Recaps

Lu Zhen spent his General Experience to raise the Eight Wastes Wandering Dragon Step to its sixth tier, Treading Air, then concealed his new speed while continuing to cultivate in Kunlun Treasure Land. After more than half a month, he returned to the Mystic Sword Sect and learned that the mountain-entry assessment would test disciples in the Thousand Mechanisms Array, where Xu Hu warned that connections mattered more than performance.

• Lu Zhen spent 255,000 General Experience to raise the Eight Wastes Wandering Dragon Step to Lv.8 and mastered sixth-tier Treading Air.
• Lu Zhen decided to show no more than fourth-tier Afterimage in public and swallowed a high-grade spirit herb to temper his body.
• For more than half a month, Lu Zhen entered Kunlun Treasure Land and trained his spirit in the Deep Mist Zone while hunting demons and searching for medicinal herbs.
• Lei Zhen introduced Lu Zhen to Old Chen, who explained that the mountain-entry assessment would take place in the Thousand Mechanisms Array against multiplied gravity and tireless combat puppets.
• Xu Hu confronted Lu Zhen, Lei Zhen, Qin Wei, and Old Chen, claiming that family backing and connections had already secured most of Snow-Listening Cliff's ten slots.

Lu Zhen rejected Xu Hu’s protection-money demand and dismissed his threats, then continued cultivating deep in the Kunlun Treasure Land. Just as he decided to venture farther into the mist, a terrified fourth-rank demon fled past him from a Dharma Heaven Realm pursuer.

• Xu Hu demanded tribute from the new disciples and claimed Zhao Yunfeng could block their chances of entering Snow-Listening Cliff, while Old Chen paid and Lu Zhen refused.
• Lu Zhen left with Lei Zhen and Qin Wei, then reassured them that Xu Hu was bluffing about his influence over the assessment.
• Days later, Lu Zhen found that the gray mist more than five hundred li into the Kunlun Treasure Land no longer strengthened his spirit enough, so he decided to go deeper.
• A huge half-human, half-centipede fourth-rank demon burst through the mist, fleeing in terror from a figure marked by Five Qi Returning to Origin Wings and the Dharma Heaven Realm.

Lu Zhen encountered Jiang Li, the mountain lord of Snow-Listening Cliff, who killed a great demon and invited him to visit her the next day. After advancing his spirit-refining art, Lu Zhen decided to ask Jiang Li about her specialized flying-sword technique.

• Jiang Li killed the charging great demon with a flying sword, then landed and questioned Lu Zhen about his movement skills and strong spirit.
• Lu Zhen concealed his identity by introducing himself as Gu Chen, and Jiang Li gave him an ice talisman and invited him to Snow-Listening Cliff the next day.
• Lu Zhen returned to his residence and spent 200 general experience points to advance the Nameless Spirit-Refining Art, increasing his mental-power amplification to thirty-six times.
• Lu Zhen reflected on Jiang Li's precise flying-sword technique and resolved to visit Snow-Listening Cliff to learn more about mind cultivators' killing arts.

Lu Zhen visited Snow-Listening Cliff and used Jiang Li’s personal token to reach the Mountain Master, who questioned him about his concealed abilities and background. Jiang Li asked him to demonstrate his true strength in her protected courtyard.

• Lu Zhen passed the core disciples gathered by the lake and climbed toward Snow-Listening Cliff’s upper half.
• A Snow-Listening Cliff disciple tried to stop Lu Zhen, but she recognized Jiang Li’s personal ice talisman and escorted him to the Mountain Master’s residence.
• Jiang Li revealed that she had investigated Lu Zhen’s identity as Gu Chen and questioned why he had hidden his fourth-level movement technique.
• Lu Zhen claimed he had pieced the technique together from a fragmentary manual and concealed his talents to avoid attracting danger.
• Jiang Li told Lu Zhen to practice in the courtyard without holding back, assuring him that its array would hide the demonstration from outsiders.

Lu Zhen revealed his formidable strength to Jiang Li, who warned that the Bright God Martial Canon would ruin his future, but he defiantly refused to abandon it. After ejecting him from her courtyard, Jiang Li sent her sword-control technique after him, moved by his resemblance to her elder brother.

