Chapter Summaries

Li Zhexian prepared to leave the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and Chen Xin caught him before he could slip away. Chen Xin sent him off with supplies and warnings, while Ning Rongrong watched him depart without calling out.

• Chen Xin gave Li Zhexian food, silver, medicine, and a small flask of strong wine, then warned him to be cautious around strangers.
• Li Zhexian shared some dried meat with a lame dog as he and Chen Xin walked to the mountain gate.
• Li Zhexian bowed toward the sect and told Chen Xin he would repay it, while Chen Xin urged him to stay alive and defend himself against anyone who called him trash.
• Li Zhexian crossed the mountain gate and headed north, promising to bring Chen Xin strong wine when he returned.
• Ning Rongrong watched Li Zhexian leave from the tallest tower and quietly told him to come back alive.

After Li Zhexian left the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Rongrong struggled with her regret while Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin explained why they had let him go. Shi Potian secretly reported Li Zhexian’s departure, and a letter was delivered to an elder in the West Courtyard.

• Ning Rongrong asked Ning Fengzhi why Li Zhexian had not looked back, and Ning Fengzhi told her that he had heard her but could not make leaving any harder.
• Ning Rongrong questioned Chen Xin about when Li Zhexian would return and why he had not stopped him, but Chen Xin said Li Zhexian had chosen to leave.
• Shi Potian told Ning Rongrong that Li Zhexian’s departure was for the best and warned that Spirit Hall might target him, so she told Shi Potian not to say Li Zhexian’s name again.
• Shi Potian wrote an unsigned report stating that Li Zhexian had left the sect without an escort.
• A secret letter arrived at the sect, and the night deacon took it to an elder in the West Courtyard instead of Ning Fengzhi’s study.
• Ning Rongrong kept Li Zhexian’s sword tassel against her chest and told herself she was only holding it for him.

After leaving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Li Zhexian sought opponents strong enough to damage his shield and rescued Ye Lan’s caravan from robbers. He followed a warning about a powerful creature into the forest, where scarlet eyes appeared in the canopy.

• Li Zhexian learned that his shield still had nearly a trillion points remaining and asked the system to locate strong opponents.
• Li Zhexian intervened when five robbers threatened Ye Lan and the White Heron Caravan’s cart of medicinal herbs.
• Li Zhexian tested the robber leader’s strength, then helped Ye Lan defeat the robbers and refused her offer of supplies.
• Li Zhexian continued into the forest after the system detected a suspected Hundred-Year Soul Beast with unusually high attack power.
• A roar shook the forest, and two scarlet points of light appeared behind the canopy.

Li Zhexian let a hundred-year Ironback Ape attack him to test his defenses and obtain rewards, then drove it off with the Azure Lotus Sword. After finding a fragment suspected to come from an ancient divine artifact, he headed into the woods toward an unidentified high-energy presence.

• Li Zhexian let the Ironback Ape strike him, picked up a bottle of physique enhancement liquid, and learned that repeated attacks lowered the quality of rewards.
• Li Zhexian endured the Ironback Ape's attacks and used the physique enhancement liquid to recover without breaking any bones.
• Li Zhexian used wine mist and the Azure Lotus Sword to wound the Ironback Ape's hand and wrist until it fled into the woods.
• Li Zhexian picked up a warm black fragment that the system suspected was part of an ancient divine artifact.
• Li Zhexian heard a new growl, sensed that the fragment might have drawn the approaching presence, and walked toward it with his sword ready.

Li Zhexian used the black fragment to find an ancient ruin, then lured three Hundred-Year Soul Beasts into breaking its sealed door. He descended the stone steps and found carvings matching his Azure Lotus Sword and Drunken Immortal Wine Pot, while the sound of chains continued below.

• The black fragment led Li Zhexian to a hidden stone door, but the system said the ruin could not yet be opened.
• Li Zhexian fought three Hundred-Year Soul Beasts and collected rewards from the attacks they landed on him.
• He used the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot to make the giant bear crash into the stone door, breaking it open as the fragment fitted into its gap.
• The three Soul Beasts fled, and Li Zhexian descended the steps toward the sound of chains.
• Green light revealed carvings of an Azure Lotus Sword and a wine pot matching Li Zhexian’s possessions, but whatever dragged the chains remained unseen.

Li Zhexian discovered that the Azure Lotus Sword and Drunken Immortal Wine Pot resonated with an ancient inheritance, then defeated three stone statues and gained a sword technique. The fragment’s connection to his shield grew stronger before a cloaked figure appeared and demanded it.

