Chapter Summaries

Wang Hao accepted Yang Lianting’s challenge to a fight to the death and spent the hour learning Zhao Dachui’s Blood Wind Fast Sword. When the battle began, Wang Hao revealed he could wield two swords and countered the four opponents’ coordinated attack.

• Wang Hao accepted Yang Lianting’s challenge but asked for an hour to recover before their fight.
• Wang Hao told Zhao Dachui he wanted to learn Blood Wind Fast Sword, and Zhao Dachui demonstrated and explained the technique.
• Wang Hao learned the physical-force portion of Blood Wind Fast Sword in half an hour and reached the competent level within the hour.
• The Mystic Water Hall master and three other hall masters supplied Yang Lianting and the other youths with treasured swords, angering Zhao Fengxue.
• Yang Lianting and the three youths attacked Wang Hao together, but Wang Hao blocked their strikes with his left-hand sword and swung his greatsword at Yang Lianting.

Wang Hao rejected Yang Lianting’s attempt to end their fight in a draw and used the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle to kill his opponents. Yang Lianting crossed the boundary and tried to escape with a killing move, but Wang Hao pursued him as Zhao Dachui withdrew, leaving Yang Lianting to face the final attack.

• Wang Hao knocked aside the four attackers, but refused Yang Lianting’s proposal to call their fight a draw and asked Zhao Dachui to witness the life-and-death battle.
• Zhao Fengxue took the divine sword Wang Hao tossed aside, while Zhao Dachui and Blood Wind Hall assassins blocked the opponents’ escape.
• Wang Hao killed a tall and a thin brocade-clad youth with his greatsword, then faced Yang Lianting and the last youth as they unleashed their killing moves.
• Yang Lianting attacked Zhao Dachui and crossed the boundary, calling on Hall Master Fu to save him, but Zhao Fengxue stopped Hall Master Fu from intervening.
• Wang Hao defeated and killed the last brocade-clad youth, then pursued Yang Lianting as Zhao Dachui retreated; Yang Lianting turned and thrust his sword at an approaching attacker.

After killing Yang Lianting, Wang Hao accepted Fu Lin’s challenge to face Mystic Water Hall’s killing formation in three days, then used the wager to draw three other hall masters into offering their own formations and valuable medicines. He kept his preparations secret, leaving Zhao Fengxue and Zhao Dachui wondering how he intended to survive.

• Wang Hao killed Yang Lianting after spotting flaws in his swordsmanship, and Yang Lianting realized the reason only as he died.
• Fu Lin wagered a million taels against the Mysterious Water Sword and challenged Wang Hao to face Mystic Water Hall’s yellow-rank killers; Wang Hao agreed to fight their formation in three days.
• Zhao Dachui warned Wang Hao that hundreds of armed killers could threaten even a Super-First-Rate expert, but Wang Hao insisted he was prepared.
• Three other hall masters proposed matching wagers, and Wang Hao asked Zhao Fengxue to choose the benefits; Zhao Fengxue demanded a purple lingzhi, thousand-year blood ginseng, and supreme-grade Tianshan snow lotus.
• Zhao Fengxue offered Blood Wind Hall’s resources for Wang Hao’s preparations, while Wang Hao kept his trump card secret from Zhao Dachui and teased him about Sun Ruonan and his aching back.

Wang Hao arrived late to face Mystic Water Hall’s killing formation and revealed heavy Red Gold armguards that helped him overwhelm the killers. Fu Lin’s hidden mechanical trap launched a deadly bolt that buried Wang Hao beneath a collapsed wall, leaving Zhao Fengxue furious and Fu Lin demanding the Mysterious Water Sword.

• Fu Lin waited for Wang Hao and threatened to reclaim the Mysterious Water Sword if he failed to appear, while Zhao Fengxue insisted Wang Hao would come.
• Wang Hao arrived after breaking through to Peak Second-rate and revealed a pair of thousand-jin Red Gold armguards.
• Wang Hao charged into the formation and cut down the Mystic Water Hall killers, while Fu Lin secretly signaled a subordinate to prepare another attack.
• A concealed mechanical track fired a giant bolt at Wang Hao, who blocked it with his armguards but was hurled through a wall and buried beneath the rubble.
• Zhao Fengxue accused Fu Lin of using a forbidden siege crossbow, but Fu Lin pointed out that the device was technically a mechanical trap and demanded the Mysterious Water Sword.

