Chapter Summaries

Chen Tie struggled to support his younger sister in Duchang City while trying to understand the mysterious word “Proficiency” in his mind. After learning that the Unborn Sect had begun forcing people to join, he carried a gang message to Goldwood Street and wondered whether real martial arts could unlock his ability.

• Chen Tie collected rice after an Unborn sermon, bought candied hawthorn for Chen Xi, and shared a thin porridge supper with her.
• Chen Tie reflected on his transmigration and the unchanging “Proficiency” in his mind, then practiced crude fighting tricks in the courtyard.
• Chen Tie warned Chen Xi to stay inside before leaving home the next morning.
• Old Zhang told Chen Tie that the Unborn Sect had begun preaching at night and had beaten Butcher Liu for refusing to join.
• Zhang San sent Chen Tie to invite the Tiger Head Gang to discuss dividing the streets that evening.
• Chen Tie passed the White Crane Martial Arts Hall and suspected that genuine martial arts might activate his Proficiency, but he lacked the money to train.

Chen Tie carried out an errand for the Tiger Head Gang, studied reading by secretly watching a private school, and found Old Zhang dying after his revenge against Zhang Qiang sparked a gang conflict. He helped bury Old Zhang and discovered the silver Old Zhang had left him, enough to pay for martial arts training.

• Chen Tie delivered the Little Knife Gang's invitation to Zhang Qiang through Liu Huan and encountered Old Zhang at the Tiger Head Gang's courtyard.
• Chen Tie watched lessons through a gap in the private school wall and practiced copying characters until evening.
• Chen Tie found Old Zhang bleeding in the alley, received a pouch of silver from him, and hid it before gang members arrived.
• Chen Tie learned that Old Zhang had poisoned Zhang Qiang's furniture to avenge his daughter, causing Zhang Qiang's death and Old Zhang's own killing.
• Chen Tie and Old Sun buried Old Zhang in an individual grave, then discovered that neighbors had stripped Old Zhang's home.
• Chen Tie counted fifty-six taels of silver in the pouch and realized it was enough to begin martial arts training.

Chen Tie joined the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall and began training under Elder Mo, learning the Fierce Tiger Stance Art and the risks of advancing through martial stages. After a grueling first day, the text in his mind recorded that he had reached beginner proficiency in the stance art.

• Chen Tie left Chenxi at home and went to the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall with fifty taels of silver to enroll for three months.
• Elder Mo accepted Chen Tie and explained that the hall’s martial arts combined an animal’s form with its spirit.
• Elder Mo taught Chen Tie that martial arts developed the body and Qi and blood, then demonstrated the Fierce Tiger Stance Art.
• Chen Tie practiced the stance and strength training under Shen Yan, learned that the art could advance through skin refining, flesh refining, and bone forging, and received dried meat from Shen Yan at lunch.
• Chen Tie trained through the day until the text in his mind changed to show that the Fierce Tiger Stance Art had reached beginner level.

Chen Tie trained diligently at the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall, improved his Fierce Tiger Stance Art, and began learning fist techniques while befriending Zhang Long. After Xu Da told him Zhang Long was close to breaking through Skin Tempering, Chen Tie returned home and heard someone outside demand that he open the gate for a Wusheng preaching.

• Shen Yan gave Chen Tie a medicinal decoction to help him recover, and Chen Tie returned home in his Fierce Tiger Martial Hall uniform, promising Chen Xi a bigger house.
• Chen Tie trained early each day, bought extra meat to support his practice, and increased his Fierce Tiger Stance Art proficiency to 35/100 over a month.
• Mo Hong examined Chen Tie and, despite judging his bone structure inferior, told him to start learning fist techniques from Shen Yan.
• Chen Tie completed his chores with help from Zhang Long, and the two shared their reasons for learning martial arts before agreeing to work hard together.
• Chen Tie raised his Fierce Tiger Stance Art proficiency to 50/100, while Xu Da told him Zhang Long was close to breaking through Skin Tempering under Mo Hong's guidance.
• Chen Tie heard urgent knocks at his courtyard gate late at night as someone called out, "Wusheng preaching!"

