Recaps

Chen Ning broke the Marquis Who Guards the North’s battle formation, stripped him of thirty years of cultivation, and left him for the Thief God to handle. After reuniting the Thief God with Su Ling'er, Chen Ning received mission rewards that raised his cultivation and unlocked new abilities, then wondered what he could do while invisible.

• Chen Ning seized control of the battle formation’s core and shattered it, leaving the soldiers defeated and the Marquis Who Guards the North unable to escape.
• The Thief God recognized Chen Ning’s supreme mastery of the [Heaven-Stealing Ghost Hand], while Chen Ning asked his permission to strip the Marquis of thirty years of cultivation.
• Chen Ning drained the Marquis’s cultivation and left him for the Thief God to deal with before taking the Thief God to see Su Ling'er.
• Su Ling'er reunited tearfully with her grandfather at the inn while Chen Ning went upstairs to rest.
• The system rewarded Chen Ning with five cultivation levels, the [Shadow Cloak], the [Star-Picking Finger], and the missing portion of the [Heaven-Stealing Ghost Hand]; Su Ling'er also advanced three levels.
• Chen Ning reached the Eighth Heaven of the Spirit Martial Realm and considered testing the Shadow Cloak on Cang Yue, then wondered what he could do while invisible.

Chen Ning considered his new Star-Picking Finger and Su Ling'er's sudden gains, while the Thief God learned Chen Ning had completed the Heaven-Stealing Ghost Hand and urged Su Ling'er to stay by his side. The Thief God then left to protect the Shi Clan's Lineage and its military power.

• Chen Ning dismissed the thought of acting freely toward his new disciple and began studying the Star-Picking Finger, whose final strikes exceeded his current strength.
• Su Ling'er told the Thief God that Chen Ning had endured a heavenly lightning tribulation for her, and the Thief God regretted keeping secrets from Chen Ning.
• Su Ling'er revealed that the missing portion of the Heaven-Stealing Ghost Hand had appeared in her mind, and the Thief God discovered she had advanced from the Sixth to the Ninth Heaven of the Spirit Martial Realm.
• The Thief God concluded Chen Ning had completed Su Ling'er's cultivation method and told her to protect and follow him; Su Ling'er denied having fallen for Chen Ning, blushing.
• The Thief God decided to return to the Shi Clan to preserve its Lineage and the Marquis Who Guards the North's military power, then tearfully said goodbye to Su Ling'er.

Chen Ning and Su Ling'er were recognized as wanted criminals after killing Imperial Guards, and Zhao Hao, commander of the Imperial Guard, confronted them in a restaurant. Three attendants of Situ Changqing recognized Chen Ning and tried to intervene, but Zhao Hao refused to release the pair and prepared to enforce the arrest.

• Chen Ning comforted Su Ling'er after the Thief God left and admitted he had long known her identity.
• Imperial Guards posted wanted portraits of Chen Ning and Su Ling'er, recognized them in the restaurant, and surrounded the building.
• Zhao Hao arrived and accused the pair of killing his men, while Su Ling'er defiantly confirmed they had done it.
• Three powerful attendants of the Situ Family presented the Left Minister's token and asked Zhao Hao to let them pass.
• The attendants identified Chen Ning and Su Ling'er as friends of Situ Changqing, but Zhao Hao refused to release them and warned the attendants not to interfere.

Chen Ning and Su Ling'er were nearly arrested by Zhao Hao, but Chu Fengnian arrived and revealed that they were also his friends. After the Imperial Guards knelt and Chu Fengnian escorted them toward the teleportation formation, Su Ling'er told Chen Ning she might not be able to return for now.

