Chapter Summaries

After failing the provincial examination, Huang Xiao was robbed by his servant and captured by men from a mountain stronghold. Liu Qiang asked him to explain a book, and Liu Qin asked him to teach her to read, leaving Huang Xiao planning to leave after helping Liu Qiang.

• Huang San stole Huang Xiao’s silver and Jade Thumb Ring, leaving him with his books and bundles on a mountain trail.
• Huang Xiao, penniless and despairing after failing the examination, encountered mountain bandits and challenged them to kill him.
• The third chief learned Huang Xiao was a qualified scholar and brought him to meet Liu Qiang at the stronghold.
• Liu Qiang returned Huang Xiao’s belongings and asked him to stay a few days to explain a book, and Huang Xiao agreed.
• Liu Qin visited Huang Xiao and asked him to teach her to read, while he privately intended to leave after helping Liu Qiang.

Huang Xiao read Liu Qiang’s Coiling Snake Hand manual and tried to work out how to practice its seizing techniques. He could not explain the method yet, but promised to study it with Liu Qiang and left them puzzling over its difficult terms.

• Liu Qiang gave Huang Xiao the Coiling Snake Hand manual and revealed that it was a martial arts text he wanted help understanding.
• Huang Xiao read the eleven-page manual for four hours and identified Coiling Snake Hand as a seizing art.
• Liu Qiang eagerly asked how to practice the art, but Huang Xiao said he needed more time to understand the instructions.
• Huang Xiao promised to work out the method within ten days to half a month, or possibly three to five days, and Liu Qiang helped explain the terms he knew.
• Huang Xiao and Liu Qiang discussed the manual until Liu Qin called them to eat, while Huang Xiao considered the dangers of mistakes in martial arts practice.

Huang Xiao resolved to pursue martial arts after studying Coiling Snake Hand and becoming curious about internal power. He began practicing its moves, and Liu Qiang explained how a written martial method could amplify strength even without internal power.

• After four hours of meditation, Huang Xiao reflected on martial arts, his family's dwindling resources, and his desire to learn internal power, then decided to master Coiling Snake Hand.
• The next morning, Huang Xiao practiced Coiling Snake Hand in the courtyard, and Liu Qin teased him before asking to learn to read.
• Liu Qiang sent Liu Qin away and asked Huang Xiao about the method's moves, then invited him to demonstrate them in a sparring test.
• Huang Xiao tried the moves on Liu Qiang, who praised the secret manual and explained that Huang Xiao lacked the strength to make its techniques effective yet.
• Liu Qiang compared the limits of external arts with the power of internal arts, leaving Huang Xiao amazed at the potential of martial methods.

Huang Xiao agreed to stay in Liu Qiang’s stronghold, where he taught the children and trained in Coiling Snake Hand. After seeing for himself how the villagers conducted their raids, he learned that their next target was the Wang Family, a powerful clan backed by the Fierce Tiger Sect.

• Liu Qiang asked Huang Xiao to stay in the stronghold and teach its children, and Huang Xiao accepted.
• Huang Xiao taught the children to read while building his strength and improving his Coiling Snake Hand.
• Huang Xiao shared the Coiling Snake Hand moves with villagers and joined Liu Qiang’s group on several outings to confirm they avoided harming ordinary people.
• Liu Qiang told Huang Xiao that he planned to scout the Wang Family the next day in preparation for a later raid.
• Huang Xiao understood that the Wang Family’s rising rents and abuses had driven the villagers from their homes, and that the clan had the Fierce Tiger Sect’s backing.

Liu Qiang and Huang Xiao went to Yama Ridge to scout an ambush site for robbing the Wang Family’s tribute to the Fierce Tiger Sect. They were confronted by Liu Gui and an unfamiliar man who revealed that Yama Ridge could become Liu Qiang’s burial place.

• Liu Qiang told Huang Xiao he planned to ambush the Wang Family’s valuable tribute at Yama Ridge with all fifty men from the stronghold.
• Huang Xiao warned that the Wang Family’s trained guards and possible Fierce Tiger Sect members made the robbery too dangerous, but agreed to scout with Liu Qiang.
• Liu Qiang and Huang Xiao traveled to Yama Ridge, where Liu Qiang explained that the Wang Family would likely take the dangerous route to save time.
• Liu Qiang and Huang Xiao encountered Liu Gui and an unfamiliar man, who mocked Liu Qiang and threatened to bury him at Yama Ridge.

