Chapter Summaries

Pan Mingzhong asked Zhang Lingshan to help him enter the yamen, but Zhang refused, deepening Pan’s resentment. After hearing that the Demon Suppression Division inspectors had left, Zhang went to meet Feng Ji, who invited him to join the Hunting Squad and hinted that this offer differed from the earlier one.

• Pan Mingzhong treated Zhang Lingshan to a meal and asked him to secure a yamen position, but Zhang explained that he lacked the authority and that the available deputy squad leader position was reserved for Hou Pingliang.
• Pan Mingzhong blamed Zhang for ruining his prospects and grew more resentful when Hou Pingliang arrived, treated Zhang warmly, and offered to pay for their meal.
• Pan Mingzhong left, while Zhang accepted Hou Pingliang’s offer of food and arranged to take the leftovers home to his mother and younger sister.
• Liu Feng told Zhang that Hou Pingliang had become a deputy squad leader and that the Demon Suppression Division inspectors had been transferred away; Zhang then resumed his night patrol.
• Zhang slipped away from his patrol and met Feng Ji, the Feng Family head, who invited him to join the Hunting Squad and said this offer was different from the earlier proposal.

Zhang Lingshan accepted Feng Ji’s invitation to join the Hunting Squad after tasting medicinal wines that increased his Energy Points and boosted his fighting spirit. After arranging to meet Feng Ji’s people in three days, Zhang Lingshan hunted through the night and prepared to tackle a blue Land of Turbidity next.

• Zhang Lingshan drank Feng Ji’s Rabbit Heart Wine and Fierce Goat Wine, gaining Energy Points and feeling their effects on his body.
• Feng Ji offered Zhang Lingshan regular access to Demon Beast Medicinal Wines if he joined the Hunting Squad, and Zhang Lingshan accepted.
• Feng Ji told Zhang Lingshan to buy a horse and meet Wang Dun and three others outside the city in three days, warning him to keep the arrangement secret.
• Zhang Lingshan left without being followed and spent the night clearing a gray Land of Turbidity.
• Zhang Lingshan’s Energy Points reached 7,891, and he planned to hunt a blue Land of Turbidity the next night to approach the 10,000 needed to perfect the Wind Stabilizing Posture.

Zhang Lingshan captured and refined a powerful Evil Spirit in a Blue Land of Turbidity, then used his accumulated energy to bring Wind Stabilizing Posture to Perfection. He discovered he had gained Wind Momentum and that his two perfected posture arts could be fused by spending energy.

• Zhang Lingshan entered a Blue Land of Turbidity and struggled for hours against an Evil Spirit that used the land’s yin energy to hinder him before capturing it.
• Zhang Lingshan refined the Evil Spirit by dawn, gaining 1,200 energy points and deciding his Fire Momentum was no longer enough for stronger foes.
• Zhang Lingshan gathered food and medicine, spent 10,000 energy points, and raised Wind Stabilizing Posture to Perfection after enduring its trial on a mountaintop.
• Zhang Lingshan recovered from the trial’s drastic effect on his physique and found he could create powerful wind whirls with his new Wind Momentum.
• Zhang Lingshan checked his Panel and discovered that Wind Stabilizing Posture and Primal Chaos Righteous Yang Posture had fusion progress bars that could be advanced with energy.

Zhang Lingshan met the four hunters on Cold Moon Mountain and joined them on their way to hunt a Red-Spotted Black Tiger. The team doubted his usefulness, and they set out expecting him to prove himself.

• Zhang Lingshan rode to Cold Moon Mountain, found no one waiting, and followed a figure into an ambush.
• Wang Dun, Wu Xian, Miao Wen, and Miao Wu confirmed Zhang Lingshan's identity using a portrait, though Wu Xian questioned whether he was fit to join them.
• Wang Dun led the group along mountain trails to Red Sun Mountain, where they stopped to eat before hunting the Red-Spotted Black Tiger.
• Zhang Lingshan noticed the hunters' Demon Beast Medicinal Wine and declined Wang Dun's offer to drink any before contributing.
• As the team moved out, Wu Xian and Miao Wen warned that Zhang Lingshan would be dead weight if he could not help, while Wang Dun urged them to give him a chance.

