Recaps

Lu Zhen struggled against the mother nest’s overwhelming tentacles as its consciousness recognized him as a natural enemy. Guga devoured that consciousness, killing the monster and saving Three Sects City, then fell asleep in Lu Zhen’s arms.

• The mother nest’s consciousness sensed its natural enemy inside Lu Zhen and attacked him with countless tentacles, leaving him unable to reach its core.
• The Thousand-Li Grand Formation shattered, and gray fog poured into Three Sects City as its residents awaited the monster’s attack.
• Guga emerged from Lu Zhen’s arms, transformed into a giant beast, and used Soul Devouring to pull the mother nest’s consciousness from its flesh.
• Guga swallowed the consciousness, causing the mother nest’s tentacles to collapse and its gray fog to disperse.
• Guga shrank back to her small form and fell asleep in Lu Zhen’s arms while Three Sects City celebrated their survival.

Lu Zhen emerged from the ruined brood nest after defeating the gray-fog threat, while the fog lifted across the Nine Provinces and survivors celebrated. Liu Bowen arrived from the Great Wilderness to lead the reconstruction and propose rebuilding the Mingwu Empire, and Lu Zhen returned to Three Sects City as the Great Wilderness began restoring the land.

• Lu Zhen explored the shriveled brood nest, found a sealed underground ruin, failed to break its black stone door, and concealed the entrance before leaving.
• The gray fog cleared across the Nine Provinces, and broadcasts credited Lu Zhen with killing the world-destroying monster as survivors emerged from shelters.
• Liu Bowen and councilors from the Great Wilderness arrived in the Nine Provinces through the reopened passage, and Liu Bowen told Shi Kefa that they would rebuild the Mingwu Empire.
• Lu Zhen returned to Three Sects City, met Liu Bowen, and concealed Guga's role in consuming the mutated brood nest by claiming he had destroyed it with divine thunder.
• The Great Wilderness sent supplies and mechanical puppets to rebuild cities and farmland, impressing Nie Xingkong, Lei Zhen, and the others with how quickly the Nine Provinces could recover.

Liu Bowen introduced Lu Zhen to the Great Wilderness’s faction hierarchy and gave him a Void Terminal, which revealed a merit-based virtual realm. After testing his strength and finding his techniques rated crude, Lu Zhen left eager to explore the Great Wilderness’s deeper cultivation methods.

• Liu Bowen explained that the Nine Provinces barely qualified as a ninth-tier faction and gave Lu Zhen a Void Terminal issued by the Supreme Unity Mystic Sect.
• Lu Zhen entered the Void Realm, registered his name, and learned that personal merit unlocked its services and contributed to his home world’s total.
• Lu Zhen tested his strength against a duplicate, earned 0.1 merit, and saw his Profound Extremity techniques rated crude.
• Lu Zhen discovered that training grounds, faction intelligence, and entertainment all required more merit than he had.
• Lu Zhen exited the Void Realm and resolved to ask Liu Bowen about the Great Wilderness’s cultivation methods the next day.

After learning that Lu Zhen destroyed the Devouring Spirit Broodmother, a Sacred Blood Realm officer dismissed him as unremarkable and ordered only casual surveillance. Lu Zhen accepted resources from Liu Bowen and left for the Great Wilderness with Jiang Li, where the Nine Provinces elites honored him as their flying ship departed.

• A Sacred Blood Realm intelligence officer reported that the Devouring Spirit Broodmother had fallen and the Nine Provinces world barrier had cleared, and his lord ordered Lu Zhen watched without spending much effort.
• Liu Bowen gave Lu Zhen one million mystic coins, a mansion in the Nine Provinces Market, and admission to the Pill Dao Academy, then told him the passage to the Great Wilderness was stable.
• Lu Zhen said goodbye to his family and decided to travel to the Great Wilderness soon to pursue stronger cultivation.
• At White Stone Plaza, Lu Zhen met Jiang Li, who joined him aboard the flying ship bound for the Great Wilderness.
• The Nine Provinces elites aboard the ship bowed to Lu Zhen, and the vessel entered the spatial passage.

