Recaps

Xu Yi consulted Master Zhou about the Undefeated Golden Body and Stars Shift and Heavens Turn, learning their histories and limitations. Master Zhou explained why Martial Skills mattered more in the Qi Sea Realm, leaving Xu Yi with a clearer understanding of how skill could overcome a gap in cultivation.

• Xu Yi asked Master Zhou about the origins and rankings of Stars Shift and Heavens Turn and the Undefeated Golden Body.
• Master Zhou explained that Stars Shift and Heavens Turn could neutralize True Qi but not Soldier Essence Qi, making it exceptionally powerful in unarmed combat.
• Master Zhou revealed that the Undefeated Golden Body had lost its final three levels and had passed from the Imperial Family to the Shui and Wen families.
• Xu Yi worried that only six levels of the Undefeated Golden Body remained, but Master Zhou urged him to value the art he had obtained.
• Xu Yi asked why Martial Skills mattered more in the Qi Sea Realm, and Master Zhou explained that skill and precision could let a weaker expert defeat a stronger one.

Xu Yi asked Master Zhou to explain the difference between Body Tempering and Qi Sea Martial Skills, and their discussion deepened both men's understanding of force and internal energy. Master Zhou warned that Xu Yi's old techniques might not be worth adapting unless they held something truly unique.

• Master Zhou asked Xu Yi to compare Martial Skills of the Body Tempering and Qi Sea Realms, and Xu Yi reflected on force, speed, and precision.
• Master Zhou explained that the Body Tempering Realm trained force while the Qi Sea Realm trained internal energy, whose subtleties Xu Yi had not yet learned through practice.
• Xu Yi proposed that internal energy was a substance capable of birth, death, gathering, and dispersal, unlike force, which merely applied bodily power.
• Master Zhou praised Xu Yi's insight and agreed that internal energy could use the same principles as force once Xu Yi mastered it through long practice.
• Master Zhou cautioned Xu Yi that adapting a Body Tempering technique was worthwhile only if it possessed something uniquely mysterious.

Xu Yi learned that the black bead held the dangerous Yin Extremity Scripture, then followed Master Zhou to the palace's Martial Arts Hall. The chapter left him facing the hall's entrance and three crystal tokens.

• Xu Yi showed Master Zhou the bead, and Master Zhou identified its seal as Tianchan Temple's Minor Suppression Technique.
• Master Zhou recognized the Yin Extremity Scripture and explained how Venerable Loss of Mind had used the bead to summon and question residual souls before becoming a murderous fiend.
• Xu Yi decided to pursue the secret art despite its dangers, and Master Zhou advised him to stay in control and use a barrier when attempting to break the seal.
• Master Zhou told Xu Yi to train instead of wasting time and led him to the Martial Arts Hall.
• Xu Yi and Master Zhou arrived at the hall, where people gathered around three crystal tokens beside its bronze entrance.

Xu Yi entered the Martial Arts Hall to train and swiftly cleared the Stone Array, then endured the Arrow Array to strengthen his body. His progress stunned the gamblers outside as he rested before the third Stone Gate, and the mustached man rushed out to defend his training.

• Master Zhou brought Xu Yi to the Martial Arts Hall and reminded him to repay his debt of drinks before leaving to prepare lessons.
• Xu Yi paid one hundred gold, entered the training chamber, and crossed the Stone Array in thirty-eight breaths using the Undefeated Golden Body and Finger Sword.
• Xu Yi entered the Arrow Array and endured its barrage until he reached the third Stone Gate, where he took pills and meditated to recover.
• The crowd accused the array of being broken, and Steward Cao fainted when the Arrow Array’s jade token lit up again.
• The mustached man rushed outside and told the crowd that Xu Yi was a powerhouse who had come to train.

Xu Yi completed the first turn of the Undefeated Golden Body after enduring more than a thousand rounds of the Arrow Array, but his Sea of Qi did not advance. He entered the Ultimate Stage to test his body against True Qi and confirmed that his Golden Body could still improve, leaving him facing even more dangerous attacks.

• Xu Yi endured more than a thousand rounds of the Arrow Array, completing the first turn of the Undefeated Golden Body as the crowd watched the jade tablet.
• Xu Yi found that his Sea of Qi had not transformed, so he cleared the third stage and rested before the Ultimate Stage.
• Xu Yi entered the Ultimate Stage and took a stream of True Qi through his shoulder, discovering that his Golden Body offered no protection against it.
• Xu Yi circulated the cultivation method and felt his meridians tingle, confirming that his first turn still had room to improve.
• Xu Yi continued the trial and saw that the attacks grew from streams of air into four unpredictable waves of air.

