Recaps

After watching Yan Kai’s Spring Festival Gala performance, Si Ming and the others realized that the Painting King was using his sword technique to seek a successor, though Hongdou declined to learn from him. After the group welcomed the New Year, Yao Bilian sneaked into Si Ming’s room and propositioned him, but he tried to throw her out.

• Si Ming and the others watched Yan Kai paint a twenty-meter carp-leaping-over-the-Dragon-Gate scene with two brushes and recognized that his performance concealed a sword technique.
• Murong Qing explained that Yan Kai was seeking a successor, while Hongdou said she had learned something but would not take him as her master.
• Yan Kai completed the painting with a final burst of ink, appearing weary but hopeful as the performance ended.
• After the gala, Si Ming watched the New Year fireworks and resolved to work harder in the coming year.
• Yao Bilian climbed into Si Ming’s room and propositioned him, but Si Ming dodged her and threatened to kick her out.

Yao Bilian told Si Ming she had once planned to raise him as a potential partner and explained how Yan Jinghong had taken him away from that plan. She then tried to seduce Si Ming, revealing how carefully she had arranged the night, and began a provocative dance when her first attempt failed.

• Yao Bilian admitted she had applied to direct the orphanage partly to find a handsome, accepting man who could protect her, and that she had once considered Si Ming a candidate.
• Yao Bilian explained that Yan Jinghong had recognized Si Ming's talent and taken him as a disciple, disrupting her plans.
• Yao Bilian said she had intended to approach Si Ming after he slept with Liu Qingqing and Yu Shuying, but decided to act sooner because Yu Shuying was absent and Liu Qingqing was busy.
• Yao Bilian tried to seduce Si Ming, and he accused her of helping Hongdou partly to make him more receptive to a third partner.
• Yao Bilian changed into a masked outfit after revealing she had put sleep medicine in the juice, then began dancing for Si Ming.

After spending the night with Yao Bilian, Si Ming discussed their relationship with her and agreed they did not need to define it. The next morning, he learned Ying Zhou had gone to the cemetery and suggested that he and Murong Qing visit a grave as well.

• Si Ming questioned his night with Yao Bilian, who said they could enjoy each other without making promises or separating affection from love.
• Yao Bilian admitted she found Si Ming hard to resist and urged him to continue their encounter before Murong Qing and the others woke.
• Si Ming went downstairs for breakfast and felt guilty when he met Murong Qing, who made no mention of what had happened.
• Murong Wu told Si Ming that Ying Zhou had gone to the cemetery, though she did not know whose grave he was visiting.
• Si Ming suggested that he and Murong Qing sweep a tomb after breakfast, and she agreed.

Ying Zhou and Xia Guanxue fought at a cemetery while visiting the graves, but Si Ming and Murong Wu stopped them before they could decide a winner. After the group finished tending the graves, Si Ming invited Xia Guanxue to a future class reunion, but Xia Guanxue said they belonged to different worlds.

• Ying Zhou and Xia Guanxue argued over who had cared for Ying Zhou’s father’s grave and attacked each other with a broom and a branch.
• Ying Zhou and Xia Guanxue exchanged a hundred moves, using powerful techniques and carefully directing their force away from the tombstones.
• Si Ming broke up their clash with a burst of fist force, and Murong Wu treated their injuries and ordered them to stop quarreling.
• Ying Zhou gave up burning paper money and followed the others in cleaning the tombstones.
• Si Ming asked Xia Guanxue about missing the class reunion and invited him to the next one, but Xia Guanxue declined because he felt they belonged to different worlds.

Si Ming questioned Xia Guanxue about the demon tide tragedy and learned that the Realm of Eternal Sinking had been damaged, likely by someone powerful inside the Mohist School. After they discussed possible culprits, Xia Guanxue asked Si Ming to spar with him.

