Chapter Summaries

Ji Shu visited Ren Woxing in West Lake Prison despite warnings about the Great Star Absorbing Technique. Ren Woxing failed to drain Ji Shu’s inner strength, and Ji Shu struck him with a punch.

• Huang Zhonggong and the others warned Ji Shu that Ren Woxing’s Great Star Absorbing Technique could drain even powerful martial artists.
• Ji Shu ordered Huang Zhonggong to open the prison and confronted Ren Woxing, who was chained inside.
• Ren Woxing tried to seize Ji Shu and drain his inner strength, but Ji Shu’s strength remained unmoved.
• Ji Shu smiled and suddenly punched Ren Woxing.

Ji Shu knocked Ren Woxing unconscious with one punch, then discovered and mastered the Great Star Absorbing Technique hidden beneath the cell’s bed. He suppressed its dangerous force and prepared to leave with Qu Feiyan, who warned that another Player might find the technique.

• Ji Shu struck Ren Woxing unconscious with one punch, astonishing Huang Zhonggong, Dan Qingsheng, and the others.
• Ji Shu cut Ren Woxing’s chains and ordered Huang Zhonggong and the others to bind and remove him.
• Ji Shu uncovered the Great Star Absorbing Technique beneath the straw mat and quickly understood and memorized it.
• Ji Shu cultivated a small Black Hole Force in his dantian, then suppressed it because it could drain his essence without Treasure Medicine.
• Qu Feiyan warned Ji Shu that leaving the technique behind could let a Player obtain it.

Ji Shu took Ren Woxing from West Lake Prison and arranged to exchange him for Ren Yingying’s promised treasures. Ren Yingying and Xiang Wentian debated whether to cooperate with Ji Shu or oppose him, and she decided to enlist Linghu Chong’s help.

• Ji Shu left West Lake Plum Manor with Ren Woxing, disguised him, and set out for Fuzhou with Huang Zhonggong and the others.
• Xiang Wentian met Ji Shu and agreed to exchange Ren Woxing for the treasures that night at Ziliang Inn in Lin'an City.
• Xiang Wentian urged Ren Yingying to help Ren Woxing awaken and join forces against Ji Shu, but Ren Yingying warned that Ji Shu was too dangerous to provoke.
• Xiang Wentian explained how Ji Shu had thwarted his plans, and Ren Yingying chose to stand by Xiang Wentian while still regretting their conflict with Ji Shu.
• Ren Yingying revealed that Linghu Chong had arrived but missed the West Lake operation, and she proposed bringing him in to strengthen their position.

Ren Yingying exchanged the promised items with Ji Shu to free Ren Woxing, but Linghu Chong attacked Ji Shu as the group was leaving. Ji Shu nearly killed Linghu Chong before Xiang Wentian intervened, and Qu Feiyan condemned Linghu Chong for his hypocrisy.

• Ren Yingying and Xiang Wentian discussed Linghu Chong's guilt over missing the battle and decided to bring him along as support.
• Ren Yingying arrived at Ziliang Inn and gave Ji Shu the promised bag and secret manuals in exchange for Ren Woxing.
• Qu Feiyan cut Ren Woxing's chains, and he reunited emotionally with Ren Yingying.
• Linghu Chong ambushed Ji Shu with his sword, but Ji Shu caught it, kicked Linghu Chong away, and hurled the sword back at him.
• Xiang Wentian knocked Linghu Chong aside before the sword could kill him, and Qu Feiyan rebuked Linghu Chong for attacking Ji Shu after condemning him.

Ji Shu killed Linghu Chong with a lightning-fast sword strike despite Ren Yingying’s pleas, and Ren Woxing tried to recruit him immediately afterward. The chapter ended with Linghu Chong dying while Ren Yingying wept and Ji Shu refused Ren Woxing’s invitation.

