Recaps

After refusing Zhang Mazi’s offer, Chen Lin bought supplies and a new flying sword, then decided to stay with Yu Yuehai while awaiting his Foundation Establishment breakthrough. On his way out of the Market, Xu Ruolan, a cultivator he had met before, approached him and revealed she wanted pills to increase her cultivation.

• Zhang Mazi hinted that he knew about the Monstrosity, and Chen Lin left the Zhang Clan Trading Firm troubled by the danger and the family’s recruitment.
• Chen Lin bought pill-refining ingredients and an ordinary flying sword at the Multitreasure Pavilion, then resolved to stay with Yu Yuehai and wait for him to reach Foundation Establishment.
• Xu Ruolan recognized Chen Lin by his smell and led him away from the Market to speak privately.
• Xu Ruolan offered to become Chen Lin’s dual cultivation companion, but he demanded to know what she really wanted.
• Xu Ruolan asked whether Chen Lin had pills or a way to obtain them, and said his recent cultivation progress suggested he had used pills.

Chen Lin traded two Chuyuan Pills to Xu Ruolan for an inherited method for forging the Azure Flood Dragon Halberd. After they parted, Xu Ruolan briefly changed demeanor before her jade pendant glimmered and she hurried away worriedly.

• Xu Ruolan approached Chen Lin after overhearing him discuss pills at the Zhang Clan Trading Firm, and he refused to supply her.
• Xu Ruolan offered her family heirloom, a method for forging a spiritual tool, in exchange for pills to help her reach mid Qi Refinement.
• Chen Lin examined the scroll and agreed to trade two Chuyuan Pills, while warning that they might not guarantee her breakthrough.
• Xu Ruolan accepted the pills, and Chen Lin took the scroll before leaving without exchanging an address.
• Xu Ruolan's aura suddenly changed, but her jade pendant glimmered and she returned to normal before hurrying away worriedly.

Chen Lin used an Enlightenment Pill to make progress in learning Vajra Cover, then discovered that Ye Jingyun knew about his pill-refining and talisman-making abilities. Ye Jingyun gave him a jade slip with a talisman method and asked whether he could make it.

• Chen Lin refined several Enlightenment Pills while Ye Jingyun secretly watched him.
• Chen Lin took an Enlightenment Pill and gained a rough understanding of Vajra Cover before the pain of comprehension was eased by a cool current from his dantian.
• Chen Lin refined another Enlightenment Pill, prompting Ye Jingyun to approach him and introduce herself as a Qi Condensation Level 9 cultivator.
• Ye Jingyun revealed that Yu Yuehai had told her Chen Lin could make Soul-Detaining Talismans, and Chen Lin admitted his success had been luck.
• Ye Jingyun handed Chen Lin a jade slip containing a talisman-making method and asked whether he could make it.

Ye Jingyun asked Chen Lin to make a complex talisman and supplied the materials, strange fire, and training he needed to attempt it. Chen Lin agreed in exchange for her protection, and Ye Jingyun promised him a Storage Bag as a reward if he succeeded.

• Chen Lin told Ye Jingyun that the talisman required true fire and more mana than he could provide, but she said her strange fire and pills could solve those problems.
• Chen Lin agreed to try making the talisman despite his limited skills, and Ye Jingyun asked him to keep the matter secret from Yu Yuehai.
• Ye Jingyun promised to protect Chen Lin from Yu Yuehai and laid out high-grade talisman paper, a brush, ink made from an ink-scaled flood dragon's essence blood, and a clump of cold nether flame.
• Ye Jingyun gave Chen Lin a Jade Slip containing a secret art for controlling spiritual entities and promised him a spare Storage Bag if he made the talisman.
• Ye Jingyun left Chen Lin with the materials and instructions to learn the secret art before studying the talisman-making method.

Chen Lin studied the Spirit-Connection Secret Art and Ye Jingyun’s mysterious talisman method, then began making the talisman with the cold nether flame. After several dangerous failures, he completed one and was left holding a talisman with powerful, obscure fluctuations.

