Recaps

Mo Yun prepared to leave the Herb Field Outpost after Lord Wu’s letter said he would arrive the next morning, while making plans to secretly capture Liu Youquan. After spending seven black points to advance the Demon-Subduing Scripture, Mo Yun reached Late Dark Force and condensed astral force around his body.

• Huang Shan told Mo Yun that Liu Youquan had behaved normally and that Lord Wu’s letter said he would arrive at the outpost the next morning.
• Mo Yun told Huang Shan to work with Zhao Gang to quietly tie up Liu Youquan and bring him to Mo Yun after most people had gone to sleep.
• After hours of cultivation, Mo Yun’s Black-and-White Seal produced seven black points, which he spent to break through the Demon-Subduing Scripture.
• Mo Yun opened all eight extraordinary meridians, formed an automatic cycle of dark force, and condensed an invisible layer of astral force around his body.
• The Virtual Panel showed Mo Yun at Late Dark Force with increased constitution and defense, and he examined the Black-and-White Seal to check the White Mark’s growth.

Mo Yun used a White Point to raise his Life Value to 7, improving his comprehension and speeding up his martial arts training. Huang Shan and Zhao Gang brought the drugged Liu Youquan to him, and Mo Yun revealed Liu Youquan’s collusion with demons.

• Mo Yun spent a White Point on his Life Value, raising it to 7 and improving his comprehension and bone root.
• Mo Yun tested his martial arts and estimated that the Nameless Fist Technique would reach pure mastery in about two months, while the Body-Guarding Art and Black Tiger Leap could break through in six or seven days.
• Huang Shan and Zhao Gang climbed over the courtyard wall and delivered a bound, drugged Liu Youquan to Mo Yun.
• Mo Yun told Huang Shan and Zhao Gang that he had encountered an Iron-Scaled Beast on Mist Mountain and learned that Liu Youquan and Wu Mingjiang were colluding with demons.
• Huang Shan grew furious and stared at Liu Youquan with her hand trembling on her Willow-Leaf Sword.

Huang Shan and Zhao Gang learned that Liu Youquan and Wu Mingjiang had been supplying children and other people from the compound to a demon on Mist Mountain. Huang Shan forced Liu Youquan to confess and recorded the victims and details, leaving Mo Yun ready to wait for Wu Mingjiang to walk into their trap.

• Huang Shan recalled missing children and families from the compound and realized Liu Youquan and Wu Mingjiang had offered them to demons as sacrifices.
• Zhao Gang reacted angrily, and Mo Yun asked Huang Shan to interrogate Liu Youquan while Zhao guarded the entrance.
• Huang Shan woke Liu Youquan, threatened him, and cut off fingers when he hesitated to answer.
• Liu Youquan confessed that a demon had approached him three years earlier and that Wu Mingjiang joined him for money before threatening him when he wanted to quit.
• Huang Shan questioned Liu Youquan repeatedly and obtained a consistent written confession listing the victims and where and when they disappeared.
• Mo Yun reviewed the confession and prepared to wait for Wu Mingjiang to walk into the net.

Wu Mingjiang returned to the herb field outpost and was confronted with evidence that he and Liu Youquan had sacrificed people to the Iron-Scaled Beast. After Mo Yun knocked Wu Mingjiang down and revealed he had killed the beast, Wu Mingjiang launched one final attack.

• Wu Mingjiang arrived at the meeting hall, where Mo Yun, Huang Shan, and Zhao Gang confronted him and brought out the bound Liu Youquan.
• Liu Youquan pleaded for Wu Mingjiang's help, but Wu Mingjiang tried to kill him to silence him; Mo Yun intercepted the kick and sent Wu Mingjiang flying.
• Mo Yun presented Liu Youquan's confession, which implicated him and Wu Mingjiang in sacrificing seventy-two people to the Iron-Scaled Beast over three years.
• Wu Mingjiang demanded to know how Mo Yun uncovered the scheme, and Mo Yun said he had met the Iron-Scaled Beast and sent the beasts to the afterlife.
• Wu Mingjiang refused to believe Mo Yun had defeated the Iron-Scaled Beast and charged him with his Mountain Splitter technique.

