Chapter Summaries

Yuanshun and the other Golden Summit Temple infiltrators tried to kill Mingjue in the spirit-nullifying gorge, but their attacks weakened before reaching Qin Tiexin. When their Law Techniques failed, they launched physical attacks from above, then abruptly stopped as Qin Tiexin spotted a mass of Law Artifacts in the air.

• Yuanshun explained that his group had found the cliff cave and set an ambush for Mingjue, whom they recognized among Qin Tiexin's group.
• The formation master fired a flaming arrow at Qin Tiexin, but the spirit-nullifying zone drained its power before it reached him.
• The monks tested several Law Techniques and a Law Artifact, but each attack weakened or dissipated in the zone.
• Qin Tiexin sheltered beneath the cliff and dodged the ice spears and metal arrows that retained some force.
• The monks stopped attacking, and Qin Tiexin saw reflections from numerous Law Artifacts filling the air.

Qin Tiexin survived the monks’ barrage of damaged Law Artifacts by deflecting them with his staff, then used a broken spear to strike back at the monks in the cave. He began hurling weapons up toward the entrance, forcing Yuanshun and the others to scramble for cover.

• The six monks of Golden Summit Temple sent damaged Law Artifacts down at Qin Tiexin, who knocked them aside with his refined iron staff.
• As the barrage wore him down and debris restricted his footwork, Qin Tiexin swallowed a Bone-Mending and Flesh-Growing Pill and kept fighting.
• Qin Tiexin recognized a broken spear’s familiar length and weight, then threw it at a monk leaning out of the cave entrance.
• The broken spear struck the monk’s chest and hurled him into the cave wall, prompting Yuanshun to warn the others that Qin Tiexin was fighting back.
• Qin Tiexin threw more weapons toward the cave as the six monks took cover, and he raised a hatchet to throw next.

Qin Tiexin kept returning the Law Artifacts thrown at him, forcing Yuanshun and the other monks to stay behind their shields. Yuanshun used Heart-Burning Powder against him, and the chapter ended as the broken bottle released its gas above Qin Tiexin.

• Qin Tiexin recalled the Falling Star Spear technique and found he could throw long weapons accurately enough to pressure the monks, though his aim with short weapons remained poor.
• Yuanshun ordered the monks to keep their shields raised after Qin Tiexin's returning weapons nearly struck the formation master.
• Yuanshun took out Heart-Burning Powder, explaining that the sinister drug was especially dangerous to Buddhist cultivators.
• Yuanshun and the monks protected themselves from the powder while the formation master raised an airflow barrier.
• Yuanshun threw the bottle toward Qin Tiexin and shattered it with a Metal Arrow Technique, releasing pink mist that quickly became colorless gas.

Qin Tiexin absorbed the Heart-Burning Powder with the pink bird mark on his chest, then pretended to succumb so Yuanshun would send monks down to check on him. When the monks approached, Qin Tiexin sprang up and raced for the rope leading to the cave.

• Qin Tiexin's bird mark devoured the Heart-Burning Powder, leaving him unaffected, and he decided to feign collapse.
• Qin Tiexin dropped his sword and acted as though the powder had incapacitated him while Yuanshun watched from the cave.
• Yuanshun sent Yuan'an and Yuanzhen down with antidote pills to check Qin Tiexin and kill him if he was alive.
• Yuan'an and Yuanzhen descended into the spirit-nullifying zone and approached Qin Tiexin's motionless body with their monastic sabers.
• As one monk reached to turn him over, Qin Tiexin sprang up and shot between them toward the hanging rope.

Qin Tiexin climbed toward the cave after Yuanshun cut the rope, using embedded weapons to reach the entrance and awakening his Spiritual Qi along the way. He broke into the cave and faced Yuanshun and two monks, who attacked him from three sides.

• Qin Tiexin rushed up the rope, but Yuanshun cut its anchor and sent him falling.
• Qin Tiexin caught a curved blade and a short axe embedded in the cliff, then grabbed the cave entrance as Spiritual Qi entered his meridians and healed his wounds.
• Qin Tiexin endured Yuanshun’s staff strike, vaulted into the cave, and knocked Yuanshun and two monks to the ground.
• Yuanshun ordered the others to kill Qin Tiexin, and the three monks attacked him with a saber and two staffs.

