Recaps

Feng Yue explained that the Azure Dragon Gang made core disciples take Dragon Tiger Pills to boost their cultivation and train their willpower, and Ye Li swallowed one despite his doubts. As Ye Li endured its effects without losing his composure, Lu Xiuyuan emerged from his own ordeal delighted with the gang’s training and his prospects.

• Feng Yue told Ye Li that Dragon Tiger Pills were cheap cultivation aids and that core disciples had to take one daily for half a year.
• Feng Yue pointed out that Lu Xiuyuan had succumbed to the pill’s effects, and Ye Li reluctantly swallowed a Dragon Tiger Pill.
• Ye Li practiced Azure Dragon Force as the pill’s heat rose through him, thinking that he really was huge.
• Lu Xiuyuan came out of a room after half an hour and celebrated his training, imagining that his strength would win Xiao Fang’s affection.
• Feng Yue watched Ye Li regulate his blood and qi, marveling that he had stayed composed while Ye Li struggled with heat and vivid illusions.

Ye Li resisted the Dragon Tiger Pill’s hallucinations and used its power to greatly accelerate his cultivation. After learning how many pills he could safely take, he asked Feng Yue for a dozen, leaving Feng Yue stunned.

• Ye Li fought off the pill’s seductive visions by thinking of harsh realities, then focused on controlling his surging Qi and blood.
• Feng Yue wondered how Ye Li had regained his composure, while Lu Xiuyuan left in irritation; Feng Yue reflected on the gang’s debate over which young fighter to support.
• The gang leader had arranged their meeting to evaluate Ye Li and pressure both gifted young men, with personal training for Ye Li possible if he proved himself.
• After two hours of cultivation, Ye Li checked his progress and found that the Dragon Tiger Pill had earned him six experience points.
• Ye Li asked Feng Yue about the safe daily limit, learned it was usually around three pills, and requested a dozen to keep on hand.

Ye Li collected Dragon Tiger Pills and refused Feng Yue and San Niang’s invitations, then learned how his ten Azure Dragon Gang shops were protected. Feng Yue introduced him to the gang members assigned to the shops and explained that Ye Li only needed to intervene when they could not handle trouble.

• Ye Li asked Feng Yue for more than a dozen Dragon Tiger Pills and agreed to take at least one each day under supervision.
• San Niang gave Ye Li ten pills and teased him, but he politely rejected her invitation.
• Feng Yue took Ye Li to Yunjin Street and explained the income and protection duties tied to his ten shops.
• Feng Yue pointed out that ordinary gang members handled minor disturbances at Wanchuan restaurant, leaving Ye Li free to focus on cultivation.
• Peng Ke introduced himself to Ye Li and promised that the gang members would handle the street’s affairs for him.

Ye Li asked Feng Yue about the Azure Dragon Gang’s businesses and learned that its usury operation offered loans to members. He borrowed a thousand taels at a discounted rate to buy Body Tempering Pills, intending to use his rapid cultivation to qualify for larger loans.

• Ye Li politely met Peng Ke, and Feng Yue sent Peng away after advising Ye Li to use his help while keeping him in line.
• Ye Li asked Feng Yue about the gang’s businesses and was surprised to learn it charged about fifty percent annual interest on loans.
• Ye Li told Feng Yue he wanted to borrow tens of thousands of taels so he could buy a Body-Tempering Pill each day.
• Feng Yue took Ye Li to Wantong Textile, where Ji Yu offered him a thousand taels at thirty percent annual interest because he was a core disciple with a steady income.
• Ye Li accepted the loan immediately and privately planned to advance through the Body Tempering Realm, borrow more, and eventually reach the Post-Heaven Realm.

Ye Li planned to turn a promised thousand taels into cultivation resources and headed to Yunjin Street, where he passed a man publicly criticizing the government. At Chuangyuan Martial Hall, Wei Chi watched Ye Li and considered killing for resources again, but worries about unrest in Guangming City made him hesitate.

• Ji Yu recorded Ye Li's request for one thousand taels and said he would apply for the money, which should arrive the next day.
• Ye Li calculated that buying pills and cultivating consistently could help him reach the middle stage within forty days, and resolved to find other funding if necessary.
• Ye Li headed to Yunjin Street and decided to take Dragon Tiger Pills only at night because of their effects on Niu Da.
• Ye Li saw a white-clad swordsman publicly denounce corruption and gangs, then hurried past without getting involved.
• Wei Chi, secretly much stronger than his instructor believed, watched Ye Li and calculated that he needed outside resources to advance.
• Wei Chi recalled killing a Lone Wolf Gang martial artist for money and a fist manual, considered doing it again, then hesitated because Guangming City had grown dangerous.

