Chapter Summaries

Qin Tiexin, Nangong Yao, and Li Yun turned back from the Devil Domain Forest when they realized they could not reach their destination before nightfall. On the way back, Qin Tiexin recovered three sets of remains and brought them to the Heroic Spirit Shrine, where the old cultivator promised to register and enshrine them.

• Qin Tiexin killed four high-ranking Devil Soldiers and divided their Devil Cores with Nangong Yao and Li Yun.
• Li Yun determined that the group had gone the wrong way and could not reach their destination before dark, so they headed back.
• Qin Tiexin used [Spirit Material Sense] to find and collect three sets of remains and their surviving belongings along the return route.
• The three returned to Wind and Snow Pass before its gates closed, and Nangong Yao and Li Yun waited for Qin Tiexin near the market.
• Qin Tiexin brought the remains to the Heroic Spirit Shrine, where the old cultivator agreed to register them and try to identify the deceased.

Qin Tiexin improved his combat skills and cultivation while hunting the Devil Race with Nangong Yao and Li Yun, and learned that Edgeless formed Blood Beads mainly from Demon General-level enemies. The chapter ended with Zhou Chongshan telling him that the Sixth Squad had been ambushed, leaving two dead and one severely injured.

• Qin Tiexin developed a routine for hunting Devil Race enemies with Nangong Yao and Li Yun, improving his accuracy and learning how to counter common Devil types.
• Li Yun froze a fleeing high-ranking Flame Demon, allowing Qin Tiexin to kill it, and explained that a Thousand-Year Profound Frost Crystal might transform her Water Spirit Root into an Ice Spirit Root.
• Qin Tiexin, Nangong Yao, and Li Yun killed two Demon Generals, while Qin Tiexin established that Edgeless formed Blood Beads from Demon General Sha Qi and only rarely from Devil Soldier Blood Devils.
• Qin Tiexin advanced his Body Tempering and Qi Refining cultivation while working on a dagger made from the Wind-Rending Tiger's wing bone.
• Zhou Chongshan told Qin Tiexin that several high-ranking Demon Generals had ambushed the Sixth Squad during reconnaissance, killing two members and severely injuring another.

Qin Tiexin learned that an ambush on the Flowing Cloud Sect’s Sixth Squad had killed two disciples and left another gravely wounded. After attending the fallen disciples’ farewell ceremony, he accepted Nangong Yao’s warning that more deaths could come at Wind and Snow Pass.

• Qin Tiexin went with Zhou Chongshan to the medical hall and learned that one member of the Sixth Squad had survived with severe injuries while two others had died.
• Nangong Yao and Li Yun explained that three high-ranking Demon Generals had ambushed the Sixth Squad, killing the Formation Hall disciple and the Sword Hall captain, who sacrificed himself to help the others escape.
• Several days later, Elder Hong presided over a farewell ceremony for the two dead disciples at the Heroic Spirit Shrine, and Qin Tiexin paid his respects before their memorial tablets.
• Qin Tiexin remained at the shrine after the ceremony, where Nangong Yao warned him that more disciples might die at Wind and Snow Pass.
• Qin Tiexin nodded and returned, accepting that he needed to grow stronger.

Qin Tiexin broke through to the Qi Refining eighth layer at Wind and Snow Pass, then improved his Water Phase Steps with Li Yun’s help. He also turned the Wind-Rending Tiger wing bone into a dagger with added spirit runes and a sheath that restored its spiritual power.

• After half a year of cultivation at Wind and Snow Pass, Qin Tiexin formed an eighth Qi vortex and advanced to the Qi Refining eighth layer.
• Qin Tiexin struggled to master Water Phase Steps and asked Li Yun to help him practice by following the flow of her water spiritual power.
• After half a month of practice, Qin Tiexin learned to use Water Phase Steps in combat alongside his Wood Phase and Metal Phase Steps.
• Qin Tiexin tested the Wind-Rending Tiger wing bone and found that its spell struck powerfully but took four breaths to charge and had short range.
• Qin Tiexin carved the wing bone into a dagger, added the Gale and Profound Sundering runes, and made a sheath bearing the Return to Origin Array.

Qin Tiexin and Li Yun searched the outskirts of Wind and Snow Pass for profound frost crystals but found nothing at the marked sites. Qin Tiexin sensed a powerful ice-attributed deposit behind an artificial-looking ice cliff, leaving them poised to investigate.

• Nangong Yao became known for her far-reaching Divine Sense and took on scouting requests from other squads, leaving Qin Tiexin and Li Yun to patrol together.
• Qin Tiexin and Li Yun recalled killing a lone mid-ranking Shadow Devil, but their search for suitable profound frost crystals continued to fail.
• Li Yun checked several marked locations and found only exhausted mines and low-quality crystals.
• Qin Tiexin sensed an unusually rich source of ice-attributed spiritual material southeast of their position and led Li Yun toward it.
• Qin Tiexin and Li Yun discovered an enormous ice cliff, and Qin Tiexin sensed a pure deposit behind its surface and noticed signs that the ice had been worked by someone.

