Recaps

Long Tian, Long Tieshan, Mu Shuang, and Yu Jin planned how to enter the Iron Guard camp and rescue the test subjects. After discussing their next steps, Long Tian and his father shared a quiet moment and looked toward a future after the mission.

• Long Tieshan explained the Iron Guard shorthand on the silk scroll and said reversing the Return to Origin path’s confluence sequence would improve its stability.
• Long Tian outlined the rescue plan, and Long Tieshan explained that a captain’s keycard could open the level-six restriction.
• Mu Shuang described Deputy Wei’s routine and where he kept his keycard, while Long Tieshan agreed to help retrieve it and support the rescue.
• Long Tieshan warned that he could fight at full strength for only about fifteen minutes before needing most of a day to recover.
• Long Tian told Long Tieshan that his mother missed him, and Long Tieshan said he would forge her a new iron wok after the mission.
• Long Tian asked Long Tieshan to teach him to work iron, and his father touched his arm before returning to the house.

Long Tian and Long Tieshan infiltrated the camp and stole Wei Yuanshan’s metal card, then activated it to prepare for a rescue mission. The group finalized their route into the holding area and stood ready to proceed.

• Long Tian memorized the Return to Origin path while Long Tieshan mapped the camp and planned their approach.
• Long Tian and Long Tieshan slipped through a gap in the camp wall, and Long Tian entered Wei Yuanshan’s office during the deputy’s absence.
• Long Tian took the unmarked Iron Guard card from Wei Yuanshan’s desk and escaped with Long Tieshan before dawn.
• Long Tian used the Origin Return Pearl’s Qi and his fingerprint to activate the card’s level-six restriction.
• Mu Shuang described the ventilation route and power shutdown, and Long Tian reviewed the group’s plan to enter the holding area and free the prisoners.

Long Tian, Yu Jin, Mu Shuang, and Long Tieshan infiltrated the compound to rescue its captives, but found Shen Mo freeing his brother Shen Qiu through a hidden passage. After the group escaped together, Meng Changyuan confronted them outside the city wall, and Long Tian and Yu Jin joined their powers as the two sides faced off.

• Long Tieshan stayed behind to guard the passage while Long Tian, Yu Jin, and Mu Shuang entered the compound through a ventilation duct with the power and sensors disabled.
• Long Tian found an empty holding cell with signs of escape and followed a hidden passage north with Yu Jin.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin discovered Shen Mo freeing his imprisoned brother Shen Qiu, and the two groups agreed to escape together.
• Mu Shuang helped Shen Mo, Shen Qiu, Yu Jin, and Long Tian return through the ventilation duct and out of the compound.
• Meng Changyuan confronted the five at the city wall, and Long Tian and Yu Jin fused their powers into a protective halo as he revealed his Soul Rings.

Long Tian and Yu Jin escaped Spirit City with Shen Qiu after Meng Changyuan allowed them to leave, warning that he would take their Chaos Cores at their next meeting. At the stone house, Long Tieshan explained why he had kept Meng Changyuan’s experiments secret and let Long Tian choose whether to confront the danger.

• Meng Changyuan withdrew his pressure and let Long Tian, Yu Jin, Shen Mo, Mu Shuang, and Shen Qiu leave, saying he would claim their Chaos Cores next time.
• Shen Mo led the group out of Spirit City, and they met Long Tieshan at the agreed rendezvous point beneath a lightning-struck locust tree.
• Shen Mo checked Shen Qiu for injuries, and Long Tieshan greeted Shen Mo with a quiet pat on the shoulder.
• At the stone house, Long Tian told Long Tieshan what Meng Changyuan had said and learned that Meng’s experiments on creating a self-growing Composite Martial Soul were continuing.
• Long Tieshan explained that he had concealed the evidence to protect his pregnant wife and later passed the lead to Long Tian so his son could decide whether to face the truth.
• Long Tian placed his hand in Long Tieshan’s, while Yu Jin watched the sunrise from the doorway.

