Recaps

At Zhao Xiu’s birthday gathering, Wei Luo learned that Master Qin planned to take three disciples, while Shen Wu was already promised a place and a possible marriage into the Sun Family. In the days that followed, Wei Luo kept training and sparring, eventually defeating Chen Yang and drawing attention to his progress toward the Second Refinement.

• Zhao Xiu revealed that Master Qin had accepted Shen Wu as a disciple and that the Sun Family intended to take him as a son-in-law; Sun Qianchuan confirmed the family’s plans.
• Sun Qianchuan announced that Master Qin planned to take three disciples, prompting the estate’s crewmen to intensify their training.
• Master Qin later announced that he would take disciples and named Shen Wu as one, but left his method for choosing the others unclear.
• Wei Luo received wages from the Yao Family, bought two months’ worth of Bone-Strengthening Soup, and began sparring with veteran crewmen using a white-ash point system.
• Wei Luo defeated Chen Yang in a sparring match and then held his own against several other First Refinement fighters.
• Liu Changle asked Wei Luo whether he was close to reaching the Second Refinement.

Wei Luo learned that the Sun Family would send a Treasure Ship to Falling Geese Gorge in three days, and he weighed the risks and opportunities of joining the voyage. Sun Qianchuan gathered allies for the expedition but excluded Wei Luo and Liu Changle, leaving Zhao Xiu displeased.

• Wei Luo considered his slow progress in blood and qi and avoided seeking Treasure Fish after learning that Fierce Fish made the waters dangerous.
• Steward Li announced that the Sun Family would send a Treasure Ship to Falling Geese Gorge in three days, and the crewmen eagerly signed up.
• Wei Luo considered asking Zhao Xiu and Sun Qianchuan about the expedition after Liu Changle excitedly registered.
• Sun Qianchuan promised Zhao Xiu, Shen Wu, Li Yue, and two other crewmen extra bait and possible shares of Treasure Fish to win their support.
• Zhao Xiu suggested including Wei Luo and Liu Changle, but Sun Qianchuan and Shen Wu dismissed them, and Sun Qianchuan finalized the group without them.

As Wei Luo prepared to join the Sun Family’s voyage into Falling Geese Gorge, he discovered that grain prices and the refugee crisis in Pingjiang Town were worsening. At the departure ceremony, a Daoist claimed to be the Hun River God and threatened to overturn the Sun Family’s Treasure Ships.

• Wei Luo learned from Zhao Xiu that Falling Geese Gorge held a dangerous miasma and hazardous waters, then bought herbs and pills to prepare for the voyage.
• At a grain shop, Wei Luo found prices had surged, crushed the shopkeeper’s abacus, and learned wealthy households were stockpiling grain while refugees were barred from town.
• Wei Luo’s projections showed that grain prices would keep rising and that tens of thousands of refugees might storm Pingjiang Town if relief porridge ran out.
• Wei Luo reassured Zhao Clan that he would be safe on the Sun Family’s voyage, though he worried about the refugees and the danger to his family in Yellow Mud Alley.
• At the Sun Family pier, Wei Luo and Liu Changle saw the Treasure Ships, and Liu Changle tricked Luo Sanhu into thinking Zhang Chi was nearby.
• During the departure ceremony, a Daoist summoned the Hun River God, and Sun Chai asked for the deity’s blessing as Wei Luo doubted the act.

Sun Chai paid a fortune to the “River God,” only for the Sun Family to force the fraudulent Daoist aboard their Treasure Ship. At Nameless Island, Wei Luo and Liu Changle searched for Treasure Fish and reached a spring after finding the best spots already claimed.

• Sun Chai offered the “River God” one hundred taels of silver for safe fishing, and Sun Family guards forced the old Daoist to join the voyage.
• The seasick Daoist shared a cramped cabin with Wei Luo and Liu Changle as the Treasure Ship traveled to Falling Geese Gorge.
• The crew reached Nameless Island, where the Sun Family map showed springs and other places connected to underwater passages where Treasure Fish could be caught.
• Sun Qianchuan claimed Cold Pool for his group, driving away veteran crewmen despite Zhao Xiu's objection.
• Wei Luo and Liu Changle searched the island, found the marked spots occupied, and reached a bubbling spring where Wei Luo used [Great Thousand Revelation] to seek places likely to yield Treasure Fish.

