Recaps

Linley and Sessler launched a nighttime rescue and freed Barker and his four brothers from the west wing. As the group escaped, Linley killed the escort captain, but Steller confronted him at the courtyard wall.

• Linley, Sessler, Bebe, and Haeru planned the rescue while Lina and Rebecca guarded their retreat.
• Sessler's gray mist incapacitated guards as Linley entered the west wing and cut the bindings on Barker, Ankh, Hazer, Boone, and Gates.
• The rescued brothers fled toward the rear wall while Bebe and Haeru killed pursuing Eighth-level Warriors.
• Sikaluo attacked Barker, but Linley blocked him and killed him with one sword strike.
• Steller emerged from the rear courtyard, identified Linley and Sessler, and blocked their escape at the shattered wall.

Linley and his allies tried to escape Steller, the peak Saint Realm warrior, while Linley fought to hold him back. Just as Steller was about to kill Linley, time stopped and a mysterious man appeared, sending Steller crashing away.

• Linley used the Eightfold Gravity Spell and ordered Barker, Sessler, and the others to escape while his allies attacked Steller.
• Linley wounded Steller with his Triple Tremor, but Steller quickly defeated Sessler’s two Gold-furred Zombies and the summoned undead knight.
• Steller dispelled Linley’s Eightfold Gravity Spell, then froze the courtyard with Frozen World and disarmed Linley.
• As Steller’s sword reached Linley’s brow, Doehring prepared to intervene, but the world suddenly stopped.
• A long-haired man appeared, hurled Steller through several houses, and steadied Linley as Frozen World shattered.

After Cesar rescued Barker and his four brothers from the Radiant Church, he identified them as Undying Warriors and revealed the Church had intended to use their bodies as vessels for angels. Cesar promised to retrieve the Undying Codex, while Linley led the brothers away from Deke County City.

• Cesar examined Barker, Ankh, Hazer, Boone, and Gates and identified them as Undying Warriors descended from Amanda's bloodline.
• Sessler explained that the Radiant Church planned to erase the brothers' souls and use their bodies to host angels.
• Cesar promised to retrieve the Undying Codex from Warblade headquarters so the brothers could cultivate their inherited power.
• Steller yielded to Cesar's demand to leave the brothers alone, and Cesar warned Heidens that he would fight his way to Holy Island if the Church pursued them again.
• Cesar vanished to retrieve the Undying Codex, and Linley led Barker and his brothers out of Deke County City.

Linley settled in Yunfeng Town, where he trained for three years and mastered the Hundredfold Waves while Barker and his brothers cultivated the Undying Codex. After Barker reached the Saint Realm and a letter revealed Wharton’s situation in the imperial capital, Linley left for Chier County City to keep his promise to Jenny before traveling to see Wharton.

• Linley bought land in Yunfeng Town and built a secluded estate, where Cesar delivered the Undying Codex to Barker and his brothers.
• Cesar recognized Doehring as a Deity Level expert, and they agreed to keep Doehring’s return and strength hidden from the Church.
• Linley trained with the Black Jade Heavy Sword for three years and used Hundredfold Waves to kill an Azure Wind Eagle from a thousand meters away.
• Barker reached the Saint Realm, performed Undying Transformation, and flew over the estate while his four brothers neared the ninth level.
• Linley read Yale’s letter about Wharton losing the War God Sect’s honorary disciple place to Blumer and learned that Wharton’s relationship with Nina had become public.
• Linley left Yunfeng Town with Bebe and Haeru to visit Jenny in Chier County City before going to the imperial capital.

Linley returned to Chier County City and reunited with Keane and Jenny, who chose to follow him after he honored their five-year agreement. He left that night for Basil Provincial Capital to avoid drawing the Radiant Church’s pursuers to the city, while Jenny stayed to attend the Jax Clan gathering and settle her duties.

