Recaps

Lin Fan killed the Demon Monk, took the Demonic Blade, and decided to conceal the outcome of his mission. He stayed hidden to cultivate, planning to raise his strength before pursuing the Steel Force Realm and upgrading his concealment technique.

• The Demon Monk explained that Buddhist Dharma helped him resist the Demonic Blade’s corrupting influence and admitted he had killed an official who came after him.
• Lin Fan confirmed his suspicion that the authorities had sent him into a trap, then killed the Demon Monk with one palm strike.
• Lin Fan took the Demonic Blade but decided not to claim the bounty or tell the authorities that the Demon Monk was dead.
• Lin Fan hid in a secluded valley to cultivate for several days, increasing his cultivation acceleration to thirty-five-thousandfold.
• Lin Fan planned to seek more Breath Concealment Techniques before reaching the Steel Force Realm, whose stages and path to the Innate Realm he considered.

After returning home, Lin Fan resumed cultivating and refining pills, expanded his medicinal-ingredient order, and sold a large batch of pills to the Azure Elixir Hall. He began teaching Chu Lingxi Alchemy and discovered that she had rare Third-Grade Bone Aptitude.

• Lin Fan returned to his residence, reunited with his family, and resumed his routine of accelerated cultivation and daily Alchemy.
• Lin Fan asked the Ten Thousand Prosperity Medicine Depot to increase its next delivery of high-grade medicinal ingredients by twenty percent.
• Lin Fan sold 1,200 Top-Grade High-Grade Pills to the Azure Elixir Hall for more than 1,300 taels of silver.
• Lin Fan offered to teach Chu Lingxi Alchemy, while Lin Ruoruo declined to learn.
• Lin Fan examined Chu Lingxi's Bone Aptitude and discovered that she had Third-Grade Bone Aptitude.

Lin Fan refused to resume the hunt for the Demon Monk despite the Commandery City Messengers offering a larger bounty and threatening to revoke his stipend. The messengers reported his refusal to the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce, whose leaders were stunned that their scheme to get him killed had failed.

• Lin Fan promised Chu Lingxi, Lin Ruoruo, and Mao Mao mild Qi-Nourishing Pills to support their health and cultivation.
• Two Commandery City Messengers asked Lin Fan to continue hunting the Demon Monk and offered to raise the reward to forty million taels.
• Lin Fan refused the assignment and dismissed the threat that he would lose his stipend and bounty.
• The messengers returned to the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce and told the Chief Steward and Granny Qian that Lin Fan had abandoned the hunt.
• The Chief Steward complained about Lin Fan, while Granny Qian encouraged his anger by condemning Lin Fan’s refusal.

The Chief Steward traveled to the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce’s Capital City headquarters and persuaded the Chief Manager to target Lin Fan. He returned to the Commandery City with two Early Transforming Force Realm martial artists, intending to capture Lin Fan and force him to refine pills or kill him.

• The Chief Steward and his trusted Stewards plotted a harsher scheme against Lin Fan after Lin Fan refused the government assignment.
• The Chief Steward traveled to the Capital City and told the Chief Manager that Lin Fan had harmed the Commerce’s business and defied its efforts to recruit or pressure him.
• The Chief Manager approved a plan to capture Lin Fan for his Alchemy skills or kill him, and assigned two Early Transforming Force Realm martial artists to assist.
• The Chief Steward and the two martial artists returned to the Commandery City, where the Chief Steward looked toward Lin Fan’s residence with a cold smile.

Lin Fan discovered that the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce had again driven up herb prices to force him out of Commandery City, so he traveled to the Azure Wave Medicine Market to restock. The Chief Steward sent two experts to ambush him outside the city, unaware that Lin Fan had already reached the market.

• The Chief Steward told two Transforming Force Realm experts that he planned to lure Lin Fan out of his protected estate and capture him.
• A Ten Thousand Prosperity Medicine Depot manager delivered only one carriage of herbs and explained that the Ten Thousand Treasures Medicine Depot had bought up the city’s supply at inflated prices.
• Lin Fan decided to travel to the Azure Wave Medicine Market, then said goodbye to Su Qingwei, Lin Ruoruo, and Chu Lingxi before leaving Commandery City.
• Disguised scouts reported Lin Fan’s departure, and the Chief Steward sent two Early Transforming Force Realm experts to wait in ambush along his route.
• Lin Fan reached the Azure Wave Medicine Market and bought more than a dozen crates of high-grade spiritual materials.

