Chapter Summaries

Cao Jinxing transmigrated into the body of an Embroidered Uniform Guard captured by the Crouching Tiger Gang and discovered that his exceptional comprehension let him learn martial arts at a glance. To survive, he agreed to help the bandits deceive the authorities, but they forced him to swallow a poisonous insect as insurance.

• Cao Jinxing woke tied to a pillar in the Crouching Tiger Gang’s stronghold and recovered the captured company commander’s memories.
• Yan Baihu, Han Dang, and Wang Xuanying discussed the map of the gang’s defenses that Cao Jinxing had drawn and planned to use a falsified map against the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
• Cao Jinxing watched Han Dang use Lightning Movement Step and instantly understood and learned the technique through his extraordinary observation and comprehension.
• Cao Jinxing agreed to redraw the map with altered trap locations in exchange for a chance to live.
• Han Dang forced Cao Jinxing to swallow a Heart-Piercing Poison Insect before ordering him untied and supplied with brush and ink.

Cao Jinxing deceived the Crouching Tiger Gang into trusting a map that would send the Embroidered Uniform Guard into an arrow trap, then secretly cultivated until he reached the eighth Acquired stage. He began taking revenge on Chen Long in the holding cell, leaving the gang’s plans and the outcome of their attack unresolved.

• Cao Jinxing copied the map of Crouching Tiger Mountain and changed the marked crossbow array at Horseshoe Pass into a pit trap, as Han Dang instructed.
• Cao Jinxing told the chiefs that a contact would collect the map at Crouching Town’s boundary marker, and Han Dang ordered Chen Long to lock him in the holding cell.
• Han Dang and the other chiefs decided to send someone resembling Cao Jinxing to bury the map at dusk while they prepared to ambush the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
• Cao Jinxing used the Origin Embracing Art to heal his wounds, advance from the fifth to the eighth Acquired stage, and rapidly improve his martial skills.
• Chen Long brought Cao Jinxing spoiled food, and Cao Jinxing provoked him into opening the cell before overpowering him and beginning to repay his abuse.

Cao Jinxing searched Wang Xuanying’s quarters for an antidote and uncovered the captive Xiantian expert and his Cold Toad Art manual. After taking the antidote and trying the art, Cao Jinxing freed one of the old man’s hands and left, unaware that the man had awakened and was pursuing him.

• Cao Jinxing questioned two bandits and learned the Crouching Tiger Gang had suffered heavy losses when it robbed a Longwind Escort Agency shipment, leaving Wang Xuanying and Han Dang badly wounded and Yan Baihu with seven broken ribs.
• Cao Jinxing found a hidden dungeon beneath Wang Xuanying’s room, where a battered old man hung in chains beside heart-boring venomous insects and a red porcelain bottle.
• Cao Jinxing tested the bottle’s pill on the insects, swallowed one, and felt the insect inside him die.
• Cao Jinxing recognized the scattered pages as the Cold Toad Art, spotted errors in the manual, and briefly circulated its cold internal energy before stopping.
• Cao Jinxing broke one of the old man’s chains with his saber and left with the insect box; the old man opened his eyes, recovered dramatically, and laughed that Cao Jinxing could not escape him.

Cao Jinxing set fires at the Crouching Tiger Gang’s stronghold to draw out its leaders and ambush them. He killed Wang Xuanying and badly wounded Yan Baihu, then charged at him with the golden saber.

• Cao Jinxing converted his internal energy to Cold Toad Art and set fires at the stronghold’s eastern and western ends.
• Yan Baihu and Wang Xuanying split up to fight the fires, while Wang Xuanying rushed to the secret cell and found Chen Long dead.
• Cao Jinxing ambushed Wang Xuanying inside the burning cell, defeated him with a series of saber strikes, and beheaded him.
• Yan Baihu realized the fires were a diversion and raced toward the secret cell, but Cao Jinxing caught him off guard with a freezing palm strike.
• Yan Baihu activated his Golden Bell Shield, but the defense worsened his internal injuries, and Cao Jinxing attacked with the golden saber.

Cao Jinxing killed Yan Baihu and subdued Han Dang, forcing him to swallow the heart-boring venomous insects before leaving the stronghold with a bandit as his guide. He waited at Hoof Pass for four officials from the Northern Pacification Office, with Han Dang hanging from the pavilion eaves.

