Recaps

Lin Qing and his group explored the Great Qi Capital’s commercial district, where Old Mister Zhao’s tournament rundown revealed the many powerful contenders, including Sun Shaoping and Lin Qing himself. The group then reached the Harmony Prosperity Trading Association, where betting on the Heavenly Prodigy Tournament had begun.

• Lin Qing and his group crossed the crowded cultivator plaza and visited a tea house on the main commercial avenue.
• A young clan heir made lewd remarks about Yun Nian and Xing Mian, so Brother Wu slapped and warned him to stay out of trouble.
• Old Mister Zhao announced that more than ten tournament participants had likely reached the Fourth-Tier Late Stage, then named leading contenders including Duan Chengyu, Duan Qinghuan, Sun Shaoping, and other prodigies.
• Old Mister Zhao described Lin Qing as a Mid-Fourth Tier cultivator with exceptional combat ability after he had killed a same-realm disciple in one move.
• Lin Qing decided he would need to pretend to break through before the tournament, then left the tea house with his group.
• Lin Qing and his group reached the Harmony Prosperity Trading Association, which had opened betting markets for the tournament.

Lin Qing placed a 3,000-Spirit-Stone bet on himself to reach the Heavenly Prodigy Tournament’s top five. After discovering Lin Qing was the young man he had known from the Ten-Thousand Mountains, Sun Shaoping recognized his name on the betting board and was stunned.

• Lin Qing and his companions checked the tournament betting odds, and Lin Qing told them to bet on him for the top five.
• Xing Mian went to sell belongings so she could place her own bet, while Lin Qing entered the high-stakes betting area.
• Lin Qing wagered 3,000 Spirit Stones on himself to reach the top five and received a gilded certificate.
• Sun Shaoping encountered Lin Qing in the corridor, recognized him, and pulled him toward the hall entrance.
• Sun Shaoping saw Lin Qing's name on the notice board and asked if the listed Lin Qing was the man before him; Lin Qing confirmed it.

Lin Qing reunited with Sun Shaoping, who learned that Lin Qing had escaped the Ten-Thousand Mountains on his own and promised he could reach the tournament’s top five. Sun Shaoping bet on him and gave him the Sun Family’s inherited movement technique, while Fang Chao identified Lin Qing as the likely killer of Crow Nine and took an interest in the tournament.

• Sun Shaoping met Lin Qing and invited him to talk privately, while Lin Qing sent Yun Nian and the others back without him.
• Sun Shaoping questioned how Lin Qing had escaped the Ten-Thousand Mountains, and Lin Qing said he had simply kept walking until he got out.
• Sun Shaoping asked whether Lin Qing could make the tournament’s top five, and Lin Qing assured him there would be no surprises.
• Sun Shaoping hurried off to bet on Lin Qing and gave him the Sun Family’s Heaven Rank movement technique, Void Moon-Chasing Shadow.
• Fang Chao learned that Crow Nine had died while hunting scattered sect disciples and concluded that a Great Qi prodigy had killed him.
• Fang Chao reviewed the list of people aboard the flying vessel and decided to watch the Heavenly Prodigy Tournament.

Lin Qing and the Sunset Glow Valley disciples arrived at the Heavenly Prodigy Tournament as the Great Qi Capital gathered to watch. After the tournament began, rival prodigies claimed the stages, and Li Muyao and Yan Jinghong faced off in a tense opening clash.

• Lin Qing perfected Void Moon-Chasing Shadow and reached the Fourth-Tier Late Stage during the three days before the tournament.
• Shen Yurong led Lin Qing and her four other disciples through the crowded capital to the tournament arena.
• A purple-robed elder announced that the first round would use twenty stage-defending dueling platforms, with the twenty who remained by the following sunset advancing.
• The elder declared the tournament underway, and hundreds of young cultivators rushed into the arena to claim stages.
• Jiang Yuewu accidentally landed on Third Prince Duan Chengyu's stage, apologized, and quickly jumped off as spectators laughed.
• Li Muyao and Yan Jinghong, both Fourth-Tier Late Stage cultivators, refused to yield the same stage and prepared to fight.

