Chapter Summaries

Ji Xiu arrived at the Wind and Cloud Association’s gathering and drew suspicion after being named a deputy hall master, while the business heirs and their masters argued over his appointment. The dispute ended with Wei Zhi inviting Ji Xiu and Lu Yu to a gathering, leaving her eager to get to know him.

• The retainers questioned Ji Xiu’s qualifications for a deputy hall master position and gossiped that Lu Manor was preparing him to marry Lu Hongyu.
• Fang Xiao challenged Ji Xiu’s appointment, while Li Ye and Luo Xiao’s other allies discussed his sudden rise and mocked his abilities.
• Xu Heng defended Ji Xiu, citing his Blade Gate entry, completed Nourishing Blood, and skill in refining ninth-grade pills.
• Xu Zhuang silenced the argument and reminded the gathering that the Three Great Businesses needed to unite under the Wind and Cloud Association.
• Xu Heng explained that he had also spoken up for Wei Zhi, who should have the right to inherit the Cattle and Sheep Market.
• Wei Zhi invited Lu Yu and Ji Xiu to meet her and offered to host them with the market’s rare mountain treasures.

Lu Chengfeng argued for Ji Xiu to lead the Wind and Cloud Association’s Medicine Hall, but Xu Zhuang and Wei Dingchang would only accept him as a steward. Huang Xuan arrived and demanded that Ji Xiu be made Medicine Hall Master as the price of his own service, leaving Ji Xiu and the association’s leaders stunned.

• Purple Robe Crane warned Lu Chengfeng that Ji Xiu was too inexperienced to lead the Medicine Hall, and Wei Dingchang and Xu Zhuang agreed that he should start as a steward.
• Lu Chengfeng explained that he had hoped to hire an outside alchemist so one of their own could learn pillcraft, but the other proprietors refused to make Ji Xiu hall master.
• Huang Xuan burst into the hall, denied ever agreeing to work for the Wind and Cloud Association, and drew the three proprietors’ respectful attention.
• Huang Xuan quietly told Ji Xiu he would stand up for him, then announced that he would oversee the Medicine Hall only if Ji Xiu became its master.
• The association’s members and leaders were stunned by Huang Xuan’s demand, while Ji Xiu realized he had unexpectedly become a major figure.

Ji Xiu settled into his new position as the Wind and Cloud Association’s seventh hall master but focused on strengthening himself rather than enjoying his status. After advancing his Soaring Serpent Chasing Cloud Form, he left determined to make the other business members acknowledge his authority.

• Ji Xiu arrived at the Fire Kiln, where the association’s retainers greeted him as their hall master and Hong Jiang followed as his newly appointed confidant.
• Ji Wei praised Ji Xiu’s appearance, and he reminded her to value martial training over wealthy habits before promising to have Yellow Medicine Master assess her bones and sinews.
• Ji Xiu practiced the Soaring Serpent Chasing Cloud Form, explaining to Hong Jiang that his new position and powerful allies could not replace personal strength.
• Ji Xiu struck a stone stele and declared that his iron fists would earn his hall master’s seat and silence the Wind and Cloud Association’s other business members.
• Ji Xiu advanced his form from 12/30 to 13/30, then called for the horses after an hour of training and joined Ji Wei for a meal.

Ji Xiu used a lavish Ninth Grade Medicine Bath to accelerate his Tortoise Snake Great Pillar training and reached major accomplishment in the Soaring Serpent Chasing Cloud Form. Huang Xuan returned to find Ji Xiu displaying a faint golden glow and jade-like tendons, leaving him stunned by the apparent Gold Muscle Jade Tendons.

• Huang Xuan had Ji Xiu refine Cold Dispelling Pellets and Hundred Herbs Pills, then revealed that he had prepared a costly Ninth Grade Medicine Bath for him.
• Huang Xuan poured the medicinal ingredients into a tub and urged Ji Xiu to enter and practice his pile stance before the medicine lost its potency.
• Ji Xiu practiced the Soaring Serpent Chasing Cloud Form and Mystic Tortoise Great Toad Form in the bath, merging them into the Tortoise Snake Great Pillar.
• Ji Xiu reached major accomplishment in the Soaring Serpent Chasing Cloud Form, captured a trace of qi resonance, and comprehended the physical trait Mystic Blood Flood Dragon Tendons.
• Huang Xuan opened the door and saw a golden glow and jade-like tendons across Ji Xiu's back, then exclaimed that he had achieved Gold Muscle Jade Tendons.

