Chapter Summaries

Wang Qi led five officers to the river after Commandant Lin sent them out of camp, then caught and grilled enough fish to feed them all. The officers ended the evening planning what to bring on their next outing, though they still had to spend their days away from camp until the hour of the Dog.

• Xu Sanlang blamed Wang Qi for getting the five officers sent out of camp and told him to stay quietly by the river until evening.
• Wang Qi persuaded the officers to gather firewood by promising to cook them grilled fish.
• Wang Qi used an arrow tied to a grass rope to catch fifteen fish, then cleaned several of them.
• The officers built a fire, and Wang Qi roasted the fish with salt for everyone to eat.
• Wang Qi suggested supplies for their next outing, and the officers eagerly asked what else they should bring.

Wang Qi purified a gourd of cheap wine with the Water-Cleansing Spell, impressing the Military Marquises before returning to camp. After falling asleep beside his tent, he experienced his consciousness leaving his body and began walking into the dark.

• Wang Qi used the Water-Cleansing Spell to separate impurities and water from the wine, leaving concentrated liquor that Xu Sanlang and the Military Marquises eagerly drank.
• The hunting party returned to camp with two milu deer, handed their haul to the cooks, and went to rest.
• Wang Qi practiced circulating his qi, then slept beside his tent because the colder weather had driven off most of the mosquitoes.
• While his body slept, Wang Qi's consciousness rose from it, saw dark green flames burning at two nearby tents, and walked away as he felt increasingly free of his body's pull.

Wang Qi met Aunt Yun and A Bao in the woods and recited the Heart Sutra for them, but the chant also drew the spirits of animals he had hunted. He used up his true yang qi to help the spirits pass on, then resumed cultivating in hopes of recovering it.

• Wang Qi left the military camp in an out-of-body state and found Aunt Yun waiting with A Bao beneath a boulder.
• Wang Qi recited the Heart Sutra while Aunt Yun and A Bao listened, and animal and human spirits gathered around them.
• Wang Qi recognized the animal spirits as creatures he had hunted and wished to free them from their suffering.
• Wang Qi's true yang qi shone through his consciousness, helping the animal spirits pass on and driving the human shadows away.
• Wang Qi returned to his body in the camp, discovered his true yang qi was depleted, and began cultivating through the night.

Wang Qi drew a surge of heaven and earth origin yang into his body and guided it through a blocked chest passage into his dantian, restoring and strengthening his true yang qi. The next morning, painful swelling in his gums disrupted his target practice, and Xu Sanlang sent him to rest while his comrades resented the special treatment.

• At dawn, Wang Qi absorbed a great surge of heaven and earth origin energy and transformed it into true yang qi.
• Wang Qi guided the true yang qi through a passage in his chest and down into his dantian, where it warmed and filled his reserves.
• Wang Qi stopped cultivating to join the day's training, but his gums began swelling and hurting during target practice.
• Xu Sanlang noticed Wang Qi's poor performance, told him to rest, and went to seek advice from Scribe Zhao.
• Wang Qi's comrades complained that he received preferential treatment, then focused on training for the Grand Trial and a chance to learn skills or cultivation methods from Commandant Lin.

Wang Qi experimented with circulating his internal qi and developed several troubling symptoms despite feeling strong. After his nose began running, the army isolated him in a private tent, where he remained uncertain whether his cultivation was safe.

• Wang Qi questioned Scribe Zhao's warning and cautiously resumed cultivating his internal qi.
• Wang Qi guided his qi up his back, where it eased an old injury but left a red, itchy rash.
• Wang Qi rested instead of going hunting and slept well through the night.
• Wang Qi woke with a nonstop runny nose, and the army isolated him over fears that he had a dangerous illness.
• Xu Sanlang urged Wang Qi to recover and return to hunting, while Wang Qi reassured him but continued doubting his cultivation.

While recuperating in the military camp, Wang Qi discovered that his out-of-body flights helped his cultivation and healed his old back injury. After fifteen days, his health had improved, and he cautiously resumed opening the meridians along his back.

