Chapter Summaries

Li Xuan killed Monkey and Erdun, then ambushed Wang Kui at the hidden shelter. Wang Kui survived the arrow attack but was wounded and cornered as Li Xuan prepared to finish him.

• Li Xuan followed Monkey and Erdun along a narrow mountain trail and killed them with two arrows.
• Li Xuan collected two white traits from the dead hunters, then tracked Wang Kui to the hidden shelter.
• Li Xuan climbed above the shelter and shot two arrows through its thatched roof, wounding Wang Kui in the right upper arm.
• Wang Kui escaped through the shelter wall and faced Li Xuan, who blocked the path down the mountain.
• Li Xuan’s Killing Intent weakened Wang Kui, and Li Xuan taunted him before raising his woodcutter’s blade.

Li Xuan killed Wang Kui after defeating him in a fight and gained a low-grade martial arts root bone entry. While searching Wang Kui’s camp and body, he found an incomplete manual that appeared to teach internal cultivation.

• Wang Kui charged Li Xuan with his blade, but Li Xuan dodged, countered, and cut him deeply in the lower back.
• Li Xuan pinned Wang Kui and killed him after refusing his pleas for mercy.
• Li Xuan gained and picked up the Low-Grade Martial Arts Root Bone (Blue) entry, then collected his arrows and Wang Kui’s sack of meat.
• Hearing a wolf howl, Li Xuan decided to let wild animals dispose of the three corpses and searched Wang Kui’s body for valuables.
• Li Xuan found a rain-damaged booklet with cultivation diagrams and recognized it as an incomplete internal power manual.

Li Xuan returned from the mountain after killing Wang Kui and the other two hunters, hiding their bodies by luring wolves and using the rain to erase evidence. Li Shan approved of his actions and ordered Li Xuan and Li Zhong to keep silent, while Li Xuan later recounted the killings without revealing his panel or traits.

• Li Xuan concealed the damaged martial arts booklet, left Wang Kui’s corpse where wolves could find it, and retrieved the wild boar meat as the wolves approached.
• Li Xuan met Li Shan and Li Zhong on the mountain path and admitted that he had fed the three hunters to the wolves.
• Li Shan defended Li Xuan’s actions, questioned him about the killings, and ordered him and Li Zhong never to speak of them.
• Li Xuan told Wang that he had fallen and gotten pig’s blood on himself, and the family returned home with the meat.
• After Wang went to bed, Li Xuan described to Li Shan how he had tracked and killed the three hunters, leaving out his panel and traits.

After Li Xuan told Li Shan about the night’s events, he showed him the damaged internal cultivation method found on Wang Kui. Alone in the shack, Li Xuan spent his remaining points on Thunderclap Fist Stance, reached the cowhide stage, and sensed that he was close to breaking through his first Blood Gate.

• Li Shan warned Li Xuan to be ruthless when necessary but not to kill indiscriminately, and Li Xuan agreed.
• Li Xuan showed Li Shan the incomplete cultivation method he had found on Wang Kui, and Li Shan confirmed it was genuine but unsafe to practice.
• Li Xuan secretly kept the booklet, hoping his panel would let him cultivate it despite its missing pages.
• Li Xuan spent 20 points to advance Thunderclap Fist Stance to Unpracticed, then spent 30 more to reach Proficient.
• Li Xuan’s qi and blood strengthened and his skin toughened to the cowhide stage, though he remained just short of breaking through his first Blood Gate.

Li Xuan struggled to cultivate the incomplete Breath-Subduing Formula and resolved to seek guidance at the martial school. As he planned his next visit, unrest reached Li Family Village, where Li Zhong returned home visibly troubled.

• Li Xuan reflected that his panel and points could help him overcome the limits of his root bone, and he saw his attributes rise after reaching the Oxhide stage.
• Li Xuan tried to cultivate the Breath-Subduing Formula but failed to sense qi and became exhausted.
• Li Xuan decided to keep studying the formula and seek discreet guidance from Senior Brother Zhao Meng or another instructor at the martial school.
• Li Zhong returned to Li Family Village with firewood, looking unsettled, and Li Shan asked him what was wrong.