Chen Tie killed a white-clad Unborn Sect preacher who tried to extort him and discovered a large amount of silver, gold, and a jade token marked “Liu.” At the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall, Mo Hong demonstrated how to adapt techniques in combat and taught the disciples to prioritize decisive attacks and practical fighting.

• Chen Tie strangled and killed the white-clad preacher after he entered the courtyard to rob him, then disposed of the body in the Flowing Stream River.
• Chen Tie found eighty taels of silver, ten taels of gold, and a jade token marked “Liu” among the preacher’s belongings, and decided to spend the money on improving his strength.
• Mo Hong gave a public lesson at the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall and demonstrated adapting a punch and targeting an opponent’s vital points against Shen Yan.
• Mo Hong explained that martial arts required flexible responses and practical combat, and the disciples began practicing with partners.

After sparring with Shen Yan, Chen Tie learned that martial artists could earn money by working for powerful families and organizations, and watched the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall recruit its strongest disciples. Zhang Long demonstrated his talent and received lavish offers, while Chen Tie considered finding work himself.

• Chen Tie improved his Fierce Tiger Fist through sparring with Shen Yan, who taught him how to fight an armed opponent.
• Mo Fang returned to the hall with roast chickens, and Shen Yan explained that martial artists could earn money by taking dangerous jobs from major forces.
• The Liu Family, Wang Family, and Sun Family arrived to recruit the hall’s skin-refining disciples, and Chen Tie became interested in finding a source of income.
• Mo Hong asked Zhang Long to demonstrate the Fierce Tiger Fist, revealing that Zhang Long had reached skin refining after only a month of training.
• The three recruiters made Zhang Long generous offers, including silver, meat, a share of escort profits, and a rare silverfish.

Chen Tie bought Qi and Blood Pills to accelerate his training as his deadline to reach Skin Refining approached, while two disciples quit the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall. After learning that the Liu Family's missing young son had been found dead, Chen Tie worried his past involvement might be uncovered and resolved to grow stronger quickly.

• Zhang Long impressed the recruiters at the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall and received the highest salary offer, while Shen Yan warned Chen Tie to reach Skin Tempering before his deadline.
• Chen Tie bought two ordinary Qi and Blood Pills at Wang Family Medicine Hall and declined the shopkeeper's cheaper reddish pills.
• After taking a pill, Chen Tie trained with increased strength and faster progress, while two senior disciples left the martial hall.
• Mo Hong watched Chen Tie train and doubted he could break through in time, while Mo Fang advised him not to overwork himself.
• Shopkeeper Lin told Chen Tie that the Liu Family's young son had been found dead in the Flowing Stream River, prompting Chen Tie to fear his own past attack might be discovered.

Chen Tie pushed himself through Skin Refining despite Shen Yan and Xu Da’s warnings, while the Liu Family’s questions about the Unborn Sect made him plan to leave home. He broke through to the Skin Refining realm at the martial hall.

• Chen Tie began practicing with heated iron sand and accelerated his training despite Shen Yan and Xu Da urging caution.
• Chen Tie learned that Lu Qi had damaged his meridians through overtraining and left the martial hall.
• Chen Xi told Chen Tie that Liu Family guards had asked whether an Unborn Sect preacher had visited and shown her his portrait.
• Chen Tie decided he would move away after breaking through, then pounded the iron sand until his blood and Qi transformed his skin.
• Chen Tie reached the Skin Refining realm, advancing his Fierce Tiger Stance Art to minor attainment.

Chen Tie broke through to Skin Refining, accepted a part-time escort job with the Xu Family, and found that Mo Fang’s secret medicine greatly enhanced his training. After seeing the Unborn Sect preaching and Liu Family guards searching his alley, he began planning for his and Chen Xi’s safety by buying a nearby courtyard house on installments.

