Chapter Summaries

After Leng Xingye bound Gu Chenfeng to her bloodline and demanded he reach Grandmaster in three years, he gained the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins and rapidly advanced to nine-star body tempering. Back in the forest, he killed one of the supposed rescuers and prepared to ambush the other.

• Leng Xingye revealed that she was the Eternal Night Demon Venerable, explained their bloodlines were bound, and warned Gu Chenfeng to reach Grandmaster within three years or die.
• Leng Xingye gave Gu Chenfeng access to the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins, where he comprehended the Heaven-Opening Creation Art on the Enlightenment Platform.
• Gu Chenfeng cultivated the art and quickly advanced from an ordinary person to nine-star body tempering, then found himself back in the forest where he had fallen.
• Two Tiger Guard soldiers approached, claiming they had come to rescue Gu Chenfeng, but he suspected they might be there to finish him off.
• Gu Chenfeng tricked the female guard into approaching and killed her with a dagger, then waited for the male guard to return.
• The male guard returned, believed Gu Chenfeng was dead, and reached toward him as Gu Chenfeng readied a hidden attack.

Gu Chenfeng survived an assassination attempt with help from his eldest sister, Gu Yanshuang, and learned that the Gu Lineage faced danger while their grandfather was ill and their father had taken the family fortune. He resolved to cultivate, and Gu Yanshuang gave him her family heirloom to sell for spiritual medicines.

• Gu Chenfeng tried to fight an assassin, but Gu Yanshuang appeared, killed the attacker, and questioned him about the ambush.
• Gu Chenfeng hid his encounter with Leng Xingye and the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins as he explained the attack to Gu Yanshuang, who warned him that hostile factions were targeting the Gu Lineage.
• Gu Chenfeng learned that his father had emptied the Chancellor's Residence storehouse of its spiritual medicines, gold, and silver.
• Gu Yanshuang gave Gu Chenfeng her heirloom bracelet to sell for spiritual medicines and promised to protect him while the Gu Lineage was in danger.
• Gu Chenfeng reassured Gu Yanshuang that she ranked first among all the women in the world, leaving her smiling as he rushed away.

Gu Chenfeng went to the Rare Beast Garden with Ouyang Cai, hoping to investigate the people behind an attempt on his life and find a way to make money. After the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins reacted to Shangguan Bingxin’s qilin jade pendant, he approached her and left Princess Yaoyin feeling unexpectedly slighted.

• Gu Chenfeng rejected selling Gu Yanshuang’s bracelet and agreed to visit the Rare Beast Garden after learning Ouyang Cai had an invitation.
• Gu Chenfeng brought guards to the Rare Beast Garden, where guests recognized him and Ouyang Cai as the capital’s twin good-for-nothings.
• Princess Yaoyin tried to avoid Gu Chenfeng, but he walked past her and approached Shangguan Bingxin instead.
• Gu Chenfeng flirted with Shangguan Bingxin after the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins reacted to her qilin jade pendant.
• Princess Yaoyin interrupted Gu Chenfeng, who took Ouyang Cai away after telling her he had other matters to attend to.
• Princess Yaoyin grew irritated when the noblewomen speculated about Gu Chenfeng’s interest in Shangguan Bingxin and Shangguan praised his poem.

Gu Chenfeng confronted Zhang You after discovering that Ouyang Cai had lost fifty thousand taels in a rigged gambling match at the Rare Beast Garden. He recognized Zhang You as the likely attacker from the Great Wilderness Ridge and promised to repay Ouyang Cai’s debt, setting up his next move against him.

• Ouyang Cai lost his ten thousand taels and borrowed another forty thousand from the Rare Beast Garden while gambling against Zhang You.
• Gu Chenfeng stopped Ouyang Cai from attacking a staff member and realized Zhang You had deliberately provoked him into losing money.
• When Tian Rong mocked Gu Chenfeng’s father, Gu Chenfeng ordered his guards to beat him and justified the order as punishment for slandering the northern frontier commander.
• Zhang You revealed that he owned part of the Rare Beast Garden and demanded Ouyang Cai repay the forty-thousand-tael debt.
• After Zhang You tried to provoke him into taking responsibility for the debt, Gu Chenfeng promised to pay the principal and interest within the time it took an incense stick to burn.

