Chapter Summaries

Xu Chuan returned home to his pregnant wife Bai Jing and their two sons after a day of work, and the family shared a meal together. As a heavy rain began, Xu Chuan reassured Bai Jing that their growing household would be supported by the Jade Pear harvest and his plans to expand their home.

• Xu Chuan greeted Uncle Chen on his way home with two black carp and headed back to check on pregnant Bai Jing.
• Xu Chuan’s sons, Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan, excitedly welcomed him, and he explained that ants moving in a line meant rain was coming.
• Xu Chuan prepared dinner while the boys gathered eggs and herded chickens; after a rooster knocked Xu Mingyuan down, Xu Chuan promised to avenge him.
• The family ate fish soup together, with both sons giving the first sip to Bai Jing.
• As torrential rain began, Bai Jing asked about preparing for their third child, and Xu Chuan said he planned to expand the house and could rely on the Jade Pear harvest.

During the harvest, Xu Chuan learned that Uncle Yu's abandoned rice fields might soon be reclaimed and put up for sale, while also asking Uncle Chen about an Inner Force Manual. The next day's divination revealed that the Qingjiang County Registrar would arrive in Dongxi Village, giving Xu Chuan a chance to buy fifty mu of rice fields.

• Xu Chuan divined that harvesting would bring him news about an Inner Force Manual and ownerless rice fields.
• While harvesting beside Chen Ergou and Uncle Chen, Xu Chuan asked about martial arts and learned that Uncle Yu's land might soon be reclaimed by the authorities.
• Xu Chuan finished harvesting, took Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan to help dry the rice, and later scolded and bathed them after they got muddy.
• Bai Jing practiced her skills that night, and Xu Chuan praised her progress.
• The next morning, Xu Chuan divined that the Qingjiang County Registrar would arrive at Dongxi Village and that he might purchase fifty mu of rice fields.

Xu Chuan bought Uncle Yu’s fifty mu of rice fields and arranged to hire workers, expanding his household’s land and grain supply. Days later, Bai Jing went into labor, and Xu Chuan rushed home to wait anxiously while the midwife helped her.

• Xu Chuan bought fifty mu of rice fields from Registrar Yang Zhao, then guided Yang and the Yamen Runners to inspect the remaining land.
• Xu Chuan told Bai Jing about the purchase, and later checked that his harvested rice was drying and his guarded woodland was secure.
• After the rice was stored, Xu Chuan hired workers to cultivate the newly purchased fields.
• Chen Ergou told Xu Chuan that Bai Jing was about to give birth, so Xu Chuan hurried home and boiled water while Xu Yan kept him from entering the room.
• Chen Ergou gave Xu Chuan a Qi-Blood Pill and said he had taken Shitou and A Yuan to his home; Xu Chuan promised to repay the favor, but focused on Bai Jing’s labor.

Xu Chuan welcomed his and Bai Jing’s newborn son, then sold the Jade Pear harvest to the Xu Lineage while guarding against its eldest son’s interest in his growing methods. He returned home with the payment and reassured Bai Jing that Third Master Xu would honor the family’s reputation.

• Bai Jing safely gave birth to a boy, whom Xu Chuan named Xu Mingxuan and nicknamed Charcoal Head.
• Xu Chuan promised Xu Mingyuan a chicken and let him show which rooster had picked on him.
• Xu Chuan sold 6,400 jin of Jade Pears to Third Master Xu at last year’s price and denied having a secret growing method.
• Xu Tao urged his father to take Xu Chuan’s method, but Third Master Xu warned him not to damage the Xu Lineage’s reputation and good faith.
• Xu Chuan reassured Bai Jing about the sale, then left to repay Chen Ergou for the Qi-Blood Pill.

Xu Chuan agreed to trade his Jade Pear cultivation method to Chen Daming for a superior Inner Force Manual and ten Qi-Blood Pills, subject to conditions. After the exchange, Xu Chuan left with the Little Dragon Elephant Art, while Uncle Chen warned that he had never seen Xu Chuan lose out.

• Xu Chuan paid Chen Ergou a hundred taels for the Qi-Blood Pill and heard that Chen Daming wanted to trade an Inner Force Manual for his Jade Pear cultivation method.
• Xu Chuan agreed to consider the trade if Uncle Chen witnessed it, the risks of cultivation failure were accepted, and Chen Daming provided a superior manual and ten Qi-Blood Pills.
• Chen Ergou went to the county seat, where Chen Daming agreed to return in seven days with a superior Inner Force Manual and discuss the pills.
• Xu Chuan and Chen Daming inspected each other's items at Uncle Chen's house, then signed and thumbprinted the trade agreement.
• After Xu Chuan left with the Little Dragon Elephant Art, Chen Daming planned to try growing Jade Pears, while Uncle Chen cautioned that Xu Chuan rarely came out the loser.

