Chapter Summaries

Xu Yunfan used his Attribute Panel to improve his Mining Technique and weighed Zhou Feng’s plan to escape the mine. He chose to focus on surviving and learning the area before attempting to flee.

• Zhou Feng warned Xu Yunfan that miners were dying from exhaustion and urged him to escape with a group of rebels.
• Xu Yunfan’s Mining Technique reached Beginner level, strengthening his mining movements and making him feel less exhausted.
• Xu Yunfan explained that the mine was deadly and that escaping across the Eight Hundred Li Barren River could be just as dangerous.
• Zhou Feng asked Xu Yunfan to join his escape plan, but Xu Yunfan insisted they first scout the surroundings and secure a way to survive.
• Zhou Feng stormed off in anger, while Xu Yunfan picked up his Iron Pickaxe and resumed mining.

Xu Yunfan endured Jiang Yu’s abuse and the loss of his food in the mine, then followed him into a tunnel and killed him with an Iron Pickaxe. The chapter ended with Jiang Yu dead as the others watched.

• Xu Yunfan finished his mining quota, exchanged ore for flatbreads and water, and endured the overseer’s dismissive treatment.
• Jiang Yu confronted Xu Yunfan, took his food, and ordered him to bring food and water the next day.
• Xu Yunfan recalled Jiang Yu’s past cruelty and learned that Jiang Yu had beaten Zhang Li to death.
• Xu Yunfan followed Jiang Yu into a branch tunnel, where Cui Ye and others mocked him.
• When Jiang Yu refused to return his food, Xu Yunfan struck him in the neck with his Iron Pickaxe and killed him.

Xu Yunfan killed Jiang Yu and buried his body in the mine, then encountered the mutilated Yan King Li Haomiao, who recognized his mining technique. The chapter left Xu Yunfan explaining Jiang Yu’s death to Li Haomiao and preparing to leave.

• Xu Yunfan threatened Cui Ye and the other young men into fleeing after killing Jiang Yu, then took Jiang Yu’s food and water.
• Cui Ye and three others decided to return and attack Xu Yunfan, despite fearing they might be wounded in the mines.
• Xu Yunfan dug a pit using his mining technique and buried Jiang Yu’s body.
• Xu Yunfan discovered Yan King Li Haomiao, who had lost three limbs and bore severe scars.
• Li Haomiao praised Xu Yunfan’s Power Through Both Arms technique and asked what had happened to Jiang Yu.
• Xu Yunfan claimed Jiang Yu had died in an accident and tried to leave while hiding his flatbread.

Xu Yunfan agreed to provide Li Haomiao with food and water in exchange for martial arts training, and Li taught him the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art. Xu Yunfan began practicing its stance while mining, and his Attribute Panel recorded the art as not yet initiated.

• Li Haomiao offered to help Xu Yunfan survive and escape the mine, then proposed teaching him martial arts in exchange for daily food and water.
• Xu Yunfan gave Li Haomiao a flatbread and water, and noticed that Li could still control his injured hand well enough to catch them.
• Li Haomiao chose the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art for Xu Yunfan and explained the martial path before teaching him its mnemonic and stance.
• Xu Yunfan practiced the stance while mining, adjusting his swings as his mining proficiency increased.
• Xu Yunfan gained several small insights into the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art, but his Attribute Panel still listed it as not yet initiated.

Xu Yunfan entered the beginner stage of the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art in less than a day, shocking Li Haomiao with his rapid progress. When Cui Ye and three others came to attack him over Jiang Ming's son, Xu Yunfan easily defeated them and demanded their food and water.

• While mining, Xu Yunfan comprehended the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and entered its beginner stage.
• Xu Yunfan demonstrated his new strength by smashing stone and mining ore with powerful blows.
• Li Haomiao recognized Xu Yunfan's progress and admitted he had misjudged his aptitude.
• Cui Ye led three men into the mine to attack Xu Yunfan, but Xu Yunfan knocked Cui Ye down and struck another man with a Liver-Bursting Fist.
• Xu Yunfan beat He Changgong until he begged for mercy, then stopped the last two men from fleeing and demanded their food and water.

Xu Yunfan enforced a food tribute from He Changgong’s group while continuing to train and mine. He and Li Haomiao uncovered a Source Ancient Jade Wall, which Li Haomiao identified as part of a legendary ritual for ascending to immortality.

