Chapter Summaries

Liu Zheng agreed to help Huang Yuangui and ordered him to arrest the man who had attacked the Yamen runners, planning to do so when Fang Yue greeted the incoming Garrison Captain. Meanwhile, Fang Yue began renovating a residence in the County Town, and Wei He and Wang Quan entered that residence while searching for missing silver.

• Liu Zheng promised to decide Huang Yuangui’s claim in his favor and ordered him to arrest the attacker in two days.
• Fang Yue hired craftsmen to renovate his County Town residence so he could stay there more often.
• Bai Xingqiu’s servant found him and persuaded him to return home within two days.
• Wang Quan told Wei He that the missing silver might have been hidden in Fang Yue’s courtyard.
• Wei He learned that Fang Yue owned the neighboring residence and led Wang Quan and his men inside.

Wei He failed to secure a deal for Fang Yue’s Tea Garden, while Fang Hu returned to Xiahe County as its newly appointed Commandant. County Magistrate Liu Zheng manipulated events to make Fang Hu arrest Bai Xingqiu and his servant, then planned to use the arrest to turn Fang Yue against his master.

• Wei He offered to buy Fang Yue’s tea for thirty percent above market price, but Fang Yue refused because the Tea Garden already had a buyer.
• Fang Yue saw Bai Xingqiu off, while Bai Xingqiu promised to introduce him to his cousin as a prospective match.
• Fang Hu returned to Xiahe County with his son, and Liu Zheng welcomed him while secretly planning to exploit a dispute involving the Tea Garden.
• Liu Zheng sent a yamen runner to claim Bai Xingqiu and his servant had violently resisted arrest, prompting Fang Hu to lead the Guard Army against them.
• Bai Xingqiu stopped his servant from revealing that they knew Fang Hu and agreed to go to the Yamen with him.
• Liu Zheng ordered public notices to call Bai Xingqiu and his servant bandits, hoping Fang Yue would blame Fang Hu and their master-disciple relationship would fracture.

Huang Yuangui told Huang Lie that Fang Hu had become the Guard Army’s new Commandant, while Fang Yue learned that Fatty Bai had been jailed and Liu Zheng wanted to meet him. Fang Yue prepared to face Liu Zheng and continued cultivating, confident that Bai Xingqiu’s background would keep him safe.

• Huang Yuangui told Huang Lie about Fang Hu’s appointment and the arrest of Fang Yue’s friend, but Huang Lie warned that Liu Zheng and Fang Hu might still reconcile over the Tea Garden.
• Huang Lie said an old friend would arrive in Xiahe County in a few days and promised to ask him to intervene.
• A Yamen runner told Fang Yue that Liu Zheng had summoned him to the County Yamen after Fatty Bai was imprisoned.
• Fang Yue checked his cultivation and discovered that his strength had reached ten thousand jin, the limit of Marrow Refining.
• Fang Yue decided to keep cultivating and remained unworried about Bai Xingqiu’s safety because of his influence in Shanyang Prefecture City.

Fang Yue explained to Fang Hu how Liu Zheng and the Huang family had targeted him, while Bai Xingqiu remained in jail and the authorities gradually realized his identity. The chapter ended with Fang Yue visiting Bai Xingqiu, who planned to arrange a meeting between Fang Yue and his cousin.

• Fang Yue told Fang Hu how Huang Yuangui had withheld his silver and Secret Medicine, how he bought the Tea Garden, and how Liu Zheng had used the dispute to pressure them.
• Fang Hu promised to release Bai Xingqiu, but Fang Yue urged him to wait, confident Bai Xingqiu could handle himself.
• Huang Lie and Huang Yuangui learned that Bai Xingqiu was searching for a friend surnamed Fang who owned a Tea Garden, and Huang Lie realized they had offended him.
• Liu Zheng recognized Bai Xingqiu's name on a fabricated confession and hurried to the prison after realizing he might have jailed an Imperial Martial Candidate.
• Fang Yue visited Bai Xingqiu in prison, agreed to meet his cousin, and Bai Xingqiu promised to arrange it when Fang Yue delivered the first batch of tea leaves.

