Recaps

Jiang Fa entered Qingshan County in disguise and found the Zhao Clan Martial Hall destroyed and deserted. At his family’s empty home, he discovered a clue directing him to the North Mountain Shops, where Lin Feng and the survivors were hiding.

• Jiang Fa disguised himself as a grain worker and slipped past the soldiers at the city gate.
• Jiang Fa found the Zhao Clan Martial Hall in ruins and saw corpses left in the eastern market street.
• Jiang Fa searched his family’s tidy but empty home and found a paper hidden in the rice jar marked “North Mountain Shops.”
• Lin Feng kept Jiang Fa’s family, injured martial hall disciples, and surviving members of the Lin Lineage hidden in a cellar near the North Mountain Shops.
• Lin Feng heard faint footsteps outside the courtyard wall and grew alert.

Jiang Fa returned to the old warehouse and reunited with his family and the surviving martial hall disciples. Lin Feng explained that gray-robed experts had captured the martial hall's master and Eldest Senior Brother, leaving Jiang Fa to confront the crisis.

• Lin Feng attacked the black-clad newcomer at the warehouse gate, then recognized him as Jiang Fa.
• Jiang Fa reunited with Lin Feng and the other survivors, then found his parents and Jiang Xiaohe safe in the cellar.
• Lin Feng told Jiang Fa that a crazed third-tier Fire-Patterned Python had attacked the factions in the mine, while Master and Hall Master Lie escaped Black Wind Ridge with the survivors.
• Lin Feng recounted that gray-robed transforming force experts attacked the group and later stormed the martial hall, killing several disciples and capturing Master, Eldest Senior Brother, and others.
• Lin Feng said he had led the remaining survivors from hiding place to hiding place before bringing Jiang's family to the warehouse, and Jiang Fa listened in silence.

Lin Feng told Jiang Fa that the Wang Family had orchestrated the mineral-vein conflict and was holding Qingshan County’s martial artists captive beneath its estate. With the Heavenly Demon Sect planning to refine their blood essence in three days, Jiang Fa set out alone to investigate the dungeon and look for a way to rescue them.

• Lin Feng revealed that gray-robed men had seized Qingshan County’s martial artists and taken control of the county office, with the Wang Family estate serving as their prison.
• Lin Feng explained that Wang Chengde had engineered the mineral-vein conflict and that his father had died after Wang Chengde led an attack on the Lin Lineage.
• Jiang Fa told Lin Feng about the Heavenly Demon Sect’s plan to refine the prisoners’ blood essence into Blood God Pills in three days.
• Jiang Fa decided they could not rely solely on the Dark Robe Guards and proposed investigating the Wang Family dungeon to find a chance to rescue the captives.
• Jiang Fa left his parents with Lin Feng and went alone to investigate the Wang Family estate.

Zhao Zhong, Lie Changkong, Liu Bochong, and other martial artists were imprisoned by the Heavenly Demon Sect’s Dark Envoy, who threatened to drain their blood essence for Blood God Pills if they refused to submit. Wang Chengde helped the Dark Envoy tighten the citywide dragnet, while accepting that his chosen path had carried him into darkness.

• The Dark Envoy offered the imprisoned Transforming Force experts a chance to submit, but Zhao Zhong, Lie Changkong, and Liu Bochong refused and faced execution for their blood essence after three days.
• Lie Changkong admitted he felt stifled but did not regret resisting, and Zhao Zhong fell silent as the prisoners remained trapped in the dungeon.
• Wang Chengde told the Dark Envoy that Shi Chongshan and Luo Tiefeng had submitted and that more than a hundred martial artists had been detained.
• The Dark Envoy explained that he needed the Blood God Pills to strengthen his standing at the Qingyang Prefecture branch and feared being replaced by the Heavenly Demon Sect’s headquarters.
• Wang Chengde described expanded searches, sealed gates, and inspections to prevent escaped martial hall disciples from contacting the Dark Robe Guards.
• The Dark Envoy dismissed the prisoners’ refusal as useful, since their richer blood essence would improve the pills, and Wang Chengde suppressed his lingering compassion.

Jiang Fa infiltrated the Wang Family estate in disguise, searching the back courtyard for the dungeon where prisoners were being held. There, he spotted a masked intruder who was also sneaking toward the courtyard, though he did not reveal himself.

