Chapter Summaries

Huang Dazheng used an Inspection Office squad leader to have Tong Xiuyun and the Cheng Family arrested and their restaurants sealed. At his residence, Jiang Ning welcomed Xie Xiaojiu, Feng Ji Ge, and Ruan Hongmei as subordinates, and defeated Xie Xiaojiu in another sparring match.

• Huang Dazheng persuaded an Inspection Office squad leader to arrest Tong Xiuyun and seal Bright Moon Tower.
• The soldiers arrested Cheng Ran and his father at Prosperity Tower and sealed the Cheng Family restaurant as Huang Dazheng continued his campaign.
• Xie Xiaojiu reported to Jiang Ning and asked to spar with him again; Jiang Ning defeated her with a standard-issue saber.
• Feng Ji reported for duty under Jiang Ning, explaining that her father had not yet replied to her request.
• Ruan Hongmei asked to work under Jiang Ning, and he welcomed her into his command.

Jiang Ning settled into his new role as deputy commander while Xie Xiaojiu left to investigate the arrest of her friend Tong Xiuyun. Xiao Tianhe accused Xie Xiaojiu of injuring colleagues and demanded her surrender, and Jiang Ning came out to see what had happened.

• Liu Sansheng asked to serve under Jiang Ning, but Ruan Hongmei chased him off with her whip after he spoke disrespectfully.
• Jiang Ning studied the Inspection Office booklet, improving his Literacy skill, while Xie Xiaojiu brought him lunch and told him about her difficult childhood.
• After learning Tong Xiuyun had been arrested over alleged crimes at Bright Moon Tower, Xie Xiaojiu confronted Xiao Tianhe and demanded her release.
• Xiao Tianhe ordered four men under his command to take Xie Xiaojiu down, and she wounded them while holding back from killing anyone.
• Xiao Tianhe accused Xie Xiaojiu of harming colleagues and called for her surrender, prompting Jiang Ning to leave the office and investigate.

Jiang Ning intervened when Xie Xiaoj iu faced arrest for challenging Captain Xiao Tianhe, then overpowered Xiao and demanded to know where he had taken the person arrested that morning. The chapter ended with Xiao trapped in Jiang Ning’s grip and fearing for his life.

• He Jinyun rejected Xie Xiaoj iu’s accusation, forced Xiao Tianhe to face her, and left after Xiao invoked Inspection Office rules to order her arrest.
• Hong Minghu and Ye Qiu watched the confrontation, and Hong decided to send Jiang Ning a portrait of his youngest daughter after learning of Jiang Ning’s potential.
• Jiang Ning stepped between Xie Xiaoj iu and Xiao Tianhe, declaring that Xiao’s accusation against her also applied to him.
• Jiang Ning knocked aside Lü Renyao and another Martial Academy captain, then seized Xiao Tianhe by the neck and asked where he had taken the person arrested that morning.

Jiang Ning intervened when Xiao Tianhe and other Inspection Office officers clashed with Xie Xiaoj iu, and Hong Minghu disciplined the officers involved. Jiang Ning then went to the county yamen prison and found the people Xiao Tianhe had arrested, including Tong Xiuyun and Cheng Ran.

• Jiang Ning seized Xiao Tianhe and ordered Xie Xiaoj iu to arrest Lü Renyao and Huang Xianzong, then demanded to know where the morning’s prisoners were held.
• He Jinyun confronted Jiang Ning, but Hong Minghu and Ye Qiu arrived and imposed punishments: Xiao Tianhe received a month in the punishment cells, Huang Xianzong fifteen days, Lü Renyao three months plus another month for defying orders, and the others three days.
• Hong Minghu awarded Jiang Ning 100 contribution points and excused Xie Xiaoj iu; Ye Qiu assigned Tang Miaomiao to handle the punishments.
• Jiang Ning sent Xie Xiaoj iu to gather Feng Ji and a group, then went with them to the county yamen prison to retrieve the arrested people.
• Chief jailer Zhang Cheng led Jiang Ning and the others to the second level, where Tong Xiuyun recognized Xie Xiaoj iu and Cheng Ran greeted Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning freed Cheng Ran and the other innocent prisoners, then registered Cheng Ran with the Inspection Office. After Huang Dazheng surrendered a mysterious ring to escape punishment, Feng Ji explained that it might be a legendary artifact capable of storing space, leaving Jiang Ning with a second ring to seek from Xiao Tianhe.

