Recaps

Little Leopard bought Sun Hua’s books and discovered a hidden sheet of ancient pill formulas, including recipes for pills that could advance martial cultivation beyond the ninth rank. The chapter left him wondering whether the formulas revealed a path to the legendary Mystic Profundity Realm.

• Little Leopard recognized the starving Sun Hua, bought his battered books, and gave him enough silver for several meals.
• Little Leopard returned to his room at the Wu Ironworks and sorted through the books, dismissing several as unsuitable or irrelevant.
• Little Leopard found a hidden sheet in the Decoction Formula Manual listing six pill formulas, including Bone Tempering, Sinew Changing, Meridian Stabilizing, Blood Changing, and Marrow Washing Pills.
• Little Leopard recalled that spiritual pill formulas had mostly been lost, with only the Bone Tempering Pill formula surviving within the Profound Heaven Orthodox Sect.
• Little Leopard wondered whether the advanced pill formulas could lead to the legendary Mystic Profundity Realm beyond the ninth rank.

Little Leopard memorized the pill formulas hidden in the Tangtou Song and tested whether they were genuine by making Soul-Dazing Pills. After he slipped them into the Wu Ironworks’ wolfdogs’ water, all the dogs fell into an unbreakable sleep.

• Little Leopard memorized the five pill formulas and their refining instructions, then burned the sheet.
• Qin Xuanlong noticed Little Leopard had ruined several weapons, and Little Leopard asked for time off; Qin Xuanlong granted him three days.
• Little Leopard bought ingredients and a small earthenware pot, choosing to test the Soul-Dazing Pill because its ingredients were easy to obtain.
• Little Leopard struggled through several attempts before refining thirty-four Soul-Dazing Pills.
• Little Leopard dissolved five pills in the wolfdogs’ water, and all the dogs at the Wu Ironworks fell asleep and could not be woken.

Little Leopard’s Soul-Dazing Pills killed the Wu Ironworks’ wolfdogs, but the investigation found no culprit and the affair faded. Over the next half year, his forging and martial skills advanced, while he learned why reaching the Bone-Tempering Realm was such a formidable barrier.

• The Wu Household investigated the unconscious wolfdogs for half a month, but Little Leopard’s ordinary medicinal purchases cleared him of suspicion.
• The wolfdogs died from thirst, and the Wu Ironworks eventually ended its fruitless investigation and brought in more guard dogs.
• Little Leopard kept his remaining Soul-Dazing Pills close and returned to forging and martial arts training as Qin Xuanlong urged him to prepare for the Selection Assembly.
• After half a year, Qin Xuanlong praised Little Leopard’s sword-making and encouraged him to reach the peak of the First-Rank Martial Artist realm before turning ten.
• Little Leopard learned that becoming a Wu Household elder required reaching the Bone-Tempering Realm, a difficult breakthrough separated by a vast gulf from the Skin-Training Realm.

Little Leopard cultivated the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art and reached the First Rank, but knew he still needed the complete art and Bone-Tempering techniques to advance further. Qin Xuanlong warned him that Blood Wuy a was fleeing toward the Vast Cang Mountains with Lu Shaoyou in pursuit, leaving Little Leopard worried about his family near the mountains.

• Little Leopard chose to cultivate the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art, converting his flameheart inner qi and learning its finer workings.
• Little Leopard reached the First Rank and realized he still needed the full Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art and Bone-Tempering fist techniques to progress.
• Qin Xuanlong visited Little Leopard and told him to stay inside the Wu Ironworks for the next few days.
• Qin Xuanlong revealed that Blood Wuy a was heading toward the Vast Cang Mountains while Lu Shaoyou pursued him across provinces.
• Little Leopard worried that Blood Wuy a might endanger his family near the mountains, but Qin Xuanlong assured him the fugitive would likely keep going into the Wilds.

Little Leopard spent several quiet weeks forging and brewing Soul-Dazing Pills while the danger from Blood Wuy a faded from Green Ram Market. After deciding his martial training had reached a safe limit for his age, he chose to forge two kunai and went to buy the materials.