Xu Yi endured the final airflow attacks, broke through to the Mid Qi Sea Realm, and completed the First Turn of the Undefeated Golden Body before escaping the formation. Outside, he found that Steward Wu had died, and confronted the young man in golden armor.

• Xu Yi endured the formation’s attacks until his meridians changed and he broke through to the Mid Qi Sea Realm, completing the First Turn of the Undefeated Golden Body.
• Xu Yi crossed the final ten zhang and emerged from the formation alive, while the people outside had feared he was dead.
• Jiang Dong welcomed Xu Yi and offered to record his feat on a stone stele.
• A young man in golden armor and a portly middle-aged official arrived with soldiers carrying the wounded Steward Wu.
• Xu Yi pulled Steward Wu to him, found him dead, and demanded to know why from the young man in golden armor.

Xu Yi confronted Xiao Fuchen and Deputy Head Official Liu after they tried to seize him over his absence from the Night Purity Department. Commander Lu intervened, arrested Xiao Fuchen for abandoning his post, and ordered him beaten.

• Xiao Fuchen and Deputy Head Official Liu tried to arrest Xu Yi, but Xu Yi slapped away the guards and accused them of helping Marquis Wu Cheng target a court official.
• Xu Yi explained that he had hidden in the Martial Arts Hall, whose formation had blocked their attempts to locate his waist token.
• Xiao Fuchen ordered more troops to seize Xu Yi, and Deputy Head Official Liu backed him.
• Commander Lu arrived and questioned Xiao Fuchen about whether he was on duty with the Divine Strategy Guard.
• Commander Lu had his guards arrest Xiao Fuchen and ordered twenty strokes for abandoning his post and defying orders.

Lu Shanren punished Xiao Fuchen and protected Xu Yi, who then learned the commander had come at Master Zhou’s request. Xu Yi revealed that he had cleared the Martial Arts Hall’s final checkpoint and obtained its jade ring, astonishing Lu Shanren and the Merit Assessment Department official.

• Lu Shanren ordered Xiao Fuchen beaten and stripped for threatening a superior, then dismissed Deputy Head Official Liu when he backed down from pursuing Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi arranged for Steward Wu’s body to be carried away for burial in the palace, and Lu Shanren told him that Master Zhou had asked him to help.
• Steward Zhu arrived with a man who accused Xu Yi of taking the Martial Arts Hall’s jade ring, and Lu Shanren learned Xu Yi had reached the final checkpoint.
• Xu Yi showed Steward Zhu the rich green jade ring, which he verified as the reward for clearing the Body Refining Formation.

After claiming the jade ring, Xu Yi was promoted to Ten Households and learned that the first turn of the Undefeated Golden Body had been planted as a dangerous trap. Lu Shanren arranged an extended leave for him to treat his hidden meridian injury, while Xu Yi remained focused on recovering and finding the resources to continue cultivating.

• Xu Yi claimed the jade ring, passed the ultimate checkpoint, and was registered as Ten Households by the portly middle-aged man.
• Lu Shanren asked how Xu Yi had passed the checkpoint, and Xu Yi revealed that he had cultivated the first turn of the Undefeated Golden Body.
• Lu Shanren warned Xu Yi that the first three turns formed a complete system and that practicing only the first could destroy his sinews and meridians.
• Xu Yi realized Shui Yi had baited him into practicing the incomplete technique and thanked Lu Shanren for the warning.
• Lu Shanren offered to transfer Xu Yi under his command and give him extended leave to treat his hidden meridian injury, and Xu Yi accepted.

Xu Yi and Yan Zi finished a long stretch of forging and brought their weapons to Yuan Qinghua’s Tianmao shop, where he staged a crowded sale of blood weapons. Yuan Qinghua explained that limiting sales and raising prices would help maximize profits, though Xu Yi remained impatient to earn back his investment.

• Xu Yi forged an upper-grade short sword while Yan Zi collected iron essence and prepared the weapons they had made.
• Xu Yi rested, then left for Tianmao after Yan Zi carried the weapons to Yuan Qinghua.
• Yuan Qinghua welcomed Xu Yi to the shop and revealed the plaque advertising a blood-weapon clearance sale, drawing a large, orderly crowd.
• Yuan Qinghua sold seven or eight weapons before closing the shop, despite the customers’ protests.
• Yuan Qinghua told Xu Yi he planned to limit supplies and raise prices because cultivators would pay well for the semifinished blood weapons, while Xu Yi argued that their production could meet demand.

Xu Yi and Yuan Qinghua discussed how to sell their blood weapons without exposing their secret technique, and Xu Yi decided to pursue an auction license for Tianmao. After paying Steward Xie and planning to expand the shop as a cover, Xu Yi remained confident he would soon forge a mid-grade blood weapon.

