Recaps

Zeng Mu and the others fought the Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes as their king began advancing, while Yetos confronted it amid a violent surge of elemental energy. The explosion ended with the snake king transformed and newly awakened, while the fighters struggled to rise.

• Zeng Mu, Yetos, William, Aikimu, Xibizete, Kanni, and Ma Linya cut down the snake tide until fewer than half the snakes remained.
• The Yellow Sand Diamondback Snake King’s Elemental Mark appeared and began rotating, signaling its advancement.
• Yetos leapt onto the snake king’s head, and the snake tide swarmed over him and the king.
• Zeng Mu warned the others to retreat as golden and green energy erupted, battering them with alternating heat and cold.
• Ma Linya insisted she could endure as emerald light spread through the snake mound and a two-colored energy pillar pierced the clouds.
• The mound exploded, and the six fighters saw the enlarged Yellow Sand Diamondback Snake King awaken with brighter scales and azure threads of light.

Yetos failed to stop the Yellow Sand Diamondback Snake King from advancing, and the others tried to retreat while Zeng Mu touched its elemental mark. The mark weakened, allowing Zeng Mu to destroy the Snake King’s eyes and strike its vital point, where he uncovered an Elemental Source.

• Yetos ordered the others to attack the Snake King's eyes, but their weapons could not damage them, and he warned that the beast was about to advance.
• Aikimu and Xibizete helped carry the unconscious Yetos away while William stayed behind to warn the sleeping knights at camp.
• Zeng Mu touched the Snake King's elemental mark, and the black stone necklace around his neck protected him as the mark weakened.
• The golden pillar of light vanished, and Zeng Mu slashed the Snake King's eyes before stabbing its vital point seven meters below its head.
• Zeng Mu pulled his Bronze Sword from the Snake King and revealed a flame-like object that Ma Linya identified as an Elemental Source.

After Zeng Mu killed an Elemental Beast, a rare elemental source appeared, giving him the chance to become an Elementalist. As he began absorbing it, his body endured a near-fatal transformation and a golden mark formed on his forehead.

• Ma Linya and the others explained that Zeng Mu could absorb the elemental source because he had dealt the killing blow, and that it could make him an Elementalist.
• Zeng Mu sat down to absorb the source while Aikimu and Kanni stayed to guard him and the energy began healing Yetos.
• Aikimu and Kanni fell asleep as the golden light spread around Zeng Mu and Yetos's elemental mark began healing his wounds.
• Zeng Mu woke to see a small golden snake inside the halo, then felt unbearable heat spread through his body.
• As Zeng Mu struggled against the transformation, the golden snake touched his forehead and left a golden mark taking shape there.

Zeng Mu awakened as a Metal Elementalist after spending the night absorbing an elemental source, and Yetos recognized his exceptional potential. He demonstrated his new strength by controlling Yetos's Platinum Dagger, which Yetos gave to him as the knights celebrated his transformation.

• The knights gathered around Zeng Mu, Yetos, Kanni, and Aikimu as they woke after a night of recovery.
• Yetos explained that the elemental source had healed his wounds and strengthened his elemental power, then realized Zeng Mu had become an Elementalist.
• Zeng Mu awakened amid a burst of golden light, and Yetos explained that his newly strengthened body was nearly impervious to weapons.
• Yetos tossed his Platinum Dagger into the air, and Zeng Mu used his elemental power to stop it and lower it gently into his hand.
• Yetos gave Zeng Mu the dagger, while Aikimu complained that Yetos had refused to let him hold it before.

After Zeng Mu advanced to the manifestation realm, he discovered Red Night Ants in a flask of water, revealing a possible attempt to poison Sand City’s wells. Yetos and Aikimu sent teams to inspect both wells, and Aikimu’s group found a red cluster floating in the southern well.

• Ma Linya examined Zeng Mu’s improved condition, gave him medicinal tonics, and offered him a flask of warm water.
• Zeng Mu noticed Red Night Ants in the flask, and Yetos explained that their venom could poison anyone who drank contaminated water.
• Ma Linya said she had drawn the water from a city well, while the group realized the wells had gone unguarded overnight and suspected an enemy spy.
• Yetos ordered teams to inspect the northern and southern wells, and the knights rushed to check them.
• Aikimu’s team questioned the southern well guards, then drew up a scoop of water and found a red cluster floating on its surface.

