Recaps

The Three Pure Ones claimed the remaining gourds, and Jade Pure Yuanshi bestowed the purple-black gourd on Zhou Qingqing. Supreme Pure Laozi then uncovered the Gourd Vine’s hidden power and the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil beneath it, treasures Zhou Qingqing said were originally fated for Nuwa.

• The Three Pure Ones took the remaining gourds, and Jade Pure Yuanshi gave the purple-black gourd to Zhou Qingqing as her spiritual treasure.
• Di Jun and Taiyi left Mount Buzhou, followed by Zhen Yuanzi and his companion, while Nuwa and Fuxi stayed to talk with the Three Pure Ones.
• Zhou Qingqing realized the Gourd Vine and the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil beneath it had not been claimed and thought that her masters should take them.
• Supreme Pure Laozi pulled up the Gourd Vine and discovered its hidden vitality and power.
• Nine-colored Nine Heavens Breathing Soil appeared beneath the vine, and Nuwa recognized its extraordinary properties.
• Supreme Pure Laozi understood that the vine and soil had originally been Nuwa’s destined treasures, though they were now in his hands.

Supreme Pure Laozi traded the Gourd Vine and Nine Heavens Breathing Soil to Nuwa while secretly arranging for Zhou Qingqing to receive Nuwa’s Purple-Cyan Gourd. After the group parted ways, Zhou Qingqing thanked him and wondered which of the Three Pure Ones should get credit for her two gourds.

• Supreme Pure Laozi offered Nuwa the Gourd Vine and Nine Heavens Breathing Soil in exchange for her Purple-Cyan Gourd, claiming the treasures would benefit her Dao of Creation.
• Nuwa offered the Purple-Cyan Gourd as a meeting gift for Zhou Qingqing and refused the proposed exchange, but Fuxi accepted the treasures on her behalf after failing to deduce anything with the Eight Trigrams.
• Supreme Pure Laozi proposed that everyone return to their Dao grounds, and the Three Pure Ones, Fuxi, and Nuwa agreed to discuss the Dao another day before parting.
• The Purple-Cyan Gourd appeared in Zhou Qingqing’s Lotus Space, and she sent Supreme Pure Laozi a sweet voice transmission of thanks.
• Zhou Qingqing wondered which Master should receive credit for her two gourds, leaving the Three Pure Ones speechless.

The Three Pure Ones discussed how to refine their gourds, and Zhou Qingqing’s inner thoughts inspired Tongtian and Yuanshi to choose new designs. The chapter ended with Laozi determined to devise a gourd more impressive than his brothers’ treasures.

• Laozi prompted Tongtian to discuss his gourd, and Zhou Qingqing’s thoughts led Tongtian to choose a Ten Thousand Swords Gourd instead of a Water-Fire Gourd.
• Tongtian declared that he would gather sword qi in his gourd and engrave his sword Dao upon it.
• Yuanshi showed his gourd, and Zhou Qingqing suggested refining it into a Yin-Yang Gourd that used yin-yang qi to refine all things.
• Yuanshi accepted the idea and explained how it suited his identity as the primordial beginning of innate qi.
• After Zhou Qingqing dismissed Laozi’s Purple-Gold Gourd as little more than a pill container, Laozi began deducing a unique design that could surpass his brothers’ gourds.

Supreme Pure Laozi chose to refine his gourd into a Taiji Gourd after hearing Zhou Qingqing’s inner thoughts. When he asked how she wanted her two gourds refined, Zhou Qingqing assigned a Chaos Gourd to Jade Pure Yuanshi and a Creation Gourd to Upper Pure Tongtian.

• Jade Pure Yuanshi and Upper Pure Tongtian teased Supreme Pure Laozi’s ideas for refining his gourd, prompting him to reconsider.
• Zhou Qingqing’s inner thoughts about Taiji led Supreme Pure Laozi to refine his gourd into a Taiji Gourd.
• Supreme Pure Laozi asked Zhou Qingqing how she wanted her two gourds refined, and she decided her first should become a Chaos Gourd.
• Jade Pure Yuanshi agreed to gather Chaos qi and refine Zhou Qingqing’s first gourd.
• Zhou Qingqing asked Upper Pure Tongtian to refine her other gourd into a Creation Gourd, and he readily agreed.