• Qu Feiyan rebuked Linghu Chong for claiming credit for saving her, and Ren Yingying stepped in front of him to beg Ji Shu to spare his life.
• Linghu Chong refused to let Ren Yingying bargain for him, and Ji Shu struck through nine phantom figures, cutting Linghu Chong’s throat.
• Ren Yingying wept and called for Ren Woxing and Xiang Wentian to save Linghu Chong, but Ren Woxing said the wound was fatal.
• Ji Shu turned to leave, but Ren Woxing stopped him and proposed they talk and become friends.
• Ji Shu rejected the invitation, saying he could never be friends with the man who had killed Ren Yingying’s lover, while Linghu Chong’s thoughts fixed on Ji Shu’s sword as he died.

After Linghu Chong died, Ren Woxing tried to arrange a marriage between Ren Yingying and Ji Shu, but Ji Shu rejected him and rode away. Ren Woxing discovered that Linghu Chong’s internal energy had been drained and concluded that Ji Shu had used the Great Star Absorbing Technique, leaving him determined to confront Ji Shu.

• Ren Yingying grieved over Linghu Chong’s death and concealed her hatred for Ji Shu.
• Ren Woxing proposed that Ji Shu marry Ren Yingying, but Ji Shu refused and pointed out that she loved Linghu Chong.
• Ren Woxing threatened to strike Linghu Chong’s corpse, and Ren Yingying shielded it and demanded that her father show the dead respect.
• Ji Shu and his companions rode away, while Ren Woxing pursued them briefly before his injuries forced him to stop.
• Ren Woxing examined Linghu Chong and found that his internal energy had been drained; he suspected Ji Shu had used the Great Star Absorbing Technique.
• Unable to resolve how Ji Shu could have mastered the technique, Ren Woxing decided to ask him directly.

Ren Woxing abandoned hopes of recruiting Ji Shu and agreed to Xiang Wentian’s plan to use Dongfang Bubai against him. Meanwhile, Ji Shu reached a city and quickly mastered the White Python Whip Technique.

• Ren Yingying told Ren Woxing that Ji Shu would never love her and explained how rapidly he had grown powerful as a Player.
• Ren Woxing learned about Players and their missions, then agreed with Xiang Wentian to use Dongfang Bubai to kill Ji Shu.
• Ren Woxing regretted losing Linghu Chong as an ally and decided Ji Shu would face the consequences of rejecting him.
• Ji Shu and his companions rode through the night and reached a city by dawn.
• Ji Shu read Ren Yingying’s White Python Whip Technique once, grasped its essence, and practiced it with a rope.

Ji Shu mastered several martial techniques, strengthened his inner power, and created a new sword art before learning that Mu Gaofeng had been lured to Fuzhou to kill him. He went to Fuzhou alone while Qu Feiyan and the others traveled to a nearby town to await his return.

• Ji Shu mastered the White Python Whip Technique, Serpent Coil and Civet Flip, and Great Demon Subduing Fist, absorbing their forces into the Righteous Qi Sword.
• Ji Shu consumed Thousand-Year Ginseng to strengthen the Supreme Induction Art and reflected on how the Great Star Absorbing Technique let him absorb and refine other people's inner strength.
• Ji Shu created a more variable and ruthless Righteous Qi Sword Art, while Qu Feiyan admired his talent and began cultivating more diligently.
• Ji Shu intercepted a carrier pigeon and read Mu Gaofeng's letter agreeing to attend Hong Gao's Demon Subduing Convention in Fuzhou and kill Ji Shu for the Nine Yin Manual.
• Ji Shu decided to enter Fuzhou alone, and Qu Feiyan and the others traveled by carriage to a nearby town to wait for him.

Ji Shu entered Fuzhou City, where martial artists and Players had gathered to ambush him, and calmly survived a close-range attack before warning off the local defense commander. He reached an inn as the city’s residents fled in fear.

• Qu Feiyan brought word that Fuzhou City was full of people waiting to trap Ji Shu, and Dan Qingsheng persuaded Huang Zhonggong and the others to disguise themselves and go help him.
• Ji Shu entered Fuzhou City carrying several swords and a whip, drawing the attention of the gathered martial artists and Players.
• An old hunchbacked man attacked Ji Shu from behind with a Hump Sword, but Ji Shu disarmed and killed him with a backhand slash.
• Wu Tiande identified himself as Fuzhou’s defense commander and threatened to arrest Ji Shu, but Ji Shu ordered him to leave and Wu Tiande fled with his soldiers.
• Ji Shu went to an inn, where the frightened innkeeper offered him a free stay and refused his silver.