Wei Luo used the Great Thousand Revelation to locate likely Treasure Fish spots on Nameless Island and fought Luo Sanhu when he tried to claim one. After sending Luo Sanhu away, Wei Luo hurried to another location and prepared to catch a Treasure Fish.

• Wei Luo deduced thirty-one nearby locations with a high chance of producing Treasure Fish and told Liu Changle to try baiting a spring.
• Luo Sanhu and the old swindler arrived and claimed the spring, while Liu Changle refused to give up the spot.
• Wei Luo defeated Luo Sanhu with one punch after Luo Sanhu invoked Shen Wu’s name.
• Luo Sanhu left with the old swindler, and Wei Luo reassured Liu Changle that Shen Wu was unlikely to retaliate.
• Wei Luo hurried to a mountain stream pool, prepared his fishing tools, and tossed a lump of bait into the water.

Wei Luo caught two Treasure Fish on Nameless Island and drew attention away from Sun Qianchuan, earning a reward from Sun Chai and the crewmen’s favor. Sun Qianchuan resented Wei Luo’s success and expected his luck to run out.

• Wei Luo used bait to catch a large Blue-Line Fish in the freezing waters of a pool on Nameless Island.
• The crewmen returned to shore, and Sun Chai’s shiphand registered their Treasure Fish; Sun Qianchuan drew praise for catching two.
• Wei Luo handed in a Blue-Line Fish and a Bighead Pomfret, and Sun Chai rewarded him with ten taels of silver.
• The crewmen asked Wei Luo where he had caught his fish, and he shared the locations while crediting his success to luck.
• Sun Qianchuan watched Wei Luo win the crewmen’s favor and thought Wei Luo would come back empty-handed the next day.

Wei Luo chose new Treasure Fish locations on Nameless Island, but his conspicuous success drew Shen Wu into a dispute over Luo Sanhu’s injury. Zhao Xiu defused the confrontation and warned Wei Luo and Liu Changle to keep their good fortune quiet, but nearly ten crewmen followed them into the island.

• After practicing his fists, Wei Luo judged that he needed at least two Treasure Fish to break through the second qi-and-blood threshold and chose eastern fishing spots from the Great Thousand Revelation’s results.
• Shen Wu confronted Wei Luo over injuring Luo Sanhu, but the surrounding crewmen revealed that Luo Sanhu had tried to take Wei Luo and Liu Changle’s fishing spot.
• Shen Wu demanded an apology and challenged Wei Luo and Liu Changle, until Zhao Xiu stepped between them and offered an apology and compensation for Luo Sanhu.
• After Shen Wu left, Zhao Xiu warned Wei Luo and Liu Changle that showing off their luck could invite trouble from other crewmen.
• Wei Luo and Liu Changle collected bait and headed into the island, while nearly ten crewmen began following them.

Wei Luo caught several Treasure Fish and risked a fight with a Fierce Fish to secure a prized Dragon-Whisker Carp. Injured but determined, he roasted all three fish to strengthen himself and break through the second threshold of qi and blood.

• Wei Luo gave directions to followers seeking Treasure Fish, then left alone and caught two more fish at pools deeper on the island.
• Wei Luo spotted a Dragon-Whisker Carp at a secluded pool and waited for it to approach his bait.
• A Fierce Fish emerged from the channel and moved toward the Dragon-Whisker Carp, so Wei Luo speared the carp before the creature could take it.
• The Fierce Fish chased Wei Luo onto the bank and struck his shoulder, but he escaped with the Dragon-Whisker Carp.
• Wei Luo returned to the pool, then gutted and roasted all three Treasure Fish, planning to break through the second threshold of qi and blood.

Wei Luo used the vitality and blood of three Treasure Fish to break through to the Second Refinement, then faced growing danger from vicious fish and the Sun Family’s demands. The chapter ended with him finding Liu Changle beaten after Zhang Chi took their group’s bait.

