Recaps

Hu Qi reflected on the mysteries surrounding the destruction of the Secret Martial Civilization and resolved to grow stronger rather than rely on slow cultivation. After learning that the Seal Wolf Sect’s Sect Master had come to visit, he headed to the tenth basement level instead of meeting him.

• Hu Qi considered how the Black Blood Species had destroyed the Secret Martial Civilization and why they had left its martial arts behind.
• Hu Qi recalled that the vortex passageway near Anshan City had closed after the Food Master was injured.
• Hu Qi assessed his progress as an Initial Stage Qi Master and judged that reaching the next stage through cultivation alone would take too long.
• A staff member told Hu Qi that the Seal Wolf Sect’s Sect Master was waiting in the reception room.
• Hu Qi suspected the Sect Master had come with ill intent but remained calm and went down to the tenth basement level instead of meeting him.

Hu Qi used his authority through the Snake Heart Sect to have Zhu Xi capture Secret Martial Artists and Black Blood Species, then massacred the prisoners to gather spiritual light and Modification Points. After restoring his status, he discovered that the Seven Fiends Blade could be modified and connected it to the Ghost Slaying Blade and Jiang Zuo’s secret plans.

• Chen Feng woke in a prison with nearly a hundred captives and waited for the drug suppressing his strength to wear off.
• Hu Qi entered the prison, killed a man who attacked him, then slaughtered every captive, including Chen Feng.
• Hu Qi absorbed the prisoners’ spiritual light and raised his Modification Points above one hundred.
• Hu Qi spent ten Modification Points to restore his status to normal and noticed the Seven Fiends Blade could be modified beyond its supposed limit.
• Hu Qi recalled Herlinta’s memories linking the Ghost Slaying Blade to Jiang Zuo’s effort to complete a powerful blade technique, but decided not to modify it yet.

Hu Qi strengthened his Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Secret Martial Arts and bloodline, then considered how to obtain other schools’ inherited arts and learn to control his soul power. Meanwhile, at Zhu Xi, Lin Tu faced an impatient visitor whose imposing grandfather turned his gaze on him.

• Hu Qi spent one hundred Modification Points to raise the Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Spirit Devouring Diagram to its third layer, greatly strengthening his True Essence.
• Hu Qi spent ten more Modification Points to improve his Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Bloodline and its Spirit Devouring and Twisted Light gifts.
• Hu Qi reviewed his limited options for obtaining other schools’ Inherited Secret Martial Arts and soul-power techniques, noting that Chen Feng’s fragmented memories offered little help.
• At Zhu Xi, a young girl complained to Lin Tu that her grandfather had been kept waiting for the president.
• Lin Tu explained that the visitors had arrived without notice and that senior sister was busy, then felt the old man’s fierce gaze settle on him.

Hu Qi, disguised as Herlinta, confronted Seal Wolf Sect Master Li Fengtian and his disciples at the Snake Heart Sect, revealing Qi Dao Grandmaster-level strength when he punished Lu Xin for insulting him. After Li Fengtian left, Hu Qi learned the group had gone to Suyuan City and announced he would enter seclusion, leaving Lin Tu to oversee the sect.

• Lin Tu left the reception room to summon Herlinta while worrying about the weakened Snake Heart Sect and the Seal Wolf Sect's strength.
• Hu Qi arrived disguised as Herlinta, and Lu Xin insulted him for keeping Li Fengtian waiting.
• Hu Qi's snake-like attack injured Lu Xin, and Li Fengtian realized Hu Qi was a Qi Dao Grandmaster.
• Li Fengtian apologized for Lu Xin and asked about his missing disciples, Su Mo and Lu Tuo, before leaving with his group.
• Hu Qi asked Lin Tu which way the Seal Wolf Sect had gone, learned they were headed to Suyuan City, and left Lin Tu in charge while he supposedly entered seclusion.

Hu Qi transformed into a hawk and followed Li Fengtian's helicopter, then attacked it over the sea. Li Fengtian survived the explosion with Lu Xin and another person, and confronted Hu Qi in midair.

• Li Fengtian explained to Lu Xin why he had not intervened when Hu Qi attacked her, and hinted that their Seal Wolf Sect had another way to deal with the situation.
• Hu Qi, disguised as a snow-white hawk, watched the helicopter and followed it beyond Anshan City.
• Hu Qi transformed into a ten-meter winged figure and struck the helicopter, causing it to explode over the sea.
• Li Fengtian emerged from the flames holding two people and attacked Hu Qi with a giant palm formed from the World's Vital Energy.
• Hu Qi blocked Li Fengtian's giant palm with a punch.