Gu Chenfeng borrowed money from Shangguan Bingxin and used his knowledge of beast speech to win several beast-fighting wagers, recovering fifty thousand taels. Zhang You then challenged him to a one-on-one Origin Beast duel for fifty thousand taels, and Gu Chenfeng accepted.

• Zhang You ordered his attendants to watch Gu Chenfeng and Ouyang Cai as they sought money to repay Ouyang Cai’s gambling debt.
• Gu Chenfeng borrowed five hundred taels from Shangguan Bingxin, while Princess Yaoyin returned to ensure he repaid her.
• Gu Chenfeng selected an injured female Leopard Hound and won the wager after recognizing her as the Hound Queen through his ability to understand beast speech.
• Gu Chenfeng and Ouyang Cai won three rounds and earned more than fifty thousand taels, prompting Zhang You to go to the fighting platforms.
• Zhang You challenged Gu Chenfeng to a one-on-one Origin Beast duel and offered a wager; Gu Chenfeng raised it to fifty thousand taels and agreed.

Gu Chenfeng faced Zhang You’s Gale Wolf with a seemingly helpless Silver-Eyed Fox cub in their fifty-thousand-tael wager. When the cub cried, the Gale Wolf was overcome with terror and fled, leaving the match’s outcome in doubt.

• Princess Yaoyin and Shangguan Bingxin discussed Zhang You’s scheme and Gu Chenfeng’s earlier, baffling wins.
• Zhang You brought out a privately raised Gale Wolf at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm for the match.
• Gu Chenfeng arrived with Ouyang Cai and placed a sleeping Silver-Eyed Fox cub on the platform as his challenger.
• Zhang You released the Gale Wolf, and Gu Chenfeng woke the cub by flicking its rump.
• The Gale Wolf trembled at the cub’s cries, then turned and ran in terror.

Gu Chenfeng turned Zhang You’s rigged beast fight against him, earning money while secretly helping the Gale Wolf attack. He left with the Silvermoon Demon Wolf cub in Shangguan Bingxin’s care and planned to use it as a reason to visit her.

• The Gale Wolf fled from the Silvermoon Demon Wolf cub, and Shangguan Bingxin identified the cub’s true bloodline.
• Gu Chenfeng secretly took Zhang You’s chain, causing the Gale Wolf to attack Zhang You when he tried to force it back into the fight.
• Gu Chenfeng pretended to rescue Zhang You, but his lashes struck Zhang You, and he accidentally crushed Zhang You’s crotch while helping restrain the wolf.
• Gu Chenfeng collected his wager winnings and a rescue fee, then gave Shangguan Bingxin money to care for the Silvermoon Demon Wolf cub.
• Princess Yaoyin hinted that she wanted the cub, but Gu Chenfeng offered her the Gale Wolf instead, and she left in anger.
• On the carriage ride back, Gu Chenfeng told Ouyang Cai that the cub would give him a reason to visit Shangguan Bingxin at her residence.

After returning to the imperial capital, Gu Chenfeng bought mental-energy medicines from the Myriad Treasures House while seeking ways to protect the Gu Lineage. Liu Fuyan recognized his value and ordered the trading house to treat him favorably, leaving Gu Chenfeng with pills and potions and a potential ally.

• Ouyang Cai decided to tell his father that the Zhang Lineage had set him up and urge the Ouyang Lineage to retaliate.
• Gu Chenfeng planned to use the Ouyang Lineage to keep the Zhang Lineage in check while his grandfather remained injured and in seclusion.
• At the Myriad Treasures House, Gu Chenfeng met deputy manager Liu Fuyan and asked about medicines that restored mental energy.
• Gu Chenfeng bought ten Clearheart Pills and dozens of doses of Spirit-Nourishing Potion, and Liu Fuyan gave him a twenty-percent discount after their playful exchange.
• Liu Fuyan identified Gu Chenfeng as the Gu Lineage's third young master and told Steward Zhang to give him special treatment on future visits.

