Recaps

Wang Yu passed the assessment to become a True Disciple, then waited for Little White to emerge from its mutation. Little White grew larger and developed blue scales, and Uncle Li began investigating its unusual changes.

• Wang Yu used a golden palm to defeat the tall-crowned man's Bronze Hammer and passed the assessment.
• Yu Bin told Wang Yu he would report his success to the Sect Master, while Uncle Li said Little White would soon finish mutating.
• Two days later, Little White broke out of its egg, revealing its larger body, pink eyes, and blue belly scales.
• Uncle Li explained that Little White's phosphorization was unusual and proposed examining it and taking a scale and some essence blood for further research.
• After testing Little White for an hour, Uncle Li left for his cave residence, while Wang Yu stared in shock at the sight before him.

Wang Yu began studying alchemy under Fan Tian after exchanging a supreme-grade Water Cloud Pill, while Little White recovered from its mutation and displayed powerful water control. Wang Yu became a Black Tortoise true disciple, moved to a new cave-dwelling, and withdrew from public view as the years passed.

• Little White played with crocodiles shaped from water, and Wang Yu observed its refined water-control ability and apparent increase in intelligence.
• Wang Yu flew to Fan Tian's cave-dwelling, presented him with a supreme-grade Water Cloud Pill, and agreed to study alchemy under a three-year trial.
• Fan Tian gave Wang Yu a jade slip containing introductory alchemy texts and arranged for Fan Yin to show him the Alchemy Chamber.
• The General Affairs Hall announced that Wang Yu had officially become a Black Tortoise true disciple, drawing attention from other true disciples.
• Wang Yu moved into a vacant True Disciple Cave-Dwelling, had an Alchemy Chamber built, and rarely appeared in public as the years passed.

Twelve years later, two cultivators discussed a new prodigy, a True Disciple appointment tied to exchanges with the Thousand Bamboo Sect, and efforts to strip Wang Yu of his True Disciple status. They expected a Qi Refining disciple to challenge Wang Yu, setting up a contest over his position.

• The woman in white told Senior Brother Xuan that the Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise Lineages were competing for a recruit with an exceptionally high-quality ice spirit root.
• Senior Brother Xuan and the woman discussed how dwindling resources and an upcoming exchange with the Thousand Bamboo Sect had shaped the choice of a new True Disciple.
• The woman said Wang Yu might lose his True Disciple position because he had remained in the Qi Refining Realm for over ten years and had not visited Uncle-Master Sky Toad.
• Senior Brother Xuan explained that Wang Yu could be removed by losing a challenge from another disciple at the same cultivation realm.
• The woman confirmed that Wang Yu's opponents planned to send a Qi Refining disciple against him, and Senior Brother Xuan remarked that defeating him might require special measures.

Senior Brother Xuan and Junior Sister Feng discussed Zhu Wuyan’s strength and the trade-offs of their Foundation Establishment cultivation methods. Elsewhere, Wan Shan entered a market for rogue cultivators and met Madam Huo to exchange pills and check on ingredients.

• Senior Brother Xuan described Zhu Wuyan’s feats and compared him with the sect’s true disciples.
• Senior Brother Xuan said he expected to reach the middle stage within three years, while Junior Sister Feng lamented being stuck at the third layer after choosing the Evergreen Scripture.
• Wan Shan arrived at a secluded cultivator market, showed his token to the guards, and entered without being stopped.
• Wan Shan visited Madam Huo’s treasure shop and offered a hundred low-grade and three Middle-Grade Essence-Enhancing Pills.
• Wan Shan asked Madam Huo whether she had prepared the pill-refining ingredients he had requested.

Wang Yu sold Essence-Enhancing Pills to Madam Huo and acquired rare herbs and formulas, including the Blood-Coagulating Pill and Dust-Settling Pill formulas. After declining requests to refine pills for clients, he left the market and returned to his cave, where he removed his disguise.

• Madam Huo offered Wang Yu two rare spirit herbs and the Blood-Coagulating and Dust-Settling Pill formulas in exchange for part of his pill earnings.
• Wang Yu studied the formulas, learned that the Blood-Coagulating Pill required rare blood-transforming earthworms, and accepted a cultivation method for the delicate dewfall grass needed for the Dust-Settling Pill.
• Madam Huo paid Wang Yu the balance for his pills after deducting the cost of the herbs, formulas, and ingredients for more Essence-Enhancing Pills.
• Wang Yu refused to take pill-refining commissions and explained that he collected rare formulas and herbs to build his alchemy experience.
• Wang Yu bought supplies, left the market on his Mechanism Flying Bird, and entered a concealed cave after confirming no one had followed him.
• Wang Yu removed his Mask beside the Crimson Furnace, revealing his true face.

