Recaps

Xu Yi used Steward Sun to evade scrutiny, hoping to reach a city and return to the Divine Capital quickly, but Steward Sun’s greed for the Sumeru Ring led him to recognize Xu Yi as the Scar-faced Daoist. Xu Yi broke free of his restraints, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Xu Yi secretly convinced Steward Sun that he was an injured Ministry of Punishment official and urged him to follow the kidnappers to a secluded place.
• Xu Yi decided against hiding in the mountains because he needed to return to the Divine Capital, check on Xia Zimo, and reach a Space Gate.
• Steward Sun revealed that he had been watching from the shadows and chose to steal Xu Yi’s Sumeru Ring instead of helping him.
• Steward Sun inspected the ring and discovered the mountain-like heaps of Sumeru Rings inside it, then recognized Xu Yi as the Scar-faced Daoist.
• Xu Yi snapped the leather cord binding him and freed himself while Steward Sun stared at him in terror.

Xu Yi captured Steward Sun after the steward tried to kill him, then killed him to protect his identity and contacted Lu Shanren for help. Lu Shanren arrived in the city and agreed to help conceal Xu Yi’s connection to the Scar-faced Daoist.

• Xu Yi forced Steward Sun to swear a Blood Oath, destroyed his dantian, and took him into the city as a hostage.
• Steward Sun helped Xu Yi pass through the city gates and led him to a communications office and an inn.
• Xu Yi killed Steward Sun, burned away his yin energy, and waited until night for Lu Shanren to arrive.
• Xu Yi explained that he had contacted Lu Shanren because Lu could recognize him as the Scar-faced Daoist and help disguise his identity.
• Lu Shanren accepted Xu Yi’s explanation that he had acted to repay a debt, then destroyed Steward Sun’s corpse to erase the evidence.

Lu Shanren helped Xu Yi plan how to hide his identity and gave him Blood Coagulating Pills before they returned to the capital. At Futuo Mountain, Yan Zi continued making blood weapons for Zimo Xuan, and Yuan Qinghua arrived to tell her there was no need to rush.

• Lu Shanren warned Xu Yi to change his appearance, conceal his techniques and cultivation, and avoid fighting, then gave him Blood Coagulating Pills to suppress his blood and Qi.
• Xu Yi gave Lu Shanren Mad Lion’s Sumeru Ring, and the two traveled through the Space Gate to the capital.
• Xu Yi and Lu Shanren rode into the capital, handed over their horses, and went their separate ways.
• Yan Zi continued forging blood weapons for Zimo Xuan while sewing a green robe during her rest.
• Yuan Qinghua visited Yan Zi and told her he had not come to collect weapons because Zimo Xuan could manage for now.

Yuan Qinghua persuaded Yan Zi to attend an important commerce gathering, while Xu Yi returned to Green Flat and recovered from his injuries. After visiting Zimo Xuan, Xu Yi learned that the shop was struggling and facing pressure from creditors.

• Yuan Qinghua convinced Yan Zi to represent Zimo Xuan at the Divine Capital Commerce Association gathering and took her down the mountain.
• Xu Yi returned to Green Flat, found the meal Yan Zi had prepared, and confirmed that his injuries had healed.
• Xu Yi reviewed his Sumeru Rings, then fell asleep and dreamed repeatedly of Xia Zimo.
• Xu Yi rode to Zimo Xuan and learned from Shopkeeper Luo that the shop had been buying blood weapons at a loss to keep business going.
• Shopkeeper Luo told Xu Yi that Delong Money House and another group had demanded the shop's account books and questioned its ability to repay its debts.

Xu Yi returned to Zimo Xuan and confronted Zong Er, Delong Money House’s deputy lending head, over the lender’s concerns about the shop’s business and unpaid loan. Xu Yi answered Zong Er’s doubts by producing five genuine Sumeru Rings, leaving him stunned.

• Xu Yi learned that Yan Zi was attending a social gathering with Yuan Qinghua, then followed Shopkeeper Luo to meet Zong Er, who was pressing Zimo Xuan about its loan.
• Zong Er questioned why the shop bought most of its blood weapons from outside suppliers without recording the costs, and Xu Yi explained that it was part of his business strategy.
• Zong Er cited Zimo Xuan’s failure to contribute a rare treasure worth at least one hundred thousand gold to the Merchant Alliance gathering as evidence that the shop might be in trouble.
• Xu Yi said Yuan Qinghua lacked authority to offer the shop’s treasures and claimed he had been away negotiating a major deal.
• Xu Yi placed five Sumeru Rings on the table, and Zong Er confirmed they were genuine and unusually valuable.

