Chapter Summaries

Duan Rong was turned away from the Medicine Furnace Room by an escort captain, then returned before dawn to decoct his medicine. After tending the furnace for a double-hour, he declared that the medicine was ready.

• Duan Rong paid the old man for a furnace, but an escort captain claimed there were no empty furnaces and sent him away.
• Duan Rong returned to the dormitory, slept through the night, and went back to the Medicine Furnace Room before dawn.
• Duan Rong prepared the herbs and water in a copper furnace, then lit the charcoal brazier.
• While the medicine steamed for a double-hour, Duan Rong held his stance and fed charcoal to the brazier.
• Duan Rong noticed the medicine’s fragrance made his heart pound and announced that the medicine was ready.

After taking Guan Yun’s medicine, Duan Rong found he could practice the Hun Yuan Stance for hours without tiring and earned another hundred taels painting courtesans. The chapter ended with him noticing that the Second Level of Inner Breath manual Xiao Zongting had given him was likely copied by Xiao Baijiao.

• Duan Rong drank the bitter medicinal soup, then practiced the Hun Yuan Stance for three shichen and felt a powerful surge of energy.
• Duan Rong ate beef offal soup and flatbreads, then returned to stance training until nearly Shen Time.
• Duan Rong painted ten courtesans at Flower Shadow House and earned a hundred taels before the house opened.
• Duan Rong practiced the Hun Yuan Stance until Zi Hour and realized the medicinal power kept him from tiring and quieted his racing heart.
• Duan Rong found Xiao Zongting’s Second Level of Inner Breath manual beside his bed and guessed Xiao Baijiao had copied it.

Duan Rong devoured the White Hair Silver Needle's artifact spirit and gained mastery of the Plum Blossom Needle Technique, but slept through the night and woke with a splitting headache and a wet bed. After training and questioning whether his medicine caused the strange effects, he returned to Flower Shadow House and found two servant boys waiting in his portrait line.

• Duan Rong found the White Hair Silver Needle hidden in Xiao Baijiao's copied secret manual and devoured its artifact spirit to quiet his wandering thoughts.
• Duan Rong dreamed of a boy practicing needlework until the moving needle formed the Plum Blossom Needle Technique, then continued sleeping through a sensual dream.
• Duan Rong woke with a splitting headache and a wet bed, washed his sheets, and wondered whether the medicine had caused the problem.
• Duan Rong ate breakfast, trained his stance until late afternoon, and found his heart no longer pounding as it had the previous day.
• Duan Rong arrived at Flower Shadow House and saw ten people in line, including two servant boys who did not seem like likely customers for his costly portraits.

Duan Rong finished his portraits beneath the Old Locust Tree and painted Hu Huanhuan, whose portrait stirred memories of her youth and a painting she had kept for twenty years. After returning to Yuan Shun Escort Agency, Duan Rong made up for lost time with a long night of martial arts practice.

• Duan Rong slowed his painting pace after realizing his skill had improved, then learned that two servant boys had been holding places in line for their masters.
• Hu Huanhuan asked Duan Rong to paint her, and he praised her as Xiangu County’s foremost entrepreneur before depicting her as she had looked in her youth.
• Hu Huanhuan was deeply moved by the portrait and retrieved an old painting of herself from a trunk, revealing that she had kept it for twenty years.
• Duan Rong returned to Yuan Shun Escort Agency, ate, and practiced his stance at the Martial Arts Field until Chou Hour.
• Duan Rong washed at the well, went to bed, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Duan Rong tested Guan Yun’s prescription and trained until its medicinal power ran out, then bought another packet after selling portraits near Flower Shadow House. Xiao Zongting heard rumors about Duan Rong’s activities and confronted him at his dormitory, leaving Duan Rong unsure what had angered him.

• Duan Rong trained for nearly three days and concluded that Guan Yun’s prescription worked.
• Xiao Zongting learned that Duan Rong had been brewing medicine and selling paintings near a brothel, and he abandoned his plan to collect his pay to investigate.
• Xiao Zongting asked one of Duan Rong’s customers how much a portrait had cost and learned she had paid ten taels.
• Duan Rong bought another packet of medicine and returned to his dormitory, where Xiao Zongting appeared and ordered him to bring it along.
• Duan Rong followed Xiao Zongting to his home, where he smelled dinner cooking and wondered why Xiao Zongting was angry.

Xiao Zongting discovered that the prescription Duan Rong had taken was designed to destroy the Dantian, but confirmed that Duan Rong had escaped serious harm. The chapter left Duan Rong realizing that Guan Yun had hidden the dangerous prescription in a book, while Xiao Zongting began to regard Duan Rong as an exceptionally gifted and diligent student.

