Chapter Summaries

Aslan demanded medicine and Wu Youren's Weird-Repelling Jue while treating an injured young man, then grew suspicious and hostile after realizing Wu Youren was from Jin. Wu Youren, Cynthia, and Naimuer attacked Aslan, and Naimuer rushed toward the injured man as Aslan fired his pistol.

• Aslan stopped Cynthia, Naimuer, and Wu Youren, demanded wound medicine, and treated the injured young man they found on his shoulder.
• Aslan asked for Weird-Dispelling Powder and a Weird-Repelling Jue, while Cynthia insisted that he be checked before Wu Youren examined the young man.
• Wu Youren showed Aslan his jade Weird-Repelling Jue, and Aslan recognized that he was from Jin and said people from Jin could not be trusted.
• Wu Youren warned that Aslan had Weird Qi and struck him with his saber, while Cynthia fired twice and joined the attack.
• Naimuer threw a net at Aslan, then rushed toward the injured young man; Aslan drew his pistol and fired twice.

Wu Youren helped defeat Aslan and discovered that killing people could grant him experience points, while the experience he gained pushed him closer to the Knight realm. After the fight, Naimuer began looting the bodies, and Wu Youren considered trying a Daoist cultivation method while Instructor Ke Li was away.

• Naimuer distracted Aslan, but Wu Youren attacked him with an uncanny saber technique and pierced his Battle Qi field.
• Cynthia finished off the weakened Aslan, then ordered Naimuer to kill the wounded young man beside him.
• Wu Youren used his Weird-Repelling Jue on Aslan and told Cynthia the Weird Qi was gone.
• Naimuer asked Wu Youren to loot the bodies, but Wu Youren returned behind a rock while Naimuer prepared to search them.
• Wu Youren reflected that killing people granted experience points and worried that his growing experience was pushing him toward the Knight realm.

Naimuer and Cynthia debated what to do with Aslan’s damaged greatsword, then watched Wu Youren meditate as a storm approached. Wu Youren emerged with an unusual qi barrier that seemed to repel rain, leaving them wondering whether he had concealed a method or truly did not understand it.

• Naimuer considered buying Aslan’s damaged greatsword, but Cynthia warned that the Camille Clan could bring trouble, so he decided to sell it to the Martial Academy.
• Naimuer and Cynthia found Wu Youren meditating and chose not to disturb him, wondering whether he was close to breaking through to Knight level.
• A thunderstorm approached, and Cynthia set up a crude rain canopy over the motionless Wu Youren as she and Naimuer prepared to keep watch.
• Wu Youren emerged with an unstable aura and rain sliding off him as if an invisible membrane protected him.
• Wu Youren told Cynthia and Naimuer that he had developed the qi barrier himself but could not explain how, prompting Naimuer to suspect he was hiding the method.

Wu Youren successfully nurtured qi and used his enhanced perception to confront a Knight-level member of the Weird Race alone. With Cynthia joining the fight, they destroyed the creature, and Wu Youren sent his companions back while he checked for more enemies.

• Wu Youren circulated qi through his meridians, improving his perception and strength, then agreed to keep watch while Naimuer and Cynthia rested.
• A Knight-level Weird Race member appeared nearby, and Wu Youren lured it away from the caves to fight it alone.
• Wu Youren evaded the creature and used the Weird-Repelling Jue to slow its attack, then struck it with his greatsword and Weird-Dispelling Powder-coated daggers.
• Cynthia and Naimuer approached the battle, and Cynthia joined Wu Youren in destroying the creature's scattered shadows.
• Wu Youren told Cynthia and Naimuer to return to the caves while he searched the area for other members of the Weird Race.

Wu Youren, Cynthia, and Naimuer agreed to hold their Red Pine outpost for three more days despite dwindling supplies, then encountered two Knights who requisitioned them for tests. The chapter ended with the Knights overruling the apprentices’ objections and preparing to take them in.

