Chapter Summaries

Feng Chen ate dinner with Lin Qing'er, trained her, and then went to the Black Tiger Gang's headquarters to seize control after He Datian's death. He confronted Deputy Gang Leader Wang Kun, who submitted once Feng Chen revealed his strength and claimed the gang leader was dead.

• Feng Chen and Lin Qing'er shared dinner, and he instructed her in the Fierce Tiger Fist before leaving for the Black Tiger Gang's headquarters.
• Feng Chen slipped into the headquarters and overheard Deputy Gang Leader Wang Kun ordering men to search for He Datian and the others.
• Feng Chen entered Wang Kun's room and declared himself the Black Tiger Gang's new gang leader.
• Feng Chen said He Datian was dead and displayed his Body Tempering, Fourth Heaven strength.
• Wang Kun dropped his saber, knelt, and welcomed Feng Chen as gang leader to keep his position as deputy.

Feng Chen took control of the Black Tiger Gang after Wang Kun immediately submitted and explained the gang’s resources. He left Wang Kun in charge of its operations and arranged for him to gather medicinal herbs and investigate pill refining.

• Wang Kun knelt before Feng Chen, explained his position in the Black Tiger Gang, and reported its businesses, manpower, and treasury.
• Wang Kun told Feng Chen that He Datian had withdrawn thirty-five thousand taels and sent it to the Fang Clan Martial Hall, while eighty thousand taels remained in the treasury.
• Feng Chen told Wang Kun to keep He Datian’s death secret, stabilize the gang, and gather as many High-Grade Blood-Qi Medicinal Herbs as possible.
• Feng Chen delegated gang affairs to Wang Kun, warned him against betrayal, and gave him instructions for sending messages.
• Feng Chen asked Wang Kun to find out where Bone-Tempering Pills could be refined, then left the gang headquarters.
• Wang Kun concluded that his position had improved under Feng Chen and resolved to profit without crossing the new leader.

Feng Chen perfected the Heavenly Origin Fist and became strong enough to defeat a Body Tempering, Sixth Heaven Martial Artist. The next morning, he and Lin Qing'er ate demonic wolf meat before beginning cultivation, and Feng Chen started practicing the Wild Wolf Divine Fist.

• Feng Chen checked the empty house in Willow Tree Alley and the Fang Clan Martial Hall, then returned home to Lin Qing'er.
• Feng Chen cultivated the Heavenly Origin Fist through the night and reached Perfect Mastery Realm.
• Feng Chen examined his attributes and saw that he could now defeat a Body Tempering, Sixth Heaven Martial Artist.
• The next morning, Feng Chen and Lin Qing'er ate wolf blood and meat, then went to cultivate.
• Feng Chen practiced the Wild Wolf Divine Fist and increased its proficiency.

Zhao Tianshan grew worried when Zhao Qingyun failed to return from a Demonic Beast hunt with He Datian and prepared to confront the Black Tiger Gang. Meanwhile, Feng Chen reached Minor Mastery in the Wild Wolf Divine Fist, shared Demon Wolf meat with Lin Qing'er, and resumed cultivating.

• Zhao Tianshan learned that Zhao Qingyun had been missing since leaving for the Black Tiger Gang's hunt, and he decided to demand Zhao Qingyun's return if he remained missing by nightfall.
• Zhao Tianshan reflected that Zhao Qingyun was a secret Zhao Family Martial Artist at Body Tempering, Fourth Heaven, and feared He Datian had harmed him.
• Feng Chen advanced the Wild Wolf Divine Fist to Minor Mastery after a morning of practice.
• Feng Chen brought thirty pounds of Demon Wolf meat to Lin Qing'er, and they cooked and ate it together.
• Lin Qing'er stopped after five pounds to cultivate, while Feng Chen ate the rest and returned to practicing the Wild Wolf Divine Fist.
• After half an hour, Feng Chen's Destiny Talent trait A Thousand Miles a Day activated and accelerated his fist-art insights.