• Linley arrived in Chier County City, where the gate captain recognized him and reported his return to Keane.
• Linley reunited with Keane, Jenny, and Lambert, then heard how Keane had improved the city over the past five years.
• Jenny returned Linley’s deposit and told him she still wanted to leave Chier County City and follow him; Linley agreed to keep his promise.
• Keane asked Linley and Jenny to attend the Jax Clan gathering in Basil Provincial Capital, and Linley told Jenny to join him later at the Naier Hotel.
• Linley left the city that night with Haeru and Bebe after spotting a suspected Church spy, and the spy reported his appearance to Lady Landan.

Linley left Basil Provincial Capital with Jenny after Danlan, a disciple of Haydson, tried to assassinate him and joined forces with Albert to pursue them. Outside the city, Danlan and five companions surrounded Linley and began forming the Six-Pointed Angel Battle Formation.

• Linley waited at the Naier Hotel for Jenny while Danlan, posing as Haydson’s disciple seeking sculpting lessons, repeatedly approached him.
• On the day Jenny was due to leave, Danlan attacked Linley with a dagger, but he dodged and wounded her before she escaped with five companions.
• Jenny and Keane met Linley, and Jenny chose to leave with him after Keane explained that Albert had been pestering her and had tried to force his way into her quarters.
• Albert teamed up with Landan, Danlan’s disguised identity, and her five companions to pursue Linley and Jenny out of Basil Provincial Capital.
• Albert ordered his cavalry to surround Linley, then Landan and the five others took positions around him and began forming the Six-Pointed Angel Battle Formation.

Linley fought the six angels inside their battle formation while Haeru carried Jenny to safety. After defeating Landan and the other angels, Linley collapsed from his injuries, and his battle-qi began surging abnormally as he tried to recover.

• Silan and Albert fled as the Six-pointed Battle Formation enclosed Linley, Bebe, and Jenny.
• Linley sent Jenny away with Haeru, then used Supreme Force and Hundredfold Waves to kill one angel and break the formation.
• The four Two-Winged Angels entered the Saint Realm and attacked Linley and Bebe, but Linley and Bebe killed all four.
• Landan reached the Saint Realm middle stage and struck Linley down, but the lingering vibrations from his earlier attack shattered her organs.
• Bebe distracted Landan, allowing Linley to kill her with Hundredfold Waves; Landan's soul was drawn into the Laws of the Universe.
• Linley began repairing his injuries with Dragonblood Battle Qi, which then surged abnormally within his dantian.

After surviving the Radiant Church’s attack, Linley broke through to the ninth level and confirmed that his Dragonform gave him Saint Realm combat power. He returned to Yunfeng Town with Jenny and the injured Bebe, where Doehring learned of the attack and Linley’s breakthrough, while Jenny entered her new home.

• While recovering from the battle, Linley transformed the last of his eighth-level Dragonblood Battle Qi and reached the ninth level, then briefly flew in Dragonform.
• Mackenzie arrived, learned that Albert had brought the angels with Silan, promised to investigate, and invited Linley to spar after he healed.
• Jenny returned with Haeru, and Linley explained that Landan would have attacked whether or not Jenny had traveled with him.
• Jenny bandaged Linley’s chest, and she, Linley, Bebe, and Haeru traveled to Yunfeng Town instead of Basil Provincial Capital.
• Doehring and the others welcomed Linley home, discovered his breakthrough, and took him inside to recover.
• Jenny stepped into the residence and joined Linley’s new household.

After recovering from his injuries, Linley sparred with Mackenzie and continued south to Chiyan City. He reunited with Hiri, Hillman, and his younger brother Wharton at Wharton's residence.

• Sixteen days after his injuries healed, Linley gathered his companions and traveled to the Jax Family castle to spar with Mackenzie.
• Linley fought Mackenzie on a barren mountain, using the wind to locate him in his Flame Pseudo-Domain before stopping a sword at his throat and winning by half a move.
• The next morning, Mackenzie provided a ship for Linley's journey to the imperial capital, and Doehring urged Linley to remember how he had sensed Mackenzie's movements through the airflow.
• Linley and his party arrived in Chiyan City and found Wharton's residence in the eastern noble district.
• Hiri and Hillman welcomed Linley, then Wharton arrived and embraced his older brother after their long separation.

