Recaps

Qin Hao triggered the Bronze Men Combined Formation during the Ten Bronze Men assessment, transforming the ten bronze men into five coordinated pairs. Despite the deacon’s warning and the formation’s greatly increased strength, Qin Hao chose to fight and began testing their defenses.

• Qin Hao knocked seven bronze men away, but they rose again as all ten rearranged into five pairs and triggered the Bronze Men Combined Formation.
• The deacon and spectators explained the formation’s increased power and rewards, while Lei Yifei and Liu Ruojie predicted Qin Hao would have to forfeit or die.
• The deacon warned Qin Hao that the combined formation was too powerful, but Qin Hao refused to give up and welcomed the challenge.
• The bronze men attacked in coordinated pairs, and Qin Hao punched one pair, sending them staggering back while he was driven back more than ten steps.
• Qin Hao recognized that the bronze men’s defenses had increased severalfold, and his fighting spirit grew stronger.

Qin Hao overwhelmed the Bronze Men Combined Formation with his Pure Yang Tyrant Body Fist and discovered that crippling its bronze men gave him steadily increasing physical strength. As he continued wrecking them, he gathered eight bronze halos, surpassing the record of Lei Zhen and drawing the crowd’s astonishment.

• Luo Yuanjie and the other spectators believed Qin Hao could not defeat the Bronze Men Combined Formation while his cultivation was suppressed.
• Qin Hao began blasting bronze men off the arena with powerful punches, and two bronze halos appeared above him and increased his strength.
• Qin Hao continued attacking while dodging the formation’s blows, nearly punching through bronze men and gathering more halos.
• A spectator explained that the halos provided power feedback and that gathering more made them increasingly difficult to guide.
• Qin Hao quickly gathered seven halos, surpassing Lei Zhen’s record of six and alarming Lei Yifei, Lei Yuanshui, Lei Chi, Liu Ruoxue, and Liu Ruojie.
• Qin Hao sent another bronze man flying, and an eighth halo joined the blazing light above his head.

Qin Hao defeated all ten bronze men in the Bronze Men Combined Formation, gathering ten halos and absorbing their power feedback. As he cultivated on the arena, the Outer Hall disciples and ranking geniuses reacted to his achievement while Lei Chi vowed to challenge him.

• Qin Hao defeated the Ninth Bronze Man and absorbed its halo, gaining a dramatic increase in physical strength.
• Qin Hao fought the Tenth Bronze Man through dozens of punches until it fell and became the tenth halo.
• Qin Hao sat cross-legged in the arena and circulated the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art to absorb the ten halos' power feedback.
• Lei Chi dismissed Qin Hao's strength and promised Liu Ruojie he would challenge and humiliate him.
• Yue Zhou, Tuoba Xin, and Dong Fei recognized Qin Hao's achievement, while the middle-aged deacon guarded him as he cultivated.

After absorbing the power from the tenth bronze halo, Qin Hao greatly increased his physical strength and received rewards for passing the Ten Bronze Men assessment. As he prepared to challenge the Bronze Ranking, Lei Chi provoked him into a fight, and Dong Fei warned him not to accept.

• Qin Hao absorbed the halo's power for an hour, raising his physical strength to about a hundred and fifty-five thousand jin.
• The middle-aged deacon awarded Qin Hao ten thousand contribution points and ten days of Myriad Forms Pagoda cultivation time, which he could claim after entering the Inner Hall.
• Qin Hao headed to the Bronze Platform to challenge the Bronze Ranking, while spectators discussed his strength and Tian Yunfeng resented his defeat.
• Lei Chi, ranked thirty-first, challenged Qin Hao and offered to call him his master if he lost, while claiming he would fight with one hand.
• Luo Yuanjie and Tuoba Xin suspected the Lei family had arranged the provocation, and Zhu Jingming and Zhu Jingsheng worried Qin Hao would be outmatched.
• Dong Fei confronted Lei Chi and quietly warned Qin Hao that his Raging Tide Kill was nearly supernatural and that he should refuse the fight.

