Recaps

Li Hao received a letter from the little girl at the Sword Hermitage, and Li Muxiu offered to teach him body tempering. Li Muxiu explained the Circulation Realm and the motives behind martial cultivation, while Li Hao said he would rather live forever than seek fame.

• Li Hao read the little girl's letter describing life at the Sword Hermitage and her longing to return to him.
• Li Muxiu criticized Sword Wudao for taking Sword Lan's prodigious daughter in exchange for only a body-refining manual, then told Li Fu he would teach Li Hao body tempering.
• Li Muxiu watched Li Hao demonstrate his technique, confirmed he had reached the tenth layer of the Power Through Realm, and explained how supreme qi circulation methods worked.
• Li Muxiu described how factions guarded powerful techniques and argued that most martial artists pursued fame, status, wealth, and rewards rather than slaying demons.
• Li Hao said he would choose to live forever if he could, rather than seek fame.

Li Muxiu explained the Circulation Realm arts and the advantages of top-tier cultivation methods to Li Hao, then left him to study. Li Hao used two Art Skill Points to advance his Path of the Physical Body and discovered that his low-grade Body-Tempering Arts had reached a level called True State.

• Li Muxiu described the Listening Rain Pavilion’s Circulation Realm arts, the Imperial Clan’s superior art, and the importance of choosing methods suited to one’s aptitude.
• Li Muxiu explained how top-tier Meridian Opening arts could give practitioners far more meridians and noted that Li Hao’s blocked meridians might slow his progress.
• Li Muxiu served Li Hao fish, told him to practice alone, and vanished into the sky.
• Li Hao studied the Hundred Battles Heavenly Circulation Art and the Dragon River Divine Meridian, then spent both Art Skill Points on the Path of the Physical Body.
• Li Hao saw that his major body-tempering arts had advanced and that Stone Skin Hundred Refinements and other low-grade arts had reached True State.
• Li Hao practiced Wild Bull Strength at True State, felt its power multiply, and then began practicing the Thousand Dragons Sacred Body.

Li Hao advanced into the Circulation Realm, fused the circulation methods from his body-tempering arts, and dramatically increased his strength. After synchronizing his body with dozens of techniques, he began searching for information about the Yin Meridian.

• Li Hao opened his first great meridian, entered the first layer of the Circulation Realm, and advanced his Primordial Beginning practice to the Profound Passage Body.
• Li Hao opened the Profound Meridian, also called the Yin Meridian, and combined its circulation method with the Hundred Dragons Body to reach 132 circuits in one breath.
• Li Hao perfected the Crouching Dragon Body and estimated that his physical strength had reached about 50,000 jin, with Qi Strength Unification letting him unleash roughly 100,000 jin of force.
• Li Hao fused the Dragon Cicada Vacuum Body's circulation method into his practice, raising his circulation speed to 143 circuits in one breath.
• Li Hao practiced his remaining body-tempering arts, gained about 15,000 jin of physical strength, and began searching the building for information on the Yin Meridian.

Li Hao reached full mastery of the Hundred Dragons Body and learned from Li Muxiu about the Yin and Yang Great Meridians. After half a month of studying manuals, he recorded three top-tier arts and unlocked the Imperial Dao attribute.

• Li Hao demonstrated his full mastery of the Hundred Dragons Body, astonishing Li Muxiu.
• Li Muxiu warned Li Hao against spreading his efforts across too many disciplines and explained the Yin and Yang Great Meridians.
• Li Muxiu told Li Hao that his blocked meridians might limit his cultivation and urged him to focus on the Thousand Dragons Sacred Body.
• Li Hao spent the following half month fishing with Li Muxiu and studying cultivation manuals in the tower.
• Li Hao recorded three top-tier manuals in his panel, unlocking the Imperial Dao attribute and prompting him to consider learning painting and cooking for more Art Skill Points.

