Chapter Summaries

Jiang Ning read a book to improve his Literacy skill and planned to earn a degree and build strength amid the Great Xia Dynasty’s growing turmoil. He remained dependent on his elder brother’s household for now, but resolved to repay his brother and sister-in-law later.

• Jiang Ning finished reading the Record of the Mythic Era, raising his Literacy experience to 968 out of 1000 and nearing a breakthrough.
• Jiang Ning accepted a book from his five-year-old niece Jiang Yuanyuan, whom he called Little Doubao, and praised her.
• Jiang Ning saw his sister-in-law, who remained displeased that he had lived off the family for years.
• Jiang Ning reflected that the Great Xia Dynasty was nearing collapse and that Luoshui County faced unrest, so he needed to grow stronger to survive.
• Jiang Ning decided to rely on his elder brother for the time being and repay his brother and sister-in-law later.

Jiang Ning studied [Comprehensive Explanation of Immortals and Gods] until his Literacy skill reached its Mastery limit. His panel offered him the chance to break beyond that limit by consuming 10 points of Source Energy.

• Liu Wanwan gave Jiang Ning a mended shirt and offered to wash his dirty clothes.
• Jiang Ning read [Comprehensive Explanation of Immortals and Gods] and gained Literacy experience.
• Jiang Ning's older brother returned from the yamen and told Liu Wanwan that Luoshui County was growing unsettled.
• Jiang Ning's Literacy skill reached Mastery 1000/1000, and a plus sign appeared beside it.
• Jiang Ning focused on the plus sign and saw a prompt asking whether to spend 10 points of Source Energy to break Literacy beyond its limits.

After using 10 source energy points to break Literacy’s limit, Jiang Ning gained the Photographic Memory trait and decided to pursue martial arts alongside scholarship. He told Jiang Li of his choice, and Jiang Li promised to find him a good teacher.

• Jiang Ning spent 10 source energy points to break Literacy’s limit and gained the Photographic Memory trait.
• Jiang Ning tested his new memory and recalled the courtyard in perfect detail.
• Jiang Ning decided to focus on martial arts while continuing his literary studies, and planned to ask Jiang Li for a cultivation technique.
• Jiang Ning joined Jiang Li, Liu Wanwan, Jiang Yiming, and Little Doubao for lunch.
• Jiang Ning told Jiang Li he had made up his mind to learn martial arts, and Jiang Li promised to find him a good teacher.

Jiang Ning learned that Jiang Li planned to fund his martial arts apprenticeship despite Liu Wanwan's concerns about the cost and their son Ming'er's future. After Jiang Li returned from fighting the God-Worship Cult with his right hand ruined, he reassured Liu Wanwan that he would receive support for his injury, then called Jiang Ning to come with him.

• Jiang Ning understood that Jiang Li wanted to find him a martial arts master and urged him not to spend money on his behalf.
• Jiang Li insisted that Jiang Ning should learn from a true master, while Liu Wanwan worried that the expense would jeopardize Ming'er's chance to learn martial arts.
• Liu Wanwan said she wanted to return to her parents' home, and Jiang Li admitted he felt he had wronged her before a summons called him to the county office.
• That night, Jiang Li returned with his right hand bandaged and revealed that the tendons were severed and the bones shattered during the operation against the God-Worship Cult.
• Jiang Li reassured Liu Wanwan that his injury in the line of duty would bring compensation and support, then asked Jiang Ning to go with him.

Jiang Ning learned that the God-Worship Cult had targeted him for being born with spiritual wisdom, while Jiang Li arranged for him to train under Wang Jin at Blue-Wave Martial Academy. The next morning, Xu Yunfeng pressured Jiang Li to attend a dinner with Cao Bin and bring Liu Wanwan, threatening his position and family if he refused.

• Jiang Li told Jiang Ning that his right arm could not recover and urged him to practice martial arts because the God-Worship Cult was growing more dangerous.
• Jiang Ning recalled that the cult had targeted his former body for being born with spiritual wisdom, and Jiang Li revealed he had borrowed money to enroll him at Blue-Wave Martial Academy under Wang Jin.
• Xu Yunfeng visited Jiang Li, offered him medicine, and relayed Cao Bin's invitation to Bright Moon Tower, insisting that Liu Wanwan attend too.
• After Liu Wanwan left, Xu Yunfeng warned Jiang Li that the Cao, Liu, and Xie families held power in the county and that Jiang Li would lose his job and compensation if he opposed them.
• Xu Yunfeng alluded to Jiang Li's children and Jiang Ning before leaving, while Jiang Ning recognized the threat to his family.

