Chapter Summaries

Jiang Che investigated his parents’ disappearance at Li Estate, where a servant tried to lure him inside before chasing him through the grove. Jiang Che wounded the servant with quicklime and his spiked armor, but the Stone Skin Realm pursuer continued after him.

• Jiang Che learned that young adults had been disappearing in Hengsha City and entered a silent grove on his way to Li Estate.
• At an abandoned well, Jiang Che felt compelled to look inside, heard unexplained footsteps, and hurried out of the grove.
• Jiang Che asked Li Estate’s servant about his missing carpenter parents, but Omen warned him of danger and he fled before being drawn inside.
• The servant chased Jiang Che through the grove, and Jiang Che threw quicklime into his eyes before the servant struck him in the back.
• The servant injured his hand on Jiang Che’s refined steel spikes, but recovered enough to pursue him again.

Jiang Che used poison, quicklime, a hidden hand spike, and an abandoned well to kill the Stone Skin Realm servant chasing him. He escaped with the servant’s lightness skill manual, while a Li Estate man later mistook the death for an abduction by a powerful rival.

• Jiang Che wounded the servant with his Refined Steel Hand Spike and fled as the poison weakened his pursuer.
• Jiang Che lured the servant into an abandoned well, then dropped rocks on him until he stopped moving.
• Jiang Che found the servant’s lightness skill manual, erased the footprints, covered the well with leaves, and left the grove.
• A middle-aged man from Li Estate found signs of a fight but no clear trail and concluded that an Iron Skin or Force-Entering Realm expert had abducted the servant.
• The man blamed the Seven Star Gang and hurried back to Li Estate to report what he believed had happened.

The Sacrificial Chancellor ordered Li Jishi to kill one of the Seven Star Gang’s stars and visited the Blood Beast being raised beneath Li Estate. Jiang Che escaped the grove and hurried to the Zhenyuan Escort Agency caravan, resolved to return to Abyss-Facing City and investigate his parents’ disappearance when he was stronger.

• Li Jishi reported that Jiang Che had vanished, and the Sacrificial Chancellor suspected the Seven Star Gang had interfered.
• The Sacrificial Chancellor ordered Li Jishi to eliminate one of the Seven Star Gang’s stars, and Li Jishi accepted the mission.
• The Sacrificial Chancellor inspected the Blood Beast in the dungeon and fed it a captive woman.
• Jiang Che concluded that Li Estate was dangerous and might be connected to his parents’ disappearance, so he decided to flee and investigate later.
• Jiang Che reached the Zhenyuan Escort Agency caravan and felt relieved.

After returning to the escort agency with a Stone Skin Realm Black Crystal, Jiang Che received his payment and decided to buy a safer, more spacious home. He inspected a courtyard house near the Yamen and White Cloud Martial Hall, and the seller asked five hundred taels.

• Jiang Che left Hengsha City with Sun Yong's convoy, nervously passing a guard search for a suspected culprit who had been making martial artists disappear.
• After three days, Jiang Che returned to the escort agency and gave Manager Wang the Stone Skin Realm Black Crystal, receiving five portions of Gold Leaf and ten taels of silver.
• Jiang Che decided to find a secure house with a courtyard where he could store supplies and practice martial arts.
• In East District, a house seller showed Jiang Che a spacious courtyard house near the Yamen and White Cloud Martial Hall, complete with a well, kitchen, latrine, and vegetable patch.
• Jiang Che approved of the house and asked its price, and the seller quoted five hundred taels.

Jiang Che bought a large residence at a bargain price and brought Jiang Ling from the Martial Arts Hall to live with him. After furnishing their new home and setting up training equipment, he felt secure but still worried about the cost of cultivation.

• Jiang Che negotiated the price of a residence down from five hundred taels to four hundred and bought it, leaving himself with one hundred and eighteen taels.
• Jiang Che returned to the Martial Arts Hall, told Luo Kun that he had helped kill a Black Beast, and took Jiang Ling home.
• Jiang Che told Jiang Ling they were moving and stopped her from packing their old scrap, showing her the Gold Leaf he had earned.
• Jiang Che and Jiang Ling left their old home and arrived at the spacious residence, where Jiang Ling excitedly explored their new rooms.
• Jiang Che and Jiang Ling bought furnishings and daily necessities, and Jiang Che set up training equipment, leaving him with ninety-eight taels.

Jiang Che entered the Entry Realm in Flying Swallow Steps and marveled at his new speed while sharing a meal with Jiang Ling and worrying about Li Estate. Over the following half month, his Layered Cloud Fist reached Minor Accomplishment, but he learned that advancing it further required Stone Skin Realm Qi-Blood.