• Wu Youren, Cynthia, and Naimuer searched for Weird items and checked nearby for more Weird activity, but found nothing.
• Cynthia requested permission to withdraw, but Red Pine offered double pay and asked them to hold out for three more days; the group agreed to try.
• Naimuer suggested burning the bodies, and Wu Youren used explosives to bury them beneath fallen rocks.
• Two Knights arrived at the site, questioned the apprentices, and ordered them to undergo tests as requisitioned personnel.
• Cynthia and Naimuer protested that they were exhausted, undersupplied, and wounded, but the burly Knight told his companion to give Ke Li’s student some consideration.

Cynthia, Naimuer, and Wu Youren dealt with two military Knights who questioned them about the explosion and sought treasures from the Weird Race. After the Knights left, Cynthia received Wu Youren’s warning about another approaching group and drove them away with a threat.

• Cynthia explained that Weird activity had forced them to burn the dead, while Naimuer asked the Knights for supplies.
• The thin Knight pressed Cynthia about her gold coins and demanded to know whether they had treasures taken from the Weird Race.
• The burly Knight attacked Wu Youren with a curved saber, but stopped short, and the Knights ultimately left to continue their mission.
• Naimuer complained that Wu Youren’s explosion had attracted the Knights, while Cynthia told Wu Youren to rest instead of taking watch.
• Wu Youren warned Cynthia that people were approaching from the northwest, and she threatened to activate the traps until the intruders left.

Cynthia, Wu Youren, and Naimuer faced an approaching group of Weird Race creatures while arguing over a makeshift rain cape. Wu Youren threatened to leave them and head for Suotu Town, but Cynthia insisted they return to Red Pine together to complete their mission.

• Cynthia told Red Pine that two men had visited their position, and her instructor ordered the group to hold out for two more days despite their lack of supplies.
• Wu Youren spotted Weird Qi across the road, and the three prepared to withdraw while suppressing their auras in the rain.
• Cynthia and Wu Youren shared his finished twig-and-leaf rain cape, while Naimuer took the unfinished one.
• Naimuer complained about the cape, prompting Wu Youren to demand it back and threaten to leave if Naimuer kept provoking him.
• As the black mist drifted toward them, Wu Youren said he would go to Suotu Town alone, but Cynthia insisted they return to Red Pine together.

Wu Youren left Cynthia and Naimuer and cautiously made his way out of the mountains, where he found shelter and a vehicle near a Knight Weird. He killed the transformed Knight Weird with Daoist True Qi and began dealing with its corpse, while the vehicle’s supplies remained unknown.

• Wu Youren vanished after telling Cynthia and Naimuer to head back together, leaving them to decide how to face the approaching Weird Qi.
• Wu Youren avoided dangerous concentrations of Weird Qi, switched off his watch after Cynthia messaged him, and spent five hours reaching the mountains’ edge.
• Wu Youren found an abandoned cave, killed a python for dinner, and surveyed the severe Weird Qi around the area.
• Wu Youren discovered an overturned off-road vehicle and used timed noise-making metal balls to draw away nearby Weird Qi.
• Wu Youren approached the vehicle unnoticed and cut down a Knight Weird that had transformed after death.
• Wu Youren used Daoist True Qi on his blade and repeatedly struck the Knight Weird’s corpse as Weird Qi began to seep from it.

Wu Youren killed a transformed Knight, scavenged supplies, and waited out Liang’s counterattack by its Great Knights before returning to his cave. As he resumed intense cultivation, a warning mechanism outside the cave was triggered and a faint wave of pressure swept over him.

• Wu Youren silently killed a Weird Race member who had undergone Weird Transformation and searched the vehicle for supplies as the metal balls’ effects faded.
• He waited through Liang’s distant battle, watched several Great Knights unleash powerful attacks, and left once the surrounding Weird Qi began drifting toward the battlefield.
• Wu Youren returned to his cave with supplies, ate roasted python meat, dried his clothes with true qi, and meditated intensely.
• After hours of cultivation, Wu Youren began opening the Yang Heel Vessel but sensed danger and dispersed his true qi.
• A warning mechanism outside the cave was triggered, and a faint wave of pressure swept through the still surroundings.