After a medicinal bath revealed Ji Xiu’s rudimentary Gold Muscle Jade Tendons, Huang Xuan explained that it was the first limit of the physical body and that martial artists had to break three limits to prove the Titled Martial Path. Ji Xiu resolved to keep striving beyond Anning County, leaving Huang Xuan stunned by his transformation.

• Ji Xiu emerged from the medicinal bath after absorbing its essence, and Huang Xuan recognized that he had reached the rudiments of Gold Muscle Jade Tendons.
• Ji Xiu credited his progress to the bath and his Tortoise Snake Great Pillar, while the Primordial Dao Talisman revealed his Mystic Blood Flood Dragon Tendons characteristic.
• Huang Xuan told Ji Xiu that Gold Muscle Jade Tendons was the first of the Nine Great Limits of the Physical Body, not merely an elegant name for toughened tendons.
• Huang Xuan said that martial artists in the Strength and Qi Gates who failed to break through three limits could never prove the Titled Martial Path.
• Ji Xiu imagined pursuing that path beyond Anning County, repeated his resolve to struggle onward, and left Huang Xuan staring in amazement.

Ji Xiu returned from the Medicine Lodge and helped Zheng Jun and Zhang Liu Zi gain new opportunities. At a Mountain Delicacies Feast hosted by Wind and Cloud Association members, he reflected on how people could rise beyond their humble beginnings.

• Ji Xiu told Zheng Jun that he had persuaded Yellow Medicine Master to give him a chance to refine pills, and Zheng Jun thanked him emotionally.
• Ji Xiu welcomed Zhang Liu Zi, learned that an itinerant martial master had been teaching him for free, and arranged a Medicine Hall job with a ten-tael monthly salary and access to pills.
• Ji Xiu asked Zhang Liu Zi to bring him to meet the martial master and sent him with Hong Jiang to meet Yellow Medicine Master and Zheng Jun.
• Ji Xiu told Ji Wei he was attending the Mountain Delicacies Feast at Flying Swallow House, where Lu Yu introduced him to Xu Heng and Wei Zhi.
• Over the feast, Ji Xiu reflected on the gulf between rich and poor and concluded that even people from humble backgrounds could change their fortunes through hardship.

Ji Xiu attended a banquet with Xu Heng, Wei Zhi, and Lu Yu, where Wei Zhi gave him rouge for his younger sister. Their gathering was interrupted by representatives of three gangs, who presented a forceful invitation to a banquet and left the four facing a brewing confrontation.

• Xu Heng reflected on the Wind and Cloud Association’s power struggle and hoped Ji Xiu would remain aligned with his faction.
• Wei Zhi gave Ji Xiu a box of Golden Swallow Rouge for his younger sister, and Ji Xiu accepted it.
• Three armed men entered the private room, and Xu Heng tried to dismiss them by invoking his father’s name.
• The men revealed their ties to Tiger Leopard Hall, Lion Hall, and Falcon Gang, prompting Lu Yu and Wei Zhi to rise and prepare themselves.
• Zhang Shi Yao introduced himself and his companions, then pinned a red invitation to the table with a powerful finger, making clear their invitation carried a threat.

At a feast hosted by the three factions, Ji Xiu intervened when their leaders’ men tried to force the Wind and Cloud Association’s party to attend. He defeated the Bone Tempering experts Qiu Zhen and Zhang Shi Yao, then left with his companions, while Zhang Shi Yao resolved to report Ji Xiu’s strength to the three leaders.

• Zhang Shi Yao tried to force Xu Heng and Lu Yu to join the feast, while Chen Zhao and Qiu Zhen blocked Lu Yu and Wei Zhi from intervening.
• Ji Xiu attacked Qiu Zhen and beat him severely, shattering several of his tempered bones.
• Ji Xiu revealed golden, jade-like flesh and tendons as he stopped Zhang Shi Yao from restraining Lu Yu.
• Ji Xiu ordered Zhang Shi Yao to let them leave and pay for the damaged property, and Zhang Shi Yao backed down.
• After Ji Xiu and the others left, Zhang Shi Yao recognized his strength and decided to report him to the three leaders.