• Jiang Fa disguised himself as a kitchen helper and fooled Zhou Qi into letting him pass the western wall.
• Jiang Fa used his concealed presence and the estate’s landscaping to evade guards and move through the back courtyard.
• Jiang Fa heard a faint noise near a rockery and found a small, masked figure squeezing through a narrow crevice.
• The figure hurt herself while emerging from the crevice, then crept deeper into the back courtyard as Jiang Fa watched from hiding.

Jiang Fa watched as Gu Qingyan rescued Tang Jin'er from being discovered during a nighttime search of the Wang Family residence. Tang Jin'er revealed she had hidden there for two days to find Senior Brother Jiang, while Gu Qingyan said her master, Hall Master Shui, had also been captured.

• Jiang Fa watched Tang Jin'er nearly get spotted by Zhou Qi, then saw Gu Qingyan knock the guard unconscious and hide him behind the rockery.
• Gu Qingyan scolded Tang Jin'er for sneaking into the guarded Wang Family residence, and Tang Jin'er said she had come to find Senior Brother Jiang.
• Tang Jin'er explained she had heard her master and the others were captured and feared Senior Brother Jiang had been captured too.
• Gu Qingyan revealed that her master, Hall Master Shui, had also been captured.
• Tang Jin'er told Gu Qingyan she had hidden in a grain cart two days earlier and stayed in a woodshed until she found a chance to slip out that night.

Gu Qingyan and Tang Jin'er discovered that captives were being held in a dungeon beneath the Wang Family’s rear courtyard and were to be used to refine pills. When a gray-robed transforming force expert attacked them, a black-clad figure appeared and killed him with one punch.

• Tang Jin'er told Gu Qingyan that the prisoners were locked in a dungeon and that the gray-robed men planned to use them to refine pills the night after tomorrow.
• Gu Qingyan took Tang Jin'er deeper into the rear courtyard to find the dungeon entrance, where two guards watched a blue-brick hut.
• A gray-robed transforming force expert discovered Gu Qingyan and Tang Jin'er and attacked them.
• Gu Qingyan was badly injured while trying to protect Tang Jin'er, and the gray-robed man struck at her again.
• A black-clad figure caught the gray-robed man's wrist, crushed it, and killed him with one punch, leaving Gu Qingyan stunned and Tang Jin'er delighted.

Jiang Fa fought through the Wang Family estate’s guards to help Gu Qingyan and Tang Jin'er escape. At the west wall, he faced a peak Transforming Force elder from the Sacred Sect and sent the two women ahead without him.

• Jiang Fa led Gu Qingyan and Tang Jin'er toward the west wall as the Wang Family estate raised the alarm.
• Jiang Fa killed two peak An Jin gray-robed men who blocked their path.
• Jiang Fa defeated an early Transforming Force fighter and two peak An Jin guards, leaving Gu Qingyan and Tang Jin'er stunned by his strength.
• Jiang Fa reached the west wall, where a peak Transforming Force gray-robed elder confronted him.
• Jiang Fa told Gu Qingyan and Tang Jin'er to escape over the wall, then prepared to face the elder alone.

Jiang Fa escaped the Wang Family estate after using the gray-robed elder’s palm strike to propel himself through a wall and outrun his pursuers. Gu Qingyan led him and Tang Jin'er to a hideout in eastern Qingshan County, where they found wounded members of the Flying Swallow Martial Hall alongside Liu Mang and Zhou Tai.

• The gray-robed elder struck Jiang Fa, but Jiang Fa used the force to accelerate through the western wall and escape.
• Jiang Fa evaded the Wang Family pursuers through the alleys and hid in a junk-filled lane to recover.
• Gu Qingyan and Tang Jin'er found Jiang Fa and led him to Pei Yan'er's residence in eastern Qingshan County.
• Jiang Fa entered the hideout and found injured Flying Swallow Martial Hall disciples, including Liu Ying, as well as Liu Mang and Zhou Tai.

Gu Qingyan reported that the Wang Family dungeon was heavily guarded and that rescuing its prisoners would be extremely dangerous. When Pei Yan'er doubted that Jiang Fa had saved Gu Qingyan from a transforming force expert, Gu Qingyan confirmed the account, leaving the others stunned by Jiang Fa's strength despite his claim that he was only at peak An Jin.