Lin Fan was ambushed on his way back to Commandery City by two early transforming force experts hired by the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce. He revealed his concealed late transforming force cultivation, killed both attackers, and confirmed the commerce’s involvement.

• Lin Fan realized the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce had forced him out of the city to lure him into an ambush.
• Lin Fan pretended to be terrified and let one attacker pull him within striking distance.
• Lin Fan unleashed his late transforming force cultivation and killed the first attacker with a single punch.
• Lin Fan caught the fleeing second attacker and killed him before he could report Lin Fan’s strength.
• Lin Fan found the Ten Thousand Treasures token on the dead attacker and confirmed the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce had sent them.

After killing the two who had discovered his true cultivation, Lin Fan erased the battlefield and returned to the Commandery City. He sought refuge with the Azure Elixir Sect and told his family to prepare to leave the city.

• Lin Fan killed the two witnesses, cleaned away all traces of the battle, and destroyed the scattered medicinal ingredients and crates.
• Lin Fan returned to the Commandery City and asked the Azure Elixir Hall steward to recommend him to the Azure Elixir Sect.
• The steward eagerly agreed to accompany Lin Fan to the sect and arranged to meet him at the city gates.
• Lin Fan returned home and solemnly told Su Qingwei, Lin Ruo Ruo, and Chu Lingxi to prepare to move the household away from the Commandery City.
• Su Qingwei, Lin Ruo Ruo, and Chu Lingxi were astonished but went to pack without questioning Lin Fan.

Lin Fan moved his family out of Commandery City and explained that the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce had tried to kill him, making the city unsafe. After three days of travel, they reached Azure Elixir City at the foot of the Azure Elixir Sect's mountains.

• Lin Fan dismantled the Estate Protection Array, ended the residence's lease, and led his family and their belongings out of Commandery City with the Azure Elixir Hall steward and two sect escorts.
• During a rest stop, Lin Fan told Su Qingwei, Lin Ruoruo, and Chu Lingxi that two early transforming force experts had ambushed him on the road and that he was joining the Azure Elixir Sect for protection.
• Su Qingwei, Lin Ruoruo, and Chu Lingxi accepted Lin Fan's decision, and the convoy resumed its journey.
• After traveling for three days, Lin Fan and his family arrived in view of Azure Elixir City and the Azure Elixir Sect's vast mountain territory.

Lin Fan joined the Azure Elixir Sect and was appointed an elder, receiving a private mountain where he resumed cultivating and producing pills. He brought the Su Family to safety in Azure Elixir City and settled into a peaceful life with his family.

• Lin Fan arrived at the Azure Elixir Sect and was appointed an elder by the sect master, who also granted him a private mountain.
• Lin Fan moved his family to the mountain, restored its Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation, and resumed mass-producing pills under the sect’s terms.
• Lin Fan sent a letter asking Su Yuanshan to bring the Su Family to Azure Elixir City for protection from Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce.
• Su Yuanshan brought several hundred Su Family members to Azure Elixir City, and Lin Fan arranged a residence for them.
• Lin Fan cultivated, refined pills, and spent peaceful time with his family on the mountain.

Lin Fan cultivated at the sect and patiently taught Chu Lingxi about pill theory, while her admiration for him deepened. Meanwhile, the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce's Chief Steward awaited word from an ambush intended to capture or kill Lin Fan.

• Lin Fan explained the medicinal properties of spirit herbs to Chu Lingxi and encouraged her studies.
• During the evening rain, Lin Fan answered Chu Lingxi's questions about pill theory and gave her a Warming Pill, while she wondered whether his feelings toward her went beyond those of a master.
• Lin Ruoruo studied and played, while Su Qingwei cared for the household and their children in peaceful mountain life.
• The Chief Steward revealed that two early transforming force experts from the Main Hall in Capital City were lying in ambush in the Hundred-Mile Wasteland Mountains to intercept Lin Fan.
• The Chief Steward anticipated news that Lin Fan would be captured or killed and that the Ten Thousand Treasures Hall would dominate Commandery City's high-grade pill business.

The Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce learned that Lin Fan had safely returned to Commandery City and joined the Azure Elixir Sect, while its two transforming force experts remained missing. The Capital City Headquarters ordered the commerce to avoid provoking the sect and to recruit pill refiners to compete with Lin Fan.

