Chapter Summaries

After Zhou Kailin’s constables attacked the Black Tiger Gang’s brothel and injured Wang Kun, Feng Chen suspected the town chief was retaliating against him. He compensated the victims and decided to assess the yamen’s strength before confronting it alone at midnight.

• Feng Chen entered the damaged brothel and learned that the attackers had accused the gang of trafficking women and injured its workers.
• Wang Kun told Feng Chen that a yamen martial artist had defeated him and ordered the gang leader to come to the yamen.
• The chief steward confirmed that Zhou Kailin’s constable, a Body Tempering, Third Heaven martial artist, had led the attack.
• Feng Chen ordered treatment and compensation for the injured, then promised each victim ten taels of silver.
• Feng Chen returned to the gang headquarters and planned to wait until midnight, check whether the yamen had a stronger expert, and strike alone if it did not.

Feng Chen learned new martial skills while Zhou Kailin moved against the Black Tiger Gang, then Feng Chen entered the yamen at midnight to confront him. Zhou Kailin detected Feng Chen outside his residence and called him inside.

• Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua worried over Wang Kun's injuries, and Feng Chen reassured them and gave them cultivation advice.
• Feng Chen reviewed Snow-Treading Without Trace, Ascending Dragon Fist, and the Hundred Blades Saber Art, then began training in Snow-Treading Without Trace.
• Zhou Kailin and his adviser discussed sealing the Black Tiger Gang's brothel and gambling house, and Zhou revealed he had reached Body Tempering, Fifth Heaven.
• Feng Chen dressed in night clothes and secretly entered the yamen, evading its guards with his movement technique.
• Zhou Kailin called out to Feng Chen from inside his residence, and Feng Chen pushed open the door and entered.

Feng Chen confronted Zhou Kailin after the town head had his pleasure house sealed and his subordinates injured. Their fight revealed that Feng Chen matched Zhou Kailin’s Fifth Heaven cultivation and surpassed him, and they settled on keeping the Black Tiger Gang’s businesses unchanged.

• Zhou Kailin criticized Feng Chen for failing to pay him the customary respects and declared that his new Fifth Heaven strength entitled him to reset Green Mountain Town’s rules.
• Feng Chen revealed his own Fifth Heaven aura, startling Zhou Kailin and prompting him to challenge Feng Chen to a fight.
• Feng Chen and Zhou Kailin exchanged sword strikes and flying daggers, and Zhou Kailin realized Feng Chen had the advantage and was holding back.
• Zhou Kailin called off the fight and agreed to settle their dispute, while Feng Chen chose not to kill the government official.
• Feng Chen promised not to expand the Black Tiger Gang’s businesses beyond their current scope, and Zhou Kailin expressed relief.

After settling matters with Zhou Kailin, Feng Chen returned to the brothel and heard Wang Yurou’s request to help her niece, Li Xiaoting, repay her father’s gambling debts. The chapter ends with Feng Chen asking whether Li Xiaoting could be a spy, and Wang Yurou insisting that her background is clean.

• Zhou Kailin explained how mirrors in his study let him see the corridor, then admitted Feng Chen had deliberately spared his life with the throwing knife.
• Feng Chen visited Wang Kun at the brothel, told him the dispute with the government office was settled, and instructed him to send a letter to the Azure Dragon Society.
• Wang Yurou stopped Feng Chen and asked to speak with him privately.
• Wang Yurou explained that her niece, Li Xiaoting, had been sold to the Black Tiger Gang to settle her gambler father's debt and wanted a chance to earn money herself.
• Feng Chen asked Li Xiaoting's name and whether she might be a spy, and Wang Yurou vouched for her clean background.

Feng Chen reassured Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua after resolving matters at the brothel, then spent the next half month greatly improving his martial skills. He learned about the dangerous entities in the Black Mountain Range and was considering how to travel safely when the Deputy Gang Leader urgently requested an audience.

• Feng Chen agreed to let Wang Yurou's chosen subordinate begin with minor duties and earn promotion through good work.
• Feng Chen returned to the Black Tiger Gang headquarters and reassured Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua that everything had been settled.
• Zhao Yuan'er described how content she was with her comfortable life, while Li Hehua accepted that she could not compare with Lin Qing'er.
• Over the next half month, Feng Chen mastered Snow-Treading Without Trace, Ascending Dragon Fist, and Hundred Blades Saber Art, and his combat strength rose to the point that he could kill a Body Tempering, Seventh Heaven Martial Artist with one throwing dart.
• Zhou Kailin told Feng Chen about the sinister entities in the Black Mountain Range and explained that Soul-Attracting Incense could help travelers avoid them.
• Feng Chen decided against traveling through the range himself until his people had scouted a safe route, then a gang member announced that the Deputy Gang Leader urgently wanted to see him.