• Wang Qi let his spirit follow a mountain breeze, learned to rise and glide through the air, and felt his body stretch and loosen.
• After returning to his body, Wang Qi felt a surge of heat clear his nose and stir his internal qi, but restrained it from completing a circuit through his back.
• Wang Qi stretched his back, heard a crack, and found that his old injury had improved considerably.
• Wang Qi spent fifteen days in isolation, building internal qi and roaming in spirit at night while his body recovered.
• Wang Qi noticed that his breathing had deepened and his back stayed warm, then began guiding qi to open the meridians from his back toward his cervical spine.

While quarantined, Wang Qi opened his Ren and Du meridians and advanced his cultivation, then showed Commandant Lin that he had recovered. Commandant Lin ordered him back to training and hinted that a strong performance at the Grand Military Review could bring him a better assignment.

• Wang Qi’s internal qi completed a smooth circuit through his torso, and he realized he had opened his Ren and Du meridians.
• Wang Qi began guiding his abundant internal qi toward his right hand to open another meridian.
• Commandant Lin remembered Wang Qi and visited the quarantined tent, intending to offer him a severance payment and send him home.
• Commandant Lin saw Wang Qi practicing the Mighty Stele-Crushing Palm and asked who had taught him.
• Wang Qi told Commandant Lin that he had recovered and his cultivation had improved, so Commandant Lin ordered him to return to camp the next day and resume training.

Wang Qi returned to training, advised Wang Ergou on his military preparation and gave him a new name, then led Xu Sanlang and the company military marquises to a plentiful winter fishing spot. The group planned to rely on county deliveries for food and prepare for the Grand Military Review.

• Wang Qi found tactics lessons easy, left during a break, and spotted Wang Ergou lifting a stone weight at the Drill Ground.
• Wang Qi corrected Wang Ergou's lifting form and advised him to focus on basic combat techniques while cultivating Blazing Sun Qi slowly.
• Wang Ergou asked Wang Qi for a more respectable name, and Wang Qi suggested Wang Er, which delighted him.
• Wang Qi joined Xu Sanlang and the five company military marquises on a hunt and led them downhill to catch Black-Spotted Fish by the river.
• Wang Qi recorded the terrain and catch, and Xu Sanlang explained that county towns would deliver pigs every five days and urged Wang Qi to perform well at the Grand Military Review.

Wang Qi left his body to recite the Heart Sutra by the river, then used his true yang qi to destroy the evil spirits drawn to him. After returning to his body, he found that his true yang qi and internal qi had increased, and began forming his own ideas about cultivation.

• Wang Qi recited the Heart Sutra alone by the riverbank and delivered the fish spirits, while evil spirits gathered around him.
• Wang Qi discovered that he could circulate true yang qi outside his body and that it made him strong enough to attack the evil spirits.
• Wang Qi used Mighty Stele-Crushing Palm and ordinary punches to disperse the evil spirits.
• Wang Qi returned to his sleeping body and guided the warmth from his excursion through his organs into his Dantian.
• Wang Qi found that his true yang qi and internal qi had increased and concluded that true yang qi could be cultivated outside the body and replenished through breathing practice.

Wang Qi won first place in the archery competition despite the freezing snow, then impressed Commandant Lin with a saber demonstration. The chapter ended with Lin planning to invite Wang Qi to join his elite force.

• Wang Qi shot all twenty arrows at the target from eighty paces, hitting the bull's-eye eleven times and taking first place among the Archer Companies.
• The soldiers competed in their primary martial skills, then learned they could earn extra points by demonstrating another skill.
• Xu Sanlang handed Wang Qi a ring-pommeled saber and urged him to perform for Commandant Lin.
• Wang Qi demonstrated the Grass-Cutting Saber Technique, which Commandant Lin recognized as a technique suited to cutting down cavalry horses.
• Commandant Lin told Zhao Ji to bring Wang Qi to him so he could discuss making other arrangements for the young soldier.

After ranking first in archery and overall, Wang Qi was lured into an ambush in the camp and fought off Xu Ping and hidden archers. Commandant Lin revealed that Xu Ping was meant to drill Wang Qi, but Wang Qi objected before learning the full arrangement.

