Recaps

Gao Pan fled Xu Yi’s relentless punches and raced for his silver spear while secretly preparing the blue radiance hidden in his snake ring. He reached the spear and turned to face Xu Yi at close range, poised to unleash the ring’s attack.

• Gao Pan broke away after his strength and spirit were nearly exhausted, and Xu Yi pursued him across the arena.
• The crowd jeered and panicked as Gao Pan’s retreat threatened their bets on his victory.
• Gao Pan focused on the snake ring, turned its head outward without Xu Yi noticing, and continued toward the silver spear.
• Gao Pan reached the spear, spun around as Xu Yi closed within three zhang, and prepared to press the snake’s head.

Xu Yi defeated Gao Pan in the duel but suffered severe internal injuries and pretended to remain unconscious after being taken home. He woke when Qiu Wa visited him and kept his recovery secret, while Yuan Qinghua returned carrying more medicine.

• Xu Yi exposed Gao Pan's ring trap, snapped off the finger wearing it, and defeated him without killing him.
• Gao Pan asked how Xu Yi had sensed the trap, then broke his own neck and died.
• The announcer declared Xu Yi the victor and announced that the Black Dragon Hall had challenged him to another duel in seven days; Xu Yi then collapsed after vomiting blood.
• Yuan Qinghua took the unconscious Xu Yi to a clinic and later brought him home, while Xu Yi secretly pretended to remain unconscious.
• Qiu Wa visited Xu Yi and offered her arm for him to drink from, asking him to buy her food when he woke; Xu Yi revealed himself and told her to keep his recovery quiet.
• Yuan Qinghua returned carrying a large bowl of bitter medicine.

After defeating Gao Pan, Xu Yi woke at his new home and revealed that he had faked his injuries to raise his betting odds. He collected his winnings and Gao Pan’s belongings, then set Yuan Qinghua to sell the weapons and armor and pursue medicine for a cultivation technique.

• Xu Yi scolded Yuan Qinghua for leaving him at the clinic, then explained that his injuries were fake and he had staged them to increase his odds.
• Yuan Qinghua gave Xu Yi a total of sixteen hundred gold, including his betting winnings and valuables taken from Gao Pan, and showed him Gao Pan’s silver spear and golden armor.
• Yuan Qinghua explained that he had rented a larger house, hired a housekeeper and two maids, and brought Xu Yi home, so Xu Yi raised his salary by thirty percent.
• Xu Yi told Yuan Qinghua to sell the silver spear and ask Linglong Pavilion about medicine, offering extra money if it needed ingredients from other prefectures.
• Xu Yi ordered Yuan Qinghua to sell Gao Pan’s golden armor to the highest bidder, and Yuan Qinghua guessed that Xu Yi had a trick in mind.

Xu Yi planned how to strengthen himself against Black Dragon Hall, prioritizing armor made from Dragon Crocodile Hide and cultivation of the Overlord Strength Art. He discovered the ring could fire a single, tiny blue projectile that he suspected was poisoned, then went to sleep without finding another trump card.

• Xu Yi explained that he planned to sell the weakened golden armor privately, and Yuan Qinghua told him Director Gao had sent gifts and urged him to focus on recovery.
• Xu Yi told Yuan Qinghua to buy the snacks Qiu Wa had requested, and Yuan Qinghua reflected on Xu Yi's loyalty to the Mu family.
• Xu Yi decided to turn the Dragon Crocodile Hide into full-body armor and make progress with the Overlord Strength Art before facing Black Dragon Hall's stronger opponents.
• Xu Yi tested Gao Pan's ring and discovered it fired a single blue projectile with exceptional penetrating power, which he suspected carried deadly poison.
• Xu Yi reloaded the projectile into the ring, put it away, and went to sleep after failing to think of another life-saving trump card.

After losing a hundred thousand gold on Gao Pan, Wan Youlong learned that the betting house was backed by Lingxiao Pavilion and turned his attention to restoring Black Dragon Hall’s damaged reputation. He ordered the next battle against Yi Xu to be decisive, and the chapter ended with the hall debating who should fight.

• Wan Youlong lost his hundred-thousand-gold wager and sent Ma Wensheng to demand money back from the betting house.
• Ma Wensheng warned Wan Youlong that Lingxiao Pavilion backed the betting house and argued that Black Dragon Hall’s damaged reputation mattered more than the loss.
• The deputy hall masters and elders blamed Jiang Shaohuan, and Ma Wensheng revealed that Jiang’s flesh had been served in their meal, prompting them to vomit.
• Wan Youlong summoned the hall’s leaders to the Hall of Oaths and said Black Dragon Hall had to kill Yi Xu in the next battle.
• Ma Wensheng asked who should fight Yi Xu in the coming battle.