Feng Chen advanced Wild Wolf Divine Fist to Major Mastery and planned to seek a higher-level cultivation technique, while Lin Qing'er reached Great Mastery in Tiger Fist. At the Black Tiger Gang headquarters, Wang Kun learned Zhao Tianshan had arrived and summoned Feng Chen for help; Zhao Tianshan then angrily demanded to know why He Datian had not greeted him.

• Feng Chen raised Wild Wolf Divine Fist to Major Mastery, improving his ability to kill a Body Tempering, Sixth Heaven Martial Artist, and decided to seek stronger cultivation techniques in Green Mountain County.
• Lin Qing'er reached Great Mastery in Tiger Fist, and Feng Chen congratulated her before they went to prepare dinner together.
• Wang Xiao'er told Wang Kun that Zhao Tianshan had arrived at the Black Tiger Gang headquarters with several people to see the Gang Leader.
• Wang Kun instructed Wang Xiao'er to receive Zhao Tianshan and hang a strip of yellow cloth at the gate to alert Feng Chen.
• Zhao Tianshan entered the main hall, found Wang Kun waiting and He Datian's seat empty, and angrily demanded to know why He Datian had not come to greet him.

Zhao Tianshan confronted the Black Tiger Gang while its leader, He Datian, was absent, and Wang Kun stalled him while waiting for Feng Chen. Feng Chen arrived in disguise and headed for the council hall, thinking that Zhao Tianshan might give him an excuse to take control of the Zhao Clan Martial Academy.

• Zhao Tianshan pressured Wang Kun and agreed to wait half an hour for He Datian to appear.
• Wang Kun served Zhao Tianshan tea and tried to keep him waiting until Feng Chen arrived.
• Feng Chen prepared to leave home, reassured Lin Qing'er, and changed his appearance before approaching the Black Tiger Gang's main gate.
• Feng Chen learned from a gatekeeper that Zhao Tianshan and people from the Zhao Clan Martial Academy had come to the gang.
• Feng Chen entered the Black Tiger Gang and headed for the council hall, considering how he might bring the Zhao Clan Martial Academy under his control.

Feng Chen confronted Zhao Tianshan, who accused the Black Tiger Gang of killing his cousin and revealed his plan to seize the gang’s assets. Zhao Tianshan attacked, while Feng Chen remained still with his true strength concealed.

• Wang Kun told Feng Chen that Zhao Tianshan had arrived demanding to see He Datian and had threatened the Black Tiger Gang.
• Feng Chen told Zhao Tianshan that He Datian had left him in charge, and Zhao Tianshan accused He Datian of causing Zhao Qingyun’s disappearance.
• Feng Chen asked whether the Zhao Clan Martial Academy had other Fourth Heaven experts, intending to eliminate any threat to himself.
• Zhao Tianshan dismissed Feng Chen as a newly advanced Fourth Heaven martial artist and attacked him with his sword.
• Zhao Tianshan’s disciples celebrated his plan to take over the Black Tiger Gang, while Wang Kun warned Feng Chen to be careful.
• Feng Chen stood motionless as Zhao Tianshan charged, and the chapter revealed that Feng Chen had concealed his true aura with the Perfection-level Breath Concealment Art.

Feng Chen killed Zhao Tianshan with a single throwing knife and ordered Wang Kun to take over the Zhao Clan Martial Academy's assets. Wang Kun set out to gather men, while Feng Chen promised to handle any resistance.

• Feng Chen killed Zhao Tianshan with a throwing knife that pierced his brow and continued through a nanmu pillar.
• Wang Kun and the two Zhao Clan Martial Academy disciples stared in shock as Zhao Tianshan died.
• Feng Chen ordered Wang Kun to subdue the two disciples, and Wang Kun knocked them unconscious after the Black Tiger Gang members bound them.
• Feng Chen told Wang Kun to take over everything belonging to the Zhao Clan Martial Academy because it had planned to rob the Black Tiger Gang.
• Wang Kun agreed to gather men and take over the academy's assets, while Feng Chen offered to handle any resistance.