Liu Qiang and Huang Xiao confronted Liu Gui and Zhang Ma after learning Liu Gui had betrayed their stronghold to the Wang family. As Zhang Ma faced Liu Qiang, Liu Gui attacked Huang Xiao, who used Coiling Snake Hand to seize and lock both of his arms.

• Liu Gui admitted that he had betrayed the stronghold for five hundred taels of silver, and Zhang Ma revealed that the stronghold had already been destroyed.
• Liu Qiang learned that his family and the villagers were likely dead, then warned Huang Xiao to escape while he faced Zhang Ma.
• Zhang Ma refused to let either man flee and agreed to trade blows with Liu Qiang, while Liu Gui took Huang Xiao as his opponent.
• Liu Gui kicked Huang Xiao, who blocked part of the blow and moved aside before steadying himself for another attack.
• Liu Gui punched at Huang Xiao's face, but Huang Xiao caught both of his forearms with Coiling Snake Hand and held them fast.

Huang Xiao used his newly developed Snake-Traveling Tiny Steps and Coiling Snake Hand techniques to defeat Liu Gui, while Liu Qiang remained badly wounded in his fight with Zhang Ma. Huang Xiao hurried to help Liu Qiang after sending Liu Gui plunging from the cliff path.

• Liu Gui failed to break Huang Xiao's grip and attacked him, but Huang Xiao evaded the kick and revealed that his strength had greatly improved.
• Zhang Ma battered Liu Qiang with internal power, and Liu Qiang's counterattacks failed to stop him from being badly injured.
• Huang Xiao realized Liu Qiang was in danger and focused on defeating Liu Gui quickly so he could join the fight.
• Huang Xiao used Snake-Traveling Tiny Steps to close in on Liu Gui, then twisted and broke both of Liu Gui's arms with a grappling technique.
• Huang Xiao tripped Liu Gui and kicked him off the narrow path into the abyss, then rushed toward Liu Qiang.

Huang Xiao and Liu Qiang fought Zhang Ma until a landslide struck Yama Ridge. Huang Xiao shoved Zhang Ma off the narrow path, and both vanished over the cliff as Liu Qiang was trapped by falling rocks.

• Zhang Ma offered to spare Huang Xiao in exchange for the Coiling Snake Hand manual, but admitted he planned to kill both Huang Xiao and Liu Qiang regardless.
• Liu Qiang restrained Zhang Ma and urged Huang Xiao to escape, but Huang Xiao kept fighting with Coiling Snake Hand.
• A landslide began, and Liu Qiang warned Huang Xiao to press against the rock wall for shelter.
• Huang Xiao charged Zhang Ma and grappled with him amid the falling rocks.
• Huang Xiao pushed Zhang Ma backward off the narrow path, and both fell over the cliff while Liu Qiang could not reach them.

Huang Xiao survived his fall into a ravine, encountered a Golden-Winged Roc, and found a strange dagger called Godslayer. After the roc ate his rabbit, Huang Xiao planned to rest and search for a way out in the morning.

• Huang Xiao awoke in a pool and discovered that Zhang Ma had died after cushioning his fall.
• Huang Xiao saw a Golden-Winged Roc, which flew to a cave high on the cliff and spared him.
• Huang Xiao spotted two fragrant fruits growing near the roc’s cave but decided not to risk climbing for them.
• A wild rabbit fell near Huang Xiao, and he found a sharp golden dagger named Godslayer while preparing to cook it.
• The Golden-Winged Roc appeared at Huang Xiao’s campfire, ate the remaining rabbit, gave a soft cry, and returned to its cave.

Huang Xiao watched the Golden-Winged Roc draw in mountain mist as it breathed, then searched the cliff bottom for a way out and found none. The roc began bringing him animals to roast, sharing portions with him and keeping him from starving as they grew closer.

• Huang Xiao watched the Golden-Winged Roc practice breathing, pulling in streams of mist and creating a powerful whirlwind.
• Huang Xiao explored the cliff bottom and tried climbing its sheer wall, but gave up when he grew exhausted and could not see the top.
• Huang Xiao buried Zhang Ma, then returned to the pool worried that he would starve if he could not find food or an exit.
• The Golden-Winged Roc brought Huang Xiao a wild boar and gestured for him to roast it, then gave him one of its legs before flying back to its cave.
• Over the next few days, the Golden-Winged Roc brought Huang Xiao animals to roast, and the two grew close as he shared the meat.

After more than two months trapped at the bottom of the cliff, Huang Xiao watched the Golden-Winged Roc guard two strange fruits as they neared ripeness. A giant poisonous python arrived to claim the fruits, and the two beasts fought, with the python trapping the roc in its coils.

