Chapter Summaries

After his promotion banquet, Zhuang Jin declined Fu Shousong and Qiu Yizhi’s offer of money and rare resources in exchange for supporting them at the High-level Meeting. He chose to stay neutral and looked forward to watching the dispute unfold, then spent the night with Chen Yun.

• Zhuang Jin hosted a lively banquet for the acolytes and spoke with the guests until late at night.
• Fu Shousong and Qiu Yizhi asked Zhuang Jin to support them in a vote to stop the investigation into East of the City’s officials, offering him half a share of its earnings and access to rare resources.
• Zhuang Jin refused their offer, citing his low standing and reluctance to get involved, and Fu Shousong and Qiu Yizhi left their congratulatory gifts with him.
• Chen Yun comforted Zhuang Jin after the guests departed, and the couple shared hangover soup and enjoyed a quiet moment together.
• Zhuang Jin anticipated the next day’s High-level Meeting but decided to remain an observer, then carried Chen Yun to bed.

Zhuang Jin attended the Shen Family's high-level meeting, where Shen Xianhong ordered the East of the City investigation to continue despite a vote to stop it. After settling into his new post at headquarters, Zhuang Jin learned that a fire had destroyed unaudited account books as investigators reached the Town Garrison Commander level.

• Shen Xianhong welcomed Zhuang Jin to the high-level meeting, where attendants argued over whether to expand the East of the City investigation.
• Qiu Yizhi tried to use Zhuang Jin's former post as Town Garrison Commander to cast doubt on Pang Shusheng's case, but Zhuang Jin recounted corruption involving Huang Jun and his father.
• Shen Xianhong held a vote that favored stopping the investigation, then ordered it to continue and established a special investigation team.
• Zhuang Jin chose a nominal post at Shen Family Headquarters and arranged new assignments for Duan Tao, Lin Hong, Bi Kai, and his other personal guards.
• Zhuang Jin practiced martial arts and helped Chen Yun begin cultivating after teaching her the Azure Wood Springwood Art.
• Yue Song told Zhuang Jin that a fire had destroyed unaudited account books as the East of the City investigation reached the Town Garrison Commander level.

As Shen Xianhong’s audit weakened the East of the City forces, Zhuang Jin spent nearly two months cultivating and helping Chen Yun settle into martial arts. Shen Xianhong then asked him to assist Shen Xuchen in arresting three men accused of attacking Pang Shusheng, and Zhuang Jin accepted, receiving a pound of Cloud Concealment Tea as thanks.

• Shen Xianhong’s audit confiscated illicit assets and punished East of the City officials, while the Shen Family’s other factions shared in the recovered wealth.
• Chen Yun became a Formal Martial Artist after twenty-six days of cultivating the Azure Wood Springwood Art, and she filled Zhuang Jin’s home with flowers and other plants.
• Zhuang Jin cultivated daily until his battle merits ran out, then used Cloud Concealment Tea to maintain his progress and reached about seventy percent of the accumulation needed for one meridian.
• Shen Xianhong told Zhuang Jin that Shen Xuchen was gathering men to arrest three chief culprits who had attacked Pang Shusheng, including Qiu Tongxiang, the son of Qiu Yizhi.
• Zhuang Jin agreed to assist Shen Xuchen, and Shen Xianhong’s steward gave him a pound of Cloud Concealment Tea as a reward.

Shen Xuchen arrested the three men responsible for attacking Pang Shusheng and brought them to a public execution. As the condemned men’s allies arrived seeking a reprieve, Fu Shousong proposed a fight between Zhuang Jin and Attendant Qiu, citing Shen Xianhong’s approval if Zhuang Jin agreed.

• Shen Xuchen accepted Zhuang Jin’s help and said they needed to seize the three culprits quickly.
• Shen Xuchen arrested Gong Chu and Ou Wenzhong, who surrendered and asked Zhuang Jin to protect his family; Qiu Tongxiang was also seized after claiming his father was Qiu Yizhi.
• Shen Xuchen had all three men’s crimes and judgment announced, then sent them to the execution ground East of the City for a public execution.
• Fu Shousong, Qiu Yizhi, and several elders arrived and asked Shen Xuchen to spare the condemned men so they could fight at the front line South of the City.
• Shen Xuchen refused to bargain over the judgment, but Fu Shousong proposed that Attendant Zhuang and Attendant Qiu fight, adding that Shen Xianhong had no objection if Zhuang Jin agreed.

