Chapter Summaries

Lin Chen and Xiao Wu shared dinner at an inn in Silves City, where Xiao Wu drank most of the red date wine and fell asleep. The next morning, Dugu Bo hurried everyone downstairs, but Xiao Wu refused to wake, leaving Lin Chen to decide to go ahead with his master.

• An attendant brought Lin Chen and Xiao Wu dinner and introduced the inn's Soul Power-infused red date wine.
• Xiao Wu eagerly drank most of the wine pot while eating, then became sleepy and asked Lin Chen to help her to bed.
• Lin Chen carried Xiao Wu to bed, tucked her in, and sat quietly beside her before going to sleep.
• At dawn, Dugu Bo woke Dugu Yan and ordered her to get ready for breakfast quickly.
• Lin Chen tried to wake Xiao Wu, but she burrowed under the blanket and asked to sleep longer, so he said he and his master would go ahead.

Dugu Bo took Lin Chen, Xiao Wu, and Dugu Yan southwest through the Silves hinterlands toward the Balak Kingdom, choosing a discreet route into the Star Luo Empire to avoid Spirit Hall checkpoints. As the carriage traveled along rough mountain roads, Lin Chen quietly trained his Void Divine Eye and expanded his spiritual perception.

• Dugu Bo hurried Dugu Yan, Xiao Wu, and Lin Chen through breakfast before they left the inn by carriage.
• Dugu Bo explained that they would cross the Silves hinterlands into the Balak Kingdom, then use the border mountains to enter the Star Luo Empire and avoid Spirit Hall surveillance.
• Dugu Yan asked about Balak's underground Soul Fighting Arenas, and Dugu Bo told her to focus on their business.
• Dugu Yan and Xiao Wu whispered about visiting an arena on their return, while Lin Chen smiled and left the possibility open.
• As the carriage crossed from the official road onto rough mountain tracks, Lin Chen trained his Void Divine Eye and sensed the surroundings for several li.

Lin Chen, Xiao Wu, Dugu Yan, and Dugu Bo traveled from Deer Cry City to Lanxi Town and arrived at the Moon Spring Inn. They secured rooms and medicinal hot spring baths for the night.

• Dugu Bo stopped the carriage at Deer Cry City, where the group rested, ate, and fed the horses.
• Dugu Bo explained Deer Cry City's name and said they needed to reach Lanxi Town before dark.
• The group traveled through increasingly dense woodland and arrived in Lanxi Town after nightfall.
• Dugu Bo booked three rooms, medicinal baths, and late-night food at the Moon Spring Inn.
• The inn attendant led them to a quiet bamboo courtyard beside the separate men's and women's bathing pools.

During a nighttime soak, Lin Chen told Dugu Bo he lacked confidence in curing the Moon-Eroding Nether Poison without studying the Nether Blood Moon Clan and the Blood Moon Devil Lotus. In the women's bath, Xiao Wu and Dugu Yan teased each other about their feelings for Lin Chen and Yu Tianheng, leaving Dugu Yan admitting she cared for Yu Tianheng but was waiting for him to speak first.

• Lin Chen and Dugu Bo went to the men's bath while Xiao Wu and Dugu Yan went to the women's bath.
• Dugu Bo asked Lin Chen how confident he was about treating the Moon-Eroding Nether Poison, and Lin Chen said he needed to examine the Nether Blood Moon Clan and the Blood Moon Devil Lotus first.
• Dugu Bo assured Lin Chen that their trip would not be for nothing.
• Dugu Yan questioned Xiao Wu about her relationship with Lin Chen, and Xiao Wu said they had been together since they met and that he had cared for her since she was little.
• Xiao Wu pointed out Yu Tianheng's attentiveness to Dugu Yan, and Dugu Yan admitted she knew he treated her well but would not make the first move.

Xiao Wu and Dugu Yan splashed and teased each other in the women’s bath, while Lin Chen and Dugu Bo overheard them from the men’s bath. After Dugu Bo left, Xiao Wu found Lin Chen in his room and asked where he had gone.