• Jiang Ning reassured Cheng Ran, ordered the innocent prisoners released, and had Xie Xiaoj iu take Huang Dazheng to the Inspection Office.
• Cheng Ran’s father regretted doubting his son’s decision to befriend Jiang Ning, while Jiang Ning gave Cheng Ran a token to register with the Inspection Office.
• Jiang Ning continued refining his pill and training before Xie Xiaoj iu brought Huang Dazheng to him.
• Huang Dazheng admitted that he had bribed Xiao Tianhe with a family heirloom and offered Jiang Ning one of two rings said to store Sumeru; Jiang Ning accepted it and learned Xiao Tianhe had the other.
• Feng Ji explained that the ring might be a Sumeru Mustard Seed, a Primordial Era artifact that required immortal roots and spiritual power to use.

Jiang Ning equipped the Sumeru Ring, considered ways to strengthen his mental power, and promoted Xie Xiaoj iu to captain before exchanging contribution points for martial cultivation manuals. After studying the manuals and recovering in his new pool, he demonstrated his control over water, which he regarded as his true trump card.

• Jiang Ning put on the Sumeru Ring and reasoned that he needed stronger mental power to use it, while considering the imperial examinations as one possible way to gain it.
• Jiang Ning gave Xie Xiaoj iu a silver token promoting her to captain, and Feng Ji delivered one hundred contribution points from the Office Lord.
• Jiang Ning exchanged the contribution token and one hundred taels of silver for detailed explanations of sixth-rank bone refinement and seventh-rank tendon refinement.
• Jiang Ning read the manuals, gaining Literacy experience and learning how tendon and bone refinement worked.
• Jiang Ning soaked in the pool Xie Xiaoj iu had helped arrange, recovered his strength, and formed the water into a dragon.

Jiang Ning led an Inspection Office raid on a suspected God-Worship Cult branch, found the residence deserted, and uncovered no captives or cultists in its trapped basement. After seeing He Jinyun return with severed heads and suspecting him of killing innocents for credit, Jiang Ning attended a private banquet with Hong Minghu and learned he ranked eighty-third on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.

• Jiang Ning learned from Xie Xiaojiu that the God-Worship Cult’s idol had vanished from the City God Temple and that local powers might seek military authority amid growing unrest.
• Jiang Ning led Feng Ji, Xie Xiaojiu, and others to a suspected God-Worship Cult residence, where his wine mist helped him detect and destroy several poison-arrow traps.
• Jiang Ning and his team found the underground chamber empty and returned to the Inspection Office without capturing anyone.
• Jiang Ning confronted He Jinyun, who claimed the people he had killed were God-Worship Cult followers, and Jiang Ning privately judged that He had murdered innocents for credit.
• Hong Minghu invited Jiang Ning to Bright Moon Tower and told him he ranked eighty-third on the Human Ranking of the Hidden Dragon Ranking; Jiang Ning noticed He Jinyun was ranked seventy-sixth.

Jiang Ning learned how the Hidden Dragon Ranking worked, rejected Hong Minghu’s proposal that he marry his fourteen-year-old daughter, and was assigned to lead a purge of the Cao Family. After overhearing Hong Minghu’s plans to use him for dirty work, Jiang Ning returned home and began cultivating with medicinal powders to reach Martial Dao Rank Seven.

• Hong Minghu explained the Heaven, Earth, and Human Rankings and told Jiang Ning that the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau compiled them, though their rankings could be inaccurate when someone hid their strength.
• Hong Minghu showed Jiang Ning a portrait of his fourteen-year-old daughter and asked whether he would marry her, but Jiang Ning refused because she was too young.
• Hong Minghu chose the Cao Family as an example and assigned Jiang Ning to lead an investigation and purge, while dismissing Jiang Ning’s report that He Jinyun had killed innocents for credit.
• Hong Minghu’s shadowed subordinate offered to kill Jiang Ning, but Hong Minghu decided to keep him alive and use him for dirty work; Jiang Ning overheard their conversation and hurried home to pursue greater strength.
• Lin Qingyi learned that Jiang Ning had bought ox, tiger, and flood dragon sinew powders, then instructed Xiao Lü to notify her whenever he returned.
• Jiang Ning poured bovine tendon powder into his pool and began using his water-controlling ability to absorb its medicinal power as he cultivated toward Martial Dao Rank Seven.