Mo Yun exposed the crimes of Wu Mingjiang and Liu Youquan at the Herb Field Outpost, where Wu killed himself and Mo executed Liu. After returning to Crouching Tiger Manor with the Iron-Scaled Beast carcasses, Mo Yun was summoned to the Main Court to report the events and receive a promised reward.

• Mo Yun defeated Wu Mingjiang, who admitted to killing tenant farmers for profit before taking his own life, and then executed Liu Youquan.
• The tenant farmers mourned their murdered children and thanked Mo Yun for bringing them justice.
• Mo Yun went to Mist Mountain, retrieved five Iron-Scaled Beasts, and returned to Crouching Tiger Manor with Zhao Gang and Huang Shan.
• Mo Yun sold the beasts for three hundred and forty taels and gave Zhao Gang and Huang Shan twenty taels each.
• Commander Li summoned Mo Yun and his companions to the Main Court to report what happened and receive a reward from the Village Master.

Lin Qingxue explained Wu Mingjiang’s history and arranged support for the Iron Leg Sect’s injured and disabled members, while acknowledging her own failure to catch the medicinal fields’ fraud. She rewarded Zhao Gang and Huang Shan, then asked Mo Yun what he wanted.

• Commander Li brought Mo Yun, Zhao Gang, and Huang Shan to meet Lin Qingxue after learning the Village Master was away.
• Lin Qingxue accepted Liu Youquan’s confession and Huang Shan’s compiled booklet, promised compensation to the victims’ families, and took responsibility for overlooking warning signs in the accounts.
• Lin Qingxue revealed that Wu Mingjiang had spent the embezzled money supporting the Iron Leg Sect’s injured and disabled members, and recounted how the sect had been nearly destroyed after protecting ordinary people from the rebel army.
• Lin Qingxue said she had brought the surviving Iron Leg Sect members to the manor, where they could work and receive food.
• Lin Qingxue awarded Zhao Gang and Huang Shan each one hundred taels of silver and a bottle of Marrow-Washing Pills.
• Lin Qingxue turned to Mo Yun and asked what he wanted as his reward.

Mo Yun asked Lin Qingxue for Origin-Ascent Pills, a Jade-Congealing Pill, or a Demon Core as his reward, and received one pill of each kind he requested along with silver. After learning the Chaos Blade Sect had recently obtained a Nascent Demon Core—the one he had taken—Mo Yun hurried home to find out whether they had begun investigating Yellow Maple Town.

• Mo Yun requested Origin-Ascent Pills, Jade-Congealing Pills, and possibly a Demon Core as his reward from Lin Qingxue.
• Lin Qingxue said the Chaos Blade Sect had obtained a Nascent Demon Core, prompting Mo Yun to worry that they might trace it back to him.
• Lin Qingxue rewarded Mo Yun with one Origin-Ascent Pill, one Jade-Congealing Pill, and two hundred taels in silver notes.
• Lin Qingxue gave the others a holiday break and told them to return in ten days.
• Mo Yun left Crouching Tiger Manor that night and raced toward Yellow Maple Town to ask Black Wolf whether the Chaos Blade Sect was investigating.

After returning home for New Year's Eve, Mo Yun gave his sister Mo Yiyi Beauty Pills and spent the evening eating and practicing martial arts. He then visited Black Wolf at the Sky Wolf Gang headquarters and asked whether anyone had come from the Inner City.

• Mo Yun returned to Yellow Maple Town and found Mo Yiyi waiting outside their home for him.
• Mo Yun warmed Mo Yiyi's hands, checked that she had been taking his Blood-Nourishing Pills, and gave her Beauty Pills he had made.
• Mo Yun shared a New Year's Eve meal with Mo Yiyi, then practiced martial arts while she worked on the shop's accounts.
• Mo Yun left home at night and went to the Sky Wolf Gang headquarters to see Black Wolf.
• Mo Yun asked Black Wolf whether anyone had come from the Inner City.

Mo Yun learned that Mo Feng and Mo Huaishan had arranged his near-drowning and that Black Wolf had killed them, while the Chaos Blade Sect investigated the stolen Demon Core and murders. Jiang Wuming blamed the Crouching Tiger Manor, but Yi Qingshan warned that confronting it required careful consideration.