• Commandant Lin sent an unfamiliar soldier to bring Wang Qi to his quarters, and Wang Qi noticed the lack of patrols and tried to retreat.
• Hidden archers attacked Wang Qi with arrows as Xu Ping blocked his way, and Wang Qi fought Xu Ping with repeated Mighty Stele-Crushing Palm strikes.
• Xu Ping drove Wang Qi back with a surge of internal force, while arrows from the darkness forced Wang Qi to dodge.
• Wang Qi realized the arrows had no arrowheads, but a powerful Force-Piercing Arrow narrowly missed him and shattered a pillar.
• Commandant Lin appeared with Scribe Zhao and asked Xu Ping if he was satisfied with his new subordinate; Xu Ping promised to drill Wang Qi, who asked if he could object.

Wang Qi agreed to join the Yulin Shadow Guard after learning about its duties and his reassignment as a scout. He chose to see what techniques were available and was ordered to assemble outside camp the next morning.

• Xu Ping and Commandant Lin offered Wang Qi a place in their secret unit, explaining its rewards, obligations, and the classified nature of the southern expedition.
• Wang Qi agreed to join and learned that the Divine Archer Battalion would become a mobile bandit-suppression force while he would return to Chang'an with Commandant Lin.
• Commandant Lin revealed that he was Lin Chu and explained the Yulin Shadow Guard's origins and service to the emperor.
• Wang Qi asked for his own tent, and Lin Chu assigned him to Xu Ping's scout battalion, telling him he could carry whatever equipment he could bear.
• Wang Qi asked for the catalog of five techniques he could learn, and Xu Ping ordered him to assemble at the riverbank twenty li north of camp the next morning.
• Xu Ping vanished from sight, leaving Wang Qi impressed by the Shadow Guard's formidable masters.

Wang Qi reflected on his unconventional cultivation and chose five skills from the military camp’s collection, including three spells and two archery-related techniques. He began studying them overnight, prompting Lin Chu to angrily order Xu Ping to keep him away for three months.

• Wang Qi concluded that cultivation realms were broad guidelines and became eager to explore cultivation without reverence or rigid rules.
• Zhao Ji brought Wang Qi to the book tent, where Wang Qi chose the Clothing-Cleansing Spell, Water-Repelling Spell, and Light-Concealing Shadow-Masking Spell.
• After Zhao Ji urged him to choose martial techniques, Wang Qi selected Force-Piercing Arrow and Qi-Gathering Finger.
• Wang Qi returned to his camp and studied his new skills through the night beside a brazier.
• Lin Chu woke in a rage and shouted for Xu Ping to remove Wang Qi from the camp and keep him away for three months.

Wang Qi joined Xu Ping’s Scout Battalion and impressed its members by presenting a detailed map of the surrounding mountains. The battalion accepted him, and its month-long mapping task appeared to be finished already.

• Xu Ping took Wang Qi to the Scout Battalion’s hidden camp and warned him not to cast spells near Commandant Lin.
• Wang Qi noticed signs of the concealed camp and joined the ranks of the fourteen scouts, including a woman with vertical pupils.
• The woman challenged Wang Qi to map the terrain within twenty li in three days to prove himself.
• Wang Qi showed the scouts a detailed map covering a much larger region, including terrain, elevations, animals, and plants.
• Xu Ping discarded his own map, and the scouts welcomed Wang Qi after seeing how much work his map would save them.

Wang Qi settled into the Scout Battalion’s freedom by setting up a concealed campsite and practicing the Clothing-Cleansing Spell. After leaving his body in his sleep, he encountered Aunt Yun and A Bao again and saw that their gloomy, decaying aura had faded.

• Xu Ping gave the Scout Battalion nearly a month of free time, and Wang Qi returned to the recruit camp for food and a tent.
• Wang Qi carried his gear to a secluded mountain stream and pitched a tent beneath a hidden earthen mound.
• Wang Qi spent the day concealing his campsite and practicing the Clothing-Cleansing Spell before bathing in the unexpectedly warm stream.
• After falling asleep, Wang Qi left his body and cast the spell with true yang qi, creating an immaculate space at a considerable cost.
• Wang Qi saw Aunt Yun and A Bao approaching through the woods, connected by faint threads, and noticed their gloomy aura had faded.

Wang Qi’s out-of-body recitation helped Aunt Yun and A Bao shed gloomy energy, and he discovered that cultivating outside his body improved his spellwork and qi cultivation. He spent the day training his body and using spells and inner force to clean and dry his clothes, then prepared to continue exploring out-of-body cultivation.

