Recaps

Wang Chen witnessed a gambling gang demand that Zhu Xiaohu’s family repay his debt with their home, while the gang also threatened to settle an earlier account with Wang Chen. After returning home, Wang Chen removed his Thousand Transformations Mask and revealed his handsome true face.

• Wang Chen returned to his alley and found two men beating Zhu Xiaohu over a five-hundred-Spirit-Stone gambling debt.
• The gang demanded Zhu Xiaohu’s family hand over their house if they could not pay, and Aunt Zhu begged Wang Chen for help.
• Wang Chen refused to pay the debt, and the gang’s leader threatened to settle his account with Wang Chen before giving the Zhu family two days to move out.
• Chen Qi warned Wang Chen that the Three Rivers Society had gained powerful backing from Jin Liancheng, while the Zhu family retreated indoors in despair.
• Wang Chen returned home and removed his Thousand Transformations Mask, revealing his true appearance.

Wang Chen entered Changle Gambling House under the name Yan Qing and made an extravagant impression by tipping the dealer and placing a large wager. The dice round began with his fifty Spirit Stones bet on high, and the outcome remained unknown.

• Wang Chen arrived at Changle Gambling House and chose Zhang San to serve as his lackey.
• Wang Chen introduced himself to the dealer Jin Niang as Yan Qing and ordered Zhang San to give her ten Spirit Stones.
• Jin Niang explained the dice-game rules as Zhang San attended Wang Chen at the table.
• Wang Chen bet fifty Spirit Stones on high, far exceeding the other gamblers' wagers.
• Jin Niang called for bets to end and pulled the cord to begin revealing the dice result.

Wang Chen deliberately won fifty thousand Spirit Stones at Changle Gambling House, prompting its cultivators to accuse him of cheating and attack. He killed three black-robed cultivators, leaving the gambling hall in chaos.

• Wang Chen repeatedly doubled his bets on Big and lost, then wagered one thousand Spirit Stones on five of a kind.
• Jin Niang accidentally opened the dice cup early, revealing five sixes and giving Wang Chen a fifty-thousand-Spirit-Stone win.
• Wang Chen demanded payment, but a middle-aged cultivator accused him of cheating and ordered him outside.
• The middle-aged cultivator attacked Wang Chen, who shattered his arm with a punch.
• Wang Chen used Sword Light to kill the middle-aged cultivator and two other black-robed cultivators, sending the gambling hall into a panic.

Wang Chen slaughtered the Three Rivers Society cultivators at Changle Gambling House and collected their valuables. When the Society's main force and Dongwu Guard Hall cultivators arrived, he summoned a Heavy-Winged Fire Crow to attack them.

• Wang Chen used his Wind Thunder Sword to kill more than ten Three Rivers Society cultivators at Changle Gambling House.
• Wang Chen dodged the survivors’ attacks, killed more cultivators, and chased down those who fled with his flying sword.
• Jin Niang emerged from hiding and tried to deceive Wang Chen with an essence-blood talisman, but he killed her with a Gengjin Finger.
• Wang Chen collected the cultivators’ Storage Bags and all the Spirit Stones scattered through the gambling house.
• The Three Rivers Society’s main force and cultivators from Dongwu Guard Hall arrived, and Wang Chen sent a Heavy-Winged Fire Crow diving toward them.

After massacring the Three Rivers Society at Changle Gambling House, Wang Chen found his mind clear and went about his usual market-day routine amid fear and rising food prices in Dongwu Stockade. He returned home to learn that Uncle Zhu’s family had died by severing their own heart meridians the previous night.

• Wang Chen woke refreshed after earning 368 Heavenly Merit from his attack on Changle Gambling House and felt that Heavenly Merit helped purify his Dao heart.
• Wang Chen ate breakfast at an unusually empty stall and learned that Spirit Rice and beast meat prices had risen again.
• Wang Chen sold Talismans and bought a Golden Silk Silver Ring Snake at the Marketplace, where patrols had increased after the previous night’s violence.
• Wang Chen heard conflicting rumors about the attack and listened as teahouse patrons worried about rising rice prices.
• Chen Qi told Wang Chen that Uncle Zhu, Aunt Sun, and Zhu Xiaohu had died by severing their own heart meridians the previous night.

After the Zhu family died by suicide over their gambling debts, their friend Xiao Zhong learned that Changle Gambling House and the Three Rivers Society had been destroyed. Hou Zheng, who had helped draw Zhu Xiaohu into gambling, celebrated the news until Zhu Xiaohu’s spirit confronted him and took over his body.

