Chapter Summaries

Chen Fei used a mysterious Panel to simplify the Extreme Mountain Breathing Technique into ordinary breathing, rapidly advancing his cultivation while working at the Medical Hall. He reached Great Perfection in the technique and began drawing favorable attention from a steward, though Sha Daxin remained hostile.

• Chen Fei discovered that his Panel could simplify the Extreme Mountain Breathing Technique for one tael of silver, so he retrieved and secretly sold a medicinal herb his predecessor had hidden.
• After Sha Daxin reported the herb sale, Cui Sanjie searched Chen Fei but found no silver and punished Sha Daxin for making an accusation without evidence.
• Chen Fei spent the silver to simplify the breathing technique, and ordinary breathing quickly raised its proficiency and advanced him to Martial Person.
• Chen Fei's Extreme Mountain Breathing Technique progressed from Proficient to Perfected and then Great Perfection, increasing his strength, appetite, and cultivation speed.
• A steward praised Chen Fei's energetic work, the other Handymen grew friendlier toward him, and Sha Daxin continued watching him with hostility.

Chen Fei was ambushed by Sha Daxin and Niu Kuo while gathering herbs on Pingyin Mountain, but he broke through to the Skin Tempering Realm and turned the tables on them. He killed Niu Kuo and Sha Daxin.

• Chen Fei dodged an arrow fired by Niu Kuo and fled from Niu Kuo and Sha Daxin through the mountain.
• Chen Fei checked his Panel and saw that his Martial Man realm was at 99/100.
• After running and resting, Chen Fei broke through to the Skin Tempering Realm and felt his strength and senses improve.
• Chen Fei ambushed Niu Kuo and Sha Daxin, kicking away Niu Kuo's bow and knocking Sha Daxin into a tree.
• Chen Fei cut down Niu Kuo after Niu Kuo attacked him with lime powder and a dagger, then killed Sha Daxin.

Chen Fei encountered a Weird impersonating Qi Chun at a ruined temple and fought it off after simplifying Extreme Mountain Fist. He reached Pingyin County, but a thin black line appeared on his wrist.

• Chen Fei killed Qi Chun when he sensed that Qi Chun was a Weird, then fled the ruined temple as the other Handymen escaped.
• The Weird pursued Chen Fei, and he simplified Extreme Mountain Fist until he learned to channel qi and blood.
• Chen Fei struck Qi Chun with a qi-and-blood-powered punch, then severed its limbs with his woodcutter’s knife.
• Chen Fei continued attacking until Qi Chun melted into ash, but a thin black line appeared on his wrist.
• Chen Fei ran to Pingyin County and reached its walls half an hour later.

After surviving a Weird on Pingyin Mountain, Chen Fei proved his Skin Refining Realm cultivation to Qingzheng Medical Center and was promoted from handyman to Guard. Three days later, he had mastered Extreme Mountain Fist but realized his basic breathing technique would make further cultivation painfully slow.

• Chen Fei reviewed his cultivation and practiced Extreme Mountain Fist through the night outside Pingyin County.
• After entering the city, Chen Fei told Cui Sanjie that he had survived the expedition by breaking through to the Skin Refining Realm and demonstrated his strength.
• Cui Sanjie appointed Chen Fei a Guard at Qingzheng Medical Center and ordered Pu Liao to teach him some of the center's techniques and breathing method.
• Chen Fei chose to stay at Qingzheng Medical Center for access to its inheritance, medical skills, and alchemy, and received a private room.
• Over the next three days, Chen Fei advanced Extreme Mountain Fist to Great Perfection, but his cultivation increased by only three points.

After learning that a Weird’s mark was draining his stamina, Chen Fei sought a cultivation method to strengthen himself and discovered he could fuse mastered techniques into new ones. He ended the chapter with two improved techniques but no money to simplify them or a clear way to earn more.

• Chen Fei learned that the Bone-Attached Gangrene mark could be removed by killing the Weird, strengthening his cultivation, or taking costly pills, so he chose to focus on cultivation.
• Chen Fei asked Pu Liao to teach him the Qingzheng Medical Center’s cultivation method, but Pu Liao demanded payment and dismissed him.
• Chen Fei insisted on obtaining manuals, and Pu Liao gave him the Clear Wind Sword and Wind Suspension Force Secret Manuals while mocking his ability to learn alone.
• Chen Fei used his mastery of the Extreme Mountain techniques to fuse the manuals into the Wind Suspension Breathing Technique and Green Mountain Sword.
• Chen Fei found that the new techniques were stronger but barely advanced through practice, and he worried about how to earn the money needed for simplification.

