Chapter Summaries

Fang Yu accepted Sun Hu’s offer to serve the Sun Household in exchange for information about the Embroidered Robe Bureau’s assignments. Sun Hu ordered him to stay at the Golden Branch Pavilion until dawn, where Fang Yu asked for Exquisite Jade’s company and carried her toward the bed.

• Fang Yu boarded a carriage with Sun Dongrong and went to the Golden Branch Pavilion to meet Sun Hu.
• Sun Hu asked Fang Yu to report the Embroidered Robe Bureau’s assignments and findings to the Sun Household, offering him gold in return.
• Fang Yu gave Sun Hu the address of a Hui Barbarian and explained that the Bureau would question him after seeing him arrive with Sun Dongrong.
• Sun Hu told Fang Yu to stay at the pavilion until morning and ordered Sun Dongrong to keep watch over him.
• Fang Yu asked Sun Dongrong to summon Exquisite Jade, then carried her toward the bed when she arrived.

Sun Ren prepared the Winter Group to help Gu Shan escape if the Embroidered Robe Bureau moved against him. Fang Yu reported Gu Shan’s location to Xiao Qi, and Xiao Sheng ordered an arrest while sending Fang Yu back to search for the others.

• Sun Ren told Sun Hu to ready the Winter Group and prevent Gu Shan from falling alive into Xiao Sheng’s hands.
• Fang Yu left the Sun Residence and brought Xiao Qi a notebook and portrait identifying Gu Shan’s address.
• Fang Yu told Xiao Qi that Sun Hu had detained him overnight and tried to make him submit to the Sun Household.
• Xiao Qi informed Xiao Sheng and Xiao Ming that Gu Shan’s location had been found and that the Sun Household might be testing them.
• Xiao Sheng ordered Xiao Qi to gather men for an arrest in one hour and let Fang Yu return to searching for the others.

Fang Yu’s search for the Hui Barbarians ended after the Embroidered Robe Bureau raided their hideout, and he received rewards from both the Bureau and the Li Household. After learning that his younger sister Xu Ying had gone missing, he discovered that a warehouse she guarded had burned down and she had been sent to the Loyalty and Righteousness Hall.

• Fang Yu returned home, gave Jiang Yue a gold ingot, and resumed his usual training and street inquiries.
• Fang Yu saw the authorities raid the Hui Barbarians’ hideout, where minor fighters died and experts escaped; officials later claimed they had wiped out infiltrating bandits.
• Xiao Qi gave Fang Yu a gold ingot and told him to stop searching, then Sun Dongrong gave him another reward and ordered him to report any movements by the Embroidered Robe Bureau.
• Jiang Yue told Fang Yu that his mother was worried because Xu Ying had not sent money home for over a month, and Fang Yu went to the Four Seas Hall to ask about her.
• A gatekeeper told Fang Yu that the warehouse Xu Ying guarded had burned, destroying its grain, and that the Hall Master had sent her to the Loyalty and Righteousness Hall.

Fang Yu learned that Xu Ying had been punished after Chen Hai made her take the blame for the grain warehouse fire, then visited her at the docks. Xu Ying told him to find Shen Qi, who had stolen the money meant for their mother, and Fang Yu set his crew on the search.

• Fang Yu bribed Boss Liu at the Golden Branch Pavilion, and Boss Liu revealed that Xu Ying had taken three knife cuts and lost her steward’s post after an incense hall hearing.
• Boss Liu brought Fang Yu to the docks, where he saw Xu Ying leading a group of laborers unloading sacks.
• Xu Ying confronted Fang Yu, discovered he had reached Eighth Grade, and warned him against eating Demon Beast meat of unknown origin.
• Xu Ying told Fang Yu that Shen Qi had taken the money meant for their mother and ordered him to find and cripple him.
• Fang Yu found Zhou Daqing and his crew on North Peace Avenue, gave them money, and ordered them to find Shen Qi and beat him severely.

Fang Yu sent Ma San to capture Shen Qi in Fulin County while he stayed in Bei'an Prefecture City. He then recognized a Hui Kingdom Master riding in a Liu Household carriage with Sun Hu and suspected the Sun Household was involved in a major deal with the barbarian.

• Fang Yu trained Leopard Fist and saw that he was progressing toward its third layer.
• Zhou Daqing told Fang Yu that a carriage driver had taken Shen Qi to Fulin County, and Fang Yu confirmed the identification with Ma San.
• Fang Yu paid Ma San ten taels and promised another hundred to bring Shen Qi back, dead or alive.
• Fang Yu perceived Sun Hu speaking with Master Gu, the Hui Kingdom Master the Embroidered Robe Bureau had sought to arrest, in a Liu Household carriage.
• Fang Yu suspected the Sun Household and the Hui Kingdom Master were cooperating on a major deal, then decided the matter did not concern him.

