Chapter Summaries

After passing the assessment, Hu Qi and the other new recruits received their Core Class Black Cards and learned that the class taught the Limit-Breaking Method. Lin Tong revealed that the supposed beasts were Black Blood Species and warned them to keep the truth secret as they prepared to report in ten days.

• Lin Tong gave Hu Qi and the other successful students Black Cards identifying them as Core Class candidates and told them to report in ten days.
• Ye Li asked whether the Core Class taught the Limit-Breaking Method, and Lin Tong confirmed it could enhance physical abilities.
• Hu Qi asked about the beast, and Lin Tong explained that the Federation called the monsters Black Blood Species, which appeared human and fed on fresh flesh and blood.
• Sims asked how people could fight the Black Blood Species, and Lin Tong said the Limit-Breaking Method could help before bending a coin between his fingers to demonstrate his strength.
• Lin Tong warned the candidates not to reveal the existence of the Black Blood Species to ordinary people, threatening severe punishment if they did.

After Lin Tong advised the newly qualified trainees to keep training, Sims tried to organize them under his leadership, but Hu Qi rejected him and defeated him in a fight. The chapter ended with Hu Qi kicking Sims into a wall while a camera recorded the clash.

• Lin Tong added the five trainees as contacts and warned them not to slack off before joining the Core Class.
• Sims proposed that the group stick together and choose a leader, but Hu Qi tried to leave without joining in.
• Sims attacked Hu Qi, who caught his punch and struck him hard enough to drop him to his knees.
• Sims charged at Hu Qi again, and Hu Qi dislocated his shoulder with a kick that sent him flying.
• Hu Qi noticed a camera, then kicked Sims in the face and sent him crashing into a wall, knocking out several teeth.

Hu Qi defeated Sims and took 20,000 yuan from him as compensation for lost time. At Red Scale Club, Lin Tong defended Hu Qi’s place in the Core Class and noted his extraordinary strength, while Lu Mingzhong grew furious that his men had failed to find a murderer.

• Hu Qi stopped beating Sims after Sims begged for mercy, then demanded compensation for the time Sims had wasted.
• Sims transferred Hu Qi 20,000 yuan, and Hu Qi invited him to seek another sparring match anytime.
• He Chi called for Hu Qi’s Core Class qualification to be revoked, but Chen Wu pointed out that Sims had provoked Hu Qi first.
• Lin Tong rebuked He Chi and defended Red Scale Club’s need for fighters who dared to fight, then observed that Hu Qi’s strength approached human limits and his perception was unusually keen.
• Lu Mingzhong smashed teacups and berated two kneeling men for failing to find the murderer after a week.

After his son was murdered, Lu Mingshi called on the mysterious woman who had saved him decades earlier and offered her an orphanage’s children in exchange for help finding the killer. She arrived that night, and he gave her the killer’s photograph and a white shirt.

• Lu Mingshi dismissed two people who had failed to find his son’s murderer and vowed to track down the killer himself.
• Lu Mingshi retrieved a hidden phone and called a mysterious woman, offering her the children from an orphanage he owned in exchange for her help.
• The woman agreed to help and asked Lu Mingshi to prepare one of his son’s personal belongings.
• Lu Mingshi remembered how the woman had healed his fatal injuries during a gang fight more than twenty years earlier, and how he later learned she was a demon.
• The masked woman appeared in Lu Mingshi’s office, and he gave her a photograph of the suspected killer and a white shirt.

Lu Mingzhong sought the black-dressed woman’s help tracking his son’s killer, but stopped pursuing revenge after learning the suspect was Hu Qi, a prospective Core Class member of Red Scale Fighting Club. Meanwhile, Hu Qi trained with a heavy axe in his rented apartment.

• Lu Mingzhong showed the black-dressed woman a photograph and surveillance footage of the apparent killer, and she said the man was dead and had likely been impersonated.
• The black-dressed woman transformed the victim’s shirt into a crow and sent it to track the killer.
• The crow led them to an alley where the killer had discarded the clothes, but rain and time had erased the trail.
• Lu Mingzhong learned that his son had targeted Hu Qi over a woman, then chose not to seek revenge because Hu Qi was connected to Red Scale Fighting Club.
• Hu Qi practiced axe techniques for more than half an hour in his rented apartment.

