Chapter Summaries

Fang Yue escaped Wang Yuangang’s ambush, then returned to the Broken Temple and used Wang Teng as bait to wound Wang Yuangang. After poison weakened him, Fang Yue killed him, leaving Wang Teng’s fate unresolved.

• Wang Yuangang ambushed Fang Yue outside the Broken Temple, but Fang Yue used the force of their clash to flee.
• Wang Yuangang threatened to kill Fang Yue’s family, so Fang Yue decided to kill him before he could reach them.
• Fang Yue hid beneath the snow and evaded Wang Yuangang, then circled back to the Broken Temple.
• Wang Teng awoke to find Fang Yue there and lost consciousness after Fang Yue incapacitated him.
• Fang Yue disguised himself as Wang Teng and stabbed Wang Yuangang when he returned to the temple.
• Wang Yuangang attacked Fang Yue, but poison from the blade slowed him, allowing Fang Yue to kill him.

After learning why Wang Yuangang and Wang Teng had attacked him, Fang Yue killed Wang Teng and found a mysterious Command Token on Wang Yuangang, then chose not to keep it. He survived a misunderstanding with Miss Wen’s party and returned to Daliushu Village, where his family celebrated his success as an Imperial Martial Candidate.

• Fang Yue learned that Wang Yuangang and Wang Teng had betrayed the Martial Arts School by leaking the Pan-fried Tea recipe, and that Wang Yuangang had redirected his resentment toward Fang Yue before being killed.
• Fang Yue killed Wang Teng, found a black Command Token engraved with the character for “cloud” on Wang Yuangang, and left it behind to avoid attracting trouble.
• Miss Wen’s maid Lü'er mistook Fang Yue for a murderer as he handled the corpses, prompting her guards to fight him before Miss Wen apologized for the misunderstanding.
• Fang Yue left the Broken Temple at dawn without waking Miss Wen’s party, and Miss Wen reminded Lü'er to avoid causing trouble while they traveled to bring her aunt home.
• Fang Yue reached Daliushu Village and reunited with Father Fang, then returned home to Chen Shi, Fang Cheng, and Fang Lan, who celebrated his Imperial Martial Candidate status.

After Fang Yue returned to Daliushu Village as a Juren, villagers sought to donate land to his family, while he chose to stay and train. The Fang Family expanded its holdings and prepared for Fang Cheng’s marriage, as Scholar Liu arrived with Liu Chuanzhi and gifts to propose an alliance.

• Liu Chuanzhi protested his father’s plan to arrange his marriage to Fang Lan, but Scholar Liu persuaded him that an alliance with the Fang Family could bring wealth and land.
• Villagers brought gifts to Fang Yue’s home, hoping to donate land and reduce their tax burdens, and Fang Yue left the decisions to his parents.
• Fang Yue reviewed his fight with Wang Yuangang, suspected his opponent had used Marrow Refining qi and blood, and decided to train quietly in the village.
• Chen Shi accepted land donations from honest families, increasing the Fang Family’s holdings from three hundred mu to two thousand mu, and the clan commemorated Fang Yue with a stele and banquet.
• Chen Shi told Fang Yue that the family would soon deliver betrothal gifts for Fang Cheng, and Fang Yue noted that the family needed more rooms and storage space.
• Scholar Liu arrived at Fang Yue’s home with Liu Chuanzhi, servants, and gifts, and greeted Fang Yue as Scholar Fang.

Fang Yue rejected Scholar Liu’s proposal to marry Liu Chuanzhi to Fang Lan and overheard the Liu family’s resentment. He also watched Widow Yu and Anu leave with Wen Lan, then focused on improving his cultivation as two years passed.

