Recaps

Zhao Er infiltrated the martial academy and poisoned its gathered disciples and instructors while Wu Yao and Wu Xing fought Meridian Opening Realm opponents. After slaughtering the weakened Primordial Unity Realm martial artists, Zhao Er turned toward Wu Xing’s battle and assessed the chief instructor’s Blade Aura.

• Zhao Er ordered the Martial Guards and Martial Academy Students to surround the academy, then entered alone.
• Zhao Er climbed onto the great hall and watched the Meridian Opening Realm battles as toxins spread from beneath his feet through the crowd.
• The toxins left the Primordial Unity Realm martial artists weakened, and Zhao Er attacked them with his twin halberds, killing them all in moments.
• Wu Yao began gaining the upper hand against the academy master, while Wu Xing continued dodging the chief instructor’s attacks.
• Zhao Er approached Wu Xing’s battlefield and watched the chief instructor’s Blade Aura, considering whether his Golden Body could withstand it.

Zhao Er and Wu Xing defeated the Tyrant Blade Martial Hall's head instructor by coordinating their attacks, with Zhao Er's venomous hidden strike leaving Wu Xing an opening to behead him. Wu Xing moved on to help Wu Yao, while Zhao Er stayed back to gather the toxins and reflected that he needed stronger poisons.

• Zhao Er called out a plan for Wu Xing to attack from the front while he ambushed the head instructor, and Wu Xing began meeting the instructor's saber strikes head-on.
• Zhao Er dodged the head instructor's Blade Aura, giving Wu Xing an opening to land a series of heavy saber blows.
• Zhao Er spat out a dark-gold weapon carrying toxins, paralyzing the head instructor so Wu Xing could behead him.
• Wu Xing praised Zhao Er's help and left to join the battle between the Tyrant Blade Martial Hall's master and Wu Yao.
• Zhao Er stayed away from that fight, gathered the surrounding toxins, and concluded that he needed to find more potent poisons.

Zhao Er helped Wu Yao and Wu Xing defeat the Tyrant Blade Martial Hall, then returned to his mine to claim a massive Settlement Panel reward. The surge of power strengthened him but left his control unsteady and depleted his fine-gold energy, so he began training to adapt before faint vibrations interrupted him.

• Zhao Er withdrew his toxins as Wu Yao killed the Tyrant Blade Martial Hall master, and he let the disciples guarding the perimeter claim the remaining spoils.
• Wu Xing gave Zhao Er ten thousand silver taels and forty Qi-Gathering Pills from selling his spirit weapon, and Zhao Er rode back to the mine.
• Zhao Er inspected the Settlement Panel and received large amounts of experience and 240 available skill points from the battle.
• The settlement energy caused Zhao Er intense pain and hunger, so he absorbed fine-gold energy from spirit ore while cultivating the Nine-Turn Golden Body Art.
• Zhao Er realized his rapid improvement had weakened his control and left his body short of fine-gold energy, prompting him to practice with his twin halberds.
• A series of faint vibrations reached Zhao Er as he considered the risks of improving too quickly through killing.

Zhao Er’s rapid cultivation drained the ore around his residence and caused it to collapse, after which he arranged the mine’s iron allocation and headed toward the Martial Academy. His older brother Zhao Da waited at the city gate, where Jing Wei treated him with unusual courtesy because of Zhao Er’s growing reputation.

• Zhao Er escaped his collapsing house with his weapons, medicinal pills, Dragonblood Horse, and Little White Marten, then found that the surrounding ore had turned to rubble.
• Ning Jin and the other Martial Guards arrived, and Zhao Er dismissed them after explaining that his cultivation had caused the damage.
• Zhao Er assigned half of the month’s surplus hundred-forged fine iron to himself, fifteen percent to Ning Jin, twenty percent to the Martial Guards, and fifteen percent to the Martial Academy Students.
• Zhao Er checked his cultivation panel, planned to seek Body-Tempering Protective Arts and Eye Arts at the Martial Academy, and rode there after hearing that a visitor had arrived.
• At the city gate, Jing Wei welcomed Zhao Da, promised him credentials and protection for future visits, and explained that Zhao Er had become known for his strength after the Tyrant Blade Martial Hall battle.
• As Zhao Da cautiously sat with Jing Wei, loud hoofbeats approached.