Li Muyao and Yan Jinghong fought a fierce opening duel, which Yan Jinghong won after turning the tide with his saber technique. As the platform matches continued, Yun Nian built a winning streak before a hostile disciple from Pinecloud Abbey challenged her.

• Li Muyao initially overwhelmed Yan Jinghong with her sword art, but he seized a pause in her attack and defeated her with his saber.
• Lin Qing watched the duel and resolved to cripple Pinecloud Abbey's participating disciples to settle Sunset Glow Valley's wager.
• Jing Rong and Yuan Chong fought on separate platforms, while Yun Nian won several matches in a row.
• Yan Jinghong repelled a series of challengers despite his injuries, and Yun Nian's victories drew Shen Yurong's approval.
• A sinister-looking Pinecloud Abbey disciple leaped onto Yun Nian's platform and fixed her with an openly hostile stare.

Lin Qing avenged Yun Nian after a Pinecloud Abbey fighter brutally defeated and humiliated her, then discovered the fighter was tied to Autumn Mountain Sect. He confronted Yan Jinghong on another platform, declaring that they would settle things now rather than wait for the second round.

• A Pinecloud Abbey fighter defeated Yun Nian, mocked Sunset Glow Valley, and kicked her off the platform, leaving Jing Rong and Yuan Chong to help her.
• Lin Qing challenged the fighter, broke his hand, slapped him repeatedly until he was unconscious, and kicked him off the platform.
• The crowd watched Lin Qing's overwhelming retaliation in stunned silence as Pinecloud Abbey disciples carried their fighter away.
• Lin Qing realized the fighter was likely an Autumn Mountain Sect outside aid and noticed his resemblance to Yan Jinghong.
• Yan Jinghong threatened Lin Qing from another platform, and Lin Qing leapt over to face him, saying there was no need to wait for the second round.

Lin Qing defeated Yan Jinghong with overwhelming strength, then let Xing Mian handle the last Pinecloud Abbey disciple. After Xing Mian forced her opponent to surrender, Lin Qing returned to his stage as the first round neared its end.

• Yan Jinghong challenged Lin Qing, but Lin Qing seized his wrist, disarmed him, and smashed him onto the stage, leaving him badly injured.
• Lin Qing spent the competition intercepting Pinecloud Abbey disciples and headed toward the last one he had not yet faced.
• Xing Mian asked Lin Qing to leave the final Pinecloud Abbey disciple to her, and he agreed.
• Xing Mian used her whip and agile footwork to disarm the disciple, lash him repeatedly, and force him to surrender.
• Lin Qing nodded in approval of Xing Mian and returned to his stage before the competition ended.

The first round of the Heavenly Prodigy Tournament ended, with Lin Qing and Xing Mian among the top twenty and Sunset Glow Valley celebrating their success. Fang Chao decided to wait until the tournament was over before acting against the suspicious Lin Qing.

• The purple-robed elder announced the first round’s conclusion and named the twenty advancing prodigies, including Lin Qing and Xing Mian.
• Sunset Glow Valley celebrated having two disciples reach the top twenty, while Yun Nian recovered enough to move freely.
• Shen Yurong rewarded Lin Qing and Xing Mian with five hundred Spirit Stones each and gave Yun Nian and two others two hundred each.
• Fang Chao rejected his companion’s suggestion to kill Lin Qing immediately and decided they would act after the tournament ended.

After advancing in the Heavenly Prodigy Tournament, Lin Qing met with Great Qi’s Sixth Princess, Duan Qinghuan, who offered him three Heaven-Rank Martial Arts in exchange for defeating her brother Duan Chengyu in the second round. Duan Qinghuan intended to use the match to clear her own path to the throne.

