Recaps

Chong Yingluan hurried toward his uncle Chong Houhu, worried about confronting him and uncertain whether his father's Buddhist prayer beads would help. Meanwhile, Shen Gongbao avoided going straight to Chaoge to confront Jiang Shang and captured a fleeing Fierce Beast, bringing him into conflict with the people pursuing it.

• Chong Yingluan rode toward Chong Houhu while weighing how to lure him out and wondering about the prayer beads his father had given him.
• Shen Gongbao decided he could not safely go to Chaoge to confront Jiang Shang and began searching for another solution.
• After hearing a fight nearby, Shen Gongbao set a formation in the mountains and waited for the fleeing Fierce Beast to arrive.
• Shen Gongbao trapped the Fierce Beast in his formation and bound it with a magic treasure.
• The fierce general leading the pursuing crowd accused Shen Gongbao of stealing their prey, and Shen Gongbao introduced himself.

Shen Gongbao sought a post in Chong Houhu’s service and persuaded the Marquis of the North to keep him as an adviser. After warning Chong Houhu of danger ahead, he was interrupted by news that Chong Yingluan had arrived with urgent information.

• Chong Houhu’s soldiers surrounded Shen Gongbao when he appeared, but Chong Houhu questioned him about his purpose.
• Shen Gongbao declared that he was a Chan Sect Outer Disciple who had come to pledge allegiance and help Chong Houhu subdue the Northern Lands.
• Chong Houhu threatened Shen Gongbao, then appointed him as an adviser and promised him a chance to prove his ability.
• Shen Gongbao remained composed as Chong Houhu tested and insulted him, earning the Marquis’s trust.
• Shen Gongbao sensed danger ahead and urged Chong Houhu not to proceed, but an attendant announced that Chong Yingluan had arrived with urgent news.

Chong Houhu received an urgent message from Chong Yingluan and set out to meet him despite Shen Gongbao’s warnings that the report could be a trap. Shen Gongbao was left under guard as Chong Houhu went alone, while a hidden threat loomed over the northern army.

• A personal attendant told Chong Houhu that Chong Yingluan had an urgent matter concerning the northern army’s safety.
• Chong Houhu prepared to go meet Chong Yingluan alone without checking the report’s authenticity.
• Shen Gongbao urged Chong Houhu to summon an escort, investigate, and have Chong Yingluan come to camp instead.
• Chong Houhu rejected Shen Gongbao’s advice, ordered him watched, and went to meet Chong Yingluan alone.
• Shen Gongbao sensed a powerful threat, abandoned his plan to follow, and was prevented from leaving by the soldiers.

After escaping Chong Houhu’s camp, Shen Gongbao went to the North Sea to seek cooperation with Grand Preceptor Wen Zhong. He warned Wen Zhong that Chong Houhu might be under attack by a hidden enemy, putting the Northern Border at risk.

• Shen Gongbao escaped underground from Chong Houhu’s generals using a Chan Sect disciple token and its Fortune Aura.
• Shen Gongbao concluded that Chong Houhu faced a powerful enemy and decided to approach Wen Zhong for cooperation.
• Wen Zhong attacked Shen Gongbao as he neared the Great Shang military camp, then demanded to know why he had come.
• Shen Gongbao told Wen Zhong about Chong Houhu’s strange behavior and warned that the Northern Border could fall into danger if anything happened to him.

Shen Gongbao warned Wen Zhong about the dangers facing the Northern Marquis, then fought him to a standstill and earned his respect. Over tea, Shen Gongbao explained that he had come to reclaim the Investiture List Jiang Ziya had taken from him.