• Zhao Hao ordered his Imperial Guards to seize Chen Ning and Su Ling'er despite the Situ Family members’ protests.
• Chu Fengnian rushed into the restaurant, disarmed Zhao Hao, and declared that Chen Ning and Su Ling'er were his friends.
• Chu Fengnian explained that the Eldest Princess had secretly instructed him to protect the pair, and Zhao Hao and the Imperial Guards knelt to beg forgiveness.
• Chen Ning declined Chu Fengnian’s offer of hospitality and asked him to activate the teleportation formation.
• As Chen Ning and Su Ling'er followed Chu Fengnian through the streets, Su Ling'er said she might not be able to return for the time being.

Chen Ning got lost on Verdant Peak and accidentally fell into Meng Yuyi’s bathing tub, where he discovered that the Second Elder was the Heavenly Lake Holy Land’s undercover Holy Maiden. After Meng Yuyi showed him the way out, she reflected on her Extreme Cold Spirit Body, and Chen Ning received a limited-time quest.

• Chen Ning returned to Verdant Peak alone and lost his way among its misty paths.
• Chen Ning entered Meng Yuyi’s courtyard and accidentally fell into her bathing tub.
• Meng Yuyi confronted Chen Ning, and he recognized her as the Second Elder and undercover Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Lake Holy Land.
• Meng Yuyi explained that her maid had represented her at the Azure Cloud Rite and showed Chen Ning the path out.
• Meng Yuyi put out the brazier’s flames with her Extreme Cold Spirit Body, and Chen Ning received the limited-time [Carry Water] quest.

Chen Ning completed the system’s water-carrying task for Meng Yuyi and received a bonus that reduced the negative effects of her Extreme Cold Spirit Body. His unexpected show of concern left Meng Yuyi wondering whether her life could hold more than cultivation and duty.

• The system ordered Chen Ning to deliver ten buckets of water to Meng Yuyi’s residence within an hour, with the loss of a previous reward as the failure penalty.
• Chen Ning drew and carried the water by hand because the system prohibited him from using divine abilities to help.
• Chen Ning accidentally dropped the last bucket beside Meng Yuyi’s bath, then persuaded her he had brought the water to make up for disturbing her.
• Meng Yuyi declined Chen Ning’s offer to arrange maids, and Chen Ning hurriedly left, resolving to avoid her.
• The system rewarded Chen Ning with one level of cultivation and reduced the negative effects of Meng Yuyi’s Extreme Cold Spirit Body.
• Looking at the buckets, Meng Yuyi reflected on Chen Ning’s concern and wondered whether life could offer her something beyond cultivation and responsibility.

Meng Yuyi wondered whether Chen Ning had eased her Cold Ice Devouring the Body, while Chen Ning planned to remain in the sect and searched for food for his picky black dragon. At Verdant Peak’s gathering, the Ninth Elder prepared to act on his long-held ambition to seize the Dragon-Seeking Sect’s secret treasure.

• Meng Yuyi endured only mild cold instead of her usual torment and suspected Chen Ning’s contact with her had caused the change.
• Chen Ning decided to stay in the sect to test how missions were triggered, reflected on threats within the sect, and tried to feed his black dragon.
• Verdant Peak gathered its disciples and elders for a ceremony celebrating inner disciples and encouraging the sect’s future leaders.
• The Ninth Elder recalled his plan to steal the sect’s legendary secret treasure and judged the gathering to be his chance to act.

The Ninth Elder planned to use the Heart Demon Scripture to plunge Verdant Peak into chaos and steal the Dragon-Seeking Sect’s secret treasure, but he was surprised when Cang Yue appeared at the gathering. He began his address by challenging the disciples’ understanding of the Dao, leaving them silent with questions about the cruelty of the world.

• The Ninth Elder prepared to use the Heart Demon Scripture during his speech to awaken heart demons among Verdant Peak’s disciples and exploit the resulting chaos to reach the sect leader.
• Chen Ning entered a side hall with the little black dragon, which ate twenty mid-grade Origin Stones, and Ying Wu told him the Grand Elder wanted to speak with him later.
• The Third Elder finished his address, and the disciples eagerly awaited the Ninth Elder’s speech after some had begun contemplating the sword intent in the Third Elder’s words.
• The Ninth Elder asked the disciples what the Dao was, prompting them to debate and offer answers about all things and an innocent heart.
• The Ninth Elder questioned whether the Dao had meaning in a brutal world where the strong preyed on the weak, and his words silenced the training ground.

