Chapter Summaries

Chu Xisheng sought admission to Zhengyang Martial Academy without taking the examination, and Ye Zhiqiu secured the Academy Master’s approval for him. His system suddenly activated after he was publicly praised as a lower ninth-rank talent, but Shao Lingshan arrived and challenged his exemption.

• Chu Xisheng returned to Xiushui City with his escort convoy and hurried to Zhengyang Martial Academy for the inner disciple examination.
• Ye Zhiqiu accepted Chu Xisheng’s money and agreed to recommend him for admission without examination, covering the remaining cost herself.
• Ye Zhiqiu praised Chu Xisheng’s saber talent to Academy Master Lei Yuan, who approved the exemption and warned her not to disappoint him.
• Chu Xisheng’s system changed his reputation to “Lower ninth rank (false),” awarded him five martial arts points, and unlocked the Martial Dao Treasury.
• Shao Lingshan arrived with another youth, accused Ye Zhiqiu of abusing her recommendation quota, and called Chu Xisheng unfit for exemption.

Chu Xisheng accepted Long Sheng’s challenge to protect his chance at an inner disciple place, then used the Martial Dao Treasury to acquire a talent that doubled his hand speed. He defeated Long Sheng with one lightning-fast saber strike, and his status changed to confirmed ninth-rank lower as his Martial Dao Points increased.

• Shao Lingshan challenged Ye Zhiqiu’s candidate Chu Xisheng to face Long Sheng, offering an Essence-Gathering Formation if Chu Xisheng lasted three exchanges.
• Chu Xisheng accepted the challenge and redeemed the Wind-Chasing, Lightning-Pursuing Hands talent from the Martial Dao Treasury.
• Ye Zhiqiu warned Chu Xisheng to concede if he was in danger, but he stepped onto the platform to face Long Sheng.
• When the referee’s coin hit the ground, Chu Xisheng drew his saber faster than the crowd could see and cut Long Sheng’s wrist, disarming him.
• Academy Master Lei Yuan stopped Shao Lingshan from blaming Chu Xisheng, while spectators praised Chu Xisheng’s speed.
• Chu Xisheng saw his status change to ninth-rank lower (substantiated) and his Martial Dao Points rise from one to seven.

Chu Xisheng impressed Academy Master Lei Yuan with his swift blade, earning rewards and a private place to live at the academy. He returned to his rented loft to prepare for Chu Yunyun’s arrival, and she appeared at the door as he cooked.

• Chu Xisheng apologized for injuring Long Sheng, but Lei Yuan praised his blade talent and compared him favorably to Li Fenglai.
• Lei Yuan awarded Chu Xisheng five Origin-Nourishing Pills, a Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber, extra food funds, and an Essence-Gathering Formation for the East Court.
• Ye Zhiqiu concluded that Chu Xisheng had awakened a bloodline talent and gave him a key to two empty rooms in the Storage Yard.
• Chu Xisheng bought Yanghe Powder and a perch, then returned to the rented loft to cook while expecting Chu Yunyun.
• Chu Yunyun arrived at the loft door as Chu Xisheng prepared the meal.

After earning an inner disciple place at the Zhengyang Martial Academy and awakening a talent suited to the Wind-Chasing Blade, Chu Xisheng learned from Chu Yunyun that he must memorize the Yazi Diagram in the Sutra Repository. The siblings planned to move into the academy’s East Court, where Chu Yunyun could help him practice.

• Chu Yunyun returned home, and Chu Xisheng showed her his inner disciple token, which bore a silver leaf marking his status.
• Over dinner, Chu Xisheng recounted his battle and newly awakened bloodline talent, and Chu Yunyun tested his saber speed by stopping his blade between two fingers.
• Chu Yunyun told Chu Xisheng to memorize the Origin-Nourishing Art materials and the Yazi Diagram on the Sutra Repository’s sixth floor, calling it vital to their survival.
• Chu Yunyun broke a pottery bowl while trying to help with the dishes, and Chu Xisheng told her not to attempt housework or laundry.
• Chu Xisheng said they would move into the academy’s East Court rooms provided by Ye Zhiqiu, where he could practice and Chu Yunyun could correct his saber stance.