After learning that Meng Changyuan had installed a Reverse Fusion Device, Long Tian and Yu Jin trained to strengthen their fused power while the group hid in the stone house. The chapter ends with Long Tian discovering that Meng Changyuan had completed a startup test of the equipment.

• Shen Qiu told Long Tian and Yu Jin that the Reverse Fusion Device could split a stabilized Origin of Chaos into light and dark attributes, and they decided it had to be destroyed.
• Long Tieshan explained the Closed Circuit on the Return to Origin Diagram, and Long Tian and Yu Jin began practicing its more complex Qi pathway.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin gradually improved their Closed Circuit practice, while Long Tieshan and Shen Qiu helped correct their technique.
• After half a month, Long Tian's Origin Return Pearl and Yu Jin's core had strengthened, and their combined gray-white light covered the clearing.
• Yu Jin asked Long Tieshan what might have happened if he had confronted Meng Changyuan, and Long Tieshan said his retreat had allowed the others to survive.
• Long Tian read Shen Mo's note that Meng Changyuan had gone to the third underground level and completed a startup test of the core equipment.

Shen Mo reported that the Reverse Fusion Device had passed a full-load test and was taking in more living subjects, so Long Tieshan’s group planned a timed raid to dismantle it. As they prepared for the operation, Long Tian strengthened Yu Jin’s Third Ring, while an unexplained new arc appeared on the Origin Return Pearl.

• Shen Mo reported that the Reverse Fusion Device was operating steadily and that three new living subjects, including an adult Soul Master with a combined light-and-dark type, had entered the core area.
• Long Tieshan and Shen Mo agreed to draw Meng Changyuan away while Mu Shuang led Long Tian and Yu Jin through the ventilation ducts to disable the device, with Shen Qiu providing signal support.
• The group planned to exploit the north-wall supply passage shift change, dismantle the machine within half a tea’s time, and escape through an abandoned smoke-extraction shaft.
• Long Tian infused Yu Jin’s core with the Origin Return Pearl’s presence during Closed Circuit practice, making Yu Jin’s Third Ring nearly complete.
• Long Tian returned the token, silk, and key card to his robes and sensed a new shallow arc forming on the Origin Return Pearl as he fell asleep.

Long Tian, Yu Jin, and Mu Shuang infiltrated the equipment room and disabled the Reverse Fusion Device by removing its core crystal. They escaped with Long Tieshan and Shen Mo and reached the pine forest, where the crystal still resonated with Long Tian’s Origin Return Pearl.

• Long Tieshan and Shen Mo drew the camp’s defenders away while Mu Shuang led Long Tian and Yu Jin through the city’s maintenance corridor.
• Long Tian used the keycard to open the equipment room, where the Reverse Fusion Device was extracting strands of light and darkness into sealed containers.
• Yu Jin restrained the device’s rotating film while Long Tian removed its core crystal, causing the machine to collapse and the stored strands to dissipate.
• Mu Shuang signaled the retreat, and the three escaped through the ventilation duct and reunited with Long Tieshan and Shen Mo outside the city.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin reached the pine forest, where Long Tian found that the wrapped crystal continued to resonate with his Origin Return Pearl.

Long Tian and Yu Jin took the crystal from Meng Changyuan’s equipment room and learned it could stabilize their powers while preventing him from rebuilding the same Reverse Fusion Device. They trained at the stone house for two weeks, and the chapter left them preparing to meet Meng Changyuan’s next move together.

• Shen Mo explained that the crystal was formed from matter shed by the Origin of Chaos and resonated with Long Tian’s Origin Return Pearl and Yu Jin’s Power of Origin.
• Long Tieshan said the crystal could serve as a power source and that losing it would delay Meng Changyuan’s attempt to replicate the Origin of Chaos; Shen Mo reported Meng Changyuan could rebuild a weaker device within three months.
• Long Tieshan set a three-month training plan for Long Tian to improve the Closed Circuit and temper his Origin Return Pearl, while Yu Jin advanced his Soul Rings.
• Over two weeks, Yu Jin solidified his Third Ring and Long Tian strengthened the connection between his five Soul Rings and the Origin Return Pearl through practice with the crystal.
• Yu Jin asked how Meng Changyuan would attack next, and Long Tian predicted he would target people close to them or under their protection; Yu Jin vowed he would fail.

