Chapter Summaries

Wang Yan hid as three Lü Household cultivators pursued the injured Black Youth, then followed them to watch their fight. The Black Youth hurled his iron staff and knocked one cultivator away, while the battle continued.

• Wang Yan recognized the three Lü Household cultivators searching for the Black Youth and concealed his aura in a tree.
• The Black Youth ran past Wang Yan, drawing the three cultivators away, and Wang Yan followed, intending to take revenge on the Lü Household.
• The Lü Household cultivators surrounded the Black Youth and attacked him with flying swords as he fought back with his iron staff.
• The Black Youth hurled his staff at one cultivator, knocking him aside, and the other two sent their swords after the Black Youth.

Wang Yan killed the wounded Lü Household cultivator, then used a gruesome decoy and a surprise attack to kill the two cultivators pursuing the Black Youth. After collecting the fallen cultivators’ belongings, Wang Yan tried to leave, but the grateful Black Youth followed and asked him for help.

• Wang Yan secretly killed the wounded Lü Household cultivator as the Black Youth fought the other two.
• The Black Youth deflected the Lü cultivators’ flying swords with his fists, then fled toward the woods.
• Wang Yan threw the slain cultivator’s body into the flying swords’ path and blasted the two Lü cultivators’ faces with Fireball Spells.
• The Black Youth stopped after escaping and saw that Wang Yan had killed his pursuers.
• Wang Yan searched the bodies and collected their Storage Bags and flying swords, then started to leave.
• The Black Youth thanked Wang Yan and hurried after him to ask for help.

Wang Yan agreed to lead Ye Shisan out of the mountains and discovered that his extraordinarily heavy Black Iron Rod was made from valuable black mother iron. After learning Ye Shisan knew where the ore came from, Wang Yan offered to spare the rod if Ye Shisan took him to the Back Mountain, leaving Ye Shisan undecided.

• Ye Shisan followed Wang Yan and asked him to lead the thirteen-year-old out of the mountains, and Wang Yan agreed to take him to the main road.
• Ye Shisan retrieved his Black Iron Rod, and Wang Yan discovered it was so heavy he could barely lift it.
• Card Fairy identified the rod’s material as valuable black mother iron, while Ye Shisan explained that it had been refined from ore found on the Back Mountain.
• Wang Yan offered Ye Shisan a hundred Spirit Stones for the rod, but Ye Shisan said he would give it to him because Wang Yan had saved his life.
• After Card Fairy realized Ye Shisan might know where to find more ore, Wang Yan returned the rod and asked Ye Shisan to take him to the Back Mountain, leaving Ye Shisan troubled.

Wang Yan persuaded Ye Shisan to take him to the Ye Family Stockade, hoping to learn about its black iron ore while laying low from the Lü Household cultivators. At the stockade’s gorge entrance, Brother Shi thanked Wang Yan for saving Ye Shisan but ordered him to leave because cultivators were unwelcome.

• Wang Yan gave Ye Shisan a Storage Bag and had him hide the black mother iron staff inside.
• Ye Shisan told Wang Yan the Firecloud Sect and the other four great sects were recruiting, with a little over two years left in the recruitment period.
• Wang Yan and Ye Shisan traveled through a remote gorge toward the Ye Family Stockade.
• Brother Shi challenged the pair at the stockade’s gate, and Wang Yan explained how he had saved Ye Shisan from the Lü Household cultivators.
• Brother Shi accepted Ye Shisan’s account and thanked Wang Yan, but ordered him to leave the stockade.

Wang Yan tried to leave with Ye Shisan, but Brother Shi demanded he swear not to enter or reveal the Ye Family Stockade and attacked him. Wang Yan defeated Brother Shi, then spared him when Ye Shisan's father arrived and asked him to stop.

• Brother Shi refused to let Wang Yan leave without swearing to stay away from the Ye Family Stockade, so Wang Yan prepared to depart without Ye Shisan.
• Brother Shi blocked Wang Yan and attacked with a spear, and Wang Yan countered with his Fire Spirit Sword and forced him back.
• Wang Yan disarmed Brother Shi, knocked him into a wall, and held his sword to his throat as Ye Shisan begged him not to kill him.
• Ye Shisan's burly father arrived with other members of the stockade and asked Wang Yan to spare Brother Shi.
• Wang Yan put away his sword and stepped back, while the injured Brother Shi tried to rise.

Wang Yan entered the Ye Family Stockade after defeating Shi Nu and was invited to speak with its chief, Ye Mingtian. As he assessed the stockade’s rich spiritual energy and considered his search for black mother iron, Card Fairy warned that he might not be able to leave easily.