• Cao Jinxing defeated Yan Baihu with the Cold Toad Art, exploited his distraction, and beheaded him before fleeing from approaching bandits.
• At Hoof Pass, Han Dang learned that Yan Baihu was dead and tried to question a messenger about the chief, but Cao Jinxing revealed himself and pinned him down.
• Cao Jinxing forced Han Dang to swallow the heart-boring venomous insects, then ordered a bandit to guide him down the mountain.
• Four officials from the Northern Pacification Office arrived at Hoof Pass and found Cao Jinxing waiting beneath the moon with Han Dang hanging from the pavilion.

After Cao Jinxing killed the three bandit chiefs, the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers agreed to credit and support him, and he prepared for promotion to company commander. As he got ready to return to the capital, Cao Jinxing investigated the origins of his powerful Cold Toad Art and mastered a new palm technique.

• Zhu Wu, Gu Yanzhu, and the other guards agreed to report Cao Jinxing’s achievement honestly and support his promotion, recognizing that he had saved them from the mountain’s traps.
• Government troops arrived at Crouching Tiger Mountain to capture the remaining bandits, while Cao Jinxing returned to the inn with loot from the chiefs’ rooms.
• Gu Yanzhu congratulated Cao Jinxing on his coming promotion and explained that he would be able to choose two martial arts manuals from the Pacification Commission Treasury.
• Gu Yanzhu identified his own martial art as the Demon Cult’s Blood Congealing Manual and recommended several ice-based arts, but he knew nothing of the Five Poisons Cult’s Cold Toad Art.
• Cao Jinxing wondered about the Cold Toad Art’s origins, then mastered the Great Vajra Palm manual before bed, taking two seconds to learn it.

After returning to the capital, Cao Jinxing was promoted to captain and entered the Secret Vault to choose two martial arts. The gatekeeper recognized his extraordinary Immaculate Body and judged his Cold Toad Art to be at least upper-tier grade five, leaving Cao Jinxing questioning how its previous practitioner had been defeated by bandits.

• Liu Zhenyuan promoted Cao Jinxing to company captain and gave him a token to choose two grade-six martial arts.
• Liu Zhenyuan questioned Zhu Wu and the other guards about Cao Jinxing’s sudden change, then sent them on new assignments.
• Cao Jinxing changed into his captain’s uniform and entered the Secret Vault to browse its martial arts catalogs.
• The gatekeeper recognized Cao Jinxing’s Immaculate Body and lamented that he had joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard instead of training at Dragon-Tiger Mountain.
• Cao Jinxing chose Heavenly Sword-Linked Finger and Xinyou Saber Manual, and the gatekeeper praised the purity of his Cold Toad Art.
• The gatekeeper said the Cold Toad Art rivaled the Great Simplicity Yin Scripture and was at least upper-tier grade five, prompting Cao Jinxing to wonder how its practitioner had been beaten by bandits.

Cao Jinxing confronted Zhang Ying in the Pacification Commission’s secret repository and defeated him with one palm strike, then quickly mastered three martial arts manuals. Because Zhang Ying was injured and unable to work, Cao Jinxing inherited his assignment overseeing security at the Heavenly Fragrance House.

• Cao Jinxing found Zhang Ying reading the Tyrant Saber manual and mocked him over the mission that had sent Cao Jinxing undercover.
• Zhang Ying attacked Cao Jinxing, who struck him down with a Great Vajra Palm and froze him with cold internal energy.
• Cao Jinxing mastered the Tyrant Saber, Heavenly Sword-Linked Finger, and Xinyou Saber Manual in minutes.
• Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang told Cao Jinxing that Zhang Ying’s injuries had transferred his assignment to him.
• Cao Jinxing agreed to oversee security at the Heavenly Fragrance House when a hundred young ladies arrived the next morning.

Cao Jinxing found and nursed an injured spirit cat, naming it Xuan Yuan Fourteen. Meanwhile, Zhang Chengfeng ordered his men to recapture the cat for his ailing father, who warned that the cat could not cure the demonic true qi draining him.

