Recaps

Li Yan and his companions heard Madam Pei's warning about Luoyang's dangerous Paper Figure Case and learned of the city's corrupt cultivation circles. After the group retired to Dragon Gate Inn, Madam Pei came secretly to Li Yan's room, where he asked what message Shen SanYou had left.

• Madam Pei led Li Yan, Di Longzi, and the others upstairs and warned them that the Paper Figure Case had made Luoyang dangerous.
• Madam Pei and Di Longzi described Luoyang's Buddhist and Daoist factions, corrupt investigators, and rumors of strange happenings on Mount Mang.
• Madam Pei explained Luoyang's decline and introduced the city's famous dishes while the group ate.
• Li Yan sensed hidden experts near Madam Pei's room and inferred that Di Longzi had left to search for his missing disciples.
• Madam Pei entered Li Yan's room in secret, and Li Yan asked what message Shen SanYou had left for him.

Li Yan learned from Madam Pei that Shen Lang had left a warning and investigated Zhao the Donkey’s activities in Yuzhou. After a strange dream and discovering that someone had spied on him, Li Yan tracked down Di Longzi’s body and found evidence that the Commandery Commandant Office had killed him.

• Madam Pei told Li Yan that Shen Lang had changed after investigating the Paper Figure Case and Mount Mang, and passed on Shen’s warning not to hold back if they became enemies.
• Madam Pei gave Li Yan a report on Zhao the Donkey and his wife, Feng FeiYan, whose activities linked them to Mount Mang, the Dust-Avoiding Pearl, and the Paper Figure Case.
• Li Yan dreamed of Zhao the Donkey as a paper figure, then found ash from a burned Chuling Paper Figure and warned his companions that an expert had spied on them.
• Li Yan and Lu San searched for the missing Di Longzi and found him dead beneath a tree, killed by a Divine Firearm.
• Li Yan identified the ambush as the work of the Commandery Commandant Office and recognized the wounds on Di Longzi’s disciples as the Zhoukou Chang Family Blade.

Li Yan and his companions witnessed the HeLuo Merchant Guild’s Sacrifice to the River Earl before entering a decaying Luoyang, where rival Buddhist and Daoist factions were clashing over the Paper Figure Case. They learned that Golden Eye Feng, whom Zhao the Donkey had contacted, had been imprisoned, leaving their investigation facing another obstacle.

• Li Yan explained the River Earl’s history as the HeLuo Merchant Guild carried out its river sacrifice, but black locust-wood coffins containing lifelike paper figures drifted ashore afterward, and Madam Pei suspected they came from Mangshan.
• Li Yan and his companions entered Luoyang, saw the city’s poverty and decay, and heard that Wang Banxian and the Young Lord had been arrested at the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion.
• Li Yan’s group learned that White Horse Temple and Shangqing Palace were renewing their feud, with both sides targeting people connected to their rivals during the Paper Figure Case.
• The Dragon Gate Inn manager gave Li Yan intelligence about Earth Dragon Zhang and Golden Eye Feng, and Li Yan discovered that Golden Eye Feng had been imprisoned because of the Paper Figure Case.

Li Yan and his companions infiltrated the Luoyang County Office prison and rescued Golden Eye Feng, who knew the story behind the stubborn donkey’s case. Golden Eye Feng began recounting a bronze ding inscribed with a Qin-era message, and Wang Dao Xuan revealed that Xu Shi was Xu Fu.

• Li Yan explained that Golden Eye Feng had been arrested after Di Longzi’s disciples were killed by paper figures, and the group decided to rescue him from the Luoyang County Office.
• Long Yan'er offered to use her Frost Moths to put the prison guards to sleep, and the group set out at night while Wu Ba and Wang Dao Xuan stayed outside to provide support.
• Li Yan and the others entered the county office, used Long Yan'er's Gu worms to incapacitate the guards, and searched the outer and inner prisons for Golden Eye Feng.
• Li Yan freed Golden Eye Feng from his cell, and the group returned with him to Dragon Gate Inn without being discovered.
• Golden Eye Feng said the stubborn donkey’s father had asked him to appraise a bronze ding inscribed with a message about Xu Shi crossing eastward, and Wang Dao Xuan identified Xu Shi as Xu Fu.