Chu Xisheng redeemed Eagle Eye and studied the system’s reputation-based rewards and treasury. Meanwhile, Chu Yunyun read about Qin Muge’s death, then secretly investigated two sentient forces beneath the academy’s iron pillars before escaping when Lei Yuan arrived.

• Chu Xisheng moved into the academy courtyard with Chu Yunyun and noted that their monthly tuition would strain their finances.
• Chu Xisheng redeemed Eagle Eye, gaining extraordinary vision, and considered how reputation might earn him martial dao points.
• Chu Xisheng examined the Martial Dao Treasury, especially its Virtual Training option and monthly refresh rules.
• Chu Yunyun read a court gazette reporting Qin Muge’s death and the appointments of Qin Sheng and Qin Xiyan, then crushed the booklet and looked into Chu Xisheng’s room.
• Chu Yunyun slipped past the academy’s night patrols and used her blood to sense two sentient baleful forces beneath a pair of iron pillars.
• Lei Yuan sensed someone and rushed to the courtyard, but Chu Yunyun wiped away her blood and vanished before he arrived.

Chu Xisheng endured morning cultivation and learned why Chu Yunyun had urged him to buy food before entering the Sutra Repository. The chapter left him preparing to study there, with his provisions safely hidden from the academy’s costly food sellers.

• Chu Xisheng woke from a recurring nightmare of being buried alive beside Chu Yunyun and asked her why she knew Zhengyang Martial Academy so well.
• Chu Yunyun explained that she had joined the Formless Divine Sect under an assumed name before entering the army, then accompanied Chu Xisheng to morning practice.
• Chu Xisheng endured painful Origin-Nourishing Art cultivation and saber practice, while considering how to make the most of his scarce Martial Dao Points.
• Chu Yunyun pulled Chu Xisheng through the crowd to breakfast, where he paid one tael of Demon Silver for two days’ worth of food and water.
• Ye Zhiqiu brought the new disciples to the Sutra Repository, explained its rules and entry fees, and announced that the academy would charge them for food and water inside.
• Chu Xisheng realized the dining hall granny had helped him avoid the academy’s inflated prices by supplying provisions for his visit.

Chu Yunyun spotted a disguised expert near the Sutra Repository and recognized a wanted bandit’s notice, while Chu Xisheng entered the repository and memorized the Origin-Nourishing Art’s visualization diagram. After hostile youths followed Chu Xisheng through the crowded halls, he realized he had to deal with them before reaching the Yazi Diagram.

• Chu Yunyun headed to the Daoist temple to condense her Spirit Seed and spotted a nearly fourth-rank young man disguised as an inner-sect disciple.
• Chu Yunyun found a wanted notice for Li Daogui, the Bloodwind Sword, and realized an unforeseen complication threatened Chu Xisheng’s plans.
• Ye Zhiqiu told the disciples that Qin Muge had once studied at Zhengyang Martial Academy and left behind annotations and True Intention Diagrams.
• Chu Xisheng entered the Sutra Repository, noticed hostile youths keeping their distance from him, and memorized the Origin-Nourishing Art’s visualization diagram.
• Chu Xisheng studied the second-level secret medicine formulas and decided to deal with the youths following him before he could reach the Yazi Diagram.

Chu Xisheng fled nine Haiqing Gang youths who had cornered him in the library, only for an unknown man to break all their limbs. When martial instructors arrived and found Chu Xisheng beside the unconscious attackers, they looked at him with shock and alarm.

• Chu Xisheng found the martial instructors unwilling to help and escaped the nine Haiqing Gang youths by running upstairs.
• Chu Xisheng chose a narrow corridor where he planned to face the attackers one at a time.
• Bloodwind Sword Li Daogui appeared on the third floor and broke the limbs of the youths who confronted him.
• Chu Xisheng found all nine youths unconscious and badly injured, though still breathing.
• Several martial instructors arrived with others and stared at Chu Xisheng beside the injured youths.

Chu Xisheng was blamed for the injured students at the library tower, while Li Daogui battled the white-robed elder on the tower’s twelfth floor in search of Qin Muge’s God-Defying Banner. The tower shook as their fight continued, and the elder realized how powerful Li Daogui’s sea of blood had become.

