Recaps

Xiang Yuan destroyed the Yellow Springs Dao’s ritual and killed Black Robe and Duan Wei, saving the people of Song Family Village. When a group of young martial artists arrived, they mistook him for an enemy until a monk recognized the righteous energy beneath his black robe.

• Xiang Yuan used the righteous energy in Wang Wenxu’s scrolls to dispel the fog and ghosts, then killed Black Robe and took his small flag.
• Xiang Yuan interrupted Duan Wei’s ghost-god ritual and defeated him in a clash, killing him after he tried to flee and attack again.
• Xiang Yuan destroyed the ritual’s red lamps and tools, scattered the Yellow Springs Mother Tree projection, and freed the villagers from its roots.
• Xiang Yuan heard approaching footsteps and prepared for a fight, but a group of young martial artists arrived and mistook his black robe for a sign that he was Yellow Springs Dao.
• A tall monk pointed out the righteous energy and writing on Xiang Yuan’s body, recognizing him as the person who had protected the villagers.

After Xiang Yuan defeated the Yellow Springs Dao disciples threatening Song Family Village, Mingzhu and the young heroes apologized and helped care for the unconscious villagers. The group learned more about Xiang Yuan and his fighting skills, and Tang Rou invited him to travel with them.

• Mingzhu explained that he and the other young heroes had come to hunt Yellow Springs Dao disciples, and he apologized for mistaking Xiang Yuan for an enemy.
• Xiang Yuan asked the young heroes to demonstrate their martial arts, studied their techniques, and then introduced himself as Song Family Village’s Protector of Righteousness.
• Mingzhu organized the young heroes to move the unconscious villagers into rooms while others found the charity graveyard and confirmed that seven Yellow Springs Dao disciples had died.
• Xiang Yuan reviewed the battle and his remaining supplies, then accepted his poisoned sleeve arrows back from Tang Rou.
• Tang Rou invited Xiang Yuan to join the young heroes on their travels and help hunt more Yellow Springs Dao disciples.

Xiang Yuan joined Mingzhu and the young heroes, built a good reputation in Song Family Village, and settled into a routine of training and study. When Song Shan revealed that the Five Poisons Cult used a nearby Western Zhou tomb to move smuggled goods, Xiang Yuan decided to investigate it.

• Xiang Yuan agreed to work with Mingzhu and the young heroes, while Tang Rou failed to claim him as her junior brother.
• Xiang Yuan explained the previous night's attack to the villagers, earned their gratitude, and demonstrated his saber forms.
• Xiang Yuan sent the young heroes to investigate nearby villages and spent the following days training, studying formations, and refining a concealed saber technique.
• Song Shan told Xiang Yuan that Song Family Village collected tolls from smugglers and that a convoy would pass that night.
• Song Shan revealed that the Five Poisons Cult stored and transferred goods in an ancient Western Zhou tomb, which Six Doors had searched more than ten years earlier.
• Xiang Yuan questioned Song Shan about the tomb and decided to investigate it.

At Yulin Academy, Xiang Yuan learned that the ancient tomb near Song Family Village held a yin-rich gorge where he could cultivate the Three Yin Book of Life and Death. He followed a Five Poisons Cult smuggling party there, found no Yellow Springs Dao disciples, and began practicing in a burial chamber before sensing something was wrong.

• Wang Wenxu told Xiang Yuan that the tomb’s fissure produced blood lingzhi and might attract Yellow Springs Dao disciples because of its yin energy.
• Xiang Yuan decided to let the Five Poisons Cult smugglers enter first, then follow them and assess the tomb before cultivating there.
• Xiang Yuan told Song Shan he would overlook the villagers’ smuggling so long as they did not go too far, but refused to meet the caravan’s leader.
• That night, Xiang Yuan followed the smugglers to the gorge, waited until they left, and searched the tomb and surrounding cliffs without finding Yellow Springs Dao disciples.
• Xiang Yuan found several young blood lingzhi, returned to the tomb, and began cultivating in a small burial chamber before noticing that something felt off.

Xiang Yuan uncovered a hidden burial chamber beneath the great tomb and took a jade disc from the corpse inside, awakening a terrifying zombie. He switched to Coldblood and fought back, but the chapter ended with the zombie attacking again as his life force nearly failed.