Wang Yu escaped his watched cave abode, sold Magical Artifacts, and returned to Heaven-Pillar Mountain, where he learned that the Yun Household and other Lineages planned to challenge his position as a True Disciple. He entered his cavern sanctuary and found that the lake’s medicinal potency was ready for another bath to purge the remaining Elixir Toxin from his body.

• Wang Yu spotted two figures watching his cave abode, escaped through a hidden tunnel, and left behind a sealed, empty cave.
• The two watchers found Wang Yu gone and sent a message to Market City.
• Wang Yu disguised himself as an old farmer, sold Magical Artifacts, bought pill-refining and artifact-refining materials, and later returned to Heaven-Pillar Mountain through the Back Mountain entrance.
• Big Green greeted Wang Yu and gave him a Communication Talisman carrying Wan Shan’s warning that the Yun Household and other Lineages planned to challenge his True Disciple position.
• Wang Yu entered his cavern sanctuary and decided the lake’s medicinal potency was ready for a bath that could purge the rest of his Elixir Toxin.

Wang Yu used a costly Marrow-Washing Hot Spring to purge pill toxins and tested the power of his Fire Spirit Art at great perfection in the twelfth layer. He then freed Little White from its icy chamber and fed it expensive Tai Sui Demon Beast meat.

• Wang Yu checked the medicated spring and reflected on the rare herbs, years of preparation, and pill toxins he had accumulated from powerful cultivation pills.
• Wang Yu manifested a blazing sphere with his Fire Spirit Art and praised its strength at great perfection in the twelfth layer.
• Wang Yu entered the frozen stone chamber and called to Little White, which broke free from its ice sphere.
• Wang Yu fed Little White several lumps of Tai Sui Demon Beast meat and complained that its appetite had grown costly since it swallowed Flood Dragon essence blood.

Wang Yu watched Little White enter another icy slumber as its body and strength continued to change from the White Flood Dragon essence blood it had swallowed. After tending to his crocodiles, he went to his private Alchemy Chamber.

• Wang Yu fed Little White second-tier demon beast meat, and it fell asleep inside a ball of ice.
• Wang Yu recalled that Uncle Li had identified Little White's changes as its iron-head crocodile bloodline evolving toward a flood dragon, likely due to Fourth-Tier White Flood Dragon essence blood.
• Uncle Li later resigned from the Spirit Beast Pavilion and entered seclusion, while Wang Yu's Communication Talismans to him went unanswered.
• Little White grew a white horn, became more slender, and developed demonic qi comparable to a great-perfection qi-refining cultivator after years of eating second-tier Tai Sui meat.
• Wang Yu left meat for Little White, then entered his private Alchemy Chamber.

Wang Yu reflected on how years of practice had made him a skilled alchemist, then used the login interface to raise his cultivation to great perfection of Qi Refining. After swallowing a high-grade Spirit Dread Pill, he sat in the hall’s chair as the login interface activated.

• Wang Yu examined and tasted the two spirit herbs he had purchased before considering the pill furnace.
• Wang Yu recalled that Overclocking could not replace the experience needed for alchemy, but he had eventually mastered pill refining after producing an inferior Grain-Repelling Pill.
• Wang Yu entered the Silver Hall and released his spiritual pressure, advancing through three minor stages until he reached great perfection of Qi Refining.
• Wang Yu condensed a high-grade Spirit Dread Pill, swallowed it, and sat in the black metal chair as a red light and virtual keyboard appeared.

Wang Yu used Taiyuan to derive the Fire Spirit Art through the fifteenth level, then practiced alchemy and refined a high-grade Dread Pill in the Login Hall. He discovered that his Login Hall body retained its pill-enhanced cultivation between visits, leaving it at the fifteenth level while his real-world body remained at Great Perfection of the twelfth level.

• Taiyuan announced that Wang Yu had used a temporary derivation privilege and displayed the fifteenth-level Fire Spirit Art formulas, warning that the material belonged to Taiyuan.
• Wang Yu checked his Blue Star Alliance military-service countdown and estimated that about eighty years remained in the cultivation world before his service began on Blue Star.
• Wang Yu practiced alchemy in the Login Hall and refined five Dread Pills, keeping the middle-grade pill and discarding the low-grade ones.
• Wang Yu entered a Quiet Chamber and began refining a high-grade Spirit Dread Pill, which could add nearly thirteen years to his cultivation.
• Wang Yu recognized that his Login Hall body preserved the effects of pills between visits, so that body had reached the fifteenth level of Qi Refining while his real-world body remained at Great Perfection of the twelfth level.

