Chapter Summaries

Lu Yuan and Mo Chen examined the soul marrow fragments and a jade-like stone, then discussed finding a hidden base for their research. They decided to return to Maple Leaf Town and investigate the abandoned Old West Gully mine as a possible foothold.

• Lu Yuan identified the jade-like stone as a natural stabilizing field that might help create controlled Soul Power environments.
• Lu Yuan argued that the main marrow would have drawn dangerous attention after the Cloud Mist Sect deaths and the collapse of the stone pool.
• Lu Yuan proposed establishing a secure place to research Soul Tools and Soul Power, and Mo Chen warned that they lacked the money, people, and strength to claim one.
• Lu Yuan suggested Old West Gully, an abandoned mine with thin Soul Power, concealed terrain, and an underground water source, as a suitable research base.
• Mo Chen agreed to investigate the mine with Lu Yuan after they returned to Maple Leaf Town, while warning that powerful factions might eventually target them.

Lu Yuan and Mo Chen explored an abandoned mining hollow as a possible place for Lu Yuan’s research. In a collapsed tunnel, they uncovered Red-Patterned Rock, suggesting that a trace of fire-attribute Soul Power might remain deeper in the supposedly barren mine.

• Lu Yuan and Mo Chen surveyed the hollow, finding thin Soul Power, scattered ruins, and tunnels of varying stability.
• Mo Chen searched the ruined houses for usable metal while Lu Yuan assessed the hollow’s terrain and potential for modification.
• Lu Yuan sensed a faint, stable Soul Power fluctuation behind the wall of the most isolated tunnel and led Mo Chen inside to investigate.
• Lu Yuan and Mo Chen cleared rubble and roots from the chamber wall, revealing a warm patch of dark red rock marked by natural patterns.
• Mo Chen identified the rock as low-quality Red-Patterned Rock, and Lu Yuan extended his Blue Silver Grass tendrils deeper into the chamber to search for the source.

Lu Yuan and Mo Chen discovered a depleted earthfire vein beneath the abandoned mine and began designing a device to draw on its steady Soul Power. Their plan also offered Mo Chen a possible treatment for his seven-year-old fire-attribute injury and a chance to test his long-abandoned Universal Soul Tool Core concept.

• Lu Yuan sensed a steady Soul Power flow from a surviving branch of the earthfire vein and explained how Red-Patterned Rock could guide it through newly etched channels.
• Lu Yuan examined Mo Chen's damaged meridians and suggested that the vein's gentle fire-and-earth energy might gradually ease the effects of his old injury.
• Mo Chen agreed to risk treatment, and he and Lu Yuan began designing a device to divert Soul Power to both their base and Mo Chen's injury.
• Mo Chen proposed a resonance extraction circuit, while Lu Yuan argued that careful design could overcome Red-Patterned Rock's flaws.
• Lu Yuan suggested using the stable vein as a test source for Mo Chen's Universal Soul Tool Core concept, and Mo Chen began the first design for the Earthfire Remnant Vein Diversion Device.

Lu Yuan and Mo Chen worked for ten days to build a crude Soul Power Guidance and Diversion Device from scavenged materials. They successfully tested it in the abandoned mine, where it diverted and stabilized three faint streams of Soul Power.

• Lu Yuan set up a primitive warning network around the mine while Mo Chen assembled a workbench and sorted their salvaged tools.
• Lu Yuan proposed using the pale jade fossil to stabilize earthfire Soul Power, then etched runes onto low-grade Soul Stones as Mo Chen worked to refine their tools.
• Over the following days, Mo Chen made two fragile etching needles while Lu Yuan carved guidance runes into the Red-Patterned Rock, recovering from a dangerous backlash when he missed a natural knot in its veins.
• By the tenth day, Lu Yuan and Mo Chen had assembled a palm-sized device with Soul Marrow crystal fragments, metal runes, and three Soul Stones.
• Lu Yuan activated the device, and three faint streams of diverted Soul Power reached the Soul Stones; Mo Chen saw their receiving runes light up.