Zhang Lingshan joined Wang Dun's hunting squad and killed the Red-Spotted Black Tiger with a decisive saber strike, saving Miao Wu. After the hunt, Wang Dun explained the squad's work and Demonization before giving Zhang Lingshan the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound Technique to cultivate.

• Wang Dun led the squad's attack while Wu Xian scouted and the Miao brothers struck the Red-Spotted Black Tiger from both sides.
• Wu Xian's arrow missed the tiger's eye, and Zhang Lingshan beheaded the beast before it could bite Miao Wu.
• Miao Wu and Miao Wen thanked Zhang Lingshan, while Wu Xian admitted her mistake and gave him her share of the Tiger Heart Wine.
• Wang Dun explained how the squad prepared hunts, delivered tiger hearts to Mister Feng, and used vital blood to control Demonization.
• Wang Dun gave Zhang Lingshan the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound Technique, and they began cultivating it in a nearby mountain cave.

After killing the Red-Spotted Black Tiger, Zhang Lingshan used Demon Beast Medicinal Wine and Energy Points to cultivate the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound Technique, then led Wang Dun and the others to Green Yang Mountain to hunt the Jade-Eyed Eagle. The group hid when they heard strangers nearby, and an old man threatened someone to leave or die.

• Zhang Lingshan drank the Demon Beast Medicinal Wine offered by Wu Xian, quickly recovering his strength and gaining hundreds of Energy Points.
• Zhang Lingshan spent 100 Energy Points to reach Entry Level in the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound Technique, then used posture fusion and more wine to control the powerful changes to his qi and blood.
• Zhang Lingshan ate the remaining Red-Spotted Black Tiger meat and agreed with Wang Dun, Wu Xian, Miao Wen, and Miao Wu to hunt the Jade-Eyed Eagle on Green Yang Mountain.
• Wang Dun proposed burying their belongings and using their previous plan to lure and kill the Jade-Eyed Eagle.
• Zhang Lingshan heard strangers nearby, and the group hid as one voice boasted about killing the Jade-Eyed Eagle and an old man warned someone to leave within three breaths or die.

Zhang Lingshan joined Wang Dun's hunting group, helped them hunt a White-Haired Ape, and returned to Jin City to patrol for Evil Spirits. While secretly following Zhao Qing one night, he overheard Grandpa Yu ask whether anyone had followed him.

• Wang Dun explained that Zhang Lingshan would need a Tendon Transformation Cultivation Method, while Yuan Qiu defeated the Jade-Eyed Eagle with Grandpa Yu's help.
• Zhang Lingshan killed a White-Haired Ape with one precise saber strike, and the group celebrated their improved hunting prospects.
• After recovering some of his build, Zhang Lingshan rode back to Jin City and hunted three Evil Spirits in one night using Wind Momentum.
• Zhang Lingshan spotted Zhao Qing slipping through the night and secretly followed him to a courtyard.
• Zhang Lingshan heard Grandpa Yu ask Zhao Qing whether anyone had followed him.

Zhang Lingshan learned the Red Tiger Righteous Yang Art from Hong Zhengdao and strengthened his Flesh Refining cultivation, while an enemy enlisted the crippled Tendon Transformation expert Chu Lei to ambush him. The chapter ended as Chu Lei caught up to Zhang Lingshan on the road outside Jin City, only for Zhang Lingshan to grin as if he had stopped deliberately.

• Zhao Qing told Elder Yu he expected to reach Tendon Changing soon, and Elder Yu gave him a Jade-Eyed Eagle's heart to speed his cultivation.
• Zhang Lingshan reported what he had overheard, sparred with Hong Zhengdao, and learned the Red Tiger Righteous Yang Art and its cultivation route.
• Zhang Lingshan ate meat that rapidly raised his Energy Points, and Hong Zhengdao warned him that Pan Mingzhong might be planning something against him.
• Zhang Lingshan improved his Mountain Splitting Axe Technique, refined his flesh again, and approached the peak of Flesh Refining.
• A young man told Chu Lei where Zhang Lingshan would travel, and Chu Lei agreed to ambush him to take revenge on Hong Zhengdao.
• Chu Lei attacked Zhang Lingshan on the road outside Jin City, but Zhang Lingshan evaded his darts and stopped with a grin as Chu Lei caught up.

Zhang Lingshan killed Pan Mingzhong and wore down Chu Lei before returning to Jin City, where he learned Zhao Qing had reached the Tendon Transformation Realm. At a banquet celebrating his breakthrough, Zhao Qing announced a life-and-death Name-Stripping Duel against Hong Zhengdao, leaving Jin City in an uproar.

