Chapter Summaries

Mo Hua’s Fireball Technique drove the Qian Family to retreat, and the next day his Golden Armor Array helped the Monster Hunters win a decisive battle at Nameless Peak. The Qian Family regrouped at the foot of the peak vowing revenge, while Elder Yu celebrated the victory and Mo Hua wondered how long the Spirit Mine would need guarding.

• Mo Hua’s distant Fireball Technique helped force Qian Zhongxuan and the Qian Family to retreat, earning praise from Elder Yu.
• The Qian Family returned at daybreak and fought the Monster Hunters head-on at Nameless Peak.
• Elder Yu sent more than a dozen iron-armored Monster Hunters into the melee, and Qian Zhongxuan realized Mo Hua had inscribed Golden Armor Arrays on the armor.
• The Qian Family’s lines collapsed under the armored fighters’ attack, and Qian Zhongxuan ordered a retreat after suffering severe casualties.
• Elder Yu let the Monster Hunters celebrate with meat and wine, while Mo Hua declined their offerings and worried about how long the group would remain at the Spirit Mine.

The Qian Family hired outside cultivators to reinforce its fight for the Spirit Mine, and their concealed attacker threatened the Monster Hunters despite their growing advantage. Mo Hua recognized the danger when the attacker nearly killed Mo Shan and vowed to remember him.

• Qian Zhongxuan hired a large group of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators from outside the city to fight alongside the Qian Family.
• Elder Yu and Qian Zhongxuan argued over whether the hired cultivators counted as Qian Family fighters before both sides began battling.
• The Monster Hunters adapted to the hired cultivators' methods and gradually gained the upper hand with their Iron Armor.
• A concealed attacker sliced an Iron-Armored Monster Hunter's throat, and Elder Yu identified the technique as concealment magic.
• Mo Hua sensed the concealed attacker targeting Mo Shan, who dodged the dagger but suffered a minor cut and escaped a potentially fatal blow.

Mo Hua used his divine sense and Fireball Technique to repeatedly disrupt a concealed black-clad cultivator’s ambushes during the battle. When the attacker’s Concealment Technique faltered, Mo Shan seized him and slammed him to the ground.

• Mo Hua hid at the edge of the battlefield and used his divine sense to locate a faint, pale-blue figure moving among the fighters.
• Mo Hua struck the black-clad cultivator with a Fireball Technique, interrupting his attempt to stab a Monster Hunter.
• The black-clad cultivator returned to ambushing Monster Hunters, but Mo Hua repeatedly interrupted his attacks with precise Fireball Techniques.
• The black-clad cultivator searched for Mo Hua and grew enraged as his attacks kept failing, while the Monster Hunters gained ground against the Qian Family cultivators.
• The black-clad cultivator’s Concealment Technique briefly failed, and Mo Shan seized him, broke his bones, and threw him to the ground.

Mo Hua’s Fireball Technique exposed the Qian Family’s concealed cultivator, allowing Mo Shan, Yu Chengyi, and the monster hunters to defeat him and drive Qian Zhongxuan’s forces back. The wounded black-clad cultivator later woke, desperate to learn who had ambushed him with the Fireball Technique, but fainted again before finding out.

• Mo Shan noticed Mo Hua’s Fireball Technique repeatedly reveal the concealed black-clad cultivator and seized him when his spiritual power became disordered.
• Yu Chengyi kicked the black-clad cultivator into a group of monster hunters, who hacked him down before the Qian Family could rescue him.
• Qian Zhongxuan tried to identify the Fireball Technique’s user, but Elder Yu blocked his spiritual sense and Qian Zhongxuan ordered a retreat.
• Elder Yu carried Mo Hua into the mine tunnel and warned him to avoid taking risks, while Mo Hua repeated his father’s advice to strike decisively.
• Qian Zhongxuan ordered the wounded treated and vented his anger at Qian Zhuang as the black-clad cultivator recovered from his injuries.
• The black-clad cultivator woke, demanded to know who had used the Fireball Technique, then fainted again when his wounds reopened.

