Recaps

Feng Xiaotian repeatedly attacked and rescued Godwind teammates while avoiding sustained contact with Dong Jian, gradually stretching the Imperial Fighting Team's formation. As Godwind learned to block Li Man's bamboo footholds, Li Man redirected her support to Yu Feng, setting up a new way for him to turn in midair.

• Feng Xiaotian made repeated dives against the Imperial Fighting Team, changing direction or pulling away before Dong Jian could redirect him for long.
• Dong Jian used Li Man's Green Jade Bamboo to reach Feng Xiaotian, but Feng Xiaotian escaped after only brief contact while rescuing a Godwind teammate.
• Feng Xiaotian and Godwind's other agile fighters stretched the Imperial Fighting Team's formation, and Godwind began cutting down Li Man's bamboo footholds in advance.
• Yu Tianheng called the Imperial Fighting Team back together, while Yu Feng exchanged a move with Feng Xiaotian in the air and continued pursuing him from the side.
• Li Man placed her fourth Green Jade Bamboo foothold along Yu Feng's falling path, and Feng Xiaotian focused on the point where it would appear beneath him.

The Imperial Fighting Team tested Li Man’s Dragon Bamboo Borrows the Air to redirect Yu Feng and disrupt Feng Xiaotian’s rescues. Feng Xiaotian adapted by climbing out of Dong Jian’s interception, while Godwind began treating Yu Feng and the fleeting bamboo footholds as threats.

• Yu Feng’s forceful landing shattered Li Man’s first bamboo foothold, but he dodged Feng Xiaotian’s attack.
• Li Man gave Yu Feng a second foothold, which he used lightly to redirect Feng Xiaotian and force him onto a new path.
• Dong Jian deflected Feng Xiaotian’s dive just enough for Yu Tianheng and the team to pressure a stranded Godwind Soul Master.
• Yu Feng agreed to make Feng Xiaotian turn once more so Dong Jian could get into position.
• Li Man’s next foothold helped Yu Feng force Feng Xiaotian to turn twice, but Feng Xiaotian climbed away and left his teammate exposed to Yu Tianheng’s lightning.

The Imperial Fighting Team defeated Godwind by keeping Feng Xiaotian occupied in the air while Yu Tianheng and his teammates split apart the ground formation. After the victory, Qin Ming presented information about their next opponent, Skywater Academy, whose arena had been prepared with layers of ice, water, and cavities.

• Feng Xiaotian pressured Yu Feng in the air while Godwind's ground fighters clustered together, and Li Man told Dong Jian she had two reliable uses of Dragon Bamboo Borrows the Air left.
• Yu Tianheng and Shi Mo pressed Godwind's left flank as Dugu Yan narrowed their movement with poison, and Li Man's bamboo support helped Yu Feng divert Feng Xiaotian into Dong Jian's path.
• Yu Tianheng broke through Godwind's ground formation, while Li Man saved her last support point until Feng Xiaotian feinted toward her and forced him to change direction again.
• The Imperial Fighting Team kept Godwind divided until their lead teacher conceded, and the referee declared Heaven Dou Royal Academy the winner.
• Qin Ming showed the team information about Skywater Academy, and Dong Jian recognized that Shui Bing'er had prepared an arena with frozen layers, water, and cavities.

Dong Jian shut down Mountain Domain after Shui Bing'er’s ice-and-water tactics fed him misleading footfall signals, then relied on observing opponents’ movements instead. As the shifting ice broke apart Li Man’s ground formation anchors, she withdrew three nodes and decided the next formation would not rely on the ground.

• Shui Bing'er used thin ice, water, and hollows beneath the stage to multiply and distort the signals Dong Jian received through Mountain Domain.
• After making two positioning mistakes, Dong Jian turned off his black fourth Soul Ring and used Force Observation to read opponents’ body movements, blocking their attacks more accurately.
• Shui Bing'er’s sliding ice disrupted Li Man’s ground routes, forcing her to adjust the formation while Shi Mo and Yu Tianheng avoided compromised paths.
• Shui Bing’er split the central ice sheet into sections that moved in different directions, shifting Li Man’s anchors and breaking their connections.
• Li Man withdrew three ground nodes and told the team that the next formation would not be placed on the ground.