After Ji Xiu helped Lu Yu and Xu Heng escape a clash with the Three Great Gangs, he reflected on what the fight revealed about his martial foundation. Back at the Wind and Cloud Association, members who had once looked down on him now respected him, and Ji Xiu resolved to rise above the current.

• Ji Xiu returned to the Wind and Cloud Association with Wei Zhi, Lu Yu, and the injured Xu Heng after their confrontation at Flying Swallow House.
• Xu Heng explained that the Three Great Gangs had attacked the Three Great Businesses because the Wind and Cloud Association threatened their power.
• Ji Xiu considered how his stance training and Mystic Blood Flood Dragon Tendons had let him suppress Bone Tempering opponents, while recognizing he would struggle against experts who had reached deeper stages.
• Members of the Wind and Cloud Association heard about the fight and began praising Ji Xiu as a strategist and Master Ji.
• Ji Xiu resolved to rise above others rather than drift with the current.

Ji Xiu earned the Wind and Cloud Association leaders’ support after defeating their challengers, while Wei Zhi gave him a treasured blade that carried a message from her late mother. Back at the Fire Kiln, he practiced and advanced his Soaring Serpent Chasing Cloud Form as Lu Hongyu watched.

• Wei Zhi gave Ji Xiu her costly Eighth Grade Mortal Weapon, and he initially refused to accept it.
• Lu Chengfeng praised Ji Xiu’s foundations and declared that he would personally punish anyone who challenged Ji Xiu’s position as Medicine Hall Master; Wei Dingchang made Fang Xiao kneel and apologize to him.
• Xu Zhuang and Lu Chengfeng took their injured sons away, and they agreed that the three families could not let the Tiger Leopard Hall have the final say.
• Wei Dingchang learned that Wei Zhi had given Ji Xiu the blade her mother had inscribed as a token for choosing a husband, and Wei Zhi said she was happy with her choice.
• Ji Xiu returned to the Fire Kiln, gave Ji Wei Golden Swallow Rouge, and let her read the inscription on the blade as Lu Hongyu arrived and watched him practice.
• Ji Xiu’s Soaring Serpent Chasing Cloud Form progress increased to 19/30.

Ji Xiu completed the Tortoise Snake Great Pillar stance and, after another medicinal bath, believed his Sinew Tempering had reached completion. His progress was interrupted when Lu Hongyu arrived with news that Manor Lord Lu had been crippled by Tomb Tiger Yang Daohan.

• Zheng Jun worked tirelessly refining pills for the Wind and Cloud Association while Huang Xuan enjoyed Ji Xiu's help with the pill orders.
• Huang Xuan warned Ji Xiu that his incomplete Sinew Tempering and lack of backing could make him vulnerable to powerful enemies, and advised him to avoid dangerous conflicts.
• Ji Xiu completed the Tortoise Snake Great Pillar stance and took another medicinal bath, leaving him confident that his Sinew Tempering was complete.
• Lu Hongyu arrived pale and exhausted, asking Huang Xuan for help after Tomb Tiger Yang Daohan severed Manor Lord Lu's bones and major tendons.

Tiger Leopard Hall’s leaders discussed their growing power and planned to pressure Anning’s businesses, while Yang Daohan ordered Yang Yan to invite Ji Xiu. After Ji Xiu saw Lu Chengfeng crippled and understood the Lu family’s decline, Lin Zhenhai invited him to a banquet, leaving Ji Xiu to recognize the invitation as an attempt to recruit him.

• Yang Daohan, Xu Xin, and Zhang Liechen discussed their alliance, their control of the mountain road, and plans to take a share of Anning’s businesses.
• Yang Daohan learned that Ji Xiu had injured Zhang Shi Yao and ordered Yang Yan to invite Ji Xiu to Tiger Leopard Hall.
• Yang Yan abused a laborer’s wife, and the laborer grieved over her death after Yang Yan declared his debt settled.
• Ji Xiu visited Lu Chengfeng and learned that Tiger Leopard Hand had crippled him, while the Fire Kiln’s retainers began abandoning the Lu family.
• Hong Jiang told Ji Xiu that Lin Zhenhai had invited him to a banquet, and Ji Xiu realized Lin Zhenhai meant to recruit him.