Li Yun discovered that Profound Ice Crystal Marrow lay behind a formation in the ice wall, but only her water-element spiritual power could enter it. She passed into the wall while Qin Tiexin stayed outside to guard her and wait for her return.

• Li Yun sensed Profound Ice Crystal Marrow inside the ice wall, and Qin Tiexin's saber strike failed to break through its formation.
• Li Yun used her water-element spiritual power to enter the ice, but Qin Tiexin could not make the formation respond to his own power.
• Li Yun told Qin Tiexin to hide nearby and return to Wind and Snow Pass if she did not emerge within two hours or respond to his warning.
• Li Yun entered the ice wall, and Qin Tiexin concealed their tracks, set up a concealment formation, and hid nearby to keep watch.

Li Yun discovered a cavern of exceptionally pure profound frost crystal and found a pool of profound ice crystal marrow liquid, a treasure that could transform her water Spirit Root. She surveyed the chamber and realized it had been made by someone whose jade-like skeleton rested beside a stone stele.

• Li Yun entered an intensely cold ice cavern and recognized its walls, floor, and ceiling as profound frost crystal.
• She followed the passage deeper, ignoring valuable crystal clusters as the profound frost crystal grew purer and the cold intensified.
• Li Yun reached a chamber containing a pool of unfrozen profound ice crystal marrow liquid.
• She spotted an intact skeleton seated beside a stone stele and concluded that the cavern was man-made.

Li Yun met Su Qiao’s lingering obsession in a hidden cavern, where he told her the story of Jiang Yi and offered her the Profound Ice Crystal Marrow fluid in exchange for three promises. The chapter ended with Su Qiao asking Li Yun to carry out his final wishes, including guarding Wind and Snow Pass for ten years.

• Li Yun protected herself with talismans and a jade pendant before approaching the stone stele, where Su Qiao’s lingering obsession appeared in her sea of consciousness.
• Li Yun told Su Qiao that a thousand years had passed and that Wind and Snow Pass still stood, guarded by True Lord Snow Wind.
• Su Qiao recounted how he had met Jiang Yi, who later sacrificed herself to defeat a Devil King and raise Wind and Snow Pass.
• Su Qiao explained that he had killed two lurking Ice Devils and sealed them with his Qi and Blood in the cavern, creating the pool of Profound Ice Crystal Marrow fluid.
• Su Qiao offered Li Yun the marrow fluid if she agreed to take his body to Jiang Yi’s statue, deliver the stele to Frost Peak of the Star Sect, and guard Wind and Snow Pass for ten years.

Li Yun accepted Su Qiao’s conditions and began refining the Profound Ice Crystal Marrow Liquid to develop an ice-attribute spirit root. As a powerful fragrance seeped through the ice wall, Qin Tiexin concealed the site and prepared to defend her from whatever it attracted.

• Li Yun agreed to Su Qiao’s three conditions, and he transmitted the refining method before his lingering image vanished and the pool’s restrictions fell away.
• Li Yun entered the Profound Ice Crystal Marrow Liquid and, after struggling to move her frozen spiritual power, began guiding its essence into her Dantian.
• The marrow liquid began purifying Li Yun’s water spirit root as a layer of ice-attribute power formed around it.
• Qin Tiexin smelled a potent fragrance coming from the ice cliff and realized that something inside might be releasing it.
• Qin Tiexin tried to conceal the fragrance with formation discs, then set out weapons near the ice wall and waited for an approaching threat.

Qin Tiexin ambushed and killed a pack of seven Ice-Spined Wolves drawn by the strange fragrance near the ice wall. He collected their corpses, replenished his javelins, and returned to his hiding place to wait for more creatures while Li Yun remained inside.

• Qin Tiexin used Frost Spears to cripple the lead Ice-Spined Wolf and followed with wind blades and Edgeless, killing it in a single attack.
• Qin Tiexin killed a charging wolf with a horizontal saber slash, then evaded the others and cut them down as they attacked.
• Qin Tiexin stopped the final fleeing wolf with an Armor-Piercing Spear and finished it with Edgeless.
• Qin Tiexin absorbed Sha Qi from the wolves with Edgeless, found no Blood Bead, and stored the seven corpses for their materials and meat.
• Qin Tiexin cleaned the blood, replenished his javelins, and returned behind the rock to wait for more creatures and for Li Yun.

Qin Tiexin ambushed successive groups of Ice Devils and Horned Demons drawn to the cave’s Cold Qi, but an Ice Devil General confronted him. After being wounded by its shattered ice spear, Qin counterattacked with Wind Blades and an Armor-Piercing Spear.

