Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu rescued his younger sister Duoduo from the Heavenly God Cave, where villagers had sent her to die, and made a fire to keep them safe for the night. While searching the cave for food, he discovered a small white turtle with mysterious patterns.

• Chen Mu ran to the Heavenly God Cave to find Duoduo, whom the villagers had sent there because of her poor eyesight.
• Chen Mu found Duoduo in a cave and comforted her, but decided they had to spend the night there because he could not safely take her back alone.
• Chen Mu gathered firewood, lit a bonfire, and sheltered Duoduo from the cave’s snakes and rodents.
• Chen Mu hunted rats and a snake among the human skeletons to provide food for them.
• Chen Mu found a palm-sized white turtle with strange patterns buried beneath a large rock.

Chen Mu and Duoduo revived a White Turtle in their cave, and it revealed that it was an ancient innate divine beast with sealed Spiritual Power. The White Turtle offered to teach Chen Mu the Path of Talisman Cultivation, and Chen Mu became immobilized as a glowing stone stele appeared from its back.

• Chen Mu gave the unmoving White Turtle water, and it revived and asked for more.
• The White Turtle told Chen Mu it was an innate divine beast whose Spiritual Power had been sealed, and Chen Mu grew comfortable talking with it.
• Chen Mu told the White Turtle about Duoduo and their village, and it lamented the hardships people still faced in the Wilderness.
• The White Turtle offered to teach Chen Mu the Path of Talisman Cultivation, explaining that talent would determine whether he could learn it.
• Chen Mu stood behind the White Turtle and looked at the glowing patterns on its back as a stone stele appeared, leaving him unable to move.

Chen Mu absorbed the Rune Ancestor’s True Explanation of Runes and began cultivating the Dao of Talismans. He stayed in Heavenly God Cave with Duoduo rather than return to the village, and Chen Hongjie left him a blade and food before departing.

• Chen Mu studied the runes in White Turtle’s legacy, combining them until thousands of runes became fewer, while White Turtle marveled at his talent and decided to follow him.
• Chen Mu woke with improved senses and learned that he could become a one-mark talisman master in less than three months.
• Chen Mu agreed to take White Turtle with him and told Duoduo to stay inside the cave when Chen Hongjie and the hunters arrived.
• Chen Mu refused to return to the village unless Duoduo came with him, rejecting Chen Hongjie’s claim that the Heavenly God would guide her soul.
• Chen Hongjie left Chen Mu a short blade and wheat cakes, then departed with the hunters; Chen Mu thanked him quietly.

Chen Mu prepared the Heavenly God Cave as a safer shelter for himself and Duoduo, then risked visiting a nearby pool to replenish his water. He returned with water and harvested salt from dark soil, while the giant crocodile remained a threat at the pool.

• Chen Mu cleared skeletons and weeds from the Heavenly God Cave, lit bonfires to deter venomous creatures, and shared food with Duoduo.
• Chen Mu left Duoduo to tend the fires and cautiously searched for the pool he remembered seeing.
• White Turtle warned Chen Mu that a demonic beast lurked in the pool, and Chen Mu watched a giant crocodile kill and eat a deer.
• After waiting for the crocodile to stop hunting, Chen Mu hurried to fill his waterskin and returned to the cave at dusk.
• Chen Mu scraped salt crystals from the dark soil he had tested and climbed back to his lair.

Chen Mu learned to use the Water Condensation Talisman, giving him and Duoduo a dependable source of water. As winter set in, they relied on stored food and firewood while Chen Mu stayed in the cave to cultivate.

• Chen Mu gathered food in Heavenly God Cave, made the cave entrance safer, and began cultivating the True Explanation of Runes.
• The White Turtle advised Chen Mu to learn the Water Condensation Talisman because water was scarce.
• Chen Mu mastered the rune, drew it in blood on a stone, and produced water for Duoduo.
• Chen Mu prepared for winter by hunting, setting traps, making weapons, and storing food and firewood while Duoduo made clothes and dried meat.
• After the first snow arrived and deep winter began, Chen Mu mostly stopped going outside and focused on cultivation.

Chen Mu broke through to become a One-Mark Talisman Master and formed a Five Elements Chaos Talisman as his natal talisman. After learning that it would require rare five-element treasures to grow stronger, he accepted the challenge and turned to studying combat runes as winter ended.

