Chapter Summaries

Lan Tian returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to gather more immortal herbs and discovered signs that the Empress Medusa had recently moved, putting the remaining plants at risk. He chose to uproot the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid first, leaving the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower and Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone for later.

• Lan Tian arranged his territory’s work, packed supplies, and traveled for three days to the valley at the edge of Sunset Forest.
• Lan Tian found several immortal herbs struggling and saw that the Empress Medusa’s cave entrance had recently been widened, suggesting the creature had moved.
• Lan Tian carefully inspected the remaining herbs and worried that the Empress Medusa might notice the four plants he had taken before.
• Lan Tian chose the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid and used his Blue Silver Vine to uproot it completely, including its roots.

Lan Tian consumed the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, raising his Soul Power to level forty-eight and advancing his Indestructible Vajra Body to minor accomplishment. After leaving the spring, he considered which immortal herb to take with him, and the chapter ended before he chose.

• Lan Tian entered the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and swallowed the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid.
• The orchid's gentle medicinal power strengthened his meridians and raised his Soul Power from level forty-four to level forty-eight.
• Lan Tian's Indestructible Vajra Body advanced from beginner stage to minor accomplishment, greatly strengthening his defense.
• Lan Tian left the spring and began deciding which immortal herb to take with him.

After taking the Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone, Lan Tian was trapped in the basin by the Empress Medusa and a horde of Poison Soul Beasts. He fought his way out, survived the Snake Emperor’s attack, and left Sunset Forest with the herb while vowing to remember the debt.

• Lan Tian extracted the Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone and sensed that the basin had fallen unnaturally quiet.
• Lan Tian used Blue Silver Eye to detect the Poison Soul Beasts surrounding him as the Empress Medusa emerged from the cave.
• Lan Tian unleashed Blue Silver Domain, Sun and Moon Shine Together, and his other abilities to cut through the Poison Soul Beasts and advance toward the basin exit.
• Lan Tian used Giant Wood Burial to block the horde, escaped into the poisonous mist, and dodged the Snake Emperor’s dark golden beam, which injured his shoulder.
• Lan Tian reached Sunset Forest, recovered from his injuries with Endless Life, and left with the Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone, determined to remember the debt.

After recovering in Heaven Dou City, Lan Tian visited Moon Embracing Pavilion and learned that the auction house’s final item was a Soul Tool. He entered the auction and waited to see whether the item could help his own Soul Tool crafting.

• Lan Tian reached Heaven Dou City, rested at an inn, and went out for dinner and wine.
• Lan Tian watched a performance at Moon Embracing Pavilion and declined a woman’s offer to spend the night with her.
• Lan Tian overheard two merchants say the Heaven Dou Auction House would auction a Soul Tool as its final item.
• Lan Tian showed the auction house receptionist his gold card balance, entered, and took a seat with a view of the auction platform.

Lan Tian attended the Heaven Dou Auction, buying a rare Cat Girl and a plant-type Soul Sage’s research notebook. The auction’s finale was an ancient soft armor capable of blocking one full-force strike from anyone below the six-ring Soul Emperor level, and bidding was about to begin.

• Lan Tian ignored the early auction items while bidders competed for ordinary goods.
• Lan Tian bid one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins for the caged Cat Girl, winning her after other bidders withdrew.
• Lan Tian outbid a wooden-masked bidder at one hundred and seventy thousand Gold Soul Coins to obtain a plant-type Soul Sage’s research notebook.
• The host presented the damaged ancient soft armor as the finale, explaining that it could withstand one strike from anyone below the six-ring Soul Emperor before breaking.

Lan Tian won the Cat Girl, soft armor, and a Plant Soul Sage’s notes at auction, then brought the Cat Girl to the Rose Hotel and learned her name was Xiao Li. She told him how her mutated Martial Soul led to her rejection and eventual enslavement, leaving her with nowhere to belong.

