Recaps

After the procurement convoy returned to Gu Family Village with heavy casualties, the main family planned revenge and sent Gu Jingang to attack the Mangniu Mountain bandits. Gu Jingang returned with loot and martial arts manuals but failed to find their leader Wang Chong, while Gu Sheng was told the main family would meet with him the next day.

• Gu Sheng returned to Gu Family Village with the injured convoy, and grieving villagers mourned their dead as a servant escorted him to rest at the main residence.
• A physician told the main family that Gu Dajiang's shattered left arm would never fight as freely again, and Gu Changming ordered Gu Jingang to take ten martial artists to destroy the Mangniu Mountain bandits.
• Gu Dajiang quietly told Gu Changming about Gu Sheng, and Gu Changming agreed to investigate whether he showed promise and could be given an opportunity.
• Gu Jingang rode out with the martial artists, while Gu Sheng heard their departure and later their return during the night.
• Gu Jingang reported that Wang Chong had not been at Mangniu Mountain, but he brought back the bandits' gold, silver, and two martial arts manuals.

Gu Dajiang, Gu Jingang, and Gu Changming discussed the Blood Strengthening Pills and Gu Sheng’s future, agreeing to recommend him for early martial training despite the clan elders’ reluctance to support youths outside the main family. Gu Sheng accepted the offer to begin training and help protect Gu Family Village.

• Gu Dajiang gave up his share of the Blood Strengthening Pills for Gu Xiaojiang and proposed keeping the fourth pill in reserve.
• Gu Changming praised Gu Sheng’s clean background, character, and exceptional archery talent, and Gu Jingang agreed that he deserved a chance to train.
• Gu Dajiang proposed asking the clan elders to grant Gu Sheng the basic monthly Body Tempering Paste allowance for three years, offering to deduct it from his own share if necessary.
• Gu Sheng was summoned and asked whether he would begin martial training and help protect Gu Family Village.
• Gu Sheng accepted the offer with gratitude.

Gu Jingang introduced Gu Sheng to the Iron Stone Fist and explained how its training forms differed from its combat techniques. Gu Sheng practiced the eighteen moves until he could complete them, though he remained far from mastering them.

• Gu Jingang explained the four stages of body tempering, the costs of martial arts training, and the requirement not to teach the Iron Stone Fist to outsiders.
• Gu Jingang demonstrated the Iron Stone Fist's slow, steady training method and its fast, fierce combat technique to the youths.
• Gu Sheng memorized the eighteen fist forms and began practicing while Gu Jingang judged his aptitude to be average.
• Gu Sheng practiced until near sunset and managed to perform all eighteen forms passably, expecting his panel to help once he got started.

After returning home, Gu Sheng balanced the cost of martial arts training against his need to earn money and realized that his advanced wood-chopping skills were helping him learn the Iron Stone Fist faster. At the village training grounds, Gu Xiaojiang offered to guide him, leaving Gu Sheng with a new source of instruction.

• Gu Sheng ate a large meal after training and concluded that he would need to keep hunting to afford meat and medicinal meals for martial arts practice.
• As winter approached, Gu Sheng practiced the Iron Stone Fist and archery, and he realized that his wood-chopping experience was helping him control his strength and progress faster.
• At the martial arts grounds, Gu Xiaojiang advised Gu Sheng to relax and picture his force spreading through his body like ripples in a lake.
• Gu Xiaojiang thanked Gu Sheng for helping him during the bandit fight and offered to teach him the Iron Stone Fist; Gu Sheng accepted.

Gu Sheng continued training in the Iron Stone Fist and reached its beginner stage, allowing him to begin tempering his skin membranes. Gu Xiaojiang judged that Gu Sheng could become a Skin Refining stage martial artist within three years with regular Body Tempering Paste, and told him to collect his share the next day.

• Zhang Ze and his wife spoke with Gu Sheng and envied his growing prospects as a future martial artist.
• Gu Sheng practiced the Iron Stone Fist until its force reached his skin membranes, then struck a wooden post and entered the beginner stage after twenty-eight days.
• Gu Sheng checked his panel and saw the Iron Stone Fist recorded as Beginner 1%.
• Gu Sheng continued practicing to temper his skin membranes and described the resulting prickling sensation to Gu Xiaojiang.
• Gu Xiaojiang said Gu Sheng's physique was good enough to reach the Skin Refining stage within three years with two portions of Body Tempering Paste each month, and told him to collect this month's paste the next day.

