Recaps

Li Yan reached Zhangqiu Town with the imperial court’s help and arranged for Zhao the Donkey and Feng FeiYan to find safer lives at Qiankun Academy. Zhao then revealed that he had encountered a white-robed Daoist and Qin-dressed Yin soldiers in the Qinling Mountains, leaving Li Yan alarmed by their connection to the Qin King's Undying Palace and Xu Fu.

• Chen San welcomed Li Yan’s group to Zhangqiu Town and reported the court’s investigation into the Jianmu organization and the escaped Japanese monks.
• Li Yan visited the recovering Zhao the Donkey and Feng FeiYan, and Zhao explained why he had left Guanzhong and broken his sect’s taboos.
• Zhao recounted finding his father’s marks in the Qinling Mountains, encountering a white-robed Daoist, and being wounded while escaping Yin soldiers.
• Li Yan offered Zhao a teaching position at Qiankun Academy, and Zhao accepted after Feng FeiYan urged him to agree.
• Zhao recalled that the Yin soldiers looked like Qin soldiers and that the Daoist had called out to his master Xu Fu, prompting Li Yan to suspect a connection to the Qin King's Undying Palace.

Li Yan studied the Yellow Heaven Five Elements Banner and tried to awaken the Bronze Nuo Mask by visualizing the Great Luo Dharma Realm. The mask connected him to Erlang Zhenjun Yang Jian, who led him through the netherworld and showed him Luo Feng Mountain, giving him a clearer basis for practicing the Fengdu Method.

• Li Yan considered how Jianmu, the Nine Cauldrons, and the Netherworld Sect might be connected, then joined the Chen residence’s lavish banquet with his companions.
• Li Yan examined Wang Xuanmo’s Yellow Heaven Five Elements Banner and concluded that the Five Directions Fengdu Banner could use it as a vessel, though he still lacked the five Celestial Decrees it required.
• Li Yan recalled the Great Luo Dharma Realm while holding the Bronze Nuo Mask, causing it to fill with Malevolent Qi and frost.
• Li Yan wore the mask and visualized the Great Luo Dharma Realm, which drew him into a vision where he found Erlang Zhenjun Yang Jian.
• Yang Jian led Li Yan past the Yellow Springs and the Netherworld Bureau, then showed him Luo Feng Mountain and signaled that he should use it as a basis for meditation.

Li Yan returned from viewing Luo Feng Mountain in the Great Luo Dharma Realm, healed from the damage and secluded himself to improve his Fengdu Method. While he meditated, Sha LiFei and the others visited the bustling Jingyang Gang fair, where hunters warned that a Tiger Demon had appeared on the mountain.

• Li Yan memorized the true layout of Luo Feng Mountain, the Iron Encirclement Mountain, the Yin Locust Forest, and the Luo Feng Six Palaces before the vision ended and injured him.
• Li Yan healed with his Great Luo Dharma Body and entered meditation to refine his visualization method using what he had seen.
• Wang Dao Xuan stayed behind to protect Li Yan while Sha LiFei, Wu Ba, Long Yan'er, Zhao the Donkey, and Cao Gang disciples went to explore Zhangqiu Town.
• The group searched Zhangqiu Town's streets for Heavenly Spiritual Treasures but found nothing promising, then learned that Jingyang Gang was holding a grand fair.
• At the fair, Sha LiFei and the others watched performers and storytellers until bloodied hunters rushed down from the mountain and announced that a Tiger Demon had appeared.

Sha LiFei and his companions calmed a panicked market after hunters reported a Tiger Demon, then agreed to investigate in exchange for a treasure Zhao the Donkey found at the Jingyang Gang Inn. The treasure turned out to be an Everlasting Lamp from a tomb, which Zhao said had been placed to curse Shi Heilong; the chapter ended with him asking whether Shi Heilong had been dreaming strangely.

