Chapter Summaries

Qin Tiexin used his special token to search the Curios Pavilion and found the Cauldron Eating Art, an ancient method that helped him absorb the energy in food to strengthen his body. After testing it, he planned three months of secluded cultivation to advance his cultivation, body refining, artifact crafting, and martial techniques.

• Luo Ling gave Qin Tiexin a special Curios Pavilion token and advised him to seek a body refining method formula.
• Qin Tiexin entered the Curios Pavilion and, guided by his ring and the Illustrated Catalog of Ten Thousand Artifacts, chose an ancient bone fragment.
• The Illustrated Catalog translated the bone fragment as the Cauldron Eating Art, an auxiliary method for extracting energy from food and integrating it into the body.
• Qin Tiexin read the complete method and tested it on Ironback Wolf meat, confirming that it improved his absorption of Qi and blood.
• Qin Tiexin created a detailed three-month cultivation schedule covering Qi refining, body refining, artifact crafting, and martial techniques.

Qin Tiexin followed a strict cultivation routine for a month, improving his spear throwing, artifact crafting, Qi and Blood, and sparring with Nangong Yao. Late one night, his Five Phases Conversion Pearl warmed and his Primordial Qi Vortices accelerated, signaling that he was ready to break through.

• Qin Tiexin used the complete Primordial Unity Instruction and Five Phases Conversion Pearl to cultivate his five spiritual powers, then forged and tested a Lower-Grade Law Artifact Armor-Piercing Spear.
• Qin Tiexin practiced throwing the spear, improved his aim with Divine Sense, and prepared Qi and Blood soup with a new cauldron to strengthen his body.
• Qin Tiexin practiced Spirit Rune Arrays and bone artifacts, then sparred with Nangong Yao and lasted longer against her Cloud Gauze Handkerchiefs.
• Over the next month, Qin Tiexin stabilized his Qi Refining Fifth Layer, improved his spear and artifact skills, and advanced his Cauldron Eating Art and Body Tempering.
• Late one night, Qin Tiexin felt his Dantian shudder as the Five Phases Conversion Pearl warmed and his Primordial Qi Vortices spun faster, so he stopped practicing and prepared to break through.

Qin Tiexin broke through to the Qi Refining sixth layer and advanced his spear practice, body tempering, and artifact-refining skills. As the chapter ended, Nangong Yao delivered a meal and told him to prepare for an assessment next month, where he would have to forge a Middle-Grade Law Artifact.

• Qin Tiexin used pills, Spirit Stones, and the Five Phases Conversion Pearl to break through to the Qi Refining sixth layer, then immediately resumed his cultivation schedule.
• Qin Tiexin forged a Parent-Child Spear that split into three projectiles and learned to steer a thrown spear along a slight arc with his Divine Sense.
• Qin Tiexin continued the Cauldron Eating Art, Spirit Rune practice, and sparring with Nangong Yao, while his rapid progress improved his cultivation and combat skills.
• Qin Tiexin ran out of Demon Beast meat and worried that the cost of sustaining the Cauldron Eating Art would halt his body-tempering progress.
• Nangong Yao delivered Spirit Cuisine from their master and told Qin Tiexin to attend an artifact-refining assessment at the Heart-Forging Hall next month.
• Qin Tiexin ate the nourishing meal and began planning how to prepare for the assessment, which required forging a Middle-Grade Law Artifact with at least three Spirit Runes forming an array.

Qin Tiexin advanced to the Body Tempering eighth layer and made progress in spear techniques, javelin forging, and Spirit Rune Arrays during three months of training. At Heart-Forging Hall, Luo Ling began his assessment by requiring him to forge a Middle-Grade Law Artifact sword from fire flame iron, using at least three Spirit Runes in an array and avoiding his familiar heavy-sword design.

• Qin Tiexin bought five hundred jin of Demon Beast meat and decided he would need to take missions to support his cultivation.
• Qin Tiexin broke through to the Body Tempering eighth layer, achieved minor accomplishment in Blood Strengthening, and raised his strength to nine thousand jin.
• Qin Tiexin learned to guide the second level of the Falling Star Spear around obstacles and forged thirty specialized javelins.
• Qin Tiexin improved his Spirit Rune Array work and began successfully inscribing gathering spirit runes on discarded wolf bones.
• After three months, Qin Tiexin went to Heart-Forging Hall, where Luo Ling assessed his progress and ordered him to forge a Middle-Grade Law Artifact sword from fire flame iron with an array of at least three Spirit Runes.

Qin Tiexin forged the Flame Spirit Sword, a middle-grade law artifact with a stable array of three spirit runes, and Luo Ling and Wu Zhen approved his work. Luo Ling then told him she would be leaving for a while, leaving Qin Tiexin to ask where she was going.

