Recaps

Lin Qi and the players hauled ore and lumber from Grizzly Mine, discovering that the work greatly improved their martial-skill proficiency. On the journey home, they found part of a Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros corpse and loaded it onto the Big Three-Wheeler, but an unseen attacker shot at them as they prepared to leave.

• Lin Qi drove the ore and lumber back from Grizzly Mine while Fang Zhen and Twilight of the Gods eagerly looked forward to returning to chop trees.
• Lin Qi saw that Fang Zhen and Twilight of the Gods had rapidly improved their Crushing Stone Fist proficiency, and he decided they would visit the mine every day.
• Fang Zhen spotted a bloodied figure near a ruined house, and Luo Wu Shang detected the scent of blood as the group drove through the dark wilderness.
• Fang Zhen identified the figure as the remains of a Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros, and Lin Qi ordered everyone to load the valuable corpse onto the Big Three-Wheeler.
• An arrow flew from the darkness, grazed Twilight of the Gods, and pierced the vehicle, prompting him to demand to know who had shot at him.

Lin Qi’s group encountered the White Feather Gang, whose members attacked them over the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros. As Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei charged toward the gang, Luo Wu Shang deflected four arrows with a Black Steel Arrow, leaving the featherfolk stunned.

• Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei noticed an arrow had pierced the Big Three-Wheeler, while Fang Zhen spotted six winged attackers hiding in a ruined building.
• The White Feather Gang demanded the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros, and Lin Qi recognized them as a powerful wilderness gang.
• After the gang shot the vehicle’s battery, Lin Qi ordered his group to fight and let them take bows, arrows, and shovels as weapons.
• Lin Qi and Fang Zhen prepared to provide ranged cover, but Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei charged directly toward the attackers.
• The featherfolk leader ordered four archers to shoot Zhang Qingwei, but Luo Wu Shang stepped in front of her and knocked all four arrows aside.

Luo Wu Shang, Zhang Qingwei, and Fang Zhen helped Lin Qi’s group defeat the White Feather Gang squad and seize its valuable supplies. After rewarding the players, Lin Qi led everyone back toward the City of Light Chasing.

• Twilight of the Gods and Lin Qi watched Luo Wu Shang block a volley of arrows as Fang Zhen explained her Sword Saint skill.
• The White Feather Gang used Electromagnetic Grenades against Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei, but Fang Zhen shot one grenade with an arrow and triggered an explosion that exposed the gang.
• The White Feather Gang leader sent Hao Tuo to fight Luo Wu Shang while four others surrounded Zhang Qingwei.
• Luo Wu Shang killed the leader with her Point Star technique, while Zhang Qingwei overpowered the four attackers with her compound bow.
• Lin Qi’s group looted the six fallen gang members, received 200 Martial Hall Points each, and set off for the City of Light Chasing.

After Fang Zhen and the others returned from a battle with the White Feather Gang, Lin Qi planned new ways to strengthen and organize the players. A version update then opened weapon exchanges, vehicle rentals, a communication system, and a mission to repair Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.

• Fang Zhen told Outlander Gunslinger and the others that the group had fought the White Feather Gang and earned points through a story mission.
• Lin Qi decided to expand the players’ combat options, let them rent vehicles, improve communication, and recruit more people by repairing the martial hall.
• Fang Zhen and the others logged in that evening and discovered Version Update 1.01.
• The update opened exchanges for weapons and a smartwatch, introduced electric tricycle rentals, and launched the main mission to repair Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.

Players discussed the newly unlocked weapon exchange and vehicle rentals, then joined forces to plan how to earn enough points for equipment and transport. Their plan focused on raiding a treasure-filled underground rift, while outside the martial arts hall Lin Qi learned that the White Feather Gang had posted a bounty for the killers of the deputy leader’s sons.