Gu Sheng concealed his rapid progress in Iron Stone Fist while using Body Tempering Paste to speed up his Skin Refining training. After a month, he decided to leave the training ground and practice at home, keeping his unusual advancement from drawing attention.

• Gu Xiaojiang said Gu Sheng would need to prove his worth to gain the clan elders’ recognition, while Gu Sheng privately relied on his panel to accelerate his training.
• Gu Sheng used Body Tempering Paste and practiced Iron Stone Fist, deciding to buy extra portions to hasten his progress toward becoming a martial artist.
• Over the following half-month, Gu Sheng raised Iron Stone Fist to 26% progress, and a month after first learning it, he had reached 53%.
• Gu Xiaojiang praised Gu Sheng’s improving technique, unaware that Gu Sheng was deliberately hiding how quickly he was advancing.
• Gu Sheng told Gu Xiaojiang he would train at home from then on, and Gu Xiaojiang accepted his explanation that he preferred a quiet place to cultivate.

During the harsh winter, Gu Sheng continued training and learned that Canghe County was nearing conflict between county magistrate Cao and county lieutenant Liu. Gu Family Village planned to stay neutral, while Gu Sheng resolved to strengthen himself.

• Gu Sheng practiced the Iron Stone Fist and archery through the heavy snow, bringing his fist proficiency to 99% and his archery to 43%.
• Gu Xiaojiang visited Gu Sheng with demon wolf meat and strong liquor, and the two drank and talked.
• Gu Xiaojiang told Gu Sheng that county magistrate Cao and county lieutenant Liu had fallen out, with the Black Sand Gang backing Cao as gangs chose sides.
• Gu Sheng worried that the county's conflict could make life harder for Gu Family Village, but learned the elders intended to keep the village out of it.
• After Gu Xiaojiang left, Gu Sheng ate the demon wolf meat and set out to break through to minor mastery in the Iron Stone Fist.

Gu Sheng used demon wolf meat to reach minor mastery in Iron Stone Fist, greatly increasing his strength and speeding his skin tempering. As Great Cold brought deadly blizzards to Qingzhou, he shared padded jackets with Gu Erniu’s family and heard of another villager freezing to death, while unrest in Canghe County neared its end.

• Gu Sheng practiced with the energy from demon wolf meat and broke through to minor mastery in Iron Stone Fist, doubling his strength.
• Gu Sheng tested his new power by smashing a wooden post apart, then resolved to keep training so he could reach Stone Skin as soon as possible.
• Gu Sheng estimated that Iron Stone Fist would reach major mastery in about four months and believed he could become a Stone Skin martial artist within half a year.
• As Great Cold set in, Gu Sheng gave Gu Erniu two padded jackets for his wife and Xiao Wan.
• Gu Erniu told Gu Sheng that Uncle Ergen had frozen to death after his roof was blown off, and the two lamented the winter’s growing toll.
• Blizzards battered Qingzhou for two months as Canghe County’s unrest neared its end.

Liu Yuanhu and Zhao Honglie overthrew Cao Shiduan and seized control of Canghe County, while quietly mistrusting one another. After hearing how the county’s power structure had changed, Gu Sheng remained deeply unsettled.

• Zhao Honglie led Liu Yuanhu’s forces into the county yamen and brought out the captured Cao Shiduan.
• Liu Yuanhu told Cao Shiduan he would claim the magistrate had died in a winter hunt and take over as magistrate himself.
• Zhao Honglie beheaded Cao Shiduan after Cao warned that Zhao would eventually turn against Liu Yuanhu.
• Liu Yuanhu sent Zhao Honglie and the Black Sand Gang away, then told Zhang Guangqun to watch Zhao until Liu secured control of the county.
• Liu Yuanhu’s faction purged wealthy households that had backed Cao Shiduan, while neutral and favored families faced different fortunes.
• Gu Xiaojiang told Gu Sheng about the upheaval, and Gu Sheng struggled to calm himself.

After the Black Sand Gang’s rise left Gu Family Village under greater threat, Gu Sheng resolved to keep strengthening himself rather than rely on the village’s elders. Winter passed, and news arrived that a new emperor had taken the throne and renamed the era Guangxing, but Gu Sheng doubted the dynasty could be saved.

