Recaps

Su Fei defeated Qian Tong and uncovered illegal weapons and armor at the Universal Passage Escort Agency, confirming the evidence against him. After completing his mission, Su Fei took Qian Tong back to the Cloud Province Thousand Households Office for interrogation.

• Su Fei used the Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Art to cleave Qian Tong’s Mount Tai phantom and grievously wound him.
• Su Fei ordered Zhang San and Li Si to search the Universal Passage Escort Agency, where they found armor, weapons, and crossbows hidden in a storeroom.
• Zhang San and Li Si questioned the newly recruited young warriors and learned they knew nothing about the agency’s affairs.
• Su Fei confronted Qian Tong with the evidence, then had the Imperial Guards bind him in dark iron chains.
• Su Fei completed the mission to uncover the murder of the Cloud Province Imperial Guard Hundred Households Officer and received a reward offer.
• Su Fei left guards and the innocent recruits for the Cloud Map Commandery authorities, then returned to Cloud Province with Qian Tong the following evening.

Su Fei brought Qian Kun to face his uncle Qian Tong and learned that the White Lotus Sect planned to sacrifice martial artists to help Murong Chong break through to the ninth level of the martial saint realm. Qian Tong gave Su Fei information about the ritual and Dark Seclusion Valley, while Su Fei spared Qian Kun from execution and prepared to disrupt the breakthrough.

• Su Fei had Qian Kun brought from the Heavenly Prison, and he and Qian Tong wept as they reunited in chains.
• Qian Tong offered to confess the White Lotus Sect’s plans if Su Fei spared Qian Kun’s life, and Su Fei agreed to life imprisonment if the information proved accurate.
• Qian Tong revealed that Murong Chong planned to use a blood pool and a pill made from sacrificed martial artists to force a breakthrough to the ninth level of the martial saint realm.
• Qian Tong explained that the victims were recruited Houtian Realm martial artists and that the ritual would take place in the concealed Dark Seclusion Valley, guarded by the External Affairs Hall’s martial saint experts.
• Su Fei decided to go to Dark Seclusion Valley and ordered Qian Tong to write down its route, the blood pool’s location, and Murong Chong’s habits.

Su Fei planned to infiltrate Dark Seclusion Valley with Qian Tong and sabotage Murong Chong’s pill-refining ceremony, then used three hundred years of cultivation to master Threefold Origin-Returning Energy. After testing its power by destroying the Thousand Households Office’s iron training dummies, he declared he could kill Murong Chong, just as Fang Pengfei arrived to investigate the crash.

• Su Fei ordered Zhang San and Li Si to escort Qian Tong and Qian Kun away and prepare to infiltrate Dark Seclusion Valley in a month.
• Su Fei claimed his rewards and received Threefold Origin-Returning Energy and three hundred years of cultivation.
• Su Fei used the cultivation to raise Threefold Origin-Returning Energy to perfection and master Three Origins Unify.
• Su Fei tested the martial art in the training ground, blasting the iron training dummies and damaging the grounds and walls.
• Su Fei concluded that he could kill Murong Chong with the perfected martial art, and Fang Pengfei arrived with Imperial Guards to ask what had happened.

Su Fei advanced to the eighth level of the Martial Saint realm and prepared to face Murong Chong at Dark Seclusion Valley. While waiting for the mission, he spent more than twenty days training and enjoying outings with Fang Pengfei and the Imperial Guards.

• Su Fei’s test of his martial arts left the training grounds and its bronze dummies shattered, and he told Fang Pengfei he would pay for repairs.
• Su Fei asked Fang Pengfei to maintain security in Cloud Province while he went to Dark Seclusion Valley in a month to deal with White Lotus Sect remnants.
• Su Fei used all his cultivation to advance the Sacred Heart Formula to its fourth layer and reach the Martial Saint realm eighth level, increasing his lifespan to twelve hundred years.
• Fang Pengfei and Officers Zhang, Ding, and Xiang thanked Su Fei for helping them capture White Lotus Sect spies and invited him to a brothel.
• Su Fei accepted their invitation and spent the next twenty-odd days training, listening to songs, and visiting pleasure houses around Cloud Province City.

