Recaps

Cao Ya broke apart a stone dragon carving and widened a fissure in Changbai Mountain, astonishing the expedition with his martial arts strength. The group followed him into the dark passage, where Wu Xie and Fatty asked him to teach them some moves after the expedition.

• Ye Cheng, Fatty, and the others spotted a huge coiled creature in the snow, but Cao Ya identified it as a stone carving of a Hundred-Footed Dragon.
• Monk Hua explained the carving's place in Eastern Xia dragon imagery, and Cao Ya smashed it apart, revealing a rocky fissure that smelled of sulfur.
• Fatty found writing on the fissure wall and tried to squeeze inside, but Cao Ya widened the opening by pushing against its walls.
• Chen Pi A Si brought his men into the steep, dark passage after Ye Cheng said Cao Ya could handle any danger.
• Wu Xie and Fatty marvelled at Cao Ya's strength and asked him to teach them a few simple martial arts moves after they left Changbai Mountain.

Cao Ya led the group deeper into the fissure, ignoring Jurchen writing and clearing a collapse with a display of golden light and overwhelming strength. The others began to suspect he was an immortal cultivator, while Cao Ya privately judged his own power to be only a small step toward the heights of his wider world.

• Pan Zi found carved writing, and Monk Hua identified it as Jurchen Script before staying behind with Lang Feng to copy it.
• Cao Ya dismissed the writing and led Chen Pi A Si, Wu Xie, Fatty, Pan Zi, Ye Cheng, and Shunzi deeper into the fissure.
• Wu Xie worried that the passage was a volcanic vent, but Cao Ya assured the group that the volcano would not erupt.
• Cao Ya found the fissure blocked by fallen rocks, sent everyone back, and shattered the obstruction with a palm surrounded by golden light.
• The group followed Cao Ya through the newly opened passage and wondered if he was an immortal cultivator after he called his martial arts a little success.

Cao Ya and the others took shelter in a fissure near the Cloud Palace, where Cao Ya proposed breaking straight through toward the Nine-Dragon Corpse-Lifting Coffin. While the group examined the faded murals, they discovered a hidden painting underneath the surface layer.

• Cao Ya emerged into a wide section of the fissure with Wu Xie, Fatty, Poker-Face, and the others, and the group chose to rest there beside the hot springs.
• Monk Hua and Lang Feng joined Chen Pi A Si to discuss traced inscriptions while the group warmed and ate compressed rations.
• Cao Ya said they should smash their way directly into the Cloud Palace from the fissure instead of returning to the slope, but Chen Pi A Si asked everyone to inspect the murals first.
• Cao Ya told the others that another layer lay beneath the faded celestial-maiden murals, and Fatty scraped away the surface to reveal brighter paintings underneath.
• Wu Xie, Pan Zi, Ye Cheng, Lang Feng, and Monk Hua began scraping at the mural as Chen Pi A Si questioned why the covering painting had never been properly finished.

Wu Xie and the others uncovered a vivid mural depicting a Mongol invasion of Eastern Xia, while Monk Hua interpreted its scenes as the kingdom’s defeat. The mural’s continuation remained hidden behind an immovable rock as Cao Ya watched without helping.

• Wu Xie, Fatty, Pan Zi, Monk Hua, Lang Feng, and Ye Cheng peeled away the outer mural to reveal an older painting beneath it.
• Monk Hua identified the mural as depicting the war between King Wannu of Eastern Xia and the Mongols, and he noted that Eastern Xia people were said to retain youthful appearances.
• Fatty wondered whether Eastern Xia’s youth-preserving technique could make him rich, while Cao Ya finished eating and joined the others at the mural.
• Monk Hua described the second section as a massacre in which the Mongols overwhelmed Eastern Xia’s soldiers.
• The group found the mural’s next section blocked by an enormous rock, and Cao Ya declined to help move it.