• Li Zhexian touched the sword image on the stone wall and saw a vision of a white-clad swordsman wielding a sword and wine pot.
• The Drunken Immortal Wine Pot revealed three stone statues, and Li Zhexian fought them by turning their attacks against one another.
• Li Zhexian disabled all three statues and recovered a stone fragment engraved with the words, “Between drunkenness and sobriety, only then can the true sword be seen.”
• The system unlocked the sword technique Viewing the Sword While Drunk, and Li Zhexian noticed the fragment’s sword mark resembled a lotus.
• The chains inside Li Zhexian’s shield sounded heavily, a crack opened in the ceiling, and a cloaked figure dropped into the chamber demanding the fragment.

Li Zhexian let Black Crow attack him so the system would improve his rewards, then used his new sword technique to defeat him. Black Crow revealed that Spirit Hall's pursuers had arrived.

• Black Crow demanded the ruin fragment, and Li Zhexian questioned him about the Treasure Hunting Team and Spirit Hall.
• Black Crow attacked Li Zhexian with feather blades, and the system rewarded Li Zhexian with increasingly valuable drops as his shield took damage.
• Black Crow bound Li Zhexian with Soul Power and attacked him directly, but Li Zhexian used the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot and Viewing the Sword While Drunk to break free.
• Black Crow unleashed his full strength, and Li Zhexian received a Soul Ring Replacement Voucher Fragment from the system.
• Li Zhexian attacked Black Crow, severed his soul chains, and pinned him to a stone wall with the Azure Lotus Sword.
• Black Crow warned Li Zhexian that Spirit Hall's pursuers had arrived.

Li Zhexian fought Luo Yue and the Spirit Hall Soul Masters in the ruins while using their attacks to trigger prize-pool rewards. As Luo Yue’s attack pressed down on him, Li Zhexian spent a luck check when the system detected a chance for a critical hit from the high-quality prize pool.

• Li Zhexian took the Soul Ring replacement voucher fragment from Black Crow as Spirit Hall forces arrived and demanded it.
• Luo Yue ordered his Soul Masters to attack Li Zhexian, whose damage triggered a black prize pool reward containing the Drunken Immortal Brewing Technique.
• Luo Yue sent Zhou Lie against Li Zhexian, who used the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot and his sword to fight back through the wine mist.
• Luo Yue unleashed his fourth Soul Skill as the ruins began to collapse, and Li Zhexian met the red saber light with his sword.
• The system offered Li Zhexian a luck check for a high-quality prize pool critical hit chance, and he accepted as Luo Yue pressed down on him.

Li Zhexian triggered the Red Prize Pool during a battle with Luo Yue and Zhou Lie, then used its healing liquid to recover and defeat Luo Yue. As he left the ruins, a mysterious golden figure appeared and asked whether he was the child who could drop treasures.

• Luo Yue ordered his men to capture Li Zhexian alive after the Red Prize Pool appeared above the ruins.
• Li Zhexian endured the attackers until the damage record triggered the Red Prize Pool, which gave him Heavenly Mandate Life-Sustaining Liquid and a Complete Soul Bone Fragment.
• Li Zhexian drank the medicinal liquid, recovered from his wounds, and pinned Luo Yue to a stone wall with the Azure Lotus Sword.
• Li Zhexian shattered Zhou Lie's rock armor and made him surrender, then fought his way toward the ruins' entrance.
• Black Crow hid himself in black mist, while the system warned Li Zhexian that multiple high-level forces had marked him.
• A golden figure appeared above the ruins, looked at Li Zhexian, and asked whether he was the child who could drop treasures.

Li Zhexian survived Jin Ling’s powerful strikes, obtained a black fragment from the collapsing ruins, and awakened his martial souls at level twenty. With Jin Ling accompanying him, he left for Sunset City to seek powerful Soul Masters and continued toward an unanswered mystery.

• Jin Ling struck Li Zhexian repeatedly, and he endured the blows until a black fragment emerged from the ruins and entered his arm.
• Li Zhexian and Jin Ling escaped as the ruins collapsed, and the system announced that his Azure Lotus Sword and Drunken Immortal Wine Pot martial souls had awakened and his Soul Power had reached level twenty.
• After the system detected a nearby high-attack Soul Master, Li Zhexian asked Jin Ling to take him to Sunset City.
• Li Zhexian told Ning Rongrong that he was alive, collected his belongings, and left the mountains with Jin Ling, saying he would return with an answer.

Li Zhexian and Jin Ling reached Sunset City, where Li Zhexian let several Soul Masters punch him to trigger mysterious rewards. After the tavern fight, he learned that Soul Masters had gone missing near the Ancient Vine Forest and set out to find something there that could fight.

