Chapter Summaries

Arro used a Skill Point to learn the “Imperial World-Governing Scripture,” which drew on his knowledge to create an extreme system linking bodily cultivation with Legalist rule. He decided to remove its feudal-governance material before releasing it, leaving the cultivation method intact but difficult to interpret.

• Arro considered activating the “Non-Action Technique” for Bright Moon Palace’s maids but set it aside to preserve Bevan and Claire’s positions and maintain his plans for martial arts.
• Arro organized his references and used a Skill Point to learn the “Imperial World-Governing Scripture.”
• Arro discovered that the scripture treated the body through Legalist principles, advocating prolonged fatigue and restriction as a route to strength.
• Arro recognized that the scripture also formed a ruthless blueprint for governing a feudal dynasty and resolved not to release it in full.
• Arro planned to remove its descriptions of dynastic structures while retaining the Internal Cultivation Method.

Arro studied the Imperial World-Governing Scripture’s three stages of rules and gave Claire new meridian charts before leaving for Martial Arts Mountain with Bevan. After Arro departed, Claire revealed that his apparent obsession had concealed a deliberate Qi Deviation and a breakthrough in understanding Heaven Mending Elder’s madness.

• Arro concluded that the Imperial World-Governing Scripture’s Martial Dao True Meaning involved establishing, practicing, and upholding rules, and considered promoting martial arts as a possible undertaking.
• At dawn, Arro gave Claire meridian charts for the Confucian Dao Heaven's Heart Technique and the Imperial World-Governing Scripture.
• Arro told Claire he planned to visit Martial Arts Mountain and take Bevan, then left after warning Claire to stay inside the protected area.
• After Arro had gone, Claire coughed up blood, removed the stained stone, and admitted that deliberately inducing Qi Deviation had been more intense this time.
• Claire reasoned that Heaven Mending Elder’s madness came from focusing on martial arts and suffering inner-force pain, rather than becoming an idiot.

Arro and Bevan traveled toward Martial Arts Mountain to have Feather Garments sewn, and Arro explained why Bevan could not yet use lightness skills. As they neared the mountain, Arro drove off three jackals and wondered why so many beasts were gathering there.

• Bevan asked Arro why they were returning to Martial Arts Mountain, and Arro said he wanted the girls there to sew Feather Garments.
• Arro explained that lightness skills required trained legs and lightweight, air-isolating clothing, and told Bevan that he lacked both and did not yet have enough internal energy.
• Bevan and Arro continued on foot toward Martial Arts Mountain, with Bevan treating the trek as leg training and Arro using the journey to practice his new skill.
• Arro stopped Bevan as three mangy jackals emerged from behind rocks, then drove them away with an oppressive force.
• Arro watched the jackals flee and wondered why so many beasts were around Martial Arts Mountain.

Arro and Bevan reached the Stone Courtyard and found Dorothea and the other Girls alive after several days of beast attacks. Suspecting the attacks were connected to the disappearance of the bats and other unexplained changes, Arro left to investigate the area.

• Arro and Bevan arrived at the battered Stone Courtyard, where Dorothea opened the gate and welcomed them inside.
• Arro found the Girls healthy and better prepared, and Dorothea said beasts had attacked the courtyard for three days.
• Dorothea and the other Girls reported no signs of human involvement, but recalled that bats had been unusually quiet or absent.
• Arro questioned why the bats had disappeared and why beasts were attacking the defended courtyard, then told Bevan to stay with the Girls while he investigated.
• The Girls shut the stone gate behind Arro as he left to look around.

Arro overheard Dorothea and the other maids describing how his presence had frightened them, prompting him to realize that his study of the Imperial World-Governing Scripture had begun to affect his temperament. He decided to balance its rigidity rather than abandon it and concluded that completing the Eight Extremes Method could help him achieve a clear heart and a tempered body.

• Dorothea told Bevan that Arro's intense presence had made the maids tense and afraid, while Bevan said he had felt only moderate pressure.
• Arro, hidden outside the stone door in Evasion Armor, overheard them and wondered whether his recent cultivation had changed how he carried himself.
• Arro concluded that his Legalist Scripture had sharpened his manner, and that the maids were especially sensitive to it because of their past experiences.
• Arro resolved to balance the Scripture's influence by reshaping his thoughts instead of discarding the tool he had created.
• Arro decided that completing the Eight Extremes Method could help him clarify his heart and temper his body, then slipped away into the mountains and forest.

