Chapter Summaries

Deng Qing returned to Celebration Hall, learned that it was struggling after Master went missing and that the Upper Forest Sect’s Shared Joy Hall was threatening its foothold. After recovering overnight, he was pulled into a confrontation with Shared Joy Hall, where Fan Sheng declared that Deng Qing’s return would protect their hall.

• Deng Qing ate ravenously, told Fan Sheng how he had survived more than a year in the water, and learned that Master was missing and Zhang Yan had settled in Shu City with his family.
• Fan Sheng explained that an Imperial Court official had built Deng Qing a cenotaph, which the White-Clad Woman had inscribed, and that the tomb’s ceremony had temporarily restrained Shared Joy Hall’s attempts to take over Celebration Hall’s land.
• Deng Qing agreed to rest at Celebration Hall and promised to help Fan Sheng, while learning the hall was nearly broke and eating meat bought on credit.
• Deng Qing used the Devour Heaven Scripture through the night to expel black, tangled Blood Baleful Intent, then slept until Fan Sheng’s disciples carried him to a dispute with Shared Joy Hall.
• Fan Sheng accused a Shared Joy Hall disciple of foul conduct and said he had taught the youth a lesson, then invoked Deng Qing’s return to challenge the rival hall.

Deng Qing used his Eighth-Rank Commandant credential to stop Shared Joy Hall from escalating its confrontation with Celebration Hall, then tried to recover his stored belongings and find money to rebuild his health. After days of eating pig offal and cultivating, his status panel reappeared, revealing progress in his techniques and Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood condensation.

• Fan Sheng invoked Deng Qing’s reputation to make Cao Yan’s Shared Joy Hall disciples back down, but Hao Dadan challenged Deng Qing and was dragged away after Cao Yan recognized Deng Qing’s Eighth-Rank Commandant credential.
• Deng Qing learned his belongings were held at the Honored Soldiers Hall and that Fan Sheng needed to restore his household registration before they could retrieve them.
• Deng Qing asked Fan Sheng to seek help from Song Que and Xiao Jinglin, but the Golden Saber Sect had scattered and Li Cheng had left Everjoy County, so Fan Sheng agreed to send a letter to Maoling.
• Fan Sheng bought pig offal because Celebration Hall could not afford nourishing food, and Deng Qing ate it while resting and cultivating to restore his depleted body.
• After three days of replenishing himself, Deng Qing saw his status panel return and discovered his Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood had reached baleful intent condensation, though the panel flickered because his body remained weak.

Deng Qing recovered from the mixed wasteland baleful intent, restored his strength, and challenged Shared Joy Hall after learning it was obstructing the restoration of his household registration. After demonstrating his power before the Upper Forest Sect, he left Zhao An to announce that Shared Joy Hall would withdraw from Everjoy County.

• Deng Qing expelled the last clump of baleful intent, formed mystic wasteland baleful blood in his palm, and continued perfecting the Tiger-Subduing Fist.
• Fan Sheng told Deng Qing that Shared Joy Hall was interfering with his household registration, so Deng Qing ordered him to deliver a challenge notice.
• Fan Sheng gathered Celebration Hall's disciples and supporters, and they accompanied Deng Qing to challenge Shared Joy Hall.
• Deng Qing avoided a fight by carving a poem into the Azure Astral Stone screen with his fingers, stunning the Upper Forest Sect experts.
• Zhao An thanked Deng Qing and declared that Shared Joy Hall would withdraw from Everjoy County and stop competing with Celebration Hall.

Deng Qing drove the Celebration Hall's rivals from Everjoy County by carving a poem into Azure Astral Stone, then cultivated until he broke through to the Bone Tempering Fourth Layer and discovered he could control a powerful bodily Mutation. After three months of restoring the Celebration Hall and securing cultivation resources, he emerged from seclusion stronger and ready to continue advancing.

• Deng Qing carved a poem into the Shared Joy Hall's Azure Astral Stone, and Zhao An withdrew the Upper Forest Sect's challenge rather than fight him.
• Zhao An explained that Deng Qing's strength and connections made a battle too risky, while Zhang Guang accepted his decision to abandon Everjoy County.
• Deng Qing refined Azure Fish Pills and broke through to the Bone Tempering Fourth Layer, tempering his skull, auditory ossicles, and hyoid bone.
• Deng Qing triggered a controllable Mutation that greatly strengthened his body, then decided to keep the ability hidden as a trump card.
• Deng Qing spent more than three months restoring the Celebration Hall's influence, retrieving his belongings, and bringing back former staff and Big Yellow.
• Deng Qing entrusted Elder Wu with selling Qi Petals and acquiring cultivation resources, then left the underground training room after gathering medicinal pills.

