Chapter Summaries

Li Yuan’s team hunted Demonic Beasts while the force cleared a route toward the Loose Cultivator Market, and Li Yuan used a Four-Eyed Bone-Spike Beast’s soul attacks to permanently convert Mind Stability. After killing the beast and collecting its valuable bone spikes, he returned toward camp with his team.

• The squads returned to camp with casualties, and Uncle Qu sent Wang Guang to escort the wounded back to the market.
• Uncle Qu explained that the expedition aimed to guide rogue cultivators toward Qinghe Market rather than Li Family Market.
• Li Yuan led the Fourth Team to a Shattered Stone Shoal, where they found four Grey Iguanas, an Iron-Spine Hyena, and a Four-Eyed Bone-Spike Beast.
• The Bone-Spike Beast’s soul attack disrupted Han Xiaoyi’s spell, while Li Yuan drew its attacks from a distance until Fire Escape Technique’s permanent conversion condition was fulfilled.
• Li Yuan equipped the Calm Heart Plaque and endured the beast’s soul attack, permanently converting Mind Stability before blasting the weakened beast with Fireball Technique.
• Song Tiezhu finished off the beast, and Li Yuan collected its bone spikes and other materials before the team headed back to camp.

Li Yuan and his group rescued Ma Yuan and three other Rogue Cultivators from three Demonic Beasts on the road to the Loose Cultivator Market. Ma Yuan told them the market remained standing but was in disarray, and the group brought the survivors back to camp, where Uncle Qu decided they would rest for the night.

• Li Yuan detected cultivators ahead and led his group over a hill, where they found three First-Order Mid-Grade Demonic Beasts trapping four Rogue Cultivators.
• Li Yuan, Song Tiezhu, Han Xiaoyi, Tian Qi, and Zhao An killed the beasts in less than thirty breaths, and Xu Qing treated the wounded cultivator.
• Ma Yuan told Li Yuan that the Loose Cultivator Market was in chaos, supplies were scarce, and the Li Family had taken several skilled Rogue Cultivators south about half a month earlier.
• Li Yuan invited Ma Yuan and his companions to join the group and brought them back to camp, where Uncle Qu ordered them settled in and said they would rest for the night.
• Uncle Qu conferred with two Wang Family cultivators using the Transmission Technique while Li Yuan returned to his spot and cultivated.

Li Yuan and the cultivators fled their camp when a vast tide of frenzied Demonic Beasts attacked, then regrouped on defensible high ground. The survivors settled on a Rock Terrace to treat their wounded and await Uncle Qu’s return.

• Li Yuan sensed a mass of approaching spiritual energy and warned the camp, prompting a Wang Family cultivator to lead the squads north toward higher ground.
• Frenzied Demonic Beasts poured through the low hill, and Li Yuan and the other cultivators fought them while retreating; Zhao An and several others were injured.
• The group reached the Stone Slope, where the Demonic Beasts failed to climb after them and instead swarmed the abandoned camp.
• The squads counted their casualties, and Li Yuan reported that Fourth Squad had one injured member who could still walk.
• A Wang Family cultivator led the survivors to a defensible Rock Terrace, where they treated the wounded and assigned night watches.

Uncle Qu tasked Li Yuan with disguising himself as a Li Family member and entering the Loose Cultivator Market to retrieve an Artifact Refiner. After learning that the Li Family men had used a Beast-Driving Artifact to attack their group, Li Yuan accepted the risky mission.

• Uncle Qu returned to the Rock Terrace wounded, carrying the corpse of a Li Family member whose clothes and Token he had taken.
• Uncle Qu gave Li Yuan the dead man's clothes and Token, a Disguise Mask, and a password for contacting the Artifact Refiner in the Loose Cultivator Market.
• Uncle Qu explained that four Qi Refining cultivators had attacked them with a Beast-Driving Artifact that drove Low-grade First-Order Demonic Beasts toward their camp.
• Uncle Qu told Li Yuan that the Artifact Refiner had worked mainly for the Li Family and might have made the Beast-Driving Artifacts.
• Li Yuan considered the risks, took the disguise items, and agreed to enter the market to bring the Artifact Refiner out.

Li Yuan disguised himself to extract an artifact refining master from the Loose Cultivator Market, but Uncle Qu intercepted them and persuaded the master to join the Wang Family instead. After returning to Qinghe Market, Li Yuan received a storage bag and decided to keep it unequipped until he encountered a spatial fluctuation.

• Li Yuan donned a Disguise Mask and Li Family clothing, then entered the Loose Cultivator Market alone to retrieve the artifact refining master.
• Li Yuan escorted the master out of the market, but Uncle Qu and a Wang Family cultivator blocked their route north.
• Uncle Qu offered the master double the Li Family's terms, and the master agreed to go with the Wang Family.
• Uncle Qu brought the master and Li Yuan to Qinghe Market, praised Li Yuan's work, and told him to return to the Patrol Squad.
• Li Yuan examined the storage bag's Green Spatial Perception trait and kept the bag without equipping it.