Ji Shu absorbed Mu Gaofeng’s internal force, suspected his identity, and planned to investigate the Lin Family Old Residence while developing a new cultivation method. Meanwhile, Qinghai Yixiao and other martial artists schemed to kill Ji Shu for the Nine Yin Manual, and the chapter ended with a fire breaking out near his inn.

• Ji Shu refined Mu Gaofeng’s internal force into Black Hole internal force and suspected the dead man was Mu Gaofeng, the Bright Camel of the Northern Frontier.
• Ji Shu requested a map of Fuzhou City and resumed fusing cultivation methods, hoping to create a powerful new method that could draw on the Evil Warding Sword Manual.
• Martial artists watching Shangliang Inn discussed Mu Gaofeng’s death and decided to revise their plans to kill Ji Shu.
• Qinghai Yixiao and the others plotted to obtain the Nine Yin Manual through Hong Gao’s bounty for Ji Shu’s head.
• Ji Shu memorized a map of Fuzhou City, then heard shouts of fire and saw flames rising about a hundred meters away.

Ji Shu escaped a vast, deliberately set fire only to find Players waiting beyond it, and he fought through their ambush. Hong Gao ordered reinforcements to wear him down, while Zu Qianqiu and other martial artists watched and still hoped to obtain the complete Nine Yin Manual.

• Ji Shu saw fires surrounding Shangliang Inn and suspected the blaze had been set to kill him.
• Ji Shu used his inner force and martial arts to cross the sea of flames and reach the Players waiting outside.
• Ji Shu survived three volleys of crossbow bolts and charged into the Players, killing many with his sword and whip.
• Hong Gao ordered the Players to hold their ground, form a military formation, and bring in reinforcements to exhaust Ji Shu.
• Qinghai Yixiao and the Old Man among the Yellow River Ancestors were shocked by the Players' strength, while Zu Qianqiu predicted Hong Gao would still need martial artists to kill Ji Shu.

Ji Shu fought off Hong Gao’s forces and the martial artists who sought to claim the Nine Yin Manual, killing Yu Yinzi and defeating Master Fang Sheng’s Shaolin monks. He continued charging through the monks as the fires behind him consumed the trapped civilians.

• Zu Qianqiu persuaded Qinghai Yixiao and other wandering martial artists to wait until Ji Shu’s inner force was depleted before attacking.
• Ji Shu slaughtered the elite Players, and Hong Gao offered the complete Nine Yin Manual to anyone who captured him.
• Yu Yinzi of the Mount Tai Sect attacked Ji Shu with the Crane Spring Technique, but Ji Shu killed him with a single whip strike.
• Master Fang Sheng confronted Ji Shu and led the Shaolin monks into battle after Ji Shu killed three monks with his whip.
• Ji Shu broke the Demon Subduing Formation with the Righteous Qi Sword and cut Master Fang Sheng’s neck before charging at the remaining monks.

Ji Shu killed Master Fang Sheng, Shaolin Temple’s elites, Hong Gao’s guards, and then defeated Hong Gao, sparing him to learn about the Players. Hong Gao revealed that the Hong Kingdom had cultivated vast numbers of Players and conquered several worlds, leaving Ji Shu alarmed by the scale of the threat.

• Master Fang Sheng died regretting that he had ignored Master Kongji’s warning, and Ji Shu killed the remaining Shaolin elites and Hong Gao’s guards.
• Ji Shu struck Hong Gao down, and Hong Gao tried to save his life by offering to recommend Ji Shu to the Players’ higher-ups.
• Ji Shu questioned Hong Gao about the Players, and Hong Gao claimed that roughly one million remained in the world of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.
• Hong Gao explained that Blue Star’s governments trained experts as Players, and that the several thousand who had attacked Ji Shu were cultivated by the Hong Kingdom.
• Hong Gao said the Hong Kingdom had hundreds of thousands of such Players and had probably conquered four worlds.

