Recaps

Li Yan failed to capture a Black Snake that Wang Dao Xuan identified as a Heavenly Spiritual Treasure, then left the Lu Family residence to return home. At the stables, Sha LiFei found an old drumstick, and Li Yan's expression changed the moment he took it.

• Li Yan spotted a Black Snake approaching the First Madam's room, but Wang Dao Xuan warned him not to startle it, and it vanished.
• Wang Dao Xuan explained that the snake was a Heavenly Spiritual Treasure and described how difficult such treasures were to identify and collect.
• Wang Dao Xuan examined the First Madam and told Landlord Lu that she was near death despite her Living Soul having returned.
• Li Yan decided to leave for home, and Landlord Lu gave him travel expenses and a horse.
• Sha LiFei found an old drumstick in the stables, and Li Yan's expression changed when he took it.

Li Yan discovered that the ebony drumstick was a Heavenly Spiritual Treasure and absorbed its fortune with the Substitute Divine Statue before returning to Li Family Fortress. After reassuring his grandfather, he began practicing the stillness method of preserving the spirit.

• Li Yan touched the ebony drumstick and absorbed the Heavenly Spiritual Treasure's fortune, improving the Substitute Divine Statue.
• Li Yan parted from Wang Dao Xuan and rode back to Li Family Fortress, while Sha LiFei accompanied Wang Dao Xuan to find an Auspicious Burial Site.
• Landlord Lu knelt before the First Madam, whom he called a princess, then pressured his concubines to bear him an heir and ordered them to choose a stable man.
• The Red-Clothed Concubine confided that Landlord Lu would kill her if he learned what happened with Commander Zhao, and the White-Clothed Concubine suggested an opportunity.
• Li Yan returned to Li Family Fortress, comforted his anxious grandfather Li Gui, and promised to cook him a new dish.
• That night, Li Yan prepared for cultivation and focused his awareness on the center of his brows.

Li Yan mastered spirit preservation and refined his Substitute Divine Statue into the Great Luo Dharma Body, gaining protection for his spirit and control over his mystical power. Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan then told him that bandits had slaughtered a village, including the Qi-Lu Highwaymen Leader they had encountered before.

• Li Yan finished harvesting the wheat around Li Family Fortress and continued practicing spirit preservation at night.
• Li Yan successfully preserved his spirit, refining the Substitute Divine Statue into the Great Luo Dharma Body and learning its abilities.
• Li Yan learned to control his Olfactory Mystical Power with the Yang Seal and Yin Incantation, shutting it off and activating it at will.
• Sha LiFei arrived at Li Yan's home and asked him to bring food and water to the ruined Mountain God Temple, where Wang Dao Xuan was waiting.
• Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan told Li Yan that hundreds of bandits had attacked and slaughtered a village, and that the Qi-Lu Highwaymen Leader had joined forces with Guanzhong bandit leaders.

Li Yan learned that the slaughtered village and the bandit attack were tied to a eunuch posing as Landlord Lu, while Wang Dao Xuan warned that Li Gui’s spirit had been badly weakened by the curse. After arranging several days of opera for his grandfather, Li Yan faced Li Gui’s apparent final resurgence and heard his last advice.

• Li Yan learned that Landlord Lu was a eunuch and told Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan to hide until the danger passed.
• Li Yan asked Wang Dao Xuan to examine Li Gui, and the Daoist said the curse had damaged the old man’s Divine Soul and left him little time to live.
• Li Yan sold Landlord Lu’s horse and hired an opera troupe so Li Gui could enjoy performances he loved.
• Li Gui asked for something cold to eat, and Li Yan recognized the sign of false resurgence and served him ice mixed with malt sugar.
• Li Gui warned Li Yan that he would be alone and told him it was better to be hated than pitied, and feared than bullied.

After Li Yan buried his grandfather, he joined Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei in returning to Xianyang to pursue work in the Xuan Gate trade and investigate Zhou Pan. They found their first potential job through a shadow-puppet troupe, but Wang Dao Xuan immediately refused it when he learned it involved inviting a god.