• Si Ming invited Xia Guanxue to the orphanage, while Murong Wu repeatedly stopped Ying Zhou from objecting.
• Si Ming arranged to speak with Xia Guanxue alone and asked whether he had uncovered the truth about the demon tide tragedy.
• Xia Guanxue said the Realm of Eternal Sinking sealed demonic beasts and that the culprit who damaged it was likely a high-ranking Mohist with at least Spirit Transformation strength.
• Si Ming showed Xia Guanxue the Dragon Scale Sword and revealed that he had joined Heaven's Will Palace, gaining access to the confidential investigation.
• Si Ming and Xia Guanxue considered whether a disguised demon could have infiltrated the Mohist School, but neither had a clear answer.
• Murong Qing announced that lunch was ready, and Xia Guanxue asked Si Ming to spar with him.

Xia Guanxue sparred with Murong Qing to understand Spirit Transformation, and she explained its precise control of Qi and other abilities. At dinner, Yao Bilian teased Ying Zhou about a letter from Lü Mo, prompting Xia Guanxue to stare at him.

• Xia Guanxue and Murong Qing sparred, and Murong Qing repeatedly gained the advantage with more precise control of her sword and Qi.
• Xia Guanxue explained that Spirit Transformation Grandmasters conserved True Qi through exact control, while Murong Qing described its uses in cultivation, memory, and teaching.
• Murong Qing told Si Ming that Spirit Transformation was a sublimation of life, not primarily a way to increase combat strength.
• Si Ming invited Xia Guanxue to stay for a meal, and Murong Wu brought Ying Zhou downstairs to join them.
• Yao Bilian teased Ying Zhou about a letter from Lü Mo in Germany, and Xia Guanxue stared at him.

Ying Zhou and Xia Guanxue argued over Ying Zhou visiting Xia Guanxue’s sister’s grave, while Murong Qing restored order at dinner. Afterward, Xia Guanxue told Si Ming that the Ji Lineage planned to target someone close to Liu Qingqing, likely her mother, instead of Liu Qingqing herself.

• Ying Zhou denied being nervous about receiving a New Year’s card from a pen pal.
• Xia Guanxue told Ying Zhou to stop visiting his sister’s grave, and the two argued until Murong Qing ordered them to eat quietly.
• Murong Wu explained that Xia Guanxue had spoken for Ying Zhou’s own good, hoping he would not remain tied to Xia Guanxue’s sister.
• Si Ming found Xia Guanxue at the sink, and Xia Guanxue thanked him for inviting him to dinner and shared a memory of eating with his sister.
• Xia Guanxue warned Si Ming that the Ji Lineage had failed to target Liu Qingqing and now planned to target someone close to her, likely her mother and her entertainment company.

Si Ming resumed his campaign to clear Xing Daozhuang’s name, earning the Thunder King’s thanks, while Germany barred him from a Grandmaster Trial mission. Ji Shichen then offered him a chance to join a covert operation against a Remote Heaven Society stronghold, leaving Si Ming wary of the team leader, Chen Xiangduan.

• Si Ming invoked Murong Qing’s reputation to deter the Ji family, then set aside his stalled effort to reach Spirit Transformation and resumed supporting Xing Daozhuang in the court of public opinion.
• After Si Ming helped rally public support for Xing Daozhuang, Ji Shichen gave him the Thunder King’s thank-you letter and news that Germany had refused him entry.
• Ji Shichen explained that Germany’s refusal canceled Si Ming’s planned search for a Divine Pillar, so he would not need to undertake another Grandmaster Trial for some time.
• Ji Shichen offered Si Ming an optional mission to destroy a Remote Heaven Society stronghold, whose danger-sensing expert made a direct assault impractical.
• Ji Shichen said Liu Qingqing and Lin Qingxiang would use their concealment skills alongside Si Ming, under Chen Xiangduan’s leadership, and Si Ming questioned whether Chen could be trusted.

Liu Qingqing defeated Lin Qingxiang in a spar after unleashing the power of the Myriad Filth Tainted Blood, and Ji Shichen explained the treasure’s benefits and risks. He then sent the siblings on a mission that would count toward Liu Qingqing’s assessment to become Holy Maiden, prompting Si Ming to wonder why the position was being assessed while its current holder was still alive.

