Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• After rain, Chen Chong enters the Pine Roost Sect’s Hundred Martial Hall, where the Cloud Que Platform is hosting an inter-sect tournament.
• Old Li presides over the event and explains that the sects jointly manage a nearby medicinal mountain, with an annual competition deciding its allocation. The winner will earn the chance to choose a treasure from the Qiyun Treasury.
• Contestants receive bronze tokens, including Chen Chong, who has been recommended to participate by Elder Yang. Zhang Yide is surprised, since he had thought Chen would only be watching.
• The first match pits a Divine Sword Sect swordsman against a Flame Martial Sect fighter. The swordsman controls the distance with disciplined footwork and a steady barrage of attacks, eventually exploiting his opponent’s fatigue to win.
• Chen Chong studies the fight and wonders whether his own Ravine-Returning Profound Severance technique could break through the swordsman’s defenses.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Chong is curious and observant: he takes in the tournament’s workings, assesses the combatants’ techniques, and begins imagining how he might fare himself.
• Zhang Yide welcomes Chen and introduces him to other Pine Roost disciples. He suspects Chen is more capable than his modest “just going through the motions” suggests, given what he knows of Chen’s alchemy, cultivation, and inheritance.
• Old Li’s calm authority commands the crowd and establishes him as the tournament’s overseer.

Significant themes

• Competition and cooperation: The sects share responsibility for the medicinal mountain but must compete annually over its allocation.
• Skill and strategy: The opening match shows how timing, control of distance, and composure can overcome a more forceful close-range style.
• Ambition and self-testing: Chen’s attention shifts from watching the tournament to considering how he would challenge the winner.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Chong watches the Cloud Que Platform bouts and studies how skilled fighters control pace, distance, and initiative—not just strength or speed.
• He sees a close contest between a Pine Roost Sect whip wielder and a Divine Sword Sect swordsman. The swordsman accepts an injury to force a sudden change in tempo, then overwhelms his opponent.
• Zhang Yide explains the longstanding rivalry between the two sects, whose disciples use even this informal platform to compete for pride.
• Chen Chong’s turn comes against a Falling Cloud Sect disciple. He attacks immediately with his saber and combines nimble footwork with the complete Ravine-Returning Profound Severance technique.
• His opponent is disarmed and driven to the platform’s edge, then concedes. Chen Chong wins to enthusiastic cheers.

Character developments

• Chen Chong gains a more sophisticated understanding of combat: technique is only the foundation, while controlling rhythm and distance can decide a fight.
• His fusion with the Spirit Phoenix Evolution Chapter has improved his agility and footwork, helping him launch a swift, effective attack.
• The victory gives him confidence and a new appreciation for the tournament.

Significant themes

• Strategy over brute force: Fighters win by managing tempo, positioning, and their opponent’s reactions.
• Adaptation and risk: The Divine Sword Sect disciple turns the whip fight by accepting a wound to seize the initiative.
• Rivalry and reputation: Sect contests carry emotional weight even when they are not major tournaments.
• Recognition: Chen Chong’s first platform victory earns him public attention and acceptance from fellow disciples.

Character interactions

• Zhang Yide encourages Chen Chong to watch the rival sects’ fight, then explains their history and motivations.
• Chen Chong observes the contestants’ contrasting styles before applying what he has learned in his own match.
• After Chen Chong wins, Zhang Yide leads the cheering, and other Pine Roost Sect disciples join in, marking a shift from earlier surprise to support.

