Chapter Summaries

Lin Chen challenged all twenty students from Qianshan County and defeated Zhang Qi with one palm, then knocked Zhu Tao down with a kick while Shen Ge attacked him. After Shen Ge’s perfected Blazing Cloud Palm struck Lin Chen without harming him, the spectators recognized Lin Chen’s perfected Iron Bone Technique, and the challenge remained underway.

• Lin Chen announced that he would challenge all the students from Qianshan County, and Su Lingchuan rejected Zhang Wangshan’s offer to let him choose another opponent.
• Zhang Qi fought Lin Chen with his fully charged Tiger Roar Fist, but Lin Chen sent him flying with a single palm strike.
• Shen Ge asked to delay their fight until he could take an Aperture Unblocking Pill, but Lin Chen refused because the County Competition was at stake.
• Zhu Tao insulted Lin Chen, who rushed forward and kicked him down while Shen Ge attacked Lin Chen from the side.
• Shen Ge’s perfected Blazing Cloud Palm struck Lin Chen’s back without injuring him, revealing Lin Chen’s perfected Iron Bone Technique to the stunned spectators.

Lin Chen won the County Competition for Poyang County by defeating Shen Ge, then learned that Yongfeng County students had deceived and extorted villagers from Lakeside Village. He recognized the false report as a deliberate provocation and waited at the Martial Affairs Department for the culprit to return.

• Lin Chen perfected Iron Bone Technique, defeated Shen Ge, and secured Poyang County's victory, earning congratulations from the martial artists and students.
• Lian Yu falsely told three Lakeside Village villagers that Lin Chen had lost and been gravely injured, hoping to make his village despair before learning the truth.
• A middle-aged man and a young man pretending to be injured tricked the villagers into handing over all their money as compensation.
• The villagers returned to the Martial Affairs Department and discovered Lin Chen was unharmed and had taken first place in the County Competition.
• After hearing the villagers' account, Lin Chen learned the liar was likely from Yongfeng County and told the villagers to wait because the man would come back.

Lin Chen injured Lian Yu after learning that he had deceived villagers from Lakeside Village, then fought Lian Cheng before both were confined. Su Lingchuan argued Lin Chen’s case before Director General Qiu Rufeng, who punished Lian Yu and ordered an investigation into the Lian Family; afterward, Qiu summoned Lin Chen and asked whether he had ever contacted the Martial Academy.

• Lin Chen blocked Lian Yu and struck him with Clear Wind Palm, breaking his shoulder after Lian Yu admitted he had lied to the villagers as a joke.
• Lian Cheng attacked Lin Chen, and the two fought until Lord Xu stopped them and ordered them confined for one day.
• Qu Jingcheng defended Lian Cheng while Su Lingchuan explained the hardship behind Lin Chen’s rise and argued that Lian Yu’s false story had insulted Lin Chen and Lakeside Village.
• Qiu Rufeng revoked Lian Yu’s martial academy privileges, confined both fighters for a day, and ordered an investigation into the Lian Family after Xu Luncai raised suspicions about Lian Cheng’s blood of a Ranked Demonic Beast.
• Xu Luncai brought Lin Chen to meet Qiu Rufeng, who asked whether Lin Chen had ever had contact with the Martial Academy.

Lin Chen learned about the Martial Arts Garden, Great Liang’s talent-selection system, and the resources available to provincial geniuses. He entered the Grade C Treasure Vault for his County Competition reward and chose the Serpent Shadow Bow, leaving with a weapon suited to his Extreme Martial Path.

• Qiu Rufeng explained that Great Liang’s Martial Arts Garden opposed demons and monsters, then described the Genius Regulation and the limits of the court’s support for talented martial artists.
• Qiu Rufeng offered to report Lin Chen as Jiangnan Province’s model impoverished student, and Lin Chen agreed.
• Xu Luncai escorted Lin Chen to the Grade C Treasure Vault, where guards searched him before allowing him inside to choose one treasure.
• Lin Chen examined manuals, pills, strange objects, and weapons, then selected the Serpent Shadow Bow after discovering its great strength requirement and suitability for the Extreme Martial Path.
• Xu Luncai revealed that he had bet Lin Chen would choose the bow, while Lord Zhao had expected him to choose pills.