Zhuang Jin agreed to duel Qiu Yizhi after recognizing that the match was a staged bid to preserve the East of the City's leaders' dignity and win Shen Xianhong's favor. Their fight began at the execution ground, where both demonstrated their strength while the fate of Gong Chu, Ou Wenzhong, and Qiu Tongxiang remained suspended.

• Zhuang Jin deduced that Fu Shousong and Qiu Yizhi had secured Shen Xianhong's approval for a symbolic duel to protect their reputations while accepting the East of the City's defeat.
• Fu Shousong promised Zhuang Jin a favor and protection from resentment, and Zhuang Jin agreed to fight Qiu Yizhi.
• Gong Chu, Ou Wenzhong, and Qiu Tongxiang were taken down from the execution ground, while their elders and the gathered crowd believed the duel might save them.
• Qiu Yizhi tore up a gallows and hurled it at Zhuang Jin, who shattered its end with a palm and planted it upright in the ground.
• Qiu Yizhi threw the execution block's blade at Zhuang Jin, who deflected it and sent it back; Qiu Yizhi stopped the blade and charged.
• Zhuang Jin and Qiu Yizhi exchanged blows in the air until the gallows split apart, and Qiu Yizhi announced that he would use his lethal Thunderous Leg next.

Zhuang Jin defeated Qiu Yizhi in their staged duel after overcoming his Thunderous Leg, winning the contest that would decide the fate of the three culprits. Qiu Yizhi and Fu Shousong departed, while Zhuang Jin grew wary of Qiu’s cold and calculating nature.

• Qiu Yizhi unleashed his Perfected Thunderous Leg, tearing up the execution ground as he fought Zhuang Jin.
• Fu Shousong and the elders discussed Qiu Yizhi’s apparent advantage, while Fu Shousong recognized that Qiu was using the spectacle to make a later defeat seem reasonable.
• Qiu Yizhi formed two blue-stone tornadoes, but Zhuang Jin exploited their weaknesses and shattered them with his Black Fiend Palm.
• Zhuang Jin struck Qiu Yizhi, who had exhausted much of his Inner Breath, and sent him falling from the execution platform.
• Qiu Yizhi conceded and left with Fu Shousong, while the elders of the three culprits realized their juniors’ deaths were inevitable.
• Shen Xuchen congratulated Zhuang Jin, who reflected on Qiu Yizhi’s restraint and ruthless character.

Zhuang Jin reflected on Pang Shusheng’s sacrifice and Shen Xuchen’s vengeance after Gong Chu, Ou Wenzhong, and Qiu Tongxiang were executed, then recognized how Shen Xianhong’s rewards and maneuvering could entangle him in further obligations. He chose to focus on cultivation and, by the end of February, completed his accumulation for the Chong Meridian.

• Zhuang Jin watched Gong Chu, Ou Wenzhong, and Qiu Tongxiang be executed, while Shen Xuchen refused their elders permission to collect the bodies until the crowd had finished.
• Shen Xuchen recalled how Pang Shusheng had protected him and explained that he had avenged his teacher despite the cost to his family-head ambitions.
• Shen Xuchen allowed the elders to collect the bodies, then resolved to put the family first and pursue the family-head position without further willfulness.
• Zhuang Jin considered the commoners’ despair, Pang Shusheng’s convictions, and his own principles before leaving the execution ground.
• Zhuang Jin received thirty thousand battle merits in addition to Cloud Concealment Tea and realized Shen Xianhong’s rewards could make him increasingly indebted and isolate him from East of the City’s powers.
• Zhuang Jin chose to concentrate on cultivation, and by the end of February he completed the accumulation for the Chong Meridian.

Zhuang Jin opened the Dai Meridian and strengthened his Inner Breath, but concealed his breakthrough as he weighed the benefits of keeping his true realm secret. Fu Shousong visited him at the headquarters, where they discussed East of the City.

• Zhuang Jin completed his accumulation for the Chong Meridian and opened the Dai Meridian, advancing to the Second Meridian Realm.
• Zhuang Jin felt his Inner Breath grow denser and his martial techniques work together more smoothly, then decided to hide his breakthrough with the Turtle Breath Technique.
• Fu Shousong visited Zhuang Jin at the Shen Family headquarters, hoping to build goodwill after he and Qiu Yizhi had pledged allegiance to Shen Xianhong.
• Fu Shousong mistook Zhuang Jin for someone still accumulating in the First Meridian Realm, noticed his Cloud Concealment Tea, and began discussing East of the City with him.

