Chapter Summaries

Ding Ling mastered the Taiqing Breathing Method, uniting inner and outer breathing techniques and sensing that the fusion might break the limits on his strength and defense. Daoist Yu Ji then taught him to make Taiqing talismans, which Ding Ling mastered instantly, before Ding Ling prepared to demonstrate his new skill.

• Ding Ling completed the Taiqing Breathing Method and found that it had fused with his Spirit Phoenix and Sword God Breathing Methods, while increasing his Charm by 0.9.
• Ding Ling sensed that the unified breathing method might let him surpass the usual limits on strength and defense, and he explained his experience to Daoist Yu Ji.
• Daoist Yu Ji praised Ding Ling and offered to treat him as an equal, but Ding Ling insisted on continuing to honor him as a Senior.
• Ding Ling reaffirmed his promise to Senior Zhang Zhongjing to help a great ruler restore order and peace to the people.
• Daoist Yu Ji taught Ding Ling Elementary Taiqing Talismans, and Ding Ling mastered the techniques instantly, gaining 0.2 Charm.
• Ding Ling demonstrated his talisman-making skills for Daoist Yu Ji.

Ding Ling mastered Daoist Yu Ji’s Inner Refining Breathing Method and Talisman-Making Method with astonishing speed, reaching the Instinctive Realm and impressing everyone. He gave his companions healing talismans, which they planned to use as Talisman Water for future illnesses.

• Ding Ling drew plague, major illness, and minor illness talismans, shocking Daoist Yu Ji by mastering the Talisman-Making Method’s Instinctive Realm.
• Daoist Yu Ji praised Ding Ling’s united inner and outer cultivation, predicted he could reach the Heavenly Human Realm, and asked him to bring him along if he attained the Dao and ascended; Ding Ling agreed.
• Daoist Yu Ji told Zhang Zhongjing and the others that Ding Ling had mastered his methods and surpassed him in the Instinctive Realm.
• Ding Ling demonstrated talisman-making for the group, and Zhang Zhongjing felt dwarfed by his talent.
• Ding Ling gave healing talismans to Diao Chan, Xiao Qiao, Da Qiao, Zhao Yun, and the others, explaining that they could dissolve them in water and drink it to treat illness.

Ding Ling’s talisman water cured patients, and he learned that its healing effect came from transformed Lingji that sick people could absorb. After parting from Daoist Yu Ji and Zhang Zhongjing, Ding Ling traveled with Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao to Wan County and arrived at their family estate.

• Ding Ling’s talisman water restored the patients’ strength, and he concluded that the transformed Lingji carried healing effects into their ailments.
• Xiao Qiao, Da Qiao, Diao Chan, and Du Qingcheng drank the talisman water and felt their bodies grow lighter and healthier.
• Daoist Yu Ji said he did not know where Old Immortal Nanhua or Zuo Ci could be found, and he described the Dunjia Arts as capable of swift travel.
• Ding Ling bid farewell to Daoist Yu Ji and Zhang Zhongjing, who stayed behind to treat patients, then set out for Wan County with Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao.
• Ding Ling’s group arrived at the Qiao Estate, where a servant hurried over delightedly upon seeing Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao.

Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao discovered their father murdered in the Qiao Estate, where Ding Ling found a threatening letter from a player blaming him for disrupting their plans. Enraged, Ding Ling sent Zhao Yun to the taoist temple to retrieve the earlier warning letter.

• Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao returned to the Qiao Estate and invited Ding Ling and his companions to meet them in the main hall.
• The sisters found their father dead in his blood-soaked study, and Da Qiao estimated that the murder had happened about two hours earlier.
• Xiao Qiao fetched Ding Ling and the others, who comforted the sisters as Ding Ling examined the crime scene.
• Da Qiao gave Ding Ling a letter in which an unidentified player threatened him for disrupting their plans and warned him to stay out of Romance of the Three Kingdoms plots.
• Ding Ling destroyed the letter in anger and ordered Zhao Yun to return to the taoist temple and retrieve the first warning from a young Taoist novice.

After Old Man Qiao was murdered, Ding Ling investigated the Qiao Family and discovered that several guards, including Xu Sheng, had disappeared. A threatening letter revealed that the hidden players were targeting Daoist Yu Ji’s arts, while the county soldiers found Xu Sheng and surrounded him in a forest.

