Chapter Summaries

Zhou Ling found and bought two damaged artifacts at West Glow Marketplace, including a rare Spiritual Artifact that he believed he could repair. He returned home hoping to strengthen himself before the Six Great Daoist Academies Assessment and considering a trip to Blood Crow Valley if Aunt Wang failed to obtain the Blood Lotus.

• Zhou Ling bargained with a stall owner and bought a damaged First-Tier High-Rank Black Gold Seal for nineteen Spirit Stones.
• Zhou Ling discovered that an ordinary-looking black sword was a damaged Second-Grade Low-Rank Spiritual Artifact called the Fire Gang Sword.
• Zhou Ling analyzed the Fire Gang Sword, learned it might be repairable, and bought it for twelve Low-grade Spirit Stones.
• Zhou Ling left the marketplace with both artifacts and planned to repair them to improve his combat strength.
• Zhou Ling returned home, thinking he might go to Blood Crow Valley if Aunt Wang could not obtain the Blood Lotus at auction.

Zhou Ling analyzed the damaged Black Gold Seal and Fire Gang Sword, then began repairing the sword with beast flame. After restoring two of its damaged nodes, he left for Maple Leaf Mountain.

• Zhou Ling used Basic Analysis to locate the damaged engravings on the Black Gold Seal and Fire Gang Sword.
• Zhou Ling decided to focus on the Fire Gang Sword, whose eleven damaged nodes made it difficult to repair.
• Zhou Ling used beast flame to repair the sword's first node, consuming most of his flame in the process.
• Zhou Ling replenished his beast flame with fire-attribute spirit medicines and the Green Lotus Fire Seed.
• Zhou Ling repaired a second node the next morning, ate breakfast, and headed to Maple Leaf Mountain.

Zhou Ling tested his repaired Fire Gang Sword and discovered that his Sword Control had advanced to Third Order, then learned that a dangerous soul-devouring evil cultivator was active nearby. The chapter left him considering a defensive magic formation to protect his family as he prepared to go to Maple Leaf Mountain.

• Zhou Ling tested the repaired Fire Gang Sword, used it to split a stone pedestal, and found that his Sword Control had reached Third Order, Sword follows will.
• Zhou Ling practiced with the Fire Gang Sword while Li Ru prepared Spirit Wine and urged him to eat before leaving.
• Zhou Shan warned Zhou Ling and Li Ru that an evil cultivator had killed a Rogue Cultivator and devoured his divine sense.
• Zhou Shan explained that the wanted evil cultivator used a Soul Dao technique, was badly injured, and had Late Qi Condensation cultivation.
• Zhou Shan considered organizing night patrols with Brother Chu, while Zhou Ling thought about asking Xin'er to set up a First-grade High-tier Magic Formation at home.

With an evil cultivator threatening Lingxia City, Zhou Ling worried about his parents’ safety and considered moving, while Wang Xin offered advice and discussed the upcoming First-grade Technician Assessment. They decided to install an Azure Cloud Wood Formation at Zhou Ling’s home for protection.

• Zhou Ling told Wang Xin about the evil cultivator who devoured human souls, and they worried that the Mysterious Court Division had not caught it.
• Wang Xin offered to let Zhou Ling’s parents stay at her house, but Zhou Ling declined and asked about renting in her neighborhood.
• Wang Xin told Zhou Ling that the First-grade Technician Assessment would be held on March 9, and he decided to consider registering as an Inscription Master.
• Zhou Ling asked Wang Xin to help protect his home with a formation, and they chose the Azure Cloud Wood Formation over the more costly Lightning Strike Formation.
• Zhou Ling and Wang Xin agreed to return to his home that afternoon to set up the formation after their morning cultivation.

Wang Xin completed the Azure Cloud Wood Formation for the Zhou Family and taught Zhou Ling how to operate it. While cultivating the Clear Radiance Spirit Nurturing Art, Zhou Ling endured a painful backlash but discovered a red seed in his Sea of Consciousness that might be a visualization soul seed.