Zhuang Jin and Fu Shousong discussed how Shen Xianhong’s Martial Student Recruitment had enabled the Shen Family to purge and consolidate East of the City, sealing the Medicine King Gang into a losing war of attrition. As Zhuang Jin continued cultivating and the Shen Family prospered, news arrived that the Medicine King Gang had plundered the wealthy families’ midyear medicinal herbs.

• Fu Shousong explained that the external Martial Student Recruitment had replaced East of the City’s lower ranks and made the purge inevitable, and he accepted that Shen Xianhong had outmaneuvered him.
• Zhuang Jin recognized that Shen Xianhong would sacrifice anyone for the Shen Family’s interests and resolved to grow valuable without becoming a threat.
• The Shen Family sent purged martial practitioners to fight the Medicine King Gang at the South of the City front, while Zhuang Jin focused on cultivation and arranged supplies of Beast Tendon Paste.
• Nearly three months later, Zhuang Jin had completed eighty percent of his accumulation in the Dai Meridian, and the Shen Family had finished its purge and begun releasing Meridian Opening Pills.
• After Sun Mingbi broke through to the Meridian Opening Realm and held an attendant’s banquet, news arrived that the Medicine King Gang had plundered the wealthy families’ midyear medicinal herbs.

After the Medicine King Gang plundered medicinal herbs from three counties, Shen Xianhong’s meeting decided to send attendants to investigate, recover the goods, and serve as County Town Commanders. No attendants volunteered, leaving Zhuang Jin to consider whether to reveal his Second Meridian Realm cultivation to avoid being sent.

• Shen Xianhong told the attendants that three Medicine King Gang deputy hall masters had led the raid on herbs offered by Wanliu, Linji County, and Qinghe.
• The attendants discussed the gang’s provocation and proposed investigating the three counties, stationing County Town Commanders there, and increasing pressure in South of the City.
• Shen Xianhong’s resolution sent one attendant to each of the three counties, assigned escorts to the other four counties, and dispatched five additional attendants to South of the City alongside Attendant Zhong.
• Shen Xianhong offered County Town Commanders monthly Merit Points, increased Azure Origin Liquid supplies, and support for their families and subordinates, but nobody volunteered.
• Zhuang Jin worried that he might be assigned to a county because he ranked near the bottom, and considered revealing his Second Meridian Realm cultivation to avoid the posting.

Zhuang Jin volunteered to investigate the trouble in Linji County and become its County Town Commander, seeking distance from the Shen Family’s rivalries and the dangers of the Prefecture City. As he prepared to leave, he studied the local powers and suspected either the Yao Family or the Fei Family had helped the Medicine King Gang steal tribute herbs.

• Zhuang Jin weighed the benefits and obligations of leaving the Prefecture City, then volunteered to investigate a county town and serve as its County Town Commander.
• Shen Xianhong assigned Zhuang Jin to Linji County, and Qiu Yizhi and Sun Mingbi also volunteered for assignments.
• Zhuang Jin told Chen Yun he would bring her to Linji County after settling in, while his attendants helped prepare his belongings for departure.
• Zhuang Jin reviewed Linji County’s forces, including the county yamen, the Fei Family, the Yao Family, and the Medicine King Gang.
• Zhuang Jin questioned whether the Yao Family had concealed its losses or the Fei Family had secretly helped the Medicine King Gang steal the Yao Family’s tribute herbs, and resolved to seek help from Fu Shousong and Qiu Yizhi.

Zhuang Jin prepared to investigate the medicinal herb raid in Linji County, securing resources and Shen Xianhong’s permission to act as long as the herb supply remained intact. Meanwhile, Sikong Rui plotted to manipulate the Fei and Yao Families into helping him capture Zhuang Jin, and Zhuang Jin arrived at the county government office.

• Zhuang Jin called in favors from Fu Shousong and Qiu Yizhi to obtain a cultivation prescription and help with his preparations for the county towns.
• Shen Xianhong gave Zhuang Jin Earth-grade High-rank Exotic Beast Leather Armor and a Meridian Opening Pill, and authorized him to investigate freely as long as the medicinal herb supply was not affected.
• Sikong Rui tried to recruit Fei Yuanlong by offering a remedy for his injuries and urging him to help capture Zhuang Jin and blame the Yao Family.
• Sikong Rui urged Yao Gongyan to help seize Zhuang Jin and frame the Fei Family, using the Yao Family’s past cooperation with the Medicine King Gang as leverage.
• After learning that Zhuang Jin had been assigned to Linji County, Sikong Rui vowed to kill him and absorb both the Fei and Yao Families into the Medicine King Gang.
• On the twenty-ninth day of the fifth month, Zhuang Jin arrived at the entrance of Linji County’s government office dressed as a scholar.

