Recaps

Lu Zhao visited the Hundred Refinements Pavilion to buy a sharp water- or ice-attribute weapon, and Shopkeeper Liu showed him several choices. After Lu Zhao selected the Water-Splitting Spikes, Shopkeeper Liu revealed a spell-amplifying Hundred Waters Dharma Disc and explained its potential and price, leaving Lu Zhao to consider the offer.

• Lu Zhao regretted missing the Cold Chi Serpent Spike and went to the Hundred Refinements Pavilion to find a suitable weapon.
• Shopkeeper Liu welcomed Lu Zhao into a private room and learned that he wanted a first-tier middle-grade water- or ice-attribute weapon focused on offense.
• Shopkeeper Liu presented four magical artifacts, and Lu Zhao chose the Water-Splitting Spikes for their speed and suitability to his style.
• Shopkeeper Liu showed Lu Zhao the Hundred Waters Dharma Disc, which amplified water- and ice-attribute spells and could grow stronger when nurtured with spirit water.
• Shopkeeper Liu said the Hundred Waters Dharma Disc cost ninety-five Spirit Stones.

Lu Zhao bargained with Shopkeeper Liu for the Hundred Waters Dharma Disc and Water-Splitting Spikes, then returned to his work in Green Vine Ravine. After Zhou Qixing warned him that factions in the Zhou Household were courting him for their own purposes, Lu Zhao resolved to rely on his own skill and cultivation.

• Lu Zhao pointed out the Hundred Waters Dharma Disc’s limitations and persuaded Shopkeeper Liu to sell it for eighty-five spirit stones alongside the Water-Splitting Spikes for one hundred and ten.
• Lu Zhao ritually refined both magical artifacts and resumed his routine of patrolling, surveying the ravine with the Flowing Cloud Sparrow, and carving demonic beast remains.
• Zhou Qixing warned Lu Zhao that Zhou Household factions had noticed his abilities and might use promises of support to draw him into their power struggles.
• Zhou Qixing recounted how factional infighting had made him a scapegoat and left him tending poisonous herbs for fourteen years.
• Lu Zhao reflected on the shifting goodwill he had received as his abilities grew and resolved to advance through his own craftsmanship and cultivation.

Lu Zhao and the other Guest Elders learned that the Green Vine Ravine’s snake swarms were stirred by new shoots growing from the buried roots of a burned Qiulong Green Vine. Zhou Qixing warned them of an approaching snake tide and revealed the chance to claim the shoots and valuable materials, leaving Lu Zhao considering how the roots could support a puppet.

• Lu Zhao, Chen Moyang, Yin Jiu, and Liu Fengchun compared reports of unusually active snakes and recalled the old Green Vine Snake Calamity.
• Zhou Qixing explained that a century-old Qiulong Green Vine’s remnant roots remained buried underground and that new shoots were drawing the Ink-Scaled Snakes and mutating their bloodlines.
• Zhou Qixing said the Zhou Household had failed to transplant the vine and that the roots were too extensive and depleted to be worth extracting in full.
• Zhou Qixing warned that the snakes would swarm when the shoots emerged, identified the strongest Snake King's nest as their likely location, and outlined the value of the potential spoils.
• Lu Zhao recalled a first-tier middle-grade Vine Snake puppet that required a superior-grade spirit vine and considered the Green Vine Remnant Roots as possible puppet material.

Lu Zhao and three cultivators joined forces to hunt the Snake King in Green Vine Ravine, each seeking different materials from its nest. They killed the beast, but Lu Zhao’s Ironwood Guard suffered serious damage in its first battle.

• Liu Fengchun, Yin Jiu, Chen Moyang, and Lu Zhao negotiated shares of the Snake King's materials and agreed to set out the next morning.
• Lu Zhao prepared his talismans, weapons, and puppets while the other three cultivated their own tools and plans for the hunt.
• The four cultivators encountered several weak Ink-Scaled Snakes before the Snake King attacked them from above.
• Lu Zhao sent an Ironwood Guard to seize the Snake King's tail, and it held the beast despite its armor cracking under the strain.
• Yin Jiu's Red Centipedes died in the Snake King's poison mist, while Liu Fengchun, Chen Moyang, and Lu Zhao helped pin down and kill the beast.
• Lu Zhao found that the Ironwood Guard's right arm had sustained deep damage, and judged that fighting a middle first-stage Demonic Beast had pushed it to its limit.