• Little Leopard resented Lu Shaoyou for pursuing Blood Wuy a, whom he blamed for endangering ordinary people and his own family.
• Little Leopard stayed at the ironworks, practiced martial arts, forged iron, and became skilled at turning ingredients into Soul-Dazing Powder.
• Little Leopard decided not to push his martial cultivation further until he was older and chose kunai as a small, versatile weapon.
• Little Leopard went to the Wu Ironworks storeroom and selected materials for his weapons, telling Old Zhang he planned to make darts.

Little Leopard spent two days experimenting with the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art while forging kunai, eventually succeeding in channeling his inner energy into a blade. After quenching it, he reflected on the fundamentals of artifact refining, though the kunai remained unfinished.

• Little Leopard experimented with using the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art to refine weapons, drawing on the basic methods taught by Old Xing and Qin Xuanlong.
• Little Leopard heated a kunai and successfully guided his nine-dragon divine fire inner qi into it, allowing the blade to absorb the energy until it reached capacity.
• Little Leopard quenched the dark-red kunai in cold water and smiled at his success.
• Little Leopard concluded that hammering and refining were the foundation of artifact refining, while other techniques formed its branches and leaves.

Little Leopard left the Wu Household for a visit home, hoping to investigate the baleful energy at West Mountain Pass, but storms stranded him on the way. A powerful stranger seized him and flew deep into the Vast Cang Mountains, where Little Leopard landed safely in a remote valley and turned to face his captor.

• Little Leopard finished forging his second kunai and received Qin Xuanlong's permission to go home for the New Year.
• Little Leopard decided to seek out West Mountain Pass and investigate the icy baleful energy tied to Li Haoran's memories and the Twofold Heaven-Piercing Sword.
• When no villagers arrived to travel with him, Little Leopard rented a donkey at Green Ram Market and set out alone in the rain.
• A sudden storm turned a mountain stream into a torrent, and a blood-colored figure seized Little Leopard, sealed his acupoints, and carried him off, while his donkey drowned.
• The stranger flew Little Leopard deep into the Vast Cang Mountains, briefly dropped him to test his fear, then caught him and brought him down into a misty valley.
• Little Leopard rolled safely onto the ground and admired the scenery until his captor called his attention back to the danger.

Little Leopard encountered the badly wounded Blood Wuy a in the Vast Cang Mountains and was forced to become his disciple. Blood Wuy a fed on the blood of animals to treat his injuries, while Little Leopard went back into the forest to find him more fresh blood.

• Little Leopard recognized Blood Wuy a and agreed to become his disciple rather than risk being killed.
• Blood Wuy a gave Little Leopard a Black Gold Short Sword and revealed that he was the deputy sect master of the Blood Sea Sect.
• Blood Wuy a ordered Little Leopard to bring him living creatures, and Little Leopard caught four rabbits near the forest's edge.
• Blood Wuy a drained the rabbits' blood but said it was not enough, so Little Leopard went deeper into the forest.
• Little Leopard blinded an adult white deer with his kunai and dragged it back to Blood Wuy a.

Blood Wuy a recovered enough to take Little Leopard to a secluded valley and gave him the complete Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art. Little Leopard recognized that Blood Wuy a’s gift violated the Blood River Sect’s promise and suspected it revealed his dangerous intentions.

• Blood Wuy a drained a white deer’s blood and told Little Leopard to find him more blood sustenance while he recovered from Lu Shaoyou’s attack.
• Blood Wuy a carried Little Leopard to a poisonous valley, then took him to a scenic spot after realizing its fumes would be deadly to him.
• Blood Wuy a criticized Little Leopard’s shallow knowledge of the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art and gave him the complete manual, including the method for forming nine-dragon divine fire mystic astral energy.
• Little Leopard recalled how Blood Wuy a had obtained the art from the Heavenly Dragon Way and how the Blood River Sect had promised never to reveal or practice it.
• Blood Wuy a dismissed the Blood River Ancestor’s promise, while Little Leopard hid his suspicion and acted meekly.

Blood Wuy a ordered Little Leopard to bring him ten animals each day and taught him lightness and hidden-weapon techniques before retreating to recover. As Little Leopard studied the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art, he learned how Astral Qi enabled flight and became convinced Blood Wuy a planned to kill him after using him, so he went to hunt for food to avoid provoking him.