• Lin Qing left his residence to appraise pills and seek spiritual-energy combat methods, but two attendants intercepted him and revealed that the Sixth Princess had summoned him.
• Lin Qing met Duan Qinghuan at a private room in a restaurant, where she asked whether he could defeat Duan Chengyu in the tournament’s second-round matches.
• Lin Qing demanded three complete Heaven-Rank Martial Arts in return for defeating Duan Chengyu, and Duan Qinghuan agreed on the condition that he keep their deal secret.
• Duan Qinghuan assured Lin Qing that she could arrange for him to face Duan Chengyu, and he left after they reached a verbal agreement.
• After Lin Qing departed, Duan Qinghuan revealed that she wanted to rule Great Qi herself, not merely undermine Duan Chengyu.

Duan Qinghuan decided to rely on Lin Qing to block the Third Prince from entering the Cloudrise Immortal Sect, while Lin Qing visited the Harmony Prosperity Trading Association to sell poison pills and buy spells. He returned to his courtyard with five low-tier spells, having concealed his identity during the trip.

• Duan Qinghuan judged Lin Qing and Sun Shaoping to be better candidates than Duan Chengyu because of their age and talent, and resolved to fight for the position.
• Lin Qing disguised himself and entered the Harmony Prosperity Trading Association while displaying the cultivation of a newly advanced Fifth-Tier cultivator.
• An alchemy elder appraised Lin Qing's pills as high-quality Fifth-Tier pills and explained that poison pills had little market demand.
• Lin Qing sold five Meridian-Eroding Pills for two hundred Spirit Stones.
• Lin Qing bought the Fireball Technique, Water Bullet Technique, Wind Blade Technique, Lightness Technique, and Spiritual Qi Armor for four hundred and eighty Spirit Stones, then returned to his courtyard.

Lin Qing mastered the low-tier spells and entered the second round of the Heavenly Prodigy Tournament, where his draw paired him with Third Prince Duan Chengyu. After Duan Qinghuan and Li Muyao won the first two duels, Lin Qing and Duan Chengyu were called to the arena.

• Lin Qing reached low-tier spell-control mastery after two days of seclusion.
• The purple-robed elder explained the second-round rules, and the twenty contestants drew their match numbers.
• Lin Qing followed a voice transmission from the Sixth Princess’s side and drew number three, matching Duan Chengyu.
• Duan Qinghuan defeated Autumn Mountain Sect’s remaining contestant, eliminating the sect from the tournament.
• Li Muyao defeated Xing Mian, who conceded after several dozen exchanges.
• The purple-robed elder called Lin Qing and Duan Chengyu to begin the third duel.

Lin Qing effortlessly defeated Duan Chengyu in a single move, shocking the arena and revealing that his Fourth-Tier Late Stage cultivation concealed unusual power. As spectators probed him, Fang Chao alone sensed that Lin Qing possessed the Spirit Realm.

• Duan Chengyu offered to support Lin Qing if he lost, but Lin Qing dismissed him as a joke.
• Enraged, Duan Chengyu attacked Lin Qing with a Heaven-Rank sword technique.
• Lin Qing evaded the sword, seized Duan Chengyu's wrist, and hurled him off the arena, knocking him unconscious.
• The spectators discovered that Lin Qing was only at Fourth-Tier Late Stage, while Fang Chao sensed something unusual and identified it as the Spirit Realm.

After Lin Qing decisively defeated Duan Chengyu, Duan Qinghuan delivered the three Heaven-Rank Martial Arts she had promised him. Duan Chengyu, furious over his defeat, ordered his shadow guard to kill Lin Qing after the Heavenly Prodigy Tournament.

• The purple-robed elder declared Lin Qing the winner of his match against Duan Chengyu, and the Sunset Glow Valley group returned to their courtyard amazed by his victory.
• The next day, Lin Qing stayed behind to practice the Beast Communication Technique while Shen Yurong and the others went to watch the tournament.
• A messenger brought Lin Qing to meet Duan Qinghuan, who gave him the three promised Heaven-Rank Martial Arts after he confirmed their contents.
• Duan Chengyu, recovering in bed from his injuries, ordered his shadow guard to kill Lin Qing after the tournament despite the guard's warning about the risks.