Li Hao used painting to gain Painting Dao skill and surprised Li Fu and Uncle Zhao with his portraits. Half a year later, he fished and cooked beside Li Muxiu and the Thief Saint Feng Boping at Blackwater Demon Lake, where they called him Little Mouse.

• Li Hao demonstrated the second level of the Dragon Body to Li Fu and persuaded him to let him paint instead of training constantly.
• Li Hao advanced his Painting Dao from Stage 0 to Stage 1 and painted lifelike portraits of Li Fu and Uncle Zhao.
• Li Hao spent half a year fishing with Li Muxiu and met the Thief Saint, Feng Boping, who promised to seek medicine to open Li Hao’s meridians.
• Li Hao cooked a fish demon by Blackwater Demon Lake while fishing with Li Muxiu and Feng Boping, who called him Little Mouse.

Li Hao caught and effortlessly killed a powerful Shrimp Demon while fishing with Li Muxiu and Feng Boping, then refused an invitation to train at the Martial Arts Arena. After hearing that a letter had arrived from Northern Yan, he asked He Jianlan to reassure his parents that he was safe and well.

• Li Hao caught a ninth-layer Circulation Realm Shrimp Demon and killed it with a single sword strike.
• Feng Boping guessed that Li Hao had reached minor mastery in the Li Family's Dragon River Divine Meridian, while Li Hao knew he had already reached perfection.
• Xue Jian invited Li Hao to practice at the Martial Arts Arena, but Li Muxiu refused on his behalf.
• Li Hao learned that a letter had arrived from Northern Yan and hurried with Li Fu to see He Jianlan.
• He Jianlan told Li Hao that the letter reported on the fighting and provisions in Northern Yan and relayed his parents' questions about his health and daily life.
• Li Hao asked He Jianlan to write back that he was safe, eating well, practicing body tempering, and looking forward to cooking for his parents when they returned.

Li Hao received a letter from the Sword Hermitage and wrote back before his young relatives visited him for stories and pastries. The chapter left him beginning to entertain the three children as their self-appointed Child King.

• He Jianlan privately lamented that Li Hao’s parents in Northern Yan had not sent him more letters, while Xue Jian realized He Jianlan had invented their concern for him.
• Li Hao read a letter from the Sword Hermitage girl, learned she had reached the fifth level of the Circulation Realm and opened twenty-one meridians, then wrote her a reply.
• Li Hao resumed painting, and Li Yuanzhao, Li Yun, and Li Zhining arrived at the Mountains and Rivers Courtyard.
• Li Hao accepted the pastries Li Zhining brought, shared them among the children, and told them to fetch stools so he could continue his unfinished story.

Li Hao read about the Soul Succession Realm and assessed how his many cultivated paths could help him reach it. He planned to seek an inheritance from the Li Family’s ancestors, while his combined supreme circulation arts had already raised his qi circulation to 248 circuits.

• Li Hao entertained Li Yun, Li Zhining, and Li Yuanzhao with a story, then sent them home before continuing to paint.
• Li Hao read that martial artists inherited heroic spirits through places such as the Martial Temple, the army, renowned mountains, or ancestral halls.
• Li Hao reviewed his panel and recalled how embedding Chess Heart had helped his Path of the Physical Body advance, while his Body-Tempering Arts had transformed and strengthened him.
• Li Hao learned that the fourth levels of his Thousand Dragons Sacred Body and Dragon Cicada Vacuum Body required dragon souls and true dragon blood essence, and that these methods alone offered only a mediocre Soul Succession inheritance.
• Li Hao decided to seek the Li Family’s Ancestral Hall for a powerful soul inheritance and to deepen his strength before advancing.
• Li Hao combined two supreme Qi Circulation Methods, raising his qi circulation to 248 circuits, surpassing the Imperial Clan’s All Heavens Heavenly Circulation Art.

Li Hao opened the Yang Meridian and created the fourth level of the Primordial Beginning Art, Flawless Body, nearly doubling his already immense strength. After finding a white fox whose mother had been killed, he brought it back to Qingzhou City.

