Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yuan lost his chance to study martial arts under Hunter Gao when Chen Deping’s children became his disciples. After returning home, he learned that his family had been assigned another Corvée demand and had three days to pay five taels or serve in the county.

• Zhang Yuan brought rice to Hunter Gao, who dismissed him after accepting Chen Deping’s children as disciples and paid him for his work.
• Chen Deping’s children mocked Zhang Yuan as he left, but he silently resolved to remember the humiliation and keep striving.
• Zhang Yuan returned home and found a Weasel-faced Advisor and household guards demanding Corvée labor or five taels of silver from his family.
• The Weasel-faced Advisor said Zhang Yuan’s family had three days to pay, citing Master Chen’s control of village taxes and plans to rebuild the ancestral hall.
• Zhang Yuan’s mother urged him to flee, but he assured her he had a way as anger burned within him.

Zhang Yuan went into Thousand Peak Mountain to hunt and earn the five taels of silver needed to protect his family from Chen Deping’s conscription demand. After killing a fawn, he awakened the Divine Nest and began searching for the organism that could grant him its power.

• Zhang Yuan sharpened his knife and resolved to earn five taels of silver rather than flee with his mother.
• Before dawn, Zhang Yuan left the village and ventured into Thousand Peak Mountain to hunt.
• Zhang Yuan concealed his scent by a stream and killed a fawn with a well-aimed arrow.
• The Divine Nest activated, branding an emblem on Zhang Yuan’s hand and revealing a status panel.
• Zhang Yuan recognized the Divine Nest from his favorite game and searched the area for the organism it could contain.

Zhang Yuan bound a Black Giant Ant to his Divine Nest, then encountered a Crow Spirit while preparing to sacrifice a deer. He returned safely to Chen Family Village, fed deer blood to Zhang's Mother, and planned to hunt in the deep mountains again the next day.

• Zhang Yuan captured a Black Giant Ant with the Divine Nest Emblem, gaining a twofold strength boost and learning that feeding hosts required Source Essence.
• When Zhang Yuan touched the fawn's corpse, a voice startled him, and he discovered a talking Crow Spirit that asked for the animal's organs.
• Zhang Yuan gave the Crow Spirit the organs and left the mountain forest with the deer, feeling watched until he reached the village.
• Zhang Yuan gave Zhang's Mother deer blood to restore her health and told her he had caught a deer.
• Zhang Yuan and Zhang's Mother prepared braised venison, and Zhang Yuan decided to return to the deep mountains the next day.

Zhang Yuan tested the Black Giant Ant’s strength and resolved to become a martial artist, then rejected the Chen Family Young Master’s offer because it would make him a slave. With only two days left to gather the Corvée Silver, he followed the Crow Spirit into Thousand Peak Mountain to hunt.

• Zhang Yuan activated the Black Giant Ant host, lifted a heavy stone mill, and saw that using its doubled strength consumed his qi and blood.
• Zhang Yuan woke late and hurried toward Thousand Peak Mountain to hunt for the five taels of Corvée Silver he still needed.
• The Weasel-faced Advisor offered Zhang Yuan exemption from Corvée in exchange for signing an indefinite slave contract, but Zhang Yuan refused and left.
• The Weasel-faced Advisor dismissed a servant’s suggestion to attack Zhang Yuan and looked forward to his coming hardship.
• At the stream, Zhang Yuan proposed that he and the Crow Spirit hunt together, and he followed it into the woods.

Zhang Yuan and the Crow Spirit worked together to kill a Male Wild Boar, and Zhang Yuan prepared the carcass to divide their spoils. He preserved half the meat and prepared to sacrifice the other half.

• The Crow Spirit led Zhang Yuan through a dense forest to a valley where a herd of Wild Boars was foraging.
• Zhang Yuan hesitated to attack the herd, but the Crow Spirit scattered the boars and distracted the Male Wild Boar.
• Zhang Yuan activated the Divine Nest's Parasitic Body—Black Giant Ant Power and killed the Male Wild Boar with repeated strikes to its face and eyes.
• The sow fled into the forest with the piglets, and Zhang Yuan thanked the Crow Spirit before giving it the boar's innards.
• Zhang Yuan split the carcass, coated half the meat with dried grass powder, and pressed his hand against the other half as an ancient incantation surfaced in his mind.

Zhang Yuan sacrificed wild boar meat to the Divine Nest, then followed the Crow Feather out of the mountain and killed Chen San when he tried to rob him. A Chen Family Guard who had witnessed the fight appeared behind Zhang Yuan, leaving him facing a likely martial artist.

