Chapter Summaries

Mo Yun refined genuine Marrow-Washing Pills, received Zhou Bo’s collection of pill recipes, and learned that the Village Master was away when he sought advice on becoming a grade-two Alchemist. Commander Li then offered him an assignment where he could encounter demons, and Mo Yun agreed to leave after lunch.

• Mo Yun showed Liu Niang the Marrow-Washing Pills he had refined, and she confirmed their quality was excellent.
• Liu Niang gave Mo Yun Zhou Bo’s Collection of Pill Recipes, which Zhou Bo had left for him to receive after refining Marrow-Washing Pills.
• Liu Niang advised Mo Yun to ask the Village Master about becoming a grade-two Alchemist, but Mo Yun learned the Village Master was away.
• Commander Li told Mo Yun that a Dark Force Martial Artist needed to leave his post, creating an assignment with a chance of encountering demons.
• Mo Yun agreed to take the assignment and asked Commander Li what duties it involved.

Mo Yun learned that his new assignment guarding Guangping County’s Medicinal Fields lay beside Mist Mountain, where demons lived, and began planning to hunt them for points. After reviewing his limited resources, he resolved to prioritize improving Tiger-Crouching Fist and practice two other martial arts himself.

• Commander Li explained the risks of guarding the Medicinal Fields and arranged for Mo Yun to go there with his former team after lunch.
• Mo Yun received a map and booklet showing the fields beside Mist Mountain and learned that the last demon encounter had been more than four months earlier.
• Mo Yun decided he might venture into Mist Mountain to seek demons rather than wait for one to approach the fields.
• Mo Yun checked the Virtual Panel, found he lacked enough black points to advance most of his martial arts, and chose to prioritize Tiger-Crouching Fist.
• Mo Yun decided to practice the Body-Guarding Art and Black Tiger Leap himself, then went to the courtyard to begin.

Mo Yun trained in the Body-Guarding Art and Black Tiger Leap, then rode with Zhao Gang and Huang Shan to guard the Medicinal Fields in Guangping County. After reaching the fields at night, he looked toward Mist Mountain and hoped to hunt demons there.

• Mo Yun decided to practice the Body-Guarding Art, Black Tiger Leap, and Nameless Fist Technique by sleeping less.
• Mo Yun met Zhao Gang and Huang Shan at the west gate and asked them to treat him as a friend despite his new status as a Dark Force Martial Artist.
• Zhao Gang explained that Huang Wenjie had been requisitioned for another mission and that their team was being disbanded and reorganized.
• Mo Yun, Zhao Gang, and Huang Shan rode west toward Guangping County, with Zhao Gang hoping they would not encounter demons.
• The three reached the Medicinal Fields' guard station at night, and Mo Yun looked toward Mist Mountain hoping to hunt demons.

Mo Yun arrived at the Medicinal Fields outpost and met Wu Mingjiang, the guard he was replacing. Wu Mingjiang handed over his duties and gave Mo Yun silver notes before rushing home over a family crisis.

• Mo Yun, Zhao Gang, and Huang Shan reached the outpost, where steward Liu Youquan welcomed them and led them to the residence prepared for Crouching Tiger Manor’s guards.
• Liu Youquan told Mo Yun that Wu Mingjiang was waiting to discuss something important, and Mo Yun went to meet him while Zhao Gang and Huang Shan waited to eat.
• Wu Mingjiang explained that the guards protected the Medicinal Fields, dealt with thieves and bandits, and supervised the tenant farmers through their subordinates.
• Wu Mingjiang said he needed to ride home that night and asked Mo Yun to cover for him until he returned.
• Wu Mingjiang pressed seven silver notes worth ten taels each into Mo Yun’s hand, and Mo Yun asked what they were for.

Mo Yun settled into his new post at the Medicinal Fields, learned how the guards shared the fields’ profits, and spent his spare time cultivating. After four black points accumulated and no demons appeared, he decided to wait three more days before exploring Mist Mountain, then prepared to add points to Tiger-Crouching Fist when the seal filled again.

• Wu Mingjiang explained the Medicinal Fields’ profit shares and gave Mo Yun his portion before leaving for the village’s edge.
• Mo Yun ate with Zhao Gang and Huang Shan, then shared his banknotes with them and settled into the West Wing.
• Mo Yun practiced his techniques through the night, inspected the Medicinal Fields the next afternoon, and continued cultivating until the Black Seal produced four black points.
• Mo Yun decided to wait three more days before entering Mist Mountain if no demons appeared in the fields.
• After three demon-free days, Mo Yun saw that the Black-and-White Seal was full again and prepared to add points to Tiger-Crouching Fist.