Lu Zhen arrived in Sumu City in the Great Wilderness, where its advanced laws suppressed the powers he had relied on in the Nine Provinces. After parting from Jiang Li, he reached the council-awarded residence in Green Vine District and began settling in, where a message from Liu Bowen awaited him.

• Lu Zhen and Jiang Li discovered that the Great Wilderness's laws suppressed their golden bodies and ability to fly, and they resolved to start cultivating anew toward the Converging Stream Realm.
• Jiang Li said she would seek protection from a Supreme Elder of the Mystic Sword Sect at the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, and she and Lu Zhen exchanged Void Terminal marks before parting.
• Lu Zhen rode a biological bus to Green Vine District and noticed the contrast between ordinary workers' worries and young people's lively martial culture near the academy.
• A young woman from the neighboring courtyard saw Lu Zhen and shut her gate on him without explanation.
• Lu Zhen entered the spacious residence awarded by the council and tested his techniques in its cultivation room.
• Liu Bowen messaged Lu Zhen to ask whether he had arrived and whether the residence looked alright.

After settling into the Great Wilderness, Lu Zhen chose a new monthly settlement trait and entered the Hundred Realms League’s solo placement matches. His poor record showed him how much his crude lower-world cultivation arts held him back, leaving him eager to study at the academy the next day.

• Liu Bowen told Lu Zhen he had arranged his enrollment in the academy’s elite class, but Lu Zhen would need to prove himself to earn more resources.
• Lu Zhen upgraded his Daily Settlement Level and chose Accumulation Before Breakthrough, changing his settlement cycle to thirty days in exchange for the prospect of enlightenment.
• Lu Zhen reviewed the Fallen Sky Dojo, the sealed black stone door, and his meager spoils before deciding to enter the Hundred Realms League.
• Lu Zhen completed ten solo placement matches, winning three and losing seven, and received a Bronze rank with 270 points.
• Lu Zhen recognized that his lower-world cultivation arts were far inferior to those used by his opponents and looked forward to learning Great Wilderness arts at the academy.

Liu Jingshu and Liu Jingyi brought Lu Zhen to Nine Provinces Academy, where he registered for the elite class despite Shen Qing’s reservations. His Void Realm record appeared on the array crystal, revealing crude evaluations for two Supreme Mystic skills and a bronze solo ranking score.

• Liu Jingshu and Liu Jingyi met Lu Zhen outside his courtyard and accompanied him toward the academy, where Liu Jingyi questioned him about life in the lower realm.
• Lu Zhen joked that people in the lower realm ate monsters, amusing Liu Jingyi while Liu Jingshu dismissed him as frivolous.
• Students at Nine Provinces Academy noticed Lu Zhen with the Liu sisters, and Chen Yuan grew irritated as he watched them walk with him.
• Liu Jingshu brought Lu Zhen to elite-class teacher Shen Qing to register, following Liu Bowen’s order.
• Lu Zhen scanned his Void Terminal, and the crystal displayed crude evaluations for his two Supreme Mystic martial skills and a bronze solo ranking score of 270.

Lu Zhen enrolled in three Great Wilderness martial skills and watched Shen Qing demonstrate the Subtle Intent realm before practicing the Wandering Dragon Sky-Treading Step. He achieved basic proficiency, but his performance seemed unimpressive to the elite-class students.

• Liu Jingyi reacted to Lu Zhen's bronze score, while Chen Yuan and his followers mocked his lower-realm techniques until Shen Qing silenced them and explained their limitations.
• Shen Qing offered Lu Zhen free sections of the Bright God Martial Canon and recommended the Taiyi Light-Splitting Sword and Wandering Dragon Sky-Treading Step; Lu Zhen also chose the Great Wilderness Formation-Breaking Saber.
• Lu Zhen paid nine hundred thousand Mystic Coins for the three skills and joined Shen Qing's movement-art class on the Training Ground.
• Shen Qing demonstrated Subtle Intent with the Wandering Dragon Sky-Treading Step, moving effortlessly across the Training Ground and explaining how refined control of force and spiritual energy empowered the technique.
• Lu Zhen practiced the movement art repeatedly until the Panel recorded basic proficiency, though Chen Yuan's followers and Liu Jingshu regarded his performance as ordinary.

