Recaps

Chen Shouyi killed the five barbarians who stood against him, then faced the terrifying presence of the Tree God and escaped the Small Island by taking its canoes. He left the island with one more barbarian killed, while the survivors fled farther out to sea.

• Chen Shouyi shot and killed the five barbarians who had stayed to face him.
• The Tree God sent a gale and oppressive aura toward Chen Shouyi, but the effect weakened near the sea and then faded.
• The Tree God realized its powers could only frighten Chen Shouyi, while its shaman warned the tribe to stay away from the Great Sea.
• Chen Shouyi recovered his arrows, searched the island’s coast, and found two more fishing canoes.
• Chen Shouyi took the canoes out to sea and killed one person from a canoe, but the other canoe escaped farther offshore.

After returning from the barbarian island, Chen Shouyi practiced the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms and investigated the source of the island’s overwhelming aura in the Memory Space. He found the colossal Holy Tree and plunged his consciousness into it, only to lose control of his mind.

• Chen Shouyi returned with Shell Girl and the captured dugout canoe, reflecting on the slaughter and the Mysterious Power on the island.
• Chen Shouyi practiced the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms in the Otherworld and sensed the abundant Mysterious Power, while his will reached 119.
• Chen Shouyi entered the Gray Mist Space and revisited the memory of the aura that had swept across the island.
• Chen Shouyi flew through the forest in the Memory Space and found a colossal tree hundreds of meters tall, which he identified as the likely Holy Tree.
• Chen Shouyi plunged his consciousness into the Holy Tree, and an explosion-like force made him lose his hold on it.

After Chen Shouyi failed to enter the mysterious giant tree’s memories, he discovered that he could control air currents and found the ability listed as Atmospheric Control (Weak). The chapter ended with Shell Girl hiding a large glass marble after Chen Shouyi rewarded her for finding a gold nugget.

• Chen Shouyi tried twice to enter the giant tree in the Gray Mist Space, but its aura flung his consciousness away and left him mentally exhausted.
• After recovering, Chen Shouyi sensed and redirected nearby air currents, then found Atmospheric Control (Weak) on his Status Panel.
• Chen Shouyi practiced controlling the air and managed to form a small, crooked vortex in his palm.
• Shell Girl called Chen Shouyi over after finding a heavy natural gold nugget, which he picked up and weighed.
• Chen Shouyi gave Shell Girl a large glass marble as a reward, and she flew away to hide it in the grass.

Chen Shouyi discovered that intense focus let his Control Atmosphere ability reduce air resistance during sword thrusts, and one strike produced a faint green cone of Qi. Back in Dongning City, he found police removing more than twenty bodies of teenage girls from a nearby office building, and heard that a cult had killed them in a ritual.

• Chen Shouyi realized that focusing his mind weakened the air resistance against his sword and made his thrusts faster.
• Chen Shouyi produced a pale green, cone-shaped Qi with an exceptionally focused strike, but the effort left him mentally exhausted.
• Chen Shouyi left the other world and returned to a power-stricken Dongning City.
• Chen Shouyi found police carrying numerous bodies from an office building near his home.
• Chen Shouyi heard that more than twenty teenage girls had been killed in a cult ritual and feared that cult activity had returned.

Chen Shouyi worried about his sister after a deadly incident and learned that Chen Xingyue had escaped a cultists’ ritual where her friends were killed. He was left consumed by rage at the cultists and the danger facing his family.

• Chen Shouyi watched the Third Investigation Department take over the scene, then hurried home worried about his sister.
• Chen Shouyi reflected on the threat posed by the Otherworld and was relieved when Mother Chen confirmed Chen Xingyue had returned safely.
• Chen Xingyue attacked Chen Shouyi with her sword, then broke down and told him Zhang Qianru and Lu Shuoyuan were dead.
• Chen Xingyue explained that cultists had lured the three friends to a ritual site, where she escaped through a window while Zhang Qianru and Lu Shuoyuan remained behind.
• Chen Shouyi realized that Martial Artists had been among the cultists and felt fierce rage as he heard how his sister had escaped.

