Recaps

Lian Youming and Mr. Corpse fought a desperate duel in the flooding ship’s hold, each using deadly martial techniques as the seawater rose around them. The chapter ended with both men thrown back after trading powerful blows, while Mr. Corpse revealed three hidden needles.

• Chiba Aoi warned Lian Youming to be careful, then escaped through the flooded hold.
• Mr. Corpse explained that he had become a Mountain Guardian to survive and challenged Lian Youming to a fight to the death.
• Mr. Corpse battered Lian Youming with grappling techniques, but Lian Youming countered with his sword and cut Mr. Corpse’s neck.
• As seawater filled the hold, Mr. Corpse tried to escape upward, and Lian Youming blocked him with an Elixir Sword and Taiji Cotton Palm.
• Mr. Corpse struck Lian Youming with Xingyi Five Elements Fist, while Lian Youming hit Mr. Corpse in the chest, sending both backward.
• Mr. Corpse pressed his hand to his chest and forced three fine short needles out of his left side.

Lian Youming fought Mr. Corpse underwater as the passenger ship sank, using a feigned blood attack to wound him before taking a devastating Jade Sword strike. As Mr. Corpse moved to kill Chen Baihu, Lian Youming clung to him again and displayed a mysterious ability that Mr. Corpse recognized as “Intent Before Action.”

• Mr. Corpse removed his needles, roused his strength, and attacked Lian Youming underwater with Alligator Form and Mackerel Form.
• Lian Youming fought back with the Three Yin Seven Killings Sword, but Mr. Corpse’s circling movements blunted his attacks and a heavy palm reopened his chest wound.
• Lian Youming feigned an Elixir Sword attack with a mouthful of blood, then seized Mr. Corpse and struck him, aggravating the old injuries and poison in his body.
• Mr. Corpse broke free and hit Lian Youming in the forehead with a Jade Sword, then turned toward the torpedoes to kill Chen Baihu.
• Lian Youming grabbed Mr. Corpse again and stimulated his heart and lungs with inner strength, prompting Mr. Corpse to recognize his evasive movement as “Intent Before Action.”

Lian Youming awakened the defensive state Intent Before Action and battled Mr. Corpse underwater, but Mr. Corpse’s overwhelming strength drove him back. As Mr. Corpse attacked with Three Emperors Cannon Hammer, Lian Youming spat blood and internal breath into his opponent’s lone eye.

• The Dzi Bead calmed Lian Youming’s killing intent, allowing him to stabilize his breath and enter Intent Before Action.
• Lian Youming instinctively evaded Mr. Corpse’s attacks, startling him with his newly awakened defensive instinct.
• Mr. Corpse renewed his assault while Lian Youming defended a small patch of ground and used the swirling seawater to counter his momentum.
• Mr. Corpse charged in bear form with Wild Bull Power, and Lian Youming met him with a spinning ball of water before being driven into the iron chest.
• Mr. Corpse broke Lian Youming’s guard with Three Emperors Cannon Hammer, but Lian Youming spat blood and internal breath into his lone eye.

Lian Youming survived Mr. Corpse’s torpedo blast and was rescued by Chiba Aoi, who realized the person from the iron cage had escaped. Despite his severe injuries, Lian Youming insisted on going to Gu Feiyan’s unfinished fight.

• Chen Baihu’s Heavenly Dipper Strength revived Lian Youming just enough to evade Mr. Corpse’s killing blow, and Lian Youming wounded Mr. Corpse with a hidden blade to the Yinqiao Point.
• Mr. Corpse revealed a torpedo and declared they would die together; Lian Youming tried to shelter behind the iron chest as the torpedo exploded and shattered the passenger ship’s lower hold.
• Chiba Aoi ordered her ninjas to search the wreck, then found Lian Youming coughing on her speedboat and realized someone from the iron cage had saved him.
• Chiba Aoi rebuked a subordinate who suggested killing Lian Youming, then began treating his injuries.
• Lian Youming woke and demanded that Chiba Aoi take him to Gu Feiyan’s fight, despite his grave condition.

Lian Youming recovered enough from his grievous injuries to board the burning passenger ship, determined to face the battle and master the Complete Transformation Fighting Method. He entered the hall and cut through Gan Xuansu’s men, drawing Situ Wudi’s astonished attention.

