Chapter Summaries

Nie Yun entered the Tiger-head Beasts’ territory to obtain the Life-Reviving Flower, but discovered that two beasts guarded it, including one far stronger than he remembered. After seeing them drink from a strange spring, he devised a plan to distract them and steal the flower.

• Nie Yun reached the cliff near the Life-Reviving Flower’s cave and considered how to evade the peak Gang Forming Realm Tiger-head Beast guarding it.
• Nie Yun found a gorge where he could trigger a landslide, then noticed a pale-yellow spring and hid when he sensed something approaching.
• A massive Tiger-head Beast at the peak of the Weapon Armor Realm entered the gorge, followed by a smaller one at the peak of the Gang Forming Realm.
• Nie Yun realized the two Tiger-head Beasts were male and female and devised a plan to distract them while he took the Life-Reviving Flower.

Nie Yun discovered an Imperial Flame Spirit Stone beneath the spring while preparing to drug the Tiger-head Beasts and steal the Life-Reviving Flower. He retrieved a large spirit stone from a submerged backpack, but the beasts returned and trapped him underwater.

• Nie Yun planned to use Thousand Desire Flower to distract the Tiger-head Beasts and take the Life-Reviving Flower.
• Nie Yun tasted the yellow spring water and recognized the aura of an Imperial Flame Spirit Stone.
• Nie Yun dove into the spring, found a Cloud Sable Fur backpack beside a skeleton, and discovered a large Imperial Flame Spirit Stone inside.
• Nie Yun stored the backpack in his Storage Dantian and began swimming back up.
• Nie Yun saw the Tiger-head Beasts eating beside the pool and realized he could not surface without risking death.

Trapped underwater with two Tiger-head Beasts, Nie Yun discovered a mysterious dagger that caused the Nameless Art to circulate when he absorbed its energy. The art expanded his Qi Sea and formed four Bloodline Factors, leaving him on the verge of gaining a Marquis bloodline.

• Nie Yun realized his true qi was running low and considered cultivating the Spirit Rhinoceros Body Refining Technique, but knew he could not stay underwater long enough.
• Nie Yun found a dagger in his backpack that effortlessly cut through Azure Steel Rock and made the Nameless Art stir when he tested it with true qi.
• Nie Yun chose to absorb the dagger's special energy to improve his talent rather than keep the dagger's sharpness for combat.
• The Nameless Art circulated as Nie Yun absorbed the dagger's energy, causing his Qi Sea to expand for the first time.
• Nie Yun absorbed the dagger's remaining energy, and four Bloodline Factors formed within his body.

After absorbing a dagger’s energy, Nie Yun gained four Bloodline Factors, opened seven dantians, and advanced to the late stage of the fourth level True Qi Realm while trapped underwater. Meanwhile, Nie Qiang brought the injured Enforcement Team members before the Nie Family elders and accused Nie Yun of defying the main family, leaving the council furious and awaiting judgment.

• Nie Yun absorbed the dagger’s remaining energy, gained four Bloodline Factors, and opened seven dantians, reaching the late stage of the fourth level True Qi Realm.
• Nie Yun realized his seven dantians let him absorb enough spiritual energy to remain underwater, then began cultivating the second level of the Spirit Rhinoceros Body Refining Technique with the Imperial Flame Spirit Stone.
• Nie Haotian convened a Nie Family council, and Nie Qiang announced that someone from a branch family had challenged the main family’s authority.
• Nie Qiang had the injured Nie Yuanqing, Nie Hen, Nie Liao, Nie Chao, and other Enforcement Team members carried into the council hall.
• Nie Yuanqing blamed Nie Yun for beating the Enforcement Team and omitted its oppression of the Nie Tian Branch, prompting the elders to demand punishment.

Nie Qiang and his allies accused Nie Yun of using demonic arts and presented Nie Liu’s account of being drugged and blackmailed to turn the elders against him. As the hall’s anger rose, members of the Nie Zhang Branch arrived seeking an audience.

• The First Elder questioned Nie Yuanqing about Nie Yun’s strength, while Nie Hen and Nie Qiang claimed Nie Yun had defected to the Demon Race.
• Nie Yingxin called for Nie Yun’s execution, but the First Elder and his allies argued that the accusation was unsupported and recalled the Demon Race’s past invasion.
• Nie Qiang summoned Nie Liu, who accused Nie Yun of drugging him, trapping him with Nie Lin, recording the incident, and extorting fifteen thousand taels of silver.
• The elders grew furious at Nie Yun, and a messenger announced that members of the Nie Zhang Branch had arrived to request an audience.

