Recaps

Fang Cheng spent his first night at the Meditation Trip’s isolated retreat and heard a strange presence moving through the corridor, though Pan Wendi slept through it. In the morning, Fang Cheng found wet footprints outside their door.

• Pan Wendi told Fang Cheng that he smelled meat behind a locked Iron Gate on the top floor, despite the society forbidding full members from eating it.
• Fang Cheng fell asleep using the Breath Counting Method, but woke in the night to slow footsteps, a shadow outside the door, and a rotten, fishy smell.
• Fang Cheng used his Focus Skill to block out the footsteps and eventually went back to sleep without investigating.
• Pan Wendi woke Fang Cheng while exercising and said he had heard nothing strange during the night.
• Fang Cheng opened the door to go outside and saw a pair of soaking-wet footprints in front of it.

Fang Cheng joined the tour group on a sightseeing trip around Yong'an Island, where he learned about the Sea Queen Goddess and the island's history. After the group returned to the Training Camp, he and the others gathered in the Quiet Cultivation Hall for their first Meditation class.

• Fang Cheng noticed flipper-shaped footprints and a foul fishy smell outside his door, confirming that the previous night's strange events had not been hallucinations.
• Fang Cheng joined the group on a coach trip to Yong'an Town and toured its streets, harbor, and local sights.
• The tour guide explained that the island's Sea Festival honored the Sea Queen Goddess, and the group visited her temple before touring the history museum.
• The group ate a seafood meal near the fishing port and returned to the Training Camp for the afternoon Meditation class.
• Fang Cheng and Pan Wendi changed into their white Meditation outfits and gathered with the others in the Quiet Cultivation Hall.

Fang Cheng attended a meditation class led by Mentor Chen, who comforted the members and taught them about Entering Stillness. The lesson ended with Mentor Chen warning that heightened perception could overwhelm the mind and introducing the Truth Society’s three-part practice method.

• Mentor Chen entered the meditation hall and asked the members to explain their backgrounds and reasons for learning meditation.
• Deng Wenwen described grieving for her boyfriend, and Mentor Chen reassured her that meditation could bring release without erasing her love.
• Fang Cheng pretended to be Ma Donghao and claimed he was haunted by witnessing his brother’s death, while Pan Wendi said he wanted to improve his fitness-coaching business.
• Mentor Chen began teaching the fundamentals of meditation and explained that Entering Stillness sharpened sensory perception but could cause mental breakdowns.
• Mentor Chen introduced the Truth Society’s method: train the five senses, transcend the five senses, and return to awareness.

During a meditation lesson, Fang Cheng encountered a vast consciousness that nearly drew him in, but Heart of Steel brought him back. He later saw that the experience had unlocked Meditation lv0 and awakened Deep Self-Awareness.

• Fang Cheng followed Mentor Chen’s meditation instructions and heightened his senses before returning them to their source.
• Fang Cheng sensed a distant consciousness in a boundless blue expanse and nearly responded to its call.
• Fang Cheng activated Heart of Steel, breaking free of the vision and restoring his senses.
• Mentor Chen ended the three-hour lesson and encouraged the students to keep practicing.
• Fang Cheng checked his panel and discovered that Meditation lv0 had unlocked and Deep Self-Awareness had awakened.

Mentor Chen and the Society's elderly leader discussed their shortage of recruits and the looming Sea Festival, while Fang Cheng tested meditation and stayed wary of the strange presence he sensed. The chapter ended when Fang Cheng heard wet, squelching footsteps outside his dormitory door.

• The elderly leader urged Chen Jiandong to recruit more people for the Sea Festival and ask Little Chen for help because Yong'an Island faced danger.
• Pan Wendi praised meditation and described suspicious details about Mentor Chen and the Quiet Cultivation Hall, but said he had experienced nothing unusual.
• Fang Cheng meditated alone for two hours and gained one experience point and 0.01 spirit, while avoiding deeper states where his consciousness might be lost.
• Fang Cheng decided he would pursue his own goal rather than seek awakening through the mysterious phantom, then heard strange squelching footsteps in the corridor.

Fang Cheng followed a crowd of half-human, half-fish monsters from the Training Camp Base to the sea and watched them gather underwater before spotting a fishing boat approaching the cape. The boat’s hunters captured one monster, then found Fang Cheng waiting in their wheelhouse.