Su Fei revealed that he had reached the martial saint realm eighth level and warned Qian Tong to remain loyal as they traveled to Dark Seclusion Valley. The group arrived at the White Lotus Sect's External Affairs Hall stronghold, where Qian Tong asked whether its other commissioners had arrived.

• At a farewell banquet, Su Fei told Fang Pengfei and the officers that he would leave to deal with the White Lotus Sect's External Affairs Hall.
• Su Fei stopped Qian Tong, Zhang San, and Li Si on the road and revealed his breakthrough to the martial saint realm eighth level, threatening Qian Tong against betrayal and invoking Qian Kun's imprisonment.
• Qian Tong swore to obey Su Fei, while Zhang San and Li Si marveled at Su Fei's cultivation; Su Fei concealed his strength and continued toward Dark Seclusion Valley.
• After three days of travel, Su Fei and his companions reached Dark Seclusion Valley and encountered the guards at its entrance.
• Qian Tong presented himself as the Punishment Commissioner and asked whether the Rewards and Punishments Commissioner and the Internal Affairs Commissioner had arrived.

Qian Tong brought Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si into Dark Seclusion Valley under the pretense that they would provide blood essence for the White Lotus Sect’s pill-refining ritual. When Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu arrived to question him, Su Fei’s aura made Zhang Manyu halt her attempt to touch him, and Qian Tong warned her to treat his guest with respect.

• Qian Tong convinced the valley guard that his three Grandmaster Realm companions could provide as much blood essence as dozens of lesser martial artists.
• Qian Tong led Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si through the well-guarded valley to his residence, where he explained that life in the sect was dangerous despite his outward comforts.
• A servant told Qian Tong that Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu had come to see him, and Qian Tong worried they might discover the deception.
• Su Fei learned that Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu were both seventh-level Martial Saints and said he could kill them if they uncovered the imposture.
• Gao Xuan questioned how Qian Tong had recruited three Grandmaster Realm martial artists, while Zhang Manyu tried to claim Su Fei for herself.
• Su Fei avoided Zhang Manyu’s touch and released a trace of his aura, prompting Qian Tong to warn her to respect his guest.

Su Fei and the other two posed as Grandmaster Realm martial artists to help Qian Tong gain Murong Chong’s favor. They reached the Blood Pool Platform for the pill-refining ceremony, where Murong Chong prepared to use the gathered martial artists’ blood essence to refine a White Lotus Blood Pill and advance his cultivation.

• Zhang Manyu and Gao Xuan accepted the three men’s apparent Grandmaster auras and warned Qian Tong to keep them from disrupting Murong Chong’s plan.
• Su Fei stayed at Qian Tong’s residence for three days while Qian Tong secretly investigated the blood pool, Murong Chong, and Dark Seclusion Valley.
• A disciple summoned Qian Tong and the three martial artists to the Blood Pool Platform after the pill-refining ceremony preparations were completed.
• Su Fei and the others saw the foul, blood-marked platform, its enormous Alchemy Furnace, and the boiling pool, along with dozens of frightened martial artists brought by Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu.
• Murong Chong praised the three apparent Grandmasters, promised Qian Tong the deputy hall master position if he advanced to the ninth level of the Martial Saint Realm, and turned to address Su Fei and the others.

Su Fei and the other supposed Grandmasters were brought to Murong Chong’s blood-pool ceremony, where the White Lotus Sect used captive martial artists’ blood to refine a pill. When Murong Chong demanded Su Fei’s blood, Su Fei revealed his true rank and identity and declared that he had come to destroy the stronghold.