Wu Youren encountered three Intelligence Agency operatives in a cave and negotiated over his supplies while keeping his identity and intentions guarded. The Knight recognized him through Sister Hua and questioned his cultivation, leaving Wu Youren alarmed by his growing notoriety.

• Wu Youren identified himself as a Red Pine student and exchanged identity and Weird-Repelling Jue checks with the Intelligence Agency team.
• The Knight learned Wu Youren had killed and eaten a python, then claimed the cave and demanded to inspect his supplies.
• Wu Youren refused to surrender his first aid kit and wound medicine without a trade, but let the injured Knight use them after the Knight Apprentice offered to pay.
• The Knight noticed Wu Youren's watch was switched off, recognized him by name through Sister Hua, and said she had praised his intuition for Weird Qi.
• The Knight sensed Wu Youren was nearing Knight cultivation, and Wu Youren said he hoped to attempt becoming a Knight before twenty.

Wu Youren discovered that the Knight was a Liang spy, then exploited his wound and a Battle Qi disruption to kill him. The Knight’s final attempt to fake his death failed, leaving him writhing after Wu Youren tested him with a dagger.

• The Knight killed two Knight Apprentices and told Wu Youren that he was from Jin, then discussed the Weird situation and the tensions between Jin and Liang.
• Wu Youren attacked the Knight as they moved the bodies, striking beneath his ribs and then slashing his throat when the Knight’s Battle Qi began leaking away.
• Wu Youren explained that the Knight’s repeated use of “Great Jin” exposed him as a Liang man and waited for him to bleed out.
• The Knight appeared to die, but Wu Youren tested him with daggers and discovered he was still alive.
• Wu Youren threw a dagger between the Knight’s legs, and the wounded man jerked and rolled in pain.

Wu Youren left the cave after killing a knight, then hunted in the Weird Qi and gained experience by killing an isolated member of the Weird Race. Military scouts and a great knight tried to requisition him, but Hong Yan intervened and took him along; they learned that Cynthia had blasted down the mountainside and withdrawn, though her whereabouts remained unknown.

• Wu Youren found no experience points for killing the knight, buried the bodies and most of their supplies, and moved to a hidden dugout.
• Wu Youren hunted through the rain, avoided masses of Weird Qi, and killed a lone member of the Weird Race, gaining experience points.
• Two military scouts appeared and tried to requisition Wu Youren, but Hong Yan arrived and refused to let them take him without her.
• Wu Youren led Hong Yan and a burly great knight to his dugout, where they discussed the military crisis and the retreat from Suotu.
• The burly man asked Wu Youren to guide them toward retreating soldiers, and Wu Youren warned that the route through the Weird Qi was uncertain.
• Wu Youren showed that his watch had been switched off, and Hong Yan and the burly man explained that Cynthia had blown up the mountainside and withdrawn, but her location was unknown.

Wu Youren guided a military rescue team through a fog-filled mountain pass, where a Weird Domain concealed a dense swarm of the Weird Race. When a battle erupted, he operated a heavy machine gun to support two Great Knights and an Ability User Apprentice, and the powerful enemy escaped after Instructor Hong grievously wounded it.

• Wu Youren led the rescue team through thick fog and warned them that enormous numbers of Weird Qi masses surrounded them.
• A Knight Apprentice slipped down a slope, drawing attacks from the Weird Race and dying after fighting back with gunfire and a Weird-Exterminating Grenade.
• Wu Youren assessed a battle ahead and warned that the enemy was too strong for the rescue team, so the burly Great Knight and Instructor Hong charged into the fog.
• Wu Youren learned to operate the heavy machine gun and fired Weird-Breaking Projectiles, opening holes in the fog and drawing attacks toward his position.
• Wu Youren kept changing positions and firing while two Knights protected him, supporting the Great Knights and an Ability User Apprentice in the battle.
• Instructor Hong wounded the powerful Weird Race enemy, which then fled into the surrounding Weird Qi.