• Huang Xiao accepted that he could not escape the cliff and improved his Coiling Snake Hand through practice.
• Huang Xiao noticed that the two strange fruits had turned red and watched the Golden-Winged Roc guard them.
• A giant black-and-white python arrived, and Huang Xiao realized it had come for the fruits and that the roc’s past actions may have kept him safe.
• The Golden-Winged Roc attacked the python, but the python struck it into a cliff with its tail.
• The python coiled around the roc and dragged it to the cliff bottom, where the two beasts rolled through the rubble as Huang Xiao watched from a distance.

Huang Xiao joined the Golden-Winged Roc against the giant python, stabbing its vulnerable spot before biting its soft crest and swallowing its blood. After the python threw him across the rubble, it lunged at him, while Huang Xiao lay exhausted and in agony.

• Huang Xiao climbed onto the giant python and reached the vulnerable spot behind its head, hoping to help the Golden-Winged Roc survive.
• Huang Xiao drove Godslayer into the python's vulnerable spot, weakening its coils enough for the Golden-Winged Roc to tear into its flesh.
• The giant python tried to crush Huang Xiao against a rock wall, but he jumped onto its head and clung to its soft crest.
• After nearly two hours of thrashing, Huang Xiao bit through the crest and swallowed a scalding stream that caused intense pain throughout his body.
• The giant python flung Huang Xiao across the rubble and lunged at him, while he could no longer muster any strength.

The Golden-Winged Roc killed the giant python and fed Huang Xiao a strange red fruit to counter the snake’s blood, then carried him to an old Taoist for help. The Taoist brought Huang Xiao to Green Ox Temple, where his young disciple greeted him.

• The Golden-Winged Roc killed the giant python, swallowed its gallbladder, and found Huang Xiao near death from the snake’s blood.
• The roc fed Huang Xiao one strange red fruit, then ate the other and carried him away with the dagger from the python’s body.
• The roc brought Huang Xiao to an old Taoist and bowed, asking him to save the injured man.
• The old Taoist examined Huang Xiao, found strange clashing energies within him, and carried him up the mountain.
• The old Taoist reached Green Ox Temple with Huang Xiao, where a Taoist disciple greeted him.

The old Taoist and his disciples treated Huang Xiao, whose injuries and unusual meridians came from two strange currents of energy. After the old Taoist gave him a five-hundred-year-old reishi, Huang Xiao was out of immediate danger and the energies inside him merged, leaving him likely to wake soon.

• Qingfeng carried the badly injured Huang Xiao into the Taoist temple, where the old Taoist examined him and found two strange currents of energy inside him.
• The old Taoist and Qinghe tried to harmonize the currents with their true qi, but Huang Xiao's body absorbed some of their energy, so they stopped.
• The old Taoist judged that Huang Xiao's unusually broad meridians likely came from an extraordinary fruit, but that he could not survive without further treatment.
• Qingyun ground up the temple's five-hundred-year-old reishi and gave it to Huang Xiao; the old Taoist said it kept him alive and allowed the two currents to merge.
• Qinghe suggested inviting Huang Xiao to join the temple, but the old Taoist said they could not force him and then discussed Qingyun's Origin-Nourishing Pills and plans to refine Origin-Enhancing Pills.

After Huang Xiao woke at Green Ox Temple, Xuanzhenzi explained that the giant python’s blood was precious essence blood rather than poison, and that the Blazing Sun Fruit had helped him survive. Huang Xiao learned how extraordinary the beasts and fruit were, while Xuanzhenzi began telling him about the fruit’s nature.

• Huang Xiao woke at Green Ox Temple and learned that Xuanzhenzi had treated his serious injuries.
• Huang Xiao told Xuanzhenzi how he had met the Golden-Winged Roc and the giant python, but concealed the strange fruits at first.
• Xuanzhenzi identified the nearly hundred-foot python as a Black-and-White Refining Snake close to transforming into a Jiaolong, and explained that its crest contained essence blood.
• Huang Xiao recalled swallowing a fiery-red fruit while unconscious and revealed that the Roc and the snake had fought over it.
• Xuanzhenzi identified the fruit as a Blazing Sun Fruit that took a thousand years to mature and said it had enabled Huang Xiao to survive the essence blood.

Huang Xiao learned how the Blazing Sun Fruit and the Black-and-White Refining Snake's blood essence had saved him, then recovered at Green Ox Temple. After Xuanzhenzi offered to train him without requiring him to enter the clergy, Huang Xiao became his disciple.

