Recaps

After dying in a truck accident, Wanghou transmigrated into the body of Hillman in the world of Coiling Dragon and resolved to protect Linley and the Baruch Clan. He prepared a shortsword for Linley and found the boy practicing in the hills, ready to guide him.

• Wanghou woke in Hillman's body and learned from his memories that he was Hillman, a sixth-level warrior and captain of Wushan Town's garrison.
• He recognized the Yulan Continent and recalled the Baruch Clan's tragic future, then decided to grow stronger and change Linley and the family's fate.
• Wanghou went to the armory, chose a shortsword Hogg had forged, and cleaned and sharpened it as a gift for Linley.
• He found Linley practicing with a wooden sword in the hills and noticed flaws in the boy's stance, wrist movement, and timing.
• Linley sensed Wanghou nearby, turned with his wooden sword raised, and asked who was there; Wanghou greeted him gently.

Hillman guided Linley’s sword practice and gave him a refined-iron shortsword, triggering the Divine Guardian System and its ward-selection mission. After choosing Linley and completing the mission, Hillman became a Seventh-Level Warrior and vowed to protect the Baruch family.

• Hillman corrected Linley’s swordsmanship and gave him a refined-iron shortsword.
• The Divine Guardian System activated and offered Linley, Wharton, and Hogg as potential wards.
• Hillman chose Linley Baruch and received the First Meeting Gift mission, which required him to guide Linley and give him a suitable weapon.
• The system confirmed Hillman had completed the mission perfectly and advanced him to Seventh-Level Warrior, granting additional skills and swordsmanship insights.
• Hillman resolved to protect Linley, Hogg, Hiri, and Wharton from the Baruch family’s tragic fate.

Hillman guided Linley to sense battle qi for the first time, awakening a glimmer of his Dragonblood Warrior bloodline and earning Hillman an advancement to eighth-level warrior. As they returned to Baruch Manor, Hillman resolved to grow stronger to protect Wushan Town and the Baruch Clan.

• Hillman received a system quest to help Linley sense battle qi and activate his Dragonblood Warrior bloodline within seven days.
• Hillman guided Linley through meditation and gently used his battle qi to help him feel the power within himself.
• Linley sensed a warm wisp of battle qi in his dantian, and a faint pressure signaled the awakening of his bloodline.
• The system declared the quest complete and raised Hillman to eighth-level warrior, while placing a Body Tempering Pill in storage.
• Hillman promised to teach Linley battle qi circulation and planned to use the pill to strengthen him.
• Hillman led Linley down the mountain toward Baruch Manor and resolved to protect the town's peace.

Hillman reorganized Wushan Town’s garrison through intensive battle qi and formation training, then arranged for Thomson to forge new weapons using refined iron. After completing a system quest, he discussed the threat to Linley and the Baruch Clan with Hogg, who invited him to the study that night to show him something.

• Hillman ordered the garrison to train daily in an optimized battle qi method, spear techniques, and coordinated squad attacks.
• The system gave Hillman a three-day quest to increase the garrison’s combat strength and drill basic formations, rewarding him with refined iron, healing pills, and skill points.
• After two days of training, the garrison’s coordination and combat strength improved by more than 30%, completing the quest with an outstanding rating.
• Hogg summoned Hillman to Baruch Manor, where Hillman hired Thomson to forge twenty refined-iron spears and twenty daggers.
• Hogg questioned Hillman’s preparations, and Hillman warned that Linley’s talent and Dragonblood Warrior bloodline could attract danger.
• Hogg invited Hillman to his study that night to show him something, while Hillman resolved to strengthen the garrison and protect Linley.

Hogg revealed the Baruch Clan’s Dragonblood Warrior legacy to Hillman and entrusted him with helping Linley awaken his bloodline. Hillman accepted the charge and left with the clan’s records and a Dragonblood Pill, determined to protect Linley despite the dangers ahead.

• Hogg showed Hillman the Chronicles of the Dragonblood Warrior and revealed that the Baruch Clan descended from Dragonblood Warriors.
• Hogg explained that bloodline backlash had halted his cultivation and that he had hidden the clan’s identity to protect his children from the Radiant Church.
• Hogg asked Hillman to protect Linley and help him awaken his Dragonblood Warrior bloodline, and Hillman vowed to do so.
• Hogg gave Hillman the chronicles, triggering a hidden system quest, and entrusted him with a Dragonblood Pill for Linley’s future cultivation.
• Hillman and Hogg discussed Linley’s cultivation, Wushan Town’s defenses, and how to deal with the Radiant Church before Hillman left with the items.

