Recaps

In a rain-soaked Peace City, Jiang Jingnian worked as a rickshaw puller while Su Wanzhi rode to school and his cousin Qu Lanlan scorned him. After paying down his debts and borrowing more to buy an antique ring, Jiang used his Taotie trait to refine it and absorb its metal nature.

• Jiang Jingnian took Su Wanzhi along a muddy shortcut past the Stockade, where she saw refugees sheltering beside the road.
• Jiang Jingnian delivered Su Wanzhi to the East City Mission Girls' School, where Qu Lanlan insulted him as he pulled away.
• Jiang Jingnian earned over three silver dollars in the rain and paid Shopkeeper Li four silver dollars toward his debt.
• Jiang Jingnian used his work permit as security to borrow twenty-two silver dollars from Shopkeeper Li and buy the flower-carved copper ring.
• Jiang Jingnian inspected the ring's trait-panel description and refined it, absorbing its trace of metal nature.

Jiang Jingnian used his Taotie trait to fuse a copper ring’s Metal Essence into his technique, advancing Tai Chi Nourishing Life Technique into Tai Chi Vajra Art. The change strengthened his blood qi and body, and loosened the bottleneck in his Archetype, leaving him ready to pursue further growth.

• Jiang Jingnian recalled how he had transmigrated into a rickshaw puller’s body after martial artists’ stray force shattered the original owner’s heart meridians.
• Jiang Jingnian reviewed how his attribute panel let him consume special items to advance his Technique and Archetype, though his Archetype had stalled near its limit.
• Jiang Jingnian touched the newly unlocked technique slot after the copper ring’s Metal Essence transformed his technique entry.
• Jiang Jingnian received memories of countless figures training, while a Golden Bell Shield phantom replaced the image of White Crane Spreads Its Wings.
• Jiang Jingnian saw that his technique had become Tai Chi Vajra Art (Beginner) and his Archetype had reached 99%, then noticed his blood qi and body had grown stronger.

Jiang Jingnian advanced the Taiji Vajra Art and gained a measure of strength to protect himself, though he still lacked combat experience. After returning to the home where he was staying, he endured Qu Lanlan's insults and relied on Fifth Uncle's support while planning to establish himself in Peace City.

• Jiang Jingnian assessed the Taiji Vajra Art's new offensive and defensive power and felt relieved that his advancement was near.
• Jiang Jingnian reflected on the hundreds of silver dollars he had borrowed to improve his cultivation and decided to return home for his breakthrough.
• Jiang Jingnian arrived at 129 West River Road and went to wash up after the servant woman gave him a disdainful look.
• Qu Lanlan tried to stop Jiang Jingnian from entering the house and scolded him for his dirty clothes.
• Qu Yuzhi reprimanded Qu Lanlan and welcomed Jiang Jingnian, who excused her behavior before heading to the side room to bathe.

Qu Yuzhi secured Jiang Jingnian a possible apprentice position at a martial arts hall, while Jiang Jingnian continued training in his cramped room. He broke through to Martial Master and saw that he had entered the Blood Tempering stage.

• Qu Yuzhi told Jiang Jingnian he had found a martial arts hall with Martial Masters and might secure him an apprentice position.
• Jiang Jingnian returned to his damp side room, where Qu Qiaoyun’s restrictions reflected the household’s limits on Qu Yuzhi’s support for his relatives.
• Jiang Jingnian practiced the Taiji Vajra Art and condensed his vigorous blood and qi into a Blood Core.
• Jiang Jingnian’s attribute panel changed his archetype to Martial Master, with Blood Tempering at 3%.

Jiang Jingnian tested the defensive power he gained after reaching the Blood Refining Stage and found that activating his Blood Core let him resist ordinary cold weapons. The next afternoon, Qu Yuzhi visited Intent Fist Academy with Li Zhongru and presented his documents and payment to Manager Chen.

• Jiang Jingnian discovered that his eyesight had improved and sensed the explosive strength in his arms after becoming a martial artist.
• Jiang Jingnian cut his hand with a kitchen knife and found that his natural defense was limited, though his wound healed quickly.
• Jiang Jingnian activated his Blood Core and found that his skin resisted a hard strike from the kitchen knife, leaving only a shallow white mark.
• Jiang Jingnian concluded that ordinary cold weapons posed little threat and went to sleep after tidying his room.
• Qu Yuzhi arrived at Intent Fist Academy in Nanpu District with Li Zhongru and met Manager Chen.
• Qu Yuzhi gave Manager Chen his documents and a kraft-paper envelope containing three hundred-silver-dollar banknotes.