• Murong Chong began refining the White Lotus Blood Pill with blood drained from captive martial artists.
• Murong Chong asked Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si to give up thirty percent of their blood essence.
• Su Fei cursed Murong Chong, and Gao Xuan demanded that Su Fei kneel, apologize, and offer half his blood essence.
• Su Fei unleashed the aura of an eighth-level Martial Saint, stunning Murong Chong, Gao Xuan, and Zhang Manyu.
• Su Fei summoned the Crimson Firmament Sword, identified himself as Marquis Su Fei of Great Xuan’s Southern Commandery Investigation Department, and vowed to destroy the White Lotus Sect stronghold.
• Murong Chong accused Qian Tong of having deceived him.

Murong Chong attacked Su Fei to protect his White Lotus Blood Pill ritual, but Su Fei shattered his ultimate move and destroyed the pill-refining furnace. Enraged, Murong Chong began absorbing the blood pool’s essence to strengthen himself, and Qian Tong urged Su Fei to stop him.

• Murong Chong accused Su Fei of ruining his plan to refine the White Lotus Blood Pill and unleashed his peak eighth-level strength.
• Murong Chong attacked Su Fei with Twin Dragons Emerging from Water, sending two enormous dragons of true essence toward him.
• Su Fei used Threefold Origin-Returning Energy to destroy both dragons and shatter Murong Chong’s pill-refining furnace.
• Murong Chong raged over the ruined furnace and his lost chance to advance to the ninth level of the Martial Saint Realm.
• Murong Chong absorbed blood essence and medicinal essences from the pool, causing his aura to surge, and Qian Tong warned Su Fei to stop him.

Su Fei defeated Murong Chong after he burned his blood essence and unleashed the White Lotus Rebirth Art, while Qian Tong blocked Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu from escaping. With Murong Chong at his mercy, Su Fei showed him an ancient bronze key, hoping the White Lotus Sect hall master would recognize it.

• Murong Chong burned his blood essence to raise his power and attacked Su Fei with the White Lotus Rebirth Art’s giant lotus domain.
• Su Fei shattered the lotus with Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Source, and Murong Chong collapsed from the backlash, aged and gravely weakened.
• Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu tried to flee, but Qian Tong blocked them and declared that he served Marquis Su.
• Su Fei pointed the Crimson Firmament Sword at Murong Chong and asked whether he recognized an ancient bronze key.

Su Fei learned that the bronze key opened the White Lotus Sect’s hidden small world, but chose not to enter it yet. After saving Qian Tong from Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu, he faced their pleas for mercy.

• Murong Chong recognized Su Fei’s bronze key as the White Lotus Sect’s treasury key and explained that it could open the sect’s small world.
• Su Fei decided to postpone entering the dangerous small world and prepared to kill Murong Chong.
• Su Fei heard Qian Tong fighting Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu, then rushed to help him.
• Su Fei wounded Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu with two strikes of Sword Qi, leaving both unable to resist.
• Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu begged Su Fei to spare their lives and offered to serve him, while Su Fei remained unmoved.

Su Fei killed Murong Chong and the White Lotus Sect's two envoys, then ordered Qian Tong, Zhang San, and Li Si to clear Dark Seclusion Valley. They captured the remaining followers and returned with them and the seized valuables to the Cloud Province Thousand Households Office, where Fang Pengfei and the officers welcomed Su Fei.

• Su Fei killed Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu, then executed Murong Chong on the Blood Pool Platform.
• Su Fei ordered Qian Tong, Zhang San, and Li Si to capture resisting followers only if they surrendered, kill those who fought back, and search the valley for valuables.
• The three returned with thirty-six White Lotus Sect followers, valuables, and correspondence from Dark Seclusion Valley.
• Su Fei stored the seized valuables and led the captives back toward Cloud Province.
• Su Fei's group arrived at the Cloud Province Thousand Households Office, where Fang Pengfei and other officers welcomed him and admired his capture of the White Lotus Sect followers.

Su Fei returned to the Cloud Province Thousand Households Office with more than thirty White Lotus Sect prisoners after destroying its External Affairs Hall in Dark Seclusion Valley. News of his victory spread across Cloud Province, leaving martial factions fearful and on guard, while the Azure Cloud School convened an emergency assembly.

