Recaps

Chen Xuanji, Chen Zhitang, and Li Wudang confronted Great Asa after he used his Hidden Immortal power to pressure Shuzhou. They damaged his storm with their sword techniques and Chen Xuanji’s four divine beasts, but Great Asa challenged them to stop the Hidden Immortal Mirror.

• Chen Zhitang arrived in Shuzhou, where Chen Xuanji said he had invited her to help put on an act, and Li Wudang questioned their presence.
• Great Asa descended his pressure on the group and accused them of protecting a newly ascended Earthly Immortal, prompting Li Wudang to strike toward a Barbarian settlement.
• After Li Wudang’s sword killed several hundred Barbarians, Great Asa summoned a storm over Shuzhou, and Xiao Jinghong went down to help protect the people.
• Chen Zhitang used her sword technique, Breaking Willows, to resist the storm, while Chen Xuanji manifested four divine beasts and sent them to tear through the clouds.
• Chen Xuanji made the four divine beasts explode, punching holes in the clouds, but Great Asa asked whether they thought that would stop the Hidden Immortal Mirror.

The Great Asa used the Hidden Immortal Mirror to unleash a devastating storm over Shu Prefecture City, forcing Li Wudang to confront him while the others rescued citizens. Li Wudang resisted the mirror’s power with a sword technique called Treading Snow, leaving the Great Asa stunned.

• The Great Asa intensified the storm over Shu Prefecture City, and Xiao Jinghong, Chen Zhitang, Chen Yi, Liu Lang, and others rushed to rescue citizens swept into the air.
• Li Wudang and the Great Asa revealed that the Barbarian Tribe had refined the Hidden Immortal Mirror and was preparing for the Hidden Immortal Competition two years later.
• Li Wudang drew an ice-crystal longsword and entered the storm’s center while Chen Xuanji stayed behind to support him.
• The Great Asa commanded the mirror to seal Li Wudang, and Li’s sword phantom shattered under the pressure.
• Li Wudang sent the sword fragments racing through the clouds, dispelled the storm, and named his technique Treading Snow.

Great Asa withdrew after Li Wudang blocked the Hidden Immortal Mirror’s thunder punishment, and the Central Plains Earthly Immortals discussed the Barbarian Tribe’s schemes and the coming Hidden Immortal Competition. As Chu Xiudao neared his breakthrough, Chen Zhitang mistook Chen Yi for Chen Xuanji’s illegitimate son and publicly called him her dear nephew.

• Great Asa spared Li Wudang, Chen Xuanji, and the others after they resisted the Hidden Immortal Mirror’s punishment, then warned Chu Xiudao to obey the rules.
• Li Wudang and Chen Xuanji resolved to oppose the Barbarian Tribe’s control of the Hidden Immortal Mirror and decided to go to the Eastern Sea.
• Chen Xuanji watched Chen Yi rescue commoners with the Figure in the Painting, while Li Wudang criticized Chen Yi for concealing his abilities.
• Chen Zhitang told Chen Xuanji that Chen Yi had threatened her, then wrongly concluded that Chen Yi was his illegitimate son.
• Chen Zhitang publicly called Chen Yi her dear nephew, and Liu Lang introduced himself as Chu Xiudao’s disciple.

After Chu Xiudao’s breakthrough, Chen Yi learned more about the different paths of the Sword Dao and watched Chen Xuanji and Chen Zhitang leave. A conversation about their old companions led Chen Yi to realize that Chen Xuanji was Dong Xuanmu and the Pavilion Master of the White Tiger Guard, and that he had been manipulating events around Chen Yi for years.

• Liu Lang described the damage Great Asa’s attack had caused in Shuzhou, while Chen Zhitang spoke warmly to Chen Yi and Chen Xuanji called her away.
• Chen Yi praised Li Wudang and asked whether one path of the sword reigned supreme; Li Wudang explained how his Sword Dao, Chen Zhitang’s, and Old Chess Ghost’s differed.
• Chen Xuanji punched Chen Zhitang for speaking too freely about Chen Yi, then warned her not to reveal his identity before they returned to the courtyard.
• Chu Xiudao emerged from seclusion after breaking through, greeted Li Wudang and the others, and agreed that he would one day travel into Barbarian Tribe territory with Li Wudang.
• Chen Xuanji departed, and Chen Zhitang followed him; after hearing Chu Xiudao and Li Wudang reminisce about Dong Xuanmu and Black and White, Chen Yi deduced that Chen Xuanji was Dong Xuanmu and the White Tiger Guard’s Pavilion Master.

Chen Yi treated Shuzhou residents injured by Great Asa’s attack and considered how the devastation might fuel calls for war against the Barbarian Tribe. After reviewing the factions competing for control of Shuzhou, he cultivated and reflected on how the province was only one corner of a larger game.