Arro discovered that the beasts attacking the Stone Courtyard were drawn by the scent leaking from the Underground Palace, whose entrance had been disturbed and may have let the Viscountess escape. He told Bevan they would relocate the girls, have Demon Hunters investigate the Magic Den, and use Martial Arts Mountain to train troops, then Bevan wondered whether Arro had devised a new Internal Cultivation Method.

• Arro returned to the Stone Courtyard, closed its gate, and asked Bevan to speak privately with him.
• Arro explained that the boulder sealing the Underground Palace had shifted, attracting beasts to the scent of Demonic Beast corpses, and that the bats had vanished around the same time.
• Arro told Bevan that the Viscountess might have escaped and kept the possibility from Dorothea and the other girls so as not to frighten them.
• Arro decided to relocate the girls to a valley beside the Viscount Territory and assign Demon Hunters to investigate the Magic Den while Martial Arts Mountain trained troops against the beasts.
• Arro said tracking was better left to Demon Hunters and that he would step in when force was needed, prompting Bevan to ask whether he had written a new Internal Cultivation Method.

Master Arro shared his new internal cultivation method with Bevan and arranged to relocate the girls to a new sect site near the deep pool. Bevan studied the Imperial World-Saving Scripture through the night and ended with a troubling question about the right way to govern a kingdom.

• Bevan guessed that Master Arro had written a new internal cultivation method, and Master Arro confirmed it and gave him the manuscript.
• Master Arro considered using the Imperial World-Governing Scripture to spark a Martial Path Contention of a Hundred Schools plan.
• Master Arro told Bevan to inform the girls that they would move to a sect site near the deep pool and leave early the next morning.
• Master Arro gave Bevan a Feather Garment Design Blueprint for the girls to study, and they focused on discussing its construction.
• Bevan read the Imperial World-Saving Scripture until deep night and asked whether a kingdom's most correct form could only be the one described in the book.

Bevan became convinced that the Imperial World-Governing Scripture’s harsh political doctrine followed the logic of the human body, but Arro challenged his assumptions and explained why bodily structure could not simply serve as a perfect model for a nation. Arro ended by mapping the kingdom’s social classes onto the body and asking Bevan what he thought.

• Bevan reasoned that weakening and impoverishing the people would strengthen a nation, and identified three methods for treating illness through nutrition, destruction of diseased tissue, and redistribution of resources.
• Bevan asked Arro why the most reasonable national structure was so cruel, and Arro challenged his belief that the human body was perfect or equivalent to a nation.
• Arro explained that perfection depended on goals and circumstances, and that people had independent wills and emotions unlike cells and organs.
• Arro said the current kingdom could also be represented as a body, with the Royal Family as the head, nobles as the hands, common people as the legs, and serfs as the feet.

Arro introduced Bevan to the Heaven's Heart Technique and explained how Confucian Dao could guide society from individual principles. He then presented Taoism as the path he wanted Bevan and Martial Arts Mountain to follow, defining Dao as the underlying principle that gives rise to specific systems.

• Arro asked Bevan what kind of country he wanted, then gave him the Heaven's Heart Technique as the basis for developing Confucian Dao.
• Bevan noticed the manual contained no concrete social teachings, and Arro explained that Confucian Dao had not yet been completed.
• Arro clarified that Bevan was not meant to complete Confucian Dao; instead, he hoped Bevan would follow a different path and select someone to develop the Confucian technique.
• Arro gave Bevan drafts for the Pure Yang Scripture and said its Taoist path was intended for Bevan and the future of Martial Arts Mountain.
• Bevan asked how Taoism would structure a kingdom, and Arro explained that letting things take their own course meant letting Dao govern.
• Arro described Dao as the core underlying law that creates specific applications such as Confucianism and Legalism.

Arro taught Bevan and the others about Taoism’s three sects as he led them back to the valley and built a living treehouse. He explained how Bright Moon Palace, Martial Arts Mountain, and the Mending Heaven Sect represented Dao’s past, present, and future, leaving Bevan with a clearer understanding of their roles.

• Arro taught Dorothea and the others Taoist principles and explained the differences between the Mending Heaven Sect, Martial Arts Mountain, and Bright Moon Palace during their journey back to the valley.
• Arro used Magic Power to clear a patch of ground and fuse several trees into a treehouse.
• Arro explained that the three wooden figures represented youth, middle age, and old age, corresponding to the Mending Heaven Sect, Martial Arts Mountain, and Bright Moon Palace.
• Arro told Bevan that the three sects represented Dao’s future, present, and past, and that their identities could change but their tripartite structure could not be abolished.