Li Yan and Golden Eye Feng investigated a Qin-era cauldron linked to a Northern Wei tomb and a rumored Qin ghost palace on Mount Mang. They entered the Luoyang Ghost Market to retrieve Golden Eye Feng’s hidden book, but armed men from the Commandery Commandant Office cornered them.

• Li Yan questioned Golden Eye Feng about Xu Fu, Zhao the Donkey, and the Qin cauldron, learning that it had come from a Northern Wei tomb.
• Golden Eye Feng described a legend that Xu Fu and Qin sorcerers had suppressed the Six States’ resentful spirits on Mount Mang, then connected the case to Northern Wei general Wang Xuanmo and a book called Tales of Strange Anomalies from Hebei.
• Golden Eye Feng explained that Di Longzi’s disciples had sought the book before paper figures killed them, and Li Yan proposed retrieving it from Golden Eye Feng’s shop in the Luoyang Ghost Market.
• Golden Eye Feng led Li Yan and his companions through a hidden entrance at Dingding Gate into the ghost market, where they found his ransacked shop and uncovered a spirit-treasure pouch containing the item he had hidden.
• As Li Yan and the others tried to leave, a cold-faced man killed the beggar who had warned them, surrounded them with more than a dozen men, and demanded the hidden item.
• Li Yan recognized the attackers’ Chang Family Blade stance, and Golden Eye Feng warned that they were from the Commandery Commandant Office.

Li Yan and his companions fought their way through an ambush by the Commandery Commandant Office in Luoyang, captured a monk, and escaped the city despite the City God patrol. Outside Luoyang, Golden Eye Feng identified Wang Xuanmo as the final sect master of the Northern Wei Yin Talisman Sect and uncovered a prophecy linking him to Mount Mang.

• Li Yan and Wu Ba attacked the Commandery Commandant Office men after the gunner was subdued, while Long Yan'er and the others helped defeat the ambush.
• Li Yan pursued the person who had signaled the attack, and he and Lu San returned with a captured, disguised monk.
• The group escaped the ghost market as the City God patrol approached, and Li Yan used a gou-die to drive off the supernatural forces surrounding them.
• Li Yan and his companions climbed over Luoyang's wall and left the city with help from Long Yan'er's Frost Moths.
• Outside Luoyang, Golden Eye Feng discovered that Wang Xuanmo had been the final sect master of the Northern Wei Yin Talisman Sect and read the inscription, “Xuan Mo Returns to Mang.”

Li Yan’s group uncovered Wang Xuanmo’s role in a plot to seize the Yu Province Cauldron and provoke a rebellion in Luoyang. After learning that Zhao the Donkey had been taken to Mount Mang, they split up to alert Shaolin and investigate the mountain.

• Golden Eye Feng connected Wang Xuanmo’s return to Mount Mang with the ancient Qin legacy, the Ghost Sect, and the plan to seize the Nine Cauldrons.
• Li Yan and the others realized the Yu Province Cauldron was at risk, and Golden Eye Feng vowed to help stop the sorcerers.
• Li Yan identified their captured monk as a follower of the Ikkō-shū Sect and used Long Yan’er’s centipede Gu to force him to confess.
• The monk revealed that Wang Xuanmo, the Ghost Emperor of Mount Mang, had ordered his followers to spread a false Maitreya faith and start a rebellion when the Yellow River flooded backward into Luoyang.
• The monk explained that Mount Mang’s followers had ordered three thousand paper figures and had captured a Treasure Hunter, while the Luoyang Paper Figure Case had begun by accident.
• Li Yan sent Sha LiFei, Wang Dao Xuan, and Wu Ba to Shaolin to seek help, while he and the others set out for Mount Mang to rescue Zhao the Donkey.

Li Yan and his companions climbed Mount Mang in disguise to search for the Ghost Emperor’s hiding place, but found no clear lead among the countless tombs. A vast Snake Mirage then engulfed them, and an elderly voice warned them not to use their cannon.

• Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan rode toward Shaolin to seek aid while Li Yan’s group remained on Mount Mang to investigate.
• Golden Eye Feng explained that Qingming visitors could provide cover and led Li Yan’s group up the mountain toward the tomb where strange Nuo opera sounds had been heard.
• Li Yan’s group found the suspected tomb already plundered and abandoned, leaving them without a clue to the Ghost Emperor’s location.
• A strange wind brought thick fog and a powerful smell of snakes, and Long Yan’er identified the phenomenon as a Snake Mirage.
• Li Yan drew the Severing Dust Blade and Wu Ba prepared the Tiger Crouching Cannon, but an elderly voice in the fog warned them not to use it.