Xu Yi used stacks of Five Elements Array Flags to break the restriction on Old Ancestor Wen’s Sumeru Ring. He unlocked the other rings as well and discovered that he had gathered a mountain of treasure.

• Zong Er inspected five exceptional Sumeru Rings and left convinced that Zimo Xuan was a powerful shop.
• Shopkeeper Shen and Shopkeeper Luo gathered more than thirty ordinary Five Elements Array Flag sets for Xu Yi before the exchange meeting.
• Xu Yi repeatedly used the flags to weaken the restriction on Old Ancestor Wen’s bright silver Sumeru Ring.
• Xu Yi combined six sets of flags at a time, used his blood to weaken the ring’s barrier, and finally tore it open.
• Xu Yi used his top-grade flags to break the restrictions on the other Sumeru Rings and claimed their contents.

Xu Yi sorted the spoils from his battles, reorganized his treasures, and arranged for Yuan Qinghua to deliver a Sumeru Ring. As Xu Yi prepared to study his cultivation insights, Brother Li arrived in person to find him.

• Xu Yi counted and sorted the gold, pills, artifacts, cultivation booklets, and other spoils, choosing Old Ancestor Wen's Sumeru Ring as his main ring.
• Xu Yi offered Shopkeeper Luo and Shopkeeper Shen a valuable Sumeru Ring to deliver, and both hesitated to accept the task.
• Yuan Qinghua arrived, took the ring for delivery, and told Xu Yi that he had already sent someone to take Xiao Yan to the arriving guests.
• Xu Yi dismissed Shopkeeper Luo and Shopkeeper Shen and was about to enter the underground chamber when Brother Li came looking for him.
• Xu Yi led Brother Li into a side room and asked why he had come in person instead of sending a message.

Li Xiuluo visited Xu Yi to thank him for killing Old Ancestor Wen and revealed the Ghost Master's plan to raid the Great Yue Royal Court's ancestral tombs. He asked Xu Yi to help obtain a Thousand Machine Formation at the gathering, leaving Xu Yi weighing the costly offer.

• Li Xiuluo knelt before Xu Yi and thanked him for avenging his wife by killing Old Ancestor Wen at Azure Dragon Mountain.
• Li Xiuluo told Xu Yi that the Ghost Master wanted to break into the Great Yue Royal Court's ancestral tombs, where the final three layers of the Undefeated Golden Body might be hidden.
• Li Xiuluo explained that the Ghost Master had planned to use Heavenly Thunder Pearls with Marquis Wu Cheng, but changed course after Marquis Wu Cheng died.
• Li Xiuluo revealed that the Ghost Master wanted the formation flags and manual for the Thousand Machine Formation being offered at the gathering.
• Xu Yi asked the price, and Li Xiuluo said the starting bid was three hundred thousand gold and the final price would likely be higher.

Xu Yi accepted the Ghost Master’s partnership offer and received a Spirit Concealing Pill that changed how others sensed him. Li Xiuluo then revealed that Taiyin Liquid would be sold at the gathering and that the Ghost Master had news of Essence of Earth Fire, while explaining the basics of cultivation toward the Liquid Condensation Realm.

• Xu Yi agreed to cooperate with the Ghost Master, and Li Xiuluo gave him a Spirit Concealing Pill to hide his identity.
• Xu Yi swallowed the pill, circulated his blood and qi as instructed, and saw that his bearing had changed.
• Li Xiuluo told Xu Yi that Taiyin Liquid would be sold at the gathering and explained that the Ghost Master had noticed Xu Yi’s damaged but extraordinary Yin soul.
• Li Xiuluo revealed that the Ghost Master had news of Essence of Earth Fire, but Xu Yi admitted he knew little about cultivation beyond Qi Sea.
• Li Xiuluo explained how malice was used to temper the organs in the Liquid Condensation Realm and introduced Astral Malice as another kind besides Soldier Malice.

Li Xiuluo advised Xu Yi to pursue the Essence of Earth Fire and prepare carefully before attempting to condense astral malice, then gave him a map and invitations to the Divine Capital Merchant Alliance Soiree. At the soiree, Yan Zi met Chen Qingshui, who was surprised to learn she represented Zimo Xuan.

• Li Xiuluo explained the risks of condensing astral malice and urged Xu Yi to consider the Fire Malice of the Five Elements.
• Xu Yi thanked Li Xiuluo, who handed him a map to the Essence of Earth Fire and two invitations to the soiree.
• Xu Yi and Yan Zi arrived at the Hall of Ten Thousand Nations, where Yan Zi was awed by its lavish splendor.
• Chen Qingshui sat with Yan Zi, shared pastries and wine, and introduced herself as a guest whose fiancé had left her alone.
• Chen Qingshui jumped up in surprise when Yan Zi said she was representing Zimo Xuan.

