Recaps

Chen Yu returned safely from the Netherdark Sea after breaking through to foundation establishment, and the group sailed away on a boat left behind by the Jade Void Disciples. While speaking with Wu Wenjie aboard the boat, Chen Yu realized Wu had concealed his true cultivation and overheard him mention an organization, leading Chen Yu to suspect he belonged to the White Lotus Sect.

• Chen Yu returned to shore unharmed, and Lü Yanyan told him that a high-ranking Soul Sect disciple had left by boat after nightfall.
• The group boarded the boat belonging to the missing Jade Void Disciples and left the shore for the night.
• Chen Yu gave Wu Wenjie a mid-grade Azure Flower to ease the pain from his venomous-insect injuries.
• Chen Yu told Wu Wenjie that he had recognized his concealed cultivation as the peak of the sixth layer of qi refining.
• Chen Yu overheard Wu Wenjie mention an organization recruiting him and suspected that Wu belonged to the White Lotus Sect.

Chen Yu returned from the island exploration mission with Wu Wenjie, Lü Yanyan, and Ren Shaohua, relieved that the journey back had gone without trouble. At the Dao Sect Flying Boat, Elder Sun began inspecting the returning disciples and turned his attention to Chen Yu’s team after refining three disciples into spirit essence.

• Wu Wenjie invited Chen Yu to his wedding feast and revealed that he planned to become his Senior Sister’s Dao Companion after the mission.
• Chen Yu’s group sailed back toward the Entrance without encountering danger, and Chen Yu stayed alert until they reached shore.
• Lü Yanyan spotted the Dao Sect’s Flying Boat, and the group joined the few Dao Sect disciples waiting to board.
• Elder Sun demanded proof that a returning team had completed its mission, accused them of lying, and refined three disciples into spirit essence.
• Elder Sun turned to Chen Yu’s team and ordered them to undergo inspection.

Chen Yu and his team passed Elder Sun’s inspection after returning from the Netherdark Sea, but Elder Sun stole most of their heart-calming grass and killed Wu Wenjie and Ren Shaohua. Chen Yu realized his own contribution points had increased, leaving him to face the next stage of Elder Sun’s scheme.

• Ren Shaohua and Chen Yu recounted their team’s experiences on Island Twenty-Three, including the Stone Gate chambers and the spiritual power-draining suction.
• Elder Sun accepted their account and declared that Chen Yu, Lü Yanyan, Wu Wenjie, and Ren Shaohua had passed inspection.
• Ren Shaohua reported that the team had collected 182 stalks of heart-calming grass, but Elder Sun claimed there were only 100 and took them all.
• Elder Sun awarded Chen Yu 125 contribution points, and Chen Yu realized the difference meant Wu Wenjie and Ren Shaohua had been marked for death.
• Elder Sun refined Wu Wenjie and Ren Shaohua into spirit essence, claiming their injuries made them a burden to the sect, then turned to the next team.

Elder Sun killed Wu Wenjie, Ren Shaohua, and other Dao Sect disciples during their mission inspection, leaving only six survivors. He then retaliated against the Evergreen Sect and Jade Void Sect, while Sect Master Chu’s projection warned their leaders before the Dao Sect’s Flying Boat departed.

• Elder Sun refined Wu Wenjie and Ren Shaohua into spirit essence, and Chen Yu recognized that Elder Sun was stronger but likely only an accomplice.
• Elder Sun inspected the remaining teams, killing disciples who had lied about exploring and those who were severely injured; Chen Yu saw the other sects’ surviving disciples shackled, forced to beg, or taken into a Soul Banner.
• Only six of the fifty Dao Sect disciples survived, and Chen Yu secretly stored Senior Brother Wu’s remains in his Storage Ring before boarding the Flying Boat.
• Elder Sun attacked disciples of the Evergreen Sect and Jade Void Sect, declaring that they would pay for ambushing Dao Sect disciples.
• Elder Sun summoned Sect Master Chu’s projection, who warned Ling Juetian and Jiang Chuan to approach him directly and left a sword scar between the rival sects’ Flying Boats.
• Elder Sun returned to the Dao Sect’s Flying Boat, which rose into the sky and departed.

On the return from the Netherdark Sea, Chen Yu reflected on the strength he needed to reach and the resources and dangers awaiting him. Lü Yanyan confessed her past deception and asked whether he would be willing to become intimate with her.

