Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Promoted Again”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After the Stone Peak River Teaching Research Conference, news spreads through teachers’ private group chats that Jin Fan was seriously injured.
• Li Yuan returns to Lingshan No.1 High School, where teachers respectfully begin addressing him as “Director,” accepting his leadership because he has improved both teaching quality and staff benefits.
• Chen Yong anxiously asks Li Yuan about the incident and worries that Jin Fan’s powerful family may retaliate. Li Yuan explains that seriously injuring Jin Fan was necessary to protect himself and avoid even greater danger.
• Li Yuan continues managing school affairs and teaching responsibilities. Huang Bo, still teaching anatomy, insists on completing the semester despite Li Yuan’s plan to replace him. Li Yuan agrees to let him continue but warns that his classes will be reviewed.
• At the weekly staff meeting, Principal Yin avoids mentioning the conference or Jin Fan’s injury.
• Education Bureau Director Zeng announces that Li Yuan has been promoted to Acting Vice Principal. His salary, bonuses, and allowances will match those of a full vice principal.
• The staff are surprised by the speed of the promotion but respond with enthusiastic applause, led by Chen Yong.
• During dinner, Director Zeng explains that the promotion came from higher authorities after a highly respected educator praised Li Yuan’s abilities. Provincial leaders had also approved of Li Yuan during his previous open class.
• Li Yuan realizes the influential supporter was probably the renowned educator Xia Zhao, who had previously been searching for him.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan gains a major promotion and moves rapidly from Teaching Affairs Director toward the school’s senior leadership. He remains calm and focused, viewing the promotion with surprise rather than arrogance.
• He demonstrates practical leadership by linking teachers’ increased workloads to improved benefits and by holding staff accountable for their teaching quality.
• Chen Yong is shown to be genuinely concerned about Li Yuan’s safety. His initial anxiety eases after Li Yuan explains the circumstances of the conflict.
• Huang Bo appears more responsible than before, insisting on finishing the semester despite being slated for replacement. Li Yuan acknowledges this change while maintaining professional standards.
• Director Zeng acts as both the messenger of Li Yuan’s promotion and a supportive superior, reassuring him that the acting title will not limit his authority or compensation.
• Xia Zhao, though absent, becomes increasingly important. Her influence and efforts reveal the depth of her feelings for Li Yuan.

Significant Themes

• Recognition and advancement: Li Yuan’s achievements in teaching reform and school management bring rapid professional success.
• Merit versus connections: Although Li Yuan has earned the promotion through results, Xia Zhao’s recommendation and provincial approval make the unusually fast advancement possible.
• Power and social inequality: Li Yuan becomes increasingly aware of the gap between himself and Xia Zhao, whose status allows her to influence major decisions with ease.
• Responsibility and reward: The chapter emphasizes that teachers’ dedication should be matched by fair compensation and institutional benefits.
• Consequences of conflict: The fallout from Jin Fan’s injury continues to affect Li Yuan’s reputation and relationships, even though the school leadership chooses not to address it publicly.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Yuan and Chen Yong: Chen expresses concern over possible retaliation from Jin Fan’s family, while Li Yuan calmly justifies his actions and reassures him.
• Li Yuan and Huang Bo: Li Yuan recognizes Huang Bo’s renewed sense of responsibility but warns him that his remaining work will be evaluated.
• Li Yuan and Director Zeng: Zeng formally announces Li Yuan’s promotion and later explains its political and professional backing over dinner.
• Li Yuan and Xia Zhao: Their relationship develops indirectly. Li Yuan realizes that Xia Zhao likely arranged the recommendation that accelerated his promotion, deepening his awareness of their mutual affection and unequal social standing.

Chapter Summary: Golden-Medal Matchmaker

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Yuan becomes Acting Vice Principal, with the “acting” designation intended to reassure the public after his unusually rapid promotion. His position will likely become permanent if he avoids serious mistakes.
• Director Zeng explains Li Yuan’s new authority: he will oversee the Academic Affairs Office and serve concurrently as Teaching Affairs Director. He can make decisions independently, only needing to inform Principal Yin rather than seek approval.
• Director Zeng advises Li Yuan to personally thank the influential senior who praised and recommended him, emphasizing the importance of maintaining professional connections.
• He also reassures Li Yuan that the Jin Family will hesitate to retaliate openly over Jin Fan’s severe injuries because Li Yuan is now part of the school’s management and any attack would carry serious consequences.
• At home, Li Yuan reviews his cultivation progress. He has accumulated 109 out of the 700 Experience Points needed for his next Talent Point, but the Light Points he collects now yield fewer Experience Points than before.
• Li Yuan evaluates the threat from the Jin Family, especially Jin Lou, a Ninth-Rank martial artist who may be Jin Fan’s father. He believes he can survive encounters with weaker opponents and may even escape an Eighth-Rank martial artist, but Jin Lou remains a major concern.
• Li Yuan decides to visit a restricted wilderness treasure-hunting site using a special access card given through Xia Zhao’s connections. He hopes to obtain suitable martial arts techniques or cultivation methods and gain valuable experience.
• He carefully schedules the trip for the following Friday through Monday so that school affairs and his students’ preparation for the national college entrance examination will not suffer.
• The chapter ends by introducing Xu Nianxing’s mother, who has begun working with a highly influential professional matchmaker known for organizing elite matchmaking events for wealthy men.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan: Gains greater institutional authority and becomes more formally established in school management. Although he understands that networking is necessary for advancement, he remains uncomfortable with the idea of cultivating relationships for personal benefit. He also becomes more cautious and strategic, balancing his professional duties, personal safety, and martial development.
• Director Zeng: Continues to act as Li Yuan’s mentor and supporter. He explains the practical implications of Li Yuan’s promotion, warns him about the Jin Family, and encourages him to strengthen ties with important figures.
• Jin Fan and the Jin Family: Though largely offstage, they remain a looming threat. Jin Fan’s injury is expected to provoke retaliation, while Jin Lou is identified as the most dangerous potential enemy.
• Xia Zhao: Her previous guidance about the treasure-hunting site becomes increasingly important, as Li Yuan trusts her information enough to plan an expedition.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother: Begins actively pursuing elite matchmaking opportunities, setting up the chapter’s new social and romantic subplot.
• The professional matchmaker: Introduced as a powerful figure with extensive wealthy-client connections and a large online following.

Significant Themes

• Political and professional networking: Li Yuan recognizes that talent alone is insufficient for advancement; recommendations and relationships are also essential. His discomfort reflects the tension between personal integrity and workplace pragmatism.
• Power and institutional protection: Li Yuan’s new position gives him greater authority and makes it more difficult for the Jin Family to attack him without consequences.
• Preparation and risk management: Rather than acting impulsively, Li Yuan assesses his strength, anticipates possible retaliation, and plans his treasure-hunting trip around his responsibilities.
• Progress in martial arts: The chapter emphasizes the slow, uneven nature of Martial Dao advancement and the importance of inherited knowledge, techniques, and cultivation methods.
• Duty toward students: Despite his promotion, Li Yuan remains committed to helping hardworking students succeed, showing that his educational responsibilities still matter deeply to him.
• Class and elite matchmaking: The introduction of the professional matchmaker highlights the role of wealth, status, and verified assets in forming relationships.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan and Director Zeng: Their conversation centers on Li Yuan’s promotion, increased authority, political responsibilities, and the danger posed by the Jin Family. Director Zeng serves as both administrator and protector.
• Li Yuan and the influential senior: Although they do not interact directly in the chapter, Li Yuan is urged to thank the senior whose recommendation helped secure his advancement.
• Li Yuan and the Jin Family: Their conflict remains indirect but intensifies. Li Yuan anticipates revenge for Jin Fan’s injuries and focuses on preparing for Jin Lou’s possible intervention.
• Li Yuan and Xia Zhao: Xia Zhao’s earlier advice motivates Li Yuan’s planned expedition to the treasure-hunting site, demonstrating the continuing importance of her guidance.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother and the matchmaker: Their developing relationship introduces a new matchmaking venture centered on wealthy and influential candidates.

Chapter Summary: “Fifty-Million Matchmaking Event”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Matchmaker Ye, a popular short-video personality, has built a reputation by evaluating men’s and women’s qualifications and arranging relationships between wealthy men and attractive women.
• His most famous project is the “Fifty-Million Matchmaking Event,” where participating men reportedly possess assets worth at least fifty million. Although the event has caused controversy and lawsuits from rejected women, its popularity continues to grow.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother, eager to marry her daughter into wealth, learns that her square-dancing friend knows Matchmaker Ye. They arrange a meeting at a café in Lingshan City.
• Matchmaker Ye explains that wealthy men are his paying clients, so he claims he does not need to charge women for participation. He emphasizes that he must screen women carefully to protect his reputation and satisfy the men who pay him.
• After viewing photos of Xu Nianxing, Matchmaker Ye praises her appearance and says she could likely find a partner with twenty million in assets, while a fifty-million match would depend on luck.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother says she wants her daughter’s partner to help her settle in a major central-region city. Matchmaker Ye dismisses this as a modest requirement and boasts that he could introduce her to ten suitable wealthy men.
• Excited by the possibilities, Xu Nianxing’s mother begins looking down on Li Yuan, a previously suggested match, and resolves to arrange for her daughter to attend the event.

Character Developments

• Matchmaker Ye presents himself as polished, courteous, and professional rather than arrogant. However, his pride becomes visible when he discusses his influence, wealth, and high-paying clients.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother becomes increasingly dazzled by the prospect of marrying her daughter into money. Her standards rise rapidly: she initially hopes for stability, then begins aspiring to a fifty-million-asset son-in-law.
• Xu Nianxing does not appear directly, but she is treated largely as a candidate to be evaluated based on her appearance, career, and marriage prospects.
• Li Yuan is indirectly diminished as Xu’s mother compares him unfavorably with the wealthy men Matchmaker Ye claims to know.