Lu Zhen learned the Great Wilderness sword and saber techniques at the academy, then studied the complete Bright God Martial Canon and assessed how far its cultivation could take him. The chapter left him preparing to cultivate toward a breakthrough with the potential to reach the power of three streams.

• Shen Qing demonstrated the Taiyi Light-Splitting Sword, and Lu Zhen eventually produced one solid sword shadow and recorded the technique with his Panel.
• Shen Qing warned Lu Zhen that the Hundred Realms Tournament was next month and that he needed to master the techniques before competing with his elite-class team.
• Lu Zhen copied the Great Wilderness Formation-Breaking Saber, barely producing a streak of saber light before his Panel recorded that technique as well.
• Liu Jingshu and Liu Jingyi took Lu Zhen to the academy dining hall, where Liu Jingyi explained Liu Jingshu hoped to enter Skyship Academy and mocked Lu Zhen's chances of qualifying.
• Lu Zhen returned to his residence and studied the complete Bright God Martial Canon, realizing that his foundation could let him reach the power of three streams upon breaking through.

Lu Zhen bought spirit medicines and supplies in the Nine Provinces Market after recording new Great Wilderness martial arts, while Jiang Li and Nie Xingkong struggled to establish themselves in humble jobs. The chapter left all three newcomers resolved to build their strength and rise step by step.

• Lu Zhen reviewed his newly recorded arts, found his experience insufficient to advance them, and planned to train diligently before his next monthly settlement.
• Lu Zhen spent nearly all his remaining mystic coins on a month of essence-nourishing medicine, spirit rice, and necessities, and concluded that crystal-card balances could not trigger his system’s critical multiplier.
• Jiang Li worked as a medicinal herb farmer under Gu Jianqiu, watched a silver match in the Void Realm, and resolved to learn about spirit medicines and save for a Great Wilderness sword art.
• Nie Xingkong mined spirit ore at Blackwind Mountain and decided to save enough mystic coins to buy a Great Wilderness breathing method and movement art.

Lu Zhen sought ways to accelerate his cultivation and learned that access to the Primordial Pressure Chamber depended on Void Realm rankings. Li Zonghan recognized Lu Zhen’s hidden potential and offered him monthly money and chamber access in exchange for an endorsement, leaving Lu Zhen to consider the proposal.

• Lu Zhen’s diligent training produced only modest progress, so he asked Liu Jingshu and Liu Jingyi about other ways to cultivate.
• Liu Jingyi explained that the Primordial Pressure Chamber could help Lu Zhen understand the Great Wilderness’s laws, but access usually depended on ranking among the top twenty in the Void Realm.
• Li Zonghan dismissed Shen Qing’s assessment of Lu Zhen as mediocre and decided the Li Family should support him while he rebuilt his cultivation.
• Li Zonghan offered Lu Zhen three million Mystic Coins each month and ten hours in the Primordial Pressure Chamber in return for publicly endorsing the Li Family’s formation discs.
• Li Zonghan emphasized that his authority as deputy head let him grant chamber access that other families could not buy, while Lu Zhen listened to the proposal.

Lu Zhen accepted Li Zonghan’s support and entered the Primordial Pressure Chamber with ten hours of access. His authorization sparked a dispute between Shen Qing and Li Zonghan, who defended his decision as a gamble on Lu Zhen’s potential ahead of the Hundred Realms Tournament.

• Lu Zhen signed Li Zonghan’s jade slip, accepted Mystic Coins and a pressure chamber token, and posed for the Li Family’s Afterimage advertisements.
• Lu Zhen entered Heaven-tier Room Three in the Primordial Pressure Chamber, while Jing Yue was forced to wait and complained to Shen Qing.
• Shen Qing checked the academy records, discovered Li Zonghan had authorized Lu Zhen’s access, and confronted the vice principal.
• Li Zonghan defended his decision, citing Lu Zhen’s victory over a Martial Saint and arguing that extraordinary times required extraordinary bets.
• Shen Qing warned that she would expel Lu Zhen if he disgraced the elite class at next month’s Hundred Realms Tournament, while Li Zonghan remained confident in his bet.

Lu Zhen trained in the Primordial Pressure Chamber, improving his techniques while comprehending primordial laws. Chen Yuan learned Lu Zhen had received special access through the Li Family and arranged for rumors to spread, leaving Sun De preparing a broadcast to inflame public outrage.

