Recaps

After discovering he had only seven days to reach the Third Layer of Qi Refining or be turned into Spirit Essence, Chen Yu found a system that awarded experience for simulating cultivation. He tested the Qi Guiding Art in the Mass Burial Grounds and gained experience much faster from the Yin Qi there.

• Chen Yu awoke in the Dao Sect with memories of his life as an eighteen-year-old Registered Disciple and learned that failing the coming examination could get him refined into Spirit Essence.
• He realized his cultivation had fallen to Mortal (-1/10) after being paired with a Succubus dao companion, and saw that he had seven days to reach the Third Layer of Qi Refining.
• Chen Yu activated a system that granted experience for simulating cultivation, but ordinary practice earned only 0.000001 experience per second.
• Suspecting that another kind of qi might work better, Chen Yu went to the Mass Burial Grounds, where failed disciples' corpses were dumped.
• Chen Yu circulated the Qi Guiding Art amid the Yin Qi and gained 0.001 experience, far more than before.

Chen Yu absorbed Yin Qi in the Mass Burial Grounds until he had enough Experience Points to advance to Qi Refining First Layer, then hurried home after nightfall. There, he encountered his dao companion, Yun Miaozhen, whose seductive presence made him suspect she was connected to his poor physical condition.

• Chen Yu cultivated by drawing in Yin Qi and converting it into Experience Points, taking breaks whenever the cold overwhelmed him.
• After accumulating 11 Experience Points, Chen Yu allocated them to reach Qi Refining First Layer and felt his body recover and grow stronger.
• Chen Yu realized the next level required 20 Experience Points but remained confident he could cultivate quickly before the assessment.
• As night deepened, Chen Yu became frightened by the darkness in the Mass Burial Grounds and ran back to the Stone House.
• Outside the Stone House, Chen Yu saw a woman undressing through the paper window and suspected his dao companion was behind his previous physical weakness.
• Yun Miaozhen welcomed Chen Yu inside, and he recognized her as his dao companion.

Chen Yu confirmed that Yun Miaozhen’s essence-draining weakened his cultivation, then discovered that reaching the Qi Refining First Layer had made him more resistant to the Mass Burial Grounds’ Yin Qi and slowed his training. With the Dao Sect Examination less than seven days away, he considered how to regain his former cultivation speed.

• Yun Miaozhen celebrated Chen Yu’s breakthrough to the Qi Refining First Layer and drained his essence, increasing her own cultivation.
• The next day, Yun Miaozhen rejoiced at her improved cultivation and hoped to pass the Dao Sect Examination, while Chen Yu confirmed that his strength and experience had diminished.
• Chen Yu went to the Mass Burial Grounds to cultivate and found that he gained only 0.00003 Experience Points per second.
• Chen Yu reasoned that his new Spiritual Qi made him more resistant to Yin Qi, slowing his cultivation, and considered training at night or finding another solution.

Chen Yu drained his cultivation back to Mortal so he could gain Experience Points faster in the Mass Burial Grounds, while Yun Miaozhen tried to break through to the Third Layer of Qi Refining. He accumulated 20.16003 Experience Points and headed back to cultivate the next day, planning to attend the Dao Sect Elder’s lecture that afternoon.

• Chen Yu decided to lower his cultivation level rather than risk cultivating in the Mass Burial Grounds at night, then took Yun Miaozhen into the Stone House.
• Several days later, Chen Yu emerged from the Stone House at Mortal level with 0.00003 distributable Experience Points, while Yun Miaozhen worried that she could not break through her bottleneck before the examination.
• Chen Yu tested cultivation in the Mass Burial Grounds and found that he gained 0.0007 Experience Points per second at Mortal level.
• Chen Yu cultivated there until nightfall, gathered 20.16003 Experience Points, and returned to find Yun Miaozhen cultivating in the Stone House.
• The next day, Chen Yu packed food and water and left for the Mass Burial Grounds before the Dao Sect Elder’s afternoon lecture.