• Gu Qingyan told Pei Yan'er that the dungeon lay in the Wang Family's rear courtyard and was guarded by gray-robed men and Wang Family guards.
• Tang Jin'er revealed that prisoners were separated by cultivation level and that the gray-robed guards changed shifts around the clock.
• Zhou Tai and Gu Qingyan warned that the group lacked the strength to storm the dungeon, and Gu Qingyan said Jiang Fa had saved her from several powerful gray-robed men.
• Pei Yan'er questioned Tang Jin'er's claim that Jiang Fa had killed a transforming force expert, but Gu Qingyan confirmed that he had defeated the attacker with one punch.
• Zhou Tai asked Jiang Fa his realm, and Jiang Fa answered that he was at peak An Jin, astonishing the gathered disciples.

Jiang Fa revealed the Heavenly Demon Sect’s plan to refine the captured martial artists into Blood God Pills, then proposed entering the Wang Family dungeon to rescue them. Zhou Tai warned that Essence-Locking Chains would suppress their cultivation, but Jiang Fa remained confident that the chains could be overcome.

• Gu Qingyan described how Jiang Fa had killed three more gray-robed Heavenly Demon Sect members, astonishing the others.
• Jiang Fa told the group that the Heavenly Demon Sect planned to fire up its furnace in three days and use the captives’ blood essence to make Blood God Pills.
• Zhou Tai explained the Heavenly Demon Sect’s history and its practice of devouring martial artists’ cultivation.
• Jiang Fa warned that reinforcements might arrive too late and proposed sneaking into the Wang Family dungeon from the inside.
• Gu Qingyan objected to the plan, and Zhou Tai cautioned that Essence-Locking Chains would suppress the rescuers’ cultivation.
• Jiang Fa acknowledged the danger but concluded that the chains could be defeated because they were only objects.

Jiang Fa proposed using his body-refining strength to infiltrate the Wang Family dungeon despite the Essence-Locking Chain, then rescue the prisoners while his allies caused a diversion outside. His companions accepted the plan and began working out the details.

• Jiang Fa asked Zhou Tai whether the Essence-Locking Chain suppressed physical strength as well as force, then suggested that someone strong enough without force might break the deadlock from inside.
• Jiang Fa revealed that he practiced the Great Strength Vajra Art and demonstrated his strength by smashing a thick bluestone pillar with a punch that used no force.
• Gu Qingyan realized Jiang Fa intended to let himself be captured and enter the dungeon, while his allies created chaos outside to support the rescue.
• Liu Mang, Zhou Tai, and Gu Qingyan agreed to Jiang Fa's plan, and the group gathered to discuss its details.

Jiang Fa learned how Tang Jin'er had infiltrated the Wang Family residence and told her to stay with Gu Qingyan and the others, while they gave her food after she had gone two days without eating. At the Wang residence, Wang Chengde and You Zhong discussed the intruder who had escaped and ordered tighter security around the dungeon.

• Tang Jin'er told Jiang Fa she had gone to the Wang Family residence looking for information after finding the martial arts school deserted and bloodied.
• Jiang Fa warned Tang Jin'er not to wander alone again, and Pei Yan'er gave her the group's remaining cold porridge after her stomach growled.
• Wang Chengde demanded an explanation from his guard captains after an intruder killed several men and escaped the rear courtyard.
• You Zhong described the intruder as a young man with peak An Jin cultivation and an unusually powerful body that had endured You Zhong's strike.
• Wang Chengde and You Zhong concluded the intruder had been heading for the dungeon, and You Zhong decided to reinforce its guards without informing the Dark Envoy yet.

Wang Chengde tightened security around the estate dungeon while He Kui led a search for martial artists hiding in Yongning Ward. After capturing an exhausted An Jin man, He Kui spotted a swift boy at early Ming Jin and pursued him.

• Wang Chengde ordered four rotating guard shifts and additional sentries around the dungeon, forbidding anyone to leave or enter without his written order.
• He Kui directed six Wang Family men to search Yongning Ward for young men with cultivation.
• He Kui tracked a fugitive from an empty house into the rocky hills and captured him after a brief fight.
• He Kui heard movement among the rocks and spotted a boy at early Ming Jin fleeing down a slope.
• He Kui sprang toward the boy, judging him better than nothing.

He Kui captured a seemingly weak youth and brought him to the Wang Family residence’s dungeon, where the youth was locked in a cell. Freed of his ropes and without Essence-Locking Chains, the youth quietly assessed his unexpected opportunity.

