Recaps

Tang Yan secured authority over the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion and negotiated an Imperial Family partnership to enter the pill market. He then met the Pavilion’s leaders and declared that they would answer only to him, though their reactions showed they doubted his authority.

• Qing Xuan gave Tang Yan the token granting authority over the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion’s three forces and named him an Imperial Throne Guest Official.
• Tang Yan promised to take control of the Imperial Guards, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, and the Imperial Pill Pavilion within three days, and proposed that Reach the Summit challenge the Heavenly Pill Palace’s dominance.
• Tang Yan and Qing Xuan negotiated a deal in which the Imperial Family would supply medicinal ingredients and receive forty percent of Reach the Summit’s profits.
• Qing Xuan led Tang Yan to the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion, where he met the Crown Prince and the leaders of its three forces.
• Tang Yan declared that the leaders would answer only to him, and Qing Xuan confirmed his authority as they reacted with shock, defiance, and doubt.

Tang Yan took command of the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion and requested its complete records, earning the disdain of its members. After organizing and studying the files overnight, he arrived the next morning to inspect the assembled Imperial Guards, Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, and Imperial Pill Pavilion.

• The Crown Prince introduced Tang Yan to Ming Lie, Mo Wei, He Zhang, Kun He, and Hua Yu, and Tang Yan asked Mo Wei for every record on the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion's members and activities.
• Tang Yan ordered everyone not away on assignment to assemble the next morning and warned that late arrivals would face military punishment.
• Tang Yan told Zi Yun that he had agreed to stay in the Imperial Palace because the emperor had used his father's whereabouts as leverage, and he noted that the Imperial Guards could serve as sparring partners.
• Tang Yan spent the night sorting and studying the files, assessing the size and strengths of the Imperial Guards, Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, and Imperial Pill Pavilion.
• The next morning, Tang Yan arrived to find all three organizations assembled and said he had read most of the files, despite He Zhang's mockery.

Tang Yan accused Lin Feng of being a traitor who had compromised Heavenly Soldier Pavilion missions and caused the deaths of its members. Lin Feng tried to leave, and Tang Yan ordered Mo Wei to seize him.

• Tang Yan challenged He Zhang over the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s mission failures and deaths, then suggested faulty intelligence pointed to a mole.
• Tang Yan called Lin Feng forward and threatened to kill him, citing his survival in three failed missions and his suspicious actions during two operations.
• Lin Feng denied betraying the pavilion and accused Tang Yan of making baseless charges.
• Tang Yan revealed that Lin Feng had known about an ambush at Flat Sand Lake, while other teams following the plan were wiped out.
• Mo Wei denounced Lin Feng, who declared he was leaving the pavilion, and Tang Yan ordered Mo Wei to seize him.

Tang Yan exposed Yan Wentong and Bai Jin as spies who had framed Lü Fan and sabotaged the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion's missions. Mo Wei killed Yan Wentong and mourned Lü Fan, while Tang Yan confronted Bai Jin over his betrayal.

• Tang Yan proved that Lin Feng had concealed his true strength, and Lin Feng died after conceding.
• Tang Yan revealed that Yan Wentong had framed Lü Fan by falsifying intelligence and arranging the Blue Pavilion mission's failure, and Mo Wei attacked him.
• Yan Wentong threw powder at Mo Wei and tried to escape, but Mo Wei seized him after Tang Yan identified the powder as harmless; Yan Wentong then died, and Mo Wei lamented that he had wronged Lü Fan.
• Tang Yan accused Bai Jin of falsely identifying the powder and helping Yan Wentong escape.
• Tang Yan explained that Yan Wentong had put Bai Jin in command, allowing Bai Jin to win battles that reinforced the false suspicion against Lü Fan while other teams suffered heavy losses.
• Tang Yan demanded that Bai Jin either kill himself or face Mo Wei.

Tang Yan exposed a succession of Heavenly Secrets Pavilion spies within the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion, then accused Imperial Pill Pavilion alchemist Gu Shu of leaking its pill discoveries to the Heavenly Pill Palace. Gu Shu denied the accusation, leaving Tang Yan’s suspicion unresolved.

