Chapter Summaries

Liang Qu used the Circulating Qi Inscription to break through the Flesh Barrier, becoming a solid Second Barrier Martial Artist and gaining the strength to wield Fubo with his wrist alone. He explored the Marsh Ape's new abilities and learned how Marsh Essence could supplement two of his Water Beasts.

• Liang Qu practiced the Circulating Qi Inscription and broke through the Flesh Barrier, advancing to the Second Barrier with the Third Barrier within reach.
• Liang Qu discovered his strength had increased enough for him to wield the hundred-pound Fubo smoothly and use it as though it were his own arm.
• Liang Qu used his control over water to split the river surface, then checked the Ze Cauldron and saw that his Marsh Ape's Fusion Rate was measured in per mille and that it needed River's Favor to advance.
• Liang Qu learned that staying in water let him absorb one point of Marsh Essence per day and speed his recovery slightly.
• Liang Qu found that Fist and Awei could be supplemented with Marsh Essence, while Cannot Move and the Fat Catfish could not, and began supplementing the two eligible beasts.

Liang Qu witnessed Awei and Fist complete their evolutions, then gained new Innate Skills and discovered the power of Soaring Water Riding Waves. After returning to Yi Xing City, he learned that refugees had arrived fleeing a rumored man-made disaster, leaving him seeking the truth.

• Awei evolved a detoxification gland, while Fist gained two additional legs and sharper claws; Awei also cured Cannot Move of Armored Beast poison.
• Liang Qu saw Cannot Move and Fat Catfish compete to clear water grass, then checked the Water Beasts’ new evolutionary paths and his own Innate Skills.
• Liang Qu tested Water Prison and used Soaring Water Riding Waves to rise above the marsh and travel across its surface.
• Liang Qu returned to Yi Xing City and found unfamiliar refugees; Lin Songbao said they had fled a man-made disaster and that the Magistrate had requested grain for relief.

Liang Qu learned that Mountain Ghost attacks had devastated neighboring counties and that refugees were flooding into Yi Xing City. He stopped county officials from collecting grain through the government and arranged for the villages to feed the refugees directly, then heard a rider arrive asking for him.

• Lin Songbao told Liang Qu that Mountain Ghosts had killed many people across neighboring counties, driving survivors to flee as refugees.
• Liang Qu reassured Lin Songbao that the threat in their area had already been dealt with and saw the refugees arriving in Yi Xing City.
• Chen Tongmin brought Liang Qu to the Council Hall, where Patrol Inspector Bian ordered the villages to donate one dou of rice for every able-bodied adult male.
• Liang Qu proposed that the villages distribute food directly through congee stalls, and Patrol Inspector Bian agreed after learning Liang Qu was Yang Dongxiong's ninth Personal Disciple.
• The Village Elders thanked Liang Qu, and Chen Zhaoan promised to manage the refugees as Liang Qu left the arrangements to him.
• A black warhorse galloped into Yi Xing City, and its rider called out for Liang Qu.

Zhang Zhiyun, a Bronze Medal Constable of the Three Laws Department, questioned Liang Qu and the village elders about the Ghost Mother Sect matter. He then invited Liang Qu to join the Cloud Hawk Embroidered Uniform Guard, but Liang Qu deferred his answer and considered that he would rather serve in a role connected to the waterways.

• Zhang Zhiyun arrived at the village market and identified himself as a Bronze Medal Constable investigating the Ghost Mother Sect matter.
• Zhang Zhiyun questioned Liang Qu, the Village Elders, and other residents, then had Liang Qu sign the inquiry record.
• Zhang Zhiyun invited Liang Qu to join the Three Laws Department as a Cloud Hawk Embroidered Uniform Guard and described the resources and advancement it offered.
• Liang Qu said he needed to discuss the offer with Master Yang rather than accept immediately.
• Liang Qu reflected that he preferred to find a position as a water official so he could remain near the Jianghuai Marshlands.