• Hunters fleeing the mountain triggered panic at the market, and Long Yan'er used her Gu Arts to stop the crowd until Sha LiFei and Shi Heilong's men intervened.
• Shi Heilong and Sha LiFei cleared up their misunderstanding, and the hunters described a strange creature near Old Pine Slope and the Mass Burial Grounds.
• Shi Heilong asked the Twelve Yuan Chen to deal with the Tiger Demon, but the group initially prepared to leave when he balked at their thirty-thousand-tael fee.
• Zhao the Donkey spotted something valuable at the inn and persuaded Sha LiFei to accept an item from Shi Heilong in exchange for handling the danger.
• Zhao the Donkey used a calico cat to locate an old bronze candlestick on a roof beam and identified it as an Everlasting Lamp from a tomb placed there to curse Shi Heilong.

Wang Dao Xuan and his companions investigated the Tiger Demon’s trail on Jingyang Gang and discovered it had dug into Wu Song Temple to steal something hidden inside the statue. County records revealed that the temple’s missing treasure was a surviving fragment of Xu Fu’s Bamboo Strips.

• Wang Dao Xuan dispelled the harmful arrangement on the Jingyang Gang Inn’s roof beam and agreed to investigate the Tiger Demon, while warning Shi Heilong to find out who was targeting him.
• Wang Dao Xuan’s group found frozen tiger paw prints and dead ants, which showed that the Tiger Demon could use Netherworld Spirit Travel.
• Long Yan’er led the group to Wu Song Temple, where they found a fresh hole behind the statue and yellow fur around the bricks.
• Wang Dao Xuan’s group learned that the Tiger Demon had dug into the statue and removed something hidden inside it, but they could not track its scent.
• Wang Dao Xuan and his companions consulted Yanggu County’s building records, which identified the missing temple treasure as a surviving fragment of Xu Fu’s Bamboo Strips.

Wang Dao Xuan and the others investigated the Tiger Demon's attack on Bao Hua Book Company, recovered Xu Fu's Seeking Immortality Chapters, and set a trap for the demon. Li Yan woke in time to join the ambush, but the Tiger Demon did not appear, and Chen San returned with information about Kong Hui.

• Wang Dao Xuan learned that Bao Hua Book Company belonged to the Meng family, but a Cao Gang disciple reported that the company was burning and several Meng family members had died.
• Uncle Fu ordered the Cao Gang to help extinguish the fire, and Sha LiFei identified stone fire oil as the cause.
• Wang Dao Xuan summoned the Meng master's Yin Soul, which led Sha LiFei and Wu Ba to a hidden iron box containing Xu Fu's Seeking Immortality Chapters.
• Wang Dao Xuan concluded that someone in town was aiding the Tiger Demon and arranged a trap at the Chen residence.
• Li Yan finished stabilizing his visualization space, woke from meditation, and joined the ambush after Lu San explained what had happened.
• The Tiger Demon failed to appear by Zi Hour, and Chen San returned with information about the Rotten Document Mister, Kong Hui.

Li Yan questioned Kong Shangzhao about Kong Hui and agreed to help him escape to the capital, then the group discovered that intruders were attacking Chen's residence to steal the Bamboo Strips of Xu Fu. Li Yan and his allies captured the attackers, and Chen San recognized one of them as Yang Lao Hai from Wuqiao.

• Kong Shangzhao described Kong Hui's suspected ties to the Ghost Sect and the Golden Horde Wolf Country, while revealing his own feud with the Yansheng Duke's family.
• Kong Zhenshan offered Li Yan thirty thousand taels to escort Kong Shangzhao to the capital, and Li Yan agreed while asking about Kong Hui's later whereabouts.
• Rat One alerted the group to an attack, and Li Yan recognized the apparent tiger in the woods as an illusion created by an old man with a puppet.
• Wu Ba captured the old man as Li Yan intercepted three youths emerging from a drainage channel and stopped their firebombs from exploding.
• Long Yan'er subdued the three youths with Gu Arts, and the group captured all the intruders before Chen San recognized one as Yang Lao Hai from Wuqiao.

Li Yan and the others uncovered how Yang Lao Hai’s troupe had been coerced into crime through opium addiction and discovered that a spy in the Chen residence had exposed their investigation. The temple keeper fled before they could catch him, and the group left by ship for Tianjin, where the people behind Yang Lao Hai’s troubles were said to be, stopping at Linqing City on the way.

