Chapter Summaries

After escaping a supernatural threat in Thousand Peak Mountain, Zhang Yuan spent weeks feeding Source Essence to the Red-Eyed Crow as it evolved. The crow finally awakened and answered his summons, but it seemed to have lost its former spiritual nature, leaving Zhang Yuan hoping it would return as the crow grew stronger.

• Zhang Yuan crushed Liu Qi Niang’s Evil Aversion Talisman when black mist and hostile forces surrounded him, then used Sixfold Agility to flee Thousand Peak Mountain.
• Zhang Yuan escaped the mountains and returned safely to Whale Fortress, but it took him ten days to recover his vitality and blood.
• After the Red-Eyed Crow remained asleep for weeks, Zhang Yuan sacrificed his fishing catch into Source Essence and fed it to the fifth nest chamber, learning that the crow needed it to complete its evolution.
• More than a month after returning, Zhang Yuan summoned the evolved Red-Eyed Crow while fishing near Flying Goose Marsh.
• Zhang Yuan found that the crow seemed like an ordinary living creature and lacked its former spiritual nature, but he hoped it would awaken as it advanced in level.

Zhang Yuan used his Red-Eyed Crow to scout Flying Goose Marsh while fishing, then returned to Whale Fortress and endured a punishing Iron Shirt training session. He was nearing a breakthrough to Third Order Transformed Strength and continued pushing himself to become stronger.

• Zhang Yuan controlled the Red-Eyed Crow from Flying Goose Marsh, using its keen sight and hearing to scout the area within a one-li range.
• Zhang Yuan caught two large carp and let the Red-Eyed Crow eat them to recover its strength after flying.
• Zhang Yuan returned to Whale Fortress, where Raging Whale Gang members greeted him as a rising talent trusted by Yue Wuji.
• Zhang Yuan trained his Iron Shirt by taking repeated blows from two strongmen wielding Skilled Copper Staffs.
• Zhang Yuan ended the training only after the two strongmen were exhausted, then dressed and returned home.

Zhang Yuan sought a lucrative bounty to fund his cultivation and accepted the mission to hunt Wang Chen, a dangerous Third Order martial artist wanted for killing Raging Whale Gang members. He left Whale Fortress to search along a likely route, relying on the Red-Eyed Crow to help locate his target.

• After Xiang Xiu finished applying medicinal oil, Zhang Yuan calculated that his savings would last only until the end of the month.
• Zhang Yuan visited Yue Wuji at the Battle Hall seeking missions, and Yue Wuji gave him a wanted notice for Wang Chen.
• Zhang Yuan accepted the bounty, while Yue Wuji warned him not to underestimate Wang Chen.
• The Linhe Branch increased patrols and sent scouts with sparrowhawks to search the county for Wang Chen.
• Zhang Yuan left Whale Fortress alone, picked a likely route to watch, and planned to use the Red-Eyed Crow to spot Wang Chen.

Zhang Yuan pursued a suspected Wang Chen after receiving a scout’s report and used the Red-Eyed Crow to locate the fugitive. He intercepted the rider, brought down his horse with an arrow, and wounded him in a second shot, leaving them poised to fight.

• Zhang Yuan received a message that a lone traveler suspected to be Wang Chen had been spotted in southwestern Linhe County.
• Zhang Yuan released the Red-Eyed Crow to search and found a Raging Whale Gang scout who had been killed by a blade.
• Zhang Yuan used the Red-Eyed Crow to locate the scout’s killer and chased him across the wilderness.
• Zhang Yuan shot the fleeing rider’s horse, forcing the man to leap down and draw his sword.
• Zhang Yuan fired a second arrow, and the rider deflected it but suffered a wound to his right shoulder.

Zhang Yuan fought Wang Chen, the wanted Third Order martial artist, and severed his sword arm with a powerful saber strike. Wang Chen revealed that the Autumn Water Sword held a family secret, then killed himself, leaving Zhang Yuan to wonder what the weapon concealed.

• Zhang Yuan recognized Wang Chen and fired a Fine Iron Arrow, but Wang Chen dodged it and charged into close combat.
• Zhang Yuan dismounted and met Wang Chen head-on, unleashing Sixfold Strength, Sixfold Agility, and the Profound Saber Technique.
• Zhang Yuan's saber qi cut off Wang Chen's right arm, forcing him to retreat and beg for his life in exchange for the Autumn Water Sword's secret.
• Wang Chen accused the Raging Whale Gang of destroying his family, while Zhang Yuan refused to judge his claim and prepared to kill him.
• Wang Chen shouted that he had told Zhang Yuan the sword's secret, then struck his own forehead and died.