Li Man’s mobile formation links were repeatedly disrupted as Shui Bing’er froze the people carrying their anchor points. Li Man established backup anchors, then withdrew one formation eye to reduce the network she had to manage, leaving the next round with only a temporary healing route still open.

• Shui Bing’er targeted the people carrying Li Man’s mobile formation eyes, freezing Yu Feng’s takeoff point and Shi Mo’s leg to break the routes.
• Li Man redirected the healing route through Yu Feng, letting Ye Lingling’s healing reach Yu Tianheng at the front.
• Li Man added backup anchors for the two critical routes and switched one connection to Yu Feng before Shi Mo’s route was fully cut.
• Shui Bing’er attacked Yu Feng and Shi Mo together, forcing both anchors out of position and breaking Ye Lingling’s healing line.
• Dong Jian blocked an advancing Skywater fighter while Li Man withdrew an outer formation eye to simplify the network.

Imperial Fighting Team adapted to Shui Bing'er’s ice control by abandoning its sprawling formation and relying on short, temporary links and independent movement. They defeated Skywater Academy, and Qin Ming’s next matchup sheet named Thunder Academy.

• Li Man shrank the formation to a few short links, while Dong Jian kept Yin-Yang Mountain Domain inactive and the team moved without waiting for a complete route.
• Skywater Academy repeatedly froze the team’s mobile anchors, but Yu Feng, Shi Mo, and Dugu Yan took turns covering gaps as Ye Lingling and the front line reconnected.
• Dugu Yan marked an impassable strip with poison, and Dong Jian redirected Yu Tianheng’s retreat so he could return to the attack and strike Skywater Academy’s control position.
• Imperial Fighting Team repeatedly shifted its short links until Yu Tianheng broke into the control zone, Dugu Yan’s poison separated Skywater Academy’s front and rear, and the team suppressed its opponents.
• The referee declared Heaven Dou Royal Academy the winner, and Qin Ming showed the team its next matchup against Thunder Academy.

Yu Tianheng faced Yu Tianxin as Thunder Academy kept its formation close behind its captain, preventing the Imperial Fighting Team from exploiting a gap. After twice holding back to avoid overextending, Yu Tianheng finally pursued through an opening, leaving both teams stretched to their limits as he faced his next decision.

• Yu Tianheng and Yu Tianxin clashed head-on while Thunder Academy’s flanks kept pace with Yu Tianxin, denying the Imperial Fighting Team its previous tactic.
• Yu Tianheng stopped pursuing when his teammates were out of position, and Yu Tianxin used the pause to drive the Imperial Fighting Team backward.
• Dugu Yan and Li Man helped the team regain its footing as Yu Tianxin pointed out that Thunderclap was no longer leaving him to charge ahead alone.
• Yu Tianheng stopped again when Yu Feng remained occupied, allowing Thunderclap to press its advantage and put the Imperial Fighting Team on the back foot.
• Yu Tianheng chose to pursue through a real opening created by Dugu Yan’s poison mist, forcing Yu Tianxin back while both teams stretched their lines to the limit.

Yu Tianheng learned to judge when to pursue Thunder Academy and when to regroup, leading Imperial Fighting Team to victory. After the match, Yu Tianxin promised to meet his first wave next time, while Shrek continued closing the gap in the standings.

• Yu Tianheng pursued Yu Tianxin, but Dong Jian and the others covered the stretched formation as Thunder Academy pressed back.
• Yu Tianheng chose not to pursue a second opening, allowing Imperial Fighting Team to regroup and withstand Yu Tianxin's counterattack.
• Yu Feng and Dugu Yan helped expose a gap in Thunderclap's formation, and Yu Tianheng charged through Li Man's three-breath shortcut.
• Dong Jian, Shi Mo, and Yu Feng delayed Yu Tianxin's response while Yu Tianheng called his team back into formation.
• Imperial Fighting Team exploited another opening to break Thunder Academy's formation, and the referee declared Heaven Dou Royal Academy the winner.
• Yu Tianxin and Yu Tianheng discussed their next encounter as Imperial Fighting Team's points rose and Shrek drew closer in the standings.

Dong Jian watched Shrek compete and updated his models using their newly observed tactics, finding that the team had changed significantly since Suotuo City. He left the full simulation disabled because the model was only thirty-one percent reliable, while Shrek and the Imperial Fighting Team continued studying one another ahead of a likely future match.