Feng Chen killed Zhao Tianshan and led the Black Tiger Gang to seize the Zhao Clan Martial Academy’s territory, then returned home and told Lin Qing'er what had happened. The chapter ended with Lin Qing'er realizing that Feng Chen now controlled Green Mountain Town’s three major forces.

• Wang Kun gathered more than a hundred Black Tiger Gang members and joined Feng Chen in taking over the Zhao Clan Martial Academy’s businesses and territory.
• Wang Kun reported that he had secured the Academy’s assets, and Feng Chen gave him twenty percent of the gains.
• Feng Chen inspected eighty-two thousand taels of silver and one hundred portions of Blood-Qi Medicinal Herbs, then asked about places that refined pills.
• Wang Kun told Feng Chen that Green Mountain Town had no known alchemists, though rumors linked the Hall of Benevolent Relief to pill refining.
• Other forces in Green Mountain Town heard of the takeover and sent spies, while Feng Chen returned safely to Apricot Blossom Alley.
• Feng Chen told Lin Qing'er how he killed Zhao Tianshan and took over the Zhao Clan Martial Academy, and she asked whether he controlled all three major forces.

Feng Chen cultivated through the night, reached Perfect Mastery in the Wild Wolf Divine Fist, and began practicing the Thousand Mountains Saber Art after consuming a large dose of medicinal herbs. By noon, he was still training, intent on turning his abundant medicinal power into greater strength.

• Feng Chen comforted Lin Qing'er, then carried her to bed after they sparred with the Tiger Fist.
• Feng Chen practiced the Wild Wolf Divine Fist until midnight, advancing it to sixty percent of Great Mastery.
• Feng Chen and Lin Qing'er ate wolf blood and meat the next morning, and Lin Qing'er went to cultivate.
• Feng Chen boiled twenty portions of Mid-Grade Blood-Qi Medicinal Herbs, drank the medicinal soup, and cultivated the Heavenly Origin Fist and Wild Wolf Divine Fist.
• Feng Chen reached Perfect Mastery in the Wild Wolf Divine Fist, then used his remaining medicinal power to practice the Thousand Mountains Saber Art through noon.

Feng Chen collected the Black Tiger Gang and Zhao Clan Martial Academy’s wealth, medicinal herbs, and martial arts manuals, while Lin Qing’er neared a breakthrough. He had gathered enough resources to reach Body Tempering, Sixth Heaven, but still needed a suitable cultivation technique, so he planned to ask Wang Kun about finding one in Green Mountain County.

• Feng Chen reached Minor Mastery in Thousand Mountains Saber Art and realized he could kill a Body Tempering, Sixth Heaven Martial Artist with one slash.
• Feng Chen sensed that Lin Qing’er had perfected her Tiger Fist and was close to breaking through into the Martial Artist Realm.
• Feng Chen went to Willow Tree Alley and collected one hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver, eighty portions of High-Grade Blood-Qi Medicinal Herbs, one hundred portions of Mid-Grade herbs, and numerous martial arts manuals.
• Feng Chen concluded that Green Mountain Town had no cultivation technique beyond Body Tempering, Fifth Heaven and planned to ask Wang Kun about finding higher-tier manuals in Green Mountain County.

Feng Chen visited the Black Tiger Gang after its takeover of the Zhao Clan Martial Academy and rewarded the gang for its work. He asked Wang Kun about Green Mountain County, and Wang Kun warned him that traveling there alone would be dangerous.

