Chapter Summaries

Shen Changchuan killed two Beggars Sect attackers, found a dead disciple’s martial arts notes, and reached Nanyang Prefecture City, where he learned the sect was investigating the killing. He stayed at Yuelai Inn and resolved to find a martial arts school before the Beggars Sect could track him down.

• Shen Changchuan killed the attacker Wang with a spear and captured Er Gouzi, who revealed that they had targeted him for the ginseng in his bundle.
• Shen Changchuan killed Er Gouzi, then retrieved money and three pages of martial arts techniques hidden in a ruined temple outside Changhe Town.
• Shen Changchuan traveled for four days to Nanyang Prefecture City, where he noticed disabled children begging and suspected someone had mutilated them.
• Shen Changchuan visited Zhang San's Wife, delivered Zhang San's message, and received advice about local businesses, martial arts schools, and the danger posed by beggars.
• Shen Changchuan rented a room at Yuelai Inn and overheard that Beggars Sect elder Sun Butong was investigating the death in Changhe Town and offering a reward for clues.
• Shen Changchuan judged that the Beggars Sect had no clear trail to him, but decided he needed to learn martial arts quickly.

Shen Changchuan joined the Ye Family Martial Arts School and secretly mastered all thirteen of its publicly taught martial arts, using knowledge carried over from his main world. He remained to temper his body and realized Master Ye could still defeat him easily because Master Ye had mastered a true qigong inner method.

• Shen Changchuan gave Master Ye an excuse for arriving alone, accepted the school's rules, and paid to enroll as an Outer Disciple.
• Over three months, Shen Changchuan trained quietly while nearby news focused on the Iron Palm Sect confronting the Fish Dragon Gang over the death of its young sect master.
• Shen Changchuan moved among the school's formations and mastered all thirteen ordinary third-rate martial arts within a month without revealing his ability.
• Shen Changchuan decided to stay and physically cultivate the arts, recognizing that understanding their techniques could not replace bodily tempering.
• Shen Changchuan judged that he could defeat several versions of his former self but might still be killed by Master Ye within ten moves because Master Ye knew a true qigong inner method.

Shen Changchuan planned to master the Ye Family Martial Arts School's thirteen unranked external arts rather than submit to the Six Harmonies Sect to learn its qigong method. After rescuing Zhang San's Wife and steadily growing stronger, he arrived at the martial arts school to find the Six Harmonies Sect had come.

• Shen Changchuan concluded that obtaining the Ye Family Martial Arts School's qigong method would require years of loyalty and affiliation with the Six Harmonies Sect, so he planned to master the thirteen external arts first.
• Shen Changchuan rescued Zhang San's Wife and her son from four hooligans, then learned that Zhang San had not returned from his trading trip.
• Shen Changchuan returned to his courtyard, resolved to grow strong enough to protect himself, and trained while using medicinal baths.
• Shen Changchuan mastered the Shattered Jade Fist after a month of training, then later mastered the Flowing Wind Step and doubled his speed.
• Shen Changchuan went to the Ye Family Martial Arts School and discovered that the Six Harmonies Sect had arrived.

Shen Changchuan discovered that he could stack force from the Shattered Jade Fist and Flowing Wind Step to produce power comparable to a perfected technique without straining his body, though he needed money to continue training. At the Ye Family Martial Arts School, Liu Ruoyin briefly sensed something unusual about his punch before dismissing it, then explained that she had come to travel and visit the Iron Palm Sect.

• Shen Changchuan experimented with the Shattered Jade Fist and realized he could layer force through his body to greatly increase his striking power without injury.
• Shen Changchuan worried that his funds were running low and considered searching the mountains for medicinal herbs and hunting valuable beasts.
• Master Ye led Liu Ruoyin and two other Six Harmonies Sect disciples through the martial arts school, where Liu Ruoyin briefly noticed Shen Changchuan's punch.
• The trainees discussed Liu Ruoyin's beauty and status while Shen Changchuan wondered how she had sensed something unusual about him.
• Liu Ruoyin told Master Ye that she had come down the mountain to travel with two Senior Brothers and visit the Iron Palm Sect, and she accepted his offer to stay for a few days.