• Chen San identified Yang Lao Hai’s group as an Acrobatic Troupe from Wuqiao, and the troupe’s disciples revealed they had been forced into crimes by people who controlled their opium supply.
• Kong Shangzhao recognized the opium as Mi Nang Flower and recounted its history and its rumored use in making Netherworld Incense and ghost soldiers.
• Yang Lao Hai identified a spy in the Chen residence, but the gardener tried to flee and named the temple keeper at Ren Fengzi Temple as the person who had paid him.
• Li Yan reached Ren Fengzi Temple ahead of Chen San’s men and found it burning, while the suspects had escaped toward the canal.
• Li Yan ordered Chen San to report the opium case and investigate people from Dongying and the Red Haired Foreigners; the group then sailed toward Tianjin and arrived at Linqing City the next day.

Li Yan and his companions reached Linqing, where corrupt tax clerks searched their ship before they entered the bustling city for the night. On the streets, they encountered martial artists fighting over territory, and Li Yan recognized Courtesan Zhao WanFang watching from an upstairs window.

• Li Yan agreed to wait overnight while the Cao Gang arranged passage through Linqing Customs.
• Tax clerks tried to search the grain ship, but Long Yan'er used her Gu worms to make them forget Lu San's confrontation, and the Cao Gang paid off the elderly clerk.
• Li Yan and his companions went ashore and traveled through Linqing's crowded streets toward the city.
• Yuan Heng and Tian Fan fought over territory until a white-robed scholar intervened and recognized Kong Shangzhao as his junior brother.
• The scholar mentioned Kong Shangzhao's conflict with Monk Shangqing, and Li Yan stepped in beside Kong Shangzhao.
• Courtesan Zhao WanFang greeted Li Yan from an upstairs window.

Li Yan reunited with Zhao Wan Fang in Linqing City, where she explained the Golden Swallow Gate’s interest in Qiankun Academy and offered to arrange introductions in Chang'an. After he left, Zhao Wan Fang turned to investigating the rising unrest around Eunuch Ma, while Wang Dao Xuan announced that he had deciphered Xu Fu’s letter.

• Zhao Wan Fang introduced Li Yan to the Twelve Yuan Chen, prompting Ming and the two fighters to leave in embarrassment.
• Li Yan joined Zhao Wan Fang at Drunken River Pavilion, where she treated him to a feast prepared by the Vegetable General.
• Zhao Wan Fang told Li Yan that Qiankun Academy had become a focus of court politics because the emperor wanted to compete with foreign powers and their new technology.
• Zhao Wan Fang offered to arrange introductions for Li Yan in Chang'an on behalf of the Golden Swallow Gate, and he accepted.
• After Li Yan departed, Zhao Wan Fang ordered Uncle Liu to gather intelligence on the brewing turmoil in Linqing City.
• Wang Dao Xuan told Li Yan and Kong Shangzhao that he had deciphered Xu Fu’s posthumous letter about the path to immortality.

Kong Shangzhao deciphered part of Xu Fu’s Seeking Immortality Chapters, revealing a scheme to build a Nine Extremes Ascension-to-Immortality Formation, while Li Yan’s group guarded the text and left Linqing. As unrest against Eunuch Ma’s abuses gathered in the city, Zhao Wan Fang sent intelligence to the capital, and the group reached Cangzhou by canal.

• Kong Shangzhao explained that the bamboo strips used the Great Void Script and translated a passage describing Xu Fu’s plan to establish a Nine Extremes Ascension-to-Immortality Formation at nine locations.
• Li Yan asked Kong Shangzhao to continue deciphering the text and keep the matter secret, while the group set precautions around their courtyard and guarded the Seeking Immortality Chapters.
• Li Yan refused a Cao Gang disciple’s offer to tour Linqing, and he and Wang Dao Xuan warned the others not to get involved in trouble in the city.
• Eunuch Ma ordered harsher levies as merchants and artisans suffered under his extortion; Zhang Mingyuan called the guilds together, while Wang Chaozuo ordered weapons forged.
• Zhao Wan Fang reviewed reports of growing resistance against Eunuch Ma and sent the intelligence toward the capital before Li Yan’s party departed Linqing by ship.
• Several days later, Li Yan and his companions arrived at Cangzhou and saw the Iron Lion beside the river.