Gu Yanshuang told Gu Chenfeng that the assassins who attacked him at Great Wilderness Ridge had come from the Northern Frontier, then gave him an external cultivation art and a spear technique. The chapter ended with Gu Yanshuang believing he lacked perseverance and asking hidden guards to protect him.

• Gu Yanshuang told Gu Chenfeng that the assassins had used gu worms and likely came from the Northern Frontier, not the imperial capital’s factions.
• Gu Yanshuang recommended external cultivation for Gu Chenfeng and gave him the Iron Elephant Art and her Tiger-Subduing Spear Technique.
• Gu Yanshuang taught Gu Chenfeng the basic stances of the Iron Elephant Art, but he left as soon as she departed so he could take medicine and enter the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins.
• Gu Yanshuang secretly watched Gu Chenfeng leave and concluded that his interest in cultivation was only a passing impulse.
• Gu Yanshuang asked hidden guards in the bamboo grove to protect Gu Chenfeng while her grandfather remained in seclusion and danger stirred in the imperial capital.

Gu Chenfeng used the Enlightenment Platform and Clearheart Pills to reach four-star meridian-opening, then began practicing the Iron Elephant Art to help his body keep pace with his rapid cultivation. Meanwhile, Zhang You learned that a masked young man still planned to obtain an item from the Right Chancellor's Residence and investigate Gu Beiwu's condition.

• After taking a Clearheart Pill, Gu Chenfeng entered the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins and broke through to the one-star meridian-opening realm.
• Gu Chenfeng advanced to four-star meridian-opening but found his cultivation stalled because his body could not keep up with his growing blood qi and source qi.
• Gu Chenfeng practiced the Iron Elephant Art on the Enlightenment Platform, stimulating his body to strengthen itself and resume adapting to his cultivation.
• The masked young man reprimanded Zhang You for acting beyond his orders at Great Wilderness Ridge and explained that Gu Chenfeng was not supposed to be killed.
• The masked young man told Zhang You that assassins had tried to kill Gu Chenfeng after his fall, but Gu Yanshuang had killed them.
• The masked young man said he had a detailed plan to obtain an item from the Right Chancellor's Residence and probe Gu Beiwu's condition, while Zhang You recovered and prepared to assist.

Gu Chenfeng continued strengthening his martial arts while recovering from his nightmare about Leng Xingye, then learned that Ouyang De had struck the Zhang Lineage with a tax crackdown. Ouyang Cai also revealed that a group of Northern Frontier fighters had been killed and showed Gu Chenfeng a strange glowing insect that seemed to be speaking in his mind.

• Gu Chenfeng advanced his Iron Armor Art to the peak of its first layer and his martial cultivation to six stars, but ran low on the medicines needed to keep training.
• Gu Chenfeng dreamed that Leng Xingye defeated him again, then woke after sleeping nearly a full day and resolved to become strong enough to turn the tables in three years.
• Ouyang Cai repaid Gu Chenfeng with fifty thousand taels and explained that Ouyang De had used a tax audit to punish businesses belonging to the Zhang Lineage.
• Ouyang Cai told Gu Chenfeng that authorities had uncovered armed fighters raising insects in a silk shop, but the group had been killed before the Imperial Guard arrived.
• Ouyang Cai showed Gu Chenfeng a glowing beetle he had secretly taken from the silk shop, and Gu Chenfeng heard it beg to be released and call for its master to kill them.

Gu Chenfeng used Ouyang Cai’s captured Lifebound Gu to track its badly injured master to the Thousand Beauties Pavilion. As Maestra Su unexpectedly prepared to perform, Gu Chenfeng suspected the gathering was about to take an interesting turn.