Linley and Wharton asked Emperor Joanne to let Wharton marry Princess Nina, but Joanne delayed her decision for a month while weighing the Baruch Clan against the War God Sect. Blumer challenged Wharton to a duel, and Joanne decided to announce Nina’s marriage after the fight.

• Linley and Wharton went to the imperial palace and asked Joanne to approve Wharton’s marriage to Nina.
• Lancy tested Linley’s strength, and Linley stopped the ninth-level warrior’s sword with Supreme Force and disarmed him.
• Linley told Joanne that the Baruch Clan had two Saint Realm experts, and Joanne gave herself a month to consider Nina’s marriage.
• Outside the palace, Blumer challenged Wharton to fight him in the imperial capital’s arena in one month, and Wharton accepted.
• Joanne learned of the challenge, announced that she would attend the duel, and said she would decide Nina’s marriage afterward.

Wharton lost his duel with Blumer after Blumer used a forbidden technique, but Linley stopped Blumer from killing him and Joanne ruled the fight over. Joanne then honored Nina’s choice and announced her betrothal to Wharton, leaving the injured couple together as Linley carried Carnage from the arena.

• Wharton and Blumer began their duel, and Wharton used his Dragonblood Warrior transformation to overpower Blumer’s attacks.
• Blumer used a forbidden technique to pierce Wharton’s palm and chest, then tried to strike him again after Wharton could no longer fight.
• Linley stopped Blumer, and Joanne declared the duel over with Blumer the narrow victor.
• Nina chose Wharton, and Joanne announced Nina’s betrothal to him despite his loss.
• Barker and his brothers carried Wharton from the platform as Linley retrieved Carnage, stained with Wharton’s blood.

After Wharton lost his duel with Blumer and suffered serious injuries, the imperial family confirmed his betrothal to Nina. Olivier acknowledged that Linley had acted rightly and challenged him to fight once Wharton recovered, while the Baruch family began preparing for the betrothal and wedding.

• Light-element magi treated Wharton's wounds, and Joanne allowed Nina to visit him at the Earl's estate and confirmed that the imperial family would honor the marriage announcement.
• Olivier arrived, criticized Blumer for continuing to attack Wharton after the duel was decided, and accepted that Linley had been right to intervene.
• Olivier challenged Linley to a fight after Wharton recovered, and Linley agreed.
• Doehring examined Wharton and, with Linley's explanation, revealed to Wharton and Nina that he had once lived as a soul inside the Coiling Dragon Ring; they promised to keep the secret.
• A palace official announced Wharton and Nina's betrothal for the twelfth of next month and their wedding for September fifteenth, and Doehring and Hiri began planning the Baruch family's rites.
• Nina returned to the palace after promising to visit Wharton the next day, and Wharton reflected that he had lost the duel but still had Nina and a home with family around him.

Wharton and Nina married after the Baruch Clan held a family ceremony honoring its ancestors and welcoming Nina into the clan. At the imperial wedding, the Planar Overseer Hodan told Linley and Doehring about the higher planes, but both refused to leave the Yulan Continent for now.

• Doehring led a Baruch Clan ceremony in which Wharton and Nina honored their ancestors, and Nina received the clan's stone plaque.
• Wharton and Nina married in the imperial palace, with Linley and their companions attending.
• Hodan arrived at the wedding and revealed to Linley and Doehring that Saint Realm and Deity Level beings could leave the Yulan Continent for higher planes.
• Hodan told Linley that many Baruch ancestors had gone to the Infernal Realm and explained that returning to a Material Plane was extremely difficult.
• Linley refused to leave because his family, companions, and unfinished obligations remained on the continent; Doehring also refused, choosing to stay for his own reasons.
• Hodan gave them the location of eleven teleportation arrays in the Arctic Icefield, and Linley said he might go someday after everything at home was settled.

