Recaps

Si Ming received music festival tickets from Yuezheng Yao, who secretly maneuvered to protect her lineage’s standing in Su State. Back at the club, he learned that wanted murderer Ji Xun had fled to Linked Mountains City, and the group began preparing to investigate him.

• Si Ming rejected Yuezheng Yao’s teasing, accepted her music festival tickets, and left the teachers’ dining hall.
• Yuezheng Yao told Fifth Uncle that she had revealed the Nine Shao Pitch-Setting Art to appease Su State, which might otherwise target the Yuezheng Lineage.
• Si Ming returned to the club and agreed that the group could pursue the wanted criminal using his bounty as payment.
• Murong Qing gave Si Ming Ji Xun’s file and explained that Ji Xun’s first crime had avenged his parents’ deaths.

Si Ming and Yu Shuying patrolled the Grape Music Festival while discussing Su State’s entertainment industry and the hunt for Ji Xun. Si Ming suspected Ji Xun might be hiding among the festival crowds, but the chapter ended before they found him.

• Murong Qing explained how Ji Xun’s father died, how Ji Xun’s mother took her own life, and how Ji Xun later killed the family he blamed before turning against innocent people pursued by the Mohist Knight Guard.
• Si Ming realized Yuezheng Yao’s music festival ticket might have been a hint that Ji Xun would hide at the festival.
• Si Ming and Yu Shuying discussed the festival’s growth, Yuezheng Yao’s influence on music in Su State, and Yu Shuying’s plans to expand the Azure Flood Dragon Gang into entertainment through Azure Dragon Entertainment Co., Ltd.
• Si Ming and Yu Shuying walked through the festival on its third day, looking for Ji Xun after earlier searches had found nothing.
• At the eastern stage, Si Ming recoiled from an amateur singer’s performance while Yu Shuying criticized the singer’s fans and explained why no entertainment company would sign him.

Yu Shuying explained how she recruited Auntie Liu to lead her new company, then she and Si Ming argued before spotting a wanted criminal in the festival crowd. The criminal sensed danger, and Yu Shuying warned Si Ming to stop staring at him.

• Yu Shuying told Si Ming that Auntie Liu had become president of her company and held forty-five percent of its shares.
• Si Ming and Yu Shuying argued after she read his thoughts, and Yu Shuying threatened to make him drink Water of the River of Forgetfulness.
• Si Ming and Yu Shuying watched the masked lead singer of the Heaven-Overturning Band perform, and Yu Shuying identified a wanted criminal nearby.
• Si Ming spotted the disguised criminal, who appeared to be a woman, and learned from Yu Shuying that the criminal's cultivation prevented her from reading his specific thoughts.
• The criminal looked around uneasily, and Yu Shuying warned Si Ming to look away before the criminal sensed him watching.

Si Ming and Yu Shuying tried to capture Ji Xun at the crowded music festival, but Nie Wanzhi’s attack exposed him and triggered a violent clash. Ji Xun took the masked lead singer hostage, leaving Si Ming and Nie Wanzhi arguing over whether to prioritize the hostage’s safety or stopping him.

• Yu Shuying guided Si Ming through the crowd toward Ji Xun, but Ji Xun sensed he was being followed and called out the Mohist Knight Guard.
• Nie Wanzhi leaped into the fight and exchanged powerful attacks with Ji Xun, injuring him but also suffering severe wounds.
• Ji Xun fled onto the stage, wounded the keyboard player, defeated the masked lead singer’s counterattack, and seized her as a hostage.
• Si Ming refused Ji Xun’s demand to clear a path and threatened to kill him if he harmed the hostage.
• Nie Wanzhi reached the stage and rebuked Si Ming for risking the hostage’s life, while Si Ming insisted they could not yield to Ji Xun.

Yu Shuying confronted Ji Xun over his revenge killings and exposed his shame and regret, giving Si Ming an opening to rescue the hostage. Murong Qing and Si Ming captured Ji Xun, and the Mohist Knight Guard escorted him away after the festival ended.

• Si Ming prepared to let Ji Xun escape to protect the hostage, but Yu Shuying took over negotiations and challenged Ji Xun’s justification for his crimes.
• Yu Shuying argued that Ji Xun’s survival after taking revenge had brought disgrace on his parents and made him responsible for the innocent people he killed.
• Ji Xun lost control and moved his blade away from the hostage, allowing the female lead singer to knock his arm aside as Si Ming charged.
• Ji Xun pushed the hostage toward Si Ming and tried to flee, but Murong Qing cut off his path with Sword Qi.
• Murong Qing and Si Ming surrounded Ji Xun, disarmed him, and captured him.
• Doctors treated the injured, the Mohist Knight Guard escorted Ji Xun away, and the music festival was canceled.

