Chapter Summaries

Chu Yunyun learned that the Long Household had forced the Sitong Escort Agency to dismiss her and Chu Xisheng, and she rushed to warn him at Firebone Cavern. Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli reached the town at Firebone Cavern, where they found dozens of corpses displayed on stakes.

• Deputy Escort Chief Lin paid Chu Yunyun and Chu Xisheng their withheld wages, dismissed them under pressure from the Long Household, and warned that Long Heng had killed more than sixty people at Firebone Cavern.
• Chu Yunyun realized Chu Xisheng was heading to Firebone Cavern and hurried east to find him.
• Chu Xisheng defended Lu Luanli from the leering passengers in a carriage by cutting a man's pipe with his saber and warning the others to behave.
• On the way to Firebone Cavern, Lu Luanli said she planned to practice the Fire-Spirit Shamanic God Incantation and explained the cavern's connection to a dead ancient giant god and Yangyang Grass.
• Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli reached the town and saw more than seventy corpses hanging from stakes along its entrance.

Chu Xisheng went to Li's Herbal Medicine Shop in Firebone Cavern to buy Yangyang Grass, but found the Long Household had monopolized it and was watching him. With Lu Luanli, he chose to enter the cavern rather than face the blocked exits, then fought through the Long Household's guards and escaped deeper inside.

• Chu Xisheng learned that the Long Household had killed dozens of people to control Firebone Cavern's medicinal herbs and raised Yangyang Grass's price to 220 taels.
• Chu Xisheng spotted a Long Household spy watching him, changed his appearance with Lu Luanli, and found both exits guarded by Long Household men.
• As the pair were followed toward the cavern, Chu Xisheng discovered that his Yazi saber intent could inflict a mental impact intensified by his enemies' malice.
• Chu Xisheng decided to enter Firebone Cavern, where its multiple entrances and darkness could help them evade pursuit.
• When five Long Household soldiers ordered Chu Xisheng to stop, he killed four of them with swift saber strikes and fled into the cavern with Lu Luanli.

Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli fled through Firebone Cavern after killing Long Household men, while Lu Luanli used his saber and Wind-Chasing Blade to make the killings appear to be his work. Long Heng learned that Chu Xisheng had slain thirteen of his men and sent Senior Brother Du with three of the Hengmen Eighteen Riders to pursue him.

• Chu Xisheng noticed his Martial Dao Points had increased after killing three men and felt the mental exhaustion caused by using Yazi saber intent.
• Lu Luanli praised Chu Xisheng, took his saber, and killed five Long Household guards at a cavern bend with the Wind-Chasing Blade.
• Long Heng inspected the three dead men and learned from Long Sheng that Chu Xisheng had also killed the Bloodwind Bandits' spellcaster.
• Long Heng slapped Long Sheng for diverting men from the effort to eliminate Tie Xiaosheng, while Senior Brother Du explained the danger of letting Tie Xiaosheng recover.
• Two messengers reported that Chu Xisheng had killed Long Zheng's squad and Long Five's squad, bringing his total to thirteen Long Household men.
• Long Heng asked Senior Brother Du to pursue Chu Xisheng with three of the Hengmen Eighteen Riders, and Du entered the cavern.

Chu Yunyun entered Firebone Cavern to find Chu Xisheng and learned that Eagle Sword Du Hong was pursuing him. Deeper inside, Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli chose to hide from the Long Household’s forces, while Lu Luanli’s paper-crane talisman flew away.

• Chu Yunyun captured and interrogated a Long Household soldier, learning that Chu Xisheng had entered Firebone Cavern with a woman and that Du Hong was hunting him.
• Chu Yunyun killed the soldier, broke through five guards at the cavern entrance, and continued into Firebone Cavern.
• Chu Xisheng followed Lu Luanli past guarded intersections as she killed five Long Clan leaders and earned him Martial Dao Points.
• After Lu Luanli’s saber became damaged, Chu Xisheng collected food and water from fallen soldiers and led her down a dark passage to hide.
• Lu Luanli reluctantly followed Chu Xisheng deeper into the cavern, and a talisman from her sleeve folded into a paper crane and flew away.

Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli searched Firebone Cavern for ingredients for the Origin-Nourishing Art, with Chu gaining insight into how belief might fuel his Martial Dao Points. Their search led them to an unconscious Tie Xiaosheng, whose bag contained two stalks of Yangyang Grass.