• He Kui caught the youth after he tried to escape and ordered his men to bind him.
• He Kui’s men took the youth by carriage to the Wang Family residence, where a registrar assigned the captives to dungeon levels.
• The youth assessed the guards and dungeon as the men in black escorted him below.
• A guard shoved the youth into an empty cell, removed his ropes, and locked the door.
• The youth realized that the guards had not used Essence-Locking Chains on him.

Jiang Fa, disguised and imprisoned, inspected his cell and the surrounding dungeon while speaking with Zhou Kang, a fellow captive from Iron Fist Martial Hall. He learned that the prisoners were being held for their blood essence and saw little hope of escape, but the chapter left open whether he would attempt one.

• Jiang Fa examined the cell’s stone walls, iron bars, and lock, deciding that he could likely break the lock without a key.
• Zhou Kang, imprisoned in the opposite cell, warned Jiang Fa that escape was difficult and asked why he seemed so calm.
• Jiang Fa surveyed the guards and spotted stairs leading to lower dungeon levels holding An Jin prisoners and, reportedly, Transforming Force experts.
• Zhou Kang introduced himself as a disciple of Iron Fist Martial Hall and said he had been captured three days earlier.
• Zhou Kang explained that the captors planned to use the prisoners’ blood essence to refine pills and urged Jiang Fa to accept his fate.

Jiang Fa learned the dungeon’s guard routines, then discovered that the Heavenly Demon Sect’s plan had been moved up to that night. A fire set by Gu Qingyan and the others drew away many guards, leaving the dungeon defenses thin as Jiang Fa prepared to act.

• Jiang Fa listened to the guards and learned that they changed shifts every two hours, leaving the dungeon isolated from those above for two hours after each change.
• Jiang Fa overheard guards say the Heavenly Demon Sect’s operation would begin that night instead of the following night.
• A guard reported that the Wang Family estate was on fire, and the family head ordered half the dungeon guards to defend the entrance.
• Two gray-robed experts and several guards headed toward the entrance, leaving the dungeon’s defenses weakened.
• Jiang Fa stood and asked Zhou Kang if he wanted to get out.

Jiang Fa began breaking the prisoners out of the dungeon, killing the three guards on its first level and ordering the captives to stay quiet. As he descended to the second level, he detected a concealed saber-wielding guard waiting around a bend.

• Jiang Fa asked Zhou Kang to lure the guards to his cell, and Zhou Kang drew two guards over by pretending to be ill.
• Jiang Fa seized the two guards from behind and snapped their necks, then broke the lock on Zhou Kang's cell and stowed the bodies.
• Jiang Fa killed the last guard on the first level and warned Zhou Kang and the other prisoners to stay quiet while he rescued those below.
• Jiang Fa descended toward the second level and sensed a saber-wielding guard hiding in a narrow recess around a bend.

Jiang Fa infiltrated the second level, where imprisoned martial artists were bound by Essence-Locking Chains, and silently killed the guards to clear the corridor. He left the level’s guards dead, with the prisoners still confined in their cells.

• Jiang Fa surveyed the second level and spotted familiar martial artists, including Lie Jingyun and Fang Chao, imprisoned in Essence-Locking Chains.
• Jiang Fa waited for the late dark force guard to leave his post, then knocked him unconscious and disguised himself in the guard’s clothes.
• Jiang Fa approached and killed the peak An Jin guard before the guard could raise an alarm.
• When two patrolling guards confronted him, Jiang Fa killed one with a punch and chased down the other as he tried to alert the third level.
• Jiang Fa killed the fleeing guard before he could blow his bamboo whistle.

Jiang Fa freed Wang Shi from his cell and sent him to release the prisoners on the first and second levels while he descended toward the third level. He found two powerful gray-robed guards positioned to watch its corridors, leaving him to face a much more dangerous obstacle.

• Jiang Fa silenced the prisoners on the second level and found Wang Shi chained in a cell.
• Jiang Fa revealed his identity to Wang Shi, tore apart his Essence-Locking Chain, and explained the situation.
• Jiang Fa ordered Wang Shi to free the prisoners on the first and second levels while keeping quiet.
• Wang Shi broke open a nearby cell lock and began freeing prisoners as Jiang Fa hurried downstairs.
• Jiang Fa reached the third level and spotted two gray-robed guards, each likely at the middle stage of Transforming Force, watching the corridor.

