Recaps

Loa traveled with Myron’s caravan toward the Black Lion Kingdom, balancing card games and caravan duties with his cultivation. At the Dark Alliance border, he scouted the final town before settling in to temper his fifth thoracic vertebra.

• Myron invited Loa to play cards, and Loa quickly learned the game and began beating him.
• Loa continued cultivating during the journey, finishing his fourth thoracic vertebra and beginning work on his fifth in early September.
• On September 9, the caravan reached the last town on the border, twenty li from the Dark Alliance.
• Loa scouted the town while Myron visited a club, then bought grilled meat for the hungry Wangcai.
• Loa returned to camp and resumed tempering his fifth thoracic vertebra while Wangcai slept beside him.

Myron’s convoy crossed into the Dark Alliance and traveled on to the Crimson Blood Royal Capital before continuing south. A week later, masked attackers ambushed the camp, and Loa realized the cavalry and the men fighting Cass were diversions as a second assault targeted Myron.

• Myron’s convoy crossed the Holy Union border and entered the Dark Alliance, where Cass’s knights changed into dark armor.
• The group reached the Crimson Blood Royal Capital, traded goods, and departed after three days.
• A week later, Bloodthirsty Demon Bats attacked the camp, bringing down the Azure-Eyed Thunder Eagle as masked heavy cavalry approached.
• Three Eighth-level Warriors engaged Cass while Loa went to protect Myron, who had taken cover behind a carriage.
• Loa recognized that the cavalry and Cass’s attackers were diversions when a carriage exploded and black-clad assailants charged toward Myron.
• Loa called for Myron’s protection and drew Hidden Abyss as a huge fireball followed the attackers.

Loa destroyed the three mages preparing a Meteor Firestorm, then raced back to help defend the camp from a heavy cavalry charge. With Cass and the camp’s crossbowmen fighting back, Loa tore through the cavalry formation and began turning the battle.

• Loa defeated the nine black-clad attackers and killed the three mages with Nine Heavens Execution Platform, stopping their Meteor Firestorm.
• The cavalry commander learned the mages were dead and ordered his more than one hundred heavy cavalrymen to charge the camp.
• Cass fought the three eighth-level assassins, killed one, and urged his men to resist the attack.
• Loa returned to the camp and used nine afterimages to strike the charging cavalry, while Cass’s crossbowmen shot down their horses.
• Loa plunged into the cavalry formation and cut a path through it, shifting the tide of battle.

Loa killed the cavalry commander and helped end the attack, while Tolkien saved Myron from a poisoned assassin. After the survivors secured the camp, Loa patrolled with Wangcai, who felt useless and resolved to become stronger.

• Loa cut through the cavalry and killed its Eighth-level commander, while Cass rallied the guards to defend the camp.
• Cass left Myron's side to join the fighting, and a hidden assassin attacked Myron from behind.
• Tolkien blocked the assassin's blade, suffered a poisoned wound, and drove the attacker away before Loa and Cass could catch him.
• Loa treated Tolkien's wound, and Myron ordered Cass to count casualties and prepare the group to leave.
• Loa patrolled with Wangcai, reassured the dispirited dog, and noticed it had become more diligent.

After the attack, Myron hurried the Dawson caravan to Black Lion City, where Loa agreed to stay through the approaching Yulan Festival. Wangcai worried about his weakness, while Loa resumed training and continued tempering his thoracic vertebrae.

• The caravan traveled day and night after its battle losses, and the knights treated Loa with new respect for his role in defeating the enemy.
• Myron considered introducing Loa to his eight-year-old niece, Vivian, then dismissed the idea.
• On December 28, 9994, the Dawson caravan arrived in Black Lion City, and Myron invited Loa to stay for the Yulan Festival.
• Loa found Wangcai brooding over his inability to help during the attack and encouraged him to grow stronger patiently.
• Loa returned to his room and trained, having reached the threshold of late rank 7 and begun tempering his sixth thoracic vertebra.