• Chu Xisheng reasoned that public belief in his martial prowess might earn him Martial Dao Points, then found Heartbreak Grass and asked Lu Luanli to help search for the Origin-Nourishing Art ingredients.
• Lu Luanli summoned a spirit sable that located medicinal herbs, and Chu Xisheng gathered the formula's supplementary ingredients while they searched Firebone Cavern for Yangyang Grass.
• The spirit sable led them deeper into the cavern, where Chu Xisheng killed a Golden-Ring Black Snake with a precise saber strike and collected its carcass.
• The spirit sable stopped beside an unconscious, bloodied man in a stone forest, and Lu Luanli found medicine in his travel bag, including two stalks of Yangyang Grass.
• Lu Luanli recognized the unconscious man as Tie Xiaosheng, the Iron Banner Gang's deputy banner chief.

Chu Xisheng used Tie Xiaosheng’s Yangyang Grass to advance his Origin-Nourishing Art, awakening his bloodline and gaining greater speed and strength. As he carried the wounded Tie Xiaosheng through Firebone Cavern with Lu Luanli, they reached a hot spring and encountered an armed group led by a sword-bearing young man who recognized them as targets.

• Chu Xisheng used two Martial Dao Points and the secret medicine to advance his Origin-Nourishing Art to the second level, triggering a painful bloodline awakening.
• Chu Xisheng’s Wind-Chasing Blade advanced to the second level, his speed increased, and his lifespan rose to twenty-nine days.
• Chu Xisheng decided not to spend ten Martial Dao Points on his martial intent and planned to wait for the Martial Dao Treasury’s refresh.
• Chu Xisheng carried Tie Xiaosheng out of the stone forest while Lu Luanli guarded him, and they headed toward the sound of a hot spring.
• At the hot spring, Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli encountered more than twenty armed men, and their blue-clad leader declared that they had found both the main carriage and the spare.

Lu Luanli held off the sword-bearing Long Clan leader while Chu Xisheng carried the injured Tie Xiaosheng away. When Long Clan soldiers pursued them, Chu Xisheng prepared to face them and used the midnight treasury refresh to acquire the Pure Yang Thunder Body, just as they reached him.

• Lu Luanli forced back the sword-bearing young man and the Long Clan soldiers, revealing her upper seventh-rank cultivation and using a Gengyuan Talisman to reinforce her saber.
• The sword-bearing young man damaged Lu Luanli’s saber, but she used a gale to hinder him and wound his arm as Long Clan soldiers slipped past her in pursuit of Chu Xisheng.
• After running two thousand feet, Chu Xisheng put the awakened Tie Xiaosheng in a concealed corner and returned to the path to confront the pursuers.
• Chu Xisheng swallowed a Divine Strength Pill, then saw fourteen Long Clan soldiers closing in as the Martial Dao Treasury refreshed at midnight.
• Chu Xisheng spent 25 Martial Dao Points on the Pure Yang Thunder Body just as the Long Clan soldiers reached him.

Chu Xisheng used his swift saber to cut through the Long Clan soldiers, then faced three armored members of the Hengmen Eighteen Riders. He killed one in a deliberate exchange of wounds and was left facing the other two.

• Chu Xisheng drew his saber and killed nine Long Clan soldiers in rapid succession.
• Chu Xisheng killed four more Long Clan soldiers while Tie Xiaosheng recognized that he had separated their forces to defeat them individually.
• Chu Xisheng gained Martial Dao Points and checked the Martial Dao Treasury, but found nothing he could use against the three approaching armored riders.
• The three members of the Hengmen Eighteen Riders forced Chu Xisheng back, and he knocked aside two of their sabers with a powerful strike.
• Chu Xisheng cut the middle rider's throat while the rider on the right struck his left shoulder; his Gold-Silk Inner Armor protected him from serious injury.

Chu Xisheng defeated the Long Household soldiers with a strategy that exhausted them, then reunited with Lu Luanli, who revealed that their surviving opponent had escaped and demanded her payment back. Meanwhile, Chu Yunyun killed the fleeing Du Hong and followed his trail to Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli at the hot spring.