• Su Fei told Fang Pengfei that he had killed the White Lotus Sect hall master, Murong Chong, and two Seventh-Level Martial Saints, and that the prisoners included ten Xiantian and five Grandmaster martial artists.
• Fang Pengfei ordered the prisoners escorted to the Heavenly Prison and said he would report Su Fei's achievement to the court.
• The Thousand Households Office's report and travelers' stories spread news of Su Fei's victory throughout Cloud Province.
• Martial faction leaders who had dealings with the White Lotus Sect met, feared Su Fei would uncover their connections, and ordered their groups to lie low.
• A gang that had supplied the White Lotus Sect disbanded, while the Azure Cloud School called an emergency assembly.

After suppressing the White Lotus Sect External Affairs Hall in Cloud Province, Su Fei found no trace of the sect’s remaining forces and returned to the imperial city to report. He was welcomed by Lei Chongxiao and his colleagues with a victory banquet.

• The Azure Cloud School ordered its disciples to avoid martial-world conflicts, while Cloud Province’s other powers kept quiet and the people praised Su Fei.
• Su Fei ordered Fang Pengfei to keep searching for White Lotus Sect remnants, but repeated searches found no clues.
• Su Fei decided to return to the imperial city and left Cloud Province with Zhang San, Li Si, and more than seventy Imperial Guards.
• After arriving at the imperial city, Su Fei was welcomed by Lei Chongxiao and the thousand households commanders, who praised his achievements.
• Lei Chongxiao led Su Fei and his party into the Southern Commandery Investigation Department for a victory banquet.

Su Fei celebrated his victories in Cloud Province while Crown Prince Zhao Yan resolved to retaliate against him. The next morning, an urgent report revealed that the rapidly expanding Heavenly Dao Alliance had ignored Imperial Guard warnings in Cool Province.

• Lei Chongxiao and the Imperial Guard officers toasted Su Fei for defeating the White Lotus Sect and solving the Cloud Province murder case.
• Zhao Yan learned that Su Fei had killed three Martial Saint Realm experts and destroyed the White Lotus Sect External Affairs Hall, then flew into a rage and drove his concubine from his bedchamber.
• Zhao Yan brooded in his study and vowed to find a way to make Su Fei pay for his repeated setbacks.
• The next morning, Grand Secretary Li presented an urgent dispatch reporting that the Heavenly Dao Alliance was annexing forces and recruiting martial artists across Cool Province and Yong Province.
• The grand secretaries learned that the Heavenly Dao Alliance had ignored the warning sent by Imperial Guard Thousand Households Officer Zhang Jing.

The Grand Secretariat assigned Su Fei to investigate the powerful Heavenly Dao Alliance in Cool Prefecture after Crown Prince Zhao Yan recommended him. Lei Chongxiao brought the decree to Su Fei, who began reading it, leaving his response undecided.

• Zhang Jing reported that the Heavenly Dao Alliance had absorbed martial factions, lost contact with Imperial Guard undercover agents, and threatened Cool Prefecture and Yong Prefecture.
• The Grand Secretaries debated ways to confront the alliance until Crown Prince Zhao Yan recommended sending Su Fei, citing his strength and investigative experience.
• Zhao Yan privately hoped the mission would weaken Su Fei, and the Grand Secretariat issued a decree ordering him to depart for Cool Prefecture.
• Lei Chongxiao read the decree, worried about its danger and the lack of rest Su Fei had been given, then went to consult him.
• Su Fei received the decree from Lei Chongxiao and began reading it.

Su Fei accepted a mission to investigate and dismantle the Cool Prefecture Heavenly Dao Alliance, then set out for Cool Prefecture with Zhang San and Li Si. After dealing with several bands of roadside thieves, the three reached Cool Prefecture City.

