Chapter Summaries

Zhang Qingyuan expanded the Tianyang Martial Dao Academy’s mission by deciding to teach practical crafts and other subjects to students unable to cultivate, and the academy advertised for teachers across Yu Province. The notice rekindled hope in several skilled but marginalized people, who considered passing on their trades.

• Zhang Qingyuan urged the martial arts team to create techniques that would endure and told Sixth Elder that the academy would not abandon students unable to cultivate.
• Zhang Qingyuan ordered Sixth Elder to advertise for teachers of medicine, arithmetic, literature, carpentry, smithing, weaving, embroidery, and other subjects.
• Gu Qianshan, Xu Liang, Old Fourth, Zhan Hongling, and Li Changsheng offered to recruit skilled physicians, craftspeople, and needleworkers they knew.
• Lu Renjia read the recruitment notice aloud at a breakfast shop, and the customers discussed the academy’s plan to teach students other livelihoods.
• Lu Cheng'an, Yan Lie, and Wen Wangu heard about the notice and began to hope they could teach their crafts at the academy.

Tianyang Martial Dao Academy began its second cultivation stage, and Yun Qingqiu explained how students could sense and gather internal force. Liu Sidao, Ma Shou, and Liu Che developed internal force on the first day, while the other students struggled at different rates; Zhang Qingyuan ended the day determined to cultivate harder himself.

• Zhang Qingyuan introduced the second-year teachers and announced that students would learn either the Nine Yin Manual or the Nine Yang Divine Skill with guidance from their teachers.
• Yun Qingqiu explained that internal force came from Qi sense awakened through physical training and taught students how it was gathered and stored in the dantian.
• Zhang Qingyuan offered students who could not cultivate free vocational subjects, then had the teachers lead their classes through the Tianyang Origin-Nurturing Skill.
• Liu Sidao and Ma Shou quickly gathered internal force, and Liu Che succeeded after Cai Denglang helped him calm down.
• Li Goudan, Zhao Ling'er, Shi Tiezhu, and Xiao Yan made slower progress as the students' different aptitudes and temperaments became apparent.
• Zhang Qingyuan watched the students cultivate all day and went to the Scripture Pavilion that evening, resolving to work harder himself.

After the system raised his talent and the Tianyang Sect became established, Zhang Qingyuan finally began taking his own cultivation seriously and practiced the Tianyang Nine Swords. His senior brothers watched and discovered that his swordsmanship had improved so much that his feel for the sword was almost catching up to Zheng Jianxin's.

• Zhang Qingyuan reflected on how his late-arriving system had helped him build the Tianyang Martial Dao Academy and raise his cultivation, leaving him time to train.
• In the library pavilion, Zhang Qingyuan chose the Tianyang Nine Swords, deciding to focus on martial techniques after mastering the first stage of the Yin-Yang Limitless Skill.
• Zhang Qingyuan returned to his courtyard and practiced the sword art, performing the moves with newfound fluidity.
• Zhao Guangqi and Zheng Jianxin heard the sword sounds and hurried over, with Zhao Guangqi relieved to find Zhang Qingyuan practicing safely.
• Zheng Jianxin observed Zhang Qingyuan's swordsmanship and said his feel for the sword was almost catching up to his own.

Zhang Qingyuan realized that the martial arts rewarded by his system were effortless for him to learn, unlike the sect’s sword arts, and his senior brothers discovered his Daoist cultivation techniques. To avoid trouble over their origins, he planned to leave temporarily while Old Second’s cover story was put into action.

• Zhang Qingyuan practiced the Tianyang Nine Swords and Tianyang Four Extremes Sword Art while Old Eldest and Old Second recognized Daoist traits in his internal cultivation.
• Old Second suggested buying Daoist and Buddhist scriptures so the sect’s teachers could claim they had developed the suspicious martial arts themselves.
• Zhang Qingyuan realized that system-rewarded martial arts were easy for him to master so he could quickly show off, and stopped practicing the sect’s sword arts.
• Old Eldest questioned Zhang Qingyuan about the origins of his cultivation arts, and Old Second explained his plan to pass them off as the sect’s inventions.
• Zhang Qingyuan rejected the plan as insufficient for the Yin-Yang Limitless Skill and said he would leave in about five days, telling Old Eldest to build a Daoist temple on the mountain.

Zhang Qingyuan reviewed the students’ internal-cultivation breakthroughs with Yun Qingqiu, then went to visit Zhan Hongling. Zhan Hongling spoke proudly to her late husband about their talented son when Zhang Qingyuan knocked at her door.