• The Imperial Fighting Team reviewed the standings, and Qin Ming brought them to watch Shrek's match during their break.
• Dong Jian observed Shrek's improved coordination, including Ning Rongrong's support, Oscar's supplies, Tang San's layered control, and Dai Mubai's changed role.
• Shrek won after Tang San chose to redirect pressure through Dai Mubai rather than pull Zhu Zhuqing back immediately, and Dong Jian recorded the tactical differences.
• Dong Jian updated the Divine Dragon Secret Realm's models, raising Tang San's reliability to thirty-one percent, but rejected a full simulation and kept only risk alerts.
• Tang San and Dong Jian watched each other from across the stands, while Grandmaster observed the Imperial Fighting Team and Qin Ming reminded his team that both rankings and people changed.

After Shrek’s second match, Dong Jian tested the Divine Dragon Secret Realm’s model against Tang San’s choices and restricted it to comparisons and risk warnings rather than attack recommendations. Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang and Tang San recognized that Dong Jian’s force-redirection techniques came from sustained physical training, not a Soul Skill, and the chapter ended with the Imperial Fighting Team joking about spectators trying to imitate him.

• Dong Jian watched Shrek’s match before updating the model, which misread Tang San’s control choices as Tang San conserved his control and protected Ning Rongrong through his teammates.
• The model’s reliability rose to 36 percent, and Dong Jian rejected its recommended opening target, limiting its use to historical comparisons, known-ability warnings, and similar past situations.
• Yu Xiaogang reviewed recordings of Dong Jian’s movements and concluded that his force redirection and footwork came from long-term training rather than a specific Soul Skill.
• Tang San revised his notes to focus on whether Dong Jian’s momentum returned to zero between movements, leaving uncertain parts blank rather than forcing them into a fixed system.
• Qin Ming brought the Imperial Fighting Team a spectator’s drawing that called Dong Jian’s technique a borrowed-force Soul Skill, and Li Man teased Dong Jian about trying to master it.

Dong Jian explained why copying the visible movements of his force-redirection technique could injure people, while refusing to reveal its deeper training methods. He called the broader practice Kung Fu and returned to training, leaving its full system and limits undecided.

• Qin Ming told Dong Jian that cultivators had been copying a diagram of his supposed borrowed-force Soul Skill, and one had strained his waist practicing it.
• Dong Jian showed a young Defense System cultivator how to respond to different incoming forces and warned him not to force a turn when his feet could not move with it.
• Dong Jian told the young man that the practice was Kung Fu, not a Soul Skill, and advised him to discard the diagram's exaggerated arrow.
• Tang San and Yu Xiaogang discussed how Dong Jian's technique depended on judgment and bodily control rather than movements that could be copied from a diagram.
• Dong Jian added the diagram to his training records and noted that point of contact, the body's exit, and the position for the next step were missing from it.

After Yu Tianheng defeated an opponent who had adapted one of Dong Jian’s techniques, Dong Jian and Qin Ming decided to teach the Imperial Fighting Team basic principles suited to each fighter. The chapter leaves the team preparing to start with stance while Dong Jian continues refining Yin-Yang Force Redirection on his own.

• Yu Feng brought Dong Jian three proposed names for Kung Fu, and Dong Jian rejected them as labels for individual moves.
• Qin Ming showed Yu Tianheng footage of a Defense System Soul Master using Dong Jian’s movement, and Dong Jian explained how the fighter had adapted it to his Martial Soul.
• Yu Tianheng exploited the opponent’s repeated half-step retreat in their match, and the Imperial Fighting Team won comfortably.
• Dong Jian told the young Soul Master that the movement was not wrong but had been used at the wrong time, while Tang San and Grandmaster concluded that they should organize principles rather than moves.
• Qin Ming, Dong Jian, and the team agreed to try teaching suitable basics without disrupting their established fighting styles, beginning with how to stand.
• Dong Jian declined to teach Yin-Yang Force Redirection yet because he had not fully mastered consecutive redirections, and he told Li Man he would teach one thing at a time.

