Chapter Summaries

Li Changfeng and Zhang Xuandao broke through to the middle Grandmaster stage, while five others also reached Grandmaster and the group settled their competition rankings. After completing system quests, Li Changfeng was distracted when Princess Minmin asked about his plans, and she struck him in anger before wondering why his attention mattered to her.

• Li Changfeng broke through to middle Grandmaster, advancing Draconic Elephant Prajna and opening the Muscle Change Sutra’s first cycle, while Zhang Xuandao also reached middle Grandmaster.
• After stabilizing their cultivation, Li Changfeng and Zhang Xuandao congratulated each other, and five of the six others awakened as Grandmasters; Li Wuyai chose to strengthen his foundation first.
• Princess Minmin proposed that Li Changfeng and Zhang Xuandao share first place, and Buddha Child and Leng Xue stopped Ouyang Duha and Princess Minmin from fighting over the rankings.
• Li Changfeng received notifications for completing quests and a deduction for his earlier failure, then decided to wait before spending Experience Points on his techniques.
• Princess Minmin asked whether Li Changfeng would return to the imperial capital with her, but he had not listened, so she struck him and privately questioned why she cared about him.

After Senior Jin sent Li Changfeng and the others out of the inheritance site, hostile factions surrounded them and Tang Shi-Qi joined forces with their enemies to target Li Changfeng. When Ouyang Duha warned Tang Shi-Qi that Li Changfeng was even stronger than him, Tang Shi-Qi fled, and Li Changfeng moved to stop him.

• Senior Jin sent Li Changfeng, Princess Minmin, and the others outside the bamboo forest, where Li Changfeng caught Princess Minmin when she nearly fell.
• A group of people demanded to know who had obtained the inheritance, and Ouyang Duha killed one of them to deter the rest.
• Tang Shi-Qi demanded revenge on Li Changfeng, while the Medicine God Valley and Emei Sect members defended him.
• The Sect Alliance and Noble Clan Alliance joined Tang Shi-Qi in surrounding Li Changfeng, but Li Changfeng refused Zhong Leshan and Jingling Shitai's offer to cover his retreat.
• Ouyang Duha warned Tang Shi-Qi that Li Changfeng was stronger than him, prompting Tang Shi-Qi to flee; Li Changfeng pursued him.

Li Changfeng annihilated the attackers with a Grandmaster-level palm strike, leaving the gathered disciples in awe. Buddha Child questioned the Buddhist origins of his technique, while Zhang Xuandao sensed an unexplained familiarity with Zhou Zhiruo.

• Cai Yucheng fled with his followers, but Fist Elder attacked Li Changfeng with a powerful fist imprint.
• Li Changfeng unleashed Hundred Leaves Sky-Burning Hand, killing Fist Elder and everyone caught in the blazing palm strike.
• Zhong Leshan, Jingling Shitai, Ding Mingxu, and the disciples were shocked by Li Changfeng’s strength, while Zhou Zhiruo admired him.
• Yang Feng reproached Zuo Bufan for stopping him from helping Li Changfeng, and Zuo Bufan hoped Li Changfeng would remember their earlier assistance.
• Buddha Child recognized Buddhist elements in Li Changfeng’s technique, but Li Changfeng concealed that he cultivated the Muscle/Tendon Change Classic.
• Zhang Xuandao joked that Li Changfeng would not want to become a monk, then wondered why Zhou Zhiruo seemed familiar to him.

After the gathering broke up, Li Changfeng decided to go to the Emei Sect despite warnings that it could be dangerous. Before leaving, he watched the Free and Unfettered Sect confront Li Wuyai over their Young Sect Master's death.

