Chapter Summaries

Gu Chen overcame his weakness to defeat Gu Feng in the Gu Family competition and won the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill, drawing Zhong Lin’s interest. Zhong Lin and Gu Ning went to meet him, where they found clan members threatening him to surrender the pill.

• Gu Feng pressed Gu Chen with the Wind Thunder Fist, but Gu Chen used a force-borrowing Qi and Blood technique to fling him off the arena and win the competition.
• Jiang Yuan praised Gu Chen’s counter, while Zhong Lin realized that Gu Chen had used Qi and Blood Power despite being at the Eighth Rank Tendons Transformation Realm.
• Zhong Lin learned from Gu Ning that Gu Chen had once been a celebrated genius before his parents were killed and his cultivation talent disappeared.
• Zhong Lin asked to meet Gu Chen, then went with Gu Ning to Gu Chen’s remote courtyard.
• Zhong Lin and Gu Ning heard clan members threatening Gu Chen and demanding that he hand over the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill he had won.

Zhong Lin confronted Gu Ning over the theft of Gu Chen’s Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill, then discovered a mysterious black ring around Gu Chen’s neck. After examining Gu Chen, Zhong Lin sensed that his blood and qi were severely depleted, though his body was otherwise strong.

• Gu Ning punished Gu Hu, Gu Shan, and Gu Biao for stealing Gu Chen’s pill and bullying him, sending them to the dungeon.
• Gu Ning apologized to Gu Chen and promised compensation, while Gu Chen blamed Gu Biao and hinted that his father had helped conceal the bullying.
• Zhong Lin noticed the black ring hanging from Gu Chen’s neck and wondered if Gu Chen was a child of destiny.
• Zhong Lin confirmed that the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill belonged to Gu Chen and asked about his declining cultivation and health.
• Zhong Lin examined Gu Chen and found that his body was strong but his blood and qi were depleted to an extreme degree.

Zhong Lin discovered that Gu Chen’s qi and blood were being drained by the black ring around his neck, and that a mysterious voice inside it could absorb inner breath. After realizing Gu Chen could not withstand the ring’s siphoning, Zhong Lin decided to take the ring away.

• Zhong Lin examined Gu Chen and found that his qi and blood were inexplicably dissipating, then recommended daily Qi and Blood Pills to help him keep cultivating.
• Gu Ning worried over the cost, but Zhong Lin offered Gu Chen one hundred Qi and Blood Pills at his own expense.
• That night, Zhong Lin sneaked into Gu Chen’s room, put him into a deeper sleep, and removed the black ring from his neck.
• The ring devoured more than sixty percent of Zhong Lin’s inner breath, while a faint voice inside it demanded more.
• Zhong Lin concluded that the ring was causing Gu Chen’s condition and decided that taking it away might protect him from the mysterious presence inside.

Zhong Lin secretly took the Black Iron Ring from Gu Chen and continued strengthening his cultivation as the convoy neared the Capital City. At Black Dragon Pass, a Golden Crown Python attacked the convoy, and Zhong Lin stepped forward to fight it.

• Zhong Lin placed the Black Iron Ring in a Jade Box and left Gu Chen behind, believing the ring’s influence would hinder Gu Chen’s cultivation.
• After the convoy departed, Zhong Lin used Ten Thousand Year Ice Marrow to break open the Diji Acupoint and continued training on the journey.
• Jiang Yuan sensed danger near Black Dragon Pass and ordered Niu Dali to halt the convoy and send scouts ahead.
• A Golden Crown Python burst from the gorge, killed a guard, and frightened the convoy; Niu Dali identified the exotic beast.
• Jiang Yuan suspected someone was controlling the python, and Zhong Lin approached it while Niu Dali guarded her carriage.

Zhong Lin killed a Golden Crown Python and exposed the First Prince’s retainer, who had arranged an assassination attempt against Jiang Yuan. As the convoy reached the Capital City, Zhong Lin completed the fourth level of Meridian Opening, while Jiang Yuan faced hostile royal relatives waiting to greet her.

• Zhong Lin defeated the Golden Crown Python with his Star Shattering Slash, then struck a gray-robed man hiding nearby with Sword Qi.
• Niu Dali identified the wounded man as a retainer of the First Prince, and Jiang Yuan ordered him killed after learning he had sent the python to attack her.
• Jiang Yuan thanked Zhong Lin for saving her, and he asked whether she still wished to fight for the throne.
• The convoy continued toward the Capital City, and Zhong Lin completed the cultivation of the Foot Three Yin and Foot Three Yang meridians, perfecting the fourth level of Meridian Opening.
• Niu Dali told Jiang Yuan that Ministry of Rites officials had come to welcome her, and she saw familiar figures watching her with hostility.

