Chapter Summaries

Qin Tiexin chose the Primordial Unity Instruction and endured its painful five-phase cultivation cycle, using his dissipated Qi to strengthen his body. After two months of balancing work, training, and scarce resources, he reached Qi Refining Third Layer, with the artifact refining branch hall’s minor examination still a month away.

• Qin Tiexin exchanged his cultivation qualification for the Primordial Unity Instruction despite the blue-robed disciple warning him about its unbearable cycling pain.
• Qin Tiexin dissipated his Qi Refining Second Layer cultivation and redirected its spiritual energy into body refining.
• Qin Tiexin formed his first two primordial unity Qi vortices, accepting a temporary drop in cultivation for more substantial spiritual power.
• Qin Tiexin maintained an exhausting daily routine while his appetite and training expenses grew, and Zhou Ping noticed his increasing size.
• After two months, Qin Tiexin used his last cultivation Spirit Stones to form a third Qi vortex and advance to Qi Refining Third Layer.

Qin Tiexin refined his first lower-grade Law Artifact, a Mysterious Iron Heavy Shield, and unlocked the Illustrated Catalog of Ten Thousand Artifacts’ Spiritual Material Sensing ability. Worried that Zhao Yan and Lin Han were still ahead of him, he began engraving a second spirit rune onto the shield as Old Wu watched in surprise.

• Qin Tiexin rented a quiet refining room at the Discarded Artifact Pavilion and gathered Mysterious Iron, lightning-struck heartwood, and other materials.
• Old Wu secretly observed as Qin Tiexin carefully forged the materials into a shield blank and engraved a sturdiness rune.
• Qin Tiexin completed the Mysterious Iron Heavy Shield, unlocking basic Spiritual Material Sensing from the Illustrated Catalog of Ten Thousand Artifacts.
• Qin Tiexin wondered whether he could beat Zhao Yan and Lin Han in the grand competition and decided he needed to improve faster.
• Qin Tiexin began engraving a second spirit rune on the shield, startling Old Wu.

Qin Tiexin tried to engrave a second spirit rune on a shield, but the runes interfered and caused an explosion that injured him. After discovering the cause, he paid for the damage and returned home, still unsure how to make two spirit runes coexist on a lower-grade artifact.

• Qin Tiexin began engraving a rebound rune on the shield, but its spiritual power path crossed the sturdiness rune and overloaded the artifact.
• Old Wu rushed into the chamber, and Qin Tiexin redirected the shield away from him before it exploded, leaving Qin Tiexin with severe back wounds.
• Qin Tiexin examined the fragments and realized the shield was too thin to keep the two spirit rune paths from overlapping.
• Old Wu ordered Qin Tiexin to rest the next day and visit his stone chamber the day after.
• Qin Tiexin paid Steward Wang forty spirit crystals for the damaged workbench and wall, then returned home to treat his wounds and ponder the failed engraving.

While recovering from his wounds, Qin Tiexin studied spirit rune compatibility and reviewed his artifact-refining mission progress. Li Yun visited with healing salve and invited him to join her for an upcoming sect mission, and Qin Tiexin later set out for the library pavilion to find a footwork technique.

• Qin Tiexin cultivated despite his back wounds, studied why the spirit runes on his shield had interfered, and reviewed his mission goals and progress.
• Li Yun brought Qin Tiexin Jade Skin Salve and invited him to team up for the sect mission before the grand competition; Qin Tiexin agreed and accepted her communication jade talisman.
• Qin Tiexin applied the salve, realized he lacked knowledge of flexible law artifacts, and decided to remember Li Yun's favor for a later opportunity.
• Qin Tiexin headed to the library pavilion to seek a footwork technique that could make up for his lack of speed.

Qin Tiexin chose the Basic Method Formula and Mountain-Shaking Steps to complement his fighting style, then tested both in his courtyard. After exhausting and replenishing his spiritual power, he noticed that his third Qi vortex had grown slightly, leaving him with a possible new way to advance his cultivation.

• Qin Tiexin rejected ranged techniques and most movement methods before selecting the Basic Method Formula and Mountain-Shaking Steps, which shared origins with the Heavy Mountain Saber Technique.
• The Scripture Pavilion disciple copied the two techniques onto Jade Slips for Qin Tiexin, who returned to his stone room and began studying Mountain-Shaking Steps.
• Qin Tiexin practiced the first form, Mountain Quake, and shattered two patches of bluestone while crossing his courtyard in a burst.
• He tested several basic spells and found their varied uses and low spiritual power consumption more valuable than their modest attack strength.
• After replenishing his depleted spiritual power with the Primordial Unity Instruction, Qin Tiexin noticed that his third Qi vortex had grown slightly and considered whether cycling between depletion and replenishment could help it advance.

