Chapter Summaries

Wang Shouzhe expanded the Zhuwei Lake land-reclamation project and learned where the Rogue Cultivator who murdered a wealthy farmer was hiding. He brought his younger siblings to confront the men, but Wang Luoqiu charged in before he finished teaching them about clan honor.

• Wang Shouzhe organized nearly eight hundred workers and boats into an assembly-line operation dredging Zhuwei Lake, while telling Liu Yuanrui that the project needed to grow to address hunger in Ping'an Town.
• Wang Zhong reported that the Rogue Cultivator responsible for the wealthy farmer's murder was hiding in a warehouse near Dingpu Ferry, and Wang Shouzhe set out to confront him.
• The Rogue Cultivators discussed their plan to wait out the Wang Clan's blockade and use evidence of the Liu Clan's involvement to protect themselves.
• Wang Shouzhe entered the warehouse with his younger siblings and lectured them about the Wang Clan's duty to protect its home and uphold its principles.
• Wang Luoqiu declared the Rogue Cultivators stepping stones on her path to the throne and charged into their midst.

Wang Shouzhe’s younger relatives defeated the rogue cultivators in the warehouse, with Wang Luojing using spirit insects and Wang Luoqiu overpowering her opponent. Afterward, the girls looted their enemies and bargained over the manuals and gear they had found.

• Wang Shouzhe sent Wang Shouyong and Wang Shoulian into the fight while Wang Luojing summoned her Amethyst Spirit Bees against a rogue cultivator.
• Wang Luojing’s bees slowed her opponent, and a concealed Iron-Thread Centipede bit him, allowing her to defeat him.
• Wang Luoqiu caught her slippery opponent, smashed him through a warehouse wall, and beat him until he surrendered.
• Wang Luoqiu knocked the rogue cultivator unconscious and looted gold notes, a refined-steel short sword, and the Wind Chasing movement manual.
• Wang Luojing looted her opponent and offered to trade her Body Forging Technique for Wind Chasing, while the two argued over the price and short sword.

Wang Shouyong and Wang Shoulian defeated their opponents after a hard-fought battle, while Wang Shouzhe faced Scarface Lao Wu, who had swallowed a Berserk Pill. Wang Shouzhe defeated him with the Wang Clan’s inherited sword art, leaving his younger siblings awed by his strength.

• Wang Luoqiu taunted Wang Shouyong and Wang Shoulian, who eventually defeated the two Rogue Cultivators and collected their spoils.
• Wang Shouzhe praised the brothers for their bravery and improvement, and Wang Luoqiu and Wang Luojing helped bandage their wounds.
• Scarface Lao Wu offered evidence against the Liu and Zhao Clans in exchange for his life, but Wang Shouzhe refused and ordered him to surrender and confess.
• Scarface Lao Wu swallowed a Berserk Pill and attacked Wang Shouzhe, who told his siblings to stand back and warned them not to underestimate an enemy.
• Wang Shouzhe used the Willow Catkin Movement Technique and Profound Origin Sword Art to break Scarface Lao Wu’s saber and defeat him.
• Wang Shouzhe explained how the Profound Origin Technique grew stronger with cultivation, and his younger siblings eagerly pledged to cultivate it.

Wang Shouzhe led his younger siblings through the aftermath of their mission, enforcing team rules and distributing the spoils as clan merit. At the Liu Clan residence, Ancestor Zhide decided to join forces with Brother Bojun and suppress the Wang Clan.

• Wang Luoqiu helped gather the defeated Rogue Cultivators’ belongings before Wang Dingzu arrived with soldiers to arrest them.
• Wang Dingzu thanked Wang Shouzhe for supporting his troops, then warned Wang Luoqiu to obey her Fourth Brother and silently rebuked Wang Shoulian.
• Wang Shouzhe praised Wang Shoulian, then deducted merit from Wang Luoqiu and the others for disobeying orders and trying to keep spoils for themselves.
• Wang Shouzhe explained that the mission and surrendered spoils earned 415 merit points, then divided the rewards among the team.
• Liu Shengye told Ancestor Zhide that the Wang Clan’s work-relief scheme threatened the Liu Clan, and Ancestor Zhide revealed he had reached the third layer of the Spirit Platform Realm.
• Ancestor Zhide decided to write to Brother Bojun and join forces to suppress the Wang Clan.