Chen Ning chose to stop the Ninth Elder from planting heart demons in the Dragon-Seeking Sect’s disciples and addressed them from the platform. His stirring words began to shake the Ninth Elder’s influence, but the chapter ended as Chen Ning delivered his final declaration.

• The Ninth Elder used the Heart Demon Scripture to inflame the disciples’ resentment and began planting heart demons in their hearts.
• Chen Ning noticed the Ninth Elder’s plot and chose the system’s option to stop him rather than risk losing three cultivation levels.
• Chen Ning asked Ying Wu to carry him to the platform on a cloud of mist, where Cang Yue urged him to give the disciples guidance.
• Chen Ning spoke about the Dragon-Seeking Sect’s legacy and urged the disciples to cultivate diligently and face hardship.
• Chen Ning declared, “Establish a heart for heaven and earth, secure a livelihood for the people, carry on the lost teachings of the sages, and bring peace to ten thousand generations!”

Chen Ning’s words summoned auspicious clouds and drove away the disciples’ heart demons, while the Third Elder’s sword path broke through and Cang Yue grew more certain of Chen Ning’s hidden abilities. The Ninth Elder sacrificed twenty years of his lifespan to activate the Heart Demon Scripture, plunging the training grounds into chaos as demonic voices tormented the disciples.

• Chen Ning’s words summoned auspicious clouds of merit and dispersed the disciples’ heart demons, strengthening their States of Mind.
• The Third Elder reflected on his obsession with restoring his fallen Lineage, found clarity, and broke through in his sword path.
• Cang Yue took the auspicious phenomenon as proof of Chen Ning’s extraordinary power and looked forward to spending the evening with him.
• The Ninth Elder saw that the disciples’ heart demons had nearly vanished and decided to sacrifice twenty years of his lifespan to activate the Heart Demon Scripture.
• The Ninth Elder offered Essence Blood and invoked the scripture, unleashing black currents and demonic voices that plunged the disciples into turmoil.

Chen Ning spoke words of a sage that dispelled the demonic sound, strengthened the Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples, and stirred all of Spirit Province. The Ninth Elder was exposed and captured, leaving his fate to Chen Ning and the First Elder.

• Cang Yue worried that the demonic sound would corrupt the disciples, but Chen Ning spoke a grand vow wishing for every Dragon-Seeking Sect disciple to become a dragon.
• Chen Ning's words echoed across Spirit Province, astonishing cultivators and prompting the Heavenly Lake Holy Land's Holy Lord to predict that Spirit Province would become a blessed land.
• Auspicious radiance descended on the training grounds as the disciples overcame their demonic obstructions and broke through to higher realms.
• The disciples revered Chen Ning for his words, which strengthened their Dao hearts and gave them a shared sense of belonging.
• The Heart Demon Scripture shattered, and the Ninth Elder suffered a severe backlash; the Third Elder bound him and left his fate to Chen Ning and the First Elder.

After the Ninth Elder was captured and tortured, Chen Ning was summoned to meet Cang Yue, who was eager to be near him. Chen Ning feared she might use a Gu on him and activated a Protective Talisman, which Cang Yue mistakenly took as a lesson in talisman study.

• Cang Yue ordered the Ninth Elder tortured with venomous insects and poisonous ants until he was barely alive, and Chen Ning left, relieved that an undercover agent had been caught.
• Ying Wu escorted Chen Ning to meet Cang Yue despite his attempt to decline.
• Cang Yue prepared for Chen Ning's visit and worried that Xiao Mei had grown closer to him during their trip to Gold and Iron City.
• Cang Yue welcomed Chen Ning as her Master, then moved closer and massaged his shoulders while he tried to end the meeting.
• Fearing Cang Yue might secretly put a Gu on him, Chen Ning activated a transcendent first-grade Protective Talisman.
• Cang Yue saw the talisman and assumed Chen Ning was demonstrating its power to teach her.