• Bai Jin acknowledged Tang Yan’s strategic skill before dying, and Tang Yan called out Li Jizhou as another suspected spy.
• Tang Yan challenged Li Jizhou to demonstrate the Li Family’s meteor-hammer technique, and Li Jizhou attacked him before Kun He killed him.
• Tang Yan accused Zhu Wentao of overlooking Li Jizhou’s family rules during recruitment, and Zhu Wentao died without resisting.
• Tang Yan called out more names and exposed eleven Heavenly Secrets Pavilion spies in two hours, leaving Mo Wei and He Zhang ashamed of their earlier failure.
• Tang Yan questioned why the Imperial Pill Pavilion could not sustain a pill business despite its skilled alchemists, then suggested Gu Shu was helping the Heavenly Pill Palace obtain its discoveries.
• Gu Shu denied being the problem as the assembled officials turned their attention to him.

Tang Yan exposed more spies in the Imperial Pill Pavilion and Imperial Guards, then issued strict orders to reorganize the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion and retrain its branches. He questioned the Imperial Guards’ drills, prompting Commander Kun He to ask what dissatisfied him.

• Tang Yan exposed Gu Shu as the source of the Imperial Family’s pill formulas leaking to the Heavenly Pill Palace, and Gu Shu died after being confronted.
• Tang Yan rooted out five more Alchemy Masters from the Imperial Pill Pavilion and three traitors from the Imperial Guards.
• Tang Yan warned remaining spies to withdraw by midnight, declared that the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion would answer only to him, and ordered the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion to investigate Tingxiang’s powerful ministers.
• Tang Yan ordered the Imperial Pill Pavilion to stop refining pills and have its members practice alchemy fundamentals fifty thousand times within three days, with Ming Lie and Elder Ling supervising.
• Kun He led the Imperial Guards to the Martial Garden for drills, but Tang Yan challenged the value of their sparring, and Kun He asked what dissatisfied him.

Tang Yan criticized the Imperial Guards' careless sparring and convinced Kun He to make their training more demanding. He promised them better cultivation pills and began teaching them the Extreme Six Forms.

• Tang Yan pointed out the Imperial Guards' sparring mistakes and warned Kun He that their habits could get them killed in a real battle.
• Tang Yan urged the guards to train honestly for their comrades and loved ones, and Kun He ordered them to treat sparring partners as enemies.
• After no one refused the training, Tang Yan asked Hua Yu about the guards' cultivation resources and gave him an Explosive Spirit Pill to compare with a Peak Origin Pill.
• Tang Yan announced that each guard would receive two Explosive Spirit Pills daily and laid out a schedule of morning Extreme Six Forms practice and afternoon life-and-death sparring.
• Tang Yan demonstrated the first form of the Extreme Six Forms, and the guards began imitating him.

Tang Yan put the Imperial Guards through the punishing Extreme Six Forms, forcing them to keep practicing while explaining that the secret art could draw out their potential. After a grueling morning of training, the exhausted guards feared what Tang Yan had planned for the afternoon.

• Tang Yan made nearly a hundred Imperial Guards hold each Extreme Six Forms pose and ordered Kun He and Hua Yu to whip anyone who slacked off.
• The guards struggled through all six forms and the transition back to the first, while Kun He and Hua Yu criticized them from the sidelines.
• Tang Yan ordered Kun He and Hua Yu to join the training, and Kun He discovered that the movements were exhausting even for an eighth-grade Heaven Tier expert.
• When several guards collapsed, Tang Yan whipped one and explained that the forms could develop their potential; he promised Explosive Spirit Pills to the last three still standing each day.
• Tang Yan had Hua Yu distribute pills so the guards could recover and resume training, and by the end of the morning the Imperial Guards lay exhausted as they wondered whether the afternoon would be any easier.

Tang Yan won the Imperial Guards’ loyalty through intense training and gained command of the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion’s three organizations. After three days, Du Shu arrived, and Tang Yan prepared to launch Reach the Summit on a new journey.

