Recaps

Li Qing returned to Luoyun City after four years in the mountains and learned how the Wu Dynasty had changed. After deciding to investigate the people with the highest martial-world bounties, he set out for the imperial capital.

• Li Qing saw grasslanders mistreating a pastry vendor, gave the vendor extra silver, and learned his antlers were not medicinal Deer Antler.
• Li Qing paid a medicinal shopkeeper to recount events since the Wu Dynasty was founded, including its renewed pursuit of lawbreaking martial cultivators and suspicions of Southern Dynasty involvement.
• Li Qing recalled that Commander Qian had uncovered the person behind the military-pay embezzlement, but the suspect had escaped and gained the Wu Dynasty's protection.
• Li Qing decided to travel to Sheng Tian to learn who held the highest bounties, bought a horse, and concealed the stag king's antlers in the Eternal Night World.
• The next day, Li Qing rode out of Luoyun City toward the imperial capital.

Li Qing arrived in Sheng Tian and learned from an information broker why several martial artists had been placed under bounties by Wu Dynasty. He confirmed Qi Kang cultivated the Life-Extinguishing Art and heard how the Black Lotus Sect Master had rescued the Purple Lotus Protector from a cavalry pursuit.

• Li Qing found Sheng Tian under a cloud of fear, with Wanted Posters and their large bounties displayed throughout the city.
• At Taoyuan Restaurant, Li Qing learned that Winter Plum Wine and braised beef were no longer available and ordered other food and liquor instead.
• An information broker explained that bounty amounts depended on strength and the harm a wanted martial artist had caused.
• The broker said Qi Kang's bounty reflected his slaughter of grassland tribesmen and the court's interest in the Life-Extinguishing Art, which Li Qing recognized as Qi Kang's cultivation method.
• The broker explained that the court pursued Nine Lotus Sect for its martial inheritances and divine weapons, then described how the Black Lotus Sect Master had killed hundreds of cavalrymen while saving Purple Lotus.
• Li Qing admired the Black Lotus Sect Master's strength, ate his meal, and praised the wine.

Li Qing infiltrated Sheng Tian’s inner city at night to kill grassland officials and learned where Gao Yudong lived. After killing a grassland warrior and moving the unconscious woman to a brothel, he headed for Gao Yudong’s estate.

• Li Qing read the wanted notices, then slipped past the inner-city patrols under cover of night.
• He entered a grassland warrior’s estate and seized the man in his bedroom, knocking the woman there unconscious with a pebble.
• Li Qing forced the warrior to reveal that Gao Yudong lived on Pingxing Street, then killed him.
• Li Qing wrapped the unconscious woman in a quilt and left her at a brothel on Xiliu Street.
• Li Qing set out for Gao Yudong’s estate, intending to kill the corrupt official.

Li Qing overheard Gao Yudong and Gao Liang discussing a Life-Preserving Talisman, then followed Qian Hong after she abandoned her attempt to attack Gao Yudong. Qian Hong recognized Li Qing when he revealed himself, and she was astonished by how close his martial cultivation was to the Grandmaster realm.

• Gao Yudong scolded Gao Liang for his drunken excesses and warned him to stay home until the Sage Monarch's fiftieth birthday.
• Gao Liang revealed that he had a Life-Preserving Talisman and protection from people sent by the Sage Monarch.
• Li Qing overheard their conversation and decided to delay capturing the father and son so he could learn more about the talisman.
• Li Qing recognized Qian Hong as she followed Gao Yudong, but she abandoned her attack and left the courtyard.
• Li Qing followed Qian Hong beyond the inner city, revealed himself, and reunited with her after four years.
• Qian Hong was delighted to see Li Qing and asked if his martial cultivation had nearly reached the Grandmaster realm.

Li Qing learned that the Maple Guard Department was planning to assassinate the Sage Monarch during his fiftieth-birthday banquet but lacked a Grandmaster to overcome the ruler’s protective talismans. He declined to join the operation for now, offered Qian Hong a Lotus Token, and later discovered that the marquis he had killed was the Sage Empress’s younger brother.

