Recaps

Lin Qiye and Baili Pangpang reflected on the corruption of Team 010, while Shen Qingzhu chose not to kill the sleeping Ninth Seat. Zuo Qing announced the Night Watchmen’s judgments, ending with Lin Qiye’s reserve team ordered to undergo indefinite education in Huaihai City.

• Lin Qiye reassured Baili Pangpang that he was not to blame for Team 010’s corruption and said most Night Watchmen were good people, though people could not be divided simply into good and bad.
• Shen Qingzhu considered using his Soul Severing Blade to kill the sleeping Ninth Seat but decided to spare him as an exception.
• Zuo Qing announced that Baili Xin’s remaining sentence was revoked because he was dead, while the corrupt members of Team 010 were stripped of their identities and sentenced to lifelong imprisonment; Miao Su was appointed captain of the rebuilt team.
• Baili Pangpang accepted the judgment against Baili Xin and the former Team 010 members.
• Zuo Qing revoked the Fifth Reserve Team’s qualification to become a Special Squad, canceled its missions, and ordered it to Huaihai City for indefinite education while retaining its members and freedom to act.
• Zuo Qing asked Lin Qiye whether he had any questions about the punishment, and Lin Qiye and An Qingyu exchanged a thoughtful glance.

Lin Qiye and his team learned that their suspended Special Squad status meant they had to undergo open-ended comprehensive education in Huaihai. Baili Pangpang gave up control of the Baili Group and Forbidden Artifact Collection Hall to join them, and the chapter ended as their mysterious teacher arrived at their rundown accommodations.

• Zuo Qing told Lin Qiye and the others that their Special Squad qualifications were suspended and that their comprehensive education had no fixed end date.
• Zuo Qing informed Baili Pangpang that he had inherited the Baili Group and Forbidden Artifact Collection Hall, but Baili Pangpang chose to join the squad and surrender control of both.
• Lin Qiye, Baili Pangpang, and the others traveled with Zuo Qing to a military base in Huaihai, where they were forbidden to leave until their education ended.
• A young man carrying a black sword case arrived at the warehouse that night and muttered that he wanted to go home.

Lin Qiye and his companions settled into an abandoned warehouse that would serve as their home during their uncertain comprehensive education. Baili Pangpang divided up the five ultra-high-risk Forbidden Items among the group, leaving the story with Lin Qiye receiving Zhanbai and Praying Abyss.

• Lin Qiye and the others moved into the dusty warehouse and prepared its old staff rooms as living quarters.
• Lin Qiye said the group might stay there for years, while Baili Pangpang explained that he could not use Baili Group funds to improve the place.
• Lin Qiye returned Praying Abyss and Zhanbai to Baili Pangpang, who gave Zhanbai to Lin Qiye as a gift.
• Baili Pangpang gave the Sky Palace golden spear to Jialan and Dirge to An Qingyu, while keeping the Jade Armor for himself.
• Baili Pangpang gave Praying Abyss to Lin Qiye, leaving Cao Yuan without a Forbidden Item.

Lin Qiye and his squad discovered that their mysterious new trainer, Zhou Ping, had spent the night cleaning their warehouse. Zhou Ping introduced himself as the Sword Saint, leaving the squad shocked by his identity.

• Lin Qiye accepted Praying Abyss from Baili Pangpang and put it aside after carving a summoning array into its hilt.
• Lin Qiye and the others gave up waiting for their trainer and went to bed, unaware that Zhou Ping had arrived and begun cleaning the warehouse.
• Cao Yuan woke Lin Qiye and showed him the spotless kitchen, then they found Zhou Ping mopping the warehouse.
• Zhou Ping told Lin Qiye and the squad that Ye Fan had brought him to handle their comprehensive training and that he was not a Night Watchman.
• Zhou Ping said they could call him the Sword Saint.

Lin Qiye and the others discovered that their instructor, Zhou Ping, was the Sword Saint, who worked as a waiter and had Ye Fan cover his restaurant shift. Zhou Ping began their lesson by handing them a box of books, leaving them puzzled by its eclectic contents.

• Lin Qiye and his companions learned that Zhou Ping was the Sword Saint, but he insisted on finishing his cleaning before teaching them.
• Zhou Ping told the students that he worked as a waiter at his Third Uncle's restaurant and that Ye Fan was covering his shift.
• Ye Fan scrubbed dishes at Third Uncle's Rustic Cuisine Restaurant while the customers teased him and Third Uncle compared him unfavorably to Zhou Ping.
• Zhou Ping began the lesson and told the students to take the teaching materials from a cardboard box.
• Lin Qiye and the others found the box filled with assorted books, and Zhou Ping quickly hid The Legend of Zhen Huan, claiming it had been included by mistake.