Nie Qiang manipulated the family council into ordering the Black Shadow Guard to arrest the Nie Tian Branch, while Nie Yun assessed his growing strength and prepared to poison two Tiger-head Beasts. The chapter left Nie Yun moving toward the beasts as they came to drink.

• Nie Shihe accused Nie Ling of killing his wife and others over a thousand-year-old Pengxin Snow Lotus, and Nie Qiang backed his story.
• Patriarch Nie Haotian ordered Elder Nie Lang to arrest the Nie Tian Branch with the Black Shadow Guard, despite elders warning that the accusation had not been proven.
• Nie Qiang revealed his scheme to destroy the Nie Tian Branch and force Nie Xiaotian to hand over something he wanted.
• Nie Yun found that his evolved bloodline had increased his body's resilience and Qi Sea capacity, making cultivation slower but strengthening his combat abilities.
• Nie Yun decided to poison the two Tiger-head Beasts and swam toward them as they prepared to drink.

Nie Yun drugged the male Tiger-head Beast with a Thousand Desire Flower and escaped the pool while the beasts mated. He found the Life-Reviving Flower in their cave, knocked down their mutated young beast long enough to take it, and fled while wondering whether one of his new Dantians might let him become a Beast Tamer.

• Nie Yun dissolved the Thousand Desire Flower in a bubble of pool water and fed it to the male Tiger-head Beast, whose medicine-induced frenzy distracted the female.
• Nie Yun left the pool and hurried into the Tiger-head Beasts' cave to search for the Life-Reviving Flower.
• Nie Yun found the five- or six-hundred-year-old flower, but a powerful young Tiger-head Beast attacked him.
• Nie Yun punched the young beast in the abdomen, plucked the Life-Reviving Flower, stored it in his Storage Dantian, and escaped the cave.
• Nie Yun considered whether one of the four Dantians he had recently opened could be a Beast Taming Dantian.

Nie Yun discovered that he could change the attributes of his newly created dantians, then tamed the Little Tiger-head Beast and rode it back to Luoshui City with the Life-Reviving Flower. After returning to the branch family, he learned that a woman was looking for him.

• Nie Yun realized that he could turn an attribute-less dantian into a Beast Taming Dantian by willing it.
• Nie Yun defeated the Little Tiger-head Beast and used his Beast Taming Dantian to make it his first Demon Pet, naming it Little Tiger.
• Nie Yun ordered Little Tiger to carry him back to Luoshui City, reaching the city in just over two hours.
• Nie Yun returned to the branch family with the Life-Reviving Flower, which gave him the ingredients needed to refine the Heart-Returning Pill for his father.
• Nie Chong told Nie Yun that a woman had come looking for him.

Luo Qingcheng visited Nie Yun, and Luo Chenxiao delivered generous gifts from the City Lord in gratitude for saving her. Before Luo Chenxiao could finish a private message, the Black Shadow Guard stormed the Nie Tian Branch to arrest Nie Yun and Nie Ling, threatening to kill everyone who resisted.

• Nie Yun learned that Luo Qingcheng had come to thank him for saving her and welcomed her into the reception hall.
• Luo Chenxiao presented Nie Yun with chests of treasures on behalf of the City Lord, and Nie Yun accepted them.
• The Black Shadow Guard smashed through the branch's gate and announced orders to arrest Nie Yun and Nie Ling.
• Nie Yun challenged the Guard's authority by showing the Luoshui Golden Shield, but its leader dismissed the honor and threatened to defy even the City Lord.

Nie Qian and the Black Shadow Guard tried to arrest Nie Yun and his companions, insulting Luo Qingcheng and provoking her into a fight. After Nie Qian defeated her, Nie Yun stepped forward and demanded an apology, leaving the guards laughing at what they saw as his weakness.

• Nie Qian ordered the Black Shadow Guard to arrest Nie Yun, Luo Chenxiao, and Luo Qingcheng, and threatened to kill anyone who resisted.
• Luo Qingcheng attacked Nie Qian after he insulted the City Lord and threatened her companions, but he broke her Flower Rain Lingbo Palm and forced her back.
• Luo Chenxiao prepared to intervene, but Nie Yun gestured for him to hold back and promised to settle the matter himself.
• Nie Yun recognized Nie Qian and told him to apologize to Luo Qingcheng or face the consequences.
• Nie Qian and the Black Shadow Guard mocked Nie Yun for his Fourth Level Qi Sea strength and urged their vice captain to kill him.