After Bai Xingqiu secured compensation from the Huang Family and left Xiahe County, Fang Yue advanced into the Qi Sensing Realm and received an invitation to visit Shanyang Prefecture. He persuaded his parents to move to Xiahe County Town, where the chapter left them preparing to relocate.

• Huang Yuangui and Huang Lie rushed to the County Yamen prison, where Liu Zheng beat Huang Yuangui and ordered both men imprisoned to apologize to Young Master Bai.
• Bai Xingqiu received three thousand mu of Tea Gardens and ten thousand taels of silver from the Huang Family, then left with Commandant Chen escorting him.
• Fang Yue practiced White Tiger Fist and discovered that he had cultivated qi, though his Marrow Refining had not yet reached great accomplishment.
• Fang Yue received Bai Xingqiu's letter inviting him to Shanyang Prefecture and suggesting a marriage match, but chose to stay with his family through the New Year.
• Fang Yue proposed moving his parents to Xiahe County Town, and Chen Shi agreed at once after realizing the move could help arrange a suitable wife for him.

Fang Yue escaped a disastrous blind date and left Xiahe County with a tea caravan bound for Shanyang Prefecture City. When Guard Army soldiers tried to inspect the goods, he invoked Young Master Bai’s name and made them back down, leaving Elder Zheng astonished.

• Chen Shi dressed Fang Yue for a blind date, where the oval-faced woman demanded lavish betrothal gifts, a Tea Garden, help for her brother, and changes to Fang Yue’s family arrangements.
• Fang Yue rejected the match and hurried home, then told Chen Shi about the woman’s demands and prepared to leave for Shanyang Prefecture City with a caravan of tea.
• Fang Yue traveled with the caravan for half a month while escorting professionals guided and protected the goods.
• A squad of Guard Army soldiers surrounded the caravan and demanded to inspect its crates.
• Fang Yue claimed the goods belonged to Young Master Bai, and the lead soldier apologized, gave him silver, and quickly withdrew his men.

Fang Yue arrived in Shanyang Prefecture City, where his convoy was targeted by a merchant and the Guard Army before the soldiers recognized his status and escorted him into the city. After reuniting with Bai Xingqiu for dinner on a tower ship, Fang Yue heard that a grand gathering awaited them that night.

• Fang Yue reached Shanyang Prefecture City and learned that Biyou Spring from Yuezhongshan Tea House had become a costly favorite among wealthy households.
• Fan Sanshan of the Sanfu Merchant Team threatened Fang Yue’s business when Fang Yue refused to give up their place in the entry line.
• Guard Army soldiers tried to search Fang Yue’s carts after Fan Sanshan accused him of carrying prohibited goods, but another patrol intervened and the lead soldier apologized to Fang Yue.
• The soldiers turned on Fan Sanshan and escorted Fang Yue’s convoy into the city without a search, entry fee, or wait, and the group reached Yuezhongshan Tea House.
• Bai Xingqiu took Fang Yue to dine aboard a tower ship on the Qinghuai River, then told him a grand gathering was the main event of the evening.

Fang Yue attended a monthly riverboat auction with Bai Xingqiu, where Bai accidentally won a strange Wooden Staff and gave it to him. The next morning, merchants who had offended Fang Yue at the city gate apologized and offered a gift, hoping he would help them recover their seized goods through the White Family.

• Fang Yue and Bai Xingqiu watched an auction from a flower boat on the Hun River, where Envy of Humans Fragrance sold for over a thousand taels per jin and Xiangjun performed on the guqin.
• Bai Xingqiu tried to provoke a rival into bidding on the Mo Shan Tribe elder’s Wooden Staff, but the rival stopped bidding, leaving Bai to win it for six thousand and fifty taels.
• Bai Xingqiu gave the Wooden Staff to Fang Yue and asked him to claim he had bought it, then Xue Bing mocked Bai for winning what looked like a cane.
• Fang Yue examined the Wooden Staff at the inn and found nothing special about it.
• The next morning, merchants apologized to Fang Yue for their caravan steward’s attempt to force a trade at the city gate and offered him a gift, hoping he would help them retrieve their seized goods from the City Guard.