Yan Zi attended the Divine Capital gathering on behalf of Zimo Xuan, where Chen Qingshui befriended her and teased her about her feelings for Xu Yi. The charity auction revealed that merchants were expected to bid on palace keepsakes, leaving Yan Zi to consider the consequences of making no purchase.

• Chen Qingshui asked Yan Zi about Xu Yi and teased her after Yan Zi praised him and blushed.
• Yan Zi went to hear Marquis Anqing speak, then found herself surrounded by men eager to meet her.
• Chen Qingshui pulled Yan Zi from the crowd and accompanied her around the gathering.
• The host opened a charity auction featuring ordinary objects associated with members of the imperial family.
• Chen Qingshui warned Yan Zi that Zimo Xuan could face trouble if it failed to win a bid.

Yan Zi attended the capital’s charity auction with Chen Qingshui, then got caught in a staged dispute over shattered lamps that exposed her connection to Xu Yi. Chen Qingshui revealed herself as Shui Qingchen, the surviving Shui family woman who had escaped Xu Yi before and had now tricked Yan Zi into giving away information.

• Yan Zi spent nearly all her money winning Consort Su Huifei’s silver comb at the charity auction, then stayed with Chen Qingshui to browse the exhibition.
• Yan Zi touched the Hundred Refinements Sect’s nine-dragon glazed lamps, which shattered, and the hawk-nosed exhibitor demanded eight thousand gold in compensation.
• Chen Qingshui offered to lend Yan Zi the money and asked her what poems Xu Yi had been studying, prompting Yan Zi to question her motives.
• Chen Qingshui teased Yan Zi about not seeing Xu Yi lately, and Yan Zi’s reaction revealed that she had not seen her young master in some time.
• Chen Qingshui revealed that she was Shui Qingchen, who had escaped Xu Yi during the raid on the Shui family ancestral home and later entered the Wen household.

Shui Qingchen used Yan Zi’s reaction to confirm her suspicion that Xu Yi was the Scar-faced Daoist. When Xu Yi appeared to rescue Yan Zi, Shui Qingchen recognized him and became convinced of his identity.

• Shui Qingchen recalled how the Wen family’s disasters had ruined her plans and how reports of the Scar-faced Daoist led her to suspect he was Xu Yi.
• At the gathering, Shui Qingchen questioned Yan Zi about Xu Yi and inferred from Yan Zi’s reaction that he had been away for some time.
• Yan Zi tried to leave, but an aquiline-nosed young man blocked her over the broken colored-glass lamp, and Shui Qingchen then stopped her as well.
• Yan Zi struck the aquiline-nosed young man and attacked Shui Qingchen, who caught her arm and moved to destroy her dantian.
• A blue-robed scholar appeared beside Yan Zi, and Shui Qingchen recognized him as Xu Yi and concluded that he was the Scar-faced Daoist.

Xu Yi found Shui Qingchen at the Hall of Ten Thousand Nations and confronted the men who had targeted Yan Zi. When Master Niu tried to extort him and block his way, Xu Yi crushed his foot and continued onward.

• Shui Qingchen recognized Xu Yi and entered the crowd, hoping to exploit his feud with the Wen family.
• Yan Zi warned Xu Yi that Shui Qingchen had deceived and pressured her, and Xu Yi told Yan Zi to relax and enjoy the gathering.
• Xu Yi questioned Haidongqing about Yan Zi’s supposed damage and learned he was demanding an inflated admission fee.
• Master Niu arrived, backed Haidongqing’s demands, and ordered Xu Yi to pay a hundred thousand gold.
• Xu Yi refused to avoid a scene, walked past Master Niu, and crushed the front half of his foot.

Master Niu’s failed attempt to control Xu Yi’s disruption embarrassed Marquis Anqing’s gathering, while Shui Qingchen hurried away to claim her reward and pursue revenge. A lecherous young master intercepted her and took her into a private room.

• Master Niu had the shrieking hawk-nosed young man gagged and dragged away as Marquis Anqing restored order at the gathering.
• Master Niu blamed Xu Yi and the Hundred Refinements Sect, and Marquis Anqing demanded to know who had disrespected him.
• Shui Qingchen hurried through the crowd, hoping to reach the Wen household and claim her reward.
• A brocade-robed young master stopped Shui Qingchen, flirted with her, and led her to a private room.
• The brocade-robed young master shut the door, picked Shui Qingchen up, and tossed her onto the bed.