Nie Yun confronted Nie Qian and withstood his Falling Fire Nether Palm without injury, then knocked him headfirst into the ground. The other Black Shadow Guard members and Luo Qingcheng saw that Nie Yun had easily defeated their powerful opponent.

• Nie Yun attacked Nie Qian after recognizing that the core branch had sent the Black Shadow Guard against his branch.
• Nie Qian tried to strike Nie Yun with True Qi, but Nie Yun moved behind him and showed no injury when the attack hit.
• Mistaking Nie Yun’s body-refining defense for a Noble Grade Lower battle robe, Nie Qian unleashed the Falling Fire Nether Palm to seize it.
• Luo Qingcheng worried that Nie Yun would be killed, while Luo Chenxiao prepared to intervene and the Black Shadow Guard members mocked him.
• Nie Yun dismissed the Falling Fire Nether Palm as rubbish and struck Nie Qian, sending him headfirst into the ground.

Nie Yun defeated Nie Qian and confronted Nie Lang, who accused him of attacking the Nie Family’s guards. The chapter ended with Nie Lang threatening Nie Yun’s family and bringing Nie Xiaotian into the courtyard as a hostage.

• Nie Yun kicked Nie Qian down and grabbed him after Nie Qian attacked him again.
• Nie Lang entered the courtyard and accused Nie Yun of viciously attacking the Black Shadow Enforcement Team and Black Shadow Guard.
• Nie Yun defended himself, saying Nie Qian had trespassed and threatened his family, and warned that he would retaliate against Nie Lang’s household.
• Nie Lang demanded that Nie Yun release Nie Qian, kneel, and cripple his cultivation, or watch his relatives die.
• Nie Lang had two men in black bring Nie Xiaotian into the courtyard to threaten Nie Yun.

Nie Lang threatened Nie Yun with his captive father and invoked the pact between the Four Great Families and the City Lord's Mansion to keep Luo Chenxiao from intervening. Nie Yun killed Nie Qian, leaving Nie Lang's threat unresolved.

• Nie Lang used Nie Xiaotian as a hostage and demanded that Nie Yun kneel, while Nie Xiaotian urged his son not to worry about him.
• Luo Chenxiao condemned Nie Lang, but Nie Lang warned that interfering would violate the pact between the Four Great Families and the City Lord's Mansion.
• Luo Chenxiao recalled how the pact had been imposed after a tragic love affair led to the deaths of a Nie Family youth and a Chen Family girl.
• Nie Lang again threatened Nie Yun and ordered him to release Nie Qian, who taunted and insulted Nie Yun.
• Nie Yun punched Nie Qian and crushed his head.

Nie Yun rescued Nie Xiaotian and fought Nie Lang with help from Little Tiger. He used his knowledge of a martial skill he had altered to exploit its flaw and kill Nie Lang.

• Nie Lang ordered his men to cut off Nie Xiaotian's arm, but Little Tiger killed both black-clad guards and freed Nie Xiaotian.
• Nie Yun ordered Little Tiger to kill the remaining Black Shadow Guards and battled Nie Lang, whose attacks could not overcome his defenses.
• Little Tiger killed the remaining guards, forcing Nie Lang to flee, but Nie Yun and Little Tiger blocked his escape.
• Nie Lang unleashed Three Waves of the Yangtze River, not knowing Nie Yun had sold him the martial skill after altering it slightly.
• Nie Yun slipped through the flaw in Nie Lang's attack and beheaded him.

After Nie Yun killed Nie Lang, he rushed with his father to rescue his mother from the Nie Family. Luo Qingcheng worried that Nie Yun was in danger and returned with Luo Chenxiao to the City Lord's Mansion to ask her father for help.

• Luo Chenxiao watched Nie Yun kill Nie Lang and stood stunned by how quickly he had broken the Nie Family martial skill.
• Nie Yun apologized to Luo Qingcheng, then took his father and Little Tiger and hurried toward the Nie Family estate to save his mother.
• Luo Qingcheng urged Luo Chenxiao to help Nie Yun, but he warned that intervening could provoke the Four Great Families.
• Luo Qingcheng insisted that she owed Nie Yun for saving her life and admitted to herself that she had developed a favorable impression of him.
• Luo Chenxiao agreed to help persuade the City Lord, left several people behind to watch for Nie Yun, and hurried back with Luo Qingcheng.