Hu Qi perfected the Mad Axe Combat Technique, gaining a trait that rapidly restored his stamina, and prepared to keep improving before entering the Core Class. A neighbor asked him to fix her burst bathroom pipe, but he refused and sent her to call a repair service.

• Hu Qi used Crimson to raise the Mad Axe Combat Technique from Beginner to Perfection, spending two Modification Points.
• Hu Qi gained the Dragon Spirit Tiger Fierce trait, which quickly restored his stamina and increased his energy.
• Hu Qi decided to focus on improving his physique before entering the Core Class and practicing the Limit-Breaking Method.
• A neighbor asked Hu Qi to turn off the valve after her bathroom heater pipe burst, but he refused to help without payment.
• Hu Qi told the woman to call the repair number posted on the wall, and she left angrily.

Hu Qi suspected a nearby woman had tried to lure him into a trap, while the couple prepared to flee Qirong City after killing their neighbors. At two in the morning, they began picking the lock to Hu Qi’s door, and he silently reached for his giant axe.

• The wet-haired woman told her boyfriend that Hu Qi had refused to come, and they agreed to avoid attracting attention while the city remained locked down.
• Hu Qi fed the Camphor Tea Duck, noticed it was laying fewer eggs, and concluded that it needed more light and time outside.
• The couple emerged from a neighbor’s silent home with blood on their clothes and said they had to leave before Zhu Xi came to purge them.
• The couple stopped at Room 1503, and the woman used strange threads from her fingers to unlock the door.
• Hu Qi woke at the sound of the lock and reached for the giant axe beside his bed.

Hu Qi killed two Black Blood Species intruders with a giant axe and pursued the surviving woman through the building. She hid behind a security door, but Hu Qi found her and confronted her through the crack.

• Hu Qi ambushed the intruders, splitting the man's head with an axe and badly wounding the woman after she transformed into a monster.
• The woman fled into the hallway, and Hu Qi chased her using the Crane Leg technique.
• Hu Qi searched the bloodstained stairwell and found evidence that the building's residents, including an infant, had been slaughtered.
• The wounded woman hid behind a half-closed security door and planned to report Hu Qi to her master.
• Hu Qi appeared at the door and told the woman, "Little baby, I found you!"

Hu Qi killed the Black Blood Species woman after she attacked him and tried to escape, then recovered from the exhausting fight. He stood in a blood-soaked room, realizing that anyone who saw the scene might mistake him for a murderer.

• The wounded woman lunged at Hu Qi, but he kicked her into the living room wall and crushed her chest.
• The woman recovered enough to flee toward the balcony, but Hu Qi struck her with his axe and split her body in two.
• The dying woman asked who Hu Qi was and began warning him about the consequences of killing her kind, but Hu Qi killed her before she could finish.
• Hu Qi caught his breath and judged that the Black Blood Species was less formidable than he had expected, while the blood and wreckage made him look like a murderer.

After killing two Black Blood Species, Hu Qi feared he would be blamed for the deaths in his building and contacted Lin Tong for help. Lin Tong assured him specialists would handle the scene, while his Second Senior Sister decided to meet Hu Qi.

• Hu Qi weighed fleeing against staying, then cleaned himself and Camphor Tea Duck before leaving the building with the duck in a bag.
• Hu Qi rode two streets away and video-called Lin Tong, explaining that he had killed the Black Blood Species and asking whether the incident would implicate him.
• Lin Tong told Hu Qi that killing Black Blood Species was meritorious and said specialists would handle the scene.
• Lin Tong informed his Second Senior Sister that two Black Blood Species had massacred most of a building and that Hu Qi had killed them.
• Second Senior Sister was surprised that Hu Qi had defeated two Blood Slaves before breaking his limits and decided to go with Lin Tong to meet him.

Hu Qi met Lin Tong and Herlinta, who tested his strength and gave him a valuable medicinal paste as compensation. The group then headed to Hanlin Garden to investigate the Black Blood Species, while Herlinta vowed to punish them for hunting in her territory.

