Recaps

Lin Tian helped the Zhou siblings survive a Tiger-Headed Exotic Beast attack, then arrived at Gaoyan Prefecture City and left their carriage. Zhou Mingda urged Zhou Wanqian to consider Lin Tian as a match, but she felt he was still not the kind of person she truly desired.

• Zhou Mingda asked Lin Tian to explain his martial move, then proposed that Lin Tian become his brother-in-law, prompting Zhou Wanqian to scold him.
• Zhou Wanqian thanked Lin Tian for killing the Tiger-Headed Exotic Beast, and Lin Tian said he was responsible for leading them onto the dangerous road.
• The carriage reached Gaoyan Prefecture City, and Lin Tian thanked the Zhou siblings before leaving at the city outskirts.
• Zhou Mingda lamented that Zhou Wanqian had missed a good marriage and argued that Lin Tian had proved his potential by defeating the beast.
• Zhou Wanqian recalled Lin Tian's composure during the attack but decided he was not the dazzling martial prodigy she wanted.

Lin Tian reached Heavenly Derivation Sect with his internal recommendation letter and learned that recommended candidates still had to undergo a screening. He watched Liang Youcai receive a wooden token and saw that the sect used a more detailed fifteen-grade system to assess innate talent.

• Lin Tian entered Gaoyan Prefecture City with Qingchuan County's recommendation letter and went directly to Heavenly Derivation Sect.
• Liang Youcai introduced himself as the Top Candidate of the Gaochuan County Martial Examination and explained that recommendation holders could skip the public queue to enter screening.
• Lin Tian and Liang Youcai handed their recommendation letters to a Heavenly Derivation Sect attendant disciple and entered the sect.
• Lin Tian learned that candidates were screened and ranked, with upper-rank disciples receiving iron tokens and lower-rank disciples receiving wooden tokens.
• Liang Youcai underwent testing and received a wooden token, while Lin Tian noticed the sect's innate talent test used fifteen grades ending with Saint.

Lin Tian received an Iron Token after earning a superior grade in the Heavenly Derivation Sect’s assessment, though his bone quality was only considered adequate. Liang Youcai explained that Lin Tian’s breakthrough at eighteen was exceptionally early, but the two still faced a difficult three-day selection, and Lin Tian later saw other candidates leaving after their tokens were returned.

• Lin Tian’s bone-quality test stopped at the first-rate mark, and the tester awarded him an Iron Token.
• Liang Youcai was astonished to learn that Lin Tian had reached Transformation Force at eighteen and said that age made him a rare genius.
• Liang Youcai warned Lin Tian that gaining entry to the Heavenly Derivation Sect would be difficult because it was the highest-tier sect in Gaoyan Prefecture City.
• Lin Tian learned that candidates would pass if their split token remained unreturned during the three days after the selection.
• Lin Tian walked out of his room and saw many candidates carrying their luggage and leaving the inn.

Lin Tian watched the Heavenly Derivation Sect eliminate candidates as the selection continued, while Liang Youcai lost his Token and left to pursue the imperial examination. Inside the sect, the elders reviewed upper-tier candidates and began choosing the final five people for admission, with Lin Tian among those under consideration.

• Lin Tian saw that many wooden Tokens had been returned, and reflected that candidates rejected by the Ten Great Sects might pursue government service to gain access to higher-level Cultivation Techniques.
• Liang Youcai survived the first day but received his Token back on the second evening, said goodbye to Lin Tian, and left to return home for the imperial examination.
• Lin Tian noticed that an Iron Token had appeared among the returned Tokens and considered how the sect compared upper-tier candidates’ different advantages.
• The Heavenly Derivation Sect elders reviewed candidates’ aptitude, age, and other strengths, admitting clear qualifiers and selecting promising candidates for further consideration.
• The elders found that five places remained and decided that each of the five present would choose one candidate from those awaiting a final decision; Lin Tian was among them.

The elders selected semi-qualified disciples for the Heavenly Derivation Sect, repeatedly passing over Lin Tian because his aptitude was only first-rate. After his token was returned, Lin Tian delivered a letter from the Commandant to a managing deacon, who read it and asked whether Lin Tian was Zhou Feng’s illegitimate son.

• The first elder chose Li Yue over Lin Tian, judging Li Yue’s near-super-first-rate aptitude more likely to lead to Core Condensation.
• The next elders also selected other candidates, while some used their examiner privileges to choose people connected to their own families or forces.
• At dusk, Lin Tian received his returned token and went to find the recipient of the Commandant’s letter instead of packing his belongings.
• A maid let Lin Tian into the managing deacon’s courtyard, where he met a powerful middle-aged Transformation Force martial artist.
• After reading the letter, the managing deacon looked at Lin Tian strangely and asked whether he was Zhou Feng’s illegitimate son.

