Recaps

After looting Yanluo Valley, Shen Hui left with Lu Huan and burned the temple, but a terrifying wheel-like creature called the Miasma Mother emerged from underground and pursued them into the clouds. The chapter ended with an explosion shaking the mountaintop as the creature followed them into the cloud sea.

• Shen Hui stored the spoils from Yanluo Valley and tallied nearly sixty thousand Dao Xing points, while reflecting on his newly comprehended killing move, Hidden Scales Enter Dreams.
• Shen Hui reunited with Lu Huan on the cliff, then set the temple ablaze to destroy what remained in the valley.
• A wheel-like creature burst from beneath the burning temple, and Shen Hui recognized it as the Miasma Mother.
• The Miasma Mother charged toward Shen Hui and Lu Huan, forcing them to flee on White Skeleton through the mountains.
• Shen Hui led the pursuing creature into a dense sea of clouds, where an explosion sounded and the mountaintop trembled.

Shen Hui fled with Lu Huan while the Miasma Mother pursued them across the mountains, but his attacks drained his spiritual power and failed to stop it for long. He completed his Five Elements cycle and destroyed the creature with a combined lightning strike, then collapsed as Lu Huan checked on him.

• Shen Hui tried Yin Water Thunder against the Miasma Mother, realized it strengthened the creature, and switched to Divine Bing Fire Thunder to slow its pursuit.
• Shen Hui led the Miasma Mother through deserted mountains for over three hundred li while his spiritual power dwindled and the creature adapted to his attacks.
• Shen Hui spent Dao Xing points to raise three chapters of the Lesser Five Elements Art to Greater Mastery, completing the Five Elements cycle in his body.
• Shen Hui reached a solitary peak, placed Lu Huan behind him, and struck the Miasma Mother with five elements of lightning, destroying it.
• A yellow bead fell from the sky, and Shen Hui collapsed; Lu Huan checked his breathing before he told her he was not dead.

After Shen Hui and Lu Huan survived the Miasma Mother, Shen Hui discovered a new Five Elements technique and examined a strange yellow bead. The bead was identified as an Earth Baleful Spirit Pearl, and a prompt asked whether he wanted to refine it.

• Lu Huan cried with relief that Shen Hui had survived, and Shen Hui reassured her that he would not die.
• Shen Hui checked his Dao Xing points and found that killing the Miasma Mother had earned him nearly ten thousand.
• Shen Hui discovered the Five Elements Reversal Transmutation Art and studied its principles and restrictions.
• Lu Huan showed Shen Hui a yellow bead, and he sensed dense earth-aspect vital energy within it.
• A prompt appeared asking Shen Hui whether he wanted to refine the Earth Baleful Spirit Pearl.

Shen Hui refined an earth-baleful spirit and discovered that the Qi-Gathering Cup held poisoned spiritual liquid, which nearly cost him his hand. After seeing the liquid revive and then corrupt the moss, he realized Liu Mengshu had given him a dangerous artifact.

• Shen Hui absorbed the earth-baleful spirit without spending Dao Xing points and sensed a connection to the surrounding mountains.
• Shuangling forced Shen Hui to cut off his left hand when he reached for the poisoned liquid in the Qi-Gathering Cup.
• Shen Hui reattached his hand with Yi-wood essence qi, then admitted he had been careless and agreed that severing it had been necessary.
• Shen Hui poured the cup's liquid onto scorched moss, which rapidly revived before growing an eyeball-bearing fruit and withering into foul sludge.
• Shen Hui thanked Liu Mengshu for the dangerous artifact after witnessing the liquid's effects.

Shen Hui summoned his grandmaster and told her he had mastered all five elements, prompting her to identify him as someone born to face a calamity. She chose to be the first to have her body rebuilt, but Shen Hui’s attempt to transform a stone into her body consumed spiritual energy far faster than expected.

• Shen Hui restored his spiritual energy with Crimson Yin Great Pills and summoned his grandmaster from the Soul-Searching Gourd.
• Shen Hui told his grandmaster he had mastered all five elements, and she questioned how he had progressed so quickly.
• After hearing Shen Hui’s birth characters, the grandmaster declared that he was born to face a calamity.
• The grandmaster chose to have her body rebuilt first, explaining that her Core Formation experience could help protect Clear Wind Temple.
• Shen Hui began the Matter Transformation Method on a stone, but it drained more than half his spiritual energy while only forming a rough outline.