Hu Qi defeated and killed Li Fengtian after the Seal Wolf Sect Qi Dao Grandmaster transformed into a silver werewolf. Hu Qi left the survivors alive to blame the Black Blood Species, while the Seal Wolf Sect lost its only Qi Dao Grandmaster and faced losing its middle-tier status.

• Li Fengtian sent the burly man away with the unconscious Lu Xin, then fought Hu Qi above the sea.
• Hu Qi knocked Li Fengtian into the sea, but Li Fengtian emerged transformed into a towering silver werewolf and attacked him.
• Hu Qi caught Li Fengtian’s claw and overwhelmed him with punches, killing him and plundering his Soul Light and vitality.
• Hu Qi transformed into a white falcon and left the survivors alive so they could report that a Black Blood Species had killed Li Fengtian.
• Li Fengtian’s death left the Seal Wolf Sect without a Qi Dao Grandmaster, threatening its middle-tier status.

After killing Li Fengtian, Hu Qi secluded himself in a hotel and digested the Qi Dao Grandmaster’s memories. He cleared the resulting soul abnormality, fused Li Fengtian’s Silver Wolf Secret Martial Arts into his own technique, and renamed the result the Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Spirit Devouring Diagram.

• Hu Qi stayed at a nearby hotel after killing Li Fengtian and spent several hours absorbing his memories.
• Hu Qi found that Li Fengtian’s memories had left his soul mottled, then used nine Modification Points to restore his status to normal.
• Hu Qi chose to fuse Silver Wolf Secret Martial Arts into the Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Spirit Devouring Diagram rather than simply raise his skills.
• Crimson consumed Modification Points to combine the techniques, creating an Unknown Secret Martial Art with the Wolf Transformation trait.
• Hu Qi named the fused technique the Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Spirit Devouring Diagram, and the panel updated its name.

Hu Qi strengthened his Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Bloodline, discovering that his Twisted Light could now distort objects more fundamentally, then spent the night eating and resting at a hotel. The next morning, he researched the Federation’s factions and narrowed his search for another Divine Secret Martial Arts to the seven top-tier factions.

• Hu Qi increased his Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Bloodline to 35% and found that his strengthened Twisted Light could alter an object’s fundamental structure.
• Hu Qi ate an enormous hotel meal, rested, and continued absorbing World's Vital Energy while he slept.
• Hu Qi returned to Zhu Xi Zhi Zhong as Herlinta and reviewed the Federation’s 151 Secret Martial Arts Factions.
• Hu Qi learned that only the Holy Rain Sect, Sword Pavilion, Golden Buddha Temple, Meng Yu Pavilion, Thunderclap Sect, Earth God Hall, and Azure Dragon Palace possessed Divine Secret Martial Arts.
• Hu Qi noted the Holy Rain Sect’s and Meng Yu Pavilion’s connections to him, while reviewing the distinctive abilities and reputations of all seven top-tier factions.

Hu Qi abandoned his plan to target the seven major factions and chose the lower-tier Tiger Intent Sect instead, aiming to seize its Inherited Secret Martial Arts. He secretly arrived at the hotel where the sect's master was celebrating his birthday, while the Tiger Intent Sect's disciples gathered upstairs.

• Hu Qi decided the seven major factions were too dangerous to target and chose the Tiger Intent Sect as an easier source of Inherited Secret Martial Arts.
• Hu Qi announced he was entering seclusion and left Lin Yao and Lin Tu in charge of affairs.
• Hu Qi traveled from Anshan City to Lin'an City in just over twenty minutes and approached the Rin Qiong Tian Que Hotel under the cover of Twisted Light.
• Hu Qi passed through the hotel entrance unseen as guests arrived for Wang Nancang's 157th birthday celebration.
• More than ten Tiger Intent Sect figures gathered in a top-floor room and respectfully faced the person standing at its center.

Hu Qi forced Wang Nancang to surrender the Tiger Intent Sect’s Divine Intent Diagram, studied its Secret Martial Arts, and left without killing anyone. The story then shifted to a scorching magma canyon in the Underground World, where black-robed figures stood beside the lava.

• Wang Nancang detected Hu Qi at the Tiger Intent Sect and tried to negotiate before Hu Qi’s overwhelming pressure forced him to submit.
• Hu Qi demanded the Tiger Intent Sect’s Inherited Secret Martial Arts Divine Intent Diagram, and Wang Nancang agreed to retrieve it.
• Hu Qi studied the diagram, absorbed the Heart Tiger Secret Martial Arts, and added it to his panel without enough Modification Points to modify it.
• Hu Qi returned the weakened diagram to Wang Nancang and vanished, while Wang Nancang chose to keep the incident quiet.
• The scene shifted to a deep region of the Underground World, where several black-robed figures stood beside a magma fissure.