Chen Yu attended a Dao Sect elder’s lesson and watched the elder refine a Registered Disciple into Spirit Essence, while the other disciples treated the killing as an honor. The lesson began with cultivation instructions, leaving Chen Yu shaken and confused by the disciples’ acceptance.

• Chen Yu left the Mass Burial Grounds for Little Bamboo Peak, where he met fellow Registered Disciple Liu Sanli, who offered to share cultivation insights after the lesson.
• Chen Yu and Liu Sanli joined nearly a hundred Registered Disciples gathered in a bamboo grove, where the sweet smell in the air grew stronger as they waited for the elder.
• An elder arrived on a crane, selected a disciple, and refined him into a red bead of Spirit Essence before praising its quality.
• Chen Yu was horrified, but Liu Sanli and the other disciples regarded the refining as an act of compassion and an honor.
• The elder put away the Spirit Essence and began teaching the disciples how to cultivate.

Chen Yu learned that the Dao Sect harvested Registered Disciples for Spirit Essence and that reaching the Third Layer of Qi Refining would not guarantee promotion. He returned to the Mass Burial Grounds and resumed cultivating, determined to gather Experience Points and rely on his cultivation to survive.

• During the lesson, the elder patiently answered questions before secretly celebrating the top-grade Spirit Essence he had obtained by refining someone.
• Chen Yu fled the lesson and returned to the Mass Burial Grounds, unsettled by the disciples’ lack of fear and their willingness to be refined.
• Two white-robed Dao Sect disciples brought bones to the Mass Burial Grounds and explained that Registered Disciples were consumables whose Spirit Essence quotas could not be reduced.
• The Senior Brother revealed that a Registered Disciple who reached the Third Layer still had to defeat an Outer Sect Disciple to take their place, and the loser would be refined into Spirit Essence.
• Chen Yu realized he needed more than a breakthrough, but he set aside his worries about Martial Skills and resumed cultivating for Experience Points.

Chen Yu gathered 99 Experience Points at the Mass Burial Grounds, then spent them to reach the peak of the Third Layer of Qi Refining ahead of the Dao Sect assessment. With his cultivation maxed out for now, he decided to seek another way to improve his chances.

• Chen Yu left the Mass Burial Grounds with 81 Experience Points and held off on leveling so he could keep gaining points before the assessment.
• Chen Yu watched Yun Miaozhen practice sword forms and learned that she made her Wooden Sword glow by concentrating Spiritual Power into it until it shattered.
• Chen Yu returned to the Mass Burial Grounds the next day, found the discarded skeleton missing, and cultivated until his Experience Points reached the Qi Guiding Art's limit of 99.
• Chen Yu spent 30 Experience Points to reach the Second Layer of Qi Refining, then used the rest to rise to the peak of the Third Layer.
• Chen Yu realized he could no longer improve his cultivation before the assessment and hurried to prepare another way to increase his chances.

Chen Yu sought a way to blind Dao Sect Outer Disciples during the upcoming test and searched Little Bamboo Peak’s Miscellaneous Goods Pavilion for something that could produce a dazzling flash. After the sweet scent on Little Bamboo Peak nearly made him accept being sacrificed as Spirit Essence, he left with Little Bright beads and Glowing Jade, then began testing them on the dark mountain path.

• Chen Yu decided to avoid fighting Outer Disciples head-on and planned to use a sudden flash of light to blind one during the test.
• On Little Bamboo Peak, the sweet scent nearly made Chen Yu agree that Registered Disciples should repay the Dao Sect by becoming Spirit Essence, but he caught himself and hurried away from the area.
• Chen Yu searched the Miscellaneous Goods Pavilion and took several Little Bright beads, hoping they could serve as a source of light.
• Chen Yu spotted strings of Glowing Jade in the bedroom supplies room and took two, then left Little Bamboo Peak with his chosen items.
• On the mountain path, Chen Yu injected Spiritual Power into a Little Bright bead, found its light insufficient, and shattered it by pouring in more power.
• Chen Yu took out the Glowing Jade to test it.

