Chapter Summaries

Lu Yuan used careful observation of the platform and his Blue Silver Grass to make Wu Gang fall out of bounds, winning their match despite his lower Soul Power. As Lu Yuan left the training ground, Instructor Chen and Teacher Sun watched him with suspicion, while Ning Zhishou began writing after reviewing the match report.

• Lu Yuan dodged Wu Gang’s attacks by reading his movements and conserving his strength, then avoided Wu Gang’s Ape Pounce Soul Skill.
• Lu Yuan used a loose stone slab and slippery Blue Silver Grass blades to make Wu Gang lose his balance and fall beyond the platform.
• Instructor Chen disqualified Wu Gang and declared Lu Yuan the winner, while Teacher Sun watched Lu Yuan with an icy gaze.
• Lu Yuan left with Wang Shuo and Shen Moxin, and Bai Zhi congratulated him as the crowd’s attention followed him.
• Ning Zhishou reviewed Lu Yuan’s match record, checked the reference book on Blue Silver Grass, and began writing a letter.

Lu Yuan won his assessment match after using treated adhesive residue with his Blue Silver Grass to send Wu Gang out of bounds, but the judges left his conduct under review and Instructor Chen threatened his overall evaluation. As Lu Yuan withdrew in silence, Ning Zhishou recorded the victory as an “opportunistic trick.”

• Instructor Chen found grayish-white powder on the arena and accused Lu Yuan of using prohibited Withered Leaf Snake venom.
• Lu Yuan explained that he had treated the sample to remove its toxicity and leave only its adhesive property.
• Shen Moxin argued that the residue did not violate the assessment rules, while Instructor Chen condemned Lu Yuan’s tactics.
• Elder Li ruled that Wu Gang’s fall out of bounds meant Lu Yuan had won, leaving the committee to review whether he had broken any rules.
• Instructor Chen warned that Lu Yuan’s conduct could lower his overall assessment, and Lu Yuan left the arena to join Wang Shuo and Bai Zhi.
• Ning Zhishou recorded Lu Yuan’s performance as “Victory. Opportunistic trick.”

Zhou Chun praised Lu Yuan’s clever arena tactics, then warned him that academy officials were moving to restrict his studies and research access. He gave Lu Yuan an address for Elder Lin in Vast Sea City as a possible refuge, while Lu Yuan left with his future at the academy uncertain.

• Zhou Chun identified how Lu Yuan used Dead Leaf Snake venom gland powder, Gray Rock Lizard shed skin, and the arena’s cracked surface to make his opponent slip.
• Zhou Chun told Lu Yuan that Ning Zhishou, Sun Ming, Chen Qinian, and two theory department elders had filed a report seeking restrictions on Lu Yuan’s work-study privileges, library access, and research.
• Zhou Chun explained that he warned Lu Yuan because he did not want the academy to suppress Lu Yuan’s unconventional approach to research.
• Zhou Chun gave Lu Yuan an address in Vast Sea City and told him to ask for Elder Lin if he could no longer remain at the academy.
• Lu Yuan thanked Zhou Chun, asked whether the tidal cycle conjecture could be published if verified, and left the laboratory.

Lu Yuan helped academy teaching assistant Li Wangye improve his wood-cleaver technique and explained how to optimize his Martial Soul use through measurement and modeling. Li Wangye regained hope and agreed to help Lu Yuan collect samples, leaving with plans to test the ideas and return for advice.

• Lu Yuan corrected Li Wangye’s grip and Soul Power timing, helping him chop ironwood far more effectively.
• Lu Yuan explained that Li Wangye could model his Martial Soul and test different parameters to find a more efficient technique.
• Li Wangye wrote down Lu Yuan’s principles and offered to help him collect samples from Bristle Rat nests.
• Lu Yuan gathered fresh Bristle Rat spine samples while Li Wangye discussed his stalled Soul Power and asked whether he could still improve.
• Li Wangye promised to build a model and asked to keep seeking Lu Yuan’s advice, and Lu Yuan agreed.

