Recaps

The Vast Heaven Sect's sect master backed Chu Xinghe and left him to handle the fallout from his actions, while Chu Xinghe welcomed the sect's isolation and tried to turn its loss of the Shi Clan's stone-identifying services into a costly failure. He chose Wang Tieniu to learn stone identification, confident that Tieniu would fail, as the Vast Heaven Sect's improved treatment of miners sparked strikes elsewhere and raised its own mine's production.

• The sect master refused to answer the other sects, voided the Shi Clan contract, and ordered the elders to leave Chu Xinghe to deal with the situation.
• After receiving no response from the Vast Heaven Sect, Chu Xinghe rejoiced when Qin Xiangqian reported that the other sects had ended cooperation and the Shi Clan contract was void.
• Chu Xinghe ordered Qin Xiangqian to buy a stone-identifying technique and selected Wang Tieniu as the candidate to learn it.
• Miners from other sects began striking after seeing the Vast Heaven Sect's better food, lodging, and rest arrangements, while its own miners worked harder and raised production by thirty percent.
• Qin Xiangqian bought the technique and questioned Chu Xinghe's choice of Wang Tieniu, but Chu insisted Tieniu would help the Vast Heaven Sect surpass the Shi Clan.

Chu Xinghe’s choice of Wang Tieniu as a stone-pointer drew ridicule from the sects and the Shi Clan, while miners at the Tianyi Spirit Mine uncovered only one high-grade spirit stone. Wang Tieniu then mastered the Stone-Pointing Technique on his own and revealed an astonishing extraction rate, leaving Qin Xiangqian and Chu Xinghe stunned.

• Chu Xinghe assigned Wang Tieniu the Stone-Pointing Technique, prompting outsiders and the Shi Clan to mock his choice.
• Zheng Yu heard that the Tianyi Spirit Mine was still producing waste rock and ordered the miners to keep digging.
• The miners found one raw stone containing a high-grade spirit stone, but Qin Xiangqian doubted the mine’s prospects.
• Wang Tieniu told Qin Xiangqian that he had comprehended the technique and successfully extracted spirit stones from raw stones.
• Qin Xiangqian realized Tieniu had achieved a fifty percent extraction rate, and Tieniu claimed he could reach ninety percent after a few more days of practice.
• Chu Xinghe arrived in time to hear Tieniu’s claims and nearly fainted.

Chu Xinghe was horrified when Wang Tieniu independently mastered and improved the Stone-Pointing Technique, but he regained hope when a collapse at the Tianyi Spirit Mine exposed a vast deposit of high-grade and supreme-grade spirit stones. The sect members credited Chu Xinghe with foreseeing the mine's value, while he privately despaired that another unexpected success had ruined his plans.

• Ma Liang told Chu Xinghe that Wang Tieniu had mastered the Stone-Pointing Technique, and Chu Xinghe saw that Tieniu had transformed it into a divine technique.
• Chu Xinghe tried to reassure himself that Tieniu's achievement would not affect his plans, then heard that a tunnel had collapsed at the Tianyi Spirit Mine.
• Chu Xinghe and the others entered the newly revealed tunnel and found it filled with high-grade spirit stones and a wall of supreme-grade stones.
• Wang Tieniu used his technique to extract a high-grade spirit stone and a supreme-grade spirit stone, confirming the mine's riches.
• Wan Lin, Qin Xiangqian, and the others praised Chu Xinghe for buying the mine, while Chu Xinghe privately lamented his good fortune.

The Tianyi Spirit Mine proved to be the greatest spirit mine under heaven, and the Vast Heaven Sect celebrated Chu Xinghe’s supposedly brilliant plans and Wang Tieniu’s stone-appraisal talent. Chu Xinghe remained miserable over the outcome until Qin Xiangqian reported that Zheng Yu had bought the smaller mine, triggering a reward from the Misfortune Compass.

