Recaps

Chu Mu settled into life as a patrol inspector while building his literacy and saber skills with Spirit Radiance Blessing. As he learned more about the mine’s corruption, forced labor, and past uprisings, he began looking for ways to improve his training and investigate the world around him.

• Chu Mu discovered that Spirit Radiance Blessing could boost his concentration, helping him improve his Basic Blade Technique and begin studying at private school.
• Chu Mu reported for duty and joined Third Squad under Li Gang, where he witnessed the dangerous conditions and deaths among the Forced Laborers at the iron mine.
• Chu Mu learned that the mine’s expansion would bring more laborers and patrol inspectors, while Xu Yuan and others revealed how the Patrol Bureau and officials profited from the operation.
• Chu Mu noticed iron being secretly moved by people in Patrol Inspector armor and grew uneasy about the corrupt trade and extra pay connected to the mine.
• Chu Mu spent the winter studying and practicing, used Spirit Radiance Blessing to reach Initial Understanding in Basic Blade Technique, and began refining his saber control.
• Chu Mu heard unsettling stories at You Ke Lai and learned from the Nanshan Records that the mine had sparked three popular uprisings, including one six years earlier.
• Chu Mu concluded that the Forced Laborers could revolt, tested his saber against falling pebbles, and left with plans and money to build training devices.

Chu Mu trained his saber skills, then joined the campaign against Qili Village and survived a series of ambushes while earning military merit. After recovering and studying Qi-Blood, he learned that the village’s martial arts master had been dug from his grave as bait, and Chu Mu was assigned Li Gang’s position and squad.

• Chu Mu trained with the Wooden Dummy and Hanging Ball Array, improving his blade technique before reporting for duty at the Mine, where he wondered about the authorities’ increased ore production.
• Li Jinghong led the patrol inspectors toward Qili Village, where villagers attacked with poisoned arrows and hidden traps, killing many inspectors as Chu Mu fought to survive.
• Chu Mu and the patrol inspectors battled the villagers through the forest, and Chu Mu helped kill a black-clad attacker before surviving a later fight that left him wounded.
• Chu Mu helped defeat Qili Village fighters, earned merit with heads taken in battle, and returned to town to have Doctor Li treat his abdominal wound.
• Chu Mu studied the Body Forging Art and medical books, learning about Qi-Blood, Essence, Spirit, and the body’s meridians and acupoints.
• Wu Shuo revealed that the old man in the funeral garment had masterminded Qili Village’s martial arts training and that his remaining disciples would be lured out by the corpse.
• Wu Shuo told Chu Mu that Li Gang had been dismissed and sent to another mine, while Chu Mu would take his position and guard the corpse with his squad.
• Chu Mu returned home, secured his courtyard, and continued studying until the military rewards were announced and he attended the promotion ceremony.

Chu Mu pursued qi-and-blood cultivation while the Grievance Soul attacked Nanshan Town and the Nanshan Li Family revealed its power. The discovery of the Cold Blood Mine left Chu Mu aware of a deadly force he could not yet overcome, so he turned to studying medicinal formulas to improve his cultivation.

• Chu Mu recovered from his injuries, earned a promotion, and began cultivating the Body Forging Art with medicinal baths while teaching Xu Yuan basic blade forms.
• A Grievance Soul attacked the Wind and Moon Tower, but Chu Mu and Li Jinghong used qi and blood to drive it back before it fled with a black-clad youth.
• Chu Mu pursued the youth after a gunpowder blast wounded Li Jinghong and many inspectors, then suspected the Nanshan Li Family had ties to a higher transcendent power.
• A White-Robed Man from the Nanshan Li Family confronted the youth, refined a Blood-Colored Pill from the old man’s corpse, and left the Grievance Soul to merge with Xiao Xiu.
• Chu Mu learned that Li Jinghong and the White-Robed Man were searching the Mine for treasure, then sensed a dangerous chill near the excavation and found corpses frozen in the surrounding area.
• Explosions in the Mine turned hundreds of people into Ice Sculptures and exposed a dark Ore Vein with blood-red lines, while Chu Mu and Xu Yuan escaped.
• The White-Robed Man ordered Li Jinghong to use Blood Sacrifice to prepare the Cold Blood Mine, and Chu Mu returned to town fearing that the chill would keep killing people.
• Chu Mu found his Body Forging Art had advanced only to 18/1000 and decided to use Spirit Radiance Blessing to study medicinal materials and develop stronger cultivation aids.

Chu Mu studied medicine under Old Li while surviving attacks, uncovering hints of spiritual cultivation and the dangers surrounding Nanshan Town. As he pursued Qi-Blood cultivation and the path to Spirit Manifestation, forced laborers rebelled at the Mine and carried the violence into town.

• Chu Mu asked Old Li to teach him medicine, became his student, and began balancing medical study with patrol duty and martial training.
• A bloodied youth escaped through North Town, shattered Chu Mu’s blade, and left behind a bloodstained jade piece as Chu Mu fled injured.
• Old Li took Chu Mu on house calls, deepening his medical knowledge, while the Dried Corpse attacked He San’s funeral and Li Jinghong eventually beat it to pieces.
• Old Li taught Chu Mu about medicinal materials, diagnosis, and the importance of balancing Yin and Yang in cultivation.
• Chu Mu learned that spiritual energy strengthened Qi-Blood cultivation and that Spirit Manifestation could lead to the Immortal Path.
• Chu Mu continued studying and training, advanced his Basic Blade Technique, and noticed the town gathering patrol inspectors near the Mine.
• Forced laborers rebelled at Nanshan Iron Mine, and Li Jinghong led a brutal suppression as the fleeing workers brought violence into Nanshan Town.