Shen Changchuan tested a force-based combat method, then decided to keep pursuing qigong while strengthening his external martial arts. When Zhang San's Wife told him her son had been abducted and sold to the Beggars Sect, he received her family's Flowing Water Technique manual and set out to rescue the child and confront the sect.

• Shen Changchuan combined four external martial arts to pierce through a boulder with concentrated force, then used force and Hard Qigong to strengthen his defense.
• Shen Changchuan decided that qigong was the safer path to ascension, while force would help build his combat strength and obtain internal energy manuals.
• After three days of searching taverns for leads, Shen Changchuan learned that conflict between the Iron Palm Sect and the Fish Dragon Gang might draw many martial figures together.
• Zhang San's Wife told Shen Changchuan that ruffians had abducted her son and sold him to the Beggars Sect, and she gave him her family manual, the Flowing Water Technique.
• Shen Changchuan promised to rescue the child, changed into an inconspicuous robe, and went to a ruined temple where four hooligans were celebrating their kidnapping business.

Shen Changchuan learned that Beggars Sect elder Sun Butong had received Zhang San's son from child traffickers, then chose to confront the sect's Nanyang Prefecture City branch. He launched a violent attack on its members and left the ruined temple filled with screams and bloodshed.

• Shen Changchuan tested the Primordial Demon Soul Devouring Record on four hooligans, reducing them to idiots after learning they had sold Zhang San's son to Sun Butong.
• Shen Changchuan decided to act boldly against the Beggars Sect rather than fear provoking the powerful organization.
• Shen Changchuan arrived at the Beggars Sect branch headquarters and condemned its leaders for profiting while low-ranking beggars suffered.
• A bearded Beggars Sect member attacked Shen Changchuan, but Shen Changchuan defeated him with one punch and quickly struck down two more men.
• The remaining Beggars Sect members surrounded Shen Changchuan and attacked with a steel saber and a poisoned Emei piercer.
• Shen Changchuan redirected the attackers' weapons, killed the saber wielder, seized the steel saber, and charged into the crowd, cutting down more members.

After uncovering the Beggars Sect’s child-trafficking operation, Shen Changchuan interrogated and killed its disciples, then rushed to Sun Butong’s eastern-city stronghold. He arrived just as Sun Butong was about to kill Liu Ruoyin and her Senior Brothers, and his sudden attack saved them from the immediate blow.

• Shen Changchuan defeated the Beggars Sect disciples in the ruined temple and learned that Sun Butong’s branch trafficked children and maimed some to use as beggars.
• Shen Changchuan killed his prisoner and headed for the estate outside the eastern city, while news of the ruined temple massacre spread among the local beggars.
• Liu Ruoyin and her two Senior Brothers confronted Sun Butong after discovering his crimes, but he overpowered them and prepared to kill them.
• Shen Changchuan appeared behind Sun Butong and attacked with his blade, forcing the elder to turn away from the three disciples.
• Sun Butong shattered Shen Changchuan’s blade and grew wary of the young boy’s ability, while Liu Ruoyin recognized him from Senior Brother Ye’s martial arts hall.

Liu Ruoyin and the others realized Shen Changchuan was hiding extraordinary physical skill, while Sun Butong decided to kill him to conceal the Beggars Sect branch’s crimes. Shen Changchuan redirected Sun Butong’s all-out punch back at him, leaving the battle’s outcome unresolved as Sun Butong tried to withstand the counterattack.

• Liu Ruoyin and another Six Harmonies Sect disciple recognized Shen Changchuan from Ye Family Martial Arts School and wondered why he concealed his strength.
• Sun Butong dismissed his doubts about Shen Changchuan and resolved to kill him so the secrets of the manor would not be exposed.
• Sun Butong unleashed his trump-card punch, and Shen Changchuan recognized the flaws in his violent, poorly controlled true energy.
• Shen Changchuan used Taiji and refined force to guide Sun Butong’s punch around himself and redirect its power back at him.
• Sun Butong panicked and erupted with true energy to resist as Shen Changchuan’s counterattack struck his chest.

