Recaps

Zhao Er collected Golden-Clawed Heavenly Dragons in the Clear Radiance Mountains, using his poison resistance and trap skills to pursue an unconventional path toward martial cultivation. As he left the woods, he heard someone nearby and struck out with a hidden weapon.

• Zhao Er gathered eight centipedes from a concealed trap and replaced the foul-smelling bait.
• Zhao Er received experience in traps and Poison Resistance, and his poisoning symptoms eased.
• Zhao Er planned to sell his accumulated dried centipedes to pay for condensing his qi and blood.
• Zhao Er hurried out of the miasma-shrouded woods, alert to danger around him.
• Zhao Er heard movement behind a tree and whipped out a hidden weapon.

Zhao Er returned from the mountains with Tiger, who told him that Laitou had gone to train in martial arts as a household servant. Near the village, Tiger revealed he wanted to escape his life and asked about the dangerous Ginseng Spirit Art, leaving Zhao Er wary of the unorthodox cultivation path.

• Zhao Er narrowly avoided striking Tiger with his cleaver and warned him to call out before approaching from the woods.
• Tiger told Zhao Er that Laitou had gone to the county town to become a household servant and train in martial arts.
• Zhao Er dismissed Laitou's prospects because a servant would likely lack the food and resources needed for orthodox cultivation.
• Tiger told Zhao Er he wanted to train in martial arts and leave the village.
• Tiger explained that Blood Ginseng and Marrow Lingzhi practitioners cultivated through the Ginseng Spirit Art and supplied organizations with Spirit Blood.
• Zhao Er recognized the art as a risky, unorthodox method that could damage practitioners through blood extraction and other dangers.

Zhao Er returned home with forty-three centipedes and a rabbit, then processed the centipedes with his family. He later prepared bait and centipede parts, while planning to accompany Tiger to the county town the next morning.

• Tiger told Zhao Er that his second uncle would fund his cultivation of the Ginseng Spirit Art, and Zhao Er agreed to accompany him to the county town the next morning.
• Zhao Er returned to his family’s home, where Zhao Shan, Zhang Xuane, and Zhao Dazhu welcomed him and helped with his catch.
• Zhao Er scalded and processed forty-three centipedes, while Zhao Dazhu took them to dry for sale.
• Zhao Er washed off the forest miasma, changed clothes, and ate lunch with Zhao Shan.
• After lunch, Zhao Er prepared the rabbit’s blood and innards as bait, then began processing the centipedes’ fangs and venom sacs.

Zhao Er perfected Poison Sand Palm but realized he needed a stronger cultivation art to become a capable martial artist, so he planned to sell his stored centipedes. At dinner, his parents discussed finding him a wife, but Zhao Er insisted that he wanted to keep practicing martial arts.

• Zhao Er practiced Poison Sand Palm until the Settlement Panel raised it to perfection, completing its body-tempering stage.
• Zhao Er concluded that Poison Sand Palm was too low-grade to build strong qi and blood and considered selling his dried centipedes if Zhao Da had not found him a better art.
• Zhao Er found little Zhao Shan tending the cooking fire, praised her, and prepared dinner while she watched the rice.
• At dinner, Zhao Er told Zhao Dazhu and Zhang Xuan'e that he planned to travel to the county town with Tiger and his father to sell the centipedes.
• Zhao Dazhu and Zhang Xuan'e began discussing finding Zhao Er a wife, but Zhao Er said he wanted to keep practicing martial arts instead.

Zhao Er set out for the county town to sell his dried Golden-Clawed Heavenly Dragons and pursue martial arts training. He arrived at Hundred Herbs Hall, where proprietor Zhao Cai began inspecting his goods.

• Zhao Dazhu agreed to help Zhao Er pursue martial arts, but Zhao Er declined his offer to attend a costly martial arts school and said he would practice on his own.
• Zhang Xuan'e gave Zhao Er a money pouch, and little Zhao Shan gave him two copper coins for his journey.
• Zhao Er traveled to the county town with Huzi and Huzi's father, carrying a sack of dried centipedes on their wheelbarrow.
• Huzi's father took Huzi into Hundred Herbs Hall to meet his second uncle, Zhao Cai, while Zhao Er waited outside with the wheelbarrow.
• An assistant invited Zhao Er inside, and Zhao Cai asked to see the Golden-Clawed Heavenly Dragons he had brought to sell.