• Li Hao used his physical-body insights to open the dangerous Yang Meridian and unite it with the Yin Meridian, creating Flawless Body, the fourth level of the Primordial Beginning Art.
• Li Hao reached major mastery of Flawless Body and found that its power let him coordinate all his meridians, bringing his doubled strength close to nine million jin.
• Li Hao searched for Second Master at Blackwater Demon Lake, but Second Master returned without finding traces of the Old Dragon.
• Li Hao found a little white fox near the lake and waited for its parents, but Second Master discovered the mother fox's blood and fur, showing that a demonic beast had eaten her.
• Li Hao took the orphaned fox back to Qingzhou City.

Li Hao revealed that he had perfected the Circulation Realm at age eight and asked Li Muxiu to take him to the Ancestral Shrine to attempt Soul Succession. Li Muxiu agreed, and the chapter ended with an elder at the shrine questioning whether Li Hao was truly ready for Soul Inheritance.

• Li Hao killed a Fish Demon, cooked it for Li Muxiu and Feng Boping, and announced he was ready to attempt the Soul Succession Realm.
• Li Hao activated his 54 Great Meridians, convincing Li Muxiu and Feng Boping that he had perfected the Circulation Realm.
• Li Hao said his meridians had cleared after he dreamed of cultivating, and Li Muxiu accepted that he did not want to pursue military honors.
• Li Muxiu took Li Hao to the Li Family Ancestral Hall to seek the ancestors' approval for Soul Inheritance.
• An old man playing chess among the ancestral tablets saw Li Hao and questioned whether the child was truly ready for Soul Inheritance.

Eight-year-old Li Hao visited the Li Family Ancestral Shrine, where the founding ancestor offered him Soul Inheritance in exchange for two binding Heart Oaths. Li Hao hesitated over the obligations and left without accepting, while Li Muxiu encouraged him to think it over.

• Li Muxiu brought Li Hao to the Ancestral Shrine and revealed that the eight-year-old had reached perfection in the Circulation Realm.
• The ancestral Heroic Souls appeared, and the founding ancestor, Li Tianyuan, offered Li Hao his inheritance if he swore to protect the Li Family and Great Yu unto death.
• Li Hao questioned the oaths’ limits, and Li Tianyuan explained that they safeguarded the family’s continuity and helped it endure without provoking the imperial family.
• Li Hao remained unsure, so Li Tianyuan withdrew and left him to consider; Li Muxiu led him out of the shrine.
• As they left, Li Hao gave the long-browed elder a chess move, and the elder reacted with surprise while studying the board.

At nine years old, Li Hao comprehended the cooking Dao heart and advanced to the fourth stage of the Imperial Dao, discovering how to inherit the soul of heaven and earth. He entered the Soul Succession Realm, and five years passed as he continued his leisurely pursuits until he turned fourteen.

• Li Hao comprehended the cooking Dao heart while sharing fish soup with Feng Boping and Li Muxiu.
• Li Hao advanced his Imperial Dao to the fourth stage and realized he could establish his soul by giving heaven and earth form through himself.
• Li Hao withstood the overwhelming pressure of heaven and earth and entered the Soul Succession Realm.
• Li Fu and Uncle Zhao sensed a disturbance, found Li Hao's room disordered, and accepted his explanation that he had gained insight while practicing.
• Li Hao continued fishing, cooking, painting, playing chess, studying poetry, and learning the zither as five years passed and he turned fourteen.

Li Hao spent his days playing chess at the Divine General Residence while his white fox Xiao Rou caused trouble, and Fifth Master Li Qingzheng criticized Li Hao for inheriting a demon dragon soul. The First Madam sent Li Hao an invitation to Tan Palace Academy, but he casually set it aside.

