Chapter Summaries

Fang Hu took Fang Yue to the White Tiger Martial Arts School so Fang Yue could be formally admitted and learn White Tiger Fist. They were turned away from the front gate while Wang Yuangang and Wang Teng received a welcoming entry and completed Wang Teng’s apprenticeship ceremony, leaving Chen Tong to handle Fang Hu’s request.

• Fang Yue and Fang Ergou completed their morning training, and Fang Hu took Fang Yue to the White Tiger Martial Arts School while Er Gou stayed at Zhang Boyang’s residence.
• The gatekeeper refused Fang Hu and Fang Yue entry through the main gate and directed them to the back gate, then welcomed Wang Yuangang and his companion through the front gate.
• Wang Teng kowtowed to the Patriarch, offered incense, and served tea to Elder Zheng and Chen Tong to enter the school.
• Elder Zheng accepted Wang Teng and told Chen Tong to handle Fang Hu’s request after Fang Hu arrived with Fang Yue.
• Elder Zheng left the hall, and several others departed, leaving Chen Tong to deal with the admission matter.

Fang Hu chose to take Fang Yue as his one formal disciple under White Tiger Martial Arts School’s new rules, leaving him unable to pass White Tiger Fist to his own son. Zhang Shu prepared to leave with Fang Hu’s group for Daliushu Village for three months while her father handled official business.

• Chen Tong told Fang Hu that he could accept only one formal disciple and would have to choose between Fang Yue and his own son.
• Fang Hu decided to accept Fang Yue as his disciple, and they left the White Tiger Martial Arts School through the back gate.
• Fang Hu explained that Zhang Shu would stay with their group because Zhang Boyang had official business away for three months.
• At dawn, Zhang Boyang gave Zhang Shu money and sent her off with Fang Hu, while she pretended to cry and then cheerfully said goodbye.

Fang Yue and his companions camped by the river on their journey home, where Zhang Shu teased him as he tried to catch fish. The chapter left Fang Yue warning Zhang Shu that a tiger was behind her.

• Fang Yue and his companions reached the riverbank where they had camped on their way out and stopped for the night.
• Fang Yue went fishing while Zhang Shu chattered beside him, and her shouting scared away a fish that had taken the bait.
• Zhang Shu splashed in the river, and Fang Yue caught a carp before staring at her feet and getting water splashed in his face.
• Fang Yue saw a tiger behind Zhang Shu and urgently told her to get away.

Fang Yue and Zhang Shu were chased by a giant tiger until Fang Hu arrived and killed it. After teaching Fang Yue how to butcher the beast, Fang Hu warned that it was only a young tiger, and the group prepared to leave before more predators arrived.

• Fang Yue spotted a giant tiger in the river, grabbed Zhang Shu, and fled with her as the beast pursued them.
• Fang Yue threw Zhang Shu toward safety and charged beneath the tiger to evade its pounce.
• Fang Hu shot the tiger repeatedly and killed it with an arrow through its eye.
• Fang Hu taught Fang Yue about the tiger’s weak points and how to butcher it, then explained that it was only a young tiger.
• Zhang Shu teased Fang Yue, while Fang Ergou defended him and revealed that Fang Hu had once been frightened by a tiger.
• Fang Hu told everyone to pack up and leave before the blood attracted other wild beasts.

While traveling with Fang Hu and the others, Fang Yue sensed that tiger meat strengthened his body and learned that his keen perception could detect the medicinal effects of the Lesser White Tiger Decoction. Meanwhile, back in Daliushu Village, Chen Shi worried about Fang Yue’s absence and discussed the steep bride price for Fang Yue’s prospective marriage.

• Fang Yue ignored Zhang Shu and helped the group butcher the giant tiger, bury its remains, and return to camp.
• After eating tiger meat, Fang Yue sensed a warm current strengthening his body and told Fang Hu it seemed like their medicinal tea.
• Fang Hu explained that the tea contained tiger bone and was the Lesser White Tiger Decoction used to support White Tiger Fist cultivation, praising Fang Yue’s perception.
• Fang Hu wondered why a young tiger had appeared in the mountains.
• In Daliushu Village, Chen Shi worried about Fang Yue being away and told Fang Lan that the proposed bride price of five taels of silver, five jin of pork, and a bolt of coarse cloth was too costly.