• Si Ming followed Ji Shichen to the training grounds, where Liu Qingqing and Lin Qingxiang sparred in the rain.
• Liu Qingqing used the Myriad Filth Tainted Blood to boost her abilities and defeat Lin Qingxiang, who stopped short of using a lethal technique.
• Ji Shichen explained that the treasure absorbed negative emotions and warned that they could rebound if Liu Qingqing lost it.
• Ji Shichen told Liu Qingqing and Lin Qingxiang to prepare for a mission with Commander Chen, which would count toward Liu Qingqing’s Holy Maiden assessment.
• Si Ming questioned why the Mohist Religion needed a Holy Maiden trial and wondered how old its current Holy Maiden was.

Si Ming and his companions discussed Liu Qingqing’s dangerous mission and her resolve to pursue it before arriving at the station to meet Chen Xiangduan. Si Ming mistook a water-chestnut seller for Chen, and the old man took him hostage when railway police approached.

• Ji Shichen explained that Saintesses often died in their sixties, though none had agreed to investigate the cause.
• Lin Qingxiang urged Liu Qingqing to abandon her mission, but she insisted on following her own path.
• Lin Qingxiang asked Si Ming to protect Liu Qingqing, and Si Ming accepted the responsibility.
• At the station, Si Ming guessed that a water-chestnut seller was Chen Xiangduan and tried to engage him.
• The seller realized railway police had exposed him, seized Si Ming, and threatened to slit his throat if anyone came closer.

Si Ming was mistaken for a hostage during a railway-station arrest, then joined Chen Xiangduan’s covert mission to capture Mi Haichao, a charitable Spirit Transformation Grandmaster suspected of belonging to the Remote Heaven Society. After Mi Haichao was found missing from his home, a signal from Chen Xiangduan’s hidden subordinates revealed where he had fled.

• Geng Guang tried to escape with Si Ming as a hostage, but Liu Qingqing struck him down after Si Ming called for her to act.
• Chen Xiangduan reprimanded Si Ming and explained that their target was Mi Haichao, a respected philanthropist and suspected Remote Heaven Society member.
• Chen Xiangduan, Si Ming, Lin Qingxiang, and Liu Qingqing went to Mi Haichao’s villa, where Chen Xiangduan wounded two guards who tried to stop them.
• The group searched the house but found Mi Haichao gone, and the guards refused to reveal where he had gone.
• A firework signal appeared over a distant hill, and Chen Xiangduan led the group in pursuit of Mi Haichao.

Si Ming and his companions pursued Mi Haichao through the forest while Chen Xiangduan and Si Ming kept the ambushers from interfering. Their chase was part of a larger plan, but an unexpected Sword Qi strike and explosion interrupted it just as Chen Xiangduan moved to capture Mi Haichao, leaving Fuzang and his allies at the blast site.

• Chen Xiangduan drove back Mi Haichao’s supporters with his Mystic Void Divine Needle, killing or injuring those who blocked the pursuit.
• Si Ming warned the ambushers that Mi Haichao was suspected of colluding with the Heaven-Defying Society to bring demon beasts into Su State, and they stopped interfering.
• Chen Xiangduan told Si Ming to slow the pursuit so Mi Haichao would believe they were closing in without suspicion.
• As Chen Xiangduan tried to ensnare Mi Haichao with needle force, a burst of Sword Qi cut off his attack and a talisman-triggered explosion shook the area.
• The Seal Talisman Master said the blast could injure a Spirit Transformation Grandmaster and urged his companions to leave, but Fuzang told them they could not go yet.

Lin Qingxiang and Lin Qingtong fought a fierce duel, with each unleashing powerful sword techniques and neither holding back. Lin Qingtong broke Lin Qingxiang’s sword and badly wounded him, but his residual lightning paralyzed her and engulfed her in a swarm of thunder moths; she remained standing afterward.

• Lin Qingxiang attacked Lin Qingtong with the Xiaolian Sword, while she defended herself with her alloy greatsword and mocked his lack of killing intent.
• Lin Qingxiang accused Lin Qingtong of betraying their master and stealing their sect’s martial arts, and she admitted she used whatever techniques were useful.
• Lin Qingxiang unleashed Frenzied Moth Thunder Assault, and Lin Qingtong countered with Cloud Peng Rends the Sky, shattering his thunder dragon and breaking the tip of his sword.
• Lin Qingtong’s strike sent Lin Qingxiang flying, leaving him severely wounded with a broken hand.
• Residual lightning paralyzed Lin Qingtong, and Lin Qingxiang’s thunder moths engulfed her in white-hot lightning.
• Lin Qingtong fell forward but caught herself and slowly stood back up.

