Chapter Summaries

Loa reached the Sulfur Hot Spring Zone and used its harsh conditions to train while cautiously testing his self-created Wind-Thunder Two Forms Battle-qi. After finding Fire-Iron Ore, he discovered a fresh trail bearing earth-element traces and began following it in hopes of finding an Earth Vein Lizard.

• Loa entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range, avoided most beasts, and killed two Ironback Boars and a Windblade Mantis for their materials.
• Loa reached the Sulfur Hot Spring Zone, avoided Fire-Poison Pythons, and established a concealed temporary base after surveying the area.
• Loa safely projected a tiny wisp of Wind-Thunder Two Forms Battle-qi, piercing a volcanic rock and confirming the fusion's powerful effects.
• Loa made the hot springs part of his training routine, tempering his body while searching for signs of an Earth Vein Lizard.
• Loa found Fire-Iron Ore beneath a hot spring and considered whether it might attract Earth Vein Lizards.
• Loa discovered a fresh, large lizard-like trail with faint earth-element traces and a metallic tang, then began following it.

Loa waited near a hot spring for an Earth Vein Lizard, but encountered a family of Redflame Fire Lizards and attacked them to force a breakthrough. He reached Rank 6 while surviving the female’s self-detonated Redflame Spray, but ended the chapter burned and facing the surviving male, whose life-burning rage had raised him to late Rank 6.

• Loa tracked the lizard-like beast to a hot spring and watched the area for three days without finding it.
• Three Redflame Fire Lizards surfaced, and Loa recognized the family as a chance to fight his way through his Rank 5 bottleneck.
• Loa killed the young lizard with a surprise sword strike, enraging its parents, then dodged the male’s fireballs and claw attack before striking him with Crushing Thunder.
• Loa charged the female as she prepared Redflame Spray, but she detonated the unstable magic inside her mouth, killing herself and badly burning Loa.
• Loa’s defensive Battle-qi barriers helped him survive the blast, and the pressure of the crisis pushed him through to Rank 6 Warrior.
• The male burned his life force to reach late Rank 6, while Loa cauterized his wounds with lightning and prepared to face him.

Loa fought the grief-maddened Redflame Fire Lizard as it switched between close combat and relentless fireball attacks. He risked using his incomplete Wind-Thunder Two Forms Battle-qi to kill the beast with one decisive strike, but was left severely injured.

• Loa deflected the Redflame Fire Lizard's charge and wounded it with precise sword strikes to its weak points.
• The Redflame Fire Lizard unleashed an expanding ring of fire, then kept Loa at a distance with a barrage of fireballs.
• Loa feigned retreat to lure the Redflame Fire Lizard into pursuing him, then fused his battle-qi into Wind-Thunder Two Forms Battle-qi.
• Loa used Nine Heavens Wind-Thunder Fury to pierce the Redflame Fire Lizard and carve a massive scar into the rock wall behind it.
• The Redflame Fire Lizard died, and Loa collapsed to one knee with severe injuries, knowing he had won.

After defeating the Fire Lizards, Loa escaped the sulfur belt with their valuable Magic Crystal Cores and Redflame Gems, then recovered in hiding from severe injuries. By early September, his wounds had mostly healed, and he left for the Coniferous Forest Swamp.

• Loa cut three Magic Crystal Cores and three Redflame Gems from the Fire Lizard corpses and fled the battlefield despite his damaged meridians.
• Loa found a concealed stone hollow, scattered beast-repelling powder, treated his burns, and used gentle battle-qi to stabilize his injuries.
• Loa appraised the Redflame Gems at a total of at least eighteen thousand gold coins, not counting the Magic Crystal Cores.
• Loa spent the following days in seclusion as his burns healed, his meridians strengthened, and his early Rank 6 cultivation stabilized.
• In early September, Loa packed his belongings and set out northeast toward the Coniferous Forest Swamp.

Loa crossed the damp coniferous forest and reached the Coniferous Forest Swamp, where he saw how dangerous its waters were and concluded that finding an Earth Vein Lizard was unlikely. He decided to rest, scout the outskirts, and hunt water-attribute magical beasts before continuing his journey.

