Chapter Summaries

Aaron secluded himself on Hidden Dragon Island and spent fifteen years slowly dispersing his Black Sand Palm cultivation to avoid damaging his martial foundation. After returning to an ordinary person, he began studying Iron Garment Fist and considered its need for medicinal baths.

• Aaron reached Hidden Dragon Island with supplies and settled into its cave.
• Aaron decided to use a gradual cultivation-dispersing method rather than risk the injuries of abruptly releasing his force.
• Aaron stopped practicing martial arts and slowly dissipated his power while studying medicine and improving other skills.
• Fifteen years later, Aaron dispersed the last of his Black Sand Palm force and returned to being an ordinary person.
• Aaron began studying Iron Garment Fist and chose to burn lifespan rather than experiment with a medicinal bath formula.

Thirty years after leaving the world, Aaron returned to Great Marsh Prefecture as a Transformation Force master and learned that Cao Hongyan and her family still lived there. He began planning his revenge as he watched young prodigies arrive for Cao Hongyan’s sixty-fifth birthday.

• Aaron reached Three Waters Wharf and learned it was Year 30 of Xiangwu and that Huang Wenlong had died a revered Grand Preceptor.
• Aaron recalled spending thirty years cultivating the Iron Garment Fist, reaching Transformation Force after leaving Hidden Dragon Island.
• Aaron disguised himself as a bearded wanderer and learned that Cao Hongyan was now the Cao Family’s old madam.
• Aaron searched for Fourth Lady and her daughter but could not discover where they had gone, then resolved to plan his revenge against the Cao Family.
• Aaron watched Cao Baojin, Cao Shao, and the prodigy Nie Renlong arrive at the Cao residence ahead of Cao Hongyan’s sixty-fifth birthday.

Aaron used poison and a surprise attack to exterminate the Cao Family, then defeated Cao Tianshang’s protective spirit talisman and learned that immortal cultivators existed. After setting the estate ablaze and disguising himself, Aaron rode toward another prefectural city to lie low.

• Aaron poisoned the Cao Family gathering, killed Cao Hongyan, and began slaughtering the family’s members.
• Aaron killed Nie Renlong and Cao Baojin, then fought Cao Tianshang, whose spirit talisman shielded him with a golden barrier.
• Aaron wore down the talisman’s barrier, killed Cao Tianshang, and learned from Cao Shao that immortal cultivators existed and that the clan genealogy held further information.
• Aaron took the Cao clan genealogy and Red Thread Sword Technique, killed Cao Shao, and left as the family estate burned.
• News of the Cao Family’s destruction spread through Great Marsh Prefecture City, while Aaron shaved his beard, changed clothes, and rode away under another appearance.

Aaron learned from the Cao Clan genealogy that cultivators existed and began planning how to find an immortal opportunity. After settling in Longqing Prefecture, he decided to build an information network through a chamber of commerce and headed toward the pleasure boats to enjoy the upcoming Flower Queen festivities.

• Aaron read that the Cao Clan had once obtained the Crimson Blood Carp King for Azure Elixir True Person of the Azure Cauldron Sect, and he memorized the cultivator's name for later reckoning.
• Aaron realized that cultivators could extend their lifespans and resolved to turn his attention toward cultivation despite his age.
• Aaron entered Longqing Prefecture, heard people blame him for the Cao Clan massacre, and rented a spacious courtyard.
• Aaron planned to establish the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce as a cautious way to gather information about cultivation and immortal opportunities.
• Aaron followed the sound of music to Longqing Prefecture's red-light district, intending to enjoy the coming Flower Queen festivities.

Aaron recognized Yu Xuanwei as a descendant of his old acquaintance Nannan and rescued her from Crown Fragrance Pavilion. He recruited her as the White Dragon Envoy and gave her a token, leaving her future training in the Red Thread Sword Art to come.

• Aaron visited Crown Fragrance Pavilion during the courtesan queen contest and chose Yu Xuanwei, whose face seemed familiar to him.
• Aaron recognized the purple jade lotus pendant Yu Xuanwei wore as a family heirloom and realized her grandmother was Nannan.
• After the contest, Aaron returned to Yu Xuanwei's room disguised as the Azure Dragon Boss and offered to teach her martial arts as the White Dragon Envoy.
• Yu Xuanwei accepted Aaron's offer, and he took her away from Crown Fragrance Pavilion.
• Aaron promised to arrange Yu Xuanwei's training in the Red Thread Sword Art and gave her half of a split coin as proof of her connection to the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce.