• Wang Xin finished setting up the Azure Cloud Wood Formation and showed Zhou Ling its attack and wood-spiritual-energy-gathering functions.
• Zhou Ling and Wang Xin ate dinner with Li Ru, then Zhou Ling walked Wang Xin home.
• Zhou Ling explained the formation to his parents, installed twenty spirit stones, and activated it.
• Zhou Ling cultivated the Clear Radiance Spirit Nurturing Art and suffered a painful backlash when the Fire Spirit Maple Tree visualization broke apart.
• Zhou Ling noticed a faint red seed in his Sea of Consciousness and wondered if he had condensed a soul seed.

After condensing a soul seed, Zhou Ling used its power to complete a First-grade High-tier Steam Fire Engraving and restore his spiritual sense. He then tested himself against the Sun Yang Bird in [Illusion Simulation], where the bird defeated him, but the experience strengthened his spiritual sense and grew his soul seed.

• Zhou Ling found that his improved spiritual sense helped him circulate spiritual power faster and attempt a First-grade High-tier Steam Fire Engraving.
• As Zhou Ling’s spiritual sense waned while drawing, his soul seed released a cool wave that restored his focus and helped him finish the engraving.
• Zhou Ling drank his mother’s Plum Spirit Wine and used his soul seed to recover before entering [Illusion Simulation] to challenge the Sun Yang Bird.
• Zhou Ling wounded the Sun Yang Bird with an Azure Lotus Sword Flame, but it overwhelmed him with its talons and ended the simulation.
• Zhou Ling gained spiritual sense cultivation and soul seed growth from the failed challenge.

After assessing his defeat by the Sun Yang Bird, Zhou Ling decided to strengthen his cultivation before the Six Great Daoist Academies Assessment. At Master Lu’s workshop, he proved he could draw a First-Grade High-tier Steam Fire Engraving and agreed to try upgrading the workshop’s furnace in exchange for an Artifact Refiner examination slot.

• Zhou Ling concluded that he still could not defeat the Sun Yang Bird, but his performance showed he had Late Qi Condensation combat strength.
• Zhou Ling visited Master Lu’s workshop to inspect the Brewing Furnace and showed him the First-Grade High-tier Steam Fire Engraving he had drawn.
• Master Lu offered to waive the furnace’s remaining cost and give Zhou Ling an Artifact Refiner examination slot if he upgraded its Fire Gathering Engraving.
• Zhou Ling recognized the furnace’s open-circulation Fire Gathering Engraving and studied its eight nodes.
• Zhou Ling believed his Beast Flame would let him add the engraving lines and told Master Lu he would try.

Zhou Ling upgraded Master Lu’s artifact forging furnace by drawing a high-grade Fire Gathering Engraving with his beast flame. Master Lu rewarded him with a recommendation token for the Heavenly Crafts Division and two pieces of Teng Bamboo Armor to protect his family from Soul Dao attacks.

• Zhou Ling sent Master Lu and the disciples out so he could draw the engraving without revealing his beast flame.
• After studying a failed attempt on Spirit Paper, Zhou Ling successfully drew the Fire Gathering Engraving and applied it to the furnace.
• Master Lu inspected the upgraded furnace and gave Zhou Ling a recommendation jade token bearing the Heavenly Crafts Division’s mark.
• Zhou Ling asked Master Lu for protection against Soul Dao attacks, and Master Lu offered two unused pieces of Teng Bamboo Armor.
• Zhou Ling accepted the armor and left the workshop as evening approached.

As killings by evil cultivators made the city unsafe, Zhou Ling went to Maple Leaf Mountain and tried to refine Teng Bamboo Armor for his parents, but his soul cultivation was not yet strong enough to inscribe it. After Zi Ling explained how divine sense projection worked, Zhou Ling gained the Soul Blade talent and wondered how to trigger it.