• Xiang Yuan traced the tomb’s powerful yin energy to a buried chamber and dug down to uncover it.
• He entered a chamber filled with blood lingzhi and found a jade disc in the hands of a corpse inside a stone coffin.
• Xiang Yuan took the disc, causing the corpse’s hand to wither and the tomb’s owner to rise as a zombie.
• The zombie attacked at immense speed, and Xiang Yuan dodged repeatedly while trying to escape.
• Xiang Yuan switched to Coldblood and struck the zombie with Lone Star Chasing Moon, briefly stopping its charge.
• The zombie attacked again, and Xiang Yuan’s life force dwindled as he prepared to fight.

Xiang Yuan survived the zombie by devouring the blood ganoderma and using its medicinal power to keep fighting, though the zombie ultimately stopped when its yin energy ran out. Afterward, he consumed the remaining ganoderma and began to feel the lasting improvements to his body.

• Xiang Yuan switched from Coldblood to Steady and used Lone Star Chasing Moon to try to escape the zombie, but the attack could not overcome its defense.
• Xiang Yuan switched to Goofball, slipped in the blood ganoderma pulp, and discovered that eating it restored his blood energy.
• Goofball repeatedly ate blood ganoderma and fought the zombie, while the medicine and Everlasting Killing Intent strengthened and healed Xiang Yuan's body.
• Xiang Yuan's attacks knocked the zombie away, but it stopped moving because its yin energy had run out after being separated from the jade disc.
• Xiang Yuan switched back to his steady self, stopped Everlasting Killing Intent, and ate the remaining blood ganoderma as its medicinal power continued to nourish him.

Xiang Yuan brought a powerful zombie and a mysterious jade disc to Wang Wenxu, who helped him seal the disc’s yin qi and advised him about the corpse. Wang Wenxu planned to blame the Tomb-Keeping Sect for signs of the opened tomb, while Xiang Yuan learned about the major demonic forces and the persecution of the Demon Race.

• Xiang Yuan brought the zombie and jade disc to Wang Wenxu, who identified the corpse as an extraordinary powerhouse but could not determine who it had been.
• Wang Wenxu examined the jade disc, taught Xiang Yuan how to seal its yin qi, and explained how to open and close it.
• Wang Wenxu said Xu Jixian might know how to control the zombie and planned to spread a rumor blaming the Tomb-Keeping Sect for activity near the tomb.
• Wang Wenxu explained the Eight Great Demonic Beings and mentioned that Undying Mountain might become a ninth major force.
• Xiang Yuan asked about the Demon Race, and Wang Wenxu explained that humans persecuted demons, leading Xiang Yuan to infer that demon blood came from exploited captives.

Xiang Yuan discovered that the jade disc could summon the Jambu Gate, a gateway to another world, and concealed the discovery from Xu Jixian. He sought Xu Jixian’s help with the zombie, only to learn that Xu’s family had inherited corpse-controlling techniques from a fallen sect.

• Xiang Yuan returned to Song Family Village before dawn, hid the jade disc, and practiced attuning himself to his saber.
• The jade disc drew Xiang Yuan’s Primordial Spirit into a gray space, where he saw the Jambu Gate and realized the disc fit its central opening.
• Xiang Yuan summoned the gate into reality by speaking “Jambu,” then made the jade disc transform between a pendant and a tattoo.
• Xiang Yuan worried that the zombie might have survived in another world, but decided to wait before entering the gate.
• Xiang Yuan returned to Yulin Academy and asked Xu Jixian to examine the zombie; Xu said it could not be saved and offered to teach Xiang Yuan corpse-controlling techniques.

Xiang Yuan learned Xu Jixian’s corpse-control art and began refining Senior Zombie, leaving him buried under Wang Wenxu’s protection at Yulin Academy. After returning to Song Family Village, Xiang Yuan was summoned by Mingzhu’s companions for an operation, while Tang Rou prepared Sima Qingyan to confront Yellow Springs Dao bandits and hinted at introducing her to Xiang Yuan.

