Chapter Summaries

Lin Feng pursued the wounded Horse Bandit leaders through the tunnels as Tao Xingye unleashed venomous snakes across the city. Yun Mengwu betrayed and killed Tao Xingye, then drew Zhang Xiaoyu into drinking his blood.

• Tao Xingye escaped Hong Baichuan through a tunnel after Lin Feng wounded him with Crimson Gold Glaze, and he released countless venomous snakes into the city.
• Hong Baichuan ordered the Iron Sword Army to start fires while Lin Feng hid his bags and entered the tunnel after Tao Xingye.
• Zhang Xiaoyu drank the blood of slain horse bandits, growing more powerful as his mind became increasingly hazy.
• Lin Feng encountered Tao Xingye and his giant snake in a tunnel, wounded the snake with Crimson Gold Glaze, and fled as it charged after him.
• Yun Mengwu stabbed Tao Xingye in the heart and lungs, then drank his blood and invited Zhang Xiaoyu to drink with her.
• After Zhang Xiaoyu drank Tao Xingye's blood, Yun Mengwu exposed her skin, and Zhang Xiaoyu's primal desire flared.

Lin Feng was trapped in the Snake Demon’s coils underground while Zhang Xiaoyu found him and tried to help. The Precious Saber was knocked out of reach, leaving Zhang Xiaoyu searching for another way to save his brother.

• Zhang Xiaoyu resisted Yun Mengwu’s attempt to seduce him and ran deeper into the tunnel.
• Lin Feng fought the Snake Demon with Crimson Gold Glaze and Wang Shanxiong’s Precious Saber, but its venom could not harm his Gold Skin.
• The Snake Demon coiled around Lin Feng and began crushing him, leaving him unable to reach his saber.
• As the Iron Sword Army struggled against the venomous snake swarm aboveground, Zhang Xiaoyu stumbled upon Lin Feng trapped underground.
• Zhang Xiaoyu rushed to help Lin Feng, but the Snake Demon struck him and knocked the Precious Saber near its head.
• Zhang Xiaoyu returned despite Lin Feng’s signal to flee and tried to figure out how to free his brother.

Lin Feng and Zhang Xiaoyu survived the giant snake’s attack, and Lin Feng swallowed its Demon Core and exchanged the Breakthrough Points for Storage Space. After Zhang Xiaoyu recovered from drinking the snake’s blood, they searched Tao Xingye’s corpse and found two bite marks on his neck.

• Lin Feng used Heart of the Beast and tore open the giant snake’s wound while Zhang Xiaoyu drank its blood to survive.
• Lin Feng found and swallowed the snake’s Demon Core, gaining 300 Breakthrough Points as the snake weakened.
• Lin Feng exchanged all 300 Breakthrough Points for thirty cubic meters of Storage Space and tested it with a snake scale.
• Zhang Xiaoyu went wild after drinking the blood, but Lin Feng restrained him until he regained his senses.
• Lin Feng cut the snake into pieces and stored it along with his Precious Saber, then searched Tao Xingye’s corpse and found three banknotes worth ten thousand taels each.
• Lin Feng noticed two bite marks on Tao Xingye’s neck; Zhang Xiaoyu admitted making one, and Lin Feng asked who made the other.

Lin Feng and Zhang Xiaoyu emerged from the underground passage after claiming credit for killing Great Boss Tao Xingye, while Zhang faced a half-year deadline to find the next level of the Bloodthirsty Demonic Art. They presented Tao Xingye's head to Hong Baichuan and helped clean up after the costly battle, with Lin Feng continuing to loot as he anticipated rewards for his merit.