Wang Shouzhe learned more about bloodline awakening and the difficulties of cultivating Spirit Platform ancestors while visiting Ancestor Longyan. The discussion was interrupted by news that the Liu and Zhao Clans were marching on the Wang Clan with all their elites and two ancestors.

• Wang Shouzhe cultivated, ate breakfast, trained, and went to visit Ancestor Longyan.
• Ancestor Mang thanked Ancestor Longyan for helping loosen his cultivation bottleneck, and they discussed the scarce resources and guidance that made advancement difficult for lower-tier clans.
• Ancestor Mang explained how ancient ancestral bloodlines had thinned over generations, while Ancestor Longyan described awakening the Yuanshui Bloodline and its evolution into the Profound Ice Bloodline.
• Wang Shouzhe and the others considered bloodline awakenings, and Ancestor Longyan looked toward Liu Ruolei, who might have a faint Yuanshui Bloodline.
• Wang Wu reported that the Liu Clan and Zhao Clan had gathered their elites and were marching toward the Wang Clan with two ancestors.

Wang Shouzhe discussed the Liu-Zhao Clans’ looming challenge and learned more about bloodline awakenings among the Wang Clan’s younger generation. As the two clans arrived at the Wang Clan Main Residence to make a public show of force, a composed Wang Clan young man came out and silenced the crowd.

• Wang Shouzhe reassured Liu Yuanrui and Liu Ruolei that Ancestor Mang was guarding against the Liu-Zhao Clans, then asked him how bloodline awakening related to aptitude.
• Ancestor Mang explained that special bloodline abilities could raise a Profound Warrior’s aptitude and said Wang Luoqiu and Wang Luojing had likely awakened ancient bloodlines; Wang Shouzhe wondered what the three girls, including Wang Lici, had in common.
• Liu Shengye and Zhao Jinxian led their clans toward the Wang Clan Main Residence, drawing a crowd that the Liu-Zhao Clans encouraged to witness their confrontation.
• Liu Yongzhou and Zhao Dingtian announced that Ancestors Zhide and Bojun had come to express gratitude for the Wang Clan’s generosity, while some spectators shouted insults at the Wang Clan.
• A Wang Clan young man stepped through the gates, demanded to know who was causing a disturbance, and silenced the crowd with his presence.

Wang Shouzhe turned the Liu-Zhao Clans’ confrontation at the Wang Clan gates against them by exposing their past and present wrongs before the crowd. He challenged their younger members to fight, and his sisters joined him, leaving the two clans’ forces cowed.

• Wang Shouzhe mocked Liu Shengye and rejected his demand for aristocratic etiquette, drawing laughter from the spectators.
• Wang Shouzhe accused the Liu and Zhao ancestors of abandoning Ping'an Town during a beast tide and accused the clans of seizing commoners’ land during the locust disaster.
• Independent farmers and townspeople backed Wang Shouzhe’s claims, suppressing the Liu-Zhao Clans’ momentum.
• Liu Shengye demanded that Wang Longyan appear, but Wang Shouzhe offered to invite her only if someone under forty could defeat him, then drew his sword and challenged them.
• Wang Luoqiu and Wang Luojing stepped beside Wang Shouzhe and challenged Liu-Zhao Profound Warriors under sixteen.

The Ping'an Wang Clan rallied behind Wang Shouzhe as the Liu and Zhao Clans threatened them, earning the crowd’s support. Wang Luoqiu then defeated Liu Yonghao in their public challenge, leaving the Liu Clan humiliated.

• Wang Shouyong, Wang Shoulian, and the rest of the Wang Clan members stepped forward to stand with Wang Shouzhe, while spectators were moved by their unity.
• Wang Shouzhe challenged Liu Shengye and Zhao Jinxian to reach Ancestor Longyan through him, but Wang Luoqiu and Wang Luojing argued over who would fight first.
• Liu Shengye sent his son Liu Yonghao to challenge the Wang girls, and Wang Luoqiu won the chance to face him after a tie in finger guessing.
• Wang Luoqiu overwhelmed Liu Yonghao with a flurry of attacks and knocked him down with a Mountain-Shaking Elbow, breaking several ribs.
• Wang Luoqiu mocked Liu Yonghao as weak, and Wang Luolan cheered for her victory.