• Su Fei received a system mission to uncover the Heavenly Dao Alliance's strength, purpose, and controller and dismantle its threat, with Buddha's Palm and three hundred and thirty years of cultivation as rewards.
• Su Fei agreed to the mission, asked to travel with Zhang San and Li Si, and planned to leave within two days.
• Lei Chongxiao gave Su Fei travel documents and three fine horses, and Su Fei and his companions departed for Cool Prefecture.
• Zhang San and Li Si killed or wounded groups of bandits who tried to rob the travelers along the road while Su Fei watched from horseback.
• After seven or eight days of hard riding, Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si arrived beneath the walls of Cool Prefecture City.

Su Fei arrived in Cool Prefecture, learned that the Heavenly Dao Alliance was gaining power across the region, and decided to attend its Armor Appreciation Assembly to investigate. Three days later, he reached Clear Breeze Ridge with Zhang San and Li Si as martial artists gathered for the event.

• Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si entered Cool Prefecture City, ate local specialties, and proceeded to the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office.
• Zhang Jing told Su Fei that the Heavenly Dao Alliance had taken root in Cool Prefecture and killed agents sent to infiltrate it.
• Zhang Jing explained that the alliance would hold an Armor Appreciation Assembly at Clear Breeze Ridge in three days, offering a supposedly extraordinary suit of armor to the strongest participant.
• Su Fei decided to attend the assembly and use it to probe the Heavenly Dao Alliance's strength.
• Three days later, Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si rode to Clear Breeze Ridge, where martial artists from Cool Prefecture and Yong Prefecture had gathered.

Su Fei and his companions paid to attend the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s Armor Appreciation Assembly, where they assessed the alliance’s strength and waited for the armor to be revealed. The assembly began when Chen Liefeng arrived and introduced himself to the gathered martial artists.

• Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si were charged fifteen taels of silver to enter Clear Breeze Ridge, and Su Fei stopped Zhang San from arguing with the gate guards.
• Su Fei used the God-tier Insight Technique to assess the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s guards as they climbed to the summit.
• Su Fei and his companions joined more than a thousand martial artists in the summit square, where Su Fei sensed a powerful Martial Saint aura coming from a tent.
• Chen Liefeng emerged from the tent with four martial artists carrying a chained red sandalwood box, then released his seventh-level Martial Saint aura and began addressing the crowd.

Chen Liefeng displayed the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s treasure armor and demonstrated its resistance to fire, water, blades, and spears, while claiming it could weaken true essence attacks. He then announced that only alliance members could earn it through merit, angering the martial artists who had expected a contest of strength.

• Chen Liefeng had the Heavenly Dao Alliance martial artists reveal the pale blue inner armor, and the crowd marveled at its value.
• The alliance tested the armor with fire and water, showing that it resisted flames and stayed dry while floating.
• The alliance martial artists struck and stabbed the armor with weapons, which failed to damage or pierce it.
• Chen Liefeng claimed the armor could weaken true essence attacks, and Su Fei considered trying to obtain it while Li Si questioned whether that ability was genuine.
• Chen Liefeng announced that martial artists had to join the Heavenly Dao Alliance and earn merit to claim the armor, prompting the crowd to accuse the alliance of changing its rules and deceiving them.

Chen Liefeng crushed Zhou Xingtian for challenging the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s armor exchange rules, frightening the gathered martial artists into agreeing to join. Su Fei then defied Chen and refused to give his name, prompting Chen to attack him with the Full Moon Sword Art.

• Zhou Xingtian accused the Heavenly Dao Alliance of using the armor gathering to recruit people, and Chen Liefeng attacked him with the Full Moon Sword Art, grievously injuring him.
• Chen Liefeng challenged the crowd to speak up, and the frightened martial artists began asking to join the Heavenly Dao Alliance so they could earn merits toward the treasured armor.
• Su Fei watched Chen Liefeng’s intimidation succeed and then asked what would happen if he wanted the treasured armor without joining the alliance.
• Chen Liefeng demanded Su Fei’s name, but Su Fei mocked the Heavenly Dao Alliance and refused to identify himself.
• Furious, Chen Liefeng attacked Su Fei with an even larger Full Moon Sword Art as onlookers feared the young man would be crushed.