• Li Hao defeated Fifth Master Li Qingzheng at chess while Xiao Rou returned smelling of medicinal herbs after knocking over the First Madam’s beauty tonic.
• Li Hao told Qingzhi to apologize to the First Madam with Perilla Cake and asked her to buy Cotton Jade Crisps.
• Li Qingzheng scolded Li Hao for delaying Soul Inheritance and inheriting a demon dragon soul, which had lowered his potential.
• Xue Jian delivered Li Hao an invitation to Tan Palace Academy on the First Madam’s behalf.
• Li Hao thanked Xue Jian and tossed the invitation beside the mat.

Li Hao reluctantly agreed to attend Tan Palace Academy to pursue the famous Oil Pastry and join Li Yuanzhao, Li Yun, and Li Zhining on the trip. The chapter ended as Li Yun criticized Li Yuanzhao for relying on their family invitations instead of earning admission through ability.

• Xue Jian relayed Madam’s threat to punish Li Hao if he refused to attend, and Li Qingzheng urged him to go for Black White Hall’s supreme art and Tan Palace Academy’s instruction.
• Qingzhi reported that Oil Pastry vendor Uncle Liu had moved his stall near Tan Palace Academy, prompting Li Hao to prepare for the trip.
• Qingzhi told Li Hao that Li Yuanzhao was waiting outside, and Li Hao set out with Uncle Fu and Qingzhi.
• Li Hao boarded the carriage with Li Yuanzhao and the siblings Li Yun and Li Zhining, who had grown distant from him.
• Li Yun told Li Yuanzhao that they should earn admission through their own abilities rather than depend on their family invitations.

Li Hao and the other young members of the Li Family traveled to Tan Palace Academy, where they faced the attention their family’s prestige attracted. The chapter ended with Li Hao leading Li Yuanzhao toward food instead of the academy entrance.

• Li Yuanzhao asked Li Yun to settle their old rivalry, while Li Yun secretly resented Li Hao for beating him years earlier.
• Li Yuanzhao asked about Bian Ruxue’s expected return and her progress toward the Spirit Wandering Realm, and Li Hao confirmed she would likely reach it by age fifteen.
• The Divine General Residence’s Flood Dragon Lion carriage drew attention and cleared a path through Qingzhou City as it carried Li Hao, Li Yun, Li Zhining, and Li Yuanzhao to Tan Palace Academy.
• Li Yun and Li Zhining left the carriage and entered the crowd while onlookers discussed the Li Family’s prestige and the academy’s limited places.
• Li Hao jumped down from the carriage and headed toward nearby food, telling Li Yuanzhao that he knew the academy was in the other direction.

Li Hao took Li Yuanzhao to the Entrance Stairway after buying breakfast, where Li Yuanzhao easily passed the first trial and Li Hao used his invitation to pass without climbing. Si Xiaolan joined them, and the group reached the second trial, a crossing over a ten-thousand-foot precipice on a single chain.

• Li Hao paid five times the price for Cotton Jade Crisps after Li Yuanzhao called ahead at Uncle Liu's stall, then shared the food with their attendants.
• Li Hao and Li Yuanzhao reached the Entrance Stairway, where Si Xiaolan registered and declared that making your way in the world depended on skill rather than family name.
• Li Yuanzhao raced up the thousand steps in three breaths, while Si Xiaolan dodged an Ape Demon and reached the summit in seven.
• Li Hao strolled up without being attacked and passed because he had an invitation, leaving Si Xiaolan furious after he showed it off.
• Li Hao, Li Yuanzhao, Si Xiaolan, and the other successful candidates reached the second trial, where chains crossed a sheer ten-thousand-foot precipice.

Li Yuanzhao carried Li Hao across the chain bridge and easily passed Tan Palace Academy’s final trial. Li Hao’s invitation did not exempt him from the required exchange, so he drew a sword and began the Falling Snow technique, leaving Si Xiaolan startled by an unexpected snowfall.

