Chapter Summaries

After awakening in the body of a disgraced farmer’s son, Zhao Feng discovered a Proficiency Panel that let him improve martial skills without bottlenecks. He proved the panel’s power by reaching minor mastery in archery and set out to hunt in Great Green Mountain for meat and a way to fund martial training.

• Zhao Feng recovered his memories, learned that the original owner had stolen Tian Cuihua’s hairpin and been beaten into the river, and discovered the Proficiency Panel.
• Zhao Feng apologized to Tian Cuihua and promised to redeem her hairpin, easing her plan to split the household.
• Zhao Feng began working alongside his family and diligently practiced archery and hunting with Zhao Youlin’s guidance.
• After more than a month of practice, Zhao Feng hit the target’s bull’s-eye and advanced to archery minor mastery.
• Zhao Feng decided to hunt for game and left for Great Green Mountain with his bow and three arrows.

Zhao Feng returned home with a rabbit he had hunted, bringing joy to his poor family and using the meal to argue that martial arts training could improve their fortunes. Zhao Youlin agreed to help him pursue it, and they planned to reclaim five taels of silver from Zhao Feng’s eldest aunt to cover the costly enrollment fee.

• Zhao Feng ignored villagers’ insults and passed his cousin Zhao Sheng, who dismissed him.
• Zhao Feng returned home with a rabbit he had shot, surprising his family and sharing the meat with them.
• Over dinner, Zhao Feng told Zhao Youlin, Yang Shi, and Tian Cuihua that becoming a Martial Scholar could spare the family taxes and corvée labor and help locate his missing elder brother.
• Zhao Youlin agreed that Zhao Feng should learn martial arts, but the family worried they could not afford the nearly ten-tael fee.
• Zhao Youlin said his eldest aunt had kept five taels of his inheritance for decades, and Zhao Feng offered to go with him to reclaim it.

Zhao Youlin failed to recover the five taels of silver from Zhao Youfu, so Zhao Feng resolved to earn money through hunting and devoted himself to archery practice. In the mountains, he tracked a family of roe deer and crept within bowshot of their buck.

• Zhao Youlin asked Zhao Youfu for the silver their father had left him, but Zhao Youfu and his family refused and mocked Zhao Feng’s ambition to learn martial arts.
• Zhao Feng stopped Tian Cuihua from confronting Zhao Youfu’s family and promised to earn the money himself by hunting.
• Zhao Feng practiced archery for several days and ventured deeper into Great Green Mountain in search of valuable prey.
• Zhao Feng found fresh hazelnut shells and hoofprints on North Peak and recognized them as signs of a nearby roe deer.
• Zhao Feng spotted a family of three roe deer, circled downwind, and crawled to within just over thirty paces of the buck.

Zhao Feng hunted a roe deer on Great Green Mountain and returned home with it, but found Huang Biao pressuring his family to borrow money against their farmland. After Huang Biao left, Zhao Feng brought out the deer to feed his family, while the threat to their land remained.

• Zhao Feng shot a buck on North Peak of Great Green Mountain, tracked it by its blood trail, and carried it back toward the village.
• Zhao Feng hid the deer after discovering Huang Biao and his men in the courtyard, where Huang Biao urged the family to borrow from Li the Landowner using their farmland as collateral.
• Zhao Youlin explained that Li the Landowner and Huang Biao had seized land from borrowers who could not repay, and Zhao Feng suspected they were targeting the family's three mu of good farmland.
• Zhao Feng retrieved the deer and brought it into the courtyard, astonishing Zhao Youlin, Yang Shi, and Tian Cuihua.
• Zhao Youlin began butchering the deer while Yang Shi and Tian Cuihua prepared meat porridge for the children and cooked the heart and liver for Zhao Youlin.

Zhao Feng’s family prepared to sell their hunt’s bounty while worrying about Shuo’er’s absence and the cost of Zhao Feng’s martial arts training. When Zhang the Widow demanded a steep bride price and urged them to mortgage their property, Zhao Feng scared her and Wang Jinlian into fleeing, then declared that he would not marry Wang Jinlian and wanted to learn martial arts first.

• Zhao Youlin’s family shared a meal of roe deer and planned to sell the best cuts, hides, and antlers at the county market.
• Zhang the Widow demanded a twenty-tael bride price for Wang Jinlian and mocked Zhao Feng’s family, then suggested they mortgage their property for a loan.
• Zhao Feng pretended to go mad and swung and threw a billhook, frightening Zhang the Widow and Wang Jinlian into fleeing and ending the engagement.
• Zhao Feng reassured his family that he was not mad and said he would not marry Wang Jinlian, choosing to learn martial arts first.

