Chapter Summaries

Qin Tiexin fled into the Fallen Star Mountain Range as Brahma Sound Valley reinforcements arrived to find Xiao Wan gravely wounded. Benzhen sent Ling Xi and Ling Ran after him, then revealed that Xiao Yan and he had conspired against Xiao Wan, leaving Xiao Yan anxious that the sisters might return.

• Qin Tiexin retrieved the damaged Buddhist seal, then sensed an approaching Buddhist presence and fled rather than risk a fight while wounded.
• Benzhen, Ling Xi, Ling Ran, and Xiao Yan arrived and found Xiao Wan barely alive among the rubble.
• Xiao Yan pretended to grieve over Xiao Wan, while Ling Xi and Ling Ran demanded to pursue the person who had hurt her.
• Benzhen sent Ling Xi and Ling Ran after Qin Tiexin and stayed behind with Xiao Wan and Xiao Yan.
• Benzhen told Xiao Wan she could act, and Xiao Yan stopped crying and asked whether Ling Xi and Ling Ran would return; Benzhen said they would not.

Xiao Yan absorbed her elder sister Xiao Wan, whose outwardly expressed Buddha Sound Physique complemented Xiao Yan’s inwardly contained one, and awakened the Lapis Lazuli Buddha Physique. She and Benzhen flew toward Brahma Sound Valley, while Benzhen began considering whether he could obtain a similar transformation.

• Xiao Yan absorbed Xiao Wan’s body, memories, cultivation, and Golden Core under Benzhen’s guidance.
• Benzhen captured Xiao Wan’s fleeing Golden Core in a bowl, shattered it, and sent its fragments into Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan awakened as the Buddha Maiden with a Lapis Lazuli Buddha Physique and an eighth-grade Golden Core at the Golden Core Early Stage.
• Benzhen told Xiao Yan to call him Senior Brother Benzhen, and she pledged to follow him.
• Benzhen and Xiao Yan flew north toward Brahma Sound Valley as he wondered whether he could gain a similar transformation.

Qin Tiexin hid in a cave that disrupted spiritual power while Ling Xi and Ling Ran tracked him down. Their techniques faltered inside the cave, but they entered to confront him.

• Qin Tiexin concealed his tracks and hid at a narrow bend inside a cave that cut off spiritual power.
• Ling Xi and Ling Ran pursued him, combined their Divine Sense, and discovered that he had doubled back.
• The twins found the cave entrance and called for Qin Tiexin to surrender.
• Ling Xi's Fire Dragon Talisman and other attacks lost their power before reaching Qin Tiexin's hiding place.
• Ling Xi and Ling Ran entered the cave, protected by Ling Ran's golden barrier, as Qin Tiexin prepared for them.

Ling Xi and Ling Ran pursued the wounded Qin Tiexin into a cave where spiritual power was depleted, while Qin prepared an ambush. After his spear destroyed a Buddhist puppet instead of striking the sisters, they confronted him and launched a coordinated attack.

• Ling Xi insisted that she and Ling Ran keep pursuing Qin Tiexin until Martial Uncle Benzhen arrived.
• Qin gathered his remaining Qi and Blood and prepared to strike the sisters from around a cave bend.
• Qin's spear shattered a Buddhist puppet, revealing his hiding place as Ling Xi's ice arrow hit the spot where he had been.
• Ling Ran assessed the cave while Ling Xi judged Qin's weakened condition and resolved to keep him at a distance.
• Ling Xi shot three golden needles at Qin as the sisters joined hands to prepare Brahma Sound Valley's sonic attack.

Qin Tiexin killed Ling Xi with Blood Qi Heavy Abyss, but Ling Ran crushed a jade talisman and began a self-detonation to avenge her sister. Qin Tiexin fled through the collapsing cavern toward a distant sliver of light.

• Qin Tiexin used Blood Qi Heavy Abyss to pin Ling Xi and crush her into blood mist.
• Ling Xi threw Ling Ran out of the domain, but Ling Ran watched her sister die and crushed the jade talisman around her neck.
• Ling Ran’s talisman gathered spiritual power into a force like a Golden Core cultivator’s self-detonation, while Qin Tiexin’s Space Blades failed to break her protective shell.
• Qin Tiexin ran down the passage as Ling Ran’s explosion triggered the cavern’s collapse and sent falling rocks after him.
• Qin Tiexin poured his remaining spiritual power and Qi and Blood into his legs and raced toward the light ahead.

The city lord of Star Awakening City and an investigative party examined the devastation left by Brahma Sound Valley’s failed encirclement in the Fallen Star Mountain Range. They withdrew without identifying the victims, while Cheng Nan learned that the range was an impassable barrier where Lin Feng had disappeared six years earlier.

