Chapter Summaries

Ling Yi explained that the Heaven Dou Empire’s ironware purchases had been initiated by Waterwood Principality Soul Master clans, then described how the local market left many blacksmiths without work or chances to improve. He invited Qing Qiu Li and Long Ang to help establish a Waterwood Principality branch of the Blacksmith Association and coordinate orders, ending with his argument that higher-refinement weapons could earn far greater profits.

• Qing Qiu Li and Long Ang feared that the Heaven Dou Empire might threaten their interests in the Waterwood Principality.
• Ling Yi explained that Soul Master clans in the principality had bought nearly eight hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins' worth of ironware from the Heaven Dou Empire.
• Qing Qiu Li and Long Ang realized that local advanced blacksmiths had full order books while low-level and intermediate shops lacked business and forging opportunities.
• Ling Yi described how sufficient materials and practice were essential for blacksmiths to improve their skills.
• With Old Master Jin, Fu Shan, and Li Qiang approving, Ling Yi invited Qing Qiu Li and Long Ang to establish a Blacksmith Association branch that would distribute orders across the principality.
• Ling Yi argued that weapons with Five Hundred Refinements could bring more profit than ordinary weapons and attract wealthy Soul Master customers.

After establishing the Blacksmith Association’s Waterwood Principality branch, Ling Yi returned to Cold Wind Camp with three young apprentices. He welcomed them with a meal and promised to train them in the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique and help them become Advanced Blacksmiths.

• Old Man Jin and Ling Yi established the Blacksmith Association’s Waterwood Principality branch, with Ling Yi serving as vice president and helping organize its headquarters.
• Ling Yi left Mu Zhi City and returned to Cold Wind Camp with Long Yin, Qingqiu Xin, and Zhang Mufeng.
• Ling Yi settled the three youths into tents in the Military Industry Camp and led them to the Soul Masters’ Small Cafeteria for a welcome meal.
• Ling Yi reunited with the camp’s familiar soldiers and the cook Old Li, who offered to prepare food for him and his guests.
• Ling Yi told Long Yin, Qingqiu Xin, and Zhang Mufeng that he would teach them the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique and help them become Advanced Blacksmiths.

One year later, Ling Yi returned to Cold Wind Camp and entered Frost Forest with Long Yin, Qingqiu Xin, and Zhang Mufeng. They headed toward a six-hundred-year-old Iron Birch Tree that Ling Yi had chosen as a potential source for Zhang Mufeng’s second soul ring.

• Ling Yi warned his companions to stay alert in Frost Forest and recalled how a pack of Gray Shadow Wolves had attacked his former teacher near the sentry post.
• Ling Yi sensed that the cold had killed most of the Blue Silver Grass he had planted, but he stayed in the north because the climate made his Xingyi Boxing Stance training more efficient.
• Ling Yi had reached rank 19, Long Yin rank 22, Qingqiu Xin rank 19, and Zhang Mufeng had just passed rank 18.
• Ling Yi led the group toward the Iron Birch Tree, which he had identified as a suitable second soul-ring target for Zhang Mufeng’s Mixed Iron Rod martial soul.
• At the tree, Zhang Mufeng tapped its trunk with his martial soul while Ling Yi, Long Yin, and Qingqiu Xin checked the surroundings for soul-beast traces.

Ling Yi reached Soul Power level 20 after years of cultivation supported by forest ginseng, boxing practice, and his control over the surrounding Blue Silver Grass. After reflecting on his companions’ progress, he took up his iron rod to challenge Zhang Mufeng at Cold Wind Camp.

• Ling Yi reached a cultivation bottleneck at level 20, having advanced from level 11 in four and a half years despite his low innate talent.
• Ling Yi credited his growth to his cultivation methods, nourishing forest ginseng, strong physique, mental control, and the Blue Silver Grass around him.
• Ling Yi learned from letters that Qingqiu Xin had obtained a second Soul Ring nearly five hundred years old and was returning to Cold Wind Camp.
• Zhang Mufeng had strengthened his body, improved his Basic Staff Technique, and remained at Soul Power level 18.
• Ling Yi took his iron rod and went to find Zhang Mufeng for a sparring match.

