Chapter Summaries

Fang Han defeated Qin Xiaoran in a fierce duel, establishing his strength as the new hundredth-ranked member of the Prodigy Ranking. As he left the arena, Su Yu called him over, leaving the garden tense with speculation about whether another challenge would follow.

• Fang Han outmaneuvered Qin Xiaoran and cut his left arm, drawing blood first and gaining the advantage.
• Qin Xiaoran opened his Tide Surge Divine Treasury and launched a desperate, strengthened assault, but Fang Han matched his Internal Qi and continued to overpower him.
• Fang Han broke through Qin Xiaoran's defenses and struck his chest, sending him off the arena with severe internal injuries.
• The spectators celebrated Fang Han's victory as Qin Xiaoran's disciples helped him and the Withered Wood Elder grew displeased.
• Su Yu approached Fang Han and asked him to wait, prompting concern that he might challenge Fang Han while he was exhausted.

After defeating Qin Xiaoran, Fang Han accepted Su Yu’s challenge for a fair fight the next day. At the Azure Profound Branch Courtyard’s arena, Fang Han waited for Su Yu to arrive, with a large crowd gathered to watch their duel.

• Su Yu praised Fang Han’s victory over Qin Xiaoran and arranged to challenge him the following day, giving him time to recover.
• Fang Han accepted Su Yu’s challenge at the Azure Profound Branch Courtyard, and the crowd admired Su Yu’s choice to fight fairly.
• At Zhang Hao’s birthday banquet, Zhang Hao told the guests that a spiritually aware Millennium Ginseng had been spotted in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, and Fang Han remembered its location and value.
• After returning to the branch courtyard, Fang Han practiced the Mystic Wind Art to restore himself and prepare for his battle with Su Yu.
• The next morning, Fang Han trained, carried the Flowing Wind Sword to the martial arts arena, and waited for Su Yu as spectators gathered.

Fang Han narrowly defeated Su Yu in a fierce duel, securing his position on the Prodigy Ranking. After recovering in his courtyard, he began reviewing the battle to improve his swordsmanship and movement.

• Fang Han and Su Yu exchanged rapid attacks, with Su Yu’s flute notes disrupting Fang Han’s focus while Fang Han’s swordsmanship kept them evenly matched.
• Fang Han activated the Divine Treasury Tide Surge and drove a powerful strike through Su Yu’s sound-wave defenses.
• Fang Han disarmed Su Yu and held his sword at Su Yu’s throat, winning the duel by a narrow margin.
• Su Yu accepted his defeat, and the spectators celebrated Fang Han’s victory.
• Fang Han returned to his courtyard, restored his Internal Qi, and practiced while reflecting on the battle’s lessons.

After returning to the Azure Profound Sect, Fang Han perfected his Flowing Wind Shadowless Step and visited Elder Chen Xuan to pay his respects. He then sought out Xiao Chen, whose joy at seeing him was tempered by their changed status.

• Fang Han practiced the Void-Sundering Nine Swords and further improved his swordsmanship after digesting his duel with Su Yu.
• Fang Han used what he had learned in battle to break through to Perfection in the Flowing Wind Shadowless Step, then decided to return to the sect before seeking a higher-grade technique.
• Fang Han and the Azure Profound Sect delegation returned from the Zhang Clan's birthday banquet, and he checked that his contribution points totaled 31,650.
• Fang Han visited Elder Chen Xuan with Cloud Mist Tea, and Chen praised his victories over Qin Xiaoran and Su Yu while urging him to keep cultivating diligently.
• Fang Han went to Xiao Chen's residence, where Xiao Chen greeted him with delight but showed restraint because Fang Han had become a true disciple and Prodigy Ranking member.

Fang Han visited Xiao Chen, then exchanged contribution points for the Windcloud Escape manual and quickly memorized its fundamentals. He left the sect for the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, hoping to find the Millennium Ginseng Zhang Hao had discovered.

• Fang Han visited Xiao Chen, recounted his trip to Prefecture City, and gave him three bottles of True Spirit Pills.
• Fang Han went to the Library Pavilion and exchanged eleven thousand contribution points for the Windcloud Escape movement technique.
• Fang Han studied and memorized the manual's basic principles before returning it to Elder Mo.
• Fang Han packed supplies, told Qui Lan he was leaving to train, and departed the Azure Profound Sect the next day.
• Fang Han set out for the Cloud Mist Mountain Range to search for the Millennium Ginseng.