• Xu Jixian explained the Corpse-Driving Sect’s history and taught Xiang Yuan how to control corpses.
• Xiang Yuan used his heart’s blood to establish a connection with Senior Zombie, and Xu Jixian instructed him to nourish the corpse for forty-nine days.
• Xiang Yuan chose Yulin Academy as the burial place, and Wang Wenxu concealed Senior Zombie in an array in his courtyard.
• Xiang Yuan returned to Song Family Village, where two wandering heroes told him Mingzhu had sent them to bring him to an operation that night.
• At Lesser Morality Temple, Tang Rou told Sima Qingyan that Yellow Springs Dao bandits had occupied the Lin and Zhao villages and hinted that she would introduce her to a praised young hero.

Xiang Yuan reunited with Sima Qingyan and Tang Rou at Lesser Morality Temple, where Sima warned him to stay away from Tang Rou and revealed that Xiao He had forced her to cultivate Yellow Springs Dao arts. Mingzhu organized the young heroes to attack Yellow Springs Dao forces occupying two emptied villages, and Xiang Yuan joined the support group as they set out.

• Xiang Yuan arrived at Lesser Morality Temple and found Sima Qingyan speaking with Tang Rou, who praised his exploits at Song Family Village.
• Sima Qingyan warned Tang Rou against Xiang Yuan, but the two women misunderstood each other and both thought the other was not very smart.
• Sima Qingyan cautioned Xiang Yuan not to provoke Sword Heart Studio and confessed that Xiao He had forced her to cultivate Yellow Springs Dao arts.
• Xiang Yuan returned to the temple, eager to test his increased strength, while the chapter recounted how the exposed smuggling case had emptied two villages that Yellow Springs Dao disciples then occupied.
• Mingzhu divided the young heroes into three groups to attack Zhao Family Village and Lin Family Village, with Xiang Yuan joining the support team.
• The young martial heroes charged ahead with little coordination and shoved Xiang Yuan behind them.

Mingzhu led a group of young martial heroes through Yellow Springs Dao’s illusion arrays while Xiang Yuan exposed and killed the Daoists behind a plot to frame the Five Poisons Cult. After the survivors scattered toward safety, the Five Poisons Cult arrived and ordered a pursuit.

• Mingzhu guided the young heroes through Zhao Family Village’s ghost array, where they were wounded after some tried to break it alone.
• Xiang Yuan appeared before Mingzhu’s group after killing Yellow Springs Dao disciples, then went on to Lin Family Village.
• Sima Qingyan found suspicious living fighters among the black-robed attackers and gathered with Tang Rou and the other trapped heroes.
• Xiang Yuan disguised himself as an injured Daoist, killed the hook-nosed schemer and three other disciples, then dispersed the formation to free Sima Qingyan’s group.
• Mingzhu ordered the young heroes to split up and head toward Fengxian County, while Xiang Yuan took a separate path.
• The Five Poisons Cult arrived to find its people wounded or dead, and its leader ordered the group pursued.

Xiang Yuan fled the Five Poisons Cult’s Yin Mu, using a knockout drug and the River of Wrath to escape before her poisonous creatures cornered him. At the brink of collapse, he called for Yanfu and vanished through a gate that Yin Mu could not enter.

• Xiang Yuan left the young heroes behind and ran toward the main road, but Yin Mu intercepted him with a purple-gold beetle.
• Yin Mu attacked Xiang Yuan with the Cloud-Wreathed Emerald Mist Palm, poisoned him, and tried to capture him as a Bag of Treasures.
• Xiang Yuan fired poisoned sleeve arrows and used a third to burst open a packet of Three Nights Off Duty, then escaped into the River of Wrath.
• The current carried Xiang Yuan ashore, where a venomous snake bit him as the purple-gold beetle pursued him.
• Xiang Yuan summoned a gleaming white gate by calling for Yanfu, entered it with the jade disk, and disappeared; Yin Mu arrived too late to find him.

After recovering from snake venom and poisonous true qi at Medicine King Manor, Xiang Yuan tried to reopen the Jambu Gate and asked about the Ageless Celestial Venerable in hopes of finding a way back to the Dry Abyss Realm. Xiao Heizi instead revealed that he believed Xiang Yuan was a surviving heir of the Li Clan, though Xiang Yuan denied it.

