Recaps

On Zhou Yi's sixtieth birthday, Lao Bai told him the Boundless Sword Sect had been forced to disband and join the Brocade Guard, prompting Zhou Yi to consider quietly taking control of the organization. As martial-world prisoners filled the Heavenly Prison, Zhou Yi cultivated connections and observed the resentful few, while a hidden voice approached Yan Wu about revenge.

• Zhou Yi celebrated his birthday with Lao Bai, who said he had failed to save the Boundless Sword Sect from disbanding and joining the Brocade Guard.
• Zhou Yi judged the court's purge of the martial world as mixed in its effects and decided to patiently work toward gaining influence over the Brocade Guard.
• Zhou Yi observed the martial-world prisoners crowding the Heavenly Prison and identified the resentful ones as potential future pawns.
• Zhou Yi gave Yu Su pig trotters and heard that Yu Su expected to be reinstated at the Ministry of War.
• A shadow entered the Heavenly Prison at midnight and asked the sleeping Yan Wu whether he wanted revenge.

Zhou Yi recruited Yan Wu and Ye Xiong as Chess Pieces, offering them power in exchange for serving his long-term intelligence network. He reflected on the loneliness of immortality and resolved to avoid reckless risks and rely on time to overcome obstacles.

• Zhou Yi offered Yan Wu a place in the Brocade Guard and promised cultivation techniques in exchange for investigating strange people, objects, and places; he cleansed Yan Wu's marrow and named himself King Samsara.
• Yan Wu accepted Zhou Yi's terms, seeking revenge on the Black Riders for killing his family.
• Zhou Yi gave the injured Ye Xiong the Heaven Devouring Divine Art and directed him to test it on a cellmate whose acupoints had been sealed.
• Zhou Yi described recruiting and cultivating Chess Pieces in the Heavenly Prison to build a far-reaching intelligence network.
• Zhou Yi considered his greatest enemy to be enduring loneliness and slow cultivation, and resolved to stay cautious, avoid risking his life, and outlast his enemies.

Ten years later, Zhou Yi reviewed reports from his Chess Pieces and found several strange accounts that might point to cultivators, while Yuan Shun rose to become a Brocade Guard Commandant. At court, Emperor Jinglong revealed eight Martial Grandmasters and declared his advantage over the Zhang Family as he prepared for a palace coup.

• Zhou Yi reflected on the varied fates of his Chess Pieces, including Yan Wu’s death, Ye Xiong’s retirement from demon cultivation, and Zhu Yue’s failed attempt to expose King Samsara.
• Zhou Yi read Yuan Shun’s booklet of strange tales and noted Cloud Mountain and the river-demon account as possible leads, while deciding to avoid investigating immortals directly for now.
• Zhou Yi learned that Yuan Shun had been promoted to Brocade Guard Commandant after presenting Emperor Jinglong with a white deer.
• Yu Su warned Emperor Jinglong that regional military strongmen and court corruption required attention before the emperor moved against the Zhang Family.
• Emperor Jinglong revealed eight Martial Grandmasters and said his forces outnumbered the Zhang Family’s six.

Zhou Yi returned to Shenjing amid an Imperial Guard crackdown and learned from Yu Su that Emperor Jinglong’s palace coup had failed, leaving the Crown Prince to take the throne while Empress Zhang listened to affairs behind a curtain. Yu Su explained how Chancellor Zhang’s plans had led Jinglong into defeat, and the chapter ended with Zhou Yi realizing the officials had abandoned the emperor because the new ruler better served their interests.

• Zhou Yi returned to Shenjing with the white jade spirit turtle and found Imperial Guards inspecting boats, city gates, and streets.
• At the Heavenly Prison, Zhou Yi discovered Yu Su imprisoned again and brought him wine and Zhang's Pig Trotters.
• Yu Su told Zhou Yi that Emperor Jinglong would claim illness, retire to Shangyang Palace, and abdicate to the Crown Prince, while Empress Zhang would listen to affairs behind a curtain.
• Yu Su explained that Chancellor Zhang had given Jinglong flawed demonic martial arts and a governing memorial that encouraged him to rely on Innate Grandmasters, leading to the failed coup.
• Yu Su said Chancellor Zhang had expected the Zhang Family to lose power gradually, but Empress Zhang’s regency left the faction with rebellion as its only path.
• Zhou Yi realized that the officials had supported Emperor Jinglong only while he served their needs and now preferred the Crown Prince.