Xu Chuan hosted a full-moon banquet for Xu Mingxuan and checked the baby’s entry in the Bloodline Genealogy, which showed no special aptitude. Afterward, he explained to Bai Jing why he had traded his Jade Pear cultivation notes to Chen Daming.

• Xu Chuan practiced the Little Dragon Elephant Art for several days, noticing little progress beyond an increased appetite.
• Xu Chuan welcomed his in-laws and friends to Xu Mingxuan’s full-moon banquet, where the families ate, drank, and celebrated together.
• Xu Chuan added Xu Mingxuan’s blood to the Bloodline Genealogy and found that the baby had incomplete five-element spiritual roots, no talent, and no bloodline.
• Bai Jing asked Xu Chuan why Chen Ergou’s family had given them a whole tael, and Xu Chuan explained that he had traded Jade Pear cultivation notes to Chen Daming for an Inner Force Manual and ten Qi-Blood Pills.
• Xu Chuan reassured Bai Jing that sharing the notes would reduce danger to their family and let the Chen Household attract attention instead.

Xu Chuan renovated the Xu Household manor and decided to prepare his eldest son Xu Mingwei to lead the family by training him in martial arts. He bestowed [Natural Divine Strength] and [Eagle Eye] on Xu Mingwei, who began a demanding daily routine of practice, study, and learning household affairs.

• Xu Chuan finished renovating the Xu Household manor, and time passed until the Year Sacrifice arrived.
• Xu Chuan asked Xu Mingwei to take on the responsibility of supporting the Xu Household and learned that the boy accepted his plans.
• Xu Chuan used the clan genealogy to bestow [Natural Divine Strength] and [Eagle Eye] on Xu Mingwei.
• Xu Chuan assigned Xu Mingwei daily martial arts and archery practice, reading and writing, and lessons in managing the household's fields and forests.
• Bai Jing worried that Xu Chuan was pushing their six-year-old son too hard, but Xu Chuan insisted Xu Mingwei could endure the training and arranged for more meat at meals.
• Xu Mingwei began practicing martial arts with Xu Chuan before dawn, then joined Xu Mingyuan for their daily reading lesson.

Three years later, Xu Mingwei had grown stronger and learned the Little Dragon Elephant Art while the Xu Household prospered through farming. When Chen Ergou and Xu Yan fought over their failing Jade Pears, Xu Mingyuan advised their children to persuade Xu Yan to grow ordinary fruit instead.

• Xu Mingwei worked in the paddy with Xu Chuan and Xu Mingyuan, while Xu Chuan reflected on their progress in opening apertures through the Little Dragon Elephant Art.
• The family returned home to a meal prepared by Bai Jing, who later told Xu Chuan she was pregnant again, and he welcomed the child.
• Xu Chuan's farmland, wooded hillside, and fruit crops brought the Xu Household several hundred taels a year and made it comfortably prosperous.
• Xu Yan chased Chen Ergou with a broom after returning from the hillside, and their children went to the Xu Household to escape the quarrel.
• Xu Mingyuan listened to Daniu and Chen Fangfang describe their parents' dispute and advised them to persuade Xu Yan to stop growing Jade Pears and plant ordinary fruit instead.

Xu Mingyuan proposed that the Xu and Chen families cooperate in growing and selling produce, impressing Xu Chuan with his business sense. Xu Chuan decided to bestow a Fate Talent on him, while Chen Ergou agreed to consider the partnership and discuss its terms.

• Xu Mingyuan explained a produce partnership to Chen Daniu and Xu Mingwei, proposing that the Xu family receive seventy percent of the profits because Xu Chuan would guide the growing and the family’s reputation would attract customers.
• Chen Fangfang and Chen Daniu returned home to tell Chen Ergou about Xu Mingyuan’s idea, and Chen Ergou enthusiastically agreed it was a good opportunity.
• Xu Chuan praised Xu Mingyuan’s reasoning and asked what he wanted to do when he grew up; Xu Mingyuan said he preferred business to martial training or farming.
• Xu Chuan called Xu Mingyuan inside and intended to bestow a Fate Talent upon him, while Shitou was told to guard the entrance.
• Xu Yan urged Chen Ergou to think through the partnership terms before approaching Xu Chuan, and Chen Ergou agreed to visit him in a couple of days.

Chen Ergou proposed a partnership to sell produce with the Xu household, and Xu Chuan agreed to fair terms while warning him about hiring protection amid reports of refugees. That night, a mysterious beggar attacked Xu Mingwei, leaving Xu Chuan wary of unrest.