Wan Tengyun volunteered to fight Yi Xu, hoping the duel would help him break through a martial bottleneck, and Wan Youlong reluctantly agreed. Wan Youlong then pressed the Black Dragon Hall’s leaders to provide his son with valuable equipment before the duel.

• Ma Wensheng explained that the Black Dragon Hall had no certain candidate to defeat Yi Xu and argued that hiring an outsider would damage the hall’s reputation.
• Wan Tengyun came out of the rear hall and declared that he would fight Yi Xu himself.
• Wan Youlong tried to keep Wan Tengyun focused on cultivation, but Wan Tengyun insisted the duel could help him overcome his bottleneck.
• Wan Youlong agreed to let Wan Tengyun fight on the condition that he would reveal later, then demanded that the deputy hall masters and elders provide his son with support.
• The monkey-faced deputy hall master offered a low-grade magical robe from the Alchemy Hall, which had protected Gao Pan from Yi Xu’s attacks.

Wan Youlong gathered treasures for Wan Tengyun and sought Ma Wensheng’s advice on defeating Xu Yi, agreeing to a secret scheme and an expensive countermeasure. Meanwhile, Xu Yi studied Guang'an’s history until Qiu Wa secretly brought him food, leaving him recovering and preparing for the arena fight.

• The deputy hall masters and elders handed Wan Youlong several valuable battle treasures, and he dismissed them after promising to return everything.
• Wan Youlong asked Ma Wensheng to assess Xu Yi’s abilities, and Ma Wensheng warned that Xu Yi’s tactics and endurance made him dangerous.
• After learning that Xu Yi had the Snake Ring, Wan Youlong agreed to Ma Wensheng’s secret plan and committed ten thousand gold to counter Xu Yi’s unusual footwork.
• Xu Yi read the Guang'an Prefecture Records to learn about the city while pretending to be ill.
• Qiu Wa brought Xu Yi a sack of food and urged him to eat a chicken drumstick before anyone saw.

Xu Yi learned that Black Dragon Hall had sent its young master, Wan Tengyun, to fight him, but stayed calm and used Yuan Qinghua’s sales to build up his funds. He went to Alchemy Hall to hire a craftsman, leaving the details of his preparations unresolved.

• Qiu Wa brought Xu Yi food, and he raised the idea of finding her a school in the city, but she said she wanted to stay with Grandpa.
• Yuan Qinghua warned Xu Yi that Wan Tengyun, Black Dragon Hall’s young master and one of Guang’an’s Ten Young Masters, would fight him.
• Yuan Qinghua reported selling Xu Yi’s silver spear and magical robes and buying medicinal herbs; Xu Yi’s cash reserves rose past thirty-five hundred gold.
• Xu Yi left Yuan Qinghua to look after Grandpa and Qiu Wa, then learned from Master Zhou’s letter that Zhou had gone to Luzhou Prefecture on urgent business.
• Xu Yi traveled to Alchemy Hall and entered its Commissioned Refining Hall, where an attendant asked what level of craftsman he wanted to hire.

Xu Yi asked Elder Song to forge his Dragon Crocodile Hide into armor, but balked at the exorbitant fee. When an alarm came from the forging room, Xu Yi followed Elder Song underground to investigate.

• Xu Yi proved he had assets worth two thousand gold and was led to wait for Elder Song, one of the Alchemy Hall’s two Third-level Alchemists.
• Elder Song examined the Dragon Crocodile Hide, identified its spatial attribute, and offered Xu Yi five thousand gold for it.
• Xu Yi refused to sell the hide and asked Elder Song to forge it into armor, but Elder Song demanded three thousand gold for the work.
• As Elder Song turned to leave, the green-robed attendant rushed in to report a strange noise from the forging room.
• Elder Song hurried underground to the forging room, and Xu Yi followed him through its ornate arched door.

Xu Yi forced Elder Song to trade forging his Dragon Crocodile Hide armor for Xu Yi’s help operating the Heaven-grade furnace bellows. After Xu Yi kept the furnace steady for more than an hour, Elder Song stopped the flames and removed the object inside.