Chen Yu experimented with Glowing Jade and accidentally interrupted two Registered Disciples before heading to Jadewood Peak for the Dao Sect Examination. There, he revealed that he had reached the Third Layer of Qi Refining, leaving Liu Sanli stunned.

• Chen Yu infused Glowing Jade with Spiritual Power and discovered that it burst into a blinding flash, then accidentally startled a couple hiding in the bushes.
• Chen Yu returned to the Stone House, slept in the next day, and set out for the Dao Sect Examination that evening.
• Liu Sanli congratulated Chen Yu for reaching the Qi Refining First Layer, unaware that Chen Yu's Spiritual Power was much stronger than he expected.
• Two Dao Sect Outer Disciples led the Registered Disciples to Jadewood Peak, where three Elders prepared to assess them.
• When Elder Sun called for disciples at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, Chen Yu joined Yun Miaozhen and the scar-faced man, shocking Liu Sanli.

Chen Yu and two others reached the Third Layer of Qi Refining, while the Dao Sect used a formation to turn the failed Registered Disciples into Spirit Essence. Elder Sun then told the three candidates they still had to defeat an Outer Sect Disciple to advance.

• Liu Sanli and Yun Miaozhen were surprised by Chen Yu's apparent cultivation, and Yun Miaozhen regretted not draining him more often.
• Elder Sun praised the failed Registered Disciples and persuaded them that becoming Spirit Essence would serve the Dao Sect.
• The Registered Disciples entered the formation, and the elders activated it, killing them and collecting their Spirit Essence.
• Elder Sun told Chen Yu, Yun Miaozhen, and the scarred man that each had to choose an Outer Sect Disciple and win to advance.

At Jadewood Peak, Elder Wu killed a Registered Disciple who questioned the promotion trial, and Elder Sun made Yun Miaozhen and Chen Yu fight armed Outer Sect disciples with wooden swords. Yun Miaozhen lost after her opponent used a Martial Skill, and Chen Yu began his match against an arrogant disciple while touching the Glowing Jade.

• Elder Wu refined the scar-faced Registered Disciple into Spirit Essence after he challenged the trial rules.
• Elder Sun explained that Registered Disciples had to touch an opponent's chest or throat with a sword tip to win, then Yun Miaozhen chose Junior Brother Xu as her opponent.
• Yun Miaozhen struggled against Junior Brother Xu's iron sword but gained the upper hand with linked basic sword forms.
• Junior Brother Xu used Earth Collapse to break Yun Miaozhen's wooden sword, then held his sword to her throat and won.
• Chen Yu chose the arrogant Outer Sect disciple as his opponent, took a wooden sword, and touched the Glowing Jade hidden in his hand.

Chen Yu used Glowing Jade to blind his opponent and win the challenge, earning admission as an official Outer Sect Disciple of the Dao Sect. Elder Song then secretly acted on the defeated Senior Brother, who calmly accepted his loss.

• Chen Yu chose to challenge the arrogant Outer Sect Disciple instead of Xu, suspecting that Elder Song was secretly helping Xu.
• Elder Wu gave Chen Yu and his opponent ten breaths to decide the match, and Chen Yu realized neither was being favored by the elders.
• Chen Yu baited his opponent into watching for a special sword technique, then used Glowing Jade to blind him and pressed his wooden sword to the opponent’s chest.
• Elder Wu ruled that Chen Yu had won, and Elder Sun made him an official Outer Sect Disciple of the Dao Sect.
• Elder Song secretly acted on the defeated Senior Brother, who dropped his sword and accepted his loss with a smile.

After advancing to the Outer Sect, Chen Yu received a Spirit Essence, found a mysterious key in his room, and encountered Wang He acting like a madman. He was left wondering what had happened to Wang He as he headed to Emerald Cloud Peak.