Shen Hui exhausted his spiritual energy creating a tiny body for Grandmistress, who inhabited it and discovered she could cultivate. After preparing to return to the temple, Shen Hui found that one Plague Patrol Deacon’s insect egg was missing and crushed the two remaining eggs for Dao Xing points.

• Shen Hui used up all his spiritual energy transforming a stone into a tiny, detailed body for Grandmistress, admitting he would need to form a core to make a full-sized one.
• Grandmistress entered the miniature body, tested it, and found that she could cultivate; she told Shen Hui he could kill her again after forming a core.
• Lu Huan watched over the tiny Grandmistress, shooing away a beetle before falling asleep beside her.
• Shen Hui replenished his spiritual energy and decided it was time to return to the temple, believing his completed five elements and united five thunderbolts could defeat his instinct-driven master.
• Shen Hui checked the insect eggs from Yanluo Valley against the Ascension Register and realized one Plague Patrol Deacon’s egg was missing.
• Shen Hui crushed the two remaining insect eggs and gained Dao Xing points.

Shen Hui explored the Five Elements Reversal Technique and discovered that he could reduce matter to five-colored chaotic radiance, but its combat uses seemed limited. By transforming Sharp Gold Qi and studying the radiance’s properties, he began learning how to guide it toward metal’s speed and sharpness.

• Shen Hui tested how transforming a stone into different materials consumed varying amounts of spiritual energy and concluded that transformations closer to the original material cost less.
• Shen Hui realized he could destroy a material’s nature without rebuilding it, and reduced a stone to five-colored chaotic radiance that dissolved part of a cliff.
• Shen Hui judged the radiance too slow and lacking in distinctive combat strengths, then used the Heart Lamp to clear his distracting emotions.
• Shen Hui changed his Mystic Yellow Robe into his old Clear Wind Temple robes and transformed Sharp Gold Qi into chaotic radiance.
• Shen Hui reasoned that the radiance should retain metal’s swiftness and sharpness, and after repeated attempts its glow finally trembled in response.

Shen Hui comprehended the Five Elements Divine Light and discovered how his spiritual objects and cultivation limited its use. He demonstrated the Dao path to Lu Huan and the female Martial Ancestor, leaving Lu Huan admiring its colors.

• Shen Hui tested the five elemental aspects of his radiance and comprehended the Five Elements Divine Light.
• Shen Hui learned that his spiritual objects let him combine water, fire, and earth, while wood and metal required matching spiritual objects, and that combining colors consumed substantial spiritual energy.
• Shen Hui withdrew the light after its commotion woke Lu Huan and the female Martial Ancestor.
• Shen Hui showed them his five-colored light and told the female Martial Ancestor that he had found his Dao path.
• Shen Hui explained Dao paths to Lu Huan, who admired the light but did not understand the concept.

Shen Hui, Lu Huan, and Snow-Embracing True Person ate after getting lost in the mountains, and Snow-Embracing used the stars to determine their location. Shen Hui then offered her a gourd as a temporary home, and the group prepared to travel northeast toward signs of human habitation.

• Snow-Embracing True Person asked for food, and Shen Hui gave her a peanut, chicken, and a tiny cup of wine.
• Lu Huan asked to learn Shen Hui's arts, and he told her she would need to master the Five Elements Arts first.
• Snow-Embracing identified their location in southeast Luanzhou by observing the stars and offered to teach Lu Huan minor arts such as discerning direction.
• Snow-Embracing told Lu Huan to call her Snow-Embracing, and Shen Hui prepared the Nine-Orifice Yin Gourd as her temporary dwelling.
• Snow-Embracing inspected the gourd, climbed inside, and agreed that it was suitable, so Shen Hui fastened it to his belt.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan traveled northeast through the mountains, testing the speed of his sword flight while conserving spiritual energy by walking between flights. As they crossed a remote stream, Shen Hui reflected on how insignificant human presence was beside the enduring mountains and forests.