• Li Hao and Li Yuanzhao crossed the swaying chain bridge, with Li Yuanzhao carrying Li Hao and racing past the youth from the Yunzhou Su Family.
• Li Yuanzhao passed Tan Palace Academy’s final trial by trading punches with a student and forcing him to stagger backward.
• The youth from the Yunzhou Su Family, Si Xiaolan, and the other applicants arrived and learned they had to withstand one exchange with an academy student.
• Li Hao presented his invitation, but a stubborn Tan Palace Academy student insisted he complete the basic trial anyway.
• Li Hao drew a sword and used Falling Snow, making snowflakes appear before Si Xiaolan’s eyes.

Li Hao passed Tan Palace Academy’s sword trial with a display of the Falling Snow Sword Art that left the onlookers stunned. He and Li Yuanzhao reached the academy’s stone-stele plaza, where Shen Yunqing explained how students were sorted into classes, and Li Hao asked what happened if someone refused to withdraw.

• Li Hao defeated the burly young man at the trial without striking him, using the Falling Snow Sword Art to leave him unable to draw his sword.
• Li Hao and Li Yuanzhao continued along the path, while Si Xiaolan realized she had misjudged them and the other students reconsidered why they had invitations.
• Shen Yunqing remembered that one invitation holder was a cultivation cripple and hurried toward the second trial, then encountered Li Hao and Li Yuanzhao on the mountain path.
• Shen Yunqing brought the two young men to the plaza, where over a hundred candidates had gathered around three stone steles.
• Shen Yunqing explained that students entered Classes A, B, C, or D according to how quickly they comprehended cultivation methods of different grades, and Li Hao asked what would happen if someone refused to withdraw.

Li Hao recorded the Wind Severing Fist at the True State and reflected on the limits and mental states required to advance along different paths. He left the technique tablets and approached Shen Yunqing and the Gray-Robed Elder as they played a board game.

• Shen Yunqing urged Li Yuanzhao and Li Hao to study the technique tablets before admissions ended and explained that students could later challenge their way into Class A.
• Li Hao recorded the Wind Severing Fist at the True State and recalled that his various paths had reached sixth dan, while several arts had stalled at thresholds requiring Heart Entry or Entering Spirit.
• Li Hao watched the other students study the tablets, including Li Yuanzhao, Li Yun, and Li Yun’s sister, then spotted Shen Yunqing playing a board game.
• The Gray-Robed Elder defeated Shen Yunqing and drank nearly all of the Drunken Wind Brew they had wagered.
• Li Hao approached the players, and Shen Yunqing asked why he was not studying the techniques.

Li Hao showed Shen Yunqing and Zhao Zongyuan that he had mastered the Wind Severing Fist, then turned their nearly lost board game into a narrow victory. He left to complete his technique assessment, telling the elders to wait for him.

• Li Hao demonstrated a deft Wind Severing Fist move, convincing Shen Yunqing that he had already passed the technique test and directing him to the assessor.
• Li Hao read the board and showed Shen Yunqing and Zhao Zongyuan a sequence that could revive Shen Yunqing's losing position.
• Li Hao played Zhao Zongyuan and won by one and a half points after reversing the game.
• Li Hao declined to play another game until he had completed his assessment and hurried toward the middle-aged assessor in the square.

Li Yun and Li Zhining attempted the Wind Severing Fist admission test, but only Li Zhining passed. Li Hao demonstrated a far more advanced mastery, earned a Class A waist tag, and later left the mountain with Li Yuanzhao after playing several board games with two elders.

• Li Yun and Li Zhining approached the demonstration area, where Li Zhining passed the Wind Severing Fist test but Li Yun was told to keep practicing.
• Li Hao demonstrated the Wind Severing Fist at an adept or possibly perfected level and received a Class A waist tag.
• Li Hao returned to Shen Yunqing and Zhao Zongyuan, then played several close games with them while they told him about other talented Class A recruits.
• Li Yuanzhao told Li Hao he had earned his waist tag and that the others were waiting below, but Li Hao chose to stay and play longer.
• As evening fell, Li Hao finished his game, thanked the elders, and headed down the mountain with Li Yuanzhao.

