Recaps

Lin Tian agreed to help the Pei Mansion in exchange for keeping his Core Condensation Realm strength secret, then returned to the Heavenly Derivation Sect and began cultivating Azure Wood True Qi for faster recovery. Several dozen days later, his progress had advanced, and he reflected on how much the Silver Garment stage had improved his aptitude.

• Lin Tian agreed to Pei Qingyu's request on the condition that she keep his Core Condensation Realm strength secret until he chose to reveal it.
• Pei Qingyu accepted the condition, and after they returned to Gaoyan Prefecture City, she paid Lin Tian twenty thousand taels for helping the Pei Mansion.
• Back at the Heavenly Derivation Sect, Lin Tian checked his wound and confirmed that his Hundred Poisons Immunity had helped him expel the poison from the Heart Demon's spikes.
• Realizing how close he had come to dying, Lin Tian decided to cultivate Azure Wood True Qi to improve his recovery.
• Several dozen days later, Lin Tian reviewed his Fate Grid progress and recognized that reaching the Silver Garment stage had greatly improved his aptitude.

Lin Tian visited the Library Pavilion to find a weapon technique, learned several martial arts through Image-Projection Crystals, and discovered the unusual Formless Cultivation Technique. He chose the Three Thousand Thunder Illusion Spear and began considering how Formless could disguise his Zhenqi and attacks.

• Lin Tian realized his improved pill absorption had accelerated his training and decided he might need to join the Heavenly Derivation Sect's Inner Sect earlier to obtain more techniques.
• Lin Tian returned to the Library Pavilion and used an Image-Projection Crystal to learn martial arts from its recorded images.
• Lin Tian learned three spear arts and discovered the Formless technique, which required two thousand points of progress for its first layer.
• Lin Tian chose the Three Thousand Thunder Illusion Spear because it combined powerful spear attacks with footwork that could serve as a movement technique.
• Lin Tian examined Formless and realized its first level could alter the appearance, aura, and apparent properties of objects, Zhenqi, and attacks.

Lin Tian completed the second strand of true qi and began pursuing the Formless Combat Technique after discovering that fishing could help him cultivate. Meanwhile, the Heavenly Derivation Sect’s leaders discussed Demon Sect infiltrators and Elder Hua’s absence, and Lin Tian’s first catch at the lake turned out to be a spirit fish.

• Lin Tian decided to delay cultivating the Formless Combat Technique until he had formed his second strand of true qi.
• The Heavenly Derivation Sect’s sect master learned that disguised Demon Sect members had been moving through Gaoyan Prefecture City and warned the sect’s leaders to be cautious.
• The sect master learned that Elder Hua had skipped the meeting to go fishing and asked that someone brief him afterward and urge his Wood Courtyard to find a promising disciple.
• More than twenty days later, Lin Tian completed the second layer of the Azure Wood Eternal Spring Art and gained Azure Wood True Qi.
• Lin Tian went fishing at a lake in the Heavenly Derivation Sect, cast his line, and discovered he had caught a spirit fish.

Lin Tian caught another valuable Spirit Fish, but an elder confronted him after noticing his head shake and revealed he could sense Lin Tian’s two strands of true qi. The elder ordered Lin Tian to apply for the Inner Academy and join the Wood Courtyard, leaving Lin Tian wondering what the elder wanted from him.

• Lin Tian caught a larger Spirit Fish and prepared to return to his courtyard so he would not neglect cultivation.
• A white-haired middle-aged man appeared before Lin Tian, noticed the fish, and demanded to know why Lin Tian had shaken his head.
• Lin Tian realized the man was an elder and suspected he had come with a purpose, but the elder said he would not take Lin Tian’s Spirit Fish.
• The elder sensed Lin Tian’s two strands of true qi and told him to apply for the Inner Academy assessment that afternoon.
• The elder identified himself with the Wood Courtyard and said he needed a disciple who could hold up appearances, then returned to fishing.
• Lin Tian returned to his courtyard and wondered what the elder wanted him to do.

