Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: Nobility Beyond Compare

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ouyang Shuo warns Chen Xia not to reveal his identity during his upcoming trip to the Outer Domain.
• Chen Xia worries about the consequences of killing Zhao Kingdom Governor Wu, who had invoked the Changsha King’s name before dying. Ouyang Shuo explains that the Changsha King is a powerful mid-stage Grandmaster from the imperial family, though Chen Xia is likely stronger.
• Ouyang Shuo suspects the rumor that the Changsha King wants Chen Xia dead may be deliberately spread misinformation. He advises caution but reassures Chen Xia that the life-saving talisman he gave him should protect him in an emergency.
• Chen Xia considers establishing his own intelligence network in the Outer Domain, recognizing his lack of information there compared with his master.
• After leaving Ouyang Shuo, Chen Xia returns to the Haixing War Zone. Ouyang Shuo reflects on Chen Xia’s extraordinary potential, hoping he may eventually reach Martial Venerable, Martial Saint, or even the legendary Martial God level, though he acknowledges how unlikely and difficult that path is.
• Chen Xia travels to the war zone in a Martial Hall aircraft accompanied by Xiao Fang, a staff member who cared for him during his cultivation. He rewards her with ten Star Essence Stones.
• The commanders and soldiers of the Haixing War Zone enthusiastically welcome Chen Xia. He delegates local affairs to Zhou Zhengming, since the Federation is temporarily stable and the alien races have suffered heavy losses.
• Chen Xia departs in his new aircraft. Afterward, the war-zone leaders praise his achievements, overwhelming strength, and extraordinary rise, while joking about how their former criticisms of him have changed into admiration.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia demonstrates increasing maturity and strategic awareness. Rather than acting recklessly, he accepts the need for secrecy, recognizes the political danger posed by the Zhao Kingdom, and plans to build an intelligence network in the Outer Domain.
• Ouyang Shuo is shown as a protective and deeply affectionate mentor. He trusts Chen Xia’s talent but remains realistic about the immense difficulty of advancing beyond the Grandmaster realm.
• Ouyang Shuo’s reflections reveal the rarity of Martial Gods and introduce the possibility that such beings may be connected to ancient forbidden legends.
• Xiao Fang receives unexpected recognition from Chen Xia, highlighting his generosity and appreciation toward those who have helped him.
• Zhou Zhengming and the other commanders have shifted from uncertainty or criticism of Chen Xia to sincere respect and loyalty. They now regard him as the greatest commander the war zone has ever had.

Significant Themes

• Caution amid political danger: Chen Xia’s strength does not eliminate the need for secrecy, especially when dealing with royal powers and possible conspiracies.
• Mentorship and expectations: Ouyang Shuo’s pride in Chen Xia is balanced by concern over the dangers of his future cultivation path.
• The limits of power: The discussion of Martial Venerables, Martial Saints, and Martial Gods emphasizes how difficult each successive realm is and how little is truly known about the highest levels.
• Leadership and earned loyalty: Chen Xia’s authority comes not merely from rank but from his past actions, especially saving the Federation and protecting the war zone.
• Transformation of reputation: Former doubts and complaints about Chen Xia have been replaced by admiration as his achievements become undeniable.
• Ambition and preparation: Chen Xia’s desire to create an intelligence network shows that his ambitions extend beyond personal cultivation toward influence and long-term strategy.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia and Ouyang Shuo: Their conversation combines political advice, concern for Chen Xia’s safety, and a mentor’s pride in his disciple’s potential.
• Chen Xia and Xiao Fang: Chen Xia thanks her for caring for him during cultivation by giving her a generous reward, revealing his gratitude and kindness.
• Chen Xia and the Haixing commanders: The commanders greet him with deep respect, and he responds by holding a meeting and entrusting them with continued responsibility.
• Zhou Zhengming and Deputy Commander Zhu: They humorously argue over their past opinions of Chen Xia, exposing how dramatically their attitudes have changed.
• Chief of Staff Yang and the commanders: Yang calms their banter and reminds them that managing the war zone well is the best way to honor Chen Xia’s trust.

Key Plot Points and Events

+ Chen Xia receives a call from Lei Qianren, who invites him to the White Hall in the Capital.
+ Chen Xia learns that Lei Qianren has found the second half of the Spirit Calling Technique.
+ Chen Xia receives the second half of the Spirit Calling Technique from Lei Qianren.
+ Lei Qianren mentions that cultivating the complete Spirit Calling Technique may help Chen Xia find Soul Crystals, which can aid in breaking through to Martial Venerable.

Character Developments

+ Chen Xia shows maturity and responsibility in handling the Spirit Calling Technique.
+ Lei Qianren demonstrates his wisdom and foresight in guiding Chen Xia.
+ Wind Venerable expresses concern about the potential risks of Chen Xia cultivating the Spirit Calling Technique.

Significant Themes

+ The power and danger of the Spirit Calling Technique.
+ The importance of balance and caution in cultivation.
+ The potential benefits of Soul Crystals for Chen Xia's cultivation.

Character Interactions

+ Chen Xia and Lei Qianren discuss the Spirit Calling Technique and its potential benefits and risks.
+ Wind Venerable and Lei Qianren discuss Chen Xia's cultivation and the potential threat of the Blood God.
+ Chen Xia and Wind Venerable do not interact directly in this chapter.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia travels to Chu River's villa in a self-driving aircraft.
• He studies the second half of the Spirit Calling Technique, which details more profound methods, the use of soul crystals, and a Soul-Enslaving Seal.
• Chen Xia masters the complete Spirit Calling Technique and tests its power, summoning a dark vortex gateway.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia demonstrates his exceptional memory and understanding of the Outer Domain's languages and scripts.
• He shows proficiency in learning and mastering complex techniques, including the Spirit Calling Technique.

Significant Themes

• The power and danger of dark arts, represented by the Spirit Calling Technique's potential for summoning vast numbers of undead and its side effects.
• The importance of control and insurance, highlighted by the Soul-Enslaving Seal.
• The potential for one powerful person to have immense influence, amplified by an undead army.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia interacts with the text of the Spirit Calling Technique, learning and mastering it.
• He engages with the dark vortex gateway he summons, testing the strength of his newfound abilities.

Chapter Summary: “Re-entering Lingfeng City”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia considers the potential of an unrestricted Spirit Calling Array. If he could travel through it freely, it would function as a life-saving passage between worlds, allowing him to escape danger, send enemies away, and return using undead on the opposite side.
• He returns to his family’s luxury villa on Blue Star and learns that his parents are visiting relatives nearby. After speaking with the maid, he chooses not to disturb them.
• Chen Xia spends approximately three days with his parents, older brother, and younger sister. His mother cooks his favorite braised pork trotters for him, and he enjoys the comfort of family life.
• He also spends his nights cultivating with Jiang Xinglan before preparing to leave for the Outer Domain.
• After saying goodbye to Jiang Xinglan, Chen Xia travels through Haixing Base and Outer Domain Base, then heads deep into the Northern Mang. To avoid detection, he takes multiple detours, uses bats to scout for pursuers, and disguises himself as a middle-aged wandering swordsman.
• His goal in returning to the Outer Domain is to gather as many resources as possible and eventually break through to the Martial Venerable realm.
• He travels by carriage to Lingfeng City in the Zhao Kingdom. Along the way, he reflects on the extreme poverty of ordinary people and the corruption and disorder of the kingdom.
• Chen Xia arrives at Lingfeng City at night, checks into an inn, and secretly leaves after darkness falls. Using bats for reconnaissance and moving through shadows, he avoids the city patrols and heads toward the largest residence in the city center.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia remains cautious, strategic, and focused on advancement. He carefully conceals his identity, scouts for enemies, and uses his wealth and resources to support both his family and his cultivation.
• His attachment to his family is emphasized. Although he possesses enormous wealth, he uses it primarily to improve their quality of life rather than for personal luxury.
• Chen Xia’s ambition becomes clearer: he intends to accumulate resources and reach the Martial Venerable realm.
• Jiang Xinglan is portrayed as deeply devoted and emotionally supportive. She accepts Chen Xia’s dangerous path without demanding that he remain with her, choosing instead to wait patiently and support his ambitions.
• Chen Xia and Jiang Xinglan’s relationship grows more serious through his promise to marry her once he reaches the Martial Saint realm.