Zhou Qingqing reached the Golden Immortal realm but struggled to cultivate the qi of the five elements, so Upper Pure Tongtian saw the Eastern Duke’s visit to Western Kunlun as a chance to help her obtain the Western Plain White Cloud Boundary Flag. Tongtian brought Zhou Qingqing along to meet the Queen Mother of the West, whose nine-tailed tiger invited him inside.

• Zhou Qingqing broke through to the Golden Immortal realm but found that transforming spiritual qi into the qi of the five elements was difficult.
• Upper Pure Tongtian realized that Zhou Qingqing might need all five Heaven and Earth Five Direction Flags to restore her usual cultivation speed.
• Tongtian saw the Eastern Duke heading to Western Kunlun and suspected he had come to invite the Queen Mother of the West to join the Penglai Immortal Court.
• Tongtian took Zhou Qingqing to Western Kunlun, where a nine-tailed tiger emerged from the formation and invited him into the abode.

Tongtian visited Queen Mother of the West and discovered Eastern Duke was pressuring her to become his Dao companion. He confronted Eastern Duke, who invoked his title from Hongjun and threatened Tongtian’s authority as a male immortal.

• Lu Wu escorted Tongtian into Western Kunlun, where he found Eastern Duke and Queen Mother of the West arguing.
• Eastern Duke rebuked Tongtian for interrupting, and Queen Mother of the West ordered Eastern Duke to leave.
• Zhou Qingqing realized Eastern Duke was trying to force Queen Mother of the West into marriage and bind her to Penglai Immortal Court.
• Tongtian accused Eastern Duke of using his title to force Queen Mother of the West into marriage and vowed not to stand by.
• Eastern Duke claimed that he and Queen Mother of the West were a match made by Heaven, then warned Tongtian that male immortals fell under his jurisdiction.

Upper Pure Tongtian drove Eastern Duke from Western Kunlun after overwhelming him with the Ten Thousand Swords Gourd. Queen Mother of the West explained why she had been unable to fight, then asked Tongtian why he had come to Mount Kunlun.

• Eastern Duke threatened to use his status and backing against Upper Pure Tongtian, who challenged him and ordered him to stay away from Kunlun.
• Eastern Duke attacked Tongtian with the Pure Yang Sword, but Tongtian’s Ten Thousand Swords Gourd shattered its attack and forced him to rely on the Heavenly Dipper Shield.
• Eastern Duke retreated after threatening to return, while Queen Mother of the West thanked Tongtian for intervening.
• Queen Mother of the West told Tongtian that refining the Kunlun Mirror had cost her mana and left her unable to fight Eastern Duke.
• Queen Mother of the West asked Tongtian why he had come to Mount Kunlun.

Tongtian sought the Western Plain White Cloud Boundary Flag to help Zhou Qingqing break through her Golden Immortal bottleneck. Using Zhou Qingqing’s insight, he advised the Queen Mother of the West on easing the backlash from her karmic office, and she handed over the flag in exchange.

• Tongtian told the Queen Mother of the West that Zhou Qingqing needed the Western Plain White Cloud Boundary Flag to condense the five qi.
• Zhou Qingqing realized that the Queen Mother of the West could offset the backlash from her office by acquiring other supreme karmic offices, and Tongtian secretly adopted her idea.
• Tongtian advised the Queen Mother of the West not to establish an Immortal Court and to seek offices such as the Lord of Cave Yin and the Golden Mother Primordial Sovereign.
• Tongtian promised to remove the decree once he attained sainthood, though Zhou Qingqing mistakenly thought he already had a plan.
• The Queen Mother of the West gave Tongtian the Western Plain White Cloud Boundary Flag, saying his advice was worth the exchange even without his future help.

Zhou Qingqing refined the Western Plain White Cloud Boundary Flag, gaining a clearer connection to metal-element power and a path toward advancing her cultivation. After the Three Pure Ones initially decided to ignore the Penglai Assembly, her complaints prompted them to reconsider and agree to attend.