The Azure Dragon Gang elders debated Ye Li’s loan and whether to support him as a promising disciple amid the Li Family threat and the gang’s shortage of successors. Ye Li learned that he could keep the thousand taels if he reached the middle stage of the Body Tempering Realm within five months.

• Feng Yue reported to Yang Shichang and the elders that Ye Li had borrowed a large sum through the gang’s bank after meeting Lu Xiuyuan.
• Yang Shichang argued that withholding support could alienate Ye Li and leave him vulnerable to the Li Family, while Wang Luhe opposed granting him special treatment.
• The elders agreed to give Ye Li the thousand-tael loan without interest and set a test: he had to reach the middle stage of the Body Tempering Realm within five months or repay the principal.
• Ye Li went to Wantong Textile the next morning, where Ji Yu and Feng Yue told him the condition, and he was delighted by the chance to keep the money.

Ye Li accepted Elder Yang Shichang’s cultivation challenge and a thousand taels, then learned why the Azure Dragon Gang urgently needed young disciples. Near Spring Return Alley, he watched Li San Niang force Dragon Tiger Pills on a struggling disciple before approaching her for a pill himself.

• Ji Yu considered Elder’s five-month Body Tempering requirement difficult, while Ye Li accepted it in exchange for a thousand taels.
• Ye Li resolved to use his resources and [World-Shocking Wisdom] to meet the requirement and realized the Elder had been watching him.
• Feng Yue told Ye Li that Elder Yang Shichang had argued for him and explained how the Poison Wolf Gang ambush had killed the Azure Dragon Gang’s three blue-tag students.
• Ye Li learned that the gang had tightened its requirements for future core disciples and joked that the Gang Leader had no personal disciple to inherit his burden.
• Ye Li saw Li San Niang overpower a young disciple named Wang and force a Dragon Tiger Pill into his mouth.
• San Niang offered to feed Ye Li a pill, and he silently held out his hand for her to give him one.

Ye Li tested the Dragon Tiger Pill’s effects, then visited Hundred Treasures Hall to buy Body Tempering Pills and consider armor. The mysterious girl running the hall noticed that her Fate-Measuring Bell went silent near him and wondered about his extraordinary rank.

• Ye Li endured the Dragon Tiger Pill’s effects and saw his body-refining progress increase.
• Ye Li went to Hundred Treasures Hall and bought thirty Body Tempering Pills from the girl in apricot-yellow.
• The girl offered Ye Li an Essence-Locking Yuan Technique, but he declined and considered buying Silver Scale Armor or heavier full-body armor.
• After Ye Li left, the girl discussed his mysterious nature with an old man and wondered whether his rank was purple or higher because the Fate-Measuring Bell fell silent near him.

Ye Li perfected Azure Dragon Force after three days of intense cultivation and discovered that perfecting a technique could grant him a trait enhancement. He left the chapter choosing among three combat traits and wondering what other techniques might unlock.

• Ye Li returned home after visiting the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, then spent two days cultivating while the core disciples suffered the Dragon Tiger Pill's effects.
• Ye Li realized that [World-Shocking Wisdom] adapted Azure Dragon Force in stages, eventually making it uniquely suited to his body.
• Ye Li practiced through the night and pushed Azure Dragon Force to twenty times its experience limit, perfecting the technique and lowering his realm's experience requirement.
• Ye Li discovered that perfecting Azure Dragon Force unlocked a specialized trait enhancement and presented him with three options: strength, defense, or speed.
• Ye Li considered whether perfecting the apricot-yellow-dressed girl's Solid Essence and Lock Yuan Technique could grant him a virility-enhancing trait.

Ye Li chose the [Swiftness] entry and discovered that focusing activated a 15% acceleration of his whole body, which could speed up cultivation as well as movement. He decided to seek out more techniques to awaken additional entries and planned to train the Nine Chapters Fist Manual while pursuing the Azure Dragon Gang’s library.

• Ye Li rejected [Great Strength] and [Thick Armor], then selected [Swiftness] from the three available entries.
• Ye Li activated [Swiftness] and experienced the world slowing as his body accelerated, allowing him to leap more than ten meters.
• Ye Li realized the entry could shorten cultivation time and accelerate other activities, but its effect stopped when he lost focus.
• Ye Li reconsidered his plan to focus solely on the Azure Dragon Force and decided to collect and perfect different techniques to test how entries were awakened.
• Ye Li set his sights on the Azure Dragon Gang’s library and planned to advance the Nine Chapters Fist Manual while continuing his cultivation.