After learning that Constable Zhou Hong was investigating Wang Kui’s death, Li Xuan worried that his strength was growing too slowly and decided to use his potential points. The next morning, he practiced at the Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall, where an angry disciple challenged his choice of spot.

• Li Zhong told Li Shan and Li Xuan that Constable Zhou Hong, Wang Kui’s sworn brother, was questioning villagers about what had happened.
• Li Shan told Li Zhong to keep claiming he knew nothing, and Li Xuan reasoned that Zhou Hong still needed evidence.
• Li Xuan checked his panel, saw he had 32 potential points, and decided to test its limits instead of relying only on ordinary training.
• Li Xuan arrived early at the Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall and practiced the Thunderclap Fist Stance beneath an old locust tree.
• As the training ground filled with disciples, one shouted at Li Xuan for taking the spot.

Li Xuan confronted Du Mingxuan over a favored training spot, then learned from Shi Lei that the inner courtyard offered better training and food to those who reached the Stonehide Realm and opened a Blood Gate. He bought Blood-Strength Soup, gained potential points, and used them to strengthen himself before returning to training.

• Du Mingxuan and his companions tried to drive Li Xuan from a spot beneath a tree, but Zhao Meng stopped their argument before it became a fight.
• Li Xuan spent the morning training in the shade while Du Mingxuan and his companions trained in the sun.
• Shi Lei told Li Xuan that the inner courtyard offered dedicated instructors, Blood-Strength Pills, and better meals, but required reaching the Stonehide Realm and opening at least one Blood Gate.
• Li Xuan bought and drank Blood-Strength Soup, gaining ten potential points.
• Li Xuan allocated his points and felt his strength rise, leaving Shi Lei astonished as he returned to afternoon training.

After discovering a murder in town, Li Xuan was followed onto a forest trail by two men sent by Young Master Du. He hid, humiliated his pursuers with dog shit, and then watched as someone fired arrows at them.

• Li Xuan learned that medicinal broth could only provide points as quickly as his body could absorb it, and realized the Breath-Hiding Formula was unusually valuable.
• Li Xuan and Shi Lei saw a crowd gathered around a murder scene, where neighbors said Granny Wang had been killed during a robbery.
• After parting from Shi Lei, Li Xuan noticed two men following him and led them onto a secluded trail.
• The two men, who had been ordered by Young Master Du to injure Li Xuan, lost track of him and stepped in piles of dog shit.
• Li Xuan watched from a tree as sharp arrows suddenly flew toward the two men.

Li Xuan ambushed two men in the woods, took their valuables and clothes, and returned home for dinner. At home, Li Shan and Li Zhong told him that Wang Kui’s people and Constable Zhou Hong had accused Li Family Village of killing Wang Kui and his men.

• Li Xuan knocked out the short, stocky man and broke the scar-faced man’s wrist before punching him unconscious.
• Li Xuan searched and stripped the men, hid them in the bushes, and took their silver, jade pendant, and knife.
• Li Xuan returned home, where Wang served him a stew of wild boar, fish, radishes, and greens.
• Li Xuan learned that men from Wang Family Gully and Constable Zhou Hong had confronted the villagers, accusing them of killing Wang Kui and his men.
• Li Shan began to explain what Zhou Hong had said.

Li Xuan worried that Widow Zhao could tell Constable Zhou Hong about Wang Kui’s suspicions, so Li Shan moved to rally the village against her. The next morning, Li Xuan found three veteran hunters waiting to team up with him for a hunt.

• Li Xuan realized Widow Zhao might reveal that Wang Kui had targeted him and warned Li Shan and his older brother.
• Li Shan left to speak with the village chief and elders, while Li Xuan worried that Zhou Hong would keep watching their family.
• Li Xuan checked his points and planned to hunt the next day to gain more.
• Li Xuan set out for the mountains and found Fourth Master Chen, Hunting Chief Zhang, and Liu Laoshuan waiting outside his home.
• Liu Laoshuan invited Li Xuan to join the three veteran hunters on a deeper hunt, and Li Xuan suspected Li Shan had arranged their meeting.