• Queen Mother of the West thanked Tongtian and entered seclusion to understand her new karmic position, while Tongtian returned to Eastern Kunlun.
• Tongtian gave Zhou Qingqing the Western Plain White Cloud Boundary Flag and refined the Creation Gourd nearby as she merged the banner into herself.
• Zhou Qingqing sensed a vast platinum world through the banner, while Tongtian recognized that its metal-element power could help her perfect her Five Qi.
• The Penglai Immortal Court invited the Three Pure Ones to its assembly, where it would formally announce its establishment, and Tongtian briefed Laozi and Yuanshi on recent events.
• Laozi and Yuanshi dismissed Eastern Duke and agreed with Tongtian that they should not attend the assembly.
• After hearing Zhou Qingqing lament the missed trip and mention treasures in the East Sea, Tongtian persuaded his brothers that declining the invitation could damage their reputation, and the Three Pure Ones agreed to go.

The Three Pure Ones searched the East Sea for Tongtian’s fated sacred ground, guided by Zhou Qingqing’s thoughts to Golden Turtle Island. After Tongtian broke the Ten Absolute Array and revealed the island, Dragon Clan cultivators appeared and claimed it as their own.

• Zhou Qingqing’s thoughts revealed Golden Turtle Island, and Supreme Pure Laozi divined its location for Tongtian.
• The Three Pure Ones reached a hidden stretch of sea, where Tongtian broke the Ten Absolute Array with the Ten Thousand Swords Gourd.
• Golden Turtle Island appeared, and Tongtian decided it was an ideal sacred ground and residence.
• Dragon Clan cultivators arrived and ordered the Three Pure Ones to stop, claiming Golden Turtle Island as Dragon Clan territory.

Tongtian wounded two golden flood dragons after they attacked the Three Pure Ones, but Zhou Qingqing recognized that they could become the Golden Dragon Shears and urged him to spare them. A powerful Dragon Clan cultivator arrived to protect them, and the confrontation ended with him rejecting Tongtian’s demand that the dragons become his spirit treasure.

• Tongtian sent sword lights after the two Dragon Clan members who had shown killing intent, piercing them after they transformed into golden flood dragons.
• Zhou Qingqing realized the dragons could become the Golden Dragon Shears, so Tongtian held back enough to keep them alive.
• A powerful Dragon Clan cultivator appeared, healed the wounded dragons, and asked the Three Pure Ones to spare them for his sake and the Dragon Clan’s.
• Tongtian demanded that the dragons voluntarily transform into the Golden Dragon Shears and serve him in exchange for their lives.
• The Dragon Clan cultivator refused, saying the dragons could apologize and offer gifts but would not become the Golden Dragon Shears.

Zhou Qingqing recognized that Azure Dragon was pretending to be a Primordial Chaos Golden Immortal, and the Three Pure Ones confronted him. After Azure Dragon revealed his cultivation had fallen to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm, he admitted he was nearing death from karmic backlash, leaving the Three Pure Ones to consider his fate.

• Zhou Qingqing realized Azure Dragon's display of Primordial Chaos Golden Immortal might was an act and warned the Three Pure Ones that he was a paper tiger.
• Supreme Pure Laozi, Jade Pure Yuanshi, and Upper Pure Tongtian challenged Azure Dragon and demanded that he show his true strength.
• Azure Dragon admitted his identity and let his aura fall from the Primordial Chaos Golden Immortal realm to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
• The two golden flood dragons offered to become the Golden Dragon Shears and asked Tongtian to spare Azure Dragon.
• Azure Dragon said he had acted to save the flood dragons and that karmic backlash would soon consume him, prompting the Three Pure Ones to realize he was fated to perish.

The Three Pure Ones offered to spare Azure Dragon and the two golden flood dragons in exchange for spiritual treasures. Azure Dragon offered the Eastern Azure Lotus Precious Color Banner and twelve Sea-Calming Divine Pearls, while Zhou Qingqing realized Tongtian would soon obtain twenty-four more pearls.

