Chapter Summaries

Chu Mu pursued a fleeing young man into the mountains, where a gunpowder ambush devastated the patrol officers but failed to kill Li Jinghong. Li Jinghong ordered reinforcements and offered a vast reward for reports of rebels, while Chu Mu suspected the Nanshan Li Family was tied to the strange events.

• Chu Mu followed Li Jinghong and the other patrollers as they chased the young man from Nanshan Town into the surrounding forest.
• A powerful gunpowder explosion struck the pursuing group, leaving Li Jinghong and many patrollers badly wounded or missing.
• Li Jinghong survived the blast and ordered the County Patrol Camp to march to Nanshan Town and two squads to guard the corpse in the Patrol Inspectorate dungeon.
• Li Jinghong offered a promotion and three thousand taels of silver for verified reports of rebels, while promising lifelong exemption from forced labor for reporters and their relatives without official status.
• Chu Mu connected Li Jinghong's behavior to the Nanshan Li Family and wondered whether the county magistrate, also surnamed Li, was involved.

After the Wind and Moon Tower incident, Li Jinghong ordered a county-wide search and had an old corpse dissected for clues. Chu Mu began to suspect that a powerful transcendent force controlled the secular world, leaving him shaken by what that might mean for his family and the missing forced laborers.

• Li Jinghong mobilized patrol inspectors across Nanshan Town and beyond to search for rebels and distribute wanted notices.
• Chu Mu watched as Li Jinghong ordered the coroner to dissect the old man's corpse, then had the remains reassembled and displayed in North Town.
• Chu Mu asked Wu Shuo about the Nanshan Li Family, and Wu Shuo said the county's magistrates and commanders had long been Li family members.
• Chu Mu recalled Li Jinghong's defense against the Grievance Soul and concluded that the Nanshan Li Family belonged to a higher transcendent level.
• Chu Mu connected the missing forced laborers and patrol inspectors to the interests of that transcendent force and feared that the world was controlled by it.

Chu Mu kept watch while authorities used the old man's stitched corpse as bait for the Grievance Soul, but nothing appeared before dawn. Exhausted and worried, he returned home to cultivate his Qi-Blood, realizing that progress without medicinal aid would be painfully slow.

• Wu Shuo had the old man's stitched corpse hung beneath the North Town paifang as bait for the Grievance Soul.
• Chu Mu gave Xu Yuan the Body Forging Art booklet and urged him to study it.
• Nearly a hundred patrol inspectors guarded the corpse through the night, and no abnormality appeared before dawn.
• Li Jinghong sent reinforcements to Nanshan Town, and fresh patrol inspectors replaced Chu Mu and the others at the paifang.
• Chu Mu returned home, searched his rooms, prepared medicinal liquid, and practiced his saber techniques before cultivating his Qi-Blood.
• Chu Mu gained only one point of proficiency from his brief cultivation and recognized how difficult progress would be without medicinal aid.

Chu Mu continued his blood-and-qi cultivation and saber practice while Nanshan Town mobilized patrolmen after the Wind and Moon Tower incident. The chapter ended when cries that someone had died sounded close to Chu Mu’s home.

• Chu Mu speculated that blood-and-qi cultivation might eventually lead to a higher level of mysterious transcendence, then prepared a medicinal bath.
• Big Black Dog returned with a bloodstain, ate its food, and watched Chu Mu cultivate.
• Nanshan Town filled with patrolmen as Li Jinghong directed the response to the Wind and Moon Tower incident and rumors spread among the townspeople.
• Chu Mu set aside reading and focused on blood-and-qi cultivation and saber practice, staying home rather than risking a trip to the inn.
• Someone nearby cried out that a person had died, putting Chu Mu on alert.

Chu Mu discovered that the Grievance Soul had begun killing ordinary people, then returned home to find its black-clad master fleeing from a White-Robed Man of the Nanshan Li Family. The White-Robed Man struck the youth with a fireball, but the youth emerged unharmed, wrapped in glowing runes.

• Chu Mu entered the old scholar’s home and found several Dried Corpses, realizing the Grievance Soul was preying on ordinary people and might grow stronger by devouring them.
• Chu Mu returned home and found a White-Robed Man in his courtyard, while Big Black Dog cowered nearby.
• A black-clad youth burst out of Chu Mu’s bedroom and fled across the roof, and Chu Mu recognized him as the one who controlled the Grievance Soul.
• The White-Robed Man identified the area as the territory of his Nanshan Li Family and launched a fireball at the fleeing youth.
• The youth survived the blast unharmed, surrounded by dense, glowing runes.