• Xiao Zongting examined Duan Rong’s herbs and angrily questioned him about the Tiger and Wolf Medicines in the prescription.
• Duan Rong explained that he found the prescription in a miscellaneous book and had taken one dose three days earlier, while practicing stance work for nine two-hour periods each day.
• Xiao Zongting deduced that Duan Rong’s intense training had helped keep the medicine from damaging his Dantian, and his anger shifted to admiration.
• Xiao Zongting explained that the combined herbs could destroy the Dantian and that Crisp Rice Flower masked the pain by making the heart race.
• Duan Rong recalled Guan Yun’s account of having his own Dantian destroyed and realized Guan Yun had hidden the harmful prescription in the book.

Xiao Zongting gave Duan Rong a prescription for medicine to use when cultivating the second level, and invited him to dinner, where Duan Rong became distracted by Xiao Baijiao. The next morning, Duan Rong bought four doses of the prescribed medicine and secretly added half a stalk of Crisp Rice Flower to one dose before heading to the Medicine Furnace Room.

• Xiao Zongting wrote Duan Rong a cultivation prescription and explained that he had removed the mind-invigorating ingredient, while Duan Rong realized he needed it because his actual Mental Strength was only Level 1.
• Xiao Zongting invited Duan Rong to dinner, and Xiao Baijiao wondered why her father had asked him to stay before her illness brought her mood down.
• Duan Rong became entranced by Xiao Baijiao's fragrance, found the Crude Drug Store closed, then destroyed Ancient Rhymes Miscellany and washed his bedding before going to sleep.
• Duan Rong bought four doses of medicine at the Crude Drug Store the next morning, paying thirty-four taels for each dose.
• Duan Rong secretly added half a stalk of Crisp Rice Flower to one dose before carrying it to the Medicine Furnace Room.

Duan Rong moved his portrait stall to West Avenue and introduced numbered Wooden Drawing Tokens to manage the queue. Shen Mizhi noticed his growing reputation, and Qiu Hen persuaded her to consider having a portrait made for her family before she left for Taiyi Sect; Shen Mizhi decided to investigate the painter further.

• After finding only eight people in line, Duan Rong moved his stall beneath the crooked willow tree across from the Crude Drug Store on West Avenue.
• Duan Rong handed out numbered Wooden Drawing Tokens so customers could leave the queue and return before the You Hour.
• Ma Chu watched Duan Rong paint beneath the willow tree and praised Xiangu County as a place of outstanding people.
• Several days later, Shen Mizhi and Qiu Hen passed Duan Rong's stall, and Qiu Hen explained his fame and the ten-tael price of a portrait.
• Qiu Hen reminded Shen Mizhi that a portrait could comfort her parents after she left for Taiyi Sect, so Shen Mizhi told Qiu Hen to join the line the next day.
• When Qiu Hen explained that Duan Rong painted only ten portraits each day, Shen Mizhi became interested in the painter.

Qiu Hen lost her token when she fell, and a plump woman refused to return it, prompting Shen Mizhi to fight her. Shen Mizhi’s sword nearly cut the woman’s throat, but Duan Rong intervened and tumbled away with Shen Mizhi as the woman lay with a shallow wound.

• Qiu Hen waited in line for Duan Rong’s painting tokens until Shen Mizhi arrived, then fell and dropped her token.
• A plump woman picked up Qiu Hen’s token and denied that it belonged to her.
• Shen Mizhi drew her longsword and demanded the token, then fought the woman after she attacked with her Goose Feather Saber.
• Shen Mizhi disarmed the woman and kicked her to the ground, then advanced to force her to apologize to Qiu Hen.
• Shen Mizhi slipped on a pebble and nearly stabbed the woman’s throat, but Duan Rong leaped in and carried Shen Mizhi tumbling backward, leaving the woman with a shallow cut.

Duan Rong stopped Shen Mizhi from killing a woman during a street fight, but Shen Mizhi accidentally struck him and left him battered. Rumors about the incident spread through town, and Duan Rong returned to Yuan Shun Escort Agency, cleaned up, ate, and resumed practicing his stance.

• Duan Rong knocked Shen Mizhi down to prevent her sword from killing a woman, but his hand brushed her chest and Shen Mizhi kicked him away in fury.
• Shen Mizhi realized Duan Rong had prevented a death, then sheathed her sword and left with Qiu Hen while the rescued woman retrieved her Goose Feather Saber and departed.
• Duan Rong ended the portrait session and returned to Yuan Shun Escort Agency as onlookers began spreading rumors and slanders about the street fight.
• Duan Rong discarded his ruined clothes, washed, changed, and ate at a roadside stall after finding only scraps in the dining hall.
• Duan Rong returned to the Martial Arts Field and resumed practicing the Hun Yuan Stance.

Duan Rong was summoned to the Inner Courtyard at night and faced the Yuan Shun Escort Agency’s proprietor, chief escort, and Chief Instructor over an incident at his painting stall. He admitted there had been trouble in the street but denied that it had nearly caused a death.

