Chapter Summaries

Fang Han and Jin Han ambushed a Nether Pavilion caravan carrying supplies to East Foothills Prefecture. Jin Han fought Ma Yuan while Fang Han cut down the caravan’s guards and disciples, then clashed with Zhao Ping.

• Lan Yuexin accepted that Fang Han was close to Yun Qianyue and said she wanted to meet her someday.
• Fang Han delivered Lan Yuexin’s letter to Jin Han, who planned to hold Ma Yuan back while Fang Han fought Zhao Ping.
• Fang Han and Jin Han identified the Nether Pavilion caravan on a remote road and led dozens of Azure Profound Sect fighters in an ambush.
• Jin Han killed a scout and attacked Ma Yuan, who recognized her and demanded to know how the sect learned of the supply mission.
• Fang Han killed a deacon and three disciples before Zhao Ping emerged and attacked him with his thick-backed saber.
• Fang Han blocked Zhao Ping’s full-strength strike and forced him back, but Zhao Ping charged again with a flurry of saber attacks.

Fang Han killed Zhao Ping and joined Jin Han against Ma Yuan, turning the battle in the Azure Profound Sect’s favor. Though Ma Yuan was wounded and driven back, he remained alive as the chapter ended.

• Fang Han defeated Zhao Ping with his Sword Intent and killed him after Zhao Ping’s desperate counterattack failed.
• Fang Han saw the Azure Profound Sect gaining the upper hand over the Nether Pavilion’s forces, while Jin Han fought Ma Yuan to a standstill.
• Fang Han struck Ma Yuan from behind, wounding him and allowing Jin Han and Fang Han to attack him together.
• Ma Yuan launched a counterattack against Fang Han, but Fang Han’s Sword Intent disrupted him long enough for Jin Han to pierce his shoulder and Fang Han to cut his arm.
• Ma Yuan forced Fang Han and Jin Han back with two palm strikes and retreated to widen the distance between them.

Fang Han and Jin Han killed Ma Yuan and intercepted Nether Pavilion’s supply convoy, then set out for the Azure Profound Sect. At Nether Pavilion, Feng Yuan reported to Li Wushang that the missing procurement team had likely been wiped out.

• Jin Han saw through Ma Yuan’s attempt to escape, and she and Fang Han cornered and killed him.
• An Azure Profound Sect steward reported three casualties and seven wounded, while Jin Han ordered the supplies secured and the battle traces erased.
• The convoy inventoried thirteen carts of medicinal herbs and ores, and Fang Han realized the mission reward would give him enough minor merits to exchange for a Grandmaster-level movement technique.
• Fang Yuan reported to Li Wushang that he had found a battlefield and burned corpses along the procurement team’s route, suggesting the team had been completely wiped out.

Fang Han returned to the Azure Profound Sect after helping Jin Han intercept Nether Pavilion’s supplies and kill its elders, while Li Wushang suspected the Azure Profound Sect but found no proof. After resting, Fang Han headed to the Library Pavilion to exchange for a Grandmaster movement technique.

• Li Wushang learned that Ma Yuan and Zhao Ping were likely dead and, despite having no evidence, suspected the Azure Profound Sect was responsible.
• Jin Han led Fang Han and the supply convoy through the Azure Profound Sect’s mountain gate and ordered the goods unloaded and inventoried.
• Jin Han and Fang Han reported the mission to Chen Tianyuan, who praised their success and said their Minor Merit rewards would be credited the next day.
• Fang Han returned to No. 35 Annex, bathed, and slept deeply after the exhausting journey.
• After waking near noon and eating, Fang Han set out for the Library Pavilion to exchange for a Grandmaster movement technique.

Fang Han exchanged for the Grandmaster-grade Wind God Step and memorized the entire technique in half a day. He began practicing it at No. 35 Annex, using his Wind Concept to work toward the Beginner stage.

• Fang Han visited Elder Mo in the Library Pavilion and chose the Wind God Step over the Azure Cloud Step for its speed and escape potential.
• Elder Mo gave Fang Han the Wind God Step booklet, which Fang Han studied and memorized in half a day before returning it.
• Fang Han returned to No. 35 Annex, ate dinner, and reviewed the technique before beginning to practice in the courtyard.
• Fang Han used his Wind Concept to guide his training and repeated the Wind God Step until his initially stiff movements began to grow smoother.

Fang Han mastered the Wind God Step at the Beginner stage in ten days and continued cultivating toward the Third Grade Middle Stage. Elsewhere, Nether Pavilion elders ambushed an Azure Profound Sect convoy, and the chapter ended when a Sect Master's Hall disciple arrived with an urgent message for Fang Han.

