Recaps

Lu Yuan broke through to level twelve and spent the following months improving through daily cultivation and fights in the North Combat Zone. After a tougher match against Xu Heng at the end of the third month, he tested his Soul Power and reached level thirteen.

• Lu Yuan advanced to level twelve after cultivating past the barrier between levels eleven and twelve.
• Yan Tuo confirmed Lu Yuan's new level, and Qian Renxue arranged to fight him again.
• Lu Yuan fought Du Chuan, who noticed that Lu Yuan's increased Soul Power let him wield the Piercing Spear more steadily, though Lu Yuan still lost.
• Over the next three months, Lu Yuan improved his fighting technique and began forcing stronger opponents to use Soul Skills or suffer torn clothes.
• Lu Yuan fought Xu Heng in a prolonged match that Xu Heng won after using both Soul Skills.
• Lu Yuan tested his Soul Power and reached level thirteen.

Lu Yuan reached Soul Power Level 14 after six months of training in the North Combat Zone, while Qian Daoliu told him Qian Renxue would soon leave for Tiangou. As Qian Renxue prepared to stop sparring with him, Lu Yuan saw a new Destiny Node marked Latent beneath her Gray Text.

• Lu Yuan tested his Soul Power and confirmed he had reached Level 14, then went to the Worship Hall to meet Qian Daoliu.
• Qian Daoliu told Lu Yuan that Qian Renxue would leave for Tiangou within a month and would stop going to the East Training Area starting the next day.
• Qian Renxue joined them and said she would leave in a few days, describing the departure as what she should do.
• Lu Yuan and Qian Renxue agreed to leave their unfinished sparring match owed until they could meet again.
• Lu Yuan saw Qian Renxue's Gray Text identify her as Xue Qinghe in the Heaven Dou Empire, with a new Destiny Node marked Latent.

Lu Yuan fought Qian Renxue again and lost, then learned she would leave Spirit City in seven days. Her fate showed a twenty-year latent period, and Lu Yuan planned to see her off at the North Gate.

• Lu Yuan and Qian Renxue fought at the training grounds, where he lasted longer than before but lost when his sore arm slowed him.
• Qian Renxue told Lu Yuan that her departure date had been moved up to seven days away and described the maps, names, relationships, and rules she was studying.
• Lu Yuan saw Qian Renxue’s fate display identify her as Xue Qinghe, leaving Spirit City at nine for a twenty-year latent period.
• Qian Renxue said she did not know when she would return, and Lu Yuan asked when and where she would leave so he could see her off.
• Qian Renxue reminded Lu Yuan that she had won their match before leaving the training grounds.

Lu Yuan saw Qian Renxue off as she left Spirit City for Tiangou in an inconspicuous caravan. After exchanging farewells and cautions, he watched her carriage pass beyond the city gates, whereupon a gray message appeared announcing her departure.

• Hu Liena asked Lu Yuan to wish Qian Renxue a smooth journey because Yan Tuo would not let her come to the North Gate.
• Qian Renxue met Lu Yuan at the gate in plain travel clothes and explained that she might not be able to send messages from Tiangou.
• Lu Yuan and Qian Renxue discussed possible danger, leaving Spirit City, and the limits on what she could write in future messages.
• Qian Renxue urged Lu Yuan not to overtrain or take needless risks, then asked him to wish her a safe arrival in Tiangou.
• Qian Renxue departed in the caravan, and Lu Yuan saw a gray message identify her as nine years old and leaving Spirit City.

Lu Yuan began training against real Spirit Beasts in a Soul Hunting Area after Shao Ping decided the North had taught him nearly all it could. After Lu Yuan killed an Iron-Backed Jackal and learned to assess tracks, a Gray Text appeared above Shao Ping’s head as the group changed routes to avoid a larger beast.