• Zhang Xuandao teased Zhou Zhiruo by calling her Sister-in-law, and Li Changfeng privately cautioned him not to say such things in public.
• Yang Feng congratulated Li Changfeng, while Zuo Kangcheng explained that some matters had been beyond his control; Zuo Bufan silently watched with malice.
• Princess Minmin and Zhang Xuandao left to find food, Ouyang Duha and Leng Xue departed, and the Buddha Child said farewell to Li Changfeng.
• Li Changfeng insisted on going to Emei to speak with its Sect Master despite Zhou Zhiruo and Zhong Leshan warning him of the danger.
• Zhong Leshan left with the Medicine God Valley people, and the Free and Unfettered Sect surrounded Li Wuyai, demanding that he return with them for punishment.
• Li Changfeng said he had no connection to Li Wuyai and watched as the Free and Unfettered Sect confronted him.

Li Wuyai convinced the Free and Unfettered Sect that he was their young sect master and explained that Qu Qingsheng had impersonated him. After Li Wuyai and his people left, Li Changfeng’s group made camp, where Zuo Bufan secretly poisoned their food.

• Li Wuyai proved his identity by displaying the Northern Darkness Divine Art, then told Elder Ma that Qu Qingsheng had stolen his face and identity.
• Elder Ma and the Free and Unfettered Sect members welcomed Li Wuyai back, and Li Changfeng explained that Qu Qingsheng was a Shaolin traitor who had opened the ruin.
• Li Wuyai promised Li Changfeng he would repay his favor and forbade the Free and Unfettered Sect from seeking revenge against him.
• Li Wuyai led the Free and Unfettered Sect away, while Li Changfeng and his group traveled for two hours and set up camp.
• Zuo Bufan secretly poured poison powder into the group’s cooking pot and waited as the meal finished cooking.
• Li Changfeng told everyone to start eating.

Zuo Bufan poisoned the camp to steal Li Changfeng’s inheritance, but Li Changfeng pretended to be affected and revealed himself after Zuo Bufan threatened Zhou Zhiruo. Li Changfeng forced Zuo Bufan to give up the antidote, cured the others, and killed him.

• After Zhou Zhiruo served Li Changfeng meat soup, the people who drank it collapsed from poison, while Li Changfeng secretly expelled the poison and pretended to be incapacitated.
• Zuo Bufan revealed himself, struck Yang Feng, and demanded Li Changfeng’s inheritance, then threatened to humiliate Zhou Zhiruo.
• Li Changfeng rose unharmed, subdued Zuo Bufan, and used a Life and Death Talisman to torture him until he agreed to hand over the antidote.
• Li Changfeng severed Zuo Bufan’s arm when he tried to bargain, then gave the antidote to Yang Feng to test before curing Zhou Zhiruo and the others.
• Li Changfeng beheaded Zuo Bufan after the poison victims recovered.

Li Changfeng returned to the Emei Sect with Zhou Zhiruo and asked its Sect Master to bless their relationship, taking responsibility for Zhou Zhiruo's violation of the sect rules. The Sect Master rejected his plea and revealed that Zhou Zhiruo faced crippled cultivation and a thousand cuts, leaving Li Changfeng to decide whether to accept the punishment in her place.

• Li Changfeng and Zuo Kangcheng agreed to conceal Zuo Bufan's death in the ruins, and Yang Feng helped Zuo Kangcheng win the Mount Song Sect disciples' gratitude.
• After three days of travel, Li Changfeng and Zhou Zhiruo arrived at Emei, where Jingling Shitai escorted them to the Sect Master.
• The Emei Sect Master confronted Zhou Zhiruo, who admitted her guilt and knelt before her.
• Li Changfeng took responsibility for Zhou Zhiruo's actions and asked the Sect Master to bless their relationship.
• When the Sect Master refused, Li Changfeng offered to take Zhou Zhiruo's punishment, and she told him it meant crippled cultivation and a thousand cuts.

Li Changfeng stood between Zhou Zhiruo and the Emei Sect Leader, accepting a trial of three palms so Zhou Zhiruo would not suffer punishment. After surviving the first palm, he faced the next two and unleashed a dragon-shaped attack against the Sect Leader’s twin palms.