• Chiba Aoi helped Lian Youming tend his injuries while he forced his broken body back into fighting condition.
• A Hokushin Ittō-ryū ninja reported that Situ Wudi and Gan Xuansu had boarded the burning passenger ship and that a major battle was underway.
• Lian Youming thanked Chiba Aoi, said he would advance rather than retreat, and boarded the passenger ship by rope ladder.
• Lian Youming entered the hall wearing a coat taken from a corpse and evaded Gan Xuansu’s men, killing several with his sword fingers.
• Situ Wudi recognized Lian Youming’s Intent Before Action and realized he had improved again.

Lian Youming returned after killing Mr. Corpse, and the gathered fighters prepared to battle over Fist Challenges the World. Gu Feiyan revealed that she had reached Foresight Perfection, and as the ship caught fire, Gan Xuansu charged at Lian Youming.

• Lian Youming returned to the ring, and Situ Wudi said he had helped Feng Xiong and the others while Lian Youming was away.
• Lian Youming told Gan Xuansu that Mr. Corpse was dead, leaving nothing to bury.
• Li Da, Yang Cuo, Situ Wudi, Nalan Wushe, Gu Feiyan, Gan Xuansu, and Lian Youming sized one another up as the others withdrew.
• Gu Feiyan revealed the perilous Qi Dynamics of Foresight Perfection, astonishing the fighters.
• Nalan Wushe said he had slept through much of his life after reaching great martial heights before age thirty.
• As flames and explosions spread across the ship, Gan Xuansu raised his saber and charged at Lian Youming for another match.

Lian Youming, Situ Wudi, and Yang Cuo fought Nalan Wushe’s group after Chen Baihu escaped, and Lian Youming wounded Gan Xuansu with Intent Before Action. Nalan Wushe withdrew, but Gu Feiyan then challenged the three men and proved superior, leaving the fight poised to continue with Li Da joining them.

• Situ Wudi, Li Da, Yang Cuo, Lian Youming, and Gan Xuansu attacked their opponents as the battle erupted across the platform.
• Lian Youming and Gan Xuansu agreed to decide their fight with one move, and Lian Youming reopened Gan Xuansu’s chest wound using Intent Before Action.
• Nalan Wushe stopped Lian Youming from striking Gan Xuansu, and Situ Wudi and Yang Cuo drove back the two old men who rushed to attack.
• Nalan Wushe admitted defeat for the moment, warned that old Mystic Connection martial artists might return, and left with Gan Xuansu.
• Gu Feiyan vanished and attacked Situ Wudi, Yang Cuo, and Lian Youming, defeating each of them in their respective fighting styles.
• Li Da emerged from beneath the platform and joined the other three as Gu Feiyan stood among them, ready to face them all.

Gu Feiyan concealed her power before revealing her mastery of weapons and overwhelming the four martial artists on the burning arena platform. She declared that she would settle their longstanding grudges, and the battle continued with Lian Youming badly injured.

• As the arena burned, Gu Feiyan reached foresight perfection while Lian Youming, Li Da, Situ Wudi, and Yang Cuo contemplated their own martial paths.
• Li Da revealed that he was this generation’s inheritor of Bodhidharma’s True Lineage and sought the Mystic Connection Grand Realm.
• Gu Feiyan summoned an array of weapons and took up a massive Green Dragon Crescent Blade, while Lian Youming, Situ Wudi, and Yang Cuo armed themselves.
• Gu Feiyan attacked Lian Youming, and Li Da, Situ Wudi, and Yang Cuo joined the fight against her from different directions.
• Gu Feiyan repelled their attacks, countered Lian Youming’s hammers, and revealed her ambition to become a Mountain Guardian like the White Lotus Saint Son.
• Gu Feiyan struck Lian Youming beneath the platform and declared that she would settle their grudges.

Lian Youming joined Li Da, Yang Cuo, and Situ Wudi in fighting Gu Feiyan, whose Mind-Reading and Divine Eye let her dominate them. He used White Bone Contemplation to disrupt her focus and land a hammer blow, then attacked alongside the others as the fire closed in.