Long Tian learned steady control from Long Tieshan’s smithing and applied it to the Closed Circuit, while Yu Jin’s fourth Soul Ring completed its formation. Shen Mo then revealed that Meng Changyuan could rebuild a Reverse Fusion Device using mineral core stone, and the group planned to intercept the shipment in the Northern Territory.

• Long Tieshan taught Long Tian to forge iron with steady, even blows, and Long Tian used the lesson to stabilize his Closed Circuit practice with Yu Jin.
• Yu Jin completed the formation of his fourth Soul Ring after months of tempering, while Long Tian watched him return from the creek.
• Long Tieshan finished a small iron pot, and Shen Mo returned with news that Meng Changyuan had found mineral core stone for rebuilding a Reverse Fusion Device.
• Shen Mo revealed he had pledged his copper ring to learn that the next shipment would reach a Northern Territory transit station in twenty-five days.
• Long Tian placed the crystal on the table, and the group studied routes to the transit station and planned to intercept the shipment.

Long Tian, Yu Jin, and Shen Mo traveled to the northern border transit station and stole two crates of Ore Core Stone, delaying Meng Changyuan’s plans to restore the Reverse Fusion Device. They carried the ore back toward the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range, while Yu Jin noted that it might be refined to match the quality of the crystal stone.

• Long Tieshan planned the route, and Shen Mo joined Long Tian and Yu Jin on the mission while Mu Shuang and Long Tieshan stayed at the stone house.
• The three traveled north and scouted the transit station, identifying the guards’ patrol pattern and the warehouse’s blind spot.
• Shen Mo opened the warehouse lock and moved two crates of Ore Core Stone outside while Long Tian and Yu Jin lifted them over the wall.
• The patrolman unexpectedly paused near the wall, but Shen Mo stayed hidden until the guard resumed his circuit, and the three escaped with both crates.
• Shen Mo confirmed that the Ore Core Stone could support a lower-spec Reverse Fusion Device and said its loss would delay Meng Changyuan for at least two months.
• Yu Jin observed that the ore’s mixed light and dark content might be refined into material like the crystal stone, and he and Long Tian carried the crates toward the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range.

Long Tian used Ore Core Stones and the crystal’s residual essence to make Yu Jin a pearl that nourished his Fourth Ring, then fused his light and dark Qi into a new sixth Soul Ring. He returned to the stone house with his power transformed, while Yu Jin and Long Tieshan quietly witnessed the change.

• Long Tian roasted five Ore Core Stones over several days and mixed their powder with the crystal’s residual light to create a dark-gray pearl.
• Long Tian gave the pearl to Yu Jin to replace his stone pendant, and Yu Jin felt it begin nourishing his core.
• Long Tian circulated his light and dark Qi through the Closed Circuit until they fused within the Origin Return Pearl and formed a sixth Soul Ring.
• Long Tian found his Soul Power more than twice as strong and manifested a more complete gray-gold dragon, while Yu Jin watched from the doorway.
• Long Tian returned to the stone house and quietly joined Long Tieshan beside the hearth.

Long Tian tested the power of his newly formed Sixth Soul Ring and discovered that its dragon shadow could move independently while remaining linked to his Origin Return Pearl. After establishing its control range and practicing attacks with Yu Jin, he returned to the stone house for the evening meal.