• Fang Han practiced the Wind God Step and reached the Beginner stage after ten days, becoming several times faster than when using Windcloud Escape at the Perfection Realm.
• Han Ling and Tu Hong led a Nether Pavilion ambush on Elder Yang Rui's convoy, killing or wounding most of its escorts and stealing the cargo.
• Yang Rui fled into the woods after Han Ling and Tu Hong wounded her, and Tu Hong pursued her while Han Ling took the supplies away.
• Fang Han cultivated with a Spirit Resonance Pill and found that his Yintang Acupoint was more than ninety percent full, putting him close to the Third Grade Middle Stage.
• A disciple from the Sect Master's Hall arrived at Fang Han's courtyard and told an attendant that the matter was urgent.

Fang Han accepted a mission from Chen Tianyuan to rescue missing Elder Yang Rui after a convoy carrying Azure Profound Sect supplies was attacked. At the ambush site, he tracked her scent south and raced after her while her pursuer closed in.

• Chen Tianyuan told Fang Han that the convoy had been attacked, its supplies stolen, and Elder Yang Rui was missing and likely being pursued.
• Fang Han agreed to rescue Yang Rui in exchange for one minor merit and set out with a map, his sword, supplies, and pills.
• At the ambush site, Fang Han used Thousand-Mile Soul Lock to identify Yang Rui's injured scent leading south and the scent of a pursuer following her.
• Fang Han ignored the attackers' northbound trail with the stolen supplies and sped south along Yang Rui's scent trail.

Fang Han rescued the wounded Yang Rui from Tu Hong and quickly gained the upper hand against him. Two Nether Pavilion Second Grade elders then revealed themselves, having used a Spirit-Hiding Pearl to conceal their ambush, and surrounded Fang Han with Tu Hong.

• Yang Rui fled through the forest while Tu Hong taunted and attacked her with Blade Qi.
• Fang Han intervened, drove Tu Hong back, and told Yang Rui to retreat.
• Fang Han wounded Tu Hong in several exchanges, forcing him to withdraw in fear.
• Two Nether Pavilion elders, Song Shu and a gaunt swordsman, appeared beside Tu Hong and revealed that their ambush had targeted Fang Han.
• Song Shu showed Fang Han the Spirit-Hiding Pearl, which had hidden the elders from his perception.
• The two elders and the injured Tu Hong surrounded Fang Han and prepared to attack.

Fang Han and Yang Rui were trapped by three Nether Pavilion elders, but Chen Wanjun arrived to reveal that the Azure Profound Sect had turned the ambush into a trap. Chen Wanjun killed Song Shu and Zhou Yuan, and Fang Han slew Tu Hong, leaving Yang Rui safe.

• Song Shu, Zhou Yuan, and Tu Hong attacked Fang Han while Yang Rui could not reach him in time.
• Chen Wanjun appeared and defeated the three Nether Pavilion elders with a single move, revealing that the Azure Profound Sect had used Fang Han as bait to expose them.
• Song Shu and Zhou Yuan fled, but Chen Wanjun caught and killed both of them.
• Fang Han killed the wounded Tu Hong with one sword strike.
• Fang Han checked on Yang Rui, who thanked him and Chen Wanjun for saving her.

After defeating the Nether Pavilion elders, Fang Han and Chen Wanjun returned to the Azure Profound Sect with the wounded Yang Rui. Fang Han salvaged and recharged the enemies’ valuables, raising his System Panel wealth to 250,000 gold before resting.

• Fang Han and Chen Wanjun searched the corpses of Song Shu, Zhou Yuan, and Tu Hong, collecting weapons, armor, Danyao, and banknotes.
• Chen Wanjun led Fang Han and the badly wounded Yang Rui through the night back to the Azure Profound Sect.
• Chen Wanjun went to report to the Sect Master while Fang Han helped Yang Rui return to her residence, then headed back to No. 35 Annex.
• Fang Han checked his System Panel and recharged the salvaged Danyao, armor, and weapons, increasing his Possessed Wealth to 250,000 gold.
• Fang Han put away the banknotes and lay down to sleep.

Li Wushang learned that Song Shu, Zhou Yuan, and Tu Hong had been killed, bringing Nether Pavilion’s losses to four Second Grade elders. Several days later, Fang Han broke through to Third Grade Middle Stage and decided to begin plundering Nether Pavilion’s businesses.