Zhao Er reunited with his elder brother Zhao Da at the Martial Academy, arranged support for the Zhao Family, and settled a trade in hundred-forged fine iron. After exchanging for resources, he went to the Scripture Pavilion seeking protective arts and eye techniques.

• Zhao Er arrived at the Martial Academy on his Dragonblood Horse, and Jing Wei cleared the crowd so Zhao Da could speak with him privately.
• Zhao Er heard that his family was healthy and promised to send martial resources, while Zhao Da chose to stay home and build the family's foundation.
• Zhao Er and Zhao Da agreed that Zhao Da would take twenty thousand taels' worth of hundred-forged fine iron back to County Town and split the profits evenly.
• Zhao Er exchanged for a large quantity of low-tier resources, while Sun Yuanying watched him leave and reconsidered her feelings toward him.
• Zhao Er visited the Scripture Pavilion and asked He Qin for suitable Body-Tempering Protective Arts and, if available, Eye Arts.

Zhao Er chose the Myriad Poisons Tempering Body Art for its ability to control poison outside his body, then began fusing it with the Nine-Turn Golden Body Art. After returning to cultivation and handling affairs with his family, the story shifted to Li Baili, who reached great accomplishment of sinew transformation and recalled Lü Yi’s disappearance.

• Zhao Er rejected the Scripture Pavilion’s other protective and eye arts, then selected the Myriad Poisons Tempering Body Art for its poison-control ability.
• Zhao Er read the manual, confirmed that it could let him shroud himself in poison, and started a thirty-day fusion with the Nine-Turn Golden Body Art.
• Zhao Er met He Yan and the Wan Family Martial Arts School martial artists, gave He Yan some of his share, and handed martial resources to Zhao Da.
• Zhao Da and his convoy collected the hundred-forged fine iron, and Zhao Er returned to the South Mountain Mining District before devoting himself to cultivation.
• Li Baili emerged from secluded cultivation having reached great accomplishment of sinew transformation, and recalled that Lü Yi had disappeared after their trip to the Black Market.

Li Baili discovered that the Clear Source Sect had posted a 100,000-point assassination bounty on Zhao Er, accepted it to obtain the intelligence, and learned the target was far beyond his abilities. Meanwhile, Zhao Er spent twenty days cultivating in the Third Mining District before riding to the Martial Academy’s Criminal Law Lineage hall.

• Li Baili went to the Mission Hall seeking points and noticed a 100,000-point Dark Bounty for killing Zhao Er.
• Li Baili paid one hundred points to accept the mission and learned Zhao Er was a Martial Guard of the Criminal Law Lineage who had killed twelve Primordial Unity Martial Artists in eight breaths.
• Li Baili abandoned any thought of attempting the assassination and resolved to seek variant beast materials and spirit grass instead.
• Zhao Er continued cultivating in the Third Mining District for twenty days, stabilized his strength, and neared a breakthrough into the Meridian Opening Realm.
• Zhao Er took his Dragonblood Horse and Little White Marten and rode toward the Criminal Law Lineage’s main hall at the Martial Academy.

Zhao Er attended Lu Zhi’s instruction, learned about inner force and the meridian opening realm, and was privately recognized as having reached great accomplishment of primordial unity. Lu Zhi warned him not to lose himself in slaughter, promised to prepare a Protective Body Pill, and began to discuss a plan concerning the Clear Source Sect’s bounty.

• Zhao Er arrived at the Criminal Law Lineage and learned from Wu Xing that the Clear Source Sect had placed a hundred-thousand-point bounty on him after the Martial Academy’s recent operation.
• Wu Xing hinted that the Martial Academy had a plan to protect Zhao Er, then brought him to Lu Zhi’s instruction.
• Lu Zhi explained inner force affinities and the meridian opening realm, then summoned Zhao Er alone.
• Zhao Er told Lu Zhi that battles and Qi-Gathering Pills had helped him reach great accomplishment of primordial unity, and Lu Zhi warned him not to become consumed by slaughter.
• Lu Zhi advised Zhao Er to balance cultivation with other desires and promised to prepare a Protective Body Pill for his eventual breakthrough.
• Lu Zhi asked Zhao Er whether he knew about the Clear Source Sect’s bounty and began to offer him a plan.