After the Ghost Mother Sect’s devastating attack, the Emperor’s court debated how to suppress it and learned of Liang Qu’s literacy method and extraordinary fate. The court approved elevating Ping Yang Town to a county and making it a hub for defense and refugee resettlement.

• The Embroidered Uniform Guards reached the Imperial City as storm clouds swept over the capital, and the Emperor summoned five Grand Scholars to discuss the Ghost Mother Sect’s attack.
• The Grand Scholars argued over whether the empire could afford a campaign, while a secret report showed that Chao River County’s towns and villages had suffered no disturbance.
• Su Yigeng described Liang Qu’s effective Pinyin Method, and Chief Steward Kang confirmed that the Sixth Prince was learning it too.
• The court learned Liang Qu had a Long Jiaos Crossing the River fate, prompting the scholars to recommend employing him and considering the River Conservancy Office.
• Grand Scholar Xu proposed abolishing Chao River County, elevating Ping Yang Town to a county, and establishing it as a military hub and refuge for displaced people.
• The Emperor approved Grand Scholar Xu’s proposal.

Liang Qu continued strengthening his body and prepared to explore deeper waters before returning to Ping Yang Town for the imperial rewards. The decree reorganized the region and appointed him a River Earl, leaving him with new official duties and a Dragon Blood Warhorse.

• Liang Qu assessed his progress toward breaking through the Bone Barrier and planned to explore Ping Yang Town’s river for signs of a Flood Dragon.
• Liang Qu returned to Yi Xing City, where refugees had begun settling and workers were building his expanded residence.
• Liang Qu and the other disciples gathered at the Yang Residence to receive the imperial decree.
• The Emperor established Ping Yang County and new river and demon-subduing offices, appointed Yang Dongxiong and his disciples to oversee them, and named Yu Dun County Commandant.
• The decree appointed Liang Qu and Lu Gang River Earls and awarded each one hundred taels of silver and a Dragon Blood Warhorse.

Liang Qu received an appointment to the River Conservancy Office, a Dragon Blood Horse, and praise for his Pinyin Method as the court prepared Ping Yang County for expansion. The chapter ended with Yang Dongxiong choosing Liang Qu a fifth-rank stallion and agreeing to raise it until Liang Qu could take it home.

• An envoy delivered an Imperial Decree appointing Yang Dongxiong and Liang Qu to official posts and rewarding Liang Qu with a Dragon Blood Horse for his Pinyin Method.
• Xiang ChangSong and the senior brothers questioned Liang Qu about the Pinyin Method, and Liang Qu explained that it helped people learn characters four or five times faster than the Fanqie Method.
• At dinner, the envoy said the Imperial Capital Academy would promote and test the method, and Yang Dongxiong and the others praised Liang Qu’s achievement.
• The envoy announced that new officials would arrive soon, provisions would reach Ping Yang County, and the county could eventually become a prefecture if it grew to one hundred thousand households.
• Yang Dongxiong chose a fifth-rank chestnut-red stallion for Liang Qu and agreed to care for it for two months while Liang Qu’s home and horse shed were unfinished.

Pang Qinghe brought his martial arts school to Ping Yang County and planned to challenge its strongest school to establish a reputation. Meanwhile, Liang Qu discovered a lake guarded by three sturgeon Spirit Monsters and suspected a powerful Sturgeon Fish Demon lived within before riding off to help transport grain.

• Pang Qinghe explained that his group had fled Hua Zhu County after the Ghost Mother Sect devastated it, and planned to challenge the strongest martial arts school in Ping Yang County using Da Zhuang.
• Liang Qu explored a river with four beasts, found a lake guarded by three enormous sturgeon Spirit Monsters, and retreated after suspecting a Sturgeon Fish Demon or Great Monster Spirit lived there.
• Liang Qu considered whether the lake's sturgeon were connected to a Flood Dragon legend, then returned to the pier hungry.
• A disciple told Liang Qu that Senior Brother Xiang needed him to find people in Yi Xing Town to transport the school's share of the grain.
• Liang Qu rode away on a jujube-red horse as Lan Tai watched enviously, having come to deliver a challenge card.