Fang Yue refused the Sanfu Merchant Team’s reward and left, while Liu Chuanzhi offered to help them recover their seized goods on behalf of Young Master Xue. Fang Yue then met the blind Miss Bai and helped her carry breakfast back to Bai Family Medical Hall, where the children mistook him for someone seeking free food.

• Fang Yue refused the Sanfu Merchant Team’s reward and left to find breakfast.
• Liu Chuanzhi approached the Sanfu Merchant Team, said he worked for Young Master Xue, and offered to help retrieve their goods.
• Fang Yue met the blind Miss Bai at a scallion pancake stall and offered to guide her home after she twisted her ankle.
• Fang Yue led Miss Bai to Bai Family Medical Hall, where the children questioned why he had come back with her.
• Miss Bai explained that Fang Yue had helped her return and that otherwise the children would have gone hungry.

Xue Bing pretended to be a spoiled wastrel while plotting to use Liu Chuanzhi to frame Fang Yue over the Wooden Staff. In Shanyang Prefecture, Fang Yue heard troubling rumors about missing children and women, then found Bai Li stranded after someone tricked her into waiting for a house-call guide and decided to escort her home.

• Xue Bing had Liu Chuanzhi insult Fang Yue, struck him with an inkstone, then privately revealed he knew Liu was scheming and planned to use him to frame Fang Yue.
• Fang Yue learned that Bai Li had inherited the Bai Family Medical Hall and was caring for five homeless children, then left without staying for a meal.
• Fang Yue spent several days exploring Shanyang Prefecture and overheard rumors that officials had blamed beggars for abducting and maiming children, though many victims remained missing and women had disappeared too.
• Fang Yue met Bai Li outside a Wine House after her supposed guide for a house call vanished, leaving her stranded.
• Bai Li realized she had been tricked and set off for home; Fang Yue offered to escort her.

After returning to Bai Family Medical Hall, Fang Yue and Bai Li found that intruders had ransacked the place and injured A Cheng. While helping clean up, Fang Yue discovered an old account of immortals and a Spirit Awakening Talisman, leaving him wondering whether immortal arts truly existed.

• Fang Yue caught Bai Li as she stumbled, then led her into the medical hall after hearing Xiao Cha cry.
• Xiao Cha told Bai Li that intruders had wrecked the hall, beaten A Cheng, and stolen things.
• Bai Li treated A Cheng while Fang Yue helped sort the scattered books and herbs.
• Fang Yue found Bai Zhu's travel journal, which mentioned encountering immortals on East Funiu Mountain and included a Spirit Awakening Talisman glyph.
• Bai Li explained that her ancestors had failed to reproduce the talisman and had long stopped believing the journal's claims.
• Bai Li invited Fang Yue to dinner, and he enjoyed her fragrant vegetable and tofu soup before declining another bowl.

Fang Yue sought answers about his Qi Sensing cultivation and learned that his qi differed from the conventional method and resembled the ancient Qi Practitioners’ path. The chapter ended with him asking Bai Jin about Origin Stones and the Wutu True Art, still unsure whether his cultivation was flawed.

• Hui Hengli stopped Fang Yue in an alley and warned that he had cultivated a Qi Sensing Manual incorrectly, advising him to abolish his cultivation and start over.
• Fang Yue went to Bai Xingqiu for guidance, and Bai Xingqiu brought him to meet his cousin, Bai Jin.
• Bai Jin offered to answer three of Fang Yue’s questions and took him to the estate’s study to consult Great Wei Records.
• Fang Yue read that conventional Qi Sensing required matched Secret Medicine and found that his qi had dispersed through his body instead of remaining in his dantian.
• Bai Jin explained that ancient Qi Practitioners tempered their bodies with qi, a difficult path once followed by the Great Wei Founder before he established Secret Medicine martial arts.
• Fang Yue asked Bai Jin what Origin Stones were and whether the Wutu True Art might also be flawed.

Bai Jin explained to Fang Yue the limits and dangers of the Qi Practitioner path, while Bai Xingqiu defended his friendship with him. On the road back to Xiahe County Town, Fang Yue’s caravan took shelter in a Broken Temple, where surviving Mo Shan Tribe Mountain Folk attacked to reclaim their Wooden Staff.