• Wei Luo practiced the Folding Waves Fist after eating three Treasure Fish and broke through to the Second Refinement, gaining enough strength to shatter a stone with one punch.
• Wei Luo learned that vicious fish had injured boatmen, while Sun Chai threatened those who failed to hand over two Treasure Fish.
• Wei Luo avoided the dangerous waters and returned empty-handed, while Liu Changle joined several First Refinement boatmen to fish.
• Liu Changle told his companions that Zhang Chi had taken their bait and beaten him after he protested.
• Wei Luo approached Liu Changle and asked what had happened.

Wei Luo confronted Zhang Chi after learning that Zhang Chi had injured Liu Changle, and defeated him despite having only recently reached Second Refinement. Wei Luo took Zhang Chi’s Treasure Fish as an apology and gave it to Liu Changle.

• Liu Changle tried to hide that Zhang Chi had injured him, but Wei Luo saw his bruises and learned where Zhang Chi was waiting.
• Wei Luo went to the fork in the road, where Zhang Chi was collecting bait from First Refinement crewmen, and Liu Changle, Wang De, and others followed.
• Wei Luo blinded Zhang Chi with lime powder and attacked him, revealing that he had reached Second Refinement.
• Wei Luo overwhelmed Zhang Chi and knocked him down with a punch to the jaw.
• Wei Luo stomped on Zhang Chi’s chest, took the Treasure Fish from his basket, and handed it to Liu Changle as an apology.

After Wei Luo severely injured Zhang Chi, he learned that the Dragon-Whisker Carp he had eaten was worth a fortune and was summoned before Sun Chai. Sun Chai spared him from harsher punishment, ordering him to pay Zhang Chi’s medical expenses and forbidding him from catching Treasure Fish.

• News spread across Stone Beach that Wei Luo had beaten Zhang Chi, and the sailors praised him for standing up to the disliked bully.
• Zhao Xiu discovered that Wei Luo had reached the Second Refinement and learned he had eaten a valuable Dragon-Whisker Carp; Wei Luo offered to sell him the carp whiskers.
• Zhao Xiu brought Wei Luo to meet Sun Chai, who questioned Sun Qianchuan and Shen Wu about Wei Luo before summoning him into the captain’s cabin.
• Wei Luo admitted injuring Zhang Chi and explained that Zhang Chi had stolen Liu Changle’s bait, prompting Sun Chai to view his actions more favorably.
• Sun Qianchuan demanded that Wei Luo lose a hand, but Sun Chai instead ordered him to pay Zhang Chi twenty taels for medical expenses and barred him from catching Treasure Fish.

On the return journey, Wei Luo and the crew encountered a ship in the fog whose passengers were accompanied by the sound of children crying. Their Treasure Ship collided with a vessel belonging to the Fish-Dragon Gang, leaving Sun Chai confronting its leader, Wang Dali.

• Zhao Xiu bought one of Liu Changle’s Treasure Fish for thirty-five taels and promised him a share of the pills made from it.
• The crew heard cries of children and agonized screams coming from the fog, so Sun Chai ordered the Treasure Ship toward the sound and had the old Daoist tied to the bow.
• A pitch-black Treasure Ship emerged from the fog, and the two vessels scraped together despite both crews trying to avoid a collision.
• Wei Luo recognized the other ship’s flag as belonging to the Fish-Dragon Gang, and Sun Chai leapt aboard and killed two of its men.
• Wang Dali appeared with two white-robed companions, and Sun Chai demanded compensation for the damaged Treasure Ship.

Wei Luo witnessed Wang Dali defeat Sun Chai and discovered that the Pure Fragrance Cult was using the Fish-Dragon Gang’s ship to carry out a bloody sacrifice. As refugees gathered outside Pingjiang Town and grain prices rose, Wei Luo worried that his Second Refinement strength was inadequate and began deducing Master Qin’s conditions for accepting disciples.

• Wang Dali broke Sun Chai’s arm with a single punch, forcing the Sun Family’s ship to leave.
• Wang Dali reported to the Pure Fragrance Cult envoys, who rewarded him with three Marrow-Washing Pills and ordered him to capture more children.
• The Pure Fragrance Cult envoys revealed that their plan involved tens of thousands of refugees storming the city.
• Wei Luo deduced that the crying had come from the Fish-Dragon Gang’s ship and recognized Wang Dali’s strength as Three Refinements.
• Wei Luo observed that refugees and grain prices were increasing, worried he needed to reach Force Training, and began deducing Master Qin’s conditions for accepting disciples.

