Chapter Summaries

After an unknown faction used Demonic Qi to target Xu Hongyu, Chen Mu let the Qi corrode him to save her and planned to uncover the mastermind with Yan Jingqing’s help. Jade Commandery’s factions reacted to the news, while Chen Mu’s investigation began by scrutinizing the major sects.

• The Surveillance Department searched the Chen Residence but found no trace of the Demonic Qi’s source, and Yan Jingqing told Chen Mu the attack appeared premeditated.
• Chen Mu told Yan Jingqing he would pursue the attackers, and Yan Jingqing agreed to help investigate the movements of Profound Mystery Pavilion, the Heavenly Seal Sect, and Seaside Pavilion.
• News of Chen Mu taking Demonic Qi into his body to save Xu Hongyu spread through Jade Commandery and alarmed its factions.
• Hou Lingling told Joyful Union Sect disciples that Chen Mu treated even lowly courtesans with respect, and the women suspected Profound Mystery Pavilion might be behind the scheme.
• Xi Song ordered the Heavenly Seal Sect to avoid drawing Chen Mu’s suspicion, while Zuo Qianqiu heard the news and questioned whether Chen Mu’s martial path could truly be ruined.

Chen Mu visited Yu Jiujiang at the Yu Family Residence, discussed moving a Yu Family branch to the Province Capital, and advised the younger generation to respect others and avoid arrogance. He left to visit Grandfather, while Yu Yun reflected on her past behavior and her distance from Chen Mu.

• Chen Mu visited the aging Yu Jiujiang and reassured him that the Demonic Qi incident had left him unharmed.
• Chen Mu proposed helping a branch of the Yu Family settle in the Province Capital, while Yu Jiujiang chose to remain in Jade Commandery.
• Yu Jiujiang's descendants arrived, and Yu Yun grew embarrassed when she recognized Chen Mu.
• Chen Mu urged the Yu Family juniors to respect strength without bullying the weak or acting arrogantly.
• Chen Mu left to speak with Grandfather, and Yu Yun regretted how her past behavior had kept her distant from him.

Chen Mu confronted Profound Mystery Pavilion at its headquarters after learning that its members had plotted against him and Xu Hongyu. He destroyed the Profound Mystery Tower and faced Grand Guardian Situ Shu, who intervened to protect the pavilion.

• Duanmu Chun and the Profound Mystery Pavilion protectors discussed their scheme against Chen Mu and believed the Demonic Qi had left him powerless.
• Chen Mu appeared inside the pavilion’s main building, condemned its actions, and challenged its claims of righteousness.
• Duanmu Chun told Chen Mu to stay, and Chen Mu attacked the protectors, collapsing much of the Profound Mystery Tower and killing many disciples in the destruction.
• Situ Shu arrived and blocked Chen Mu’s descending palm with his Bitter Winter Power of Intent, bringing the tower’s remaining structure down.
• Chen Mu recognized the newcomer as Profound Mystery Pavilion’s Grand Guardian, Cold Soul Blade Situ Shu.

Chen Mu confronted Situ Shu at the Profound Mystery Pavilion’s Jade Commandery stronghold, where Situ Shu used his Rime Winter Domain and Cold Soul Spiritual Blade to try to suppress him. Chen Mu broke through the domain’s attacks and left Situ Shu wounded and at a disadvantage, shocking the onlookers.

• Situ Shu arrived at the Profound Mystery Pavilion stronghold and challenged Chen Mu, freezing the surrounding area with his Rime Winter Domain.
• Chen Mu resisted the domain with his Qiankun Power of Intent Realm, while onlookers from nearby factions gathered and recognized the two fighters.
• Situ Shu strengthened his domain with the Cold Soul Spiritual Blade and unleashed waves of freezing blade qi at Chen Mu.
• Chen Mu formed the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal, shattered the incoming blade qi, and advanced through Situ Shu’s domain unharmed.
• Chen Mu struck Situ Shu with the Li Fire Saber, forcing him back and drawing blood as the surrounding observers realized Situ Shu had been outmatched.