Shen Changchuan killed Sun Butong by turning the Beggars Sect elder’s attack against him, then rescued Zhang San’s son and uncovered the branch’s ties to the Black Ice Platform. After returning the child and giving Zhang San’s Wife money, Shen Changchuan left Nanyang Prefecture City to lie low and develop his qigong and martial arts.

• Shen Changchuan redirected Sun Butong’s powerful strike and then pierced his chest with a concentrated blow, killing him while suffering injuries of his own.
• Shen Changchuan cultivated his first wisp of true qi and realized it could greatly increase his strength.
• Shen Changchuan found Zhang San’s son and other abducted children in a secret passage, and discovered money, martial arts manuals, and letters linking Sun Butong’s Beggars Sect branch to the Black Ice Platform under King Wei, Cao Wu.
• Shen Changchuan told Liu Ruoyin and the other two survivors about the children and valuables, then carried Zhang San’s son back to his mother.
• Shen Changchuan gave Zhang San’s Wife three hundred taels for her qigong method and left Nanyang Prefecture City, planning to cultivate in seclusion for several years.

After Shen Changchuan left Nanyang Prefecture City, news spread that he had destroyed the Beggars Sect branch for trafficking and mutilating children, though most people doubted that a child could have killed Sun Butong. The Black Ice Platform ordered an investigation into the Six Harmonies Sect, while the Beggars Sect vowed to pursue whoever had killed its members.

• The Beggars Sect survivors reported that Sun Butong and the branch's elite disciples had been killed, and the news caused panic and excited speculation throughout Nanyang Prefecture City.
• Reports revealed that the Beggars Sect had trafficked children and mutilated them for begging, and the rescued children were taken to the Ye Family Martial Arts School.
• Witnesses from the Six Harmonies Sect said a child under ten had killed Sun Butong by turning his attack back against him, but most people dismissed the claim as unbelievable.
• A shadow in the Black Ice Platform received the report, ordered close surveillance of the Six Harmonies Sect, and told his subordinates to find another source of orphans.
• A furious Beggars Sect elder acknowledged Sun Butong's crimes but declared that outsiders had no right to kill a sect elder, and vowed to pursue the killer while suspecting Liu Ruoyin and the Six Harmonies Sect.

After three years of secluded cultivation, Shen Changchuan had transformed Flowing Water Qi Gong, opened seventy-two acupoints, and reached strength comparable to an ordinary Innate Grandmaster. He decided to leave the mountains to seek deeper techniques, but noticed two fleeing youths pursued by an Iron Palm Sect leader.

• Shen Changchuan reflected on how he had revised Flowing Water Qi Gong and developed his true qi and force over three years.
• Shen Changchuan concluded that he needed to find techniques that could help him locate and open the remaining thirty-six acupoints before advancing to Innate.
• Shen Changchuan decided to leave the mountains and return to the martial world in search of martial arts manuals and information about those who had shattered the void.
• Shen Changchuan sensed intruders in the mountains as Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng fled through the forest, wounded and pursued.
• The Iron Palm Sect leader chased Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng, demanding they surrender an item and threatening to kill them.

Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng fled the Iron Palm Sect leader, avoiding a mountain household so its residents would not suffer the fate of a family that had helped them. When the sect leader attacked Shen Changchuan, Shen effortlessly defeated him, leaving the youths’ pursuit unresolved.

• Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng refused to trust the Iron Palm Sect leader’s offer and continued fleeing, determined to avenge the fishing couple he had killed.
• The exhausted youths spotted a household in the mountains but chose to go around it to avoid bringing danger to its residents.
• Shen Changchuan watched the youths leave and considered helping them because they had shown kindness toward others.
• The Iron Palm Sect leader arrived at Shen Changchuan’s home and attacked him after Shen denied seeing the fugitives.
• Shen Changchuan blocked the attack and struck the Iron Palm Sect leader, overwhelming his Iron Palm Divine Skill and sending him flying unconscious.