• Zhang Lingshan killed Pan Mingzhong and fought Chu Lei until Chu Lei died of exhaustion, then returned to Jin City.
• Zhang Lingshan spent two days hunting outside the city without encountering Old Man Yu and returned disappointed.
• Zhao Qing broke through to the Tendon Transformation Realm, and Zhao Hongying hosted a banquet to celebrate.
• Zhao Hongying announced that Zhao Qing and Song Lian would marry in ten days.
• Zhao Qing publicly challenged Hong Zhengdao to a life-and-death duel at Dongyang Gathering and threatened the Hong Clan Martial Hall with being struck from Jin City's rolls if Hong Zhengdao refused.

Zhao Qing challenged Hong Zhengdao to a delisting battle, leaving Hong Clan Martial Hall’s disciples fearing for their future. Zhang Lingshan privately spoke with Hong Zhengdao, then delivered a letter to Zhao Hongying; at the gathering the next day, Zhao Qing arrived while Hong Zhengdao had not yet appeared.

• Hong Zhengdao told his disciples to dismiss the martial hall’s followers and said they could leave, then asked Zhang Lingshan to remain with him.
• Zhang Lingshan revealed that he had killed Chu Lei, whom Pan Mingzhong had sent to kill him, but Hong Zhengdao said he had a plan and instructed him privately.
• Zhang Lingshan went to Hongying Martial Hall and delivered a letter to Zhao Hongying, whose contents remained unknown.
• At Dongyang Gathering, Yu Jiren brought Yuan Qiu to watch the battle and told him about Zhang Lingshan, a young genius from the Outer City.
• Zhao Qing arrived with Hongying Martial Hall, and Tian Fei taunted Hong Zhengdao for not yet showing up.

Hong Zhengdao faced Zhao Qing in a duel as onlookers and potential allies watched. Zhao Qing pierced Hong Zhengdao’s Eight Directions Divine Palm with Yu Jiren’s Void Piercing Finger, and Yuan Qiu declared Hong Zhengdao defeated.

• Song Dazhuang mocked Tian Fei while another disciple warned him that Tian Fei’s status had risen alongside Zhao Qing.
• Feng Ji told Feng Shaolong that the Four Great Families of the Inner City might recruit Zhang Lingshan after Hong Zhengdao and Zhao Qing’s battle.
• Jiang Shaobai promised Xiao Feng that Uncle Zuo would protect Zhang Lingshan if Hong Zhengdao lost.
• Hong Zhengdao opened the duel with his Eight Directions Divine Palm, but Zhao Qing countered with the Red Crane Movement Technique.
• Zhao Qing pierced through Hong Zhengdao’s palm shadows with the Void Piercing Finger, which Yu Jiren admitted he had taught him.
• Yuan Qiu told Yu Jiren that Hong Zhengdao had already been defeated.

Zhao Qing crippled Hong Zhengdao before Zhao Hongying intervened and spared his life. Yuan Qiu exposed Yu Jiren’s schemes, then entered the arena and challenged Hong Clan Martial Hall’s disciples, leaving Xu Liang to step forward first.

• Zhao Qing crippled Hong Zhengdao’s arms and forced him to kneel, but Zhao Hongying stopped Zhao Qing from killing him and helped him leave the stage.
• Yuan Qiu confronted Yu Jiren about his attempts to manipulate him, accepted his apology, and went down to the arena to help him take revenge.
• Yuan Qiu offered Hong Clan Martial Hall a chance to end its feud with Zhao Qing if one of its disciples could damage his clothes, while the crowd praised him.
• Hong Wenjuan, Xiao Ming, and Wu Yuanqing looked to Zhang Lingshan for direction, but Xu Liang leapt onto the stage to fight.

Zhang Lingshan fought Yuan Qiu and Zhao Qing at the Dongyang Gathering, defeating them despite their coordinated attacks. After killing Zhao Qing, he seized a Hongying Martial Hall youth and declared that he was cleaning house.