Chen Mu repeatedly forced Situ Shu back despite the Rime Winter Domain, while Yan Jingqing intervened to stop Duanmu Chun and the Profound Mystery Pavilion guardians from joining the attack. Yan Jingqing and the guardians became locked in a struggle inside his Feng Shui Domain, leaving both battles unresolved.

• Chen Mu struck Situ Shu with seven consecutive slashes, forcing him backward and drawing blood despite the Rime Winter Domain.
• Duanmu Chun and the Profound Mystery Pavilion guardians formed a Years Formation and sent a Sword of Years toward Chen Mu.
• Yan Jingqing knocked aside the Sword of Years, then confronted Duanmu Chun and the guardians after Duanmu Chun tried to sow discord between him and the Seven Mysteries Sect.
• Yan Jingqing unleashed his Feng Shui Domain, trapping Duanmu Chun and the guardians in water mist as they formed the Years Cycle to resist.
• The guardians' Sword of Years pursued Yan Jingqing through the mist, but he evaded its strikes while the two sides remained deadlocked.

Chen Mu defeated Situ Shu in a fierce battle, using the clash to sharpen his Martial Dao before killing him with the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal. The fight ended with Grandmasters from Profound Mystery Pavilion and Seven Mysteries Sect intervening, while the conflict between their factions remained unresolved.

• Situ Shu fought Chen Mu beneath the Rime Winter Domain, while Blood Shadow Tower observers chose to leave the two factions to fight and Lin Wuchang judged that Chen Mu would win.
• Chen Mu advanced through eighteen saber strikes, steadily strengthening his Martial Dao as Situ Shu retreated and his Rime Winter Domain weakened.
• Chen Mu's Li Fire Saber broke, but Situ Shu was wounded and his domain collapsed; Situ Shu tried to flee.
• Chen Mu pursued Situ Shu and unleashed the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal, while a Profound Mystery Pavilion Grandmaster tried to intervene.
• A Seven Mysteries Sect Grandmaster blocked the intervention, allowing Chen Mu's strike to land and kill Situ Shu.

Chen Mu killed Situ Shu and the Profound Mystery Pavilion forces in Jade Commandery after the Seven Mysteries Sect intervened to defend him. The Pavilion withdrew rather than risk war, but Chen Mu's martial path remained threatened by demonic qi.

• Chen Mu killed Situ Shu, took the Cold Soul Spiritual Blade, and charged into the battle between Yan Jingqing and Duanmu Chun's forces.
• Chen Mu broke the Profound Mystery Pavilion guardians' Four Seasons Formation and killed them, while Feng Hongsheng blocked Fu Jingyuan from intervening.
• Feng Hongsheng demanded that the Pavilion's participants pay in blood, and Fu Jingyuan withdrew rather than start a war with the Seven Mysteries Sect.
• With the guardians dead, Yan Jingqing crushed Duanmu Chun's domain, and Chen Mu beheaded Duanmu Chun.
• Chen Mu and Yan Jingqing recognized that the Profound Mystery Pavilion's forces in Jade Commandery could now be uprooted, while news of Chen Mu's victory would spread across the provinces.

Chen Mu traveled with Xu Hongyu, Chen Yue, and their relatives toward the Jade Province Capital while reflecting on the limits of his strength after killing Situ Shu. He left Xu Hongyu close to reaching the Five Viscera Realm as the convoy continued its journey.

• Chen Mu reviewed intelligence about Ice Province and reflected on how his improved Martial Dao Will had helped him defeat Situ Shu, while recognizing that a Grandmaster like Fu Jingyuan could still overpower him.
• Chen Mu told Xu Hongyu that his strength was lacking, and she urged him not to push himself so hard.
• Chen Mu explained that even Wind and Cloud Rankings experts could not ensure safety in a full-scale war and that true security required reaching the Blood Exchange Realm.
• Chen Mu encouraged Xu Hongyu to cultivate with proper tension and relaxation, then helped her practice, hoping she would break through to the Five Viscera Realm during their journey.

On the carriage ride to the Province Capital, Chen Mu used dual cultivation with Xu Hongyu to gain Power of Intent experience, then tested the Yellow Crow Vine and discovered the System Panel could greatly accelerate his Six Bowel Realm progress. He raised his cultivation from 33% to 43% and planned to continue growing stronger while the turmoil in Ice Province remained distant.

