Chapter Summaries

Ling Wuyuan overwhelmed Wang Jian and effortlessly cut Yan Linde’s treasured sword in half, revealing the corrosive power of his gray mist and suggesting he possessed a rare high-grade special physique. As Chen Li returned, he found the battle’s situation bewildering and wondered how much longer Zhang Tang would take to arrive.

• Ling Wuyuan struck Wang Jian flying through a line of buildings and judged that Wang Jian had survived the blow.
• Yan Linde attacked Ling Wuyuan, but Ling Wuyuan’s gray-mist-wrapped sword corroded his true qi and split his treasured sword in half.
• Yan Linde realized Ling Wuyuan might possess a high-grade special physique and feared he could not defeat him.
• Ling Wuyuan considered the gray mist’s corrosive and strengthening properties, then invited Yan Linde to continue so he could test his power.
• Chen Li returned with his spear, saw Wang Jian and the others, and wondered who Ling Wuyuan was and when Zhang Tang would arrive.

Wang Jian used the Blood Burning Secret Method to attack Ling Wuyuan, but Ling’s power overwhelmed him and his azure sword cut through Wang’s weapon and continued toward his body. Yan Linde rushed in to help, and Ling intercepted his punch, cleaving his arm lengthwise as the fight continued.

• Wang Jian activated the Blood Burning Secret Method, forcing himself to attack before the technique consumed his life.
• Ling Wuyuan swung his sword behind him and effortlessly cut Wang Jian’s sword in half, continuing his strike toward Wang’s body.
• Yan Linde charged at Ling Wuyuan with a flame-wreathed punch to distract him and give Wang Jian a chance to survive.
• Ling Wuyuan sped up his sword strike, intercepted Yan Linde’s punch, and split Yan’s right arm lengthwise.

Ling Wuyuan killed Yan Linde after explaining he had only acted because Town Chief Zhang was arranging an overly hospitable welcome. As fighting continued around the Jiang family mansion and the city, the Jiang family ancestor and Chen Li realized how completely outmatched the bandit leaders had been.

• Yan Linde asked Ling Wuyuan his name and assumed he had come to build a reputation by defeating the bandits.
• Ling Wuyuan told Yan Linde he was merely passing through to buy soy sauce and had acted because of Town Chief Zhang’s hospitality.
• Ling Wuyuan killed Yan Linde, then surveyed the burning mansion and heard the Crimson Fire Bandits still fighting around the city.
• The Jiang family ancestor thanked Ling Wuyuan and offered a reward, while Chen Li watched in silence.
• Yan Linde and Wang Jian’s bodies split apart, and Chen Li and the Jiang family ancestor saw that Ling Wuyuan had defeated them without being touched.

After the Crimson Fire Bandits were wiped out, the Jiang family counted its dead and faced the loss of its Patriarch and much of its strength. The Jiang family ancestor sent Ling Wuyuan to the treasure vault as a reward, then began arranging for the family to secure his protection.

• The local forces exterminated the remaining Crimson Fire Bandits, while fires and destruction left much of Taixia Town and the Jiang family mansion in ruins.
• The Jiang family ancestor saw that more than a third of the family’s personnel at its Taixia Town headquarters, including the Patriarch, had died, and ordered messengers to summon members and prepare to elect a new Patriarch.
• The Jiang family ancestor named Ling Wuyuan the family’s savior and ordered the Head Butler to let him take anything he wanted from the treasure vault.
• Ling Wuyuan followed the Head Butler to the treasure vault and accepted the reward.
• After Ling Wuyuan left, the Jiang family ancestor ordered the Third Butler to bring him the five most beautiful surviving young women, intending to secure Ling Wuyuan’s support against the town’s other families.

Ling Wuyuan toured the Jiang family’s heavily fortified metal vault after the Crimson Fire Bandits’ attack and learned it contained a catastrophic trap of Fire Toxin Solution. He began selecting treasures for himself, revealing that he could store them in spatial rings, while the head butler realized the vault was about to be emptied.

• Ling Wuyuan walked through the grieving Jiang family, reflecting that the strong lived and the weak died, and that he accepted the possibility of being killed in the future.
• The head butler brought Ling Wuyuan to a metal vault and explained that its defenses could release more than a thousand kilograms of Fire Toxin Solution if anyone tried to break in.
• Ling Wuyuan recognized that the vault’s poison and extreme heat could devastate the Jiang family, the Crimson Fire Bandits, and residents across Taixia Town.
• The head butler began listing the vault’s treasures, and Ling Wuyuan chose a piece of Black Moon Snow Pattern Iron.
• Ling Wuyuan stored the iron in a spatial ring, prompting the head butler to realize that Ling Wuyuan intended to take the vault’s treasures, then continued his inventory.