• Chen Ergou offered to sell produce from both households, and Xu Chuan agreed to a partnership with the Xu household keeping its profits and Chen's household receiving twenty percent of its own profits.
• Xu Chuan suggested that Chen Ergou hire reliable martial artists for protection and learned that refugees were coming from the west.
• After drinking heavily, Chen Ergou was carried home by Xu Mingwei, who was struck on the head by a ragged beggar wielding a club.
• The beggar fled when Xu Mingwei barely reacted to the blow, and Xu Mingwei took the drunken Chen Ergou home instead of pursuing him.
• Xu Mingwei warned Xu Yan and told Xu Chuan about the attack, and Xu Chuan cautioned the family against going out at night.

Xu Chuan and Xu Mingwei prepared an ambush for five thieves who planned to murder their family and steal their wealth. They killed the intruders, then began hiding the bodies and salvaging their weapons.

• After a divination warned that five people would climb over the wall to kill for money, Xu Chuan set traps and installed hidden crossbows around the house.
• Xu Chuan told Xu Mingwei to wait on the roof with a bow, and Xu Mingwei poisoned his arrows.
• Boss Bear and four men climbed into the Xu family’s yard, where traps and crossbow bolts wounded them and killed two.
• Xu Mingwei shot the wounded Second Brother, while Xu Chuan killed Boss Bear with his woodcutting blade.
• Xu Mingwei killed another fallen thief, and Xu Chuan found silver, the Savage Bear Force manual, and six Qi-Blood Pills on Boss Bear.
• Xu Chuan ordered Xu Mingwei to help bury the bodies and clean the arrows for reuse.

Xu Chuan and his family helped a starving refugee father and son, then Xu Chuan used [Daily Divination] to learn that they were survivors of a prominent clan and that the boy had promising Martial Way talent. He considered taking them into the Xu Household after the divination returned an auspicious omen.

• Xu Chuan and Xu Mingwei practiced the Little Dragon Elephant Art, and Xu Mingwei opened another Aperture.
• As refugees arrived in Dongxi Village, Bai Jing gave food and water to a starving man and his young son, and Xu Mingxuan shared a pastry with the boy.
• The refugee father told Bai Jing that a flood had destroyed their home and that his wife and eldest daughter had died on the journey.
• Xu Chuan offered the father and son temporary shelter and food, promising to decide the next day whether to take them in.
• Xu Chuan's [Daily Divination] revealed that the father and son had belonged to a prominent clan and that the boy had hope of reaching Xiantian.

Xu Chuan took in Li Ganfeng and his son as servants, renamed them Li Er and Li Zhi, and registered them in Dongxi Village. At the Qingjiang County Yamen, Xu Chuan also advised Registrar Yang on settling refugees, earning a Yang Family Token before returning home.

• Li Ganfeng told Xu Chuan that he and his son, Li Taia, had fled West Mountain County, and agreed to serve the Xu Household in exchange for shelter and care.
• Xu Chuan renamed the father and son Li Er and Li Zhi, had them sign servant contracts, and arranged for them to stay with his family.
• Xu Chuan took Li Er and Li Zhi to the Qingjiang County Yamen, where Registrar Yang registered them as residents of Dongxi Village.
• Registrar Yang asked Xu Chuan how Qingjiang County should settle its refugees, and Xu Chuan proposed organized registration, relief rations, public works, servant recruitment, and rent-free farmland.
• Yang Zhao rewarded Xu Chuan's advice with a Yang Family Token, then began drafting a refugee settlement plan based on his suggestions.

Xu Chuan’s family and Chen Ergou’s family harvested and sold their watermelons, while Xu Chuan used saltpeter to chill some for the family. The trip ended successfully, and Xu Chuan kept the location of the saltpeter deposit in the unclaimed woodland to himself.

• Xu Chuan hired Zhou Ming and three martial artists as household staff and guards.
• Chen Ergou and Xu Chuan arranged for Chen Ergou, Zhao Dalong, Sun Fugui, Qian Youcai, and seven-year-old Xu Mingyuan to sell the ripe watermelons.
• Xu Chuan chilled watermelons with a white crystal and sent some to Chen Ergou and Uncle Chen.
• Chen Ergou’s group returned after selling every watermelon, and Chen Ergou told Xu Yan that Xu Mingyuan had given bulk buyers a cooling stone as a gift.
• Xu Chuan told Xu Yan he had found the white stone in the woodland, concealing that he had discovered a saltpeter deposit there.

Xu Chuan’s twins were born, and he discovered that Xu Mingxian had a cultivation talent that granted the Xu Household a cultivation manual. He began planning for the family’s future and ordered Xu Mingyuan to train in martial arts, leaving the household’s descendants and workers gradually joining morning practice.