• Fang Cheng saw two half-human, half-fish monsters pass through the dormitory corridor and followed them out of the Training Camp Base.
• Fang Cheng watched hundreds of monsters gather in the sea beneath a cape on Yong'an Island.
• A Wu and the skipper approached the cape by fishing boat, intending to capture a monster during the gathering.
• A Wu lured a monster aboard with an Underwater Flare and fought it while the skipper weakened it with a Tranquilizer Gun and an Electric Harpoon Gun.
• A Wu and the skipper dragged the captured monster into the cabin and found Fang Cheng in their wheelhouse.

Fang Cheng subdued two brothers hunting mermaids and learned that they belonged to the Noah Organization, which had ties to Chen Chen. He pretended to accept their offer to take him to their base, but the chapter ended with electricity flickering aboard their boat and two cries abruptly stopping.

• Fang Cheng attacked Wang Zongwu and Wang Zongwen after they threatened him, knocking Wang Zongwu into the sea and incapacitating both brothers.
• Wang Zongwu told Fang Cheng that the brothers worked for the Noah Organization and had been sent to capture a mermaid for a reward.
• Wang Zongwu explained that he had gained his Flame Fist ability through an experiment and said Chen Chen led the Eastern Capital's largest gang with the organization's backing.
• Fang Cheng freed Wang Zongwen and let him steer the boat back to port while Wang Zongwu tried to persuade him to join the organization.
• As the boat docked, electricity flickered inside the bridge, and two cries of alarm abruptly stopped.

Fang Cheng staged the fishing boat murders as a fight over spoils, then made an extraordinary jump from the boat to the pier and returned to the Training Camp Base. As dawn approached, he assessed what he had learned about mermaids and Noah and examined his newly awakened Water Breathing talent.

• Fang Cheng arranged the corpses of Wang Zongwu, Wang Zongwen, and the boat owner to make their deaths look like a dispute, then discarded unwanted tools and left the unconscious mermaid on deck.
• Fang Cheng leapt more than ten meters from the fishing boat to the pier with the travel bag and ran back to the Training Camp Base.
• Fang Cheng showered, checked the time, and considered what his pursuit had revealed about mermaids and the organization Noah.
• Fang Cheng reviewed his Sanda experience and saw his new blue talent, Water Breathing.

Fang Cheng reflected on how he had awakened Water Breathing and watched officials investigate the death and mermaid left aboard a fishing boat. He suspected the Training Camp Base and Noah Organization were involved on Yong'an Island, then noticed a suspicious young man in the crowd.

• Fang Cheng recalled how meditation, a mysterious connection, and contact with seawater might have awakened Water Breathing.
• Fang Cheng saw Mentor Chen and an elderly man leave the island in a car, then followed them to the harbor.
• Fang Cheng observed police investigating the boat where Zhou AShui had been killed and heard islanders speculate about smugglers and a sea monster.
• Mentor Chen and two elderly men emerged from the boat, leading Fang Cheng to conclude that the mermaids were connected to the Training Camp Base.
• Fang Cheng resolved to hide his identity and meditation level while watching for people linked to Noah Organization's outpost.
• Fang Cheng spotted a young man in a black windbreaker and sunglasses, sensed danger, and lowered his head as the man began to turn toward him.

Li Chengjun searched the waters around Yong'an Island after two of his men were killed, while the Truth and Meditation Co-cultivation Society prepared for an imminent sea sacrifice ceremony and postponed action against the poachers. Fang Cheng gained Cooking Skill experience from the camp’s meals, noticed people disappearing from the Training Camp, and decided to try underwater Weight Training.

• Li Chengjun searched the waters around Yong'an Island and told his subordinates that a Pursuer Team would arrive within days to help launch his plan.
• Zheng Hongxin warned the Truth and Meditation Co-cultivation Society’s officers to avoid exposing their weakness before the sea sacrifice ceremony in five days, and ordered sea routes suspended and combat personnel recalled to the base.
• Fang Cheng gained twelve Cooking Skill experience points from the cafeteria food, noticed that people from rooms where monsters had appeared were gone, and found that the strange footsteps had stopped.
• Fang Cheng attended Meditation with Pan Wendi and the tour group at the cape, then doubled back alone after the lesson.
• Fang Cheng considered using his Water Breathing talent to begin Weight Training on the seabed.

Fang Cheng trained the Prisoner's Six Arts underwater, discovering that deep-sea pressure greatly increased his skill gains. After pushing his body close to its limit in a seafloor fissure, he surfaced with substantial experience and planned to return the next day to practice Pile Stance and the Breathing Technique.