Loa attended the Dark Church’s Yulan Festival Mass and experienced the soothing power of its ceremony, which nearly drew him into its influence. Afterward, he told Myron he disliked being spiritually affected by the churches and resolved to grow stronger.

• Myron led Loa to the Dark Temple, where hundreds of thousands gathered silently for the Yulan Festival Mass.
• The Dark Pope extinguished every flame with a ripple of dark power, enveloping the city in a peaceful darkness.
• The pope invoked divine might and led the crowd through prayers and chanting that influenced Loa and the faithful.
• Loa used his sword force to maintain some clarity while the Mass continued until midnight.
• As they left the square, Loa told Myron he disliked the churches’ influence, and Myron warned him to keep such remarks quiet.
• Loa walked away from the temple and resolved to become stronger.

Loa received intelligence revealing that the Fire Dragon King had left Fire Dragon Valley, giving him a chance to obtain a rank eight fire dragon’s heart and magical core. After preparing, Loa and Wangcai left Black Lion City to travel to the valley.

• Cass delivered the Dawson Chamber of Commerce’s intelligence to Loa and warned him about the danger of hunting a fire dragon.
• Loa learned that the Fire Dragon King had pursued a water Saint Magus toward the South Sea and had not returned to Fire Dragon Valley.
• Loa decided to seize the opportunity, studied the route and escape paths, and packed supplies for the journey.
• Loa left a letter for Myron and Cass, then set out with Wangcai toward the Sunset Mountain Range.

Loa and Wangcai traveled south through the Sunset Mountain Range toward Fire Dragon Valley, where Loa killed a Level Eight saber-toothed tiger with an improved sword technique. After teasing Wangcai and collecting the beast’s remains, they continued toward their destination, still several days away.

• Loa and Wangcai crossed the Sunset Mountain Range and turned south toward Fire Dragon Valley.
• A Level Eight saber-toothed tiger ambushed Loa, but he defeated it with Nine Heavens Wind-Thunder Sword Force and an improved Wind Threads Turn to Dust.
• Loa collected the saber-toothed tiger’s magic crystal and bones while Wangcai cultivated nearby.
• Loa startled Wangcai with a sword thread, then promised to roast him magical beast meat and gathered the tiger’s bones for liquor.
• Loa checked the map and estimated that Fire Dragon Valley was three or four days farther south, then continued over the mountain with Wangcai.

Loa watched Fire Dragon Valley and planned to steal the hearts and Magical Cores of two Level Eight Fire Dragons while avoiding the rest. Before he could act, the Green Dragon King arrived with a large group of Green Dragons and headed for the absent Fire Dragon King's lair.

• Loa surveyed the valley, counted its adult Fire Dragons, and weighed how to kill two Level Eight dragons without being surrounded.
• Loa sensed a Saint approaching from the east and hid in a crevice with Wangcai.
• The Green Dragon King led a host of Green Dragons across the eastern cliff into Fire Dragon Valley.
• The Fire Dragons reacted warily as the Green Dragon King flew to the Fire Dragon King's lair and found it empty.

Loa hid as the Green Dragon King attacked the Fire Dragon Valley, then silently killed two gravely wounded Level Nine fire dragons and took their hearts and Magic Crystal Cores. He escaped with Wangcai while the Green Dragon King and Fire Dragon King resumed their battle.

• The Green Dragon King led dozens of green dragons in an assault on the Fire Dragon Valley while the Fire Dragon King was away.
• The Fire Dragon King returned and fought the Green Dragon King in the sky above the valley.
• Loa descended the cliff and used Yin Thunder Soul Severing to kill two wounded Level Nine fire dragons.
• Loa cut out the dragons' hearts and Magic Crystal Cores, then climbed back to Wangcai.
• The Green Dragon King threw the Fire Dragon King into the Magma Lake, but the Fire Dragon King counterattacked with a barrage of fireballs.
• Loa and Wangcai fled into the mountain forest as the two kings continued fighting.