• Ye Jingyun gave Chen Lin ten Spirit Restoring Pills, and he wondered whether the exact number meant she had discovered something.
• Chen Lin learned the Spirit-Connection Secret Art and used it to control the cold nether flame Ye Jingyun had given him.
• Chen Lin studied the unexplained talisman method, took an Enlightenment Pill, and decided to make the talisman for Ye Jingyun.
• Chen Lin’s first attempt exploded, but the talisman brush’s golden hoop shielded his hand from the blast.
• Chen Lin practiced controlling the brush and flame, then made repeated attempts until he completed a black talisman with strange, powerful fluctuations.

Chen Lin claimed the Storage Bag Ye Jingyun promised him and continued studying the Vajra Cover spell while waiting for her. Yu Yuehai returned after reaching Foundation Establishment, gave Chen Lin supplies and warned him about the Enlightenment Pills, while Chen Lin later used Mingqing spiritual water to see the red lines in the sky.

• Chen Lin imprinted the Storage Bag with his spiritual sense, stored his belongings inside it, and concealed it beneath his robe.
• Yu Yuehai entered Chen Lin’s room after successfully reaching Foundation Establishment, and Chen Lin respectfully congratulated him.
• Yu Yuehai warned Chen Lin that prolonged use of the modified Enlightenment Pills could damage his spiritual sea, then gave him Blood Qi Pills and promised to let him leave after one more task.
• Yu Yuehai gave Chen Lin Mingqing spiritual water before leaving with Ye Jingyun, who appeared pleased after Chen Lin nodded to her.
• Chen Lin took an Enlightenment Pill, mastered the Vajra Cover spell, and tested its defense against a Flying Sword.
• After the Bronze Bell rang, Chen Lin used Mingqing spiritual water and saw red lines filling the sky.

Chen Lin prepared for a possible escape from the city while investigating the chaos caused by looted shops. After returning a talisman and other items to Ye Jingyun, he met Xu Ruolan, who sought to trade for another pill, and demanded a barter.

• Chen Lin went to the Inner City Market to buy materials for Thunderbolt Beads and discovered that six shops had been looted overnight.
• Ye Jingyun met Chen Lin privately, accepted the talisman and other items he had made, and warned him to hide their dealings from Yu Yuehai and stay home as the city grew chaotic.
• Chen Lin realized Yu Yuehai had assigned Ye Jingyun to watch him, but wondered why she had revealed her warning and kept her motives secret.
• Xu Ruolan approached Chen Lin to trade for another pill after using the two she had previously obtained without achieving a breakthrough.
• Chen Lin offered to sell his last pill only in exchange for a treasure, and Xu Ruolan arrogantly insisted she would not take advantage of him.

Chen Lin accepted a Sword Formula from Xu Ruolan, received life-saving talismans and a Storage Bag from Yu Yuehai, and studied spells while confined to his room. After learning three more spells, he suffered a sudden pain in his dantian and reached for a Blood Qi Pill.

• Xu Ruolan gave Chen Lin an ancestral Sword Formula in exchange for a Chuyuan Pill, then received a Red Token from a masked woman and headed to the Han Family for protection.
• Chen Lin returned to the courtyard, found Zhao Zhengyuan absent, and reflected on Yu Yuehai's murderous nature and Ye Jingyun's attempt to convey something to him.
• Yu Yuehai visited Chen Lin and gave him a Transmission Talisman, an Earth Escape Talisman, a Liuding Xuanjia Talisman, and a Storage Bag.
• Chen Lin arranged his two Storage Bags, studied the Liuding Xuanjia Talisman, and concluded that the Cold Nether Flame had helped him craft Ye Jingyun's advanced talisman.
• Chen Lin used two Enlightenment Pills to learn the Cleansing Spell, Fireball Spell, and Awe Spell, then convulsed from a sudden pain in his dantian and took out a Blood Qi Pill.