Seventeen Food Masters gathered at a lava fissure to offer blood spheres made from countless people to the being known as the Earth Mother. After the offering, the fissure widened and black mist entered the Food Masters, slightly strengthening them.

• Qi Yu mocked Ao Lin for his defeat on the surface, and Ao Lin challenged him to fight.
• Shu Ming stopped their argument and told the assembled Food Masters to begin the offering.
• The seventeen Food Masters sent dark-red blood spheres, each made from millions of people, sinking into the lava.
• The ground shook as the fissure widened, and a deep roar came from beneath the lava.
• Black mist flowed from the fissure into the Food Masters, and their auras grew slightly stronger.

Shu Ming announced that Earth Mother would awaken in three years and begin the endgame, while Ao Lin vowed that the old being protecting the surface would die. On the surface, Hu Qi tested his perfected hypnosis in a café and left its staff and customers unable to remember him.

• Shu Ming declared that Earth Mother would awaken in three years and usher in the endgame, stirring the Food Masters into anticipation of attacking the surface.
• Ao Lin recalled his injuries from the surface and vowed that the being sustained by incense and worship would die when the time came.
• Hu Qi sat in a café and reviewed the new Tiger Intent trait and the Heart of Depravity trait he had gained by improving his martial arts and hypnosis.
• Hu Qi used subtle hypnotic suggestions on the café staff and customers, then tapped the table to make them briefly lose awareness.
• Hu Qi left the café, and Sicariitan and the other customers could not remember who had been sitting there.

Hu Qi advanced to the Mid-stage Qi Master and raised his Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Bloodline to 40% while Zhu Xi continued its campaign against Black Blood Species. The chapter ended with Han Yuan reacting with alarm to news that Herlinta had become a Qi Dao Grandmaster.

• Zhu Xi members hunted Black Blood Species across Donglin Province, reducing attacks while gaining combat experience and earning enough points for some to become Martial Dao Practitioners.
• Federation agents questioned people about the Seal Wolf Sect Master's death, while Hu Qi took Inherited Secret Martial Arts from lower-tier sects in other provinces.
• Hu Qi upgraded the Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Spirit Devouring Diagram, condensed a True Pill, and reached the Mid-stage Qi Master realm.
• Hu Qi strengthened the diagram again and raised his Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Bloodline to 40%.
• News spread that Herlinta had become a Qi Dao Grandmaster, and Han Yuan crushed an iron rod when he heard it.

Herlinta’s breakthrough to Qi Master brought the Snake Heart Sect gifts and new prominence, while Lu Xin’s attempt to secure justice for her grandfather failed. Hu Qi met with Fa Ji and Guo Yi and thanked them for coming, holding two rings bearing the symbol of a Federation councilor.

• Han Yuan brooded over Herlinta’s breakthrough, then resolved that he might reach Qi Master himself with time.
• Lu Xin learned that the Holy Rain Sect would not help avenge her grandfather or investigate the Snake Heart Sect, and Guan Xiong explained that the Seal Wolf Sect had lost its influence.
• Sects across the region sent congratulatory gifts to the Snake Heart Sect after Herlinta became a Qi Master, and Hu Qi accepted them without holding a banquet or meeting the visitors.
• A Heaven Crocodile Sect disciple complained about being turned away, but his First Senior Brother slapped him and warned him not to disrespect a Qi Master.
• Hu Qi received Fa Ji of the Golden Buddha Temple and Guo Yi of the Thunderclap Sect, thanked them, and handled two rings marked with a Federation councilor’s insignia.

Fa Ji invited Hu Qi to join a small expedition into the Underground World to find spiritual materials and precious medicines that could aid Qi Dao Grandmasters. Hu Qi wanted to go mainly to kill Black Blood Species for Modification Points, and Fa Ji explained that four people had agreed so far, with room for one or two more.

• Guo Yi asked Hu Qi to deliver another council credential to his senior brother, and Hu Qi agreed.
• Fa Ji asked whether Hu Qi had visited the Underground World and invited him to join an expedition there.
• Fa Ji explained that spiritual materials and precious medicines found underground could aid Secret Martial Artists, but the Black Blood Species made exploration dangerous.
• Hu Qi considered the invitation, intending to hunt Black Blood Species for Modification Points rather than seek medicines.
• Fa Ji said Guo Yi, himself, and one disciple each from the Sword Pavilion and Holy Rain Sect planned to go, possibly joined by one or two more.

