Chapter Summaries

Wang Xiaohu uncovered a poisoning plot by Prince An's remaining followers, and Lin Taichu led an attack that captured the group at a ruined temple. Afterward, Lin Taichu decided to study hidden weapons and went to ask Your Majesty for help entering the Tang Sect.

• Wang Xiaohu found poisoned villagers in Zhang Family Village and traced the poisoning to the taverns in Li Family Village and Zhang Family Village, whose owners' relatives had recently disappeared.
• Lin Taichu and Wang Xiaohu confronted the Li Family Village tavern owner, who confessed that his son had poisoned customers for Prince An's remaining followers and had gone to a ruined temple west of the city.
• Lin Taichu led Wang Xiaohu and Wang Qinian's private soldiers to the ruined temple, where they captured more than twenty followers, including the tavern owners' relatives.
• After the captured followers confessed under interrogation, Lin Taichu resolved to combine his medical knowledge and martial arts by learning hidden weapons from the Tang Sect.
• Lin Taichu went to the imperial palace and requested an audience with Your Majesty to seek help entering the Tang Sect.

Lin Taichu secured permission from His Majesty to study hidden weapons and poison at the Tang Sect, then traveled from the capital to Tang Family Fortress. Tang Tian accepted him as a disciple, and Lin Taichu settled in before beginning lessons the next day.

• Lin Taichu asked His Majesty to arrange for him to study at the Tang Sect, hoping to improve his self-defense and combine martial arts with medicine.
• Lin Taichu told the old doctor, Wang Xiaohu, and Amu of his plans, then waited at the clinic while treating patients.
• Three days later, a palace envoy told Lin Taichu that Tang Tian had agreed to accept him, and Lin Taichu entrusted the clinic to the others before setting out.
• Lin Taichu traveled on foot to Shu, practicing internal energy and Zhao Lie's swordsmanship along the way, then reached the Tang Family Fortress after more than half a month.
• Tang Yong escorted Lin Taichu into the fortress and explained the sect rules before Tang Tian agreed to teach him hidden weapons and poison.
• Tang Yong took Lin Taichu to his room, where he unpacked his medicines and medical notes ahead of his first lesson the next day.

Lin Taichu explored the Tang Sect before joining its disciples for basic physical training the next morning. The other disciples resented his connection to Your Majesty, and he began the demanding training determined to prove himself through his strength.

• Lin Taichu toured the Tang Sect, observing its orderly grounds, lessons, and intense training.
• Tang Yong told Lin Taichu to report to the training grounds early the next morning.
• Lin Taichu cultivated his internal energy, checked his medicines, and went to bed.
• Lin Taichu joined the morning formation, where Tang Yong introduced him as a newcomer sent by Your Majesty.
• The disciples criticized Lin Taichu for bypassing the usual entry process, but he stayed calm as Tang Yong warned them to follow sect rules.
• Tang Yong assigned the disciples a month of basic training and began with a fifty-lap run; Lin Taichu set off at a steady pace.

Lin Taichu endured his first Tang Sect training session, completing the long run and all ten rounds of stone-lock lifting despite his exhaustion. After a hostile disciple challenged him again, Lin Taichu answered calmly, returned to his room, and used his prepared ointment to soothe his aching muscles.

• Lin Taichu maintained a steady pace during the run and finished the final lap, impressing Elder Tang Yong and the remaining Disciples.
• A tall disciple accused Lin Taichu of entering the Tang Sect through connections and told him to leave, but Lin Taichu ignored his taunts.
• Elder Tang Yong led the Disciples through ten rounds of holding thirty-jin stone locks, and Lin Taichu used his internal energy to help endure the exercise.
• After training ended, the tall disciple warned Lin Taichu that harder challenges were ahead, and Lin Taichu told him to mind his own business.
• Lin Taichu returned to his room, collapsed onto his bed, and applied muscle-soothing ointment to his sore arms and legs.

Lin Taichu’s progress in training earned him praise from Elder Tang Yong, who moved him on to hidden weapon techniques. When other disciples mistook the change for special treatment, they blocked his path and challenged him, leaving a confrontation brewing.

• Lin Taichu endured basic training for several days, improved steadily, and saw the disciples’ open provocations diminish.
• Elder Tang Yong praised Lin Taichu’s progress and told him that in half a month he would begin learning fundamental hidden weapon techniques.
• Lin Taichu began hidden weapon practice and quickly mastered the basics, earning repeated praise from Elder Tang Yong.
• The disciples noticed Lin Taichu was no longer doing physical training and spread rumors that he had used his connections to avoid it.
• After the disciples mocked and blocked his path, Lin Taichu told them to move and warned that their behavior could violate Tang Sect rules.
• A disciple demanded that Lin Taichu join physical training and called him a weakling for avoiding it.