• The city lord, the guard commander, and Ministry of Punishments investigators reached Chen Xi’s blasted cliff and found only ruined Brahma Sound Valley robes and no remains.
• The party reconstructed traces of the battle between Qin Tiexin and Xiao Yan, then found a collapsed cavern where a powerful explosion had occurred.
• A Ministry of Punishments cultivator concluded that Brahma Sound Valley had sent at least five Golden Core cultivators to pursue someone, but could not determine the target’s identity.
• Cheng Nan questioned why the investigators would not search beyond the cavern, and an older cultivator explained that no one had ever crossed the Fallen Star Mountain Range and returned.
• The older cultivator revealed that Lin Feng had vanished in the range six years earlier, and even Marquis Lin had failed to find him.
• The city lord ordered the party to withdraw and continue tracing the victims’ identities along their route.

The emperor confirmed that Mingjue had died in the Fallen Star Mountain Range and appointed Ming'an as Zhaoming Temple's next abbot. As the temple mourned, Ming'an and Su Qing each held on to doubts that Chen Xi and Mingjue might still be alive.

• The emperor learned that Brahma Sound Valley and Golden Summit Temple cultivators had killed Mingjue, ordered stronger border patrols and an intensified offensive, and named Ming'an as the next abbot of Zhaoming Temple.
• Chen Chen brought the news of Mingjue's death to Zhaoming Temple, where Lin Chuan, Ling Shuyao, the Lin family, and others grieved.
• Ming'an insisted that his senior brother was not dead and spent the night chanting sutras, while Su Qing and Chen Zhao tried to comfort him.
• Su Qing recognized that Chen Xi's communication talisman had gone dark five days earlier and concluded that he had likely been the unidentified Golden Core Peak cultivator who self-detonated.
• Su Qing reconsidered whether Chen Xi and Qin Tiexin had truly died and resolved to protect Zhaoming Temple and guide Ming'an until he came of age.

After Master Mingjue’s passing, Ming'an grieved for his missing senior brother and decided to grow stronger so he could protect those around him. He became Chengxin’s disciple, and a year later, though he and Chen Zhao had grown close and Ming'an had advanced in cultivation, he still waited for his senior brother to return.

• Ming'an accepted the appointment as Zhaoming Temple’s abbot, then wept alone before Master Mingjue’s spirit tablet and begged his senior brother to come back.
• Su Qing and Chen Zhao found Ming'an crying, and Chen Zhao comforted him until he fell asleep.
• At dawn, Ming'an told Chengxin he wanted to become stronger and formally kowtowed to him as his master.
• Over the next year, Ming'an studied Buddhist teachings and trained with Chengxin while Chen Zhao recovered at Zhaoming Temple and grew closer to him.
• After a year, Chen Zhao’s Curse was gone, Ming'an had reached a physique comparable to an early Qi Refining cultivator, and he continued asking his senior brother’s spirit tablet when he would return.

Sun Aji kept watch over the cave at Fallen Immortal Mountain, where Welcome Immortals Village believed immortals would appear. After the mountain shook, a bloodied man was thrown from the cave before its entrance sealed, and Sun Aji ran to alert the village chief.

• The villagers’ ancestors renamed Sun Family Village and Fallen Immortal Mountain after an immortal emerged from the mountain and left Sun Daniu a dagger.
• Seven years earlier, Lin Feng emerged from the cave, recovered at Sun Daniu’s home, and left him a dagger before departing.
• Sun Aji found a large medicinal root while keeping watch at the cave.
• Fallen Immortal Mountain shook violently, and a badly wounded man was thrown from the cave.
• The cave entrance sealed into the rock face, and Sun Aji ran toward the village shouting that an immortal had arrived.

Qin Tiexin escaped the collapsing cave in the Fallen Star Mountain Range but was drained of his power by a barrier and rescued by villagers. He woke in their village, where they debated what blessing to ask of him, and began trying to learn where he was.

• Qin Tiexin fled the collapsing cave and was stripped of his spiritual power and Qi and Blood when he passed through a barrier.
• Qin Tiexin was flung out of the cave and lost consciousness after seeing a little girl nearby.
• The villagers carried Qin Tiexin to their home, and he overheard them call him an immortal and discuss asking him for a blessing.
• A Ji asked the village chief to make the village better so its people would suffer and toil less.
• Qin Tiexin woke and asked where he was, but his injuries left him too weak to sit up.

