Recaps

Madam Huali warned Chen Shi that Created Being Xiao Wu was a deadly creature that might be sealed beneath the stone boat, where incoming experts could accidentally free it. Chen Shi prepared to travel with Li Xiaozheng and Li Tianqing toward the Great Ming Treasure Ship after a strange light rose from the mountain.

• Madam Huali recounted how Created Being Xiao Wu slaughtered rogue cultivators and Sky Listeners in Jinshan, and urged Chen Shi to attend the Rogue Cultivator Gathering for safety.
• Chen Shi declined Madam Huali's invitation, and she left with Ding Ding, who kissed him and promised to wait until he came of age.
• Chen Shi suspected Xiao Wu was sealed beneath the stone boat and worried that the experts heading there would break his Grandpa's talisman formation.
• Li Xiaozheng arrived with Li Tianqing, and Chen Shi wagered that Li Xiaozheng would climb the yellow earth slope; Li Xiaozheng stepped onto it, and Li Tianqing agreed to wash Chen Shi's clothes for five days.
• A rosy light rose from the direction of the stone boat, and Chen Shi, Li Xiaozheng, Li Tianqing, and Black Pot set out for the Great Ming Treasure Ship.

Chen Shi, Li Tianqing, and Li Xiaozheng traveled through Ganyang Mountain toward the stone boat, encountering poisonous spirit herbs and a Sky Listener who began monitoring Chen Shi after he spoke about killing one. They found a sailor’s corpse from the True King Era and concluded that the stone boat’s Ghost and God Domain could only be unlocked by triggering it and restoring the Dejiang River.

• Chen Shi identified the gray-clothed figures as poisonous monkshood spirits, and the group detoured as they passed the poisoned corpses of members of several great families.
• Li Tianqing explained that Sky Listeners served the true gods, and Chen Shi’s questions prompted an apostle to send a paper crane calling for reinforcements to watch him.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing prepared with speed talismans as they passed stone figures trapped by the expanding Ghost and God Domain.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing found an unpetrified corpse bearing a True King Navy token and recognized it as a sailor from the stone boat who had drowned in the dried riverbed.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing concluded that the stone boat had sealed the sailors and the Dejiang River in time, and that triggering the Ghost and God Domain was necessary to restore the river and unlock it.

Chen Shi, Li Tianqing, and Li Xiaozheng reached the stone boat and watched the noble families use powerful arts to explore it. When Chen Shi’s grandfather’s talismanic formation triggered a terrifying clash and the boat’s Ghost and God Domain began expanding, Chen Shi charged toward the boat to stop it.

• Li Xiaozheng said he could slow the stone boat’s petrifying domain for three quarters of an hour, and Chen Shi and Li Tianqing continued toward the boat with him and Black Pot.
• Chen Shi saw the Thirteen Noble Families’ experts use treasures and secret arts to enter the stone boat, including the Xia Family’s ancestral god Xia Zhengong, who took on a temporary body and boarded.
• A tremendous clash within the boat struck the Zhang Family’s Void Mirror and nearly shattered Chen Shi’s Golden Core, while Li Xiaozheng identified the force as Chen Shi’s grandfather’s talismanic formation.
• Li Xiaozheng recounted how Chen Shi’s grandfather had slaughtered his way through Western Capital ten years earlier, terrifying even powerful cultivators.
• Thunder shattered Xu Changsheng’s Great Dream Cloud Technique, and the expanding Ghost and God Domain brought the Dejiang River back to life, causing people to flee.
• Chen Shi charged toward the stone boat and called for Li Xiaozheng to join him in resolving its domain.

Chen Shi, Li Tianqing, Li Xiaozheng, and Black Pot boarded the Great Ming treasure ship and navigated its dangerous interior to reach Empress Shi Ji Temple. As Chen Shi began breaking the temple’s talismans, Xu Changsheng and Zhang Wenshu arrived, and the ship set sail toward the underground river beneath the True King’s Tomb.