Jiang Yuan returned to the Capital City after Zhong Lin completed his escort, while Zhong Lin headed toward Heavenly Sun County to resume his journey and cultivation. At a Dilapidated Temple, he discovered a powerful seal technique hidden within Cotton Palm, but could not yet perform it successfully.

• Jiang Yuan thanked Zhong Lin for protecting her, and he warned her to tread carefully before leaving without entering the Capital City.
• Jiang Yuan ordered the Ministry of Rites officials to keep kneeling and told her brothers they would pay for what they had done.
• Zhong Lin rode toward Heavenly Sun County while probing the acupoints of his Yin Qiao Meridian.
• At a Dilapidated Temple, Zhong Lin practiced a slow, heavy seal technique that formed an invisible wall before vanishing and leaving him exhausted.
• Zhong Lin realized the seal technique was hidden within Cotton Palm and wondered whether it required cultivation beyond the first rank.
• Zhong Lin restored his inner breath with a Meridian Protecting Pill and Ten Thousand Year Ice Marrow, then set out again after sunrise.

Zhong Lin returned to Summer River Village after two years and reunited with Taro Uncle, who was astonished by how much he had changed. As the villagers heard of his return and his newfound wealth, Zhong Lin discovered that Taro Uncle’s family was eating only rice and wild vegetables while he was served a whole chicken.

• Zhong Lin met Taro Uncle on the road and told him that Little Shi was studying in Prefecture City.
• Taro Uncle welcomed Zhong Lin into Summer River Village, where the villagers recognized him as the Da Linzi who had killed people and set fires.
• The villagers learned that Zhong Lin had returned with a fine horse and that Little Shi was attending a private school.
• Taro Uncle served Zhong Lin stewed chicken and wine while saying his wife and children were eating in the kitchen.
• Zhong Lin went to the kitchen and found Auntie, Xiao Zhi, and Xiao Hu eating coarse rice and wild vegetables without any meat.

Zhong Lin reunited with Taro Uncle’s family and urged them to move to Black Mountain County, where he would help Taro Uncle open a braised food shop and give the boys better prospects. After staying the night, Zhong Lin entered the mountains and killed two Fox Bears with his bow.

• Zhong Lin shared his journey from Summer River Village with Taro Uncle’s family over dinner and thanked Taro Uncle for tending his parents’ graves.
• Zhong Lin offered to help Taro Uncle open a braised food shop in Black Mountain County so Xiao Zhi and Xiao Hu could study and learn trades.
• Auntie persuaded Taro Uncle to consider Zhong Lin’s offer, and the family began packing the next morning.
• Zhong Lin went into the mountains with his Ebony Bow and killed one of two ambushing Fox Bears with an arrow.
• The second Fox Bear fled, but Zhong Lin shot it through the head before it could escape.

Zhong Lin discovered a powerful Exotic Beast while hunting in the mountains and pursued it across the forest. He finally cornered it in a gorge and found that it had two heads, leaving him wary of the danger it posed.

• Zhong Lin killed two Fox Bears and continued exploring deeper into the mountains.
• Zhong Lin heard a powerful force carried on the wind and recognized the presence of an Exotic Beast.
• Zhong Lin tracked the beast's faint, concealed aura as it accelerated and tried to escape him.
• Zhong Lin pursued the Exotic Beast across the mountains for two hours until it stopped in a gorge.
• Zhong Lin discovered the beast had two heads and felt danger from its four cold, savage eyes.

Zhong Lin fought a Two-Headed Exotic Beast and unveiled the Crouching Earth Seal, then struck it with Cotton Palm. The beast revealed a powerful breath attack and fired two energy spheres at him, leaving the clash unresolved.

• The Two-Headed Exotic Beast lunged at Zhong Lin, but he dodged and battered it with a flurry of punches.
• The wounded beast charged again, and Zhong Lin formed the Crouching Earth Seal, whose shield repelled it.
• Zhong Lin replenished his inner breath and used Cotton Palm to injure the beast's internal organs.
• The Two-Headed Exotic Beast unleashed a blue and a red energy sphere at Zhong Lin, shocking him with its breath attack.

Zhong Lin defeated the Two-Headed Exotic Beast with his ultimate sword technique, then found two colored beads inside its corpse. The chapter left him wondering whether they were magic cores or inner cores.