Significant Themes

• Wealth and social status: Marriage is framed as a route to financial security and social advancement.
• Appearance and qualification as commodities: Women are judged through interviews and photographs, while men are primarily assessed by their assets.
• Materialism and changing expectations: Xu’s mother’s desires escalate once she hears about richer potential matches.
• Influence of social media: Matchmaker Ye’s online popularity creates demand, prestige, and an aura of exclusivity around his matchmaking services.
• Transactional relationships: The event exposes a matchmaking system built around money, reputation, and selective access rather than romance alone.
• Social inequality and controversy: The lawsuits and public arguments surrounding the event suggest broader tensions about class, dignity, and the commercialization of marriage.

Character Interactions

• Xu Nianxing’s mother meets Matchmaker Ye through her square-dancing friend.
• Matchmaker Ye uses polite conversation and confident claims about his clients to win her trust.
• She challenges him about rumored participation fees, prompting him to defend his business model and status.
• She shows him Xu Nianxing’s photos, and he evaluates her suitability for wealthy partners.
• Their conversation shifts Xu’s mother from cautious curiosity to intense excitement and ambition, setting up her determination to get Xu into the next matchmaking event.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xu Nianxing’s mother meets the highly regarded matchmaker Ye, who promises to find Xu Nianxing a wealthy husband with a home in a major central city and assets of at least 20–30 million.
• Matchmaker Ye shows her photographs of potential candidates, including men worth around 50 million. Although their appearances are inferior to Li Yuan’s, Xu Nianxing’s mother is highly impressed by their wealth and future prospects.
• After the meeting, Xu Nianxing’s mother plans to persuade her daughter to attend blind dates. She first intends to break up Xu Nianxing and Li Yuan, believing that ending their relationship will make Xu Nianxing easier to convince.
• Matchmaker Ye reports the progress to “Sister Shan,” revealing that he is carrying out the matchmaking arrangement for a powerful party. He emphasizes that the favor is worth far more than money.
• Ye tells his assistant that she will eventually take over two southern companies and become a general manager, but only if they successfully find an appropriate match for Xu Nianxing.
• Sister Shan informs Sun Dan, Xia Yao’s assistant, that Xu Nianxing’s mother has accepted the plan and will attend future matchmaking events. The candidates will be extremely wealthy, including men with assets above 50 million.
• Sun Dan reports the progress to Xia Yao, who is staying near Sunset Mountain Camp while waiting for the Xia family elders.
• Xia Yao worries that the arrangement might “shortchange” Xu Nianxing. She orders Sun Dan to ensure the men are genuinely high-quality and offers to pay the matchmakers double if necessary.

Character Developments

• Xu Nianxing’s mother: Becomes enthusiastic about replacing Li Yuan with a wealthier, more established husband for her daughter. Her priorities shift strongly toward financial security, social status, and property ownership.
• Matchmaker Ye: Reveals himself to be highly ambitious and willing to humble himself before powerful clients. He sees the assignment as an opportunity to gain an influential connection rather than merely earn money.
• Ye’s assistant: Gains renewed motivation after learning that she may be promoted to general manager and entrusted with major business responsibilities.
• Xia Yao: Shows both determination and guilt. She still intends to pursue Li Yuan, but attempts to ease her conscience by arranging a wealthy replacement for Xu Nianxing and ensuring that the matchmaking process is generous and respectful.
• Sun Dan and Sister Shan: Function as efficient intermediaries executing Xia Yao’s plan, though Sun Dan remains uncertain about Xia Yao’s true motivations.

Significant Themes

• Money versus personal attraction: Xu Nianxing’s mother prioritizes wealth and property over appearance, even though the chapter acknowledges that romantic and physical attraction cannot always be sacrificed for money.
• Parental expectations: The chapter contrasts what parents seek in a partner for their children with what individuals may personally value in love and marriage.
• Guilt and rationalization: Xia Yao recognizes that she is taking Li Yuan from Xu Nianxing, but tries to justify her actions by arranging a wealthy alternative for her.
• Power and social hierarchy: Matchmaker Ye’s extreme deference suggests that the people behind the arrangement possess influence far beyond ordinary wealthy businesspeople.
• Transactional relationships: Marriage, matchmaking, favors, promotions, and even emotional “compensation” are treated as parts of a larger exchange of wealth and power.

Character Interactions

• Xu Nianxing’s mother and Matchmaker Ye establish the matchmaking plan, with Ye assuring her that he can meet her material requirements.
• Ye and his assistant discuss the mysterious Sister Shan and the rewards attached to successfully completing the assignment.
• Sister Shan reports to Sun Dan, confirming that Xu Nianxing’s mother is cooperating.
• Sun Dan updates Xia Yao, who questions whether Xu Nianxing is receiving sufficient compensation and instructs her assistant to spare no expense.
• Although Xu Nianxing herself does not appear directly, the other characters’ decisions increasingly shape her romantic future without her knowledge or consent.

Chapter Summary: “Xu Nianxing Was Still Clear-Headed”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Matchmaker Ye and similar figures hold social influence because they control access to wealthy, marriageable candidates. Xia Yao can easily obtain their assistance by revealing what she wants.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother secretly enrolls her in a matchmaking event organized by the “Fifty-Million-Asset Matchmaking Bureau,” where every male participant is supposedly worth at least fifty million.
• Xu Nianxing reacts angrily because she is already satisfied with Li Yuan and does not want her mother interfering in her relationship.
• Her mother argues that marrying a wealthy man would improve the family’s status, particularly compared with relatives, and criticizes Xu Nianxing for choosing a modestly paid teacher.
• Xu Nianxing insists that wealth alone cannot create a successful marriage. She believes married partners need emotional support, affection, and mutual care; otherwise, money will not guarantee happiness.
• Her mother ends the call by ordering her to attend the matchmaking event anyway, ruining Xu Nianxing’s mood.
• Meanwhile, Li Yuan is busy adjusting to his promotion as a vice principal. He attends several dinners with colleagues and local school leaders, including Vice Principals Zhang and Qi.
• Zhang and Qi support Li Yuan’s plans to improve Lingshan No. 1 High School’s academic performance, since examination results affect the school’s reputation and the administrators’ bonuses.
• Li Yuan’s promotion changes how others treat him. Even his friend Chen Yong becomes more formal in public to protect Li Yuan’s authority.
• When Li Yuan finally returns home for dinner, his parents reveal that Xu Nianxing’s mother visited and told them that her daughter was not a suitable match for him and that he should stop pursuing her.

Character Developments

• Xu Nianxing: Demonstrates clear judgment and independence. She values love, compatibility, and emotional stability over wealth or social advancement. She is also confident enough to challenge her mother’s materialistic expectations.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother: Reveals a strongly status-conscious and pragmatic attitude. She views marriage as a means of improving social standing and takes pride in the prestige associated with wealthy in-laws.
• Li Yuan: Continues rising professionally after becoming vice principal. He handles increased social obligations and workplace expectations while remaining grounded and attentive to his family.
• Li Yuan’s mother: Becomes upset and protective after being insulted by Xu Nianxing’s mother, reflecting her pride in her son’s achievements.
• Vice Principals Zhang and Qi: Show support for Li Yuan, recognizing that his success could improve both the school’s performance and their own standing.

Significant Themes

• Love versus materialism: The chapter contrasts Xu Nianxing’s belief in emotional connection with her mother’s belief that wealth and status ensure a good marriage.
• Marriage as partnership versus transaction: Xu Nianxing rejects the idea that marrying into money automatically grants access to another family’s wealth. She understands that spouses are expected to provide emotional value in return.
• Social status and family pride: The matchmaking event and the mother’s comparisons with relatives show how marriage is used to measure family success.
• Professional advancement and changing relationships: Li Yuan’s promotion brings greater respect but also creates social distance, as friends and colleagues become more formal around him.
• Family interference: Both Xu Nianxing and Li Yuan are affected by their parents’ involvement in their relationship, setting up further conflict.

Character Interactions

• Xu Nianxing and her mother argue over the matchmaking event, exposing their opposing views on love, money, and marriage.
• Li Yuan interacts with Vice Principals Zhang and Qi in a cooperative dinner conversation about the school’s future and his responsibilities.
• Li Yuan and Chen Yong experience a subtle shift in their friendship, with Chen Yong deliberately maintaining formality in public.
• Li Yuan’s parents tell him about Xu Nianxing’s mother’s rejection, creating a new emotional and family conflict between the two sides.

Chapter Summary: “The Method Worked”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Yuan’s parents strongly oppose his relationship with Xu Nianxing after her mother insults Li Yuan’s family and boasts that she is arranging a matchmaking event with men possessing at least fifty million in assets.
• Li Yuan’s mother worries that Xu Nianxing’s mother is arrogant, disrespectful, and likely to interfere in their future marriage. His father similarly warns that such family conflict could damage Li Yuan’s career as Vice Principal.
• Although Li Yuan defends Xu Nianxing as kind and personally suitable for him, he begins reconsidering whether their families are truly compatible. He decides to postpone making a final decision until after his upcoming training.
• During the following week, Li Yuan remains busy with work while communicating with Xu Nianxing, Xia Zhao, and Xia Yao.
• Xia Zhao uses martial arts and cultivation questions as an excuse to chat with Li Yuan about ordinary life, revealing her curiosity and desire for companionship.
• Xia Yao, whom Li Yuan treats like a younger sister, feels frustrated by his elder-brother-like attitude. She subtly brings up Xu Nianxing, and Li Yuan tells her that they probably will not end up together because he was looked down upon.
• Xia Yao is secretly delighted, realizing that her earlier scheme to eliminate Xu Nianxing as a romantic rival has succeeded.
• After work on Friday, Li Yuan leaves for the Treasure-Hunting Grounds in the southern wilderness. The area is an isolated, mountain-enclosed basin protected from Fierce Beasts and inhabited by only a small permanent population.
• He travels for a day and a half by high-speed rail and arrives at a border town that serves as the logistical and registration center for the Treasure-Hunting Grounds.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan: Begins seriously questioning his relationship with Xu Nianxing because of the possible long-term consequences of her mother’s behavior. He remains fair-minded, distinguishing Xu Nianxing’s personality from her mother’s, but becomes more cautious about marriage and family compatibility.
• Li Yuan’s mother and father: Both become firmly protective of him after feeling insulted. Their concerns focus not only on personal dignity but also on the possible effect of future in-law conflict on Li Yuan’s career and well-being.
• Xu Nianxing: Remains affectionate and communicative with Li Yuan, but her mother’s actions create serious doubts about their future.
• Xia Zhao: Grows closer to Li Yuan through frequent conversations. Her awkward use of martial arts topics suggests that she wants emotional companionship and is fascinated by his ordinary life.
• Xia Yao: Becomes increasingly conscious of her feelings for Li Yuan and resents being treated as a younger sister. She deliberately encourages Li Yuan to speak about Xu Nianxing and is pleased when he suggests the relationship may fail.