• Chen Shi and his companions entered the treasure ship’s ghost and god domain, and Li Tianqing led them aboard before their limited time ran out.
• Li Tianqing guided the group through the ship’s halls, fields, and livestock pens, warning them about deadly seals and hazards.
• Chen Shi reached Empress Shi Ji Temple and began breaking the talismans with help from Li Tianqing and Black Pot.
• Xu Changsheng arrived with Xu family descendants, while Zhang Wenshu came with Zhang family members and prepared to use the Void Mirror.
• The treasure ship launched into the Dejiang River and headed toward the underground channel beneath the True King’s Tomb.

Li Xiaozheng faced the thirteen noble families while Chen Shi secretly repaired the talisman formation around the Head of Shi Ji. After Yang Shuo exposed him, Chen Shi activated the array, took the stone head into his small temple, and escaped amid the chaos, but the black dog raced away ahead with Shi Ji.

• Li Xiaozheng apologized to the assembled noble families, and Li Xiaoti warned him that the Li family would have to share the treasure ship and that his inspector post was at risk.
• Chen Shi repaired the damaged talismans while Li Tianqing realized what he was doing and the noble families gathered around the temple.
• Jiang Pingyun and Fei Qiqi recognized Chen Shi and provoked speculation about his abilities and the Western Capital Butcher.
• Yang Shuo challenged Chen Shi, so Chen Shi unleashed the talisman formation, which annihilated Yang Shuo.
• Chen Shi used his small temple to capture the Head of Shi Ji, and Shi Ji possessed him briefly to summon golden-armored beings that disrupted the gathered experts.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing fled with the black dog, but the dog ran ahead carrying the large-headed doll and outpaced them.

Created Being Xiao Wu appeared at Empress Shi Ji Temple, killed Li Xiaozheng and the other surviving experts, and vowed to kill his father and younger brother Chen Tang. Meanwhile, Chen Shi and Li Tianqing rode the Great Ming Treasure Ship into a dark underground river and reached a lit dock, where stone figures and an inverted coffin approached.

• Li Xiaozheng considered killing the wounded survivors for the treasure ship, then snapped Li Xiaoti's neck and attacked Fei Qiqi.
• Created Being Xiao Wu killed Li Xiaozheng, Ma Guangji, Xu Changsheng, and the other fleeing experts, then spoke of killing his father and Chen Tang.
• The Great Ming Treasure Ship entered a mountain and traveled through a closing underground passage as Chen Shi and Li Tianqing feared the experts might catch them.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing lit all their incense and prayed for the head of Shi Ji to wake, but it remained asleep.
• The ship reached a pearl-lit mountain dock, where Chen Shi and Li Tianqing saw towering stone figures and an inverted black coffin moving toward them along a chain.

Chen Shi and Li Tianqing discovered that the Great Ming Treasure Ship was carrying the True King’s resurrected soldiers and coffins through the True King’s Tomb. The True King’s corpse remained dead, but his final wish sent the ship home as Chen Shi recovered the West King’s Jade Seal and the maps of all fifty provinces; the ship then burst out onto the Dejiang River.

• Chen Shi realized the stone soldiers were reviving and suspected that the True King had used the Water-Fire Tempering Art, while the West King’s Jade Seal began to glow in his hand.
• Great Ming soldiers revived, loaded hundreds of coffins onto the treasure ship, and prepared it as the vessel sailed through the tomb.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing saw the True King seated on his throne and discovered that his severed head had been stitched back onto his corpse.
• The West King’s Jade Seal flew into the True King’s hand, and his voice told the soldiers they were going home; the jade seal then gathered the maps of all fifty provinces as Chen Shi chased after it.
• Chen Shi caught up with the speeding treasure ship, which emerged from the Ganyang Mountain range onto the Dejiang River, and Li Tianqing and Chen Shi leaped into the water to escape being carried toward the Sea of Darkness.

Chen Shi discovered that the West King's Jade Seal could grant divine titles when he appointed Little Jujube as Black Mountain Lord, and Scholar Zhu recognized the seal’s connection to Prince Xiao. As Sky Listeners reported Chen Shi’s actions, a mysterious young man intercepted their message and prepared to hunt them.