Si Ming and the Mohist Knight Guard captured Ji Xun after he attacked the Heaven-Overturning Band, whose lead singer was Yuezheng Qiong. Before Ke Chajing could take him into custody, a powerful woman seized Ji Xun for a mysterious organization, while a masked woman discussed her Dream-Creation Plan.

• Si Ming stopped Yuezheng Qiong from beating Ji Xun to death, and Ke Chajing chained him and began dragging him away.
• Yuezheng Qiong revealed her identity to Si Ming and went to comfort her bandmates while arranging medical care for Fang Wen.
• A muscular woman hurled a greatsword at Ke Chajing and claimed Ji Xun, forcing Hu Jixian to withdraw with Ke Chajing.
• The muscular woman knocked Ji Xun unconscious and decided to take him to her organization because of his martial arts talent.
• A masked woman appeared and told the muscular woman that preparations for her Dream-Creation Plan were complete and she had begun its first step.

After learning that Lin Qingtong had escaped with Ji Xun, Si Ming identified her as a Spirit Transformation-level former ally and asked the Mutual Aid Society to protect Yu Shuying’s treasure-grabbing machines on campus. He then learned that Yuezheng Yao had come to the Society to request help, though her commission remained undisclosed.

• Hu Jixian apologized to Si Ming for losing Ji Xun, and Si Ming recognized the woman who took him as Lin Qingtong, a powerful former member of the Mohist Knight Guard.
• Si Ming asked Ke Chajing and Hu Jixian to watch over the treasure-grabbing machines on campus to prevent rival shopkeepers from damaging them, and Ke Chajing agreed.
• Si Ming considered telling Liu Qingqing about Lin Qingtong’s presence and decided to inform Yu Shuying, suspecting Lin Qingtong had come to Linked Mountains City for a reason.
• Yuezheng Yao arrived alone at the Mutual Aid Society and asked whether it would accept a commission from a teacher.
• Si Ming and Yuezheng Yao discussed her view that teachers should not force help on high school students, and Si Ming teased her about being a cold but caring teacher anxious to marry.

Si Ming accepted Yuezheng Yao’s commission to help her sister Yuezheng Qiong keep her band together, receiving the Nine Shao Pitch-Setting Art Body Refining Chapter as a deposit. After studying the martial art and practicing a more complex harmonica, he went to meet Yuezheng Qiong at a record store and found her wearing a mask.

• Yuezheng Yao offered Si Ming the Nine Shao Pitch-Setting Art Body Refining Chapter in exchange for helping her injured sister’s struggling band, and Si Ming accepted.
• Si Ming studied the manual and found that its sound-based training could strengthen his internal organs and create a defensive No-Emptiness Sound Flow.
• Si Ming tried Yuezheng Yao’s advanced harmonica, discovered his existing skills did not work with it, and decided to borrow music books and practice.
• Murong Qing returned, examined the manual, and told Si Ming that the drama club was still struggling to perform convincing fight scenes.
• Si Ming practiced harmonica, followed Yuezheng Yao’s address to a record store, and met the masked Yuezheng Qiong.

Si Ming met Yuezheng Qiong to prepare for a street-band talent show, learning that Yuezheng Yao had arranged their collaboration and that Yuezheng Qiong could advise him on instruments. They chose masks for their performance, and Yuezheng Qiong was astonished by the contradictory qualities of Si Ming’s harmonica playing.

• Yuezheng Qiong told Si Ming that she had learned the Nine Shao Pitch-Setting Art could be used more effectively by switching instruments as the body adapted to each one.
• Yuezheng Qiong explained that she planned to join a talent show for street bands and brought Si Ming to a busy station to practice.
• Si Ming realized his harmonica had been Yuezheng Qiong’s birthday gift to Yuezheng Yao, then learned Yuezheng Qiong had prepared masks for their performances.
• Yuezheng Qiong claimed the Vermilion Bird mask and assigned Si Ming a qilin mask.
• Si Ming played a popular tune on the harmonica, and Yuezheng Qiong noted that his mechanical precision clashed with the vitality of a beginner.

Si Ming and Yuezheng Qiong successfully performed together on the street, then she brought him to an underground ancient martial combat venue. There, Si Ming learned that wealthy spectators watched fighters battle under life-and-death rules.