Wang Hao survived Fu Lin’s deadly arrow with his red gold armguards, defeated the remaining assassins, and helped Zhao Fengxue claim the Mysterious Water Sword. After pretending to be badly injured to keep his opponents confident about their wagers, Wang Hao named his oversized weapon the Shameless Greatsword; Zhao Fengxue then asked how he had spent more than a hundred thousand taels of gold.

• Wang Hao emerged from the rubble alive after the enormous arrow struck his red gold armguard, shocking Fu Lin and the others.
• Wang Hao cut down the two hundred remaining assassins, then left the training ground and handed the armguards to Zhao Fengxue.
• Zhao Fengxue claimed the Mysterious Water Sword, while Fu Lin left and the other hall masters considered how to defeat Wang Hao in the next battle.
• Zhao Dachui and Zhao Fengxue found Wang Hao relaxing in his courtyard, where he admitted he had pretended to be badly injured to keep three hall masters from backing out of their wagers.
• Zhao Dachui called Wang Hao’s five-chi greatsword the Shameless Greatsword, and Wang Hao adopted the name.
• Zhao Fengxue asked Wang Hao what he had done with the more than one hundred thousand taels of gold he had spent.

Wang Hao explained the Red Gold armguards’ self-repair and True Qi reinforcement to Zhao Fengxue and Zhao Dachui, while Zhao Fengxue worried about their cost and the danger of revealing their secret. After Zhao Fengxue left with Zhao Dachui, Wang Hao hurried to clean up before going to eat.

• Wang Hao pulled the arrowhead from a dented Red Gold armguard and showed Zhao Fengxue and Zhao Dachui how it quickly repaired itself.
• Zhao Fengxue struck the armguard with Sword Qi and cut it, but Wang Hao restored it by pressing the broken piece back into place.
• Wang Hao had Zhao Fengxue feed Acquired True Qi into the armguard before striking again, and the reinforced Red Gold resisted the Sword Qi and instantly repaired its dent.
• Zhao Fengxue questioned the armguards’ limited usefulness and rejected Wang Hao’s offer to forge more armor, warning that the Eastern Depot or imperial court might covet it.
• Wang Hao claimed he alone knew the Red Gold forging method, and Zhao Fengxue warned him to guard the secret before taking Zhao Dachui away.
• After they left, Wang Hao hurried to the communal latrine and planned to bathe before eating, hoping to keep them from discovering his medicinal food portion.

Wang Hao learned that Dongfang Bai had arrived nearby and sought a disguise technique so he could approach her without being recognized. After trading Drunken Immortal Brew for Elder Chu’s Thousand Faces Divine Technique, he mastered its first half and changed his appearance.

• 9527 told Chef Li that Zhao Fengxue had upgraded Wang Hao’s medicinal meals to grade A and warned Wang Hao that Fu Lin was helping Han Long reach the Super-First-Rate realm.
• Wang Hao threatened Chef Li after learning he had reported the excessive ingredient use, then forgave him with a warning.
• Xiao Mengmeng alerted Wang Hao that Dongfang Bai was within ten li and explained that approaching her could trigger a side quest and earn Fortune Points.
• Wang Hao took Drunken Immortal Brew from the dining hall and brought it to Elder Chu in exchange for a disguise technique.
• Elder Chu gave Wang Hao the Thousand Faces Divine Technique, and Wang Hao mastered its muscle-and-bone method in half an hour, shrinking and reshaping his frame.

Wang Hao disguised himself and went to the Listening to Rain Pavilion to find Dongfang Bai, only to discover she was performing there as Liu Rushi. After spending ten thousand taels to meet her privately and bluffing that he belonged to the Great Ming imperial family, he entered her boudoir while fearing she would recognize him.

• Wang Hao borrowed ten thousand taels from Blood Wind Hall’s fat steward and used the Thousand Faces Divine Technique to disguise himself as a handsome young noble.
• Wang Hao followed Xiao Mengmeng’s directions to the Listening to Rain Pavilion and waited for Dongfang Bai, unaware that she was performing under the name Liu Rushi.
• After Liu Rushi danced, Wang Hao learned from Xiao Mengmeng that she was Dongfang Bai and grew jealous of the crowd watching her.
• Wang Hao offered ten thousand taels to secure a private meeting with Liu Rushi and threatened to use the Eastern Depot and Brocade Guard when another guest challenged him.
• The Pavilion’s beautiful woman led Wang Hao to Dongfang Bai’s boudoir, where Dongfang Bai studied his disguised face and felt she recognized him.

