Chapter Summaries

At twenty-five, Lan Tian reached rank ten after nineteen years of cultivating and traveled to a nearby forest to obtain his first soul ring. He absorbed a four-hundred-year Blue Silver Grass ring, gained a healing skill, registered as a soul master, and bought a small shop in Notting City to open a clinic.

• Lan Tian reached rank ten at age twenty-five and decided to seek a plant-type soul ring.
• Lan Tian rode to a soul beast forest, found a four-hundred-year Blue Silver Grass, and absorbed its soul ring without pain.
• Lan Tian gained the soul skill Endless Life and rose to level twelve.
• Lan Tian registered as an official one-ring soul master at the Spirit Hall branch in Notting City and received a one-gold-soul-coin subsidy.
• Lan Tian bought a small storefront in Notting City and planned to open a clinic.

Lan Tian opened Lan Tian Medical Hall and treated Louise’s severe injuries with his healing soul skill, earning his first fee. Louise introduced herself and offered to recommend his clinic to her friends.

• Lan Tian read a bulletin and learned that he had arrived more than a century before the original timeline, with Qian Daoliu only one year old.
• Lan Tian opened his medical hall and examined Louise after she rushed in, badly injured by a wild boar.
• Lan Tian used Endless Life to heal Louise’s broken ribs and damaged organs while she slept.
• Louise paid Lan Tian one Gold Soul Coin and discovered that he was a one-ring soul master with a hundred-year soul ring.
• Louise introduced herself and asked to be friends with Lan Tian, promising to recommend his clinic to injured friends.

Lan Tian used his growing clinic income and Louise’s library card to study the world and develop his cultivation, while planning to strengthen his physical combat skills. After finishing his reading, he commissioned refined-iron medical tools and weighted rings from Boss Shi.

• Louise gave Lan Tian her Nuoding Library card, and he began visiting the library at night after treating patients.
• Lan Tian expanded his backyard with Blue Silver Grass and concluded that his improved martial soul had raised his cultivation efficiency.
• Lan Tian finished his daily meditation and resolved to keep training his body and close-combat skills, relying on his strength as well as his martial soul.
• Lan Tian visited Boss Shi’s blacksmith shop and commissioned a surgical scalpel, tweezers, and four one-hundred-jin weighted rings for nine gold soul coins.
• Boss Shi agreed to forge the items and told Lan Tian they would be ready within a week.

Lan Tian gathered medicinal herbs at the edge of Soul Hunting Forest and collected custom surgical tools and weighted rings from Boss Shi. He returned to the clinic to find Connor critically wounded by a Hedgehog Soul Beast and prepared to treat him.

• Lan Tian obtained a temporary pass from the Spirit Hall Branch and entered the outskirts of Soul Hunting Forest to gather herbs.
• Lan Tian found Drunken Dream Grass, Numb-Bone Vine, and other medicinal herbs, then prepared the Drunken Dream Grass at his clinic.
• Boss Shi delivered Lan Tian's surgical tools and four one-hundred-jin Weighted Rings, which Lan Tian tested and took back to the clinic.
• Louise brought the wounded Connor to Lan Tian's clinic after a Hedgehog Soul Beast attacked him on the road.
• Lan Tian found a broken quill lodged near Connor's heart and told Louise that Connor would not last the night unless he removed it.
• Lan Tian said he could treat Connor and asked Louise to keep everyone outside while he worked.

Lan Tian performed surgery on Connor and used his Blue Silver Grass soul skill to heal his injuries. Connor woke the next morning fully recovered and offered to pay whatever Lan Tian requested, who set the fee at one hundred Gold Soul Coins.

• Lan Tian sedated Connor, removed the thorn from his chest, repaired the wound, and used Endless Life to heal his injuries.
• Lan Tian told Louise that Connor would recover, and she hurried home to reassure her father.
• Lan Tian cleaned his surgical instruments, reflected on strengthening his clinic and cultivation, and entered meditation.
• Connor woke the next morning, found his injuries healed, and thanked Lan Tian for saving his life.
• Lan Tian asked Connor to pay one hundred Gold Soul Coins for the treatment.