• Shao Ping told Lu Yuan that his afternoon training would move outside the city so he could learn to deal with real Spirit Beasts.
• Shao Ping took Lu Yuan and two Spirit Hall Spirit Masters into a Soul Hunting Area and instructed him to survive rather than kill anything.
• Lu Yuan fought and killed an Iron-Backed Jackal, taking a claw swipe while testing its strength before defeating it with Piercing Edge and a follow-up strike.
• Shao Ping questioned Lu Yuan about the jackal, then taught him to identify Spirit Beasts and danger by examining tracks and other signs.
• The group found fresh dragging marks and scraped trees that suggested a beast over a hundred years old, so Shao Ping changed their route.
• As Lu Yuan followed Shao Ping, Gray Text appeared above Shao Ping’s head.

Lu Yuan and Shao Ping’s group encountered an Iron-Backed Jackal pack in the North Hunting Forest, where Lu Yuan saved Shao Ping from the pack leader’s ambush and changed his serious-injury fate node. They decided to report the unusually powerful beast and the forest disturbance to the Patrol Team.

• Shao Ping led the group away from suspicious tracks, but they discovered signs of a large Iron-Backed Jackal pack and decided to return.
• The jackals followed and attacked, and Lu Yuan wounded one with Piercing Edge while holding his position.
• Lu Yuan spotted the pack leader ambushing Shao Ping near a sharp broken log and struck its foreleg, allowing Shao Ping to kill it.
• Lu Yuan’s intervention erased Shao Ping’s serious-injury fate node and granted Lu Yuan Origin of Destiny.
• Shao Ping identified the dead beast as an Iron-Backed Jackal Leader with over three hundred years of cultivation and ordered the group to report the disturbance to the Patrol Team.

Lu Yuan’s training in the North Hunting Forest sharpened his spear skills until he could face powerful Spirit Beasts alone. After drawing with Xu Heng at level 19, Lu Yuan learned that he was close to level 20 and would meet the Grand Pontiff at the Worship Hall after breaking through.

• Lu Yuan killed a hundred-year Crimson-Tailed Wolf in seventeen breaths, and Shao Ping recorded that he had improved by three breaths.
• Across the changing seasons, Lu Yuan grew strong enough to defeat Spirit Beasts of around two hundred years and hold his own against those near three hundred years old.
• Lu Yuan’s strike against a Gray-Armored Beast was blocked by Xu Heng, and the scene shifted from the North Hunting Forest to the Northern Combat Arena.
• Lu Yuan countered Xu Heng’s familiar spear-suppressing moves and ended their fight with his spear at Xu Heng’s vital point while Xu Heng’s palm stopped near Lu Yuan’s shoulder.
• Shao Ping called the match a draw and, after Lu Yuan said his Soul Power was full, paused his forest training so Lu Yuan could prepare to break through to level 20.
• Shao Ping told Lu Yuan to come to the Worship Hall after his breakthrough because the Grand Pontiff had been waiting for him.

Lu Yuan broke through to Level 20 and met with Qian Daoliu to choose a Second Spirit Ring suited to his weakness in close combat. He chose a wounded seven-hundred-and-twenty-year Quake-Armor Beast and prepared to hunt it alone the next morning, with others allowed only to protect his life.

• After three days of recovery and cultivation, Lu Yuan quietly broke through to Level 20.
• Yan Tuo confirmed Lu Yuan's level and reduced the intensity of his training before reporting the breakthrough to the Worship Hall.
• Qian Daoliu reviewed Lu Yuan's draw with Xu Heng and identified close-range suppression as his main weakness.
• Qian Daoliu presented three Spirit Beast candidates, and Lu Yuan rejected the Shadow-Clawed Cat and Iron-Spined Savage Bull in favor of the injured Quake-Armor Beast.
• Lu Yuan chose the Quake-Armor Beast for its shock-rebound abilities, hoping to keep opponents from pinning down his spear.
• Qian Daoliu scheduled the hunt for the next morning and told Lu Yuan that his escorts would intervene only to save his life.

Lu Yuan fought the injured seven-hundred-and-twenty-year Quake-Armor Beast alone in a stone ravine and killed it with his final use of Piercing Edge. After Shao Ping told him to recover before absorbing it, Lu Yuan restored his strength beside the beast’s newly formed Yellow Spirit Ring.