• Shen Hui flew with Lu Huan on White Skeleton, discovering that Five Elements Divine Light greatly increased the sword light's speed but consumed spiritual energy rapidly.
• While walking, Shen Hui collected wild fruits, searched trees and cliffs for hidden caves, and let Lu Huan inspect a rabbit nest.
• Shen Hui asked Snow-Embracing True Person whether she wanted to leave the Nine-Orifice Yin Gourd, but she said she was drawing in qi and did not want to be disturbed.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan continued northeast, alternating between sword flight and walking through increasingly steep, densely wooded mountains.
• Standing on a moss-covered boulder in a remote stream, Shen Hui reflected that the mountains and forests remained unchanged by humans and that human traces eventually vanished.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan befriended a half-enlightened red fox in the woods before leaving it behind. As they flew onward, they came across a black bear and a great snake fighting in a valley, and the snake coiled around the bear.

• Shen Hui identified the red fox as a newly awakened little demon and offered it smoked chicken.
• Lu Huan fed and stroked the red fox, then said goodbye without taking it with them.
• Shen Hui summoned White Skeleton and flew with Lu Huan until they spotted a bear and a snake battling in a valley.
• The great snake lunged at the black bear, which caught its body in its forelimbs despite being wounded.
• The snake wrapped its coils around the bear and began squeezing the air from its lungs.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan crossed the mountains after Shen Hui intervened in a fight between a black bear and a great snake. They discovered ancient ruins, where Snow-Embracing True Person identified the buried settlement as Wild Plains County Town.

• The black bear tore the great snake in two and began eating it, so Shen Hui used White Skeleton to sever the snake's head before leaving with Lu Huan.
• Shen Hui asked Lu Huan if she was afraid after witnessing the brutal fight, and they continued their journey in silence.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan found ancient stone steps, walls, and pillars, then entered a sprawling settlement swallowed by forest.
• Shen Hui brought Snow-Embracing True Person out of the Nine-Orifice Yin Gourd, and she surveyed the ruins before directing him onward.
• Snow-Embracing True Person told Shen Hui that the ruins had once been Wild Plains County Town.

Shen Hui, Lu Huan, and Snow-Embracing True Person wandered through the ruins of Wild Plains County Town as Snow-Embracing True Person recalled its former streets and shops. They left after she silently gazed at an eroded statue, and the town remained forgotten beneath the vines and moss.

• Snow-Embracing True Person guided Shen Hui and Lu Huan through the ruins, recalling an osmanthus cake shop and a tavern that had once stood there.
• Shen Hui followed her directions past the former government office and out beyond the crumbled city wall.
• The three came upon a moss-covered stone statue, and Snow-Embracing True Person silently watched it before telling Shen Hui not to clear it off.
• Shen Hui summoned White Skeleton, and the three flew away from the ruins.
• The wind moved the vines around the statue as the narration described how the memories of Wild Plains County Town would disappear with those who remembered it.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan entered Stone Beach County, where armed men charged travelers “Chivalry Gold” under the rule of Hero Chen. The next morning, Shen Hui saw a hero-looking man beat a market vendor who had bullied an old woman, leaving the encounter unresolved.

• Shen Hui paid the barricade guards twenty copper coins for himself and Lu Huan to enter Stone Beach County, where the guards praised Hero Chen’s violent rule.
• An old flatbread seller told Lu Huan that “Chivalry Gold” was a toll renamed to justify collecting money.
• Shen Hui stayed at an inn, watched armed men make vendors wary, and told Lu Huan not to judge people by whether they carried sabers.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan left the inn the next morning, and Shen Hui bought dried persimmons and malt candy at the market.
• A vendor overturned an old woman’s basket and demanded compensation for taking his usual spot, so a hero-looking man slapped the vendor until his mouth bled.

Hero Chen dispensed violent, self-serving justice in the market while Shen Hui explained his actions to Lu Huan. The chapter left Hero Chen moving on after confiscating two peddlers’ vegetables and forcing them to thank him.

