Recaps

Lu Huan overheard travelers discussing wild boars, then slept through a giant snake’s attack on the relay station. Shen Hui killed the monster, leaving the travelers alive and awake for the rest of the night.

• Lu Huan told the travelers that her group had already killed the wild boars, and Shen Hui reassured them that they could continue without detouring.
• A strange, fishy wind woke everyone at the relay station, and a giant snake appeared in the doorway.
• Shen Hui stopped the snake’s fetid wind and destroyed its corrosive green attack with Five Elements Divine Light.
• Red Calamity pursued the wounded snake outside and returned after killing it.
• The young swordsman thanked Shen Hui, and the travelers quietly resumed watching over the fire while Lu Huan slept.

The group discovered that Shen Hui had killed the enormous snake that attacked the relay station and began salvaging its corpse. The bearded man mistook the snake’s enormous shit bladder for its gall.

• The guards and travelers emerged at dawn and found the giant snake’s severed body scattered across the courtyard.
• The bearded man examined the corpse and joked about selling its fangs, but the young swordsman warned everyone not to tamper with a demon beast slain by an immortal master.
• Shen Hui allowed the group to take anything useful but warned them to avoid the venomous snake head.
• The travelers began cutting up the snake, and the bearded man opened its body to find what he thought was its gall.
• The young swordsman identified the enormous sac the bearded man had pulled out as a shit bladder.

After Shen Hui killed the demon snake, villagers gathered to divide its meat, while Lu Huan woke to find the yard transformed into a bustling feast. Shen Hui confiscated the snake’s head from a troublesome old man and asked the bearded man where the snake had attacked them.

• The bearded man offered Shen Hui the demon snake’s gallbladder, but Shen Hui let the survivors divide it among themselves.
• Lu Huan woke, accepted snake soup and flatbread from a guard, and watched villagers carve up the snake.
• Shen Hui took the snake’s head away when an old man tried to pry out its eyes, prompting the bearded man to scold and kick the old man.
• Shen Hui calmed the bearded man, examined the snake eggs among the entrails, and asked where the snake had attacked them.
• The bearded man said the snake had pursued his group as they entered a village where they planned to spend the night.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan reached a strangely quiet village where a drought-stricken community had found water in an old well. Their host urged them to drink it, but Shen Hui refused, and the man hinted that he would not explain the village’s strange state otherwise.

• Villagers heading toward the post station asked Shen Hui about the giant snake, and he told them its remains had been burned or divided up.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan reached a village where the fields were abandoned and no cooking smoke rose, though the villagers they met appeared healthy and normal.
• A villager offered them lodging and explained that a well behind the ancestral hall had begun producing water during the drought.
• At the villager’s home, his wife served Shen Hui and Lu Huan bowls of the well water, but Shen Hui left his untouched and asked about the unharvested crops.
• The host told Shen Hui that drinking the water would make the reason clear, and Shen Hui asked what would happen if he refused.

Shen Hui killed a man and a woman who were possessed by strange creatures, then went with Lu Huan to the Liu Clan Ancestral Hall. There, he found a monstrous snake idol and was challenged by a voice demanding to know why he had profaned Great King Hanqi.

• Shen Hui sliced a man in half, tore off his head, and pulled a living monster from his body.
• A woman rushed in with a cleaver, and Shen Hui killed her with a flash of red Qi.
• Shen Hui questioned the monster, learned it could not speak coherently outside its human skin, and burned it and the corpses.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan crossed the dark village and broke into the Liu Clan Ancestral Hall.
• Shen Hui found a winged, clawed snake statue where the ancestral tablets should have been, and a hidden voice confronted him.

Shen Hui interrogated a demon guarding Great King Hanqi’s shrine and learned that Foxlan True Lord had arranged to infect the villagers with snakes so Hanqi could gather incense offerings and become the Blazing Yang Great God. The Old Man’s evasiveness revealed that the disguised monsters were also luring travelers into the village to spread the scheme.