Mo Yun perfected Tiger-Crouching Fist and Tiger-Crouching Saber Technique, gaining strength and bringing the White Mark close to full. After preparing antidote pills and disguising himself, he entered Mist Mountain to search for demons.

• Mo Yun used a black point to bring Tiger-Crouching Fist to perfect comprehension, which increased his constitution and defense and drove impurities from his body.
• Mo Yun tested his perfected fist in the courtyard, blasting a furrow through the ground and deciding he could defeat Senior Brother Lu with one punch.
• Mo Yun noticed the White Mark had risen to about half full and decided to enter Mist Mountain rather than wait for an opportunity.
• Mo Yun practiced Tiger-Crouching Saber Technique until it reached perfect comprehension, but the dark force shattered his saber and brought the White Mark close to full.
• Mo Yun prepared antidote pills, disguised himself, and entered Mist Mountain to search for demons.

Mo Yun searched Mist Mountain for demons for several days without finding any, then detected a demon hiding underground and traced its aura to a lair inside a massive boulder. He left to recover from the weakening Antidote Pill and planned to return the next day to ambush the beast.

• Mo Yun searched Mist Mountain through the night and found no demons, then returned to search again the following day.
• After another fruitless search, Mo Yun decided to make one final sweep before leaving for the New Year.
• Mo Yun sensed a faint aura fluctuation underground and realized a demon was burrowing beneath the mountain.
• Mo Yun followed the demon’s lingering aura to a huge boulder, where it disappeared deep inside the rock.
• Mo Yun left the mountain to let the Antidote Pill wear off and planned to wait near the demon’s lair the next day.

Mo Yun entered Mist Mountain to kill the demon in its lair, only to discover it was a late second-tier Iron-Scaled Beast. After striking it in the tunnel, he pursued it aboveground and prepared to face its charging attack.

• Mo Yun told Huang Shan that he was heading to Mist Mountain and asked her and Zhao Gang to watch the Medicinal Fields while he was gone.
• Mo Yun found the tunnel beneath the boulder and crept inside, where the demon roared and charged at him.
• Mo Yun struck the demon with a powerful punch, but it clawed a new passage upward and escaped to the surface.
• Mo Yun identified the demon as a late second-tier Iron-Scaled Beast and questioned how it could have been kept in check by an early dark force martial artist.
• The Iron-Scaled Beast curled into a spiked ball and charged Mo Yun again, and he prepared to kill it despite his doubts about Mist Mountain.

Mo Yun killed the Iron-Scaled Beast and learned it had colluded with Wu Mingjiang to feed humans in exchange for damaging the Medicinal Fields and sharing the profits. He discovered a nest beneath a boulder, where the beast’s mate and three young confronted him, and he approached them without offering mercy.

• Mo Yun battered the Iron-Scaled Beast until it was gravely wounded and tried to flee.
• The Iron-Scaled Beast pleaded for its life and revealed its arrangement with Wu Mingjiang to eat humans and help him profit from the Medicinal Fields.
• Mo Yun condemned Wu Mingjiang and killed the Iron-Scaled Beast with a final punch.
• Mo Yun realized the beast had been drawing him away from a boulder and returned to investigate.
• A female Iron-Scaled Beast emerged with three young, accused Mo Yun of killing her husband, and begged him to spare them.
• Mo Yun walked toward the female and her young, telling her to seek mercy in her next life as a human.

Mo Yun killed the Iron-Scaled Beast family, collected six black points, and hid their corpses before returning to the Medicinal Fields. He prepared to confront Wu Mingjiang and Liu Youquan and asked Huang Shan to secretly watch Liu Youquan and the other Manor Guards.

• Mo Yun killed the female Iron-Scaled Beast and her three young, then absorbed their energy to raise his available black points to six.
• He bound the five Iron-Scaled Beast corpses together and planned to sell them, while noting that one more black point would let him advance the Demon-Subduing Scripture.
• Mo Yun hid the corpses in a sealed cave, washed away the blood and scent, and returned secretly to the Medicinal Fields encampment.
• Huang Shan met Mo Yun and accompanied him to lunch after he changed into his Mountain Manor First-Class Guard uniform.
• Mo Yun told Huang Shan to watch Liu Youquan and the other Manor Guards, and asked her to coordinate with Zhao Gang without drawing attention.

Mo Yun prepared to leave the Herb Field Outpost after Lord Wu’s letter said he would arrive the next morning, while making plans to secretly capture Liu Youquan. After spending seven black points to advance the Demon-Subduing Scripture, Mo Yun reached Late Dark Force and condensed astral force around his body.

