Recaps

At a gathering in the Tai Sui Mountain Range, several lineages discussed the contest for spirit-vein lands and the powerful cultivators they had recruited. Yin Linglong and Wang Yu met Household Head Yu, who revealed his lineage had been devastated by a demonic True Disciple, and Wang Yu noticed Yu Xiaoming had made little progress in cultivation.

• Elder Bi and Household Head Xin discussed why their households needed the contest’s spirit-vein lands and compared the cultivators they had recruited.
• Household Head Xin’s mysterious female ally challenged Lay Buddhist Qing Ge, who dismissed her tricks and expressed confidence in his strength.
• Yin Linglong, Wang Yu, and two elders arrived by Iron Boat and were greeted by Household Head Yu.
• Household Head Yu told Yin Linglong that a demonic True Disciple of the Joyful Bliss Palace had killed his ancestor and caused more than half his lineage to perish.
• Wang Yu recognized Yu Xiaoming, sensed he was still at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, and then looked toward the other man behind Household Head Yu.

Wang Yu arrived with Yin Linglong at the spirit vein competition and learned about the formidable rivals representing the Yu, Mi, and Bi Households. As the gathered competitors awaited the contest, a Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared above the martial arena.

• The Yu Household head recognized Wang Yu as an Inner Disciple and artifact-refining apprentice, and Wang Yu explained that he had joined the competition to broaden his horizons.
• The Yu Household head introduced Gu Lian of the Setting Sun Sect as the Yu Household’s representative and described the Mi Household’s eleven-inscription Jade Wave Saber and the Bi Household’s guest retainer, High Person Azure Halberd.
• Yu Xiaoming asked Wang Yu about his cultivation, and Wang Yu confirmed that he had reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining.
• More flying boats arrived at the stone platforms, and after an hour a scholar-robed man rose above the arena and revealed the powerful aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Liu Ming began the contest for the spirit-vein residential slots, and Wang Yu drew number thirty-six while Gu Lian drew thirteen. The first match revealed a formidable gray-haired fighter, and the next bout began as numbers three and four entered the field.

• Liu Ming explained the single-elimination rules and began the drawing, with Yin Linglong and the Yu Household head drawing for their lineages.
• Wang Yu drew number thirty-six, while Yin Linglong reported that sixty-four lineages were participating; Gu Lian revealed that he had drawn number thirteen.
• Liu Ming started the contest, and the gray-haired old man defeated the young man with the water bowl in a single strike from his disguised whip.
• Wang Yu identified the old man's weapon after using Overclocking, while Gu Lian told the Yu Household head that he could defeat the fighter and would give the contest his all.
• Liu Ming called numbers three and four, and a silver-robed man with a shield and talismans faced a barefoot man carrying a battered bronze mirror.

Gu Lian faced Li Tianqi in the martial arena, where her wind-and-fire attack engulfed the arena. Wang Yu watched as Gu Lian appeared to withstand the powerful assault, leaving the outcome of their match unresolved.

• A jewel-bedecked man conceded after Number Four pinned him against the arena barrier with a powerful beam from a Bronze Mirror.
• Wang Yu explained that the Bronze Mirror used the Golden Light Technique to break defensive spells, and said he would prevent its wielder from using it against him.
• The scholar called Numbers Thirteen and Fourteen, sending Gu Lian to face Li Tianqi of the Four Symbols Sect.
• Li Tianqi released a winged snake and used her Crimson Feather Fan to unleash flames, while Gu Lian walked calmly through the fire.
• Li Tianqi and her winged snake combined wind and fire into a massive firestorm, and Wang Yu observed that Gu Lian seemed to have withstood it.

Gu Lian defeated Li Tianqi with a Flame Veil that absorbed the fire cloud and revealed a Twelve Spirit Inscription Spell, while Shi Jian overwhelmed his opponent with three staff strikes. Wang Yu then entered the arena to face High Person Azure Halberd, who expected to defeat him easily.

• Gu Lian absorbed Li Tianqi's fire cloud into his barrier, formed a powerful crimson orb, and won after Li Tianqi conceded.
• The crowd recognized Gu Lian's Twelve Spirit Inscription Spell, and Wang Yu wondered why Gu Lian's Flame Veil differed from his own.
• Shi Jian defeated a burly opponent with three blows from his staff, impressing the gathered lineages and drawing Wang Yu's interest in the Ape Roar Four Forms.
• Wang Yu was called to fight and flew into the arena, where High Person Azure Halberd dismissed him as an easy opponent because he was only at Middle Qi Refining.