Zhang Yuan killed Wang Chen after discovering that he had faked his death, then brought the corpse and evidence back to Whale Fortress. After a winter of relentless training, he received a lavish reward and chose to remain in Linhe rather than transfer to Nanxun.

• Zhang Yuan shot Wang Chen again after the man appeared to die, exposing his feigned death and ensuring he was dead.
• Zhang Yuan returned Wang Chen's corpse and the Autumn Water Sword to Whale Fortress, reported the encounter to Yue Wuji, and handed the spoils to the Inner Hall.
• Zhang Yuan continued training through the first heavy snowfall, earning a reputation across Linhe for his diligence.
• Yue Wuji gave Zhang Yuan two Vitality Pills and five thousand taels, explaining that the Nanxun Upper Branch had recognized his achievement.
• Yue Wuji offered to let Zhang Yuan transfer to Nanxun, but Zhang Yuan chose to stay in Linhe.

After receiving a reward for killing Wang Chen, Zhang Yuan tried to replenish his medicinal bath ingredients but found the County Town shop had to order them from its Main Branch. He was then questioned by Liu Wentao about Wang Chen’s dying words, and left Whale Fortress suspecting that an informant and a hidden enemy were watching him.

• Zhang Yuan used his reward to order medicinal ingredients at the Herbal Hall, but the shopkeeper said the three fifty-year ingredients were out of stock and had to be transferred from the Main Branch.
• Zhang Yuan returned to Whale Fortress and continued training because Yue Wuji had told him not to leave before the new year.
• Liu Wentao questioned Zhang Yuan about how he killed Wang Chen and what he had promised him concerning the secret of the Autumn Water Sword.
• Yue Wuji objected when Liu Wentao pressed Zhang Yuan, and Zhang Yuan swore that his account was true and that he had taken nothing from Wang Chen.
• Liu Wentao ended the questioning without finding grounds to accuse Zhang Yuan, who then suspected someone in the Linhe Branch had reported Wang Chen’s words to Nanxun.

After Liu Wentao’s questioning, Zhang Yuan became wary and spent his reward money on medicinal ingredients to strengthen himself. As spring arrived, he sought secluded cultivation to break through to Third Order Transformed Strength, entered an Advancement Room, and began the dangerous attempt.

• Liu Wentao left Linhe, and Yue Wuji summoned Zhang Yuan to reassure him after the questioning.
• Zhang Yuan spent all five thousand taels of his reward money on medicinal ingredients, and his vitality and blood value began rising again.
• After touching upon an opportunity to advance, Zhang Yuan asked Yue Wuji for permission to enter secluded cultivation, and Yue Wuji arranged an Advancement Room for him.
• Yue Wuji told Zhang Yuan that a Vitality Pill could help with the breakthrough and warned him not to share that information.
• Zhang Yuan entered the Advancement Room, practiced the Boulder Foundation Skill until his vitality and blood surged, swallowed a Vitality Pill, and began challenging Third Order Transformed Strength.

Zhang Yuan endured the painful process of breaking through to Transforming Force and became a Third Order martial artist. The Linhe Branch rewarded him and recognized him as its foremost young talent.

• Zhang Yuan swallowed a second Vitality Pill and shattered the barrier to Transforming Force, opening his Heavenly Gate and reaching the Third Order.
• Zhang Yuan emerged after three days and five hours of secluded cultivation, startling the Inner Hall disciple guarding the Advancement Room.
• Zhang Yuan went to report his breakthrough to Yue Wuji, but the hall master was absent, and news of Zhang Yuan's advancement spread through the branch.
• Yue Wuji and Liao Yong'an praised Zhang Yuan and granted him a monthly stipend, upper-rank privileges, and a ten-percent share in a merchant ship.
• Zhang Yuan became the undisputed foremost figure among the Linhe Branch's younger generation, and its disciples treated him with deference.

Zhang Yuan discovered that the White Dragon Loach had evolved, granting him Basic Water Profound Understanding and the ability to breathe underwater. While searching for another White Dragon Loach in a sunken ship, he uncovered a chest beneath a skeleton.

• Zhang Yuan sacrificed a golden carp and used the Source Essence to advance the White Dragon Loach to Level 4.
• Zhang Yuan tested Basic Water Profound Understanding and found that he could breathe and swim underwater while monitoring his vitality.
• Zhang Yuan spotted another White Dragon Loach and chased it into a sunken merchant warship.
• Zhang Yuan searched the wreck for the White Dragon Loach, found a skeleton buried in silt, and shattered it to reveal a chest.
• Zhang Yuan pulled the chest free from the silt.