At a Lin Residence banquet, Lin Zhenhai offered Ji Xiu his daughter Lin Ruyue’s hand to keep him from getting drawn deeper into the martial world’s dangerous conflicts. Lin Ruxue instead offered Ji Xiu and his younger sister a chance to study in Jiangyin Prefecture under her master, leaving Ji Xiu stunned and tempted by the prospect of joining a sect.

• Lin Zhenhai welcomed Ji Xiu to dinner and thanked him for exposing the danger that had threatened Lin Ruyue.
• Lin Zhenhai warned Ji Xiu that the Wind and Cloud Association’s recent conflict involved powerful forces and could endanger his cultivation.
• Lin Zhenhai proposed that Ji Xiu become his son-in-law and marry Lin Ruyue.
• Lin Ruxue offered to take Ji Xiu and his younger sister to Jiangyin Prefecture to study under her master in the Little Five Decays Sword Sect.
• Ji Xiu was stunned by the offer and felt tempted by the chance to enter a sect and advance in martial arts.

Ji Xiu completed Sinew Tempering and sought Duan Chenzhou’s guidance on Bone Tempering, but Yang Yan arrived to force him into Tiger Leopard Hall. When Ji Xiu refused to go willingly, Duan Chenzhou prepared to show him what reason meant in a world ruled by force.

• Ji Xiu left the Lin Residence without answering Lin Ruxue’s offer and resolved to ask Duan Chenzhou about the path to Bone Tempering.
• Yang Yan arrived at the Fire Kiln seeking Ji Xiu, threatened Lu Chengfeng’s people, and persuaded Luo Xiao to lead him to Ji Xiu.
• Lu Yu warned that Duan Chenzhou might be unable to stop Tiger Leopard Hall, while Lu Hongyu left to try to protect Ji Xiu.
• Ji Xiu visited Duan Chenzhou and reported mastering the Hundred Days Foundation Establishment and Tortoise Snake Great Pillar.
• Yang Yan kicked into Duan Chenzhou’s residence and demanded that Ji Xiu join Tiger Leopard Hall, but Ji Xiu refused.
• Duan Chenzhou challenged Yang Yan and told Ji Xiu to watch as he taught him what counted as reason when there was no choice.

At Tiger Leopard Hall, Yang Daohan and the other gang leaders waited to recruit Ji Xiu, but his master Duan Chenzhou arrived with him. Yang Daohan recognized Duan as a formidable saber wielder, and Duan cut off Zhang Liechen’s ear after Zhang insulted him.

• Yang Daohan and Zhang Liechen discussed inviting Ji Xiu to join their alliance and warned against speaking carelessly about their plans.
• Yang Yan brought Ji Xiu and Ji Xiu’s master, Duan Chenzhou, to the banquet at Tiger Leopard Hall.
• Duan Chenzhou sat at the table as if he were the host, while Zhang Liechen challenged him for appearing to be only at the Strength Threshold.
• Yang Daohan recognized Duan Chenzhou by his purple robes, missing arm, and Full Moon Saber, then stopped Zhang Liechen and urged him to behave respectfully.
• Zhang Liechen apologized and drank a jug of wine, but Duan Chenzhou questioned his right to share wine with him and sliced off his left ear.

Duan Chenzhou revealed the overwhelming power behind the Full Moon Sky Saber and left the Three Great Gangs in fear. He ordered Ji Xiu to cultivate Quicksilver Blood Silver Marrow within half a year and kill their enemies, then promised to teach him the Golden Bone Tempering Technique.

• Duan Chenzhou intimidated Yang Daohan with the Purple Ribbon Immortal Garment and Saber Intent, then left the banquet with Ji Xiu.
• Yang Daohan explained that Duan Chenzhou was the Full Moon Sky Saber, who had once defeated every same-realm saber wielder in River Water Prefecture and lost an arm killing a powerful Qi Refining Expert.
• Duan Chenzhou told Ji Xiu that the Full Moon Sky Saber was his lineage's Secret Martial Art and that Ji Xiu was not yet ready to learn it.
• Duan Chenzhou ordered Ji Xiu to reach Quicksilver Blood Silver Marrow within half a year and kill the enemies who had left knots in his heart.
• Ji Xiu accepted the task, and Duan Chenzhou told him to arrive early the next day to learn the Golden Bone Tempering Technique.