After clearing out the Jiang family’s treasure vault, Ling Wuyuan returned to the main hall, where Taixia Town’s leaders and local family heads praised him for defeating the Crimson Fire Bandits. They continued to assume he came from a powerful faction despite his honest denials, while Chen Li offered him the bandits’ spoils and access to the White Mist Country Bounty Office’s Merits exchange.

• Ling Wuyuan collected rare materials and secret manuals from the Jiang family’s treasure vault.
• Zhang Tang praised Ling Wuyuan for defeating the Crimson Fire Bandits, and the Jiang family ancestor asked whether he had found anything he liked.
• Ling Wuyuan said he had already stored his selections in his spatial ring, and the Jiang family ancestor recognized one of his family’s collectibles among them.
• Zhang Tang and the others assumed Ling Wuyuan came from a major faction, leaving him frustrated that no one believed his explanation.
• Chen Li offered Ling Wuyuan the bandits’ spoils and help exchanging their bounty for items from the White Mist Country Bounty Office.
• The local family heads thanked Ling Wuyuan and invited him to a banquet the following day.

Ling Wuyuan used his newly acquired True Qi and Flawless Circle to refine medicine with extraordinary control, while deciding to hide the full nature of his unusual power. The medicinal fragrance spread through town and drew the attention of a passing cultivator, who recognized that a skilled Alchemist was at work.

• Ling Wuyuan discovered that his True Qi could imitate different attributes and produce flames, and he decided to present himself as possessing the Five Elements and Gray Mist attributes.
• Ling Wuyuan used True Qi and his Flawless Circle to precisely control the flames and medicinal ingredients inside the cauldron.
• A strong medicinal scent spread from Yellow Cloud Restaurant, stirring nearby animals and drawing birds to the building.
• A cultivator riding through town smelled the medicine and recognized that a grade-level Alchemist was refining it.

Ling Wuyuan finished refining a stronger batch of Marching Pills and learned that an Article Compiler from the News Report wanted to interview him about his prospects for the Hero Ranking. He agreed to meet the visitor, leaving his rising fame and the results of his pill-making in focus.

• Birds gathered in huge numbers around the Yellow Cloud Restaurant, drawn by the medicinal fragrance and wary of Ling Wuyuan inside.
• A maid told Ling Wuyuan that Town Chief Zhang and General Chen had prepared the requested gifts and that a visitor with a special identity wished to speak with him.
• The maid explained that the visitor was an Article Compiler from the News Report’s Snow Deer Prefecture branch, who wanted to interview Ling Wuyuan about his chances of entering the Hero Ranking.
• Ling Wuyuan agreed to meet the Article Compiler after testing his Marching Pills and finding them three or four times more potent than before.

Li Yunchen of the News Report’s Snow Deer Prefecture Branch interviewed Ling Wuyuan after investigating his rise to fame and his past near Black Stone City. The chapter left Li Yunchen reassured that Ling Wuyuan did not mind the investigation and ready to choose his questions carefully.

• Ling Wuyuan reflected on having been interviewed in his previous life and found the encounter with the News Report’s Article Compiler strangely familiar.
• Li Yunchen introduced himself and explained that he had come because Ling Wuyuan shared a name and similar strength with another young man he had heard about.
• Ling Wuyuan told Li Yunchen that he was the same person, explaining that he had once had black hair and black eyes before awakening a special physique.
• Li Yunchen described how his colleague had investigated Ling Wuyuan’s defeat of the Cloud Piercing Gang and his time with the White Crow Gang.
• Li Yunchen watched for signs of displeasure, but Ling Wuyuan remained calm, leaving him to consider which questions were safe to ask.

Li Yunchen interviewed Ling Wuyuan about his name and time in the White Crow Gang, but he and the maid doubted Ling’s honest answers. Li Yunchen recorded Ling’s account anyway, though he remained convinced that Ling was hiding a powerful background.

• Li Yunchen asked whether Ling Wuyuan was using his real name and whether he came from a family or faction, and Ling said his name was real and he had no background.
• Li Yunchen asked why Ling had stayed with the White Crow Gang, and Ling said he had wanted basic education, cultivation manuals, and free food and lodging.
• The maid laughed at Ling’s explanation, and Li Yunchen silently urged him to invent a more plausible story.
• Ling insisted that he had told the truth and demanded that Li Yunchen record his words without changing them.
• Li Yunchen wrote down Ling’s account while privately believing that Ling had an inheritance or hidden background.