Qu Yuzhi’s attempt to buy a martial arts school apprentice quota for Jiang Jingnian failed after the Qu Household’s Seventh Branch took the remaining places. Meanwhile, Jiang Jingnian trained his growing Blood Core and returned home to find an argument underway.

• Qu Yuzhi offered Steward Chen three hundred silver dollars and documents to secure an apprentice quota for his eighteen-year-old nephew, Jiang Second Dog.
• A messenger told Steward Chen that the Seventh Branch had claimed both remaining quotas, so Steward Chen returned Qu Yuzhi’s money and papers.
• Qu Yuzhi left the martial arts school in distress, while Steward Chen refused to risk arranging a menial position because of the conflict within the Qu Household.
• Jiang Jingnian used his Blood Core while pulling his rickshaw, repaid some debt, borrowed another six silver dollars, and bought beef and flatbreads for dinner.
• Jiang Jingnian returned to 129 West River Road and heard people arguing inside the rooms.

Qu Yuzhi and Qu Qiaoyun argued over Jiang Jingnian, with Qu Qiaoyun insisting he leave and Lanlan accusing him of causing trouble. Jiang Jingnian chose to depart rather than deepen the conflict, leaving Qu Yuzhi behind with his documents and a farewell.

• Qu Yuzhi defended his decision to help Jiang Jingnian find work and lodging, while Qu Qiaoyun cited the First Branch tragedy and demanded that he choose between his nephew and his family.
• Lanlan urged Qu Yuzhi to drive Jiang Jingnian out and accused him of staring at her, prompting Qu Yuzhi to rebuke her.
• Jiang Jingnian arrived, stopped Qu Yuzhi from striking Lanlan, thanked Qu Qiaoyun for sheltering him, and announced he would leave.
• Qu Yuzhi followed Jiang Jingnian to the side room and offered him identity documents and banknotes, but Jiang Jingnian declined the money.
• Jiang Jingnian left with his belongings, and Qu Yuzhi watched him go, finding only rickshaw tracks outside the gate.

Jiang Jingnian ruled out returning home or hiding in the wilderness and decided to keep pulling rickshaws while seeking a path into martial arts. After Little Maodan found a recruitment notice, Jiang Jingnian set off to try for a position at the Tongda Escort Agency.

• Jiang Jingnian weighed the dangers of returning to his war-torn home or training in the wilderness, then resolved to keep working in Peace City and look for martial arts opportunities.
• Three days later, Jiang Jingnian shared his mutton flatbread with newsboy Little Maodan and paid him to read the latest news.
• Jiang Jingnian asked Little Maodan to watch for martial arts recruitment notices, but the boy said schools rarely advertised openings.
• Little Maodan found a notice that the Tongda Escort Agency in Miqiao District was recruiting apprentices and escort hands who could pass an assessment.
• Jiang Jingnian gave Little Maodan two dimes for his family and headed to the Tongda Escort Agency to apply.

Jiang Jingnian reached the Tongda Escort Agency in Miqiao District and entered its apprentice examination, where applicants had to withstand an escort master for ten breaths. He confronted the bald escort master head-on, and the chapter ended as the master slipped past Jiang Jingnian’s guard and prepared to strike his abdomen.

• Jiang Jingnian traveled to Miqiao District and found the Tongda Escort Agency recruiting apprentices.
• Jiang Jingnian paid the guards to watch his rented rickshaw, entered the agency, and signed the examination waiver after learning the rules.
• Jiang Jingnian watched most applicants fail, while a skilled young man earned a runner’s position.
• Jiang Jingnian climbed into the ring and chose to block the escort master’s Cannon Fist and counterattack rather than dodge.
• The escort master deflected Jiang Jingnian’s hook and shifted his palm toward Jiang Jingnian’s abdomen.

Jiang Jingnian surprised the Tongda Escort Agency during his apprentice assessment by withstanding Escort Yu’s strike and injuring his elbow. After Escort Chief Duan verified his documents and examined him, Jiang Jingnian chose to pursue work at the agency despite its limited resources.

• Jiang Jingnian deflected Escort Yu’s attack with his tough body and struck the escort’s elbow, startling the onlookers.
• Escort Yu asked Escort Chief Duan how to handle Jiang Jingnian, and Duan summoned him to the central courtyard to review his documents.
• Jiang Jingnian gave Duan his work permit and explained that his connection to the Qu Household was only a distant relative who had helped him settle in Peace City.
• Escort Chief Duan examined Jiang Jingnian’s arm and concluded that his unusual natural physique, combined with an Iron Body Skill, explained his strength.
• Escort Chief Duan warned that the agency could not provide the resources of a martial school, but Jiang Jingnian affirmed that joining was better than continuing to pull a rickshaw.