Lu Zhao and the other cultivators found that the Snake King had killed another Snake King and taken the Young Green Vine’s Remnant Roots, which had grown into a venomous plant parasitizing the corpse. They encountered a new Snake King in symbiosis with the vine, and Lu Zhao asked Liu Fengchun to explain what that meant.

• Yin Jiu, Liu Fengchun, Chen Moyang, and Lu Zhao divided the dead Snake King’s remains and fought their way through Ink-Scaled Snakes.
• The group found the Water Scorpion nest empty, and Lu Zhao sent his Frost Rat Puppet into the cave to scout.
• The puppet saw snake skins, scorpion remains, and the Young Green Vine before a Snake King destroyed it.
• Lu Zhao and the others entered the cave, where they deduced that one Snake King had killed another and consumed its remains to obtain the Remnant Roots.
• The group found the vine feeding on a dead Snake King and saw a living Snake King covered in vines emerge from the shadows.
• Liu Fengchun warned that the Snake King had formed a symbiosis with the green vine, and Lu Zhao asked him to explain it.

Liu Fengchun, Yin Jiu, Chen Moyang, and Lu Zhao agreed on how to attack the Snake King and divide the spoils, but the beast ambushed them before their plan could begin. Chen Moyang was badly injured, and Lu Zhao prepared to trap the Snake King as it retreated to the Green Vine.

• Liu Fengchun explained that the Snake King shared life essence with the Green Vine, and the group planned for Lu Zhao to lure it into Chen Moyang's formation while Yin Jiu burned through the vine.
• Lu Zhao negotiated a payment of forty-two spirit stones in exchange for the others letting him claim the remnant vines.
• As the group returned to the cave, the Green Vine's cocoon began to crack, and the Snake King burst through the rock to attack them.
• The Snake King's tail smashed Chen Moyang into a stalactite, while its venom dissolved Yin Jiu's Red Centipedes and forced Liu Fengchun's attack to miss.
• Lu Zhao used his Mystic Water Shield, the Hundred Waters Dharma Disc, and two Ironwood Guards to hold off the Snake King as it withdrew beside the Green Vine.
• Liu Fengchun urged the group to strike quickly, and Lu Zhao said he would use his full strength to trap the Snake King.

Lu Zhao, Liu Fengchun, and Yin Jiu fought the Black-Scaled Snake King while Yin Jiu’s Red Centipedes poisoned Green Vine. After the centipedes distracted the beast and Green Vine was disabled, Lu Zhao and Liu Fengchun killed the Snake King, and Liu Fengchun bound Green Vine.

• Lu Zhao and Liu Fengchun attacked the Snake King with the Ironwood Guards, ice cones, and Snake-Head Staff, but the beast vanished with its innate spell and reappeared hundreds of feet away.
• Yin Jiu released Red Centipedes to attack Green Vine, and their Blood-Burning Fire Poison left the plant unable to help the Snake King.
• The Snake King broke free and struck at Yin Jiu, then swatted at the centipedes as they turned on it.
• Lu Zhao and Liu Fengchun renewed their assault, with the Ironwood Guards and ice cones wounding the Snake King and Liu Fengchun breaking its spine with the Snake-Head Staff.
• Lu Zhao’s ice cones and the others’ attacks battered the Snake King until it died, while Liu Fengchun bound Green Vine and Lu Zhao stored its three broken vines.

After dividing the Snake King’s spoils, Lu Zhao assessed his gains and the weaknesses in his fighting ability. Chen Moyang later thanked him and offered to trade other items for an Ironwood Guard puppet after Lu Zhao asked seventy Spirit Stones for it.

• Liu Fengchun and Yin Jiu argued over the Snake King’s spoils, then agreed to divide the venom sac, snakeskin, Green Vine, and bones while Lu Zhao received snake meat and a share of the cave’s materials.
• Lu Zhao counted his valuable haul, including four lengths of broken vine, and decided to seek stronger spells, rare spiritual waters, and a heavy magic item.
• Lu Zhao reviewed the battle and concluded that he was comparable to an ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivator but still needed to address his weaknesses.
• Chen Moyang visited Lu Zhao, thanked him for holding off the Snake King, and expressed gratitude for receiving a share of the spoils.
• Chen Moyang asked to buy an Ironwood Guard puppet, and Lu Zhao set the price at seventy Spirit Stones; Chen Moyang said he could offer other items instead.