• Xiao Zhong arrived to tell Zhu Xiaohu that Changle Gambling House had burned down and Old Fourth Duan and many Three Rivers Society members had died.
• The neighbors told Xiao Zhong that Zhu Xiaohu and his parents had severed their own meridians, and Xiao Zhong collapsed in grief.
• Hou Zheng returned to his rented room and celebrated the destruction of Changle Gambling House, which had left him deeply in debt.
• Zhu Xiaohu appeared outside Hou Zheng’s window, and Hou Zheng’s worn-out Storage Bag tore as he tried to find an Exorcism Talisman.
• Hou Zheng’s shadow twisted, and he convulsed on the floor before rising with an honest, guileless face.

Wang Chen confronted Zhu Xiaohu’s vengeful Evil Spirit, which had possessed Hou Zheng and came to accuse him of refusing to help the Zhu family. After destroying it, Wang Chen worried that Evil Spirit attacks would grow more frequent as the great calamity drew nearer and returned to cultivation.

• Hou Zheng visited Wang Chen and accused him of refusing to save Aunt Zhu’s family despite having Spirit Stones.
• Wang Chen said he had no duty to help and revealed that he knew Hou Zheng was an Evil Spirit.
• The Evil Spirit transformed into Zhu Xiaohu and attacked Wang Chen with Yin Sha energy.
• Wang Chen scattered the attack and trapped the Evil Spirit in an Evil-Exorcising Net, which drained its source power.
• Wang Chen burned the Evil Spirit’s corpse, cleaned away the ash, finished his dinner, and returned to the underground secret chamber to cultivate.

As grain prices rose and winter made survival difficult, Wang Chen lent his neighbor Chen Qi enough Spirit Grain to feed his family through the season. After Chen Qi left, Wang Chen headed to the Marketplace.

• A family led by a fifth-level Qi Condensation cultivator surnamed Duan moved into Old Zhu's house as winter arrived.
• Wang Chen stayed home cultivating while heavy snow made gathering and hunting difficult for the stockade's cultivators.
• Chen Qi visited Wang Chen and asked to borrow grain, offering his empty Storage Bag as collateral.
• Wang Chen gave Chen Qi three hundred catties of White Jade Rice, enough to help his family of four through winter.
• After seeing Chen Qi off, Wang Chen left for the Marketplace.

Chen Qi returned home with nearly three hundred jin of borrowed Spirit Grain, while Wang Chen learned that a worsening grain shortage and unrest were driving prices up and refugees into Dongwu Stockade. As security deteriorated, Xin Han entered seclusion and left the city’s affairs to her consort and Golden Snake Gentleman, leaving residents uneasy.

• Madam Chen inspected the grain Wang Chen had lent Chen Qi and resolved that the family must repay his kindness.
• Wang Chen discovered that Spirit Grain prices had soared and heard that falling harvests and dangerous roads had disrupted supplies.
• A broker tried to sell Wang Chen a young girl as a maid, but Wang Chen left without helping her.
• Wang Chen counted his stored grain and felt reassured that he had enough for himself, though he had no plans to sell it.
• More Rogue Cultivators flooded Dongwu Stockade, worsening public security beyond the Guard Hall’s ability to control.
• Xin Han entered seclusion and handed City Lord’s Mansion affairs to her consort and Golden Snake Gentleman.

During a brutal winter in Dongwu Stockade, Wang Chen faced rising poverty and disorder as he went to sell talismans at the Marketplace. A steward warned him that the City Lord's Mansion might soon recruit cultivators to build an estate for Hu Meiniang, hinting at a hidden agenda.

• Wang Chen broke a young thief's hand and drove off the group surrounding him.
• Wang Chen gave two Spirit Rice Balls to an elderly beggar for his starving grandson before entering the Marketplace.
• Wang Chen paid a Marketplace steward for a well-placed stall and set out his talismans.
• Wang Chen sold few talismans as cultivators held onto their Spirit Stones amid soaring grain prices.
• The steward warned Wang Chen that the City Lord's Mansion might recruit cultivators to build an estate for Hu Meiniang.

Wang Chen left Dongwu Stockade to avoid being drawn into Hu Meiniang and Jin Liancheng’s struggle for power, then traveled to Wind Thunder Valley to secretly cultivate its abundant lightning. He tunneled beneath the valley but stopped when he could dig no farther.