• Elder Song rushed to the furnace and ordered Xu Yi to work its heavy bellows as the lid began to buck violently.
• Xu Yi used the threat of letting go of the bellows to bargain, and Elder Song agreed to forge Xu Yi’s armor in exchange for his help.
• Xu Yi worked the bellows for more than an hour, impressing Elder Song with his strength and stamina.
• A howl sounded from the furnace, and Elder Song struck it repeatedly until the noise stopped.
• Elder Song extinguished the furnace and drew an object from inside into his hand.

Xu Yi agreed to work Elder Song’s bellows in exchange for having his Dragon Crocodile Hide armor forged within five days, after realizing the work could help temper his body. Elder Song explained the Five Elements and other attributes, including why the hide’s ability to expand and contract gave it a rare space attribute.

• Elder Song showed Xu Yi the Star-Moon Sword and agreed to forge his armor within five days if Xu Yi worked the bellows three more times.
• Xu Yi accepted because he had felt the bellows’ rhythm send a mysterious force into his blood and marrow.
• Xu Yi asked Elder Song what attributes were and how the Dragon Crocodile Hide had a space attribute.
• Elder Song explained the Five Elements, special attributes such as gale and thunder, and the time and space attributes.
• Elder Song explained that cutting Dragon Crocodile Hide removed its ability to expand and contract, and Xu Yi bowed to thank him.

Xu Yi sought help finding substitutes for the scarce ingredients in his body-refinement medicine and consulted Linglong Pavilion’s apothecary. The apothecary recognized the prescription as an ancient formula, but its mysteries remained to be explained.

• Xu Yi agreed to serve Elder Song after seven days, then left the Dragon Crocodile Hide with him and went to Linglong Pavilion.
• The brown-haired woman told Xu Yi that the rare medicinal ingredients had not been found and that sourcing them from other prefectures would take several days.
• Xu Yi proposed consulting an apothecary about substitute ingredients, and the brown-haired woman agreed to arrange a meeting in exchange for his autograph.
• Xu Yi signed several copies for the brown-haired woman, who happily went to fetch Linglong Pavilion’s best apothecary.
• The Fatty Steward examined Xu Yi’s ingredients, questioned their potency, and concluded that the prescription was an ancient formula with a five-element arrangement.

Xu Yi bought a powerful medicine to help him cultivate the Overlord Strength Art, then headed to Guangwu Pavilion to find a cultivation ground. On the way, he learned that two tomb raiders were trying to sell a supposedly ancient manual at the Casual Market.

• Fatty Steward identified Xu Yi’s prescription as a dangerous Ancient Prescription and first offered a milder medicine, but Xu Yi insisted on a stronger dose.
• Fatty Steward prescribed a Five Elements Pill and a Tiger Fetus Tendon-Expanding Pill, warning Xu Yi not to take them alone.
• Xu Yi canceled his earlier order, paid a thirty-gold fee, and spent five hundred and seventy gold coins on the pills.
• Xu Yi left for Guangwu Pavilion and passed through the Casual Market, where he saw mounted guards beat two men and confiscate their gold.
• A vendor explained that the two men had dug up a grave that had already been looted, then tried to sell a discarded secret manual as an ancient treasure.

Xu Yi examined a mysterious manual recovered from an ancient tomb and realized its strange contents might be worth exploring. He bargained with its owners, Guo and his younger brother, but the chapter ended with them still arguing over the price.

• After hearing that dozens of buyers, including a Qi Sea Realm cultivator, had failed to understand the manual, Xu Yi asked its owners to let him inspect it.
• Xu Yi studied the unusual book for an hour, then offered to buy it.
• Guo demanded fifteen hundred gold, but Xu Yi said he would pay only one hundred and walked away.
• Guo's younger brother stopped Xu Yi, and Xu Yi explained that he had not understood the manual but found its method of drawing circles worth exploring.
• Xu Yi lowered his offer to ninety-nine gold, and Guo angrily countered with two hundred gold.

Xu Yi bought a cultivation manual and began secluded training at Guangwu Pavilion, where he discovered his strength had improved before taking two pills to cultivate. The pills’ fierce medicinal power caused him extreme pain as he forced his blood and energy through memorized pathways.

• Xu Yi bought a book from the short-haired young man and the burly man for ninety-seven gold, then left while they fought over the payment.
• Xu Yi entered Guangwu Pavilion, tested his strength at three thousand jin, and inspected the training room and its underground medicine-refining chamber.
• Xu Yi slept in the room, then prepared the cauldron and soaked in boiling water before sitting down to cultivate.
• Xu Yi swallowed two pills without biting them, as Fatty Steward had instructed.
• Xu Yi endured the pills’ burning effects and drove his blood and energy through his meridians despite the severe pain.