Zhao Er sold his high-quality Golden-Clawed Heavenly Dragons to Zhao Cai for five taels and three mace, then headed to visit his elder brother, Zhao Da, carrying pastries and preparing to ask him for a favor.

• Zhao Cai inspected Zhao Er’s fifty bundles of Golden-Clawed Heavenly Dragons and bought them for five taels and three mace.
• Zhao Xiaohu questioned whether Zhao Cai had overpaid, and Zhao Cai explained the costs and profits involved in the medicine trade.
• Zhao Cai told Zhao Xiaohu to focus on cultivation and promised to teach him the Ginseng Spirit Art that night.
• Zhao Er bought pastries for his visit to Zhao Da, recalling how his elder brother had helped him and why he wanted to preserve his dignity with the Ning Family.

Zhao Er visited Zhao Da at the Ning residence, where he learned his elder brother had become a martial artist and received a more complete cultivation manual. Zhao Da warned him about the dangers of martial breakthroughs and the deadly toxins involved in Five Poisons Art.

• The Mistress of the Ning Family welcomed Zhao Er warmly and left Zhao Da and Ning Mu to host him.
• Zhao Da told Zhao Er that he had condensed his qi and blood and become a martial artist after training with the Ning Family's support.
• Zhao Da offered Zhao Er Detoxification Pills and urged him to stop practicing Poison Sand Palm, but Zhao Er said the toxin could not harm him and revealed he had perfected the art in less than two months.
• Zhao Er explained that he had come to ask about cultivation methods because he was nearing a breakthrough, and Zhao Da gave him the Five Poisons Art manual.
• Zhao Da explained the Blood Condensation, Bone Tempering, and Sinew Transformation realms and warned that failed breakthroughs with Five Poisons Art could cause toxins to run out of control and kill the practitioner.

Zhao Er accepted the Five Poisons Art and pills from Zhao Da after Ning Mu explained they were given freely, while Zhao Da and Ning Mu discussed supporting his cultivation. The chapter left Zhao Er buying herbs and hunting supplies to begin practicing the art.

• Zhao Er tried to pay Zhao Da for the Five Poisons Art and pills, but Zhao Da refused his money.
• Ning Mu said the art came from her family's possessions, and Zhao Er accepted it before sharing lunch with his brother.
• Zhao Da advised Zhao Er about cultivation and nutrition, and Ning Mu sent him off with cloth and meat from her mother.
• Ning Mu gave Zhao Da silver and urged him to focus on the great examination, where he hoped to reach Great Completion of Bone Tempering and earn a ranking.
• Zhao Er bought herbs at the Four Seas Pharmacy and gathered traps and chains for his cultivation plans.

After returning home, Zhao Er learned that the Longwind Gang had beaten his father while demanding an early, increased security payment. He reassured his family, then studied the Five Poisons Art and found that his attribute panel had appeared.

• Zhao Er saw four Longwind Gang members leaving the village and hurried home after learning that his father had been beaten.
• Zhang Xuan'e told Zhao Er that the gang had raised the security silver by twenty percent and whipped Zhao Dazhu when the family could not pay.
• Zhao Er gave his mother the money pouch, shared news of his brother's breakthrough, and brought candy and supplies home.
• Zhao Er decided not to rush into confronting the gang and went to train so he could better protect his family.
• Zhao Er studied the Five Poisons Art, including its Toad Force, three martial artist realms, and four combat moves, and his attribute panel appeared.

Zhao Er converted to the Five Poisons Art and endured painful cultivation that improved his strength and Poison Resistance. Unable to sleep after remembering how the Longwind Gang had humiliated his father, he took his woodcutting blade and slipped outside to seek revenge.

• Zhao Er prepared the Five Poisons Art’s herbs and poison sand, then practiced the Five Poisons Fist through intense pain.
• Zhao Er completed cultivation, gained experience in the Five Poisons Art, Five Poisons Fist, and Poison Resistance, and noticed his strength had increased.
• Zhao Er ate dinner with Zhao Dazhu, Zhao Shan, and his mother, then went to bed without speaking about his father’s humiliation.
• Zhao Er lay awake thinking about the Longwind Gang’s treatment of his father, grabbed his woodcutting blade, and quietly left the house.