• Li Zhexian and Jin Ling entered Sunset City despite Li Zhexian having almost no money.
• Li Zhexian asked five Soul Masters at a tavern to punch him, and their blows triggered white and green rewards, including a Pain-Relieving Pill, bandages, a dagger, and a recovery pill.
• Huo Shan summoned his Martial Soul and punched Li Zhexian, but Jin Ling intervened when Huo Shan tried to take the dagger.
• The shopkeeper told Li Zhexian that seven Soul Masters had gone missing near the Ancient Vine Forest and warned him that its vines could wrap around people.
• Li Zhexian folded the notice and left the tavern to investigate the Ancient Vine Forest.

Li Zhexian and Jin Ling entered the Ancient Vine Forest in search of a Ghost Vine for Li Zhexian’s First Soul Ring. When a hundred-year-old Ghost Vine attacked a group of Soul Masters, Li Zhexian stayed behind to endure its assault and collect the rewards it triggered, leaving the fight poised to intensify.

• Li Zhexian spent his remaining silver on liquor and rations, then traveled with Jin Ling to Soul Hunting Town.
• A Soul Hunting captain warned them about Ghost Vines and the dangers deeper in the Ancient Vine Forest, but Li Zhexian refused to pay for a guide.
• After entering the forest, Li Zhexian and Jin Ling found four Soul Masters trapped by a hundred-year-old Ghost Vine.
• Li Zhexian deliberately let the Ghost Vine attack him to trigger rewards, while Jin Ling freed the trapped leader and helped his team escape.
• The Ghost Vine began a high-intensity attack, and Li Zhexian tightened his grip on the Azure Lotus Sword and prepared to fight back.

Li Zhexian fought the Ghost Vine, collected its falling rewards, and helped destroy it with Jin Ling. As a Purple Soul Ring appeared above the corpse, another beast approached from the woods, and Li Zhexian prepared to face it.

• The Ghost Vine attacked Li Zhexian with vines and spores, while Jin Ling helped and green rewards fell around them.
• Li Zhexian kicked Recovery Pills to the Soul Masters outside the woods and fought back with the Azure Lotus Sword and Drunken Immortal Wine Pot.
• When the Ghost Vine attacked Jin Ling, Li Zhexian blocked its tendrils, and Jin Ling struck its cracked main root, killing it.
• Li Zhexian gathered the rewards and silver as a Purple Soul Ring rose above the Ghost Vine's corpse.
• A second beast growled nearby, and Jin Ling shielded Li Zhexian as he faced the glowing eyes in the darkness.

Li Zhexian absorbed a three-hundred-year Purple Soul Ring into the Azure Lotus Sword, reached level twenty-one, and gained the Lotus Sword Art. He and Jin Ling then saw signs of a chained girl being taken toward an altar near the town.

• Li Zhexian chose to absorb the Ghost Vine’s Purple Soul Ring despite warnings about its age and the risk to his meridians.
• As Jin Ling and the Soul Hunting captain guarded him, Li Zhexian guided the Soul Ring’s power into the Azure Lotus Sword and completed the absorption.
• Li Zhexian reached level twenty-one and demonstrated the Lotus Sword Art by cutting vines thirty feet away.
• Li Zhexian checked his system panel and said he still needed to find someone who could fight.
• Jin Ling and Li Zhexian noticed firelight near the town, and the captain identified the altar’s direction.
• A chained young girl shouted at her escorts as they dragged her toward the altar.

Li Zhexian and Jin Ling interrupted a ritual in which Huo Wu was being sacrificed to protect a town, and Li Zhexian freed her despite the formation’s backlash. As the elder threatened them, a giant beast broke into the valley and Huo Wu’s phoenix wings began to appear.

• Li Zhexian ignored the Soul Hunting captain’s warning and followed Jin Ling into the valley, where they found Huo Wu chained to a ritual platform.
• The elder claimed Huo Wu’s Fire Phoenix Martial Soul had attracted Soul Beasts and that sacrificing her would protect the town.
• Li Zhexian and Jin Ling fought the guards while Li Zhexian severed Huo Wu’s chains, triggering the formation’s backlash.
• Jin Ling noticed a Spirit Hall emblem on the elder’s staff but said nothing as Huo Wu freed herself and joined Li Zhexian.
• The elder declared that none of them would leave, then a giant beast smashed through the valley wall as phoenix wings appeared behind Huo Wu.

Li Zhexian, Huo Wu, and Jin Ling fought a giant beast while destroying the sacrificial formation and exposing the elder’s dealings to the villagers. After the beast fled and the villagers confronted the elder, Huo Wu decided to travel with Li Zhexian to settle accounts, and she immediately tested her flames against his shield.