Chen Fei decided to learn alchemy and borrowed the Qi Blood Pill Recipe from Zeng Defang, then used the Panel to simplify the recipe into stir-frying pig liver. As Chen Fei cooked his first serving, the Panel showed that his Pill Refining Art had been initiated.

• Chen Fei asked Zeng Defang for the Qi Blood Pill Recipe, and Zeng Defang lent it to him for three days.
• Chen Fei studied the recipe, and the Panel simplified the Qi Blood Pill into Stir-fried Pig Liver for one tael of silver.
• Word spread through the Medical Hall that Chen Fei wanted to become an Alchemist, and Pu Liao and others mocked him.
• Chen Fei bought fresh pig liver and stir-fried it in an abandoned courtyard.
• Chen Fei checked the Panel and saw that Qi Blood Pill Pill Refining Art had reached Initiated 1/100.

Chen Fei used repeated practice to raise his Qi Blood Pill refining skill to Proficient Level, then went to the Medical Hall to demonstrate his ability to Zeng Defang. Zeng Defang watched Chen Fei successfully refine a pill and began to suspect he had exceptional talent.

• Chen Fei discovered that even a tiny piece of Stir-fried Pig Liver increased his Qi Blood Pill insights, and he practiced until the skill reached Proficient Level.
• Chen Fei decided to sell his pills through the Medical Hall and planned to show Beginner Level ability before revealing more.
• Chen Fei asked Zeng Defang to watch him refine Qi Blood Pills, and Zeng Defang reluctantly agreed.
• Chen Fei refined a Qi Blood Pill with deliberate minor flaws, while Zeng Defang grew increasingly surprised by his performance.
• Zeng Defang examined the pill and wondered whether Chen Fei possessed extraordinary talent in Pill Refining Art.

Chen Fei proved his alchemy talent by refining increasingly improved Qi Blood Pills, earning Zeng Defang’s support and a promotion to Alchemist at Qingzheng Medical Center. As Zeng Defang personally taught him, Chen Fei continued improving his pills and strengthened their teacher-disciple rapport.

• Chen Fei refined a second batch of Qi Blood Pills, and Zeng Defang recognized how much he had improved.
• Zeng Defang arranged for Chen Fei to stop working as a Guard and learn alchemy under him after Cui Sanjie witnessed Chen Fei refine pills successfully.
• News of Chen Fei’s promotion spread through the Medical Hall, making the staff envy and fear offending him.
• Pu Liao resented Chen Fei’s sudden success and left a gathering after hearing that Zeng Defang thought highly of him.
• The next day, Zeng Defang taught Chen Fei in the Pill Room, and Chen Fei refined a Qi Blood Pill that showed substantial progress.

Chen Fei reached Proficient and then perfected skill with Qi Blood Pills, began earning money from refining them, and used an advance from Qingzheng Medical Center to simplify Wind Suspension Breathing Technique. He discovered that practicing his Great Perfection Extreme Mountain Breathing Technique now increased Wind Suspension Breathing Technique's experience.

• Zeng Defang taught Chen Fei the Refining Technique, and Chen Fei revealed Proficient Level skill with Qi Blood Pills, earning Zeng Defang's praise.
• Chen Fei raised his Qi Blood Pill skill to the perfected level and used the extra pills he refined to accelerate his cultivation.
• Chen Fei continued practicing Stir-fried Pig Liver while people followed him, mistaking the activity for an odd hobby.
• The accountant gave Chen Fei an advance of thirty taels of silver after Steward Cui approved it.
• Chen Fei simplified Wind Suspension Breathing Technique into Extreme Mountain Breathing Technique and found that practicing the Great Perfection version increased his Wind Suspension Breathing Technique experience.

Chen Fei improved his techniques and continued building his standing at the Medical Hall while learning new pill recipes from Zeng Defang. After separating the new recipes and simplifying them, he began practicing Detoxification Pills and Healing Pills alongside his usual work.

• Chen Fei used the Extreme Mountain Breathing Technique to rapidly improve his Wind Suspension Breathing Technique and practiced Extreme Mountain Fist to raise his Green Mountain Sword experience.
• Over twenty days, Chen Fei brought Wind Suspension Breathing Technique and Green Mountain Sword to Perfection, earned more than fifty taels a month, and invited the Medical Hall staff to a meal.
• After mastering Qi Blood Pill, Chen Fei asked Zeng Defang for more recipes, and Zeng Defang gave him Youth Preserving Pill, Detoxification Pill, Root Enhancement Pill, and Healing Pill recipes.
• Chen Fei chose to study Detoxification Pill and Healing Pill, simplified them into stir-fried Chinese yam and stir-fried chicken, and rejected a fused recipe that weakened their distinct effects.
• Chen Fei began practicing the two new pill recipes while continuing his daily technique cultivation and Qi Blood Pill refining.