Chen Shouyi told his family that Chen Xingyue was in danger and that they had to leave Dongning City that night. He revealed his martial-artist strength to reassure his parents, then found Shell Girl alive in his crushed briefcase as the family prepared to flee.

• Mother Chen and Chen Dawei discussed worsening business and their worry about money they had invested in private loans.
• Chen Shouyi and Chen Xingyue came downstairs armed with swords, and Chen Shouyi explained that people were watching their home after Chen Xingyue escaped a deadly incident and exposed information to the police.
• Chen Shouyi said the family had to leave Dongning City that night, and Chen Dawei confirmed the car had enough gas for the journey.
• Chen Shouyi demonstrated his swordsmanship by slicing a corner off the dining table and told his parents he was a martial artist.
• Mother Chen and Chen Dawei packed the family’s belongings, including Chen Shouyi’s bow and arrows.
• Chen Shouyi retrieved his flattened briefcase from his backpack and found Shell Girl frightened but unharmed inside.

Chen Shouyi killed the two men watching his family’s home, then reassured his family and led them out to flee. The family drove away in a crowded van, hoping to reach safety.

• Brother Xu and his companion waited to attack Chen Shouyi’s family in the name of the God of Hunting.
• Chen Shouyi appeared in the lane and killed Brother Xu and the other man with a chopstick.
• Chen Shouyi returned home and told his family that no one was watching them anymore.
• Chen Shouyi reassured Mother Chen that he had only knocked the men unconscious, while Chen Xingyue understood that he had killed them.
• Chen Dawei led the family out through the back door, and they drove away in their loaded van.

Chen Shouyi’s family was ambushed on the road to Pingqiu City, and he fought off the attackers before facing their skilled leader. He defeated the man in black, who collapsed with a fatal wound.

• Chen Shouyi urged his parents to drive faster as the family traveled toward Pingqiu City, then warned Chen Xingyue to stay alert when a car approached from behind.
• Gunmen shattered the family car’s rear window and shot at them, so Chen Shouyi ordered his family to stay down and prepared to fight.
• Chen Shouyi leapt from the car and used his War Bow to kill or wound the attackers in the pursuing vehicle.
• A muscular man in black emerged from the car and challenged Chen Shouyi to a sword fight.
• Chen Shouyi used his faster reflexes to outmaneuver the man in black and cut him open, leaving him to collapse on the road.

After Chen Shouyi killed the attackers, he and his family fled toward Pingqiu City and decided to hide near Changmen Town. They abandoned and burned their bullet-riddled car before setting off on foot with their belongings.

• Chen Shouyi finished off the wounded man in black, retrieved the arrows and weapons, and returned to the car as his family waited.
• Chen Shouyi examined the black-clad man's Long Sword and kept it after comparing it with his damaged sword.
• As they neared Pingqiu City, Chen Shouyi told Chen Dawei to avoid the city and stop near Changmen Town.
• Chen Shouyi persuaded his parents to abandon the car because its bullet holes could expose them, and he comforted Chen Xingyue when she blamed herself for the attack.
• Chen Shouyi set the car on fire with Chen Dawei's lighter, and the family left with their belongings.

After escaping the burning car, the Chen family found a cheap inn and tried to settle in for the night. Chen Shouyi reflected on his lack of status and studied the black-clad man’s fighting technique before exhaustion overcame him.

• Chen Dawei threw the car’s license plate into a river, and the family avoided suspicion when a patrol officer stopped them.
• Chen Dawei secured three rooms at an inn, where Mother Chen and Father Chen comforted Chen Xingyue.
• Chen Shouyi lamented that his lack of registration and social standing had left his family vulnerable, then wondered when Martial Apprentice exams would resume.
• Chen Shouyi checked on Shell Girl, found her unharmed and hungry, and fed her honey mixed with hot water.
• Chen Shouyi reviewed his fight with the man in black in the Memory Space and studied the man’s coordination and muscle control before falling asleep.