• Zhang Yuan sacrificed half the wild boar to the Divine Nest and invested the Source Essence in the First Nest Chamber to strengthen the Black Giant Ant.
• The Crow Spirit sent a feather to guide Zhang Yuan through Thousand Peak Mountain and out to the Mountain Path Entrance.
• The Crow Feather revealed Chen San hiding in ambush, and Chen San demanded Zhang Yuan hand over the wild boar.
• Zhang Yuan charged Chen San and killed him with a strike from his Firewood Knife.
• A Chen Family Guard appeared behind Zhang Yuan, applauded his attack, and praised his talent.

Zhang Yuan killed the Chen Family Guard by using the Black Giant Ant’s power and surprise, then discovered a martial arts manual and gained Source Essence by sacrificing the bodies. He returned to Chen Family Village, where frantic gong-beating announced that someone had encountered a ghost.

• Zhang Yuan used powdered dry grass and a kick to the crotch to knock out the Chen Family Guard, then killed him with a punch to the throat.
• Zhang Yuan looted the Chen Family Guard’s money and found the martial arts manual called "Boulder Foundation Skill."
• Zhang Yuan sacrificed the Chen Family Guard’s corpse to the Divine Nest and gained 2.3 Source Essence, then sacrificed Chen San’s corpse for 0.6.
• Zhang Yuan sacrificed the discarded half of the wild boar for another 0.8 Source Essence and quietly returned to Chen Family Village.
• As darkness fell, frantic gong-beating rang through the village, and someone shouted that a person had encountered a ghost.

After Zhang Yuan’s scheme left Sun Bodyguard and Chen San’s desiccated corpses at the Mountain Path Entrance, the villagers treated their deaths as a ghostly horror and burned their remains. Back at home, Zhang Yuan invested his Source Essence into his Divine Nest and studied the Boulder Foundation Skill.

• The villagers found Sun Bodyguard and Chen San’s desiccated corpses at the Mountain Path Entrance and identified them.
• The Weasel-faced Advisor and the village chief helped bring the remains to the ancestral hall, where villagers prayed and burned them.
• Zhang Yuan watched the villagers’ response and concluded that his fabricated ghostly incident had concealed his role and troubled Chen Yuanwai.
• Zhang Yuan returned home and told Zhang’s Mother about the deaths, prompting her to pray for his safety.
• After Zhang’s Mother fell asleep, Zhang Yuan invested all his Source Essence into the Divine Nest and took out the Boulder Foundation Skill booklet.

After discovering that the Boulder Foundation Skill concealed seventy taels in silver notes, Zhang Yuan hid most of the money and used a family-jewelry story to explain how he would pay the Corvée. He reached Linhe County Town, exchanged a note, bought supplies, and returned to Chen Family Village.

• Zhang Yuan studied the Boulder Foundation Skill and found three silver notes worth seventy taels hidden in its back cover.
• Zhang Yuan hid the manual and most of the notes, then left for Linhe County Town after telling a village woman that he was selling his mother's jewelry to pay the Corvée.
• Zhang Yuan bought new clothes, a hat, and boots before exchanging a ten-tael note at Fu Ji Bank.
• Zhang Yuan bought medicinal ingredients and household supplies, then hurried back to Chen Family Village.

Zhang Yuan paid the five-tael corvée levy and secured a receipt while caring for his ailing mother. After the Weasel-faced Advisor left to extort another household, Zhang Yuan checked his Divine Nest and discovered that his Black Giant Ant had evolved, giving him Fourfold Strength.

• Zhang Yuan prepared medicinal broth for Zhang's Mother and reassured her that he had found a way to provide for the family.
• Zhang's Mother reminded Zhang Yuan of the Zhang Family Ancestral Teachings, and he assured her that he had never committed a crime before she drank the medicine and fell asleep.
• The Weasel-faced Advisor came to collect the corvée silver, and Zhang Yuan paid the full five taels and demanded a receipt.
• The Weasel-faced Advisor accepted the payment, gave Zhang Yuan a stamped receipt, and privately planned to keep extorting him.
• Zhang Yuan heard another villager pleading over the corvée levy and checked his Divine Nest Panel, discovering that his Level 1 Black Giant Ant had evolved to Level 2 with Fourfold Strength.

After nearly killing himself with a fourfold strength enhancement, Zhang Yuan recovered and returned to Thousand Peak Mountain to hunt. With the Crow Spirit's help, he killed a wild sow, spared her piglets, and asked to search nearby for another creature to house in the Divine Nest.