Significant Themes

• Family and emotional grounding: Despite his cultivation and dangerous adventures, Chen Xia values time with his family and seeks to protect their comfortable life.
• Love and sacrifice: Jiang Xinglan’s willingness to remain behind and support Chen Xia demonstrates a love based on trust and selflessness.
• Power and ambition: Chen Xia’s central objective is continued cultivation and advancement, with the Martial Venerable realm as his next major goal.
• Wealth versus poverty: His immense resources contrast sharply with the Zhao Kingdom’s impoverished population, exposing the kingdom’s social inequality and corruption.
• Caution and concealment: Disguises, scouting bats, detours, and nighttime movement show Chen Xia’s growing prudence as he operates in unfamiliar and potentially hostile territory.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Xia briefly interacts with the villa maid, who informs him that his parents are next door and offers to prepare food.
• His family welcomes him warmly, with his parents—especially his mother—expressing affection through home-cooked meals.
• Jiang Xinglan shares an emotional farewell with Chen Xia. He reassures her by recalling his promise to marry her after becoming a Martial Saint, while she urges him to remain safe.
• Chen Xia interacts indirectly with the people of the Zhao Kingdom while traveling, observing their hardship and comparing their lives with his own extraordinary wealth.
• The chapter ends with Chen Xia covertly approaching a major residence in Lingfeng City, suggesting that his return is connected to an important objective or confrontation.

Chapter Summary: “Wu Tao”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia stays at an inn in Lingfeng City and releases bats to gather information.
• He learns that Changsha King Wu Bu has publicly declared his intention to kill him for killing Governor Wu, portraying Chen Xia as a threat to Zhao Kingdom law and royal dignity.
• Chen Xia suspects the announcement may be politically motivated. Changsha King may be overconfident, or the Crown Prince Wu Tong may be using the incident to damage Changsha King’s reputation.
• Chen Xia identifies two possible enemies in Zhao: Changsha King Wu Bu and Crown Prince Wu Tong.
• He also learns that Governor Wu’s younger brother, Wu Tao, is about to become Provincial Governor of Azure Province. Wu Tao has perfected the Golden Body and sworn to avenge his brother.
• Wu Tao is revealed to be corrupt and cruel, with a history of abusing his authority and harming civilians.
• Chen Xia decides that Wu Tao cannot be allowed to live, both because of his threat of revenge and because he is aligned with Changsha King.
• Observing the Wu Residence, Chen Xia discovers that Wu Tao has manipulated a bandit crisis to gain political power. He secretly allowed bandits to grow rampant, then crushed them and presented the achievement to the imperial court as a major military success.
• Through bribery and Changsha King’s influence, Wu Tao has secured the position of Provincial Governor and is preparing to control both the province’s military and civil administration.
• Wu Tao celebrates his impending rise, dreams of reaching the Grandmaster and Martial Venerable realms, and vows to eventually kill Chen Xia.
• After dismissing his subordinates, Wu Tao goes to visit his sister-in-law, marking the chapter’s ominous ending.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia: Becomes more cautious and politically perceptive. Rather than accepting the official story, he analyzes the motives behind Changsha King’s actions and recognizes the possible conflict between Changsha King and the Crown Prince. Despite remaining detached from court politics, he adopts a decisive approach toward enemies and resolves to eliminate Wu Tao.
• Wu Tao: Emerges as a ruthless, ambitious, and opportunistic villain. He exploits bandit unrest, manipulates military achievements, bribes Changsha King, and uses his brother’s death to advance his own authority. His confidence grows as he prepares to dominate Azure Province, though his ambition exceeds his current strength.
• Changsha King Wu Bu: Is portrayed as a powerful political figure supporting Wu Tao’s rise while possibly using Chen Xia’s death as part of a larger political strategy.
• Crown Prince Wu Tong: Does not appear directly, but is introduced as a potential rival to Changsha King and a possible force behind the anti-Chen Xia rumors.

Significant Themes

• Political manipulation: Public accusations and military achievements are shown to be tools in power struggles rather than reflections of truth.
• Corruption and abuse of authority: Wu Tao gains office by deliberately allowing disorder, profiting from criminals, and then claiming credit for suppressing them.
• Revenge and preemptive violence: Chen Xia justifies killing Wu Tao before Wu Tao can become a future threat, reflecting the harsh logic of the martial world.
• Power and ambition: Wu Tao’s rise demonstrates how military influence, wealth, and political alliances can elevate a corrupt individual.
• Appearance versus reality: Wu Tao is officially celebrated as a hero who pacified Azure Province, while in reality he helped create the crisis he supposedly solved.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia’s investigation connects him indirectly to Changsha King, the Crown Prince, and Wu Tao.
• Changsha King supports Wu Tao’s appointment in exchange for political and financial benefits.
• Wu Tao commands loyal military subordinates and relies on their cooperation to maintain his authority.
• Wu Tao’s relationship with his deceased elder brother motivates his stated revenge against Chen Xia, though he also benefits greatly from inheriting his brother’s position and wealth.
• The chapter ends with Wu Tao entering his sister-in-law’s room, suggesting a troubling personal dimension to his already corrupt character.

Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wu Tao, the younger brother of the late Governor Wu, plans to take his brother's wife as his own.
• Chen Xia, hidden outside, witnesses Wu Tao's intentions and prepares to act.
• The guards outside the courtyard are incapacitated by an unknown force.

Character Developments

• Wu Tao: Reveals his greed for power and desire for his brother's wife. Shows no remorse for his brother's death and is willing to take what was his.
• Madam Wu: Initially terrified and defiant, she becomes resigned to her fate as she realizes Wu Tao's intentions.

Significant Themes

• Greed and Ambition: Wu Tao's desire for power and his brother's wife illustrates his unquenchable greed.
• Betrayal and Infidelity: Wu Tao's actions towards his brother's wife highlight the theme of betrayal and infidelity.
• Power Dynamics: The shift in power from Governor Wu to Wu Tao showcases the theme of power dynamics within the family and society.