Li Xiuluo, disguised as Second Young Master Zhu, killed Shui Qingchen after she tried to poison him, while Xu Yi attended Marquis Anqing’s banquet. The chapter ended with Marquis Anqing recognizing Xu Yi as the celebrated poet and welcoming him enthusiastically.

• Shui Qingchen knocked out the brocade-robed young master with poison, but he stabbed her and devoured her blood and soul.
• The brocade-robed young master revealed himself to be Li Xiuluo, disguised as Second Young Master Zhu, and the narration explained that Xu Yi had alerted him to Shui Qingchen.
• Xu Yi learned that Li Xiuluo had dealt with Shui Qingchen, then continued loading his plate with pastries until Master Niu confronted him.
• Xu Yi challenged Master Niu and introduced himself to Marquis Anqing, who recognized him through his famous poems.
• Marquis Anqing grew excited, took Xu Yi by the hand, and praised his arrival at the banquet.

Xu Yi attended Marquis Anqing's gathering, where the marquis punished Master Niu and then left Xu Yi to enjoy the refreshments. As Xu Yi reflected on his worries about Xia Zimo, his cultivation, Qiu Wa, and the Yin Extremity Bead, Yan Zi came to join him after attracting the attention of several young noblemen.

• Marquis Anqing learned that Master Niu had demanded a hundred thousand gold from Xu Yi and ordered him imprisoned for life.
• The guards knocked Master Niu unconscious and dragged him away while Marquis Anqing apologized to Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi declined further conversation with the marquis, ate pastries, and settled down with wine to wait for the auction.
• Xu Yi reflected on Xia Zimo's safety, his cultivation, Qiu Wa's situation, and his promise to return the Yin Extremity Bead to Tianchan Temple.
• Yan Zi approached Xu Yi with several young noblemen following her, and they scattered after Xu Yi called her over.
• Xu Yi teased Yan Zi about her popularity and encouraged her to go out more.

Xu Yi defended Yan Zi from Xiong Fa and his companions, then earned Prince Pu'an Yi's approval. Prince Pu'an Yi asked Yan Zi to become his goddaughter, leaving her to decide whether to accept.

• Xu Yi mocked Xiong Fa for presenting Yan Zi as a treasure, and Yan Zi laughed at Xu Yi's barbs.
• Prince Pu'an Yi arrived and rebuked Xiong Fa for failing to deliver his message.
• Xu Yi greeted Prince Pu'an Yi calmly and challenged Xiong Fa's claim that he had shown disrespect.
• Prince Pu'an Yi ordered Xiong Fa to leave, then praised Xu Yi's backbone.
• Prince Pu'an Yi told Yan Zi she reminded him of his late consort and asked to take her as his goddaughter.

Xu Yi mocked Prince Pu'an Yi for pursuing Yan Zi, prompting the prince to strike him and wreck Marquis Anqing’s gathering. Marquis Anqing intervened, then recognized the injured Xu Yi and rushed to his side, leaving Prince Pu'an Yi’s punishment of him uncertain.

• Prince Pu'an Yi set his sights on Yan Zi, and Xu Yi mocked him by proposing they become kin because Yan Zi was his family’s eldest grandson.
• Prince Pu'an Yi struck Xu Yi with a palm, sending him crashing through tables and display stands while Yan Zi rushed to treat him.
• Marquis Anqing dismissed the guards and challenged Ji Changtian, who apologized for losing his temper but insisted Xu Yi should still be punished.
• Prince Pu'an Yi ordered guards to seize Xu Yi and threatened Yan Zi, but Marquis Anqing suddenly recognized Xu Yi and hurried to catch him.

Marquis Anqing revealed Xu Yi’s identity as the Poet Immortal and Word Sage, turning the gathering’s dispute into a public confrontation. Prince Pu'an Yi and Ye Piaoling challenged Xu Yi’s reputation, while Xu Yi held back and saw an opportunity to profit from the spectacle.

• Marquis Anqing identified Xu Yi as the famous Poet Immortal and Word Sage, and the noblewomen in the hall surged forward to see him.
• Prince Pu'an Yi refused to back down and accused Xu Yi of deceiving the world and stealing a reputation.
• Marquis Anqing defended Xu Yi’s literary works, but Ye Piaoling stepped forward and questioned their authorship and merit.
• Ye Piaoling argued that Xu Yi’s couplet, Jianghu, and Wenqing were unimpressive, and that only Tianya deserved praise.
• Xu Yi stopped Yan Zi from intervening and privately welcomed the commotion as a chance to conceal his strength and earn Crimson Gold Coins.

