Recaps

Lin Bai told Lu Qingyu that the Five Venoms Sect had grown powerful enough to suggest a spy at the highest levels of Divine Relic Ridge. After Chou Yun Kui tried to visit the injured Gu Yueqing and threatened Lin Bai over their pill-making wager, Lin Bai confidently promised Lu Qingyu that he and Gu Yueqing could refine a Human Sovereign Pill.

• Lin Bai recounted the Five Venoms Sect's strength in Pill King City, and he and Lu Qingyu suspected that a high-ranking Divine Relic Ridge figure was helping the sect.
• Chou Yun Kui barged into the Purple Bamboo Grove despite a disciple telling him Gu Yueqing was receiving no visitors.
• Lin Bai ordered Chou Yun Kui to leave, and Chou Yun Kui grew furious when Lin Bai pointed out that Gu Yueqing had invited him but not Chou Yun Kui.
• Chou Yun Kui threatened Lin Bai over their half-month wager, but Lu Qingyu's force suppressed him and drove him away.
• Lu Qingyu asked whether Lin Bai could teach Gu Yueqing to refine a Human Sovereign Pill, and Lin Bai confidently said they could even make a King-Grade Pill together.

After half a month of healing and discussing alchemy, Lin Bai taught Gu Yueqing and Lu Qingyu how to refine the Human Sovereign Pill. Gu Yueqing prepared to attempt the pill the next day, with Lin Bai watching over her.

• Lu Qingyu praised Lin Bai's alchemy skills and offered him the position of vice dean, but Lin Bai refused to leave the Sword Dao Institute.
• Gu Yueqing recovered and asked to postpone her pill-refining appointment with Chou Yun Kui, but Lin Bai said he could teach her in one night.
• Gu Yueqing asked Lin Bai to call her Qing Er, and Lu Qingyu encouraged them to drop their formalities.
• Lin Bai explained that they should avoid the Crimson Sun Cauldron and taught Gu Yueqing and Lu Qingyu the proper methods for refining the Human Sovereign Pill.
• Lu Qingyu thanked Lin Bai, and Lin Bai said he would guide Gu Yueqing at the Pill Dao Academy arena the next day.

Disciples gathered at the Pill Dao Academy to watch Gu Yueqing attempt to refine a Human Sovereign Pill, a feat Lin Bai had bet his life on. Chou Yun Kui arrived with Sword Ranking fighter Tang Zong, who vowed to crush Lin Bai before the pill refinement began.

• A huge crowd gathered at the Pill Dao Academy arena to witness Gu Yueqing's pill refinement.
• Jian Ruohan reunited with Ye Jianqiu, who teased her about Lin Bai staying in Gu Yueqing's boudoir; she reacted coldly.
• Hong Su suggested Lin Bai might help Ye Suxin undo the Ice Hibernation Art, but Ye Suxin refused to tell him about it.
• Chou Yun Kui arrived with Tang Zong, the Heaven Splitting Sword ranked ninety-eighth on the Sword Ranking.
• Tang Zong promised Chou Yun Kui that he would suppress Lin Bai and crush his spirit.

Lin Bai accompanied Gu Yueqing to the Pill Dao Academy arena, where she announced that she had a ninety percent chance of successfully refining the Human Sovereign Pill after receiving his guidance. As Gu Yueqing began preparing, Tang Zong challenged Lin Bai, who dismissed him and drew an angry demand to show respect.

• Chou Yun Kui and Tang Zong arrived at the arena with Blade Dao Academy disciples, while Lin Bai and Gu Yueqing entered together and drew the crowd’s attention.
• Hong Su and Ye Suxin noticed that Lin Bai’s cultivation had recovered, and Chou Yun Kui urged Tang Zong to humiliate him in his place.
• Gu Yueqing thanked the audience and declared that Lin Bai’s guidance had given her a ninety percent chance of refining the Human Sovereign Pill.
• Gu Yueqing brought out a new pill furnace and prepared her medicines as Lin Bai watched.
• Tang Zong introduced himself as a Sword Dao Institute disciple ranked ninety-eighth on the Sword Ranking, but Lin Bai said he did not know him.
• After the crowd laughed at Tang Zong, he angrily demanded that Lin Bai address him as Senior Brother.