Qin Hao challenged Lei Chi on the Bronze Platform and defeated him in three moves with a branch, revealing his perfection sword force. After Lei Yifei and Lei Yuanshui took the injured Lei Chi away, Qin Hao was officially ranked thirty-first on the Bronze Ranking and joined Zhu Jingming, Zhu Jingsheng, and Dong Fei.

• Liu Ruoxue insulted Qin Hao, while Liu Ruojie urged Lei Chi to kill him.
• Qin Hao challenged Lei Chi to a Bronze Platform fight, despite Dong Fei's warnings, and promised to defeat him in three moves.
• Qin Hao used a branch to reveal his perfection sword force and overwhelm Lei Chi with three strikes, leaving him gravely injured.
• Lei Yifei tried to confront Qin Hao, but the Deacon defended the rules of the Bronze Platform and ordered Lei Yifei to leave.
• The Deacon awarded Qin Hao the thirty-first Bronze Ranking position, and Qin Hao went to Zhu Jingming and Zhu Jingsheng as Dong Fei hurried over in surprise.

After Qin Hao defeated Lei Chi, he learned about the dangers and rewards of the Stone Man Secret Realm and resolved to claim its stone man essence. Meanwhile, Tian Yunfeng tried to force Shi Yongbo to cripple Qin Hao, and declared that Qin Hao would die inside the secret realm.

• Qin Hao’s victory over Lei Chi impressed the Bronze Ranking geniuses, while Liu Ruoxue resolved to kill him if she got the chance.
• The Bronze Ranking challenges ended, and Outer Hall disciples opened a betting pool for the stone man essence, placing Qin Hao ninth among the contenders.
• Dong Fei and Zhu Jingming explained that the Stone Man Secret Realm was a small world with dense spiritual qi, dangerous stone puppets, and valuable rewards.
• Qin Hao resolved to clear the secret realm and obtain the stone man essence, then returned to his courtyard to cultivate.
• Tian Yunfeng demanded that Shi Yongbo cripple Qin Hao in exchange for the Stone Puppet King’s other treasures, but Shi Yongbo refused and warned him against making threats.
• Tian Yunfeng claimed that Shi Yongbo had to obey him and vowed that Qin Hao would die in the Stone Man Secret Realm.

Qin Hao entered the Stone Man Secret Realm with Dong Fei and Zhu Jingming, where the Bronze Ranking geniuses faced Stone Puppets and several revealed breakthroughs to the second layer of meridian opening. Qin Hao watched the strongest participants split into different paths as they ventured into the mist.

• Qin Hao cultivated overnight and advanced to the middle first layer of meridian opening before heading to the White Jade Training Ground.
• Xiahou Lie opened the Stone Man Secret Realm after ninety-nine Bronze Ranking geniuses paid the entry fee, while Lei Chi remained absent and Lei Yifei threatened Qin Hao.
• Qin Hao entered the secret realm and reunited with Dong Fei and Zhu Jingming amid dense spiritual energy and the arriving Bronze Ranking geniuses.
• Stone Puppets assembled around the group, and Tuoba Xin destroyed one with a single punch before revealing his breakthrough to the early stage of meridian opening second layer.
• Yue Zhou, Shi Yongbo, and other geniuses also defeated Stone Puppets and broke through, then split up and entered different directions in the mist.
• Tian Yunfeng defeated a Stone Puppet and followed Shi Yongbo into the mist while Qin Hao watched.

Shi Yongbo and Tian Yunfeng planned to use the stone puppet blood essence to summon the Stone Puppet King and create a chance to kill Qin Hao. As the disciples fought through the waves of puppets, casualties mounted by the fiftieth wave, leaving Zhu Jingming and Dong Fei struggling to continue.