Qin Tiexin fought Yuanshun and the other monks in the narrow cave, enduring their attacks while struggling to replenish his barrier. When Yuanshun offered Spirit Stones to negotiate, Qin Tiexin realized he could access his storage ring and brought out Edgeless, leaving the fight poised to change.

• Qin Tiexin held off the monks’ attacks with his barrier and powerful fists, while Yuanshun’s staff struck through his defenses with hidden force.
• Qin Tiexin cracked the shield-bearing monk’s artifact shield and blasted him into the cave wall, but Yuanshun struck Qin Tiexin from behind.
• The monks and Qin Tiexin fought to a stalemate as his barrier weakened and the monks’ weapons took damage.
• Yuanshun offered thirty thousand, then fifty thousand Spirit Stones to end the fight, pointing out that Qin Tiexin had no weapon.
• Qin Tiexin withdrew his barrier, opened his storage ring, and summoned the massive black saber Edgeless onto the cave floor.

Qin Tiexin revealed Edgeless and overwhelmed Yuanshun’s monks, killing two and leaving a third badly injured. Yuanshun took a Blood Essence Pill and charged Qin Tiexin with his empowered staff.

• Qin Tiexin drew Edgeless and charged the monks after Yuanshun realized the intelligence about him might be wrong.
• Qin Tiexin split the shield-bearing monk’s tower shield and cleaved him in two with a single strike.
• Qin Tiexin swept his saber through the other attackers, killing the staff-bearing monk and injuring the saber-bearing monk.
• Yuanshun swallowed a Blood Essence Pill, unleashed the Vajra Demon-Subduing Staff Technique, and lunged at Qin Tiexin.

Qin Tiexin held off Yuanshun’s relentless staff and talisman attacks in the cave, then used Yuanshun’s momentum to knock him to the edge of the entrance. Yuanshun teetered over the drop as Qin Tiexin charged at him with Edgeless aimed at his heart.

• Yuanshun unleashed rapid staff strikes and talismans, but Qin Tiexin blocked or broke through each attack with Edgeless.
• Qin Tiexin kept his footing and steady rhythm as Yuanshun’s spiritual power waned and he unknowingly retreated toward the cave entrance.
• Qin Tiexin let Yuanshun’s horizontal staff strike pass, causing Yuanshun to stumble forward and lose his balance.
• Qin Tiexin smashed Yuanshun’s chest with Edgeless’s flat, breaking the Glazed Glass Body-Protecting Seal and sending him flying backward.
• Yuanshun stopped himself with his staff at the cave’s edge, but Qin Tiexin charged at him with the blade aimed at his heart.

Qin Tiexin killed Yuanshun with Shatter the Mountain after enduring his desperate counterattack, then broke free of a formation master’s vines and stopped him from escaping. The formation master lay helpless before Qin Tiexin after Qin punched the spiritual power from his Dantian.

• Qin Tiexin drove Shatter the Mountain through Yuanshun’s golden barrier and killed him despite Yuanshun’s pleas and threats.
• Qin Tiexin collapsed from exhaustion, but dark green vines rose from the cave floor and tried to drag him toward the entrance.
• Qin Tiexin used his physical strength to snap the vines and broke free of the formation master’s attack.
• The formation master ran toward the cave’s exit, but Qin Tiexin struck his calf with a broken spear and made him fall.
• Qin Tiexin punched the formation master in the Dantian, dispersing the spiritual power left in his body.

Qin Tiexin killed Yuanding after learning that Golden Summit Temple had infiltrated Withering and Flourishing Temple and was hunting Mingjue while searching for a Pure Land Chan Sect relic. He and Lin Chuan regrouped in the valley and left the bodies and scattered weapons behind to return later.

• Qin Tiexin interrogated Yuanding, who revealed Golden Summit Temple's infiltration, its mission to find a sacred relic, and its connection to Zhaoming Temple's destruction and great bell.
• Qin Tiexin killed Yuanding, while Lin Chuan killed the two monks remaining in the valley.
• Qin Tiexin collected the fallen monks' valuables and Law Artifact wreckage, concealed Edgeless, and burned the corpses with Vajra Flame.
• Qin Tiexin used broken weapons along the cliff to descend safely into the valley and met Lin Chuan.
• Qin Tiexin took Yuanshun's storage ring and monk's staff, then left with Lin Chuan to return later for the corpses and scattered weapons.

Lin Chuan and Qin Tiexin returned from the gorge after defeating the ambushers, who Qin Tiexin revealed were from Withering and Flourishing Temple. The group recovered, shared the spoils according to their usual rules, and examined the damaged artifacts before preparing to leave.