• Si Ming and Yuezheng Qiong adjusted their playing and drew a crowd with their performance, until station managers asked them to leave for disrupting traffic.
• Yuezheng Qiong chose Wanchang Park for their next performance and tried to smoke, but Si Ming destroyed her cigarette and urged her to protect her throat and health.
• Yuezheng Qiong took Si Ming by car to a wellness center on the outskirts of Linked Mountains City, where he sensed vibrations coming from underground.
• Yuezheng Qiong used a black card to take Si Ming into the basement, where wealthy spectators watched fighters compete in ancient martial combat.
• Yuezheng Qiong explained that combatants at the venue were responsible for their own lives, while Si Ming dismissed the spectacle as a petty scuffle.

Si Ming recognized his classmate Nie Wanzhi fighting in an underground match and asked Yuezheng Qiong to ensure she received her prize money. Nie Wanzhi used lightning-enhanced martial arts and clever footwork against the much larger Steel-Fisted Iron Tower, slipping beneath his punch as the fight continued.

• Si Ming recognized Nie Wanzhi as the masked fighter Thunderbolt Beauty and declined Yuezheng Qiong's offer to have her removed from the ring.
• Si Ming asked Yuezheng Qiong to make sure the organizer did not keep Nie Wanzhi's earnings.
• Yuezheng Qiong teased Si Ming about his interest in Nie Wanzhi, then joked with him over wine before their conversation ended as the fight began.
• Nie Wanzhi attacked Steel-Fisted Iron Tower head-on, dodged his counter, and struck his abdomen with electricity.
• Nie Wanzhi darted behind Steel-Fisted Iron Tower and hit him again, then compressed her force and slipped beneath his sweeping fist.

Si Ming told Murong Qing that Nie Wanzhi fought in illegal matches, and Murong Qing decided not to report her. She then chose to befriend Nie Wanzhi so the Mutual Aid Society could help if needed.

• Nie Wanzhi defeated Steel-Fisted Iron Tower with a lightning-fast assault, and the host declared her the winner.
• Yuezheng Qiong teased Si Ming about Nie Wanzhi and drove him back to Linked Mountains University.
• Si Ming told Murong Qing that Nie Wanzhi took part in illegal fights, possibly to earn money.
• Murong Qing decided not to report Nie Wanzhi because her fighting had not harmed anyone and reporting her could cut off her livelihood.
• Murong Qing proposed that they become Nie Wanzhi's friends so they could offer help, and Si Ming could not refute her logic.

Si Ming and Murong Qing found Nie Wanzhi confronting martial arts club president Chu Gengyin over a rule barring first-years from becoming regulars, and Chu defeated her in a fight. Ke Chajing and Hu Jixian challenged Chu’s reasoning and the rule’s fairness, and he offered to let the first-years vote on it.

• Si Ming and Murong Qing learned that Nie Wanzhi had gone to the martial arts hall to protest a new rule reserving regular team positions for upperclassmen.
• Chu Gengyin defeated Nie Wanzhi and argued that she lacked the strength to be a regular, but she insisted that she could not wait another year.
• Si Ming questioned Chu about the rule, and Murong Qing challenged its fairness before Chu defended it as a way to give fourth-years a final opportunity.
• Ke Chajing objected that the rule had stripped Si Ming and Murong Qing of their chance to compete, while Hu Jixian challenged Chu’s appeal to universal love.
• Chu defended the committee’s decision and offered to let the first-years vote on the rule.

Chu Gengyin refused to change the martial arts club’s new rule, and Ke Chajing quit after clashing with him. After Si Ming clarified that she had misunderstood why he and Murong Qing were there, Ke Chajing decided to form a rival martial arts club, with Si Ming offering to help recruit members.

• Hu Jixian proposed letting freshmen challenge the martial arts team’s substitutes and vote on the rule, but Chu Gengyin insisted that the club’s majority would decide.
• Ke Chajing argued with Chu Gengyin, refused to follow the club’s rules, and said she would submit her resignation application.
• Si Ming advised Chu Gengyin to practice cultivating his composure, then later told Ke Chajing that he and Murong Qing had not been protesting the new rule.
• Ke Chajing explained that she had long disliked Chu Gengyin and decided to establish a second martial arts club with Hu Jixian and their allies.
• Si Ming offered to find two strong recruits, and he suggested naming the new group the Second Martial Arts Club.

Ke Chajing established plans for the Second Martial Arts Club while Si Ming and Murong Qing learned why Nie Wanzhi wanted to advance quickly: her family still owed eighty million after her father’s death. Si Ming reviewed the strengths of their internal cultivation arts and told Nie Wanzhi that she would need to switch from the Jade Crane Art to progress in the Martial Dao League, leaving her uncertain about how to find guidance after leaving the club.