• Chen Yu considered the cultivation gap between himself and Sect Master Chu, and resolved to use the Immortal Ruins' treasures to grow stronger.
• Lü Yanyan admitted that she had invented the 'Happy and Carefree' service to swindle contribution points from Chen Yu.
• Chen Yu revealed that he had known the service was fake from the start and explained how he had handled her offer.
• Lü Yanyan described the danger and hardship she had faced in the Dao Sect and said the Netherdark Sea mission seemed to target disciples the sect considered expendable.
• Lü Yanyan told Chen Yu she wanted to attach herself to him and asked whether he would be willing to become intimate with her.

Chen Yu and Lü Yanyan agreed to grow close despite his false spirit embryo, then returned to the Dao Sect after their mission. He learned that the Immortal Ruins had reappeared on Little Bamboo Peak, which the elders sealed off, and froze when he took out the Jade Pendant.

• Chen Yu told Lü Yanyan that his false spirit embryo made his cultivation future uncertain, but she still wanted a sincere relationship, and he agreed.
• The Flying Boat returned to Jadewood Peak, where Elder Sun awarded the six surviving disciples 100 contribution points each.
• Chen Yu considered testing whether he could alter contribution points using Senior Brother Wu's Token after entering the Immortal Ruins.
• An Outer Sect disciple told Chen Yu and Lü Yanyan that the Immortal Ruins had reappeared on Little Bamboo Peak and the elders had forbidden entry.
• Chen Yu returned to his residence, took out the Jade Pendant, and suddenly froze.

Chen Yu discovered that his initial control of the Immortal Ruins let him enter directly from his residence, even with Little Bamboo Peak sealed. Inside, he found evidence linking the ruins to the Nether Ruins Sect and chose a foundation-establishment cultivation manual as he prepared to strengthen himself.

• Chen Yu activated the Immortal Ruins Jade Pendant and entered the Immortal Ruins directly from his residence on Emerald Cloud Peak.
• Chen Yu found a stone inscribed with “Nether Ruins Sect” in the main hall and resolved to explore the ruins cautiously.
• Chen Yu entered the side hall and saw that its shelves now held materials, artifacts, pills, herbs, books, and other treasures.
• Chen Yu searched the cultivation manuals and martial skills room, finding that most of its books concerned alchemy and artifact refining.
• Chen Yu chose the “True Essence Profound Canon: Foundation Establishment Chapter” and began reading it.

After learning the Foundation Establishment method, Chen Yu investigated the coffin room in the Immortal Ruins and triggered a message from the gray-robed elder, Wei Yang. Chen Yu missed the elder’s explanation and heard only a warning that he would die without a doubt as he returned to the ruins.

• Chen Yu studied the Foundation Establishment Chapter and understood its three stages, then went to inspect the coffin room.
• Knocking sounded from the coffin, and a gray-robed figure appeared, prompting Chen Yu to flee the Immortal Ruins with his Jade Pendant.
• Wei Yang revealed that the Immortal Ruins held dangerous challenges, warned that failure meant death, and mentioned hidden alchemy knowledge and tools.
• Chen Yu waited outside the Immortal Ruins, believing the figure was an illusory double that would soon disappear.
• When Chen Yu returned to the doorway, Wei Yang’s figure vanished after warning him to be careful because he would die without a doubt.

Chen Yu explored the Immortal Ruins’ storage rooms, chose a fire-attribute cultivation manual, and gathered supplies and equipment for future cultivation and crafting. He left convinced the person in the coffin intended to seize his body, while planning to use the coffin room as a workshop.

• Chen Yu accused the person in the coffin of planning to take over his body and kicked the coffin before leaving the room.
• Chen Yu memorized the True Yang Technique as a fire-attribute cultivation manual to complement the Foundation Establishment Chapter of the True Essence Profound Canon.
• Chen Yu found a large supply of Grain-Avoidance Pills and collected them in his Storage Ring.
• Chen Yu bound the Nine Springs Sword and tested its edge by cutting a mid-grade Spirit Artifact spear in two.
• Chen Yu inspected the spirit herbs and found an Alchemy Furnace, a smelting furnace, and an Artifact Forging Platform, then stored the equipment for future use.

Chen Yu discovered a newly opened side hall in the Immortal Ruins and triggered a challenge that required him to strike a mysterious figure within one month or be erased. He also learned to alter contribution points on a token with true qi and planned to test the method the next day.