Key plot points and events

• The tournament on the Cloud Que Platform grows increasingly fierce, with members of the Pine Roost and Divine Sword Sects repeatedly clashing. When one Divine Sword disciple tries to strike a fallen opponent, the platform’s protective Qi barrier intervenes. Chen Chong realizes the arena is a powerful spiritual artifact whose runes actively monitor and protect the fighters.
• Chen Chong defeats a twin-saber fighter from the Falling Cloud Sect, then wins a closely contested match against He Shouyi, a precise swordsman from the Divine Sword Sect. Chen Chong uses footwork and the rhythm of his Ravine-Returning Profound Severance saber technique to expose He Shouyi’s opening and knock his sword away.
• A different Divine Sword Sect fighter reveals himself to be in the Marrow Cleansing Realm. Chen Chong realizes this is another He Shouyi—apparently a twin or close lookalike—and not the swordsman he just defeated. The stronger He Shouyi quickly eliminates a Falling Cloud Sect opponent, becoming the presumed favorite to win.
• Chen Chong then faces Yu Zhe, a powerful saber user from the Great Snow Mountain. After trading heavy blows, Chen Chong condenses his saber intent into a decisive strike that knocks Yu Zhe’s weapon from his hand. Yu Zhe concedes, leaving Chen Chong among the tournament’s final three.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Chong demonstrates growing confidence and control. Rather than relying on speed or rushing his attacks, he adapts to opponents’ rhythms and uses training from the past few months to prevail over increasingly formidable fighters.
• Zhang Yide enthusiastically celebrates Chen Chong’s victories, loudly claiming him as his junior brother and cheering him on.
• He Shouyi (the first) fights with disciplined precision but accepts defeat respectfully after Chen Chong disarms him. The second He Shouyi’s greater cultivation and resemblance to the first create a moment of confusion and raise the tournament’s stakes.
• Yu Zhe begins by underestimating Chen Chong, then recognizes his opponent’s genuine strength. He fights aggressively but ultimately acknowledges defeat with respect.
• Chen Chong’s success lifts the spirits of the Pine Roost Sect crowd, especially as the Divine Sword Sect’s Marrow Cleansing Realm fighter makes the championship seem out of reach.

Significant themes

• Training realized in action: Chen Chong’s victories reflect months of practice, study, and preparation rather than luck.
• Composure and adaptability: His ability to read opponents and control the pace proves as important as raw strength.
• Respect through combat: Even defeated opponents acknowledge Chen Chong’s skill.
• Rising stakes and hidden strength: The revelation of a high-level contender challenges expectations and sets up a formidable obstacle for the remaining fighters.

Chapter Summary: “Deciding the Victory”

Key plot points and events

• Yu Zhe returns to the competition as the strongest among the defeated, completing the final four: Yu Zhe, He Shouyi, Du Wei, and Chen Chong.
• During the recovery period, Zhang Yide tells Chen Chong that He Shouyi and his identical twin brother practice a Divine Sword Sect technique that lets them share experience and pool their cultivation into one fighter. Their training requires them to think of themselves as a single person.
• Chen Chong quickly defeats Yu Zhe again. He Shouyi then defeats Du Wei by exploiting weaknesses in the staff fighter’s movements, stopping his sword just short of Du Wei’s throat.
• In the final, Chen Chong faces He Shouyi, whose Marrow Cleansing Realm gives him an advantage in speed, strength, and stamina. Chen Chong remains composed and commits to an aggressive form of defense, relying on his Dragon-Tiger-Phoenix Evolution Scripture to recover and endure.
• Chen Chong holds his ground through He Shouyi’s relentless attacks, but the twin technique creates the illusion of attacks coming from two directions. He Shouyi disarms Chen Chong and cuts him—but Chen Chong’s hard qigong prevents the wound from becoming serious.
• Chen Chong charges into close combat, knocks away He Shouyi’s sword, and overwhelms him with powerful palm strikes. Unable to penetrate Chen Chong’s defense or counter his hand-to-hand fighting, He Shouyi concedes.
• Chen Chong wins the tournament and receives a golden token granting him access to the Qiyun Treasury to choose a treasure.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Chong demonstrates composure, stamina, adaptability, and confidence against an opponent of a higher cultivation realm. When his saber is lost, he shifts smoothly to using his body-hardened palms as weapons. He is also moved by the sect’s celebration, joining in by raising his bloodied fist.
• He Shouyi begins as a confident, technically precise fighter, supported by his higher realm and the twin technique. Once forced into close combat without his sword, however, he cannot overcome Chen Chong’s hard qigong and ultimately accepts defeat.
• Yu Zhe faces Chen Chong again, loses more quickly than before, and withdraws respectfully.
• Du Wei fights with skill and persistence but is outmatched by He Shouyi’s precision and speed; he concedes when the sword reaches his throat.
• Zhang Yide supports Chen Chong by sharing information about He Shouyi, then celebrates and boasts about Chen Chong’s connection to the famed Raining Sword Luo Yu.
• The Pine Roost Sect disciples move from uncertain hope to unified cheering as Chen Chong withstands the assault. The Divine Sword Sect disciples initially chant confidently for He Shouyi, but later applaud Chen Chong’s victory. He Shouyi acknowledges Chen Chong with a calm nod.