• The Tianyi Spirit Mine’s enormous spirit stones emerged, shocking Spirit City and leaving the Shi Clan devastated over its lost mine.
• Zheng Yu and the sects praised Chu Xinghe as an unfathomable strategist, while Wang Tieniu’s stone-appraisal success made him famous.
• The Vast Heaven Sect’s elders and disciples celebrated Chu Xinghe, and those who had doubted him apologized as Chu Cheng continued to denounce him.
• At the Vast Heaven Sect’s Spirit City compound, Qin Xiangqian regretted forgetting the smaller mine and told Chu Xinghe that Zheng Yu had bought it.
• The Misfortune Compass spun after Qin Xiangqian’s news, and Chu Xinghe was stunned to receive a reward.

Chu Xinghe gained cultivation after the Misfortune Compass rewarded him, but news of the Vast Heaven Sect’s success in Spirit City left him convinced the trip had gone badly. As he left the city, he encountered Zheng Yu under attack and fled, only for the black-clad attackers to abandon Zheng Yu and pursue him instead.

• The Misfortune Compass raised Chu Xinghe’s cultivation to the peak of the Fourth-Rank Martial Ancestor realm after Qin Xiangqian reported that the other sects had resumed cooperating with the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Chu Xinghe visited the spirit mine and saw Wang Tieniu’s Stone-Pointing Technique progress and his gifted new disciples, then decided to leave Spirit City.
• Qin Xiangqian and the Vast Heaven Chamber of Commerce’s disciples saw Chu Xinghe off as he headed toward the teleportation array with Wan Lin, Ma Liang, and the others.
• Chu Xinghe heard fighting and found Zheng Yu and the Martial Emperor City disciples surrounded by men in black, but he shouted that the Vast Heaven Sect was uninvolved and ran away.
• A Seventh-Rank Martial Saint among the men in black identified Chu Xinghe and led the attackers in pursuit, leaving Zheng Yu and the Martial Emperor City disciples behind.

Chu Xinghe surrendered to the Demonic Shadow Sect after drawing its attackers away from Zheng Yu and the disciples of Martial Emperor City, and Meng Yong captured him. Zheng Yu revealed what happened, prompting the Vast Heaven Sect, Martial Emperor City, and other powers to launch a desperate search across Spirit City.

• Chu Xinghe fled toward Spirit City, surrendered to Meng Yong and the Demonic Shadow Sect, and was carried away in a sack.
• Zheng Yu arrived, found signs of the Demonic Shadow Sect, and concluded that Chu Xinghe had been captured while drawing the attackers away from Martial Emperor City.
• Zheng Yu crushed his Martial Emperor Token and told Ma Liang, Wan Lin, and the arriving disciples that Chu Xinghe had been taken.
• Ma Liang and the other Vast Heaven Sect disciples crushed their tokens to alert the sect, while experts from Spirit City rushed to the scene.
• Qin Xiangqian ordered Spirit City mobilized, and the Vast Heaven Sect, Martial Emperor City, and other sects began searching for Chu Xinghe.

After Chu Xinghe was captured by Meng Yong, the Vast Heaven Sect and Martial Emperor City issued their divine tokens and sent experts to search for him. In Meng Yong’s basement, Chu Xinghe tried to win the Devil Lord’s trust by handing over sect treasures and claiming he wanted to join the demonic path.

• Ma Liang reported Chu Xinghe’s capture to Gu Mingchao, who summoned the Vast Heaven Sect and ordered its forces to Spirit City.
• Gu Mingchao issued the Haotian Token, and Cheng Xiaotian issued the Martial Emperor Token, sending their factions and other experts to search for Chu Xinghe.
• Zheng Yu blamed himself for Chu Xinghe’s capture as experts converged on Spirit City.
• Meng Yong questioned Chu Xinghe after he was brought to a basement near Tianrun City, but Chu Xinghe claimed the Vast Heaven Sect should be destroyed.
• Chu Xinghe gave Meng Yong the Divine Stone-Pointing Art, his storage rings, and their spirit stones, then claimed he had always wanted to join a demonic sect.