• Players examined the new exchange options, including weapons, vehicle rentals, and Smart Watches, and discussed pooling their points.
• Fang Zhen proposed dividing shared earnings according to each player’s strength, and the three squads joined as one team.
• Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei offered to rely on a compound bow and Steel Arrows while the group worked toward renting a vehicle.
• Twilight of the Gods revealed a Great Rift containing dozens of five-hundred-point treasure chests guarded by Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats, and Zhang Qingwei proposed luring the monsters away while the others collected the chests.
• A commotion outside the martial arts hall woke Lin Qi, and Qin Mu told him that the White Feather Gang’s deputy leader was offering three hundred thousand bits for information about his sons’ killers.

Lin Qi went to the Phosphor Fire Trading Market to sell Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat and buy supplies, after deciding the White Feather Gang's reward notices made selling his goods openly too risky. He left with cash and his purchases, unaware that Xia Ling's guard planned to investigate him.

• Qin Mu explained that the White Feather Gang's 300,000-bit reward targeted the force behind the robbery, and mistook Lin Qi's group for a new gang.
• Lin Qi realized the Blood Essence Rice and Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat would attract suspicion if sold openly, so he decided to visit a black market in disguise.
• At the Phosphor Fire Trading Market, Lin Qi offered Xia Ling 167.3 kilograms of Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat and asked to buy Big Three-Wheeler batteries and repair tools.
• Xia Ling agreed to pay 109,000 bits for the meat and sell Lin Qi the batteries and tools; Lin Qi chose cash to avoid being traced.
• After Lin Qi left with his goods, a Half-Scale Race guard asked Xia Ling whether he should investigate Lin Qi's background.

Lin Qi completed a Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat sale to the Phosphor Fire Gang and returned to the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall with ninety thousand Bits. He found that the players had brought back 2,214 treasure chests from the Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats, leaving the rats buried in their collapsed den.

• Xia Ling told her guard to let Lin Qi continue trading with the Phosphor Fire Gang, then killed the guard to keep the meat supply for herself.
• Lin Qi returned to the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall after confirming he had not been followed, pleased with the ninety thousand Bits from the sale.
• Lin Qi planned to use the money to buy building materials and hire drifters to repair the martial arts hall's exterior.
• Twilight of the Gods showed Lin Qi the 2,214 treasure chests the players had taken from the Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats' den.
• Twilight of the Gods explained that the players had collapsed the rats' den and buried the creatures inside, and Lin Qi praised their efforts.

Lin Qi received the rewards from Twilight of the Gods’s underground dungeon and organized repairs and defenses for Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. The last treasure chests yielded an old Mechanical Doll and a trove of 2214 college entrance exam questions, leaving Lin Qi stunned by their contents.

• Lin Qi accepted forty-three treasure chests from Twilight of the Gods and awarded him 21,500 points for discovering the dungeon.
• Twilight of the Gods advised Fang Zhen to search deeper underground for more dungeons, and Fang Zhen promised to share rewards if he found one.
• Lin Qi assigned revived players to repair Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, ordered construction materials, and hired one hundred vagrants to work on its exterior.
• Players dug a maze of tunnels beneath the hall, raising their Leopard Shadow Steps proficiency and creating underground hiding places among Blood Essence Rice.
• Lin Qi opened the remaining chests and found a Mechanical Doll used to test martial skills, then discovered a copy of the 2214 college entrance exam and a chest of detailed solutions.

Fang Zhen and the other players bought the Star Explosion Meditation Technique from Lin Qi, believing its low price was a rare bargain. They discovered that cultivating it repeatedly killed them, though Fang Zhen managed to improve his control over his body before collapsing, and the others continued practicing.

• Fang Zhen learned that the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was offering the Martial Artist-level Star Explosion Meditation Technique for only 1,000 points and hurried to exchange for it.
• Lin Qi sold copies of the technique to ten players, earning 10,000 points and noting that the hall's repair progress had reached 4.7%.
• The players began cultivating the meditation technique and repeatedly died as they struggled to visualize it.
• Twilight of the Gods said he had died more than fifty times, while One Leaf Floating Cloud kept collapsing during practice.
• Fang Zhen announced that he had succeeded and gained much greater control over his body, then spat blood and collapsed as his corpse vanished.
• The other players continued visualizing the Stellar Explosion.