Significant Themes

• Marriage as a union of families: The chapter emphasizes that marriage involves more than romantic compatibility; the behavior and values of both families can shape the couple’s future.
• Class and social status: Xu Nianxing’s mother judges Li Yuan’s family according to wealth, while Li Yuan and his parents reflect on whether their families’ backgrounds and expectations are truly compatible.
• Family dignity and interference: Insults between parents can damage romantic relationships and create lasting resentment.
• Career and reputation: Personal family conflicts may affect professional advancement, especially for someone in a prominent position like Li Yuan.
• Competition and manipulation: Xia Yao’s satisfaction shows her willingness to undermine a romantic rival indirectly rather than confront the situation openly.
• Life at the frontier: The Treasure-Hunting Grounds introduce a dangerous, economically specialized wilderness where people depend on trade in Fierce Beast materials and medicinal herbs.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan’s parents confront him with their concerns, urging him to abandon Xu Nianxing because of her mother’s arrogance.
• Li Yuan tries to defend Xu Nianxing while acknowledging that her family may bring future problems.
• Li Yuan and Xia Zhao develop a friendly correspondence, with technical martial arts discussions gradually turning into personal conversation.
• Li Yuan treats Xia Yao like a younger relative, unintentionally frustrating her and concealing the possibility of her romantic interest.
• Xia Yao probes Li Yuan about Xu Nianxing and privately celebrates when she learns that the relationship may be ending.
• The chapter concludes with Li Yuan leaving his family concerns unresolved as he begins a new training expedition to the Treasure-Hunting Grounds.

Chapter Summary: “Gilded Black Card”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Yuan arrives in Yanling Town, a commercially managed treasure-hunting enclave, and goes to the Border Management Office to obtain entry qualifications.
• The chapter explains Yanling Town’s transition from state administration to commercial management. Although the government once suffered heavy losses maintaining the area, the commercial conglomerate quickly made it profitable through qualification fees and other services.
• Visitors can purchase different levels of exploration permits. Li Yuan applies for a Level Three qualification, which allows access to the deepest and most dangerous areas.
• While waiting for nearly an hour and a half, Li Yuan speaks with an older Third Grade martial artist who earns a living buying and selling Fierce Beast corpses. Their conversation highlights the modest earnings of small-scale operators compared with the profits made by organizations and Anatomists.
• When Li Yuan reaches the counter, the clerk deliberately changes his application from Level Three to Level One, claiming that first-time visitors are automatically restricted to the lowest level. In reality, she is avoiding the extra work because she receives no additional commission.
• Li Yuan presents the special Gilded Black Card given to him by Xia Zhao. The clerk becomes suspicious, summons security, and accuses him of stealing it.
• A man in a blue suit arrives, reprimands the clerk with a glance, and politely informs Li Yuan that the card must be verified. He plans to contact its original owner, while becoming increasingly uneasy because Li Yuan remains calm.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan: Demonstrates patience while waiting but refuses to accept dishonest treatment. His calm presentation of the Gilded Black Card suggests confidence in his status and connections.
• The older martial artist: Provides insight into the economic realities of Yanling Town. Despite possessing Martial Dao strength, he survives mainly through low-profit manual business.
• The clerk: Reveals herself to be negligent, arrogant, and willing to abuse her position for convenience. She falsifies Li Yuan’s application and then makes an unfounded accusation.
• The blue-suited man: Appears more professional and aware of the card’s importance. His concern suggests that the Gilded Black Card is highly prestigious or connected to influential people.
• Xia Zhao: Does not appear directly, but the card he gave Li Yuan becomes central to the conflict and establishes his influence over the situation.

Significant Themes

• Commercialization versus public administration: The chapter contrasts the profitability and efficiency of commercial management with the failures of the former state-run system, while also showing that private companies can develop their own problems.
• Bureaucratic corruption and abuse of authority: The clerk manipulates procedures for personal convenience and treats customers unfairly because she faces little immediate accountability.
• Class and status: Ordinary visitors are treated dismissively, while the Gilded Black Card instantly changes the staff’s attitude and raises questions about Li Yuan’s identity.
• Economic inequality: The older martial artist explains that frontline workers and small operators earn little, while organizations and specialists capture most of the profits.
• Power beneath appearances: Li Yuan’s quiet behavior contrasts with the hidden influence represented by the card, foreshadowing that others may have seriously underestimated him.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan and the older man bond over their criticism of the clerks’ poor attitudes and discuss wages, business, and the realities of earning money in Yanling Town.
• Li Yuan confronts the clerk indirectly when he notices her changing his requested qualification. She responds with fabricated rules and condescension.
• After Li Yuan displays the Gilded Black Card, the clerk calls security and accuses him of theft, escalating the situation.
• The blue-suited employee intervenes, attempting to handle the matter formally while recognizing that the card may be genuine and important.

Chapter Summary: Entering Yanling Town’s Third-Level Treasure Hunt Zone

Plot Points and Events

• Li Yuan presents a Gilded Black Card at the Yanling Town entrance. A clerk, suspicious because he does not behave like a typical black-card holder, questions its validity.
• The male supervisor verifies the card by contacting its original owner. Xia Zhao’s assistant, Cheng Jing, confirms that the card was genuinely gifted to Li Yuan and instructs the staff to change its registered holder.
• Cheng Jing also orders them not to reveal the card’s value to Li Yuan, suggesting that the card and its owner are connected to extremely influential people.
• The supervisor reprimands the clerk for her arrogance and poor treatment of customers. He warns that ordinary employees should not act superior, especially toward people they cannot afford to offend. The clerk faces possible punishment from the company.
• After apologizing and resolving the matter, the supervisor escorts Li Yuan through a private elevator to the sixth floor, a VIP area normally reserved for distinguished clients.
• On the sixth floor, staff treat Li Yuan with exceptional courtesy and quickly process both the cardholder transfer and his application to enter Yanling Town.
• Li Yuan watches an instructional broadcast explaining Yanling Town’s three regions:
  • First level: The town itself, protected by martial artist troops.
  • Second level: A ten-li hunting zone where people hunt Fierce Beasts and gather medicinal herbs before returning safely.
  • Third level: A fan-shaped region twenty li farther south, officially regarded as the true Treasure-Hunting Grounds.
• Li Yuan learns that even the third level has largely been explored, meaning serious treasure seekers must venture beyond it.
• He questions how martial skills and cultivation techniques could be found in the Wilderness Regions, since such knowledge usually comes either from inherited manuals or from individuals developing techniques through extraordinary Talents.
• The supervisor begins explaining that a major historical disaster occurred in the area: an elite martial artist force of more than a thousand people was wiped out there.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan remains calm and composed throughout the conflict. He neither becomes angry at the clerk nor shows excitement over the privileges associated with the Gilded Black Card. His practical attitude is evident when he simply asks the staff to finish the procedures quickly.
• The male supervisor demonstrates professionalism after realizing Li Yuan’s status. He takes responsibility for correcting the clerk’s behavior, personally handles the situation, and treats Li Yuan with careful respect.
• The middle-aged clerk is exposed as arrogant and resentful toward less wealthy customers. Her envy and assumptions lead her to misjudge Li Yuan, leaving her frightened when the card is proven genuine.
• Cheng Jing is portrayed as an authoritative assistant who casually handles a highly valuable card and gives direct orders to the entrance staff, emphasizing Xia Zhao’s influence.

Significant Themes

• Social hierarchy and hidden status: The chapter shows how quickly treatment changes once Li Yuan’s true identity and connections become known.
• Arrogance and consequences: The clerk’s prejudice and sense of superiority nearly cost her job, reinforcing the danger of judging people by appearances.
• Power and privilege: The Gilded Black Card grants Li Yuan access to restricted facilities and immediate priority, highlighting the importance of institutional status.
• Exploration and danger: Yanling Town is presented as a gateway to increasingly dangerous regions, with the most valuable discoveries lying beyond already-explored areas.
• Mystery of the past: The destruction of a massive martial artist unit hints at buried historical secrets and explains why martial techniques may exist in the region.

Character Interactions

• The clerk challenges Li Yuan’s card, creating the chapter’s initial conflict.
• The supervisor reprimands the clerk and warns her that disrespect toward powerful customers has serious consequences.
• Cheng Jing confirms Li Yuan’s ownership and orders the staff to conceal the card’s value, establishing Li Yuan’s connection to influential figures.
• The supervisor and other staff become extremely respectful toward Li Yuan, contrasting sharply with the downstairs clerk’s earlier contempt.
• Li Yuan questions the supervisor about the origins of martial skills, prompting the chapter’s transition from administrative matters to the deeper history and dangers of Yanling Town.

