Recaps

After surviving a dangerous fight with the Heaven River Gang’s Helmsman, Jiang Liu considered his lack of combat experience and sought a way to use his elemental powers as concealed attacks. He found An Sheng Pharmacy closing amid the unrest in West City, then borrowed a flying-knife manual to study.

• At breakfast, Jiang Liu heard that the Sky Roc Gang and the White Lotus Sect had clashed and that the Martial Prohibition Hall had ordered the authorities not to intervene.
• Jiang Liu visited An Sheng Pharmacy and learned from Zhang Liu that Doctor An Yuan had gone out, the other apprentices had left, and the shop was closing for a while.
• Back at Hunting Eagle Hall, Jiang Liu reviewed his fight with the Helmsman and concluded that he needed more combat experience and better control of his elemental energies.
• Jiang Liu went to the Technique Hall, borrowed a flying-knife manual, and read through it in his quarters.

Jiang Liu tested how to use his newly acquired One Blade Seals the Throat technique and developed an idea for a close-range Ice Blade attack that could disrupt an opponent’s qi. By evening, he had improved his qi-gathering speed and raised three Yellow-Ranked techniques to entry level, but he still needed wind attribute qi to trigger the explosion.

• Jiang Liu tried using wind and ice attribute qi to throw blades, discovering that Ice Blades could hit accurately but lacked power at long range.
• Jiang Liu determined that Ice Blades retained the force of an ordinary blade within three meters and planned to use them in close combat to disrupt an opponent’s qi.
• Jiang Liu experimented with combining ice, wind, lightning, and electricity qi, making the mixture rotate and explode when wind qi approached.
• Jiang Liu spent the day refining the technique, improving its gathering speed and advancing three Yellow-Ranked techniques to entry level, though he could compress the essence particles only to three-quarters of their original size.

As Cloud Sun City grew more unstable, Jiang Liu assessed his cultivation and the power of his compressed Ice Blade, then went to Fu Rong Street to watch a clash between the Vast Ocean Gang and the Fallen Blossom Gang. He suspected the rival gang leaders’ fight had been staged.

• Jiang Liu reviewed his progress and considered testing his Ice Blade on a martial artist, but decided the dangers outside the city were too great.
• Jiang Liu reflected on the city’s worsening disorder, rising prices, and the decline of the Hunting Eagle Hall’s Training Hall.
• Jiang Liu left the Hunting Eagle Hall headquarters at night and went to Fu Rong Street, where he found the shops closed ahead of a likely battle.
• Jiang Liu disguised himself and hid as the Vast Ocean Gang and Fallen Blossom Gang arrived and immediately began fighting.
• Jiang Liu watched the two Fourth Rank leaders battle and suspected their movements had been rehearsed.

Jiang Liu secretly tested Ice Blade on Vast Ocean Gang fighters during the battle, learning how its power varied against practitioners of different ranks. After leaving the battlefield, he returned to the Hunting Eagle Hall base and considered secretly taking advantage of the main hall's Technique Hall to improve his cultivation manual.

• Jiang Liu used Ice Blade to freeze and shatter a Body Refinement Realm Vast Ocean Gang member, then struck down a First Rank fighter with an internal explosion.
• Jiang Liu continued attacking Vast Ocean Gang members until two Fourth Rank fighters joined forces against him, but he escaped using his movement skills.
• Fan Bo accused Peng Fei of needing to explain the mysterious attacks, and Peng Fei restarted the battle after learning the shadow had targeted only the Vast Ocean Gang.
• Jiang Liu struck a Third Rank Vast Ocean Gang steward with Ice Blade, but the attack only weakened him enough for a Fallen Blossom Gang steward to kill him.
• Jiang Liu decided not to test Ice Blade on the Fourth Rank chief, left as his special Primal Qi ran low, and returned to the Hunting Eagle Hall base.