Chen Lin swallowed a Dark Red Pill to quiet the Melanin Insect, then faced Lu Li, who had tracked him down and demanded another Soul-Detaining Talisman. Ye Jingyun intervened by claiming Chen Lin as her accepted disciple, but Lu Li insisted he had to come with him to craft the talisman.

• Chen Lin swallowed the Dark Red Pill, and the pain and discomfort from the Melanin Insect vanished.
• Lu Li found Chen Lin and revealed he had marked him, while Chen continued to deny they knew each other.
• Lu Li threatened Chen with his Black Little Sword, and Chen prepared Vajra Cover and a Transmission Talisman.
• Ye Jingyun arrived and stopped Lu Li from attacking Chen, claiming Chen was her accepted disciple.
• Lu Li insisted on taking Chen away, explaining that he needed Chen to craft a replacement Soul-Detaining Talisman.

Lu Li pressured Chen Lin to craft another Soul-Detaining Talisman, and Ye Jingyun negotiated a Soul-Nourishing Pill and a Mid-Grade Magical Tool as payment. Chen Lin repeatedly failed without using the Soul-Splitting Secret Art, then swallowed the pill as Lu Li watched.

• Lu Li asked Chen Lin to craft a Soul-Detaining Talisman and offered payment after Ye Jingyun demanded a worthwhile reward.
• Lu Li gave Chen Lin a Soul-Nourishing Pill and a dark green Mid-Grade Magical Tool, and Chen agreed to try crafting the talisman.
• Chen Lin asked Ye Jingyun and Lu Li to wait outside, then began making talismans without using the Soul-Splitting Secret Art.
• Chen Lin failed five attempts, and Lu Li complained that Chen was wasting his limited materials.
• Chen Lin took out more talisman paper, swallowed the Soul-Nourishing Pill, and prepared to continue.

Chen Lin deliberately failed to craft Lu Li’s Soul-Detaining Talisman, and Ye Jingyun protected him when Lu Li attacked. After refining the Soul-Nourishing Pill and improving his Thunderbolt Bead crafting, Chen Lin considered combining finished beads into a more powerful device.

• Chen Lin swallowed the Soul-Nourishing Pill and deliberately failed several attempts at crafting Lu Li’s Soul-Detaining Talisman.
• Lu Li attacked Chen Lin, but Ye Jingyun stopped his flying sword and forced him to retreat.
• Chen Lin thanked Ye Jingyun and accepted her as his master, though he remained uncertain about her intentions.
• Chen Lin refined the pill and crafted Enlightenment Pills and Thunderbolt Beads, finding that he could succeed without relying on his talent ability.
• Chen Lin developed a method for modifying the Thunderbolt Bead arrays and decided to test whether he could combine finished beads into a more powerful device.

Chen Lin attempted to combine two Thunderbolt Beads into a stronger, concealed magical tool, moving his work into a deep vegetable cellar to contain any explosion. His first attempt failed with an unexpectedly weak blast, leaving him puzzled about why the combined beads were less powerful than a single one.

• Chen Lin studied the Artifact Refining Grimoire with the help of an Enlightenment Pill, then inscribed array patterns on two Thunderbolt Beads.
• Chen Lin wrapped the beads in dark silver and began inscribing a connecting Magic Array to fuse them into one tool.
• Chen Lin moved the unfinished work into the vegetable cellar and protected himself with a Vajra Cover and a Vajra Talisman.
• Chen Lin connected the array patterns, but the resulting explosion was too weak to break through his protective barrier.
• Chen Lin rejected the idea that the beads were unusually weak and searched for another explanation.

Chen Lin successfully refined larger Thunderbolt Beads by combining ordinary ones, then hid himself away to continue cultivating and study an unusual sword formula. The chapter ended with him considering whether the sword qi’s ability to move within his body could enable a new technique.