Hillman helped Linley take a Body Tempering Pill and taught him to coat his sword with battle qi. When a hunting party was trapped by an Ironclad Berserk Bear, Hillman agreed to let Linley accompany him to Blackwind Valley, though he suspected the beast’s appearance was suspicious.

• Hillman gave Linley the Body Tempering Pill and guided its medicinal power through his body with battle qi.
• After the pill strengthened Linley’s body and improved his battle qi flow, Hillman demonstrated how to coat a blade with battle qi.
• Linley successfully spread a faint golden coating over his Fine Iron Short Sword.
• A town guard reported that hunters were trapped near Blackwind Valley by an Ironclad Berserk Bear at the peak of the fourth rank.
• Hillman ordered horses prepared, then allowed Linley to come along on the condition that he stay behind him and follow orders.
• Hillman and Linley hurried toward Blackwind Valley, while Hillman worried that the bear’s appearance seemed suspicious.

Hillman and Linley led the garrison soldiers to Blackwind Valley and fought an Ironclad Berserk Bear that was attacking hunters. After Linley wounded the beast and Hillman helped kill it, Hillman discovered a suspicious wound on its neck and feared a plot was forming against Wushan Town and the Baruch Clan.

• Hillman led Linley and ten garrison soldiers to Blackwind Valley, where an Ironclad Berserk Bear had trapped five wounded hunters.
• Hillman and the soldiers attacked the bear in formation, targeting its joints, while Linley watched and studied their movements.
• When the bear lunged at a soldier, Linley rushed in and stabbed it beneath the ribs, drawing its attention away from the man.
• Hillman struck the bear in the eye, and the garrison soldiers attacked its wounds until it collapsed.
• Hillman examined the corpse, found a suspicious wound on its neck, and noticed a dark figure slipping away in the distant forest.

After Hillman discovered that someone had used Berserk Potion to drive the Ironclad Berserk Bear into attacking, Hogg and Hillman suspected the Radiant Church and began strengthening Wushan Town through trade reforms and Linley’s training. Wushan Town grew more prosperous, while Linley began awakening his combat potential, though the threat remained.

• Hillman showed Linley the poisoned wound on the Ironclad Berserk Bear and warned that someone had deliberately sent it to attack the hunting party.
• Hogg suspected the Radiant Church was testing the Baruch Clan, and Hillman urged him to improve Wushan Town’s defenses by opening trade routes.
• Hogg formed a merchant association, gathered local goods for sale, and arranged trade routes with surrounding towns and Fenlai City.
• Hogg began teaching Linley the Baruch Clan’s cultivation methods while Hillman put him through weighted training and garrison sparring.
• Linley coated his shortsword in battle qi for the first time and forced Deputy Captain Tom back, while Wushan Town’s new trade routes improved its prosperity and equipment.

Linley failed the Baruch Clan’s Dragonblood Needle test, but vowed to become a powerful warrior without an awakened bloodline. Hillman and Hogg began training and supporting him toward becoming a Third-level Warrior within a year, while Hogg continued searching Fenlai City for clues about his wife’s death.

• Hogg oversaw the growing trade route from Wushan Town to Fenlai City and warned a caravan leader about possible trouble near Blackwind Valley.
• Linley’s Dragonblood Needle test showed no response, and he vowed to prove he could become strong without an awakened bloodline.
• Hillman received a system quest to help Linley reach Third-level Warrior within a year and promised to train him toward that goal.
• Hillman revised Linley’s training, while Hogg prepared medicinal meals and supported his recovery.
• Linley trained steadily for three months and began nearing Second-level Warrior, as Hogg received another confidential letter from Fenlai City about his wife’s unresolved death.

Hillman pursued and killed a gray-robed mage and his Velociraptor after the mage stole the Shadow Diamond, completing both system missions and gaining earth magic insights, high earth affinity, and a Space Ring. He returned toward Wushan Town while Linley continued training, unaware of the danger Hillman had removed.