• Zhao Mu and Luan Bao summoned Duan Rong to the Inner Courtyard, threatening to break his legs if he refused to go.
• Duan Rong followed them past guards to the Hall of Righteous Gathering, where he saw Ruan Fengshan, Luan Jingfu, and Xiao Zongting.
• Duan Rong paid his respects to the proprietor, Xiao Zongting, and Luan Jingfu.
• Luan Jingfu asked whether Duan Rong had sold paintings on West Avenue and whether he had nearly caused a fatal incident there.
• Duan Rong admitted there had been trouble among the people lining up but insisted no fatal incident had occurred.

Duan Rong faced expulsion and a possible crippling of his Dantian after Luan Jingfu accused him of violating the escort agency’s rules. Xiao Zongting defended Duan Rong’s talent and costly cultivation, and Luan Bao was ordered to test him, leaving Duan Rong to face the challenge.

• Luan Jingfu accused Duan Rong of breaking agency rules and bringing disgrace on Yuan Shun Escort Agency, and demanded that he be expelled and have his Dantian crippled.
• Xiao Zongting challenged Luan Jingfu’s authority over apprentice escorts, while Ruan Fengshan questioned Xiao Zongting’s discipline of Duan Rong.
• Xiao Zongting revealed that Duan Rong’s paintings sold for ten taels and that he needed the money for medicinal concoctions costing thirty-four taels per dose.
• Xiao Zongting claimed Duan Rong had reached the First Level of Inner Breath in under a month and was a Martial Arts prodigy, prompting Luan Jingfu to order Luan Bao to test him.
• Luan Bao prepared to challenge Duan Rong, who realized he had to face the test to escape his predicament.

Duan Rong survived Luan Bao’s powerful attack by adapting his martial skills, then surrendered when he could no longer continue fighting. Ruan Fengshan backed Duan Rong and Xiao Zongting, leaving Duan Rong to recognize how Ruan balanced rival factions within the escort agency.

• Luan Bao attacked Duan Rong, who rolled beneath him and countered with a palm blade adapted from the Five Tigers Herd Sheep Saber.
• Duan Rong blocked Luan Bao’s next palm with his elbow but staggered as Luan Bao’s Inner Breath disrupted his own.
• Duan Rong hid behind Xiao Zongting and surrendered, prompting Luan Jingfu to call Luan Bao back.
• Xiao Zongting praised Duan Rong’s talent, and Ruan Fengshan offered to seek training funds from Xu Shouxian while allowing Xiao to decide about Duan Rong’s street painting.
• Duan Rong realized Ruan Fengshan used the balance between Xiao Zongting, Luan Jingfu, and Xu Shouxian to retain control of Yuan Shun Escort Agency.

Ruan Fengshan and the others learned that Duan Rong had intervened in an incident involving County Magistrate Shen Yanliu’s daughter, Shen Mizhi. Clerk Qin invited Duan Rong to a banquet at the county yamen the next day to thank him, leaving Duan Rong anxious about facing the magistrate’s family.

• Ruan Fengshan heard that Clerk Qin had come from the county yamen to find Duan Rong and ordered Zhou An to bring him into the hall.
• Clerk Qin explained that Duan Rong’s street paintings had become popular and that Shen Yanliu’s daughter had nearly caused a death during a dispute while trying to buy one.
• Ruan Fengshan feared the consequences of Duan Rong’s involvement with Shen Mizhi and threatened to punish him and deliver him to the yamen.
• Clerk Qin clarified that Shen Yanliu had sent him to invite Duan Rong to a banquet the next day in gratitude for his righteous intervention.
• Duan Rong tried to refuse the invitation, but Ruan Fengshan accepted on his behalf and said he would prepare a gift for him to take.

Duan Rong went to a banquet at the County Government Office after Zhou An arranged his clothes, gift, and sedan. He met Shen Yanliu and his wife, charming them with his cheerful greetings before taking his seat.

• Zhou An arranged a new Escort Outfit, a gift box, and a sedan for Duan Rong's visit to the County Government Office.
• Duan Rong reassured himself during the ride that he had only saved the County Magistrate's daughter and deserved the banquet as thanks.
• Clerk Qin escorted Duan Rong to the Back Office, while Zhou An angrily sent the sedan carriers back with him.
• Duan Rong greeted Shen Yanliu and his wife with elaborate blessings, making them laugh.
• Shen Yanliu invited Duan Rong to take a seat and a Servant Boy took the gift box.

Duan Rong attended a banquet at County Magistrate Shen Yanliu’s home, where he recognized a painting he had sold and suspected Shen Yanliu owned Gu Yue Zhai. Shen Mizhi failed to appear, and Ma Chunmin decided she wanted Duan Rong brought into the yamen as a constable.