• Xu Yunfan killed Cui Ye and ordered He Changgong to make the miners deliver food and water daily, threatening to kill anyone who refused.
• Li Haomiao questioned Xu Yunfan’s decision to spare the others, and Xu Yunfan explained that he needed their supplies to keep training.
• Xu Yunfan’s Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and mining proficiency increased as he worked and received regular food and water.
• Xu Yunfan struck a hidden corner of jade while mining, and Li Haomiao recognized it as the Source Ancient Jade Wall.
• Li Haomiao explained the ritual required to enter the jade wall and told Xu Yunfan to keep digging so they could inspect it.

Xu Yunfan learned Fleet Foot from Li Haomiao and uncovered a Source Ancient Jade Disc beneath the mine, but their discovery was interrupted by the arrival of the powerful overseer Yang Gan. Yang Gan delivered Grain Avoidance Pills to Li Haomiao and eyed Xu Yunfan with murderous intent, which Li Haomiao stopped by declaring him useful.

• Li Haomiao warned Xu Yunfan that the Source Ancient Jade Wall’s discovery could bring danger to all of Ningguta, so Xu Yunfan asked him to teach a movement technique.
• Li Haomiao taught Xu Yunfan Fleet Foot, and Xu Yunfan quickly memorized its methods and began practicing.
• Xu Yunfan resumed digging and uncovered a man-high Source Ancient Jade Disc, then covered it when Li Haomiao heard someone approaching.
• Yang Gan entered the tunnel and mocked Li Haomiao, whom he identified as the Yan King, before giving him Grain Avoidance Pills sent by an unknown superior.
• Yang Gan turned his hostile attention to Xu Yunfan, but Li Haomiao said Xu Yunfan was useful to him.

Xu Yunfan ate a top-grade Grain Avoidance Pill that nourished his body and helped him train in the mine for several days. He continued improving his mining and martial arts proficiency as deaths in the mines persisted.

• After Yang Gan left, Li Haomiao explained that Yang Gan had mastered Skin Tempering but could not advance further, and Xu Yunfan asked whether the Grain Avoidance Pill could stave off hunger.
• Li Haomiao tested a pill, confirmed it was genuine and top-grade, and explained that powerful interests wanted him alive despite the Bewitching Woman seeking his death.
• Xu Yunfan swallowed a Grain Avoidance Pill and felt its nourishment restore his body, then asked Li Haomiao whether he had any more.
• Xu Yunfan found the Iron Pickaxe easier to wield and resumed mining while applying its force to his Crimson Flame Copper Body Art training and practicing Fleet Foot.
• Over the next several days, Xu Yunfan trained and mined in the mine, while Zhou Feng stayed away and miners continued dying underground.

Xu Yunfan advanced Fleet Foot, Mining Technique, and Crimson Flame Copper Body Art while continuing to excavate the ore around the Source Ancient Jade Wall. After his mining and body arts reached Minor Mastery, his strength improved dramatically, and the chapter left him receiving memories of training with a heavy iron hammer.

• Xu Yunfan reached entry level in Fleet Foot and discovered that a single stride could carry him five or six meters.
• Xu Yunfan kept mining to raise his Mining Technique and Crimson Flame Copper Body Art proficiency.
• Xu Yunfan advanced Mining Technique to Minor Mastery and used a single pickaxe strike to shatter a large section of ore.
• Xu Yunfan advanced Crimson Flame Copper Body Art to Minor Mastery and received memories of practicing with a heavy iron hammer.

Xu Yunfan reached minor mastery of the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and discovered a person sealed inside the Source Ancient Jade Wall. Using a fragment of the Purple Gold Earth-Shaking Hammer in his pickaxe, he struck the wall, producing an eerie sound that suggested something inside was awakening.

• Xu Yunfan’s Crimson Flame Copper Body Art reached minor mastery, strengthening his body and revealing its powerful hammer technique.
• Xu Yunfan knocked away the last ore from the Source Ancient Jade Wall, and Li Haomiao spotted a human-shaped shadow sealed within it.
• Li Haomiao suspected Xu Yunfan possessed True Blood and gave him a fragment of the Purple Gold Earth-Shaking Hammer to break the wall.
• Xu Yunfan saw faint patterns on the jade wall and struck along them with his pickaxe.
• The strike rang through the mine with a chilling, sinister sound, and Xu Yunfan retreated behind Li Haomiao as something seemed to stir in the darkness.

Xu Yunfan shattered the Source Ancient Jade Wall, releasing a beautiful, motionless woman whom Li Haomiao believed might be an immortal. After bargaining with Li Haomiao for a martial arts secret technique, Xu Yunfan approached the woman with him and examined her.

