Chapter Summaries

Xu Yunfan escaped the Corpse Tiger Demon by squeezing into a narrow fissure that led to a cavern beside an Underground River. In safety, he examined the Ginseng Baby in his bronze cage, which hissed and bared its teeth at him.

• Xu Yunfan evaded the Corpse Tiger Demon's attacks by swinging between the cliff face, a decayed walkway, and hanging chains.
• Xu Yunfan spotted a fissure using Dragon Seeking Vein Identification and slipped inside as the tiger demon pursued him.
• Xu Yunfan collapsed rocks into the fissure to block the demon, then squeezed through a narrow gap into a cavern.
• Xu Yunfan reached the Underground River and confirmed that the tiger demon could not follow him into the cavern.
• Xu Yunfan set down the bronze cage and leaned closer to smell the Ginseng Baby, which rolled over and hissed at him.

Xu Yunfan absorbed Spiritual Marrow from the Ginseng Baby, strengthening his body and rapidly advancing the Rising Sun One Qi Art. He escaped through an Underground River but found the Lantern Holder waiting at its exit, and suspected North Mang Mountain had tracked him with Thousand Mile Same Dust Incense.

• The Ginseng Baby’s scent made Xu Yunfan absorb Spiritual Marrow, cleansing his body and increasing the Rising Sun One Qi Art’s proficiency by twenty points.
• Xu Yunfan decided to avoid Heavenly Crafting City and find a way to conceal the Ginseng Baby’s aura before the Demon Tiger or North Mang Mountain could find him.
• Xu Yunfan carried the caged Ginseng Baby into the Underground River and followed the dangerous Serpent Coiling Path, where the baby’s movements dragged him into the current.
• Xu Yunfan emerged at Azure Wave Pool and found the Lantern Holder waiting beside an unlit Bronze Lamp.
• Xu Yunfan recognized the possibility that North Mang Mountain had tracked him with Thousand Mile Same Dust Incense, and the Lantern Holder admitted he had underestimated him.

Xu Yunfan killed Qu Bo after the Lantern Holder tried to bargain for the Ginseng Baby with promises of alchemy and immortality. With North Mang Mountain’s incense making its disciples easy to track, Xu Yunfan turned to face seven attackers who rushed him from the darkness.

• Qu Bo identified himself as a leader of North Mang Mountain’s Unloading Path and offered to help Xu Yunfan use the Ginseng Baby and attain immortality.
• Xu Yunfan struck Qu Bo with the Thunder Fire Qilin Hammer, breaking through his defenses as Qu Bo revealed that the Ginseng King was the main ingredient in an Immortality Pill.
• Qu Bo recognized the Crimson Dragon Coiling Mountain Strength in Xu Yunfan’s back and realized Xu Yunfan had perfected his Tendons, Bones, and Skin refinements.
• Xu Yunfan killed Qu Bo with a third hammer blow and retrieved the Ginseng Baby.
• Xu Yunfan told a watcher that the Thousand Mile Same Dust Incense would help him find North Mang Mountain’s disciples.
• Seven black-clad attackers lunged at Xu Yunfan, who raised his hammer and welcomed them.

Xu Yunfan raced back to Heavenly Crafting City with a bronze cage while a corpse tiger demon pursued him. The city’s defenses slowed the demon but failed to stop it, and the chapter ended as Xu Yunfan and Mo Shisan prepared to face it on the battlements.

• Xu Yunfan carried the bronze cage toward Heavenly Crafting City with the corpse tiger demon close behind.
• Qi Huan spotted Xu Yunfan and the pursuing demon, then ordered the crossbowmen to prepare the city’s defenses.
• Qi Huan commanded the crossbowmen to fire flaming armor-piercing arrows, but the demon survived and climbed the city wall.
• Hong Baichuan ordered the Earth Dragon Gate opened, and Mo Shisan activated seven Mechanism Beasts against the demon.
• The demon disabled the Black Jade Tiger Beast, and Xu Yunfan argued with Mo Shisan about the old mechanisms before claiming he could defeat it.