Chu Xinghe tried to ingratiate himself with the Demonic Shadow Sect by giving Meng Yong the Haotian Battle Intent, hoping its dangerous incomplete form would bring down the sect. Instead, Meng Yong broke through to the eighth rank, and Xu Zhi proposed using the Truth Mirror to uncover Chu Xinghe’s real intentions.

• Chu Xinghe eagerly gave Meng Yong the spirit stones, Divine Stone-Pointing Art, and Haotian Battle Intent, claiming he wanted to destroy the Vast Heaven Sect and join the demonic path.
• Xu Zhi arranged for the guards to leave Chu Xinghe an opportunity to escape, but Chu Xinghe locked his cell door and urged them to keep watch over him.
• Meng Yong cultivated the Haotian Battle Intent, broke through from the seventh rank to the eighth, and became a Devil Venerable.
• After learning that Chu Xinghe had refused to escape, Meng Yong and Xu Zhi questioned whether he was truly sincere about joining them.
• Xu Zhi suggested testing Chu Xinghe with Meng Yong’s Truth Mirror, and they headed to the dungeon.

Chu Xinghe convinced Meng Yong and the Demonic Shadow Sect that he sincerely wanted to join the demonic path, then urged them to attack the Vast Heaven Sect and drafted a battle plan. The chapter left Xu Zhi convinced that Chu Xinghe was more sinister than anyone in the sect, while Chu Xinghe’s supposed plans were actually designed to lead the demonic forces into disaster.

• Chu Xinghe passed the Truth Mirror’s tests, convincing Meng Yong that he sincerely wanted to join the Demonic Shadow Sect and destroy the Vast Heaven Sect, so Meng Yong released him and welcomed him.
• Meng Yong learned that the Vast Heaven Sect and Martial Emperor City had issued tokens to search for Chu Xinghe and that righteous forces had struck Demonic Shadow Sect branches; Chu Xinghe angrily demanded a counterattack.
• At a banquet, Chu Xinghe cursed the righteous path and urged the demonic path to attack, while Meng Yong tried to calm him and secretly confirmed his words were true.
• Xu Zhi watched Chu Xinghe make friends with nearby disciples and improve the hidden sentries’ concealment instead of trying to escape.
• Chu Xinghe gave Xu Zhi a battle plan targeting the righteous path’s weak points and urged him to deliver it to Meng Yong, while privately intending the plan to make the demonic path destroy itself.

After Demon Venerable Meng Yong died while cultivating Chu Xinghe’s incomplete Haotian Battle Intent, the Demonic Shadow Sect attacked Chu Xinghe, forcing him to fight his way out with the Haotian Sword Casket’s newly unlocked third sword. Badly wounded and out of spiritual power, he collapsed beneath a willow tree and was taken away by a compassionate young miss and her attendant.

• Xu Zhi brought Chu Xinghe’s battle plans to Demon Venerable Meng Yong, but Meng Yong’s body was overwhelmed by Haotian Battle Intent and he exploded.
• Xu Zhi blamed Chu Xinghe for Meng Yong’s death and led the Demonic Shadow Sect disciples in an attack.
• Chu Xinghe killed Xu Zhi with Thunder Shadow’s Purple Lightning Flash and fought the other attackers with Flying Locust and Suspended Shears Sword Wings.
• Chu Xinghe slaughtered his way out of the compound, then collapsed beneath a willow tree from his injuries and exhaustion.
• A young miss ordered Uncle Feng to take the bloodied Chu Xinghe into their carriage and bring him along.

The Vast Heaven Sect learned that Chu Xinghe had been held at the Demonic Shadow Sect’s base in Tianrun City and discovered that he had fought his way through the sect’s forces after killing a Devil Venerable with a fake Haotian Battle Intent. The Grand Elder used the Soul Seizing Art to replay the battle, leaving the sect members stunned by Chu Xinghe’s strength.