• Chen Tie broke through to Skin Refining, and Mo Fang gave him a portion of secret medicine to aid his cultivation.
• Xu Da recruited Chen Tie to work part-time as an escort for the Xu Family’s Tiger Might Escort Agency, offering a monthly stipend and meat.
• Chen Tie saw members of the Unborn Sect preaching in the streets, then avoided Liu Family guards searching his alley for someone in a portrait.
• Chen Tie gave Chen Xi meat and snacks, then tested the secret medicine and trained with the Fierce Tiger Fist for four hours.
• Chen Tie chose a courtyard house near the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall and agreed to pay one hundred taels upfront with the rest in installments.

Chen Tie moved with his sister to a new home and sparred with Shen Yan to adapt to his new strength, improving his Fierce Tiger Fist through combat. Meanwhile, Divine Constable Ouyang gave Liu Tianba a list of fifteen murder suspects, including Chen Tie, and Liu Tianba ordered their arrest and interrogation.

• Chen Tie completed the purchase of a new home, told Old Sun he was moving, and brought his sister and belongings there.
• Chen Tie sparred with Shen Yan at the martial arts school, learning to control his newly gained strength and advancing his Fierce Tiger Fist.
• Divine Constable Ouyang told Liu Tianba that Liu Jingzhao had been killed by someone who broke his neck and offered fifteen suspects.
• Liu Tianba saw Chen Tie's name on the list and ordered Steward Liu to arrest all fifteen suspects and torture them for information.

Chen Tie accepted Xu Da’s offer of Silver Treasure Fish and learned that the Liu Family was torturing people from his old neighborhood while hunting for a killer. To protect Chen Xi, Chen Tie brought her to the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall, while the Liu Family identified him as the last person on its list to interrogate.

• Xu Da hosted Chen Tie at the Tiger Might Escort Agency and offered him two Silver Treasure Fish each month to support his training.
• Xu Da’s father scolded him for spending money to build goodwill, but Xu Da stood by his decision to help Chen Tie.
• Chen Tie found Uncle Xie San dead beside a battered handcart and learned that masked men had also taken and killed Li Dazhuang and Meng Si.
• Worried the Liu Family would target him while Chen Xi was home alone, Chen Tie brought her to the martial hall, where Mo Hong allowed her to stay with Mo Fang.
• Liu Tianba ordered his men to bring in the last person on their list, Chen Tie, a Skin Refining disciple of the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall.

After Divine Constable Ouyang identified Xue Gui as the likely killer of Liu Jingzhao, Liu Tianba offered a bounty, and Chen Tie joined Xu Da and Shen Yan to search for the fugitive. Chen Tie found Xue Gui dead and secretly took his money, pills, and a valuable cultivation manual, leaving without claiming the bounty.

• Divine Constable Ouyang told Liu Tianba that the fugitive Xue Gui was hiding in Greenwood Ward and was likely responsible for Liu Jingzhao's death.
• Liu Tianba issued a bounty of two thousand taels for Xue Gui alive and one thousand taels for him dead.
• Xu Da explained Xue Gui's grudge against the Xiao, Chu, and Liu Families, then persuaded Chen Tie and Shen Yan to search crowded Falling Star Street with him.
• After searching for hours, Chen Tie found blood in a dark alley and traced it to a half-collapsed house, where he discovered Xue Gui's corpse.
• Chen Tie took two hundred taels, a bottle of pills, and the Resounding Viscera Blood Scripture, then concealed the loot and left without claiming the bounty.

Chen Tie joined Shen Yan and Xu Da in claiming the bounty for Xue Gui, then studied and began practicing the Resounding Viscera Blood Scripture at home. After suspecting Xue Gui had used the technique to endure a powerful palm strike, Chen Tie heard someone on the roof and chased a fleeing black-clad figure.