• Zhou Shan warned Zhou Ling that someone had been killed on nearby Yunxing Street, but Zhou Ling decided to keep visiting Maple Leaf Mountain during the day.
• Zhou Ling examined the Teng Bamboo Armor and learned that he could not inscribe a soul engraving until he could project his divine sense outward.
• Zhou Ling cultivated the Clear Radiance Spirit Nurturing Art and improved his soul seed, but he still could not shape or project his divine sense.
• Zi Ling explained that Zhou Ling should continue cultivating his visualization method to condense divine soul power, and she showed him her own soul power.
• Zhou Ling's panel revealed the Soul Blade talent, which required him to project his divine sense outward ten times, and he began wondering how to do so.

Zhou Ling received Cloud Origin Pills from Wang Xin and discovered that repeatedly attempting a soul seal awakened his Soul Blade talent, which let him project his divine sense while drawing. Meanwhile, Chu Xing and the Medicine Seeking Team proposed nightly patrols because an escaped Evil Cultivator threatened the area.

• Wang Xin gave Zhou Ling three Cloud Origin Pills refined by Wang Yu to help temper and consolidate his divine sense.
• Zhou Ling tried drawing the Green Vine Encirclement Soul Seal and, after repeated failures, left faint traces on the Spirit Paper before stopping to cook lunch.
• Zhou Ling learned that Mysterious Court Guards had been injured while pursuing the Evil Cultivator, who escaped again.
• Chu Xing and the Medicine Seeking Team visited Zhou Shan and proposed forming a Patrol Team to guard nearby streets at night.
• Zhou Ling continued drawing the Green Vine Encirclement Soul Seal, awakened the Soul Blade talent after ten divine sense projection attempts, and projected his divine sense long enough to draw one Inscription Pattern.

Zhou Ling advanced his Spiritual Sense cultivation to the First-order Seventh Layer and successfully drew the Green Vine Encirclement Soul Seal. He gave his mother a Cloud Origin Pill before preparing to inscribe the seal on Teng Bamboo Armor for his father's patrol.

• Zhou Ling drew the Green Vine Encirclement Soul Seal, discovered its soul-power loop was flawed, and took a Cloud Origin Pill to restore his Spiritual Sense.
• The pill strengthened Zhou Ling's Spiritual Sense and raised his cultivation to the First-order Seventh Layer.
• Zhou Ling successfully drew the Green Vine Encirclement Soul Seal again and planned to inscribe it on Teng Bamboo Armor after eating and recovering.
• Li Ru worried about Zhou Ling's father joining the patrol, and Zhou Ling gave her a Cloud Origin Pill to cultivate with.
• Zhou Ling watched Li Ru return to her room and considered how the Spirit Gathering Formation and Azure Cloud Wood Formation had strengthened the Zhou Family's cultivation environment.

Zhou Ling engraved soul seals on two Teng Bamboo Armors, discovering that his Soul Blade talent let him complete the work and form a limited soul attack. At dinner, he gave the armors to his parents, who decided to lend one to Chu Xing for the night patrol.

• Zhou Ling engraved the Green Vine Encirclement Soul Seal on a Teng Bamboo Armor, and his Soul Blade talent improved his speed and precision.
• Zhou Ling activated the seal and saw it form phantom green vines, then recovered his spiritual sense through meditation.
• By dusk, Zhou Ling had engraved a second Teng Bamboo Armor and decided the pair would help protect his parents.
• Zhou Shan told Zhou Ling and Li Ru that the Mysterious Court Division had ordered a curfew and assigned him to patrol in a group of four.
• Zhou Ling gave the two armors to his parents, and they agreed to lend one to Chu Xing for the patrol.
• Chu Xing and several others came to discuss the patrol route with Zhou Shan while Zhou Ling returned to his room to cultivate.

Zhou Ling completed a Steam Fire Engraving for the Brewing Furnace, then learned that Zhou Shan and Chu Xing had been injured in a fight with an evil cultivator. The chapter ended as Alchemist Lin arrived to examine Chu Xing.