• Zhong Lin used Telepathic Sword Finger to break apart the Two-Headed Exotic Beast's fire breath and escaped its water breath with the Willow Catkin Movement Technique.
• Zhong Lin pursued the fleeing beast and struck it down with Hundred Steps Divine Fist.
• The Two-Headed Exotic Beast combined its fire and water attacks, but Zhong Lin unleashed Sword Domain Seals the Heavens and cut it in half.
• Zhong Lin recovered enough strength to inspect the beast and discovered a red bead and a blue bead inside its body.
• Zhong Lin wondered whether the beads were magic cores or inner cores.

Zhong Lin used the two beads from the Two-Headed Exotic Beast to cultivate earth- and water-attributed inner breath, then fused several Heaven-Rank methods into the Five Elements Mixed Origin Skill. After refining his power, he headed back through the forest and reached the place where the Fox Bear’s corpse remained.

• Zhong Lin sensed fire and water power in the Two-Headed Exotic Beast’s beads and used the fire bead to recover his inner breath, discovering its earth-attributed change.
• Zhong Lin used Skill Points to master the Crouching Earth Seal and drew Earth Power into his Dignified Divine Art, transforming his inner breath.
• Zhong Lin absorbed the water bead’s power and cultivated the Water Sutra Notes and Blazing Sun Sutra, gaining water and fire attributes alongside his metal and ice attributes.
• Zhong Lin named his fused cultivation method the Five Elements Mixed Origin Skill and used Skill Points to improve it.
• Zhong Lin froze the Two-Headed Exotic Beast’s corpse, carried it back through the forest, and returned to the spot where the Fox Bear’s corpse remained.

After Zhong Lin demonstrated his martial skill and killed a Fox Bear, he advanced through the Yang Qiao Meridian overnight using the Five Elements Mixed Origin Skill. He rode toward Black Mountain County and stopped in the abandoned Crouching Ox Village, where he continued cultivating.

• Zhong Lin reassured Taro Uncle about the frozen Two-Headed Exotic Beast, and Taro Uncle skinned the Fox Bear for dinner.
• Zhong Lin told Taro Uncle that he would arrange a carriage to bring the family to Black Mountain County and transport the beast.
• Zhong Lin opened Gallbladder 20 in a quarter of an hour, then opened every Acupoint on the Yang Qiao Meridian overnight, reaching Rank 6 Meridian Opening.
• Zhong Lin left Taro Uncle's family and rode toward Black Mountain County, passing through Crouching Ox Village, where he found scattered bones and abandoned houses.
• Zhong Lin settled into a ruined house in the village, fed his horse a Military Ration Pill, took a Bigu Pill, and continued cultivating through the night.

Zhong Lin returned to Black Mountain County and reunited with Old Man Xu, telling him about his rise in cultivation and status. The next morning, Zhong Lin visited County Magistrate Mei Haiming, whose knowledge of his many titles left him wary.

• Zhong Lin visited Xu's Clinic and surprised Old Man Xu, who happily brought him to the rear courtyard.
• Old Man Xu asked about the Dao Yan Materia Medica, and Zhong Lin admitted that he had forgotten about it amid everything that had happened.
• Zhong Lin recounted becoming Yin Daoyan's disciple, the Young Master of Hundred Herbs Hall, a Sword Cauldron Sect True Disciple, and a Rank 4 Pill Refiner, but Old Man Xu refused to believe him.
• Old Man Xu urged Zhong Lin not to return to Black Mountain County too often, and Zhong Lin stayed at his home for dinner and drinks.
• The next morning, Zhong Lin visited County Magistrate Mei Haiming, who nervously greeted him because he knew of Zhong Lin's powerful connections and achievements.

Zhong Lin visited County Magistrate Mei, secured his help protecting Taro Uncle’s family and Xu’s Clinic, and learned that a powerful horse bandit was threatening the county. Mei Haiming revealed that the imperial court had left him without support and that his brother had advised him to resign.

• Zhong Lin addressed Mei Haiming as his uncle, and Mei welcomed him warmly after learning of his martial rank and connection to Mei Weixuan.
• Zhong Lin asked Mei Haiming to protect Taro Uncle’s family from bullying and to keep a close eye on Xu’s Clinic.
• Mei Haiming hosted Zhong Lin with County Commandant Du, Secretary Zhang, and Chief Constable Xue, and explained that Great Chen was unsettled by turmoil at the highest levels.
• Mei Haiming told Zhong Lin that One Blade Sky, an Upper Three Ranks Martial Artist, had demanded his imprisoned brother and thirty thousand taels of silver after the county defeated the bandits.
• Mei Haiming said the imperial court had left the threat unresolved and that his brother had advised him to resign and return home.