Zhuang Jin secretly reached Linji County and joined forces with Magistrate Teng Yuansong to investigate the Fei and Yao Families. After discovering evidence that both households had colluded with the Medicine King Gang and committed many crimes, they agreed to pursue a thorough purge.

• Zhuang Jin evaded the watchers by disguising himself and traveling by fast boat, then used a genuine family letter to gain entry to the county yamen.
• Zhuang Jin met Magistrate Teng Yuansong privately, and the two recognized each other as cautious, capable men who could cooperate as equals.
• Zhuang Jin asked to use the yamen’s intelligence and manpower to investigate the Fei and Yao Families, while Teng demanded a broader effort against both households.
• Teng showed Zhuang Jin evidence of both families’ wrongdoing and their links to the Medicine King Gang.
• Zhuang Jin agreed to verify the evidence and, if it proved true, work with Teng to thoroughly purge both families.

Zhuang Jin recruited Fei Zecheng to help him take control of the Fei Family and gave him Chaos Qi Powder to use on Old Master Fei. Fei Zecheng secretly drugged his grandfather, but several bottles fell from his robes and exposed him.

• Fei Zecheng met Zhuang Jin, who showed him evidence of the Fei Family’s dealings with the Medicine King Gang and offered to support him if he helped drug Old Master Fei.
• Fei Zecheng agreed, and Zhuang Jin brought his elder brother out as a pledge of allegiance.
• Fei Zecheng carried Ice Heart Lotus Seed Porridge to Fei Yuanlong and secretly mixed in Chaos Qi Powder.
• Fei Yuanlong confessed that he had conspired with Sikong Rui against the Yao Family and planned to have Fei Zecheng drug Zhuang Jin with Chaos Qi Powder.
• After Fei Yuanlong finished the porridge, bottles fell from Fei Zecheng’s robes, revealing the plot to his grandfather.

Zhuang Jin arrived at the Fei Family and killed Fei Yuanlong after exposing Fei Zecheng’s role in drugging him. With the family subdued, Zhuang Jin secured evidence linking Fei Yuanlong to the Medicine King Gang and began settling the stolen-herb case.

• Fei Yuanlong realized Fei Zecheng had drugged him, and Fei Zecheng confessed that his grandfather had ordered him to drug Zhuang Jin.
• Zhuang Jin struck Fei Yuanlong with his Second Meridian Realm palm technique and overpowered him despite Fei Yuanlong’s fiery counterattack.
• Zhuang Jin killed Fei Yuanlong and, with Fei Zecheng’s guidance, helped suppress the Fei Family and remove its remaining opposition.
• Fei Zecheng presented Zhuang Jin with the family accounts, confiscated private holdings, and a Ghost Orchid Snow Lotus petal that implicated Fei Yuanlong and the Medicine King Gang.

After Zhuang Jin’s failed operation against the Yao Family, he and Teng Yuansong decided to consolidate control of the Fei Family before confronting the Yao Family again. Sikong Rui and the Yao family father and son responded to the Fei Family’s fall by changing their plans and weighing whether to ally with Zhuang Jin or the Medicine King Gang.

• Teng Yuansong told Zhuang Jin that the Yao Family had discovered his agent, while Zhuang Jin concluded that the Yao Family now had an injured Meridian Opening Martial Practitioner.
• Zhuang Jin urged Teng Yuansong to focus on absorbing the Fei Family before making another move against the Yao Family, and Teng Yuansong agreed.
• Sikong Rui learned that Zhuang Jin had killed Fei Yuanlong and taken control of the Fei Family, killed a subordinate, and ordered his men to reroute the medicinal materials and suspend contact with the Yao Family.
• Sikong Rui considered abandoning the operation but took out the flawed Meridian Opening Pill he had traded to the Yao Family.
• Yao Gongyan and Yao Shaoli suspected Sikong Rui had arranged poisonings at both families, then decided to halt their plan against Zhuang Jin and wait for his response.
• Yao Gongyan resolved to ally with the Medicine King Gang if Zhuang Jin refused to let the matter rest, but to side with Zhuang Jin if he agreed to conceal the Yao Family’s involvement.