• Zhang Yuan’s fourfold Black Giant Ant enhancement overwhelmed his body, leaving him with only 5 vitality points, so he stopped the enhancement and spent two days recovering.
• Zhang Yuan learned that his body could withstand double strength but not fourfold strength, and that his vitality needed to stay above 10 points.
• Zhang Yuan went back to Thousand Peak Mountain and thanked the Crow Spirit for warning him about Chen San’s trap.
• The Crow Spirit led Zhang Yuan to a valley, where Zhang Yuan used double strength to kill a wild sow and spared her piglets.
• Zhang Yuan offered the Crow Spirit the sow’s organs, then asked whether he could search the area for another Divine Nest host; the Crow Spirit sent him a black feather.

Zhang Yuan searched the mountain valley for a second host body and captured a Jade Mantis, gaining Beginner Blade Technique Mastery. He returned to the village with half a wild boar, but Black Feather disappeared before he reached it.

• Zhang Yuan searched the mountains with Black Feather, the Crow Spirit, until the Divine Nest detected a containable organism near a Jade Mantis fighting a Silver Ring Snake.
• Zhang Yuan captured the Jade Mantis and activated its Blade Technique Mastery, gaining skill with his Firewood Knife while spending less Vitality than the Black Giant Ant ability required.
• Zhang Yuan returned to the valley, found the wild boar entrails gone and Black Feather missing, then sacrificed half the sow for Source Essence and carried the rest toward the village.
• Zhang Yuan reached the road near the village as night fell and discovered that Black Feather had vanished without a trace.

After returning to Chen Family Village with half a wild boar, Zhang Yuan shared meat with his neighbors and later faced Hunter Gao’s demand that he become a sparring partner for the Chen Family juniors. Hunter Gao threatened him through Zhang's Mother, leaving Zhang Yuan determined to kill him as he prepared to go to the County Town.

• Zhang Yuan brought half a wild boar home, drawing the villagers’ astonished attention and worrying Zhang's Mother.
• Zhang Yuan and Zhang's Mother smoked the meat, and Zhang Yuan sent strips to Uncle Fu and Aunt Qi in gratitude for their help.
• Hunter Gao offered Zhang Yuan a sparring-partner position at the Chen Family Ancestral Home, promising martial arts instruction and a stipend.
• When Zhang Yuan hesitated, Hunter Gao gave him two days to decide and threatened him by glancing at Zhang's Mother.
• Zhang Yuan concealed his anger from his mother, but the Divine Nest Emblem surfaced as he resolved to kill Hunter Gao.

Zhang Yuan bought supplies and medicinal ingredients in Linhe County, then investigated moving there to protect his mother but found the costs far beyond his means. Back in Chen Family Village, he took his first medicinal bath and saw his maximum qi and blood rise sharply, leaving him eager to begin cultivating the "Boulder Foundation Skill."

• Zhang Yuan exchanged a fifty-tael banknote and bought medicinal ingredients, grain, and other supplies in Linhe County.
• Zhang Yuan asked a broker about settling in the county and learned he would need a house, a guarantor, and substantial fees and taxes.
• Zhang Yuan calculated that moving with Zhang's Mother would cost at least 120 taels, far more than he had, and returned to Chen Family Village.
• Zhang Yuan prepared the medicinal soup and endured its intense effects while soaking in a wooden tub.
• Zhang Yuan checked the Divine Nest Panel and found that his maximum qi and blood had increased from 75 to 85.

Zhang Yuan entered the Bright Force realm after practicing the Boulder Foundation Skill through the night, then spent the day recovering his blood and vitality. That night, as wind and rain swept over the village, he secretly headed to Hunter Gao’s courtyard to kill.

• Zhang Yuan practiced the first form of the Boulder Foundation Skill until he broke through to First Order Bright Force.
• Zhang Yuan checked the Divine Nest Panel and saw his blood and vitality rise to 12 out of 100.
• Zhang Yuan ate more than six jin of smoked meat and kept his breakthrough secret from Zhang's Mother.
• Zhang Yuan soaked in medicinal liquid to restore his blood and vitality as the weather turned stormy.
• After Zhang's Mother fell asleep, Zhang Yuan went to Hunter Gao’s courtyard, intending to kill.

Zhang Yuan broke into Hunter Gao’s home and killed him after blinding him with lime and severing his legs. He then began searching the room for the treasures he suspected Hunter Gao had hidden.

