Recaps

Chen Changsheng navigated the Heaven’s Pride Assembly, secured Purple Mansion’s support for Wu Li, and uncovered a terrifying presence beneath Kunlun Holy Land’s Divine Source Mine. As the assembly’s mine trial began, he secretly prepared to reach the presence underground.

• The Yaoguang Holy Son revealed his family’s fate and sought a cure for his infant brother, while Chen Changsheng promised to help him find holy medicine at the assembly.
• Chen Changsheng attended the Heaven’s Pride Assembly, where Xuan Xin’s Buddhist chant incapacitated many Heaven’s Prides and the holy masters explained the struggle over the newly appeared Heaven’s Mandate.
• Gongsun Huaiyu defeated Zi Ning in a Dao Debate, and Chen Changsheng defeated Xuan Xin by challenging the harm caused by his Buddhist mission.
• Chen Changsheng reunited with Wanyan Yue, Song Yuanshan, and Zuo Xinghe, learned of strange events at the Bronze Ancient Halls, and secured their support against Jiang Bufan.
• The Purple Mansion Holy Master agreed to support Wu Li after Chen Changsheng offered to reside with her sect, then concluded that Chen Changsheng was likely the Heaven’s Mandate Bearer.
• Chen Changsheng refused Extinction Master’s plan to have him kill Xuan Xin, then confronted Jiang Bufan as Gongsun Huaiyu fought a winged Heaven’s Pride from the Holy Ruins Forbidden Ground.
• Chen Changsheng escaped Kunlun Holy Land’s surveillance, investigated the Divine Source Mine, and discovered a frightening presence beneath the vein.
• At the mine trial, Chen Changsheng had Gongsun Huaiyu keep the group to the outer passage while he laid trapping arrays and secretly began clearing a route underground toward the presence.

Chen Changsheng survived the Divine Source Mine disaster, secured his place in Purple Mansion Holy Land, and led its disciples against Mad Dragon Fortress and rival factions. As Nalan Jing’s kidnapping and the Holy Master’s succession reshaped the Holy Land, Chen Changsheng moved on to the next part of his plan.

• Chen Changsheng’s scheme at the mine unleashed the Nameless Ancient Corpse and killed most of the gathered powerhouses, but he and his companions escaped to Purple Mansion Holy Land.
• Chen Changsheng was welcomed as Holy Son, recruited the Eastern Wilderness companions into the Holy Land, and began studying records about Heaven’s Mandate Bearers.
• When disciples protested that Gongsun Huaiyu, Zi Ning, Ye Hensheng, and Su Tian had claimed most missions, Chen Changsheng funded an assault on Mad Dragon Fortress and put the disciples in command.
• Chen Changsheng directed the campaign to seize Mad Dragon Fortress, Golden Light Cave, and Fierce Wind Inn, while confronting Fu Yao and negotiating with Zhang Bairen of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Ground.
• Chen Changsheng defeated Kunlun Holy Land’s elders and stopped its forces from crossing the border, then returned to address the deaths caused by the campaign and warn Gongsun Huaiyu and Zi Ning about the burdens of command.
• After Seventy-Two Wolf Smokes kidnapped the Purple Mansion Holy Master and demanded ransom, Chen Changsheng refused to pay and sent Zi Ning and Gongsun Huaiyu to lead a wider campaign against weaker Central Court factions.
• Nalan Jing was eventually returned unharmed and later came back with a man, while Wu Li became Holy Master and gained the Seventy-two Earthly Fiends without opposition.
• Chen Changsheng reunited with Wu Li in the Sea of Learning, praised his achievements, and told him to carry out the next part of the plan.

Chen Changsheng escaped the Netherworld Forest, found his old friends on the Ascension Road, and was cast into the Lower Realm as its hidden lands unfolded. There he took Chen Shisan as a student, who set out to save Proud Snow Red Plum on his own.

• Wu Li conquered the lands beneath heaven, while Chen Changsheng left the Sea of Learning and traveled east toward the Netherworld Forest.
• Chen Changsheng spent centuries battling the Netherworld Forest, then bargained with it to heal Xiao Hei and entered a long slumber.
• After leaving the Netherworld Forest with Xiao Hei, Chen Changsheng learned Wu Li and the Three Great Holy Lands had ascended, then found Nalan Xingde hidden in Fu Yao’s grave.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze entered the Ascension Road, where he collected the dead, reunited with Song Yuanshan’s lingering Divine Sense, and watched Wanyan Yue die.
• Wu Li tore apart the Ascension Road as Heaven’s Mandate split among several bearers, and Li Niansheng sent Chen Changsheng into the Lower Realm.
• In Gold Mountain City, Chen Changsheng rescued Thirteen from the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion and named him Chen Shisan, then learned Proud Snow Red Plum had avoided him because she feared she could not give him a future.
• Chen Changsheng began teaching Chen Shisan swordsmanship and told him Proud Snow Red Plum was being forced to marry Zhao Ke.
• Chen Shisan left for Gold Mountain City with Chen Changsheng’s broken sword, determined to save Red Plum without accepting help.

Chen Changsheng freed Tian Xuan, recruited Chen Shisan and Qian Bao'er, and set them on a perilous journey toward the Buddhist Kingdom while he pursued Wu Li’s hidden Heaven’s Mandate fragments. The group reached a city, where Chen Shisan confronted a green-robed man over the food he had ruined.

• Chen Shisan awakened the Zhenwu Sword’s Sword Spirit, but Proud Snow Red Plum refused to leave with him after disfiguring herself, so he departed alone.
• At Buzhou Mountain, Chen Changsheng freed Tian Xuan, secured the Mystic Bird Clan’s survival, and made Chen Shisan face the powerful people behind the Sword Debate.
• Chen Changsheng found Jiang Feng’s grave and gave Chen Shisan Jiang Feng’s sword, then visited Xuan Xin and told him he intended to challenge the Ascension Road again.
• Nalan Xingde left the academy with Bai Ze to seek Chen Changsheng in the Northern Desert, while Jue Yuan announced that Wu Li’s broken Heaven’s Mandate required a new bearer.
• Chen Changsheng disguised himself as Jue Yuan to arrange a Buddha Fate Assembly and use a fragment of Wu Li’s Heaven’s Mandate to draw powerful figures out.
• Chen Changsheng sent Chen Shisan, Tian Xuan, and Qian Bao'er twenty thousand li into the Buddhist Kingdom, where they endured dangerous battles on their way toward the assembly.
• In a city, Qian Bao'er sold the trio’s beast materials and treated Chen Shisan and Tian Xuan to an expensive feast at the Eight Treasures Pavilion.
• After a black shadow smashed their food, Chen Shisan demanded that the green-robed man who had thrown it onto their table pay for the meal.