• Tang Yan trained the Imperial Guards through punishing sparring and supplied pills to treat their injuries.
• Ye Haohao described Tang Yan’s successes to the emperor, who ordered the Crown Prince and Qing Xuan to cooperate with him.
• Over the next three days, Tang Yan’s training helped twenty-three Imperial Guards break through, and Zi Yun joined their drills.
• Kun He and Hua Yu recognized Tang Yan’s achievements, while Tang Yan waited for Du Shu to arrive.
• Du Shu reported that Reach the Summit was doing well, and Tang Yan announced its new journey; Du Shu asked whether his new high office came with resources.

Tang Yan used Du Shu’s suggestions to improve Imperial Guards training and began preparing Reach the Summit to reclaim the Imperial City’s pill market. He explained the purpose of alchemy drills to the Imperial Pill Pavilion’s masters and questioned one about his pill-refining process, leaving his demonstration unfinished.

• Du Shu suggested releasing Exploding Monkeys after the Imperial Guards exhausted their true qi, and Tang Yan ordered two hundred of them brought in.
• Du Shu reviewed documents on the Heavenly Pill Palace and proposed using the Imperial Pill Pavilion’s Alchemy Masters to expand Reach the Summit’s business.
• Tang Yan took Du Shu to meet the Alchemy Masters, who challenged his order to practice alchemy fundamentals fifty thousand times.
• Tang Yan explained that the Pavilion would reopen the pill market and sell only superior-quality pills, arguing that stronger fundamentals would raise their success rates.
• Tang Yan asked a gray-robed Alchemy Master about his Peak Origin Pill quality rate and the time and ingredient-extraction steps in his process.

Tang Yan challenged the Alchemy Masters’ assumptions about refining the Peak Origin Pill and offered to demonstrate that solid fundamentals could produce superior-quality pills. He began refining with Ming Lie’s Mystic Crystal Cauldron, leaving the skeptical crowd amazed by his skill and orderly technique.

• Tang Yan told the Alchemy Masters that refining the mingshao tea core and mingluo fruit six times and the fire sun branches nine times could produce superior-quality Peak Origin Pills.
• Ning and Zhang challenged Tang Yan to prove his claims, and Ming Lie agreed to provide the Mystic Crystal Cauldron for a demonstration.
• Tang Yan accurately explained the cauldron’s materials, construction, history, and value, earning Ming Lie’s confirmation that his account was correct.
• Tang Yan lit the fire and began adding and refining ingredients, explaining the importance of practicing alchemy fundamentals.
• The Alchemy Masters saw that the ingredients were not burning and crowded around to watch Tang Yan process them in a clear, orderly sequence.

Tang Yan demonstrated his alchemy mastery to the Imperial Pill Pavilion, teaching its members how disciplined practice improved refinement and pill quality. After winning their respect and support, he invited them to quiz him on herbs, and Zhao presented the obscure pearl fruit and wind sleeve lotus.

• Tang Yan refined sixteen herbs at once using basic methods, then explained how practice could improve the alchemists’ skill and efficiency.
• Tang Yan combined eighty-seven portions of medicinal liquid and produced seven superior-grade pills, impressing Elder Ling and the gathered Alchemy Masters.
• The alchemists followed Tang Yan’s advice and found that their abilities had improved after practicing the basics fifty thousand times.
• Tang Yan, Du Shu, Ming Lie, and Elder Ling discussed future development, while the Imperial Pill Pavilion members came to respect Tang Yan and ask for more guidance.
• Tang Yan invited the Alchemy Masters to test his knowledge of herbs, and Zhao asked whether he knew about pearl fruit and wind sleeve lotus.

Tang Yan used his knowledge of medicinal ingredients to win the Imperial Pill Pavilion’s Alchemy Masters’ respect, then put Du Shu in charge of opening Reach the Summit’s pill market. With the Pavilion under his control, Du Shu began implementing his expansion plans while Tang Yan turned to consolidating the Imperial Family’s position.

• Tang Yan explained the medicinal and forging uses of Pearl Fruit and Wind Sleeve Lotus, impressing Zhao and the other Alchemy Masters with his knowledge.
• Tang Yan proposed opening the pill market and introduced Du Shu, who presented Reach the Summit’s products, sales plans, and contribution-point rules.
• Tang Yan ordered the Alchemy Masters to practice fundamentals and produce pills, and told Ming Lie to recruit dependable second-tier or higher Alchemy Masters for five-year service.
• Du Shu took full control of the Imperial Pill Pavilion’s operations and spent three days surveying the Imperial City and preparing development plans.
• Tang Yan began consolidating the Imperial Family’s position from the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion, reviewing documents while Mo Wei and He Zhang stood ready to serve.