• Li Yan completed his grandfather’s funeral with help from Wang Dao Xuan, Sha LiFei, and the villagers, then spent a month mourning and searching in vain for his grandfather’s spirit.
• Sha LiFei reported that Landlord Lu’s concubine and Zhao Cheng had sold their fields and fled, and Li Yan proposed that the group go to Xianyang rather than Chang’an.
• After returning to Xianyang, Li Yan gathered information about Zhou Pan while the group struggled to find work in the Xuan Gate trade.
• Sha LiFei found a job for the group through an acquaintance in a Huayin shadow-puppet troupe, which planned to perform Filling the Statues and invite a god.
• Wang Dao Xuan reacted to the troupe’s request by refusing to take the job.

Daoist Wang, Li Yan, and Sha LiFei agreed to help Zhou KangNian and the Spring Breeze Troupe escape the Iron Blade Society’s extortion, while staying alert for a dangerous shadow-play ritual. At the troupe’s run-down station near Horse King Temple, Li Yan recognized the gang’s leader as Meng HaiCheng.

• Daoist Wang refused Sha LiFei’s request to help the Shadow Play Troupe invite gods, warning that the troupe’s practices could summon something dangerous.
• Zhou KangNian came to Daoist Wang and explained that his son had died after being lured into gambling, leaving the troupe in debt to the Iron Blade Society.
• Zhou KangNian knelt and asked for help protecting the troupe, offering to take the consequences upon himself.
• Li Yan urged Daoist Wang to accept the job, and Daoist Wang agreed to inspect the troupe while warning them to leave if they found evidence of an evil ritual.
• Zhou KangNian led Daoist Wang, Li Yan, and Sha LiFei to the Spring Breeze Troupe’s dilapidated courtyard near Horse King Temple, where Li Yan recognized Meng HaiCheng among the gangsters.

Li Yan confronted Meng HaiCheng and the Iron Saber Gang at the Spring Breeze Troupe’s courtyard, forcing them to postpone their feud and agree to a later life-and-death duel. After confirming the troupe showed no sign of demonic activity, Wang Dao Xuan prepared to investigate the Mass Burial Grounds the following night.

• Li Yan drew his saber and held Meng HaiCheng at knifepoint when the Iron Saber Gang surrounded him outside the Spring Breeze Troupe’s courtyard.
• The troupe’s families came outside, and Wang Dao Xuan reassured Troupe Leader Zhou that he would still handle the case.
• Li Yan used a Flying Locust Stone to stop a ruffian from climbing over the rear wall, then offered Meng HaiCheng a choice between fighting immediately or arranging a duel later.
• Meng HaiCheng chose a duel in three days and left with the Iron Saber Gang after Li Yan kicked him out of the courtyard.
• Li Yan told Sha LiFei to spread word of his arrival, and Wang Dao Xuan told Troupe Leader Zhou to prepare for their trip to the Mass Burial Grounds the next night.

After Meng HaiCheng’s defeat, Zheng HeiBei and You LaoSi planned to sabotage Li Yan’s ritual at the Mass Burial Grounds so the Iron Saber Gang could avoid the arena match. Er Gou reached the beggars’ den and was led toward its hidden camp.

• Zheng HeiBei berated Meng HaiCheng for accepting a Life and Death Arena match against Li Yan.
• You LaoSi said Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan planned to invite an Underworld Deity at the Mass Burial Grounds, and advised Zheng HeiBei to stir up trouble during the ritual.
• Zheng HeiBei sent Er Gou to contact the West Traveling Beggar Gang, and You LaoSi gave him instructions for approaching them.
• Er Gou rode through the northwest gate of Xianyang City to the Mass Burial Grounds, where the beggars’ wild dogs surrounded him.
• Er Gou exchanged martial-world code words with a hunched old beggar, who led him toward a fire in the mountains.

Er Gou sought help from the West Traveling Beggars’ Mountain Lord, who refused to take the Iron Saber Gang’s money and instead asked him to find a missing concubine hiding in Xianyang. Meanwhile, Wang Dao Xuan prepared the Spring Breeze Troupe to perform a ghost opera at the Mass Burial Grounds, while Li Yan resolved to face the Iron Saber Gang himself and demonstrated a new feat of strength.