• Long Tian activated all six Soul Rings and found that the dragon shadow had grown stronger, striking a rock hard enough to split it cleanly.
• Yu Jin tested the dragon shadow, and Long Tian discovered he could guide its movement with his thoughts after releasing it.
• Long Tieshan explained that the rings resonated with Long Tian because they had grown from his own origin rather than being added from outside.
• Long Tian tested the dragon shadow's range and found that its control remained stable within about twelve zhang before the connection weakened.
• Long Tian practiced turning the dragon shadow and combining its attacks with his own, and Yu Jin proposed fighting it the next day.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin returned to the stone house, where the family prepared the evening meal.

Meng Changyuan led a search party to the stone house, where Long Tian and Yu Jin confronted him. Long Tian’s power evolved into a two-headed dragon, and Meng Changyuan withdrew, leaving Long Tian and Yu Jin together in the clearing.

• Meng Changyuan arrived near the stone house with five followers after narrowing the search to the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin faced Meng Changyuan in the clearing, and Long Tian’s dragon attack joined with Yu Jin’s power to strike Meng Changyuan’s bracer.
• Long Tian’s Origin Return Pearl and six Soul Rings resonated as scales formed along his spine and a two-headed dragon appeared behind him.
• Long Tian released a deep hum that slowed Meng Changyuan’s Soul Rings, and Meng Changyuan ordered his followers to leave.
• Long Tian withdrew his power, and he and Yu Jin stood together in the clearing as night fell.

Long Tian examined the changes to the Origin Return Pearl after it produced a gray-gold dragon shadow, finding that it had shifted upward and formed a protective membrane around his body. After testing the shadow’s abilities, he learned from Yu Jin that a new core was forming inside the pearl and might make the dragon spine permanent.

• Long Tian and Yu Jin observed that the Origin Return Pearl had moved upward and that a permanent protective membrane now covered Long Tian’s body.
• Long Tian sensed a tiny cavity forming at the center of the pearl and memorized its position without probing further.
• Long Tian tested the dragon shadow on the hillside, finding that it lasted longer and could act without interfering with his Soul Skills.
• Long Tian told Yu Jin about the cavity inside the pearl, and Yu Jin said Long Tian’s origin was compressing residual matter to form a new core.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin walked back to the stone house as the gray-gold traces left by the dragon shadow faded.

Long Tian completed the formation of a new core inside the Origin Return Pearl, strengthening and stabilizing his dragon manifestation. The chapter left him looking toward the southern ridgeline after Shen Mo reported that Meng Changyuan had remained at a temporary outpost there.

• Long Tian felt a new core taking shape inside the Origin Return Pearl and learned it would need two more days to stabilize.
• Yu Jin and Long Tieshan warned Long Tian to protect the forming core and avoid fully activating his sixth ring.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin paused Qi harmonization while Long Tian allowed the core to condense through basic cultivation.
• On the sixth evening, Long Tian confirmed the core had stabilized and manifested a stronger two-headed dragon shadow that lasted nearly a quarter of an hour.
• Shen Mo reported that Meng Changyuan had not returned to camp and had kept his squad at a temporary outpost south of the mountains.
• Long Tian stood at the doorway and watched the southern ridgeline after hearing the report.

Long Tian went to Deer Cry Gully with Yu Jin and faced Meng Changyuan across the open slope, holding his ground beneath the arborvitae. Meng Changyuan withdrew into his tent, and Long Tian returned to the stone house with Yu Jin.

• Shen Mo reported that Meng Changyuan had camped six li from the stone house and was waiting without attacking or leaving.
• Long Tian surveyed Meng Changyuan's camp and told Yu Jin he intended to go there to draw a line; Yu Jin agreed to accompany him.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin went to the arborvitae above Deer Cry Gully, where Long Tian revealed his six Soul Rings and hovering two-headed dragon shadow.
• Meng Changyuan emerged from his tent and watched Long Tian from across the slope, but neither man advanced or spoke.
• Meng Changyuan went back into his tent, and Long Tian waited until the camp's smoke dispersed before withdrawing his dragon shadow.
• Yu Jin said Meng Changyuan had seen Long Tian's display, and Long Tian returned to the stone house, where Long Tieshan continued grinding iron.