Chapter Summary: “Xia Zhao’s Room?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A male supervisor warns Li Yuan about the danger of the third-level Treasure-Hunting Grounds in Yanling Town. The region is the site of a historic tragedy where thousands of elite martial artists, including Grandmasters and Ninth Grade experts, died fighting to resolve a crisis.
• Many of those fallen martial artists left behind their ultimate martial arts and cultivation methods, turning Yanling Town into a famous treasure-hunting destination.
• Despite Li Yuan’s relatively young age and insufficient strength—Eighth-Rank Martial Dao is considered the minimum threshold—the supervisor grants him Level Three authorization. This allows him unrestricted access to Yanling Town’s various areas.
• Li Yuan also receives a Gilded Black Card originally belonging to Xia Zhao. She has personally changed the cardholder, allowing him to use it at any Scenic Mountain Group business.
• He is given a luxurious hotel suite that turns out to have been Xia Zhao’s private room. Her clothes, including intimate garments, remain in the room, highlighting their growing personal connection.
• A documentary in the suite explains the dangers of Yanling Town. The southeastern portion of the third level is especially perilous and is known as the “Fourth-Layer Region.” Anyone entering it forfeits the right to rescue, and saving someone there reportedly requires a Ninth Grade martial artist at Great Perfection.
• Xia Zhao contacts Li Yuan and emphasizes that the trip should be for experience and training rather than reckless treasure hunting. She sends him two techniques: the basic cultivation method Cloud Swallow Cultivation Method and the saber technique Wiping Blade.
• Li Yuan quickly studies both. He realizes that Cloud Swallow is designed to strengthen Movement Arts by making the body lighter and improving breathing rhythm.
• Although Cloud Swallow is thoughtfully suited to his strengths, Li Yuan considers it inferior to his existing Heavenly Refining Body cultivation method.
• He begins studying Wiping Blade and immediately recognizes its extraordinary nature. The technique focuses on merging the weapon with the body until blade and body become one.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan demonstrates increased confidence and ability. He is willing to enter a dangerous region despite warnings, but he remains rational enough to study the risks and techniques carefully.
• His [Mind Enlightenment] and [Eidetic Memory] Talents allow him to understand and memorize martial texts with remarkable speed.
• Li Yuan also becomes more aware of Xia Zhao’s care and consideration. He recognizes that the hotel room, documentary, and techniques were likely all arranged to help prepare him safely.
• Xia Zhao is revealed to have significant experience with Yanling Town, having entered its third level more than four times. Her repeated experiences have made her more cautious rather than overconfident.
• Xia Zhao’s concern for Li Yuan is shown through her gifts, warnings, and selection of techniques tailored to his Movement Arts.

Significant Themes

• Sacrifice behind prosperity: The prosperity of the current era was built upon the deaths of countless martial artists who protected society from Fierce Beasts and other crises.
• Respect for fallen heroes: The treasures in Yanling Town are portrayed not merely as rewards, but as legacies left by those who died defending humanity.
• Danger versus opportunity: Yanling Town offers powerful martial inheritances, but even talented heirs and elite family prodigies can die there.
• Preparation and restraint: Xia Zhao stresses that Li Yuan should seek experience rather than recklessly pursue treasure, emphasizing survival over greed.
• Inheritance and evolution: The martial arts left by the dead continue through new successors, while Li Yuan evaluates whether newly obtained methods complement or surpass his existing abilities.

Character Interactions

• The male supervisor respectfully warns Li Yuan about Yanling Town while still honoring his request for authorization, balancing concern with recognition of Li Yuan’s independence.
• Xia Zhao and Li Yuan communicate through the chat app. She avoids discussing the card directly but quietly supports him through practical arrangements and valuable martial techniques.
• Li Yuan responds with gratitude and carefully considers Xia Zhao’s recommendations, showing growing trust between them.
• The discovery that Xia Zhao’s clothing remains in his room adds an intimate, personal dimension to their relationship, even though they are physically apart.

Chapter Summary: “An Anxious Matchmaker Ye”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Yuan studies the advanced martial technique Wiping Blade, which has three realms:
  1. Wiping Force, Unloading Power — redirects an opponent’s attacks by guiding them into traps.
  2. Wiping Mark, Leaving Wounds — gradually wears down enemies while inflicting lasting injuries.
  3. Wiping Shadow, Concealing Moves — conceals his intentions, defends while disadvantaged, and creates openings.
• After more than two hours of study, Li Yuan fully comprehends the technique. With his Martial Recruitment Accelerator Talent, he expects to use Wiping Blade effectively in actual combat the next day in Yanling Town.
• Li Yuan recognizes that his previous technique, Six Martial Chain Blade, limited his combat ability. Mastering Wiping Blade should greatly strengthen him and may allow his Martial Sixth Grade strength to challenge Principal Yin, a Martial Seventh Grade expert.
• At midnight, Li Yuan contacts Xu Nianxing to discuss the conflict caused by her mother. Her mother arranged another wealthy blind date for Xu and even approached Li Yuan’s parents, despite Li Yuan and Xu’s developing relationship.
• Xu Nianxing understands that her mother’s actions have damaged their relationship. She feels humiliated, discouraged, and uncertain whether she can build a future with anyone while her mother continues interfering.
• Li Yuan reflects that his relationship with Xu is already difficult, while any possible relationship with Xia Zhao would face even greater opposition because of her far more powerful family background.
• Li Yuan decides not to dwell on romance and instead focuses on resting before entering dangerous Yanling Town.
• Meanwhile, Matchmaker Ye anxiously sits at his computer, unable to understand or resolve the complicated situation he has become involved in.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan demonstrates major martial progress, mastering a sophisticated technique that compensates for a previous weakness in his combat abilities. He becomes more confident in his ability to face stronger opponents.
• He also shows emotional maturity by honestly addressing the relationship issue with Xu Nianxing instead of avoiding it or misleading her. At the same time, he remains pragmatic, choosing to focus on immediate dangers rather than becoming consumed by romantic uncertainty.
• Xu Nianxing becomes increasingly disillusioned with her mother’s marriage expectations. She recognizes that wealth and social status do not guarantee equality or happiness and begins to question whether her mother’s interference has destroyed her chance with Li Yuan.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother is characterized as overconfident, status-conscious, and controlling. Her efforts to arrange a richer match ironically damage her daughter’s existing relationship.
• Xia Zhao is shown indirectly as someone who has strong faith in Li Yuan, having found him such a difficult and valuable martial technique. However, Li Yuan believes her family would strongly oppose a relationship between them.
• Matchmaker Ye shifts from a confident intermediary to an anxious and confused observer as the romantic arrangements he helped set in motion become increasingly tangled.

Significant Themes

• The importance of technique and preparation: Martial Dao strength depends not only on one’s cultivation level but also on the quality of one’s techniques and movement arts.
• Difficulty of transmitting profound knowledge: Advanced martial arts are rarely lost because of secrecy alone; most people lack the ability, time, or guidance needed to master them.
• Family interference in relationships: Romantic relationships are portrayed as unions between families, making parental expectations and social status major obstacles.
• Wealth versus genuine compatibility: Xu Nianxing questions whether marrying into wealth would provide respect or happiness, emphasizing that financial status cannot replace emotional equality.
• Personal confidence and self-determination: Li Yuan chooses to rely on his own growth and future potential rather than being controlled by current family or social barriers.
• Uncertainty and unintended consequences: The actions of Xu’s mother and Matchmaker Ye produce outcomes none of them fully anticipated.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan and Xia Zhao: Their connection is reflected through Xia Zhao’s gift of Wiping Blade, which reveals her confidence in his potential. Li Yuan admires her support but believes their family backgrounds create an even greater barrier.
• Li Yuan and Xu Nianxing: They have an honest but painful conversation about her mother’s interference. Neither openly declares the relationship over, but both understand that the situation has severely weakened their prospects.
• Xu Nianxing and her mother: Xu rejects the arranged wealthy match, but her mother ignores her wishes and approaches Li Yuan’s parents, causing Xu to feel that her relationship has been forcibly undermined.
• Matchmaker Ye and the broader situation: Though his direct interaction is not shown in detail, his anxiety suggests that the matchmaking arrangements have created a complicated conflict beyond his ability to control.

Chapter Summary: Entering Yanling Town, the Dangerous Fourth-Level Region

Key Plot Points and Events

• Matchmaker Ye is tasked by two powerful figures—Sister Shan and another highly respected leader—to find a suitable, high-quality partner for Xu Nianxing. Although Xu appears to be an ordinary company employee, the unusual concern these figures show for her makes Matchmaker Ye suspect that she may have a hidden background.
• Matchmaker Ye accepts the assignment despite the pressure, recognizing that successfully helping Xu could earn him favor with both influential figures.
• The next morning, Li Yuan travels by helicopter to Yanling Town, a wilderness settlement and starting point for expeditions into dangerous regions. He intends to search for treasures and train, likely staying longer than planned.
• Before entering the wilderness, Li Yuan receives the required locator and prepares to depart from the town’s northeastern border.
• A rescue team returns carrying Feng Yingtian, a powerful member of the major Feng Martial Dao family. Feng has suffered the loss of his right leg, cut off by an extremely sharp weapon or attack. His life is saved, but he may remain crippled if the limb cannot be recovered.
• The injury causes fear and hesitation among other martial artists preparing to enter the wilderness. Li Yuan, suspicious that the wound was not caused by a Fierce Beast, questions a company employee about what happened.
• The employee explains that Feng Yingtian, an Eighth-Rank martial artist and future pillar of the Feng Family, was injured while exploring the fourth-level region. The rescue team only risked entering because of Feng’s status; ordinary people in such a dangerous area might not have received assistance.
• Li Yuan begins thinking deeply about the incident, particularly the clean nature of Feng’s wound and the possibility that a human opponent or unusual threat caused it.