• Blood Wuy a demanded ten animals daily and taught Little Leopard lightness and hidden-weapon techniques before hurrying away to heal.
• Little Leopard found a small cave near the Great Camphor Tree and began cultivating the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art.
• Little Leopard compared the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art with the Flameheart Method and wondered whether their techniques could be combined.
• Little Leopard read Blood Wuy a's annotations and learned that refined Astral Qi could grant flight and other powers.
• Little Leopard concluded that Blood Wuy a intended to use and kill him, then set off to find fresh blood and flesh.

Little Leopard practiced the Wild Goose Floating Heart Method, then hunted a boar to meet Blood Wuy a’s demand for ten kills by midnight. As he chased the boar into the forest, he collided with a huge White-Scaled Python and stabbed it in the face with his sword.

• Little Leopard tested the Wild Goose Floating Heart Method and spotted a large black boar beside the stream.
• Little Leopard’s kunai missed the boar after he tried Blood Wuy a’s newly taught hidden-weapon technique, so he attacked with the Black Gold Short Sword.
• Little Leopard dodged the charging boar with his lightness skill, broke its tusks, and chased it as it fled into the forest.
• The boar tripped, and Little Leopard collided with a dark shape and fell forward.
• Little Leopard thrust his sword at the attacking White-Scaled Python, piercing it and getting splashed with its blood.

Little Leopard captured ten beasts after escaping a white-scaled python, then returned to the Secluded Valley and discovered Blood Wuy a fighting a poisonous toad monster. Blood Wuy a defeated the toad and ordered Little Leopard to come out of hiding.

• Little Leopard fought the wounded white-scaled python, which fled after spraying corrosive white mist.
• Little Leopard bound the unconscious boar, then caught four deer, two water deer, a mountain goat, and two unrecognized beasts.
• Little Leopard heard Blood Wuy a shouting and crept into the Secluded Valley, where he saw Blood Wuy a fighting a six-legged toad monster.
• The toad pursued Blood Wuy a with corrosive fluid, but Blood Wuy a blocked the venom and severed its tongue with a divine weapon.
• The toad fell into the pit, and Blood Wuy a told Little Leopard to come out of hiding.

After Blood Wuy a recovered from his fight with a monster, he taught Little Leopard a sword move and demanded more blood food. The next morning, Little Leopard caught a mountain leopard and began roasting a goat, but a silver-marked chipmunk stole it after making him vomit.

• Little Leopard brought Blood Wuy a ten live animals, and Blood Wuy a killed them and drank their blood to recover.
• Blood Wuy a praised Little Leopard, asked about his injuries, and taught him a sword move and its internal method, which Little Leopard had to memorize by rote.
• Little Leopard left the valley exhausted, returned to his cave, ate and drank, then meditated through the night.
• After waking, Little Leopard killed a mountain leopard with Kunai and prepared the goat it had attacked for roasting.
• A chipmunk with silver fur on its forehead approached Little Leopard, released a foul stench that made him vomit, and dragged his half-roasted goat into the forest.
• Little Leopard chased after the chipmunk, determined to catch the thief.

Little Leopard chased the chipmunk that had stolen his roast lamb, but its foul farts and mysterious ability to vanish and reappear thwarted him. He pretended to leave, then secretly resumed following it as it carried off the lamb.

• Little Leopard followed the upright-running chipmunk through the forest as its farts drove away beasts and birds and spoiled his roast lamb.
• Little Leopard attacked the chipmunk, but it dodged his Golden Leopard Claw by vanishing and reappearing on a branch.
• Little Leopard tried again with a Heavenly Net, then made several more attempts and concluded the chipmunk had a strange power with a range of about a hundred feet.
• Little Leopard stopped attacking and left, while the chipmunk picked up the roast lamb and continued on its way.
• Little Leopard reappeared and secretly followed the chipmunk from a distance.

Little Leopard followed the strange creature to its cave and discovered that the yellow cloth beneath it was a magic treasure. The creature remained safe behind its protective light as Little Leopard began considering the significance of what he had found.

• Little Leopard followed the creature to a clearing, where it dragged a roasted goat into a cave and ate before falling asleep on a scrap of yellow cloth.
• Little Leopard approached the sleeping creature, but a golden curtain of light from the Yellow Cloth blocked his hand and stung him.
• The creature woke and laughed at Little Leopard, who recognized the Yellow Cloth as a genuine treasure.
• Little Leopard reflected on how magic treasures were made by refining killing intent together with natural treasures and strange materials.