• Chen Lin discovered that connecting the array patterns merged the Thunderbolt Beads into a half-finished product, reducing the force of failed attempts, and he successfully made a Thunderbolt No. 2.
• Chen Lin combined his creations into three Thunderbolt No. 2 beads and one Thunderbolt No. 3, while judging that making stronger versions would strain his materials and defenses.
• Chen Lin kept his work secret, posted a secluded-cultivation sign, and spent time refining in the cellar.
• Chen Lin used his remaining Chuyuan Pill ingredients, then studied the unnamed Sword Formula Jade Slip he had obtained from Xu Ruolan.
• Chen Lin learned that the formula formed a strand of sword qi that grew stronger with nurturing and could be released as a hidden attack, and he considered exploiting its ability to move within his body.

Chen Lin endured a painful day of cultivation to form a sword qi embryo, then learned that Yu Yuehai planned to leave that night. Zhao Zhengyuan and two attendants of Ye Jingyun arrived at the courtyard, and Ye Jingyun returned just as Chen Lin began to question Zhao.

• Chen Lin used an Enlightenment Pill to understand the Nameless Sword Formula and painfully refined Spirit Restoring Pills into a sword qi embryo.
• Yu Yuehai interrupted Chen Lin's meditation and ordered him to prepare to leave that night.
• Chen Lin found Zhao Zhengyuan and two young women waiting in the courtyard, and learned Zhao had been rescued by Yu Yuehai.
• The women introduced themselves as Xia Yunshu and Xia Yuqing, attendants to Pavilion Master Ye of Shuiyue Pavilion.
• Ye Jingyun descended from the sky as Chen Lin was about to question Zhao Zhengyuan.

Chen Lin and the others prepared to use Yu Yuehai's five-element array disk when the red lines appeared again. An enormous hazy form manifested above the city, clearer than before, leaving Chen Lin afraid it might notice and correct their abnormalities.

• Ye Jingyun arrived and warned everyone to rest before the expected trouble that night, then went to Yu Yuehai's room.
• Chen Lin packed supplies and continued nurturing his newly condensed sword qi as he waited for midnight.
• Yu Yuehai gathered Chen Lin, Zhao Zhengyuan, the Xia Sisters, and Ye Jingyun around a five-element array disk and assigned each person a corresponding position.
• Yu Yuehai instructed the group to channel mana into the array disk when he gave the signal, while they waited for the red lines to appear.
• A chime sounded from Chen Lin's room as red lines filled the sky and an enormous hazy form appeared above the city, causing Chen Lin to fear it would notice their abnormalities.

Chen Lin and the others endured the monstrosity draining their vitality while Yu Yuehai used the Array Disk to sever their red lines and free them from its control. They escaped toward the city's outskirts, where Chen Lin saw that the unaware cultivators around them were withering and dying.

• A five-colored giant sword formed in the sky and struck the monstrosity's phantom, but the glowing red lines began draining Chen Lin and the others' vitality.
• Yu Yuehai activated the Array Disk with a Black Sphere and blood essence as the ground shook and the giant sword struck the phantom again.
• Yu Yuehai ordered Chen Lin and the others to channel their mana, then used the Array Disk's runes to create a Light Sword that severed their red lines.
• Yu Yuehai gave the exhausted group pills and led them toward the city's outskirts, while Ye Jingyun warned them not to fly or draw the monstrosity's attention.
• Chen Lin saw that cultivators throughout the city had grown gaunt as the red lines drained them, though they remained unaware of what was happening.

Chen Lin and the others fled Kaiyuan City as the monstrosity formed, but Yu Yuehai stopped and activated the Array Disk again. Zhao Zhengyuan attacked Yu Yuehai, revealing his true cultivation, and Ye Jingyun intervened as the axe descended.