• Lu Zhen trained with his sword, steps, and saber under the chamber’s crushing gravity, rapidly increasing his technique proficiency and deepening his comprehension of primordial laws.
• Jing Yue told Chen Yuan that Lu Zhen had secured Heaven Room Three, and Chen Yuan went with him to investigate whose influence had obtained the privilege.
• Chen Yuan and Jing Yue saw Lu Zhen advertised at a Li Family shop and learned that his image was drawing crowds and boosting sales.
• Chen Yuan told Jing Yue to spread claims that Lu Zhen had used backdoor connections to monopolize Academy resources.
• Sun De received an anonymous tip about Lu Zhen’s chamber access and began preparing a broadcast to stir public anger against the Academy.

Liu Jingyi’s livestream about the Hundred Realms League turned into a furious backlash against Lu Zhen for receiving privileged access to the Primordial Pressure Chamber, and her defense of him cost her viewers. Liu Jingshu dismissed the controversy but privately worried that Lu Zhen would face serious consequences if he failed to prove himself in the league.

• Liu Jingyi introduced formidable contenders from other realms and assessed Nine Provinces Academy’s elite students, including her sister Liu Jingshu.
• Viewers accused Lu Zhen of exploiting his connections to obtain ten hours in the Heaven Grade Primordial Pressure Chamber, and Liu Jingyi tried to defend his work ethic and the vice dean’s decision.
• The viewers insulted Liu Jingyi and abandoned her illusion realm, so she ended the livestream and rushed to tell Liu Jingshu about the uproar.
• Liu Jingshu said Lu Zhen had brought the backlash upon himself, then rebuffed Liu Jingyi’s suggestion that she consider him as a Dao companion.
• Liu Jingshu privately worried that Lu Zhen would be in serious trouble if he failed to prove his strength at the Hundred Realms League.

After a month of grueling cultivation, Lu Zhen’s Accumulation Before Breakthrough settlement massively increased his experience, physique, and martial arts. With his three martial techniques raised to profound extremity, he entered the Void Realm to test his strength in the individual solo queue.

• Lu Zhen settled his month of cultivation and gained billions of experience, an epiphany reward, and several level increases.
• Lu Zhen’s Acupoint Star Transformation opened ten additional acupoints, giving him twenty in total and a foundation for the power of four streams after breakthrough.
• Lu Zhen spent general experience to raise Wandering Dragon Sky-Treading Step, Great Wilderness Formation-Breaking Saber, and Taiyi Light-Splitting Sword to profound extremity.
• Lu Zhen tested his improved movement technique and judged that Liu Jingshu could not match his speed.
• Lu Zhen entered the Void Realm to compete in the individual solo queue before the team queue began in three days.

Lu Zhen entered the Void Realm’s ranked matches under the alias Coachman and swiftly rose from Bronze to Silver by defeating his opponents. After losing to him, a saber fighter uploaded a recording of Lu Zhen’s strike in hopes of earning enough Mystic Coins to pay for food.

• Lu Zhen concealed his identity, chose the alias Coachman, and instantly defeated Wang Tiezhu in his first ranked match.
• Lu Zhen won several more Bronze matches with his invisible sword, then faced a Silver-ranked saber fighter who needed to keep his rank to qualify for a guard job.
• Lu Zhen used his movement technique to evade the saber fighter’s attacks and defeated him with a single strike, reaching Silver with 15 points.
• Lu Zhen learned that Silver rank unlocked livestreaming and recording privileges, but declined to use them and continued queuing.
• The defeated saber fighter watched the replay, edited Lu Zhen’s strike into a recording, and uploaded it for one Mystic Coin under a title highlighting the Nine Provinces Small World.

Liu Jingyi found a recording of the mysterious saber fighter Coachman and used it to promote hopes for the Nine Provinces in the Hundred Realms League. Her viewers rejected her optimism, but she ended the broadcast determined to watch and support her own.