• Elder Wu gave Chen Yu an inferior Spirit Essence as his reward for passing the assessment, then left the elders to arrange the New Disciple Initiation.
• Elder Sun told Chen Yu to report to Emerald Cloud Peak the next morning, and Chen Yu learned from Xu Yunnian and Wang He that Outer Sect Disciples were assigned to peaks according to their Spirit Embryos.
• Chen Yu returned alone to Little Bamboo Peak, examined the Spirit Essence he had received, and went to sleep without grieving for Yun Miaozhen.
• Before leaving for Emerald Cloud Peak, Chen Yu destroyed his bedding and discovered a hidden compartment containing an oddly shaped key, which he kept.
• On his way to Emerald Cloud Peak, Chen Yu followed a disheveled Outer Sect Disciple muttering incoherently and recognized him as Wang He.

Chen Yu encountered Wang He raving after apparently suffering a mysterious breakdown, then was taken with him to Elder Sun. Elder Sun ordered Wang He sent to Jade Yao Peak over an unpaid debt and began arranging Chen Yu's registration as an Outer Sect Disciple at Emerald Cloud Peak.

• Chen Yu saw Wang He wandering in terror and repeating contradictory claims that people were dead or alive.
• Outer Sect Disciples questioned Chen Yu about Wang He's condition, and Chen Yu said Elder Sun had summoned him and that he had passed the assessment.
• The disciples took Chen Yu and Wang He to Elder Sun, who examined Wang He and declared that he could not be saved.
• Elder Sun ordered Wang He taken to Jade Yao Peak to be handed over to Elder Zheng because he still owed a debt.
• Elder Sun told Chen Yu he would join Emerald Cloud Peak in Zhou Yun's place and took him to register.

Elder Sun registered Chen Yu as an Outer Sect Disciple of Emerald Cloud Peak and explained the costs, duties, and missions involved in sect life. At the Scripture Repository, Chen Yu revealed that he had a False Spirit Embryo, prompting Elder Sun to lose interest and send him off to collect his belongings.

• Elder Sun erased Zhou Yun's name from the register, entered Chen Yu's name, and gave him a disciple Token.
• Elder Sun explained Chen Yu's two years of free provisions, the cost of cultivation supplies, his monthly rule-enforcement duties, and how to earn Spirit Essence through missions.
• Elder Sun showed Chen Yu the mission board, obtained two sets of disciple robes for him, and brought him to the Scripture Repository to choose a Cultivation Manual matching his Spirit Embryo's attribute.
• When Chen Yu asked which manual suited a False Spirit Embryo, Elder Sun checked his meridians, confirmed it, and angrily told him to choose any manual and collect a sword, room key, and Code of Conduct Manual.

After learning that Chen Yu was a False Spirit Embryo, Elder Sun left, and the Scripture Repository’s old man revealed that he had also been a False Spirit Embryo and directed Chen Yu to the True Essence Profound Canon. Chen Yu chose the demanding manual despite its hidden costs, then learned the old man thought he would need to borrow money to cultivate it.

• Elder Sun reacted sharply to Chen Yu’s False Spirit Embryo and left the Scripture Repository entrance.
• The old man revealed that he was the first Dao Sect disciple in nearly a hundred years to rise from Registered Disciple to Outer Sect, and pointed Chen Yu toward the True Essence Profound Canon.
• Chen Yu examined the manual’s glowing comments, discovered its cultivation method required additional manuals for the Five Elements, and posted a warning to future readers.
• Chen Yu chose the True Essence Profound Canon and told the old man he wanted to cultivate the strongest manual.
• The old man suggested Chen Yu borrow from Elder Sun’s Sun-Zheng Lending service to fund his cultivation.

Chen Yu used Ah Zhen to accelerate cultivation with the True Essence Profound Canon, earning enough Experience Points to advance to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining. After spending 10 points and saving 40, he planned to earn Spirit Essence and find a manual that could conceal his level.

• Chen Yu collected a Standard Longsword, his room key, and the Code of Conduct Manual, then began studying the True Essence Profound Canon.
• Chen Yu found ordinary cultivation too slow and realized Ah Zhen’s pure Spiritual Power could help him gather Spirit Qi.
• Chen Yu hung Ah Zhen above his Baihui Point and cultivated until the manual reached its limit, gaining 50 distributable Experience Points.
• Chen Yu spent 10 Experience Points to reach the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining and kept 40 points in reserve.
• Chen Yu decided to earn Spirit Essence for another cultivation manual and read the Dao Sect’s list of disciple violations.