• Shi Yongbo told Tian Yunfeng to wait until the stone puppets were at their greatest number before igniting the blood essence, while Shi Yongbo sought a chance to kill Qin Hao.
• Most disciples stopped suppressing their cultivation and advanced to the early stage of Meridian Opening Second Layer; Qin Hao effortlessly smashed a stone puppet with one punch.
• Lei Yifei and Lei Yuanshui saw Qin Hao leave and decided to postpone killing him while they searched for the Stone Puppet King and the stone man essence.
• Qin Hao and the others joined the disciples at the platform, where they fought through successive waves of stone puppets.
• By the twenty-eighth wave, one young man had been killed and at least a dozen people injured; the puppets specialized in different strengths.
• The group reached the fiftieth wave, where more disciples were injured or killed and Zhu Jingming and Dong Fei struggled to keep fighting.

The Stone Puppet King emerged during the brutal fiftieth wave and killed a young man by devouring his martial soul. Qin Hao’s Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art began reacting strongly to the King, leaving him with an urge to devour it.

• Tian Yunfeng struggled to fight while injured and prepared to use a vial of essence blood to lure out the Stone Puppet King.
• A terrifying pressure erupted from the Rock Pile, and Qin Hao noticed that his Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art was circulating faster.
• The Stone Puppet King burst from the Rock Pile and seized a young man before anyone could intervene.
• The Stone Puppet King absorbed the young man’s Blood Cloud Tiger martial soul, killing him and shocking the gathered disciples.
• Qin Hao began glowing with golden light as spiritual energy gathered around him, and he felt compelled to devour the Stone Puppet King.

Qin Hao realized the Stone Puppet King's essence could help his martial soul advance, while the mutated puppet began attacking the gathered geniuses. As everyone charged to claim its essence, Shi Yongbo moved to kill Qin Hao and Tian Yunfeng plotted to delay the others.

• Qin Hao recognized the Stone Puppet King's stone man essence as powerful energy that might raise his martial soul to the sixth rank.
• The Stone Puppet King spoke, devoured a warrior's martial soul, and turned on the crowd, prompting Shi Yongbo and Tian Yunfeng to question how it had appeared.
• Tuoba Xin identified the creature as a mutated Stone Puppet King and argued that its essence offered an even greater opportunity.
• Lei Yifei, Luo Yuanjie, Tuoba Xin, and the other geniuses charged the Stone Puppet King; Qin Hao joined Zhu Jingming and Dong Fei in the attack.
• Shi Yongbo agreed to kill Qin Hao while Tian Yunfeng tried to keep the others from killing the Stone Puppet King before Shi Yongbo succeeded.

Qin Hao sensed Tian Yunfeng’s killing intent as the group attacked the Stone Puppet King, then narrowly evaded Shi Yongbo’s surprise attack and fought him to a standstill. Their battle was interrupted when the Stone Puppet King unleashed another wave of yellow light, blasting everyone back.

• Qin Hao sensed that Tian Yunfeng intended to kill him but concealed his awareness as he approached the Stone Puppet King.
• Tuoba Xin, Feng Han, Lei Yifei, and the other geniuses attacked the Stone Puppet King, but its yellow glow repelled their assault and sent them flying.
• Shi Yongbo ambushed Qin Hao from behind, but Qin Hao dodged the saber strike and countered with the Blazing Sky Sword.
• Qin Hao and Shi Yongbo exchanged more than a dozen blows without either gaining the upper hand, shocking the onlookers and alarming Tian Yunfeng.
• The Stone Puppet King roared and released another wave of yellow light, blasting Qin Hao, Shi Yongbo, Dong Fei, and the others backward.

The Stone Puppet King grew stronger by devouring martial souls, and his body proved to be forged from exceptionally durable essence mystic stone. As many considered fleeing the Stone Man Secret Realm, Qin Hao stayed and began considering how to overcome the King's defenses.

• The Stone Puppet King killed a girl and devoured her martial soul, increasing his strength, then set his sights on another young man.
• Tuoba Xin, Yue Zhou, Lei Yifei, and other geniuses attacked the King, but his defenses repelled them and their blows barely left marks.
• Qin Hao told Dong Fei and Zhu Jingming that Tian Zhongtian had likely arranged Shi Yongbo's ambush because of Tian Yunfeng.
• The crowd realized the King's body was made of essence mystic stone, and many began retreating toward the secret realm's exit.
• Qin Hao stayed, while Shi Yongbo proposed that everyone concentrate their attacks on one point to break through the King's defenses.