Deng Qing recovered his lost belongings, helped Celebration Hall’s soap business prosper, and visited his grand tomb to read the honors granted to him posthumously. Xiao Jinglin arrived to take him to the Qingzhou Martial Dao Lower Court and revealed that he had arranged for one of Deng Qing’s rewards to be put into effect.

• Deng Qing brought copper coins to Old Man Sun and his grandchild, then used the Blood Control Art to recover his Desolate Iron Sword and several Waist Pouches from the river.
• Fan Sheng told Deng Qing that their soap business had expanded and was expected to earn seven or eight hundred taels a month.
• Deng Qing decided he needed to leave Celebration Hall for the Qingzhou Martial Dao Lower Court and visited his grand tomb to read its inscription and recorded rewards.
• Xiao Jinglin arrived on a Cloud-Carrying Vulture, thanked Deng Qing for his help at Liangshan, and said he had come to take him to the Qingzhou Martial Dao Lower Court.
• Xiao Jinglin explained that his father had arranged for one of Deng Qing’s two posthumous rewards to be put into effect.

Deng Qing accepted a posthumous appointment as a Military Selection Aide and left Everjoy County with Xiao Jinglin for the Martial Dao Lower Court. On the flight, Xiao explained the path to the Furnace Realm, and they entered a tunnel through a mountain that opened onto a broad vista.

• Xiao Jinglin told Deng Qing that Elder Jian had secured him the Military Selection Aide appointment, and Deng accepted it in place of a provincial military post.
• Xiao Jinglin explained that Deng would enter the Martial Dao Institute without an examination and revealed that he was a first-term Lower Court student at the Bone Tempering Fourth Layer.
• Deng Qing said farewell to Fan Sheng, who gave him silver notes and promised to look after Celebration Hall.
• Deng Qing joined Xiao Jinglin in a basket carried by a Cloud-Carrying Vulture and flew out of Everjoy County toward the institute.
• Xiao Jinglin explained how martial artists refined Earthly Baleful Intent and used a True Condensation Pill to open a True Aperture, promising to take Deng to his family's Baleful Veins.
• The Cloud-Carrying Vulture passed through a guarded tunnel in a mountain and emerged into a wide vista.

Deng Qing arrived at the Qingzhou Martial Dao Lower Court, learned how its developed Desolate Soil supported abundant agriculture and livestock, and registered as a Military Selection Aide. After receiving his credentials and uniform, he discovered that Jian Ruyu had secured him five thousand Merit Vouchers.

• Xiao Jinglin showed Deng Qing the Lower Court’s developed Desolate Soil, where crops yielded three harvests a year and livestock thrived, and explained that the institute researched Desolate Soil.
• Xiao Jinglin described the Military Selection Aide role, its assessment system, benefits, and opportunities for promotion as Deng Qing considered pursuing resources through the institute.
• Deng Qing and Xiao Jinglin arrived at the institute’s city, where Deng Qing verified his identity at the Merit Reward Hall and received robes and a bracelet that recorded his status and credentials.
• Xiao Jinglin left after receiving an urgent message, and a clerk told Deng Qing that five thousand Merit Vouchers were waiting for him.
• Deng Qing remembered Jian Ruyu’s promise of a benefit and collected the five thousand Merit Vouchers through his bracelet.

Deng Qing learned that newly registered Military Selection Aides faced an assessment in less than three months and that his late arrival left him far behind the qualifying scores. He explored the Merit Rewards Hall’s tasks and access rules, then learned he could buy a True Condensation Pill only if he made the monthly Merit Point growth rankings.

• Deng Qing met Huang Yu at the Merit Rewards Hall, and Huang Yu recognized him as Brother Sincerity for drawing wasteland beasts away from Martial Exam Students in Liangshan Desolate Soil.
• Huang Yu warned Deng Qing that the ten lowest-ranked new aides would be sent to remote regions after an assessment in less than three months, and offered to help him find a post afterward.
• Deng Qing paid Huang Yu five Merit Vouchers to advise him, and learned that his retroactive voucher reward did not count toward his assessment score and that the eleventh aide from the bottom already had more than 240 Merit Points.
• Deng Qing examined the bracelet’s task list, found that some tasks required access or qualifications he lacked, and heard Huang Yu explain how research groups issued tasks and used Merit Points.
• Deng Qing asked how to obtain a True Condensation Pill, and Huang Yu explained that making the monthly Merit Point growth rankings would grant a Military Selection Aide the right to purchase one.

Deng Qing learned that advancement at the Martial Dao Lower Court depended on competition, rented a cave abode, and began planning how to earn Merit Vouchers before the assessment. After Xiao Jinglin shared the dead end in researching the sword immortal’s image, Deng Qing took a demanding task carrying a Star-Fixing Disc and helped Zhao Chuanqi’s group complete a map of the earth veins.