• Shen Hui trapped the Old Man and threatened him with Red Calamity and White Skeleton until he confessed to serving Foxlan True Lord and gathering offerings for Great King Hanqi.
• The Old Man said Great King Hanqi was a Feiyi demon whose offspring had been hidden in the shrine’s well to cause a drought.
• He explained that the offspring’s enchanted water made villagers feel satisfied and eventually grew snakes inside them that replaced their minds.
• The Old Man admitted the transformed villagers could not be saved and claimed they prayed and burned incense for Great King Hanqi at night.
• Shen Hui confronted him about the Blood Sha Qi, and the Old Man’s reaction exposed that the monsters were luring travelers into the village to infect them and multiply their offerings.

Shen Hui questioned the old fox demon about the powerful Demon Kings around Lost Ferry Ridge and learned that Foxlan True Lord would hold another feast in three years. After gathering the information, Shen Hui killed the fox and headed toward the rear of the ancestral hall.

• Shen Hui used White Skeleton to expose the old fox beneath the Old Man’s human disguise, then took the copper coin token from its neck.
• Shen Hui questioned the fox about Demon Kings, and it named White-Headed Lord, Mountain-Moving Taisui, and the Wind-Calling Great King among the most powerful.
• The old fox told Shen Hui that Foxlan True Lord’s next feast would take place in three years and said its master had some friendship with Great King Hanqi.
• Shen Hui determined that the fox had eaten many people and burned it to death with crimson flame.
• Shen Hui caught Red Calamity, took White Skeleton, and walked toward the rear of the ancestral hall.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan destroyed the snakes and demonic creatures in the ancestral hall’s well, then burned the village to eliminate the remaining corruption. They left the burning village to sleep in the wilderness.

• Shen Hui sent Red Calamity and White Skeleton into the well, killing the snakes gathered at its bottom.
• Shen Hui boiled the well dry, then killed a winged serpent that burst from the mist.
• Shen Hui killed the dying snake identified as the offspring of Great King Hanqi and burned the snake corpses and wooden carving.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan returned to the village, where Shen Hui set fire to the houses and remaining bodies.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan left the village to sleep in the wilderness.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan reached Echo Pavilion, where a strange flying sword attacked them. After Shen Hui caught it, a black-mist-covered figure burst from the pavilion and plunged toward him, shouting about devouring his immortal platform.

• Shen Hui brought Lu Huan through Echo Valley and explained that Echo Pavilion was renowned for controlling objects and refining artifacts.
• Shen Hui flew past the valley entrance and approached Echo Pavilion’s cliffside buildings.
• A shrieking white jade flying sword shot from the pavilion, and Shen Hui caught it with Five Elements Divine Light.
• A black-mist-covered figure smashed through an upper window and dove from the cliff, threatening to devour Shen Hui’s immortal platform and take his life.

Shen Hui defeated a monstrous attacker in the valley and refined its Metal Baleful Intent crystal. He released Lu Huan and flew with her toward the buildings above the cliff.

• Shen Hui used lightning and his flying swords to strike the monster, but it healed by devouring spiritual energy.
• Shen Hui severed the monster’s head with the Five Elements Divine Light, and it hurled the head at him, engulfing him in black mist.
• Shen Hui split the flying head with his swords and burned it, then chopped the headless body apart and destroyed its pieces with fire and lightning.
• Shen Hui found a black crystal in the ashes, refined its Metal Baleful Intent, and gained more than fifty thousand cultivation points.
• Shen Hui released Lu Huan, confirmed the fight was over, and flew toward the buildings above the cliff.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan searched the ruined Echo Pavilion and collected its books, pills, magical artifacts, and supplies. As dusk approached, they left the bloodstained mountain gate and flew out of the valley.

• Shen Hui checked Echo Pavilion's buildings for monsters, then gathered books on artifact refinement from Myriad Sounds Tower.
• Shen Hui searched Jade Treasures Pavilion and collected pills, old mountain ginseng, magical artifacts, furnishings, and valuables.
• Lu Huan joined Shen Hui in searching the pavilion and helped gather useful and valuable items.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan searched the remaining buildings, finding cauldrons, ore, refined iron, fasting pills, and other supplies.
• Shen Hui looked over the ruined Echo Pavilion at dusk, then took Lu Huan and flew out of the valley.