• Hu Qi judged that Lin Tong had likely told the truth about the situation, then met him and Herlinta by the roadside.
• Herlinta suddenly attacked Hu Qi to test him, and he blocked her claw with a punch before staggering back with a numb arm.
• Herlinta recognized Hu Qi's near-limit physique and perfected Cannon Fist, then gave him Snow Snake Paste as compensation.
• Lin Tong explained that the scarce paste would aid Hu Qi's future cultivation and was worth over a hundred thousand.
• Herlinta led Hu Qi and Lin Tong toward Hanlin Garden to inspect the scene and threatened the Black Blood Species hunting in her territory.
• Hu Qi explained that the struggling Camphor Tea Duck in his bag was his pet, and it fell silent after Herlinta suggested eating it.

Hu Qi returned to Hanlin Garden with Lin Tong and Herlinta, where they found the aftermath of a massacre caused by two Blood Slaves. After learning Hu Qi had killed both attackers, his Core Class seniors were astonished by his strength.

• A black-dressed woman learned her two servants had been killed by Hu Qi and decided to leave the matter alone because a dangerous blond-haired, red-eyed man was in Qirong City.
• Lin Tong brought Hu Qi and Herlinta to Hanlin Garden, where police had cordoned off Building Eight.
• Wang Li, Zhang Lian, and Qin Yuan greeted Lin Tong and Herlinta, then accompanied them to Hu Qi's former apartment floor.
• Wang Li explained that the two Blood Slaves had killed 139 residents across 101 households and began analyzing the bodies.
• Lin Tong revealed that Hu Qi had killed both Blood Slaves, leaving Wang Li, Zhang Lian, and Qin Yuan astonished.

After confirming that a recently transformed Black Blood Species had caused the deaths in the residential complex, Herlinta sent Lin Tong to take Hu Qi away. Hu Qi checked into a hotel and read Lin Tong’s file, learning about the Black Blood Species’ origins and strength.

• Zhang Lian tested the corpse’s blood, and Herlinta concluded that the Lower-tier Black Blood Species might still be in Qirong City and ordered the group to find it.
• Herlinta had Lin Tong take Hu Qi from the residential complex, and Lin Tong offered him a place to stay before driving him to a hotel near the Red Scale Club.
• Hu Qi checked into a hotel, washed up, and opened the file Lin Tong had sent him.
• Hu Qi read how miners uncovered an underground world beneath a gold mine and how monsters with dark blood emerged and were named the Black Blood Species.
• Hu Qi learned that the Black Blood Species ranged from Blood Slaves to upper-tier beings, and that Krolov, a Lower-tier specimen, had required tanks and nearly a thousand soldiers to kill.

Hu Qi learned that the Black Blood Species included powerful monsters from an Underground World and that Secret Martial Artists fought them, leaving him worried about how weak he was. After a restless night, he woke near noon and found more than a dozen missed calls and video calls on his phone.

• Hu Qi read that a Mid-tier Black Blood Species named Tailor had devastated Morning Light City before Secret Martial Artists and missiles killed it.
• Hu Qi learned that Secret Martial Artists cultivated Secret Martial Arts and that the Black Blood Species came from an Underground World beneath the earth.
• Hu Qi reflected on the danger posed by the Black Blood Species and decided that only greater strength could make him feel safe.
• Hu Qi woke near noon after sleeping only five or six hours and discovered his phone had more than a dozen missed calls and video calls.

Hu Qi settled into a training routine after the Hanlin Garden incident and steadily increased his strength, but ordinary Combat Techniques no longer helped him improve. With his Core Class report date arriving the next day, he remained eager to learn about Limit-Breaking Methods.

• Hu Qi reassured Hu Leimei that he had survived the Hanlin Garden incident and told her he would soon train at the Red Scale Fighting Club's Core Class in Anshan City.
• Hu Qi took his lethargic Camphor Tea Duck for walks and spent the following days training at the Red Scale Extreme Fighting Club.
• Hu Qi suspected that the blond, red-eyed Second Senior Sister was connected to an explosion that destroyed villas in northern Qirong City, though he had no proof.
• Hu Qi mastered Eagle Claw Hand, Iron Body Skill, One Inch Punch, and Krav Maga, and his punching power reached 509 kg.
• Hu Qi realized his progress from ordinary Combat Techniques had nearly stopped and wondered about Limit-Breaking Methods, which Lin Tong had refused to explain before his Core Class report the next day.
• Red Scale Club trainees and coaches greeted Hu Qi warmly after learning he had defeated Sims, while Li Yi was away preparing to begin university.