• Gu Feiyan outmaneuvered Li Da, Yang Cuo, and Situ Wudi, repeatedly damaging their weapons and forcing them back.
• Lian Youming attacked from beneath the platform, but Gu Feiyan saw through his moves as the platform collapsed and the fight shifted into the cramped space below.
• Lian Youming swallowed Yang Cuo's pills to recover and watched the fighters, while a helicopter arrived above the ship to extract Gu Feiyan.
• Lian Youming struck Gu Feiyan with White Bone Contemplation, making her vision waver and allowing him to hit her in the chest with a hammer.
• As Gu Feiyan recovered and the others attacked, Lian Youming abandoned his weapons and joined the fight with his fists, determined to kill her before the fire reached them.

Gu Feiyan fought Lian Youming, Li Da, Yang Cuo, and Situ Wudi while flames closed around the ring. Lian Youming broke through to I Am the Only One and struck her heart, but Gu Feiyan withdrew into the fire after declaring that they would meet again in the Yellow Springs.

• Lian Youming and the other three attacked Gu Feiyan together, but she used Hua Jin and Divine Eye to evade and counter their blows.
• The four coordinated their attacks to restrict Gu Feiyan, and Lian Youming realized Intent Before Action could overcome her ability to read thoughts.
• Gu Feiyan invoked a Visualization Method and unleashed countless martial arts techniques, while Lian Youming countered with the Yama-Subduing Demon Venerable visualization.
• After a hundred moves, Lian Youming shed the forms of the martial arts schools and manifested I Am the Only One.
• Gu Feiyan charged Lian Youming as he struck her heart, while Li Da, Yang Cuo, and Situ Wudi also landed their attacks.
• Gu Feiyan withdrew into the sea of fire, smiled at the White-Haired Woman, and said they would meet again in the Yellow Springs.

Lian Youming survived the battle that killed Gu Feiyan, but suffered severe injuries and learned that an unseen Mystic Connection expert had intervened. As he began recovering on a deserted island, a mysterious German-uniformed figure emerged from the sea and resolved to return home for the White Lotus Sect’s accumulated foundations.

• Situ Qingqing shot down the helicopter attacking Lian Youming and the others, and the passenger ship exploded as Lian Youming and Li Da escaped into the sea.
• Lian Youming noticed golden needles suppressing Situ Wudi’s power, while the survivors divided gold bars salvaged from the ship before Lian Youming collapsed.
• Xuanling Perfected Person told Lian Youming that he and his companions had been held back by an unseen expert with Mystic Connection qi dynamics, and Xu Tian warned that Lian Youming would need months to recover.
• Xu Tian put the injured Lian Youming into a medicine barrel to recuperate, while refusing to reveal the identity of the person Lian Youming had rescued.
• A mysterious figure in a scorched German military uniform emerged from the sea and decided to return home for the White Lotus Sect’s accumulated foundations.

While Xu Tian treated Lian Youming, he warned that White Bone Contemplation had triggered a dangerous Heart-Refining Tribulation planted by the White Lotus Sect Master. Lian Youming resolved to face it, while in Guangzhou Junk King learned of the group’s escape and the rumored appearance of an old master at Mystic Connection.

• Xu Tian treated Lian Youming’s injuries and cautioned him that his rapid progress and weakened condition left him vulnerable.
• Lian Youming saw Xu Tian and himself as rotting skeletons, then explained that he had forcibly used White Bone Contemplation during his fight with Gu Feiyan.
• Xu Tian and Xuanling Perfected Person explained that the White Lotus Sect Master had planted a seed in Lian Youming, and that he had to master the visualization to overcome the tribulation.
• Lian Youming accepted the danger and vowed to face the White Lotus Sect Master’s scheme.
• In Guangzhou, Yang Lian and Lian Youming’s double greeted Junk King, who asked for news from Cangzhou.
• Yang Lian reported Chen Baihu’s escape, Mr. Corpse’s death, Gu Feiyan’s defeat, and the possible appearance of an old monster at Mystic Connection; Junk King questioned how Lian Youming could have beaten the Five Elders of the Mountain Guardians.

Lian Youming returned to Guangzhou with his companions and reunited with Junk King, whose joy brought him close to the Mystic Connection Grand Realm. Afterward, Lian Youming glimpsed the world as a field of skeletons, but the Dzi Bead restored his senses.