• Er Gou entered the West Traveling Beggars’ camp and asked Mountain Lord to deal with the outsiders who had opposed the Iron Saber Gang.
• Mountain Lord refused the payment and asked Er Gou to help find a concubine of Landlord Lu who was still hiding in Xianyang.
• Wang Dao Xuan reviewed the rules for invoking the gods with the Spring Breeze Troupe before their trip to the Mass Burial Grounds.
• Sha LiFei warned Li Yan that Zhou Pan’s Hidden Strength disciples wanted to kill him and suggested asking Guan WanChe for help.
• Li Yan rejected the suggestion and pressed a small tree until its leaves and branches fell.

Li Yan revealed that he had broken through to Hidden Strength, and Troupe Leader Zhou gave him the inherited Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound method in return for helping the Spring Breeze Troupe. Wang Dao Xuan led the group to the Mass Burial Grounds to perform a ritual, leaving them climbing toward a mountain hollow as night fell.

• Li Yan demonstrated Hidden Strength, and Sha LiFei urged him to keep the breakthrough secret until the arena match so he could place bets.
• Wang Dao Xuan recalled the ominous and auspicious signs that had led him to befriend Li Yan, then felt reassured by Li Yan's breakthrough.
• Troupe Leader Zhou gave Li Yan three inherited manuals, including the Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound, in gratitude for his willingness to fight in the Life and Death Arena.
• Li Yan discovered that the Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound required specially made iron drums as well as breathing techniques.
• Wang Dao Xuan led Li Yan and the Spring Breeze Troupe toward an auspicious hollow in the Mass Burial Grounds, and the group climbed the muddy slope as night fell.

Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan led the Spring Breeze Troupe to the Mass Burial Grounds to invite a protective god for their ancestral idol. When Evil Beggars disrupted the ritual with a pack of wild dogs, Li Yan set out to stop them and struck one with a stone.

• Li Yan guided the group through the Mass Burial Grounds while Wang Dao Xuan searched for a suitable ritual site.
• Wang Dao Xuan and the Spring Breeze Troupe prepared the altar and began inviting a god, but Li Yan rejected the weak entities that appeared.
• Wang Dao Xuan realized someone was interfering with the ritual and asked Li Yan to drive them away.
• Li Yan followed the stench of corpses and found Evil Beggars feeding dead men's flesh to a pack of wild dogs.
• Li Yan hurled a stone that split one beggar's head, and the wild dogs turned on him.

Li Yan fought the beggars in the Mass Burial Grounds and uncovered their use of dogs, snakes, and hidden passages. After killing a beggar who summoned a Soldier Soul, Li Yan faced the risen corpse as a noise came from behind him.

• Li Yan charged into the beggars’ attack, and his Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin sent the wild dogs and snakes scattering.
• Li Yan killed two beggars, then pursued the survivors into the trees and discovered hidden passages beneath the Mass Burial Grounds.
• Li Yan captured a beggar and demanded to know who had sent them, but the man whistled, so Li Yan slit his throat.
• A Soldier Soul possessed the beggar’s corpse and advanced on Li Yan, who prepared to strike before a noise came from behind him.

Li Yan, Wang Dao Xuan, and Sha LiFei lured a soldier soul into the ritual altar and escaped the Mass Burial Grounds with the Yin God sealed in a statue. After returning to Xianyang, they encountered a man who challenged Li Yan over a fight in the Life and Death Arena.

• Li Yan explained the soldier soul to Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei, and the three decided to lure it to the ritual altar.
• Wang Dao Xuan opened a gap in the incense-ash city walls, allowing the soldier soul to enter the statue, which the troupe sealed inside a chest.
• The group descended the mountain without being attacked, while Wang Dao Xuan warned that a mountain deity might retaliate for taking one of its subordinates.
• After the troupe left, Beggar Leader Mountain Lord ordered the corpse burned and told his men to watch the group and blame the Iron Saber Gang for their losses.
• In Xianyang, Li Yan and his companions ate mutton soup, and a dead-fish-eyed man approached Li Yan and questioned him about fighting in the Life and Death Arena.