• Zhou Zhiruo begged Li Changfeng to leave and let her bear her punishment, but he refused and promised to return unharmed.
• The Emei Sect Leader agreed to let them both go if Li Changfeng could withstand three palms.
• Li Changfeng countered the Sect Leader’s first purple palm with the Thousand Hands Vajra Palm, but the attack overwhelmed him and sent him staggering back after he spat blood.
• Zhou Zhiruo tended to Li Changfeng, who insisted on facing the remaining two palms despite the Sect Leader offering him one last chance to leave.
• The Emei Sect Leader attacked with two enormous purple palms, and Li Changfeng answered with the Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms’ Hidden Dragon, Do Not Use.

Li Changfeng fought the Emei Sect Leader’s palm strike with successive moves from the Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms, finally shattering her remaining purple palms but suffering grievous injuries. After he forced himself awake, he insisted on facing her final move and told Zhou Zhiruo that he still had a trump card.

• Li Changfeng used Flying Dragon in the Sky and Soaring Dragon Ascends to counter the Emei Sect Leader’s purple palms, but both attacks failed to stop them and left him bleeding and badly hurt.
• Zhou Zhiruo rushed to Li Changfeng, but Jingling Shitai pulled her aside as he unleashed Repentance of the Soaring Dragon.
• Li Changfeng’s three soaring dragons shattered the remaining purple palms, and he crashed to the ground grievously injured.
• The Emei Sect Leader declared Li Changfeng defeated and began taking Zhou Zhiruo away, but the Muscle/Tendon Change Classic revived him.
• Li Changfeng rose with the Yama Sword and insisted on taking the Emei Sect Leader’s final move, telling Zhou Zhiruo that he still had a trump card.

Li Changfeng faced the Emei Sect Master's palm-finger strike and countered with the five moves of Heavy Sword, No Edge. Badly injured, he unleashed his final strike, leaving the outcome of the clash unresolved.

• The Emei Sect Master attacked Li Changfeng with the second move of Snowdrift Cloud Piercing Palm, Piercing the Clouds.
• Li Changfeng countered with Mountain-Splitting Strike, but the Emei Sect Master's attack broke through his Sword Intent.
• Li Changfeng used Sweeping a Thousand Armies, then Thunderous Might, but neither move stopped the palm-finger strike.
• Li Changfeng unleashed Great Skill is No Skill, yet the Emei Sect Master's attack broke through the sword qi flames.
• Li Changfeng poured his remaining strength into Mountain Shattering, Earth Rending, and the clash formed a true qi barrier.
• Li Changfeng dropped to one knee, spat blood, and watched to see if his final strike had destroyed the palm-finger strike.

Li Changfeng survived the Emei Sect Master’s final strike and passed her trial to leave with Zhou Zhiruo, who crippled her cultivation before departing Emei. As they sought shelter, Yao Xuanzi appeared, and Li Changfeng told Zhou Zhiruo that he was an ally.

• The Emei Sect Master stopped the final attack and revealed that Li Changfeng had passed the trial by being willing to die for Zhou Zhiruo.
• Zhou Zhiruo crippled her own cultivation, said farewell to the Emei Sect Master, and left Emei with Li Changfeng.
• After Zhou Zhiruo and Li Changfeng departed, Yao Xuanzi met with the Emei Sect Master to confirm their alliance.
• Li Changfeng’s injuries worsened outside Emei, so he and Zhou Zhiruo headed toward a forest to find shelter.
• Yao Xuanzi emerged from hiding, and Li Changfeng reassured Zhou Zhiruo that he was on their side.

Yao Xuanzi brought the badly injured Li Changfeng and Zhou Zhiruo to a hidden refuge in Medicine God Valley, where he treated their injuries and learned Li Changfeng believed he could restore her cultivation. After the two shared an intimate moment, Zhou Zhiruo asked to have a child, but Li Changfeng said the time was not right and she would temporarily be unable to conceive while cultivating her future technique.