Li Yan and his companions reached Cangzhou, where they witnessed the hardship of dock workers and learned that unrest had erupted at Linqing Pass. They met Wu Zhong, who tested Wu Ba’s strength before revealing that Wu Qu had been killed.

• Li Yan broke an overseer’s whip with a pebble to stop him from striking an old porter, but the porter died from exhaustion.
• Li Yan and his companions visited South River Pavilion while waiting for the Wu family to respond to their Visiting Card.
• A Cao Gang disciple reported that merchants and the Porters Guild had attacked the Tax Commissioner’s office at Linqing Pass, and Li Yan suspected the news had been deliberately concealed.
• Wu Zhong arrived with a child resembling Wu Qu and said he had come to test whether Wu Ba deserved to learn the Wu family’s secret art.
• Wu Ba blocked Wu Zhong’s punch, and Wu Zhong praised his physical potential before revealing that Wu Qu had been killed.

Li Yan and his companions investigated Wu Qu’s unexplained death, learned that betrayal may have led to his demise, and vowed to avenge him. They reached Jinmen to search for clues among the scattered members of the Yellow Springs Organization, where a man suddenly collapsed in a strange fit at the dock.

• Wu Zhong told Li Yan that Wu Qu had died without wounds or detectable traces, and Li Yan concluded that someone had destroyed his soul.
• Li Yan knocked Wu Ba unconscious when grief and rage threatened to overwhelm him, then learned more about Wu Qu’s ties to the Yellow Springs Organization.
• Li Yan gave Wu Qu’s son, Wu Anji, a protective Four Spirits Coin and promised to help him if he ever faced trouble.
• Wang Dao Xuan’s divination suggested Wu Qu had died in a deadly predicament after being betrayed by someone he trusted, but the group found no clear lead.
• Li Yan refused Wu Zhong’s offer to join the search, promising to pursue Wu Qu’s killer while Wu Zhong stayed to protect Wu Anji.
• Li Yan and his companions arrived at Jinmen, saw the dock’s corrupt tax dealings and foreign merchant ships, then watched two men drag a convulsing stranger into a teahouse.

Li Yan and his companions entered Jinmen, where they discovered the Jinghai Gang was openly selling the addictive Fushou Paste with apparent protection from the Marines. They settled at the Jin Prefecture Guild Hall and began searching for signs of the Yellow Springs Organization, but the Gou Ledger suddenly warmed as they arrived.

• Li Yan's group saw Jinghai Gang men smoking Fushou Paste at a dockside stall, and a Marines' Banner Officer arrested them while ignoring Li Yan and his companions.
• A flatbread seller told Li Yan that the Jinghai Gang sold Fushou Paste and that people had died from smoking it; Long Yan'er identified the sample as an ordinary variety related to a more potent substance they had seen before.
• Li Yan led the group into Jinmen and hired Liang Biaozi to find households marked with the Yellow Springs Organization's symbol and linked to elderly people or people who had returned from the dead.
• Li Yan showed his Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild token to gain lodging at the Jin Prefecture Guild Hall, then asked Liang Biaozi to investigate while the manager welcomed the group inside.
• The Gou Ledger began to grow faintly warm as Li Yan entered the guild hall.

Li Yan discovered an unidentified Yin criminal connected to the foreign merchant Mendes and began investigating him in Jinmen. As Falcon Li Dong tracked Mendes to the Hai River Naval Camp and Liang Biaozi found a household bearing Li Yan’s symbol holding a funeral, Li Yan’s suspicions about a wider plot grew.