• Du Heng, Liu Suifeng, and Xu Ying welcomed Lin Chuan and Qin Tiexin back from the gorge and treated their injuries.
• Qin Tiexin told the group that Withering and Flourishing Temple had helped destroy Zhaoming Temple and had ambushed them to kill him.
• Lin Chuan and Du Heng said the group had faced a common enemy, and Xu Ying provided Qin Tiexin with supplies to treat his wounds.
• Qin Tiexin offered the spoils to Xu Ying, but Lin Chuan explained that individually obtained loot belonged to the person who claimed it and jointly obtained loot would be split equally.
• Du Heng examined Yuanshun's monk's staff, Liu Suifeng took formation plate fragments, and Qin Tiexin stored the remaining artifact wreckage for salvage.

Lin Chuan’s group crossed the spirit-barren canyon and continued northeast through the ancient battlefield, mapping the route and inspecting the Pure Land Chan Sect’s ruined supply points. They discovered signs that someone had visited the third stockpile site within the past several decades.

• Qin Tiexin and Du Heng cleared a path through the boulders, allowing the group to leave the spirit-barren canyon and regain access to Spiritual Qi.
• Liu Suifeng copied the recovered maps onto his formation disc and led the group toward the ancient battlefield, where he recorded terrain, spiritual power, and spatial rifts.
• Lin Chuan set collecting seawater as the group’s priority and told them to avoid detours for distant discoveries.
• The group inspected two ruined supply points and found that both had been destroyed and stripped of anything useful.
• At the third supply point, Qin Tiexin sensed buried traces of metallic spiritual power, and Liu Suifeng found recent pry marks where a formation-foundation Spirit Stone had been removed.

Qin Tiexin and his companions discovered and buried the remains of a Golden Core cultivator, then detected other cultivators gathering in the northeast. The group rested and resumed their approach, wary that the strangers might be hostile.

• Qin Tiexin found a storage ring on the remains of a Pure Land Chan Sect cultivator who had died in battle over a thousand years earlier.
• Qin Tiexin examined the ring and found old monk's robes, a bronze Pill Furnace, and three Golden Core pill formulas, but no Spirit Stones, pills, or law artifacts.
• Lin Chuan and the others respectfully reburied the cultivator, and Liu Suifeng marked the grave's location.
• Liu Suifeng detected at least five or six cultivators to the northeast, and Lin Chuan ordered the group to rest before moving toward them.
• The group crossed into low hills and noticed more cultivators gathering ahead, while Lin Chuan warned everyone to stay alert.

Qin Tiexin's group reached a sealed cave belonging to the ancient Spirit Taming Sect and reunited with Lin Wei and her team. The seal appeared to screen entrants for beast-taming talent, and Lin Wei urged Lin Chuan to enter with her to seek the sect's inheritance.

• Qin Tiexin's group found a cave entrance surrounded by active golden Spirit Runes, where several teams of cultivators had gathered.
• Lin Wei ran to greet Lin Chuan and Qin Tiexin, then introduced her teammates Liu Xiaoyu, Han Ling, and Lan Lingwei.
• Lan Lingwei explained that the cave belonged to the Spirit Taming Sect's young master, who had sealed his inheritance and valuables inside before dying from war injuries.
• Liu Suifeng examined the seal and concluded that its hidden outer layer screened cultivators while its inner layer contained a spatial formation.
• Lin Wei asked Lin Chuan to enter the cave with her so she could seek the Spirit Taming Sect's inheritance for her spirit beast, Little Red.

Lin Chuan and the others entered the sealed cave to explore the Spirit Taming Sect inheritance, while Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng stayed outside to keep watch. As the seal admitted more cultivators but turned away monks, Qin Tiexin concealed himself nearby and began examining the captured monks’ belongings.

• Lan Lingwei assured Lin Chuan that she could protect Lin Wei inside the cave, and Lin Chuan agreed to let a group enter while Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng stayed behind.
• Lan Lingwei opened the seal, and Lin Wei, Liu Xiaoyu, Han Ling, Xu Ying, Du Heng, and Lin Chuan followed her inside.
• A rogue cultivator monk failed to pass through the seal, while body cultivators and sect disciples entered and several other monks were rejected.
• Qin Tiexin used Liu Suifeng’s soundproofing and concealment array discs to hide near the entrance while keeping it in sight.
• Qin Tiexin searched three captured monks’ Storage Bags and found Spirit Stones, pills, combat talismans, a monk’s saber, Buddhist scriptures, robes, and broken Law Artifact fragments.

