Chapter Summaries

Xu Yunfan let Qin Bo into the house to discuss buying back his ancestral home, but Qin Bo attacked him after spotting that a brick concealing something important had been shattered. Xu Yunfan survived the dagger strike and beat Qin Bo unconscious, then went to investigate what Qin Bo had seen by the courtyard wall.

• Xu Yunfan agreed to discuss the house with Qin Bo after Qin Bo apologized for his junior sister's behavior.
• Qin Bo noticed that the brick where he had buried something important was broken and became furious.
• Qin Bo stabbed Xu Yunfan in the waist, but Xu Yunfan's physique stopped the dagger from going deeper.
• Xu Yunfan seized Qin Bo, endured his palm strike, and slammed him into the ground twice until he lost consciousness.
• Xu Yunfan recalled Qin Bo's reaction to the broken brick and walked toward the courtyard wall.

Xu Yunfan uncovered Qin Bo’s buried glass bottle and records of his human experiments, then learned that Qin Bo had been forcibly castrated and had spent years trying to restore what he lost. Qin Bo remained bound and furious, while Xu Yunfan reflected on the power needed to regrow severed limbs.

• Xu Yunfan dug beneath the courtyard wall and found an iron box containing a glass bottle and a yellowed booklet.
• Qin Bo woke in chains and frantically demanded that Xu Yunfan return the bottle’s contents.
• Xu Yunfan read Qin Bo’s records and discovered nearly a hundred experiments conducted on people over several years.
• Xu Yunfan confronted Qin Bo about his obsession, and Qin Bo explained how a eunuch had forced him to be castrated before abandoning him outside the palace.
• Qin Bo admitted that he had sought a way to restore what he lost but had failed.

Xu Yunfan discovered that Qin Bo's worship of the Power Awareness Bodhisattva had restored some of his severed flesh, then killed him and disposed of his body. After training Fleet Foot until it neared major mastery, Xu Yunfan left home at night in black, carrying his hammer and using Silent Footsteps.

• Xu Yunfan inspected the Power Awareness Bodhisattva statue and learned from Qin Bo that worshipping it had caused some of Qin Bo's severed flesh to grow back.
• Qin Bo revealed that the statue came from Thousand Buddha Temple on Accumulating Cloud Mountain and offered to teach Xu Yunfan its sacrificial practice.
• Xu Yunfan killed Qin Bo with his wooden hammer, took silver and a ritual booklet, and threw Qin Bo's corpse and a glass bottle into the Clear Water River.
• Xu Yunfan set aside the statue and booklet, then trained Fleet Foot until its proficiency reached 977/1000.
• After night fell, Xu Yunfan dressed in black and left home with his hammer, using Silent Footsteps.

Xu Yunfan killed Fei Yao, stole the Surging Wave Palm manual, and used the Power Awareness Bodhisattva statue during his Proximity Mantra cultivation. The statue helped him withstand ominous aura and extend his practice, and the next morning he trained as Fleet Foot neared mastery.

• Xu Yunfan ambushed Fei Yao at the inn, killed her, and took the Surging Wave Palm manual and their luggage.
• Xu Yunfan disposed of Fei Yao's body and burned the clothes before returning to Clear River Courtyard.
• Xu Yunfan cultivated with the Power Awareness Bodhisattva statue, absorbed and cleansed ominous aura, and strengthened his spirit, but noticed a crack in the statue.
• Xu Yunfan suspected the statue held a spirit and considered visiting Accumulating Cloud Mountain and Thousand Buddha Temple.
• The next morning, Xu Yunfan trained in Fleet Foot, which was close to mastery.

Xu Yunfan practiced Fleet Foot until it reached great accomplishment, transforming his legs and greatly enhancing his speed and agility. He tested his new abilities on the river and discovered he could stand on its surface for about three minutes before his legs gave out.