Character Developments

• Matchmaker Ye: Revealed to be cautious, politically aware, and deeply sensitive to the power dynamics surrounding his work. He is puzzled by Xu Nianxing’s apparent ordinariness but understands that mishandling the assignment could bring serious consequences.
• Xu Nianxing: Though she does not appear directly, her importance increases. The protection and concern shown by two major figures suggest she possesses a hidden identity, connection, or value beyond her ordinary public image.
• Li Yuan: Demonstrates confidence and composure by entering a dangerous wilderness region despite the risks. He is observant and analytical, immediately recognizing that Feng Yingtian’s injury does not resemble a normal beast attack. His Gilded Black Card also establishes his elevated status and influence.
• Feng Yingtian: Introduced as a highly talented Eighth-Rank martial artist and a future leader of the Feng Family. His severe injury emphasizes that even elite martial artists are vulnerable in the fourth-level region.
• The company employee: Initially nervous around Li Yuan because of his Gilded Black Card, he becomes increasingly careful and detailed in explaining Feng’s situation.

Significant Themes

• Hidden identities and unseen power: Xu Nianxing’s ordinary appearance contrasts with the extraordinary concern powerful figures show toward her, suggesting that appearances are deceptive.
• Danger and uncertainty in the wilderness: Even powerful martial artists face crippling injuries in high-level regions, while rescue is limited by the danger to rescuers themselves.
• Status and privilege: Social and institutional status determine how people are treated. Feng receives a rescue mission because of his family and ability, while ordinary explorers may be abandoned.
• Human threats amid monstrous dangers: Li Yuan’s suspicion that Feng’s injury was caused by a weapon rather than a Fierce Beast hints that humans may be as dangerous as the creatures inhabiting the wilderness.
• Powerful networks and obligations: Both Matchmaker Ye’s assignment and Li Yuan’s access through the Gilded Black Card show how influential connections shape people’s actions and opportunities.

Character Interactions

• Sister Shan and another high-ranking figure independently pressure Matchmaker Ye to protect Xu Nianxing’s future, placing him between two powerful patrons.
• Li Yuan questions a company employee about Feng Yingtian. The employee’s attitude changes immediately after seeing Li Yuan’s Gilded Black Card, reflecting the authority associated with it.
• The employee explains Feng’s importance and the circumstances of his rescue while carefully monitoring Li Yuan’s reaction.
• Feng Yingtian’s rescue indirectly affects every traveler in the distribution hall, causing several people to reconsider entering the wilderness and reinforcing the region’s deadly reputation.

Summary: “Fourth-Layer Region, Stone Tablets!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Yuan learns that the Fourth-Layer Region is extremely dangerous. Even Feng Yingtian, an exceptionally talented Eighth-Rank Martial Dao practitioner with powerful equipment and family support, entered the area and lost a leg.
• The Feng Family posts a mission to recover Feng Yingtian’s severed limb. Because the region is exceptionally cold, the limb may remain viable for up to eighteen hours, giving the family hope that it can be reattached.
• Li Yuan enters the Wilderness Regions and travels southeast through increasingly dangerous zones:
  • The Second-Layer Region contains many martial artists and logistics operations for transporting Fierce Beast corpses.
  • The Third-Layer Region is colder, quieter, and dangerous due to both Fierce Beasts and difficult terrain.
  • The Fourth-Layer Region is much colder and eerily devoid of visible Fierce Beasts, despite its reputation as the most dangerous area.
• Li Yuan uses his Eidetic Memory to memorize the terrain and create a mental map, recognizing that environmental awareness is essential for surviving encounters with Fierce Beasts.
• At the edge of the Fourth-Layer Region, he meets a rescue team searching for Feng Yingtian’s severed limb. They are too frightened to enter, but Li Yuan proceeds alone.
• Inside the Fourth-Layer Region, Li Yuan discovers fragmented inscriptions carved into stones. Using his Mind Enlightenment talent, he can understand the archaic language, infer missing passages, and reconstruct nearly complete texts.
• He excavates six stone tablets, photographs their contents, and sends them to Xia Zhao. The chapter ends when Xia Zhao replies after examining the images.

Character Development

• Li Yuan: Demonstrates growing confidence and careful judgment. He neither underestimates the Wilderness Regions nor allows fear to stop him. His Eidetic Memory and Mind Enlightenment talents prove especially valuable, allowing him to map the terrain and decipher ancient records that others overlooked.
• Feng Yingtian: Although absent from the events, his injury establishes the severity of the Fourth-Layer Region. His status as a powerful genius emphasizes that talent and equipment alone cannot guarantee safety.
• Xia Zhao: Is positioned as an important recipient of Li Yuan’s discovery, suggesting that the stone tablets may have broader significance.
• Rescue team and wilderness martial artists: Their behavior illustrates the cautious, pragmatic culture of the Wilderness Regions. Martial artists generally avoid unnecessary conflict and may cooperate against Fierce Beasts, but they are unwilling to risk their lives recklessly.

Significant Themes

• Danger versus overconfidence: Survival requires respect for the environment, not merely superior combat strength.
• The importance of terrain and preparation: Li Yuan recognizes that forests, shrubs, and unfamiliar surroundings greatly enhance the danger posed by Fierce Beasts.
• Lost knowledge and historical inheritance: The stone tablets preserve records left by earlier generations who sacrificed themselves, suggesting that the past contains knowledge capable of influencing the present.
• Technological and martial advancement: Advanced medicine can preserve severed limbs and support modern martial artists, showing that medical technology has progressed rapidly even as Martial Dao remains central to society.
• Individual ability and opportunity: Li Yuan’s unique talents allow him to perceive and interpret discoveries that ordinary martial artists ignore.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan speaks with a staff member about Feng Yingtian’s injury, the recovery mission, and the medical window for reattaching a severed limb.
• He encounters other martial artists in the wilderness; they exchange brief acknowledgments and generally leave one another alone unless danger arises.
• He questions the rescue team at the Fourth-Layer Region, learns that they are searching for Feng Yingtian’s limb, and watches them retreat rather than enter.
• Li Yuan shares the stone tablets’ contents with Xia Zhao, whose reply sets up the next development in the story.

Summary of “Finding the Severed Leg”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The stone slabs in the Fourth-Layer Region had been documented and studied for years, but researchers had failed to understand them. Li Yuan realizes this was partly because scholars prioritized profitable martial arts techniques and cultivation manuals over historical records.
• By deciphering the slabs, Li Yuan learns that they describe the final stages of an ancient Beast Tide. More than 300,000 Fierce Beasts attacked the southern region, and humanity’s defenders believed extinction was possible.
• The pioneers stationed in the Fourth-Layer Region had prepared for humanity’s possible destruction. Before dying, they recorded their knowledge so future survivors could inherit it.
• The region had once been a major defensive position filled with traps and military weapons designed to repel Fierce Beasts. Because many mechanisms remain active, anyone searching for treasures there faces danger from both beasts and ancient defenses.
• Using the slabs’ maps and instructions, Li Yuan safely bypasses multiple checkpoints and discovers a severed leg covered by a bloodstained trouser leg matching Feng Yingtian’s clothing.
• He concludes that Feng Yingtian lost the limb to an ancient defensive weapon rather than a Fierce Beast. Knowing the leg may remain viable for only eighteen hours, Li Yuan carries it back to the Second-Layer Region.
• Li Yuan gives the limb to logistics personnel, who immediately send it by helicopter to Feng Yingtian. Although this delays Li Yuan by five or six hours, he believes saving Feng’s chance of recovery is worth it.
• Returning to the Fourth-Layer Region, Li Yuan follows the map while avoiding still-active defenses. He eventually reaches a massive collapsed area and excavates several stone slabs containing the incomplete defensive technique Mountain Bodyguard Qi.
• Because of his exceptional physique and stamina from cultivating Heavenly Refining Body, Li Yuan believes he can use the technique effectively in combat, adding a powerful defensive aura to his existing Gang Qi protection.

Character Development

• Li Yuan demonstrates intelligence by correctly interpreting the stone slabs and recognizing their practical value. He also shows compassion and responsibility by prioritizing Feng Yingtian’s severed leg over his own exploration progress.
• His confidence in his physical abilities grows as he realizes that his superior stamina and mental energy allow him to use defensive techniques that most martial artists cannot sustain.
• Feng Yingtian, though absent from the chapter, becomes more vulnerable and humanized through his severe injury. His survival and possible recovery depend on Li Yuan’s actions.
• The ancient pioneers are portrayed as selfless defenders who preserved their knowledge despite believing humanity might be doomed.

Significant Themes

• The value of forgotten history: Important knowledge can be overlooked when people focus only on immediately profitable martial arts manuals and treasures.
• Humanity’s legacy and survival: The pioneers left behind their discoveries so future generations could continue fighting, even if they themselves expected civilization to fall.
• The consequences of ignorance: Modern martial artists suffer from ancient defensive mechanisms because they did not study or respect the records left by their predecessors.
• Compassion versus personal gain: Li Yuan sacrifices valuable time and exploration opportunities to help an injured rival or fellow martial artist.
• Preparation and adaptation: Ancient defensive systems and Li Yuan’s unusual physique both demonstrate how survival depends on preparation, knowledge, and the ability to use available strengths.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan consults and reasons from Xia Zhao’s explanation about the stone slabs, challenging the assumption that their contents are useless.
• He interacts briefly with logistics personnel, who are initially skeptical that he truly entered the Fourth-Layer Region. Once they see the fresh severed limb, they act quickly to transport it.
• His indirect relationship with Feng Yingtian drives the chapter: although Feng is not present, Li Yuan’s discovery and decision to return the limb may determine whether Feng can have it reattached.
• Li Yuan’s eventual interaction with the recovered martial arts technique reflects a partnership between the knowledge of ancient predecessors and his own modern physical capabilities.

