And just like that, Jack Young’s days in Eight Directions City settled into a busy, fulfilling routine. By day, he’d spar and debate martial arts with the Phantom Sword Saint; by night, he’d study forging skills under Ouyezi. Ouyezi’s teachings were ultra-private—think intellectual property rights—so Jack always went solo for those. But when it came to martial arts discussions with the Phantom Sword Saint, Jack was every bit the modern mentor and always brought his two apprentices along.
Maybe the stuff Jack and Yan Taixu chatted about was way out of his apprentices’ league for now, but hey—getting to hear the Phantom Sword Saint talk martial arts is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the jianghu. You grab it, no matter what. If you don't get it now, jot it down. When your skills catch up, you’ll look back and—bam!—it all makes sense.
Meanwhile, Eight Directions City was buzzing more than ever. The Centennial Gamble between King Gamble Charles Sterling and Mr. Goldwin was rolling along, one wild bet per day, each worth a million taels—enough to make anyone's heart race. And the bets? Total madness. Guess how many yolks in an egg, how many chess moves in a match, how many grains in a handful of rice, or how many seeds in a gourd—always odd or even. No matter how impossible it seemed to cheat, King Gamble always came out on top.
Five days straight, and every day King Gamble won. The whole casino was caught up in the King Gamble Effect—every gambler bet on him, like clockwork. Occasionally, someone would bet on Mr. Goldwin, but it was always with that tragic, 'I’m losing money just to support the underdog' attitude. Zero confidence, zero swagger. The place was electric, and King Gamble’s aura just kept getting stronger and sharper.
According to Yan Taixu, King Gamble was betting his way to enlightenment, forging an unbeatable confidence and aiming for the Innate Dao Heart. Jack Young and the Four Vagabond Knights dove in and cleaned up—those four made so much cash, they were itching to blow it all at the Grand Brothel. You know what they say: give a man money and he’ll go bad. These four? Living proof.
On the martial arts front, Jack Young was leveling up fast. More and more folks showed up for the Phantom Sword Saint’s tournament, and every day was packed with duels. As long as someone’s internal energy was under forty years, Jack could see every move clear as day. Even those with forty to fifty years, he could get the gist. There weren’t many above fifty years, so Jack got to study all sorts of styles from every sect.
Every day, Jack gained new insights into how true energy flows through the meridians, which acupoints trigger what effects, and more. Sometimes, he’d catch some real drama—like two sects with old grudges sending their top fighters to duel on stage. For Jack, those were like superfood for martial artists. His mind was always jumping, inspiration piling up. He even started building a framework for blending traditional martial arts and internal energy.
On the internal skill notebook front, Jack Young was raking it in. Besides the basic breathing technique he started with, he’d cracked open a bunch more internal energy manuals. First, he tore apart the Four Vagabond Knights’ skills, then moved on to the eight major brothel sects—those guys got wrecked. On dark, windy nights, the Four Vagabond Knights would sneak out, either swiping secret manuals or kidnapping sect disciples as living reference material.
Maybe it was because Madam Dai had strung him up for a whole day, but East Youth suddenly awakened his inner bondage maniac. Every hostage they brought in got gagged, blindfolded, and tied up in every wild, shameless way imaginable—totally over the top. After a thorough mind-scraping interrogation, they’d knock the poor sect disciples out and toss them back, sobbing and sniffling. ‘Borrow well, return well—borrow again tomorrow!’ The Four Vagabond Knights lived by that motto.
Of course, the Four Vagabond Knights weren’t busting their tails for Jack Young out of pure loyalty. They came from rough backgrounds, and their internal energy skills weren’t exactly top-tier. Switching to a whole new skill set wasn’t easy, so they planned to wait until they hit the Innate realm and went through their big transformation before making a move. After Jack finished analyzing their skills, he did a little tinkering as a trial run.
Jack’s inspiration for tweaking their skills came from that old guy he sparred with—he’d totally figured out the geezer’s internal energy tricks during their duel, so he picked them apart too. The upgrade worked wonders, speeding up their energy recovery by a solid twenty percent. The four were so hyped, they became Jack’s loyal sidekicks, moonlighting as masked bandits every night, raiding men’s quarters and hoping Jack would give their skills another boost someday.
Thanks to their efforts, Jack’s little notebook filled up fast—he cranked out several pages in one go.
"Ordinary internal skills all spark the same kind of ideas—not much potential. If you want the good stuff, you need the real deal. Are there any legendary manuals in the jianghu? Grab a few and we’ll be in business." Jack was done with basic skills—they all felt the same, nothing left to dig up.
"Legendary manuals, huh..." The Four Vagabond Knights looked at each other, then all shook their heads: "Never heard of any legendary manuals."
"A whole jianghu and not a single legendary manual? In another world, you’d have Nine Yang Divine Skill, Nine Yin Manual, all sorts of famous stuff. This jianghu is seriously letting me down."