• Loa used Listening to the Wind to detect a Green Poison Python ambush and killed it with his short blade, then collected its Magic Crystal Core and some meat.
• Loa traveled deeper into the forest and reached the edge of the vast, fog-shrouded Coniferous Forest Swamp.
• Loa watched a Swamp Forest Giant Crocodile leap from the water and swallow a Wind Bird.
• Loa assessed the swamp's hazards and realized its wet, water-rich environment made finding an Earth Vein Lizard unlikely.
• Loa planned to rest for a few days, survey the swamp's outskirts, and hunt water-attribute magical beasts for their Magic Crystal Cores.

Loa recovered in the Coniferous Forest Swamp, restoring his meridians and stabilizing his Rank 6 cultivation while gathering magical cores. As he prepared to resume his journey toward Blackstone Canyon, he began planning a thunder-element body-tempering method inspired by tigers and leopards.

• Loa built a defensible camp and spent weeks training, cultivating, fishing, and hunting nearby magical beasts as he recovered.
• By late September, Loa's injuries had healed, his meridians had strengthened to the late sixth-level standard, and his early-stage Rank 6 cultivation had stabilized.
• Loa collected three fifth-level water-element Magical Cores and one sixth-level water-element Magical Core during his recuperation.
• Loa considered improvements to his Wind-Thunder Meridian-Expansion Method and decided he needed a systematic way to temper his body.
• Loa began considering a body-tempering technique based on thunder-element battle-qi and the movements of tigers and leopards before preparing for his evening training.

Loa crossed the dangerous middle reaches toward Blackstone Canyon, surviving encounters with powerful magical beasts before two Wind Wolves found his camp. After one wolf raised an alarm, Loa fled as a pack of at least thirty closed in.

• Loa traveled cautiously through the middle reaches, escaping a Six-Armed Water Ape and a flock of Iron-Beaked Vultures while collecting several Magical Cores.
• Loa camped in a forest clearing and detected two Wind Wolves approaching under cover of darkness.
• Loa ambushed the wolves, killing one with Startling Thunder and striking the other with Crushing Thunder.
• The wounded Wind Wolf feigned death, then howled twice to alert its pack before dying.
• Loa abandoned the wolves' Magic Crystal Cores and fled southwest as answering howls revealed that at least thirty Wind Wolves were converging.

Loa fought through a Wind Wolf pack and killed three wolves, but a half-step seventh-rank Wind Wolf King emerged to lead the remaining beasts. With his battle-qi strains merging and only three minutes of safe use, Loa faced the wolf king and its pack, determined to fight.

• Loa dodged the Wind Wolves’ coordinated ambush and used their missed attacks to wound them, then fought while retreating southwest.
• Loa unleashed Wild Wind and Sudden Rain Sword and killed two Wind Wolves with Gale Thrust and Startling Thunder.
• A powerful wind blade from behind nearly struck Loa, but it split a third wolf in half; Loa survived the blade’s scattered aftermath with his battle-qi barrier.
• The Wind Wolf King appeared, and Loa judged it to be at the peak of the sixth rank, nearing the seventh.
• Loa merged his Storm, Ten Thousand Jun, and Weapon Strike battle-qi, determined to face the wolf king and its pack despite being able to sustain the transformation for only three minutes.

Loa fought the Wind Wolf King while badly injured and, at the brink of defeat, awakened an embryonic Nine Heavens Wind-Thunder sword force. His devastating slash grievously wounded the wolf king, allowing him to escape into the forest while the pack hesitated to pursue.

• Loa used fused movement techniques and Startling Thunder to wound the Wind Wolf King, but the wolf king counterattacked and injured Loa’s left leg.
• The enraged Wind Wolf King sent a wall of enormous wind blades at Loa and charged behind it, leaving him with no clear means of escape.
• Under extreme pressure, Loa awakened an embryonic sword force and unleashed a powerful Nine Heavens Wind-Thunder slash.
• Loa’s slash shattered the wolf king’s Wind Shields and tore away its right ear, eye, and part of its skull, leaving it near death.
• Loa suppressed his presence and escaped into the dark forest while the wounded wolf king’s frightened pack delayed its pursuit.

Loa escaped the wolf pack by reaching a waterfall and hiding in a small cave he carved into the rock. After waking, he treated his wounds and began restoring his battle-qi, but he still did not know where he had ended up.