Shen Hui identified Lu Huan’s new bell as the Worry-Forgotten Bell and read about several artifacts in Echo Pavilion’s self-promotional ranking book. As they continued east, he came across an entry for the Clear Wind Sword Box and questioned its low ranking.

• Lu Huan told Shen Hui she had found a copper bell beside the bed, and he identified it as the Worry-Forgotten Bell, which could temporarily ease people’s worries.
• Shen Hui told Lu Huan to hand over the Nine-Orifice Yin Gourd so its jingling would not disturb Patriarch Baoxue’s cultivation; Lu Huan agreed after he promised to return it once Baoxue formed her Golden Core.
• As Lu Huan walked ahead, shaking the bell, Shen Hui read about Wind Flute and learned how its sounds could bewilder opponents and conceal its attacks.
• Shen Hui reached the entry for the Clear Wind Sword Box, noted that the book ranked it ninety-eighth, and doubted that the ranking reflected its true worth.

Shen Hui refined the Wind Flute and studied artifact refinement, then conceived of turning a gourd into a Cave-Heaven Gourd to house Clear Wind Temple. The chapter ended with Shen Hui and Lu Huan setting out to find a spirit mountain for the project.

• Shen Hui refined the Wind Flute and tested it, but his first attempt produced a piercing shriek that startled Lu Huan.
• Shen Hui practiced channeling spiritual energy through the Wind Flute and gradually learned how its apertures shaped its sound.
• While Lu Huan slept beside a stream, Shen Hui used cultivation points to master the artifact-refining texts he had obtained from Myriad Sounds Tower.
• Shen Hui conceived of combining his gourds into a Cave-Heaven Gourd that could contain a spirit mountain and Clear Wind Temple.
• After recalling the old fox demon's words about Lost Ferry Ridge, Foxlan True Lord, and a feast in three years, Shen Hui decided to search for a spirit mountain on the way to Jingzhou.
• Lu Huan excitedly welcomed Shen Hui's plan to put Clear Wind Temple inside a gourd so they could carry their home wherever they went.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan traveled through the mountains, meeting both generous spirits and hostile monsters. After Shen Hui drove off a green-scaled child who attacked Lu Huan, the child’s parents apologized and gave them a jade scale.

• Shen Hui and Lu Huan met an old ape spirit, which traded purple ganoderma for Shen Hui’s pill.
• A group of young monkeys shared their golden pine-nut paste with Lu Huan, and Shen Hui left them a spirit-infused peach in return.
• A green-scaled child disguised as a fish attacked Lu Huan after she lured it with the Worry-Forgotten Bell.
• Shen Hui drove the child into the stream with his flying swords, forcing its parents to emerge and apologize.
• The child apologized, and its parents gave Lu Huan a protective jade scale, which she accepted while admitting she had teased the child with her bell.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan traveled through the mountains, gathered spiritual treasures, and practiced music before reaching a secluded mountain at the border of Lingzhou and Cangzhou. There they met an old cultivator who condemned the world's cruelty and urged Shen Hui to retreat from it, leaving Shen Hui to consider his advice.

• Lu Huan gave Shen Hui the azure jade scale, but he told her to keep it before they continued their journey.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan encountered mountain spirits and monsters, gathered spiritual treasures, and practiced the Wind Flute and bell during their travels.
• After more than half a month, Shen Hui and Lu Huan reached the border of Lingzhou and Cangzhou and found a secluded mountain suitable for building a temple.
• They followed cooking smoke to three thatched cottages, where an old man welcomed them and served tea.
• The old man condemned cultivators, officials, and ordinary people for their cruelty, then urged Shen Hui to withdraw from the world and cultivate in seclusion.

Shen Hui defended his choice to help people and fight demons despite the cost to his cultivation, and the Old Man accepted that they followed different paths. After Shen Hui and Lu Huan left, the Old Man recalled how pursuing a demon had ruined his Dao foundation, though he had never regretted saving a city.