The Heavenly Prodigy Tournament concluded with Lin Qing, Duan Qinghuan, Sun Shaoping, Gu Yunjing, and Jiang Yuewu earning places in the top five and qualification for the Cloudrise Immortal Sect Entrance Examination. After collecting their rewards and settling their wagers, the Sunset Glow Valley group prepared to return home while Yuan Kun stayed in the capital to protect Lin Qing.

• Jiang Yuewu defeated Li Muyao by exploiting a mistake after their evenly matched duel lasted half an hour.
• The purple-robed elder announced Lin Qing, Duan Qinghuan, Sun Shaoping, Gu Yunjing, and Jiang Yuewu as the top five tournament finishers.
• The tournament organizers awarded prizes to the top twenty, including Spirit Stones, cultivation supplies, and special rewards for the top five.
• Lin Qing received a custom Spirit Armament longsword and qualification to study the Imperial Visualization Diagrams.
• The Sunset Glow Valley group exchanged their wagering winnings at the Harmony Prosperity Trading Association, which gifted Lin Qing several bottles of high-quality pills.
• Shen Yurong led Yun Nian and the others back to Sunset Glow Valley, while Yuan Kun remained in the capital to oversee Lin Qing's safety and diplomatic affairs.

Lin Qing gained the Unrestrained Ultimate Intent talent and went to the Great Qi Imperial Palace to claim his reward of studying the royal Visualization Diagrams. As he began cultivating inside the guarded hall, Fang Chao grew impatient waiting for him in the royal capital.

• Lin Qing mastered the three Heaven-Rank Martial Arts and gained Unrestrained Ultimate Intent, which let him exert his full power without relying on techniques.
• Lin Qing entered the Great Qi Imperial Palace to claim his two-month qualification to study the Visualization Diagrams, and a eunuch who had waited for him led him to the hall.
• Lin Qing found Jiang Yuewu, Sun Shaoping, and Gu Yunjing absorbed in visualization and began recording the hall’s diagrams into his system.
• Fang Chao grew impatient as he waited in the royal capital and wondered why Lin Qing was still studying Visualization Diagrams despite reaching the Spirit Realm.

After a month of seclusion, Lin Qing completed the palace’s visualization methods and strengthened his meridians, finishing his combat system before leaving the imperial palace. He and Yuan Kun set out for Sunset Glow Valley, but on their crowded Flying Vessel, Lin Qing and Fang Chao both noticed a black-clad passenger secretly probing everyone with Divine Sense.

• Lin Qing completed dozens of visualization methods and tempered his meridians until his combat strength reached the Spirit Realm.
• Lin Qing learned Yuan Kun had spent the past seven days at Drunken Spring Tower, then told him they would leave the capital for Sunset Glow Valley the next morning.
• Lin Qing visited the Harmony Prosperity Trading Association, found no mid-grade spells for sale, and bought an ordinary ring to disguise his storage equipment.
• Lin Qing and Yuan Kun boarded a small Flying Vessel bound for Azure Province after paying twenty Spirit Stones.
• A black-clad middle-aged passenger secretly swept the vessel with Divine Sense, and Lin Qing and Fang Chao both detected his probe.

Lin Qing foiled an assassin sent by the Third Prince and killed him aboard the Flying Vessel. Fang Chao, a Sixth-Tier Late Stage inner disciple of the Darknight Demon Court, revealed himself and attacked Lin Qing, but their first clash sent Fang Chao crashing into the railing.

• After seven or eight days aboard the Flying Vessel, the black-clad assassin approached Lin Qing on the deck and stabbed at his back with a dagger.
• Lin Qing caught the assassin's wrist barehanded, overwhelming his spiritual energy and revealing strength beyond what the assassin expected.
• Yuan Kun fired a Fireball Technique at the assassin, but it failed to break through his defenses, while Fang Chao revealed himself at the cabin entrance.
• Lin Qing drew his tournament-awarded Spirit Artifact longsword and killed the assassin, whom the narration identified as sent by the Third Prince.
• Fang Chao urged Lin Qing to join the Darknight Demon Court, but Lin Qing challenged him to defeat him first.
• Fang Chao charged Lin Qing with his jet-black longsaber, and their first clash blasted Fang Chao into the deck railing, leaving him eager to claim Lin Qing's body.