• Yun Qingqiu reported that 109 students had reached the Eighth-Grade Realm, including Liu Sidao and Ma Shou, who developed internal power in three breaths.
• Zhang Qingyuan examined the breakthrough list and noted that some students who had struggled with basic martial arts excelled at internal cultivation.
• After Yun Qingqiu finished her report, Zhang Qingyuan practiced two sword techniques and headed to Zhan Hongling’s quarters.
• Zhan Hongling offered incense to her father and husband, then told Ma Ke how their son had developed a sense of Qi in three breaths and completed a Greater Celestial Circuit quickly.
• Zhang Qingyuan knocked on Zhan Hongling’s door and called out to her.

Zhang Qingyuan offered Ma Shou a place in the Tianyang Sect as his disciple, and Ma Shou accepted after confirming that Liu Sidao would also be chosen. Zhang Qingyuan told him to keep the news secret.

• Zhang Qingyuan visited Zhan Hongling and asked about her plans for Ma Shou’s future.
• Zhang Qingyuan offered to take Ma Shou into the Tianyang Sect, but insisted that Ma Shou’s wishes be respected.
• Zhan Hongling brought Ma Shou to meet Zhang Qingyuan, who explained that he wanted Ma Shou as his disciple.
• Ma Shou hesitated because he wondered why Zhang Qingyuan had not chosen Liu Sidao first.
• Zhang Qingyuan assured Ma Shou that he would choose Liu Sidao too, and Ma Shou accepted the offer.
• Zhang Qingyuan told Ma Shou to keep the news secret for now.

Zhang Qingyuan oversaw student breakthroughs, secured Liu Sidao’s support for his son joining the Tianyang Sect, and introduced a study tour to guide talented students’ conduct and development. He selected students to assemble at the mountain gate the next morning before traveling to the Bright Moon Sect and religious sites in the Eastern Realm.

• Over three days, 998 students reached the Eighth-Grade Realm, and Zhang Qingyuan outlined the academy’s tuition waivers and rewards for future breakthroughs.
• Zhang Qingyuan visited Liu Sandao and gained his enthusiastic consent for his son to join the Tianyang Sect; Liu Sidao also agreed when Zhang spoke with him afterward.
• Old Eldest brought Daoist scriptures to the library, adding to the Confucian classics already there.
• Zhang Qingyuan told the teachers he planned a study tour and explained that it would combine travel and learning while helping talented students develop sound judgment.
• After Lu Guying raised safety concerns, Zhang Qingyuan said the tour would visit the Bright Moon Sect and temples and Daoist monasteries in the Eastern Realm.
• Zhang Qingyuan announced that class teachers should summon the selected students to assemble at the mountain gate the following morning.

Zhang Qingyuan led ten students from Tianyang Martial Dao Academy on a study tour toward the Bright Moon Sect, helping them relax and bond along the way. After they took shelter in a ruined temple, the injured blue-robed swordsman they had seen earlier arrived with a girl, and Zhang Qingyuan told the students to save him.

• Zhang Qingyuan gathered the ten students at the academy gate, warned them to stay safe, and led them out on their study tour.
• Zhang Qingyuan chatted with the students on the road, easing their nerves as they discussed their growth, plans, and family names.
• The students stopped at the Phoenix Cry City–Ripple Water City boundary, where Xiao Yan practiced his heavy-sword technique and a blue-robed swordsman paused to watch.
• The group reached a ruined temple at night, made camp, and ate porridge and dried meat while Zhang Qingyuan told them Journey to the West.
• The injured blue-robed swordsman and a girl entered the temple, and Zhang Qingyuan told the students to save him.

Zhang Qingyuan and his students treated a wounded swordsman and learned that Han Yumo’s insistence on roaming the martial world had helped provoke the fight that injured him. Zhang Qingyuan left with the students, while Han Yumo stayed behind and an unknown young gentleman watched them resentfully.

• Zhang Qingyuan directed the students as they cleaned and bandaged the swordsman’s wounds.
• Han Yumo introduced herself as Han Zhennan’s daughter and explained that she had followed the swordsman after learning her father’s men were secretly protecting her.
• Han Yumo said a Brocade Guard commander had confronted the swordsman, leading to a fight that left him badly wounded.
• After Xiao Yan confirmed the swordsman was stable, Zhang Qingyuan gave him a healing pill and told him to rest.
• Zhang Qingyuan led the students away despite Han Yumo’s protests that she would not abandon the swordsman.
• A young gentleman secretly watched Zhang Qingyuan leave and cursed him for how he had treated Han Yumo.

Zhang Qingyuan taught his students about love and caution in the martial world, but a confrontation with Lin Li turned into a deadly fight. After killing Lin Li and his eight attendants, Zhang Qingyuan gave the students lessons on decisive self-defense, removing future threats, and not being a simp.