Wang Yu fought High Person Azure Halberd in the arena and defeated him with his speed, defensive techniques, and Sonic Boom Fist. High Person Azure Halberd crashed to the ground unconscious as the spectators watched in silence.

• High Person Azure Halberd attacked Wang Yu with golden halberd strikes, and Wang Yu deflected them before charging in with his saber.
• High Person Azure Halberd broke Wang Yu’s saber and nearly struck him, but Wang Yu used a force from his eyes to divert the blow and then transformed into a larger, golden-mist-wreathed form.
• High Person Azure Halberd split his weapon into two short halberds and pursued Wang Yu, who evaded him with the Wolf-Running Form.
• High Person Azure Halberd’s mental technique disrupted Wang Yu’s afterimages, but Wang Yu landed safely and charged back in.
• Wang Yu seized High Person Azure Halberd’s halberds, then unleashed the Sonic Boom Fist, shattering his golden armor and sending him flying unconscious.
• High Person Azure Halberd’s jade pendant shattered, his halberds flew from his hands, and the spectators fell silent.

Wang Yu defeated High Person Azure Halberd and drew the attention of the other Lineages, while Gu Lian praised his potential. A new match began between a gray-robed saber wielder and a Heavenly Craft Sect puppet master, ending with the gray-robed man revealing the Jade Wave Saber.

• Wang Yu defeated High Person Azure Halberd, and the gathered Lineages discussed his strength as he returned to the Yin Household.
• Gu Lian congratulated Wang Yu and said he could reach great perfection in Qi Refining, startling the Yu Household head and Yu Xiaoming.
• A gray-robed man faced a horse-faced old man and two black-robed figures in the next match.
• The black robes tore away to reveal two Puppet Armored Soldiers from the Heavenly Craft Sect, which attacked the gray-robed man.
• The gray-robed man revealed the Jade Wave Saber, and the horse-faced old man tried to recall his puppets too late.

The gray-robed man defeated the horse-faced elder with the Jade Wave Saber, while Wang Yu and Yin Linglong watched the matches. In the final bout, a qi-refining-perfection elder took the arena alone, then sensed a hidden opponent just as the fight began.

• The gray-robed man shredded the horse-faced elder’s armored puppets with the Jade Wave Saber, and the elder surrendered.
• The gray-robed man turned his attention toward Wang Yu’s platform, while Yin Linglong worried about the saber’s power and Wang Yu reassured her.
• The remaining matches passed with little effort, and Liu Ming announced the final match between numbers sixty-three and sixty-four.
• An elderly cultivator with qi refining perfection entered the arena, but his opponent did not appear, prompting the crowd to wonder if the Xin Household had forfeited.
• When Liu Ming declared the match started, the old man raised earthen walls and swept the arena with wind before a slender figure appeared above him and darted downward.

A concealed woman defeated a qi-refining-perfection elder with the Shadow Secret Art and Spirit-Disrupting Poison, ending the first round of matches. The second round began the next morning, where the Golden Light Mirror user quickly forced his opponent to concede.

• The woman used the Shadow Secret Art to wound the old man, then incapacitated him with Spirit-Disrupting Poison and won his concession.
• Wang Yu watched the woman disappear and wondered whether Overclocking could detect her at closer range.
• Liu Ming ended the day's matches and announced that the second round would begin at sunrise the next morning.
• Wang Yu, Yin Linglong, and the two Yin Household elders rested in caves near the Martial Arts Arena.
• The next morning, the shabbily dressed man used the Golden Light Mirror to overwhelm the gray-haired swordsman, who conceded.

Gu Lian defeated Shi Jian by enduring his three staff strikes with a Flame Veil and burning him with a counterattack. Wang Yu then challenged the gray-robed fighter from the Mi Household to test his Jade Wave Saber against Wang Yu’s own Flame Veil, leaving the spectators astonished that Wang Yu could cast the rare spell.

• Gu Lian blocked Shi Jian’s three staff strikes with a crimson barrier, then struck back with flames that forced Shi Jian to yield.
• Gu Lian extinguished the flames after the scholar declared him the winner, and the Fang Household’s people carried the unconscious Shi Jian away.
• After several uneventful matches, Wang Yu entered the arena to face the gray-robed man carrying the Jade Wave Saber.
• Wang Yu proposed that he remain still and withstand the saber’s full-power strike with a defensive spell, promising to concede if it broke through.
• The gray-robed man accepted, and Wang Yu cast Flame Veil, shocking the spectators who recognized it as a rare twelve-spirit-inscription spell.

