Chapter Summaries

After becoming Great Liang's Martial Arts Student Exemplar, Lin Chen learned how his achievement would benefit his family and hometown, then returned to Lakeside Village for a feast in his honor. There, he agreed to help Su Tong begin martial arts training, leaving the boy to return to the city with an escort.

• Jia Nanzhu explained that Lin Chen's title would bring more cultivation resources to Jiangnan Province, Raozhou Prefecture, and especially Poyang County, while Lin Chen's family and Instructor Yu would also receive rewards.
• Jia Nanzhu examined Lin Chen and confirmed that he had entered the Organ Tempering Realm, though only his heart had been tempered; he suspected Lin Chen's Nine Revolutions True Blood Organ Tempering Method caused the unusual response.
• Lin Chen attended the feast at Lakeside Village, where Zhao Canghu arranged for Lin Chen's elder brother to take over village affairs and Gu Fei said he had received a place for an Aperture Opening Pill.
• After the guests left, Lin Chen met Su Tong, a poor youth who had memorized Lin Chen's article and asked to practice martial arts.
• Lin Chen offered Su Tong free training in Lakeside Village if his family agreed, and told him to ask Zhao Canghu to arrange for Gu Fei to escort him home.

Lin Chen prepared to travel to Mount Huang to learn more about the Town Yue Manual, then arrived at the Shu Residence in Raozhou Prefecture. Shu Suwan arranged to take him to the neighboring Jiang Manor to visit Jiang Qing’s mother, hoping to win her approval despite Lord Jiang’s hostility toward Lin Chen.

• Lin Chen agreed that his elder brother and Huier could search for his missing uncle, Lin Hai, and give him money if he did not want to return.
• Yu Yongnian told Lin Chen that the Huang Family’s patriarch had invited him to Mount Huang after he reached Organ Tempering, and Lin Chen agreed to go.
• Lin Chen said farewell to his family and rode with Yu Yongnian to the Shu Residence, where Hua'er and Shu Suwan welcomed him.
• Shu Suwan revealed that the Jiang Manor was next door and offered to take Lin Chen there to meet Madam Jiang, who seemed to approve of him and his connection to Jiang Qing.
• Yu Yongnian realized that Lord Jiang resented Lin Chen because he might win Jiang Qing’s affection, and he agreed to delay their departure for Mount Huang until the next day.

Lin Chen met Jiang Qing’s mother, Zhuang Min, in the rear garden and made a favorable impression on her. Meanwhile, Jiang Duanchao hosted Chu Ming and his daughter Chu Xi, who boasted about Jiang Cheng’s early admission to Soaring Cloud Martial Arts Academy, before Jiang Qing was summoned to meet the guests.

• Zhuang Min learned that Shu Suwan had arrived with a young man and invited them to the rear garden, then called Jiang Qing to join them.
• Shu Suwan introduced Lin Chen to Zhuang Min, who scrutinized him, praised his looks, and teased him about winning Jiang Qing’s heart.
• Jiang Duanchao met with Chu Ming, who introduced his son Jiang Cheng and revealed that Soaring Cloud Martial Arts Academy had admitted him before he reached Organ Tempering.
• Chu Xi gave Jiang Qing a provocative look, while Chu Ming suggested Jiang Cheng introduce Jiang Qing to his fellow disciples.
• A maid told Jiang Qing that Zhuang Min wanted her in the rear garden, and Chu Ming instructed Chu Xi and Jiang Cheng to accompany her.

Lin Chen visited the Jiang Manor, where Chu Xi mistook him for an unremarkable fiancé until Jiang Cheng revealed that he was the Great Liang Martial Arts Student Exemplar. After Jiang Duanchao and Chu Ming argued over their children, Jiang Cheng challenged Lin Chen to spar, and Lin Chen accepted.

• Jiang Qing introduced Lin Chen as her junior brother, and Chu Xi disparaged his local origins and choice of Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy.
• Lin Chen said he had just reached Organ Tempering, and Jiang Cheng recognized him as the famed Martial Arts Student Exemplar who had left his name on Martial Path Mountain seven times.
• Jiang Cheng apologized for Chu Xi's remarks, and Zhuang Min arrived with Shu Suwan to ease the awkwardness.
• A servant reported that Jiang Duanchao and Chu Ming were fighting in the front courtyard, where the two men argued over their sons-in-law and Jiang Qing.
• Jiang Duanchao presented Lin Chen as the Martial Arts Student Exemplar, prompting Chu Ming to question whether Lin Chen had been lingering outside the Jiang Manor.
• Jiang Cheng proposed a spar with Lin Chen, and Lin Chen agreed despite Jiang Duanchao's concern about his recent breakthrough.