Hu Qi joined Fa Ji and Guo Yi’s expedition to the Earth's Core, then reflected on the dangers of his growing ambition and examined his new councilor’s ring. Back at Anshan Academy, he practiced using mental force to control objects and noticed Song Jian among the approaching Core Class students.

• Hu Qi agreed to join Fa Ji and Guo Yi, who planned to meet again in half a month before heading to the Earth's Core.
• After the two left, Hu Qi realized he had considered killing them for their Inherited Secret Martial Arts and resolved to pursue mental cultivation and Spirit Refining rather than slow his growth.
• Hu Qi tested the Federation councilor’s ring and found that it accelerated True Essence Power circulation and gathered World's Vital Energy around its wearer.
• Fa Ji told Guo Yi that Herlinta was not as simple as she appeared, but did not explain what he had sensed.
• At Anshan Academy, Hu Qi practiced gathering mental force to lift and propel a leaf, then saw Song Jian among a group of students approaching for the expanded Core Class.

Hu Qi reflected on the changes of the past year as he gathered Exotic Beasts and plundered Inherited Secret Martial Arts to grow stronger. The rising density of the World's Vital Energy and the clearer skies in Anshan City alarmed him as he awaited his appointment with Guo Yi and Fa Ji.

• Song Jian entered the Snake Heart Sect's Core Class, while Hu Qi watched him from a distance and chose not to greet him.
• Hu Qi recalled how he had helped Song Jian with Snow Snake Paste and other rewards in exchange for Song Jian collecting Exotic Beasts.
• Hu Qi spent the next half month acquiring Exotic Beasts and Black Blood Species for Modification Points and stealing Inherited Secret Martial Arts from lower-tier schools.
• The day before meeting Guo Yi and Fa Ji, Hu Qi noticed that Anshan City's air had improved and the World's Vital Energy had grown denser.
• Hu Qi grew concerned that the abnormal increase in the World's Vital Energy signaled something sinister, since it had been depleted since the Secret Martial Civilization vanished.

Hu Qi reflected on the growing World's Vital Energy and the possibility that a Vital Energy Tide heralded civilization’s decline. He used the Seven Fiends Blade to enter an Inheritance Illusion Mirror, where a saber master demonstrated the Supreme Clarity Immortal Slaying Saber Technique.

• Hu Qi noticed that the World's Vital Energy was growing again and considered whether a Vital Energy Tide was approaching.
• Hu Qi checked his panel, saw his Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Bloodline had reached 46%, and assessed the improvements to his cultivation and saber art.
• Hu Qi decided to improve the Seven Fiends Blade before heading to the Earth's core and entered an Inheritance Illusion Mirror.
• A saber master declared he would offer one move and unleashed a slash that split the mountains, clouds, and sky.
• Hu Qi received the name Supreme Clarity Immortal Slaying Saber Technique.

After inheriting the Supreme Clarity Immortal Slaying Saber Technique, Hu Qi used Modification Points to store energy in it and tested its power over the sea. The next day, the story shifted to a cabin deep within the Hongling Mountain Range as its door opened.

• Hu Qi saw a tentacled figure beyond the heavens in the inheritance illusion and concluded the saber master had attacked it with his slash.
• Hu Qi learned that the Supreme Clarity Immortal Slaying Saber Technique was a lost inheritance and could increase its power through Energy Storage.
• Hu Qi spent all eleven Modification Points to give the technique 110 days of Energy Storage.
• Hu Qi tested the saber over the sea, splitting the water with a strike nearly twice as powerful as his ordinary full-strength attack.
• The next day, the scene moved to a remote cabin in the Hongling Mountain Range, where someone opened the door from within.

Cao Ping received Fa Ji and the other Qi Dao Grandmasters at Earth Core Passage No. 0079, where the group gathered before entering the Underground World. Hu Qi, posing as Herlinta, rejected Chang Zhu’s offer to spar, and Fa Ji briefed everyone on the expedition before leading them to the passage.

• Cao Ping verified Fa Ji’s Federation passage token and learned the group would wait for the remaining members before descending.
• Chang Zhu and Wu Yu arrived, followed by Hu Qi disguised as Herlinta, completing the group of visitors.
• Chang Zhu challenged Herlinta to a spar after the expedition, but Hu Qi refused and sensed hostility from her.
• Fa Ji explained the rules for the Underground World and showed the group a map of the Dense Forest Region.
• Cao Ping led Fa Ji and the others upstream to the frigid pool at Earth Core Passage No. 0079.

