Recaps

At the start of winter, Wang Chen led Datian Village through its sacrifice and feast before an Evil Spirit killed four members of the Huang family. He gave the Guard Team Evil-Dispelling Talismans and began investigating the tragedy, which he suspected was connected to Master Huang.

• Wang Chen presided over the Day of Sacrifice, and the villagers honored him as their village chief while sharing sacrificial stew and wild boar meat.
• After heavy snow settled over Datian Village, Xiao Hong reported that four members of the Huang family had been found strangled, while Huang Ze was missing.
• Wang Chen concluded that an Evil Spirit had likely possessed Huang Ze and made him kill his family, then gave Xiao Hong Evil-Dispelling Talismans for the Guard Team.
• Xiao Hong told Wang Chen that Huang Ze had once worked for Huang Deqi, and Wang Chen suspected the connection had brought the calamity.
• Wang Chen used Rebirth Talismans and Exorcism Talismans to send the victims' souls on their way, then decided to handle the matter himself.

After finding Huang Ze possessed by an Evil Spirit and consuming human remains, Wang Chen destroyed it with the Evil-Exorcising Net. Suspecting more Evil Spirits were hiding in Datian Village, he ordered the villagers indoors and began searching the village with his Divine Sense.

• After hearing a warning whistle, Wang Chen flew to a hill and found Huang Ze eating human remains in a graveyard.
• Huang Ze attacked Wang Chen with blood mosquitoes and tried to ambush him from underground, but Wang Chen blasted him out with the Vajra Fist.
• Wang Chen trapped Huang Ze in the Evil-Exorcising Net, which drained the Evil Spirit until it turned to ashes.
• Wang Chen told Xiao Hong to warn the village and ordered the Guard Team to keep all villagers indoors.
• After the village had been cleared of people, Wang Chen hovered above the Village Chief's residence and searched Datian Village with his Divine Sense.

Wang Chen discovered and cleansed households tainted by evil power in Datian Village, then learned its Exorcism Drum had been taken by Huang Deqi. He arranged for the village to sell a shop registered under the Huang clan’s name and use the proceeds to buy a replacement drum.

• Wang Chen used his Divine Sense and Cave Truth Technique to find signs of evil in more than a dozen households in Datian Village.
• Wang Chen expelled evil power from an elderly woman with an Exorcism Talisman and cleansed the other affected households.
• Wang Chen summoned the elders of the three clans and asked whether the village had an Evil-Warding artifact.
• The elders told Wang Chen that Huang Deqi had kept the village’s Exorcism Drum and that it had disappeared after his arrest.
• An elder revealed that Huang Deqi had a shop in Wancheng City registered under the Huang clan’s name.
• Wang Chen ordered the elders to sell the shop and use the proceeds to buy an Exorcism Drum, and the Huang clan elder reluctantly agreed.

Wang Chen cultivated the Innate Five Elements Technique and presided over the consecration of Datian Village’s new Exorcism Drum, earning the villagers’ gratitude and trust. As the village celebrated his leadership, Wang Chen sensed that his time there was nearly over and that he would soon leave.

• Wang Chen gained a point of experience after condensing a thread of Innate Five Elements True Qi, bringing his technique to 27/100.
• Xiao He told Wang Chen that the three elders had returned with a superior-grade Exorcism Drum.
• The villagers gathered at Houtu Temple as eight men carried the heavy drum from the village entrance.
• Wang Chen infused the Exorcism Drum with Innate Five Elements True Qi and struck it, dispersing gray smoke and cleansing Datian Village.
• The villagers cheered and regarded Wang Chen with gratitude and reverence, while he sensed that he would soon leave the village.

On New Year's Eve, Luo Zhen visited Wang Chen to confirm that the West Sea Sect had accepted his merits and granted him Inner Sect Disciple status. Wang Chen received his identity token and agreed to help Luo Zhen with a favor in the future before Luo Zhen departed.

• Wang Chen welcomed Luo Zhen to the Village Chief's residence and shared the New Year's Eve dinner and spirit wine with him.
• Luo Zhen told Wang Chen that his merits had passed review and that the sect had granted him the reward of an Inner Sect Disciple.
• Luo Zhen gave Wang Chen a West Sea Sect identity token and warned him that his life was tied to the token.
• Wang Chen offered Luo Zhen one hundred thousand Spirit Stones, but Luo Zhen returned them and asked him to help with an unspecified favor later.
• Luo Zhen bid Wang Chen farewell, saying they would meet again if fate permitted.