Xu Yi endured the agony of circulating his qi and blood forward and backward until his body recovered, but the ordeal caused his soul to partially leave his body. As hunger and fear overwhelmed him, a thunderous crash drove his soul back inside.

• Xu Yi completed nine circuits of qi and blood, dissolved the remaining medicine, and endured its effects as they surged through him.
• Xu Yi reversed the flow of his qi and blood and forced it through eight circuits over three days, gradually widening his meridians.
• After completing the ninth backward circuit, Xu Yi’s body recovered, but he found himself unable to move and was overcome by hunger and fear.
• A portion of Xu Yi’s soul had separated from his body because the prolonged agony had disrupted their connection.
• A thunderous crash struck, sending Xu Yi’s soul darting back into his body.

Xu Yi left his training room starving, paid to cut ahead in line at Guangwu Pavilion’s cafeteria, and confronted a group that forced its way toward the serving windows. After eating one of their roast suckling pigs, he reached for the second as Master Lei’s men threatened him.

• Xu Yi rushed to the cafeteria after his strange feeling vanished and hunger overwhelmed him.
• Xu Yi saw that an alchemy experiment had destroyed a training room, then silently mourned the dead man who had accidentally helped him escape his terror.
• Xu Yi paid a gold coin to take the seventh place in line, prompting other hungry martial artists to buy their way forward too.
• Master Lei led two or three dozen men through the queues, and one burly man charged Xu Yi before the thin man in green steadied him.
• Xu Yi shoved aside two of Master Lei’s men, devoured their roast suckling pig, and reached for the second as the group shouted threats.

Xu Yi drove off the Hero Society fighters who had bullied the Rogue Cultivators, then ate his fill and returned to his training room. After purging a remarkable amount of impurities from his body, he studied a nameless secret manual and spent hours drawing and writing, leaving his unusual martial practice underway.

• Xu Yi ignored Master Lei's attack, then threw him five zhang and sent the other Hero Society fighters fleeing.
• Xu Yi ordered more food and used Master Lei's gold to buy provisions for the Rogue Cultivators behind him.
• Xu Yi ate until he was satisfied, bought new clothes and writing tools, and returned to the training room basement.
• Xu Yi repeatedly bathed in the heated cauldron until the water stopped collecting impurities, sensing that his body had grown denser and stronger.
• Xu Yi read the nameless secret manual and filled dozens of sheets with careful drawings and writing using a ruler and compass.

Xu Yi studied a mathematical treatise and mastered a movement technique he named the Return to Origin Steps. After spending two days and nights in seclusion, he emerged to find the Hero Society waiting to confront him, with his duel scheduled for the next day.

• Xu Yi studied the treatise's straightedge-and-compass constructions and painstakingly drew a regular seventeen-sided polygon.
• Xu Yi mastered the circle-based movement technique and named it the Return to Origin Steps.
• Xu Yi discovered that two days and nights had passed and hurried out, realizing his duel was the next day.
• Master Lei and more than a hundred members of the Hero Society surrounded Xu Yi outside the training room to reclaim their lost face.
• Xu Yi strode forward, and the crowd loosened its circle as they remembered his strength.

Xu Yi agreed to settle his conflict with the Hero Society by comparing strength with its leader, Zhao Baling. After Zhao Baling struck the Force Tester for 6,500 jin, Xu Yi delivered a punch that left the gathered fighters stunned.

• The man in blue threatened that the Hero Society would pursue Xu Yi unless he settled the grudge, and Xu Yi agreed to meet its leader.
• Xu Yi met Zhao Baling, who proposed a strength contest and offered to apologize on Xu Yi’s behalf if Zhao lost.
• Zhao Baling struck the Force Tester for 6,500 jin, earning the fourth-highest ranking on the stone tablet.
• Xu Yi ignored the crowd’s taunts and hit the Force Tester with a single punch that silenced everyone.

Xu Yi fled Guangwu Pavilion after demonstrating tremendous strength and breaking its Force Tester, then hurried to the Alchemy Hall to collect the armor he had commissioned from Elder Song. Elder Song gave him the armor and reminded him that he had to report for three days of service starting the day after tomorrow.