• Scholar Liu proposed that Liu Chuanzhi marry Fang Lan, but Fang Yue refused on his sister’s behalf.
• Fang Yue overheard Liu Chuanzhi complain about the rejection and Scholar Liu warn him to hide his hostility toward the Fang Family.
• Wen Lan arrived to take Widow Yu and Anu back to the Wen Family, and Fang Yue intervened when her guards blocked Widow Yu.
• Widow Yu agreed to leave with Wen Lan, gave Fang Yue her late husband’s keepsake, and departed with Anu after Anu said goodbye to him.
• Fang Yue watched them go and resolved to train harder; two years passed.

Fang Yue continued strengthening his martial arts while refusing to take a student or accept a personal maid. As drought damaged the crops and the war against the Mo Shan Tribe dragged on, Zhang Boyang’s letter reported a rare victory but left Fang Yue expecting a troubled autumn.

• Fang Yue estimated that his strength had reached nearly five thousand jin and practiced White Tiger Fist, nearing completion of Bone Forging.
• Chen Shi brought Fang Yue sour plum soup and again urged him to marry or let Chun'er attend to him, but he refused.
• Fang Yue declined to teach his maternal uncle’s son, offering only to recommend him to a Fist School.
• After two months without rain, Fang Cheng told Fang Yue that wells had yielded no water and the crops were wilting; Father Fang had reduced the tenant farmers’ rent.
• Fang Yue read Zhang Boyang’s letter reporting a possible failed tea harvest, the City Guard’s capture of the Mo Shan Tribe’s Third Elder, and the war’s continuing stalemate.

Fang Yue brought Fang Cheng, Fang Lan, and his sister-in-law to Xiahe County Town, where his martial standing let them pass the city gate without paying or waiting in line. After settling his family at an inn, he visited Zhang Baiyang and asked about the drought across Shanyang Prefecture.

• Chen Shi packed food for the journey and told Fang Cheng to look after Fang Yue on the road.
• Fang Cheng told Fang Yue that their father had asked him to buy rouge and face powder, and he planned to buy some for his wife too.
• After four days of travel, Fang Yue and his family reached Xiahe County Town and headed straight to the gate instead of joining the queue.
• When a guard tried to stop them, Fang Yue made him slap himself and clear a path into the city.
• Fang Yue settled Fang Cheng, Fang Lan, and his sister-in-law at an inn, then visited Zhang Baiyang and asked about the drought in Shanyang Prefecture.

Fang Yue learned about the strange drought across Shanyang Prefecture and the Imperial Court’s plan to behead the Mo Shan Tribe’s Third Elder, then spent several days sightseeing with his family. At the execution ground, the Third Elder claimed the Heavenly Gods had sent the drought as punishment, and Liu Zheng ordered the execution to begin.

• Zhang Baiyang told Fang Yue that an unexplained drought had struck Shanyang Prefecture and Imperial Observatory inspectors had been sent to investigate.
• Fang Yue took Fang Cheng, Fang Lan, and his sister-in-law around Xiahe County Town, where the women bought silver jewelry and the shopkeeper recognized Fang Yue.
• When the Mo Shan Tribe’s Third Elder passed in a prison cart, Fang Yue reconsidered and decided to watch the execution.
• At the execution ground, Liu Zheng denounced the Mo Shan Tribe and ordered the beheading.
• The Third Elder laughed and declared that the Heavenly Gods had caused the drought as divine punishment.

Fang Yue realized Magistrate Liu Zheng had arranged the execution as a trap, but the Mo Shan Tribe diverted the ambush by attacking the grain depot and then tried to rescue their Third Elder. The battle escalated when several Mountain Folk transformed into giants, and Fang Yue joined the Imperial Martial Candidates under the Prefect's decree as a giant's fist struck one of them.

• The executioner beheaded the Mo Shan Tribe captives while Liu Zheng watched for rescuers, and Fang Yue recognized the square as a trap.
• The Mo Shan Tribe attacked and set fire to the grain depot, drawing several hidden forces away from the execution square.
• More than a dozen disguised Mountain Folk attacked the guards, and three Bone Forging leaders drank from Bamboo Tubes and grew into giants, losing control and killing their own companions.
• Liu Zheng invoked the Prefect's Decree to compel the Imperial Martial Candidates, including Fang Yue and Wei He, to fight the Mo Shan Tribe.
• The Mountain Folk freed their Third Elder, who charged Liu Zheng, while Fang Yue sought a way to attack from a distance and an Imperial Martial Candidate was overwhelmed by a giant's blow.