Feng Chen sent twenty Black Tiger Gang disciples with a caravan to investigate the county town and acquire martial arts manuals and cultivation resources. After the caravan departed, Feng Chen returned to the gang, where he was told Niu Dahan had urgent business with him.

• Feng Chen ordered twenty Black Tiger Gang disciples to gather information about the county town's forces and buy rare manuals and cultivation resources.
• Feng Chen and Wang Kun saw the caravan off alongside Zhou Kailin, who gave two sticks of Soul-Attracting Incense to the constables leading it.
• The caravan set out through the mountain forest, and Zhou Kailin told Feng Chen that fewer than seventy percent of travelers usually returned alive because of strange dangers.
• Feng Chen questioned why the Great Li Dynasty had not dealt with the threats, and Zhou Kailin explained that officials neglected the remote town despite his yearly appeals.
• Feng Chen returned to the Black Tiger Gang and told Wang Kun to oversee affairs, but a gang member arrived to report that Niu Dahan urgently wanted to see him.

After Niu Dahan reported being attacked while tracking four powerful strangers hunting a Demonic Beast in the Black Mountain Range, Feng Chen rewarded him and led thirty Black Tiger Gang fighters into the mountains. The group found signs of a fierce battle and spotted the four unfamiliar Martial Artists, whose leader seemed at least as strong as Feng Chen.

• Niu Dahan returned badly injured and told Feng Chen that four powerful outsiders were hunting an injured Demonic Beast in the Black Mountain Range.
• Wang Kun suggested the Demonic Beast might be near a heavenly treasure, and Feng Chen rewarded Niu Dahan with silver and a cultivation technique manual.
• Feng Chen gathered thirty elite Black Tiger Gang fighters and led them toward the Black Mountain Range.
• Feng Chen and Wang Kun found the blood trail and crawl marks that Niu Dahan had left through the forest.
• The group followed signs of a major battle deeper into the mountains and spotted four Martial Artists whom Feng Chen did not recognize.

Feng Chen’s group was discovered by Li Tiankong and his companions, who came from the Green Mountain County Merchant Guild. After defeating them and killing two of them, Feng Chen learned they had entered the Black Mountain Range to capture Demonic Beasts and asked how they had crossed it safely.

• Li Tiankong recognized that someone was following his group, and Feng Chen ordered his companions to retreat.
• Li Tiankong and his companions caught up with Feng Chen’s group and blocked their escape.
• Feng Chen fought Li Tiankong, severed his arm, and demanded to know where the group came from.
• When Li Tiankong refused to answer, Feng Chen killed two of his companions, prompting Li Tiankong to reveal they belonged to the Green Mountain County Merchant Guild.
• Feng Chen asked how they had crossed the Black Mountain Range safely, and Li Tiankong answered, “Sacrifice.”

Feng Chen questioned Li Tiankong about a route through Anomaly territory and had Zhao Datu check the map. After Zhao Datu exposed Li Tiankong’s deliberate errors, Feng Chen killed both men despite their cooperation.

• Li Tiankong explained that travelers sacrificed ten people to an Anomaly to pass safely and drew Feng Chen a map of the route.
• Feng Chen made Zhao Datu inspect the map, and Zhao Datu revealed a wrong turn and an exaggerated Anomaly territory that would lure Feng Chen into the mountains.
• Li Tiankong cursed Zhao Datu after his deception was exposed, and Feng Chen beheaded him.
• Zhao Datu pleaded for his life after correcting the map, but Feng Chen ordered Wang Kun to behead him.

Feng Chen killed Li Tiankong and his men, then claimed their supplies and the Giant Strength Divine Art, a cultivation method reaching Body Tempering Ninth Heaven. After finding the Boar Demon's corpse, he spotted its cave and entered alone to search for treasures.

• Feng Chen ordered the survivors to keep his victory over Li Tiankong secret and loot the corpses.
• Feng Chen found Soul-Attracting Incense and more than four hundred taels of silver, then distributed the silver among the surviving gang members.
• Feng Chen discovered the Giant Strength Divine Art on Li Tiankong and realized it could be cultivated to Body Tempering Ninth Heaven.
• Feng Chen led the gang to the clearing, where they found the slain Boar Demon and prepared to carry it back to town.
• Feng Chen noticed a cave behind the Boar Demon and went inside alone to look for treasures.