Jiang Duanchao learned that Lin Chen, a fellow native of Lakeside Village, had won the County Competition, while Poyang County honored Lin Chen for his victory. After the banquet, Zhao Qifeng tried to recruit Lin Chen to Gale Martial Arts Hall, but Tai Rubai interrupted, leaving Zhao to face a costly negotiation.

• Jiang Duanchao returned to Jiang Manor, saw Lin Chen's name circled on the competition results, and recalled his complicated history with Lakeside Village and Village Chief Zhao Canghu.
• He Ruyun congratulated Poyang County's competitors and announced that he would send Lin Chen a personal calligraphic inscription to Lakeside Village.
• At a banquet, Lin Chen accepted toasts, declined further drinking so he could keep his daily cultivation routine, and received praise from Lord Xu and Lord Zhang.
• Lin Chen decided to practice at the Martial Park, but Zhao Qifeng stopped him and tried to persuade him to join Gale Martial Arts Hall.
• Tai Rubai interrupted Zhao Qifeng, and Lin Chen left; Zhao realized he would have to pay a heavy price to recruit him.

After Yan He'an revealed that the Lian family had colluded with the Demon Race, Lin Chen examined the powerful Serpent Shadow Bow while the authorities destroyed the Lian family, though the snake demon Teng Shu escaped. Lin Chen returned to Lakeside Village to receive a county magistrate’s plaque and worship his ancestors, leaving his celebrated homecoming underway.

• Yan He'an told Lin Chen that Raozhou Prefecture suspected the Lian family of colluding with the Demon Race and explained that demonic flesh could account for Lian Cheng’s strength.
• Lin Chen tested the Serpent Shadow Bow, but branches and pieces of a sword shattered when he fired them.
• Lian Cheng identified Lin Chen as the likely holder of the bow the snake demon wanted, and the authorities raided the Lian family for colluding with the Demon Race.
• Teng Shu escaped underground after shedding his skin five times, then fled through a river toward Poyang Lake while Fang Ze ordered a search.
• Lin Xiuyong joined the procession carrying the county magistrate’s plaque, and Lin Chen invited Instructors Liu and Chen to his village banquet.
• Lin Chen entered Lakeside Village amid firecrackers, worshiped his ancestors in the Ancestral Hall, and saw a plaque honoring martial diligence.

After learning of Gu Fei’s plans and his eldest brother Lin Liang’s upcoming wedding, Lin Chen sensed a lurking presence in the back mountain and ambushed the stranger who coveted the Serpent Shadow Bow. The attacker revealed himself as the snake demon Teng Shu, but Lin Chen chased him to Poyang Lake and killed him before he could escape.

• Gu Fei told Lin Chen he planned to join the Mantis Martial Arts Hall and eventually work as an official runner at the yamen.
• Lin Chen learned that Lin Liang’s wedding to Erya was planned for year-end and promised to attend.
• Lin Chen sensed someone watching him in the back mountain, left the Serpent Shadow Bow as bait, and hid behind a blue rock.
• Teng Shu tried to ambush Lin Chen for the bow, but Lin Chen struck first and fought him with the Clear Wind Palm and Water Cloud Palm.
• Teng Shu shed his skin and fled in the form of a small black snake, revealing that he was a snake demon.
• Lin Chen chased Teng Shu to Poyang Lake and crushed the snake demon’s head with a palm before he could reach the water.

Lin Chen killed an injured Snake Demon that had pursued him because of the Serpent Shadow Bow, then was questioned by military and government officials about the fight. Su Lingchuan identified the bow as the likely target and told Lin Chen that the Snake Demon's corpse belonged to him, giving him a chance to strengthen himself before special training.

• Lin Chen killed the Snake Demon at Lakeshore, refused to hand over its corpse, and told Gu Fei to find Lord Su at the Martial Arts Administration.
• Lu Tongzhi escorted Lin Chen to a hidden military camp, where Su Lingchuan, Fang Ze, Chu Tongpan, and other officials learned that Lin Chen had defeated the injured demon through a surprise attack.
• Lin Chen asked to learn about Demonic Beasts, prompting Fang Ze and Su Lingchuan to argue over whether the military or Martial Affairs Department would train him.
• Fang Ze ordered the troops to withdraw and warned Lu Tongzhi not to pursue what the officials suspected had attracted the Snake Demon to Lin Chen.
• Su Lingchuan examined the Serpent Shadow Bow, concluded its snake-tendon bowstring had drawn the demon, and promised to investigate the bow's origins.
• Su Lingchuan told Lin Chen that the Snake Demon's corpse belonged to him and advised him to eat its flesh and bathe in its blood before special training.