• A scout reported that Lin Fan had returned unharmed and gone to the Azure Elixir Hall without the medicinal ingredients he had sought.
• The Chief Steward learned that Lin Fan had joined the Azure Elixir Sect and left Commandery City with his family and belongings.
• The Chief Steward sent scouts to search for the two missing transforming force experts, but they found no tracks, bodies, or signs of combat.
• The Capital City Chief Manager reprimanded the Commandery City Chief Steward and ordered the commerce not to provoke the Azure Elixir Sect.
• The Chief Manager ordered the Commandery City branch to recruit pill refiners and defend its pill business against Lin Fan's top-grade high-grade pills.

The Chief Steward tried to use Lin Fan’s relatives as leverage, but learned they had already moved under the Azure Elixir Sect’s protection and fainted from rage. Meanwhile, Lin Fan settled into a peaceful routine at the sect, cultivating, refining pills, and lecturing its disciples.

• The Chief Steward sent scouts across Azure Cloud Commandery to find Lin Fan’s relatives and discovered Lin Fan had married into the Su Family of Green Mountain Town.
• A scout reported that Lin Fan’s original Lin Family had been executed, leaving only Lin Fan and his younger sister alive.
• The Chief Steward decided to seize the Su Family, but learned Lin Fan’s relatives had moved to Azure Elixir City after receiving his letter.
• The Chief Steward realized his schemes against Lin Fan had failed, spat blood, and collapsed unconscious.
• Lin Fan spent his days cultivating, refining pills, and giving popular alchemy lectures at the Azure Elixir Sect.
• Lin Fan often visited the sect’s Scripture Repository in his spare time.

Lin Fan delayed breaking through to the steel force realm until he could conceal its presence, and devoted himself to studying and combining breath concealment techniques. As the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce tried to compete with the Azure Elixir Hall, Lin Fan continued preparing in secret.

• After more than five months at the Azure Elixir Sect, Lin Fan had accumulated over 2.9 million strands of inner qi and approached the steel force realm barrier.
• Lin Fan decided not to break through until he could upgrade the Hidden Dragon Breath Concealment Technique enough to hide his future strength.
• Lin Fan divided his time between refining pills for the sect and studying breath concealment methods in the Scripture Repository.
• Lin Fan paid trusted disciples to search the Zhao Kingdom for concealment and alchemy books, spending nearly ten million silver taels to collect hundreds of new techniques.
• Lin Fan cultivated, dismantled, and merged the concealment methods to derive stronger techniques, while news arrived that the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce was recruiting alchemists to compete with the Azure Elixir Hall.

Lin Fan created the Flying Dragon Breath Concealment Technique, which could hide his aura up to the steel force realm, and prepared to break through in seclusion. He left the Azure Elixir Sect alone for a remote underground cavern, where he intended to cultivate.

• Lin Fan learned that the Ten Thousand Treasures Hall had suffered severe losses and closed several branches after its pill business was eclipsed by the Azure Elixir Hall.
• After three months of study, Lin Fan created the Flying Dragon Breath Concealment Technique, capable of concealing his aura even at the late steel force realm.
• Lin Fan chose a remote underground cavern for his planned breakthrough and said farewell to Su Qingwei, Lin Ruoruo, and Chu Lingxi.
• Lin Fan told the sect master and elders he was leaving alone, then declined their offers of guards and supplies.
• Lin Fan left the Azure Elixir Sect and headed for the cavern hidden in a secluded mountain valley.

Lin Fan reached the Steel Force Realm after cultivating in a sealed cavern, and his breakthrough shook the surrounding mountains and a nearby town. He concealed his new power and returned safely to the Azure Elixir Sect, where the gate guards welcomed him after days of concern.

• Lin Fan traveled to a secluded valley and descended into a deep underground cavern to break through.
• After more than three days of accelerated cultivation, Lin Fan gathered three million strands of inner qi and began his breakthrough.
• Lin Fan reached the early Steel Force Realm, and the force he could not fully control blasted a cavity in the rock and triggered tremors that shook the mountains and a nearby town.
• Lin Fan concealed his aura with the Flying Dragon Breath Concealment Technique and left the cavern.
• Lin Fan returned to the Azure Elixir Sect and was greeted respectfully by the gate guards, while the sect had been anxiously awaiting his return.