After discovering Red Night Ants had contaminated Sand City’s wells, Yetos found a way to fetch water from Hidden Lake using the Emerald Bead. He chose Zeng Mu, Kanni, and Ma Linya for the mission, and Cobert agreed to join after Kanni threatened him.

• Aikimu sealed the contaminated well and recovered buckets of Red Night Ants from the cooks before they could enter the food.
• Yetos learned the legion’s water would run out before reinforcements arrived and identified Hidden Lake as a drinkable source upstream of the enemy camp.
• Yetos gave Zeng Mu the restored Emerald Bead, whose internal space could carry enough water, and chose him, Kanni, and Ma Linya to retrieve it in disguise.
• Yetos asked Ma Linya to persuade Cobert to accompany them because his presence would help the group pass as merchants.
• Cobert refused on the grounds that his people’s neutrality was a clan principle, but Kanni pressed a blade to his neck, and Cobert agreed to leave Sand City.

Zeng Mu and his companions traveled toward the Viking Legion with wagons of water, but a roadside ambush overturned their vehicles. Three armed bandits demanded their cargo and Ma Linya, and Zeng Mu began releasing an invisible aura as the confrontation escalated.

• Cobert led disguised Zeng Mu, Ma Linya, and Kanni out of Sand City in two wagons bound for the Viking Legion.
• The group crossed Black Iron Slope, where Ma Linya recounted how Uncle White survived the earthquake that destroyed Black Iron Town.
• A timber blocked the road on the steep descent, causing both wagons to crash, though Zeng Mu, Ma Linya, Kanni, and their horses escaped serious injury.
• Three armed men emerged and admitted they had placed the timber across the road to stop the merchants.
• The bandit leader demanded the goods and Ma Linya, while Zeng Mu began emanating an invisible aura.

Ma Linya led Zeng Mu and their companions to a hidden settlement in Black Iron Town, where bandit chief Bright asked her to marry him. She agreed on the condition that the wedding happen that night, and her sincere-sounding wish at the wedding left Zeng Mu and Kanni uneasy.

• Ma Linya stopped Zeng Mu from attacking the three bandits and persuaded them to take the group to their stronghold.
• The group discovered that Black Iron Town concealed a thriving settlement beneath an iron framework.
• Bright introduced himself to Ma Linya and asked her to become his wife, and she agreed on the condition that they marry that night.
• Bright's brothers prepared a wedding feast while Zeng Mu and Kanni watched anxiously and wondered what Ma Linya intended.
• At the wedding, Ma Linya told Bright that her wish was to marry him, while Zeng Mu and Kanni remained silent.

Bright and Ma Linya spent their wedding night talking about his past, and Ma Linya persuaded him to leave Black Iron Town for Sand City to reunite with his uncle. She became the owner of Bright’s glowing fish, Little Blue, whose blue light suddenly flared as it opened its eyes.

• Fifth insisted that Bright and Ma Linya hold a wedding ceremony that night, but Bright postponed it until morning and led Ma Linya to their decorated bedroom.
• Ma Linya secretly passed Zeng Mu a note telling him to wait in secret, easing his anxiety.
• Bright told Ma Linya about his childhood in Black Iron Town and how a disaster destroyed it while he and his friends were away.
• Ma Linya told Bright that his uncle, White Miles, was a renowned blacksmith in Sand City, and Bright decided to take his brothers there the next day.
• Ma Linya admired Bright’s glowing fish, Little Blue, and asked Bright to name her its owner; after he agreed, Little Blue’s blue light flared and it opened its eyes.

Ma Linya revealed that the Blue Starfish was the key to combating the Red Night Ants threatening Sand City, then the group set off toward Creek Valley with the fish and their companions. The chapter left them riding through the night in a cramped carriage, with Zeng Mu caught between the sleeping Cobert and Ma Linya.

• Ma Linya explained that the Blue Starfish affected people’s minds and was a natural enemy of Red Night Ants, and she had befriended Bright to gain his consent to take it.
• Zeng Mu stored Bright, the other four, and most of their supplies in the Emerald Bead Wood Elemental Artifact while Kanni woke Cobert.
• The group abandoned one carriage, climbed out of the rift, and continued toward Creek Valley after orienting themselves by the Big Dipper.
• Cobert fell asleep in the carriage and snored, so Zeng Mu used Elemental Power to quiet him.
• Zeng Mu stayed seated beside Ma Linya as the cramped carriage jolted through the night.

