Recaps

Lian Youming faced Xue Hen, Gu Chan, and Gong Wuer in a perilous four-way battle, using his defensive skills and force-redirection techniques to withstand their attacks. After throwing Gu Chan and Xue Hen into the air, he launched his longsword toward the Young Sect Leader of the Taiji Gate.

• Lian Youming, Gong Wuer, and Gu Chan arrived at the clearing and confronted Xue Hen, who challenged them to fight.
• Xue Hen attacked first, and the four exchanged blows as Lian Youming met Xue Hen's Half-Step Crushing Fist head-on.
• Gu Chan used Sound Strike and an eagle-seizing attack, Gong Wuer struck at Lian Youming's lower back, and Xue Hen aimed a Pounding Fist at him.
• Lian Youming endured the three attacks with Tiger Roaring Golden Bell Cover, then redirected their force with his martial techniques and sent Gong Wuer, Gu Chan, and Xue Hen reeling.
• Lian Youming seized Gu Chan and Xue Hen by the wrists, hurled them into the air, and sent his longsword toward the Young Sect Leader of the Taiji Gate.

Lian Youming fought Gu Chan while Gong Wuer and Xue Hen battled nearby, and Gu Chan’s strange techniques revealed her mastery of the Three Great Neijiaquan. The old man in the straw hat identified her path as a possible attempt to reach Sun Lutang’s “Martial God” realm, leaving the spectators braced for a clash of titans.

• Gu Chan parried Lian Youming’s Gall-Illuminating Sword and redirected it back into its sheath, while Xue Hen and the watching martial experts reacted to Lian Youming’s ability to withstand three Foresight experts.
• The old man in the straw hat joined Wu Jiu and Yang Shuang, invited Xie Ruomei to Nanchang after the battle, and explained that the fighters were testing the balance between attack and defense.
• Lian Youming launched a rapid assault on Gu Chan, but she evaded his fists with Listening Jin and Foresight, then countered with Xingyi Quan and Bagua Palm.
• Gu Chan used a twisting hammer strike to hit Lian Youming’s chest, and he recognized that her methods fused the Three Great Neijiaquan.
• The old man identified Gu Chan’s techniques as Sun Lutang’s true inheritance and wondered whether she was seeking the Martial God realm, which he described as a Way of the Spirit that could challenge Mystic Connection martial artists.

Lian Youming and Gu Chan fought a brutal contest of strength on a rain-lashed peak, where Gu Chan wounded him with a thunderous shout and a strike at his dantians. After Lian Youming escaped a fall over the cliff, Gu Chan revealed the Way of the Spirit, and they prepared to resume their battle.

• Lian Youming and Gu Chan circled and clashed palms, driving their forces through the forest as their strength and momentum mounted.
• Gu Chan stunned Lian Youming with a thunderous shout, then struck toward his vital points with the Lion Rolling the Ball Palm.
• Lian Youming fell over the cliff to evade Gu Chan’s attack, then vaulted back onto the peak and praised her strength.
• Gu Chan revealed that she had intended to save the Way of the Spirit for Xue Hen, and Lian Youming answered with a declaration to kill.

Lian Youming and Gu Chan tested their martial paths in a fierce battle, revealing the Righteous Path and Martial God alongside their extraordinary spiritual techniques. Gu Chan’s decisive Witnessing Art strike seemed to catch Lian Youming off guard, but he absorbed its force with the Toad-Fishing Skill, prompting her to recognize his complete mastery of dark jin.

• Lian Youming named his path the Righteous Path, while Gu Chan revealed that hers was the Martial God.
• Lian Youming and Gu Chan clashed as Gu Chan used Void Targeting to seal off his movements and strike at the surrounding space.
• The sounds of Gong Wuer and Xue Hen’s battle reached them, and Lian Youming realized Gong Wuer appeared to be at a disadvantage.
• Gu Chan opened her eyes and used the Witnessing Art to disrupt Lian Youming’s attack, then sent her gathered strikes at him from every direction.
• Lian Youming took Gu Chan’s attacks head-on and used the Toad-Fishing Skill to draw their force through his body, leading Gu Chan to identify his complete mastery of dark jin.