• Loa followed the sound of a waterfall to evade the pursuing beasts and collapsed near a hidden hollow beside the pool.
• Loa woke in the cave he had carved with his Wind-Thunder Two Forms Battle-qi and found no signs that the wolves had followed him.
• Loa examined his depleted battle-qi and discovered his meridians had survived, though a wolf bite had badly wounded his flank and his left knee was likely cracked.
• Loa used medicinal herbs to bandage his injuries, then cultivated to restore some battle-qi and aid his healing.
• Loa spotted Tundra Reindeer drinking by the pool and realized the unfamiliar forest left him unsure of his location, so he stayed in the cave to recover.

While recovering in a cave, Loa regained his strength and explored the sword force he had awakened, then began developing new movement and body-tempering methods. He successfully tested a faint vibration on his tailbone and left his recovery continuing as he cautiously pursued the Wind-Thunder Heavenly Pillar Method.

• Loa recovered from his injuries by circulating the Wind-Thunder Meridian-Expansion Method and hunting nearby magical beasts for food.
• Loa used Nine Heavens Wind-Thunder Sword Force to frighten a group of low-level Rodent Rabbits, discovering that it could suppress beasts through instinctive terror.
• Loa planned a new movement technique combining the evasiveness of Gentle Breeze Brushes the Willow with the explosive speed of Startling Thunder, tentatively naming it Unpredictable Thunder Shadow Step.
• Loa conceived the Wind-Thunder Heavenly Pillar Method, a dangerous body-tempering practice that would use controlled vibrations to strengthen the spine vertebra by vertebra.
• Loa carefully sent a faint, low-frequency vibration of wind-thunder battle-qi into his tailbone and felt a tingling response, then stopped to avoid rushing the experiment.

After recovering from his injuries, Loa resumed training and traveled toward Blackstone Canyon, where he hoped to find Earth Vein Lizards and a way to break through the limits of his meridians. He reached the canyon and settled into a concealed position to scout and wait for the right opportunity.

• Loa completed his recovery, refined his Wind-Thunder techniques, and left the waterfall cave to resume his journey.
• At the site of his battle with the Wind Wolf King, Loa found the battlefield stripped of bodies and concluded the wolf king had survived.
• Loa tested the Unpredictable Thunder Shadow Step against several sixth-rank magical beasts while traveling, collecting their Magical Cores and preserving their meat.
• Loa reached Blackstone Canyon, whose iron-rich rocks and terrain matched reports of possible Earth Vein Lizard sightings.
• Loa took shelter behind a large boulder and prepared to reconnoiter the canyon patiently.

Loa searched Blackstone Canyon for Earth Vein Lizards while cultivating his understanding of wind, then faced the first snowfall of the year with thoughts of Old Jack. He left his shelter to keep exploring and cultivating through the storm.

• Loa studied the canyon’s shifting winds from a cliff after finding no Earth Vein Lizards in the shallow tunnels.
• Loa recalled killing a Stone-Armored Berserk Bear and making its cave into a shelter with preserved meat for winter.
• Loa caught snow in a wooden cup and poured the melted water onto the ground in remembrance of Grandpa Jack.
• Loa returned to the cliff despite the worsening storm, hoping the snowfall might change the Earth Vein Lizards’ behavior and deepen his cultivation.
• Loa sat in the snow and sharpened his control of Battle-qi while watching the dark canyon.

Loa completed the initial tempering of his tailbone with the Wind-Thunder Heavenly Pillar Method and sensed that his Battle-qi was close to breaking through to mid-stage Rank 6. After the snowfall stopped, he found fresh tracks leading to a concealed cave and quietly approached what might be the Earth Vein Lizard’s lair.

• Loa spent the heavy snowfall maintaining his training and searching the canyon for signs of the hidden creature.
• Loa completed the initial tempering of his tailbone and felt his balance and physical control improve.
• Loa sensed that his Battle-qi was nearing a breakthrough to mid-stage Rank 6.
• After the snow stopped, Loa spotted fresh crawling tracks crossing the canyon toward a sheltered area.
• Loa traced the tracks to a concealed cave beneath piled boulders and stealthily approached it.

Loa discovered that the Earth Vein Lizard was a powerful seventh-level magical beast, far stronger than he had expected. After observing its routine and advancing to middle sixth rank, he began devising special methods to hunt it.

• Loa waited near the cave and watched the Earth Vein Lizard return, realizing it was a well-established seventh-level beast.
• Loa observed the lizard over several days and learned that it regularly fed on Iron-Eating Ants before returning to its cave.
• Loa continued training and broke through from early to middle sixth rank.
• Loa judged that he might be able to fight the lizard, but decided that brute force would not be enough and began planning special methods.