Character Interactions

• Wu Tao and Madam Wu: Their interaction reveals Wu Tao's dominance and Madam Wu's helplessness and fear.
• Chen Xia and Wu Tao: Though not yet face-to-face, Chen Xia's presence sets up a conflict with Wu Tao, as Chen Xia plans to strip Wu Tao of his power and wealth.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia, a powerful and mysterious black-clad man, infiltrates the Wu Estate.
• He confronts Wu Tao, the peak Golden Body realm Provincial Governor, and defeats him effortlessly, severing his hand and killing him.
• Chen Xia uses a spell technique to interrogate Wu Tao's spirit, learning about the estate's treasury.
• He follows Wu Tao's spirit through the estate, incapacitating everyone with a crimson eyeball, and discovers the secret treasury.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia: Revealed to be a late-stage grandmaster with powerful spell techniques and martial arts abilities.
• Wu Tao: Initially confident in his strength, he becomes terrified and compliant after being defeated and controlled by Chen Xia.

Significant Themes

• Power and Impunity: Wu Tao's abuse of power and lack of mercy towards the common folk is juxtaposed with Chen Xia's demonstration of his own power.
• The Corruption of Authority: The Wu Estate's oppressive nature and hoarding of resources reflect the theme of corrupt authority.
• The Fear of the Unknown: Wu Tao's fear of Chen Xia, an unknown and powerful figure, highlights the theme of fear in the face of the unknown.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia and Wu Tao: Their interaction is one-sided, with Chen Xia demonstrating his power and interrogating Wu Tao, who is terrified and compliant.
• Chen Xia and the Wu Estate: Chen Xia's presence and actions cause everyone in the estate to collapse, highlighting his overwhelming power and the estate's lack of resistance.

Chapter Summary: “Soul Crystal”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia searches the Wu Residence’s secret storeroom and discovers enormous wealth accumulated by the Provincial Governor’s family: gold, silver, pearls, jade, beast cores, valuable medicines, silk, weapons, and cultivation manuals.
• The manuals are mostly low- and mid-grade martial arts techniques from the Zhao Kingdom, while the weapons are hundred-forged iron blades—extremely valuable in the secular world, though insignificant to Chen Xia.
• Chen Xia finds account books and correspondence documenting years of corruption. The Wu family and allied officials withheld most disaster-relief and poverty-relief funds, allowing ordinary people to starve while enriching themselves.
• Wu Tao reveals that the records were kept as leverage over other officials and that the Wu family was protected by the Changsha King, making investigation nearly impossible.
• Chen Xia discovers a hidden chamber containing 15,000 Star Essence Stones. Wu Tao’s storage ring contains another 20,000, giving Chen Xia 35,000 in total.
• He also finds a green crystal fragment. After examining it, Chen Xia identifies it as a fragment of a Soul Crystal, a rare resource capable of strengthening Spiritual Power, enhancing the Spirit Calling Technique, and assisting a Martial Venerable in condensing a Spirit Flower.
• Chen Xia confirms the fragment’s identity through his panel. It contains yin energy and spiritual energy from a remnant soul, though excessive absorption could cause cold energy to invade the body. The system states this drawback can be reversed for 100 points.
• Chen Xia takes the Soul Crystal fragment, all the Star Essence Stones, the treasures, and the incriminating records.
• Before leaving, he tortures Wu Tao again to ensure no further secrets remain. Finding nothing useful, Chen Xia exits the secret chamber and heads toward the study.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia: Demonstrates his practical, detached approach to wealth while revealing a strong moral disgust toward corruption and the exploitation of common people. His past hardships make him particularly sensitive to injustice. He also gains an important resource for future advancement toward the Martial Venerable realm.
• Wu Tao: Is completely overpowered and controlled by Chen Xia’s Soul-Enslaving Seal. His hatred and resentment remain strong, but he is helpless and forced to disclose the location of the hidden treasures.
• The Wu family: Their apparent prosperity is exposed as the product of systematic extortion, embezzlement, and political protection rather than legitimate achievement.

Significant Themes

• Corruption and abuse of power: The chapter exposes how officials diverted relief funds and exploited disasters for personal gain.
• Justice and retribution: The Wu family’s own records become evidence against them, and Chen Xia views their downfall as the natural consequence of their crimes.
• Powerlessness of ordinary people: The poor lack access to martial arts, medicine, legal protection, and political influence, emphasizing the rigid inequality of the Zhao Kingdom.
• Wealth and moral value: Although the Wu family’s treasures are extraordinarily valuable in the secular world, Chen Xia cares little for most of them and values only resources useful for cultivation.
• Spiritual advancement: The Soul Crystal introduces a major aid for Chen Xia’s future breakthrough and confirms that the rare resource he sought truly exists in Northern Mang.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia interrogates Wu Tao about the hidden chamber, the Wu family’s records, and the origin of the crystal fragment.
• Wu Tao explains the political protection provided by the Changsha King and admits that the account books were used to control other officials.
• Chen Xia condemns the Wu family’s crimes, reflecting on his own experiences with injustice and exploitation.
• Using the Soul-Enslaving Seal and torture, Chen Xia maintains complete control over Wu Tao and ensures that he has revealed everything of value.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After subduing Wu Tao, Chen Xia seals him inside the Spirit-Calling Bone Staff, intending to use him as nourishment for the weapon. The Wu Residence is left full of unconscious people, while Chen Xia remains the only active person inside.
• With bat scouts surrounding the residence and concealing what happened, Chen Xia searches Wu Tao’s study for useful information.
• He reads A General History of Zhao Kingdom and learns that Zhao Kingdom was founded over six hundred years ago by Wu Qingcang, who obtained a Martial Saint inheritance at Heavenly Origin Mountain.
• Wu Qingcang was Zhao Kingdom’s only known Martial Saint. He ruled for three hundred years before leaving the kingdom and later disappeared in the Southwestern Black Mist Mountain Range.
• Chen Xia discovers that the seventeen emperors after Wu Qingcang mostly died unnatural deaths—including assassination, poisoning, illness, Qi Deviation, or sudden death—suggesting intense and dangerous royal power struggles.
• In Essentials of the Martial Path, he learns that Zhao Kingdom has produced no second Martial Saint, despite Martial Saints having been more common in earlier eras and neighboring kingdoms.
• The book also reveals that higher realms exist beyond Martial Saints, including Martial Gods and ancient inheritances connected to immortals and gods.
• Chen Xia studies Zhao Kingdom’s geopolitical situation: Liang Kingdom and Flame Kingdom frequently invade its borders, while Snow Kingdom has not directly fought Zhao due to its distance.
• Zhao Kingdom is weakening internally. Evil Cults, gangs, bandits, and brigands are becoming increasingly active despite the court still retaining considerable strength.
• The chapter ends with Chen Xia noticing a booklet titled Records of Zhao Kingdom’s Evil Cults and preparing to investigate it.

Character Development

• Chen Xia demonstrates composure, intelligence, and strategic caution. Rather than leaving after defeating Wu Tao, he uses the opportunity to gather historical, political, and martial information.
• He shows an increasingly broad perspective, comparing Zhao Kingdom’s cultivation system with that of the Federation’s Xia Nation and recognizing both the Federation’s technological advantages and the Outer Domain’s far greater hidden power.
• His confidence grows as he realizes that, within Zhao Kingdom, his current strength allows him to act without fearing most local authorities or experts.
• Chen Xia also becomes more suspicious of Zhao Kingdom’s history, particularly the unnatural deaths of its emperors and the unexplained decline in Martial Saint births.