• Huang Yu explained the institute’s competitive system and warned Deng Qing to plan carefully for the assessment three months away.
• Deng Qing rented a cave abode for thirty Merit Vouchers a month and encountered Xia Daoyu, whose distant manner suggested Jian Ruyu’s influence was fading.
• Deng Qing listed possible tasks to earn Merit Vouchers, and Xiao Jinglin promised to look for suitable work while telling him that research into the sword immortal’s image had stalled.
• Deng Qing accepted a task carrying a heavy Star-Fixing Disc across the Wasteland while Zhao Chuanqi and five students mapped the earth veins.
• Zhao Chuanqi’s group closed the circle of red lights and completed the earth-vein map, then thanked Deng Qing for holding the disc in place.

Deng Qing finished his first month of tasks at the Martial Dao Institute and checked the monthly Merit Points rankings. Though he remained last overall, he made the ten-person Increase Ranking and gained the right to exchange for a True Condensation Pill, drawing attention from other aides.

• Deng Qing received seven Merit Points from Zhao Chuanqi for helping complete the Star-Fixing Disc chart and was promised consideration for future work.
• Deng Qing controlled a giant kite for a lightning experiment, then attended a charm-arts research session where he suppressed the effects of the students’ techniques.
• Deng Qing practiced the Tiger-Subduing Fist and checked his cultivation panel before waiting for the monthly rankings to update.
• Deng Qing found that his 137 Merit Points placed him last overall but tenth on the Increase Ranking, unlocking the True Condensation Pill exchange option.
• Huang Yu congratulated Deng Qing on making the Increase Ranking and warned that people were already asking about him; Deng Qing wondered whether his rapid rise might bring trouble.

After Huang Yu warned Deng Qing that others might resent his place on the ranking, Deng Qing sought support and preparation from Xiao Jinglin and Elder Han. Elder Han promised to back him and, after boasting of his improved Collapse Step, asked Deng Qing to demonstrate his own.

• Huang Yu warned Deng Qing that a group accustomed to the True Condensation Pill privilege might retaliate, and Deng Qing gave him ten Merit Vouchers.
• Deng Qing told Xiao Jinglin about the warning, and Xiao Jinglin gave him a Shadow Sound Button to record any dirty tricks.
• Deng Qing exchanged for five hundred Merit Vouchers and visited Elder Han, who accepted them after Deng Qing mentioned he also intended to give Elder Jian a gift.
• Elder Han assured Deng Qing that he would protect him and urged him to claim the ranking reward he had earned.
• Elder Han said his Collapse Step had advanced thanks to Deng Qing's mathematical notation, then asked Deng Qing to demonstrate his own skill.

Deng Qing impressed Elder Han with his Collapse Step and received annotated Numerical Arts classics, then refused Feng Lin’s offer to buy his right to purchase a True Condensation Pill. The next morning, Deng Qing answered a swordsmanship invitation and found himself sparring with Jiang Long while Chen Xiaotian watched.

• Elder Han challenged Deng Qing to demonstrate Collapse Step, then gave him annotated Numerical Arts classics and advice about competition at the Martial Dao Institute.
• Shao Yong and Feng Lin asked Deng Qing to transfer his True Condensation Pill purchase right, but Deng Qing refused because he needed the pill himself.
• Feng Lin revealed his grievance against Deng Qing and vowed to make him hand over the pill through the institute’s rules.
• Deng Qing received a swordsmanship sparring invitation from Jiang Long and went to the Martial Arts Ground, where he encountered Chen Xiaotian.
• Deng Qing sparred with Jiang Long using the Seven Forms of Settling Solitude, repeatedly dodging danger with his movement technique.

Deng Qing defeated Feng Lin and Shao Yong after they threatened him over a private grudge, then went to confront their allies. The chapter ended as Dai Xiaolou and Huang Xie challenged Deng Qing at Shao Yong’s cave residence.

• After completing three sword examinations, Deng Qing refused Shao Yong and Feng Lin’s demand to hand over his allocation for a True Condensation Pill.
• Feng Lin revealed his grudge over Liangshan and threatened Deng Qing, who recorded his words with a Shadow Sound Button before attacking him.
• Deng Qing beat Feng Lin and forced Shao Yong back despite Shao Yong’s Furnace Realm cultivation.
• Feng Lin returned to Shao Yong’s cave residence, where Dai Xiaolou and Huang Xie agreed to support him against Deng Qing.
• Deng Qing arrived at the cave residence, and Dai Xiaolou challenged him.