Wang Yu pushed his Login Interface body to the fifteenth Qi Refining level and attempted Foundation Establishment, but the breakthrough failed and destroyed most of his dantian. After returning to his cave abode, he learned that the Yun Household planned to have He Wendao challenge him for his true disciple position.

• Wang Yu used Taiyuan to derive the Fire Spirit Art's thirteenth through fifteenth levels and cultivated his Login Interface body to the fifteenth Qi Refining level.
• Wang Yu began attempting Foundation Establishment in the Login Interface, but his dharma power only partly liquefied before the rest exploded and destroyed most of his dantian.
• Wang Yu returned to his real-world cave abode, concluded that the attempt had failed, and planned to try again after his star thought power recovered.
• Wan Shan sent Wang Yu a Communication Talisman warning that the Yun Household would likely have He Wendao challenge him for his true disciple position.

Wang Yu cultivated with the rare resources and Lesser Spirit-Gathering Array granted to him as a True Disciple. A month later, He Wendao arrived with Yun Cang and publicly challenged him, leaving Wang Yu's response unknown.

• Wang Yu activated the Lesser Spirit-Gathering Array and cultivated in his stone chamber with Heart-Calming Incense.
• One month later, Yun Cang brought He Wendao to Wang Yu's cave abode.
• He Wendao loudly requested a fight with Wang Yu, citing Wang Yu's past victory over a Demonic Path True Disciple.
• When Wang Yu did not answer, He Wendao taunted him and demanded he relinquish his True Disciple position if he lacked the courage to fight.
• Nearby cultivators speculated that the Yun Household had persuaded He Wendao with a dual cultivation partner and a Hundred Meridians Reforging Pill.

Yun Caishang and the Yun Household schemed to secure a True Disciple position for Yun Wangshan by having He Wendao challenge Wang Yu. Half a month into the wait outside Wang Yu’s cave, a spectacular surge of spiritual qi erupted from inside, astonishing Yun Cang and leaving He Wendao visibly unsettled.

• He Wendao declared he would wait outside Wang Yu’s cave for a month so Wang Yu could accept his challenge whenever he chose.
• Yun Caishang agreed to support Yun Wangshan’s bid for a True Disciple position if he first gained merit through sect missions, while warning that He Wendao had to defeat Wang Yu.
• Sect Master Kang and a fellow sect leader discussed the Yun Household’s scheme and waited to see whether He Wendao could win his challenge.
• Half a month later, a pillar of red light burst from Wang Yu’s cave and spread into a vast, swirling funnel as multicolored lights appeared across the area.
• Yun Cang recognized the phenomenon as spiritual qi manifestation, while He Wendao stared at it with an ugly expression.

Wang Yu successfully established his Foundation and became a Foundation Establishment cultivator, surprising the Four Symbols Sect and ending He Wendao’s challenge. After stabilizing his cultivation, he became Heaven Toad Ancestor’s Personal Disciple and was asked about his future cultivation method.

• Wang Yu absorbed spiritual energy through a great funnel and successfully broke through to Foundation Establishment, drawing congratulations from the cultivators nearby.
• Yun Cang and He Wendao left after realizing He Wendao could no longer challenge Wang Yu, and news of Wang Yu’s breakthrough spread through the Four Symbols Sect.
• Wang Yu examined his stronger divine sense, liquid dharma power, and increased lifespan, then decided to stabilize his cultivation and ignore He Wendao’s challenge.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor made Wang Yu his Personal Disciple, and Wang Yu kowtowed to him as his master.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor told Wang Yu about his absent Senior Sister and asked whether Wang Yu had cultivated the Mysterious Armor Scripture.

Heaven Toad Ancestor advised Wang Yu on choosing a Foundation Establishment cultivation art and recommended the Setting Sun Sect’s Crimson Sun Great Art. Wang Yu accepted its steep resource costs and difficult breakthroughs and decided to learn it.

• Wang Yu told Heaven Toad Ancestor that he had focused on reaching Foundation Establishment rather than cultivating the Mysterious Armor Scripture.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor explained that Foundation Establishment arts often required inherited treasures and described the Black Tortoise Lineage’s available options.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor warned Wang Yu that the Vermilion Bird Lineage’s Separation Fire Art carried dangerous backlash and that its other fire arts had limited potential.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor recommended the Setting Sun Sect’s Crimson Sun Great Art, explaining that it consumed far more resources and had difficult middle- and late-stage breakthroughs.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor revealed that he knew Wang Yu practiced alchemy and said his alchemy and artifact-refining skills could help fund the art.
• Wang Yu decided to learn the Crimson Sun Great Art.