Wang Yu defended against the gray-robed man's strongest saber attack and won, then advanced through the opening matches of the third round. After a beautiful middle-aged woman conceded rather than face him, the chapter left Wang Yu leaving the arena after she invited him to visit her household and hinted at her unmarried daughters.

• The gray-robed man unleashed the Jade Wave Saber against Wang Yu's Flame Veil, but the barrier endured, and he conceded.
• Gu Lian recognized Wang Yu's spell as the unmodified Primordial Flame Veil and praised his talent through a voice transmission.
• The second round ended after the final fighter conceded because his opponent was absent, and Liu Ming announced the third round.
• A burly fighter defeated the raggedly dressed man with paired axes and a Mirror-Surface Talisman, while Gu Lian won his match against an opponent whose spells could not break his Flame Veil.
• The beautiful middle-aged woman conceded to Wang Yu, explaining that his fire cultivation and Body Tempering countered her techniques, then invited him to visit the Xu Household and mentioned her two unmarried daughters.

Wang Yu watched the final matches of the Lineage competition, where the Xin Household’s slender contestant defeated a zither-wielding opponent with her Black Sash artifact. After Gu Lian secured one Spirit Vein slot, Wang Yu faced the slender woman and activated overclocked synchronization as he prepared to counter her Shadow Escape Technique.

• Yin Linglong warned Wang Yu to keep his distance from Madam Xu, and he denied that anything had happened between them.
• The brocade-robed young man used his Wooden Zither to reveal the slender woman and disrupt her Shadow Escape Technique, but she reassembled her Black Sash and forced him to concede.
• Liu Ming began the later rounds, and Wang Yu and the slender woman emerged as the likely rivals for the remaining Spirit Vein slot.
• Gu Lian’s burly opponent conceded, securing a Spirit Vein slot for the Yu Household.
• Wang Yu entered the arena against the slender woman and activated overclocked synchronization.

Wang Yu fought a slender woman who used concealment, illusions, and magical artifacts to attack him in the Martial Arts Arena. After destroying her Black Sash, he cornered her with pursuing Willow-Leaf Flying Knives and a sudden punch.

• Wang Yu detected two concealed figures, exposed the slender woman with fireballs, and struck through her illusions with his Bone Saber.
• The woman attacked Wang Yu from behind with her Soul-Chasing Spike, but his Might Warrior body withstood the blow and he drove her back with a palm strike.
• Wang Yu destroyed the woman's Black Sash with claw shadows, then broke free of its binding in a pillar of fire and burned it away.
• Wang Yu sent three Willow-Leaf Flying Knives after the fleeing woman, then blocked her path and punched at her.

Wang Yu defeated the slender Thousand Bamboo Sect disciple and secured a Spirit Vein allotment for the Yu Household, while the Yin Household also received one. After the contest, Gu Lian and Li Tianqi arrived, and Li Tianqi revealed that Gu Lian had once been a top True Disciple of the Setting Sun Sect.

• Wang Yu struck through the slender woman's black shield, then used three iron-essence throwing knives to force her surrender.
• The slender woman questioned Wang Yu's secret art and complained about her damaged magical artifact, while Wang Yu offered to repair her shield.
• Liu Ming announced that the Yu Household and Yin Household had won the Spirit Vein allotments and gave each a token.
• Wang Yu told Yin Linglong to arrange the move and said he would cultivate in seclusion until he reached late Qi refining, asking her to collect books about Immortal Cultivators.
• Gu Lian and Li Tianqi came to speak with Wang Yu and Yin Linglong, and Li Tianqi identified Gu Lian as a former top ten True Disciple of the Setting Sun Sect with an essence fire physique.

Li Tianqi invited Wang Yu to join her team for the Four Sects Assembly and explained its likely format and valuable prizes. Wang Yu agreed to consider the invitation and asked whether True Disciples could compete.

• Gu Lian and Li Tianqi discussed their reasons for entering the spirit vein contest with Wang Yu.
• Li Tianqi took Wang Yu aside and invited him to join her team for the Four Sects Assembly in two years.
• Wang Yu asked about the assembly’s rewards, and Li Tianqi described the Blood Spirit Pill and other prizes from the previous assembly.
• Li Tianqi explained that disciples were already forming teams and asked Wang Yu to give her team priority.
• Wang Yu said he would consider the invitation and asked whether True Disciples could participate.