After Jiang Liu advanced to Entry Grade 1, Master Lin sent him to the Grand Hall to update his Identity Jade Token and claim his reward. The token named him a Hunting Eagle Hall junior chief and granted him three visits to the Technique Hall, where he began browsing manuals.

• Jiang Liu heard that Chief Peng had led the gang in driving the Vast Ocean Gang off Fu Rong Street, then continued practicing his inner technique.
• Master Lin told Jiang Liu that his advancement had been reported and that his reward was waiting at the Grand Hall; Jiang Liu thanked him for his support.
• Jiang Liu packed his few belongings and went to the Grand Hall, where a disciple updated his Identity Jade Token with his new rank and technique-manual reward.
• Jiang Liu entered the Technique Hall, registered to browse below the fourth floor, and began exploring its first-floor collection.

Jiang Liu recorded techniques in the headquarters' Technique Hall and fused five mystic peak-grade palm techniques into the earth-grade Frost Nether Palm. He left for the Medicine Hall to seek Uncle Hai's guidance, with several new heart sutras and techniques listed on his system panel.

• Jiang Liu opened the five fourth-floor boxes with his Identity Jade Token and recorded their mystic peak-grade palm techniques.
• Jiang Liu fused the five palms into the earth-grade Frost Nether Palm and merged it with Mountain Splitter Palm.
• Jiang Liu found Frost Art, Rainbow Lightning Art, and other manuals on the third floor, recording selected heart sutras and techniques.
• The Technique Hall steward ended Jiang Liu's visit before he could search for a lightning heart sutra, and Jiang Liu left with two chances unused.
• Jiang Liu headed to the Medicine Hall to ask Uncle Hai for guidance and checked his system panel.

Jiang Liu learned acupuncture from Uncle Hai and practiced until he reached the basic level in Medicine Arts. After learning that the Sky Roc Gang and Vast Ocean Gang had attacked the Fallen Blossom Gang, he hurried to the Technique Hall and recorded an incomplete Thundercloud Art.

• Uncle Hai taught Jiang Liu the basics of acupuncture and lent him a notebook of medical cases and an acupuncture practice diagram.
• Jiang Liu practiced acupuncture at his residence until his Medicine Arts proficiency reached the basic level.
• Jiang Liu heard that the Sky Roc Gang and Vast Ocean Gang had joined forces against the Fallen Blossom Gang and sent reinforcements to the Scattered Eagle Hall.
• Jiang Liu rushed to the Technique Hall and found Thundercloud Art, Sky Thunder Art, and Flash Blade among the manuals on the second floor.
• Jiang Liu recorded the incomplete Mystic Grade, Mid Rank Thundercloud Art, which had merged with his Lightning Guiding Art.

Jiang Liu learned that the fighting among the gangs had caused heavy casualties, and the Hunting Eagle Hall reorganized its eight halls into four to support the war. He reported to the newly expanded War Hall and awaited his assignment as the conflict intensified.

• Jiang Liu recorded the Flash Blade technique and returned to the Hunting Eagle Hall after learning that Master Ma was away.
• Jiang Liu reflected on his loneliness and reviewed his progress before the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall summoned everyone to the square.
• Jiang Liu heard that the Hunting Eagle Hall had lost more than a thousand people, then watched Master Lin announce the hall merger and stricter rewards and punishments.
• The Hunting Eagle Hall merged its halls into the War Hall, Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, Wind Hall, and Medicine Hall, with Peng Fei overseeing the War Hall and Lin Hai managing two others.
• Jiang Liu reported to the War Hall and waited for his assignment, recognizing that the gang war had reached a boiling point.

Hunting Eagle Hall joined Scattered Eagle Hall in an attack on Three Horses Street, where Fallen Blossom Gang fought Vast Ocean Gang and Sky Roc Gang. After Chen Lu killed Lu Yue with a single slash, Jiang Liu hid among ordinary fighters and fought cautiously to avoid drawing his attention.