The disciples targeted the Stone Puppet King’s right arm, but its defensive barrier halted their attack. Qin Hao then shattered the arm with a sword strike that revealed his Sword Intent, leaving Shi Yongbo stunned by his prodigious talent.

• Shi Yongbo advised attacking the Stone Puppet King’s right arm, and Tuoba Xin rallied the disciples to concentrate their attacks there.
• The disciples dented the Stone Puppet King’s right arm, but it formed a yellow defensive barrier before they could break through.
• Qin Hao struck the dent with his Blazing Sky Sword, piercing the barrier with a flash of Golden Sword Light and shattering the arm.
• Shi Yongbo suspected Qin Hao’s strike contained Sword Intent and wondered how quickly he had comprehended it.

Qin Hao shattered the Stone Puppet King's right arm, but the wounded beast escaped into the mist. As the scattered essence mystic stones became a prize, Qin Hao claimed three while Lei Yifei and Lei Yuanshui fumed, and the last stone remained within reach.

• Qin Hao used concealed sword intent to break the Stone Puppet King's right arm, forcing it to flee into the mist.
• The Stone Puppet King's shattered arm scattered thirteen essence mystic stones, and the gathered geniuses rushed to seize them.
• Tuoba Xin and Shi Yongbo reached stones before Lei Yifei and Lei Yuanshui, while Qin Hao ignored the Lei brothers' threats and claimed three stones.
• Lei Yifei swore revenge as he and Lei Yuanshui watched Qin Hao move toward the final stone, which lay close by.

Qin Hao used Lei Yifei’s spear-generated wind to move fast enough to claim a fourth essence mystic stone, provoking Lei Yifei and Lei Yuanshui to threaten him. As Shi Yongbo joined them, Tuoba Xin and several others intervened and proposed that the rivals unite to hunt the weakened Stone Puppet King.

• Lei Yifei’s spear thrust created a gale that Qin Hao used to boost his movement, evade the attack with an afterimage, and seize the fourth essence mystic stone.
• Lei Yifei and Lei Yuanshui threatened Qin Hao, while Dong Fei stepped in to defend him and warned that she would report them to the elders.
• Shi Yongbo joined Lei Yifei and Lei Yuanshui, and Qin Hao realized Tian Yunfeng was behind his intervention.
• Tuoba Xin, Yue Zhou, Yu Jingmiao, and Luo Yuanjie stepped between the groups and urged them not to fight while the Stone Puppet King remained alive.
• Tuoba Xin proposed that Qin Hao, Lei Yifei, Lei Yuanshui, and Shi Yongbo join forces to kill the weakened Stone Puppet King, and the three challengers showed interest.

Qin Hao and the other Bronze Ranking geniuses agreed to temporarily set aside their grudges and join forces to hunt the Stone Puppet King for its Stone Man Essence. As the group continued the increasingly difficult puppet trials, Tian Yunfeng, nearing elimination, decided to use the Stone Puppet King to kill Qin Hao and the others.

• Yu Jingmiao proposed that the geniuses call a temporary truce, and Lei Yifei, Lei Yuanshui, and Shi Yongbo agreed to cooperate against the Stone Puppet King.
• Tuoba Xin said the spoils would be divided according to each person's contribution, and Qin Hao agreed to join the hunt for Stone Man Essence.
• Qin Hao, Dong Fei, and Zhu Jingming entered the next clearing and fought the stronger Stone Puppets as many disciples struggled to keep up.
• Tian Yunfeng realized he was close to elimination and decided to use the Stone Puppet King, believing it would kill Qin Hao, Shi Yongbo, Tuoba Xin, and the others.

Tian Yunfeng ignited stone puppet blood essence in the Stone Man Secret Realm, summoning a second Stone Puppet King just as Qin Hao and others completed the trial. The new king appeared weaker than the first, leaving Tian Yunfeng to hesitate over whether to flee or pursue the stone puppet essence.