• Xiang Yuan woke after three days of treatment by Xiao Heizi and care from Sun Baiwei, who had begun to develop feelings for him.
• Xiang Yuan recovered enough to practice saberplay, while Sun Baiwei watched and Bai Fuzi grew jealous.
• Xiang Yuan found that he could not summon the Jambu Gate and learned that this low-Vital-Energy world made cultivation difficult.
• Xiang Yuan asked Xiao Heizi about the Ageless Celestial Venerable and the Secluded Immortal Sect, hoping to learn how to return to the Dry Abyss Realm.
• Xiao Heizi recounted the Secluded Immortal Sect's decline and accused Xiang Yuan of being a descendant of the Li Clan who had inherited its legacy.

Xiang Yuan tried to leave Medicine King Manor after Xiao Heizi mistook him for a Li Clan descendant, but a crowd of martial artists arrived to seize him. He stayed to defend Xiao Heizi and defeated Han Iron Hand with one punch, then challenged the silent crowd to send another opponent.

• Xiao Heizi insisted Xiang Yuan was connected to the Li Clan and promised he could leave once his injuries healed, while Xiang Yuan planned to depart after nightfall with a letter explaining the mistake.
• A servant warned Xiang Yuan that martial artists had come to Medicine King Manor to take him away, so he went to the front hall instead of escaping through the back gate.
• Master Hongneng and the crowd accused Xiao Heizi of shielding an Immortal Sect rebel, while Bai Fuzi urged his master to hand Xiang Yuan over.
• Xiang Yuan joined Xiao Heizi and Sun Baiwei, denied that he was Li Xianyuan, and insulted Master Hongneng and the assembled martial artists.
• Han Iron Hand attacked Xiang Yuan, but Xiang Yuan knocked him unconscious with one punch and asked who would fight next.

Xiang Yuan defeated Master Hongneng and drove the intruders from Medicine King Manor, then received a map to the Ageless Celestial Venerable’s legacy treasure. He suspected the treasure, possibly another jade wall, could be the key to leaving this world.

• Master Hongneng challenged Xiang Yuan, and the two moved outside Medicine King Manor to fight.
• Master Hongneng attacked with several Buddhist martial arts, but Xiang Yuan’s saber broke his staff and forced him to yield.
• Xiang Yuan dismissed the remaining intruders, while Bai Fuzi begged Xiao Heizi for forgiveness and fled after being disowned.
• Chief Wang and Madam Hongmiao pleaded for mercy, and Xiang Yuan let them and the other guests leave.
• Master Hongneng gave Xiang Yuan a map to the Ageless Celestial Venerable’s legacy treasure and departed, while Xiang Yuan sensed it might help him leave the world.

Xiang Yuan traveled to Tide Sea Ancient City with Xiao Heizi and Sun Baiwei, then entered the underground palace to seek the Ageless Celestial Venerable’s legacy. When Xiao Heizi and Sun Baiwei were captured and used to pressure him, Xiang Yuan dropped his loyal persona and revealed that he had seen through the elaborate act.

• Xiao Heizi asked Xiang Yuan to take Sun Baiwei along, and Xiang Yuan insisted that Xiao Heizi come with them too.
• Xiang Yuan, Xiao Heizi, and Sun Baiwei disguised themselves as they traveled for six days to Tide Sea Ancient City, where hundreds of martial artists had gathered.
• Xiang Yuan used a hidden passage to enter the underground palace, placed the jade disc in the stone door, and opened the way to the stele and treasure box.
• Four Immortal Sect martial artists confronted Xiang Yuan while Master Hongneng brought out the captured Xiao Heizi and Sun Baiwei to make him surrender his weapon.
• Xiang Yuan refused to give up his weapon, dismissed his supposed devotion to Sun Baiwei, and revealed that he had recognized the others’ performance as a staged plot.
• Xiao Heizi broke free of his ropes, and Xiang Yuan drew his blade and challenged him by asking when anyone had ever seen the real him.

Xiang Yuan massacred the schemers in the tomb, claimed a mysterious relic, and escaped through Jambu Gate after learning that a powerful woman would come seeking it. Back in the Dry Abyss Realm, he learned only ten days had passed and discovered Xiao He was preparing his funeral.

