Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi bought Heaven's Thunder Pearls, medicine, and specialized launchers to train the Undefeated Golden Body, then went to Marquis Wu Cheng's Residence to deliver a birthday gift. The Young Marquis ambushed him with Nine Dragons Convergence and injured him, blaming him for killing Left Two.

• Xu Yi bought a box of Heaven's Thunder Pearls and body-tempering supplies from Shopkeeper Luo, who arranged for the bulky equipment to be delivered to Xu Yi's cave abode.
• Xu Yi wandered through the capital and, after reaching Marquis Wu Cheng's Residence, decided to deliver the birthday gift entrusted to him by the prefect of Guang'an.
• The Head Butler led Xu Yi into the martial arts arena, where the Young Marquis practiced with several noble youths watching.
• The Young Marquis used Nine Dragons Convergence to trap and strike Xu Yi, shattering his robe and making him spit blood.
• The Young Marquis accused Xu Yi of killing Left Two and revealed that he had arranged the ambush to avenge his concubine's family.

Xu Yi retaliated against the Young Marquis and fought his way through the nobles at the Marquis Wu Cheng estate, then escaped after using the Heavenly Thunder Pearl against the Marquis. The Marquis concealed the incident and ordered retaliation, while Xu Yi recovered in a heated copper bathtub.

• After the Young Marquis struck him with Nine Dragons Convergence, Xu Yi broke the Young Marquis's arm and ribs and kicked him across the courtyard.
• When the other young nobles surrounded him, Xu Yi used his twin swords to overwhelm them without seriously injuring them.
• As estate guards closed in, Xu Yi escaped by activating the Heavenly Thunder Pearl, blasting half the gatehouse and forcing the Marquis Wu Cheng to retreat.
• The Marquis Wu Cheng dismissed arriving constables, ordered the Head Butler to investigate Xu Yi's background, and told him to withhold medicine from his son and beat the maid who had encouraged him.
• Xu Yi sat in a Pure Copper Bathtub over an earthfire, recovering as the Asura Face changed color.

Xu Yi mastered the second layer of the Overlord Strength Art and pushed himself through an intense regimen to temper his tendons and fascia. After five days, his skin had become resistant to blades, and he reached the limit of what he could endure.

• Xu Yi mastered the second layer of the Overlord Strength Art and punched a deep crater into a Heavy Iron wall.
• Xu Yi activated the self-triggering weapons in his training room and repeatedly endured blades and arrows, healing himself with Essence Restoration Pills.
• Xu Yi continued the punishing training for five days, developing a visible membrane around his meridians as his tendons and fascia strengthened.
• Xu Yi tested his skin with a Willow Leaf Blade and found it could leave only a red mark without piercing him.

Xu Yi completed the First Turn of the Undefeated Golden Body and reported to the Guard Department to begin his service. There, Marquis Wu Cheng demanded the Golden Box, but Xu Yi refused to return it and was warned that the marquis could ruin him in the capital.

• Xu Yi emerged from seclusion, assigned Yan Zi to cultivate and Yuan Qinghua to inspect shops, then went to the Guard Department after buying Essence Restoration Pills.
• Xu Yi registered at the Guard Department and received his official waist token before entering the Director's Office for his post assignment.
• Deputy Head Official Xing berated Xu Yi for sitting in the office, but Marquis Wu Cheng sent Xing away and confronted Xu Yi about trespassing at his residence.
• Marquis Wu Cheng apologized and bowed, but Xu Yi inferred that the Golden Box mattered greatly to him and claimed he had left it safely at home.
• Marquis Wu Cheng threatened Xu Yi and left, after which Deputy Head Official Xing warned Xu Yi not to involve the Guard Department in his dispute with the marquis.

Xu Yi was assigned to guard the lowly Night Purity Department, where Steward Wu helped make his posting comfortable. While exploring the palace grounds, he unexpectedly reunited with his former martial arts tutor, Master Zhou, and began explaining how he had reached the capital.

• Xu Yi rebuked Deputy Head Official Xing, who assigned him to guard the Night Purity Department without any soldiers under his command.
• Xu Yi gave gold to the department’s workers and Steward Wu, who promised to cover for him and arranged comfortable quarters.
• Xu Yi explored the palace grounds and heard children reciting the Mountain Splitting Fist Manual.
• Xu Yi recognized Master Zhou, his former tutor from Furong Town, and reunited with him beneath a pear tree.
• Master Zhou explained that a former student had arranged his cushy teaching post in the Imperial City.
• Master Zhou asked how Xu Yi had come to the capital, and Xu Yi began recounting his battle with the Black Dragon Hall.

