Recaps

Princess Changyang taught Yang Zhen the Ancient Elephant Lightning Defense Body and warned him against entering the lightning marsh. After the other cultivators left, Yang Zhen stepped into the marsh to cultivate, triggering a violent change in the lightning phenomenon and shocking Zhen Ping'er.

• Princess Changyang taught Yang Zhen the fragmentary Ancient Elephant Lightning Defense Body and warned him that the lightning marsh could kill him.
• Yang Zhen returned to Ghost's Sorrow and stayed behind to cultivate while the other participants continued toward the Dao Comprehension Stele.
• Zhang Zongjin and the other cultivators mocked Yang Zhen for stopping, while Su Qingyu glanced back at him before following the crowd.
• After everyone left, Yang Zhen walked into the lightning marsh, where the Lightning Essence began tearing at his body.
• Yang Zhen circulated the Ancient Elephant Lightning Defense Body, causing his True Essence to resonate with the Lightning Essence and making the sky's lightning surge wildly.
• Zhen Ping'er saw the phenomenon change and exclaimed in disbelief.

Yang Zhen perfected the Ancient Elephant Lightning Defense Body into a saint-grade cultivation method and reached its tenth layer after half a day in the lightning marsh. He emerged naked, found directions to the Dao Comprehension Stele, and then robbed a cultivator for his clothes.

• Yang Zhen endured the lightning marsh and perfected the Ancient Elephant Lightning Defense Body into a saint-grade method.
• Yang Zhen cultivated the method to its tenth layer, while Zhen Ping'er watched in disbelief.
• Yang Zhen emerged from the lightning marsh with his clothes burned away and searched the forest for a replacement.
• Yang Zhen found a cultivator digging for ginseng and asked him for directions to the Dao Comprehension Stele.
• Yang Zhen jumped into the cultivator's pit, told him to get glasses, and ordered him to take off his clothes.

Yang Zhen arrived at the Dao Comprehension Stele and watched Su Qingyu manifest a powerful Phoenix Luan martial skill. As the crowd made way for him, he headed toward Zhang Zongjin, leaving everyone wondering whether he would challenge him.

• Yang Zhen took Liu You's clothes and continued his journey, while Liu You recognized him as his idol.
• Yang Zhen approached the Dao Comprehension Stele and sensed its profound presence as his cultivation stabilized at the Foundation Establishment Realm Sixth Layer.
• Yang Zhen saw Lu Quan comprehend a profound-grade Fire Essence Cultivation Method and wondered whether he could carry the stele away.
• Su Qingyu summoned a lifelike Phoenix Luan while comprehending a martial skill, but she failed to give it spirituality.
• The crowd spotted Yang Zhen and watched as he walked toward Zhang Zongjin.

Yang Zhen confronted Zhang Zongjin over the best spots near the Dao Comprehension Stele, arguing that the strong should be free to choose them. The chapter left Zhang Zongjin drawing his sword in fury as Princess Changyang reconsidered whether Yang Zhen had truly gone too far.

• Yang Zhen asked Princess Changyang whether the strongest cultivators got to choose their spots by the Dao Comprehension Stele first, and she confirmed that this was the usual practice.
• Yang Zhen nudged Zhang Zongjin and asked him to make room, provoking Zhang Zongjin and shocking the crowd.
• Yang Zhen defended his claim to a better spot, arguing that cultivators from small sects should not have to yield every good position to the great sects.
• Zhang Zongjin threatened Yang Zhen, unleashed his Sword Intent, and drew his longsword as Princess Changyang stood aside.
• Princess Changyang realized that Yang Zhen only wanted a better spot and wondered whether the great sects' disciples were the ones who had gone too far.

Yang Zhen challenged Zhang Zongjin to withstand one punch and defeated him despite suffering wounds from Zhang Zongjin’s sword technique. With Zhang Zongjin down and the crowd stunned, Yang Zhen stood before the Dao Comprehension Stele as people wondered what he would comprehend.

• Zhang Zongjin confronted Yang Zhen beside the Dao Comprehension Stele and unleashed his sword aura.
• Yang Zhen promised to defeat Zhang Zongjin with one punch and asked for his martial technique as the prize.
• Zhang Zongjin attacked with Hundred Swords Cry in Unison after Yang Zhen revealed he had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm Sixth Layer.
• Yang Zhen charged through Zhang Zongjin’s sword Qi and struck him with the tenth layer of Heavenly Demon Gang Fist.
• Yang Zhen knocked Zhang Zongjin unconscious with one punch, then thanked him for going easy on him.