• Mo Yun asked Black Wolf about the Chaos Blade Sect’s investigation, and Black Wolf said he had disclosed Mo Yun’s background but not his cultivation.
• Black Wolf revealed that Mo Feng and Mo Huaishan had hired someone to push Mo Yun into the water, and said he had thrown them into the mountains to feed the wolves.
• Mo Yun accepted Black Wolf’s account, then drank with him.
• Jiang Wuming told Yi Qingshan that he suspected the Crouching Tiger Manor had killed Lu and stolen the Demon Core, citing its fist-based Legacy Martial Arts.
• Jiang Wuming urged Yi Qingshan to demand an explanation from the Crouching Tiger Manor, but Yi Qingshan said they had to consider their next steps carefully.

Mo Yun cultivated with an Origin-Ascent Pill and gained a Black Point, then prepared for New Year's Eve with his sister, who wondered why their troublesome relatives had stopped appearing. The chapter left Mo Yun silently certain that they would never see those relatives again.

• Yi Qingshan warned Jiang Wuming not to provoke Crouching Tiger Manor because its Village Master, Lin Yanshan, was far stronger and fiercely protective of his people.
• Mo Yun took an Origin-Ascent Pill, which filled the Black Seal and gave him one Black Point.
• On New Year's Eve, Mo Yun bought supplies and clothes for his sister, while the Sky Wolf Gang sent over an even larger cart of holiday goods.
• Mo Yun and Mo Yiyi shared New Year's Eve dinner and recalled how their relatives had mistreated them.
• Mo Yiyi wondered why their relatives had stopped making trouble, and Mo Yun thought they would never see them again.

Mo Yun spent the Lunar New Year visiting family and friends before training with his newly accumulated black points. On the fourth day, his Body-Guarding Art broke through, dramatically strengthening his body.

• Mo Yun took Mo Yiyi to the county town for the Lunar New Year festivities and returned home with her after dark.
• Mo Yun visited Commander Li, gave Niuniu New Year's money, declined a matchmaking offer, and avoided sparring with Commander Li.
• Mo Yun left a gift for the absent Village Master at the Main Court, then visited Black Wolf at the Sky Wolf Gang.
• After returning home, Mo Yun gained two black points and learned that advancing the Demon-Subduing Scripture required eleven points.
• Two days later, Mo Yun's Body-Guarding Art broke through, covering his skin in pale golden patterns and greatly hardening his body.

Mo Yun broke through the Body-Guarding Art and Black Tiger Leap, then spent a White Point to increase his Life Value and deepen his martial understanding. After returning to Crouching Tiger Manor from the New Year holiday, he went to seek the Village Master for guidance on Transforming Force and becoming a Second-Grade Alchemist.

• Mo Yun broke through the Body-Guarding Art and Black Tiger Leap, greatly increasing his defense, constitution, speed, and agility.
• Mo Yun gained a White Point from the breakthroughs and spent it to raise his Life Value from seven to eight, improving his comprehension.
• Mo Yun practiced the Nameless Fist Technique and judged that he was close to a breakthrough, while estimating the two newly advanced arts would take about a month to reach minor accomplishment.
• Mo Yun continued his routine until he gained two more Black Points, then left for Crouching Tiger Manor on the ninth day of the first lunar month with New Year food from Mo Yiyi.
• Mo Yun arrived at Crouching Tiger Manor and headed to the Main Court to ask the Village Master about Transforming Force and becoming a Second-Grade Alchemist.

Mo Yun visited Lin Yanshan to learn how to become a Transforming Force Grandmaster, and Lin explained the roles of intent, force energy, and physical strength in the breakthrough. Mo Yun planned to test his physique against Lin’s Martial Dao Will at North Mountain, then asked how to tell whether his physique had reached its limit.