• Yun Mengwu warned Zhang Xiaoyu that he had only half a year before the Bloodthirsty Demonic Art's backlash could make him lose control, and Lin Feng urged him to find its next level or seek help from the Demonic Sect.
• Lin Feng altered Tao Xingye's wounds, cut off his head, and agreed with Zhang Xiaoyu to claim credit for killing the Great Boss.
• Lin Feng recovered his hidden bundles and looted money and valuables from the city and bodies before rejoining Zhang Xiaoyu and their companions.
• Lin Feng and Zhang Xiaoyu presented Tao Xingye's head to Hong Baichuan, who acknowledged their merit and offered to help them if they ran into trouble.
• An Iron Sword Army soldier reported 516 dead, over 100 maimed, and over 800 wounded; Zheng Tiejun ordered the wounded treated and the battlefield cleared.
• Lin Feng joined the Mayi Guards in cleaning up while secretly taking more valuables, expecting to return soon and receive a promotion for his merit.

Lin Feng helped identify Horse Bandits and Demonic Sect disciples among the captives, then returned to Qinghe County and reunited with his family. Zheng Tiejun avoided mentioning his promised recommendation, and Lin Feng left the next morning to join a raid on the City Lord's Mansion.

• Lin Feng identified Zhao Dadan, several Horse Bandit chieftains, and more than a dozen Demonic Sect disciples among the surrendered people, while Hong Baichuan sealed the underground passages.
• Zheng Tiejun praised the Mayi Guard's merits but did not mention recommending Lin Feng for a general's post, and Lin Feng realized he intended to recommend Zhao Youcai instead.
• Lin Feng and the army arrived at Qinghe County, where Lin Feng reunited with his children, Zhou Chunlan, and Mother Lin.
• Xiaoyueyue returned from the clinic and stayed close to Lin Feng during dinner.
• Lin Feng left early the next day to join the Mayi Guard and Iron Sword Army in raiding the City Lord's Mansion.

Lin Feng and his companions were sidelined when Zhao Youcai took charge of raiding the City Lord's Mansion, so Lin Feng planned to secretly claim its valuables. City Lord Liu Rensong was arrested for his ties to the Heavenly Serpent Gang, and the raid began with Zhao assigning Lin Feng's group to low-value storerooms.

• Lin Feng learned that Zheng Tiejun had moved up the morning shift without notifying him and chosen Zhao Youcai to lead the raid.
• Zhao Youcai belittled Lin Feng, who agreed to follow him while planning to stash the mansion's valuables in his Storage Space.
• At the City Lord's Mansion, Liu Rensong explained that he had sought a chance to reach the Innate realm and denied knowingly aiding the Demonic Sect.
• Zheng Tiejun's martial uncle ordered Liu Rensong arrested after Zheng Tiejun accused him of colluding with the Heavenly Serpent Gang.
• Zhao Youcai assigned Lin Feng, Zhang Xiaoyu, and the others to storerooms with little expected profit, but Lin Feng decided to search them anyway.

Lin Feng found Buddhist Beads in the junk room that revealed the Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill, then secretly took the City Lord's Mansion's chest of silver and jewelry. Zhao Youcai discovered the valuables were missing and was left explaining the loss to Hong Baichuan and Zheng Tiejun.

• Lin Feng searched the junk room with Zhang Xiaoyu and the others, found Buddhist Beads, and acquired the Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill through his system.
• Lin Feng finished cataloguing the junk room with the group, then secretly stored the chest of silver and jewelry boxes from beside Zhao Youcai's table.
• Zhao Youcai noticed the valuables were gone and searched the City Lord's Mansion and its surroundings without finding them.
• Hong Baichuan and Zheng Tiejun arrived at night, and Zhao Youcai explained the disappearance of more than nine hundred thousand taels.
• Lin Feng inwardly sneered as Zhao Youcai faced the consequences of the missing valuables.

Zheng Tiejun became Qinghe County’s new city lord and rewarded the Mayi Guard for its achievements against the Horse Bandits. He then prepared to name someone to manage the Mayi Guard in his absence, leaving Lin Feng and Zhao Youcai as the apparent contenders.