Fang Han reached Cloud Mist City and entered the Cloud Mist Mountain Range to search for the Millennium Ginseng while cultivating the Windcloud Escape. After attaining its Beginner stage, he detected the ginseng’s fragrance and found the plant growing on a secluded slope.

• Fang Han traveled for six days while practicing the Windcloud Escape, then arrived at Cloud Mist City near the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.
• Fang Han learned from inn patrons and a waiter that the Millennium Ginseng had recently been seen near Sunset Glow Valley and usually appeared in the mountains’ outer regions.
• Fang Han entered the mountain range, concealed his aura, and searched for several days without finding the ginseng or engaging other martial artists.
• Fang Han attained the Beginner stage of the Windcloud Escape after more than ten days of practice in the mountains.
• Fang Han followed a distinctive medicinal fragrance through the forest and spotted a jade-like plant with pale golden radiance, which he identified as the Millennium Ginseng.

Fang Han failed to capture the Millennium Ginseng after it sensed him and burrowed away, so he perfected his breath-concealment technique before searching again. After finding no trace of the ginseng, he traveled deeper into the mountains and approached a group of martial artists rushing toward an unknown opportunity.

• Fang Han tried to seize the Millennium Ginseng, but it detected him and escaped underground before he could catch it.
• Fang Han concluded that his Great Success Myriad Transformation Breath Concealment Technique had failed to hide his aura, and he trained until he perfected it.
• Fang Han searched the forest for three days but found no further trace of the Millennium Ginseng.
• Fang Han left the area to seek other opportunities and heard hurried voices and footsteps ahead.
• Fang Han concealed his aura and approached seven or eight excited martial artists hurrying through the forest.

Fang Han tracked down and captured the millennium ginseng in Falling Eagle Ravine, then used the System Panel to recharge it. Surrounded by dozens of suspicious martial artists who believed he had taken the treasure, he was left facing a tense standoff.

• Fang Han followed martial artists to Falling Eagle Ravine and used the Spirit Nose Technique to locate the millennium ginseng.
• Fang Han ambushed the ginseng, stopped it from burrowing away with Sword Qi, and seized it.
• Fang Han recharged the millennium ginseng through the System Panel, making it vanish, then tried to flee as nearby martial artists rushed toward him.
• Fang Han told five martial artists that the ginseng had escaped underground, but they doubted his claim and eyed his bundle with suspicion.
• Fifty or sixty martial artists gathered around Fang Han, greedily watching him while hesitating to challenge an Azure Profound Sect disciple.

Fang Han killed the martial artists who tried to force him to reveal his pack and then used their greed to justify killing those who attacked it. After spending several days pretending to search for the Millennium Ginseng, he left the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, but stopped in the hills before reaching the official road.

• A middle-aged martial artist demanded to inspect Fang Han’s pack, and Fang Han killed him with a single sword strike.
• Several greedy martial artists rushed for Fang Han’s pack, but it was torn open and revealed only ordinary supplies.
• Fang Han killed the martial artists who had fought over the pack, gathered his belongings, and vanished into the forest.
• Fang Han spent several days pretending to search around Falling Eagle Ravine before leaving the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.
• A day after leaving the range, Fang Han stopped in the hills as though he had sensed something.

Fang Han survived an ambush by three fifth-grade martial artists in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range and killed all of them before returning to the Azure Profound Sect. Chu Feng learned that Fang Han had gone after the Millennium Ginseng, and the chapter left Fang Han back at his residence, reviewing his System Panel.

• Three masked fifth-grade martial artists ambushed Fang Han and demanded the Millennium Ginseng, but he denied having it and fought back.
• Fang Han killed the twin-hook wielder, then pursued and killed the sword-wielding and saber-wielding attackers as they fled.
• Fang Han searched the corpses for valuables and left the bloodied valley for the main road.
• Chu Chong told Chu Feng that Fang Han had gone to the Cloud Mist Mountain Range seeking the Millennium Ginseng, and Chu Feng ordered him to keep watching Fang Han.
• Two days later, Fang Han returned to the Azure Profound Sect, cleaned up, and checked his System Panel in the Quiet Room.

After gaining enough wealth from the thousand-year ginseng, Fang Han raised his Root Bone Talent Amplification to 128-fold and found that his Internal Qi cultivation speed doubled. He rewarded Qui Lan for her work, learned of renewed tensions with Nether Pavilion, and went to the Library Pavilion to choose a stronger tracking technique.