• Yao Xuanzi gave Li Changfeng and Zhou Zhiruo Supreme Healing Pills and said he had arranged the test that helped Li Changfeng leave Emei safely.
• Yao Xuanzi brought the injured pair to a secret place in Medicine God Valley and warned that he could not guarantee Zhou Zhiruo would regain her cultivation.
• Li Changfeng told Yao Xuanzi he had a way to heal Zhou Zhiruo, and Yao Xuanzi realized he might possess a powerful divine art and urged him to keep it secret.
• Li Changfeng comforted Zhou Zhiruo, and they spent an hour together after Yao Xuanzi left.
• Zhou Zhiruo asked Li Changfeng to have a child with her, but he said they should wait until he was stronger and reminded her that her future cultivation art would temporarily prevent pregnancy.

Li Changfeng restored Zhou Zhiruo’s severed meridians with Stupa True Qi, widening them at great cost to himself. After giving her a powerful cultivation art, he watched her begin a month of study and learn its thirty-year cycle and path to grand completion.

• Li Changfeng told Zhou Zhiruo he could repair and strengthen her meridians, and she agreed to endure the painful treatment.
• Three days later, Li Changfeng reconnected Zhou Zhiruo’s broken meridians and expanded them until she fainted from the pain.
• Zhou Zhiruo woke with meridians twice as wide, and Li Changfeng ordered her to rest for a month before practicing martial arts again.
• Li Changfeng gave Zhou Zhiruo the Eight Desolations Six Unions Sole Supremacy Art, which he had obtained from the Free and Unfettered Sect Ruins.
• After studying the art for nearly a month, Zhou Zhiruo learned that its cultivation reset every thirty years before recovering, and that it would reach grand completion after one hundred and twenty years.

Zhou Zhiruo discovered that the Jade Scroll’s cultivation method suited her and could preserve her youth, while Li Changfeng strengthened his Indestructible Divine Skill and spent years mastering the first move of the Great Subduing Demon Fist in the training system. The chapter ended with Li Changfeng unleashing that move against the system’s mass of chaotic gas.

• Zhou Zhiruo told Li Changfeng that the cultivation method suited her and could keep her from aging, then sent him away so she could cultivate.
• Li Changfeng used Experience Points to raise the Indestructible Divine Skill to the fourth layer, improving his defenses and ability to concentrate his strength.
• Li Changfeng spent three months in the training system mastering the fourth layer and increasing his strength concentration to thirty percent.
• Li Changfeng studied the Great Subduing Demon Fist, spending two years comprehending its Buddhist teachings and three years cultivating its first move.
• Li Changfeng performed Vajra Subdues Demons, striking the system’s chaotic gas with two golden fist imprints reinforced by his True Qi and the power of nine dragons and nine elephants.

Li Changfeng fought a demon that split into multiple figures, destroying its eight copies with his physical-force techniques. After discovering the hidden ninth demon was the real body, he was wounded by its blade and prepared to fight back.

• A demon formed from chaotic energy and slashed Li Changfeng across the face, but he healed and decided to defeat it.
• The demon attacked from eight directions, but Li Changfeng's Indestructible Divine Skill blocked its claw strikes.
• Li Changfeng used Savage Elephant Tramples the Heavens to shatter two demon figures and injure the other six.
• Li Changfeng unleashed Azure Dragon Shakes the Heavens, combining Adamantine Body Force with Draconic Elephant Power to destroy the remaining six figures.
• The hidden ninth demon struck Li Changfeng with a dark-red blade, leaving a wound that resisted healing until he erased its demonic energy.
• Li Changfeng identified the ninth demon as its true body and vowed to kill it.

Li Changfeng annihilated a demon creature with the Great Subduing Demon Fist, absorbed the mist it left behind, and reunited with Zhou Zhiruo after more than a month in seclusion. After spending another month with her, he left Medicine God Valley, promising to return.

• Li Changfeng killed the demon creature with Vajra Subdues Demons and absorbed five-colored ethereal mist that refined his True Qi.
• Li Changfeng emerged from seclusion and pulled Zhou Zhiruo into his room, where they reconciled after his long absence.
• Li Changfeng spent a month training and sightseeing with Zhou Zhiruo before telling her he had to leave.
• Zhou Zhiruo supported Li Changfeng's departure and returned to cultivation after watching him leave.
• Yao Xuanzi appeared and remarked that Li Changfeng had departed without saying goodbye.

