Chapter Summaries

After surviving a deadly fight with two Zheng Household cultivators, Lu Zhao recovered and sought the Zhou Household’s protection. Shopkeeper Zhou reassured him that the Zheng Household was too troubled to pursue him, while revealing its precarious position after Zheng Yun’s death.

• Lu Zhao healed in a hidden cave, searched the dead cultivators’ Storage Bags, and found Zheng Ping’s token and a quasi-second-tier Ice Dragon Talisman.
• Lu Zhao returned to Green Vine Ravine, rested, and decided to tell Shopkeeper Zhou about killing two members of the Zheng Household.
• Lu Zhao showed Shopkeeper Zhou Zheng Ping’s token and asked the Zhou Household to negotiate on his behalf.
• Shopkeeper Zhou told Lu Zhao that the Zheng Household would not have the strength to pursue him in Changfeng Commandery and agreed to his request to make deliveries only once every three months.
• After Lu Zhao left, Shopkeeper Zhou reflected on Zheng Yun’s failed Foundation Establishment attempt, the Zheng Household’s decline, and the Chu Household.

After returning safely to Green Vine Ravine, Lu Zhao focused on patrols, puppet crafting, and cultivation. He entered seclusion and broke through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

• Lu Zhao returned to Green Vine Ravine after the shopkeeper warned him that the Zheng Household was in danger of decline.
• Lu Zhao fought off Ink-Scaled Snakes on patrol using Ice Cones and the Frost Rat Puppet.
• Lu Zhao refined his puppet-making skills and prepared materials for an Ironwood Guard.
• Lu Zhao asked Zhou Qixing and Chen Moyang to cover his patrol duties while he entered three days of seclusion.
• Lu Zhao swallowed an Ice Jade Pill and a Meridian-Guarding Pill, broke through the barrier in his Dantian, and reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

Lu Zhao delivered his improved beast puppets, bought ironwood and Black Iron, and began crafting an Ironwood Guard. After six failures, his seventh attempt nearly activated before a flaw in the wood marrow broke under the formation patterns.

• Lu Zhao delivered three Frost Rat Puppets and a Flowing Cloud Sparrow to the Nine Abyss Pavilion and received sixty-one Spirit Stones.
• Lu Zhao bought five hundred jin of ironwood and a hundred jin of Black Iron from the shopkeeper, then obtained another eight hundred jin of ironwood from Zhao Laoguai.
• Lu Zhao returned to Green Vine Ravine and began crafting an Ironwood Guard, refining Black Iron and carving formation patterns into ironwood heartwood.
• Lu Zhao's first six attempts failed because of flaws in the wood, problems with the joints, formation clashes, or rejection of the patterns.
• Lu Zhao's seventh Ironwood Guard began to activate, but a tiny natural flaw in the wood marrow cracked under the sustained pressure, leaving the attempt unsuccessful.

Lu Zhao finally crafted a working Ironwood Guard after many failures, then spent several months improving his Puppet Art and cultivation. At the Zhou Household Market, Zhou Ming approached him and asked what he knew about the household’s main lineage and collateral branches.

• Lu Zhao drank Frostpine Mist to restore his divine sense and decided to keep attempting Ironwood Guards despite the expense.
• After two more failures, Lu Zhao studied the Puppet Core techniques and successfully crafted and activated an Ironwood Guard, raising his success rate to ten percent.
• Over several months, Lu Zhao used up his remaining Ironwood Guard materials, raised his success rate to thirteen percent, and improved his other puppet crafts while advancing in cultivation.
• After reporting to the Retainer Pavilion and collecting his stipend, Lu Zhao met Zhou Ming, who asked about his knowledge of the Zhou Household’s main lineage and collateral branches.

Zhou Ming offered Lu Zhao a way to join the Zhou Household through marriage while retaining his surname, prompting Lu Zhao to weigh the offer’s hidden costs. After Lu Zhao reported the proposal to Shopkeeper Zhou and sold him several magical artifacts, the shopkeeper ordered an investigation into who had approached him.

• Zhou Ming explained the Zhou Household’s collateral branches and offered Lu Zhao core-collateral treatment if he married a Zhou woman, while his children joined the household.
• Lu Zhao suspected the proposal was an attempt to bind his valuable puppet-making skills to the Zhou Household and resolved to focus on improving his craft and cultivation.
• Lu Zhao completed a transaction at the Nine Abyss Pavilion and asked Shopkeeper Zhou about joining the Zhou Household without changing his surname.
• Shopkeeper Zhou reacted grimly when Lu Zhao mentioned the proposal and thanked him for the warning.
• Lu Zhao sold Shopkeeper Zhou four magical artifacts for a favorable price, and Shopkeeper Zhou ordered his trusted aide to investigate who in the Zhou Household had met with Lu Zhao.

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.