Chapter Summaries

Meng Chong successfully began cultivating the Great Sun Golden Bell Shield after using the sun's heat to sense Vital Energy, while Li Xuan wondered whether sunlight was truly necessary. After Meng Chong explained his insight, Li Xuan challenged him to figure out how to cultivate at night or on cloudy days, leaving him reconsidering his understanding of the technique.

• Li Xuan watched Meng Chong strengthen his physique and sense Vital Energy while cultivating beneath the sun.
• Meng Chong completed three tempering cycles, then joined Li Xuan for a meal of chicken soup prepared by Shi Er.
• Li Xuan asked Meng Chong to explain how he had comprehended the Great Sun Golden Bell Shield, and Meng Chong described using the sun's heat to sense Vital Energy.
• Li Xuan asked how Meng Chong would cultivate without sunlight, prompting him to question his understanding of the technique.

Meng Chong struggled to cultivate the Great Sun Golden Bell Shield at night until he comprehended its intent and began strengthening his body. Li Xuan recognized his progress and planned the next stages of Meng Chong’s physical cultivation and martial techniques.

• Meng Chong tried cultivating at night but initially sensed only faint Vital Energy, prompting Li Xuan to wonder whether the method worked better in sunlight.
• Meng Chong reconsidered the meaning of the Great Sun and realized that its intent could exist within his heart even when the sun was not visible.
• Meng Chong’s heart and Vital Energy began resonating in a rhythmic cycle, and he comprehended the Great Sun Golden Bell Shield as his body formed a unified, bell-like whole.
• Li Xuan observed Meng Chong’s body growing stronger and decided his talent suited the physical-body path.
• Li Xuan planned to teach Meng Chong about Diamond Glazed Bone and prepare fist techniques, movement training, and later stages of the Body Cultivation Martial Dao.

As Xu Yan’s success sparked a commandery-wide search for reclusive masters, he visited the Qi Kingdom’s imperial treasury and claimed nearly all its treasures. The chief eunuch arranged to pack them up and secretly sent word to the Qi Emperor.

• Dandies and idle young men across Donghe Commandery searched the mountains for masters after seeing Xu Yan’s strength.
• Xu Yan found an extraordinary sword and a heavy, blood-patterned saber in the imperial treasury and took both.
• Xu Yan decided to take valuables and artworks that might suit his master, while excluding decorative stones he considered useless.
• Xu Yan insisted that the Qi Emperor had allowed him to take whatever he fancied, and the frightened chief eunuch agreed to empty the treasury.
• The chief eunuch ordered the treasures packed and sent someone to report the matter to the Qi Emperor.

Xu Yan emptied the Qi Emperor’s treasury, then left the Capital City for Donghe Commandery with carts of treasures. Back in Donghe, Xu Junhe arranged his local power and asked Kou Ruozhi to help search for experts.

• A eunuch told the Qi Emperor that Xu Yan had emptied the imperial treasury and taken the Nine-Leaf Spirit Ganoderma, so the Qi Emperor permitted him to take goods from the state treasury as well.
• Xu Yan returned to Guo Rongshan with two carts of treasures, discussed the Tianmu Cult and ordinary people learning his martial path, and prepared to leave for Donghe Commandery.
• Xu Yan cultivated in the Capital City and sensed that he was close to the peak of the Qi and Blood Realm and to comprehending the Innate Realm method.
• After Xu Yan left, the Qi Emperor ordered court officials to replenish the treasury with their own treasures.
• Xu Junhe discussed the vacant Prefect position with Jiang Pingshan and Kou Ruozhi, kept Jiang responsible for Donghe’s security, and appointed Kou as a strategist.
• Xu Junhe told Kou Ruozhi to watch for experts in Donghe Commandery, noting that the expert was in Yunshan County and should not be disturbed.

Xu Yan returned with treasures from the imperial palace and met his new junior disciple, Meng Chong. Li Xuan explained the differences between orthodox martial cultivation and Body Cultivation Martial Dao, then allowed Xu Yan to teach martial cultivation to his family.

