Recaps

After discovering that the World Within the Bell had stripped away most of his cultivation system, Wang Chen traded his family’s farmland for cured meat and a saber so he could focus on martial training. Seven days later, he had eaten the meat and reached the Flesh Tempering realm.

• Wang Chen saw that the World Within the Bell had reduced his cultivation panel to basic information, then ate a large amount of smoked mutton while worrying that he would run out of food.
• Seventh Uncle and other villagers urged Wang Chen to tend his abandoned fields, but Wang Chen offered his three mu and two fen of land to anyone who gave him five hundred jin of cured meat.
• Wang Chen showed the villagers that he had reached Skin Tempering and explained that he wanted enough meat to advance and join the hunting team.
• The Shi family brought five hundred jin of cured meat and a mountain-cleaving saber in exchange for Wang Chen’s land, and Wang Chen signed the transfer deed.
• Wang Chen shut himself away for seven days, ate all the cured meat, and broke through to the Flesh Tempering realm.

Wang Chen sharpened his mountain-cleaving blade, left Little Stone Village to hunt alone after Yan Wu hesitated to admit him to the hunting team, and ventured deeper into the mist. As he searched the forest, a fast-moving creature swooped toward him.

• Wang Chen sharpened his blade to steady his mind, then packed his smoked meat and set out to join the hunting team.
• Wang Chen told Yan Wu he had reached the Flesh-Refining Realm, but Yan Wu delayed accepting him because he lacked hunting experience and it was not hunting season.
• Wang Chen left Little Stone Village to hunt alone, despite villagers warning that he was courting death.
• Wang Chen cautiously traveled northwest through the mist, using markers and guiding grass while searching for beasts.
• Wang Chen ventured deeper into the forest and heard a pigeon-like cry as something flew toward him at high speed.

Wang Chen hunted in the fog-shrouded World Within the Bell, where he discovered his system was sealed and he would have to rely on himself. After killing a giant Mountain Boar with a trap, he stood over the dead beast, with two smaller boars nearby.

• Wang Chen killed a Black Bat that ambushed him and realized the Heavenly Merit and Human Virtue System remained sealed.
• Wang Chen climbed a tree and used the Black Bat's corpse to attract prey.
• A giant Mountain Boar arrived with two young boars, and Wang Chen identified it as a dangerous second-tier beast.
• Wang Chen stabbed the Mountain Boar in its exposed rear weak point, then escaped up the tree as it charged.
• The Mountain Boar got its tusks stuck in the tree and bled to death while Wang Chen waited above.

Wang Chen dragged the giant mountain boar he had killed back to Little Stone Village and shared half of it with the villagers. After eating the boar’s heart, he found that his cultivation had accelerated, bringing him closer to Bone Tempering.

• Wang Chen drove off the two little Mountain Boars, butchered the giant boar, and dragged it back toward Little Stone Village on a makeshift sled.
• Wang Chen arrived at the village entrance, where Uncle Li and another villager were astonished by his enormous prey.
• Shi Laowu asked how Wang Chen would handle the boar, and Wang Chen offered half to the village; Shi Laowu arranged for the hunters to process it.
• Wang Chen took the pig heart and stomach home and discovered medicinal-smelling tumors inside the stomach.
• Wang Chen ate the steamed pig heart and cultivated the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma, finding that his progress had greatly improved.

Wang Chen advanced his body-tempering practice, ate a nourishing meal, and welcomed Village Chief Shi Laowu, who brought food and drink and explained the martial path and the Mist Mountain Realm. The conversation left Wang Chen with a clearer picture of a world where cities defended humanity against ferocious beasts.

• Wang Chen practiced the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma and found that his appetite had grown along with his strength.
• Wang Chen cooked and devoured a crock of pig stomach soup, feeling its powerful nourishing effects.
• Shi Laowu visited Wang Chen with smoked mountain-boar pig's head and bear gall wine, and the two ate and drank together.
• Shi Laowu asked whether Wang Chen had learned martial arts from Chen Qiaoshan, then invited him to call him Uncle Wu.
• Shi Laowu explained that the world was called the Mist Mountain Realm and that cities served as human strongholds against ferocious beasts.

Shi Laowu recommended Wang Chen to Red Cliff City and taught him the Bone Forging, Tendon Transforming, Blood Burning Technique to help him advance. Wang Chen mastered it with astonishing speed and planned to reclaim his original name when he eventually left Little Stone Village.