• Fang Cheng jumped from a cape into the sea and dived to the seafloor to test underwater training.
• Fang Cheng practiced Push-Ups at ten meters deep, gaining experience but deciding the pressure was insufficient.
• Fang Cheng discovered a vast Seafloor Rift and descended to a rock ledge more than forty meters underwater.
• Fang Cheng trained the Prisoner's Six Arts beside the fissure, gaining experience as currents and crushing pressure challenged his balance and strength.
• Fang Cheng neared his breath-holding limit during his sixth set of Push-Ups and carefully swam back to the surface.
• Fang Cheng reviewed his experience gains, noted his Push-Ups progress, and decided to return tomorrow to practice Pile Stance and the Breathing Technique.

After grueling underwater training, Fang Cheng returned to a crowded base and learned that tourists had been moved there because of an infectious-disease outbreak in town. He recovered, studied his training gains, and ended the chapter turning toward a familiar jasmine-like scent near the Quiet Cultivation Hall.

• Fang Cheng found the base and cafeteria crowded with tourists and shared lunch with Pan Wendi and Shen Lili.
• Shen Lili explained that health officials had relocated the tourists to the base for about three days while disinfecting the town’s service establishments.
• Fang Cheng returned to his room, washed up, meditated, and checked his improved attributes after underwater weight training.
• Fang Cheng suspected that Pile Stance and Breathing Technique might work better underwater than the Prisoner's Six Arts and decided to test the idea the next day.
• Fang Cheng wandered near the Quiet Cultivation Hall, caught a familiar jasmine-like perfume, and turned to look behind him.

Fang Cheng unmasked Shen Lili as Lin Chuqiao, who said she had come to help him and would speak with him the next day. While training underwater the following morning, he mastered the Breathing Technique and unlocked it as a skill.

• Fang Cheng recognized Shen Lili’s familiar perfume and tricked her into revealing that she was Lin Chuqiao in disguise.
• Lin Chuqiao said she had come because she was worried Fang Cheng might be in danger and arranged to talk the next day.
• On January 19, Fang Cheng completed ten sets each of Push-Ups and Squats beneath the sea.
• Fang Cheng practiced Pile Stance underwater and used the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound Skill to steady his breathing and ease the pressure on his body.
• Fang Cheng gained an initial understanding of the Breathing Technique and unlocked Breathing Technique Lv0.

Fang Cheng trained Pile Stance and Breathing Technique underwater, reaching Expert Level in Pile Stance and unlocking Qi Sensation. After returning to the cape, he tested his breathing method on land and used Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound to dry and cleanse his body.

• Fang Cheng practiced Pile Stance and Breathing Technique in the Deep Sea Rift until Pile Stance reached Expert Level and his attributes increased.
• Fang Cheng realized that the underwater training had helped him unlock Breathing Technique and master the Qi Sensation Ma Jianguo had described.
• Fang Cheng swam to the cape, climbed back to its summit, and rested before resuming his training.
• Fang Cheng practiced Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound on land and felt his breath circulate through his body, making his muscles and organs resonate.
• Fang Cheng exhaled with a deep rumble, causing perspiration to rise as his seawater-soaked body dried and his pores felt refreshed.

Fang Cheng discovered that Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound helped his body recover from training, then attended Mentor Chen’s lesson on advancing meditation to Entering Samadhi. The sacred chanting barely affected him, and he realized he had already reached the threshold of Entering Samadhi but still lacked a suitable meditation target.

• Fang Cheng used Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound to ease his fatigue and recognized the Breathing Technique’s potential as a health cultivation skill.
• Fang Cheng went to the cafeteria before attending the meditation class at the Quiet Cultivation Hall.
• Chen Jiandong taught that Entering Samadhi required confronting inner emptiness, finding deeper awareness, and establishing a meditation target.
• A white-clad attendant started ethereal music with obscure sacred chanting, guiding the gathered trainees into meditation.
• Fang Cheng understood the lyrics and resisted the music’s influence, concluding that he had reached the threshold of Entering Samadhi but needed a target.

After leaving the meditation lessons, Fang Cheng walked with the disguised Lin Chuqiao, who explained that deeper meditation required something worth believing in rather than faith in a god. Lin Chuqiao revealed that an encounter with the Truth Society had awakened her special ability and that she had come to Yong'an Island to approach a target; the chapter ended with her worrying about Pan Wendi, who had gone out on her behalf.