Lu Yuan used the academy’s work-study regulations to challenge Zhao Shi’s delays and unfair assignments, forcing the deacon to provide the overdue potions, approve his materials request, and restore their library work. A week later, Lu Yuan was selected for a dangerous wilderness gathering assignment led by Teacher Sun.

• Lu Yuan discovered that Zhao Shi had delayed the work-study students’ potions and stalled his experimental materials request while assigning him and Wang Shuo exhausting manual labor.
• Lu Yuan studied the academy regulations and cited rules requiring timely resource distribution, materials assessments, and review of repeated manual-labor assignments.
• Zhao Shi acknowledged the procedural failures and promised to address them; the potions were distributed, Lu Yuan’s materials request was approved, and his assignment returned to the library.
• A week later, Lu Yuan received notice that he had been selected for a class C wilderness assignment near the Black Rock Mountain Range, led by Sun Ming.

Shen Moxin introduced students to a voluntary method for improving Soul Power pathway efficiency, and Chen Shi showed early signs of progress after trying it. As the technique spread among students, the Teaching Supervision Office scheduled an inspection of Shen Moxin’s class, assigning the conservative Sun Ming to observe.

• Shen Moxin taught a supplementary lesson on Soul Power pathways and suggested that students below level three test different circulation orders.
• Li Wangye asked Shen Moxin for guidance and agreed to have Chen Shi try her method and record his results.
• Chen Shi’s practice records showed increased Soul Power readings, and Li Wangye reported that Chen Shi and several other students were improving.
• Shen Moxin noticed students quietly discussing and testing the pathway method as it spread through the academy.
• A deacon from the Teaching Supervision Office informed Shen Moxin that Sun Ming would inspect her theory class the morning after tomorrow.

Shen Moxin defended her lesson on Soul Power compression when Supervisor Sun accused her of abandoning established cultivation principles, and she demonstrated its effectiveness in class. Sun left to report her to the supervisory office, while Shen told Li Wangye to keep testing despite the obstacles ahead.

• Shen Moxin taught that compressing and controlling Soul Power could improve penetration without increasing its total amount, prompting Supervisor Sun to challenge her using an old cultivation text.
• Shen Moxin had Chen Shi strike two boards with the same strength, and his adjusted Soul Power technique made a markedly deeper dent in the second board.
• Supervisor Sun questioned whether the boards were truly comparable, but Shen Moxin said they came from the same piece of pine.
• Supervisor Sun dismissed the demonstration, warned Shen Moxin that he would report her to the supervisory office, and left the classroom.
• Li Wangye praised Shen Moxin and said he believed her and Junior Lu's approach might be right, and Shen told him to keep recording data and testing.
• Shen Moxin saw Sun Ming crossing the courtyard toward the supervisory office, then continued on her way.

After Shen Moxin was demoted to the old archives, Lu Yuan visited her and decided to leave the academy for Vast Sea City to pursue his research. Shen Moxin stayed behind to study the discarded manuscripts and gave him a notebook of Soul Power models before he departed.

• The academy suspended Shen Moxin's lead instructor qualifications and transferred her to manage the old archives, while Li Wangye reported that Chen Shi's data had risen by 0.3.
• Lu Yuan learned of Shen Moxin's transfer and discussed the academy's restrictions with Li Wangye.
• Shen Moxin surrendered her badge and course schedule, then began sorting old research manuscripts in the archives.
• Lu Yuan showed Shen Moxin the address in Vast Sea City that Teacher Zhou had given him and told her he had decided to leave the academy.
• Shen Moxin gave Lu Yuan her notebook of Soul Power models, and he bowed farewell before leaving the archives with his departure settled.