Ji Shu questioned Hong Gao about the Players’ conquered worlds and secured a handwritten copy of the complete Nine Yin Manual. He learned that Xia Kingdom might accept him into its upper ranks and that cultivators could not enter The Smiling, Proud Wanderer world, then asked about Chen Miaoshou’s Sword Control Technique inheritance.

• Hong Gao listed the worlds conquered by Hong Kingdom and explained that its plans to conquer The Smiling, Proud Wanderer had stalled after a traitor killed children of the upper ranks.
• Ji Shu took Hong Gao’s Nine Yin Manual and asked which country’s upper ranks Hong Gao could persuade to accept him.
• Hong Gao offered to seek help from Xia Emperor Xia Wuyan, and Ji Shu ordered him to send a confidant with a letter to verify the offer before Ji Shu would release him.
• Hong Gao explained that only new Players entered one world, while old Players could visit Located Worlds with the Locator’s permission; Ji Shu decided to hurry toward completing his Main Quest and restrict access to The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.
• Hong Gao identified Chen Daoxian as Chen Yuan’s son and said Chen Daoxian had passed the Sword Control Technique to Chen Miaoshou and provided his children with Divine Techniques and Treasure Medicine.

Ji Shu learned from Hong Gao how the upper echelons controlled low-level Players and used them to complete Main Quests, then drained Hong Gao’s inner force and drove off the martial artists who had gathered to attack him. He resolved to unite the martial world and lock down The Smiling, Proud Wanderer world to protect the Mount Hua Sect.

• Ji Shu questioned Hong Gao about Players, the Tower of the Multiverse, and the powerful clans and royal families who controlled Main Quests.
• Hong Gao revealed that Chen Miaoshou was the Ninth Princess’s brother-in-law and had been assigned to the Sword Stained with Royal Blood world.
• Ji Shu drained Hong Gao’s inner force with the Great Star Absorbing Technique and kept him alive, warning that his fate depended on his behavior.
• Ji Shu learned that the martial artists who had come to surround him, including experts from Shaolin Temple and the Wudang Sect, had fled.
• Ji Shu decided to unite the martial world and complete the quest to prevent Players from entering the world.
• Qu Feiyan, Huang Zhonggong, and the others arrived, and Ji Shu told them to guard Hong Gao and clean up the battlefield.

Ji Shu defeated the attackers in Fuzhou City, then found the Lin Family Old Residence burned and confronted Hong Gao over the deaths of hundreds of civilians. After making Hong Gao send a letter, Ji Shu left the city with his companions and their spoils, while Zu Qianqiu’s group watched from hiding.

• Huang Zhonggong, Dan Qingsheng, Heibaizi, and Tu Biweng marveled at Ji Shu’s strength, while Hong Gao suspected Ji Shu was an immortal cultivator and a Dragon Prince.
• Ji Shu found the Lin Family Old Residence reduced to ashes and questioned Hong Gao about the civilians killed in the fire.
• Hong Gao claimed Zhu Houzhao would be unable to punish them if they completed their Main Quest, and Ji Shu ordered him to write a letter.
• Dan Qingsheng provided writing supplies, Hong Gao completed the letter, and Ji Shu had him send it by carrier pigeon.
• Ji Shu’s group took Hong Gao and rode out of Fuzhou City with gold, silver, and secret manuals.
• Zu Qianqiu, Qinghai Yixiao, and Old Man emerged from hiding, discussed Ji Shu’s strength, and decided they had no hope of obtaining the complete Nine Yin Manual.

Ji Shu’s enemies decided he was too powerful to oppose and withdrew from plans to challenge him. On the journey back to Mount Hua, Ji Shu perfected forty-seven martial techniques, each producing nine strands of Force.