• Feng Chen heard townsfolk discussing the Black Tiger Gang’s takeover of the Zhao Clan Martial Academy as he headed to its headquarters.
• Feng Chen slipped into the discussion hall, where Wang Kun was assigning leaders tasks for taking over the Zhao properties.
• Wang Kun introduced Feng Chen as the Gang Leader, and the leaders knelt to greet him after he explained that he wore a mask because his face was injured.
• Feng Chen ordered Wang Kun to distribute reward silver to the disciples and confirmed that the money and medicinal herbs sent to Willow Tree Alley had arrived.
• Feng Chen asked Wang Kun about Green Mountain County, and Wang Kun advised him to wait for the yamen’s merchant caravan rather than travel there alone.

Feng Chen learned that traveling through the Black Mountain Range was perilous and asked Wang Kun to gather information about its dangers. He rejected Wang Kun’s offer of nine women at first, but accepted them as potential marriage ties to unite Green Mountain Town’s minor factions and ordered a quiet courtyard built.

• Wang Kun warned Feng Chen that the Black Mountain Range held sinister creatures and powerful Demonic Beasts, making travel to the county seat dangerous.
• Feng Chen ordered Wang Kun to gather detailed intelligence on the strange creatures and Demonic Beasts in the mountains.
• Wang Kun brought nine women to Feng Chen as special benefits, but Feng Chen told him to take them away.
• The leading woman and the other eight knelt and pleaded with Feng Chen to accept them.
• Wang Kun explained that the women represented small Lineages and minor factions, and Feng Chen agreed to use the ties to help unite the town.
• Feng Chen instructed Wang Kun to build him a quiet courtyard behind the Black Tiger Gang.

Feng Chen warned nine women considering joining him that betrayal would mean death, then visited the Hall of Benevolent Relief seeking a way to refine Bone-Tempering Pills. The old physician said he could no longer refine pills but agreed to sell Feng Chen his pill-refining methods after seeing the offered banknotes.

• Feng Chen told the nine women to consider their choice overnight and warned that he would kill anyone who betrayed or defied him.
• Wang Kun gave Feng Chen a booklet about mountain dangers and the next government merchant caravan, and Feng Chen instructed him to hang a yellow cloth strip once the courtyard was repaired.
• Feng Chen headed to the Hall of Benevolent Relief to find someone who could refine Bone-Tempering Pills from his Bone Tempering Flower.
• The old physician explained that his declining mental power kept him from refining pills and warned that pill-making required years of study.
• Feng Chen offered three thousand taels for the old physician's pill-refining methods, and the physician accepted after checking the banknotes.

Feng Chen bought the Pill Alchemy Primer from Old Man Shen and learned that the booklet was a common manual sold at an inflated price. After reading it and Wang Kun’s booklet about the Black Mountain Range, Feng Chen understood more about alchemy’s demands and the dangers beyond Green Mountain Town.

• Old Man Shen sold Feng Chen the Pill Alchemy Primer and its Bone-Tempering Pill formula for three thousand taels, then mocked him after he left.
• Feng Chen returned to Apricot Blossom Alley, where Lin Qing'er practiced Tiger Fist in the courtyard.
• Feng Chen read Wang Kun’s booklet, learned about the deadly creatures and Demonic Beasts in the Black Mountain Range at night, and decided to send subordinates to the county with the yamen’s merchant caravan.
• Feng Chen read the Pill Alchemy Primer, and his talent recorded its contents in his consciousness.
• Feng Chen realized that alchemy required enough spiritual power to sense herbs in the furnace and precisely control the heat.

Feng Chen perfected the Pill Alchemy Primer, refined a Blood-Qi Pill, and moved with Lin Qing'er into a renovated residence at the Black Tiger Gang headquarters. He entered a room where Lin Qing'er and two young women were discussing having his child, but the chapter ended before he responded.

• Feng Chen practiced pill refinement until the Pill Alchemy Primer reached Perfection and he produced a passable Blood-Qi Pill.
• Feng Chen also perfected the Thousand Mountains Saber Art and Wild Wolf Divine Fist, improving his ability to kill a Body Tempering, Sixth Heaven Martial Artist with a throwing dart.
• Wang Kun renovated He Datian's former residence into an independent three-courtyard home, and Feng Chen moved in with Lin Qing'er.
• Feng Chen heard Lin Qing'er and two young women talking about having his child and entered their room.