• Yuan Qinghua explained that selling blood weapons gradually would reduce suspicion and help determine the best price, while Yan Zi suggested holding an auction.
• Yuan Qinghua told Xu Yi that Duke Cheng controlled auction licenses and that two might become available after Duke Cheng's daughter's birthday celebration.
• Xu Yi agreed that Tianmao should buy a license, but a furious Steward Xie arrived to collect the balance for the raw materials.
• Xu Yi paid Steward Xie with gold notes, and Steward Xie left after telling him where to collect future goods.
• Xu Yi told Yuan Qinghua to hire apprentices and sell other goods as a smokescreen, and Yuan Qinghua proposed buying pills and using blood weapons to obtain them.
• Xu Yi declared that he would soon forge a mid-grade blood weapon.

Xu Yi continued forging blood weapons and settled into his new shop before Xia Zimo unexpectedly visited him. They left together to spend the day in the city, while Yan Zi watched them go with troubled feelings.

• Xu Yi practiced forging blood weapons for more than twenty days and made a Judge's Brush after over a thousand attempts.
• Xu Yi gave Yan Zi Linglong Pavilion's honorary elder token and told her to buy pills and Heavenly Thunder Pearls with money from Yuan Qinghua.
• Xu Yi rested in the courtyard until Xia Zimo startled him with a silver shuttle, and he recognized her as Quail.
• Xia Zimo told Xu Yi that the Yin Mountain Sect was rebuilding its mountain gate and reminded him that he still owed her a Blood Flame Fruit.
• Xu Yi agreed to let Xia Zimo choose their outing, and the two left the shop together.
• Yan Zi entered the courtyard after they had gone and silently struggled with her feelings for Xu Yi.

Xia Zimo brought Xu Yi to punish Yao Guai for abducting women, and Xu Yi killed him with a single punch. She then took Xu Yi to confront the Five Rats of Bazhou, who attacked him before pleading that there had been a misunderstanding.

• Xia Zimo led Xu Yi to Yao Guai's residence and demanded the return of two women he had drugged and abducted.
• Yao Guai threatened Xia Zimo, but Xia Zimo struck him with bolts of air and Xu Yi crushed his shoulder with a punch.
• The Heavenly Patrol Envoys searched Yao Guai's residence, found more than a hundred abducted women, and recorded Xu Yi's identity.
• Xia Zimo brought Xu Yi to the Five Rats of Bazhou and accused them of crimes including the Lin Family massacre.
• The five men attacked Xu Yi with their Seven Kill Formation, but Xu Yi dispersed their spiraling weapon energy, prompting the scar-faced leader and his brothers to claim it was a misunderstanding.

Xu Yi defeated the Five Rats of Bazhou after they attacked him, and Xia Zimo crippled their dantians, explaining their past crimes. After a patrol accepted her Battle Token, Xu Yi told Xia Zimo about his new defensive Return to Origin Palm and went with her to inspect more places in the marketplace.

• Xu Yi overwhelmed the Five Rats of Bazhou with his attacks, wounded them, and sent them to Xia Zimo, who destroyed their dantians.
• Xia Zimo explained that the Five Rats had once dragged members of a family to their deaths, and she showed a patrol leader her Battle Token.
• Xu Yi learned that Battle Tokens allowed one fight in the capital in exchange for a fee and compensation for property damage.
• Xu Yi gave Xia Zimo a number theory text and explained that he had used its circular principles to develop Return to Origin Palm.
• Xia Zimo found the text incomprehensible and pulled Xu Yi through the marketplace to visit more locations; after two hours, they had reached the eleventh.

Xu Yi and Xia Zimo defeated nine more criminal households, drawing crowds and patrol officers before she reunited with Xiong Kui and his Five Brothers. Later, Xu Yi met Lu Shanren at the martial arts field, where Lu Shanren attacked him with his Nine-tailed Sword and marveled at his Undefeated Golden Body.

• Xu Yi and Xia Zimo defeated nine households, including a retainer of Marquis Wu Cheng's household, while Xia Zimo grew increasingly grim and fought recklessly.
• Xiong Kui and his Five Brothers reunited with Xia Zimo, and Xu Yi dispersed the crowd before speaking with them at a teahouse.
• Xu Yi received a message from Lu Shanren and arranged to meet him.
• Xia Zimo told Xiong Kui she had gone searching for Brother Yi, and Xiong Kui advised her to take things slowly.
• Lu Shanren struck Xu Yi with his Nine-tailed Sword, cutting his cheek, then praised his Undefeated Golden Body.