• The old man, Zu Qianqiu, and the others abandoned Saint Aunt’s cause and fled rather than risk facing Ji Shu.
• Yu Canghai learned that Ji Shu’s strength came from his extraordinary talent, not the Evil Warding Sword Manual, and resolved to hide with the Qingcheng Sect until Ji Shu completed his mission.
• Ji Shu traveled north toward Mount Hua with Huang Zhonggong and the others guarding him, while Hong Gao and Qu Feiyan rode in the carriage with him.
• Ji Shu practiced forty-seven different martial techniques on the journey and perfected each one, generating nine strands of Force from every technique.
• Hong Gao, Qu Feiyan, and Huang Zhonggong’s group watched Ji Shu’s progress and became convinced that he had exceptional talent.

Ji Shu learned from Hong Gao that Ren Yingying had secretly lured him to West Lake so Linghu Chong and the sects could kill him. The chapter left Ji Shu aware that Ren Yingying might continue plotting against him after Linghu Chong’s death.

• Ji Shu returned to the carriage and ate Great Medicine while Hong Gao questioned whether he was an Immortal cultivator; Ji Shu denied it and agreed to let Hong Gao send another letter.
• Hong Gao sent his second letter, then watched Ji Shu teach Qu Feiyan sword practice while fearing Ji Shu might silence him.
• Hong Gao revealed that Ren Yingying had obtained part of his Nine Yin Manual and other treasures, then used them to lure Ji Shu from Mount Hua toward the planned West Lake ambush.
• Qu Feiyan and Huang Zhonggong agreed that Ren Yingying had intended to kill Ji Shu, and Huang Zhonggong urged him to strike first if they met again.
• Ji Shu realized Ren Yingying had likely known about Linghu Chong’s conspiracy and might target him again after he killed Linghu Chong.

Ji Shu created a stronger Righteous Qi Sword Art as news of the Fuzhou Campaign made him infamous throughout the Jianghu. The Cang Twin Swords delivered Zhu Houzhao’s demand that he come to the capital, and Ji Shu agreed to go in a month while sending the emperor Hong Gao’s account of the campaign.

• Ji Shu fused forty-seven martial arts methods into a new Righteous Qi Sword Art, astonishing Hong Gao and his companions with its power.
• Jianghu people and Players fled from Ji Shu, whose reputation as the greatest demon under heaven had spread after the Fuzhou Campaign.
• Huang Zhonggong suspected someone was spreading rumors to ruin Ji Shu’s reputation, while Qu Feiyan wondered whether Ren Yingying, Wudang, and the Players were behind them.
• Wu Yun and Wu Shuang, the Cang Twin Swords, asked Ji Shu to meet Zhu Houzhao in the capital; Ji Shu agreed to go in a month.
• Ji Shu ordered Hong Gao to write an account of the Fuzhou Campaign for the Cang Twin Swords to deliver to Zhu Houzhao.
• Hong Gao explained that the court had planned to kill Ji Shu and the martial arts experts in Fuzhou before rapidly unifying the Jianghu, but the campaign’s failure had disrupted the plan.

Ji Shu returned to Mount Hua after Hong Gao warned that Zhu Houzhao might move against anyone seeking to unify the Jianghu. Reunited with Yue Lingshan and welcomed by the sect, Ji Shu began cultivating the complete Nine Yin Manual, quickly producing Nine Yin True Qi.

• Hong Gao warned Ji Shu that Zhu Houzhao was decisive and might launch the Thunder Plan, forcing Ji Shu to oppose the emperor to complete his mission.
• Ji Shu ordered Hong Gao and the others to ride with him to Mount Hua so he could cultivate the Nine Yin Manual.
• Yue Lingshan joyfully welcomed Ji Shu, while Qu Feiyan watched their reunion with complicated feelings.
• Qu Feiyan recounted Ji Shu's recent battles to the Mount Hua group, astonishing Yue Buqun, Ning Zhongze, and the others.
• Yue Buqun advised Ji Shu to remain on Mount Hua, and Ji Shu agreed before returning to his courtyard.
• Ji Shu read the complete Nine Yin Manual and quickly developed Nine Yin True Qi, drawing enough Qi Mechanism from the Old Sophora Tree for colored mist to gather around him.