Cang Yue studied Chen Ning’s transcendent first-grade talismans, but her jealousy over Xiao Mei stirred confusing feelings toward her master. Chen Ning escaped to Vermilion Bird Peak, where the disciples’ reverence showed how deeply his sacred words had affected them.

• Cang Yue studied the talismans while Chen Ning secretly used Protective Talismans to guard against her persistent shoulder massage.
• Cang Yue stopped, pleased with the improvement in her inscription skills, then grew jealous of Xiao Mei and took Chen Ning’s hand.
• The sunrise bell triggered a system reward for thwarting the Ninth Elder’s plot, and Chen Ning hurried away from Cang Yue’s room.
• Cang Yue suppressed her wavering thoughts and blushed as she realized she saw nothing wrong with giving herself to Chen Ning.
• Chen Ning returned to Vermilion Bird Peak and overheard disciples discussing his sacred words on Verdant Peak.
• The disciples spotted Chen Ning and bowed to him with unusual reverence.

Chen Ning led a hundred Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples into the Forest of the Dead for a ten-day trial assigned by the system. After saving a disciple from a mutated Thorny Wild Boar, he rebuked the group for underestimating the danger.

• Chen Ning accepted the system's Disciple Trial mission and ordered Lu Ping to gather the sect's top hundred disciples for the expedition.
• Lu Ping organized the disciples, and Chen Ning rested before the group set out the following morning.
• Chen Ning and the disciples entered the eerie Forest of the Dead, where they soon encountered Thorny Wild Boars.
• When a mutated boar charged a disciple, Chen Ning killed it with an arrow of Essence Power, revealing that it was a third-tier spirit beast.
• Chen Ning warned the disciples that the forest was a trial, not a sightseeing trip, and criticized them for being careless.

Chen Ning led the Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples through the Forest of the Dead, where they gained combat experience without losing anyone. After welcoming a group of injured hunters to camp, he learned that their wounded companions had run out of healing pills.

• Chen Ning urged the disciples to take the trial seriously and continued studying the Heaven-Slaying Bow and his Holy Light Arrows.
• Over five days, the disciples fought spirit beasts, improved their skills, and broke through minor realms while Chen Ning intervened only when they faced certain death.
• Chen Ning called camp as night fell, and Lu Ping organized the disciples while they shared food around a fire.
• Luo Pan and six other hunters approached the camp, and Chen Ning welcomed them and introduced himself as Red Scarf.
• Luo Qingqing told Luo Pan that the two badly injured hunters might not survive the night without healing pills, so he considered asking Brother Red Scarf for some.

Chen Ning gave Luo Pan’s injured companions precious pills, but Luo Pan later revealed himself as the leader of the Hurricane Hunting Alliance and turned against his benefactors. He and his hunters prepared to rob and kill Chen Ning’s group.

• Chen Ning lent Luo Pan’s companions high-grade healing pills, saving the two badly injured men.
• The next morning, hundreds of hunters arrived at the camp looking for their alliance leader, Luo Pan.
• Luo Pan reunited with his men and learned their hunt had gone poorly, with no high-grade spirit beasts found and many casualties.
• Luo Pan told Chen Ning that he led the Hurricane Hunting Alliance and claimed his thousand-odd hunters wanted to test him and his disciples.
• Luo Pan drew his sword and announced that his men would rob Chen Ning’s group and leave no survivors.

Luo Pan betrayed Chen Ning and the Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples, ordering the Hurricane Alliance to kill them and seize their supplies. As the battle began, Chen Ning turned the betrayal into lessons about survival and strength, while the disciples fought back and advanced toward Luo Pan.