• Liu Jingyi bought a recording showing Coachman defeat a seasoned saber fighter with a single Profound Extremity strike.
• Liu Jingyi replayed the recording in her illusion space and suggested Coachman could be a hidden trump card for the Nine Provinces in the Hundred Realms League.
• Viewers mocked Liu Jingyi’s prediction and recalled that the Nine Provinces had failed to reach the second round for eighty years.
• Viewers lamented the Nine Provinces’ poor prospects and its looming destruction, while Liu Jingyi defended her world and urged them to support its competitors.
• Liu Jingyi cut off the illusion space, declaring that she would watch the league and support the Nine Provinces.

Lu Zhen pushed his Silver rank to 399 points and headed to Nine Provinces Academy as the Hundred Realms League team assignments approached. In the Myriad Stars Realm, Zhao Xun alerted Qian Tong to Lu Zhen’s potential, and Qian Tong ordered a subordinate to offer Lu Zhen one final chance to join the Myriad Stars Tower unconditionally.

• Lu Zhen won repeated Void Realm matches, reaching Silver rank with 399 points as opponents grew stronger.
• Lu Zhen considered saving his chance at sudden enlightenment for the Hundred Realms League and weighed the costs of using spirit medicines against preserving item-critical rewards.
• Lu Zhen left for Nine Provinces Academy, where elite-class team assignments were due ahead of the Hundred Realms League.
• Zhao Xun noticed Coachman’s record in the Celestial Mechanism Pavilion and sent Lu Zhen’s information to Qian Tong, recommending that the Myriad Stars Tower recruit him.
• Qian Tong identified Coachman as Lu Zhen, learned that Lu Zhen had previously refused the Tower’s recruitment, and ordered a subordinate to offer him one final chance on unconditional terms.

Lu Zhen was assigned to a Hundred Realms League team with Liu Jingshu and Liu Jingyi despite Shen Qing’s objections. As the elite class gathered for its public assessment, academy leaders disputed whether Lu Zhen deserved Li Zonghan’s support, and the chapter left his performance untested.

• Shen Qing announced the three-person teams for the Hundred Realms League and assigned Lu Zhen, Liu Jingshu, and Liu Jingyi together on Vice Principal Li’s orders.
• Liu Jingyi warned Lu Zhen that a poor assessment could give Shen Qing an excuse to remove him, while Lu Zhen joked about their team.
• Students and academy leaders gathered in the Central Grand Hall for the elite class’s end-of-month assessment, where ordinary students mocked Lu Zhen’s special access to the Primordial Pressure Chamber.
• Chen Henian and Wang Daolin questioned Li Zonghan’s decision to support Lu Zhen, but Li defended his judgment and told them to wait for the assessment.

Shen Qing oversaw the elite class’s monthly combat assessment, where Liu Jingshu and Chen Yuan earned standout scores. Chen Yuan’s performance won praise from the academy leaders, though Li Zonghan worried that the acclaim was feeding his pride.

• Wang Meng scored 572 points, improving by seven, and Shen Qing warned him that slow progress meant falling behind.
• Shen Qing berated Zhou Tong after his score dropped by twelve points and criticized students he considered unworthy of the elite class, glancing repeatedly toward Lu Zhen.
• Liu Jingshu scored 672 points, improving by twenty, and Shen Qing praised her swordplay and movement technique.
• Chen Yuan demonstrated Profound Extremity movement and sword techniques supported by his Inner Landscape, scoring 733 points and drawing cheers from the students.
• Chen Henian and Wang Daolin praised Chen Yuan’s potential to help the Nine Provinces advance in the Hundred Realms League, while Li Zonghan privately judged that Chen Yuan still needed to improve his temperament.

Lu Zhen stepped forward for the academy test as students mocked him and Shen Qing, Chen Henian, and Wang Daolin expected him to fail. Seeing the despair beneath the Nine Provinces’ anger, Lu Zhen resolved to give its people hope and unleashed his full power as the Refined Iron Puppet Formation prepared to activate.

• Shen Qing deliberately placed Lu Zhen last, intending to use a poor test result to remove him from the elite class.
• In the Void Realm, Sun De celebrated Chen Yuan’s score and stirred up resentment against Lu Zhen among the audience.
• Lu Zhen entered the arena as students mocked him, while Liu Jingyi worried and Chen Henian and Wang Daolin plotted to cut his access to the Primordial Pressure Chamber.
• Lu Zhen reflected on the Civilization Kill Line and concluded that the Nine Provinces needed a glimmer of hope.
• As the Refined Iron Puppet Formation prepared to activate, Lu Zhen unleashed the power of his Inner Landscape and resolved to wield a sword and open the heavens.