• Shi Laowu urged Wang Chen to leave Little Stone Village for Red Cliff City once he reached the Bone Forging realm, and Wang Chen agreed.
• Wang Chen asked about the realms above Innate, but Shi Laowu warned him not to inquire until he became an Innate expert.
• Shi Laowu taught Wang Chen the Bone Forging, Tendon Transforming, Blood Burning Technique, which Wang Chen quickly learned and began practicing.
• Shi Laowu was stunned by Wang Chen's aptitude and promised to send him a jar of bear oil for training.
• Shi Laowu advised Wang Chen to change his rustic name before going to Red Cliff City, and Wang Chen resolved to use his original name to improve his chances of reuniting with Hu Jiaojiao.

Wang Chen reached the Blood Forging Realm and prepared to travel with Shi Laowu to Red Cliff City, but roving bandits attacked Little Stone Village before they could leave. Wang Chen rushed to confront the attackers and knocked away their arrows, then charged their archers.

• Shi Laowu sent Shi Xiuxiu to deliver bear oil to Wang Chen, who accepted it and sent her away.
• Wang Chen cultivated in seclusion, advancing to the Bone Forging Realm and then the Blood Forging Realm within a month.
• Wang Chen told Shi Laowu he planned to go to Red Cliff City, and Shi Laowu agreed to set out with him in three days.
• A warning horn sounded, and farmers told Shi Laowu and Wang Chen that roving bandits were attacking Little Stone Village.
• Wang Chen rushed toward the bandits, deflected three arrows, and pounced on the archers before they could fire again.

Wang Chen slaughtered the bandits attacking Little Stone Village and discovered that the Cultivation Panel now tracked his Qi and Blood. After the survivors fled and the village dealt with the aftermath, Wang Chen focused on understanding the new value.

• Wang Chen killed six bandits in rapid succession, including their fierce leader, while rescuing a farmwoman.
• The Cultivation Panel displayed new Qi and Blood gains and showed Wang Chen with 132 Qi and Blood.
• Wang Chen chased the fleeing bandits, but several escaped into the misty mountain forest; he gained 11 more Qi and Blood.
• Shi Laowu and Wang Chen assessed the aftermath, finding two villagers dead and several injured.
• Wang Chen accepted a saber, a bow and arrows, and more than a hundred bone coins as spoils, but wondered about his new Qi and Blood value.

Wang Chen discovered that the Vitality and Blood points gained from killing Martial Artists could only increase skill experience, then prepared to leave Little Stone Village for Red Cliff City. Accompanied by Shi Yan, he entered the Sacred Ancestor Road, where the two began their journey through the underground labyrinth.

• Wang Chen found that Vitality and Blood points converted one-to-one into skill experience and spent all 131 points improving his Bone Tempering, Tendon Altering, Blood Burning Technique.
• Shi Laowu stayed in Little Stone Village to guard against the bandits' return and arranged for Shi Yan to escort Wang Chen to Red Cliff City.
• Wang Chen gave Little Stone Village thousands of catties of second-tier ferocious beast prey before hundreds of villagers came to see him off.
• Wang Chen said goodbye to Shi Laowu and followed Shi Yan into the tunnel leading to the Sacred Ancestor Road.
• Shi Yan explained the dangers of the underground route and identified the glowing, poisonous mushrooms as Luminous Mushrooms before they continued onward.

Wang Chen and Shi Yan stopped to rest on Sacred Ancestor Road, where hunters from Xintian Village tried to drive them out and seize their belongings. When they demanded Wang Chen's travel bag, he fought back and knocked their bearded leader unconscious with a single punch.

• Shi Yan and Wang Chen rested in a roadside cave and cooked sweet potato and meat stew over a coal-fired stove.
• More than ten hunters from Xintian Village entered the cave, and Shi Yan warned Wang Chen that their villages had a history of violent conflict.
• The bearded hunter recognized Shi Yan, then ordered Wang Chen and Shi Yan to leave and surrender their food and travel bag.
• Wang Chen set down his bag but refused to give it up, threatening the bearded man and punching him from a distance.
• Wang Chen's Vajra Fist shattered the bearded man's facial bones and knocked him unconscious, throwing the cave into chaos.

Wang Chen fought off Xintian Village hunters after wounding Tian Dazhu, but Old Wu arrived and stopped the confrontation. Old Wu recognized Wang Chen as a dangerous fighter and led his people away, leaving Wang Chen and Shi Yan to continue their journey toward Red Cliff City.