Li Yan met Yin JiuGe in Mangshan, where the elder revealed the origins of its false underworld and Wang Xuanmo’s Ghost Emperor forces. He learned that Zhao the Donkey was imprisoned in the underground palace and that rescuing the captives might be possible that night.

• Li Yan recognized Yin JiuGe, followed him and his companions into an ancient tomb, and watched him use grains and grave soil to shield them from a passing army of yin soldiers led by a Ghost King.
• Yin JiuGe explained that Xu Fu had used the Sui Marquis' Pearl to create a false underworld on Mangshan and trap the vengeful spirits of the Six States.
• Yin JiuGe revealed that Wang Xuanmo, a former Yin Talisman Sect master, had entered the false underworld and gathered yin soldiers from both the Six States and the massacre at Luoyang.
• Yin JiuGe told Li Yan that Shen SanYou had uncovered something and likely gone to Dongying, while Zhao the Donkey was probably imprisoned in Mangshan’s underground palace.
• Yin JiuGe said Wang Xuanmo was abducting surviving bloodlines of the Six Kingdoms to appease the leaking Snake Mirage and told Li Yan that tonight might be his chance to rescue the captives.

Li Yan and Yin JiuGe entered the Snake Mirage around Northern Wei Jing Mausoleum to rescue the captives and discovered a passage leading to a vast grotto. The Gou Die in Li Yan’s arms began heating up as they reached the underground palace.

• Yin JiuGe identified the nighttime mist as a formation tied to Mangshan’s terrain, the Suihou Pearl Serpent, and the Twenty-Eight Mansions, then entered with Li Yan to rescue the captives.
• Li Yan used the Fengdu Method to summon Marshal Wei and joined Yin JiuGe in approaching Northern Wei Jing Mausoleum under cover of the fog.
• Li Yan and Yin JiuGe avoided paper figures carrying a coffin and learned from Yin JiuGe that a Five Colors Corpse Spider controlled them with iron-tough silk.
• Yin JiuGe led Li Yan through a mist-filled passage that passed through solid rock and opened into a vast grotto beneath the mausoleum.
• Li Yan saw twenty-eight meteorites arranged like the Twenty-Eight Mansions, with a pearl illuminating a serpent-like mass of mist, and felt the Gou Die in his arms heat up.

Li Yan accepted an Underworld Office mission to investigate escaped baleful energy in Xu Fu’s underground palace, while he and Yin JiuGe searched for Zhao the Donkey. Yin JiuGe uncovered the palace’s deadly formation and suspected Zhao was already lost, but after witnessing Wang Xuanmo sacrifice six civilians to quiet the restless Six Palaces, he devised a possible rescue plan.

• Li Yan accepted a mission involving the Demon God Yang Shi’s Coffin Longevity Technique and overheard Judge Cui discussing Erlang Zhenjun and Luo Feng Mountain.
• Li Yan told Yin JiuGe about the mission, and they suspected the Suihou Pearl Serpent was concealing Wang Xuanmo’s presence.
• Yin JiuGe used Tongue and Intent Mystical Powers to identify the underground palace’s formation and concluded that no living person could survive inside it.
• The Six Palaces stirred, and paper figures carried out six unconscious civilians and slaughtered them to suppress the resentful ghosts.
• Yin JiuGe explained that Wang Xuanmo was using the sacrifices to hold the ghosts back and proposed a risky way to rescue Zhao the Donkey if he was still alive.

Li Yan infiltrated the false Luo Feng Mountain to rescue Zhao the Donkey, crossing the Netherworld Passage while Yin JiuGe caused a disturbance to draw away its defenses. After freeing Zhao, Li Yan faced a newly awakened corpse that carried the demonic aura of the escaped Yang Shi.