• Shen Hui told the Old Man that he would keep helping people and killing demons, even if doing so brought karma and hindered his cultivation.
• Shen Hui described a master and disciple who had traveled to fight demons despite their weak cultivation and the locals’ hostility, prompting the Old Man to stop trying to dissuade him.
• The Old Man shared half a mountain chestnut cake with Lu Huan, then directed Shen Hui and Lu Huan toward Falling Cloud Town and warned them not to break branches from a red-flowered tree.
• After Shen Hui and Lu Huan departed, the Old Man placed a black stone on the chessboard and remembered how he had sacrificed his Dao foundation to kill a demon that had taken a city hostage.
• The Old Man recalled that his cultivation had remained at the Golden Core realm ever since, but he had never regretted saving the people.

The Old Man overcame his doubts, shattered the stone table, and reclaimed the black sword he had sealed away centuries earlier. He descended the mountain as Shen Hui and Lu Huan continued toward Falling Cloud Town.

• The Old Man remembered the joy he had felt after slaying the evil flood dragon and slammed a black stone onto the white dragon’s only eye, shattering the stone table.
• The Old Man found the black sword in the rubble, took it up, and recalled that he had been trapped by the Golden Core for three hundred years.
• The Old Man changed into an old robe and descended the mountain, declaring that he would leave it that day.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan found a red-flowered tree concealed beside the path, and Lu Huan picked up its fallen blossoms.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan reached Falling Cloud Town as the last light faded.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan stayed at the Cloud-Among Inn in Falling Cloud Town, where Shen Hui tasted its famed Pineside Glow and wrote a poem on the inn’s pillar. The next morning, after the shopkeeper welcomed his inscription, Shen Hui ordered another pot of wine and food before they continued their journey.

• Shen Hui ordered Pineside Glow at the Cloud-Among Inn and learned that an immortal’s poems had been inscribed on a pillar centuries earlier.
• Shen Hui asked to write a poem of his own and paid the waiter to arrange a room, while Lu Huan secretly drank wine from a distance and found it too spicy.
• The next morning, the shopkeeper eagerly invited Shen Hui to inscribe the pillar, and Shen Hui wrote a poem about travel, wine, and facing the road ahead.
• Lu Huan asked what Shen Hui’s poem meant, and Shen Hui instead ordered another pot of Pineside Glow and two dishes before they left.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan left Cloud-Among Inn by sword, turning their departure into a spectacle that made the innkeeper’s wine sell out. After reading Shen Hui’s poem, an Old Man pursued them on a black sword, while Shen Hui sensed a streak of sword light behind them and continued down the road.

• Shen Hui accepted the innkeeper’s wine without paying and left with Lu Huan.
• Shen Hui flew away on his sword in full view of the town, and the crowd declared him an immortal.
• The innkeeper told the arriving Old Man about Shen Hui’s poem and flight, then watched him read the poem and pursue Shen Hui on a black sword.
• Shen Hui explained to Lu Huan that their public flight would help the inn prosper, and he noticed a streak of sword light in the distance.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan encountered a poor wedding procession threatened by a roadblocking evil spirit. Shen Hui destroyed the spirit, then accepted the bride’s brother’s invitation to attend the wedding feast as the procession continued.

• Shen Hui and Lu Huan heard a wedding procession approaching along the road.
• The procession halted in terror when a roadblocking evil spirit appeared in a ruined house, and Shen Hui recognized the danger.
• Shen Hui used Clear Wind to revive the frightened travelers and burned the evil spirit away with a spark.
• Shen Hui reassured the bride and advised the suona player to drink pear soup for his strained lungs.
• The bride’s brother invited Shen Hui to the wedding feast, and Shen Hui accepted after seeing Lu Huan wanted to go.
• The musicians resumed playing, and the procession set off again with Shen Hui and Lu Huan.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan attended a modest village wedding in Zhao Family Ravine, where the villagers welcomed the bride and celebrated her marriage. Shen Hui sent Lu Huan to give a silver gift in both their names, identifying them as from Clear Wind Temple.