Ten years after establishing Spring Return Hall near the Lin family, Aaron had built a respectable medical practice while quietly waiting for a chance to enter the cultivation world. When Lin Jing finally came to him for treatment, Aaron diagnosed damage from his past indulgences and said it could be cured.

• The Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce spread across the Forest Kingdom, and Aaron learned from Yu Xuanwei that Lin Tuizhi might be a cultivator before ordering the organization to withdraw from Mu'en City.
• Aaron opened Spring Return Hall near the Lin family's breakfast stall and introduced himself to the neighbors as Fang Shiyu.
• Aaron spent the next ten years building the clinic's reputation, training apprentices named Notoginseng and Chenxiang, and maintaining his cover in the neighborhood.
• Lin Jing's parents brought him to Aaron because he could not father a son, and Aaron diagnosed damage to his kidney essence from his past visits to brothels.
• Aaron told Lin Jing that his condition could still be cured.

Aaron left Mu'en City to address trouble within the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce, while rumors of a succession struggle spread through the Forest Kingdom. The Black Dragon Envoy confronted Yu Xuanwei at a ruined temple and revealed that he had attacked her establishments and hideouts to find her.

• Aaron treated the Lin family, later saved Lin Jing's wife from postpartum hemorrhage, and declined their invitation to the baby's hundred-day banquet so he could leave Mu'en City.
• Aaron recognized that the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce had developed internal trouble during his years away from it.
• At a ruined temple, travelers discussed the death of Lan Yongba and the power of the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce and its Dragon Envoys.
• Yu Xuanwei arrived at the temple with her daughter and asked to shelter there for the night.
• The Black Dragon Crew surrounded the temple, and the Black Dragon Envoy confronted Yu Xuanwei, boasting that he had destroyed her establishments and exposed her hideouts to track her down.

Aaron, revealed as Boss Azure Dragon, confronted the Black Dragon Envoy and uncovered a conspiracy involving the Yellow and Red Dragon Envoys and two other Force Transformation grandmasters. As the four prepared to wear him down, Aaron remained confident and faced them down.

• The Black Dragon Envoy tried to force Yu Xuanwei to submit, but his own followers turned on him under Aaron’s orders.
• Aaron emerged as Boss Azure Dragon, defeated the Black Dragon Envoy, and heard Yu Xuanwei ask whether he had been involved in her husband’s death.
• Aaron exposed the Yellow and Red Dragon Envoys as traitors and identified their allies as Nie Fengxiang and Yu Linglong, the Demon Empress.
• The Yellow and Red Dragon Envoys revealed they had recruited the four grandmasters to exhaust Aaron, while the Black Dragon Envoy realized he had been used.
• Aaron mocked the envoys’ claim that they were his fingers and faced the four grandmasters without showing fear.

Aaron revealed that he had touched the Spirit Refinement realm and fought the martial grandmasters who had come against him. He used a lifespan-consuming pill to break Nie Fengxiang’s talismanic defense and kill him.

• Aaron unleashed his spiritual aura, momentarily stunning the others, and killed the Yellow Dragon Envoy and Red Dragon Envoy.
• Aaron explained that he had touched the realm of Spirit Refinement, but Nie Fengxiang protected himself with a spirit talisman.
• Aaron struck Yu Linglong and injured her, then exchanged blows with Nie Fengxiang, whose talisman shield kept him safe from Aaron’s aura.
• Nie Fengxiang offered to let bygones be bygones if Aaron joined the Nie Family, but Aaron refused and swallowed a Life-Burning Burst Qi Pill.
• Aaron’s enhanced punches shattered Nie Fengxiang’s Golden Bell Shield, and Aaron caught and killed him with a final punch.

Aaron withdrew from the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce and spent nearly twenty years pursuing the immortal path while living as a physician in Mu'en City. When Lin Tuizhi neared death, Aaron helped him briefly regain consciousness, leaving Lin Jing with his grandfather’s cultivation manual and the promise of hidden possessions.

• After the battle, Aaron ordered Yu Xuanwei to dissolve most of the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce and devoted himself to pursuing immortality.
• Nearly twenty years later, Aaron celebrated his hundredth birthday and continued practicing medicine at Spring Return Hall.
• Lin Jing asked Aaron to visit a gravely ill elder, and Aaron recognized the patient as Lin Tuizhi, an immortal cultivator nearing the end of his lifespan.
• Aaron used acupuncture to let Lin Tuizhi regain consciousness briefly, then told Lin Jing his ancestor’s lifespan had run its course.
• Lin Tuizhi told Lin Jing about his failed pursuit of immortality, gave him a handwritten cultivation manual, and revealed that he had hidden belongings in the family’s ancestral home before dying.