Wang Hao concealed his resistance to Dongfang Bai’s hypnotic qin and learned that she had come to investigate the Blood Robe Tower’s massacre of the Dongfang Lineage. After escaping her suspicion and leaving the Listening to Rain Pavilion, he used his True Spirit Sword Intent to frighten off those following him.

• Wang Hao pretended to be hypnotized by Dongfang Bai’s qin, resisting its influence with his True Spirit Sword Intent while answering her questions.
• Wang Hao revealed that the imperial court planned to infiltrate the martial world and investigate the Blood Robe Tower, then agreed to look into the Dongfang Lineage massacre.
• Dongfang Bai planted a suggestion that Wang Hao investigate the massacre, then made him appear to fall asleep while she recovered from the effort.
• Wang Hao woke two hours later, maintained his cover, and left after declaring that he would be Mistress Liu’s only guest.
• The beautiful woman followed Wang Hao across the rooftops, but she and the other watchers fled when Wang Hao’s True Spirit Sword Intent made them believe a Grandmaster had targeted them.

Wang Hao learned that the Dongfang Lineage had been annihilated to conceal secrets implicating the emperor, making it unlikely Dongfang Bai would forgive him. He asked Zhao Dachui to keep the matter suppressed, then prepared to face the three allied halls in the next day’s battle, confident in his improved strength.

• Wang Hao asked Zhao Dachui to help him investigate the Dongfang Lineage’s massacre and learned that Zhao Dachui had obtained a secret file.
• Wang Hao read the file and concluded that the Dongfang Lineage had been wiped out to silence them; Zhao Dachui confirmed that the massacre had been ordered by the emperor to hide their secrets.
• Zhao Dachui explained that Dongfang Ni had been killed by a Great Grandmaster before the Blood Robe Tower, Eastern Depot, and Brocade Guard carried out the massacre, and warned Wang Hao to keep the truth secret.
• Wang Hao asked Zhao Dachui to persuade his father to suppress the matter rather than report Dongfang Bubai’s situation, and Zhao Dachui agreed to speak with him after the next day’s battle.
• Zhao Dachui warned Wang Hao that three halls had secretly joined forces against him, but Wang Hao remained confident after his strength and Ten Stances of Bloody Battle improved.

Wang Hao used spilled tung oil to force the three halls’ killers to abandon their prepared training ground and move their formation into the woods. After surviving a coordinated ambush, he pursued the wielder of a rare Thousand-Forged divine sword into the trees, leaving the hall masters uneasy about how much strength he had concealed.

• Zhao Fengxue and the three hall masters brought more than 2,300 yellow-rank killers together for the wager, while Ye Qingqian argued that joining forces did not break its rules.
• Wang Hao poured tung oil across the training ground and ignited it, forcing the killers to flee toward the woods and Ye Qingqian to move the battlefield.
• After Zhao Fengxue warned him to watch above, Wang Hao entered the woods and began cutting down trees to expose the hidden killers.
• The killers launched a coordinated attack from the treetops and shrubs, but Wang Hao discarded his Red Gold armguards and swept them back with his greatsword.
• A killer wielding a superior Thousand-Forged divine sword blocked Wang Hao’s strike and retreated into the woods, so Wang Hao pursued him using the Lightning Straight-Line Step.
• Ye Qingqian and the other hall masters realized they had underestimated Wang Hao’s speed, while Zhao Fengxue and his son watched with confidence.

Wang Hao fought off the Blood Robe Tower assassins in the forest, using a faster and more powerful version of the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle while his injuries proved mostly superficial. Outside the forest, Zhao Fengxue and Lu Weilou agreed to conceal that Wang Hao had swallowed the Great Rejuvenation Pill, and Zhao revealed his belief that Wang Hao had comprehended profound Sword Intent.

• Wang Hao accelerated the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle and killed dozens of assassins, while the remaining attackers adjusted their formation and continued fighting.
• Wang Hao sustained bloody-looking wounds but used his Bloodline Power to heal internal injuries and endured the assassins' attack as his swordsmanship improved.
• Lu Weilou questioned Zhao Fengxue about Wang Hao's version of the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle, and Zhao said Wang Hao had learned it from an old man at Qingfeng Martial Arts Hall.
• Lu Weilou asked whether Zhao planned to conceal that Wang Hao had swallowed the Great Rejuvenation Pill, and they agreed to protect the promising junior from their superiors.
• Zhao Fengxue told Lu Weilou that he had sensed a powerful strand of Sword Intent in Wang Hao, leaving Lu Weilou astonished.