• The bridal procession arrived at Zhao Family Ravine, and the villagers gathered to welcome the bride.
• The groom kicked the sedan, and the bride completed the customs for entering her new home.
• The bride and groom bowed before the elders and each other, then the groom lifted the bride's veil as the wedding guests cheered.
• Shen Hui shaped a small silver ingot into several tiny pieces and asked Lu Huan to deliver them as a congratulatory gift.
• Lu Huan told the bookkeeper to record both her name and Shen Hui's, and said they were from Clear Wind Temple.

After Shen Hui healed an old man's leg and shared a wedding feast with Lu Huan, they left Zhao Family Ravine and encountered Xu Ye fleeing a pursuing woman on the road. The chapter ended with Shen Hui recognizing the fleeing man as the demonic cultivator Xu Ye.

• Shen Hui healed the old man's infected leg, and the grateful man praised him as a living immortal.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan joined the wedding feast; Lu Huan drank rice wine, got dizzy, and declared that getting married was wonderful.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan left Zhao Family Ravine after the celebration and walked along the moonlit road.
• A man launched through the air in frantic leaps and shouted angrily at the woman pursuing him on red silk.
• The woman called to Young Brother Xu and proposed becoming Dao companions, while he cursed her and continued fleeing.
• Shen Hui recognized the fleeing man as the demonic cultivator Xu Ye.

Shen Hui rescued Xu Ye from Thousand-Faced Madam Pei Wan and defeated her after discovering she was an Evil Cultivator. Pei Wan invoked the Palace Master of Bliss Palace, while Xu Ye proposed taking her vital essence and slapped her after she insulted him.

• Lu Huan asked Shen Hui what dual cultivation meant as Xu Ye called for help while Pei Wan chased him.
• Pei Wan captured Xu Ye with her red sash and threatened Shen Hui, who used Red Calamity and White Skeleton to destroy her sash and sever her arm.
• Pei Wan warned that her master, the Palace Master of Bliss Palace, would take revenge if Shen Hui killed her.
• Xu Ye suggested harvesting Pei Wan's vital essence, and Pei Wan cursed him until he slapped her and told Lu Huan to cover her ears.

Shen Hui killed Pei Wan after learning she threatened Lu Huan, and Xu Ye absorbed her corpse and gave Shen Hui her storage bracelet. As Xu Ye promised Shen Hui a generous gift, he revealed that Penglai Island was a giant whale.

• Shen Hui killed Pei Wan despite her threats about her master, and Xu Ye vowed to face the danger alongside him.
• Xu Ye absorbed Pei Wan's corpse and handed Shen Hui her storage bracelet.
• Xu Ye explained that Pei Wan, known as Thousand-Faced Madam, had targeted him for her essence-harvesting art and served Bliss Palace.
• Xu Ye promised Shen Hui a generous gift after returning to Extreme Devil Palace, then brought up Penglai Island.
• Xu Ye revealed that Penglai Island was not an island but a giant whale, stunning Shen Hui and Lu Huan.

Xu Ye explained Penglai Island’s whale and offered Shen Hui the Swallowing Sea Sword Qi through a Mingling messenger. He then recounted the tale of the peach tree in Zhaoyang, ending with the Old Taoist’s death and leaving Shen Hui and Lu Huan stunned.

• Xu Ye told Shen Hui that Jiang Heng had left behind the Swallowing Sea Sword Qi, and offered to send its manuscript with a Mingling.
• Xu Ye explained that Minglings carried memories to recipients, then the three continued their journey.
• Xu Ye recounted how a giant peach tree had fed refugees in Zhaoyang, until the commandery governor claimed its fruit as an auspicious gift for the emperor.
• Xu Ye said an Old Taoist killed the governor and later summoned lightning against grain merchants who tried to cut down the tree.
• Xu Ye revealed that the Old Taoist died after summoning lightning, and Shen Hui and Lu Huan stopped in shock.