Chapter Summaries

Qi Huan and the disciples discovered a vast array of skeletons bound by Demon Suppression Nails, including a towering Demon Skeleton that overwhelmed Qi Huan with visions of betrayal and resentment. As the demon tempted him with power and revenge, Qi Huan’s swords turned on Yan Qi, leaving the disciples in shock.

• Qi Huan led the disciples to a Mountain Hollow filled with chained skeletons, each pinned by a Demon Suppression Nail.
• Yan Qi pointed out a giant horned skeleton bound to a bronze pillar beside the Nether River.
• Qi Huan touched the skeleton’s horn, which liquefied and spread dark-red patterns up his arm as he fell into a distorted vision.
• The Demon Skeleton showed Qi Huan memories of being shunned and betrayed, then offered him power to take revenge.
• Qi Huan dropped to his knees as six blacksteel swords circled him, and one sword pierced Yan Qi’s throat when he approached.

Qi Huan killed Yan Qi and the other Hidden Edge Pavilion disciples, then absorbed the Demon Skeleton’s power and became further demonized. Three days later, Xu Yunfan’s Pure Yang One Qi Art strengthened his body as he cultivated, and he neared minor accomplishment.

• Qi Huan killed Yan Qi and the fifteen other Hidden Edge Pavilion disciples, revealing scales and other signs of demonization.
• Qi Huan touched the Demon Core, causing the Demon Skeleton to collapse and its dark blue matter to flow into him.
• The Heavenly Crafting Fortress settled into a mountain beside Ghost Cry Abyss, and Xu Yunfan exchanged greetings with Qi Huan.
• Three days later, Xu Yunfan absorbed a particle of primal spirit qi while cultivating the Pure Yang One Qi Art.
• Xu Yunfan’s body grew stronger through the cultivation, and he expected the art to reach minor accomplishment within a few more days.

Xu Yunfan met Su Zhenhe and Yu Jingshan, who admired sayings they thought he had written, and accompanied them toward Heavenly Crafting City. The chapter ended with Heavenly Crafting Cave preparing to bury Machinery City’s base beneath the city.

• Su Zhenhe showed Xu Yunfan the Mystic Truth Sect’s Precious Artifact, Jade Pot Ice, and clarified that he had not come to fight.
• Yu Jingshan introduced herself as a True Inheritance Disciple and praised a saying Xu Yunfan had repeated, but he told her its sage author was dead.
• Xu Yunfan invited Su Zhenhe and Yu Jingshan to visit Heavenly Crafting City, and they accepted.
• Yu Jingshan and Su Zhenhe praised more lines Xu Yunfan recited, and he explained that their authors had also been laid to rest.
• At Heavenly Crafting City, disciples and townspeople prepared to bury Machinery City’s base underground using chains, machinery, and Thunder Fire Medicine.

Xu Yunfan visited the underground forge at Heavenly Crafting City, where Zhan Yan showed him a newly forged hammer and tested his martial foundation. The chapter ended with Zhan Yan applying a force-cutting technique to Xu Yunfan’s shoulder and urging him to try it.

• Yan Yuwei and the Melting Gold Hall elites hauled a drill head from Ghost Cry Abyss after finding volcanic ground suitable for forging.
• Xu Yunfan brought Yu Jingshan and her companion to Heavenly Crafting City, left them with Fu Jin, and descended to the underground forge.
• Zhan Yan showed Xu Yunfan a newly forged Armor Piercing Hammer, which Xu Yunfan judged heavier but better suited to prolonged combat than his Thunder Fire Qilin Hammer.
• Zhan Yan pressed down on Xu Yunfan’s shoulder, and Xu Yunfan dissipated the force through his stance without moving his knees.
• Zhan Yan praised Xu Yunfan’s completed three refinements and hooked a muscle inside his shoulder blade to demonstrate his grandmaster’s force-cutting skill.

Xu Yunfan trained with Zhan Yan, demonstrating remarkable progress in the Thousand Jun Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique and surprising his master with a move that had taken Zhan Yan years to learn. Zhan Yan decided to teach him the entire technique, just as the Earth Fire Well erupted.

• Xu Yunfan used the Armor Piercing Hammer to deflect Zhan Yan’s attacks and gained proficiency in the Thousand Jun Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique while shedding the force of a thrown anvil.
• Xu Yunfan used the hammer’s rotational force to deflect Zhan Yan’s iron caltrops through a vortex of water droplets.
• Xu Yunfan redirected Zhan Yan’s strike with a forging technique from the Heavenly Crafting Forging Art.
• Zhan Yan demonstrated how to combine hard and soft force in the Thousand Jun Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique, and Xu Yunfan immediately reproduced the technique as Layered Wave Strength.
• Zhan Yan chose to teach Xu Yunfan the entire hammer technique, but the Earth Fire Well erupted before they could continue.