Zhou Yi met Yuan Shun outside Shenjing and learned that Yuan had failed to secure the Brocade Guard Vice Commissioner post to Chen Yang. Zhou Yi explained the court’s political motives and advised Yuan to yield for now, then Yuan offered secret tales about Emperor Chongming and legendary cultivators of the Path of Immortality.

• Zhou Yi waited until Yuan Shun left Shenjing before appearing in his carriage and confirming his identity with their passphrase.
• Yuan Shun told Zhou Yi that he had returned to compete for the vacant Vice Commissioner post but Chen Yang had won it.
• Zhou Yi explained that Emperor Zhengtong had supported Chen Yang to win over the Former Emperor’s old retainers and counter the Empress Dowager.
• Yuan Shun admitted he had hoped to kill Chen Yang to secure a faster promotion, and Zhou Yi told him to yield temporarily instead.
• Yuan Shun asked Zhou Yi for guidance and began sharing secret tales about Emperor Chongming and legendary cultivators.

Zhou Yi learned that Emperor Chongming had imprisoned an immortal cultivator beneath the Imperial Prison and resolved to wait until he had gained more control of the Brocade Guard before investigating. He also planned to use Chen Qing’s appointment as a palace consort to bring down Chen Yang and Marquis Chen, while Yu Su renewed his hopes of reforming the government.

• Zhou Yi pressured Yuan Shun into revealing his news and ordered him to arrange for Chen Qing to enter the palace as a consort, expecting her misconduct to implicate Chen Yang and Marquis Chen.
• Yuan Shun reported that Emperor Chongming had captured an immortal cultivator and that the prisoner was still being fed in an underground Imperial Prison cell.
• Zhou Yi praised Yuan Shun for the information, warned him not to conceal anything again, and left him to send a letter to Feng Zhong.
• Zhou Yi decided not to investigate the underground prison yet and instead planned to use the Brocade Guard to search for other immortal cultivators.
• Zhou Yi told Yu Su that Duke Cheng had received posthumous honors, and Yu Su vowed to make another attempt at reforming officialdom.

Zhou Yi raced back to Shenjing after learning that his old friend Lao Bai was dying, and arrived in time to speak with him. Lao Bai asked Zhou Yi to protect his youngest son's branch if political upheaval endangered the Bai family.

• Zhou Yi returned to Shenjing after hearing that the Thief Saint Lao Bai was gravely ill, having first investigated a Daoist's tomb on his journey.
• Zhou Yi reached the Bai Estate and found Lao Bai alive, then traded jokes with him before Lao Bai sent his children away.
• Zhou Yi told Lao Bai that the Former Emperor had died after a failed plot to poison the Empress Dowager and Emperor Zhengtong, which had led to Marquis Chen's downfall.
• Lao Bai explained that he expected the Empress Dowager's faction to face a future purge and asked Zhou Yi to help his youngest son's branch escape Shenjing if disaster struck.

After Lao Bai died, Zhou Yi promised to protect Bai Siyuan and reunited with Chen Jinyu and her son, learning of her plans for the northern frontier. He later studied the cultivation texts from the tomb and confirmed that he lacked spiritual roots, while struggling to understand the Array Dao Primer.

• Zhou Yi closed Lao Bai's eyes, arranged his funeral, and privately told Bai Siyuan to take the Blood Jade Token so he could protect him.
• Chen Jinyu returned to Shenjing with Li Yi, whom she introduced as Zhou Yi's grandson, and explained how she and Li Hong had become Dao companions.
• Chen Jinyu told Zhou Yi that she and Li Hong would help him search for the Path of Immortality, then described the growing power of the northern frontier generals.
• Zhou Yi recommended Yu Su, also known as Yu Qingtian, to Chen Jinyu and said she should wait until Yu Su suffered another defeat before recruiting him.
• Zhou Yi examined the Jade Slip's Green Wood Art and Array Dao Primer, realizing he had no spiritual roots and could barely understand the array text.

Zhou Yi studied Array Dao Primer and ordered the Brocade Guard to investigate Jiangnan’s great families. At the Heavenly Prison, he met the new captain, Yang, who imposed strict reforms, while Zhou Yi concealed his own thoughts and kept out of the conflict.