Monk Hua used a Snake-Browed Bronze Fish to explain that Eastern Xia had secretly endured for centuries, despite its supposed destruction. The surviving message claimed that every King Wannu was a monster from beneath the earth, leaving the group unsettled as Cao Ya dismissed them as beasts.

• Wu Xie questioned how the small Eastern Xia Kingdom could have built the enormous Cloud Palace tomb, and the group looked to Chen Pi A Si for an explanation.
• Monk Hua began explaining Eastern Xia, but Cao Ya urged everyone to hurry, and Fatty persuaded Cao Ya to let Monk Hua continue briefly.
• Monk Hua revealed a Snake-Browed Bronze Fish and showed how its scales projected forty-seven hidden Jurchen characters onto the mural.
• Monk Hua said the bronze fish indicated that Eastern Xia had secretly survived for several hundred years and that its enemies had mysteriously withdrawn.
• Monk Hua revealed that the successive King Wannus were not human but monsters from beneath the earth, and Cao Ya mocked them as beasts.

Cao Ya led the group deeper through the fissure toward the Cloud Palace while Chen Pi A Si and his men eventually turned back. After the groups parted, Wu Xie brought out the two Snake-Browed Bronze Fish, but no one knew how to read their Jurchen Script.

• Cao Ya said the group would understand King Wannu's phrase once they reached the Cloud Palace, then set off through the fissure with Wu Xie, Fatty, Pan Zi, Shunzi, and Poker-Face.
• Wu Xie worried about A Ning's team and his third uncle, while Fatty and Pan Zi urged him to focus on the journey.
• After hours of walking, Chen Pi A Si and his three men decided they had taken the wrong route and turned back toward the slope, while Shunzi stayed with Cao Ya's group.
• Wu Xie took out the two Snake-Browed Bronze Fish and suggested examining their inscriptions.
• Cao Ya asked who could read Jurchen Script, and the group realized no one knew how.

Cao Ya explained the Snake-Browed Bronze Fish and Wang Canghai’s account of King Wannu and the Bronze Gate, while questioning the story’s contradictions. The group accepted his information despite not knowing how he learned it, and Cao Ya resolved to destroy the objects coveted by the Wang, Zhang, and “It” factions.

• Cao Ya said the Snake-Browed Bronze Fish were useless and described Wang Canghai’s account of being forced to build King Wannu’s tomb and discovering a hidden secret.
• Cao Ya explained that King Wannu supposedly emerged from an underground gate, which he identified as the Bronze Gate, and Poker-Face recalled that he might have entered it before.
• Cao Ya pointed out contradictions in Wang Canghai’s story, including his use of Jurchen Script and the chance that his captors would have watched him.
• Cao Ya said Wang Canghai might not be completely dead, leaving Wu Xie, Fatty, Pan Zi, Shunzi, and Poker-Face puzzled.
• Cao Ya decided to destroy the Bronze Gate, The Ultimate, Meteorite Jade, and other objects the Wang Family, Zhang Family, and “It” fought over.

Cao Ya led the group through the Cloud Palace rift to a colossal bronze gate, while Wu Xie and the others learned how vast and strange the place was. The chapter left them standing before the gate as Cao Ya pointed out another sight nearby.

• Cao Ya told the group to stop worrying about Wang Canghai and led them deeper into the Cloud Palace.
• After reaching the heart of the Cloud Palace, the group found a rift strewn with bones and spotted a colossal bronze gate.
• Wu Xie wondered whether the gate was the underground entrance King Wannu of Eastern Xia had crawled out of, while Fatty doubted they could enter.
• Poker-Face lit a flare, revealing bronze chains spanning the rift and countless bell-like objects hanging in the darkness.
• The group approached the bronze gate, and Cao Ya pointed to something off to the side.

Cao Ya led Wu Xie, Fatty, Pan Zi, Poker-Face, and Shunzi to King Wannu’s Nine-Dragon Corpse-Lifting Coffin, where he effortlessly killed its giant centipede guardians and a swarm of strange birds. The group then saw three bluish-purple arms reach out of the opening coffin and wondered if they were hallucinating.