After defeating Zhang Zongjin, Yang Zhen entered the Dao Comprehension Stele’s starry world and chased an enormous, brilliant light to choose an insight. The stele then unleashed a strange wave that plunged everyone nearby into darkness, leaving Yang Zhen staring at the firmament in alarm.

• Yang Zhen took Zhang Zongjin’s heaven-grade martial skill manual, settled into his former place, and reassured Princess Changyang that his wounds only hurt a little.
• Yang Zhen began comprehending the Dao Comprehension Stele and found himself in an endless starry world where each star represented a different insight.
• Yang Zhen dismissed a faint star, spotted an enormous ball of light, and pursued it using Skyward Cannon.
• Mottled lights began flickering around Yang Zhen, startling the cultivators watching him, while Su Qingyu reacted with horror.
• A silent wave spread from the Dao Comprehension Stele and engulfed everyone, leaving the cultivators unable to see as Yang Zhen looked up at the darkened sky.

Yang Zhen emerged from the Dao Comprehension Stele as its restriction trapped the nearby cultivators, and Princess Changyang questioned him about what he had seen inside. When Yang Zhen demonstrated the star he had encountered, its light overwhelmed everyone present.

• Yang Zhen grabbed a star inside the Dao Comprehension Stele and was thrown out as a terrifying restriction trapped the surrounding cultivators.
• Princess Changyang asked Yang Zhen what he had encountered, and he said the light had been brighter than the examples she showed him.
• Princess Changyang explained that cultivators usually encountered one star, while Yang Zhen recalled seeing a sky filled with countless stars and grabbing one enormous star.
• Yang Zhen claimed the stars everyone else had seen might be fake and offered to demonstrate his own.
• Yang Zhen produced an enormous ball of light, leaving the crowd wailing that they were blinded.

Yang Zhen stunned the crowd with a brilliant light and learned that he may have encountered a legendary treasure within the Dao Comprehension Stele, though he claimed it escaped him. As Su Qingyu praised his supposed composure and wordplay, Fang Shenhe reminded them they still needed to find a way out.

• Yang Zhen mocked Zhang Zongjin, who became distraught after Su Qingyu suggested Yang Zhen had awakened the Dao Comprehension Stele's legendary existence and fled in a panic.
• Su Qingyu explained that the hidden treasures could include saint-grade and divine-grade cultivation methods or Forbidden Techniques, and Yang Zhen claimed he had failed to catch the one he saw.
• Yang Zhen said the lost treasure might not have been meant for him, impressing Su Qingyu with his apparent state of mind.
• Yang Zhen invited Su Qingyu to share malatang and used a saying about sharing a boat and a pillow, which she praised as brilliant wordplay.
• Fang Shenhe interrupted their conversation and asked them to discuss how to get out.

Yang Zhen discovered that the secret treasure he had obtained from the Dao Comprehension Stele was the Heavenly Book: Profound Principles Chapter. While Fang Shenhe attempted to break the restriction using his limited knowledge of the Turtle Shell Technique, Yang Zhen realized he possessed the entire chapter.

• Fang Shenhe told the trapped cultivators that the restriction was a test and claimed he had found a direction for breaking it, though he had no solution yet.
• Yang Zhen dismissed Fang Shenhe's claims and secretly examined the ancient book inside himself, revealing its name as the Heavenly Book.
• Yang Zhen told Su Qingyu he might know how to break the restriction, prompting Fang Shenhe and the others to warn him not to act recklessly.
• Fang Shenhe explained that the Turtle Shell Technique came from the Heavenly Book: Profound Principles Chapter and tried using the part he had studied to break the restriction.
• Yang Zhen opened the first page of his Heavenly Book and discovered that he had obtained the entire Profound Principles Chapter.

Yang Zhen absorbed the formation knowledge in the Heavenly Book: Profound Principles Chapter and effortlessly dismantled the Dao Comprehension Stele’s restriction with one finger. Afterward, Duan Qing and Luo Yan argued over recruiting him for their sects.

• Yang Zhen studied the Profound Principles Chapter, which dissolved into golden light and merged into him.
• When Fang Shenhe insisted the formation was too dangerous to break, Yang Zhen pushed past the Tonglin Sect disciples and kicked him aside.
• Yang Zhen flicked a finger at the ground, causing the formation restriction to recede and freeing everyone beside the Dao Comprehension Stele.
• Duan Qing and Luo Yan argued over Yang Zhen, then each insisted he would join their sect.