Qian Hong arrived to take charge of the Qian Family’s failing campaign for the Spirit Mine, criticizing Qian Zhongxuan while hiding his own ambition to claim the credit and spoils. Qian Zhongxuan yielded command but privately doubted Qian Hong could overcome the demon hunters.

• Elder Yu told Mo Hua that Qian Hong was coming to take advantage of Qian Zhongxuan’s losses, and the two discussed escaping after taking what they could from the Spirit Mine.
• Qian Hong arrived at the Qian Family camp, and Qian Zhongxuan reported the failed attacks and their losses.
• Qian Hong rebuked Qian Zhongxuan for mishandling the campaign and took over the Spirit Mine matter, claiming he would answer to the clan himself.
• Qian Zhongxuan explained that an Array Master and one or more Spirit Cultivators had thwarted his forces, but Qian Hong mocked his account and questioned his excuses.
• Qian Zhongxuan agreed to follow Qian Hong’s orders while privately expecting him to fail against the demon hunters.

Mo Hua learned the First-Grade Earth Stone Array so the demon hunters could seal the mine tunnel and escape the Qian Family. After mastering it sooner than expected, he began considering a First-Grade Earth-Wood Compound Array to study next.

• Elder Yu provoked Qian Hong and Qian Zhongxuan, then explained that the demon hunters needed to escape rather than fight the better-supplied Qian Family head-on.
• Elder Yu asked Mo Hua if he knew an Array Technique that could seal the mine tunnel, and Mo Hua said he could learn one by the next morning or the morning after.
• Mo Hua found the First-Grade Earth Stone Array in the Thousand Array Catalog and studied its nine earth-element Array Patterns.
• Mo Hua practiced drawing the Earth Stone Array on paper and succeeded before nightfall.
• Mo Hua noticed a First-Grade Earth-Wood Compound Array in the manuals and wondered what to learn next.

Mo Hua learned the First-Grade Earth-Wood Compound Array and helped the demon hunters secretly reinforce and seal the mine entrances while Elder Yu kept the Qian Family distracted. Qian Hong remained convinced that the sealing was a ruse, leaving the fate of the mine and the looming confrontation unresolved.

• Mo Hua practiced through the night and learned the First-Grade Earth-Wood Compound Array, then told Elder Yu he was ready to help seal the caves.
• Elder Yu led the demon hunters in repeated feigned charges, making Qian Hong believe they were desperate to fight and discouraging him from engaging them.
• The demon hunters blocked cave entrances with crushed stone as Mo Hua layered Earth-Wood Compound Arrays onto the walls, while Elder Yu kept Qian Hong's attention with curses.
• When Qian Hong sent a small group to investigate, Mo Shan, Yu Chengyi, and other demon hunters ambushed them and drove them away.
• Qian Zhongxuan warned Qian Hong that Yu Changlin might truly be sealing the cave, but Qian Hong dismissed the danger and planned to break in or intercept the demon hunters if they fled.

Mo Hua’s layered Earth-and-Wood Compound Arrays stalled the Qian Family’s assault on the mine, while Elder Yu guarded against Qian Hong’s interference. With the escape tunnel still underway and several walls holding, Mo Hua and Elder Yu decided to mine the remaining Spirit Stones rather than leave them behind.

• Mo Hua used Spirit Stones to activate three Earth-and-Wood Compound Arrays sealing the cave entrances, while Elder Yu ordered the demon hunters to dig an escape tunnel.
• Qian Hong’s cultivators failed to break the reinforced barricade, and Qian Hong sensed it was a first-grade Array Technique.
• Elder Yu warned Qian Hong not to let Foundation Establishment cultivators attack; Qian Hong held back and sent Qi Refining cultivators against the walls instead.
• After days of attacks, the Qian Family broke through one wall only to find another array-reinforced wall behind it, and Qian Hong ordered his cultivators to rest.
• Mo Hua explained that the three-layer compound array could hold for a long time, and he and Elder Yu decided to mine all the remaining Spirit Stones.