• Ma Liang reported a sighting of Chu Xinghe’s Thunder Shadow in Tianrun City, and the Grand Elder and Gu Mingchao rushed there with Vast Heaven Sect experts.
• Gu Mingchao and the Grand Elder questioned captured Demonic Shadow Sect disciples, killing two before another revealed that Chu Xinghe had been at the courtyard.
• A disciple explained that Chu Xinghe had pretended to defect, handed over resources and the Stone-Pointing Technique, and used a fake Haotian Battle Intent that caused the Devil Venerable to explode.
• The disciple recounted that Chu Xinghe fought the Demonic Shadow Sect forces alone, leaving the courtyard covered in blood and nearly wiping out its fifth-rank members.
• The Grand Elder seized several disciples’ souls and used the Soul Seizing Art to show the Vast Heaven Sect images of Chu Xinghe’s battle with the Haotian Sword Casket.

After Chu Xinghe survived his escape from the Demonic Shadow Sect, the Vast Heaven Sect and Martial Emperor City searched Tianrun City for him. Recovering at the Feng Lineage residence under the name Wang Tieniu, he learned that Liu Chong was using his influence to block Feng Yuyan’s brother from entering Jade Void Palace, and followed Feng Yuyan out to confront him.

• Soul images revealed Chu Xinghe killing twelve fifth-grade enemies and escaping with fifty-eight wounds, prompting Gu Mingchao to order a citywide search.
• Martial Emperor Cheng Xiaotian mobilized Martial Emperor City, while Zheng Yu rushed to Tianrun City to find Chu Xinghe.
• Feng Yuyan visited the awakened Chu Xinghe, who concealed his identity and introduced himself as Wang Tieniu.
• Uncle Feng explained that Liu Chong had threatened to block Feng Yuyan’s brother from entering Jade Void Palace unless she married him.
• Chu Xinghe recovered enough to leave, but followed Feng Yuyan when a servant announced Liu Chong’s arrival.

Chu Xinghe defended Feng Yuyan from Liu Chong and Liu Jingkuo, then revealed himself as the missing figure pursued by the great sects. The chapter ended with the Vast Heaven Sect’s Great Elder embracing Chu Xinghe as Martial Emperors gathered in Tianrun City.

• Liu Chong pressured Feng Yuyan to marry him, but Chu Xinghe insulted him and sent him flying with Haotian Battle Intent.
• Liu Chong summoned his father, Liu Jingkuo, who demanded Chu Xinghe’s cultivation technique and attacked him.
• A Martial Emperor struck Liu Jingkuo into the ground, and more Martial Emperors arrived by treading through the void.
• The Great Elder embraced Chu Xinghe after he identified himself, leaving the Feng Lineage and Jade Void Palace members stunned.
• The crowd realized Chu Xinghe was the person the Vast Heaven Sect and Martial Emperor City had been searching for.

After Chu Xinghe was rescued by Feng Yuyan, the Vast Heaven Sect and Martial Emperor City’s leaders arrived and rewarded the Feng Lineage while punishing the Jade Void Palace for coveting the Haotian Battle Intent. The Feng Lineage rose to prominence, while Wang Daoquan faced a crisis over Liu Jingkuo’s actions.

• Gu Mingchao and Cheng Xiaotian arrived, confirmed Chu Xinghe was safe, and provided him with precious healing pills.
• The Great Elder crippled Liu Jingkuo for coveting the Haotian Battle Intent, and Gu Mingchao demanded that Wang Daoquan answer for the Jade Void Palace’s conduct.
• Chu Xinghe credited Feng Yuyan with saving him, and the Vast Heaven Sect granted the Feng Lineage control of Tianrun City and subordinate-lineage status, including two disciple recommendations each year.
• The Feng Lineage’s rise drew congratulations from across the region as word spread of its new connection to the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Wang Daoquan learned what Liu Jingkuo had done and nearly died of rage, realizing the Jade Void Palace could not explain away its elder’s failure to recognize Chu Xinghe.