• Xiao Wu teased Dugu Yan about Yu Tianheng, and Dugu Yan pinched her cheeks before the two began a water fight.
• Xiao Wu kept joking about Dugu Yan’s feelings for Yu Tianheng, and Dugu Yan chased her through the bath.
• Lin Chen tried to reassure Dugu Bo as they overheard the girls’ noisy play, but Dugu Bo grew increasingly irritated.
• Dugu Bo left the bath and returned to his room, while Lin Chen finished bathing and went back to the courtyard.
• Xiao Wu visited Lin Chen after her bath and asked where Dugu Bo was, and Lin Chen told her he had returned to his room.

Xiao Wu and Lin Chen shared a late-night meal at the inn before setting out with Dugu Bo toward Suotuo City the next morning. Meanwhile, Tai Nuo arrived at Heaven Dou Royal Academy with weapons for Lin Chen, only to learn that Lin Chen was away training.

• Xiao Wu teased Lin Chen about his flushed face, then ate medicinal dishes with him before falling asleep beside him.
• Lin Chen cultivated with the Void Divine Eye and later lay awake when Xiao Wu rolled against him in her sleep.
• Dugu Bo woke Lin Chen and Xiao Wu, and the four left the inn to travel through the Balak Kingdom toward Suotuo City.
• Tai Nuo and two Strength Clan members arrived at Heaven Dou Royal Academy carrying a heavy chest and bundles for Lin Chen.
• A student told Tai Nuo that Lin Chen had left to train with Dugu Bo and had been gone for several days.

Tai Nuo inspected the Strength Clan’s first batch of Lin Chen’s Hidden Weapons and found them well made, then Tai Tan returned and questioned him about Lin Chen and the new designs. After hearing that Lin Chen had taught Tai Nuo the Chaotic Cloak Hammer, Tai Tan went to the forge to see it in action.

• Tai Nuo received Lin Chen’s letter authorizing the Strength Clan to begin mass production if the weapons met their standards.
• Tai Nuo inspected the Silent Sleeve Arrows and spring mechanisms, approved their quality, and left word for Lin Chen.
• Tai Tan returned from Gulei, examined the weapons, and asked Tai Nuo to explain how the clan had begun working with Lin Chen.
• Tai Nuo described the three Hidden Weapon designs, the first batch’s successes and failures, and Lin Chen’s lesson in the Chaotic Cloak Hammer.
• Tai Tan entered Iron Hammer Valley and watched a smith strike a white-hot billet with successive hammer blows.

Tai Tan recognized Lin Chen’s hammer method as resembling the Clear Sky Sect’s secret technique, but decided Iron Hammer Valley would practice it discreetly and seek a meeting with Lin Chen. In Suotuo City, Lin Chen and his companions witnessed Young Master Ma threaten an old tailor and his granddaughter over their shop.

• Tai Tan watched a smith use Lin Chen’s eighty-one-blow hammer method and recognized its resemblance to the Clear Sky Sect’s Chaotic Cloak.
• Tai Tan decided Iron Hammer Valley would practice the method only inside its sheds, mass-produce the Sleeve Arrows, and ask Lin Chen to meet him.
• Dugu Bo stopped with Dugu Yan, Xiao Wu, and Lin Chen in Suotuo City for half an hour to rest and feed the horses.
• Lin Chen noticed an old tailor and his granddaughter working in their small shop across the street.
• Young Master Ma kicked the tailor’s cloth rack and threatened to tear down the shop unless the family moved out that day.

Lin Chen and his companions intervened when the Ma family attacked Chen Chunya and her grandfather over their tailor shop. After Lin Chen and the others defeated the thugs, the old tailor explained that the Ma family had tried to buy the valuable property for one Gold Soul Coin.