Li Yan visited the Zhang Clan Martial Hall after Zhang ShiTong revealed that his father wanted to meet him over the Life and Death Arena challenge. Zhang YuanShang warned Li Yan about the danger of fighting Zhou Pan’s young disciple, but Li Yan refused to back down, and Zhang YuanShang ordered Zhang ShiTong to test him.

• Zhang ShiTong introduced himself as a traveling inspector for the Xianyang Divine Fist Society and explained that the challenge had drawn the Zhang family’s attention because Li Yan was fighting in Li Hu’s name.
• Zhang ShiTong brought Li Yan to the Zhang Clan Martial Hall, where Li Yan recognized the stone lions at the entrance as powerful warding treasures.
• Zhang YuanShang criticized Li Hu and urged Li Yan to abandon the Life and Death Arena and leave Xianyang, explaining that Li Hu’s death had helped Zhou Pan gain power.
• Zhang YuanShang warned that Zhou Bai, a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old Hidden Strength fighter, would likely face Li Yan in the arena.
• Li Yan said Zhou Pan would have to keep choking on his anger, and Zhang YuanShang ordered Zhang ShiTong to test Li Yan’s strength and break his legs if he had nothing but a hard mouth.

Li Yan sparred with Zhang ShiTong at the martial arts academy, revealed his Hidden Strength, and secured Zhang YuanShang’s promise to arrange a fair Life and Death Arena against Zhou Bai. He left warning Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan about the Iron Saber Gang and asking them to obtain Qin Han War Drums.

• Li Yan removed his Guan Shan Saber and Sleeve Blade, then faced Zhang ShiTong in a sparring match.
• Zhang ShiTong used Xinyi Liuhe Fist attacks, but Li Yan countered with Red Fist techniques and threw him into a beam.
• Li Yan struck Zhang ShiTong with Hidden Strength and sent him crashing into a pillar before Zhang YuanShang stopped the spar.
• Zhang YuanShang promised to arrange the arena without interference, and Zhang ShiTong warned Li Yan that Zhou Bai was stronger than he was.
• Li Yan left the academy, cautioned Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan to stay cautious of the Iron Saber Gang, and asked them for Qin Han War Drums.

Li Yan borrowed three Qin Han War Drums from He Jushi and began training in Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound ahead of the Life and Death Arena. Sha LiFei secretly went to Jinbao Gambling House to ask whether it was taking bets, where a pale, white-haired man emerged from an upstairs room.

• Wang Dao Xuan and Li Yan received three old Qin Han War Drums from He Jushi, who explained he planned to travel with his son and teach him Jianghu Rules.
• Li Yan practiced Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound, but he realized mastering the drumbeat, breath, and Hidden Strength in two days would be difficult.
• Sha LiFei left the courtyard by secluded routes and went to Paifang Street to visit Jinbao Gambling House.
• Sha LiFei ignored a Hua Family conman who had thrown a debt-ridden gambler out of the gambling house and entered to ask whether it was taking bets on the Life and Death Arena.
• A pale man with white eyebrows, beard, and unusually thick hair came out of an upstairs room surrounded by men in black.

Yuan Qu confronted Sha LiFei at Jinbao Gambling House, where Manager Wu opened betting on the coming Life and Death Arena match. After Sha LiFei escaped Yuan Qu’s attempt to draw him into debt, Yuan Qu investigated Li Yan’s connection to Zhang YuanShang and left his master’s residence with a roaring beast locked in an iron cage.

• Yuan Qu ordered his men to bring Sha LiFei over, but Manager Wu intervened and announced betting odds for Li Yan and Zhou Bai.
• Yuan Qu bet two thousand taels, while Sha LiFei wagered his modest savings on Yan XiaoGe and refused Yuan Qu’s offer of a loan.
• Sha LiFei left the gambling house, and the Hua Family Conman urged the crowd to bet as news of the match spread through Xianyang City.
• Yuan Qu learned that Li Yan had visited Zhang Clan Martial Hall and that Zhang YuanShang had made arrangements afterward, though no one had seen what they discussed.
• Yuan Qu ordered his men to summon Mister Chen and find Zhou Bai, then visited his master and departed with a red-covered iron cage containing a roaring beast.