• Zhang Qingyuan explained to the students that Han Yumo and the swordsman could have avoided danger by separating temporarily, and he asked Murong Xue whether she would leave Xiao Yan to protect him.
• Lin Li entered the cave with eight martial artists and accused Zhang Qingyuan and the students of insulting Han Yumo, then ordered his men to kill them.
• Zhang Qingyuan fought back, killing or crippling the seven attendants and defeating the peak-fourth-rank old man.
• Zhang Qingyuan killed Lin Li after he threatened him with his father's power as the city lord of Lin'an City.
• Zhang Qingyuan told the shaken students to defend themselves decisively, eliminate threats at their roots, and avoid becoming a simp.

Zhang Qingyuan brought ten students to the Bright Moon Sect, where Ma Shou narrowly defeated an experienced outer disciple and Zhang discussed the academy’s teaching approach with Di Yunjie and Ning Jixiang. Ning Jixiang praised the academy and offered the Bright Moon Sect’s public support in Yu Province, while Zhang immediately proposed an exclusive interview.

• Zhang Qingyuan and the students buried the bodies from their encounter with Han Yumo’s group, then continued their journey and reached the Bright Moon Sect.
• Di Yunjie welcomed Zhang Qingyuan and led the group up the mountain, where they observed the sect’s outer and inner disciples training.
• Di Yunjie arranged a sparring match, and Ma Shou narrowly defeated Xu Kun after more than thirty exchanges.
• Zhang Qingyuan explained the martial dao academy’s teaching methods to Di Yunjie and argued that traditional sects and the academy developed students in different ways.
• Ning Jixiang praised Zhang Qingyuan’s newspaper and academy, then offered the Bright Moon Sect’s public support if Zhang faced difficulties in Yu Province.
• Zhang Qingyuan thanked Ning Jixiang and proposed an exclusive interview for the next day’s paper, which Ning said was possible.

Bright Moon Sect outer disciples arranged a chief-versus-chief spar between Li Qinglong and Xiao Yan, whom they mistakenly believed was Tianyang Martial Dao Academy's second-year chief. After Li Qinglong's powerful strike sent Xiao Yan over a cliff, the stunned students rushed to seek help.

• Xu Kun and the Bright Moon Sect outer disciples decided to challenge Tianyang Martial Dao Academy's chief to restore their sect's standing.
• Li Qinglong and Xu Kun confronted Liu Sidao's group in the Ice Pine Forest and named Xiao Yan as their opponent.
• Liu Sidao accepted the challenge, and Xiao Yan agreed to fight despite his companions' doubts about the mistaken choice.
• Li Qinglong dominated the match, while Xiao Yan evaded and defended himself through more than thirty moves.
• Li Qinglong unleashed Moon Falls and Stars Sink, and the strike sent Xiao Yan flying over a cliff into the clouds.
• The disciples rushed to the cliff, Li Qinglong realized he had not meant to knock Xiao Yan off, and the others called for the headmaster and Master.

After Xiao Yan fell from the cliff, an underground river carried him into a cave where he discovered the corpse of Old Man Heavenly Fire and a sealed heavenly fire. The fire entered Xiao Yan’s dantian and began consuming his energy, so Xiao Yan jumped into the cold pool to stop it.

• Zhang Qingyuan and Di Yunjie led their people to search for Xiao Yan, while Li Qinglong apologized and promised to repay him if he had died.
• Xiao Yan woke in a cave beneath the pool and found Old Man Heavenly Fire’s corpse and a message about a heavenly fire sealed in its dantian.
• Xiao Yan hesitated to remove the fire, then began cultivating and felt his internal energy surge uncontrollably.
• Xiao Yan discovered the heavenly fire had entered his dantian, and it admitted it planned to feed on his energy.
• Xiao Yan ran to the cold pool and jumped in with the heavenly fire, declaring they would die together.

Zhang Qingyuan kept searching the deep pool for Xiao Yan after the boy disappeared, convinced that his completed mission meant Xiao Yan was still alive. His refusal to abandon anyone moved the academy students and Bright Moon Sect members, uniting them around him as he plunged into the water again.

• Di Yunjie explained that Xiao Yan might have been swept into a deadly underground river, but Zhang Qingyuan insisted they continue searching.
• Zhang Qingyuan saw that the system had completed the mission for a disciple reaching the seventh-rank realm and concluded that Xiao Yan had survived his fall.
• Zhang Qingyuan repeatedly dived into the icy pool, impressing the Bright Moon Sect members with his determination to find even an ordinary student.
• Liu Sidao, Ma Shou, Zhang Xiaohua, and the other students offered to search with Zhang Qingyuan and vowed not to leave without Xiao Yan.
• Zhang Qingyuan hid his hope of discovering Xiao Yan's opportunity and plunged into the pool again as the others felt newly united and loyal to him.

Xiao Yan discovered that the heavenly fire was actually Old Man Heavenly Fire’s remnant soul, resisted its attempt to possess him, and absorbed its cultivation after destroying it. Exhausted but alive, he collapsed just as Zhang Qingyuan reached him.