Chen Shouyi’s family rented a new home, and his mother worried about where he had gotten his money and weapons, while his father urged him to keep to the law. Later, Chen Shouyi tested the faint powers he retained on Earth and wondered whether he had discovered Sword Qi.

• Chen Shouyi accompanied his parents to rent a house, and Mother Chen negotiated the monthly rent down to one thousand yuan.
• The family spent the day buying necessities, and Chen Shouyi told Mother Chen he had nearly ten thousand yuan and some gold.
• Mother Chen questioned Chen Shouyi about the gold, bow, and sword, and he claimed he had found natural gold and sold some of it.
• Chen Dawei stopped Mother Chen’s questioning and told Chen Shouyi not to do anything illegal.
• Chen Shouyi tested his faint atmospheric power with a candle, then used his sword near tofu and found a deep, narrow cut that might have been Sword Qi.

Chen Shouyi tested a new mental power, then spent several days fishing while watching for suspicious people connected to the highway killings. He learned that someone had been asking about the burned car and realized cultists were searching for the mysterious martial artist, leaving him uneasy.

• Chen Shouyi discovered that his sword could cut through a candle, paper, and chopsticks with a force that drained his mind.
• Chen Shouyi disguised himself and went fishing near the burned car, keeping watch for suspicious people.
• Chen Shouyi read a report about the highway killings and learned from the farmstay owner's son that someone had asked about the car.
• Chen Shouyi concluded that cultists were searching for the martial artist involved in the killings and left the fishing spot early.
• Chen Shouyi returned home with a fish and passed the landlady's daughter, who complained that he had stared at her.

Chen Shouyi calmed Shell Girl’s demand to return to Small Island by giving her a Crystal Ball, then comforted Chen Xingyue and taught her an easier, improved version of the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms. The chapter ended with Chen Xingyue agreeing to keep the modified forms secret.

• Shell Girl grew angry when Chen Shouyi said they would not go to Small Island for at least ten days, and he distracted her with a Crystal Ball.
• Shell Girl mistook the Snow White figure inside the Crystal Ball for a real creature and hid in terror until Chen Shouyi broke the ball and showed her the doll.
• Chen Shouyi heard Chen Xingyue training and visited her, where she admitted she felt too weak to help anyone.
• Chen Shouyi demonstrated a simpler improved version of the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms and taught Chen Xingyue its first form.
• Chen Shouyi warned Chen Xingyue to keep the modified forms secret, and she agreed.

Chen Shouyi reported a Space Channel in Dongning City and spent ten days training as conditions improved. After Ningzhou announced a Martial Apprentice examination, he left for the city and ended up traveling alongside Zhou Xue, a proud young examinee.

• Chen Shouyi reported the hidden Space Channel to the Changmen Town Police Station and hung up before registering his information.
• Over ten peaceful days of training, Chen Shouyi raised his attributes and grew confident he could defeat the man in black.
• Chen Shouyi learned that power had returned to Ningzhou and that a Martial Apprentice examination would be held in two days, then told his parents he planned to take it.
• Chen Shouyi's parents and Chen Xingyue saw him off, and the landlady revealed that her daughter Zhou Xue was also traveling to the examination.
• Chen Shouyi and Zhou Xue met at the bus stop, exchanged brief introductions, and boarded the bus, where Zhou Xue objected to him sitting beside her.

Chen Shouyi and Zhou Xue traveled to Ningzhou for the Martial Arts Assessment, where they encountered signs that electricity shortages were pushing factories back toward steam power. After a tense search for affordable lodging, they checked into a hotel, with Zhou Xue firmly denying that they were a couple.

• Chen Shouyi watched Ningzhou's smoke-belching factories and worried that civilization was declining as electricity became scarce.
• Chen Shouyi and Zhou Xue shared a taxi to the Martial Arts Assessment Center, where the driver said the assessment requirements might be lowered.
• Chen Shouyi paid the expensive fare, and Zhou Xue demanded her share and carefully counted how much he still owed her.
• Chen Shouyi offered to pay for Zhou Xue's hotel, but she reacted coldly, and he apologized after realizing he had upset her.
• Chen Shouyi and Zhou Xue eventually found an affordable hotel, where Zhou Xue denied being Chen Shouyi's girlfriend and booked a single room.