• Fang Han spent ten million taels to raise his Root Bone Talent Amplification to 128-fold, then tested it and found his Internal Qi grew twice as fast.
• Qui Lan reported that she had screened forty-seven forces seeking affiliation, leaving twenty-six for Fang Han to review, and told him Elder Zhao had been severely injured in a clash with Nether Pavilion.
• Fang Han gave Qui Lan three bottles of Blood Qi Pills and promised to seek her promotion if she reached the Inner Qi Realm.
• The next day, Fang Han visited the Library Pavilion to exchange for a Medium Grade Tracking Secret Technique.
• Fang Han reviewed seven options and focused on the Spirit Sniffing Art, which could isolate and follow a specific scent in complex environments.

Fang Han exchanged for two secret techniques, then decided to use his contribution points to obtain better cultivation methods for the Fang Clan. After months of training and taking his last Spirit-Condensing Pill, he prepared to challenge Chu Feng’s position at the month-end ranking test.

• Fang Han exchanged 150 contribution points for the Spirit Sniffing Art and 1,800 for the Return to Ruin Essence Concealment Art.
• Fang Han learned from Elder Mo that the sect had no top-tier Internal Qi cultivation method and that Grandmaster methods required major contributions and approval.
• Fang Han decided to find suitable higher-grade cultivation methods for the Fang Clan through proper sect channels, and spent the following months cultivating the two new secret techniques to Minor Accomplishment.
• Fang Han took his last Spirit-Condensing Pill and found that his mental strength had more than doubled.
• Fang Han prepared for the month-end General Ranking Martial Dao Stele test, intending to surpass Chu Feng.

Fang Han tested himself at the General Ranking Martial Dao Stele and rose from tenth to ninth, pushing Chu Feng down to tenth. Chu Feng reacted with fury and vowed that Fang Han had not surpassed him in true strength, leaving their rivalry unresolved.

• Fang Han drew the Flowing Wind Sword and struck the General Ranking Martial Dao Stele with his swordsmanship and Wind Momentum.
• The stele ranked Fang Han ninth and moved Chu Feng to tenth, prompting cheers and discussion across the Azure Profound Sect.
• Fang Han wondered whether he could also surpass Chu Feng on the Prodigy Ranking, which depended on combat records, then left the plaza.
• Chu Feng learned that Fang Han had overtaken him, smashed a tea table, and dismissed Chu Chong’s attempt to console him.
• Chu Feng brooded over Fang Han and vowed that the Prodigy Ranking would prove who was stronger.

Fang Han received his monthly resources, including healing Jade Dew Pellets and Vajra Pills that further strengthened his physique. The new rankings showed him rising to ninety-fourth on the Prodigy Ranking, one place ahead of Chu Feng, while Su Yu entered at ninety-eighth.

• Zhou Heng delivered Fang Han seventeen thousand contribution points and his monthly quota of Vajra Pills and Jade Dew Pellets.
• Fang Han learned the Jade Dew Pellets could heal injuries and dispel toxins, then took a Vajra Pill that further strengthened his physique.
• Qui Lan brought Fang Han the new Prodigy Ranking and Martial Artist Ranking booklets before they were available to ordinary disciples.
• Fang Han found Su Yu ranked ninety-eighth and Chu Feng ranked ninety-seventh on the Prodigy Ranking.
• Fang Han discovered he had risen six places to ninety-fourth and realized his rise had pushed Chu Feng down one place.

After Fang Han surpassed Chu Feng on both rankings, Chu Feng lost control, attacked disciples who mocked him, and challenged Fang Han to a duel. Fang Han accepted, and the two faced each other on the challenge platform before a massive crowd.

• Chu Feng learned that Fang Han had risen to 94th on the Prodigy Ranking while he had fallen to 97th, and he wrecked his study in fury.
• Disciples across the Azure Profound Sect spread news of Fang Han's rise and mocked Chu Feng for being overtaken on both rankings.
• Chu Feng assaulted several ordinary disciples near the mountain gate after hearing them mock him, then stormed to Fang Han's No. 35 Annex.
• Chu Feng challenged Fang Han to fight on the challenge platform, and Fang Han accepted.
• Hundreds of disciples, stewards, and elders gathered as Chu Feng and Fang Han took their places on the platform, facing each other.