• Xu Yunfan reflected on Fleet Foot’s usefulness and practiced until its proficiency reached great accomplishment.
• He experienced memories of years of Fleet Foot training, learning to coordinate his whole body with his surroundings and achieve a new level of speed.
• Warm currents strengthened Xu Yunfan’s leg muscles, tendons, and skin, tempering his tendons to great accomplishment.
• Xu Yunfan crossed the courtyard in a single step and stood on the Clear Water River, demonstrating Treading on Water Lilies for roughly three minutes.
• Xu Yunfan checked his Attribute Panel and saw Fleet Foot listed at great accomplishment with six powerful effects.

Xu Yunfan completed his Second Tempering and collected the Drumming Weng Gold Hammer he had commissioned from Lu Tiejang. Lu Tiejang recognized Xu Yunfan’s martial art as the Crimson Training Cloak Hammer, hinting that he knew more about its origins.

• Xu Yunfan reflected on reaching Tendon Training Great Accomplishment and resolved to find a martial art for bone tempering.
• After eight days of training and reciting the Highest Good is Like Water Heart Mantra, Xu Yunfan’s Power Awareness Bodhisattva Statue split, and a notification said the ominous aura had dissipated.
• Xu Yunfan woke to heavy snow and recognized that his tendons and skin had reached the limits of the human body, completing his Second Tempering.
• Xu Yunfan collected the Drumming Weng Gold Hammer from Lu Tiejang and paid him one thousand six hundred taels of silver.
• Lu Tiejang asked whether Xu Yunfan practiced the Crimson Training Cloak Hammer, and Xu Yunfan demanded to know how he had recognized it.

Xu Yunfan saw through Lu Tiejang’s unorthodox hammer technique, bought the Weng Gold Hammer, and trained the Thirty-Six Forms Cloak Hammer at Clear River Residence. He then practiced Surging Wave Palm and felt its force begin penetrating his fascia.

• Lu Tiejang demonstrated his Crimson Training Cloak Hammer, and Xu Yunfan noticed that he substituted force from his shoulder blades for force from his heels.
• Lu Tiejang recognized Xu Yunfan’s insight and offered to help him, but refused to lower the Weng Gold Hammer’s price; Xu Yunfan left and asked him to make an iron case.
• After Xu Yunfan departed, Lu Tiejang’s strained back gave out, and he ordered his apprentice to fetch Doctor Cui.
• Xu Yunfan practiced the Thirty-Six Forms Cloak Hammer with the Weng Gold Hammer, raising his proficiency in the hammer technique and Crimson Flame Copper Body Art.
• That night, Xu Yunfan followed Fei Yao’s annotations while practicing Surging Wave Palm and felt a sharp pain that signaled force penetrating his fascia.

Xu Yunfan learned Surging Wave Palm and sought advice from Lu Yi about martial arts for tempering his tendons and bones. Lu Yi began to explain the options available in Qingzhou, but the chapter ended before he named one.

• Xu Yunfan practiced Surging Wave Palm until it reached beginner level, gaining stronger arms and callused palms.
• Xu Yunfan practiced the Lin Character Secret, but his progress remained slow and left him worried about the dangers posed by Fei Qi and others.
• Xu Yunfan asked Lu Yi about the meaning of Crimson Training Cloak Hammer, and Lu Yi explained that it complemented Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and once had a matching divine hammer, the lost Crimson Training Thousand Jun Hammer.
• Xu Yunfan learned that Lu Yi was forging weapons for Wu Family Fortress, then invited him to Long Wind Tavern for drinks.
• Xu Yunfan asked Lu Yi whose bone-tempering art was most profound in Qingzhou, and Lu Yi began describing the martial arts available there.

Lu Yi told Xu Yunfan about Qingzhou’s bone-training arts and gave him a token for the Ghost Market, where a rare technique might be found. On the way back, Xu Yunfan saw a refugee frozen beneath the snow and heard a scholar explain the rebellion driving refugees into North Ye City.