Chen Shouyi settled into his room in Ningzhou, read news about escalating crises, and learned that investigators suspected the victims of a highway murder were cultists. After giving Shell Girl her Crystal Ball, he played her favorite cartoon, leaving her quietly watching it.

• Chen Shouyi found that the television had no signal but used the computer to read news about national security, global unrest, and cult activity.
• Chen Shouyi invited Zhou Xue to lunch, but she said she had already eaten, so he went to a nearby buffet alone.
• A Ningzhou investigator reported that the highway murder victims were martial artists with no known links, and his superior ordered their families taken into custody while dismissing the search for another Martial Artist.
• Chen Shouyi returned to his room, checked for surveillance devices, and gave Shell Girl the Crystal Ball.
• Shell Girl recognized the computer screen as a chance to watch Beiqi, so Chen Shouyi opened the cartoon and found her sitting quietly on the bed.

Chen Shouyi refined his swordsmanship and went with Zhou Xue to take the martial arts assessment. The crowded assessment was moved to a concealed Space Channel at a military site, and Chen Shouyi followed the examiners inside.

• Chen Shouyi absorbed the black-clad man's combat experience and raised his swordsmanship to Proficient (18).
• Chen Shouyi and Zhou Xue ate breakfast together before heading to the Martial Arts Assessment Center.
• An examiner announced that the assessment had been moved because of the large crowd, and the examinees boarded buses.
• The buses carried Chen Shouyi and the examinees through a military checkpoint to a massive cave containing a concealed Space Channel.
• A little over ten examinees withdrew after hearing that the assessment would take place inside the Space Channel, while Chen Shouyi and Zhou Xue stayed.

Chen Shouyi waited to take the revised Martial Apprentice exam, which sent examinees through a heavily fortified passageway into the otherworld to hunt aggressive seabirds. After seeing the first batch return with injuries but no deaths, he entered the next batch with Zhou Xue.

• The examiners led the candidates through a fortified cave and announced that they would enter the otherworld in batches, armed with real bows and cold weapons.
• Chen Shouyi learned that the exam now required candidates to hunt one highly aggressive seabird on a small island, and that killing one would be enough to pass.
• The first examinees returned with injuries, and five Martial Apprentices were carried out with broken legs, but no one had died.
• The examiners warned candidates that the exam was risky, but no one withdrew.
• Chen Shouyi joined the second batch and followed Zhou Xue toward the passageway.

Chen Shouyi joined the Otherworld survival test and tried to hide his strength, but his skill became obvious when he killed attacking gray birds. He helped Zhou Xue survive her turn, and the examiner let her pass despite warning that Chen Shouyi’s intervention counted as cheating.

• Chen Shouyi entered the Otherworld, collected weapons, and joined an examiner’s group heading to a beach where aggressive gray birds tested the candidates.
• Chen Shouyi passed the first round by shooting a bird, then cut another attacking bird in half with his Long Sword, revealing his speed to the examiner.
• Several candidates failed in later rounds, while Zhou Xue hesitated before taking her turn and then missed her shot, drawing two birds toward her.
• Chen Shouyi shot one bird to draw it away from Zhou Xue, then killed it with a second arrow as Zhou Xue pierced the other bird with her sword.
• The examiner told Chen Shouyi that his help counted as cheating, but allowed Zhou Xue to pass because she had killed a bird herself.

After earning his Martial Apprentice certificate, Chen Shouyi left for Hedong and encountered a mysterious young man on the train who seemed to be an otherworldly powerhouse. The man escaped surveillance by leaping from the elevated bridge, leaving Chen Shouyi shaken and uncertain about what he had witnessed.

• Chen Shouyi and Zhou Xue returned to the Martial Arts Assessment Center, where they completed the procedures and received their certificates.
• Chen Shouyi told Zhou Xue he would travel to Hedong to reassure his parents, then left for the high-speed rail station.
• Chen Shouyi found a young man in his train seat and learned that the stranger recognized the Common Tongue and sensed his strength.
• The young man spoke of an approaching war and made the train attendant and railway police pass by without noticing him.
• The young man shattered the carriage window and disappeared by leaping from the elevated bridge, while Chen Shouyi watched from the train.