Fang Han defeated Chu Feng in a fierce challenge-platform duel, establishing his superiority over the established prodigy. The crowd and elders celebrated his rise, while Chu Feng’s followers began reconsidering their allegiance.

• Fang Han and Chu Feng exchanged sword strikes, but Fang Han’s swordsmanship and Windcloud Escape gradually suppressed Chu Feng.
• Chu Feng unleashed Crimson Flame Slash, but Fang Han pierced through its sword qi and wounded him.
• Fang Han exploited an opening to disarm Chu Feng and strike him through his defenses, leaving him badly injured and unable to rise.
• The crowd celebrated Fang Han’s victory, while Yun Qianyue, Li Feng, and Xiao Chen reflected on his achievement.
• Elder Chen Xuan and the other elders praised Fang Han’s potential and compared him to Luo Yuntian.
• Disciples who had suffered under Chu Feng rejoiced, while his allies began reconsidering their positions.

After Fang Han defeated Chu Feng, Chu Feng fainted from humiliation while Fang Han returned to the True Transmission Courtyard and broke through to the fifth-rank late stage. The chapter ended with Chu Feng waking the next morning, injured and consumed by shame and rage.

• Several disciples mocked the defeated Chu Feng, who spat blood and fainted on the arena from rage.
• Fang Han accepted Elder Chen Xuan's praise and left the plaza as the crowd recognized his standing in the Azure Profound Sect.
• At No. 35 Annex, Fang Han recovered his Internal Qi and cultivated until he broke through to the fifth-rank late stage, opening the Yamen Acupoint and the Fortified Defense Divine Treasury.
• The next morning, Chu Feng woke in his courtyard and coughed up blood as memories of his defeat and public humiliation returned.
• Chu Feng angrily rejected Chu Chong's help and brooded over the mockery and pity he expected to face in the sect.

After fleeing Azure Profound Sect, Chu Feng was approached by a mysterious, injured black-robed figure who offered him the Blood Demon Technique as a path to revenge against Fang Han. Chu Feng chose to keep the demonic manual, while Fang Han continued training and worried that his progress in Windcloud Escape lagged behind his other abilities.

• Chu Feng left Azure Profound Sect to escape his humiliation and spent several days drinking and indulging at Heavenly Fragrance Tower in Maple Evening City.
• A black-robed figure appeared in Chu Feng’s room, defeated him with one move, and mocked him about losing to Fang Han.
• The stranger offered Chu Feng a dark-red manual resembling the Blood Demon Technique, and Chu Feng overcame his fear and clenched it in his hand.
• Fang Han trained in Windcloud Escape and judged that its slow progress could make Body Movement a weakness despite his advances in cultivation and sword art.

Fang Han decided to borrow silver from the forces affiliated with him to fund his Footwork Talent amplification, then hosted his acquaintances for a meal. Yun Qianyue ended the gathering by reporting strange deaths near Gutong Town that she suspected were caused by a martial artist cultivating demonic arts.

• Fang Han learned that his affiliated forces had delivered 320,000 taels in advance and decided to borrow three or four hundred thousand taels from each of the twenty-seven forces.
• Fang Han instructed Qui Lan to arrange the loans and have the sums repaid through deductions from future shares.
• Fang Han received Azure Wood Demon Ox meat from the dining hall and invited Yun Qianyue, Xiao Chen, Li Feng, Huang Ling'er, and Shi Meng to eat with him.
• During the meal, Yun Qianyue reported that several martial artists near Gutong Town had been found bloodless and shriveled.
• Yun Qianyue suspected that a martial artist cultivating demonic arts had killed them.

Fang Han learned of rumors that demonic arts had resurfaced, then received 10,570,000 taels in borrowed banknotes from Qui Lan. Seeking a discreet way to convert the money into physical goods for his System Panel, he reviewed auction catalogues and found one from Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

• Fang Han and his companions discussed the rumored return of demonic arts, and he suggested that the sect and authorities were likely already investigating.
• Fang Han continued his cultivation and sword practice as his skills steadily advanced.
• Qui Lan delivered 10,570,000 taels borrowed from twenty-seven affiliated forces, along with a detailed ledger.
• Fang Han rewarded Qui Lan with a Low-Grade Breakthrough Pill for her work, and she accepted it with gratitude.
• Fang Han rejected exchanging the banknotes directly for gold or silver and decided to use an auction to acquire physical goods for his System Panel.
• Fang Han examined seven auction catalogues, then paused at the refined booklet for Hundred Treasures Pavilion.