• Jiang Che entered the Entry Realm in Flying Swallow Steps, leaped over a wall, and ran nearly a hundred meters in about eight seconds.
• Jiang Ling called Jiang Che in for dinner, and he praised her cooking while reflecting on his worries about the servant from Li Estate.
• Jiang Che resolved to protect his peaceful life with Jiang Ling and continued practicing Flying Swallow Steps and Layered Cloud Fist over the next half month.
• Jiang Che reached Minor Accomplishment in Layered Cloud Fist but found that his proficiency would not improve further.
• Jiang Che learned that advancing the fist technique required Stone Skin Realm Qi-Blood, which he did not yet possess.

Jiang Che focused on the Flying Swallow Steps while waiting for his Qi-Blood to grow, confident that his Proficiency Panel would let him overcome the barriers to advancement. After Luo Kun explained the risks of breaking through, Jiang Che’s brief training sessions led the others to assume he had given up, while Lin Xue’er began considering Gong Yulei a useful ally.

• Jiang Che tried eating more Exotic Beast Meat to speed up his Qi-Blood growth, but discovered that digestion limited how much he could absorb, and Mid-Grade Exotic Beast Meat remained out of reach.
• Luo Kun told the trainees that Gong Yulei had filled his Qi-Blood and explained that advancing required a highly proficient fist technique, while failed attempts at the Force-Entering Realm could cripple or kill a martial artist.
• Jiang Che privately trusted that his Proficiency Panel would eventually bring his Layered Cloud Fist to Perfection, leaving only Qi-Blood as an obstacle to his progress.
• Luo Kun mistook Jiang Che’s brief daily practice for giving up, and Lin Xue’er and Gong Yulei mocked his prospects while Zhang Xiong defended his character.
• Lin Xue’er recalled that her father’s illness had weakened the Lin Family, and she decided that Gong Yulei’s talent and Luo Kun’s favor made him worth cultivating as an ally.

Jiang Che escorted a convoy to Hengsha City while he and Sun Yong encountered an unusual number of Black Beasts on the road. As the city’s strange disappearances and supernatural threats continued, Jiang Che arrived uneasy about the Li Estate and his parents, but still too weak to investigate.

• Brother Blade and two gang members searched Rag Alley for the killer of Brother Blade’s younger brother, but a Green-Eyed Monster killed them.
• A month after his previous assignment, Jiang Che set out for Hengsha City with Sun Yong and the Zhenyuan convoy.
• Jiang Che and Sun Yong killed a Black Beast and noted that it was the fourth they had encountered on the trip.
• Sun Yong told Jiang Che that Black Beasts had rioted a century earlier, broken through city walls, and killed millions.
• After reaching Hengsha City on the third day, Jiang Che worried about the Li Estate and his parents but held back from investigating because he was still too weak.

Jiang Che learned that people were disappearing from Hengsha City and saw families fleeing, but Sun Yong taught him basic skin-and-flesh training methods. After returning to Abyss-Facing City, Jiang Che began hardening his body with strikes.

• Jiang Che heard from a teahouse waiter that people had been vanishing in Hengsha City and saw several households moving away.
• Sun Yong took Jiang Che through the prosperous Inner City and treated him to a meal at Phoenix Perch Inn.
• Jiang Che asked Sun Yong about hardening techniques, and Sun Yong explained how to strengthen the body with weights, progressively harder strikes, and medicine.
• Jiang Che saw guards demand a fee from a household trying to leave Hengsha City before his convoy returned to Abyss-Facing City three days later.
• Jiang Che bought stone locks, striking implements, and Gold Injury Pills, then began hitting his bare body with a wooden stick in his courtyard.

Jiang Che mastered Body Tempering by repeatedly beating himself, then learned that a monster had killed Brother Blade and destroyed the Thunderbolt Gang. His master sent him to help the Yamen capture an escaped criminal, and a guard led him to Chief Constable Liu.

• Jiang Che spent ten days striking himself with a stick until he mastered Body Tempering, then began testing his limits with a brick.
• Jiang Che heard that Brother Blade and the Thunderbolt Gang had fallen to a mysterious Green-Eyed Monster, and feared it might reach the East District.
• Luo Kun assigned Jiang Che to assist the Yamen in capturing a wanted criminal.
• A Yamen guard recognized Jiang Che and led him inside to meet Chief Constable Liu.

Jiang Che joined a yamen search for a dangerous Flower-Plucking Thief and learned that a Qi-Replenishing Pill was the reward for helping capture him. Chief Constable Liu assigned Jiang Che and Yin Yingying to search Fireworks Street in the Inner City, despite Yin Yingying’s attempt to change partners.