• Xiao Yan questioned the heavenly fire in the pool and noticed its story and his unexplained growth in True Qi did not add up.
• Xiao Yan tricked the heavenly fire into panicking, surfaced, and accused it of being Old Man Heavenly Fire’s remnant soul seeking to possess him.
• Old Man Heavenly Fire admitted the truth and attacked Xiao Yan’s consciousness, while Xiao Yan defended himself with his will and Nine Yang True Qi.
• Xiao Yan destroyed Old Man Heavenly Fire’s remnant soul and absorbed its cultivation, flame knowledge, and martial arts insights.
• Xiao Yan bowed to the dried corpse, then collapsed from exhaustion as Zhang Qingyuan arrived at the pool.

After waking at the Bright Moon Sect, Xiao Yan explained that he had defeated Old Man Heavenly Fire’s consciousness in a cave and gained his Fourth-Rank Realm True Qi. The sect leaders accepted his account, and Zhang Qingyuan left with Di Yunjie to inspect the cave and its dried-out corpse.

• Xiao Yan woke briefly, then fell asleep again from mental exhaustion as Di Yunjie found his body healthy and his True Qi unusually powerful.
• Zhang Qingyuan arrived, and Xiao Yan learned that the headmaster had repeatedly searched the cold pool to rescue him.
• Di Yunjie asked Xiao Yan about the opportunity in the cave, and Zhang Qingyuan encouraged him to tell the truth.
• Xiao Yan described Old Man Heavenly Fire’s attempted possession and how he obtained the old cultivator’s True Qi; Di Yunjie examined his dantian and confirmed the vast reserve.
• The Bright Moon Sect members accepted Xiao Yan’s explanation, while his companions congratulated him on reaching the Fourth-Rank Realm.
• Di Yunjie asked Zhang Qingyuan to take him to the cave, and Zhang Qingyuan agreed that they could find the dried-out corpse there.

Zhang Qingyuan led Di Yunjie and Bright Moon Sect members to Old Man Heavenly Fire’s cave, where they found his remains and debated whether to bury or study them. Di Yunjie agreed to take the corpse back for secret research, while Zhang Qingyuan insisted on sharing any cultivation technique they might uncover.

• Zhang Qingyuan bypassed the underground river by breaking open the cave’s hidden air vent, and the Bright Moon Sect party followed him inside.
• Di Yunjie and the others examined Old Man Heavenly Fire’s dried corpse and found that its dantian still held a trace of True Qi.
• Di Yunjie proposed burying the remains, but Zhang Qingyuan suggested studying the intact meridians to deduce the dead martial artist’s Qi circulation route and technique.
• Di Yunjie agreed to take the corpse back for secret research, and Zhang Qingyuan demanded a share of any result before Di Yunjie stopped his speech.

Zhang Qingyuan brought his students to Supreme Purity Palace and persuaded its head, Xuanchengzi, to support a Daoist department at Tianyang Martial Dao Academy. Xuanchengzi agreed in principle after reading the Nine Yin Manual, leaving the two sides to discuss the details of their cooperation.

• After Xiao Yan recovered, Zhang Qingyuan departed Bright Moon Sect with the students and continued his journey to Supreme Purity Palace in Qi Prefecture.
• At the snow-covered Supreme Purity Mountain, Xuanchengzi personally welcomed Zhang Qingyuan and his students into the palace.
• Zhang Qingyuan explained that he wanted to establish a Daoist department at Tianyang Martial Dao Academy so ordinary students could study Daoist principles alongside martial arts.
• Zhang Qingyuan presented the Nine Yin Manual, and Xuanchengzi was impressed by its Daoist insights and the academy’s willingness to share it.
• Xuanchengzi agreed in principle to send disciples to teach Daoist classics and help establish the department, and Zhang Qingyuan prepared to negotiate the practical arrangements.

After returning from a month-long tour that secured Daoist support for Tianyang Martial Dao Academy, Zhang Qingyuan set the academy’s new classes and business plans in motion. He also told Zheng Jianxin that the young martial artist from their bet had reached Fourth Rank, prompting Zheng to rush to claim him as a disciple.

• Zhang Qingyuan visited Cloud Crane Temple, where Xuanxinzi warmly hosted his group and agreed to teach in the academy’s Daoist Arts Department.
• Zhang Qingyuan returned to the academy, where Fifth Brother reported that teachers and equipment were in place for the new vocational classes.
• Zhang Qingyuan gave Bian Zhenxuan a soap-making formula and asked him to organize a business venture with merchants, the Bian family, and the sect.
• Yun Qingqiu reported that 1,850 people had cultivated True Qi, and Zhang Qingyuan asked her to guide those with little martial talent toward other skills.
• Zhang Qingyuan told Zheng Jianxin that the young martial artist from their bet had advanced to Fourth Rank, and Zheng agreed to take him as a disciple.