Zhan Yan taught Xu Yunfan the force-dispersing method and successive stages of the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique. Xu Yunfan showed startling progress, but Zhan Yan explained that mastering the final stage required reaching the Flesh Refining Realm.

• Zhan Yan demonstrated how to disperse hammer force through the body and instructed Xu Yunfan to practice the technique.
• Xu Yunfan’s second strike damaged a cast-iron anvil, impressing Zhan Yan, who admitted that he had once possessed True Blood too.
• Zhan Yan demonstrated Crimson Dragon Coiling Mountain Strength with a strike that cracked the ground and forced them to leave Heavenly Crafting City.
• Outside the city, Zhan Yan taught Xu Yunfan to channel rebound force through his spine, hips, and Gushing Spring Acupoint.
• On his seventh attempt, Xu Yunfan drove the hammer two inches into the rock, and Zhan Yan said the third stage required the Flesh Refining Realm.

Xu Yunfan mastered the first move of the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique, strengthening his body and advancing the Pure Yang One Qi Art to minor mastery. He discovered that he could cultivate inner breath through his flesh and went to bed exhausted, confident he could defeat Su Zhenhe within ten moves.

• Zhan Yan gave Xu Yunfan an annotated manual for the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique and left him to practice.
• Xu Yunfan used the Armor Piercing Hammer to execute Starfall Heavenly River, mastering the technique and undergoing a powerful physical transformation.
• Xu Yunfan's Pure Yang One Qi Art reached minor mastery, granting him Qi Armor and causing its inner breath to circulate through his flesh.
• Xu Yunfan realized he had achieved internal cultivation and tested his new strength by cracking the ground with a light step.
• Xu Yunfan returned to his courtyard, secured the Mystic Steel Mechanism Box and Apex Path Remains beside himself, and went to sleep.

While Xu Yunfan slept with the Apex Path Remains against his body, it spread over him and drew on his Pure Yang Inner Breath, bringing him into a lethal dream battle with a mysterious woman in white. After dying repeatedly and gaining Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique proficiency, Xu Yunfan used the Lin Character Secret to predict her movement and launched a prepared counterattack.

• As Xu Yunfan fell asleep, the Apex Path Remains came alive, unfolded over his body, and drew his Pure Yang Inner Breath into a blood scab on its chest.
• Xu Yunfan encountered a woman in white on a snowy mountain, and she shattered his throat with Extreme Cold Qi before killing him with an ice blade.
• Xu Yunfan woke within the dream and saw a notification that his Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique proficiency had increased by three points.
• The woman attacked again with a collapsing snowfield and a sword finger, killing Xu Yunfan a second time and granting him another three proficiency points.
• Xu Yunfan invoked the Lin Character Secret, predicted where the woman would land, and struck toward her with a Qi Armor–reinforced punch.

Xu Yunfan was dragged into a deadly dream by a mysterious woman, where the Lin Character Secret gained a point and he used the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique beyond his current realm. After wondering how the woman had found him, he returned to Heavenly Crafting City to ask his master Zhan Yan about Entrusting Body into Dream.

• Xu Yunfan struck the woman in the dream, but she froze his blood and attacked his acupoints with icy threads before tapping his brow and killing him.
• Xu Yunfan awoke from the dream and saw that his Lin Character Secret proficiency had increased by one point.
• Xu Yunfan cultivated the Pure Yang One Qi Art at dawn and noticed that his Pure Yang qi had become much thinner.
• Xu Yunfan hurried back to Heavenly Crafting City and went to the Earth Fire Cave to ask Zhan Yan about Entrusting Body into Dream.
• Xu Yunfan kicked open the Casting Hall doors while Zhan Yan was forging, and Zhan Yan scolded him for arriving at three in the morning.

Xu Yunfan told Zhan Yan that a woman had entered his dream and tried to kill him, and Zhan Yan suspected an inheritance left by an Extreme Path Expert. He warned Xu Yunfan that the inheritance could possess him even as it offered great power, leaving Xu Yunfan determined to investigate the woman in the shell from the Source Ancient Jade Wall.

• Xu Yunfan described the dream encounter to Zhan Yan, who recognized it as a possible use of Entrusting Body into Dream.
• Zhan Yan explained that the dream intruder might be an incense-fire false god or the will of an Extreme Path Expert tied to a divine treasure.
• Xu Yunfan touched his chest as he realized he might have encountered an inheritance mark, and Zhan Yan warned him to keep the matter secret.
• Zhan Yan recounted how a broken sword had led a gifted disciple to mastery before an old demon emerged from his head and possessed him.
• Zhan Yan cautioned that an Extreme Path inheritance was a dangerous, two-way ritual, with the remnant soul potentially feeding on Xu Yunfan's pure yang physique.
• Xu Yunfan thanked Zhan Yan and left to investigate the woman dug out from the Source Ancient Jade Wall beneath Ningguta.