• Qian Hong told Li Qing that the Maple Guard Department was secretly fueling resistance and asked him to help its planned attack on the Sage Monarch.
• Qian Hong explained the Wind-Walking and Golden Shield Talismans and described how the Nine Lotus Sect leader had broken a Golden Shield Talisman with seven full-powered strikes.
• Li Qing asked about recruiting the Nine Lotus Sect, then realized Shen Lianyi’s purple-lotus token might grant access to the sect.
• Li Qing promised to give Qian Hong something at Taoyuan Restaurant in three days and left using Shadow-Seeking Footwork.
• News spread that a marquis had died, and Li Qing learned the dead man was the Sage Monarch’s brother-in-law and the Sage Empress’s younger brother.

Li Qing traded the Lotus Token to Qian Hong and received a Wind-Walking Talisman from her, while the Wu Dynasty’s military campaign and levies brought hardship to the people. Qian Hong left Li Qing with her veil after sharing a charged farewell, and he wondered why the blacksmith shop felt so hot.

• Li Qing gave Qian Hong the Lotus Token, which she accepted on behalf of the Maple Guard Department.
• The Wu Dynasty sent more than ten thousand cavalrymen toward Little Cui Ridge and imposed heavy taxes and forced labor to fund the campaign and Sage Monarch Tuwahaer’s birthday banquet.
• Li Qing witnessed the suffering caused by compulsory labor and felt troubled by the people’s hardship.
• Qian Hong gave Li Qing a Wind-Walking Talisman and told him she might have to leave to pass information to the Southern Dynasty and visit the Nine Lotus Sect.
• Qian Hong asked Li Qing to remove her veil, then left it with him and departed from the blacksmith shop.

Shen Lianyi and the Black Lotus Sect Master refused to join Qian Hong’s operation against the Wu Dynasty, but Shen Lianyi agreed to accompany her with the Red Lotus Blade. In Shengtian City, Li Qing discovered that crafting a concealed weapon with Outer-Heaven Meteorite Iron had earned him two months of lifespan.

• Qian Hong asked the Nine Lotus Sect to help the Maple Guard Department overthrow the false dynasty, but the Black Lotus Sect Master said his injuries prevented him from fighting.
• The Black Lotus Sect Master agreed to lend Qian Hong the Red Lotus Blade and sent Shen Lianyi to assist her.
• Shen Lianyi learned that Qian Hong had received the Purple Lotus Token from Li Qing and realized he was Wu Chong, whom she had known under a false name.
• Qian Hong and Shen Lianyi set out for Shengtian City to join the operation.
• Li Qing finished crafting the Death-Ending Nail from a Bone-Piercing Nail mixed with Outer-Heaven Meteorite Iron and gained two months of lifespan.

Li Qing learned that Sage Monarch Tuwahaer was searching Little Cui Ridge for an immortal cultivator, then resolved to forge a dagger capable of killing a monarch as Qian Hong prepared to act. At Tuwahaer's lavish fiftieth birthday banquet, Qi Kang attacked the emperor, who had anticipated the assault and surrounded him with his own Martial Artists.

• Qi Kang visited Li Qing, explained that he planned to storm the Imperial Palace with the Maple Guard Department, and revealed that Tuwahaer was seeking an immortal cultivator in Little Cui Ridge.
• Qi Kang gave Li Qing the Life-Extinguishing Art and asked him to return it to the Tomb Mansion in Little Cui Ridge.
• Qian Hong told Li Qing that the Nine Lotus Sect's grandmaster could not fight and that the people could not wait any longer, prompting Li Qing to decide to forge a monarch-slaying dagger.
• Li Qing began forging the dagger from Outer-Heaven Meteorite Iron and Ink Gold as rebellion spread and Tuwahaer prepared his extravagant birthday celebration.
• At Tuwahaer's birthday banquet, Qi Kang descended into the Imperial Palace and attacked the emperor, who revealed that he had been expecting the martial cultivators and ordered his own Martial Artists to surround Qi Kang.