Chen Yu studied the Dao Sect’s strict Code of Conduct and planned to earn Contribution Points by catching disciples violating its rules. After carefully checking his own compliance, he left Emerald Cloud Peak and learned how to reach the other Outer Sect peaks.

• Chen Yu calculated that he needed eight Spirit Essence, or eight hundred Contribution Points, to obtain the cultivation manuals, martial skills, and Qi-Concealing Method he wanted.
• Before leaving, Chen Yu noticed his shoelaces violated the rules for Outer Sect Disciples and retied them, avoiding a penalty.
• Outer Sect Disciples waiting near Chen Yu’s room failed to catch him breaking a rule, and he asked two Senior Brothers how to reach the other peaks.
• The two Senior Brothers explained that the Outer Sect had five peaks associated with the Five Attributes and said signs at the forks would guide him.
• Chen Yu thanked the Senior Brothers and followed the white jade steps down.

Chen Yu investigated the Outer Sect peaks and discovered that Heavenly Flame Peak, Jade Yao Peak, and Ten Thousand Mountains Peak disciples were being used as furnace fires, pool water, and protective formations. On Purple Bamboo Peak, he found a notice offering a Spirit Essence for Xu Yunnian’s body, but decided the dangerous search was not worth attempting.

• Chen Yu visited Heavenly Flame Peak and learned that its disciples transformed into flames beneath pill and smelting furnaces.
• Chen Yu visited Jade Yao Peak and Ten Thousand Mountains Peak, discovering that their disciples served as water for spirit pools and components of mountain-protecting formations.
• Chen Yu went to Purple Bamboo Peak and found its disciples tending Spirit Herb gardens and a mission seeking Xu Yunnian’s body.
• Chen Yu recalled that Xu Yunnian and Wang He had cleared skeletons at the Mass Burial Grounds, and concluded the mission was too dangerous to pursue.

After failing to find rule-breakers on Emerald Cloud Peak, Chen Yu searched for ways to earn Contribution Points and encountered a Senior Sister recruiting members for a service that supplied violations to report. He persuaded her to demonstrate the service before he joined, and she agreed to take him somewhere private.

• Chen Yu found no rule violations on the five peaks and worried about earning Contribution Points for his monthly routine task.
• Disciples at the task board discussed a reward for finding Xu Yunnian's corpse, and Liu He accepted the dangerous task because he faced a looming debt deadline.
• Other disciples scattered to search for clues, while Chen Yu considered looking around Little Bamboo Peak.
• A Senior Sister offered Chen Yu six months of routine-task coverage through her organization's rule-breaking service, with a loan available for the ten Contribution Points membership fee.
• Chen Yu asked her to prove the service worked before he joined, and she agreed to take him somewhere private.

Chen Yu traded a lead about Xu Yunnian to Lü Yanyan for six months of Peace Insurance, then sold information to other disciples while completing his rule-catching task. He ended the day with thirty-six Contribution Points, while a crowd gathered at Purple Bamboo Peak to seek Elder Song.

• Chen Yu recorded Lü Yanyan's shoelace violation and told her he would pay for Peace Insurance with a lead about Xu Yunnian.
• Chen Yu revealed that the lead pointed to the Mass Burial Grounds late at night, and Lü Yanyan accepted it in exchange for membership protection.
• Chen Yu sold leads about Xu Yunnian to several disciples, urging them to hurry to Elder Song and consider the deals carefully.
• Chen Yu returned to his room and counted his completed task and thirty-six earned Contribution Points.
• As Chen Yu went to rest, many people gathered at Purple Bamboo Peak looking for Elder Song.

Lü Yanyan brought Elder Song a clue about Xu Yunnian’s death, pointing to the Mass Burial Grounds at night, and earned 10 Contribution Points. As Elder Song prepared to investigate, more Emerald Cloud Peak disciples arrived with the same clue, leaving him increasingly irritated.