Lan Tian improved his daily training and medical practice while his reputation grew, and he accepted Louise’s invitation to a banquet at her family’s home. He continued cultivating with renewed hope that he could reach rank twenty before turning thirty.

• Connor paid Lan Tian one hundred Gold Soul Coins and promised to spread word of his medical skills while traveling.
• Lan Tian established a routine of weighted physical training, treating patients, daily meditation, and preparing medicinal herbs.
• Louise invited Lan Tian to a banquet at her family’s home, where distinguished guests would also attend, and he accepted.
• Lan Tian reflected on his improved cultivation speed and considered that he might reach rank twenty before turning thirty.

Lan Tian attended a banquet at Louise's home, where he learned that Qian Daoliu was one year old and Spirit Hall was expanding amid rising soul beast activity. Returning to his clinic with a generous reward, he reconsidered his plan to live quietly and recognized the opportunities offered by the century-earlier timeline.

• Henry welcomed Lan Tian to a banquet with Connor and several merchants, including Charles, a Spirit Hall supply steward.
• Dupont and Morris described growing soul beast threats, while Charles said Spirit Hall was recruiting across its branches.
• Charles confirmed that the Pope's son was named Qian Daoliu and had recently celebrated his hundredth day.
• Lan Tian realized he had arrived more than a century before the original story, when Qian Daoliu was still an infant and several future figures had not been born.
• Henry gave Lan Tian two hundred Gold Soul Coins, and Lan Tian accepted the reward after initially refusing.
• Lan Tian returned to his clinic and reconsidered his simple plan after recognizing how much time and opportunity the early timeline gave him.

Lan Tian sensed a mysterious aura during meditation, then decided to seek Whale Glue to improve his body after recalling its value from his previous life. He bought a pound of century-old Whale Glue cheaply at Nuoding City's black market and began melting it in his kitchen.

• Lan Tian meditated among the Blue Silver Grass and briefly sensed an unusual aura that vanished before he could investigate.
• Lan Tian recalled that Whale Glue could strengthen the body and learned where Nuoding City's underground black market operated.
• Lan Tian found a long-neglected lump of Whale Glue at a black-market stall and recognized it as at least a hundred years old.
• Lan Tian paid the old stall owner one Gold Soul Coin for the Whale Glue and returned to the medical hall.
• Lan Tian heated the Whale Glue in a ceramic bowl over water, enduring its intensifying fishy stench as it began to melt.

Lan Tian used Whale Glue to strengthen his body and break through to rank thirteen. Afterward, Louise offered him ten Gold Soul Coins to join a soul-hunting team as its physician on a trip to the outer edge of Soul Hunting Forest.

• Lan Tian swallowed the melted Whale Glue and cultivated in the Blue Silver Grass as its medicinal power surged through his body.
• Lan Tian broke through from rank twelve to rank thirteen and found that his strength had increased.
• Lan Tian practiced boxing, then prepared his clinic for the day after the night had passed.
• Louise told Lan Tian that her friend Grant had formed a soul-hunting team and needed a physician for a trip into Soul Hunting Forest.
• Louise offered Lan Tian ten Gold Soul Coins to accompany the team the next morning while Grant's junior, Harry, hunted a ten-year spirit ring.

Lan Tian joined Grant’s group as a paid doctor on Harry’s first trip into Soul Hunting Forest. Harry killed a Stone Horn Deer and absorbed its ten-year soul ring, and Lan Tian returned with his ten gold soul coins.

• Lan Tian accepted Louise’s job and prepared his medical supplies and provisions for the trip.
• Lan Tian met Grant, Logan, Baron, Wesley, and Harry at the east city gate, and the six traveled into Soul Hunting Forest.
• Logan found a Stone Horn Deer by a stream, and Grant’s group helped Harry corner and kill it.
• Harry absorbed the deer’s white soul ring while Lan Tian stood guard, becoming an official soul master.
• Grant paid Lan Tian ten gold soul coins, and the group headed back in high spirits.

Lan Tian tested a medicinal bath formula to support his cultivation and began training against soul beasts in Soul Hunting Forest. After fighting a Wind Wolf, he used Endless Life to heal his superficial wounds.