• Lu Yi revealed the scar from his injury at Divine Weapon Ridge and praised Xu Yunfan’s Great Accomplishment in Skin Tempering.
• Lu Yi described several bone-training arts in Qingzhou and explained that their sects guarded their teachings closely.
• Lu Yi gave Xu Yunfan an iron token marked “Mist” and told him how to enter the Ghost Market on the full moon.
• Xu Yunfan supported Lu Yi back to the blacksmith shop and noticed a person frozen beneath a roof.
• A thin scholar told Xu Yunfan that refugees had fled Wu Province’s rebellion and that the Central Province Black Armor Army would move against it after winter.

Xu Yunfan entered the Ghost Market to search for a genuine Bone Training technique, but found mostly fraudulent manuals. The Iron Masked Man presented him with a potentially authentic Golden Crow Bone Forging Chapter and warned him of the deadly risks surrounding true martial arts.

• After three days, Xu Yunfan went to the stone bridge, showed his Mist Concealment Token, and entered the Ghost Market.
• Xu Yunfan found that the market was crowded with disguised visitors and vendors selling dubious goods.
• Xu Yunfan rejected a freshly copied Dragon Subduing Palm and exposed the old woman's fake martial arts manuals.
• Xu Yunfan noticed an Iron Masked Man's powerful claw marks and asked whether he had a genuine Bone Training technique.
• The Iron Masked Man showed Xu Yunfan the Golden Crow Bone Forging Chapter but stopped him from inspecting it, warning that people had died for true inheritances.

Xu Yunfan searched the Black Market for useful goods and found an incomplete bone-forging manual from the Iron Robe Sect. He paid one thousand taels for Iron Bridge Town Suppression, leaving with a method that could help him advance his training.

• Xu Yunfan dismissed the Iron Masked Man's offer, then searched the Black Market's stalls and found mostly fake herbs, ordinary weapons, and curios.
• Xu Yunfan noticed a broken saber that seemed unusually sharp but left it after judging that repairing it would cost too much.
• Xu Yunfan intervened when a hunched old man tried to seize an old silk book from a hemp-clothed young man.
• Xu Yunfan offered one thousand taels for the incomplete Iron Bridge Town Suppression manual, driving off the old man.
• Xu Yunfan inspected the manual, recognized it as an incomplete Iron Robe Sect bone-training volume, and paid the young man.

Xu Yunfan was ambushed in the snowy forest by the Black Market sellers, who had conspired to rob him, and revealed overwhelming strength as he fought them. He crushed the One-Eyed Strongman and charged the Purple-Robed Old Woman, whose needles failed to pierce his tempered skin.

• Xu Yunfan left the Black Market, paid the Crippled Old Daoist for passage, and ignored his warning about trouble in the woods.
• Xu Yunfan lured his pursuers out of hiding and discovered that the hemp-clothed youth, Iron Masked Man, Purple-Robed Old Woman, and One-Eyed Strongman were working together to rob him.
• The Iron Masked Man attacked Xu Yunfan with a Judge's Brush, but Xu Yunfan's hammer overwhelmed him and tore through his armor, severing part of a finger.
• The One-Eyed Strongman charged with his saber, but Xu Yunfan's tempered body deflected the blade and his counterattack crushed the man's saber and breastbone.
• Xu Yunfan rushed the Purple-Robed Old Woman, whose ox-hair needles bounced off his brass-like skin.

Xu Yunfan killed the Iron Masked Man, the old crone, and the hemp-clad youth, then learned of a possible Iron Robe Sect hideout before finding no valuables on the bodies. Meanwhile, a group arrived at North Ye City at night, where a woman in a sedan chair looked out at the city.