• Liu Jin delivered Li Wushang a report that Song Shu, Zhou Yuan, and Tu Hong had been found dead.
• Li Wushang flew into a rage over Nether Pavilion’s loss of four Second Grade elders, then steadied himself and focused on his hatred of Azure Profound Sect.
• Fang Han used a Spirit Resonance Pill and cultivated until he broke through from Third Grade Early Stage to Third Grade Middle Stage.
• Fang Han sensed that his newly awakened Shenmai Acupoint Divine Treasury greatly increased his stamina.
• Fang Han decided to plunder Nether Pavilion’s businesses, believing his improved strength would let him avoid most threats.

Fang Han visited Zi Courtyard to rest and reunited with Yun Qianyue, then returned to training with a renewed focus on perfecting his concealment art before retaliating against Nether Pavilion. He left the chapter close to reaching the art’s Perfection Realm, which he considered essential to carrying out his plan.

• Fang Han decided to improve the Return to Ruin Essence Concealment Art before targeting Nether Pavilion and took half a day to relax.
• Fang Han returned to Zi Courtyard and watched Yun Qianyue practice her swordsmanship in the Forest Clearing.
• Fang Han and Yun Qianyue sat together, shared news of their recent cultivation and missions, and ate lunch in the Zi Courtyard dining hall.
• Fang Han returned to the True Transmission Courtyard, and Yun Qianyue watched him leave.
• Fang Han resumed intensive training, devoting more time to the Return to Ruin Essence Concealment Art, which was one step away from the Perfection Realm.

Fang Han perfected the Return to Ruin Essence Concealment Art and used Rain Listening Hall's intelligence to choose a remote Nether Pavilion medicine field as his first target. After disguising himself and traveling there, he infiltrated the valley at night and approached the warehouse.

• Fang Han reached the Perfection Realm in the Return to Ruin Essence Concealment Art, making his presence extremely difficult for even First Grade martial artists to detect.
• Fang Han consulted Rain Listening Hall's dossier on Nether Pavilion assets and selected a remote medicine field guarded by a Third Grade elder and a small force.
• Fang Han told Qui Lan to say he was in secluded cultivation, gathered his sword, pills, and silver, and left the Azure Profound Sect after nightfall.
• Fang Han used a human-skin mask and gray clothes to disguise himself, then traveled southeast for two days to reach the medicine field's valley.
• Fang Han surveyed the valley with Thousand-Mile Soul Lock and waited until the Nether Pavilion disciples grew lax after nightfall.
• Fang Han silently infiltrated the valley and reached the bluestone warehouse, where two Nether Pavilion disciples stood guard.

Fang Han silently robbed a Nether Pavilion medicine warehouse, killing its guards and taking herbs worth 200,000 gold before escaping. After Nether Pavilion sent Feng Yuan to investigate, Fang Han reached a mine and began raiding its warehouse.

• Fang Han killed the two guards at the medicine warehouse and absorbed its medicinal herbs into the System, raising his wealth from 250,000 to 450,000 gold.
• Patrol disciples discovered the empty warehouse, and the Third Grade elder reported the robbery to Nether Pavilion.
• Li Wushang assigned Feng Yuan to investigate, and Feng Yuan set out with two stewards the next morning.
• Fang Han concealed himself near a Nether Pavilion mine, studied its defenses, and waited until midnight to enter.
• Fang Han killed the four guards at the mine warehouse, unlocked its door, and found crates of Spirit Iron, Spirit Copper Ore, and other rare ores.

Fang Han stole 250,000 gold worth of ore from a Nether Pavilion mine, while the pavilion failed to track him and assigned Luo Qi to investigate its successive robberies. After recovering in a hidden cave, Fang Han decided to target a larger property to earn the remaining 300,000 gold he needed for Level Eight Amplification before Nether Pavilion moved its supplies.

• Fang Han emptied the mine storeroom, raising his possessed wealth from 450,000 gold to 700,000 gold, then escaped without leaving a trackable trail.
• Feng Yuan and two Nether Pavilion stewards searched the herb-field valley and surrounding area but could not find the thief.
• Li Wushang received word that the mine had also been robbed and ordered Luo Qi to take charge of tracking and investigation.
• Fang Han checked his system panel in a hidden cave and saw that he needed 300,000 more gold to activate Level Eight Amplification.
• Fang Han chose to target a larger Nether Pavilion property, hoping to gather the remaining wealth before its supplies were moved to headquarters.