• Zhang Yuan sneaked into Hunter Gao’s courtyard, fed Da Hu smoked meat, and prepared to attack.
• Zhang Yuan smashed open the door and threw lime into Hunter Gao’s face, blinding him.
• Hunter Gao blocked Zhang Yuan’s first strike, but Zhang Yuan used the Black Giant Ant’s power to sever both his thighs.
• Zhang Yuan kicked Hunter Gao into the bed, confirmed his identity, and beheaded him after he died.
• Da Hu appeared at the doorway, and Zhang Yuan sent him away before searching the room for hidden treasures.

After killing Hunter Gao, Zhang Yuan discovered a magical treasure map tattooed on the man’s skin and concealed it on his own body. The next morning, a bronze gong summoned the villagers to Hunter Gao’s burned home, where Chen Yuanwai’s household was gathered.

• Zhang Yuan searched Hunter Gao’s room and corpse, then found a detailed map of Thousand Peak Mountain preserved on a patch of skin after sacrificing the body.
• Zhang Yuan burned Hunter Gao’s room to erase signs of the fight, freed Da Hu, and returned home through the storm.
• Zhang Yuan discovered that the human-skin map stuck to his chest and blended into his skin, but he decided not to explore the mountain because of its Spirits.
• Zhang Yuan received 1.5 points of Source Essence from Hunter Gao’s sacrifice and invested it in his Jade Mantis host.
• The next morning, Zhang Yuan heard the bronze gong and went with the villagers to Hunter Gao’s charred home, where Chen Yuanwai’s household and the Weasel-faced Advisor had gathered.

After Hunter Gao disappeared in a fire, Zhang Yuan took in Da Hu and told his mother he planned to move to the County Town, fearing the Chen Family’s growing influence and the village’s disasters. Chen Yuanwai returned and summoned every household to the ancestral hall, where Zhang Yuan saw that he had brought a formidable martial artist with him.

• Chen Mingjie left Hunter Gao’s burned home after the Weasel-faced Advisor dismissed the villagers, and Zhang Yuan called Da Hu away from the Chen Family’s servants.
• Zhang Yuan brought Da Hu home, explained Hunter Gao’s fate to Zhang’s Mother, and received her approval to keep the dog.
• Zhang Yuan told Zhang’s Mother he planned to earn enough money to buy a house in the County Town and move away from Chen Family Village.
• Chen Deping returned to the village and summoned representatives from every household to the ancestral hall.
• At the ancestral hall, Zhang Yuan saw Chen Deping with a powerful Entry-Level Martial Artist he had brought from the County Town.

After Zhang Xiong searched Hunter Gao’s ruined home and found nothing, Zhang Yuan went into the mountains to hunt and seek money for settling in the County Town. He brought down a Rock Sheep with stones and discovered precious Rock Ginseng beside its carcass.

• Chen Deping handed rice and salt to every household in Chen Family Village and introduced Zhang Xiong as the martial master hired to protect the village.
• Zhang Yuan grew wary of Chen Deping’s motives and became more determined to leave for the County Town.
• Zhang Xiong sent the Weasel-faced Advisor and servants away, then searched Hunter Gao’s ruins but found nothing of value.
• The Crow Spirit led Zhang Yuan to a cliff where a herd of Rock Sheep was foraging.
• Zhang Yuan used the Black Giant Ant Power to hurl stones, strike a ram, and bring it down from the cliff.
• As Zhang Yuan prepared to drag away the dead Rock Sheep, he spotted precious Rock Ginseng growing from a crack in the rocks.

Zhang Yuan harvested an unusually valuable Rock Ginseng after killing the Black Horned Viper guarding it, then returned to Chen Family Village with a Rock Sheep. Zhang Xiong bought the sheep for far less than it was worth and questioned Zhang Yuan about Hunter Gao, leaving Zhang Yuan resentful and watchful.

• Zhang Yuan fed the Crow Spirit the Rock Sheep's organs, then lured the Black Horned Viper out of the Rock Ginseng's crevice and killed it for 0.5 points of Source Essence.
• Zhang Yuan carefully dug up the sixty- or seventy-year-old Rock Ginseng intact and estimated it could sell for at least a hundred taels of Snowflake Silver.
• Zhang Yuan followed the Black Feather back to Chen Family Village with the Rock Sheep, drawing the villagers' envy and interest in taking him as a son-in-law.
• Zhang Xiong stopped Zhang Yuan and bought the Rock Sheep for broken silver worth at most half a tael, far below its likely County Town price.
• Zhang Xiong asked whether Zhang Yuan had followed Hunter Gao for three years, and Zhang Yuan claimed Gao had recently stopped letting him help at his house.
• Zhang Yuan watched Zhang Xiong leave and silently resolved that his prey would not be so easily taken from him.