• Shen Gongbao warned Wen Zhong that the Northern Marquis's expedition could leave the northern territory in chaos, but Wen Zhong dismissed his concerns and trusted Great Shang and the Interception Sect's strength.
• Shen Gongbao mocked the Interception Sect's failure to pacify the North Sea's seventy-two lords, prompting Wen Zhong to attack him with the Male-Female Flood Dragon Golden Whip.
• Shen Gongbao and Wen Zhong fought for over a hundred exchanges, with Wen Zhong eventually sending Shen Gongbao flying with a whip strike.
• Wen Zhong recognized Shen Gongbao's mastery of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique, and the two acknowledged each other's abilities before going into the camp to talk.
• Shen Gongbao told Wen Zhong that Jiang Ziya had slandered him and taken the Investiture List, and that he had come to reclaim what he had lost.

Wen Zhong learned Shen Gongbao’s accusations against Jiang Ziya and condemned Jiang as deceitful, while explaining why the North Sea rebellion was difficult to suppress. Shen Gongbao joined Wen Zhong’s campaign as a military adviser and received Great Shang’s recognition and a surge of National Fortune.

• Wen Zhong reacted with anger after hearing Shen Gongbao accuse Jiang Ziya of betraying his benefactor and framing him before a Saint.
• Wen Zhong said he would punish Jiang Ziya himself if imperial orders did not keep him in the North Sea.
• Wen Zhong explained that the Seventy-Two Lords had powerful backers, including suspected demons and Witch Barbarian descendants, and that the terrain, weather, and opposing National Fortune complicated the campaign.
• Shen Gongbao asked why Wen Zhong had not sought help from fellow disciples, and Wen Zhong refused because the rebellion was a Human Race matter and he wished to avoid causing others to incur Karma.
• Wen Zhong appointed Shen Gongbao as his military adviser and stamped official seals on his appointment, causing Great Shang’s National Fortune to flood into Shen Gongbao.

Shen Gongbao experienced the power of Great Shang’s National Fortune empowerment and then studied information about the Seventy-Two Rebel Routes. He asked Wen Zhong to take him to the nearest rebel force so he could assess their strength and methods.

• Wen Zhong watched Shen Gongbao react with astonishment to National Fortune empowerment and explained that serving Great Shang could bring even greater benefits.
• Shen Gongbao offered his knowledge of military strategy, formations, and artifact refinement, then asked to study the Seventy-Two Rebel Routes.
• Wen Zhong had an attendant show Shen Gongbao the recorded information on a phone.
• Shen Gongbao learned that the rebel forces were allied with powerful demons and used their subjects as offerings in exchange for protection.
• Wen Zhong explained why he had not asked outsiders for help, and Shen Gongbao asked him to visit the nearest rebel force.

Shen Gongbao investigated Ghostfang’s territory and found a ghost kingdom protected by powerful yin creatures, forcing him to flee and seek his teacher’s help. As he reached the Jade Void Palace, Wen Zhong had already withdrawn from the North Sea amid chaos in the Northern Border.

• Wen Zhong led Shen Gongbao and a few thousand tiger cavalry toward Ghostfang’s territory, explaining the rebel alliance and promising to recommend Shen Gongbao for high office.
• Shen Gongbao examined Ghostfang’s realm and discovered that its Earth Veins drew on the Netherworld, binding residents under its laws and leaving humans oppressed by yin creatures.
• Shen Gongbao entered the royal city and learned that Ghostfang fed human subjects to yin creatures, but several Golden Immortals, including a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, detected him.
• Shen Gongbao escaped with Earth Escape and told Wen Zhong he would return to the Kunlun Mountains to ask his teacher for help.
• Wen Zhong withdrew from the North Sea to defend the passes after Chong Yingluan took Chong Houhu hostage and the Northern Border fell into chaos.
• Shen Gongbao reached the Jade Void Palace, knelt outside, and requested an audience with his teacher.

Shen Gongbao returned to Jade Void Palace seeking help against the North Sea rebellion, only to learn that Great Shang’s northern forces had collapsed and Wen Zhong had been routed. He tracked Wen Zhong to Chentang Pass, where Li Jing and Yun Zhongzi were summoned to determine whether Shen Gongbao was friend or foe.