Ling Yi prepared Ten Tonifying Herbs Soup from meat, turtle, and medicinal ingredients while delaying the start of absorbing his second Soul Ring. He divided the soup among his companions and carried the largest portion toward the Military Doctor Camp.

• Ling Yi spent two days sparring with Zhang Mufeng, Jiang Yuan, and the others, improving their weapon skills as his own staff technique neared another breakthrough.
• Ling Yi went to Li Zhishu's kitchen and simmered meat, turtle, and medicinal herbs in a large clay pot.
• Li Zhishu worried that combining the ingredients would spoil their restorative effects, but Ling Yi reassured him that he had tested the recipe.
• Ling Yi identified the herbs in the finished Ten Tonifying Herbs Soup and divided it into five portions.
• Ling Yi told Li Zhishu to summon Zhang Mufeng, Qingqiu Xin, and three others to eat and then practice Xingyi Boxing Stance, while he carried the largest portion to the Military Doctor Camp.

Ling Yi used his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul to sense the three hidden, centuries-old plants in his tent and chose A'Luo for his second Soul Ring. After absorbing A'Luo and the nourishing soup’s energy through his training, he finished the process stronger in body and Soul Power.

• Ling Yi returned to his tent, cleansed himself, and summoned his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul to sense the camp around him.
• Ling Yi examined A'Lan, A'Hua, and A'Luo, the three centuries-old Blue Silver Grass plants he had secretly cultivated.
• Ling Yi drank half a pot of Ten Tonifying Herbs Soup and drew A'Luo toward his Martial Soul to form a new Soul Ring.
• A'Luo sacrificed itself, leaving ashes and a seed as its deep Yellow Soul Ring merged with Ling Yi's Martial Soul.
• Ling Yi practiced Xingyi Boxing Stance while circulating the soup’s heat and A'Luo’s life energy through his body.
• Ling Yi completed the absorption and felt that his body and Soul Power had grown stronger.

After consuming the nourishing soup and cultivating with his Blue Silver Grass, Ling Yi’s strength surged, and he confirmed that his Soul Power had reached level 22, 23%. He left the tent with his condition perfected and his strength likely near a thousand jin.

• Ling Yi practiced all eight forms of Xingyi Boxing Stance more than seven times in succession without tiring, then demonstrated his increased strength by lifting four heavy weapons with one hand.
• Ling Yi estimated that his strength had risen from just over eight hundred jin to more than nine hundred jin, possibly reaching a thousand jin.
• Ling Yi tested Raging Steed Gallop and found that its amplification had reached its upper limit of one thousand jin.
• Ling Yi used the Crystal Meditation Method to inspect his body and confirmed that his previously damaged tissues had healed without leaving injuries or hidden dangers.
• Ling Yi tested his Soul Power with a White Crystal Ball and measured level 22, 23%.

After reaching Level 22, Ling Yi examined how his Second Soul Ring had transformed his Blue Silver Grass martial soul into a powerful blue vine. He tested its abilities and began considering what rank the evolved martial soul might hold.

• Ling Yi compared his strength with Dai Mubai and Meng Yiran, then calmed himself after his breakthrough stirred thoughts of fighting them.
• Ling Yi found that his Blue Silver Grass had evolved into a roughly one-and-a-half-meter vine with three branches and pale-blue leaves, whose Origin Aura suggested Thousand Year Level quality.
• Ling Yi infused the vine with soul power and made it stretch out to bind a nearby weapon rack, prompting him to joke that it was Blue Silver Entanglement.
• Ling Yi tested the martial soul's toughness, recovery, temperature resistance, soul-power capacity, and cultivation amplification, concluding it rivaled plant-type martial souls with Innate Soul Power Level 3.
• Ling Yi considered the development stages of Blue Silver Grass and began defining the rank of his newly evolved martial soul.