Ye Piaoling challenged Xu Yi’s literary reputation, and Gu Yunzhen proposed a contest to settle the dispute. Xu Yi agreed to compete but demanded that Prince Pu'an Yi pay for any poems or ci he produced.

• Ye Piaoling criticized Xu Yi’s works and cast doubt on his titles as Poet Immortal and Word Sage.
• Prince Pu'an Yi called Xu Yi a fraud, while Marquis Anqing defended him and demanded a test of their talents.
• Gu Yunzhen revealed himself as the Poet Heart and proposed that Xu Yi compete with the writers gathered in the hall.
• Prince Pu'an Yi endorsed the contest, and Xu Yi agreed after Marquis Anqing asked him to take part.
• Xu Yi told Prince Pu'an Yi that he would compete only if the prince paid for his poems or ci.

Xu Yi baited Prince Pu'an Yi into wagering a million gold coins on a literary contest, with Marquis Anqing backing Xu Yi’s stake. As Gu Yunzhen and Ye Piaoling prepared to face him, Ye Piaoling proposed switching the contest from poems and ci to couplets, leaving Xu Yi to decide whether to accept.

• Xu Yi demanded a million gold coins to compete, then offered to match Prince Pu'an Yi’s stake and wager against him.
• Prince Pu'an Yi accepted the bet and produced a million-gold cashier’s check, while Marquis Anqing agreed to witness and covered Xu Yi’s stake.
• Gu Yunzhen and Ye Piaoling were chosen to compete together against Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi proposed a quick contest in poems or ci, confident in his command of literature and memorized works.
• Ye Piaoling argued that poems and ci were too subjective to judge and challenged Xu Yi to compete in couplets instead.

Xu Yi turned the poetry contest into a challenge of unmatchable couplets and wrote three lines that Ye Piaoling could not answer. Ye Piaoling then presented three famous Jiangbei couplets and dared Xu Yi to answer even one.

• Ye Piaoling proposed that each contestant give three couplets at a time, and Xu Yi agreed to go first.
• Xu Yi recited a strange first line, then wrote it down in exquisite calligraphy as “Smoke skirts the lovely eaves; smoke swallows watch with bright eyes!”
• Xu Yi wrote two more difficult couplets, leaving Ye Piaoling drenched in sweat and unable to answer.
• Prince Pu'an Yi urged Ye Piaoling to continue, and Ye Piaoling regained his resolve and wrote three couplets devised by Jiangbei scholars.
• Ye Piaoling challenged Xu Yi to answer any one of his three couplets, promising to concede if Xu Yi succeeded.

Xu Yi defeated Ye Piaoling by solving an allegedly unsolvable couplet, then accepted Gu Yunzhen’s poetry challenge. After Yan Zi painted a dusk fishing scene, Xu Yi’s poem made Gu concede and leave in despair, while Prince Pu'an Yi seethed.

• Xu Yi matched Ye Piaoling’s couplet with “Smoke locks the willows by the pond,” earning the hall’s praise and forcing Ye to concede defeat.
• Marquis Anqing urged Xu Yi to solve five more couplets, but Xu said he had no answers and suggested other scholars would solve them.
• Gu Yunzhen conceded Xu’s reputation but insisted on competing through poems inspired by a painting Yan Zi would create.
• Encouraged by Xu Yi, Yan Zi painted a scene of a fishing boat returning at dusk.
• Xu Yi wrote a regulated poem inspired by the painting, and Gu Yunzhen dropped his brush, praised Xu, and staggered out of the hall.
• Prince Pu'an Yi seethed as both challengers left him defeated.

Xu Yi won the poetry contest with a verse that worked in both directions, collected a million gold coins, and escaped the frenzied crowd with Yan Zi. After resting, he entered the auction in disguise and was led toward another passageway.

• A young scholar praised Xu Yi's poem but said it fell short of a peerless work, prompting Prince Pu'an Yi to accuse Xu Yi of conspiring against him.
• Yan Zi urged everyone to read the poem backward, and the crowd marveled as Xu Yi's verse formed another beautiful scene.
• Xu Yi thanked Prince Pu'an Yi for yielding, and Marquis Anqing gave him the million gold coins; guests tore the poem sheets apart to keep the fragments.
• Xu Yi took Yan Zi away from the chaotic hall, rented a quiet room, and persuaded her to return to Futuo Mountain.
• Xu Yi slept until the auction was about to begin, then disguised himself and followed a maid through the auction's hidden rooms and passageways.