Zhao Er agreed to take an off-campus mission in three days as the Martial Academy responded to the Clear Source Sect’s bounty, while he tried to understand the danger and prepare to become a Steward. Tan Shuo delayed his planned breakthrough after Zhao Er warned him to rest, and Yuan Mi revealed that Wu Yao wanted the Stewards to find a reason to send Zhao Er outside the academy.

• Lu Zhi told Zhao Er that the Martial Academy would protect him until he reached the meridian opening realm or became a Steward, and Zhao Er agreed to take an off-campus mission in three days.
• Zhao Er visited Wu Xing, who reassured him about the academy’s response, gave him forty Qi-Gathering Pills, and said Steward missions had been reduced.
• Zhao Er returned to the academy and warned Tan Shuo to rest before attempting a breakthrough; Tan Shuo then postponed his plan to use a Protective Body Pill and spirit grass.
• Yuan Mi told Wei Xian and Guan Rui that Wu Yao had asked them to find a reason to send Zhao Er on an off-campus mission, and both Stewards reacted with alarm.

Zhao Er completed the fusion of his cultivation methods, producing a red-grade art that let him combine five-element inner force with greatly increased power. He accepted a mission to stop bandits near Three Harmonies County and raced there on his Dragonblood Horse, leaving Clear Source Sect ambushers behind.

• Wei Xian and Guan Rui left Yuan Mi after warning that the three stewards would be blamed for Zhao Er's departure.
• After three days at the Martial Academy, Zhao Er completed the fusion of the Five-Element Origin-Returning Poison Art and the Five-Element Primordial Unity Art, gaining a red-grade method and powerful elemental combinations.
• Qingmei delivered Wu Xing's intelligence about fast-moving bandits waylaying travelers near Three Harmonies County, and Zhao Er accepted the mission.
• Zhao Er packed his weapon, pills, and Little White Marten, then rode out on the Dragonblood Horse as Clear Source Sect ambushers failed to catch him.
• Zhao Er crossed the land at high speed and reached the outskirts of Three Harmonies County after two hours.

Zhao Er arrived in Three Harmonies County to investigate highway bandits disrupting caravan traffic and learned that two large convoys were expected to be attacked. When the bandits and hired guards clashed, Zhao Er spotted signs that the battle was staged, but the chapter ended before he acted.

• Zhao Er waited outside the County Town until an Inspection Lineage intelligence agent arrived and confirmed his identity with a Spirit-Sensing Rat.
• The intelligence agent told Zhao Er that highway bandits had been raiding caravans and were expected to attack two large convoys at a crossroads in about two hours.
• Zhao Er learned that the bandits seemed to be spreading panic and disrupting traffic, and he waited on the hill for the expected attack.
• Senior Zhang and seven companions were hired to protect the caravans, but masked bandits appeared and slipped past them to plunder the convoy.
• Zhao Er used the Thousand Mechanisms Eye Art to detect that the fighters’ exchanges were hollow and suspected the clash was staged to rake in money; he mounted his horse and took up his twin halberds.

Zhao Er exposed a staged bandit operation, killed the masked attackers, and forced one of the hired martial artists to agree to talk. He sensed a powerful watcher and fled toward the Martial Academy, but a red swordsman ambushed him; Wu Yao arrived and joined Zhao Er in attacking the enemy.

• Zhao Er charged into the staged battle, killed the masked Primordial Unity Martial Artist leader and the masked highwaymen, and demanded that the surviving hired fighters identify the mastermind.
• Zhang Xunsheng tried to explain, but one of the three Primordial Unity Martial Artists surrendered and agreed to talk before Zhao Er finished counting to three.
• Zhao Er sensed a Meridian Opening Realm watcher and rode the Dragonblood Horse toward the Martial Academy, preparing his twin halberds for an attack.
• A red Sword Qi struck Zhao Er's ten-foot halberd gleam and blasted him and the Dragonblood Horse into a hillside.
• Zhao Er recognized that the red swordsman was as strong as Commander Xiang Zhou and charged again, while Wu Yao arrived and unleashed his Overlord Blade alongside Zhao Er's attack.

Zhao Er and Wu Yao fought a red, Fire Element True Qi–clad swordsman, and Zhao Er’s toxins caused visible convulsions without stopping the man’s attacks. Zhao Er fled after a huge explosion hurled Wu Yao away, but a woman’s voice reached him and renewed his sense of danger.