• Peng Fei led Hunting Eagle Hall to Three Forest Street, where he and Jiang Hao agreed to use Scattered Eagle Hall as bait while Hunting Eagle Hall surrounded the enemy.
• Jiang Hao’s forces clashed with Vast Ocean Gang, and Peng Fei sent Lu Yunqi and his fighters into the battle from the darkness.
• Sky Roc Gang joined Vast Ocean Gang against Fallen Blossom Gang, but Lu Yunqi and Jiang Liu helped Fallen Blossom Gang gain the upper hand.
• Fan Che trapped Jiang Hao and Peng Fei with his Water Attribute technique, allowing Chen Lu to break away and charge Fallen Blossom Gang’s Third Rank fighters.
• Chen Lu killed Lu Yue with his Metal Attribute technique, and Jiang Liu hid among ordinary fighters and began fighting cautiously.

After the three gangs’ bloody battle ended in a temporary truce, Jiang Liu learned that his impressive kill count had attracted attention, though Master Lin and Lin Hai agreed to keep his name and strength quiet. On New Year’s Eve, Jiang Liu and Uncle Hai shared wine, and Lin Hai arrived worried about the gang’s uncertain future.

• Jiang Liu returned home exhausted after fighting through the night, while the three gangs’ leaders and elites endured an even fiercer battle at the Main Hall, where several Fourth Rank experts died.
• Jiang Liu heard that the three gangs had suffered heavy casualties and would likely pause their fighting, then learned that the battle report credited him with killing three Second Rank enemies, five First Rank enemies, and eighteen Body Refinement Realm practitioners.
• Master Lin ordered Jiang Liu’s name concealed, and Lin Hai visited Jiang Liu with his reward and discovered that Jiang Liu had reached Third Rank; Lin Hai promised to keep his strength secret.
• On New Year’s Eve, the three gangs suspended their battle after their leaders apparently negotiated, and Jiang Liu visited Uncle Hai to celebrate with food and wine.
• Lin Hai joined Jiang Liu and Uncle Hai, saying that the past year had been the gang’s hardest and worrying about what the next year would bring.

Jiang Liu learned that the White Lotus Sect had invaded South City and obeyed the Martial Prohibition Hall’s order to retreat, leaving much of the Sky Roc Gang’s territory in chaos. Suspecting the sect’s motives, he interrogated White Lotus followers in his house and discovered they were impoverished refugees recruited after fleeing drought and hardship.

• Jiang Liu heard that the White Lotus Sect had seized territory from the Sky Roc Gang before the Martial Prohibition Hall ordered it back to the western part of the city.
• Jiang Liu continued cultivating while wondering why the White Lotus Sect had retreated so readily and what its plans were.
• Jiang Liu entered his house at night and subdued seven or eight White Lotus followers with his essence energy.
• Jiang Liu questioned Mo Da and learned that the White Lotus Sect’s branch altar was believed to be outside the western city gate.
• The followers told Jiang Liu that they had fled drought and heavy taxes from villages near Cloud Peace City and joined the sect when it offered them grain.

Jiang Liu investigated the White Lotus Sect at night but found only a hidden passage leading to a secret room and no useful clues. The next day, he heard that Yu Heming had been dismissed and learned the White Lotus Sect had gained control over the Martial Prohibition Hall, leaving the Fallen Blossom Gang worried about the threat.

• Jiang Liu followed Wang Da to a White Lotus Sect house and watched a burly member strike him when he tried to report an intruder.
• Jiang Liu searched the house, discovered a passage beneath the table, and saw the burly man conceal its mechanism in the wardrobe.
• Jiang Liu left without learning what the sect was discussing and decided to focus on improving his strength.
• Jiang Liu heard that Yu Heming had been dismissed pending investigation and that commandery-city officials had taken over the Martial Prohibition Hall.
• Shadow told Qian Luoying that the White Lotus Sect had used the commandery city's power to remove Yu Heming and install its own centurion, and Qian Luoying feared the consequences.