• After Chen Shi stamped Little Jujube with the West King's Jade Seal, Li Tianqing explained that the seal could confer titles, so Chen Shi appointed Little Jujube Black Mountain Lord.
• Little Jujube went to Black Mountain, where the local godmothers and spirits recognized the seal on its backside, accepted its authority, and offered it incense.
• Chen Shi watched Little Jujube take charge, then showed Scholar Zhu the seal; Scholar Zhu said it should have belonged to Prince Xiao and broke down crying.
• The Sky Listeners recorded Chen Shi’s possession of the seal and his conferral of divinity, then sent their report toward Xinxiang Provincial City.
• A tall young man caught and ate the Sky Listeners’ paper crane, then told the Sky Listeners that he remembered their taste.

Created Being Xiao Wu returned to Huangpo Village, learned that Chen Yindu had died, and mourned at his grave. Meanwhile, Chen Shi activated the West King's Jade Seal, discovered how it empowered his temple and Map of Mountains and Rivers, and began cultivating with new divine embryos at a speed that surpassed a first-rank Purple Jade Divine Embryo.

• Created Being Xiao Wu devoured the Sky Listeners, then learned from Old Lady Wuzhu that Chen Yindu was dead and knelt at his grave in grief.
• Chen Shi offered incense to the West King's Jade Seal and used it to view the Western Ox Continent through the Map of Mountains and Rivers, including places where deities held power.
• Chen Shi stored the jade seal in his small temple and burned incense there, strengthening the temple and causing a second divine shrine to appear.
• Chen Shi drew the sacred-tree maiden into the temple, named her Sangyu, and used her and the head of Shi Ji as divine embryos for cultivation.
• Chen Shi's golden core advanced with startling speed, surpassing Li Tianqing's Purple Jade Divine Embryo and leaving Li Tianqing wondering whether Chen Shi had regained the Innate Dao Embryo.

Created Being Xiao Wu returned to Huangpo Village and was mistaken for Chen Tang, so Chen Shi welcomed him home for dinner. Though Xiao Wu had come intending to kill Chen Shi, the boy’s longing for a father softened him, and he agreed to stay for a couple of days.

• Chen Shi decided not to use the West King's Jade Seal to grant Sangyu a title, recognizing that her natural fief needed no interference.
• Old Lady Wuzhu mistook Created Being Xiao Wu for Chen Tang and struck him with her cane, prompting Xiao Wu to mistake Chen Shi for his nephew and plot revenge.
• Chen Shi invited Xiao Wu to eat, and defended Black Pot when Xiao Wu ordered the dog away from the table.
• Xiao Wu claimed he had been imprisoned and could not return for Chen Yindu’s funeral, and Chen Shi’s anger softened enough to serve him food.
• As Chen Shi showed his yearning for a father’s affection, Xiao Wu remembered his own childhood and postponed killing him.
• Xiao Wu resolved to kill Chen Shi but changed course when Chen Shi asked him to stay, agreeing to remain for a couple of days.

Created Being Xiao Wu planned to kill Chen Shi but grew moved by his suffering and kindness, then slaughtered the Sky Listener Deacons sent to investigate Huangpo Village. He killed the Xinxiang Venerable, discovered Chen Shi’s file, and left wondering whether Chen Shi resembled him more than Chen Tang.

• Created Being Xiao Wu joined Chen Shi in stealing melons and fishing, then helped deliver fish to the villagers while plotting to kill Chen Shi and the others that night.
• Created Being Xiao Wu learned about Chen Shi’s painful Azure Ghost Hand and his own divine-embryo scar, and felt sympathy for him as Chen Shi practiced and went to sleep.
• Seven Sky Listener Deacons arrived to investigate the missing apostles, but Created Being Xiao Wu devoured six and killed the seventh after Huangtu Ridge pinned him down.
• Scholar Zhu told Created Being Xiao Wu that Old Dad had truly died after escaping into the underworld, and Created Being Xiao Wu flew off to cut down the Sky Listeners’ ears.
• Created Being Xiao Wu killed the Xinxiang Sky Listener Venerable and found the Sky Listeners’ records of Chen Shi’s deeds, which reminded him of himself more than Chen Tang.

