Recaps

After discovering that intimacy with Bai Tangyin rapidly replenished his Mist Incense, Zhou Chen advanced his Wild Bull Fist and considered how to cleanse his family’s Miasma Poison. He returned home resolved to stay disciplined, but Xiao Qing and Xiao Lü appeared in revealing nightgowns at his mother’s arrangement.

• After seeing Bai Qingtian off, Zhou Chen realized intimacy with Bai Tangyin had absorbed much of her Miasma Poison and restored his Mist Incense to six feet.
• Zhou Chen spent the Mist Incense on Wild Bull Fist, raising its progress to 2290/3000 and bringing the technique close to perfection.
• The Divine Statue revealed that Zhou Chen would need to surpass the third rank to cleanse his family’s Miasma Poison without joining yin and yang, and Zhou Chen worried that it was coming to resemble him.
• Zhou Chen returned home, put away his silver, and practiced his fist technique while Xiao Qing and Xiao Lü prepared hot water.
• Zhou Chen considered cleansing Xiao Qing and Xiao Lü’s Miasma Poison but decided to build affection and avoid relying on sensual shortcuts.
• After Zhang Fang called them away, Xiao Qing and Xiao Lü returned in sheer silk nightgowns, leaving Zhou Chen to realize his mother had arranged the display.

Zhou Chen spent the night with Xiao Qing and Xiao Lü, then used the Mist Incense he absorbed from them to perfect Wild Bull Fist and strengthen his cultivation. At the martial hall, he arrived during Zhang Shaojiu’s acceptance ceremony and saw Shen Ao’s faction gaining power as the Lian Household struggled under the Shen Clan’s pressure.

• Zhou Chen invited Xiao Qing and Xiao Lü back after drinking their soup, and the three spent the night together.
• Zhou Chen burned the Mist Incense he had absorbed to bring Wild Bull Fist to perfection and improve his second-rank cultivation.
• Zhou Chen encouraged Zhou Yu’s interest in martial arts, taught her more moves, and told her to eat more meat.
• Zhou Chen arrived at the martial hall during Zhang Shaojiu’s ceremony, where Old Zheng formally accepted Zhang Shaojiu as his direct disciple.
• Zhou Chen saw Shen Ao’s faction outnumber Lian Taoze’s supporters and learned that the Shen Clan now had five second-rank martial artists, while the Lian Household had only three.

Zhang Shaojiu celebrated his promotion to Direct Disciple and Second-Rank Martial Artist, then tried to publicly humiliate Zhou Chen. Zhou Chen accepted his challenge, leaving the two disciples poised to fight.

• Old Zheng welcomed Zhang Shaojiu as a Direct Disciple and promised him daily Qi-Blood Soup and three Deer-Blood Muscle-Strengthening Pills each month.
• Shen Ao congratulated Zhang Shaojiu and urged him to pursue victory in future Flesh-Cutting Tournaments, while Old Zheng and Zhao Tianhong concealed complicated reactions to Gongsun Wuyang's name.
• Sun Yingying and Liu Fei tried to arrange a celebratory banquet with Zhang Shaojiu, but he rejected them harshly and declared he was not interested in Sun Yingying.
• Zhang Shaojiu spotted Zhou Chen and challenged him to demonstrate his foundations, intending to establish his authority in front of the disciples.
• Old Zheng tried to steer Zhang Shaojiu away from the confrontation, but Zhou Chen accepted the challenge and warned him not to get hurt.

Zhang Shaojiu challenged Lian Taoze for control of the taisui meat business and used the Crimson Ring Art to overwhelm him. As Zhang Shaojiu prepared a potentially crippling finishing blow, an unseen figure’s bronze-shining arms swept past Lian Taoze.