After returning safely to the Azure Elixir Sect, Lin Fan reunited with his family and calculated the rising cost of accelerated cultivation. He turned to studying the Pill Dao to improve his alchemy and fund his cultivation, leaving his progress in alchemy still underway after three months.

• Lin Fan returned to the Main Peak, reassured the sect master and elders, and declined a welcoming banquet.
• Lin Fan went back to his courtyard, where Chu Lingxi, Lin Ruoruo, Mao Mao, and Su Qingwei greeted him warmly.
• Lin Fan checked the system and learned that reaching the Steel Force realm had increased the cost of cultivation acceleration tenfold.
• Lin Fan calculated that improving his alchemy could help him afford forty-thousand-fold cultivation acceleration, and decided to focus on studying pill refining.
• Lin Fan spent the next three months studying the Azure Elixir Sect's extensive Pill Dao texts while his cultivation made little progress.

After mastering the alchemical texts of the Azure Elixir Sect, Lin Fan learned to refine pills in two furnaces at once, greatly increasing his output. His remarkable skill stirred the sect and Azure Elixir City, but he kept to his quiet family life and concealed his true strength.

• After three months of study, Lin Fan refined Top-Grade High-Grade Pills in two furnaces simultaneously.
• Lin Fan resumed his routine of refining pills and cultivating, producing nearly two hundred pills a day and delivering three thousand pills to the sect.
• The sect master and elders visited Lin Fan, watched him refine pills in both furnaces, and learned that he had advanced through studying the Scripture Repository’s alchemical texts.
• News of Lin Fan’s dual-furnace alchemy spread through Azure Elixir City, while he turned away visitors and kept his strength hidden.
• Lin Fan spent his days refining pills, cultivating, and caring for his family as his children learned to say simple words.

As Azure Elixir Hall expanded into more commandery cities, its sales hurt Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce, whose chief stewards met to plan a response. The Azure Cloud Commandery chief steward recalled Lin Fan’s connection to the massacred Lin lineage, suggesting they might find an ally through that old bloodbath.

• The Azure Elixir Sect opened more Azure Elixir Hall branches to sell Lin Fan’s plentiful pills, and planned further expansion.
• Azure Elixir Hall’s competition sharply reduced Ten Thousand Treasures Hall’s business in several commandery cities.
• Chief stewards from five or six commandery cities gathered in secret and blamed Lin Fan for their losses.
• The stewards agreed that confronting the Azure Elixir Sect directly was impossible and struggled to find allies against it.
• The ailing chief steward of Azure Cloud Commandery recalled that Lin Fan had escaped the execution of the Lin lineage alongside his younger sister.

The Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce’s stewards uncovered Prince Gao’s role in framing the Lin Family and urged the Commerce to use the family feud against Lin Fan. After reviewing their evidence, the Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor connected the discovery to Azure Elixir Hall’s damage to the Commerce’s business, leaving his response undecided.

• The chief stewards agreed to investigate Lin Fan’s background and searched for records and witnesses connected to the Lin Family’s slaughter.
• The stewards discovered that Prince Gao’s faction had framed the Lin Family after its elder investigated Prince Gao’s Manor’s illicit businesses, and that Prince Gao had demanded the harshest punishment.
• The chief stewards proposed using Lin Fan’s feud with Prince Gao to persuade Prince Gao’s Manor to ally against Lin Fan and the Azure Elixir Sect.
• The stewards sent their evidence and plans to the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce headquarters, and the Chief Manager brought the report to the Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor.
• The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor examined the records and reflected that Lin Fan’s old feud might offer a way to counter Azure Elixir Hall’s expansion and the Commerce’s declining earnings.

The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor uncovered Lin Fan’s connection to the Lin family massacre and approached Prince Gao with evidence, intending to turn their feud into a weapon against Lin Fan and the Azure Elixir Sect. He revealed Lin Fan’s survival and accomplishments, leaving Prince Gao to hear the secret behind the old case.

• The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor ordered lavish gifts prepared and sent Prince Gao a request for an audience about a secret concerning his manor.
• Prince Gao received the gifts and agreed to meet the Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor the next morning.
• The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor brought gathered case files and witness statements into Prince Gao’s Manor and recalled the Lin family’s execution in Blackwater Commandery.
• The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor told Prince Gao that Lin Fan had survived the massacre and was now an Azure Elixir Sect elder with remarkable cultivation and alchemy skills.