• Mo Yun asked Lin Yanshan about reaching transforming force, and Lin discovered that Mo Yun had already advanced to late dark force.
• Lin explained that Tiger-Crouching Fist practitioners must perfect their intent and unite it with force energy to produce transforming force.
• Lin said practitioners also needed peak dark force and a physique strong enough to withstand transforming force, which could later nourish the body and extend lifespan.
• Lin told Mo Yun to test his physique against the Martial Dao Will he had left at North Mountain Summit and warned him to retreat if he could not endure it.
• Mo Yun asked whether a stronger physique was always better, and Lin explained that a limit physique could improve a breakthrough but was exceptionally rare.
• Mo Yun asked how to determine whether his physique had reached its limit.

Mo Yun asked Lin Yanshan how to tell when his physique had reached its limit, and learned that he could pursue it only until he turned twenty without delaying his cultivation. Lin Yanshan explained the path beyond transforming force and promised to take Mo Yun to Central Province if he reached peak transforming force before thirty; Mo Yun left for North Mountain to test his physique.

• Lin Yanshan warned Mo Yun that tempering his physique to its limit could take years and urged him to prioritize advancing his cultivation realm.
• Mo Yun reminded Lin Yanshan that he still had not explained how to recognize a limit physique, so Lin Yanshan allowed him to pursue one until age twenty at most.
• Lin Yanshan described the Martial Dao Foundation Embryo and inner core, and said Mo Yun would need the complete Tiger-Subduing Lineage inheritance from Central Province to advance beyond transforming force.
• Lin Yanshan promised to take Mo Yun to Central Province for the core condensation inheritance if he reached peak transforming force before thirty, while warning him that the inheritance was tightly controlled.
• Lin Yanshan told Mo Yun that he would recognize his own physique limit, and Mo Yun thanked him before heading to North Mountain to test his physique.

Mo Yun tested his physique against the Village Master's Martial Dao Will at North Mountain Summit and discovered he could endure its pressure far longer than the required fifteen minutes. The experience greatly boosted his Nameless Fist Technique training, but left him wondering why he still had not reached the limit physique needed to attempt transforming force.

• Mo Yun climbed North Mountain and realized the summit platform had been flattened by a powerful punch, whose lingering Martial Dao Will pressured both his body and mind.
• Mo Yun endured the summit's pressure for fifteen minutes without harm, then practiced the Nameless Fist Technique and found his training about five times as efficient as at the mountain's foot.
• Mo Yun practiced for nearly four hours before blood seeped through his skin and dizziness forced him to flee the summit with Black Tiger Leap.
• Mo Yun decided to train at the summit daily, expecting the Nameless Fist Technique to reach pure mastery in five or six days, but questioned why his physique had not reached its limit.
• Mo Yun inspected his Virtual Panel, considered investing future points in the Body-Guarding Art, and lamented that he had only four black points available.

Mo Yun visited Commander Li to learn more about transforming force and discovered that Li’s stalled breakthrough came from his difficulty advancing his intent. Li then questioned how Mo Yun could practice Tiger-Crouching Force without first comprehending its intent, leaving Mo Yun to confront the unusual way his own training had progressed.

• Mo Yun trained the Nameless Fist Technique on North Mountain until he reached his limit, then went to Commander Li’s courtyard to ask about transforming force.
• Commander Li explained that blood qi and physique could remain sufficient for a breakthrough until fifty, but he believed he had little hope because his Tiger's Roar in the Mountains Intent had not advanced beyond greater mastery.
• Mo Yun asked why Li could not perfect Tiger-Crouching Force and improve his intent through practice, but Li said the intent had to guide progress in the force technique.
• Mo Yun recalled that he had advanced Tiger-Crouching Force by adding points, which had indirectly improved his intent, and Li asked whether Mo Yun could really cultivate the technique without first comprehending its intent.

Mo Yun learned how perfected intent could be attained, then broke through the Nameless Fist Technique to pure mastery during his Lantern Festival practice. The chapter ended with him marveling at the technique’s hidden power and wondering how far it could improve.