Wang Daoquan tried to appease Gu Mingchao after the Jade Void Palace’s failure to recognize Chu Xinghe, paying with Liu Jingkuo’s family’s heads and a million high-grade spirit stones. As Vast Heaven Sect and Martial Emperor City forces gathered to attack the Demonic Shadow Sect, Chu Xinghe hoped the coming battle would finally cause the sect losses he had been trying to bring about.

• Wang Daoquan presented Gu Mingchao with Liu Jingkuo’s family’s heads and a million high-grade spirit stones, and Gu Mingchao accepted his apology.
• Chu Xinghe’s fellow disciples praised his supposed courage and ingenuity, while Zheng Yu thanked him for saving his life and declared his admiration.
• Chu Xinghe learned that the Vast Heaven Sect had recovered the spirit stones and treasures from Meng Yong’s group, leaving the sect with no losses and a profit.
• Wu Xingyun announced that Meng Yong had abducted Chu Xinghe on his own, but Gu Mingchao declared that the Vast Heaven Sect would retaliate against the Demonic Shadow Sect.
• Experts from the Vast Heaven Sect and Martial Emperor City gathered in Tianrun City to march on Demonic Shadow City, and Chu Xinghe welcomed the prospect of a costly battle.

After the Demonic Shadow Sect fled Demonic Shadow City rather than face the Vast Heaven Sect and Martial Emperor City, Chu Xinghe returned home expecting punishment for revealing a sect art. Gu Mingchao instead began grooming him to succeed as sect master by ordering him to study every technique in the Technique Repository Tower, leaving Chu Xinghe devastated.

• The Demonic Shadow Sect evacuated and destroyed Demonic Shadow City, avoiding the Vast Heaven Sect and Martial Emperor City’s attack and bringing the conflict to a gradual end.
• Zheng Yu thanked Chu Xinghe before returning to Martial Emperor City, while Feng Yuzheng accompanied Chu Xinghe back to the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Chu Xinghe reported the events in Tianrun City to Gu Mingchao and the elders, then asked to be punished for divulging the Divine Stone-Pointing Art.
• The elders praised Chu Xinghe’s achievements, including securing the Tianyi Spirit Mine and training Wang Tieniu in stone-pointing.
• Gu Mingchao ordered Chu Xinghe to study every technique in the Technique Repository Tower, signaling that he intended Chu Xinghe to become the next sect master.
• Chu Xinghe left the hall in tears and recounted his recent ordeals to the gathered Spirit Crane Palace disciples.

Chu Xinghe welcomed Feng Yuzheng into the Vast Heaven Sect and found that the sect treated him with extraordinary privilege, even allowing him unrestricted access to the Technique Repository Tower. Determined to get punished and undermine the sect, Chu Xinghe seized an opportunity to give Thunder Palace disciples cultivation guidance that he hoped would cause trouble.

• Disciples from every palace visited Chu Xinghe with gifts, while Feng Yuzheng was astonished by the sect’s devotion to him.
• Chu Xinghe toured the eighteen palaces with Feng Yuzheng, and Feng Yuzheng chose to join Azure Wood Palace, where the disciples warmly welcomed him.
• Chu Xinghe entered the Technique Repository Tower without a token or fire-suppression talisman and was allowed to visit all nine floors.
• Chu Xinghe remembered his goal of bringing down the Vast Heaven Sect and wondered how he could provoke a punishment.
• Thunder Palace disciples asked Chu Xinghe for help with the Thunderclap Art, and he offered to give pointers to all of them, hoping his guidance would cause cultivation problems.

Chu Xinghe gave the Thunder Palace disciples reckless advice to cultivate the Thunderclap Art in reverse, then learned the Vast Heaven Sect needed a spirit weapon lineage to replace its former partners. He recognized the disastrous Ouyang Lineage as the perfect choice to help bring down the sect.