Lu Zhao traded an Ironwood Guard for Chen Moyang’s Earth Vein Black Tortoise Formation and activated it to protect his home in Green Vine Ravine. He then sought powerful water or ice spells and a heavy water-attribute Dharma artifact, and Shopkeeper Liu showed him a One-Origin Heavy Water Pearl whose price and limitations remained under discussion.

• Lu Zhao exchanged an Ironwood Guard with Chen Moyang for a first-tier inferior-grade Earth Vein Black Tortoise Formation, then activated the formation to create a thirty-meter protective dome.
• Lu Zhao visited the Nine Abyss Pavilion and asked the shopkeeper to search for powerful water-attribute or ice-attribute spells; the shopkeeper agreed to ask around and directed him to the Hundred Refinements Pavilion for Dharma artifacts.
• At the Hundred Refinements Pavilion, Shopkeeper Liu welcomed Lu Zhao and explained that the green-clad girl serving tea was the sheltered daughter of an old friend.
• Lu Zhao asked Shopkeeper Liu for a first-tier middle-grade, water-attribute heavy-type Dharma artifact, and Shopkeeper Liu presented a One-Origin Heavy Water Pearl for 130 Spirit Stones.
• Shopkeeper Liu explained that the pearl contained two drops of One-Origin Heavy Water and could gravely wound or kill a first-tier superior-grade Demonic Beast within nine meters, but it consumed much magical power and moved slowly.

Lu Zhao accompanied Shopkeeper Zhou and Zhou Mo to the Zhou Household’s Little Cloud Terrace Gathering, hoping to obtain the Thousandfold Overlapping Waves Art. At the gathering in Cold Fragrance Pavilion, exchanges began, and Lu Zhao used the Puppet Pearl panel to record the items offered.

• Shopkeeper Zhou told Lu Zhao that a cultivator selling the Thousandfold Overlapping Waves Art would attend the Little Cloud Terrace Gathering, and gave him a token to enter.
• Lu Zhao traveled with Shopkeeper Zhou and Zhou Mo to Perching Cloud Mountain and saw the Zhou Household’s spiritual grounds.
• The three entered Cold Fragrance Pavilion, where dozens of cultivators gathered for the exchange.
• The gray-robed host opened the gathering by offering red-fire spirit iron for a fire-attribute flying sword, but no one accepted.
• A young girl exchanged a wood-attribute magical artifact for cold iron, and Lu Zhao recorded the materials and pills that appeared on the Puppet Pearl panel.

Lu Zhao traded unwanted materials for a water cultivator’s recorded insights and the Thousandfold Overlapping Waves Art, swearing not to share or copy them. Back at Nine Abyss Pavilion, the shopkeeper warned him to stock up before supplies became scarce, prompting Lu Zhao to suspect the Zhou Household’s military preparations were tied to a larger conflict.

• A middle-aged cultivator offered his Heavenly Water Rogue Person legacy and the Thousandfold Overlapping Waves Art for goods worth thirty Spirit Stones, requiring the buyer to swear a Heart Demon Oath and destroy the Jade Slip after reading it.
• After the audience declined the offer, Lu Zhao exchanged a heap of unwanted materials for the Jade Slip and swore the required oath.
• Lu Zhao returned to Nine Abyss Pavilion with the shopkeeper and waited while the old man scolded Zhou Mo for trying to take him out again.
• The shopkeeper advised Lu Zhao to buy talismans, pills, artifact materials, and food while prices remained stable, warning that supplies might become scarce.
• Lu Zhao connected the Cloud-Pattern Cavalry’s prolonged deployment, the Zhou Household’s expenses, and the shopkeeper’s high-priced purchases of Flowing Cloud Sparrows to a possible larger conflict.

After interpreting the Nine Abyss Pavilion shopkeeper’s warning as a sign of impending war, Lu Zhao spent nearly all his spirit stones on pills, talismans, and puppet materials, then returned to Green Vine Ravine to cultivate and plan his advancement. The chapter leaves the conflict’s cause and outcome uncertain as a Zhao Family elder argues against attacking the stronger Zhou Household.

• Lu Zhao took the shopkeeper’s warning seriously and spent his roughly 330 spirit stones stocking up on cultivation pills, talismans, and puppet materials.
• Lu Zhao left Chen Fang thirty spirit stones to buy sparrow corpses for Wang Yun and urged her to purchase more pills and talismans if she could.
• Lu Zhao returned to Green Vine Ravine and used an Ice Jade Pill followed by a Meridian-Guarding Pill to extend his cultivation session.
• Lu Zhao decided to take three Ice Jade Pills and three Meridian-Guarding Pills each month, while investing future earnings in Puppet Art to become a first-tier middle-grade Puppet Master.
• At a Zhao Family gathering in Tianfang Commandery, a middle-aged man told his Fourth Brother that the Zhou Household was too strong to attack.