Fang Yue returned home with over two hundred jin of tiger meat, explaining that Fang Hu had given him his share after they encountered a young tiger. Steward Liu then arrived with gifts from Liu Landowner for Fang Yue, leaving Chen Shi bewildered by the unexpected generosity.

• Fang Lan and Chen Shi discussed the Zhou family's enormous bride-price demand and concluded the marriage was unlikely to proceed.
• Fang Yue returned home carrying bundles of salted and dried tiger meat and told Chen Shi that he had eaten already.
• Chen Shi mistook the approaching men for people coming to arrest Fang Yue for stealing meat and urged him to flee.
• Fang Yue explained that he and Fang Hu had encountered a young tiger and that Fang Hu had given him the meat.
• Steward Liu arrived with silk, pastries, and other gifts from Liu Landowner for Fang Yue, and Chen Shi protested that she could not accept them.

After the Liu Family sent Fang Yue valuable gifts, Fang Yue suspected they were responding to his apprenticeship under Fang Hu and went to ask his master how to handle them. Fang Hu told him to keep the gifts and began explaining the status of civil and martial examinations, leaving Fang Yue wondering whether Military Officers held greater prestige.

• Steward Liu delivered valuable gifts from Master Liu to Chen Shi, who worried that her family should return them.
• Fang Yue learned the gifts were for him and that Steward Liu had asked whether he had become Fang Hu's disciple and traveled with him to Xiahe County Town.
• Fang Yue told Fang Hu what had happened, and Fang Hu advised him to accept the gifts as compensation for the incident at the Ancestral Hall.
• Fang Hu asked Fang Yue to compare the prestige and power of Civil Martial Candidates, Imperial Martial Candidates, civil officials, and Military Officers.
• Fang Yue wondered whether Military Officers were more prestigious in this world.

Fang Yue learned that martial artists held greater status than civil officials because of their extraordinary strength, strengthening his resolve to practice martial arts. The chapter ended with Liu Chuanzhi agreeing to apologize to Fang Yue while Zhang Shu complained about the poor condition of Widow Yu’s home.

• Fang Hu explained the Four Stages of Martial Arts and why military officers outranked civil officials, and Fang Yue thanked him and reaffirmed his commitment to martial arts.
• Fang Hu told Fang Yue to bring tiger meat to Zhang Shu, and Fang Yue took the meat from Er Gou on his way out.
• Liu Chuanzhi questioned why Old Master Liu had sent gifts to Fang Yue, and Old Master Liu warned him to treat the new White Tiger Fist disciple with respect.
• Liu Chuanzhi agreed to visit Fang Yue and apologize for their past conflict, earning Old Master Liu’s approval.
• Zhang Shu complained about the leaks and grime in Widow Yu’s home, and Widow Yu apologized and offered to tidy it up.

Fang Yue completed Unified Strength after half a month of stance practice, then astonished Fang Hu by lifting a thousand-jin Stone Lock. The chapter left him poised to begin practicing the White Tiger Fist, with his exceptional strength confirmed.

• Zhang Shu insulted Widow Yu's home, and Fang Yue reassured Anu before rebuking Zhang Shu for failing to endure hardship.
• Fang Yue continued practicing stance work while Zhang Shu trained alongside him, and ten days passed.
• Fang Yue's aptitude increased, his strength unified, and Fang Hu declared that he had completed Unified Strength.
• Fang Yue easily lifted an eight-hundred-jin Stone Lock and then managed to lift a thousand-jin one.
• Fang Hu praised Fang Yue's inborn strength and told him to be careful as he tested his power.

Fang Yue began learning White Tiger Fist from Fang Hu, who explained the costs of advancing through martial cultivation and then left to hunt. Back home, Fang Yue discovered his Golden Finger could spend aptitude points to condense a talent and decided to test it.

• Fang Hu explained that higher cultivation stages required costly Secret Medicines and began teaching Fang Yue the Skin Tempering method of White Tiger Fist.
• Fang Yue practiced the fist art under Fang Hu's instruction until his movements and force application were correct.
• Fang Hu told Fang Yue to continue practicing his stance and fist work while he went into the mountains to hunt for supplies.
• Fang Yue saw that his Golden Finger offered to spend ten aptitude points to condense the talent Beginner Fist Mastery.
• Fang Yue decided to try condensing the talent.