Zhao Er tracked Li San, the Longwind Gang leader who had whipped his father, to the gang’s tavern and waited for a chance to ambush him. He struck Li San from behind with a chopping knife, leaving his fate unresolved.

• Zhao Er left his village at night and made his way to the Longwind Gang’s tavern in town.
• Zhao Er watched the gang count protection money and identified Li San as the leader who had whipped his father.
• Zhao Er followed Li San and an underling through the residential area, waiting for them to separate.
• Li San stopped to urinate, and Zhao Er lunged at him with his chopping knife.
• Zhao Er struck Li San in the neck, driving the blade into his cervical vertebrae.

Zhao Er ambushed and killed Li San and an underling, then discovered that killing martial artists earned experience and skill points that could be used to fuse cultivation arts. He returned home exhausted and woke to find Zhao Dazhu sharpening the bloodstained cleaver while his washed clothes dried nearby.

• Zhao Er killed the underling with a strike to the throat, then pulled the cleaver from Li San's neck and killed him.
• Zhao Er searched the bodies, took two money pouches, and fled town before stopping to calm himself.
• The Settlement Panel rewarded Zhao Er with experience in the Five Poisons Art and Five Poisons Fist, plus two skill points.
• Zhao Er learned that skill points were for fusing cultivation arts and considered combining the Five Poisons Art with Zhao Cai's Ginseng Spirit Art.
• Zhao Er returned home, washed himself and his clothes, and slept; when he woke, he saw Zhao Dazhu sharpening the cleaver and his clothes hanging clean to dry.

Zhao Er took charge of his family, bought the Ginseng Spirit Art from Zhao Cai, and returned home to study it. Meanwhile, Luo Yu dismissed Li San’s death as revenge from one of the villages and ordered the Longwind Gang to keep collecting protection silver.

• Zhao Dazhu handed Zhao Er a sharpened woodcutting blade and the family’s money pouch, and Zhao Er accepted responsibility for the household.
• Zhao Er gave most of the money to Zhang Xuan'e, kept five taels, and went to the county town to buy the Ginseng Spirit Art from Zhao Cai for three taels of silver.
• Luo Yu questioned Li San’s underlings, assigned one of them to take over Li San’s villages, and warned the gang to behave while they collected protection silver.
• Zhao Er returned home, confirmed that no outsiders had visited the village, and began reading the Ginseng Spirit Art.
• Zhao Er learned that the art’s core was its guiding technique, not the consumption of angelica and astragalus.

Zhao Er merged the Five Poisons Art with the Ginseng Spirit Art and went to collect centipedes and set animal traps in the mountains. After nearly being killed by deadly miasma, he gained Poison Resistance and returned to a village full of rumors about his plans to practice martial arts.

• Zhao Er spent two skill points to begin merging the Five Poisons Art and the Ginseng Spirit Art, which would take three days.
• Zhao Er collected thirty-nine centipedes, moved one trap, and set several animal traps in the mountains.
• Zhao Er inhaled deadly miasma and escaped the forest as his Poison Resistance increased to level two.
• Zhao Er hurried home and listened as villagers discussed his centipede earnings and plans to practice martial arts.

Zhao Er improved his martial arts training after gaining Poison Resistance, then faced a visit from former friend Zhao Zhiyuan and a Wang Family steward demanding his secret for entering the mountains. He refused to join the Wang Family and offered to reveal the secret in exchange for three live sheep.

• Zhao Er practiced the Five Poisons Art for an hour and gained nearly twice as much proficiency as during his previous session.
• Zhao Er considered catching fish for bait, but Zhao Zhiyuan and a Wang Family steward arrived at his home.
• Zhao Er offered Zhao Zhiyuan licorice root for his father's health, but Zhao Zhiyuan rejected the offer and questioned how Zhao Er could afford martial arts training.
• The Wang Family steward offered to teach Zhao Er martial arts if he revealed how he avoided poisonous miasma and entered the mountains.
• Zhao Er refused to become a Wang Family household servant and demanded three live sheep in exchange for the secret.