• Li Yan found a Black Well mission at the Jin Prefecture Guild Hall, and Judge Cui ordered him to investigate the unidentified Yin criminal for a doubled reward.
• Li Yan identified Mendes, a Portuguese maritime merchant, as the source of the Yin criminal’s aura and assigned his companions to watch him and gather intelligence.
• Kong Shangzhao gave Li Yan translated passages describing the First Emperor’s plan for a Nine Extremes Ascension to Immortality Array, which Li Yan resolved to report to the Mystic Sacrificial Official.
• Falcon Li Dong tracked Mendes to the Hai River Naval Camp, and Li Yan suspected his dealings might be connected to opium entering Jinmen.
• Liang Biaozi arrived and told Li Yan he had found a household marked with Li Yan’s symbol that was holding a funeral.

Li Yan investigated the Wang family’s suspicious funeral and learned that their resurrected patriarch had used a mystical power to amass wealth before becoming a living corpse. After the Jinghai Gang extorted the family, Li Yan discovered that a sorcerer named Zhou had set a trap for the Yellow Springs Organization and sent a letter to someone surnamed Wu in Cangzhou.

• Li Yan followed Liang Biaozi to the Wang residence and confirmed that the Yellow Springs Organization’s mark was drawn on a tree outside it.
• Li Yan observed the Wang family’s funeral and recognized signs that the coffin held a living corpse.
• Three Jinghai Gang ruffians broke into the residence, extorted silver from the Wang family, and threatened to return.
• Li Yan confronted the Wang family and learned that their resurrected patriarch had awakened the Intent Mystical Power and found valuables in shipwrecks through fish.
• The Wang family revealed that Mister Zhou had taught them to preserve the patriarch’s body, marked their gate, and used their home as part of a trap for the Yellow Springs Organization.
• Li Yan learned that Mister Zhou had forced a fortune-teller to write a letter to someone surnamed Wu in Cangzhou.

Li Yan tracked the street toughs to Cui Xi Hall and learned that Yu Wenhai of the Jinghai Gang had arranged Wu Qu’s capture and death. After killing the toughs and rampaging through the brothel, Li Yan killed Master Lu, evaded a volley of musket fire, and disappeared into the darkness.

• Li Yan followed the three street toughs to Cui Xi Hall and confirmed that the Jinghai Gang was spreading Fushou Paste with powerful allies possibly involved.
• Li Yan subdued Master Wu with the Soul Hooking Chain and forced him to reveal that Yu Wenhai had orchestrated the trap that led to Wu Qu’s death.
• Li Yan killed Master Wu and the other two toughs, then attacked the brothel’s customers and hired thugs, setting rooms ablaze.
• A one-eyed strongman named Master Lu confronted Li Yan, but Li Yan severed his leg with Severing Dust Blade.
• Three men fired muskets at Li Yan, who killed Master Lu with a Soul Severing Throwing Knife and vanished into the darkness.

After Li Yan’s attack on Cui Xi Hall, the Jinghai Gang investigated the fire and began searching for him, while Li Yan met Tian Chiliarch in Jinmen and learned the gang was backed by Prince Ying’s Estate. The chapter left Li Yan facing the possibility that powerful political and religious forces were entangled with the Jianmu organization.

• The Jinghai Gang subdued the chaos at Cui Xi Hall, and Third Master Chen Yu Wenhai ordered a search for Li Yan while forbidding contact with him.
• Jinghai Gang members discussed Li Yan’s attack, and Yu Wenhai rejected calls to act rashly against him.
• Li Yan met Tian Chiliarch at an eatery near the Jade Emperor Pavilion and heard that Zhao Changsheng’s forces had ambushed the Commandery Commandant Office in Jiangnan.
• Li Yan told Tian Chiliarch that a Jianmu base was operating in Jinmen, and Tian explained that the Jinghai Gang was protected by Prince Ying’s Estate.
• Tian Chiliarch revealed that former Jinghai Gang leader Lu Jinghai had left the gang’s affairs and was cultivating at the Jade Emperor Pavilion.

Li Yan learned that Fushou Paste might be part of the Red Haired Foreigners’ wider scheme, and Tian Chiliarch left for the capital to warn the emperor. As Li Yan investigated Jinmen’s factions, Zhang Tiankui’s men surrounded the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild and demanded that it hand Li Yan over.