• Chen Mu reviewed his Talisman Dao insights and began condensing his natal talisman.
• Chen Mu completed the talisman, becoming a One-Mark Talisman Master and gaining a more powerful divine soul.
• Chen Mu used his new ability to cast a Water Condensation Talisman, though it greatly strained his divine soul.
• The White Turtle identified Chen Mu's natal talisman as a Five Elements Chaos Talisman and explained that it needed rare five-element substances to grow stronger.
• Chen Mu accepted the demanding path and began studying runes that could improve his fighting strength as winter ended.

Chen Mu hunted a wild boar and brought it back to Heavenly God Cave, where he continued developing his talisman techniques. After experimenting for over half a month, he completed a Rune Gun powerful enough to blast a hole in a large rock.

• Chen Mu killed a wild boar with a spear and short knife, then used a Transport Talisman to carry it back to Heavenly God Cave.
• Duoduo welcomed the boar, while Chen Mu reflected on his progress as a One-Mark Talisman Master and his approaching breakthrough.
• Chen Mu used five-element talisman techniques to build a wooden firearm that ran on soul power and metal bullets.
• Chen Mu tested the Rune Gun by blasting a bowl-sized hole into a large rock.

Chen Mu encountered Chen Village fighting the Black Water Tribe over a wild boar and used his rune gun to help defeat them. After Chen Village cleaned up the battlefield and headed home with him, an unseen witness vowed revenge.

• Chen Mu left Duoduo in their cave and headed toward the village, then heard shouting and found Chen Shanxiong's hunting party confronting Huyan Fang's Black Water Tribe over a wild boar.
• Chen Shanxiong pretended to retreat before ambushing the Black Water Tribe in a narrow mountain pass, where Chen Zihu led the charge and battled fiercely.
• Huyan Fang called for a retreat, but Chen Mu appeared with his rune gun and killed the fleeing Black Water Tribe fighters.
• Chen Shanxiong killed the wounded Huyan Fang, then ordered Chen Village to erase the battle's traces before returning home with Chen Mu.
• Chen Mu used a Transport Talisman to help move the heavy wild boar, astonishing the hunting party, while a hidden witness escaped and vowed revenge on Chen Village.

Chen Mu returned to Chen Village and learned that the Flame Blessing Tribe had taken his parents four years earlier. He then sought to bring his ill younger sister, Chen Duo, back from the Heavenly God Cave and seized on the possibility that curing her could make an exception.

• Chen Mu and the hunting party returned to Chen Village, where Chen Shanxiong reported their clash with the Black Water Tribe to Chen Shanyu.
• Chen Mu claimed an eccentric Daoist had taught him talisman arts, and Chen Shanyu believed him and praised his abilities.
• Chen Shanyu revealed that the Flame Blessing Tribe had threatened anyone who helped Chen Village and had taken Chen Mu’s parents four years earlier; Chen Mu memorized Tuoba Ziying’s name.
• Chen Mu asked Chen Shanyu to let Chen Duo return, but the chief refused because of the village’s sacrifice tradition.
• Chen Mu realized Chen Shanyu’s words meant Chen Duo could return if her incurable illness were cured, then left with a smile.

Chen Mu made glasses from Profound Ice and a sandalwood frame to help Duoduo with her nearsightedness. After testing many lenses, he finished a pair that let her see clearly, though he needed to reinforce the runes every three days to keep the ice from melting.

• Chen Mu returned to the Heavenly God Cave after escaping his uncles and decided to make Duoduo glasses using concave lenses formed from ice.
• Chen Mu tested Profound Ice lenses in a wooden frame, and Duoduo said the first pair helped her see a little more clearly.
• Chen Mu tried dozens of lenses until he found one that let Duoduo read the character “Mu.”
• Chen Mu finished the glasses with Sealing Runes and a cord, but knew he would need to reinforce the runes with Soul Power every three days.
• Duoduo happily tried on her glasses and celebrated that she could see far enough to prove Choudan and Erniu wrong.

Chen Mu returned to Chen Village with Duoduo, whose eyesight had been restored, and persuaded the chief and elders to let her live in the village. The chief honored Chen Mu as a Tribal Warrior and arranged for him to have a talisman-making room.

• Chen Mu and Duoduo sealed the cave where they had lived and set out for Chen Village.
• Chen Shanxiong escorted them to the chief's house, where Chen Shanyu offered to let Duoduo live on the mountain if Chen Mu returned to the village.
• Chen Mu claimed the Heavenly God had cured Duoduo's eyes and commanded him to bring her back, then Chen Shanxiong tested her restored sight.
• Chen Shanyu allowed Duoduo to live in the village after the elders saw that she could see clearly.
• Chen Shanyu named Chen Mu a Tribal Warrior for killing a Black Water Tribe martial artist and being a talisman master, and promised him a talisman-making room.