Wang Hao won the bloody gauntlet, broke through to the First-Rate realm, and helped Zhao Fengxue seize a poisoned divine sword from Ye Qingqian. After Lu Weilou tried to recruit him, Wang Hao stayed with Zhao Fengxue and left to eat and recover.

• Wang Hao delivered a poisoned divine sword to Zhao Fengxue, who accused Ye Qingqian of plotting an assassination and kept the sword as evidence.
• Wang Hao said he had defeated every assassin in the gauntlet, and Zhao Fengxue discovered that he had advanced to the First-Rate realm and perfected the External Training Golden Bell Shield.
• Ye Qingqian and the other hall masters agreed to compensate Hall Master Guo before leaving, and Hall Master Guo went with Zhao Fengxue to settle the debt.
• Lu Weilou offered Wang Hao doubled treatment and a chance to inherit the Blood Sword Hall, but Wang Hao said he would switch halls only for more than five hundred thousand taels a day.
• Lu Weilou left in anger, and Wang Hao picked up Little Erha and headed to report to Zhao Fengxue before finding food and rest.

Zhao Fengxue named Wang Hao as the heir to Blood Wind Hall and explained the secret cultivation path Elder Chu hoped he would follow: the pre-Qin way of the sages. Wang Hao left with new responsibilities and a warning about the powerful Confucian School, while Zhao Fengxue feared the consequences if Wang Hao tried to challenge its dominance.

• Zhao Fengxue praised Wang Hao for refusing Lu Weilou's offer and asked him to take over Blood Wind Hall once he reached Peak Super-First-Rate.
• Zhao Fengxue agreed to help exterminate the Dongfang Lineage and gave Wang Hao a booklet of imperial court secrets and three spirit medicines.
• Wang Hao asked why Elder Chu had told him to focus on the External Training Golden Bell Shield, and Zhao Fengxue warned him to keep the matter secret.
• Zhao Fengxue explained that Elder Chu wanted Wang Hao to follow the pre-Qin cultivation path and might expect him to found a school of thought to reach the Xiantian Grandmaster realm.
• Wang Hao left with the spirit medicines, while Zhao Fengxue worried that the Confucian School could destroy Blood Wind Hall if Wang Hao failed.

Wang Hao resolved to prepare Dongfang Bai for pre-Qin Qi refinement and sought a method to convert internal power into bodily strength. Elder Chu gave him the incomplete Body Tempering True Scripture, leaving Wang Hao determined to perfect it and use it to help Dongfang Bai awaken her bloodline powers.

• After reflecting on the Confucian School’s influence, Wang Hao accepted that he would eventually clash with it while pursuing his goal of becoming this world’s Dao Ancestor.
• Wang Hao planned to help Dongfang Bai awaken her Bloodline Power by giving her a suitable external cultivation method, but realized she first needed to reach Peak First-Rate.
• Wang Hao brought Elder Chu a jar of Drunken Immortal Brew and asked for a method that could return internal power to the flesh while tempering the body.
• Elder Chu warned Wang Hao that following this path could make the Confucian School and the whole world his enemies, but Wang Hao reaffirmed his resolve.
• Elder Chu gave Wang Hao the incomplete Body Tempering True Scripture, which converted internal power into strength for flesh, sinew, and bone.
• Wang Hao memorized the scripture, promised to perfect it, and left grateful to Elder Chu and Zhao Dachui for his opportunities.

Wang Hao arrived at the Listening to Rain Pavilion as Zhu Yanzu, stopped Wu Cheng from forcing his way into Dongfang Bai’s chamber, and gave her a rare Tianshan snow lotus. The chapter left Wang Hao reclining on Dongfang Bai’s bed as she played the zither, while she silently remembered his mention of the Body Tempering True Scripture.

• Wang Hao reached the ninth floor and broke Wu Cheng’s kneecaps, knocked out his teeth, and threatened him after Wu Cheng tried to enter Dongfang Bai’s chamber.
• Uncle Zhou recognized that a powerful Grandmaster was protecting Wang Hao, and Wu Cheng decided to hide the incident from his father.
• Wang Hao entered Dongfang Bai’s chamber as Zhu Yanzu, dismissed her thanks, and gave her a superb Tianshan snow lotus to ease her discomfort.
• Dongfang Bai ate a petal of the snow lotus and overheard Wang Hao mention the Body Tempering True Scripture, which she committed to memory.
• Wang Hao brushed off questions about his injuries, lay down on Dongfang Bai’s bed, and asked her to play the zither.