Lin Qing fought Fang Chao in midair after drawing him away from the Flying Vessel, then revealed his Five-Element Spiritual Energy to catch and defeat him. He killed Fang Chao, took his Storage Ring, and flew after the departing vessel.

• Lin Qing avoided Fang Chao's Blade Qi, left the Flying Vessel, and told Yuan Kun to continue toward Azure Province without stopping or interfering.
• Fang Chao attacked Lin Qing with Blade Qi and a spinning disc Spirit Armament, but Lin Qing steadily closed the distance as Fang Chao retreated.
• Fang Chao accelerated away and left his Fifth-Tier Peak companion behind, so Lin Qing caught and killed the man before pursuing Fang Chao.
• Lin Qing revealed his Five-Element Spiritual Energy, rapidly caught Fang Chao, and overwhelmed his defenses with Five-Colored Wind Blades.
• Lin Qing took Fang Chao's Storage Ring, confirmed Fang Chao was dead, burned both corpses to ashes, and flew after the Flying Vessel.

Lin Qing caught up with Yuan Kun’s Flying Vessel after killing Fang Chao and his companions, then returned with Yuan Kun to Sunset Glow Valley. He suspected the Third Prince, Duan Chengyu, had arranged the attack and gained valuable cultivation resources from Fang Chao’s Storage Ring.

• Lin Qing landed on the Flying Vessel and assured Yuan Kun that he was unharmed and had dealt with his pursuers.
• Yuan Kun examined the attackers’ belongings and found items exclusive to the Great Qi Imperial House, leading Lin Qing to suspect Duan Chengyu.
• Lin Qing and Yuan Kun arrived safely at Azure Province City and flew on to Sunset Glow Valley.
• Sunset Glow Valley celebrated Lin Qing’s return, and Shen Yurong moved his residence to the elders’ area.
• Lin Qing opened Fang Chao’s Storage Ring and found twenty thousand Spirit Stones, Sixth-Tier pills, the Darknight Demon Scripture, Flowing Cloud Sundering Moon Blade, and Soul Search Technique.

Lin Qing tested the cultivation benefits of Gathering Spirit Pills while Sunset Glow Valley's leaders confronted the losses caused by Pinecloud Abbey's advance tax collection at Evening Forest Market. With Autumn Mountain Sect backing Pinecloud Abbey, the sect decided to seek Lin Qing's advice.

• Lin Qing mastered the Darknight Demon Scripture and several mid-tier spells, then found that a Sixth-Tier Gathering Spirit Pill doubled his cultivation efficiency.
• Shen Yurong told the sect leaders that Pinecloud Abbey had collected five years of Evening Forest Market taxes in advance by promising merchants a tax reduction.
• Yuan Kun urged the sect to confront Pinecloud Abbey, but Shen Yurong revealed that Autumn Mountain Sect supported the abbey.
• Yuan Kun suggested asking Lin Qing for advice, and Shen Yurong agreed, saying she had considered making him the sect's next master if he was not selected by Cloudrise Immortal Sect.

After revealing his Spirit Realm breakthrough and defeating a Sixth-Tier expert, Lin Qing agreed to resolve Sunset Glow Valley’s crisis at Evening Forest Market. He arrived with Yuan Kun and summoned the market’s merchants and two people at an inn to a meeting.

• A messenger summoned Lin Qing to Sunset Glow Hall, where Shen Yurong explained the dispute over Evening Forest Market and asked for his thoughts.
• Lin Qing volunteered to handle the problem, and Yuan Kun revealed that Lin Qing had entered the Spirit Realm and slain a Sixth-Tier assassin from the Darknight Demon Court.
• The elders confirmed Lin Qing’s strength, and Shen Yurong sent him to Evening Forest Market with Yuan Kun.
• Lin Qing and Yuan Kun reached the market, where Yuan Kun introduced Lin Qing to Elder Fang as the one who would resolve the crisis.
• Lin Qing used his Divine Sense to survey Evening Forest Market and ordered the merchants and two people at an inn to report to a meeting.