• Lan Tian bought medicinal herbs from Shopkeeper Chen and prepared a medicinal bath to improve his meridian circulation while cultivating.
• Lan Tian adjusted the bath formula and settled into a routine of treating patients, gathering herbs, practicing combat, and meditating.
• Lan Tian faced a ten-year Wind Wolf without using his blade or Blue Silver Grass, dodging its attacks and striking it until it collapsed.
• Lan Tian activated Endless Life to heal his wounds after the fight.

Lan Tian refined his combat skills and cultivation through a month of training, medicinal baths, and collecting Whale Glue, drawing close to rank fourteen. On his way home from Soul Hunting Forest, two masked robbers blocked the road, and Lan Tian launched a surprise attack on the stronger one.

• Lan Tian fought ten-year soul beasts without using his soul skill, reviewed his technique, and relied on Endless Life to heal his injuries.
• Lan Tian continued his routine of treating patients, training in Soul Hunting Forest, taking medicinal baths, and buying small amounts of Whale Glue as his soul power neared rank fourteen.
• Lan Tian noticed several people hiding beside the road as he returned from the forest with Numb-Bone Vines.
• A masked, stocky man and a masked, tall man blocked Lan Tian and demanded his money and medicinal herbs.
• Lan Tian pretended to reach for his money, drew a hidden scalpel, and rushed at the stocky robber, cutting toward the left side of his throat.

Lan Tian killed two roadside robbers who ambushed him, then continued his medical work and cultivation. Half a month later, he reflected on how the killing had made him more decisive in combat and felt close to reaching rank fourteen.

• Lan Tian killed the short, stocky robber after the two men tried to rob him, then questioned the tall, skinny robber about their motives.
• Lan Tian made the surviving robber bury his companion, then killed him and covered both bodies with soil.
• Lan Tian returned to the clinic, processed Numb-Bone Vine, and meditated during a medicinal bath as he worked toward rank fourteen.
• Half a month later, Lan Tian recalled how his more decisive approach helped him fight a nearly hundred-year-old Iron-Back Wild Boar in the Soul Hunting Forest.
• Lan Tian prepared another medicinal bath and sensed that his soul power had moved closer to the threshold of rank fourteen.

After reaching rank fourteen early, Lan Tian ventured into the middle region of Soul Hunting Forest to gather rare medicinal ingredients. He found Dragon Bone Grass but was ambushed by a hundred-year Green-Veined Python, and his fight with it began.

• Lan Tian broke through to rank fourteen after weeks of training, consultations, combat practice, and medicinal baths.
• Lan Tian packed his supplies and entered the middle region of Soul Hunting Forest to search for rare herbs.
• Lan Tian gathered old poria and Three-Leaf Blood Vine, then found Dragon Bone Grass near a fallen tree.
• Lan Tian noticed fresh tracks near the Dragon Bone Grass and was attacked by a hundred-year Green-Veined Python.
• Lan Tian dodged the python's first strike and countered its next charge with a soul-power-enhanced punch.

Lan Tian killed a hundred-year Green-Veined Python in the Soul Hunting Forest and gathered its gallbladder along with Dragon Bone Grass and other herbs. After preparing a strengthening decoction and drinking it, he absorbed its medicinal power through the night.

• Lan Tian wounded the Green-Veined Python, then killed it by striking a vulnerable spot beneath its neck.
• Lan Tian healed a shallow bite wound with Endless Life and collected the python's gallbladder and the Dragon Bone Grass.
• Lan Tian returned to Nuoding City and processed the Dragon Bone Grass, Poria, Three-Leaf Blood Vine, and snake gallbladder.
• After drying the Dragon Bone Grass for two days, Lan Tian brewed a decoction with it, Three-Leaf Blood Vine, snake gallbladder, and auxiliary herbs.
• Lan Tian drank the decoction and spent nearly four hours circulating soul power as its medicinal effects reinforced his bones and muscles.

Lan Tian strengthened his body with Dragon Bone Grass, continued his clinic work and training, and prepared for another trip into Soul Hunting Forest. After Louise relayed Grant’s offer to accompany him, Lan Tian kept the suggestion in mind but decided he could wait before seeking help.

