Chapter Summaries

Li Xiao returned with Zhu He’s corpse and helped Liu Feiyan and Tu Gang defeat Shi Gandang, then stopped them from killing him. He offered Shi Gandang and the surviving Qingshi Martial Arts School disciples a chance to live in exchange for information about the Prince of Nanyang.

• Li Xiao brought Zhu He’s corpse back to the battlefield, where the allied forces had nearly defeated Zhu He’s troops.
• Shi Gandang faltered after seeing Zhu He’s corpse, and Li Xiao struck him while Liu Feiyan and Tu Gang subdued him.
• Li Xiao prevented Liu Feiyan and Tu Gang from killing Shi Gandang, claiming he deserved a chance to repent.
• Liu Feiyan and Tu Gang left to oversee the battlefield cleanup after Li Xiao intimidated Liu Feiyan into silence.
• Li Xiao questioned Shi Gandang about the Prince of Nanyang and offered to spare him and the surviving Qingshi Martial Arts School disciples if his answers satisfied him.

Li Xiao learned about Prince of Nanyang’s hidden strength and persuaded the captive Shi Gandang to seek the mansion’s support for his appointment as Willow City’s County Lieutenant. After the battle, Li Xiao distributed captured weapons and armor among his allies and took charge of the city’s remaining silver and forces.

• Shi Gandang told Li Xiao that Prince of Nanyang was a Sixth Turn Martial Master who had quietly gathered soldiers, guest retainers, and martial arts talent.
• Li Xiao asked Shi Gandang to explain Willow City’s upheaval to Prince of Nanyang and recommend him as County Lieutenant, threatening Shi Gandang’s family to ensure his cooperation.
• Shi Gandang agreed to go to the mansion and present Li Xiao’s case, then left Willow City without treating his injuries.
• Li Xiao ordered the captured armor and weapons distributed according to the fighters’ contributions and reserved the silver to aid casualties and stabilize Willow City.
• Li Xiao consolidated the city’s major fighting forces under his command after Zhu He’s execution and the Zhu Family’s destruction.

Li Xiao returned to Willow City after destroying the Feng and Zhu families, promised compensation and rewards to his allies, and ordered the Feng Family’s estate searched. The search uncovered a vast dungeon filled with imprisoned women, and Li Xiao descended to investigate.

• Li Xiao acknowledged the allies’ losses, promised to restore order in Willow City, and pledged compensation from the Feng and Zhu families’ seized assets.
• Li Xiao ordered a thorough search of the Feng Family Mansion and assigned Wang Jinshan and the Golden Sand Gang to search Feng Yuxiang’s residence and the elders’ quarters.
• Li Xiao searched Feng Yuxiang’s rooms for the Feng Family’s cultivation manual but found no martial arts manuals.
• A Wild Dog Gang member reported a secret dungeon beneath the rear courtyard’s rockery, where many women were imprisoned.
• Li Xiao, Wang Jinshan, Liu Feiyan, and other leaders entered the dungeon.

Li Xiao uncovered the Feng Family’s imprisoned victims and ordered their rescue before searching Zhu He’s estate for valuable martial arts. He found and recorded the Severing Gate Saber technique and its Divine Intent Diagram, gaining a powerful new source of martial insight.

• Li Xiao and the others discovered women from the Feng Family and Willow City imprisoned in a dungeon, where Feng Fu had used them as nourishment for his Exotic Insect.
• Li Xiao ordered the survivors carried out, cared for, and either settled or buried, then left Wang Jinshan to manage the aftermath and stabilize the city.
• Li Xiao went to the Zhu Family estate and found a hidden iron box beneath Zhu He's bed.
• Li Xiao discovered the Severing Gate Saber booklet and recorded the technique with his Panel.
• Li Xiao found the Severing Gate Saber Divine Intent Diagram in Zhu He's study and recorded its domineering True Intent.

Li Xiao searched Zhu He's estate, then visited the badly damaged Iron Wire Fist Martial Arts School and treated Qian Li with a pill taken from Zhu He's hidden stash. With the school’s leadership and strength shattered, Li Xiao ordered it to remain isolated until Qian Li recovered.

• Li Xiao found no rare treasures in Zhu He's estate and ordered gang headmen to inventory all the Zhu Family’s assets.
• Li Xiao went to the Iron Wire Fist Martial Arts School, where he found Qian Li gravely wounded and Zhao Hu and Wu Tieshan injured.
• Li Xiao gave Qian Li a pill from Zhu He's hidden stash, which slightly steadied Qian Li’s breathing.
• Wu Tieshan told Li Xiao that Lu Meng had died covering his escape.
• Li Xiao ordered Zhao Hu and Wu Tieshan to care for Qian Li, keep the school closed, and prevent the disciples from causing trouble.