• Qin Tiexin killed three low-tier Ice Devils with Armor-Piercing Spears as they approached the ice wall.
• Qin Tiexin killed four high-tier Ice Devils and two Horned Demons with javelins, a Wind Blade, and Edgeless.
• An Ice Devil General at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage emerged and formed an ice spear from the surrounding snow.
• Qin Tiexin blocked the Ice Devil General’s spear, but its controlled fragments wounded his left arm and thigh.
• Qin Tiexin launched four Wind Blades and an Armor-Piercing Spear at the Ice Devil General, which dodged the blades and caught the spear.

Qin Tiexin killed the Ice Devil General by breaking its armor with the Wind-Rending Dagger and thrusting Edgeless into its chest, though he suffered a severe wound in the fight. After absorbing the creature’s Sha Qi and using its Blood Bead to recover, he prepared to defend the slope again while Li Yun remained in a critical moment inside the cave.

• The Ice Devil General attacked Qin Tiexin, whose Edgeless and short saber could not overcome its armor and defenses.
• Qin Tiexin used the Wind-Rending Dagger at close range to shatter the Ice Devil General’s chest armor, then drove Edgeless through its exposed body.
• The Ice Devil General wounded Qin Tiexin’s left arm before it died, and he bandaged the injury after absorbing its Sha Qi and swallowing its Blood Bead.
• Qin Tiexin checked his dwindling weapons and supplies, then returned to his position to guard against the next wave.
• The Cold Qi inside the cave grew more violent as Qin Tiexin continued holding the slope for Li Yun.

As Li Yun’s refinement neared its end, Qin Tiexin faced a growing crowd of enemies and a hidden human cultivator while guarding the ice wall. He exploited a trap to weaken a Foundation Establishment middle-stage Snow Baleful Intent Tiger and rushed in to finish it.

• Qin Tiexin endured successive attacks, exhausted his Wind Blades and most of his supplies, and noticed the fragrance from Li Yun’s cave fading.
• A Snow Baleful Intent Tiger and an organized Devil Race squad arrived from opposite sides and both focused on the ice wall.
• A hidden cultivator contacted Qin Tiexin by Divine Sense and offered to help drive off the enemies in exchange for most of the treasure, but Qin Tiexin refused to reveal anything.
• The Ice Devil Generals backed away as the Snow Baleful Intent Tiger charged toward the ice wall.
• Qin Tiexin’s concealed array released Chen Xi’s Spirit-Eroding Pill powder, weakening the tiger, and Qin Tiexin attacked it with three Armor-Piercing Spears before rushing forward with Edgeless.

Qin Tiexin fought the Spirit-Eroding Pill-weakened Snow Baleful Intent Tiger and was badly wounded while preparing to use Luo Ling’s Sword Gang Talisman. Li Yun emerged from the ice wall with awakened ice powers and foundation establishment late stage cultivation, freezing the tiger and turning toward someone concealed in the darkness.

• Qin Tiexin ambushed the Snow Baleful Intent Tiger with three Armor-Piercing Spears, then closed in and attacked it with Edgeless and Luo Ling’s short saber.
• The Snow Baleful Intent Tiger wounded Qin Tiexin severely, and he responded by trading injuries for heavy blows that opened a deep wound in its front leg.
• As the Snow Baleful Intent Tiger lunged for Qin Tiexin’s throat, he prepared to activate Luo Ling’s Sword Gang Talisman.
• Li Yun emerged from the ice wall and used Polar Region · Ice Seal to freeze the Snow Baleful Intent Tiger just before it reached Qin Tiexin.
• Li Yun saw Qin Tiexin’s injuries and the frozen tiger, then challenged the person hiding in the darkness not to leave.

Li Yun emerged from the ice wall and used the Ice Icicle Sword to destroy the Ice Devils, Shadow Devils, and Snow Baleful Intent Tiger, while a hidden onlooker fled. She then found the badly wounded Qin Tiexin, who thanked her for saving him, and gave him a healing pill.

• Li Yun released a wave of extreme cold that froze and shattered seven Ice Devils and three hidden Shadow Devils.
• A hidden cultivator saw Li Yun's power and fled, narrowly escaping the edge of her attack.
• Li Yun's cold also froze the Snow Baleful Intent Tiger and covered the corpses Qin Tiexin had killed with frost.
• Li Yun found Qin Tiexin badly wounded, and he thanked her for returning safely.
• Li Yun tearfully questioned why Qin Tiexin had risked himself for her, and he replied that fellow disciples should help one another.
• Li Yun gave Qin Tiexin a healing pill, which he swallowed.

Li Yun gave Qin Tiexin half of a mysterious lotus, and its spiritual power added an ice attribute to his water spirit root. As night fell, she guided him through the hidden ice wall into the cave and covered their tracks outside.