Zhuang Jin and Teng Yuansong coordinated the purge of the Fei Family, prepared to weaken the Yao Family, and used the flower boats to seek a lead on the Medicine King Gang. Sikong Rui misread their plans as coincidence and intended to recover before targeting Zhuang Jin again.

• Teng Yuansong publicly executed wicked Fei Family members, while Zhuang Jin recognized that Teng had secretly gathered evidence and returned seized property and compensation to victims.
• Zhuang Jin and Teng Yuansong discussed misleading the Yao Family and rooting out the Medicine King Gang, then visited the flower boats to investigate its intelligence network.
• Yao Shaozhao barged in and lunged at Zhi'er, so Zhuang Jin injured him; Patriarch Yao later arrived, apologized, and paid the bill.
• Zhuang Jin took Zhi'er away to use her as a possible lead to Hall Master Sikong, while Teng Yuansong took Hong Gu and claimed Zhuang Jin deserved the credit for his newfound reputation.
• Sikong Rui concluded that Teng Yuansong and Zhuang Jin had worked together by chance, then vowed to attack Zhuang Jin after recovering and pursuing a breakthrough.

Zhuang Jin drove Sikong Rui from Linji County, then helped clear out the Medicine King Gang’s hideouts while the Fei Family was absorbed. After advancing to the Three Meridian Realm and mastering the Three-Fold Wave killing move, he prepared to move against the Yao Family.

• Zhuang Jin defeated and heavily injured Sikong Rui, but let him escape to avoid provoking a stronger Medicine King Gang retaliation.
• Teng Yuansong explained the advantages of letting Sikong Rui flee and planned with Zhuang Jin to use the Yao Family to help destroy the Medicine King Gang’s hideouts.
• Over the following half month, the Yao Family cooperated in the crackdown while the Fei Family was integrated into the Shen Family.
• Zhuang Jin opened the Yang Wei Meridian, reached the Three Meridian Realm, and developed the Black Fiend Palm killing move Three-Fold Wave.
• Zhuang Jin decided to attack the Yao Family and invited Yao Gongyan and his son to a banquet under the pretext of celebrating the crackdown and preparing to return.

Zhuang Jin used a celebratory banquet to confront the Yao Family over its role in the medicinal-herb robbery, then killed Yao Shaoli in a staged spar. He declared that he would also eliminate Yao Gongyan and every Yao Family Martial Artist Above Seven Meridians, and attacked the patriarch.

• Yao Gongyan and Yao Shaoli arrived at Zhuang Jin's banquet with lavish gifts, hoping to preserve the Yao Family's standing.
• Zhuang Jin accused the Yao Family of plotting against him and challenged Yao Shaoli to a spar, while Teng Yuansong refused to intervene.
• Zhuang Jin repeatedly slapped Yao Shaoli, who broke through to Perfected Level Movement Martial Skills and attacked with his Black Fiend Palm.
• Zhuang Jin revealed his Second Meridian Realm aura and killed Yao Shaoli with a palm strike that crushed his chest.
• Zhuang Jin told Yao Gongyan that he would kill him and every Yao Family Martial Artist Above Seven Meridians, then attacked the patriarch.

After suppressing the Fei and Yao Families, Zhuang Jin returned to the Prefecture City, explained his actions to Shen Xianhong, and traded for a secret art and an Exotic Beast Treasure. He left with Chen Yun for Linji County, where they began their journey together beneath the evening sky.

• Zhuang Jin returned to the Prefecture City and reunited with Chen Yun before arranging to leave for Linji County.
• Zhuang Jin recounted the events in Linji County to Shen Xianhong, who accepted his actions and said the county would maintain the status quo.
• Li Ping confirmed evidence linking the Fei and Yao Families to the Medicine King Gang, while Fu Shousong warned Zhuang Jin about the Attendants connected to those families.
• Fu Shousong offered Zhuang Jin a secret art and a Nether Baleful Python Beast Treasure, and Zhuang Jin traded a Meridian Opening Pill and silver for them.
• Acolyte Tao and Attendant Yao arrived seeking compensation or a favor after Zhuang Jin had left the Prefecture City.
• Zhuang Jin and Chen Yun sailed back to Linji County, admiring the river scenery and sharing an evening with Yu Xiaoxiao and Song Lan.