After returning to Poyang County with Lord Su, Lin Chen absorbed the Snake Demon's essence blood and ate its flesh to strengthen his qi and blood. He left for the Martial Academy to test the Thousand Hammer Diagram, while Lord Su revealed that the Director General was his mentor.

• Lin Chen returned to Poyang County with Lord Su, reassured that the Snake Demon had come alone to obtain the Serpent Shadow Bow and no longer threatened his family.
• Lord Su had Lin Chen bathe in boiling water infused with the Snake Demon's twelve drops of essence blood, and Lin Chen absorbed their energy while circulating the Iron Bone Technique.
• Lin Chen's qi and blood rose to 307,800, and his strength accidentally shattered the porcelain vat as he climbed out.
• Lord Su told Lin Chen to cook and eat the Snake Demon's flesh, declined to share it, and revealed that the Director General was his mentor.
• Lin Chen forced himself to finish the foul-tasting snake flesh, then returned to the Martial Academy to experience the Thousand Hammer Diagram.

Lin Chen tested whether he could toughen his body against internal injuries by letting his qi and blood rampage under repeated hammer blows, then recovered with Amethyst Marrow Liquid. Meanwhile, Qiu Rufeng and Su Lingchuan uncovered opposition to Lin Chen becoming the Jiangnan Province Student Exemplar and suspected the Huo Family was behind it.

• Lin Chen endured a hammer strike without using the Iron Bone Technique, letting his qi and blood surge chaotically until he spat blood after three blows.
• Lin Chen recovered in a bath with Amethyst Marrow Liquid and planned to check whether the experiment had affected his qi and blood value the next day.
• Qiu Rufeng told Su Lingchuan that the Jiangnan Province Martial Affairs Hall had suppressed Lin Chen's Student Exemplar nomination without investigating his achievements.
• Qiu Rufeng and Su Lingchuan discussed opposition from officials in several prefectures and learned that Quzhou Prefecture supported Lin Chen.
• Su Lingchuan considered the Jiang, Lü, and Shu families as possible sources of opposition, then concluded that the Huo Family was the likeliest suspect.

Qiu Rufeng, the Huo Family, the Li Manor, and the Military Department reacted to the stalled selection of Lin Chen as Jiangnan Province's Student Exemplar, while Lin Chen completed five days of punishing training. The chapter ended with Zhao Qifeng blurting out the news to Lin Chen, who realized the selection had encountered trouble.

• Qiu Rufeng told Su Lingchuan he would sound out the Huo Family Patriarch and keep Lin Chen uninformed until his special training ended.
• Huo Zhong revealed that he had arranged Shuer's betrothal to Li Zhe, opposed Lin Chen's selection, and had Lin Ming taken away as a pawn against Lin Chen.
• Li Yueshan rejected Li Zhe as a suitable student exemplar and urged Li An to uphold the family's moral bottom line.
• Fang Ze argued that the Military Department should recruit Lin Chen, but his Commander decided to wait until Lin Chen finished the Martial Affairs Hall's three-month special training.
• Lin Chen endured five days in the Martial Garden's small black room, improved his ability to use his palms while injured, and kept the remaining Amethyst Marrow Liquid in reserve.
• Zhao Qifeng visited Lin Chen to promise support against the shelved selection, then realized he might have revealed news Lin Chen had not heard.

Lin Chen learned that rival prefectures were contesting his nomination as Jiangnan Province Student Exemplar, then received a loan of the Thousand Hammer Diagram before being taken to Special Training. On the way, Lord Fang used a supposed reward from the Poyang Guard Commander-in-Chief to signal that Lin Chen had powerful backing, and Director General Jiang began asking about Lin Chen’s Snake Demon kill.

