Recaps

Li Chen studied Silk-Threading Art under Artisan Zhao and used his mastery to confront Qian Wanli after the merchants blocked his preparations to leave Coldwind Valley. He departed east with He Ran and Wu Ding after securing the Demon Cores and materials he needed.

• Li Chen replaced his blood with spirit blood, discovered he could circulate magic power through his body, and assembled more puppets for his research.
• Li Chen killed Hou San and Yang Haoyi after learning Master Yi had ordered an ambush, then met Artisan Zhao through Yan Xiang.
• Artisan Zhao invited Li Chen into his circle, taught him Silk-Threading Art and String-Puppet Theater, and accepted him as a retainer for three years of training.
• Li Chen spent three years studying and helping Artisan Zhao, then planned to travel east with He Ran after the master artisans returned to the Creation Sect.
• Qian Wanli arranged for merchants to stop selling Li Chen and He Ran the goods they needed, so Li Chen used his puppets and Silk-Threading Art to repel the Earthly Sha Sect leaders.
• Li Chen and He Ran entered Qian Wanli’s residence, defeated Hu Xing and his guards, and forced Qian Wanli to hand over Demon Cores and spirit materials.
• Li Chen took Qian Wanli hostage as he left, escaped the confrontation outside on the Mechanism Beast Fang Tiger, and departed with Wu Ding.

Li Chen and his companions reached Suyang seeking passage east and bought Foundation Establishment Pills while waiting for the teleportation array to reopen. After discovering Wu Ding had been captured and rescuing him from his captors, Li Chen faced Master Artisan Luo’s powerful Human Puppet and achieved Foundation Establishment during the battle.

• Li Chen, He Ran, and Wu Ding traveled east to Suyang, where an attack on the Long Kingdom’s capital halted teleportation and left them waiting for the array to reopen.
• The three entered Suyang’s black market, where Li Chen and He Ran each won a Foundation Establishment Pill before leaving to cultivate by the Miao River.
• Li Chen discovered that Wu Ding had been captured and sold to Master Artisan Luo’s associates for human-puppet experiments, then followed his captors out of the city.
• Li Chen ambushed Young Master Gu and Miss Bai in the wilderness, killed them both, and provoked Master Artisan Luo, who controlled a three-star Human Puppet remotely.
• As Master Artisan Luo’s Human Puppet battered Li Chen’s puppets, Li Chen broke through to Foundation Establishment and used the Keen Warrior to block and counterattack.

Li Chen defeated Master Artisan Luo’s puppets, then developed a Worker Bee system, an Auxiliary Brain, and lightning-powered Floating Balls while earning money through skin-painting. At a gathering of Suyang’s powerful cultivators, he learned about Divine Ability Mechanism Devices and left Feng Mingzhu’s offer to become a Feng Household attendant elder under consideration.

• Li Chen used the Keen Warrior Puppet to defeat Master Artisan Luo’s Human Puppet, then rescued Wu Ding and reunited with He Ran in Suyang City.
• Li Chen built a Mechanical Intelligence Core and Worker Bee system, repaired his puppets, and installed new cores in an Armored Warrior force.
• Li Chen performed Head-Swapping, maintained his original body with a mechanical head and spirit-blood conduits, and stored it in a ring.
• Wu Ding gave Li Chen the Supreme Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Talisman, which Li Chen adapted into Floating Balls and Thunder techniques after implanting an Auxiliary Brain.
• Li Chen opened a skin-painting business in the Black Market, gained the Skin-Painting Guild’s support, and earned customers’ trust with successful transformations.
• Feng Mingzhu invited Li Chen to a banquet, where Li Chen met prominent cultivators and explained the Dao of Painted Skin before hearing about other Dao Paths and Divine Ability Mechanism Devices.
• Li Chen asked Feng Mingzhu for instruction in Divine Ability Mechanism Devices, and Feng Mingzhu offered techniques and provisions if Li Chen would protect the Feng Household as an attendant elder after his death.
• Li Chen privately distrusted Feng Mingzhu’s promises and asked for time to consider the offer, while Feng Mingzhu provided materials for him to study.

Li Chen completed Qi Yuetian’s Painted Skin commission, struck at the Human Market, and built a powerful Thunder Dragon Cannon. After Luo Changshan’s death destabilized Yunshan Valley, Li Chen joined the negotiations as a Guest Adviser in exchange for help finding a nearby resource site.

• Qi Yuetian used Water of Time to preserve the transformation Li Chen painted onto his ruined face and body, then paid him and gave him Black Scorpions.
• Li Chen’s allies reported that Che Rong had betrayed Luo Changshan, so Li Chen exploited the Black Market’s vulnerability by attacking the Human Market and freeing its prisoners.
• Li Chen fought and disabled a Red Owl Mecha, then salvaged its blood mystic gold and rebuilt his puppet around a powerful Thunder Dragon Cannon.
• The cannon’s test shot destroyed Li Chen’s workshop and damaged the surrounding street, leading him to pay a fine and seek information about Suyang City’s fighters.
• After Luo Changshan died, Li Chen examined his corpse and noticed a dark mark that suggested poison, while Qi Yuetian warned him of a hidden mastermind behind Yunshan Valley’s turmoil.
• Che Rong attacked Yunshan Market as Foundation Establishment cultivators debated Yunshan Valley’s leadership, succession, and division of authority.
• The cultivators made Lin Peilong Market Lord and Pang Zhengting Sect Master, then agreed that the Council of Elders would temporarily control the Valley Master position until one of them killed Che Rong.
• Li Chen declined a hundred-year Attendant contract and signed as a Guest Adviser after Feng Mingzhu agreed that Yunshan Valley would help him find a resource site near Suyang.