Lin Bai rejected Tang Zong and Chou Yun Kui’s demands that he kneel, then mocked them and warned Tang Zong that the Sword Dao Institute’s elders could punish him for aiding an outsider. The chapter left Tang Zong panicking after Lin Bai called out to Elder Pei Ji, who had been watching nearby.

• Tang Zong ordered Lin Bai to kneel and admit his mistake to Chou Yun Kui, while Chou Yun Kui said he would settle for Lin Bai kneeling.
• Ye Jianqiu questioned Tang Zong’s conduct, and Jian Ruohan said Lin Bai would never kneel and condemned Tang Zong for helping an outsider.
• Lin Bai mocked Tang Zong by suggesting he demonstrate how to kneel and beg for mercy, drawing laughter from the martial artists present.
• Lin Bai insulted Chou Yun Kui and warned Tang Zong that the Sword Dao Institute’s Elders Council could strip him of his Sword Ranking status.
• Lin Bai called out to Elder Pei Ji, and Tang Zong frantically searched for him.

Pei Ji appeared at the Pill Dao Academy and confronted Chou Yun Kui over the plot against Lin Bai and Tang Zong. As Pei Ji moved to punish Chou Yun Kui, two high-ranking elders of the Blade Dao Academy intervened, leaving the conflict between the academies poised to escalate.

• Pei Ji arrived at the arena, and Lu Qingyu defended Lin Bai while acknowledging the stakes for the Sword Dao Institute.
• Lin Bai told Pei Ji that Tang Zong might not survive if the matter were left to him, and Tang Zong knelt to beg forgiveness.
• Pei Ji questioned Chou Yun Kui, then unleashed his sword intent and pressured him until he spat blood.
• Ye Suxin recalled how Pei Ji had once protected Lin Duo by fighting elders from four academies.
• Pei Ji accused Chou Yun Kui of inciting conflict among Sword Dao Institute disciples and intensified his pressure.
• Yun Xun and Yun Hai of the Blade Dao Academy appeared, shattered Pei Ji's pressure, and answered Chou Yun Kui's plea for help.

Blade Dao Academy and Fist Dao Academy elders moved against Lin Bai and Tang Zong, while Sword Dao Institute elders arrived to defend them. As the academies gathered in the Pill Dao Academy arena, the rival elders prepared to fight.

• Chou Yun Kui appealed to Yun Xun and Yun Hai, who attacked Lin Bai and Tang Zong and sent them flying.
• Pei Ji drew his sword, and Yun Xun and Yun Hai challenged him to fight.
• Lin Baoyu arrived and joined Pei Ji, prompting Liu Jingfeng and Zuo Kai of the Fist Dao Academy to enter the dispute.
• Hong Su used her Sound Transmission Lute, and Ling Wu appeared to protect Lin Bai at Ye Suxin's request.
• Liu Jingfeng called for Lin Bai and Tang Zong to be crippled, but Pei Ji and Lin Baoyu stood in their way and challenged the Blade and Fist Dao Academy elders.

Lu Qingyu stopped the six high-ranking elders from fighting in the Pill Dao Academy arena and revealed that Lin Bai was the academy’s honorary vice dean. Liu Jingfeng abandoned his attempt to kill Lin Bai and left, while Gu Yueqing prepared to refine the Human Sovereign Pill.

• Lu Qingyu used his power to halt the elders’ clash and rebuked them for fighting in the Pill Dao Academy arena.
• Liu Jingfeng invoked Divine Relic Ridge’s rules to demand that Lin Bai and Tang Zong be punished, but Lu Qingyu said Lin Bai was the Pill Dao Academy’s honorary vice dean and threatened the Fist Dao Academy if he was harmed.
• Niu Wenbo joined Lu Qingyu in protecting Lin Bai, and Liu Jingfeng left the arena with Zuo Kai without attacking.
• Lu Qingyu criticized Pei Ji for nearly provoking a conflict among the academies and told him to apologize to Dugu Yun.
• Lu Qingyu asked Gu Yueqing to begin refining the Human Sovereign Pill and said Lin Bai had helped her learn how to refine it, astonishing Pei Ji and Lin Baoyu.