Significant Themes

• Knowledge as power: Chen Xia treats reading and historical knowledge as essential tools for survival, not merely academic pursuits.
• Political danger and royal intrigue: The rapid succession and unnatural deaths of Zhao’s emperors reveal the deadly instability hidden behind imperial authority.
• Limits of strength: Martial Saints are portrayed as extremely rare in Zhao Kingdom, but they are not the pinnacle of existence; Martial Gods and ancient divine inheritances lie beyond them.
• Civilization and advancement: The Federation’s mass education, technology, medicine, and large population give it an advantage over the Outer Domain’s aristocratic cultivation system, though the Outer Domain possesses deeper and more mysterious powers.
• A kingdom in decline: Foreign invasions, internal disorder, Evil Cults, and banditry suggest that Zhao Kingdom is weakening, even if it has not yet collapsed.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia’s most important direct interaction is with Wu Tao, whom he defeats and permanently seals inside the Spirit-Calling Bone Staff.
• His relationship with the wider Wu Residence is one of complete dominance: the residents are incapacitated, the estate is secured by his bat scouts, and Chen Xia freely searches its study without opposition.
• His interaction with Zhao Kingdom’s history is investigative rather than personal. Through old books and records, he forms judgments about Wu Qingcang, the imperial family, neighboring kingdoms, and the forces threatening Zhao Kingdom.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia studies a booklet describing the major Evil Cults of Zhao Kingdom, including the Blood Lotus Sect.
• He recognizes the Blood Lotus Sect’s symbol as nearly identical to that of the Night God Sect in the Federation, leading him to conclude that both may serve the same Blood God across different worlds.
• The records reveal that the Blood Lotus Sect uses blood sacrifices to summon the Blood God and grant power to its followers. Its rituals require powerful martial artists and can cause massive destruction.
• Chen Xia discovers secret notes detailing a previous Blood Lotus Sect ritual at Black Mist Mountain three hundred years earlier. Hundreds of experts were sacrificed, and a gigantic, liquid-like Blood God reportedly manifested.
• The ritual may have contributed to the disappearance of Zhao Kingdom’s founding Martial Saint and caused a long-term decline in Zhao’s martial arts heritage by eliminating many talented experts.
• Chen Xia realizes that the Blood God he previously fought in the Federation may have been only a tiny manifestation of its true power. Its full descent could potentially threaten even Martial Saints.
• He identifies Black Mist Mountain as an extremely yin location likely to contain many Soul Crystals, making it a possible resource for his cultivation and breakthrough.
• After reading through the night, Chen Xia leaves the Wu Residence. He sets the residence ablaze, killing Wu Tao’s trusted subordinates and servants who possess Negative Energy and collecting the energy from them.
• His actions ensure that Lingfeng City will be profoundly affected by the destruction of the Wu Residence.

Character Development

• Chen Xia becomes increasingly cautious and aware of the scale of the danger posed by the Blood God. He understands that he has antagonized an entity whose influence spans multiple worlds.
• His investigation also reveals his growing intelligence and analytical ability: he compares the Federation’s advanced surveillance with Zhao Kingdom’s weaker infrastructure to explain why the Blood Lotus Sect could conduct much larger sacrifices there.
• Despite his fear, Chen Xia remains determined and pragmatic. Rather than panic, he resolves to grow stronger and aims for the Martial Venerable or Martial Saint realm.
• His moral ruthlessness becomes more pronounced. He kills everyone in the Wu Residence whom he identifies as corrupt or connected to Wu Tao, showing that he now acts decisively against perceived evil.

Significant Themes

• Hidden, trans-world evil: The Blood God and its cults operate across different civilizations and planes, suggesting a threat far larger than any single kingdom.
• The cost of power: The Blood Lotus Sect’s strength comes through sacrificing martial artists and draining the blood and souls of ordinary people.
• Historical decline and manipulation: Zhao Kingdom’s loss of powerful experts was not natural; it was deliberately engineered by the cult, demonstrating how hidden forces can reshape an entire nation’s history.
• Knowledge as power: By uncovering the records, Chen Xia gains both a better understanding of his enemy and a possible path to acquiring Soul Crystals.
• Strength versus vulnerability: Chen Xia recognizes that his current power is insufficient against the Blood God’s true form, motivating him to pursue rapid cultivation.
• Justice and vengeance: The destruction of Wu Residence reflects Chen Xia’s harsh method of punishing those who have committed or enabled wrongdoing.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia has no direct conversation with other major characters in the chapter, but he interacts with the legacy of past Zhao Kingdom experts through the secret records.
• His relationship with the Blood God is presented as an escalating conflict: he has repeatedly stopped its manifestations in the Federation, while the Blood God now represents a looming danger to him.
• His actions toward Wu Tao’s followers show his hostile judgment of those associated with corruption. Even the previously flattering steward is killed after Chen Xia detects his Negative Energy.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Wu Residence is burned down, killing Wu Tao and his men.
• The common people of Lingfeng City are overjoyed and discuss the event openly.
• Ledgers, secret letters, and bills of exchange are scattered across the city, revealing the Wu Family's crimes and implicating other officials.
• The people of Lingfeng City hope to find the hero who burned down the Wu Residence but doubt they ever will.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia, the protagonist, is revealed to be the one who burned down the Wu Residence. He feels pleased and refreshed by the positive impact of his actions on the people.
• The people of Lingfeng City, while initially fearful, express gratitude and admiration for the unknown hero who brought down the Wu Family.

Significant Themes

• Righteousness and justice: Chen Xia's actions highlight the theme of doing good deeds and bringing justice to the oppressed.
• Power and corruption: The Wu Family's abuse of power and corruption are exposed, leading to their downfall.
• The power of the people: The common people's discussions and relief show their collective power and influence.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia interacts with the people of Lingfeng City, learning about their suffering and expressing gratitude for their well-being.
• The common people discuss and speculate about the hero who burned down the Wu Residence, expressing their admiration and hope to meet them.

Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia uses his reversal panel on the Soul Crystal obtained from Governor Wu’s residence, removing its harmful cold yin energy. He discovers that absorbing the purified crystal greatly improves his spiritual power and mental clarity, offering a potential path toward breaking through to the Martial Venerable realm.
• He supplements his cultivation with numerous Federation medicines, including Super Moonlight Essence, Dragon Blood Pills, Jade Liquid Paste, Purple Qi Pills, and Bodhi Clear Mind Pills.
• For fifteen days, Chen Xia remains hidden in an inn, refining Star Essence Stones, medicines, and the Soul Crystal while steadily approaching the peak of the Grandmaster realm.
• Meanwhile, the Crown Prince’s faction uses the evidence from Governor Wu’s records to purge Wu Tao’s supporters. Many officials and criminals are arrested and executed, and the scandal spreads to members of the Changsha King’s faction.
• The Emperor reprimands the Changsha King but gives him only a minor punishment. The political scandal significantly damages the Changsha King’s reputation and strengthens Crown Prince Wu Tong’s position.
• Wu Tong attempts to identify the mysterious expert who killed Wu Tao, considering recruiting him. He suspects Chen Xia but learns that Chen Xia has not been located.
• Wu Tong reveals that he has recently broken through to the middle stage of the Grandmaster realm, placing him closer in strength to the Changsha King and making him more confident in using political schemes.
• Chen Xia leaves Lingfeng City openly, realizing that no one has connected him to Governor Wu’s death. He studies his master’s map and decides to travel to Black Mist Mountain, the former site of the Blood Lotus Sect’s Blood God ritual, where he expects to find Soul Crystals or clues about them.
• While planning his route, Chen Xia notices that Fengyang City—Sky Net’s headquarters—lies along his path. He summons Bai Heng’s soul from the Spirit-Calling Bone Staff and forces him to reveal Sky Net’s location and information.
• Chen Xia declares that he intends to destroy Sky Net. He further threatens to eliminate Bai Heng’s hidden wife and daughter, causing Bai Heng’s normally controlled dead soul to panic.