Zhan Yan sought Mo Han’s help after Xu Yunfan survived contact with a Supreme Dao vessel, and Mo Han found an ancient record explaining the danger. Xu Yunfan examined the skin shell in his courtyard and recognized it as the woman from his dream and the Source Ancient Jade Wall.

• Zhan Yan ran to the Mechanism Hall after Xu Yunfan left and asked Mo Han for help protecting his disciple.
• Mo Han activated a mechanical beast and teased Zhan Yan before searching ancient records for information about Supreme Dao vessels.
• Mo Han explained that the vessels had awakened as the Heaven and Earth Primal Spirit entered a half-dispersed state, and said Xu Yunfan would likely have to withstand the danger himself.
• Xu Yunfan examined the skin shell and recognized the woman from his dream as the woman depicted in the Source Ancient Jade Wall beneath the Ningguta mine.
• Xu Yunfan noticed the skin shell had become warm and studied its unusual features and luminous, unspoiled surface.

Xu Yunfan learned that the Apex Path Remains could be delayed by rare treasures, then went to Melting Gold Hall to train his mining skill. Yan Yuwei arrived at the mine and sought out Xu Yunfan.

• Zhan Yan told Xu Yunfan that Mystic Yin Jade Marrow could protect him from the Apex Path Remains and that the Ice Soul Stone on Wang Sheng's third daughter might suppress it.
• Xu Yunfan hid the shell in a concealed compartment beneath his bed and went to Melting Gold Hall to raise his mining proficiency.
• Xu Yunfan shattered Red Iron Ore with his Darksteel Mining Pick, drawing the attention of Melting Gold Hall disciples.
• Yan Yuwei arrived at the mine, tore off her scarlet sash, and asked which branch tunnel Xu Yunfan was working in.

Xu Yunfan and Yan Yuwei competed to mine a dangerous ore vein, each demonstrating their mining techniques and strength. Xu Yunfan uncovered Red Vein Copper Essence and raised his Mining skill to Mastery.

• Yan Yuwei demonstrated perfected Skin Tempering and the Melting Gold Forging Iron Art’s Earth Dragon Turnover to Xu Yunfan.
• Xu Yunfan ripped a long red iron ore vein from the deposit with a powerful strike, surprising Yan Yuwei.
• Yan Yuwei used Hearing Mountains, Reading Veins to locate Red Vein Copper Essence, but their mining contest destabilized the tunnel and sent lava surging back.
• Yan Yuwei reinforced the tunnel to contain the lava while Xu Yunfan continued mining and used the Heavenly Crafting Forging Art to identify ore veins.
• Deep into the night, Xu Yunfan unearthed a fist-sized piece of Red Vein Copper Essence and reached Mining Mastery.

After mastering Mining Technique, Xu Yunfan improved his mining skills and gained insight into finding spiritual-energy concentrations, then increased his Lin Character Secret proficiency through meditation. That night, the Apex Path Remains pulled him into a dream again, where the woman challenged him to defeat her.

• Xu Yunfan used his new Mining Technique to extract Scarlet Vein Copper Ore with far greater efficiency and realized Dragon Seeking Gold Dividing could help him locate places rich in spiritual energy.
• Xu Yunfan left Yan Yuwei asleep in the mine, returned to his courtyard, and decided not to touch the Apex Path Remains hidden beneath his bed.
• Xu Yunfan meditated on the Lin Character Secret and received his first proficiency increase through his own efforts.
• After Xu Yunfan fell asleep, the Apex Path Remains crept out of its hiding place and clung to him, drawing him into a dream.
• The woman in white called Xu Yunfan a lecher, told him to defeat her to be released, and attacked with a streak of sword light.

Xu Yunfan repeatedly fought the woman in white in his dream on the Li River, dying and returning as he honed his martial techniques and the Lin Stance. After seven rebirths, he continued wielding the Thunder Fire Qilin Hammer as he sensed a change taking shape.

• The woman in white killed Xu Yunfan with sword qi, but he reopened his eyes and attacked her again.
• Xu Yunfan endured her ice lotuses, sacrificed his right arm to break through them, and was frozen to death by her sword.
• Xu Yunfan recognized the battle as a dream, formed the Lin Word Seal, and manifested the Thunder Fire Qilin Hammer to attack her.
• The woman in white shattered Xu Yunfan's skull, and he awoke again with increased proficiency in the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique and Lin Character Secret.
• Xu Yunfan used Overlapping Waves Crashing Mountain as a feint to grab the woman's ankle, but she summoned a wheel of swords and killed him.
• On his seventh rebirth, Xu Yunfan formed the Lin Word Seal and gripped the Thunder Fire Qilin Hammer as he continued practicing the Lin Stance.