• Wang Qi completed 108 repetitions of the Heart Sutra and directed its wish power toward Aunt Yun and A Bao, whose forms regained color as gloomy energy left them.
• Aunt Yun drove off nearby evil spirits with a whip, and Wang Qi returned to his body, guiding the lingering hot currents into his dantian to cultivate true yang qi and internal qi.
• Wang Qi realized his spells had become clearer after his out-of-body experience and decided to try different kinds of cultivation in that state.
• Wang Qi practiced the Mighty Stele-Splitting Palm all day and built wooden exercise equipment to push his physical training.
• Wang Qi caught and roasted two fish, then used the Water-Repelling Spell, Clothing-Cleansing Spell, and inner force to dry and freshen his clothes.

Wang Qi made rapid progress in cultivation and martial techniques by training in his out-of-body state, while his fellow soldiers grew bored during his twenty-day absence. They sent Ran Jiao to sneak into his camp, ostensibly to test him and make his acquaintance.

• Wang Qi mastered several spells and discovered that he could see the flow of qi through his meridians while out of his body.
• Wang Qi struggled to learn the meridian-based Qi-Gathering Finger, then reshaped it into a technique that cultivated both internal and external strength.
• Wang Qi's true yang qi and out-of-body cultivation helped his body recover, accelerating his practice of the Mighty Stele-Crushing Palm.
• After twenty days of Wang Qi training alone, his teammates complained that he had made himself at home and went to the Recruit Camp for meals.
• Wang Qi's teammates proposed a prank, then persuaded Ran Jiao to sneak into his camp and approach him as a test and an opportunity to befriend him.

Wang Qi sensed his teammates approaching while practicing out-of-body cultivation and watched Ran Jiao enter his tent. She sensed his presence and, when he rose, saw a vision of him wreathed in crimson-gold flames before fleeing in confusion.

• While practicing out of body, Wang Qi sensed fourteen people approaching and found his teammates stealthily closing in on his campsite.
• Wang Qi followed Ran Jiao’s group as a disembodied consciousness and noticed that Ran Jiao seemed able to sense him.
• Ran Jiao entered Wang Qi’s tent and felt the sensation of being watched from where he lay.
• When Wang Qi rose, Ran Jiao saw what appeared to be a second Wang Qi and crimson-gold flames flowing over him.
• Ran Jiao warned Wang Qi to stay vigilant and move his campsite, then ran away without giving him her name.

Wang Qi learned more about his scout unit and became intrigued by Ran Jiao’s Demon Race blood before an urgent assembly summoned the scouts to suppress brigands in Fei County. The mission was also a rehearsal for their planned campaign south, bringing the prospect of war much closer to Wang Qi.

• Wang Qi learned that Ran Jiao had Demon Race blood, which deepened his curiosity about the world.
• Two days later, Wang Qi answered the scouts’ emergency signal, released a trapped rabbit, destroyed his traps, and hurried to the riverside assembly point.
• Xu Ping scolded the scouts for their slow assembly before announcing that brigands in Fei County were forcing civilians into their ranks and pillaging.
• Xu Ping explained that the Secret Guard would target the brigand chiefs to limit civilian casualties and protect preparations for the Northern Expedition.
• Xu Ping ordered the scouts to pair up and set out, saying the mission would prepare them for their coming campaign south; Wang Qi realized war was near.

Wang Qi and Ran Jiao began scouting together as partners, and their first evening in the forest revealed both Ran Jiao’s keen senses and Wang Qi’s extreme cleanliness. Ran Jiao accepted his fussiness after he purified water for them to wash their hands, leaving the pair unexpectedly in agreement.

• Xu Ping paired Wang Qi with Ran Jiao for the scouting mission because their skills complemented each other.
• Ran Jiao detected a rabbit in the brush, and Wang Qi flushed it out with an arrow before shooting it for dinner.
• Ran Jiao gathered firewood and insisted that Wang Qi wash his hands before sharing the meal.
• Wang Qi melted snow and used a Water-Cleansing Spell to purify the water, astonishing Ran Jiao with his elaborate handwashing routine.
• Ran Jiao washed her hands in the purified water and reconsidered which of them was truly the odd one.