Qin Changfeng agreed to take three disciples after Sun Sheng pleaded for help strengthening the Sun Family, but a new crisis soon struck the estate. A month later, Wei Luo trained at the Sun Family grounds while Master Qin watched, and Wei Luo knew he had already secured a place among Qin Changfeng’s disciples.

• Sun Sheng begged Qin Changfeng to take three disciples so the Sun Family could protect itself from its rivals, and Qin Changfeng agreed to choose them later.
• A messenger reported that Sun Chai’s arm had been broken, while the Sun Family forbade the crew from spreading the news and made no move against the Fish-Dragon Gang.
• Refugees ravaged a village outside the city as grain prices rose, and the three great families distributed porridge to prevent further trouble.
• Over the next month, Wei Luo’s pay and Bone-Strengthening Soup increased after he reached Second Refinement, and Qin Changfeng began visiting the training ground to instruct the martial artists.
• Wei Luo practiced deliberately on an ironwood post while Liu Changle trained with hundreds of strikes, and Wei Luo remained confident that Qin Changfeng had already chosen him as a disciple.

Wei Luo demonstrated that he had independently mastered Layered Wave Force, earning Qin Changfeng’s acceptance as his disciple. Qin Changfeng then showed him the Layered Waves Shatter Rock visualization diagram, beginning Wei Luo’s training toward Force Training.

• Sun Chai urged Qin Changfeng to choose a disciple, but Qin dismissed the candidates Sun Chai suggested as unworthy.
• Wei Luo used Layered Wave Force to strike an ironwood stake, impressing Qin Changfeng, who named him his disciple.
• Qin Changfeng challenged the other martial artists to understand his punch, which combined three kinds of force and snapped an ironwood stake.
• Wei Luo accepted a five-hundred-tael gift from the Sun Family after Qin Changfeng approved it, while Shen Wu regarded him with disdain.
• Qin Changfeng took Wei Luo to the training room and taught him to contemplate the Layered Waves Shatter Rock visualization diagram.

Wei Luo studied the Folding Waves Fist visualization diagram as Qin Changfeng’s new disciple and learned that fully mastering it could earn him a great gift. After returning to the East Courtyard, he witnessed Li Yue’s public breakup with Shen Wu and rejected Sun Qianchuan’s attempt to befriend him, then went drinking with Zhao Xiu and Liu Changle.

• Wei Luo spent two hours contemplating the Folding Waves Fist visualization diagram, and Qin Changfeng instructed him to study it daily without damaging the sole copy.
• Qin Changfeng explained how the fist technique could fuse forces and promised Wei Luo a great gift if he comprehended the diagram in its entirety.
• Qin Changfeng offered Wei Luo a place in his courtyard after asking about his home and family, but Wei Luo politely declined.
• Wei Luo returned to find Li Yue begging Shen Wu not to abandon her as he prepared to marry into the Sun Family; Shen Wu eventually left her behind.
• Sun Qianchuan congratulated Wei Luo and invited him out, but Wei Luo refused to associate with him and left with Zhao Xiu and Liu Changle.
• Wei Luo took Zhao Xiu and Liu Changle to a restaurant for drinks while Sun Qianchuan seethed over the public rejection.

After becoming Master Qin’s disciple, Wei Luo turned down marriage offers from the Yao Family and the Sun Family, then rescued Uncle Cao and Yuanyuan from Fish-Dragon Gang members. As food grew scarce and the city’s situation worsened, he brought a property broker home and told his mother they should move.

• Yao Song urged Wei Luo to consider marrying into the Yao Family, but Wei Luo refused, and Zhao Xiu mentioned the Sun Family was also seeking a son-in-law.
• Wei Luo found two Fish-Dragon Gang members breaking into Uncle Cao’s home, killed one, and defeated the other while rescuing Yuanyuan.
• Wei Luo questioned the surviving gang member, learned the gang’s strength-enhancing powder was linked to the Pure Fragrance Cult’s arrival, and took the powder for study.
• Wei Luo left the bodies outside a Fish-Dragon Gang branch hall with another gang’s name written in blood, and the Fish-Dragon Gang showed no reaction for several days.
• As prices rose and neighbors came to borrow food, Wei Luo brought a property broker home and told his mother they should move.