• Over the past year, Hogg built the Baruch Trading Association and pursued leads about his wife while Linley trained into a Third-level Warrior and Hillman approached the peak of the Eighth level.
• A gray-robed Level Seven Mage and his Velociraptor slaughtered a mercenary company and took the Shadow Diamond, prompting Hillman to pursue them after receiving an emergency mission.
• Hillman ambushed the mage in the forest, wounded him, and killed him with a spear thrust while evading the Velociraptor's attacks.
• Hillman exploited the Velociraptor's unprotected eye and killed it with a spear strike to its skull, earning earth magic insights and high earth affinity.
• Hillman recovered the Shadow Diamond, received and bound a ten-cubic-meter Space Ring, and stored the mage's equipment and the Velociraptor's Magic Crystal Core inside.
• Hillman headed back to Wushan Town as Linley continued training at the manor, unaware of the threat that had been eliminated.

After yesterday’s terrifying encounter with a powerful magical beast, Linley trained harder, determined to become strong. Hillman sent him to clean the abandoned ancestral house, where Linley found the Coiling Dragon Ring, and watched with relief as the ring reached him.

• Linley trained in the morning while Hillman warned the boys that strength came from daily effort.
• Hillman asked Linley to clean the abandoned rear quarters of the clan’s ancestral house.
• Linley cleared weeds and dust and sorted through rotting racks and discarded belongings.
• A wooden rack broke, and Linley picked up the black Coiling Dragon Ring that rolled out.
• Hillman watched from the manor and felt relieved that the ring had reached Linley.

After reaching the ninth level, Hillman learned that two Saint-level pursuers were approaching Wushan Town and might destroy it while fighting over a pregnant Shadowmouse couple. He impersonated an envoy of Beirut to drive them away, saving the couple, protecting Bebe’s birth, and earning rewards that strengthened his cultivation and Earth Pulsation.

• Hillman broke through to the ninth level and realized that Tilon and Rudy’s pursuit of the Shadowmice threatened Wushan Town.
• Hillman found the exhausted Shadowmouse couple hiding in a cave as Rudy and Tilon confronted each other nearby.
• Rudy attacked the cave while Tilon moved to seize the Shadowmice, but Hillman appeared and claimed Beirut had placed the Shadowmouse clan under his protection.
• Hillman used Earth Pulsation and a feigned Deity-level aura to frighten Tilon and Rudy into leaving the Dark Forest.
• The system confirmed the Shadowmice were safe, Bebe’s full-term birth was secured, and Wushan Town’s crisis was resolved.
• Hillman received stabilized ninth-level peak cultivation and Earth Pulsation insights, then watched over Wushan Town as dawn approached.

Linley’s blood awakened Doehring Cowart, a Saint-level Magus sealed in the Coiling Dragon Ring, who discovered Linley’s extraordinary affinity for earth magic. Linley became Doehring Cowart’s disciple and prepared to begin learning magic the next morning.

• Linley injured his arm during sword training, and his blood activated the Coiling Dragon Ring.
• Doehring Cowart appeared from the ring and introduced himself to Linley as an earth Saint-level Magus.
• Hillman arrived, recognized Doehring Cowart, and explained that Linley had exceptional elemental affinity and needed a mentor.
• Doehring Cowart tested Linley’s affinity and found it greater than his own had been.
• Linley asked Doehring Cowart to accept him as a disciple, and Doehring agreed to teach him earth magic and stone carving.
• Doehring Cowart returned to the ring and promised to teach Linley to sense the elements the next morning, while Hillman gave Linley healing ointment.

Linley learned to sense earth elements and mastered the first-level Earth Spike spell after a month of training with Doehring Cowart. A young shadowmouse named Bebe bonded with Linley and chose him as his master, beginning their life together.

• Linley followed Doehring Cowart’s guidance and learned to sense and gather earth elements, progressing rapidly over ten days.
• Linley repeatedly traced the Earth Spike rune until he successfully cast the spell, raising a half-meter spike from the ground.
• Linley noticed a rustling in the bushes, and a tiny shadowmouse darted onto a wooden stake as Hillman recognized it as the offspring of the Shadowmouse Couple he had rescued.
• Doehring Cowart sensed a trace of divine beast aura in the shadowmouse, and Bebe leaped into Linley’s hand as the Coiling Dragon Ring glowed and enveloped him in energy.
• Linley welcomed Bebe, while Hillman and the Shadowmouse Couple watched as the young mouse bonded with him.

Hogg learned that Clayde and the Radiant Church had abducted Lina for a soul sacrifice, and Hillman promised to help rescue her once they were strong enough. Hillman began preparing to train Hogg, who resolved to grow stronger for Lina and his sons.