Lin Tian decided to remain in the Heavenly Derivation Sect after an elder discovered his two streams of true qi, then advanced the Formless Combat Technique and uncovered its power to alter appearances and conceal his cultivation. He tested its limits and prepared to use it to hide his true qi aura.

• Lin Tian considered leaving the Heavenly Derivation Sect but stayed because he still needed its resources and the elder had shown no hostility.
• The middle-aged man explained to the beautiful matron that he sensed Lin Tian’s wood-attribute true qi because it shared the source of his own cultivation.
• Lin Tian completed the first layer of the Formless Combat Technique and gained a mysterious understanding called the Mystery of Formless.
• Lin Tian used gray mist to change a stone’s appearance and qualities to resemble silver, then watched it return to normal when the mist was exhausted.
• Lin Tian covered his Geng Metal True Qi with gray mist, making it seem ordinary, and erased the aura of his Azure Wood True Qi.

Lin Tian decided to focus on learning the Three Thousand Thunder Illusion Spear and went to the Internal Affairs Hall to fulfill the middle-aged elder’s request to enter the inner sect. There, he arrived during the contest for five Red-Named Internal Test Tokens, drawing the attention of sect deacons and Li An and Li Rui.

• Lin Tian considered the Three Thousand Thunder Illusion Spear his best way to raise his strength and postponed cultivating his third strand of true qi.
• After cultivating through the night with the Spirit Fish’s help, Lin Tian headed to the Internal Affairs Hall to proceed toward the inner sect.
• Lin Tian saw five Red-Named Internal Test Tokens and recognized that outer sect disciples under thirty could compete for temporary inner sect access.
• A deacon watching from the high platform assumed Lin Tian had abandoned learning a mental cultivation method and had come to compete for a token.
• Li Rui spotted Lin Tian and called Li An’s attention to him, prompting Li An to remember the humiliation Lin Tian had caused him.

Lin Tian revealed that he had reached the Core Condensation Realm and entered the Inner Sect directly, choosing Wood Courtyard. He then reported to its elder, who wondered why he sensed only one stream of Zhenqi from him.

• Li An resented Lin Tian for refusing his offer and recalled that he had planned to use him to steal cultivation techniques and take the blame.
• Li Rui mocked Lin Tian for supposedly competing in the internal selection, but Lin Tian released emerald Zhenqi and shocked everyone by demonstrating his Core Condensation Realm cultivation.
• Lin Tian asked to enter the Inner Sect, and the deacon confirmed that his cultivation let him skip the assessment.
• Lin Tian registered for Wood Courtyard and left the Internal Affairs Hall, stunning Li An, Deacon Guan, and the watching disciples.
• Lin Tian went to report to the middle-aged elder of Wood Courtyard, who wondered whether Lin Tian was concealing his other stream of Zhenqi.

Lin Tian confirmed that his Formless Combat Technique concealed his Zhenqi from the middle-aged man, accepted a gift from Li An, and prepared to move to the Inner Academy. In Prefecture City, Pei Qingyu and her companions faced worsening business losses until Xiao Cui brought news that Lin Tian had reached the Core Condensation Realm, confirmed by his Inner Disciple seal.

• Lin Tian tested his Formless Combat Technique while fishing and found that the middle-aged man could no longer detect the Zhenqi in his body.
• Li An gave Lin Tian a bulging pouch as a congratulatory gift, hoping to settle their past conflict, and Lin Tian accepted it.
• Lin Tian collected his Inner Disciple uniform and token, packed his belongings, and left for the Inner Academy.
• Pei Qingyu and the two women struggled as nearly eighty percent of Prefecture City's mid-sized merchants collapsed, leaving their own businesses close to failure.
• Xiao Cui brought Pei Qingyu and the others Lin Tian's letter, whose Inner Disciple seal confirmed that he had reached the Core Condensation Realm.

Pei Qingyu received confirmation that Lin Tian had reached Core Condensation, easing the danger to her merchant businesses. As Lin Tian entered the Heavenly Derivation Sect’s inner sect, his rapid breakthrough first impressed disciples and an elder, but news that he had cultivated low-grade true qi led them to dismiss his future prospects; Lin Tian settled into the Wood Courtyard and then headed somewhere.