Ye Li sent his uncle, aunt, and cousin away to keep them safe, then returned to the Azure Dragon Gang to approach Gang Leader Zheng Tong. He left Zheng curious by claiming he had brought a gift and congratulations, without yet revealing either.

• Ye Li entrusted Wang Ganshi with escorting Ye Cunmang, Ning Qiu, and Ye Duo to another city, and promised to bring them back once he became powerful.
• Ye Li parted from his family and headed to the Azure Dragon Gang, determined to use its resources to grow stronger and contend with the Li Family.
• Ye Li entered the Gang Leader's Mansion using Yang Shichang's personal token and met Zheng Tong.
• Ye Li told Zheng Tong he had come to present a gift and offer congratulations, making the Gang Leader curious about what he meant.

Ye Li demonstrated a revised version of Azure Dragon Force that impressed Zheng Tong, then asked the gang leader to take him as his disciple. Zheng Tong was surprised by the request but began considering it after recognizing Ye Li as a genius.

• Ye Li demonstrated a cultivation technique to Zheng Tong, who recognized that it surpassed the Azure Dragon Gang's Azure Dragon Force.
• Ye Li revealed that the technique was a revised version of Azure Dragon Force and explained some of his changes.
• Ye Li stopped explaining the revisions, then claimed the gang had gained a top-tier martial arts genius in himself.
• Ye Li asked Zheng Tong, who had no children, to take him as his disciple so he could care for him in his old age.
• Zheng Tong was surprised by Ye Li's request but seriously considered it because Ye Li had impressed him.

Ye Li persuaded Zheng Tong to take him as a student by pledging to reach mid-stage body tempering within two months. He left the gang leader’s residence keeping the agreement secret, determined to fulfill his pledge.

• Zheng Tong recognized Ye Li’s extraordinary comprehension and offered to take him as a student if he reached mid-stage body tempering within four months.
• Ye Li vowed to break through within two months, and Zheng Tong sealed their agreement with a palm strike and promised to announce Ye Li as his last closed-door student if he succeeded.
• Ye Li left Zheng Tong’s residence satisfied, believing his new relationship with the gang leader would help resolve his difficulties within the gang.
• Feng Yue asked Ye Li whether his request had succeeded, and Ye Li concealed the agreement while thanking Elder Yang for his offer of help.

Ye Li advanced rapidly in the Nine Chapters Fist Manual while considering how much more experience to invest to awaken a trait. In Qing State, a seven-day divination about the Golden Trait in the Southern Border ended with an unexplained string of numbers and an X.

• Ye Li trained in the Nine Chapters Fist Manual and approached its 500-point perfection threshold after gaining a 15% training-efficiency boost from his [Green] trait.
• Ye Li planned to test whether the ordinary martial art could awaken a trait, setting 2,000 experience as his limit before shifting his focus back to realm advancement.
• On Dragon Tiger Mountain, Celestial Master Zhang completed a seven-day divination about the Golden Trait in the Southern Border.
• The chief eunuch delivered the divination results to the emperor and court officials in Qinzheng Hall.
• The emperor and chancellor found only the characters and digits “35220...6661X” on the divination paper.

The Great Qing court failed to decipher Celestial Master Zhang’s code identifying the owner of the Golden Trait, so Prime Minister Yan proposed three strategies to draw the hidden prodigy out. The emperor ordered the court to begin covert searches and send prodigies to the Southern Barbarian Region, while delaying the martial arts tournament until the target had grown.

• The chief eunuch explained that Celestial Master Zhang’s string of numbers and symbols uniquely pointed to the owner of the Golden Trait, but the emperor and ministers could not decipher it.
• The emperor ordered the divination archived and directed hidden agents in the Southern Barbarian Region to investigate anything connected to the code.
• Prime Minister Yan argued that the Golden Trait’s owner would be drawn into major events and proposed using talent from across the Five Regions to flush them out.
• Prime Minister Yan presented three strategies: hold a martial arts tournament, send Great Qing prodigies to train in the Southern Barbarian Region, and use Heavenly Supervision Bureau agents to search secretly.
• The emperor approved the plan but agreed to postpone the tournament for several years, ordering the court to begin the other two strategies immediately.

Ye Li completed the Nine Chapters Fist Manual and achieved major accomplishment in Clear Force as he continued cultivating under a growing sense of danger. Meanwhile, Lu Xiuyuan’s drinking companions plotted to kill Ye Li to protect Lu’s standing in the Azure Dragon Gang, and Lu agreed to let them handle it.