• Wang Chen weighed the danger posed by Hu Meiniang and Jin Liancheng, rejected killing them or submitting to their conscription, and decided to leave Dongwu Stockade temporarily.
• Wang Chen told Chen Qi he was visiting relatives and friends, asked him to watch his house, and left the stockade disguised after traveling away from it.
• Wang Chen headed for Wind Thunder Valley, where he hoped to cultivate Five Suns Dry Thunder and the Thunderclap Sword Technique despite his enmity with Five Peaks Mountain.
• Wang Chen concealed himself and dug a deep tunnel toward Wind Thunder Valley, creating secret escape passages along the way.
• After three days, Wang Chen reached beneath Wind Thunder Valley, but he could not continue digging farther.

Wang Chen discovered Thunderstones beneath Wind Thunder Valley and used their lightning power to improve his Five Suns Dry Thunder while secretly hiding underground. Meanwhile, Dongwu Stockade’s City Lord’s Mansion began forcibly conscripting cultivators, and Chen Qi feared the growing unrest would soon erupt.

• Wang Chen struck lightning-filled rock with a pickaxe, releasing its power and discovering he could absorb it by cultivating Five Suns Dry Thunder.
• Wang Chen found more Thunderstones underground and used them as a free resource to cultivate his lightning art.
• A Guard Hall group came to Wang Chen’s home looking for Wang Xiu, but Chen Qi told them Wang Xiu had gone to visit relatives.
• The City Lord’s Mansion issued a conscription order, and the Guard Hall forcibly recruited cultivators as anger and unrest grew in Dongwu Stockade.

Wang Chen completed his cultivation of Five Suns Dry Thunder in Wind Thunder Valley, then emerged to find a Thunder Eagle attacking the Five Peaks Mountain cultivators. The Thunder Eagle drove off the cultivators and pursued a fleeing Purple Mansion cultivator as survivors scattered toward Wang Chen.

• Wang Chen used 1,000 Human Virtue points to raise Five Suns Dry Thunder to Grand Completion and felt its power resonate with the Wind Thunder Sword.
• Wang Chen decided to leave Wind Thunder Valley, but discovered thunderstones split Storage Bags and smashed one to use its power before departing.
• The broken thunderstone triggered violent tremors, and Wang Chen escaped through his reinforced tunnel to the surface.
• Wang Chen watched more than a hundred Five Peaks Mountain cultivators besiege a Thunder Eagle that continued attacking Wind Thunder Valley.
• The Thunder Eagle struck down several cultivators with its lightning, forcing a Purple Mansion cultivator to flee southwest and the surviving Five Peaks Mountain cultivators to scatter toward Wang Chen.

Wang Chen killed two Five Peaks Mountain disciples with Liu Yingxiu’s stolen Purple Shadow Wind Thunder Sword, then disguised himself as Zhao Wuji of Guiyuan Sect and challenged the approaching cultivators. He charged into the ensuing fight, determined to battle openly.

• Tan Yue fled southwest from the Thunder Eagle but was killed when Wang Chen’s Wind Thunder Sword pierced his flying boat and split him in two.
• A round-faced Five Peaks Mountain disciple recognized the sword as Liu Yingxiu’s imitation and tried to escape, but Wang Chen killed him with Geng Metal Force and took his Storage Bag.
• Wang Chen replenished the Wind Thunder Sword with Five Suns Dry Thunder Force and claimed to be Zhao Wuji of Guiyuan Sect.
• Five Peaks Mountain cultivators rushed toward Wang Chen in anger, and he sent the Wind Thunder Sword against them.

Wang Chen defeated a force of Five Peaks Mountain disciples, then looted their belongings and the corpses left behind by the Thunder Eagle in Wind Thunder Valley. After destroying evidence of his scavenging, he headed back to Dongwu Stockade.

• Wang Chen used the Wind Thunder Sword to kill the Five Peaks Mountain disciples who attacked him, forcing the survivors to flee.
• Wang Chen pursued the fleeing disciples, killed two more, and let a few escape so they could spread the name Zhao Wuji of the Guiyuan Sect.
• Wang Chen collected the fallen disciples’ Storage Bags and Magic Tools, then entered Wind Thunder Valley to loot the corpses of cultivators slain by the Thunder Eagle.
• Wang Chen gathered the spoils, including nearly enough Storage Bags to become the Hundred-Bag Elder, and considered the resources he needed for his future breakthrough.
• Wang Chen sorted the stolen items, destroyed the emptied bags and useless goods, and set off for Dongwu Stockade.