• Duan Rong carefully impressed Shen Yanliu and Ma Chunmin at dinner, smoothing over the overly salty lion’s head meatball with a tactful compliment.
• Duan Rong spotted the Portrait of a Lady he had sold to Gu Yue Zhai hanging in Shen Yanliu’s Flower Hall and suspected Shen Yanliu was the shop’s hidden owner.
• Shen Yanliu ordered his daughter Shen Mizhi to offer Duan Rong a toast, but her maid Qiu Hen reported that she had gone to Cloud Water Bank to see Xia Shuangshuang.
• Ma Chunmin suspected there was more to Shen Mizhi’s departure and, after Duan Rong left, urged Shen Yanliu to recruit him as a constable.
• Duan Rong, slightly tipsy, accepted a lantern from a servant boy and left the back courtyard on his own.

Shen Mizhi discovered that Duan Rong, the man who had taken advantage of her while saving someone, was being entertained at the County Government Office and simmered with anger. After missing her chance to confront him, she vented her resentment on a mulberry tree, while Kong Bin quietly continued his martial training at Yuan Shun Escort Agency.

• After hearing Qiu Hen explain who Duan Rong was, Shen Mizhi suppressed her urge to attack him and went to Xia Residence to find Xia Shuangshuang, but Xia Shuangshuang fell asleep.
• Shen Mizhi encountered a drunken Duan Rong at the County Government Office, but he failed to recognize her and left; realizing who she was, Duan Rong fled to Yuan Shun Escort Agency.
• Shen Mizhi ran outside after Duan Rong, but he had already escaped, so she returned to her courtyard and slashed the mulberry tree while cursing him.
• Shen Mizhi ordered Qiu Hen to sleep elsewhere, blaming her for losing the queue token and telling Ma Chunmin about Duan Rong.
• Kong Bin practiced the Hun Yuan Stance in a secluded courtyard, then ended his training and headed to the Middle Courtyard dining hall.

Duan Rong kept a low profile after his painting brought him brief fame, then Zhu Xiaoqi summoned him to Xiao Baijiao’s residence. Xiao Baijiao asked him to paint something, leaving Duan Rong seated with her as Zhu Xiaoqi departed.

• Kong Bin overheard crippled Menial Disciples discussing Duan Rong’s paintings and growing reputation.
• Duan Rong continued practicing Inner Breath and estimated he was about ten days from reaching its Second Level.
• Zhu Xiaoqi fetched Duan Rong from the Martial Arts Field and brought him to Xiao Baijiao’s residence.
• Xiao Baijiao welcomed Duan Rong, served him tea and Mung Bean Cakes, and asked him to paint something.
• Zhu Xiaoqi left after hearing Xiao Baijiao’s request.

Duan Rong painted a portrait of Xiao Baijiao, then discovered that her father’s broken broadsword contained an incomplete Rank 5 Artifact Spirit with three martial arts. The chapter left him discussing the blade’s history and agreeing to paint Zhu Xiaoqi a portrait as well.

• Duan Rong painted Xiao Baijiao’s portrait, and she praised its beauty while saying it did not capture her true essence.
• Duan Rong noticed a broken blade in Xiao Baijiao’s room, and she explained that it had belonged to her father and could suppress evil.
• Xiao Baijiao allowed Duan Rong to handle the blade, and he read its Artifact Spirit as Rank 5 with three incomplete Devouring Effects.
• Duan Rong considered how the blade’s damage might be connected to Xiao Zongting’s ruined martial arts and learned of the martial arts realm hierarchy.
• Zhu Xiaoqi asked Duan Rong to paint her portrait, and he agreed despite her saying she could not afford his usual fee.

Duan Rong painted Zhu Xiaoqi’s portrait while Xiao Baijiao watched from her room and sank deeper into despair over her illness. When Xiao Baijiao suffered a severe seizure, Duan Rong’s acupuncture helped stabilize her until Gu Suxiu arrived.

• Duan Rong persuaded Zhu Xiaoqi to let him inspect her Silver Bracelet by claiming it resembled one his mother had owned, then painted her portrait.
• Xiao Baijiao watched Duan Rong and Zhu Xiaoqi together and grieved that her illness left her little hope of a future.
• Xiao Baijiao collapsed in a seizure, and Zhu Xiaoqi summoned Xiao Zongting while Duan Rong rushed to help.
• Xiao Zongting used Gu Suxiu’s emergency acupuncture technique, but Xiao Baijiao’s condition continued to worsen.
• Duan Rong inserted additional silver needles into Xiao Baijiao, easing her convulsions and stabilizing her breathing.
• Gu Suxiu arrived, examined Xiao Baijiao, and asked Duan Rong and Xiao Zongting to leave the room while Zhu Xiaoqi stayed to assist.