After forging the Dragon-like Dagger, Li Qing reached the Divine Intent Realm and broke into the inner city. As Qian Hong and Qi Kang faced the giant Nuchik in the chaotic Imperial Palace, Li Qing arrived and struck Nuchik with a Death-Ending Nail.

• Li Qing forged and sharpened the Dragon-like Dagger, then underwent a transformation that brought him into the Divine Intent Realm.
• Li Qing vowed to confront the injustice in the world and crossed into the inner city, deflecting guards’ arrows with a sweep of his sleeve.
• At the Imperial Palace, Qian Hong attacked Tuwahaer’s Golden Light Barrier while Qi Kang fought the grassland soldiers around them.
• Tuwahaer summoned Nuchik, whose immense strength overwhelmed the martial artists and sent Qi Kang flying.
• Nuchik drove Qian Hong back, but Li Qing pierced his fist with a Death-Ending Nail and announced that he had come for Tuwahaer.

Li Qing revealed his Grandmaster strength, defeated Nuchik, and pursued Sage Monarch Tuwahaer through the imperial grounds. He shattered Tuwahaer’s talisman barrier and captured him alive, preparing to question him.

• Li Qing arrived during the battle and knocked Nuchik down with a single hammer strike, revealing that he had reached the Grandmaster realm.
• Li Qing attacked Tuwahaer, but the golden barrier protecting him withstood the Peerless Hammer.
• Li Qing caught the Demonic Blade - Crimson Lotus and the Green Rainbow Sword, then pursued Tuwahaer as he fled using a Wind-Walking Talisman.
• Li Qing used Transforming Energy to break Tuwahaer’s Golden Light Barrier and severed both of his hands.
• Li Qing held a dagger to Tuwahaer’s throat and demanded answers, and Tuwahaer agreed to answer while asking for a quick death.

Li Qing questioned Tuwahaer and learned how a yellow-robed immortal cultivator had helped him rise to power, as well as the locations and secrets of a cultivation method. After killing Tuwahaer, Li Qing set his sights on exploring the Cultivation World and headed toward the palace, intending to search the sleeping palace.

• Li Qing took Tuwahaer's unused talismans and learned that a yellow-robed immortal cultivator had helped Tuwahaer become a bandit leader and later trade peerless weapons for talismans, pills, and a Cultivation Method.
• Tuwahaer revealed that the Cultivation Method was in a secret chamber in his sleeping palace and said he had sent cavalry into Little Cui Ridge to seek stronger Immortal Cultivators.
• Tuwahaer explained that Spirit Roots were required to cultivate and mocked Li Qing for possibly lacking one.
• Li Qing slit Tuwahaer's throat with the Dragon-like Dagger, killing him beside the imperial palace lake gardens.
• Li Qing took the Green Rainbow Sword and Demonic Blade - Crimson Lotus and walked toward the main hall while planning to search the sleeping palace.

Li Qing helped defeat the Wu Dynasty by killing Tuwahaer, then searched the Sage Monarch’s secret chamber and found the injured thief Ning Yuan. He saved Ning Yuan from the poison and took the Earth Origin Art and Immortality Token, then carried him out of the chamber.

• Li Qing announced Tuwahaer’s death, ending the battle as Purple Lotus celebrated her aunt Crimson Lotus’s vengeance.
• Li Qing returned the Green Rainbow Sword and Crimson Lotus Demonic Blade, and Qian Hong and Zhao Yuan thanked him for his help.
• Li Qing searched the Sage Monarch’s bedchamber and found Ning Yuan wounded by the secret chamber’s hidden mechanisms.
• Ning Yuan revealed the location of his treasure vault and confessed his feelings for the First Rank Princess Consort of Prince Yu’s Mansion while Li Qing purged the poison from him.
• Li Qing took Ning Yuan’s Immortality Token and the Earth Origin Art, then carried him out of the secret chamber.