Lu Yuan and Mo Chen hid their Soul Tool experiments when a group of Soul Masters approached the abandoned mine while hunting a Burrowing Rat. After the hunters left, Lu Yuan realized their hideout might no longer be secure and planned stronger warnings while accelerating their research.

• Lu Yuan sensed five approaching Soul Masters and told Mo Chen to hide in the innermost rock chamber.
• Lu Yuan disguised the cave entrances with dead vines, loose stones, pungent powder, and fleeing poisonous insects.
• The hunters searched the mine but left after deciding it was abandoned, though one mentioned sensing an unusual Soul Power fluctuation.
• Lu Yuan and Mo Chen discussed the danger to their hideout, and Lu Yuan rejected setting traps that might reveal their presence.
• Lu Yuan decided to expand the Blue Silver Grass warning network and speed up work on the Soul Power Guidance and Diversion Device.

Shen Moxin visited Lu Qinghe to report that she had been dismissed for teaching Lu Yuan’s theories and that two commoner students had been forced to leave the academy. Lu Qinghe kept her letter and was left considering the harm caused by the academy’s response and the changes his son hoped to make.

• Shen Moxin told Lu Qinghe that the academy had fired her for discussing Lu Yuan’s theories about Soul Power and cultivation.
• She explained that two poor commoner students interested in Lu Yuan’s ideas had been ostracized and deprived of training resources until they withdrew.
• Shen Moxin confirmed that Lu Yuan had helped Lu Qinghe reach Soul Grandmaster through a path based on understanding Soul Power.
• She gave Lu Qinghe the address of the two students’ cheap lodging and asked him to tell Lu Yuan what had happened if he heard from him.
• Lu Qinghe took the dismissal letter and hid it at home after Shen Moxin left, troubled by the students’ plight and the academy’s actions.

Lu Qinghe and Shen Moxin found Lu Yuan and Mo Chen working in a remote mine, where Lu Yuan invited Shen Moxin to stay and offered Su Yan and Li Wangye a place. Three days later, the boys arrived with Shen Moxin at the cavern, where Lu Yuan turned to greet them.

• Lu Qinghe led Shen Moxin through the mountains to a hidden mine and gave Lu Yuan a letter about the academy’s treatment of students.
• Shen Moxin explained that Su Yan and Li Wangye had been pressured to leave Nuoding Academy, and Lu Yuan invited them to join him while asking Shen Moxin to stay.
• Shen Moxin agreed to stay, then returned to Nuoding City to bring Su Yan and Li Wangye to the mine.
• Three days later, Shen Moxin brought Su Yan and Li Wangye through the mine tunnels into the cavern, where Lu Yuan turned to look at them.

Lu Yuan accepted Su Yan and Li Wangye into the mountain cavern, gave them basic Soul Power notes, and tested their resolve with practical work. As they studied and trained through the night, Zhao Shi began to suspect that Lu Qinghe's Soul Power had changed.

• Lu Yuan warned Su Yan and Li Wangye about the hardship and strict rules at the cavern, and both chose to stay.
• Mo Chen learned that Su Yan had an Iron Ruler Martial Soul with innate level three Soul Power and Li Wangye had a Gray Sparrow Martial Soul with innate level two.
• Lu Yuan showed the boys around, gave them notes on Soul Power perception and guidance, and ordered them to repair tools, inspect ropes, and build a rubble barricade.
• Su Yan repeatedly practiced drawing a Soul Power Diverter diagram, while Li Wangye repeatedly tried to gather Soul Power at the cave entrance.
• Zhao Shi recalled Lu Qinghe's recent trips and suspected that his Soul Power had rekindled.

Zhao Shi investigated reports of activity at the abandoned mine and warned Lu Qinghe that unauthorized mining and gatherings of unknown Soul Masters could bring trouble. Lu Qinghe returned to the mine and told Lu Yuan and the others about the warning, leaving them to face Zhao Shi’s scrutiny.

