Recaps

Meng Zhao used Lingwu City’s unrest to expand the Meng Family’s power while the Peach Blossom Scholar maneuvered Wu Huaien into an assassination attempt. Meng Zhao exposed the impostor and confronted Wu Huaien, who then offered to teach him the Ancient Heartless Path as he prepared to strike.

• Meng Zhao revealed to Gu Sinan and Yun Fei that he had staged attacks on his forces to justify expanding in Lingwu City, then agreed to help them target the Yellow Springs Holy Son.
• The Yellow Springs Holy Son declined to join Wu Huaien’s plan to kill Meng Zhao, but the Peach Blossom Scholar persuaded Wu Huaien to pose as the Holy Son’s group during a meeting arranged by Beitang He.
• Meng Zhao absorbed eleven factions as Beitang He used the County King’s Heir’s authority to deter opposition, while the Peach Blossom Scholar secretly arranged the assassination plot.
• At the wilderness meeting, Meng Zhao recognized that the supposed Yellow Springs Holy Son was an impostor and exposed Mad Fist with his attacks.
• Meng Zhao deduced that Wu Huaien and the Peach Blossom Scholar had lured him away from his army to assassinate him, while Beitang He realized the Peach Blossom Scholar had deceived him.
• Wu Huaien broke his shackles and attacked Meng Zhao with the Heartless Method and Worldly Power, but Meng Zhao’s martial aura withstood his pressure.
• Wu Huaien offered to teach Meng Zhao the Ancient Heartless Path, but Meng Zhao distrusted the offer and suspected Wu Huaien intended to catch him off guard.

Meng Zhao defeated Wu Huaien, revealed his Grandmaster strength, and recruited Peach Blossom Scholar and Mad Fist while consolidating his influence in Lingwu City. As the Hell Path sought to rescue Wu Huaien and undermine the Meng Family, Meng Zhao foiled an attack on Flower Valley and began tracing the conspirators.

• Meng Zhao exposed Wu Huaien’s assassination attempt, revealed his Grandmaster strength, and defeated him with his Purple True Dragon manifestation, leaving Wu Huaien crippled but alive.
• Meng Zhao questioned Peach Blossom Scholar and learned that the Heaven Swallowing Dao Child had ordered the plot because Meng Zhao had killed Wei Qi, one of his nine substitutes.
• Peach Blossom Scholar and Mad Fist agreed to work for Meng Zhao, while his victory over Wu Huaien drew martial artists to Lingwu City and helped curb open violence there.
• Gu Sinan and Yun Fei abandoned their plan to recruit Meng Zhao against the Yellow Springs Holy Son and discussed proposing Tan Cai'er as his wife.
• Li Ya'er offered Meng Zhao a marriage alliance with Li Xinglu, but Meng Zhao refused and decided that marrying Tan Cai'er better served his plans for the northern provinces.
• Meng Zhao declined to return to Nan'an and kept Wu Huaien imprisoned to see how the Hell Path would respond, while Hua Zizai urged Envoy Wang to ransom him rather than confront Meng Zhao directly.
• Envoy Wang enlisted the Pudu Cult and other local groups in a rescue attempt at Flower Valley, but Meng Zhao’s forces defeated and captured the attackers.
• Meng Zhao rebuked Night Cat over the security breach, rewarded Yuan Bin for exposing the plot, and learned from Zhou Hu that Envoy Wang had coordinated with the Pudu Cult and Sui Han Sect.

Meng Zhao destroyed the Pudu Cult and Sui Han Sect, then turned the exposed Hell Path collaborators into allies and sent Han Pu to capture the group in Lingwu City. After Han Pu survived Envoy Wang’s sealed attack, Meng Zhao pursued peace with the Hell Path and recruited Wang Ying.

• Meng Zhao’s colossal palms destroyed the Pudu Cult branch and the Sui Han Sect, while the Meng Family persuaded Lingwu City that the sects had brought their ruin upon themselves by aiding Hell Path.
• Zhu Kuan and Tu Liang confessed their families’ involvement to Meng Zhao, surrendered part of their wealth, and revealed the identities and locations of Hell Path agents Envoy Wang and Hua Zizai.
• Han Pu surrounded Hua Manor, where Hua Zizai surrendered, but Envoy Wang fought the forces outside and used a sealed Hell Path technique that summoned the Blood Water Bone Hand.
• Meng Zhao’s Demon Subduing Great Incantation drove the Senluo Ghost Hand from Envoy Wang and saved Han Pu, who returned with Envoy Wang, Hua Zizai, and Wang Ying as captives.
• Meng Zhao asked Hua Zizai to arrange peace talks and demanded that Hell Path stop troubling him and cooperate by sharing intelligence networks in Ji, Liang, and Yan.
• Meng Zhao freed Hua Zizai to deliver the Demon Subduing Great Incantation to the Hell Path Master, while promising to release the Hua Family.
• Meng Zhao learned that Wang Ying possessed a Zhuyuan Body, persuaded her to work for him, and arranged for her to train with Zhou Hu.

Meng Zhao expanded his influence while navigating the Hell Path’s peace talks and the Southern An Meng Family’s troubles. When Seven Star Tower was attacked and the Meng Family was framed, Meng Zhao uncovered signs of a traitor and made finding the missing survivor his priority.

• Meng Zhao pursued peace with Hell Path, and the Hell Path Master accepted talks after experiencing Meng Zhao’s martial will through the Thirty Character Demon Subduing Great Curse.
• Meng Zhao used the upheaval among the Plainclothes Alliance, Pudu Cult, and other factions to strengthen the Meng Family, while the Hell Path’s retaliation against the Southern An Meng Family ended in an obscure agreement.
• Beitang Sheng confronted the Heavenly Demon Lord, then ordered Jian Si to weaken the Meng Family after revealing that Meng Zhao’s identity had once been stolen by a trained double.
• As rebellions spread, Meng Zhao and Beitang Ang expanded the Yangwu Army, and Meng Zhao sent Meng Chuan to negotiate with Seven Star Tower over Meng Yan’s capture.
• Jian Si, Luo Peng, and Zhen Cheng plotted to rescue Meng Yan and frame Meng Zhao, with help from an insider in Seven Star Tower.
• Meng Chuan and Lü Yue found the villagers and Seven Star Tower members slaughtered, with Meng Yan missing and evidence planted to implicate the Meng Family.
• Meng Zhao investigated the attack and concluded that a trusted traitor had helped the attackers destroy Seven Star Tower and frame the Meng Family, so he prioritized finding the missing survivor.