Recaps

Long Tian formed his seventh Soul Ring and saw the Dragon Shadow transform in step with it. As Spirit Hall’s Elder Hall searched inland for records of abnormal Soul Power, he decided to visit Shrek and town to replace his alias with a complete identity before the patrols reached the mountains.

• Long Tian formed a seventh Soul Ring, and the Dragon Shadow gained a glowing spinal line, wider wings, and synchronized movements.
• Yu Jin waited for Long Tian while Shen Mo reported that Spirit Hall’s Elder Hall was searching inland for records of abnormal Soul Power.
• Long Tian learned the patrol route was tightening toward Shrek Academy and that Shen Qiu had placed observation posts along the mountain passes.
• Long Tian decided to visit Shrek to remove his alias from the student files and create a complete identity in the town’s records.
• Shen Mo asked about the patrols, and Long Tian said he would take Yu Jin because the strongest patrol member had only four rings.

Long Tian and Yu Jin traveled to Bluestone Town to complete Long Tian’s apprentice registration before the Spirit Hall patrol could investigate him. After registering at a tailor’s shop, they learned the patrol was questioning people nearby and left town quickly.

• Tang San told Long Tian that he had erased his alias from the academy records and arranged a tailor’s apprentice identity for him.
• Tang San warned Long Tian that the Spirit Hall patrol was approaching Bluestone Town, so Long Tian and Yu Jin headed there to register before its search reached the eastern villages.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin saw two Spirit Hall patrol members questioning a villager near the town and realized they had less time than expected.
• Long Tian used Tang San’s number to complete his apprentice registration at Zhou’s tailor shop in eastern Bluestone Town.
• The tailor warned Long Tian that Spirit Hall members had been questioning people all afternoon, and Long Tian left town through the alley with his correction letter.

Long Tian and Yu Jin avoided the main roads while returning from Bluestone Town, where Spirit Hall patrols were checking registrations. After the patrol moved north toward Soul Hunting Town, Long Tian prepared to leave the stone house and set off down the slope with Yu Jin.

• Long Tian and Yu Jin took back roads out of Bluestone Town to avoid the Spirit Hall patrol and continued toward the stone house by way of an old hunters' trail.
• Long Tian told Long Tieshan that he had completed his registration in Bluestone Town and seen the patrol enter town.
• Shen Mo reported that the patrol had left Bluestone Town for Soul Hunting Town after finding nothing unusual in the registrations.
• Long Tian adjusted his satchel for travel, and Yu Jin gave him dry herbs to carry in case the change of water and soil upset him.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin left the stone house and disappeared around the bend, with Dragon Shadow hovering behind Long Tian.

Long Tian investigated reports of debris surfacing near Longfish Bay and suspected the underwater structure he had previously explored was breaking apart. After taking a boat out with Yu Jin and the man from the stern, he dove to inspect a widening crack and found fresh fragments around it.

• Long Tian heard that fishermen had been finding broken pottery and pieces of wood in the coastal waters.
• The man from the stern reported seeing squared timber near the eastern shallows, and Yu Jin recalled an uneven crack on the underwater structure’s base.
• Long Tian decided to take the boat out, assess the debris and water conditions, and dive if it was safe.
• Long Tian, Yu Jin, and the man from the stern followed floating debris toward the shallows, where the water had grown murky.
• Long Tian dove to the underwater structure and found the crack wider than before, with fragments still breaking off and fresh powder scattered nearby.

Long Tian investigated fresh fissures in the underwater structures and found evidence of hidden veins in the stone, with a steady vibration coming from beneath the paving. He and the man at the stern were left considering whether the damage and vibration came from a mechanism below.

• Long Tian examined a fresh fissure at the keel's base and found a low-density vein inside the stone where the crack had formed.
• The man at the stern suggested debris might be coming from a larger opening or a cavity within the structure.
• Long Tian marked the fissure on the silk map and traced the drifting debris toward the outer area of the underwater paving.
• Long Tian found a wider fissure in the paving, with branching cracks and freshly shed stone dust.
• Long Tian felt a regular vibration beneath the paving and reported it to the man at the stern, who asked whether it was a current pulse or a solid impact.

Long Tian explored the space beneath the paved surface and discovered a vibrating pipe connected to a network carrying energy through the structure. After he reported his findings, the person at the stern concluded that the flow should be temporarily stopped so they could reinforce the cracked stone.

• Long Tian tied a rope to himself and dived through a crack in the paved surface to search for a way inside.
• He squeezed through an opening into a chamber beneath the paving and found a vertical pipe producing the steady vibration.
• Long Tian sensed that the pipe connected to a branching network whose layout matched the diversion channels above.
• He opened a marked door in the pipe, examined the upward-flowing conduit inside, then closed it and returned to the boat.
• Long Tian described the pipe and its operation, and the person at the stern said they should cut off the energy flow before reinforcing the cracks.