Zeng Mu and his companions found the Hidden Lake and took its water with the Wood Elemental Artifact after convincing O'Connor's Viking patrol that they were civilian merchants. A veteran returned to investigate and realized they were from the Holy Temple Legion.

• Ma Linya led Kanni, Cobert, and Zeng Mu to the Hidden Lake, where Zeng Mu sensed an approaching attacker and deflected an arrow aimed at Ma Linya.
• Cobert persuaded O'Connor's Vikings that the group were merchants, and O'Connor let them draw water and leave.
• Zeng Mu used the Wood Elemental Artifact to absorb the lake's water, and the four set off for Sand City.
• A Viking veteran returned to the emptied lake and recognized the Wood Elemental Artifact, concluding that the four belonged to the Holy Temple Legion.

After discovering that four men from Sand City had taken Hidden Lake with a Wood Elemental Artifact, O'Connor led a pursuit despite orders to wait for reinforcements. Zeng Mu and his companions sensed the chase but were stopped by a vast barrier of Living Python Root, with no clear route around it.

• A scout found Hidden Lake gone and the abandoned carriage's cargo untouched, then told O'Connor that the four travelers were from Sand City and carried a Wood Elemental Artifact.
• O'Connor ignored Idiveer's orders and led more than a dozen horsemen west in pursuit of the travelers.
• Zeng Mu, Ma Linya, Kanni, and Cobert hurried toward Sand City on two horses, and Kanni warned that their pursuers were closing in.
• The group encountered a wide mass of Living Python Root blocking the road, and Zeng Mu's iron shard bounced off its hardened roots.
• Ma Linya explained that Living Python Root had surfaced around them, blocking their path in every direction.

Zeng Mu and Kanni faced O'Connor's pursuing Viking Squad after the Living Python Roots withdrew, while Ma Linya and Cobert rode on toward Sand City. Zeng Mu revealed his power by killing the attackers, leaving O'Connor surrounded and terrified.

• The Living Python Roots withdrew underground, allowing the group to prepare to leave.
• O'Connor and more than a dozen riders caught up and attacked Ma Linya, but Zeng Mu stopped the arrows and sent Ma Linya and Cobert ahead with the Emerald Bead.
• Zeng Mu and Kanni stayed behind to face the Viking Squad, and Zeng Mu warned the riders to remain where they were.
• Zeng Mu killed five riders without visible wounds, then revealed golden light and demanded three fingers from O'Connor for the three attacks.
• The Viking Warriors charged Zeng Mu, who cut them down with spinning winds as their horses fled.
• Kanni approached the terrified O'Connor and taunted him to dismount.

Zeng Mu and Kanni defeated O'Connor and discovered a strange fruit growing at the end of a Dead Python Root. They decided to take the Black-and-White Fruit back to find out what it was.

• Zeng Mu defeated O'Connor, broke several of his fingers, and restrained him so the Knight Commander could question him later.
• Kanni examined O'Connor's thousand-mile horse, and Zeng Mu persuaded it to let them ride.
• Zeng Mu and Kanni found a moving Dead Python Root and dug beneath its tangled roots.
• Zeng Mu and Kanni uncovered a smooth black fruit with a milky-white spot at its center.
• Zeng Mu and Kanni took the Black-and-White Fruit to bring back to someone who might identify it.

Zeng Mu and Kanni returned to Sand City on the untacked Thousand-Mile Horse after retrieving the strange fruit and Dead Python Root, while O'Connor remained unconscious. They arrived at dusk and learned that the Knight Commander and an honored guest were waiting for them.

• Zeng Mu removed the strange fruit from the Dead Python Root, knocked O'Connor unconscious again, and set off with Kanni on the Thousand-Mile Horse.
• Zeng Mu rode the barebacked horse freely, while Kanni recalled an earlier humiliating attempt to ride a Thousand-Mile Horse at a recruits' exhibition.
• The Thousand-Mile Horse followed Zeng Mu's guidance and carried the group to Sand City in about five and a half hours.
• Ma Linya spotted the returning riders, and Aikimu ordered the cables lowered and the gates opened.
• Aikimu welcomed Zeng Mu and Kanni and told them the Knight Commander and an honored guest had been waiting in camp.

Zeng Mu returned to Sand City with O'Connor as a prisoner and a Thousand-Mile Horse, then met Lord Viscount Soxia, who promoted him to First-Rank Knight and ennobled him as a Baron. He received a golden decree, formal clothes, and a Fish-Scale Sword, while the chapter left the identity of the Black-and-White Fruit unresolved.