After returning from the hunt, Li Yuan sold beast materials to Talisman Master Lu and asked how to improve his Talisman Dao. He invested his earnings in tools, materials, and Meridian Soothing Pills, then advanced his talisman skills and Qi Refining cultivation through intense practice.

• Li Yuan divided the Demonic Beast materials among his team according to their contributions, keeping the intact hides and most of the meat.
• Li Yuan sold four intact beast hides and beast bones to Talisman Master Lu for fifty-two Spirit Stones, then learned that Lu would teach him more in exchange for a new craft.
• Li Yuan bought a fine Talisman Brush, Talisman-making supplies, and twelve Meridian Soothing Pills, spending more than half his earnings.
• Li Yuan practiced Fireball, Cleaning, and Warding Talismans overnight, bringing the latter two to Proficient and making many successful talismans.
• Li Yuan spent the next two days prioritizing Fireball Talismans until they reached Proficient, while taking pills and cultivating to advance his Qi Refining Sixth Layer progress.

Li Yuan completed the shoulder-blade micro-meridians, bringing the Micro-Origin Meridian Guiding Art to Mastery and improving his spiritual-power circulation. Uncle Qu took him to the Wang Family’s Treasure Pavilion to claim his mission reward, where Li Yuan chose a Blue Trait Soul-Illuminating Mirror.

• Li Yuan connected the micro-meridians in his shoulder blade, triggering a resonance that let the Hundred Meridians Origin Return Art circulate spiritual power through the opened micro-meridians.
• Li Yuan reached Mastery in the Micro-Origin Meridian Guiding Art and sensed that many small meridians remained unopened.
• Uncle Qu told Li Yuan that his mission reward included a slot to choose a Dharma Artifact and took him to the Wang Family’s Treasure Pavilion.
• Li Yuan examined the first-floor Dharma Artifacts and found that the Soul-Illuminating Mirror was the only Blue Trait item.
• Li Yuan selected the Soul-Illuminating Mirror, registered it at the entrance, and took it as his reward.

Li Yuan equipped the Soul-Illuminating Mirror, which sharpened his perception and improved his cultivation and Talisman Crafting. After learning that the Wang Family and Li Family had begun fighting, he returned to his Talisman work as unrest spread through the market.

• Li Yuan asked Talisman Master Yu to teach him Talisman Crafting, and Yu advised him to apply to the Wang Family Talisman Hall, which required proficient skill.
• Li Yuan equipped the Soul-Illuminating Mirror, gaining a continuing enhancement to his soul strength and control despite lacking the means to permanently convert its Trait.
• Li Yuan used his improved perception to craft Fireball Talismans and cultivate more efficiently, raising his success rate to fifty percent.
• Four days later, a Patrol Inspector told Li Yuan that the Wang Family and Li Family had clashed at their territorial border, leaving casualties on both sides.
• Li Yuan saw the market grow tense, then set aside a ruined Fireball Talisman and began drawing another.

Li Yuan learned that the Wang Family and Li Family were fighting along their border while the Yuanyang Sect opened shops in the market to reassure Rogue Cultivators. Back at home, he advanced the Nurturing Origin Technique to Major Accomplishment, improving his control and the quality of his talismans.

• Zhao Hu and Sun Liang told Li Yuan that Wang Family personnel had been sent to the border to fight the Li Family, while Rogue Cultivators were being recruited for rear patrols and guard duty.
• Li Yuan saw Yuanyang Hall shops on East Street and learned that the Wang Family had paid the Yuanyang Sect to open several storefronts and help stabilize the market.
• Li Yuan cultivated with the Nurturing Origin Technique and reached Major Accomplishment, gaining finer control over his movements.
• Li Yuan drew talismans through the night, producing more even Fireball Talismans as his proficiency approached mastery.

Li Yuan opened the last of his micro-meridians, permanently solidified Meridian Expansion, and reached mastery in making Fireball Talismans. After selling his talismans and buying a Fiend Gathering Bowl, he discovered it could grant a body-tempering affix if he gathered enough Fiend Qi.

• Li Yuan opened three micro-meridians, causing spiritual power to flow through every meridian in his body without gaps.
• Li Yuan permanently solidified Meridian Expansion, widening his meridians and speeding the flow of spiritual power.
• Li Yuan reached mastery in Fireball Talisman and sold his Cleaning, Warning, Fireball, and Warding Talismans for Spirit Stones.
• Li Yuan bought a Fiend Gathering Bowl from a Rogue Cultivator for four Spirit Stones.
• Li Yuan inspected the bowl and learned its Fiend Qi Body Tempering affix required him to accumulate and absorb one cubic meter of Fiend Qi for permanent solidification.