• Chen Mu and Xu Hongyu practiced Yin Yang Wheel Rotation, and Chen Mu checked his gains in Power of Intent and the Six Viscera Scripture.
• Chen Mu decided to accelerate his Six Bowel Realm cultivation and took out a Yellow Crow Vine he had obtained from the Profound Mystery Pavilion branch.
• Chen Mu refined the Yellow Crow Vine with supplementary spiritual medicines and swallowed the resulting medicinal pellet while Xu Hongyu left him to cultivate.
• Chen Mu used the System Panel to convert experience into Six Bowel Scripture progress, raising his cultivation from 33% to 43% in about fifteen minutes.
• Chen Mu concluded that the System Panel let him absorb the Yellow Crow Vine’s medicinal power several times more efficiently than ordinary cultivation and resolved to keep improving before Ice Province’s turmoil reached him.

Chen Mu brought Chen Yue, Xu Hongyu, and the others into the Province Capital and showed them the stark divide between its impoverished Outer City and wealthy Inner City. After Inspector Xu Qingzhao welcomed and escorted them inside, the locals recognized Chen Mu as the man who had slain Situ Shu.

• Chen Yue remarked that the Province Capital’s poverty and social order resembled Jade City, and Chen Mu explained that the great Lineages still dominated the city.
• Chen Mu’s group passed through the Outer City as residents in rags moved aside, then heard a storyteller exaggerate Chen Mu’s battle against Situ Shu.
• Chen Mu corrected Chen Yue that Situ Shu had died to the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal, though the tale’s other details were false.
• Xu Qingzhao greeted Chen Mu, said an Inner City residence had been prepared, and led the group toward the Inner City.
• After Chen Mu and his companions entered the Inner City, residents speculated that the young man personally escorted by Xu Qingzhao was Chen Mu.

After settling his household in the Province Capital, Chen Mu accepted generous gifts from powerful families and considered how the resources could advance his cultivation. He then responded to Yu Ru’s confession by assuring her that she could remain close to him, whether or not she married him.

• Feng Hongan and the Qin Family head sent gifts and greetings after learning Chen Mu had arrived in the Province Capital.
• The Province Capital’s great and lesser families offered Chen Mu gifts and probed whether he would form marriage alliances, but he accepted the gifts and declined the Liu Family’s proposal.
• Chen Mu calculated that his gathered resources could buy five to six portions of nurturing spiritual materials and checked his cultivation progress on the System Panel.
• Yu Ru brought Chen Mu tea after Chen Yue, Xu Hongyu, Xiao He, and the others left them alone, and Chen Mu spoke candidly about the lack of formal status she might have as his wife.
• Yu Ru confessed that she did not care about formal status, and Chen Mu reassured her that either choice was fine and that he would always look after her.

After five months of cultivation, Chen Mu reached 72% tempering of his six bowels and decided to raid the Iron Hand Gang for resources. He traveled to the Wusha River, where a poor ferryman revealed how the gang’s boat gangs exploited the riverside villagers, and Chen Mu prepared to act.

• Chen Mu trained Chen Yue in swordsmanship and praised her progress toward mastering Gen Mountain Power of Intent.
• Chen Mu reviewed reports on Jade Province’s criminal powers and chose the Iron Hand Gang as his first target for acquiring resources.
• Chen Mu assessed his growing strength, including his Six Viscera Scripture reaching 72%, and concluded he was still no match for a third-tier Grandmaster.
• Chen Mu changed into traveling clothes, left the province capital, and reached the Wusha River, where he boarded a ferryman’s boat.
• The ferryman told Chen Mu that the Zhang Family Boat Gang demanded protection money and killed people who tried to sell Black Sand outside its territory.

Chen Mu sought a massive supply of Black Sand and traced the boat gangs to an Iron Hand Gang gathering, where he attacked its leaders. After defeating Zong Ling, he demanded to know where the gang had hidden its accumulated wealth.