Long Tian shut off the energy flow feeding the dragon bone foundation by turning a clamp inside its conduit, stopping the vibrations and the ongoing flaking. He recorded how to operate the clamp and returned with Yu Jin and the man at the stern to Longfish Bay.

• Long Tian entered the conduit and found a rotatable ring clamp near its bottom.
• Long Tian turned the clamp until the energy flow stopped, then waited for the vibrations to fade and saw that no more flakes fell.
• Long Tian told Yu Jin and the man at the stern how he had stopped the flow and confirmed the clamp could be reopened.
• Long Tian marked the cutoff point and the clamp's directions on the silk map, including how to restore the flow.
• The man at the stern steered the boat back to Longfish Bay, and Long Tian and Yu Jin headed toward the stone house.

Shen Mo told Long Tian that a patrol investigating towns north of Soul Hunting Town had found Zhao Xiaopang’s academy alias on a list connected to Shrek Academy. Long Tian and Yu Jin set out for Bluestone Town to warn Zhao Xiaopang and Mr. Wang before the patrol could return.

• Shen Mo showed Long Tian Tang San’s report that the patrol had found Zhao Xiaopang’s alias among incomplete student records.
• Shen Mo explained that Tang San suspected the patrol was investigating people connected to Shrek Academy under the pretext of coastal defense.
• Long Tian decided to return to Bluestone Town and warn Zhao Xiaopang and Mr. Wang to prepare for the patrol’s return.
• Yu Jin joined Long Tian, and they traveled toward Bluestone Town through the night.

Long Tian and Yu Jin returned to Bluestone Town and learned that the inspection team had obtained a list of aliases tied to the academy. Mr. Wang sent Long Tian to secure an index of old Spirit Hall Branch records before the inspectors could use it to trace those on the list.

• Long Tian and Yu Jin met Zhao Xiaopang at the academy, where he showed them Mr. Wang’s list of aliases and explained that the inspection team had found several names through another source.
• Long Tian asked Zhao Xiaopang where Mr. Wang was and went upstairs to speak with him.
• Mr. Wang gave Long Tian an address and asked him to obtain copies of the academy-related pages from a retired Spirit Hall Branch archivist’s index and temporarily move the original.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin left for the north of town, and Zhao Xiaopang brought them food and promised to watch things with Mr. Wang.

Long Tian and Yu Jin found the old Spirit Hall Branch index and copied academy-related registration entries, including a note locating the original files in the Spirit City storehouse. Long Tian passed the copies to Zhao Xiaopang for Mr. Wang and realized the files were stored in the same area as a hidden compartment Shen Mo had mentioned.

• Long Tian and Yu Jin met the warehouse keeper, who showed them the index of old Soul Master registration records after Long Tian gave his father's name.
• The warehouse keeper helped Long Tian locate and copy the academy-related index entries, including the original files' location: area Wu, shelf seven, box three.
• The keeper told Long Tian that his father had once sought an old file while serving in the Seventh Squad and had not returned after something happened to the squad.
• Long Tian gave Mr. Wang's letter to the keeper and left with Yu Jin, carrying the copied pages.
• Long Tian handed the copies to Zhao Xiaopang to deliver to Mr. Wang and asked him to check whether a patrol team had taken the original files.
• Long Tian realized the files' location matched the area of the hidden compartment Shen Mo had mentioned.

Long Tian traveled to Spirit City with Yu Jin to intercept the patrol team's list of aliases connected to Shrek before it entered the Elder Hall archives. Tang San told them the list would be reviewed the next morning before being filed in the Wu section.

• Shen Mo told Long Tian that the patrol team was returning to Spirit City with a list of aliases connected to Shrek, prompting Long Tian to plan an interception.
• Long Tian, Yu Jin, and Shen Mo arranged a carriage and horses so Long Tian and Yu Jin could reach Spirit City ahead of the patrol team.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin traveled by carriage through the night and arrived in Spirit City on the second evening.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin met Tang San near the Elder Hall, where Tang San reported that the list would be reviewed the next morning before being filed in the Wu section of the archives.

Long Tian infiltrated the Elder Hall and stole the inspection team’s north route list, confirming Zhao Xiaopang’s alias was on it. Tang San took the list and said he would alter the Wu District archives, leaving the inspection team with no reason to pursue Zhao Xiaopang’s alias.

• Tang San sketched the Elder Hall’s layout and explained the guards, locks, and Soul Power detection array to Long Tian and Yu Jin.
• Long Tian waited for the guards to change shifts, used Tang San’s access token to enter through the side door, and evaded the corridor patrol.
• Long Tian picked the filing cabinet’s lock, took the north route list, confirmed Zhao Xiaopang’s alias, and returned the list to Tang San.
• Tang San said he would replace the relevant Wu District registration materials and confirmed Zhao Xiaopang’s alias had been crossed off the list.
• Long Tian and Yu Jin returned to the old residence, where Long Tian sat by the well beneath the pomegranate tree before going inside.