Xu Yi and Lu Shanren tested their skills in a fierce duel, with Xu Yi’s mastery of Qi impressing his senior brother. Lu Shanren admitted that Xu Yi had surpassed him, though the final exchange left the outcome complicated by Lu’s Heart Oath and Xu Yi’s restraint.

• Xu Yi attacked Lu Shanren with a relentless barrage of Finger Sword strikes, forcing Lu to counter with Mountain Gathering.
• Xu Yi used the Tide Listening Sword to break Lu’s Qi wall, and Lu answered with the Heaven Ranking technique Nine-tailed Sword.
• Xu Yi blocked five of the Nine-tailed Sword’s hidden attacks, but the sixth grazed his arm and wounded him.
• Xu Yi conceded defeat, while Lu Shanren praised his talent and declared that he accepted his own loss.
• Lu Shanren realized he had controlled the sixth tail under his Heart Oath, while Xu Yi had held back and impressed him with Return to Origin Palm.

After defeating Lu Shanren, Xu Yi revealed that he had formed a Boundless Sea and accepted a recommendation to join the Golden Dragon Guard. Back at Tianmao, he protected Yuan Qinghua with an official token and settled in to read, while Yan Zi’s pale appearance suggested she was hiding her exhaustion.

• Lu Shanren praised Xu Yi’s Boundless Sea and promised that Marquis Wu Cheng would have to think twice before targeting him.
• Lu Shanren recommended Xu Yi for the Golden Dragon Guard, explained that he would only be needed for the jinshi banquet in three months, and gave him a palace-entry plaque.
• Xu Yi returned to Tianmao and found that rising prices had left his hundred thousand gold coins with only a few valuable pills and a Heavenly Thunder Pearl.
• Xu Yi gave Yuan Qinghua his Guard Department identity token for protection, then went to the back courtyard to read.
• Yan Zi brought Xu Yi water to wash his feet, and he noticed her pale complexion and asked whether she was exhausted.

Xu Yi searched for filthy objects that could break Buddhist restrictions, while Xia Zimo invited herself along to Duke Cheng's Mansion. The chapter ended as Xu Yi and Xia Zimo prepared to attend the Young County Princess's birthday celebration.

• Yan Zi returned to the workshop with Xu Yi's forging notes and medicine so she could study weapon forging while cultivating.
• Xu Yi concluded that heavily polluted objects could break Buddhist restrictions, but he could not find any of the rare substances he needed.
• After three days of fruitless searching, Xu Yi learned that Xia Zimo wanted to accompany him to Duke Cheng's Mansion.
• Xia Zimo dressed Xu Yi in a purple scarf and gave him a folding fan before they set out.
• The chapter explained that Duke Cheng's household sold entry plaques to the public for the Young County Princess's birthday celebration.

Xu Yi and Xia Zimo entered Duke Cheng’s Mansion to compete for an auction license, learning that guests had to pay enormous sums for a chance to advance. After Xia Zimo secured their entry through the first selection, a servant rejected them at the next gate.

• Xu Yi and Xia Zimo arrived at Duke Cheng’s Mansion, where guests paid gifts to register for the birthday celebration.
• Xia Zimo replaced Xu Yi’s thousand-gold note with a twenty-thousand-gold gift and received a jade plaque that let them reach the first selection.
• Xia Zimo explained that the Imperial Household Department was selecting guests by the value of their gifts, and that those who paid too little were eliminated.
• The Head Butler demanded further gifts, and Xia Zimo placed gold notes in the servants’ treasure box in exchange for another jade plaque.
• After guests learned that even fifty thousand gold had not secured entry, a servant took Xia Zimo’s plaque and told her and Xu Yi they could not go in.

Xu Yi and Xia Zimo confronted the Duke's Mansion after its servants barred them from entering, and Xu Yi beat the soldiers and the Second Young Master. Xiao Fuchen admitted he had arranged the obstruction, and Xu Yi answered by mocking him over his earlier public humiliation.

• The Head Butler ordered soldiers to remove Xu Yi and Xia Zimo, while Xu Yi called out Xiao Fuchen and the Second Young Master.
• Xu Yi knocked both squads of soldiers away and struck the Second Young Master, shattering his magic robe.
• The Head Butler revealed his peak Qi Sea cultivation and warned Xu Yi not to cause bloodshed, but Xia Zimo publicly challenged the mansion's treatment of guests and its license auction.
• Xiao Fuchen returned and revealed that he had orchestrated their denial of entry with the Second Young Master.
• Xu Yi reminded Xiao Fuchen that he had once been stripped and spanked outside the Martial Arts Hall.