• Shen Yan found Xue Gui's corpse, and Chen Tie claimed that he had mistakenly thrown a dagger into the already-dead man.
• Steward Liu confirmed Xue Gui's identity and paid Shen Yan the thousand-tael bounty, which Shen Yan divided among the three companions.
• Chen Tie, Shen Yan, and Xu Da ate in the inner city, where Xu Da identified Deng Feng as the City Guard commander's son and a powerful young martial artist.
• Chen Tie read the Resounding Viscera Blood Scripture, practiced its first level, and suspected Xue Gui had used it to survive Divine Constable Ouyang's Heart-Shattering Palm.
• Chen Tie heard a noise on the roof, punched through it, and pursued a fleeing black-clad figure across the rooftops.

Chen Tie killed Xue Hua, who had come seeking revenge for Xue Gui, and took his martial arts manual. The next morning, Shen Yan offered to sponsor Chen Tie on behalf of the Shen Lineage.

• Chen Tie fought the black-clad Xue Hua on the rooftops, fatally stabbing him with a dagger.
• Xue Hua revealed that he was Xue Gui’s younger brother and claimed the Xue Lineage had been destroyed; Chen Tie killed him after pretending to let him go.
• Chen Tie took a martial arts manual and banknotes from Xue Hua, hid the body, and returned home to repair the roof.
• Chen Tie read the manual, which taught the Supple Bone Palm, before going to the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall the next morning.
• Shen Yan offered Chen Tie fifteen taels of silver and one portion of secret medicine each month as sponsorship from the Shen Lineage.

Chen Tie continued training while Mo Hong, Qian He, and Zheng Rong investigated new Qi and Blood Pills that accelerated cultivation by draining the body and were addictive. After disciples at the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall broke through using the pills, Chen Tie grew more certain that something was wrong with them.

• Shen Yan offered Chen Tie a secret medicine subsidy, and Chen Tie calculated that his current training pace would take about three months to reach Flesh Refining.
• Mo Hong told Qian He and Zheng Rong that the new Qi and Blood Pills depleted the body's reserves, shortened lifespan, and were addictive, so they agreed to forbid their own disciples from taking them.
• Chen Tie practiced the Resounding Viscera Blood Scripture and Supple Bone Palm before arriving at the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall, where Shen Yan showed him the cheaper, more effective pills.
• Wen Tai and another longtime disciple broke through to Skin Refining and credited the new Qi and Blood Pills, prompting other outer courtyard disciples to become eager to take them.
• Mo Hong warned the outer courtyard disciples that the pills harmed the body, while Chen Tie watched his unusual behavior and grew more suspicious.

Chen Tie continued cultivating as Zhang Long reached the Flesh Refining realm, while Shen Yan hinted that the increasingly chaotic world had brought trouble. Meanwhile, Deng Guang learned of the Five Great Aristocratic Families’ schemes and ordered more evidence gathered as he planned to seize Duchang City.

• Chen Tie and the other disciples avoided the new Qi and Blood Pills on Mo Hong’s advice, but five disciples took them and broke through to the Skin Refining realm.
• Chen Tie advanced his martial arts through costly training, while Zhang Long broke through to the Flesh Refining realm after three months at the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall.
• Mo Hong praised Zhang Long and urged him to spend time with Mo Fang, who blushed at the suggestion.
• Du San reported to Deng Guang that the Five Great Aristocratic Families were distributing addictive pills, stockpiling weapons, building a secret force, and bribing the city lord’s residence.
• Deng Guang ordered Du San to keep collecting evidence and revealed his intention to take control of Duchang City.

Chu Lin directed the Five Great Aristocratic Families to expand pill sales, strengthen expendable fighters, and control essential supplies and martial organizations in preparation for a confrontation with Deng Guang. As violence and prices rose, Chen Tie learned from Shen Yan and Xu Da how the families' actions had disrupted livelihoods across the city.