Fang Zhen logged off from High Martial Descent and joined Storm Shadow Club’s simulation match against Blue Enchantress, while his unusually precise control over his body left him unsettled. The chapter ends as both teams enter Mecha Continent, with Chen Ya focused on facing Li Ranxing.

• Fang Zhen’s livestream viewers discussed the brutal High Martial Descent assessment and anticipated Saint-ranked players attempting it after Su Wuming failed to last beyond eleven seconds.
• Li Ranxing addressed Storm Shadow’s players and warned that their simulation match against Blue Enchantress could determine the national tournament roster.
• Li Ranxing noticed Fang Zhen trembling, and Fang Zhen realized his body had become strangely responsive and easy to control since he logged off from High Martial Descent.
• Chen Ya arrived with Blue Enchantress, challenged Li Ranxing, and hurried both teams into the match.
• Chen Ya assigned her four teammates to defeat Storm Shadow’s other players and reserved Li Ranxing for herself; Fang Zhen entered Mecha Continent with the rest of the participants.

Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei improved their martial arts techniques at Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, while Lin Qi punished them for damaging its walls and considered new rules for the growing group of players. In a Mecha Continent team match, Fang Zhen revealed Triple Micro-Control to defeat Meng Gang, who then noticed Chen Ya locked in battle with another red mecha.

• Luo Wu Shang reached 3% mastery of the Star Explosion Meditation Technique, while Zhang Qingwei reached 2% mastery of the Surging Wave Blade.
• Lin Qi deducted two hundred points from Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei each and ordered them to repair ten walls after they damaged the martial arts hall.
• Lin Qi concluded that the three players who had mastered the Star Explosion Meditation Technique made Obsidian Martial Arts Hall strong enough to handle transport work in the wilderness.
• Li Ranxing ordered his teammates to draw Blue Enchantress away while he targeted Chen Ya in the ruined-city simulation match.
• Meng Gang charged Fang Zhen, but Fang Zhen used Triple Micro-Control to knock aside Meng Gang's lance and eliminate him with a shot to the head.
• Meng Gang saw Chen Ya fighting a red mecha and wondered who was controlling it.

Fang Zhen used a ranged mech to defeat Blue Enchantress players Wang Yi Dao and Meng Gang, then used Leopard Shadow Steps: Revised to escape Wang Yi Dao’s charge and eliminate him. He joined the fight between Chen Ya and Li Ranxing with a long-range attack, leaving Chen Ya’s mech destroyed.

• Fang Zhen headshot Meng Gang from a kilometer away, then injured Wang Yi Dao with Triple Micro-Control as Wang Yi Dao fled toward the city center.
• Wang Yi Dao learned that Fang Zhen was not Li Ranxing, who was fighting Chen Ya, and teamed up with Zilan to attack Fang Zhen.
• Fang Zhen shot down Zilan while dodging her ranged support, then used Leopard Shadow Steps: Revised to outrun Wang Yi Dao’s shield-bearing mech.
• Wang Yi Dao discarded his shield and closed in, but Fang Zhen fired three shots at close range and killed him.
• Fang Zhen fired at the battle between Chen Ya and Li Ranxing; Chen Ya deflected two bullets with Eight Leaves One Sword Slash, but a third struck her mech’s neck and destroyed it.

Fang Zhen’s hidden Triple Micro-Control shots helped Storm Shadow defeat Blue Enchantress and eliminate Chen Ya. The club members were stunned when Fang Zhen emerged from the last unopened Game Pod, revealing that he had been the mysterious expert.

• Storm Shadow celebrated after the final whistle as Blue Enchantress conceded, while Li Ranxing wondered how Chen Ya had been defeated by three unexplained shots.
• Chen Ya left her Game Pod and demanded to know which Blue Enchantress member had fired the shots that ruined her plan to defeat Li Ranxing.
• Wang Yi Dao and Zilan told Chen Ya they had fought a long-range mech user who mastered Triple Micro-Control and defeated them both.
• Chen Ya and Storm Shadow’s coaches questioned Li Ranxing about the unknown expert, but he said he did not know who had fired the shots.
• Chen Ya approached Storm Shadow’s last unopened Game Pod, and Fang Zhen stepped out, astonishing the club members.