• Cao Jinxing returned home, found a wounded white kitten beneath firewood, and treated its poisoned leg.
• Cao Jinxing fed the kitten roast chicken and costly tonics, and watched it heal and grow quickly.
• Cao Jinxing named the cat Xuan Yuan Fourteen and decided they would stay together.
• Zhang Chengfeng berated his men for failing to catch the cat and ordered them to search Ming Shi Ward.
• Zhang Dajing told Zhang Chengfeng that the spirit cat could not cure the demonic true qi within him, then asked him to summon the manor’s managers before falling asleep.
• Zhang Chengfeng vowed never to coexist with the Demon Cult.

Cao Jinxing confronted Windcloud Manor’s men after they came to reclaim Xuan Yuan Fourteen, then agreed to help Zhang Chengfeng’s father in exchange for the cat’s safety. He cured Zhang Dajing’s Sacred Fire Canon injury with the Cold Toad Art and stayed at the manor to learn more about the Demon Cult.

• Cao Jinxing drove off Windcloud Manor’s men and refused to surrender Xuan Yuan Fourteen, whom they called Snow Glaze.
• Zhang Chengfeng explained that his father, Zhang Dajing, was dying from the Sacred Fire Canon’s fiery qi and threatened to use Heavenly Thunder Bombs if Cao Jinxing would not help.
• Cao Jinxing agreed to treat Zhang Dajing with the Cold Toad Art if Zhang Chengfeng stopped threatening the cat and paid for its recovery.
• Cao Jinxing guided his true qi through Zhang Dajing’s meridians and extinguished the fiery qi, allowing Zhang Dajing to sleep peacefully.
• Zhang Chengfeng thanked Cao Jinxing, ordered the witnesses to keep the cure secret, and invited him to stay for food and wine.

Zhang Chengfeng told Cao Jinxing how the Bright Cult’s holy maiden, Aiyixiamu, had cursed his father with Sacred Fire Canon true qi, and Cao promised to settle the debt. The next morning, Cao set out for his assignment guarding the Heavenly Fragrance House, but Feng Bao’s urgent order sent him toward an ambush in the western hills.

• Zhang Chengfeng explained that Aiyixiamu had planted Sacred Fire Canon true qi in Zhang Dajing, tormenting him for eight years, and vowed to avenge his father.
• Cao Jinxing left Windcloud Manor after Xuan Yuan Fourteen returned to his pouch, while Zhang Chengfeng ordered Guan Chong to deliver rare treasures to Cao’s residence for the cat.
• Cao Jinxing met Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang on the way to the Heavenly Fragrance House and learned that Feng Bao represented the Eastern Depot.
• An Eastern Depot messenger ordered Cao Jinxing to support Feng Bao at Red Maple Slope, where bandits had ambushed the convoy and abducted the maidens.
• Cao Jinxing rode ahead at once, and Su Yunsheng led the main force toward the western hills.

Cao Jinxing helped Feng Bao defeat a Hehuan Sect attack on a convoy carrying Selected Maidens, then suspected the raid concealed a larger plot. Feng Bao connected it to the Demon Cult Bright Lineage and planned to use the convoy as bait to catch the conspirators.

• Cao Jinxing arrived at North Mountain Red Maple Slope as Hehuan Sect members fought Feng Bao's eunuchs and tried to seize the women in the wagons.
• Cao Jinxing killed the attackers around the wagons, spared one for questioning, and drove back their Xiantian leader with a saber strike.
• Feng Bao wounded the leader with his Bone-Melting Cotton Palm, praised Cao Jinxing, and ordered the convoy back to the capital.
• Feng Bao learned that the Hehuan Sect attackers were remnants of the previous dynasty's Tibetan monks, while Cao Jinxing questioned whether the raid was their only purpose.
• Feng Bao linked the attack to the Demon Cult Bright Lineage's recent appearance near the capital and decided to use the convoy as bait for the hidden conspirators.

Cao Jinxing discovered he could cultivate continuously while carrying out other tasks, bringing him close to breaking through to Xiantian. During the identity checks at Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, Feng Bao exposed two Bright Sect infiltrators, including their holy maiden, Jiang Lvxia, whom Cao Jinxing helped capture.