• Ye Mingtian ordered Shi Nu taken for treatment, then invited Wang Yan inside after Ye Shisan explained how Wang Yan had rescued him from trouble with the Lü Household.
• Ye Mingtian told the stockade residents that letting Wang Yan leave would cause more trouble because he already knew the stockade’s location, and he assigned guards to the entrance.
• Ye Shisan led Wang Yan through the stockade’s defenses and admitted he knew little about its hostility toward cultivators; Wang Yan felt uncertain about using their friendship to pursue the black mother iron.
• Card Fairy sensed that the stockade had abundant spiritual energy, and Wang Yan saw its hidden valley, homes, crops, and children practicing martial arts.
• While waiting alone in a wooden hall, Wang Yan discussed Ye Mingtian’s unknown cultivation and his plan to find black mother iron with Card Fairy, who warned that he might no longer be able to leave easily.

Wang Yan learned that the Ye Family Stockade was keeping him there to conceal its unusually rich spiritual energy, but Ye Mingtian welcomed him as a guest after hearing he had saved Ye Shisan. Wang Yan settled into the stockade, kept his interest in the black mother iron mine secret, and prepared to cultivate.

• Card Fairy told Wang Yan that the stockade's spiritual energy explained why Ye Mingtian and Shi Nu wanted to keep him from leaving.
• Ye Mingtian thanked Wang Yan for saving Ye Shisan, apologized for Shi Nu's behavior, and invited Wang Yan to stay in the stockade.
• Wang Yan claimed he was a rogue cultivator who had once stayed with the Wang Household, then invented a story about being cheated at the Lü Family Marketplace.
• Ye Mingtian warned Wang Yan not to reveal the stockade's spiritual energy and asked Ye Shisan to arrange his lodging and show him around.
• Wang Yan counted the Spirit Stones and other spoils taken from the Lü Household cultivators, while keeping his interest in the black mother iron mine hidden.
• Wang Yan asked Card Fairy to teach him the formation she had mentioned.

Wang Yan studied formation runes and cultivated in seclusion while Card Fairy considered how to help Ye Shisan. After Wang Yan broke through to major completion of the cultivation realm, Card Fairy hinted that he had another chance to use the Lottery Cube.

• Wang Yan successfully drew a golden formation rune and learned that he needed to master paired runes before he could refine the Spell Collection Card.
• Wang Yan asked Card Fairy about Ye Shisan, and she explained that his unusual cultivation had made ordinary spells and cultivation methods unsuitable despite his earth-metal dual immortal root.
• Wang Yan took Spiritual Energy Pills and fire-type Spirit Stones and attempted to break through his cultivation bottleneck again.
• Wang Yan advanced to major completion of the cultivation realm and flew out of his cave in excitement.
• Card Fairy told Wang Yan that he had another chance, and Wang Yan realized she meant the Lottery Cube.

Wang Yan advanced to major completion of the cultivation realm and drew a Creation Pill, which could not be used until he reached the peak of the core condensation realm. After testing his stronger Fireball Spell, he met Ye Shisan, who said his father wanted to see him.

• Wang Yan drew a Creation Pill from the Lottery Cube, and Card Fairy told him it could help him break through to the golden core stage but warned him not to sell it.
• Wang Yan discovered that his cultivation had improved and successfully cast the Fireball Spell both with and without an Immortal Card.
• Card Fairy gave Wang Yan the Earthforce Art on a Jade Slip for Ye Shisan's father.
• Ye Shisan visited Wang Yan, noticed his advancement to major completion of the cultivation realm, and said his father wanted to see him.
• Wang Yan agreed to go with Ye Shisan to meet his father.

Wang Yan avoided Ye Mingtian’s test about the Black Iron Divine Weapons and gave Ye Shisan the Earthforce Art, while Ye Mingtian remained wary of his motives. Four months later, Wang Yan failed another attempt to cultivate the Spell Collection Card and worried about dwindling resources, prompting Card Fairy to seize on his remark about mastering several crafts.

• Ye Mingtian asked Wang Yan to escort the Ye Family Stockade’s supposed shipment of Black Iron Divine Weapons, but Wang Yan declined after claiming he had just advanced; Ye Mingtian refused to let Ye Shisan go.
• After Wang Yan left, Ye Mingtian and an elder revealed that the escort mission was a test to see whether Wang Yan would make suspicious moves, and they agreed to keep their guard up.
• Card Fairy told Wang Yan that Ye Mingtian had likely tested him, and Wang Yan reflected on the stockade’s weapon-forging role and the black mother iron ore in its Back Mountain.
• Wang Yan gave Ye Shisan a jade slip containing the Earthforce Art, then had to rush after him when Ye Shisan realized he did not know how to read it.
• Four months later, Wang Yan failed to cultivate the Spell Collection Card again and complained that he was nearly out of pills and fire-type spirit stones.
• Card Fairy urged Wang Yan to focus on cultivation and mastering Artifact Refining, Talisman Refining, and Formation Arts, then suddenly reacted to something he had said.