Fang Yue discovered that Beginner Fist Mastery made his White Tiger Fist practice faster and stronger, but accidentally smashed his family’s table while training. As life settled down again, he continued practicing and helping Widow Yu’s household.

• Fang Yue practiced White Tiger Fist and found that Beginner Fist Mastery improved his proficiency and the power of his attacks.
• Fang Yue accidentally shattered the family table, and Chen Shi scolded Father Fang for speaking sternly to him before checking that Fang Yue was unharmed.
• Fang Yue told Chen Shi that he would not visit Fang Mu’s house while Fang Mu hunted, and Chen Shi said she had rejected Matchmaker Wang’s proposal concerning the Zhou family’s daughter.
• Fang Yue offered to help Father Fang build a replacement table, then resumed his daily fist practice and brought food to Widow Yu’s home as Zhang Shu grew calmer.

Widow Yu warned Fang Yue that village women were spreading an unverified rumor that his family had broken off Fang Cheng’s engagement to Zhou Xiaohua and left her refusing food. Fang Yue recognized the threat to his family’s reputation and went to confront the women spreading it.

• Farm women at the village entrance spread claims that Fang Mu's family had ended Fang Cheng's engagement and that Zhou Xiaohua was refusing food.
• Widow Yu overheard the gossip, feared it would grow more damaging, and hurried to warn Fang Yue.
• Widow Yu accidentally entered Fang Yue's courtyard while he was washing, then told him about the rumor.
• Fang Yue worried that the story could harm Fang Cheng's marriage prospects and his family's reputation.
• Fang Yue went into the village and saw the farm women gossiping.

Fang Yue dealt with the village rumors spread by Zhou Fang, prompting her and Lao Qi Fang to apologize to his family. The Fang family accepted the apology but wondered how Fang Yue had forced the couple to come, and Chen Shi suspected Zhi'er was responsible.

• Fang Yue overheard villagers accusing Fang Cheng of scheming and his family of hiding how to catch fish, then left to teach the gossipers a lesson.
• Chen Shi told Fang Mu that Zhou Fang had spread rumors about the broken engagement and Fang Yue's character, and Fang Mu considered confronting Lao Qi Fang.
• Lao Qi Fang brought Zhou Fang and their son to the Fang family and made them kneel and apologize.
• Zhou Fang explained that Steward Liu had stopped leasing them fields because of her rumors about Fang Yue's family.
• Fang Mu forgave the couple but warned them not to spread more rumors, and Chen Shi guessed that Zhi'er had caused them to apologize.

After Fang Yue’s family returned to normal life, he continued his martial training and visited Fang Hu on New Year’s Day with a fishing rod for Fang Ergou and homemade pan-fried tea for his master. Fang Hu praised Fang Yue’s progress and planned to take him hunting in the mountains after the New Year.

• Fang Yue’s family stopped dealing with the fallout from Zhou Xiaohua’s betrothal gifts, and Fang Yue began Skin Tempering after making rapid progress in White Tiger Fist.
• On New Year’s Day, Fang Yue gave Fang Ergou a new fishing rod and visited Fang Hu with a gift.
• Fang Yue introduced Fang Hu to pan-fried tea, brewed a cup, and explained how he had made it.
• Fang Hu checked Fang Yue’s training, found that he had kept up his progress, and said he would take him into the mountains to hunt after the New Year.

Fang Yue entered the mountains with Fang Hu to learn hunting, then spent the next half year training and building his skills. When Fang Ergou arrived with word of an urgent matter from Xiahe County Town, Fang Yue was summoned to Fang Ergou’s father.

• Fang Hu taught Fang Yue hunting skills and warned him about the mountains, including a rule never to travel more than thirty li beyond the boundary.
• Fang Yue and Fang Hu spent five days hunting, returning with a leopard, two deer, and several rabbits.
• Over the next half year, Fang Yue trained and hunted repeatedly, raising his strength to two thousand three hundred jin and gathering many pelts and medicinal bones.
• Fang Ergou hurried to Fang Yue with word that a letter from Xiahe County Town had brought an urgent matter.
• Fang Yue caught a carp as Fang Ergou explained that his father had sent for him but had not revealed why.