• Yin JiuGe disrupted the underground palace’s earth veins while Li Yan used Marshal Liu’s power to slip past the Five Colors Corpse Spiders and enter the Netherworld Passage.
• Li Yan crossed the passage during a clash between Wang Xuanmo’s paper figures and the vengeful souls, then identified the Six Palaces and their guards on the far side.
• Li Yan reached an underground palace filled with coffins and Qin figures, where Wang Xuanmo’s paper figures returned to perform a blood sacrifice.
• Li Yan recognized Zhao the Donkey inside a coffin and destroyed the surrounding paper figures with his lightning-empowered Severing Dust Blade before pulling Zhao free.
• As paper figures and coffins blocked the exit, a man in white rose from the Bronze Coffin, and Li Yan sensed the escaped Yang Shi’s demonic aura on him.

Li Yan summoned the Netherworld forces to destroy the paper Yin soldiers and the Old Yin Person, then rescued Zhao the Donkey and Feng FeiYan as the Six Kingdoms Demon Army broke free. Yin JiuGe helped them cross the collapsing Netherworld Road, and they escaped the cave just before Wu Ba brought the underground palace down.

• Li Yan completed the summoning incantation, and the Netherworld General bound the Yin Souls in the paper figures and dragged the demonic energy from the Old Yin Person away.
• Li Yan broke open the Bronze Coffin and fought off the Old Yin Person, while the Netherworld forces seized it; he then took the Bamboo Strips from the coffin.
• Li Yan found Zhao the Donkey wounded beside Feng FeiYan's coffin, freed Feng FeiYan from a paper figure, and lowered her when Zhao pleaded with him.
• Li Yan carried Zhao the Donkey and Feng FeiYan out as the Six Kingdoms Demon Army broke free and the false Underworld began to collapse.
• Yin JiuGe used the Five Sacrifices Suppressing Sha Technique to quiet the Netherworld Road, allowing Li Yan and the others to cross while pursued by Five Colors Corpse Spiders.
• Li Yan and his companions reached the cave entrance, and Wu Ba fired the Tiger Crouching Cannon, causing the underground palace to collapse.

Wu Ba's Tiger Crouching Cannon triggered the collapse of the underground palace at Mount Mang, releasing the Six Kingdoms Demon Army as the Suihou Pearl Serpent fought to suppress it. The resulting blood-red omen caused supernatural disturbances across the region, while Yue SanEr arrived at Dragon Gate Inn as Soul-Reaping Ships surfaced in the Yi River.

• Wu Ba fired the Tiger Crouching Cannon into the underground palace, destroying the pursuing monsters and causing the palace and false Luo Feng Mountain to collapse.
• The Six Kingdoms Demon Army's Evil Omen Qi escaped, and the Suihou Pearl Serpent's formation clashed with it as Li Yan and the others fled.
• A blood-red light rose over Mount Mang, while Shangqing Palace's treasures and elixir furnace suffered damage and its Daoists recognized a Scarlet Omen.
• The City God Temple in Luoyang showed signs of supernatural disturbance, and a Dongying monk stabbed the Daoist temple attendant after the two argued about their plans.
• A Soul-Reaping Ship surfaced in the Yi River near Dragon Gate Inn, and Yue SanEr identified it as a relic of the Yin Talisman Sect.
• More Soul-Reaping Ships surfaced as the sky over Mount Mang turned red, and Madam Pei realized Li Yan and the others were there.

A disturbance at Mang Mountain shook the earth veins and exposed Xu Fu’s plan to use the Six Kingdoms Demon Army and the Suihou Pearl Serpent to draw out the Yu Province Cauldron. As Li Yan’s group faced the consequences, Shangqing Palace surrounded them and prepared to attack.

• At Longmen Grottoes, an old carver’s work was interrupted by the earth-vein disturbance, the Vairocana Buddha’s wrist broke, and the carver revealed that the upheaval had happened ahead of schedule.
• Li Yan and Yin JiuGe investigated the turmoil at Mang Mountain and found that the underground palace connected to the mountain’s earth veins and the central dragon vein.
• Li Yan showed Yin JiuGe the Qin Bamboo Strips, and Golden Eye Feng identified their writing as Golden Crow Script and deciphered Xu Fu’s account of the false underworld and his plan.
• Yin JiuGe concluded that Xu Fu had used the Suihou Pearl Serpent and the Six Kingdoms Demon Army to draw out the Yu Province Cauldron, while Li Yan wondered whether they had disrupted the plan by arriving early.
• An Old Taoist led fifty or sixty Shangqing Palace Daoists in surrounding Li Yan’s group and accusing them of disturbing the imperial tombs; Wu Ba aimed the Tiger Crouching Cannon at them.