• Ye Li completed the Nine Chapters Fist Manual, concentrated his force into a deep palm print in bluestone, and reached major accomplishment in Clear Force.
• Ye Li realized his focused force could overcome the Qi-Blood Networks of martial artists in the same realm, then returned to cultivation despite sensing danger nearby.
• At Yueyang Pavilion, Lu Xiuyuan’s fellow Azure Dragon Gang core students celebrated his breakthrough and heard him worry that Ye Li would surpass him.
• Qian Luoxin proposed secretly killing Ye Li, arguing that removing him would secure Lu Xiuyuan’s position in the gang.
• After Qian Luoxin invoked Miss Xiao Fang, Lu Xiuyuan agreed to leave the plan to the others.

After reaching Clear Force perfection and developing traits that enhanced his speed and thinking, Ye Li sensed seven core disciples waiting outside his courtyard to kill him. He lured them into revealing their plan, then confronted them alone and launched his counterattack.

• Ye Li perfected the Nine Chapters Fist Manual, chose the [Ingenuity] trait, and found that it stacked with [Swiftness] when he focused.
• Ye Li sensed seven Body Tempering martial artists outside his courtyard and pretended not to notice them.
• Qian Luoxin and Lu Xiuyuan planned to kill Ye Li and blame the Poison Wolf Gang, then waited for him to fall asleep.
• Ye Li slipped out through the back courtyard and overheard the attackers' plan before they entered his main room.
• Ye Li kicked open the courtyard gate, confronted the seven men, and used his stacked traits to charge into their formation.

Ye Li overwhelmed Qian Luoxin’s group in the Changyuan Street courtyard, killing Qian and crippling or incapacitating several attackers. As Lu Xiuyuan and Guo Chen tried to escape over the wall, Ye Li seized Guo Chen’s ankle and dragged him back.

• Qian Luoxin ordered his men to attack Ye Li, and Wang Chuanxi struck at Ye Li’s ribs from the side.
• Ye Li shattered Wang Chuanxi’s arm, then disarmed another attacker and severed his wrist and ankle tendons.
• Ye Li killed Qian Luoxin with a slash to the throat after Qian tried to claim the attack had been a misunderstanding.
• Ye Li crushed two more attackers’ chests with his fists, leaving them unconscious.
• Lu Xiuyuan and Guo Chen leaped toward the courtyard wall, but Ye Li grabbed Guo Chen’s ankle and pulled him back.

Ye Li defeated seven Azure Dragon Gang disciples who ambushed him, killing Wang Chuanxi and leaving the others badly injured. When the gang’s elders arrived, Ye Li blamed the attack on Wang Luhe’s son and provoked Wang Luhe into threatening him, then called for the Gang Leader to save him.

• Lu Xiurai fled the courtyard as Guo Chen urged him to escape and seek revenge.
• Ye Li crippled the attackers, killed Wang Chuanxi, and left the others alive but gravely wounded.
• Neighbors gathered to watch the aftermath, and Azure Dragon Gang elders arrived.
• Wang Luhe found Wang Chuanxi dead and accused Ye Li of causing the fight.
• Ye Li argued that Wang Chuanxi had led the attack and loudly insulted Wang Luhe.
• Wang Luhe threatened to butcher Ye Li, who jumped back and called for the Gang Leader.

Wang Luhe tried to kill Ye Li, but Zheng Tong intervened and Ye Li revealed that he considered the Gang Leader his master. Zheng Tong punished the disciples involved in the attack and sentenced Wang Luhe to a year in the water prison.

• Wang Luhe launched a furious palm strike at Ye Li, but Zheng Tong arrived in time and stopped him with one hand.
• Ye Li called Zheng Tong his master and accused Wang Luhe of protecting his son and disciples; Zheng Tong did not deny their relationship.
• Yang Shichang dragged Lu Xiuyuan back after he tried to flee, and Lu Xiuyuan blamed Qian Luoxin for inciting the attack.
• Zheng Tong ordered the core disciples involved in killing fellow disciples to be executed and sentenced Wang Luhe to receive Three Blades Six Holes and spend a year in the water prison.
• Wang Luhe accepted the year-long confinement after Ye Li urged Zheng Tong to extend his punishment.

After Ye Li used Zheng Tong’s backing to deal with the Azure Dragon Gang’s internal enemies, Zheng Tong made his status as Ye Li’s student official. He told Ye Li to train for challenges against Guangming City dojos and set killing the Poison Wolf Gang’s Deputy Gang Leader as the condition for completing his apprenticeship.