• Lu Zhen unleashed his strength and formed a thirty-seven-meter Dharma Image, which Jiang Li shattered with a casual palm strike.
• Jiang Li recognized Lu Zhen's Bright God Martial Canon and warned that it burned away blood and vitality, making advancement to Transformation Force nearly impossible.
• Lu Zhen rejected her advice, insisting that he could find a way through the technique's supposed dead end.
• Jiang Li used the Power of Heaven and Earth to shove Lu Zhen out of the courtyard, and he left without learning how Heart Cultivators controlled flying swords.
• Jiang Li recalled her elder brother's defiant nature, retrieved her sword-control technique, and instructed a gate steward to deliver it.

Lu Zhen found Heaven-Supporting Sect disciples forcing Qin Wei and Lei Zhen out of their rented courtyard and drove them off with his spear. The disciples accused him of murder and called for help, leaving Lei Zhen and Qin Wei fearing the City Defense Army would arrest them.

• Lu Zhen arrived at the courtyard and learned that Heaven-Supporting Sect disciples had bought its deed and demanded Qin Wei and Lei Zhen leave before their lease expired.
• Qin Wei explained that the disciples were targeting her because she had offended Li Jue, and Lei Zhen protested that they had paid rent for the year.
• Lu Zhen told Qin Wei and Lei Zhen to go inside and declared that they would leave when the lease expired.
• When the disciples' leader tried to enter the courtyard, Lu Zhen struck all three with his spear and sent them tumbling into the street.
• The injured disciples accused Lu Zhen of murder and shouted that a Mystic Sword Sect member was attacking them, while Lei Zhen warned that the City Defense Army could imprison them.

Lu Zhen defended his courtyard from Heaven-Supporting Sect disciples, but Commander Lin sided with them and ordered the Ironclad Camp to seize him. Yan Kuan of Snow-Listening Cliff arrived and challenged the City Lord's Manor's authority, leaving the confrontation poised to escalate.

• Lu Zhen argued that the lease was still valid and that he had acted in self-defense after the Heaven-Supporting Sect disciples forced their way into his courtyard.
• Commander Lin arrived with fifteen Ironclad Camp veterans, and a Heaven-Supporting Sect disciple accused Lu Zhen of attacking them without provocation.
• After the disciple whispered about Li Jue and the Punishment Elder, Commander Lin declared the lease invalid, accused Lu Zhen of occupying private property, and ordered him arrested.
• Lei Zhen and Qin Wei protested Commander Lin's decision, but she declared that the City Lord's Manor decided how the rules were interpreted.
• Commander Lin ordered the Ironclad Camp to seize Lu Zhen and kill him if he resisted.
• Yan Kuan of Snow-Listening Cliff arrived and questioned why the City Lord's Manor was interfering in how Mystic Sword Sect disciples were taught the rules.

Yan Kuan arrived in the alley and sided with Lu Zhen, turning Commander Lin against the Heaven-Supporting Sect disciples who had tried to seize Lu Zhen’s home. After the disciples were arrested, Yan Kuan and Lu Zhen left together to talk, while the neighbors realized Lu Zhen had powerful connections.

• Yan Kuan arrived and ignored Commander Lin to greet Lu Zhen warmly.
• Lu Zhen explained how the Heaven-Supporting Sect disciples had tried to force a purchase and break into his residence.
• Yan Kuan challenged Commander Lin over the city regulations, and Commander Lin ordered the disciples arrested and fined.
• Lu Zhen thanked Yan Kuan, who invited him to call him Old Brother, and the two left the alley together.
• Hou San, Zhao Tie, Wang Cui, Lei Zhen, and Qin Wei watched in shock as the neighbors speculated about Lu Zhen’s status.

Lu Zhen received Jiang Li’s flying-sword cultivation manual and rented a Heaven-Class chamber to study it. He learned that his current power met the second level’s requirements and began practicing the first level, confident the Panel could overcome any comprehension bottleneck.