Luo Zhanhao decided to intervene to save Nie Yun, calling him his future son-in-law and preparing to challenge the Four Great Families. Meanwhile, Nie Qiang revealed how he had schemed to take over Fuyun Money House, but his subordinate encountered an unexpected shock when he opened the gold warehouse.

• Luo Chenxiao told Luo Zhanhao that Nie Yun had defeated a powerful martial skill and killed its user, and that Luo Qingcheng had gone to seek his help.
• Luo Zhanhao resolved to save Nie Yun despite the risk of provoking the Four Great Families, declaring that he was saving his son-in-law.
• Nie Qiang praised his subordinate for using Fu Hong and Li Fu’s affair to force Li Fu to transfer Fuyun Money House to the Nie Family.
• Nie Qiang ordered his subordinate to investigate the money house’s deposits and gold reserves while he went to the Yang Family’s gathering to display the Nie Family’s strength.
• The gray-clad subordinate opened the warehouse where the gold was stored, cried out, and fell heavily to the ground.

Yang Yan became the Yang Family’s first heir after demonstrating the power of the Chixiao Divine Axe, then attended a banquet with the other great families. Nie Qiang proposed that the four families form an alliance to abolish the City Lord’s Mansion and take control of Luoshui City.

• Yang Yan recalled how he mastered the Blazing Axe, killed the First Elder and Second Elder’s sons, and gained the family’s favor after elders mistook Nie Yun for his master.
• Yang Yan announced his hopes for the Yang Family and the four great families, while Feng Xiao and Chen Xing offered their congratulations.
• Nie Qiang arrived, took the seat of honor, and mocked Yang Yan’s ambition to make Luoshui City a first-rate city.
• Nie Qiang proposed that the four young masters form an alliance, elect a leader, and use their combined power to abolish the City Lord’s Mansion.

Nie Qiang proposed forming an alliance of the Four Great Families’ young masters and claimed he deserved to lead it. He backed up his claim with agreements showing that Li Fu had transferred Fuyun Money House to him, but Yang Yan discovered Nie Qiang had also taken on its depositors’ debts.

• Chen Xing, Yang Yan, and Feng Xiao agreed to consider an alliance leader if Nie Qiang provided fair criteria for the choice.
• Nie Qiang named wealth, combat strength, and wisdom as the requirements, then announced that he met all three and should be leader.
• Yang Yan and Chen Xing threatened Nie Qiang when he failed to explain his claims, while Feng Xiao watched him with undisguised anger.
• Nie Qiang presented agreements transferring Fuyun Money House to him, and Chen Xing confirmed they were genuine.
• Yang Yan inspected the agreements and saw that Nie Qiang had agreed to repay depositors’ funds, leaving Li Fu free of responsibility.

Nie Qiang took over Fuyun Money House, believing it would make him rich, but learned it carried a debt of 920,000 taels. He tried to overpower the other young masters with his martial skill, but Yang Yan defeated him with one axe blow.

• Yang Yan pretended to praise Nie Qiang for acquiring Fuyun Money House while keeping quiet about its missing funds.
• Nie Qiang promised to share the money house’s assets if the others chose him as alliance leader.
• A gray-clad subordinate reported that Fuyun Money House’s vault was empty and its accounts showed a shortfall of 920,000 taels of silver.
• After Feng Xiao, Chen Xing, and Yang Yan mocked him, Nie Qiang kicked his subordinate out and revealed his mastery of Three Waves of the Yangtze River.
• Nie Qiang attacked the others, but Yang Yan split his martial skill with the Blazing Axe and slammed him to the ground.

Yang Yan defeated Nie Qiang’s martial skill, and Nie Qiang revealed his plan to seize the Shenfeng Golden Shield. The City Lord’s forces had already crushed the Nie Family in retaliation for capturing Luo Zhanhao’s son-in-law, whose name was Nie Yun.

• Yang Yan knocked Nie Qiang down with a single axe strike, and Feng Xiao challenged Nie Qiang to prove his wisdom.
• Nie Qiang claimed his men had infiltrated the City Lord’s Mansion’s guards and sent an order to seize the Shenfeng Golden Shield.
• A surviving guard reported that Luo Zhanhao had purged Nie Qiang’s agents and that the City Lord’s Mansion had destroyed the Nie Family’s Black Shadow Guard and Enforcement Team.
• Feng Xiao and Chen Xing wondered who the City Lord’s son-in-law was, while Yang Yan questioned what the Nie Family had done to provoke the attack.
• The guard revealed that the captured son-in-law was Nie Yun.