Li Yan and the others confronted Shangqing Palace over the disaster at Mount Mang, then joined forces with its Taoists and Xiangshan Temple to investigate the threat tied to the Nine Cauldrons. They discovered that Shangqing Palace’s missing talisman and the damaged Three Purities Hall were part of an ancient suppression arrangement, and learned that painter Lu Mo had also recently repaired the Vairocana Buddha.

• Dan Qingzi accused Li Yan’s group of destroying Jingling, but Madam Pei arrived and explained that the Twelve Yuan Chen were investigating the Paper Figure Case and the Yin Talisman Sect’s soul-collecting boat.
• Yin JiuGe explained the crisis involving the Nine Cauldrons, the Six Kingdoms Demon Army, and the Suihou Pearl Serpent, prompting Shangqing Palace and Xiangshan Temple to cooperate.
• Dan Qingzi admitted Shangqing Palace had removed the All-Heaven Five Thunder Talisman from the Three Purities Hall, and Yin JiuGe led everyone there to inspect the damaged shrine.
• Yin JiuGe found that the Three Purities Hall and its pill furnace were nodes in an ancient arrangement, while Li Yan recognized damaged talismans beneath the caisson’s star painting.
• Dan Qingzi revealed that the hall had been renovated in the early Northern Song and again recently; Golden Eye Feng recalled a record linking its earlier reconstruction to the return of Xuan Mo.
• Li Yan questioned whether the renowned Kong Hui had been involved in the ancient repair, and Dan Qingzi identified the more recent painter as Lu Mo, prompting Master Kuzhu to admit he had hired him to repair the Vairocana Buddha.

As the Maitreya Sect rebellion plunged Luoyang into chaos, Li Yan and his allies searched for and suppressed the corrupted nodes tied to the Netherworld Bureau. They left Luoyang’s City God Temple under Long Yan’er’s protection while other groups worked to repair nodes elsewhere, but Yue SanEr feared the Soul-Reaping Boats still hid a danger.

• The Maitreya Sect rebellion spread through Luoyang as mobs attacked the City God Temple, granary, wealthy homes, prefectural government, and other parts of the city.
• Li Yan and his allies reached Luoyang after finding the Longmen Grottoes node damaged, then investigated the City God Temple and found polluted offerings, Jinxian Zhensha Coins, and Dongying iron plates beneath the divine statue.
• Yin JiuGe performed a rite to stabilize the City God Temple node, and Long Yan’er stayed behind to guard it with Gu worms and Frost Moths that concealed the temple from rioters.
• Dan Qingzi and the Shangqing Palace Daoists used Five Thunder Talismans and the Five Thunder Mantra to suppress a node, while monks at the Longmen Grottoes chanted the Surangama Mantra and repaired the carvings.
• Yue SanEr and the HeLuo Merchant Guild burned the Soul-Reaping Boats with Peach Wood Arrows, but Yue SanEr warned that the Yin Souls aboard were missing.

Li Yan and Yin JiuGe traced the Seven Stars Lock Dragon formation through Luoyang and suppressed several corrupted nodes as riots and fires spread through the city. With Zi Hour approaching, Li Yan headed alone toward the King of Luoyang’s residence, where the final node and Wang Xuanmo’s trap awaited.

• Yin JiuGe connected Shangqing Palace, the Vairocana Buddha, and the City God Temple to reveal the Big Dipper formation and led the group to the burning Luoyang granary.
• Li Yan dispelled the bewitched civilians and fought Maitreya Sect disciples while Lu San’s rats uncovered a buried Tang-era cellar containing Five Grains Corpse Worms and a corrupted Dark Wood tortoise at Kaiyang.
• Lu San used the Zhi Lan Sutra to suppress the Dark Wood and remained behind to guard it as Li Yan’s group moved on.
• At Tianjin Bridge, Li Yan broke the rusted sword beneath the bridge with Yin JiuGe’s Qin Law Sword, dispersing the mist and Walking Corpses, then left Wu Ba to guard the node.
• Yin JiuGe identified the ancient Ming Hall as the Tianquan node and stayed to suppress its Soul-Calling Banner while Li Yan rushed toward the King of Luoyang’s residence before Zi Hour.