Jiang Ning and Jiang Li feared that the Cao, Liu, and Xie Families would use Xu Yunfeng to force Jiang Li into submission, so Jiang Ning proposed seeking protection by becoming Wang Jin’s true disciple at the Blue-Wave Martial Academy. Jiang Ning left with Jiang Li to visit the academy, determined to gain strength and protect his family.

• Jiang Li said he trusted the County Magistrate to oppose Cao Bin, while Jiang Ning worried that the local Lineages could target Jiang Li and threaten the family through Xu Yunfeng.
• Jiang Ning told Jiang Li that becoming Wang Jin’s true disciple could connect him to Constable Wang and secure protection for the family.
• Jiang Li agreed that the plan might work but warned that the academy required a ranked martial artist, and he promised to seek Constable Feng’s help if Jiang Ning failed.
• Jiang Ning resolved to repay Jiang Li and his sister-in-law, then reflected that only greater strength could protect him from Xu Yunfeng and the powerful Lineages.
• Jiang Ning left home with Jiang Li after lunch to go to the Blue-Wave Martial Academy and noticed that flatbread prices had nearly doubled.

Jiang Ning and Jiang Li entered Luoshui County’s inner city and arrived at the Blue-Wave Martial Academy. Jiang Ning went inside to meet Academy Master Wang and attempt the path to becoming a true disciple, while Jiang Li left outside.

• Jiang Ning saw God-Worship Cult believers heading to the City God Temple and concluded that escaping Luoshui County’s struggle required help from Constable Wang’s connections at the Blue-Wave Martial Academy.
• Jiang Li escorted Jiang Ning through the inner city to the Blue-Wave Martial Academy.
• The academy’s gatekeepers announced that Academy Master Wang would receive only Jiang Ning.
• Jiang Li reminded Jiang Ning that he had paid the apprenticeship fee and that passing the test to become a true disciple depended on him.
• Jiang Ning entered the academy through the side gate, and Jiang Li departed feeling reassured.

Jiang Ning entered Blue-Wave Martial Academy, where Wang Jin examined him and set the Five Animals Fist assessment required to become a true disciple. Li Qing gave him the fist manual to memorize, and Jiang Ning began reading it while claiming he could do so in the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

• Jiang Ning followed a burly man through the academy courtyard, where he saw a tiger confined in an iron cage.
• Wang Jin examined Jiang Ning, judged his physique and aptitude ordinary, and accepted him as a registered disciple pending an assessment within six months.
• Wang Jin sent Li Qing to give Jiang Ning the Five Animals Fist manual, and she explained that he had to bring one of its five forms to major accomplishment to qualify as a true disciple.
• Li Qing offered to guide Jiang Ning and explained that becoming a true disciple would open access to the academy's deeper inheritance.
• Li Qing brought Jiang Ning the manual and warned him not to take it outside the academy; Jiang Ning claimed he had photographic memory and began reading it.

Jiang Ning read and memorized the Five Animals Fist manual, impressing Li Qing with his Photographic Memory. After Old Wang demonstrated the complete fist technique, Jiang Ning said he had memorized every movement, and Old Wang asked him to demonstrate it.

• Jiang Ning studied the Five Animals Fist manual and gained ten points of Literacy experience.
• Jiang Ning explained the manual’s five forms and confidently recited passages when Li Qing tested his memory.
• Li Qing took Jiang Ning to Old Wang, who agreed to demonstrate Five Animals Fist for him.
• Old Wang summoned the martial arts students and demonstrated all five forms while Jiang Ning watched closely.
• Jiang Ning replayed the demonstration from memory and told Old Wang he had remembered everything.
• Old Wang asked Jiang Ning to demonstrate Five Animals Fist.

Jiang Ning practiced the Five Animals Fist for the first time, gained experience, and received a wild ginseng gift from Senior Brother Zhou Xing. After learning that mastery of Tiger Form Fist was required to become a true disciple, he prepared to practice it and digest the ginseng.

• Jiang Ning completed a round of Five Animals Fist under Old Wang’s supervision and gained one point of experience, reaching Uninitiated 1/10.
• Old Wang praised Jiang Ning’s Photographic Memory, told him to rest, and arranged medicinal soup and lunches at the martial academy.
• Zhou Xing introduced himself to Jiang Ning and gave him a wild ginseng root as a first-meeting gift.
• Jiang Ning chewed some ginseng and felt his strength return after the exhausting practice.
• Li Qing explained that disciples needed to reach great mastery in Tiger Form Fist within six months to qualify as true disciples, and advised Jiang Ning to specialize in it.