Pei Yan of the Sword Pavilion killed the Demon Tiger after Hong Baichuan’s crossbow and the Mechanism Beasts weakened it. Xu Yunfan left the city wall and raced into the Earth Fire Chamber, while Qi Huan watched him closely.

• Hong Baichuan fired a Mountain Destroyer crossbow at the Demon Tiger, but it deflected the meteoric iron arrow.
• Pei Yan crossed the Mechanism Beast wreckage and killed the Demon Tiger with his sword after avoiding its wind blades.
• Hong Baichuan praised Pei Yan as the leading youth of the Sword Pavilion, and Pei Yan credited the Mechanism Beasts for weakening the demon.
• Xu Yunfan slipped away from the city wall and hurried toward the Earth Fire Chamber, while Qi Huan watched the concealed object beneath his clothing.
• Xu Yunfan entered the Earth Fire Chamber and descended its spiral staircase toward the Weapon Forging Platform.

Xu Yunfan spent three days forging a Mystic Steel Mechanism Box to safely contain the Ginseng Baby and capture its spiritual essence. After trapping it inside, he absorbed its Ginseng Qi and greatly increased his Pure Yang One Qi Art proficiency.

• Xu Yunfan examined the bronze cage and identified how its Five Elements design restrained the Ginseng Baby.
• Xu Yunfan spent three days and nights forging a Mystic Steel Mechanism Box with mechanisms to contain the Ginseng Baby and collect its milky-white fluid.
• Xu Yunfan fitted the mechanism box to his back and tested that it stayed secure while he swung his hammer.
• Xu Yunfan opened the bronze cage, used the mechanism box to immobilize and capture the Ginseng Baby, then sealed it inside.
• Xu Yunfan breathed in the Ginseng Baby's pure Ginseng Qi, which stimulated his Pure Yang One Qi Art and increased its proficiency by thirty-two points.

Xu Yunfan used the Ginseng Baby’s qi to cultivate the Lin Character Secret and practiced the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique, discovering greater control over his strength. Pei Yan visited him, then Qi Huan arrived with news of something good.

• Xu Yunfan cultivated the Lin Character Secret with a breath of Ginseng Qi from the Ginseng Baby, raising his proficiency before his temples began to ache.
• Xu Yunfan decided he could cultivate safely in Heavenly Crafting Cave and expected to reach great accomplishment in the Pure Yang One Qi Art within two months.
• Xu Yunfan practiced the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique and used its force to snap a steel stake from three zhang away.
• Pei Yan praised Xu Yunfan’s hammer technique and explained that the Green Bamboo Sword had acknowledged him as its master.
• Xu Yunfan tried to end the conversation, but Pei Yan said he had something to discuss, and Qi Huan arrived, calling it a good thing.

Xu Yunfan refused Pei Yan and Qi Huan’s invitation to compete in the All Sects Martial Arts Performance, despite the chance to enter the Mystic Truth Secret Realm. A month later, he continued training with the Ginseng Baby and advanced his cultivation, while Qi Huan’s greedy gaze left him wary.

• Qi Huan and Pei Yan invited Xu Yunfan to compete in Lingnan Province’s All Sects Martial Arts Performance, explaining that the top twenty could enter the Mystic Truth Secret Realm.
• Xu Yunfan repeatedly declined, choosing to stay in Heavenly Crafting Cave and focus on mastering the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique.
• As Pei Yan and Qi Huan departed, Xu Yunfan noticed greed in Qi Huan’s gaze.
• A month later, Xu Yunfan used the Ginseng Baby and medicinal baths while cultivating the Mystic Steel Hundred Refinements Body.
• Xu Yunfan’s opening stance shattered a half-rotted ginkgo tree seven zhang away.