Ancestor Wanbao presented Prince Gao with evidence linking the Lin Family’s old case to Prince Gao’s Manor and warned that Lin Fan might seek revenge. After secretly investigating Lin Fan and the Azure Elixir Sect, Prince Gao summoned Ancestor Wanbao to discuss their fate, and Ancestor Wanbao proposed joining forces to destroy the sect and capture Lin Fan.

• Ancestor Wanbao told Prince Gao that the Lin Family had uncovered illegal businesses tied to Prince Gao’s Manor before officials framed the family, and that Prince Gao had supported their execution.
• Prince Gao examined the records Ancestor Wanbao left behind and ordered discreet inquiries into the old case, Lin Fan, and the Azure Elixir Sect.
• Prince Gao reviewed intelligence for more than ten days while Ancestor Wanbao waited for a summons.
• Prince Gao summoned Ancestor Wanbao and met him with a hidden late Transforming Force Realm expert at his side.
• Ancestor Wanbao proposed that Prince Gao’s Manor and the Ten Thousand Treasures Commerce join forces to annihilate the Azure Elixir Sect and capture Lin Fan alive, then force him to refine pills.

The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor agreed to Prince Gao’s terms and began assembling allies for an attack on the Azure Elixir Sect. After investigating nearby sects, he chose Blackstone Valley and arrived there with Mo Chen to seek its support.

• Prince Gao offered two late transforming force experts in exchange for the Azure Elixir Sect’s entire treasury, and the Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor accepted.
• Prince Gao assigned the Black-Clad Elder to assist with planning and promised a second expert would join when fighting began.
• The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor and the Black-Clad Elder left the Capital City and traveled south toward the Southern Frontier.
• The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor ordered spies to investigate nearby sects and selected Blackstone Valley, whose pill trade had suffered from Lin Fan’s success.
• The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor and Mo Chen reached Blackstone Valley’s mountain gates to seek an alliance.

The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor and an expert from Prince Gao's Manor negotiated with the Black Baleful Adept to form an alliance against the Azure Elixir Sect. After nearly two hours, they agreed on the terms for the attack and the division of spoils.

• The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor and his companion arrived at Blackstone Valley and were welcomed by the Black Baleful Adept.
• The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor invited Blackstone Valley to join an attack on the Azure Elixir Sect, citing its growing pill business under Lin Fan.
• He promised four late transforming force realm experts on their side and offered Blackstone Valley the sect's lands, businesses, alchemists, and Azure Elixir Hall medicine shops.
• The Black Baleful Adept questioned the offer's reliability, and the Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor proposed recording the spoils, deadlines, and responsibilities in a Blood Oath Pact.
• After nearly two hours of discussion, the Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor and the Black Baleful Adept settled the alliance's terms.

The Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor and the Black Baleful Adept sealed an alliance against the Azure Elixir Sect, while Lin Fan helped Chu Lingxi overcome her discouragement with alchemy. Chu Lingxi successfully refined three low-grade pills under Lin Fan's guidance.

• The Black Baleful Adept agreed to ally with the Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor, and they swore a blood oath against the Azure Elixir Sect.
• Lin Fan reflected on his cultivation and alchemy progress after more than three months in the steel force realm.
• Lin Fan found Chu Lingxi upset after her third failed attempt to refine an Essence-Stabilizing Pill.
• Lin Fan explained that Chu Lingxi's ingredients were well refined and advised her on controlling the flame and directing qi during pill formation.
• With Lin Fan beside her, Chu Lingxi tried again and successfully produced three low-grade pills.

Lin Fan recognized Chu Lingxi’s growing affection but decided to preserve their peaceful companionship while he focused on reaching the innate realm. Meanwhile, Blackstone Valley completed its secret preparations for war, and its force assembled to deploy.

• Chu Lingxi watched Lin Fan cultivate beneath the moonlight, then returned to her room after admiring him from beneath an osmanthus tree.
• Lin Fan sensed Chu Lingxi’s feelings and decided not to reject them, but to wait because she was young and he needed greater strength to protect those around him.
• Blackstone Valley recalled its experts, forged armor and weapons, and prepared combat pills as it secretly readied more than a thousand disciples for battle.
• The deployment day arrived, and the Ten Thousand Treasures Ancestor and two late transforming force realm experts from Prince Gao’s Manor stood at the head of the assembled force.