Wang Yan learned that he could begin making the Spell Collection Card by copying an existing design, and Card Fairy started teaching him the process. He then joined Ye Shisan and the Ye Family Stockade’s escort party carrying Black Iron Divine Weapons, unaware that masked cultivators were preparing an ambush along their route.

• Wang Yan and Card Fairy agreed that he would learn Artifact Refining, Talisman Refining, and Formation Arts by replicating the Spell Collection Card, and she began explaining its construction.
• Ye Mingtian arranged for Shi Nu to escort the shipment of Black Iron Divine Weapons and secretly discussed whether Wang Yan could be trusted to help.
• A group of masked cultivators chose a mountain route to ambush the transport party and left five members to wait there.
• Wang Yan agreed to escort the weapons so he could travel for cultivation supplies and Fire Spirit Stones, then set out with Ye Shisan, Shi Nu, and the other clansmen.
• As the party crossed a dangerous mountain trail, Wang Yan studied a piece of hide while the hidden ambush awaited them.

Masked cultivators attacked the Ye Family Stockade, blasting through its gate and slaughtering its defenders. Ye Mingtian arrived at the gorge mouth and confronted the attackers after knocking away their flying knives.

• Masked cultivators killed two guards and triggered the alarm after their ambush revealed fine black threads connected to the cliff.
• The tall, slender masked cultivator blasted open the Ye Family Stockade's gate with a dark green skull-shaped attack and ordered the group forward.
• The cultivators killed Ye Long, Ye Hai, and more than twenty other martial artists from the Ye Family Stockade as they charged to defend the stockade.
• Ye Mingtian raced up from below the cliff and knocked away the attackers' flying knife magic artifacts with his two battle-axes.
• Ye Mingtian faced the masked cultivators and roared in fury at the sight of his slain clansmen.

Ye Mingtian fought the masked cultivators at the canyon entrance, but their female leader proved far stronger. Before she could seize the Ye Family Stockade, Ye Mingtian triggered a hidden mechanism that brought down the canyon walls and began destroying the stockade and Spirit Valley.

• Ye Mingtian killed two masked cultivators and held the narrow canyon entrance against the others.
• The masked cultivators' female leader offered to spare Ye Mingtian if he surrendered the Ye Family Stockade, but he attacked after hearing villagers scream.
• The leader evaded Ye Mingtian's attack and revealed herself to be a Core Condensation Realm cultivator.
• Ye Mingtian struck a buried iron block with his axes, triggering mechanisms that shook the valley and sent enormous boulders crashing down.
• The leader pierced Ye Mingtian's chest with her spear as the stockade split apart, and he fell into the valley while murmuring, "Thirteen."
• The leader realized Ye Mingtian had caused the destruction of the Spirit Valley and descended in fury.

Wang Yan and Ye Shisan discovered a group of masked cultivators preparing a night ambush and fought back. As the attack spread to the cave, Shi Nu stabbed Ye Shisan in the back.

• Wang Yan completed the first step of drawing runes on an animal hide while Ye Shisan meditated nearby.
• Wang Yan pretended to agree to spar with Ye Shisan, then struck a hidden intruder with a fireball after the Card Fairy warned him.
• Four masked cultivators attacked Wang Yan, who used the Fire Spirit Sword to fight them and dodged their flying knives.
• Ye Shisan charged the masked leader with his Black Mother Iron staff as screams came from the cave.
• Shi Nu appeared behind Ye Shisan and drove his spear into Ye Shisan's back.

Shi Nu betrayed the Ye Family Stockade, killing its mortal warriors and helping the masked cultivators knock Ye Shisan into the rocks. Wang Yan fled through the woods and, cornered by his pursuers, unleashed a storm of arrows from the Golden Bow and Arrows.

• Shi Nu ambushed Ye Shisan after the masked cultivators killed the other Ye Family Stockade warriors, and the leader kicked Ye Shisan into a cliff face.
• Wang Yan blasted two masked cultivators with fireballs and escaped into the woods as the remaining pursuers gave chase.
• Wang Yan activated the Water-Fire Blast Card while dodging the leader's flying knives, but held back from using its attack.
• A second masked cultivator cut Wang Yan off, and Wang Yan drew the Golden Bow and Arrows and fired a rain of golden arrows at him.