Dong Jian taught Shi Mo, Yu Feng, and Yu Tianheng to adapt their movement to their own strengths rather than copy his circular movement. The Imperial Fighting Team adopted a set of training principles, and its members began applying them in small, individual ways.

• Dong Jian showed Shi Mo how to stay ready to move after absorbing a blow, and Shi Mo learned to step forward without resetting his stance.
• Dong Jian taught Yu Feng not to force himself into Shi Mo’s low stance; Yu Feng learned to carry the momentum of a graze into his next step.
• Yu Tianheng tried holding back his punch for circular movement, then decided it weakened his role as the team’s attacker and recommitted fully to his strike.
• Qin Ming replaced his plan to standardize movements with a list of principles, including adapting techniques to each person’s Martial Soul and role.
• The next day, Dugu Yan tested how to retreat while maintaining her poison mist, while Ye Lingling chose not to train in a stance for taking the first hit.
• Dong Jian and Yu Tianheng agreed that others should try useful techniques without copying them blindly, and the team continued practicing individually.

The Imperial Fighting Team defeated the armored Defense System Soul Master, whose half-step defense had developed from Dong Jian’s advice into a technique of his own. As the advancement tournament approached, Dong Jian confronted the challenge of competing without teammates to support his movements.

• Yu Tianheng tested the armored fighter’s half-step defense, adjusted his attack, and helped expose when the technique could not be used safely.
• The Imperial Fighting Team defeated the opposing team, and Dong Jian told the young fighter that his adapted half step was now his own technique.
• Yu Xiaogang and Tang San discussed how the fighters’ different methods suggested that physical training principles could be studied beyond Soul Skills, while noting that more evidence was needed.
• The qualifiers ended with the Imperial Fighting Team, Shrek, and several other academies advancing, and Qin Ming explained the individual round-robin rules for the next stage.
• Dong Jian considered how the advancement tournament would leave him without teammates to follow up on, then stood alone on the new arena and recognized he had to learn to rely on himself.

Before the promotion match, Dong Jian reconsidered how to fight without teammates and reviewed his weaknesses as an individual combatant. He entered the arena as the Imperial Fighting Team’s second fighter, and the chapter ended just as his opponent launched the opening attack.

• Qin Ming and Li Man helped Dong Jian realize that his axis began as a link between his own movements, before it expanded to include teammates.
• Dong Jian used the Divine Dragon Secret Realm to list his individual weaknesses, including ranged attacks, mental control, sustained aerial combat, and consecutive high-load force redirections.
• Qin Ming assigned Shi Mo to fight first and Dong Jian second in the Imperial Fighting Team’s opening promotion match.
• Shi Mo defeated the first opponent, then conceded to the second after enduring several successive charges and warning Dong Jian that the fighter hit hard.
• Dong Jian entered the arena and focused on reading his opponent himself, without looking to his teammates or relying on the Divine Dragon Secret Realm.
• The Long-Armed Heavy Ape Soul Master attacked first, and Dong Jian prepared to absorb the impact with his own axis.

Dong Jian won his individual match against a Long-Armed Heavy Ape Soul Master by correcting his team-based instincts and relying on precise footwork and force redirection. He chose to continue into his next bout, where a crimson-staff wielder attacked him with a wave of fire that he could not counter by borrowing force.

• Dong Jian lost half a beat when he looked for teammates, took a glancing punch, and then refocused on his opponent, his footing, and his remaining momentum.
• Dong Jian repeatedly evaded and redirected the Long-Armed Heavy Ape youth’s attacks, landing Short Tremor strikes without overpursuing.
• The exhausted youth conceded after Dong Jian drove him to the arena boundary, giving the Imperial Fighting Team’s second fighter the victory.
• Dong Jian discussed his initial mistake with Yu Feng and Li Man, while Tang San and Yu Xiaogang noted how the individual match exposed his habits and fundamentals.
• Dong Jian agreed to fight again despite his numb shoulder and faced a short crimson-staff wielder whose Second Soul Skill sent a line of fire sweeping across the arena.

Dong Jian defeated a fire-attribute Soul Master by dodging the flames, reading his opponent’s footwork, and closing the distance before striking. After choosing not to fight a third opponent, he reviewed the match and learned that his next matchup was against a Mental Interference type.