Lin Chen defeated Jiang Cheng in a spar and learned that his trip to Huang Mountain might reveal secrets of the Town Yue Manual. He left for Huizhou with Yu Yongnian, who began teaching him how to judge dangerous people on the road, and they approached a commotion ahead.

• Lin Chen used his speed and Wind Cloud Palm to overwhelm Jiang Cheng, who conceded defeat when Chu Ming stopped the fight.
• Jiang Qing reasoned that the Huang Family wanted Lin Chen to visit Huang Mountain to learn the Town Yue Manual's cultivation secrets, while she planned to leave for Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy in three days.
• Lin Chen dined with the Shu Family, then spent the night cultivating at Shu Residence.
• Lin Chen and Yu Yongnian rode toward Huang Mountain, and Yu Yongnian taught Lin Chen how to recognize dangerous martial-world travelers.
• Lin Chen and Yu Yongnian saw a crowd gathered on the road and slowed their horses to approach.

Lin Chen and Yu Yongnian reached Mount Huang, where Huang Fenghua welcomed them to the Huang Family estate. Huang Yuanliang decided to let Lin Chen enter the Huang Family Ancestral Land, arguing that the family should claim its share of the credit for teaching him the Town Yue Manual.

• Yu Yongnian explained that the Hidden Dragon Ranking offered young martial artists a chance to gain support from powerful lineages, while injuries outside the academy could be costly.
• Two days later, Lin Chen and Yu Yongnian reached Mount Huang, and Huang Fenghua came to escort them to Huang Manor.
• Huang Fenghua arranged for Lin Chen to stay beside Yu Yongnian's former courtyard and directed them to bathe before meeting their teacher.
• Huang Kun objected to letting Lin Chen enter the Huang Family Ancestral Land, but Huang Yuanliang said no Huang had mastered the sixth layer of the Town Yue Manual and Lin Chen deserved the opportunity.
• Huang Yuanliang argued that the Li Family had benefited from teaching Lin Chen the Huang Family's manual, so the Huang Family should offer him a chance to enter the Ancestral Land.

Lin Chen met Huang Yuanliang, who revealed that the Town Yue Manual could lead beyond ordinary Hard Qigong into a lost Body Tempering path. After Lin Chen entered Huang Mountain’s hidden cloud sea, he descended the path that might unlock that opportunity, but the mist sealed his martial strength and left his body growing cold.

• Huang Yuanliang told Yu Yongnian that the Teaching and Transformation Pavilion could help him advance, but would permanently end his potential for further cultivation, and Yu Yongnian accepted the tradeoff.
• Huang Yuanliang learned that Lin Chen had reached the Town Yue Manual’s second stage and revealed that Huang Mountain concealed an opportunity accessible to those who met the technique’s requirements.
• Huang Yuanliang guided Lin Chen through mist that struck like needles and hammers, explaining that the Town Yue Manual could be cultivated as either advanced Hard Qigong or Body Tempering.
• At a fork in the mountain path, Huang Yuanliang told Lin Chen that only someone who reached the Town Yue Manual’s second stage before the Organ Refining Realm could take the downward route, where the chance to unlock Body Tempering lay.
• Lin Chen descended alone, discovered that the mist had stopped his qi and blood from circulating, and continued onward as his body temperature fell.

Lin Chen discovered the Huang Family ancestor’s hidden instructions and endured repeated assaults from the Qi of Earth Sha to temper his body. As the third assault threatened to force him out of the valley, his updated System Panel revealed a title that reduced pain while he absorbed energy, though the pain would return doubled afterward.