Wu Youren helped the rescued group withdraw from the mountains, and the survivors established a forward post while discussing their losses. At the post, Instructor Hong Yan and a military Great Knight disputed a recovered Weird item until an exhausted Inspectorate Ability User offered a high price for it, fearing Hong Yan might kill him.

• Wu Youren fired his heavy machine gun at a threat, helping the group regroup and withdraw with the rescued soldiers.
• Instructor Hong Yan and the burly Great Knight led the survivors to Wu Youren's foxhole, where they established a post and questioned the rescued group.
• Cynthia told Wu Youren that Naimuer had probably died, and they discussed how the military scouts had led their group to the garrison post.
• The burly Great Knight challenged Instructor Hong Yan over the Weird item she had picked up, while Wu Youren returned to his foxhole to meditate.
• The tall, thin Ability User from the Inspectorate revealed his status and argued that the Weird item should go to him, but Hong Yan refused to yield.
• After Hong Yan and the burly Great Knight left him exposed, the Ability User offered a high price for the item to save his life, and Hong Yan said any gains belonged to Red Pine.

Wu Youren fought off Weird shadows after a Weird artifact stirred an intense urge in him, then kept a low profile as the front line advanced. After a Great Knight showed interest in him and Instructor Hong protected him, Wu Youren paid her for a six-month written order and returned toward the Martial Academy, where he learned Naimuer was presumed dead.

• Instructor Hong refused to sell the bone-like Weird artifact, but Wu Youren rushed out to fight Weird shadows drawn by its presence while the others dispersed the Weird Qi.
• Reinforcements arrived, and Wu Youren was sidelined from combat and assigned construction and patrol work; Instructor Hong stopped the military from requisitioning him for the front line.
• A group searching for a missing Knight investigated Wu Youren, while an Eastern Liang Great Knight noticed him and offered to buy him, prompting Instructor Hong to intervene.
• Wu Youren asked to return to the Martial Academy, agreed to pay Instructor Hong three thousand silver dollars, and received a six-month written order.
• Wu Youren passed through Red Pine's chaotic quarantine station, heard Cynthia had returned to the Academy, and learned Naimuer was presumed dead.

After returning to Red Pine, Wu Youren restored his vegetable patch, met with Cynthia, and faced pressure from the Life and Death Knot over Aslan’s death and his spoils. Liu Jingming later visited to report on the hostages and ask Wu Youren for a loan.

• Wu Youren returned to his house at the Martial Academy, replaced what had been stolen, and spent several days restoring his vegetable patch and absorbing experience points.
• The caretaker explained why he had not protected Wu Youren’s garden and asked whether Wu Youren could resume supplying him with strong liquor.
• Cynthia visited Wu Youren, discussed the sale of their mission gains, and asked whether he wanted to return to Jin; Wu Youren said he could not accept being used as cannon fodder.
• A stocky man from the Life and Death Knot warned Wu Youren that Aslan’s family might demand justice, but Wu Youren showed him Hong Da’s order extending his protection.
• Liu Jingming visited Wu Youren and said He Wenhao had died, Feng Qianjun had returned to Jin Garden, and Shi Linyuan had taken his place among the hostages.
• Liu Jingming told Wu Youren that Feng Qianjun had spoken badly of him, then admitted he had come to borrow money.

Wu Youren enlisted Liu Jingming to sell counterfeit honey while the Life and Death Knot spread rumors that exposed Wu as a hostage from Jin. As Liu warned that the group would keep targeting him, Cynthia confronted Wu about his identity and the danger surrounding him, and he questioned why Liang still hated people from Jin.