Character Development

• Chen Xia: Becomes increasingly confident in his cultivation prospects after discovering the usefulness of Soul Crystals. He grows more calculating and proactive, combining cultivation, intelligence gathering, and political manipulation. His willingness to threaten Bai Heng’s family also reveals a harsher, more ruthless side.
• Crown Prince Wu Tong: Gains confidence after breaking through to the middle Grandmaster stage. He becomes more ambitious, believing his royal status and growing strength make him capable of handling both the Changsha King and powerful outsiders such as Chen Xia.
• Bai Heng: Once the powerful leader of Sky Net, he is now completely subordinate to Chen Xia as a sealed soul. His fear and helplessness become especially clear when Chen Xia threatens his secretly protected family.
• The Changsha King: Suffers a major political setback as evidence links his faction to Governor Wu’s crimes. Although the Emperor does not seriously punish him, his reputation and influence are weakened.
• Common citizens: Their enthusiastic support for the executions reflects their hatred of the corrupt officials and their approval of the purge.

Significant Themes

• Power and cultivation: Soul Crystals provide Chen Xia with a rare and efficient means of strengthening his spiritual power, emphasizing the importance of resources in reaching higher realms.
• Political manipulation: The Crown Prince exploits Governor Wu’s downfall to weaken the Changsha King, showing that court struggles are fought through evidence, rumors, and factional strategy.
• Secrecy and identity: Chen Xia succeeds because his involvement remains hidden, while Wu Tong’s inability to identify him highlights the danger posed by an unknown enemy.
• Ruthlessness and retaliation: Chen Xia’s methods increasingly blur the line between justice and vengeance, especially when he threatens Bai Heng’s family to ensure Sky Net’s destruction.
• Control over the dead: The Spirit-Calling Bone Staff symbolizes Chen Xia’s domination over former enemies, reducing once-powerful figures such as Bai Heng to unwilling sources of information.
• The inevitability of conflict: Chen Xia’s journey toward Black Mist Mountain naturally brings him into contact with Sky Net, suggesting that destroying the organization is now an unavoidable part of his path.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Xia and Bai Heng: Chen Xia releases Bai Heng’s soul temporarily, interrogates him about Sky Net, and learns that Fengyang City is its headquarters. When Bai Heng recognizes Chen Xia’s intention to destroy the organization, Chen Xia deliberately intensifies his fear by threatening Bai Heng’s family.
• Wu Tong and his ministers: They discuss the political advantages created by Governor Wu’s death and the purge of his faction. Wu Tong expresses interest in recruiting the unknown killer.
• Wu Tong and his confidant: His adviser warns that manipulating Chen Xia could backfire, but Wu Tong dismisses the danger because of his royal status and recent breakthrough.
• Chen Xia and the imprisoned souls: The trapped souls of Robert, Wu Tao, Walton, Bai Heng, and others yearn to escape the bone staff, but Chen Xia maintains complete control over them.
• The Crown Prince and the Changsha King: Although they do not confront one another directly, Wu Tong uses the scandal to undermine the Changsha King, while the latter attempts unsuccessfully to distance himself from Governor Wu’s crimes.

Chapter Summary: The Thing That Didn’t Know Its Place!

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Heng, the former leader of Sky Net, begs Chen Xia to spare his family, admitting that his previous assassination plots were mistakes and that he is now powerless to resist.
• Chen Xia seals Bai Heng inside the bone staff rather than immediately killing or punishing his family.
• After leaving Lingfeng City, Chen Xia gives away his carriage, retrieves his stealth aircraft, and flies to Fengyang City in Zhao Kingdom. He conserves energy by using the aircraft’s stealth mode while cultivating during the journey.
• Fengyang City is introduced as a large, prosperous city divided between an ordinary outer city and a wealthy, powerful inner city.
• Chen Xia surveys the city and learns about its major forces:
  • The Tan, Cao, Gu, and Xiao Families
  • The neutral and influential Ten Thousand Treasures Tower
  • Sky Net, which has recently relocated and apparently allied with the Tan Family
• Chen Xia visits Sky Net’s former headquarters and finds it abandoned. Bai Heng becomes nostalgic and distressed at seeing the remains of his former power, while Chen Xia remains confident that Sky Net can be located through his Blood Shadow Bats.
• While walking through the city to find food, Chen Xia witnesses Tan Yuanlang, the Tan Family’s arrogant second young master, bullying a young pipa player after his carriage knocks her down.
• When Tan Yuanlang orders his driver to whip the woman, Chen Xia intervenes. He catches the whip, criticizes the Tan Family’s abuse of power, and becomes the target of Tan Yuanlang’s guards.
• Chen Xia effortlessly kicks the driver away and severely lashes one of the attacking Tendon Transformation experts, leaving the remaining three guards shocked but still advancing.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia: Demonstrates increasing confidence in his overwhelming strength. He is curious about Fengyang City’s culture and prosperity but quickly recognizes the corruption beneath its surface. Although not portrayed as conventionally heroic, he cannot tolerate powerful people abusing the weak, partly because his own family has suffered similar oppression. His intervention reveals his rebellious sense of justice.
• Bai Heng: Shifts from a feared leader to a powerless prisoner dependent on Chen Xia’s mercy. He remains terrified and submissive, but his melancholy reaction to Sky Net’s abandoned headquarters shows that he still feels attachment to the organization he built.
• Tan Yuanlang: Is established as an arrogant, cruel, and entitled nobleman who abuses his family’s influence. He treats ordinary people as beneath him and immediately resorts to violence when challenged.
• The pipa player: Represents the vulnerable common people of Fengyang City. Though frightened, she repeatedly apologizes to Tan Yuanlang, showing how thoroughly the powerful have intimidated ordinary citizens.
• The city’s residents: Their fearful silence illustrates their awareness that opposing the Tan Family could lead to severe punishment.

Significant Themes

• Power and oppression: Fengyang City’s prosperity hides widespread injustice, with powerful families effectively above the law.
• The abuse of privilege: Tan Yuanlang’s behavior demonstrates how inherited status enables cruelty and impunity.
• Justice versus indifference: Chen Xia’s intervention contrasts with the crowd’s fear and unwillingness to act.
• The transience of power: Bai Heng’s abandoned headquarters symbolizes how quickly authority and influence can disappear.
• Technology and cultivation: Chen Xia’s advanced aircraft and his cultivation coexist, emphasizing the contrast between the Federation’s technology and Zhao Kingdom’s traditional martial society.
• Strength and restraint: Chen Xia possesses overwhelming power but does not indiscriminately destroy Sky Net or Bai Heng’s family, choosing instead to act according to his own judgment.

Important Character Interactions

• Bai Heng repeatedly pleads with Chen Xia for his family’s survival, while Chen Xia refuses to be pressured and seals him away.
• Chen Xia and Bai Heng revisit Sky Net’s former headquarters; Bai Heng reacts emotionally, while Chen Xia remains practical and uses Blood Shadow Bats to track the organization.
• Tan Yuanlang humiliates the pipa player and orders his driver to attack her.
• Chen Xia steps between them, catches the whip, and openly challenges Tan Yuanlang’s authority.
• Tan Yuanlang responds by ordering four Tendon Transformation guards to cripple Chen Xia, setting up the chapter’s impending confrontation.