After hearing that Reynolds had died outside Nier City, Linley questioned the vague military report and Reynolds’s father, who refused to explain what happened. As Linley prepared to investigate in Nier City, Yale arrived with evidence that Prince Yulin had ordered the gates kept shut despite Reynolds’s men being pursued by only three hundred soldiers.

• Joanne told Linley that Reynolds had been killed outside Nier City and that the enemy had taken his body.
• Linley questioned Joanne about the battle report, then went to the Dunstan Clan, where Nien Dunstan insisted Reynolds had died honorably and denied any injustice.
• Linley grieved alone for two days, then told Doehring he would go to Nier City to investigate.
• Yale arrived at Wharton's estate with a confidential report and told Linley that Prince Yulin had ordered Nier City's gates kept shut while Reynolds and his men faced only three hundred pursuers.

Linley learned that Prince Yulin had knowingly left Reynolds and his soldiers outside Nier City’s gates, so he killed Yulin after securing the War God’s protection for the Dunstan Clan and the witnesses. Linley then found Reynolds alive aboard a slave ship, freed him and the other captives, and agreed to return with Reynolds to Nier City to expose the truth.

• Yale told Linley that Prince Yulin had ordered Nier City’s gates kept shut while Reynolds and his soldiers were killed outside, and Doehring urged Linley to seek the War God’s protection before acting.
• The War God gave Linley a token and promised that Joanne would not obstruct him, the Dunstan Clan would not face retaliation, and the witnesses in Nier City would remain safe.
• Linley went to Yulin’s castle in the Southeast Province and killed him after Yulin admitted he had feared the danger outside Nier City’s gates.
• Linley questioned Hook and learned that Reynolds had survived and been sold to a slave trader, then found Reynolds aboard a slave ship on the Bonai River.
• Linley freed Reynolds and hundreds of other slaves; after learning that Yulin was dead, Reynolds insisted on returning to Nier City to make the witnesses speak.

Linley brought Reynolds to Nier City, where Reynolds exposed how Prince Yulin had sealed the gates and left his soldiers to die, leading the empire to correct the military record and punish those responsible. Reunited with Yale and his father, Reynolds began treatment for his injuries and said he wanted to return to the Golden Flame Legion once he healed.

• Linley left Old White and the captured Hook with the rescued slaves, then carried the injured Reynolds toward Nier City.
• Reynolds and Linley revealed that Prince Yulin had refused to open Nier City's gates while Reynolds's soldiers were under attack, and Linley ordered the battle report corrected.
• Joanne announced that Yulin had been stripped of his titles and executed, the fallen soldiers would be honored and compensated, and Nier City's city lord would be transferred.
• Linley brought Reynolds to Chiyan City, where Yale and Nien Dunstan embraced him after learning he was alive.
• A water mage treated Reynolds's injuries, though his fingers would need months to heal and he could not cast magic for now.
• Reynolds told Linley he wanted to return to the Golden Flame Legion after recovering, to finish the road his fallen soldiers had not completed.

Delia reunited with Linley in Chiyan City while investigating missing Yulan merchant ships and suspected remnants of the Radiant Church. After Yale revealed that twelve ships had vanished and Doehring traced black crystal sand to a sealed underground waterway, Linley and Delia agreed to investigate it together.

• Delia arrived in Chiyan City as the Yulan Empire's special envoy and proposed a joint investigation into three missing merchant ships.
• At the embassy, Delia showed Longers a crystal shard bearing traces of Light Element magic and explained her suspicions about the Radiant Church's surviving networks.
• Linley visited Delia, told her Reynolds was alive, and recounted how Prince Yulin had abandoned him and been killed.
• Delia and Linley agreed that Linley would support her investigation through Sessler, Yale, Bebe, and Doehring without taking control of her diplomatic assignment.
• Yale revealed that twelve Dawson Chamber of Commerce ships had vanished and that every ship carried at least one high-ranking magus.
• Doehring found black crystal sand in the records and traced it to an abandoned underground waterway, so Linley and Delia prepared to investigate it by conventional means.