Fang Yue learned that the Great Wei Dynasty had added a Martial Scholar examination and resolved to compete for its benefits. After completing his first Skin Tempering, he saw villagers face a twenty percent tax increase and threats of forced military service, strengthening his resolve to succeed.

• Fang Hu told Fang Yue that the era name had changed to Wuding and that Skin Tempering martial artists could take the new Martial Scholar examination for tax and corvée exemptions.
• Fang Yue decided to try for the examination, which was scheduled for October, and trained diligently while continuing to hunt.
• By the beginning of the eighth month, Fang Yue had completed the first tempering of his skin, though a shortage of Secret Medicine limited his progress.
• A yamen runner announced a twenty percent tax increase in Daliushu Village and offered three years of tax exemption to households that enlisted in the Wuding Army.
• The villagers worried about the taxes and threat of conscription, and Fang Yue resolved to achieve results in the Martial Scholar examination so he could improve his family's life.

After the tax increase pushed Daliushu Village into hardship, Fang Yue’s family paid their taxes with the help of his hunting and stored grain. When yamen runners arrested Liu San for failing to pay, Fang Yue resolved more firmly to pass the Martial Imperial Exam and move his family to the County Town.

• Many Daliushu villagers donated land to Master Liu’s family to escape taxes and military service, but the Liu Family soon reached its tax-exempt land limit.
• Fang Yue helped his family catch a rabbit, and they shared a plentiful lunch after paying their taxes in full.
• Yamen runners beat and shackled Liu San for failing to pay his taxes, then announced he would be sent to serve in the northwest.
• Fang Yue suspected the yamen runners had searched Liu San’s home for valuables and chose not to intervene, knowing they represented the Great Wei Dynasty.
• Fang Yue reaffirmed his resolve to pass the Martial Imperial Exam, and Chen Shi felt grateful that her family had been able to pay its taxes.

Fang Cheng asked Chen Shi for grain to help Liu Yingzi’s family, revealing that he cared for Yingzi, and Chen Shi agreed to send a full sack. Fang Yue told Chen Shi he planned to travel alone to Xiahe County Town for the Martial Scholar examination, then shared fried beans with Anu.

• Fang Cheng worked up the courage to ask Chen Shi to send grain to Liu Fuquan’s family because he did not want Yingzi to go hungry.
• Chen Shi realized Fang Cheng had taken a liking to Yingzi and sent him off with a sack of grain and fried beans.
• Fang Yue told Chen Shi that he planned to travel to Xiahe County Town alone in a few days to take the Martial Scholar examination.
• Chen Shi worried about Fang Yue’s journey but accepted his decision and packed him fried beans.
• Fang Yue gave Anu a handful of fried beans, and she happily ate one.

Fang Yue set out for Xiahe County Town to register for the Martial Scholar examination and encountered a young man rescuing two girls from desperate farmers. He reached the town and checked into an inn, avoiding Uncle-Master Zhang's home.

• Fang Yue thanked Widow Yu for her gratitude and left three days before setting out for Xiahe County Town.
• Fang Yue's family gave him a newly forged saber and provisions, and he promised to protect himself before departing.
• Fang Yue stopped near Baishi Mountain and saw a young man in blue defeat seven or eight farmers who had been pursuing two girls.
• Wang Er explained that tax extortion had driven the farmers to flee and rob travelers, and the man in blue let them go.
• Fang Yue reached Xiahe County Town, entered without paying a fee as a disciple of the White Tiger Martial Arts School, and stayed at an inn instead of visiting Uncle-Master Zhang.

Fang Yue registered for the Martial Scholar assessment and visited Zhang Boyang, who unexpectedly began sounding him out about marriage. The chapter left Fang Yue realizing Zhang Boyang wanted to match him with Zhang Shu, though he could not understand why.

• Fang Yue chose the inn’s firewood room because he could not afford the regular rooms.
• Fang Yue registered for the Martial Scholar assessment at the County Yamen and encountered Chen Chengan, who invited him to a feast.
• Fang Yue visited Zhang Boyang and brought him homemade pan-fried tea.
• Zhang Boyang asked whether Fang Yue was betrothed, then asked what he thought of Zhang Shu.
• Fang Yue praised Zhang Shu while privately wondering why Zhang Boyang would consider matching them.