• Yan Kuan delivered Jiang Li’s True Manual of Sword Control to Lu Zhen, then promised to help Lei Zhen and Qin Wei secure ordinary Inner Sect slots in the Thousand Mechanisms Array selection.
• Lu Zhen recognized the manual as a flying-sword technique for Heart Cultivators and rented Heaven-Class Chamber Number Nine for one hundred contribution points.
• Lu Zhen studied the manual’s five levels and discovered that his thirty-sixfold power amplification met the second level’s requirements.
• Lu Zhen read Jiang Li’s warning that the technique was difficult to learn, then resolved to rely on the Panel and began memorizing the first level.

Lu Zhen used his panel to master the first two stages of the True Manual of Sword Control, then arrived at the sect’s grand selection. He joined Lei Zhen and Qin Wei among the gathered Inner Sect disciples.

• Lu Zhen practiced the True Manual of Sword Control until the panel recorded it, then used daily settlement rewards to build his experience reserves.
• Lu Zhen spent 100,000 general experience to raise the manual to Lv.2 and unleashed a flying sword whose speed shattered the suspended refined-steel rings.
• Lu Zhen wondered whether his sword could threaten a Dharma Body Realm grandmaster and speculated about Mountain Lord Jiang’s progress.
• Lu Zhen left the stone chamber after the steward inspected the damage and chose not to charge him for the shattered steel.
• Lu Zhen arrived at the Internal Affairs Hall plaza for the sect’s grand selection, where Lei Zhen spotted him beside Qin Wei.

Lu Zhen told Lei Zhen and Qin Wei that Yan Kuan had reserved them places as ordinary Inner Sect disciples at Snow-Listening Cliff, then watched the Thousand Mechanisms Array assessment begin. Zhao Yunfeng earned a Lower Grade A evaluation, and Yan Kuan arrived as the crowd assumed he had come for Zhao Yunfeng.

• Lu Zhen reassured Lei Zhen and Qin Wei that Yan Kuan had agreed to reserve them two places at Snow-Listening Cliff and urged them to give their best in the array assessment.
• Wang Meng advanced forty-five meters through the Thousand Mechanisms Array before the puppets knocked him out, earning a Mid Grade B evaluation.
• Zhao Yunhai thanked Jiang Linchuan for helping secure a core disciple position for Zhao Yunfeng.
• Zhao Yunfeng crossed the fifty-meter mark but was driven back by the array's stronger second stage, earning a Lower Grade A evaluation after advancing fifty-three meters.
• Yan Kuan arrived at the square, and the crowd assumed he had come to personally attend to Zhao Yunfeng.

Yan Kuan named Lu Zhen a core disciple of Snow-Listening Cliff and admitted Lei Zhen and Qin Wei as ordinary disciples without a trial, provoking protests from Zhao Yunfeng and other disciples. He brought the three to the cliff, where Lei Zhen and Qin Wei began settling in and resolved to train under Lu Zhen’s support.

• Jiang Linchuan and Zhao Yunhai welcomed Yan Kuan, expecting him to accept Zhao Yunfeng, but Yan announced that Lu Zhen would be a core disciple and Lei Zhen and Qin Wei ordinary disciples.
• Zhao Yunfeng challenged Yan Kuan’s decision, and Jiang Linchuan asked him to explain why Lu Zhen had received a core spot without taking the Thousand Mechanisms Array trial.
• Yan Kuan declared that the mountain master’s word was final and told anyone who objected to leave, then led Lu Zhen, Lei Zhen, and Qin Wei to Snow-Listening Cliff.
• Yan Kuan directed Lei Zhen and Qin Wei to register for their Inner Sect status while he took Lu Zhen farther up the mountain to his lodgings.
• Lei Zhen reflected on Lu Zhen’s rise and resolved with Qin Wei to settle in and train hard.

Lu Zhen became a core disciple of Snow-Listening Cliff and learned how special contribution points could provide valuable resources and information. As he went to meet the Mountain Master, direct disciple Jiang Linchuan warned him to stay in his place, but Lu Zhen ignored him.