Dongfang Bai questioned Wang Hao under hypnosis about the Dongfang Lineage’s destruction and the Body Tempering True Scripture, then treated his wounds after he woke. Their conversation turned to vengeance and dreams, ending with Wang Hao revealing his lofty former ambitions and admitting he had replaced them with a more practical dream.

• Dongfang Bai hypnotized Wang Hao and learned that the Eastern Depot and Brocade Guard had exterminated the Dongfang Lineage on the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s orders, while an unknown Xiantian Grandmaster had killed Dongfang Ni.
• Wang Hao explained the Body Tempering True Scripture and its secret method for awakening Bloodline Power, then confirmed that the Tianshan snow lotus had caused his injuries.
• Dongfang Bai began applying medicine to Wang Hao, but he woke and flirted with her while concealing why he had been injured.
• Wang Hao asked Dongfang Bai whether a woman should forgive a man who had killed her family, and she insisted the woman should kill him after extracting a confession.
• After Dongfang Bai refused to discuss her past, Wang Hao asked about her dreams and described his earlier ambitions for Huaxia and for breaking through the limits of martial arts.
• Zhao Dachui and Zhao Fengxue overheard Wang Hao’s declaration from a nearby restaurant, while Dongfang Bai listened in astonishment as Wang Hao said he had abandoned those ambitions for a more practical dream.

Wang Hao coaxed Dongfang Bai into revealing her ambitions, triggering three side quests, including an impossible-sounding mission to reverse time. After she rejected his proposal, he publicly called her a withered flower to escape and ruin her usefulness as a source of information; Dongfang Bai decided to leave the capital the next day.

• Wang Hao pressed Dongfang Bai to reveal her dreams, and she admitted she wanted to master every divine art, become the strongest and martial arts alliance leader, and return to the past to kill someone she regretted.
• The system gave Wang Hao three side quests tied to Dongfang Bai’s ambitions, including reversing spacetime to kill his predecessor and prevent the Dongfang Lineage’s destruction.
• Wang Hao proposed marriage to Dongfang Bai, but she declined, saying she was already a withered flower.
• Wang Hao abruptly left Dongfang Bai’s chamber and publicly insulted her and the Listening to Rain Pavilion, then reclaimed the twenty thousand taels he had paid.
• Dongfang Bai angrily explained to her subordinate that she had used the excuse to refuse Wang Hao and would leave the capital the next day.

Wang Hao escaped the Listening to Rain Pavilion after driving Dongfang Bai away, then learned that her wish to reverse time had triggered a dangerous side quest. He concluded that his future self had left the Sword Intent between his eyebrows and began planning how to reverse time, despite the risks.

• Wang Hao changed clothes after leaving the Listening to Rain Pavilion, and Zhao Dachui and Zhao Fengxue confronted him, mistakenly believing he was heartbroken over Dongfang Bai.
• Wang Hao returned to his courtyard and asked Xiao Mengmeng how to deal with the side quest tied to Dongfang Bai’s wish to reverse space and time and prevent the Dongfang Lineage’s destruction.
• Xiao Mengmeng explained that the side quest could be removed only if Dongfang Bai completely rejected her wish.
• Wang Hao inferred that his future self had reversed time and left the Sword Intent between his eyebrows, but had not killed the original owner of his body.
• Xiao Mengmeng described how to reverse space and time during a World Advancement and warned that Wang Hao could be lost in the world’s temporal river.
• Wang Hao declared that he could reverse time because his future self had already done so.

Fu Lin, Ye Qingqian, and two other hall masters strengthened Han Long for his coming death match with Wang Hao, while Wang Hao used Fortune Points to advance his martial arts understanding. Dongfang Bai received Wang Hao’s gifts and letter and left the capital, grateful for his help as Wang Hao prepared to grow stronger before the battle in ten days.

• Fu Lin, Ye Qingqian, and two other hall masters offered Han Long a breakthrough, weapons, treasured garments, and pills, and Han Long agreed to use every means to kill Wang Hao.
• Xiao Mengmeng rewarded Wang Hao with two hundred Fortune Points after Dongfang Bai refined the Tianshan snow lotus he had given her.
• Wang Hao used the Dao Comprehension Function to advance his understanding of Golden Bell Shield, Lightning Straight-Line Step, and Thousand Faces Divine Technique, then resolved to strengthen himself before his death match with Han Long.
• Wang Hao sent Dongfang Bai a package containing a thousand-year blood ginseng, a purple lingzhi, and a letter that said “Take care.”
• Dongfang Bai recognized Wang Hao as the sender, accepted his gifts, tucked his letter close to her body, and left the capital.