• Wu Yao pressed the red swordsman with repeated Tyrant Blade attacks while Zhao Er withdrew and searched for an opening.
• Zhao Er struck the swordsman’s wounds with dark-gold powder carrying Gold-Devouring Toxin and Tranquilizing Giant Bee Venom, but the poisoned man continued fighting at full strength.
• Zhao Er noticed the swordsman’s convulsing body and pupil-less eyes, warned Wu Yao, and escaped on the Dragonblood Horse.
• A tremendous explosion erupted behind Zhao Er and hurled Wu Yao away, while Zhao Er continued fleeing because the Settlement Panel had not shown that he was safe.
• A woman’s soft voice sounded beside Zhao Er’s ear and left him frozen with fear.

Zhao Er escaped the Gu Cult leader’s attack when his teacher, Lu Zhi, arrived and fought the True Astral Realm Gu Worm controlling a woman in red. Lu Zhi subdued the woman and captured the golden insect, then prepared to return with Zhao Er and Wu Yao.

• A red insect attacked Zhao Er, but his halberds struck it after it froze, and Lu Zhi appeared to confront the Gu Cult leader.
• Lu Zhi froze the leader’s swarms of insects while Zhao Er and Wu Yao watched the battle and discussed the Gu Cult’s methods.
• Zhao Er reflected on the martial realms and gained experience from the mission as the battle ended.
• Lu Zhi returned carrying the woman in red and explained that the Gu Worm controlling her had reached the True Astral Realm.
• Lu Zhi showed Zhao Er the golden Gu Worm preserved in ice and said they would take the woman back for interrogation.

After helping defeat the Gu Cult’s True Astral Realm Gu Worm, Zhao Er returned to the Martial Academy and strengthened his toxin control through a martial art fusion. He arrived at the Steward Rankings competition, where Wu Xing revealed that the academy’s veteran ranks included many powerful retained fighters.

• Lu Zhi explained how Gu Worms controlled martial artists and how wood-element hallucinogenic toxins could counter them, then left Zhao Er and Wu Yao to return to the academy.
• Zhao Er rode back to the Martial Academy, reflected on his mission rewards and upcoming Steward Rankings, and returned to the mine without telling anyone about the battle.
• Zhao Er cultivated for several days and fused the Nine-Turn Golden Body Art with the Myriad Poisons Tempering Body Art, gaining much greater control over toxins within five meters.
• Zhao Er received a letter from Zhao Da and arranged for the family’s hundred-forged fine iron to be transported without meeting his brother.
• At the Steward Rankings competition, Zhao Er saw the academy’s many disciples, and Wu Xing told him that numerous veteran students and former stewards—including True Astral Realm fighters—remained in the prefecture.

Zhao Er learned how the Martial Academy’s Steward Ranking Tournament worked and prepared to challenge for a steward’s position. After the student and Martial Guard bouts ended, anticipation focused on which of the three Primordial Unity Realm stewards he would face.

• Wu Xing explained that merit from difficult off-campus missions demonstrated a disciple’s strength and qualified Zhao Er to challenge for a steward’s position.
• Zhao Er told Wu Xing he had earned over a hundred and fifty thousand merit in two months, surprising him.
• Wu Xing described the tournament’s student and Martial Guard bouts and outlined the weapons, inner force, and fighting styles of Yuan Mi, Wei Xian, and Guan Rui.
• The student and Martial Guard fights concluded without Zhao Er taking the stage, and the crowd realized he was likely to challenge a steward.
• As Zhao Er prepared to take the stage, the spectators waited to see which steward he would challenge.

Zhao Er challenged Steward Yuan Mi and defeated him with a single strike, demonstrating overwhelming strength before the Martial Academy disciples. The chapter also revealed that Wu Yao had ordered the martial hall’s destruction to secure his position with the Martial Academy and prepare for an approaching conflict.