• Luo Qingqing protested Luo Pan’s plan to rob and kill the people who had saved them, but Luo Pan ordered her to stay out of the fight.
• Luo Pan explained that he wanted the disciples’ pills and feared their sect would seek revenge if any survived; Chen Ning told his disciples to remember the dangers of trusting others.
• Luo Pan ordered the Hurricane Alliance to attack, and Chen Ning taught the disciples that strength could overcome shameless enemies.
• Lu Ping killed a hunter, then defeated two Fifth Level Spirit Martial Realm opponents, while another disciple used Lesser Essence Pills to replenish his strength.
• Several disciples fought through the outnumbering hunters toward Luo Pan, and Lu Ping restored his Essence Power after leaving the hunters afraid to confront him.

Chen Ning destroyed Luo Pan’s Blood Devil Puppet with the Star-Picking Finger, then killed Luo Pan after he tried to surrender. The Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples wiped out the Hurricane Alliance hunters, while Luo Qingqing was spared.

• The Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples defeated the hunters without losing anyone, and Luo Pan decided to attack Chen Ning and take him hostage.
• Luo Pan summoned his Blood Devil Puppet, but Chen Ning used the Star-Picking Finger to reduce it to dust.
• Luo Pan realized Chen Ning was a Spirit Martial Realm Peak expert and begged for mercy, but Luo Qingqing refused to plead for him.
• Chen Ning burned Luo Pan to death with a Fire God Seal and ordered the disciples to leave no hunters alive.
• The disciples killed the remaining hunters and spared Luo Qingqing at Chen Ning’s instruction.

Chen Ning and the disciples finished their trial but became lost in the Forest of the Dead as its miasma thickened and their Spirit Stones stopped working. A round-faced youth offered to guide them and brought Chen Ning into a vast underground settlement, while the disciples waited outside.

• Chen Ning helped the disciples recover after they killed many enemies, and the group continued their trial for three more days without losing anyone.
• On the final day, Chen Ning and the disciples realized they were lost in the Forest of the Dead and could not contact their sect.
• As they moved cautiously through the thickening miasma, a disciple fell into a pit and disturbed a creature in an opening below.
• A round-faced youth emerged, offered to lead the group out, and invited them to eat with his people underground.
• Chen Ning chose to enter first and left Lu Ping to guard the disciples outside.
• The youth led Chen Ning through the narrow opening into a spacious underground world where his people had lived for hundreds of years.

Chen Ning met the Black Dragon Clan, a kind people who had lived in the Forest of the Dead for generations. Elder Long explained that an ancient departed soul had cursed them, leaving the clan trapped inside the forest.

• Xiao Yuan introduced Chen Ning to Elder Long, who welcomed him and offered to have Xiao Yuan escort him out the next day.
• The Black Dragon Clan gathered around Chen Ning to ask about the outside world, and he learned they had fewer than a thousand members and hundreds of Spirit Martial Realm cultivators.
• Chen Ning learned that Xiao Yuan had trusted him despite the clan’s history of outsiders harming its people, and he felt guilty for suspecting them.
• Chen Ning asked why the clan did not leave the forest, and Elder Long explained that eight hundred years earlier they had been cursed by the departed soul of a battle-dead expert.
• Elder Long said the departed soul had drained the Black Dragon Clan’s life force for centuries in its attempt to return from the dead.

Chen Ning and the disciples said goodbye to the Black Dragon Clan, but the evil soul appeared as they were leaving and demanded Xiao Yuan's life. Chen Ning confronted it, asking it to die again.

• The disciples spent the night sharing food and heartfelt conversations with the Black Dragon Clan, then prepared to leave the next morning.
• A young girl named Nini tearfully asked a female disciple to visit again, and the Black Dragon Clan gathered to see the group off.
• As Xiao Yuan led Chen Ning and the disciples out of the forest, the sky darkened and the evil soul appeared.
• Elder Long begged the evil soul to spare the visitors, but it demanded Xiao Yuan's death instead.
• Black Dragon Clan members offered to die in Xiao Yuan's place, and Chen Ning told the evil soul he wanted it to die one more time.