Chapter Summary: “Citizens Do Not Fight Officials”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia intervenes after Tan Yuanlang’s horse-related incident and conflict with a young woman. When Tan’s four burly guards attack him, Chen effortlessly defeats them with his whip, leaving them badly injured and unable to fight.
• The crowd recognizes that Chen possesses extraordinary strength and precision, likely placing him at or above the Skyflight Realm.
• Tan Yuanlang attempts to intimidate Chen by invoking his powerful father and the influential Tan Family. He demands that Chen kneel, apologize, and cripple his own cultivation.
• Chen remains completely unfazed, recalling that he has already subdued Bai Heng, the former grandmaster and leader of Sky Net. He considers the Tan Family insignificant by comparison.
• Instead of submitting, Chen orders Tan Yuanlang to apologize to the young woman, pay for her damaged pipa and medical treatment, and leave.
• Furious at being humiliated, Tan Yuanlang summons six armed Tan Family retainers.
• Chief Constable Liu then arrives with several constables. Rather than investigate the incident fairly, he immediately sides with Tan Yuanlang and orders Chen to be arrested for fighting in the street.
• Chen challenges Liu’s corruption, pointing out that Liu ignored Tan Yuanlang’s wrongdoing while acting against the victim’s defender.
• Liu orders both the constables and the Tan Family retainers to attack Chen simultaneously. He assumes Chen is merely a young Skyflight Realm martial artist and believes that, as a mid-stage Skyflight expert with official authority, he can suppress him.
• The chapter ends as the combined forces move against Chen, unaware that he may be far stronger than Liu realizes.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia: Demonstrates overwhelming combat ability, confidence, and composure. He is protective of the young woman and insists that Tan Yuanlang compensate her rather than allowing the powerful family to escape accountability. His calm response shows that his strength and experience have made him indifferent to local aristocratic influence and official intimidation.
• Tan Yuanlang: Revealed as arrogant, entitled, and accustomed to using his family’s status to escape consequences. When Chen refuses to submit, Tan reacts with rage and escalates the conflict by summoning reinforcements.
• Chief Constable Liu: Shown to be corrupt, authoritarian, and closely aligned with the Tan Family. He abuses his official position to punish Chen while ignoring Tan Yuanlang’s initial misconduct. He is also overconfident, underestimating Chen because of his age and concealed aura.
• The Bystanders: Their reactions emphasize how intimidating the Tan Family and government officials are. Although many recognize that Chen is in the right, they are too afraid of retaliation to intervene.

Significant Themes

• Justice versus power: The chapter contrasts genuine justice with the influence of wealthy families and government officials. Tan Yuanlang and Liu manipulate authority to protect the aggressor and punish the victim’s defender.
• Corruption and abuse of office: Chief Constable Liu represents a legal system controlled by connections rather than truth. His claim to uphold the law is exposed as a pretext for serving the Tan Family.
• Strength versus social status: Chen’s power allows him to stand against forces that ordinary people fear. The Tan Family’s reputation is formidable locally, but Chen’s perspective places it far below the highest martial powers.
• Public fear and helplessness: The crowd understands what is happening but remains silent because challenging officials or influential families is dangerous. This reflects the chapter’s central idea that “citizens do not fight officials.”
• Underestimation: Liu assumes Chen’s youth and hidden aura indicate limited ability, setting up the likelihood that the approaching battle will overturn his expectations.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Xia and Tan Yuanlang: Their exchange is a direct clash between Chen’s demand for accountability and Tan’s belief in inherited privilege. Tan threatens Chen, but Chen reverses the power dynamic by ordering Tan to apologize.
• Chen Xia and Chief Constable Liu: Chen openly accuses Liu of failing to distinguish right from wrong. Liu responds by asserting official authority and attempting to silence him through arrest.
• Tan Yuanlang and Chief Constable Liu: Their interaction reveals an established alliance. Tan immediately calls for Liu’s help, and Liu cooperates without conducting a fair investigation.
• Chen Xia and the crowd: Chen’s calmness contrasts with the spectators’ fear. His refusal to bow to the Tan Family or the yamen makes him appear both reckless and extraordinarily confident.
• Chief Constable Liu and his forces: Liu coordinates the constables and Tan retainers against Chen, believing numerical advantage and official backing will guarantee victory.

Chapter Summary — Wreck Yourself: Third Update

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia effortlessly defeats the Tan Family retainers and constables who rush him. Using only his left hand while keeping his right on his sword, he releases a powerful area attack that sends six warriors and the remaining constables flying.
• Chief Constable Liu attacks Chen Xia directly, but Chen Xia counters with a single punch. The blow shatters Liu’s protective true energy, severely injures his internal organs, and leaves him on the verge of death.
• The crowd realizes that Chen Xia is likely a Golden Body Realm expert—far above the Skyflight Realm. His strength and apparent lack of affiliations make him especially dangerous, since he could easily disappear after provoking Fengyang City’s authorities.
• Public opinion shifts in Chen Xia’s favor. Many spectators believe Tan Yuanlang’s arrogant behavior finally caused him to provoke someone beyond the Tan Family’s ability to control.
• Tan Yuanlang recognizes that the situation has turned against him. He abandons his earlier arrogance, apologizes, and orders compensation for the injured young woman.
• He secretly intends only to stall Chen Xia until his father and the Tan Family can intervene. His hidden hostility reveals that he considers the confrontation a matter of family honor and plans to retaliate.
• Chen Xia sees through Tan Yuanlang’s deception. After ensuring the young woman receives compensation, he turns to the personal offense between himself and Tan Yuanlang.
• Chen Xia gives Tan Yuanlang one final choice: cripple the hand he used to point at Chen Xia, or die.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia: Demonstrates overwhelming strength, composure, and precise control. He protects the injured woman, forces her compensation to be accepted, and remains completely unmoved by Tan Yuanlang’s attempts to invoke family connections. His final demand shows that he is both merciless toward deliberate offenders and confident enough to challenge the entire Tan Family.
• Chief Constable Liu: Changes from an aggressive official enforcing the law to a terrified and helpless victim. His defeat makes him realize the enormous gap between himself and a Golden Body expert.
• Tan Yuanlang: His arrogance collapses once he understands Chen Xia’s realm. He becomes outwardly submissive and apologetic, but inwardly remains vindictive and calculating. He plans to use his family’s Golden Body experts and connections with Sky Net to eliminate Chen Xia.
• The injured young woman: Initially frightened and powerless, she receives justice and compensation through Chen Xia’s intervention. Her acceptance of the money reflects her fear and dependence on his protection.