Jiang Jingnian joined Tongda Escort Agency as an escort master and became a legally registered martial artist in the concession. After settling into his new role, he negotiated to buy a phonograph from a bookstore owner.

• Duan Escort Chief offered Jiang Jingnian a position as an escort master and explained the agency's work and declining business.
• Jiang Jingnian signed an employment contract and completed the procedures to obtain escort-master certification and a martial artist permit.
• After two days, Jiang Jingnian returned his rickshaw, repaid his monthly customers, and received an advance of 106 silver dollars.
• Jiang Jingnian visited the bookstore owner and persistently bargained for the phonograph.
• The bookstore owner agreed to sell Jiang Jingnian the phonograph for sixty silver dollars.

Jiang Jingnian bought a phonograph for sixty silver dollars and proudly called it a family heirloom, but he immediately refined it with his [Taotie] trait after returning to his room. Meanwhile, resentful young martial artists at the escort agency planned to challenge his appointment as an escort master.

• Jiang Jingnian inspected the phonograph, paid the bookstore owner sixty silver dollars, and carried it back to the escort agency's apartment courtyard.
• Servants and apprentices respectfully greeted Jiang Jingnian as Escort Master Jiang, while a youth surnamed Qian complained that Jiang had taken his elder brother's escort master slot.
• The youth surnamed Qian said his elder brother would challenge Jiang Jingnian at a meeting in two days, and the young woman beside him warned him to watch his words.
• Jiang Jingnian admired the phonograph in his room, then activated his [Taotie] trait and refined it until not even a speck of ash remained.

After devouring a phonograph tied to the Blood Moon Dark Painting Ritual, Jiang Jingnian gained the incomplete Psychic Whip trait and considered how it might help him in combat. At the Tongda Escort Agency, his training drew the attention of resentful runner Qian Shiqi, who had expected to be promoted ahead of him.

• Jiang Jingnian devoured the Box Phonograph and experienced a disturbing vision as Taotie consumed a trace of something within it.
• Jiang Jingnian discovered that he had gained the incomplete Psychic Whip trait, which let him lash a target's mind twice per day, and saw it as a potential combat advantage.
• Jiang Jingnian practiced the aggressive forms of the Taiji Vajra Art against a wooden post at the Tongda Escort Agency.
• Apprentices watched Jiang Jingnian train and discussed his rapid promotion to official escort despite his background as a rickshaw puller.
• Qian Shiqi resented Jiang Jingnian's promotion because he had waited more than two years for the same advancement and believed the agency had repeatedly made excuses to delay him.

Qian Shiqi’s resentment toward Jiang Jingnian grew as he judged the new escort master’s skills and challenged him at a regular meeting. The chapter ended with Jiang Jingnian facing a public challenge from Qian Shiqi.

• Qian Shiqi watched Jiang Jingnian train and criticized his crude techniques, blaming his promotion on his physique.
• Qian Xiaofu told Qian Shiqi that Jiang Jingnian lacked combat experience and killing intent, while Qian Shiqi remained wary of his strength.
• At the escort agency’s regular meeting, the chief escort and Duan Escort Chief discussed staffing and upcoming work.
• Qian Shiqi stepped forward and invoked the agency’s rules to challenge Jiang Jingnian before the assembled staff.

Jiang Jingnian faced a challenge from Qian Shiqi over his new escort position at Tongda Escort Agency. After Qian Shiqi’s kicks failed to hurt him, Jiang Jingnian defeated him with three punches, leaving the challenge’s outcome clear.

• The Chief Escort explained that newly appointed escorts could be challenged, and Qian Shiqi, Qian Xiaofu, and two friends objected to Jiang Jingnian’s promotion.
• The Chief Escort and Duan Escort Chief arranged an arena match, where Jiang Jingnian’s position as escort would be at stake.
• Qian Shiqi challenged Jiang Jingnian alone and launched several kicks at his knees.
• Jiang Jingnian’s legs repelled Qian Shiqi’s kicks without injury, though the kicks damaged his new trousers.
• Jiang Jingnian struck Qian Shiqi with three punches, causing him to spit blood and faint.

Jiang Jingnian defeated Qian Shiqi with ease during an arena challenge, earning the escort agency’s recognition of his strength and restraint. Duan Escort Chief revealed that he was considering taking Jiang as a disciple, though he intended to test him carefully first.

