Chapter Summaries

During physical training, Hu Fangyuan reflected on the Refinement Path and its power to transform people as he kept pace with the other students. Wu Changkong summoned Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Hu Fangyuan after dinner, leaving the reason for the meeting unknown as the students finished their meal and dispersed.

• Tang Wulin led the endurance run, while Xie Xie struggled to keep up and Hu Fangyuan found the training easy after the Copper Bone Gu strengthened him.
• Hu Fangyuan considered how the Refinement Path could transform and temper a person, then Gu Yue ran past him.
• After training, Wu Changkong told Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Hu Fangyuan to see him after dinner.
• Tang Wulin and Xie Xie hurried to the dining hall, while Hu Fangyuan and Gu Yue walked there together and speculated that Wu Changkong's summons concerned the Class Promotion Tournament.
• Tang Wulin ate several large portions while Hu Fangyuan, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie ate at the same table.
• After dinner, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie ran off to play by the field as the evening settled in.

Wu Changkong began evening training for the Class Promotion Tournament and challenged Tang Wulin to prove he deserved a place on the team. Gu Yue declined to take Tang Wulin’s spot, while Hu Fangyuan backed Wu Changkong’s decision, leaving Xie Xie angry and the group divided.

• Hu Fangyuan read The True Man's Biography while Gu Yue watched the sunset, until Wu Changkong summoned them and Tang Wulin and Xie Xie joined them.
• Wu Changkong brought the four students to an indoor training ground and announced that they would train with him each evening for the tournament in three months.
• Wu Changkong told Tang Wulin that Gu Yue’s talent gave him reason to reconsider the team, and that Tang Wulin would be left off unless he met the requirements.
• Gu Yue asked Wu Changkong not to let her arrival affect anyone else and declined to compete, while Hu Fangyuan agreed with Wu Changkong.
• Xie Xie took offense at Hu Fangyuan’s support for choosing the strongest, but Tang Wulin stopped him and accepted that he needed to improve.
• Wu Changkong ended the argument and said anyone unwilling to work could leave; Tang Wulin promised to train hard, while Xie Xie remained angry and distanced himself from Hu Fangyuan.

Wu Changkong began the students’ special training by explaining that they would improve through actual combat, then challenged Hu Fangyuan to attack him with everything he had. Hu Fangyuan’s water spears surprised Wu Changkong by resisting his ice, leaving the teacher intrigued as their fight continued.

• Gu Yue asked Wu Changkong about their special training, and he explained that they would use actual combat to develop their strength and combat abilities.
• Wu Changkong privately offered guidance to Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, and Gu Yue.
• Wu Changkong asked Hu Fangyuan whether he had been holding back, and Hu Fangyuan admitted that he had.
• Wu Changkong hardened his belt with ice, challenged Hu Fangyuan to defeat him, and gave him the first move.
• Hu Fangyuan summoned the Heaven Refining Furnace and launched three water spears at Wu Changkong.
• Wu Changkong tried to freeze the spears with his belt, but their ice shells shattered and the water forced him to dodge; he became interested in Hu Fangyuan’s control.

Hu Fangyuan used the Heaven Refining Furnace to attack Wu Changkong with heated Water Spears and finely controlled fire techniques. As Wu Changkong tried to escape the closing flames, Hu Fangyuan sent three nearly invisible Water Blades at him from beneath the Fire Curtain.

• Hu Fangyuan heated water with the Heaven Refining Furnace and launched dozens of spinning Water Spears at Wu Changkong.
• Wu Changkong blocked the Water Spears with his ice-blue belt, but the force pushed him half a step back.
• Hu Fangyuan split his Fire-Refined Scarlet Force into over a hundred Fire Needles, and Wu Changkong blocked most of them while dodging the rest.
• Hu Fangyuan formed three fire spears, two Fire Nets, and a Fire Curtain to hem Wu Changkong in.
• As Wu Changkong tried to slip through a gap in the Fire Nets, three transparent Water Blades shot toward him from beneath the Fire Curtain.

Hu Fangyuan pressed Wu Changkong with a barrage of combined water and fire attacks, then broke Wu Changkong’s ice-armored belt with his strongest strike. Wu Changkong acknowledged Hu Fangyuan’s skill and summoned his Heavenly Frost Sword, leaving their test poised to continue.

• Hu Fangyuan used hidden water attacks alongside fierce fire attacks, forcing Wu Changkong to defend and dodge.
• Hu Fangyuan gathered his attacks into a powerful water-and-fire spear and hurled it at Wu Changkong.
• Wu Changkong struck the spear with an ice cudgel, and the collision snapped his belt in two.
• Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, and Gu Yue reacted with shock as Wu Changkong praised Hu Fangyuan’s skill.
• Wu Changkong summoned his Heavenly Frost Sword, dropping the training ground’s temperature and bringing the test to a new stage.