• Yan Kuan left Lu Zhen at the Deacon Hall, where Old Li registered him and gave him core disciple robes and a waist token.
• Old Li explained that special contribution points could be earned through sect assignments and exchanged for maps, ancient spirit weapons, and pills.
• Lu Zhen chose a quiet courtyard near the cliff and encountered a disciple who had previously mocked him, but the disciple left without greeting him.
• Lu Zhen planned to enter seclusion to advance from late-stage Dark Force toward Transformation Force while Guga underwent a bloodline transformation and learned she was a divine beast egg from the Great Void Abyss.
• The next morning, Old Li summoned Lu Zhen to the Mountain Master, and Jiang Linchuan warned him not to entertain improper thoughts; Lu Zhen ignored him and walked on.

Lu Zhen chose the Punishment Hall rather than abandon the Bright God Martial Canon, and Jiang Li assigned him there without offering further support. At the Hall, he learned its hierarchy and found that Yan Kuan had become distant after assuming the mountain lord had cast him aside.

• Jiang Li offered Lu Zhen a choice between the prosperous Affairs Hall and the dangerous Punishment Hall, making the former conditional on giving up the Bright God Martial Canon.
• Lu Zhen refused to abandon the cultivation art and chose the Punishment Hall, so Jiang Li sent him away.
• Lu Zhen reported to the Punishment Hall, received a golden Sword Bearer badge, and learned from the steward about the Hall's ranks and assignments.
• Lu Zhen discovered that Yan Kuan was an Adjudicator and greeted him, but Yan Kuan's earlier warmth had disappeared.
• Yan Kuan explained that Lu Zhen could take minor cases from the wooden wall for contribution points and dismissed him.

Lu Zhen examined the Punishment Hall’s assignments and considered taking a case against Zhang Lie, but Fang Wen warned him that Zhang Lie’s powerful brother would retaliate. Fang Wen then tried to arrange a marriage between Lu Zhen and his younger sister, before Yan Kuan’s daughter Yan Min approached them.

• Lu Zhen studied the task plaques and paused at a complaint against Zhang Lie that offered thirty special contribution points.
• Fang Wen warned Lu Zhen that Zhang Lie’s brother, the Dharma Image Realm expert Zhang Kuang, would retaliate against anyone who arrested him.
• Lu Zhen gave Fang Wen the false name Gu Chen and declined his offer to introduce him to his younger sister.
• Yan Min, a Transformation Force Grandmaster and Yan Kuan’s daughter, came out of the office and walked toward Lu Zhen and Fang Wen.

Yan Min recruited Lu Zhen and Fang Wen to investigate the smuggling of gang silver at Wild Fox Ridge, while Wu Tie concluded that Gu Chen might be connected to his missing son and Zhao Shan. The chapter ended with Wu Tie learning that Gu Chen had left the sect.

• Yan Min clashed with Lu Zhen over her orders, then explained that they were investigating a gang-silver shipment at Wild Fox Ridge; Fang Wen and Lu Zhen agreed to go.
• Yan Kuan watched the trio leave, hoping Fang Wen and Gu Chen would help shield Yan Min if the dangerous investigation angered powerful figures.
• Wu Tie's subordinate traced Wu Ya's disappearance to a mistheart snow lotus and reported that Gu Chen and two others had been promoted at Snow-Listening Cliff.
• Wu Tie suspected Gu Chen had used a scheme to endanger Wu Ya and Zhao Shan, but rejected sending assassins after a core disciple.
• Wu Tie's subordinate reported that Gu Chen had left the sect.

Wu Tie sent Three Sects City's Inspectorate toward Wild Fox Ridge to capture Gu Chen under the guise of investigating a disappearance, while Lu Zhen, Yan Min, and Fang Wen uncovered a gang silver smuggling operation tied to the Lin Family and Alienated Martial Artists. The smugglers attacked Yan Min with poisonous mist after she ordered the crates opened.

• Wu Tie ordered Wu Xiao to lead Iron Guards to Wild Fox Ridge and bring Gu Chen in for questioning without harming Yan Min.
• Lu Zhen, Yan Min, and Fang Wen traveled to Wild Fox Ridge to investigate a handoff involving gang silver.
• The group discovered crates of premium gang silver being received by late-stage Dark Force Alienated Martial Artists.
• Lin Fei, the seventh son of the Lin Family, claimed the shipment was lawful and invoked his uncle Lin Wanshan's authority when Yan Min demanded an inspection.
• The Alienated Martial Artists surrounded Yan Min and unleashed corrosive poisonous mist.