• Ding Ling ordered the Qiao Family gathered, then called names from the household register and learned that Xu Sheng and several others were missing.
• Ding Ling went to the Wan County government office and intimidated the officials into sending soldiers to search for the fugitives.
• Zhao Yun returned with a letter warning Ding Ling not to heal Da Qiao or pursue Daoist Yu Ji’s martial arts and talisman arts, but Ding Ling rejected the threat.
• County soldiers reported that they had found Xu Sheng and surrounded him with hundreds of men, so Ding Ling sent Zhao Yun to bring him back.
• Da Qiao told Ding Ling that the intruders had stolen the Qiao Family’s breathing technique, martial arts manuals, and Great Medicine, confirming that they had targeted those items and escaped before his arrival.

After Xu Sheng refused to betray the people behind Lord Qiao’s murder, Ding Ling tracked the players responsible through their online posts and records. He returned to the game world and led Zhao Yun and three hundred soldiers toward Zhang Family Farmstead, where the players had gathered to divide their spoils.

• Ding Ling questioned Xu Sheng about his role in Lord Qiao’s death, but Xu Sheng insisted he had only repaid a debt and refused to reveal his benefactor.
• Xu Sheng tried to kill himself by smashing his head against the steps, and Ding Ling ordered him treated if he survived.
• Ding Ling searched the Myth Game forum from the real world, identified the poster “I am the Human Emperor,” and used hacking techniques to locate and investigate him.
• Ding Ling uncovered the players’ gathering place at Zhang Family Farmstead and learned they planned to divide their spoils there.
• Ding Ling returned to the game world, summoned Zhao Yun and three hundred soldiers, and set out for Zhang Family Farmstead.

Ding Ling retaliated against Ning Yi, Ning Zhen, and their allies by repeatedly killing them in the game until their skills fell to zero, prompting them to consider a real-world bounty against him. He returned the Qiao Family’s stolen belongings to Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao and discovered that the divine sword was Mo Ye.

• Ding Ling surrounded Zhang Family Farmstead, and Zhao Yun raided its cellar and retrieved medicine, manuals, gold, and a divine sword.
• Ding Ling ordered his soldiers to ambush Ning Yi, Ning Zhen, and the other players repeatedly until their skills reached zero and they stopped logging in.
• Ning Yi and his allies learned Ding Ling was responsible and argued over whether to target him in the real world, then split up over their disagreement.
• Ning Yi and Ning Zhen discussed hiring foreign mercenaries to place a bounty on Ding Ling.
• Ding Ling returned the Qiao Family’s belongings to Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao, and Da Qiao identified the sword as Mo Ye.

After receiving the Qiao family’s secret manual and Great Medicine, Ding Ling learned the Feibai Breathing Method and mastered the Qing Shuang Swordplay, which pushed his Strength beyond its former limit. He discovered that merging inner and outer breathing methods let him absorb Great Medicine more completely, and he looked forward to further growth.

• Da Qiao gave Ding Ling the Qiao family’s secret manual and Great Medicine, while Ding Ling arranged for Diao Chan, Du Qingcheng, and the others to handle Lord Qiao’s funeral.
• Ding Ling studied the Feibai Breathing Method and considered whether he could cultivate it alongside his existing breathing methods.
• Ding Ling mastered the Qing Shuang Swordplay at the Transformation Realm, raising his Strength, Agility, and Constitution and breaking through the 30-point Strength limit.
• Ding Ling ate Great Medicine and found that his merged inner and outer breathing methods increased all four attributes while refining the medicine more efficiently.
• Ding Ling swallowed the remaining five stalks of Great Medicine, gained further balanced attribute increases, and anticipated eating more.

After Lord Qiao’s death, Ding Ling settled his funeral and prepared to leave Wan County. Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao chose to follow Ding Ling, selling the family estate and setting out with his group.

• Ding Ling stayed in Wan County for several days to handle Lord Qiao’s funeral and estate affairs.
• As Ding Ling prepared to leave, Da Qiao asked to travel with him, and Xiao Qiao said she wanted to come too.
• Ding Ling warned the sisters that the journey would be dangerous, but Da Qiao promised they would train under Diao Chan and Du Qingcheng.
• Ding Ling agreed to let Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao join his group, and Da Qiao decided to sell the family estate.
• Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao left Wan County with Ding Ling’s group, bringing two carriages of valuables and offering the Great Medicine and medicinal materials to their companions.

Ding Ling trained Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao while traveling with his companions, then reached the Heavenly Human Realm after consuming Great Medicine. He demonstrated the realm’s overwhelming power and considered passing the Taiqing Breathing Method and Taiqing Talismans to Zhao Yun and the others.