Hu Fangyuan faced Wu Changkong’s true strength after Wu drew the Heavenly Frost Sword, but he was defeated in two strikes despite using the Copper Bone Gu to evade the first. Wu praised his skill and questioned his unusual physical strength, while Hu Fangyuan concealed his Gu worm inheritance.

• Wu Changkong released the Heavenly Frost Sword’s freezing pressure and slashed at Hu Fangyuan.
• Hu Fangyuan drove the Copper Bone Gu to full strength, resisted the chill, and narrowly dodged Wu Changkong’s first strike.
• Wu Changkong followed with a faster horizontal strike and stopped the Heavenly Frost Sword an inch from Hu Fangyuan’s neck.
• Hu Fangyuan accepted his defeat, and Wu Changkong praised his timing and physical strength.
• Wu Changkong asked whether Hu Fangyuan had practiced a Body Refinement Cultivation Method, and Hu Fangyuan blamed basic training with his elders while keeping the Gu worms secret.

After sparring, Wu Changkong investigated Tang Wulin’s extraordinary strength and heavy hammers, then planned special team training for the Class Promotion Tournament. He privately offered Hu Fangyuan cultivation resources and announced an upcoming Spiritual Power test.

• Wu Changkong’s sparring match showed that Tang Wulin’s Thousand Refinement Heavy Silver Hammers delivered powerful, unusual strikes, and Xie Xie was knocked down when he tried to lift one.
• Tang Wulin explained that each hammer weighed about a hundred and fifty kilograms and possessed the Stacked Hammer effect, after which Wu Changkong tested his strength.
• Hu Fangyuan judged Tang Wulin’s fighting technique crude despite his physical power and thought that forging and combat should not be mixed.
• Wu Changkong said the four students would compete together in the Class Promotion Tournament and announced nightly special training to improve their teamwork.
• After Tang Wulin and the others left, Wu Changkong asked Hu Fangyuan which cultivation resources he wanted and urged him not to waste his talent.
• Wu Changkong told Hu Fangyuan to prepare for a Spiritual Power test the following afternoon.

Hu Fangyuan fed the Moonlight Pearl Gu, drank Moonlight Dew, and meditated with the aid of his Gu. His cultivation broke through from rank twenty-one to rank twenty-two, while he resolved to pursue the path to godhood.

• Hu Fangyuan returned to his courtyard and let the Moonlight Pearl Gu absorb moonlight before collecting its Moonlight Dew and feeding it a Moon Orchid petal.
• Hu Fangyuan drank a sip of Moonlight Dew, which refreshed his mind and improved his focus and cultivation.
• Hu Fangyuan meditated while the Moonlight Pearl Gu nourished his spirit, the Copper Bone Gu tempered his body, and the Heaven Refining Furnace refined his Soul Power.
• Hu Fangyuan reflected that becoming a god could offer eternal life and wondered why he could not be the one to open that path.
• Hu Fangyuan broke through the bottleneck between rank twenty-one and rank twenty-two, raising his Soul Power to rank twenty-two.

Wu Changkong tested the students’ Spiritual Power and found Gu Yue had reached the Spirit Connection Realm, while Hu Fangyuan scored ninety. Hu Fangyuan had been training to improve his fine control of Soul Power and Spiritual Power, and the chapter ended with Class Five running laps during physical conditioning.

• Xie Xie scored twenty-nine in Spiritual Power, Tang Wulin scored forty-four, Gu Yue scored one hundred and nineteen, and Hu Fangyuan scored ninety.
• Wu Changkong concluded that Gu Yue likely possessed a rare spiritual-type Martial Soul and decided to place greater importance on her.
• Wu Changkong told Hu Fangyuan to practice controlling multiple streams of Soul Power, dividing his Spiritual Power, and breaking Soul Skills into smaller components.
• Hu Fangyuan began training the Distraction Technique so he could use multiple Soul Skills and control Gu worms at the same time.
• During Class Five’s physical conditioning, Xie Xie led the students in running laps while Wu Changkong occasionally urged him to go faster.

Hu Fangyuan practiced the Distraction Technique by precisely controlling dozens of water droplets, then used Moonlight Dew to restore and strengthen his spiritual power. He left the session encouraged by his progress and hoped to gain enough spiritual power by the end of the semester to obtain a second Soul Spirit.