• Chen Yi realized Chen Xuanji was Dong Xuanmu and judged that Chen Zhitang could not kill the powerful Earthly Immortal, while he wondered why Chen Xuanji concealed his strength.
• Chen Yi declined Chu Xiudao’s invitation to celebrate and went to treat the injured; Chu Xiudao told Li Wudang that Chen Yi had reached the Extreme Realm in spear technique, movement arts, and physical cultivation.
• Chen Yi and Liu Lang’s group discussed whether the Central Plains should attack the Barbarian Tribe, and Chen Yi warned that the Central Plains’ internal divisions made war dangerous.
• Chen Yi treated people across Shuzhou into the night, then returned to Xiao Manor and found that its residents were safe.
• Chen Yi read his reward and the intelligence about an imperial delegation, then concluded that the emperor’s factions, Cui Mao, and the Xiao Family were competing over Shuzhou before he began cultivating.

After Xiao Jinghong returned safely, she and Elder Master Xiao discussed the Great Asa’s attack, the city’s recovery, and the political risks surrounding Shuzhou. Two days later, Marquis Zhaowu, Zhao Lie, arrived at Xiao Manor to confront the unresolved deaths of Zhao Wenjing and his son Zhao Yi.

• Xiao Jinghong told Elder Master Xiao that Chu Xiudao had successfully broken through and that the three Earthly Immortals had stopped Great Asa’s attack.
• Elder Master Xiao ordered Xiao Shen and Xiao Xuanshuo to arrange aid for the injured and displaced, and warned Xiao Jinghong to report the attack in a way that would discourage calls for war against the Barbarian Tribe.
• Xiao Jinghong agreed to speak with Lord Tang and Commander Li, while Elder Master Xiao told Xiao Jing to watch the Cui Family steward and prevent crime amid the city’s disruption.
• Xiao Jinghong returned to the rear courtyard, confirmed that Chen Yi and Xiao Wuge were safe, and began preparing a memorial about the attack.
• Two days later, Zhao Lie arrived at Xiao Manor and said Zhao Wenjing’s murderer remained unknown before expressing grief over his son’s death in Shuzhou.

Zhao Lie visited Elder Master Xiao to demand answers about Zhao Yi’s death and investigate the large sum of silver Zhao Yi had spent before he died. Meanwhile, Chen Yi listened in, then received a letter from Chen Xuanji asking him to arrive early for the officials’ gathering.

• Elder Master Xiao and Xiao Jinghong welcomed Zhao Lie, who said he would pursue the investigation into Zhao Yi’s death even as far as Capital Prefecture.
• Xiao Jinghong and Elder Master Xiao explained that Zhao Yi had died by the Killing Sword, denied that Dragon Tiger had killed Zhao Wenjing, and told Zhao Lie that the Judicial Department had cleared Dragon Tiger of that murder.
• Zhao Lie revealed that Zhao Yi had spent a vast sum of silver and suspected that tracing the money would uncover a conspiracy against his son.
• Chen Yi listened to the discussion from Chunhe Garden and reasoned that Jia Xingzhi and Cui Mao might expose his secret dealings with Zhao Yi if they spoke openly with Zhao Lie.
• Chen Yunfan visited Chen Yi with a letter from Chen Xuanji, who said he would arrive in the Prefectural City early the day after tomorrow and asked Chen Yi to come ahead of time.

Chen Yi received Chen Xuanji’s invitation to meet privately, while he and Chen Yunfan discussed the Imperial Edict tightening scrutiny of Shuzhou and the complications surrounding Chen Yunfan’s engagement to Cui Qingwu. After spending time with Chen Yunfan and Chen Yu, Chen Yi spoke with Xiao Jinghong about his meeting with his father and teased her before she left for the Provincial Administration.

• Chen Yi read Chen Xuanji’s letter inviting him to meet at the post station and inferred that Chen Xuanji knew he was Dragon Tiger.
• Chen Yunfan told Chen Yi that the Imperial Edict had ordered the Commander's Office and the Surveillance Commissioner's Office to monitor the Provincial Administration, while Zhao Wenjing’s killer remained unidentified and the investigation into Zhao Yi’s death had stalled.
• Chen Yunfan said Cui Qingwu would return to Qinghe and that he would explain the complications of their engagement to Chen Xuanji.
• Chen Yi told Chen Yunfan that Marquis Zhaowu, Zhao Lie, had visited, and the brothers discussed the difficulty of challenging the Qinghe Cui Family.
• Chen Yu found Chen Yi’s paintings, and Chen Yunfan learned that Chen Yi had advanced to great accomplishment in the Painting Dao.
• After Chen Yunfan and Chen Yu left, Xiao Jinghong asked about Chen Xuanji’s invitation, then went to the Provincial Administration while Chen Yi teased her.