• Yu Yuehai handed out Wind-Riving Talismans and led Chen Lin, Ye Jingyun, and the Xia Sisters away from the forming monstrosity.
• Han Yuhe flew past on his Fire Cloud Sword, warned them that the monstrosity had taken form, and urged them to escape its territory.
• Yu Yuehai brought the group aboard his Flying Boat, then stopped as the red lines disappeared and the monstrosity fell silent.
• Yu Yuehai activated the Array Disk with five Large Spirit Stones and the sphere, without using blood or asking the others for mana.
• Zhao Zhengyuan shouted for the others to stop Yu Yuehai, revealed his Qi Condensation late stage cultivation, and struck with an azure-lit axe as Ye Jingyun met it with her Azure Flying Sword.

Yu Yuehai subdued Zhao Zhengyuan, then used a Light Sword to provoke the Monstrosity and defend his group from its red lines. He stopped to prepare for a chance to seize a different spirit, while the Lan Family’s Flying Boat unleashed a larger Light Sword against the creature’s attacks.

• Zhao Zhengyuan knocked away Ye Jingyun’s flying sword, but Yu Yuehai seized his axe and rendered him helpless with an unseen attack.
• Yu Yuehai sent a Light Sword into the Monstrosity’s Phantom Image, enraging it and causing red lines to drain cultivators across the sky.
• Yu Yuehai cut through six red lines targeting his group, took Zhao Zhengyuan aboard the Flying Boat, and led them onward.
• Yu Yuehai stopped and revealed he intended to seize a different spirit, prompting alarm from Ye Jingyun and the Xia Sisters.
• The Lan Family’s Flying Boat formed a larger Light Sword and severed red lines attacking the boat and nearby cultivators.

Chen Lin watched Yu Yuehai help the Five Major Families strike down the monstrosity’s Phantom Image, but the creature quickly reassembled and attacked the patriarchs. The patriarchs were left trapped and withering as their clansmen’s rescue attempts failed.

• The Five Major Families formed a Five-Colored Light Sword that wounded the monstrosity’s Phantom Image, and Yu Yuehai used a night demon to turn his Array Disk sword black and send it after the creature.
• The Black Light Sword struck the Phantom Image, which shattered, prompting five Foundation Establishment cultivators to rush toward the city to seize the treasure.
• Snow began to fall, and the Phantom Image reassembled before the five Foundation Establishment cultivators could claim anything.
• The monstrosity attacked the five patriarchs as they tried to retreat, and its red lines attached to them and began draining their bodies.
• The Five Major Families’ cultivators rushed to rescue their patriarchs, but the monstrosity drained them into husks before they could reach them.

Yu Yuehai released a powerful night demon to recover the five family patriarchs and the monstrosity’s different spirit, then betrayed the demon and sealed it again. After the patriarchs thanked Yu Yuehai and Pavilion Master Ye, Yu Yuehai suddenly attacked them.

• The five family patriarchs ordered their families to flee as the monstrosity devoured their people, and the families retreated.
• Yu Yuehai released a demonic shadow from a black bottle and forced it to agree to retrieve the monstrosity’s different spirit and the five patriarchs.
• The night demon emerged from the monstrosity, seized its different spirit, and brought the five patriarchs back to Yu Yuehai.
• Yu Yuehai handed over the night demon’s Origin Demonic Orb, then violated his Inner Demon Oath and sealed the demon inside the bottle again.
• The five patriarchs thanked Yu Yuehai and Pavilion Master Ye, but Yu Yuehai suddenly attacked them.

Yu Yuehai abducted the five clan heads and Zhao Zhengyuan, then revealed that he planned to refine the clan heads into a Five Sons Connected Heart Pill using the Inverted Five Elements Blood Refining Great Art. Ye Jingyun exposed his crimes, including murdering her father and framing Lu Qingfeng, while Chen Lin prepared for a fight.