• Gu Chenfeng recognized Ouyang Cai’s white beetle as a Lifebound Gu and sensed its master communicating with it nearby.
• Gu Chenfeng took the beetle and persuaded Ouyang Cai to stroll through the Imperial Capital with guards, using the insect’s calls to trace its master’s spiritual fluctuations.
• Gu Chenfeng and Ouyang Cai followed the fluctuations to the Thousand Beauties Pavilion, where Gu Chenfeng waited for the injured gu practitioner to approach and reclaim the beetle.
• A steward announced that Maestra Su would perform on the zither, and Gu Chenfeng sensed that something unusual was happening.

At the Thousand Beauties Pavilion, Lady Su used her zither music and mental power to draw Gu Chenfeng into releasing his Lifebound Gu, but he secretly stopped it and disrupted her performance. After Gu Chenfeng mocked Ouyang Cai for being unable to win Lady Su over, her maid invited Gu Chenfeng to meet her alone.

• Lady Su appeared at the Thousand Beauties Pavilion and played a zither tune that hypnotized the guests, while Gu Chenfeng recognized the mental influence and pretended to be entranced.
• Lady Su’s music caused Gu Chenfeng to open the crystal bottle holding his Lifebound Gu, but he seized the insect and crushed it hard enough to make her falter and stop playing.
• Lady Su apologized to the guests, then glanced meaningfully toward Gu Chenfeng’s private room before leaving.
• Ouyang Cai lamented that Lady Su had ended her performance early, and Gu Chenfeng teased him for being too inept at picking up women to win her over.
• Lady Su’s maid invited Gu Chenfeng to meet her alone, stunning Ouyang Cai, while Gu Chenfeng calmly accepted and asked the maid to wait outside.

Gu Chenfeng met Su Wanyue at the Thousand Beauties Pavilion, where they agreed to cooperate in finding the culprit behind his attempted assassination. After thwarting her attempt to hypnotize him into returning her life-bound gu, he prepared to give her a poem as a keepsake.

• Gu Chenfeng confronted Su Wanyue about the Great Wilderness Ridge assassination, and she denied her group was responsible.
• Su Wanyue explained that someone had led the authorities to her group and attacked them, so she and Gu Chenfeng agreed to find the true culprit together.
• Gu Chenfeng refused to return Su Wanyue's life-bound gu until they uncovered the truth.
• Su Wanyue tried to hypnotize Gu Chenfeng into giving back the gu, but he resisted, slapped her, and tightened his grip on it until she stopped.
• Su Wanyue asked Gu Chenfeng to exchange keepsakes, and he asked her for brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone so he could compose a poem.

Gu Chenfeng left Su Wanyue with a poem that deeply moved her, then bought pills and body-tempering potions from Liu Fuyan while learning that the Myriad Treasures House had lost its chief Alchemist. The chapter ended with Gu Chenfeng considering learning alchemy to fund his cultivation.

• Ouyang Cai declared Gu Chenfeng his forefather in the art of picking up women after Gu Chenfeng returned from meeting Su Wanyue.
• Su Wanyue resolved to cooperate with Gu Chenfeng for now, then read his poem and was moved to tears by its imagery.
• Gu Chenfeng went to the Myriad Treasures House and spent eighty thousand taels on Clearheart Pills and Body-Tempering Potions.
• Liu Fuyan told Gu Chenfeng that the branch was struggling after its third-grade chief Alchemist had been poached, and asked him to recommend a skilled Alchemist.
• On his way home, Gu Chenfeng considered learning alchemy with the help of the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins and the Enlightenment Platform.

Gu Chenfeng used Golden Marrow and the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins to advance his body tempering and meridian cultivation, while a poem he gave Su Wanyue made him famous throughout the Imperial Capital. After three failed attempts to reach the source qi realm, he realized he needed an expensive Great Pill and decided to start his pill-refining business.

• Gu Chenfeng applied Golden Marrow over his entire body, took a Clearheart Pill, and cultivated the Iron Elephant Art on the Enlightenment Platform.
• Gu Yanshuang learned that Gu Chenfeng had visited a brothel and bought medicines, then resolved to speak with him about his health.
• Su Wanyue's poem, Drunken West Chamber, spread through the Imperial Capital and drew attention to Gu Chenfeng as its author and her intimate guest.
• Gu Chenfeng advanced to the peak of the Iron Elephant Art's iron armor realm and the peak of the nine-star meridian-opening realm.
• Gu Chenfeng failed for the third time to break into the source qi realm because he lacked the energy supplied by a Great Pill.
• Gu Chenfeng realized he could not afford a Great Pill and decided to launch his pill-refining business.