Elder Yu had the Monster Hunters dig escape tunnels while Qian Hong’s forces searched for them and repeatedly fell into monster-beast lairs. Unable to find the real tunnels, Qian Hong ordered a frontal assault, only to uncover yet another array behind the latest stone wall.

• Elder Yu prioritized digging escape tunnels and secretly collected every scrap of Spirit Mine, while Mo Hua admired his ruthlessness.
• Qian Zhuang led Qian Family cultivators into a false tunnel, where they disturbed a late first-grade monster beast and suffered severe injuries and deaths.
• Qian Hong sent another team to investigate a different tunnel, but monster beasts injured and killed more Qian Family cultivators.
• Qian Hong realized he could not reliably find Yu Changlin’s tunnels and stopped risking his disciples on further searches.
• Qian Hong ordered the Qian Family to attack the mine entrances directly, and after breaking through another wall, they found a third stone wall and another array.

Elder Yu led the Monster Hunters out of the emptied Spirit Mine with all the Spirit Stones, hoping to reach Immortal City before the Qian Family caught up. The Qian Family discovered the mine had been stripped and pursued them, leaving the Monster Hunters racing toward the protection of the Dao Court Office.

• After confirming that every Spirit Stone had been removed, Elder Yu led nearly a thousand Monster Hunters through a hidden passage out of the mine.
• Qian Hong realized the Monster Hunters had escaped, broke through the array sealing the tunnel, and found the Spirit Mine empty.
• The Qian Family discovered the Monster Hunters' escape tunnel, cleared its rubble, and pursued them under Qian Hong's order to kill any they found.
• Elder Yu sensed the pursuit and told Mo Hua that the Qian Family would risk a fight to the death to reclaim the Spirit Stones.
• Elder Yu explained that the Qian Family would face severe punishment if it attacked inside Immortal City, and Mo Hua was shocked by the possibility that the Dao Court could destroy the entire clan.

Mo Hua joined the demon hunters holding the rear and used a cache of Earth Fire Arrays to prepare an ambush for the pursuing Qian Family. The arrays exploded as the Qian Family advanced, stopping their formation while Qian Hong realized Mo Hua had set another trap.

• Elder Yu selected Yu Chengyi, Mo Shan, and several demon hunters to delay the Qian Family, but Mo Hua insisted that his prepared Array Techniques could keep anyone from having to risk their lives.
• Mo Shan and Elder Yu agreed to use Mo Hua’s stored First-Grade Earth Fire Arrays, while Elder Yu ordered Mo Shan to get Mo Hua to safety if the situation turned bad.
• Mo Hua and the demon hunters hid Earth Fire Arrays around a narrow mountain pass and waited for the Qian Family’s nearly two thousand cultivators to arrive.
• Elder Yu taunted Qian Hong and stalled while the Qian Family advanced, honoring the agreement not to attack first.
• Mo Hua’s Earth Fire Arrays exploded beneath the front of the Qian Family’s formation, engulfing cultivators in flames and halting their advance.

Qian Hong and Qian Zhongxuan tried to clear the Demon Hunters’ Earth Fire Arrays blocking the mountain path to the Spirit Mine. After Qian Zhuang’s failed attempt, the two elders detonated the arrays themselves, leaving them battered but clearing the way.

• Qian Hong demanded to meet the Demon Hunters’ Array Master, while Yu Changlin denied knowing who had laid the arrays and stalled him.
• Qian Zhongxuan urged Qian Hong to probe the trapped path, but Qian Zhuang volunteered and explained how he had broken an Earth Fire Array before.
• Qian Hong sent armored Qian Family cultivators to trigger the arrays, but the first blast badly injured one and revealed that the arrays were much stronger than Qian Zhuang expected.
• Qian Zhongxuan proposed sacrificing cultivators to clear the path, so Qian Hong instead persuaded him to help detonate the arrays by promising to erase his prior mistake.
• Qian Hong and Qian Zhongxuan forced their way along the mountain path and triggered the Earth Fire Arrays, clearing the route while suffering internal injuries.