Wang Luoqiu defeated Liu Yonghao, and Wang Luojing gained the upper hand against Zhao Dingteng by using her Spirit Insect Master abilities. When Ancestor Bojun attacked Wang Luojing, a powerful expert intervened, leaving the two Ancestors facing off.

• Wang Luoqiu defeated Liu Yonghao in a spar, lifting the Wang Clan's spirits and humiliating the Liu Clan.
• Zhao Jinxian sent Zhao Dingteng to challenge Wang Luojing after Wang Luoqiu returned from her fight.
• Zhao Dingteng concealed his speed and nearly struck Wang Luojing, but she evaded him and used her movement technique and Spirit Bees to counterattack.
• Wang Luojing's Spirit Bees and venomous insects overwhelmed Zhao Dingteng, who could not surrender, while the Wang and Zhao Clans confronted each other.
• Ancestor Bojun rushed in to seize Wang Luojing, but another powerful expert appeared and attacked him.

Wang Shouzhe used Zhao Bojun and Liu Zhide’s confrontation with the Wang Clan to win public support for disaster relief, while Wang Luojing continued tormenting Zhao Dingteng. As the two ancestors moved to attack Gongsun Mang, Wang Longyan’s sword intervened and she challenged them.

• Gongsun Mang stopped Zhao Bojun from attacking Wang Luojing and accused him of breaking the rules by targeting a child.
• Wang Shouzhe defended Luojing’s continued assault on Zhao Dingteng, and Gongsun Mang warned her not to kill him.
• Liu Zhide emerged and demanded that Wang Shouzhe stop interfering in Liu-Zhao territory and dismiss the laborers he had recruited.
• Wang Shouzhe proposed that the three clans provide disaster relief together, winning the onlookers’ support and putting the Liu and Zhao ancestors in a difficult position.
• Zhao Bojun and Liu Zhide challenged Gongsun Mang together, but Wang Longyan’s sword struck at Zhide and she demanded to know how they dared to suppress her.

Wang Longyan arrived to defend the Wang Clan and overwhelmed Liu Zhide with the Longyan Sword, while Gongsun Mang kept Zhao Bojun occupied. The two ancestor-level battles continued as Wang Shouzhe and the others withdrew to safety.

• Wang Longyan appeared, reclaimed the Longyan Sword, and startled Liu Zhide and Zhao Bojun with her return.
• Wang Longyan attacked Liu Zhide with the Profound Ice Sword Technique, but Liu Zhide blocked her first strike with his Purple Gold Bowl Spirit Artifact.
• Wang Longyan launched a relentless second attack that drove Liu Zhide back and forced him to call for Zhao Bojun's help.
• Gongsun Mang blocked Zhao Bojun and engaged him in battle while Wang Longyan continued crushing Liu Zhide's defenses.
• Wang Shouzhe urged everyone to retreat as the four ancestors fought across two battlefields.

Wang Shouzhe used Lei Yangqiu’s intervention to protect Ancestor Longyan and probe the Town Guardian’s position, then stopped the Liu-Zhao Clans from leaving by raising old murder cases. The chapter ended as Wang Dingzu brought witnesses and evidence before Lei Yangqiu.

• Wang Luoqiu watched Ancestor Longyan and Liu Zhide’s battle, then told Wang Shouzhe she was merely eager to someday punch apart a mountain.
• Liu Zhide called for Lei Yangqiu, who arrived and ordered the ancestors to stop fighting.
• Wang Shouzhe prompted Ancestor Longyan to feign an injury flare-up, then thanked Lei Yangqiu for preventing the Liu-Zhao Clans from destroying the Wang Clan.
• Lei Yangqiu ordered everyone to disperse, and Liu Zhide and Zhao Bojun prepared to leave.
• Wang Shouzhe halted them and reported several family-extermination murder cases; Wang Dingzu arrived with officers, witnesses, and physical evidence.

Wang Shouzhe pressured Town Guardian Lei Yangqiu into handling the Liu and Zhao Clans’ crimes publicly, forcing Lei to authorize the arrests of Liu Shengze and Zhao Jinda. The two suspects were brought before Lei, who grew wary of Wang Shouzhe’s methods.