Wei Luo moved his family from Yellow Mud Alley to a house near the Sun Family Estate while the Yao Family argued over whether to seek his protection. At the estate, Wei Luo defeated Liang Jun in a spar, and Yao Ya arrived demanding to see him.

• Wei Luo reassured Zhao Clan that they could afford a house near the Sun Family Estate, paid a deposit, and moved the family there the next day.
• Yao Song warned Yao Cheng that the Yao Family needed a powerful martial artist to survive the worsening crisis and suggested winning Wei Luo over through Yao Ya.
• Yao Ya rejected the idea of marrying Wei Luo, and Yao Cheng sided with her, deciding to hire a Second Refinement martial artist instead.
• Liu Changle revealed that he had reached the Second Refinement, while Wei Luo sparred with Liang Jun and defeated him using Layered Wave Force.
• Wei Luo assessed the gap between himself and Shen Wu and calculated that his Folding Waves Fist had reached 78% progress.
• Yao Ya rushed into the Sun Family Estate courtyard and demanded that Wei Luo come out.

Yao Ya publicly accused Wei Luo of pursuing her, prompting a dispute within the Yao Family over whether to apologize. At the Zhao Residence, Wei Luo learned his medicinal powder contained poisonous Fierce Fish meat, then discovered a secret method to improve it without side effects.

• Yao Ya stormed into Wei Luo’s training ground, falsely claimed he had sought to marry her, and left without letting him answer.
• Yao Song scolded Yao Ya and urged Yao Cheng to make her apologize, but Yao Cheng refused and declared the Yao Family’s matter with Wei Luo finished.
• Wei Luo visited the unusually quiet Zhao Residence and found Zhao Xiu discussing trouble involving the Pure Fragrance Cult with Sun Qianchuan.
• Wei Luo asked Zhao Xiu to examine medicinal powder from the Fish-Dragon Gang, and Zhao Xiu identified its poisonous Fierce Fish meat.
• Wei Luo saw a secret instruction stating that the powder’s toxicity could be countered with a primary medicinal ingredient, with the improvement taking three days.

Wei Luo brought an ink-stained pill formula and secret medicinal powder to the Zhao Family’s Alchemy Hall, hoping to refine a medicine that would remove the powder’s toxicity. After the alchemists refused to help, he used the Great Thousand Revelation to guide his own attempt and successfully made two pills.

• Wei Luo asked Zhao Xiu to have the Zhao Family’s alchemists test his pill formula, and Zhao Xiu sent him to the Alchemy Hall.
• Cheng Ming rejected the formula as impossible to refine, while Alchemist Wang backed out after Cheng Ming warned against wasting herbs.
• Wei Luo watched Cheng Ming refine pills and listened to his explanations, then decided to refine the formula himself.
• Wei Luo used the Great Thousand Revelation to deduce each step as he worked, despite growing dizzy and exhausted.
• Wei Luo opened the furnace and found two brown pills inside, confirming that he had successfully refined them.

Wei Luo unexpectedly refined a pill after watching Cheng Ming work, then tested it on animals at Zhao Xiu’s request. The test showed that the pill dramatically strengthened two animals, leaving the alchemists stunned and the Zhao Family’s need for alchemists unresolved.

• Wei Luo refined a flawed pill after observing Cheng Ming, surprising the alchemists, and Zhao Xiu arrived to ask what had happened.
• Cheng Ming explained Wei Luo’s success, and Zhao Xiu offered to train him as an alchemist because the Zhao Family needed one; Wei Luo hesitated to abandon the martial path.
• Medicine boys brought a field mouse, a long snake, and a mountain monkey, and Cheng Ming fed them portions of Wei Luo’s pill to test its effects.
• The field mouse died after reacting violently, but the long snake grew larger and the mountain monkey surged with blood energy, convincing Cheng Ming that the pill’s potency was simply too strong.

Wei Luo successfully refined pills, then encountered Yang Xian of the Pure Fragrance Cult, who threatened Zhao Xiu over the Zhao Family’s Bone Sculpting Pill. After learning that Yang Xian was poisoning and coercing the family, Wei Luo refused to leave Zhao Xiu to face him alone.