As the Hellfire Phoenix and Ephilos attacked Hogniaki, the Fire Dragon King called on Putos and submitted, prompting Putos to wound the Phoenix and claim Hogniaki’s affairs as his own. Fifty kilometers away, Loa and Wangcai kept fleeing while the Saints faced off and the dragons were caught in the conflict.

• The Hellfire Phoenix and Ephilos launched forbidden spells at Hogniaki, who called out to Putos and declared that he was willing to submit.
• Putos appeared and slashed the Hellfire Phoenix, sending her crashing into a cliff before she rejoined Ephilos in the sky.
• Putos said Hogniaki’s affairs were now his business, while Hogniaki stayed silent and Ephilos’s scheme fell apart.
• Loa and Wangcai raced away from Fire Dragon Valley, with Loa deciding not to return until he had become a Saint.
• Ephilos continued to gamble against the other Saints, and the fire dragons and green dragons were caught in the ensuing conflict.

After fleeing the Sunset Mountain Range, Loa and Wangcai entered the Yulan Empire and stopped in Stonebridge Town to rest and replenish their strength. Loa settled in for the night, leaving their journey north toward home to continue later.

• Loa and Wangcai ran for three days and nights from the Sunset Mountain Range before stopping to rest at its northern edge.
• Loa recovered from the strain of using soul attacks, while Wangcai's aura steadied, and they planned to enter the Yulan Empire and travel north through the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
• Loa and Wangcai arrived in Stonebridge Town, where the locals treated them as passing travelers and Loa bought Wangcai a dog-shaped candy.
• Loa ate at the inn, noticed traveling merchants whispering about water jade smuggling in the north, and learned the town's history dated back to Yulan Calendar 8088.
• Loa washed and went to bed in the inn while Wangcai slept nearby.

Loa prepared to return to the Magical Beast Mountain Range, restocked his supplies, and sent Cass word that he had safely left the mountains. He and Wangcai headed north along the range’s Central Axis, planning to train on the way home before the end of the year.

• Loa stored the two Fire Dragon Hearts and their Magic Crystal Cores in Jade Boxes, planning to have Wot refine them and hoping to help Bob advance to seventh rank.
• Loa and Wangcai ate breakfast, then bought spices, medicines, paints, paper, and brushes in town.
• Loa mailed Cass a letter through the Dawson Chamber of Commerce, telling her he was safe and asking her to reassure Uncle Bob.
• After leaving town, Loa transferred the supplies into his Space Ring and entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range with Wangcai.
• Loa told Wangcai they would travel north along the range’s Central Axis, training as they went and trying to reach home before the end of the year.

Loa spent months cultivating and traveling through the Magical Beast Mountain Range, deepening his swordsmanship, exploring his powers, and watching Wangcai grow stronger. By July 9995, they had crossed a little over half their route and expected to reach home before the New Year.

• Loa practiced shifting seamlessly between slow and fast sword strikes while Wangcai learned to defeat sixth-rank magical beasts on his own.
• Loa pondered the deeper meaning of Two Forms Annihilation Division but could not yet understand what its annihilation truly meant.
• During the first spring thunderstorm, Loa sensed the wind and rain and painted the scenery, strengthening his Spiritual Force through his work.
• Loa suspected that his unusual soul and ability to use two elements at once came from his soul not belonging to this universe, but he set the question aside.
• By July, Loa and Wangcai had covered a little over half their journey through the mountain range, and Wangcai told Loa that home was wherever he was.

After a year of training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Loa decided to head west with Wangcai toward Fenlai, hoping to reach home for the Yulan Festival. On their way out, they encountered three armed men, avoided a fight, and continued through the falling snow.

• Loa left his cliffside training spot with Wangcai after snow began to fall.
• Loa told Wangcai they would leave the core region and head west toward Fenlai.
• While traveling through the snowy middle region, Loa estimated they would reach the edge of the mountains in about a week.
• Three armed men emerged from the bushes, but Loa declined to engage and walked on with Wangcai.
• After Loa and Wangcai had gone, the leader scolded Second Brother and ordered Third Brother to beat him.

