Recaps

Xu Yan entered the martial path and described to Li Xuan how he had understood his fabricated teachings and completed his cultivation. Li Xuan was stunned by Xu Yan’s extraordinary comprehension and learned that he had killed a Fire Mane Wolf bare-handed to temper his Jade Bone.

• Xu Yan felt the force of Li Xuan’s Vital Energy, humbled himself, and announced that he had entered the martial path.
• Li Xuan accepted Xu Yan as his true disciple and asked how he had tempered his skin, bones, and organs.
• Xu Yan explained that he had understood Li Xuan’s fabricated cultivation formula and tempered a Golden Bone and then a Jade Bone.
• Xu Yan said he had taken Li Xuan’s choice of the Jade Ruyi as a metaphor urging him to persevere toward tempering a Jade Bone.
• Xu Yan recounted hunting a Fire Mane Wolf, consuming its blood and flesh, and using them to complete Organ Refining.
• Li Xuan realized Xu Yan had killed the Fire Mane Wolf bare-handed and privately marveled at his disciple’s ability.

After Xu Yan broke through and tempered his Jade Bone, Li Xuan warned him against reckless action and named his current realm the Qi and Blood Realm. Li Xuan then began devising the next stage of cultivation, the Innate Realm, while leaving its details for Xu Yan to figure out.

• Li Xuan praised Xu Yan for enduring the Fire Mane Wolves and tempering his Jade Bone, then advised him to balance courage with caution.
• Xu Yan interpreted Li Xuan’s teachings as lessons in flexibility, courage, and decisiveness.
• Li Xuan named the entry-level martial arts realm the Qi and Blood Realm and said that Vital Energy rising a hundred zhang marked its great accomplishment.
• Xu Yan asked about the Martial World and Li Xuan’s realm, then concluded that his master had transcended all existing realms.
• Li Xuan returned to the house and devised the Innate Realm, imagining that cultivation would involve opening the Heaven and Earth Bridge and refining Vital Energy into true qi.

Li Xuan struggled to invent a cultivation method for the Qi and Blood Realm that would strengthen Xu Yan and bring him more golden-finger feedback. He passed Xu Yan a four-line incantation, leaving him to comprehend it while Li Xuan began considering the Innate Realm.

• Li Xuan decided to invent a mysterious but connected cultivation theory and leave the details for Xu Yan to comprehend.
• Li Xuan composed a four-line Qi and Blood Realm incantation intended to improve the quality and quantity of Qi and blood and strengthen the body.
• Li Xuan summoned Xu Yan and passed on the incantation, reminding him that cultivation depended on comprehension and intent.
• Xu Yan returned to his cultivation area, determined to comprehend the incantation and not disappoint his master.

Xu Yan comprehended the four-line Qi and Blood Realm cultivation formula and strengthened his body and Vital Energy through a new method of cultivation. Meanwhile, Li Xuan completed a theoretical framework for the Innate Realm but decided to wait before teaching it to Xu Yan.

• Xu Yan stopped exhausting himself over the cultivation formula and sought insight by focusing on his cultivation.
• Xu Yan interpreted the formula as Vital Energy gathering like a torrent and battering his bones, then entered a state of enlightenment.
• Xu Yan comprehended the formula, causing his Vital Energy to circulate in a new way and strengthen his bones, body, and Vital Energy.
• Li Xuan devised an Innate Realm method based on opening the Heaven and Earth Bridge and transforming Vital Energy into Innate True Qi.
• Li Xuan decided to let Xu Yan familiarize himself with the Qi and Blood Realm before passing on the Innate Realm method.

Li Xuan learned that Xu Yan had comprehended his improvised Qi and Blood formula, strengthening Li Xuan and deepening his confidence in his disciple. As Xu Yan returned home, Li Xuan prepared to leave the village, while trouble awaited Xu Yan on the road to Donghe Commandery City.