• Yu Yuehai subdued the five clan heads and Zhao Zhengyuan, then flew with them and Ye Jingyun to a mountain hollow.
• Ye Jingyun identified Yu Yuehai’s plan to refine the clan heads into a Five Sons Connected Heart Pill, and Yu Yuehai admitted he had a modified formula.
• Ye Jingyun accused Yu Yuehai of intending to use the Inverted Five Elements Blood Refining Great Art, and Yu Yuehai revealed that he had killed her father, taken the Tianyuan Token, and killed Lu Qingfeng.
• Yu Yuehai said Ye Jingyun’s family had driven him to take the inheritance, while Chen Lin watched and prepared to resist.
• The Zhang Family head warned Yu Yuehai that using the Five Sons Connected Heart Pill would bring Heaven’s punishment and amount to suicide.

Yu Yuehai immobilized Chen Lin and the five Lineage heads, revealing his plan to refine them into pills, while the Xia Sisters betrayed Ye Jingyun. As Yu Yuehai faced Zhao Zhengyuan’s surprise attack, Ye Jingyun transformed and unleashed Foundation Establishment-level power.

• Yu Yuehai revealed that he had released the fake Five Elements Immortal Refining Pill formula to manipulate the five Lineage heads, then used talismans to immobilize them and Chen Lin.
• Chen Lin sensed that he could still control the Sword Qi in his dantian and began looking for a chance to escape.
• The Xia Sisters struck Ye Jingyun from behind, but she warned them that Yu Yuehai intended to use them as ingredients too.
• Zhao Zhengyuan broke free of Yu Yuehai’s seal and attacked him with a flying sword, which Yu Yuehai caught.
• Ye Jingyun transformed, growing dark green scales and releasing an aura at the Foundation Establishment level.

Chen Lin used his stacked Thunderbolt No. 4 to blast Yu Yuehai and fled, believing the cultivator was dead. Yu Yuehai later rose from the crater but was killed by a golden light, while Ye Jingyun survived and learned Chen Lin had escaped.

• Yu Yuehai suppressed Ye Jingyun with a sigil and attacked, but her transformation broke its hold and sent him flying toward Chen Lin.
• Chen Lin broke free, hurled Thunderbolt No. 4 at Yu Yuehai, and escaped underground with talismans protecting him from the blast.
• Chen Lin saw the enormous crater, resisted the urge to search for treasures, and ran away.
• Yu Yuehai emerged gravely wounded, furious that his plan and the five clan leaders had been destroyed, then a golden light pierced his shield and killed him.
• Ye Jingyun survived the blast but remained disfigured by the Monster Transformation Talisman, and she found that Chen Lin had disappeared.

After the explosion, Ye Jingyun rescued Han Yuhe and left, while Zhao Zhengyuan also survived and fled. Chen Lin hid in the Barrens, fought a black-spotted tiger, and continued searching for a way out and medicinal herbs.

• Ye Jingyun cut up Yu Yuehai's corpse, took his storage bag, and burned the remains to ashes.
• Ye Jingyun found Han Yuhe alive and gave him a pill, then collected the dead patriarchs' storage bags, confirmed the Xia Sisters were dead, and fled with Han Yuhe.
• Zhao Zhengyuan crawled out of the earth near the crater and scrambled away.
• Chen Lin hid for three days and nights, then killed a black-spotted tiger with his flying sword and buried most of its remains.
• Chen Lin gathered medicinal herbs while wandering the Barrens, where he was lost but found few dangerous beasts.

After escaping the bizarre place, Chen Lin resumed cultivating and found a glowing red fruit guarded by a powerful snake. He killed the snake with Thunderbolt Beads and returned to the pool, where the fruit remained within reach.

• Chen Lin confirmed his talent ability still worked, took a pill, and cultivated while searching for a way out of the forest.
• After half a month of traveling and fighting monster beasts, Chen Lin found a glowing fruit hanging over a pool inside a cave.
• Chen Lin used an ordinary Thunderbolt Bead to draw a powerful Dark Green Large Snake out of the pool.
• Chen Lin lured the snake into the narrow passage and killed it with a Thunderbolt No. 2 and a barrage of ordinary Thunderbolt Beads.
• Chen Lin stored the snake's nourishing flesh, cleared the rubble, and returned to the pool.