• Chu Lin told the family heads that Deng Guang knew they sold the new Qi and Blood Pills and was waiting for evidence to eliminate them together.
• Chu Lin ordered Huang Su to expand production and cut pill prices to three taels, while Wei Zheng received orders to accelerate fighters' training with increased doses regardless of their survival.
• Chu Lin instructed Wen Yan to restrict essential supplies and raise prices, and tasked Xiao Yue with winning over or suppressing outer-city martial halls and escort agencies.
• The cheaper pills drove martial artists to sell their possessions or themselves, while street fights and robberies increased.
• Chen Tie kept training and brought Chen Xi to help Mo Fang at the martial hall and learn to read and write.
• Shen Yan and Xu Da told Chen Tie that supply restrictions and the Zheng Family Escort Agency had damaged their businesses, and Shen Yan warned that Chen Tie's monthly pay would be delayed.

Chen Tie sought a patrol guard job to earn money for food and pills as Duchang City grew more chaotic. On his first night patrol, he learned that guards took bribes and avoided powerful groups, including the Unborn Sect.

• Xu Da explained to Chen Tie that noble families and sects controlled territories and were maneuvering as troubled times approached, strengthening Chen Tie's resolve to grow stronger.
• Chen Tie saw a desperate man agree to sell himself to a Peace Pharmacy shopkeeper for New Qi and Blood Pills, and he resolved not to take other people's pills carelessly.
• Chen Tie bought a child carrier for Chen Xi, worried that he might someday need to flee the city with her, and decided to seek another part-time job.
• Chen Tie became a patrol guard for ten taels of silver and one treasure fish per month, then began the midnight watch in eastern Duchang City with He Liang.
• He Liang accepted ten taels from a Peace Pharmacy cart in exchange for turning a blind eye, and Chen Tie memorized its route.
• Chen Tie followed He Liang into an alley to hide as Unborn Sect followers passed, and He Liang warned him to avoid them.

Chen Tie continued improving his martial arts while noticing Shen Yan and Xu Da had been absent from the school for two days. Meanwhile, financial pressure forced the Xu Family to cut stipends, and the Shen Lineage prepared for a dockside martial contest against the Lin Family, hoping to recruit an outside fighter for its final match.

• Chen Tie practiced his martial arts and discovered that his Resounding Viscera Blood Scripture had reached the second level.
• Chen Tie learned that Shen Yan and Xu Da had not attended the martial arts school for two days, then returned to training.
• Xu Renyi told the escort captains that the Xu Family's business had fallen sharply and agreed to keep only one Skin Refining martial artist's stipend at Xu Da's request.
• Shen Zhen announced that the Shen Lineage would contest control of the eastern docks against the Lin Family in a three-match contest, with Zhao Ruifeng and Shen Gai assigned to the first two matches.
• Shen Zhen and two elders concluded that the Shen Lineage needed to find a powerful outside Flesh Refining martial artist for the third match.

Chen Tie asked Mo Hong why martial artists usually cultivated only one art and learned that a person's limited Qi and blood made it difficult to support multiple arts. He left determined to increase his Qi and blood and explore whether gathering all five elemental attributes could make his cultivation stronger.

• Shen Zhen heard that Shen Yan's robust Qi and blood suggested he was nearing Flesh Refining, but said the boy still needed tempering.
• Chen Tie noticed that rising prices and scarce supplies had made trade in the outer city chaotic, with people bartering goods as banknotes lost their value.
• Chen Tie left Chen Xi with Mo Fang and asked Mo Hong why martial artists usually cultivated only one cultivation art.
• Mo Hong explained that each art cultivated Qi and blood with a particular attribute, and dividing limited Qi and blood between arts weakened both.
• Mo Hong told Chen Tie that arts for increasing Qi and blood could enable multiple arts, but specializing in one remained more effective for most martial artists.
• Chen Tie considered increasing his Qi and blood several times over and gathering all five elements, then thanked Mo Hong and left.