Wang Yu learned more about the Four Sects Assembly and discovered that Gu Lian was Master Sun’s nephew, who offered him pills in exchange for a secret artifact-refining task. The chapter ended with Gu Lian explaining that the consumable artifact required eleven spirit inscriptions and that he wanted the work kept hidden from certain people in the Setting Sun Sect.

• Li Tianqi told Wang Yu that disciples in the Qi Refining Realm could enter the Four Sects Assembly, though True Disciples were likely to claim the rewards.
• Gu Lian revealed that he had once been surnamed Sun and was the nephew of Master Sun, who had praised Wang Yu’s artifact-refining talent.
• Gu Lian said his cultivation had fallen after a failed Foundation Establishment attempt and offered Wang Yu Essence-Enhancing Pills to help him advance.
• Wang Yu declined the pills until Gu Lian explained what he wanted in return.
• Gu Lian asked Wang Yu to refine a secret, single-use magical artifact with eleven spirit inscriptions and promised to provide the materials and further payment.

After accepting Gu Lian’s offer to refine a magical artifact, Wang Yu returned to the sect and broke through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining. He planned to become a certified artifact refiner and strengthen himself for the Four-Sect Assembly, then asked Master Sun to help him apply.

• Wang Yu agreed to refine Gu Lian’s Eleven-Spirit-Inscription Magical Artifact in exchange for an additional high-grade Essence-Enhancing Pill and ten thousand spirit stones.
• Half a month later, Wang Yu returned to his residence and spent six months cultivating with Essence-Enhancing Pills.
• Wang Yu broke through to late Qi Refining, finding that his dharma power and divine sense had greatly increased.
• Wang Yu decided to pursue certification as an artifact refiner, inscribe the Golden Needle Technique into his divine sense sea, and master the third layer of the Black Tiger Breathing Method before the Four-Sect Assembly.
• Wang Yu asked Master Sun to help him apply for certification, and Master Sun warned that he would have only one chance to forge a Ranked Magical Artifact under three certified refiners’ observation.

Wang Yu requested an official artifact-refining assessment, and Master Sun arranged for two senior refiners to witness him make a Fire Dragon Sword. After watching Wang Yu complete the work with exceptional steadiness, the witnesses discussed whether his composure and flawless inscriptions suggested something unusual about him.

• Wang Yu asked Master Sun to arrange an official artifact-refining assessment, and Master Sun summoned two artifact refiners as witnesses.
• The black-robed woman and the burly man arrived, questioned Wang Yu, and agreed to watch his assessment.
• Wang Yu chose to refine a Fire Dragon Sword and spent several days preparing its blank and inscribing its patterns.
• After leaving the refining chamber, the burly man wondered how Wang Yu had completed every inscription pattern successfully on his first attempt.
• The black-robed woman suggested that Wang Yu had refined many Fire Dragon Swords before, then remarked that he had seemed completely composed throughout the process.

Wang Yu passed the Certified Artifact Refiner assessment and learned about the resources and opportunities available to him. After Master Sun advised him on designing a complex Set Magical Artifact for the Four Sects Assembly, Wang Yu returned to his residence and entered the Silver Hall.

• Xiao and Guo discussed Wang Yu's new certification and decided that befriending him could be worthwhile.
• Master Sun congratulated Wang Yu on passing the assessment and explained the benefits and responsibilities of being a Certified Artifact Refiner.
• Wang Yu told Master Sun he planned to attend the Four Sects Assembly and refine a custom Set Magical Artifact using firecloud copper.
• Master Sun warned Wang Yu about the risks of a complicated design, then shared his experience refining Set Magical Artifacts.
• Wang Yu returned to his residence, entered the login interface at Taiyuan's prompt, and appeared inside the Silver Hall.

Wang Yu tested how the Login Hall reproduced weapons and materials, then refined a compact Magical Artifact modeled on the Windfire Chant. He used the system to begin simulating ranked Magical Artifact designs, leaving the process underway with three attempts remaining.

• Wang Yu tested reproduced blades and a finished Windfire Chant, firing its small arrows into an Iron Essence plate and considering how to improve their power.
• Wang Yu configured a simulation for a ranked set of Magical Artifacts and raised its chance of a perfect result from 55% to 78% by removing enhancement requirements.
• Wang Yu authorized the actual simulation, and the system began a process estimated to take nearly four hours.

Wang Yu obtained the derivation for the Parent-Child Floating Mirror and began gathering materials to refine it. At the Scripture Pavilion, he found several techniques and chose to investigate a dangerous new primordial spell, the Wind-Fire Wheel.