• Wu Yao told Qiao Yi that he had ordered the martial hall’s destruction and protected Zhao Er to prove his loyalty to the Martial Academy, while planning to rise to the Capital Martial Academy.
• Zhao Er chose to challenge Yuan Mi, intending to discourage any newly advanced Meridian Opening Realm Steward from trying to reclaim the position.
• Zhao Er entered the Martial Arena with his Twin Halberds and announced his challenge to Yuan Mi as disciples cheered.
• Zhao Er attacked with Rift-Splitting, and Yuan Mi countered with Golden Mace Crushes the Crown.
• Their weapons clashed once, and Zhao Er knocked Yuan Mi’s hammer away and forced him to his knee while holding back enough not to kill him.

Zhao Er defeated Yuan Mi and became the Martial Academy’s Eighth Steward, while Wu Xing won the tournament’s final match to rise to Fifth Steward. After Tan Shuo returned to congratulate Zhao Er on his breakthrough, a disciple from the Headmaster’s branch requested an audience with Zhao Er.

• Wei Xian, Guan Rui, Li Qi, Wu Xing, and the other stewards saw Zhao Er’s dense energy blades and realized how formidable he had become.
• Zhao Er defeated Yuan Mi in one move, accepted the steward’s robe from Attendant Zhang, and received the disciples’ greetings as the new Eighth Steward.
• Wu Xing narrowly defeated the Fifth Steward in the tournament’s final match and took his rank.
• Wu Xing left to recover, and Zhao Er returned to his courtyard, where Tan Shuo arrived after breaking through to the Primordial Unity Realm.
• Zhao Er told Tan Shuo that he had become a steward, and a disciple announced that someone from the Headmaster’s branch wanted to see him.

Zhao Er chose Bamboo Court as his residence and selected Wen Yu to serve as his personal attendant. Wen Yu left the Horse-Waiting Pavilion, began handling gifts and household affairs, and met Zhao Er as the chapter ended.

• Zhao Er chose a courtyard near the Criminal Law Lineage and selected Wen Yu from the list of prospective maidservants, asking the academy to find out whether he would agree.
• At the Outer City's Horse-Waiting Pavilion, Wen Yu heard that Zhao Er had become a steward and hesitated when a senior brother urged him to take an off-campus mission.
• A Martial Guard told Wen Yu that Zhao Er had chosen him as his personal attendant, and Wen Yu accepted and rode to Bamboo Court.
• At Bamboo Court, Wen Yu helped Qingmei register the gifts arriving for Zhao Er, then listened as she explained his duties and cautioned him to remember his place.
• Qingmei led Wen Yu to the Cultivation Chamber, where he greeted Zhao Er and presented the day's gift register.

Zhao Er received his Steward's token and delegated the management of his courtyard before Headmaster Zhuang Yu urgently summoned him to deliberations. There, the Stewards learned that the Gu Cult had controlled Hua Man, the Medicine King Valley's foremost chief disciple, and that the Myriad Scenery Prefecture Martial Academy was facing a devastating rebellion.

• Zhao Er accepted his Steward's token, put Wen Yu in charge of his courtyard, and ordered him to summon Ning Jin from the South Mountain Mining District.
• Wen Yu rushed back with an urgent summons, and Zhao Er went to the deliberation hall to meet Headmaster Zhuang Yu and the Ten Great Stewards.
• At Zhuang Yu's request, Wu Yao recounted how Zhao Er helped defeat Number Five and how Lu Zhi captured a woman controlled by a Gu Cult gu worm.
• Zhuang Yu revealed that the captured woman was Hua Man, the Medicine King Valley's foremost chief disciple, who had been in the Meridian Opening Realm before she was controlled.
• Zhuang Yu announced that the Myriad Scenery Prefecture Martial Academy had requested aid after many of its disciples and Attendants rebelled and inflicted devastating casualties.

The Martial Academy decided to send four stewards and selected attendants to Myriad Scenery Prefecture amid suspicions that the unrest there was connected to the Gu Cult and a scheme involving the Clear Source Sect. Zhao Er volunteered to join the mission, and after Academy Head Zhuang Yu approved him, he requested supplies to prepare for the journey.

• Pang Kai warned the stewards that the trouble in Myriad Scenery Prefecture might be a ploy to draw Ningjin Prefecture's forces away, given the Gu Cult puppet found during Zhao Er's earlier mission.
• Academy Head Zhuang Yu announced that four stewards would accompany selected attendants, and Li Qi, Xiang Zheng, and Tong Yu volunteered for their lineages.
• Zhao Er volunteered for the Criminal Law Lineage, arguing that his poison could counter groups of enemies and Gu Cult puppets; Zhuang Yu approved him despite Wu Xing's protests.
• Zhuang Yu ordered the mission participants to gather at the Martial Arena in an hour, while the other stewards left to prepare.
• Zhao Er stayed behind and asked Zhuang Yu for twenty fist-sized pieces of metal-element spirit ore and several portions of variant beast essence blood, preferably from Meridian Opening Realm beasts.