Little Leopard discovered that the little creature’s apparent teleportation came from the unusual art Three Realms Minor Shift, carved into the cave wall. He memorized the technique and left the cave, planning to return for the creature later.

• Little Leopard tested the creature’s Yellow Cloth by throwing a Kunai, and its golden barrier knocked the blade into the cave wall.
• Little Leopard recalled Wang She’s method for subduing Old One-Eye and considered capturing the creature, but decided to leave it for later.
• Little Leopard noticed runes and pictures carved beside the Kunai and discovered they described Three Realms Minor Shift.
• Little Leopard learned that the technique required floating light killing intent and let its practitioner shift within a hundred zhang, while the creature could only move within ten.
• Little Leopard memorized the cultivation method and pulled the Kunai from the wall.

Little Leopard brought Blood Wuy a fifteen animals for his blood cultivation and received a detailed lesson in swordsmanship and martial arts. He left the valley wondering why Blood Wuy a had begun teaching him so carefully, and suspected the strange sword move was connected to an undisclosed task.

• Little Leopard wounded sixteen animals by the stream and brought fifteen blood offerings to Blood Wuy a in the Secluded Valley.
• After absorbing the animals’ blood, Blood Wuy a questioned Little Leopard about studying the sword move and scolded him for neglecting reflection.
• Blood Wuy a taught Little Leopard the fundamentals of swordsmanship and answered his cultivation questions over six hours.
• Little Leopard left the valley without studying the Three Realms Minor Shift and resolved to digest what he had learned.
• Little Leopard recalled Blood Wuy a’s suspicious manuscript and unusual sword lesson, then began to suspect the sword move was tied to an important undertaking.

Little Leopard used Soul-Dazing Powder to capture the clever little creature and take the Yellow Cloth, but he could not discover how the strange hide worked. He then turned his attention to studying the Three Realms Minor Shift.

• Little Leopard hunted a wild boar, ate, and spent the night struggling to understand the swordsmanship Blood Wuy a had taught him.
• After noticing the beasts had moved farther from the stream, Little Leopard decided to pursue the little creature and its Yellow Cloth with Soul-Dazing Powder.
• Little Leopard reached the clearing, tricked the little creature into inhaling the powder, and caught it when it fell unconscious.
• Little Leopard examined the Yellow Cloth and tried several ways to activate it, but it showed no response.
• Little Leopard put the Yellow Cloth away and began studying the Three Realms Minor Shift while the little creature slept.

Little Leopard cultivated the Three Realms Minor Shift by refining floating light killing intent, then attempted to use the art and collapsed from the effort. After he spent hours recovering, the little creature returned, stole his Yellow Jade, and left him unconscious.

• Little Leopard used his unusual eyes to merge his internal energy with floating light killing intent and formed a dark silver whirlwind.
• Little Leopard wrapped the whirlwind in scarlet mist, inhaled it, and condensed the energy around his body.
• Little Leopard attempted to shift toward a distant pine but reappeared only ten zhang away, struck a tree, and exhausted himself.
• Little Leopard lay motionless for two hours while his strength and internal energy slowly recovered.
• The little creature appeared, fouled Little Leopard’s face until he vomited and fainted, stole the Yellow Jade from his robe, and vanished.

Little Leopard endured a foul encounter while gathering Blood Wuy a’s blood food, then was assigned to find three rare herbs and taught a secret fist technique. He discovered he could use the technique with remarkable control, while Blood Wuy a privately reaffirmed his plan to kill him after obtaining the herbs.

• Little Leopard gathered fifteen animals for Blood Wuy a after a weasel’s stench left him exhausted and sick.
• Blood Wuy a ordered Little Leopard to find Rootless Grass, Drifting Glass Flower, and Bitter-Gall Orchid, but Little Leopard explained why the surrounding terrain made the task dangerous.
• Blood Wuy a taught Little Leopard a secret technique that concentrated internal energy into powerful punches and gave him six days to return with the herbs.
• Little Leopard tested the technique and found he could throw nine enhanced punches by controlling how he released his internal energy.
• Blood Wuy a watched Little Leopard leave and admitted he intended to kill him after using the herbs to lure and tame a Demon Beast.

Little Leopard searched the Vast Cang Mountains for medicinal herbs for Blood Wuy a, struggling through a dangerous forest and a day-long thunderstorm. After finding a large clump of Rootless Grass, he sensed a strange creature in the stream and spotted what appeared to be a loach.