Lin Qiye and the others followed Zhou Ping’s unusual training assignment to read novels, while Lin Qiye discovered that Zhou Ping had accidentally ruined the kitchenware trying to clean it. At lunch, Zhou Ping explained how he learned swordsmanship by immersing himself in stories and revealed his longing to become a great hero, then warmed to Baili Pangpang’s suggestion that he become a Sword Immortal.

• Zhou Ping assigned Lin Qiye and the others to spend the morning reading novels as training, and Lin Qiye chose The Moon Also Shines for the Blade.
• Lin Qiye found Zhou Ping trying to cook a burnt meal and learned that Zhou Ping had scraped the engraved designs off the plates while cleaning them.
• Lin Qiye cooked lunch for the group, and Zhou Ping asked whether anyone had gained anything from reading.
• Zhou Ping told Lin Qiye to deeply experience the characters’ emotions and said that was how he learned famous sword techniques from novels.
• Cao Yuan questioned whether Zhou Ping’s ability came from his Forbidden Ruins, and Zhou Ping said he did not know its name and wanted to become a great hero like the characters in books.
• Baili Pangpang suggested that Zhou Ping could become a Sword Immortal, and Zhou Ping became interested in the title.

Zhou Ping began practical combat training by sparring with the students, quickly overpowering Cao Yuan and making him fight sixteen rounds. When Baili Pangpang’s turn came, he layered on defenses and used Universe Reversal to snatch Zhou Ping’s chopstick, leaving the sparring match poised to begin.

• Zhou Ping announced one-on-one combat training and made the students wash the dishes before they cleared the warehouse for sparring.
• Cao Yuan volunteered first, transformed into Mad Demon Cao Yuan, and Zhou Ping disarmed and defeated him with a Wooden Chopstick.
• Zhou Ping made Cao Yuan attack again until he had been knocked down sixteen times, then let the battered Cao Yuan rest.
• Baili Pangpang reluctantly took his turn and surrounded himself with Forbidden Objects, armor, and layers of defenses.
• Baili Pangpang spread a Taiji Bagua Diagram and used Universe Reversal to pull the Wooden Chopstick from Zhou Ping’s hand.

Lin Qiye and his companions trained against Zhou Ping, whose overwhelming swordsmanship exposed the gap between their strength and that of a Human Apex. That night, the injured group sat by a bonfire wondering what Zhou Ping was doing alone in his room.

• Baili Pangpang tried to snatch Zhou Ping’s chopstick, then endured a one-sided beating after Zhou Ping took out another.
• An Qingyu faced Zhou Ping and became fascinated by him as Zhou Ping beat him down.
• Jialan caught and snapped Zhou Ping’s chopstick, withstood his sword energy, and was eventually trapped in a Sword Cage.
• Lin Qiye used nearly all his Forbidden Ruins against Zhou Ping, but Zhou Ping broke each attack with a single strike.
• Zhou Ping ended training, and Lin Qiye and the others returned to their rooms battered.
• That night, Lin Qiye and his companions sat around a bonfire and wondered why Zhou Ping had stayed in his room and skipped dinner.

Lin Qiye and the others began another day of training with Zhou Ping, who had them read novels with complete emotional immersion. The group finished the exercise without sensing any new power, but they found Zhou Ping weeping over his book.

• Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan wondered whether Zhou Ping was socially anxious, while Lin Qiye said the group could still learn from the Human Apex.
• Lin Qiye arrived at the warehouse at six in the morning and found Zhou Ping cleaning, as he had done for years at Third Uncle’s restaurant.
• Zhou Ping refused help with the cleaning, and Lin Qiye and the others watched him work until class began at eight.
• Zhou Ping instructed the group to immerse themselves in their books and experience the characters’ emotions, so Lin Qiye read The Smiling, Proud Wanderer as Linghu Chong.
• After reading for hours, Lin Qiye and the others felt no new power, then saw Zhou Ping crying as he read at the warehouse entrance.

After fleeing from teaching Lin Qiye and the others, Zhou Ping returned to the warehouse following Ye Fan’s encouragement and joined them for lunch. He then began their afternoon training by giving each of them a detailed handwritten analysis of their combat styles.