Fang Yue shot down a Mo Shan Tribe Mountain Folk and drew the Third Elder’s attention, who struck him with a thrown stone lion and left him severely injured. At Zhang Boyang’s residence, news arrived that the Yamen feared Fang Yue would be crippled for life.

• Fang Yue shot the charging Mountain Folk with three arrows and dodged his attacks until the wounded man faltered.
• Yuan Ying and two other Imperial Martial Candidates rushed in to claim the Mountain Folk’s kill, while Fang Yue shot two arrows into another foe.
• Magistrate Liu praised Fang Yue’s archery, and the Mo Shan Tribe’s Third Elder abandoned his fight with Liu Zheng to charge Fang Yue.
• The Third Elder’s shout dazed Fang Yue, and he barely dodged a stone lion that struck him and left half his body badly injured and numb.
• Zhang Shu asked Zhang Boyang to arrange a match with Fang Yue, but he refused; a servant then reported that Fang Yue had been severely injured and might be crippled for life.

After Fang Yue was crippled, Zhang Boyang punished Zhang Shu for rejecting him, while the White Tiger Martial Arts School ended its support and the news spread through Xiahe County Town. Back in Daliushu Village, Fang Yue remained hopeful of recovering, but Fang Cheng flew into a rage after a villager mocked him.

• Zhang Shu refused to marry Fang Yue if he had been crippled, so Zhang Boyang slapped her and confined her to the house.
• Master Zheng told Chen Tong that the school would stop Fang Yue’s Secret Medicine and stipend but give him silver, and asked him to accept the person Fang Yue had mentioned.
• Rumors of Fang Yue’s crippling spread through Xiahe County Town as he returned to Daliushu Village, where he resolved to recover by improving his boxing art.
• Chen Shi brought Fang Yue his favorite dishes, and he reassured her that he expected to recover, though she left the courtyard in tears.
• Fang Cheng led villagers digging wells amid the drought, then beat Fang Juye after he mocked Fang Yue as a cripple.

Scholar Liu learned that Fang Yue had been crippled, and the news abruptly restored Liu Chuanzhi’s sanity. A year later, Fang Yue continued recovering amid a worsening drought, while Fang Juye recruited village ruffians for a scheme against the Fang Family.

• Scholar Liu told the crazed Liu Chuanzhi that Fang Yue had been crippled, and Liu Chuanzhi suddenly regained his senses.
• Another year passed as drought and famine continued across Shanyang Prefecture, and Fang Yue received a letter from Fang Hu describing the war against the Mo Shan Tribe and the conscription of Imperial Martial Candidates.
• Fang Yue saw that his Bone Forging cultivation was close to completion and expected his talent to rise soon.
• Fang Juye gathered village ruffians and persuaded them that they could take back the Fang Family’s land because Fang Yue was crippled.

Fang Juye led a group of villagers into Fang Yue’s courtyard to steal grain, but Fang Yue stopped them and the Fang family captured the intruders. Fang Juye escaped, and Fang Yue decided the captured men would dig ten wells as punishment.

• Fang Juye persuaded hesitant villagers to climb into the Fang family residence and steal grain.
• Fang Yue confronted the intruders, struck several of them down, and injured Fang Juye as he tried to escape over the wall.
• Father Fang and Fang Cheng tied up the captured men while Chen Shi checked that Fang Yue was unharmed.
• Fang Yue ordered the captured thieves to dig ten wells for the village, and Fang Cheng reported that Fang Juye had escaped.
• Fang Yue let Fang Juye go for now and warned that he would not hold back if they met again.