Yang Zhen faced pressure from several major sects to become their disciple, but questioned why he needed to join one. After learning that joining a major sect or becoming a guest elder of the Long Moon Pavilion was required for the Three Kingdoms Trial, he left to prepare a way to qualify without surrendering his freedom.

• Duan Qing and Luo Yan sought to recruit Yang Zhen, while Elder Gu said Turtle-Snake Island was interested in him too.
• Su Qingyu asked Yang Zhen which sect he would join, and Fang Shenhe tried to recommend Turtle-Snake Island.
• Yang Zhen questioned the value of joining a major sect, and Princess Changyang and Su Qingyu described its benefits and the trial's entry requirements.
• Princess Changyang explained that the Three Kingdoms Trial was held by three kingdoms and could bring a meeting with the empress of Water Spirit Kingdom.
• Yang Zhen decided to find a way to enter the trial without joining a major sect and walked away from the group.

Luo Yan compared Yang Zhen’s talent to Pavilion Master Hua Youyue’s, prompting shock and rivalry among the young cultivators and mockery from other elders. Unaware that he had become a target of interest, Yang Zhen searched for a yin-cold blood catalyst while Zhang Zongjin and an ally hunted him with a poisonous Blood Silkworm.

• Luo Yan praised Yang Zhen as a rare genius who might be comparable only to Hua Youyue, shocking Princess Changyang, Su Qingyu, and the others.
• The chapter recounted how Hua Youyue had risen from a young Foundation Establishment cultivator to a powerful Nascent Soul Realm pavilion master.
• Ma Dexing and another elder mocked Luo Yan for praising Yang Zhen, and Luo Yan argued with them over his attempt to recruit him.
• Yang Zhen searched the mountains for a yin-cold blood catalyst needed to attract the Long Moon Pavilion’s attention.
• Zhang Zongjin and an ally tracked Yang Zhen through the forest, planning to poison him with their sect’s Blood Silkworm.

Yang Zhen detected a possible blood catalyst and hurried north, while the sect leaders ordered their disciples to Raging Fire City after hearing that the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda’s ninth floor might open. As Yang Zhen found Duan Langcai and Zhang Zongjin handling an insect, his sudden interruption sent it flying into Zhang Zongjin’s mouth.

• Yang Zhen extended his Spirit-Locking Arrays’ range and detected a presence matching the blood catalyst he needed north of the valley.
• The sect leaders received urgent messages and ordered their disciples to head to Raging Fire City because the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda’s ninth floor might open.
• Duan Qing and Princess Changyang agreed that their sect should recruit Yang Zhen and meet his demands as best they could.
• Luo Yan told Su Qingyu that he had promised Yang Zhen a chance to join Elixir Valley Lake, and Su Qingyu left without answering him.
• Yang Zhen found Duan Langcai and Zhang Zongjin examining an insect, startled them with a shout, and watched the insect land on Zhang Zongjin’s mouth.

Yang Zhen exposed Duan Langcai’s role in Zhang Zongjin’s poisoning and escaped Ma Dexing’s accusation when Luo Yan intervened. After Ma Dexing killed Duan Langcai, Yang Zhen was offered a place at either the Martial Mountain Sect or Elixir Valley Lake, but he asked to choose neither.

• Yang Zhen killed the Blood Silkworm and smeared its blood on a carved piece of wood before returning to the mountain summit.
• Yang Zhen announced that Duan Langcai and Zhang Zongjin were kissing, drawing Ma Dexing and the others down the mountain to find Duan Langcai sucking poison from Zhang Zongjin.
• Duan Langcai accused Yang Zhen of harming Zhang Zongjin, and Ma Dexing attacked Yang Zhen until Luo Yan stopped him.
• Luo Yan identified Zhang Zongjin’s poisoning as the work of a Blood Silkworm, and Ma Dexing killed Duan Langcai.
• Luo Yan and Duan Qing offered Yang Zhen discipleship at their sects, but Yang Zhen asked if he could choose neither.

Yang Zhen refused offers from all five great sects, inventing a story about an elusive master to explain why he could not join them. After escaping the valley, he encountered a group discussing a nine-story demon tower and charmed a woman in yellow with his question.

• Yang Zhen told Luo Yan and Duan Qing that he would not join a great sect because he already had a master.
• Yang Zhen fabricated a tale about a peerless old expert who had taken him as a disciple, then left the valley.
• Ma Dexing roared Yang Zhen's name after Zhang Zongjin apparently woke up, and Yang Zhen hurried farther away.
• Yang Zhen overheard a woman in yellow discussing a nine-story demon tower and asked her about it.
• The woman in yellow blushed and laughed at Yang Zhen, leaving the six men with her astonished.