• Wei Luo’s pills improved the blood, qi, and strength of the animals used to test them, impressing Cheng Ming and the other pill masters.
• Yang Xian confronted Zhao Xiu and demanded the Bone Sculpting Pill, choking him when Zhao Xiu asked for two months and forcing him to promise delivery within one month.
• Cheng Ming attacked Yang Xian but was knocked unconscious, while Wei Luo prepared to fight before Zhao Xiu secured Yang Xian’s departure with his promise.
• Zhao Xiu told Wei Luo that the Pure Fragrance Cult controlled the area outside town and that Yang Xian had slaughtered members of the Zhao Family and poisoned more than a hundred of them.
• Wei Luo refused Zhao Xiu’s advice to leave, saying Yang Xian would not let him go now that they had met.

Wei Luo agreed to help the Zhao Family stand against Yang Xian, and he and Zhao Xiu discussed seeking Qin Changfeng’s aid and curing the poison. At dawn, Wei Luo and Zhao Xiu set out for the Sun Family Estate, hoping to persuade Qin Changfeng to help.

• Wei Luo confirmed that Yang Xian was unlikely to spare him, but declared he would risk his life alongside Zhao Xiu, who regained his resolve.
• Cheng Ming outlined the two problems facing the Zhao Family: Yang Xian’s poison and his Three Refinements strength.
• Wei Luo agreed to ask Qin Changfeng for help and offered to try curing Zhao Xiu’s poison, Ten Strings, though his deduction showed the antidote would take two months to develop.
• At dawn, Wei Luo and Zhao Xiu traveled to the Sun Family Estate with gifts to seek Qin Changfeng’s assistance.
• Wei Luo suggested asking Shen Wu for help, but Zhao Xiu said Shen Wu was far weaker than Qin Changfeng.

Wei Luo and Zhao Xiu learned that the Pure Fragrance Cult threatened Pingjiang, while Qin Changfeng ordered Shen Wu to confront Yang Xian. The chapter left Wei Luo enduring the secret medicine’s painful effects as he tried to break through to Three Refinements, and Sun Chai rushing to warn Sun Sheng about a possible spy.

• Wei Luo heard how Qin Changfeng had defeated several martial arts school masters and noticed someone watching him near the secondary residence.
• Sun Chai told the gathered martial artists that more than fifty thousand refugees had assembled outside Pingjiang and that fewer than thirty percent of nearby villages remained.
• Wei Luo swallowed a pill made from the Fish-Dragon Gang’s secret medicine and began enduring its violent effects to push himself toward Three Refinements.
• Zhao Xiu begged Qin Changfeng to kill Yang Xian and offered the Bone Sculpting Pill formula, but Qin Changfeng directed him to leave the matter to Shen Wu.
• Qin Changfeng insisted Shen Wu needed to be tested against the Pure Fragrance Cult, then pointed out that the cult’s knowledge of the Zhao Family’s formula suggested a spy inside the city.
• Sun Chai realized the Pure Fragrance Cult had infiltrated Pingjiang and hurried off to warn Sun Sheng.

Wei Luo prepared to face the threat from Yang Xian by arranging for a thick breastplate and studying medicinal texts, but two assassins soon attacked his residence. He killed them and learned Yang Xian had ordered the attack, though the surviving assassin died before revealing what he knew about the Zhao Family’s Bone Sculpting Pill formula.

• Wei Luo visited the Miscellaneous Ward, saw the Pure Fragrance Cult recruiting followers, and asked Wang De’s father to forge him a four-inch-thick breastplate.
• Wei Luo studied medicinal texts at his new residence and noticed two assassins approaching after breaking through to the Three Refinements.
• The assassins attacked Wei Luo’s bed, but he ambushed them from the ceiling and killed one before defeating the other.
• The surviving assassin revealed that Yang Xian had ordered the attack and hinted that the Pure Fragrance Cult had experts who practiced force.
• When Wei Luo asked how Yang Xian learned about the Zhao Family’s Bone Sculpting Pill formula, the assassin tried to stab him, and Wei Luo killed him with Layered Wave Force.