Father Fang considered moving the family to the County Town as drought and hunger threatened, while Fang Yue refused to lend much money to his uncle Chen Kang for Chen Liang’s martial training. Fang Yue completed Bone Forging, recovered fully from his injury, and then noticed smoke rising from the village’s northwest.

• Father Fang handed the grain thieves over to the clan to dig wells, prompting villagers to wonder whether hunger might drive them to steal from the Fang Family.
• Father Fang argued that the family should leave for the County Town, but Fang Yue said they could wait unless conditions worsened.
• Chen Kang brought Chen Liang to borrow five hundred taels for martial training, but Fang Yue explained the request was excessive and Chen Shi lent them one hundred taels.
• Fang Yue completed the Bone Forging Pass, stood up, and discovered that his injury had healed without aftereffects and his body had grown stronger.
• Fang Yue saw smoke rising from a small fire in the northwest of Daliushu Village.

Fang Yue recovered from his injuries as the Fang family debated moving to town and hiding his recovery from the authorities. When Lian Bajin arrived seeking grain for the army, Fang Yue offered his unpaid allowance instead, but Lian Bajin warned that he might return if he could not gather enough supplies.

• Fang Mu gave two village families whose grain had burned about a hundred jin of grain, prompting Chen Shi to decide the Fang family should move to Xiahe County Town.
• Hui Hengli, a Seven-Star Imperial Inspector, headed for Daliushu Village to deal with a severed water vein and blamed the Mo Mountain rebels and Shanyang Prefecture's Prefectural Lord for the crisis.
• Chen Shi discovered Fang Yue had recovered, and the Fang family celebrated while Fang Mu and Chen Shi worried that the Yamen might conscript him if his recovery became known.
• Lian Bajin came to Fang Yue's home to demand grain for the army, but Fang Yue offered his unpaid six-hundred-tael allowance instead.
• Lian Bajin said the Yamen needed grain more than silver and left to gather supplies elsewhere, warning that he might return if he failed.

Fang Yue traveled to Wenxi County to buy Marrow Refining Secret Medicine, then fought off two men who tracked him with a scent planted by the Storehouse manager. He returned to Big Willow Tree Village with the medicine and a stolen crossbow.

• Fang Yue left Big Willow Tree Village at night to buy Secret Medicine in Wenxi County because he could not safely visit Xiahe County Town.
• Fang Yue paid three thousand five hundred taels for thirty doses of Marrow Refining Secret Medicine, while Wang San learned about him from the Storehouse manager and decided to pursue him.
• Wang San and Wang Er caught up with Fang Yue at a Broken Temple, where Fang Yue shot Wang San with his Ten-stone Bow and forced Wang Er to explain that Wang Tong had scented the medicine with One-day Fragrance.
• Fang Yue killed Wang Er when he discovered the man had a concealed poisoned crossbow, then disposed of both bodies and destroyed the scented herb.
• Fang Yue took several detours, returned home two days later, and examined the crossbow he had taken from the attackers.

Fang Yue used Marrow Refining Secret Medicine to advance the White Tiger Fist to Marrow Refining and entered the mountains to hunt. Nearby, Hui Hengli uncovered a Wutu Origin Stone while repairing a water vein, but a black leopard attacked and the stone fell off a cliff.

• Fang Yue found five thousand taels in banknotes and a letter suggesting the drought in Shanyang Prefecture might soon end, then burned the letter.
• Fang Yue reassured Chen Shi that he would hunt for meat and entered Marrow Refining after taking a second dose of Secret Medicine.
• Fang Yue tested his increased strength, then went into the mountains three days later and found the familiar lake still full of water.
• Hui Hengli located a water vein near the mountains and lifted a boulder containing a Wutu Origin Stone.
• A black leopard attacked Hui Hengli, who killed it with a jade slip, but the boulder rolled off a thousand-meter cliff.