• Xu Yunfan struck the Source Ancient Jade Wall with an Iron Pickaxe, covering it in cracks, and briefly tried to flee when it began to break apart.
• The wall shattered, a naked woman fell out, and a strange chill wind swept through the mine before fading.
• Xu Yunfan and Li Haomiao argued over who should approach the woman, and Li Haomiao promised to teach Xu Yunfan a secret technique to temper his Tendons, Bones, and Skin.
• Xu Yunfan carried Li Haomiao toward the motionless woman, admired her appearance, and crouched to examine her.
• Xu Yunfan asked Li Haomiao what he could tell about the woman, and Li Haomiao stared at her in shock.

Xu Yunfan gained the Dao Gate’s Lin Character Secret from the preserved skin of a failed ascendant, then learned about True Blood and terrestrial immortals from Li Haomiao. After ten days underground, Xu Yunfan and Li Haomiao left the mine with the other mine slaves and faced Ningguta’s bitter cold.

• Xu Yunfan touched the woman’s preserved body, causing it to crumble into skin, and received the Lin Character Secret through memory empowerment.
• Li Haomiao explained that the woman had likely failed her ascension long ago and that the Source Ancient Jade Wall had preserved her flesh.
• Li Haomiao told Xu Yunfan that True Blood marked distant descent from a true immortal, though Xu Yunfan’s bloodline had only briefly awakened through atavism.
• Xu Yunfan learned that an Extreme Path Expert could be called a terrestrial immortal, then prepared to practice until the gongs signaled the miners’ rest.
• Li Haomiao asked Xu Yunfan to take him along as Xu Yunfan left the mine with Yang Gan and the other mine slaves.
• Xu Yunfan emerged into the snowy mountain hollow of Ningguta and felt the freezing wind.

Xu Yunfan arrived at the northern mining camp with Li Haomiao and learned that a political upheaval was brewing among the prisoners. He began cultivating the Proximity Mantra, but still could not grasp its method.

• Yang Gan gave the newcomers three days to rest and warned them not to enter restricted areas.
• At the Warm Spring, Xu Yunfan spotted Zhou Feng speaking with an unfamiliar man and realized someone had infiltrated the camp.
• Li Haomiao told Xu Yunfan that rebels had gathered at the mine and urged him to help escape, offering to teach him the Morning Sun One Qi Art.
• Li Haomiao identified Fang Mushan as a talented martial artist and suggested they follow him when upheaval came.
• That night, Xu Yunfan recited the Highest Good is Like Water Heart Mantra, but failed to understand how to cultivate the Proximity Mantra.

Xu Yunfan’s cultivation of the Proximity Mantra was interrupted when Lian Yuanzhang’s forces attacked the mine and clashed with Zhang Shuyang’s troops. Amid the chaos, Xu Yunfan carried Li Haomiao and followed Fang Mushan into the fleeing crowd to escape.

• Xu Yunfan added Proximity Mantra (Not Yet Initiated) to his skills, then fell asleep from mental exhaustion.
• A surprise attack began outside the stone house, and a burly man broke in, seized a slender young man, and carried him away.
• Lian Yuanzhang and Zhang Shuyang fought while black-clad soldiers battled the mine overseers.
• Li Haomiao urged Xu Yunfan to follow Fang Mushan, and Xu Yunfan tied Li Haomiao to his back with the human skin sac.
• Xu Yunfan followed Fang Mushan as prisoners fled the mine, while the battle between the black-clad men and the overseers intensified.

Xu Yunfan fought his way across the battlefield, killing two overseers with his Iron Pickaxe and avoiding Yang Gan. He followed Fang Mushan to a ridge, where Fang Mushan caught an overseer’s whip and pulled its wielder toward him.

• Li Haomiao urged Xu Yunfan to charge forward, and Xu Yunfan steadied himself with the Highest Good is Like Water Heart Mantra before attacking an overseer.
• Xu Yunfan dodged the overseer’s saber and pierced his neck with the Iron Pickaxe, killing him.
• Several overseers charged Xu Yunfan, and he killed another with a blow to the head before pressing onward.
• Xu Yunfan spotted Yang Gan fighting Black-Clad Men with an iron whip and changed direction to avoid him.
• Xu Yunfan followed Fang Mushan to a ridge, where an overseer attacked Fang Mushan with a whip; Fang Mushan caught it and dragged the overseer toward him.