• Zhao Youcai claimed he had misremembered the missing money chests and jewelry boxes, then issued a revised list for moving the remaining property to the Mayi Guard headquarters.
• Lin Feng asked Hong Baichuan to report his contributions, and Hong promised to do so and explained how the Sect Tournament could lead to entry into a sect.
• Song Dahu declined to teach Lin Feng the Hundred Beasts Fist himself but promised to ask his lineage’s elders for permission.
• Seven days later, Zheng Tiejun announced that he would become Qinghe County’s new city lord and distributed silver and Power-Boosting Pills according to merit.
• Zheng Tiejun said someone would need to manage the Mayi Guard while he moved into the City Lord’s Mansion, then looked between Lin Feng and Zhao Youcai.

Zheng Tiejun appointed Zhao Youcai acting Mayi Guard General, leaving Lin Feng to consider whether to accept a post in the City Guards or county yamen. After Zhao Youcai began assigning duties, he deliberately excluded Lin Feng and his three companions.

• Zheng Tiejun named Zhao Youcai acting Mayi Guard General and told Lin Feng to work with him, while Lin Feng's allies resented the decision.
• Lin Feng urged his companions to focus on improving their strength rather than complain, and discovered that the three Sixty-Year Power-Boosting Pills gave him 180 Breakthrough Points.
• Zheng Tiejun privately apologized for breaking his promise and offered Lin Feng the post of City Guards general or County Magistrate, but Lin Feng chose to think it over.
• Lin Feng suspected the alternative posts could be a way to remove him from the Mayi Guard, so he decided to wait and watch.
• After returning to Mayi Guard headquarters, Zhao Youcai assigned duties to everyone but Lin Feng and his three companions.

Lin Feng watched Zhao Youcai win support from Mayi Guard colleagues and local officials while rumors spread that Lin Feng would lose his position. Though more people abandoned him, Song Dahu chose to stand with him, and Lin Feng saw a chance to turn the situation around.

• Mayi Guard colleagues debated whether Lin Feng or Zhao Youcai would become the official general, and Sun Yu drove them away after they predicted Lin Feng’s followers would be dismissed.
• Zhao Youcai ignored Lin Feng’s group, assigned them no work, and received praise from colleagues who sought his favor.
• At a banquet, Zhao Youcai, the County Magistrate, and the City Guards’ general discussed Zhao’s ties to City Lord Zheng Tiejun and dismissed Lin Feng’s bid for the post.
• Rumors that Lin Feng would lose power reached minor officials and former detainees, who mocked him as several of his allies switched sides.
• Lin Feng told Lin Hu that people sought advantage and avoided harm, while privately marking those who abandoned him for future punishment.
• Song Dahu declared his support for Lin Feng, and Lin Feng invited him for a drink after realizing he might still turn the situation around.

Lin Feng reflected on Zhao Youcai’s poor judgment, reconciled with his mother, and discovered Zhou Chunlan had quickly mastered the Purple Moon Heart Sutra. At the Mayi Guard, he learned Zhao Youcai had punished Song Dahu, then heard that the Sword Sect’s envoy had arrived with the appointment letter for the general.

• Lin Feng argued with Mother Lin about competing for the general’s position, then apologized and reassured her before sharing silver with her and Zhou Chunlan.
• Lin Feng discovered Zhou Chunlan had reached the beginner stage of the Purple Moon Heart Sutra after two months of practice.
• Lin Feng and Zhou Chunlan joked about his hidden silver before returning to bed together.
• At the Mayi Guard, Lin Feng learned Zhao Youcai had docked Song Dahu’s pay for half a year, and he gave Song Dahu a thousand-tael banknote.
• Zhao Youcai announced that the Sword Sect’s envoy had arrived with the appointment letter for the Mayi Guard’s general.

Lin Feng was officially appointed general of Qinghe County’s Mayi Guard, while Zhao Youcai’s hopes and the plans of his supporters collapsed. Zhao Youcai left Qinghe County without a word, and Lin Feng celebrated his new authority while preparing to purge disloyal opportunists from the official ranks.