After a month of failing to understand the Earth Origin Art, Li Qing received help from Ning Yuan and successfully cultivated his first trace of mana, confirming that he had a Spirit Root. Ning Yuan was left bitterly envious of Li Qing’s many talents.

• Li Qing studied the Earth Origin Art in seclusion while forging weapons and increasing his lifespan.
• Ning Yuan tried to steal Li Qing’s Dragon-like Dagger, then joined him for Winter Plum Wine.
• Ning Yuan told Li Qing that he had failed to sense spiritual energy and suspected he lacked a Spirit Root.
• After learning that Li Qing had not even begun cultivating, Ning Yuan guided him through one cycle of the Earth Origin Art.
• Li Qing sensed World Spiritual Energy, drew it into his meridians, and formed a trace of mana in his dantian.
• Ning Yuan realized Li Qing could cultivate immortality and lamented how unfairly gifted he was.

Li Qing abandoned slow Qi Refining to plan for entering the Cultivation World and created the Limitless Art, then forged three weapons bearing its inheritance. He brought the weapons to Sheng Tian to discuss a deal with Miss Qian of the Maple Guard Department.

• After seven days of Qi Refining, Li Qing judged his progress too slow and resolved to seek a place rich in spiritual energy, considering Little Cui Ridge, the Eternal Night World, and the Red Fish Merchant Guild.
• Li Qing planned to keep blacksmithing and ask the Maple Guard Department to help gather unusual ores, while developing a martial art to offer in a lasting exchange.
• By winter, Li Qing completed the Limitless Art, combining his martial knowledge into a discipline that trained the body first and accumulated Internal Energy later.
• Li Qing forged Dance of Fine Snow, Shadowless Staff, and Calamity-Breaking Spear from ordinary iron, engraving a separate section of the Limitless Art onto each weapon.
• Li Qing carried the three weapons to Sheng Tian and told Miss Qian he had come to discuss a deal.

Li Qing arranged for Qian Hong and the Maple Guard Department to secretly gather rare ores in exchange for divine weapons, then shared a farewell with Qian Hong before setting out to seek the Cultivation World. He left the Calamity-Breaking Spear at his master Gu Tianxing’s grave and departed the martial world.

• Li Qing offered Qian Hong two divine weapons as a deposit in return for the Maple Guard Department secretly collecting unusual ores, and explained that he planned to pursue traces of Immortal Cultivators.
• Li Qing gave Qian Hong the incomplete Earth Origin Art, and the two shared an intimate farewell before he left with the Calamity-Breaking Spear.
• Li Qing drank through the night with Ning Yuan, then bought a fast horse and rode east toward Little Cui Ridge.
• Li Qing visited his master Gu Tianxing’s grave outside ruined Wangyuan City, demonstrated the Calamity-Breaking Spear, and left it there for a fated person who would also tend the grave.
• Li Qing departed, ending his journey through the martial world.

Li Qing returned to the Eternal Night World hoping to cultivate with its faster passage of time, but discovered that it had no spiritual energy. After leaving Rice Bucket at his old blacksmith shop in Giant Rock City, he encountered a gang member who said the Righteous Gang had become the Azure Gang.

• Li Qing cultivated on Little Cui Ridge with Rice Bucket nearby and estimated that he needed about another year to reach the first layer of Qi Refining.
• After searching the vast forest for cultivators, Li Qing gave up and returned to the Eternal Night World to gather information in Giant Rock City.
• Li Qing sensed that the Eternal Night World contained no spiritual energy, though the spiritual power in his dantian remained.
• Li Qing left the listless Rice Bucket at his old blacksmith shop and went out to investigate the city after more than ten years away.
• A street loafer confronted Li Qing for entering the Azure Gang's forbidden ground, and Li Qing recognized the houses as former property of the Righteous Gang.

Li Qing returned to Giant Rock City and learned that the Azure Gang had risen to power under An Xuan, while Xiang Fa, an immortal cultivator, controlled the city’s three great powers. After hearing about Xiang Fa’s past and current influence, Li Qing decided to confront him, confident in his own strength.