• Pei Qingyu opened a letter stating that Lin Tian had attained Core Condensation and could enter the inner sect, and she and the Yellow-Skirted Woman saw the news as protection for their businesses.
• Lin Tian walked toward the inner sect as Outer Disciples greeted him and circulated news that he had broken through in only two months.
• Xiao Yiyang told the Outer Disciples that Lin Tian had cultivated low-grade true qi, causing them to doubt his potential.
• A Gold Courtyard vice dean recognized Lin Tian’s name and marveled at his rapid progress before learning his true qi was low-grade and writing off his prospects.
• Lin Tian settled into a courtyard in the Wood Courtyard, declined the offer of maidservants, and headed in a certain direction.

Lin Tian crossed the Disciple Plaza on his way to his destination, drawing attention after the Inner Academy disciples learned he had reached the Core Condensation Realm. Zhao Chuan dismissed Lin Tian for cultivating lower-grade Zhenqi and returned to his spear practice, convinced he would become a favored son of heaven.

• Lin Tian crossed the Disciple Plaza as the disciples watched the unfamiliar Inner Academy member.
• A disciple revealed that Lin Tian had entered the Inner Academy after breaking through to the Core Condensation Realm, shocking the crowd.
• A disciple from an influential family criticized Lin Tian for cultivating lower-grade Zhenqi, but the others stayed silent, aware of how difficult Core Condensation was.
• Zhao Chuan watched Lin Tian with disdain, comparing Lin Tian's breakthrough with his own progress using a medium-grade method.
• Zhao Chuan returned to practicing his spear techniques, determined to become a true favored son of heaven.

Lin Tian visited Hua Chengming, the Wood Courtyard master, and found him examining the Library Pavilion beauty’s body with his power. Hua Chengming explained that he had brought Lin Tian to the Wood Courtyard to help with sect-assigned tasks, leaving Lin Tian to consider the offered exchange of task work for chances to ask cultivation questions.

• Lin Tian arrived at the Wood Courtyard’s main hall after learning that the elder by the lake was its master, Hua Chengming.
• Lin Tian saw Hua Chengming holding the Library Pavilion beauty’s hand and quietly examining her body with his power.
• Hua Chengming finished his examination, and the beauty addressed him as her master before leaving the hall.
• Hua Chengming asked whether Lin Tian resented being forced to join the Wood Courtyard, and Lin Tian avoided answering directly.
• Hua Chengming offered Lin Tian chances to ask him cultivation questions in exchange for completing tasks, and Lin Tian agreed.

Lin Tian collected his Inner Sect cultivation supplies and realized that his growing needs would soon require more resources, though he decided he was still too weak to seek treasure in the Three Ultimates Death Land. He went to the Weapon Forging Hall to buy a spear, where he asked for the heaviest affordable option after finding the fine spears far beyond his budget.

• Ling Baitang dismissed Lin Tian as a threat because Lin Tian had cultivated lower-grade zhenqi and told a disciple not to interfere with him.
• Lin Tian collected twenty Qi Condensation Pills from the Internal Affairs Hall and calculated that his cultivation would consume them quickly.
• Lin Tian considered earning sect mission points or searching the dangerous Three Ultimates Death Land for resources, but chose to focus on cultivation until he became stronger.
• Lin Tian asked the Internal Affairs Hall attendant where to buy a weapon and went to the sect's Weapon Forging Hall.
• A burly Weapon Forging Hall worker showed Lin Tian the spear racks, and Lin Tian asked for a heavy spear after learning that even the cheapest fine spear cost twenty thousand taels.

Lin Tian bought the weight-shifting Yi Chen Spear and used the Formless Combat Technique to transform it into inconspicuous clothing, armor, and a devastating projectile. He considered learning the Gold Courtyard’s Hundred Hidden Weapon Solutions to make the material into hidden weapons.