• Li Yan rejected Tian Chiliarch’s advice to limit his revenge, explaining that Fushou Paste could devastate the Great Xuan Dynasty and that Red Haired Foreigners might be behind its spread.
• Tian Chiliarch agreed to report the foreigners’ activities and Fushou Paste to the emperor, then gave Li Yan an imperial warrant and left Centurion Wang to assist him.
• Centurion Wang explained how Jinmen’s military, merchant families, Jinghai Gang, Marines, and foreign traders were connected, including the rivalry between Zhang Tiankui and Yu Wenhai.
• Falcon Li Dong brought Li Yan a message, and Li Yan realized that his whereabouts had been exposed and that his enemies had come for him.
• Zhang Tiankui’s Hai River Vajras built a wrestling ring outside the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild and demanded that the guild surrender Li Yan.
• When the guild manager refused, Zhang Tiankui’s men boiled foul mixed leftovers and splashed the stinking porridge across the guild’s gates, taunting Li Yan.

Li Yan and the Twelve Yuan Chen confronted Zhang Tiankui after he harassed the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild Hall, and Wu Ba fought him in a brutal duel. Li Yan stopped Wu Ba from killing Zhang and hinted that Lu Jinghai and Yu Wenhai were doomed, leaving Zhang’s future position uncertain.

• Li Yan returned to find Zhang Tiankui’s gang harassing the guild hall, and he secretly signaled the Twelve Yuan Chen with their cash coins.
• Wu Ba descended to challenge Zhang Tiankui and initially gained the upper hand through his powerful Eight Extremes techniques.
• Zhang Tiankui drank perilla wine to invite a deity, strengthening himself and battling Wu Ba with Malevolent Qi.
• Wu Ba broke Zhang Tiankui’s Inviting the Gods technique and defeated him after Zhang attacked with a ritual copper ring.
• Li Yan calmed Wu Ba, helped Zhang to his feet with the Undying Imprint Method, and told him that Lu Jinghai and Yu Wenhai were doomed.

Li Yan defeated Zhang Tiankui’s men and urged him to take control of the Jinghai Gang before Yu Wenhai could cause chaos. Zhang Tiankui went to seek Lu Jinghai’s help, but Lu Jinghai attacked him and revealed his inhuman transformation as masked assailants slaughtered Zhang’s followers.

• Li Yan subdued Zhang Tiankui, while Wu Ba, Lu San, and Sha LiFei defeated more than a hundred Jinghai Gang wrestlers without killing them.
• Li Yan and Wang Baihu told Zhang Tiankui that Yu Wenhai’s schemes involving Fushou Paste and the Nine Cauldrons threatened the Jinghai Gang, and they urged him to seize control and prevent unrest.
• Zhang Tiankui rejected their plan and left to find his adoptive father, Lu Jinghai; Li Yan sent Wang Baihu to mobilize trusted officials and the Jinmen garrison.
• At the Jade Emperor Pavilion, Zhang Tiankui told Lu Jinghai about Yu Wenhai’s alleged treachery and asked him to take charge.
• Lu Jinghai pretended to agree, then attacked Zhang Tiankui with a blackwood thorn and red smoke as masked assailants descended and killed Zhang’s subordinates.

Li Yan uncovered Lu Jinghai’s betrayal and learned that Kong Zizai had taught him the Evil Serpent Immortality Art and that Yu Wenhai was Kong Zizai’s disciple. After Lu Jinghai died, Li Yan and his allies rushed to the docks to capture Kong Hui, where the ship Tulip aimed its cannons at them.

• Lu Jinghai poisoned Zhang Tiankui and admitted he had approved the plot against the Nine Cauldrons, while Li Yan and Lu San killed many of the Dongying attackers.
• Li Yan exposed Lu Jinghai’s Evil Serpent Immortality Art, and Zhang Tiankui threw him into the sunlight, breaking the art.
• Lu Jinghai revealed that Kong Zizai taught him the secret art, that Yu Wenhai was Kong Zizai’s disciple, and that their connection involved the capital’s Pan Peach Gathering before he died.
• Li Yan ordered his allies to arrest Yu Wenhai and capture Kong Hui, then led them toward the docks as Sha LiFei shot through Jinghai Gang thugs blocking their way.
• Li Yan recognized the Tulip at the docks, sensed danger, and ordered everyone to spread out as the ship’s cannons aimed at them.