• Bai Jing gave birth to twins, Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingxian, and Xu Chuan entered their details into the Clan Genealogy.
• Xu Chuan discovered Xu Mingshu’s keen spiritual perception and Xu Mingxian’s Swallowing Mountains and Rivers talent, which caused the Clan Genealogy to grant him the Xiantian Five Elements Creation Art.
• Xu Chuan decided to keep the cultivation method secret until a descendant reached Xiantian and resolved to train Xu Mingyuan toward that realm.
• Xu Chuan ordered Xu Mingwei to teach Xu Mingyuan martial arts, and Xu Mingyuan reluctantly chose the Flood Dragon Fist.
• Xu Mingyuan joined the household’s morning practice, followed over time by Zhao Dalong, Sun Fugui, and Qian Youcai.

Five years after Xu Mingyuan began martial arts training, the Xu Household had grown wealthier and its young martial artists had advanced rapidly. Xu Mingwei dominated a series of sparring matches, but faced real pressure when Zhao Dalong, Sun Fugui, and Qian Youcai attacked him together.

• Xu Chuan’s family expanded its landholdings and produce business, while the men around the household married and started families.
• Xu Mingyuan fought Xu Mingwei with Flood Dragon Fist, but Xu Mingwei blocked and countered his attacks with ease.
• Xu Chuan ordered Zhao Dalong to spar with Xu Mingwei, who proved more skilled despite holding back his strength.
• Xu Chuan sent Sun Fugui and Qian Youcai to join Zhao Dalong, and their combined assault forced Xu Mingwei to increase his Inner Force slightly.

Xu Chuan watched Xu Mingwei demonstrate his martial arts, then agreed to let Xu Mingyuan open an independent fruit and vegetable shop in Qingjiang County Seat and stop selling Jade Pears to the Xu Lineage. The family prepared for new ventures as Xu Mingwei left for the mountains and Xu Chuan began his younger children's martial arts training.

• Xu Mingwei used the Little Dragon Elephant Art to defeat three fighters in a sparring match, and Xu Chuan called an end to it.
• At breakfast, Xu Chuan discussed opening a county-seat shop with Xu Mingyuan, who proposed selling the family's produce and Jade Pears independently.
• Xu Chuan approved Xu Mingyuan's plan, assigned Zhou Ming and the household's fighters to help, and told him to explain the decision to Uncle Ergou.
• Xu Mingyuan hurried to speak with Uncle Ergou, while Xu Mingwei left for the mountains after promising Xu Mingshu he would find her a young animal.
• Xu Chuan told Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingxian to begin practicing martial arts and said he would teach them himself.

Xu Mingyuan persuaded Chen Ergou to open separate shops in Qingjiang County, then consulted Xu Chuan about where to establish the Xu Household’s fruit and vegetable business. Xu Chuan explained a supermarket-style plan for the West Market, and Xu Mingyuan set out to secure a location and partnerships.

• Xu Mingyuan visited Chen Ergou and proposed that their households open separate shops in Qingjiang County to avoid risking their shared businesses among the county’s powerful interests.
• Chen Ergou agreed to run his own shop, and he and Xu Yan chose the East Market for its wealthier customers.
• Xu Mingyuan asked Xu Chuan whether the Xu Household should choose the East or West Market, and Xu Chuan advised that a shop differed from selling at a stall.
• Xu Chuan described a supermarket-style business in the West Market, where the Xu Household could sell its own premium produce, including Jade Pears, while hosting independent growers.
• Xu Mingyuan grasped the plan, collected banknotes from Bai Jing, and left for Qingjiang County with Zhou Ming, Zhao Dalong, and the others to find a location and discuss partnerships.

Xu Mingwei ventured deep into Broken Fang Mountain to test himself against unusual beasts and encountered a powerful white-furred ape and a formidable tiger. After trading heavy blows with the tiger, he discovered a second, smaller tiger emerging from its cave.

• Xu Mingwei traveled beyond the cleared woods, carrying a heavy black iron bow and seeking unusual beasts to fight.
• A white-furred ape ambushed Xu Mingwei with hard black fruits, but he wounded it with a thrown stone and took one fruit with him.
• Xu Mingwei found a powerful tiger dragging an antler deer and followed it to its cave.
• Xu Mingwei exchanged blows with the tiger, matching its strength before being knocked back by its tail and kicking it away.
• A second, smaller tiger emerged from the cave, revealing that a tiger couple lived there.

Xu Mingwei killed a pair of tigers, found their newborn white cub, and brought it home for Xu Mingshu to raise. The next day, he rode to Qingjiang County Seat with the tiger pelts to sell.

• Xu Mingwei fought and killed the male and female tigers, then skinned them and found a newborn white tiger cub in their cave.
• Xu Mingwei brought the cub home, where Xu Mingshu named it Little White and Xu Chuan gave her instructions for caring for it.
• Xu Mingwei showed Xu Chuan two strange, rock-hard fruits, but Xu Chuan could not identify them.
• After the tiger pelts dried, Xu Mingwei rode to Qingjiang County Seat and entered after showing his proof of identity.