• Chu Xisheng found that his martial points had risen from 5 to 11 as the crowd blamed him for injuring nine people.
• Chu Xisheng denied hurting the students and urged the instructors to investigate, while the martial instructor struggled to decide what to do.
• Li Daogui reached the twelfth floor, where his Sword Qi destroyed the bookshelves and clashed with the white-robed elder’s astral essence.
• Li Daogui demanded Qin Muge’s notes and True Intention diagrams, then revealed that he was really searching for the God-Defying Banner.
• Li Daogui attacked the elder with blood-red Sword Qi, broke through his Yang-Extreme Reverse-Yin Palm, and praised the martial art Qin Muge had created.

Ye Zhiqiu and the academy leaders confronted the Bloodwind Bandits, who had trapped the library with thousands of Explosive Flame Talismans while searching for clues to Qin Muge’s God-Defying Banner. After the bandits killed four Embroidered Uniform Guards, Shao Lingshan proposed that Chu Xisheng could help eliminate their spellcaster, leaving his fate under consideration.

• Ye Zhiqiu reached the library and found a blood-robed youth threatening to destroy its True Intention diagrams and everyone inside with planted Explosive Flame Talismans.
• Academy Master Lei Yuan and Commander Cao Xuan identified the intruders as Li Daogui’s Bloodwind Bandits, who were likely searching for clues to Qin Muge’s God-Defying Banner.
• Four black-clad Embroidered Uniform Guards tried to enter through seventh-floor windows, but Locust Crossbows killed them and the bandits burned four valuable True Intention diagrams.
• Cao Xuan proposed finding someone inside the library to attack the bandits’ spellcaster, while Lei Yuan worried that the instructors and capable disciples inside might already be dead.
• Shao Lingshan recommended Chu Xisheng for the task, prompting Ye Zhiqiu to protest that his cultivation was too low; Cao Xuan nevertheless considered using him.

Chu Xisheng hid from the Bloodwind Bandit Group in the Library Tower and learned that they were searching for Qin Muge’s annotations while an Embroidery Guard officer urged him to help defeat them. As the Lily Maiden exposed the bandits’ hidden spellcaster and wrote on the officer’s letter, Chu Xisheng’s next move remained uncertain.

• Chu Xisheng’s reputation and Martial Dao Points increased as masked attackers stormed the Library Tower, forcing him to flee to the fourth floor.
• Chu Xisheng hid on a roof beam and met the Lily Maiden, who erased his footprints with a spell.
• The Bloodwind Bandit Group herded the disciples into rooms and threatened them into searching for Qin Muge’s annotations, while Chu Xisheng realized the raid was tied to his sister.
• The Lily Maiden identified herself as Lu and explained that the bandits were seeking the God-Defying Banner, which she believed was not in the tower.
• A talisman letter from Cao Xuan asked Chu Xisheng to help the Embroidery Guard kill the bandits’ spellcaster and hinted at trouble with his household registration and travel permits.
• The Lily Maiden pointed out that the apparent spellcaster was actually a Seventh-Rank Martial Cultivator, said the real spellcaster was among the disciples, then seized Chu Xisheng’s hand and wrote on the letter.

Chu Xisheng and the Lily Maiden used a diversion to kill the sorcerer in the Sutra Repository without setting off the explosive talismans. Chu survived a crossbow volley with Ye Zhiqiu’s help as the Brocade-Clad Guards flooded inside, and a huge firework appeared before his eyes.

• Cao Xuan received Chu Xisheng’s conditions and approved his requests for a saber, a Blood-Melting Pill, and a coordinated assault on the repository.
• The Lily Maiden took the Black Cloud Flying Goose Saber, while Chu swallowed the Blood-Melting Pill as Academy Master Lei Yuan and two Brocade-Clad Guard experts stormed through a window.
• Chu spotted the real sorcerer retreating, and the Lily Maiden killed him before he could cast a spell.
• A one-eyed young man pursued the Lily Maiden, while Chu picked up the saber and fled when two crossbowmen mistook him for the killer.
• The crossbowmen fired at Chu, but he deflected many bolts before Ye Zhiqiu swept the rest away and saved him.
• The Brocade-Clad Guards entered the repository after learning the sorcerer was dead and the explosive talismans had not detonated, while a huge firework appeared in Chu’s vision.