Li Hao returned from the Leaping Immortal Gate trial with Li Yuanzhao, shared street food with the others, and settled into the Class A Institute at Tan Palace Academy. The chapter ended with Institute Head Su Yehua beginning the first lesson by introducing the martial dao’s eight realms.

• Li Hao and Li Yuanzhao bought street food after the trial and shared it with the people waiting at the carriage.
• Li Yun refused the food at first, while Li Zhining tried it and later told Gao Qingqing that she and Li Yun had entered the Class A Institute.
• Li Hao returned to Mountains and Rivers Courtyard and told Li Fu, Uncle Zhao, and Qingzhi that he had entered the Class A Institute.
• Tan Palace Academy began classes after its 825 places were filled, and Li Hao and Li Yuanzhao sat together in the Class A Institute.
• Su Yehua introduced herself as the institute head and principal Instructor, then named the eight realms of the martial dao.

Su Yehua explained the Soul Inheritance and spirit wandering realms, their cultivation methods, and the limits their practitioners could reach. Li Hao privately recognized that his own soul-condensation and Spirit Roaming limits far exceeded her estimates, while the chapter ended with a student asking about the latter four realms.

• Su Yehua explained that Soul Inheritance practitioners condensed their souls according to their methods and the strength of the Soul Thought they inherited.
• Su Yehua described Tan Palace Academy’s Black White Hall as an opportunity to inherit the Soul Thought of a four establishments realm expert.
• Su Yehua explained the spirit wandering realm and said Tan Palace Academy possessed a supreme Spirit Refining Method that could extend Spirit Roaming to eighteen li.
• Su Yehua estimated that the spirit wandering realm’s maximum reach might be twenty-five or thirty li, while Li Hao privately recalled reaching fifty li with multiple supreme methods and the Great Yu First Spirit Refining Method.
• Su Yehua explained that talent mattered less in the latter four realms and that temperament, comprehension, and fortunate encounters helped practitioners reach the grandmaster domain.
• A student asked Su Yehua what the latter four realms were like.

Su Yehua explained the upper Martial Dao realms and the Mo River Battle Realms, while Li Hao reflected on how close he was to becoming a grandmaster. The chapter ended after half a month at the academy, where Li Hao ignored most attempts to make connections.

• Su Yehua described the Fifteen Li, Heaven and Man, Three Immortalities, and Four Establishments realms, then said Class A students could enter Black White Hall through the Martial Dao Ranking or the Mo River Battle Realm trial.
• Li Hao considered his mastery of supreme Object Control Arts, which let him cover forty li in one breath, and recognized that he still needed a grandmaster's heart to enter the Grandmaster Realm.
• Su Yehua explained that the Five Divine General Residences protected the realm and called on Wang Han to describe the dangerous Mo River Battle Realms, where the dead awaited and those killed inside truly died.
• Su Yehua urged the students to cultivate and promised equal treatment at the academy, regardless of their status outside it.
• After class, Li Hao spoke with students who shared his interests and quickly lost interest in those who could neither play chess nor paint; half a month passed.

Li Hao spent his days avoiding martial practice, amusing himself with games, cooking, and wine while his classmates climbed the Martial Dao Ranking. After Zhao Zongyuan and Shen Yunqing recognized his talent, they realized he was heading toward the Mo River.

• Du Yueqiu asked Li Yuanzhao why Li Hao never joined the Martial Dao Ranking, and Li Yuanzhao insisted he would challenge anyone who targeted Hao Ge.
• Du Yueqiu warned that Li Hao would need to rely on himself in the Mo River Battle Realm trial a year later, and Li Yuanzhao said he would tell him about it.
• Li Hao brought roasted wild rabbits to Zhao Zongyuan and Shen Yunqing, then played a board game and won two mouthfuls of Shen Yunqing's wine.
• Zhao Zongyuan and Shen Yunqing noticed Li Hao had mastered the White Phoenix Skill to the Perfect Level in half a month and speculated that the Li Family had concealed his abilities.
• After Li Hao left, Zhao Zongyuan and Shen Yunqing realized he had taken the path leading to the Mo River.