Lu Yuan said goodbye to Wang Shuo, Bai Zhi, and Li Wangye at a bonfire before leaving the academy at dawn. Teacher Sun learned of his departure and sent a man to follow him, with instructions to hasten his journey if necessary.

• Wang Shuo invited Lu Yuan to a secret bonfire farewell with Bai Zhi and Li Wangye before Lu Yuan left the next morning.
• Bai Zhi gave Lu Yuan medicine and insect-repellent powder, while Li Wangye told him his Soul Power training method had helped him and Chen Shi.
• Lu Yuan gave Li Wangye practical notes on basic Soul Power control and urged him to build a solid foundation.
• Wang Shuo asked Lu Yuan not to forget them if he succeeded, and Lu Yuan promised he would.
• Lu Yuan left the academy at dawn and took the path east out of the mountains.
• Teacher Sun learned that Lu Yuan had left and ordered a man to follow him, telling him to help speed Lu Yuan's journey if necessary.

Lu Yuan was attacked by an injured Iron Thorn Wild Boar and survived with help from a young stranger. After the two treated their wounds, the gray-clad pursuer sent by Teacher Sun confronted them and threatened the youth, who drew his dagger to fight.

• Lu Yuan encountered an injured Iron Thorn Wild Boar and used bristles, Blue Silver Grass, and a rolling rock to keep it from killing him.
• A young stranger sprang from the woods, struck the boar through its injured eye, and killed it, though a tusk wounded his shoulder.
• Lu Yuan and the youth exchanged names only indirectly, treated the youth’s shoulder with medicinal powder, and questioned each other about being in the woods.
• Lu Yuan sensed a cold Soul Power fluctuation and saw the gray-clad man who had followed him emerge from the trees.
• The gray-clad man said Teacher Sun had sent him to kill Lu Yuan and ordered the youth to leave; the youth refused and drew his dagger.

Lu Yuan helped Lin Xiao defeat a gray-clad assailant who was hunting him, then used a strange bead from the attacker to slow Lin Xiao’s poison. With night approaching, Lu Yuan carried the wounded boy east to find shelter, and Lin Xiao woke and asked to be put down.

• The gray-clad man poisoned and bound Lin Xiao with Bone-Binding Silk, then ordered Lu Yuan to surrender his belongings.
• Lu Yuan used Soul Power to make fluorescent vines flare, distracting the attacker long enough for Lin Xiao to break free and kill him.
• Lin Xiao collapsed from his injuries, and Lu Yuan treated his wound with Moonlight Orchid powder before searching the corpse.
• Lu Yuan found a bead embedded in the attacker’s palm and pressed it to Lin Xiao’s wound, stopping the poison from spreading.
• As darkness fell, Lu Yuan carried Lin Xiao east to seek shelter, and Lin Xiao woke and told him to put him down.

Lu Yuan treated Lin Xiao’s poisoned shoulder in a hidden cave, then explained how mismatched cultivation methods could hinder a mutated Martial Soul. Lin Xiao asked Lu Yuan to help optimize his cultivation method and offered to accompany him toward Vast Sea City, where Lu Yuan was headed.

• Lu Yuan carried the wounded Lin Xiao to a cave, gave him a medicinal bead to suppress the poison, and cleaned and bandaged his shoulder.
• Lin Xiao questioned Lu Yuan’s precise use of Blue Silver Grass, and Lu Yuan explained that he studied how plants responded to different Soul Power frequencies and pulses.
• Lu Yuan suggested that Lin Xiao’s family had given his mutated Hell Spirit Cat a cultivation method meant for a standard one, causing blockages in his Soul Power.
• Lin Xiao asked Lu Yuan to help optimize his cultivation method, and Lu Yuan agreed to try if Lin Xiao cooperated and accepted the risks.
• Lin Xiao offered to accompany Lu Yuan toward Vast Sea City and said he could not return to his family; Lu Yuan said they would leave at daybreak.