• Chen Jiandong watched the students leave the Quiet Cultivation Hall and worried that Fang Cheng had lost his ability to meditate effectively.
• Lin Chuqiao invited Fang Cheng for a walk, and he told her the Truth Society's meditation practice did not seem suited to him.
• Lin Chuqiao explained that meditation required a purpose and unwavering conviction, then said her own practice involved the Truth Society.
• Lin Chuqiao revealed that she had awakened a special ability after encountering the Truth Society and had come to Yong'an Island in disguise to approach her target.
• Fang Cheng offered to help Lin Chuqiao if she needed him, and she said Pan Wendi had gone out to handle something for her.

Pan Wendi found the Noah Organization’s hideout on Yong'an Island, where its leader, Li Chengjun, caught and overpowered him. Pan Wendi escaped at the last moment, and Li Chengjun sent his subordinates after him, warning that he might have backup.

• Pan Wendi followed his cousin’s directions through the harbor neighborhood and found the house marked on his paper.
• Pan Wendi entered the house by passing through its wall, discovered weapons hidden in a crate, and left a note on the table.
• Li Chengjun confronted Pan Wendi, recognized the note, and accused him of being involved in the fishing boat incident.
• Li Chengjun used his abilities to immobilize and restrain Pan Wendi, who resisted and taunted him.
• Li Chengjun kicked Pan Wendi toward a wall, but Pan Wendi vanished before impact.
• Li Chengjun told his arriving subordinates that Pan Wendi had fled down an alley and cautioned them to watch for backup.

Fang Cheng rescued Lin Chuqiao and Pan Wendi from Li Chengjun’s Pursuer Team, fighting through the encirclement despite Li Chengjun’s crushing-force ability. After Fang Cheng escaped with them, Li Chengjun abandoned the pursuit and ordered his team to relocate.

• Pan Wendi escaped a mental illusion with Lin Chuqiao’s guidance, and Lin Chuqiao used her Charm Art to make Shorty hold off their pursuers.
• Li Chengjun blocked Lin Chuqiao and Pan Wendi’s escape, but an explosion interrupted his attack and Fang Cheng arrived to rescue them.
• Fang Cheng carried the injured Pan Wendi and Lin Chuqiao through the Pursuer Team, using rapid kicks to break through Li Chengjun’s force field and escape.
• A second explosive charge detonated as Fang Cheng disappeared into the night, leaving several Pursuer Team members injured.
• Li Chengjun ordered his team to stop pursuing the fugitives, move to another hideout, and take the unconscious hedgehog man with them.

Fang Cheng sheltered Lin Chuqiao and the injured Pan Wendi after their escape, then learned that Lin Chuqiao’s Precognitive Divination had guided her scheme against the Noah Organization and the Truth Society. Pan Wendi began recovering, and Lin Chuqiao decided to send him back to the Eastern Capital while Fang Cheng returned to the Training Camp Base.

• Fang Cheng brought Lin Chuqiao and Pan Wendi to Lin Chuqiao’s abandoned courtyard house, where Pan Wendi collapsed from overusing his ability.
• Fang Cheng bought bedding and food while Lin Chuqiao cleaned the house and explained that ability overuse could damage a user’s mind.
• Fang Cheng checked his skill panel and realized Breathing Technique had helped him withstand the Windbreaker Man’s force-field-like attacks.
• After keeping watch overnight and training underwater, Fang Cheng learned Pan Wendi had awakened and Lin Chuqiao planned to send him to the Eastern Capital.
• Lin Chuqiao revealed that Precognitive Divination had led her to manipulate conflict between the Noah Organization and the Truth Society, then thanked Fang Cheng as he left for the Training Camp Base.

Fang Cheng trained in the Seafloor Rift, using its crushing water pressure and powerful currents to improve his Pile Stance and Push-Ups. After pushing himself to his limit, he reached Grandmaster-level Push-Ups and gained the “Qilin Arm” special effect.

• Fang Cheng dove more than sixty meters into the Seafloor Rift and landed on a flat rock amid the fierce currents.
• Fang Cheng practiced Pile Stance under the crushing pressure and raised the skill to Lv1 (38/250).
• Fang Cheng performed Squats and Push-Ups on the rock, gaining experience faster than in ordinary conditions.
• Fang Cheng kept doing Push-Ups despite his exhaustion and reached 170 repetitions, advancing Push-Ups to Lv3 and earning the “Qilin Arm” special effect.