Hu Qi bought and ate a rare crimson Dragon Horn Fish, gaining nearly six Modification Points, then rested at the hotel. The next morning, he joined the others outside the Red Scale Extreme Fighting Club as a coach bus arrived.

• The lobby manager showed Hu Qi an injured crimson Dragon Horn Fish, and he bargained its price down to eight hundred.
• Hu Qi ate the steamed Dragon Horn Fish and saw his Modification Points rise to 7 (12%).
• Hu Qi returned to his room, showered, and went to bed after several busy days of training.
• The next morning, Hu Qi arrived at the Red Scale Extreme Fighting Club with breakfast and Camphor Tea Duck in his backpack.
• A gray coach bus arrived in front of the Red Scale Fighting Club as Hu Qi finished breakfast.

Hu Qi and the other Red Scale Fighting Club students traveled from Qirong City to Anshan Academy, where Ye Li explained that the Core Class was the Snake Heart Sect. They arrived and met Wang Luo, who would teach them the Limit-Breaking Method.

• Hu Qi boarded the coach with the other students and sat beside Ye Li as it picked up students from another branch.
• The coach reached Anshan City and traveled along the coast to Anshan Academy.
• Ye Li told Hu Qi that the Red Scale Fighting Club's Core Class was the Snake Heart Sect's true student body.
• Hu Qi added Ye Li as a friend before the students left the coach and gathered at the academy.
• Lin Tong left the students waiting, and Wang Luo arrived with other Snake Heart Sect members and introduced himself as their Limit-Breaking Method teacher.

Hu Qi toured the Snake Heart Sect’s university-like grounds, received his Level One Martial Arts Uniforms, and settled into his private dormitory. After reading about the sect and its apparently long-lived master, Jiang Zuo, he grew curious about the world’s secrets and headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

• Wang Luo led Hu Qi and the other new students on a tour of the sect’s grounds and explained the three Core Class levels and their uniforms.
• Hu Qi collected his two Martial Arts Uniforms and moved into a private studio apartment.
• Hu Qi read the Basic Information Handbook and learned about the Snake Heart Sect, its purpose, and its founder, Jiang Zuo.
• Hu Qi suspected Jiang Zuo was still alive despite the sect’s age and wondered whether supernatural power could extend a person’s lifespan.
• Hu Qi fed the Camphor Tea Duck, left it food and water, and went to the cafeteria when he grew hungry.

Hu Qi met Ye Li and her cousin Ye Lan in the cafeteria, then attended his first Core Class lesson, where Wang Luo introduced the Snake Heart Sect and the purpose of the Limit-Breaking Method. The lesson ended as Wang Luo demonstrated the red glow produced by his blood and qi.

• Hu Qi ate with Ye Li and Ye Lan, who remained distant while Ye Li urged him to read the basic handbook.
• After Hu Qi left, Ye Lan told Ye Li to focus on cultivation instead of befriending him, and Ye Li clarified that she wanted to build a useful connection.
• Hu Qi dismissed romance and ordinary ambitions, deciding to pursue the extraordinary and grow stronger.
• The next morning, Hu Qi joined Sims and Liu Ping in a spacious classroom for the Core Class, where Wang Luo explained the Snake Heart Sect's schools and the Limit-Breaking Method.
• Wang Luo said the method stimulated blood and qi to strengthen the body, then made his arm swell as a visible red light appeared beneath his skin.

Wang Luo taught the Core Class the principles and stages of Stance Cultivation, then demonstrated the Snake Heart Sect’s Snake Form Stance and breathing method. As the students practiced the Static Stance, he warned that those who failed to generate qi and blood within a year would be expelled, and a student asked about the sect’s fastest initiation record.

• Wang Luo explained qi and blood, the path of Secret Martial Artists, and how Stance Cultivation used breathing and movement to strengthen the body.
• Wang Luo introduced the Snake Heart Sect’s Snake Form Stance, demonstrated its coiled serpent and Serpentine Movement postures, and warned the students to report discomfort.
• Hu Qi watched Wang Luo closely and began to understand how the breathing method and movements circulated qi and blood.
• Wang Luo had the students practice the Static Stance and explained that they could progress to the Dynamic Stance after feeling qi and blood flow.
• Wang Luo warned that students who could not stimulate qi and blood within a year would be expelled from the Core Class.
• An unfamiliar young man asked Wang Luo about the fastest initiation record in the Snake Heart Sect.