• Zhang Shaojiu challenged Lian Taoze, wagering that the winner would control the taisui meat business.
• Lian Taoze accepted and attacked Zhang Shaojiu with Blood Hoof Stomps the Ground.
• Zhang Shaojiu revealed the Crimson Ring Art and defeated Lian Taoze in their first exchange.
• Zhang Shaojiu injured Lian Taoze’s shoulder and prepared a powerful strike toward his chin.
• As Lian Taoze faced Zhang Shaojiu’s finishing blow, a pair of bronze-shining arms swept past him.

Zhou Chen revealed that he had reached the second rank and easily blocked Zhang Shaojiu’s attacks. After overwhelming Zhang in a fist clash, Zhou Chen left him injured and asked whether that was his full strength.

• Zhou Chen caught Zhang Shaojiu’s two palm strikes without moving, revealing his second-rank cultivation to Lian Taoze and the watching disciples.
• Sun Yingying and Liu Fei were shocked by Zhou Chen’s breakthrough, while Sun Yingying tried to convince herself Zhang was still superior.
• Zhang Shaojiu launched a stronger punch at Zhou Chen, whose fist revealed copper skin and Wild Bull Fist perfected.
• Zhou Chen’s punch shattered Zhang Shaojiu’s defense and drove him back seven steps until he spat blood.
• Zhou Chen remained standing and asked Zhang Shaojiu whether that was his full strength.

Zhou Chen defeated Zhang Shaojiu twice and forced Shen Ao to back down from challenging him over the Taisui Meat sales. Old Zheng then called Zhou Chen into the Inner Courtyard to speak with him.

• Zhang Shaojiu attacked Zhou Chen again, but Zhou Chen evaded his strike and shattered his ribs with a punch.
• Zhou Chen asked Shen Ao whether he would continue the challenge, and Shen Ao denied that his Shen Clan intended to claim the Taisui Meat sales.
• Zhou Chen told Lian Taoze to resume buying and selling Taisui Meat for their master, and reminded him of his past help.
• Old Zheng praised Zhou Chen and led him into the Inner Courtyard to talk.

Zhou Chen accepted Su Mengyao’s invitation, then met with Old Zheng, who recognized his breakthrough and made him a Direct Disciple. Old Zheng warned him about miasma poison and gave him a blood token tied to an orthodox cleansing method, a cataclysm, and the real world.

• Su Mengyao invited Zhou Chen to the Moonlit Pavilion, and Lian Taoze advised him to accept without binding himself too closely to the Lian Household.
• Zhou Chen accepted Su Mengyao’s invitation and went to see Old Zheng, who praised his progress and made him a Direct Disciple with additional provisions.
• Zhou Chen asked about Inner City methods for expelling miasma poison, and Old Zheng reacted with terrifying killing intent before warning him against those methods.
• Old Zheng gave Zhou Chen a purple blood token, explaining that it could lead him to an orthodox method if he reached the third rank, survived a cataclysm, and faced the real world.

Zhou Chen left Old Zheng’s workshop, then met Su Mengyao at the Moonlit Pavilion, where she tried to recruit him into the Four-Family Alliance with the offer of becoming a District Superintendent. The chapter ended with Zhou Chen weighing the generous rewards against his doubts about the alliance.

• Zhou Chen left Old Zheng after receiving a token and wondering about the old man’s power and warnings about a catastrophe.
• Zheng Yingying emerged wearing a Painted-Skin Ghost’s artificial skin, then returned to the ice furnace to digest black taisui while Old Zheng promised to obtain more for her at the Flesh-Cutting Tournament.
• Su Mengyao told Zhou Chen that the Four-Family Alliance would defeat New City Lord Tian Xuanwu and said the alliance was quietly recruiting capable people.
• Su Mengyao offered Zhou Chen a District Superintendent post, explaining the position’s authority, salary, tax shares, and gifts from local Lineages.
• Zhou Chen considered how the post could fund his costly cultivation but remained suspicious of Su Mengyao’s proposal.

Zhou Chen accepted Su Mengyao’s offer to become District Superintendent of five districts and learned that conflict would soon threaten the Outer City. As he took office and helped stabilize the Lian Household, Lian Taoze’s family prepared gifts to strengthen its ties with him and Ye Lingtian.