Wang De assigned Li Yuan to lead a guard team at a Wang Family Mine Cave near the border, after revealing that Zhao Wu’s trail was connected to the Li Family. Li Yuan and his six companions reached the mine, where they began the handover from the previous guards.

• Wang De told Li Yuan that the Lineage had traced Zhao Wu’s trail to a connection with the Li Family and assigned him to guard a Wang Family spirit mine.
• Li Yuan prepared his supplies and set out before dawn with six subordinates, including Lu and the newly promoted but weakened Sun Liang.
• Li Yuan led the group southwest toward the Mine Cave, while Sun Liang described how a Fiend Breaking Pill had damaged his organs.
• The group reached the mine near sunset, and the existing guard agreed to show Li Yuan the site and explain its manpower.
• Li Yuan led his team to the wooden sheds, while Sun Liang glanced into the dark Mine Tunnel as picks rang within.

Li Yuan settled into his new post at the Mine, inspected its tunnels, and placed his Fiend Gathering Bowl where it could absorb the faint Fiend Qi underground. After hearing about Li Family incursions and distant Demonic Beast roars, he continued cultivating, with the Mine’s immediate danger still uncertain.

• Li Yuan moved into a Low House at the Mine and learned from Steward Liu about its guards, ore processing, Detection Array, and nearby Li Family activity.
• Li Yuan explored the Mine Cave, learned that Mine Rats helped uncover ore, and sensed spiritual qi growing denser deeper underground.
• Li Yuan detected a faint flow of Fiend Qi and set his Fiend Gathering Bowl in a secluded part of the tunnel to absorb it.
• Li Yuan returned to the Mine and heard from Steward Liu that Li Family scouts had recently approached, though the Mine was not a primary target.
• Li Yuan ate and cultivated in his Low House, then woke to distant Demonic Beast roars that did not trigger the Detection Array.

Li Yuan tested the Fiend Gathering Bowl and confirmed that its collected Fiend Qi could temper his body. As he continued making talismans, Steward Liu arranged for him to attend a nearby Rogue Cultivator Trading Fair.

• Li Yuan learned from Steward Liu that distant Demonic Beasts usually avoided the Mine, then heard that three cultivators collecting ore had fought members of the Li Family on the road.
• The injured cultivators reported that one Li Family member at Qi Refining, Fourth Layer had resisted a Wind Blade with a Body-Tempering Cultivation Method.
• Li Yuan used the Fiend Gathering Bowl in a secluded mine passage and let its stored Fiend Qi circulate through his body, slightly firming his muscles.
• Li Yuan made eight Fireball Talismans out of twelve attempts and asked Steward Liu where he could sell his growing stock.
• Steward Liu told Li Yuan about a Rogue Cultivator Trading Fair happening the day after tomorrow and agreed to recommend him.
• Li Yuan spent the rest of the day alternating talisman-making with cultivation while distant Demonic Beasts roared in the mountains.

Li Yuan attended a Rogue Cultivator Trading Fair, sold his Fireball Talismans, and bought materials for making more. He left after hearing a farmer’s plea for help against a Demonic Beast and a debate over whether a child with cultivation talent should join the Wang Family.

• Li Yuan removed his Patrol Uniform and badge, then went to the Stone Hollow Trading Fair on Steward Liu’s introduction.
• Li Yuan sold all eight Fireball Talismans to the fair’s host for twenty-two Spirit Stones, then sold a few more Talismans to other Rogue Cultivators.
• Li Yuan spent eleven Spirit Stones on Talisman-making materials, including Green-Veined Paper, Spirit Ink, Mineral Powder, and plant fibers.
• A Rogue Cultivator asked for help driving away a First-Order Mid-Grade Demonic Beast that had ruined the Green Origin Grass in his Spirit Fields, but no one volunteered.
• Li Yuan overheard Rogue Cultivators debate whether a middle-aged cultivator should send his talented son to sign a contract with the Wang Family.
• Li Yuan left the Stone Hollow and returned toward the Mine.

Li Yuan advanced his cultivation and reached mastery in the Hundred Meridians Origin Return Art before agreeing to supply the Chen Family with fireball talismans. He left with a commission for thirty talismans in seven days and the promise of a Rejuvenation Talisman crafting method.

• Li Yuan reached mastery in the Hundred Meridians Origin Return Art, improving his cultivation speed by about twenty percent.
• Steward Liu told Li Yuan that Elder Chen wanted to commission fireball talismans to defend the Chen Family against demonic beasts.
• Li Yuan visited the Chen Family, where Elder Chen offered two and a half spirit stones per talisman and a Rejuvenation Talisman crafting method after the first delivery.
• Li Yuan agreed to deliver thirty fireball talismans within seven days and returned to the mine to begin crafting them.