• Li Qing interrogated an Azure Gang thug and learned how the Righteous Gang had become the Azure Gang and established a three-way balance in Giant Rock City.
• Li Qing went to Miao Qi’s residence, where Miao Qi recognized him and welcomed him back after more than a decade.
• Miao Qi told Li Qing that Xiang Fa, an immortal cultivator, had gained control of the City Lord’s Mansion, the Red Fish Merchant Guild, and the Azure Gang.
• Miao Qi described Xiang Fa’s love of power, careful habits, fondness for alcohol, and control over livestock production and hunting.
• Li Qing concluded that the Age of Dharma’s End had weakened Xiang Fa and announced that he would pay him a visit.
• Li Qing told Miao Qi that he could kill two or three Internal Energy experts with one slap.

Li Qing confronted Xiang Fa at the Red Fish Merchant Guild after Xiang Fa rejected the Azure Gang’s request to borrow a Cultivation Method. Li Qing defeated Xiang Fa and began questioning him about hidden cultivation-related items, but Xiang Fa tried to attack him with a concealed dart.

• Miao Qi asked Xiang Fa to exchange a Cultivation Method for wine on behalf of the Azure Gang, but Xiang Fa demanded that An Xuan bring him the rest of the wine in person.
• Li Qing revealed himself and attacked Xiang Fa, destroying his arm with a single blow and identifying himself as the Azure Gang’s “Azure.”
• Li Qing sent Miao Qi and the servant away, then asked Xiang Fa where he had hidden cultivation-related items.
• Xiang Fa fired a concealed dart at Li Qing, but Li Qing knocked it aside with a silver Dragon-like Dagger.
• Li Qing warned Xiang Fa to cooperate and let him live out his remaining years.

Li Qing forced Xiang Fa to reveal how to open his Storage Bag, then learned about the Age of Dharma's End and Heavenly Measure Mountain before killing him to protect his secret. He claimed Xiang Fa's possessions, discovered the power and cost of the Crimson Iron Umbrella, and found a complete Qi Refining cultivation method in a jade slip.

• Li Qing opened Xiang Fa's Storage Bag with Spiritual Power and learned that Xiang Fa was a Mid Qi Refining cultivator who had practiced for nine years.
• Xiang Fa explained that Heavenly Measure Mountain was a small Daoist temple founded by the Foundation Establishment cultivator Liang Tian, and that the sun had disappeared nearly sixty years earlier as spiritual energy vanished.
• When Xiang Fa realized Li Qing was too young to have survived the Age of Dharma's End, Li Qing killed him to conceal his secret of Two Realms Travel.
• Li Qing examined Xiang Fa's belongings, found that the spirit stones had become useless, and activated the Crimson Iron Umbrella, which consumed most of his Spiritual Power.
• Li Qing named the artifact the Crimson Shadow Umbrella and used a jade slip to discover that it contained a complete Qi Refining stage cultivation method.

After looting Xiang Fa, Li Qing found two Qi Refining cultivation methods and an alchemy manual, then remembered a jade slip he had stored in his blacksmith shop. It contained Zhang Weifeng’s artifact-crafting inheritance, which taught Li Qing the fundamentals of shaping, spirit tempering, and inscription patterns and left him eager to develop his skills.

• Li Qing counted the riches he had taken from Xiang Fa, admired the magical robes, and reminded himself not to hunt cultivators recklessly.
• Li Qing discovered that the jade slips held the Azure Wood Art, the Fire Source Art, an alchemy manual, and two pill formulas.
• Li Qing returned to his blacksmith shop in the Eternal Night World and found the jade slip he had bought at a market in Obsidian City.
• Li Qing used his spiritual power to read the Zhang Clan's Artifact Crafting Annotations: Spirit Quenching and Inscription Patterns, left by Zhang Weifeng.
• Li Qing learned the three basic stages of artifact crafting and bowed in gratitude to Zhang Weifeng for the inheritance.