• Zhou Yi struggled to study formations, reflected on Daoist Lingyun’s travels, and ordered Yuan Shun to have the Brocade Guard monitor Jiangnan’s eight great families.
• Zhou Yi arrived at the Heavenly Prison and learned Captain Lu had been exiled, while Captain Yang had taken over and was angry about Zhou Yi’s absence.
• Captain Yang docked one year of Zhou Yi’s pay and announced strict rules against accepting prisoners’ silver, citing Bai San’er’s punishment as a warning.
• Zhou Yi advised the prison guards to endure Captain Yang’s reforms, and Yang later decided Zhou Yi was useful and planned to promote him into the army.

In Prison B-6, Yu Su reflected on his failed reforms and explained why he still meant to change the court, while Zhou Yi brought him food and learned about Yang Zheng’s ambitions. Yu Su warned Zhou Yi that Yang Zheng had the bearing of a warlord, and the chapter ended with Yu Su declaring that his loyalty was not to Fengyang.

• Yu Su practiced Tai Chi Fist and told Zhou Yi that its principles had taught him to be less hasty about reforming the court.
• Zhou Yi brought Yu Su a pig trotter and wine, and Yu Su explained that his hardships among common folk had convinced him to reform the laws despite the danger.
• Yu Su told Zhou Yi that he had investigated the cohesive northern frontier forces and discovered that they were former subordinates of the Duke Who Pacifies the Nation.
• Yu Su revealed that an old daoist from the Yang Clan had once told his fortune and warned that Yang Zheng was building influence by courting Yu Su’s former associates in the Ministry of War.
• Zhou Yi told Yu Su that Jiang Chao had been imprisoned on suspicion of embezzling military pay, and Yu Su said he expected to regain everything he had lost within three years.
• Zhou Yi asked what Yu Su thought of the northern frontier, and Yu Su answered that his loyalty was not to Fengyang.

Zhou Yi uncovered that Yuan Shun had fabricated the Yunshan rumors under pressure from the Brocade Guard and secretly bound him with gu insects. Months later, Zhou Yi was called to interrogate the enormous water bandit River-Mixing Dragon, who broke his chains and attacked before Zhou Yi brought him down.

• Zhou Yi visited Yuan Shun in disguise and ordered him to watch the eight great Jiangnan families, especially the Yang Family of Hongzhou.
• Yuan Shun confessed that Feng Zhong and the Brocade Guard had forced him to spread false Yunshan reports and lure Zhou Yi into an ambush.
• Zhou Yi spared Yuan Shun, warned him to seize the chance to become Vice Commander after Feng Zhong died, and planted gu insects around his heart.
• Over the following months, Captain Yang enforced strict prison rules, replacing guards who took bribes as the prisoners grew thinner.
• Zhou Yi joined Captain Yang's interrogation of River-Mixing Dragon, who broke his chains and attacked the guards.
• Zhou Yi dodged River-Mixing Dragon's punch and used his inner qi to bring the giant crashing to the ground.

After River-Mixing Dragon died during his escape attempt, Captain Yang consolidated his hold over the prison guards by offering them profits from Happy Forest. Zhou Yi rejected the new arrangement and decided to leave Heavenly Prison, saying goodbye to Yu Su.

• Zhou Yi killed River-Mixing Dragon, and Captain Yang recruited Old Lei as a captain while claiming the death was an accident.
• Captain Yang treated the prison guards to a feast at Happy Forest and promised them shares in its profits through a scheme that disguised prison bribes as purchases.
• Zhou Yi recognized Captain Yang’s mix of severity and favors as a way to win loyalty, but he distanced himself by saying he preferred Spring Breeze Pavilion.
• Warden Feng urged Zhou Yi to follow Captain Yang, while Zhou Yi delivered Yu Su a pig’s trotter and wine and told him he was leaving Heavenly Prison.
• Yu Su accepted Zhou Yi’s decision and asked him to burn extra paper money for him after he died, and Zhou Yi promised he would.

Zhou Yi planned to abandon his known identity and cautiously seek a path into the Cultivation World. Years later, Yuan Shun reported on the Jiangnan families and Yang Zheng’s growing influence, leaving Zhou Yi with new leads to investigate.