Xu Yi consulted Master Zhou about the Undefeated Golden Body and Stars Shift and Heavens Turn, learning their histories and limitations. Master Zhou explained why Martial Skills mattered more in the Qi Sea Realm, leaving Xu Yi with a clearer understanding of how skill could overcome a gap in cultivation.

• Xu Yi asked Master Zhou about the origins and rankings of Stars Shift and Heavens Turn and the Undefeated Golden Body.
• Master Zhou explained that Stars Shift and Heavens Turn could neutralize True Qi but not Soldier Essence Qi, making it exceptionally powerful in unarmed combat.
• Master Zhou revealed that the Undefeated Golden Body had lost its final three levels and had passed from the Imperial Family to the Shui and Wen families.
• Xu Yi worried that only six levels of the Undefeated Golden Body remained, but Master Zhou urged him to value the art he had obtained.
• Xu Yi asked why Martial Skills mattered more in the Qi Sea Realm, and Master Zhou explained that skill and precision could let a weaker expert defeat a stronger one.

Xu Yi asked Master Zhou to explain the difference between Body Tempering and Qi Sea Martial Skills, and their discussion deepened both men's understanding of force and internal energy. Master Zhou warned that Xu Yi's old techniques might not be worth adapting unless they held something truly unique.

• Master Zhou asked Xu Yi to compare Martial Skills of the Body Tempering and Qi Sea Realms, and Xu Yi reflected on force, speed, and precision.
• Master Zhou explained that the Body Tempering Realm trained force while the Qi Sea Realm trained internal energy, whose subtleties Xu Yi had not yet learned through practice.
• Xu Yi proposed that internal energy was a substance capable of birth, death, gathering, and dispersal, unlike force, which merely applied bodily power.
• Master Zhou praised Xu Yi's insight and agreed that internal energy could use the same principles as force once Xu Yi mastered it through long practice.
• Master Zhou cautioned Xu Yi that adapting a Body Tempering technique was worthwhile only if it possessed something uniquely mysterious.

Xu Yi learned that the black bead held the dangerous Yin Extremity Scripture, then followed Master Zhou to the palace's Martial Arts Hall. The chapter left him facing the hall's entrance and three crystal tokens.

• Xu Yi showed Master Zhou the bead, and Master Zhou identified its seal as Tianchan Temple's Minor Suppression Technique.
• Master Zhou recognized the Yin Extremity Scripture and explained how Venerable Loss of Mind had used the bead to summon and question residual souls before becoming a murderous fiend.
• Xu Yi decided to pursue the secret art despite its dangers, and Master Zhou advised him to stay in control and use a barrier when attempting to break the seal.
• Master Zhou told Xu Yi to train instead of wasting time and led him to the Martial Arts Hall.
• Xu Yi and Master Zhou arrived at the hall, where people gathered around three crystal tokens beside its bronze entrance.

Xu Yi entered the Martial Arts Hall to train and swiftly cleared the Stone Array, then endured the Arrow Array to strengthen his body. His progress stunned the gamblers outside as he rested before the third Stone Gate, and the mustached man rushed out to defend his training.

• Master Zhou brought Xu Yi to the Martial Arts Hall and reminded him to repay his debt of drinks before leaving to prepare lessons.
• Xu Yi paid one hundred gold, entered the training chamber, and crossed the Stone Array in thirty-eight breaths using the Undefeated Golden Body and Finger Sword.
• Xu Yi entered the Arrow Array and endured its barrage until he reached the third Stone Gate, where he took pills and meditated to recover.
• The crowd accused the array of being broken, and Steward Cao fainted when the Arrow Array’s jade token lit up again.
• The mustached man rushed outside and told the crowd that Xu Yi was a powerhouse who had come to train.

Xu Yi completed the first turn of the Undefeated Golden Body after enduring more than a thousand rounds of the Arrow Array, but his Sea of Qi did not advance. He entered the Ultimate Stage to test his body against True Qi and confirmed that his Golden Body could still improve, leaving him facing even more dangerous attacks.

• Xu Yi endured more than a thousand rounds of the Arrow Array, completing the first turn of the Undefeated Golden Body as the crowd watched the jade tablet.
• Xu Yi found that his Sea of Qi had not transformed, so he cleared the third stage and rested before the Ultimate Stage.
• Xu Yi entered the Ultimate Stage and took a stream of True Qi through his shoulder, discovering that his Golden Body offered no protection against it.
• Xu Yi circulated the cultivation method and felt his meridians tingle, confirming that his first turn still had room to improve.
• Xu Yi continued the trial and saw that the attacks grew from streams of air into four unpredictable waves of air.