Li Qing studied the Artifact Crafting Manual before helping the Azure Gang defeat the City Lord's Mansion and the Red Fish Merchant Guild. An Xuan secured control of Giant Rock City, bringing the gang to the height of its power, and returned to Li Qing to talk.

• Li Qing learned about artifact crafting and the Water Entanglement Net blueprint, but realized his cultivation was too low to craft it yet.
• Miao Qi told Li Qing that the City Lord's Mansion and Red Fish Merchant Guild had attacked the Azure Gang while Zhao Kou secluded himself to break through.
• Li Qing rushed to the Azure Gang headquarters and killed Qin Jie as he threatened An Xuan, then told her he had eliminated the enemy Martial Artists.
• An Xuan reunited emotionally with Li Qing, then took charge of the crisis while he waited for her.
• An Xuan crushed the remaining resistance, claimed Giant Rock City for the Azure Gang, and returned to Li Qing after the gang reached its peak power.

After Tian Long’s death, Li Qing reunited with An Xuan and asked the Azure Gang to search for immortal cultivators and rare artifact-refining materials. He returned to Little Cui Ridge and began cultivating the Fire Source Art, leaving his progress to grow in seclusion.

• An Xuan told Li Qing that her foster father, Tian Long, had died and asked to help him through the Azure Gang.
• Li Qing asked the Azure Gang to seek traces of immortal cultivators and gather unusual materials, then gave An Xuan a Blood-Generating Pill.
• Li Qing and An Xuan spent the night together, and he left after entrusting her with his requests.
• Li Qing returned to Little Cui Ridge with Rice Bucket and chose the Fire Source Art over the Azure Wood Art.
• Li Qing began cultivating the Fire Source Art in the mountain forests, and his cultivation gradually rose.

After two and a half years cultivating and exploring Little Cui Ridge, Li Qing entered a mysterious valley called Longevity Valley after hearing its legends from an old hunter. The valley's mist appeared as soon as he crossed inside, and the path behind him vanished.

• Li Qing finished cultivating at the second level of Qi Refining and decided to search the western mountains for denser spiritual energy.
• Rice Bucket brought Li Qing a python, and Li Qing collected its hide and ate its gall before riding west.
• Li Qing and Rice Bucket reached a valley near a village, where an old hunter warned them that visitors lost their way inside for days.
• The old hunter recounted a legend about a woodcutter who returned from Longevity Valley decades later without aging, and Li Qing gave him silver before entering the valley.
• A strange mist surrounded Li Qing and Rice Bucket, and the path they had taken disappeared behind them.

Li Qing entered the Liu Family’s protective formation and was invited inside after identifying himself as a Rogue Cultivator. He met Liu Sheng, who welcomed him and Rice Bucket into the valley.

• Liu Sheng and Liu Tianbao noticed that the formation had detected a visitor with a Pseudo Spiritual Root, then discovered that the visitor already had cultivation.
• Liu Sheng went to investigate while Liu Tianbao stayed behind to cultivate.
• Li Qing realized the white mist was a formation and waited rather than risk provoking its owners.
• Liu Sheng opened a passage through the mist and invited Li Qing to the Liu Family for a chat.
• Li Qing followed the passage with Rice Bucket and exchanged polite introductions and compliments with Liu Sheng.

Li Qing toured Longevity Valley and was offered a place in the Liu Family in exchange for marrying into the family or working as a hired cultivator. He refused marriage and chose to earn resources through work, then went with Liu Sheng to register and select a job.

• Liu Sheng showed Li Qing the beautiful Longevity Valley and asked about his past, while Li Qing told him a partly fabricated story.
• Liu Sheng offered Li Qing the choice of marrying a Liu Family woman or working for the family as a hired cultivator.
• Li Qing rejected marriage, reasoning that he wanted to focus on cultivation and avoid family obligations.
• Liu Sheng stopped trying to persuade Li Qing and led him to the Steward Hall to register and choose work.