Chu Xisheng survived the Library Tower battle and gained Martial Dao Points as others credited him with killing the Spellcaster, though he tried to share the credit with a female disciple surnamed Lu. The Bloodwind Bandits escaped and threatened his life, while Chu Xisheng ended the night with a modest reward and 27 Martial Dao Points.

• Chu Xisheng noticed that his reputation had risen to Ninth-Rank Lower (surpassing) and his Martial Dao Points had increased to 25, likely because he had taken on blame for the battle.
• Qiu Feng praised Chu Xisheng for killing the eighth-rank Spellcaster, and Chu Xisheng claimed he had worked with a female disciple surnamed Lu to do it.
• A Bloodwind Regiment fighter escaped the Library Tower and threatened Chu Xisheng, while Chu Yunyun briefly appeared to make sure he was unharmed.
• The Bloodwind Bandits set fires and fought their way across Xiushui Commandery, but seven of them escaped the pursuit.
• Cao Xuan gave Chu Xisheng Origin-Nourishing Pills and fifty taels of demon silver, while Ye Zhiqiu scolded him for risking his life.
• Chu Xisheng saw that the Bloodwind Bandits' threats had raised his Martial Dao Points to 27 and considered the pills and points worthwhile gains.

After the Bloodwind Bandits suffered heavy losses, Li Daogui learned that a young spellcaster—not Chu Xisheng—had killed their Spellcaster and postponed placing a bounty because the bandits were nearly out of money. Chu Xisheng pondered his dwindling Martial Dao Points, then returned to the Storage Yard and found Cao Xuan waiting to speak with him.

• Li Daogui learned that only six other bandits had escaped, and the one-eyed young man reported that a girl under fifteen had killed the Spellcaster.
• Li Daogui ordered an investigation into the girl and considered placing a bounty on Chu Xisheng, but Bloodclothes revealed they lacked the required funds.
• Chu Xisheng noticed his Martial Dao Points had fallen from 27 to 26, rejected spending fifteen points to advance his Origin-Nourishing Art, and decided to wait for the treasury's monthly refresh.
• Chu Xisheng returned to the Storage Yard and found Cao Xuan waiting alone in the courtyard.
• Cao Xuan asked Chu Xisheng to invite him inside for a private conversation.

Cao Xuan offered Chu Xisheng active Embroidery Guard appointments and rewards in exchange for investigating clues about Qin Muge and the God-Defying Banner. Chu Xisheng asked for time to consider, and Cao Xuan left the offer open for five days.

• Cao Xuan presented Chu Xisheng with pills, silver, Gold-Silk Inner Armor, and Bannerman waist tokens for himself and Chu Yunyun.
• Chu Xisheng questioned why Cao Xuan had made the Bannerman appointments active when he had only requested hereditary titles.
• Cao Xuan asked Chu Xisheng to look for clues about Qin Muge and the God-Defying Banner at Zhengyang Martial Academy.
• Chu Xisheng declined to agree immediately, citing the danger and his loyalty to the academy, while Cao Xuan offered a Spirit Pact and help securing clean identities.
• Chu Xisheng asked for time to consider, and Cao Xuan gave him five days to respond by buying three dried-tangerine-peel buns from a shop northeast of the academy.

Chu Xisheng spent a Martial Dao Point to enter Virtual Practice and repeatedly trained Empty Cave Brings Wind with a summoned Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber. He woke in agony but discovered that the dream’s training had made his saber strike far faster, leaving him convinced he could advance through martial cultivation by practicing.

• After Cao Xuan left, Chu Xisheng fetched water, cleaned the rooms, and exchanged one Martial Dao Point for Virtual Practice.
• Chu Xisheng appeared in a vast marble plaza, found he could not leave the area around its central light, and summoned a Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber from the weapon racks.
• Chu Xisheng practiced Empty Cave Brings Wind repeatedly, continuing as his muscles grew tired and his stamina stopped declining near eighty percent.
• At dawn, Chu Xisheng woke with intense pain and soreness that he suspected came from the system transferring his dream training into his body.
• Chu Xisheng performed Empty Cave Brings Wind in the courtyard and split three falling leaves, realizing his saber had become faster and more practiced.