• Lan Tian outbid the golden-masked bidder and bought all three auction items for a total of 770,000 Gold Soul Coins.
• Lan Tian collected the items and left the auction house with the released Cat Girl, then arranged a room and new clothes for her at the Rose Hotel.
• Lan Tian told the Cat Girl to bathe, then asked her questions once she had changed into a dress.
• The Cat Girl said her name was Xiao Li, that she was eighteen, and that she had no family.
• Xiao Li recounted how her Martial Soul mutated when she was six, leading villagers to reject her, a slave trader to capture her, and her eventual sale to the Heaven Dou Auction House.

Lan Tian discovered that Xiao Li had level ten Soul Power and promised to train her as a shadow assassin. He took her to Soul Hunting Forest, where he found a five-hundred-year-old Shadow Panther for her first soul ring.

• Lan Tian reassured Xiao Li that he had bought her for research and work, not to exploit her, and offered her a place in his fief.
• Xiao Li tested the blue orb and revealed that she had level ten Soul Power despite never having cultivated.
• Lan Tian asked Xiao Li to become his sharpest blade, and she agreed to follow him as Young Master.
• Lan Tian led Xiao Li to Soul Hunting Forest and set alarms before searching the forest at night.
• Lan Tian found a five-hundred-year-old Shadow Panther and told Xiao Li she would deliver the final blow as her test.

Lan Tian helped Xiao Li hunt a Shadow Panther so she could absorb its soul ring, and she gained the Shadow Stealth skill. After testing her new abilities and finding her Soul Power had reached level fifteen, they left the Soul Hunting Forest for the fief.

• Lan Tian immobilized the Shadow Panther with Blue Silver King vines and told Xiao Li to kill it.
• Xiao Li killed the Shadow Panther with Lan Tian’s dagger and absorbed its deep yellow soul ring.
• Xiao Li gained the Shadow Stealth soul skill, which let her merge into shadows while concealing her presence and boosting her speed and attack power in darkness.
• Lan Tian used Blue Silver Eye to detect Xiao Li’s otherwise imperceptible movements and praised the skill’s potential for stealth and assassination.
• Lan Tian examined Xiao Li’s Soul Power and found it had reached level fifteen after the five-hundred-year soul ring raised her by five levels.
• Lan Tian and Xiao Li left the forest and headed back toward the fief.

On the way back to Nuoding City, Lan Tian discovered and carefully harvested a four-thousand-year-old Money Grass whose notes claimed it could awaken Acquired Soul Power in people with metal-attribute martial souls. He left the valley planning to research how to use it and verify whether it could help him create Soul Masters.

• Lan Tian led Xiao Li along a secluded mountain path, where she followed with growing curiosity and vitality.
• Lan Tian found a golden herb on a gravel slope and identified it as four-thousand-year-old Money Grass using the plant Soul Sage's notes.
• Lan Tian read that Money Grass might awaken Soul Power in people with metal-attribute martial souls who lacked Innate Soul Power, though the claim was unverified.
• Lan Tian carefully uprooted the Money Grass and stored it intact in his Soul Tool.
• Lan Tian told Xiao Li the herb was important and continued toward Nuoding City, planning to research its use before consuming it.

Lan Tian made a training plan for Xiao Li and learned that Louise’s martial soul was a Gold Coin, matching the conditions for the Money Grass he had found. He asked whether Louise would accept sharing him with others, leaving her answer pending.

• Lan Tian gave Xiao Li a training plan focused on cultivation, stealth, combat, and rebuilding her health.
• Louise visited Lan Tian and met Xiao Li, who then returned to her room.
• Louise revealed that her martial soul was a Gold Coin and that she had zero Innate Soul Power.
• Lan Tian realized Louise could meet the conditions to gain Soul Power by consuming the four-thousand-year-old Money Grass.
• Lan Tian asked Louise whether she would mind if he had more than one woman in the future.

Lan Tian revealed the secret of Money Grass to Louise and helped her awaken Acquired Soul Power. After reaching level ten, Louise agreed to become his woman, and Lan Tian planned to take her to the Soul Hunting Forest for her First Soul Ring.