• Shen Gongbao asked Yuanshi and the immortals for help with the Seventy-Two Lords of the North Sea, but Immortal Elder Nanji told him Chong Houhu had been captured and Wen Zhong’s army had been defeated.
• Shen Gongbao left Jade Void Palace and learned that Chong Yingluan’s attack had plunged Great Shang’s Northern Border into rebellion, while Ji Chang called on lords and capable people to join the Conquest of Zhou.
• Shen Gongbao learned that Wen Zhong was recovering at Chentang Pass after Yun Zhongzi had aided him during his escape.
• Shen Gongbao presented his token to a guard at Chentang Pass, but the general distrusted him and secretly reported his arrival to Li Jing.
• Li Jing consulted Wen Zhong about Shen Gongbao and invited Yun Zhongzi to help determine whether Shen Gongbao was friend or foe.

Shen Gongbao arrived at Chentang Pass to help Wen Zhong reclaim the Northern Border, despite Li Jing’s contempt and suspicion. He privately proposed rescuing the Marquis of the North as the first step toward turning the tide.

• Yun Zhongzi identified Shen Gongbao as a Chan Sect Outer Disciple and urged Li Jing to make use of him.
• Li Jing questioned Shen Gongbao’s ability to reclaim the Northern Border but allowed him into Chentang Pass after soldiers searched and suppressed him.
• Shen Gongbao met the wounded Wen Zhong, who regretted ignoring Shen Gongbao’s earlier warning about the Northern Border.
• Li Jing scoffed at Shen Gongbao’s promise to recover the lost territory, but Wen Zhong asked Li Jing to leave so they could speak privately.
• Shen Gongbao told Wen Zhong that rescuing the Marquis of the North would turn the tide more than halfway in their favor.

Shen Gongbao proposed using his Soul-Clearing Bell to free the mind-controlled Northern Marquis and restore order in the Northern Border. He planned to openly defect to the rebels and approach Chong Houhu, despite Wen Zhong’s concern about the danger.

• Wen Zhong explained that the Northern Marquis’s controlled mind had allowed the million-strong Northern Border army to be used against Shang, and asked Shen Gongbao how he could be rescued.
• Shen Gongbao revealed that his bell could awaken the Northern Marquis’s consciousness through Soul Substitution, but would be destroyed in the process.
• Wen Zhong rejected asking Yun Zhongzi for help because the matter was his responsibility and had no connection to Yun Zhongzi.
• Shen Gongbao pondered for half a day while Wen Zhong kept others away, then announced that he had devised a plan to restore peace without a battle.
• Shen Gongbao said he would openly defect to the rebels and use the bell on Chong Houhu, allowing the Northern Marquis to regain command of the army; Wen Zhong warned that the plan was dangerous, but Shen Gongbao remained fearless.

Chong Heihu weighed Yuan Futong’s demand for two-thirds of the Northern Border against the need to preserve support for his campaign against King Zhou. After the court debated whether to accept or kill Yuan Futong, a Chan Sect Disciple arrived to join them.

• Outside Chentang Pass, a bedraggled figure fled after being scolded and attacked with spells, threatening to return and kill Wen Zhong.
• In Northguard City, Sun Ziyu reported that Yuan Futong demanded two-thirds of the Northern Border in exchange for recognizing Chong Heihu as lord.
• Chong Heihu’s generals condemned Yuan Futong and urged their king to kill him and his allied feudal lords for serving demons and monsters.
• Chong Heihu said killing Yuan Futong could chill the hearts of other lords and complicate the campaign against King Zhou, so he postponed the decision.
• A report arrived that a Chan Sect Disciple had come to join Chong Heihu.

Shen Gongbao offered to help Chong Heihu conquer the Northern Border and the seventy-two North Sea feudal lords, but his past allegiance to Wen Zhong made the New Northern King’s court suspect him. Surrounded by hostile generals, Shen Gongbao offered to share strategies against Yuan Futong and the other uncontrollable forces, or let them kill him.