• Dong Jian dodged the fire-attribute Soul Master’s attacks and studied the movements that preceded each one.
• Dong Jian used the fire wall’s fading and his opponent’s recovery to close in, then used Mountain Domain to read his footwork and force him over the boundary.
• Dong Jian declined to continue after winning, and Ye Lingling checked his burns while Qin Ming explained that being able to fight did not mean he should keep fighting.
• Dong Jian recorded that attributes could not be redirected and that he needed to solve distance before closing in.
• Dong Jian saw that his next opponent was a Mental Interference type and admitted he did not yet know how to adapt.

Dong Jian faced a short-tailed lynx Soul Master whose relentless close-combat rhythm tested his ability to link movements. After stopping a dangerous fourth sequence and changing his approach, Dong Jian won the match and left focused on whether his body was still positioned to continue before attempting another sequence.

• Dong Jian learned that his next opponent specialized in continuous close combat and entered the match expecting to practice linking movements.
• Dong Jian smoothly evaded and countered the short-tailed lynx Soul Master's first three attacks, but stopped when a fourth strike made his waist and knee move in conflicting directions.
• Dong Jian broke the sequence, retreated, and absorbed a follow-up attack rather than risk injuring himself by forcing the movement.
• Dong Jian adapted by disrupting his opponent's rhythm, countered with Short Tremor, and sent him out of bounds to secure the Imperial Fighting Team's victory.
• Qin Ming and Ye Lingling checked Dong Jian for injuries, and Dong Jian recorded that he should continue only when his body remained in a position to do so; his next opponent specialized in Mental Control.

Dong Jian lost to Lu Qing after Lu Qing’s Mental Interference made him misjudge timing and position, exposing limits in his combat methods. He kept the match record and chose to master his existing skills before seeking answers to unfamiliar threats.

• Dong Jian chose to fight Lu Qing to learn the extent of the gap between them, despite Qin Ming telling him he did not have to compete.
• Dong Jian used Yin-Yang Mountain Domain to track Lu Qing’s footsteps, but Lu Qing planted false footsteps and disrupted Dong Jian’s sense of timing.
• Dong Jian relied on the ground and Force Observation, but Lu Qing’s Mental Interference made the signals impossible to interpret reliably.
• Lu Qing confused Dong Jian’s balance near the boundary and struck him out of the arena, winning the match.
• Dong Jian acknowledged that his methods could provide information without supplying the right answer, while Grandmaster and Tang San clarified their limits.
• Dong Jian reviewed the defeat and decided to master what he already knew before developing a response to unfamiliar abilities.

Dong Jian tested a partial reset between consecutive impacts and found that it let him repeat two stable cycles, though errors grew in a third. He left the circular redirection unnamed and incomplete as the advancement tournament continued.

• Dong Jian practiced three consecutive contact stages, then adjusted his stance between cycles without fully stopping.
• Dong Jian completed two stable cycles, but Li Man stopped him when his landing errors increased during a third.
• Dong Jian and Qin Ming discussed how returning to a position able to receive force differed from simply extending a chain of redirects.
• Dong Jian recorded the structure as incomplete circular redirection, while Tang San noticed the returning movement in a public recording.
• Qin Ming left Dong Jian's position in the next lineup dependent on the opponent, and Dong Jian declined to treat the unfinished circle as a mastered technique.

Dong Jian tested his unfinished circular rotation in an advancement match against Lin Yue, limiting himself to two phases and adapting when Lin Yue targeted his return-to-receiving window. He won by breaking off the pattern when needed, while Lin Yue and the watching academies took note of the opening for future matches.

• Before the match, Qin Ming reminded Dong Jian to use only two rounds and stop if he went beyond them.
• Dong Jian used two phases of circular movement against Lin Yue, then broke off rather than risk an unstable third phase; Lin Yue exploited Dong Jian's return-to-receiving window in later exchanges.
• Dong Jian changed his rhythm and stopped returning to a fixed position, then used Short Tremor and Mountain-Shifting Step to force Lin Yue out of bounds and win.
• Dong Jian told Li Man and Qin Ming that the two rounds were usable but the third cycle remained untested, and the Divine Dragon Secret Realm recorded the exploitable return window.
• Lin Yue warned Dong Jian that others were studying his technique, while Tang San and Grandmaster recorded that the return window could be deliberately canceled; academy teachers marked it as a target for next time.