Wang Yu received Heaven Toad Ancestor’s support and chose a magical artifact and spirit-soul secret art after becoming his personal disciple. He visited the Scripture Pavilion to claim a free second-tier spell and asked whether its Inner Pavilion held second-tier innate spell items.

• Heaven Toad Ancestor promised to send Wang Yu to the Setting Sun Sect, altered his True Disciple Token, and offered him a magical artifact, a secret art, and a Talisman Treasure.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor brought Wang Yu to his secret chamber, where Wang Yu selected the Mount Mi Seal and the Soul-Subduing Art.
• Wang Yu studied the Soul-Subduing Art and decided to cultivate it, then planned to visit the Scripture Pavilion for a second-tier spell and a method for condensing divine thought.
• Wang Yu visited the Scripture Pavilion and gave the gray-robed elder tai sui meat for Grayling.
• The elder verified Wang Yu’s Identity Token and led him into the Inner Pavilion, where Wang Yu asked if it contained second-tier innate spell items.

Wang Yu examined the inner repository’s three second-tier innate spell items while seeking spirit inscriptions that could aid his artifact refining. He chose the fire-attribute Flame Blade, despite its ninety-eight spirit inscriptions and high cost.

• The gray-robed elder warned Wang Yu that second-tier innate spells were difficult to comprehend and expensive, but Wang Yu explained that he wanted to study their inscriptions for artifact refining.
• The elder explained why second-tier spells were rarer and more difficult to master, adding that a Foundation Establishment cultivator could generally master one for instant casting.
• Wang Yu examined the White Mist Ox’s Mist Sea Spell and rejected it because it only spread mist.
• Wang Yu rejected the Earth Dragon Beast’s Earth-Splitting Spell because he lacked an earth spirit root.
• Wang Yu inspected the final item, learned it contained the fire-attribute Flame Blade, and chose it without hesitation.

Wang Yu chose to study a rare primordial spell and learned the Split Thought Art, then condensed nine divine thoughts to control multiple artifacts. He began examining the Beast Claw with Overclocking, leaving his study of the spell underway.

• The gray-robed elder warned Wang Yu that no one had mastered the Beast Claw’s primordial spell, but Wang Yu insisted on studying it and took the item.
• Wang Yu exchanged for the Split Thought Art and learned about Spirit Stabilizing Liquid, which could make one second-tier spell instantaneous after Foundation Establishment.
• Wang Yu used Overclocking to study the Split Thought Art and learned that divine thoughts let cultivators control magical artifacts directly.
• Over half a month, Wang Yu condensed nine divine thoughts and demonstrated control of nine bone magical artifacts at once.
• Wang Yu took out the Beast Claw, invoked Overclocking, and probed it with his divine sense.

Wang Yu used Overclocking to begin deciphering the Flame Blade spell pattern diagram, but the first spirit inscription took three days and left him too exhausted to continue. After resting, he inspected his secluded room and decided to wait before combining his White Bone Fiends with the Yin Soul Banner.

• Wang Yu overclocked nine strands of divine thought to deduce one spirit inscription in the Flame Blade diagram, discovering that the process was far slower and harder than his earlier deductions.
• After three days and nights, Wang Yu clarified one of the diagram's ninety-eight symbols and estimated that deciphering the whole spell would take about a year, so he put the Beast Claw away to handle more pressing matters.
• Wang Yu recovered by taking a Grain-Repelling Pill and sleeping for more than half a day.
• Wang Yu entered a hidden room containing thirteen White Bone Fiends and checked the Miniature Banner above the White Bone Altar.
• Wang Yu enlarged the Yin Soul Banner and saw that it had eight spirit inscriptions, with a ninth not yet formed, so he chose to delay combining it with the White Bone Fiends.

Wang Yu began using White Bone Nine Refinements to strengthen his White Bone Fiends and visited Master Sun after reaching Foundation Establishment. Master Sun explained what Wang Yu would need to become a Second-Tier Artifact Refiner, leaving him with guidance about the importance of his sect’s support.

• Wang Yu began refining spirit bones into a White Bone Fiend with White Bone Nine Refinements and considered hunting second-tier demon beasts for better materials.
• Wang Yu visited Master Sun and gave him a three-hundred-year-old Reverting Heart Grass in gratitude for his instruction in artifact refining.
• Xiao Wei met Wang Yu at Master Sun’s cave abode and deferentially asked him to look after her.
• Wang Yu told Master Sun he intended to become a Second-Tier Artifact Refiner and asked for guidance.
• Master Sun explained that second-tier artifact refinement required Foundation Establishment cultivation, knowledge of rare materials, and mastery of second-tier spell pattern diagrams, emphasizing the need for sect resources.