Xu Yi endured the final airflow attacks, broke through to the Mid Qi Sea Realm, and completed the First Turn of the Undefeated Golden Body before escaping the formation. Outside, he found that Steward Wu had died, and confronted the young man in golden armor.

• Xu Yi endured the formation’s attacks until his meridians changed and he broke through to the Mid Qi Sea Realm, completing the First Turn of the Undefeated Golden Body.
• Xu Yi crossed the final ten zhang and emerged from the formation alive, while the people outside had feared he was dead.
• Jiang Dong welcomed Xu Yi and offered to record his feat on a stone stele.
• A young man in golden armor and a portly middle-aged official arrived with soldiers carrying the wounded Steward Wu.
• Xu Yi pulled Steward Wu to him, found him dead, and demanded to know why from the young man in golden armor.

Xu Yi confronted Xiao Fuchen and Deputy Head Official Liu after they tried to seize him over his absence from the Night Purity Department. Commander Lu intervened, arrested Xiao Fuchen for abandoning his post, and ordered him beaten.

• Xiao Fuchen and Deputy Head Official Liu tried to arrest Xu Yi, but Xu Yi slapped away the guards and accused them of helping Marquis Wu Cheng target a court official.
• Xu Yi explained that he had hidden in the Martial Arts Hall, whose formation had blocked their attempts to locate his waist token.
• Xiao Fuchen ordered more troops to seize Xu Yi, and Deputy Head Official Liu backed him.
• Commander Lu arrived and questioned Xiao Fuchen about whether he was on duty with the Divine Strategy Guard.
• Commander Lu had his guards arrest Xiao Fuchen and ordered twenty strokes for abandoning his post and defying orders.

Lu Shanren punished Xiao Fuchen and protected Xu Yi, who then learned the commander had come at Master Zhou’s request. Xu Yi revealed that he had cleared the Martial Arts Hall’s final checkpoint and obtained its jade ring, astonishing Lu Shanren and the Merit Assessment Department official.

• Lu Shanren ordered Xiao Fuchen beaten and stripped for threatening a superior, then dismissed Deputy Head Official Liu when he backed down from pursuing Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi arranged for Steward Wu’s body to be carried away for burial in the palace, and Lu Shanren told him that Master Zhou had asked him to help.
• Steward Zhu arrived with a man who accused Xu Yi of taking the Martial Arts Hall’s jade ring, and Lu Shanren learned Xu Yi had reached the final checkpoint.
• Xu Yi showed Steward Zhu the rich green jade ring, which he verified as the reward for clearing the Body Refining Formation.

After claiming the jade ring, Xu Yi was promoted to Ten Households and learned that the first turn of the Undefeated Golden Body had been planted as a dangerous trap. Lu Shanren arranged an extended leave for him to treat his hidden meridian injury, while Xu Yi remained focused on recovering and finding the resources to continue cultivating.

• Xu Yi claimed the jade ring, passed the ultimate checkpoint, and was registered as Ten Households by the portly middle-aged man.
• Lu Shanren asked how Xu Yi had passed the checkpoint, and Xu Yi revealed that he had cultivated the first turn of the Undefeated Golden Body.
• Lu Shanren warned Xu Yi that the first three turns formed a complete system and that practicing only the first could destroy his sinews and meridians.
• Xu Yi realized Shui Yi had baited him into practicing the incomplete technique and thanked Lu Shanren for the warning.
• Lu Shanren offered to transfer Xu Yi under his command and give him extended leave to treat his hidden meridian injury, and Xu Yi accepted.

Xu Yi and Yan Zi finished a long stretch of forging and brought their weapons to Yuan Qinghua’s Tianmao shop, where he staged a crowded sale of blood weapons. Yuan Qinghua explained that limiting sales and raising prices would help maximize profits, though Xu Yi remained impatient to earn back his investment.

• Xu Yi forged an upper-grade short sword while Yan Zi collected iron essence and prepared the weapons they had made.
• Xu Yi rested, then left for Tianmao after Yan Zi carried the weapons to Yuan Qinghua.
• Yuan Qinghua welcomed Xu Yi to the shop and revealed the plaque advertising a blood-weapon clearance sale, drawing a large, orderly crowd.
• Yuan Qinghua sold seven or eight weapons before closing the shop, despite the customers’ protests.
• Yuan Qinghua told Xu Yi he planned to limit supplies and raise prices because cultivators would pay well for the semifinished blood weapons, while Xu Yi argued that their production could meet demand.

Xu Yi and Yuan Qinghua discussed how to sell their blood weapons without exposing their secret technique, and Xu Yi decided to pursue an auction license for Tianmao. After paying Steward Xie and planning to expand the shop as a cover, Xu Yi remained confident he would soon forge a mid-grade blood weapon.