After the Sword Dao Academy settled the public dispute, Gu Yueqing began refining the Human Sovereign Pill while Lin Bai stood by her. The chapter ended with Chou Yun Kui leaving to await the result of his deadly wager with Lin Bai.

• Lu Qingyu ended the confrontation, and Lin Baoyu took Tang Zong back to the Sword Dao Academy for punishment while ordering Lin Bai to report to the Hall of Law Enforcement.
• Lin Bai dismissed Chou Yun Kui’s objections to using an ordinary pill furnace, and Gu Yueqing asked Chou Yun Kui to leave while she refined the pill.
• Lin Bai and Chou Yun Kui restated their wager: if Gu Yueqing failed, Chou Yun Kui could kill Lin Bai; if she succeeded, Chou Yun Kui would kneel and acknowledge Lin Bai as his master.
• Pei Ji agreed not to interfere in the private wager, and Chou Yun Kui left the arena.
• Gu Yueqing used the Prosperity Lotus Flame and began refining the Human Sovereign Pill as the gathered disciples watched.

Gu Yueqing refined the Human Sovereign Pill under Lin Bai’s guidance, and the furnace exploded just as the pill was forming. Lin Bai revealed seven finished pills in the ashes, leaving Chou Yun Kui refusing to believe the result.

• Gu Yueqing followed Lin Bai’s instructions while refining the Human Sovereign Pill, and its medicinal fragrance signaled that it was nearly complete.
• The pill furnace exploded, and Chou Yun Kui celebrated the apparent failure and demanded that Lin Bai pay their wager.
• Lin Bai explained the Heavenly Furnace Pill Refinement Art and swept away the ashes, revealing seven Human Sovereign Pills.
• Gu Yueqing joyfully gathered the pills, and Lu Qingyu confirmed that they were upper-grade Human Sovereign Pills.
• Chou Yun Kui denied that the pills were real and accused Lin Bai of secretly planting them.

Lu Qingyu announced that Gu Yueqing had successfully refined the Human Sovereign Pill, fulfilling his lifelong ambition and exciting the martial artists gathered at the Pill Dao Academy. Chou Yun Kui challenged the pill’s authenticity, accusing Lin Bai of deception and refusing to believe it was the Human Sovereign Pill.

• Niu Wenbo and the assembled martial artists impatiently demanded that Lu Qingyu and Gu Yueqing reveal whether the Human Sovereign Pill had been refined.
• Gu Yueqing let Lu Qingyu make the announcement, and he declared that the Human Sovereign Pill had been refined and could soon be produced in batches.
• The martial artists celebrated the pill’s promise of helping Human Core Realm cultivators advance, while Gu Yueqing thanked Lin Bai and asked him to teach her to refine the Earth Venerable Pill.
• Lin Bai agreed to teach Gu Yueqing after she had mastered the Human Sovereign Pill, and they sealed their promise with a pinky swear.
• Chou Yun Kui entered the arena and demanded proof that the pill was genuine, claiming Lin Bai might have deceived Lu Qingyu and Gu Yueqing.

Lin Bai proved that the Human Sovereign Pill was genuine by taking one and breaking through to the second level of the Human Core Realm. When Chou Yun Kui continued to dispute the result, Lin Bai proposed giving away the six remaining pills to the crowd.

• Chou Yun Kui accused Lin Bai of presenting a fake Human Sovereign Pill and demanded proof that it could raise a martial artist's cultivation by a level.
• Lin Bai swallowed the pill and began cultivating while the gathered martial artists watched.
• After an hour without a breakthrough, Chou Yun Kui declared the pill fake, and Lu Qingyu and Gu Yueqing began to doubt Lin Bai.
• Lin Bai broke through to the second level of the Human Core Realm, but Chou Yun Kui insisted it was a natural breakthrough and demanded another test.
• Lin Bai proposed distributing the six remaining pills among the crowd, and Lu Qingyu and Gu Yueqing agreed.