• Gu Sheng warned Gu Xiaojiang that Liu Yuanhu would likely distrust the Black Sand Gang after its defection, giving Gu Family Village a chance to wait for the gang’s downfall.
• Gu Sheng grew wary of Du Jiangbo, whom the elders suspected had helped the Black Sand Gang take control of Li Family Fort after its martial artists and residents were massacred.
• Gu Sheng continued training, with his Iron Stone Fist and archery proficiency advancing rapidly, and decided he would find his own resources rather than depend on Gu Family Village.
• Heavy snow gave way to spring, and the people of Gu Family Village emerged to resume their lives after a difficult winter.
• County constables announced that the new emperor had changed the era name to Guangxing; Gu Sheng doubted the change could revive the decaying Great Liang dynasty.

Gu Sheng broke through the limits of ordinary archery and gained the First-order Penetration special effect, giving him a powerful ranged attack. He planned to focus on tempering his skin and mastering the Iron Stone Fist while seeking better arrows and, eventually, archery martial arts.

• Gu Sheng practiced archery until an arrow pierced two wooden stakes, revealing that he had gained the First-order Penetration special effect.
• Gu Sheng checked his panel and realized Penetration could threaten stone skin and Iron Skin martial artists, though using it shattered ordinary arrows.
• Gu Sheng considered improving his equipment and strength and learning archery martial arts, then decided to prioritize the Iron Stone Fist and becoming a martial artist.
• Gu Sheng resumed hunting after spring arrived and earned far more than nearby hunters thanks to his improved archery.
• Gu Sheng planned to hunt tigers or black bears after becoming a martial artist to cover his expenses and preserve his savings.

Gu Sheng used his archery to hunt a wild boar and promised a share of the meat to the herb gatherer who found its trail. As Gu Sheng and Gu Xiaojiang ate together, they learned that the Black Sand Gang had arrived to collect the annual tribute.

• Gu Sheng offered hunters and herb gatherers one-tenth of a wild boar's spoils for detailed information about its whereabouts.
• A herb gatherer found boar tracks, injured his leg while investigating, and worried that Gu Sheng might fail to catch the animal.
• Gu Sheng returned to Gu Family Village carrying a wild boar and promised the herb gatherer his share of the meat.
• Gu Sheng and Gu Xiaojiang discussed his hunting, his prospects as a martial artist, and the clan elders' decision to honor his Body Tempering Paste share.
• Villagers shouted that the Black Sand Gang had arrived, and Gu Sheng and Gu Xiaojiang realized the annual tribute collectors were there.

The Black Sand Gang, led by Han Lu, demanded that Gu Family Village raise its annual tribute from two thousand taels to three thousand, using its strength and the County Lieutenant’s indifference to force compliance. Gu Changming paid, leaving the village humiliated and angry as he called for a meeting with the elders.

• Black Sand Gang riders whipped and trampled tenant farmers on their way to the estate owner's residence.
• Han Lu arrived at the training ground and demanded three thousand taels in tribute, claiming the gang had raised the amount to cover its losses fighting bandits.
• Gu Jingang challenged Han Lu, but Han Lu demonstrated his strength and warned that neighboring forts had already paid the increased tribute.
• Gu Changming decided Gu Family Village could not afford to defy the gang and ordered another thousand taels brought out.
• Han Lu took the three chests of silver and departed with his men, while Gu Changming called for the elders to discuss the situation.

The Black Sand Gang collected increased tributes across the region while preparing for an eventual break with Liu Yuanhu, and Gu Family Village responded by tightening its resources and training. Gu Sheng continued practicing in private, leaving the chapter close to becoming a true martial artist as the Gang temporarily stopped stirring up trouble.

• Han Lu led the Black Sand Gang riders toward Li Family Fort and explained that Liu Yuanhu would eventually turn against the Gang, so they should seize resources and strengthen themselves in the meantime.
• Gu Sheng worried that the tribute paid by Gu Family Village would reduce young martial artists’ cultivation resources, and he intensified his Iron Stone Fist training.
• Gu Xiaojiang told Gu Sheng that the elders were concentrating resources on talented youths, including him, while Gu Dajiang would make up for any resources Gu Sheng lost.
• Gu Xiaojiang and Gu Sheng drank together, and Gu Xiaojiang said that extra training would leave him with less time to visit.
• The Black Sand Gang collected increased annual tributes from nearby villages and forts, then stopped causing further trouble while Gu Sheng kept training discreetly.

Gu Sheng advanced his Iron Stone Fist to mastery after realizing that its combat and training methods were one technique. The breakthrough greatly accelerated the tempering of his skin membranes, bringing him close to becoming a martial artist.