The Zhao Family debated whether to attack the Zhou Household, weighing the risks of war against the Chu Household’s promised reward. Zhao Deye committed the lineage to a swift raid and a defensive war, and Zhao Renhai reluctantly agreed to obey.

• Zhao Renchang urged Zhao Renhai to seize the chance to attack the Zhou Household while the Chu Household kept Foundation Establishment cultivators out of the conflict.
• Zhao Renhai warned that the Zhou Household had greater reserves and that a costly war could leave the Zhao Family vulnerable to the Qian and Sun families.
• Zhao Deye argued that Tianfang Commandery’s growing population of rogue cultivators could threaten the Zhao Family’s rear during a war.
• Zhao Deye revealed that the Chu Household had promised a Foundation Establishment Pill and said the Zhao Family needed to cultivate a successor before Seventh Uncle died.
• Zhao Deye ordered a rapid raid on the Zhou Household’s subordinate lineages, Market District, and mines, followed by a retreat to the Zhao Family’s fortified territory.
• Zhao Renhai accepted Zhao Deye’s decision and bowed in reluctant obedience.

Lu Zhao tracked the Market District’s worsening shortages and learned that the Tianfang Zhao Family had attacked the Zhou Household’s affiliated families, making a wider conflict imminent. Less than ten days later, the Zhou Household summoned him to report to the Retainer Pavilion within three days or be branded a traitor.

• Lu Zhao visited the Market District each month, noticing spirit rice and supplies grow more expensive as crowds dwindled and Zhou Household guards increased.
• At Nine Abyss Pavilion, the shopkeeper told Lu Zhao that the Tianfang Zhao Family had raided affiliated families and Blue Stone Market, prompting the Zhou Household to mobilize.
• Lu Zhao returned to Green Vine Ravine, realized his refuge would not remain safe, and focused on cultivating for survival.
• A voice-transmission talisman ordered Lu Zhao to report to the Zhou Clan Retainer Pavilion within three days, warning that missing the deadline would be deemed treason.

As the Zhou Household prepared for war, Lu Zhao moved into a new cave abode and sold six Ironwood Guards to Zhou Kang, using the proceeds to prepare for more cultivation and crafting. Zhou Kang revealed that he had been conscripted to the battlefield and urged Lu Zhao to grow stronger, leaving Lu Zhao resolved to secure his own power amid the coming conflict.

• Lu Zhao received a first-tier low-grade cave abode in Cold Bamboo Court as the Lineage reclaimed his former residence for war preparations.
• Lu Zhao reviewed his progress in cultivation, spells, and Puppet Art, then decided to profit from lower prices for puppet materials and rising demand for battlefield equipment.
• Lu Zhao sold six Ironwood Guards to Zhou Kang at eighty Spirit Stones each, choosing a lasting business relationship over the higher price he might have earned elsewhere.
• Zhou Kang told Lu Zhao that the conscription order sent him to the battlefield and that he hoped his service would protect his grandson, a Cloud-Pattern Cavalry reserve.
• Zhou Kang urged Lu Zhao to grow stronger and control his own fate; Lu Zhao bowed farewell and left determined to buy materials and prepare for the war.

Lu Zhao received orders to join the Zhou Household’s newly formed Hundred Arts Battalion, where he was assigned to the Artifact Division to produce military supplies for the coming war against the Tianfang Zhao Family. After Battalion Commander Zhou Qixuan imposed strict wartime rules, Lu Zhao encountered Chen Moyang in the Formation Division, and both recognized they had been drawn into the war effort.

• Lu Zhao found a transfer order at his cave abode commanding him to report to the Hundred Arts Battalion’s Artifact Division within three days.
• Steward Li explained that the battalion had been established to supply the Zhou Household’s war against the Tianfang Zhao Family and that Lu Zhao’s puppet-making skills made him a rare specialist.
• Lu Zhao joined the Artifact Division’s gathering and saw that he was its only Puppet Master among the battalion’s four divisions.
• Zhou Qixuan announced rules requiring cultivators to meet production quotas, register their work, remain at their stations, and obey wartime requisitions under threat of severe punishment.
• Lu Zhao met Chen Moyang in the Formation Division’s queue, and they silently shared their unease about being caught up in the war.