• Zhu Jingming and Dong Fei left the Stone Man Secret Realm after reaching their limits, while Qin Hao and several others completed the challenge of one hundred and eight Stone Puppets.
• Tian Yunfeng ignited the stone puppet blood essence, spreading a strange aura through the secret realm.
• Qin Hao's cultivation advanced to the meridian opening first layer later stage as the aura stirred his martial soul and Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art.
• A tiger-leopard Stone Puppet King emerged from the mist, startling the remaining disciples with the appearance of a second king.
• Tian Yunfeng realized the new Stone Puppet King seemed weaker than the first and hesitated between leaving and competing for the stone puppet essence.
• Dong Fei, Zhu Jingming, and other surviving disciples emerged onto the Plaza, where Chi Zhenheng, Xiahou Lie, and other Outer Hall Elders appeared.

Chi Zhenheng learned that a mutated Stone Puppet King had appeared in the Stone Man Secret Realm, while the remaining disciples faced a Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King inside. Qin Hao warned of another nearby king, and a mysterious one-armed figure appeared just as the Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King was about to kill a disciple.

• Dong Fei, Zhu Jingming, and the returning disciples told Chi Zhenheng that a powerful Stone Puppet King could devour martial souls and that more than twenty disciples remained inside.
• Chi Zhenheng and the elders decided not to probe the secret realm, fearing that interference could cause it to collapse.
• The Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King killed one disciple with a swift claw strike as Tuoba Xin prepared to lead an attack.
• Qin Hao sensed another Stone Puppet King nearby when the essence mystic stones began glowing, so the geniuses retreated.
• The Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King wounded a young genius and moved to finish him, but a one-armed figure appeared and forced it to freeze and tremble.

Tian Yunfeng tried to steal the Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King's stone man essence while the one-armed Stone Puppet King attacked it, but the one-armed king killed him and consumed his martial soul. Qin Hao stayed back as his little sword martial soul stirred at the sight of the essence.

• Tian Yunfeng decided to seize the Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King's essence while the one-armed Stone Puppet King fought it, and another young prodigy charged in as well.
• The one-armed Stone Puppet King crushed the Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King's skull and began absorbing its stone man essence.
• The young prodigy rushed toward the essence, but the one-armed Stone Puppet King killed him and swallowed his martial soul.
• Tian Yunfeng moved to claim the essence, but the one-armed Stone Puppet King struck him down and consumed his martial soul.
• Qin Hao held back while his little sword martial soul stirred in response to the stone man essence.

After devouring several martial souls and the Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King’s essence, the one-armed Stone Puppet King grew powerful enough to kill the gathered geniuses with ease. He singled out Qin Hao for breaking his arm, while Lei Yifei and Lei Yuanshui used the distraction to flee.

• Tian Yunfeng and another young genius died when the one-armed Stone Puppet King attacked and devoured their martial souls.
• Qin Hao sensed that the Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King’s blue essence could strengthen his martial soul, but held back and watched.
• The one-armed Stone Puppet King absorbed the Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King’s essence, reached the seventh grade, and caused the Tiger-Leopard Stone Puppet King to crumble away.
• The Stone Puppet King killed three Bronze Ranking geniuses, devoured their martial souls, and attacked the remaining fighters with greatly strengthened defenses.
• The Stone Puppet King blamed Qin Hao for shattering his right arm and charged at him, while Lei Yifei and Lei Yuanshui fled.

Trapped by the Stone Puppet King's barrier, Qin Hao survived its punch and gambled on using the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art to devour its stone man essence. He clung to the rampaging king as its essence began to emerge, leaving everyone watching in shock.

• Lei Yifei and Lei Yuanshui tried to flee but struck a transparent barrier, and Tuoba Xin realized the Stone Puppet King had trapped them.
• The Stone Puppet King punched Qin Hao into a crater, but Qin Hao emerged unharmed and recovered through the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art.
• Qin Hao recognized the stone man essence as the Stone Puppet King's weakness and decided to risk devouring it with his golden little sword martial soul.
• Qin Hao grabbed the Stone Puppet King's shoulder and unleashed the martial soul's suction, drawing swirling mist from the king's body.
• The Stone Puppet King rampaged and tried to shake Qin Hao off, but Qin Hao stayed attached as the mist continued to be devoured.