• Jiang Che met Chief Constable Liu and learned that the Stone Skin Realm Flower-Plucking Thief was skilled in lightness kung fu and a Bewitching Art.
• Liu Hai instructed the martial arts hall disciples to search for the thief, gave them signal fireworks, and offered silver rewards and a Qi-Replenishing Pill for capturing him.
• Jiang Che learned that the pill could greatly strengthen Qi-Blood and became eager to win it.
• Liu Hai paired Jiang Che with Yin Yingying to search Fireworks Street in the Inner City.
• Yin Yingying tried to switch partners, but Liu Hai’s intimidating presence made her praise Jiang Che instead, and he kept the pair together.

Liu Hai worried that the Blood Beast had killed hundreds and was growing stronger, while Jiang Che and Yin Yingying investigated Fireworks Street in the Inner City. The chapter ended when Jiang Che’s Omen warned him that a refined young master approaching Miss Shao was dangerous.

• Liu Hai reviewed the Blood Beast case and decided the constables could no longer delay capturing it.
• Jiang Che and Yin Yingying entered a jewelry shop on Fireworks Street, where Yin Yingying admired its expensive ornaments.
• Miss Shao bought a lavish necklace for two thousand taels and arranged for it to be sent to the Shao Estate.
• A refined young master entered the shop and greeted Miss Shao, and Jiang Che initially dismissed him as a suspect.
• As the young master passed Jiang Che, the Omen warned Jiang Che that something was wrong with him.

Jiang Che suspected Young Master Zhang was the Flower-Plucking Thief and followed him after discovering Miss Shao was in danger. He clashed with Zhang in the woods and escaped briefly, but Zhang caught up and sent him flying with a powerful strike.

• Jiang Che suspected the handsome Young Master Zhang was the Flower-Plucking Thief, but Yin Yingying ran after the real thief when he appeared in the street.
• Jiang Che learned that Miss Shao had only met Young Master Zhang the day before and warned her that he might be the wanted criminal.
• Jiang Che followed Miss Shao and Young Master Zhang into the woods and saw Zhang overpowering her, so he threw stones to interrupt him.
• Young Master Zhang carried Miss Shao away, but Jiang Che followed and drew Zhang into a chase through the woods.
• Jiang Che used qinggong, stones, and lime to evade Young Master Zhang, but Zhang caught up and knocked him flying with a strike.

Jiang Che wounded the Flower-Plucking Thief with a poisoned hand spike, then provoked him while trying to lead him toward help. After Young Master Zhang temporarily reached the Pseudo-Iron Skin Realm and caught Jiang Che, Chief Constable Liu Hai arrived and drove him off; Jiang Che identified him as the real thief.

• Jiang Che used a poisoned hand spike to wound Young Master Zhang, then fled and threw stones at him as he pursued.
• Young Master Zhang activated a technique that temporarily brought him to the Pseudo-Iron Skin Realm, caught Jiang Che, and struck him despite his Spiked Leather Armor.
• Chief Constable Liu Hai discovered that the captured suspect on Fireworks Street wore a Human Skin Mask and was only an Ox-Hide Realm accomplice.
• Liu Hai saw a red firework from the small grove and rushed there, arriving as Young Master Zhang attacked Jiang Che.
• Liu Hai slashed at Young Master Zhang, who narrowly dodged and fled, and Jiang Che told Liu Hai that he had found the Flower-Plucking Thief committing an indecent act.

Jiang Che and Liu Hai captured the Flower-Plucking Thief and rescued Shao Shiliu, who offered Jiang Che a Shao Family retainer position. The thief’s hidden identity was exposed as a member of the Formless Alliance.

• Jiang Che and Liu Hai chased down the weakened Flower-Plucking Thief, who surrendered, then found the recovering Shao Shiliu in the grass.
• Jiang Che asked Liu Hai to conceal his strength, and Liu Hai agreed.
• Shao Shiliu thanked Jiang Che and recruited him as a Shao Family guest retainer with a monthly stipend and Mid-Grade Exotic Beast Meat; Jiang Che accepted.
• Shao Shiliu invited Jiang Che to her father’s sixtieth-birthday banquet and revealed that her elder brother, Shao Jianbo, attended White Cloud Martial Hall.
• Liu Hai questioned the Flower-Plucking Thief, discovered a Human Skin Mask beneath his face, and identified him as a member of the Formless Alliance.

Jiang Che received the Qi-Replenishing Pill for helping capture the real Flower-Plucking Thief, a member of the Formless Alliance. After noticing two martial arts disciples eyeing the reward, he took the pill inside the Yamen to refine it safely.