• An old boatman guided Chen Mu to Boss Liu’s dock, where Chen Mu vanished from the boat and left the old man’s granddaughter a Silver Bean.
• Chen Mu asked Steward Liu to sell him ten million jin of Black Sand, then forced him to reveal that the boat gang leaders were gathered for the Iron Hand Gang leader’s birthday.
• Chen Mu split a cargo ship in half to intimidate Steward Liu into giving him the gathering’s location.
• At the birthday banquet, Zong Ling announced a higher cut of the Black Sand profits, but Chen Mu appeared and demanded the Iron Hand Gang’s wealth.
• Chen Mu killed a Five Viscera Realm hall master with lightning and defeated Zong Ling by tearing through his Li Fire Domain, revealing himself as a Thunder Dao Grandmaster.
• Chen Mu asked the assembled Iron Hand Gang members where the gang’s accumulated wealth was hidden.

Chen Mu looted Zong Ling’s treasury and went to Emerald Rock Manor to seize more resources, but he discovered Bai Shiyong practicing Heavenly Demon Sect arts and killing maids. Chen Mu restrained Bai Shiyong and demanded to know how Emerald Rock Manor had acquired the demonic arts and how many people practiced them.

• Chen Mu found gold, demon materials, and six Viscera Refining Spiritual Materials in Zong Ling’s treasury, then decided to strike Emerald Rock Manor quickly.
• Chen Mu arrived at Emerald Rock Manor, a powerful settlement backed by the Fang Family, while attendants led five maids to Bai Shiyong’s room.
• Bai Shiyong seized Ying Er’s heart and killed three more maids, then attacked the final maid with an elongated claw.
• Chen Mu stopped Bai Shiyong’s claw, crushed his arm with the Power of Heaven and Earth, and pinned him to the ground.
• Chen Mu identified Bai Shiyong’s demonic appearance as belonging to the Heavenly Demon Sect and demanded to know who else in Emerald Rock Manor practiced its arts.

Chen Mu forced Bai Shiyong to reveal that Bai Yuanqing practiced Heavenly Demon Sect arts, then confronted the Bai Family patriarch and the hidden Venerable Hou beneath Emerald Rock Manor. Chen Mu revealed his Thunder Dao Grandmaster strength and killed Hou Hao with the Evil Breaker Thunder Spear, while the fate of the Bai Family remained unresolved.

• Chen Mu crippled Bai Shiyong and forced him to admit that his grandfather, Bai Yuanqing, practiced Heavenly Demon Sect demon arts.
• Bai Shiyong led Chen Mu to a hidden underground passage, then revealed the trap and summoned an attack from below.
• Bai Yuanqing and the Heavenly Demon Sect Venerable Hou emerged from the ruins, and Bai Yuanqing asked Hou Hao to help him escape to Ice Province.
• Hou Hao tried to flee after Chen Mu revealed the Evil Breaker Thunder Spear, but Chen Mu hurled it after him.
• The Evil Breaker Thunder Spear pierced Hou Hao's demonic defenses and killed the Tier Seven Venerable.

Chen Mu killed Hou Hao and Bai Yuanqing after discovering that the Bai Family patriarch and Bai Shiyong had practiced the Heavenly Demon Sect’s secret art. He forced the surviving Bai Family members to reveal Emerald Rock Manor’s treasury, then found a mysterious map hidden inside Hou Hao’s corpse.

• Chen Mu killed Hou Hao with the Evil Breaker Thunder Spear and questioned Bai Yuanqing and Bai Shiyong about the Bai Family’s ties to the Heavenly Demon Sect.
• Bai Shiyong begged for his life and blamed Bai Yuanqing, who killed him before transforming into a demon and attacking Chen Mu.
• Chen Mu killed Bai Yuanqing with a bolt of violet thunder, then threatened the Bai Family members until they offered to show him Emerald Rock Manor’s treasury.
• Chen Mu went to inspect Hou Hao’s corpse, subdued the gathered servants with his presence, and confirmed the body was harmless.
• Chen Mu cut into Hou Hao’s chest and found a demon-hide map that he suspected showed a Great Wilderness beyond the border.

Chen Mu killed Hou Hao and obtained valuable treasures, including a Wind Spirit Core and Demon Blood, before looting Emerald Rock Manor and leaving once Seven Mysteries Sect forces arrived. At the ruins, Chu Jingsu and Meng Danyun investigated Hou Hao’s death and began seeking Elder Shi’s guidance about the unknown Thunder Dao Grandmaster.