• Qian Shiqi challenged Jiang Jingnian but was knocked unconscious after Jiang calmly endured his attacks and defeated him in a few moves.
• Qian Xiaofu checked his brother, and the Chief Escort confirmed that Qian Shiqi had suffered only internal injuries and would recover after a week or two of rest.
• The Chief Escort declared Jiang qualified to serve as an escort master and warned everyone to let the arena settle their disputes.
• The Chief Escort and Duan Escort Chief praised Jiang’s martial virtue and discussed his vigorous qi and blood, concluding that he was not practicing the wicked Corpse Garment Technique.
• Duan Escort Chief admitted that he was considering making Jiang his closed-door disciple and heir to his Copper-Mirror Iron Garment Technique.

Jiang Jingnian prepared for his first escort mission to Cloud Harmony City, learning the dangers and rules from Escort Master Wei. The caravan departed Peace City under Wei Yu’s command, with Jiang Jingnian instructed to stay close to the group.

• Duan Escort Chief recalled his gifted late elder brother and refused the Chief Escort’s suggestion to assign a stronger escort master to Jiang Jingnian’s mission.
• After resting from his match, Jiang Jingnian learned he would escort precious-wood furniture to Cloud Harmony City with Wei Yu, porters, and apprentices.
• At lunch, Jiang Jingnian asked Wei Yu about escort duty and learned how to respond to bandits and Demon Wraiths.
• Jiang Jingnian watched other teams leave, including a larger team escorting frightened passengers, then gathered with his own team at the training grounds.
• Wei Yu warned Jiang Jingnian not to stray from the caravan, and Jiang Jingnian agreed to follow instructions.
• Around one in the afternoon, Wei Yu and Jiang Jingnian led the caravan out of Peace City, with the porters and apprentices arranged around the wagons.

Jiang Jingnian and Wei Yu led the Tongda Escort Agency convoy along a dangerous official road toward Cloud Harmony City as warfare and banditry spread across Chen State. When they reached a village where they planned to spend the night, they found its people slaughtered and came under fire.

• Jiang Jingnian quickly learned to ride as the convoy left Peace City and traveled along the damaged official road.
• Wei Yu warned the escorts that warfare had driven wealthy Household Martial Masters to become bandits, and he doubted the Defending Nation War would restore Chen State.
• The convoy reached Sun Copper County near dusk and headed for a familiar village to rest and replenish supplies.
• Jiang Jingnian sensed a strange stench, and Wei Yu soon spotted blood and the mutilated bodies of more than a dozen villagers at the village entrance.
• Wei Yu ordered the convoy to turn back, but a bullet narrowly missed him as he turned his horse.

The Tongda Escort Agency’s convoy was surrounded by armed soldiers and overwhelmed by the Inner Qi expert Butler Wei. Tao Yanchen arrived, claimed his men were hunting a Demon Wraith, and left the convoy uncertain of their fate.

• Soldiers emerged from the forests and aimed their guns at Wei Yu and the convoy.
• Butler Wei appeared and exerted a terrifying Presence that forced the weaker escorts to collapse.
• Wei Yu invoked Chief Li’s reputation, but Tao Yanchen arrived dragging a woman’s half-corpse and asked who Chief Li was.
• Tao Yanchen rejected Butler Wei’s suggestion to kill the witnesses, while Jiang Jingnian secretly prepared to attack him if the situation turned dangerous.
• Tao Yanchen identified himself as a member of the Black Flood Dragon Army and said his men had come to hunt a Demon Wraith from Baobai Mountain.

Tao Yanchen’s Black Flood Dragon Army surrounded Wei Yu’s escort party and demanded half of its rosewood shipment. When a young apprentice explained the cargo’s value, Tao Yanchen savagely attacked him, leaving the escort party under Butler Wei’s threat.

• More than a hundred Black Flood Dragon Army soldiers and martial artists emerged behind Tao Yanchen, surrounding the escort party.
• Wei Yu pleaded to leave, but Tao Yanchen insisted they stay and asked what the carts carried.
• Wei Yu explained that the carts held rosewood furniture for Ever-New Trading Company, and Tao Yanchen demanded half the shipment.
• A pockmarked apprentice warned that the cargo was too valuable for the escort party to compensate for, so Tao Yanchen approached and asked how much it was worth.
• Tao Yanchen drove a pitchfork into the apprentice’s face and stabbed him repeatedly while Butler Wei’s pressure prevented Wei Yu and Jiang Jingnian from intervening.

Tao Yanchen killed an escort apprentice, seized half the rosewood cargo, and forced the Tongda Escort Agency’s survivors to join the Black Flood Dragon Army’s hunt for a Demon Wraith. He left Jiang Jingnian waiting for a chance to escape, then revealed that the village’s apparent survivors had been deliberately allowed to flee as part of his scheme.