• Li Xuan received a Qi and Blood cultivation method and a boost in strength after Xu Yan filled in the formula's blanks and grasped its meaning.
• Li Xuan praised Xu Yan's firm martial heart and was pleased that his disciple had no interest in women.
• Xu Yan asked to visit his worried parents, and Li Xuan agreed while planning to leave the village after Xu Yan returned.
• Xu Junhe arranged for Chen the Escort Head and Wang the Martial Hall Master to escort a robbed shipment to Jin'an, suspecting powerful enemies from the imperial capital were targeting him.
• Xu Yan rode toward Donghe Commandery City, where two figures blocked his horse and one recognized him as Xu Junhe's son.

Xu Yan returned home after killing two martial artists who tried to abduct him, then learned that bandits on Black Wind Mountain had robbed his family’s goods. Eager to test his strength, he rode to the mountain and charged into the bandits’ gathering.

• Two martial artists tried to seize Xu Yan on the road, but he killed them with his Vital Energy and dipper qi.
• Xu Yan returned home, where Madam Xu told him that bandits had robbed the Xu Family’s goods on Jin'an Road and that Jiang Pingshan had refused to send troops.
• Xu Yan learned the bandits were on Black Wind Mountain and rode there to confront them.
• As Boss Xiong and his men discussed robbing the Xu Family again, Xu Yan charged up the mountain and challenged them.

Xu Yan wiped out every bandit at Black Wind Mountain with brute force, then realized he needed proper martial techniques. After learning of his disciple’s victory, Li Xuan began preparing combat teachings and experimented with a palm technique, leaving his plans for Xu Yan’s return.

• Xu Yan charged into Black Wind Mountain, killed Boss Xiong and every bandit there, and found none of his family’s missing goods.
• Xu Yan recognized that he relied only on brute force and decided to ask Li Xuan for guidance when he returned.
• Li Xuan reviewed his fabricated Innate Realm framework and planned to leave the village once Xu Yan came back.
• Li Xuan received mastery in violently slaying enemies through Xu Yan’s actions and realized he had not prepared any martial techniques.
• Li Xuan decided to teach Xu Yan martial technique principles and demonstrate them, then practiced shaping his Vital Energy into more orderly palm strikes.

Li Xuan taught Xu Yan the Dragon Subduing Palm, disguising his inability to produce dragon-shaped palm force as a lesson about finding his own true intent. Xu Yan accepted the teaching eagerly, but left Li Xuan speechless by questioning why a technique meant to subdue dragons would create dragon-shaped attacks.

• Li Xuan tested his palm technique, then drew a Bagua pattern outside the village and planned to teach Xu Yan a movement technique through formulas and practice.
• Xu Yan returned from home after less than ten days, and Li Xuan took him to a hill to teach him the Dragon Subduing Palm.
• Li Xuan blasted apart a tree and claimed the strike showed the palm technique's entry-level power, while saying he had deliberately withheld its dragon-shaped form.
• Li Xuan told Xu Yan to value comprehension and true intent over imitation, then explained that producing eighteen True Dragon palm forces would mark minor mastery.
• Xu Yan asked why a palm technique meant to subdue dragons produced dragon-shaped palm force, leaving Li Xuan speechless.

Li Xuan taught Xu Yan the fabricated Dragon Subduing Palm formula and the Bagua, encouraging him to focus more time on cultivation. Xu Yan comprehended the palm’s first principle and unleashed a strike far stronger than his previous attacks.

• Li Xuan explained that the Dragon Subduing Palm subdued both a dragon’s body and heart, then taught Xu Yan its formula.
• Li Xuan showed Xu Yan the Bagua and described how its mysteries could inform martial arts and movement techniques.
• Li Xuan told Xu Yan to limit his daily chores so he could spend more time cultivating, then wondered whether Xu Yan could succeed.
• Xu Yan decided to practice the Dragon Subduing Palm and realized his first strike was only the force of his Vital Energy.
• Xu Yan compressed and refined his Vital Energy, breaking a tree with a more powerful strike.
• Xu Yan grasped how to make his palm force fierce and unyielding, then blasted a small pit into the ground with a stronger follow-up strike.

Xu Yan made rapid progress in Dragon Subduing Palm but struggled to shape his Vital Energy into a dragon. When he asked Li Xuan how to improve his control, Li Xuan suggested roasting meat with Vital Energy, leaving Xu Yan burning through the village's chickens in practice.