• Chu Xisheng killed the two remaining armored soldiers, raising his Martial Dao Points to 10, and Tie Xiaosheng praised his skill and tactics.
• Chu Xisheng tended to his injured shoulder, took a saber and demon silver from the corpses, and carried Tie Xiaosheng toward the hot spring.
• Chu Xisheng met Lu Luanli, learned that Du Hong had escaped with a movement-enhancing jade talisman, and discovered that his Martial Dao Points had increased by two.
• Lu Luanli demanded that Chu Xisheng refund the fifteen taels she had paid him to keep her identity secret.
• Chu Yunyun intercepted and killed Du Hong, then followed his blood trail to the hot spring, where she saw Chu Xisheng sitting close to Lu Luanli and crushed part of the stone wall in anger.

Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli treated their injuries and fled the cavern with the unconscious Tie Xiaosheng, then found the sword-wielding youth dead and learned someone powerful had defeated him. Meanwhile, Long Heng ordered the Long Clan to withdraw to the commandery city after realizing a seventh-rank fighter might be in the cavern and hearing that Tie Kuangren had returned to Xiushui City.

• Lu Luanli set Chu Xisheng's collarbone and treated it with a talisman before they left the hot spring carrying Tie Xiaosheng.
• Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli found three jackals eating the sword-wielding youth's corpse, and Lu Luanli recognized him as the man she had wounded.
• Lu Luanli dissolved the corpse to erase her saber marks, while Chu Xisheng claimed back his fifteen taels of demon silver.
• Long Heng and Long Feifei concluded that Chu Xisheng had killed sixteen Long Clan men and that an unknown fighter had defeated Du Hong near the hot spring.
• Long Heng ordered the Long Clan forces to return to the commandery city and search for Du Hong through reliable herb-gatherers.
• Long Feifei revealed that Tie Kuangren had returned to Xiushui City, alarming Long Sheng.

Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli escaped Firebone Cavern with the wounded Tie Xiaosheng, who returned to the Iron Banner Gang after warning them about the Long Household. On the way back to Zhengyang Martial Academy, Lu Luanli revealed that rumors about the Lie King's Treasure had drawn suspicious people to the academy, and Chu Xisheng began recording her intelligence for the Embroidery Guard.

• After four days hiding in Firebone Cavern, Chu Xisheng, Lu Luanli, and Tie Xiaosheng left without finding Long Household forces waiting outside.
• Tie Xiaosheng ignored Iron Banner Gang members near the cavern, borrowed three horses, and rode with Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli toward Xiushui Commandery.
• Near the city, Tie Xiaosheng thanked Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli, warned them that Long Heng might attack them in the city, and headed for the eastern docks.
• Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli returned the horses and made their way toward Zhengyang Martial Academy, where Lu Luanli said the academy was not as safe as it looked.
• Lu Luanli explained that rumors linked Qin Muge, the God-Defying Banner, and the Lie King's Treasure, and described suspicious people among the academy's disciples.
• Chu Xisheng wrote down Lu Luanli's observations, hoping to pass the information to Cao Qianhu of the Embroidery Guard.

Tie Xiaosheng returned to the Iron Banner Gang and told Tie Kuangren how Chu Xisheng had saved him in Firebone Cavern, while Tie Kuangren explained why the gang was delaying its revenge. Back at the Storage Yard, Chu Xisheng learned that the Long Household had blocked Chu Yunyun from escort work, and her reaction to his praise of Lu Luanli left the chapter on a sharp note.

• Tie Xiaosheng reunited with Tie Kuangren at the eastern docks and complained that his brother had left him in Firebone Cavern.
• Tie Kuangren said he had held back because the Long Household was waiting to ambush him and because Xiushui Commandery’s conflict over the God-Defying Banner made action risky.
• Tie Xiaosheng praised Chu Xisheng for killing thirteen Long Clan soldiers and three Hengmen Eighteen Riders, and said he wanted to recruit him.
• Chu Xisheng gained four Martial Dao Points, bringing his total to twenty-three, but chose to save them toward the Body of Light-Speed Shadow.
• Chu Yunyun told Chu Xisheng the Long Household had prevented her from working for the Sitong Escort Agency, so she had hunted a boar in West Mountain instead.
• Chu Yunyun admitted she had entered Firebone Cavern but withdrawn after seeing Lu Luanli with Chu Xisheng; when he praised Lu, Chu Yunyun split the chopping board with her knife.