Xiao Fuchen tried to discredit Xu Yi and stop him from entering the Duke's Mansion gathering, but Xu Yi revealed his Golden Dragon Guard badge and Ten Households ring. As Xiao Fuchen tried to leave, a young man resembling Second Young Master Zhu arrived and declared the misunderstanding settled.

• Xiao Fuchen accused Xu Yi of being too low-born to attend the gathering, while Xia Zimo challenged him and defended Xu Yi.
• Xiao Fuchen began exposing Xu Yi's work, but Xu Yi cut him off by showing his Golden Dragon Guard badge.
• Xia Zimo revealed Xu Yi's Ten Households ring, and the crowd recognized both official tokens as genuine.
• Xiao Fuchen tried to retreat, but Xu Yi stopped him and challenged the Head Butler for having allowed the insults to continue.
• A young man resembling Second Young Master Zhu arrived, heard the Head Butler's explanation, and invited the guests to take their seats.

Xu Yi used an Imprint Pearl to expose Xiao Fuchen's insults and force him to slap himself, despite Young Master Zhu's efforts to shield him. Xu Yi and Xia Zimo entered the Duke's Mansion's inner residence, where Xia Zimo warned him that Young Master Zhu would seek revenge.

• Young Master Zhu tried to end the dispute, but Xu Yi demanded Xiao Fuchen slap himself ten times until he drew blood.
• Xu Yi played the Imprint Pearl recording of Xia Zimo accusing the Duke's Mansion of cheating guests and Xiao Fuchen insulting the Golden Dragon Guard.
• The Head Butler and Young Master Zhu tried to contain the scandal, and Young Master Zhu persuaded Xiao Fuchen to accept punishment.
• Xiao Fuchen slapped himself, and Xu Yi questioned whether he had counted all ten slaps.
• Xu Yi and Xia Zimo entered the inner residence, where Xia Zimo warned Xu Yi that Young Master Zhu would not let the humiliation go.

At the Duke’s Mansion birthday feast, Xu Yi’s appetite and playful exchange with Xia Zimo drew attention while Second Young Master Zhu arranged a poetry contest aimed at embarrassing him. Three representatives were selected, including Xu Yi, and the chapter ended as Zhu introduced the striking Li Xiuluo to Liu Jiubian.

• Xu Yi eagerly devoured the feast’s delicacies, and Xia Zimo grew embarrassed by the attention he attracted.
• Xu Yi offered Xia Zimo a piece of fish, and her shy reaction left them both awkward until the Head Butler’s toast interrupted them.
• Second Young Master Zhu proposed a poetry game, while Xia Zimo warned Xu Yi that the Zhu and Xiao families were targeting him.
• Zhu tossed jade balls onto three tables, selecting Xu Yi’s table, Liu Jiubian’s table, and Xiao Fuchen’s table for the contest.
• Liu Jiubian and Li Xiuluo stepped forward as representatives, and Zhu introduced Li Xiuluo as a peerless martial artist and accomplished scholar.

Xia Zimo wagered that Xu Yi’s writing was worth two hundred thousand gold, forcing Second Young Master Zhu and Xiao Fuchen to guarantee the payment. Just as Xu Yi prepared to compete, Jiang Nanxun arrived and asked to join the poetry contest.

• Xiao Fuchen and Second Young Master Zhu tried to force Xu Yi to compete, but Xia Zimo stood up in his place and challenged their insults.
• Xia Zimo insisted Xu Yi would reveal his writing only for a wager, and Zhu and Xiao agreed to guarantee two hundred thousand gold if it proved extraordinary.
• Xu Yi warned Xia Zimo that his earlier poems came from an old man’s recitation and that he might lose.
• Young Master Zhu arrived with Jiang Nanxun, introduced him as heir to the Zhongzhou Jiang Family, and welcomed him into the contest.
• Xia Zimo objected that Jiang Nanxun could not simply be added to the agreed contest.

Xu Yi impressed the poetry gathering by writing a powerful poem on the subject of “River and Lake,” while the Auspicious Duck served as judge. The contest remained unfinished as the duck praised Xu Yi’s poem.

• Second Young Master Zhu arranged a poetry contest with subjects drawn at random and half an incense stick to write.
• Xia Zimo questioned whether the contestants could receive a fair judgment, so Xiao Fuchen released the Auspicious Duck to judge.
• The Auspicious Duck misbehaved until Xiao Fuchen subdued it, and Xu Yi agreed to let it judge.
• Second Young Master Zhu announced “River and Lake” as the first subject, and Xu Yi used True Qi to write without moving from his place.
• Xu Yi completed a grand poem about the river and lake, and the Auspicious Duck praised his talent.