• Wang Chen heavily wounded Tian Dazhu, prompting Xintian Village's hunters to draw their weapons and threaten him.
• Old Wu entered the cave, stopped the hunters, and apologized to Wang Chen for their conduct.
• Wang Chen introduced himself as a Martial Artist from Little Stone Village, and Old Wu ordered his hunters to carry Tian Dazhu away.
• After leaving the cave, Old Wu warned his hunters that Wang Chen had reached at least the Bone Refinement realm and might be at the Blood Refinement level.
• Old Wu revealed that a fight with Wang Chen would have killed the Xintian Village hunters, including himself, then gave a hunter medicine to treat Tian Dazhu.

Wang Chen entered Red Cliff City with Shi Yan and sensed a faint trace of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy as they reached the city. After finding an inexpensive inn, Shi Yan gave Wang Chen bone coins from the village chief and prepared to tell him more about the city before returning to the village.

• Wang Chen followed Shi Yan along Huarong Road and saw True Script Runes carved into Red Cliff City's stone gates.
• Wang Chen and Shi Yan paid the entry fee, climbed the long stairs, and passed through the gates into Red Cliff City.
• Wang Chen briefly sensed a trace of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy, but he could not grasp it.
• Wang Chen and Shi Yan found a cheap inn, where Shi Yan paid for three days and gave Wang Chen a pouch of bone coins from the village chief.
• Shi Yan told Wang Chen he would return to the village the next day and began offering more information about Red Cliff City.

Wang Chen chose to join a martial arts school rather than sign a blood contract with a noble family, and Shi Yan brought him to Hongyi Martial Arts School. After Wang Chen challenged the disciples and defeated three at once, his chance to become a martial instructor hung in the balance.

• Shi Yan explained Red Cliff City's factions and told Wang Chen that noble families required long service under a blood contract, while martial arts schools offered more freedom.
• Wang Chen chose a martial arts school, and Shi Yan took him to Hongyi Martial Arts School the next morning.
• Shi Yan introduced Wang Chen to Master Liu as a fifteen-year-old Bone Refining Realm Martial Artist.
• Wang Chen claimed he could take on ten disciples, prompting Master Liu to offer him a martial instructor position if he defeated three.
• Master Liu selected Xiao Wu, Su Qi, and Chen Kui to test Wang Chen, and all three attacked him together.
• Wang Chen moved in a blur and sent Xiao Wu, Su Qi, and Chen Kui flying backward.

Wang Chen demonstrated his Blood Refining strength at the Hongyi Martial Arts School and impressed its headmaster. He declined to become the headmaster’s disciple but agreed to become his junior brother, joining the school as the second true disciple.

• Wang Chen defeated Xiao Wu, Su Qi, and Chen Kui with one move, then revealed to Master Liu that he had reached the Blood Refining stage.
• Master Liu brought Wang Chen and Shi Yan into the inner hall and summoned the headmaster, warning the school’s disciples to keep the incident secret.
• The headmaster tested Wang Chen by meeting his punch and, impressed by his strength, offered to take him as a personal disciple.
• Wang Chen hesitated because he did not want a master-disciple bond, so the headmaster offered to take him on behalf of his deceased master instead.
• Wang Chen accepted and greeted the headmaster as his senior brother, becoming the school’s second true disciple.

Wang Chen became Shao Hongcheng’s junior brother and the newest successor of Wuji Sect, receiving its cultivation manual, weapons, and resources. Shao Hongcheng left the sect’s revival and Hongyi Martial Arts School’s survival in Wang Chen’s hands, with the Battle of the Hundred Schools awaiting him at year’s end.

• Shi Yan returned to Little Stone Village with gifts and Shao Hongcheng’s promise to train three youths from the village each year for ten years.
• Shao Hongcheng held a private ceremony in which Wang Chen became his junior brother and a member of Hongyi Martial Arts School.
• Shao Hongcheng introduced Wang Chen to Wuji Sect’s founder and urged him to revive the nearly extinct sect.
• Shao Hongcheng gave Wang Chen the upper volume of the Wuji Profound Arts and explained that Transcendence and Dao Entry lay beyond the innate realm.
• Wang Chen chose a superior long saber and a bow and arrows from Wuji Sect’s treasury, and Shao Hongcheng gave him jade coins and the same cultivation resources he received.
• Shao Hongcheng told Wang Chen he must represent Hongyi Martial Arts School in the Battle of the Hundred Schools and win at least three matches to help the school avoid elimination.