Yang Zhen learned about the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda in Raging Fire City and met Wang Shuiyan’s group while traveling there. After he hurried away, the group recognized him as Yang the Skinflint, just as Tonglin Sect elder Ma Dexing arrived in pursuit.

• Yang Zhen asked Wang Shuiyan about the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda, and she explained its cultivation benefits and invited him to travel with her group to Raging Fire City.
• Yang Zhen fended off Young Master Lu’s objections with flattery and a made-up story about being ill-omened, then sensed danger and ran off after giving his name as Yang Zhen.
• Wang Shuiyan and her companions realized Yang Zhen was the infamous Yang the Skinflint who had attacked Zhang Zongjin, while Wang Shuiyan continued admiring him.
• Ma Dexing, an elder of the Tonglin Sect, flew toward Yang Zhen and shouted for him to stop.

Yang Zhen fled Ma Dexing while taunting him, then used the wooden stick he had carried to neutralize Ma Dexing’s Thunderclap sword. He grabbed the fallen weapon and ran, leaving Ma Dexing and the watching group stunned.

• Ma Dexing pursued Yang Zhen after learning about the Blood Silkworm, while Wang Shuiyan and the others watched from behind.
• Yang Zhen mocked Ma Dexing and continued fleeing, even after Ma Dexing struck him with a spear of True Essence and knocked him down.
• Yang Zhen picked up his wooden stick, challenged Ma Dexing to strike him three times, and drew the watching group’s attention.
• Ma Dexing sent his Thunderclap sword at Yang Zhen, who triggered a wave from the wooden stick that shattered it and knocked the sword to the ground.
• Yang Zhen seized Thunderclap and ran, leaving Ma Dexing and the onlookers bewildered.

Yang Zhen escaped Ma Dexing by using a formation-inscribed wooden stick to disable the Startling Thunder Sword and steal it, then traveled toward Raging Fire City. In a mountain forest near the Volcanic Forest, he came across a group of cultivators and pretended the woman in white was his cousin.

• Yang Zhen took Ma Dexing's Startling Thunder Sword and fled, leaving Ma Dexing roaring with rage as he failed to catch him.
• Yang Zhen used the Heavenly Book: Profound Principles Chapter to erase Ma Dexing's Divine Sense imprint from the sword over ten days, then recovered and advanced to the Foundation Establishment Realm Seventh Layer.
• Yang Zhen traveled toward Raging Fire City and sensed unusually strong fire essence and mournful cries coming from the Volcanic Forest.
• Yang Zhen found a group of cultivators, including a white-clad woman and a man whose cultivation was at the Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer.
• Yang Zhen rushed toward the woman, called her his cousin, and claimed to be her eldest cousin when she demanded to know who he was.

Yang Zhen joined Lu Xueqing and Wu Guang’s group by pretending to be Lu Xueqing’s cousin, then accompanied them into the Volcanic Forest to investigate a deadly disturbance. As strange Fire Qi drew the women toward Yang Zhen, the group discovered a dark-red-mist-shrouded altar deep in the forest.

• Yang Zhen pretended that Lu Xueqing was his cousin, and Wu Guang invited him to join the Heavenly Martial Sect group investigating the Volcanic Forest.
• Wu Guang told Yang Zhen that fierce beasts had roared from the forest three days earlier and that no one who entered had returned.
• Yang Zhen sensed chilling Yin Qi mixed with the Fire Qi as Lu Xueqing and the other women repeatedly drifted closer to him.
• Wu Guang noticed something strange about the Fire Qi fluctuations, and a Heavenly Martial Sect disciple spotted an altar shrouded in dark red mist.

Yang Zhen and the others investigated a sinister altar whose influence weakened near him, then found the remains of missing cultivators and discovered the heart-shaped Heavenly Fragrance Fruits inside. Lu Xueqing explained that the fruits could drive a man into a fatal frenzy, but Yang Zhen had already started eating one.

• Yang Zhen reassured Lu Xueqing and the other women when they felt the altar's strange influence, and the women found that it lessened near him.
• Wu Guang agreed to lead the group into the altar while Yang Zhen followed behind with Lu Xueqing and the others.
• The group entered an underground chamber and found more than ten recently dead cultivators stripped of flesh and blood around a stone platform.
• Wu Guang and Yang Zhen found bright-red fruits inside the platform, and Yang Zhen felt a strong urge to eat one.
• Lu Xueqing identified the fruits as Heavenly Fragrance Fruits and explained that they could make a man lose control until his Qi and Blood were depleted.
• Yang Zhen continued chewing a Heavenly Fragrance Fruit as everyone stared at him in horror.