Tang Yan led a sweeping crackdown on the Left Chancellor’s allies while the emperor and Qing Xuan backed his strategy. As the Reach the Summit Shop prepared to open, its bold claims about its pills drew a curious crowd and challenged the Heavenly Pill Palace.

• Tang Yan ordered executions, property seizures, and a purge of the Three Seas Association based on evidence against the Qin, Zheng, Jiang, and Zhou families and other allies of the Left Chancellor.
• The Crown Prince warned the emperor that Tang Yan’s rapid actions might provoke the Left Chancellor into a desperate counterattack, but Qing Xuan supported striking swiftly.
• The emperor approved Tang Yan’s approach, ordered that he receive full support and protection, and agreed to wait for his promised progress in the pill market.
• Du Shu arranged the Reach the Summit Shop’s location, staff, signboard, and advertisements for its pills, including the Youth-Preserving Pill and Spirit Transformation Pill.
• Onlookers gathered outside the still-closed shop and questioned its boastful name and couplet, which appeared to rank its pills above those of the Heavenly Pill Palace.

The Heavenly Pill Palace and Left Chancellor Yang planned to suppress Reach the Summit, believing its advertised pills were implausible. Their confidence faltered when the Imperial Guards promoted the shop throughout the city, revealing the Imperial Family’s support and driving intense public interest in its pills.

• Wu Qi, Yin, and the horse-faced Alchemy Master dismissed Reach the Summit’s claims, and Wu Qi asked Yang to help the Heavenly Pill Palace crush the new shop.
• A spy reported that the Imperial Guards were circulating through the city with banners advertising Reach the Summit and listing its pills and address.
• The Heavenly Pill Palace’s elders and Yang realized that the Imperial Family backed Reach the Summit, giving its pills far greater credibility.
• People across the Imperial City flocked to learn about Reach the Summit’s pills, especially women eager for Youth-Preserving Pills.
• Yin warned that the shop’s Imperial Family backing and popular appeal could seriously damage the Heavenly Pill Palace if its pills worked and were reasonably priced.

As Reach the Summit prepared to open its pill shop, officials and rival factions debated whether Tang Yan could deliver on his claims, while the emperor learned of his bold publicity campaign and ordered the shop protected. By nightfall, the entire Imperial City was arguing over the pills and awaiting the shop’s opening.

• The Left Chancellor and Wufu Master dismissed Reach the Summit’s claims, arguing that the Imperial Pill Pavilion could not produce so many superior pills profitably.
• The Crown Prince and Qing Xuan told the emperor that Tang Yan had recruited Du Shu, chosen a shop location, and gathered Alchemy Masters to refine pills around the clock.
• The Crown Prince revealed that Tang Yan had sent the Imperial Guards through the city carrying advertisements for Reach the Summit, leaving the emperor and Elder Ling stunned.
• Elder Ling said the unfamiliar pills might give Reach the Summit a major advantage if their effects were genuine, but he could not confirm their authenticity.
• The emperor ordered officials to monitor the Heavenly Pill Palace and the Left Chancellor’s Residence and protect Reach the Summit from interference.
• People across the Imperial City debated the pills’ authenticity, placed bets, and eagerly awaited the shop’s opening the next morning.

Du Shu opened the Reach the Summit Shop in the Imperial City and announced its pill quality guarantees, inventory, and membership points system. The crowd welcomed the shop’s market-rate prices for common pills as a second sign was raised to reveal the Peerless Divine Pills’ prices and redemption requirements.

• Du Shu addressed the large crowd at the shop opening and explained that Reach the Summit was a faction whose shop sold superior-quality pills.
• Du Shu promised that every advertised Peerless Divine Pill was genuine and in stock, with refunds and compensation if its effects did not match the claims.
• Du Shu described the membership points system, including how customers could earn points by selling medicinal ingredients or purchasing pills.
• Du Shu revealed the prices of common pills, and the crowd approved when they found the prices matched market rates.
• A second wooden sign was raised to display the Peerless Divine Pills’ prices and the points needed to purchase them.