• Xu Yunfan killed the old crone and the Iron Masked Man, then struck down the fleeing hemp-clad youth after interrogating him about the Iron Robe Sect's hidden foundation at Iron View Mountain.
• The hemp-clad youth revealed that he had found the lead in a journal left by Yuan Zheng and planned to notify the Kestrel Sect, but Xu Yunfan killed him anyway.
• Xu Yunfan discovered the thousand taels he had given the robbers were missing and found no useful items on the other bodies.
• Xu Yunfan wiped the Weng Gold Hammer clean, covered it with black cloth, and left the battlefield.
• A group of around twenty to thirty people arrived at North Ye City, and a fair, slender hand lifted the sedan chair's curtain as a burly man remarked on the city at night.

Xu Yunfan encountered Feng Zi in the Withered Wood Forest outside North Ye City and attacked after realizing Feng Zi had seen him destroying his black clothes. Feng Zi's strongest blows failed to hurt Xu Yunfan, and the chapter ended with four of Feng Zi's fingers broken.

• Uncle Jin led Miss Chi's convoy to camp in the Withered Wood Forest after North Ye City's gates had closed, while Feng Zi helped settle the goods.
• Xu Yunfan arrived at the forest, tore his black clothes into scraps, and noticed Feng Zi approaching silently.
• Feng Zi tried to explain his presence and back away, but Xu Yunfan warned him not to take another step.
• Xu Yunfan rushed Feng Zi and covered his face with one hand as Feng Zi unleashed his Phoenix Falcon barrage.
• Xu Yunfan's body endured Feng Zi's punches, and Feng Zi broke four fingers on his next strike.

Xu Yunfan confronted Feng Zi and Uncle Jin’s caravan in the snowy forest, forcing Uncle Jin to halt his attack with a golden saber. After the caravan withdrew, Xu Yunfan overheard them discussing Feng Zi’s injuries and their decision not to retaliate.

• Xu Yunfan broke Feng Zi’s hand after Feng Zi attacked him in the Withered Wood Forest.
• Uncle Jin charged Xu Yunfan with his Nine Ring Saber, but Xu Yunfan used Feng Zi as a hostage, forcing Uncle Jin to divert his blade.
• Uncle Jin identified himself as a merchant from the Chi Family of Chang Gu and asked Xu Yunfan to let the caravan leave.
• Xu Yunfan released Feng Zi and told the caravan not to cross his boundary, then burned his bloodstained clothes while gathering firewood.
• Old Gong treated Feng Zi’s hand, and Uncle Jin said the caravan would leave the matter alone because they had acted rashly and Xu Yunfan was formidable.
• Xu Yunfan secretly listened as the caravan discussed Feng Zi’s injury and the danger posed by his Iron Shattering Saber.

After secretly leaving the forest, Xu Yunfan returned to North Ye City and struggled to understand the Iron Bridge Town Suppression Bone Training manual before practicing his hammer art. At Long Wind Tavern, Su Shiyu told him exaggerated rumors about the fight he had taken part in the night before.

• Xu Yunfan confirmed Uncle Jin's caravan had left the Withered Wood Forest, disguised himself, and entered North Ye City.
• Xu Yunfan studied the Iron Bridge Town Suppression Bone Training formula but could not grasp its hidden principles.
• Xu Yunfan practiced the Crimson Training Cloak Hammer, finding his training more efficient after completing the second stage of sinew and skin training.
• Xu Yunfan went to Long Wind Tavern, where Su Shiyu recognized him and invited him to share twenty-year-old Apricot Blossom White.
• Su Shiyu told Xu Yunfan that experts had fought near the Black Market, describing widespread destruction that he knew was exaggerated.

Xu Yunfan ate with Su Shiyu, who praised the unknown hammer expert behind the Black Market killings and shared her desire to practice martial arts. He returned to Clear River Residence and studied the Iron Bridge Town Suppression Bone Training Chapter for three days, finally gaining a thread of insight.