• Bai Jin told Fang Yue that Origin Stones supported the Qi Practitioner path but could not be combined with secret medicine cultivation, and she warned that switching paths would require him to disperse his cultivation.
• Bai Jin judged Fang Yue’s prospects to be limited, but Bai Xingqiu insisted he made friends without considering their potential and urged his cousin not to pass up the chance to know Fang Yue.
• After spending two more days in Shanyang Prefecture City, Fang Yue bought supplies and returned toward Xiahe County Town with his caravan.
• A torrential downpour drove the caravan to shelter in a Broken Temple, where Fang Yue spotted more than a dozen armed Mo Shan Tribe Mountain Folk approaching.
• Fang Yue warned the caravan, and the Mountain Folk’s Seventh Elder ordered his people to kill the guards and take the Wooden Staff.
• The Mountain Folk smashed through the temple gate and charged the caravan guards as the guards fought back with bows.

Liu Chuanzhi arranged for the Black Wind Bandits to ambush Fang Yue, while Fang Yue fought the Mo Shan Tribe Seventh Elder during an attack on his caravan. The Seventh Elder fled with his people after failing to defeat Fang Yue, who pursued them and began shooting at them in the rain.

• Liu Chuanzhi assured a Sanfu Chamber of Commerce steward that the Black Wind Bandits would kill Fang Yue and erase the evidence.
• The Mo Shan Tribe Seventh Elder attacked Fang Yue inside the Broken Temple, but neither fighter could gain the upper hand.
• The Seventh Elder drank Beast Blood and grew stronger, yet Fang Yue held out until its effects began to fade.
• The Seventh Elder ordered the surviving Mountain Folk to retreat, and Fang Yue chased after them with his bow.
• Fang Yue shot a burly middle-aged man in the back, while the Seventh Elder urged his people to escape into the woods.

Fang Yue entered a forest battle between the Mo Shan Tribe Mountain Folk and the Black Wind Bandits, then shot and killed the fleeing Mo Shan Tribe Seventh Elder. He left the elder’s body with little loot, while the Black Wind Bandits were left without learning who had fired the arrows.

• The Mo Shan Tribe Seventh Elder realized they had been lured into an ambush and sent warriors to hold off the men in black while he fled with the rest.
• Han Sanshan ordered the Black Wind Bandits to kill the Mountain Folk, and Fang Yue secretly approached the fighting to locate the Seventh Elder.
• Fang Yue shot the Seventh Elder in the shoulder as he fought a black-clad martial artist, allowing him to escape while Han Sanshan hesitated to pursue.
• Fang Yue caught up with the wounded Seventh Elder and killed him with an arrow after luring him out of a ditch by swearing an oath.
• Fang Yue searched the Seventh Elder’s body and found only a piece of gold and a hide-like item.

Fang Yue’s caravan survived an ambush by the Black Wind Bandits after the bandits and most of the travelers were drugged at a roadside tea stall. As Fang Yue returned toward Xiahe County, he learned someone in Shanyang Prefecture had hired the bandits, while Wei He plotted to bring him into the Wei Family through a marriage alliance.

• Han Sanshan abandoned the Black Wind Bandits’ first ambush after his men suffered heavy losses, and Fang Yue examined a beast-hide map showing routes deeper into Mo Mountain.
• Widow Yu learned that Yuezhongshan Tea House belonged to the eldest young master of the White Family and that its tea came from Xiahe County.
• Liu Chuanzhi paid the Black Wind Bandits’ second-in-command to attack Fang Yue’s caravan again, and Fang Yue recognized the disguised bandits at a roadside tea stall.
• The Black Wind Bandits and most of the caravan collapsed after consuming the tea stall’s paired tea and pastries, which the owners had made poisonous together; Fang Yue and two others remained standing.
• Fang Yue defeated the tea stall owners, treated the surviving caravan members, and killed the Black Wind Bandits after learning someone from Shanyang Prefecture had hired them.
• Wang Quan visited the Fang Family residence on Wei He’s orders to propose a marriage between Fang Yue and the Wei Family’s daughter, intending to use the alliance to seize the Tea Garden or eliminate Fang Yue.