Lu Hongyu arrived at Tiger Leopard Hall expecting to protect Ji Xiu, only to learn that Duan Chenzhou had already beaten Yang Daohan and left with him. After other Wind and Cloud Association allies arrived to claim Ji Xiu as a disciple, Ji Xiu returned to the Duan Residence and asked Duan Chenzhou for more techniques, receiving a Jade Book called “Mortal Transformation Leaping Dragon Gate.”

• Lu Hongyu went to Tiger Leopard Hall to defend Ji Xiu, but Yang Yan told her that Ji Xiu and his master had already left and tore up the contract with Fire Kiln.
• Lu Hongyu learned that Duan Chenzhou had beaten Yang Daohan until he vomited blood, then taken Ji Xiu away.
• Wei Zhi arrived with Master Liao, who demanded that Yang Daohan return Ji Xiu, but Lu Hongyu told them Ji Xiu already had a master.
• Ji Xiu returned to the Duan Residence and showed Duan Chenzhou that he had completed Sinew Tempering in less than two months.
• Duan Chenzhou gave Ji Xiu the Jade Book “Mortal Transformation Leaping Dragon Gate” and warned him that he did not know whether Ji Xiu dared to cultivate it.

Duan Chenzhou explained the dangerous origins and limits of Mortal Transformation Leaping Dragon Gate, but Ji Xiu chose to cultivate its first scroll, Silver Carp Transformation. After surviving its first bone-tempering cycle, Ji Xiu learned that Duan Chenzhou had tricked him with a sugar pill and faced four more cycles.

• Duan Chenzhou told Ji Xiu that Mortal Transformation Leaping Dragon Gate came from an Eastern Cang Sea heretical faction and was never intended for humans to cultivate.
• Duan Chenzhou warned that the method could break bones and refine blood repeatedly, but Ji Xiu decided to pursue its Silver Carp Transformation scroll.
• Duan Chenzhou gave Ji Xiu a supposed pain-relief pill and helped him begin the first tempering cycle in a copper furnace.
• Ji Xiu completed one of five cycles, and Duan Chenzhou marveled at how his bones had gained traits of iron bones.
• Duan Chenzhou vowed to take Ji Xiu into the mountains to hunt demons for more materials, while Ji Xiu realized the pill was only a sugar pill.

Ji Xiu completed his first Bone Tempering under Duan Chenzhou’s guidance, astonishing his master with the speed and quality of his progress. Liao Yuanhua arrived hoping to recruit Ji Xiu, recognized Duan Chenzhou as the fearsome man from his past, and was ordered to return and explain his insults.

• After emerging from the Great Furnace, Ji Xiu learned from Duan Chenzhou that he had officially entered Bone Tempering.
• Duan Chenzhou examined Ji Xiu and praised the progress his Tortoise Snake Great Pillar had made toward opening his Spinal Column Great Dragon.
• Liao Yuanhua burst into the residence and accused Duan Chenzhou of deceiving Ji Xiu, then realized Ji Xiu was an exceptional talent he wanted to recruit.
• Liao Yuanhua recognized Duan Chenzhou as the man who had killed Fourth Master Cai and turned back toward the door.
• Duan Chenzhou called Liao Yuanhua back and demanded that he repeat his accusations.

Ji Xiu shared a celebratory meal with the Wind and Cloud Association’s higher-ups, then received another painful medicinal treatment from Duan Chenzhou. The chapter ended with Ji Xiu’s Silver Carp Transformation progress rising to 2/5 and his strength improving.

• Ji Wei served a feast for Ji Xiu and the Wind and Cloud Association, while Wei Zhi and Lu Hongyu traded barbed remarks over their attention to the girl.
• Lu Yu told Ji Xiu that Liao Yuanhua had sought Duan Chenzhou after Ji Xiu’s return, and Ji Xiu let the others believe the two masters had amicably become acquainted through a fight.
• Zhang Liu Zi said he planned to spend his payday buying things for his family and tell them they could stand tall now.
• A masked, one-armed Duan Chenzhou abducted Huang Xuan and forced him to prepare Bone Strengthening Soup.
• Duan Chenzhou had Ji Xiu soak in Bone Stewing Spirit Soup and promised to take him mountain hunting for a century-old monster.
• Ji Xiu endured the treatment, gained one point of Silver Carp Transformation progress, and emerged stronger.