• Supreme Pure Laozi offered to let Azure Dragon take the two golden flood dragons if he traded spiritual treasures.
• Tongtian agreed with Laozi and demanded treasures in exchange for the dragons' lives.
• Azure Dragon revealed the Eastern Azure Lotus Precious Color Banner and offered it to the Three Pure Ones.
• Azure Dragon said the Southern Ground-Severing Flame Light Banner was with Primal Phoenix and the Northern Mysterious Origin Water-Control Banner had to remain with the Dragon Clan.
• Azure Dragon offered twelve Sea-Calming Divine Pearls instead of the Northern Mysterious Origin Water-Control Banner, and Zhou Qingqing thought Tongtian would soon obtain another twenty-four.

Tongtian proposed completing Azure Dragon’s set of Sea-Calming Divine Pearls before exchanging it for the Northern Mysterious Origin Water-Control Banner. Azure Dragon agreed to make the Dragon Clan serve Golden Turtle Island if Tongtian succeeded, and Tongtian promised to return once he found the remaining pearls.

• Tongtian returned Azure Dragon’s twelve Sea-Calming Divine Pearls and explained that all thirty-six together could become an innate supreme treasure.
• Tongtian offered to find the missing twenty-four pearls and exchange the complete set for the Northern Mysterious Origin Water-Control Banner.
• Azure Dragon offered to become Golden Turtle Island’s guardian divine beast and pledged the Dragon Clan’s service if Tongtian gathered the complete set.
• Zhou Qingqing judged the proposed exchange beneficial, and Tongtian accepted Azure Dragon’s offer.
• Tongtian identified himself and his brothers, Yuanshi and Laozi, as beings formed from Pangu’s Primordial Spirit and promised to return after finding the remaining pearls.

Zhou Qingqing and the Three Pure Ones traveled to Penglai Island for Eastern Duke’s assembly, where she recognized the Yellow Center Plums offered to them as suspicious. The chapter ended with her suspecting the seventy-two fruits were tied to Eastern Duke’s seventy-two subdued Red Dust Guests.

• Azure Dragon and the two golden flood dragons stayed behind on Golden Turtle Island to do labor under an arrangement proposed by Zhou Qingqing.
• The Three Pure Ones decided to attend Eastern Duke’s Penglai Assembly, and Upper Pure Tongtian promised not to make a move there.
• Zhou Qingqing and the Three Pure Ones arrived at Penglai Island and learned that its three islands had formed from fragments of Chaos.
• Sea Toad Daoist greeted the Three Pure Ones and led them to special seats, where Eastern Duke had provided seventy-two Yellow Center Plums.
• Zhou Qingqing suspected Eastern Duke had tampered with the plums and connected their number to the seventy-two Red Dust Guests he had subdued.

The Three Pure Ones and Zhou Qingqing accepted and stored the Yellow Center Plums while Eastern Duke activated the Three Talents Formation and established Penglai Immortal Court. Eastern Duke announced that seventy-two fellow Daoists from Purple Cloud Palace had joined him, leaving the Three Pure Ones expecting his next move against them.

• Supreme Pure Laozi, Jade Pure Yuanshi, and Upper Pure Tongtian ate Yellow Center Plums, while Zhou Qingqing juiced one and absorbed its power.
• The Three Pure Ones gave their remaining Yellow Center Plums to Zhou Qingqing to keep, and she stored them in Lotus Space.
• Eastern Duke activated the Three Talents Formation across the three islands, including Penglai Island.
• Eastern Duke appeared and declared that he was establishing Penglai Immortal Court under Dao Ancestor Hongjun's appointment.
• Merit descended as Penglai Immortal Court was established, and Eastern Duke announced that seventy-two Purple Cloud Palace Red Dust Guests had agreed to join him.

At the Immortal Court’s founding ceremony, Eastern Duke accused the Three Pure Ones of eating the Yellow Center Plums meant for seventy-two divine generals and demanded an apology. Jade Pure Yuanshi refused and challenged Eastern Duke to defeat them, while Eastern Duke prepared to use the divine generals and his new authority to suppress the Three Pure Ones.