Ling Wuyuan told Li Yunchen that he intended to become the strongest and explained why he believed he could achieve it despite the immense gulf between the strong and the strongest. Li Yunchen worried that publishing Ling Wuyuan’s words would provoke hostility, but Ling Wuyuan dismissed the danger and invited anyone offended to come kill him.

• Li Yunchen asked Ling Wuyuan about his plans, and Ling Wuyuan said he wanted to become the strongest.
• Ling Wuyuan argued that becoming the strongest was a common ideal but nearly impossible for most people to attain.
• Ling Wuyuan declared that he was qualified to overcome every obstacle and reach the highest point.
• Li Yunchen stopped writing and feared that publishing Ling Wuyuan’s confident words would make him enemies.
• Li Yunchen cautioned Ling Wuyuan against being too high-spirited, but Ling Wuyuan said that anyone angered by his words could come hack him to death.

Ling Wuyuan explained to Li Yunchen that he followed his own will without regard for morality or others’ hatred, and welcomed enemies as trials that could help him prove his strength. Li Yunchen recognized the danger behind Ling Wuyuan’s calm demeanor and realized he had no chance of surviving a conflict with him.

• Ling Wuyuan told Li Yunchen he did not mind being hated or targeted, and saw hostile people as trials to overcome.
• Ling Wuyuan said defeating enemies would let him build his foundations and prove he was exceptional, while accepting death as deserved if someone stronger killed him.
• Li Yunchen and the maids sensed Ling Wuyuan’s intense, unwavering self-will as he gestured as though holding his own heart.
• Li Yunchen realized he had gravely misjudged Ling Wuyuan, whose easygoing manner came from indifference rather than restraint.
• Li Yunchen sensed that a confrontation with Ling Wuyuan would leave him with no chance to escape or survive, despite both being in the Qi Nourishing Realm.

Ling Wuyuan explained that he wanted to live for his own comfort and revealed his age to reporter Li Yunchen. Li Yunchen told him that his strength could earn him a place on the Hero Rankings, while Ling Wuyuan remained unaware that reporters had already been watching for him.

• Ling Wuyuan shared his views on the different kinds of lives and said he wanted to live the life he wanted, without being bothered by others.
• Li Yunchen resumed the interview and asked Ling Wuyuan how old he was.
• Ling Wuyuan said he was fourteen, nearly fifteen, and Li Yunchen praised his accomplishments at such a young age.
• Li Yunchen said Ling Wuyuan could enter the Snow Deer Prefecture or White Mist Country Hero Ranking once his report was sent.
• The chapter revealed that an Article Compiler near Black Stone City had already reported Ling Wuyuan's strength, prompting colleagues to watch for him.

Ling Wuyuan arranged to publish a message for Pei Yiman in the Province Report and told the Jiang family he would help them before leaving Taixia Town. He planned to return to Black Stone City after visiting Azure Lake White Stream Palace and settle matters from the past.

• Ling Wuyuan asked Li Yunchen about using the News Report to spread information and requested space in an upcoming Province Report.
• Ling Wuyuan paid ten mid-grade crystal coins and wrote a message promising to fulfill an old promise within the year, addressed to Pei Yiman.
• Li Yunchen agreed to publish the message with enlarged lettering and accepted Ling Wuyuan's extra money as a meal treat.
• Ling Wuyuan told the Jiang family's maids he would stay in Taixia Town for two more days and instructed their ancestor to treat his injuries with medicinal pills.
• Ling Wuyuan promised to add vitality to the Jiang family and planned to return to Black Stone City after visiting Azure Lake White Stream Palace.

Ling Wuyuan left the Jiang family and rode toward the border between Cloud Ridge Province and Snow Deer Prefecture, where he spotted the battered caravan he had met a month earlier. The caravan reached a border town safely, and Li Guang thought he had glimpsed someone familiar near the boundary stele.

• The Jiang family ancestor accepted an alliance with Zhang Tang and Chen Li after Ling Wuyuan declined to take the Jiang family under his command.
• Ling Wuyuan continued his journey and reached the ancient stele marking the boundary between Cloud Ridge Province and Snow Deer Prefecture.
• Ling Wuyuan recognized the battered caravan from his earlier travels and wondered whether the middle-aged man he had met was still alive.
• Steward Zhang brought the caravan safely to a border town and reflected that its losses had been less severe than expected.
• Li Guang told Steward Zhang that he thought he had seen someone familiar near the boundary stele, and agreed to buy a News Report.