The White Lotus Sect inspector Bai Xuan challenged Qian Luoying as the sect prepared to take control of Cloud Sun City, leaving the Fallen Blossom Gang facing a powerful enemy and considering escape. Jiang Liu withdrew his pay and sought information as the gang’s crisis unfolded.

• Bai Xuan sent Qian Luoying a challenge letter, and rumors spread that the Sixth Grade inspector had killed a Sixth Grade expert from the Wang Family.
• Qian Luoying told Lin Hao, Zheng Lang, Qiu Yijie, and Shadow that the gang could not stop the White Lotus Sect’s invasion and should consider escape routes.
• Qian Luoying rejected Lin Hao’s suggestion to seek help from the Chen, Li, and Wang Families, who were struggling in the commandery city.
• Hao Gu learned from Bai Xuan that defeating Qian Luoying would let the White Lotus Sect bring Cloud Sun City’s other forces under control.
• Jiang Liu withdrew his monthly pay, returned his miscellaneous items to his room, and went to ask Master Lin about the situation, but found him hurrying away with several leaders.

Jiang Liu worried about the White Lotus Sect’s threat to the Fallen Blossom Gang, so Uncle Hai urged him to seek safety by joining the Physician Pavilion. Jiang Liu passed its preliminary apprentice examination and received an Identity Jade Token, leaving him able to pursue the physician examination in a commandery city.

• Jiang Liu went to Uncle Hai for advice about the White Lotus Sect, and Uncle Hai explained that his Physician Pavilion membership protected him from the gang’s troubles.
• Uncle Hai told Jiang Liu that he could take the Physician Pavilion’s examination in a commandery city after obtaining proof of identity in Cloud Sun City.
• Jiang Liu packed his belongings and accompanied Uncle Hai to the Physician Pavilion’s liaison office on Tianfeng Street.
• Uncle Hai introduced Jiang Liu to Tang Gui, who arranged for a first-grade physician to give him a preliminary apprentice examination.
• Jiang Liu answered the basic questions correctly, received an Identity Jade Token, and learned that he could stay at the liaison office if he had nowhere else to go.

Jiang Liu left Cloud Sun City for Cloud Prefecture City as conflict with the White Lotus Sect threatened to engulf the city. In the West Mountain Range, he easily killed a pack of Gale Wolves, but a tiger’s roar sounded deeper in the forest.

• Jiang Liu learned that Uncle Hai would remain in Cloud Sun City and said goodbye before setting out for Cloud Prefecture City.
• Jiang Liu visited the Hunting Eagle Hall, failed to find Lin Hai or Master Lin, and saw the gang preparing to leave as the city’s crisis worsened.
• Jiang Liu departed through the West City Gate at night while crowds headed toward the West Mountain for Bai Xuan and Qian Luoying’s duel.
• Bu Zhouzi and Shadow discussed how their mission had stirred conflict among Cloud Sun City’s forces, then went their separate ways.
• Jiang Liu entered the West Mountain Range, killed the Wolf King and another Gale Wolf with ease, and heard a tiger roar from deep in the forest.

Jiang Liu fled from a Gold-Devouring White Tiger, then recovered in a cave and discovered that cultivating with beast cores greatly accelerated his progress. He decided to remain in the mountains and hunt more beasts before traveling to the commandery city.

• Jiang Liu took the Gale Wolf King's beast core and fled when he sensed a Gold-Devouring White Tiger approaching the corpses.
• The Gold-Devouring White Tiger ate the Wolf King and left without bothering with the ordinary Gale Wolves.
• Jiang Liu recovered his primal qi in a tree and realized he should have prepared by obtaining recovery pills before leaving the Fallen Blossom Gang.
• Jiang Liu found a cave, roasted part of its giant python owner, and cultivated with the python's and Wolf King's beast cores.
• Jiang Liu saw that beast-core cultivation doubled his primal qi circulation speed and decided to hunt more magical beasts instead of hurrying to the commandery city.