• Qin Tiexin chose to forge a five-chi longsword called the Flame Spirit Sword from equal portions of fire flame iron and refined steel.
• Qin Tiexin forged the sword blank and inscribed a connected array of blazing sun, sharpness, and fire-gathering runes before quenching and testing it.
• Luo Ling examined the sword and declared it a middle-grade law artifact, while Wu Zhen praised Qin Tiexin's technique and estimated it could sell for at least a hundred Spirit Stones.
• Luo Ling told Qin Tiexin that she had nothing particular left to guide him on and that she would be leaving for a while.
• Qin Tiexin asked Luo Ling where she was going.

Luo Ling left for the Divine Sword Sect’s market to seek a treasure that could restore Wu Zhen’s damaged foundation and extend his life. After seeing her off, Qin Tiexin returned to the empty Heart-Forging Hall and resolved to grow stronger through his own efforts.

• Luo Ling told Qin Tiexin that Wu Zhen’s old injuries and depleted lifespan were worsening, and that she planned to search the Divine Sword Sect’s market for help.
• Luo Ling instructed Qin Tiexin to learn artifact refining from Wu Zhen, rely on Nangong Yao for daily matters, and take weapon-forging missions while she was away.
• Qin Tiexin and Nangong Yao saw Luo Ling off at the mountain gate, where she exchanged a silent farewell with Wu Zhen before flying away.
• Nangong Yao told Qin Tiexin that Luo Ling had already searched for ways to extend Wu Zhen’s life, including visiting Withering and Flourishing Valley for Life-Giving Grass.
• Qin Tiexin found the Heart-Forging Hall empty and resolved to build his strength through cultivation and artifact refining.

Qin Tiexin claimed the catalog’s Spirit Rune Weakness Insight reward and used it to examine his Law Artifacts. The catalog revealed a more difficult third-stage mission, and he planned to earn resources and improve his skills before repairing Edgeless.

• Qin Tiexin claimed Spirit Rune Weakness Insight after completing the first two objectives and refining a Middle-Grade Law Artifact.
• Qin Tiexin found three flaws in the Flame Spirit Sword, while Luo Ling’s short saber showed no weaknesses.
• Qin Tiexin discovered several flaws in Edgeless’s spirit rune network and decided to repair or reinscribe it.
• Qin Tiexin read the third-stage mission, which required identifying treasure materials, collecting ancient objects, and refining a Supreme-Grade Law Artifact.
• Qin Tiexin recognized that the catalog had reacted to ancient objects and wondered about the mysterious ring left by Qin Feng.
• Qin Tiexin planned to take a forging mission, improve his spirit rune array success rate, and prepare to repair Edgeless.

Qin Tiexin accepted a forging mission and independently crafted a Middle-Grade Law Artifact earth element heavy shield, earning payment and Wei Feng’s approval. After completing several more commissions and building up Spirit Stones and Merit Points, he began practicing the Five Phases Gang Steps.

• Qin Tiexin accepted mission D-72 to forge an earth element heavy shield for Wei Feng and bought the materials himself.
• Qin Tiexin forged the shield, inscribing firmness, rebound, and thick earth spirit runes into it.
• Wei Feng tested the shield, approved its weight and rebound effect, and paid Qin Tiexin one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones and fifty Merit Points.
• Qin Tiexin completed several more Middle-Grade Law Artifact commissions over the next month, saving over four hundred Spirit Stones and more than two hundred Merit Points.
• Qin Tiexin took out the Jade Slip containing the Five Phases Gang Steps and began practicing it.

Qin Tiexin studied Five Phases Gang Steps and practiced Wood Phase Steps and Metal Phase Steps, improving his endurance and short-range bursts. After half a month of training, he received a message from Nangong Yao inviting him to inspect bone materials brought back from a Demon Beast secret realm.

• Qin Tiexin read the jade slip describing five types of footwork suited to the five phases and decided to begin with Wood Phase Steps.
• Qin Tiexin practiced Wood Phase Steps for half a month until he could run long distances while using far less spiritual power.
• Qin Tiexin adapted Metal Phase Steps with techniques from Inch Steps · Blood Vortex Thrust so he could control his explosive bursts and turns.
• Qin Tiexin practiced weaving between obstacles with Metal Phase Steps and received a message from Nangong Yao about fine bone materials from a Demon Beast secret realm.

Qin Tiexin bought three Foundation Establishment Demon Beast spirit bones from Senior Sister Zhang and used Edgeless to absorb their Sha Qi. He discovered that Sha Qi removed from the bones also repaired Edgeless, though he would need at least five more such spirit bones to fix the remaining damage.