• Hogg asked Hillman to help find Lina, who had disappeared after being abducted in the Fenlai Kingdom's capital.
• Hillman revealed that Clayde had arranged Lina's abduction to offer her to the Radiant Church in exchange for support and power.
• Hogg despaired at the strength of his enemies, but Hillman said Lina was likely alive and promised to pursue her rescue after reaching the Saint-level.
• Hillman offered to personally train Hogg and help him advance beyond the Sixth Level Warrior.
• Hogg accepted Hillman's guidance and resolved to become stronger while Linley practiced Earth Spike with Bebe in the courtyard.

Hogg trained to strengthen himself without Battle Qi while Linley prepared to travel to Fenlai Royal City and take Ernst Magic Academy’s entrance test. Hillman agreed to escort Linley, who set out to become stronger and protect his family.

• Hogg practiced swordsmanship, and Hillman began teaching him Stacked Wave Force so he could contend with stronger warriors.
• Linley demonstrated his mastery of Earth Spike, and Doehring Cowart said he was ready to take the magic academy entrance test.
• Hogg worried about Linley traveling to Fenlai Royal City, but Hillman volunteered to escort him.
• Hogg agreed to let Linley go, and Linley vowed to pass the test, protect his family, and find his mother.
• Hillman planned to teach Linley self-defense and the royal city’s rules during the half month before their journey.

Linley traveled with Hogg and Hillman to Fenlai City to take the magic aptitude test. His exceptional affinity in earth and wind magic and superior spiritual energy earned him an invitation to Ernst Academy, leaving Hogg hopeful that the Baruch Clan could regain its glory.

• Hogg and Hillman accompanied Linley from Wushan Town to Fenlai City, where they prepared him for the test.
• At the Radiant Church, Linley demonstrated exceptional affinity in earth and wind elements, average affinity in fire, and spiritual energy eighteen times that of his peers.
• Recruiters from several academies competed for Linley, but a representative from Ernst Academy invited him to enroll.
• Linley accepted the invitation and received an admission letter requiring him to arrive before February 9 for verification.
• Hogg embraced Linley and celebrated the prospect of restoring the Baruch Clan, while Linley vowed to grow stronger and protect his family.

Hogg moved his family from Wushan Town to Fenlai City so Linley could attend the Ernst Institute and Wharton could receive a better education. As Linley prepared to enroll, Hillman resolved to train in the Magical Beast Forest and seek a breakthrough to Saint-level.

• Hogg proposed moving the family to Fenlai City, and Linley agreed after considering his training and the search for his mother.
• Hogg and Linley found a courtyard near the Ernst Institute, while Hillman bought supplies and books for Linley’s studies.
• Steward Hiri brought Wharton and the family’s valuables from Wushan Town to their new home.
• Hillman announced that he would travel to the Magical Beast Forest to push beyond his ninth-level peak and become a Saint-level powerhouse.
• Hogg accepted Hillman’s decision with concern, and Linley asked Hillman to return safely.

Hillman left Fenlai Royal City to train in the Magical Beast Forest and pursue Saint-level power so he could protect the Baruch Clan. After killing a Shadowstripe Leopard despite its speed and paralytic claws, he continued deeper into the forest toward greater dangers.

• Hogg and Linley said farewell to Hillman as he set out from Fenlai Royal City for the Magical Beast Forest.
• Hillman reached the forest, sent his horse back, and cautiously entered the outer reaches with his Fine Iron Longsword.
• A Shadowstripe Leopard ambushed Hillman and wounded him with its claws, but he recognized the beast and prepared to fight.
• Hillman clashed with the leopard, whose attacks inflicted further wounds and began to slow him with paralytic toxin.
• Hillman used Whirling Slash to cut the leopard across its unprotected abdomen and kill it.
• After recovering his breath, Hillman walked deeper into the forest to continue his training.

After recovering from a battle with a Shadowstripe Leopard, Hillman tried to break through his ninth-level peak by sensing the pulse of the earth. He gained a new connection to the earth and felt his barrier loosen, then headed deeper into the forest to continue his trial.

• Hillman defeated the Shadowstripe Leopard, harvested its valuable parts, and escaped to a concealed cave while its venom weakened him.
• Hillman treated his wounds and absorbed the leopard’s magic core, replenishing his battle qi, but he remained unable to break through the ninth-level peak barrier.
• Hillman recalled the Dragonblood Secret Manual’s teachings and went to a clearing to sense the earth’s power.
• Hillman merged his battle qi with the earth’s energy, tempering his body and meridians as he sensed the land around him and felt his barrier begin to loosen.
• At dawn, Hillman rose with steadier power and a new connection to the earth, then walked deeper into the forest.