Fang Han infiltrated Nether Pavilion's largest Spirit Iron Mine and silently killed its warehouse guards with Wind Sword Intent. He stole enough ore to raise his wealth to 1.1 million gold, surpassing the cost of Level 8 amplification.

• Fang Han confirmed that a Second Grade elder guarded Nether Pavilion's largest Spirit Iron Mine and waited until night to enter.
• Fang Han slipped past the patrols and used Wind Sword Intent to kill all eight guards outside the warehouse without alerting the elder.
• Fang Han concealed the signs of Sword Intent by stabbing each corpse through the heart with the Cloudsplitter Sword.
• Fang Han broke the warehouse lock and found more than a hundred crates of Spirit Iron Ore, Spirit Copper Ore, and rare ores.
• Fang Han recharged the System Panel with all the ore, increasing his wealth from 700,000 to 1.1 million gold.

Fang Han escaped after looting Nether Pavilion’s mining grounds, where Second Grade elder Qin Luomei nearly caught him. Hidden in a forest hollow, he concluded that Qin Luomei had noticed the disappearance of the eight guards’ auras and resolved to target only sites watched by Third Grade elders.

• Fang Han sensed Qin Luomei approaching the storehouse and fled, killing several Nether Pavilion disciples who tried to stop him.
• Qin Luomei pursued Fang Han but could not match his Wind God Step, and he escaped beyond the mining grounds.
• Qin Luomei found the storehouse emptied and eight guards dead, then ordered the sect informed of the raid and her failed pursuit.
• Fang Han hid in a tree hollow more than a hundred li away and used Thousand-Mile Soul Lock to check for pursuers.
• Fang Han reasoned that Qin Luomei had detected the guards’ vanished auras with her Spiritual Perception, not sensed his concealed presence.
• Fang Han decided to avoid industries guarded by Second Grade elders and target sites overseen by Third Grade elders instead.

Fang Han spent one million gold to raise his Sword Art Talent Amplification to 256-fold and rapidly deepened his understanding of the Void-Sundering Sword Manual. At the mine, Luo Qi investigated the robbery but lost the thief’s faint scent beyond the site.

• Fang Han used one million gold to raise his Sword Art Talent Amplification from 128-fold to 256-fold, leaving him with 100,000 gold.
• Fang Han found the Void-Sundering Sword Manual much easier to comprehend and made rapid progress studying its moves, Internal Qi circulation, and Wind Concept.
• Luo Qi arrived at the robbed Spirit Iron Mine and questioned Qin Luomei about the thief and the eight guards killed by single sword strikes.
• Qin Luomei told Luo Qi that more than a hundred crates of ore had vanished and suspected the thief possessed a treasure that could store objects.
• Luo Qi used her Seeking Nether, Probing Subtleties tracking technique but lost the thief’s faint scent when the wind scattered it beyond the mine.

After Luo Qi failed to track the thief, Li Wushang ordered Nether Pavilion’s businesses to move their stored supplies back to the sect. Fang Han plundered another silver mine but found a later target already emptied, so he ended his raid and headed back to Azure Profound Sect.

• Luo Qi examined the eight corpses, judged the killer to be a Third Grade master swordsman, and reported that she could not track him.
• Li Wushang learned Luo Qi had failed and ordered Nether Pavilion’s businesses to transport their stockpiled supplies back to the sect.
• Fang Han raided a smaller silver mine, killed its four guards, and took silver worth 200,000 gold, raising his Possessed Wealth to 300,000 gold.
• Fang Han investigated another Nether Pavilion mine and found its warehouse empty after the supplies had been moved.
• Fang Han decided to end the operation after plundering four properties for over a million gold and set off for Azure Profound Sect.

Nether Pavilion Master Ling Wuyuan ended his ten-year seclusion without reaching the Grandmaster realm and ordered the Nether Pavilion to seek an end to its conflict with the Azure Profound Sect. After returning to Azure Profound Mountain, Fang Han was summoned to the Sect Master's Hall.

• Ling Wuyuan left seclusion, and Li Wushang learned that the Pavilion Master had not broken through to Grandmaster.
• Ling Wuyuan rebuked Li Wushang for losing four Second Grade Elders while targeting Fang Han, whose future advancement remained uncertain.
• Ling Wuyuan ordered Li Wushang to negotiate an end to the conflict with the Azure Profound Sect, confident that it would agree.
• Fang Han returned to No. 35 Annex, asked Qui Lan whether anyone had sought him, and rested after bathing.
• The next morning, Fang Han resumed cultivation and went to the Sect Master's Hall after a disciple delivered the Sect Master's summons.