Ma Yuan grew suspicious of the silence in the dungeon while guarding it with Lü Yan, then sent Lü Yan upstairs to investigate. After hearing a muffled impact, Ma Yuan rushed up the stairs, fearing something had happened.

• Ma Yuan sensed that the dungeon had grown unusually quiet, but Lü Yan dismissed his concerns.
• Lü Yan told Ma Yuan that the secret envoy hoped to earn a transfer back to headquarters by refining the Blood God Pill, amid factional strife within the Heavenly Demon Sect.
• Ma Yuan thought he saw movement behind an iron door, but found no one when he opened it.
• Ma Yuan ordered Lü Yan to go upstairs and check what was happening.
• Ma Yuan heard a muffled sound and something heavy fall, called out to Lü Yan, and raced up the stairs.

Jiang Fa killed Ma Yuan and freed Zhao Zhong from his cell, revealing himself as the disciple Zhao Zhong had feared was lost. He began releasing the other prisoners, including Lie Changkong.

• A disguised guard attacked Ma Yuan on the stairs, shattered his Sha Qi attacks with overwhelming strength, and killed him by crushing his throat.
• The prisoners watched in shock as Lie Changkong and Shui Qingqian took in the fight, while Zhao Zhong recognized the attacker as Jiang Fa.
• Jiang Fa bent open Zhao Zhong’s cell bars, snapped his Essence-Locking Chains, and reunited with his master.
• Jiang Fa freed Lie Changkong, who thanked him, and then continued deeper into the cells to release the others.

Jiang Fa freed fifteen transforming force martial artists from the dungeon as fires raged through the Wang estate. You Zhong and Wang Chengde realized the fires might conceal an attack from inside the dungeon, but when You Zhong reached the entrance, a tremendous force blasted the iron door into him and sent him crashing into the guards.

• Jiang Fa freed the fifteen prisoners and explained the situation, while Meng Qiuran asked how they could escape the heavily guarded dungeon.
• Wang Chengde learned that three fires were spreading through the estate and reassigned guards to protect the dungeon entrance.
• You Zhong suspected the fires were a diversion for an attack from inside the dungeon and rushed to investigate with Wang Chengde.
• The guards reported that the relief guards had gone down into the dungeon but had not returned.
• When You Zhong touched the iron door, a sudden blast tore it from its frame and sent him flying into two gray-robed guards, injuring all three.

Zhao Zhong, Lie Changkong, and the other martial artists emerged from the dungeon and faced You Zhong, Wang Chengde, and the forces surrounding the courtyard. Wang Chengde defended his alliance with the Heavenly Demon Sect and threatened to kill them, leaving Zhao Zhong realizing that negotiations were pointless.

• Zhao Zhong, Lie Changkong, Shui Qingqian, and more than a dozen Transforming Force experts emerged from the dungeon after striking You Zhong together and badly injuring him.
• Wang Chengde revealed that the Dark Envoy had summoned the Sacred Sect's forces, and gray-robed fighters and Wang Family guards sealed off the courtyard.
• Zhao Zhong accused Wang Chengde of joining demons who slaughtered innocents and used their essence blood to refine pills.
• Wang Chengde defended sacrificing people for power and mocked Meng Qiuran's faith in the court and righteous sects.
• Wang Chengde threatened that Meng Qiuran and the others would not leave alive, and Zhao Zhong understood that further discussion was useless.

The prisoners and their allies broke into the side courtyard, turning the battle against the Wang Family and the Heavenly Demon Sect. Wang Chengde revealed Shi Chongshan and Luo Tiefeng, then ordered his forces to kill everyone as Shi hesitated before the Boulder Martial Hall disciples.

• More than a hundred prisoners charged out of the dungeon as Wang Chengde and You Zhong faced Zhao Zhong and the others.
• Gu Qingyan and Flying Swallow Martial Hall disciples broke through the western wall, while Zhou Tai and Liu Mang entered from the east, and Tang Jin'er found Zhao Zhong.
• Wang Chengde remained confident as reinforcements shifted the battle, then called Shi Chongshan and Luo Tiefeng out of hiding.
• Shi Chongshan ordered the Boulder Martial Hall disciples to step aside, and Lie Changkong condemned him for siding with the demonic path despite his master's teachings.
• Luo Tiefeng urged Shi Chongshan to stop hesitating, and Wang Chengde ordered his forces to kill everyone and leave none alive.