A White-Robed Man from the Nanshan Li Family pursued the young rebel with flying-sword and other transcendent techniques, then left Nanshan Town’s Patrol Inspectors to respond. Chu Mu discovered the rebel had killed the occupants of the neighboring house and was left torn between wanting the danger gone and hoping to find a way to reach the power he had witnessed.

• The White-Robed Man sent his Flying Sword after the youth, and both vanished from Chu Mu’s sight.
• Patrol Inspectors arrived at Chu Mu’s home, and he told them the rebel had fled after a man from the Nanshan Li Family confronted him.
• The Patrol Inspectors hurried off to inform the Thousand Household and pursue the youth.
• Chu Mu found the youth’s footprints and saw the bodies of the people who had rented the neighboring house.
• Chu Mu concluded the danger from Qili Village might soon end, but he still hoped for a chance to pursue transcendent power.

After waking, Chu Mu found North Town still under heavy guard and learned that no rebels had been captured. The White-Robed Man arrived, punished Li Jinghong for dissecting the corpse, and extracted a strange pill from it, leaving Chu Mu wondering why his blood and qi had yearned to consume it.

• Chu Mu slept until dark, then went to North Town and saw that the guards and the hanging corpses were still in place.
• Chu Mu learned from Xu Yuan that he had spent the day studying meridians and acupoints at Mingxin Hall.
• Li Jinghong arrived with the White-Robed Man and introduced him as an Inspector sent by the commandery government.
• The White-Robed Man discovered that Li Jinghong had dissected the corpse, struck him down, and then used an incantation to form a blood-red, gold-threaded pill from it.
• Chu Mu felt his blood and qi yearn for the pill, which the White-Robed Man swallowed before the corpse became a dried husk.

Chu Mu watched the White-Robed Man turn a corpse into a Blood-Colored Pill and suspected the man had come to inspect the mine rather than deal with the unrest in Qili Village. Nearby, Xiao Xiu held back from attacking the White-Robed Man, while the Grievance Soul returned to him carrying several smaller Blood-Colored Pills.

• The White-Robed Man swallowed a Blood-Colored Pill refined from a dried corpse, then left Li Jinghong and the Patrol Inspectors behind.
• Li Jinghong ordered the Patrol Inspectors to hang the corpse back on the archway before staggering after the White-Robed Man.
• Chu Mu wondered whether the White-Robed Man's real purpose was inspecting the mine and feared that powerful people treated ordinary lives as worthless.
• Xiao Xiu tried to rush at the White-Robed Man to avenge his Master's remains, but the burly man and the woman persuaded him to retreat.
• The Grievance Soul vanished from near Chu Mu and the Patrol Inspectors, reappeared beside Xiao Xiu, and sank into his body, leaving several small Blood-Colored Pills in his hand.

After a night guarding Nanshan Town, Chu Mu heard that the newly arrived White-Robed Man had spent the night searching the Mine with Li Jinghong and began to suspect the rumored treasure was more than gold or silver. The search’s purpose remained unknown as Chu Mu considered what could tempt a powerful transcendent family.

• Chu Mu cultivated his qi and blood while guards kept watch through the night.
• At daybreak, Xu Yuan left to visit Doctor Li, and Chu Mu went to You Ke Lai Inn for breakfast.
• Chu Mu overheard Patrol Inspectors say the White-Robed Man had ordered Li Jinghong and over a hundred men to search the Mine through the night.
• The Patrol Inspectors discussed rumors that Li Jinghong had been searching the Mine for treasure.
• Chu Mu recalled the earlier treasure rumors and wondered what could be valuable enough to attract the White-Robed Man and his family.

Chu Mu realized the turmoil around the Mine might stem from a hidden treasure sought by Li Jinghong and the White-Robed Man. After Patrol Inspectors were ordered to the Mine to guard forced laborers digging into a wall, Chu Mu sat aside until something suddenly felt wrong.

• Chu Mu connected the Mine production-increase order and the unrest to a treasure valuable enough to attract Li Jinghong and the White-Robed Man.
• A whistle summoned the off-duty Patrol Inspectors, and they were ordered to enter the Mine and await instructions.
• Chu Mu feared the Forced Laborers might rebel, but found the Mine calm and orderly.
• Li Jinghong and the White-Robed Man directed forced laborers to dig into a mountain wall while Patrol Inspectors guarded the area.
• Chu Mu watched briefly, then sat on a rock to ponder his qi and blood cultivation as the digging continued for hours.
• Chu Mu suddenly jolted awake, sensing that something was wrong.