Qin Tiexin visited Old Wu, who used two daggers to teach him that artifact refining meant balancing quality against time and materials. The lesson also helped explain why Qin Tiexin’s overloaded shield had exploded, though Old Wu praised his willingness to take risks.

• Qin Tiexin checked his healing back wound, remembered Li Yun’s medicine, and went to work at the Discarded Artifact Pavilion.
• After finishing his shift, Qin Tiexin visited Old Wu’s stone chamber and watched him quickly engrave a sharpness rune onto a dagger.
• Old Wu compared a roughly made dagger with a carefully perfected one, then struck them together and showed Qin Tiexin that both performed almost equally.
• Old Wu explained that artifact refiners had to weigh an item’s function against the time and materials spent improving it.
• Old Wu connected Qin Tiexin’s exploded shield to his attempt to engrave two runes into materials that could support only one, while praising his courage to experiment.

Old Wu explained that Qin Tiexin’s artifact refining relied on imitation and offered to teach him the Spirit Creek Sect’s true methods. After Qin Tiexin agreed to avenge the sect if he found its killers, Old Wu entrusted him with rare practice materials and began preparing to train him.

• Old Wu told Qin Tiexin that his Law Artifacts were merely imitations and explained that true artifact refining required resonance between runes and materials.
• Old Wu revealed that the Spirit Creek Sect had been destroyed two hundred years earlier, leaving him its sole survivor, and asked Qin Tiexin to avenge it if he found its enemies and had enough strength.
• Qin Tiexin immediately agreed, and Old Wu accepted him as Martial Uncle Wu rather than taking him as a formal disciple.
• Old Wu showed Qin Tiexin a chest of spiritual materials containing trace amounts of return-to-true spirit metal, which restored itself after six hours and could be used to practice carving Spirit Runes.
• Old Wu gave Qin Tiexin an ingot to test and told him to come after work each day so he could teach him true artifact refining.

After Martial Uncle Wu exposed the flaws in Qin Tiexin’s artifact refining, Qin Tiexin humbled himself, trained systematically under Old Wu, and pushed his Body Refining to the peak of the fifth layer. Li Yun then contacted him about a confirmed mission, and Qin Tiexin prepared to leave the next morning.

• Qin Tiexin reflected on his arrogance, remembered his original purpose of finding the Lin Household and the road home Lin Feng had mentioned, and recommitted himself to repaying Martial Uncle Wu’s kindness.
• Qin Tiexin trained under Old Wu in artifact refining, studied foundational materials, and improved until he could forge a usable Lower-Grade Law Artifact in three hours.
• Qin Tiexin continued cultivating but remained stuck at the peak of Qi Refining third layer, while repeatedly breaking and healing his bones and using weighted jumps to temper them.
• Qin Tiexin completed tempering the bones of his limbs and torso, reaching the peak of Body Refining fifth layer, and tested his toughness with a dagger.
• Li Yun sent Qin Tiexin a message confirming their mission and telling him to meet at the mission pavilion the next morning.
• Qin Tiexin carefully wrapped Lin Feng’s sword, put it away, and prepared to leave.

Qin Tiexin prepared to escort warm yang jade with Li Yun through the Frost Ridge Mountains, buying supplies and settling his affairs before the journey. Old Wu gave Qin Tiexin a piece of mithril and entrusted him with the Spirit Creek Sect's legacy; Qin Tiexin finished packing and prepared to depart the next day.

• Qin Tiexin met Li Yun at the Mission Pavilion and learned they would escort warm yang jade from the Feng Household to the Iron Hand Gate in seven days.
• Qin Tiexin sold ordinary beast materials at the Flowing Cloud Sect market and bought clothing, food, and medicine for the trip.
• Qin Tiexin reported his twenty-day absence to the Discarded Artifact Pavilion steward and told Old Wu he would cross the Frost Ridge Mountains.
• Old Wu gave Qin Tiexin a piece of mithril, warned him about the mountain's demon beasts and ancient formations, and said the Spirit Creek Sect's legacy would depend on him.
• Qin Tiexin packed his supplies, wiped Edgeless, and tucked the mithril close to his body before his departure the next day.

Qin Tiexin and Li Yun escorted the Feng Household’s warm yang jade convoy north to the Frost Ridge Mountains. After reaching their first campsite, Qin Tiexin sensed that the forest was unusually quiet as night fell.

• Qin Tiexin met Li Yun at the Feng Household residence, and they set out with five warm jade wagons and two supply wagons.
• Qin Tiexin ran alongside the convoy for two days while Li Yun questioned him about his training and Feng Ming awkwardly tried to speak with her.
• The convoy reached the Frost Ridge Mountains, where the Feng Household head explained the travel formation and asked Qin Tiexin and Li Yun to handle any Demon Beasts or cultivators.
• Qin Tiexin and the convoy entered the mountains and reached a familiar cave campsite in a valley.
• Qin Tiexin noticed the forest was too quiet, then sat beside the warm jade wagons and checked that the mithril in his clothes remained cold.