• Gu Sheng returned to the village with a wolf, declined another marriage proposal, and delivered a wolf leg to Gu Erniu's family.
• Gu Sheng practiced Iron Stone Fist with Body Tempering Paste, knowing his skin-tempering progress was far ahead of what others expected.
• Gu Sheng realized that Iron Stone Fist's combat and training methods were not separate, but different expressions of the same technique.
• Gu Sheng merged the methods, reached mastery in Iron Stone Fist, and felt the new force rapidly tempering his skin membranes.

Gu Xiaojiang struggled to master the Iron Stone Fist under Gu Jingang’s instruction, while Gu Sheng used his own mastery of the technique to break through to the Stone Skin stage. The chapter ended with Gu Sheng becoming a martial artist after a little over half a year of training.

• Gu Jingang told Gu Xiaojiang that mastering the Iron Stone Fist would make his breakthrough to the Blood Refining Realm within three years certain, but Gu Xiaojiang could not unite its combat techniques and training methods.
• Gu Jingang recalled that he had reached mastery while fighting a notorious bandit in a desperate, near-fatal encounter, and admitted he had no insight into the perfected realm.
• Gu Sheng reasoned that the perfected realm might unite the heart and stance, then decided to use his newly mastered Iron Stone Fist to temper his skin membrane.
• Gu Sheng practiced the Iron Stone Fist repeatedly, and his skin membrane grew tougher as the fused combat techniques and training methods increased his tempering efficiency.
• Gu Sheng broke through to the Stone Skin stage, gaining hardened skin, greater strength, and sharper senses, and became a martial artist.

After becoming a Stone Skin martial artist, Gu Sheng planned to conceal his progress while seeking a stronger bow and supplies through the black market. He continued training and hunting as he waited for a chance to travel to the city with the village party.

• Gu Sheng realized that Stone Skin had greatly improved his defense and strength, and he considered acquiring a four-stone bow from the black market.
• Gu Sheng decided to hide his breakthrough and seek resources discreetly, since his rapid progress and future need for blood-refining medicines could attract scrutiny.
• Gu Sheng kept practicing and concealed his increased need for meat and Body Tempering Paste while waiting for a spring trip to the city.
• Gu Sheng continued hunting for income and quietly searched deeper in Cang Mountain for tigers and wild bears so his strength would not become obvious.

Gu Sheng traveled with Gu Family Village’s purchasing convoy to Canghe County, sold pelts, and planned to visit the black market for martial arts supplies. He learned that Old Mr. Zhang, the storyteller he had met on his last trip, had died over the winter.

• Gu Sheng joined the village convoy, and Gu Erniu asked him to sell two pelts on his behalf.
• Gu Jingang led the cautious convoy to Canghe County without trouble, and Gu Renbing told the villagers to keep their travel permits with them.
• Gu Sheng set up a stall and sold nearly all the pelts he had brought, earning more than four taels of silver.
• Gu Sheng intended to visit the black-market contact who had sold him a bow, but he came upon the tea shed where Old Mr. Li was telling stories.
• Gu Sheng asked a passerby about Old Mr. Zhang and learned that he had died the previous winter.

After failing to learn anything new from a storyteller, Gu Sheng obtained a token and entered Canghe County’s black market, where he cautiously surveyed its sellers and wares. He stopped at a stall selling Body Tempering Paste and questioned the seller about its authenticity.

• Gu Sheng heard Old Mr. Li’s stories but found no information about last year’s upheaval in the county seat.
• Gu Sheng paid Old Xu for a black-market token and learned to enter through Black Dog Alley after the third quarter of the Hour of the Rat.
• Gu Sheng disguised himself, watched the alley, presented his token, and paid another half tael of silver to enter the black market.
• Gu Sheng cautiously surveyed the stalls and noticed that medicinal powders and weapons drew more customers than martial arts manuals.
• Gu Sheng asked a fair-faced seller whether his Body Tempering Paste was genuine, and the man claimed he worked for Alchemist Ge Qing.

Gu Sheng bought Body Tempering Paste and a four-stone bow at the black market, then browsed its more expensive wares and martial arts manuals. He stopped to question a stallholder about the Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art, but the seller's answers remained vague as he tried to close the deal.