Yuan Qu arranged for Zhou Bai to undergo Chen FaKui’s ritual with Zhou Pan’s macaque, making Zhou Bai take on the beast’s movements and ferocity before his upcoming match with Li Hu’s son. Meanwhile, Li Yan continued beating the drum through the night, and the people nearby unexpectedly slept peacefully as its sound changed.

• White Ape Gang members visited Chen FaKui at his puppet shop and discussed delivering the remaining items he had requested.
• Yuan Qu brought Zhou Bai to meet Chen FaKui and revealed Zhou Pan’s huge macaque, explaining that the sorcerer would help Zhou Bai gain its agility and ferocity.
• Chen FaKui used a Yellow Talisman and a Pellet Drum to link Zhou Bai with the macaque, causing Zhou Bai to imitate its movements and practice monkey fist.
• Yuan Qu praised Zhou Bai’s transformation while concealing his mockery.
• Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei watched Li Yan beat the drum through the night, and the neighbors found its sound pleasant and slept peacefully.

Li Yan mastered Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound and prepared for his life-or-death arena fight with Zhou Bai. As the arena took shape on Paifang Street, Yuan Qu warned Zheng HeiBei not to interfere, hinting that the struggle could affect both of them.

• After practicing through the night, Li Yan used the dawn’s arrival to master Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound, shattered the war drum, and collapsed before recovering with his Great Luo Dharma Body.
• Zhang ShiTong told Li Yan that he would fight Zhou Bai at Shen Hour on Paifang Street under rules limiting the match to fists and feet on a small arena.
• Li Yan continued practicing the newly mastered sound and used a palm strike to shift Wang Dao Xuan’s stone fish trough without harming its fish.
• A short spy reported Li Yan’s constant drumming to Yuan Qu and Zheng HeiBei at Yuhe Teahouse, where Zheng suggested having a sorcerer curse Li Yan.
• Yuan Qu warned Zheng HeiBei against causing trouble and reminded him that neither gang leader would fare well if their master fell.
• Carpenters built the arena at the Paifang Street crossroads as curious onlookers gathered and speculated about the next day’s fight.

Xianyang’s Jianghu gathered to watch the Life and Death Arena challenge between Li Yan and the Divine Fist Society. Li Yan made an impressive entrance onto the arena, and Zhou Bai climbed up to face him.

• Crowds and Jianghu factions gathered around the arena, while Zhang YuanShang explained that he was backing Li Yan to weaken Zhou Pan’s influence if Zhou Bai lost.
• Li Yan arrived with Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan and noticed that the Zhou family had made the arena’s sides slick and difficult to climb.
• Li Yan walked up a taut hemp rope, leaped onto the arena, and surveyed its surface as the crowd cheered.
• Zhou Bai leaped from a second-floor window and climbed the arena wall by digging his fingers into the wood.

Li Yan and Zhou Bai faced off on the Life and Death Arena, where Zhou Bai chose to attack with Red Fist but was quickly put on the defensive by Li Yan’s hard-hitting techniques. Both fell over the arena’s edge, clung to its wooden wall, and prepared to continue fighting.

• Zhou Bai challenged Li Yan to a fight using Red Fist, angering Zhou PeiDe and prompting Yuan Qu to defend him.
• Zhou Bai opened with White Tiger Washing Face, but Li Yan blocked and countered with Intercepting Hammer.
• Zhou Bai hooked Li Yan’s wrist and used a feinted kick to set up Sword-Hanging Leg, but Li Yan recovered with Nine Rolls Eighteen Falls and knocked Zhou Bai off balance.
• Li Yan drove Zhou Bai to the ground and battered him with a chain of cannon punches near the arena’s edge.
• Zhou Bai grabbed Li Yan’s clothing and rolled them both off the arena, but each clung to the wooden wall with clawed hands.
• Li Yan invited Zhou Bai to climb back up and fight, and Zhou Bai lunged at him like an ape.

Li Yan and Zhou Bai fought a fierce duel on the platform, trading Hidden Strength attacks and suffering injuries. Zhou Bai then used the Zhou Family Child Monkey Fist’s flowing circle to gain the advantage, leaving Li Yan bleeding from a claw strike.