• Eastern Duke welcomed the Three Pure Ones as guests and said the seventy-two Yellow Center Plums were prepared for the seventy-two divine generals.
• Supreme Pure Laozi calmly admitted that the Three Pure Ones had eaten all the Yellow Center Plums, leaving the assembled immortals and gods stunned.
• Eastern Duke accused Upper Pure Tongtian of deliberately embarrassing him, and Jade Pure Yuanshi dismissed the accusation without defending himself.
• Eastern Duke demanded that the Three Pure Ones apologize to the seventy-two divine generals, who backed his demand.
• Jade Pure Yuanshi refused to apologize and challenged Eastern Duke to defeat the Three Pure Ones.
• Eastern Duke resolved to use the divine generals and the Immortal Court’s momentum to punish the Three Pure Ones and strengthen his prestige.

Jade Pure Yuanshi fought Eastern Duke’s seventy-two divine generals with his Yin-Yang Gourd, overwhelming them as Zhou Qingqing cheered him on. When Eastern Duke activated the Three Talents Formation, Supreme Pure Laozi blocked it with his Taiji Gourd, leaving Yuanshi free to continue humiliating the Immortal Court.

• Jade Pure Yuanshi challenged the Red Dust Guests to attack him together while Zhou Qingqing cheered him on.
• Yuanshi used his Yin-Yang Gourd to break down and absorb the divine generals’ spirit treasures as he fought them.
• Yuanshi taunted Eastern Duke to intervene before his seventy-two divine generals were defeated.
• Eastern Duke brought out the Heavenly Dipper Shield and Pure Yang Sword and activated the Three Talents Formation.
• Supreme Pure Laozi used his Taiji Gourd to block the formation, allowing Yuanshi to continue fighting without interference.

Jade Pure Yuanshi defeated Eastern Duke with the Jade Void Heaven-Opening Palm, forcing him to admit his mistake before the Three Pure Ones. Yuanshi then ordered the cultivators to leave the Three Immortal Islands, and Zhou Qingqing realized he planned to loot the Immortal Court.

• Eastern Duke taunted Jade Pure Yuanshi and tried to drive a wedge between him and Tongtian, but Tongtian praised his elder brother instead.
• Jade Pure Yuanshi manifested the Jade Void Palace with his Jade Void Heaven-Opening Palm and struck Eastern Duke, sending him flying off Penglai Island and making him spit blood.
• Eastern Duke put away his treasures, bowed to the Three Pure Ones, and admitted that he had been discourteous.
• Jade Pure Yuanshi said Eastern Duke's mistake required a price and ordered the cultivators on the Three Immortal Islands to leave.
• Zhou Qingqing realized Jade Pure Yuanshi intended to loot the Immortal Court as he waved his sleeve and sent another gourd into the air.

Jade Pure Yuanshi used the Chaos Gourd to take Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang Islands, along with the Penglai Immortal Court’s formation, leaving Eastern Duke’s court in ruins. The Three Pure Ones returned to Eastern Kunlun, while Eastern Duke announced that he would rebuild his court in Purple Mansion Province.

• Jade Pure Yuanshi brought out the unfinished Chaos Gourd and began refining the three islands into it.
• Jade Pure Yuanshi lifted Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang from the sea and swallowed them, taking the Penglai Immortal Court and its formation.
• Jade Pure Yuanshi told Eastern Duke that his karmic debt was settled, then left with the other Three Pure Ones and Zhou Qingqing.
• Eastern Duke reassured the remaining immortals and named Purple Mansion Province as the site of his new Immortal Court.

Zhou Qingqing received and began refining the Chaos Gourd as the Three Pure Ones took her south to seek the Southern Ground-Severing Flame Light Banner. They reached the Undying Fire Mountain, where a sudden magma eruption was blocked by Laozi’s Heaven-and-Earth Mystic Yellow Exquisite Treasure Pagoda.

• Yuanshi gave Zhou Qingqing the fully refined Chaos Gourd, and she began refining it with plans to plant the Yellow Center Plum on Mount Kunlun.
• The Three Pure Ones discussed Eastern Duke’s reestablished Purple Mansion Immortal Court while Zhou Qingqing realized they had changed course to find her the Southern Ground-Severing Flame Light Banner.
• The Three Pure Ones brought Zhou Qingqing to the southern Undying Fire Mountain, which Primal Phoenix had once suppressed.
• Zhou Qingqing warned her masters about the mountain’s heat, and Laozi used the Heaven-and-Earth Mystic Yellow Exquisite Treasure Pagoda to block a sudden magma eruption.