Yan Min exposed Lin Fei’s gang-silver smuggling, but Wu Xiao arrived and accused Lu Zhen of involvement in a disappearance to justify seizing the Mystic Sword Sect group. The chapter ended as Yan Min and Wu Xiao manifested their Dharma Images and prepared to fight at Wild Fox Ridge.

• Yan Min evaded the poison formation and killed its black-robed leader with a single palm strike, scattering the remaining attackers.
• Lin Fei accused Yan Min of killing his men and stealing his family’s goods as onlookers gathered and recognized the gang silver in the crates.
• Wu Xiao arrived with thirty city defense iron guards, accepted Lin Fei’s plea for help, and accused Gu Chen of being a suspect in Wu Ya and Zhao Shan’s disappearance.
• Wu Xiao ordered Yan Min, Fang Wen, and Lu Zhen seized, but Lu Zhen argued that Wild Fox Ridge lay outside Three Sects City.
• Wu Xiao ordered his guards to attack, and Yan Min manifested a nineteen-meter ice-and-snow Dharma Image while Wu Xiao revealed a twenty-five-meter dark-red one.

Lu Zhen revealed his thirty-seven-meter golden Dharma Image and defeated Wu Xiao with two spear thrusts, allowing Yan Min and Fang Wen to capture Lin Fei and take evidence of the Gang Silver shipment toward the Mystic Sword Sect. After learning his nephew had been arrested and the smuggling exposed, Lin Wanshan considered killing Lin Fei to silence him.

• Lu Zhen refused to flee and manifested a thirty-seven-meter golden Dharma Image, shocking Yan Min, Fang Wen, Wu Xiao, and the onlookers.
• Lu Zhen shattered Wu Xiao’s Dharma Image and incapacitated the city defense guards with two spear thrusts.
• Yan Min shackled Lin Fei while Fang Wen took a crate of high-grade Gang Silver, and the three escaped through the woods toward the Mystic Sword Sect.
• Onlookers fought over the abandoned Gang Silver as a man with a film camera hurried back to Three Sects City with footage of the clash.
• Lin Wanshan learned that Lin Fei had been arrested and the shipment lost, then considered having Lin Fei killed so he could not reveal the smuggling scheme.

After Lu Zhen backed Yan Min’s call to investigate the smuggling of tempered silver, Yan Kuan agreed to pursue the case once Lin Fei provided solid leads. The team collected their special contribution points, and Yan Min offered to tell Lu Zhen when high-grade medicinal meals became available.

• Yan Min urged Yan Kuan to investigate the mastermind behind Lin Fei’s smuggling operation, and Lu Zhen agreed, citing the stakes for Divine Land and his departed friends.
• Yan Kuan agreed to continue the investigation after Lin Fei was interrogated by the hall’s shadow officials, while refusing Yan Min’s request to question him herself.
• Lu Zhen, Yan Min, and Fang Wen went to the Merit Reward Pavilion to collect their special contribution points.
• Fang Wen explained that special points could buy rare treasures, including the Transformation-Charging Pill, which Lu Zhen wanted but could not yet afford.
• Yan Min offered to let Lu Zhen know when the hall next released high-grade ancient medicinal meals.

Lu Zhen visited the Merit Reward Pavilion, learned that sect competitions could earn him a higher position and access to lucrative missions, and borrowed twenty Special Contribution Points from Yan Min to buy a Transformation Pill. On his way back to Snow-Listening Cliff, he saw that news of his strength had changed how disciples treated him and his companions.

• Fang Wen and Yan Min told Lu Zhen about valuable exchanges, restricted missions, and the upcoming tournaments that could earn him a Warden Envoy position.
• Lu Zhen decided he would aim for first place in the Mountain Gate Minor Tournament and noticed he lacked twenty points for a Transformation Pill.
• Yan Min lent Lu Zhen twenty points, allowing him to exchange for the pill, while Fang Wen complained that she had never lent him any.
• Disciples at Snow-Listening Cliff praised Lu Zhen after hearing about his victory at Wild Fox Ridge and his thirty-seven-meter Dharma Image.
• Lu Zhen met Lei Zhen and Qin Wei, whose treatment had improved since his victory, and urged them to focus on training rather than relying on him.