Jiang Liu hunted Exotic Beasts in the forest for more than ten days, rapidly improving his cultivation and combat skills. He battled a strange Water Attribute beast near the Fourth Rank, detonated Ice Blades inside it, and waited as it went berserk beneath him.

• Jiang Liu killed a Rank 3 Explosive Ape and took its Earth Attribute beast core.
• Jiang Liu counted six beast cores, then cultivated in a cave until his Martial Artist progress reached 1864/2000.
• Jiang Liu reflected on the Fallen Blossom Gang's collapse and resolved to grow stronger so he could control his own fate.
• Jiang Liu fought a strange Water Attribute beast whose poisoned tail nearly struck him, and his iron weapon broke during the battle.
• Jiang Liu planted multiple Ice Blades in the beast and detonated them, sending it into a frenzy as he escaped to a nearby tree.

Jiang Liu found a blue beast core inside the strange beast’s skull, then settled into a tree hollow and cultivated. He broke through to Fourth Rank, tested his improved senses and Ice Blade, and planned to venture deeper into the mountains the next day.

• Jiang Liu waited until the strange beast was certainly dead, then found its beast core inside its skull.
• Jiang Liu turned a hollow in a huge tree into a temporary residence and cultivated with eight beast cores.
• Jiang Liu broke through to Fourth Rank and found his perception had expanded to at least a dozen meters.
• Jiang Liu tested his sharper senses and faster Ice Blade condensation, but still could not compress its Essence Particles a second time.
• Jiang Liu cycled Essence through nine natural attributes, then went to sleep planning to seek stronger strange beasts the next day.

Jiang Liu discovered a Sixth Grade Deep Pool Giant Crocodile preying on Black Water Rhinoceroses and chose to avoid it. He later followed the scent of a Natural Treasure to a valley, where he found a masked Man in Black attacked by a pack of wolf-shaped mutated beasts.

• Jiang Liu left his resting place and traveled through the forest, finding no mutated beasts above the Third Grade.
• Jiang Liu spotted a deep pool surrounded by Black Water Rhinoceros bones and watched a Deep Pool Giant Crocodile drag two rhinoceroses into the water.
• Jiang Liu identified the crocodile as a Sixth Grade Ice Attribute mutated beast and left the pool rather than risk fighting it.
• Jiang Liu followed an exotic fragrance to a valley and saw a Man in Black rise into the air as four wolf-shaped mutated beasts attacked him.
• Jiang Liu hid among the trees after realizing the airborne Man in Black was at least a Seventh Grade master.

Jiang Liu stole the Hao Yang Flower while the Man in Black fought four wolf-shaped exotic beasts, then consumed it to strengthen his fire-element essence energy. After cultivating until midnight, he discovered that his realm had advanced to Martial Artist Fourth Rank 1264/4000.

• The Man in Black fought the Alpha Wolf and three other Seventh Grade wolf-shaped exotic beasts to a standstill.
• Jiang Liu slipped into the valley, identified the blooming plant as a Hao Yang Flower, and stole it while leaving its scented stalk as a decoy.
• The Man in Black retreated, and the Alpha Wolf found the missing flower and pursued Jiang Liu’s trail to the discarded stalk.
• Jiang Liu processed the Hao Yang Flower in a secluded cave and swallowed it because he lacked tools and supplementary herbs.
• Jiang Liu cultivated until midnight and found that his essence energy had risen to Martial Artist Fourth Rank 1264/4000.

Jiang Liu hunted exotic beasts near a deep pool and fought a fifth-rank Gold Devouring White Tiger, killing it after a fierce battle. He returned to his cave, processed the tiger, and began cultivating with beast cores.

• Jiang Liu ambushed a Hundred Treasure Deer and used it to lure a Raging Gorilla, which he killed and harvested for its beast core.
• Jiang Liu waited in a tree and killed five more exotic beasts that came along the path.
• Jiang Liu sensed a powerful beast, then confronted a fifth-rank Gold Devouring White Tiger and used Tiger Subduing Fist and Ice Blades to defeat it.
• Jiang Liu carried the tiger back to his cave, processed its body, and ate its roasted meat.
• Jiang Liu began his daily cultivation with beast cores, deciding to save the fifth-rank core for last.