Lu Qingyu offered six Human Sovereign Pills to the martial artists, but Chou Yun Kui warned that they could be fake, poisonous, or damaging, leaving the crowd afraid to try them. Jian Ruohan and Ye Jianqiu swallowed pills despite his warnings, and four more martial artists stepped forward for the remaining pills.

• Lu Qingyu announced that the Pill Dao Academy would give away its six remaining Human Sovereign Pills, but Chou Yun Kui warned the crowd that the pills might be dangerous.
• Lin Bai promised to save anyone who suffered harm from a pill and challenged martial artists to come forward, but none dared while Chou Yun Kui mocked the Academy.
• Jian Ruohan arrived, took a Human Sovereign Pill from Gu Yueqing, and began refining it despite Chou Yun Kui's objections.
• Ye Jianqiu arrived, thanked Lu Qingyu, swallowed a Human Sovereign Pill, and began his breakthrough.
• After Lin Bai called for more volunteers, four martial artists stepped forward to claim the remaining pills.

Jian Ruohan, Ye Jianqiu, Qi Yao, He Qian, and Fan Yitong took Human Sovereign Pills and began breaking through, while Fan Yitong earned an invitation from Gu Yueqing and Lu Qingyu's offer to become his disciple. After Lin Bai called for someone to take the final pill, a mysterious swordsman appeared, shocking Pei Ji and Chou Yun Kui.

• Qi Yao, He Qian, and Fan Yitong stepped forward to take Human Sovereign Pills and began their breakthroughs alongside Jian Ruohan and Ye Jianqiu.
• Fan Yitong admitted he had come forward for Gu Yueqing, who invited him to the Purple Bamboo Grove to discuss Pill Dao.
• Lu Qingyu offered to accept Fan Yitong as his last disciple, and Fan Yitong knelt to acknowledge him as his master.
• Lin Bai called for someone to take the final Human Sovereign Pill, and a crowd member accused him of giving the other pills to his friends.
• A young man in tattered hemp clothing arrived, took the final pill, and drew shocked reactions from Pei Ji and Chou Yun Kui.

Lin Bai and the others watched as six martial artists tested the Human Sovereign Pills, proving that the Pill Dao Academy had refined genuine pills. Lin Han reached the Earth Core Realm, and Lu Qingyu ended the dispute by announcing a steep price for future pills.

• Pei Ji told Lin Bai that Lin Han had once been a Sword Dao Institute prodigy whose divine core Cai Yunqi shattered after Lin Han intervened when Cai Yunqi forced a female disciple, and Lin Bai said he hoped Lin Han would recover.
• Jian Ruohan, Ye Jianqiu, Qi Yao, He Qian, Fan Yitong, and Lin Han took Human Sovereign Pills and began cultivating while Chou Yun Kui questioned whether the pills were genuine.
• After an hour, Ye Jianqiu, Jian Ruohan, Qi Yao, He Qian, and Fan Yitong advanced in the Human Core Realm, while Lin Han broke through to the Earth Core Realm.
• Lu Qingyu declared that the breakthroughs proved the Human Sovereign Pills were genuine, and Chou Yun Kui conceded and congratulated the Pill Dao Academy.
• When a martial artist asked when the pills would be distributed free again, Lu Qingyu announced that each Human Sovereign Pill would cost ten thousand points.

The Human Sovereign Pill was successfully refined, though Lu Qingyu announced that each pill cost one hundred thousand points. Lin Bai enforced his wager with Chou Yun Kui, who knelt and acknowledged Lin Bai as his master before Lin Bai immediately expelled him; afterward, Lin Bai returned to the Sword Dao Institute with Pei Ji.

• Lu Qingyu announced that each Human Sovereign Pill cost one hundred thousand points, and the crowd left the Pill Dao Academy in shock.
• Lin Bai reminded Chou Yun Kui of their wager and demanded that he kneel and acknowledge Lin Bai as his master.
• Gu Yueqing rejected Chou Yun Kui's appeal, while Lu Qingyu and Pei Ji declined to intervene.
• Under the crowd's jeers, Chou Yun Kui knelt, kowtowed three times, and called Lin Bai his master.
• Lin Bai insulted Chou Yun Kui and expelled him from his sect, causing Chou Yun Kui to spit blood and faint.
• Pei Ji took Lin Bai back to the Sword Dao Institute after Lin Bai said farewell to Gu Yueqing and Lu Qingyu.