Lian Youming completed his breakthrough in Dark Jin while fighting Gu Chan, then faced her final hammer technique head-on. Their clash sent one of them flying and vomiting blood, but the chapter ended before revealing who had won.

• Gu Chan attacked Lian Youming with a barrage of strikes, but his Toad-Fishing Skill absorbed the force as he advanced his breakthrough.
• Lian Youming unified his Dark Jin with his inner and outer strength, completing the connection while Gu Chan watched.
• Gu Chan called for one move to decide the victor and used her Heavenly Dipper Steps to encircle Lian Youming before attacking through a black overcoat.
• Lian Youming resisted Gu Chan's Witnessing Art and met her air-striking hammer technique with both fists.
• Their full-powered blows collided, and one figure flew backward vomiting blood, but the chapter did not identify the victor.

After defeating Gu Chan, Lian Youming saved Gong Wuer from Xue Hen and faced him in a final battle. As they entered Fifth Peak, Xue Hen explained the Foresight and Mystic Connection realms, and the two began their fight with clashing roars.

• Lian Youming defeated Gu Chan but was badly injured, and he spared her as he approached her.
• Xue Hen attacked Gong Wuer, and Lian Youming used his Daoist Sect Elixir Sword to block the strike and save her.
• Lian Youming told Gong Wuer the sword repaid her past guidance, then followed Xue Hen deeper into Fifth Peak.
• Xue Hen explained that Foresight united spirit and action, while Mystic Connection united spirit and body and led toward Land-Road Immortal.
• Lian Youming declared he would end the Martial Way to bring peace, and he and Xue Hen began their final battle with powerful roars.

Lian Youming fought Xue Hen despite the injuries he had sustained against Gu Chan, struggling against Xue Hen’s relentless Crushing Fist. When Lian Youming drew his sword, he wounded Xue Hen, but both fighters remained ready to continue.

• Lian Youming accepted Xue Hen as the opponent who would test his martial path, and Xue Hen attacked with Half-Step Crushing Fist.
• Lian Youming and Xue Hen exchanged chest blows, while Gu Chan predicted that Xue Hen would kill Lian Youming within a hundred moves and Gong Wuer watched.
• Xue Hen pressed his advantage with a relentless barrage, aggravating Lian Youming’s internal injuries and forcing him to retreat.
• Lian Youming tore free his scabbard, spun his sword forward, and cut Xue Hen across the chest.
• Xue Hen’s wound closed, and he praised Lian Youming’s swordsmanship before demanding another round.

Lian Youming fought Xue Hen but was badly wounded after Xue Hen countered his sword with a Lion’s Roar and broke his bones. As Xue Hen closed in to kill him, thunder stirred Lian Youming’s memory of Heavenly Dipper Strength, and he realized he might draw power from heaven’s will.

• Lian Youming and Xue Hen resumed their duel, trading sword strikes and elusive attacks without either gaining the upper hand.
• Wu Jiu recognized Xue Hen’s movement as Xue Dian’s Imitative Form Art and feared Lian Youming was being suppressed, but the onlookers let the duel continue.
• Lian Youming gathered his sword light into a killing thrust, but Xue Hen used a Lion’s Roar to disrupt his inner strength and caught the sword tip in his teeth.
• Xue Hen struck Lian Youming’s chest three times, breaking his bones and forcing him to collapse and vomit blood.
• Lian Youming rose to face Xue Hen again, then recalled the instructions for Heavenly Dipper Strength as thunder shook his body.

Lian Youming risked falling from a cliff to resonate with the thunder and draw its force into his body. He survived, returned to confront Xue Hen, and prepared to fight again with a newly awakened power.