After Wang Chen’s admission to the West Sea Immortal Sect became known, local powers in Wancheng City brought him lavish gifts to secure his help and build ties. He accepted them as he prepared to leave Datian Village for the Central Region the next day.

• Song Wude arrived on behalf of Song Yuanshan and presented Wang Chen with eight chests of gifts worth over one hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
• Wang Chen read Song Yuanshan’s letter asking him to buy cultivation resources and exchange information, then accepted the gifts as payment.
• Fang Xiaoyue arrived on behalf of County Deputy Fang Hantao with another eight chests, and Wang Chen accepted them despite the rivalry between Fang Xiaoyue and Song Wude.
• More local powers came with gifts, and Wang Chen accepted them while resolving to repay them when possible.
• By the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, Wang Chen had only one day left before leaving Datian Village for the Central Region.

After receiving lavish gifts, Wang Chen appointed Xiao Hong as Datian Village’s new chief and entrusted him with the village’s systems and Xiao He’s care. He said farewell to the villagers and flew toward Wancheng City, while they later raised a stele in his honor.

• Wang Chen arranged for Fang Hantao to appoint Xiao Hong as Datian Village’s new chief, trusting him to preserve the changes Wang Chen had introduced.
• Wang Chen gave Xiao Hong cultivation supplies and asked him to look after Xiao He, then reassured Xiao He and left her with a Storage Bag.
• The villagers gathered outside the village chief’s residence, and Wang Chen drank their Hundred Family Wine before bidding them farewell.
• Wang Chen flew toward Wancheng City, and the villagers later pooled their funds to erect a stone stele commemorating his service.

Wang Chen arrived in Lotus City to report to the West Sea Sect’s Southern Domain Palace before traveling to the Inner Mountain Gate. He hired Little Gui Zi to find an affordable inn and saw how many Purple Mansion cultivators filled the city.

• Wang Chen’s Flying Ship reached Lotus City, and he prepared to report to the Southern Domain Palace and establish his immortal registry.
• Little Gui Zi offered to guide Wang Chen around Lotus City for thirty Spirit Stones a day and explained how he could help him avoid overpriced lodging and fake lake fish.
• Wang Chen hired Little Gui Zi for one day and agreed to pay five additional Spirit Stones for a carriage ride.
• Little Gui Zi brought Wang Chen through Lotus City, where he noticed numerous Purple Mansion cultivators, and the carriage stopped outside Lichun Courtyard.

Wang Chen stayed at Lichun Courtyard after Little Gui Zi offered him a first-visit discount, and spent the evening listening to Xiao Lian sing without asking to see her face. Xiao Lian was left staring at the spirit stones he gave her, while Wang Chen went to his guest room.

• Little Gui Zi explained that Wang Chen could stay three days for free if he paid to hear a girl sing, and Wang Chen agreed to spend one night at Lichun Courtyard.
• Little Gui Zi arranged for Xiao Lian to sing for Wang Chen and pocketed the spirit stones Wang Chen gave him.
• Xiao Lian sang Drunken Falling Flowers, and Wang Chen praised her performance and asked her to continue without removing the screen.
• Wang Chen paid Xiao Lian for the rest of the night and asked Little Gui Zi to take him to his guest room.
• After Wang Chen left, Xiao Lian emerged from behind the screen, revealing the ghost scar covering the left side of her face, and stared at the spirit stones.

Wang Chen registered as a member of the West Sea Sect at the Southern Domain Palace and met its Chief Elder, White Crane True Person, who questioned him about Luo Zhen. He learned the Teleportation Array would not open for ten days, then received a Crane Message just as he left the palace.

• Wang Chen entered the Southern Domain Palace and was led by Little Lotus Root to meet White Crane True Person.
• White Crane True Person served Wang Chen tea and asked about his journey across the Jade Dragon Mountain Range and about Luo Zhen.
• Wang Chen completed his registration at the Sect Affairs Hall and left a trace of his Divine Soul aura.
• A deacon told Wang Chen that the Teleportation Array would not open for another ten days, so he planned to stay in Lotus City.
• Wang Chen received a Crane Message as he left the palace gates.

Wang Chen attended the Red Sleeve Workshop Singer Gathering at Lichun Courtyard to hear Xiao Lian perform. After learning about her difficult past and Little Gui Zi’s devotion to her, he watched the gathering begin as singers took the stage.