Aaron secretly entered the Lin Family home and read Lin Tuizhi’s hidden Primal Unity Art, learning about cultivators and their cultivation realms. He left the book and silver untouched, killed Ma San to conceal his involvement, and prepared to leave Spring Return Hall for his supposed hometown.

• Aaron drugged Ma San with a Five Insect Heart-Eating Pill and forced him to help enter the Lin Family home.
• Aaron directed Ma San to uncover a hidden packet containing silver and Lin Tuizhi’s Primal Unity Art.
• Aaron read and memorized the cultivation method and learned about spiritual roots, cultivators, and their realms.
• Aaron ordered Ma San to restore the book and silver, then killed him to prevent him from revealing what happened.
• Aaron returned to Spring Return Hall and wrote farewell letters claiming Fang Shiyu was going home before his death and leaving the hall to Chenxiang and the others.

Aaron began cultivating the Primal Unity Art in a remote mountain cave and eventually reached the first level of Qi Refinement. After learning his spiritual roots were ordinary and the mountain was poor in spiritual qi, he resolved to keep cultivating away from other immortals.

• Aaron sensed spiritual qi while cultivating and confirmed that his body possessed spiritual roots.
• After two years, Aaron drew qi into his body, opened his dantian, and became a first-level Qi Refinement cultivator.
• Aaron judged that the Primal Unity Art was incomplete and decided to avoid other cultivators until he had mastered it.
• Aaron learned the Spirit Eye Technique, Wind-Riding Art, Golden Light Shield, and Fireball Art, then discovered he had water, wood, and earth spiritual roots.
• Aaron found almost no spiritual energy or spiritual items nearby and recognized that the Golden Light Shield resembled the talisman Nie Fengxiang and Cao Tianshang had used.

Aaron visited the White Snake Gang, revealed the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce’s old command token, and inspected the treasures it had collected. He identified two unusual objects among the junk, while Old Madam Bai recognized him and asked whether he was truly there in person.

• Old Madam Bai recalled her years serving the Azure Dragon Boss and worried that he might have died.
• Aaron appeared before Old Madam Bai in a dragon-headed mask and used half of a matching coin to prove his authority over the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce.
• Old Madam Bai led Aaron to the secret vault holding the Chamber’s collected artifacts.
• Aaron used the Spirit Eye Technique and found that nearly all the stored objects were worthless.
• Aaron selected a jade stone and a black iron leaf, prompting Old Madam Bai to kneel and ask if he was truly there in person.

Aaron left the Bai Family after discovering that Bai Dingtian’s daughter Nishang had no spirit roots, then returned to Great Marsh Lake to cultivate in seclusion. He found that a spiritual-energy-rich jade stone dramatically accelerated his cultivation and suspected it was a spirit stone.

• Bai Dingtian barged into the storehouse, and Old Madam Bai slapped him and apologized to Aaron for his disrespect.
• Aaron examined Nishang with the Spirit Eye Technique, found that she had no spirit roots, and parted from the Bai Family.
• Aaron returned to Great Marsh Prefecture and sailed from Three Waters Wharf into Great Marsh Lake, where the Crab Gang had replaced the Goldfish Gang.
• Aaron checked his old supply islands, found that most supplies had rotted or the caves had been damaged, and settled on another deserted island to cultivate.
• Aaron discovered that meditating with the spiritual-energy-rich jade stone rapidly advanced his cultivation and turned his attention to the black iron leaf.

Aaron refined the black iron leaf into the Iron Leaf Boat and began using it while steadily cultivating and enjoying life on Great Marsh Lake. Over the following years, he advanced through the early levels of the Primal Unity Art but remained stuck on the fourth level.

• Aaron fed mana into the black iron leaf until it revealed itself as the low-grade Dharma artifact Iron Leaf Boat, then tested its flight and found it drained his mana quickly.
• Aaron decided to cultivate and practice spells on a daily schedule, and planned to use the boat to gather supplies around Great Marsh Lake.
• Aaron grew more skilled at refining and controlling the Iron Leaf Boat, while cautiously hiding its glow when he traveled.
• Aaron maintained his cultivation routine, fished with the Incomplete Sea-Gathering Art, and waited for the Crimson Blood Carp King to appear.
• Aaron spent a year reaching the second level of the Primal Unity Art, then took four more years to reach the third and another year to enter the fourth level of Qi Refinement.
• Aaron spent eight years cultivating the fourth level but still had not completed it.

Aaron continued cultivating on his deserted island, measuring his slow progress and keeping his immortality secret while visiting Great Marsh Prefecture City for entertainment. Years later, as Aaron remained stuck cultivating the fifth layer of Qi Refining, Liu Tong moved to seize a newly emerged Crimson Blood Carp King for the Liu Family.