The Reach the Summit Imperial City Shop opened to overwhelming demand, selling out nearly all its pills almost immediately. Tang Yan ordered the Azure Dragon Academy to increase production and hinted that his earlier exchange of Star Value for silver would help address the shortage.

• Du Shu announced the shop's opening after revealing the prices and membership requirements for its pills.
• Customers crowded the shop, registered for membership, and bought pills in large quantities.
• Du Shu realized the shop lacked enough stock to meet the Imperial City's demand as its pills began selling out.
• Tang Yan redirected the counters to membership registration and other services while Imperial Guards helped maintain order.
• Tang Yan told Du Shu to urgently request more pills from the Azure Dragon Academy and collect them every three days.
• Du Shu questioned how the shop could build enough stock, and Tang Yan reminded him that he had exchanged all the Star Value for silver.

Tang Yan revealed that Reach the Summit’s pills had sold out in a morning and earned about one hundred million taels in net profit, while Du Shu hurried back to Azure Dragon Academy to refocus the shop on recruiting talent. The chapter ended with Tang Yan bristling after the Crown Prince questioned whether the sales figures were accurate.

• Tang Yan persuaded Du Shu to stop competing in Azure Dragon Academy’s ordinary pill market and make the shop’s main purpose recruiting talent, so Du Shu set off to bring Alchemy Masters back and ask about the Spirit Academy Competition.
• Tang Yan waited at the Imperial Pill Pavilion and discussed alchemy with its masters while they finished refining pills.
• Tang Yan told Ming Lie and the Alchemy Masters that all their pills had sold out before morning, prompting their jubilant celebration.
• The Crown Prince, Princess Qing Xuan, and Elder Ling arrived to congratulate Reach the Summit and asked about its revenue.
• Tang Yan reported about one hundred and forty million taels in sales and roughly one hundred million taels in net profit, then challenged the Crown Prince for doubting his figures.

Tang Yan explained how Reach the Summit's marketing drove record sales and convinced the Crown Prince to expand Alchemy Master recruitment across Tingxiang. After the Imperial Pill Pavilion pledged its support, Qing Xuan asked Tang Yan whether he resented serving the Imperial Family because of his father's letter.

• Qing Xuan and the Crown Prince praised Tang Yan's record-breaking sales, while Qing Xuan explained his marketing methods to the Alchemy Masters.
• Tang Yan said Reach the Summit could not produce enough pills to meet demand, and the Crown Prince promised to recruit at least three hundred Alchemy Masters within a month.
• Tang Yan urged the Crown Prince to make recruitment an ongoing effort because Reach the Summit planned to open shops throughout Tingxiang.
• Ming Lie and the Alchemy Masters pledged to support Tang Yan, and Tang Yan promised to teach them alchemy and help each advance by one grade within two years.
• After the Crown Prince left, Qing Xuan walked with Tang Yan by Brightheart Lake and asked whether he had any complaints about serving the Imperial Family because of his father's letter.

Qing Xuan showed Tang Yan the Imperial Family’s Four Directions Myriad Spirit Formation and offered him access to its spiritual-qi baptism as thanks for his service. The chapter ended with Ye Du learning that Tang Yan had badly injured Qiong’er at Azure Dragon Academy.

• Tang Yan told Qing Xuan that staying in Fragrance-Hearing had helped him expand Reach the Summit and that he had no complaints.
• Qing Xuan led Tang Yan through a hidden passage beneath the Imperial Palace to the Four Directions Myriad Spirit Formation, where lava surrounded a central platform guarded by four divine-beast statues.
• Qing Xuan explained that the formation would activate in a month and a half, compressing a month of cultivation into one day, and gave Tang Yan the key so he could use it before the Spirit Academy Competition.
• Tang Yan accepted the Imperial Family’s gift and thanked Qing Xuan, who invited him to return to Fragrance-Hearing if he ever grew tired of traveling.
• At Immortal-Gathering Palace, Ye Du raged over Qiong’er’s fate until the Grand Elder told him that Tang Yan had dealt the young master a vicious blow at Azure Dragon Academy.