Zhao Er and Li Qi led a group of martial artists into Myriad Scenery Prefecture to investigate the Gu Cult’s influence and support the city. They found the seat eerily quiet, then reached the Inner City, where fighting was already underway and Li Qi released a mist to expose gu worm puppets.

• Zhao Er rode with Li Qi toward Myriad Scenery Prefecture, and she warned him about the Gu Cult and explained Medicine King Valley’s unusual body-refining combat methods.
• Li Qi told the group their first task was to clear turmoil from the prefectural seat, then revealed a tiny treefolk spirit whose mist would lure gu worms and expose their puppets.
• The group crossed into Myriad Scenery Prefecture without encountering enemies and found the seat silent, though residents appeared to be hiding inside their homes.
• Li Qi led the martial artists through the Outer City toward the City Lord’s Residence, and they heard explosions and saw fire in the Inner City.
• After the group entered the Inner City, Li Qi shouted that the seat had not fallen completely and released the treefolk’s mist as martial artists approached.

Zhao Er prepared to leave for Myriad Scenery Prefecture, securing spirit ore and variant beast essence blood and assigning Ning Jin to manage the Third Squad. He joined the Martial Academy’s expedition and departed with Li Qi riding behind him on his Dragonblood Horse.

• Zhao Er obtained twenty pieces of spirit ore and five bottles of Meridian Opening Realm variant beast essence blood from the Martial Academy.
• Zhao Er told Ning Jin to manage the Third Squad and promised to recommend him for a captain’s position if he worked well.
• Zhao Er left the Bamboo Court without eating the spirit fish soup, telling Wen Yu to share it with Brother Wu.
• Zhao Er arrived at the Martial Arena and saw the other expedition members and four enormous flying variant beasts.
• Li Qi explained the flying beasts’ drawbacks, then asked Zhao Er to let her ride his Dragonblood Horse.
• Li Qi ordered the expedition to depart, mounted behind Zhao Er, and asked him not to go too fast.

Zhao Er avoided the main battle and hunted rebel patrols along the Inner City's walls to build Settlement Panel rewards while keeping his strength available. After discovering gu worms inside some Primordial Unity martial artists, he found a courtyard where the gu worm puppets were being made.

• Zhao Er left Li Qi's group and chose to hunt Primordial Unity Realm martial artists on the Inner City's outskirts before attempting a breakthrough.
• Li Qi's group encountered gu worm puppets near the City Lord's Residence, and Li Qi ordered her companions to kill them outright.
• Zhao Er killed two five-man patrols, then caught and crushed a gu worm that had burst from one patrol leader's dantian.
• Zhao Er slaughtered several more patrols and absorbed a faint vitality-devouring toxin from the gu worms.
• Zhao Er spotted a courtyard filled with powerful martial artists, watched from a restaurant roof, and realized the gu worm puppets were being made there.

Zhao Er discovered that the Gu Cult was implanting worms in Myriad Scenery Prefecture's people, using some as food and forcibly turning others into fighters. Realizing the threat extended across the prefecture, he abandoned his cautious plan and launched an attack on a courtyard full of Gu Cult fighters, where its leader and another martial artist struck back.

• Zhao Er watched the Gu Cult use Heaven-Piercing Pills to raise captives' cultivation and overheard Luo Xiangchen resist being forced to swallow one.
• Zhao Er entered a nearby family compound, found gray gu worms feeding on martial artists' essence, qi, and spirit, and killed the worms he discovered.
• Zhao Er inferred that the Gu Cult intended to raise gu worms using the people of Myriad Scenery Prefecture, and resolved to act before the crisis worsened.
• Zhao Er charged toward the guarded courtyard, activated his golden body and several toxins, and plunged down at the blue-clad leader.
• The blue-clad leader attacked Zhao Er with a spear while another fighter sent a blade aura through the roof; both attacks met him in midair.