Chapter Summaries

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.

Jiang Ning painted five martial arts-inspired works, brought Lü Yi to the Wang Family stables to collect their new carriage, and tested his divine-descendant power by making the Snow-White Scarlet Flame Steeds his dependents. As he read ancient books in the stopped carriage, the horses began undergoing a physical transformation, and Jiang Ning continued investigating how his authority differed from the God-Worship Cult’s.

• Jiang Ning completed five paintings and advanced his Way of Painting skill to Proficient, but decided that further training in it was not worth the time.
• Jiang Ning took Lü Yi to the martial arts hall after lunch, while bidding farewell to Jiang Li and promising Little Doubao candied hawthorns.
• Jiang Ning and Lü Yi collected their carriage and two Snow-White Scarlet Flame Steeds from the Wang Family stables.
• Jiang Ning stopped the carriage and fed a bead of his blood to each steed, turning both into his dependents.
• Jiang Ning invited Lü Yi into the carriage to escape the cold and read ancient books while Literacy experience accumulated and the horses began physically transforming.

Jiang Ning discovered that his blood had strengthened and awakened the intelligence of the two Snow-White Scarlet Flame Steeds, then visited his mentor Wang Jin with year-end gifts. Meanwhile, the Black Lotus Cult Saintess persuaded Captain Jiang to attack Luoshui County on New Year's Eve, leaving the city under threat as Jiang Ning reunited with his teacher.

• Jiang Ning learned that his blood had strengthened the two Snow-White Scarlet Flame Steeds and formed loyal vassal bonds with them.
• The Black Lotus Cult Saintess proposed capturing Luoshui County to avenge fallen cult members and replenish supplies, and Captain Jiang agreed to begin the siege on New Year's Eve.
• Lü Yi returned from the marketplace with gifts, and Jiang Ning took her to Blue-Wave Martial Academy to visit Wang Jin.
• Jiang Ning greeted Wang Jin in the rear courtyard, gave him the gifts, and agreed to drink with him.

Jiang Ning showed Wang Jin his improved Five Animals Fist and demonstrated the boxing intent he had developed from it, astonishing his master. He returned home with candied hawthorns for Little Doubao, who shared them with her mother, her snowman friend, and Jiang Ning.

• Jiang Ning matched Wang Jin's strength during a test, and Wang Jin realized his disciple had far surpassed him.
• Jiang Ning presented Wang Jin with his improved Five Animals Fist manual and five diagrams, and Wang Jin praised their ideas and solid theory.
• Wang Jin recognized that Jiang Ning had mastered boxing intent and asked him to demonstrate the Fire-Trapping Tiger's intent, which suppressed Wang Jin's qi and blood.
• Jiang Ning bought five candied hawthorns for Little Doubao and brought them home, where she shared one with Liu Wanwan.
• Little Doubao gave a candied hawthorn to her snowman, Little White, then shared another with Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning broke through Literacy’s fifth limit, greatly expanded his spiritual power, and gained the Heavenly Eye, which let him see in darkness and through obstacles. He then began forging Jade Bone and expected to reach the fifth rank within one or two months, before winter ended.

• Jiang Ning spent 200 Source Energy to complete Literacy’s fifth limit break, expanding his spiritual power’s range from one hundred meters to two hundred meters and gaining the Heavenly Eye trait.
• Jiang Ning tested the Heavenly Eye and found that he could see clearly in darkness and make walls more than ninety percent transparent.
• Jiang Ning gathered wind and lightning with his stronger spiritual power, tested the blast against courtyard bricks, and judged its destructive power too weak to seriously threaten martial artists.
• Jiang Ning began forging Jade Bone, using his enhanced spiritual power to temper thirty-six bones at once with qi-and-blood hammers.
• Jiang Ning absorbed eleven Jade Marrow Pills, saw glazed threads appear in the thirty-six bones, and estimated that he would forge Jade Bone and reach the fifth rank within one or two months.

After advancing to the fifth rank, He Jinsheng read Huang Xianzong’s report and abandoned his plan to seize Jiang Ning, instead warning him about the Water-Moon Sword Palace’s ties to He Jinyun. Jiang Ning recognized the danger and decided to focus on training while awaiting the Inspection Office’s return.

• He Jinsheng condensed his first wisp of inner breath and reached the fifth rank, then read Huang Xianzong’s report about Jiang Ning’s killing of a sixth-rank God-Worship Cult warrior.
• He Jinsheng reconsidered his plan to take Jiang Ning by force and visited him, where Jiang Ning calmly challenged him to provide evidence that he had killed He Jinyun.
• He Jinsheng revealed that He Jinyun’s mother was the younger sister of the Water-Moon Sword Palace’s mistress and warned Jiang Ning to flee or strengthen his standing.
• He Jinsheng said he wanted to repay Jiang Ning for removing a rival to the Qinghe Earl’s inheritance, then left without confronting him.
• Jiang Ning considered the threat from the Water-Moon Sword Palace and resolved to pursue promotion and greater strength, beginning a training ground for bone tempering and Five Animals Fist practice.