• Ding Ling agreed to guide Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao, who began diligently learning martial arts and Flying Swallow Skill from him and his companions.
• Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao gave Ding Ling their Great Medicine, and Ding Ling consumed it while his companions trained and soaked in medicinal baths.
• Ding Ling’s Strength and Defense reached 31, their apparent limit, and his sword strikes unleashed powerful sword qi that cut down trees at a distance.
• Ding Ling realized he had reached the Heavenly Human Realm, which he described as transcending the world and becoming a Land Immortal.
• Zhao Yun asked about learning the Inner Refining Breathing Method, and Ding Ling said he could pass the Taiqing Breathing Method and Taiqing Talismans to Zhao Yun, Diao Chan, Xiao Qiao, Da Qiao, and Du Qingcheng.

Ding Ling consumed the remaining Great Medicine and discovered that reaching 31 Strength and Defense had given him an iron-hard invisible aura membrane. He left Zhao Yun, Diao Chan, and the others to continue their cultivation, while wondering whether his attributes had reached this world's limits.

• Ding Ling promised to teach Diao Chan and the others the Inner Refining Breathing Method once they mastered the Outer Refining Breathing Method, and welcomed Xiao Qiao and Diao Qiao as family.
• Ding Ling continued eating the Great Medicine and found that his Strength and Defense had reached 31, while high-level martial arts now carried vastly greater power.
• Ding Ling tested his Defense with the Ju Que Sword and discovered that an invisible aura membrane protected his body like steel armor.
• Ding Ling ate all fifty-one remaining stalks of Great Medicine; his Agility and Constitution rose by 0.9 each, but his Strength and Defense did not increase.
• Zhao Yun and the others watched Ding Ling's gains with envy and continued their own step-by-step cultivation.

Ding Ling reunited with Hua Tuo in Runan, showed him Talisman Water, and taught him Talisman Arts before Hua Tuo gave up after a day. Ding Ling then headed for Wancheng to kill the Yuan Clan's patriarch and claim the treasures he had taken to Nanyang Commandery, arriving at the eastern gate as the guards recognized him.

• Ding Ling guided Zhao Yun and the others in their martial arts and breathing practice as Zhao Yun continued deepening his mastery of the Instinctive Realm.
• Ding Ling's party met Hua Tuo in Runan, where Diao Chan recounted Ding Ling's training and Hua Tuo watched Talisman Water cure patients.
• Ding Ling taught Hua Tuo Talisman Arts, but Hua Tuo gave up after a day, believing the art too difficult and deciding to focus on medicine.
• Ding Ling told Zhao Yun and the others that he intended to kill the Yuan Clan's patriarch, whose bounty on him remained in force, and take the treasures held by the clan.
• Ding Ling and his companions arrived at Wancheng's eastern gate at dusk, where the guards recognized him as the God of Slaughter.

Ding Ling arrived at Wancheng with Diao Chan, Du Qingcheng, Zhao Zilong, and the two Qiao sisters, drawing the attention of players and putting the sisters on edge before their first battlefield. At the gates, Zhang Xun ordered him to leave, but Ding Ling drew the Ju Que Sword and declared he would fight his way in.

• Players at Wancheng recognized Ding Ling and the two Qiao sisters, while Diao Chan and Du Qingcheng kept their faces masked.
• Ding Ling's group rode toward Wancheng, and the two Qiao sisters nervously prepared to enter a battlefield for the first time.
• Zhang Xun closed the gates and deployed thousands of archers to face Ding Ling.
• Ding Ling identified Zhang Xun as Yuan Shu's general and warned him not to attack.
• Zhang Xun challenged Ding Ling's nerve, and Ding Ling drew the Ju Que Sword and declared he would kill his way inside.

Ding Ling charged Zhang Xun’s archers and survived two volleys of arrows without injury, leaving the defenders and players stunned. He then cut through the archers with a single sweep of the Ju Que Sword.

• Zhang Xun warned Ding Ling to leave and threatened to kill him with a rain of arrows.
• Ding Ling charged toward the archers while Diao Chan, Zhao Yun, and the others stayed back.
• Zhang Xun ordered his archers to fire, but the arrows tore Ding Ling’s clothes and armor without harming him.
• Zhang Xun ordered a second volley, which also failed to injure Ding Ling, while the players reacted with disbelief.
• Ding Ling entered the archers’ ranks and swept the Ju Que Sword, killing them in a storm of flying blades.

Ding Ling routed Zhang Xun’s army, cleaved open Wancheng’s city gate with his sword, and rode into the city with his companions. No one dared to stop them as they continued down the main road.

• Zhang Xun fled after seeing Ding Ling’s overwhelming strength, and his terrified soldiers and players scattered.
• Ding Ling swept along the city wall, routing the Yuan Army and earning achievement medals for intimidating Zhang Xun and the returning elite soldiers.
• Ding Ling stopped fighting, went to the unguarded gate, and cleaved an opening through it with the Ju Que Sword.
• Diao Chan, Du Qingcheng, Xiao Qiao, and Zhao Yun joined Ding Ling, and they rode into Wancheng together.
• Ding Ling knocked down soldiers who tried to block their way, while the rest fled or hid as he deflected their surprise arrows.