• Lu Yuan and Shao Ping reached the stone ravine, where a deacon reported that the Quake-Armor Beast remained injured but still had considerable fighting strength.
• Lu Yuan refused to change targets and entered the ravine alone, where he learned that the beast’s damaged right hind leg slowed its turns.
• Lu Yuan repeatedly attacked the beast’s injured leg and flank, weakening it until it fled, then used Piercing Edge to bring it down.
• The Quake-Armor Beast launched a desperate counterattack and struck Lu Yuan, but he exploited its failing leg to pierce a gap in its neck armor and kill it.
• Shao Ping checked Lu Yuan’s injuries and told him to recover before absorbing the Yellow Spirit Ring as Lu Yuan began restoring his Soul Power.

Lu Yuan absorbed the Quake-Armor Beast’s 700-Year Spirit Ring, reached level 21, and gained the close-range Soul Skill Shock Edge. He left the ravine determined to challenge Xu Heng again after recovering from his injuries.

• Shao Ping treated Lu Yuan’s injuries and warned him that absorbing a 700-Year Spirit Ring carried serious risks.
• Lu Yuan endured the ring’s punishing vibrations, guided its power through his Piercing Spear, and stabilized at level 21.
• Lu Yuan tested Shock Edge on a boulder, using the spear shaft to deliver a focused vibration that cracked and shattered the stone.
• Shao Ping tested Shock Edge by gripping the spear; it briefly numbed his hand, though his greater Soul Power let him suppress it on a second attempt.
• Lu Yuan realized Shock Edge could counter Xu Heng’s habit of grabbing and pinning his spear, and declared that he would challenge Xu Heng again after recovering.

Lu Yuan returned to North Field after recovering and defeated Xu Heng in a sparring match by using his new Shock Edge skill to disrupt Xu Heng’s close-range tactics. Shao Ping ended Lu Yuan’s daily sparring there and told him the Grand Pontiff had summoned him.

• Lu Yuan met Xu Heng at North Field and revealed that he had gained a 720-year Second Spirit Ring.
• Lu Yuan used Shock Edge to break Xu Heng’s grip on his spear and counter his usual close-range suppression.
• Xu Heng adapted by avoiding the spear shaft, but Lu Yuan combined Shock Edge with Piercing Edge to keep control of the fight.
• Lu Yuan and Xu Heng exchanged attacks until both landed strikes that stopped just short of their targets, and Xu Heng acknowledged Lu Yuan’s victory.
• Shao Ping told Lu Yuan he no longer needed daily sparring at North Field and that the Grand Pontiff had summoned him.

After winning his second sparring match against Xu Heng, Lu Yuan finished his training at North Field and was assigned to assist Qian Renxue in Tiangou. He departed Spirit City with Han Lie’s team, beginning the journey to Heaven Dou City, where Qian Renxue would arrange to meet him.

• Lu Yuan told Qian Daoliu that he had defeated Xu Heng, and Qian Daoliu ended his North Field training.
• Qian Daoliu ordered Lu Yuan to travel to Tiangou and assist Qian Renxue, whose plans he would learn after meeting her.
• Qian Daoliu gave Lu Yuan a route map and roster, and told him to travel with Han Lie’s team in three days.
• Lu Yuan studied the route and prepared for the journey while suspending practical sparring.
• Lu Yuan met Han Lie at Spirit City’s eastern gate and departed with the team toward Heaven Dou City.

Three days after leaving Spirit City, Lu Yuan joined Luo Cheng in tracking down two Spirit Master robbers near an abandoned quarry. Lu Yuan captured the short-knife Spirit Master, and the group returned the prisoners to the Branch Hall, leaving him with a new understanding of how much more complicated human opponents were than Spirit Beasts.

• Deacon Zhou told Han Lie that two wandering Spirit Masters had been robbing caravans near the city, and Han Lie sent Lu Yuan with Luo Cheng to help capture them.
• Zhao Xun led Lu Yuan and Luo Cheng toward the quarry, where they avoided a warning trap before splitting up to corner the fugitives.
• Lu Yuan blocked the short-knife Spirit Master's escape and used Shock Edge to disrupt his close-range attacks.
• When the short-knife Spirit Master tried to flee and threw both knives at Lu Yuan, Lu Yuan knocked them aside, caught up with him, and forced him to surrender.
• Luo Cheng returned with the Gray Fox Spirit Master, and the group handed both captives over to the Branch Hall for questioning.
• Luo Cheng asked Lu Yuan how the capture compared with hunting Spirit Beasts, and Lu Yuan said that dealing with people was more troublesome.