Lu Zhao accompanied the Zhou Household’s forces to the northern foothills, where they found Blue Stone Market devastated and established a military camp. As the Household’s troops ruthlessly cleared nearby rogue cultivators and small lineages, Lu Zhao recognized the campaign as a purge of potential threats to its rear.

• Lu Zhao marched with the Zhou Household’s forces, including the Hundred Arts Battalion and his own Flowing Cloud Sparrow Puppets, toward the northern front.
• After five days, the procession reached Blue Stone Market and found it reduced to bloodstained ruins littered with corpses and scavenging cultivators.
• The Hundred Arts Battalion established a fortified camp, and Lu Zhao was assigned to maintain the Flowing Cloud Sparrow Puppets guarding it.
• The Zhou Household sent its Enforcement Team and Cloud-Pattern Cavalry to suppress rogue cultivators and small lineages in nearby areas.
• Lu Zhao listened to reports of executions and massacres and concluded that the Zhou Household was eliminating unstable forces in its rear.

Lu Zhao’s army crossed the Heavencloud Mountain Range and besieged Greenrock Market, breaking its defensive formation after three days of bombardment. As Zhou Household forces charged into the market, Zhao Yongfeng, Zhao Changhai, and Zhao Changyan escaped through Minor Teleportation Talismans, leaving the market to fall.

• Lu Zhao marched with the Zhou Household’s army across the Heavencloud Mountain Range to Greenrock Market in Tianfang Commandery.
• The Zhou Household set up siege weapons and attacked the Greenrock Mystic Light Formation with ballista bolts, spells, and magical artifacts.
• After three days, the bombardment broke the formation, and Cloud-Pattern Cavalry and other Zhou Household forces charged through the breach.
• Zhao Yongfeng learned that the Zhao Family had ordered him, Zhao Changhai, and Zhao Changyan to hold the market for three days before escaping.
• Zhao Yongfeng, Zhao Changhai, and Zhao Changyan activated their Minor Teleportation Talismans and vanished just before Zhou Household cultivators entered the formation chamber.

After receiving a three-day rest order following Greenstone’s fall, Lu Zhao considered the risks and opportunities of a private trading gathering organized by Hundred Arts Battalion members. He agreed to attend and prepared to trade materials and puppets.

• Lu Zhao finished his duty shift and received an order granting off-duty personnel three days of leave, with daily roll call and a travel limit.
• Chen Moyang visited Lu Zhao and invited him to a private trading gathering at the former Thousand Stars Tower that night.
• Chen Moyang explained that participants could trade supplies and finished goods, and that entry cost one low-grade Spirit Stone.
• Lu Zhao agreed to attend the gathering with Chen Moyang and planned to buy needed materials cheaply and sell his finished puppets.
• After Chen Moyang left, Lu Zhao inspected three Frost Rat Puppets and an Ironwood Guard and reviewed his Spirit Stones and trading priorities.

Lu Zhao and Chen Moyang visited a crowded trading gathering at Thousand Stars Tower, where Lu Zhao explained how mortals lived alongside cultivators in smaller markets. He traded puppets for ironwood and bought three crystals that the Puppet Pearl identified as superior-grade earth vein crystal.

• Lu Zhao and Chen Moyang paid to enter Thousand Stars Tower and found a bustling trading hall on its second floor.
• Chen Moyang questioned why mortal maidservants served tea, and Lu Zhao explained that mortals depended on markets like Greenrock Market to survive.
• Lu Zhao and Chen Moyang separated to browse the stalls for bargains.
• Lu Zhao traded two Cold-Ice Puppets for five hundred jin of ironwood.
• Lu Zhao bargained for three earth spirit crystals, then saw the Puppet Pearl identify them as first-tier superior-grade earth vein crystal.

Lu Zhao exchanged an Ironwood Guard for Icewind Stone, discovered that a bargain Earth Spirit Crystal was actually a valuable Earth Vein Crystal, and prepared to advance his puppet-making skills. The army reached the fortified Zhao Family Market District, where Lu Zhao expected the Hundred Arts Camp to be drawn into the coming assault.