Loa and Wangcai encountered a Snowshadow Leopard in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, and Wangcai killed it with his lightning. They took its Level Seven Magic Crystal Core and prepared to eat its roasted meat.

• A Snowshadow Leopard killed three brothers who had been beating the second brother, then followed Loa and Wangcai through the woods.
• Loa sensed the Snowshadow Leopard approaching while he and Wangcai ate dried meat.
• The Snowshadow Leopard lunged at Loa, but Wangcai kicked it away and struck it with paralyzing lightning.
• Wangcai killed the Snowshadow Leopard, cut out its Magic Crystal Core, and brought it to Loa.
• Loa praised Wangcai, took the core, and began cutting the roasted leopard meat for their meal.

Loa returned to Fenlai with Wangcai for the New Year after visiting Grandpa Jack’s grave, where he broke through to become an eighth-level Warrior. He reunited with Uncle Bob and revealed his new strength, while keeping the Fire Dragon gifts for Bob and Wot until after the festival.

• Loa returned to Wushan Town and meditated beside Grandpa Jack’s grave, breaking through to eighth-level Warrior by morning.
• Loa tested his new speed against Wangcai, then decided they would visit Bebe and the others after the New Year and headed to Fenlai.
• Loa arrived at his old home in Fenlai, found that Bob had kept the room clean, and put away two Jade Boxes holding level nine Fire Dragon hearts and Magical Cores for Bob and Wot.
• Bob came home late and was knocked down by Wangcai, who then carried him inside after Loa ordered the dog to give him an electric shock.
• Loa gave Bob mountain tea and told him he had reached eighth-level Warrior, leaving Bob stunned.

After stabilizing his cultivation, Loa visited Wot Lucas and delivered two ninth-level Fire Dragon hearts and Magic Crystal Cores so the Lucas Clan could make potions for Wot and Loa’s friend. The family accepted the arrangement, and Old Marquis Jeb invited Loa to choose a treasure from his private collection.

• Loa spent a week cultivating at home, then packed two Jade Boxes containing ninth-level Fire Dragon hearts and Magic Crystal Cores and went to the Lucas Clan estate.
• Wot opened one box, recognized the ingredients were from a ninth-level Fire Dragon, and called Kailai Lucas and Jeb Lucas to decide whether the clan could accept them.
• Loa told Kailai that the ingredients were a wedding gift for Wot and asked the clan to make two doses of the same potion for his friend as well.
• Kailai agreed to arrange the potions, and Jeb invited Loa to choose an item from his private collection.
• Loa accepted Jeb’s invitation and followed him to the collection, where Wot said no one else had been allowed inside.

Loa discovered the warblade Slaughter, the ancestral weapon of the Baruch Clan, in Jeb’s collection and awakened its immense killing aura. He accepted it from Jeb, then decided to keep it temporarily before returning it to Linley.

• Jeb showed Loa his collection, where Loa noticed an ancient warblade and recognized its extraordinary presence.
• Loa lifted the blade and awakened its blood energy, nearly knocking the weak Jeb off his feet.
• Jeb gave the warblade to Loa, who identified it as Slaughter, the Baruch Clan’s ancestral treasure.
• Loa took the blade home and sensed a vision of Baruch charging into battle with it.
• Loa stored Slaughter in his Space Ring and decided to return it to Linley when he visited him.

After a year of training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Loa returned to the Ernst Institute for the new term and reunited with his friends. He settled back in with Reynolds and George, then welcomed Linley and Bebe as the new year began.

• Loa assessed his progress and continued tempering his thoracic vertebrae while Wangcai trained toward becoming a Level Eight Magical Beast.
• On February ninth, Loa took Wangcai to the Ernst Institute and reunited with Reynolds and George in 1987 Dormitory.
• Loa brewed wild mountain tea for Reynolds and George, and George savored its sweet aftertaste.
• Linley returned with Bebe, and Wangcai surprised Bebe by speaking the rat language.
• Loa and Linley shared tea and smiled at their reunion as the new year began.