Lu Yuan arrived in Heaven Dou City and recognized Qian Renxue disguised as the First Prince, Xue Qinghe. After receiving a secret invitation, he met her in a secluded courtyard, where she greeted him by saying, "You really came."

• Han Lie led the caravan through the remaining Branch Halls and onward to Heaven Dou City.
• Lu Yuan entered the imperial capital with the caravan and studied its streets as they traveled to the Spirit Hall Sanctuary.
• Lu Yuan recognized Qian Renxue beneath her Xue Qinghe identity when her imperial carriage passed the caravan.
• An attendant brought Lu Yuan a note inviting him to White Stone Alley at dusk, and Lu Yuan secretly left the Sanctuary to meet the sender.
• Lu Yuan entered a secluded courtyard and faced Xue Qinghe, who told him, "You really came."

Lu Yuan met Qian Renxue in secret, then attended a young Spirit Master exchange at Heaven Dou Royal Academy. He defeated the Rank 24 Gu Yan with his Second Soul Skill, Shock Edge, and drew the attention of the Rank 28 Qin Yue.

• Lu Yuan met Qian Renxue at White Stone Alley, told her he had reached Rank 21 and gained a 720-year Second Spirit Ring, and learned how to contact her discreetly in Tiangou.
• Deacon Zhao brought Lu Yuan to Heaven Dou Royal Academy’s young Spirit Master exchange, where Qian Renxue treated him as a stranger in her Xue Qinghe identity.
• Lu Yuan faced Gu Yan, a Rank 24 Soul Master with a Rending Claw Panther Martial Soul, in the sparring field.
• Lu Yuan used Shock Edge to disrupt Gu Yan’s attack, then defeated him with Piercing Edge, stopping his spearpoint just before Gu Yan’s throat.
• Qin Yue, a Rank 28 student, pushed through the crowd and fixed his gaze on Lu Yuan’s Piercing Spear.

Lu Yuan fought Qin Yue, a level 28 Spirit Master, and won by using Shock Edge and Piercing Edge to force him out of bounds. The match left the watching young spirit masters with a new respect for Lu Yuan.

• Qin Yue challenged Lu Yuan to another match after Gu Yan's defeat, and they introduced their Martial Souls and Spirit Rings.
• Qin Yue used his superior strength to pressure Lu Yuan, who relied on spear reach and footwork to keep him at a distance.
• Lu Yuan used Shock Edge to numb Qin Yue's arm, but Qin Yue adapted by limiting how long he let their attacks make contact.
• Qin Yue closed to close range, but Lu Yuan dismissed and resummoned his Piercing Spear, then struck him with Shock Edge and drove him back with Piercing Edge.
• The Academy Teacher declared Lu Yuan the winner when Qin Yue stepped out of bounds, and Qin Yue asked whether all level 21 Spirit Masters in Spirit City were that strong.
• Lu Yuan said he represented only himself, while the watching young spirit masters viewed him differently.

After noticing that Qian Renxue’s fate node had shifted during the Royal Academy exchange, Lu Yuan suspected the gray-robed man who repeatedly watched Xue Qinghe and arranged a discreet meeting with Qian Renxue. The gray-robed man reported to an unnamed superior, who ordered him to keep watching the First Prince and everyone recently in contact with him.

• Lu Yuan saw Qian Renxue’s fate node change from its previous state while Xue Qinghe was leaving the Royal Academy exchange.
• Lu Yuan recalled that a gray-robed middle-aged man had repeatedly watched Xue Qinghe, but he avoided confronting or openly observing the man.
• Lu Yuan left a pebble signal for Qian Renxue’s people and later received a note arranging a meeting at South City’s Qingmufang Back Alley at the hour of the Pig.
• Lu Yuan burned the note, returned to the Spirit Sanctuary to cultivate, and prepared to tell Qian Renxue about the changed fate node and the gray-robed man.
• The gray-robed man reported that Xue Qinghe’s interactions with Spirit Hall had seemed ordinary, and his superior ordered him to keep watching Xue Qinghe and everyone recently in contact with him.