• Xuanzhenzi explained that the Blazing Sun Fruit had turned to extreme yin, preventing the snake's blood essence and the fruit from killing Huang Xiao with conflicting energies.
• Xuanzhenzi returned Godslayer to Huang Xiao and left him to rest at Green Ox Temple.
• During three days of recovery, Huang Xiao met Xuanzhenzi's disciples Qingfeng, Qingyun, and Qinghe, and learned Xuanzhenzi had saved him with a five-hundred-year-old lingzhi.
• Xuanzhenzi told Huang Xiao that the changes to his meridians had given him exceptional aptitude for martial arts and invited him to stay at Green Ox Temple.
• Xuanzhenzi clarified that Huang Xiao could become his disciple without entering the clergy, and Huang Xiao knelt and accepted him as Master.

Huang Xiao became Xuanzhenzi’s disciple at Green Ox Temple and was named Qingxiao, where he began studying scriptures, martial arts, and medicine while waiting to cultivate internal arts. After visiting the ruined village, he resolved to seek justice for its victims when he became strong enough.

• Xuanzhenzi welcomed Huang Xiao as his disciple and gave him the Daoist name Qingxiao, then explained the history of the Green Ox Gate.
• Huang Xiao demonstrated Coiling Snake Hand, and Xuanzhenzi advised him to cultivate his state of mind before learning an Internal Cultivation Method.
• Xuanzhenzi assigned Qingfeng to guide Qingxiao, who agreed to sort scriptures and attend morning devotions.
• After more than two months at the temple, Huang Xiao visited Liu Qiang’s village and found it burned to ruins, with hundreds of burial mounds nearby.
• Huang Xiao returned to temple life, studying scriptures with Qingfeng, learning medicinal herbs from Qingyun, and practicing martial arts with Qinghe while Xuanzhenzi prepared Origin-Enhancing Pills for Bai Tianqi’s birthday.

Huang Xiao studied the scriptures and learned about martial-world ranks, Bai Tianqi’s reputation, and the Green Ox Temple’s reliance on pill-making. As a storm swept over the temple, a noise from the scripture room’s second floor stopped Huang Xiao from leaving.

• Huang Xiao learned from Qinghe how martial artists and cultivation methods were ranked, and that peerless experts stood above first-rate experts.
• Huang Xiao learned that the Green Ox Temple paid the Huaqing Sect ten Origin-Nourishing Pills each year and earned silver by making pills.
• Huang Xiao studied the temple’s books and discovered that its founding patriarch had found them in a cave, where he had supposedly comprehended the Everlasting Spring Art.
• Huang Xiao shut the scripture room’s windows during a thunderstorm and heard a noise from the second floor as he was about to leave.

While dismantling the scripture room’s ruined bookshelves, Huang Xiao found an old, incomplete copy of the Scripture of Southern Florescence and read its claims about the Daoist Canon. He discovered it contained the same writings as Zhuangzi, leaving him convinced it was an ordinary collection of familiar texts.

• Huang Xiao went upstairs after a noise and found that an old bookshelf had collapsed, not that the roof was leaking.
• Huang Xiao dismantled the other worm-eaten bookshelves and found a thin book wedged among them.
• Huang Xiao read the Scripture of Southern Florescence’s introduction, which described it as an outline of the Daoist Canon and listed the Three Classics and Four Supplements.
• Huang Xiao recognized the book’s thirty-three listed pieces as writings from Zhuangzi.
• Huang Xiao read the opening of “Free and Easy Wandering” and found it identical to the version he already knew.

Huang Xiao found nothing unusual in the Scripture of Southern Florescence, which crumbled when he tried to shelve it. The next day, Xuanzhenzi discussed the Origin-Enhancing Pills and began teaching Huang Xiao the Green Ox Gate’s Everlasting Spring Art.

• Huang Xiao decided the Scripture of Southern Florescence held no special secrets, then accidentally shattered it while putting it back on the shelf.
• Xuanzhenzi told Huang Xiao and the others that he had refined five Origin-Enhancing Pills and warned them to be cautious in the martial world.
• Qinghe asked for an Origin-Enhancing Pill, and Xuanzhenzi explained that taking one could help him reach the second-class realm but make a later breakthrough to the first-class realm very difficult.
• Qinghe said he wanted to grow stronger so other sects would stop looking down on the Green Ox Gate, while Xuanzhenzi dismissed the importance of fame and respect.
• Xuanzhenzi revealed that he was among the best second-class experts and began teaching Huang Xiao the Everlasting Spring Art, a second-class cultivation art that could potentially lead to the first-class realm.