• Xu Yan practiced Dragon Subduing Palm, and Li Xuan saw that he had learned to release his Vital Energy with greater force.
• Over the next half month, Xu Yan increased his palm's power and realized he needed better control over his Vital Energy to form dragon-shaped palm force.
• After three more days of practice, Xu Yan asked Li Xuan how to improve his control over Vital Energy.
• Li Xuan told Xu Yan to practice by roasting meat with Vital Energy, describing a test involving cooking a chicken leg while leaving the surrounding meat raw.
• Xu Yan tried roasting chickens, burned more than a dozen, and continued cooking another when Li Xuan found him.

Xu Yan improved his Vital Energy control while practicing Dragon Subduing Palm, and Li Xuan gained perfect control through his disciple’s progress. After realizing his dragon-shaped palm force lacked flexibility, Xu Yan adapted his technique and reached beginner level, though he continued training to improve its power and handling.

• Xu Yan practiced controlling his Vital Energy by roasting wild boars, and Li Xuan gained one-hundred-percent Vital Energy control when Xu Yan reached beginner level at roasting meat barehanded.
• Li Xuan demonstrated precise control by cooking only the meat within a finger’s breadth of a chicken leg, and Xu Yan learned to cook with eighty-percent control after five days.
• Xu Yan returned to cultivating Dragon Subduing Palm and realized his dragon-shaped palm force lacked flexibility and vitality.
• After seven more days of practice, Xu Yan made his scarlet dragon palm force maneuver around obstacles and use its head and tail to attack, reaching beginner level in Dragon Subduing Palm.
• Xu Yan summoned two dragon-shaped palm forces and continued practicing to improve their flexibility, power, and control.

Li Xuan’s fabricated Dragon Subduing Palm became real when Xu Yan cultivated it, and Li Xuan demonstrated its mastery to his shocked disciple. As Xu Yan worked on the Bagua, Li Xuan decided to invent an incantation for a movement technique.

• Li Xuan learned that Xu Yan had cultivated the Dragon Subduing Palm to the introductory level, and the technique advanced to mastery for Li Xuan.
• Li Xuan watched Xu Yan demonstrate his crimson Dragon Subduing Palm and praised his progress while pointing out that it lacked vitality.
• Li Xuan demonstrated a mighty golden Dragon Subduing Palm strike, leaving Xu Yan in awe of his master’s strength and the technique’s potential.
• Li Xuan told Xu Yan to keep comprehending the Bagua, and Xu Yan devoted more time to practicing its steps without yet gaining a movement technique.
• Li Xuan realized Xu Yan might need an incantation to comprehend a movement technique, and a gust carrying yellow leaves inspired him with an idea.

Li Xuan taught Xu Yan a movement-technique formula, and Xu Yan mistook his master's casual walk for a profound demonstration, eventually comprehending and naming the Light Swan Movement Technique. Li Xuan received the resulting mastery through their bond and silently followed Xu Yan as he practiced, preparing to show off.

• Li Xuan gave Xu Yan a formula describing movement techniques as light and swift, then left him to comprehend it.
• Xu Yan interpreted Li Xuan's leisurely steps as an example of the technique and combined them with the formula while training.
• Xu Yan comprehended and named the Light Swan Movement Technique, then tested it alongside Dragon Subduing Palm.
• Three days later, Li Xuan received the technique's mysteries and attained great mastery of Light Swan Movement Technique.
• Li Xuan silently followed Xu Yan during practice, intending to demonstrate his own abilities without being noticed.

Xu Yan reached the minor accomplishment stage of the Qi and Blood Realm, and Li Xuan passed on the method of the Innate Realm. Li Xuan also wondered whether his disciple’s comprehension of the next realm would grant him cultivation feedback before Xu Yan broke through.

