Recaps

Jiang Ning collected his reward for defeating the God-Worship Cult and shared contribution points with his subordinates. He kept most of his points to secure access to higher Martial Dao techniques and planned to strengthen himself as pressure from the Qinghe Earl's Estate remained.

• Jiang Ning met Xie Xiaoj iu outside the Inspection Office and accepted eggs from the families of the children he had rescued.
• At the Internal Affairs Office, Jiang Ning received 107,000 contribution points and exchanged 8,000 of them for bronze coins.
• Jiang Ning distributed contribution points to Feng Ji格, Xie Xiaoj iu, and his team, whose members praised him for their rewards.
• Jiang Ning decided to save his remaining contribution points for access to advanced Martial Dao knowledge and considered using gold to buy heavenly treasures.
• Jiang Ning thought about the threat from the Qinghe Earl's Estate and planned to complete the Five Animals Fist's second limit break.

Jiang Ning discovered that the Water-Fire Immortal Robe let him absorb Great Sun essence without suffering its heat, more than doubling his Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique gains. As he continued training toward his next breakthroughs, Jiang Li reminded him that the Cao Family was about to be executed, and the brothers set out to watch.

• Xie Xiaojiu denied having slept with Jiang Ning, and Feng Ji was relieved to hear it.
• He Jinsheng questioned Liu Linmen about who had killed his younger brother, but Liu Linmen claimed he knew nothing; an investigating officer arriving with Deputy Officer Jin chose to avoid confronting Jiang Ning and planned to fake injuries before returning.
• Jiang Ning practiced the Five Animals Fist and absorbed Great Sun essence, discovering that his Water-Fire Immortal Robe trait removed the burning sensation and increased his Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique experience by more than double.
• Jiang Li reminded Jiang Ning that the Cao Family was due to be executed at the marketplace, and Jiang Ning agreed to go with him.
• Jiang Ning washed in the lake, used the Water Manipulation Art to dry his clothes, and left with Jiang Li.

After witnessing the Cao Family’s execution, Jiang Ning reflected on how strength and official status protected him from the same fate. He broke through the Five Animals Fist a second time, gaining the Five Elements Spirit trait and learning that its forms could draw elemental power to temper his organs.

• Jiang Ning and Jiang Li watched more than two hundred Cao Family members be executed, while a military camp envoy chose not to intervene.
• Jiang Ning concluded that he needed both strength and status to avoid the Cao and Liu Families’ fates, then resumed training beside the lake.
• Jiang Ning spent 200 Source Energy to break through the Five Animals Fist, reaching its second limit-breaking and gaining the Five Elements Spirit trait.
• Jiang Ning tested the new trait and found that the tiger, bear, and ape forms drew wood, earth, and fire power to temper his liver, spleen, and heart.
• Jiang Ning used a nearby burning tree to absorb abundant fire-element power, but found no nearby metal materials to efficiently temper his lungs.

Jiang Ning completed his physical transformation after breaking through the Five Animals Fist and began the second step of bone forging, absorbing Mystic Bone Pills to temper his bones with darksteel marrow. He recovered rapidly in the lake and observed the first thirteen bones beginning to darken, while elsewhere someone arrived in Luoshui County under a deity’s will.

• Jiang Ning practiced the Five Animals Fist at Rocky Shoal, demonstrating his transformed strength and drawing Five Elements Spirit essence into his body.
• Jiang Ning saw snow falling, then used thirteen qi-and-blood hammers to complete one cycle of bone forging.
• Jiang Ning absorbed six Mystic Bone Pills, realizing that his improved qi and blood had increased how much darksteel marrow his bones could absorb.
• Jiang Ning entered the lake to recover and watched black lines appear on the thirteen bones he had tempered.
• Someone arrived in Luoshui County in accordance with a deity’s will, while the deity remained weakened and in pain after its Divine Embryo was destroyed.

Lin Qingyi brought Ji Minghao and a young girl to visit Jiang Ning, whose training impressed the eighth prince. As Ji Minghao waited outside Jiang Ning’s courtyard, he learned more about Lin Qingyi’s standing and the five peak first-rank martial artists known as Second Under Heaven.