Lin Tian accepted Deacon Guan’s offer to become a Deacon Disciple of the Heavenly Derivation Sect, mainly because it gave him monthly access to the Library Pavilion. After settling into his new lodgings, he met his neighbors, who were surprised to learn his status.

• Deacon Guan explained that Deacon Disciples were affiliates with Outer Disciple standing but could enter the Library Pavilion for one hour each month.
• Lin Tian accepted the Deacon Disciple Token despite Deacon Guan’s surprise at his choice.
• An Outer Disciple escorted Lin Tian to his courtyard and gave him a map of the sect.
• Lin Tian moved into his lodgings and cleaned the courtyard.
• Li An, Wang Gang, and Li Rui introduced themselves to Lin Tian, then reacted with surprise when he said he was a Deacon Disciple.

Lin Tian met Li An, Li Rui, and Wang Gang, who learned he was a Deacon Disciple, then prepared to use his limited Library Pavilion access to seek a technique for reaching the Core Condensation Realm. The next morning, he entered the pavilion and saw a woman waiting behind the desk.

• Li An briefly reacted to Lin Tian being a Deacon Disciple, then politely congratulated him and left with Li Rui and Wang Gang.
• Li Rui questioned why Li An had been courteous, while Li An stayed silent and Wang Gang dismissed Lin Tian as unimportant.
• Lin Tian went to sleep, then rose early and took Deacon Guan's Token and a gold-embossed letter with him.
• Lin Tian entered the Library Pavilion, where he saw a woman in a fitted brocade robe standing behind the desk with a long-stemmed pipe.

Lin Tian visited the Library Pavilion to learn about its floors and the Core Condensation Realm, paying the elder for answers before choosing the third floor. He began searching its mental formulas for a method to break through to Core Condensation.

• Lin Tian told the Library Pavilion elder that he had become a Deacon Disciple and wanted to browse cultivation manuals.
• The elder explained the floor access times and fees, then described what each floor contained after Lin Tian paid her.
• Lin Tian paid again to borrow the Record of Martial Arts Knowledge and read about the Core Condensation Realm.
• Lin Tian chose the third floor, received a timed crystal, and hurried upstairs.
• Lin Tian searched the third-floor shelves for Core Condensation methods and found mental formulas sorted by the five elements.

Lin Tian used his Fate Grid to compare upper-ranked cultivation methods and selected the strongest technique for each of the five elements. He found that the finest wood, earth, water, metal, and fire techniques all required 1,000 progress points, and their books appeared to share the same unusual material.

• Lin Tian tested upper-ranked wood techniques with his Fate Grid and found that higher progress requirements marked stronger methods.
• Lin Tian discovered the dusty Azure Wood Eternal Spring Art, which required 1,000 progress points, and chose it as his wood-attribute technique.
• Lin Tian searched the earth-attribute shelf and selected the Thick Earth Mountain-Suppressing Art, noticing its cover matched the wood technique’s material.
• Lin Tian selected the Mystic Water Origin-Returning Art and the Geng Metal True-Condensing Art, finding that both shared the same material and 1,000-point requirement.
• Lin Tian searched the fire-attribute shelf and chose the Li Fire Heaven-Burning Art, which also required 1,000 progress points.

Lin Tian left the Library Pavilion after secretly learning nearly forty or fifty superior cultivation methods in half an hour, while the matron dismissed her suspicions as exhaustion. He then used a letter from Bao Tianhua’s mother to seek support from Bao Tianhua’s aunt in Gaoyan Prefecture City, arriving at the Pei Mansion.

• Lin Tian noticed his allotted time in the Library Pavilion was nearly over and returned the crystal just before the light vanished.
• The matron sensed an unusual, complex aura on Lin Tian but let him leave, then doubted her own perception of the many cultivation methods he had learned.
• Lin Tian left the pavilion without revealing his Fate Grid and considered his need for resources, especially Blood Coagulation Pills.
• Lin Tian followed the letter’s instructions to the Pei Mansion in Gaoyan Prefecture City, seeking help from Bao Tianhua’s aunt.

Lin Tian arrived at the Pei Mansion with Bao Tianhua’s letter and confirmed he had earned the Top Candidate title and intended to join the Heavenly Derivation Sect. The women who read the letter recognized his potential as a future Inner Disciple and considered him a powerful ally for their precarious merchant position.