• Hu Fangyuan used intense concentration to make dozens of water droplets perfectly uniform and motionless.
• Hu Fangyuan made the droplets move along separate, increasingly complex paths, pushing his spiritual power toward its limit.
• Hu Fangyuan stopped practicing and drank Moonlight Dew from the Heaven Refining Furnace to recover and nourish his spiritual power.
• Hu Fangyuan reflected that repeated depletion and recovery had strengthened his spiritual power and improved his control.
• Hu Fangyuan hoped to gain enough spiritual power by the end of the semester to obtain a second Soul Spirit at the Spirit Pagoda.

Gu Yue asked Hu Fangyuan to teach her how to use elements more creatively, and he invited her to his rented courtyard so they could practice and discuss the subject in private. They arrived at his home, where Hu Fangyuan agreed to share what he had learned through experimentation.

• After physical training, Gu Yue asked Hu Fangyuan to teach her how to use elements beyond basic attacks and combinations.
• Hu Fangyuan agreed to discuss elemental techniques with Gu Yue and invited her to his home to practice somewhere quiet.
• Xie Xie saw Hu Fangyuan and Gu Yue walking together and teased Tang Wulin that something might be developing between them.
• Hu Fangyuan led Gu Yue into his rented courtyard, where she asked whether he lived there alone.
• Hu Fangyuan explained that he preferred the quiet of the courtyard, and he and Gu Yue sat down to talk.

Hu Fangyuan taught Gu Yue how to control water by explaining the forces behind its movement and demonstrating several powerful applications. He then turned to the flames she could command, beginning a lesson on their nature.

• Hu Fangyuan shaped water into different forms and explained how its essence and motion affected its uses.
• Hu Fangyuan demonstrated how high-speed streams, sustained erosion, concentrated pressure, and vortex flow could damage a brick wall.
• Gu Yue watched the demonstrations and realized how much more powerful Hu Fangyuan's control of water was than her own.
• Hu Fangyuan shifted the lesson from water to flame and asked Gu Yue whether she understood that flame was a gas.

Hu Fangyuan taught Gu Yue principles for manipulating flames and invited her to dinner, then analyzed her unusual background and said he wanted to befriend her. Gu Yue challenged his approach, leaving their potential friendship uncertain.

• Hu Fangyuan explained his twelve-character principle for using flames and demonstrated how a fire needle could pierce a brick.
• Gu Yue reflected on his lesson while Hu Fangyuan prepared dinner and encouraged her to practice elemental control herself.
• Hu Fangyuan and Gu Yue ate together, and he asked whether she truly had innate full soul power.
• Hu Fangyuan argued that Gu Yue's elemental envoy martial soul suggested an extraordinary bloodline or opportunity.
• Hu Fangyuan told Gu Yue he wanted to become friends, and she questioned whether exposing her background was a proper way to make friends.

Hu Fangyuan offered Gu Yue Moonlight Dew and other family Secret Medicines, winning her interest with the potion’s remarkable effect. Gu Yue agreed to pay for the medicines and asked about buying the others as well, while Hu Fangyuan suggested they deepen their friendship over dinner.

• Hu Fangyuan told Gu Yue that mutual interest was the basis of friendship and offered her a bottle of Moonlight Dew.
• Gu Yue tasted the Moonlight Dew and found that it quickly restored her Spiritual Power and sharpened her senses.
• Hu Fangyuan claimed his family also made Secret Medicines for body refinement and Soul Power cultivation, and said he wanted to befriend Gu Yue because he believed in their potential.
• Hu Fangyuan asked Gu Yue for one million Federation Coins each month in exchange for three bottles of Moonlight Dew.
• Gu Yue asked whether the other Secret Medicines were also available for a million, and Hu Fangyuan suggested they eat first and let their friendship grow deeper.

Hu Fangyuan successfully refined a second high-grade Moonlight Pearl Gu and continued balancing cultivation with the costly upkeep of his Gu worms. After more than two months of Wu Changkong’s grueling training, Hu Fangyuan and his classmates prepared for the Class Promotion Tournament, with Hu reaching Soul Power Level twenty-five.

• Hu Fangyuan left Gu Yue’s courtyard and refined a second high-grade Moonlight Pearl Gu using the Heaven Refining Furnace.
• Hu Fangyuan calculated the growing costs of feeding his Gu worms, then used Moonlight Dew to recover before meditating through the night.
• Hu Fangyuan began an intense daily routine of classes, physical conditioning, Wu Changkong’s training, Gu refining, and meditation.
• More than two months passed as Wu Changkong put Freshman Class Five through demanding combat and coordination drills ahead of the Class Promotion Tournament.
• Hu Fangyuan reached Soul Power Level twenty-five, improved his combined water-and-fire Soul Skill use, controlled eighty water droplets, and strengthened his body with the Copper Bone Gu.

Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Hu Fangyuan, and Gu Yue prepared for the Class Promotion Tournament under Wu Changkong, who set them the daunting goal of defeating fourth-year Class One. The tournament began with Class Five facing Class Four, while the students gathered at the competition platform.

• Gu Yue reached rank twenty-three and improved her control over her elemental attacks, while the four students continued to clash outside their paired training matches.
• Wu Changkong divided the students into Tang Wulin and Xie Xie’s team and Hu Fangyuan and Gu Yue’s team, and their competitive matches drove their training forward.
• Wu Changkong announced that the tournament would begin against Class Four and ordered the team to fight up to fourth-year Class One for the rewards.
• Gu Yue called Xie Xie deadweight after he protested the challenge, and she judged that he did not work as hard as his peers.
• Eastsea Academy’s Class Promotion Tournament began after school, and the first match was set to pit First-Year Class Five against Class Four.

Wu Changkong sent Hu Fangyuan to face First-Year Class Four alone so Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue could keep their abilities hidden for later rounds. As the match began, the three stepped off the platform, leaving Hu Fangyuan alone against four opponents.

• Xie Xie objected when Wu Changkong announced that Hu Fangyuan would fight the first match alone, but Tang Wulin calmed him.
• Wu Changkong explained that Hu Fangyuan would draw attention while the others preserved their abilities and tactics for stronger classes.
• Long Hengxu announced the match, and Kong Hanwen selected Jialong, Lin Zunyuan, Mosi, and Wang Haoxuan to represent First-Year Class Four.
• Both teams entered the platform, and Class Four's four students released their soul rings as Jialong charged at Hu Fangyuan.
• Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue stepped off the platform, leaving Hu Fangyuan to face all four opponents alone.

Hu Fangyuan used his water and fire Soul Skills to keep Jialong, Mosi, and Wang Haoxuan at a distance while Lin Zunyuan boosted the team’s attacks. After dispersing his Water Tornado and staggering all three opponents, Hu Fangyuan sent water whips at them.

• Hu Fangyuan blinded Jialong with a water curtain, struck his joints with undercurrents, and sent him crashing through the arena railing.
• Lin Zunyuan amplified Jialong as Mosi attacked Hu Fangyuan from the left and Wang Haoxuan approached from behind, but Hu Fangyuan stopped them with water blades, Fire Needles, and a wall of fire.
• Lin Zunyuan amplified Mosi and Wang Haoxuan and called for them to charge, while Jialong recovered and joined their renewed three-sided attack.
• Hu Fangyuan formed a Water Tornado that held the three attackers back, then dispersed it into water arrows that struck their faces.
• Hu Fangyuan summoned three water whips and lashed them toward Jialong, Mosi, and Wang Haoxuan.

Hu Fangyuan defeated all four members of Class Four in barely a minute, forcing Lin Zunyuan to surrender. After Wu Changkong reminded him that he would fight Class Three the next day, Hu Fangyuan left for the East Sea Trading Company.

• Hu Fangyuan used water and fire attacks to drive Jialong back and knock Mosi and Wang Haoxuan out of the fight.
• With only Jialong and Lin Zunyuan still standing, Lin Zunyuan surrendered on Class Four's behalf.
• Hu Fangyuan withdrew his Soul Skills and left the arena after achieving a complete victory over Class Four.
• Wu Changkong told Hu Fangyuan he would fight Class Three the next day.
• Hu Fangyuan told Wu Changkong he was stopping by the East Sea Trading Company, then left the academy.

Hu Fangyuan’s effortless victory for Class Five impressed the students and alarmed Long Hengxu, who feared the class’s tournament strength would expose unfair placements. After buying costly Gu Refining materials, Hu Fangyuan planned to combine four physical-body Gu into a rank-three Four Symbols Iron Body Gu.

• Xie Xie admitted to himself that he could not have defeated Class Four as easily as Hu Fangyuan, while Tang Wulin praised Hu Fangyuan and Gu Yue silently watched him leave.
• Long Hengxu announced Class Five’s victory and scheduled its next challenge against First-Year Class Three, then worried that Hu Fangyuan and Gu Yue made the class far stronger than expected.
• Hu Fangyuan collected his ordered materials at the East Sea Trading Company and paid six hundred thousand Federation Coins.
• Hu Fangyuan planned to refine Silver Tendon, Iron Skin, and Brute Flesh Gu, then combine them with his Copper Bone Gu to create a rank-three Four Symbols Iron Body Gu.