• With Xue Hen pressing his attack, Lian Youming focused on Listening Jin and sensed the thunder’s surging force.
• Cornered at a cliff, Lian Youming fell backward over the edge, making the watching martial artists believe he had died.
• As he fell, Lian Youming howled with the thunder and felt its power resonate with his voice and enter his body.
• Lian Youming caught a vine and climbed back to the cliff, then began drawing in the rain and thunder qi to restore himself.
• Xue Hen approached Lian Youming, but halted when he sensed the momentum of the Human Way surrounding his opponent.
• Lian Youming faced Xue Hen and challenged him to fight again.

Lian Youming drew the thunder’s force into his body and used it to sharpen his senses and strengthen his attacks against Xue Hen. He embraced the reach of his Martial Way and continued trading brutal blows with Xue Hen as the battle raged on.

• Lian Youming connected with the thunder’s rhythm, strengthening his body and perceiving Xue Hen’s movements more clearly.
• Lian Youming counterattacked with Bagua Palm and Baji Boxing, sending Xue Hen crashing to the ground and reopening his wounds.
• Xue Hen used foresight and the Imitative Form Art, but Lian Youming’s great intent made him feel unable to hide within seven steps.
• Lian Youming struck Xue Hen with a heavy punch, then parried his rapid attacks with Spirit-Beating Whip before their fists collided.
• Lian Youming and Xue Hen charged at each other again and traded repeated bloody blows amid thunder and rain.

Lian Youming and Xue Hen fought a brutal duel atop the storm-lashed peak, each drawing on a different way to pursue the ultimate martial art. As both approached their limits, lightning struck the longsword behind Lian Youming, sending Thunder Force beneath their feet and making them stagger.

• Xue Hen recognized that Lian Youming was channeling heavenly Thunder Force through his body, and both fighters resumed their exchange of blows.
• Xue Hen unleashed his all-encompassing fighting method, combining the principles of many schools and styles to challenge Lian Youming.
• Lian Youming answered with Thunder Force and Taiji Hammer, fighting Xue Hen through dozens of bloody exchanges as the storm began to subside.
• Xue Hen's relentless assault drove Lian Youming backward while both men suffered severe injuries and neared exhaustion.
• As Xue Hen struck at Lian Youming, lightning hit the three-foot longsword behind him, sending Thunder Force beneath both fighters and making them stagger.

Lian Youming defeated Xue Hen in a final exchange of punches, forcing Xue Hen to retreat and fall from the cliff. With the gathered martial artists now wary of Lian Youming’s growing power, he collapsed after the fight.

• A sudden thunderclap gave Xue Hen and Lian Youming enough strength to resume their fight.
• Lian Youming used the Taiji Hammer-Coiling Silk Force and struck through Xue Hen’s Dantian Qi Strike with a devastating final punch.
• Xue Hen’s injuries erupted as he retreated to the cliff’s edge, acknowledged Lian Youming’s victory, and fell to his death.
• The martial artists gathered around Lian Youming, while some went down the mountain to search for Xue Hen’s body.
• Yang Shuang asked Lian Youming how he was, and Lian Youming toppled over stiffly.

After Lian Youming defeated Xue Hen, Senior Li saved him and helped conceal that he was alive, while rumors spread that both fighters had died. Two days later, Lian Youming recovered aboard a fishing boat and planned to return home before Lingyun gave birth; Xie Ruomei arrived to meet him.

• Yang Shuang found Lian Youming barely breathing after his battle with Xue Hen, and Senior Li revived him with ginseng and treated his grievous injuries.
• Lian Youming woke in a killing frenzy, but Senior Li knocked him unconscious; after he recovered enough to speak, he agreed to pretend to be dead to avoid attention from hidden forces.
• Senior Li told Wu Jiu and the others that Lian Youming had died, while rumors of Xue Hen's death spread and Gu Chan's group learned his body was missing.
• Senior Li carried Lian Youming from Mount Lu, and two days later Lian Youming ate with Wu Jiu, A Xing, and Yang Shuang on a boat at Poyang Lake.
• Lian Youming said he planned to return home the next day to be with Lingyun before the birth, then Senior Li and Xie Ruomei arrived by boat and Xie Ruomei greeted him.