After Mei Haiming offended Zhong Lin by trying to pressure him into dealing with One Blade Sky, Zhong Lin returned to Old Man Xu’s home and cultivated through the night. He opened the final three Acupoints and reached the Connecting Vessels Seventh Stage.

• Mei Haiming appealed to Zhong Lin to uphold justice against One Blade Sky, but Zhong Lin recognized the attempt to pressure him and left the banquet.
• County Commandant Du explained to Chief Constable Xue that Mei Haiming had tried to use his authority and moral pressure on Zhong Lin, likely offending him.
• Zhong Lin decided he would deal with One Blade Sky regardless, then went to Old Man Xu’s home and drank the hangover soup.
• Zhong Lin cultivated overnight, opening Chongmen and the remaining Acupoints of the Yin Wei Meridian.
• At dawn, Zhong Lin completed the Connecting Vessels Seventh Stage.

Zhong Lin continued cultivating until he reached the ninth level of Meridian Passage, then went to watch Qi Feihu’s execution. When an attacker tried to kill the executioner with a flying stone, Zhong Lin stopped it, and Qi Feihu was beheaded.

• Old Man Xu found Zhong Lin’s room wrecked, and Zhong Lin dismissed the County Magistrate Mei Haiming when he came bearing gifts.
• Zhong Lin spent seven days cultivating, opened the Yang Wei and Belt Meridians, and reached the ninth level of Meridian Passage.
• Zhong Lin went to the Execution Ground to watch Qi Feihu’s execution while Old Man Xu stayed at the medical hall and Xiu Ge'er went to school.
• Mei Haiming ordered Qi Feihu’s execution, and the executioner raised his saber to strike.
• An attacker launched a flying stone at the executioner, but Zhong Lin shattered it with a blast of force, allowing Qi Feihu to be beheaded.

Zhong Lin confronted Qi Feilong after Qi Feilong’s younger brother was killed, then defeated him with the Vast Wave Water secret art. Qi Feilong died without drawing his saber.

• Zhong Lin challenged Qi Feilong, who said he had come because only he had the right to kill his younger brother.
• Qi Feilong sensed Zhong Lin’s strength and offered to leave Black Mountain County if they stopped fighting.
• Zhong Lin agreed to let Qi Feilong leave only if he could withstand two punches.
• Zhong Lin used Vast Wave Water to strike Qi Feilong with chained punches, overwhelming his defenses.
• Qi Feilong’s arm broke, and Zhong Lin’s force blasted his body apart before he could draw his saber.

After killing Qi Feilong, Zhong Lin left Black Mountain County and continued cultivating on the road to Heavenly Sun County. He opened all his meridians, reached the Connecting Vessels Twelfth Level, and demonstrated the overwhelming power of his blade; he ended by preparing to test another technique.

• Zhong Lin took Qi Feilong’s Horse Chopping Blade and told Mei Haiming to handle the aftermath of the fight.
• Mei Haiming and the others confirmed Qi Feilong’s death, while Mei Haiming regretted having driven Zhong Lin away.
• Zhong Lin arranged a home and shop for Taro Uncle’s family, said farewell to Old Man Xu, and set out for Heavenly Sun County.
• Zhong Lin opened the Chong Meridian, Conception Vessel, and Governing Vessel during his journey, completing the Connecting Vessels Twelfth Level with all his meridians open.
• Zhong Lin unleashed Sweep Through Thousands of Troops, carving a hundred-meter trench through the forest, and then began to try Chop Huashan Mountain.

Zhong Lin escorted Madam Zhang and her children after rescuing them from a treacherous steward, while Lin Shihua and Lin An grew close to him. Having reached the peak of the Connecting Vessels Realm, Zhong Lin prepared to use a Pure Essence Pill to advance into the Pure Origin Realm.

• Lin Shihua brought Zhong Lin candied fruit and thanked him for saving her family from the steward and his rebellious guards.
• Lin An told Lin Shihua he wanted Zhong Lin to teach him martial arts so he could protect their family, but Madam Zhang told him not to trouble Zhong Lin.
• Madam Zhang watched Zhong Lin as he focused on his cultivation, having completed the Connecting Vessels Twelfth Level and opened his meridians.
• Zhong Lin took out a Pure Essence Pill, ready to transform his inner breath into true qi and enter the Pure Origin Realm.