Lin Bai learned that meeting Su Yanhua required becoming a Five Peaks Holy Son, so he resolved to advance quickly and compete in the nine institutes’ martial competition. The chapter ended by revealing that Ye Suxin had arranged for Pei Ji to accept Lin Bai into the Sword Dao Institute.

• Pei Ji told Lin Bai that only a Five Peaks Holy Son could visit Divine Relic Ridge’s forbidden grounds and meet Su Yanhua.
• Lin Bai resolved to become a Five Peaks Holy Son to learn what had happened to his father, Lin Duo, and how the Dragon Slayer Sword reached Long Qingfeng.
• Pei Ji explained that the nine institutes’ year-end martial competition determined the Hero Ranking, and Lin Bai insisted he would compete that year.
• Pei Ji urged Lin Bai to cultivate patiently, while Lin Bai remained determined to reach the fifth stage of the Earth Core Realm within four months.
• Pei Ji returned to his residence and met Old Ling and Ye Suxin, who revealed that she had asked him to accept Lin Bai into the Sword Dao Institute.

Lin Bai returned to Shadow Mountain and was confronted by Yao Feng and a group of martial artists who tried to rob his points, believing he was crippled. Lin Bai revealed that his cultivation had recovered, defeated them, and left Yao Feng begging for mercy.

• Lin Bai returned to Shadow Mountain after parting from Pei Ji.
• Yao Feng and twelve martial artists surrounded Lin Bai and demanded his 5,221 points, thinking he was crippled.
• Lin Bai caught Yao Feng’s sword between two fingers and kicked him away.
• Lin Bai unleashed wind blades that sent the surrounding martial artists flying and injured them.
• Yao Feng realized Lin Bai’s cultivation had recovered, then knelt and begged him not to kill him.

Lin Bai returned to Shadow Mountain and confronted Murong Xu, who had occupied his residence. After she refused to leave and revealed that her father was the vice dean, Lin Bai recognized her family connection and attacked her.

• Yao Feng begged Lin Bai for mercy, and Lin Bai let him leave with his lackeys.
• Tang Bufan showed Lin Bai the small house he had built for him, but Lin Bai insisted on reclaiming Residence Number Eighty-One.
• Lin Bai and Tang Bufan went to the residence, where Murong Xu threatened Lin Bai and refused to leave.
• Murong Xu claimed her father was Murong Hai, and Lin Bai recalled that Murong Changtian had also named Murong Hai as his father and the vice dean.
• Lin Bai attacked Murong Xu with the Azure Song Sword; after her Fallen Blossom Swordplay shattered his first strike, he used the Divine Sword Thunder Control Art to break her defense and send her flying.

Lin Bai pursued the badly wounded Murong Xu across Shadow Mountain and nearly killed her before Yuan Qing intervened. Lin Bai confronted Yuan Qing over his broken promise and openly called him an old dog, while a crowd gathered around them.

• Lin Bai wounded Murong Xu, but she used a blood-powered escape art to flee toward Yuan Qing's residence as he chased her.
• Murong Xu called for Yuan Qing's help, but Lin Bai struck her in the back and moved to kill her.
• Yuan Qing arrived and blasted Lin Bai away, then shielded Murong Xu and ordered Lin Bai to surrender.
• Lin Bai reminded Yuan Qing that he had promised not to interfere in his affairs, but Yuan Qing denied it and threatened to kill him.
• Lin Bai called Yuan Qing a shameless old dog and accused him of protecting Murong Xu because of her father, drawing a stunned crowd.

Lin Bai reclaimed Shadow Mountain Residence No. 81 after Pei Ji intervened and ruled that it belonged to him, then learned how the Sword Dao Institute had divided its new disciples into training groups. He remained in the low-level group, while several of his peers trained in higher-ranked groups.