• Chong Heihu summoned Shen Gongbao, who introduced himself as a Chan Sect disciple and offered to help conquer the Northern Border and the seventy-two North Sea feudal lords.
• Chong Heihu and his generals scoffed at Shen Gongbao’s claims, citing his Golden Immortal cultivation and the strength of the lords’ forces.
• Jin Kui recognized Shen Gongbao as someone who had previously pledged allegiance to Wen Zhong and accused him of plotting against Chong Heihu.
• The generals surrounded Shen Gongbao and called for his death, fearing he would reveal their plans in the Northern Border.
• Shen Gongbao asked whether Chong Heihu wanted to eliminate Yuan Futong and the other uncontrollable forces, offering strategies if he did.

Shen Gongbao persuaded Chong Heihu to give him authority to divide the northern rebels and promised to defeat Yuan Futong and the other feudal lords within three months. He left as the New Dynasty’s temporary prime minister, while Chong Heihu questioned whether he could be trusted.

• Chong Heihu offered Shen Gongbao high office and rewards if he resolved the threat posed by Yuan Futong and the other rebels.
• Shen Gongbao proposed exploiting divisions among the rebels with profit and reputation as bait, and asked for authority over the northern territories.
• Shen Gongbao pledged to defeat the rebels within three months or bring his own head as punishment for failure.
• Chong Heihu appointed Shen Gongbao temporary prime minister and granted him broad authority over the New Dynasty’s court.
• After Shen Gongbao departed, Chong Heihu asked whether he could be trusted.

Jiang Ziya completed the Investiture Altar outside Chaoge and repeatedly called on Venerable Yuanshi for a blessing, shocking the Heavenly Court and the factions across the Primordial Wilderness. Venerable Yuanshi's expression turned cold as he noticed the altar's completion.

• Chong Heihu's advisers urged him to use Shen Gongbao to restrain Yuan Futong while withholding real authority and troop command from him.
• Chong Heihu sensed a startling change in Chaoge and suspected King Zhou was behind it, dismissing the idea that Shen Gongbao was responsible.
• Jiang Ziya completed the Investiture Altar outside Chaoge as Di Xin and Great Shang's officials watched, stirring unease among those destined to face the calamity.
• Heavenly Emperor Haotian realized that Jiang Ziya had built the altar in Chaoge and was repeatedly calling on Venerable Yuanshi, then returned to secluded cultivation.
• Factions across the Primordial Wilderness reacted with disbelief to the altar, while Venerable Yuanshi's expression grew cold as he preached in the Jade Void Palace.

Jiang Ziya failed to activate the Investiture Altar before Di Xin and the court, prompting Di Xin to threaten to tear it down and eradicate the Chan Sect’s incense power. A Heavenly Dao Saint appeared and declared that Di Xin was not destined to possess the altar because heaven’s mandate belonged to Zhou.

• The Twelve Golden Immortals worried that Jiang Ziya had made a serious mistake, but Venerable Yuanshi said there was no need to intervene because the altar could not function without his approval.
• Jiang Ziya repeatedly performed the ritual at the Investiture Altar outside Chaoge, but no Saint answered, and You Hun accused him of wasting the people’s wealth and betraying Di Xin’s trust.
• Di Xin ordered the altar torn down, but Jiang Ziya pleaded that destroying it would anger the Saint and bring Heavenly Retribution.
• Di Xin declared that he was the Human Emperor and threatened to eradicate the Chan Sect’s temples and incense power throughout Great Shang.
• A pair of eyes appeared in the heavens, and the Saint told Di Xin that he was not destined to possess the Investiture Altar because the mandate belonged to Zhou.

Di Xin rejected the Saint’s demand that Great Shang submit to the Chan Sect and outlawed worship of its immortals, declaring that the Human Race must resist Heaven to preserve Human Dao. The Saint retaliated by weakening Shang’s Destiny and proclaiming that anyone who defeated Zhou could become the new Human Emperor.