Wang Chen used Hongyi Martial Arts School’s resources to rapidly advance to Marrow Refining, then defended the school when three men challenged it. After defeating all three, he ordered the disciples to throw them onto the street as a warning.

• Wang Chen moved into Hongyi Martial Arts School and trained with Shao Hongcheng’s resources, reaching the third level of Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma, completing Bone Tempering, Tendon Altering, Blood Burning Technique, beginning Wuji Profound Arts, and entering Marrow Refining.
• A servant told Wang Chen that challengers had injured Master Liu while Shao Hongcheng and two instructors were away.
• Wang Chen stopped the disciples from attacking the three gray-clad men and told them to take Master Liu for treatment.
• Wang Chen struck down the first challenger, then defeated the second with a palm strike and sent the fleeing third man flying.
• Wang Chen ordered the disciples to throw the three challengers onto the street so the neighbors could see the consequences of maliciously challenging the school.

After Wang Chen revealed that he had reached the Marrow Refining peak, Shao Hongcheng gave him the Blood Marrow Pills he had saved for his own breakthrough and urged him to reach the Houtian realm before the Martial Arts School Competition. The two prepared for possible schemes now that Wang Chen’s strength could no longer remain hidden.

• Shao Hongcheng returned to Hongyi Martial Arts School and learned that Wang Chen had defeated the challengers, then suspected they had targeted Wang Chen ahead of the Martial Arts School Competition.
• Wang Chen displayed his strength, and Shao Hongcheng realized he had reached the Marrow Refining peak.
• Shao Hongcheng gave Wang Chen his five Blood Marrow Pills, explaining that he wanted Wang Chen to break through to the Houtian realm and place among the top three in the competition.
• Wang Chen promised to place in the top three and said he would meet any schemes with sufficient strength.

Wang Chen consumed all five Blood Marrow Pills and broke through to the Houtian Great Realm, rapidly condensing and stabilizing his true qi. After emerging from seclusion, he went to see Shao Hongcheng, who was shocked by his transformation and recognized his new realm.

• Wang Chen swallowed the first Blood Marrow Pill and used the Wuji Profound Arts to refine its medicinal power.
• Wang Chen took the second pill and began condensing martial true qi, opening and expanding his Dantian.
• Wang Chen swallowed the third and fourth Blood Marrow Pills, refining their power before stabilizing his newly formed true qi.
• Wang Chen took the final pill to nourish his body, then checked his cultivation and saw that he had reached Houtian.
• Wang Chen bathed, changed clothes, and visited Shao Hongcheng, who dropped his brush in shock and identified Wang Chen as Houtian.

After Wang Chen reached the Houtian Great Realm, he told Shao Hongcheng he planned to reach Innate before the Martial Arts School Competition. Shao Hongcheng gave him the Wuji Mirror and made him the Wuji Sect’s new Sect Leader, and Wang Chen began activating the mirror with Heaven and Earth spiritual energy.

• Wang Chen told Shao Hongcheng he had reached the Houtian Great Realm and promised to win first place in the Martial Arts School Competition.
• Wang Chen said he wanted to reach Innate before the competition and asked Shao Hongcheng for the later portions of the Wuji Profound Arts instead of an Innate Pill.
• Shao Hongcheng gave Wang Chen the Wuji Mirror, declared him the Wuji Sect’s new Sect Leader, and offered him the sect’s remaining assets.
• Wang Chen examined the Wuji Mirror and concluded it was a third-rank Magic Treasure likely left by a Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Wang Chen infused the Wuji Mirror with Heaven and Earth spiritual energy, and it burst into dazzling radiance.

Wang Chen activated the Wuji Mirror and acquired the remaining portions of the Wuji Profound Arts, improving his prospects of reaching Xiantian while revealing his need for cultivation resources. After Shao Hongcheng moved him to a secluded residence for safety, Wang Chen headed into the mountains to hunt vicious beasts.

• Wang Chen endured the information released by the depleted Wuji Mirror and learned its stored contents were the middle and lower portions of the Wuji Profound Arts, along with instructions for refining and controlling the treasure.
• Wang Chen studied the middle portion for three days and reached beginner mastery, but realized he needed food and other resources to replenish his vitality and blood.
• Shao Hongcheng moved Wang Chen from Hongyi Martial Arts School to a secluded residence because enemies were watching the school, and he gave Wang Chen a token for freely entering and leaving Red Cliff City.
• Wang Chen decided to repay Shao Hongcheng and, the day after moving, went into the mountains behind Red Cliff City to hunt vicious beasts.
• Wang Chen sensed the Wuji Mirror from the mountains through their subtle Divine Soul connection, despite having hidden it at his residence.