• Zhou Yi resigned from the Heavenly Prison and considered possible routes into the Cultivation World, deciding to wait in seclusion before investigating further.
• In the seventh year of Zhengtong, Yuan Shun delivered tribute tea and told Zhou Yi that he had accepted the Emperor’s overtures and secured control of key Brocade Guard posts.
• Yuan Shun presented records showing that each of the Eight Great Jiangnan Families had several extraordinary figures who evaded surveillance.
• Zhou Yi noted the cultivation-related names Little Dan Mountain, Mount Qiyun, and Dan Ding Sect, then asked Yuan Shun about major events in the capital.
• Yuan Shun reported that Yang Zheng had become Commander of the Imperial Guards and expanded his influence over Shenjing’s gangs, pleasure quarters, gambling dens, and Su River transport.

Zhou Yi investigated the mysterious prisoner held beneath the Imperial Prison while the Zhang Family was executed and Yang Zheng rose in power. He reached the prisoner's iron cage and saw an ancient, white-haired man in a ruined Daoist robe.

• Zhou Yi warned Yuan Shun that Yang Zheng's growing network could become powerful, then learned that the prisoner beneath the Imperial Prison was still alive and had been confined by Emperor Chongming's order.
• At the execution grounds, Zhou Yi disguised himself as the deaf-mute Old Zheng while Yang Zheng supervised the beheading of over a thousand members of the Zhang Family.
• Old Yu and the Brocade Guard colleagues celebrated at Spring Breeze Pavilion, where they discussed Emperor Zhengtong's decision to exterminate the Zhang Family and Zhang Heng's execution by a thousand cuts.
• The next day, Zhou Yi carried food through the Imperial Prison and descended to its deepest level, where he found an elderly, white-haired man inside a refined-steel cage.

Zhou Yi watched Ji Sheng’s madness worsen over four years while remaining a meal deliverer in the Imperial Prison, then visited Yuan Shun and asked why Yu Su had been imprisoned again. Yuan Shun explained the accusations against Yu’s clan, but Zhou Yi suspected the clan’s crimes were not the real reason.

• Ji Sheng alternated between violent madness and lucid moments, ate the meal Zhou Yi brought, and recited a Daoist incantation to preserve his sanity.
• Zhou Yi returned to his duties and judged that Ji Sheng was nearing death, but chose not to press him for an inheritance.
• Four years later, Zhou Yi disguised himself as Li Shun and saw Yu Su practicing Tai Chi Fist in the Imperial Prison without contacting him.
• Ji Sheng’s violent outburst shortened, and he cursed the emperor and threatened to exterminate his lineage.
• Zhou Yi visited Yuan Shun, advised him to preserve his health and send one branch of the Yuan Lineage north, then asked why Yu Su was imprisoned again.
• Yuan Shun described accusations that Yu Su’s clan had sold offices, taken bribes, seized farmland, and killed people, while Zhou Yi questioned whether those charges were the true cause of the imprisonment.

Yu Su was sentenced to death for treason but was rescued at his execution by remnants of Duke Who Pacifies the Nation's faction. Emperor Zhengtong ordered forces gathered to defend the capital and approved transferring one hundred thousand soldiers from the northern border army.

• Zhou Yi learned that Yu Su had been imprisoned for proposing taxes on officials and gentry, then ordered a dragon robe planted in Yu Su's home to frame him for treason.
• Yu Su was sentenced to execution, but armed rescuers broke into the execution grounds and carried him away through the crowd.
• Chen Jinyu fought three grandmasters at the execution ground, while Li Hong used a flying sword to kill one and drive off the other two.
• Emperor Zhengtong approved Chief Minister Qin's proposal to summon the Capital Garrison and investigate the Li rebels, whose traces Yuan Shun had found in Jiangnan.
• Minister Yan proposed transferring one hundred thousand northern border troops to Shenjing, and Emperor Zhengtong approved the order.

Zhou Yi watched Zhou Hong’s triumphant entrance into Shenjing and discussed the court’s politics with Yuan Shun, then discovered Ji Sheng’s death and uncovered a jade-bone message pointing to Little Dan Mountain. The chapter ended with Zhou Yi killing the condemned prisoner who had found the relic.