Chen Fei advanced his swordsmanship and cultivation while Qingzheng Medical Center went to aid refugees outside Pingyin County. Cui Sanjie sent Chen Fei, a physician, and Pu Liao to treat a bedridden patient, where an attacker suddenly ambushed them.

• Chen Fei perfected the Green Mountain Sword and Wind Suspension Breathing Technique, gaining a short-range Sword Qi and expecting to reach the Flesh Refining Realm in a little over a month.
• Refugees arrived outside Pingyin County after rebels seized a nearby county, and the County Government ordered major households to provide relief.
• Zeng Qiling met Chen Fei at Qingzheng Medical Center, while Zhang Sinan led the relief effort outside the city.
• Cui Sanjie arranged for Chen Fei, a physician, and Pu Liao to visit a bedridden patient in a dilapidated courtyard.
• Pu Liao noticed something amiss, but a sudden attacker kicked him into a courtyard wall, leaving him pale and spitting blood.

Chen Fei and Doctor Song were forced by Jian Liang and his men to treat their wounded. After Chen Fei supplied a Healing Pill and Song Mu treated Jian Liang’s Big Brother, the man’s condition improved, but the two doctors’ safety remained uncertain.

• Jian Liang and his men cornered Chen Fei and Song Mu, then forced them to treat a group of wounded men in the main hall.
• Song Mu and Chen Fei treated the injured men, and Jian Liang praised Song Mu but refused to let them leave yet.
• Jian Liang brought them to his Big Brother, whose severe internal injuries required a Healing Pill.
• Song Mu said he had no Healing Pills, so Chen Fei supplied one from his pouch.
• Song Mu gave the man the pill and treated him with silver needles, after which the man coughed up stagnant blood and visibly improved.

Chen Fei and Song Mu escaped a mountain-bandit hideout after treating Jian Liang, while Pu Liao was left with a broken leg. Back in Pingyin County, Chen Fei gained recognition for refining Healing Pills, then learned that access to stronger pills and martial arts was restricted and began planning to forge his own path through the Panel.

• Song Mu treated Jian Liang and cautiously accepted only one silver tael, then Chen Fei carried the injured Pu Liao out of the bandits’ courtyard.
• Jian Liang let Chen Fei, Song Mu, and Pu Liao leave, counting their lives as payment for treating his men.
• Song Mu told Cui Sanjie and Zhang Sinan about the mountain bandits, but the Zhang Family kept the incident quiet and compensated the three men.
• Chen Fei’s ability to refine Healing Pills spread through the Medical Hall, earning Zeng Defang’s praise and an invitation to drink.
• Chen Fei asked Zeng Defang about Grass Return Pills and learned that the Zhang Family restricted their recipe and stronger martial arts.
• After returning home, Chen Fei decided to cultivate more basic techniques and fuse them through the Panel to create his own martial path.

Chen Fei visited Pingyin County’s Black Market and bought four basic Movement Technique manuals and a questionable sword manual. Back at his rented room, he simplified the Water Treading Skill into walking.

• Chen Fei disguised himself and explored the Black Market, listening to traders and learning about its wares.
• Chen Fei bought the Water Treading Skill, Swallow Pressing Branch, Green Grass Crossing, and Wave Walking Steps for eight taels of silver.
• Chen Fei bargained the stall owner down from fifty taels to three for the incomplete Immortal Cloud Sword manual.
• Chen Fei searched the Black Market for advanced Pill Recipes but found none, then returned to his rented room.
• Chen Fei studied the Water Treading Skill and used the Panel to simplify it into walking.

Chen Fei simplified Immortal Cloud Sword into the powerful move Immortal Guides the Way and discovered that techniques could be simplified a second time for a much higher fee. After improving his Water Treading Skill and refining pills at Qingzheng Medical Center, he was offered a Deputy Manager position at the North City Gate medical center to investigate Steward Sun, with increased profits and pill recipes as incentives.