Liang Qu delivered grain to Yi Xing Town and told Yang Dongxiong about a lake filled with giant sturgeons, prompting the Yang Martial Hall to consider investigating it. He also learned that a rival martial arts school would challenge the hall’s disciples in two days, with Liang Qu selected for the youngest disciple match.

• Liang Qu rode Red Mountain to Yi Xing Town, failed to establish a Mental Link with the horse, and helped organize the delivery and distribution of grain.
• Xiang ChangSong told Liang Qu that he expected to break through the Fourth Gate soon, and Liang Qu offered him Bullhorn Pomfret horns for making pills.
• Liang Qu described a lake on Over Dragon River containing many sturgeons and three enormous Spirit Monsters, and suggested it might hold something left behind by a Flood Dragon.
• Yang Dongxiong cautioned his disciples against rushing into the lake and revealed that a visiting martial arts school planned to challenge the Yang Martial Hall’s disciples in two days.
• Liang Qu learned that the contest would pit three disciples from each school against one another and that he had been chosen as the Yang Martial Hall’s youngest representative.

Liang Qu prepared for the challenge match between Yang Martial Hall and a visiting martial arts school while keeping up his studies and training. By noon, a crowd had gathered to watch the match, and the challengers arrived.

• Liang Qu practiced calligraphy at the academy, where Si Hengyi praised his progress and planned to watch the match.
• Liang Qu rode Red Mountain through the academy grounds, identified himself as Yang Dongxiong’s ninth disciple, and invited youths to join Yang Martial Hall.
• Lan Tai admitted he had followed Liang Qu out of curiosity after delivering the challenge card, and Liang Qu let him go without accepting his apology money.
• Liang Qu confirmed Lan Tai’s identity at Evergreen Medical Hall, then continued studying medicine and following his regular training schedule.
• Liang Qu arrived early at Yang Martial Hall and stayed fresh for the match as the school prepared its expanded grounds for the growing crowd.
• At noon, townsfolk crowded around Yang Martial Hall, and spectators called out as the challengers arrived.

Liang Qu faced Pang Qinghe’s towering ninth disciple, Kou Zhuang, in the first bare-handed match between the martial arts schools. After catching Kou Zhuang’s full-force punch without retreating, Liang Qu began forcing him backward with greater strength, leaving the crowd stunned.

• Pang Qinghe brought his disciples to Yang Martial Hall, where Yang Dongxiong agreed to three unarmed matches starting with the youngest disciples.
• The spectators saw that Liang Qu was much smaller than Kou Zhuang and feared he would lose the opening match.
• Kou Zhuang gathered his strength and charged at Liang Qu with a devastating punch.
• Liang Qu stood his ground and caught Kou Zhuang’s punch, sinking both legs into the mud but remaining upright.
• Liang Qu drove forward with his own strength and began pushing Kou Zhuang backward, astonishing Pang Qinghe and the watching crowd.

Liang Qu overwhelmingly defeated Kou Zhuang in the martial arts contest, showcasing his superior strength and technique. Kou Zhuang refused to yield despite being battered, until Pang Qinghe knocked him unconscious and admitted defeat.

• Liang Qu overpowered Kou Zhuang in a contest of strength, forcing the giant backward as spectators cheered.
• Liang Qu kicked Kou Zhuang across the field and sent him crashing into a stone pillar, but Kou Zhuang struggled back to his feet.
• Liang Qu struck Kou Zhuang repeatedly and sent him into the pillar again, leaving him unable to breathe.
• Pang Qinghe told Kou Zhuang to stop and admitted defeat, but Kou Zhuang insisted he had not lost and staggered upright again.
• Pang Qinghe knocked Kou Zhuang unconscious and formally admitted defeat in the match.