Linley, Delia, and their companions uncovered a Radiant Church operation in Chiyan City’s old waterway, rescued a surviving mage, and recovered records linking the missing merchant ships to the River Affairs Bureau. The gray-robed Deacon escaped, while his superior ordered the network to watch Delia and prepare its next move.

• Delia, Linley, and their companions entered the old waterway using the black shard as a key and found a hidden hall where a gray-robed man tried to burn records and collapse the ceiling.
• Delia saved ledger pages, Sessler found evidence that captives had been killed, and Linley and Bebe fought the attackers as the gray-robed man opened the sluice gates.
• Linley and Delia rescued Cole from a water prison and found metal tags for all twelve missing merchant ships; Bebe later returned with a captured black-clad man after the gray-robed Deacon escaped through a hidden channel.
• Sessler learned that the captive had helped transport people from merchant ships, while Delia decided to preserve the evidence and investigate the River Affairs Bureau without warning its officials.
• Doehring discovered that the black shard recorded light magic formations and could react to a master chip, so Delia kept it at the embassy under guard.
• The white-gloved superior learned that the master chip had reacted and ordered the River Affairs Bureau to prepare while his people watched Delia and tracked the evidence.

Cole recounted how a fake River Affairs Bureau patrol seized the Morning Tide, while Delia uncovered a staged confession and set a trap for the people behind the abductions. The Radiant Church’s agents attacked three sites, but their leader escaped through a secret passage with the primary shard as Linley pursued him.

• Cole told Delia that a patrol boat with an official seal had disabled the mages aboard the Morning Tide and taken them into the underground waterways, where a white-gloved man selected two captives.
• Huoyi confessed to issuing forged permits, but Delia recognized the ledgers as planted evidence and ordered Bebe to follow him while the embassy spread word about three supposed evidence caches.
• Bebe followed Huoyi to an herb merchant, whom Linley tracked to an abandoned bathhouse; meanwhile, attackers set fire to the River Affairs Bureau archive and raided the Dawson Chamber of Commerce warehouse.
• A ninth-level warrior posing as a palace messenger attacked Delia’s embassy to seize the black crystal chip, but Delia, Parei, and Bebe captured him.
• Linley and Sessler found a secret passage beneath Laurel Lane and pursued the white-gloved leader and a gray-robed deacon as they fled with the primary shard.
• The white-gloved leader saw Linley approaching through the passage and ordered the passage brought down as they headed for the water outside the city.

Linley and Sessler captured a gray-robed deacon and learned that the Radiant Church planned to perform the Holy Grace Ritual at the Silent Monastery in the Ankh Mountains. Linley and Delia led a party into the mountains, where Haeru found the monastery and sensed a faint aura of light beneath it.

• Linley derailed the escaping cart, but the white-gloved Purifier escaped into the river; Linley captured the gray-robed deacon.
• Sessler extracted the deacon’s memories and discovered that the Purifier worked for the Radiant Church’s Inquisition and was gathering magicians for the Holy Grace Ritual.
• Sessler identified the Silent Monastery in the Ankh Mountains as the ritual’s likely location, and Delia said the ritual could sacrifice thousands and poison the surrounding land.
• Linley and Delia organized an expedition, assigning scouts and guards while planning to investigate the monastery with Longers and Doehring.
• After the party reached the Ankh Mountains, Haeru reported that the mountaintop monastery was deserted and that a faint light aura came from beneath it.

Linley and his companions found a hidden monastery ritual where the Purifier was draining hundreds of mages’ souls to summon angels. They battled the Purifier’s guards, but the ritual completed and a power far beyond the Saint Realm descended through the Divine Spark Projection.

