at the inn announced that people had died at Little Cui Ridge, then began to explain what had happened.

Li Qing heard that a tiger had appeared at Little Cui Ridge and planned to seek its bones for Tiger Bone Health Preserving Wine after retrieving his Fine Iron Battle Halberd. As Prince Yu and the Nine Lotus Sect clashed and the capital’s martial arts schools competed for the sect’s abandoned influence, Li Qing stayed out of the growing turmoil.

• A drinker told Li Qing that a tiger had attacked people at Little Cui Ridge before the Nine Lotus Sect and Jianghu fighters disrupted the Prince's Estate's tomb excavation.
• Li Qing decided to retrieve his Fine Iron Battle Halberd first, then seek tiger bones with the help of a local hunter after the tomb excavation ended.
• Prince Yu attacked the Nine Lotus Sect's headquarters in Sheng Tian and defeated the Green Lotus Protector with help from the city's three great martial arts schools.
• Emperor Taiwen ordered a crackdown on the Nine Lotus Sect, but the sect withdrew from Sheng Tian before the decree could take effect.
• Prince Yu led his men to Little Cui Ridge, drawing more Jianghu fighters there while the three great martial arts schools began vying for the Nine Lotus Sect's vacated profits.
• Li Qing learned of the unrest at the blacksmith's shop and chose to watch events from a distance.

Li Qing heard that the Little Cui Ridge tomb belonged to the legendary Lin Yi, who reportedly reached Internal Energy in three years and nearly became a Grandmaster in four. He learned that the tomb was supposedly fake and the inheritance had already disappeared, while a handsome man quietly questioned that claim.

• Li Qing listened as tavern patrons described the bloody clash at Little Cui Ridge between Prince Yu and the Nine Lotus Sect.
• A handsome, unrestrained man revealed that the tomb's owner was Lin Yi, a martial artist whose astonishing rise had once drawn the entire martial world into a hunt for him.
• Tavern patrons recounted that Lin Yi vanished during the pursuit and that his whereabouts had remained a mystery until rumors of his tomb surfaced.
• A man familiar with the latest events said the tomb was reportedly fake, contained a Tomb Mansion rather than a coffin, and yielded nothing to Prince Yu or the Nine Lotus Sect.
• The handsome man shook his head and muttered skeptically, “heh, fake?”

Prince Yu's Mansion offered a massive bounty for the Star-Picking Divine Thief, then revealed his portrait after executing the painter who had depicted him. Li Qing recognized the thief but avoided reporting him, prepared to hunt tigers, and was approached by constables at his smithy.

• Prince Yu's Mansion issued a huge bounty for the Star-Picking Divine Thief, and the search stirred up Sheng Tian.
• Prince Yu's Mansion had a renowned landscape painter executed and revealed his portrait of the thief.
• Li Qing recognized the thief as a wine-loving man he had seen at a tavern, but chose not to claim a reward or get involved.
• Li Qing prepared armor and weapons to hunt tigers at Little Cui Ridge because his martial arts progress had stalled.
• Several constables arrived at Li Qing's smithy and said they wanted to ask him a few questions.

Li Qing answered the constables’ questions about the Star-Picking Divine Thief and learned that Zhong Hui had died when Zhao Yuan returned his saber. Zhao Yuan commissioned a massive great saber, and Li Qing chose to stay cautious rather than hunt at Little Cui Ridge.

• Li Qing told the constables he had seen the Star-Picking Divine Thief at the tavern and explained why he had not reported the clue to the Prince’s Estate.
• Li Qing slipped the constables silver, and they left after asking him to describe the thief.
• Zhao Yuan returned the saber Li Qing had forged for Zhong Hui and told Li Qing that Zhong Hui had died.
• Zhao Yuan ordered a great saber weighing more than three hundred jin and paid Li Qing two silver ingots.
• Li Qing agreed to finish Zhao Yuan’s saber in five days and postponed his plan to hunt tigers at Little Cui Ridge.