Xu Yunfan pushed his cultivation to the brink of entering the Flesh Refining Realm, then finally slept after more than forty days without rest. The Apex Path Remains drew him into a rematch with the woman in white, and after she defeated him, he awakened, used the Lin Character Secret, and charged her again.

• Xu Yunfan advanced his Pure Yang One Qi Art and External Three Harmonies while refusing invitations to the All Sects Martial Arts Performance and training without sleep.
• After more than forty days awake, Xu Yunfan washed, taunted the evil old hag, and fell asleep.
• The Apex Path Remains covered Xu Yunfan and transported him to the inverted mountain realm, where he fought the woman in white with the Thunder Fire Qilin Hammer.
• Xu Yunfan used the inverted realm’s gravity to deflect the woman’s sword qi, but she exploited the fatal point in her sword formation and defeated him.
• Xu Yunfan woke and used the Lin Character Secret; the woman in white warned that overusing it could leave him trapped in Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotion.
• Xu Yunfan charged the woman in white again with his hammer as astral winds gathered in his eyes.

Xu Yunfan completed his morning cultivation and forged his first Low-Grade Sharp Blade in the Earth Fire Chamber. Fu Jin examined the saber and learned how Xu Yunfan had used advanced forging methods to create its intricate patterns.

• Xu Yunfan absorbed the Ginseng Baby's Ginseng Qi, practiced the Pure Yang One Qi Art, and refined his back muscles through the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique.
• Xu Yunfan entered the Casting Hall's Earth Fire Chamber and used the Heavenly Crafting Forging Art to forge North Sea Cold Iron.
• Xu Yunfan quenched a three-foot-seven-inch saber with a hundred-layer wave pattern, successfully making a Low-Grade Sharp Blade.
• Fu Jin praised Xu Yunfan's forging talent and examined the saber, identifying its deep ice-crack patterns and hidden Mother-and-Child Tempering Pattern.
• Xu Yunfan explained that the cold iron had been soaked in an icy spring and that he had used the Double Anvil Counteracting Method to forge extra layers.

Xu Yunfan and Fu Jin learned that Great Qian had invaded Great Zhou and seized Qingzhou and Wu Province. At the Star Gazing Platform, Hong Baichuan and Mo Han prepared Heavenly Crafting Cave for the approaching war.

• Fu Jin told Xu Yunfan that Mo Han was investigating the Mohist Bronze Door and then revealed that their master had not sent word for seven days.
• A damaged Giant Kite from Yanbei Province crashed onto Heavenly Crafting City’s jade-brick platform, carrying an urgent report that Great Qian’s army had invaded and Qingzhou and Wu Province had fallen.
• Xu Yunfan and Fu Jin hurried to the Star Gazing Platform, where Hong Baichuan considered the invasion and the Nine Radiance Sect’s position on the front line.
• Mo Shisan examined the arrow that had damaged the Giant Kite and identified its powerful human-fired bow.
• Mo Han blamed the invasion on the demon Empress’s blood sacrifice and urged Hong Baichuan to recall disciples stationed in Great Qian and prepare for war.

Xu Yunfan reassured Fu Jin about Zhan Yan’s perilous journey to Divine Weapon Ridge, then used Ginseng Qi to strengthen his Pure Yang Inner Breath and advance his cultivation. The chapter ended when a Casting Hall disciple delivered a letter from Zhan Yan.

• Xu Yunfan and Fu Jin worried that Great Qian’s army had surrounded Qingzhou while Zhan Yan traveled to Divine Weapon Ridge, and Xu Yunfan persuaded Fu Jin that Zhan Yan could survive.
• Xu Yunfan decided against leaving Heavenly Crafting City and, the next morning, drew Ginseng Qi from the Ginseng Baby to cultivate his Pure Yang Inner Breath.
• Xu Yunfan gained forty-two proficiency points and realized he was close to mastering the External Three Harmonies.
• A Casting Hall disciple delivered a letter from Zhan Yan to Xu Yunfan, who unfolded it and recognized the familiar handwriting.