After returning to Chen Village, Chen Mu and Chen Duo found a hidden box in their parents’ room containing spirit stones and the Acala Heart Sutra, a martial cultivation technique. Chen Mu kept the discovery secret, then visited Eldest Aunt and saw the village chief’s workers building him a talisman-making room.

• Chen Mu and Chen Duo cleaned their old home, where Chen Mu discovered a hollow floor tile in his parents’ room.
• Chen Mu found two spirit stones and the Acala Heart Sutra in a wooden box hidden beneath the tile, then concealed the box again and told Chen Duo not to speak of it.
• Chen Mu and Chen Duo ate at Eldest Uncle’s house, where Eldest Aunt welcomed them and Chen Zishan and Chen Zilang asked Chen Mu about the Heavenly God Cave.
• After the meal, Chen Duo went to play with friends while Chen Mu visited the talisman-making room being built for him.
• Chen Mu spoke with the carpenter, requested changes to the room’s layout, and left.

Chen Mu cultivated the Acala Heart Sutra and became a First-Duan Martial Artist in just ten days. He then turned to improving the village’s fighters, studying the clan leader’s demonic-bone scepter and preparing to derive stronger spirit-forging runes.

• Chen Mu secretly read and memorized the first section of the Acala Heart Sutra, discovering that its cultivation method could strengthen his body far faster than the village’s training.
• After ten days of cultivation, Chen Mu condensed internal force and became a First-Duan Martial Artist.
• Chen Mu continued making enhanced martial equipment for the villagers and advanced to a Two-Mark Talisman Master.
• The clan leader asked Chen Mu to find ways to strengthen the village’s Martial Artists and gave him a batch of talisman-making materials and his inherited bone scepter.
• Chen Mu examined the demonic-beast bone and realized that the basic spirit-forging runes in the Rune Ancestor’s inheritance could not fully unleash its power.
• Chen Mu decided to derive more advanced spirit-forging runes from the basic principles in the True Explanation of Runes.

The Blackwater Tribal Community learned that Chen Village had a talisman master and began preparing for war, while Chen Mu strengthened the village with spirit-forged weapons and trained Chen Duo. Chen Village’s growing prosperity led Chen Shanyu to discuss farming and animal husbandry with Chen Mu, who promised to seek solutions.

• Huyan Qing learned that Chen Village’s runes were likely made by one of its own villagers and ordered Manqi to contact the White Rock Tribe’s chief, Tucha, while telling his people to avoid conflict and prepare.
• Chen Mu urged Chen Duo to cultivate the Acala Heart Sutra so she could join him in searching for their parents, and she devoted herself to training.
• Chen Mu spirit-forged a bone saber, tested its rune-enhanced power, and recalled that he had made three more weapons after finishing Chen Shanyu’s staff.
• Chen Village’s improved weapons boosted its hunting and gathering while reducing casualties, and the Blackwater Tribal Community and White Rock Tribe stopped provoking it.
• Chen Shanyu discussed cultivating farmland and raising wild beasts with Chen Mu, who promised to think of ways to help the village.

Black Water Tribe chief Huyan Qing and White Rock Tribe chief Tucha launched a night raid on Chen Village, breaking through its gates and overwhelming the unprepared defenders. Chen Mu used his improved rune gun to cripple several enemy martial artists and turn the battle, while Chen Shanyu continued fighting the two chiefs as they called for reinforcements.

• Tucha and Huyan Qing led more than a hundred fighters in an attack on Chen Village, and Tucha smashed through the wooden gates.
• Chen Mu woke to the alarm, sent Chen Duo with White Turtle to Chen Zifeng, and rushed toward the village entrance instead of fleeing.
• Chen Shanyu fought Huyan Qing and Tucha with his powerful bone staff while Chen Village's defenders struggled to hold the attackers back.
• Chen Mu fired his rune gun from a rooftop, severely injuring several enemy martial artists and giving the villagers a chance to rally.
• Huyan Qing called Amuduo and Duotu to help him, while he and Tucha pressed Chen Shanyu, believing his spiritual power would soon run out.

Chen Mu ambushed and killed the squad sent to hunt him, then returned to the battle at Chen Village and used his Rune Gun to turn the fight against the White Rock Tribe and Black Water Tribe. Chen Shanyu died after passing the chief’s bone staff to Chen Hongjie, while Huyan Qing survived the renewed gunfire by dodging a bullet.