Significant themes

• Adaptability under pressure: Chen Chong wins by changing tactics when his saber is knocked away.
• Preparation and resilience: His cultivation and daily visualization help him withstand both He Shouyi’s aura and the drawn-out fight.
• Strength beyond rank: He Shouyi’s higher realm gives him clear advantages, but Chen Chong’s comprehensive training and hard qigong ultimately decide the match.
• Rivalry and mutual respect: The competition ends not with bitterness but with applause, congratulations, and He Shouyi’s respectful acknowledgment.

Key plot points and events

• Old Li carries Chen Chong to the Qiyun Treasury’s entrance. Chen uses his token to summon a giant blue-green bird, which takes him through a cloud-shrouded, otherworldly realm.
• The Treasury asks Chen to demonstrate his martial arts. His Ravine-Returning Profound Severance reveals Tiger Roar, a massive ivory-white saber forged from a tiger demon’s leg bone and meteoric iron.
• Old Li explains that he personally hunted the demon from which the saber was made. He gives Chen a specially fitted scabbard, and Chen returns with the weapon.
• Old Li says the sect will arrange Chen’s entry into the inner sect in a few days.
• That night, Chen’s cultivation triggers a spontaneous cleansing of his skin, flesh, tendons, and bones. He reaches the Marrow Cleansing Realm, gaining greater endurance and much more direct control over his strength. His status panel shows the realm requires one million experience points.
• Chen tests Tiger Roar and finds it far easier to wield after his breakthrough: he can now set its momentum in motion with much less effort.

Character developments

• Chen Chong proves his talent by earning Tiger Roar from the Treasury and advancing into the Marrow Cleansing Realm. He remains modest, crediting his master rather than claiming ability for himself.
• Old Li revises his opinion of Chen, recognizing his potential. His nostalgia over Tiger Roar reveals a personal connection to the weapon and its history.
• Luo Yu, though absent, is described by Old Li as highly selective; his willingness to teach Chen is presented as evidence of Chen’s promise.

Character interactions

• Old Li guides Chen through the Treasury process, reacts with recognition and nostalgia when he sees Tiger Roar, and gives him its scabbard as a gift.
• Chen respectfully praises Old Li and thanks him for the scabbard; Old Li teases him about Luo Yu before encouraging him toward the inner sect.
• Chen’s main interaction with the Treasury is formal and impersonal: it asks for a martial demonstration and matches him with a weapon.

Significant themes

• Talent, recognition, and fate: The Treasury’s choice of Tiger Roar and Old Li’s changed assessment suggest Chen’s growth is beginning to be noticed.
• Inheritance and personal history: Tiger Roar connects Chen’s future to Old Li’s past as the demon’s hunter.
• Steady cultivation and transformation: Chen’s breakthrough is a physical and spiritual refinement earned through practice, bringing both greater capability and a demanding next milestone.