• Lin Qingyi arrived at Jiang Ning’s lakeside residence with Ji Minghao and a young girl, who praised Jiang Ning’s deeds after seeing the suffering in the outer city.
• Jiang Ning practiced the Five Animals Fist amid the five elements and found that the setting nourished his organs as he coordinated his fist training with bone forging.
• Jiang Li led the visitors toward the eastern courtyard, where Ji Minghao recognized Jiang Ning’s bone-forging sounds and marveled at his progress at such a young age.
• Ji Minghao chose to wait outside rather than meet Jiang Ning in the front hall, saying he wanted to show his sincerity as a visitor.
• Ji Minghao reflected on Lin Qingyi’s elevated status and the five martial artists who shared the title Second Under Heaven beneath the sole Martial Saint ranked first.

Jiang Ning met Ji Minghao, a wealthy and powerful visitor from the Royal Capital who revealed himself as the Eighth Prince and sought Jiang Ning’s friendship. Ji Minghao explained that the drought and snowfall were deliberately caused to destabilize Great Xia, and the chapter ended with Jiang Ning accepting his offer of brotherhood and revealing his Sumeru Ring.

• Ji Minghao waited in the snow until Jiang Ning finished practicing, then introduced himself and explained that Lin Qingyi was his cousin's wife.
• Ji Minghao praised Jiang Ning’s martial talent and revealed that, despite abundant resources and a grandmaster teacher, he had only barely forged Jade Bone.
• Ji Minghao told Jiang Ning that powerful figures had deliberately caused the drought and snowfall to weaken Great Xia and provoke unrest.
• Jiang Ning argued that loosening restrictions on private armies would divide the realm, and Ji Minghao agreed with him before revealing he was the Eighth Prince.
• Ji Minghao asked Jiang Ning to treat him as a friend, and Jiang Ning accepted while revealing his Sumeru Ring.

Jiang Ning and Ji Minghao discussed the mysterious substance in Jiang Ning’s wine, which Ji Minghao suspected was Emperor’s Flowing Essence, before He Jinsheng made a dismissive visit to Jiang’s residence. Ji Minghao gave Jiang Ning an identity token and brought him to meet his seventeenth sister, leaving Jiang Ning face-to-face with the shy princess.

• Ji Minghao identified the substance in Jiang Ning’s wine as possibly Emperor’s Flowing Essence, and Jiang Ning privately named the black stone the Lunar Yin Stone.
• He Jinsheng visited Jiang Ning’s residence but left after dismissing Jiang Ning and Ji Minghao as unworthy of his attention.
• Jiang Ning told Ji Minghao about his conflict with Qinghe Count while withholding that he had killed He Jinyun.
• Ji Minghao offered Jiang Ning his identity token, then urged him to meet his seventeenth sister and said he would support their marriage if they were suited.
• Ji Minghao brought Jiang Ning to the main hall, where Lin Qingyi introduced him to the shy girl in the goose-yellow dress.

Jiang Ning met Ji Mingyue, who boldly told her to come to the Royal Capital and marry her, while Jiang Li decided to take Liu Wanwan and their children to visit her family. Jiang Ning then considered entering the martial examinations to build his status and prepared to cultivate, planning to explain his promise to Ji Mingyue if he went to the Royal Capital next year.

• Lin Qingyi introduced Jiang Ning to Ji Mingyue, and the two quickly warmed to each other.
• Ji Mingyue held Jiang Ning’s hand, made Jiang Ning promise to come to the Royal Capital and marry her, then left with Lin Qingyi and Ji Minghao.
• Liu Wanwan told Jiang Li that Ji Mingyue might be descended from royalty, and Jiang Li urged her to visit her family with him and their children in spring.
• Jiang Ning weighed the risks of using Ji Minghao’s identity token and considered rising through the ranks by spending his Inspection Office contributions and entering the martial examinations.
• Jiang Ning decided he would explain his promise to Ji Mingyue if he reached the Royal Capital for the metropolitan examination, then began preparing his training environment.

Lin Qingyi visited Jiang Ning to deliver Little Seventeen’s Earthcore Warm Jade token of love, worth ten thousand taels of gold, and told him to meet her in the Royal Capital in a year. After Jiang Ning put on the jade, Lin Qingyi teased him about Little Seventeen and his interest in her legs, leaving him caught off guard.