• Linley, Delia, Doehring, and Longers entered the monastery and discovered a hidden stairway beneath the church pulpit.
• Linley and his companions descended into an underground hall, where gray-robed figures were carrying out the Holy Grace Ritual on hundreds of bound mages.
• Linley, Delia, and Longers defeated the ritual attendants, but the Purifier appeared with a Divine Spark Projection and activated the ritual.
• The Purifier’s four pseudo-Saint Realm guards engaged the group while the ritual began draining the mages’ souls.
• Linley fully transformed into a Dragonblood Warrior and killed two guards, while Longers tried to destroy the magic formation.
• The ritual’s gathered souls formed a golden pillar that entered the Divine Spark Projection, unleashing pressure far beyond the Saint Realm.

Linley and his allies destroyed the Radiant Church’s false divine body and exposed its espionage network, then learned that Olivier had challenged Haydson to a decisive battle. Linley prepared to witness the duel, hoping to measure the limits of Saint Realm combatants and deepen his own understanding of the Laws of the Earth.

• Linley, Longers, and Delia destroyed the formation sustaining the false divine body, and Linley shattered its Godhead projection while Doehring contained the resulting blast.
• Linley and his companions rescued the surviving mages and brought evidence of the Radiant Church’s stronghold to Chiyan City, where Her Majesty Joanne ordered a purge of its spies and publicly commended them.
• Olivier returned to the capital and challenged Haydson to fight above the Chiyan River on May 4, Year 10009 of the Yulan Calendar.
• Linley told Wharton and the others that Olivier might be seeking to fuse the Laws of Light and Darkness and develop a soul attack, while Haydson’s mastery of the Laws of the Earth could protect more than his body.
• Linley decided the duel would be crucial to his own cultivation and ordered his household guards to prepare to watch it.

Olivier fought Haydson in a fierce battle on the Chiyan River, but Haydson won at great cost. Haydson challenged Linley to a duel three months later, and Linley accepted.

• Olivier attacked Haydson with the Black Stone Sword and struck his soul, but Haydson broke Olivier’s arm and forced him to draw his heavy sword.
• Olivier fought with both the Black Stone Sword and Light and Shadow Sword, while Linley studied the fighters’ techniques and gained insight into a new form of defense.
• Haydson defeated Olivier with Earth Split, leaving Olivier gravely injured and unconscious while Haydson suffered internal injuries.
• Haydson challenged Linley to fight at Tujiao Mountain on August 4, and Linley accepted.

After Haydson challenged Linley to a duel at Tujiao Mountain, Linley secluded himself to develop a defense against the Rock Sword Saint’s overwhelming strength. Fifteen days later, he perfected Pulsing Defense and prepared to await the coming battle.

• At Earl Wharton's manor, Linley explained that Haydson had challenged him because they both studied the Laws of the Earth, then announced he would enter three months of seclusion.
• Linley studied Haydson’s battle with Olivier and used Earth Pulsation to weave his Dragonblood Battle Qi into a rapidly vibrating defensive barrier.
• Wharton approached Linley during his contemplation and was hurled backward by the pulsing battle-qi, prompting him to order the courtyard sealed off.
• After fifteen days, Linley perfected Pulsing Defense, which dissipated incoming force through layers of high-frequency vibrations.
• Doehring Cowart praised Linley’s technique, and Linley looked forward to testing it against Haydson at Tujiao Mountain on August 4.

Linley and Haydson fought a devastating battle on Tujiao Mountain, each wounding the other with their strongest techniques. As they appeared to have exhausted themselves in a mutual defeat, a black shadow attacked Haydson from behind.

• Linley transformed into a Dragonblood Warrior and stunned Haydson by withstanding his punch without injury, forcing Haydson to draw his greatsword.
• Linley and Haydson exchanged their ultimate techniques, and both were injured when Linley’s Hundredfold Waves pierced Haydson’s defenses.
• The fighters moved across Tujiao Mountain, destroying its peaks and cliffs until the mountain collapsed beneath them.
• Haydson recognized that Linley was running low on Battle-qi and launched his strongest move, Earth Split, as Linley answered with One Hundred and Thirty-Two Waves.
• Their final clash drove Linley into the rubble and left Haydson unable to gather Battle-qi, but a black shadow appeared behind him and struck his back with a claw.