Chu Xisheng recovered at home with Chu Yunyun, planned to sell weapons taken from Firebone Cavern, and looked for a way to raise his Martial Dao Points and reputation. At the academy, Lu Luanli heard rumors wildly exaggerating Chu Xisheng’s deeds, and noticed that disciples were spreading the story everywhere.

• Chu Xisheng told Chu Yunyun about his fight in Firebone Cavern, and she cheered up after hearing how he had defeated sixteen men.
• Chu Xisheng proposed selling Eagle Sword Du Hong’s sword and three Hundred-Forged Light Steel Sabers to help Chu Yunyun advance, and she agreed to put the weapons away.
• Chu Xisheng asked Chu Yunyun about well-connected academy gossips, learned about Hu Kan and Hu Lai, and left with twenty taels of demon silver to test how spreading his name might affect his Martial Dao Points.
• Lu Luanli returned to the academy and heard Hu Kan claim that Chu Xisheng had killed more than thirty members of the Inner City Long Clan, including three of the Hengmen Eighteen Riders.
• Lu Luanli doubted Hu Kan’s claims about Chu Xisheng’s saber skill, then heard disciples at another table discussing Chu Xisheng as well.

Lu Luanli heard increasingly inflated rumors about Chu Xisheng’s feats at Firebone Cavern, while Ye Zhiqiu learned that Formless Divine Sect envoy Jian Zangfeng would inspect Zhengyang Martial Academy. The chapter left Jian planning to show Chu consideration during the coming combat checks, before he awkwardly asked Ye Zhiqiu whether she was still unmarried.

• Lu Luanli heard inner disciples exaggerate Chu Xisheng’s victories at Firebone Cavern until they called him the academy’s Number One Inner Disciple.
• Ten days later, Ye Zhiqiu heard the rumors grow further as disciples claimed Chu had killed a hundred Long Clan soldiers and secured a True Disciple spot.
• Jian Zangfeng told Ye Zhiqiu that Ye Jingyuan had been removed as Library Tower master and confined there for five years.
• Jian Zangfeng explained that he would inspect the academy, including spot-checking disciples’ martial skills, as part of his assignment to investigate the disturbance.
• Jian Zangfeng decided to treat Chu Xisheng considerately during the combat checks, then asked Ye Zhiqiu if she was still unmarried, darkening her expression.

After learning that Chu Xisheng had paid Hu Kan and Hu Lai to spread embellished stories about his exploits, Ye Zhiqiu questioned his motives. Chu Xisheng’s Martial Dao Points had stopped increasing, and he feared the rumors would provoke stronger disciples before he could improve; then a bell summoned everyone at the academy.

• Ye Zhiqiu traced the rumors about Chu Xisheng to Hu Kan and Hu Lai, who admitted Chu Xisheng had asked them to publicize his real achievements with some exaggeration.
• Chu Xisheng practiced the Wind-Chasing Blade and Light-Cloud Movement in his dreams, guided by Chu Yunyun, but had not yet mastered the movement technique.
• Chu Xisheng saw that his Martial Dao Points had risen to 32 but stopped increasing, while his reputation remained at Ninth-Rank Upper (illusory).
• Chu Xisheng worried that other inner disciples would challenge him before he could strengthen himself, and Chu Yunyun told him that a beating might bring him back down to earth.
• A great bell rang three times, and Chu Xisheng and Chu Yunyun realized it was summoning all the academy’s disciples and instructors.

Zhengyang Martial Academy held a morning inspection for Formless Divine Sect True Disciple Jian Zangfeng, who praised its training before using a Law Treasure to test the Inner Disciples. Jian Zangfeng secretly manipulated the random selection to send Chu Xisheng onto a platform, leaving Ye Zhiqiu furious that the East Court had drawn a One-Leaf disciple.

• Chu Xisheng joined the academy disciples at the Grand Training Ground and learned from Hu Kan that Jian Zangfeng had arrived to inspect the academy.
• Lei Yuan led the disciples through morning cultivation and martial arts practice, impressing Jian Zangfeng with their progress.
• Jian Zangfeng praised the academy and introduced the Four Symbols Duel Disk to randomly select thirty-two Inner Disciples for combat tests.
• Jian Zangfeng secretly redirected one beam of the disk toward Chu Xisheng, despite noticing that his foundational cultivation was only at the second level.
• Ye Zhiqiu glared at Jian Zangfeng when Chu Xisheng was selected for the East Court while the other courts received Two-Leaf and Three-Leaf disciples.