Xu Yunfan relived a battle in a dream, mastering the Lin Character Secret enough to nearly defeat the woman before his body gave out. He woke with the Apex Path Remains still bound to him, then learned Zhan Yan had left on a journey that Xu suspected was connected to his condition.

• In a dream, Xu Yunfan used the Lin Character Secret and the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique to break through the woman's defenses, but his body began to fail before she used a displacement technique and touched his throat.
• Xu Yunfan woke in his residence and found the Apex Path Remains had wrapped itself tightly around him again; he decided to wait and see whether he or the Remains would prevail.
• Xu Yunfan noticed that his dream had increased his proficiency in the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique and the Lin Character Secret, while his Pure Yang Inner Breath was still more than half depleted.
• Xu Yunfan prepared to leave the city and cultivate in the mountains to replenish his Pure Yang Inner Breath.
• Fu Jin told Xu Yunfan that Zhan Yan had left on a long journey and ordered him to supervise Xu Yunfan's weapon forging.
• Xu Yunfan learned that Zhan Yan might have gone to the former site of Divine Weapon Ridge in Qingzhou and hurried off to practice.

Xu Yunfan searched for a mountain site where he could cultivate the Pure Yang One Qi Art and found a peak rich in primordial spiritual aura. As he began his dawn practice, he remained unaware that treasure hunters were hiding below the cliff.

• Xu Yunfan used his mastery of Mining Technique to seek out a place where earth-vein spiritual energy gathered.
• He climbed Dragon Severing Cliff, while the Lantern Holder and a pockmarked man watched him from concealment and mistook him for a leisurely visitor.
• The Lantern Holder’s group discussed their freshly excavated underground palace and the treasures they hoped to find.
• Xu Yunfan reached a peak whose terrain concentrated primordial spiritual aura and assumed the Pure Yang Stance as the rosy dawn light appeared.

Xu Yunfan strengthened his Pure Yang One Qi Art at a mountain confluence, then confronted Harriers digging for Wild Ginseng near Heavenly Crafting Cave. As he negotiated with their Lantern Holder, the Harriers caught a strange childlike creature in their net.

• Xu Yunfan cultivated at the mountain confluence and raised his Pure Yang One Qi Art proficiency by twelve points.
• Xu Yunfan heard digging and found seven Harriers damaging the earth veins while searching for Wild Ginseng.
• The Lantern Holder explained that the Harriers sought a three-hundred-year-old Wild Ginseng to help a bedridden brother and offered Xu Yunfan nearly a thousand taels of silver.
• A rustle came from the rock crevices, and the Lantern Holder caught a tiny childlike figure with ginseng roots and grass growing from its body.

Xu Yunfan watched Palm Lamp and the Mang Mountain disciples capture a Ten Thousand Year Ginseng King, then prepared to attack them. Before Palm Lamp could speak, a Corpse Tiger Demon emerged beneath the shaking ground and fixed its eyes on the caged Ginseng Baby.

• Xu Yunfan recognized the Ginseng Baby as a rare Ten Thousand Year Ginseng King while Palm Lamp and the Mang Mountain disciples prepared their traps.
• Palm Lamp and the disciples used bells, red cords, and magnetic powder to sever the Ginseng Baby's connection to the earth and ensnare it.
• The disciples locked the Ginseng Baby inside a bronze cage as Xu Yunfan decided to attack Palm Lamp's group.
• Palm Lamp shouted that he had something to say, but the ground shook and a Corpse Tiger Demon's blood-red eyes appeared beneath the cracked earth, staring at the cage.

Xu Yunfan escaped the North Mang Mountain disciples and the awakened Guan Shan Tiger while taking the caged Ginseng Baby with him. He was left dangling below a cliff as the tiger demon pursued him using its bronze chains.

• The Lantern Holder recognized the awakened demon as Guan Shan Tiger, which had buried one hundred thousand laborers, and warned that the Ginseng Baby was its thrall.
• Xu Yunfan cut the cords holding the Ginseng Baby's cage, seized it, and struck the tiger demon with his Thunder Fire Qilin Hammer.
• Xu Yunfan fled downhill as the tiger demon attacked the North Mang Mountain disciples and broke the mountain path with its chain-wrapped tail.
• Xu Yunfan leaped from a cliff, struck the tiger demon's jaw with his chain hammer, and arrested his fall by anchoring the hammer in the rock wall.
• The tiger demon pursued Xu Yunfan over the cliff, using its bronze chains to hang from a pine tree as Xu Yunfan freed his hammer from the rock.