Lu Yuan and Lin Xiao ambushed the man tailing them and learned that Teacher Sun had sent him to watch Lu Yuan and possibly arrange an accident. The pair continued toward Vast Sea City, now aware that Teacher Sun and the Hundred Refinements Pavilion were working against them.

• Lu Yuan and Lin Xiao noticed a follower and planned to ambush him in a valley.
• They captured the follower, who identified Teacher Sun as his employer and admitted he had been told to watch Lu Yuan and possibly arrange an accident.
• The follower revealed that Teacher Sun had accepted benefits from Shopkeeper Jin of the Hundred Refinements Pavilion after Lu Yuan questioned the triangular array.
• Lin Xiao knocked the man unconscious, and the pair bound him and threw him down a ravine.
• Lu Yuan and Lin Xiao resumed their journey toward Vast Sea City, with Lu Yuan carrying the address for Old Shipyard Alley.

While seeking supplies in a craftspeople’s settlement, Lu Yuan discovered Su Yan’s extraordinary precision in shaping metal and offered him brief guidance. Lu Yuan and Lin Xiao left without recruiting him, while Su Yan continued working with a newly sharpened sense of control.

• Lu Yuan and Lin Xiao entered the settlement to buy salt and supplies, where they noticed Su Yan hammering a metal component with remarkable steadiness.
• Lu Yuan identified a hidden flaw in the metal and showed Su Yan how to guide his Soul Power through it, improving the component’s finish.
• Lin Xiao warned Lu Yuan that their enemies and dangerous journey made it risky to involve Su Yan, so Lu Yuan initially left without approaching him further.
• After buying provisions and treating Lin Xiao’s wound, Lu Yuan returned to Su Yan and taught him to sense control through the tiny vibrations in his tendons.
• Su Yan tried Lu Yuan’s advice and felt clearer control as he resumed hammering, while Lu Yuan and Lin Xiao departed the settlement.

Lu Yuan and Lin Xiao survived a deadly ambush by three men sent by Teacher Sun, killing two attackers and leaving the third badly wounded. After Lin Xiao agreed to share details about his cultivation so Lu Yuan could help optimize it, they left the mountain path together before more danger arrived.

• Lin Xiao and Lu Yuan were ambushed by a control-type Soul Master and two assault-type fighters, who said Teacher Sun wanted Lin Xiao dead or alive.
• Lu Yuan used Blue Silver Grass, irritating sap, purple thorn grass, and disturbed beetles to disrupt the attackers while Lin Xiao killed the control-type Soul Master.
• Lin Xiao killed the wiry attacker and struck the burly man down, but suffered severe wounds; Lu Yuan bound his injuries after his Soul Power was exhausted.
• Lu Yuan realized the Hundred Refinements Pavilion had sent the men to silence him, while Lin Xiao recognized the value of Lu Yuan’s unconventional tactics.
• Lin Xiao offered Lu Yuan information about his Soul Power pathways and Martial Soul Possession to help optimize his cultivation method, and Lu Yuan agreed.
• Lu Yuan searched the corpses for supplies, discarded the poisoned blade, and helped Lin Xiao leave the mountain path before the scent of blood drew more threats.

Lu Yuan weighed whether to leave the gravely injured Lin Xiao behind or risk traveling with him to Gray Stone Market. He chose the market, and the two set out together in search of medicine and information.

• Lin Xiao developed a high fever as his shoulder wound worsened, and Lu Yuan considered the routes to Gray Stone Market and Ghost Cry Valley.
• Lin Xiao urged Lu Yuan to go ahead without him, admitting he could no longer return home.
• Lu Yuan chose Gray Stone Market, judging that its medicine and crowds offered their best chance despite the danger.
• Lu Yuan hauled Lin Xiao to his feet and supported him as they headed northeast toward the market.
• Lin Xiao thanked Lu Yuan, who adjusted his grip and continued onward with him.