• Su Shiyu described the Black Market killings and jokingly suggested Xu Yunfan might have been involved, but he denied leaving Clear River Residence.
• Xu Yunfan and Su Shiyu watched the Chi Family caravan pass, and Su Shiyu told him about the family’s wealth and Chi Suwen’s reputation.
• Su Shiyu explained that her father wanted her to study for the imperial examinations instead of practicing martial arts, and that the city’s schools had refused to teach her.
• Xu Yunfan returned to Clear River Residence and studied the Iron Bridge Town Suppression Bone Training Chapter, expecting it to appear in his skill column within three days.
• Late on the third night, Xu Yunfan gained his first thread of insight into the bone-training chapter, though he still could not see a clear path forward.

Xu Yunfan deciphered and initiated the Iron Bridge Town Suppression Bone Training Chapter, then spent the winter intensively cultivating while planning to leave North Ye City in spring to seek a sect. On the Start of Spring, Lu Yi visited and told him that Wu Province was devastated by rebellion and famine, with a major attack on Changyi expected after the thaw.

• Xu Yunfan grasped the Iron Bridge Town Suppression Bone Training Chapter and began tempering his bones, gaining three effects from the art.
• Xu Yunfan continued practicing the Lin Character Secret at night but still could not initiate it.
• Xu Yunfan followed a strict daily cultivation routine, advancing his Fleet Foot, Cloak Hammer, and bone training.
• On the Start of Spring, Lu Yi visited Xu Yunfan with wine and remarked that winter had finally passed.
• Lu Yi told Xu Yunfan that rebel forces were massed near Changyi and that many people had died during the winter in North Ye City.

As martial world fighters flocked to North Ye City over rumors of a divine weapon on Accumulating Cloud Mountain, Xu Yunfan learned from Lu Yi about the dangers of divine weapons and revealed that he had completed Second Tempering. Lu Yi gave him a Divine Weapon Ridge token as a possible route to a sect, and Xu Yunfan stayed home to cultivate.

• Lu Yi told Xu Yunfan that martial world fighters had gathered in North Ye City after news spread of a Gilded Mace found in a cave on Accumulating Cloud Mountain.
• Lu Yi explained that divine weapons possessed spirits, required human sacrifice to forge, and could harm anyone who approached them without sufficient strength.
• Xu Yunfan told Lu Yi that he planned to leave North Ye City after the snow melted and seek a sect, then revealed he had reached Bone Training.
• Xu Yunfan demonstrated his completed Sinew and Skin Tempering by leaving a deep palm print in a stone stool, convincing Lu Yi of his strength.
• Lu Yi gave Xu Yunfan a Mystic Iron Token from Divine Weapon Ridge and warned him against pursuing the Gilded Mace.
• Xu Yunfan spent the following days at home quietly cultivating the Iron Bridge Town Suppression Bone Training Chapter.

Xu Yunfan completed the Iron Bridge Town Suppression Bone Training Chapter at Minor Accomplishment and prepared to leave after nearly a month of training. Meanwhile, Wan Miaoyin found Li Miaoyun’s remains and inherited her Innate Essence Qi, leaving her with a path forward—and a debt to settle with Li Haomiao.

• Wan Miaoyin found Li Miaoyun’s corpse beneath the snow on Accumulating Cloud Mountain, while Zhang Shuyang reported that Yan King had been taken away by Bi Sheng and departed for Jade Capital.
• Li Miaoyun’s body shattered, releasing her Innate Essence Qi, which entered Wan Miaoyin and strengthened her foundation; Wan Miaoyin realized she would need to deal with Li Haomiao to sever the essence qi’s lingering obsession.
• Xu Yunfan reached Minor Accomplishment in the Iron Bridge Town Suppression Bone Training Chapter and saw his strength increase substantially.
• Xu Yunfan went to Lu Yi’s blacksmith shop with wine and announced that he was leaving.
• Lu Yi wished Xu Yunfan well, and they shared a bowl of wine before Xu Yunfan set out into the martial world.