Recaps

Chen Changming strengthened Breath Concealment Technique and ventured out to collect water, narrowly avoiding Demonic Beasts at the river. When he returned to the passage, an invisible restriction blocked his way back inside, leaving him exposed to mortal danger.

• Chen Changming sorted through the Storage Bags and found Spirit Stones, pills, a bow, and the Breath Concealment Technique.
• After weeks of practice, Chen Changming strengthened Breath Concealment Technique twice until it hid his physical signs as well as his cultivation.
• Chen Changming left the cave, camouflaged himself with weeds, and reached the river while concealing his aura.
• Chen Changming drank from the river and waited for a giant snake to swim away before filling two Storage Bags with water.
• Chen Changming rushed back to the passage but struck an invisible restriction that prevented him from reentering.

Chen Changming left the cave and cautiously traveled east through the Beast-infested forest, hoping to find a way out. After surviving a battle that killed the giant black snake, he waited for Blood Ghost Insects to devour it, then moved to salvage its remains.

• Chen Changming realized the cave’s restriction allowed people in but prevented them from leaving, so he concealed himself outside and studied the Beasts and the sun’s path for three days.
• Chen Changming chose to travel east, advancing carefully and using the Dragon Glide Step only when the area seemed safe.
• A flying Beast’s attacks flattened part of the forest and killed the giant black snake from the river, while Chen Changming survived buried in the earth.
• A swarm of more than a thousand Blood Ghost Insects devoured the snake’s flesh and blood before flying away.
• Chen Changming approached the corpse and drew his Purple Lightning Sword to cut apart the snake’s hide and skeleton for materials.

Chen Changming survived a Thunder-Charging Tiger destroying the black snake’s remains, spent months retracing his route through the forest, and continued cultivating while hiding from Beasts. Near the end of his tenth month in the forest, he heard a woman fighting a Beast, and a golden figure crashed into his hiding place.

• Chen Changming watched a Level 3 Thunder-Charging Tiger destroy the black snake’s skeleton, then collected the remaining hide and hid until morning.
• After six months of traveling east, Chen Changming realized he had gone the wrong way and began retracing his route to try heading west.
• Chen Changming cautiously cultivated the Evergreen Art while concealed in a hole, surviving encounters with Beasts and spirit insects.
• Four months later, the Spirit-Devouring Insect reached the ninth layer of Qi Refinement and continued providing Chen Changming with one “Pigeon Egg” each day.
• Chen Changming heard a woman fighting a Beast, saw a golden figure fall from the sky into his hole, and heard her ask who was there.

Chen Changming met Du Xiaoliang after she was thrown into his cave while fighting a Twin Prisoner Flower Snake, and she later carried him to another cave. The snake’s poison overwhelmed Du Xiaoliang, leaving her struggling to control herself as Chen Changming waited in the darkness.

• Du Xiaoliang discovered Chen Changming, who had concealed his presence by pretending to be a golden statue, and learned that he was a low-level cultivator lost in the Wilderness.
• Du Xiaoliang left Chen Changming in the cave, then returned after a while and carried him rapidly through the forest.
• Du Xiaoliang brought Chen Changming to a dark cave and dropped him there while panting heavily.
• Du Xiaoliang realized the Twin Prisoner Flower Snake’s aphrodisiac poison had overcome her Detoxification Pills and was beginning to overpower her reason.
• Chen Changming waited uneasily in the darkness as Du Xiaoliang’s breathing grew heavier.

After Du Xiaoliang was poisoned, she asked Chen Changming to help her and the two spent the night together. She then escorted him through the Wilderness to Martial Spirit City, leaving him her address in case he ever needed help.

• Du Xiaoliang, overcome by the poison, asked Chen Changming to help her in exchange for taking him out of the Wilderness.
• Chen Changming woke in the cave the next morning and realized what had happened, while Du Xiaoliang told him not to feel guilty.
• After they ate roasted Beast meat, Du Xiaoliang took Chen Changming through the Wilderness, avoiding Beasts along the way.
• Three days later, Du Xiaoliang brought Chen Changming near Martial Spirit City and gave him a slip of paper with her address before leaving.

Chen Changming reached Martial Spirit City after escaping the Wilderness, but learned that the city was a lawless refuge surrounded by deadly wilderness. After defeating and killing two would-be robbers outside its gates, he approached the city and was stopped by its guards.