• Chen Yu noticed that a side hall had opened, entered it cautiously, and found a motionless figure at the far end.
• His ordinary Mid-grade Spirit Artifact sword lost its connection to him, fell, and corroded before a message announced a one-month challenge with erasure as the penalty for failure.
• Chen Yu reasoned that the corridor's unknown power could destroy weapons and sever his control, so he postponed the challenge while considering how to prepare.
• Chen Yu used true qi and a silently recited amount to change Senior Brother Wu's token from 76 contribution points to other totals, confirming that the points could be adjusted.
• Chen Yu concluded that an expert had likely altered Xiang Baiwei's token and increased his own contribution points by one to test the method the next day.

Chen Yu began cultivating the Foundation Establishment chapter but found his progress painfully slow, so he decided to prioritize surviving the Immortal Ruins challenge. The next day, he confirmed that his modified contribution points could be spent normally and continued to suspect the White Lotus Sect’s intentions.

• Chen Yu tried cultivating the True Essence Profound Canon: Foundation Establishment Chapter and found that he gained experience points far more slowly than before.
• He resolved to focus first on passing the Immortal Ruins challenge within its one-month deadline, then planned to test his contribution points and prepare a bow and arrows.
• The next day, Chen Yu sensed that Xiang Baiwei was cultivating and considered the White Lotus Sect’s efforts to draw him in, but chose to remain neutral.
• Chen Yu bought a new set of robes at the Miscellaneous Goods Pavilion and confirmed that spending his modified contribution points caused no abnormality.

Chen Yu learned that Elder Sun had raised loan interest rates and introduced contribution-point sparring matches between disciples of the same cultivation realm. After discussing the new rules with Lü Yanyan, he was left facing her proposal to spar.

• Chen Yu overheard disciples discussing the new loan interest rates and the rule allowing challenges for contribution points.
• Chen Yu read Elder Sun's notice, which increased yearly compound interest and permitted same-realm sparring matches with contribution points at stake.
• Chen Yu considered repaying 200 contribution points early and dismissed the risk of being challenged because his true cultivation was higher than it appeared.
• Lü Yanyan arrived, heard Chen Yu explain the rules, and earnestly suggested that they spar.

Lü Yanyan proposed transferring her contribution points to Chen Yu to keep them safe from challengers, and he agreed after recognizing her trust. After their intimate encounter, she transferred 43 points to him, leaving him with enough to repay his loan, and he went to Elder Sun's residence as Emerald Cloud Peak descended into turmoil.

• Lü Yanyan explained that disciples would target those with many contribution points and offered to entrust hers to Chen Yu, who agreed to keep them safe and repay his debt.
• Lü Yanyan and Chen Yu went to his room, where she called their encounter a spar and they spent two hours together.
• Lü Yanyan transferred 43 contribution points to Chen Yu, bringing his total to 312, and he left to repay his loan and seek materials for a bow and arrows.
• Chen Yu saw disciples crowding Elder Sun's residence to bargain over interest or borrow points, and he feared the peak would soon fall into chaos.
• Elder Sun recognized Chen Yu and asked whether he had come to discuss interest or borrow contribution points.

Chen Yu tried to repay his loan to Elder Sun, but the elder used his authority to demand more than Chen Yu had and exposed his contribution points to other disciples. Chen Yu left determined to deal with the danger, helped Senior Sister Lü prepare to repay her own loan, and gathered materials to make a bow and arrows.

• Elder Sun told Chen Yu he could not borrow more and revealed to the waiting disciples that Chen Yu had 225 contribution points.
• Chen Yu offered to repay his 300-point loan, but Elder Sun claimed he owed 330 points and refused to accept partial repayment.
• Chen Yu left Elder Sun's residence, noticed the fourth-layer disciples eyeing him as a potential challenge, and resolved to focus on the dangers inside the Immortal Ruins.
• Chen Yu encountered Senior Sister Lü on her way to repay her loan and transferred her 20 contribution points so she could settle it without attracting attention.
• Chen Yu found materials for making a bow and arrows and carried them back to his room.

Chen Yu tested ways to strike the figure in the Immortal Ruins and discovered that spiritual power might let a projectile resist the corrosive force longer. He left to seek a better spirit essence, then asked Xiang Baiwei about Wu Wenjie and learned she did not recognize him as a member of her organization.

• Chen Yu shot a wooden arrow and half a spear at the figure, but both stopped in midair and corroded.
• Chen Yu tested a rat, stone, dirt, and water in the corridor; each failed, while depleted fire-attribute spirit essence traveled farther before vanishing.
• Chen Yu decided to ask Elder Sun about buying a better spirit essence and put Ah Zhen away rather than risk wasting her.
• Chen Yu visited Xiang Baiwei to ask who Wu Wenjie's Dao companion was, and her two personalities each failed to recognize Wu Wenjie.
• Xiang Baiwei said there was no one named Wu Wenjie in her organization, leaving Chen Yu dumbfounded.