Lu Yuan traded the Iron Thorn Wild Boar bones for medicine and supplies to treat Lin Xiao in a Gray Stone Market shanty. He learned the Hundred Refinements Pavilion had put a bounty on a young Soul Master with Blue Silver Grass and an injured companion, then saw its men begin searching the shanties door to door.

• Lu Yuan traded the Iron Thorn Wild Boar bones to a stallholder for medicine, flatbreads, and water while supporting the feverish Lin Xiao.
• The stallholder told Lu Yuan that the Hundred Refinements Pavilion had offered five hundred Gold Soul Coins for a young Soul Master who might have Blue Silver Grass and an injured companion.
• Lu Yuan paid to shelter Lin Xiao in a shanty and treated his infected wound and fever.
• Lu Yuan heard orderly footsteps and saw a Hundred Refinements Pavilion search party question people in nearby shanties.
• Lu Yuan recognized the Pavilion's emblem and realized its men had arrived and were searching door to door.

Lu Yuan fled Gray Stone Market with the feverish, wounded Lin Xiao and hid from the Hundred Refinements Pavilion in an abandoned soul-tool mine. Cornered by their pursuers, they received an urgent escape instruction from a mysterious stranger concealed in a side passage.

• Lu Yuan carried the exhausted Lin Xiao out of the shantytown and headed for the mountains as the Hundred Refinements Pavilion searched for them.
• Lin Xiao told Lu Yuan that an abandoned mine nearby contained miasma that weakened Soul Power, but they entered it to escape their pursuers.
• Lu Yuan followed airflow through the mine, but the tunnel ended at a cave-in while the pursuers closed in behind them.
• Lin Xiao urged Lu Yuan to escape through a narrow crack while he stayed to hold off the pursuers, but Lu Yuan refused to leave him.
• A hidden stranger answered Lu Yuan's call for help and told them to push open the third loose stone slab on the left without touching the purple moss.

Lu Yuan and Lin Xiao hid from the Hundred Refinements Pavilion in a mine tunnel, where they met a hostile inventor who recognized Lu Yuan’s Soul Tool knowledge and let them stay. The inventor treated Lin Xiao’s infected wound with an experimental gel, stopping the bleeding as the pursuers’ footsteps faded, though the danger in the tunnel remained uncertain.

• Lu Yuan and Lin Xiao slipped into a hidden room in the mine, where a strange man aimed a crossbow at them.
• Lu Yuan explained that the Hundred Refinements Pavilion was hunting them, then impressed the man by proposing a fix for a Soul Tool circuit problem.
• The man lowered his crossbow, let them hide, and gave them medicine to protect against miasma in the tunnels.
• After examining Lin Xiao’s infected wound, the man used his newly developed rapid wound-clotting gel on it.
• The gel formed a film over Lin Xiao’s wound and stopped the bleeding, while the pursuers’ footsteps faded outside.

Lu Yuan impressed Mo Chen by diagnosing flaws in his Soul Tool designs, and Mo Chen offered to work with him. Their discussion was interrupted when Mo Chen heard the Hundred Refinements Pavilion searching nearby, leaving Lu Yuan to choose between Mo Chen’s offer and his plan to reach Vast Sea City with the unconscious Lin Xiao.

• Lu Yuan identified problems in Mo Chen’s Soul Tool theories and designs, including energy-flow conflicts, resonance, thermal expansion, and a flawed efficiency formula.
• Mo Chen shared how the Hundred Refinements Pavilion had expelled him after his experiments failed and left him burdened with debt.
• Lu Yuan recognized the ingredients and proportions in Mo Chen’s clotting gel, deepening Mo Chen’s trust in him.
• Mo Chen gave Lu Yuan an iron box of research notes and formulas, then urged him to stay and build a laboratory together.
• Mo Chen heard the Hundred Refinements Pavilion searching the mountain, while Lu Yuan looked between Mo Chen and the unconscious Lin Xiao.