Lian Youming learned that Xue Hen’s body had not been found and heard Senior Li’s theory that a powerful Buddhist-linked recluse may have rescued him. After saying farewell to Xie Ruomei and the others at the train station, Lian Youming boarded a train for Guangzhou, determined to meet Xue Hen again someday.

• Senior Li told Lian Youming that Xue Hen’s body had not been found and was probably rescued by someone.
• Senior Li recounted Xue Dian’s history, including his studies on Mount Wutai and his encounter with the monk Venerable Lingkong, who was said to be over a hundred and thirty years old.
• Senior Li described finding a footprint on a cliff and warned Lian Youming that ancient martial artists might still be alive; Lian Youming welcomed the chance to face Xue Hen again.
• Lian Youming fished with Senior Li, who eventually pinned him down and beat him after he kept disrupting the fishing.
• The next day, Senior Li set off to look around Nanchang with Wu Jiu and the others, while Xie Ruomei gave Lian Youming the Gall-Illuminating Sword.
• Lian Youming said goodbye to Xie Ruomei and the group, then boarded a train for Guangzhou.

Lian Youming rushed to the hospital when he heard Yan Lingyun was in labor, only to find she had overeaten and was being kept there until the baby arrived. After reuniting with her, he spoke with Junk King about his martial path and his decision not to kill his defeated opponent, then agreed to bring cooking equipment so his master could make Yan Lingyun fresh fish soup.

• Yan Lingyun cried out, prompting Zhao Lanxiang and the others to rush her to Fourth Hospital while Lian Youming returned home and learned she had gone into labor.
• Lian Youming sprinted to the hospital and found Yan Lingyun eating lamb skewers; Zhao Lanxiang explained that an upset stomach had caused the alarm and that the doctor expected the baby within days.
• Lian Youming comforted Yan Lingyun, who noticed his injuries and weight loss, and promised he would beat their baby once he was born.
• Junk King criticized Lian Youming's use of the Daoist Sect Elixir Sword and asked why he had spared the Taiji Gate girl; Lian Youming said he had moved beyond her.
• Junk King explained that Lian Youming's righteous martial path required him to travel the world and overcome injustice, while warning that Foresight Perfection remained far off.
• Junk King offered to make Yan Lingyun fish soup from two crucian carp, and Lian Youming agreed to bring a stove and pots to the hospital.

Lian Youming waited anxiously as Yan Lingyun gave birth to their healthy son, then found that becoming a father strengthened his spirit and helped him recall the flawless punch he had thrown on Mount Lu. He practiced through the night, moving closer to the realm of Foresight as dawn broke.

• Lian Youming hurried to the hospital when Yan Lingyun went into labor and waited tensely outside the delivery room with their family and friends.
• After more than ten hours, Yan Lingyun safely gave birth to a seven-jin-four-liang boy, and Lian Youming held his son before Yan Lingyun fell asleep.
• Junk King urged Lian Youming to reflect on the final punch from the battle on Mount Lu, saying it could lead him toward the realm of Foresight.
• Lian Youming ran beneath the night sky, felt a new strength in his resolve, and recalled the pure, nearly flawless punch he had thrown on Mount Lu.
• Lian Youming practiced punches and palm strikes through the night, gradually moving into Military Boxing as dawn came.

Yan Lingyun returned home with her newborn son, Lian Ruopu, whom she nicknamed Stone, while Lian Youming and their neighbors helped care for them. By mid-July, a mysterious man named Nalan approached the Junk King and asked him to join an ambush against a monk, leaving the Junk King to consider the proposal.