Ling Yi tested his Second Soul Skill, Limb Regeneration, and discovered that it could regrow missing tissue but could not restore large body parts. He returned the test animals and concluded that the skill was useful on a small scale, though far weaker than he had hoped.

• Ling Yi used Limb Regeneration on a wounded rabbit and healed its puncture wounds, but the rabbit remained weak from blood loss.
• Ling Yi cut off part of the rabbit’s ear and found that his Second Soul Skill regrew the missing flesh within a few breaths.
• Ling Yi returned the test rabbits and mice to Old Man Yao, then gave the camp’s ingredients to Li Zhishu and took two roast lamb legs back to his tent.
• Ling Yi reviewed his experiments and realized Limb Regeneration could restore small amounts of skin, muscle, bone, and organs, but could not regrow more than roughly a finger-sized section.

Ling Yi treated injured fighters at his hut near Howling Wind Canyon, using surgery and his Blue Silver Grass soul skills to save two patients. After reattaching one man's severed arm and foot, he exhausted his Soul Power and Mental Strength and fell asleep.

• Zhang Mufeng stopped a group of fighters from shouting because Ling Yi was operating inside the hut.
• After seeing the grievously wounded man, Zhang Mufeng brought the group inside and Ling Yi told them to give him Essence Replenishing Liquid.
• Ling Yi finished repairing an unconscious young man's intestines and abdomen, then used his soul skills to heal the wound.
• Ling Yi operated on the newly arrived man, stitching his chest and abdominal injuries and reattaching his severed arm and foot.
• Ling Yi sent both groups away to recover, then returned to the hut's rest room and fell asleep from exhaustion.

Ling Yi reviewed his cultivation and extensive skills after waking from Deep Sleep, then reflected on how his healing work had earned him the title of Great Physician. His journey around Waterwood Principality had treated thousands of people and deepened his control of his healing soul skills.

• Ling Yi woke after an hour of Deep Sleep with most of his soul power restored, then meditated to speed its recovery.
• Ling Yi reviewed his abilities and concluded that his physical training and many learned techniques made him formidable despite his modest martial soul aptitude.
• Ling Yi began testing his Second Soul Skill, Finger Regeneration, on animals in May before using it to treat wounded soldiers in Cold Wind Camp and injured Soul Masters from Frost Forest.
• Ling Yi traveled around Waterwood Principality from late June, accepting varied forms of payment while treating at least three thousand people over nearly two hundred days.
• Ling Yi refined his healing skills to conserve soul power and reconnect severed tissue with precision, earning widespread recognition as Great Physician Ling Yi.

After recovering from surgery, Ling Yi took Zhang Mufeng, Long Yin, and Qingqiu Xin to eat at the market restaurant and calmly explained why he trusted the patients to pay later. The two groups who had undergone surgery arrived at the restaurant, apparently ready to address their unpaid treatment fees.

• Ling Yi recovered his Soul Power, then led his hungry companions to the market for a meal.
• Ling Yi ordered Soul Beast meat and other dishes for the group at the restaurant.
• Long Yin asked whether the two groups treated earlier would pay their fees, and Ling Yi said he trusted them to do so.
• Zhang Mufeng, Qingqiu Xin, and Long Yin silently agreed they would help recover the fee if the groups refused to pay.
• The two groups arrived at the restaurant and spotted Ling Yi and his companions.

Le Qing and Kang Zhan thanked Ling Yi for treating Ye Luo and offered a Blue Crystal Ball as payment, which Ling Yi accepted. He then hired their team to transport his belongings to Mu Zhi City before his departure.