• Chen Changming spotted Martial Spirit City and was confronted by a young cultivator who demanded his Storage Bags.
• Chen Changming defeated the robber with Spirit Finger Flick, then survived a hidden attacker’s Golden Sword Talisman by using the Heavenly Furnace Body Refining Technique.
• Chen Changming killed the hidden attacker and interrogated the wounded robber before executing him to protect his secrets.
• Chen Changming learned that Martial Spirit City was surrounded by the Wilderness and that only Foundation Establishment cultivators could leave by teleportation array after paying resources.
• Chen Changming hurried to the city gate, where two guards blocked his way with their spears.

Chen Changming entered Martial Spirit City, rented a room in Wuling Pavilion, and settled in after buying overpriced firewood from Zhao Qianshan. While cooking, he considered selling some of his high-grade Spirit Rice for Spirit Stones.

• Chen Changming paid the city gate guards three Spirit Stones and entered Martial Spirit City, where he witnessed a cultivator get robbed.
• Chen Changming rented a single room in Wuling Pavilion for three years and received a token after paying one thousand and eighty Spirit Stones.
• Chen Changming met Zhao Qianshan, introduced himself as Chen Shan, and moved into his bare room in the crowded residential area.
• Chen Changming bought two hundred jin of firewood from Zhao Qianshan for one Spirit Stone and declined his offer of water.
• Chen Changming began cooking Spirit Rice and considered selling some of his high-grade supply to earn Spirit Stones.

Chen Changming adapted to life in cramped Martial Spirit City while cultivating, eventually mastering the second layer of the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art. After two years of relentless training, he reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining and tempered his muscles until they turned golden.

• Chen Changming bought separate chamber pots from Zhao Qianshan, then avoided the crowded waste vats by storing his waste in Storage Bags.
• Chen Changming settled into a routine of cultivating the Evergreen Art and studying the second layer of the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art without leaving his room.
• Chen Changming broke through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining and mastered the second layer of the body-forging art.
• Chen Changming repeatedly endured the Heavenly Furnace's flames until he could withstand three hours inside it, completing the second layer's muscle-tempering process.
• Two years later, Chen Changming reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining and turned every muscle golden, greatly increasing his physical strength.

Chen Changming advanced his body-tempering cultivation, renewed his room at Wuling Pavilion, and agreed to help welcome two important visitors to Martial Spirit City. He joined the city’s preparations and waited in the blazing sun for the Immortal Masters to arrive.

• Chen Changming judged that his strengthened body was comparable to a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator and began studying the third layer of the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art.
• The Spirit-Devouring Insect advanced to a Level 2 Demonic Beast and began producing two high-quality Pigeon Eggs each day, helping Chen Changming’s cultivation progress over the following six months.
• Chen Changming renewed his Wuling Pavilion lease for three years and paid an unexpected garbage collection fee; the attendant told him Zhao Qianshan had died in the Wilderness.
• The attendant offered Chen Changming three Spirit Stones to help welcome two big shots, and Chen Changming agreed.
• Chen Changming joined more than a hundred people at Martial Spirit City’s central plaza, where he held a sign welcoming the Immortal Masters and waited under the scorching sun.

Chen Changming saw an Immortal Sect party arrive in Martial Spirit City and believed their junior sister, Linger, was Su Linger, whom he had not seen in eleven years. After the reunion left him shaken, he tried selling Black Water King Snake hide and was left guessing the shopkeeper’s offered price.

• Shangguan Jian welcomed a handsome Immortal Sect disciple and his beautiful junior sister Linger, while Chen Changming recognized her as possibly Su Linger.
• Linger declined Shangguan Jian’s feast and led the Immortal Masters into the Wilderness.
• Chen Changming collected his three Spirit Stones, walked out dazed, then regained his composure and worried about protecting his Storage Bag.
• Chen Changming brought a piece of Level 2 Black Water King Snake hide to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion to sell.
• The shopkeeper examined the hide and silently raised one finger, leaving Chen Changming unsure of the price.

After a crooked shop tried to cheat Chen Changan and steal his snake skin, he returned to Wuling Pavilion and spent several years cultivating and tempering his bones. He renewed his lease as Martial Spirit City grew more crowded and dangerous.