• Huang Shan told Mo Yun that Liu Youquan had behaved normally and that Lord Wu’s letter said he would arrive at the outpost the next morning.
• Mo Yun told Huang Shan to work with Zhao Gang to quietly tie up Liu Youquan and bring him to Mo Yun after most people had gone to sleep.
• After hours of cultivation, Mo Yun’s Black-and-White Seal produced seven black points, which he spent to break through the Demon-Subduing Scripture.
• Mo Yun opened all eight extraordinary meridians, formed an automatic cycle of dark force, and condensed an invisible layer of astral force around his body.
• The Virtual Panel showed Mo Yun at Late Dark Force with increased constitution and defense, and he examined the Black-and-White Seal to check the White Mark’s growth.

Mo Yun used a White Point to raise his Life Value to 7, improving his comprehension and speeding up his martial arts training. Huang Shan and Zhao Gang brought the drugged Liu Youquan to him, and Mo Yun revealed Liu Youquan’s collusion with demons.

• Mo Yun spent a White Point on his Life Value, raising it to 7 and improving his comprehension and bone root.
• Mo Yun tested his martial arts and estimated that the Nameless Fist Technique would reach pure mastery in about two months, while the Body-Guarding Art and Black Tiger Leap could break through in six or seven days.
• Huang Shan and Zhao Gang climbed over the courtyard wall and delivered a bound, drugged Liu Youquan to Mo Yun.
• Mo Yun told Huang Shan and Zhao Gang that he had encountered an Iron-Scaled Beast on Mist Mountain and learned that Liu Youquan and Wu Mingjiang were colluding with demons.
• Huang Shan grew furious and stared at Liu Youquan with her hand trembling on her Willow-Leaf Sword.

Huang Shan and Zhao Gang learned that Liu Youquan and Wu Mingjiang had been supplying children and other people from the compound to a demon on Mist Mountain. Huang Shan forced Liu Youquan to confess and recorded the victims and details, leaving Mo Yun ready to wait for Wu Mingjiang to walk into their trap.

• Huang Shan recalled missing children and families from the compound and realized Liu Youquan and Wu Mingjiang had offered them to demons as sacrifices.
• Zhao Gang reacted angrily, and Mo Yun asked Huang Shan to interrogate Liu Youquan while Zhao guarded the entrance.
• Huang Shan woke Liu Youquan, threatened him, and cut off fingers when he hesitated to answer.
• Liu Youquan confessed that a demon had approached him three years earlier and that Wu Mingjiang joined him for money before threatening him when he wanted to quit.
• Huang Shan questioned Liu Youquan repeatedly and obtained a consistent written confession listing the victims and where and when they disappeared.
• Mo Yun reviewed the confession and prepared to wait for Wu Mingjiang to walk into the net.

Wu Mingjiang returned to the herb field outpost and was confronted with evidence that he and Liu Youquan had sacrificed people to the Iron-Scaled Beast. After Mo Yun knocked Wu Mingjiang down and revealed he had killed the beast, Wu Mingjiang launched one final attack.

• Wu Mingjiang arrived at the meeting hall, where Mo Yun, Huang Shan, and Zhao Gang confronted him and brought out the bound Liu Youquan.
• Liu Youquan pleaded for Wu Mingjiang's help, but Wu Mingjiang tried to kill him to silence him; Mo Yun intercepted the kick and sent Wu Mingjiang flying.
• Mo Yun presented Liu Youquan's confession, which implicated him and Wu Mingjiang in sacrificing seventy-two people to the Iron-Scaled Beast over three years.
• Wu Mingjiang demanded to know how Mo Yun uncovered the scheme, and Mo Yun said he had met the Iron-Scaled Beast and sent the beasts to the afterlife.
• Wu Mingjiang refused to believe Mo Yun had defeated the Iron-Scaled Beast and charged him with his Mountain Splitter technique.

Mo Yun exposed the crimes of Wu Mingjiang and Liu Youquan at the Herb Field Outpost, where Wu killed himself and Mo executed Liu. After returning to Crouching Tiger Manor with the Iron-Scaled Beast carcasses, Mo Yun was summoned to the Main Court to report the events and receive a promised reward.

• Mo Yun defeated Wu Mingjiang, who admitted to killing tenant farmers for profit before taking his own life, and then executed Liu Youquan.
• The tenant farmers mourned their murdered children and thanked Mo Yun for bringing them justice.
• Mo Yun went to Mist Mountain, retrieved five Iron-Scaled Beasts, and returned to Crouching Tiger Manor with Zhao Gang and Huang Shan.
• Mo Yun sold the beasts for three hundred and forty taels and gave Zhao Gang and Huang Shan twenty taels each.
• Commander Li summoned Mo Yun and his companions to the Main Court to report what happened and receive a reward from the Village Master.

Lin Qingxue explained Wu Mingjiang’s history and arranged support for the Iron Leg Sect’s injured and disabled members, while acknowledging her own failure to catch the medicinal fields’ fraud. She rewarded Zhao Gang and Huang Shan, then asked Mo Yun what he wanted.