• Lin Tian showed the Pei Mansion guards Bao Tianhua’s jade pendant and was admitted to meet the madam.
• A maid led Lin Tian through the lavish estate to a pavilion where three women were drinking tea.
• The woman in white asked for Bao Tianhua’s letter, read it, and confirmed it was written by her elder sister.
• The woman in white learned Lin Tian had earned the Top Candidate title and planned to join the Heavenly Derivation Sect.
• The three women recognized that Lin Tian could become an Inner Disciple and a valuable backer for their merchant interests.

Lin Tian sought Martial Way funding from Shopkeeper Pei, but the women initially mistook him for a promising inner disciple and lost interest when he revealed he was only a Deacon Disciple. Shopkeeper Pei nevertheless offered him the Pei Mansion’s highest-standard sponsorship, and Lin Tian learned it would make him an offering responsible for protecting the family, leaving him ready to refuse.

• The women considered investing in Lin Tian after learning he had joined the Heavenly Derivation Sect, but he clarified that he was only a Deacon Disciple.
• The women’s excitement faded because they believed Deacon Disciples had little prospect in the Martial Way.
• Lin Tian asked Shopkeeper Pei for Martial Way funding, and she agreed to provide the Pei Mansion’s highest-standard sponsorship because he had helped her sister.
• The woman in the yellow dress explained that core sponsorships had limited quotas and that recipients usually served as their patrons’ offerings.
• Lin Tian understood the obligations attached to the sponsorship and prepared to refuse it.

Lin Tian accepted Pei Qingyu’s core support after she assured him it would not harm her and asked only that he help her in the future if he could. After he left to prepare for a breakthrough to Core Condensation, the Yellow-Skirted Woman questioned Pei Qingyu’s decision to spend their final support slot on him.

• Pei Qingyu explained that core support would use one of her slots but would not cause her a serious loss, and Lin Tian agreed to accept it.
• Lin Tian left a tablet bearing his name at the Pei Mansion, while the remaining official approvals were left to Pei Qingyu’s side.
• Lin Tian returned to the Heavenly Derivation Sect, having secured a cultivation method and resources, and planned to attempt a breakthrough to the Core Condensation Realm.
• The Yellow-Skirted Woman warned Pei Qingyu that she had used their last support slot, which they had hoped to reserve for a genius who could help their merchant standing rise.
• Pei Qingyu said Lin Tian’s status as Martial Examination Top Candidate and his apparent pursuit of Core Condensation methods made him worth supporting.
• The Yellow-Skirted Woman doubted Lin Tian could learn anything useful with only half an hour of Library Pavilion access each month.

Pei Qingyu honored her sister’s request to help Lin Tian and accepted the risk of wagering a Core Condensation cultivation slot on him. Lin Tian returned to the Heavenly Derivation Sect, chose to cultivate Geng Metal True Qi, and opened his courtyard door to find Li An waiting.

• Pei Qingyu refused to reconsider her wager after the woman in the yellow dress warned that Lin Tian showed little promise.
• Pei Qingyu looked at her sister’s letter and recalled that her sister had asked her to help Lin Tian, making that request the true reason for her decision.
• Lin Tian returned to the Heavenly Derivation Sect, bought Blood Coagulation Pills, and chose metal-attribute true qi to complement his Demon-Subduing Golden Body.
• Lin Tian cultivated the Geng Metal True-Condensing Art for five days and saw its progress reach 239 out of 1,000.
• Lin Tian noticed a strange sensation while cultivating the Demon-Subduing Golden Body, then answered a knock and found Li An outside his courtyard.

Li An visited Lin Tian with expensive food and wine, then tried to persuade him to obtain an inner cultivation manual from the Library Pavilion. He left two crystals on the table and appealed to Lin Tian’s humble origins, asking whether he would accept being held back by the sect’s rules.

• Li An brought five costly exotic-beast meat dishes and wine to Lin Tian’s courtyard.
• Lin Tian refused to drink with Li An until he explained why he had come.
• Li An revealed that he knew Lin Tian had visited the Library Pavilion and studied an inner cultivation manual for only half an hour.
• Li An suggested that Lin Tian could bring a Cultivation Technique out by extraordinary means and placed two crystals on the table.
• Li An argued that the sect’s restrictions unfairly limited disciples like them and asked Lin Tian whether he was willing to accept it.