• Gu Sheng bought eleven packets of Body Tempering Paste from a vendor claiming to be connected to the renowned alchemist Ge Qing, inspecting each packet before paying.
• Gu Sheng paid eight taels for a well-made four-stone bow from an aloof, masked stallholder.
• Gu Sheng explored the market and saw Blood Nourishing Powder, divine weapons, rare pills, and arrows he considered too poor in quality to buy.
• Gu Sheng stopped at a stall selling the Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art and asked how quickly it could be learned and what its basics enabled.
• The stallholder assured Gu Sheng that he could learn the basics quickly and offered the manual for nine taels, but gave vague answers about further cultivation.

Gu Sheng bargained down the price of the Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art to one tael of silver and bought the manual, believing his panel would let him master it through practice. Wary of people targeting him after his purchases, he stayed in the black market until closing, when its guards ordered everyone to leave.

• Gu Sheng rejected the stall owner's high asking price, then bought the Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art for one tael of silver after confirming its instructions felt genuine.
• The stall owner secretly left the market in disguise, confident that buyers would struggle to advance without his exclusive medicinal paste.
• Gu Sheng felt pleased with his purchases, including the four-stone bow, Body Tempering Paste, and the martial art manual.
• Noticing people watching him after he had spent nearly twenty taels of silver, Gu Sheng stayed in the black market rather than risk being robbed on the way out.
• After the hour of the Tiger, the guards announced that the black market was closing and ordered everyone to leave within a quarter of an hour.

Gu Sheng escaped an ambush at the black market, then fought and killed a poisoned-dart attacker who pursued him. He left the lean martial artist dead after stabbing him repeatedly in the heart.

• Gu Sheng followed the black market patrons out and evaded a group that tried to surround him.
• Gu Sheng sensed a faster pursuer trailing him and lured the man into attacking with poisoned darts.
• Gu Sheng dodged the darts and shot the lean black-clad martial artist through the shoulder with his four-stone bow.
• The wounded man was slowed by Black Blood Powder and charged Gu Sheng, who fought back with Iron Stone Fist.
• Gu Sheng overwhelmed the lean martial artist and stabbed him in the heart until he stopped moving.

Gu Sheng killed a Black Sand Gang martial artist at the black market and claimed his supplies before erasing the evidence. He returned safely to Gu Family Village’s courtyard, then sold his remaining hides and secured future buyers.

• Gu Sheng searched the dead martial artist and found Body Tempering Paste, poisons, Corpse Dissolving Water, darts, and money, but no martial arts manual.
• Gu Sheng dissolved the corpse, disposed of his bloodstained nightwear, and returned safely to his quarters.
• Gu Sheng greeted Gu Renbing, who said the group would finish shopping and return to the village the next day.
• Gu Sheng avoided Gu Jingang and sold his remaining hides to wealthy households that reserved future hides from him.
• Gu Sheng listened to a storyteller and hoped the new emperor would restore order across the realm.

Gu Sheng practiced the Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art and set out with Gu Family Village’s convoy, where they encountered Han Lu escorting Li Family Fort. The chapter ended with a woman in Han Lu’s carriage asking whether the Black Sand Gang had hunted a Silver Fox last year.

• Gu Sheng studied the Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art, practiced until his face hurt, and estimated he could get started in four or five days.
• Gu Renbing loaded the supplies and led Gu Family Village’s convoy out of the city with Gu Sheng among the villagers.
• Gu Family Village’s convoy met Li Family Fort’s convoy, which Han Lu was escorting, and Gu Jingang traded barbed remarks with him.
• Gu Sheng kept his strength concealed and grew wary as the convoys passed each other.
• In his carriage, Han Lu indulged a woman in a red dress, who asked whether anyone from the Black Sand Gang had hunted a Silver Fox last year.

Li Yu pressed Han Lu to investigate her brother Li Yan’s death, and Han Lu agreed to look into it while keeping her under his control. Gu Sheng returned safely to Gu Family Village and resumed training, adding the Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art.

• Han Lu confronted Li Yu for asking about the Silver Fox and accused her of using him to investigate Li Yan’s death.
• Han Lu said Black Sand Gang members had hunted Silver Foxes but had never encountered Li Yan, and agreed to investigate the old case slowly.
• Li Yu agreed to keep serving Han Lu while privately vowing to avenge Li Yan.
• The Gu Family Village convoy arrived safely, and Gu Sheng returned home after refusing a share of the money from selling Gu Erniu’s hide.
• Gu Sheng trained in the Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art for four days, and his panel showed it at Beginner 0%.