Chen Shouyi survived a terrifying encounter with a mysterious young man aboard the train, then answered railway police questions about the broken window. He arrived in Hedong City and headed for the Martial Arts Assessment Center, learning that smaller cities might wait years for electricity.

• A mysterious young man vanished after shattering the train window, leaving Chen Shouyi shaken and relieved to have escaped death.
• Chen Shouyi pushed through the crowd and confronted a bespectacled passenger who accused him of breaking the window.
• Railway police showed the passengers surveillance footage of the mysterious man and questioned Chen Shouyi about his encounter with him.
• Chen Shouyi got off at Hedong High-speed Rail West Station and took a taxi to the Martial Arts Assessment Center.
• Chen Shouyi learned from the taxi driver that Hedong had regained electricity five days earlier and that smaller cities could wait years for power.

After a dangerous encounter with a mysterious presence in his Memory Space, Chen Shouyi went to register for the martial arts assessment in Hedong City. He proved his strength to a skeptical staff member and successfully proceeded with registration.

• Chen Shouyi entered the train scene in his Memory Space and was violently thrown out when a mysterious presence seemed to notice him.
• He returned to the scene and found the mysterious man replaced by a dim shadow that he could neither see clearly nor remember.
• The next morning, Chen Shouyi arrived at the Hedong City Martial Arts Assessment Center to register for the assessment.
• A staff member questioned whether Chen Shouyi was ready to take the assessment because he had received his Martial Apprentice certificate only the day before.
• Chen Shouyi demonstrated the Forward Lunge Stab, accidentally wrecking a coffee table, and the staff member agreed to register him.

Chen Shouyi searched for somewhere quiet to practice swordsmanship and found an abandoned house in a downtown alley. After training there, he learned from an elderly woman that the house was supposedly haunted.

• Chen Shouyi completed the procedures for his martial artist assessment, scheduled his physical test for the next morning, and bought a practice sword.
• Chen Shouyi realized he needed a quiet place to practice and found an abandoned house in a narrow alley.
• Chen Shouyi jumped into the overgrown courtyard and practiced swordsmanship at high speed.
• An elderly woman warned Chen Shouyi that the house was haunted and asked whether he valued his life.
• Chen Shouyi told the woman he was not afraid of ghosts.

Chen Shouyi investigated a supposedly haunted house but found no sign of a Space Channel. At a martial artist examination center the next morning, he learned that a heretical cult blood sacrifice in Dongning City had killed more than a hundred people, leaving him worried about everyone he knew there.

• Chen Shouyi heard an old woman recount how a maid had died in the house and how its later residents had become ill and died.
• Chen Shouyi searched the abandoned house, found no trace of a Space Channel, and left after feeling an oppressive chill inside.
• Chen Shouyi practiced his sword in the yard and returned to his hotel.
• Chen Shouyi arrived at the martial artist examination section and heard applicants discuss training rooms connected to the Other World.
• A middle-aged man told Chen Shouyi that a heretical cult blood sacrifice had killed more than a hundred people in Dongning City, which was now under lockdown.
• Chen Shouyi worried about his uncle's family, classmates, friends, and Zhang Xiaoxiao in Dongning City.

Chen Shouyi took the Martial Artist assessment in Hedong City and easily surpassed the standards in every test. He passed the first round and was told to attend the practical assessment in five days.

• Three Martial Arts Notary staff arrived and led the applicants into the testing hall.
• A notary questioned Chen Shouyi's eligibility because he had passed the Martial Apprentice test only two days earlier, but the director allowed him to try.
• Chen Shouyi punched at 385 meters per second, far exceeding the passing standard, and the notary apologized for misjudging him.
• Chen Shouyi passed the running and Stab Small Balls tests with ease, then passed the strength test.
• The assessment ended with only twenty percent of applicants passing, and the notaries announced that the practical assessment would take place in five days.