• Chen Fei simplified Immortal Cloud Sword into Immortal Guides the Way, but decided not to fuse the single move with his Green Mountain Sword.
• Chen Fei paid to simplify Water Treading Skill a second time, turning its practice into shaking his leg, and learned that walking still increased its experience.
• Chen Fei refined Healing Pills and Qi Blood Pills at Qingzheng Medical Center while carefully increasing his pill output.
• Zeng Defang told Chen Fei that Young Miss wanted him to become Deputy Manager at the North City Gate medical center and investigate Steward Sun.
• Zeng Defang offered Chen Fei a forty-percent profit share and the Grass Return Pill recipe, with the Light Spirit Pill recipe as a possible reward for finding evidence against Steward Sun, and Chen Fei reconsidered refusing.

Chen Fei began work at North City Medical Center, kept his distance from Steward Sun, and focused on refining pills and improving his movement technique. During a night run through Pingyin County, he encountered the masked mountain bandit Jian Liang, who attacked him with a flying knife.

• Chen Fei declined Liu Jun's offer to announce him to Sun Shu and learned that Sun Shu enjoyed kicking.
• Sun Shu brutally crippled a handyman caught hiding medicinal herbs, leaving him with only one usable leg.
• Chen Fei quietly began refining more Qi Blood Pills and discovered that doing so also increased his Grass Return Pill experience.
• Chen Fei fused four movement techniques into Crossing River Clouds and reached Great Perfection on the fifth day.
• Chen Fei recognized Jian Liang in an alley at night and dodged the flying knife Jian Liang threw at him.

After escaping Jian Liang, Chen Fei began refining Grass Return Pills to accelerate his cultivation and decided to sell some at the Black Market. The county investigated the bandit attacks while Chen Fei secretly delivered a portrait of Jian Liang and bought manuals, including a Disguise Technique.

• Chen Fei escaped Jian Liang after the bandit leader was distracted, then resolved to keep improving his Movement Technique.
• Liu Jun told Chen Fei that bandits had wiped out several wealthy households, and the County Government Office offered a hundred taels for useful information.
• Chen Fei raised his Grass Return Pill skill to Proficient, refined his first pill, and gained fifteen cultivation points by taking it.
• Chen Fei sent the County Government Office a portrait of Jian Liang.
• Chen Fei visited the Black Market and bought ten Basic Movement Technique Manuals, an Advanced Movement Technique Manual, and a Disguise Technique manual.

Chen Fei perfected his Grass Return Pills and Disguise Technique, preparing to sell pills in the Black Market while seeking a source of herbs. He bargained with Chi Defeng for a bulk supply as unrest around Pingyin County worsened.

• Chen Fei used the simplified Disguise Technique by washing and wiping his face, then cultivated it alongside refining pills and practicing his Movement Technique.
• Liu Jun told Chen Fei that Jian Liang had escaped after injuring the constables and yamen runners who tried to capture him.
• After ten days, Chen Fei reached Perfection in Grass Return Pill refinement and the Disguise Technique, and he expected to soon break through to the Flesh Refining Realm.
• Chen Fei visited Chi Defeng at the Black Market and asked him to supply ten portions of herbs.
• Chi Defeng offered to deliver the herbs in six days for twice the market price, but Chen Fei countered with half again the market price and suggested hiring refugees to find them.

Chen Fei improved his Movement Technique and broke through in cultivation, only to discover an assassin sent by Pu Liao waiting in his courtyard. He killed the assassin after learning who had hired him, leaving Pu Liao’s motive unresolved.

• Chen Fei negotiated with Chi Defeng to buy herbs at ten percent above market rate, then fused another secret manual into Crossing River Clouds.
• A crippled man hired an assassin to kill Chen Fei and planned to blame bandits for the murder.
• After fusing Leaping Swiftly into Crossing River Clouds, Chen Fei broke through in cultivation and sensed someone hiding in his courtyard.
• The assassin attacked Chen Fei with a throwing knife, but Chen Fei used his new speed to strike him down.
• Chen Fei promised to spare the wounded assassin, learned that Pu Liao had hired him, then broke his promise and killed him.

Chen Fei confronted and killed Pu Liao for sending someone to assassinate him, then returned to his work at North City Medical Center. Zhang Sinan summoned Chen Fei and warned that unless he made progress investigating the medical center, she might send him away and reduce his share of the pills.

• Chen Fei confronted Pu Liao at his home about the attempted assassination and killed him when Pu Liao denied responsibility.
• News of Pu Liao's death spread through North City Medical Center, while Chen Fei continued refining pills and planned to visit the Black Market.
• Zhang Sinan summoned Chen Fei to the Zhang Family and asked whether he had uncovered anything at North City Medical Center.
• Chen Fei explained that Sun Shu kept him at a distance, and Zhang Sinan warned she might send him back and reduce his share of the pills if he made no progress.