• Little Gui Zi welcomed Wang Chen to a private room and explained that Xiao Lian was joining the Singer Gathering to sing for a kindred soul, not to win flower pins.
• Little Gui Zi told Wang Chen that he and Xiao Lian had grown up together and described how Xiao Lian’s birthmark had left her shunned despite her talent for music.
• Wang Chen used the Mystic Mirage Dragon Art to confirm Little Gui Zi was sincere, then considered cultivating the technique in Lotus City before deciding his ten-day departure for the West Sea Sect left too little time.
• Lichun Courtyard filled with guests, and an Illusion Array projected the performers above the stage.
• Two comic actors warmed up the crowd with amusing tales from Lotus City before the Singer Gathering officially began with singers performing one after another.

Wang Chen watched the Red Sleeve Workshop Singer Gathering at Lichun Courtyard as rival patrons battled over the leading singers, Xiao Qiao and Su Qing. Xiao Lian performed on the Jiaowei Qin, and Wang Chen decided to buy flower hairpins for her, leaving her performance underway.

• Guests at Lichun Courtyard threw flower hairpins to vote for the singers, with Xiao Qiao and Su Qing rising far above the rest.
• Little Gui Zi explained that Young Master Wang backed Su Qing while Fifth Young Master Wang supported Xiao Qiao to spite him.
• Young Master Wang and Fifth Young Master Wang traded insults, then stopped throwing hairpins, cooling the crowd and unsettling a singer onstage.
• Xiao Lian took the stage and impressed Wang Chen with her qin performance.
• Wang Chen gave Little Gui Zi Spirit Stones and told him to exchange them for flower hairpins for Xiao Lian.

Wang Chen backed Xiao Lian at the Singer Gathering, then confronted Lu Pengze after he mocked her scar. Wang Chen revealed that he was a West Sea Sect Inner Sect Disciple and threatened Lu Pengze with a fight to the death, leaving Lu scrambling to apologize.

• Wang Chen had Little Gui Zi cast flower pins for Xiao Lian, whose song had received no support from the audience.
• Lu Pengze mocked Xiao Lian’s ghost scar, and Wang Chen told him to leave if he found her disgusting.
• Lu Pengze challenged Wang Chen and taunted him as a low-status Exalted One, while Little Gui Zi urged Wang Chen to leave.
• Wang Chen revealed his West Sea Jade Inscription, identifying himself as a West Sea Sect Inner Sect Disciple.
• Wang Chen challenged Lu Pengze to a fight to the death, and Lu Pengze immediately tried to pass the insult off as a misunderstanding.

Wang Chen intervened to protect Xiao Lian from Lu Pengze’s insult, turning the Singer Gathering in her favor. He then secured Xiao Lian’s freedom and gave her the Courtesan Queen rewards, telling her to leave Lotus City with Little Gui Zi.

• Lu Pengze apologized to Wang Chen and promised him a banquet, then publicly apologized to Xiao Lian and slapped himself.
• Lu Pengze and the other guests showered Xiao Lian with hairpin flowers, making her the leading candidate for Courtesan Queen.
• Xiao Lian sang for Wang Chen as Lu Pengze quietly left, and Little Gui Zi kowtowed to Wang Chen in gratitude.
• Wang Chen summoned the head of Lichun Courtyard and Xiao Lian, burned Xiao Lian’s deed of sale, and accepted her Courtesan Queen rewards.
• Wang Chen gave the rewards to Xiao Lian and told her to leave Lotus City with Little Gui Zi.

Wang Chen gave Xiao Lian her Courtesan Queen prize and urged her and Little Gui Zi to leave Lotus City for their safety. After White Crane True Person summoned him, Wang Chen learned that the West Sea Sect would back him as an Inner Sect Disciple.

• Wang Chen returned the prize money to Xiao Lian and told her and Little Gui Zi to leave Lotus City before Lu Pengze’s allies could target them.
• Little Gui Zi understood Wang Chen’s plan to conceal the prize money’s true recipient and promised to take Xiao Lian away the next day.
• Lu Pengze endured a hundred strokes of family punishment, while his father decided to prepare a lavish gift and apologize to White Crane True Person.
• White Crane True Person summoned Wang Chen to the Southern Domain Palace and said he would not punish him for his actions at Lichun Courtyard.
• White Crane True Person told Wang Chen that West Sea Sect disciples could not be bullied, and Wang Chen realized he had a powerful backer.