Chapter Summary: “Lofty Ambitions”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Yuan quickly memorizes the information recorded on the remaining stone slabs using his [Eidetic Memory] Talent. He avoids recklessly searching the collapsed ruins because damaging the slabs’ cultivation knowledge would be counterproductive.
• Having already obtained the senior’s Mountain Body-Protecting Qi, Li Yuan decides that his gains are sufficient for now. He memorizes the surrounding terrain so he can return later to search for more treasures.
• At the Jin estate, Jin Fan has stabilized physically enough to sit up, but he remains severely weakened. He has lost most of his strength and can barely walk or even clench his fists without becoming exhausted.
• Jin Fan asks his mother, Ding Xiaoyue, whether the family has found an Anatomist capable of extracting Brocade Sinew from a Rainbow-Scaled Tiger. This procedure might restore his body and allow him to resume cultivation.
• Ding Xiaoyue admits that no suitable Anatomist has been found yet. Jin Fan becomes increasingly desperate, insisting that he wants to return to the Martial Dao.
• Jin Fan also demands revenge against Li Yuan. He wants Li Yuan crippled or otherwise left worse off than himself, despite the fact that Jin Fan initiated their violent confrontation and was publicly seen using lethal attacks.
• Ding Xiaoyue explains that the Jin Family is waiting for an appropriate opportunity. Directly attacking Li Yuan could expose the family to legal and political retaliation from its many enemies, making it harder to secure the Rainbow-Scaled Tiger’s Brocade Sinew.
• The family has assigned Jin Fan’s cousins to deal with Li Yuan. Whoever succeeds without implicating the Jin Family will receive special cultivation and political grooming as a possible future family-head candidate.
• Jin Fan is disturbed by this arrangement because he regards the position of family head as his rightful inheritance.
• His cousins soon arrive. Jin Yu openly embraces the opportunity, hoping that successfully completing the family’s tasks will allow a branch-family member to rise into the Jin Family’s inner circle.
• Jin Yu taunts Jin Fan, calling him a cripple who cannot understand the branch family’s “lofty ambitions.” He then begins to mention rumors involving Li Yuan and Xia Zhao, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan demonstrates caution, discipline, and long-term planning. Rather than greedily pursuing every possible treasure, he recognizes the value of preserving the stone slabs and leaves with both useful cultivation knowledge and a mental map of the ruins.
• Jin Fan has become physically crippled and emotionally consumed by resentment. His obsession with revenge outweighs practical concerns, responsibility, or acknowledgment of his own role in the conflict.
• Ding Xiaoyue remains protective of her son and continues treating him as a future family leader. However, she also shows political awareness, teaching him to control his emotions and explaining the dangers of acting recklessly.
• Jin Yu emerges as ambitious, pragmatic, and confident. Unlike Jin Fan, he understands that branch-family members have few opportunities and intends to exploit this one fully.
• Jin Fan’s position within the family becomes less secure. Although Ding Xiaoyue reassures him that the cousins are not yet true competitors, their success could eventually challenge his presumed inheritance.

Significant Themes

• Ambition and opportunity: The branch-family members see the mission against Li Yuan as a rare chance to gain power, while Jin Fan views it only as a tool for revenge.
• Revenge versus responsibility: Jin Fan refuses to accept that his own aggression caused his downfall, framing himself as the victim and demanding retaliation.
• Power and political restraint: The Jin Family cannot simply use force because legal consequences and rival families threaten its resources and influence.
• Physical strength and identity: Jin Fan’s inability to cultivate or move normally causes a profound crisis, since his self-worth is closely tied to his status as a martial artist and heir.
• Preservation of knowledge: Li Yuan’s careful handling of the stone slabs emphasizes the importance of patience, foresight, and protecting valuable knowledge rather than pursuing immediate gains.
• Family succession and internal rivalry: The conflict with Li Yuan becomes intertwined with competition among Jin Family heirs, transforming revenge into a test of political ability.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan and the ruins: Li Yuan interacts primarily with the remains of past cultivators, treating the stone slabs with care and using memory to preserve their knowledge.
• Jin Fan and Ding Xiaoyue: Jin Fan pressures his mother for news about his recovery and revenge plans. Ding Xiaoyue balances reassurance with warnings about family politics and teaches him to maintain the dignity expected of a future leader.
• Jin Fan and Jin Yu: Their conversation reveals deep hostility. Jin Yu’s ambition threatens Jin Fan’s assumed inheritance, while Jin Fan dismisses the branch family’s prospects. Jin Yu retaliates by attacking Jin Fan’s wounded pride and physical condition.
• The Jin Family and Li Yuan: The family is preparing a covert response against Li Yuan, but it must avoid creating evidence that could bring legal punishment or invite rival families to exploit its mistake.
• Li Yuan and Xia Zhao: Their relationship is not shown directly in this chapter, but Jin Yu’s mention of rumors concerning them suggests that their connection may become relevant to the Jin Family’s revenge plans.

Chapter Summary:

Feng Yingtian’s Gratitude

Key Plot Points and Events

• Jin Yu argues that capable Branch House descendants can eventually earn the elders’ trust, gain important responsibilities, and possibly even become heirs. His words make Jin Fan feel threatened and resentful.
• Jin Yu deliberately provokes Jin Fan by discussing rumors that Jin Fan manipulated Li Yuan and Xia Zhao into meeting. He emphasizes that Xia Zhao now seems increasingly interested in Li Yuan, worsening Jin Fan’s jealousy and frustration.
• When Jin Fan’s mother, Ding Xiaoyue, returns, Jin Yu and the other cousins pretend to be concerned for Jin Fan and claim they intend to help him take revenge on Li Yuan.
• Their apparent solidarity is largely self-serving. The Jin Family wants to defend its reputation and demonstrate that no one can injure a family member without consequences, even though Jin Fan was partly at fault in the original conflict.
• Ding Xiaoyue privately advises Jin Fan to recover, remain outwardly courteous, and learn the political skill of concealing his true feelings. She assures him that revenge can be arranged if necessary and that his priority should be obtaining the Rainbow-Scaled Tiger’s Brocade Sinew to heal his injuries.
• Jin Fan accepts her advice and resolves to focus on recovery, while viewing Jin Yu and the other cousins as potential tools he may manipulate in the future.
• Later, Li Yuan returns to Yanling Town and is recognized by Feng Yingtian’s assistant. The assistant thanks him for recovering Feng Yingtian’s severed limb and saving his life.
• Since the Feng Family elders have not yet arrived and Feng Yingtian is undergoing emergency surgery, the assistant apologizes for offering only verbal thanks. He promises that the family will personally visit Li Yuan and provide proper gratitude later.
• Li Yuan, who helped without seeking a reward, calmly accepts the thanks and prepares to return to Lingshan City. The assistant then arranges for him to use the Feng Family’s private helicopter.

Character Developments

• Jin Fan: His arrogance and jealousy become increasingly obvious, but his mother’s advice forces him to recognize his own immaturity and lack of political awareness. He begins to adopt a more calculating outlook, deciding to hide his hostility and wait for opportunities.
• Ding Xiaoyue: Reveals herself as politically experienced, perceptive, and potentially ruthless. She understands both the value of maintaining appearances and the practical means of arranging revenge.
• Jin Yu and the Branch House cousins: Demonstrate ambition and opportunism. Their concern for Jin Fan is mostly performative; they seek greater standing for themselves and want to strengthen the Jin Family’s reputation.
• Li Yuan: Remains calm, modest, and detached from personal gain. His willingness to help Feng Yingtian without demanding compensation enhances his reputation.
• Feng Yingtian: Though absent because he is undergoing surgery, his survival and recovery are directly attributed to Li Yuan’s intervention, creating an important connection between Li Yuan and the Feng Family.

Significant Themes

• Ambition and social advancement: Branch House descendants can rise through competence, even without initially receiving trust or attention.
• Family reputation and political power: The Jin Family’s response to Jin Fan’s injury is motivated not only by justice but by the need to preserve its status and discourage outsiders from challenging it.
• Appearance versus reality: Jin Yu’s cousins pretend to be loyal, while Ding Xiaoyue teaches Jin Fan that outward courtesy and hidden intentions are essential in struggles for power.
• Maturity through adversity: Jin Fan’s injuries and loss of status force him to confront his flaws and begin thinking more strategically.
• Gratitude and reciprocity: Li Yuan’s selfless aid creates a debt with the influential Feng Family, even though he did not initially seek any reward.

Important Character Interactions

• Jin Yu and Jin Fan: Jin Yu taunts Jin Fan about the Branch House’s rising prospects and Xia Zhao’s growing closeness to Li Yuan, intensifying Jin Fan’s resentment.
• Ding Xiaoyue and Jin Fan: She sharply but constructively counsels him, encouraging emotional control, strategic behavior, and patience while promising support for his recovery and revenge.
• Li Yuan and Feng Yingtian’s assistant: The assistant expresses the Feng Family’s gratitude and arranges private transportation for Li Yuan, establishing the family’s respect and future obligation toward him.