Xu Yunfan fled the mine with Fang Mushan, leaving the battle at Ningguta behind as Li Haomiao warned that Lian Yuanzhang was likely walking into an ambush. The two reached a sheltered mountain hollow, where Fang Mushan questioned why Xu Yunfan was following him.

• Fang Mushan charged the overseer and sent him flying, then raced into the mountains as Xu Yunfan and Li Haomiao followed.
• Xu Yunfan looked back at the battle and heard Li Haomiao predict that Lian Yuanzhang would likely die in an ambush arranged by the Bewitching Woman.
• Xu Yunfan learned that Li Haomiao believed Lian Yuanzhang was attacking Ningguta for his sake, but had refused to acknowledge him to avoid being killed.
• Several escaped mine slaves joined Xu Yunfan and Fang Mushan as they fled through the cold wilderness, but eventually fell behind.
• At dawn, Fang Mushan stopped at a sheltered mountain hollow and asked Xu Yunfan why he kept following him.

Xu Yunfan continued fleeing with Fang Mushan while carrying the injured Li Haomiao, then used his mining skill to dig a sheltered burrow and discovered that mining also improved his Crimson Flame Copper Body Art. The group settled in for the night as Xu Yunfan kept digging and training.

• Fang Mushan explained that Ningguta’s Great General Lian Killing Array kept Zhang Shuyang from pursuing them immediately, and Xu Yunfan agreed to keep traveling with him.
• Xu Yunfan followed Fang Mushan for a full day, covering sixty li without showing fatigue, and told him he had once served the Jiang Family.
• Fang Mushan went hunting while Xu Yunfan dug a large burrow with his Iron Pickaxe and brought Li Haomiao inside.
• Xu Yunfan explained that his minor-mastery mining trait made digging exceptionally efficient, then gathered firewood and began digging again.
• System notifications showed Xu Yunfan gaining Mining proficiency and Crimson Flame Copper Body Art proficiency as he trained with the pickaxe.

Xu Yunfan trained and learned hunting while traveling with Li Haomiao and Fang Mushan, as Zhang Shuyang’s forces searched for the fleeing Yan King after Li Miaoyun killed Lian Yuanzhang. Zhang Shuyang sent Yang Gan and thirty elite men to track Li Haomiao, whom the Empress needed as the last surviving imperial bloodline.

• Fang Mushan returned to the underground cave with a rabbit, and Xu Yunfan asked him to teach him hunting so they could find more food.
• Xu Yunfan kept digging tunnels and training as they traveled, raising his Mining and Crimson Flame Copper Body Art proficiency toward Major Mastery.
• In Ningguta, Yang Gan reported that Li Haomiao had fled, while Lian Yuanzhang’s corpse lay on the battlefield after Li Miaoyun killed him.
• Li Miaoyun ordered Zhang Shuyang to find Li Haomiao, saying the Empress needed the late emperor’s only surviving bloodline.
• Zhang Shuyang assigned Yang Gan thirty elite men and promised him merit if he brought back Li Haomiao.

Xu Yunfan learned hunting from Fang Mushan, then tracked and killed a blue sheep on the Barren River Ice Field. His success granted him the Hunting Novice skill, and he returned to the shelter with enough prey to help him survive.

• Yang Gan accepted Zhang Shuyang's order to retrieve something, knowing failure meant execution under military law.
• Fang Mushan taught Xu Yunfan how to track prey and hunt, and they split up to search the ice field.
• Xu Yunfan followed animal tracks and used Fang Mushan's bow to kill a Plateau Blue Sheep with a shot to its neck.
• Xu Yunfan gained the Hunting Novice skill and recalled memories of years spent tracking, trapping, and practicing archery.
• Xu Yunfan carried the blue sheep back to the shelter, where Li Haomiao expressed disbelief at his catch and skillfully he skinned and gutted it.

Xu Yunfan hunted a rock sheep, continued training and cultivating the Lin Character Secret, while his pursuers followed the fresh caves he had dug. Yang Gan remained certain he was tracking Yan King’s group, and the pursuit continued toward an even larger cave.

• Xu Yunfan reassured Li Haomiao that he would teach him the Morning Sun One Qi Art after they left the Eight Hundred Li Barren River Ice Field.
• Xu Yunfan returned with a rock sheep, then tanned its hide and resumed digging and training in the cave.
• Xu Yunfan cultivated the Lin Character Secret until he reached his limit, then fell into a deep sleep.
• Yang Gan inspected the fresh cave and convinced Master Xu that Yan King’s group had passed through it.
• The pursuers found a larger, recently dug cave, and Yang Gan vowed to prove his tracking skills were right.