Chen Yu learned that Wu Wenjie belonged to an unknown organization rather than the White Lotus Sect, then sought high-grade spirit essence for cultivation. He made a deal with Xiang Baiwei: she would gather one hundred legitimate contribution points in exchange for the truth about Wu Wenjie.

• Xiang Baiwei insisted Wu Wenjie was not a member of the White Lotus Sect, leaving Chen Yu wondering what organization he had belonged to.
• Xiang Baiwei suspected the unknown organization’s existence might have leaked and resolved to question Chen Yu when he returned.
• Chen Yu asked Elder Sun to exchange contribution points for high-grade spirit essence, and Elder Sun said a piece of mid-grade spirit essence would cost five hundred points.
• Chen Yu realized he needed 208 more points and considered asking Xiang Baiwei to use her organization’s connections to obtain them.
• Xiang Baiwei admitted that her contribution points had been altered, and Chen Yu asked her to gather one hundred legitimately earned points before he revealed what he knew about Wu Wenjie.
• Xiang Baiwei agreed to Chen Yu’s deal.

Chen Yu accepted 100 Contribution Points from Xiang Baiwei in exchange for information about Senior Brother Wu, but refused to join the White Lotus Sect or meet its elder. He studied artifact refining in the Immortal Ruins and began making a hidden-weapon launcher.

• Xiang Baiwei gave Chen Yu 100 Contribution Points, and he told her about Senior Brother Wu and warned her that the Dao Sect was more chaotic than she expected.
• Chen Yu refused Xiang Baiwei's invitation to join the White Lotus Sect and declined to meet one of its elders.
• After Xiang Baiwei left, Chen Yu entered the Immortal Ruins and studied Introduction to Artifact Refining.
• Chen Yu used the Smelting Furnace and Artifact Forging Platform to begin crafting a hidden-weapon launcher from refined iron and a Mid-grade Spirit Artifact sword.

Chen Yu modified his Spirit Sword into a concealed weapon, then left the Immortal Ruins to find a crowd of disciples demanding sparring matches over his contribution points. He planned to earn the points he needed by accepting their challenges, but first announced that they would have to follow his rules.

• Chen Yu built a hidden-arrow mechanism into the Spirit Sword's hilt, making it fire toward the wielder if spiritual power was channeled through the hilt.
• Chen Yu left the Immortal Ruins and found that a crowd of Outer Sect disciples had gathered outside his residence after hearing he held over three hundred contribution points.
• Chen Yu decided to earn the 108 contribution points he still needed by winning sparring matches, while avoiding too many consecutive fights that might draw attention.
• The disciples threatened to keep watch outside Chen Yu's residence until he came out, and then rushed toward him when he opened the door.
• Chen Yu raised his hand to quiet the crowd and told the disciples they could spar with him if they followed his rules.

Chen Yu set rules for auctioning daily sparring matches with him, requiring valid contribution-point bids and allowing disciples to pool points in teams. After announcing the first auction for the hour of the rooster, he headed down the mountain and heard Lü Yanyan call to him.

• Chen Yu told the crowd he could refuse sparring requests and reminded them that he had prompted the sect to add rules before.
• Chen Yu announced that one sparring slot per day would go to the highest bidder, with the bid becoming the stake for the match.
• Chen Yu ruled that bids could not exceed the points in a disciple's Token, and the crowd accepted the condition after he explained it.
• Chen Yu allowed disciples to pool contribution points in teams, with only one team member allowed to spar.
• Chen Yu scheduled the first auction for the hour of the rooster and went down the mountain, where Lü Yanyan called out to him.

Lü Yanyan worried that Chen Yu’s exposed contribution-point balance would make him a target, but he reassured her and recruited her to run a betting pool on his upcoming sparring matches. Chen Yu prepared several unconventional ways to win, leaving the first matches scheduled for after the evening auction.

• Lü Yanyan visited Chen Yu after hearing that his three hundred contribution points had become public and found disciples gathered outside his residence.
• Chen Yu reassured Lü Yanyan, then transferred 104 contribution points to her token and asked her to organize a wagering pool that backed him to win his sparring matches.
• Chen Yu returned to his residence after dining with Lü Yanyan and entered the Immortal Ruins to prepare for the matches he had scheduled for nighttime.
• Chen Yu made ghosttail grass powder and soul-trapping flower essence, testing their effects on a white mouse, and decided he had enough supplies to win three matches.
• Chen Yu considered learning to refine spirit essence but rejected the idea, judging it impractical and unwilling to imitate the Dao Sect elders who treated human lives as worthless.