• Lin Qingyi visited Jiang Ning and explained that Little Seventeen had asked her to deliver a token of love and a message that she wanted to marry him in a year.
• Lin Qingyi revealed that the token was Earthcore Warm Jade, a priceless heirloom that nourished qi and blood, calmed the mind, and increased mental force.
• Jiang Ning accepted the jade, and Lin Qingyi tied it securely around his neck before explaining how its warmth affected him.
• Jiang Ning said he would return the jade to Little Seventeen in a year and treat her marriage proposal as a childish joke.
• Lin Qingyi noticed Jiang Ning looking at her legs and asked whether he wanted to touch them.

Jiang Ning avoided Lin Qingyi’s matchmaking by citing his agreement with Ji Mingyue, then continued cultivating during the Inspection Office’s early holiday. As his bones and Five Animals Fist advanced, he prepared to test how his strengthened five viscera would affect his ability to absorb the sun’s essence.

• Lin Qingyi offered to introduce Jiang Ning to Li Mujin, but he refused and invoked his agreement with Ji Mingyue; Lin Qingyi accepted that pursuing another match would be inappropriate.
• Ji Mingyue told Ji Minghao that one meeting with Jiang Ning had been enough for her to decide she liked him.
• Jiang Ning inspected his progress and saw his Flesh Regeneration Authority slowly increasing while his bones continued transforming toward Darksteel Bone.
• The Inspection Office’s early holiday interrupted Jiang Ning’s plan to seek a promotion, so he spent his time cultivating and tempering his bones instead.
• After a clear day arrived, Jiang Ning found that his Five Animals Fist and bone-tempering progress had advanced, and he reflected on how the Five Elements Spirit was breaking the innate limits of his five viscera.

Jiang Ning increased his inner breath through sun essence breathing and continued tempering his bones, while realizing he needed higher clearance and more source energy. After recovering in the lake, he set out for the Myriad Splendor Tower to sell a gold box and buy heavenly treasures so he could perform the Five Animals Fist’s third limit break.

• Jiang Ning used the warm jade and Water-Fire Immortal Robe trait to breathe in the sun’s essence, producing up to five strands of inner breath per wisp and gaining 95 technique experience during the session.
• Jiang Ning inspected his dantian and found that his inner breath had reached the great-river stage, then decided to raise his official rank and clearance to learn about fifth-rank cultivation.
• Jiang Ning continued training through several snowy days, increasing his Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique experience and inner breath while advancing his bones toward the darksteel bone stage.
• Jiang Ning checked his panel and found that the Five Animals Fist had reached 3000/3000 experience, but he still needed more source energy for its third limit break.
• Jiang Ning broke through the lake ice, recovered and washed in the water, then changed clothes without getting them wet.
• Jiang Ning headed to the Myriad Splendor Tower to sell the gold box and buy heavenly treasures, intending to complete the Five Animals Fist’s third limit break.

Jiang Ning exchanged a gold brick for rare treasures at Myriad Splendor Tower and bought a Waterflame Spirit Fruit, hoping it would provide source energy and aid his Water-Fire True Force. He also secured Lü Yi’s freedom, and Lin Qingyi urged her to join Jiang Ning’s household and care for him.

• Jiang Ning asked Lü Yi whether she wanted to redeem herself and promised to speak to Lin Qingyi on her behalf.
• Jiang Ning exchanged his gold brick for available treasures, then bought the Waterflame Spirit Fruit after learning the tower had little other stock.
• Han Hongmei told Jiang Ning that Primordial Era immortal treasures had lost their former powers, though he bought the Waterflame Spirit Fruit for eight thousand taels of silver.
• Lin Qingyi destroyed Lü Yi’s sale contract and freed her, then instructed her to go serve Jiang Ning and care for his daily needs.
• On the carriage ride home, Jiang Ning opened the Waterflame Spirit Fruit and considered whether it could benefit his Water-Fire True Force.