Lin Tian rejected Li An’s scheme to steal a mental cultivation method and realized Li An intended to make him bear all the risk. After another ten days of peaceful cultivation, Lin Tian’s Fate Grid showed his Demon-Subduing Golden Body and Geng Metal True-Condensing Art nearing their next thresholds.

• Li An offered Lin Tian an Image-Recording Stone and urged him to secretly copy a mental cultivation method from the Library Pavilion.
• Lin Tian refused, warned that stealing the sect’s secret arts carried a capital sentence, and left Li An without a chance to argue.
• Li An left in a fury while Lin Tian watched him and concluded that Li An meant to use him as a disposable accomplice and copy the method onto multiple stones.
• Lin Tian reflected that Li An’s scheme revealed how difficult it was to enter the Heavenly Derivation Sect’s inner sect, then continued focusing on his cultivation.
• Ten days later, Lin Tian finished another round of the Geng Metal True-Condensing Art, and his Fate Grid displayed 15089/16000 progress in the Demon-Subduing Golden Body and 859/1000 in the Geng Metal True-Condensing Art’s first layer.

Lin Tian watched the Heavenly Derivation Sect’s monthly assessment, where Outer Disciples fought mechanical puppets to determine their resource allocations. He attended to observe a Core Condensation Realm demonstration, while Deacon Guan noticed him from the platform.

• Lin Tian estimated that his arts were close to the Core Condensation Realm and realized his second stream of Zhenqi needed better aptitude and resources to progress faster.
• After hearing that the monthly assessment was underway, Lin Tian went to the plaza to watch a Core Condensation Realm elder demonstrate combat.
• Lin Tian watched Li An and Wang Gang pass their puppet assessments while Li Rui was defeated and lost her resources for the next month.
• Lin Tian judged the mechanical puppets to be around the strength of the Li Family’s chief Attendant and believed he could destroy one in a few punches.
• Deacon Guan spotted Lin Tian, and his friend asked whom he was watching.

Lin Tian watched two Core Condensation Realm elders spar and returned to refining his Zhenqi, while the Merchant Alliance announced it would sharply reduce protection for sea routes. Pei Qingyu and the other women faced the threat of losing much of their maritime businesses.

• A deacon dismissed Lin Tian’s hope of learning a cultivation method from the manuals, while Deacon Guan declined to comment.
• Two Core Condensation Realm elders shared cultivation insights and demonstrated their water- and fire-aspected Zhenqi in a brief spar.
• Lin Tian returned to his courtyard and resumed refining his Zhenqi.
• Pei Qingyu and two women read letters reporting that pirate forces were gathering and the Merchant Alliance would cut its sea-route guards by at least half.
• The Yellow-Skirted Woman condemned the decision as the three women realized their maritime businesses could lose the alliance’s protection.

Pei Qingyu and the other women struggled to protect their merchant businesses after the Merchant Alliance lifted its controls, while Lin Tian broke through to the Core Condensation Realm by cultivating the Geng Metal True-Condensing Art. Five days later, half the independent merchants in Gaoyan Prefecture City had collapsed, leaving the women desperate for a trustworthy backer.

• Pei Qingyu urged the women to use the short delay before pirates reacted to gather their businesses and withstand the coming crisis.
• Lin Tian cultivated the Geng Metal True-Condensing Art for five days and broke through to the early stage of the Core Condensation Realm.
• Lin Tian shaped his Geng Metal True Qi into armor and a spear, then resumed cultivating the Demon-Subduing Golden Body.
• At the Pei Mansion, the three women learned that about half of the city's mid-sized independent merchants had collapsed in five days.
• The three women concluded that they needed a backer but saw no safe way to approach upper-tier merchants, who might simply take everything from them.

At Pei Mansion, Pei Qingyu learned that pirates from Extreme Yin Island had seized a merchant ship carrying valuable cargo and two of her elders, and demanded a huge ransom delivered by her in person. Despite recognizing the danger of the trap, she decided she had to go save them.

• A maid told Pei Qingyu that pirates had seized a Pei Mansion merchant ship and delivered a letter demanding ransom.
• Pei Qingyu read the letter and learned the pirates wanted 100,000 taels within three days, with her delivering the money herself.
• The Yellow-Skirted Woman discovered the pirates were Extreme Yin Island, led by five Transformation Force pirates, and warned Pei Qingyu that their leader might target her.
• Pei Qingyu said she had to go because the ship carried two Transformation Force elders who had supported her and Pei Mansion.

Pei Qingyu asked Lin Tian to protect her as she went to ransom her people and goods from the Five Extreme Yin Demons, and Lin Tian delayed for two days to finish cultivating. After reaching the Silver Garment realm, he gained greatly enhanced physical abilities and immunity to all poisons.