Li Qing forged and named a three-hundred-jin saber Startling Silence, earning a year of lifespan when it was recognized as a Fine Mortal Artifact. Zhao Yuan collected the saber and offered extra silver, but Li Qing honored their agreed price and gained Zhao Yuan's promise of help.

• Li Qing forged the saber's blade from three hundred jin of iron and crafted its hilt from ox-tendon wood and brass.
• Li Qing carved patterns into the blade, named it Startling Silence, and received a year's lifespan when the system classified it as a Fine Mortal Artifact.
• Zhao Yuan arrived to collect the saber and praised its craftsmanship and handling after lifting and testing it.
• Zhao Yuan offered Li Qing extra silver, but Li Qing refused it and accepted only their agreed price of fifty taels.
• Zhao Yuan promised to help Li Qing if needed, and Li Qing considered asking him to join a future tiger hunt at Little Cui Ridge.

As martial artists competed for territory in Shengtian City, the Heroes of Liangzhou confronted a wonton shop owner about protection fees and set out to challenge Green Mountain Martial Arts School. Li Qing arrived for wontons, while Yang Xing noticed he seemed to be a martial artist; the group continued on to the school.

• Martial artists crowded Shengtian City and fought over territory left vacant by the Nine Lotus Sect, disrupting the three great schools and their affiliates.
• Fang Long asked Owner Zhang how much protection money he paid Green Mountain Martial Arts School, and Zhang explained that the fee had risen to three taels under the pretext of catching the Star-Plucking Bandit.
• The Heroes of Liangzhou announced that Zhang would pay them one tael instead and left to challenge Green Mountain Martial Arts School.
• Li Qing came to the shop for wontons despite Zhang warning him that an Overlord from Across the River was causing trouble nearby.
• Yang Xing noticed Li Qing seemed to be a martial artist, but Fang Long dismissed the concern and led the group toward the school.

The Heroes of Liangzhou challenged the Green Mountain Martial Arts School and seized control of Chiming Street after Fang Long defeated Xu Qingshan. Martial artists continued contesting the three great schools’ territories across Shengtian City, leaving the imperial capital increasingly chaotic.

• The Heroes of Liangzhou entered the Green Mountain Martial Arts School, and Zhang Peian severely wounded a disciple who challenged him.
• Fang Long demanded that Xu Qingshan surrender Chiming Street, then fought him and knocked him unconscious despite breaking his own arm.
• Xu Qingshan’s disciples carried him away, and the Liangzhou men took over the street and broke the school’s signboard.
• The Liangzhou men announced that they would charge merchants two taels of silver for protection and help them with trouble the authorities ignored.
• Martial artists across Shengtian City challenged the three great schools’ territories, and street battles made the imperial capital less peaceful.

After the Wu Li Army returned to the capital, Fang Long and Yang Xing visited Li Qing’s smithy and recognized him as an Outer Strength expert. Li Qing accepted their offer to waive his protection fees, then decided to leave the city for Little Cui Ridge to hunt a fierce tiger.

• The Wu Li Army returned triumphantly to the capital, and martial wanderers stopped fighting in the streets during the day.
• Fang Long and his brothers ate wontons at Boss Zhang’s shop and promised to reduce his monthly protection fee to one tael of silver.
• Fang Long and Yang Xing visited Li Qing’s smithy, where Fang Long revealed that Yang Xing’s martial art could sense a person’s blood and qi.
• Fang Long offered to waive Li Qing’s protection fees, and Li Qing accepted their goodwill.
• Li Qing suspected Yang Xing was also an Outer Strength expert and prepared to leave the city for Little Cui Ridge with his armor, Bone-Piercing Nails, and hunting knife.

Li Qing traveled to Little Cui Ridge to hunt a man-eating tiger and sought a local guide at Cui Mountain Village. Old Man Sun agreed to lead him into the mountains, despite his age and family responsibilities.