Deng Qing’s rivals planned to keep him off the Increase Ranking by blocking his access to Merit Points, while he trained and studied to advance. After earning Merit Points at the Cloud and Water Residence, he learned that the lightning research project had been canceled, costing him another source of work.

• Deng Qing told Feng Lin and the others not to bother him during sword practice, and Feng Lin restrained Dai Xiaolou because none of them could confidently defeat him.
• Shao Yong persuaded the group to compete against Deng Qing openly, recruit powerful allies, and avoid spreading false accusations that could draw the institute’s attention.
• Huang Xie reported that Steward Song would not interfere because Elder Han had inquired about the matter and Xiao Jinglin had declared Deng Qing his good brother.
• Deng Qing studied numerical arts and practiced the Tiger-Subduing Fist, determined to keep training toward one hundred percent progress.
• Deng Qing went to work at the Cloud and Water Residence, earned Merit Points, and watched a performance while resisting its seduction art.
• Deng Qing received word that the lightning research project had been temporarily canceled and that he no longer needed to return.

Deng Qing welcomed Xia Daoyu, accepted his warning about the coming Spirit Abyss Sea assignments, and gained a new elementary mathematics category on his panel while studying the Numerical Arts. After learning that Xiao Jinglin’s Clan Mausoleum Baleful Vein would soon be sealed, Deng Qing chose a low-reward nearshore task collecting mutant clams and prepared to make the most of it.

• Xia Daoyu visited Deng Qing with gifts, congratulated him on making the Increase Ranking, and warned that Spirit Abyss Sea tasks would be released within days.
• Deng Qing gave Xia Daoyu Merit Vouchers for himself, Steward Zheng Bei, and Chef Fei to repay their past kindness.
• While studying the Numerical Arts, Deng Qing saw the panel record elementary mathematics at one percent and found the subject suddenly easier to understand.
• Deng Qing reviewed the newly released Spirit Abyss Sea information and learned about its seasonal miasma and dangerous marine Qi Beasts.
• Xiao Jinglin told Deng Qing that his Clan Mausoleum Baleful Vein would be sealed within two months and urged him to prepare for a Furnace Realm breakthrough.
• Deng Qing found that the higher-reward Spirit Abyss Sea tasks required the Furnace Realm, so he selected a nearshore task collecting mutant clams.

Deng Qing turned the slow Variant Clam collection mission into an efficient operation by refining a shared blood signature and using it to locate and capture clams, earning over three hundred and forty Merit Points before the sea miasma forced everyone to return. Meanwhile, Shao Yong and his companions celebrated their dangerous work and rewards, while Feng Lin resented being left with few Merit Points because of his low cultivation.

• Deng Qing found and collected Variant Clams along the shore, then extracted and refined blood from six of them while Chen Xiaotian mocked his low-yield mission and bragged about gathering Jade Marrow Algae.
• Deng Qing used the Blood Control Art to isolate the blood signature shared by the clams, then used it the next day to detect and capture them rapidly, collecting 202 clams in one day.
• Deng Qing expanded his search over the following days and earned over three hundred and forty Merit Points before his bracelet warned that the sea miasma was surging back, prompting him to return.
• Deng Qing reviewed his earnings, then resumed studying Numerical Arts and practicing the Tiger-Subduing Fist in his cave abode.
• Shao Yong, Huang Xie, Dai Xiaolou, and Feng Lin discussed their dangerous mission and Merit Point earnings, but Feng Lin complained that his low cultivation had left him with little reward.

Shao Yong and his companions dismissed Deng Qing as a coward for collecting Variant Clams, while Shao Yong worried that he might be hiding a scheme. Deng Qing’s offshore hunt led him into a fight with a gigantic Clam King, which he defeated and discovered might contain energy he could refine like that of a Wasteland Beast.

• Shao Yong promised Feng Lin first claim on any True Condensation Pill the group earned, then warned that Duan Xinghun had already gained over two hundred Merit Points and hunted two Wasteland Beasts.
• Feng Lin, Dai Xiaolou, and Huang Xie mocked Deng Qing for safely collecting Variant Clams, but Shao Yong examined Deng Qing’s background and reasoned that his good reputation restrained him from exposing Feng Lin’s secrets.
• Deng Qing rented a boat and used his Blood Control Art to find and collect Variant Clams farther offshore, rapidly increasing his Merit Points.
• A gigantic Variant Clam dragged Deng Qing and his boat underwater, where it summoned a swarm of smaller clams to attack him.
• Deng Qing transformed, pulled the clams together with their tentacles, and killed them with his baleful blood threads, including the house-sized Clam King.
• Deng Qing sensed unusually rich, Wasteland Beast-like energy in the Clam King’s flesh and considered extracting and refining it.