• Xiang Yuan revealed his Coldblood persona and killed the Immortal Sect members, Bai Fuzi, and the other martial world figures who had conspired against him.
• Xiang Yuan opened the treasure box, found a white pearl that completed his quest, and read the Ageless Celestial Venerable's warning that the relic's owner would come looking for him.
• Xiang Yuan shattered the stele, warned the Immortal Sect that Li Xianyuan would return for their heads, and left through Jambu Gate as the surviving martial artists watched.
• Xiang Yuan returned to Western Chu and learned from Wang Wenxu that he had been missing for just over ten days and that the martial world heroes had retreated after losses to the Five Poisons Cult.
• Xiang Yuan found out Xiao He was preparing a funeral and condolence collection in his name, then resolved to train harder because he feared the mysterious woman who sought the relic.

Xiang Yuan advanced his cultivation with the Five Elements Pearl and settled into life as Song Family Village’s Righteous Protector, while Xiao He and Xu Jixian arrived with a birthday surprise. The chapter ended with them inviting Xiang Yuan to Jade Sheng House to celebrate his sixteenth birthday.

• Xiang Yuan used the Five Elements Pearl to cultivate his inner five elements, loosening his nine apertures and preparing for Foundation Establishment.
• Xiang Yuan refused the village elders’ offer of protection money, agreeing instead to accept three meals a day; Song Shan soon worried that his appetite would bankrupt the village.
• Xu Jixian brought Xiao He to Song Family Village, where Xiao He announced he had come to find Xiang Yuan and visit prostitutes.
• Xiang Yuan continued practicing the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber as he tried to combine techniques into a saber art of his own.
• Xiao He told Xiang Yuan that he and Xu Jixian were going to Jade Sheng House to celebrate a brother’s birthday, then revealed that it was Xiang Yuan’s sixteenth birthday.

Xiang Yuan accompanied Xiao He and Xu Jixian to Jade Sheng House, where they met the famed courtesan Baoqin after her captivating qin performance. Baoqin showed little interest in the other two and repeatedly watched Xiang Yuan, leaving her intentions unclear.

• Xiang Yuan entered Jade Sheng House with Xiao He and Xu Jixian, who joked about its costly entertainment and revealed that Xiao He had arranged to meet Baoqin.
• Xiang Yuan watched Baoqin perform a qin piece that moved the audience to shower her with rewards, while he teased Xiao He about not matching their generosity.
• Baoqin arrived at Peony Pavilion, and Xiao He and Xu Jixian tried to impress her by praising Xiang Yuan's poem, “Pity the Farmers.”
• Xiao He urged Xiang Yuan to compose a poem about Baoqin, but Xiang Yuan refused and let Xiao He and Xu Jixian continue their awkward flattery.
• Baoqin mostly ignored Xiao He and Xu Jixian, glancing repeatedly at Xiang Yuan as she sipped her tea.

Baoqin abducted Xiang Yuan and Xiao He from Jade Sheng House, but the two had anticipated the opportunity and escaped after waking in a concealed manor. Disguised and equipped for travel, Xiang Yuan and Xiao He set off together toward the Southern Border.

• Baoqin drugged Xiao He, Xiang Yuan, and Xu Jixian, then ordered her maids to carry Xiang Yuan and Xiao He out of Fengxian City through a secret passage.
• Xiao He revealed that he and Xiang Yuan had pretended to be drugged, and explained that he was leaving to verify intelligence from the Wise Master.
• Xiang Yuan agreed to travel with Xiao He, and they escaped the concealed manor while Baoqin's maids fought off a bandit raid.
• Xiao He retrieved hidden supplies, spatial equipment, weapons, masks, and a talisman to conceal Xiang Yuan's medicinal power.
• Xiao He and Xiang Yuan changed their appearances and prepared to travel toward the Southern Border under false faces.

Xiao He and Xiang Yuan traveled to Peace Creek Stronghold to find an informant and verify intelligence about Earth Dragon Fort. They met Miao Manjing, who was being pursued, and the chapter ended as bandits cornered her and the brothers prepared to fight.

• Xiao He told Xiang Yuan they were heading to Peace Creek Stronghold to investigate its upheaval and seek help from Miao Manjing.
• Xiao He and Xiang Yuan adopted foolish personas and waited at a ruined temple, where they shared food and traded jokes.
• Miao Manjing and her two maids arrived disguised as merchants, and Xiao He identified her as the daughter of Peace Creek Stronghold's chief.
• A one-eyed bandit and his men found Miao Manjing, defeated her and her maids, and ordered their men to kill Xiang Yuan and Xiao He.
• Xiao He pretended to surrender while Xiang Yuan berated him, and the brothers provoked the bandits into attacking.