• Lan Tian recorded the medicinal soup recipe and spent several days absorbing its effects, improving his strength and making his four hundred-pound Weighted Rings feel almost weightless.
• Lan Tian healed a hunter whose leg had been badly bitten by a Soul Beast, and the grateful man paid him with Silver Soul Coins.
• Lan Tian trained with his Weighted Rings and began planning a longer trip into Soul Hunting Forest to gather more herbs.
• Louise brought Lan Tian autumn pears and told him that Grant had heard about his earlier hunt and offered to accompany him next time.
• Lan Tian thanked Grant through Louise but said he would ask him to join only if he planned to venture deeper into the forest, then reflected that he needed to follow his own path.

Lan Tian treated a group of wounded Nuoding City Guards, using surgery and his Endless Life soul skill to heal their injuries. With Louise’s help, he finished treating them by afternoon, though repeated healing had drained much of his soul power.

• Renn brought the injured members of the third squad of the Nuoding City Guard to Lan Tian’s clinic after they fought a gang of thugs outside the city.
• Lan Tian removed a broken blade fragment from a guard’s abdomen, sutured the wound, and healed it with Endless Life.
• Lan Tian treated the other guards’ injuries, but repeated surgery and healing rapidly consumed his soul power.
• Louise arrived to assist Lan Tian, improving his efficiency as he treated a guard with an embedded arrowhead and another with a fractured, dislocated arm.
• Lan Tian finished treating the wounded guards by afternoon.

Lan Tian treated the Nuoding City Guard Third Squad’s wounded and gained more than three hundred Gold Soul Coins as well as Renn’s gratitude. After hearing Renn’s report, city lord Alfred visited Lan Tian and offered him an affiliated position as Nuoding City’s Chief Physician.

• Lan Tian and Louise finished treating the wounded city guards, and Renn paid Lan Tian more than three hundred Gold Soul Coins and promised the Third Squad’s support.
• Lan Tian and Louise cleaned the clinic and went home to rest, while Renn returned to the station and reported Lan Tian’s work to Alfred.
• Alfred decided to appoint Lan Tian Chief Physician of Nuoding City, with a salary and official protection but no regular duties at the City Lord’s Mansion.
• The next afternoon, Alfred and Renn visited Lan Tian’s medical hall, and Alfred offered him the affiliated Chief Physician position.

Lan Tian accepted Alfred’s appointment as Nuoding City’s chief physician, gaining official protection, access to the city guard’s patients, and a supply channel for medicinal ingredients. He began planning how to use his new status and resources to support his cultivation, then settled into his nightly medicinal bath and meditation.

• Lan Tian accepted Alfred’s offer to become Nuoding City’s chief physician, and Alfred ordered Renn to prepare the appointment letter and set his salary.
• Alfred promised that the city guard would send its injured and sick to Lan Tian and that the City Lord’s Manor would provide requested ingredients and equipment.
• Lan Tian wrote a list of rare medicinal ingredients to request from the manor’s storeroom.
• Louise brought Lan Tian food, celebrated his new position, and heard him promise to invite her family to a meal in thanks.
• Lan Tian considered how his income, official status, and access to supplies could aid his cultivation, then began a medicinal bath and meditation.

Over three months, Lan Tian reached rank fifteen through cultivation, medicinal baths, and Whale Glue. He began planning to search Sunset Forest for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, but decided to wait until he reached rank twenty and gained his second soul ring.

• Lan Tian treated injured city guards while training his soul power and used the City Lord's Manor's herbs and black-market Whale Glue to improve his cultivation.
• Lan Tian broke through to rank fifteen and estimated that reaching rank twenty would take about fifteen more months if he maintained his pace.
• Lan Tian recalled the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and its immortal herbs, then planned how to search for the site in Sunset Forest while deciding he was not yet strong enough to go.
• Lan Tian gathered winter herbs in Soul Hunting Forest and passed the place where he had buried two bandits months earlier.
• Lan Tian estimated that an expedition to Sunset Forest would take at least half a month, but put away his map because he needed more strength and equipment first.