• Xu Yi left after Zhao Baling praised his strength, and Steward Wang discovered that Xu Yi's punch had dented the Force Tester and cracked the boulder behind it.
• Zhao Baling told Steward Wang that Xu Yi was only at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm, prompting Steward Wang to report the unexpected visitor to the Pavilion Master.
• Xu Yi overheard that the person who broke the tester would have to pay for it, settled his bill, and hurried out of Guangwu Pavilion.
• Xu Yi went to the Alchemy Hall to collect his armor before going to the battlefield the next day, and the attendant brought him to Elder Song.
• Elder Song gave Xu Yi a ball of azure light and warned him to serve at his beck and call three times over the following seven days, beginning the day after tomorrow.

Xu Yi received Dragon Crocodile Armor from Elder Song and learned about its limits and weapon ranks. After Xu Yi revealed his identity, Elder Song recognized him as the fighter scheduled to face Wan at the Ascending Dragon Platform and worried he would lose.

• Elder Song gave Xu Yi the forged Dragon Crocodile Armor and demonstrated that it could stop a sword strike.
• Elder Song explained that the armor ranked among top-tier Mortal Weapons and could resist most attacks short of a peak Qi Sea expert’s full-strength blow, while warning Xu Yi not to grow overconfident.
• Xu Yi thanked Elder Song, promised to finish his labor, and asked about the difference between Mortal Weapons and Blood Weapons.
• Xu Yi removed his bamboo hat, revealing that he was Yi Xu, and offered his identity as the fortune he had promised Elder Song.
• Elder Song recognized Xu Yi and lamented that he had agreed to give him the armor despite his upcoming fight against Wan at the Ascending Dragon Platform.

Xu Yi secured Elder Song’s help and learned about Blood Weapons while preparing for his upcoming fight. After placing most of his money on the outcome and buying pastries for Qiu Wa, he returned home to find two constables waiting outside his dark, closed courtyard.

• Xu Yi reminded Elder Song that the Dragon Crocodile Armor made him difficult to defeat, and Elder Song accepted his offer to share in the betting fortune.
• Xu Yi asked Elder Song about Blood Curses, and Elder Song explained how Blood Weapons let Qi Sea Realm cultivators wield powerful weapons from a distance.
• Xu Yi reflected that he wanted to refine his iron essence himself and learn artificing, with Elder Song as a crucial mentor.
• Xu Yi spread most of his remaining gold across bets at three betting houses, then bought a box of pastries for Qiu Wa.
• Xu Yi returned home at night and found two constables outside his shut, unlit courtyard.

Xu Yi returned to find his home attacked and Uncle Mu and Qiu Wa kidnapped, with the Black Dragon Hall demanding that he keep a ring from appearing at the Ascending Dragon Platform. He left Yuan Qinghua recovering and vowed to destroy the Black Dragon Hall.

• Xu Yi met Gao Junmo, learned that Fire Barbarians had attacked his home and that Uncle Mu and Qiu Wa were missing, and promised to attend the decisive battle at noon.
• Xu Yi found Yuan Qinghua about to be thrown out of Chunlai Hall, paid for his treatment, and learned the Black Dragon Hall had sent a warning through him.
• Yuan Qinghua told Xu Yi that the kidnappers demanded he keep the ring from appearing at the Ascending Dragon Platform if he wanted Uncle Mu and Qiu Wa to live.
• Xu Yi left Yuan Qinghua to recover, plunged into the An River to calm himself, and vowed to destroy the Black Dragon Hall.

Guang'an gathered for the highly anticipated battle between Xu Yi and Wan Tengyun at the Ascending Dragon Platform. Before the fight began, Gao Junmo mocked Wan Youlong over his son’s new relationship with the younger Elder Shui, leaving Wan humiliated.

• Vendors and spectators crowded eastern Guang'an as the Ascending Dragon Platform filled for Xu Yi’s noon battle with Wan Tengyun.
• Gao Junmo and three White-uniformed Captains arrived outside Box Jiazi, where they met Wan Youlong’s party and Elder Shui.
• Wan Youlong boasted that Wan Tengyun would defeat Xu Yi and reminded Gao Junmo that Elder Shui had become his son’s godfather.
• Gao Junmo pointed out that Elder Shui was younger than Wan Youlong, then mocked him for having a forty-nine-year-old godfather despite being fifty-three.
• Wan Youlong endured the laughter in silence, while the Black Dragon Hall elders privately regretted seeking the Shui family’s patronage.