• Lian Youming brought Yan Lingyun and their newborn son home from the hospital, where the neighbors gathered to admire the baby.
• Yan Lingyun named her son Lian Ruopu and gave him the nickname Stone, while she and Lian Youming learned to care for him with help from Third Aunt and Zhao Lanxiang.
• At Lüzu Temple, the Junk King met a mysterious, powerful man who identified himself as Nalan and recalled witnessing the Junk King's past battle.
• Nalan proposed that he and the Junk King ambush and kill a monk, identifying the target as the Eyeless Monk, formerly known as Venerable Lingkong.
• The Junk King listened to Nalan's claims that Venerable Lingkong had thwarted Du Xinwu's breakthrough and then said he would consider the proposal.

Tian Dayong told Lian Youming that a prison for martial artists had been infiltrated by jailbreakers and that Xu Tian might call on him to help. Lian Youming then found a farewell note revealing that Junk King had left on a dangerous journey, possibly to pursue revenge.

• Lian Youming learned from Tian Dayong that at least four or five experts had attacked the martial-artist prison, and Xu Tian wanted him ready to help later in August.
• Tian Dayong warned Lian Youming to stay home for an impending upheaval, while Lian Youming considered gathering the Green Gang and Hongmen's remaining resources and preparing for a trip overseas.
• Yan Lingyun wondered why Junk King had been away longer than usual, so Lian Youming went to check his courtyard.
• Lian Youming found Junk King's note saying he had gone on a long journey, leaving instructions about Heavenly Dipper Strength and warning that its use could bring disaster.
• Lian Youming feared Junk King had gone to take revenge and worried that he might not return.

Lian Youming discovered that the Junk King had left on a dangerous journey after uncovering the memorial tablets of his slain martial family and the training methods he had left behind. After worrying over the old man’s fate, Lian Youming began practicing Heavenly Dipper Strength, drawing a breath that rolled through him like thunder.

• Lian Youming told Yan Lingyun that the Junk King had left on a long journey, then rushed to Lüzu Temple to search for him.
• Lian Youming found four sealed vats of Tiger Bone Wine and nine memorial tablets, including one for the Junk King under the name Xuanming.
• Lian Youming paid respects to the tablets and found a book containing the training methods for Heavenly Dipper Strength and Earthly Fiend Stance, along with the words, “The common people have no words, yet their voices can be known... the Righteous Path!”
• Zhao Lanxiang worried that the Junk King had left because the family had not cared for him well enough, but Lian Youming reassured her.
• Lian Youming studied Heavenly Dipper Strength and drew in a breath that spread through him like rolling thunder.

As a sweeping crime crackdown reached Xijing, Tian Dayong returned injured after a fight with a Grand Boxer, and Lian Youming treated him. After learning the attacker had been shot dead, Lian Youming reflected on the changing times and declared that he would rise above the Martial Way; Tian Dayong then told him to prepare to leave at the end of August with a companion.

• Lian Father brought the injured Tian Dayong home after Tian encountered an expert in Iron Sand Palm during the crackdown.
• Lian Youming treated Tian Dayong’s chest injury with Inner Strength while Yan Lingyun gave him medicine.
• Lian Father returned the next morning and reported that the attacker had been shot dead.
• Lian Youming declared that he would claim the leading place in the Martial Way, and Tian Dayong considered how the times favored him.
• Tian Dayong told Lian Youming to prepare to leave at the end of August with a companion, whom Lian Youming recognized as the spear expert he had met on Mount Lu.

After recovering from the battle on Mount Lu, Lian Youming mastered Striking Force Across the Air and learned about Yan Lingyun’s Golden Needle Point Stimulation technique and a prescription that could avert the Scattered Power Tribulation. Yan Lingyun’s family arrived to stay with her and their son as Lian Youming prepared to leave, his thoughts turning to the missing Junk King.

• Lian Youming practiced in the Junk King's shack and finally used Striking Force Across the Air to punch a burst of water from a vat without touching it.
• Lian Youming returned home, where Yan Lingyun told him she had developed Golden Needle Point Stimulation to briefly awaken a person's potential, provided they had built up enough vital essence.
• Yan Lingyun revealed that the Junk King had given her a prescription that might avert the Scattered Power Tribulation, and Lian Youming realized the Junk King and Li Da had been in contact.
• Lian Youming surprised Yan Lingyun by arranging for Yan Beitong, her parents, and her Sixth Brother to come stay with her and their son.
• With his family safe at home, Lian Youming's thoughts turned to the missing Junk King, and his killing intent surged.