• Ke Chajing took the withdrawal forms and went with Hu Jixian to apply to establish the Second Martial Arts Club.
• Nie Wanzhi apologized to Si Ming and Murong Qing for their leaving the club, then explained that she wanted to become famous quickly to earn money.
• Nie Wanzhi revealed that her father had died after being trapped in illegal fundraising, leaving her family with eighty million in debt and a dangerous creditor.
• Si Ming explained the evaluation of internal cultivation arts and compared the Jade Crane Art with Murong Qing’s Glacier Divine Art.
• Si Ming said Nie Wanzhi would need to switch from the Jade Crane Art to advance in the Martial Dao League, and Nie Wanzhi said she had planned to seek a martial arts doctorate’s guidance through the club.

Ke Chajing established the Linked Mountains University Second Martial Arts Club and gathered enough members to enter team competitions, while Si Ming helped Nie Wanzhi choose a cultivation method suited to her constitution. Liu Qingqing introduced a device that could identify martial arts, leaving Si Ming baffled by how it worked.

• Si Ming examined Nie Wanzhi and found that her yang-metal destiny suited a yang-aligned method, recommending the Chan Sun Martial Scripture and Golden Bell Cover.
• Ke Chajing officially established the Second Martial Arts Club and led a profane chant against Chu Gengyin.
• Si Ming introduced Liu Qingqing and explained that three friends had agreed to join, giving the club enough members for its roster.
• Liu Qingqing showed the club the Martial Arts Illustrated Compendium, a device gifted by Senior Zhu that recorded and analyzed martial arts.
• Nie Wanzhi demonstrated Swift Thunder Palm, and the compendium identified its traits and suggested techniques to pair with it.
• Si Ming questioned how the device could recognize a martial art from its movements, calling its technology incomprehensible.

Nie Wanzhi and Hao Shuai sparred at Linked Mountains University, with Nie attacking using Whirlwind Leg and Hao responding with threadlike force. Hao countered her crescent-shaped blast and struck toward her face.

• Nie Wanzhi practiced Whirlwind Leg against Hao Shuai at the university training ground.
• Nie moved swiftly and launched a crescent-shaped blast of force at Hao’s face before following in to attack.
• Hao dispersed the blast with threadlike force and countered by striking toward Nie’s face.

Nie Wanzhi trained with Hao Shuai while Si Ming advised her on combining her martial arts and changing her Internal Cultivation. Si Ming demonstrated a mysterious palm print before leaving, but Nie Wanzhi and Hao Shuai could not discern its secret.

• Nie Wanzhi used Whirlwind Leg to keep Hao Shuai at a distance, then combined its footwork with Swift Thunder Palm to overwhelm him until he surrendered.
• Si Ming identified Hao Shuai's Buried Love Thousand Threads Hand and explained how Nie Wanzhi's two techniques could complement each other.
• Nie Wanzhi told Si Ming that converting her level-nine Jade Crane Art into the Chan Sun Martial Scripture had caused her True Qi to clash and nearly brought on Qi deviation.
• Si Ming recommended that Nie Wanzhi first convert to the related Shi Moon Dharma Scripture, but she doubted his expertise and challenged him to spar.
• Si Ming struck a nearby rock, leaving a palm print with a raised 卍 symbol, then left; Nie Wanzhi and Hao Shuai could not figure out its secret.

Ke Chajing and the others discovered that Si Ming’s palm print showed extraordinary control, including intricate symbols and a matching mark on the rock’s underside. Yuezheng Yao tried to draw Si Ming into a public scandal at Linked Mountains University, but he escaped with her and confronted her about the stunt.

• Ke Chajing noticed that the sunken part of Si Ming’s palm print was formed from densely packed 卍 symbols.
• Hu Jixian flipped over the rock and found an identical palm print on its bottom.
• Yuezheng Yao waited outside Linked Mountains University, attracting fans and reporters as she watched for Si Ming.
• A burst of holy light blinded the crowd, and Si Ming and Yuezheng Yao disappeared from the gates.
• Si Ming accused Yuezheng Yao of trying to entangle him in a scandal, and she said she had wanted to repay him and blamed him for ignoring her invitation.
• Yuezheng Yao defended her public persona as a comforting role, and Si Ming explained that the masks during the street performance had protected Sister Qiong from unwanted attention.

Si Ming and Lin Qingtong went to an abandoned building to discuss matters privately, but first Si Ming warmed up for a fight. The chapter ended before their confrontation began.

• After performing with Yuezheng Qiong, Si Ming agreed to learn the dizi from her.
• Si Ming sensed someone following him and confronted Lin Qingtong, who had been watching from the darkness.
• Si Ming and Lin Qingtong exchanged blows, then agreed to leave and talk somewhere private.
• Nie Wanzhi emerged after they left and wondered whether to follow them because she wanted the Martial Arts Illustrated Compendium back.
• Si Ming and Lin Qingtong reached an abandoned building, and Si Ming stretched before their discussion.