Significant Themes

• Power overturning social authority: Chen Xia’s strength renders the constables, official power, and Tan Family’s influence ineffective.
• Arrogance leading to downfall: Tan Yuanlang’s mistreatment of the woman and provocation of Chen Xia force him into a humiliating reversal.
• Fear and respect for true strength: The crowd immediately changes its attitude after recognizing Chen Xia as a Golden Body expert.
• Justice versus political influence: Chen Xia refuses to be intimidated by the Tan Family’s connections and insists that personal wrongdoing must be answered for.
• Hidden hostility beneath submission: Tan Yuanlang’s apology is revealed as a tactical maneuver rather than genuine remorse.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia confronts and defeats the constables and Tan Family retainers with overwhelming force.
• Chief Constable Liu attacks Chen Xia but is decisively beaten, exposing the vast difference between their realms.
• Tan Yuanlang shifts from threatening Chen Xia to flattering and apologizing to him, invoking his father and the prefectural governor.
• Tan Yuanlang compensates the injured woman and attempts to use the interaction to buy time.
• Chen Xia rejects Tan Yuanlang’s probing questions about his identity, recognizes his scheme, and forces the confrontation back onto Tan Yuanlang’s own offense.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia publicly demands that Tan Yuanlang cripple one of his own fingers as punishment for recklessly injuring someone and refusing to compensate them.
• When Tan Yuanlang argues that Chen Xia is being excessive, Chen Xia slaps him, knocking him down and breaking or loosening several teeth.
• The injured young woman whom Chen Xia defended urges him to flee before the Tan Family arrives, but Chen Xia remains completely confident, claiming that even the entire city could not threaten him.
• The Tan Family arrives with the Xinglong Escort Agency, soldiers, constables, yamen runners, and more than a hundred armed men, intending to overwhelm Chen Xia through sheer numbers.
• Tan Shang, the Tan Family head and a late-stage Golden Body expert, initially tries to handle the matter diplomatically. He asks Chen Xia about his background and offers to settle the dispute with compensation.
• Chen Xia refuses to reveal his origins and insists that Tan Yuanlang must cripple his own finger. He warns that if the Tan Family continues interfering, the punishment will become more severe.
• Tan Shang secretly decides to test Chen Xia’s strength. The escort agency’s deputy master leads over a hundred people in an attack.
• Chen Xia summons a massive, lifelike blue Dragon Soul. Its overwhelming dragon might suppresses everyone nearby, and a single sweep of its tail sends the entire attacking force flying.
• The deputy escort master suffers multiple broken bones, while Tan Shang is also struck down effortlessly despite using his full defensive power.
• The witnesses realize that Chen Xia is not merely a Golden Body expert but a Martial Grandmaster. News spreads rapidly throughout Fengyang City, causing the city’s influential families and officials to reconsider the situation and avoid offending him.
• Chen Xia then walks toward the terrified Tan Yuanlang. Tan Yuanlang begs for mercy and offers to cripple his own finger, while Tan Shang struggles over to plead for Chen Xia’s anger to be quelled.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia: Demonstrates absolute confidence, ruthlessness toward arrogant bullies, and overwhelming strength. He deliberately reveals his Grandmaster-level power to end the conflict quickly and prevent further interference.
• Tan Yuanlang: Changes from an arrogant, entitled heir into a terrified and submissive victim once he realizes Chen Xia can easily kill him and defeat his family.
• Tan Shang: Initially attempts to preserve the Tan Family’s dignity through negotiation, but his caution turns into shock and fear after Chen Xia defeats him effortlessly. He recognizes that the family has provoked someone far beyond their ability to resist.
• The young woman: Shows gratitude and concern for Chen Xia, even physically trying to pull him away for his safety. Her fear highlights the Tan Family’s reputation and the danger of the confrontation.
• The people of Fengyang City: Their attitude shifts from expecting Chen Xia to be crushed by the Tan Family to admiring and fearing him after learning that he is a Grandmaster.

Significant Themes

• Strength determines status: The crowd repeatedly observes that power is what allows someone to speak freely and resist oppressive families.
• Arrogance punished by overwhelming force: Tan Yuanlang’s abuse of his social position brings humiliation upon himself and threatens the entire Tan Family.
• Hidden power and revelation: Chen Xia appears ordinary but possesses extraordinary strength, and his deliberate display of the Dragon Soul immediately changes everyone’s attitude.
• Limits of influence: Wealth, authority, armed forces, and family reputation are useless against a Martial Grandmaster.
• Justice versus established power: Chen Xia intervenes on behalf of an injured stranger, challenging the Tan Family’s assumption that their influence places them above consequences.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia confronts Tan Yuanlang over his bullying and forces him to face punishment.
• The young woman thanks Chen Xia and urges him to escape, while he reassures her that he fears neither the Tan Family nor Fengyang City.
• Tan Shang and Chen Xia engage in a tense exchange: Tan Shang offers negotiation and compensation, but Chen Xia refuses to yield or disclose his background.
• Tan Shang’s forces attack Chen Xia, resulting in a one-sided defeat that exposes Chen Xia’s Grandmaster realm.
• After witnessing the defeat, Tan Yuanlang begs Chen Xia for mercy, while Tan Shang approaches in desperation to placate him.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Tan Shang, head of the Tan Family, is terrified and apologetic after Chen Xia reveals his Grandmaster status.
• Tan Shang breaks Tan Yuanlang's finger and cripples his cultivation to appease Chen Xia.
• Chen Xia demands the Tan Family never act lawlessly again, and they comply.
• The constables and the Tan Family retreat, leaving Chen Xia unchallenged.
• Chen Xia notices a peculiar aura from Liu Qingyu, a woman he saved.

Character Developments

• Tan Shang: Realizes the power dynamics and submits to Chen Xia to save his family.
• Chen Xia: Understands his position and strength in Fengyang City, decides to leave if needed.
• Liu Qingyu: Remains respectful and humble despite her circumstances.

Significant Themes

• Power Dynamics: The strength of one's cultivation determines one's status and influence in society.
• Mercy and Justice: Chen Xia shows mercy to the Tan Family but demands justice for the common people.
• The Ordinary and the Extraordinary: Liu Qingyu, an ordinary woman, possesses an extraordinary aura.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia and Tan Shang: Tan Shang submits to Chen Xia, fearing his power.
• Chen Xia and Liu Qingyu: They meet briefly, and Chen Xia notices something unusual about her.
• The common people and Chen Xia: They admire and respect Chen Xia for standing up to the Tan Family.

Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Chen Xia rescues Liu Qingyu from members of the Tan Family and other powerful clans, the two leave under the crowd’s astonished gazes.
• Liu Qingyu explains that she is seventeen, enjoys playing the pipa, and is not a singing girl as others may have assumed. Her mother recently died of illness, while her father, Liu Heng, disappeared after ceasing all correspondence.
• She traveled to Fengyang City using a key and deed left by her father, hoping to find his shop and recover hidden silver and a pipa. However, no one in the city knows of Liu Heng or his business.
• The pipa is especially important: Liu Qingyu’s father hid something valuable inside its handle, possibly a secret capable of bringing fortune to the Liu family.
• After losing her travel money and becoming distracted by grief, Liu Qingyu was nearly harmed by the Tan Family’s carriage. Chen Xia intervened and defeated the offending martial artists.
• Chen Xia gives Liu Qingyu money and urges her to leave the city immediately, warning that the Tan Family will not dare pursue someone he has protected.
• Before parting, Liu Qingyu asks his name. Chen Xia gives the alias “Wang Mu,” and she expresses hope that they will meet again.
• Chen Xia secretly has his bats escort Liu Qingyu to the city gates, while he returns to an inn.
• The next morning, representatives from the Tan, Cao, and Gu Families, along with the prefect’s steward, arrive bearing gifts. They seek to curry favor with Chen Xia after witnessing his overwhelming strength.
• Recognizing that they now regard him as a Grandmaster, Chen Xia deliberately makes them wait before descending. He accepts their respectful greetings and announces that they may call him Grandmaster Wang.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia: Demonstrates compassion by aiding Liu Qingyu despite their chance encounter, but avoids becoming personally entangled in her troubles. His willingness to provide money and covert protection reveals a generous side beneath his detached attitude. At the same time, he enjoys the elevated status and respect that come with being mistaken for a Grandmaster.
• Liu Qingyu: Is revealed to be an orphaned and vulnerable young woman burdened by grief, uncertainty, and the mystery surrounding her father. Despite her hardships, she remains dignified and cautious. Her experience with Chen Xia restores some of her faith in human kindness, and she develops admiration and gratitude toward him.
• The local families and officials: Their attitude shifts from hostility or indifference to fear and submission after Chen Xia displays his strength. They immediately attempt to form a favorable relationship with him.