Tian Dayong and Lian Youming pursued three foreign poachers into the Lop Nur wilderness, where they found signs of the men near a water source. After hearing gunfire, they discovered five White Lotus Sect fighters, including two Xingyi Sect traitors, and Lian Youming attacked them despite Tian Dayong’s warning to be cautious.

• Tian Dayong and Lian Youming traveled into Gansu to hunt three foreign poachers who had entered the uninhabited zone.
• Tian Dayong told Lian Youming that the poachers were Hui men surnamed Bai who practiced Eagle Claw Fist, Flower Fist, and Tongbei Fist and might be searching for buried treasure.
• The two searched Lop Nur through the night and found a Mongolian gazelle whose heart had been gouged out with Eagle Claw Kung Fu.
• After a sandstorm delayed them, Tian Dayong and Lian Youming heard gunfire and approached a water source from opposite sides.
• Lian Youming recognized two of five men butchering a camel as Xingyi Sect traitors who had joined the White Lotus Sect, then charged at them.
• One of the five fired five shots at Lian Youming, but he dodged the bullets, prompting the men to call him a Foresight Martial Artist.

Lian Youming faced five attackers and showed overwhelming skill as they launched a coordinated assault. He defeated two of them, leaving the others shocked by his Striking Force Across the Air.

• Tian Dayong saw Lian Youming signal him to stay back and held his position.
• Lian Youming identified the fat man's younger brother Bai Long as someone he had killed, then reminded the Xingyi Sect men of their encounter at Changbai Mountain.
• Lian Youming offered the Xingyi Sect men a chance to leave, but they and the other three attackers launched a coordinated attack.
• Lian Youming endured the five men's strikes without moving, then dislocated one thin man's leg with a punch.
• Lian Youming broke the other thin man's hold and struck him through the chest, leaving the Xingyi Sect men stunned by his Striking Force Across the Air.

Lian Youming overwhelmed the Xingyi Sect fighters, killing the attackers who tried to seize his pistol and flee. As he prepared to finish the last wounded man, Tian Dayong arrived and called him Shang Fei.

• The fat man and the Chicken Form practitioner attacked Lian Youming, but he dodged their blows and turned their own inner strength against them, leaving them badly injured.
• Lian Youming kicked the Monkey Form practitioner in the jaw after blinding him with his own thrown sand.
• The true Monkey Form disciple grabbed Lian Youming's pistol, but Lian Youming killed him with a sword strike to the neck.
• The fat man tried to flee, and Lian Youming threw his sword through the man's back and heart.
• Lian Youming prepared to kill the last wounded man, but Tian Dayong arrived and called him Shang Fei.

Lian Youming and Tian Dayong uncovered a tattooed map on the bodies of three treasure hunters, but Shang Fei died before they could learn more about it. They followed the map toward Loulan, then fled after spotting White Lotus Sect fighters and found a broken stele among corpses at dawn.

• Lian Youming discovered that tattoos on the three dead treasure hunters formed an incomplete map, while Shang Fei explained their search for Bai family treasure.
• Shang Fei killed himself after mourning his fallen Xingyi comrades, and Tian Dayong told Lian Youming about their shared past and Martial Uncle Xu's prowess.
• Lian Youming and Tian Dayong chose to investigate the map near the Ancient City of Loulan.
• At night, Lian Youming spotted the White Lotus Sect's Vice Sect Leader and several Protectors, including two Foresight experts, heading toward them, so the pair detoured north.
• At dawn, Lian Youming found dried corpses and skeletons pinned beneath rocks beside a broken stele bearing the faint words "Xu... Dwarf Master...".