• A young man from the Ma family assaulted Chen Chunya and her grandfather, demanded their shop, and ordered his thugs to search for the deed.
• Dugu Yan and Xiao Wu wanted to step in, but Dugu Bo told them to watch as Lin Chen went down to the street.
• Lin Chen lifted and threw the young man aside, then helped the old tailor and gave him medicine while Xiao Wu tended to Chunya.
• Four thugs attacked Lin Chen, Dugu Yan tripped another, and Xiao Wu kicked one away, leaving five of the seven thugs down.
• The old tailor told Lin Chen that the Ma residence had offered one Gold Soul Coin for his street-front shop, which he said was worth at least one or two hundred coins.

Lin Chen and his companions rescued Chunya and her grandfather from the Ma family’s land grab, then helped them flee Suotuo City before the family could retaliate. The old tailor and Chunya left for Geli Town while the group continued on its way.

• Lin Chen confirmed that the old tailor held the land deed and challenged the young man to produce paperwork for the Ma family’s claim.
• The young man threatened to have the city gates guarded and fled with his thugs.
• Dugu Bo warned Lin Chen and the others that the Ma family would retaliate against the old tailor and Chunya after they left.
• Lin Chen gave the old tailor about a hundred Gold Soul Coins and urged him to leave for Geli Town with Chunya.
• Dugu Bo drove the old tailor and Chunya through the south gate, and they parted from the group at a fork in the road.

Dugu Bo deliberately left fresh carriage tracks to draw pursuers south as he led the group out of Suotuo City. Ma Ding sent Ma Ang, two Soul Grandmasters, and armed men after them, and the tracks appeared to confirm the carriage’s route.

• Dugu Bo drove the carriage back and forth at a fork to leave clear tracks, then led it south out of Suotuo City.
• Ma Ang told Ma Ding that three outsiders had beaten his men, and Ma Ding decided to pursue them without sealing the city gates.
• Ma Ding summoned Commander He and Qian Qi, gathered more than twenty men in plain clothes, and searched the Chen Family Tailor before discovering it was empty.
• The south gate captain reported that a carriage carrying two old men and several youths had left south, so Ma Ding’s group rode after it.
• After riding more than ten li, Qian Qi spotted fresh carriage ruts and hoofprints heading south, and Commander He judged them less than an hour old.

Dugu Bo and the others escaped Ma Ding’s pursuit by drugging the road, then traveled through the night to Dexius Town. They arrived and sampled the town’s local food, while Lin Chen noticed a metallic smell growing stronger as they headed south.

• Dugu Bo’s medicine put Commander He, Ma Ding, Ma Ang, and their men to sleep, allowing the carriage to escape.
• After waking, Ma Ding refused to pursue the travelers and decided to claim the abandoned tailor shop for the Prison Administration.
• Dugu Bo drove the carriage through the night without lighting torches, while Xiao Wu and Dugu Yan slept and Lin Chen noticed a growing metallic tang in the mountain wind.
• The travelers reached the unwalled Dexius Town, where Dugu Bo explained its customs and the group saw its crowded street and abandoned mines.
• The group ate red pot stew and rock flatbread at a local eatery, and Xiao Wu found the stew painfully spicy but kept eating.

Lin Chen and the others learned that Dexius had a secret underground market where people and goods were auctioned, and Lin Chen paid the Iron Tooth Inn’s landlady to ask how it worked. The landlady accepted his coins, but the chapter ended before she answered.

• Dugu Bo explained that Iron Tooth, the one-armed landlady, had built the inn after surviving an ambush that killed her husband.
• Dugu Bo told Xiao Wu, Dugu Yan, and Lin Chen to stay at the inn while he went to ask about the road.
• Lin Chen and the others overheard travelers describe an underground market that sold ores, information, and slaves, guarded by mysterious Shadow Hunters.
• After the inn emptied, Lin Chen offered Iron Tooth three Gold Soul Coins in exchange for information about the market and its entrance.
• Iron Tooth collected the coins and looked at Lin Chen, leaving his questions unanswered.