• Curator Zhao told Lin Chen that the Martial Affairs Hall had suppressed his recommendation and that several prefectures had nominated rival students.
• Yan He'an lent Lin Chen the Thousand Hammer Diagram and warned him to focus on his own strength and endure setbacks.
• Director General Jiang interrogated Lin Chen about his martial arts progress, then took him from the Martial Arts Administration to the Special Training Ground despite Su Lingchuan's wish to speak with him.
• At a checkpoint on Poyang Lake, Lord Fang claimed Lin Chen had earned a reward for slaying a Snake Demon and persuaded Jiang Kui to accept a bundle and let the boat pass.
• Jiang Kui told Lin Chen that thirty students from Jiangnan Province would enter the Special Training base and asked whether he had slain a Snake Demon.

Lin Chen impressed Jiang Kui by revealing that he had mastered three martial techniques, and Jiang Kui shared details about the Special Training Ground’s resources and assessment. When the boat entered dense fog, Lin Chen stepped forward, unaware that Jiang Kui and an observer had begun recording his actions.

• Lin Chen explained that he had killed the weakened Snake Demon and told Jiang Kui that he had opened fourteen apertures and chosen the Extreme Martial Path.
• Lin Chen revealed that he had mastered Iron Bone Technique and Water Cloud Palm as well as Clear Wind Palm, changing Jiang Kui’s opinion of him.
• Jiang Kui told Lin Chen that the Martial Affairs Hall would provide cultivation resources, tailor training, and rank trainees in an unusual assessment that could bring major rewards.
• After sharing a jug of medicinal wine with Jiang Kui, Lin Chen felt little chill during the boat journey.
• When the boat entered thick fog and Jiang Kui told Lin Chen to keep walking, Lin Chen stepped forward, while Jiang Kui and a middle-aged observer watched and recorded his movements.

During the Thousand Step Mist assessment, Lin Chen endured extreme cold and pressure, repeatedly changing his direction and drawing on the Gale Leg Technique to keep moving. After six hours, he began experimenting with merging the qi-and-blood circulation of Clear Wind Palm and Water Cloud Palm.

• Lin Chen walked steadily through the mist as his vigorous qi and blood resisted the cold, impressing Jiang Kui and Ji Feng.
• When the chill invaded his body, Lin Chen endured the pressure for hundreds of steps and deliberately altered his foot direction to lessen the pain.
• Lin Chen read the Gale Leg Technique manual and tried turning the pressure against his legs into momentum, staggering onward until Ji Feng launched fireworks to signal his thousand-step achievement.
• Several instructors waited at the mist’s exit for Lin Chen, but none of them stayed long enough to meet him as he continued moving slowly.
• After six hours, Lin Chen stopped and pushed out both palms, realizing he could use the extreme pressure to experiment with fusing the qi-and-blood circulation of Clear Wind Palm and Water Cloud Palm.

Lin Chen nearly suffered qi deviation while trying to fuse Clear Wind Palm and Water Cloud Palm, but an old expert rescued him and secretly arranged to teach him. After Lin Chen reached the Special Training Ground, Zhao Cangsheng took him away, prompting Ji Feng to summon the other instructors and reveal Lin Chen’s extraordinary talent.

• Lin Chen used the slowing chill in Thousand Step Mist to study his qi and blood circulation, but his thoughts became chaotic as he tried to understand how martial techniques changed at perfection.
• An old man struck Lin Chen with a bamboo staff to rescue him, then gave him a token and secretly offered to teach him because Lin Chen belonged to Gale Martial Arts Hall.
• Jiang Kui concluded that Lin Chen’s perfection in three techniques marked the Extreme Martial Path, while Ji Feng realized the old man had sent him away to claim Lin Chen as a disciple.
• Lin Chen left the mist, presented the token to Xue Yun, and was taken to Zhao Cangsheng, who recognized the token and carried him away after agreeing to guide him.
• Ji Feng fired two flares to summon the instructors and told them Lin Chen had mastered three techniques and trained inside Thousand Step Mist, causing the instructors to rush off after Zhao Cangsheng.

Zhao Cangsheng claimed Lin Chen as his student for three months, brushing aside objections from the other instructors. In Zhao’s bamboo hut, Lin Chen discovered a book on apertures and qi-and-blood circulation that offered new insight into his martial arts, while Zhao revealed he hoped Lin Chen could verify his old friend’s research.