Zhang Yuan found a box of gold aboard a sunken ship, then used the Crimson Blood Blade to survive attacks from a group of Water Ghouls. He returned safely to the Black Awning Boat, carrying the gold and wary of the divine weapon’s cost.

• Zhang Yuan opened a sealed box and discovered at least a hundred gold bars.
• A Water Ghoul ambushed Zhang Yuan, but the Crimson Blood Blade killed it after drawing some of his blood.
• More Water Ghouls attacked, and Zhang Yuan killed ten of them with the blade before the survivors fled.
• Zhang Yuan carried the gold out of the sunken ship, using the blade to deter further attacks, and returned to the Black Awning Boat.

Zhang Yuan exchanged gold salvaged from a sunken ship for Gold Bills and continued exploring the wreck. While chasing the White Dragon Loach, he broke through a hidden compartment and found a pile of wooden crates.

• Zhang Yuan disguised himself to exchange 1,150 taels of gold at Fu Ji Bank in Qing'an County for twelve Gold Bills.
• Zhang Yuan returned by river to Whale Fortress and planned to save the bills as a reserve in case he needed to leave the Raging Whale Gang.
• Zhang Yuan explored the sunken ship at Flying Goose Marsh, finding no more major treasure but growing confident with the Crimson Blood Blade.
• A Divine Nest notification appeared as Zhang Yuan prepared to leave, and he pursued the White Dragon Loach through the wreck.
• Zhang Yuan struck the White Dragon Loach with Surging Wave Palm, breaking through a cabin wall and exposing a hidden compartment filled with wooden crates.

Zhang Yuan discovered that sacrificing a White Dragon Loach increased his Parasitic Body’s evolution progress, then found military weapons and prohibited armor aboard a sunken ship. At Linhe Branch, Dharma Master Sun appraised Zhang Yuan as a Superior Quality Soul, and Zhang Yuan sensed the Azure Cloud Temple visitor’s concealed malice and hurried home, worried about his mother’s safety.

• Zhang Yuan sacrificed the White Dragon Loach and learned that doing so increased its evolution progress by 15%.
• Zhang Yuan opened chests aboard the sunken ship and found military weapons, including two sets of armor he could not safely take back.
• Wan Pu summoned Zhang Yuan to receive a Soul Appraisal from Dharma Master Sun of Azure Cloud Temple.
• Dharma Master Sun examined Zhang Yuan and recorded his bone age, martial cultivation, body, and Superior Quality Soul.
• Zhang Yuan detected Dharma Master Sun’s concealed hostility and returned home, fearing for his mother’s safety.

Zhang Yuan learned that he would be transferred to Nanxun Upper Branch after Dharma Master Sun’s Soul Appraisal, leaving him worried about his mother and suspicious of what Yue Wuji had concealed. He reunited with Liu Qi Niang, who planned to leave for Qian Capital the next day to search for her master, and realized she had come to say farewell.

• Yue Wuji told Zhang Yuan that Nanxun Branch had arranged his transfer and urged him to prepare for the Upper Branch.
• Zhang Yuan questioned Yue Wuji about Soul Appraisal and suspected that the Battle Hall Master had concealed something important.
• Zhang Yuan worried about leaving his mother behind or bringing her to Nanxun, and could not decide what to do.
• A warrior reported that a woman claiming to be Zhang Yuan’s distant relative had come to see him, and Zhang Yuan recognized her as Liu Qi Niang.
• Zhang Yuan brought Liu Qi Niang to his vacant residence in Linhe County, where she said she would leave the next day for Qian Capital to look for her master.
• Zhang Yuan realized Liu Qi Niang had come to bid him farewell and suddenly formed an idea.

Zhang Yuan learned that Dharma Master Sun might have appraised him as a vessel for a Celestial and decided to send Zhang's Mother and Xiang Xiu to safety in Qian Capital. He arranged for Liu Qi Niang to escort them while he stayed behind at Whale Fortress, and Zhang's Mother agreed to leave for his sake.

• Liu Qi Niang told Zhang Yuan that the Daoist temples were using the Body Seizing Secret Technique and Soul Exchange Body Transformation to find vessels for Celestials, explaining Dharma Master Sun's interest in him.
• Liu Qi Niang revealed that she had reached the Fourth Order and offered to take Zhang Yuan away, but he explained that leaving with his family might put them all at risk.
• Zhang Yuan asked Liu Qi Niang to take Zhang's Mother and Xiang Xiu to Qian Capital by merchant ship and Fu Ji Bank treasure ship, using his Silver Fortune Token to buy passage.
• Zhang Yuan returned to Whale Fortress and told Zhang's Mother about the danger and his plan for her and Xiang Xiu to wait for him in Qian Capital.
• Zhang's Mother agreed to go wherever necessary to keep Zhang Yuan safe.