• Wu Xie and Fatty recognized the enormous coffin as King Wannu’s Nine-Dragon Corpse-Lifting Coffin, and Cao Ya warned that it had guardians.
• Poker-Face identified nine enormous Volcano Centipedes camouflaged around the platform and explained that they were hibernating.
• Cao Ya rushed to the platform and killed all nine centipedes with a slap and eight punches.
• Cao Ya spotted strange birds in the rift and killed countless of them with a single golden punch.
• The group reached the platform and saw three bluish-purple arms extending from a crack in King Wannu’s coffin, prompting Wu Xie to ask if they were hallucinating.

Cao Ya killed the twelve-armed Thousand-Hand Guanyin Corpse and prepared to open the Bronze Gate with the others. Before he could act, blue mist filled the rift and a column of underworld soldiers appeared, leaving Fatty and Pan Zi to identify the supernatural procession.

• Cao Ya blasted a hole through the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Corpse, which collapsed after staggering toward the Bronze Gate.
• Cao Ya joked that he practiced Golden Bell Shield, then told the others they would learn more after they escaped.
• Cao Ya invited Wu Xie, Fatty, Pan Zi, Shunzi, and Poker-Face to look inside the Bronze Gate and dismissed Wu Xie's concern about karmic fire.
• Cao Ya and the others noticed flames inside the gate as pale blue mist rose rapidly through the rift.
• Cao Ya saw underworld soldiers approaching through the mist as Deer-Horn Trumpet calls echoed through the rift.
• Fatty and Pan Zi recognized the procession as Underworld Soldiers Borrowing the Road.

Cao Ya led the group through a procession of Yin Soldiers and smashed the Bronze Gate with one blow. Inside, he discovered the Meteorite Jade, where he sensed a faint pulse of life growing stronger as they approached.

• The group hid as the Yin Soldiers marched silently past them and entered the Bronze Gate.
• After the procession vanished and the gate sealed shut, Wu Xie and the others struggled to accept what they had witnessed.
• Cao Ya urged everyone forward, then shattered the Bronze Gate with a single golden-lit punch.
• Cao Ya led the group through the blue mist inside the gate and spotted the Meteorite Jade.
• Cao Ya sensed a faint sign of life within the Meteorite Jade growing stronger as the group entered.

Inside the Bronze Gate beneath Changbai Mountain, Cao Ya revealed the Meteorite Jade and destroyed King Mu of Zhou and the ghost soldiers hidden within it. The group decided to wait for A Ning’s team and Wu Sansheng, while Fatty wondered how they would react to finding the dangers already gone.

• Cao Ya dispelled the blue mist, allowing the group to see the murals and Meteorite Jade inside the cavern.
• Wu Xie interpreted the murals as depicting a ruler who built the Bronze Gate to seek immortality, and Poker-Face identified him as King Mu of Zhou.
• Pan Zi spotted a person inside the Meteorite Jade, and Poker-Face recognized the figure as King Mu of Zhou.
• Cao Ya refined the Meteorite Jade into a fist-sized lump and destroyed King Mu of Zhou and the ghost soldiers inside it.
• Fatty failed to lift the heavy refined Meteorite Jade, and the group agreed to wait for A Ning’s team and Wu Sansheng.

Cao Ya’s group left the Rift Valley after A Ning, Chen Pi A Si, and Wu Sansheng learned that Cao Ya had destroyed the Bronze Gate and cavern. In System Space, the ten Cao Yas exchanged updates, including plans to seek more Meteorite Jade and concerns about developments in their other worlds.