The Four Vagabond Knights exchanged glances, scratched their heads, and finally gave an example that made it all clear to Jack. The real issue was with 'Refining Spirit into Qi.' In this world, as long as an Innate expert had a high spiritual realm, their internal energy would naturally rise. But if their realm was lacking, their true energy would never go up, no matter what.
If internal skill is the train, then your realm is the engine. The train only goes as fast as the engine pulls, so Innate experts focus on boosting their realm and refining their Dao Heart. Tons of secret methods for growing your spirit, tons of sharp moves—but when it comes to internal energy manuals, nobody really cares. Only those below Innate fuss about skill quality. And since those folks aren’t about to invent new skills, the options are all pretty much the same.
But hey, it’s not all bad news. This setup is exactly why freelancers have a shot at making it big. Since everyone cares more about spiritual realm than skill, folks like the Four Vagabond Knights can stand out and make the jianghu a little more colorful.
Jack ran this past Yan Taixu, who agreed: "If you’re talking legendary skills, I’d say the Bright Moon Divine Skill from the Flower Kingdom is top-tier. It covers everything from entry-level Innate all the way to the ninth heaven. The founder must’ve been a Great Limit Realm powerhouse. Other Great Limit masters might have skills too, but they keep them secret, so I don’t know much about them."
After hearing that, Jack realized he’d really hit the jackpot—and understood just how crucial the Protector of the Flower Kingdom position was. One secret letter from Embroidered Jade, and he’d been handed a one-way ticket straight to the Great Limit Realm.
"Embroidered Jade, I wonder how you’re doing now." Jack Young couldn’t help but glance northeast. About two thousand li down the river was the Flower Kingdom’s capital. When they parted, Princess Flower Shifter said Embroidered Jade was headed for the royal palace—she should be there by now. Who knows if the Tenfold Evil Soul poison is gone, or if her Dao Heart has stabilized.
The Four Vagabond Knights were at loose ends, too—nothing much to do, so Jack figured he’d put them to work delivering medicine. Never let a good resource go to waste.
Meanwhile, in the Flower Kingdom’s capital, deep inside the royal palace…
Technically, the Empress was supposed to run the inner palace, handling everything big and small. But in reality, there were always a few people she just couldn’t boss around—see every palace drama ever made. In the Flower Kingdom’s palace, there was a unique spot called the Welcoming Immortal Pavilion. It was huge—second only to the Empress’s own quarters—and decked out way fancier than most of the favored concubines’ places. Why wasn’t it called a 'palace'? Because the resident wasn’t a concubine or royal relative, but the Protector Princess herself.
The Welcoming Immortal Pavilion was where the Protector Princess lived in the palace. If you called the Moonlight Palace her main base, then this was her satellite residence. With a setup this grand, her status was clear as day.
Inside, a five-year-old girl darted happily around rock gardens and pavilions, chased by a woman who pretended to grab her but never quite managed—none other than Princess Flower Shifter. The little girl skipped and giggled until Princess Flower Shifter finally scooped her up and tickled her, sending her into peals of laughter.
"Auntie, stop tickling, Star’s super ticklish!" The little girl had delicate features and a mischievous sparkle—definitely a beauty in the making.
"I told you, don’t call me Auntie—call me Big Sis!" Princess Flower Shifter tried to play young, but the little girl wasn’t buying it: "Auntie is Auntie, not Big Sis. Moon is Big Sis."
"Sigh…" Simple tricks weren’t working, so Princess Flower Shifter sighed, then her eyes lit up with an idea: "Call me Big Sis and I’ll take you flying!"
"Okay, okay—Big Sis, good Big Sis, let’s fly, let’s fly, let’s go see Moon!" The girl switched sides instantly, but added, "And we have to find Jade Auntie too!"
Jade Auntie? She meant Princess Embroidered Jade. After all that, still Auntie!
No use arguing—Princess Flower Shifter just laughed, scooped up the girl, and used her qinggong to soar into the air. She was a master of lightness skill and an Innate expert, gliding like a white rainbow across the sky. Her dress fluttered, making her look like a celestial being. With a tap of her toe, she leapt over three rooftops, floating deep into the Welcoming Immortal Pavilion. The girl’s excited shouts echoed as they landed in front of the main hall.
Before they even entered, they heard the clear, melodious sound of a zither from inside. Princess Flower Shifter pushed open the door—at the far end of the hall, Princess Embroidered Jade was playing, serene and graceful. Beside her sat another little girl, listening quietly, her dignified expression uncannily similar to Embroidered Jade. When Princess Flower Shifter brought the first girl over, the two little faces came together—sisters, no doubt.
"You’re back." The music didn’t stop, her hands never paused, but Princess Embroidered Jade spoke softly.