After the camp at Deer Cry Gully withdrew, Long Tian predicted their enemy would seek another way to pressure them and decided to return to Bluestone Town. He and Yu Jin left the stone house together, leaving the crystal in Long Tieshan’s care as they headed toward town.

• Shen Mo reported that the camp at Deer Cry Gully had packed up and gone south, and Long Tian said their enemy would look for another way to approach them.
• Long Tian told Yu Jin he wanted to return to Bluestone Town and explain his disappearance to Zhao Xiaopang, Chen Hao, Mr. Wang, and the academy; Yu Jin said he would go with him.
• Long Tieshan stayed behind to guard the stone house and Ore Core Stone, while the crystal was left in his care.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin packed a small bundle and left the stone house early the next morning.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin rested near Soul Hunting Town, then continued along the main road toward Bluestone Town.

Long Tian returned to Bluestone Town Junior Soul Master Academy after three years away, bringing Yu Jin and reuniting with Zhao Xiaopang, Mr. Wang, and Chen Hao. He revealed that he had reached six rings, then sat with his friends for noodles as Zhao Xiaopang caught him up on what had happened.

• Long Tian and Yu Jin arrived at the academy, where Long Tian paused to watch the children studying.
• Zhao Xiaopang recognized Long Tian, rushed over, and learned that Yu Jin was traveling with him.
• Mr. Wang came out to greet Long Tian and remarked that he had grown taller.
• Chen Hao arrived, asked Long Tian how many rings he had, and heard that he had six.
• The four shared noodle soup in the dining hall while Zhao Xiaopang recounted the months Long Tian had been away.

Long Tian spent one night visiting the academy, where he reunited with Zhao Xiaopang, Chen Hao, and Mr. Wang before leaving for the mountain with Yu Jin at daybreak. Chen Hao and Zhao Xiaopang planned to remain at the academy, and Long Tian expected the bead’s new core to connect fully with his six rings after about ten more days of cycles.

• After Long Tian said he would leave early the next morning, Mr. Wang patted his shoulder and returned to the lecture hall.
• Long Tian sat beneath the old banyan tree with Yu Jin and recalled training there with Zhao Xiaopang.
• At dinner, Chen Hao said he and Zhao Xiaopang would stay at the academy to help Mr. Wang, and asked Long Tian to send word when he had settled things.
• Yu Jin asked how long it would take the bead’s new core to connect fully with Long Tian’s six rings, and Long Tian estimated about ten more days of cycles.
• At daybreak, Long Tian and Yu Jin left the academy; Chen Hao said he would keep the goods for Long Tian when they arrived.

Long Tian refined his new core until it fused with the Origin Return Pearl, then combined Qi with Yu Jin and felt their Closed Circuit resonance shape something within the pearl. The two-headed dragon shadow grew clearer but remained incomplete as night fell.

• Long Tian cycled his Soul Power through the Origin Return Pearl and new core three times, causing scales to emerge on his back and a two-headed dragon shadow to appear briefly.
• For three days, Long Tian repeated the cultivation cycle until the new core joined the Origin Return Pearl.
• Long Tian sensed that the fused core rotated in sync with the Origin Return Pearl and carried greater force.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin combined their Qi, and the new core directly absorbed and refined Yu Jin's Power of Origin.
• Their Closed Circuit resonance compressed and shaped something within the Origin Return Pearl as the two-headed dragon shadow grew clearer.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin ended their cultivation, and the dragon shadow dispersed into specks of light.

Long Tian trained alone on the hillside, guiding his Soul Power through twelve circuits as his new core strengthened and the two-headed dragon image appeared without being summoned. He returned to Yu Jin, who explained that the image would follow his movements on its own next time, and the two went inside after the glowing dust faded.