Chen Ning used the Heaven-Slaying Bow and a Holy Light Arrow to destroy the evil soul that had imprisoned the Black Dragon Clan. The freed clan recognized the little black dragon as their revered Lord Black Dragon, while Chen Ning prepared to leave and Elder Long asked him to grant a request.

• Chen Ning saw through the black shadow’s claim to be Venerable Slaughter and identified it as a remnant soul.
• The black shadow attacked Chen Ning with black radiance, and Chen Ning summoned the Heaven-Slaying Bow despite the little black dragon sleeping on it.
• Chen Ning fired a Holy Light Arrow, which purified the black shadow and freed the Black Dragon Clan from its shackles.
• Elder Long and the Black Dragon clansmen bowed to the little black dragon, whom Elder Long recognized as Lord Black Dragon.
• Chen Ning urged the clan to stop bowing so they could leave, but Elder Long asked him to agree to a request.

Chen Ning accepted the Black Dragon Clan’s oath of loyalty and gained the Pill God Canon plus two powerful buffs for completing the sect trial. He strengthened the hundred disciples with one buff as the Black Dragon Clan prepared to join him.

• Elder Long asked to follow Chen Ning alongside the Little Black Dragon, and Chen Ning accepted the Black Dragon Clan under his protection.
• Chen Ning told Elder Long and the Black Dragon Clan to return to the Dragon-Seeking Sect with him after they packed up.
• The system awarded Chen Ning the Pill God Canon, Unyielding Tenacity, and Berserk Blade for completing the trial without losing any disciples.
• Chen Ning decided to use Unyielding Tenacity on the hundred disciples and Berserk Blade on the Black Dragon Clan’s three hundred Spirit Martial Realm clansmen.
• Chen Ning released Unyielding Tenacity over the disciples, who discovered that blades and swords could no longer injure them while they defended themselves.

Chen Ning returned from the Forest of the Dead with the Black Dragon Clan and learned that Su Ling'er remained in the imperial capital amid trouble for her clan. Cang Yue then told him that the Emperor of Great Yan had invited him to a palace banquet.

• Chen Ning bestowed Berserk Blade on three hundred young adults of the Black Dragon Clan, who swore loyalty to him as the Dragon Lord.
• Chen Ning led the group out of the Forest of the Dead and settled the Black Dragon clanspeople at Vermilion Bird Peak.
• Chen Ning contacted Su Ling'er and suspected that the Shi Clan was facing pressure after the Marquis Who Guards the North lost his cultivation.
• Chen Ning decided to return to the imperial capital to bring Su Ling'er back.
• Cang Yue told Chen Ning that the Emperor of Great Yan had invited him to a banquet to thank him for blessing Spirit Province.

Chen Ning agreed to attend the Great Yan Emperor’s banquet and traveled to the imperial capital with Cang Yue, Ying Wu, Xiao Yuan, and another Black Dragon clansman. The group arrived at the Hall of Stars, where the emperor awaited them alongside representatives of other prominent sects.

• Chen Ning accepted Cang Yue’s invitation and arranged to leave for the imperial capital the following evening.
• Chen Ning chose Xiao Yuan and another Black Dragon clansman to accompany him, while Cang Yue and Ying Wu joined the party at the teleportation formation.
• Chen Ning told Cang Yue he had a stronger talisman technique to teach her, intending to use talismans to keep her from harming him in the capital.
• The group teleported to the Great Yan Imperial Capital and rode in imperial carriages to the Hall of Stars for the banquet.
• The Great Yan Emperor surveyed the capital and reflected on his dynasty’s power and the blessing of Spirit Province’s rising fortune.