• Chen Changan refused the Treasure Gathering Pavilion's low offer for his snake skin, evaded a cultivator's ambush, and returned to Wuling Pavilion.
• Chen Changan declined Ouyang Hong's invitation to hunt Demonic Beasts and resumed cultivating in his room.
• Over the next year, Chen Changan reached the seventh level of Qi Refining and mastered the third layer of the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, but bone tempering proved extremely painful.
• Chen Changan spent two more years gradually increasing his bone-tempering endurance and saw his bones develop a faint golden sheen.
• Chen Changan renewed his room lease for three years at a higher rent as a Wuling Pavilion attendant warned him to be careful amid Martial Spirit City's growing crowd.

Chen Changming continued tempering his body until he mastered the third layer of the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, while his appetite grew to extraordinary levels and his cultivation hit a bottleneck before Foundation Establishment. With his lease nearly up, he sold snake skins for Spirit Stones, avoided robbers, and renewed his room for three years.

• Chen Changming endured six shichen of golden flames and kept cultivating for years as his bones gradually turned gold and his appetite surged.
• Chen Changming renewed his lease, asked whether Su Linger would return soon, and declined Ouyang Hong’s invitation to hunt Beasts.
• Chen Changming mastered the third layer of the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, began craving Beast flesh, and realized his body cultivation had reached a bottleneck.
• Chen Changming sold his snake skins for 6,000 Spirit Stones and evaded several groups of robbers on his way back to Wuling Pavilion.
• Chen Changming renewed his lease for three years and told the young attendant he had sold Beast materials because money was tight.

Chen Changming broke through to Foundation Establishment through the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, then concealed his newfound aura and began adapting to his transformed body. The next morning, he approached Ouyang Hong after she had invited him to join her team.

• Chen Changming reflected on the risks of revealing his strength and continued cultivating in his room.
• A year later, the Heavenly Furnace flames turned purple, and Chen Changming broke through to Foundation Establishment after his bodily shackles shattered.
• Ouyang Hong sensed a Foundation Establishment aura, but Chen Changming denied that anyone was in his room; afterward, his transformed body consumed two hundred jin of Spirit Rice to satisfy its hunger.
• Chen Changming cultivated through the night, noticed purple lines appearing in his skin, muscles, and bones, and went to knock on Ouyang Hong's door.
• Ouyang Hong came out dressed for the day, and Chen Changming waited to speak with her about joining her team.

Chen Changming agreed to join Ouyang Hong’s Beast-hunting team, then learned his Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root had made her doubt his strength. The team went to find Qian in the West District slums, where Chen saw the squalid living conditions and a man kill someone for a Storage Bag.

• Chen Changming agreed to team up with Ouyang Hong and told her he had a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root, prompting her to regret choosing him but keep her word.
• Ouyang Hong brought Chen Changming to meet Li Yu, Xu Dafu, and Huang Yan, who were all at the eighth level of Qi Refining.
• The team left Martial Spirit City to find Qian, and Xu Dafu explained that poor residents lived in the East and West Districts outside the city.
• Chen Changming saw the West District’s cramped, filthy homes and shabby residents, then witnessed a vicious man kill someone and take his Storage Bag.

Chen Changming joined Ouyang Hong’s team on a trip into the Wilderness, meeting their sword cultivator leader, Qian Liu, and learning about his impoverished life and sick wife. The team reached the Beast zone and prepared to hunt a Lion-Tailed Scorpion, which Qian Liu believed would emerge that night.

• Chen Changming witnessed the Golden Dragon Gang kill a man in the West District and learned that local gangs demanded protection money.
• Ouyang Hong introduced Chen Changming to Qian Liu, a Qi Cultivation Level 9 sword cultivator who spent his earnings on medicine for his poisoned wife.
• Chen Changming and the team left the West District and traveled safely through the Wilderness to the Beast zone.
• Qian Liu noticed Chen Changming’s sword-cultivator habits, and Chen Changming concealed his true strength.
• Qian Liu announced that the Lion-Tailed Scorpion they had failed to hunt before was still nearby and expected to emerge that night.

Chen Changming and Qian Liu’s group fought a Lion-Tailed Scorpion, but the Golden Dragon Gang arrived and claimed the kill. Afterward, Qian Liu found Storage Bags in the scorpion’s lair and left with the Spirit Stones, prompting the others to rush inside.