• Senior Sister Zhang showed Qin Tiexin three spirit bones carrying innate abilities and offered them for three hundred Spirit Stones.
• Qin Tiexin bought the bones and learned that Senior Sister Zhang had already sold the Demon Beast meat he wanted for his Cauldron Eating Art.
• Qin Tiexin told Nangong Yao that his rune success rate had reached around seventy percent and that he intended to refine a real bone artifact.
• Back at his cave abode, Qin Tiexin placed the spirit bones on Edgeless and watched the saber absorb their Sha Qi.
• Qin Tiexin discovered that Edgeless's Sha Qi absorption repaired its damage, while the cleansed bones retained their Demon Beast spiritual power.
• Qin Tiexin found that Edgeless still needed at least five more comparable spirit bones for its injuries to be fully repaired.

Qin Tiexin reforged his wolf-fang bracelet with Gathering Spirit Runes, Wind Spirit Silk, and a Spirit-Conducting Rune, improving its power, control, and recovery time. After testing it successfully, he decided to take a hunting mission and test himself in real combat.

• Qin Tiexin examined the cracked wolf fangs and decided to reforge them rather than let them break from continued use.
• He inscribed Gathering Spirit Runes on twelve supporting wolf bones and carefully added them to the four wolf fangs without damaging their innate Wind Blade structures.
• Qin Tiexin linked all sixteen bone pieces with Wind Spirit Silk and completed a continuous Spirit-Conducting Rune across the bracelet.
• He tested the reforged bracelet, guiding its Wind Blades with Divine Sense and confirming that it could fire six blades and fully recover in four hours.
• Qin Tiexin judged the bracelet's results better than expected and decided to take a hunting mission to test himself in real combat.

Qin Tiexin accepted a mission to hunt a Demon Beast in Mystic Rock Valley and arrived at Maple Creek Village, where it had killed seventeen people. After investigating the victims and their surroundings, he discovered faint black Sha Qi shrouding every villager.

• Qin Tiexin accepted the Mystic Rock Valley mission, which offered fifty Merit Points, and received a map and a ten-day deadline.
• Qin Tiexin packed his weapons and supplies, then used Wood Phase Steps to travel three hundred li to Maple Creek Village.
• Qin Tiexin questioned the village head and learned that a silent shadow had been abducting villagers at night and killing them by draining their blood.
• Qin Tiexin examined three bodies and found cold black Sha Qi around their wounds, along with sharp-toed footprints in the village temple.
• Qin Tiexin noticed that faint black Sha Qi also shrouded every villager as evening fell.

Qin Tiexin investigated the strange affliction in the village and discovered a Sha Qi-infused Shadow Fox draining an old man's vital essence. He continued tracking it after it left the old man's house.

• Qin Tiexin declined the village chief's offer of lodgings and observed that the remaining villagers were sluggish and vacant-eyed.
• Qin Tiexin sensed cold, viscous Sha Qi spreading from the mountain woods and decided to keep watch overnight.
• Qin Tiexin concealed himself in a tree and spotted a wolf-sized Shadow Fox with blood-red eyes entering the village.
• Qin Tiexin followed the Shadow Fox to a dilapidated house, where it released Sha Qi into a sleeping old man and drained his vital essence.
• The Shadow Fox left the house, and Qin Tiexin continued following it without attacking.

Qin Tiexin tracked the Shadow Fox from a village to a remote cave, where it fed stolen vital essence to a strange, wounded, nonhuman being. After discovering human remains and observing the creature’s unstable power, Qin Tiexin prepared to retreat, but it spotted him and challenged him to come forward.

• The Shadow Fox fed on villagers’ vital essence until Qin Tiexin interrupted its attack on a man with a Wind Blade, then chased it toward the northern forest.
• Qin Tiexin followed the Shadow Fox to a hidden cave, where it passed the stolen vital essence to a powerful presence behind a pile of rocks.
• Qin Tiexin entered the cave under concealment and found human remains scattered across the floor.
• Qin Tiexin saw a huge, horned, blue-green being whose back was badly injured and whose strength fluctuated as it absorbed vital essence.
• Qin Tiexin decided to retreat and report the creature, but it opened its eyes, addressed him, and stirred the Shadow Fox and the cave’s Sha Qi.

Qin Tiexin fled from a towering, bloodthirsty man who chased him out of a cave and attacked him in the canyon. The man proved immune to the Spirit-Eroding Pill, leaving Qin Tiexin badly outmatched as their battle began.

• Qin Tiexin escaped through a narrow crevice after the towering man drained a Shadow Fox and pursued him.
• The man’s Qi blade struck Edgeless, but the saber absorbed the attack’s Sha Qi as Qin Tiexin reached the canyon.
• Qin Tiexin concealed a Spirit-Eroding Pill at the cave entrance, took an antidote, and prepared to fight the man.
• The man charged Qin Tiexin, and their weapons collided with enough force to drive Qin Tiexin back several steps and split his hands.
• Qin Tiexin realized the Spirit-Eroding Pill had not weakened the man, who remained steady and powerful.