• Long Tian went alone to the hillside while Yu Jin stayed by the stone house with Long Tieshan.
• Long Tian channeled Soul Power through his Origin Return Pearl and new core, completing twelve circuits as scales emerged and the two-headed dragon image appeared on its own.
• Long Tian finished training and returned to the house, leaving a circle of faintly glowing dust on the hillside.
• Yu Jin told Long Tian that the dragon image would follow his movements on its own during his next set of circuits.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin sat together until the glowing dust faded, then returned inside and closed the door.

Long Tian’s two-headed dragon silhouette began appearing on its own and synchronizing with his movements, growing into a solid shape connected to his back. After the silhouette vanished when he entered the house, a mysterious vertical light appeared between its brows as he fell asleep.

• For three days, Long Tian continued his daily Qi circulation while the new core stabilized inside the Origin Return Pearl.
• On the fourth morning, the dragon silhouette lingered after his routine and Long Tian felt a synchronized line moving along his back.
• Yu Jin saw an incomplete dragon outline follow Long Tian down the hillside and mirror his movements without being summoned.
• The outline followed Long Tian throughout the day and became a fully solid two-headed dragon silhouette behind him that evening.
• Long Tieshan watched the silhouette and Long Tian’s changing hands without commenting.
• That night, the silhouette vanished at the threshold, then a vertical light appeared between its brows before Long Tian fell asleep.

Long Tian tested the dragon shadow’s growing abilities and found that it could strike with greater force, combine its attacks with his own, and act independently at a distance. After the shadow returned to his back, a line of light briefly appeared on its forehead.

• Long Tian tested the dragon shadow’s strikes and discovered that its claws cut temporary rifts in the air while its tail sweep uprooted and shifted a patch of grass.
• Long Tian had the dragon shadow strike a tree and combine its force with his palm wind, cutting the trunk and leaving a heated crater in a rock wall.
• Yu Jin examined a cut blade of grass and asked whether the dragon shadow could move on its own.
• Long Tian directed the dragon shadow to fly away, and it traveled about ten zhang while keeping a stable connection to the Origin Return Pearl.
• The dragon shadow touched a shrub, returned to Long Tian’s back, and briefly lit the vertical line on its forehead.

Long Tian tested his new defenses as Yu Jin attacked, then discovered that his dragon shadow could separate from his body and hover independently. The shadow remained connected to Long Tian through the Origin Return Pearl and new core, while its still-closed forehead eye awaited a future moment to open.

• Long Tian asked Yu Jin to attack him, and the dragon shadow deflected Yu Jin’s full-force strike without letting any residual force reach him.
• Long Tian spread his arms, and the dragon shadow opened its wings for the first time as scales emerged along his spine.
• Long Tian extended his palm, and the dragon shadow detached from his back and hovered a zhang away.
• Long Tian sensed that the Origin Return Pearl and new core continued to sustain the independent shadow through an increasingly smooth connection.
• Yu Jin watched the dragon shadow hover as light lingered in the embers in his eyes.
• The dragon shadow’s four eyes turned toward Long Tian while warmth continued to circulate around the closed light in its forehead.

Long Tian went openly to Spirit City with Yu Jin and faced Meng Changyuan in the Iron Guard compound. His dragon silhouette opened its third eye, dimming the basement’s Soul Power formations and slowing Meng Changyuan’s Soul Rings as they met in silence.

• Shen Mo told Long Tian that Meng Changyuan had placed three lines between the academy and the mine, targeting the stone house’s supply routes and Bluestone Town.
• Long Tian set out for Spirit City with Yu Jin, and his dragon silhouette suppressed the Soul Power of three Iron Guard men who blocked the road.
• Long Tian left his token at Old Chen’s Blacksmith Shop before heading to the Iron Guard’s northern city compound.
• Long Tian entered the underground chamber and confronted Meng Changyuan beside the wreckage of the Reverse Fusion Device.
• Long Tian’s dragon silhouette spread its wings and opened its third eye, dimming the formation patterns and slowing the rotation of Meng Changyuan’s two purple Soul Rings.