• Yuan Qing attacked Lin Bai, but Pei Ji and Tang Bufan arrived and stopped their fight.
• Pei Ji reprimanded Yuan Qing for ignoring Lin Bai's complaint and confirmed that Shadow Mountain Residence No. 81 belonged to Lin Bai.
• Pei Ji warned that trespassers entering Lin Bai's residence could be killed, while reminding Lin Bai that killing was forbidden within the institute.
• Lin Bai left with Tang Bufan, taunted Murong Xu, and returned to his residence.
• Tang Bufan explained that new disciples were split into genius, advanced, and low-level groups, and said Lin Bai, Yao Feng, and he were in the low-level group.

Lin Bai learned how the Sword Dao Institute divided its newcomers and how monthly examinations determined access to cultivation resources. At the training grounds, he saw the lower-level group mocked and its flag defaced, then vowed to avenge the insult as mentor Nie Xiaoxian arrived.

• Tang Bufan explained the three groups, their monthly Mystic Art examinations, and how examination results determined access to cultivation resources and points.
• Lin Bai agreed to visit the training grounds with Tang Bufan and spent the night cultivating the Grand Five Elements Art.
• Lin Bai and Tang Bufan found the lower-level group's flag altered into a pig, and Tang Bufan blamed Chang Minghui of the advanced group.
• Advanced-group disciples mocked the lower-level group, while Lin Bai vowed to avenge the defaced flag and proposed changing the group's name.
• Nie Xiaoxian confronted Chang Minghui, and Tang Bufan identified her as the lower-level group's mentor and one of the Beauty Ranking's top ten beauties.

Lin Bai challenged Chang Minghui after the advanced group mocked the lower-level group and Nie Xiaoxian. As they faced off in the arena, Ye Jianqiu and Jian Ruohan warned that Lin Bai might kill Chang Minghui.

• Chang Minghui and the advanced group taunted Nie Xiaoxian and the lower-level martial artists, boasting that even their weakest fighter could defeat the whole group.
• Lin Bai stepped forward and argued that superior martial souls did not necessarily mean greater strength, then accepted Chang Minghui's challenge.
• Chang Minghui took his place in the arena, while lower-level martial artists and Nie Xiaoxian tried to dissuade Lin Bai from fighting.
• Lin Bai ignored their objections and stood before Chang Minghui, ready to fight.
• Ye Jianqiu and Jian Ruohan watched from the genius group and feared Lin Bai might kill Chang Minghui.

Lin Bai sparred with Chang Minghui, effortlessly stopping his Heaven-grade swordplay and humiliating him before the training-ground crowd. Enraged by his repeated defeats, Chang Minghui gathered the power of heaven and earth to unleash a divine ability.

• Chang Minghui displayed his Third-Order Sword Intent and challenged Lin Bai, while Nie Xiaoxian worried that he might seriously hurt him.
• Chang Minghui attacked Lin Bai with White Rainbow Pierces the Sun, but Lin Bai caught the sword between two fingers and sent him back.
• Chang Minghui followed with Desert Lone Smoke, but Lin Bai struck him away with one palm and called him weak.
• The advanced group reacted in shock as the genius group mocked Chang Minghui for losing twice.
• Chang Minghui roared that he wanted Lin Bai dead and began gathering the power of heaven and earth for a divine ability.

Lin Bai defeated Chang Minghui with one punch without drawing his sword, then confronted Instructor Wu Enli for defending the advanced group’s right to bully basic-group disciples. Lin Bai vowed to pass the monthly examination and trample every advanced-group martial artist beneath his feet.

• Chang Minghui used the divine ability Sword Heart Clarity against Lin Bai, but Lin Bai beat him nearly to death with a single punch from his Overlord Dragon Fist.
• Lin Bai declared that Chang Minghui did not deserve to make him draw his sword, then tried to leave the arena.
• Wu Enli appeared and accused Lin Bai of injuring an advanced-group martial artist, insisting that basic-group disciples deserved to be bullied because their martial souls were weak.
• Nie Xiaoxian challenged Wu Enli’s remarks, but he dismissed the basic group as cannon fodder and predicted none of its members would pass the next day’s examination.
• Lin Bai declared that he would pass the monthly examination and trample every martial artist in Wu Enli’s advanced group beneath his feet.