Zhao Feng traveled to Big Stone County to learn about martial arts schools and visit his aunt, Zhao Youfang. After she gave him nearly one tael of silver to support his studies, two bloodied men with sabers charged at him as he neared the market.

• Zhao Feng asked Old Ding about martial arts tuition and schools, and Old Ding offered to inquire about the Huo Family Martial Arts School.
• Zhao Feng visited Zhao Youfang and saw how harshly the Tao household treated her and Qiao'er.
• Zhao Feng gave Zhao Youfang roe deer meat, and she proudly accepted it.
• Zhao Youfang supported Zhao Feng's plan to learn martial arts and pressed nearly one tael of silver into his hand.
• As Zhao Feng approached the market, two bloodied men in black burst from an alley, and one swung his saber at him.

Zhao Feng sold his hunting goods in town, learned the cost of martial arts training, and resolved to become strong enough to protect himself and his family. As Huang Biao plotted to attack him, Zhao Feng waited in the snow with a sharpened arrow, preparing to strike first.

• Zhao Feng narrowly escaped a gang fight in town, then sold his game for about two taels of silver.
• Old Ding told Zhao Feng that three months at the Huo Family Martial Arts School cost ten taels, including meals, and Zhao Feng decided to enroll.
• Zhao Feng brought roast chicken home for Zhao Bao'er and Zhao Zihuai and promised Tian Cuihua he would redeem her hairpin when he had the money.
• Huang Biao told his men he planned to formally join the Black Tiger Gang after the New Year and plotted to beat Zhao Feng into making his family borrow money.
• Zhao Feng waited in the woods during a heavy snowfall and took aim at the drunk, solitary Huang Biao as he walked toward Cypress Village.

After killing Huang Biao and taking his silver, Zhao Feng concealed the evidence and used the money to fund his martial arts training. He enrolled at the Huo Family Martial Arts School, where Master Huo accepted him as an apprentice despite his age.

• Zhao Feng killed Huang Biao, hid and mutilated his body, and burned his bloodied clothes, money pouch, and IOUs.
• Zhao Feng kept Huang Biao's nearly fourteen taels of silver secret from his family, and villagers later believed Huang Biao had fled with the collected money.
• Zhao Feng told his father he had borrowed the remaining tuition from Little Aunt, then left for the county town on Old Ding's donkey cart.
• At the Huo Family Martial Arts School, Huo Shan examined seven applicants and accepted Zhao Feng and two others.
• Zhao Feng and the other two applicants paid ten taels each for three months of tuition, and Huo Shan made them apprentices.

Zhao Feng began training in the Eight Extremes Stake Skill at Huo Shan’s Martial Arts School and discovered that his Proficiency Panel had recorded the skill. Meanwhile, Li the Landowner reconsidered Huang Biao’s disappearance and ordered a list of his enemies in the villages.

• Wei Yuan showed Zhao Feng and the other two new disciples around the school, and Huo Shan demonstrated the Eight Extremes Stake Skill before explaining the risks of breaking through to bright strength.
• Zhao Feng and the other two tried the stake posture, and the Silent Youth endured longer than the rest during their first attempt.
• After repeated falls and corrections from Wei Yuan, Zhao Feng saw the Proficiency Panel record the Eight Extremes Fist Stake Skill at Initiation (1/500).
• Zhao Feng spent several nights at the Cart Inn before finding a satisfactory place to stay in the Outer City.
• Li the Landowner concluded that Huang Biao had probably been murdered and ordered his steward to list everyone in the villages who had held a grudge against him.

A month into training at the Huo Family Martial Arts School, Zhao Feng worried that his slow progress would prevent him from breaking through and resolved to eat meat every day. During a visit to Little Aunt and Qiao'er, he noticed signs that Little Aunt was being mistreated, and he encountered the Black Tiger Gang harassing Qiao'er.

• Zhao Feng trained on the Plum Blossom Stakes until noon, though his Eight Extremes Stake Skill had advanced only to beginner (130/500).
• Wu Tiezhu gave Chu Fan one of his buns, while Zhao Feng ate both of his and trained until dark.
• Zhao Feng decided to eat meat every day to improve his training progress and noted that he could not yet afford a bow and arrows.
• At the Treasure Brocade Workshop, Zhao Youfang gave Zhao Feng eggs and copper coins, and he noticed marks on her arm that made him suspect Uncle was mistreating her.
• Zhao Feng gave Qiao'er an egg, continued telling her the story of the White Lady, and learned that she wanted to learn to read.
• As Zhao Feng and Qiao'er left the workshop, several Black Tiger Gang men approached, and Leopard Lord leered at Qiao'er and invited her to the Inner City.