The Tulip revealed itself as a pirate warship and devastated Sancha River Mouth with cannon fire. Li Yan and his companions fought back, and Li Yan reached the ship’s ritual chamber, where he confronted Mendes as he called on Barbatos.

• The Tulip opened its disguised gun ports and bombarded Sancha River Mouth, killing civilians and soldiers and setting the dock ablaze.
• Zhou Kang realized that his lax inspections had allowed the Tulip to conceal its cannons, but he panicked as the attack continued.
• Li Yan ordered Wu Ba to cover him, and Wu Ba’s Tiger Crouching Cannon punched a hole through the Tulip’s hull.
• Li Yan used Profound Water Escape to reach the ship underwater, where he fought off Huashe creatures and encountered a swarm of fish, snakes, and a Water Monkey.
• Lu San released poisonous bees while Long Yan'er unleashed Sesame Gu, and Sha LiFei and Wu Ba pressed toward the riverbank.
• Li Yan broke into the Tulip’s cabin and found Mendes kneeling before a ritual array, where Mendes called out to Barbatos.

Li Yan stopped Mendes’s ritual aboard the Tulip, but the sorcerer’s death released black smoke that possessed pirates before the Yin Office captured the foreign demon. The search uncovered Fushou Paste, dead captives, and letters, while Kong Hui and Yu Wenhai escaped to Tongzhou and set new schemes in motion; the chapter ended with Li Yan and his allies studying documents about Barbatos and Solomon’s seventy-two demon gods.

• Li Yan severed Mendes’s hands, then shot him when the sorcerer suffered a backlash and began releasing a foreign demon’s power.
• Black smoke escaped Mendes’s corpse and possessed several pirates, but Li Yan summoned the Yin Office troops, who captured the demon.
• Li Yan told Lu San, Sha LiFei, and the others that Kong Hui and Yu Wenhai were not aboard the Tulip, then ordered them to search for clues and track the fugitives.
• The group found crates of Fushou Paste, dead martial artists, and concealed letters aboard the damaged Tulip, while Falcon Li Dong failed to find the escaping enemies.
• In Tongzhou, Kong Hui explained to Yu Wenhai that they would shift blame onto the Red-Haired Foreigners and use the crisis to stir conflict at court before they slipped past the troops and left.
• Tian Chiliarch reported the arrests and aftermath in Jinmen, while Li Yan and his allies examined translated documents linking Mendes’s occult arts to Barbatos and Solomon’s seventy-two demon gods.

Li Yan uncovered Mendes's foreign demon-summoning network and overheard a dispute among powers in the Great Luo Dharma Realm about their interference in the mortal world. Before leaving Jinmen for Tongzhou, he reunited with Hei Dan and received an imperial edict for his grandfather that pointed toward Zhao Qingxu in the capital.

• Kong Shangzhao translated Mendes's records, revealing the Canaan Blood Covenant's demon-summoning rites, its smuggling ties with Kong Zizai and Yu Wenhai, and the pirate leader Zhao Changsheng's plans.
• Tian Chiliarch took the intelligence to report to the capital, while Kong Shangzhao agreed to finish the Seeking Immortality Chapters before returning to his father.
• Li Yan recorded the foreign demons' origins at the Black Well and overheard Great Luo Dharma Realm figures arguing about the Heavenly Laws and interference in the mortal world.
• Li Yan and his companions prepared to leave Jinmen, but Hei Dan arrived with an imperial edict granting Li Yan's grandfather, Li Gui, his retirement and reward.
• Hei Dan told Li Yan that a Daoist had delivered the edict and was waiting in the capital; Li Yan connected the message to Zhao Qingxu and arranged for Hei Dan to open a shop before departing by ship.