Li Changfeng returned to Northern Di City and reunited with Xiao Qing at Cold Mountain Pharmacy, where he discovered that the pharmacy had grown prosperous in his absence. When Wang Jiao ordered the Dark Hall to attack him, Li Changfeng subdued them effortlessly, and Wang Jiao triggered an alarm.

• Li Changfeng entered Northern Di City, and two guards recognized him from a portrait and sent one to report his return.
• At Cold Mountain Pharmacy, Xiao Qing recognized Li Changfeng and joyfully welcomed him, while the guards apologized for barring him.
• Xiao Qing led Li Changfeng into the inner hall and told him about the pharmacy's development as guards hurried off to notify the young hall master.
• Wang Jiao confronted Li Changfeng, rejected Xiao Qing's order to withdraw, and summoned the Dark Hall to attack.
• Li Changfeng's imposing presence forced Wang Jiao and the Dark Hall members to the ground, and Wang Jiao triggered a mechanism that sounded an alarm.

Li Changfeng returned to Cold Mountain Pharmacy, revealed his Grandmaster cultivation, and learned how his subordinates had expanded their organization across Northern Di City. As he planned to seize control of the city, Princess Minmin learned of his return and decided to meet him at the pharmacy’s upcoming gathering.

• Viper and the other subordinates arrived, recognized Li Changfeng as their master, and Viper begged him to forgive Wang Jiao.
• Li Changfeng spared Wang Jiao with a half-year salary deduction, then ordered Viper to take him away for discipline.
• Ziyi, Qingyi, Blackheart, and Viper explained how they had built Cold Mountain Pharmacy’s various businesses and halls, while Tie Niu managed the escort agencies.
• Li Changfeng agreed to Ziyi’s plan for a grand gathering on the fifteenth, then considered how to take over Northern Di City openly and legitimately.
• Princess Minmin learned that Li Changfeng had returned and planned to meet him at the gathering.

Wang Jiao learned from Viper that Li Changfeng was the true master of Cold Mountain Pharmacy and far stronger than he had imagined. Unwilling to accept the loss of the empire, Wang Jiao arranged for Wind and Rain Pavilion to summon several factions to kill Li Changfeng on the fifteenth.

• Wang Jiao heard rumors about Cold Mountain Pharmacy’s returning master and went to confront Viper about him.
• Viper warned Wang Jiao that neither he nor Ziyi could defeat Li Changfeng, who ranked seventy-eighth on the Earth Ranking and had originally won back Cold Mountain Pharmacy.
• Wang Jiao left Viper and resolved to find someone else to deal with Li Changfeng.
• Wang Jiao went to Wind and Rain Pavilion in disguise and offered Elder Tu information about Li Changfeng.
• Wang Jiao asked Elder Tu to notify the Azure City Sect, Meteor Sect, Divine Fist Gate, Iron Palm Gang, and Gale Valley to come kill Li Changfeng on the fifteenth.

Commander Bai apologized to Li Changfeng for the Wind and Rain Pavilion’s leak, revealed that Wang Jiao had arranged an assassination attempt, and agreed to deliver the plotters’ information. Li Changfeng chose to draw his enemies out on the fifteenth, while several hostile sects gathered to discuss revenge.

• Commander Bai brought Li Changfeng the severed head of the spy who had sold his information and offered further intelligence as compensation.
• Commander Bai told Li Changfeng that Wang Jiao had arranged for several major sects to assassinate him on the fifteenth and had left a secret mark on Wang Jiao.
• Li Changfeng accepted the Wind and Rain Pavilion’s compensation but told Commander Bai to deliver the assassination information so he could lure his enemies out and establish his authority.
• Commander Bai warned Li Changfeng that the major sects might still retaliate despite the Imperial Court’s intervention, and Li Changfeng suspected Princess Minmin had helped him.
• Elders from the Azure City Sect, Meteor Sect, Divine Fist Gate, Iron Palm Gang, and Gale Valley gathered to debate revenge against Li Changfeng and whether they could trust the information.