Fang Yu had Shen Qi’s legs broken for stealing the silver meant for his mother, then spent more than half a year living and practicing in peace. He advanced to Seventh Grade Battle Soldier and began considering how to obtain the methods and Demon Beast meat needed to progress further.

• Fang Yu confirmed Ma San had captured Shen Qi, paid Ma San, and ordered Shen Qi’s legs broken before having him dumped on the street.
• Fang Yu periodically checked on Shen Qi as he begged for food, while the Sun Household and Embroidered Robe Bureau left him alone and Xiao Qi’s hideout remained deserted.
• After more than half a year, Fang Yu’s Leopard Fist reached its third level, and he broke through to Seventh Grade Battle Soldier.
• Jiang Yue celebrated Fang Yu’s breakthrough and went to buy fish while Fang Yu washed in the snow.
• Fang Yu realized he needed the next Leopard Fist cultivation method and corresponding Demon Beast meat to advance beyond Seventh Grade.

Fang Yu went to Bei'an Prefecture City's black market to find a cultivation method and learned that advancing in martial arts usually depended on access to specific Demon Beast meat. The chapter left him considering the advantage his Mirror-Breaking Pearl and Primordial Qi gave him over local martial artists.

• Jiang Yue helped Fang Yu get ready and warned him to be careful before he headed to the black market.
• Fang Yu broke a pickpocket's wrist when the thief tried to steal from him in the underground market.
• Fang Yu found the Mysterious Armor Prison-Suppressing Art and spent hours reading it and other cultivation manuals.
• The old bookseller told Fang Yu that Zheng Tu sold substitute Demon Beast meat, which could support progress in the Mysterious Armor Prison-Suppressing Art only as far as Fifth Grade.
• Fang Yu reasoned that his Mirror-Breaking Pearl and Primordial Qi could let him cultivate any method without relying on its matching Demon Beast meat.

Fang Yu bought ordinary Demon Beast meat and a small piece of Mystic Armor Elephant meat, then began practicing the top-tier Mystic Armor Prison-Subduing Force. The Mirror-Breaking Pearl controlled the excess Qi and Blood, and his Leopard Fist advanced into the new cultivation method.

• Fang Yu bought seven kinds of ordinary Demon Beast meat from Zheng Tu and paid extra for a liang of Mystic Armor Elephant meat.
• Fang Yu visited other butcher shops, gathered more Demon Beast meat, and found no other top-tier meat.
• Fang Yu returned home and used Mystic Armor Elephant meat to cultivate along the method's meridian pathway.
• Fang Yu's body neared its limit, so the Mirror-Breaking Pearl absorbed the excess Qi and Blood and stored it as Primordial Qi.
• Fang Yu received a notification that his Leopard Fist had become Mystic Armor Prison-Subduing Force, a method capable of reaching the first-rank Supreme Grandmaster realm.

Fang Yu found that ordinary Demon Beast meat could barely supply the Qi and Blood his Mysterious Armor Prison-Suppressing Art required, so he calculated the cost of sustaining his training and decided to conceal his identity when buying meat. Disguised as Chun Shisanniang, he bought a large supply of mountain deer meat from the Grain Gang and left without being recognized.

• Fang Yu converted mountain deer meat into Primordial Qi and then into Mystic Armor Elephant Qi and Blood to continue training, finding that one jin of ordinary meat yielded about the equivalent of one tael of Mystic Armor Elephant meat.
• Fang Yu calculated that his daily training would require three jin of ordinary Demon Beast meat, costing three hundred taels of silver a day, and realized that his spending could attract attention.
• Fang Yu revived his Disguise Technique and went to Hu's Grain Shop disguised as a plump middle-aged woman named Chun Shisanniang.
• Fang Yu offered Shopkeeper Hu a thousand taels of gold for a hundred jin of mountain deer meat and gave the name Gourd Mountain as his lodging.
• Shopkeeper Hu accepted the deal and gave Fang Yu one hundred and ten jin of meat; Fang Yu thanked him and slipped away into a small alley.

Fang Yu developed his martial arts by combining the Mysterious Armor Prison-Suppressing Art with the Mysterious Nether Divine Palm, strengthening his body over half a year. His progress was interrupted when Yang Liuzhi told him that Xu Bao had gambled away the family and offered them to the Jixiang Gambling House to settle his debt.