Gu Chenfeng decided to prepare for a trip to Great Wilderness Ridge to gather alchemy ingredients and gain combat experience, and he began learning the Tiger-Subduing Spear Technique. Two days later, he confronted Su Wanyue over publicizing his poem and asked whether Gu Masters could alter the human body, leaving her to misunderstand his intent.

• Gu Chenfeng planned to visit Great Wilderness Ridge for pill ingredients and combat practice, while keeping his cultivation and whereabouts secret.
• Gu Chenfeng entered the Phantom Martial Divine Ruins and used the Enlightenment Platform to study the Tiger-Subduing Spear Technique.
• Su Wanyue publicized Gu Chenfeng's poem, making the Imperial Capital believe he was her intimate guest.
• Gu Chenfeng confronted Su Wanyue, who said she had used his reputation for protection while secretly investigating the mastermind.
• Gu Chenfeng let the dispute go and asked Su Wanyue whether Gu Masters from the Northern Frontier could alter the human body, prompting her to misread his meaning.

Gu Chenfeng disguised himself to gather spiritual materials in Great Wilderness Ridge, where he discovered that his strength let him defeat attacking Origin Beasts with ease. On his fourth trip, he found the blood-crest flower, the final principal ingredient for the Essence Pill, just as a dark-red figure attacked him.

• Gu Chenfeng disguised himself, bought a horse and spear, and rode to Great Wilderness Ridge to search for ingredients for two pills.
• He entered the mountains alone, gathered spiritual materials, and killed a charging Body Tempering Realm wild boar with one punch.
• Gu Chenfeng continued hunting Origin Beasts, sold some of their materials at the way station, and returned to the Imperial Capital in disguise.
• For several days, Gu Chenfeng pretended to visit the Thousand Beauties Pavilion while secretly returning to Great Wilderness Ridge to gather ingredients.
• On his fourth trip, Gu Chenfeng found the blood-crest flower in a cave, and a dark-red figure suddenly shot toward his face.

Gu Chenfeng killed a Blood-Crowned Snake in a cave and took its gallbladder and blood-crest flower. When a hunting party tried to rob him outside, he slaughtered the men with his spear and cornered their fleeing leader.

• Gu Chenfeng fought and killed a Blood-Crowned Snake, then harvested its gallbladder and picked the blood-crest flower.
• Gu Chenfeng heard men waiting outside and used a skeleton wrapped in black cloth to trigger their trap.
• The hunting party recognized the blood-crest flower and moved to rob Gu Chenfeng, while their leader, Poison Dragon, ordered him to hand over his goods.
• Gu Chenfeng killed seven men with his spear, telling the first victim it was the weapon’s first taste of blood.
• Poison Dragon fled through the woods, but Gu Chenfeng’s spear appeared at his throat and stopped him.

Gu Chenfeng killed the Four Directions Gate men who ambushed him and continued searching the Great Wilderness Ridge for ice-congealing herb. After hearing a signaling whistle, he found the sect’s Third Chief and his men hunting a wounded Crimson Flame Savage Bear, and prepared to watch from hiding.

• Gu Chenfeng questioned the bald Four Directions Gate disciple, then killed him and looted the ambushers’ belongings.
• Gu Chenfeng followed a river deeper into the Great Wilderness Ridge, fought off Origin Beasts, and searched unsuccessfully for ice-congealing herb.
• Gu Chenfeng heard the Four Directions Gate’s signaling whistle and approached its hunting party while concealing his aura.
• Gu Chenfeng watched from a tree as the Third Chief and his men surrounded a badly wounded adult Crimson Flame Savage Bear.
• The Third Chief rallied five meridian-opening subordinates to attack the bear while Gu Chenfeng watched from nearby.