• Lan Tian warned Louise to keep the Money Grass secret and explained that it could awaken Soul Power in people with metal-attribute Martial Souls and zero Innate Soul Power.
• Louise chose to take the Money Grass and become a Soul Master, recognizing that the secret would endanger anyone who learned of it.
• Louise swallowed the Money Grass, and Lan Tian guided its medicinal power through her body with life energy and Sun and Moon Power.
• Louise awakened Acquired Soul Power at level ten, and Lan Tian said she could directly obtain her First Soul Ring.
• Louise told Lan Tian she was his, and he carried her to bed; he planned to take her to the Soul Hunting Forest the next day.

Lan Tian took Louise to the Soul Hunting Forest so she could obtain her first Soul Ring. After she killed a Gold-Veined Toad and absorbed its ring, she awakened the passive skill Wealth Fortune Sense and reached level seventeen.

• Lan Tian and Louise left his fief for the Soul Hunting Forest, where he searched for a roughly five-hundred-year Gold-Veined Toad.
• Louise used Wealth Fortune Sense to locate the toad and killed it with a precise dagger strike.
• Louise absorbed the Gold-Veined Toad's Soul Ring and gained the passive skill Wealth Fortune Sense, which detected valuable objects and goodwill or malice.
• Lan Tian sensed Louise's condition and confirmed that the Soul Ring had raised her to level seventeen.
• Lan Tian and Louise walked back together from the forest.

After gaining Wealth Fortune Sense, Louise proposed opening a shop in Nuoding City so she could manage the family business while making time to cultivate. Lan Tian bought a large former medicine shop for her, and they prepared to reopen it.

• Louise told Lan Tian she wanted to open a shop under his name in Nuoding City and manage it with trusted family helpers.
• Lan Tian agreed that Louise’s business skills and Wealth Fortune Sense made her well suited to running a shop.
• Louise led Lan Tian through Nuoding City’s commercial district, where he found a large medicine shop listed for sale for fifty gold soul coins.
• The old shopkeeper explained that gambling debts incurred by his son had forced him to sell the shop, and Louise used Wealth Fortune Sense to confirm his story was true.
• Lan Tian bought the shop for fifty gold soul coins, and he and Louise inspected the premises and discussed reopening it.

Lan Tian and Louise established Blue Medicine Hall as a herb and pill shop that would also buy valuable goods, then Lan Tian announced a plan to control Nuoding City's medicinal herb supply. The merchants considered his low wholesale prices and new Soul Recovery Pill, while Blue Medicine Hall's production remained limited.

• Lan Tian named the shop Blue Medicine Hall and made Louise its public shopkeeper, with plans for her to use her Wealth Fortune Sense to assess goods.
• Louise planned to bring trusted helpers from her family, and Lan Tian hung the new shop sign above the entrance.
• On the third day after the sign went up, Louise invited Nuoding City's medicinal trade representatives to the Henry Family Trading Firm.
• Lan Tian told the assembled merchants that all retail herb supply in Nuoding City would go through Blue Medicine Hall, offering wholesale prices ten percent below their current costs and unlimited stock.
• Lan Tian presented his first-grade Soul Recovery Pill, which could restore Soul Power and stamina, and offered each merchant a ten-pill sample allotment at one Gold Soul Coin per pill.

Lan Tian’s herb business expanded across Nuoding City as Xiao Li advanced in training and Louise unexpectedly reached level twenty. Lan Tian suspected that Louise’s Gold Coin Martial Soul gained Soul Power through trade and profit, and he planned to accompany her to the Soul Hunting Forest for her second soul ring.

• Lan Tian persuaded local merchants to order herbs and pills from Blue Medicine Hall, with Louise handling their arrangements.
• Over the next half year, Lan Tian’s medicinal fields supplied markets near and far while Xiao Li improved her Shadow Stealth and combat skills and rose to level eighteen.
• Louise told Lan Tian that her Soul Power had reached level twenty despite little meditation or deliberate cultivation.
• Lan Tian sensed Louise’s condition and theorized that successful business transactions and profits fueled her Gold Coin Martial Soul’s growth.
• Louise wanted to devote herself entirely to the shop, but Lan Tian told her to stabilize her condition before they went to the Soul Hunting Forest for her second soul ring.