• Hero Chen beat a peddler who had bullied an old woman, then pocketed the copper coins she had earned and called them payment for patrolling on Heaven’s behalf.
• Lu Huan asked Shen Hui what Hero Chen meant, and Shen Hui explained the phrase before calling him only half a hero.
• Hero Chen intervened when Wang Laosan and Chen Dalang argued over competing prices for radishes and yellow chives.
• Hero Chen slapped both peddlers, declared them equally at fault, and had his lackeys confiscate their vegetables.
• Wang Laosan and Chen Dalang bowed and thanked Hero Chen for upholding justice after he threatened them.

Shen Hui confronted Hero Chen after witnessing him abuse his power in the market, and killed him and his attendants when Hero Chen reached for Lu Huan. The townsfolk knelt before Shen Hui, calling him an immortal.

• Hero Chen seized the market’s vegetables and bullied Sun Erniang, declaring that his killings counted as enforcing justice on Heaven’s behalf.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan refused to leave the market, and Shen Hui warned Hero Chen that a bloody calamity was coming.
• Lu Huan called Hero Chen half a hero, and he angrily reached for her.
• Shen Hui split Hero Chen in two with a streak of white light, then killed his attendants with another strike.
• Townsfolk emerged from hiding and knelt before Shen Hui, crying that an immortal had descended to earth.

Shen Hui turned a shallow river into a route toward Qu County by shaping its water into a giant carp, then used the Soul-Searching Gourd to transform the Daoists into little fish inside it. As they traveled, Jingming made Lu Huan continue her character lessons.

• Shen Hui explained how they would follow several rivers toward Qu County.
• Shen Hui formed a giant water carp and took Lu Huan aboard.
• Shen Hui released wisps from the Soul-Searching Gourd, turning the Daoists into little fish inside the carp.
• The transformed Daoists swam and played inside the carp while Lu Huan watched.
• Jingming told Lu Huan to recite her characters, and Lu Huan reluctantly began.

Shen Hui traveled downstream on the giant water carp, drawing attention from river travelers who mistook him for an immortal. After turning upstream into the Yangbi River, he spotted a village-like raft blocking the river ahead.

• The water carp grew to more than ten zhang long after entering the Tu River and sped downstream.
• River travelers saw Shen Hui riding the enormous carp, but their boats could not get close to him.
• The carp passed Twin River County and turned upstream into the Yangbi River.
• Shen Hui sensed the river widening and saw a giant raft covered with soil, bamboo, and houses, surrounded by hundreds of polemen.

Shen Hui rescued a scholar who had jumped from a lavish raft, then tested his insistence that Shen Hui was an immortal. After discovering the scholar had exceptional innate talent, Shen Hui asked what he wanted, and the scholar begged to become his disciple.

• Shen Hui and Lu Huan passed a giant raft, where a scholar jumped into the river and began to drown.
• Shen Hui lifted the scholar from the water, but the man called him an immortal and tried to approach him before slipping back into the river.
• Shen Hui rescued the scholar again and repeatedly dropped him into the water until he admitted Shen Hui was not an immortal.
• Shen Hui used the Aura Observation Art and discovered the scholar had rare innate talent.
• The scholar introduced himself as Meng Zhang, courtesy name Wenxian, and asked Shen Hui to accept him as a disciple.

Shen Hui questioned Meng Zhang's desire to seek immortality and tested whether he could contribute as a disciple. He gave Meng Zhang a copy of the Qi Attraction Art and returned him to the raft, leaving Meng Zhang to begin his path alone.

• Shen Hui asked whether Meng Zhang had jumped into the river expecting rescue or wanting to die, and Meng Zhang said he did not know.
• Shen Hui challenged Meng Zhang's belief that immortals were carefree and asked what practical skills he could offer as a companion.
• Meng Zhang insisted that he could learn, so Shen Hui sent a tiny water carp through his body and gave him the Qi Attraction Art with a warning not to use it for evil.
• Shen Hui asked whether Meng Zhang's uncle knew he wanted to leave, then carried him back to the raft without waiting for an answer.
• Meng Zhang's uncle and the polemen welcomed him aboard, and Meng Zhang shouted after Shen Hui before kneeling to bow as the giant fish disappeared into the night.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan returned to Lanjin Ferry, where they reunited with the old horse and the jujube-red mare. They rode toward home, passing Qu County without entering it and continuing along Bonan Road.