Shen Changchuan killed the Iron Palm Sect leader and studied the palm technique before accepting Daoist Zhang’s handwritten letter from Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng. The manuscript’s secrets about ascension could help Shen Changchuan obtain the Dao Fruit he needed, and he offered the brothers a favor in return.

• Shen Changchuan killed the Iron Palm Sect leader with one palm and used what he had learned from the clash to carve a precise palm print into a boulder.
• Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng emerged from hiding, thanked Shen Changchuan for saving them, and offered him Daoist Zhang’s handwritten letter.
• Shen Changchuan took the letter with a gesture, noticed the brothers had silently exchanged thoughts, and offered to repay them for the manuscript.
• Shen Changchuan realized the manuscript could reveal the path to ascension and help him bring back a transcendent Dao Fruit from this world.

Shen Changchuan trained Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng while studying Daoist Zhang's manuscript for clues to ascension and the laws of heaven and earth. After half a year, he resolved to seek other martial arts to advance his own cultivation, while his students announced they had perfected the circulation of their inner force.

• Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng begged Shen Changchuan to take them as disciples, and he agreed to teach them techniques while judging their aptitude and performance.
• Over the next half year, Shen Changchuan trained Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng beneath a waterfall as he studied Daoist Zhang's manuscript.
• Shen Changchuan briefly tore open space while examining the Taiji Bagua Diagram, but studying the manuscript did not advance his cultivation or help him find the remaining acupoints.
• Shen Changchuan decided to leave the mountain and seek martial arts that could help him locate the remaining acupoints.
• Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng leaped from beneath the waterfall and told Shen Changchuan that their inner force had spread throughout their bodies and reached flawless perfection.

Shen Changchuan taught Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng the Solar Divine Skill and Lunar Divine Skill, then sought martial arts inheritances to find the acupoints needed to reach the Innate Grandmaster realm. After his raids on the Beggars Sect drew attention, he killed a branch hall master and escaped as the sect’s disciples closed in.

• Shen Changchuan assessed Shao Yun and Lin Mofeng’s aptitude and offered them the Solar Divine Skill and Lunar Divine Skill, which he had created from Daoist Zhang's handwritten manuscript and other methods.
• After teaching the two martial arts for half a month, Shen Changchuan left them and went to the weakened Iron Palm Sect to search its inheritances.
• Shen Changchuan obtained the Iron Palm Sect’s martial arts, found and opened two hidden acupoints, but failed to learn what had happened to its former young leader or find Daoist Zhang's inheritance.
• Shen Changchuan raided six Beggars Sect branch lodges over two months, plundered martial arts, and deduced twelve acupoints, leaving only twenty-two undiscovered.
• The Beggars Sect grew wary after rumors spread that a demon was using soul-searching techniques to steal its martial arts, and Shen Changchuan killed a branch hall master whose mental art resisted his control.
• When Beggars Sect disciples stormed the hall, Shen Changchuan slipped away into the woods.

Shen Changchuan enjoyed a meal at Wangjiang Tower and deepened his understanding of Daoist Zhang’s Taiji Bagua Diagram. When Liu Ruoyin was attacked by Beggars Sect disciples, he intervened and revealed himself as the senior she had met years earlier.

• Shen Changchuan savored Wangjiang Tower’s food and wine, and his relaxed state of mind helped him fuse his martial arts insights into a unified path.
• Liu Ruoyin argued with a four-pouch Beggars Sect elder over an old dispute before he and four disciples attacked her.
• Shen Changchuan shattered the attackers’ weapons with wine-cup fragments and drove them off with two chopsticks.
• Liu Ruoyin entered Wangjiang Tower to thank the unseen expert and recognized Shen Changchuan as the young master she had met years before.