Zhao Feng advanced his training at the Huo Family Martial Arts School, while Chu Fan’s exceptional root bone earned him formal discipleship. Meanwhile, Leopard Lord waited for Zhao Feng’s apprenticeship to end before targeting Qiao’er, and the chapter left Li the Landowner still investigating Huang Biao’s death and missing IOUs.

• Zhao Feng protected Qiao’er from Leopard Lord, then improved his Eight Extremes Stake Skill through sustained stance training and regular meals.
• Huo Shan found that Zhao Feng and Wu Tiezhu had fifth-grade root bones, while Chu Fan had a rare second-grade root bone and became his formal disciple.
• Huo Shan demonstrated Eight Extremes Fist and assigned Wei Yuan to guide Zhao Feng and Wu Tiezhu; Zhao Feng began learning the fist technique and gained beginner mastery.
• Leopard Lord learned that Zhao Feng had joined the Huo Family Martial Arts School and decided to wait two months before trying to seize Qiao’er.
• Wild dogs uncovered Huang Biao’s corpse, and Zhao Feng worried briefly that his own role in the death might be discovered, but the county office did not investigate.
• Li the Landowner asked his steward for a previously requested list while continuing to suspect that Huang Biao’s missing IOUs held significance.

Zhao Feng neared the end of his tuition term while training toward a Bright Strength breakthrough, as Chu Fan’s success and Huo Yao’s arrival changed the atmosphere at the Huo Family Martial Arts School. The chapter left Zhao Feng still training as his term expired and his fellow disciples expected him to disappear.

• Li the Landowner ordered his steward to give the list of Huang Biao’s victims to the Black Tiger Gang so they could deal with the peasants.
• Chu Fan broke through to Bright Strength and gained confidence, status, and special treatment at the school.
• Zhao Feng continued practicing his Eight Extremes techniques and told Wu Tiezhu that he planned to attempt his own breakthrough within days.
• Huo Yao returned to the school, treated injured disciples, and drew the attention of the trainees.
• Chu Fan demonstrated an explosive crack with his Eight Extremes Fist while Zhao Feng kept training, and Huo Yao warned Zhao Feng not to overtrain.
• As Zhao Feng’s tuition term expired, the other disciples stopped treating him as a senior and expected him to leave.

Zhao Feng broke through to bright strength after months of grueling practice, earning Huo Shan’s recognition as a Registered Disciple and new training resources. His success surprised the disciples and irritated Chu Fan, who still believed Zhao Feng’s poor root bone limited his future.

• Wei Yuan told Zhao Feng that Wu Tiezhu had failed to break through and returned to his hometown.
• Zhao Feng practiced the Eight Extremes Stake Skill until he broke through to bright strength and advanced the skill to minor accomplishment.
• Huo Shan made Zhao Feng his Registered Disciple, gave him Vitality Powder, and demonstrated the bright strength stage stance.
• Huo Shan instructed Zhao Feng to spar with fellow disciples to gain combat experience before learning the second routine.
• Wei Yuan and other disciples congratulated Zhao Feng, while Chu Fan felt irritated that he had stayed at the school.
• Wang Yu said Zhao Feng had merely been lucky and would never reach hidden force, while Chu Fan dismissed him as less capable.

Zhao Feng broke through to bright strength, trained with Wei Yuan, and learned that the Black Tiger Gang was a weak collection of local thugs. He continued improving at the Martial Arts School, reached minor mastery in the First Form of Eight Extremes Fist, and began learning its Second Form.

• Wei Yuan sparred with Zhao Feng and guided him in circulating and releasing bright strength.
• Leopard Lord planned to abduct Qiao'er for Master Hu, but Zhao Feng's new training uniform made him fear retaliation, so he withdrew while Zhao Feng secretly marked him as a target.
• Wei Yuan told Zhao Feng that the Black Tiger Gang had no powerful backing and only a few bright strength fighters.
• Zhao Feng trained diligently until his Eight Extremes Fist reached minor mastery, and Huo Shan gave him the manual for the Second Form.

Zhao Feng carefully tracked and killed Leopard Lord, then erased the evidence and took the gang leader’s money. Afterward, he joined Wei Yuan for dinner at the Drunken Moon Tower, where he learned about Treasure Fish and their value to martial artists.

• Zhao Feng studied Leopard Lord’s movements and waited for a chance to attack without leaving evidence.
• Zhao Feng ambushed Leopard Lord with a Heart-Top Elbow, killed his fleeing confidant, and mutilated both bodies before escaping.
• Zhao Feng disposed of his disguise and knife in the river, returned home, and burned Leopard Lord’s account book after finding about thirty taels in his bag.
• Zhao Feng accepted Wei Yuan’s invitation to dinner at the Drunken Moon Tower while clashes between the Black Tiger Gang and the Three Harmonies Gang continued.
• Wei Yuan served Zhao Feng Treasure Fish, explained its benefits to martial artists, and described its high prices.