Lu Zhen dominated the academy’s formation test with extraordinary swordsmanship and movement, scoring 892 points—the second-highest score in its history. Instructor Shen Qing apologized and urged him to bring honor to the Nine Provinces Academy, while Li Zonghan began planning to build on Lu Zhen’s achievement.

• Lu Zhen used his sword shadows to strike 63 puppets at their weak points, then evaded all 47 attacks from the faster assassin puppets.
• The formation awarded Lu Zhen 892 points, three points below Yu Shaobao’s historic record.
• Shen Qing admitted she had underestimated Lu Zhen, apologized, and said his performance justified ten hours in the high-pressure chamber.
• Lu Zhen returned to his seat and teased Liu Jingyi, who could only call his display awesome.
• Li Zonghan celebrated Lu Zhen’s achievement and decided to use it to strengthen his position against Chen Henian and Wang Daolin.

After Lu Zhen scored 892 points, Li Zonghan secured support to seek Hongmeng Seal guidance for him, hoping he could lead the Nine Provinces to the Hundred Realms League’s second round. Footage of Lu Zhen’s test also exposed Sun De’s smear campaign, leaving Sun De’s illusionary space in ruins.

• Li Zonghan announced Lu Zhen’s score and promised him extra Pressure Chamber hours and an application for Hongmeng Seal guidance, despite objections from Chen Henian and Wang Daolin.
• Shen Qing admitted her report on Lu Zhen had been wrong and agreed to bear responsibility for the merit exchange.
• Li Zonghan won approval for the application, staking his vice-headmaster position on Lu Zhen reaching the Hundred Realms League’s second round.
• Sun De received news of Lu Zhen’s score and, after viewers demanded proof, showed footage of Lu Zhen cutting down dozens of iron puppets with sword techniques.
• The viewers turned against Sun De and mocked him for calling Lu Zhen rotten timber, while Sun De’s attempts to complain about privilege failed.

After scoring 892 on the academy test, Lu Zhen rejected Myriad Stars Tower’s offer to join its inner circle in exchange for service and a promised place in the Myriad Stars Realm. Meanwhile, Heavenly Ark Commerce Guild manager Wei Cang learned that Myriad Stars Tower was courting a student, and asked who it was.

• Chen Yuan resented Lu Zhen’s test score and vowed to reclaim the spotlight during the Hundred Realms League.
• A clerk surnamed Sun invited Lu Zhen to dinner on behalf of Myriad Stars Tower and offered him membership, resources, and a promised immigration place in return for serving the tower.
• Lu Zhen recognized the offer as an indenture contract, ate the meal, and refused to join Myriad Stars Tower.
• Lu Zhen planned to train in the Primordial Pressure Chamber, practice Void Realm matches with Liu Jingshu and Liu Jingyi, and await approval for the Hongmeng Seal.
• Wei Cang heard that Myriad Stars Tower’s clerk had invited a Nine Provinces Academy student to dinner, and asked his subordinate which student it was.

After training in the Primordial Pressure Chamber, Lu Zhen joined Liu Jingshu and Liu Jingyi for dinner and planned their three-person team for the Hundred Realms League. They assigned Lu Zhen to rear support, Liu Jingyi to guard the center, and Liu Jingshu to charge into battle.

• Wei Cang learned that Lu Zhen had scored 892 points and ordered his subordinate to send Lu Zhen's detailed information.
• Lu Zhen trained in the Primordial Pressure Chamber and decided to save his enlightenment opportunity until he had learned more about his opponents.
• Lu Zhen accepted Liu Jingyi's invitation to dinner and helped carry dishes while Liu Jingshu cooked.
• Liu Jingyi asked how Lu Zhen had improved so quickly, but he joked rather than explaining.
• In the Void Realm, Liu Jingshu assigned Lu Zhen to rear support, Liu Jingyi to defend the center with a shield, and herself to charge through enemy formations.