Qin Tiexin wounded the man with his footwork and short saber, draining the Qi and blood that empowered him. The man healed himself with Blood Baleful Intent and sprouted fleshy wings, then launched a renewed attack from the air.

• The man charged Qin Tiexin again, but Qin met his punch with Mountain Collapse Stance, dislocating the man's right arm while injuring his own fist.
• The man reset his arm and powered up, so Qin abandoned Edgeless, used wind blades to wound him, and attacked with his short saber and Inch Step footwork.
• Qin repeatedly cut the man and evaded his attacks, causing the man's blood loss to weaken his strength and cultivation.
• The man deliberately took a saber wound to retreat, then summoned Blood Baleful Intent to heal his injuries at the cost of his cultivation dropping to the peak of Qi Refining.
• The man's Blood Baleful Intent swallowed Qin's last two wind blades, and two fleshy wings burst from his back as he stabilized his power.
• The man hovered above the ground and flew toward Qin in a surge of red-and-black Blood Baleful Intent.

Qin Tiexin struggled against the winged man’s speed and Blood Sha Qi until he took up Edgeless and discovered it could devour Blood Baleful Intent. The chapter ended with Qin Tiexin severing the man’s right arm and wing, leaving him wounded and stunned on the ground.

• The winged man smashed Qin Tiexin’s Mysterious Earth Sword with his horn and sent him crashing into a rock wall.
• The man attacked Qin Tiexin with Blood Sha Qi, forcing him to dodge and fight while the Qi invaded his wounds.
• Qin Tiexin endured the man’s assault, then seized Edgeless and raised it against his charging opponent.
• Qin Tiexin’s Edgeless absorbed the man’s Blood Baleful Intent barrier as he struck with the Heavy Mountain Saber Technique’s Suppress the Mountain form.
• The man dodged a fatal blow to his head, but Qin Tiexin severed his right arm and newly grown right wing.

Qin Tiexin used Edgeless to drain the blood baleful intent origin from his winged opponent, forcing him to burn his remaining essence blood to escape. As the man fled north and plotted to recover by draining a town, Qin Tiexin launched a specially made javelin at his back.

• Qin Tiexin relentlessly pressured the wounded man with Edgeless, steadily weakening his blood Sha Qi and supernatural abilities.
• The man burned his remaining blood baleful intent origin and essence blood to propel himself away at extreme speed.
• Qin Tiexin realized he could not catch the fleeing man on foot and drew a blue-white-tipped javelin from his pouch.
• The fleeing man plotted to drain a town, regain his strength, and take Edgeless from Qin Tiexin.
• Qin Tiexin launched the javelin, and the man sensed the mortal danger as it sped toward his back.

Qin Tiexin killed the fleeing winged enemy with three specialized spears, then absorbed its remaining blood sha Qi with Edgeless and collected the corpse for the Flowing Cloud Sect to identify. He left the canyon intent on returning to the sect, still uncertain what the creature was.

• Qin Tiexin threw a Frost Spear that grazed the fleeing man's ribs and froze the ground, prompting the man to change direction erratically.
• Qin Tiexin guided a second Frost Spear with divine sense, striking the man's remaining wing joint and freezing half his body.
• Qin Tiexin used his last spiritual power to throw a Bursting Spear, which pierced the man's barrier and destroyed him in an explosion.
• Qin Tiexin rushed to the remains, confirmed the man's death, and let Edgeless absorb the remaining blood sha Qi and repair itself.
• Edgeless expelled a strange bead, which Qin Tiexin stored before packing the creature's remains to take back to the Flowing Cloud Sect.

Qin Tiexin returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect after eliminating the Shadow Fox and reported the remains of the strange man he killed. True Person Jianyun identified the creature as a wounded Blood Devil, ordered secrecy, and flew north to investigate.

• Qin Tiexin collected the man's remains, the Shadow Fox's corpse, and the leftover Spirit-Eroding Pill before returning to Maple Creek Village.
• Qin Tiexin told the villagers the Shadow Fox was dead and gave them diluted medicinal water to ease the harm it had caused.
• Qin Tiexin returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect and asked Elder Lü to hear an urgent report in private.
• Elder Lü recognized the remains as belonging to the Devil Race and summoned True Person Jianyun.
• Qin Tiexin described the battle, withholding Edgeless's role in weakening his opponent, and True Person Jianyun identified the creature as a wounded Blood Devil.
• True Person Jianyun ordered Qin Tiexin and Elder Lü to keep the matter secret, then flew north on Startling Cloud.