As Mangshan’s baleful energy threatened Luoyang, Li Yan fought through Wang Xuanmo’s supernatural defenses and confronted the Mount Mang Ghost Emperor in Gan Yang Hall. Wang Xuanmo revealed that his arrangements were meant to defend against Heaven and said he wanted to enlighten Li Yan about becoming a scapegoat for immortals and gods.

• Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan led Shaolin reinforcements toward Luoyang, while Master Hui Yuan rushed ahead carrying a bronze chest.
• Li Yan entered the Luoyang Prince’s Residence, discovered paper effigies controlled by Five Colors Corpse Spiders, and identified Gan Yang Hall as the site of the formation.
• Li Yan provoked Wang Xuanmo, then used the Body of Thunder and Severing Dust Blade to destroy the paper effigies and Yin soldiers blocking his path.
• Li Yan entered Gan Yang Hall, where the Mount Mang Ghost Emperor, Wang Xuanmo, dismissed the evil creatures outside and faced him directly.
• Wang Xuanmo told Li Yan that his arrangements were meant to defend against Heaven and that he wanted to enlighten him about becoming a substitute scapegoat for immortals and gods.

Li Yan rejected Wang Xuanmo’s offer to help seize the Yu Province Cauldron and fought him in Gan Yang Hall, where a strange formation kept Li Yan from reaching or striking the Ghost Emperor. As Wang Xuanmo unleashed waves of evil creatures and the Dongying monks moved to summon the cauldron, Lu San continued suppressing the earth-vein hub at Hanjia Warehouse.

• Wang Xuanmo told Li Yan that the Great Luo Dharma Realm was a cage, revealed his suspicions about Zhao Changsheng’s plans for the Nine Cauldrons, and offered to establish a ghost kingdom overseas with Li Yan.
• Li Yan feigned interest before attacking Wang Xuanmo, but a formation distorted distance and redirected his gunfire.
• Wang Xuanmo summoned the Five Colors Corpse Spiders, paper effigies, and yin soldiers to overwhelm Li Yan, then howled to signal his allies.
• Dongying monks at a nearby residence heard Wang Xuanmo’s signal and scattered to disrupt the formation and summon the treasure cauldron.
• Lu San used the Orchid and Iris Scripture and repeated plantings to suppress the corrupted Dark Wood Black Tortoise statue while a Dongying monk planted a bomb at Hanjia Warehouse’s passageway.

Lu San and his companions defended the array cores against coordinated attacks by Dongying monks and Maitreya Sect followers. Yin JiuGe defeated the monks at his post with the Five Sacrifices Suppressing Sha Technique, then set out with Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan to rescue Li Yan at the Prince of Luoyang's residence.

• Lu San knocked away a bomb, survived a two-man ambush, and used Falcon Li Dong and the Poisonous Bees to defeat the attackers before returning to stabilize the Dark Wood tortoise statue.
• Wu Ba crushed a Dongying monk and drove the Maitreya Sect followers away from Tianjin Bridge.
• Long Yan'er guarded the City God Temple while the Dongying monks and Maitreya Sect followers fought under the influence of an enchantment.
• Yin JiuGe used the patchwork robe to suppress the Soul-Calling Banner, then shielded Golden Eye Feng from the green lantern's enchantment with the Gate Sacrifice.
• A hidden gunman wounded Yin JiuGe and interrupted his technique, but Sha LiFei killed the gunman while Yin JiuGe destroyed Aoi no Goryo and killed the three Dongying monks with the Kitchen Sacrifice.
• Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan caught the collapsing Yin JiuGe, who told them Li Yan was likely trapped and asked them to help break the formation.

Yin JiuGe identified the palace trap as an Eight Gates of Life and Death Formation while the Yu Province Cauldron neared emergence, and Shaolin monks used the Damo Shadow Wall to suppress the turmoil at Mangshan. In Gan Yang Hall, Li Yan trapped Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo’s attempted escape with the Underworld soldiers and began absorbing their Yin Qi as Wang Xuanmo raised an Earth Official’s Treasure Edict of Atonement.

