Chapter Summaries

Lin Feng watched the Iron Rod Gang extort protection fees from Xiaohe Village and rescued Zhang Xiaoyu from their demands by giving him silver. When the gang reached Lin Feng's home, their threats against Zhou Chunlan convinced Lin Feng that they could not be allowed to live.

• Lin Feng returned home and learned that fifteen Iron Rod Gang thugs were collecting protection fees throughout Xiaohe Village.
• The thugs demanded three taels from Zhang Xiaoyu for his household, counting his unborn child, and threatened his pregnant wife when he could not pay.
• Lin Feng gave Zhang Xiaoyu a piece of silver, claiming it was repayment of a loan, and Zhang Xiaoyu used it to satisfy the thugs.
• The Iron Rod Gang demanded eight taels from Lin Feng's household after village chief Zheng Fugui confirmed the number of residents.
• The thugs leered at Zhou Chunlan and discussed exploiting her, and Lin Feng decided they had to die.

Lin Feng drove off the Iron Rod Gang thugs when they harassed his family, then paid them to leave Mr. Hong and Yue'e alone. After learning the gang planned to station men in Xiaohe Village and extort the villagers repeatedly, Lin Feng followed them, intending to kill them and reclaim the silver.

• Lin Feng punched the one-eyed thug and held off the Iron Rod Gang with his bow, forcing the gang to leave his home after collecting eight taels.
• The thugs broke into Wang Shanxiong's empty courtyard, then continued collecting protection fees from Xiaohe Village's residents.
• Lin Feng paid two taels to spare Mr. Hong and Yue'e from the thugs, then left home carrying night clothes and iron rods.
• The bald thug revealed that the gang planned to collect protection fees every two months and station men in Xiaohe Village, where villagers would have to feed them.
• Lin Feng quietly followed the departing thugs, planning to wipe them out and take back the silver.

Lin Feng ambushed the Iron Rod Gang thugs who had extorted villages, killing most of them and recovering their silver. After two men escaped, Lin Feng chased the one with the money pouch, but soon found himself surrounded by reinforcements.

• The Iron Rod Gang thugs discussed their village extortion and planned to take revenge on Lin Feng, while the one-eyed thug coveted Lin Feng's wife.
• Lin Feng followed the group, changed into black night clothes, and attacked them with twin iron rods.
• Lin Feng killed the bald leader and most of the thugs, including the one-eyed thug, as two men fled.
• Lin Feng chased down and killed the thug carrying the money pouch, then turned after the other escapee.
• Lin Feng saw twenty or thirty Iron Rod Gang members approaching, while another group surrounded him from behind.

Lin Feng killed two Iron Rod Gang leaders while escaping through the forest, then hid most of the gang’s stolen silver and learned that people were calling their attacker the Great Hero of Qinghe. After reassuring himself that Xiaohe Village was safe, he left for the county town to visit the Black Market and buy martial arts manuals and training herbs.

• Lin Feng lured two pursuing Iron Rod Gang leaders into attacking him, survived their blows with the Golden Bell Shield, and killed them with his iron rod.
• Lin Feng took the money pouches, washed the blood from the silver, gave his wife and mother five taels each, and hid the rest for a Black Market visit.
• Aunt Lin’s family reported that more than a dozen Iron Rod Gang thugs had been killed by a lone fighter whom townspeople called the Great Hero of Qinghe.
• Lin Feng stayed in Xiaohe Village while he waited to see whether the Iron Rod Gang would retaliate, and Zhou Chunlan privately suspected he might be the hero.
• Lin Feng told his family he planned to inspect the county night market, then left after lunch with one thousand taels of silver to visit the Black Market and buy martial arts manuals and herbs for Zhou Haitao.

Lin Feng waited for Steward Li, then asked him to take him to the Black Market to buy martial arts manuals. They entered the underground market together, where Lin Feng learned about its origins and agreed to look around on his own.

• Lin Feng cleaned his county courtyard and waited there after learning Steward Li was away.
• Steward Li arrived, and Lin Feng served him tea before asking for help reaching the Black Market.
• Steward Li agreed to take Lin Feng that night, and the two discussed ideas including bunk beds for inns.
• Lin Feng met Steward Li’s guards and followed the group into the underground Black Market, which opened on the first and fifteenth of each month.
• Steward Li explained that the White Lotus Sect had built the underground space and that he and Lin Feng should explore separately before meeting at the entrance.

Lin Feng explored the Black Market, discovered that most of the martial arts manuals for sale were fake, and acquired the system-verified movement technique "Thousand Mile Divine Movement." He then read an ancient text that made his heart race, but the chapter ended before he revealed what he had found.