Wang Chen entered North Mountain and ambushed the hunters pursuing him, killing several with his bow. When their leader confronted him with a Black Scale Whip, Wang Chen seized it and revealed strength that terrified the middle-aged martial artist, who tried to flee.

• Wang Chen hurried into North Mountain while a nine-man team of hunters followed his trail.
• Wang Chen shot the old hunter through the throat and killed several more hunters as the team scattered.
• The middle-aged martial artist charged Wang Chen with his Black Scale Whip after closing the distance.
• Wang Chen caught the whip tip barehanded, and the middle-aged martial artist realized he faced a Houtian martial artist.
• The middle-aged martial artist abandoned his whip, begged Wang Chen for mercy, and sprang backward to escape.

Wang Chen killed the hunters sent after him, discovered he could trade Vitality and Blood points for True Qi, and continued deeper into North Mountain to hunt high-tier ferocious beasts. After he left, he returned to kill two surviving hunters with arrows.

• Wang Chen used the Black Scale Whip and his palms to kill the middle-aged Martial Artist, gaining 1000 Vitality and Blood points.
• Wang Chen examined his panel, learned that he could exchange Vitality and Blood points for True Qi, and decided to reserve at least 1000 points for emergencies.
• Wang Chen headed deeper into North Mountain to hunt high-tier ferocious beasts.
• A young hunter and an older hunter found the middle-aged Martial Artist's corpse and realized they could not return to Red Cliff City.
• Wang Chen shot the two hunters with his longbow from the forest and departed.

During his fifth day hunting in North Mountain, Wang Chen killed a fifth-tier Gray Giant Bear and shared its roasted paws and spiritual wine with a mysterious old man. The old man spoke the language of the Immortal Realm, and Wang Chen accidentally revealed that he came from Thousand Stars Immortal City.

• Wang Chen killed a Gray Giant Bear and roasted its paws in the beast’s cavern.
• A white-haired old man appeared without Wang Chen noticing and asked for half a bear paw.
• Wang Chen gave the old man the roasted paw, which he quickly devoured.
• The old man offered Wang Chen a gourd of wine, and Wang Chen discovered it contained spiritual energy.
• The old man asked which immortal city Wang Chen came from, and Wang Chen answered Thousand Stars Immortal City before realizing the old man had spoken the language of the Immortal Realm.

Wang Chen learned that Old Yao was the true founder of the Wuji Sect, a Nascent Soul True Immortal who had been trapped in the Mist Mountain Realm for nearly three thousand years and survived twelve reincarnations. Old Yao passed his true spirit into the Reincarnation Pearl and entrusted Wang Chen with bringing it back to the Haotian Realm in exchange for a Cave Mansion.

• Old Yao told Wang Chen that he had spent nearly three thousand years in the Mist Mountain Realm through twelve reincarnations.
• Old Yao revealed that he had scattered Magic Treasures, including the Wuji Mirror, to find newcomers from the Haotian Realm.
• Wang Chen explained how he had entered the Mist Mountain Realm with the World-Asking Bell, and Old Yao realized why his Magic Treasures had gone untouched.
• Old Yao revealed himself as the true founding patriarch of the Wuji Sect and asked Wang Chen to help him return to the Haotian Realm.
• Old Yao aged and transformed into a Reincarnation Pearl, lodging his true spirit inside and promising Wang Chen a Cave Mansion if he brought it back.

Wang Chen killed a sixth-rank Cloud Patterned Leopard and used its remains to strengthen himself. After a month of hunting and training with Old Yao’s guidance, he sensed an opportunity to advance from the Acquired realm to the Innate realm.

• Wang Chen pursued the wounded Cloud Patterned Leopard and killed it with a saber strike after evading its attack.
• Wang Chen noted that his weapon was nearly ruined after a month of hunting high-rank ferocious beasts and improving his cultivation.
• Wang Chen carried the Cloud Patterned Leopard to his ninth temporary residence and skinned it, preserving its valuable pelt.
• Wang Chen extracted the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy from the leopard’s spine and fed it to the Reincarnation Pearl to sustain Old Yao’s true spirit.
• Wang Chen ate the roasted leopard meat and absorbed its blood marrow as the Wuji Profound Arts filled his Dantian with true qi.
• Wang Chen sensed that he was ready to break through from the Acquired realm to the Innate realm.