• Liu Hai explained that the Formless Alliance was a ruthless bandit organization whose members sought revenge when one of their own was captured.
• Liu Hai brought the bound Flower-Plucking Thief to the Yamen and credited Jiang Che with reporting the crime; Yin Yingying confirmed Jiang had recognized the thief.
• Liu Hai awarded Jiang Che the Qi-Replenishing Pill, and Yin Yingying told him she would beat him next time.
• Jiang Che noticed two hostile martial arts disciples watching him and worried they would try to rob him of the pill.
• Jiang Che asked Liu Hai for a safe place to consume the pill, then swallowed it and began meditating to refine it.

After taking a Qi-Replenishing Pill, Jiang Che advanced to the mid-stage Ox-Hide Realm and tested his improved strength. At White Cloud Martial Hall, Lin Xue'er arranged an exchange gathering for Zhang Xiong and Gong Yulei while excluding Jiang Che, whose transformation surprised Zhang Xiong.

• Jiang Che absorbed the pill’s medicinal power, increasing his Qi-Blood to sixty percent of his dantian and reaching the mid-stage Ox-Hide Realm.
• Jiang Che spotted the two men who had watched him, along with a Stone Skin Realm man, but they left without following him.
• Jiang Che returned home, tested his Layered Cloud Fist and Flying Swallow Steps, and found his strength had at least doubled and his speed had risen by about thirty percent.
• Lin Xue'er invited Zhang Xiong and Gong Yulei to a martial arts exchange gathering, while Gong Yulei and Lin Xue'er rejected Zhang Xiong’s suggestion that Jiang Che attend.
• Zhang Xiong sensed Jiang Che’s vigorous Qi-Blood at the Martial Arts Hall, and Jiang Che told him he had obtained a Qi-Replenishing Pill.

Jiang Che’s Qi-Blood breakthrough and new status as a Shao Estate guest official impressed Luo Kun and provoked his fellow disciples. Luo Kun renewed his hopes for Jiang Che while preparing to send Gong Yulei to the Azure Cloud Sect, where their fist styles served as prerequisites for a powerful cultivation art.

• Jiang Che told Zhang Xiong how he had obtained a Qi-Replenishing Pill, and Luo Kun urged him to cultivate diligently after seeing his improved Qi-Blood.
• A steward from the Shao Estate delivered Jiang Che a Guest Official Token and an invitation to the master’s sixtieth birthday celebration.
• Jiang Che told Zhang Xiong that he had saved the Shao Estate’s young lady, while Gong Yulei reacted angrily to Jiang Che’s good fortune.
• Luo Kun reconsidered Jiang Che’s potential and noted that his guest-official benefits could help him advance toward the Stone Skin Realm.
• Luo Kun planned to take Gong Yulei to the Azure Cloud Sect’s assessment and reflected that White Cloud Fist and Layered Cloud Fist prepared disciples to cultivate the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud Art.

Luo Kun recalled his Azure Cloud Sect past and hoped to send a promising disciple to the sect, while Jiang Che demonstrated his combat skill and continued advancing his martial arts. The chapter left Jiang Che planning to focus on Body Tempering after Flying Swallow Steps reached Minor Accomplishment.

• Luo Kun remembered Shao Jianbo’s talent, retrieved his Azure Cloud Token, and reflected on his wish to recommend outstanding disciples to the Azure Cloud Sect.
• Jiang Che sparred with Zhang Xiong and calmly deflected his Layered Cloud Fist, though Zhang Xiong won the match with his family’s inherited martial art.
• Jiang Che told Zhang Xiong that any method was justified if it defeated an opponent, but Zhang Xiong held to his own approach to martial combat.
• Gong Yulei broke through to the Stone Skin Realm, glared at Jiang Che when he showed no reaction, and Jiang Che went back to training.
• Jiang Che trained Flying Swallow Steps with sandbags until they reached Minor Accomplishment, then decided to focus on Body Tempering.

Zhao Xisheng and his father caught a valuable Jade Belt Carp, but Zhao Tiegen was badly bitten and decided to risk selling it in the Inner City. A month later, Jiang Che had perfected two martial arts skills and continued advancing his Body Tempering and Calligraphy.

• Zhao Xisheng and Zhao Tiegen hauled a Jade Belt Carp onto their sampan after weeks of poor catches.
• The carp bit Zhao Tiegen's leg, then calmed when Zhao Xisheng touched it.
• Zhao Tiegen bandaged his wound and planned to sell the fish secretly at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion rather than let the Fish Dragon Gang take most of its value.
• Jiang Che reached the Perfection Realm in Layered Cloud Fist and Flying Swallow Steps, and his Qi-Blood reached seventy percent.
• Jiang Che trained Body Tempering and Calligraphy, then considered buying works by famous calligraphy masters to improve further.