• Zhao Cangsheng refused to let six instructors take Lin Chen, and the group realized other instructors might copy his rule-breaking to claim promising students of their own.
• Zhao admitted that he had deceived Lin Chen to make him accept instruction, then assigned him to memorize the hut’s books before training began.
• Lin Chen entered the hut and found wooden sculptures marked with qi-and-blood pathways, along with a book about the body's apertures and circulation methods.
• Lin Chen recognized that the book could help him fuse Clear Wind Palm and Water Cloud Palm by clarifying how qi and blood should flow.
• Zhao revealed that the book had belonged to an old friend and that he had remained there hoping to find a promising student who could test the friend’s research.

Lin Chen memorized a treatise on apertures and discovered the unconventional Extreme Origin Aperture True Understanding, which Zhao Cangsheng hoped he would test. After Lin Chen agreed to endure aperture stimulation, he reported to the Special Training Ground, where a points contest began.

• Lin Chen studied through the night, mastered the book’s account of apertures and qi and blood, and considered its proposal to bypass the dantian during circulation.
• Two days later, Lin Chen answered Zhao Cangsheng’s questions from memory and said he would not risk following the Qi Circulation Method without further proof.
• Zhao Cangsheng explained that he had prepared a method to stimulate Lin Chen’s apertures and offered it as a useful first step; Lin Chen agreed to endure the pain.
• Zhao Cangsheng told Lin Chen to report in and advised him to be overbearing when necessary.
• At the Special Training Ground, Shen Ge looked for Lin Chen among the gathered Jiangnan Province trainees, then a bell signaled a contest in which the first five to claim meditation cushions would earn ten points.

Lin Chen claimed a meditation mat and was challenged to fight the other four students who had claimed mats. He defeated all four with ease, leaving Instructor Min Huanbo lamenting that Senior Zhao had recruited Lin Chen first.

• Lin Chen stepped onto a meditation mat, and four other youths soon claimed the remaining mats.
• Min Huanbo eliminated everyone who had not claimed a mat and mocked the students, while Xue Yun and Du Yong watched from a nearby mountain.
• Min Huanbo praised Lin Chen, called the other four mat-holders half-trash, and provoked one of them into challenging Lin Chen.
• Lin Chen accepted the challenge and invited all four youths to attack him together for a chance to earn forty points.
• The four youths attacked Lin Chen, but he broke one student's fingers, snapped another's leg, and sent two more flying with counterattacks.
• Min Huanbo berated the defeated students and regretted that Senior Zhao had recruited Lin Chen before he could.

Lin Chen entered Martial Path Mountain, where he faced records set by Great Liang’s past martial arts prodigies and discovered how formidable they were. After finally defeating Zhang Chu at six apertures, Lin Chen remained inside, while Zhao Cangsheng discussed the difficult path he had prepared for him.

• Shen Ge concealed the Raozhou trainees’ identities by impersonating Wenzhou Prefecture and provoking the other groups into attacking three Wenzhou trainees.
• Min Huanbo explained the Special Training Ground’s points, assessments, and mysterious gate to Lin Chen, then sent him inside.
• Lin Chen learned that the steps beyond the gate recreated Great Liang’s strongest martial artists from different eras and realms.
• Lin Chen was defeated repeatedly, losing apertures as he faced past prodigies, until he finally blocked Zhang Chu’s strike at six apertures.
• Lin Chen defeated Zhang Chu after two hundred moves and wondered why the names on the steps differed across realms.
• Zhao Cangsheng told an old man that Lin Chen needed to follow his prepared path and would have to defeat opponents no more than six apertures above him to earn rewards.

Lin Chen challenged Martial Path Mountain and reached the seventh-aperture opponent before losing, then learned from Zhao Cangsheng how the mountain’s steps and rewards worked. Min Huanbo took him to begin special training, where a lavish spread of food awaited, though Lin Chen soon learned it would not be easy to reach.

• Lin Chen fought Dou Ping, a seven-aperture martial artist, and lasted three claws before the challenge ended.
• Zhao Cangsheng praised Lin Chen for reaching the seventh aperture and explained how past geniuses claimed and lost names on Martial Path Mountain’s steps.
• Zhao Cangsheng told Lin Chen to attend special training by day and visit the bamboo forest at night, and asked him to warn Min Huanbo against crooked ideas.
• Lin Chen told Min Huanbo that he had reached the sixth aperture, surprising the instructor, who then explained what he knew about the mountain’s steps.
• Min Huanbo led Lin Chen to the special training site, where Lin Chen saw tables of food and wondered if he had come for a vacation.