Key plot points and events

• In the Bamboo Sea, Chen Chong tests his new heavy saber, Tiger Roar, while sparring with his master, Luo Yu. The saber’s weight suits Ravine-Returning Profound Severance, allowing its force to build in dense, successive layers. Despite Chen Chong’s progress, he cannot overcome Luo Yu’s adaptable swordsmanship.
• Chen Chong tells Luo Yu about the Qiyun Treasury, the Azure Giant Bird, the cloud-borne immortal realm, and how he obtained Tiger Roar. He also mentions that Old Li expects him to enter the Inner Sect.
• Luo Yu explains that Inner Sect members receive greater resources and access to the sect’s true legacies; Outer Sect students mainly learn from individual masters. He reveals that Falling Rain Sword is a sect legacy and plans to recommend Yu Che for the Inner Sect as well, so he and Chen Chong can support each other.
• Chen Chong visits Elder Yang and quietly refines pills alongside him. Elder Yang later gives him the formula for the Pine-Nourishing True Essence Pill, a valuable pill that Elder Yang has improved.
• Chen Chong tries to refuse the formula, but Elder Yang insists that knowledge should be shared to advance pill refinement. Chen Chong accepts it with a bow, then leaves.

Character developments

• Chen Chong gains a deeper understanding of how weapon choice shapes technique: Tiger Roar lets him express the full weight and depth of his saber art. He is also approaching a transition into the Inner Sect, though he remains modest about his achievements.
• Luo Yu acts as mentor and guide, clarifying the sect’s structure and planning for both Chen Chong’s and Yu Che’s futures.
• Yu Che has developed through seven years of fundamentals; his practice now begins to resemble Falling Rain Sword.
• Elder Yang is revealed as a generous, research-driven alchemist who values the sharing of knowledge over personal credit. Chen Chong, by contrast, sees alchemy primarily as a means of becoming stronger.

Significant themes

• Weapons and mastery: The right tool can bring out a technique’s true character; Tiger Roar gives Chen Chong’s saber art the weight it lacked before.
• Mentorship and legacy: Luo Yu passes on a sect tradition through Yu Che, while Elder Yang shares his improved pill formula with Chen Chong.
• Knowledge and generosity: Elder Yang believes progress depends on sharing discoveries rather than hoarding them.
• Different paths to cultivation: Chen Chong and Elder Yang both practice pill refinement but value it differently—one as a tool for strength, the other as an art and field of research.

Character interactions

• Chen Chong and Luo Yu spar, demonstrating their contrasting styles: Chen Chong presses with layered force, while Luo Yu adapts with effortless balance.
• Luo Yu reassures Chen Chong that entering the Inner Sect will not sever their teacher–student relationship and proposes that Chen Chong and Yu Che work together.
• Chen Chong and Elder Yang refine pills side by side. Elder Yang’s gift and explanation challenge Chen Chong’s more pragmatic view of alchemy, prompting Chen Chong to show respect even as he recognizes their differing motivations.

Plot points and events

• Chen Chong studies Elder Yang’s formula for the Pine-Nourishing True Essence Pill and succeeds on his third attempt, producing three high-grade pills.
• After taking one, he gains 5,420 experience. The pill’s gentle potency nourishes his marrow and strengthens his foundation rather than forcing rapid advancement.
• He spends half a month refining and taking pills, reaching 80,000 experience and gaining noticeably greater physical strength. His progress is rapid, but his supply of the rare, three-hundred-year-old pine-patterned lingzhi is running low.
• Luo Yu reports that seven herb gatherers and most of a search party have vanished in Blackwater Ravine, where a large Serpent Demon is believed to dwell. He assigns Chen Chong and Yu Che to investigate under a Mission Hall bounty.
• Luo Yu gives Yu Che a proper sword and charges Chen Chong with protecting him. Zhang Yide supplies the pair with food and water.
• As they set out, Chen Chong tells Yu Che that he is afraid of the demon, but that fear is a reason to stay alert. He instructs Yu Che to observe and not fight unless called. They begin the long journey to the ravine.