• Zhou Chen signed the prepared document and accepted the District Superintendent position, while Su Mengyao warned him to strengthen himself before the Outer City faced upheaval.
• Su Mengyao offered to recommend Zhou Chen as a Su Household Attendant if he performed well, then left without revealing when the danger would come.
• Zhou Chen took over as District Superintendent, kept his family in their own home, and used his authority to ease pressure on the Lian Household from the Shen Clan.
• Ye Lingtian broke through to the second rank, giving the Lian Household two additional Second-Rank Martial Artists and discouraging the Shen Clan from trying to swallow it.
• Lian Taofei brought lavish gifts for Zhou Chen, and Lian Taoze accepted them on behalf of the family.

Zhou Chen used gifts and mist incense to advance to major accomplishment in the second-rank flesh tempering realm and perfected Wind-Riding Steps. After deciding to seek secret medicines for strengthening his sinews and flesh, he received a secret letter from Su Mengyao.

• Zhou Chen opened Lian Taoze’s gifts, including Deer-Blood Muscle-Strengthening Pills and the costly Blood Python Sinew-Tempering Paste formula, and considered how to improve his cultivation amid approaching turmoil.
• Zhou Chen absorbed a pill and trained, while his family ate dinner; he had sent Zhou Yu to train at the Zheng Family Martial Arts Hall and arranged for Xiao Qing and Xiao Lü to spend the night with him.
• Zhou Chen absorbed mist incense from the Divine Statue and advanced to major accomplishment in the second-rank flesh tempering realm, then resolved to strengthen his copper sinew-flesh before rushing ahead.
• Zhou Chen later absorbed seven feet of mist incense from Bai Tangyin and perfected Wind-Riding Steps.
• Zhou Chen planned to visit the Nan Family Medicine Shop for secret medicines, but received a secret letter from Su Mengyao.

Shen Ao delivered Zhang Shaojiu medicine from City Lord Tian, while Zhou Chen prepared to purge Lineages supporting the New City Lord on the Four-Family Alliance’s orders. The chapter ended as someone broke into the Bai Household while Bai Liuli and Nan Zhiyi were together.

• Shen Ao gave Zhang Shaojiu a healing pill from City Lord Tian and a secret medicine intended to help him advance the Crimson Ring Art.
• Zhang Shaojiu swallowed the grotesque blood-drenched pill, and an eerie red light spread over him as his aura surged.
• Zhou Chen burned a secret letter ordering him to purge the smaller Lineages in his jurisdiction that had backed the New City Lord.
• Four-Family Alliance garrison soldiers arrived at Zhou Chen’s home under the Su Household’s orders to await his command.
• Bai Liuli showed Nan Zhiyi expensive pastries and boasted about the Bai Household’s gains after joining the New City Lord.
• A loud bang came from outside the Bai Household, startling Bai Liuli and Nan Zhiyi.

Shi Qing raided the Bai Household to demand silver, grain, and meat, then seized Bai Liuli after her father offered her up to save the family. Nan Zhiyi was left helpless as Bai Qinghai turned to gathering the demanded payment.

• Shi Qing broke into the Bai Household, injured Bai Qinghai, and demanded twice the value of the gains the family had recently made.
• Bai Qinghai pleaded for more time to gather the silver, grain, and meat, while Shi Qing made his interest in Bai Liuli clear.
• Bai Qinghai urged Bai Liuli to appease Shi Qing by marrying him, but she refused and called him hideous.
• Shi Qing slapped Bai Liuli, warned Nan Zhiyi not to interfere, and ordered his men to carry Bai Liuli away.
• Bai Qinghai told Nan Zhiyi to go home while he gathered the household staff to assess their property and raise the demanded payment.

Zhou Chen raided the Cheng Household and then seized the fleeing Sun Household, including his junior sister Sun Yingying. Sun Yingying and her father begged him to spare their lives as the chapter ended.