• Li Zhexian destroyed the sacrificial formation as the giant beast entered the valley, while Huo Wu and Jin Ling helped him fend off guards and the beast.
• Huo Wu burned the beast’s flank so Li Zhexian could wound it, and the villagers evacuated the injured during the battle.
• The elder attacked Huo Wu, but Li Zhexian blocked the Soul Skill; Jin Ling caught the fleeing elder, and Huo Wu found a ledger bearing the Spirit Hall mark.
• The villagers read the ledger as Li Zhexian and Huo Wu drove the giant beast away from the altar and into the woods.
• Huo Wu decided to wait in town for those seeking her and then travel with Li Zhexian to settle accounts.
• Huo Wu pressed flames against Li Zhexian’s shoulder, triggering a separate damage record on his shield.

After Huo Wu joined Li Zhexian and Jin Ling on the road, she tested Li Zhexian’s shield with her flames and warned him not to take attacks for her when he could dodge. The three traveled toward Sunset City, where a notice for the Madman Arena’s public challenges drew Li Zhexian’s interest with its silver prize and possible Soul Bone.

• Huo Wu and Jin Ling bandaged Li Zhexian’s shoulder, and Huo Wu agreed to travel with him while she looked for her sect members.
• The villagers gave the three supplies, and Huo Wu accepted them while keeping her scorched bracer as evidence for future disputes.
• At their camp, Huo Wu tested Li Zhexian’s shield with several flame attacks, collected the resulting light orbs, and gave him a Physique Enhancement Liquid.
• Huo Wu told Li Zhexian to dodge flame attacks when possible, and he promised to do so before taking the night watch with Jin Ling.
• On the way to Sunset City, Jin Ling read a notice advertising Madman Arena challenges, and Li Zhexian headed for the city to sign up after learning about the silver and Soul Bone prizes.

Li Zhexian entered a ring challenge where he offered ten taels of silver to anyone who could make him feel pain, and challengers struck him as glowing orbs fell from his shield. After earning the money and attracting a crowd, he faced Lu Jun, a level-forty Soul Elder, whose fight began as the chapter ended.

• Li Zhexian posted an offer to pay ten taels to anyone who could hurt him, and he signed a waiver before entering the ring.
• A young challenger punched Li Zhexian, whose golden shield knocked the man back and produced a pill in a ball of light.
• A level-thirty Soul Master struck Li Zhexian repeatedly, while Huo Wu collected the glowing drops and warned the challenger to avoid vital points.
• A defeated Soul Master tried to attack Li Zhexian from behind, but Huo Wu stopped him and the venue guards dragged him away.
• The referee paid out the winnings, and Huo Wu kept half the silver for travel expenses before Jin Ling pointed out Lu Jun's name in the register.
• Lu Jun entered the ring and revealed his fourth Soul Ring; as the referee started the match, Li Zhexian told him to attack with all his strength.

Li Zhexian let Lu Jun attack him in the arena, earning the Wind Walking Step Method from the blue light that appeared after the blows. After Lu Jun stopped, a silent Soul Master whose strength exceeded level 40 arrived and damaged the arena floor, leaving Li Zhexian facing a far stronger challenger.

• Lu Jun struck Li Zhexian with his third Soul Skill, Mountain-Splitting Slash, and a second blue light yielded a complete scroll of the Wind Walking Step Method.
• Li Zhexian learned the step method while Lu Jun caught his breath, but Huo Wu urged Li Zhexian to stop before Lu Jun exhausted himself.
• Lu Jun ended the fight, and the referee declared Li Zhexian the winner and awarded him ten taels of silver.
• Lu Jun told Li Zhexian about two stronger Soul Masters he knew, while Huo Wu guarded the prize money and spectators spread news of the match.
• A Soul Master wearing a bamboo hat entered the arena, pressed his palm into the floor, and triggered a system notification that his Soul Power far exceeded level 40.

Li Zhexian faced Bone Flag Douluo, who wanted the light orbs and the secret behind their drops. After Li Zhexian endured his attacks and obtained a Thousand-Year Soul Bone Fragment, he fled with Huo Wu and Jin Ling, but Bone Flag Douluo cornered them in an alley.

• Bone Flag Douluo revealed himself as a level-seventy Soul Saint and challenged Li Zhexian for the orb of light.
• Li Zhexian took Bone Flag Douluo's palm strike, recovered, and picked up a Thousand-Year Soul Bone Fragment that dropped from the orb.
• Bone Flag Douluo attacked again, produced another orb that flew to Li Zhexian, and knocked Huo Wu and Jin Ling off the ring.
• Li Zhexian refused to hand over the fragment or reveal the secret, then grabbed Huo Wu and Jin Ling and ran from the ring.
• Bone Flag Douluo knocked Lu Jun aside, pursued the trio, and blocked their escape in an alley, demanding the secret of the treasure drops.