Qin Tiexin discovered that the village had almost no Spiritual Qi, and ordinary food could not restore his depleted Qi and Blood. After Sun Aji told him that Fallen Immortal Mountain had unusually pleasant air, he set out with her to investigate.

• Qin Tiexin cultivated for a full day but absorbed almost no Spiritual Qi, leaving his Dantian empty.
• Qin Tiexin ate three sheep, but their meat failed to restore his Qi and Blood or awaken the Fire of Life.
• Qin Tiexin realized he could not open his storage ring without spiritual power, trapping him in a cycle without access to his pills, Spirit Stones, or stored Demon Beast meat.
• Sun Aji brought Qin Tiexin food and told him that Fallen Immortal Mountain had pleasant air and unusually thriving herbs.
• Qin Tiexin asked Sun Aji to take him to Fallen Immortal Mountain and told her to call him Big Brother Qin instead of an immortal.

Qin Tiexin cultivated on Fallen Immortal Mountain until he formed spiritual liquid in his Dantian and regained access to his storage ring. After seven more days of recovery, he had restored some of his strength and took out the jade pendant his senior brother had left him.

• Sun Aji led Qin Tiexin to the sealed cave and then to a sheltered spot with the mountain's strongest Spiritual Qi.
• Qin Tiexin cultivated for three days until spiritual liquid formed in his Dantian, allowing him to activate his storage ring.
• Qin Tiexin inspected his possessions, used Spirit Stones and pills to recover, and found there was not enough Spiritual Qi to operate his cauldron.
• Sun Aji gathered herbs nearby while Qin Tiexin spent seven days restoring his spiritual power and Qi and Blood.
• Qin Tiexin reached roughly twenty percent spiritual power and a little over ten percent Qi and Blood, then took out his senior brother's jade pendant.

Qin Tiexin listened to Chen Xi’s recording and learned that his senior brother had survived by using a clone. Reassured, he resolved to recover and follow a Law Artifact back to the Azure Xuan Region, where Chen Xi awaited him at Luo Ling Peak.

• Qin Tiexin listened to Chen Xi’s jade pendant recording, which revealed that Chen Xi’s main body was alive in the Azure Xuan Region and that the self-detonation had only injured his clone.
• Chen Xi told Qin Tiexin to return to Luo Ling Peak with his storage ring and deliver a Life-Extension Pill to Martial Uncle Wu Zhen.
• Qin Tiexin took a compass-like Law Artifact from Chen Xi’s ring and confirmed that it pointed toward the Azure Xuan Region.
• Qin Tiexin thanked Sun Aji for caring for him, then told her he would stay longer while he recovered.
• Qin Tiexin began cultivating again with a Spirit Stone and the Five Phases Conversion Pearl as Sun Aji gathered herbs nearby.

Qin Tiexin discovered that Sun Aji possessed a promising wood spirit root after she quickly found her sense of Qi. He decided to take her to the Flowing Cloud Sect, but left her choice hanging when he asked whether she wanted to go with him.

• Qin Tiexin realized the sparse Spiritual Qi in the remote area kept his spiritual power from rising above thirty percent, so he focused on finding a way back to the Azure Xuan Region.
• Qin Tiexin noticed Wood Qi gathering around Sun Aji and inferred that she had a wood spirit root.
• Qin Tiexin taught Sun Aji a basic technique for sensing Spiritual Qi, and she practiced it over two days.
• Sun Aji found her sense of Qi on her second day of practice, convincing Qin Tiexin that she had the aptitude to cultivate.
• Qin Tiexin decided to bring Sun Aji to the Flowing Cloud Sect and asked whether she would go with him, leaving her to ask where.

Qin Tiexin learned that the village stood in Great Xuan, near Xinyang Pass, and realized he had returned to the land he once called home. A dagger confirmed that Lin Feng had visited the village seven years earlier, leaving Qin Tiexin eager to learn more about his old companions.

• Qin Tiexin returned to the village with Sun Aji and discovered that she was the only villager with Spiritual Qi.
• Qin Tiexin told the village chief he was leaving and asked where they were; the chief identified the dynasty as Great Xuan and the nearest major pass as Xinyang Pass.
• Qin Tiexin recognized Xinyang Pass and remembered his teacher, former comrades, and time in Great Xuan.
• Qin Tiexin asked about the immortal who had visited seven years earlier, and the village chief summoned Sun Daniu.
• Sun Daniu said the visitor had been surnamed Lin and showed Qin Tiexin the dagger he had received.
• Qin Tiexin recognized the Lin Household's cloud motif on the dagger and concluded that Lin Feng had passed through the village.