• The Sword Sect envoy revealed that Lin Feng, not Zhao Youcai, had been appointed general of the Mayi Guard and handed him the appointment document and waist token.
• The envoy praised Lin Feng’s role in infiltrating the Horse Bandits and killing Snake Slave Tao Xingye, noting that the Mayi Guard Commander had heard of him.
• Lin Feng accepted the appointment, and his supporters and the neutral faction applauded as Zhao Youcai and his allies faced embarrassment.
• Zhao Youcai left the City Lord’s Mansion, packed his belongings, and rode out of Qinghe County without speaking to the supporters who had followed him.
• Lin Feng celebrated his appointment at the City Lord’s Mansion and resolved to drive opportunists out of the official ranks.

After becoming a Mayi Guard general, Lin Feng returned home with the news and prepared to remove Zhao Youcai's supporters from the force. He gave them a chance to resign peacefully, but more than forty refused, leaving him ready to deal with them harshly.

• Lin Feng rejected the congratulations of former Zhao Youcai supporters and said he would drive Zhao Youcai and his followers out of the Mayi Guard.
• Lin Feng told his family they would move to the Inner City, then celebrated his promotion with Zhou Chunlan.
• Lin Feng received his general's uniform, weapons, armor, and pills before gathering the Mayi Guards and offering Zhao Youcai's supporters a chance to resign.
• The Twin Spears of Red River submitted their resignations, which Lin Feng approved, and more than a dozen others also left.
• More than forty of Zhao Youcai's supporters refused to resign, and Lin Feng resolved to deal with them ruthlessly.

Lin Feng forced forty-six reluctant men to investigate and arrest corrupt City Guards and yamen officials, then assigned new leadership roles in the Mayi Guard. As the men set out, Lin Feng planned to watch the ensuing conflict and use his pills to gain Breakthrough Points.

• Lin Feng ordered the forty-six holdouts to gather evidence against officials on his list and warned that refusing a military order would count as desertion.
• One man tried to take leave and then resign, but Lin Feng rejected both requests and demonstrated his seriousness by splitting a table with his sword.
• The forty-six men left to make arrests, while Sun Yu praised Lin Feng’s scheme and Lin Feng told Zhou Haitao and Lin Hu to find capable men for squad leader posts.
• Lin Feng appointed Sun Yu deputy general after Zhang Xiaoyu declined the post and Song Dahu lacked sufficient merit.
• Lin Feng said he would spend the next five days watching the events unfold and planned to convert seven Sixty-Year Power-Boosting Pills into 420 Breakthrough Points.

Lin Feng oversaw the interrogation of City Guards and yamen personnel, secretly preserving evidence against the forty-six men who carried it out. He then used Demon Snake Meat and Breakthrough Points to improve his cultivation, reaching Iron Muscle and continuing to strengthen his martial arts.

• Lin Feng had the forty-six men torture the City Guards and yamen personnel for confessions while recording evidence of their methods.
• Lin Feng went into the mountains, roasted Demon Snake Meat, and used seven Sixty-Year Power-Boosting Pills to gain 420 Breakthrough Points.
• Lin Feng raised Purple Moon Heart Sutra and Body Nourishing Swordplay to the sixth layer, consuming Demon Snake Meat to ease his hunger and expelling impurities from his body.
• Lin Feng discovered that his realm had advanced from Stone Muscle to Iron Muscle, which provided a foundation for potentially reaching the Innate Realm.
• Lin Feng spent more Breakthrough Points to raise Yin Yang Swordplay to the sixth layer and continued strengthening his martial arts.

Lin Feng spent Breakthrough Points to strengthen his martial arts and advanced into the Bronze Muscle Realm, becoming an Innate Seed. With fifty-five points left, he received a system prompt announcing that he had activated the Martial Arts Synthesis Function.

• Lin Feng raised Crimson Gold Glaze and Heavenly Demon Meteor Fist to the sixth layer, where both required True Qi for further progress.
• Lin Feng spent Breakthrough Points to restore his virginity, cleanse his acquired turbid qi, and begin cultivating Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill.
• Lin Feng raised Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill to the sixth layer and advanced from Iron Muscle to Copper Muscle.
• Lin Feng considered whether to save his remaining fifty-five Breakthrough Points or add them to his Life attribute when the system announced that he had activated the Martial Arts Synthesis Function.