• Xu Yan returned and presented Meng Chong with a broadsword and Li Xuan with treasures taken from the imperial palace treasury.
• Xu Yan told Li Xuan about Qi Emperor and Kou Ruozhi's attempt to make him Great Sage Heavenly Duke.
• Li Xuan explained that Xu Yan cultivated orthodox martial arts while Meng Chong followed Body Cultivation Martial Dao, whose supreme foundation was a Diamond Glazed Bone.
• Xu Yan and Meng Chong agreed to spar once Meng Chong entered the field, and Li Xuan said neither martial path was inherently stronger.
• Xu Yan asked to teach martial cultivation to his family, and Li Xuan gave him permission while warning that talent varied.

Xu Yan taught martial cultivation methods to his family and the Xu Family’s guards, then reached great completion in the Qi and Blood Realm while staying at the Prince of Qi’s residence. He fully comprehended the Innate Realm technique, leaving him ready to pursue the next breakthrough once his Qi and Blood reached completion.

• Xu Yan returned home to teach his parents and the Xu Family’s core guards martial cultivation methods, then traveled to the Capital City to teach his maternal relatives.
• Li Xuan made Shi Er his servant and taught him the Skin Tempering method, leaving him to find out whether he could sense Vital Energy and enter cultivation.
• Xu Yan stayed at the Prince of Qi’s residence and broke through to great completion in the Qi and Blood Realm, unleashing a hundred-zhang scarlet dragon of Vital Energy.
• The Qi Emperor, the princes, and the ministers reacted to Xu Yan’s breakthrough by urgently seeking martial experts and famous teachers.
• Xu Yan meditated after his breakthrough and fully understood how to cultivate the Innate Realm, including opening the Heaven and Earth Bridge and the Dantian Sea of Qi.

Li Xuan watched Meng Chong and Shi Er cultivate while Xu Yan advanced rapidly, then received the Innate Realm cultivation method through the golden finger when Xu Yan comprehended it. Li Xuan broke through into the Innate Realm and estimated that martial artists could live for centuries, with Innate experts living over a thousand years.

• Li Xuan judged Meng Chong's progress toward tempering Golden Bone and considered how to help him break through to Diamond Glazed Bone.
• Li Xuan observed that Shi Er had sensed Vital Energy but cultivated more slowly than Meng Chong and Xu Yan.
• Xu Yan reached great accomplishment in the Qi and Blood Realm, doubling Li Xuan's Vital Energy.
• Xu Yan comprehended the Innate Realm cultivation method, and the golden finger immediately advanced Li Xuan into the Innate Realm.
• Li Xuan opened his Heaven and Earth Bridge and Sea of Qi, condensed Innate True Qi, and transformed his body.
• Li Xuan estimated that Qi and Blood martial artists could live for centuries and that Innate experts could live for over a thousand years.

Li Xuan anticipated compiling a cultivation method beyond the Innate Realm, while Meng Chong tested the strength of his Copper Bone and found that even a Peak Jianghu Expert’s full-powered blade could not hurt him. Later, Li Xuan watched a fake white-bearded man sell martial arts manuals to wealthy young men in Yunshan County.

• Li Xuan decided to prepare a cultivation method for the realm beyond the Innate Realm and expected Xu Yan to reach the Innate Realm within two months.
• Meng Chong had Shi Er punch and slash his chest, demonstrating that his Copper Bone could withstand Shi Er’s full strength and break a steel blade.
• Meng Chong urged Shi Er to keep cultivating toward Diamond Glazed Bone, and Shi Er resumed his training.
• Li Xuan saw a fake white-bearded man sell a martial arts manual to a rich young master for one hundred taels, then approach another wealthy young man with the same pitch.

Li Xuan considered when to spread martial arts cultivation as wealthy young men searched the Endless Mountains for hidden experts. There, the injured Xue Wuxin entered the Border Wasteland, intending to grow stronger by draining its people, and began slaughtering a party that mistook him for a master.