After Fang Zhen’s performance earns him an S-rank contract at Storm Shadow, he tells the club that High Martial Descent helped improve his skills through tasks such as digging holes and chopping trees. Back at the martial arts hall, Fang Zhen and Twilight of the Gods dig enthusiastically while Lin Qi struggles to get the players to repair the hall, then notices that the Mechanical Doll has finished charging.

• Chen Ya praises Fang Zhen’s spear skills, challenges Li Ranxing to settle their exchange at the national tournament, and leaves Storm Shadow with Blue Enchantress.
• Chen Ya declines to recruit Fang Zhen because she considers him too old, while criticizing Wang Yi Dao for his poor performance.
• Storm Shadow’s coaches offer Fang Zhen a three-year S-rank contract, and he accepts after confirming he can train independently.
• Fang Zhen tells the Storm Shadow members that playing High Martial Descent improved his skills, though his tasks there mostly involve digging holes, chopping trees, and repairing houses.
• At the martial arts hall, Fang Zhen and Twilight of the Gods dig for future farmland while Lin Qi notes the players’ rising skill proficiency and worries that repairs are being neglected.
• Lin Qi sees that the Mechanical Doll has finished charging and is asked whether to power it on.

Lin Qi introduced new Martial Hall rules, Contribution, and Instructor Number One, a Mechanical Doll that evaluated players’ martial skills. The players suspected the feature foreshadowed a combat storyline, and Luo Wu Shang volunteered to test it first.

• Lin Qi announced rules against fighting or damaging the Martial Hall and introduced Contribution and skill evaluations through Instructor Number One.
• The players learned that repairs could earn Contribution and discussed whether the new feature signaled a coming combat storyline against the White Feather Gang.
• Twilight of the Gods, Luo Wu Shang, Fang Zhen, and Zhang Qingwei speculated that the game was testing their combat strength to prepare future opponents.
• Lin Qi finished adjusting Instructor Number One and asked for a volunteer to try it.
• Luo Wu Shang stepped forward to go first.

Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei impressed Lin Qi by demonstrating Quasi-Martial Artist-level techniques, while Instructor Number One revealed that players could use it to refine their own martial skills. The chapter ended with One Leaf Floating Cloud creating a partially executed Martial Artist-level technique, triggering a system reward and a hidden mission for Lin Qi.

• Lin Qi explained how to test techniques with Instructor Number One, and Luo Wu Shang chose a rubber longsword to demonstrate Point Star.
• Instructor Number One rated Point Star Quasi-Martial Artist level, and Luo Wu Shang realized its feedback could help her improve the technique.
• Twilight of the Gods and Fang Zhen's livestream audience recognized the game’s martial-skill creation feature, prompting more players to buy the game and retry the assessment.
• Zhang Qingwei tested Surging Wave Blade and earned a Quasi-Martial Artist-level result.
• Lin Qi returned after a crash to find One Leaf Floating Cloud had lost an arm and Instructor Number One recording Spiral Demon Spear Kill as a partially executed Martial Artist-level technique.
• The system rewarded Lin Qi with 20 additional introduction slots and triggered a hidden mission requiring players to create three Martial Artist-level techniques or training methods.

One Leaf Floating Cloud recreated a weakened version of Spiral Demon Spear Kill, earning a five-stage martial artist evaluation and helping the martial arts hall gain twenty recruitment slots. Lin Qi took players to City of Light Chasing to unload ore and buy supplies, where he learned Luo Qi had been captured by the White Feather Gang and faced a ransom of three hundred thousand bits.