Jiang Ning discovered that the Waterflame Spirit Fruit greatly strengthened his Water-Fire True Force, then allowed Lü Yi to stay by his side and help with daily matters. After testing his transformed inner breath and confirming his Source Energy had risen, he spent most of it to break through Five Animals Fist, leaving the skill’s transformation underway.

• Jiang Ning absorbed the Waterflame Spirit Fruit’s spiritual substances into his Water-Fire True Force, gaining 1,637 experience points.
• Lü Yi asked to serve Jiang Ning, and he agreed to let her stay while he observed her trustworthiness.
• Jiang Ning cleared the courtyard snow with precise inner breath and found his Source Energy had increased by more than three hundred points.
• Jiang Ning decided to seek the five Five-Elements Spirit Fruits and used Source Energy to break through Five Animals Fist.

Jiang Ning gained the Fist Grandmaster trait, comprehended five forms of fist intent, and began refining his body with a large supply of medicinal treasures. Meanwhile, a cult envoy reached Luoshui County and secretly entered the city to find the person who destroyed the Divine Embryo.

• Jiang Ning's third limit break granted him the Fist Grandmaster trait and new fist intents that he stored within his five organs.
• Jiang Ning's Trapped Tiger punch overwhelmed Lü Yi, but he caught her before she fell and warned her that watching his practice could be dangerous.
• Jiang Ning cleared the courtyard snow with his inner breath, ate the gathered medicinal treasures, and practiced the Five Animals Fist to temper his bones.
• A white-cloaked cult envoy confirmed that the person who destroyed the Divine Embryo was in Luoshui County and resolved to carry out the god's decree.
• The cult envoy watched the city gate and patrols, then slipped over Luoshui County's wall during a gap in the soldiers' rounds.

Jiang Ning continued training through the blizzards and completed tempering all 206 bones into Darksteel Bone. Meanwhile, the Wind Divine Envoy tracked down Jiang Ning and confirmed that he had destroyed the God-Worship Cult’s Divine Embryo.

• Jiang Ning compared the Waterflame Spirit Fruit’s benefits with ordinary heavenly treasures, then cleared snow from his courtyard and accepted Lü Yi’s help with breakfast and grooming.
• Jiang Ning trained through several days of blizzards while Jiang Li reported finding people frozen to death around the city.
• At Cloud-Arriving Inn, Star Protector told the Wind Divine Envoy that the cult’s local members had been wiped out and that Jiang Ning had destroyed the Divine Embryo.
• The Wind Divine Envoy asked Star Protector to lead him to Jiang Ning, intending to use a divine finger to verify what happened.
• Jiang Ning completed the final bone-tempering strikes, consumed nine Mystic Bone Pills, and achieved Darksteel Bone in all 206 bones.
• Watching Jiang Ning from a snow-covered building, the Wind Divine Envoy pointed the pitch-black finger at him and confirmed that Jiang Ning had destroyed the Divine Embryo.

Jiang Ning overheard the Wind Divine Envoy and Star Protector discussing the destroyed Divine Embryo and realized the God of Flesh’s divine authority was drawing him toward a mysterious finger. He lured the two fifth-rank cultists across Luo Water Lake to a deserted island, where he prepared to fight them and seek the finger.

• Jiang Ning overheard the Wind Divine Envoy and Star Protector identify the destroyed Divine Embryo and sensed the finger’s powerful divinity.
• Jiang Ning recognized the pair as God-Worship Cult members and left his residence to keep their fight away from his family and ordinary residents.
• The Wind Divine Envoy and Star Protector followed Jiang Ning across Luo Water Lake as he traveled toward a deserted island.
• Jiang Ning assessed the pair’s fifth-rank strength and revealed that his internal energy could solidify into substance.
• Jiang Ning reached the island and began climbing its cliff, while the Wind Divine Envoy suspected that Jiang Ning had noticed their pursuit.

Jiang Ning used his archery to confront the Wind Divine Envoy and the Star Protector on frozen Luo Water Lake, wounding the Envoy and badly injuring the Protector. The Wind Divine Envoy continued closing in on Jiang Ning while the Star Protector remained underwater, relieved that his wound gave him an excuse to avoid the mission.