• Li Xuan discovered that Tianmu Cult experts were posing as con men and selling martial arts manuals to wealthy young men in Yunshan County.
• Li Xuan decided to wait before spreading martial arts cultivation more widely, until he knew who could cross the martial arts threshold.
• A party of more than a hundred young nobles and guards searched the Endless Mountains for a hidden expert.
• Xue Wuxin fled from the Inner Domain into the Border Wasteland and planned to devour people’s Essence Blood to recover and advance his strength.
• The search party mistook the flying Xue Wuxin for a martial arts expert and begged him to accept them as disciples.
• Xue Wuxin attacked the kneeling party with thin strands of energy that pierced their hearts and drained their blood.

Xue Wuxin drained more than a hundred people in the Endless Mountains and fled, leaving their bodies behind. After Xu Yan inspected the corpses, he suspected an unknown demon creature and hurried back to ask his master what it was and whether he could hunt it.

• Xue Wuxin devoured the victims’ Essence Blood, then flew away to recover and plan his revenge.
• A group searching for a master found the shriveled corpses, recognized several prominent victims, and brought some bodies back to the Capital City.
• After hearing that the Minister of War’s son and the others had died, Guo Rongshan sent Xu Yan a flying-eagle message.
• Xu Yan returned to the Capital City and examined the corpses, ruling out the legendary Corpse Boar after finding no bite wounds or corpse poison.
• Xu Yan discovered a tiny puncture at a victim’s heart and suspected a blood-drinking demon creature, then left to ask his master about it.

Xue Wuxin slaughtered everyone at a relay station and planned to recover his strength through a citywide blood sacrifice, but Xu Yan arrived and confronted him. The two fought amid their mutual confusion about each other’s martial arts, and Xue Wuxin ended the chapter striking down at Xu Yan from above.

• Xue Wuxin killed the relay-station clerks, judged their Essence Blood impure, and resolved to sacrifice a city and raise Blood Disciples so he could return to the Inner Domain within ten years.
• Xu Yan rushed from Capital City toward Yunshan County, stopped at the relay station, and sensed danger when he found a clerk’s dried corpse.
• Xue Wuxin attacked Xu Yan with Blood Devouring Ghost Silk, but Xu Yan’s Dragon Subduing Palm destroyed it and sent Xue Wuxin evading through the air.
• Xu Yan and Xue Wuxin exchanged attacks, each puzzled by the other’s strength, as their battle reduced the relay station to ruins.
• Xue Wuxin used Blood Devouring Ghost Silk to hinder Xu Yan’s dragon-shaped palm attacks, then seized an opening and thrust his saber down at him from above.

Xu Yan nearly fell to Blood Wuxin’s saber but comprehended Shape-Shifting Evasion, then advanced the Dragon Subduing Palm to its second layer during their battle. Blood Wuxin escaped into the air and attacked from beyond Xu Yan’s reach, but his injuries and dwindling strength left him struggling to outlast Xu Yan.

• Xu Yan used a newly comprehended Shape-Shifting Evasion to dodge Blood Wuxin’s saber and counterattacked with the Dragon Subduing Palm.
• Xu Yan reached Great Completion in the Dragon Subduing Palm, then understood how to unleash its force with a burst of “fury” and broke through to the second layer.
• Xu Yan’s eighteen dragon-shaped palm forces repeatedly combined and exploded, battering Blood Wuxin and forcing him to defend.
• Blood Wuxin spread Blood Devouring Ghost Silk to distract Xu Yan and escape into the air, then attacked from a distance where Xu Yan could not pursue him effectively.
• Blood Wuxin tried to wear Xu Yan down with airborne saber attacks, but Xu Yan’s Vital Energy remained strong while Blood Wuxin’s injuries and exhaustion worsened.

Xu Yan gained new combat techniques while fighting Xue Wuxin, prompting Li Xuan to fly toward Donghe Commandery before returning to Yunshan County. Xue Wuxin reached the county seeking to restore his strength by devouring Meng Chong, but his first attack failed to pierce Meng Chong’s body.

• Xu Yan comprehended Shape-Shifting Evasion and advanced Dragon Subduing Palm during his battle with Xue Wuxin, while Xue Wuxin fled toward Yunshan County.
• Li Xuan received his disciple’s gains, flew to Donghe Commandery to check on the Xu Family, then returned to Yunshan County after finding no sign of danger there.
• Xue Wuxin arrived above Yunshan County, sensed Meng Chong’s vigorous blood vitality, and attacked him with Blood Devouring Ghost Silk.
• Meng Chong’s Copper Bone broke through its bottleneck amid the surge of Vital Energy, and he snapped the strand after it failed to pierce his heart.
• Xue Wuxin was shocked by Meng Chong’s resilience and launched two more strands of Blood Devouring Ghost Silk.