Wang Yan used the Thousand Spirit Arrow and a feigned mistake to defeat the masked leader, then recovered after the battle. A scream from farther away warned him that someone else was still in danger.

• Wang Yan fired the Thousand Spirit Arrow and killed a wounded masked cultivator while the masked leader watched.
• Wang Yan fled into the woods, doubled back, and discovered that his arrows could not penetrate the leader’s Golden Light Barrier.
• The leader’s flying knife wounded Wang Yan and knocked the Thousand Spirit Arrow from his hands.
• Wang Yan let the leader believe he had lost his advantage, then struck after the leader withdrew the Golden Light Barrier with his Water-Fire Blast Technique, killing him.
• Wang Yan took a Qi-Returning Pill, then heard a distant scream and hurried to his feet.

Wang Yan returned to the cliff and found Ye Shisan in a cultivation-induced frenzy, but a rock Ye Shisan had smashed knocked him unconscious. As Wang Yan treated Ye Shisan’s wounds and prepared to wait for him to recover, Wang Yan suddenly collapsed with his back rotting away.

• Wang Yan collected the dead masked cultivator’s talisman, weapons, and Storage Bags, then turned back when he worried about Ye Shisan and heard sounds from the cliff.
• Wang Yan and Card Fairy found Ye Shisan pounding Shi Nu’s body and recognized that he had suffered cultivation deviation.
• Ye Shisan attacked the surrounding rocks with the Black Mother Iron Rod, and a flying rock fragment struck him unconscious.
• Wang Yan treated Ye Shisan’s head and chest wounds with ointment and planned to let him rest before helping dispel his heart demon.
• Wang Yan clutched his shoulder, collapsed in pain, and Card Fairy discovered that his back was rotting away.

Wang Yan treated the poison from a masked cultivator’s flying knife and escaped with Ye Shisan and the Black Iron Divine Weapons. While hiding in a cave, he learned from Card Fairy about a Magic Artifact Fusion Card that could let him use the poisoned flying knives.

• Wang Yan found an antidote in a green bottle and treated the poisoned wound on his shoulder.
• Wang Yan and Card Fairy suspected the masked cultivators had targeted the Ye Family Stockade’s spiritual energy, with Shi Nu possibly acting as an insider.
• Wang Yan used a branch to lift a masked cultivator’s face covering, triggering poisonous vapor that rotted the corpse’s head.
• Wang Yan carried the unconscious Ye Shisan away, then returned to retrieve the Black Iron Divine Weapons from the cave.
• In a concealed cave, Wang Yan examined six poisoned flying knife artifacts, and Card Fairy told him he could eventually craft a Magic Artifact Fusion Card to use them.

Wang Yan learned how a Magic Artifact Fusion Card could control multiple magic artifacts, then practiced crafting Immortal Cards while Card Fairy helped him treat Ye Shisan’s cultivation deviation. He began refining his first Immortal Card, but a sudden slap startled him just as the card was about to form.

• Card Fairy explained that a Magic Artifact Fusion Card could combine magic artifacts and let Wang Yan control them without matching elemental magic power, but it could not fuse the spirit-artifact Thousand Spirit Arrow.
• Card Fairy took control of Wang Yan’s body and used blood-red runes to draw the inner demons out of Ye Shisan, who gradually improved.
• Wang Yan used his materials to make a dozen or so half-finished Immortal Cards and prepared to attempt the final refining step.
• Wang Yan poured magic power into a half-finished card and activated his Immortal Card Artifact, causing red light to gather into a nearly finished Immortal Card.
• Someone suddenly slapped Wang Yan’s back, startling him and jolting the magic power in his body.

Wang Yan successfully refined a Spell Collection Card, though the process left him drained. After Ye Shisan woke, Wang Yan learned Shi Nu had infiltrated the Ye Family Stockade and warned that it might already be under attack, but Ye Shisan rushed back to help.

• Ye Shisan woke just as Wang Yan was refining a card, and Wang Yan’s magic power surged into his Immortal Card Artifact before he expelled a red Spell Collection Card.
• Card Fairy confirmed Wang Yan had succeeded, and Wang Yan hid the card’s nature from Ye Shisan while telling him to rest.
• Ye Shisan learned he had been unconscious for four or five days and grieved after Wang Yan confirmed Shi Nu had betrayed the Ye Family Stockade.
• Wang Yan explained that Shi Nu had likely been planted as a spy to steal the stockade’s spiritual energy, then realized the stockade might also be in danger.
• Ye Shisan recalled that Shi Nu’s master planned to attack the Ye Family Stockade and hurried back, while Wang Yan followed despite his depleted magic power.