Fang Cheng completed his Push-Ups training and unlocked the Qilin Arm special effect, then tested its power in the Seafloor Rift and used it to climb a sheer cliff. After restoring himself atop the cape, he dressed and prepared to eat a meal provided by the Truth Society.

• Fang Cheng completed 180 Push-Ups and advanced the skill to Grandmaster-level, unlocking the Qilin Arm special effect.
• Fang Cheng charged Qilin Arm for three seconds and unleashed a Straight Punch that sent a powerful pressure wave through the water.
• Fang Cheng combined Qilin Arm with Elasticity and Ape Waist to escape the Abyss, burst through the sea's surface, and catch an osprey before releasing it.
• Fang Cheng swam to a cape and used Qilin Arm to climb its nearly vertical, hundred-meter cliff in less than two minutes.
• Fang Cheng practiced Standing Meditation and Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound to recover, then dressed and headed to the cafeteria for a meal from the Truth Society.

Fang Cheng tried to combine Meditation and Breathing Technique to guide the qi in his abdomen, but his attempts failed because his qi was too weak. After considering how he could replenish his vital energy, he recalled that Old Master Ma had offered him a legendary method called Steal Heavenly Opportunity.

• Fang Cheng meditated in his dormitory, but his session lasted only a little over half an hour before noise disturbed him.
• Fang Cheng reviewed his progress in Qi Gong and planned to use Meditation and Breathing Technique together to direct the heat in his abdomen.
• Fang Cheng attempted the method twice, but the qi met resistance and dissipated when he tried to guide it beyond his lower abdomen.
• Fang Cheng concluded that he needed more practice and nourishment to strengthen his qi and replenish his vital energy.
• Fang Cheng remembered that Old Master Ma had told him about a legendary method called Steal Heavenly Opportunity.

Fang Cheng weighed whether to use Steal Heavenly Opportunity to break through in Qi Gong, then learned that Lin Chuqiao had returned to Yong'an Island after the ferry service was suspended. Lin Chuqiao showed him her premonition drawings, warning that a bloody incident would strike the Training Camp Base within three days.

• Fang Cheng considered how his underwater training and Water Breathing talent had prepared him to risk Steal Heavenly Opportunity and break through his Qi Gong barrier.
• Someone knocked at Fang Cheng's dormitory door, and he found Lin Chuqiao waiting outside.
• Lin Chuqiao explained that ferry operations had been suspended because of abnormal ocean currents, which she suspected the Truth Society had caused.
• Lin Chuqiao told Fang Cheng that Pan Wendi was recovering in town and that she had returned because she feared Fang Cheng might be in danger.
• Lin Chuqiao showed Fang Cheng drawings from her Premonition Ability and warned him that she foresaw a bloody incident at the Training Camp Base within three days, near the Sea Festival.

Fang Cheng learned that Lin Chuqiao’s predictions about his future were obscured, while the Truth Society’s Saint Relic revealed a cryptic warning of a coming massacre. Zheng Hongxin ordered the society to prepare newcomers for a ritual and lock down its building.

• Fang Cheng questioned Lin Chuqiao about her predictions, and she explained that her ability was unreliable and especially unclear when predicting his future.
• Lin Chuqiao told Fang Cheng that the Truth Society also had a Premonition Ability and possessed a Saint Relic, so they should avoid getting involved.
• The Truth Society’s Truth Stone Tablet displayed a prophecy warning that bloodstained sinners would be trapped in the Blood River before a guiding light appeared.
• Zheng Hongxin speculated that a massacre was coming and that the tablet’s dwindling power made its prophecy unclear.
• Zheng Hongxin ordered Chen Jiandong to bring newcomers for Baptism and the Ritual, drive out the others, and lock down the building.

Luo Lie arrived at Yong'an Island to lead a mission against the Truth Society while Li Chengjun secretly planned to seize the materials needed to create a Saint Relic. After tourists left the Training Camp Base, Fang Cheng stayed in town and headed into the sea to pursue his breakthrough.

• Luo Lie reached Yong'an Island by smuggling boat and told Li Chengjun he would deal with the Truth Society while Li Chengjun handled the rest.
• Luo Lie warned Li Chengjun to keep his identity secret and promised to seek his promotion after the mission.
• Fang Cheng and the other tourists left the Training Camp Base, while two members of his group stayed behind as Formal Trainees.
• Fang Cheng checked into a hotel in town and bought a diving mask because the ferry routes remained suspended.
• Fang Cheng sensed a power within him and entered the sea, determined to make his final breakthrough.