• Chu Xinghe told Thunder Palace disciples that the Thunderclap Art had to be cultivated in reverse, and many agreed to try it.
• Chu Xinghe considered setting fire to the Technique Repository Tower but decided against it and spent the day studying techniques.
• Feng Fei told Chu Xinghe that spirit weapon lineages had raised their prices, forcing the Vast Heaven Sect to end their cooperation and seek a new solution.
• Feng Fei showed Chu Xinghe a list of spirit weapon lineages the sect could take under its control.
• Chu Xinghe learned that the Ouyang Lineage had contributed to the downfall of several sects and decided that the Vast Heaven Sect had to recruit them.

Chu Xinghe tried to persuade the Grand Elder to choose the impoverished Ouyang Lineage to build the Vast Heaven Sect’s own spirit-weapon force. When Thunder Palace’s He Yanming confronted him over disciples cultivating the Thunderclap Art backward, a sudden surge of Spiritual Qi suggested that many disciples were breaking through.

• Chu Xinghe argued that the Ouyang Lineage’s legacy and desperation made it the best choice for the Vast Heaven Sect’s long-term plans, despite its heavy resource use and poor output.
• Chu Xinghe urged the Grand Elder to build the number one spirit-weapon force under heaven and support the Ouyang Lineage when it was at its lowest point.
• He Yanming accused Chu Xinghe of harming Thunder Palace disciples by telling them to cultivate the Thunderclap Art backward, and a disciple reported that something terrible had happened.
• He Yanming seized Chu Xinghe and flew to Thunder Palace, where they sensed a terrifying surge of Spiritual Qi and signs that many people were breaking through.

Chu Xinghe’s advice to reverse the Thunderclap Art caused Thunder Palace disciples to bleed at first, but they soon stabilized and broke through in succession. The sect praised him for restoring the technique, and after a lavish celebration, Chu Xinghe heard that the Grand Elder had reported the Ouyang Lineage to the sect master.

• He Yanming seized Chu Xinghe and flew to the Thunder Palace to confront him over the disciples’ apparent Qi deviation.
• He Yanming and the onlookers discovered that the disciples who had reversed the Thunderclap Art were stable and breaking through one after another.
• The disciples thanked Chu Xinghe, and the Grand Elder explained that the Thunderclap Art had likely been assembled backward by earlier elders.
• The sect master, Grand Elder, He Yanming, and Thunder Palace disciples praised Chu Xinghe, while He Yanming showed him around the palace and hosted a feast.
• Senior Brother Feng Fei told Chu Xinghe that the Grand Elder had reported the Ouyang Lineage to the sect master, lifting Chu Xinghe’s spirits.

Chu Xinghe welcomed the newly arrived Ouyang Lineage after discovering its members had devoured the Spirit Crane Palace kitchen’s food. He praised Ouyang Ming and Ouyang Ling and hoped their lineage would remain at the Vast Heaven Sect, leaving Ouyang Ming moved by the unexpected kindness.

• Chu Xinghe avoided giving disciples more cultivation pointers and stayed in the Technique Repository Tower to escape the Grand Elder’s pill-refining lessons.
• Wan Lin told Chu Xinghe that the Liu, Wang, and Ouyang Lineages had arrived, and described how the Ouyang Lineage had eaten nearly everything in the Spirit Crane Palace kitchen.
• Chu Xinghe went to the kitchen and found Ouyang Ling eating red-braised pork and steamed buns while Ouyang Ming ate leftover fried rice and discussed taking food for winter.
• Chu Xinghe called Ouyang Ming “Ouyang Pixiu,” then learned his name was simply Ouyang Ming.
• Chu Xinghe welcomed the siblings and said he hoped the Ouyang Lineage would stay at the Vast Heaven Sect, bringing Ouyang Ming to tears.

Chu Xinghe defended the fallen Ouyang Lineage from ridicule and made its members feel respected by the Vast Heaven Sect. At the welcoming banquet, he rejected Liu Chenzhao’s spirit armor and gave it to Wan Lin, leaving Liu Chenzhao bewildered.