• Cao Jinxing succeeded in keeping his internal cultivation circulating while going about his daily business and nearly reached Xiantian.
• Feng Bao exposed a Bright Sect infiltrator disguised with a Rooted Face and ordered her arrested.
• Feng Bao identified Jiang Lvxia in the final row, and Cao Jinxing struck her with the Heavenly Sword-Linked Finger, injuring her.
• Feng Bao revealed that his fifth-level Perceiving the Smallest Detail had seen through Jiang Lvxia's disguise and ordered her taken to the imperial dungeon alive.
• Jiang Lvxia restored her original appearance and threatened Cao Jinxing, who called her ugly.

Cao Jinxing celebrated the capture of the Bright Sect’s Holy Maiden with Feng Bao and broke through to the Xiantian realm during their banquet. The Bright Sect later mounted a costly rescue, allowing the Holy Maiden and the Phoenix King to escape, while Feng Bao returned with several rebels captured and Cao Jinxing confident he could face her again.

• Feng Bao praised Cao Jinxing’s service, advised him to keep a low profile, and offered to pass along a request for a reward.
• Cao Jinxing spontaneously broke through from Houtian to Xiantian while drinking at the Heavenly Fragrance House, then asked Feng Bao for antidote pills.
• A Judicial Review Office eunuch reported that Bright Sect rebels had ambushed the rescue route and been surrounded, so Feng Bao left to deal with them.
• Cao Jinxing waited at the banquet while Feng Bao spent six hours fighting the Bright Sect forces.
• Feng Bao returned and reported that the Left Envoy of Light had been captured, several rebels had died, and the Holy Maiden escaped with the Phoenix King, who was badly injured.
• Cao Jinxing dismissed the escaped Holy Maiden as no threat and boasted that he could take on two of her.

Cao Jinxing received precious pills and a new assignment to find the Hehuan Sect remnants, while Liu Zhenyuan and Shen Xiang discussed his extraordinary talent and possible place in the Pacification Commission. On the way to interrogate a prisoner, Cao Jinxing bluntly rejected Liu Sanjin’s request for medicine and threatened him, impressing Shen Xiang.

• Liu Zhenyuan gave Cao Jinxing fifth-rank Fortune Creation Pills and warned him that his success had made him an eyesore to jealous colleagues.
• Liu Zhenyuan assigned Cao Jinxing and his two company commanders five days to find the Hehuan Sect remnants’ hideout.
• Liu Zhenyuan and Shen Xiang reviewed intelligence about Cao Jinxing’s rapid breakthroughs and unusual aptitude, and Shen Xiang agreed to observe him further.
• Cao Jinxing set out with Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang to interrogate a Hehuan Sect remnant in the imperial prison.
• Liu Sanjin asked Cao Jinxing for his poison-countering medicine on behalf of Yan Shaoting, but Cao Jinxing refused, insulted him, and threatened him when he persisted.
• Shen Xiang overheard the confrontation and laughed at Cao Jinxing’s boldness.

Cao Jinxing interrogated a Hehuan Sect survivor and learned the sect was searching for its founder’s tomb and the Mani Jewel. After obtaining information on the Bone-Melting Cotton Palm, he used Xuan Yuan Fourteen to track down maple-sleep grass, leaving Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang struggling to keep up.

• Cao Jinxing questioned the Hehuan Sect survivor, who revealed that Sect Master Yang Gongbu was searching for Jialin Zhenshan’s tomb and the Mani Jewel with help from the Bright Sect’s holy maiden.
• The survivor said Yang Gongbu and Right Guardian Ren Lingjiao had taken half the disciples to retrieve the treasure, while Left Guardian Lou Zizhen had led the group Cao Jinxing captured.
• Cao Jinxing ordered Sun Lang to kill the survivor and received Su Yunsheng’s findings on the Bone-Melting Cotton Palm and the maple-sleep grass that could slow its effects.
• Cao Jinxing called out Xuan Yuan Fourteen and showed it a sketch of maple-sleep grass; Fourteen recognized its scent and darted southwest to find it.
• Cao Jinxing followed Xuan Yuan Fourteen with Lightning Movement Step while Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang fell behind and lamented their lack of movement arts.

Lou Zizhen arranged for Jiang Yushan to receive the Hehuan Sect’s dual-cultivation method in exchange for shelter at the Four Seas Escort Agency. Cao Jinxing confronted Jiang Yushan over hiding the sect’s fugitives, and as Sun Lang fought Ding Zhaosheng, Yang Gongbu launched a surprise attack on Cao Jinxing.