• Chen Mu used his Concealment Rune to kill the searching warriors and froze their leader with a talisman before slashing his throat.
• Chen Shanyu, gravely wounded, passed the bone staff to Chen Hongjie and died after making him promise to protect the villagers.
• Tucha attacked Chen Hongjie for the staff, while Chen Jianfeng and Chen Hongjie fought back against Tucha and Huyan Qing.
• Chen Mu’s Rune Gun rang out, wounded Tucha, and killed several warriors surrounding Chen Shanyu.
• The Chen Village villagers rallied and counterattacked as Chen Mu’s gunfire inflicted heavy casualties on the White Rock Tribe and the Black Water Tribe.
• Huyan Qing dodged a bullet, while nearly all the remaining warriors from both invading tribes were left seriously wounded.

Chen Village survived an attack by the Black Water Tribe and the White Rock Tribe but suffered heavy losses. With Huyan Qing having united the two tribes, Chen Hongjie chose to avoid further conflict and assigned Chen Mu to develop the village’s farmland using Five Elements Runes.

• Huyan Qing and Tucha fled after their forces lost the battle, and Chen Zihu pursued the fleeing enemies until Chen Hongjie ordered him back.
• Chen Village treated its wounded and repaired its gates, but more than a hundred people died in the battle and dozens more later succumbed to their injuries.
• Chen Hongjie led a ceremony honoring the dead in the ancestral hall, where only about two hundred villagers remained fit to fight.
• Chen Hongjie told the village’s key members that Huyan Qing had killed Tucha and annexed the White Rock Tribe, making retaliation too risky.
• Chen Hongjie ordered Chen Village to avoid further conflict and assigned Chen Mu ten people to help manage the farmland.
• Chen Mu agreed, anticipating that his experiments with Five Elements Runes might transform the farmland and produce surprising results.

Chen Mu used Five Elements Talisman Flags to improve farmland around Chen Village, then focused on strengthening his divine soul and cultivation. Half a year later, the fields produced a much larger harvest, and he began having handcarts built to ease the villagers’ work.

• Chen Mu arranged Metal, Water, and Wood Element Talisman Flags across a field, increasing its fertility and vitality while considering how to complete a five-element cycle.
• Chen Mu instructed villagers to plant rice, vegetables, and fruit, then cultivated beside the field while observing the flags’ effects.
• Chen Mu discovered that strengthening his divine soul accelerated his Acala Heart Sutra cultivation, so he devoted most of his time to cultivating his divine soul.
• Six months later, Chen Hongjie inspected the abundant rice harvest and thanked Chen Mu for increasing the field’s yield five or six times over.
• Chen Mu promised Chen Hongjie that future harvests would improve further and said he planned to grow medicinal herbs.
• Chen Mu explained that he had carpenters building handcarts to help villagers carry rice, while reflecting on how his knowledge of physics and way of thinking set him apart.

Chen Mu wanted to join Chen Zihu on a trip to the market to sell talisman paper and buy spirit stones, so he proved he could handle himself in a fight. After defeating Chen Zihu with martial arts and an Immobilization Talisman, Chen Mu claimed his strength came from a Body-Possessing Demon Rune, and Chen Zihu agreed to take him along.

• Chen Zihu told Chen Mu that the talisman-making materials were payment for improving the farmland and invited him to bring talisman paper to the market.
• Chen Mu asked to travel with Chen Zihu and Uncle Xiong, but Chen Zihu refused because the journey was dangerous.
• Chen Mu challenged Chen Zihu to a fight without using talisman paper or hidden weapons, and he knocked him down after immobilizing him with a rune.
• Chen Mu showed Chen Zihu the patterns on his body and said they were a Body-Possessing Demon Rune that strengthened him.
• Chen Zihu accepted that the rune could only work for Chen Mu, then agreed to meet him at the village entrance the next morning.

Chen Mu traveled with Chen Zihu and Chen Shanxiong from Chen Village to Wuyan Market, where they settled into an inn and explored the night market. He found several books he wanted and told a bookseller he planned to sell goods at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion the next day.

• Chen Mu joined Chen Zihu and Chen Shanxiong at dawn and ran with them toward Wuyan Market.
• Chen Shanxiong praised Chen Mu's stamina and urged him to find a way to strengthen the villagers, while Chen Mu agreed without explaining the limitations of Demonic Patterns.
• The three reached Wuyan Market by evening, paid the entrance fee, and rented a standard room at an inn.
• Chen Zihu took Chen Mu around the night market, where Chen Mu examined books on herbs, geography, history, and runes.
• A bookseller offered to buy Chen Mu's goods, but Chen Mu said he planned to sell them at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion the next day.