• Lin Chen found the Huang Family ancestor’s buried message explaining that a Six-Leaf Green Fruit would protect him from the Qi of Earth Sha during seven rounds of body tempering.
• Lin Chen ate the fruit and endured the first two assaults, absorbing the Qi of Earth Sha and strengthening his acupoints.
• Lin Chen realized that tempering with the Qi of Earth Sha consumed vast amounts of blood and qi, then struggled against a third assault that hammered his bones.
• The System Panel announced its update, and Lin Chen found that his new Medicine Jar Frail Body title reduced pain while he absorbed energy but delayed it until afterward, when it would be doubled.

Lin Chen endured the Qi of Earth Sha in Mount Huang, strengthened his body, and survived the delayed doubled pain caused by his new title. While hunting after half a month of training, he encountered a white fox family and revealed that he intended to kill them because of the white fox clan’s atrocities against humans.

• Lin Chen activated the Medicine Jar Frail Body title and endured seven waves of Qi of Earth Sha until the Mountain Shaking Manual absorbed it and tempered his bones and body.
• Lin Chen examined his System Panel, then collapsed when the title’s delayed doubled pain struck; he recovered the next day and returned to the valley to keep training.
• Lin Chen continued tempering his body for half a month, raising the Mountain Shaking Manual’s Body Tempering progress to 2.75 before deciding to leave after three more days.
• While hunting, Lin Chen followed a blood trail to a cave and found an injured male fox, his mate, and their two young.
• Lin Chen promised to spare the male fox’s family if he killed himself, then shot the mother fox when she fled and explained that he intended to kill the foxes because of the white fox clan’s history of murdering and abducting human children.

Lin Chen exposed the White Fox clan’s hidden presence on Mount Huang, prompting Great Liang to mobilize against them and forcing him to conceal his role before leaving for the Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy. After the court publicly revealed the Demon Race’s crimes, Lin Chen urged Lakeside Village’s youths to learn martial arts to protect their homes and country, then departed.

• Lin Chen killed four White Foxes, discovered human bones in their cave, and warned Huang Kun that other White Foxes or a secret might remain on Mount Huang.
• Huang Yuanliang ordered an investigation, and Great Liang’s forces surrounded Mount Huang; they discovered a secret tunnel and fought more than fifty White Foxes and two elders, who resisted capture.
• Huang Yuanliang arranged for Lin Chen to leave secretly, and Lin Chen told him about the Cloud Valley body-tempering method; Huang Yuanliang kept the method’s location from the family descendants and advised Lin Chen to hide his hatred of the Demon Race at the academy.
• Jia Nanzhu discussed the possible origins of body tempering in the Qin Kingdom and arranged for Lin Chen to travel alone to the Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy in three days.
• The Great Liang court issued a proclamation revealing the Demon Race’s crimes, stirring anger across the nation.
• Lin Chen encouraged Lakeside Village’s youths to practice martial arts to protect their homes and country, then left the village.

Lin Chen traveled to Bafang City, where he learned about the Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy’s entrance assessment and the pressure this year’s candidates faced. After arriving, he saw academy disciple Qu Feng meet Zhu Xing at the docks, though Qu Feng did not reveal whom he had come to receive.

• Lin Chen boarded a boat to Bafang City and explained to fellow passengers that he was not going there to take the academy assessment.
• Ji Qing told Lin Chen that martial artists from Jiangnan Province were viewed as backward, and Lin Chen recognized the discrimination his teacher had warned him about.
• Lin Chen moved aside when Zhu Xing’s group demanded the front of the deck, and Ji Qing cautioned him not to provoke powerful families.
• At Bafang City’s docks, Zhu Xing worried that the influx of exceptional applicants, drawn by Lin Chen’s reputation, had made the academy assessment much harder for his younger brother.
• Zhu Xing greeted Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy disciple Qu Feng, who said he had come to receive someone but did not disclose who.

Lin Chen arrived at Eight Directions City and drew a crowd of Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy disciples and young martial artists eager to meet Great Liang’s Martial Arts Student Exemplar. As Qu Feng welcomed him, a young woman alerted three people from Zheng Kingdom, and Xiao Yaojin ordered his subordinate to watch them; at the city gate, the three challenged Lin Chen to prove his reputation.