Fang Yue found a Wutu Origin Stone while hunting, while Hui Hengli discovered it was missing and left for Mo Mountain. Meanwhile, Scholar Liu agreed to sell his family’s land and ancestral home, and Chen Liang borrowed silver from Qi Zhantang by invoking Fang Yue’s name, unaware the gambling house owner planned to target his aunt’s family.

• Fang Yue killed a tiger while hunting, found a pale yellow Wutu Origin Stone among broken stones, and carried his prey home.
• Hui Hengli returned to retrieve the Wutu Origin Stone, found footprints and realized someone had taken it, then left for Mo Mountain to help unseal the final water vein.
• Liu Chuanzhi persuaded Scholar Liu to sell the family’s fields and ancestral home to raise money and secure a future in the Prefecture City.
• After being thrown out of a brothel, Chen Liang went to Qi Zhantang’s gambling house and borrowed two hundred taels of silver, using Fang Yue as a supposed guarantor.
• Qi Zhantang told his manager that he planned to collect Chen Liang’s debt from his aunt’s family and exploit their wealth.

Fang Yue used a Wutu Origin Stone in an attempt to reach Sensing Qi, but learned that his talent meant he needed more stones. He then advised Father Fang to buy the Liu Family’s properties at a discount, and Chen Shi discovered the deeds after mocking the unnamed buyer as a fool.

• Fang Yue roasted the family’s meat, then tried cultivating with a Wutu Origin Stone but failed to advance because his talent and foundation were insufficient.
• Steward Liu offered the Liu Family’s land and houses along with a three-hundred-year-old lingzhi, and Fang Yue advised Father Fang to buy them and bargain down the price.
• Father Fang and Fang Cheng returned with the deeds and lingzhi after Scholar Liu cut the price by another thousand taels.
• Chen Shi joked that whoever bought the Liu Family’s properties was a fool, then recognized the deeds and demanded that Fang Mu explain himself.

Fang Mu’s purchase of the Liu Family’s land angered the former Liu tenants, who feared higher taxes and rent, and their confrontation with the Fang Family’s tenants threatened to become violent. Fang Yue came out to stop the groups from clashing.

• Chen Shi scolded Fang Mu for spending the family’s hard-earned silver on the Liu Family’s land, but Fang Yue reassured her that the purchase would become profitable when the disaster passed.
• Scholar Liu and Liu Chuanzhi left Daliushu Village after selling their family estate, expecting the Fang Family to face trouble over the land taxes and tenant farmers.
• More than a hundred former Liu tenants gathered at Fang Yue’s home and demanded that Fang Mu guarantee in writing that their rent would not rise.
• Fang Mu promised to waive the tenants’ rent for the year and keep it equal to other villagers’ rent, but they continued to demand a written guarantee.
• The Fang Family’s own tenants arrived to defend Fang Mu, and the two groups nearly came to blows before Fang Yue stepped outside.

Fang Yue stopped villagers from disputing his family’s land and later used Fatty Bai’s letter to persuade them to plant tea trees, expecting the drought to ease soon. After setting out for Xiahe County Town to buy saplings, he arrived as Chen Liang demanded another loan at the gambling house despite already owing a thousand taels.

• Fang Yue silenced the villagers’ objections over the land by threatening to report a fraudulent transaction, and the man inciting them confessed that Steward Liu had paid him five taels.
• Scholar Liu’s family settled in the Prefecture City and learned that Captain Bai had been promoted, raising their hopes of securing a Garrison Affairs Officer position.
• Fang Yue noticed that half his Secret Medicine remained after a month of cultivation and suspected the Wutu Origin Stone had enhanced or replaced its effects.
• After receiving Fatty Bai’s letter predicting relief from the water shortage, Fang Yue persuaded his family and the villagers to prepare for planting tea trees, contributing grain to ease their concerns.
• Fang Yue traveled to Xiahe County Town to obtain tea saplings, while Chen Liang entered the gambling house and asked to borrow fifty more taels despite owing one thousand.