• Xu Yan combined Light Swan Movement Technique with Dragon Subduing Palm, and Li Xuan warned him to distinguish good from evil and avoid becoming addicted to killing.
• Li Xuan told Xu Yan to reach the minor accomplishment stage of the Qi and Blood Realm within half a month before he would teach him the Innate Realm method.
• After half a month of arduous cultivation, Xu Yan reached the minor accomplishment stage, and Li Xuan received feedback that brought him to Qi and Blood Perfection.
• Xu Yan returned to announce his breakthrough, and Li Xuan urged him to build a firm foundation before pursuing the Innate Realm.
• Li Xuan explained the Innate Realm and taught Xu Yan how to reach it by opening the two bridges between heaven and earth, establishing the Dantian Sea of Qi, and transforming Vital Energy into Innate True Qi.

Li Xuan taught Xu Yan the Innate Realm method and decided to leave the mountains to seek another suitable disciple. They reached Yunshan County, where Xu Yan brought Li Xuan to his family’s courtyard, while a beggar and a stallkeeper took notice of Li Xuan’s valuable Jade Ruyi.

• Li Xuan taught Xu Yan the Innate Realm cultivation method and urged him to focus on reaching perfection in Vital Energy before attempting a breakthrough.
• Li Xuan decided to seek another disciple and considered compiling a new technique to gain greater feedback from his golden finger.
• Li Xuan told Xu Yan to pack, and they left the mountain village in a horse cart.
• Xu Yan led Li Xuan toward Yunshan County and said his family owned a shop and courtyard there.
• A beggar exchanged a meaningful glance with a stallkeeper after spotting Li Xuan’s Jade Ruyi, and the stallkeeper slipped away.
• Xu Yan brought Li Xuan to his family’s courtyard, where a servant reacted with surprise when Xu Yan called Li Xuan his master.

The Tianmu Cult's leaders in Yunshan County planned to use Xu Yan and his master for their schemes, then staged a procession that reached Li Xuan's courtyard. Li Xuan and Xu Yan faced the cult's representatives, and Li Xuan learned that their Peak Jianghu Expert was weak by his standards.

• The county magistrate, beggar, and others met with a hemp-clad Tianmu Cult Protector, who ordered them to recruit Xu Yan's master and keep watch on Donghe Commandery.
• Xu Yan told Li Xuan that the Tianmu Cult was a long-standing rebellious sect that had resurfaced to preach in Yunshan County.
• Li Xuan suspected that the Tianmu Cult had secretly taken control of Yunshan County, and Xu Yan worried that it had taken over his family's shops.
• Li Xuan told Xu Yan to let the procession approach, and the cult's leader called out to them from outside the courtyard gate.
• Xu Yan identified the speaker as a Peak Jianghu Expert, and Li Xuan asked about Internal Energy after dismissing the expert's strength as weak.

Li Xuan and Xu Yan confronted Tianmu Cult members who had come to extort the Xu Family, but learned that the Xu Family was in danger because of the Princes' Succession Struggle. Xu Yan discovered the Prefect of Donghe Commandery planned to seize his family’s property, and he prepared to respond with force.

• Li Xuan mocked the Tianmu Cult members’ poor disguises and exposed the County Magistrate of Yunshan among them.
• The Tianmu Cult members attacked Xu Yan, but he suppressed them with his Vital Energy.
• The County Magistrate revealed that the Prefect of Donghe Commandery planned to confiscate the Xu Family’s property and imprison them on behalf of a powerful figure in the Capital City.
• Xu Yan learned that the Xu Family had been targeted because his maternal grandfather supported the Third Prince, whose faction was losing the succession struggle.
• The County Magistrate urged Xu Yan to join the Tianmu Cult, and Xu Yan sent him flying with a slap.

Xu Yan hurried home after Li Xuan sent him to deal with the crisis facing his family, while Li Xuan forced the Tianmu Cult and the County Magistrate to explain the world to him. At the Xu residence, Xu Junhe revealed that the family was being targeted as part of a purge against the Third Prince’s faction and prepared to send Xu Yan to the Wu Kingdom.