• Zhou Bai attacked Li Yan with Child Monkey Fist, and Li Yan evaded him by breaking through the wooden wall and countering with a Hidden Strength Mountain-Piercing Ox Strike.
• Both fighters returned to the platform as the spectators cheered and watched the duel intensify.
• Zhou Bai caught Li Yan’s leg with Mischievous Monkey Pulling Snake and tore five holes in it, but Li Yan struck Zhou Bai’s shoulder with Hidden Strength and dislocated his arm.
• Zhou Bai reset his arm and attacked Li Yan using the Monkey Fist circle, circling through feints and clawing five bloody marks across Li Yan’s back.
• Li Yan tried a Yin-Kicking Strike, but Zhou Bai rolled away and rose screeching like a monkey.

Li Yan defeated Zhou Bai on the Life and Death Arena after using the Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound to disrupt the horse-monkey aura enhancing Zhou Bai’s Monkey Fist. The match left Zhou Bai gravely injured, Li Yan wounded, and the Divine Fist Society’s factions openly divided; afterward, a talisman hidden in a porcelain doll shattered as Li Yan broke Zhou Bai’s technique.

• Li Yan realized Zhou Bai’s ferocity came from a secret technique and used the Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound to disrupt his aura and Hidden Strength.
• Li Yan seized the opening, broke Zhou Bai’s hand and arms, and knocked him from the arena, leaving him motionless.
• Zhou PeiDe rushed to attack Li Yan, but Luo ShiHai blocked him and reminded him that interference after a Life and Death Arena match was forbidden.
• Wang Yao confirmed Zhou Bai was still breathing, and Zhou PeiDe carried him away as the two sides confronted each other and the crowd recognized their split.
• Li Yan pretended to faint and had Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei carry him away, then told them he was fine.
• At the puppet shop, Li Yan’s technique breaking caused a porcelain doll to shatter, and Chen FaKui retrieved a Yellow Talisman that crumbled to ash.

After Li Yan returned to Asking Dao Pavilion, he explained how he planned to avoid becoming a pawn in the conflict between Zhang YuanShang’s group and the Zhou family. As Sha LiFei spread word of Li Yan’s grave injuries, Manager Wu secretly met with the White-Clothed Concubine.

• Li Yan concealed his healed internal injuries and told Sha LiFei to collect the gambling winnings, spread word that he was gravely wounded, and buy medicinal herbs.
• Li Yan told Wang Dao Xuan that Zhou Bai had used a Puppet Technique, and Wang Dao Xuan explained that Xianyang’s protective forces made secret attacks dangerous for the Zhou family.
• Li Yan decided to remain at home and wait for an opportunity to expose the truth about the past, while Wang Dao Xuan warned him that Zhou Pan had reached Transformed Strength.
• Sha LiFei acted worried as he visited Jinbao Gambling House, where Manager Wu gave him one hundred taels of silver after hearing that Li Yan was badly injured.
• After Sha LiFei left with food and money, Manager Wu opened a secret passage, and the White-Clothed Concubine emerged from it.

Li Yan and his companions repelled a night raid by Evil Beggars, while a hidden force captured the attackers and warned the Beggars' gang to stay away from Xianyang. At the Zhou residence, Zhou Bai was left unable to practice martial arts, and Zhou PeiDe confronted Yuan Qu before an elder claimed responsibility.

• Manager Wu reassured an injured woman that the missing Branch Master was likely delayed and said Xianyang's coming chaos could help them.
• Li Yan urged Wang Dao Xuan to build his cultivation first, and Wang Dao Xuan explained that the first floor would cost at least a thousand taels.
• Li Yan detected Evil Beggars outside the Asking Dao Pavilion and used the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Sword Tassel to turn their venomous snakes and scorpions against them.
• The Man in Sheepskin Jacket captured the fleeing Evil Beggars, learned they had raided Li Yan, and ordered a warning sent to the Beggars' gang.
• Wang Yao said Zhou Bai's injuries would likely prevent him from practicing martial arts again, and Zhou PeiDe seized Yuan Qu before an elder announced that he had ordered what happened.