• Zhou Ping became embarrassed when Lin Qiye noticed his tears and abruptly left with his luggage.
• Lin Qiye used his spiritual perception and discovered Zhou Ping was running away from the warehouse.
• Ye Fan called Zhou Ping and urged him to keep teaching, explaining that he needed to overcome his weakness and might be Great Xia’s best hope of reaching a higher realm.
• Zhou Ping turned back, and Lin Qiye and the others tactfully welcomed him back without mentioning his attempted escape.
• After lunch, Zhou Ping handed Lin Qiye and the others thick handwritten reports analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and fighting styles.

Zhou Ping gave Lin Qiye and the others detailed combat analyses and personalized training plans, then sent them to begin training. Lin Qiye and Jialan left to spar, while Cao Yuan lost control almost immediately during tic-tac-toe practice with Baili Pangpang.

• Lin Qiye read Zhou Ping’s handwritten analysis of his fighting style and studied his personalized training plan to spar with Jialan while she wielded Sky Palace.
• Zhou Ping assigned Cao Yuan and Baili Pangpang to play tic-tac-toe to help Cao Yuan regain consciousness in his Black King state, and gave An Qingyu a dissection-focused training plan.
• Lin Qiye and Jialan left the warehouse to train elsewhere, and An Qingyu went to prepare his laboratory.
• Baili Pangpang drew a tic-tac-toe grid and began playing with Cao Yuan, who drew his blade and entered a dangerous state.
• Cao Yuan snapped his branch, grinned at Baili Pangpang, and unleashed a roar and grim black radiance inside the warehouse.

Lin Qiye fought Jialan in a training match, but an accidental glimpse beneath her robes enraged her and turned the spar into a potentially deadly fight. Meanwhile, An Qingyu helped Baili Pangpang use Cao Yuan’s Spirit Calming Beads, allowing Cao Yuan to regain enough control to draw his first X.

• Lin Qiye attacked Jialan and countered her arrows and spear with Praying Abyss, the night-controlled saber, and a wind-and-fire spell.
• Lin Qiye accidentally lifted Jialan’s robe while restraining her, prompting her to break free and glare at him with boiling killing intent.
• An Qingyu found Baili Pangpang struggling to get Mad Demon Cao Yuan to draw an X and examined the Buddhist beads on Cao Yuan’s wrist.
• An Qingyu explained that Cao Yuan could use the Spirit Calming Beads only after regaining some control of his consciousness, and Baili Pangpang used Disarm to activate them.
• Cao Yuan briefly regained control, picked up a branch, and drew a crooked X on the board.

Cao Yuan made progress controlling Black King Annihilation, while Lin Qiye and Jialan’s training ended only after he promised her four chicken legs. Meanwhile, The Whisperer sent Shen Qingzhu and the Ninth Seat to Lintang, where two more seats were already being deployed for an unexplained mission.

• Cao Yuan completed a stroke while berserk, showing he had taken a step toward controlling Black King Annihilation.
• Baili Pangpang, Cao Yuan, and An Qingyu found Lin Qiye and Jialan fighting fiercely during their training.
• Lin Qiye persuaded Jialan to stop by promising her four chicken legs, and she returned to the warehouse with him.
• The Whisperer praised Shen Qingzhu and the Ninth Seat for killing Baili Xin and Baili Tumming, then ordered them to go to Lintang.
• The Ninth Seat told Shen Qingzhu that the Third Seat was already in Lintang and the Seventh Seat was on the way, leaving Shen Qingzhu to wonder what awaited them there.

Lin Qiye discovered that Bragi’s treatment progress had fallen from 32% to 16% and learned that Bragi was distressed by dreams about his missing wife, Idunn. Bragi asked to leave the hospital so he could search for her.

• Lin Qiye visited Nyx in the Psychiatric Hospital of the Gods and saw that her treatment progress had reached 89%.
• Nyx told Lin Qiye that Bragi had seemed unwell lately, so he went to check on him.
• Lin Qiye found Bragi alone on the rooftop and saw that his treatment progress had regressed to 16%.
• Bragi asked Lin Qiye to let him leave the hospital because he missed Idunn and feared for her after dreaming that she was imprisoned, forced to fight, or dead.

Lin Qiye struggled to help Bragi, whose lovesickness had worsened after Idunn vanished, and found no answers in Dr. Li’s notes. After asking Baili Pangpang for advice, Lin Qiye seized on the idea of writing a letter, leaving him with a possible way to help Bragi.