Qin Tiexin and Li Yun helped the caravan survive a massive snake attack, then discovered that someone had planted snake spirit grass to lure the snakes. They changed routes, unaware that the Third Master’s men had planned the attack to drive them onto a trapped trail.

• Qin Tiexin and Li Yun fought beside Yang Scarface and the guards through a four-hour snake attack, using their techniques to hold the camp’s defenses.
• Qin Tiexin found snake spirit grass powder beneath the ashes in the cave, and Yang Scarface explained that the warm jade carts had activated its scent.
• Qin Tiexin and the head of the Feng Household agreed to change routes after Yang Scarface warned that the original road might hold another ambush.
• Two masked men watched the caravan leave and revealed that the narrow trail was the Third Master’s real trap.
• The short masked man sent a message to the Third Master with a talisman, reporting that the caravan had entered the net.

Qin Tiexin helped the caravan cross a dangerous mountain road, where Household Head Feng’s desperate protectiveness toward a supply wagon raised suspicions about its contents. The caravan continued toward its stopping place with the wagon’s secret unresolved.

• Yang Scarface led the caravan through a narrow mountain cleft and along a treacherous cliffside trail as the guards struggled to move the supply wagons.
• When a road collapse blocked their route, Yang Scarface proposed abandoning the wagons, but Household Head Feng refused and grew evasive when asked what they contained.
• Qin Tiexin agreed to help reinforce the collapsed section, and the caravan built a narrow passage from logs and rocks.
• A warm jade cart nearly plunged off the cliff, but Qin Tiexin stopped it with one hand and helped the guards pull it to safety.
• Household Head Feng rushed to check a chest in a supply wagon after the danger passed, prompting Qin Tiexin and Yang Scarface to suspect the wagon held something unusual.
• The caravan resumed its journey, while Household Head Feng stayed close to the supply wagons and the guards quietly speculated about the chest.

Qin Tiexin and the convoy entered an abandoned mine to cross the mountains, but a deadly colored miasma trapped them in its tunnels. After identifying it as fire poison that worsened around flames, Qin Tiexin prepared to find another way forward despite Li Yun having only two Miasma-Avoiding Pills.

• Yang Scarface led the convoy down into the rift valley and through an old mine tunnel rather than take a three-day detour.
• Qin Tiexin found a slick, multicolored film on the mine wall as the convoy rested in a large chamber.
• Yang Scarface chose the dry right-hand path at a fork, where the air grew thick with a sweet smell and Qin Tiexin heard a faint hiss.
• Yang Scarface halted the convoy when colored poisonous miasma appeared, but it killed two horses and badly corroded a guard before the group retreated.
• Qin Tiexin and Li Yun determined that the miasma was fire poison that intensified around flames and dispersed in wind, while Li Yun revealed she had only two Miasma-Avoiding Pills.

Qin Tiexin carved two Spirit Runes into a mithril ingot to shield the caravan from poisonous miasma, then struggled to sustain the barrier through the passage. He and Li Yun led the survivors out into the valley, where Qin collapsed with a badly burned hand and exhausted spiritual power.

• Qin Tiexin engraved [Fire Repelling] and [Wind Gathering] Spirit Runes onto the mithril ingot and raised a barrier against the approaching miasma.
• Qin Tiexin guided the caravan through the passage while sustaining the barrier, and the ingot grew dangerously hot and cracked.
• When poisonous mist broke through and injured a driver, Li Yun joined Qin Tiexin in channeling spiritual power and reinforced the barrier with ice.
• Qin Tiexin and Li Yun strengthened the barrier and hurried the caravan toward the daylight at the passage's exit.
• The caravan escaped into the valley, where the barrier dissipated and the mithril shattered; Qin Tiexin collapsed with his palm charred and his spiritual power spent.

Qin Tiexin’s party camped in the river valley, where Li Yun questioned him about the engineered poisonous miasma in the mine. A berserk bear attacked the camp, and Qin Tiexin and the guards fought to defend themselves.

• Qin Tiexin noticed the Qi Refining Fourth Layer barrier was close but remained unbroken as the party traveled toward the end of the mountains.
• Li Yun told Qin Tiexin that the mine’s poisonous miasma appeared deliberately smeared onto the rock and that she had heard a mechanism move.
• Qin Tiexin smelled a beast nearby during his watch, and the party spotted a giant Steel-Bristled Berserk Bear approaching upstream.
• Yang Scarface formed the guards into ranks and ordered them to shoot, but their arrows barely pierced the bear’s hide.
• Qin Tiexin shattered a tree trunk hurled at the camp with his fist, while the bear charged and wounded two guards.