• Lin Feng inspected a treasured sword and Glazed Beads at a weapons stall, then declined to buy anything.
• Lin Feng ignored a young woman inviting him in for tea and searched for martial arts manuals.
• Lin Feng found that the system parsed only the low-grade movement technique "Thousand Mile Divine Movement" from eight manuals, so he left without buying them.
• Lin Feng read Shenzhou Records and learned that the boundary between the Righteous and Demonic Factions had shifted through past wars.
• Lin Feng picked up the stall owner's other original ancient text, flipped through it, and grew increasingly excited at what he saw.

Lin Feng discovered that reading Liu Family Ancestral History had unlocked the supreme hidden weapon art Crimson Gold Glaze, but he lacked the Breakthrough Points to initiate it. After returning from the Black Market with Steward Li, Lin Feng bought Iron Beads to practice with and prepared to save points for the art while awaiting his meeting with Mr. Hong.

• Lin Feng realized the system had unlocked Crimson Gold Glaze from Liu Family Ancestral History, but he chose not to buy the book so the Liu family would not trace it to him.
• Lin Feng bought Shenzhou Records, waited for Steward Li, and decided to save eight Breakthrough Points to initiate Crimson Gold Glaze before training Thousand Mile Divine Movement.
• Steward Li showed Lin Feng a painting of a bathing beauty and left it at Lin Feng's home, while Lin Feng let him borrow Shenzhou Records after he finished reading it.
• Lin Feng slept poorly, ate breakfast at Steward Li's home, and went to the market to buy bedding and other necessities.
• Lin Feng bought twenty Iron Beads from a blacksmith to practice Crimson Gold Glaze as the day of his arranged meeting with Mr. Hong approached.

Lin Feng gained entry into Crimson Gold Glaze, a peerless hidden-weapon art that raised his Life attribute and let him throw pebbles with sniper-rifle-like force and accuracy. After two peaceful days, he and his family went to investigate cries from the eastern end of the village and found Old Woman Wang being beaten.

• Lin Feng returned home with date-paste cakes, reassured his mother that rumors of the Iron Rod Gang's destruction were false, and hunted a wild deer with Zhou Haitao.
• Lin Feng spent eight Breakthrough Points to gain entry into Crimson Gold Glaze, mastering hidden weapons through memories of more than twenty years of practice.
• Lin Feng tested the art by piercing a leaf and a massive tree with a pebble, then saw that his Life had risen from 27 to 35.
• Lin Feng brought river shrimp home and reflected that he lacked martial arts talent without the system's help.
• Two days later, Lin Feng and his family found several people viciously kicking Old Woman Wang while villagers watched.

Lin Feng let the Iron Rod Gang collect protection money again rather than risk an ambush, while the villagers blamed Great Hero of Qinghe for their troubles. He improved his swordsmanship and hunted a wolf, planning to give it to Mr. Hong when he became his disciple the next day.

• The Iron Rod Gang returned to Xiaohe Village to collect protection money, and villagers condemned Great Hero of Qinghe for stealing the gang’s previous payment.
• The bald thug promised not to beat cooperative villagers, and Zheng Fugui and others praised the Iron Rod Gang as righteous.
• Lin Feng gave Zhang Xiaoyu three taels of silver and paid ten taels to cover protection money for his household and Mr. Hong’s family.
• Lin Feng let the thugs leave without attacking them, suspecting the collection might be a trap.
• Lin Feng spent a breakthrough point to raise Basic Swordplay to beginner level and practiced in the mountains, but could not activate Heart of the Beast.
• Lin Feng killed a wild wolf with a small stone and carried it home as a gift for Mr. Hong before becoming his disciple.

Mr. Hong considered Lin Feng’s request to become his disciple while discussing the limits of his injuries and the value of their agreement. Lin Feng proved he had started Basic Swordplay, but Mr. Hong set one final test before accepting him.

• Mr. Hong cultivated the Purple Moon Heart Sutra and reflected that his legs could not recover because of the Cold Poison from Shangguan Qingcang’s Ice Demon Art.
• Mr. Hong told Yue'e he would accept Lin Feng if he had started Basic Swordplay within a month, though he would initially rank him as an outer disciple.
• Lin Feng arrived carrying wolf meat as an apprenticeship gift and told Mr. Hong he had fulfilled their agreement by getting started in Basic Swordplay.
• Mr. Hong watched Lin Feng perform Basic Swordplay and approved of his precise movements and solid foundation.
• Mr. Hong offered to teach Lin Feng a sword technique he had created and said he would accept him as a disciple if he could learn it after watching once.

Lin Feng passed Mr. Hong's final test and became his disciple after memorizing and demonstrating the Yin Yang Swordplay. Mr. Hong taught him the complete swordplay and its cultivation formulas, then began to reveal his identity and origins.