Chu Xisheng discovered that Lu Luanli had killed the Spellcaster, and she pressured him to keep her identity secret while she searched the academy for Qin Muge’s treasure. The Library Tower remained closed after the attack, but Ye Zhiqiu revealed that she temporarily controlled it, leaving Chu Xisheng with a possible way to pursue the Yazi Diagram.

• Chu Xisheng found Lu Luanli waiting outside the Storage Yard, and she insisted that he take credit for killing the Spellcaster and keep her out of the incident.
• Lu Luanli silenced Chu Xisheng with a spell when he tried to report her to Ye Zhiqiu, then agreed to pay him up to five hundred copper coins per day to keep her secret.
• At morning practice, Lu Luanli revealed her name and explained that she was a Leafless Disciple who had joined the inner sect three months earlier.
• Ye Zhiqiu told Chu Xisheng that the academy was handling the dead, damaged buildings, and lost books after the Library Tower attack, and she suspected Cao Xuan had deliberately let the Bloodwind Bandits attack.
• Ye Zhiqing explained that the Library Tower would remain closed while the academy replaced the burned True Intention diagrams, but said she was temporarily in charge of it.

Chu Xisheng studied the Yazi Diagram in the Library Tower and was drawn into a vision of a blue-robed swordsman defeating an army of giants. After two and a half days, he woke with a new Yazi Remnant Intent and an unexplained increase in lifespan, then hurried to find Chu Yunyun.

• Chu Xisheng entered the Library Tower and began studying the Yazi Diagram while Ye Zhiqiu warned him to avoid the texts above the sixth floor.
• Chu Xisheng was pulled into a vision of a blue-robed man whose saber beast defeated a giant and faced a vast army of giants.
• Chu Xisheng woke after sitting before the diagram for two and a half days, and Ye Zhiqiu told him to leave before Shao Lingshan took charge of the tower.
• Chu Xisheng saw that he had gained Yazi Remnant Intent and that his lifespan had risen from nineteen days to twenty-four.
• Chu Xisheng regained feeling in his legs, hurried to the Storage Yard, and found Chu Yunyun back from the northern Daoist Temple.

Chu Xisheng learned that the Yazi Diagram concealed saber intent and that mastering it could help him and Chu Yunyun escape the life debt and control tied to the Six Yin Soul-Returning Incantation. Chu Yunyun hinted that an opportunity at Zhengyang Martial Academy could help him advance, and Chu Xisheng placed two bronze waist tokens on the table.

• Chu Xisheng found Chu Yunyun cooking in the courtyard, discovered she had ruined some of his clothes, and took over making dinner.
• While they ate, Chu Xisheng asked about the Yazi Diagram, and Chu Yunyun explained that its hidden saber intent came from the Blood-Yazi Saber Lord and that eight diagrams recorded his life's work.
• Chu Yunyun explained that their borrowed lives were sustained by the Six Yin Soul-Returning Incantation and that cultivating Yazi saber intent could help them resist whoever had cast it.
• Chu Yunyun said that an upcoming opportunity at Zhengyang Martial Academy could help Chu Xisheng improve his talent and eventually master the Divine-Intent Death-Touching Saber.
• Chu Xisheng stopped Chu Yunyun from clearing the dishes and placed two bronze waist tokens on the table, making her expression turn grave.

Chu Xisheng joined the Embroidery Guard through a coded bun-shop message and set out for Firebone Cavern to gather herbs for his next breakthrough. Lu Luanli discovered his destination and insisted on accompanying him as danger from the Bloodwind Bandits loomed.

• Chu Xisheng practiced the Origin-Nourishing Art and decided that he and Chu Yunyun needed the Embroidery Guard's protection and pay.
• Chu Xisheng bought three dried tangerine peel buns at a Full Fragrance shop and learned the buns' coded messages for contacting the Embroidery Guard.
• Lu Luanli found Chu Xisheng, revealed that she knew he had sensed saber intent in the Yazi Diagram, and questioned whether he was leaving the city.
• Chu Xisheng told Lu Luanli he was going to Firebone Cavern to find Yangyang Grass for the secret medicine needed for the second level of the Origin-Nourishing Art.
• Lu Luanli bought meat buns and insisted on accompanying Chu Xisheng to practice her yang-fire spell and protect him from the Bloodwind Bandits.