• Zhao Shi sent Wang Wu to inspect the old mine, where Wang Wu found fresh tracks, broken vines, and a burnt, metallic smell but no clear Soul Power fluctuations.
• Zhao Shi decided not to report his suspicions or investigate the mine himself and chose to warn Lu Qinghe first.
• Zhao Shi confronted Lu Qinghe at the eastern crossroads and cautioned him against unauthorized activity and gatherings of unknown Soul Masters at the mine.
• Lu Qinghe hurried back to the mine and recounted Zhao Shi’s warning to Lu Yuan, Shen Moxin, Mo Chen, Su Yan, and Li Wangye.

Lu Yuan devised a plan to reassure Deacon Zhao by reporting the mine’s unusual activity, paying a small safety fee, and presenting the household’s visitors as harmless tradesmen. The group agreed to stage the plan, with Mo Chen building a crude forge for Zhao to see in five days.

• Mo Chen suggested moving away from Maple Leaf Town, but Shen Moxin warned that fleeing would make Zhao Shi more suspicious.
• Lu Yuan explained that Zhao Shi feared trouble and proposed giving him a reasonable account of the mine activity, following regulations, and tying the household’s interests to his.
• Lu Yuan told Lu Qinghe to report the mine’s unusual Soul Power fluctuations and introduce Shen Moxin and Mo Chen as down-on-their-luck Soul Masters helping with safety and exercise.
• Lu Qinghe agreed to Lu Yuan’s plan, while Lu Yuan reminded Su Yan and Li Wangye to continue their training in private.
• Lu Yuan asked Mo Chen to build a crude constant-temperature forge within five days so Zhao Shi could see the visitors doing harmless skilled work.

Zhao Shi inspected the mine hideout and accepted Lu Qinghe’s payment after the residents presented their work as harmless crafts and training. After Zhao Shi left, Lu Yuan said their first stage was complete but warned that they now had to move faster under Zhao Shi’s scrutiny.

• Lu Yuan explained that Shen Moxin and Mo Chen had taken refuge in the mine and were helping the children while earning money with their skills.
• Mo Chen demonstrated his noisy, unstable furnace, convincing Zhao Shi that it was a crude tool for heating iron rather than suspicious research.
• Zhao Shi searched the mine and huts, found no prohibited items or dangerous signs, and judged the residents to be poor and unlikely to cause trouble.
• Lu Qinghe paid the required fee for six people for three months, and Zhao Shi allowed them to remain while warning them to follow the rules and be careful with fire.
• After Zhao Shi left, Mo Chen kicked the furnace in frustration, while Shen Moxin and the others quietly recovered from the inspection.
• Lu Yuan declared the first stage complete and said they would need to act faster now that Zhao Shi would be watching them.

Lin Xiao returned to the mine with findings about his family's hidden legacy, the Land of Lightning Strikes, and a token linked to its ruins. Lu Yuan chose to focus on gathering strength and testing the next Soul Power Diverter node with Lin Xiao.

• Lin Xiao returned to the mine and gave Lu Yuan a dark metal token tied to his family's records of the Land of Lightning Strikes.
• Lin Xiao explained that the stone platform in the Thousand Needle Stone Forest might be an outer node, while the core could temper Martial Souls and purify Soul Power at grave risk.
• Lin Xiao revealed that he had replaced his Soul Ring and adjusted his circulation with Lu Yuan's Soul Power Map method, reaching the Soul Ancestor realm and improving his power.
• Lu Yuan decided they needed more information, strength, and preparation before exploring the legacy, and welcomed Lin Xiao's help.
• Lu Yuan showed Lin Xiao the Soul Power Diverter plans and asked how precisely he could control his Soul Power; Lin Xiao agreed to test it.

Lin Xiao explained how Lu Yuan's theory helped him adjust his cultivation technique, survive absorbing a Shadow Leopard Soul Ring, and strengthen his abilities. Lu Yuan proposed that they investigate the Thousand Needle Stone Forest and the Land of Lightning Strikes, then assigned the group their next tasks.