• Lin Tian rejected the Weapon Forging Hall’s ordinary spears as too light, so the burly man brought him the failed Yi Chen Spear.
• Lin Tian discovered that channeling Zhenqi made the spear heavier and harder, and bought it for five thousand taels.
• Back in his courtyard, Lin Tian used the Formless Combat Technique to turn the spear into a black coating over his clothes and realized Zhenqi could make it armor.
• Lin Tian shaped the material into a projectile, shattered a thick tree with it, and pulled it back on a hair-thin thread.
• Lin Tian considered forming the material into hidden weapons and thought of the Gold Courtyard’s Hundred Hidden Weapon Solutions.

Lin Tian spent a month cultivating, advancing his Geng Metal True-Condensing Art, forming Thick Earth True Qi, and improving his spearwork while the Inner Academy focused on the Core Disciple selection and rumors of a slain genius. Three bells summoned all sect members at Core Condensation or above to the Inner Sect Council Hall, where Lin Tian saw a powerful group enter.

• Lin Tian focused on cultivating the Geng Metal True-Condensing Art, forming a third stream of zhenqi, and practicing spearwork while setting aside techniques that progressed too slowly.
• Over a month, Lin Tian reached the second level of the Geng Metal True-Condensing Art, advanced to the middle stage of Core Condensation, formed Thick Earth True Qi, and improved his spearwork.
• Lin Tian learned that Zhao Chuan had reached Core Condensation with zhenqi close to high-grade, making him a leading contender alongside Ling Baitang for the Wood Courtyard's sole Core Disciple place.
• Rumors spread that a gifted Core Condensation cultivator had died on a mission after all the blood had been drained from his body.
• Three bell tolls summoned Core Condensation cultivators across the sect, so Lin Tian went to the Inner Sect Council Hall with Elder Mu Qingxue.
• A golden-robed middle-aged man and five powerful figures entered the Council Hall as the gathered cultivators watched in silence.

Lin Tian attended a sect meeting where Mo Sheli revealed a Core Condensation Realm disciple’s gruesome murder and ordered an investigation. Lin Tian and three Transformation Force disciples traveled to Black Stone Town, where their search was set to begin at an underground fighting arena beneath the Worry-Forget Pavilion.

• Mo Sheli presented the hollowed-out corpse of a murdered Core Condensation Realm disciple and vowed the Heavenly Derivation Sect would punish the killer.
• Hua Chengming assigned Lin Tian, Ling Baitang, and Zhao Chuan to lead three Transformation Force disciples each to investigate the murder site for fifteen days.
• Ling Baitang and Zhao Chuan chose their companions first, leaving Ma Liang, Wei Wu, and Song Tie to travel with Lin Tian.
• Lin Tian considered the mission’s disruption to his cultivation but accepted its reward of fifteen hundred sect points.
• Lin Tian’s group reached Black Stone Town and arrived at the Worry-Forget Pavilion, which concealed an underground fighting arena.

Lin Tian and his companions investigated Worry-Forget Pavilion, where a bribe led them through a secret passage to an underground fighting arena. There, Lin Tian recognized a possible connection to the Heavenly Derivation Sect murders and even the Demon Sect.

• Lin Tian arrived at the corpse-discovery site with Ma Liang, Wei Wu, and their companion, then led them to Worry-Forget Pavilion.
• Lin Tian warned Ma Liang and the others to resist the Pavilion's distractions and focus on their investigation.
• Lin Tian paid the guards with silver notes and asked for other amusements, prompting them to lead the group to a hidden courtyard.
• A guard guided Lin Tian and his companions through a secret passage into an underground fighting arena, where fighters slaughtered one another in iron cages.
• Ma Liang and Wei Wu discussed the lawless arena and how to search for clues, while Lin Tian realized he might have found the murderers and the Demon Sect.

Lin Tian recognized signs of the Demon Sect inside the Underground Fighting Arena but chose not to investigate openly, fearing he would alert the hidden enemies. The arena’s leaders ordered their men to lie low, and Lin Tian left safely while his companions grew frustrated with his indifference.