Wang Yu sought Master Sun’s advice on becoming a Second-Tier Artifact Refiner and began practicing with iron mother. After successfully making a crude second-tier flying knife, he continued working on a long saber in the Silver Hall’s artifact-refining room.

• Master Sun told Wang Yu that, as a True Disciple, he would have to gather second-tier materials and develop his skills without relying on the sect to train him.
• Xiao Wei lamented that years of artifact refining had delayed her cultivation, while Master Sun and Wang Yu encouraged her to keep working toward becoming a Certified Artifact Refiner.
• A month later, Wang Yu successfully refined a flying knife from iron mother after more than a dozen failed attempts and over twenty thousand Spirit Stones’ worth of material.
• Wang Yu tested the flying knife’s power, then visited the Scripture Pavilion and selected the twenty-four-inscription Wind Bolt Technique.
• Two months later, Wang Yu hammered metal into the shape of a long saber and began engraving it with pale-blue Inscription Patterns in the Silver Hall.

Heaven Toad Ancestor sent Wang Yu to the Setting Sun Sect to study the Crimson Sun Great Art and advised him to seek a spirit flame. As Wang Yu traveled to complete the sect’s assessment mission, he considered developing a powerful lifebound magical artifact.

• Heaven Toad Ancestor gave Wang Yu a mission jade slip, a temporary True Disciple token, and a Fire Crystal Bottle, and warned him to build a stable foundation while cultivating the Crimson Sun Great Art.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor and the Golden Toad discussed Wang Yu’s prospects, Mei’er’s flight from her marriage, and the growing pressure from the Demonic Path.
• Several days later, Wang Yu traveled by wooden boat with two spirit beasts while studying Formation Notes from Senior Brother Yun.
• Wang Yu considered inscribing formation seals into second-tier magical artifacts and wondered what could serve as his lifebound magical artifact.

Wang Yu visited Yin Linglong after reaching Foundation Establishment, and the Yin Household and neighboring lineages celebrated his return. He noticed that the mysterious celestial body Chang Geng had been appearing more often, leaving him curious about what the change meant.

• Wang Yu decided to save his final Taiyuan deduction opportunity and prioritized visiting the Yin Household before beginning the Setting Sun Sect's assessment mission.
• Wang Yu arrived at the Yin Household's new home, where Yin Linglong and the household cultivators welcomed him as their Patriarch.
• Neighboring lineages sent elders with lavish gifts to congratulate Wang Yu on reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Wang Yu and Yin Linglong spent the evening together, then discussed Chang Geng's increasingly frequent appearances and longer visibility.
• Wang Yu gave Yin Linglong a Morning Glory Jade pendant sent as a gift by the Jia lineage.

Wang Yu and Yin Linglong discussed her cultivation, the Yin Household’s prospects, and their hopes for a child before Wang Yu set out to investigate a demon-beast mission near Mapleleaf Town. He arrived to find the Tong Household’s village destroyed, while a bloodied girl fled through the mountains.

• Yin Linglong told Wang Yu she wanted a Youth-Restoring Pill, and he promised to look for one while arranging for the Yin Household to gather first-tier alchemy resources.
• Wang Yu urged Yin Linglong to focus on reaching foundation establishment so she could grow old with him and strengthen the Yin Household.
• Wang Yu left on a Flying Boat to investigate missing Setting Sun Sect disciples and reports of a ranked demon beast near Mapleleaf Town.
• A bloodied girl fled through the woods as flames and black vapor engulfed a village near Mapleleaf Town.
• Wang Yu reached the village ruins ten days later and realized that the Tong Household had been wiped out.

Wang Yu investigated the destroyed Tong Household village and discovered signs of a Yin Corpse Rat outbreak. Beneath a well, he found a hidden hall with a broken cage and bundles of preserved demonic rat corpses, leaving the creature’s escape and whereabouts unresolved.

• Wang Yu searched the ruins with Big Green and Little White and found a poisoned Tong Household member and a dead Skeleton Rat locked together.
• Wang Yu recognized the beast as a Skeleton Rat and inferred that a Yin Corpse Rat was likely nearby.
• Wang Yu found two more mutilated Tong Household corpses, burned them, and noticed signs of fighting but few bodies.
• Wang Yu detected a Restrictive Seal on a well and leaped through it into a hidden underground hall.
• Wang Yu found an empty, damaged iron cage and bundles of dried demonic rat corpses, including one whose demonic energy nearly reached the second tier.