• Zeng Mu told Aikimu and Ma Linya that O'Connor was a White-Pattern Leader he had brought back as a bargaining chip, and Aikimu recognized the horse as a Thousand-Mile Horse.
• Zeng Mu asked Ma Linya to identify the Black-and-White Fruit, but she could not and suggested consulting Uncle Bert when he woke.
• Ma Linya returned the Emerald Bead to Zeng Mu and explained that the Knight Commander had given it to him as a gift marking his new status.
• Zeng Mu and Kanni entered the stone house and met Lord Viscount Soxia, an envoy sent by the Holy Temple.
• Soxia read a decree promoting Zeng Mu to First-Rank Knight and ennobling him as a Baron, then presented him with formal clothes and a Fish-Scale Sword.

Zeng Mu presented the captured Viking and bandits to Yetos and Soxia as the city braced for an imminent Seven Kingdoms Coalition attack. After Zeng Mu predicted the enemy would strike the southern gate, the three men rode out to prepare a gift for the attackers.

• Zeng Mu admired the Fish-Scale Sword as Soxia explained that the Hundred-Year War had begun and the enemy might attack Sand City that night or by dawn.
• Yetos said the city had been sealed to prevent its spy from reporting that the water supply problem was fixed, while he and Soxia worried Idiveer might join the attack under pressure from the Viking Tribes.
• Zeng Mu revealed a captured Viking White-Pattern Leader whose identity might deter Idiveer, along with five bandits led by Bright, whom Yetos arranged to have tested for battlefield or logistical service.
• Yetos ordered Kanni to rest, then rode out with Soxia and Zeng Mu after Xibizete arrived to take charge of the prisoners.
• Zeng Mu predicted the coalition would use Black Iron Slope to approach Sand City's vulnerable southern gate, and Yetos said they had ridden out to prepare a gift for the enemy.

At Black Iron Slope, Yetos and Soxia prepared a trap for the enemy and asked Zeng Mu how elemental power could be used. After recalling his first lesson at the Element Academy, Zeng Mu explained the principles of elemental mastery, and the three joined hands to combine their elements as the ground began to tremble.

• Yetos and Soxia chose Black Iron Slope as a blind spot and defensive position for a trap against the enemy.
• Zeng Mu recalled Yue Yuxin's first lesson at the Element Academy, where he had explained that elemental proficiency could let Elementalists exceed their realm's limits and combine elements.
• Zeng Mu told Yetos that elemental applications depended on an Elementalist's realm and element, and Yetos added that attacks could be overt or covert.
• Yetos said the trap would reveal itself only after the enemy had experienced it, then asked Zeng Mu to lend his element.
• Zeng Mu, Yetos, and Soxia clasped hands and combined their brown, green, and gold elemental lights as the ground began to shake.

Zeng Mu helped Yetos and Soxia create a concealed elemental trap outside Sand City, then joined the city’s tense overnight watch. As dawn approached, Qin Zihui led his army toward the city and ordered his troops to prepare for a night raid.

• Yetos, Soxia, and Zeng Mu combined three elements to hide a trap beneath the ground, and Zeng Mu endured the strain without fainting.
• Yetos and Soxia explained that the trap would react when prey stepped inside, then returned with Zeng Mu to wait for the enemy.
• Zeng Mu watched the city walls through the night as extra soldiers stood ready, and Yetos joined him to watch for the approaching army.
• Qin Sui reported that Qin Zihui’s army was nearing the slope overlooking Sand City.
• Qin Zihui ordered his troops to pick up the pace and prepare for a night raid.

The Seven Kingdoms Coalition began its assault on Sand City, but an elemental trap devastated its front ranks before they reached the city. Despite his injuries and the destruction, Qin Zihui ordered the surviving soldiers to attack.

• Qin Zihui led the Coalition toward Sand City through the cold rain, while Han Ling tried to ease his unease with talk of the city’s women.
• An elemental trap erupted beneath the Coalition’s front ranks, destroying soldiers, horses, armor, and war machines.
• Qin Zihui used his wind element mark to shield himself and Han Ling as the ground heaved and the trap killed hundreds.
• Qin Zihui collapsed after the trap subsided, and Han Ling caught him.
• Qin Zihui ordered the surviving troops to attack, and the soldiers sounded their horns and charged toward Sand City.