• Aaron calculated that reaching the tenth layer of Qi Refining could take a century or more and accepted his slow cultivation, though he worried the Primal Unity Art only covered six layers.
• Aaron perfected the Fireball Technique, examined his skill progress, and confirmed that his Spirit Eye Technique could not reveal a person's age.
• Aaron flew toward Great Marsh Prefecture City to see a new courtesan queen, then spent years cultivating until he reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining without completing it.
• The Liu Family regained prominence after Liu Tong became a force-transformation grandmaster, and the Crab Gang was renamed the Rampage Gang under Liu control.
• At Three Waters Wharf, Zhao Changtian reported that Crimson Blood Carp were appearing in fishermen's catches, and Liu Tong ordered him to seize the fishermen and capture the Carp King for the Liu Family.

Aaron used the Liu Family and Rampage Gang’s search for the Fish King to draw many boats south, then caught and killed the Crimson Blood Carp King himself. As Yan Wushuang, Yan Shuangshuang, and Liu Tong reached his boat, Liu Tong accused him of stealing the Liu Family’s Fish King.

• Aaron learned that the Liu Family had sealed Three Waters Wharf and was forcing fishermen to search for the Fish King, so he stayed nearby and watched their efforts.
• A fisherman found the Crimson Blood Carp King in the southern waters, and Liu Tong ordered the Rampage Gang to pursue it while misleading rivals about its location.
• Aaron leaked the true location, prompting martial artists—including Yan Wushuang and Yan Shuangshuang—to sail south and forcing Liu Tong to follow.
• Aaron lured the Crimson Blood Carp King to his boat with bait, broke its attack with his presence, and killed it with the Great Heavenly Star Fist.
• Yan Shuangshuang and Liu Tong arrived at Aaron’s boat, where Liu Tong accused him of stealing the Fish King.

Aaron defeated Liu Tong and killed Zhao Changtian, then killed the attackers who pursued him after he left Great Marsh Lake. He flew to a secret base with the Crimson Blood Carp King and began preparing to eat it.

• Aaron dislocated Liu Tong's arms and legs, then killed Zhao Changtian with an iron bead after condemning the Rampage Gang's oppression of fishermen.
• Yan Wushuang recognized Aaron's knowledge of the Liu Family's martial arts, and Aaron snapped Liu Tong's neck before taking the fish king and leaving.
• After attackers and Liu Family remnants pursued him with boats and arrows, Aaron killed them with Fireball Art and confirmed that none had survived.
• Aaron transferred the Crimson Blood Carp King to his Iron Leaf Boat, sank his awning boat, and flew away from Great Marsh Lake.
• At a secret base, Aaron inspected the fish, considered using its skin and scales for armor, and prepared a plate of raw fish.

Aaron used the Crimson Blood Carp King to advance to the sixth layer of Qi Refining, then decided he needed to contact cultivators to find a complete cultivation method and other knowledge. He chose a misty valley at the border of the Forest Kingdom and Martial Kingdom as his next lead.

• Aaron ate Crimson Blood Carp King sashimi and spent the night absorbing its spiritual energy, raising his Primal Unity Art proficiency.
• Over two years, Aaron advanced to the sixth layer of Qi Refining by eating the fish raw and stealing ice to preserve it; he also made inner armor from its skin.
• After the fish ran out and his cultivation slowed, Aaron decided to seek a complete cultivation method, spells, and knowledge of alchemy, artifact refinement, and formations.
• Aaron examined the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce map and rejected Poison Dragon Pool and Black Wind Ridge as too dangerous.
• Aaron chose a mist-shrouded valley near the Grand Origin Mountains, where lights suggested cultivators controlled magical artifacts, as his place to make contact.

Aaron entered East Gate Valley, a market under the protection of the East Gate Family, and explored its farms and shops while learning how cultivators lived and traded. He discovered cultivation arts were for sale but the four major cultivation crafts were guarded as secrets.

• Aaron used the Spirit Eye Technique to follow signs through the mist and enter East Gate Valley.
• Aaron met Dong Long, who explained the valley belonged to the East Gate Family and pointed him toward East Gate Market.
• Aaron explored the market, recognized that his jade from the White Snake Gang could be cut into spirit stones, and entered a bookstore.
• Aaron browsed cultivation arts, found the Primal Unity Art and the more expensive Everlasting Spring Art, but made no purchase.
• Aaron asked the scholar why the bookstore lacked texts on alchemy, artifact refining, talisman crafting, and formation setting, and learned those arts were closely guarded secrets.