Liang Qu defeated Kou Zhuang in a public challenge, securing Yang Martial Hall’s reputation and drawing a surge of new students. Pang Qinghe admitted defeat and left, while Liang Qu received a reward and helped register the eager recruits.

• Liang Qu defeated Kou Zhuang decisively, and Pang Qinghe conceded the challenge and praised Yang Dongxiong’s strength.
• Pang Qinghe paid Yang Dongxiong three hundred taels for rebuilding the Martial Arts Field, then left with Kou Zhuang and his disciples.
• Pang Qinghe told his disciples that Liang Qu possessed an Innate Martial Bone, explaining why Kou Zhuang could not match him.
• A crowd gathered to enroll at Yang Martial Hall, and Yang Dongxiong gave Liang Qu one hundred taels before granting the apprentices five days off.
• Liang Qu and Xiang ChangSong registered new students, and Xiang ChangSong teased Liang Qu about attracting many female apprentices.

Liang Qu observed Xiang ChangSong’s dangerous Blood Barrier breakthrough, which made him a true Martial Master, and celebrated with the others at Lang Yun Tower. The evening ended with Yang Dongxiong planning to visit Liang Qu’s small lake after Liang Qu broke through the Bone Barrier.

• Liang Qu helped close the martial arts school and went with Xiang ChangSong and Hu Qi to Yang Dongxiong’s residence to witness the breakthrough.
• Xiang ChangSong completed three cycles of blood exchange and coagulation, survived the ordeal, and emerged with stronger, condensed blood Qi.
• Xiang ChangSong celebrated his breakthrough with Yang Dongxiong’s group, and they encountered Pang Qinghe and his disciples on the way to Lang Yun Tower.
• Xiang ChangSong treated the group to a lavish dinner, but a Martial Master who had accompanied them secretly paid the bill.
• Liang Qu told Yang Dongxiong he would break through the Bone Barrier within a day, and Yang Dongxiong proposed visiting Liang Qu’s small lake afterward.

After eating Treasure Fish, Liang Qu broke through the third bone-tempering transformation and strengthened his skeleton. He headed back to report his advance to his Master before his upcoming River Conservancy Office appointment, while Hu Qi and Xiang ChangSong were struck by how quickly he was progressing.

• Liang Qu ate a Treasure Fish and sat in the stone hollow to cultivate, merging his blood and qi into his bones for the third time.
• Liang Qu endured a painful transformation as every bone in his body was tempered, then rose with a stronger, more resilient skeleton.
• Liang Qu set off for Ping Yang Town and noticed how quickly its growing dock and businesses had made the town more prosperous.
• Liang Qu notified Hu Qi and Xiang ChangSong after returning to the Martial Arts School and changing into his gear.
• Hu Qi sensed Liang Qu's breakthrough, and he and Xiang ChangSong worried that Liang Qu might reach the Galloping Horse Realm before they did.

Liang Qu accompanied Yang Dongxiong and the senior brothers to hunt a Sturgeon King whose lake they had located. Yang Dongxiong drained the lake and trapped the wounded demon, then attacked it as it struggled to escape.

• Liang Qu led Yang Dongxiong and seven senior brothers to a lake where three Sturgeon Monster Spirits patrolled the entrance.
• Yang Dongxiong assigned Yu Dun, Lu Gang, and Xu Zishuai to block the lake mouth while the others watched the river channel.
• Yang Dongxiong unleashed a powerful saber strike that shattered the Sturgeon King's stone palace and wounded the giant demon.
• Yang Dongxiong's following strikes drove water out of the lake, and Yu Dun, Lu Gang, and Xu Zishuai sealed the lake mouth with an embankment.
• The Sturgeon King grew four limbs in an attempt to escape onto land, but Yang Dongxiong entered the lake and attacked it while it was trapped.