Lü Yanyan joined Zhao Yu’s team to help Chen Yu’s fellow disciples stop him from taking the sparring slot. Zhao Yu’s team won the first auction with a bid of forty contribution points, and Chen Yu asked them how they would divide the cost.

• Lü Yanyan pretended to be shy and accepted Zhao Yu’s invitation to join his team, bringing their pooled contribution points to sixty-four.
• Chen Yu announced the auction rules: it would last seven and a half minutes and end after ten seconds without a higher bid, or with the last bid made when time ran out.
• Zhao Yu opened the bidding at ten contribution points, and the disciples gradually raised the price.
• Zhao Yu bid forty contribution points, and no one offered more before the ten-second countdown ended.
• Chen Yu asked Zhao Yu to bring over the forty points for verification, and Zhao Yu asked his teammates how they would split the cost.

Zhao Yu and his teammates pooled forty contribution points for his sparring match with Chen Yu, while Lü Yanyan quietly engineered a wagering pool among the crowd. As Chen Yu and Zhao Yu began sparring, Lü Yanyan placed four points on Chen Yu to win.

• Zhao Yu proposed that he contribute twelve points and his teammates divide the remaining twenty-eight, and the group agreed to contribute six points each, with Lü Yanyan adding four.
• Chen Yu verified the forty points and suggested sparring on the platform above his residence, and he and Zhao Yu climbed there.
• Lü Yanyan prompted a teammate who frequented the Gambling House to organize a wagering pool, and he recruited the other teammates to attract bets.
• After most disciples bet on Zhao Yu, Lü Yanyan placed four points on Chen Yu, saying she would accept losing them if Zhao Yu won.
• Chen Yu and Zhao Yu stepped onto the platform, and their sparring match began.

Chen Yu faced Zhao Yu in a wagered sparring match, while most of the watching disciples bet on Zhao Yu. Zhao Yu's Dragon-Tiger Fist seemed to strike Chen Yu, but he remained standing unharmed as the crowd realized the attack had missed.

• Zhao Yu boasted that his stronger cultivation and three mastered martial skills made victory certain, but Chen Yu refused to concede and set a fifteen-minute limit.
• Chen Yu and Zhao Yu agreed that Zhao Yu had to make Chen Yu say "I concede" for Zhao Yu to win.
• Zhao Yu launched his Dragon-Tiger Fist, while Lü Yanyan worried that Chen Yu would be seriously hurt.
• Zhao Yu's punch missed Chen Yu, who remained motionless and apparently unharmed.

Chen Yu used the scent of a soul-trapping flower to disorient Zhao Yu and won their sparring match, taking 40 contribution points. Lü Yanyan also collected the wagering pool’s winnings before Zhao Yu’s angry teammates could confront her, and she later told Chen Yu they had earned 26 points.

• Zhao Yu grew dizzy during the sparring match and repeatedly missed Chen Yu with his attacks.
• After fifteen minutes passed without Zhao Yu making Chen Yu surrender, Chen Yu declared victory and transferred Zhao Yu’s 40 contribution points to his Token.
• Lü Yanyan claimed the 30 contribution points in the betting pool and slipped away as Zhao Yu’s teammates and the other bettors confronted one another.
• Chen Yu returned to his residence and realized the soul-trapping flower’s fragrance had disoriented Zhao Yu when the breeze carried it toward him.
• Lü Yanyan visited Chen Yu and told him their wagering pool had earned 26 contribution points, bringing his total from the match and bets to 66.

Chen Yu continued improving his artifact-refining skills, then defeated Li Hu in a sparring match by making him itch uncontrollably. He left the disciples wondering whether to challenge him again after offering to sell Anti-Trick Cards and handicaps.

• Chen Yu clarified that he only needed to understand artifact refining's basic principles and continued working on the Hidden Weapon Device.
• Chen Yu found Wei Yang's Great Dao of Alchemy, dismissed its claims about the miraculous Spirit-Restoring Pill, and returned to forging.
• Chen Yu auctioned the next sparring slot, and Li Hu won it for 53 contribution points.
• During the match, Li Hu scratched himself uncontrollably for fifteen minutes, so Chen Yu declared victory.
• Chen Yu defended his methods to the disciples who demanded an explanation and warned them to move aside.
• Chen Yu offered to sell Anti-Trick Cards and handicaps, renewing the disciples' interest before he went inside.