Lu Yuan told Qian Renxue that Cheng Lan, a long-serving man from Prince Xue Xing's residence, had watched Xue Qinghe at the Royal Academy, but she decided not to investigate him yet. They planned to observe whether Cheng Lan appeared at the Royal Hunting Grounds assessment, where Lu Yuan was registered to compete in a randomly assigned team.

• Lu Yuan met Qian Renxue in secret and described Cheng Lan repeatedly watching Xue Qinghe during the Royal Academy sparring.
• Qian Renxue identified Cheng Lan as a man from Prince Xue Xing's residence and cautioned Lu Yuan against investigating him, since that could draw attention to their connection.
• Qian Renxue explained the three-day Royal Hunting Grounds assessment, its bronze-token competition, and the random assignment of teams from Spirit Hall and the Royal Academy.
• Qian Renxue said they would watch whether Cheng Lan appeared at the assessment and kept his attention on Xue Qinghe.
• Qian Renxue asked about Lu Yuan's defeat of Qin Yue, and Lu Yuan explained how his Second Soul Skill, Shock Edge, worked.
• The next morning, Deacon Zhao told Lu Yuan that Spirit Hall had registered him for the assessment and warned him to conserve Soul Power; Lu Yuan asked whether Prince Xue Xing's residence would send people.

Lu Yuan teamed with Qin Yue and Lin Che for the Royal Hunting Grounds assessment, where they gathered bronze tokens through careful tracking and coordinated fights. After finding a freshly killed Azure-Horned Deer, they realized its powerful killer had left no obvious tracks nearby.

• Lu Yuan drew team seven with Qin Yue and Lin Che, and the three agreed on their roles before entering the hunting grounds.
• Lu Yuan spotted a bronze token knocked from its branch by a passing Spirit Beast, giving the team their first token without a fight.
• The team worked together to drive off a Thornback Boar, using Lu Yuan's strike on its injured leg to secure two more tokens.
• Lu Yuan, Qin Yue, and Lin Che followed trails and water sources, collecting seven tokens by afternoon and outpacing another team to claim one hidden behind rocks.
• The three found a freshly killed Azure-Horned Deer, and Lu Yuan searched the area after noticing its powerful killer had left no clear tracks.

Lu Yuan, Qin Yue, and Lin Che found signs that a powerful Spirit Beast was driving animals south through the outer zone, then rescued students caught in the fleeing beasts’ path. After guards discovered deep claw marks and heard a nearby roar, the patrol officer ordered the northern teams to assemble, but the threat sounded closer.

• Lu Yuan examined the dead Azure-Horned Deer and found fresh claw marks, then led the group away from the northern area rather than pursue the unknown beast.
• Lin Che spotted Spirit Beasts fleeing south, and Lu Yuan redirected the group northwest to collect tokens while avoiding the danger.
• The group coaxed a restless Stone-Armored Rhino westward and collected three copper tokens without fighting it.
• Lu Yuan noticed signs that animals were avoiding a water pool, so the group camped on a rocky slope instead; after a distress signal appeared near the pool, they rescued a team trapped by fleeing Spirit Beasts.
• A patrol officer and guards found deep claw marks on a broken tree, ordered northern teams to assemble, and heard a beastly roar closer in the forest.

Lu Yuan, Qin Yue, and Lin Che fought off a wounded Rift-Toothed Tiger nearly nine hundred years old as it fled toward the outskirts of the Royal Hunting Grounds. After Lu Yuan killed it, the inspector ordered the assessment terminated and the grounds evacuated and resealed.

• The inspector ordered an evacuation after a roar sounded nearby, but a wounded Rift-Toothed Tiger burst from the woods and attacked three Royal Academy students.
• Qin Yue knocked the tiger off course and drew its attention, while Lin Che led retreating students to safety and Lu Yuan spotted the injury affecting its right forelimb.
• Lu Yuan struck the tiger's right forelimb twice with Shock Edge as Qin Yue and Lin Che helped keep it off balance.
• Lu Yuan stabbed the tiger's abdominal wound with Piercing Edge, then used Shock Edge to bring it down before delivering a fatal spear thrust through its mouth and into its skull.
• The inspector found an old wound on the tiger's abdomen and ordered the assessment terminated, all teams evacuated, and the outer perimeter resealed.