Ding Ling’s overwhelming strength sent Zhang Xun fleeing and convinced Qiao Rui and Yuan Shu that the Yuan Clan could not defeat him. Qiao Rui helped Yuan Shu escape Wancheng, and Ding Ling arrived at the Yuan Family Residence to find it in chaos.

• Zhang Xun encountered Qiao Rui, warned him that Ding Ling was unstoppable, and ran home to take his family away.
• Qiao Rui resolved to protect Yuan Shu and ordered a thousand soldiers to delay Ding Ling while players slipped away to investigate.
• Qiao Rui told Yuan Shu that Ding Ling was approaching and urged him to flee; Yuan Shu gathered important items and left with Qiao Rui.
• Ding Ling reached the Yuan Family Residence and found servants and players carrying supplies in the midst of the chaos.

Ding Ling stormed the Yuan Clan’s inner courtyard, cutting down Chunyu Qiong and Lu Weihuang as he pushed through the defenders. He smashed open the courtyard gates and found a group of important figures waiting inside, visibly panicked.

• Ding Ling forced the Yuan Clan steward to lead him to the inner courtyard, where Yuan Shu’s head was reportedly gathering valuables to flee.
• Chunyu Qiong tried to shoot the fleeing steward, but Ding Ling killed him with Sunset Swordplay.
• Lu Weihuang charged Ding Ling to avenge Chunyu Qiong, but Ding Ling beheaded him with a sword strike.
• Ding Ling rode through the remaining defenders, while Zhao Yun and the others watched his overwhelming strength.
• Ding Ling smashed open the courtyard gates with Sword God Art and confronted the panicked important figures inside.

Ding Ling reached the Yuan Clan residence in Wancheng and demanded to know its leader. After Yuan Kui identified himself and tried to threaten Ding Ling, Ding Ling killed him and defeated the fierce general Han Juzi.

• Ding Ling arrived at the Yuan Clan residence and asked who led the clan, leaving its members stunned by his power.
• Yuan Kui stepped forward, identified himself as the clan head, and tried to frighten Ding Ling with his status and influence.
• Ding Ling dismissed Yuan Kui’s threats and swung the Ju Que Sword at him.
• Han Juzi attacked Ding Ling from the side, but his saber strike failed to injure him, and Ding Ling beheaded Yuan Kui.
• Ding Ling used the Sword God Art to sever Han Juzi’s sword hand and pierce his body, killing him.

Ding Ling annihilated the Yuan Clan’s gathered direct descendants and discovered their enormous storehouse of wealth and treasures. The chapter left him and his companions speculating that the Yuan Clan had been preparing to choose and support someone to contend for control of the world.

• Ding Ling killed Han Juzi and intimidated Yuan Kui, earning Achievement Medals for subduing Han Juzi and intimidating Yuan Kui.
• Ding Ling used Qing Shuang Swordplay to kill the remaining Yuan Clan figures, leaving the courtyard covered in corpses.
• Zhao Yun, Diao Chan, Xiao Qiao, and Du Qingcheng resolved to cultivate harder after witnessing Ding Ling’s overwhelming power.
• Ding Ling received an Achievement Medal for annihilating the Yuan Clan after learning that most of its direct descendants had gathered at the courtyard.
• Diao Chan found a storehouse filled with gold, secret manuals, medicinal herbs, jewelry, weapons, and other valuables.
• Ding Ling and Diao Chan speculated that the Yuan Clan had gathered its resources to select and support a candidate for power, though Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao were absent.

Ding Ling consumed the Yuan Clan’s stores of ancient Great Medicine, greatly increasing his agility and constitution. After reaching the Unity Breathing Method’s limit, he felt his life force had transformed to the point of seeming immortal.

• Ding Ling decided to make Wancheng his home and proposed that he and his companions subdue the city’s rebel forces.
• Ding Ling ate six-hundred-year-old Great Medicine, gaining small increases to his agility and constitution as his resistance to the medicine grew.
• Diao Chan, Xiao Qiao, and the others returned to the battlefield to clear and organize the Yuan Clan residence while Ding Ling continued eating Great Medicine.
• Ding Ling consumed eight seven-hundred-year-old herbs, breaking the Outer Refining Breathing Method’s constitution limit and strengthening his body.
• Ding Ling ate five eight-hundred-year-old herbs, raising his agility to 30.7 and his constitution to the Unity Breathing Method’s limit of 31.
• Ding Ling sensed his life force had surged to an extraordinary level and believed the world itself was supplying him with limitless vitality.