• Zhou Hong entered Shenjing with the Black Armor Army, impressing the crowds and reminding an old man of the Duke Who Pacifies the Nation.
• Zhou Yi and Yuan Shun discussed Minister Yan’s loyalty to Yu Su and the difficulty of breaking the cycle of dynasties.
• Months later, Zhou Yi found Ji Sheng’s dried skeleton in the Imperial Prison and confirmed that no ghostly soul remained.
• Zhou Yi secretly brought a condemned prisoner to search Ji Sheng’s cage, where the prisoner found a purplish-red jade rib containing a message about Little Dan Mountain.
• The prisoner revealed that the jade bone could expose Emperor Chongming’s crimes and lead its holder to fortune, so Zhou Yi killed him.

After decades of cultivation and cautious investigation, Zhou Yi learned that Little Dan Mountain was a market run by the Dan Ding Sect and decided it was time to go there. He discovered that Li Hong had founded Great Qian and unified the former Fengyang Kingdom, and the chapter ended with Zhou Yi preparing to approach the cultivation world.

• Zhou Yi tested the bone jade on more death-row prisoners, killed a liar who claimed to be a White Lotus Sect Dharma transmitter, burned the dungeon, and hid the jade in a dry well.
• Zhou Yi traveled to Cloud Mountain, confirmed that cultivators gathered at Little Dan Mountain, and spent years cultivating the Origin Returning Art while observing the peaks.
• In Heng City, Zhou Yi learned that Li Hong had become emperor and that the Jiangnan Aristocratic Families claimed to have immortal backing, so he sent a message asking the northern frontier to investigate Little Dan Mountain.
• After decades passed, Zhou Yi learned that Li Hong and Chen Jinyu had become registered disciples of the Dan Ding Sect, that Li Hong had founded Great Qian and reunited the realm, and that Little Dan Mountain was a market open to righteous-path Rogue Cultivators.

Zhou Yi read about Little Dan Mountain Market and its exploitative system, then decided to enter the Cultivation World after confirming the route was safe. He reached the market, learned its basic prices, and found himself penniless.

• Zhou Yi learned that the Dan Ding Sect controlled Little Dan Mountain Market and made rogue cultivators repay their cave-estate costs through labor.
• After deciding to experience the Cultivation World, Zhou Yi waited three years for a suitable cultivator to follow toward Little Dan Mountain.
• Zhou Yi approached Xu Yi, who declined to travel with him and entered the market ahead of him.
• Zhou Yi used the booklet's instructions to pass through the mist barrier and entered Little Dan Mountain Market.
• Zhou Yi surveyed the market and its shops, discovered the high prices of cultivation goods, and realized he had no spirit stones.

Zhou Yi registered as a rogue cultivator in Little Dan Mountain Market, rented a Cave Estate and three mu of Spirit Fields, and learned to cultivate spirit rice. After a year of farming, his earnings barely covered his rent and left him wondering whether all his work had been for nothing.

• Zhou Yi registered under the name Zhu Gang and was directed to Senior Brother Liu to claim a Cave Estate and Spirit Fields.
• Zhou Yi rented three mu of Spirit Fields and Cave Estate Number 306, and Senior Brother Liu gave him cultivation insights for a future drink.
• Zhou Yi settled into the vacant Cave Estate and found that the market's dense spiritual energy made cultivation much faster.
• Zhou Yi studied farming advice from nearby cultivators, mastered the Spirit Rain Technique, and planted spirit rice.
• After a year, Zhou Yi harvested two shi and four dou, paid his rent in rice, and sold the remaining six dou for thirty Spirit Stones.
• When his Cave Estate payment came due, Zhou Yi lamented that he had worked for nothing all year.

Zhou Yi weighed farming against other ways to earn Spirit Stones, chose a cautious approach, and built a relationship with Senior Brother Liu. By the third year, he had learned more about the Cultivation World and recognized how vast the path ahead was.