• Yuan Qiu nearly gouged out Xu Liang's eye, but Zhang Lingshan pulled Xu Liang from the fight and challenged Yuan Qiu.
• Zhang Lingshan endured Yuan Qiu's attacks while concealing his strength, until Yuan Qiu drew the Embroidered Dragon Sword and wounded him.
• Zhang Lingshan countered Yuan Qiu's swordplay, defeated him, and took the Embroidered Dragon Sword as Zhao Qing joined the attack.
• Zuo Chao blocked Yu Jiren while Jiang Shaobai arrived to protect Zhang Lingshan, who disarmed Zhao Qing and killed him with the Eight Directions Divine Palm and Blood Claw Hand.
• Zhang Lingshan dragged a pockmarked youth from Hongying Martial Hall onto the Terrace, tore out half his tongue, and announced that he was cleaning house.

After killing Zhao Qing, Zhang Lingshan was taken to a residence in the Jiang family estate, where he discovered that its Buddhist Incense poisoned him but increased his Energy Points. He worried that the incense might affect his family and planned to endure the danger until Master Hong’s Cultivation Method reached Greater Accomplishment.

• Zhang Lingshan killed Zhao Qing but collapsed from his wounds, while Hong Zhengdao realized he was pretending to be gravely injured to conceal his strength.
• Jiang Shaobai gave Zhang Lingfeng pills for his brother, arranged for Zhang Lingshan’s family to move into the Jiang estate, and left with Yuan Qiu.
• Zhang Lingshan’s family arrived at their prepared courtyard, where four maids were assigned to serve them and a Jiang family physician was called.
• Zhang Lingshan checked his Panel and realized the Buddhist Incense was poisoning him while steadily increasing his Energy Points.
• Zhang Lingshan worried that the incense could affect his mother and Zhang Lingyu, but decided to stay cautious and wait for Master Hong’s Cultivation Method to reach Greater Accomplishment.

Zhang Lingshan recovered in the Jiang Family’s Inner City while secretly exploiting its medicinal treatments and strange fragrance to gain Energy Points. After Zuo Chao asked him to write down the martial arts he had learned, Yan Yuqing returned to Jin City with three hooded companions.

• Zhang Lingshan used the Panel to recover from his injuries and resist the drowsiness and visions caused by the medicinal soup and Rain Lotus Soup.
• He discovered that the strange fragrance grew stronger at night and steadily increased his Energy Points as he breathed.
• Zhang Lingshan kept reopening his wounds to prolong his medicinal baths, then recovered and resumed moving around the courtyard after the treatments ran out.
• Jiang Shaobai sent Zuo Chao to examine Zhang Lingshan, and Zuo Chao asked him to write down every Cultivation Method he had learned.
• Yan Yuqing returned to Jin City with three hooded figures.

Yan Yuqing recruited Celestial Crane Daoist to help her secretly investigate Jin City, and he used a Bone Shrinking Talisman to disguise her before they set out. In the Jiang Family, Zhang Lingshan prepared to cultivate Tendon Transformation and decided to test whether he and his family could leave their guarded courtyard.

• Yan Yuqing chose to investigate the Huo Family in the Outer City and seek the truth about Sha Mingyue while staying out of the Demon Suppression Division's name.
• Celestial Crane Daoist charged Yan Yuqing five thousand taels to use his Bone Shrinking Talisman, shrinking her into a disguised woman and tailoring her clothes to fit.
• Celestial Crane Daoist warned Yan Yuqing not to stimulate her qi and blood while shrunken, and he led her, Xiao Wei, and Dong Shan toward Jin City as a traveling Daoist with disciples.
• Zuo Chao told Zhang Lingshan to begin refining his tendons with thirty doses of Tendon Nourishing Soup, but could not tell him how the Hong Clan Martial Hall was doing.
• Zhang Lingshan found Zhang Lingyu frustrated by the Jiang Family's strict guards and persistent scripture-chanting, while Mother Zhang appeared content rolling walnuts and practicing.
• Zhang Lingshan agreed to take Zhang Lingyu outside for a walk and see whether the Jiang Family's guards would let them leave.

Zhang Lingshan took his mother and sister to a Buddha courtyard, where the statue’s strange influence pulled him into a vision before he escaped an attack and met Jiang Bie. Jiang Bie agreed to let him visit his master and assigned Wu Lian to protect him, while privately considering him suitable to become a Vajra.