• Zhou Ling refined his own fire-attribute Spirit Ink and successfully drew the Steam Fire Engraving onto the Brewing Furnace.
• Xu Jiu told Li Ru and Zhou Ling that Zhou Shan and Chu Xing had been injured after encountering an evil cultivator on patrol.
• Zhou Ling and Li Ru hurried to the Chu Family residence, where they found Zhou Shan only slightly injured and Chu Xing shivering from cold poison.
• Zhou Shan explained that the black-robed evil cultivator had attacked with a Soul Banner before the Mysterious Court Division arrived and pursued him.
• Alchemist Lin arrived as Chu Xing lay gravely cold on a wooden board.

After the Mysterious Court Division killed the Evil Cultivator, Zhou Ling revealed that he could refine First-grade High-tier Brewing Furnaces and prepared to register for the First-Rank Inscription Master Assessment. The chapter left him wondering why the Mysterious Court Division had invited him to dinner with Zhou Shan and Chu Xing.

• Li Ru and Zhou Ling left Chu Xing in the care of Zhou Shan and the Medicine Seeking Team after Alchemist Lin treated his injuries and confirmed the Teng Bamboo Armor had protected him.
• Zhou Ling showed Li Ru the First-grade High-tier Brewing Furnace he had refined, and she learned he could make First-grade High-tier Engravings.
• Zhou Shan told Li Ru and Zhou Ling that the Mysterious Court Division had killed the Evil Cultivator and would give them a share of the reward.
• Zhou Shan told Zhou Ling that Chu Xing had thanked him for the Teng Bamboo Armor, and Zhou Ling set off for Maple Leaf Mountain.
• Several days later, Zhou Ling prepared to register for the First-Rank Inscription Master Assessment at the Heavenly Crafts Division's General Affairs Hall.
• Zhou Shan told Zhou Ling that the Mysterious Court Division had invited him, Zhou Shan, and Chu Xing to dinner, leaving Zhou Ling to ask why they wanted him there.

Zhou Ling registered for the First-Rank Artifact Refiner assessment and joined a banquet where Steward Qin praised his artifact-crafting skill. Steward Qin then asked him to help make soul-path Magic Artifacts for the Mysterious Court Division, but Zhou Shan warned that Zhou Ling was too young for such a serious task.

• Zhou Ling registered for the First-Rank Artifact Refiner assessment, paid five Low-grade Spirit Stones, and received an assessment token for the March 9 examination.
• Zhou Ling arrived at Four Seasons Tower and found Zhou Shan, Chu Xing, the He Family Siblings, and Steward Qin waiting for him.
• Steward Qin recognized the Teng Bamboo Armor Zhou Ling had made and praised his ability to forge a soul imprint at such a young age.
• Steward Qin gave Chu Xing the Dao Alliance's reward for helping kill a remnant of the Blood Soul Sect, and Chu Xing passed it to Zhou Shan for safekeeping.
• Steward Qin asked Zhou Ling to forge soul-path Magic Artifacts for the Mysterious Court Division, while Zhou Shan cautioned that his son was not ready for the responsibility.

Zhou Ling examined a Mysterious Robe for Steward Qin and agreed to try inscribing Soul Imprints onto three robes. He received the robes and a Jade Slip, with He Zijian offering payment and future business for Zhou Ling's family wine workshop.

• Steward Qin asked Zhou Ling to craft three Mysterious Robes using two First-grade High-tier Soul Imprints and let him examine He Zijian's robe.
• Zhou Ling identified the robe's Profound Iron Silkworm Silk material and its Spirit Gathering, Golden Armor, and Wind Transformation Engravings.
• Zhou Ling said he could attempt the inscription but warned that the material made the work difficult.
• Steward Qin gave Zhou Ling three robes and a Jade Slip containing the Soul Imprints, saying they were his personal belongings and that failure would be acceptable.
• He Zijian offered Zhou Ling one hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones for each robe and promised that the He Family would buy wine from Zhou Ling's family's Wine Workshop.
• Zhou Ling asked what would happen if he accidentally ruined a robe while crafting it.