Character developments

• Chen Chong demonstrates patience and precision in pill refining, then uses the pills to accelerate his cultivation. He remains cautious and honest about his fear, taking responsibility for Yu Che’s safety.
• Yu Che receives his first proper sword, marking a transition from practicing fundamentals to facing real danger. Though anxious, he accepts Chen Chong’s guidance and grows steadier.
• Luo Yu acts as mentor and task-setter, giving Yu Che a weapon and offering practical advice about tracking the demon.
• Zhang Yide shows supportive concern by preparing provisions for the mission.

Significant themes

• Steady cultivation and strong foundations: The pill’s gradual nourishment contrasts with forceful, rapid advancement.
• Fear and survival: Chen Chong frames fear as useful caution, not weakness.
• Mentorship and responsibility: Luo Yu and Zhang Yide equip the younger disciples, while Chen Chong accepts responsibility for Yu Che.
• Preparation before combat: Understanding a beast’s habits and observing the environment may matter as much as strength.
• Opportunity amid danger: The ravine may contain valuable medicinal herbs, but the mission takes priority over Chen Chong’s hopes of finding more lingzhi.

Character interactions

• Elder Yang’s formula and ingredient create an implicit test of Chen Chong’s alchemical ability.
• Luo Yu assigns the mission, instructs Chen Chong to watch over Yu Che, and equips Yu Che with a sword suited to his training.
• Zhang Yide lightens the departure with a joke while giving Yu Che practical supplies.
• On the road, Yu Che asks Chen Chong about the demon and his fear; Chen Chong’s candid answer reassures him and establishes clear rules for their conduct in the ravine.

Key plot points

• On the third day of their journey, Chen Chong notices that Yu Che keeps pace effortlessly. He learns Yu Che is also at Marrow Cleansing, and realizes that Luo Yu has carefully prepared his disciple through years of foundational training and ample resources.
• Yu Che admits he has never killed anyone. Chen Chong tells him he will understand the difference between a sword that has killed and one that has not once they enter Blackwater Ravine.
• At the ravine’s steaming entrance, Chen Chong studies the water, wind, and unnatural silence, sensing danger. The pair encounter two Divine Sword Sect disciples who look exactly alike.
• One is He Shouyi, whom Chen Chong defeated on the Cloud Que Platform. The two men share an aura and move in perfect unison, apparently using an art that lets them function as one person.
• Both groups are seeking something inside the ravine. He Shouyi says their abilities will decide the outcome, then enters with his silent counterpart. Chen Chong and Yu Che follow, but deliberately keep their distance.

Character developments

• Chen Chong gains a clearer understanding of Yu Che’s sheltered but carefully cultivated upbringing and of his own responsibility to guide him. He recognizes that the ravine is not a regulated match but a potentially lethal contest.
• Yu Che shows stamina and discipline, but his admission that he has never killed anyone reveals his inexperience with real combat. He listens to Chen Chong’s caution and begins to grasp the danger ahead.
• He Shouyi returns as a composed rival. His paired counterpart’s blank gaze and synchronized behavior make the Divine Sword Sect’s technique unsettling and mysterious.

Significant themes

• Training and privilege: Yu Che’s steady progress comes from years of deliberate guidance and support, contrasting with Chen Chong’s harsher, hard-won path.
• The boundary between sport and survival: The Cloud Que Platform had rules and safeguards; Blackwater Ravine offers none, making victory and death inseparable possibilities.
• Violence and experience: The chapter raises the difference between wielding a sword in practice and wielding one after taking a life.
• Rivalry and shared stakes: The neighboring sects compete both in formal arenas and over real resources, with the same underlying drive to prevail.