• Zhang Lingshan led his mother and Zhang Lingyu on an outing, and Spring Fragrance brought them to a courtyard with a giant Buddha statue.
• Zhang Lingshan gained Energy Points from the strange fragrance, then entered a white expanse where a golden Buddha’s mantra weakened him until an interruption brought him back to his senses.
• Wei Young Master ordered Zhan Ming to attack Zhang Lingshan, who fled with his mother and sister and ran through the Jiang Family grounds.
• Vajra Arhat confronted Zhang Lingshan and demanded that he kneel, but Jiang Bie intervened and stopped him.
• Jiang Bie told Zhang Lingshan that Jiang Shaobai was in seclusion, reassured him about his master and fellow disciples, and warned him about Yuan Jiren.
• Jiang Bie assigned Wu Lian to protect Zhang Lingshan as he went to visit his master, while privately deciding Zhang Lingshan would make a fine Vajra.

Zhang Lingshan visited his fellow disciples in the Inner City, returned to Hongying Martial Hall, and learned several Red Crane techniques from Zhao Hongying before reuniting with Hong Zhengdao. Meanwhile, Yu Jiren waited nearby for a chance to kill him, and Yan Yuqing prepared to investigate the guarded Huo Residence after Celestial Crane Daoist warned that the raid could bring either fortune or disaster.

• Zhang Lingshan visited Xu Liang, Hong Wenjuan, Wu Yuanqing, and Xiao Ming, who each gave him three thousand taels in Silver Notes, then drank Tendon Nourishing Soup and gained more than eight hundred Energy Points.
• Zhang Lingshan met Zhao Hongying and Song Lian at Hongying Martial Hall, reconciled with Song Lian, and learned Red Crane Leg Technique, Red Crane Movement Technique, Red Crane Swordplay, Red Crane Finger Technique, and Red Crane Posture.
• Zhao Hongying confirmed that Zhang Lingshan had recovered, and Hong Zhengdao welcomed him before the two talked late into the night.
• Yu Jiren hid near Hongying Martial Hall, scarred and disfigured, and waited for an opportunity to kill Zhang Lingshan.
• Yan Yuqing and Xiao Wei prepared to investigate the Huo Residence with Celestial Crane Daoist, who divined an uncertain outcome and demanded ten thousand taels of gold for his supplies.

Yan Yuqing hired Celestial Crane Daoist to help investigate the Huo Residence after recounting Huo Liuyin’s history and the missing-children cases linked to his family. Meanwhile, Zhang Lingshan perfected several posture arts, bringing his fusion progress to 98%.

• Yan Yuqing paid Celestial Crane Daoist and described Huo Liuyin’s rise, the Four Great Families’ attack, and the Huo Family’s decline.
• Yan Yuqing revealed that at least twenty missing children, around two or three years old, might have been connected to the Huo Family, and Celestial Crane Daoist’s compass could not determine whether the trip was auspicious.
• Yan Yuqing ordered the group to continue to the Huo Residence, and Celestial Crane Daoist gave Xiao Wei and Dong Shan protective talismans.
• Zhang Lingshan used Energy Points to raise Red Crane Posture to Perfection, increasing his posture-art fusion progress by 10%.
• Hong Zhengdao explained the Four Foundations of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind and let Zhang Lingshan examine his collection of posture arts.
• Zhang Lingshan perfected four posture arts from Hong Zhengdao’s collection, raising his fusion progress to 98%.

Zhang Lingshan perfected the Dragon-Tiger Stance and learned that his breakthrough had revealed the embryonic form of a Qi and Blood Furnace. As he ate meat from Hong Zhengdao’s Black Box, Celestial Crane Daoist and his companions entered a formation at the Huo Residence, where Xiao Wei triggered something.

• Zhang Lingshan completed the Dragon-Tiger Stance, while Hong Zhengdao recognized his qi and blood as showing the embryonic form of a Qi and Blood Furnace and warned him to conceal his strength.
• Hong Zhengdao gave Zhang Lingshan meat from a Black Box and explained that it accelerated time inside, revealing how he had acquired it from a dying Daoist.
• Hong Zhengdao speculated that the Black Box and strange Evil Spirits came from other worlds, then urged Zhang Lingshan to grow stronger.
• Celestial Crane Daoist realized that Yan Yuqing and the others had entered a formation at the Huo Residence, but said he had hidden their auras from Huo Liuyin.
• Xiao Wei accidentally stepped on something in the formation, prompting Celestial Crane Daoist to curse.