• Chen Mu examined Hou Hao’s collection and stored a Wind Spirit Core, a bottle of powerful Demon Blood, and an unknown map among his gains.
• Chen Mu considered collecting materials for a Qiankun Spirit Weapon but decided to focus on strengthening himself rather than pursuing the Divine Firmament Stone yet.
• Chen Mu ordered Emerald Rock Manor’s servants to remain still, searched the manor’s treasury, and waited until a Seven Mysteries Sect Protector arrived before departing.
• Chu Jingsu inspected Hou Hao’s dismembered corpse and concluded that a powerful Thunder Dao method had killed him in one strike.
• Meng Danyun and Chu Jingsu identified the corpse as Hou Hao and discussed which Grandmaster might have killed him.
• Meng Danyun agreed to inform Elder Shi while Chu Jingsu stayed to handle Emerald Rock Manor’s affairs.

Qi Zhiyuan investigated the mysterious Thunder Dao Grandmaster raiding factions across Jade Province while arranging talks with Ice Severing Palace. In the Province Capital, Chen Mu trained Xu Hongyu and reflected on his rapidly advancing strength before Zhao Zhenchuan arrived, likely carrying deployment orders for the Seven Mysteries Sect’s involvement in the Ice Province war.

• Qi Zhiyuan ordered Feng Hongsheng to investigate the unknown Thunder Dao Grandmaster and received word that someone from Ice Severing Palace had arrived for negotiations.
• Chen Mu trained Xu Hongyu in wielding the Kan Water Power of Intent, and she remarked that he now carried the bearing of a Grandmaster.
• Chen Mu noted that his six-bowel tempering had reached 91% and that his strength was approaching that of top Grandmasters despite remaining in the Six Bowel Realm.
• Chen Mu told Xu Hongyu that Zhao Zhenchuan had come to see him, expecting that the Seven Mysteries Sect had summoned him to serve in the Ice Province war.

Chen Mu was appointed Jade Province Surveillance Department Inspector and Jade Forest Army Pacification Envoy, and received orders to travel with Zhao Zhenchuan to the Lang Commandery border as the war in Ice Province intensified. After reassuring his family that they could remain safely in the Province Capital, he prepared to depart.

• Chen Mu reunited with Zhao Zhenchuan, who praised his growing strength and joked that he might already have mastered the Qiankun Domain.
• Zhao Zhenchuan delivered Elder Qi's appointment of Chen Mu as Inspector and Pacification Envoy and explained that one hundred thousand Jade Forest Army troops would reinforce Lang Commandery.
• Chen Mu learned that the deployment was intended to secure the border while he accompanied Zhao Zhenchuan to quell unrest in Ice Province.
• Chen Mu told Xu Hongyu, Xiao He, Yu Ru, Chen Yue, and the others that he expected battles with the Heavenly Corpse Sect, the Heavenly Demon Sect, and the Outside the Pass Foreign Race.
• Chen Mu reassured his family, bade them farewell, and returned to Zhao Zhenchuan to prepare for the journey.

Chen Mu and Zhao Zhenchuan visited the Jade Forest Army East Army, where Chen Mu studied the military formation and gained new insights into its relationship with the Qiankun Power of Intent Realm. After Han Liwu granted them temporary freedom of movement in the formation, Chen Mu planned to observe the army for several days.

• Chen Mu and Zhao Zhenchuan watched one hundred thousand East Army soldiers mobilize, and Zhao explained how military formations could suppress even Grandmasters.
• Guo Hao halted the troops and escorted Chen Mu and Zhao Zhenchuan into the formation to verify their identities.
• Chen Mu experienced the formation firsthand and realized his Qiankun Power of Intent Realm could blend into its structure.
• Chen Mu and Zhao Zhenchuan met Han Liwu, who suggested Chen Mu might take up military formation cultivation in the future, but Chen declined and asked to observe the army.
• Han Liwu used a command banner to imprint Chen Mu and Zhao Zhenchuan’s auras, granting them unimpeded access to the military formation for three months.