• Jiang Ning spotted the Wind Divine Envoy and Star Protector approaching and prepared his bow, judging that he had only four breaths before they reached him.
• Jiang Ning's first arrow tracked the Wind Divine Envoy, who deflected it with internal energy but suffered a bleeding wound to his palm.
• Jiang Ning fired a Wind-Thunder Arrow, forcing the Wind Divine Envoy to use Raging Tides to divert it into the ice, where it exploded.
• Jiang Ning targeted the Star Protector with another Wind-Thunder Arrow, and the Protector's attempt to block it with his fist shattered bones and drove him beneath the ice.
• The Star Protector examined his badly injured hand underwater and decided his wound would keep him from joining the Wind Divine Envoy's mission to kill Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning’s relentless Wind-Thunder Archery forced the Wind Divine Envoy to exhaust much of his inner breath and transform into a six-armed, four-legged God-descendant. The transformed Envoy shrugged off Jiang Ning’s arrows and closed to within three hundred meters, while Jiang Ning put away his ruined bow and waited for him.

• Jiang Ning fired more than ten Wind-Thunder Arrows, forcing the Wind God Envoy to spend over half his inner breath defending himself without advancing.
• The Wind God Envoy transformed into a twelve-foot-tall God-descendant with six arms, four legs, and rapid healing after Jiang Ning’s next arrow struck his chest.
• The Star Protector hid behind a block of ice and concluded that close combat would favor the transformed Wind Divine Envoy.
• The Wind Divine Envoy deflected Jiang Ning’s arrows with his palms, healed their wounds, and advanced to within three hundred meters.
• Jiang Ning placed his nearly ruined longbow in his Sumeru Ring and waited on the cliff, leaving the Star Protector wondering what gave him confidence.

Jiang Ning fought the Wind Divine Envoy in his six-armed divine scion form, using fist momentum and the Five Animals Fist to withstand his overwhelming strength while his body grew stronger through rapid recovery. The Star Protector realized the Wind Divine Envoy was losing time before his fading reason could turn him into a divine puppet.

• Jiang Ning waited until the Wind Divine Envoy charged within ten feet, then unleashed a fierce, flame-wreathed tiger fist that shocked the Star Protector with its powerful fist momentum.
• Jiang Ning and the Wind Divine Envoy traded blows; although each collision sent Jiang Ning flying, his injuries healed instantly and his body grew stronger.
• Jiang Ning shifted among the tiger, white ape, bear, crane, and deer fist auras, and the Star Protector recognized the forms as the Five Animals Fist.
• The Star Protector realized the Wind Divine Envoy had effectively lost because his divine scion form was eroding his reason and could eventually turn him into a divine puppet.

Jiang Ning used the Wind Divine Envoy’s Six-Armed Divine Scion form to hone his fist intent and complete the forging of his Darksteel Bone. After revealing a speed that let him dictate the fight, Jiang Ning overwhelmed the Divine Scion and prepared to test his Water-Fire True Force.

• Jiang Ning’s injuries healed after each clash, allowing him to grow stronger and smoothly integrate the five forms of fist intent while fighting the Six-Armed Divine Scion.
• The Wind Divine Envoy rejected the idea of retreating and attacked more fiercely, while Star Protector watched from a distance and recognized Jiang Ning was using the fight to improve.
• Jiang Ning completed the transformation of his fleshly body, increasing his physical strength by about twenty percent, and used Breath of Wind and Thunder to double his speed.
• Jiang Ning’s speed let him evade the Six-Armed Divine Scion and repeatedly batter it, reversing the fight’s offense and defense as Star Protector concluded the Wind Divine Envoy was defeated.
• Jiang Ning found that his repeated impacts could not overcome the Divine Scion’s regeneration, so he began circulating Water-Fire True Force to test its power.

Jiang Ning exhausted Wind Divine Envoy’s Six-Armed Divine Scion form with repeated attacks, then recovered in the lake and killed him with Dragon Abyss and his second-level saber intent. With Wind Divine Envoy dead beneath the ice, Jiang Ning turned his attention to Star Protector above.