Wang Chen asked White Crane True Person to cure Xiao Lian, settling the karmic bond between them, then waited in Lotus City for Southern Domain Palace’s Teleportation Array to open. After receiving an invitation to meet newly admitted West Sea Sect disciples from the Southern Region, he agreed to attend.

• White Crane True Person offered Wang Chen one request because of his karma with Yuan Shenkui, and Wang Chen asked him to treat Xiao Lian.
• White Crane True Person agreed to remove Xiao Lian’s ghostly birthmark for one hundred thousand spirit stones, and Wang Chen brought her and Little Gui Zi to the palace.
• White Crane True Person cured Xiao Lian, and she and Little Gui Zi thanked Wang Chen before leaving together.
• Wang Chen rented an underwater Cave Mansion in Lotus City and cultivated there for seven days.
• Wang Chen received Yang Kaifeng’s invitation to a gathering of newly admitted West Sea Sect disciples from the Southern Region and sent back his acceptance.

Wang Chen attended a gathering for newly inducted West Sea Sect disciples at Lotus Platform, where the other cultivators looked down on his humble background. As he enjoyed the feast, an arrogant young cultivator confronted him over a show of power at Lichun Courtyard.

• Wang Chen arrived at Lotus Platform and found the gathering filled with young Purple Mansion cultivators.
• Yang Kaifeng greeted Wang Chen, learned he came from Wancheng City, and seated him apart from the more prestigious circle.
• Wang Chen observed the gathering’s social divisions, then joined the others in a toast and sampled Lotus Platform’s immortal cuisine.
• An arrogant young cultivator confronted Wang Chen about his actions at Lichun Courtyard, drawing the attention of the room.

Wang Chen rebuffed Lu Pengfei’s challenge at Yang Kaifeng’s gathering by invoking Elder White Crane, then left without reconciling with Yang Kaifeng. Two days later, he joined a group of Purple Mansion cultivators at the Southern Domain Palace and was swept into a disorienting transport ritual as he prepared to leave Lotus City.

• Wang Chen exposed Lu Pengfei as an Outer Sect disciple and rebuked him for questioning an Inner Sect Disciple.
• Wang Chen invoked Elder White Crane, prompting Yang Kaifeng to make Lu Pengfei apologize and apologize himself.
• Wang Chen declined to hold a grudge but left the gathering, while Yang Kaifeng resumed the festivities.
• Wang Chen left Lotus Platform and walked through Lotus City before returning to the Southern Domain Palace two days later to depart.
• A palace cultivator gave the assembled Purple Mansion cultivators Pills to hold in their mouths, and a command sealed Wang Chen’s Mana and plunged him into chaos.

Wang Chen and the other newly admitted cultivators faced a newly imposed entrance trial at the West Sea Sect, where Zi Xiao True Person assigned each of them a task to complete within one month. Wang Chen drew a pursuit task targeting the Evil Cultivator Zhou Senzhi and was transported to Panshi to begin.

• Zi Xiao True Person announced that the new disciples had to pass an entrance trial or lose their sect status, and he struck down a cultivator who protested.
• Zi Xiao True Person presented separate task selections for Inner Sect and Outer Sect disciples and gave them one month to finish their chosen tasks.
• Wang Chen drew a task to capture or kill Zhou Senzhi, an Evil Cultivator recently spotted near Panshi, for a reward of Merit Points.
• Wang Chen considered how to find Zhou Senzhi without any local connections, then Zi Xiao True Person transported him to a bustling city street.

Wang Chen arrived in Myriad Spirit City for his West Sea Sect entry assessment and enlisted the help of Outer Sect disciple Zuo Xiaomo to learn about the region and track his target, Zhou Senzhi. After paying Dongming Residence for intelligence, Wang Chen left to pursue the Evil Cultivator.

• Wang Chen found himself in Myriad Spirit City and met Zuo Xiaomo, a West Sea Sect Outer Sect disciple who offered to show him around.
• Wang Chen told Zuo Xiaomo that he was a newly promoted Inner Sect Disciple on an entry assessment mission to find Zhou Senzhi.
• Zuo Xiaomo recommended that Wang Chen seek information from Dongming Residence, which specialized in intelligence and tracking.
• Zuo Xiaomo led Wang Chen to Dongming Residence and acted as his guarantor.
• Wang Chen paid one hundred thousand Spirit Stones for the latest intelligence related to Zhou Senzhi.