Lin Taichu accepted Tang Hu’s challenge to prove his strength after Tang Hu and the other disciples mocked him and demanded he leave the Tang Sect if he lost. After Tang Hu held a fifty-jin stone lock overhead for an incense stick and a half, Lin Taichu lifted it effortlessly and remained steady for at least as long, leaving the onlookers shocked.

• Tang Hu confronted Lin Taichu and challenged him to compete, demanding that he leave the Tang Sect if he lost.
• Lin Taichu accepted Tang Hu’s strength contest after deciding the disciples would keep harassing him if he backed down.
• Tang Hu held a fifty-jin stone lock overhead for an incense stick and a half before lowering it in exhaustion.
• Lin Taichu lifted the same stone lock overhead with ease and held it steadily for an incense stick and a half, stunning Tang Hu and the watching disciples.

Lin Taichu defeated Tang Hu in a stone-lock contest, earning the disciples’ respect and the personal instruction of Supreme Elder Tang Xuan in hidden weapon techniques. As Lin Taichu trained in seclusion, Tang Hu became a Core Disciple and later searched for him, unable to find where he had gone.

• Lin Taichu held the stone lock longer than Tang Hu, rebuked the disciples for judging him by prejudice, and returned to his quarters.
• Tang Xuan began personally teaching Lin Taichu the Tang Sect’s core hidden weapon techniques after praising his strength and solid cultivation foundation.
• Lin Taichu trained diligently, mastering basic throwing techniques and learning to hit three targets with three plum blossom needles at once.
• Tang Hu completed basic training, passed his assessments, and entered the ranks of the Core Disciples.
• Tang Hu searched for Lin Taichu and asked his instructor where the disciple introduced by Your Majesty had gone.

Lin Taichu reconciled with Tang Hu, who explained how many powerful experts the Tang Sect kept out of sight. The chapter left Lin Taichu ready to continue training under Tang Xuan, who began teaching him the Bone-Piercing Nail technique.

• Tang Hu apologized to Lin Taichu for his past insults, and Lin Taichu readily forgave him.
• Tang Hu told Lin Taichu about the Tang Sect's Supreme Elders, secluded seniors, and favored disciples, prompting Lin Taichu to recognize how much he still had to learn.
• Tang Hu and Lin Taichu discussed the sect's training system and Core Disciple assessments before Tang Hu helped clear their trays and left.
• Lin Taichu told Tang Xuan that hearing about the sect's experts had moved him, and Tang Xuan encouraged him to study diligently.
• Tang Xuan began teaching Lin Taichu the Bone-Piercing Nail technique and instructed him to study the weapon's weight, shape, force, and internal-energy rhythm.

After three months of hidden-weapon training under Tang Xuan, Lin Taichu entered the Tang Sect's Inner Disciple assessment. He stunned the training ground by hitting all twenty targets in twenty-one breaths, leaving the other Disciples and Elders in an uproar.

• Tang Xuan taught Lin Taichu to throw Bone-Piercing Nails, and Lin Taichu mastered more than ten hidden weapons during three months of training.
• Tang Xuan told Lin Taichu to enter the Inner Disciple assessment, and Lin Taichu intensified his practice for the next ten days.
• The proctor elder announced that the first round required Disciples to knock down twenty targets, with the fifty fastest advancing.
• Lin Taichu studied the targets, then threw ten Locust Stones at once and struck ten targets simultaneously.
• Lin Taichu launched eight Bone-Piercing Nails at the remaining targets and completed the round in twenty-one breaths, astonishing the crowd.

Lin Taichu won the rapid-fire target event with a precise technique, but Tang Chen and other rarely seen experts posted even faster results. As the first round ended, Lin Taichu realized that several formidable opponents stood between him and advancement.

• Lin Taichu explained his multi-weapon technique to the Proctor Elder, secured first place in the event, and earned the disciples’ admiration.
• The remaining disciples struggled to match Lin Taichu’s result, while Tang Hu acknowledged that he could not reach Lin Taichu’s level.
• Tang Chen, a disciple trained by a reclusive master, struck all twenty targets in twenty breaths, leaving Lin Taichu stunned.
• The Proctor Elder announced that Tang Lie and Tang Xue each finished in twenty breaths, while Tang Feng completed the event in nineteen, deepening Lin Taichu’s concern.

Lin Taichu used his physician’s fine motor control to dominate the second round of the Tang Sect assessment, polishing twenty Bone-Piercing Nails in a record twenty breaths. Tang Chen then stepped up, leaving the challenge of beating Lin Taichu’s time unresolved.