Li Xiao returned home to find his family treating Liu Qingyue like his future wife, then told her he planned to retrieve the Qi Cultivator Token from the Liu Family. He demonstrated his strength with Martial Way True Intent, and Liu Qingyue revealed the guards’ schedule and the token’s likely hiding place.

• Li Xiao returned to the courtyard, where Li Youde praised Liu Qingyue as a suitable wife while she prepared dinner with Li Yu.
• Li Youde and the Liu family warmly thanked Liu Qingyue and Li Xiao during a meal, leaving Li Xiao uncomfortable with their matchmaking assumptions.
• Li Xiao told Liu Qingyue he intended to take the Qi Cultivator Token from the Liu Family, but she warned him about its guards and the risk of attracting the Feng Family.
• Li Xiao released his Martial Way True Intent to convince Liu Qingyue that no one in Willow City could threaten him.
• Liu Qingyue told Li Xiao that the Liu Family's two Martial Masters changed shifts at midnight and that the token was likely in a hidden compartment in the Patriarch's study.

Li Xiao infiltrated the Liu Family estate and stole a mysterious token, then activated it with his Wind Thunder True Intent to reveal the character “Abyss.” After a restless night considering the threats ahead, he began practicing with a saber at dawn.

• Li Xiao used Wind Listening and his footwork to evade the Liu Family guards and enter the Patriarch’s study.
• Li Xiao opened a hidden passage behind a bookshelf, took the token from a rosewood box, and left without being detected.
• Li Xiao infused the token with Wind Thunder True Intent, revealing the ancient character “Abyss” and a faint resonance with his own power.
• Li Xiao pondered the token’s meaning and the dangers facing him before eventually falling asleep.
• At dawn, Li Xiao took a waist saber from the Zhu Family’s storehouse and went to the courtyard to practice Blade Technique.

Li Xiao practiced the Severing Gate Saber Technique and tested whether mastering basic fist and palm techniques could earn him Limit-Breaking Points. He realized those methods overlapped with skills he had already advanced, abandoning his shortcut plan, and later confirmed to Liu Qingyue that he had obtained the Token.

• Li Xiao practiced basic saber movements until the Severing Gate Saber Technique reached Minor Accomplishment.
• Li Xiao mastered Basic Fist Technique and Basic Palm Technique, but received no Limit-Breaking Points.
• Li Xiao concluded that the Panel did not reward progress in basic methods that overlapped with martial arts he had already advanced.
• Li Xiao abandoned his plan to grind low-level techniques for points and decided to seek out genuinely new fields of martial arts.
• At dinner, Liu Qingyue kept glancing at Li Xiao, and he nodded to confirm that he had obtained the Token.

Li Xiao visited the gravely injured Qian Li, who asked him to look after the Iron Wire Fist Martial Arts School after his death and revealed what he knew about the Fifth and Sixth Turns. The chapter left Li Xiao considering the extraordinary power and long life that might await him beyond his current realm.

• Li Xiao arrived at the martial arts school and found Qian Li badly injured, with Wu Tieshan and Zhao Hu guarding him.
• Qian Li praised Li Xiao's archery and questioned how he had obtained a technique powerful enough to surpass Willow City's martial arts.
• Qian Li asked Li Xiao to look after the Iron Wire Fist Martial Arts School after his death, and Li Xiao promised to help within his ability.
• Qian Li explained that Fifth Turn cultivators give birth to qi, can regenerate limbs, and may live beyond 150 years.
• Qian Li described Sixth Turn as communion with the bridge of heaven and earth, with a lifespan that could reach 300 years, leaving Li Xiao contemplating the path to longevity.

Qian Li explained that Qi Cultivators followed a secretive path distinct from Martial Masters and recounted how one used the Nail Head Seven Books to curse Emperor Jing, an Eighth Turn master, to death. Li Xiao was left aware that the world beyond Willow City held dangers his Panel and Martial training might not prepare him for.

• Qian Li told Li Xiao that Qi Cultivators cultivated the spirit and drew on heaven and earth rather than tempering their bodies and Qi and Blood.
• Qian Li revealed that Emperor Jing had reached the Eighth Turn, yet a Qi Cultivator disciple cursed him to death with the Nail Head Seven Books after he destroyed her family.
• Qian Li explained that Emperor Jing's death triggered a struggle among the princes and the collapse of the Jing Kingdom.
• Qian Li warned Li Xiao to remain vigilant around Qi Cultivators because their methods defied ordinary reasoning.
• Li Xiao reflected on the dangers of Qi Cultivator methods and resolved to face the unknown with renewed determination.