• Lian Youming parted ways with Xu Tian and traveled with Xuanling Perfected Person, Feng Xiong, and the others to Du Xinwu's courtyard residence.
• Xuanling Perfected Person discussed the Mystic Connection Grand Realm and praised the unmatched attack of Sword Immortals as they made their way to the residence.
• Junk King welcomed Xuanling Perfected Person as his long-lost senior sister, and Lian Youming learned that Xue Hen had gone west after a fortuitous encounter.
• Lian Youming sensed Junk King's qi surging and heard an elusive voice explain that his master's intent had brought him close to the Mystic Connection Grand Realm.
• Yang Lian secretly arranged guards around the garden while Lian Youming saw everyone as skeletons; touching his Dzi Bead restored his vision, and he called the experience interesting.

Lian Youming learned how to perceive Junk King despite his master’s concealment, then reunited with him and Xuanling Perfected Person. Junk King and Xuanling set off for Four-Nine City to respond to Chen Baihu’s condition, leaving Lian Youming with a painting to aid his cultivation.

• Xuanling Perfected Person taught Lian Youming that he could find Junk King by reading traces in the wind and petals rather than relying on his senses, and Lian Youming managed to perceive his master.
• Junk King explained that he had set off south after receiving Lian Youming’s message but arrived too late to help during his ordeal.
• Lian Youming told Junk King that Chen Baihu was gravely weakened and had little lucid time left, and Junk King decided to go to Four-Nine City in case enemies targeted him.
• Junk King reassured Lian Youming that he had arranged protection for Little Stone and Lingyun, while Xuanling Perfected Person also said she would travel to Four-Nine City.
• Junk King gave Lian Youming a painting to help steady his mind and cultivate, then departed with Xuanling Perfected Person; Lian Youming unrolled it and found it depicted Lüzu Slaying the Flood Dragon.

Lian Youming planned to open an Incense Hall in Hong Kong and returned to Wuzhou to reunite with Yan Lingyun and their son while recovering from his injuries. Yan Beitong warned that his internal organs were damaged, then told him that the doctor connected to the Hidden Killing Society’s secret medicine had returned to Hong Kong, prompting Lian Youming to suspect Gu Feiyan had survived.

• Lian Youming decided to open an Incense Hall in mid-September and invite leaders and groups from the Three Teachings, using the Green and Hong Gangs’ tokens of authority to draw them in.
• After two days of recovery, Lian Youming said goodbye to Zhang Weiyi, Feng Xiong, Zhao Danxia, and the others, then returned to Wuzhou.
• Lian Youming reunited with Yan Lingyun and their son at Yan Medical Hall and reassured her about his injuries.
• Yan Beitong examined Lian Youming and warned that his internal organs were damaged, though his strong physique had protected his foundations.
• Yan Beitong told Lian Youming that the doctor linked to the qi-blood-boosting secret medicine had returned to Hong Kong, and Lian Youming began to suspect Gu Feiyan had faked her death.

Lian Youming practiced White Bone Contemplation by visualizing his body rotting, but the meditation nearly trapped him in a death-like state. Little Stone’s sudden cry jolted him back to awareness, leaving him pale and drenched in sweat.

• Lian Youming and Yan Lingyun discussed Little Stone and Xiao Shuang before going to bed together.
• After Yan Lingyun fell asleep, Lian Youming sat before a mirror and began contemplating the impurity of his body.
• Lian Youming visualized his flesh and organs rotting, and the sensations overwhelmed his senses and silenced his abilities.
• Lian Youming lost control of his body and felt his vitality drain away as despair overtook him.
• Little Stone crawled off the bed and cried out, jolting Lian Youming awake from the dangerous meditation.

After nearly suffering a fatal cultivation deviation from White Bone Contemplation, Lian Youming learned why visualization was dangerous and kept the incident from Yan Lingyun. As they went shopping with their child, a Daoist in Shanghai discussed Lian Youming and Chen Baihu with an associate and planned to wait for a chance to take revenge.