Lin Qingtong defeated Lin Qingxiang and defended her choice to abandon humanity for power, while Liu Qingqing challenged her to prove that choice wrong in a one-on-one duel. After Liu Qingqing deliberately wounded her right eye to match Lin Qingtong’s injury, the sisters launched their attacks, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Lin Qingtong explained that she had abandoned her human body to grow stronger and prepared to kill the defeated Lin Qingxiang.
• Liu Qingqing stopped Lin Qingtong and argued that humanity and benevolence could make someone stronger, then challenged her to a duel.
• Lin Qingxiang offered to join Liu Qingqing, but she insisted on fighting Lin Qingtong alone, and he stepped aside in trust.
• Lin Qingtong gathered fierce winds around her heavy sword, while Liu Qingqing cut her own right eye to make their injuries equal.
• Lin Qingtong unleashed a storm with her heavy sword as Liu Qingqing fired Supreme White Arrow, Fierce Breaking Kill through the wind and dust.

Liu Qingqing unleashed the power of the Myriad Filth Tainted Blood against Lin Qingtong, who answered with her metal body’s strength and regeneration. After blocking Lin Qingtong’s seven sword strikes, Liu Qingqing formed a great hammer from the blood and brought it down toward her.

• Liu Qingqing used the Myriad Filth Tainted Blood to fire a stone pillar arrow, which Lin Qingtong shattered with her greatsword.
• Liu Qingqing fired a flaming arrow, and Lin Qingtong survived the blast by using Peng's Heavenly Whirl before launching a surprise attack from above.
• Lin Qingtong struck Liu Qingqing’s blood-wing shield and was thrown backward, while Liu Qingqing followed with a rain of arrows that Lin Qingtong endured through her regeneration.
• Lin Qingtong surrounded Liu Qingqing with seven sword strikes, but Liu Qingqing formed blood fists that blocked each blow.
• Liu Qingqing reshaped the blood fists into a great hammer and swung it toward Lin Qingtong.

Liu Qingqing defeated Lin Qingtong in a fierce duel, leaving her sister to accept the loss after regaining consciousness. Si Ming used the Great Yin-Yang Heaven-Severing Hand to disrupt Fuzang and Diwen’s coordinated arts, but the Seal Talisman Master intervened as the fight continued.

• Liu Qingqing struck Lin Qingtong with Mercury Arrow: Sea-Overturning Bitter Chill, freezing the battlefield and leaving Lin Qingtong badly injured.
• Lin Qingtong unleashed Peng Wings Soar and Cover the Firmament, but Liu Qingqing countered with Five Elements Unite as One, Heaven-Cleaving Without Dao and shattered her sword.
• Lin Qingtong regained consciousness, saw Liu Qingqing’s wounded eye bleeding, and admitted that she had lost.
• Si Ming separated Fuzang and Diwen’s Buddhist and demonic powers with the Great Yin-Yang Heaven-Severing Hand, disrupting their coordination.
• The Seal Talisman Master attacked Si Ming with a demonic dragon talisman, then used six blood-stained talismans to begin One Qi Encompasses Heaven and Earth, Miluo Swallows the Jade Emperor.

Si Ming fought off three Spirit Transformation experts, surviving their combined techniques before they fled. He returned to find the capture operation complete, with Mi Haichao and other Remote Heaven Society members taken into custody.

• Si Ming broke the Seal Talisman Master's attack, but Fuzang and Diwen combined the Nirvana Tranquility Seal with the Netherworld-Penetrating Saber to catch him off guard.
• Si Ming stopped the saber, turned its power back on Fuzang and Diwen, and injured them before Fuzang pulled him into an illusion; Si Ming shattered it with Thunderous Lightning Hell.
• The Seal Talisman Master carried Fuzang and Diwen away on immortal cranes, and Si Ming chose not to pursue them, then returned to the battlefield.
• Ling Huanxi used a prepared formation and a traitor's help to defeat Mi Haichao, while Chen Xiangduan captured Ji Xun.
• Liu Qingqing handed Lin Qingtong to Chen Xiangduan and asked him not to torture her; Chen Xiangduan promised they would not use torture to extract information.