Chu Mu discovered that he felt a bone-deep chill whenever he sensed his qi and blood, then found the same chill on two frost-covered corpses at the mine. He began questioning a patrol inspector about the deaths, suspecting the cause lay outside his cultivation.

• Chu Mu repeatedly sensed an unnatural chill whenever he focused on his qi and blood, though Xu Yuan felt nothing unusual.
• Chu Mu considered seeking medical advice but found that his superior Wu Shuo was absent and that requesting leave would mean approaching Li Jinghong.
• Chu Mu noticed frost on the heads of two corpses wrapped in straw mats and felt the same bone-deep chill when he touched one.
• Chu Mu learned that the nearby patrol inspector was from the Second Squad and used friendly conversation to steer him toward explaining the corpses.

Chu Mu learned that people in nearby mining areas had been freezing to death and suspected the excavated mountainside was the source of a supernatural calamity. He watched the mine as the White-Robed Man ordered hundreds of Forced Laborers to dig, leaving the danger unexplained.

• A Patrol Inspector told Chu Mu that Forced Laborers and Patrol Inspectors had been found frozen to death in nearby mining areas for over a month.
• Chu Mu noticed black mottling behind the blue-gray rock and suspected the mine held a dangerous anomaly connected to Li Jinghong's discovery.
• Chu Mu moved Xu Yuan away from the excavation and used Spirit Radiance Blessing to sense his Qi-Blood, concluding that the chill had a limited range.
• Chu Mu stayed near Xu Yuan and watched the mine, wondering whether its hidden force meant fortune or calamity.
• The White-Robed Man silenced the Mine, and Li Jinghong ordered several hundred Forced Laborers to dig at the mine cave.

Chu Mu witnessed explosions in the Mine Cave turn hundreds of Forced Laborers and Patrol Inspectors into ice sculptures, their bodies shriveled inside. He and Xu Yuan escaped, then saw a newly exposed black Ore Vein and the White-Robed Man standing unharmed beside Li Jinghong.

• A strange, oppressive sound came from the Mine Cave, and Li Jinghong forced the Forced Laborers to keep digging under threat of death.
• As the digging continued, the sound grew louder until an explosion shattered rocks and killed dozens of Forced Laborers.
• A second explosion erupted, and Chu Mu seized Xu Yuan and fled after spotting the danger.
• Chu Mu and Xu Yuan looked back and saw hundreds of people transformed into lifelike Ice Sculptures, their bodies drained and shriveled.
• The explosions exposed a dark Ore Vein threaded with faint blood-red lines, while the White-Robed Man and Li Jinghong remained alive.

After a supernatural mutation in the Cold Blood Mine killed hundreds, the White-Robed Man ordered the ore vein excavated and Li Jinghong put the surviving Patrol Inspectors to work. Chu Mu realized the mine’s lingering chill would continue consuming lives and resolved to escape, then returned home and prepared medicinal materials.

• The White-Robed Man told Li Jinghong that Blood Sacrifice would soften the Cold Blood Mine’s soil within ten days and ordered him to arrange excavation, promising him a place for an eligible clan youngster.
• Li Jinghong assembled the surviving Patrol Inspectors, and Chu Mu suspected the White-Robed Man understood the deadly mutation.
• Patrol Inspectors burned the hundreds of bodies and forced laborers into the Mine Cave, while Chu Mu sensed that the chill remained and might keep killing people.
• Chu Mu decided he could not stay in the mine pit, and Li Jinghong sent Wu Shuo and the surviving Patrol Inspectors back toward Nanshan Town.
• Chu Mu returned home, checked the rooms for danger, fed the Dog Cub, and put a packet of Medicinal Material into a pot.

After the turmoil in Nanshan Town, Chu Mu reflected on his powerlessness before transcendent beings and the slow pace of Body Forging Art cultivation. He realized that studying medicinal materials and formulas could help him create the external support his qi-blood training lacked.

• Chu Mu saw that Patrol Inspectors had been replaced again in Nanshan Town, leaving him among the more senior members of his Hundred Household.
• Chu Mu considered how powerless ordinary people were against higher-level transcendent beings such as the White-Robed Man.
• Chu Mu checked his Light Screen Panel and saw that his Body Forging Art had reached only 18/1000 despite daily cultivation and medicinal liquid.
• Chu Mu concluded that qi-blood cultivation needed stronger External Force to progress beyond slow, repetitive training.
• Chu Mu decided to use Spirit Radiance Blessing to study medicinal materials and formulas and develop assistance for his cultivation.

Chu Mu persuaded Old Li to take him on as a medical apprentice, offering three hundred silver and recounting the mine casualties. Old Li gave him medical books to study, and Chu Mu returned home to begin learning while reflecting on the wider influence of extraordinary power.