• Qian Liu led Chen Changming and four others to ambush a Lion-Tailed Scorpion as it emerged from its lair.
• The group attacked the scorpion, with Qian Liu’s sword strikes dealing the only meaningful damage as the others kept it occupied.
• A group from the Golden Dragon Gang arrived, led by the Qi Cultivation Level 10 sword cultivator Chen Changming recognized from the West District.
• Qian Liu and the others withdrew, and the Golden Dragon Gang quickly killed the Lion-Tailed Scorpion and took its body.
• Qian Liu found several Storage Bags and bones in the scorpion’s lair, took the Spirit Stones, and left to tend to his wife.
• The other five rushed into the lair to divide the remaining contents.

After finding a Medicine Sect alchemy book in the Lion-Tailed Scorpion’s lair, Chen Changming secretly ambushed the Golden Dragon Gang and took their belongings. He returned to eat the scorpion’s flesh, while a magnificent Dragon Boat arrived at Martial Spirit City.

• Ouyang Hong gave Chen Changming a tattered Medicine Sect book on basic alchemy, and the others divided the swords and pills before resting in the lair.
• Chen Changming disguised himself and attacked the Golden Dragon Gang’s camp, killing its members and taking their Storage Bags.
• Chen Changming returned to the lair and pretended to struggle with constipation so the others would not suspect him.
• Chen Changming checked the Golden Dragon Gang’s meager loot, then ate more than thirty pounds of the Lion-Tailed Scorpion’s flesh.
• A magnificent Dragon Boat descended into Martial Spirit City’s central plaza, where people welcomed the arriving immortal.

Chen Changming survived Li Yu’s attempt to poison and rob the group, killed him, and revived the others with his strengthened Detoxification Art. With Li Yu dead and Qian Liu gone, the four survivors decided to keep hunting in the Wilderness.

• Li Yu accused Chen Changming of hiding a treasure and then used Rosemary Incense to knock out Ouyang Hong, Xu Dafu, and Huang Yan.
• Li Yu revealed he planned to kill the group and steal their supplies, then attacked the seemingly unconscious Chen Changming.
• Chen Changming proved the incense had barely affected him, snapped Li Yu’s neck, and used Detoxification Art to clear the poison from himself and the others.
• Chen Changming told the revived Ouyang Hong, Xu Dafu, and Huang Yan that Li Yu had drugged them and accepted their thanks.
• Ouyang Hong noted that only four of them remained, and Xu Dafu suggested they search for a first-tier, mid-level Beast.

Chen Changming joined Ouyang Hong, Xu Dafu, and Huang Yan on a dangerous trip deeper into the Wilderness to hunt Demonic Beasts and earn Spirit Stones. There he unexpectedly reunited with Du Xiaoliang, a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had believed him dead for eleven years.

• Chen Changming agreed to venture deeper into the Wilderness with Ouyang Hong, Xu Dafu, and Huang Yan because they were all short on Spirit Stones.
• The group fled from a pack of several hundred Iron-Armored Wolves and discussed the difficulty and expense of reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Chen Changming resolved to prepare several Foundation Establishment Pills so he could advance his Dao cultivation without revealing his body cultivation.
• Ouyang Hong spotted Wind-Chasing Horses by a river, but a Foundation Establishment cultivator swooped down and scared them away.
• Du Xiaoliang recognized Chen Changming and said she had thought he was dead after searching for him for eleven years.

Du Xiaoliang warned Chen Changming’s team about venturing into the Wilderness and revealed herself as the Consistent Sect’s Jade-Faced Yama. Later, Chen Changming saw the Dragon Boat carrying Su Linger, who noticed a familiar man among the cultivators below.

• Du Xiaoliang reprimanded Chen Changming, Ouyang Hong, Xu Dafu, and Huang Yan for entering dangerous territory with only four people, then privately invited Chen Changming to seek her out in Martial Spirit City.
• Xu Dafu identified Du Xiaoliang as Jade-Faced Yama, the Consistent Sect’s powerful vice-leader, while Chen Changming said they had only crossed paths once.
• The four cultivators continued through the Wilderness, hiding from a Level 2 Demonic Beast before spotting a Dragon Boat carrying cultivators from the Glazed Sect.
• Su Linger stood aboard the Dragon Boat with Senior Brother Bai and searched for a Demonic Beast to challenge as she neared the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment.
• Su Linger looked down at the Qi Refining cultivators and suddenly recognized one of them as intensely familiar.

Su Linger recognized Chen Changming as her childhood companion and reunited with him in the Wilderness, while Chen Changming hid his feelings and pretended not to know her out of fear for his life. The chapter ended with Su Linger asking him directly whether he recognized her.