Jiang Ning reached the seventh rank of Martial Dao and advanced the Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique, gaining inner breath that greatly enhanced his fighting ability. After tempering and recovering his organs, he continued practicing underwater and judged that his strength might now match Wang Jin's.

• Jiang Ning completed the seventh rank of Martial Dao and considered learning archery after comparing his punch with Cao Rong's arrow.
• Jiang Ning saved his Source Energy for Literacy's coming limit break and continued training the Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique.
• Jiang Ning reached Minor Accomplishment in the technique, discovered inner breath in his dantian, and tested how it strengthened his body and attacks.
• Jiang Ning breathed in the Hour of the Snake's sun essence, damaging his organs but gaining a second strand of inner breath before recovering in the lake.
• Jiang Ning practiced the Canglang Saber Art and swimming for two hours, building up thirty-three strands of inner breath and estimating his strength was no longer below Wang Jin's.

Jiang Ning broke Literacy’s limit, gained powerful spiritual abilities, and successfully activated his Sumeru Ring. Hong Minghu then ordered him to lead a raid on the Cao Family, leaving Jiang Ning to gather city guards while learning that Cao Rong could be a dangerous and politically untouchable opponent.

• Jiang Ning raised Literacy to its third limit break, gained the Keen Mind trait, and used his spiritual power to activate the Sumeru Ring after marking it with his blood.
• Jiang Ning packed his belongings into the ring, then went to the Inspection Office, where Ruan Hongmei told him Hong Minghu had summoned him.
• Hong Minghu ordered Jiang Ning to arrest all 385 members of the Cao Family during the family head’s birthday celebration, and Jiang Ning accepted the command.
• Ye Qiu warned Jiang Ning that Hong Minghu might make trouble for him after Jiang Ning refused the prefect’s marriage proposal, while Hong Minghu refused to soften his approach.
• Jiang Ning met Constable Wang, who arranged for Deputy Tong to help him secure city guards and warned that Cao Rong’s bow made him as dangerous as a sixth-rank expert and that the military would not accept the Inspection Office’s jurisdiction over him.
• Constable Wang worried that the God-Worship Cult and Yellow Heaven Cult might become entangled as Luoshui County faced upheaval.

Jiang Ning led the Inspection Office in a raid on the Cao Estate after discovering it was a God-Worship Cult stronghold. As the Cao Family’s key members fled through an underground passage, Jiang Ning collapsed the tunnel, trapping thirty-four people inside.

• Jiang Ning ordered Deputy Liu to surround the Cao Estate while his Inspection Office teams prepared to enter under cover of a storm.
• The Cao Family head gathered important relatives, including Cao Zijian, and sent them into an underground escape passage leading outside the city.
• Jiang Ning sensed the people moving through the passage, announced the arrest of all 385 Cao Family members, and charged into the estate.
• Cao Bin accused Jiang Ning of settling a private grudge, but Xie Xiaojiu struck him aside as Jiang Ning stomped the ground to bring down the hall above the passage.
• Jiang Ning’s repeated stomps collapsed the underground passage, trapping thirty-four people inside, including Cao Family members and outsiders.

Jiang Ning led the raid on the Cao Estate, killed the God-Worship Cult’s seventh-rank incense master, and crushed the resistance as the estate fell into chaos. Cao Guangsheng surrendered after seeing his family’s losses, but Jiang Ning left the survivors’ fate to the Prefect.

• Jiang Ning ordered his men to block the tunnel’s exit and arrest the Cao Family while he fought the gaunt old man who emerged from it.
• Jiang Ning killed the God-Worship Cult’s incense master with a powerful blade strike, stunning Cao Guangsheng and the others.
• Cao Zijian urged the Cao Family to resist, and the estate’s occupants charged, fled, or hid as the courtyard descended into darkness.
• Jiang Ning used three water blades alongside his sword to kill many fleeing and resisting Cao Family members and cult followers.
• Torches thrown into the estate illuminated the bodies and survivors, and Jiang Ning asked Cao Guangsheng whether he still intended to resist.
• Cao Guangsheng surrendered and asked whether his clansmen would live, and Jiang Ning said the Prefect would decide.