• Chu Mu asked Old Li to teach him medicine, explaining that he hoped to live longer, and offered him three hundred silver.
• Old Li asked about the mine casualties, and Chu Mu carefully described what he had witnessed despite the gag order.
• Old Li accepted Chu Mu as a student and lent him books, urging him to persevere in studying medicine.
• Chu Mu returned home on a day of leave, noted that he could not afford to repair his damaged roof, and began reading.
• Chu Mu considered how extraordinary power might have shaped medicine, mining, and the wider society beyond Nanshan Town.

Chu Mu studied medicine to deepen his understanding of the human body and improve his cultivation, while Nanshan Town remained tense despite the rebels’ continued absence. After experimenting with cold exposure, he found it slightly improved his perception and refinement of qi and blood, and continued building his medical knowledge.

• Chu Mu studied a Medical Book and concluded that understanding medicine could help him judge and improve the universal formulas in his Body Forging Art.
• Chu Mu returned to a regular routine of martial training, duty, and medical study as tensions persisted in Nanshan Town and the Mine remained under strict lockdown.
• More than half a month later, Chu Mu practiced his blade and qi and blood cultivation in the snow, testing whether cold exposure could improve his training.
• Chu Mu checked his Light Screen Panel and saw his Basic Blade Technique at 463/500, his Body Forging Art at 54/1000, and his Spirit Radiance Value at 508.1%.
• Chu Mu assessed his medical studies as advanced in theory but recognized that he still lacked practical experience treating patients.

Chu Mu spent his free time studying medicine and advised Xu Yuan to read quietly before trying to cultivate qi and blood again. After a peaceful day on guard in Nanshan Town, Chu Mu hoped the rebels had abandoned their revenge and would never return to the Mine.

• Chu Mu reviewed medical books and medicinal materials, using qi-and-blood cultivation to study herbs safely.
• Chu Mu went on duty with Wangcai and found the guards around the dried corpse growing lax after weeks without trouble.
• Xu Yuan told Chu Mu he could not sense qi and blood, and Chu Mu advised him to read for a few days before practicing again.
• Chu Mu read through his sixteenth medical book while the patrol inspectors passed the day without incident.
• At dusk, Chu Mu wondered whether the rebels had given up seeking revenge and hoped the youth would never return to the Mine.

Chu Mu continued studying medicine under Old Li while weighing whether to flee Nanshan Town, unaware that Old Li and a Cyan-Clothed Man discussed his poor spiritual aptitude and the danger surrounding Qili Village. The Cyan-Clothed Man planned to pursue the newcomers for their inheritance, but Old Li warned him to prioritize the Cold Blood Mine and avoid attracting the Nanshan Li Family’s attention.

• Old Li urged Chu Mu to apply his medical studies by treating the sick, and Chu Mu considered escaping to live quietly as a doctor before deciding that Nanshan Town still needed him.
• Chu Mu left Mingxin Hall late at night and grew wary when he found no patrolmen on the dark street.
• A Cyan-Clothed Man revealed a glowing stone taken from Chu Mu’s chair and judged his Four Elements Pseudo Spiritual Root unsuitable for cultivation despite Old Li praising his comprehension.
• The Cyan-Clothed Man sensed blood qi and a Grievance Soul from newcomers he identified as people from Qili Village, and Old Li said their corpse suggested a powerful body-refinement inheritance.
• The Cyan-Clothed Man considered targeting the newcomers, but Old Li warned that the Nanshan Li Family man was nearby and stressed that their mission was to seize the Cold Blood Mine being secretly mined by Li Chang.

Chu Mu discovered blood and corpses in the street as chaos erupted at North Town’s archway, where the White-Robed Man confronted a bloodied boy. Chu Mu tried to avoid the boy but ran into him in an alley, ending with his blade striking the boy’s iron-hard body.

• Chu Mu spotted blood and corpses, then heard an explosion and cries of pain from North Town’s archway.
• Chu Mu saw the White-Robed Man ride a sword toward the archway and turned back to investigate.
• The Cyan-Clothed Man and Old Li discussed Li Chang’s Late Stage Qi Training cultivation and the hidden Cold Blood Mine as Chu Mu approached.
• The bloodied boy escaped through the White-Robed Man’s Sword Light and ran toward Chu Mu, who dodged into an alley.
• Chu Mu fled through the alley as Li Jinghong and patrol inspectors pursued the boy, who leaped into a nearby residence.
• Chu Mu heard movement, struck twice with his blade, and realized he had hit the boy, whose body felt as hard as iron and stone.