Loa returned the Baruch Clan’s heirloom saber to Linley, who was overwhelmed to have the Slaughter Blade back and pledged his family’s loyalty to Loa. Linley planned to take the saber home soon and surprise his father, Hogg.

• Loa opened the wooden box and revealed the Slaughter Blade to Linley, George, and Reynolds.
• Linley recognized the saber as the Baruch Clan’s heirloom and thanked Loa, promising that he and his clan would repay him whenever he needed help.
• Yale arrived and learned how Loa had recovered the saber and returned it to Linley.
• George explained that Linley belonged to the legendary Dragonblood Warrior Clan, and Linley admitted that his bloodline was too weak for him to transform.
• Yale suggested celebrating, and Linley later decided to take the saber home to surprise Hogg.

Linley returned to Wushan Town and brought the Baruch Clan’s ancestral Battle Blade Slaughter to his father, Hogg. Hogg restored the blade to its stand in the ancestral hall and ordered a town-wide celebration.

• Linley arrived at the Baruch Clan manor with Bebe and asked Hillman where Hogg was.
• Linley pulled Hogg to the ancestral hall and revealed the Battle Blade Slaughter.
• Hogg recognized the blade, wept with joy, and praised Linley for bringing it home.
• Linley told Hogg how Loa had returned the blade and how Linley had sworn to honor the Baruch Clan’s benefactor.
• Hogg placed the blade on its stand and told Hillman to prepare a celebration for the town.

Hogg told Hillman that he intended to investigate Lina’s death and avenge her, and Hillman agreed to help after Hogg promised to wait until Linley could stand on his own. Three months later, Loa continued training and studying the writing of the Four Supreme Planes, then heard a knock at his door.

• In the ancestral hall, Hogg told Hillman that Linley and Wharton had given him pride and that he had decided to investigate Lina’s death.
• Hillman warned Hogg that the investigation could cost him his life, but agreed to help after Hogg promised to wait until Linley was able to stand on his own.
• Three months passed as Loa trained, visited Myron and Cass, and received word that Linley had become a fourth-rank mage.
• After training with Wangcai, Loa began studying books about the Four Supreme Planes and heard a knock at the door.

Loa received the Flame Heart Potion from Wot and accepted an invitation to Wot and Tiya Millers's wedding. He gave the potion to Bob to help him break through to Rank 7 Warrior, and Bob agreed to rest before attempting it the next day.

• Wot introduced Loa to his fiancée, Tiya Millers, and gave Loa the Flame Heart Potion and their wedding invitation.
• Loa congratulated Wot and Tiya, promised to attend their wedding next month, and watched them leave.
• Wangcai asked whether it and Loa were married, so Loa stopped it before it could continue.
• Bob returned drunk from drinking with old Kama, and Loa dunked him in a water barrel to sober him up.
• Loa gave Bob the Flame Heart Potion, explaining that it could help him break through to Rank 7 Warrior.
• Bob eagerly accepted the potion and agreed to rest before attempting his breakthrough the next day.

Bob used Loa’s potion to break through to Rank 7 and gained the potential to reach higher levels. At Wot Lucas’s wedding, Loa watched the Fenlai Kingdom’s most powerful nobles and King Clayde arrive, and the ceremony began as Wot appeared at the hall doors.

• Bob took Loa’s potion, liquefied his battle-qi, and broke through to Rank 7.
• Loa explained that the potion had raised Bob’s talent ceiling, though reaching Saint level would depend on his insight and fortune.
• Loa left Wangcai at home and went to Wot Lucas’s wedding at the Lucas Clan residence.
• Duke Paterson, several high-ranking officials, and King Clayde arrived and took seats at the front of the hall.
• Clayde and Duke Paterson noticed Loa, who greeted them with a raised wine cup.
• When the auspicious hour arrived, the hall doors opened and Wot Lucas stood at the end of the aisle.