• Lü Yanyan told Elder Song that the Mass Burial Grounds might be dangerous at night, and he rewarded her with 10 Contribution Points.
• Lü Yanyan left, pleased with her reward, but decided against searching the dangerous Mass Burial Grounds herself.
• Zhang San arrived and gave Elder Song the same clue, explaining that he had noticed the dense Yin Qi there at night.
• Zhao Hu came next with the same clue, and Elder Song dismissed him after correctly guessing what he would say.
• He Guang arrived to offer another lead, and the annoyed Elder Song told him they no longer needed clues and ordered him to leave.

More than thirty Dao Sect Outer Disciples entered Little Bamboo Peak’s Mass Burial Grounds to search for Xu Yunnian, where a mysterious force killed them and seriously injured Elder Song. The next morning, Chen Yu went looking for the full story, and Lü Yanyan led him to Emerald Cloud Inn.

• Dao Sect Outer Disciples gathered at the Mass Burial Grounds seeking Xu Yunnian’s body and the Spirit Essence reward, then rushed into the white mist.
• Elder Song examined the Mass Burial Grounds, was struck by an energy shock wave, and saw the Phantom Image of a huge structure appear in the mist.
• Chen Yu heard that more than thirty disciples had died at Little Bamboo Peak and Elder Song had been seriously injured, and learned the peak had been sealed off.
• Chen Yu went to the plaza to find out what had happened, where Lü Yanyan approached him and offered to take him somewhere good.
• Lü Yanyan led Chen Yu to Emerald Cloud Inn.

Chen Yu learned about the costs of life on Emerald Cloud Peak and heard rumors that Immortal Ruins had appeared near the Mass Burial Grounds. After Lü Yanyan explained ways to earn Contribution Points, Chen Yu considered challenging someone on the Outer Sect Genius Ranking.

• Chen Yu entered the Emerald Cloud Inn with Lü Yanyan and learned that disciples had to spend Contribution Points on lodging and other expenses after their free two-year period.
• Chen Yu overheard disciples discussing the deaths at the Mass Burial Grounds, including thirty-eight dead disciples and the rumor of an Immortal Ruins site near Little Bamboo Peak.
• Lü Yanyan told Chen Yu that Immortal Ruins were likely involved and warned that the sect might send disciples to explore them because such places were dangerous.
• Lü Yanyan told Chen Yu she had exchanged his lead for Contribution Points, making him a member of her supposed Happy and Carefree service.
• Lü Yanyan described the White Dove Lottery Ticket, gambling, and borrowing from Elder Sun as ways to earn or obtain Contribution Points, but warned Chen Yu against gambling and relying on the lottery.
• Lü Yanyan explained that members of the Outer Sect Genius Ranking received 30 Contribution Points monthly and were exempt from Regular Tasks; Chen Yu seriously considered challenging one of the ten ranked disciples.

Chen Yu tried to resist borrowing Contribution Points but found himself at Elder Sun’s residence, where he took out a 300-point loan. He spent 100 points on the Fire Attribute Flame-Transforming Art and went to find an Earth Attribute manual and a Qi-Concealing Method.

• Chen Yu decided that earning enough Contribution Points without borrowing was impractical, but his legs carried him to Elder Sun’s residence.
• Chen Yu borrowed 300 Contribution Points from Elder Sun, who recorded the loan in his ledger and credited Chen Yu’s Token.
• Two Dao Sect disciples told Elder Sun that Elder Wu wanted him at the Mass Burial Grounds, while Chen Yu returned to the Plaza with 336 Contribution Points.
• The Old Man at the Scripture Repository guessed that Chen Yu had borrowed from Elder Sun but did not explain how he knew.
• Chen Yu read the comments on Fire Attribute manuals and chose the stronger Flame-Transforming Art, spending 100 Contribution Points.
• Chen Yu headed to find an Earth Attribute cultivation manual and a Qi-Concealing Method.