• Zhou Chen forced Cheng Xun to provide more silver, grain, meat, and secret medicines, then led his troops out of the Cheng Household with valuables and family members as hostages.
• Cheng Xiaoxiao watched Zhou Chen leave and regretted rejecting him when he had sought to marry her.
• Zhou Chen ordered the Four-Family Alliance troops to search the Sun Household despite his connection to Sun Yingying.
• The troops found the Sun Household's main family had fled and intercepted them before they could reach the city lord's manor.
• Sun Yingying knelt and begged Zhou Chen for mercy, while her father offered her as a concubine or maid in exchange for their lives.

Zhou Chen completed the Sun Household confiscation and used his authority to secure valuables and protect Li Guiyi from a harsher levy. Back home, he sorted the seized goods, kept useful items for cultivation and his family, and planned to visit Nan Zhiyi about ingredients he still needed.

• Zhou Chen rebuked Sun Yingying before the soldiers took the confiscated Sun Household members away, leaving the household head behind to gather the silver.
• Wang Shuisheng delivered the seized treasures to Zhou Chen and agreed to ask Xia Min to go easy on Li Guiyi, whom Zhou Chen had once helped fund.
• Xia Min halved Li Guiyi's levy after learning of his connection to Zhou Chen, and Li Guiyi prepared a separate gift to thank Zhou Chen.
• Xiao Qing and Xiao Lü admired the treasure brought home, chose one bracelet each, and helped Zhou Chen sort the goods.
• Zhou Chen kept medicinal supplies, three sets of Soft Armor, and other valuables, then planned to visit Nan Zhiyi for ingredients for Blood Python Sinew-Tempering Paste.

Zhou Chen visited the Nan Family Medicine Shop to buy herbs for cultivation, where Nan Zhiyi learned he had become a District Superintendent. After Zhou Chen refused to intervene in Bai Liuli’s predicament, Nan Zhiyi offered him information about the Thunderclap Blood-Infusion Pool in exchange for helping save her friend, and he agreed.

• Zhou Chen asked Nan Zhiyi to prepare five doses of expensive herbs for tempering his sinews and flesh.
• Stewards from the Tian and Sun Households sold rare medicinal herbs to Nan Zhiyi and recognized Zhou Chen as the newly appointed District Superintendent of five districts.
• Nan Zhiyi learned Zhou Chen had become a Second-Rank Martial Artist and asked him to save Bai Liuli from her predicament.
• Zhou Chen refused to help Bai Liuli until Nan Zhiyi revealed that she knew of the Thunderclap Blood-Infusion Pool, a secret site suited to his cultivation.
• Zhou Chen agreed to help Bai Liuli and immediately asked where she was.

Zhou Chen went to visit Shi Qing, hoping to gain access to the Thunderclap Blood-Infusion Pool and temper his body. Shi Qing, who was plotting to abuse Bai Liuli and Nan Zhiyi, ordered his people to humiliate Zhou Chen with wine when he arrived.

• Zhou Chen learned that the Thunderclap Blood-Infusion Pool could greatly temper his tendons and flesh and had enough vitality for two more uses.
• Zhou Chen left Nan Zhiyi waiting and headed to Shi Qing's District Superintendent's Residence, weighing their relative strength.
• Shi Qing held a victory banquet and plotted to take Bai Liuli and Nan Zhiyi for himself.
• Xia Min told Shi Qing that Zhou Chen had defeated Zhang Shaojiu and mastered the Wild Bull Fist, but Shi Qing dismissed Zhou Chen as weak.
• After learning Zhou Chen had arrived, Shi Qing ordered Xia Min to bring him in and make him drink several pounds of wine to establish who was host and who was guest.

Zhou Chen went to Shi Qing’s residence to request Bai Liuli’s release, but Shi Qing challenged him to prove his strength. Zhou Chen overwhelmed and gravely injured Shi Qing, leaving him crushed beneath the insult he had threatened to inflict.