Lin Qingtong revealed what she knew about the Heaven-Defying Society and its Divine Soul Tree Seeds, but her testimony offered little direct intelligence. Si Ming learned that the seeds might have killed Mi Haichao and that Wei Chunxi had been left in a vegetative state, making the society even harder to investigate.

• Lin Qingtong cooperated with Chen Xiangduan's interrogation and explained that the Heaven-Defying Society used Divine Soul Tree Seeds to gather members in the Tree Spirit Realm.
• Lin Qingtong said Fushi Qingcang led the society, while Nether Lord distributed seeds and knew its members; she had joined for power and knew little of its goals.
• Si Ming read Lin Qingtong's testimony and noted that the Tree of Souls could connect consciousnesses, though the society's secrecy made it difficult to trace.
• Chen Xiangduan told Si Ming that Ji Xun was only a temporary worker and that Mi Haichao had died after being thawed, possibly because of his Divine Soul Tree Seed.
• Chen Xiangduan revealed that Wei Chunxi was alive but in a vegetative state after Fushi Qingcang acted against him, and that the Remote Heaven Society's remote killing made future investigations harder.

Si Ming persuaded Heaven’s Will Palace to use public propaganda about the Divine Soul Tree Seed to sow distrust within the Heaven-Defying Society and deter new recruits. After the investigation stalled, he returned to school and learned that the Second Martial Arts Club had secured university backing after its championship success.

• Si Ming proposed publicizing the Divine Soul Tree Seed and the chairman’s power to kill Society members, and Chen Xiangduan recognized that the revelation could turn members against their leader.
• Ji Shichen and Ling Huanxi supported Si Ming’s propaganda plan, and Chen Xiangduan approved it.
• With the Heaven-Defying Society investigation temporarily stalled, Si Ming returned to school for the new semester.
• Murong Qing told Si Ming that the Second Martial Arts Club had won the district championship, helped by its stronger members, including Chen Shimi.
• Murong Qing explained that the university had backed Senior Sister Ke’s authority over the club and punished a director who had tried to interfere.

Si Ming and Murong Qing discussed whether he should compete in the Youth Martial Dao League, then suspected a magazine was deliberately setting up Spirit Transformation competitor Wei Mengchen for public backlash. After returning to class, Si Ming struggled to follow his rune studies and wondered whether he could still become a master of array arts.

• Si Ming agreed that he, Liu Qingqing, and Hongdou could compete for the Second Martial Arts Club, while Murong Qing urged him to stay out because his competitions often ended in disaster.
• Liu Qingqing showed them an article about Wei Mengchen, a newly risen Spirit Transformation Grandmaster entering the Martial Dao League, and Si Ming and Murong Qing suspected the magazine was trying to make him a target.
• Si Ming returned to class, where Hao Shuai guessed that he had been the masked fighter Mad Ink on the Northern Continent and promised to keep his identity secret.
• Si Ming greeted his classmates after a long absence, and they teased him about taking two semesters off.
• Si Ming found himself unable to understand the lectures on ancient scripts, divine talismans, and demon patterns, though he admired the beauty of a completed Divine Arts Array.

A Divine Arts Arrays lesson left Si Ming reflecting on how his path might have differed, while he teased Hao Shuai about his girlfriend and his ideas about romance. Hao Shuai ended the conversation by admitting he had imagined dressing as a woman.

• The lecturer demonstrated the Sleep Butterfly Art and explained how Divine Arts Arrays borrowed divine power in exchange for sacrifices.
• The lecturer described Witchcraft Arrays and Demon Arts Arrays, assigned divine runes for the semester, and dismissed the class.
• Si Ming told Hao Shuai that the lesson made him feel out of place and wondered how his life might have gone if he had studied divine runes.
• Hao Shuai showed Si Ming a photo of his girlfriend, Xiuxiu, and described the ways he cared for her and his plans for her birthday.
• Si Ming advised Hao Shuai to let Xiuxiu contribute to their relationship, but Hao Shuai defended his romantic philosophy using ideas from the magazine Beauty.
• Si Ming teased Hao Shuai about dressing as a woman, and Hao Shuai admitted he had imagined it.