Li Xuan returned just in time to save Meng Chong from Xue Wuxin, an injured demonic martial artist who had fled from the Inner Domain. After learning about the Inner Domain and its martial ranks, Li Xuan killed Xue Wuxin and taught his disciples to leave no trace of hostile enemies.

• Xue Wuxin pierced Meng Chong's fists with Blood Devouring Ghost Silk, triggering Meng Chong's breakthrough to Golden Bone tempering, then launched a stronger attack at his chest.
• Li Xuan arrived and bound Xue Wuxin with a golden dragon, saving Meng Chong; Xu Yan soon returned and explained how he had fought Xue Wuxin after discovering blood-drained corpses at a relay station.
• Li Xuan recognized Xue Wuxin as a demonic cultivator and questioned him about his origins, while Xu Yan asked about the Inner Domain and its martial world.
• Xue Wuxin explained that martial artists came from the Inner Domain beyond the mountains and described its nine grades and Grandmaster Realm; Li Xuan concluded his own strength was comparable to or greater than a Grandmaster's.
• Li Xuan crushed Xue Wuxin and scattered his ashes, then advised Xu Yan and Meng Chong to erase every trace of hostile enemies to avoid future trouble.

Xu Yan and Meng Chong concluded that the Inner Domain followed a weaker False Martial Dao, while Li Xuan compared its cultivation system with his own and planned to expand his martial path. The chapter ended with Li Xuan finding Xue Wuxin’s cultivation manual and two Spiritual Qi-filled crystals.

• Xu Yan and Meng Chong interpreted Li Xuan’s advice and concluded that the Inner Domain cultivated the False Martial Dao.
• Li Xuan compared the Inner Domain’s grades and Grandmaster Realm with his own Qi and Blood and Innate Realms, then considered developing cultivation methods beyond the Innate Realm.
• Li Xuan explained that Xu Yan could use himself as a bridge to connect with heaven and earth, and Xu Yan realized he could pursue the Innate Realm despite the Border Wasteland’s lack of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.
• After Li Xuan warned that Inner Domain Martial Artists might come to the Border Wasteland, Meng Chong resolved to enter the martial path, and Xu Yan asked to learn swordsmanship before returning to Donghe Commandery for his sword.
• Li Xuan planned to spread his martial path through the Border Wasteland and found Xue Wuxin’s cultivation manual and two Spirit Crystals in his bag.

Li Xuan studied the incomplete Blood Demon Ghost Scripture, destroyed it, and used its ideas to consider a new martial arts system. He then guided Xu Yan through improvised sword demonstrations and introduced the Clear Sword Heart realm, leaving Xu Yan to comprehend it alone.

• Li Xuan found two Spirit Crystals and the incomplete Blood Demon Ghost Scripture in Blood Wuxin’s bag, memorized the scripture, and destroyed it.
• Li Xuan considered the scripture’s blood-devouring methods as inspiration for a new martial arts system and noted that Vital Energy restrained its sinister power.
• Li Xuan demonstrated several contrasting sword styles to Xu Yan, who gradually forgot the movements and believed that he was learning to break free from fixed techniques.
• Li Xuan explained that Clear Sword Heart meant seeing through sword techniques and making their moves one’s own, and Xu Yan began to grasp the idea.
• Li Xuan left Xu Yan alone in the mountain forest to continue comprehending Clear Sword Heart.

Xu Yan comprehended a Clear Sword Heart, created his own sword technique, and entered the sword Dao, while Li Xuan gained powerful swordsmanship insights through their master-disciple bond. Xu Yan planned to enter the Inner Domain after reaching the Innate Realm, and Li Xuan celebrated his disciple’s breakthrough.