Su Fei defeated Chen Liefeng after breaking his Full Moon Sword Art and overpowering his strongest sword technique. He revealed himself as Great Xuan’s Marquis of Martial Peace and an Imperial Guard officer, then claimed the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s treasured armor under Chen’s own rule that the strong make the rules.

• Chen Liefeng attacked Su Fei with the Full Moon Sword Art, but Su Fei shattered it with his Perfection realm Threefold Origin-Returning Energy.
• Chen Liefeng dismissed the defeat as luck and unleashed the Azure Light Sun-Blazing Sword Art.
• Su Fei drew Crimson Firmament and used the Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Art to cleave through Chen Liefeng’s attack and wound him severely.
• Chen Liefeng asked Su Fei who he was, and Su Fei identified himself as Great Xuan’s Marquis of Martial Peace and an Imperial Guard Thousand Households Officer.
• Su Fei declared that he would take the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s treasured armor because he was stronger than Chen Liefeng.

Su Fei seized the Frost Scale Armor and arrested Chen Liefeng, the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s sixth leader, then prepared for the alliance’s response at the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office. News of the confrontation reached the alliance headquarters, where a messenger interrupted fifth leader Yue Jinghao’s meal with an urgent warning.

• Su Fei took the Frost Scale Armor despite Chen Liefeng’s threat that the alliance’s other leaders would retaliate.
• Su Fei ordered Zhang San and Li Si to arrest Chen Liefeng, and Zhang San knocked him unconscious when he resisted.
• Su Fei returned to the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office with Chen Liefeng and the armor, then told Zhang Jing to await the alliance’s attempt to reclaim its leader.
• News of Su Fei’s victory spread through Cool Prefecture and Yong Prefecture, causing prospective alliance recruits to wait and see how the alliance would respond.
• At the Heavenly Dao Alliance headquarters, messenger alerted fifth leader Yue Jinghao to a disaster as he ate and drank in the Hall of Gathered Righteousness.

After Su Fei arrested Chen Liefeng and seized the Frost Scale Armor, Heavenly Dao Alliance leader Yue Jinghao led five hundred elites to surround the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office. Su Fei went out to confront him, and Yue mocked Su Fei’s slender build.

• A messenger told Yue Jinghao that Su Fei had arrested Chen Liefeng and taken the Frost Scale Armor to the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office.
• Yue Jinghao assembled five hundred elites and rode toward the Thousand Households Office, threatening to force Su Fei to answer for the arrest.
• Su Fei learned that Yue Jinghao was approaching and calmly waited for him, ordering Zhang Jing to secure the office and keep Chen Liefeng from escaping.
• Yue Jinghao’s forces surrounded the Thousand Households Office and demanded that Chen Liefeng be handed over.
• Su Fei walked out with Zhang San and Li Si to meet Yue Jinghao, who identified Su Fei and mocked his slender frame.

Yue Jinghao led five hundred Heavenly Dao Alliance warriors to the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office and demanded Chen Liefeng and the Frost Scale Armor from Su Fei. Su Fei revealed his eighth-level Martial Saint aura and stopped Yue Jinghao’s hammer attack with his bare hands, leaving the alliance leader stunned.

• Yue Jinghao mocked Su Fei and demanded Chen Liefeng, the Frost Scale Armor, and an apology, threatening to destroy the Thousand Households Office.
• Su Fei stopped Zhang San and Li Si from intervening, then released his martial saint realm eighth level aura and warned that Yue Jinghao’s men were no match for him.
• Yue Jinghao, a martial saint realm seventh level peak body-refining warrior, attacked Su Fei with his porcelain hammers.
• Su Fei activated Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt and caught both hammers with his palms, stopping Yue Jinghao’s strike and shocking him.