• Qu Feng and Ye Feng waited at the wharf, where Ye Feng told Qu Feng he had once lost to Lin Chen by a single move.
• Lin Chen refused Ji Qing’s invitation to stay with him and planned to go directly to Azure Ripple Prefecture.
• Qu Feng and Ye Feng recognized Lin Chen as he arrived, and Zhu Xing stopped Zhu Chen from disembarking ahead of him.
• Qu Feng welcomed Lin Chen and revealed his identity, prompting a crowd of young martial artists to gather around him.
• A young woman sent word of Lin Chen’s arrival to three people from Zheng Kingdom, while Xiao Yaojin told his subordinate to watch them.
• At the city gate, three figures challenged Lin Chen to show whether his fame was deserved.

Xiao Yaojin, using the assumed name Xiao Huo, fought Zheng Kingdom’s challengers to protect Lin Chen’s reputation at Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy. After defeating Gong Xing, he faced Guida Lie, while Lin Chen stepped in to claim a turn.

• Guida Lie, Gong Xing, and Qing Dubian challenged Lin Chen, and Xiao Yaojin revealed their identities and how recently they had entered the Organ Tempering Realm.
• Xiao Yaojin refused Ye Feng’s offer to fight and insisted on facing the Zheng Kingdom challengers himself; Lin Chen sensed that Xiao’s strength matched his own.
• Xiao Yaojin fought Gong Xing, whose Demon Race Bloodline increased his power, and knocked him to the ground with a powerful punch.
• A young woman watching from an inn recognized Xiao Yaojin as the Young Marquis of Marquis Zhenbei fighting under an assumed name.
• Guida Lie stepped forward to challenge Xiao Yaojin, but Lin Chen asked Xiao to let him take a turn after defeating Gong Xing.

Lin Chen faced Zheng Kingdom challengers Guida Lie and Qing Dubian in Eight Directions City, defeating Guida Lie with ease and refusing to let Qing Dubian leave. The city’s hidden protector watched over the confrontation as Lin Chen prepared to finish the fight.

• After Xiao Yaojin defeated Gong Xing, Lin Chen stepped forward to challenge Guida Lie despite warnings about Zheng Kingdom’s Demon Race Bloodline.
• Guida Lie activated his Wolf Transformation and attacked, but Lin Chen evaded him and struck his shoulder, forcing him to his knees.
• Lin Chen remarked that blood had dirtied his clothing hem, drawing cheers from the Great Liang youths as they mocked Guida Lie’s defeat.
• When Guida Lie tried to rise, Lin Chen struck him again and sent him flying, then challenged Qing Dubian for trying to withdraw.
• Qing Dubian called for his uncle’s help, but Uncle Qing stayed still after sensing a powerful figure had him locked in place.
• An unseen man on the city wall praised Lin Chen as a promising genius whose name had been recorded on Martial Path Mountain seven times.

After defeating Guida Lie and the others, Lin Chen celebrated with Qu Feng and the Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy disciples, then explored the Martial Path Palace’s trading market. He found a strange book whose handwriting stirred a sense of joy and asked its owner the price, leaving the purchase undecided.

• Qu Feng praised Lin Chen for defeating Guida Lie and explained that Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy had used Lin Chen’s fame to recruit geniuses.
• Qu Feng led Lin Chen and the others to the Martial Path Palace after Lin Chen declined their proposed outing and learned that Jiangnan Province had no such institution.
• Lin Chen learned about the market’s strict trading rules and entered wearing a veiled bamboo hat to avoid being recognized.
• Lin Chen browsed the stalls and stopped at a small one run by a man in his thirties.
• Lin Chen examined the first page of a book titled “Joyful Ascension Scroll” and asked the stall owner its price.
• The stall owner demanded one thousand taels for the book.

Lin Chen bought the mysterious Joyful Ascension Scroll and discovered that copying its verses kept him alert enough to cultivate through the night. As he traveled to the Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy, its instructors competed to teach him, and Dean Hua Qianwu added a deliberately misleading instructor post of his own.

• Lin Chen bargained with a stall owner and bought the fireproof, untearable Joyful Ascension Scroll for nine hundred taels.
• Lin Chen copied the scroll’s three sections until dawn, felt refreshed rather than tired, and continued cultivating while the other students admired his diligence.
• Lin Chen left for the Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy with Qu Feng, while the academy’s instructors argued over who would teach him.
• Dean Hua Qianwu decided Lin Chen would choose his instructor by reading the instructors’ written qualifications.
• Hua Qianwu secretly added his own misleading instructor post, making the collecting official realize the dean had outdone the other instructors in shamelessness.