Qin Tiexin sorted through Yuanding and Yuanshun's belongings, then discovered that Yuanshun had carried an ordinary bronze bell that eased his mental tension. The severed arm identified the bell as a possible Artifact of Faith.

• Qin Tiexin set aside Yuanding's formation notes and tools to give to Liu Suifeng.
• Qin Tiexin examined Yuanshun's storage ring and found his resources, a Heart-Burning bottle, and intelligence about Mingjue and the hired assassins.
• Qin Tiexin sorted the ring's contents and found a mundane bronze bell in its deepest corner.
• Qin Tiexin sensed that the bell soothed his strained mind, despite finding no spiritual materials or formations in it.
• The severed arm spoke through Qin Tiexin's sea of consciousness and asked whether the bell was an Artifact of Faith.

Qin Tiexin learned the bronze bell was an Artifact of Faith and discovered the severed arm could attach to his shoulder as a functioning arm. After hiding it as a trump card, he gave Yuanding’s formation supplies to Liu Suifeng, who was excited to study them.

• The severed arm explained that the bronze bell held the power of faith, and Qin Tiexin recalled that Master Huiming had made it for Zhaoming Temple and that Golden Summit Temple had seized it.
• Qin Tiexin decided to keep the bell safe and hoped to return it to Zhaoming Temple with Ming'an after the Star Selection.
• The severed arm offered to serve as Qin Tiexin’s right arm and help him find things of the same origin as itself.
• Qin Tiexin attached the severed arm, tested its natural movement and strength, then detached it and hid it in his sleeve as a secret defense.
• Qin Tiexin gave Yuanding’s Storage Bag and its formation materials to Liu Suifeng, who accepted them eagerly and promised to share his discoveries.

Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng waited outside the sealed cave while Lin Chuan and the others remained inside, and Qin practiced with his new monk's staff. Liu Suifeng discovered a map marking a Spirit Pivot Sect treasury nearby.

• Cultivators emerged from the cave with varied results, including a companion beast egg, an injured disciple, and a covered beast cage.
• Qin Tiexin tried to contact Lin Chuan with a communication jade talisman, but the cave's seal blocked the message.
• Qin Tiexin practiced with the monk's staff and learned how its vibration runes amplified his strikes.
• Liu Suifeng studied the Buddhist formation materials while he and Qin waited for Lin Chuan and the others, who had been inside for nearly two days.
• Liu Suifeng found a red-circled mark on the captured map identifying a Spirit Pivot Sect treasury about fifteen li northwest.

Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng traveled to the ruins of the Spirit Pivot Sect, hoping to find a Puppet Technique inheritance for Chen Xi. They found Ling Shuyao fighting five cultivators over a High Antiquity Array-Breaking Mystic Key.

• Qin Tiexin agreed to visit the Spirit Pivot Sect ruins with Liu Suifeng and leave Lin Chuan a marker showing where they had gone.
• Liu Suifeng used a speed-boosting array disc and a detailed map to guide them northwest through the ruins.
• Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng found two armed puppets fighting five cultivators outside a sealed Spirit Pivot Sect building.
• Qin Tiexin recognized Ling Shuyao controlling the puppets while the five cultivators tried to force her to hand over the High Antiquity Array-Breaking Mystic Key.

Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng came to Ling Shuyao’s aid when five Rogue Cultivators attacked her for the High Antiquity Array-Breaking Mystic Key. The attackers retreated, and Liu Suifeng asked Ling Shuyao if she was hurt.

• Ling Shuyao fought off five Rogue Cultivators who wanted her High Antiquity Array-Breaking Mystic Key, but her puppets were damaged and her spiritual power was running low.
• Qin Tiexin recognized Ling Shuyao, and he and Liu Suifeng decided to help her.
• Qin Tiexin struck the broadsword-wielding leader with his monk’s staff while Liu Suifeng trapped the Rogue Cultivators in a Vine Binding Array.
• Ling Shuyao stopped herself from using her trump card and ordered her puppets to guard her as Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng joined the fight.
• The five Rogue Cultivators freed one another from the vines and retreated after threatening Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng.
• Liu Suifeng retrieved his array flags and asked Ling Shuyao whether she was hurt.