• Wang Dingzu presented the evidence against the Liu and Zhao Clans to Lei Yangqiu, who recognized that he had been maneuvered into a trap.
• Wang Shouzhe demanded a public inquiry, and his supporters stirred the crowd to pressure Lei Yangqiu.
• Lei Yangqiu agreed to uphold the law publicly and authorized Wang Dingzu to arrest Liu Shengze and Zhao Jinda.
• Liu Yongzhou and Zhao Dingtian tried to intervene, but their clan leaders restrained them while Liu Zhide and Zhao Bojun failed to persuade Lei Yangqiu to stop the arrests.
• Wang Dingzu brought Zhao Jinda and Liu Shengze before Lei Yangqiu, who judged them guilty and became wary of Wang Shouzhe.

Wang Shouzhe turned the deaths of Liu Shengze and Zhao Jinda into a public challenge to Lei Yangqiu’s conduct as Town Guardian. With the crowd and powerful institutions likely to scrutinize him, Lei Yangqiu sought Wang’s private help, but Wang left him with the same warning he had given the Liu-Zhao clans.

• Liu Shengze and Zhao Jinda killed themselves after their crimes were exposed, while their relatives blamed Wang Shouzhe and the Wang Clan.
• Lei Yangqiu praised the two men, but Wang Shouzhe declared himself dissatisfied and accused Lei of praising murderers and mishandling the case.
• Wang Shouzhe listed Lei’s procedural failures and warned that the Town Guardian’s arbitrary conduct endangered the Wang Clan and the commoners.
• Wang Shouzhe said he would report the affair to the City Governor’s Mansion, the Purple Mansion Academy, and the Prefecture Prince’s Mansion, while Liu Ruolei offered support.
• Lei Yangqiu lost the crowd’s support and privately asked Wang Shouzhe how he could make amends, but Wang advised him to leave his clan a few shreds of dignity.
• Lei Yangqiu spat blood in fury after recognizing Wang Shouzhe had used the same warning against him that he had used against Liu Shengze and Zhao Jinda.

Wang Shouzhe forced Lei Yangqiu and the Liu-Zhao Clans to accept compensation and arrange support for the massacre survivors, then warned Lei Yangqiu that he would investigate his conduct. Lei Yangqiu left grateful to have been spared and resentful of the Liu-Zhao Clans, while Wang Shouzhe considered how completely he had gained control over him.

• Wang Shouzhe dismissed the Liu-Zhao Clans and Lei Yangqiu, then demanded compensation for the survivors and the damaged bluestone bricks.
• Lei Yangqiu set the compensation at one thousand Qian Gold for the survivors and five hundred Qian Gold for the bricks, which the Liu-Zhao Clans paid.
• Wang Shouzhe tasked Lei Yangqiu with settling the deceased clansmen's families, and Lei Yangqiu warned him that Zhao Bojun and Liu Zhide might retaliate in secret.
• Lei Yangqiu denied involvement in the killings but admitted to corruption and to indulging the Liu-Zhao Clans; Wang Shouzhe said he would investigate and ordered him to handle the aftermath first.
• Lei Yangqiu left relieved and grateful to Wang Shouzhe, while Wang Shouzhe reflected that Lei Yangqiu seemed to have developed a kind of Stockholm syndrome.

After the Liu-Zhao Clans withdrew, Wang Shouzhe used a porridge feast to win commoners’ trust and unveiled a plan to draw farming households into Wang Clan territory. Liu Yuanrui recognized how the plan could weaken the Liu-Zhao Clans, while Zhao Dingteng asked whether the Zhao Clan was truly so hated.

• The Liu-Zhao Clans left after paying compensation, and Gongsun Hui and the Wang Clan’s young people served porridge to the gathered commoners.
• Wang Shouzhe invited people struggling under the Liu-Zhao Clans to move to Wang Clan territory, and Wang Clan locals described their better harvests and farming benefits.
• Wang Shouzhe announced plans to exchange commoners’ fields and homes for reclaimed Future Fields, prompting many farmers to volunteer for the reclamation project.
• Liu Yuanrui explained that the plan could bring workers and land under Wang Clan control while shrinking the Liu-Zhao Clans’ influence, and Liu Ruolei praised Wang Shouzhe.
• Zhao Dingteng, whose injuries were already healing, asked whether the Zhao Clan was really so hated.