• Yan Beitong warned Lian Youming that meditation and visualization could cause martial artists to go mad or die, and Lian Youming realized how close he had come to disaster.
• Yan Lingyun questioned Lian Youming about the previous night, but he concealed what had happened and changed the subject.
• Lian Youming noticed Yan Lingyun's progress in cultivation, checked that her modified dietary supplementation was safe, and brushed her hair.
• Lian Youming saw a skeletal vision of the White Lotus Sect Master in the mirror, then studied the Lüzu Slaying the Flood Dragon Painting and recalled Junk King's advice to subdue demons with the sword.
• A Sallow-Faced Old Daoist in Shanghai learned that Lian Youming had trained under Daoist Xuanming and gained powerful allies, then ordered his associate to wait while they investigated Chen Baihu's condition.

Lian Youming comforted his siblings, then moved his family to a fortified old mansion in Guangzhou because he feared an unseen threat. After seeing its secret passages and weapons, he agreed to let Sun Duhe and Yan Tao’s family move in too.

• Lian Youming reassured Lian Shuang and Lian Lei after they told him about her disagreement with their father over studying foreign languages.
• Yan Lingyun told Lian Youming she was studying Western medicine and wanted another child, saying she hoped to help him explore medicine and martial arts.
• A week later, Lian Youming and Sun Duhe moved the family’s belongings from their rented room to an old Western-style mansion left by Du Xinwu.
• The caretaker showed Lian Youming, Yan Lingyun, Sun Duhe, and Yan Tao the mansion’s secret passages, concealed mechanisms, firearms, and other weapons.
• Yan Lingyun asked whether danger was coming, and Lian Youming said it was better to be prepared.
• Sun Duhe and Yan Tao proposed moving in with Lian Youming’s family, and Lian Youming agreed.

The White Lotus Sect Master learned that Lian Youming had invited the Green and Hong Gangs to his September ceremony, and martial artists across the country began heading south. In the west, the Ascetic Monk awakened the God of Tai Sui and told him that Eyeless Monk and Mr. Corpse were dead and Chen Baihu had returned.

• The White Lotus Sect Master received the Green Gang’s invitation and said she would travel south when the ceremony came.
• Yang Shuang and martial artists from across the Northern and Southern Martial Arts World reacted to Lian Youming’s invitations and the return of the Green and Hong Gang tokens.
• The Ascetic Monk reached a crude stone temple in the western wilderness and awakened the God of Tai Sui with his chanting.
• The Ascetic Monk told the God of Tai Sui that Du Xinwu had died thirty-one years earlier and that Eyeless Monk and Mr. Corpse were dead.
• The God of Tai Sui learned that Chen Baihu had returned in Four-Nine City, then unleashed a roar and shouted, “Kill!”

Lian Youming recovered his mind by spending time at the Martyrs' Cemetery, but a premonition warned him that a new, unfamiliar threat was approaching. The chapter ended as the Lüzu Slaying the Flood Dragon Painting stirred and he voiced an idea about drawing his sword to slay the dragon.

• Lian Youming learned from his double’s diary that he had helped Song and earned numerous academic and extracurricular honors.
• Lian Youming began seeing classmates and strangers as skeletons, and realized White Bone Contemplation was clashing with his Fists Suppress the Mountains and Rivers.
• Lian Youming went to the Martyrs' Cemetery, where he found calm, and spent the following half-month recovering while Yan Lingyun treated him.
• Lian Youming sensed an unseen killing intent stirring and prepared himself for the coming fight.
• Lian Youming drank Yan Lingyun’s bitter herbal tea, then watched the flood dragon in the Lüzu Slaying the Flood Dragon Painting surge into motion and wondered, “See the Buddha open his mouth? Draw the sword and slay the dragon?”

Lian Youming struggled to understand how to use the Lüzu Slaying the Flood Dragon Painting to temper his sword intent, then welcomed his younger sister Lian Shuang after she secretly traveled to Guangzhou. That night, he awakened the painting’s hidden divine intent and fought the imagined flood dragon, while Sun Duhe watched in alarm.

• Lian Youming studied the antique painting for nearly half a day but failed to grasp its mysteries.
• Lian Youming hurried to the train station and found Lian Shuang there with Zhao Xiaozhi, who had helped her on the journey.
• Lian Youming brought Lian Shuang home, where she ate and rested after admitting she had traveled without their parents’ permission.
• Lian Youming meditated on the painting late into the night until moonlight revealed the flood dragon’s hidden divine intent.
• Lian Youming drew a steel sword and attacked the flood dragon as the painting shattered, while Sun Duhe witnessed him fighting empty air.