Wang Chen returned to Dongwu Stockade and found it overwhelmed by refugees, so he used Spirit Rice to cook porridge and organized its distribution. The refugees received food in an orderly line under his protection.

• Wang Chen returned to Dongwu Stockade and found displaced people living in makeshift shelters outside its gates.
• Wang Chen gave a shivering mother and her unconscious daughter a fur-lined coat, then recruited refugees to gather firewood and stones.
• Wang Chen shaped nine stone cauldrons and filled them with water and White Corn to cook Spirit Rice Porridge.
• Wang Chen stopped the refugees from crowding the cauldrons by warning them with a line of golden force across the ground.
• Wang Chen had several Martial Artists distribute the porridge, and the mother and daughter received the first bowls.

Wang Chen distributed Spirit Rice Porridge to refugees outside Dongwu Stockade, then killed seven Rogue Cultivators who tried to rob him and reached 1,003 Heavenly Merit. He left the porridge in the burly martial artist’s care and departed without adding to his Spiritual Root.

• After nine cauldrons of porridge were distributed, Wang Chen ordered another nine to be cooked for the refugees still waiting.
• Seven Rogue Cultivators surrounded Wang Chen and accused him of wrongdoing, but he attacked them with a captured Flying Sword and killed all seven.
• Wang Chen’s Heavenly Merit reached 1,003, unlocking the ability to add points to his attributes.
• Wang Chen searched the Rogue Cultivators’ Storage Bags, found more than a thousand catties of White Corn, and burned their corpses.
• Wang Chen gave the burly martial artist an Essence Blood Talisman, left him in charge of the porridge, and departed.

Wang Chen returned to find his home ransacked by the City Lord’s Mansion, repaired and refurnished it, and improved his Spiritual Root with Heavenly Merit. He ended the chapter sharing New Year’s Eve dinner with Chen Qi’s family.

• Wang Chen returned to find his door smashed and learned from Chen Qi that the City Lord’s Mansion had searched his home three times while he was away.
• Wang Chen thanked Chen Qi, agreed to join his family for New Year’s Eve dinner, and hired a carpenter to replace his gate and damaged furniture.
• Wang Chen found that the intruders had searched the first level of his secret chamber but had not discovered the deeper levels.
• Wang Chen spent 1,000 Heavenly Merit to raise his Spiritual Root to seven points and endured the painful improvement.
• Wang Chen brought ten jin of Demonic Beast Marrow Meat to Chen Qi’s home, where the families shared a festive New Year’s Eve meal.

After learning why Dongwu Stockade had descended into chaos, Wang Chen kept to cultivation while the swelling population and grain shortage worsened conditions. When a group sent by the City Lord's Mansion tried to seize him, he killed them all and took their belongings.

• Chen Qi told Wang Chen that Guiyuan Sect and Five Peaks Mountain were oppressing rogue cultivators, driving refugees into Dongwu Stockade, where Xin Han's concubines and the Golden Snake Gentleman allowed disorder to grow.
• Chen Qi warned Wang Chen that the Golden Snake Gentleman had repeatedly sought him out and that summoned cultivators had disappeared into the City Lord's Mansion.
• After the Spring Festival, Wang Chen stayed home to cultivate as Dongwu Stockade's population and grain shortage worsened.
• A group of cultivators broke into Wang Chen's courtyard and tried to force him to answer the City Lord's Mansion's summons.
• Wang Chen killed the leader with a punch, cut down the fleeing cultivators with sword light, and collected their belongings before burning the bodies.

After killing members of the Guard Hall, Wang Chen decided to leave Dongwu Stockade for the West Sea Spirit Domain and destroyed his home before departing. He faced the pursuing Golden Snake Gentleman and his cultivators, then struck first with Five Suns Dry Thunder.

• Wang Chen told Chen Qi he was leaving for the West Sea Spirit Domain and gave him the Yunyang Ten Thousand Li Terrain Map to help his family if they had to flee.
• Wang Chen warned Chen Qi to prepare his family to leave, then destroyed the tunnel, secret chamber, and house before flying out of Dongwu Stockade on the Silver Spirit Shuttle.
• More than a dozen cultivators pursued Wang Chen and surrounded him above an open expanse, led by the Golden Snake Gentleman.
• Wang Chen mocked the Golden Snake Gentleman, who ordered his cultivators to kill him.
• Wang Chen unleashed Five Suns Dry Thunder, sending blue-violet lightning down on the surrounding cultivators.