Loa poisoned the Earth Vein Lizard with a powerful laxative and ambushed it as the creature weakened. He inflicted several serious wounds and continued attacking as the battle entered a final war of attrition.

• Loa observed the Iron-Eating Ant colony and planted powder on its trails and inside a Snow Velvet Rabbit carcass for the returning ants to feed to the Earth Vein Lizard.
• The Earth Vein Lizard ate the poisoned food, suffered uncontrollable diarrhea, and collapsed from weakness in the snowfield.
• Loa ambushed the weakened Earth Vein Lizard with a sword strike, then used Crushing Thunder to blast open a wound in its flank.
• Loa evaded the Earth Vein Lizard's counterattacks and cut the tendons around one hind-leg joint, further reducing its mobility.
• Loa repeatedly struck the wounded creature's weak points while avoiding its attacks, and the battle continued as the Earth Vein Lizard bled and weakened.

Loa trapped the fleeing Earth Vein Lizard in a pit and killed it with a newly comprehended sword strike, Wind Threads Turn to Dust. He recovered its level-seven Magic Crystal Core and turned to collect the spinal fluid he had come to obtain.

• The wounded Earth Vein Lizard curled into a spiked stone ball and rolled toward its lair, forcing Loa to search for a way through its defenses.
• Loa raced ahead and dug a deep pit near the entrance to Blackstone Canyon, then used sword-qi to steer the rolling beast toward it.
• The Earth Vein Lizard plunged into the pit, where the impact shattered its stone armor and left it dazed and exposed.
• Loa suppressed the beast with his sword force and used Wind Threads Turn to Dust to dissolve its head, killing it and releasing its Magic Crystal Core.
• Loa picked up the level-seven Magic Crystal Core and prepared to collect the Earth Vein Lizard's spinal fluid.

Loa carefully dismantled the Earth Vein Lizard and extracted its spine, then spent seven days firing it to refine its spinal fluid. He collected thirty-three drops and brought his Blackstone Canyon journey to a successful conclusion.

• Loa dragged the Earth Vein Lizard's corpse to the bear-cave camp and recovered his strength before beginning the delicate work of dismantling it.
• Loa stripped the lizard's flesh and removed its spine, then painstakingly cut free the nearly indestructible dark golden reverse scale.
• Loa built a stone fire rack near the cave, laid the spine across it, and maintained a steady coal fire while cultivating for seven days and nights.
• Loa noticed the spine had changed under the heat and caught the first emerald-green drop of spinal fluid in a jade bottle.
• Loa collected thirty-three drops of refined spinal fluid, sealed the bottle, and ended his Blackstone Canyon journey satisfied.

Loa narrowly dodged an ambush by the Black Fang Mercenary Group, whose deputy commander Eng coveted the Earth Vein Marrow Essence he had obtained. After Loa refused Eng’s insulting offer and mocked him and Peng Ernst, Eng ordered the group to attack, leaving Loa surrounded as battle began.

• Three poisoned arrows targeted Loa, but he sensed them and dodged before they struck.
• Eng and Peng Ernst arrived with eight warriors and two Elite Wind Wolves, and Eng recognized the Earth Vein Lizard spine and the marrow essence in Loa’s vial.
• Eng offered Loa 1,000 gold coins for the vial while secretly judging his strength and plotting to take it.
• Loa rejected Eng’s offer and insulted both him and Peng Ernst, prompting Eng to order the group to kill Loa and seize his belongings.
• Eng enhanced the three archers with Extreme Speed and Precision as they fired, while three swordsmen and two Elite Wind Wolves charged and Eng prepared another spell.

Loa used his overwhelming speed and sword techniques to defeat Eng’s party after they ambushed him in the snowy mountains. He spared Peng Ernst and found an unusual map among Eng’s possessions, leaving its purpose to be questioned.

• Loa moved behind the attackers and killed three archers before smashing their shield guard with Crushing Thunder.
• Eng unleashed his powerful Wind Blade Scythe, but Loa’s Wind Threads Turn to Dust dissolved the spell and disintegrated Eng.
• Loa killed the fleeing swordsmen and shield guard with a sweep of sword qi, leaving Peng Ernst alive and terrified.
• Loa searched Eng’s remains and found a durable leather map that had survived his annihilating sword technique.