Feng Chen found and collected a strange crystalline blade of grass in the cave, then led the surviving Black Tiger Gang members back to Green Mountain Town with the captured Boar Demon. He returned to the gang’s headquarters to a triumphant welcome and ordered most of the beast’s meat distributed among the members who had contributed.

• Feng Chen discovered a gleaming, unfamiliar blade of grass in the cave, wrapped it in a silk handkerchief, and stored it in his Spatial Ring.
• Feng Chen joined Wang Kun and the surviving gang members as they carried the Boar Demon and their wounded companions out of the mountains.
• Feng Chen’s group arrived in Green Mountain Town, where townsfolk gathered to marvel at the Demonic Beast and celebrate the Black Tiger Gang’s return.
• Feng Chen entered the Black Tiger Gang headquarters to a loud welcome, and Wang Kun directed the gang members to carry the Boar Demon into the courtyard.
• Feng Chen reserved the Boar Demon’s heart and the best hundred jin of meat for himself, then ordered the rest distributed among the gang members who had contributed.

Feng Chen rewarded the Black Tiger Gang for its loyalty and returned home to reassure Lin Qing'er and the others after his mountain trip. The chapter ended with the group gathering for a feast made from the Boar Demon's meat.

• Feng Chen gave the families of gang members killed in battle three hundred taels of silver each and ordered Wang Kun to distribute it.
• Feng Chen returned to the rear residence and found Lin Qing'er practicing the Heavenly Origin Fist while Zhao Yuan'er and Li Hehua rested nearby.
• Feng Chen told the three women that he had picked up a Demonic Beast, leaving out his encounter with the Green Mountain County Merchant Guild.
• Wang Kun delivered the Boar Demon's heart and the best hundred pounds of meat to Feng Chen's courtyard.
• Feng Chen took Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua to the dining hall for a meal of Demonic Beast meat.

After sharing boar meat with Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua, Feng Chen examined the treasures he had brought back from the mountains and discovered that the Giant Force Divine Art completed his former cultivation method. He began practicing the full art while the boar meat’s Blood Vitality Force still surged through his body.

• Lin Qing'er ate ten pounds of boar meat, while Zhao Yuan'er and Li Hehua each stopped after three pounds and went to cultivate.
• Feng Chen set aside more meat for the women, ate the remaining boar meat, and returned to his cultivation room with a herb and a manual.
• Feng Chen stored the unidentified blue herb in his Spatial Ring and studied the Giant Force Divine Art, realizing his Giant Strength Art was an incomplete copy.
• The template fused the two arts into the Giant Force Divine Art at Minor Mastery, fifty percent, drawing on Feng Chen’s existing foundation.
• Feng Chen began practicing the complete art while the Blood Vitality Force from the boar meat still filled his body.

Feng Chen improved his Giant Force Divine Art through midnight cultivation, then spent the night with Lin Qing'er. The next morning, he approved Wang Kun's plan to send wild boar meat and a polite letter to Town Magistrate Zhou, while Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua gathered to practice.

• Feng Chen completed another round of Giant Force Divine Art cultivation and found his punch at least thirty percent stronger.
• Lin Qing'er waited with hot water, helped Feng Chen wash, and the two spent the night together after Zhao Yuan'er and Li Hehua went to sleep.
• Wang Kun proposed sending thirty catties of leftover wild boar meat to the yamen to build relations with Town Magistrate Zhou, and Feng Chen approved.
• Wang Kun prepared the meat basket and a courteous letter signed with Feng Chen's name, then set off for the Green Mountain Town yamen.
• Feng Chen went to the back courtyard, where Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua were waiting in their practice clothes.

Feng Chen guided Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua in their martial arts before cultivating with the Boar Demon's heart and making rapid progress in the Giant Force Divine Art. Five days later, he stood in his cultivation room with blood vitality radiating through his skin.

• Feng Chen instructed Lin Qing'er in the Heavenly Origin Fist and Zhao Yuan'er and Li Hehua in the Black Tiger Fist, then returned to his cultivation room.
• Feng Chen ate the Boar Demon's heart and used the Giant Force Divine Art to absorb its Blood Vitality Force.
• Zhou Kailin received Feng Chen's letter and Demonic Beast meat from Wang Kun and declared that he wanted to make Feng Chen his friend.
• Over the next five days, Feng Chen cultivated with medicinal herbs and other resources while the Black Tiger Gang's businesses ran smoothly under his reorganization.
• Feng Chen stood in his cultivation room as pale-red radiance spread across his skin, signaling his blood vitality racing through his body.