Lian Youming misread the Lüzu Slaying the Flood Dragon Painting and injured himself while fighting its vision, then realized the flood dragon represented his own agitated heart. He sank beneath the Pearl River to forge the Wisdom Sword and face the danger of losing control of his thoughts.

• Sun Duhe entered Lian Youming's room and saw an evil flood dragon appear in the swordplay, but the vision vanished when he fell back outside.
• Lian Youming stabbed at the flood dragon, aggravating his internal injuries and causing the forces of Golden Bell Cover and Iron Shirt to clash.
• After hearing a child cry, Lian Youming fled to the Pearl River, recognized the flood dragon as his own true heart, and understood that slaying it meant subduing it.
• Lian Youming sank to the riverbed and began forging the Wisdom Sword while confronting visions of a flood dragon and a tiger.
• Yang Qing arrived with skilled fighters, and Youying warned her that Lian Youming's character remained unstable as he faced the Wisdom Sword.

Lian Youming struggled to control the clashing forces of Dragon Roaring Iron Shirt and Tiger Roaring Golden Bell Cover as they rampaged through his body. He formed the formless Wisdom Sword to subdue them, emerged from the river, and resolved to guard against arrogance and frenzy.

• Lian Youming submerged himself in the river and used his spiritual intent to try to restrain the dragon and tiger forces surging through his body.
• When fear and thoughts of his enemies disrupted his focus, the forces twisted his body, and the Dzi Bead's coolness only partly eased the damage.
• Lian Youming drew in the river's water momentum and waited for his breath and strength to weaken the two forces, while seeking to form the Wisdom Sword.
• Remembering the Martyrs' Cemetery and his conviction to make peace reign throughout the world, Lian Youming focused his resolve as the forces converged in his chest.
• Lian Youming used the Wisdom Sword to drive the water momentum through his inner landscape, dissolving the dragon and tiger forces, then shot out of the river.
• Yang Qing and the others came to help, and Lian Youming stood by the river, saw his reflection, and vowed to guard against arrogance and frenzy.

Lian Youming tempered his wisdom sword through ordinary life, cared for Sun Duhe after his frightening encounter, and learned Lian Shuang's exam results were good enough for university. After painting a new image of the dragon and tiger and naming his sword art Human Extremity, he learned that someone from Taiwan had come seeking his master.

• Lian Youming practiced Military Boxing and the Five-Animal Exercise, then found Sun Duhe terrified after the younger man entered the area around him and was overwhelmed by his presence.
• Lian Youming calmed Sun Duhe with massage and bitter herbal tea, then warned him to take calming medicine and abstain from sex for two days.
• Lian Shuang received her college entrance exam results and learned she had done well enough to attend university; Zhao Lanxiang scolded her and revealed how worried the family had been.
• Lian Youming spent the following days honing his concentration through daily life, then painted the dragon and tiger in combat and named his sword art Human Extremity.
• Wang Mazi told Lian Youming that Mr. Yang had sent him because someone from Taiwan had come looking for Lian Youming's master.

Lian Youming met Situ, an elderly Hongmen leader who had once known the Junk King, and agreed to deliver her letter to him. After her relatives challenged him over the gang tokens, Lian Youming demonstrated his strength and warned them away as he prepared to establish an Incense Hall.

• Lian Youming saw an imposing group arrive at Green Gang Headquarters and met Situ, who revealed that she oversaw Hongmen in Taiwan and had once known the Junk King.
• Situ gave Lian Youming a letter for the Junk King and warned him that factions from the Qing and Hong Teachings would challenge his claim to Du Xinwu's tokens.
• Situ's relative Situ Changhen and his wife, Helian Rou, questioned Lian Youming about his strength and his relationship with Situ Wudi before leaving the reception room.
• Situ went with Yang Lian to offer incense to the martial arts elders, while Situ Changhen and Helian Rou returned to confront Lian Youming.
• Lian Youming split a teacup with his finger and used his gaze and command to force Situ Changhen and Helian Rou to retreat.