Dong Jian faced Zhou Jian, whose short-ring attacks targeted the predictable moment when Dong Jian returned to a receiving stance. Dong Jian won by breaking off his practiced cycles and turning a retreat into a counterattack, then recorded that knowing when not to complete the circle was part of his training; Yu Tianheng was listed first for the next round.

• Zhou Jian used rapid short-ring strikes to attack Dong Jian whenever he tried to return to a receiving stance.
• Dong Jian interrupted his practiced movements instead of completing the predictable cycle, leaving Zhou Jian's attacks without their expected opening.
• Dong Jian used Mountain-Shifting Step and Short Tremor to counter Zhou Jian, then won when Zhou Jian stumbled to the arena boundary and conceded.
• Dong Jian recorded that his cycle could be interrupted, while Li Man noted that he now had to practice both returning to receive force and choosing when not to return.
• Tang San noted that Dong Jian's return-to-receive window was not guaranteed to appear, and Qin Ming placed Yu Tianheng first in the next-round lineup.

Yu Tianheng won two individual matches by improving his timing and controlling his opponent’s movement, then withdrew when Qin Ming judged him too tired to continue. With one advancement-tournament round left, the Imperial Fighting Team prepared for the finals in Spirit City.

• Qin Ming told Yu Tianheng to focus on fighting alone, and Yu Tianheng defeated a Rock-Backed Rhinoceros Soul Master by striking from changing angles.
• Yu Tianheng stopped chasing a Green-Tailed Marten Soul Master, forced him to return to the fight, and won his second match by cutting off his escape route.
• Qin Ming sent Yu Tianheng down from the arena because his leg was still usable but his shoulder was sore; Shi Mo and Osler helped the Imperial Fighting Team win the round.
• Dong Jian praised Yu Tianheng for knowing when not to pursue, and Qin Ming noted that Yu Tianheng had improved his control of angles against a mobile opponent.
• The latest standings showed the Imperial Fighting Team holding its position, while Shrek and several other academies neared qualification; the team discussed the upcoming finals in Spirit City.

The Imperial Fighting Team won the final advancement tournament round despite Yu Tianheng losing to a Control System opponent, while Dong Jian watched and reflected on how individual matchups shaped team performance. Both the Imperial Fighting Team and Shrek advanced to the finals in Spirit City, where Ye Lingling insisted Dong Jian undergo an examination before training further.

• Yu Tianheng defeated an opening opponent but lost to a Binding Vine Control System Soul Master who wore him down and restricted his movement.
• Yu Feng defeated the Binding Vine Soul Master by exploiting his ability to fly, then left the stage after failing to beat a ranged attacker; Dugu Yan defeated that opponent by narrowing his attack angles with poison.
• The Imperial Fighting Team won the round overall, and Qin Ming asked the team to discuss what they had learned; Dong Jian said one person's win or loss did not decide the whole team.
• Dong Jian observed Shrek's members take turns in their matches and noted how individual combat revealed different strengths and limits than team battles.
• The final rankings confirmed that the Imperial Fighting Team, Shrek, and several other academies advanced to Spirit City; Qin Ming warned the team not to treat advancement results as a direct forecast of the finals.
• Ye Lingling stopped Dong Jian from returning to training and directed him to the treatment room for an examination of his waist and feet.

Dong Jian and Li Man underwent medical checks before the Imperial Fighting Team prepared to leave for Spirit City, where they planned to conceal the full extent of their abilities. The team departed with their training restrictions and battle secrets in place.

• Ye Lingling found that Dong Jian had fatigue in his right ankle, waist, and hips, and restricted him to low-intensity training for three days.
• Ye Lingling discovered that Dong Jian's Dark Gold Spine Armor was becoming more integrated into how he used Soul Power and forbade him from relying on it during stance training.
• Ye Lingling found that Li Man had attention fatigue from controlling multiple nodes and ordered her to rest and reduce high-node training.
• Qin Ming told the team to present only a limited version of their Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo technique in Spirit City and to keep its full twelve-breath, three-step version secret.
• Dong Jian and Li Man left the complete Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo coordination out of their written tactics, and the team packed for the journey.
• The Heaven Dou representative team received notice that it would depart for Spirit City the next morning.