• Tao Yanchen killed the pockmarked apprentice and demanded half the escort agency’s rosewood furniture.
• Tao Yanchen claimed the apprentice had been parasitized by Bifang Blood and forced Wei Yu and the surviving escorts to join the Demon Wraith expedition.
• The Black Flood Dragon Army took over the escorts’ wagons and horses, and Butler Wei assigned the escorts to follow its martial-world subordinates.
• Jiang Jingnian suppressed his plan to attack Tao Yanchen and resolved to wait for a chance to escape during the hunt.
• Tao Yanchen asked Axu how many villagers had escaped, and she said they had let twenty-three people go.
• Axu questioned why Tao Yanchen had kept the escort masters, and he said that doing so was fun.

Axu questioned Tao Yanchen’s slaughter of Hongfeng Village but went along with his demand to enter a bloodied cabin. Meanwhile, Wei Yu explained Bifang Blood to Jiang Jingnian as the group prepared to enter the mountains, leaving them facing an obscure and dangerous Demon Wraith.

• Axu told Tao Yanchen that she disliked killing, but he praised her and suggested they make people in an empty cabin instead.
• Axu entered the cabin, where the remains of a family of five lay scattered.
• Wei Yu and the escort hands smoked beside the martial wanderers as night fell and they anticipated entering the mountains.
• Jiang Jingnian asked Wei Yu what Bifang Blood was, and Wei Yu described it as blue flame that could parasitize the human heart.
• Wei Yu said witnesses to Bifang’s Fire had mostly died, while the survivors had gone mad and been confined in Western-run asylums.

Tao Yanchen led the Black Flood Dragon Army and the wanderers toward Hongfeng Mountain to find Bi Fang’s Fire and claim its core. A flaming pit opened beneath them, and as Jiang Jingnian waited for a chance to escape, a three-armed stone monster burst from the flames.

• Huo Qi watched the Tongda Escort Agency’s people and refused to relax his guard, while Tang Shiming dismissed them as harmless.
• Tao Yanchen arrived with Butler Wei and Axu, then led more than a hundred Black Flood Dragon Army soldiers into the forest toward Hongfeng Mountain.
• Tao Yanchen told Butler Wei and Axu that he hoped to seize Bi Fang’s Fire core so his father could complete an advancement ritual.
• A pillar of flame erupted near the mountain, shaking the ground and hurling front-line soldiers into a flaming pit.
• Jiang Jingnian tried to use the chaos to escape but froze when Huo Qi watched him and the other escorts.
• The Black Flood Dragon Army fired into the flames as a huge, three-armed monster made of black stones charged out.

Jiang Jingnian watched the Black Flood Dragon Army battle a mountain-fire beast as Tao Yanchen’s group debated whether it was connected to the Stone Demon. When Bi Fang’s Fire appeared and parasitized soldiers attacked their comrades, Jiang Jingnian used the chaos to slip away, only to be confronted by a blade-wielding pursuer.

• The Black Flood Dragon Army fought the mountain-fire beast with rifles while Jiang Jingnian assessed the threat and watched from the formation.
• Axu warned Tao Yanchen and Butler Wei that the beast might be tied to the Stone Demon, and Tao Yanchen ordered the soldiers to use enchanted bullets.
• Parasitized Black Flood Dragon Army soldiers began shooting their comrades, and Axu urged Tao Yanchen to retreat as Bi Fang’s Fire arrived.
• Butler Wei transformed and charged to intercept the mountain-fire beast while Jiang Jingnian and Wei Yu moved to stop the parasitized soldiers.
• Jiang Jingnian knocked out several parasitized soldiers and used the confusion to slip away from the battle, but a blade-wielding attacker confronted him in the grass.

Jiang Jingnian fled Huo Qi through the forest, but when Huo Qi wounded him, Jiang Jingnian realized he was tougher than he had believed. He used Psychic Whip to stun Huo Qi and killed him, ending the danger that had pursued him.

• Jiang Jingnian escaped into the forest while Huo Qi pursued him, leaving Wei Yu and the other fleeing escorts behind.
• Huo Qi unleashed Blazing Phoenix Scorches the Plains, split a dead tree, and struck Jiang Jingnian's shoulder.
• Jiang Jingnian found that his wound did not greatly hinder him and turned to face Huo Qi.
• Jiang Jingnian used Psychic Whip to overwhelm Huo Qi, took his fallen saber, and cut off his head.
• Jiang Jingnian hacked Huo Qi's corpse into pieces and confirmed that it had stopped moving.