Zhao Er told the Wang Family steward that the Five Poisons Art let him withstand the Clear Radiance Mountains’ miasma, then accepted his village’s gifts and focused on martial training. The chapter left him balancing brief daily cultivation of the art with repeated practice of the Five Poisons Fist.

• The Wang Family steward gave Zhao Er only two taels for the sheep and demanded to know how he survived the mountains, so Zhao Er claimed the Five Poisons Art protected him from miasma.
• After the steward and Laitou left, Zhao Er gave the silver to Zhang Xuan'e to buy a sheep and save its innards for bait.
• The village chief brought Zhao Er a chicken and eggs contributed by villagers, and Zhao Er accepted them after Zhang Xuan'e urged him to honor their kindness.
• With animal innards for bait and less farmwork to do, Zhao Er scheduled about an hour of evening cultivation because the Five Poisons Art exhausted his body.
• Zhao Er spent his daytime practicing the Five Poisons Fist’s four moves and developing Toad Force.

Zhao Er practiced Five Poisons Fist while Zhao Shan copied him, then continued training until his techniques fused into the higher-grade Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body. The new art combined poison cultivation with spirit-blood methods, but Zhao Er learned that every stage carried severe pain and a risk of death.

• Zhao Er practiced Five Poisons Fist in the courtyard, and Zhao Shan copied his movements despite Zhao Dazhu calling her back.
• Zhao Shan grew exhausted from practicing all day, and Zhao Er carried her to dinner, where Zhang Xuan'e later took her to bed.
• Zhao Er trained in the side room each night and continued gathering centipedes while his animal traps caught nothing.
• Zhao Er checked the panel on the third afternoon and found that Five Poisons Art and Ginseng Spirit Art had fused into the Blue-grade Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body.
• Zhao Er learned that the new technique required swallowing poison and guiding its toxins through the blood to temper the body, with lethal risks during cultivation and breakthroughs.

Zhao Er began cultivating the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body by extracting toxins from his poisonous sand and swallowing them, relying on his Poison Resistance to endure the process. The art rapidly tempered his body and increased his proficiency, but he realized he needed to find a steady supply of stronger toxins.

• Zhao Er decided to try the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body, which used ingested toxins instead of exhausting external training.
• Zhao Er simmered his poisonous sand in well water and drank the resulting concentrated, foul-smelling paste.
• Zhao Er used the art’s guiding technique to absorb the toxins into his blood, then circulated them to temper his body despite the intense pain.
• Zhao Er gained 11 experience in the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body, raising it to lv.1 with 88/100 progress.
• Zhao Er noticed that the art consumed large amounts of poison and that leveling Poison Resistance no longer granted experience, so he resolved to find new toxins.

Zhao Er searched the streamside woods for stronger venom and caught several snakes before discovering the Wang Family steward and two martial artists trying to net a white marten. The two companions had been poisoned, and the marten remained trapped beneath their nets as Zhao Er watched from hiding.

• Zhao Er’s family noticed that his complexion had become fairer and healthier after he changed cultivation arts, and he set out to find new sources of toxin.
• Following a stream into the Clear Radiance Mountain Range, Zhao Er caught two Flat-Head Winds and two Bamboo Pit Vipers.
• Zhao Er heard the Wang Family steward and his companions shouting as they tried to catch a marten, then hid and crept closer to observe.
• Zhao Er saw the steward and two martial artists surrounding a white figure beneath their nets, while both companions showed signs of severe poisoning.

Zhao Er watched the Wang Family steward poison and kill his companion while explaining that he planned to claim the Venom-Eating Marten and silence everyone who knew. When the steward turned to inspect the trapped creature, Zhao Er launched a surprise attack, but the steward smashed his bamboo basket and killed the snakes inside.

• A wounded martial artist took a pill from the Wang Family steward, then began choking as the poison took effect.
• The Wang Family steward revealed that the creature was a Venom-Eating Marten sought by the Clear Source Sect and that he had used a fake Detoxification Pill.
• The steward killed the poisoned man with a punch and said he would silence everyone who knew about the two thousand taels of silver.
• Zhao Er spotted the Venom-Eating Marten biting through the Golden Silk Nets and decided to attack before the steward could turn around.
• Zhao Er hurled his bamboo basket at the steward, who punched through it and shredded the four snakes inside.