Chu Xisheng was unexpectedly selected for a Four Symbols Duel Disk combat assessment, where he faced three Three-Leaf disciples and a challenge poorly suited to his skills. As the assessment began, his Martial Dao Points rose from 32 to 37, while the instructors on the dais realized rumors about his strength had helped cause his selection.

• The disciples and Chu Yunyun watched in surprise as the azure light carried Chu Xisheng onto the platform, where she worried the assessment would expose his weaknesses.
• Chu Xisheng met Xiang Kui and the sarcastic Liu Xingruo, who challenged the reputation that Chu was the inner sect's top disciple.
• Two martial instructors explained that the four would compete to knock down bamboo leaves, with a Secret Move Totem as the ultimate prize.
• Liu Xingruo learned that bodily contact and interference were permitted, then gave Chu Xisheng a meaningful look.
• Jian Zangfeng questioned Lei Yuan about Chu Xisheng, while Shao Lingshan confirmed the rumors of Chu's prowess and his killings in Firebone Cavern.
• Chu Xisheng saw another firework appear before him, and his Martial Dao Points increased from 32 to 37.

During the Four Symbols Duel Disk test, Chu Xisheng adapted to the Body of Light-Speed Shadow while hiding his growing speed from the others. When Liu Xingruo tried to knock him off the platform, Chu Xisheng dodged and sent Liu flying instead, revealing his strength to the crowd.

• Chu Xisheng exchanged 35 Martial Dao Points for the first stage of the Body of Light-Speed Shadow and declined to take a Divine Strength Pill.
• As bamboo leaves filled the arena, Chu Xisheng moved cautiously and fell behind in score while adapting to his new talent.
• Liu Xingruo knocked a North Court inner disciple off the platform, then clashed with Xiang Kui as Chu Xisheng's score rose.
• Liu Xingruo charged Chu Xisheng, but Chu dodged with a sudden burst of speed and elbowed him off the platform.
• The crowd watched in astonishment, while Xiang Kui realized Chu Xisheng had been hiding his abilities.

Chu Xisheng won the bamboo-leaf contest against Xiang Kui and learned that his new martial body was draining his blood essence unless he raised his Martial Dao Points above zero within a month. He then defeated Cheng in the next round, while the instructors realized Jian Zangfeng had manipulated the matchups to help him.

• Shao Lingshan watched Liu Xingruo fall from the arena, while Ye Zhiqiu teased him about the loss.
• Chu Xisheng and Xiang Kui finished the bamboo-leaf contest, and Chu scored 763 leaves to Xiang Kui's 731.
• Chu Xisheng discovered that redeeming the Body of Light-Speed Shadow had overdrawn his blood essence and that he needed positive Martial Dao Points within a month to survive.
• The instructors noticed that Jian Zangfeng had arranged for Chu Xisheng to face a Two-Leaf disciple, while Jian pretended not to notice their accusations.
• Chu Xisheng defeated Cheng with a swift saber strike, and his reputation became substantiated as his Martial Dao Points rose to 8.

Chu Xisheng reached the combat assessment final after a series of lucky breaks and used Martial Dao Points to learn the first level of Light-Cloud Movement. As the match against He Chao was about to begin, Chu Xisheng prepared to fight for the Secret Move Totem.

• Chu Xisheng watched two top inner disciples grievously wound each other when the Wind-Chasing Blade user revealed a Secret Move Totem and his opponent countered with the Nine-Palace Sword.
• The Four Symbols Duel Disk assigned Chu Xisheng an empty platform, and the instructors confronted Jian Zangfeng over his apparent interference before he arranged care for the injured disciples.
• Chu Xisheng advanced to the final against He Chao after He Chao won the other platform's match.
• He Chao greeted Chu Xisheng confidently, while Chu Xisheng decided to pursue the Secret Move Totem and spent three Martial Dao Points to raise Light-Cloud Movement to the first level.
• The referee tossed a copper coin into the air and told Chu Xisheng and He Chao they could attack when it landed.