Qian Li explained the Three Origins Sect’s martial inheritance and its path to the Sixth Turn, but warned Li Xiao that joining the Sect through him would bring lethal danger. He revealed that he had betrayed the Sect by stealing a treasure, leaving Li Xiao unable to rely on his connections.

• Li Xiao asked Qian Li whether the Iron Wire Fist had a path beyond Perfection.
• Qian Li described the Three Origins Sect’s three supreme arts—Iron Wire Fist, Flying Cloud Leg, and Vast Origin Palm—and the Three Absolutes Returning Origin Qi that united them and had enabled Sect leaders to reach the Sixth Turn.
• Li Xiao asked Qian Li to recommend him for Entry Level at the Three Origins Sect.
• Qian Li warned Li Xiao that claiming to be his disciple would bring the Sect’s pursuit and killing.
• Qian Li revealed that he had stolen a Sect treasure and fled as a traitor, making anyone associated with him a target.

Li Xiao learned that Qian Li had stolen the Exotic Insect Zhi from the Three Origins Sect and used its meat to influence disciples into becoming loyal followers. As Qian Li entrusted Zhi to him, Li Xiao withheld his decision and prioritized stabilizing the Martial Arts Hall.

• Li Xiao asked Qian Li what he had stolen and why the Three Origins Sect still pursued him.
• Qian Li led Li Xiao to a hidden basement and revealed the plant-like Exotic Insect Zhi.
• Qian Li explained that Zhi produced qi-and-blood-rich meat that subtly influenced anyone who ate it, and admitted he had used it to cultivate loyal disciples for revenge.
• Qian Li explained that controlling Zhi drained his spirit and qi and blood, limiting its benefit to his own strength.
• Qian Li entrusted Zhi to Li Xiao, who said he would consider whether to use it and focus first on stabilizing the Martial Arts Hall.
• Qian Li weakened, and Li Xiao helped him back to bed.

Li Xiao asked Qian Li about the Three Origins Sect as he sought a reliable source of cultivation resources and a way to avoid the turmoil of the Zhou Kingdom. Qian Li explained the Sect’s reach, structure, and recruitment paths, then identified a Three Origins Token as Li Xiao’s best route to joining as an Inner Sect disciple.

• Li Xiao explained that his cultivation required resources unavailable in Willow City and considered the Three Origins Sect a safer prospect than the Imperial Court.
• Qian Li told Li Xiao that the Three Origins Sect controlled Yunzhou, Lan Province, and Ding Province, and described its supreme arts, peaks, and internal hierarchy.
• Qian Li outlined the Sect’s recruitment channels and warned Li Xiao that its members guarded their interests, competed for resources, and struggled among factions.
• Qian Li warned Li Xiao not to reveal any connection to him and said Li Xiao’s age, ordinary foundation, and Fourth Turn made standard entry difficult.
• Qian Li explained that a Three Origins Token could let its holder or a designated junior enter directly as an Inner Sect disciple, but such tokens were rare and not easily transferred.

Li Xiao learned of two possible Three Origins Token holders in Qing Prefecture and Yan Prefecture, then went to the County Office to oversee Willow City’s recovery. Though the city hailed him as a hero, he set his sights on finding the tokens and reaching the Three Origins Sect.

• Qian Li told Li Xiao about a wealthy medicinal-herb and fur-trading family near Medicine City in Qing Prefecture and a mining family in Yan Prefecture that might possess Three Origins Tokens.
• Li Xiao thanked Qian Li, left the Iron Wire Fist martial arts school, and headed to the County Office.
• Word spread that Zhu He had killed many martial masters and that Li Xiao had slain Zhu He and Feng Fu, making Li Xiao a celebrated hero in Willow City.
• Li Xiao reviewed reports on the Zhu and Feng family assets, compensation for the dead, public order, and the city’s businesses, then issued further instructions.
• Li Xiao dismissed his new fame as an empty title and focused on the Three Origins Token and the Three Origins Sect.

Li Xiao summoned Willow City's factions to announce the distribution of the Zhu and Feng Families’ confiscated assets and his plan to dismantle the Inner City walls. He left the assembled leaders under warning that the demolition would proceed and that anyone who secretly obstructed it would face consequences.