• One Leaf Floating Cloud used Spiral Demon Spear Kill, badly injuring himself but earning a five-stage martial artist evaluation and celebrating his breakthrough with the other players.
• Lin Qi saw that the martial arts hall's recruitment limit had risen from ten to thirty and considered the cost of preparing for the approaching winter.
• Lin Qi brought Outlander Gunslinger and Peerless One Shot to the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop to unload ore and purchase supplies for the new recruits.
• An employee told Lin Qi that Luo Qi had been captured by the White Feather Gang after the Green Sparrow Gang's escort was killed, and that neither gang nor the weapon shop would pay to free her.
• Lin Qi demanded to know the ransom, and the employee told him it was three hundred thousand bits.

Lin Qi prepared to rescue Luo Qi from the White Feather Gang by mobilizing players and selling his Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat. He left the Phosphor Fire Trading Market with a deal for the meat and a choice of signal jamming devices to consider.

• Lin Qi told Kro to arrange a hand-to-hand ransom exchange in three days, then ordered Outlander Gunslinger and Peerless One Shot to help move ore.
• Kro agreed to contact the White Feather Gang, and Lin Qi sold ore for 600 bits before spending nearly all his remaining money on supplies.
• Lin Qi filled all twenty player slots, causing a frenzy in the High Martial Descent review section, where Li Ranxing decided to try the game.
• Lin Qi brought Luo Wu Shang and five other Quasi-Apprentice-level players to the Phosphor Fire Trading Market and offered Xia Ling 1,282.6 kilograms of Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat.
• Xia Ling offered 860,000 bits for the meat and quoted prices for signal jamming devices after Lin Qi asked to buy one.

Lin Qi purchased three-kilometer signal-jamming equipment and a photocopier, while Xia Ling decided the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat would help her become a Quasi-Martial Artist. Back at Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, he welcomed twenty new players and set them a twelve-hour test to learn the Soul Shocking Breathing Technique.

• Lin Qi bought three-kilometer jamming equipment and a photocopier from Xia Ling at Phosphor Fire Trading Market, then left with Fang Zhen and the others.
• Xia Ling declined to pursue Lin Qi's group and planned to use the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat to break through to Quasi-Martial Artist.
• Fang Zhen and the other veterans discussed the upcoming combat instance and the arrival of twenty new player slots.
• The new players awakened in the underground confinement room, explored their surroundings, and greeted Fang Zhen and Lin Qi.
• Lin Qi told the newcomers to register, choose shovels, and reach beginner proficiency in the Soul Shocking Breathing Technique within twelve hours; the best performer would earn the Star Explosion Meditation Technique.

Lin Qi prepared the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall players for a combat mission against the White Feather Gang by teaching newcomers the Soul Shocking Breathing Technique. After three days of intensive training, he issued a rescue mission for players who met the Quasi-Apprentice physical fitness requirement, and the players eagerly prepared for what looked like a large team dungeon.

• Lin Qi arranged for newcomers to learn the Soul Shocking Breathing Technique, while Zhao Hu joined the game and Li Ranxing joined the Mecha Squad.
• Zhao Hu and Li Ranxing focused on training, and veterans and newcomers alike practiced martial arts for three days to raise their physical fitness.
• Lin Qi became an elementary Martial Apprentice, while Zhao Hu, Li Ranxing, and several veteran players reached or surpassed Quasi-Apprentice strength.
• Lin Qi posted a temporary extermination mission to rescue an Obsidian Martial Arts Hall companion kidnapped by the White Feather Gang.
• The players discovered the mission required Quasi-Apprentice fitness and began forming teams for the combat mission.

Lin Qi brought Luo Qi’s ransom to the White Feather Gang’s planting base, where Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei launched the planned ambush. Their martial skills struck Lante and Maiti before the rest of the attack began.

• Lante and the other White Feather Gang captains discussed ransoming Luo Qi and considered demanding more money or A6 Grade Armor.
• Lin Qi arrived with Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei to exchange three hundred thousand bits for Luo Qi, while players hid nearby awaiting the signal to attack.
• Lante ordered Maiti to release Luo Qi, and Lin Qi’s group began the ransom exchange.
• As Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei approached Lante and Maiti with the metal cases, they drew Black Steel Arrows and attacked with their martial skills.
• Luo Wu Shang’s attack damaged Lante’s armor and forced him back, while Zhang Qingwei’s attack caved in Maiti’s armor and left him badly injured.