• Zhou Chen brought gifts to Shi Qing and asked him to release Bai Liuli, but Shi Qing refused and challenged him to fight.
• Shi Qing mocked Zhou Chen and attacked his throat with a deadly finger strike.
• Zhou Chen revealed his second-rank major accomplishment and struck Shi Qing in the chest, sending him flying.
• Zhou Chen caught the wine jug, forced it into Shi Qing’s mouth, and slammed his head into the ground.
• Zhou Chen told the injured Shi Qing that he was weaker than Zhou Chen had imagined.

Zhou Chen killed Shi Qing, took his possessions, and searched Shi Qing’s quarters for Bai Liuli. He found her locked away, and she was stunned to see him.

• Zhou Chen crushed Shi Qing’s head after Shi Qing threatened him, while Xia Min and the guards watched in terror.
• Zhou Chen got Xia Min to confirm that Shi Qing had provoked him, then learned Bai Liuli might be in Shi Qing’s quarters.
• After Zhou Chen left, Xia Min ordered the guards to bury Shi Qing’s body, but Zhou Chen returned to loot it.
• Bai Liuli waited in despair inside Shi Qing’s locked quarters until Zhou Chen arrived and opened the door.
• Bai Liuli recognized Zhou Chen and asked in shock why he had come.

Zhou Chen rescued Bai Liuli from Shi Qing’s residence, revealed that he had killed Shi Qing, and learned where her grandfather’s secret site was hidden. Meanwhile, Zheng Tu arranged for unconscious girls to be taken away and learned that Zhou Chen was likely the killer who destroyed the Clear River Gang.

• Bai Liuli recognized Zhou Chen as the District Superintendent, and he led her out after telling her he had killed Shi Qing.
• Bai Liuli revealed that her grandfather’s secret site was in a secluded cave in the Black Flesh Forest outside Black City, and Zhou Chen left to pursue his own business.
• Zheng Tu handed a carriage of unconscious girls to a black-clad man, who rewarded him with a pill and told him to stop capturing girls.
• The goateed old man showed Zheng Tu a portrait and said Zhou Chen was likely the killer who wiped out the Clear River Gang.

Zheng Tu accepted Liu Shui’s theory that Zhou Chen had killed Yin Mengbo and Jiang Chuan and decided to capture him after his cultivation retreat. Meanwhile, Zhou Chen began enduring the painful Blood Python Sinew-Tempering Paste to strengthen his body, then noticed the Divine Statue’s face increasingly resembled his own.

• Liu Shui argued that Zhou Chen was the only remaining suspect with grudges against both Yin Mengbo and Jiang Chuan, despite the apparent mismatch in strength and timing.
• Zheng Tu resolved to capture and torture Zhou Chen after reaching third-rank martial artist perfection, believing it better to kill the wrong man than let the suspect escape.
• Zhou Chen inventoried Shi Qing’s belongings, found two boxes of Deer-Blood Muscle-Strengthening Pills, and accepted Nan Zhiyi’s invitation to a meal.
• Zhou Chen immersed himself in Blood Python Sinew-Tempering Paste and endured its intense pain as his sinews and muscles strengthened and his cultivation progress increased.
• Zhou Chen planned to temper his body further before using the Thunderclap Blood-Infusion Pool, then saw that the Divine Statue’s increasingly distinct face resembled his own.

Zhou Chen advanced his cultivation through the spring and prepared for his final attempt to reach golden tendon flesh. He activated Crimson Baleful Transformation alone to test how long he could retain control, discovering mysterious red markings on his back as the test began.