• Yuan Qinghua explained that selling blood weapons gradually would reduce suspicion and help determine the best price, while Yan Zi suggested holding an auction.
• Yuan Qinghua told Xu Yi that Duke Cheng controlled auction licenses and that two might become available after Duke Cheng's daughter's birthday celebration.
• Xu Yi agreed that Tianmao should buy a license, but a furious Steward Xie arrived to collect the balance for the raw materials.
• Xu Yi paid Steward Xie with gold notes, and Steward Xie left after telling him where to collect future goods.
• Xu Yi told Yuan Qinghua to hire apprentices and sell other goods as a smokescreen, and Yuan Qinghua proposed buying pills and using blood weapons to obtain them.
• Xu Yi declared that he would soon forge a mid-grade blood weapon.

Xu Yi continued forging blood weapons and settled into his new shop before Xia Zimo unexpectedly visited him. They left together to spend the day in the city, while Yan Zi watched them go with troubled feelings.

• Xu Yi practiced forging blood weapons for more than twenty days and made a Judge's Brush after over a thousand attempts.
• Xu Yi gave Yan Zi Linglong Pavilion's honorary elder token and told her to buy pills and Heavenly Thunder Pearls with money from Yuan Qinghua.
• Xu Yi rested in the courtyard until Xia Zimo startled him with a silver shuttle, and he recognized her as Quail.
• Xia Zimo told Xu Yi that the Yin Mountain Sect was rebuilding its mountain gate and reminded him that he still owed her a Blood Flame Fruit.
• Xu Yi agreed to let Xia Zimo choose their outing, and the two left the shop together.
• Yan Zi entered the courtyard after they had gone and silently struggled with her feelings for Xu Yi.

Xia Zimo brought Xu Yi to punish Yao Guai for abducting women, and Xu Yi killed him with a single punch. She then took Xu Yi to confront the Five Rats of Bazhou, who attacked him before pleading that there had been a misunderstanding.

• Xia Zimo led Xu Yi to Yao Guai's residence and demanded the return of two women he had drugged and abducted.
• Yao Guai threatened Xia Zimo, but Xia Zimo struck him with bolts of air and Xu Yi crushed his shoulder with a punch.
• The Heavenly Patrol Envoys searched Yao Guai's residence, found more than a hundred abducted women, and recorded Xu Yi's identity.
• Xia Zimo brought Xu Yi to the Five Rats of Bazhou and accused them of crimes including the Lin Family massacre.
• The five men attacked Xu Yi with their Seven Kill Formation, but Xu Yi dispersed their spiraling weapon energy, prompting the scar-faced leader and his brothers to claim it was a misunderstanding.

Xu Yi defeated the Five Rats of Bazhou after they attacked him, and Xia Zimo crippled their dantians, explaining their past crimes. After a patrol accepted her Battle Token, Xu Yi told Xia Zimo about his new defensive Return to Origin Palm and went with her to inspect more places in the marketplace.

• Xu Yi overwhelmed the Five Rats of Bazhou with his attacks, wounded them, and sent them to Xia Zimo, who destroyed their dantians.
• Xia Zimo explained that the Five Rats had once dragged members of a family to their deaths, and she showed a patrol leader her Battle Token.
• Xu Yi learned that Battle Tokens allowed one fight in the capital in exchange for a fee and compensation for property damage.
• Xu Yi gave Xia Zimo a number theory text and explained that he had used its circular principles to develop Return to Origin Palm.
• Xia Zimo found the text incomprehensible and pulled Xu Yi through the marketplace to visit more locations; after two hours, they had reached the eleventh.

Xu Yi and Xia Zimo defeated nine more criminal households, drawing crowds and patrol officers before she reunited with Xiong Kui and his Five Brothers. Later, Xu Yi met Lu Shanren at the martial arts field, where Lu Shanren attacked him with his Nine-tailed Sword and marveled at his Undefeated Golden Body.

• Xu Yi and Xia Zimo defeated nine households, including a retainer of Marquis Wu Cheng's household, while Xia Zimo grew increasingly grim and fought recklessly.
• Xiong Kui and his Five Brothers reunited with Xia Zimo, and Xu Yi dispersed the crowd before speaking with them at a teahouse.
• Xu Yi received a message from Lu Shanren and arranged to meet him.
• Xia Zimo told Xiong Kui she had gone searching for Brother Yi, and Xiong Kui advised her to take things slowly.
• Lu Shanren struck Xu Yi with his Nine-tailed Sword, cutting his cheek, then praised his Undefeated Golden Body.