• Liu Jingming asked Wu Youren to lend him a weapon, and Wu offered him a chance to sell honey instead.
• Wu Youren prepared counterfeit honey, and Liu Jingming quickly sold his first jars and returned for more.
• Liu Jingming told Wu Youren that rumors about hostages from Jin had spread at Red Pine, apparently targeting Wu.
• Liu Jingming warned Wu Youren that the Life and Death Knot could keep scheming against him, but Wu said he would respond as each problem arose.
• Cynthia visited Wu Youren after midnight, confirmed he was a hostage from Jin, and warned him that many people wanted to cause trouble for him.
• Wu Youren asked Cynthia why Liang still hated people from Jin after Jin had lost the war, ceded territory, and paid reparations.

Wu Youren learned that Liang’s authorities might have allowed the rumor about his hostage status to spread, then tried to secure protection at Red Pine while staying out of trouble. When Liang students provoked him over his vegetable garden, he deterred them with a display of precise knife-throwing and invoked Instructor Ke Li’s support before the administrator intervened.

• Cynthia discussed Liang’s defeat of Jin with Wu Youren, then told him she thought he would have had a good chance in Princess Yongning’s husband selection.
• Wu Youren completed a breakthrough, bought cooking supplies, and avoided Shali after she learned he was a hostage from Jin and wondered about his family’s rank.
• Wu Youren paid Hong Yan a thousand silver dollars for protection and told her his identity had been leaked; she said she would keep him safe at Red Pine but would not intervene in his affairs.
• A group of students confronted Wu Youren over his vegetable patch, and he warned them with a fast, accurate throwing knife while saying he was practicing a method used against the Weird Race.
• The administrator sent the students away and told Wu Youren not to cause trouble, then accepted his offer of vegetables.

Wu Youren faced escalating harassment at Red Pine, endured attacks on his traps and vegetable garden, and refused to leave his residence. Cynthia and Liu Jingming visited as tensions grew, and Cynthia said his enemies had apparently overslept instead of ambushing him after midnight.

• Cynthia brought Wu Youren silver dollars and cultivation pills from selling his resentment crystals, and he accepted only half the pills while asking her to buy Weird-Dispelling Powder.
• Cynthia suggested Wu Youren ask Hong Da for help, and Hong Da overheard them and asked whether she was old.
• Students mocked Wu Youren, and several intruders crept toward his vegetable garden at night before setting off his alarms and shattering his outdoor lamp with a crossbow bolt.
• Students returned the next day, destroyed Wu Youren's traps and part of his fence, and came back at night to threaten his garden again before leaving when he warned that they might have undergone Weird Transformation.
• Cynthia and Liu Jingming visited Wu Youren, and Liu Jingming asked him to deny that they knew each other before warning that his hostage-prince status had spread through Red Pine.
• Cynthia asked Wu Youren to seek support from other countrymen, and he said he might leave with Hong Da to kill fiends; Cynthia added that his attackers had meant to ambush him after midnight but had overslept.

Wu Youren bought supplies with Luo Xi and endured another night of attacks, trapping two students who vandalized his vegetable patch. During the investigation, a resentful Knight’s patrol turned on Wu Youren, and the chapter left him defending his traps by explaining that Hong Da had ordered him to prepare for the next battle.

• Cynthia arranged for Luo Xi to take Wu Youren shopping for supplies, while she and Liu Jingming stayed behind.
• Wu Youren replaced the shattered light, but attackers later cut down his fence and wrecked his vegetable patch before two of them fell into his traps.
• A patrol Knight investigated and found blood and bodily poison on Wu Youren’s traps, then learned the injured students had been targeting him because he was a hostage prince from Jin.
• The Knight ordered Wu Youren tied up, and his team kicked and punched him while he calmly endured their attacks.
• Wu Youren told the Knight that he had seen a transformed instructor on a mission with Ke Li and had set traps to protect himself from the Weird Race.
• Wu Youren said Hong Da had assessed him well and told him to prepare to join the next battle.