• Commander Li explained that perfected intent usually required exceptional comprehension or a rare opportunity, and that a Realm-Breaking Pill made from a peak Tier-Three Demon Beast’s Nascent Demon Core could help someone comprehend it.
• Mo Yun resolved to help Commander Li obtain a Nascent Demon Core someday, then asked him to watch for missions involving Demons below Tier Three.
• Mo Yun bought pills at the Logistics Office, returned home, and resumed his daily cultivation; after six days without missions, he practiced the Nameless Fist Technique at North Mountain Summit.
• Mo Yun broke through to pure mastery, demonstrating a punch that left the rocky ground intact before causing a huge pit to erupt beneath it.
• The Virtual Panel showed Mo Yun’s improved constitution and defense, six black points, and his Nameless Fist Technique at pure mastery; Mo Yun realized the technique might still advance further.

Mo Yun trained toward several martial breakthroughs, then went to Yellow Maple Town to celebrate Lantern Festival with his sister, Mo Yiyi. After a suspicious messenger lured him to the Sishui River, Mo Yun killed him and confronted a saber-wielding man who demanded the Demon Core.

• Mo Yun saw that the White Mark was about eighty percent full after the Nameless Fist Technique reached pure mastery, and estimated that its next breakthrough would take at least half a year.
• Mo Yun trained the Body-Guarding Art and Black Tiger Leap, calculated his plans for raising his cultivation and martial intent, and left for Lantern Festival dinner with Mo Yiyi.
• After dinner, Mo Yun followed Li Laizi, who claimed the Sky Wolf Gang leader wanted to meet him, away from town and toward the Sishui River.
• Li Laizi fled at the reed bed, but Mo Yun killed him with Dark Force and challenged the people hiding nearby.
• A tall man carrying a black saber emerged and demanded that Mo Yun hand over the Demon Core in exchange for his life.

Mo Yun confronted a Chaos Blade Sect martial artist who accused him of killing Mo Fan and Lu and demanded the Demon Core. After Mo Yun defeated him, the man died by rupturing his meridians, leaving Mo Yun to hide the body and hurry toward the Sky Wolf Gang.

• The brocade-clad man accused Mo Yun of killing Junior Brother Mo and Junior Brother Lu and demanded the Demon Core in exchange for sparing him.
• Mo Yun realized the Chaos Blade Sect feared the Crouching Tiger Manor, but he refused to hand over the Demon Core.
• The brocade-clad man attacked Mo Yun, whose Tiger-Crouching Fist shattered his saber and gravely wounded him with one punch.
• Mo Yun questioned the dying man about whether he was Senior Brother Jiang and who else suspected Mo Yun, but the man ruptured his meridians and died.
• Mo Yun searched the body, weighted it with a rock, sank it and the broken saber in the Sishui River, then hurried toward the Sky Wolf Gang.

Mo Yun returned to the Sky Wolf Gang and found Black Wolf near death after an attack by two Chaos Blade Sect members seeking information about him. After saving Black Wolf and learning where the attackers were staying, Mo Yun headed to the Good Fortune Inn to confront them.

• Mo Yun found the Sky Wolf Gang in chaos and learned that an attacker had left Black Wolf critically injured.
• Mo Yun recognized the lingering blade intent as belonging to the Chaos Blade Sect and used a Jade-Congealing Pill to save Black Wolf.
• Black Wolf told Mo Yun that two Chaos Blade Sect members had questioned him about Mo Yun before one attacked him with a flash of blade light.
• Black Wolf described the men, and Mo Yun learned that the man in white had touched his brow with a glowing finger, possibly using hypnosis.
• Mo Yun questioned Liu Ergou and learned that the two men were staying at the Good Fortune Inn in the northern part of town.
• Despite Black Wolf's warning about their strength, Mo Yun raced toward the inn, hoping Senior Brother Jiang was still there.

Mo Yun realized that the man he had killed was not Jiang Wuming and hurried to find the real Senior Brother Jiang. At the Good Fortune Inn, Jiang Wuming grew frantic over the missing Nascent Demon Core and Tang Baizang, then tried to flee Yellow Maple Town before Mo Yun confronted him.

• Mo Yun concluded that the real Jiang Wuming was still hiding nearby and raced through town to find him.
• At the Good Fortune Inn, Jiang Wuming blamed Tang Baizang for taking too long to recover his Nascent Demon Core and raged over the events that had cost him his chance to break through to Transforming Force.
• Jiang Wuming reassured himself that Tang Baizang could defeat Mo Yun, but became alarmed when Tang failed to return after more than two hours.
• Suspecting Tang Baizang had been killed, Jiang Wuming grabbed his Horizontal Saber and slipped out of the inn to escape Yellow Maple Town.
• Mo Yun appeared in the alley and challenged Jiang Wuming, who recognized him with horror.