Mo Hua and the Monster Hunters escaped the Qian Family’s pursuit with the mined Spirit Stones by using Earth Fire Arrays to slow them down. The group reached Immortal City safely, leaving Qian Hong furious and threatening revenge.

• Qian Hong ordered the Qian Family cultivators to pursue the Monster Hunters while Elder Yu kept him and Qian Zhongxuan occupied.
• Mo Hua and the Monster Hunters planted more Earth Fire Arrays along the pursuit route, repeatedly frightening and delaying the Qian Family cultivators.
• The Monster Hunters carried the Spirit Stones out of Great Black Mountain and entered Immortal City before the Qian Family could catch them.
• Elder Yu checked that Mo Hua was unharmed as Qian Hong and Qian Zhongxuan arrived and saw the Monster Hunters carrying the Spirit Stones into the city.
• Qian Hong threatened Elder Yu and Mo Hua, and Elder Yu mocked him for losing his composure.

After the Qian Family withdrew, Mo Hua returned home and learned he would receive a first-class share of the Spirit Mine proceeds. Remembering the Monster Hunters who died, he resolved to make his Array Techniques strong enough that no cultivator would bleed or die within them.

• The Dao Court Office arrived, and Qian Hong led the Qian Family away while suspecting the Monster Hunters but overlooking Mo Hua.
• Mo Hua returned home with Mo Shan, reunited with Liu Ruhua, ate a meal, and slept to recover from the fighting.
• Elder Yu, Yu Chengyi, and Mo Shan discussed dividing the Spirit Mine proceeds, and Elder Yu told Mo Hua he had earned a first-class share.
• Mo Hua grieved for the Monster Hunters who had died and vowed to strengthen his Array Techniques so no cultivator would bleed or die within them.

Mo Hua received his share of the Spirit Mine’s wealth but worried that the Monster Hunters’ relief would last only ten years, so he proposed that the Guild start artifact refining and alchemy businesses. Elder Yu realized Mo Hua’s formation skills could solve the main obstacle to making the plan work.

• Mo Hua visited Mr. Zhuang, who praised him, then told Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi about his time in the Spirit Mine and promised to bring them food.
• Mo Hua collected more than three hundred Spirit Stones from the Monster Hunting Guild’s storehouse and worried about what would happen when the Guild’s reserves ran out in ten years.
• Mo Hua asked Elder Yu how the Qian Family had built its wealth, and Elder Yu explained that the family’s ancestor had used ruthless and criminal methods to earn its initial capital.
• Mo Hua proposed that the Monster Hunting Guild use its Spirit Stones to open artifact refining and alchemy businesses, hiring Rogue Cultivators to work there.
• Elder Yu realized that Mo Hua’s formation skills could provide the furnace formations needed for the businesses, and saw that the Guild had everything it needed to begin.

Mo Hua persuaded Elder Yu to establish an Artifact Refining Guild and an Alchemy Guild so the demon hunters’ prosperity could last beyond their ten years of Spirit Stones. Elder Yu approved the plan, organized the demon hunters to prepare the guilds, and Mo Hua began designing the Artifact Refining Guild’s architectural arrays.

• Mo Hua reminded Elder Yu that the Spirit Stones would last only ten years and proposed establishing guilds to create lasting livelihoods.
• Elder Yu agreed to discuss the proposal and promised that Mo Hua could design the formations for the guilds’ furnaces.
• Elder Yu told the demon hunters he had already agreed to the plan, and they spent half a day settling procedures and assigning tasks.
• The demon hunters began preparing a large Artifact Refining Guild and Alchemy Guild, with the Artifact Refining Guild to be built first.
• Elder Yu gave Mo Hua architectural blueprints as references, and Mo Hua began designing arrays for the Artifact Refining Guild.