• Wang Yu extracted the completed derivation and learned that the Parent-Child Floating Mirror was a complex three-piece artifact set that required rare materials and middle-grade thunder spirit stones to operate.
• Wang Yu bought a piece of radiance crystal from the General Affairs Hall for three thousand spirit stones, spending more than half his funds.
• Wang Yu went to the Scripture Pavilion to learn the Artifact Control Technique and search for escape and concealment arts.
• Wang Yu found the Cloud Concealment Technique and examined the ordinary Fire Escape Technique before searching the primordial spells.
• Wang Yu discovered the newly added Wind-Fire Wheel, read its warnings about its difficulty and risks, and took the feather to the pavilion steward.

After becoming the Four Symbols Sect’s twelfth Certified Artifact Refiner, Wang Yu was allowed to select an independent cave abode. He chose one below the mountainside, but Hall Master Bai told him it had already been reserved for someone else.

• Wang Yu chose the Wind-Fire Wheel primordial spell despite the gray-robed elder’s warning and paid two hundred spirit stones to borrow it along with the Cloud Concealment Technique manual.
• Wang Yu declined several Inner Disciples’ invitations to join teams for the Four Sects Assembly.
• The Artifact Refining Hall notified Wang Yu that his certification had been approved, making him the sect’s twelfth Certified Artifact Refiner.
• Hall Master Bai showed Wang Yu a map of available independent cave abodes and explained the limits on where he could choose.
• After inspecting the vacant abodes, Wang Yu selected one below the mountainside, but Hall Master Bai said it had already been reserved.

Wang Yu moved into a cave abode after learning that his first choice had been reserved by someone with powerful connections, then prepared an artifact refining chamber for his next project. He began studying newly acquired spells and planned to gather materials for a Parent-Child Floating Mirror, while worrying that Taiyuan’s designs might not work in practice.

• Hall Master Bai told Wang Yu that someone influential had reserved his first-choice cave abode, so Wang Yu selected another nearby cave abode instead.
• Wang Yu entered his new cave abode with its illusion formation and restrictive seals, inspected its rooms and Cold Spring Well, and decided where to install an artifact refining chamber and earthfire furnace.
• Wang Yu moved his belongings and two young Iron-Head Crocodiles into the cave abode, then studied the spirit markings for two new spells using Overclocking mode.
• A team of a Formation Master apprentice and Puppet Masters built Wang Yu’s artifact refining chamber and earthfire furnace in half a day.
• Wang Yu planned to collect spirit materials from the General Affairs Hall for a Parent-Child Floating Mirror and worried that Taiyuan’s artifact designs might be impractical.

Wang Yu practiced the Artifact Control Technique and spent months refining components for the Parent-Child Floating Mirror while training new spells. After failing to master the eleven-inscription Wind-Fire Wheel, he considered resetting one of the three spells in his Divine Sense Sea to make room for it.

• Wang Yu studied the Artifact Control Technique and thought of the River-Crossing Sword.
• Wang Yu gathered the eighteen materials for the Parent-Child Floating Mirror, borrowed several thousand spirit stones from Master Sun, and began forging its component embryos using Overclocking mode.
• Wang Yu practiced controlling eight rods, then transformed them into golden needles and fired them forward with the Golden Needle Technique.
• Wang Yu spent the following months refining artifact components, practicing a concealment spell, and engraving inscriptions on a golden bead.
• Wang Yu failed to form the Wind-Fire Wheel, crashed into a pond, and decided he might have to reset one of the three spells in his Divine Sense Sea to make room for it.

Wang Yu tested the Parent-Child Floating Mirror, a magical artifact combining cultivation techniques with Blue Star technology, and discovered its linked mirrors could unleash coordinated attacks and defenses. He began activating the Golden Needle Technique, transforming all three mirrors into floating mech cannons modeled after weapons from Blue Star’s Star River game.

• Wang Yu completed the Parent-Child Floating Mirror and brought it to the Martial Arts Arena to test it.
• He fed thunder spirit stones to the main mirror and its two child mirrors, then used his Dharma Power and Divine Sense to control them.
• The three mirrors fired a barrage of fireballs and formed linked Flame Veils that shifted into protective shields and then enormous swirling fireballs.
• Wang Yu ended the Flame Veil test and activated the Golden Needle Technique by touching the golden bead with his Divine Thought.
• All three mirrors transformed into floating mech cannons resembling those carried by the Fire Phoenix Type III mech in Star River promotional material.