• Little Leopard surveyed the area around the Secluded Valley and chose to search the forest after the swamp blocked his route along the stream.
• Little Leopard spent two days in the forest, found only two Bitter-Gall Orchids, and carefully cultivated the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art without risking his growth.
• Little Leopard reasoned that the forest interior was too damp to hold the herbs he needed, but a thunderstorm drove him toward the woods' edge and lightning knocked him off course.
• Little Leopard crossed a peak after the rain stopped and found a large clump of Rootless Grass growing in a crevice.
• Little Leopard heard strange squeaks by the stream, activated his unusual vision, and spotted a creature he thought was a loach.

Little Leopard encountered a strange armored creature guarding the Rootless Grass and survived its attacks, including a blast of black flame. After cutting the creature in half, he saw a tiny black flame emerge from its corpse and backed away from it.

• Little Leopard approached the Rootless Grass, mistaking the creature in the rocky crevice for a harmless loach.
• The creature lunged at Little Leopard, resisted his Kunai, and pursued him as he escaped with the Rootless Grass.
• The creature blasted black flames at Little Leopard, burning a nearby tree down to a stump.
• Little Leopard charged the exhausted creature and severed it in two with the Black Gold Short Sword.
• A soybean-sized black flame floated from the creature's corpse, and Little Leopard retreated from it.

Little Leopard was caught by the black flame and endured unbearable pain as it merged with his inner energy. He survived the ordeal long enough to discover a tiny black flame in his dantian, then lost consciousness again.

• The black flame pursued Little Leopard, caught him, and entered his body, merging with his nine-dragon divine fire inner qi.
• Little Leopard activated his strange eyes, drawing his scorching inner energy out of his meridians and into his eyes before it flowed back to his dantian.
• Little Leopard discovered a tiny black flame at the center of his dantian and noticed that his inner energy had grown more powerful and gained a faint black tint.
• Little Leopard was tortured by the pain and passed out again.
• The chapter revealed that the creature was a weakened Dragon-Eating Loach whose blackfire flame had exhausted it and caused its death.

Little Leopard survived the night after absorbing the mystic flame, then found that the power had changed his internal energy and awakened new abilities in his eyes. After a White-Scaled Python and a Black Eagle killed each other, he ate the snake’s gallbladder, triggering a painful evolution that let his eyes see across a thousand meters and release his fire-infused internal energy as flame; he later found Drifting Glass Flowers and completed Blood Wuy a’s assignment early.

• Little Leopard woke in the forest with painful but mostly intact meridians and discovered that his flame-infused internal energy now soothed them as it circulated.
• Little Leopard roasted and ate the strange loach, stored its tough skull, and wandered into a poisonous swamp.
• Little Leopard waited in a tree while a White-Scaled Python and a Black Eagle fought to the death, then took their inner cores and swallowed the snake’s gallbladder.
• Little Leopard’s eyes evolved, expanding his vision and allowing him to focus his internal energy into a blast of flame, but the process badly burned his hands and left him drained.
• Little Leopard recovered, searched for a way out of the swamp, found Drifting Glass Flowers, and completed Blood Wuy a’s five-day assignment on the second day.

Little Leopard learned that Blood Wuy a planned to lure out the Demon Toad on the full moon and realized he might kill him once he was no longer useful. He devised a plan to use Soul-Dazing Powder against Blood Wuy a, trained in the sword move meant to strike the Demon Toad, and the chapter ended as the full-moon night arrived.

• Blood Wuy a told Little Leopard to prepare to help subdue the Demon Toad in ten days and gave him Wound-Healing Salve for his burned hands.
• Little Leopard discovered that the sword move could unleash a powerful burst of sword qi but would leave him exhausted and badly injure his meridians.
• Little Leopard considered drugging Blood Wuy a's blood food with Soul-Dazing Powder, weighing whether to use it during the Demon Toad battle or afterward.
• Blood Wuy a explained that Elixir Perfume and moonlight would lure the Demon Toad out, then began personally guiding Little Leopard's sword practice.
• Little Leopard began delivering some unconscious beasts as blood food to conceal his use of Soul-Dazing Powder.
• The ten-day deadline arrived on the night of the full moon.