After the Cao Family surrendered, Jiang Ning benefited from the raid and received a generous mission reward, giving him more ways to fund his martial arts breakthroughs. He arranged a future exchange for the Blazing Prairie Spear Art and ordered the Wind-Thunder Archery, which was to arrive from the prefectural city the next day.

• Jiang Ning accepted the Cao Family's surrender, and Lieutenant Liu reported that he had killed several resistors during the raid.
• News of the Cao Family's downfall spread through Luoshui County, and Xie Xiaoj iu gave Jiang Ning valuables she had taken from the estate; he let her keep the surplus after asking her to cash them in.
• Hong Minghu praised Jiang Ning for killing a God-Worship Cult incense master and rewarded him with contribution points, while Jiang Ning attributed his success to the enemy underestimating him.
• Feng Jiಗೆ told Jiang Ning that her family had agreed to trade him a copy of the Blazing Prairie Spear Art in three days, and Jiang Ning promised the Canglang Saber Art in return.
• Jiang Ning spent thirteen thousand contribution points to order the Wind-Thunder Archery and learned it would arrive from the prefectural city the next day.

Jiang Ning advanced Wind-Thunder Archery while breaking Water Affinity through its fifth limit, gaining the Water Spirit Body and stronger water control and perception. Meanwhile, Medicine King Valley chose to wait and watch, and Cao Rong learned his family would be executed in a month as he considered Captain Yan’s offer of help.

• Jiang Ning practiced Wind-Thunder Archery at the lakeshore, quickly gaining experience and using the water to recover from the strain of drawing his bow.
• Jiang Ning spent nearly all his Source Energy to raise Water Affinity to its fifth limit and gain the Water Spirit Body, which expanded his perception and strengthened his water-controlling abilities.
• Jiang Ning tested his improved ability to summon clouds and rain, then resumed archery practice and meditation in the lake, where the water healed his body.
• The Medicine King Valley Valley Master and Gongsun Yu discussed Jiang Ning’s strength and decided to wait before approaching him, watching how he handled Cao Rong’s revenge.
• Cao Rong learned the Cao Family would be publicly executed in a month and that Captain Yan could help him advance to the sixth rank, then agreed to act.

Jiang Ning demonstrated the immense power of perfected Wind-Thunder Archery, exchanged the Canglang Saber Art with Feng Ji for her family's Blazing Prairie Spear Art, and trained until his archery reached its experience limit. He then resumed cultivating underwater, reflecting on Tian Buyi and Medicine King Valley as his Canglang Saber Art experience increased.

• Jiang Ning tested perfected Wind-Thunder Archery, broke the sound barrier with an arrow, and snapped another ordinary bow while practicing.
• Jiang Ning deliberately showed Feng Ji his archery; she praised its power and exchanged her family's Blazing Prairie Spear Art for his Canglang Saber Art.
• Jiang Ning read the Blazing Prairie Spear Art and stored it in his Sumeru Ring, confirming Feng Ji's suspicion that he possessed one.
• Jiang Ning practiced until Wind-Thunder Archery reached 2000 experience, then decided to postpone its limit break until his other skills and strength advanced.
• Jiang Ning plunged into the water, considered Tian Buyi's help and Medicine King Valley's possible response, and practiced the Canglang Saber Art among the reefs.

Jiang Ning advanced his saber and spear arts, then fused their forces to comprehend the superior martial art Water-Fire True Force. He began tempering the new force at Chaotic Era Shoal, while the Inspection Office prepared to meet a powerful Yellow Heaven Cult incense master.

• Jiang Ning reached Mastery in Canglang Saber Art and reflected on the growth of his Five Elements Force, Wind-Thunder Force, and Ninefold Force.
• Jiang Ning asked Feng Ji and Xie Xiaoj iu to watch Cao Rong's movements, then practiced Blazing Prairie Spear Art at Rocky Shoal.
• As the Cao Family was imprisoned and the God-Worship Cult's strongholds were raided, Hong Minghu and Ye Qiu discussed how to handle a Yellow Heaven Cult incense master.
• Jiang Ning discovered that Canglang Saber Art and Blazing Prairie Spear Art were merging, then comprehended Water-Fire True Force and pulverized a reef with it.
• Jiang Ning began tempering Water-Fire True Force at Chaotic Era Shoal and found that the water rapidly restored his depleted strength.