After the Royal Hunting Grounds evacuation, Lu Yuan was praised for killing a nearly nine-hundred-year-old Rift-Toothed Tiger and was promised a chance to choose a material from the Royal Treasury. An investigation then revealed that the tiger had entered through the Western Spirit Beast Transfer Gate, which had been opened at midnight using an authorization with no recorded name.

• Lu Yuan, Qin Yue, and Lin Che returned from the hunting grounds, where the patrol officer reported that Lu Yuan had killed the Rift-Toothed Tiger and the others had helped rescue students.
• Xue Qinghe ordered the wounded treated and the entrances sealed, then awarded Qin Yue and Lin Che cultivation resources and Soul Coins for their actions.
• Xue Qinghe offered Lu Yuan a chance to select one material from the Royal Treasury, while Steward Zhao said Spirit Hall would also record his merit.
• Guards traced the Rift-Toothed Tiger's blood trail to the Western Spirit Beast Transfer Gate and found no sign of forced entry.
• Xue Qinghe ordered an investigation into the gate and its recent records, and the hunting grounds official discovered that it had been opened at midnight without a name in the log.

Lu Yuan and Xue Qinghe discovered that a Spirit Beast transfer approval document from Prince Xue Xing's Residence had been altered, and the hunting grounds guards identified Han Song as the person who used it. Han Song fled when the guards found him, and Lu Yuan intercepted him on a narrow forest path.

• The hunting grounds manager found that the approval document from Prince Xue Xing's Residence reused a number from an old record and had been altered.
• A guard told Xue Qinghe that Han Song had used the document to bring a Spirit Beast transport cart into the hunting grounds at midnight.
• The hunting grounds manager discovered Han Song had disappeared, ordered the exits sealed, and sent teams to search for him.
• Lu Yuan spotted Han Song near the beast carts, and Han Song fled when a guard called out to him.
• Lu Yuan took a shortcut over an earthen slope and blocked Han Song's way on a narrow forest path with his Piercing Spear.

Lu Yuan stopped Han Song from escaping the Royal Hunting Grounds long enough for Manager Zhao and the guards to capture him. Under questioning, Han Song revealed that the attack may have been intended to track whom Xue Qinghe met after the chaos, leaving the identity and purpose of the conspirator unclear.

• Han Song tried to flee, but Lu Yuan blocked the narrow path and used his spirit skills to slow him despite being injured by Han Song’s stronger attacks.
• Lu Yuan wounded Han Song and kept him from escaping until Manager Zhao arrived and subdued him with the hunting grounds guards.
• Xue Qinghe questioned Han Song about the old approval document, and Han Song said an unknown person had paid him to open the western transfer gate and release the caged Rift-Toothed Tiger.
• Han Song revealed that after the attack began, the unknown person told him to watch everyone who appeared beside the First Prince.
• Lu Yuan and Xue Qinghe realized the incident may have been arranged to observe whom Xue Qinghe contacted, rather than simply to attack the assessment students.

After the Royal Hunting Grounds incident, Lu Yuan recovered and received the reward Xue Qinghe had promised. In the Royal Treasury, his Piercing Spear reacted strongly to an unidentified piece of Gray Silver Ore, which he chose to take back.

• Han Song confessed that he had opened the western transfer gate for the Rift-Toothed Tiger and watched for anyone near Xue Qinghe, while the royal family continued investigating.
• Lu Yuan returned to Spirit Hall, where Deacon Zhao arranged further treatment for his injuries before he resumed recovering his Soul Power.
• The Eye of Destiny opened on its own and showed Qian Renxue's fate node as latent, followed by the message that fate had shifted and a small amount of Origin of Destiny entering Lu Yuan.
• Lu Yuan entered the Royal Treasury to claim one material and passed over several valuable items that did not stir his Piercing Spear.
• The Piercing Spear resonated with a piece of Gray Silver Ore, and Lu Yuan chose it despite the elderly guardian warning that other materials were worth more.