Fang Yue refused the Wei Family’s marriage proposal while discovering that the Wooden Staff could protect against poison. He focused on cultivation and planned to pursue Official Status, while Wei He took the refusal as an insult and intended to settle the score later.

• Chen Shi tried to persuade Fang Yue to meet the Wei Family’s young lady, but Fang Yue refused, and she politely declined the proposal through Steward Wang.
• Wei He told his lover he would soon take up the post of Garrison Patrol Commander of Xiahe County, then learned the Fang Family had rejected the match and grew angry.
• Fang Yue tested the Wooden Staff and realized it could protect against the Secret Medicine’s poison, then spotted a likely poisonous-miasma region on the Beast Skin Map.
• Fang Yue decided not to risk entering the mountains, shaved chips from the Wooden Staff for his family, and resolved to seek Qi Practitioner methods and pursue Official Status.
• Fang Yue continued cultivating and practicing Marrow Refining as several peaceful months passed.

Fang Yue gained the Blood and Qi Derivation talent and sought a basic Qi Practitioner cultivation art to improve his slow qi cultivation. At the Ghost Market, he bought a health-preserving manual that might serve as a foundation, while its sellers planned to kidnap children for their superiors.

• Fang Yue condensed the Blood and Qi Derivation talent, which greatly increased his blood-and-qi growth but did little to help his Wutu True Art cultivation.
• Fang Yue asked Zhang Boyang about foundational Qi Practitioner arts, and Zhang Boyang warned him that pursuing qi cultivation could permanently halt his martial progress.
• Fang Yue went to the Ghost Market and bought the Fu Qi Yang Sheng Gong from Yang Yan after finding no other suitable manual.
• Yang Yan rejected his accomplice's suggestion to kill Fang Yue and instead planned to contact the Xiucai about obtaining virgin boys and girls.
• Fang Yue returned to a town near Xiahe County Town and regretted that nobody had followed him from the Ghost Market.

Fang Yue visited Niangniang Temple with Chen Shi, where he learned the temple fair concealed a child-abduction operation and saw Zhang Shu taken into the restricted rear courtyard. He disguised himself as a Yellow-Robed Person and began searching for her, learning she had been taken to the Leopard House.

• Fang Yue rode a donkey cart into Xiahe County Town and heard that children had gone missing from several neighborhoods.
• After half a month studying the Fu Qi Yang Sheng Gong, Fang Yue accompanied Chen Shi to Niangniang Temple, where she bought him a marriage talisman.
• Fang Yue refused to donate at the temple fair and embarrassed a temple priest with his argument about buying and reselling axes.
• Yang Yan and a black-robed man discussed hiding abducted children at Niangniang Temple and warned their people not to disrupt the organization's plans.
• Fang Yue encountered Zhang Shu, who flaunted her marriage and offered to help him find an official post.
• Fang Yue saw a temple priest lead the dazed Zhang Shu through the Moon Gate, disguised himself as a Yellow-Robed Person, and learned she had been taken to the Leopard House.

Fang Yue rescued Zhang Shu from a Yellow-Robed Temple Priest and moved to his tea garden, where he focused on cultivation as his business faced pressure after Fatty Bai left. With the Prefectural Examination approaching, he sought guarantors but learned the White Tiger Martial Arts School had deliberately refused to help him.

• Fang Yue knocked out the Yellow-Robed Temple Priest who had drugged Zhang Shu, then left her safely in an abandoned village outside Niangniang Temple.
• Fang Yue moved to his tea garden to avoid Chen Shi's matchmaking, and Fatty Bai later informed him that he was leaving for Jade Capital and entrusting the business to Steward Zheng.
• Fang Yue's tea business faced a price-cutting demand and new city-entry taxes in Shanyang Prefecture, prompting him to pursue the Prefectural Examination to protect his standing and fortune.
• Fang Yue found the examination notice in Xiahe County Town, learned the exam would be held on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month, and obtained Zhang Boyang's guarantee despite Zhang Shu's taunts.
• Chen Tong turned down Fang Yue's request for a guarantee, claiming he had already vouched for Wei He, while Master Zheng and Chen Tong discussed their decision to stop helping Fang Yue.