Jiang Ning attended a meeting at the Inspection Office, where He Jinyun challenged him to a fight over their Sumeru Rings. Jiang Ning revealed his seventh-rank strength, defeated He Jinyun with one punch, and claimed the ring, while Yuan Hua abandoned his interest in Jiang Ning’s ring.

• Jiang Ning reviewed his improved skills, practiced Five Animals Fist, and tempered his tendons in a medicinal pool.
• Feng Ji told Jiang Ning that Prefect Hong wanted to see him, and Jiang Ning went to the Inspection Office, where the commanders and deputy commanders had gathered.
• He Jinyun revealed that he had a Sumeru Ring and challenged Jiang Ning to wager their rings on a fight; Jiang Ning accepted.
• Jiang Ning crossed the distance in a burst of speed and knocked He Jinyun into a rockery with one punch, revealing that he had reached the seventh rank of Martial Dao.
• He Jinyun conceded, tossed Jiang Ning his ring, and left; Yuan Hua dropped his thoughts of taking Jiang Ning’s ring after seeing his strength.

Jiang Ning learned that the Yellow Heaven Cult had sent an incense master to Luoshui County, then recognized one of its visiting members as the man who had killed his predecessor. He decided the man could not be allowed to live, while Prefect Hong pressured the cult’s delegation and Ye Qiu noticed Jiang Ning’s remarkable composure.

• Ye Qiu briefed Jiang Ning and the other Inspection Office officials on the Yellow Heaven Cult’s immense reach and power, and said its incense master would visit that night.
• Jiang Ning stayed at the Inspection Office to cultivate, then joined the officials when Liu Linmen and six other Yellow Heaven Cult members arrived.
• Jiang Ning recognized one visitor as the man who had killed his predecessor, and the man’s shocked reaction confirmed Jiang Ning’s suspicion.
• Jiang Ning decided that the man posed too great a danger to leave alive, as storm clouds gathered over Luoshui County.
• Liu Linmen asked Prefect Hong for permission to spread the Yellow Heaven Cult’s teachings, and Hong replied with overwhelming pressure that left several people struggling to stand.
• Ye Qiu saw that Jiang Ning remained calm under Hong’s pressure and realized that his ability surpassed Tang Miaomiao’s and Yuan Hua’s.

Jiang Ning followed Liu Linmen’s group through the storm and used Wind-Thunder Archery to ambush them. He killed the God-Worship Cult Incense Master and escaped, while Liu Linmen was left injured and furious.

• Hong Minghu tested Liu Linmen’s strength but could not gauge his depth, and estimated that Liu Linmen’s inner breath had reached the stage of being like a sea.
• Jiang Ning left the Inspection Office, tracked Liu Linmen’s group through the rain, and began firing arrows from two li away.
• Liu Linmen deflected Jiang Ning’s first arrows, but Jiang Ning used the rain to injure his eyes and kill the God-Worship Cult Incense Master.
• Jiang Ning continued firing as Liu Linmen’s group fled, killing two more of the seven before turning away.
• Liu Linmen pursued Jiang Ning but lost him in the rainy night, left with injured eyes and only four survivors.

Jiang Ning escaped Liu Linmen after the rainy-night attack, unaware that a Yellow Heaven Cult Earth King had marked him. Later, Lin Qingyi’s jade hairpin struck down a yin spirit spying on Jiang Ning, and the injured man entered seclusion while Jiang Ning planned to meet Lin Qingyi the next day.

• Jiang Ning fled the attack site, while Liu Linmen suspected the rain and assault had been engineered by someone from the Inspection Office.
• Liu Linmen reported the attack to an Earth King, who promised to mark the attacker for discovery through Liu Linmen’s Heavenly Eye.
• Jiang Ning returned home, weighed the danger posed by Liu Linmen and Medicine King Valley, and continued tempering his tendons.
• A hostile presence chilled the area around Jiang Ning, but Lin Qingyi’s green jade hairpin struck it down and she told him to visit her the next day.
• A man a thousand miles away suffered a yin-spirit injury from the hairpin and entered seclusion for three hundred days.