Feng Chen selected Zhao Yuan'er and Li Hehua as companions, taught them basic martial arts, and prepared to refine a Bone-Tempering Pill. When Wang Kun arrived with an urgent matter, Feng Chen went to meet him, carrying the memory of a terrifying presence he had sensed in the Black Mountain Range.

• Feng Chen explained why he had kept Zhao Yuan'er and Li Hehua, while the seven rejected women’s factions remained business partners.
• Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua pressed Feng Chen about having children, and he promised to teach them martial arts after lunch.
• Feng Chen shared a lavish meal with the three women, then taught Zhao Yuan'er and Li Hehua basic stances and vital-energy sensing.
• Feng Chen headed to the alchemy chamber to refine a Bone-Tempering Pill, but a Black Tiger Gang lackey reported that Wang Kun was waiting in the reception hall.
• Feng Chen went to meet Wang Kun after recalling that a powerful presence had watched him when he entered the Black Mountain Range.

Feng Chen returned to town and handled the Black Tiger Gang’s growing business and political challenges while preparing to seek higher Body Tempering manuals. He left Niu Dahan’s fervent pledge as the gang members gathered around him.

• Feng Chen abandoned his plan to cross the Black Mountain Range alone after sensing danger and returned to town.
• Wang Kun told Feng Chen that Town Magistrate Zhou Kailin, suspected of reaching Body Tempering, Fifth Heaven, wanted to redistribute Green Mountain Town’s profits, and Feng Chen invited him to discuss it in person.
• Feng Chen instructed Wang Kun to keep searching for Demonic Beasts and accepted a letter delivered from the county city by a bird with Demonic Beast blood.
• Feng Chen told Wang Kun to select caravan travelers who could seek out higher Body Tempering cultivation manuals in the county city and bring plenty of silver.
• Feng Chen promised the Black Tiger Gang disciples rewards at the end of the month, and Niu Dahan knelt before him and pledged loyalty even unto death.

Feng Chen received a threatening letter from the Azure Dragon Society and replied under He Datian’s name, hoping to learn more and possibly obtain a cultivation technique. Meanwhile, Zhou Kailin grew angry at Feng Chen’s defiance and ordered his businesses shut down.

• Feng Chen sent Niu Dahan into the mountains to search for medicinal herbs, promising a greater reward for rarer finds.
• Feng Chen read the Azure Dragon Society’s letter demanding news of the injured Wolf Demon and threatening the Black Tiger Gang if He Datian had kept the beast for himself.
• Feng Chen destroyed the letter and wrote a reply in He Datian’s name, claiming the hunt had failed and asking for a higher-grade cultivation technique.
• Feng Chen began warming the alchemy furnace and practicing the techniques in the Pill Alchemy Primer.
• Zhou Kailin read the Black Tiger Gang’s refusal to discuss profits unless he came in person, then ordered his secretary to shut down Feng Chen’s brothels, gambling dens, and taverns.

Feng Chen refined and consumed a Bone-Tempering Pill, strengthening his bones and raising his aptitude to Third-Grade Bone Aptitude. During dinner, he learned that Deputy Gang Leader Wang Kun had been injured at the brothel and hurried there to investigate.

• Zhou Kailin resented being dismissed by Feng Chen and brooded over the insult.
• Feng Chen refined a Bone-Tempering Pill using the Centennial Bone Tempering Flower and consumed it.
• Feng Chen felt his bones and tendons grow tougher and discovered that his aptitude had become Third-Grade Bone Aptitude.
• Feng Chen joined Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua for dinner at the gang headquarters.
• A Black Tiger Gang disciple reported that Wang Kun had been injured by an unknown Martial Artist at the brothel.
• Feng Chen told the women to stay home and hurried to the brothel to see what had happened to Wang Kun.