Li Yuan and the mine’s defenders fought off an ambush by seven cultivators, capturing four attackers while three escaped. After collecting the captives’ meager possessions, Li Yuan ordered that they be held until someone from the Wang Family arrived.

• Li Yuan noticed the delayed alarm from the Detection Array and saw seven cultivators approaching the mine.
• The tall, thin leader attacked Li Yuan, who countered with fire spells and pressed the Sixth Layer cultivator back.
• Cultivator Lu, Sun Liang, Steward Liu, and the others joined the fight, forcing the attackers to retreat.
• Li Yuan pursued and struck down the leader, while the mine’s defenders captured two more attackers and three escaped.
• Li Yuan looted the four captives and ordered them held until someone from the Wang Family came to speak.

After the battle, Li Yuan searched the spoils and found a Blood-Qi Pill and the Iron Wall Body Refining Art, both carrying White Traits. He kept them despite their difficult permanent conversion conditions, then returned to cultivating.

• Li Yuan searched the tall, thin cultivator's storage bag and found a Blood-Qi Pill and the Iron Wall Body Refining Art among the spoils.
• Li Yuan learned from Steward Liu that the Iron Wall Body Refining Art required Bone-Tempering Liquid, which only the Li Family could prepare.
• Li Yuan divided the spoils with the others, taking twenty-five of the forty-three Spirit Stones, the Blood-Qi Pill, and the beast-hide art.
• Li Yuan checked the two items' Trait previews and learned their effects and permanent conversion conditions.
• Li Yuan stored both items and cultivated with the Hundred Meridians Origin Return Art.

Li Yuan advanced his Micro-Origin Meridian Guiding Art, traded talismans with the Chen Family, and learned to craft Rejuvenation Talismans. At a Trading Fair, he acquired two wood-attribute pills and heard Elder Chen explain Foundation Establishment Pills before leaving the Stone Hollow.

• Li Yuan tried the Iron Wall Body Refining Art but could not progress without Bone-Tempering Liquid, then focused on opening his remaining micro-meridians.
• Li Yuan reached Minor Accomplishment in the Micro-Origin Meridian Guiding Art, synchronizing all three layers of meridians and nearly doubling his spirit qi circulation speed.
• Li Yuan delivered thirty Fireball Talismans to the Chen Family, received the Rejuvenation Talisman method, and successfully crafted his first Rejuvenation Talisman.
• Li Yuan discovered that using five wood-attribute medicinal pills could make the Rejuvenation Talisman's Vitality Surge trait permanent, then bought two Wood-Nurturing Pills at a Trading Fair.
• Elder Chen told the gathered rogue cultivators that Foundation Establishment required a Foundation Establishment Pill and described three types with different risks and benefits.
• Li Yuan heard the discussion and left the Stone Hollow.

Li Yuan permanently converted the Fiend Gathering Bowl into a Fiend Qi Body Tempering affix, strengthening his body without slowing his cultivation. At the mine, a group of Traveling Merchants searched for a runaway associate, and Li Yuan learned that they had established a small trading spot nearby.

• A Wang Family cultivator delivered supplies, paid Li Yuan forty Spirit Stones for his wages and contribution, and took several people away from the mine, including Cultivator Qian.
• Li Yuan used the Fiend Gathering Bowl to temper his body until its permanent conversion conditions were met, then converted it into the Fiend Qi Body Tempering permanent affix.
• Sun Liang told Li Yuan that he was nearly healed, and Steward Liu remarked on Li Yuan's diligence.
• Cultivator Lu spotted five approaching Traveling Merchants, who showed the mine a portrait of a wanted former associate and asked for help finding him.
• Steward Liu told Li Yuan that the Traveling Merchants had gathered to create a small trading spot, and Li Yuan returned home to draw two Fireball Talismans and cultivate.

Li Yuan left the mine to guard the He Family’s herb garden, where he fought off three demonic beasts and discovered that a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone could upgrade an attribute. The garden’s array was restored with a replacement stone, leaving Li Yuan aware of the upgrade but unable to inspect the stone because it did not belong to him.

• Li Yuan and the mine guards killed three First-Order Mid-Grade beasts that attacked the mine, but found no evidence that anyone had driven them there.
• Steward Liu told Li Yuan that the Wang Family had sent him to aid the He Family, and Li Yuan traveled to their valley.
• He An showed Li Yuan the damaged herb garden and its strained array, then assigned him and two He Family cultivators to guard it.
• Three First-Order Mid-Grade beasts attacked the herb garden at night, and Li Yuan killed them while the two He Family cultivators were injured.
• He An replaced the array’s depleted Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, and Li Yuan’s panel revealed that the stone could upgrade Spirit Qi Filtration, though he could not view its details because it was not his.