• Pei Qingyu decided to send money and summon Lin Tian to help her deal with the Five Extreme Yin Demons.
• Lin Tian read Pei Qingyu's letter and felt that the ransom mission might involve more than simply protecting her.
• Pei Qingyu and the woman in the yellow dress grew anxious and frustrated when Lin Tian said he needed two days before helping.
• Lin Tian completed his cultivation of the Demon-Subduing Golden Body, reached the Silver Garment realm, and underwent Flesh Reconstruction.
• Lin Tian discovered that his recovery, perception, strength, and bodily control had improved, and that he was immune to all poisons.

Lin Tian finished strengthening his Demon-Subduing Golden Body to the Silver Garment realm and set out with Pei Qingyu for Extreme Yin Island to confront the Five Extreme Yin Demons. As they approached the island, Pei Qingyu drew confidence from Lin Tian’s calm presence, though she still trembled at the sight of their destination.

• Lin Tian realized his strengthened inner organs could expel harmful substances and regulate themselves to heal injuries.
• After two days of waiting anxiously amid threats from the Five Extreme Yin Demons, Pei Qingyu learned that Lin Tian had arrived at Pei Mansion.
• Lin Tian and Pei Qingyu boarded the prepared ship and sailed toward Extreme Yin Island, with Lin Tian reassuring her that he would bring her back safely.
• The ship reached the gloomy black-reef island, and Pei Qingyu briefly trembled before regaining her composure.

The Five Extreme Yin Demons prepared to collect ransom from Pei Qingyu, confident that she and Lin Tian posed no threat. When Pei Qingyu and Lin Tian reached Extreme Yin Island, Lin Tian suddenly leaped ashore alone, leaving everyone stunned.

• The Five Extreme Yin Demons feasted while Heart Demon planned to seize Pei Qingyu, but Eye Demon warned him to prioritize collecting the ransom and staying safe from a powerful pirate alliance.
• The demons discussed their plan to take the money and hide, dismissing Lin Tian as an inexperienced young martial artist they could easily kill.
• A messenger announced that Pei Qingyu and Lin Tian had arrived at Extreme Yin Island.
• Pei Qingyu approached the shore by small boat and felt reassured that the two captive elders showed no major wounds, though she grew increasingly nervous before the five demons.
• The captive elders feared Pei Qingyu had entered a trap, but Lin Tian leaped onto Extreme Yin Island alone, astonishing everyone.

Lin Tian defeated the Five Extreme Yin Demons on Extreme Yin Island and revealed that he could wield Core Condensation-level Zhenqi. After Pei Qingyu treated his injuries, the group freed the kidnapped Pei Mansion people and sailed away, while Pei Qingyu approached Lin Tian with new caution and respect.

• Lin Tian attacked the Five Extreme Yin Demons, crushing Fifth Elder's hand and breaking the Heart Demon's arm and Third Elder's and Fourth Elder's legs.
• The Eye Demon threw explosive black balls at Lin Tian, who used the injured elders as shields and was wounded by the blast.
• The Heart Demon fled toward the water, but Lin Tian formed a Long Spear from Geng Metal True Qi and pierced his chest, revealing his Core Condensation Realm strength.
• Pei Qingyu gave Lin Tian a healing Pill, and his injuries rapidly recovered as he swallowed it.
• Lin Tian and Pei Qingyu's group freed the abducted Pei Mansion people, recovered the stolen goods, and left Extreme Yin Island aboard the merchant ship.
• Pei Qingyu approached Lin Tian cautiously after realizing his strength and potential far exceeded what she had imagined.

Pei Qingyu asked Lin Tian to remain an Attendant of the Pei Mansion, hoping his strength would help her family survive the crisis and expand its business. Lin Tian was inclined to accept, partly because staying in Gaoyan Prefecture City could help him keep his sudden Core Condensation Realm breakthrough from drawing attention within the Heavenly Derivation Sect.

• Pei Qingyu approached Lin Tian, stumbled through a hole in the ship's deck, and fell into his arms.
• Pei Qingyu recovered her composure and asked Lin Tian to remain an Attendant of the Pei Mansion, promising him the best support the family could offer.
• Pei Qingyu worried Lin Tian might leave for a stronger faction, since his service to the Pei Mansion had repaid the resources he had received.
• Lin Tian considered accepting because he wanted to keep his Core Condensation Realm breakthrough from attracting attention at the Heavenly Derivation Sect.