Arrow took Bevan back toward the territory to recruit craftsmen and prepare for the construction of Bright Moon Palace, while leaving Dorothea and the other women in the Treehouse with a promise to bring tailoring tools. As Arrow and Bevan traveled through the wilderness, Arrow considered sending Anabe and the Demon Hunters to protect the craftsmen and handle other tasks in the area.

• Arrow told Bevan and the women he would return to the territory to gather craftsmen, and agreed to bring Dorothea sewing tools and materials.
• Arrow carved a winding path up the valley wall so the craftsmen could reach the valley, then advised Bevan that ropes would be needed for safety.
• Arrow led Bevan toward the border outpost and Lix City along a Beast Path through the wilderness.
• Arrow spotted wild animals along the route and decided Anabe and the Demon Hunters should protect the craftsmen and help explore the area.

Arrow learned that Skeleton Monsters had returned to Scarborough Earldom and that Fernando Wizard Family envoys were at Cat Faction Academy, so he rode there to ask Anabe about the incident. He also ordered Bevan to begin preparations for Bright Moon Palace in Deep Pool Valley, and arrived to find Anabe meeting the envoys in the academy gymnasium.

• Steward Dylan reported the truce between the Saint Fernando Empire and the Skeleton Monster outbreak, along with Ian Boone's Finished Game Console.
• Arrow decided to ask Demon Hunter Anabe what he knew about the returning Skeleton Monsters and left for Cat Faction Academy.
• Arrow instructed Bevan to organize craftsmen and supplies for Bright Moon Palace in Deep Pool Valley, and said he would ask Anabe to send Demon Hunters to accompany them.
• Arrow reached Cat Faction Academy and learned that Anabe was meeting Fernando Wizard Family envoys after they nearly fought with wizards in the new city.
• Arrow discovered Anabe had used a section of the gymnasium as a reception room and decided the meeting did not violate his rules.

Anabe negotiated with Linus, a Saint Fernando Empire envoy, over the aftermath of the Demonic Beast rampage and struggled to remember his message for Arro. When Arro returned, Anabe delayed Linus so he could speak with Arro first, while an unexpected visitor arrived to deliver an Immortal Destiny.

• Anabe listened as Linus offered forty years of tax exemption for Lix Viscount Territory and asked him to contact Arro.
• Anabe claimed he had a one-use contract scroll but admitted Arro lacked other means of communication, prompting Linus to ask him to relay the envoy's concerns.
• A guard told Anabe that Arro had returned and was waiting outside the reception room.
• Linus rose to report the conspirators' deeds to Arro, but Anabe asked him to wait while he spoke with Arro about the territory and academy.
• An unexpected visitor offered someone an Immortal Destiny, then declared it ended after learning they had only Four Spiritual Roots.

Arro discussed the demonic beast riot and the Fernando Wizard Family’s influence with Anabe, then heard the family’s envoy offer to build a Spirit Communication Resonance Tower. He left the offer unaccepted and questioned the academy’s visiting teachers about the family’s motives before turning to review Ian’s results.

• Anabe explained that investigating the demonic beast riot without the Fernando Wizard Family’s permission would challenge its authority, and Arro decided to seek Skill Points another way.
• Anabe reported the academy’s steady progress and Holly’s selection of promising students; Arro asked him to prepare the Martial Arts Holy Land site and investigate the Magic Den for traces of the Viscountess.
• The Fernando Wizard Family’s envoy complained about rival wizards and offered to build a Spirit Communication Resonance Tower, but Arro withheld his agreement.
• Teachers from wizard families came to question Arro about the envoy’s visit, and Arro asked them what the Fernando Wizard Family wanted before sending them to consult their families.
• Arro stopped Ian so he could review Ian’s results.

Arro examined Ian Boone’s greatly improved, compact arcade machine and praised its design. He began preparing a catalog of new mini-games, starting with Stacking Blocks, to teach Ian how they worked.

• Arro inspected Ian Boone’s new machine and studied the blueprint for its improved display, controls, computation, and storage.
• Ian Boone explained how he had isolated the display cells with magic-repelling dust and handed Arro the design blueprint.
• Arro praised Ian Boone’s work, and Ian asked him to show the new games Arro had promised.
• Arro gave Ian Boone a catalog of nearly ten mini-games, including Stacking Blocks and Brick Breaker.
• Arro transformed the wooden Snake Game board with moss and began demonstrating Stacking Blocks.