• Kang Zhan and Le Qing thanked Ling Yi for saving Ye Luo and drank tea with him.
• Le Qing introduced himself and explained that he and Ye Luo led a small team of Soul Masters in Howling Wind Market.
• Le Qing offered a Blue Crystal Ball as payment because the team had spent its funds supporting the families of fallen teammates.
• Ling Yi accepted the Blue Crystal Ball and gave Le Qing a blue-gold metal card.
• Ling Yi hired Le Qing’s team to carry his rare metals, Soul Beast materials, weapons, and armor to Mu Zhi City.

Ling Yi accepted payment from Kang Zhan for treating his teammates and examined the rare items Kang Zhan brought, including a Rhino Earth Dragon's Spinal Marrow Pearl. The chapter ended with Kang Yao thanking Ling Yi for saving Kang Zhao, whose talent gave his clan hope of producing a Soul King.

• Ling Yi accepted Le Qing's low-grade Soul Testing Crystal and hired Le Qing's team for work he would need soon.
• Kang Zhan presented three boxes as payment for Ling Yi's treatment of his companions.
• Ling Yi recognized the pearl as the spinal marrow of a Rhino Earth Dragon that had lived for over eight hundred years.
• Kang Zhan introduced Kang Yao, who thanked Ling Yi for saving his sixth brother, Kang Zhao.
• Kang Yao explained that the sixteen-year-old Kang Zhao was a Level 28 Two-Ring Great Soul Master with Level 6 Innate Soul Power and great potential.

Ling Yi reflected on how the Waterwood Principality’s limited resources and opportunities held back even talented soul masters, and compared their modest soul-ring configurations with those of famous figures. He remained in the principality because the knowledge he sought could not be taught by a Soul Saint, while his own half-level innate soul power and Blue Silver Grass left him uncertain whether his potential could ever be overcome.

• Ling Yi considered how the principality’s small pool of experts and the migration of talented soul masters to greater powers restricted local development.
• Ling Yi recalled that even celebrated soul masters such as Ye Zhiqiu, Qin Ming, She Long, and Ci Xue had soul-ring configurations less impressive than the protagonists’ examples suggested.
• Ling Yi reflected that he would have sought a Soul Saint master or left for Gengxin City if he had been a native of the principality, but stayed because no such teacher could give him what he wanted to learn.
• Ling Yi compared his true Waste Martial Soul and half-level innate soul power with Tang San’s hidden advantages and Yu Xiaogang’s unresolved cultivation limits.
• Ling Yi wondered whether rare cases of innate aptitude changing, including Dugu Bo’s martial soul evolution, could be understood or repeated.

Ling Yi stored the consultation fees and unusual gifts he had collected, then reflected on Soul Master subsidies, his growing Mental Strength, and the artifacts in his cabin. He prepared his Blue Silver Grass with agarwood and began cultivating before the group’s return to Mu Zhi City.

• Ling Yi returned to the cabin with Zhang Mufeng and the other two, reminded them to cultivate, and stored the day’s consultation fees and gifts.
• Ling Yi considered how a Soul Grandmaster could collect Spirit Hall subsidies for decades, then dismissed the idea of building a clan around that income.
• Ling Yi used a hand seal to calm his wandering thoughts and reflected on the limits of his understanding of ancient teachings.
• Ling Yi inspected the Soul Beast materials, plants, Soul Tools, and Soul Power-sealing shackles he had collected in the storage room.
• Ling Yi cut agarwood into shavings, used them as fertilizer for the Blue Silver Grass in his resting room, and began cultivating.

Ling Yi and his companions prepared to leave the Blue Silver Wooden House as friends from Howling Wind Market gathered to see them off. After greeting Kang Zhan, Yu Liang, Chen Yuanzhi, and Shu Xin, Ling Yi heard Kang Zhan complain that their forms of address were too distant.