Chapter Summary: Fifty-Million Matchmaking Event, Not Attending

Key Plot Points and Events

• After visiting the Feng Family, Li Yuan is offered a ride back to Lingshan City in Feng Yingtian’s private helicopter. Feng’s assistant instructs the crew to treat Li Yuan respectfully and take him wherever he wishes, demonstrating the family’s recognition of his status.
• The helicopter takes Li Yuan directly to Lingshan City in just over three hours. A car is waiting at the suburban helipad, and he arrives home around 2 a.m. without disturbing his parents.
• Before sleeping, Li Yuan reviews his recent gains:
  • He has obtained the advanced blade technique Wiping Blade from Xia Zhao.
  • He has acquired the rare defensive martial skill Mountain Body-Protecting Qi.
  • He believes the defensive technique will be especially valuable because Jin Fan may retaliate against him.
  • His Experience Points have risen to 246/700, bringing his seventh Talent Point closer.
• The next morning, Xu Nianxing’s mother pressures her to attend the “Fifty-Million Matchmaking Event,” where wealthy potential partners are available.
• Xu Nianxing refuses, rejecting the idea of marrying someone solely because of wealth. She argues that rich men and their families would hold the advantage in such a marriage and that she does not want to become dependent on them.
• Her mother criticizes Li Yuan as a poor young man who may never afford a home in a major city. Xu Nianxing counters that Li Yuan is capable, responsible, and far more impressive than her mother realizes.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother’s motivation is revealed to be partly competitive: she wants her daughter to marry into a wealthy family and surpass her sister, Third Aunt.
• Matchmaker Ye calls after hearing that Xu Nianxing finds the event too distant and inconvenient. He offers to move the event near her apartment. Rather than persuading her, this makes Xu Nianxing more suspicious that he is a scammer, since she cannot believe a famous matchmaker would accommodate her so readily.
• Li Yuan returns to school and resumes his duties as Vice Principal. Midterm results show little immediate improvement among most students, worrying Chen Yong, who fears Li Yuan will be blamed.
• Li Yuan remains confident that the students’ progress will become visible over time and expects stronger results in the upcoming national college entrance examination.
• The chapter ends when Director Zeng calls Li Yuan at noon.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan: Continues strengthening himself through martial skills and experience accumulation. He is increasingly respected by powerful figures such as the Feng Family while remaining focused on his responsibilities at school. His confidence in his educational reforms grows.
• Xu Nianxing: Demonstrates independence and clear judgment. She refuses to let her mother dictate her marriage and values equality, capability, and genuine compatibility over wealth or social status. Her positive opinion of Li Yuan becomes more explicit.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother: Revealed as status-conscious and heavily influenced by comparison with relatives. She believes financial security and a prestigious marriage are the best guarantees of her daughter’s future.
• Matchmaker Ye: His unusual willingness to accommodate Xu Nianxing increases her suspicion rather than earning her trust.
• Chen Yong: Becomes anxious about the school’s academic results and worries that Li Yuan will be held responsible for the lack of immediate improvement.

Significant Themes

• Wealth versus character: Xu Nianxing rejects the assumption that financial status automatically makes someone a suitable spouse, while her mother equates wealth with security and success.
• Independence and autonomy: Xu Nianxing insists on making her own marital decisions instead of accepting a relationship arranged for family prestige.
• Appearance versus reality: Li Yuan is underestimated because of his ordinary background, while Xu Nianxing suspects that the matchmaking event and Matchmaker Ye may not be what they appear to be.
• Long-term growth: Li Yuan recognizes that both martial progress and educational improvement require accumulation over time rather than immediate results.
• Recognition and changing status: The Feng Family’s treatment of Li Yuan shows that his abilities and connections are beginning to earn him respect from influential people.

Character Interactions

• Feng Yingtian’s assistant formally acknowledges Li Yuan’s importance by giving him access to the family helicopter and Feng’s personal business card.
• Xu Nianxing clashes with her mother over the matchmaking event, defending both her own values and Li Yuan’s potential.
• Xu Nianxing’s mother attempts to persuade her through arguments about wealth, housing, and social comparison, but Xu Nianxing remains unmoved.
• Matchmaker Ye tries to accommodate Xu Nianxing’s refusal, but his excessive enthusiasm only deepens her distrust.
• Chen Yong’s concern about academic performance contrasts with Li Yuan’s calmer confidence in gradual, measurable improvement.

Chapter Summary: “Did I Threaten Her?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Director Zeng invites Li Yuan to lunch to discuss an unofficial but important matter.
• He warns Li Yuan that rumors are circulating accusing him of threatening and coercing his former girlfriend, Zhuang Meng.
• The rumors claim Li Yuan refused tasks from Lan Eagle City’s Trial Command Center because he had improper intentions toward Zhuang Meng.
• Li Yuan firmly denies this, explaining that he declined the assignments because he was busy at Lingshan No. 1 High School and because Lan Eagle City had reduced the rewards.
• Director Zeng suspects the Jin Family is spreading the rumors to damage Li Yuan’s reputation after Jin Fan’s defeat and injury.
• Li Yuan, however, believes Zhuang Meng herself may be responsible, since she has repeatedly assumed that he still has feelings for her.
• Director Zeng warns that repeated rumors could harm Li Yuan’s promising career as a young vice principal.
• He suggests that Li Yuan publicly acknowledge his relationship with someone else to dispel the rumors and offers to introduce him to his niece.
• Li Yuan politely refuses, revealing only that he already likes someone, though they are not officially together.
• Director Zeng also informs Li Yuan that the Lan Eagle City Trial Command Center requested that the Municipal Education Bureau issue him an official reprimand for refusing an important assignment.
• The bureau intends to ignore the request, and Director Zeng reveals that the command center is divided internally. Some members still want Li Yuan to return because of his unusual ability to activate and repair large machinery.
• Li Yuan explains that the tasks are difficult and poorly compensated. The machinery now requires not only activation but also repairs and replacement installations, making the assignments even more demanding.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan: Remains composed and direct despite being falsely accused. He becomes increasingly resentful toward Zhuang Meng for misinterpreting his actions and damaging his reputation. He also confirms that he has feelings for someone else, though he keeps her identity private.
• Director Zeng: Demonstrates strong trust in Li Yuan and protects him from the requested reprimand. He acts as both a political supporter and a concerned elder, advising Li Yuan about his public image and attempting to arrange a marriage for him.
• Zhuang Meng: Though absent from the chapter, she is portrayed as self-important and convinced that Li Yuan still desires her. Her assumptions may have contributed to the rumors.
• The Jin Family: Remains a possible source of the smear campaign, using indirect methods to retaliate against Li Yuan.
• Lan Eagle City’s command center: Is revealed to be internally divided, with some officials criticizing Li Yuan while others continue relying on his specialized abilities.

Significant Themes

• Rumors and reputation: The chapter emphasizes how repeated accusations can damage a person even without evidence, especially when the target holds a prestigious position.
• Power struggles and indirect retaliation: Li Yuan’s enemies cannot easily confront him directly, so they attempt to undermine him through gossip and administrative pressure.
• Miscommunication and distorted perceptions: Zhuang Meng’s assumptions about Li Yuan’s feelings demonstrate how personal pride and misunderstanding can create conflict.
• Professional value versus institutional exploitation: Lan Eagle City needs Li Yuan’s rare technical and martial expertise but offers insufficient rewards and attempts to pressure him into cooperating.
• Privacy and public image: Li Yuan must balance his desire to keep his romantic life private with the need to prevent speculation from affecting his career.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan and Director Zeng: Their lunch conversation is marked by mutual trust. Director Zeng warns Li Yuan about the rumors, supports his explanation, offers personal matchmaking advice, and reassures him that the bureau will not punish him.
• Li Yuan and Zhuang Meng: Although they do not meet directly, their past relationship drives the chapter’s conflict. Li Yuan believes she has misread his avoidance as continued romantic interest.
• Li Yuan and the Jin Family: Their ongoing conflict has shifted from direct confrontation to behind-the-scenes attacks and reputation management.
• Li Yuan and Lan Eagle City: Their relationship is increasingly strained. The city’s officials need his help with complex machinery but criticize him for refusing assignments that are inconvenient and underpaid.

Chapter Summary: “Treasures!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Director Zeng and Li Yuan discuss the worsening situation in Lan Eagle City. The command headquarters may formally invite Li Yuan back to resolve the machinery-related crisis, but Li Yuan initially refuses, unwilling to become involved in their internal disputes.
• Director Zeng warns that the malicious rumors about Li Yuan must be handled carefully. Even falsehoods can become accepted as truth if repeated often, and Li Yuan’s reputation will be important to his future advancement.
• In Lan Eagle City, Tang Wenlou, Zhuang Meng, and Tang Shuchen discuss how to prevent Li Yuan from returning. Tang Wenlou openly condemns Li Yuan’s character, though his real motive is protecting himself from blame.
• Tang Wenlou had previously downgraded Li Yuan’s missions, provoking Li Yuan’s refusal to cooperate. As a result, Lan Eagle City’s machine-activation missions began failing, causing serious problems over three months and threatening Tang Wenlou’s authority.
• Tang Wenlou and Zhuang Meng spread rumors to discredit Li Yuan. Zhuang Meng had originally claimed she could persuade Li Yuan to return, but after failing to contact him—and after Duan Lin was rejected—she began inventing accusations based on her belief that Li Yuan still had feelings for her.
• Tang Wenlou arranges for a Mechanical Academy instructor, a Seventh-Rank martial artist, to handle Lan Eagle City’s machinery problems. He plans to portray this expert as unimpressive and offer additional compensation if necessary.
• Later, Li Yuan receives a formal invitation from his liaison officer, Chen Moying. The mission is upgraded to A-level with greater rewards, but Li Yuan refuses because he no longer needs contribution points from Lan Eagle City.
• Chen Moying then reveals that Deputy Commander Zhou is willing to offer Li Yuan an S-Grade Nutrient Tonic if he resolves the crisis. This dramatically changes Li Yuan’s attitude, as such a tonic could help him make a major breakthrough and possibly approach the Seventh-Rank realm.
• Li Yuan does not accept immediately, choosing to delay and consider the offer. Chen Moying also appeals to his dislike of Zhuang Meng’s family and points out that his success would weaken Tang Wenlou’s authority, but Li Yuan does not respond to that argument.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan: Becomes more cautious and politically aware. He rejects ordinary rewards and refuses to be drawn into Lan Eagle City’s power struggles, but the S-Grade Nutrient Tonic interests him because of its potential impact on his Martial Dao cultivation. He also avoids making a hasty commitment.
• Director Zeng: Shows concern for Li Yuan’s long-term reputation and understands that the rumors could damage his future even if they are false.
• Tang Wenlou: Is revealed to be protecting himself from the consequences of his earlier decisions. His hostility toward Li Yuan is driven by fear that Li Yuan’s return would expose his incompetence and cost him authority.
• Zhuang Meng: Becomes increasingly desperate and delusional. After failing to bring Li Yuan back, she justifies spreading rumors by convincing herself that her accusations reflect the truth.
• Chen Moying: Continues acting as Li Yuan’s intermediary and negotiator, escalating the offer when ordinary incentives fail.
• Deputy Commander Zhou: Though not present directly, he emerges as a powerful figure willing to offer an extremely valuable reward to solve the crisis.