Character interactions

• Chen Chong questions Yu Che about his cultivation and reassures him about his lack of killing experience without offering easy comfort.
• Chen Chong and He Shouyi acknowledge their past match, but recognize that the ravine will be a different kind of contest.
• Yu Che looks to Chen Chong for guidance; Chen Chong chooses caution, and Yu Che accepts his decision to enter without following too closely.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Chong and Yu Che enter a steaming ravine and are ambushed by nine members of the Flame Martial Sect, who demand their weapons. Their leader directs a practiced formation.
• Chen kills the leader with his three-layer Ravine-Returning Profound Severance technique. Although the remaining fighters keep their formation, Chen cuts down three attackers while their coordinated assault briefly wounds him.
• Yu Che is surrounded by four men. At first, he fights defensively and hesitates to strike decisively. When his life is threatened, he kills one attacker and then kills two more in quick succession. The fourth flees; Yu Che lets him go.
• Afterward, Chen explains that Yu Che could have caught the fleeing man but lacked the will to strike once the immediate danger had passed. He shares his own first experience of killing and warns that a spared enemy may return with reinforcements. He also advises Yu Che to break a formation by pressing through one opponent rather than trying to block every attack.
• The pair continue deeper into the ravine and encounter a White-Scaled Salamander. Chen kills it by adapting his saber technique to its slippery hide.
• They cook and eat the creature’s nourishing meat beside a fire. Yu Che tells Chen that their master predicted he would return alive if he followed him.

Character development

• Yu Che experiences his first killing and is shaken by it. He moves from hesitant, overly defensive fighting to instinctive lethal action, but remains unable to pursue a retreating enemy. Chen’s guidance helps him begin to understand the difference between survival in a moment and the consequences of sparing a dangerous foe.
• Chen Chong acts as a pragmatic mentor. He is decisive in combat, adjusts quickly to the salamander’s defenses, and uses his own painful memory of killing to reassure Yu Che without dismissing the lesson.
• The two remain a close senior-and-junior pair: Chen protects and teaches, while Yu Che listens and gradually accepts his counsel.

Significant themes

• The cost of killing: Yu Che’s first experience leaves him unsettled, while Chen presents that reaction as normal rather than shameful.
• Survival and responsibility: Sparing an enemy can endanger not only oneself but also one’s companions.
• Combat as judgment, not just technique: Yu Che must learn to make decisive choices, including how to counter a formation.
• Mentorship and trust: Chen’s guidance—and their master’s confidence in him—helps Yu Che face the path ahead.

Character interactions

• Chen challenges Yu Che’s explanation for letting the survivor escape, then explains his reasoning through personal experience and practical consequences.
• He corrects Yu Che’s defensive approach and offers a specific tactic for breaking a group formation.
• After teaching him, Chen offers quiet reassurance rather than further criticism; they share food by the fire, where Yu Che reveals their master’s prediction and Chen responds with a smile.

Plot points and events

• Chen Chong and Yu Che discover a steaming valley containing a rare Marrow-Cleansing Fruit. Chen Chong recognizes its value: it can temper the marrow and suppress demonic energy. Its aura also explains why the area is devoid of small creatures and why a serpent demon has been guarding the ravine.
• They find He Shouyi and his brother waiting across the pool. The brothers share a cultivation art that makes them function as one person, including sharing their injuries. Neither side dares approach the fruit while the serpent remains alive.
• When the fruit ripens, the serpent attacks. The He brothers fight it with coordinated swordplay, but their strikes barely damage its scales.
• The serpent wounds one brother, and the other suffers the same injury, confirming Chen Chong’s deduction. Seeing their formation falter, Chen Chong and Yu Che join the fight: Yu Che strikes an old wound on the serpent’s tail, creating an opening for Chen Chong to kill it with a series of saber techniques.
• Chen Chong lets the injured He brothers leave, reasoning that killing members of the Divine Sword Sect could bring an investigation to the Pine Roost Sect. Both sides are exhausted, too.
• Chen Chong collects the fruit in a jade box rather than eating it raw, planning to use it as an alchemist. As the scent fades, birds return to the valley. Yu Che says they can make it home alive, and they set out.