Jiang Ning rejected Li Qing's advice to focus only on Tiger Form Fist and practiced all five forms, using his experience panel to improve rapidly. After gaining three experience points in one session, he was close to reaching the beginner level and becoming a true disciple, which he believed would protect him from Xu Yunfeng and Cao Bin.

• Jiang Ning decided to train all five forms of Five Animals Fist together rather than specialize in Tiger Form Fist.
• Jiang Ning practiced the complete fist routine, astonishing the academy's men with how accurately he had learned it in a few hours.
• Li Qing watched Jiang Ning train all five forms, concluded he was wasting his chance by ignoring Tiger Form Fist, and left disappointed.
• Zhou Xing watched Jiang Ning practice and recognized his exceptional memory and rapid improvement.
• Jiang Ning completed three rounds, gained three experience points, and reached 4/10 toward initiating Five Animals Fist.
• Jiang Ning decided that rapid progress would help him pass Wang Jin's test and deter Xu Yunfeng and Cao Bin from acting against him.

Jiang Ning practiced the Five Animals Fist until he awakened a strand of vitality and blood and advanced the skill to the beginner stage. After confirming that careless practice earned no experience, he hurried to collect the martial hall’s medicinal soup.

• Zhou Xing praised Jiang Ning’s memory and imitation but decided to wait until he became a true disciple before considering recruiting him.
• Jiang Ning used the wild ginseng to recover between rounds of the Five Animals Fist and steadily gained experience.
• Jiang Ning’s final strenuous round stirred a warm current of vitality and blood, and his Five Animals Fist advanced to the beginner stage.
• Jiang Ning rationed the remaining wild ginseng because it had helped him complete seven rounds of practice.
• Jiang Ning tested careless fist practice, gained no experience, and then sprinted to the back kitchen to collect his medicinal soup.

Jiang Ning returned from Blue-Wave Martial Academy and found Xu Yunfeng following him to pressure Jiang Li. He reassured his family that Xu Yunfeng would hesitate to attack an academy disciple, though he remained wary of threats through the gangs, and joined them for dinner.

• Jiang Ning drank the academy's medicinal soup after fist practice and headed home as night fell.
• Xu Yunfeng followed Jiang Ning from the academy to the outer city and confronted Jiang Li, claiming he had escorted Jiang Ning for his safety while threatening to keep doing so.
• Jiang Li felt helpless against Xu Yunfeng because his right hand was crippled and his family depended on him.
• Jiang Ning told Jiang Li that his academy membership would make Xu Yunfeng reluctant to attack, but privately suspected Xu Yunfeng might hire gang thugs to target him.
• Jiang Ning joined Jiang Li, Liu Wanwan, Jiang Yiming, and Little Doubao for a meal, and Jiang Li praised his fist training.

Jiang Ning tested the gains from practicing the Five Animals Fist and discovered that reaching the Beginner stage let him channel qi and blood to strengthen his attacks. After learning how far Xu Yunfeng surpassed Jiang Li, Jiang Ning resolved to improve quickly and become Wang Jin’s true disciple before the gangs’ conflict could threaten him.

• Jiang Ning practiced the Five Animals Fist and advanced to Beginner, gaining another wisp of qi and blood that he used to strike a tree with reinforced force.
• Jiang Ning lifted a one-hundred-pound stone lock, confirming that his strength had increased, while Jiang Li wondered if he was a martial arts prodigy.
• Jiang Ning practiced two more rounds, condensed two additional wisps of qi and blood, and reached a total of four before his body could practice no further.
• Jiang Ning asked Jiang Li about Xu Yunfeng’s strength and learned that Xu Yunfeng had reached the limit beneath a ninth-rank martial artist, while Jiang Li had been weaker even at his peak.
• Jiang Ning decided to advance his fist technique and pass Wang Jin’s test so he could become a true disciple and gain protection from Xu Yunfeng and the gangs.

Jiang Ning discovered that consuming more food and tonics increased his Source Energy, then trained and tested his growing strength. Worried about Xu Yunfeng, he arranged to stay at Blue-Wave Martial Academy for safety and training.

• Jiang Ning saw his Source Energy rise by 0.3 after a day of eating wild ginseng, medicinal soup, meat, and rice, and decided he needed money for more tonics.
• Jiang Ning trained Five Animals Fist, tested his strength with stone locks, and read enough to raise his Literacy experience to 75.
• Jiang Li offered to escort Jiang Ning to the academy, while Jiang Li and Liu Wanwan explained that they had arranged protection for the family.
• Jiang Ning rejected a daily escort and said he would ask Academy Master Wang Jin for work so he could stay at the martial academy.
• Jiang Ning took lime powder and a book, then arrived at Blue-Wave Martial Academy with Jiang Li and entered alone.