• Lin Qiye refused to let Bragi leave the Psychiatric Hospital and promised to help him, but Bragi’s Treatment Progress fell from 16% to 14%.
• Lin Qiye searched Dr. Li’s notes for hours but found no useful case or solution.
• The next day, Lin Qiye asked Baili Pangpang for advice about a friend suffering from lovesickness, while his companions mistook the problem for his own.
• Baili Pangpang suggested a video call or writing a letter, and Lin Qiye realized that a letter might help Bragi.

Lin Qiye gave Bragi an ordinary mailbox and presented it as a way to exchange letters with Idunn without revealing that she lived within his consciousness. Idunn read Bragi’s letter and began writing a reply, leaving their secret communication underway.

• Lin Qiye gave Bragi a mailbox and explained rules that would keep him from discovering the truth about Idunn.
• Bragi wrote a heartfelt letter to Idunn and placed it in the mailbox before going to sleep.
• Lin Qiye watched from the courtyard as Idunn emerged and met his gaze through the window.
• Idunn opened Bragi’s letter, read it with tears in her eyes, and began writing a reply.

Bragi received a letter from the woman he loved and learned she was alive and well, easing his emotional burden. Meanwhile, Zhou Ping began training Lin Qiye and the others with his Sword Qi Tide, but Jialan remained conscious after everyone else passed out.

• Bragi read the woman's reply and rejoiced that she was alive and living in their home in Asgard.
• Lin Qiye saw Bragi's Treatment Progress rise from 14% to 42% after his worries were relieved.
• Zhou Ping waxed the training floor and explained that his Sword Qi Tide would temper their Mental Power.
• Zhou Ping released his sword qi, sending Lin Qiye and the others crashing into the walls and rendering them unconscious.
• Jialan stayed awake through the Sword Qi Tide, and Zhou Ping questioned who she really was.

Lin Qiye woke after Sword Qi Tide training and learned Jialan had carried him back, then joined Zhou Ping’s delayed class. Meanwhile, Shen Qingzhu and the Ninth Seat met the Believers’ other surviving members, learned a newcomer had become the Twelfth Seat, and heard that the elusive First Seat had arrived.

• Lin Qiye woke to find his blanket, slippers, and thermos prepared, then asked Zhou Ping how he had returned to his room.
• Zhou Ping said Jialan had carried Lin Qiye and the others back, and Jialan turned away when Lin Qiye tried to thank her.
• An Qingyu, Cao Yuan, and Baili Pangpang emerged from the same room, and Zhou Ping began class by handing out novels.
• Shen Qingzhu and the Ninth Seat entered a ruined villa in Lintang City, where they met the Seventh Seat and the Third Seat.
• The Seventh Seat introduced a newcomer as the Twelfth Seat, and the Third Seat revealed that the First Seat had also arrived.

Shen Qingzhu and the other Seats descended beneath an estate to learn that their mission was to spend two months awakening the Nether God Altar with Mental Power. While inspecting the basement, Shen Qingzhu uncovered a large tunnel hidden behind a black cloth, and the Third Seat warned him against being too curious.

• The Seventh Seat accused Shen Qingzhu of bringing bad luck, but the Ninth Seat defended him until the Third Seat ordered them to stop arguing.
• The Third Seat led the Seventh Seat, Ninth Seat, Twelfth Seat, and Shen Qingzhu down into an underground space and showed them the Nether God Altar.
• The Third Seat explained that the group had to pour Mental Power into the altar for at least two months to activate it, following Lord The Whisperer's order.
• Shen Qingzhu questioned the altar's origins, then noticed dirt on the basement floor and followed a draft toward the edge of the underground space.
• Shen Qingzhu pulled down a black cloth and exposed a huge tunnel in the wall, whereupon the Third Seat appeared behind him and warned him not to be too curious.

After two months of quiet reading and training, Lin Qiye’s team continued to improve, with An Qingyu analyzing Belial Crande and developing a mental-contamination solution. During combat training, Baili Pangpang beat Cao Yuan at tic-tac-toe, triggering another clash, while Lin Qiye prepared to train with a still-sulking Jialan.