Created Being Xiao Wu learned that his resurrection may have coincided with Chen Shi’s death, then returned to Huangpo Village with Chen Shi and visited the mountain’s deities and spirits. He nearly revealed his identity and killed Chen Shi, but Chen Shi called him “Dad,” and Xiao Wu abandoned his murderous intent as they headed home together.

• Created Being Xiao Wu found that Chen Shi’s death occurred just days after his own resurrection and suspected his actions had kept Chen Yindu from returning home in time.
• Created Being Xiao Wu discovered that the stone tablet at Huangtu Ridge contained a boundless void, then saw that Chen Shi’s small temple had awakened the Ganyang Mountain Lord.
• Chen Shi took Created Being Xiao Wu to pay respects to Chen Yindu and the mountain spirits, while Xuan Shan, Granny Zhuang, Green Goat, and Hu Xiaoliang recognized Xiao Wu and feared him.
• Hu Xiaoliang and Green Goat gathered Xuan Shan, Granny Zhuang, and Granny Sha to rescue Chen Shi, but Granny Sha told them Chen Shi and Xiao Wu had already left.
• As Chen Shi and Created Being Xiao Wu walked home, Chen Shi called Xiao Wu “Dad,” causing Xiao Wu to retract his claws and invite Chen Shi to go home with him.

Chen Shi received visits from two new county magistrates and advised them to ease their exploitation of the people, while Created Being Xiao Wu concealed his true identity. Granny Sha and the others attacked Xiao Wu after she revealed he was not Chen Tang, and Xiao Wu left Chen Shi behind, bound for Xijing.

• Xinxiang Magistrate Wu Guangfu and Lei Magistrate Cui He visited Chen Shi and praised his counsel to govern gently by taxing the people less harshly.
• Chen Shi warned Li Tianqing not to reveal his past crimes to Chen Tang, while villagers began to regard him with awe.
• Granny Sha revealed that Chen Tang was actually Created Being Xiao Wu, and Hu Xiaoliang, Granny Sha, Granny Zhuang, the Green Goat, and Xuanshan attacked him.
• Created Being Xiao Wu repelled the attackers, admitted to Chen Shi that he was not his father, and departed after scraping Chen Shi's nose.
• Created Being Xiao Wu headed toward Xijing, wondering who had removed Chen Shi's Innate Dao Embryo.

As Created Being Xiao Wu approached Western Capital to avenge the child scholar, officials resigned and the city panicked as people vanished and their corpses appeared in the sky. Meanwhile, Chen Shi learned that Xinxiang scholars would travel to Gongzhou for the examinations and opened Madam Huali’s invitation to a Rogue Cultivator Gathering at Mist Ridge.

• Tang Muhe’s observers spotted suspended corpses approaching Western Capital, and Yan Xianshi discovered that their master was Chen Yindu’s created son, Chen Wu, also called Xiao Wu.
• Yan Xianshi resigned as Prime Minister Grand Scholar, and the Eastern Depot Superintendent and several other officials also submitted resignations.
• As corpses and disappearances mounted, Yan Xianshi and Eunuch Feng concluded that Xiao Wu was targeting people connected to the old case of the child scholar’s stolen Innate Dao Embryo.
• Yan Xianshi arranged for Xinxiang scholars to take their examinations in other provinces because the prefect’s position remained vacant.
• Li Tianqing told Chen Shi that Xinxiang scholars would have to travel to Gongzhou, and Chen Shi opened Madam Huali’s invitation and found a rogue cultivator token and directions to Mist Ridge.

Chen Shi left Huangpo Village to attend the Rogue Cultivator Gathering and the provincial examinations, but his journey through Gongzhou exposed him to rampant brutality and deception. After reaching Gongzhou provincial city, he was tricked into pressing his thumbprint on a forged indenture, and the tavernkeeper ordered his men to seize him.