• A Ning, Chen Pi A Si, and Wu Sansheng reached the bottom of the Rift Valley and found the Bronze Gate shattered and the cavern empty.
• Wu Xie and Fatty explained what had happened, and A Ning left with her team while Wu Sansheng and Chen Pi A Si joined Cao Ya’s group.
• Cao Ya entered System Space while his body slept at a Border Outpost, and the ten Cao Yas exchanged memories.
• Cao Ya from The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles planned to seek the larger Meteorite Jade in Serpent Marsh Ghost City.
• Cao Ya from The Masters of This World confirmed that Meng Qi had entered Six Reincarnation Space and that a young Daoist from the Profound Heaven Sect had died.
• Cao Ya from Mysterious Revival said he was a candidate for a captain’s position, which would grant him more authority and resources.

Cao Ya reflected on the danger surrounding his worlds and chose to cultivate in seclusion in [The Masters of This World], hoping to grow strong enough to protect himself. In [Mysterious Revival], he continued studying malevolent ghosts while avoiding the most dangerous ones, knowing he was still far from powerful enough to confront them safely.

• The Cao Yas agreed that state power could overwhelm ordinary people, while Cao Ya from [Mysterious Revival] remained aloof and the others accepted that his harsh world had shaped his temperament.
• After learning that Meng Qi had entered Six Reincarnation Space, Cao Ya in [The Masters of This World] vowed not to leave seclusion until he reached Outer Scenery Ninth Heaven.
• Abbot Kongwen questioned Cao Ya's decision but remained occupied with Shaolin's troubles after a Profound Heaven Sect visitor died at the temple.
• Cao Ya knew that Kongwen was actually Demon Master Han Guang, a reincarnator who understood the truth behind the Daoist's death.
• In [Mysterious Revival], Cao Ya left his golden safe house and resolved to study malevolent ghosts without becoming a Ghost Controller.
• Cao Ya recognized that his current Outer Scenery Seventh Heaven strength could not safely handle ghosts that invaded dreams or memories or altered time and space, so he resolved to remain cautious.

Cao Ya refused to attend headquarters’ conference, secured the captain position and promised supplies, and warned his operator about Ghost Painting and Ghost Messenger. In the Dragon Raja world, he learned that Goodman, Chen Motong, Ye Sheng, Sake Tokiko, and others had entered the country, and decided to meet them.

• Cao Ya inspected his safe house and confirmed the ghosts remained secured in their gold rooms and coffins.
• Cao Yanhua called Cao Ya to summon him to Great Capital City for the captain conference, but Cao Ya demanded his position and owed supplies without attending.
• Cao Yanhua agreed to Cao Ya’s terms, and Cao Ya told his operator to warn others about Ghost Painting and Ghost Messenger.
• Cao Ya continued handling supernatural incidents around Great Sun City while avoiding ghosts he could not contain.
• Cao Ya learned that Goodman, Chen Motong, Ye Sheng, Sake Tokiko, and others from Cassell College had entered the country, and said he would meet them.

Cao Ya used his knowledge and overwhelming strength to join a special government department and began preparing to build a martial arts force to fight dragons. As Cassell College’s teams arrived in the country to investigate the Bronze and Fire King and recruit Lu Mingfei, Cao Ya prepared to meet them.

• Cao Ya recalled his place at Shilan High School and wondered why Cassell College had invited Lu Mingfei and other classmates but not him.
• After gaining immense power in System Space, Cao Ya contacted the authorities, demonstrated his strength, and was placed in charge of a regional special department.
• Cao Ya secured permission to assemble his own team and planned to establish a martial arts university so ordinary people could train to fight dragons.
• Cassell College sent teams to investigate the Bronze and Fire King and bring Lu Mingfei to the college, while Cao Ya’s personnel monitored their movements.
• Cao Ya reviewed intelligence about Cassell College’s arrivals and prepared to meet its people in person.

Cao Ya confronted Cassell College's representatives over their unauthorized operation in the Three Gorges and demanded a Dragon Raja corpse as compensation. The group could not accept his demand on the spot, leaving them to seek Principal Angers's decision as tensions rose over Cao Ya's assessment of his strength.