Lin Qingtong tried to persuade Si Ming to undergo metalization, but he rejected the risky, unproven procedure. Their disagreement turned into a fight, where Si Ming used newly mastered Shaman School techniques to counter her swordsmanship before Lin Qingtong unleashed a powerful attack.

• Lin Qingtong revealed her metalized arm and offered to metalize Si Ming, claiming the process would improve his strength, health, and lifespan.
• Si Ming refused, arguing that metalization was experimental and could have unknown side effects, and said he would wait until the technology was perfected.
• Lin Qingtong challenged Si Ming, and her Collapse Sword overwhelmed his unarmed defense, forcing him back and numbing his arm.
• Si Ming used Water Moon Mirror Dance and Shaman Steps to divert Lin Qingtong's sword, explaining that he had trained to overcome her techniques since their previous fight.
• Lin Qingtong summoned a Wenlin beast phantom, spun into Peng's Heavenly Whirl, and slashed at Si Ming with a powerful tornado of Gang Qi.

Si Ming defeated Lin Qingtong in a battle that brought down a seven-story building, then approached her as she lay badly injured. Lin Qingtong warned that she had been careless and would not be caught off guard again, while Si Ming laughed and felt his cultivation advance.

• Si Ming countered Lin Qingtong’s techniques and battered her with absorbed force and compressed air currents.
• Lin Qingtong collapsed the floor to evade Si Ming’s attack, but he unleashed a blood-red palm strike through the building as she answered with a powerful sword strike.
• Their attacks collided, and the seven-story building collapsed; outside, Nie Wanzhi watched in shock.
• Si Ming emerged from the rubble and found Lin Qingtong with her sword arm severed, then mocked her metal transformation.
• Lin Qingtong said she had been careless and would not be so lucky next time, while Si Ming laughed and advanced in cultivation.

Si Ming defeated Lin Qingtong, but a masked peacock woman intervened and rescued her. Si Ming pursued the woman, only to have her escape with an unfamiliar technique that weakened his attacks.

• Lin Qingtong regenerated her severed arm and attacked Si Ming, but his Blood Sha Qi repeatedly severed her limbs and left her unable to fight effectively.
• Si Ming subdued Lin Qingtong and prepared to capture her, but a resonant syllable disrupted him and let her escape.
• A peacock-masked woman intercepted Si Ming, wounded him with her strange True Qi, and helped Lin Qingtong flee.
• Si Ming recovered while trading taunts with the masked woman, then attacked her with the Great Brahma Sacred Palm.
• An invisible force weakened Si Ming's attack as he approached, and the peacock woman used the recoil to escape into the darkness.

Si Ming discussed the Remote Heaven Society’s mysterious aims and possible metalization experiments with Yu Shuying, who agreed to gather information through the Azure Flood Dragon Gang. He later encountered Yuezheng Yao and remained unsure whether she was the Peacock Woman he had fought the previous night.

• Si Ming recovered Lin Qingtong’s heavy Collapse Sword from the ruins and wondered whether the Peacock Woman’s voice had been meant to mislead him.
• Nie Wanzhi brought Si Ming her questions about the Shi Moon Dharma Scripture and firmly agreed to practice it.
• Si Ming told Yu Shuying about his encounter with the Remote Heaven Society, and she offered to investigate the group through the Azure Flood Dragon Gang.
• Si Ming and Yu Shuying speculated that the Remote Heaven Society might be researching metalization and seeking suitable test subjects.
• Si Ming went to his elective music class, met Yuezheng Yao at the classroom door, and decided against testing whether she was the Peacock Woman.

Yuezheng Qiong and Si Ming performed together, then shared tea while discussing his quick progress with music and tea brewing. Yuezheng Qiong revealed that her younger sister Yao had once surpassed her at the guqin in only three months, leaving her bitter despite Yao’s gratitude.

• Si Ming and Yuezheng Qiong finished their masked park performance to applause from a growing audience.
• Yuezheng Qiong took Si Ming to A Teahouse, where the owner teased her about seducing him.
• Si Ming demonstrated expert tea-brewing skills, impressing Yuezheng Qiong with his precise preparation.
• Yuezheng Qiong remarked on Si Ming’s rapid improvement at playing the flute during their performance.
• Si Ming asked whether Yuezheng Qiong had been thinking of another genius, and she explained how her younger sister Yao surpassed her at the guqin after only three months of instruction.