At the Snow Moon Cloud Heaven Pavilion, a young female disciple read a report about Ling Wuyuan and was struck by his defiant ambition, extraordinary talent, and rapid rise. The Hero Ranking placed him ninety-fourth in the White Mist Country and sixth among Snow Deer Prefecture’s outstanding figures, while predicting greater achievements if he survived.

• A young disciple at the Snow Moon Cloud Heaven Pavilion read the latest Province Report and found Ling Wuyuan’s profile among the newly recognized young talents.
• She learned that Ling Wuyuan had reached the Qi Nourishing Realm before age fifteen despite having no sect or family, and had reportedly advanced through an unknown inheritance after growing up in poverty.
• The disciple read Ling Wuyuan’s interview, in which he declared his determination to become strong, welcomed hatred and opposition, and challenged anyone who stood in his way.
• Hero Ranking—Ranker: One described Ling Wuyuan as a gifted, obsessive madman who had defeated powerful opponents without injury.
• The ten rankers placed Ling Wuyuan sixth on the Snow Deer Prefecture Outstanding Figures List and ninety-fourth on the White Mist Country Hero Ranking, predicting that he would rise further if he survived.

A young girl read about Ling Wuyuan’s remarkable rise to sixth place in Snow Deer Prefecture and ninety-fourth in White Mist Country, then resolved to train harder. Her declaration was overheard by her master, who said she would arrange supervision, and the girl immediately denied making it.

• The young girl read Ling Wuyuan’s rankings and considered how extraordinary his achievements were for a fourteen-year-old Rogue Cultivator.
• She realized Ling Wuyuan was a peerless talent who could attract attention from across the prefecture and country.
• Comparing her own progress with his, she vowed to make her name known and add four hours to her daily cultivation.
• The young girl’s master overheard her declaration and said she would find someone to supervise her.
• The young girl immediately told her master she had said nothing about cultivating fourteen hours a day.

At Snow Moon Cloud Heaven Pavilion, Yuan Yujun threatened to increase her frightened disciple’s daily cultivation to eleven hours before reading about the young prodigy Ling Wuyuan. Pei Yi recognized his name and asked to see the report, leaving Yuan Yujun unaware of her personal interest in him.

• Yuan Yujun told her frightened disciple she would cultivate eleven hours a day instead of fourteen, while the Sixth Senior Sister said medicine could sustain intensive training.
• Yuan Yujun took the News Report and asked why the disciple had suddenly wanted to become famous; the disciple said Ling Wuyuan’s rise had inspired her.
• Yuan Yujun read about fourteen-year-old Rogue Cultivator Ling Wuyuan reaching the Qi Nourishing Realm and making a bold declaration that could provoke both righteous and wicked factions.
• Pei Yi spotted Ling Wuyuan’s name in the report and asked Yuan Yujun to let her read it.
• Yuan Yujun handed Pei Yi the report and reassured her not to feel pressured by Ling Wuyuan’s achievements, misunderstanding why Pei Yi was interested.

Pei Yiman read Ling Wuyuan’s newspaper interview and learned that he still remembered his promise to her, filling her with joy and resolve. She asked for the issue and several more copies to collect, while her companions stared in disbelief.

• Pei Yiman read about Ling Wuyuan’s transformation and recalled how he had helped her escape years earlier.
• Pei Yiman remembered suspecting Ling Wuyuan at the time, then regretted her distrust and reflected on how composed he had been.
• Pei Yiman found Ling Wuyuan’s message promising to fulfill his promise to her within the year.
• Pei Yiman resolved that either she or Ling Wuyuan would take revenge on the forces that destroyed the Pei Family.
• Pei Yiman asked her Junior Sister for the newspaper and requested several more copies to frame and display, astonishing Yuan Yujun and the young girl.

Ling Wuyuan’s message drew attention from across the country, attracting both admirers and people eager to challenge him. Ten days later, he rode through a bustling city in Cloud Ridge Province while locals tracked his movements and prepared to lead pursuers to him.

• Ling Wuyuan’s message spread widely, prompting factions and people across the land to discuss his age, cultivation, arrogance, and inheritance.
• Ling Wuyuan treated the attention as a way to identify potential enemies and sharpen himself against them.
• Ten days later, Ling Wuyuan rode through a large city in Cloud Ridge Province on a powerful, flame-red horse.
• People recognized Ling Wuyuan and began tracking him, with one man sending word to Young Hero Zhang and others noting his location to sell the information.
• Ling Wuyuan detected the watchers but remained indifferent, welcoming them as volunteers who could lure monsters to him.