After receiving intelligence that the wanted Evil Cultivator Zhou Senzhi was likely hiding in Shangyang Village, Wang Chen disguised himself as a traveling merchant and set out to find him. He established a stall outside the village and watched the villagers while trading goods, leaving Zhou Senzhi’s whereabouts unconfirmed.

• Wang Chen paid Dongming Residence another fifty thousand Spirit Stones for information narrowing Zhou Senzhi’s likely location to Shangyang Village.
• Wang Chen traveled quickly from Myriad Spirit City and reached a plain near the village the following day.
• Wang Chen disguised himself as a traveling merchant and suppressed his cultivation before approaching Shangyang Village.
• Wang Chen set up a stall outside the village and attracted villagers with rice candy, goods, and talismans.
• Wang Chen traded with the villagers while using the Cave Truth Technique to observe his surroundings.

Wang Chen searched Shangyang Village for the Evil Cultivator Zhou Senzhi while posing as a traveling merchant, but his Cave Truth Technique revealed no trace of the target. After village toughs tried to rob him on his second visit, Wang Chen incapacitated and captured them before escaping.

• Wang Chen examined Shangyang Village's villagers with Cave Truth Technique but found no signs that they had contacted Zhou Senzhi.
• He traded goods, promised a child more Osmanthus Rice Candy, and left to visit nearby cities before returning four days later with villagers' commissioned items.
• Wang Chen again failed to detect anyone tainted by evil aura and considered secretly searching the village at night.
• After leaving the village, Wang Chen was surrounded by four local toughs who demanded fifty Spirit Stones as a toll.
• Wang Chen immobilized the four men, trapped them inside the Grand Mystic Mirage Dragon True Form Diagram, and escaped using Shrink Ground into Inch.

Wang Chen questioned four villagers, learned about two suspicious people in Shangyang Village, and disguised himself as the burly man to investigate Widow Sun. He knocked her unconscious after she panicked at his threat to have her home searched.

• Wang Chen released four villagers from the Grand Mystic Mirage Dragon True Form Diagram and interrogated them about Shangyang Village.
• The villagers identified Old Foreman and Widow Li as suspicious figures, though their reasons differed.
• Wang Chen sealed the villagers’ senses, took the burly man’s clothes, and transformed himself to look like him.
• Wang Chen returned to Shangyang Village in disguise and went to Widow Sun’s home.
• Widow Sun panicked when Wang Chen threatened to have her home searched, then pulled him inside.
• Wang Chen struck Widow Sun and knocked her unconscious.

Wang Chen captured and killed the Purple Mansion Evil Cultivator Zhou Senzhi in Shangyang Village, completing his mission. He returned to the West Sea Sect’s Inner Mountain Gate, where the Giant Turtle accepted his spirit fruits and agreed to let him enter.

• Wang Chen lured Zhou Senzhi out by pretending to be overcome with lust, then trapped him with the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil.
• Wang Chen recalled the net and killed Zhou Senzhi with a sword strike, collected his head as mission proof, and burned the corpse and Storage Bag.
• Wang Chen left the unconscious Widow Sun behind and flew back toward the West Sea Sect.
• Wang Chen reached the Inner Mountain Gate and asked the Giant Turtle guarding its entrance to let him pass.
• Wang Chen offered the Giant Turtle his stored spirit fruits, and it agreed to send him inside.

Wang Chen completed his assessment, entered the West Sea Sect as an Inner Sect Disciple, and learned that he had to earn Merit Points and join one of its nine branches to remain in the Inner Sect. Little Yi guided him toward West Sea Immortal City, where his new life in the sect would begin.

• Wang Chen presented Zhou Senzhi's head and his mission scroll to Zi Xiao True Person, who accepted him into the West Sea Sect.
• Wang Chen lit his Soul Lamp, heard the sect's Ten Precepts, and swore a Dao oath against betraying the sect.
• Wang Chen met the reception acolyte Yi Sixteen and asked what he should do after entering the Inner Sect.
• Yi Sixteen guided Wang Chen by immortal crane across the West Sea and explained the sect's islands, branches, and Inner Sect requirements.
• Wang Chen learned that he had to join one of the nine branches within three years and pay one Merit Point per day to stay in West Sea Immortal City.
• Yi Sixteen pointed out West Sea Immortal City ahead, and Wang Chen looked forward to arriving.