• Fang Yu bought Demon Beast meat from Shopkeeper Sun while posing as a roving bandit provisions master, then returned home to practice.
• A month later, Fang Yu bought silver snake meat from Zheng Tu and tried the Mysterious Nether Divine Palm, damaging his body with its bitterly cold Qi and Blood.
• Fang Yu used the Mirror-Breaking Pearl to repair and strengthen his body, then continued practicing the Mysterious Armor Prison-Suppressing Art as his core method and the divine palm as a supplement.
• After half a year, Fang Yu reached 78% of the third layer of the Mysterious Armor Prison-Suppressing Art.
• Yang Liuzhi told Fang Yu that Xu Bao had been seized by the Jixiang Gambling House over a debt of three hundred taels of silver.
• Yang Liuzhi showed Fang Yu a document stating Xu Bao had sold Xiao Jiumei, Xu Fang, and Xu Ying to the gambling house to pay his debt.

Fang Yu paid the Jixiang Gambling House three hundred taels to retrieve his father and the debt contract, then killed him after discovering he had signed it. Xiao Jiumei refused to hold a funeral, so Fang Yu carried the corpse to the burial grounds outside the city.

• Fang Yu realized the Wu Household’s men might be using his father’s debt to test or target the Sun Household.
• Fang Yu took three hundred taels from Jiang Yue and went with Yang Liuzhi to the Jixiang Gambling House.
• Third Master Wu accepted the money and returned the contract after Fang Yu checked Xu Bao’s signature and fingerprint.
• After Yang Bao demanded more money, Fang Yu questioned whether he had been forced to sign the contract, then killed him when he reached for Fang Yu.
• Xiao Jiumei refused to hold a funeral, and Fang Yu carried Yang Bao’s corpse to the burial grounds outside the city.

After Fang Yu reported the Jixiang Gambling House’s attack to Sun Dongrong, the gambling house burned down in a blaze that killed Third Master Wu, Yang Liuzhi, and many gamblers. Sun Dongrong rewarded Fang Yu and told him to report any future incidents concerning the Sun Household immediately.

• Fang Yu told Sun Dongrong how the Jixiang Gambling House had targeted him and handed over the contract.
• Three days later, Fang Yu saw the Jixiang Gambling House on fire and suspected the Sun Household had responded forcefully to the Wu Household’s probe.
• Zhou Daqing and the others told Fang Yu that Third Master Wu, Yang Liuzhi, and dozens of gamblers had died in the fire.
• Sun Dongrong gave Fang Yu five gold cakes and the contract, and relayed Sixth Master's instruction to report similar incidents promptly.

After months of training, Fang Yu reached the Sixth-Rank Strongman stage and needed more Demon Beast meat to sustain his cultivation. He arranged a large exchange with Four Seas Hall, but Hall Master Chen Hai decided to use the deal to investigate and wipe out Fang Yu’s supposed band of roving bandits.

• Fang Yu advanced to the Sixth-Rank Strongman stage and realized he needed more meat and silver to support his cultivation.
• Fang Yu offered Shopkeeper Hu goods said to be worth five hundred thousand taels of silver in exchange for three thousand jin of Demon Beast meat, with the trade set for three days later.
• Shopkeeper Hu reported the offer to Chen Hai and argued that Fang Yu’s repeated purchases suggested he represented a large group of martial artists.
• Shopkeeper Hu proposed inspecting the goods and transporting them to a warehouse before releasing the meat, with force as a fallback if the deal proved fraudulent.
• Chen Hai decided Shopkeeper Hu should assess the group’s strength and location so Four Seas Hall could attack and seize their goods instead of completing the trade.

Fang Yu went to Hu’s Grain Shop to steal three thousand jin of Demon Beast meat and killed Chen Hai, Shopkeeper Hu, and the guards who tried to stop him. He took the meat and escaped over the wall into the alley.

• Fang Yu decided to rob Four Seas Hall’s grain shop for three thousand jin of Demon Beast meat and spent three days storing Primordial Qi for a possible fight.
• Fang Yu disguised himself as Chun Shisanniang and went to Hu’s Grain Shop, where he sensed Chen Hai and several Seventh Grade Battle Soldiers waiting in ambush.
• After the chests were opened, Fang Yu attacked Shopkeeper Hu and killed him and two shop assistants before Chen Hai could stop him.
• Fang Yu killed the Battle Soldiers in the courtyard and defeated Chen Hai by exploiting an opening in his Movement Method.
• Fang Yu used his Divine Thought to take the chests of meat, then leaped over the wall and disappeared into an alley.

Fang Yu reflected on killing Chen Hai and his men, then listened as rumors spread about the killer Chun Shisanniang. Sun Dongrong recruited him to search for Chun Shisanniang and gave him a portrait that depicted Fang Yu’s own disguise.

• Fang Yu reviewed how his physique and Divine Thought had helped him kill Chen Hai and the other Grain Gang men.
• Yamen runners and members of the Hu Household and Grain Gang hurried to investigate the killings, while Fang Yu stayed at the tea stall.
• Rumors identified Chun Shisanniang as a powerful military expert and claimed the killer was hiding in Gourd Mountain.
• Sun Dongrong asked Fang Yu to find Chun Shisanniang and warned him to report any lead rather than confront the killer.
• Fang Yu examined a portrait that closely resembled his disguise, pretended to accept the assignment, and took Sun Dongrong’s ten-tael reward.