• Jiang Ning discovered that his Water-Fire True Force stopped Wind Divine Envoy’s wounds from healing, but his attacks could not kill the Six-Armed Divine Scion before he grew tired.
• Jiang Ning fled into the lake to recover, and Wind Divine Envoy pursued him underwater while Star Protector lost sight of them beneath the ice.
• After recovering fully, Jiang Ning drew Dragon Abyss and used his saber intent to trap and wound Wind Divine Envoy beneath the water.
• Jiang Ning struck Wind Divine Envoy three times, cleaving his body and severing his head until his life force faded.
• Jiang Ning looked up toward Star Protector and declared that the lake was his home ground.

Jiang Ning killed Star Protector after trapping him underwater, then hid both God-Worship Cult Protectors’ corpses to claim rewards later. He absorbed divine authorities from the God of Flesh’s finger, spent divinity to restore Flesh Regeneration, and discovered that it let him heal a deep wound almost instantly.

• Jiang Ning absorbed five points of divinity and fragments of the Flesh Regeneration and Divine Scion’s Vassal authorities from the God of Flesh’s finger.
• Jiang Ning used his Water Manipulation Art to trap Star Protector in a water prison and overwhelm his attempts to escape.
• Star Protector accepted his death rather than transform, and Jiang Ning killed him with a blade strike.
• Jiang Ning hid the corpses of Star Protector and the Wind Divine Envoy in an underwater cave until the Inspection Office reopened.
• Jiang Ning spent one point of divinity to restore Flesh Regeneration and tested it by cutting his arm, which healed completely in less than two breaths.

After defeating two powerful God-Worship Cult martial artists, Jiang Ning returned home and tested his incomplete Divine Scion's Vassal authority on Lü Yi. The experiment marked her as his vassal and revealed that he could sense her feelings and control or remove the power he granted her.

• Jiang Ning spent his divinity strengthening flesh regeneration, found he could not repair the fragmented Divine Scion's Vassal authority, and decided to test its weak effects.
• Jiang Ning reflected that defeating two fifth-rank fighters had made him the strongest in Luoshui County, though he remained wary of peak fifth-rank experts and resolved to seek more information through the Inspection Office.
• Jiang Ning returned home, asked Lü Yi whether she wanted to learn martial arts, and chose her as his first test subject because she stayed close to him.
• Jiang Ning cut his wrist and fed Lü Yi ten drops of his blood; as her body grew hot, he opened the windows and let freezing air into the room.
• Jiang Ning sensed a Divine Scion Mark in Lü Yi's mind and discovered he could perceive her feelings, reclaim the authority and power he had granted, or shatter the mark and leave her with her strength and freedom.

Jiang Ning tested how his Divine Scion blood strengthened Lü Yi, discovering that she could lift five hundred pounds while he suffered a corresponding physical drain. He prepared to write a manual for his improved Five Animals Fist and planned to seek Master Wang’s permission before teaching it to Lü Yi.

• Jiang Ning observed Lü Yi’s reaction to the blood he had given her and learned that his mark let him sense her feelings and control or release her vassal bond.
• Lü Yi tested her new strength with stone locks, eventually lifting five hundred pounds with one arm after Jiang Ning continued the experiment.
• Jiang Ning realized that strengthening Lü Yi left him feeling hollow, as though he had lost a substantial amount of blood.
• Lü Yi thanked Jiang Ning and reaffirmed her wish to learn martial arts, so he sent her to fetch brush and ink.
• Jiang Ning decided to write a manual for his improved Five Animals Fist, test whether Lü Yi could learn it, and seek Master Wang’s approval before teaching her.

Jiang Ning wrote the Third Layer of his Five Animals Fist manual to advance his Literacy skill, then painted a Fire-Trapping Tiger and unexpectedly gained the Painting Dao skill. He continued painting the Five Animals Gods as the chapter ended.

• Jiang Ning wrote the Five Animals Fist manual and raised his Literacy experience toward its fifth limit-breaking.
• Over two cloudy days, Jiang Ning lamented that he could not absorb Great Sun essence and advance his Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique.
• Jiang Ning completed the written insights for the Third Layer of Five Animals Fist and planned to paint its five Five Viscera Gods.
• Jiang Ning painted a Fire-Trapping Tiger, and Lü Yi saw its furious image come alive as ink flames filled its eyes.
• Jiang Ning gained the Painting Dao skill and continued painting, receiving experience gains.