Qin Hao used the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art to refine the Stone Puppet King's essence soul, strengthening his martial soul as the puppet weakened. Lei Yifei attacked him out of jealousy, sending Qin Hao and the Stone Puppet King plunging into a deep fissure, with their fates unknown.

• Qin Hao clung to the rampaging Stone Puppet King and used his golden little sword martial soul to refine its essence soul from within.
• Qin Hao felt his martial soul grow far stronger and sensed that refining the stone man essence might let it reach the sixth rank.
• Lei Yifei grew jealous of Qin Hao and attacked him with a fist of true qi.
• Lei Yifei's blow sent Qin Hao and the Stone Puppet King into a massive fissure.
• Lei Yifei laughed and declared Qin Hao dead while the others wondered whether he had survived.

After falling into a seemingly bottomless fissure with the Stone Puppet King, Qin Hao devoured its Stone Man Essence and strengthened his Little Sword Martial Soul. The essence separated into a second, auxiliary Stone Man Martial Soul as a powerful new surge of energy erupted from the sword.

• Lei Yifei forced a young man to scout the fissure, but the scout and the others saw only darkness and could not find Qin Hao or the Stone Puppet King.
• As they continued falling, Qin Hao focused on the Stone Puppet King and used the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art to absorb its Stone Man Essence into his Little Sword Martial Soul.
• The Little Sword Martial Soul grew toward the sixth rank, and Qin Hao's chest gained a layer of rock armor with the Stone Puppet King's traits.
• The Little Sword Martial Soul expelled the absorbed essence, which formed a fist-sized mass resembling a stone man and became Qin Hao's second, auxiliary Martial Soul.
• A vast surge of energy erupted from the Little Sword Martial Soul, surpassing anything Qin Hao had felt before.

Qin Hao refined the Stone Puppet King’s essence, advancing his sword martial soul to sixth rank and his cultivation to the second layer of meridian opening. After discovering a mysterious map within his stone man martial soul, he used it to escape the fissure with the Stone Puppet King, reappearing before the others.

• The little sword martial soul devoured the Stone Puppet King’s remaining essence, advancing to sixth rank as Qin Hao’s cultivation broke through to the early stage of meridian opening second layer.
• Qin Hao directed the incoming spiritual energy into his stone man martial soul, revealing a mysterious map with a red destination point.
• Qin Hao memorized the map and used Rock Armor to link himself to the Stone Puppet King, then rode it upward through the fissure.
• At the fissure’s edge, Tuoba Xin and Yue Zhou believed Qin Hao and the Stone Puppet King had vanished, while Lei Yifei regretted his attack but expected Qin Hao to be dead.
• The Stone Puppet King leaped out of the fissure, startling the group, and a figure appeared before them as Lei Yifei spoke.

Qin Hao emerged alive after taking the Stone Puppet King’s stone man essence, and the crowd quickly turned against him in hopes of claiming the treasure. He said he had already refined it and confronted Lei Yifei over the earlier ambush, leaving the group on the verge of attacking him.

• Qin Hao sensed a Quasi-Stone Puppet King in the rubble and decided not to devour it so the future Stone Puppet King could still emerge.
• Qin Hao appeared before Lei Yifei, Tuoba Xin, Yue Zhou, and the others, who realized the Stone Puppet King had lost its intelligence and suspected Qin Hao had taken its essence.
• Lei Yifei demanded the stone man essence, while Shi Yongbo decided he needed it to strengthen himself and escape his troubles at Myriad Phenomena Hall.
• Qin Hao refused to hand over the essence and reminded Lei Yifei that his ambush had sent Qin Hao into a spatial rift.
• Tuoba Xin and Yue Zhou demanded a share, but Qin Hao claimed he had already refined all the stone man essence, prompting Lei Yifei and others to grow hostile and prepare to attack.