• Xu Yan left for home using the Light Swan Movement Technique, and Li Xuan brought the old man in hemp clothes, the County Magistrate, and the Tianmu Cult members inside to question them.
• The old man in hemp clothes declared Li Xuan the Great Sage Heavenly Duke, and the others prostrated themselves before Li Xuan threatened them into standing and speaking properly.
• Xu Junhe told Madam Xu that the Tianmu Cult was demanding the Xu Family’s wealth while the authorities waited for news connected to the Princes’ Succession Struggle.
• Xu Junhe explained that the lost Evergreen Longevity Stone had ruined the Third Prince’s standing and placed his faction, including the Xu Family, in danger of being purged.
• Xu Junhe and Madam Xu hoped Xu Yan would escape the calamity, and Apothecary Pan said he was ready to escort him to the Wu Kingdom.

Xu Junhe and Madam Xu faced arrest and the seizure of their estate after the Prefect accused them of colluding with the Tianmu Cult. Xu Yan returned with overwhelming martial power, stopping the soldiers and revealing that he had apparently mastered extraordinary techniques.

• Xu Junhe told Apothecary Pan to leave that night, while Kou Ruozhi prepared the Tianmu Cult to exploit Xu Family's arrest and seize Donghe Commandery.
• The Prefect of Donghe Commandery led soldiers into Xu Family's residence, ordered its property seized, and moved to arrest Xu Junhe and Madam Xu.
• Xu Junhe questioned the prefect's accusation, realizing the authorities might be pressuring him to join the Tianmu Cult.
• Xu Yan roared at the soldiers and descended from the sky, using two blazing dragons to scatter them and kill the men carrying the cangues.
• Xu Junhe, Madam Xu, the prefect, and the others stared in shock as Xu Yan stood before his parents, surrounded by blazing qi.

Xu Yan confronted the Prefect of Donghe Commandery for trying to seize his family’s property, then used his power to defeat the soldiers sent against him. Kou Ruozhi and the Tianmu Cult pledged allegiance to Xu Yan as the Great Sage Heavenly Duke, leaving him bewildered by their sudden declaration.

• Xu Yan denounced the Prefect of Donghe Commandery for targeting his family and rejected the charge that he feared rebellion.
• The Prefect ordered soldiers to arrest Xu Yan and his parents, while Madam Xu urged her son to flee.
• Kou Ruozhi and twelve Tianmu Cult experts arrived, and Kou revealed that cult members had infiltrated the soldiers and turned their arrows against them.
• Xu Yan stopped the incoming arrows and struck down the soldiers with his Dragon Subduing Palm.
• Kou Ruozhi knelt and named Xu Yan the Great Sage Heavenly Duke, and the Twelve Peerless Experts of the Tianmu Cult followed suit.
• Xu Yan questioned whether the Tianmu Cult planned to rename itself the Tiangong Cult.

Kou Ruozhi tried to recruit Xu Yan into the Tianmu Cult by tempting him with the Heavenly Mother and then beautiful men, but Xu Yan repeatedly mistook his persuasion for an attempt to undermine his martial heart. Kou finally offered to negotiate with Xu Junhe and signaled the cult’s forces, while Xu Junhe told Xu Yan to wait before acting against the Prefect of Donghe Commandery.

• Kou Ruozhi praised the Heavenly Mother’s beauty and urged Xu Yan to join the Tianmu Cult as its Great Sage Heavenly Duke, but Xu Yan suspected a plot to ruin his martial cultivation and threatened him with the Dragon Subduing Palm.
• Kou Ruozhi swore that he had only meant to test Xu Yan’s resolve, then suggested Xu Yan choose beautiful men from the cult, prompting Madam Xu to worry that her son preferred men.
• Xu Yan accused Kou Ruozhi of trying to ruin his reputation, and Kou claimed the beautiful men could be sent to the Qi Emperor to destabilize his rule.
• Xu Yan rejected the Tianmu Cult’s rebellion and methods, saying he could kill the Qi Emperor himself, while Xu Junhe demanded that Kou prove he was qualified to negotiate.
• Kou Ruozhi ordered the cult’s experts to sound whistles across Donghe Commandery City, and Xu Junhe told Xu Yan to wait for news before deciding what to do about the Prefect of Donghe Commandery.