The Three Pure Ones searched the former Phoenix Clan ancestral grounds for Primal Phoenix and found her cultivating beneath Undying Fire Mountain. They asked for the Southern Ground-Severing Flame Light Banner, but Primal Phoenix questioned why she should hand it over.

• The Three Pure Ones searched the ruins and sacred sites of Undying Fire Mountain but could not find Primal Phoenix.
• Zhou Qingqing reasoned that Primal Phoenix was hidden beneath the volcanoes, and Supreme Pure Laozi led the group underground.
• The Three Pure Ones followed the lava streams to a central lake, where Primal Phoenix appeared amid transformed lava.
• The Three Pure Ones introduced themselves and explained that they sought the Southern Ground-Severing Flame Light Banner on news from Azure Dragon.
• Primal Phoenix confirmed that she possessed the banner and asked why she should give it to them.

The Three Pure Ones tried to persuade Primal Phoenix to give them the Southern Ground-Severing Flame Light Banner, while Zhou Qingqing’s private thoughts revealed more about the Phoenix Clan’s legacy. Primal Phoenix agreed to trade the banner if they could find a way to free her from the southern Undying Fire Mountain.

• Supreme Pure Laozi told Primal Phoenix that the Three Pure Ones had come to request the banner, not take it by force, and invited her to consider their reasons.
• Second Master described the Three Pure Ones’ resources, and Third Master explained their deal with Azure Dragon for the Northern Mysterious Origin Water-Control Banner.
• Zhou Qingqing privately praised her masters and revealed that Primal Phoenix had created the Golden-Winged Great Peng and Kong Xuan, though the Three Pure Ones kept their reactions hidden.
• Primal Phoenix said the Phoenix Clan had perished and that she had no need to pursue its revival as Azure Dragon had for the Dragon Clan.
• Primal Phoenix offered the Southern Ground-Severing Flame Light Banner if the Three Pure Ones could devise a way to free her from the southern Undying Fire Mountain.

The Three Pure Ones struggled to find a way to help Primal Phoenix leave Undying Fire Mountain, until Zhou Qingqing conceived a solution involving a Vermilion Bird avatar. Supreme Pure Laozi presented the idea, and Primal Phoenix’s divination confirmed it could work.

• The Three Pure Ones considered finding a fire-attributed treasure or another Fire Great Dao cultivator to suppress Undying Fire Mountain, but rejected both options.
• Supreme Pure Laozi suggested postponing the problem until after the next lecture at Purple Cloud Palace.
• Zhou Qingqing realized Primal Phoenix could create a Vermilion Bird avatar from her own flames to suppress Undying Fire Mountain.
• Supreme Pure Laozi stepped forward and explained how Primal Phoenix could form the Vermilion Bird using the principles of the Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, and Four Symbols.
• Primal Phoenix used Phoenix Avian Divination and confirmed that she could become the Vermilion Bird and potentially solve her problem.

Primal Phoenix used Supreme Pure Laozi’s avatar method to create the Vermilion Bird, resolving the mystery of their connection and freeing herself from her confinement at Undying Fire Mountain. She gave the Southern Ground-Severing Flame Light Banner to the Three Pure Ones and invited them to discuss the Dao.

• Primal Phoenix agreed to try Supreme Pure Laozi’s avatar method, while he explained how she could create a Vermilion Bird incarnation.
• Primal Phoenix transformed at Undying Fire Mountain and separated the Southern Bright Fire from herself, bringing the Vermilion Bird into being.
• Zhou Qingqing declared that the Vermilion Bird was Primal Phoenix herself, and the Three Pure Ones recognized that her influence had resolved the ancient mystery.
• Primal Phoenix’s new Vermilion Bird suppressed Undying Fire Mountain, and Primal Phoenix gave the Southern Ground-Severing Flame Light Banner to the Three Pure Ones.
• Primal Phoenix celebrated her newfound freedom and invited the Three Pure Ones to discuss the Dao, and they agreed.