• Su Linger spotted Chen Changming among the Qi Refining cultivators and flew down from the Dragon Boat, with Bai Yutang and the guards following her.
• Chen Changming recognized Su Linger but resolved to conceal their past, fearing that acknowledging her would put him in danger.
• Su Linger greeted Chen Changming tearfully and insisted that he was her Changming-ge, while he acted frightened and kept his head lowered.
• Memories of their childhood hardship overwhelmed Su Linger, and she crouched down gasping as her old asthma seemed to return.
• Bai Yutang attacked the four cultivators in anger, but Su Linger intercepted his sword and then walked toward Chen Changming, asking if he recognized her.

Chen Changming avoided revealing his identity to Su Linger, who mistook him for someone who merely resembled her childhood companion and left him a Level 2 Iron-Armored Wolf. After returning to Martial Spirit City, he used the beast’s flesh to aid his cultivation, while a report of his resemblance reached the Glazed Sect’s sect master.

• Chen Changming pretended not to know Su Linger, and she left with Bai Yutang after ordering her guards to give his group a Level 2 Iron-Armored Wolf.
• A guard returned to extract the wolf’s demon core, so Chen Changming gave up his claim to it and shared the remaining pelt with Xu Dafu, Huang Yan, and Ouyang Hong.
• The group killed a Black-Haired Bear on their way back, and Chen Changming took only its flesh.
• Chen Changming returned to Martial Spirit City and found that eating Iron-Armored Wolf flesh eased the pain of his Heavenly Furnace cultivation.
• A month later, Su Linger’s protectors reported her trip to the Glazed Sect, and the sect master reacted with shock upon hearing that a young man resembled Chen Changming.

The silver-robed Sect Master learned that Chen Changming had joined Lingxiao Sect, displayed Four-Part True Intent, and later disappeared, while Su Linger continued to believe he could not have reached Yan Kingdom. Convinced Chen Changming had made it to Martial Spirit City and posed a threat to Su Linger, the Sect Master ordered the city's lord to kill him and bring back his head.

• The silver-robed Sect Master recognized Chen Changming in a vision and sent Elder Li to check whether he had joined Lingxiao Sect.
• The Sect Master urged Su Linger not to seek out Chen Changming, and Su Linger agreed to focus on cultivating toward the Golden Core Realm.
• Elder Li reported that Chen Changming had joined Lingxiao Sect without using the Sect Master's token and had revealed Four-Part True Intent at the True Intent Tournament.
• Elder Li said Chen Changming disappeared after going to Cloud Mist Mountain, having been at the third level of Qi Refining when last seen.
• The Sect Master concluded that Chen Changming had reached Martial Spirit City and ordered the city's lord to kill him and bring his head to the Glazed Sect.

The Glazed Sect's black-clad woman ordered Martial Spirit City to find Chen Changming, who was living under the alias Chen Shan, and kill him. After the city guards located him, Elder Sun arrived with two tenth-level Qi Cultivation guards to attack his room.

• The black-clad woman ordered Shangguan Jian to seal Martial Spirit City and search for Chen Shan, identified as a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator.
• Shangguan Jian mobilized the city guards, and Du Xiaoliang heard that they were searching for a young man at the seventh level of Qi Refining.
• The guards found Chen Shan in a rental room at the Wuling Pavilion, and the black-clad woman ordered his head brought back.
• The black-clad woman insisted that a Foundation Establishment cultivator accompany the two guards, so Shangguan Jian sent Elder Sun.
• Elder Sun arrived above the Wuling Pavilion as the two guards knocked on Chen Changming's door.

Chen Changming killed two Martial Spirit City guards who ambushed him, then killed Elder Sun when the Foundation Establishment cultivator came to investigate. Realizing Martial Spirit City was no longer safe, he fled into the night.

• Two Qi Cultivation Level 10 guards planned to ambush Chen Changming while pretending to search his room for a suspect.
• Chen Changming exposed his back to the guards, then killed them with two sudden attacks and stored their bodies in his Storage Bag.
• Chen Changming spotted Elder Sun circling above and realized the Foundation Establishment guard had come to kill him.
• Elder Sun kicked open Chen Changming's door, found the room empty, and was seized and killed when Chen Changming burst through the door.
• Chen Changming stored Elder Sun's body, collected the broken door fragments, and fled Martial Spirit City as witnesses watched in shock.