Ye Du ordered the Grand Elder and six Heavenly Leaf Protectors to kill Tang Yan in the Imperial City. Meanwhile, Tang Yan strengthened the Imperial Family’s forces and Reach the Summit, then entrusted Mo Wei and He Zhang with managing affairs as he prepared to step away.

• After learning Tang Yan had killed Ye Qiong, Ye Du ordered the Grand Elder to take six Heavenly Leaf Protectors to the Imperial City and assassinate him.
• Tang Yan’s reforms stopped the Left Chancellor’s infiltration, restored wavering allies to the Imperial Family, and trained Mo Wei and He Zhang in administration.
• Reach the Summit recruited more Alchemy Masters, met the Imperial City’s pill demand, and brought the Imperial Family about thirty million taels of silver in daily profit.
• Tang Yan accumulated over a hundred medicinal plants in his Chaos Space and felt close to a breakthrough after more than twenty days of cultivation.
• Tang Yan told Mo Wei and He Zhang to manage affairs together for three days without consulting him, and Mo Wei realized Tang Yan was preparing to leave the Fragrance-Hearing Kingdom.

Yang Yi met with Wufu Master to discuss Lord Tang’s damage to their interests when Qin Shi and six Heavenly Leaf Protectors of the Immortal-Gathering Palace arrived seeking Tang Yan. The visitors and their hosts suspected Tang Yan was Lord Tang and agreed to kill him.

• Yang Yi and Wufu Master blamed Lord Tang for weakening the Left Chancellor's Residence and the Heavenly Pill Palace.
• Yang Yi recognized the Immortal-Gathering Palace token and welcomed Qin Shi and six Heavenly Leaf Protectors into his residence.
• Qin Shi asked Yang Yi to help locate Tang Yan so the Immortal-Gathering Palace could take him back, dead or alive.
• Yang Yi and Wufu Master connected Tang Yan to Lord Tang’s exploits, and Qin Shi joined them in deciding to kill Lord Tang.

The Left Chancellor and Wufu Master persuaded Qin Shi to capture Tang Yan by promising access to valuable pill formulas, then arranged an alliance with the Immortal-Gathering Palace. Tang Yan left the Imperial City and discovered two Heaven Tier pursuers, whom he confronted after luring them into a thicket.

• The Left Chancellor gave Qin Shi a detailed palace map and urged him to sneak in and kill Tang Yan, while Wufu Master used pills to persuade Qin Shi to capture him.
• Tang Yan left the Imperial Palace to study the Azure Fire Thunder Formation, and a spy reported his departure to the Left Chancellor.
• The Left Chancellor asked Qin Shi to ally with his residence, and Qin Shi agreed to remain in the Imperial City after killing Tang Yan in case the Imperial Family investigated.
• Tang Yan sensed six people following him, left the Imperial City, and outpaced the four Earth Tier martial artists while two Heaven Tier experts stayed close behind.
• Tang Yan entered a thicket, let the two pursuers search for him, then spoke from behind them.

Tang Yan captured two men who had been following him and learned they served the Left Chancellor's Residence. After disguising himself as Old Liu, he led Lord Tao and seven powerful companions toward a trap, but Qin Shi exposed his claim that Tang Yan was Lord Tang.

• Tang Yan threatened Old Liu with a venomous snake until Old Liu revealed that he and his companion were from the Left Chancellor's Residence and had been ordered to watch Tang Yan.
• Old Liu told Tang Yan that Lord Tao would track them by a special scent, so Tang Yan killed both men, took Old Liu's clothes, and assumed his appearance.
• Tang Yan met Lord Tao and seven others, pretended to be Old Liu, and led them toward the forest while considering how to use Spirit-Dispersing Powder against them.
• Tang Yan warned Lord Tao that Tang Yan might be Lord Tang, an important Imperial Family official, and argued that seizing him could endanger the Left Chancellor's Residence.
• Qin Shi revealed that the Left Chancellor already knew Tang Yan was Lord Tang, and Lord Tao ordered Tang Yan to apologize to Qin Shi, the Grand Elder of the Immortal-Gathering Palace.