Xiang Yuan and Xiao He defeated One-Eye’s men, rescued Miao Manjing, and agreed to escort her to Peace Creek Stronghold for two thousand taels. As they traveled, Miao Manjing resolved to recruit the two money-hungry brothers to help her face the power struggle threatening her injured father’s stronghold.

• Xiang Yuan and Xiao He killed One-Eye and most of his men, then discovered that Xiao He had avoided One-Eye’s poisoned dart with a meatball.
• Xiang Yuan and Xiao He threatened Miao Manjing until she revealed she was a woman and offered them two thousand taels to take her home.
• Miao Manjing gave One-Eye’s antidote to her maidservants, treated her wound, and set out with Xiang Yuan and Xiao He.
• On the journey, Xiao He tried to raise the price, while Xiang Yuan insisted they honor their agreed deal.
• Miao Manjing considered the danger at Peace Creek Stronghold, where her injured father’s subordinates were vying for power, and decided she could recruit Xiang Yuan and Xiao He with more money.

Miao Manjing returned to Peace Creek Stronghold with Xiang Yuan and Xiao He, where she found her father Miao Black Wolf gravely ill and the stronghold divided. Miao Black Wolf paid the men’s promised reward and urged them to leave before trouble erupted.

• Xiang Yuan and Xiao He escorted Miao Manjing toward Peace Creek Stronghold while bickering, and they met Meng Zhi and her patrol on the road.
• Meng Zhi escorted Miao Manjing into the stronghold, while Xiao He told Xiang Yuan about the chiefs and the unrest surrounding Miao Black Wolf’s injury.
• Miao Manjing reached her father’s sickroom and found Mu Hongya attending him, prompting a tense exchange about the two escorts and their four-thousand-tael reward.
• Miao Black Wolf woke briefly, acknowledged the reward, ordered Mu Hongya to pay Xiang Yuan and Xiao He, and urged them to leave before falling unconscious again.

Miao Manjing paid Xiang Yuan and Xiao He to stay at Peace Creek Stronghold and investigate her stepmother, Mu Hongya. That night, Miao Black Wolf revealed he had been feigning illness and asked the brothers to help him deal with a plot against his stronghold in exchange for a fortune map.

• Miao Manjing persuaded Xiang Yuan and Xiao He to stay at Peace Creek Stronghold by paying them three thousand taels and asking them to watch Mu Hongya.
• Xiang Yuan practiced with the Five Elements Pearl while Xiao He kept watch on the stronghold chief's residence and saw several figures leave it.
• Miao Black Wolf visited the brothers and revealed he had been pretending to be gravely ill.
• Miao Black Wolf explained that Yu Dashan worked for the Six Doors and that Luo Daihe, Zuo Yuanwen, and Mu Hongya had plotted against him.
• Miao Black Wolf asked Xiang Yuan and Xiao He to help him secretly defeat Luo Daihe, offering a map to a fortune two hundred li east in return.

Xiao He agreed to secretly help Miao Black Wolf while he and Xiang Yuan watched tensions rise in Peace Creek Stronghold. Luo Daihe launched his coup, but Miao Black Wolf revealed that he had only feigned illness, leaving the two sides facing off in the Hall of Brotherhood.

• Xiao He agreed to secretly trip up Luo Daihe so Miao Black Wolf could take the credit, while Xiang Yuan and Xiao He discussed an opportunity near a Five Poisons Cult mine.
• Miao Manjing learned that River-Crossing Dragon and Roadblock Tiger had been too drunk to give a clear account of anyone leaving the stronghold.
• Luo Daihe declared himself Chief Luo, rallied his followers, and ordered them to seal off the stronghold and seize the Hall of Brotherhood.
• Luo Daihe's men drove away the elders and reached the chief's chair, but Miao Black Wolf emerged in full health and revealed that he had feigned illness.
• Meng Zhi refused to take either side as Xiang Yuan and Xiao He watched from behind pillars, and Luo Daihe confronted Miao Black Wolf with the Five Poisons Cult's Zombie Art.