• Qin Tiexin recovered enough to stand after taking the pill Li Yun had given him.
• Li Yun gave Qin Tiexin half a snowy-white lotus, which melted in his mouth and released cold spiritual power.
• Qin Tiexin circulated the Primordial Unity Instruction, and the lotus power gave his water spirit root an ice-attribute variation while his other spirit roots remained unaffected.
• Qin Tiexin formed a tiny ice crystal at his fingertip and asked Li Yun what the lotus was.
• Li Yun warned Qin Tiexin that night had fallen and showed him how to use the lotus's ice power to pass through the cave's ice wall.
• Li Yun followed Qin Tiexin inside and covered the blood, footprints, and broken javelin fragments with snow.

Li Yun explained how Senior Su Qiao’s profound ice crystal marrow liquid and Ice Marrow Jade Lotus transformed her spirit root and physique, while Qin Tiexin gained only an ice trait on his existing five spirit roots. After Qin Tiexin recovered and mined the cavern’s profound frost crystals, he and Li Yun cultivated while waiting for dawn.

• Li Yun told Qin Tiexin that the marrow liquid had changed her water spirit root into an ice-attribute earth spirit root and advanced her cultivation to Foundation Establishment late stage.
• Li Yun explained that half of the Ice Marrow Jade Lotus had given her a frost physique, then asked Qin Tiexin whether his spirit roots had changed.
• Qin Tiexin discovered that he still had five spirit roots, but his water spirit root had gained an ice-attribute trait, and he reassured Li Yun that he was satisfied.
• Li Yun offered Qin Tiexin the cavern’s profound frost crystals and stood guard while he recovered from his injuries.
• Qin Tiexin mined the cavern’s profound frost crystals, then joined Li Yun in cultivating as they waited for dawn.

After returning to Wind and Snow Pass, Qin Tiexin and Li Yun resumed their separate paths: Li Yun honored True Lord Snow Wind with the remains she had carried, while Qin Tiexin spent a month cultivating and tempering his body. The chapter ended with the Golden Sun Sect arriving at the pass as Qin Tiexin forged a new Frost Spear.

• Qin Tiexin and Li Yun returned to Wind and Snow Pass, where Nangong Yao scolded them for staying out overnight and discovered that Li Yun had reached the foundation establishment late stage.
• Li Yun went to the statue of True Lord Snow Wind, placed a pristine white skeleton beside its pedestal, and watched it dissolve into motes that merged with the ice.
• Qin Tiexin returned to C Zone Number Seven and sorted through the devil cores, Demon Beast materials, Blood Beads, and profound frost crystal he had brought back.
• Qin Tiexin spent the next month tempering his body at the artifact-refining workshop, cultivating at night, and practicing long-range spear throws during occasional trips outside the pass.
• Nangong Yao regularly visited Qin Tiexin, while Li Yun secluded herself and left healing pills at his door every ten days.
• Qin Tiexin began forging a new Frost Spear as the Golden Sun Sect arrived at Wind and Snow Pass.

Qin Tiexin reunited with Duan Xuan, who told him that the Body Refining Master Conference would be held at Wind and Snow Pass and invited him to form an alliance. After agreeing to participate with her, Qin Tiexin began preparing to advance his body tempering before the conference.

• Qin Tiexin recognized Duan Xuan from the Golden Sun Sect when she came to find him in Zone C.
• Duan Xuan told Qin Tiexin that the Body Refining Master Conference would take place at Wind and Snow Pass in a month and a half, with a secret realm assessment among its events.
• Qin Tiexin learned that cultivators of any sect or level could sign up, and agreed to have Duan Xuan register him.
• Duan Xuan proposed an alliance because she expected the conference at Wind and Snow Pass to focus on combat, and Qin Tiexin agreed.
• Duan Xuan gave Qin Tiexin a jade slip with information about past and upcoming conferences, then left to help her sect settle in.
• Qin Tiexin laid out twelve refined blood pills and eight blood beads and began cultivating to complete his ninth-layer marrow replacement.

Qin Tiexin prepared for the Body Refining Master Conference by refining Blood Beads and pills, hunting Demon Generals, and practicing with Duan Xuan. Five days before the conference, he completed Marrow Replacement and reached Body Tempering Ninth Layer, Marrow Replacement Great Accomplishment.

• Qin Tiexin refined Blood Beads and Refined Blood Pills while meeting his repair quota and selling materials and devil cores for more resources.
• Qin Tiexin hunted lone Demon Generals beyond the pass and used a profound frost crystal javelin to kill a Horned Demon General.
• Duan Xuan joined Qin Tiexin on hunts, and the two developed a coordinated fighting style against Demon Generals.
• Qin Tiexin consumed his final Blood Bead and completed Marrow Replacement, reaching Body Tempering Ninth Layer, Marrow Replacement Great Accomplishment.