Lin Qing confronted Evening Forest Market’s merchants over their secret deal with Pinecloud Abbey and demanded taxes under Sunset Glow Valley’s rules. After the merchants abandoned their threat to leave, Lin Qing offered to recover their prepaid taxes privately and declared that the two men from the inn would not leave.

• Shopkeepers speculated about Lin Qing as he sat in the seat of honor, while two men from an inn watched him with disdain.
• Lin Qing ordered Elder Fang to record absentees and accused the merchants of colluding with Pinecloud Abbey to swindle Sunset Glow Valley.
• Lin Qing declared that merchants still owed taxes to Sunset Glow Valley despite their five-year prepayment to Pinecloud Abbey.
• When the merchants threatened to relocate, Lin Qing agreed to let them leave and had Elder Fang prepare the paperwork; the merchants fell silent and stayed.
• Lin Qing warned the merchants to obey market rules and offered, in his private capacity, to seek repayment from Pinecloud Abbey for a fee.
• One of the two men confronted Lin Qing, who said that neither man would be leaving.

Lin Qing confronted Pinecloud Abbey and Autumn Mountain Sect at Evening Forest Market, where he killed a Pinecloud Abbey elder and then attacked the Sixth Tier elder. The chapter ended with Lin Qing piercing the Autumn Mountain Sect elder’s mouth and plucking out his tongue.

• Lin Qing confirmed that the Sixth Tier elder from Autumn Mountain Sect was included in his threat, and the elder unleashed his spiritual pressure.
• After the merchant proprietors fled the hall, the Pinecloud Abbey elder attacked Lin Qing, who dodged and killed him with a single punch.
• The Autumn Mountain Sect elder took out his Spirit Armament and prepared to fight Lin Qing.
• Lin Qing used his speed to reach the Autumn Mountain Sect elder before he could react and pierced his mouth with his longsword.
• Lin Qing flicked his wrist and picked the elder’s tongue into the air.

Lin Qing killed the Autumn Mountain Sect elder after defeating him at Evening Forest Market, then headed to Pinecloud Abbey to recover the merchants’ stolen taxes. He confronted Daoist Guiyun at the abbey’s mountain gate and demanded justice on the merchants’ behalf.

• Lin Qing beheaded the Sixth Tier elder after the man threatened him with the Autumn Mountain Sect’s backing.
• Lin Qing collected the elders’ belongings and asked the market’s shopkeepers if they would pay him to recover the taxes Pinecloud Abbey had taken; the merchants agreed.
• Lin Qing told Yuan Kun and Elder Fang to handle the market’s aftermath, then asked Yuan Kun for directions to Pinecloud Abbey.
• Lin Qing flew to the Misty Cloud Mountains and spread his Divine Sense across Pinecloud Abbey, drawing the sect’s elders to the plaza.
• Lin Qing tossed the Pinecloud Abbey elder’s corpse before Daoist Guiyun and declared that he had come to demand justice for the Evening Forest Market merchants.

Lin Qing destroyed Pinecloud Abbey, took its resources, and headed toward the Autumn Mountain Sect. When Shen Yurong and Sunset Glow Valley’s elders arrived, they realized Lin Qing’s actions could lead Great Qi to label their sect Devil Dao and destroy it.

• Lin Qing looted Pinecloud Abbey’s elders and hidden stores, spared its ordinary disciples, and flew toward Peace Province to confront the Autumn Mountain Sect.
• Shen Yurong and Sunset Glow Valley’s elders arrived to find Pinecloud Abbey’s leaders dead and its remaining disciples scattering.
• Yuan Kun urged Sunset Glow Valley to seize Pinecloud Abbey’s industries, but a white-haired elder warned that annexing a registered sect’s assets after killing its leaders would be treated as Devil Dao conduct.
• The white-haired elder warned that the Autumn Mountain Sect could use the accusation to destroy Sunset Glow Valley, potentially drawing all of Great Qi against them.
• The elder urged Shen Yurong to report the incident to the royal capital and distance Sunset Glow Valley from Lin Qing, leaving the sect’s leaders to face a grave decision.