Yang Dongxiong and the group harvested the Sturgeon King and discovered that its unusual Dragon Tendon and growth came from a Dragon Bone hidden beneath the lake. After dividing the tendon, they left with a valuable prize and a clearer explanation for the Sturgeon King's presence.

• Yang Dongxiong extracted a pale-gold Dragon Tendon from the Sturgeon King, and its aura drove the fish in the lake into a frenzy.
• Liang Qu suspected the Sturgeon King had stayed in the small lake because something there attracted it, so Yang Dongxiong led the group underwater to investigate.
• Yang Dongxiong found a decayed, broken beast bone deep beneath the lake and suspected it was a Dragon Bone that had nurtured the Sturgeon King.
• Yang Dongxiong explained that the Sturgeon King had hidden the Dragon Bone to keep other Demon Beasts from taking it and might have grown stronger if it had survived.
• Yang Dongxiong divided the Sturgeon King's Dragon Tendon among the group, giving Liang Qu two and a half zhang.

Yang Dongxiong’s group divided up the Sturgeon King’s Dragon Tendon, Dragon Bone, fish skin, and meat, then returned to the Yang Residence and decided how to use the spoils. Liang Qu went home to refine his share and gained Marsh Essence and a Ying Long Mark from eating it.

• Yang Dongxiong divided the Dragon Tendon among the group, assigned Lu Gang to make inner armor and reinforce Liang Qu’s spear, and ordered everyone to keep the Dragon Tendon and Dragon Bone secret.
• Xu Zishuai startled an old farmer by carrying the dead Sturgeon King’s head through the woods, and the group carried the fish through town as onlookers gathered.
• Xu Shi arranged for the remaining fish meat to be sold, supplied to Martial Arts School apprentices, and made into porridge for disaster victims.
• Yang Dongxiong let the group choose between eating Sturgeon Meat and refining the Dragon Tendon, and everyone chose the tendon.
• Liang Qu left Fubo with Lu Gang for reinforcement, took Sturgeon King meat home for the four little ones, and ate his Dragon Tendon in his new Quiet Room, gaining Marsh Essence and one Ying Long Mark.

Liang Qu discovered that the Ying Long Mark let him move through space by changing between motion and stillness, and it granted him River's Favor. Meanwhile, Fat Catfish followed his search orders into a violent current, found a sunken ship, and faced an enormous creature as Liang Qu returned from testing his new ability.

• Liang Qu examined the Ying Long Mark on his back and learned it had given him 0.01 River's Favor.
• Liang Qu experienced himself becoming a wisp of qi that could travel freely through the world, then found himself atop a roof.
• Fat Catfish was swept into powerful undercurrents while searching the riverbed and was carried to unfamiliar ground.
• Fat Catfish discovered a sunken ship, but a colossal hand struck the riverbed and two enormous yellow lamps approached it.
• Liang Qu practiced changing the qi around himself and returned to the courtyard, realizing he had gained a movement ability beyond ordinary martial arts.

Liang Qu absorbed the Sturgeon King's Dragon Tendon, which improved his circulation and caused his teeth to fall out and regrow. Meanwhile, the Fat Catfish was captured by a giant Toad in the Deep Water Core Area and tried to bargain for its freedom by offering to find ships.

• Liang Qu cultivated as the Dragon Tendon's effects spread through his body, clearing his meridians and causing all his teeth to fall out before new ones grew in.
• The Fat Catfish was repeatedly swept back by the legs of a giant creature and discovered that a Toad had captured it.
• The Toad questioned the Fat Catfish and learned that an undercurrent had carried it from the Shallow Water Area.
• The Toad placed the Fat Catfish inside a Giant Clam shell protected by a transparent barrier, then fell asleep.
• The Fat Catfish offered to help the Toad collect nearby sunken ships, but signaled that it wanted something in exchange.