• Li Tianqing revealed that Prince Xiao had given him a rogue cultivator token, and he and Chen Shi planned to meet in Gongzhou before traveling to the Rogue Cultivator Gathering.
• Chen Shi studied under Scholar Zhu, graduated from his tutelage, and left Huangpo Village after the villagers saw him off.
• In Fei County, Chen Shi reclaimed his stolen belongings, fought off bailiffs, and fled when the magistrate pursued him with a Myriad Souls Banner.
• Chen Shi warded his wooden cart with Clam Demon talismans in Min County, where it devoured several thieves who tried to rob him.
• After reaching Gongzhou provincial city, Chen Shi accepted a supposed offer of work from a fellow townsman, pressed his thumbprint on a paper, and learned the tavernkeeper had turned it into an indenture.
• The tavernkeeper called for his men to seize Chen Shi after he protested that the indenture had been forged.

Chen Shi fought off a group of men who had sold him, killed the innkeeper, and escaped the restaurant's destructive golden-core blast with Hu Feifei. They headed to see Gongzhou Province's Provincial Education Commissioner, where Hu Feifei continued to warn him about the province's corruption.

• Chen Shi wounded the six strongmen who attacked him and severed the tendons in one man's hand.
• The innkeeper unleashed his black golden core, but Chen Shi cut his neck with his sword qi and escaped the restaurant.
• The innkeeper's golden core erupted, destroying the restaurant and killing the innkeeper, his wife, the servants, and the strongmen.
• Hu Feifei found Chen Shi outside and led him away with the black pot and wooden cart following behind.
• Hu Feifei explained that she had sold human traffickers into hard labor and told Chen Shi to visit the Provincial Education Commissioner with her.
• Hu Feifei and Chen Shi reached the Governor-General's Academy as she cautioned him against trying to change the world.

Chen Shi and Hu Feifei reached Gongzhou for the Autumn Provincial Examination and learned that powerful local associations worshiped evil sui as protective godmothers. After settling into the crowded Official Posthouse, Chen Shi awoke at night to find a shadow gnawing on a sleeping scholar’s leg.

• Chen Shi and Hu Feifei registered at the Governor-General's Academy and headed to the Official Posthouse, where they met Zhao Kaiyun and heard about Gongzhou’s major associations.
• Chen Shi and Hu Feifei saw Granny Minjiang enter the Cao Lao Association’s estate, and Zhao Kaiyun explained that incense had turned her into a protective godmother.
• Chen Shi recognized the father and daughter from Xinxiang County on the Minjiang and learned they had fought off the Cao Lao Association’s members, Altar Master Cao Yunshen, and Granny Minjiang.
• Chen Shi saw the monstrous Red Mountain Empress and worried that Gongzhou’s many powerful evil sui godmothers could cause a disaster despite the city’s officials.
• Chen Shi moved into the Official Posthouse with Zhao Kaiyun, went to sleep, and awoke to find a shadow gnawing a sleeping scholar’s leg down to the bone.

Chen Shi killed a Tianmu Association disciple who had transformed into a black bear and sought Red Mountain Hall’s protection. As Tianmu arrived to demand Chen Shi, the Red Mountain Empress intervened.

• Chen Shi killed the black bear demon and used a Soul Summoning Talisman to awaken the injured scholar it had attacked.
• Chen Shi and Zhao Kaiyun discovered the demon was a Tianmu Association disciple and brought her token to Red Mountain Hall for protection.
• The Crane Boy accepted Chen Shi’s incense and relayed that the Empress would shelter him overnight, while warning that Tianmu’s people were coming to kill him.
• Director Lu offered Chen Shi a martial instructor position, and Chen Shi agreed to join Red Mountain Hall for its stipend and opportunities to earn more.
• Chen Shi used a Wind Settling Talisman to stop a gale that injured Director Xiao’s Nascent Soul, then an old woman identifying herself as Tianmu demanded that Red Mountain hand him over.
• The Red Mountain Empress answered Tianmu as the old woman’s enormous face filled the courtyard.