Xu Junhe rejected an alliance with the Tianmu Cult and planned to have Xu Yan settle the crisis in the capital after revealing his strength against the forces threatening Donghe Commandery. Kou Ruozhi seized the prefectural office by impersonating the Prefect, while Xu Junhe prepared Xu Yan to defeat Jiang Pingshan’s army and protect the Xu Family’s interests.

• Kou Ruozhi revealed that the Tianmu Cult had taken control of the prefectural office and used the Commander of Donghe Commandery’s soldiers to capture the wounded rebels.
• Kou Ruozhi disguised himself as the Prefect of Donghe Commandery, had the real Prefect masked as a Tianmu Cult expert, and left to consolidate his control.
• Xu Yan asked whether the Xu Family should rebel, but Xu Junhe explained that rebellion could endanger his wife’s family in the capital.
• Xu Yan claimed he could face a hundred thousand soldiers alone, reassuring Xu Junhe about his strength.
• Xu Junhe concluded that Jiang Pingshan and the Great General of Donghe’s Manor would soon act, and ordered Xu Yan to defeat Jiang Pingshan’s army without letting the Tianmu Cult exploit the battle.
• Xu Junhe planned for Xu Yan to go to the capital afterward and intimidate the imperial family and court officials on behalf of his maternal grandfather.

The Qi court sent the Divine Might Army to arrest the Tianmu Cult and seize the Xu Family, but Xu Yan confronted the army to protect his family. After he shattered its charge with Dragon Subduing Palm, he challenged Jiang Pingshan to continue the fight outside the city.

• The Divine Might Army surrounded the prefectural office and routed the Tianmu Cult, while Kou Ruozhi escaped through a tunnel with the Twelve Paramounts and the County Commandant.
• Apothecary Pan returned to the Xu residence with trusted experts, and Xu Junhe prepared them to protect the family after Xu Yan left.
• Jiang Pingshan led the Divine Might Army to the Xu residence and ordered Xu Junhe to surrender.
• Xu Yan rejected his father's suggestion to flee and declared that he would test the Divine Might Army's strength.
• Xu Yan unleashed Dragon Subduing Palm and broke apart the Divine Might Army's charge, sending soldiers and horses flying.
• Xu Yan challenged Jiang Pingshan to take the fight outside the city.

Xu Yan challenged the Divine Might Army outside the city and used the Dragon Subduing Palm to sweep aside its ten thousand soldiers. He reached minor mastery in the technique as the city’s spectators watched in disbelief.

• Xu Yan regretted damaging shops and risking civilian injuries, while Jiang Pingshan agreed to fight him outside the city.
• Xu Junhe, Madam Xu, Kou Ruozhi, and the city’s prominent figures gathered on the wall to watch the battle.
• Jiang Pingshan ordered the Divine Might Army to charge Xu Yan from every direction.
• Xu Yan unleashed the Dragon Subduing Palm, refining his control over its force until the technique reached minor mastery.
• Xu Yan’s crimson dragons swept the soldiers and their horses from the battlefield, routing the Divine Might Army.

Xu Yan defeated the Divine Might Army and stopped the Tianmu Cult from exploiting its defeat, then returned home as Donghe Commandery’s people began searching for his mysterious master. Li Xuan learned about the Tianmu Cult’s young Heavenly Mother and wondered whether she might make a suitable disciple.

• Xu Yan defeated Jiang Pingshan’s Divine Might Army while holding back, and Jiang acknowledged the Xu Family’s victory.
• Tianmu Cult followers rushed to seize the defeated army, but Xu Yan drove them back until Jiang’s own troops arrived.
• Xu Yan returned to Xu Junhe and Madam Xu, while Donghe’s prominent figures and the Tianmu Cult began searching for his eminent master.
• In Yunshan County, Li Xuan heard the old man in hemp clothes and the county magistrate explain the outside world and the Tianmu Cult’s young Heavenly Mother.
• Li Xuan considered whether the Heavenly Mother might be a suitable disciple, noted that she had gone to Wu Kingdom, and wondered how Xu Yan’s family was faring.