Lin Feng unlocked martial arts fusion, combining several techniques to increase their power and even raise Thirteen Taibao Hard Gong to Mid-grade. After testing his enhanced strength, he planned to clean up Qinghe County and eliminate its corrupt officials and gangs before pursuing the Sword Sect competition.

• Lin Feng fused Mad Demon Staff Technique into Wind-Breaking Saber Technique, allowing him to wield dual sabers, and merged Iron Cloth Shirt and Golden Bell Shield into Thirteen Taibao Hard Gong, raising it to Mid-grade and granting it the Immovable as a Mountain intent.
• Lin Feng fused Thousand Mile Divine Movement into Flying Sword Cloud-Piercing Steps, which gained the ability to accelerate while running, and discovered that only martial arts at perfection could be fused.
• Lin Feng allocated points until his Life attribute reached 504, then ran through the mountains and used Demonic Dragon Roar, whose power had more than doubled with his increased Internal Energy.
• Lin Feng returned home carrying a fierce tiger and planned to clean out the Mayi Guard, City Guards, and yamen before wiping out Qinghe County's gangs.

Lin Feng explained how martial cultivation could restore youth and gave Zhou Chunlan Power-Boosting Pills before reporting for duty at the Mayi Guard. When Zheng Tiejun and two officials pressed him to release their arrested subordinates, Lin Feng refused to bypass the investigation, and the officials began plotting to accuse him of torture.

• Zhou Chunlan noticed changes in Lin Feng's scent, skin, and body, and he explained how cultivation could reverse aging.
• Lin Feng gave Zhou Chunlan two Power-Boosting Pills and planned to seek a dual cultivation technique and more martial arts.
• Zheng Tiejun, Li Haoming, and Wang Ruiwen visited Lin Feng and asked him to release their arrested subordinates.
• Lin Feng said the Mayi Guard would investigate the prisoners and release those found innocent, despite the sounds of torture from below.
• After leaving, Zheng Tiejun let Li Haoming and Wang Ruiwen plan a complaint accusing Lin Feng of extracting confessions through torture.

Lin Feng dealt with corrupt City Guards and yamen personnel, rewarded Song Dahu, and traveled with him to the Beast Fist Sect. There, Song Dahu’s master offered to teach Lin Feng not only the Hundred Beasts Fist but also the sect’s more formidable martial arts, leaving Lin Feng wondering what price they would ask.

• Lin Feng executed two corrupt captives, sent others to mine, and removed several dozen of Ma Youcai’s former allies from the Mayi Guard.
• Lin Feng restored Song Dahu’s squad leader position and salary and awarded him three thousand taels of silver.
• Song Dahu told Lin Feng that the Beast Fist Sect’s master wanted to discuss teaching him the Hundred Beasts Fist in person, and Lin Feng agreed to visit.
• Lin Feng and Song Dahu rode to the Beast Fist Sect, where the sect master and elders welcomed Lin Feng with a banquet.
• Song Dahu’s master offered to teach Lin Feng the Hundred Beasts Fist and the sect’s more formidable martial arts, and Lin Feng wondered what they wanted in return.

Lin Feng discussed recruiting Beast Fist Sect disciples with the sect leader, then toured the sect and saw its training and animal-rearing skills. After deciding the sect could provide useful recruits and scouts, he agreed to spar with Song Dahu's master, leaving the sect gathered at the training ground in anticipation.

• The Beast Fist Sect's leader asked Lin Feng to take in more disciples so they could earn silver and gain experience, and Lin Feng warned that joining his forces could mean combat and casualties.
• Song Dahu took Lin Feng around the sect, where Lin Feng gave copper coins to the children and watched young disciples practice the Beast Hunting Fist.
• Song Dahu showed Lin Feng the animals the sect raised, and Lin Feng realized the disciples could make capable scouts because they understood and communicated with animals.
• Song Dahu's master asked Lin Feng about his Beast Hunting Fist and proposed a spar after Lin Feng said he had perfected it.
• Lin Feng agreed to spar at the training ground, where the sect leader, elders, and disciples gathered, expecting Song Dahu's master to defeat him.