Hillman found a secluded cave in the Magical Beast Forest but had to defeat the Level Nine Rock Armor Giant Rhino guarding it. He made the cave his base and began absorbing the beast’s magic core as he prepared for a harsher trial and his push toward the Saint-level.

• Hillman followed his map to a promising mountain cave, where a Rock Armor Giant Rhino emerged and charged at him.
• Hillman evaded the rhino’s attacks and used his perception of the earth’s pulse to trigger a boulder fall that cracked its rocky armor.
• Hillman repeatedly struck the cracks in the rhino’s armor and killed it with a sword thrust to its head.
• Hillman cleared the cave entrance, inspected the shelter, and retrieved the rhino’s Level Nine Magic Core.
• Hillman began absorbing the magic core’s energy in the cave, which he chose as his base in the forest.

Hillman gathered clear spirit grass to cure the earth-element toxins from his wound, then completed the system’s emergency quest and upgraded his earth affinity talent to intermediate. He rested in the cave as a new trial began to brew outside.

• Hillman followed the system’s map to a stream valley to gather three stalks of clear spirit grass, since he was too weakened to hunt a powerful magical beast for a detoxifying core.
• Three sixth-level Demon Wolves approached, and Hillman ambushed and killed them with Whirling Slash before returning to the cave.
• Hillman made juice from the clear spirit grass and applied it to his wound, eliminating the toxins and completing the emergency quest.
• The system rewarded Hillman with faster battle qi recovery and increased earth affinity proficiency, allowing him to upgrade his talent to intermediate and unlock Earth Shield.
• Hillman resolved to advance through the Magical Beast Forest while another trial began brewing outside the cave.

Hillman used his Earth Shield and Earth Power to defeat an approaching Level Nine Berserk Bear, evolving Whirling Slash into Earthshaking Whirling Slash during the fight. After gaining experience, Battle Qi, and rare loot, he felt the barrier to the ninth-level peak loosen and decided to break through.

• Hillman constructed an Earth Shield as a Level Nine Berserk Bear approached the cave, attracted by the Rock Armor Giant Rhino's blood.
• Hillman blocked the bear's first attack with the shield, then dodged its next blow and failed to pierce its throat with his longsword.
• Hillman struck the bear's hind legs with Earth Spikes, exposed its abdominal weakness, and stabbed it while binding its limbs with earthen vines.
• Hillman's Whirling Slash evolved into Earthshaking Whirling Slash, which stunned the bear and let him deliver a fatal strike between its brows.
• Hillman received experience, Battle Qi, and loot, then chose to attempt a breakthrough after sensing the ninth-level peak barrier loosen.

Hillman used the Earth's Heart and the Rock Armor Giant Rhino's magic core to break through the ninth-level peak barrier and reach half-step Saint-level. The system then gave him a quest to hunt a half-step Saint-level magical beast and extract its Saint-level foundation.

• Hillman began his breakthrough in the cavern using the Earth's Heart and the Rock Armor Giant Rhino's magic core to strengthen his battle qi.
• Hillman resonated with the pulse of the earth and cracked the ninth-level peak barrier with a surge of earth power.
• Hillman poured the remaining energy into the barrier and shattered it, reaching half-step Saint-level and unlocking Earth Cage.
• The system assigned Hillman a quest to hunt a solitary half-step Saint-level magical beast, and he set out toward the forest.

Hillman entered Mist Canyon to challenge a half-step Saint-level magical beast and defeated a Winged Bird Dragon head-on, completing his quest. When the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon approached in fury, Hillman used a Mist Pearl to orient himself and fled toward the canyon’s outskirts.

• Hillman followed the system’s warning into Mist Canyon and learned that the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon ruled the forbidden ground.
• Hillman found Blue Heart Grass, then accepted the system’s challenge against an approaching Winged Bird Dragon.
• Hillman used his Earth Shield, Earth Spike, and Armor-Piercing Slash to injure and kill the Winged Bird Dragon.
• Hillman completed the quest, gained experience and Battle Qi, and received the Earth Roar skill and other rewards.
• The Spined Iron-Armored Dragon approached, so Hillman collected the Mist Pearl and Blue Heart Grass and fled toward the canyon’s outskirts.