Wang Shouzhe sent Liu Ruolei and Liu Yuanrui away while the Liu and Zhao Clans secretly allied and prepared two cultivators to advance to the Spirit Platform Realm so they could kill him. As the clans entered a tense pause, Wang Shouzhe met Chen Fangjie at Xia Garden, where Wang Mei, posing as Zhong Luoxian, offered to play the flute.

• Wang Shouzhe told Zhao Dingteng that the Zhao Clan had made too many enemies to redeem its reputation, and Zhao Dingteng left disappointed.
• Liu Yuanrui tried to take Liu Ruolei home, but she asked Wang Shouzhe to reserve her courtyard and said she would return after he married her sister.
• Zhao Bojun and Liu Zhide formed a hundred-year alliance and agreed to buy back materials so Zhao Daoyuan and Liu Shenghao could attempt the Spirit Platform Realm.
• The Liu and Zhao Clans fell quiet while the Wang Clan expanded the Zhuwei Lake project, leaving the region in a fragile calm.
• Wang Shouzhe met Chen Fangjie at Xia Garden, where Zhong Luoxian offered to play them a flute piece.

Wang Shouzhe used Zhong Luoxian to manipulate Liu Yongzhou into testing Liu Shengye, hoping to undermine the Liu Clan’s plans for the Heaven Spirit Pill. After Liu Yongzhou left, Zhao Dingtian arrived to meet Luoxian, and Wang Shouzhe’s scheme continued.

• Zhong Luoxian played the flute badly, and Wang Shouzhe and Chen Fangjie endured the performance before Liu Yongzhou arrived.
• Wang Shouzhe told Chen Fangjie that Liu Yongzhou had committed river banditry and other crimes for the Liu Clan, winning Chen’s support against the clan.
• Zhong Luoxian confronted Liu Yongzhou about his family’s corruption, then persuaded him to seek support from Liu Shengye and test the clan head with her plan.
• After Liu Yongzhou left, Chen Fangjie inferred that Wang Shouzhe was targeting the Liu Clan’s Heaven Spirit Pill, and Wang Shouzhe confirmed he meant to take the clan’s resources or destroy the pill.
• Zhao Dingtian arrived at Xia Garden to meet Zhong Luoxian.

Wang Shouzhe’s campaign raised the Wang Clan’s standing while Liu Yongzhou learned he had been passed over for the Spirit Platform path and rode to Xia Garden. There, Wang Shouzhe exposed Liu Yongzhou’s crimes, killed him, and recovered the Heaven Spirit Pills before Ancestor Longyan appeared.

• Wang Shouzhe’s publicity campaign spread the Wang Clan’s history and the Liu-Zhao Clans’ role in the disaster fifty years earlier, raising the Wang Clan’s reputation.
• Liu Yongzhou learned Liu Shengye had chosen Liu Yonghao for the Spirit Platform path and resolved to reclaim what he believed his family was owed.
• Liu Yongzhou arrived at Lotus Listening Pavilion and found Wang Shouzhe, Tantai Heyu, and a disguised Zhong Luoxian waiting with evidence of his crimes.
• Wang Shouzhe revealed that Zhong Luoxian had helped gather the evidence, then killed Liu Yongzhou when he tried to flee.
• Wang Mei recovered the Heaven Spirit Pill and its supplementary pills, and Wang Shouzhe kept both Heaven Spirit Pills despite Chen Fangjie asking for one.
• Ancestor Longyan arrived, and Chen Fangjie immediately knelt and paid his respects.

Wang Shouzhe brought the Heaven Spirit Pill and advancement materials to Xingsheng Farm so Wang Xiaohan could attempt to break through to the Spirit Platform Realm. He discovered Wang Lici had been feasting instead of laboring, but she and her tiger cub Huahua were successfully hunting Spirit Rats in the fields.

• Wang Shouzhe and Ancestor Longyan arrived at Xingsheng Farm and escorted Wang Xiaohan to a concealed shelter for his breakthrough attempt.
• Wang Shouzhe encouraged Wang Xiaohan, then left him under Ancestor Longyan’s protection and went to find Wang Lici.
• Wang Shouzhe found Wang Lici feasting on barbecue with Huahua while the farm workers catered to her.
• Wang Lici sent Huahua to hunt Spirit Rats, and the tiger cub quickly caught several in the fields.
• Wang Lici divided the catch in her own favor and credited her skill to learning the Nine Chapters of Arithmetic, leaving Wang Shouzhe stunned.