• Lin Qiye reflected on how two calm months of reading, chores, and training had eased his mind and begun loosening his cultivation bottleneck.
• An Qingyu gave Lin Qiye Belial Crande’s analyzed corpse and a vial of concentrated mental-contamination solution, explaining that it could erode minds but could not control creatures.
• After lunch, Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan played tic-tac-toe while Cao Yuan struggled to keep the Black King’s consciousness in check.
• Baili Pangpang won, and Cao Yuan snapped his branch, lost control to the Black King, and attacked him as Baili Pangpang defended himself with his artifacts and a Taiji Bagua Diagram.
• Lin Qiye turned from the explosions and asked Jialan to begin their training, but she remained sullen and rejected his wording.

During training, Lin Qiye accidentally exposed himself to concentrated mental contamination, and his dazed confessions dispelled Jialan’s two months of gloom. The others named An Qingyu’s strange invention “Qi Ye Obedience Water” as Jialan carried Lin Qiye back to his room.

• Lin Qiye wondered why Jialan had acted strangely toward him for two months, then resumed their training.
• Jialan accidentally crushed a container of An Qingyu’s concentrated mental contamination in Lin Qiye’s pocket, leaving him dazed.
• Jialan carried Lin Qiye out of the purple mist and checked his condition.
• Lin Qiye asked Jialan to take him somewhere with a bed and told her it would be hard to fall for anyone else with her by his side.
• Jialan blushed and carried Lin Qiye toward the warehouse as Cao Yuan, Baili Pangpang, and An Qingyu watched.
• An Qingyu identified the purple substance as liquid mental contamination from Belial Klande, and Baili Pangpang dubbed it “Qi Ye Obedience Water.”

After Zhou Ping cleared Lin Qiye’s mental contamination, Lin Qiye broke through into the “Sea” realm. The group learned that their third training phase would pit them against four Night Watchmen teams, but Zhou Ping’s social anxiety left them unsure how he would arrange the challenges.

• Jialan brought the contaminated Lin Qiye back to the warehouse, where Zhou Ping used sword qi to clear his mind.
• Lin Qiye’s Mental Power surged, and he broke through into the “Sea” realm.
• Zhou Ping announced that the third training phase would involve team battles against Night Watchmen teams 006 through 010, though Team 010 was still reorganizing.
• The group discovered that the other teams had not been informed of the challenges and that Zhou Ping was forbidden from revealing his identity while negotiating with them.
• Zhou Ping said they would leave the next morning, then shut himself in his room, leaving the others worried about whether he could communicate or would run away.

Zhou Ping tried to escape the military base, but Lin Qiye and the others surrounded it with hundreds of cars and began the third phase of training. In Xining, Zhou Ping reluctantly led them to confront Night Watchman Team 009 and told its captain he had come to wreck the place.

• Zhou Ping knocked out the Sentinels guarding the base and tried to slip away with his suitcase.
• Lin Qiye, Baili Pangpang, Jialan, and the others revealed their ambush, using hundreds of Mercedes-Benz cars to block every route out.
• The group traveled to Xining City, where Lin Qiye identified Team 009’s members and persuaded Zhou Ping to practice negotiating with them.
• Zhou Ping led the group to Team 009’s Cainiao Post storefront and told captain Huang Yuande he had come to wreck the place.

Lin Qiye’s group kidnapped Team 009’s captain, Huang Yuande, and lured the rest of the team to an abandoned factory. As the team arrived at sunset, Lin Qiye prepared to begin their trial in disguise.

• Lin Qiye’s group subdued Huang Yuande at the courier station and left a threatening letter directing Team 009 to an abandoned factory.
• Dan Mei found the letter, suspected the kidnappers were malicious superpowered individuals, and ordered the team to request headquarters support before gearing up.
• Lin Qiye’s group waited at the factory while Baili Pangpang worried that Team 009 might not come.
• An SUV carrying Team 009 approached, and Lin Qiye put on the Monkey King Mask and told everyone to prepare for the trial.

Lin Qiye and the others confronted Team 009 at an abandoned factory, where they quickly overwhelmed the Night Watchmen with their abilities. Lin Qiye trapped the remaining members in his Eternal Secret Garden, leaving them immobilized and close to collapse.

• Jiang Liu drove Team 009 into the factory, where its members attacked Lin Qiye and the others.
• Baili Pangpang used Qian Kun Chaos to disarm Team 009 and pull their blades and submachine guns away.
• Dan Mei charged at Lin Qiye's group while Jiang Liu launched mechanical missiles, but Qingyu froze the barrage and Jialan sent Dan Mei flying.
• Lin Qiye blocked the rest of Team 009 and spread Eternal Secret Garden across the battlefield.
• Flowers grew over Team 009, draining their Mental Power and leaving them rooted to the ground, barely conscious.