• Chu Xinghe comforted Ouyang Ming and Ouyang Ling, assuring them that the Vast Heaven Sect genuinely valued the Ouyang Lineage and wanted its help.
• Chu Xinghe scolded the cooks and Spirit Crane Palace disciples for mocking the Ouyang Lineage, and they admitted they had judged its members by their appearance.
• Feng Fei reported Chu Xinghe’s actions to the Grand Elder, who praised him and told Feng Fei to prepare the welcoming banquet.
• Ouyang Ming praised Chu Xinghe to Ouyang Ling and warned her not to imagine she was worthy of him.
• The Grand Elder hosted a banquet for the Ouyang, Liu, and Wang Lineages, where Liu Dezhu presented a spirit-grade armor forged by Liu Chenzhao.
• Chu Xinghe declined the armor and gave it to Wan Lin, who accepted it while Liu Chenzhao stared in confusion.

At the banquet, Wan Lin defeated Wang Benchao and Liu Chenzhao while testing the gifts they had presented, destroying both the spirit armor and sword. The banquet continued with the Ouyang Lineage still focused on eating, until Ouyang Ming was asked what gift he had prepared.

• Wang Benchao and Liu Chenzhao challenged Chu Xinghe to test their gifts, but Chu Xinghe sent Wan Lin in his place.
• Wan Lin used her staff intent to shatter Liu Chenzhao's spirit armor and break Wang Benchao's spirit sword, then accepted Chu Xinghe's joking punishment to study at the Technique Repository Tower.
• The Grand Elder resumed the banquet as Wang Benchao and Liu Chenzhao were carried away in humiliation.
• The Ouyang Lineage drew attention by devouring the banquet food and asking for more.
• Liu Dezhu and Wang Tieshan pressed Ouyang Ming to reveal his gift, and Ouyang Ming briefly considered offering his sister Ouyang Ling to Chu Xinghe before deciding she was not worthy.

Chu Xinghe defended the impoverished Ouyang Lineage and hoped they could join the Vast Heaven Sect, but learned they had no confidence or equipment for the upcoming test. At the Haotian Grand Hall, the Liu and Wang lineages demonstrated their skills, and Ouyang Ming asked to borrow tools and materials just as the Ouyang Lineage's turn began.

• Chu Xinghe argued that the Ouyang Lineage's sincerity was a worthy gift, shielding them from the Wang and Liu lineages' taunts.
• The Ouyang Lineage ate their fill at the banquet and packed up leftovers, then devoured the Vast Heaven Sect's breakfast the next morning.
• Ouyang Ming told Chu Xinghe that the Ouyang Lineage had no confidence, no full set of underpants, and had sold its spirit-forging tools during a famine.
• At the Haotian Grand Hall, Liu Dezhu requested 150,000 high-grade spirit stones a year, Wang Tieshan requested 130,000, and Ouyang Ming asked for a million without promising a timetable.
• Liu Dezhu forged a supreme-grade saber, and Wang Tieshan forged and imbued a sword until it reached supreme grade.
• When the Ouyang Lineage's test began, Ouyang Ming asked Liu Dezhu to lend him tools and materials.

Ouyang Ming and Ouyang Ling failed to impress the Vast Heaven Sect with their weapon, and the grand elder prepared to dismiss their lineage. Elder He then recognized faint cloud patterns on Ouyang Ming’s sword as proof that he had inherited the lost Cloud-Piercing Hammer Technique, leaving the hall stunned.

• Ouyang Ming borrowed tools and materials from the Liu Lineage and blew up the first artifact furnace while forging.
• Ouyang Ming forged a low-grade sword on his second attempt, and Ouyang Ling’s spirit infusion did not improve it.
• The grand elder declared the Ouyang Lineage had failed the test and could leave while the Wang and Liu lineages stayed.
• Elder He examined Ouyang Ming’s sword and identified its faint cloud patterns as traces of the Cloud-Piercing Hammer Technique.
• Gu Mingchao compared the sword’s patterns with those on the Heaven-Supporting Sword and recognized the lost technique.
• Ouyang Ling revealed that Ouyang Ming was the first person in two hundred years to comprehend the Cloud-Piercing Hammer Technique, though he had inherited only part of it.