Lin Chen arrived at Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy and chose Dean Hua Qianwu as his Instructor. Hua Qianwu revealed that Lin Chen’s Nine Revolutions True Blood Organ Refining Method had been practiced by the Founding Emperor, but its escalating pain had prevented anyone else from completing it; Lin Chen and Hua Qianwu agreed to pursue the dangerous path together.

• Qu Feng brought Lin Chen into Azure Ripple Prefecture and showed him the Academy’s gate, where red notices celebrated Lin Chen’s achievements.
• Instructor Zhao let Lin Chen choose his Instructor, and Lin Chen selected Dean Hua Qianwu after reviewing the profiles.
• Hua Qianwu explained that the Academy had offered Lin Chen thirty drops of Flood Dragon True Blood because the Nine Revolutions method required them.
• Hua Qianwu told Lin Chen that the Founding Emperor was the only person to master the method, while later cultivators had reached no further than the sixth revolution because of its severe pain.
• Lin Chen vowed not to give up, and Hua Qianwu agreed to prepare the resources and take the gamble with him.

Hua Qianwu explained how Martial Arts Will depended on balancing the five organs and why Lin Chen's Nine Revolutions True Blood Organ Refining would make that difficult. He warned Lin Chen of the risks and costs, then promised special training and time to prepare before it began.

• Hua Qianwu described the nine revolutions and warned that Lin Chen could become trapped in the Organ Refining Realm if he could not endure them.
• Lin Chen told Hua Qianwu about his techniques, Body Tempering on Mount Huang, and the Dragon Shadow Bow; Hua Qianwu confirmed the Body Tempering and praised the bow.
• Hua Qianwu demonstrated with sand and glass bottles that Five Organ Resonance required balancing the five organs to condense Martial Arts Will.
• Lin Chen suggested nurturing a Spirit Weapon to correct the imbalance, but Hua Qianwu warned that the materials would be vastly more costly for him and could leave him unable to progress.
• Hua Qianwu told Lin Chen to rest for three days while he prepared Flood Dragon True Blood and a special training plan, which would become even harsher after accounting for Body Tempering.

Lin Chen explored the enormous Azure Ripple Martial Arts Academy and went to Azure Nether Peak to find Jiang Qing. He reunited with her and left hand in hand with her, while the other disciples learned that he was the dean’s personal student.

• Lin Chen reached his private residence on Azure Ripple Peak, then set out to find Jiang Qing at Azure Nether Peak.
• A senior disciple explained that students referred to the academy’s nineteen peaks by number and recognized Lin Chen as the martial genius whose name had spread throughout the academy.
• At the foot of the Fifth Peak, Lin Chen encountered Yu Chen and several other senior disciples waiting to approach a new junior sister.
• Jiang Qing came out of her residence, rejected the men who tried to greet her, and warmly recognized Lin Chen.
• Lin Chen told Jiang Qing he had come to ease his longing for her, and she let him hold her hand as they walked away together.
• The other disciples realized Lin Chen lived on the First Peak and was personally taught by the dean, then abandoned any thought of challenging him.

Lin Chen began Hua Qianwu’s month-long physical training plan, enduring punishing trials at the Hard Qigong Hall without circulating his qi and blood. After using Medicine Jar Frail Body to withstand the final trial, he finished the day’s recovery and training, then climbed Azure Ripple Peak at night.

• Hua Qianwu gave Lin Chen a month-long training plan that required him to wear Reverse Scale Armor and Blood Locking Cuffs, climb Azure Ripple Peak, and endure the Hard Qigong Hall’s trials.
• Lin Chen climbed Azure Ripple Peak three times using only physical strength, then endured tendon-splitting cables without circulating his qi and blood.
• Lin Chen endured 108 targeted hammer strikes in the Bone Forging Courtyard and remained conscious when Zhang Qifeng opened the bronze cauldron.
• Zhang Qifeng inserted 96 silver needles into Lin Chen’s acupoints and used Cold Marrow Fluid; Lin Chen activated Medicine Jar Frail Body when the pain reached his limit.
• Lin Chen saw his Body Tempering rise to 2.76, soaked in a medicinal bath, continued cultivating and copying the Joyful Ascension Scroll, then went to Azure Ripple Peak at night as nearby disciples heard wolves howl.