• Lin Taichu learned that reclusive disciples had advanced skills and entered the second round ranked tenth among fifty candidates.
• The Proctor Elder announced that disciples had to polish twenty qualified Bone-Piercing Nails, with the fastest twenty advancing.
• Lin Taichu drew on his medical experience and precise control to polish each nail cleanly and consistently.
• Lin Taichu finished in twenty breaths, astonishing the disciples and earning surprise from Tang Chen, Tang Feng, and the other reclusive disciples.
• Tang Hu placed second after taking half an incense stick plus three breaths, then looked at Lin Taichu with admiration.
• Tang Chen stepped up to the workstation as the other disciples wondered whether anyone could beat Lin Taichu’s record.

Lin Taichu faced Tang Hu in the third round’s practical combat after placing first in the polishing assessment. Their match began with hidden weapons before Tang Hu charged into close combat, where the fight remained unresolved.

• Tang Chen finished polishing twenty Bone-Piercing Nails in twenty-five breaths, while Lin Taichu retained first place and Tang Feng, Tang Lie, and Tang Xue placed among the top five.
• The proctor elder announced that the third round would be practical combat, with twenty disciples drawing lots to form ten pairs and the losers eliminated.
• Lin Taichu and Tang Hu both drew number seven and were assigned to the third combat zone.
• Tang Hu opened with Locust Stones and Soul-Chasing Needles, but Lin Taichu evaded or deflected each attack.
• Tang Hu charged to overcome Lin Taichu’s advantage with hidden weapons, and the two exchanged punches and palm strikes in close combat.

Lin Taichu defeated Tang Hu by exploiting a pause in Tang Hu’s secret technique and striking his acupoints with Bone-Piercing Nails, advancing to the next round. After the other groups’ matches, ten Disciples qualified, and three days later Lin Taichu arrived at the training grounds for the next assessment.

• Tang Hu used Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain to overpower Lin Taichu, but Lin Taichu spotted the pause in his attacks when he drew breath.
• Lin Taichu fired three Bone-Piercing Nails at Tang Hu’s acupoints, disrupting his inner force and forcing him to concede.
• Tang Hu gave Lin Taichu healing ointment, and the Proctor Elder announced Lin Taichu as the winner of Group Three.
• Tang Chen, Tang Feng, Tang Lie, Tang Xue, and other Disciples won their matches, bringing the number advancing to ten.
• The Proctor Elder scheduled the next assessment for three days later, and Lin Taichu arrived at the training grounds when it began.

Lin Taichu captained Group A in the fourth-round team battle and faced Tang Chen while the other fighters engaged their assigned opponents. As Tang Chen pressed Lin Taichu with faster, more accurate hidden weapons, Lin Taichu began using his medical insight to anticipate Tang Chen’s attacks.

• The ten Disciples drew lots, forming Group A with Lin Taichu and Group B with Tang Chen; both groups chose captains and planned their matchups.
• Lin Taichu led Group A’s strategy, assigning Tang Feng to hold off Tang Chen, Tang Xue to face Tang Lie, and Tang Yun and Tang Hao to work together against Group B’s remaining Disciples.
• When the battle began, Tang Feng and Tang Xue engaged their opponents while Tang Yun and Tang Hao gradually gained the upper hand against Tang Qiang, Tang Wei, and Tang Chao.
• Tang Chen escaped Tang Feng’s attacks and charged Lin Taichu, evading Lin Taichu’s poisoned Locust Stones before forcing him to defend against Bone-Piercing Nails.
• Lin Taichu struggled to follow Tang Chen’s attacks but used his knowledge of bodily movements, finger force, and breathing rhythm to predict their timing.

Lin Taichu and Group A defeated Group B through coordinated tactics, securing their places in the final Inner Disciple selection. After resting, they received their examination tools and learned the rules of the three-hour Treasure Seizing in the Secret Realm assessment.

• Lin Taichu used Tang Xue’s diversion to strike Tang Chen with a poisoned needle and defeat him.
• Tang Xue subdued Tang Lie, while Tang Yun and Tang Hao suppressed Tang Qiang and the other fighters; Tang Wei and Tang Chao surrendered.
• The proctor elder declared Group A the winners and advanced all five members to the final Inner Disciple selection.
• Lin Taichu and the others rested for about two hours before receiving an Identity Token and ten Wind-Breaking Nails each.
• The proctor elder explained that contestants would seek one hundred Spirit Jade Tokens in the Trial Secret Realm for three hours, with the top three advancing directly to become Inner Disciples.