Character developments

• Chen Chong remains observant and calculating, recognizing the fruit’s significance, the brothers’ shared vulnerability, and the risks of pursuing them. He prioritizes preserving the fruit for alchemy over consuming it immediately.
• Yu Che grows more composed and perceptive. He identifies that the brothers’ swords cannot overcome the serpent’s scales, then acts decisively on Chen Chong’s cue by targeting the old wound.
• He Shouyi and his brother demonstrate remarkable coordination and loyalty through their shared technique. Their defeat—and the injured brother’s lagging steps—reveals the physical cost of their bond.

Significant themes

• Interdependence and shared vulnerability: The brothers’ power depends on acting as one, but so does their suffering.
• Patience and strategy: The stalemate breaks only when the characters identify the right opening and coordinate their actions.
• Restraint and consequences: Chen Chong chooses not to pursue the brothers, weighing sect politics and his group’s exhaustion.
• Knowledge as power: Chen Chong’s alchemical learning helps him understand the fruit, the serpent’s behavior, and the best way to preserve the prize.

Character interactions

• Chen Chong explains his deductions to Yu Che, who increasingly contributes his own observations rather than simply following orders.
• The He brothers’ synchronized movements embody their shared cultivation, until their shared injury disrupts their formation.
• Chen Chong and Yu Che coordinate without needing extensive discussion: Chen Chong attacks the serpent’s head while Yu Che creates an opening at its tail.
• He Shouyi acknowledges Chen Chong’s victory and leaves with a promise to remember their encounter; Chen Chong allows him to go.

Chen Chong and Yu Che returned to the Pine Roost Sect, where Luo Yu heard about their encounter in Blackwater Ravine and told them the Inner Sect assessment had changed. Elder Yang agreed to refine Chen Chong’s Marrow-Cleansing Fruit for a share of the pills, and Chen Chong waited as the three-day refining period neared its end.

• Chen Chong and Yu Che returned to the Pine Roost Sect, and Chen Chong recounted the events in Blackwater Ravine to Luo Yu.
• Luo Yu reassured Chen Chong that the Flame Martial Sect deaths and the encounter with the Divine Sword Sect would not cause trouble, and he told Yu Che to keep the sword he had given him.
• Luo Yu said the Inner Sect assessment would be a trial rather than the usual arena matches and advised Chen Chong to heal and prepare.
• Chen Chong showed Luo Yu the Marrow-Cleansing Fruit, and Luo Yu sent him to Elder Yang to have it refined.
• Elder Yang agreed to refine the fruit using his rare ingredients in exchange for one pill and told Chen Chong to return in three days.
• Chen Chong practiced, healed, and refined pine-patterned lingzhi while he waited; on the third evening, he saw the light and smoke from Elder Yang’s courtyard and planned to collect the pills the next day.

Chen Chong took a Marrow Cleansing Pill made by Elder Yang and refined his body, washing away old injuries and clearing the path through his marrow. Luo Yu then announced that Chen Chong and Yu Che would enter the Green Satchel Secret Realm for the Inner Sect assessment in a little under half a month, and Chen Chong kept the last pill for further preparation.

• Elder Yang gave Chen Chong two Marrow Cleansing Pills and kept one for himself.
• Chen Chong swallowed a pill and used the Dragon-Tiger-Phoenix Evolution Scripture to guide its medicinal power safely through his body.
• Chen Chong completed his second marrow cleansing, lost old scars and injuries, and found that his strength moved more smoothly.
• Luo Yu told Chen Chong and Yu Che that the Green Satchel Secret Realm would open in a little under half a month for the Inner Sect assessment.
• Zhang Yide said he would not enter the secret realm and urged Chen Chong and Yu Che to be careful.
• Chen Chong watched Yu Che practice swordplay, then returned the remaining pill to its bottle as he considered his preparations.