Lin Qi’s group launched a planned assault on the White Feather Gang plantation base, while Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei battled Lante. One Leaf Floating Cloud killed Lante and claimed the boss’s first blood as the Gray Robe Gang overwhelmed the defenders.

• Lante rallied the White Feather Gang members and ordered them to attack Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei as archers aimed at Lin Qi and Luo Qi.
• Lin Qi signaled an ambush, killing four gang members with concealed projectiles as more than twenty Gray Robe Gang members charged from the deadwood forest.
• Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei fought Lante and the captains, treating the battle like a game and pushing Lante to use Mountain Breaker on Zhang Qingwei.
• The Gray Robe Gang’s reckless fighters and archers routed the White Feather Gang, while Fang Zhen and the others shot down its members.
• One Leaf Floating Cloud struck down Lante with Spiral Demon Spear Kill, losing an arm and suffering mortal wounds as he celebrated taking first blood.

Lin Qi and the Gray Robe Gang destroyed the White Feather Gang’s plantation base, then returned to Obsidian Martial Arts Hall with its supplies. News of the base’s complete destruction spread across the abandoned zones, setting the stage for the White Feather Gang’s response.

• After Lante died, the White Feather Gang’s four captains ordered their members to flee, but the players chased them and Luo Wu Shang and the others killed the captains.
• Luo Qi learned that Lin Qi had helped bring the Gray Robe Gang to fight and offered to repay him; Lin Qi asked her to forge weapons for the gang instead.
• Lin Qi assessed the players’ injuries and their need for better weapons, then had them clear out the plantation base and take or burn everything there.
• Lin Qi led the players and their loaded vehicles back to Obsidian Martial Arts Hall under cover of night.
• News that the White Feather Gang’s plantation base had been wiped out and left without survivors spread across the human abandoned zone and beyond.

After the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall destroyed a White Feather Gang base, Lin Qi tallied the spoils and planned how to use them to grow the gang and reward players. He discovered a Martial Artist Level Palm Technique in the seized goods, while the White Feather Gang began searching for the force responsible.

• A Crystal Race woman told Hou Fei that a White Feather Gang base had been wiped out, and Hou Fei warned her not to rush to claim the gang’s reward for information.
• Qin Mu cautioned Lin Qi that the White Feather Gang’s investigation could trigger a major wilderness battle, while Lin Qi assured him the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall would stay out of it.
• Qin Mu praised the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s rapid growth and offered to introduce Lin Qi to better transport work once the gang became stronger.
• Lin Qi counted the seized cash, vehicles, weapons, armor, generators, and Blood Essence Rice, then planned to sell supplies and use contribution ranks to encourage players.
• Lin Qi found a Martial Artist Level Palm Technique among the White Feather Gang’s seized goods and was astonished that the gang had possessed one.

After the extermination mission, Lin Qi rewarded the participating players and announced Inner Disciple and Elite Disciple ranks with new permissions. The players celebrated their generous rewards and studied the powerful benefits, including team missions, Martial Artist-level techniques, and private rooms.

• The players discussed the realism of the battle, One Leaf Floating Cloud’s BOSS kill, and the importance of weapons and protective gear.
• Lin Qi announced that each participating disciple would receive one hundred Contribution Points and three thousand Points, with extra rewards for major contributions.
• Lin Qi opened Inner Disciple and Elite Disciple slots as rewards for outstanding disciples, exciting the players with the prospect of new permissions.
• The players checked the notice board and learned that One Leaf Floating Cloud had earned three hundred Contribution Points and five thousand extra Points.
• The players discovered that Inner Disciples could lead teams, rent a Big Three-Wheeler, and learn a Martial Artist-level palm technique, while Elite Disciples could learn its second volume and own private rooms.