• Lin Tian sensed the Demon Sect’s blood-stained zhenqi throughout the arena and suspected its members had killed the Heavenly Derivation Sect disciple.
• Lin Tian told Ma Liang and the others to look around casually and avoid expecting to solve the case immediately.
• Three middle-stage Core Condensation Demon Sect members watched Lin Tian and ordered their men to lie low until the Heavenly Derivation Sect stopped investigating.
• Lin Tian and his companions left the arena without incident and rode back in their carriage.
• Ma Liang and the others considered asking Lin Tian to use his status to help them investigate, but they feared displeasing him.

Lin Tian’s team returned from the Worry-Forget Pavilion without finding any clues, while the other disciples gathered at an inn to exchange what they had learned. After the Core Condensation Realm cultivators learned that Lin Tian led the unsuccessful team, they looked down on him and assumed he knew better than to join them.

• The disciples staying at the inn gathered to exchange the information they had found during the day’s investigation.
• Ma Liang admitted that his team had found nothing at the Worry-Forget Pavilion, and the other disciples eyed him suspiciously.
• Zhu Yu vouched for Ma Liang, easing the tension among the gathered disciples.
• A stern-faced Inner Sect elder asked who led Ma Liang’s team, and another cultivator identified Lin Tian.
• The Core Condensation Realm cultivators recalled Lin Tian’s low-grade Zhenqi and dismissed him as inferior to their sect’s prodigies.

Lin Tian advanced his Three Thousand Thunder Illusion Spear and demonstrated the Thunder Illusion Body in Black Stone Town. After Hua Chengming reported Lin Tian’s discovery, the Heavenly Derivation Sect confirmed that Demon Sect members had killed its disciples and found a stronghold, then called nearby disciples to join the attack.

• Lin Tian trained his spear technique and expected to leave his assignment in fifteen days.
• Hua Chengming trusted Lin Tian’s report about the Demon Sect member and went to inform the Sect Master.
• Lin Tian’s Fate Grid advanced his spear technique, allowing him to create a lightning double that struck a tree from a separate angle.
• Explosions rocked Black Stone Town the next morning, and a letter from the Heavenly Derivation Sect announced that Lin Tian’s discovery had identified the killers and a Demon Sect stronghold.
• The Core Condensation martial artists gathered their Transformation Force disciples and headed toward the explosions, while Ma Liang and the others stared at Lin Tian in disbelief.

Lin Tian and the other disciples joined the Heavenly Derivation Sect’s attack on the Demon Sect stronghold beneath the Worry-Forget Pavilion, and Lin Tian hunted fleeing enemies for points. He found Ling Baitang and an unknown woman fighting three opponents with black Zhenqi, and Ling Baitang called for his help.

• Ma Liang and the others realized Lin Tian had concealed his knowledge of the Demon Sect stronghold to protect them, and they felt ashamed of resenting him.
• Lin Tian led the three disciples into Black Stone Town as the Heavenly Derivation Sect’s Fire Thunder drove the Demon Sect members from their stronghold.
• Lin Tian told his companions to split up and hunt the fleeing Demon Sect disciples for points.
• Lin Tian killed three Bright Force enemies, sensed a stronger aura, and headed toward a Core Condensation Realm battle.
• Lin Tian found Ling Baitang and an unknown woman fighting three opponents with black Zhenqi, and Ling Baitang shouted for him to help.

Lin Tian joined the fight against the three Demon Sect members after Ling Baitang exposed him, then overwhelmed the Red-Haired Man despite the man’s strange, Zhenqi-corroding power. He killed the Red-Haired Man, leaving the four other fighters shocked by his strength.

• Ling Baitang shouted to Lin Tian, drawing everyone’s attention and prompting Lin Tian to enter the battle.
• The Demon Sect leader ordered the Red-Haired Man to kill Lin Tian, and the two clashed.
• Lin Tian discovered that the Red-Haired Man’s black Zhenqi could corrode and absorb his Zhenqi, then attacked with lightning around his Long Spear.
• Lin Tian’s Thunder Illusion Body wounded the Red-Haired Man, and Instant Thunder pierced his arm before Lin Tian destroyed it with Zhenqi.
• Lin Tian charged again and pierced the Red-Haired Man’s head, killing him as the other fighters watched in shock.