The Seven Kingdoms Coalition attacked Sand City before dawn, while Yetos ordered the outnumbered defenders to hold the walls and repel the assault with sustained volleys of arrows. The coalition regrouped as the arrow supply dwindled and charged again, leaving Kanni, Zeng Mu, and the defenders braced for the approaching battle.

• Kanni woke at the alarm bell and rode to the vulnerable eastern gate as Sand City's knights mobilized to defend the city.
• Yetos ordered the defenders to hold their positions and fire arrows at the advancing Seven Kingdoms Coalition.
• The arrows broke through the coalition's shields and inflicted heavy casualties, forcing the troops to halt and falter.
• Qin Zihui refused Han Ling's suggestion to withdraw and insisted that the coalition still outnumbered Sand City's forces.
• The arrow volleys weakened, and the coalition sounded its charging horn and resumed its advance.
• Kanni reached the eastern gate, where Zeng Mu and Yetos prepared with the defenders as the enemy approached.

As the Seven Kingdoms Coalition began its assault on Sand City, Cobert sought shelter in White’s iron smithy and offered news about White’s nephew. Qin Zihui’s archers pinned the defenders beneath a relentless arrow barrage while Yetos warned Zeng Mu to conceal his strength and wait for the right moment.

• Cobert fled the Herbal Medicine Shop and persuaded White to let him into the supposedly indestructible iron smithy.
• White ordered Martin to throw Cobert out, but Cobert changed White’s expression by mentioning news about his nephew.
• After the wind shifted, Qin Zihui ordered the Qin archers to loose a powerful volley from their Windrider Bows.
• The defenders crouched behind shields as arrows battered the walls and gate, while Yetos and Zeng Mu stood protected by green barriers.
• Yetos warned Zeng Mu not to reveal his strength until the right moment as the coalition troops reached the moat and began their siege.

The Seven Kingdoms’ army besieged Sand City, but Yetos turned the tide by unleashing his elemental power against the attackers. Qin Zihui finally confronted him, setting up a clash between the two commanders.

• The Seven Kingdoms’ soldiers crossed the poisoned moat and attacked Sand City’s walls, while the defenders cut ropes and hurled weapons at them.
• Zeng Mu struggled to control his urge to join the fighting, and Yetos reminded him to stay rational before launching his attack.
• Yetos appeared beneath the wall and used green elemental power to slaughter the attackers, lifting the defenders’ morale and forcing the siege to falter.
• Han Ling and the other generals urged Qin Zihui to intervene, and Qin ordered six generals to lead a full assault while he confronted Yetos.
• Qin Zihui descended through the storm, and he and Yetos traded taunts before preparing to fight.

Qin Zihui revealed a Second-Tier Wind Elemental Artifact and fought Yetos amid the siege. Yetos weakened as the battle dragged on, and Qin Zihui prepared to finish him just as a streak of golden light shot toward him.

• Qin Zihui activated his Wind Elemental Artifact, and its blast forced Yetos to defend himself with his greatsword.
• Qin Zihui revealed that his Wind Elemental Artifact was Second-Tier, then charged Yetos as the siege continued around them.
• Qin Zihui and Yetos exchanged sword strikes and elemental attacks, drawing their fight away from the city wall.
• Qin Zihui wore Yetos down until he could block the older man's attack without moving his feet.
• As Qin Zihui prepared to kill Yetos, a streak of golden light shot toward him.

Zeng Mu, calling himself Nameless, ambushed Qin Zihui but was forced to face the enemy’s full-strength attack as the battle for Sand City intensified. The eastern gate and drawbridge fell, and the fighting continued into the dawn beneath a purple-red mist.

• Zeng Mu struck Qin Zihui with the Fish-Scale Sword, while Yetos warned that Qin Zihui’s Wind Elemental Artifact helped him recover rapidly.
• Qin Zihui charged at Zeng Mu with a powerful sword attack, and Zeng Mu met him with the Fish-Scale Sword as Yetos tried to intervene.
• The coalition soldiers broke through the eastern gate, and Kanni fought through the slaughter before joining Ma Linya, who asked where Nameless was.
• The Seven Kingdoms Coalition destroyed the suspension ropes and dropped Sand City’s drawbridge, allowing its cavalry to charge through the gate.
• Xibizete arrived with cavalry after defeating the western-gate diversionary force, checking the coalition’s advantage as dawn light colored the mist purple and red.