Jiang Ning used wild ginseng to recover while practicing the Five Animals Fist, impressing Wang Jin with his rapid progress through the animal forms. After reaching Beginner 14/100, he went to knock on Wang Jin’s rear courtyard gate.

• Jiang Ning practiced the Five Animals Fist, ate a small piece of wild ginseng from Zhou Xing, and recovered his strength.
• Wang Jin arrived to inspect the students, and Jiang Ning practiced the Five Animals Fist with all his strength to show his ability.
• Wang Jin noticed Jiang Ning had brought the Tiger Form, Bear Form, and Ape Form Fists to the beginner level and suspected he had entered the gate of all five forms.
• Wang Jin demonstrated the Five Animals Fist, but Jiang Ning concluded that its standard form no longer helped him.
• Jiang Ning practiced through the morning with the wild ginseng’s aid and raised his Five Animals Fist to Beginner 14/100.
• After lunch, Jiang Ning knocked on the gate to Wang Jin’s rear courtyard.

Jiang Ning secured long-term lodging at Blue-Wave Martial Academy by agreeing to chop firewood, giving him a safe place to stay while he trained. After spending the afternoon advancing his Five Animals Fist, he met Auntie Sun and began his assigned work.

• Jiang Ning asked Wang Jin to let him stay at the martial academy, and Wang Jin agreed in exchange for firewood-chopping work and no wages.
• Jiang Ning practiced the Five Animals Fist throughout the afternoon, raising it to Beginner 26/100, and told Jiang Li he would stay at the academy.
• Jiang Ning drank the academy's medicinal broth, and Auntie Sun summoned him from the back kitchen.
• Jiang Ning followed Auntie Sun to a courtyard full of drying pork legs, where she assigned him to chop the academy's firewood.
• Jiang Ning examined the heavy logs and five-jin woodcutting knife and realized that chopping the wood would require considerable strength.

Jiang Ning discovered that chopping wood trained a saber technique and rapidly raised it to Proficient, while Wang Jin considered whether Jiang Ning might become his true disciple. The chapter ended with Jiang Ning eager to advance the technique further and discover what trait its first limit-break would grant him.

• Jiang Ning split logs using his blood and qi, and Wang Jin told him that chopping wood was training for saber arts.
• Wang Jin and Auntie Sun discussed Jiang Ning’s potential, and Wang Jin said he could be cultivated while his comprehension was assessed.
• Jiang Ning discovered that chopping wood earned experience in the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique and kept working to raise its level.
• Wang Jin cautioned Jiang Ning not to overexert himself, then explained that chopping wood would build strength and familiarity with a saber.
• Jiang Ning advanced the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique from Beginner to Proficient, gaining greater skill and arm strength.

Jiang Ning broke through to proficiency in the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique and saw how much stronger he had become. After dinner, Wang Jin was moved by Jiang Ning’s promise to care for him in old age, while Jiang Ning returned to chopping wood with renewed confidence.

• Jiang Ning split a thick log with a single strike and saw that his Wood-Chopping Saber Technique had improved to proficiency.
• Auntie Sun served Jiang Ning meat stew with Earth Ganoderma, and he thanked her and Wang Jin for their care.
• Jiang Ning promised Wang Jin that he would see to his old age and funeral rites, touching Wang Jin deeply.
• Wang Jin told Jiang Ning to chop wood to digest his meal before practicing boxing.
• Jiang Ning split more wood without using qi and blood and confirmed that the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique had reached Proficiency 2/200.

Jiang Ning pushed the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique to Minor Mastery and continued practicing the Five Animals Fist despite the strain on his body. He resolved to improve quickly and pass Wang Jin’s assessment so he could protect his elder brother’s family from Xu Yunfeng and the Cao Family.

• Jiang Ning chopped firewood and read during breaks, raising the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique to 199/200 and Literacy to 93/2000.
• Jiang Ning gained the final saber experience point, reached Minor Mastery, and learned to split logs cleanly with precise one-stroke cuts.
• Jiang Ning practiced the Five Animals Fist twice more, condensed two strands of qi-and-blood power, and raised the skill to Beginner 28/100.
• Jiang Ning worried that he would soon run out of medicinal herbs and that Xu Yunfeng and the Cao Family could threaten his elder brother’s official registration.
• Jiang Ning decided he had to master the Five Animals Fist and pass Wang Jin’s assessment so he could protect his elder brother’s family.