• Yin JiuGe used Wang Dao Xuan’s Mystic Turtle Shell compass to identify the palace formation and directed the others to destroy its cores in the six eastern and western palaces.
• Master Hui Yuan and the Shaolin monks set up the Damo Shadow Wall at the Northern Wei Imperial Tombs to suppress the Earth Qi surging around the Yu Province Cauldron.
• Li Yan killed the paper-figure puppets and Ghost Ship yin soldiers in Gan Yang Hall, but Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo declared that the Yu Province Cauldron had been hooked up and attempted to flee with the Great Five Ghosts Transporting Technique.
• Sha LiFei destroyed a coffin in one of the palace halls, while the Gou Tablet grew hot and Li Yan summoned the Underworld’s soldiers and horses to stop Wang Xuanmo’s escape.
• Wang Xuanmo used an Earth Official’s Treasure Edict of Atonement to repel the Underworld soldiers, but Li Yan absorbed their Yin Qi and a gigantic black humanoid shadow dropped toward Wang Xuanmo.

Li Yan pursued Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo after Wang escaped his ruined body, but Wang used the Yellow Heaven Five Elements Banner to summon Mangshan’s incense-born emperors and spirits and shake Luoyang’s earth veins. As the Yu Province Cauldron threatened to emerge, Li Yan charged into the black mist to stop him.

• Li Yan killed Wang Xuanmo’s body, discovered that his soul had escaped, and broke open a buried iron box to reveal a Qin Tiger Tally.
• Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei entered the main hall and told Li Yan to suppress the formation while they handled the situation there.
• Li Yan found Wang Xuanmo’s unfinished Earth Immortal’s Body in the palace garden and pursued him toward Mount Mang.
• Wang Xuanmo planted five black flags and summoned a vast black mist filled with incense-bearing figures, causing the earth veins to shake.
• Wang Xuanmo revealed that the figures were emperors, ministers, and folk gods gathered from Mangshan, while Li Yan transformed into a Thunder God and charged into the mist.

Li Yan broke through to Pellet Strength while fighting through Wang Xuanmo’s formation, using the Heavenly Thunder Demon Smashing Fist to defeat him and learn about Jianmu. After destroying Wang Xuanmo’s remnant soul and releasing the folk gods trapped in the ritual flags, Li Yan saw the cauldron-shaped Yin cloud begin to fade.

• Li Yan endured the lightning and the formation’s yin baleful qi as Wang Xuanmo mocked him and continued operating the formation.
• Repeatedly drawing down lightning tempered Li Yan’s body and helped him enter the Martial Arts Pellet Strength realm.
• Li Yan used the Heavenly Thunder Demon Smashing Fist to split the lightning and smash through the formation until he reached Wang Xuanmo.
• Li Yan struck Wang Xuanmo with heavenly lightning, then learned that Jianmu included Kong Hui, Lei Yin, and an unnamed man surnamed Zhao, while Zhao Changsheng had fled to Dongying.
• Wang Xuanmo died, and Li Yan shattered his remnant soul before taking the five ritual flags and releasing the folk gods within them.
• The cauldron-shaped Yin cloud began to fade, and the Shaolin monks on Mount Mang believed the Yu Province Cauldron had been suppressed.

Li Yan and the Mang Mountain gods suppressed the Six Kingdoms Demon Army, causing the Suihou Pearl Serpent to shatter and the Yu Province Cauldron to depart into the earth veins. In the aftermath, Pei Zongti and Bai Chenshan arrived in Luoyang to manage relief and investigate the damage, while Madam Pei chose to keep the Dragon Gate Inn open and wait for Shen SanYou.

• Zen Master Hui Yuan and the Shaolin monks reinforced their formation as the Longmen Grottoes' Vairocana Buddha and Mang Mountain's ordinary gods helped suppress the Yu Province Cauldron.
• Li Yan used the North Emperor God Control Method to witness the gods' intervention, then saw the Suihou Pearl Serpent shatter and the Yu Province Cauldron merge into the earth veins.
• Li Yan glimpsed Erlang Zhenjun Yang Jian on a distant mountain before returning to his body and finding Luoyang's blood-colored sky had cleared and Wang Xuanmo was dead.
• Pei Zongti and Bai Chenshan traveled to Luoyang as imperial commissioners, planning relief, repairs to the Mang Mountain formation, and action against Luoyang's Xuan Gate factions.
• Madam Pei returned to the Dragon Gate Inn, refused to leave Luoyang, and resolved to wait for Shen SanYou after learning he had gone to Dongying.