Jiang Liu hunted beasts in the West Mountain Range, gathered more than thirty beast cores, and broke through to the Fifth Rank. Meanwhile, Lin Hao and Lin Hai led a small group of trusted subordinates toward the mountains while fleeing pursuers.

• Jiang Liu reviewed his improved strength and set a wounded Red-Eared Rabbit as bait near a water pool.
• Jiang Liu ambushed and killed a flock of Yellow Earth Sheep, then collected their beast cores and used the carcasses to attract more beasts.
• Jiang Liu harvested more than thirty beast cores that day, including six Third Rank cores, and cultivated through the night.
• Jiang Liu reached the Fifth Rank and practiced circulating his newly increased vitality before leaving his cave at dawn.
• Lin Hao and Lin Hai led seven or eight trusted subordinates toward the West Mountain Range, apparently fleeing people who had pursued them.

Jiang Liu ambushed and killed a Bloodthirsty Mad Lion after driving off a Great Strength Ape, then followed the ape and found it chasing Master Lin and several others. He attacked the ape with the Demon Suppression Blade Technique, and the fight continued.

• Jiang Liu ambushed the exhausted Bloodthirsty Mad Lion and Great Strength Ape, but the lion stunned him with Mad Lion's Furious Roar and the ape wounded and struck him.
• Jiang Liu recovered, used Ice Blades and the Thousand-Year Kill to kill the Bloodthirsty Mad Lion, and the Great Strength Ape fled.
• Jiang Liu left the lion's corpse and followed a commotion, finding the Great Strength Ape chasing Master Lin and seven or eight others.
• Jiang Liu caught up with the Great Strength Ape, took a large saber, and used Suppressing Demons into Imprisonment against it.
• The Great Strength Ape rose onto its hind legs and resisted the saber light.

Jiang Liu defeated the exhausted Great Strength Ape and reunited with Master Lin and Lin Hai in the West Mountain Range. After sharing what had happened to the Fallen Blossom Gang, Jiang Liu chose to keep cultivating in the mountains while Master Lin and Lin Hai planned to leave Cloud Sun City.

• Jiang Liu used an Ice Blade to finish off the exhausted Great Strength Ape after it had fought the Bloodthirsty Mad Lion.
• Master Lin treated the badly injured Lin Hai, while the group prepared to cremate a fallen brother.
• Jiang Liu and the others brought the Great Strength Ape and Bloodthirsty Mad Lion back to their cave and processed the beasts.
• Master Lin explained how the Fallen Blossom Gang had fallen into chaos and how he and Lin Hai had escaped Cloud Sun City while being pursued.
• Jiang Liu decided to remain in the mountains to cultivate, while Master Lin and Lin Hai planned to leave Cloud Sun City; Jiang Liu kept the beast cores and gave them the rest of the beasts.

After Master Lin left, Jiang Liu resolved to take control of his own fate and continued hunting exotic beasts. He defeated a Sky-Piercing Bee swarm guarding a spiritual-power-boosting sapling, but the surviving bees fled before he could collect their cores.

• Master Lin gave Jiang Liu a spare Treasure Blade, pills, and a token before departing with Lin Hai and the remaining seven people.
• Jiang Liu reflected on his powerlessness against the White Lotus Sect and decided to shatter the fate others imposed on him.
• Six days after Master Lin left, Jiang Liu found a pair of Sixth Grade Great Strength Apes fighting a swarm of Fifth Grade Sky-Piercing Bees over a sapling.
• Jiang Liu approached the sapling, recognized that it increased spiritual power, and fought off the bees with his Treasure Blade and techniques.
• Jiang Liu killed the Sky-Piercing Bee leader with an Ice Blade, causing the remaining bees to scatter before he could harvest their beast cores.