Mo Hua showed Mr. Zhuang his plans for the Artifact Refining Guild and learned how architectural arrays could be combined into a Grand Array. Mr. Zhuang explained the immense skill and cost required to build one, then suggested that a First-Grade Array Master might lead one by breaking through the limits of Divine Consciousness.

• Mo Hua showed Mr. Zhuang his architectural array plans, and Mr. Zhuang judged them sufficient and gave him diagrams to study.
• Mo Hua noticed how the diagrams coordinated different arrays and asked whether connecting them through an Array Hub would make them more effective.
• Mr. Zhuang explained that such a vast compound array was called a Grand Array and that its Array Hub could connect hundreds or thousands of single arrays.
• Mr. Zhuang described how a Master Array Master planned a Grand Array and drew its Array Hub while other array masters drew the individual arrays.
• Mr. Zhuang estimated that even a small Grand Array could consume the Spirit Stones from an entire mine, excluding labor and activation costs.
• When Mo Hua asked whether a First-Grade Array Master could ever lead a First-Grade Grand Array, Mr. Zhuang said it would require breaking through the limits of Divine Consciousness.

Mo Hua planned his array studies around overcoming the Heavenly Derivation Art’s bottleneck, then drew the Artifact Refining Guild’s architectural Array Diagram. Construction began on land Elder Yu acquired south of Immortal City, where Master Ban noticed a little cultivator inspecting the new foundation.

• Mr. Zhuang reminded Mo Hua to focus on learning compound arrays because he would soon face the Heavenly Derivation Art’s Riddle Arrays at his next cultivation breakthrough.
• Mo Hua planned to study basic compound arrays through the Artifact Refining Guild’s building arrays and more difficult arrays using artifact-refining and alchemy furnaces.
• Mo Hua prepared the guild’s architectural Array Diagram and brought it to Elder Yu, who approved it despite being unable to understand its complexity.
• Elder Yu bought wasteland and neighboring abandoned houses south of Immortal City and hired Master Ban and his workers to build the Artifact Refining Guild and Alchemy Guild.
• Master Ban organized the construction crew, including Demon Hunters who helped with heavy labor, and watched for possible intruders from the Qian Family.
• Master Ban spotted a little cultivator lying beside the new foundation and curiously examining it.

Mo Hua visited the Artifact Refining Guild construction site to inspect its foundations and planned array layouts, though he kept his array skills secret. After Master Ban later asked Elder Yu about him, Elder Yu refused to explain and told Master Ban to let Mo Hua do as he pleased.

• Mo Hua introduced himself to Master Ban and said Elder Yu had sent him to look around.
• Mo Hua surveyed the construction site, checking its walls, foundations, and surroundings while the Monster Hunters let him roam.
• Mo Hua shared his family’s fruit wine with Master Ban, who explained how cultivators’ spiritual roots suited different professions.
• After seeing what he needed, Mo Hua said goodbye to Master Ban and left the site.
• A few days later, Master Ban asked Elder Yu what Mo Hua had been inspecting, but Elder Yu only said Mo Hua was an ordinary child and should be left alone.

As construction of the Artifact Refining Guild neared completion, Master Ban worried that no Array Master had appeared to draw its complex arrays. Elder Yu revealed that Mo Hua was the Array Master, and Master Ban watched the boy begin work on the building’s foundation stones.

• Master Ban supervised construction of the Artifact Refining Guild while Mo Hua visited the site and asked him questions.
• After the building’s rough structure was completed, Master Ban grew anxious because he had never seen the Array Master who was supposed to draw the arrays.
• Elder Yu assured Master Ban that the Array Master would begin work the next day, and Master Ban waited at the site.
• Mo Hua arrived with his Storage Bag and told Elder Yu that everything was prepared.
• Mo Hua laid out the Array Diagram and began drawing complex arrays on a foundation stone, leaving Master Ban stunned to learn that he was the Array Master.