Chen Shi was captured by the Tianmu Association’s old woman, but the Red Mountain Empress healed him by refining the malevolent Qi in his body. After discovering that the Empress recognized his small temple, Chen Shi agreed to take her out for a stroll and secretly carried her away inside it.

• The old woman of the Tianmu Association wrapped Chen Shi in her tongues and fled, but the Crane Boy destroyed the tongues and caught Chen Shi before he hit the ground.
• Director Lu and Director Xiao brought the paralyzed Chen Shi before the Red Mountain Empress, who refined the malevolent Qi in his body with purified moonlight.
• The Red Mountain Empress recognized Chen Shi’s small temple and told him how Yutian City had helped her control her power and established the Red Mountain Society.
• Chen Shi promised to take the Red Mountain Empress out for a stroll, and she emerged from the Blood Taisui as a little girl in red.
• After the Empress fully healed Chen Shi, he hid her inside his small temple and left, worrying that he was stealing the Red Mountain Empress after only just agreeing to join Red Mountain Hall.

Chen Shi joined Red Mountain Hall as an instructor and spent the morning accompanying Red Mountain Empress around Gongzhou City. After learning that she had been born at Yanxia Ridge, he traveled there with her and discovered a suspended temple named Mazu Temple in the rift valley.

• Red Mountain Empress helped Chen Shi regulate his qi, and Director Lu registered him as a Red Mountain Hall instructor and gave him a token.
• Chen Shi took Red Mountain Empress, Black Pot, and the wooden cart through the city, where the empress ate food and bought toys while Black Pot concealed their strange behavior from onlookers.
• Chen Shi spent his money on the empress and learned that Tianmu Association was expanding and used begging, transforming living creatures into beasts, and abducting and dismembering people to sustain itself.
• Chen Shi asked Red Mountain Empress where she had been born, and she led him to Yanxia Ridge south of the city.
• Chen Shi found a split mountain ridge, a sea beyond it, and a suspended temple in the rift valley, where he identified the name Mazu Temple.

Chen Shi explored Mazu’s ruined temple, where his offering of incense stirred divine power and Red Mountain Empress sensed movement within. After his cultivation advanced through meditation, Han Mingyu confronted him over the death of his disciple and attacked with the Tianmu Association’s Life Harvesting Dolls, prompting Chen Shi to prepare to fight back.

• Chen Shi deduced that Mazu’s temple had once faced the sea, offered incense at its empty shrine, and left as divine power began gathering there.
• Red Mountain Empress’s meditation drew Chen Shi into a profound state that advanced his Golden Core cultivation and produced strange radiant effects.
• Chen Shi left the posthouse for Red Mountain Hall and encountered Han Mingyu, who accused him of killing his disciple Qiu Yingying.
• Han Mingyu sent a dozen Life Harvesting Dolls to attack Chen Shi, and Red Mountain Empress warned him that they were children cruelly transformed into weapons.
• After learning how the Tianmu Association made the dolls, Chen Shi asked Red Mountain Empress to help him fight the association, promised to take her out to play, and declared that he would kill someone.

Chen Shi destroyed Han Mingyu’s life-harvesting dolls, sent their tormented spirits toward reincarnation, and pursued Han Mingyu to the Tianmu Association’s Life Harvesting Hall. After killing Han Mingyu, Chen Shi entered the incense hall and considered wiping it out, while the Red Mountain Empress demanded three days out in return.

• Chen Shi shattered one life-harvesting doll’s jar, used a Rebirth Talisman to guide the dead child within it toward the underworld, and destroyed the jars of Han Mingyu’s other eleven dolls with sword qi.
• Chen Shi sent the remaining dolls’ spirits toward reincarnation, and Han Mingyu fled after losing all twelve of his life-harvesting dolls.
• Han Mingyu ran through his disciples and ordered them to block Chen Shi, but Chen Shi’s Zi Wu Zhan Xie Sword killed the eleven Tianmu Association cultivators as he pursued him.
• Han Mingyu reached the Life Harvesting Hall, where disciples were tending dolls and discussing his lost disciple, before Chen Shi’s sword qi killed him at the entrance.
• Chen Shi entered the Life Harvesting Hall and asked whether they should uproot the entire incense hall, and the Red Mountain Empress agreed on condition that he take her out to play for three days.