• Zhang Mufeng woke Ling Yi to tell him that a crowd had gathered outside the wooden house.
• Ling Yi told Zhang Mufeng, Qingqiu Xin, and Long Yin to check and load their luggage while he finished cultivating.
• Ling Yi reflected on his growing physical strength and his recurring morning discomfort before resuming Soul Power cultivation.
• Ling Yi finished washing and found the wooden house emptied of its belongings, including the specially cultivated Blue Silver Grass.
• Ling Yi greeted Kang Zhan, Yu Liang, Chen Yuanzhi, and Shu Xin, then heard Yu Liang and Chen Yuanzhi tease Kang Zhan over his complaint about distant forms of address.

Ling Yi left Howling Wind Market after strengthening his ties with its Soul Masters, while he planned to build a broader organization around the Blacksmith Association. As he rode toward the distant road, Kang Zhan suggested that Kang Zhao might one day go to Mu Zhi City to learn from Ling Yi.

• Ling Yi considered how friendly Soul Masters such as Kang Zhan, Shu Xin, Yu Liang, and Chen Yuanzhi could become allies, but held back from openly bringing them into the Blacksmith Association to avoid antagonizing Waterwood Principality’s major forces.
• Ling Yi bid farewell to the nearly three hundred people gathered to see him off, then rode away with Zhang Mufeng, Long Yin, Qingqiu Xin, Ye Luo, and Le Qing and their teams.
• Kang Zhan asked Kang Zhao whether he wanted to follow Ling Yi and recalled how Kang Zhao had refused Spirit Hall’s invitation and quietly blocked a beast’s escape.
• Kang Zhan said he had considered sending Kang Zhao to Mu Zhi City once he became a Soul Grandmaster so he could learn forging or healing from Ling Yi, especially how to deal with people.
• People at Blue Silver Abode, armored soldiers at the gorge, and residents of Howling Wind Market watched Ling Yi depart with mixed feelings.

Ling Yi rode ahead with Zhang Mufeng, Qingqiu Xin, and Long Yin, leaving Ye Luo and Le Qing’s team to transport valuable goods to Mu Zhi City. As the team discussed Ling Yi’s success and the possibility of learning forging, Ye Luo and Le Qing reconsidered an earlier suggestion from him.

• Ling Yi galloped ahead and called for Zhang Mufeng, Qingqiu Xin, and Long Yin to ride with him toward Mu Zhi City.
• Ye Luo and Le Qing realized Ling Yi had entrusted their team with valuable Soul Beast materials, Soul Tools, weapons, and Blue Silver Grass plants.
• The team members praised Ling Yi’s achievements, and A'Hua decided to ask Ling Yi to recommend him for forging lessons.
• A'Hua explained that forging could provide another livelihood for him and his children, prompting Ye Luo and Le Qing to reconsider Ling Yi’s earlier suggestion.
• Ling Yi rode several li ahead, believing the team’s family ties and circumstances made it unlikely they would steal the goods.

Ling Yi and his companions rested near Mu Zhi City after using his Soul Power techniques to improve their horses’ strength and endurance. Long Yin dreamed of obtaining a Soul Beast-blooded horse, while the group discussed how rare such horses were and left hopeful that their training could make ordinary horses formidable.

• Ling Yi and his companions rode nearly seven hundred li toward Mu Zhi City, stopping along the way to rest and care for their horses.
• Long Yin, Qingqiu Xin, and Zhang Mufeng reported that Ling Yi’s Fierce Horse Gallop method had made their horses faster, stronger, and hungrier.
• Long Yin wished their horses had Soul Beast bloodlines so they could become Soul Beasts, and declared he would ask his father to buy him a bloodline-bearing horse.
• Qingqiu Xin explained that Soul Beast horses were exceptionally rare and warned Long Yin that seeking a Heaven Soul Horse could provoke the Heaven Dou Empire.
• Zhang Mufeng suggested that Ling Yi’s method could eventually make their ordinary horses as capable as Heaven Soul Horses, while Ling Yi listened and sensed the surrounding Blue Silver Grass.