• Cao Ya met Nono at the Regent Hotel and was led to the VIP lounge, where Professor Goodman, Ye Sheng, and Sake Tokiko were waiting.
• Cao Ya accused Cassell College of violating China's sovereignty and demanded one Dragon Raja corpse as compensation.
• Nono argued that Cassell College had not yet done anything, but Cao Ya warned that their Three Gorges operation had already crossed the line.
• Professor Goodman said he could not authorize the demand, so Cao Ya told him to consult Principal Angers.
• Ye Sheng and Sake Tokiko objected when Cao Ya called Angers's strength merely passable, while Cao Ya remained confident he could overcome Angers's Time Zero.

Cao Ya told Angers that Lu Mingfei was staying with him and refused to defer to Cassell College, prompting Angers to arrange a personal meeting. After reviewing Cao Ya’s records, Angers could not identify his Word Spirit and decided he might have to fight Cao Ya to learn more.

• Cao Ya told Angers that Lu Mingfei was with him and said Cassell College’s approval did not matter.
• Angers accepted Cao Ya’s challenge to meet in person the next day, while the Cassell College group wondered how Cao Ya had become so powerful.
• At Cassell College, Angers asked Norma to retrieve Cao Ya’s information and ordered her to assume he had a Dragon King bloodline.
• Norma could not determine Cao Ya’s Word Spirit, suggesting Bronze Throne, Sword Control, or a power from the Black King.
• Angers booked a flight to meet Cao Ya and said they could fight if they could not figure him out.

Cao Ya prepared to meet Angers and revealed that he wanted to capture Dragon Kings alive for research rather than simply kill them. Their meeting ended with Professor Goodman warning that trying to contain a living Dragon King would be suicidal.

• Cao Ya inspected his suburban research base and dismissed his subordinates’ warnings about Angers, whom he respected despite their conflicting ideals.
• Angers visited Cao Ya with Professor Goodman, Nono, Ye Sheng, and Sake Tokiko after Lu Mingfei’s interview, which had only been a formality.
• Cao Ya and Angers agreed that they both wanted to defeat Dragon Raja, but Cao Ya said their methods and plans for dealing with dragons differed.
• Cao Ya explained that he wanted to capture Dragon Kings alive and study their powers in a laboratory.
• Angers called Cao Ya’s plan risky, and Professor Goodman objected that no laboratory could hold a living Dragon King.

Cao Ya challenged Angers to a sparring match to demonstrate his strength and make the headmaster reconsider his concerns about Cao Ya's attitude toward the Dragon Kings. Cao Ya broke free of Angers's Word Spirit: Time Zero and defeated him, leaving Angers eager to learn the source of his power.

• Cao Ya took Angers, Professor Goodman, Nono, Sake Tokiko, and Ye Sheng to a secluded training ground and challenged Angers to fight.
• Cao Ya asked Angers to strike first and said he wanted to experience Word Spirit: Time Zero.
• Angers activated Word Spirit: Time Zero, but Cao Ya hardened his body with golden light and broke through its restraints by force.
• Cao Ya's punch shattered Angers's blade, and golden light blocked Angers's routes until he admitted defeat and dispelled his Word Spirit.
• Angers praised Cao Ya's strength and asked what Word Spirit he had used, noting that Cao Ya had not relied on his bloodline to resist Time Zero.

After defeating Angers, Cao Ya urged him to merge Cassell College into a new university teaching martial arts to the public. Angers left to consult the trustees, with only three days to answer before Cao Ya would come to Cassell College himself.

• Cao Ya explained that martial arts could be learned by anyone and said he wanted to build a university to make people stronger and better able to face dragons.
• Angers rejected the idea of merging Cassell College, citing the trustees and his confidence in the college's existing education.
• Cao Ya warned that if Cassell College refused, he would go there and take what he wanted, since modern weapons could not stop him.
• Angers asked for time to consult the others, and Cao Ya gave him three days to respond.
• Angers left with Professor Goodman, Nono, Ye Sheng, and Sake Tokiko, worrying about how to persuade the trustees.