• Shen Hui reached Lanjin Ferry with Lu Huan and sensed demonic aura in the shrubs.
• The old horse Shen Hui had freed emerged from the thicket, followed by a jujube-red mare Lu Huan recognized as Qingyi’s horse.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan mounted the horses, and the old horse repeatedly waited for the mare along the road.
• Shen Hui avoided Qu County and directed the old horse down Bonan Road toward home.

Shen Hui confronted Second Senior Uncle at Clear Wind Temple over the Sword Box and killed him and his allies. After Second Senior Uncle revealed a monstrous second form, Shen Hui destroyed his soul before it could enter the Soul-Searching Gourd.

• Second Senior Uncle killed the soldiers who refused to enter the temple and demanded the Sword Box from his disciples.
• Shen Hui arrived with the Sword Box, rejected Second Senior Uncle’s claim to it, and declared that he would cleanse the sect.
• Shen Hui killed Second Senior Uncle’s two disciples with sword light and wounded Second Senior Uncle, then killed the woman who tried to intervene with fire lightning.
• Second Senior Uncle fled, but Shen Hui’s sword pinned him to a gate pillar and reduced his body to boneless flesh.
• Second Senior Uncle transformed into a serpent of flesh and a skeleton, but Shen Hui shattered the skeleton with an edict.
• Shen Hui stopped Second Senior Uncle’s soul from entering the Soul-Searching Gourd and burned it away.

Shen Hui killed Old Taoist Ji Chen with lightning, but Ji Chen briefly regained his memories and recognized him as Qingxuan before his soul entered the Soul-Searching Gourd. Shen Hui was left alone in the ruined courtyard, where he received a prompt asking whether to refine the Blood Sword: Crimson Calamity.

• Shen Hui struck Old Taoist Ji Chen with a lightning incantation, severing his head and killing his body.
• Ji Chen opened clear eyes, recognized Shen Hui as Qingxuan, and asked about his white hair, Daoist robes, and the Cat Ridge bandits.
• Ji Chen noticed the neglected temple, scolded the absent disciples, and then grew sleepy as Shen Hui urged him to rest.
• Ji Chen closed his eyes, and a stream of light entered the Soul-Searching Gourd at Shen Hui's waist.
• Shen Hui set Ji Chen's head on the steps and received a prompt asking whether to refine the Blood Sword: Crimson Calamity.

Shen Hui forged Red Calamity from the blood of Master’s corpse, merged it with White Skeleton, and gained a new Sword Qi from a crystal. As he surveyed the ruined Clear Wind Temple, lightning destroyed its old peach tree and revealed a plaque engraved with “Shentu” and “Yulü.”

• Shen Hui formed the flowing blood into Red Calamity, tested its speed, and merged it with White Skeleton into a sword that could split into two and reunite.
• Shen Hui burned the corpses in the courtyard and refined a large crystal, gaining sharp Gold Baleful Intent Sword Qi.
• Shen Hui found Clear Wind Temple drained of spiritual energy and stored Senior Brother’s sword, Deep Abyss, in the Jadeite Gourd.
• Shen Hui surveyed the temple’s ruined halls and lifeless peach tree, then accidentally destroyed the tree with lightning from his palm.
• Shen Hui found a heavy wooden plaque in the ashes, engraved with the names Shentu and Yulü.

Shen Hui left Clear Wind Temple and entered deep meditation in the hot spring, where he experienced the mountain’s life and seasons as though they were his own. He emerged refreshed and clear-minded, having undergone a strange cultivation experience.

• Shen Hui found a wooden plaque bearing the names Shentu and Yulü inside an old peach tree, fashioned it into a talisman, and left it for his martial ancestor to explain later.
• Shen Hui released the tethered warhorses outside Clear Wind Temple and headed toward the rear mountain, where he met Lu Huan and Ancestor Embracing Snow.
• Shen Hui told Lu Huan he would cultivate for several days, and Ancestor Embracing Snow agreed to watch over the girl.
• Shen Hui meditated on a reef in the hot spring and felt himself merge with the mountain, experiencing its growth, seasons, and the pain of a woodcutter’s axe.
• Shen Hui opened his eyes, found his body unchanged, and felt refreshed, clear-minded, and free of his accumulated drowsiness.