• Lu Zhao traded an Ironwood Guard for ten catties of Icewind Stone at the market gathering.
• Lu Zhao used the Puppet Pearl to identify his Earth Spirit Crystal as a first-tier superior-grade Earth Vein Crystal, bought for far less than its value.
• Lu Zhao studied the Icewind Wolf Puppet's materials and abilities, then decided to improve his Ironwood Guard success rate before attempting it.
• After a month of repairs and recovery, the army resumed its march and reached the Zhao Family Market District.
• Lu Zhao learned the market district had a second-tier formation and suspected the Foundation Establishment cultivators would leave the assault to the Qi Refining forces.
• Lu Zhao sold two Ironwood Guards to fellow cultivators for 130 and 140 Spirit Stones.

Lu Zhao helped the Zhou Household sustain its siege of the Market District while cultivating and crafting Ironwood Guards, and he joined the attacks that gradually weakened the district’s protective formation. As the formation began to ripple, he bought overpriced Ice Jade Pills, anticipating that the decisive assault was near.

• Lu Zhao stayed in camp to produce Ironwood Guards while the Zhou Household launched a prolonged siege, then received orders to join the Hundred Arts Battalion’s formation attacks.
• For months, Lu Zhao took the field once every ten days and followed a strict routine of cultivation, puppet crafting, and study as the Market District’s formation resisted the bombardment.
• In the sixth month, a Mountain-Hunting Ballista bolt made the formation ripple for the first time, and Lu Zhao unleashed his improved seven-layer Thousandfold Overlapping Waves Art in the attacks.
• After another month of bombardment, ripples spread repeatedly across the formation, though the Zhou Household’s leaders kept the attack frequency unchanged.
• Lu Zhao argued with an Alchemist over the price of twelve Ice Jade Pills and bought them for fifty-five Spirit Stones, convinced that an all-out assault was approaching.

Lu Zhao broke through to the qi refining sixth layer after spending heavily on pills, then focused on improving his Puppet Art and obtaining materials for an Icewind Wolf Puppet. His plans were interrupted when Zhou Kang and the new Nine Abyss Pavilion shopkeeper, Zhou Hua, visited with an offer that would make Lu Zhao the tutor of Zhou Hua’s youngest son.

• Lu Zhao reached the qi refining sixth layer after two and a half months of intensive cultivation and checked his improved Puppet Art success rates.
• Lu Zhao traded a finished Ironwood Guard for three middle-first-stage demonic wolf carcasses and prepared to attempt an Icewind Wolf Puppet.
• Zhou Kang arrived at Lu Zhao’s stone house with Zhou Hua, the new shopkeeper of the Nine Abyss Pavilion.
• Zhou Hua offered Lu Zhao a Quasi-Second-Tier Ice Sword Talisman if Lu Zhao agreed to take Zhou Hua’s youngest son as a disciple after the battle.
• Lu Zhao asked for time to consider the offer, and Zhou Hua warned him that others were interested in buying the talisman.

Lu Zhao learned why Zhou Kang had grown old and learned that the shopkeeper was being sent to risk his life against the Market District’s formation. Zhou Kang advised him to delay handing over his Puppet Art, asked him to look after his grandson if he reached Foundation Establishment, and later joined the force assembled for an all-out assault.

• Lu Zhao questioned Zhou Kang about his sudden decline, and Zhou Kang confessed that he regretted neglecting cultivation and feared being sent against the Market District’s great formation.
• Zhou Kang warned Lu Zhao that Zhou Hua’s faction was safer than Zhou Ming’s and advised him to stall over the Puppet Art until he reached the seventh layer of Qi Refining.
• Zhou Kang asked Lu Zhao to remember his grandson and speak of him to the Zhou Household if Lu Zhao ever reached Foundation Establishment, and Lu Zhao promised to do what he could.
• A month later, the army ordered two thousand Qi Refining cultivators into ten teams to attack the formation.
• Lu Zhao advanced with the Hundred Arts Battalion and saw more than thirty Mountain-Splitting Ballistas, the Cloud-Pattern Cavalry, the Enforcement Team, the Flowing Cloud Ship, and a group of aged late-stage Qi Refining cultivators that included Zhou Kang.

The attackers battered down the Zhou Household Market’s outer barrier, only for the Zhao Family’s core defensive formation to activate and begin closing the breach. As hope faded, three cultivators at the great perfection of the ninth level of Qi Refining launched from the flying vessel.

• Mountain-Splitting Ballistas and spellcasters struck the barrier while the Cloud-Pattern Cavalry and Enforcement Team attacked its weakened edges.
• The attackers poured their remaining strength into the barrier and punched a room-sized hole through it.
• The Zhao Family’s core defensive formation activated and began sealing the breach.
• Three ninth-level Qi Refining cultivators at great perfection shot from the flying vessel toward the battlefield.