Lan Tian broke through to Soul Power Level fifty after half a year of cultivation, while the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid’s remaining power continued to support him. He and Louise left for the Soul Hunting Forest so she could obtain her second soul ring, as Lan Tian planned to seek his own fifth ring later in Sunset Forest.

• Lan Tian broke through the barrier to Soul King and found his strength and spiritual perception had increased.
• Lan Tian checked the Nine Heart Begonia and found it had grown from 1,400 to 2,300 years old in six months.
• Lan Tian encouraged Xiao Li to keep building her foundation and work toward reaching the two-ring threshold.
• Louise confirmed that her Soul Power had stabilized at level twenty, and she and Lan Tian set out for the Soul Hunting Forest.
• Lan Tian told Louise that he would seek a ten-thousand-year plant-type soul beast in Sunset Forest for his fifth soul ring after helping her get her second.

Louise hunted a nine-hundred-year-old Treasure-Gathering Turtle in Soul Hunting Forest and absorbed its soul ring, reaching level twenty-three and gaining Golden Shield Blessing. She tested the new defensive skill on Lan Tian, who found the golden shield solid and promising.

• Lan Tian guided Louise to a peaceful Treasure-Gathering Turtle in a shallow pool and explained how to strike its weak point.
• Louise approached the turtle underwater and killed it with a precise dagger strike at the joint beneath its neck.
• Louise absorbed the turtle’s nine-hundred-year soul ring without difficulty and advanced to level twenty-three, Soul Grandmaster.
• Louise discovered that her second soul skill, Golden Shield Blessing, formed a shield whose strength grew with her wealth.
• Louise tested the golden shield on Lan Tian, who inspected its warm, solid defense.

Louise gained a second soul skill from a nine-hundred-year Treasure-Gathering Turtle soul ring, then consumed the Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone Lan Tian had saved for her. It raised her to Rank 30, and Lan Tian planned to search for a suitable third soul ring.

• Louise tested her new soul skill, and Lan Tian said her shield would grow stronger as the Lan Family expanded its business.
• After returning to the fief, Lan Tian gave Louise the Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone and explained its benefits.
• Louise consumed the spiritual herb, which cleansed and strengthened her meridians, bones, and physique.
• Lan Tian sensed that Louise had reached Rank 30 after gaining seven ranks from the herb.
• Lan Tian proposed searching deeper in the forest for a thousand-year metal-attributed soul beast for Louise's third soul ring.

Lan Tian subdued a two-thousand-year Golden Thunder Eagle so Louise could absorb its soul ring and gain her third soul skill. After she demonstrated her Golden Thunder Cannon, they left the forest for their territory, with Louise newly impressed by Lan Tian’s strength.

• Lan Tian found the Golden Thunder Eagle’s nest and told Louise to wait below while he forced the bird down.
• Lan Tian trapped the Golden Thunder Eagle with Blue Silver King vines and Ink Dragon Entanglement, then dragged it from the sky and incapacitated it.
• Louise killed the eagle and absorbed its deep-purple soul ring, reaching level thirty-two and gaining the Golden Thunder Cannon skill.
• Louise demonstrated her new skill by firing a coin through a rock, and Lan Tian stored the eagle’s corpse before they headed back.
• Louise praised Lan Tian’s strength, and he told her that any martial soul could become powerful with the right development and enough Soul Power.

Lan Tian and Louise processed two soul beasts and sorted their valuable materials before Lan Tian arranged for the fief to be managed during his absence. He left for Sunset Forest to seek a plant-type soul beast for his fifth soul ring, leaving Louise and Xiao Li to wait for his return.

• Lan Tian, Louise, and Xiao Li processed the Treasure-Gathering Turtle and Golden Thunder Eagle, saving their valuable parts for use or sale.
• Lan Tian told Louise to keep the turtle shell and eagle feathers while selling materials they could not use.
• Louise took the sorted materials to Blue Medicine Hall, while Lan Tian assigned the fief's duties and gave Xiao Li a week's training plan.
• Lan Tian explained that he was going to Sunset Forest to find a plant-type soul beast for his fifth soul ring and might be gone for up to a month.
• Lan Tian left through the north gate, and Louise and Xiao Li watched him go.