• Yang Shichang praised Ye Li for becoming Zheng Tong’s student and planned to announce the news and hold an Apprenticeship Banquet.
• Ye Li thanked Zheng Tong for lending him the Gang Leader’s authority, and Zheng Tong made their master-student relationship official while postponing the banquet until Ye Li broke through.
• Zheng Tong learned that Ye Li had perfected the Nine Chapters Fist Manual’s Clear Force and warned him not to value martial skills over his realm.
• Ye Li asked to leave the courtyard for protection, and Zheng Tong offered to assign a core student guard while dismissing the threat from Post-Heaven Realm enemies.
• Zheng Tong said he would take Ye Li to challenge dojos so Ye Li could become invincible among peers, and told him to avenge his senior brother by killing the Poison Wolf Gang’s Deputy Gang Leader.
• Ye Li asked about the Poison Wolf Gang Leader, and Zheng Tong said he would personally attack if Ye Li could lure the Deputy Gang Leader away.

News that Zheng Tong had accepted Ye Li as his final disciple spread through Guangming, prompting Wang Ganshi to prepare a lavish banquet gift. Lu Xiuyuan was spared execution by a Poison Wolf Gang spy who coerced him into defecting, while Ye Li returned to the Azure Dragon Gang and argued with a Martial Armory guard.

• Word spread through Guangming that Zheng Tong had accepted Ye Li as his disciple, and major factions reviewed Ye Li's record.
• Wang Ganshi learned of Ye Li's new status and ordered one thousand taels of silver prepared for Ye Li's Apprenticeship Banquet.
• An executioner killed Lu Xiuyuan's five companions but secretly freed Lu Xiuyuan and urged him to join the Poison Wolf Gang.
• The Poison Wolf Gang spy threatened Xiao Fang, and Lu Xiuyuan agreed to defect to protect her.
• Ye Li returned to the Azure Dragon Gang and challenged a Martial Armory guard who demanded proof before letting him enter.

Ye Li returned to Spring Return Alley as the Azure Dragon Gang’s newly celebrated prodigy and used his status as the gang leader’s disciple to enter the Martial Armory. He left the Scripture Pavilion elder facing his demand to disregard the rules because his master was in charge.

• San Niang gave Ye Li Dragon-Tiger Pills for the next two days and teased him about the stage names he had chosen for the girls who accompanied him.
• Azure Dragon Gang core disciples praised Ye Li and asked for his guidance, but he corrected them by boasting that he had reached the Body Tempering Realm in one month, six days, and one shichen.
• Ye Li led the disciples in a procession toward the gang grounds, and no one stopped them as his new identity spread.
• Ye Li arrived at the Martial Armory, where the Post-Heaven Realm elder refused him entry because he lacked a credential.
• Ye Li insisted that his master, the gang leader, was the rules and ordered the elder to let him in, promising to make up a slip afterward.

Ye Li chose two manuals from the Martial Armory and returned to his courtyard, where he found gifts sent by the city’s major clans and gang stewards. A Century Ginseng Pill among them prompted him to prepare to break through to the middle stage of Body Tempering.

• Ye Li pressured Elder Jiang into letting him enter the Martial Armory and choose two manuals from its bottom three floors.
• Ye Li examined the manuals and selected Star-Shifting Nine-Palace Step and a technique for tempering flesh and blood.
• Ye Li returned to his courtyard and met Li Liang, the guard assigned to serve him by the gang leader.
• Ye Li told Li Liang to sort the congratulatory gifts, gold, pills, and calling cards sent by the city’s clans and gang stewards.
• Ye Li spotted a Century Ginseng Pill on the inventory list and resolved to break through to the middle stage of Body Tempering.

Ye Li used the Ginseng Pill to break through to the mid-stage of Body Tempering, while World-Shocking Wisdom transformed and refined his body. Afterward, he absorbed the pill’s remaining medicinal power and reached 792 progress toward the next stage.

• Ye Li decided to use the Ginseng Pill to accelerate his cultivation, and Li Liang warned him not to swallow it whole.
• Ye Li swallowed the pill and channeled its overwhelming medicinal power through Azure Dragon Force to guide his blood and qi.
• Ye Li reached the early-stage limit and allocated his points to break through into the mid-stage of Body Tempering.
• World-Shocking Wisdom transformed Ye Li’s body, densifying his blood and strengthening his bones and senses.
• Ye Li absorbed the pill’s remaining power for half an hour, bringing his mid-stage progress to 792 out of 2500.