Lu Zhen used a tenfold-enhanced Transformation-Charging Pill and a Mistheart Snow Lotus to break through from Dark Force to Transformation Force. After succeeding in the training room, he left Guga stunned by the force of his breakthrough.

• Chu He rebuked his fellow core disciples for mocking Gu Chen, though he privately dismissed Gu Chen as a cripple with no future.
• Lu Zhen returned to his courtyard, where Guga woke with smoother, dark-golden fur, cleaned the yard, and learned to speak telepathically.
• Lu Zhen's Daily Settlement boosted his rewards and transformed his Transformation-Charging Pill into a tenfold-enhanced pill.
• Lu Zhen took Guga to a training room and prepared to break through using the enhanced pill and a mid-stage fifth-tier Mistheart Snow Lotus.
• Lu Zhen used his spirit to control and temper his cells, overcame his dangerously violent qi and blood, and successfully reached Transformation Force.

After breaking through to Transformation Force, Lu Zhen planned to enter the depths of the Treasure Land to temper his transformed spirit. He learned that Lin Fei had been murdered to silence him and urged Yan Min to investigate the Lin and Wu Families in secret.

• Lu Zhen assessed his new strength and sensed that he was close to the Dharma Body Realm, then decided to seek the pressure of the gray mist in the Treasure Land.
• Fang Wen and Yan Min told Lu Zhen that Lin Fei had died in the dungeon, and Yan Min suspected he had been murdered to silence him.
• Yan Kuan confirmed that Lin Fei's death was murder but said the Punishment Hall had dropped the case for lack of irrefutable evidence against the powerful Lin and Wu Families.
• Lu Zhen advised Yan Min to watch the families secretly and gather proof, warning that whoever had reached into the dungeon was ruthless and powerful.
• Lu Zhen left with his spear to venture deeper into the Treasure Land and temper his spirit.

Wu Tie and Lin Wanshan agreed to hire a Dharma Body Realm assassin to kill Gu Chen inside Kunlun Treasure Land. There, Lu Zhen pushed beyond the seven-hundred-li limit and extinguished his protective barrier, letting the gray mist pour into him as the Bright God Martial Canon tempered his spirit.

• Wu Tie told Lin Wanshan that he had sent Wu Xiao after Gu Chen to avenge Wu Ya and protect the Wu Family’s interests.
• Wu Tie used Lin Wanshan’s secret gang-silver deal to persuade him to join forces against Gu Chen, while avoiding moves by their own experts that might expose them.
• Wu Tie and Lin Wanshan agreed to pay two hundred thousand top-grade Force Silver to hire a Dharma Body Realm killer and strike Gu Chen inside the treasure land.
• Lu Zhen crossed seven hundred li through the gray mist, relying on his strong spirit and the Bright God Martial Canon to endure its corrosion.
• Lu Zhen extinguished the Force-Refining Furnace’s barrier and let the mist flood his body, where his technique burned it into energy and strengthened his spirit.

Lu Zhen broke through to the Palm Realm and condensed a powerful Dharma Body while training in the Kunlun Treasure Land. After Guga found several small treasures, Lu Zhen returned to the sect to prepare for its minor tournament, unaware that Zhou Guimian was hunting for him near the treasure land’s outskirts.

• Lu Zhen saw the flow of the Power of Heaven and Earth, broke through to the Palm Realm, and condensed an eighty-three-meter phantom into a thirty-two-meter golden Dharma Body.
• Lu Zhen tested his Dharma Body with the Formation-Breaking Overlord Spear and vowed to eliminate the forces from Eastern Island and the western nations.
• Zhou Guimian searched the treasure land’s outskirts for Lu Zhen, intending to kill him quickly for the job Lin Wanshan had hired him to do.
• Guga complained that it was hungry, then led Lu Zhen to three fourth-rank Spirit Medicines and a piece of fourth-rank ore.
• Lu Zhen planned to seek information about the ancient ruins and returned to the sect with Guga to prepare for the minor tournament.