• Xu Yan studied the sword marks in the forest and realized he needed to break free from the forms of his master’s techniques to create swordsmanship of his own.
• Over the following month, Xu Yan practiced his comprehension while Meng Chong advanced toward completing Golden Bone, Shi Er completed Skin Tempering, and other cultivators made progress.
• Xu Yan destroyed the sword marks, developed a new sword technique while watching the evening clouds, and achieved a Clear Sword Heart.
• Xu Yan named his sword the Tongming Sword and decided to reach the Innate Realm before venturing into the Inner Domain.
• Li Xuan received the benefits of Xu Yan’s breakthroughs, reaching great accomplishment in the Clear Sword Heart and sword Dao and perfection in the second stage of the Dragon Subduing Palm.
• Xu Yan returned to Li Xuan, who praised him as having the makings of a Sword God, and Xu Yan vowed to carry his master’s swordsmanship forward.

Xu Yan reached the peak of the Qi and Blood Realm while Li Xuan guided him toward sword intent and helped Meng Chong break through his Diamond Glazed Bone bottleneck. Meng Chong then entered the martial path with the Great Sun Golden Bell Shield, and Li Xuan awaited the resulting feedback from his golden finger.

• Li Xuan taught Xu Yan about the Heart Sword Realm and urged him to cultivate the Dragon Subduing Palm as well as pursue sword intent.
• Xu Yan repeatedly struck Meng Chong with Vital Energy to temper his body, and Li Xuan used Spiritual Qi from a Spirit Crystal to help Meng Chong break through and begin tempering his Diamond Glazed Bone.
• Xu Yan reached the peak of the Qi and Blood Realm, returned home to guide his family, and later practiced while preparing for an eventual breakthrough into the Innate Realm.
• Shi Er endured the early pain of Bone Refining and set Copper Bone as his goal.
• Meng Chong entered the martial path and mastered the basics of the Great Sun Golden Bell Shield, forming a golden bell around himself as Li Xuan concealed the noise of his breakthrough.
• Meng Chong asked Shi Er to strike him with Xu Yan's treasured saber, while Li Xuan smiled in anticipation of his golden-finger feedback.

After Meng Chong entered martial arts, Li Xuan gained mastery of the Great Sun Golden Bell Shield and transformed his Jade Bone and Diamond Glazed Bone into an Innate Spiritual Bone. Meng Chong proved formidable in a spar with Xu Yan, then began learning Li Xuan’s Wind Thunder Diamond Fist.

• Meng Chong broke through into martial arts, granting Li Xuan mastery of the Great Sun Golden Bell Shield and an Innate Spiritual Bone through golden-finger feedback.
• Meng Chong and Xu Yan sparred outside the county town; Xu Yan narrowly held the advantage, while Meng Chong’s Golden Bell Shield absorbed most of his attacks.
• Meng Chong asked Li Xuan to teach him a fist technique, and Li Xuan agreed to begin the next day.
• Li Xuan demonstrated the Wind Thunder Diamond Fist, claiming he performed it at great mastery of the Qi and Blood Realm, and instructed Meng Chong to comprehend the fist’s wind and thunder intent.

Meng Chong studied Li Xuan’s Wind Thunder Diamond Fist while the First Prince searched the Endless Mountains for an expert to save Qi Kingdom. He encountered Xie Lingfeng, who mistook the crisis for Xue Wuxin’s bloodshed and flew with him toward the capital, where the First Prince announced that he had found an expert.

• Meng Chong repeatedly practiced and contemplated the wind-and-thunder momentum Li Xuan had demonstrated, while Li Xuan waited for Xu Yan to reach the Innate Realm.
• The First Prince led more than three hundred people deep into the Endless Mountains, hoping to find an expert who could protect Qi Kingdom.
• Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan crossed the mountains while pursuing Xue Wuxin, and they came across the First Prince’s exhausted party.
• Xie Lingfeng mistook the First Prince’s account of Xu Yan and the Divine Might Army for evidence of Xue Wuxin’s killings, then took the First Prince and his eunuch attendant toward the capital by air.
• The First Prince imagined that Xie Lingfeng could defeat Xu Yan and restore his family’s power as they flew toward the Capital City of Qi Kingdom.
• At the palace, the Qi Emperor entertained Guo Rongshan, and the First Prince’s excited voice announced from above that he had found the expert.