Fang Yu kept up the public search for Chun Shisanniang while avoiding Xu Ying’s attempt to recruit him into Four Seas Hall. After Sun Dongrong questioned him about the Embroidered Robe Bureau, Fang Yu decided to abandon Xu Fang’s identity and set off for Long City with a caravan.

• Fang Yu sent men across the streets to search for Chun Shisanniang, but the search continued without success.
• Xu Ying visited Fang Yu and asked him to join Four Seas Hall, but he refused.
• Sun Dongrong criticized Fang Yu’s failed search and ordered him to report any contact from the Embroidered Robe Bureau.
• Fang Yu decided to leave Xu Fang’s identity behind and arranged passage to Long City with a caravan.
• Fang Yu paid one tael of silver to travel with the Distant-Pacifying Escort Agency and followed the caravan out of Bei'an Prefecture City.

Fang Yu reached Long City after traveling with a caravan and sought help from Miaoyu to obtain East Long County household registration. After identifying himself as a discarded pawn of the Lu Household, he paid her one thousand taels and stayed at her establishment while she arranged the papers.

• Fang Yu followed the caravan through a mountain bandit territory, where its escort chief paid the bandits silver to let them pass.
• Five days later, Fang Yu arrived at Long City, parted from the caravan, and entered East Long County.
• Fang Yu went to Miaoyu's establishment and asked Miaoyu to arrange East Long County household registration.
• Miaoyu questioned Fang Yu about his origins, and he revealed his Mysterious Nether Divine Palm and claimed to be a discarded pawn of the Lu Household.
• Fang Yu paid Miaoyu one thousand taels for the registration and agreed to stay at her establishment for three days.
• Gui'er came to attend to Fang Yu, who asked her to prepare food and followed her to her room.

After securing a genuine identity and repairing his courtyard in Long City, Fang Yu spent more than half a year cultivating and advanced to Fifth-Grade Inspector. He went to the City God Temple fair and heard that Chu Qiantu, a wanted former Northern Liang Iron Cavalry soldier, was hiding in the city.

• Fang Yu received his household registration and a courtyard house from Miaoyu, then moved into the dilapidated home on Peace Street.
• Fang Yu repaired the courtyard himself and spent more than half a year living in seclusion and practicing martial arts.
• Fang Yu advanced the Mysterious Armor Prison-Suppressing Art to its fifth layer and reached the rank of Fifth-Grade Inspector.
• Fang Yu considered how to obtain more Demon Beast meat but hesitated to rob anyone in Long City, where powerful martial artists were plentiful.
• Fang Yu visited the City God Temple fair and heard a storyteller describe Chu Qiantu as a wanted former Northern Liang Iron Cavalry soldier hiding in Long City.

Fang Yu visited Long City’s Ghost Market and bought flood dragon meat reserved for the Xiao imperial family. After tracking the seller to Shuixian’s residence in the Southern Quarter, he left to practice the Sun and Moon Divine Art, hoping to strengthen his foundation and eventually pass as an imperial descendant.

• Fang Yu entered the City God Temple and discovered the Long City Ghost Market beneath it.
• Fang Yu bought a tael of flood dragon meat from a black-robed stallholder and confirmed it was genuine by circulating the Sun and Moon Divine Art.
• Fang Yu followed the seller’s scent through the city to Pingkang Ward and the Southern Quarter.
• Fang Yu tracked the seller to Heavenly Shuixian Residence but turned away, deciding to return and practice the Sun and Moon Divine Art.

Fang Yu mastered the Sun and Moon Divine Art as a supplementary martial art, then tracked down the young man who had sold him flood dragon meat. He identified Xiao Ji of Marquis Qingyan's Residence and pressured him to arrange a steady supply of rare Demon Beast meat.

• Fang Yu mastered the first three layers of the Sun and Moon Divine Art in a week and found that its later layers improved the agility and power of his hands and feet.
• Over two months, Fang Yu explored Long City and eventually recognized the carriage of the youth who had sold him flood dragon meat.
• Fang Yu disguised himself as a young woman and followed the carriage to the Heavenly Water Immortal Abode, where he identified the youth as Xiao Ji, also known as Xiao Liulang.
• Fang Yu confronted Xiao Ji in his carriage and threatened to expose his secret resale of imperial flood dragon meat unless he helped obtain more rare meat.
• Fang Yu gave Xiao Ji a stack of silver notes as a deposit and told him to meet at the ghost market on the fifteenth of each month.