• Commander Li brought Mo Yun, Zhao Gang, and Huang Shan to meet Lin Qingxue after learning the Village Master was away.
• Lin Qingxue accepted Liu Youquan’s confession and Huang Shan’s compiled booklet, promised compensation to the victims’ families, and took responsibility for overlooking warning signs in the accounts.
• Lin Qingxue revealed that Wu Mingjiang had spent the embezzled money supporting the Iron Leg Sect’s injured and disabled members, and recounted how the sect had been nearly destroyed after protecting ordinary people from the rebel army.
• Lin Qingxue said she had brought the surviving Iron Leg Sect members to the manor, where they could work and receive food.
• Lin Qingxue awarded Zhao Gang and Huang Shan each one hundred taels of silver and a bottle of Marrow-Washing Pills.
• Lin Qingxue turned to Mo Yun and asked what he wanted as his reward.

Mo Yun asked Lin Qingxue for Origin-Ascent Pills, a Jade-Congealing Pill, or a Demon Core as his reward, and received one pill of each kind he requested along with silver. After learning the Chaos Blade Sect had recently obtained a Nascent Demon Core—the one he had taken—Mo Yun hurried home to find out whether they had begun investigating Yellow Maple Town.

• Mo Yun requested Origin-Ascent Pills, Jade-Congealing Pills, and possibly a Demon Core as his reward from Lin Qingxue.
• Lin Qingxue said the Chaos Blade Sect had obtained a Nascent Demon Core, prompting Mo Yun to worry that they might trace it back to him.
• Lin Qingxue rewarded Mo Yun with one Origin-Ascent Pill, one Jade-Congealing Pill, and two hundred taels in silver notes.
• Lin Qingxue gave the others a holiday break and told them to return in ten days.
• Mo Yun left Crouching Tiger Manor that night and raced toward Yellow Maple Town to ask Black Wolf whether the Chaos Blade Sect was investigating.

After returning home for New Year's Eve, Mo Yun gave his sister Mo Yiyi Beauty Pills and spent the evening eating and practicing martial arts. He then visited Black Wolf at the Sky Wolf Gang headquarters and asked whether anyone had come from the Inner City.

• Mo Yun returned to Yellow Maple Town and found Mo Yiyi waiting outside their home for him.
• Mo Yun warmed Mo Yiyi's hands, checked that she had been taking his Blood-Nourishing Pills, and gave her Beauty Pills he had made.
• Mo Yun shared a New Year's Eve meal with Mo Yiyi, then practiced martial arts while she worked on the shop's accounts.
• Mo Yun left home at night and went to the Sky Wolf Gang headquarters to see Black Wolf.
• Mo Yun asked Black Wolf whether anyone had come from the Inner City.

Mo Yun learned that Mo Feng and Mo Huaishan had arranged his near-drowning and that Black Wolf had killed them, while the Chaos Blade Sect investigated the stolen Demon Core and murders. Jiang Wuming blamed the Crouching Tiger Manor, but Yi Qingshan warned that confronting it required careful consideration.

• Mo Yun asked Black Wolf about the Chaos Blade Sect’s investigation, and Black Wolf said he had disclosed Mo Yun’s background but not his cultivation.
• Black Wolf revealed that Mo Feng and Mo Huaishan had hired someone to push Mo Yun into the water, and said he had thrown them into the mountains to feed the wolves.
• Mo Yun accepted Black Wolf’s account, then drank with him.
• Jiang Wuming told Yi Qingshan that he suspected the Crouching Tiger Manor had killed Lu and stolen the Demon Core, citing its fist-based Legacy Martial Arts.
• Jiang Wuming urged Yi Qingshan to demand an explanation from the Crouching Tiger Manor, but Yi Qingshan said they had to consider their next steps carefully.

Mo Yun cultivated with an Origin-Ascent Pill and gained a Black Point, then prepared for New Year's Eve with his sister, who wondered why their troublesome relatives had stopped appearing. The chapter left Mo Yun silently certain that they would never see those relatives again.

• Yi Qingshan warned Jiang Wuming not to provoke Crouching Tiger Manor because its Village Master, Lin Yanshan, was far stronger and fiercely protective of his people.
• Mo Yun took an Origin-Ascent Pill, which filled the Black Seal and gave him one Black Point.
• On New Year's Eve, Mo Yun bought supplies and clothes for his sister, while the Sky Wolf Gang sent over an even larger cart of holiday goods.
• Mo Yun and Mo Yiyi shared New Year's Eve dinner and recalled how their relatives had mistreated them.
• Mo Yiyi wondered why their relatives had stopped making trouble, and Mo Yun thought they would never see them again.