• Li Xiao ordered the leaders of local gangs, martial arts halls, and families to attend a discussion at the County Office.
• He announced that a portion of the Zhu and Feng Families’ businesses, farmland, and liquid assets would go to factions that had contributed to the battle or suffered heavy losses.
• Li Xiao declared that the Inner City walls would be dismantled, prompting the Chen Family Patriarch to object and warn of disorder.
• Li Xiao defended the demolition as a way to end the old division between inner and outer Willow City and insisted that the yamen would maintain order.
• Li Xiao warned the assembled leaders against openly complying while secretly obstructing the demolition.

After consolidating his authority in Willow City, Li Xiao told his family they would move into the confiscated Zhu Family mansion. The Li Family left their small courtyard and arrived at the grand residence in the Inner City.

• Li Xiao ordered the Inner City families to cooperate with dismantling the city wall and returned home after settling the County Office’s affairs.
• Li Xiao told Li Youde, Li Yu, and Liu Qingyue that the family would move to the central area of Willow City.
• Li Xiao explained that Zhu He had been executed and the Zhu Family’s mansion had been taken over by the County Office.
• Li Youde and Li Yu accepted the move after Liu Qingyue reassured them about Li Xiao’s standing in Willow City.
• Li Xiao’s family packed their belongings, boarded carriages provided by the County Office, and moved into the Zhu Family mansion.

Li Xiao moved his family into the Zhu Family residence and distributed wealth and property seized from the Feng and Zhu families. He urged Li Yu to learn to manage several shops, while Wang Jinshan silently considered the rewards given to the Golden Sand Gang.

• Li Xiao brought Li Youde and Li Yu to their new residence, while Liu Qingyue stood with him and heard him say that Willow City was only the beginning.
• Li Xiao showed Li Youde the silver, valuables, and property deeds allotted to their family from the Feng and Zhu families’ assets.
• Li Xiao told Li Yu to leave her Laundry Room job and manage several shops, and she agreed to learn.
• Wang Hai celebrated the wealth and business opportunities given to the Golden Sand Gang, but Wang Jinshan remained thoughtful and quiet.
• Wang Hai noticed his father’s silence and asked whether he was unhappy.

Wang Jinshan advised Wang Hai to sincerely befriend Li Yu, Li Xiao’s sister, to strengthen the Golden Sand Gang’s ties with Li Xiao. Wang Hai agreed to try, while his father told him to first organize the businesses they had received.

• Wang Jinshan asked Wang Hai whether he had a girl he fancied, then brought up Li Yu as a possible match.
• Wang Hai praised Li Xiao’s martial talent, composure, and potential, and said Willow City was too small for him.
• Wang Jinshan explained that Li Xiao would likely protect his family and shape Willow City’s future after leaving, making his approval important to the Golden Sand Gang.
• Wang Jinshan urged Wang Hai to approach Li Yu openly and sincerely, offering help with the businesses she might manage without expecting anything in return.
• Wang Hai agreed to give it a try, and Wang Jinshan told him to focus first on organizing the gang’s newly allocated businesses.

Wang Jinshan urged Wang Hai to lose weight, while Li Xiao’s plan to demolish Willow City’s Inner City wall drew cheers from Outer City commoners and fury from the Inner City clans. As craftsmen prepared to begin work, the disgruntled clan youths could only complain in private.

• Wang Jinshan told Wang Hai that his weight affected his health and appearance, and Wang Hai reluctantly agreed to try to lose some.
• County Office clerks and craftsmen gathered at the wall between Willow City’s Inner and Outer Cities to measure it and plan its demolition on Li Xiao’s orders.
• Outer City commoners learned that Li Xiao wanted to unite the city by tearing down the wall, and they praised him and cheered the plan.
• Young descendants of the Zhang Family, Hu Family, Cai Family, and other Inner City clans condemned Li Xiao’s plan but feared openly opposing him.
• The craftsmen set up ladders and prepared to dismantle part of the City Gate Tower as the Inner City youths watched in anger.

Chen Zixuan urged Willow City's noble families to resist Li Xiao's reforms, while Li Xiao trained his saber and prepared to practice archery outside the city. As the Inner City wall began to come down, Li Xiao resolved to gather resources and eventually leave for the Northern Border.

• Chen Zixuan denounced the dismantling of the city wall and called on young nobles to obstruct Li Xiao's orders through their families' influence.
• The young men dispersed after hearing Chen Zixuan's appeal, with some appearing interested in his plan.
• Li Xiao practiced the Severing Gate Saber Technique and checked his progress on the Panel.
• Li Xiao decided to stabilize his foundation, gather resources, and later travel to the Northern Border for new methods and techniques.
• Li Xiao took his bow and arrows and headed toward the Outer City to practice Swift Wind Thunderclap Arrow as craftsmen began dismantling the Inner City wall.