Lin Tian killed the Red-Haired Man and took his belongings, including a token that would earn five times the usual mission points. After the remaining Demon Sect fighters were defeated, Ling Baitang blamed Lin Tian for taking the reward, while Lin Tian realized the token would bring him a windfall.

• The black-clad man charged Lin Tian, then used the force of Lin Tian’s spear strike to launch himself away and escape.
• Ling Baitang and Chen Qingyu killed the last Demon Sect fighter after the man was caught off guard by his elder brother’s flight.
• Ling Baitang thanked Chen Qingyu, then grew angry when he realized Lin Tian had left with the Red-Haired Man’s belongings and the sect disciple’s Token.
• Ling Baitang decided to teach Lin Tian a lesson after he became a Core Disciple and consoled himself that Lin Tian could hold on to the points for now.
• Lin Tian examined the Token and realized it would earn him five times the usual mission points.

After returning from the Demon Sect campaign, Lin Tian entered the Spirit-Drawing Tower to cultivate, alarmed by the strength of the Demon Sect’s black Zhenqi and sensing greater danger ahead. Meanwhile, a Supreme Envoy learned that Lin Tian had exposed their strongholds and demanded the kneeling subordinate’s death.

• A late-stage Core Condensation Demon Sect expert killed a Heavenly Derivation Sect disciple with black Zhenqi that drained away the victim’s flesh and blood, then fled.
• Lin Tian and his companions returned to the Heavenly Derivation Sect after fifteen days, with Lin Tian troubled by the danger posed by the Demon Sect and determined to grow stronger.
• Lin Tian spent silver to test the Spirit-Drawing Tower and found that his cultivation progressed almost fifty percent faster there.
• Lin Tian paid for more time in the Spirit-Drawing Tower and began seclusion.
• In Gaoyan Prefecture City, a subordinate told the Supreme Envoy that Lin Tian had exposed their strongholds, and the Supreme Envoy demanded to know how the subordinate would die to atone.

Lin Tian cultivated in the Spirit-Drawing Tower for several months while learning about the Flesh and Blood Divine Sect and its powerful Black Baleful True Qi. He neared the point of gathering his final Separating Fire True Qi, while a black-robed Supreme Envoy reconsidered killing a compromised subordinate.

• A black-clad man begged the Supreme Envoy to spare him, arguing that he remained useful and that a secret excavation had reached a critical stage.
• The Supreme Envoy paused his killing intent and considered keeping the man alive because he had only recently arrived and lacked other subordinates.
• Lin Tian stayed in the Spirit-Drawing Tower, buying Jianghu Records to keep up with events beyond his cultivation.
• Lin Tian learned that the Gold, Fire, and Water Courtyards had chosen their Core Disciples, while the Earth and Wood Courtyards still needed selection contests.
• Lin Tian read that the newly risen Flesh and Blood Divine Sect had spread across the Great You Dynasty, drawing followers with Black Baleful True Qi, which absorbed true qi and flesh and blood to speed cultivation and bypass bottlenecks.
• Lin Tian circulated his mental cultivation method and approached the point of gathering his final stream of Separating Fire True Qi.

Lin Tian completed his Separating Fire True Qi and tried to fuse all five of his true qi streams, but the attempt made them violently reject one another and left him injured. As the streams grew harder to suppress, he went to the Wood Courtyard to seek Hua Chengming's help.

• Lin Tian finished cultivating the Separating Fire True Qi, completing his five streams of high-grade true qi.
• Lin Tian tried to fuse the five streams, but a repulsive force split them apart and sent them into a violent rampage in his qi sea.
• Lin Tian used his Geng Metal True Qi to suppress the others, suffering severe injuries as his internal organs and body cracked.
• Lin Tian healed his injuries over two days with the Demon-Subduing Golden Body and Azure Wood True Qi, but the true qi continued to grow harder to control.
• Lin Tian recalled Hua Chengming's offer to help with cultivation problems and headed to the Wood Courtyard.