• Mr. Hong gave Lin Feng the Yin Yang Swordplay manual, and Lin Feng memorized it before Mr. Hong crushed it into powder.
• Lin Feng performed the first three levels of the swordplay flawlessly, so Mr. Hong accepted him as a disciple after he bowed and offered tea.
• Mr. Hong gave Lin Feng the remaining manuals, and Lin Feng learned and demonstrated all nine levels of the swordplay.
• Mr. Hong told Lin Feng that he had created the Yin Yang Swordplay and taught him its internal cultivation formula.
• Mr. Hong taught Lin Feng the Heart Nourishing Swordplay's internal cultivation formula and said he would tell him about his identity and origins.

Mr. Hong revealed that he was an inner disciple of the Sword Sect and taught Lin Feng martial arts, while Lin Feng planned to enter the sect by his own efforts. After a quiet stretch in Xiaohe Village, Lin Feng suspected that a Witch Doctor was exploiting Brother Zhang’s family and recognized the situation as one of the martial world’s most vicious trades.

• Mr. Hong told Lin Feng about his place in the Sword Sect, warned him to conceal his identity, and explained how he could earn entry as an inner disciple.
• Mr. Hong taught Lin Feng the Purple Moon Heart Sutra and had Yue'e teach him the Body Nourishing Swordplay.
• Lin Feng reviewed his martial skills and decided to save Breakthrough Points while raising Crimson Gold Glaze and preparing to advance Golden Bell Shield.
• After more than half a month of peace, Mother Lin told Lin Feng that a Witch Doctor had frightened Brother Zhang with a curse, then took his valuables in exchange for breaking it.
• Lin Feng recalled Mr. Hong’s warning about vicious trades and suspected the Witch Doctor was targeting Brother Zhang.

Lin Feng warned Zhang Xiaoyu that the Witch Doctor was a fraud, but Zhang refused to cancel the ritual planned for his pregnant wife. After revealing the Witch Doctor’s brutal theft of a placenta in another village, the chapter left Lin Feng preparing to expose and punish her when she came to Xiaohe Village that night.

• The Witch Doctor and her disciple cut a pregnant woman open, stole her placenta, and left her and her infant dead while her husband was away performing the ritual.
• The Witch Doctor and her disciple sold the stolen Purple River Carriage for one thousand taels of silver and planned to continue their work in Xiaohe Village.
• Lin Feng visited Zhang Xiaoyu and warned him that the Witch Doctor’s ritual was a deception that could put his wife and child in danger.
• Zhang Xiaoyu refused to heed Lin Feng’s warning, insisting that the Witch Doctor must complete the ritual that night.
• Lin Feng decided to expose the Turtle Crawling Women and make them pay if they came to Zhang Xiaoyu’s home.

Lin Feng watched Zhang Xiaoyu’s house and caught two witch doctors trying to cut the placenta from Sister-in-law Zhang. He rescued her as she went into premature labor, and Zhang Xiaoyu grabbed a stick and charged at the captured women.

• Lin Feng had Zhou Haitao watch Zhang Xiaoyu’s house while he trained, and they spotted an old woman arriving after midnight.
• The old woman persuaded Zhang Xiaoyu to leave, then a younger witch doctor joined her and the pair tied up Sister-in-law Zhang and prepared to cut open her belly.
• Lin Feng knocked the knife away, defeated both witch doctors, tied them up, and freed Sister-in-law Zhang.
• Sister-in-law Zhang began bleeding and going into premature labor, so Lin Feng sent Zhou Haitao to fetch Mother Lin and Zhou Chunlan.
• Zhou Haitao brought Zhang Xiaoyu back, and after seeing his wife’s condition, Zhang Xiaoyu apologized to Lin Feng and charged into the side room with a stick.

Zhang Xiaoyu learned that the Witch Doctors had planted rats in his home and killed them while Lin Feng kept watch. Sister-in-law Zhang survived childbirth and had a son, whom Zhang Xiaoyu named Zhang Fengye and asked Lin Feng to accept as his godson.

• Zhang Xiaoyu beat the Witch Doctors until the young Witch Doctor confessed that his master had released rats in Zhang Xiaoyu's courtyard.
• Lin Feng warned Zhang Xiaoyu that taking the Witch Doctors to the county yamen could put his family in danger, so Zhang Xiaoyu dealt with them himself.
• Zhang Xiaoyu secretly carried the Witch Doctors' corpses out of the village while Lin Feng stood guard.
• Mother Lin helped Sister-in-law Zhang give birth to a healthy boy, and Zhang Xiaoyu learned that his wife would recover.
• Zhang Xiaoyu thanked Lin Feng's family and named his son Zhang Fengye in Lin Feng's honor, asking Lin Feng to be the boy's godfather.