Hu Qi and the other Qi Dao Grandmasters entered the Underground World through a deep pool and arrived at a lake beneath a rain-filled sky. After the group split up, Hu Qi rejected Wu Yu’s offer to travel together and set off alone to investigate his conjecture.

• Cao Ping showed the group Passage 0079 in the cold pool, and Fa Ji, Guo Yi, Wu Yu, Chang Zhu, Lu Mei, and Hu Qi descended through it one by one.
• After more than an hour underwater, Hu Qi and the others emerged from a lake in the Underground World, where Fa Ji explained how passages connected the hidden realm to the surface.
• The group agreed to explore separately and reunite at the lake in half a month.
• Wu Yu invited Hu Qi to join him and Chang Zhu, but Hu Qi declined and recognized their offer as a likely attempt to provoke him.
• The Old Woman from the Black Spider Sect left on her own, and Hu Qi vanished alone to test his previous conjecture.

Hu Qi traveled through the Dense Forest Region, discovered that its Exotic Beasts could provide Modification Points, and reached Blackstone City. There, he overheard locals discussing an “Ascension” quota and watched the city from a restaurant as night fell.

• Chang Zhu and Wu Yu wondered why the woman they had provoked had stayed calm, then continued toward news of a valuable object.
• Hu Qi killed a giant gray rabbit and absorbed its life force with his blade, gaining Modification Points.
• Hu Qi considered bringing Exotic Beasts to the surface to breed, then flew toward a city after surveying the Dense Forest Region.
• Hu Qi arrived in Blackstone City and heard a man grieving that his mother had taken his family’s “Ascension” quota.
• Hu Qi sat unnoticed in a restaurant, listened to the men’s conversation, and looked down at the city street.

Hu Qi learned that Blackstone City’s Black Blood Species protected humans because they depended on them as a renewable source of blood food, and he discovered how firestones sustained life in the Underground World. He headed for the city center, where Black Stone was being served human-shaped meat by a chef who described it as a new way to prepare livestock.

• Hu Qi observed Black Blood Species and humans coexisting in the streets and learned that the Black Blood Species protected humans to preserve their food supply.
• Hu Qi watched a waiter replace a dim firestone and learned that fire springs replenished the stones, which provided light, heat, and support for crops.
• Hu Qi paid his bill and traveled toward the center of Blackstone City.
• Black Stone sat in his manor and listened as a chef explained how humans cooked meat shaped like a roasted person.

Hu Qi infiltrated Blackstone’s stronghold, killed two Lower-tier Black Blood Species, and subdued Blackstone without killing him so the Food Master of the Dense Forest Region would not sense his death. After extracting information from Blackstone, Hu Qi disguised himself as him and prepared to take his place.

• Blackstone praised the skinny man’s human-meat cooking and promised to convert him, but Hu Qi suddenly killed the man and struck Blackstone with a crimson saber.
• Hu Qi severed the two Lower-tier Black Blood Species and absorbed their life force, then found Blackstone alive despite losing his head.
• Hu Qi tortured Blackstone until he could hypnotize him into revealing his name and information about the Food Master of the Dense Forest Region.
• Hu Qi used Blackstone’s voice to send away the Black Blood Species who rushed to investigate the noise.
• Hu Qi learned that killing Blackstone would alert the Food Master, transformed Blackstone’s head into a brass bell, and took on Blackstone’s appearance.

Hu Qi ordered Feather Crow to post drawings of precious medicines and search for them and living Exotic Beasts, then invited the city lords of the Dense Forest Region to a blood banquet. Meanwhile, a hunter and his son A'gou entered a cave at night to retrieve a strange medicine they hoped to trade for wealth and exemption from “Ascending to Heaven.”

• Hu Qi drew useful spiritual materials and precious medicines from memory and ordered Feather Crow to post the drawings, gather the depicted items, and capture Exotic Beasts alive.
• Hu Qi told Feather Crow to invite the city lords of the Dense Forest Region to a blood banquet fourteen days later.
• Blood Lizard accepted Hu Qi’s invitation, and the other city lords who were available agreed to attend.
• A hunter and his son A'gou walked through the rainy forest at night toward a cave where the hunter had seen a strange medicine.
• The hunter told A'gou that trading the medicine could earn them a grand house and permanent exemption from “Ascending to Heaven.”