Si Ming reunited with Murong Qing and Hongdou before visiting the expanded Second Martial Arts Club. He intervened when a student challenged the authority of the Si Clan judges, then asked them how they had become judges.

• Hongdou rushed into Si Ming's arms, and Murong Qing and Hongdou each claimed one of his arms as Hao Shuai watched in surprise.
• Hao Shuai explained that the Second Martial Arts Club had taken over some of the First Martial Arts Club's grounds while keeping the rival club in existence.
• Si Ming saw Si Jingyu, Si Huaruo, and Si Shuiyun judging students' sparring matches and assigning them tokens.
• When a student protested his C token and insulted the exchange students, Si Shuiyun demonstrated his skill gap by defeating him.
• Si Ming accused the student of jeopardizing relations between Su State and the Nation of Beauty, tossed him out of the hall, and asked the judges how they had gotten the job.

Si Ming joined Si Jingyu and Si Huaruo in assessing newcomers and main-roster candidates for the Second Martial Arts Club. He replaced their slow pairwise tests with a group challenge, leaving the successful students to return for a Grade A assessment the next day.

• Si Jingyu revealed that she had advanced to Spirit Transformation, and Si Huaruo explained that they were evaluating club members to avoid accusations of favoritism.
• Si Ming proposed handing out numbered tickets, but Si Jingyu explained how students could use them to cheat and then enlisted him to help finish the assessments.
• Si Ming told the waiting students to form five rows and explained that anyone who stood firm against his attack would receive a Grade B token, while those pushed back would get Grade C tokens.
• Si Ming unleashed a separate stream of Blazing Sun Blade Qi at each student, sending many flying and forcing most of the rest backward.
• Si Ming directed the students to collect their tokens and said the Grade B recipients would be tested again for Grade A tokens the next day.

Si Jingyu and Si Ming considered whether weakening the Eternal Barrier made Spirit Transformation easier and could encourage people to sever Divine Pillars. They realized the Heaven-Defying Society might publicize the method, leaving the group to debate how to warn the public without damaging the Mohist School’s credibility.

• Si Ming asked whether Si Jingyu’s breakthrough to Spirit Transformation was connected to the severing of Li State’s Divine Pillar, and she said the cause remained uncertain.
• Si Jingyu proposed that Si Huaruo test whether the weakened Eternal Barrier made Spirit Transformation easier, while suggesting Si Shuiyun could try if Huaruo failed.
• Si Jingyu reasoned that the founder of the Remote Heaven Society had to be a Peak Spirit Transformation expert or a Void Returning Great Grandmaster.
• Murong Qing and Si Huaruo argued that few martial artists would risk joining the Heaven-Defying Society for a chance to advance, but Si Jingyu warned that others could form their own groups to sever Divine Pillars.
• Si Jingyu suggested the Heaven-Defying Society might make its method public, and Si Ming proposed using newspapers to warn people of dire consequences.
• Murong Qing objected that they did not know the consequences and that lying could damage the Mohist School’s credibility.

Si Ming persuaded Murong Qing to use speculative reporting and cautionary stories to warn the public about the Divine Pillar and the Heaven-Defying Society. After dinner, Si Huaruo asked Si Ming to go shopping with her, and she prepared for their outing the next morning while someone watched her from the shadows.

• Si Ming proposed publishing attributed speculation and cautionary stories about bargains with demon kings, and Murong Qing accepted that the approach could help warn the public.
• Si Ming and the others argued over sweet pork with red dates until the restaurant owner intervened, then settled their disagreement without fighting.
• After dinner, Si Huaruo returned to campus and asked Si Ming to go shopping with her the next day, and he agreed.
• Si Huaruo spent two hours getting ready for the outing and left her room feeling barely satisfied.