Lin Feng broke through to the Skin Refining Realm, gained Internal Energy, and continued strengthening his martial arts while hunting with Lin Hu. He planned to show Mr. Hong his Basic Swordplay and ask for more training methods.

• Lin Feng raised Golden Bell Shield to the seventh level, gained Internal Energy, and chose his eyes as its vulnerable point.
• Lin Feng raised Basic Swordplay to the first level and discovered he had reached the Iron Skin level of the Skin Refining Realm.
• Lin Feng demonstrated Internal Energy's increased power by killing a wild boar with a pebble, while Lin Hu tried to copy Lin Feng's eating habits.
• Lin Feng spent a Breakthrough Point to initiate Thousand Mile Divine Movement and ate most of another roasted wild boar.
• Lin Feng and Lin Hu went down the mountain as Lin Feng planned to show Mr. Hong his swordplay and ask about quick-training or protective martial arts.

Lin Feng visited Mr. Hong and studied two martial arts manuals, then learned that Yue'e possessed an exceptional Disguise Technique. The chapter ended with Yue'e demonstrating the convincing disguise to Lin Feng.

• Lin Feng brought pork to Mr. Hong's home and asked to study other martial arts manuals for comparison and to teach those around him.
• Lin Feng demonstrated his progress in Basic Swordplay, impressing Mr. Hong with his talent.
• Mr. Hong let Lin Feng read the Wind-Breaking Saber Technique and the first level of the Bloodthirsty Demonic Art, warning him never to cultivate the latter.
• Mr. Hong told Yue'e to teach Lin Feng her Disguise Technique and explained how it could help him conceal his identity.
• Yue'e appeared disguised as an old woman and asked Mr. Hong who Lin Feng was, before Mr. Hong threw a broom at her.

Lin Feng learned disguise and survival tricks from Yue'e, trained his family and children in martial arts, and spent a month improving his own skills. Just as he was about to visit Mr. Hong, urgent hoofbeats disturbed Xiaohe Village.

• Yue'e taught Lin Feng Disguise Technique, gave him two fitted Human Skin Masks, and showed him ways to identify poison and guard against sneak attacks.
• Lin Feng used a bearded mask to travel to the county town, buy three steel sabers, and return to Xiaohe Village.
• Lin Feng taught Zhang Xiaoyu, Zhou Haitao, and Lin Hu Wind-Breaking Saber Technique and had the children practice martial arts with him.
• Over the next month, Lin Feng raised Golden Bell Shield and Thousand Mile Divine Movement to perfection, advanced Wind-Breaking Saber Technique to the eighth layer, and improved Basic Swordplay to the second layer.
• Urgent hoofbeats broke the village's quiet as Lin Feng was about to leave for Mr. Hong's house.

After the Heavenly Serpent Gang demanded that Xiaohe Village hand over a boy and a girl, Lin Feng decided to move his family to a county-town residence he had bought with a bandit’s bounty. The Lin Family set out with Zhang Xiaoyu and Lin Hu, but more than a hundred villagers surrounded them in the road.

• Horse Bandits announced that the Heavenly Serpent Gang would collect a boy and a girl from Xiaohe Village the next morning or slaughter the village.
• Mother Lin and Zhou Chunlan feared that Xiaoyueyue would be taken, and Lin Feng promised to protect his family.
• Lin Feng revealed that he had bought a county-town residence with the two thousand taels he earned for killing Wang Shanxiong, a wanted Flower Picking Bandit.
• Lin Feng told his family to take only their silver and invited Zhang Xiaoyu and Lin Hu to accompany them to the county town.
• Lin Feng's group left the courtyard, but more than a hundred villagers surrounded them in the road.

Lin Feng used violence to stop Xiaohe Village’s villagers from blocking his family’s departure and redirected their anger toward Zheng Fugui. Zheng Fugui went to the Iron Rod Gang for help, but Baldy Brother laughed at his request.

• Widow Wang urged the villagers to demand that the Lin family surrender its children, so Lin Feng slashed her tongue and warned the crowd to let his family pass.
• Lin Feng wounded men blocking his way, then killed Old Li Gen when he continued urging the villagers to stop the family.
• Lin Feng threatened the villagers and told them Zheng Fugui and the Iron Rod Gang should deal with the Horse Bandits; the villagers seized Zheng Fugui’s wife and children.
• Mother Lin worried that Lin Feng would be arrested, but he reassured his family and said silver could settle trouble with the authorities.
• Zheng Fugui went to the Iron Rod Gang’s headquarters and asked Baldy Brother to help Xiaohe Village, but Baldy Brother laughed at him.