Zhou Ling agreed to refine mystic robes for the Heavenly Crafts Division and gained a future wine-selling deal with Four Seasons Tower for his family. After returning home, he persuaded Li Ru to keep a Qi Gathering Pill and began studying the Soul Imprints he needed to refine.

• Steward Qin explained the Heavenly Crafts Division’s success-rate requirements and asked Zhou Ling to refine two of three mystic robes within half a month.
• Zhou Ling accepted the work and learned that Four Seasons Tower would buy wine from Zhou Family Winery.
• Chu Xing and Zhou Shan divided the rewards from their fight with the evil cultivators, with Zhou Shan saving his Qi Gathering Pill for Li Ru.
• Li Ru celebrated the Four Seasons Tower deal, and Zhou Ling persuaded her to keep the pill and improve her cultivation.
• Zhou Ling returned to his room and examined the two Soul Imprints Steward Qin had given him.

Zhou Ling advanced Spiritual Sense Training to the second tier while attempting to inscribe a high-tier soul seal, then received instruction from Zi Ling on ways to use Spirit Flame. He began studying the methods in a Jade Slip, learning that Spirit Flame could enhance techniques beyond alchemy and Artifact Crafting.

• Zhou Ling advanced Spiritual Sense Training to the second tier while inscribing Sea of Consciousness Mirroring Sword, but his soul power ran short before he finished the seal.
• Zhou Ling brought five jars of his mother's improved Plum Spirit Wine to Zi Ling, who praised its flavor and warned him not to reveal his beast flame to outsiders.
• Zi Ling gave Zhou Ling and Wang Xin Jade Slips containing methods for using and improving Spirit Flame.
• Zhou Ling studied the Jade Slip and learned that First-grade Spirit Flame could be applied through techniques, greatly strengthening spells such as Fireball Technique.

Zhou Ling received the first part of the Profound-grade mid-tier Five Elements Dry Yang True Art from Zi Ling and began studying its demanding cultivation methods. By evening, he had roughly comprehended the wood-attribute method and planned to cultivate it at home, where wood spiritual energy was stronger.

• Zi Ling gave Zhou Ling the Five Elements Dry Yang True Art, explaining that his Sunbird beast flame made him especially suited to cultivate it and would help him fuse with the Green Lotus Fire Seed.
• Zi Ling warned Zhou Ling to master the first level before studying the second, which she had sealed; Zhou Ling realized the art required five meridian cycles and difficult-to-find high-grade Five Elements spiritual items.
• Zhou Ling studied the art’s five attribute chapters, finding their annotations obscure and exhausting to read.
• By evening, Zhou Ling had roughly comprehended the wood-attribute method and decided to try opening its meridian cycle at home, where the wood spiritual energy was stronger.
• Zhou Ling found the fire-attribute method familiar from the Spirit Flame Art and learned that the new art allowed 108 cycles in one Qi Refinement cultivation session, compared with 33 before.
• Zhou Ling bade farewell to Zi Ling and Wang Xin and headed down the mountain.

Zhou Ling helped his parents set a profitable price for a large Spirit Wine order from Four Seasons Tower, then cultivated the Wood Origin Evergreen Art and awakened the Qi Concealment talent. He tested it in an illusion and found it could hide him from most first-tier Demon Beasts, though a mid first-tier beast seemed to sense something.

• Li Ru told Zhou Ling and Zhou Shan that Shopkeeper Zhao of Four Seasons Tower had ordered fifty jars of top-quality Spirit Wine each day.
• Zhou Ling persuaded his parents to charge thirty-five Broken Spirit Stones per jar, and they agreed.
• Zhou Ling condensed a Wood Attribute meridian cycle while cultivating the Five Elements Dry Yang True Art.
• Zhou Ling cultivated the Wood Origin Evergreen Art ten times and achieved the Qi Concealment talent.
• Zhou Ling tested Qi Concealment in an illusion and remained unnoticed by several Demon Beasts, though a mid first-tier beast appeared wary of his location.