Lin Taichu and the others searched the secret realm for Spirit Jade Tokens but found none, while some disciples considered ambushing people at the exit. Lin Taichu suspected the tokens were hidden above them and confirmed that an invisible barrier covered the realm overhead.

• Lin Taichu and the others split up to search the secret realm, but none of them found a Spirit Jade Token.
• Disciples complained that the tokens were nowhere to be found, and some proposed waiting at the exit to rob those who found them.
• Lin Taichu rejected the ambush plan and pointed out that Tang Chen and several other disciples were waiting rather than searching.
• Lin Taichu reasoned that the tokens might be above them, hidden behind an invisible Formation.
• Lin Taichu hurled a Wind-Breaking Nail upward, and it struck an unseen barrier and fell back down.

Lin Taichu discovered a weak point in the concealed Formation above the top level, and five Disciples forced open a gap. Lin Taichu, Tang Yun, and Tang Hao entered and found one hundred Spirit Jade Tokens as the fighting continued outside.

• Tang Xue and the other Disciples confirmed that an invisible barrier covered the top level, and Tang Chen identified it as a trapping and concealment Formation that could only be forced open with inner force.
• Lin Taichu found a weak point in the barrier, and Tang Lie, Tang Feng, Tang Hao, Tang Chen, and Tang Xue combined their strength to open a gap.
• Tang Lie blocked the gap as the Disciples rushed to enter, while Tang Feng and Tang Xue held them back so Lin Taichu, Tang Yun, and Tang Hao could pass through.
• Lin Taichu and the others entered a hidden space and found exactly one hundred Spirit Jade Tokens scattered across the ground.
• Lin Taichu checked one token for traps, then told Tang Yun and Tang Hao to collect the tokens quickly.

Lin Taichu and his group gathered thirty Spirit Jade Tokens and guarded the gap while the other Disciples fought over the rest. With an hour left in the assessment, five Disciples attacked them for their tokens, and Lin Taichu began defeating them.

• Lin Taichu, Tang Yun, and Tang Hao collected thirty Spirit Jade Tokens and left the remaining seventy for the Disciples outside.
• Lin Taichu's group joined Tang Feng and Tang Xue, then stayed to guard the gap as Tang Chen, Tang Lie, and other Disciples went inside to collect tokens.
• Disciples fought over the tokens and robbed others as they emerged, while Lin Taichu's group waited for Tang Chen and Tang Lie.
• Tang Chen emerged with fifteen tokens and Tang Lie with twelve, leaving their group behind Lin Taichu's group, which held thirty.
• With one hour left, five Disciples charged Lin Taichu's group to seize their tokens, and Lin Taichu knocked one attacker unconscious and took his tokens.

Lin Taichu's team defended its Spirit Jade Tokens through the final battle and won first place in the assessment, earning promotion to Inner Disciples. After Tang Xuan explained the assessment's true purpose, Lin Taichu entered the inner sect area.

• Lin Taichu warned his team that Tang Chen and Tang Lie would attack near the end, and assigned everyone defensive positions.
• When the assessment neared its end, Tang Chen and Tang Lie began seizing tokens, but Lin Taichu's team blocked them and fought back.
• Lin Taichu fought Tang Chen while Tang Feng, Tang Xue, and the others overwhelmed Tang Lie, and Tang Hao collected two dropped Spirit Jade Tokens.
• After the assessment ended, Lin Taichu's team submitted thirty-five tokens, beating Tang Chen's team with thirty-three; Tang Peng placed third with eight.
• Tang Xuan praised Lin Taichu for discovering the hidden Formation and explained that the assessment tested observation and adaptability as well as strength.
• Tang Xuan named Lin Taichu, Tang Chen, and Tang Peng Inner Disciples, and Lin Taichu arrived at the inner sect area.

Lin Taichu entered the inner sect and learned that its Disciples cultivated independently by borrowing one manual at a time from the Scripture Pavilion. He selected Profound Iron Strength to strengthen his combat power and began planning how to cultivate it.

• Lin Taichu heard Inner Disciples acknowledge his strength despite his outsider status.
• Tang Xuan brought Lin Taichu to the inner sect entrance, explained that no instructors would guide him, and told him to collect his robes and token the next day.
• Lin Taichu read the Scripture Pavilion rules and learned that he had to master and verify one borrowed Secret Manual before taking another.
• Lin Taichu registered to borrow Profound Iron Strength, an Internal Cultivation Method that could improve the force of his inner energy.
• Lin Taichu returned to his courtyard, planned his cultivation, and used his knowledge of meridians to identify and clear obstructions.