• Lou Zizhen gave Jiang Yushan the Great Bliss Zen Method and promised that Ren Lingjiao would teach him, while Jiang agreed to protect the Hehuan Sect.
• Cao Jinxing arrived at the Four Seas Escort Agency and demanded that Jiang Yushan hand over the Hehuan Sect remnants.
• Cao Jinxing ordered Sun Lang to seize Jiang Yushan, but Ding Zhaosheng blocked Sun Lang with the Overlord Soul-Chasing Spear.
• Sun Lang fought Ding Zhaosheng to a standstill while Cao Jinxing fed Xuan Yuan Fourteen.
• Yang Gongbu broke through the hall’s roof and attacked Cao Jinxing with the Demon-Subduing Great Hand Seal.

Cao Jinxing defeated the Hehuan Sect fighters and exposed Jiang Yushan’s plot, then had the Jiang Family escorts and sect disciples arrested. He left Yang Gongbu crippled and ordered the prisoners sent to jail and the Imperial Prison.

• Cao Jinxing overpowered Yang Gongbu’s palm attack and recognized that Jiang Yushan had delayed the confrontation to wait for returning Hehuan Sect disciples.
• Yang Gongbu used the [Mani Jewel] to strengthen his Crimson Flame Palm, while Ding Zhaosheng and Ren Lingjiao attacked Cao Jinxing from opposite sides.
• Cao Jinxing killed Ding Zhaosheng, gravely wounded Yang Gongbu, and knocked Ren Lingjiao from the roof despite her Sixteen Heavenly Demon Dance.
• Jiang Yushan tried to surrender, but Cao Jinxing revealed he had already summoned reinforcements from the Pacification Commission.
• Su Yunsheng arrived with the Night Patrol Commandants, who arrested the escorts and Hehuan Sect disciples on Cao Jinxing’s order.
• Cao Jinxing destroyed Yang Gongbu’s dantian, then ordered the escorts jailed and the Hehuan Sect disciples sent to the Imperial Prison.

After Cao Jinxing defeated the Hehuan Sect, he shared some spoils with Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang, but Xuan Yuan Fourteen accidentally ate the Mani Jewel and gained the ability to wield flames. The next morning, Liu Zhenyuan rewarded the team and offered Cao Jinxing a chance to earn the major achievement needed to become a Deputy Qianhu, which Cao accepted.

• Cao Jinxing gave Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang Essence-Nurturing Pills and a share of the seized valuables, then returned home with the remaining loot.
• Cao Jinxing examined the Mani Jewel, but Xuan Yuan Fourteen bit it apart and swallowed it, gaining the power to conjure flames.
• Liu Zhenyuan awarded Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang sixth-rank spiritual martial arts for their service in the Hehuan Sect mission.
• Cao Jinxing asked Liu Zhenyuan for detoxifying, healing, and illness-treating pills, and agreed to choose a spiritual martial art as well.
• Liu Zhenyuan offered Cao Jinxing a chance to earn a major achievement that would clear the way for promotion to Deputy Qianhu, and Cao accepted.

Cao Jinxing accepted a secret mission to retrieve a Millennium Fire Tortoise from the Taiyi Gate on Black Tortoise Mountain, hoping to secure imperial favor and strengthen his position. He arrived in Luoyang and learned that the Taiyi Gate was threatened by its rival, the Ten-Thousand Snakes Cave.

• Cao Jinxing chose the Cloud-Discharging Palm after the old Taoist explained its history and connection to the Three-Extremities Elder.
• Liu Zhenyuan told Cao Jinxing that Jiajing's foremost concern was longevity and offered him a confidential mission to retrieve the Taiyi Gate's Millennium Fire Tortoise.
• Cao Jinxing agreed to the mission after learning that the tortoise's inner core could extend lifespan and enhance cultivation.
• Cao Jinxing set out for Black Tortoise Mountain and left Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang to continue studying in the Secret Vault.
• Cao Jinxing arrived in Luoyang and learned that the Taiyi Gate sought imperial protection from the Ten-Thousand Snakes Cave, whose new secret weapon had frightened its rival.