• Zhou Chen wondered why the divine statue increasingly resembled him, then focused on absorbing the medicinal power it provided.
• Over a month after the Four-Family Alliance’s purge, Zhou Chen practiced the Coiling Python Stance Technique and used two Deer-Blood Muscle-Strengthening Pills a day to advance toward second-rank perfection.
• Zhou Chen failed to achieve golden tendon flesh at the Thunderclap Blood-Infusion Pool and resolved to temper his body further before using his final chance there.
• Zhou Chen sent Xiao Qing and Xiao Lü away, locked himself in his room, and lit his blood incense to test how long he could remain clearheaded during Crimson Baleful Transformation.
• After transforming, Zhou Chen examined his monstrous appearance and found blurred blood-red markings across his back that seemed clearer than before.

Zhou Chen tested the limits of his Crimson Baleful Transformation and decided to seek a body-hardening martial art to strengthen his whole body. At a black market, he met a mysterious woman whose gaze trapped him in a terrifying illusion.

• Zhou Chen discovered that the Crimson Baleful Transformation strained his chest and abdomen so badly that his body would fail before his mind lost control.
• Zhou Chen concluded that he needed martial arts to strengthen his entire body and went to a black market to look for a body-hardening manual.
• A vendor who lacked such manuals directed Zhou Chen to a new seller at another stall.
• Zhou Chen examined the woman's unusual wares and asked whether she had any body-hardening martial arts.
• The woman's gaze made Zhou Chen experience an illusion of falling into a dark abyss, and he realized she was extremely dangerous.

Zhou Chen learned that a mysterious woman’s Bone-Eating, Spine-Nurturing Chapter could greatly strengthen his body and help him reach jade bone, but its training methods were brutally painful and expensive. Under pressure from the woman, he accepted the cultivation method and a jar of exotic beast blood, and left promising to practice it.

• The woman explained to Zhou Chen that cultivation methods refined blood vitality more effectively than Stake-Standing Exercises and described the Bone-Eating, Spine-Nurturing Chapter’s potential to produce jade bone.
• Zhou Chen read the booklet and discovered that its levels involved applying exotic beast blood directly to his bones, breaking and regrowing them, and extracting and boiling his spinal marrow.
• Zhou Chen tried to refuse because the method was too painful and costly, but the woman offered him enough second-rank exotic beast blood to complete its first level for a hundred taels.
• The woman insisted that Zhou Chen practice diligently, so he paid for the blood, took the booklet and jar, and promised he would train as soon as he returned.

After receiving a suspicious cultivation method from the woman surnamed Qing, Zhou Chen was ambushed on his way home. Meanwhile, Qing explained that she was preparing him for the blood selection and the perception trial, then left the Outer City as her strange transformation began to show.

• Zhou Chen left the shantytown in a hurry, worrying that the woman surnamed Qing had hidden motives for giving him a cultivation method.
• A black-clad attacker leapt from a rooftop and struck at Zhou Chen with a poisoned palm, and Zhou Chen met the attack with both hands.
• A young man confronted Senior Sister Qing for giving Zhou Chen the Bone-Devouring Golden Scripture, and she said it would help prepare him for the blood selection and the perception trial.
• Qing told the young man that Xuanshui Prison had found a Senseless One and explained that she hoped recruits would survive the True World's dangerous concentration of xu.
• The young man admitted that he sometimes doubted what he was, while Qing's skin briefly revealed a strange transformation beneath her robes.
• Black-clad men summoned Qing back to the Shang Household, and she said she would stop visiting the Outer City for a while.

Zhou Chen fought off the Poison Scorpion Duo’s ambush and endured their coordinated attacks without being seriously hurt. He caught both brothers’ fists and demanded to know whether they had had enough.

• Zhou Chen blocked the tall attacker’s poisoned palm strike, and the man retreated after their clash.
• Zhou Chen knocked the poisoned needles aside with a Money Dart as the shorter brother appeared behind him.
• The Poison Scorpion Duo attacked Zhou Chen together, but he blocked and evaded their blows and used the shorter brother’s arms to break free.
• The brothers combined their heavy attacks and drove Zhou Chen into a corner.
• Zhou Chen caught both brothers’ fists during their Twin Peaks Boxing the Ears attack and roared, “Have you had enough?”