Zhao Er drew the Wang Family steward’s attention so the White Marten could attack, but the steward’s punch left him badly injured. After the steward collapsed from the poison, Zhao Er freed the White Marten and wondered why it stayed nearby.

• Zhao Er sprang from hiding and attacked the Wang Family steward, hoping the trapped White Marten would strike from behind.
• The Wang Family steward punched Zhao Er, whose Centipede Shell Retraction softened the blow but could not keep him from crashing into a tree.
• The poisoned Wang Family steward collapsed while approaching Zhao Er, who struggled to his feet and noticed the White Marten trapped in his grip.
• Zhao Er cut the steward’s wrist tendons, freeing the White Marten, which darted away and then crouched nearby instead of fleeing.

After surviving the ambush, Zhao Er looted the dead martial artists and gathered what remained of his haul. The White Marten repaid his kindness with a venomous snake, and Zhao Er returned home to prepare his gains for cultivation.

• Zhao Er received settlement for the surprise attack, gaining progress in Five Poisons Fist and two skill points, then searched the Wang Family steward and the other two dead martial artists.
• Zhao Er collected the damaged nets, surviving snake halves, coin pouches, and bottles, then asked the White Marten to come with him.
• The White Marten vanished, but returned near the mountain’s edge and offered Zhao Er a pit viper before eating the other snake.
• Zhao Er accepted the snake and left the mountain, spotting the White Marten darting through the woods as he went.
• Back home, Zhao Er removed poison glands and fangs from the snakes, gave the meat to his mother, and took the useful materials into the side room.

Zhao Er tested five seized pills by tasting and swallowing them, using cultivation pills to practice and poisons to strengthen his Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body. After completing a cultivation event, he felt a powerful surge of progress and prepared to condense his qi and blood for the first time.

• Zhao Er swallowed the first pill, discovered it was a cultivation pill, and practiced the Five Poisons Fist for an hour while its effects strengthened his body.
• Zhao Er took the second pill, recognized it as poison, and used the Guiding Technique to absorb its toxins despite the burning pain.
• Zhao Er tested the remaining pills, practiced after finding another cultivation pill, and swallowed snake Poison Glands alongside poisons to intensify his cultivation.
• Zhao Er finished absorbing the final poison and triggered settlement for the completed cultivation event.
• Zhao Er felt a stronger surge from his Dantian and realized he was about to break through, so he prepared to condense his qi and blood.

Zhao Er condensed his blood energy and became an Entry-Level Martial Artist, then tested the force of his punches and discovered he could release the toxins accumulated in his body. He told Zhang Xuan'e and his family that he felt great and had reached the entry level.

• Zhao Er circulated his blood energy, swallowed a breath to guide it through his body, and condensed his first wisp of Blood-Energy Force.
• Zhao Er struck a sandbag twice and realized his punches lacked the penetrating force of the Wang Family steward's attack.
• Zhao Er struck a chinaberry tree and found that his palm left a black, foul-smelling handprint infused with Heavenly Dragon Toxin.
• Zhao Er concluded that his punches could discharge toxins and make up for their lack of penetrating force with deadly poison.
• Zhao Er reassured Zhang Xuan'e and his family that he felt great and had become an Entry-Level Martial Artist.

After becoming a martial artist, Zhao Er continued cultivating and hunting in the mountains, bringing home a stag and sharing its meat with the village. He discovered that using the toxins in his blood would weaken his Five Poisons Returning to Origin Body, so he resolved to conserve them and train his fist technique.

• Zhao Er celebrated his breakthrough with his family and checked his settlement, which raised his cultivation method, fist technique, and poison resistance.
• Zhao Er returned to the mountains, caught snakes and centipedes, and realized stronger cultivation made event settlements harder to trigger.
• Zhao Er trapped and killed a stag, then returned to the village with it and drew a crowd of curious villagers.
• Zhao Er arranged to share the deer meat with the village and take a leg to Zhao Da, while planning to sell the hide and antlers in County Town.
• Zhao Er absorbed a decoction mixed with collected poisons and discovered that using toxins in battle depleted the poison accumulated in his blood.