Qin Tiexin and Li Yun killed the berserk Steel-Bristled Berserk Bear, then concealed how much strength Qin had truly used while the caravan dealt with the carcass. The group resumed its journey at sunrise, with Qin wary of unseen observers.

• Qin Tiexin held off the bear while Li Yun attacked it with the Ice Soul Needle, and Yang Scarface's guards harassed it from the perimeter.
• After Li Yun spotted the bear's weakness, Qin Tiexin drew its attack and let it knock him into a boulder, exposing an old scar on its chest and belly.
• Li Yun pierced the scar with the Ice Soul Needle, and Qin Tiexin followed with Mountain-Piercing, killing the bear with an internal-force strike.
• Qin Tiexin pretended to be badly injured as Yang Scarface ordered the bear butchered, and Household Head Feng and the guards speculated that someone had tampered with the beast.
• Qin Tiexin gave the demon core back to Yang Scarface to divide according to the rules, then ate with the others while watching the camp.
• At sunrise, Qin Tiexin left the riverbank with the caravan, glancing back at the bear's burial mound as Edgeless remained unused on his back.

As the caravan reached the main road, Qin Tiexin sensed an exceptionally valuable spirit material hidden in the supply wagon and realized Household Head Feng had gone to great lengths to protect it. He told Li Yun but kept the discovery from Captain Yang as the caravan approached a waystation, leaving the cargo’s purpose and the danger ahead unresolved.

• The caravan emerged from the mountain valleys and continued north toward a waystation on the official road.
• Qin Tiexin discovered that the supply wagon contained a large, high-grade spirit material and connected it to Household Head Feng’s suspicious protection of the wagon.
• Household Head Feng offered Qin Tiexin an additional reward, but Qin watched him with suspicion and did not answer.
• Qin Tiexin quietly told Li Yun that the supply wagon held something more valuable than warm jade, and they agreed not to tell Captain Yang yet.
• The caravan neared the lantern-lit waystation as Qin Tiexin remained alert to the danger hidden beneath the peaceful dusk.

Qin Tiexin and Li Yun fought off an ambush by the Han Household while escorting a chest of goods. They killed two Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivators, but Han Laosan raised a Vajra Shield and ordered his forces to attack together.

• A supply-wagon driver tried to flee with the chest, but Qin Tiexin intercepted him and broke his wrist.
• Han Laosan and two other cultivators led a poisoned-arrow ambush against the convoy and claimed the chest for the Han Household.
• Qin Tiexin killed the cultivator who attacked him with water-parting spikes, while Li Yun killed her opponent with the Ice Soul Needle.
• Han Laosan activated a Vajra Shield and ordered the remaining attackers to charge Qin Tiexin and Li Yun.

Qin Tiexin and Li Yun defeated Han Laosan’s bandits and reached Fallen Star Pavilion with the convoy. After Li Yun bought the cold iron ore heart, the pair explored the bustling immortal market, where Qin Tiexin reflected on the violence and hardship along their journey.

• Qin Tiexin and Li Yun killed Han Laosan and defeated the bandits, while the surviving warriors surrendered or fled.
• Household Head Feng admitted he had concealed the cold iron ore heart’s presence and offered extra compensation; Qin Tiexin directed the extra payment to the guards and the fallen guards’ families.
• Li Yun bought the ore heart from Household Head Feng for one hundred and ten lower-grade spirit stones, to be paid after they returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect.
• Qin Tiexin and Li Yun reached the relay inn, spent the night there, and continued north with the convoy the next morning.
• The convoy delivered its goods at Fallen Star Pavilion, and Household Head Feng gave Qin Tiexin and Li Yun three days to explore the market.
• Qin Tiexin and Li Yun entered the busy immortal market, where Qin Tiexin considered the bloodshed and injuries they had endured.

Qin Tiexin and Li Yun entered a bustling immortal market, where Qin discovered his unusual ability to sense spiritual materials but lacked the money to buy them. After witnessing the Iron Hand Gate’s intimidating law-enforcement squad, they checked into the Returning Cloud House, and Qin ended the day listening to the market from his room.

• Qin Tiexin and Li Yun entered the crowded market, where Qin noticed a poorly priced Flowing Cloud Sword and sensed several spiritual materials among the shops and stalls.
• Qin examined a faintly glowing stone but decided it was not worth the stallholder’s price of five hundred Spirit Crystals.
• Qin and Li Yun moved aside as the Iron Hand Gate Law Enforcement Squad passed, and Li Yun warned him not to cause trouble.
• Qin and Li Yun checked into adjoining rooms at the Returning Cloud House after passing secondhand artifact shops, a bookshop, and street hawkers.
• Qin wiped Edgeless, cultivated for four hours, ate spirit grain cakes, and listened to the market’s sounds from his room.