Xu Yunfan read Fu Jin’s letter entrusting the Casting Hall to him while Fu Jin searched Qingzhou for Master Zhan Yan. As Great Qian’s army attacked Northern Liang, Xu Yunfan remained at the sect to keep the Casting Hall stable and prepare for the worsening chaos.

• Xu Yunfan read Fu Jin’s letter, which recalled Zhan Yan’s care and warned that Fu Jin would not return unless he found his master.
• Xu Yunfan told Fu Li to keep the Casting Hall running and come to him with urgent matters or questions.
• Xu Yunfan decided not to leave the sect because Fu Li was too young to hold the Casting Hall together without him.
• Tuoba Lie led thirty thousand soldiers in an assault on Northern Liang, where Zhao Duanhai confronted him on the city wall.
• Tuoba Lie’s forces broke through the southern gate and crashed into Northern Liang’s defenders.

Tuoba Lie led Great Qian forces in a brutal assault on Fireworks City while Nine Radiance Sect elders watched and discussed their plans for the rising Heaven and Earth Primal Spirit. At Divine Weapon Ridge, Zhan Yan sheltered women and children and discovered that his long-lost junior brother Lü Cheng was still alive.

• Tuoba Lie killed defenders on the city wall and invoked Great Qian's Martial Ban Law, demanding that commoners sever their meridians.
• Tuoba Lie and the Iron Pagoda Cavalry pressed their attack, while the Nine Radiance Sect elders struck at him and then withdrew to preserve their strength.
• A Great Qian general declared that the empire would cleanse sects and martial artists as its royal banners spread across the provinces.
• At Divine Weapon Ridge, wounded Zhan Yan guarded a group of women and children in an underground chamber.
• Zhan Yan recognized the elderly Lü Cheng as his former junior brother and expressed shock that he had survived.

Lü Cheng reunited with Zhan Yan and sought a way to evacuate the surviving members of Divine Weapon Ridge, while Xu Yunfan managed Heavenly Crafting Cave amid the war and prepared to break through into the Flesh Refining Realm. The chapter ended with Xu Yunfan cultivating with Ginseng Baby’s qi, just twenty-one proficiency points from mastering the Pure Yang One Qi Art.

• Lü Cheng told Zhan Yan that the Weapon Burning Pool had crippled him and explained that he had stayed behind to preserve the Divine Weapon Forging Method and protect the women and children.
• Zhan Yan recalled a secret passage beyond Divine Weapon Ridge, and Lü Cheng agreed they should try to escape through it.
• Xu Yunfan assessed new Heavenly Crafting Cave recruits Xiao Fan and Ye Yan, while reports confirmed Zhan Yan had gone to Divine Weapon Ridge and its weapon forgers had disappeared.
• Fu Li read Yuan Ze’s account of Yanbei City’s defense, and Xu Yunfan cautioned the disciples against rushing to the battlefield before directing them back to their weapon-forging work.
• Xu Yunfan inhaled two breaths of Ginseng Baby’s qi and circulated his Pure Yang Inner Breath, bringing himself within twenty-one proficiency points of mastering the Pure Yang One Qi Art.

Xu Yunfan merged his Pure Yang Inner Breath with the Crimson Dragon Coiling Mountain Strength and broke through to the Flesh Refining Realm. After testing his newfound power by practicing the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique, he told Fu Li about his breakthrough, giving the Casting Hall a powerful successor.

• Xu Yunfan reached Major Mastery in the Pure Yang One Qi Art and entered the Flesh Refining Realm as his inner breath and Crimson Dragon force merged.
• Xu Yunfan unleashed his newly strengthened force, shattering a stone lock from a distance and coating the strike with Crimson Dragon True Fire.
• Xu Yunfan recalled thirty years of cultivating the Pure Yang One Qi Art and practiced the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique, smashing apart his courtyard.
• Fu Li arrived to report the Heavenly Crafting Department disciples' complaints, noticed Xu Yunfan's breakthrough, and celebrated that the Casting Hall had someone to bear its burden.