• Di Xin ordered that worship of Heavenly Origin Sect Immortals be forbidden throughout the Human Realm and defied the Saint’s threats of Heavenly Retribution.
• The Saint declared that Shang’s Destiny would be exhausted and warned that spirits and immortals who abandoned Shang’s protection would bring disasters upon the realm.
• Di Xin killed ministers who knelt to worship the Saint and challenged the Chan Sect figure to reveal his true body.
• The Two Sages of the West withdrew their pieces from Great Shang’s northern border as they anticipated the conflict spreading.
• Yuqing decreed that Shang Zhou lacked virtue and that anyone who honored the Chan Sect and defeated Zhou could claim Shang’s Fortune Aura and become Human Emperor.

Venerable Yuanshi declared that Great Shang had lost its mandate, prompting lords across the realm to consider the Conquest of Zhou. West Qi’s Ji Chang secured Chan Sect support and began preparing to replace Di Xin, while Shen Gongbao was left uncertain about his plans.

• Venerable Yuanshi declared that a worthy man could undertake the Conquest of Zhou and become the next Human Emperor.
• Lords across the East Sea Coast considered rebelling against Great Shang, and northern lords rushed to build temples to the Chan Sect.
• Ji Chang made the Chan Sect West Qi’s state religion, and Chan Sect disciples and local immortals gathered to support his campaign.
• Ji Chang began discussing a dynastic name and plans for ruling the Nine Provinces after replacing Di Xin.
• Shen Gongbao sensed the upheaval in the Northern Border and wondered how he could still achieve his goals in Great Shang.

Shen Gongbao delivered Chong Heihu’s decree to Yuan Futong and the Northern Border feudal lords, then mocked Yuan Futong for settling for a corner of the realm and urged him to seek the Human Emperor’s throne. Yuan Futong stopped his angry followers and demanded to know why Shen Gongbao, who served Chong Heihu, was trying to provoke him.

• Shen Gongbao considered abandoning Great Shang because he feared the Chan Sect, but decided to continue his plan to defeat Yuan Futong and impress his fellow disciples.
• Shen Gongbao visited Yuan Futong and read Chong Heihu’s decree, offering the rebels three-fifths of the Northern Border in exchange for taxes, troops, and obedience.
• Yuan Futong and the other feudal lords agreed to the terms, then discussed dividing and governing their vast territory.
• Yuan Futong declared that he was content with his wealth, lands, and comfortable life, prompting Shen Gongbao to burst out laughing.
• Shen Gongbao accused Yuan Futong of having small ambitions and warned that Chong Heihu would eventually destroy him if he failed to pursue the Human Emperor’s throne.
• Yuan Futong restrained the feudal lords who reached for their weapons and asked Shen Gongbao why he was urging him to oppose Chong Heihu.

Shen Gongbao persuaded Yuan Futong and the northern lords that Chong Heihu would betray them, then urged Yuan Futong to seek the Human Emperor’s throne. Yuan Futong asked Shen Gongbao for a plan to consolidate his power, and Shen Gongbao began laying one out.

• Shen Gongbao denounced Chong Heihu’s disloyalty and urged Yuan Futong to become Human Emperor.
• Lin Tong and the other lords reacted angrily to Shen Gongbao’s claim that Chong Heihu planned to eliminate them.
• Yuan Futong ordered Shen Gongbao seized and killed, but called him back just before his execution.
• Shen Gongbao praised Yuan Futong as a potential ruler and advised him to consolidate his territory before conquering Chong Heihu and the Northern Border.
• Yuan Futong asked Shen Gongbao what he should do, and Shen Gongbao began explaining his plan.

Shen Gongbao helped Yuan Futong plan how to consolidate and develop the Northern Border, but Yuan Futong's executions and the lords' growing ambitions sparked deadly infighting. After the lords learned Yuan Futong planned to disarm them at a banquet, they attacked and killed him, scattering his soul.