Angers agreed to Cao Ya’s plan to absorb Cassell College into the First Martial Arts University, while Cao Ya accepted the authorities’ request to delay opening the school and revealing the truth to the public. Cao Ya planned to stay at Cassell College and told Angers to surround the Bronze and Fire King’s lair until he returned from the United States.

• Angers told Ye Sheng, Sake Tokiko, Nono, and Professor Goodman that he had agreed to Cao Ya’s proposal and believed Cao Ya would force the board to comply.
• Nono asked whether Cao Ya’s power came from a Word Spirit, and Angers said it came from training; the others were stunned by the idea.
• Cao Ya agreed with the authorities to delay the public announcement and enrollment, and they began arranging construction of his enormous school.
• Cao Ya told Angers he would stay at Cassell College, where students such as Lu Mingfei could enroll while Cao Ya tried teaching.
• Cao Ya named his school the First Martial Arts University and told Angers to surround the Bronze and Fire King’s lair at the Three Gorges until he returned from the United States.
• Cao Ya planned to spare Old Tang, one of the two Bronze and Fire Kings, rather than awaken Norton’s will and kill him.

After Cao Ya defeated Angers, Cassell College prepared to be absorbed into his First Martial Arts University. As Cao Ya planned to arrive in two days, students and trustees reacted with shock, anger, and curiosity.

• Cao Ya resolved to kill Norton without allowing Old Tang's human self to die, then turned his attention to Constantine and Lu Mingze's mysterious organization.
• Angers recalled the dragon-slaying team from China and told the Night Watcher that he had accepted Cao Ya's terms, making Cassell College a subordinate college under the First Martial Arts University.
• Cassell College's forum erupted over the merger, and News Department head Finger ordered staff to ban users who insulted Cao Ya or Angers.
• Caesar questioned Chu Zihang about Cao Ya, and an administrator announced that Cao Ya would arrive at Cassell College in two days.
• Cassell College's trustees, including Beowulf, traveled to the college to confront Angers about the merger.

Cao Ya arrived at Cassell College and demonstrated overwhelming power before announcing that the school could join Martial Arts University or remain independent while he took anything that interested him. The trustees and faculty faced his ultimatum, and Frost Gattuso declared that Cassell College would never allow the merger.

• The trustees waited at Cassell College for Cao Ya, and Angers assured them that Cao Ya was human.
• Cao Ya flew over the campus and released a burst of golden light, shocking everyone before introducing himself as the new principal.
• Cao Ya met Angers and dismissed Cassell College as merely adequate, then told Beowulf that he would never accept Dragon Raja bloodline.
• Frost Gattuso objected that the trustees had to approve any merger, but Cao Ya said he was there to notify them, not seek their permission.
• Cao Ya offered Cassell College a choice between becoming a branch of Martial Arts University or remaining independent while he claimed anything inside that caught his eye.
• Frost Gattuso called Cao Ya's demand an insult and refused, and Cao Ya asked whether the college was rejecting his offer.

Cao Ya forced Cassell College to accept him as principal and ordered Old Tang brought in after revealing that he was secretly Norton, the Dragon King of Bronze and Fire. He restrained Angers from killing Old Tang and insisted that he wanted to destroy Norton’s consciousness while preserving Old Tang.

• Cao Ya trapped Frost Gattuso in an illusion that left him mentally ruined, then warned Angers and the others against opposing him.
• Cassell College agreed to merge into Cao Ya’s future First Martial Arts University and accept him as principal, while he offered to teach the Golden Bell Shield.
• Cao Ya ordered the Execution Department to bring bounty hunter Ronald Tang, known as Old Tang, to Cassell College.
• Cao Ya identified Old Tang as Norton, the Bronze and Fire King, and explained that he intended to kill Norton while saving Old Tang.
• Angers warned that Norton would eventually awaken and erase Old Tang, but Cao Ya held him back.