• Zhou Yi calculated that expanding his Spirit Fields would consume his time, so he decided to farm three mu while improving his cultivation and considering talisman-making.
• Zhou Yi harvested three more dou in his second year and hosted Senior Brother Liu at Phoenix Cry Pavilion to thank him for his spell guidance.
• Senior Brother Liu advised Zhou Yi to build connections and told him where to borrow ordinary historical texts about the Cultivation World.
• In his third year, Zhou Yi harvested another three dou, met several fellow cultivators through Senior Brother Liu, and borrowed books about the lands and powers beyond Little Dan Mountain.
• Zhou Yi learned that Dan Ding Sect governed more than twenty kingdoms in Cloud Province and reflected on the distant realms beyond Qi Refinement.

Zhou Yi spent a leisurely day talking with Gu Chen, browsing the trading district, and sharing wine with Quiet Void. Quiet Void gave him a restricted book, Pure Serenity True Monarch's Notes on Spirit Energy Analysis, leaving Zhou Yi curious about its contents.

• Zhou Yi and Gu Chen discussed Gu Chen's struggle to repay his Cave Estate debt and secure a better future for his grandson.
• Zhou Yi wandered through the trading district, tracked market prices, and bought a jar of twenty-year Crimson Rainbow Spiritual Wine from Hu the Taoist.
• Zhou Yi visited Quiet Void Abode and asked Quiet Void whether The Tale of Three Heroes had a latter half.
• Quiet Void shared the wine with Zhou Yi and gave him Pure Serenity True Monarch's Notes on Spirit Energy Analysis, instructing him not to pass it on.

Zhou Yi studied Pure Serenity True Monarch’s notebook and learned how spiritual energy, spirit veins, and spiritual objects worked, while discovering that his Soul Stabilizing Mirror was an old treasure losing its power. He resolved to keep cultivating, and the next day found Quiet Void had left on an unknown journey.

• Zhou Yi accepted Pure Serenity True Monarch’s notebook from Quiet Void and hurried home to read it.
• Zhou Yi learned that spirit veins produced spiritual energy and that spiritual energy dispersed from high-concentration areas to low-concentration areas.
• Zhou Yi realized his Soul Stabilizing Mirror had retained unusual spirituality despite being centuries old, and decided to nurture it rather than trade it away.
• Zhou Yi concluded that the ancestral vein was vital to the Cultivation World, then calmed himself and focused on reaching the fourth layer of Qi Refinement.
• Zhou Yi found Quiet Void Abode closed the next day, with a note saying Quiet Void had gone traveling and would return at an unknown time.

Zhou Yi continued farming and cultivating at Little Dan Mountain while worrying about Gu Chen's unexplained absence. Gu Chen returned grievously injured after avenging his grandson, and Zhou Yi watched him leave with little hope for the future.

• Zhou Yi watched newcomers buy fake spiritual items and stayed cautious after learning that the sellers had powerful backing.
• Zhou Yi tended his Spirit Essence Flowers, replanted herbs, and continued working his Spirit Field while Gu Chen remained absent.
• The Enforcement Team harvested Gu Chen's ripe spirit rice and recorded it for him in case he returned.
• Gu Chen came back with his left arm missing and told Zhou Yi that he had killed the wicked cultivator who had murdered his grandson.
• Gu Chen said he had sold everything to ransom his grandson, then asked Zhou Yi to bury his bones in the Spirit Field when he died.
• Zhou Yi watched Gu Chen stagger back to his Cave Estate and irrigated the field.

After Gu Chen died, Zhou Yi received his letter and inheritance, then continued cultivating at Little Dan Mountain for years. When thefts unsettled the market town, Zhou Yi realized a long-awaited opportunity had arrived and began planning to profit from it.

• Senior Brother Zhang delivered Gu Chen's letter, which revealed that Gu Chen's former friend had slaughtered the Gu family, and Gu Chen had later avenged them by wiping out that friend's family.
• Gu Chen left Zhou Yi three hundred Spirit Stones, asked him to look after surviving Liu relatives from Ling Province, and entrusted him with burial in the Spirit Field; Senior Brother Zhang helped carry out the will.
• Zhou Yi buried Gu Chen, continued his cultivation and farming, enjoyed dual cultivation, encountered Li Hong and Empress Chen Jinyu, and eventually broke through to the fourth level of Qi Refinement.
• Zhou Yi noticed protective talisman prices had risen and learned that thieves had robbed more than a dozen cultivators in the market town without killing anyone.
• Zhou Yi concluded the thieves had likely escaped and that the market town remained safe, then decided to plan around a security problem he had been anticipating for years.