Chen Chong gave Yu Che a Marrow Cleansing Pill, and Yu Che repaid him with his family’s Black Tortoise Shell Art. Chen Chong fused the art with his cultivation and, by dawn, had begun practicing the resulting Four Saints Art.

• Chen Chong gave Yu Che a Marrow Cleansing Pill and explained how to take it safely before they entered the secret realm.
• Yu Che gave Chen Chong his family’s Black Tortoise Shell Art, an inherited external body-tempering method he had been unable to master.
• Chen Chong spent three hundred taels of silver to fuse the Black Tortoise Shell Art with his existing cultivation, creating the Four Saints Art.
• Chen Chong simplified the Four Saints Art into four breaths: the dragon sank into the abyss, the tiger stood atop the peak, the phoenix soared among the clouds, and the tortoise anchored the sea.
• Chen Chong practiced the tortoise breath and found that his skin and membranes could push back against Tiger Roar’s blade, then continued practicing the four breaths until dawn.

Chen Chong prepared for the Green Satchel Secret Realm, strengthened his cultivation, and watched Yu Che improve after taking a cleansing pill. He entered the seven-day secret realm with Yu Che and the other cultivators, intending to find medicinal herbs and bring back the four Elder Yang had requested.

• Chen Chong advanced his Four Saints Art and showed his resilience when Zhang Yide broke a staff against his back.
• Yu Che completed the pill's cleansing process, sparred evenly with Chen Chong, and said he understood the difference between a sword that had killed and one that had not.
• Elder Yang gave Chen Chong a list of four herbs to find, and Luo Yu warned him that valuable herbs were likely guarded and that points could not bring back his life.
• Chen Chong and Yu Che joined the cultivators gathering at Pine Roost Hall, where Old Li explained the secret realm's rules, seven-day limit, and Inner Sect reward for the top three.
• Old Li opened the entrance to the Green Satchel Secret Realm, and Chen Chong told Yu Che to stay close before stepping inside.

Chen Chong and Yu Che searched a spirit-rich valley for medicinal herbs, learning to harvest them carefully and finding a rare purple-gold ganoderma. They avoided a clearing marked by enormous footprints and a freshly broken tree, deciding not to return before the seventh day.

• Chen Chong showed Yu Che how to dig up herbs without damaging their roots, and they filled two cloth bags with common medicinal plants.
• Chen Chong meditated overnight and gained experience rapidly from the valley’s dense spiritual energy.
• Chen Chong and Yu Che met Du Wei, who said his companions’ damaged harvest had earned few points.
• Chen Chong found a purple-gold ganoderma beside the stream and carefully stored it in a jade box.
• Chen Chong and Yu Che found a barren clearing with a freshly broken tree and enormous footprints, then skirted it and agreed to stay away until the seventh day.

Chen Chong and Yu Che fought He Chuan and two female disciples, then took half their herbs and found a Cold Marrow Flower. Learning it came from a mysterious forest, they crossed the clearing and entered it, where Chen Chong's Four Saints Art began circulating on its own.

• He Chuan and two female disciples tried to rob Chen Chong and Yu Che with drugged smoke and short swords, but He Chuan conceded after failing to pierce Chen Chong's body-tempered skin.
• Chen Chong took half the group’s herbs and discovered a Cold Marrow Flower in one of their bags; He Chuan told him it came from a forest beyond the black-soil clearing.
• He Chuan challenged Chen Chong to see who would reach the secret realm entrance first at noon on the seventh day, and Chen Chong explained why they could not kill fellow disciples.
• Chen Chong decided to seek the other required herbs in the forest and led Yu Che back across the clearing.
• Chen Chong noticed that the dead tree had been bitten off, then entered the dark forest with Yu Che and felt the Four Saints Art circulate faster on its own.