Zhang Yuan sent his mother, Xiang Xiu, and Liu Qi Niang toward Yuyang Prefecture, then stayed in Whale Fortress to avoid drawing attention to their departure. Four days later, Wan Pu summoned him and delivered a Conscription Order requiring him to report to the Nanxun Branch.

• Zhang Yuan gave Liu Qi Niang ten thousand taels and arranged a merchant ship to carry his mother and Xiang Xiu to Yuyang Prefecture.
• Zhang Yuan saw the three women aboard the ship, and Liu Qi Niang gave him a bundle before returning to the deck.
• Chen Zhize met Zhang Yuan at the dock, and they agreed to drink together at Qingyuan Pavilion that evening.
• Zhang Yuan remained in Whale Fortress for the next few days and told neighbors his mother had returned to their hometown to visit relatives.
• Wan Pu summoned Zhang Yuan and handed him a Conscription Order from the Nanxun Upper Branch, ordering him to take up a post at the Nanxun Branch.

Zhang Yuan received orders to leave for Nanxun immediately and made preparations while worrying about his family’s safety. A warship took him from Linhe, where he discovered Dharma Master Sun waiting aboard, deepening his suspicions about the journey.

• Wan Pu ordered Zhang Yuan to leave for Nanxun the next morning and told him to settle his household matters that day.
• Zhang Yuan entrusted Da Hu to Chen Zhize and secretly planned to leave money for the dog’s care.
• Zhang Yuan packed his weapons and belongings before boarding the ship sent from Nanxun Branch.
• Zhang Yuan noticed the ship was a warship and that Wan Pu and Yue Wuji were absent as it departed Linhe Wharf.
• A warrior brought Zhang Yuan to meet Dharma Master Sun, whom he found sitting with another person.

Aboard a warship, Zhang Yuan discovered Liu Qi Niang’s hidden letter, map, and Thousand Transformations manual, along with her plan for him to cultivate in seclusion for up to ten years before reuniting with his family. As the ship continued making stops, he suspected more people were being brought aboard as vessels for Celestials.

• Zhang Yuan spent his third day confined to his cabin aboard the Raging Whale Flag warship and confirmed it was not headed for Nanxun Prefecture.
• Zhang Yuan found three sheets of Silk Paper hidden in Jianghu Records: Liu Qi Niang’s letter, a map to a safe retreat, and the Thousand Transformations disguise technique.
• Zhang Yuan read Liu Qi Niang’s agreement that he could reunite with his mother in Qian Capital after reaching the Entry Spirit Realm or after ten years, while she protected his family there.
• Zhang Yuan memorized the map and Thousand Transformations manual, then burned all three sheets of Silk Paper.
• Zhang Yuan heard more people board the warship and suspected they had been taken as vessels for Celestials to possess.

Zhang Yuan escaped the warship by smashing through its hull and plunging into the river near Azure Cloud Temple. Pursued underwater, he used the White Dragon Loach’s power to kill four warriors before the others fled.

• Zhang Yuan concluded that the Daoist Sect’s body-seizing technique might make him a target and prepared to escape before reaching his destination.
• After the warship entered calmer waters, Zhang Yuan burned the memorized Jianghu Records, empowered himself with Black Giant Ant Power, and cut through his cabin wall.
• Zhang Yuan spotted land and Azure Cloud Temple, then leapt through the hole into the river and used the Level Four White Dragon Loach’s power.
• A True Qi martial artist spotted the damaged hull and ordered the crew to capture Zhang Yuan, dead or alive.
• When underwater warriors caught up with him, Zhang Yuan attacked them with powerful undercurrents and killed four.
• The remaining warriors fled after witnessing Zhang Yuan’s underwater attacks.

Zhang Yuan hunted down the warriors who had pursued him underwater, then faced Hall Master Shen, a Fourth Order Martial Artist empowered by Dharma Master Sun. After catching Hall Master Shen’s Flying Dart and dodging his palm strikes, Zhang Yuan counterattacked.

• Zhang Yuan chased the fleeing warriors underwater and killed them one by one.
• The warriors’ corpses surfaced, and Hall Master Shen learned that Zhang Yuan was the only person missing from the cabins.
• Dharma Master Sun empowered Hall Master Shen with the Water Splitting Wave Dividing spell, and Hall Master Shen entered the water to locate Zhang Yuan.
• Hall Master Shen fired a Flying Dart at Zhang Yuan, who dodged and caught it barehanded despite its powerful true force.
• Hall Master Shen closed in and attacked with surging currents, but Zhang Yuan dived to evade the strike and prepared to counterattack.