Wang Chen killed the Golden Snake Gentleman and confronted Hu Meiniang, the hidden controller of Dongwu Stockade. Hu Meiniang apologized for her younger brother and spoke with Wang Chen while he restored his Mana.

• Wang Chen struck the Guard Hall cultivators with Five Suns Dry Thunder, killing or wounding more than a dozen and forcing the survivors to flee.
• Wang Chen knocked the Golden Snake Gentleman's Sword Pellet aside and fought him with the Wind Thunder Sword and Five Suns Dry Thunder.
• Wang Chen pursued the fleeing Golden Snake Gentleman, severed his arm, and then beheaded him despite Hu Meiniang's plea to spare him.
• Wang Chen took the Golden Snake Gentleman's Storage Bag and faced Hu Meiniang as he absorbed spiritual energy to restore his Mana.
• Hu Meiniang apologized for her younger brother and told Wang Chen that she had long heard of him.

Wang Chen resisted Hu Meiniang’s seduction and refused to return the sword pellet without a fair exchange. He tricked her by agreeing to meet for three Acupoint Breaking Pills, then failed to show up, leaving Hu Meiniang furious and chastised by her master.

• Hu Meiniang tried to recruit Wang Chen into the Joyous Union Sect with promises of cultivation resources and a young junior sister, but Wang Chen resisted her seduction arts.
• Wang Chen demanded to know whether Hu Meiniang wanted to fight, then attacked her with the Wind Thunder Sword; she dodged and asked him to return the sword pellet.
• Hu Meiniang offered to buy back the sword pellet, and Wang Chen negotiated three Acupoint Breaking Pills in exchange.
• Wang Chen refused to return to Dongwu Stockade with Hu Meiniang and agreed to trade at their meeting spot the next day.
• Hu Meiniang waited for over an hour, but Wang Chen never appeared, and her master rebuked her for seeking help again.

Wang Chen left Hu Meiniang behind, strengthened the Wind Thunder Sword and refined the sword pellet beneath Wind Thunder Valley, then set off for the West Sea Spirit Domain without advancing to Purple Mansion. In Dongwu Stockade, Chen Qi learned that the workshop master's family had been killed and decided to leave with his family.

• Wang Chen avoided Hu Meiniang because he suspected her offer of three Acupoint Breaking Pills was a trap.
• Wang Chen secretly returned to Wind Thunder Valley, mined Thunderstones, refined the Wind Thunder Sword, and gradually erased the sword pellet's Dharma seal.
• Wang Chen reached Grand Completion in the Five Elements Technique but chose to wait for two Acupoint Breaking Pills and a stronger foundation before attempting to open his Mansion.
• Wang Chen left Wind Thunder Valley and headed for the West Sea Spirit Domain.
• Chen Qi told Madam Chen that Evil Spirits had killed all fifteen members of the workshop master's family.
• Madam Chen urged Chen Qi to leave Dongwu Stockade, and he agreed to go with his family.

Wang Chen traveled with Daoist Jia, a Medicine King Valley cultivator who was secretly possessed by an Evil Spirit, and destroyed him with the Evil-Exorcising Net. After three cautious days on the road, Wang Chen reached Myriad Cultivator City, eager to explore the renowned city of Rogue Cultivators.

• Wang Chen shared tea and conversation with Daoist Jia in an abandoned shrine, then revealed that he had recognized something wrong with Jia’s aura.
• Daoist Jia attacked Wang Chen with black shadows, but Wang Chen trapped him in the Evil-Exorcising Net.
• Wang Chen intensified the net’s power until Daoist Jia and the Evil Spirit inside him were reduced to ashes.
• Wang Chen left the village the next morning and traveled on foot using Shadowless Divine Movement to avoid danger in the wilds.
• Wang Chen arrived at Myriad Cultivator City after three days of travel.

Wang Chen arrived in Myriad Cultivator City and visited the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce to trade away unwanted Magic Tools and ask about supplies. He left without buying Vajra Butter and learned that Acupoint Breaking Pills would take at least half a year to obtain.

• Wang Chen entered Myriad Cultivator City, whose formation suppressed mana and whose rules forbade private fighting.
• Wang Chen found the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce and asked Manager Jin about Vajra Butter.
• Manager Jin quoted a price of one hundred Lower Spirit per bottle, and Wang Chen refused to buy any.
• Wang Chen exchanged his unused Magic Tools for twenty-three thousand and forty-five Lower Spirit.
• Wang Chen asked about Acupoint Breaking Pills, and Manager Jin said they needed to be reserved and would not be available for at least half a year.