Mo Yun killed Jiang Wuming with a single punch and searched his body by the Sishui River. He found a yellowed book and a Lesser Restoration Pill, which stirred an intense longing from the Black Seal on his wrist.

• Jiang Wuming attacked Mo Yun, believing his peak dark force would overwhelm him.
• Mo Yun shattered Jiang Wuming's saber and blasted a hole through his chest with the Nameless Fist Technique.
• Mo Yun killed the gravely wounded Jiang Wuming despite his plea that his master would retaliate.
• Mo Yun carried Jiang Wuming's corpse to the Sishui River and found silver notes and loose silver.
• Mo Yun discovered a yellowed book and a Lesser Restoration Pill hidden in Jiang Wuming's clothing, and the Black Seal on his wrist grew hot.

Mo Yun discovered the Turtle-Breathing Art among Jiang Wuming’s belongings, concealed the corpse, and resolved to grow strong enough to face the Chaos Blade Sect. Fearing retaliation, he brought Mo Yiyi to Crouching Tiger Manor and planned to speak with the Village Master the next day.

• Mo Yun read the Turtle-Breathing Art, learned of its powerful life-saving effects, and found that initiating it would cost five black points, but chose to save them for his cultivation breakthrough.
• Mo Yun further destroyed Jiang Wuming’s body, weighted it with a rock, and threw it into the river.
• Mo Yun reflected that killing several Chaos Blade Sect fighters had made the sect his enemy and resolved to reach transforming force as quickly as possible.
• Mo Yun woke Mo Yiyi, urged her to leave Yellow Maple Town, and sent Black Wolf a note advising him to bring trusted men to Crouching Tiger Manor.
• Mo Yun drove Mo Yiyi to Crouching Tiger Manor, settled her in his courtyard, and went to bed intending to speak with the Village Master the next day.

Mo Yun told Lin Yanshan that he had killed four Chaos Blade Sect disciples and explained the grudge that led to it. Lin Yanshan agreed to shelter Mo Yun's sister, then set out to storm the Chaos Blade Sect with Mo Yun and demand justice.

• Mo Yun went to the Main Court to ask Lin Yanshan to let his sister stay at Crouching Tiger Manor while he hid from the Chaos Blade Sect.
• Lin Yanshan dismissed Mo Yun's fears and promised to warn Yi Qingshan after learning Mo Yun had killed four of the sect's disciples.
• Mo Yun revealed that he had also taken a Nascent Demon Core and asked Lin Yanshan to shelter his sister, who had already come to the Mountain Manor.
• Lin Yanshan agreed to let Mo Yun's sister stay and asked what had caused his feud with the Chaos Blade Sect.
• Mo Yun recounted how Mo Huaishan and Mo Feng stole his martial arts opportunity and family property, then described Mo Fan's plot to murder him and the events that followed.
• Lin Yanshan flew into a rage and told Mo Yun to come with him to storm the Chaos Blade Sect and get justice.

Lin Yanshan took Mo Yun to confront the Chaos Blade Sect, and Mo Yun discovered they would travel on a third-tier Golden-Feathered Roc. After two hours in flight, they reached the Inner City and headed straight for the sect.

• Lin Yanshan promised to take Mo Yun to the Chaos Blade Sect, then sent him to tell Mo Yiyi before they left.
• Mo Yun reassured Mo Yiyi, gave her his identity token, and explained where she could go in the manor.
• At North Mountain’s summit, Mo Yun sensed the Golden-Feathered Roc’s suppressed demonic aura and realized it was likely a third-tier demon beast.
• Lin Yanshan struck the Roc when it reacted to Mo Yun, then ordered it to carry them toward the Inner City.
• The Golden-Feathered Roc flew for two hours and brought Mo Yun and Lin Yanshan to the Inner City, where they set out for the Chaos Blade Sect.