Significant Themes

• Reputation and truth: The chapter emphasizes how repeated lies can become socially accepted, making reputation nearly as important as actual achievements.
• Political manipulation and blame: Tang Wenlou’s attempts to discredit Li Yuan show how officials may manipulate public opinion to conceal their own mistakes and preserve authority.
• Power struggles: Li Yuan’s return would not merely solve a technical problem; it would undermine Tang Wenlou and empower his political opponents.
• Value and temptation: Ordinary rewards cannot interest Li Yuan anymore, but the rare S-Grade Nutrient Tonic is valuable enough to make him reconsider his refusal.
• Personal motives behind public arguments: Tang Wenlou claims Li Yuan has poor character, while Zhuang Meng frames her rumors as truth, but both are primarily motivated by fear, pride, and self-interest.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan and Director Zeng: They calmly discuss whether Li Yuan should return and agree that the rumor campaign must be handled carefully.
• Tang Wenlou, Zhuang Meng, and Tang Shuchen: Their conversation exposes the coordinated effort to keep Li Yuan away and protect Tang Wenlou’s influence.
• Tang Wenlou and the Mechanical Academy instructor: Tang Wenlou plans to use the instructor as an alternative solution and manipulate public perception of his abilities.
• Li Yuan and Chen Moying: Chen Moying first offers an A-level mission and contribution points, then returns with the far more valuable S-Grade Nutrient Tonic. Li Yuan remains firm but becomes noticeably interested after hearing the upgraded offer.

Chapter Summary: “Assassination Strikes”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Yuan rejects the idea of being manipulated by Zhuang Meng’s family or their allies. Although he is interested in the promised S-Grade reward, he refuses to accept the mission without first investigating its risks and conditions.
• Chen Moying is placed under pressure because securing Li Yuan’s cooperation is important to her promotion, salary increase, and decision to support Deputy Commander Zhou. Without completing this task, she fears she will lose her value and future protection.
• That night, Li Yuan rents a private Training Ground room to improve his mastery of Wiping Blade and Mountain River Protective Qi.
• After roughly ten days of study and practice, he has mastered all three realms of Wiping Blade: Wiping Force, Unloading Power; Wiping Mark, Leaving Wounds; and Wiping Shadow, Concealing Moves. He realizes that if he had possessed this level of skill during his earlier battle with Jin Fan, he could have killed him.
• Immediately after training, a Seventh-Rank Martial Dao assassin ambushes him inside the camera-free Practice Room. The assassin has the advantage of surprise, higher cultivation, and superior preparation, expecting Li Yuan to be exhausted after training.
• Li Yuan reveals that he is barely tired and successfully counters the assassination attempt with Wiping Blade. He reads through the assassin’s attacks, avoids his mutual-injury tactics, and gradually inflicts multiple wounds.
• The assassin attempts to escape, but Li Yuan’s martial foundation, movement technique, stamina, and combat skill are all superior. In the end, Li Yuan cripples him, leaving him in a condition similar to Jin Fan’s.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan becomes increasingly cautious and independent. He is tempted by the valuable reward but refuses to act blindly, showing that he will not allow powerful factions to exploit him.
• His mastery of Wiping Blade marks a major increase in combat ability. His technique, stamina, physique, and ability to analyze opponents allow him to overcome an enemy a full major realm above him.
• Chen Moying is shown to be politically vulnerable and ambitious. Her reliance on Li Yuan demonstrates how important his cooperation is to her career and survival within the power struggle surrounding Deputy Commander Zhou.
• The assassin’s confidence collapses as he realizes that Li Yuan’s true strength is far beyond what his employers understood. His shift from certainty to fear emphasizes the consequences of underestimating Li Yuan.
• The unnamed forces behind the assassination are exposed as arrogant and poorly informed. Their decision to send only one supposedly superior assassin reflects their failure to recognize Li Yuan’s rapid growth.

Significant Themes

• Independence and manipulation: Li Yuan refuses to become anyone’s pawn and insists on understanding the full cost and benefit of a mission.
• The danger of underestimation: Both the assassin and his employers assume that Li Yuan’s rank and profession accurately reflect his ability, leading directly to their failure.
• Preparation versus arrogance: Li Yuan’s disciplined training and mastery of technique defeat the assassin’s reliance on cultivation level and surprise.
• Rapid growth and hidden strength: Li Yuan’s true capabilities are far greater than outsiders realize, making him increasingly dangerous to those who target him.
• Power and personal value: Chen Moying’s situation highlights the harsh political environment in which people are valued according to their usefulness and achievements.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan and Chen Moying: Their phone conversation centers on the proposed mission. Chen tries to persuade him indirectly, while Li Yuan makes clear that vague promises and pressure will not be enough.
• Li Yuan and the assassin: Their confrontation begins as a surprise attack but becomes a direct contest between the assassin’s higher realm and Li Yuan’s superior technique, stamina, and perception. Li Yuan gradually reverses the assassin’s advantage and defeats him.
• Li Yuan and his unseen enemies: Though they do not appear directly, the people who hired the assassin interact with him through their failed attempt. Their arrogance and inadequate intelligence-gathering provoke Li Yuan and leave them facing the consequences of his survival.

Chapter Summary: “The Severely Injured Assassin”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A masked assassin is found severely injured inside a Practice Room in downtown Lingshan City after attempting to attack Li Yuan.
• Li Yuan immediately contacts the police. Because Practice Rooms are private facilities with strict entry rules, the assassin’s unexplained presence raises serious suspicion.
• Surveillance footage confirms that the assassin did not enter through the only normal entrance and had neither rented nor been invited into the facility.
• Bystanders record the incident, and videos quickly spread online, creating public concern about martial artists using violence in crowded urban areas.
• Law enforcement investigates Li Yuan and the assassin. Li Yuan is cleared of wrongdoing and released after giving a statement.
• The assassin is identified as a martial artist with multiple previous convictions for assault. His latest attack is implied to have ended his criminal career permanently.
• Li Yuan realizes that the Jin Family arranged the assassination, since they are the only people with sufficient motive to target him.
• At the Jin Family residence, Jin Yu and the branch-family youths discuss the failed attack. Jin Yu assures them that the lack of direct evidence protects the family from prosecution.
• Jin Yu reveals that the assassin’s success would have made eliminating Li Yuan easy, but he remains confident rather than worried.
• The Jin Family decides to use the annual Promotion Assessment for middle school teachers as their next opportunity to confront Li Yuan. They intend to challenge him publicly and restore the family’s damaged reputation after Jin Fan’s defeat.
• Jin Yu explains that even if they cannot seriously injure Li Yuan during the assessment, publicly competing with him will demonstrate the strength and pride of the younger Jin Family generation. However, they remain willing to cause him severe injury if the opportunity arises.

Character Developments

• Li Yuan: Demonstrates composure, legal awareness, and confidence after defeating the assassin. He cooperates with authorities and correctly identifies the Jin Family as the force behind the attack. His growing ability has made him a serious threat to the family.
• Jin Yu: Establishes himself as a persuasive and influential leader. He calms the others, dismisses their fears, and reframes the failed assassination as only a temporary setback. Beneath his apparent respect for Li Yuan, he remains deeply contemptuous and determined to defeat him.
• The branch-family youths: Initially anxious about being connected to the assassination, they regain confidence under Jin Yu’s encouragement. Some recognize that Li Yuan must be taken seriously, but Jin Yu persuades them to restore their pride.
• The assassin: Is revealed to be a repeat offender and likely a hired killer. His defeat exposes the Jin Family’s willingness to use covert and criminal methods against Li Yuan.
• Jin Fan: Though absent, his defeat continues to shape events. His severe injury has damaged both his personal reputation and the standing of the entire Jin Family.

Significant Themes

• Justice and accountability: The authorities distinguish Li Yuan’s lawful self-defense from the assassin’s criminal attack, while the Jin Family attempts to exploit the lack of evidence to avoid punishment.
• Public reputation and family honor: The Jin Family is preoccupied with repairing its image after Jin Fan’s humiliating defeat. Public competition becomes as important as actually defeating Li Yuan.
• Confidence versus arrogance: Jin Yu inspires his relatives by urging them to recover their pride, but his confidence is mixed with contempt and underestimation of Li Yuan.
• The dangers of martial power: Martial artists are humanity’s defense against Fierce Beasts, yet their strength can also threaten civilians and social order. The chapter highlights the restrictions placed on martial artists in urban areas.
• Escalating conflict: The failed assassination does not end the feud. Instead, it pushes the Jin Family toward a more public and potentially dangerous confrontation.

Character Interactions

• Li Yuan cooperates with law enforcement and calmly accepts their investigation after the assassin is discovered.
• Law enforcement and the Practice Room owner work together to establish that the assassin trespassed illegally.
• Jin Yu reassures the frightened branch-family members, dismisses their concerns, and motivates them to regain confidence.
• When one relative warns that Li Yuan should be treated seriously, Jin Yu rebukes the suggestion before reframing Li Yuan as both a valuable opportunity and an opponent to overcome.
• Jin Yu outlines the family’s plan to arrange Li Yuan’s participation in the Promotion Assessment, turning the next confrontation into a public test of strength and family prestige.