Liu Ruoyin told Shen Changchuan how the Beggars Sect had persecuted the Six Harmonies Sect because of Sun Butong’s death and Shen’s disappearance. Shen promised to face the Beggars Sect himself, and the chapter ended as Nine-Bag Elder Lu Changhe arrived with a large force to confront him.

• Liu Ruoyin explained that the Beggars Sect had blamed the Six Harmonies Sect for Sun Butong’s death and used its current turmoil to threaten her and her family.
• Shen Changchuan apologized for the trouble his actions had caused and told Liu Ruoyin to send any Beggars Sect pursuers to him.
• Liu Ruoyin warned Shen Changchuan about the Beggars Sect’s Grandmaster-level elders, but he said he was confident in his strength.
• Shen Changchuan sensed the Beggars Sect’s arrival and told Liu Ruoyin they might soon see an Innate Grandmaster.
• Dozens of Beggars Sect disciples surrounded Wangjiang Tower, and Lu Changhe entered Shen Changchuan’s room with elite fighters and accused him of hiding.

Lu Changhe and the retired Divine Constable Lu Wenzong cornered Shen Changchuan at Wangjiang Tower after tracking his scent and confronted him over the Beggars Sect martial arts he had stolen. Shen Changchuan refused Lu Changhe’s offer to cripple him and surrender, and Lu Changhe launched an overwhelming attack.

• Lu Changhe explained that Shen Changchuan had controlled Beggars Sect members, stolen their martial arts, and killed his prized disciple Yan Chengyou.
• Shen Changchuan asked how the Beggars Sect had found him, and Lu Wenzong revealed that he had tracked Shen Changchuan by scent.
• Lu Wenzong recognized Shen Changchuan’s scent from the man who had killed his would-be successor Er Gou, whom Shen Changchuan admitted killing after an attempted ambush.
• Lu Changhe ordered Shen Changchuan to cripple himself and surrender, but Shen Changchuan refused and challenged him.
• Lu Changhe unleashed a powerful palm strike, and Liu Ruoyin felt its pressure threaten to crush her.

In Sanjiang City, Lu Changhe confronted Shen Changchuan at Wangjiang Tower, where their first clash destroyed the century-old landmark and killed many Beggars Sect disciples. Enraged, Lu Changhe unleashed his famed Prison Suppressing Dragon Swallowing Hand, and the battle remained unresolved as his attack bore down on Shen Changchuan.

• Martial artists gathered around Wangjiang Tower and speculated that Lu Changhe had cornered Shen Changchuan over the Beggars Sect branch hall attacks.
• Lu Changhe and Shen Changchuan collided, unleashing a shockwave that shattered Wangjiang Tower and left many Beggars Sect disciples dead or trapped in the rubble.
• Shen Changchuan escaped the collapsing building with Liu Ruoyin, while Lu Changhe blasted through the debris and landed on a nearby rooftop.
• Lu Changhe, furious at his losses and humiliation, challenged Shen Changchuan and gathered the surrounding primordial qi.
• Lu Changhe launched his famed Prison Suppressing Dragon Swallowing Hand at Shen Changchuan as spectators recognized the deadly technique.

Shen Changchuan fought Lu Changhe, a Nine-Bag Elder and Innate Grandmaster of the Beggars Sect, and killed him with the Great Yin Yang Wheel. The witnesses were stunned by Shen Changchuan’s overwhelming power, and they expected the Beggars Sect to seek revenge.

• Shen Changchuan faced Lu Changhe’s full-strength attack with his transformed Flowing Water Qi Gong and met it with a powerful palm strike.
• Shen Changchuan and Lu Changhe exchanged over a hundred moves amid destructive shockwaves, with Lu Changhe gradually falling behind.
• Shen Changchuan exploited a brief flaw in Lu Changhe’s aura and used the Great Yin Yang Wheel to sever his connection to the world’s primordial qi.
• Lu Changhe’s true qi turned chaotic, leaving him unable to resist as Shen Changchuan beheaded him.
• The spectators found Lu Changhe’s head impaled on a beam amid the ruins and realized Shen Changchuan had killed the Innate Grandmaster in only about twenty breaths.