Significant Themes

• Kindness amid treachery: Liu Qingyu’s journey exposes her to theft, danger, and human cruelty, making Chen Xia’s unexpected generosity especially meaningful.
• Power and social status: Chen Xia’s strength transforms how the powerful families treat him. His identity as a suspected Grandmaster grants him immediate authority and protection.
• Mystery and hidden inheritance: Liu Qingyu’s missing father, vanished business, secret key, hidden money, and mysterious pipa establish a larger unresolved plot.
• Chance encounters and separation: Chen Xia and Liu Qingyu meet briefly but leave a lasting impression on one another, with the possibility of reunion left open.
• Identity and aliases: Chen Xia conceals his true identity and adopts the name “Wang Mu,” allowing him to navigate this world while building a reputation.

Character Interactions

• Liu Qingyu offers to serve Chen Xia in gratitude, but he dismisses the idea and insists that rescuing her was merely a minor act.
• She confides in him about her parents and the pipa, while he listens and gives practical assistance rather than emotional promises.
• Their farewell is restrained but heartfelt: Liu Qingyu asks whether they will meet again, and Chen Xia answers ambiguously, leaving her hopeful.
• At the inn, Chen Xia interacts with the innkeeper in a calm, authoritative manner and makes the visiting dignitaries wait.
• When he finally appears, the families and officials greet him with formal respect. He accepts their deference without revealing his true background, establishing himself as the dominant figure in the room.

Chapter Summary: “Currying Favor”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia’s arrival in Fengyang City causes a major upheaval because he is believed to be a martial master—an exceptionally powerful figure who has surpassed the Golden Body realm.
• Local clan leaders and influential figures crowd into the inn to curry favor, seek protection, and hopefully receive his guidance.
• Chen Xia sits in the place of honor and allows everyone to treat him with great respect, using the alias Wang Mu while revealing nothing about his true background.
• Tan Shang, head of the Tan Family, apologizes for offending Chen Xia the previous day and offers substantial compensation:
  • Five thousand taels of gold
  • Three thousand Star Essence Stones
  • Six thousand-year-old ginseng roots
  • The Tan Family’s lower-grade Earth-rank

Seven Stars Companion Moon Sword

• Cao Yan of the Cao Family presents three seventh-grade Profound Origin Pills, which can increase cultivation, heal injuries, and neutralize poison.
• Gu Qing of the Gu Family offers a Heavenly Secrets Token, allowing Chen Xia to access the Gu Family’s entire intelligence network.
• The Fengyang branch leaders of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower—Bai Yutang and Iron Hand—personally arrive to show respect. They give Chen Xia:
  • A Purple Gold VIP Token with a thirty percent discount at all branches
  • One hundred thousand taels in banknotes
  • A record of rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures
• Xiao An, chief steward of the Prefect’s residence, invites Chen Xia to become an Attendant of the Xiao Family, offering him eight hundred Star Essence Stones annually and a status equal to the Prefect’s.
• Chen Xia accepts all the gifts, reasoning that they will help him accumulate strength toward master perfection.
• He notices that no one from Sky Net has appeared, but concludes this is acceptable because he came to Fengyang City mainly to deal with them.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia: Displays confidence, composure, and growing awareness of his influence. He enjoys the respect he receives but remains detached from the offerings, recognizing that most gifts are beneath his true standards. His hidden strength and Dragon Soul make him feel secure even against Martial Venerables. He also reveals a practical side by accepting the gifts for cultivation rather than out of greed.
• Tan Shang: Shifts from having offended Chen Xia to humbly seeking forgiveness, demonstrating the Tan Family’s fear of provoking a master.
• Cao Yan and Gu Qing: Present increasingly valuable and strategically useful gifts, showing their families’ eagerness to establish a relationship with Chen Xia.
• Bai Yutang and Iron Hand: Their joint appearance highlights the seriousness with which the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower regards Chen Xia. Though powerful merchants, they are careful not to antagonize him.
• The Prefect: Shows political pragmatism by offering Chen Xia generous compensation and elevated status simply to secure his goodwill.

Significant Themes

• Power and status: A single breakthrough into the master realm transforms a person into someone even major clans, merchants, and government officials must respect.
• Curry favor and political survival: The gifts function partly as tributes and partly as insurance. The local powers hope Chen Xia will protect them—or at least refrain from becoming their enemy.
• Hidden identity: Chen Xia conceals his true origins and travels under the false name Wang Mu, allowing others to judge him solely by his demonstrated strength.
• True strength versus appearances: Chen Xia’s status attracts lavish gifts, yet he knows that many of the offerings are inferior to what he already possesses.
• Resources and cultivation: Chen Xia views the gifts as useful tools for advancing toward greater power, emphasizing the practical relationship between wealth, influence, and martial progress.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia maintains a dignified, distant relationship with the gathered clan leaders, answering politely while allowing them to flatter him.
• Tan Shang directly apologizes and offers compensation, while Chen Xia responds with silent evaluation rather than emotional reaction.
• Cao Yan and Gu Qing compete with one another and the Tan Family to demonstrate their respect through increasingly valuable gifts.
• Bai Yutang and Iron Hand treat Chen Xia as an important potential ally, offering commercial privileges and access to rare treasures.
• Xiao An delivers the Prefect’s invitation, making the government’s attempt to recruit Chen Xia explicit.
• By accepting the offerings, Chen Xia reassures everyone that he bears no grudge and reduces their anxiety, while privately remaining focused on his own cultivation and his unresolved objective involving Sky Net.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xia receives gifts from local families, understanding their fear and respect for his power.
• He learns about Sky Net's new location and its new leader, Wuying, from the Gu Family.
• Chen Xia plans to control Sky Net and use its resources for his cultivation.
• He reads about Bai Heng's past, including his possible connection to Liu Qingyu.

Character Developments

• Chen Xia reflects on his growth from a minor official to a feared grandmaster.
• Wuying, Sky Net's new leader, is introduced as a Golden Body perfection realm assassin.
• Liu Qingyu's potential connection to Bai Heng is hinted at.

Significant Themes

• The power dynamics of the martial world and the Outer Domain.
• The importance of one's own strength in achieving respect and fear.
• The potential consequences of Chen Xia's actions on others (e.g., Liu Qingyu if she is Bai Heng's daughter).

Character Interactions

• Chen Xia interacts with local families, understanding their fear and respect.
• He communicates with the Gu Family, receiving information about Sky Net.
• Chen Xia considers the potential connection between Liu Qingyu and Bai Heng.