Qin Tiexin repaid Welcome Immortals Village for sheltering him by building an iron-cable bridge across the valley. The villagers began preparing to add wooden planks, while Sun Aji stared in amazement at his abilities.

• Qin Tiexin offered to help the villagers after hearing how dangerous and time-consuming their mountain path to town was.
• Qin Tiexin found iron ore, smelted it with his Red Luan Heart Flame, and forged four long cables with condensed pattern gold.
• Qin Tiexin anchored the cables into the rock on both sides of the valley, creating a bridge framework between Welcome Immortals Village and the opposite mountainside.
• Qin Tiexin told the villagers to lay wooden planks over the cables so people and cattle could cross.
• The village chief and villagers thanked Qin Tiexin on their knees, while Sun Aji watched him in astonishment.

Qin Tiexin rewarded the villagers of Welcome Immortals Village and discovered that Sun Aji had a Spirit Root, so he took her as his first disciple. He left with her, and the chapter followed the village’s prosperity and the later transformation of Immortal Qin Bridge by the Thorn Fairy.

• Qin Tiexin traded Sun Daniu a forged axe for Lin Feng’s dagger and gifted axes to the village chief and Sun Aji’s family.
• Qin Tiexin found that Sun Aji had a Spirit Root and offered to take her away to learn cultivation; her parents agreed despite the prospect of a long separation.
• Sun Aji bowed to Qin Tiexin and called him Master, and Qin Tiexin accepted her as his first disciple before leaving the village with her.
• The villagers completed the bridge, which helped Welcome Immortals Village prosper and become known for herbs supplied to the imperial household.
• The villagers named the bridge Immortal Qin Bridge, and decades later the Thorn Fairy covered it with vines that formed a lasting green walkway.

Qin Tiexin took Sun Aji from her village on Edgeless and flew toward Ink City, stopping briefly at Xinyang Pass to remember his fallen comrades. Before entering the city, he went to visit his grandfather’s grave on Emerald Cloud Mountain, where he found two people already there.

• Qin Tiexin coaxed Sun Aji onto Edgeless and took off from the village as her family and the villagers bid her farewell.
• Sun Aji gradually overcame her fear of flying and began pointing out sights below as Qin Tiexin taught her about cultivation.
• Qin Tiexin paused above Xinyang Pass, recalled the battles and comrades tied to Edgeless, and searched unsuccessfully for Zhao Ling, Zhao Ziliang, and Li Shun.
• Qin Tiexin and Sun Aji rested at a county inn, then continued toward Ink City the next morning.
• Qin Tiexin landed on Emerald Cloud Mountain to visit his grandfather’s grave and discovered two people standing by the burial mound.

Qin Tiexin returned after nearly six years away and reunited with Zhou Nan at his grandfather's grave, where he learned that Tu Dazhu's son had been adopted as Qin Tiexin's heir to protect the family smithy. He paid his respects to his grandfather and left the story with his old friends and their families still waiting for him.

• Qin Tiexin recognized Zhou Nan at his grandfather's grave and was startled when the little boy called him daddy.
• Zhou Nan explained that Qin Hu was Tu Dazhu's younger son, adopted under Qin Tiexin's name to help keep the smithy from being reclaimed.
• Zhou Nan told Qin Tiexin that Tu Dazhu had become chief constable and that Zhou Cang's health had declined, though he was still holding on.
• Qin Tiexin sent Sun Aji to play with Qin Hu, then had her pay respects to his grandfather.
• Qin Tiexin poured strong liquor at his grandfather's grave and quietly said that he had returned.

Qin Tiexin returned to Ink City and learned how the Heavenly Craft Workshop’s growth had transformed the city and weakened the Qin Household Blacksmith Shop. He reached the shop and pushed open its familiar door, determined to keep it from being lost.

• Qin Tiexin and Zhou Nan walked toward Ink City with Sun Aji and Qin Hu, and Zhou Nan described how the Heavenly Craft Workshop had made the city prosperous.
• Zhou Nan told Qin Tiexin that the Qin Household Blacksmith Shop had lost most of its armor business after a government ban, and that Zhou Cang’s declining health had left Zhou Nan struggling to keep the shop going.
• Zhou Nan explained that Lady Xue had continued helping the shop and had repeatedly asked when Qin Tiexin would return, while warning that pressure from the authorities might soon threaten the business.
• Qin Tiexin and Zhou Nan arrived at the blacksmith shop and saw that the surrounding streets had been rebuilt and placed under the Heavenly Craft Workshop’s management.
• Qin Tiexin looked over the deserted, weathered shop and pushed open its creaking door.