• Shen Gongbao advised Yuan Futong to secure key cities, govern effectively, and eventually redistribute the great clans' land.
• Yuan Futong discovered that his lesser lords were exploiting the people and withholding tribute, then executed more than a dozen despite protests from his sworn brothers.
• Yuan Futong sent the other four Great Vassals to govern key cities, and the scattered lords began fighting one another for power and prosperous territory.
• Shen Gongbao advised Yuan Futong to strip the lords of military command at a victory banquet, but word of the plan leaked.
• The enraged lords attacked Yuan Futong at the banquet, killed him, and scattered his soul.

Shen Gongbao disguised himself as E Chi’s guard and turned the feudal lords’ plot against Yuan Futong into a battlefield victory for E Chi’s forces. After E Chi was left unconscious, the generals praised Shen Gongbao and asked him to guide them in the future.

• Shen Gongbao rescued the gravely wounded E Chi and rallied his scattered troops by claiming the other feudal lords had murdered Yuan Futong.
• Shen Gongbao directed the battle, secretly killed enemy commanders, and helped E Chi’s forces defeat the opposing camps and kill two more major feudal lords.
• Shen Gongbao organized the troops and told Liang Shang that E Chi would take time to wake after Lin Tong struck his head.
• Liang Shang, Chu Shanqiang, and the other generals praised Shen Gongbao and asked him to speak on their behalf to E Chi.
• Shen Gongbao accepted their praise modestly while thinking that his plan had succeeded.

E Chi awoke as a powerful lord but squandered his new authority with cruelty and excess, alienating his generals. After Liang Shang and the others killed him, they chose Shen Gongbao as their new lord.

• Shen Gongbao told E Chi that he commanded hundreds of thousands of soldiers and had secured the Northern Lands, but E Chi focused on indulging himself and ordered Yuan Futong's women brought to him.
• E Chi beat Shen Gongbao despite his soldiers pleading for mercy, then claimed his subordinates' military achievements and rewarded Yuan Futong's former followers instead of his own officers.
• E Chi forced his people to build a lavish palace, withheld his troops' provisions and pay, and demanded that Liang Shang and the other generals bring their wives to dinner.
• Liang Shang and dozens of generals led elite troops into E Chi's palace and killed him.
• To escape the stigma of killing their lord, Liang Shang and the generals acclaimed Shen Gongbao as their new ruler.

Shen Gongbao seized E Chi’s territory and brought it under his control, then traveled secretly to West Qi to report to Immortal Elder Nanji. At Ji Family residence, Ji Kao denied knowing him and ordered him driven away, leaving Shen Gongbao furious and ready to fight.

• Shen Gongbao accepted the generals’ allegiance and took responsibility for E Chi’s death, then suppressed the rebellion and brought the territory under his command.
• Shen Gongbao spent three months stabilizing the region, appointing officials, and winning the obedience of the local clans and people.
• Shen Gongbao left Liang Shang in charge and secretly traveled to West Qi to seek an audience with Immortal Elder Nanji.
• A servant at Ji Family residence dismissed Shen Gongbao as an impostor and refused to deliver his message.
• Ji Kao also claimed not to know Shen Gongbao and ordered guards to beat him out, but Shen Gongbao refused to leave and challenged them.

Ji Kao summoned the Ji Family’s cultivators to stop Shen Gongbao, but their strongest retainer, Fu Feng, was no match for him. Shen Gongbao crushed Fu Feng after discovering he had no hidden move.

• Ji Kao summoned the Ji Family retainers after Shen Gongbao defeated the martial artists outside the residence.
• The retainers attacked Shen Gongbao, but he held them off and warned them that he was a Chan Sect Outer Disciple.
• Ji Kao urged the retainers to ignore Shen Gongbao’s claim, and Fu Feng offered to capture him in exchange for Ji Kao’s agreement to a request.
• Fu Feng sent the other retainers away and mocked Shen Gongbao, who stayed on guard for a hidden technique.
• Fu Feng grabbed Shen Gongbao by the neck, and Shen Gongbao pinned his hand before asking where his move was.
• Shen Gongbao realized Fu Feng had no backup plan and smashed him into scattered mist.