Zhao Feng learned how much treasure fish and fierce-beast meat could support martial training, and Wei Yuan offered him a flexible post with the Wei Family. After accepting, Zhao Feng overheard that his cousin Zhao Sheng had failed his gate breakthrough, then prepared to visit home during the five-day holiday.

• Zhao Feng ate treasure fish and tiger meat at Wei Yuan’s invitation and learned that costly foods and medicines were important for martial artists.
• Zhao Feng told Wei Yuan that he had turned down several guard jobs because their pay and fixed hours did not suit him.
• Wei Yuan offered Zhao Feng a flexible position with the Wei Family, paying ten taels a month and providing treasure fish and fierce-beast meat, and Zhao Feng accepted.
• Zhao Feng noticed Zhao Sheng dining with people from the Zheng Clan Martial Hall and overheard that Zhao Sheng had failed his gate breakthrough.
• Zhao Feng settled his concerns about work and prepared to visit home during the Empress Dowager’s five-day birthday holiday.

Zhao Feng returned to his aunt’s home and Jiazi Ravine Village with gifts after becoming a Bright Strength martial artist and securing a nominal post. He reunited with his family and told his parents he had bought the food with his own earnings.

• Zhao Feng gave Little Aunt two chickens, reassured her that he would protect her, and pressed two taels of silver into her hand for her and Qiao'er.
• Zhao Feng warned Tao Qing not to bully Little Aunt and gave Qiao'er illustrated storybooks before leaving.
• Zhao Feng arrived at Jiazi Ravine Village in a donkey cart loaded with a half-pig carcass, flour, and chickens, startling villagers who had assumed he had failed as a martial artist.
• Zhao Feng gave fried pastries to Zhao Bao'er and Zhao Zihuai after they were mocked for having no father.
• Zhao Feng reunited with Zhao Youlin, Yang Shi, and Tian Cuihua, shouldered the half-pig, and announced that he was a Martial Master with a nominal post in the Inner City.

Zhao Feng returned home as a martial master, bringing food and gifts that delighted his impoverished family. Their reunion was interrupted when Wang Jinlian and Zhang the Widow arrived, presumed his success was meant to win Wang Jinlian back, and demanded meat and an extravagant betrothal.

• Zhao Feng returned with white flour, meat, chickens, and Tian Cuihua's redeemed hairpin, while the villagers marveled that he had become a martial master.
• Zhao Feng's family prepared a nourishing dumpling meal, and he reassured Zhao Youlin that his martial-master status and earnings were real.
• Zhao Youlin told Zhao Feng that Zhao Sheng had also claimed to be a martial master, and Zhao Feng chose not to reveal what he knew about him.
• Wang Jinlian and Zhang the Widow entered the courtyard, and Zhang the Widow tried to take the family's pork.
• Wang Jinlian demanded that Zhao Feng give Zhang the Widow the meat and apologize, while Zhang the Widow listed extravagant betrothal gifts.

Zhao Feng rejected Wang Jinlian and focused on his martial training, while rumors about his achievement reached Li the Landowner. The Li Residence sent gifts to honor Zhao Feng, leaving the villagers impressed and envious.

• Zhao Feng refused Wang Jinlian and told his parents he would postpone marriage until after the Martial Examination.
• Li the Landowner heard that Zhao Feng had become a Martial Master and sent Steward Liu Sheng to verify his strength.
• Zhao Zihuai and Zhao Bao'er told Zhao Feng that their eldest aunt had spread rumors calling him a thug and had twisted Zhao Zihuai's ear.
• Liu Sheng arrived at Zhao Feng's home with gifts from Li the Landowner and offered congratulations on his martial achievement.
• Zhao Feng accepted the gifts, and the villagers grew envious as Tian Cuihua carried them inside.

After becoming a bright strength Martial Master, Zhao Feng returned to training, began escorting cargo, and practiced archery while seeking ways to afford better nourishment. The chapter ended with Huo Shan celebrating a disciple’s breakthrough to hidden force, and the school suspected it was Senior Brother Chu.

• Zhao Feng left five taels of silver with his family, returned to the county town, and continued training under Huo Shan.
• Wei Yuan took Zhao Feng to the Wei Family's Weapon Forge, where Zhao Feng chose a Horn Shortbow and a steel saber.
• Zhao Feng completed his first cargo escort safely, then resumed archery practice and improved his proficiency.
• Zhao Feng trained at the Martial Arts School and considered how to earn money for better food and medicinal supplements.
• Huo Shan announced that a seventeen-year-old disciple had reached hidden force, and the disciples suspected Senior Brother Chu.