Yang Zhen used the Heavenly Fragrance Fruit to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer, survived the altar’s collapse, and found a mysterious jade-green seed. He reached Raging Fire City, where a reckless carriage nearly struck him, and learned that its owner was someone people feared to criticize.

• Yang Zhen ate the Heavenly Fragrance Fruit, alarming Lu Xueqing, Wu Guang, and the others as its fragrance affected the women.
• Yang Zhen circulated the fruit’s power through his meridians, purified it into primordial catalyst, and rapidly advanced to the Foundation Establishment Realm Eighth Layer.
• The altar shook and collapsed as Lu Xueqing and Wu Guang led the others to safety, leaving Yang Zhen buried beneath the ruins.
• Yang Zhen crawled out with a bundle of Heavenly Fragrance Fruits and a jade-green seed, having reached the Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer.
• Yang Zhen traveled to Raging Fire City, dodged a speeding carriage, and asked a young cultivator who its arrogant owner was.

Yang Zhen learned about Raging Fire City’s powerful figures from Ma Yuan, then headed to the Long Moon Pavilion and encountered Ding Keqi again. After the crowd warned him to avoid Ding Keqi, Yang Zhen slapped the young master on the back of the head, leaving the hall stunned.

• Yang Zhen met Ma Yuan, who warned him about Ding Keqi of the Ding Lineage and Lan Fangyue of the Lan Household.
• Yang Zhen gave Ma Yuan crystals for information, then secretly took Ma Yuan’s crystal pouch before leaving.
• Yang Zhen followed the crowd to the Long Moon Pavilion and examined the powerful formation protecting it.
• Yang Zhen recognized Ding Keqi as the man who had driven recklessly through the streets, while onlookers warned him that Ding Keqi might remember him.
• Yang Zhen entered the pavilion, found Ding Keqi blocking a notice board, and slapped him on the back of the head.

Yang Zhen provoked Ding Keqi in the Long Moon Pavilion, where Lan Fangyue intervened to enforce the rules and stop their fight. Yang Zhen then accepted the pavilion’s long-unsolved task to decipher part of a saint-level martial skill, leaving the crowd stunned.

• Ma Yuan watched Ding Keqi prepare to accept the Long Moon Pavilion’s task of deciphering a saint-level martial skill.
• Yang Zhen slapped Ding Keqi on the back of the head and claimed Ding Keqi had blocked his way.
• Ding Keqi attacked Yang Zhen with a golden lion of True Essence, but Lan Fangyue stepped between them and forbade fighting inside the pavilion.
• Lan Fangyue explained that she was maintaining order as a guest elder, while Ding Keqi angrily accused her of taking Yang Zhen’s side.
• Yang Zhen tore the task sheet from the board and accepted the challenge that no one in the city had solved.

Yang Zhen took the Long Moon Pavilion’s deadly saint-grade martial technique task, provoking the crowd with his confidence and insults. Lan Fangyue led him toward the secret chamber as news of his actions spread through Raging Fire City, where people dubbed him the city’s Number One Madman.

• Yang Zhen snatched the task paper despite warnings that two previous readers had died after studying the martial technique.
• Yang Zhen mocked Lan Fangyue’s comprehension, then challenged Ding Keqi to kill him inside the Long Moon Pavilion, where Ding could not act freely.
• Yang Zhen followed Lan Fangyue upstairs and boasted that only a fool would turn down a chance to study a saint-grade martial technique.
• Lan Fangyue threatened to gouge out Yang Zhen’s eyes after catching him looking where he should not.
• News of Yang Zhen’s task and his feud with Ding Keqi spread through Raging Fire City, where some called him the Number One Madman and others predicted his death.

Yang Zhen waited in the Long Moon Pavilion, where he clashed with a strange old man over a precious tea caddy. The two soon became accomplices, leaving Lan Fangyue watching in disbelief.

• Lan Fangyue left Yang Zhen alone in a reception room, where he drank tea and hid the tea caddy in his robes.
• An old man blocked Yang Zhen's exit and accused him of stealing priceless tea, but Yang Zhen pushed past him and pretended to be injured.
• Yang Zhen threatened to ruin the Long Moon Pavilion's reputation with scandalous rumors until the old man let him keep the caddy of Ten-Thousand-Year Spring.
• Yang Zhen and the old man bonded over tea and joked together as Lan Fangyue watched through a curtain of water and called them shameless scoundrels.