Feng Chen broke through to Body Tempering, Sixth Heaven and gained Major Mastery of the Giant Force Divine Art. He celebrated the breakthrough with Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua, then resumed teaching them cultivation.

• Feng Chen used the Giant Force Divine Art’s hand seal to break through to Body Tempering, Sixth Heaven and reach Major Mastery.
• Feng Chen examined his new strength and concluded that he was invincible in Green Mountain Town but still needed to grow stronger beyond it.
• Feng Chen left his cultivation room and joined Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua for dinner.
• Feng Chen instructed the three women in the courtyard after dinner, and Lin Qing'er’s Heavenly Origin Fist produced an explosive crack of force.

Lin Qing'er reached a breakthrough with Feng Chen’s guidance and became a Body Tempering, First Heaven martial artist. The household celebrated her progress, while Feng Chen reflected that their peaceful life in Green Mountain Town could not last forever.

• Lin Qing'er’s blood vitality surged, and Feng Chen recognized that she was on the verge of a breakthrough.
• Feng Chen guided Lin Qing'er’s blood vitality as she practiced the Heavenly Origin Fist, and she broke through after about half an hour.
• Lin Qing'er discovered she had become a Body Tempering, First Heaven martial artist and hurried to bathe after impurities seeped from her skin.
• Feng Chen told Zhao Yuan'er and Li Hehua that Lin Qing'er had succeeded and encouraged them to keep working toward their own breakthroughs.
• Feng Chen checked Lin Qing'er’s fist technique, corrected her form, and joined her, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua for tea in the courtyard.
• Lin Qing'er said she was happy with their life, and Feng Chen thought their peaceful days in Green Mountain Town would not last forever.

Feng Chen was summoned to the council hall, where Zhou Kailin reported that the entire merchant caravan sent to Green Mountain County had been killed in the Black Mountain Range. Feng Chen questioned how the town learned of the disaster, leaving the cause of the report unexplained.

• A Black Tiger Gang member summoned Feng Chen to the council hall, where Deputy Gang Leader Wang Kun and Town Head Zhou Kailin were waiting.
• Feng Chen left Lin Qing'er and the other women and went through the gang compound, where members greeted him warmly.
• Wang Kun told Feng Chen the matter concerned the merchant caravan sent to Green Mountain County.
• Zhou Kailin reported that all members of the caravan, more than a hundred people, had been killed by the Anomalies in the Black Mountain Range.
• Feng Chen asked how Zhou Kailin learned of the caravan's fate if there were no survivors.

Zhou Kailin told Feng Chen that a trade caravan had been wiped out by an anomaly in the Black Mountain Range and warned that the route was unsafe. With the yamen road closed, Feng Chen prepared to scout a dangerous alternate route, while Lin Qing'er pressed him to explain what was troubling him.

• Zhou Kailin reported that the caravan and its escort had been found dead, their bodies dried out, and said he had asked the county yamen to seek help from the imperial court.
• Zhou Kailin gave Feng Chen two sticks of Soul-Attracting Incense, and Feng Chen accepted them gratefully.
• Wang Kun asked whether the gang should try the alternate route, and Feng Chen ordered him to select capable members for a scouting trip the next day.
• Feng Chen reassured Lin Qing'er, Zhao Yuan'er, and Li Hehua without telling them about the caravan, then went to bed with Lin Qing'er.
• Lin Qing'er told Feng Chen she knew something had happened and asked him to tell her what it was.

Feng Chen told Lin Qing'er that the caravan had been wiped out by an Anomaly, but decided he still had to travel to the county town. He led a group into the Black Mountain Range and sent Niu Dahan and others ahead through a hidden trail to scout for danger.

• Feng Chen told Lin Qing'er about the dead caravan and the dangerous Anomaly, and she said she supported his decision to go to the county town.
• Feng Chen and Wang Kun selected eighteen fighters and ten condemned criminals from the Black Tiger Gang for the expedition.
• Feng Chen led the group along the route Li Tiankong had revealed until they reached a narrow fissure between towering cliffs.
• Feng Chen promised Niu Dahan a Fourth Heaven cultivation method if he completed the scouting mission.
• Niu Dahan led ten fighters and the ten bound criminals into the fissure while Feng Chen assured Wang Kun that they would return safely.