Xu Yunfan entered the Flesh Refining Realm and secretly tested the overwhelming strength of his hammer technique. After returning to his repaired courtyard, he found a taunting note from Wan Shan, then was interrupted late at night by an urgent visit from Fu Li.

• Xu Yunfan told Fu Li that Fu Jin had entered Qingzhou, then ordered him to keep Xu Yunfan's breakthrough secret.
• Xu Yunfan discovered that the Pure Yang One Qi Art's Everlasting Vitality effect continuously supported his cultivation.
• Xu Yunfan unleashed all eighteen forms of the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique in the back mountains, devastating the Mountain Hollow and advancing his proficiency.
• Xu Yunfan evaded a patrolling Giant Kite Squad disciple and returned to find a contemptuous note signed by Wan Shan on his repaired Blazing Fire Steel Stake.
• After cultivating the Lin Character Secret, Xu Yunfan opened the courtyard gate to Fu Li, who had arrived urgently in the middle of the night.

Xu Yunfan attended a late-night deliberation where Hong Baichuan reported that Qi Huan had died in the collapsing Mystic Truth Secret Realm, and the elders debated how to respond. After returning to bed, Xu Yunfan fell asleep, and the Apex Path Remains on his chest began to glow and unfurl.

• Fu Li summoned Xu Yunfan to the Heavenly Crafting Hall, where Hong Baichuan and representatives of the sect’s halls and departments had gathered.
• Hong Baichuan announced that Qi Huan had died inside the Mystic Truth Secret Realm after half of it collapsed and demons and monsters appeared.
• Mo Han and the others discussed seeking answers from the Mystic Truth Sect and recovering Qi Huan’s remains, while Xu Yunfan declined to volunteer for the task.
• Xu Yunfan returned to bed and quickly fell asleep after the deliberation ended.
• The Apex Path Remains on Xu Yunfan’s chest glowed faintly and unfurled into soft armor.

Xu Yunfan honed his hammer technique through nightly battles with a mysterious woman in his dreams and continued strengthening his body in Heavenly Crafting City. His training was interrupted when Fu Li reported that Fu Jin was about to be surrounded in Cangzhou, as the situation in Yanbei Province collapsed.

• Xu Yunfan fought the woman in white with his Thunder Fire Qilin Hammer and used the Lin Word Seal to sharpen his perception.
• Xu Yunfan woke to a notification that his Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique had gained forty proficiency points.
• Xu Yunfan practiced his inner breath and hammer technique over the following days as his body began to grow stronger.
• Fu Li burst through the courtyard gate and told Xu Yunfan that Fu Jin was about to be surrounded in Cangzhou.
• Xu Yunfan saw a giant kite-shaped mechanical wooden bird descend toward the Heavenly Crafting Platform as Fu Jin stood bloodied among Yanbei Province's cliffs.

Fu Jin fought his former comrade Lu Zhaoyang, who led Great Qian soldiers enforcing the Martial Ban Law, but Tuoba Lie’s giant axe overwhelmed him. As Tuoba Lie prepared to finish Fu Jin, a crimson figure plunged from the sky.

• Fu Jin led a battered group of survivors through a ravine while hoping the Heavenly Crafting Cave would send help.
• Lu Zhaoyang confronted Fu Jin and offered him a position in Great Qian’s Net in exchange for his Mountain Shaking Hammers.
• Fu Jin rejected Lu Zhaoyang’s offer and used an old leg wound to bring him to one knee as their forces fought.
• Fu Jin raised his hammer to strike Lu Zhaoyang, but Tuoba Lie’s giant axe knocked him down and shattered his weapon.
• Tuoba Lie prepared to bring his axe down on Fu Jin, then looked up as a crimson figure fell from the sky.