• Li Qing reached Little Cui Ridge after several days of travel and continued on foot toward Cui Mountain Village.
• Li Qing asked Old Man Sun and Old Man Wu to recommend an experienced hunter, and the two argued over their past hunting feats.
• Li Qing offered a reward for a guide to locate the tiger, explaining that he would bring his own armor and weapons and hunt it himself.
• Old Man Sun hesitated because he had a newborn grandson and did not want to risk his life, but then offered to accompany Li Qing up the mountain.
• Li Qing accepted Old Man Sun's offer.

Li Qing and Old Man Sun traveled deep into the mountains to search for a tiger, following clues near the site of a recently unearthed tomb. After reaching the hollow at night, Li Qing explored the tomb alone and came face-to-face with a pale human figure.

• Li Qing and Old Man Sun set out into the mountains, and Old Man Sun guided him toward the hollow where the tomb had been found.
• Old Man Sun spotted a trail left by a great python, then made camp and warned Li Qing against traveling through the mountains at night.
• Li Qing lit a torch and went alone to investigate the tomb while Old Man Sun stayed at the campfire.
• Li Qing found a broken tombstone and a half-collapsed burial chamber, then saw a paper-pale human face illuminated by his torch.

Li Qing discovered Qi Kang alive at the Tomb Mansion and met Ning Yuan, the Star-Picking Divine Thief, inside. Ning Yuan revealed that the tomb really belonged to the former dynasty’s martial arts prodigy Lin Yi, but he had already taken the inheritance before the Prince’s Estate and Nine Lotus Sect arrived.

• Li Qing found a corpse at the Tomb Mansion entrance, sensed something strange, and prepared to return during the day.
• Qi Kang appeared and greeted Li Qing as his master, while Ning Yuan spoke from inside the passage.
• Li Qing recognized Ning Yuan as the Star-Picking Divine Thief, and Qi Kang reassured both men until they set aside their suspicions.
• Qi Kang led Li Qing into the cavern, where Li Qing and Ning Yuan recognized each other from their earlier encounters at the tavern.
• Ning Yuan confirmed that the Tomb Mansion was Lin Yi’s tomb and said he had already taken the martial arts inheritance.
• Ning Yuan invited Qi Kang to bring out wine so they could drink with Li Qing.

Li Qing learned that Lin Yi’s inheritance was the life-shortening Life-Extinguishing Art, which Ning Yuan had refused to practice. After leaving the Tomb Mansion, Li Qing parted from Qi Kang, who wanted to pursue martial arts rather than return to the smithy.

• Ning Yuan told Li Qing that General Lü was a Martial Arts Grandmaster and confessed that he had stolen from Prince Yu’s estate and stamped the First Rank Princess Consort with a painter’s seal.
• Li Qing explained that he had come to Little Cui Ridge to hunt, while Ning Yuan revealed he had obtained but not practiced Lin Yi’s martial arts inheritance.
• Ning Yuan described the Life-Extinguishing Art, which rapidly reduced its practitioner’s lifespan and drove them to devour others’ Internal Energy.
• Li Qing became interested in the Life-Extinguishing Art but kept his secret of immortality hidden and prepared to leave the Tomb Mansion.
• Li Qing told Qi Kang he could return to the smithy someday, while Qi Kang watched him leave in tears, determined to pursue martial arts.

Li Qing and Old Man Sun tracked a fierce tiger through the forest and found it fighting an Azure Scale Giant Python. After watching the battle and gaining new insight into the True Intent of the Fierce Tiger, Li Qing waited for the beasts to settle their fight, leaving the wounded tiger vulnerable to a hunt.

• Li Qing and Old Man Sun searched the woods after keeping watch through the night and found claw marks and tiger droppings.
• A tiger’s roar led Li Qing and Old Man Sun to a den, where a mother tiger was fighting a giant python over her dead cubs.
• Li Qing decided to hide and wait for one of the beasts to defeat the other before acting.
• The tiger and python fought fiercely, and Li Qing imitated the tiger’s movements as he gained new insight into the True Intent of the Fierce Tiger.
• The tiger killed the python but suffered severe wounds and a broken hind leg, creating an opportunity for Li Qing to hunt it.