• Lin Xiao described how he adjusted three Soul Power pathways to better match his Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul and improve his control.
• Lin Xiao recounted killing a thirteen-hundred-year-old Shadow Leopard and nearly losing control while absorbing its Soul Ring, which strengthened his fourth Soul Skill, Shadow Assault.
• Shen Moxin explained that traditional theory rarely studied adapting cultivation techniques to individual Martial Souls, and Lin Xiao said his family’s methods had left him no choice but to find his own path.
• Lu Yuan proposed investigating the hexagonal token and the depths beneath the Thousand Needle Stone Forest to learn how the Land of Lightning Strikes worked and who created it.
• Lu Yuan asked Lin Xiao to consolidate his breakthrough, Mo Chen to develop the Soul Power diverter, and Shen Moxin to train Su Yan and Li Wangye.

Lu Yuan organized the group’s work at the base and began investigating the Land of Lightning Strikes. He developed a theory that its dangerous energy currents could be controlled by a resonating token to create a channel for tempering Martial Souls.

• Lin Xiao tested Su Yan’s reflexes with a thrown fruit and agreed to lead combat training, scouting, and defense.
• Lu Yuan assigned research to himself, construction to Mo Chen, teaching materials and lessons to Shen Moxin, combat training to Lin Xiao, and logistics to Lu Qinghe, with regular meetings to coordinate them.
• Lin Xiao trained Su Yan and Li Wangye with ambushes, and Su Yan managed to dodge an attack by sensing movement and killing intent.
• Lu Qinghe returned from town with food, salt, and scrap iron, and began watching for traces around the mine entrance.
• Lu Yuan compared the Stone Forest data, Earth Vein Soul Marrow analysis, and token records, then proposed that the token could guide turbulent Soul Power into a stable vortex channel that tempered a Martial Soul.

Bai Zhi brought her poisoned brother to Lu Yuan, who devised an untested purification array using a precious Earth Vein Soul Marrow crystal fragment to try to save him. After Bai Zhi swore to keep the hidden base and its people secret, Mo Chen completed the array disc, and Lu Yuan prepared to begin treatment.

• Lin Xiao carried Bai Zhi's unconscious brother into the rock chamber, and Bai Zhi begged Lu Yuan to save him from the Red Chain Snake King's poison.
• Lu Yuan examined the man's condition and found that the poison was attacking his Martial Soul Origin, then ordered Shen Moxin, Mo Chen, and Lin Xiao to help prepare treatment.
• Lu Yuan proposed a miniature purification array centered on an Earth Vein Soul Marrow crystal fragment to stabilize the poison, and assigned Mo Chen to carve it while Shen Moxin prepared the herbs.
• Bai Zhi supplied the needed herbs and swore on her Martial Soul and family inheritance to keep everything about the base and its inhabitants secret.
• Mo Chen finished the purification array disc with the crystal fragment at its center, and Lu Yuan returned to begin the attempt to save Bai Zhi's brother.

Lu Yuan used a formation disk and Soul Marrow crystal to temporarily suppress and expel the deadliest toxins from Bai Zhi's brother, though a full cure still required a seven-heart ice lotus. After Bai Zhi offered to stay and help with herbs and research, Lu Yuan accepted, leaving the group with a new potential medical support member as he recovered.

• Lu Yuan used the formation disk, medicinal paste, and his Soul Power to separate the toxins in Bai Zhi's brother and force tainted blood from his body.
• Bai Zhi found her brother stable, thanked Lu Yuan, and learned that he needed long-term care and a seven-heart ice lotus for a true antidote.
• Bai Zhi swore to keep the cavern's secrets and offered her knowledge of herbs, Soul Beast medicine, and Soul Power sensing in exchange for staying.
• Lu Yuan accepted Bai Zhi's offer and instructed Mo Chen, Shen Moxin, and Bai Zhi on caring for the formation disk and the injured man.
• Mo Chen and Shen Moxin helped Lu Yuan out of the chamber while Lin Xiao resumed watch, and Lu Yuan rested as his Soul Power began to recover.