Chen Shi stormed Life Harvesting Hall and slaughtered Instructor Hu and the ambush in its front courtyard, but stopped before confronting the hall director, whose Nascent Soul aura was beyond his certainty. After seeing the children’s souls and finding the mutilated Zhao Kaiyun begging for death, Chen Shi began summoning the Nine Heavens Wind and Thunder Talisman to avenge him.

• Red Mountain Empress agreed that three days could not be reduced, while Chen Shi sensed Instructor Hu and the disciples waiting in ambush inside Life Harvesting Hall.
• Chen Shi entered the front courtyard and killed the ambushers with swift punches, kicks, and sword qi as Instructor Hu’s Life Harvesting Dolls attacked.
• Instructor Hu unleashed his seven-revolutions golden core, but Chen Shi killed him with the Stabbing Sword Style; the dolls then tore apart the corpses and wrecked the courtyard.
• Chen Shi sensed the Life Harvesting Hall director’s Nascent Soul aura and began retreating, while the director and the disciples in the back courtyard held their positions.
• Chen Shi saw the dead children’s souls and found the mutilated Zhao Kaiyun, who begged Chen Shi to kill him.
• Chen Shi refused to abandon Zhao Kaiyun and summoned the Nine Heavens Wind and Thunder Talisman, vowing to avenge him.

Chen Shi attacked Life Harvesting Hall and fought its incense master, Yu Daozhi, while heavenly thunder struck the compound. After killing Yu Daozhi and the hall’s disciples, Chen Shi found Zhao Kaiyun dead among the ruins and carried him away.

• Yu Daozhi sensed Chen Shi approaching and hoped he would retreat, but Chen Shi broke his spiritual fixation and summoned wind and thunder with a Qi-and-blood talisman.
• Chen Shi smashed through the courtyard wall in his three-headed, six-armed Templo Body and battled Yu Daozhi, whose soul-demons tore at Chen Shi while his weapons shattered against Yu Daozhi’s defenses.
• Chen Shi’s small temple captured Granny’s divine statue avatar, and heavenly lightning struck Yu Daozhi’s Nascent Soul as it attacked, killing him.
• Chen Shi rampaged through the back courtyard and killed the remaining Life Harvesting Hall disciples before dismissing his Templo Body.
• Chen Shi found Zhao Kaiyun dead beside the collapsed gateway, picked him up, and walked away as the incense hall collapsed behind them.

After Chen Shi slaughtered the Tianmu Association’s Life Harvesting Hall to avenge Zhao Kaiyun, Gongzhou’s officials issued a warrant for his execution while the rival associations watched the fallout. Chen Shi woke from his injuries at Red Mountain Hall and was greeted by Hall Master Yu Tiancheng.

• Chen Shi returned to Red Mountain Hall carrying Zhao Kaiyun’s corpse, reported that he had destroyed the Life Harvesting Hall, and collapsed from his injuries.
• Red Mountain Hall’s directors learned that Chen Shi had killed all seventy-four people in the Life Harvesting Hall, including Yu Daozhi, Han Mingyu, and Hu Yiqi, and destroyed Tianmu’s divine statues.
• Cao Yunshen and Altar Master Feng learned that the lone attacker was Chen Shi, a newly appointed Red Mountain Hall instructor who had come to Gongzhou for the imperial examinations.
• Provincial Governor Fei Tianzheng and the gathered officials agreed to strip Chen Shi of his scholarly status, issue a warrant and execution bounty, and demand compensation from Red Mountain Hall.
• Granny Sha, Hu Xiaoliang, and Green Goat learned that Chen Shi had been targeted by the officials, while Li Tianqing wrote to him about the coming examinations and a strange corpse cloud near Xijing.
• Chen Shi woke at Red Mountain Hall, made his way to the door, and met Hall Master Yu Tiancheng.