Lu Yuan learned that the Cloud Mist Sect had returned to the Thousand Needle Stone Forest with a Soul Emperor and equipment to search for the Earth Vein Soul Marrow. He organized surveillance, accelerated preparations and training, and began considering how the group could keep exploring while avoiding the stronger force.

• Lin Xiao returned from reconnaissance and reported that the Cloud Mist Sect had camped near the stone forest with at least ten people, including a likely Soul Emperor and detection equipment.
• Lu Yuan concluded that the Cloud Mist Sect was searching for Earth Vein Soul Marrow fragments or the missing main crystal, and warned that exploring the core area could bring them into conflict.
• Lu Yuan ordered Mo Chen to hurry the Quiet Cultivation Array Disc prototype and told Lin Xiao to track the sect's patrols and the elderly Soul Emperor.
• Shen Moxin agreed to add combat and evacuation drills, while Lu Yuan called for a supply inventory and preparations to hide or relocate.
• Lin Xiao left to monitor the Cloud Mist Sect, and Mo Chen resumed carving as Lu Yuan considered a way forward.

Mo Chen and Shen Moxin completed the first working array disc, which created a small, stable Soul Power environment. Lu Yuan proposed taking it to the Thousand Needle Stone Forest to collect test data and probe the Cloud Mist Sect’s detection Soul Tool.

• After Mo Chen ruined another jade fossil, Shen Moxin tested the remaining fragments and selected one with uniform Soul Power conduction.
• Mo Chen engraved the array disc while Shen Moxin recalculated its energy nodes and corrected a misaligned rune.
• Shen Moxin and Mo Chen activated the disc together, overcoming unstable energy release and uneven circuit resistance.
• The disc formed a one-meter halo that smoothed and stabilized Soul Power, and Lu Yuan estimated its charge would last forty to fifty shichen.
• Lu Yuan proposed testing the disc in the Thousand Needle Stone Forest and measuring the range of the Cloud Mist Sect’s detection Soul Tool.

Lu Yuan and Lin Xiao tested the array disc in the outskirts of the Thousand Needle Stone Forest, where it stabilized the turbulent Soul Power and let Lu Yuan study its currents. They discovered a nearby source of gentle Soul Marrow Essence near the Cloud Mist Sect’s search area, then returned to the mine with its location marked on the map.

• Lin Xiao reported the Cloud Mist Sect’s patrol routes, and Lu Yuan decided to test the array disc on the western outskirts after midnight.
• Lu Yuan activated the array disc behind a boulder and used its stable halo to study the turbulent Soul Power while Lin Xiao kept watch.
• Lin Xiao spotted a patrol heading toward the stone bamboo forest, confirming that the Cloud Mist Sect was intensifying its search in the southeast.
• Lin Xiao detected pure, warm Soul Power seeping from a crack, and Lu Yuan used Mo Chen’s sensing crystal to identify it as likely Soul Marrow Essence.
• Lu Yuan chose not to dig for the substance because the crack lay near the Cloud Mist Sect’s search area, and he and Lin Xiao withdrew before the patrol returned.
• Lu Yuan marked the crack and the stone bamboo forest on the map, recognizing that obtaining the Soul Marrow Essence would carry serious risks.

Lu Yuan gathered the group to decide whether to risk confronting the Cloud Mist Sect for Soul Marrow Essence, which could heal injuries and strengthen them. They unanimously chose to pursue it and named their base Spark, pledging to face the dangers together.

• Lu Yuan revealed the Soul Marrow Essence site near the Cloud Mist Sect's search area and explained the risks of trying to obtain it.
• Mo Chen, Lin Xiao, Shen Moxin, Su Yan, Li Wangye, Lu Qinghe, and Bai Zhi each expressed support for facing the danger and described what they could contribute.
• Lu Yuan argued that conflict with the powerful sects was unavoidable if they continued their work, and the group affirmed they were ready to stand together.
• Lu Yuan decided they would plan to obtain the Soul Marrow Essence and renamed their base Spark.
• The group stacked their hands together and vowed to walk their path as one.