Recaps

Shen Hui spent his quiet days cultivating, practicing magic, and telling fairy tales to his fellow disciples, who interpreted each story as a record of demons and cultivation techniques. After hearing The Little Mermaid, Second Senior Sister declared that the mermaid had succumbed to an Emotional Tribulation and perished with her Dao destroyed.

• Shen Hui described his daily cultivation, magic practice, reading, and occasional sparring with his fellow disciples.
• Jingming criticized Shen Hui for skipping Daoist scriptures, and he replied that he did not understand scriptures but knew a little fire magic.
• Shen Hui told the Ugly Duckling and Little Red Riding Hood, and Third Senior Brother recast their characters as demons while taking notes.
• Third Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Sister, Fifth Senior Brother, Senior Brother, and Second Senior Sister began gathering to hear Shen Hui's stories.
• Shen Hui told The Little Mermaid, and his disciples questioned him about mermaids, witchcraft, transformation, and the story's magical details.
• Second Senior Sister said the mermaid had failed to overcome her Emotional Tribulation and had perished with her Dao destroyed.

Shen Hui entertained his fellow disciples with stories, adapting Snow White and then telling them about Ning Caichen, Nie Xiaoqian, and Yan Chixia. Their different reactions to the tale revealed what each of them valued, and the story left Shen Hui wondering whether storytelling itself was a kind of cultivation.

• Shen Hui told Jinghui and the others a version of Snow White, while Third Senior Brother interpreted its characters and events through the lens of demonic cultivation.
• Jinghui asked Shen Hui for a love story, prompting him to remember Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio and begin recounting the story of Ning Caichen and Nie Xiaoqian.
• Jinghui returned the next night to ask what happened to Xiaoqian, and Third Senior Brother recorded the story as Shen Hui continued it.
• Senior Brother and Fifth Senior Brother joined the gathering and praised Yan Chixia, while Third Senior Brother asked about his sword technique.
• Jingming asked Shen Hui about the Black Mountain Old Demon, and Shen Hui noticed that each disciple responded to a different part of the story.

Shen Hui told his fellow disciples the legends of the White Snake and the Butterfly Lovers, then tried to end their requests for more stories. He finally drove Jinghui away by describing the grotesque process of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.

• Shen Hui finished telling the Legend of the White Snake, and the disciples argued over Fahai's actions and the story's characters.
• Shen Hui told the Butterfly Lovers, prompting Third Senior Brother to argue that no one was truly at fault and that fate had toyed with them.
• Shen Hui said he had no more stories to tell, while Third Senior Brother regretted that he could not collect more for a book.
• Jinghui followed Shen Hui for days and repeatedly begged him to tell another story or explain how Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai became butterflies.
• Shen Hui described metamorphosis in gruesome detail, and Jinghui called him a liar before running away.

Shen Hui spent three hundred Dao Xing points learning the novice Control Water, Sharp Gold, and Transform Earth arts, giving him command of all five elements. After a month of practice, he had grown proficient in the new techniques but lacked the points to advance them further, and he set aside the idea of eating poisonous mushrooms again.

• Shen Hui used the Parchment Interface to learn the novice Control Water, Sharp Gold, and Transform Earth arts after failing to sense metal energy through ordinary cultivation.
• Shen Hui tested the three arts in the courtyard, piercing a stump with sword energy, lifting and freezing water, and changing bluestone into mud and back.
• Shen Hui practiced for weeks, shaping volleys of ice, using sharp energy along his palm and fingertips, strengthening earthen walls, and combining dust with the Wind-Borne Art.
• After a month, Shen Hui could use the three arts almost naturally, but his Dao Xing was depleted and he decided not to risk eating poisonous mushrooms again.

A young Daoist and his silent master sought Peach Blossom Miasma near Qu County and hired a herb gatherer to lead them into the mountains. They prepared to set out with a hired party, while their extraordinary strength and wealth left the pharmacy staff stunned.

• The young Daoist asked Renhe Pharmacy about Peach Blossom Miasma and learned that an herb gatherer had survived breathing it after receiving help from a Daoist at Clear Wind Temple.
• The shopkeeper brought in the herb gatherer, who identified a valley between Deer Rest Mountain and Green Screen Mountain as the place where he had found the pink mist.
• The young Daoist offered the herb gatherer gold to guide him and his master to the valley, then snapped the gold bar in half and gave him an advance.
• The young Daoist asked the apprentice to gather ten sturdy men, including four sedan-chair carriers, and paid him to arrange the party.
• The apprentice hurried out to recruit men, while the master sat quietly and the shopkeeper stared at the cleanly snapped gold.

The old man and his disciple traveled to a valley filled with pink Peach Blossom Miasma, where the old man used the White Banner to kill their hired party and collect their Yin Souls. He revealed that the disciple was meant to become the banner’s final Main Soul, then prepared to complete the ritual.

• The young man hired Old Zhang and a group of laborers to guide and carry the old man into the mountains.
• Old Zhang led the party to a valley where pink mist hung below a cliff, and the old man identified it as the miasma they had sought.
• The old man explained that his magic banner required Doom Qi, Killing Intent, poisonous miasma, and Yin Souls, then unleashed its Black Wind and killed the party, absorbing their souls.
• The old man told his disciple that the banner still needed a Main Soul and revealed that he intended to use him for it.
• The disciple tried to flee, but his legs failed; the old man summoned a Long-Tailed Monkey and told it to kill nearby tigers and leopards before turning to the disciple.

Shen Hui killed a White-headed Macaque that attacked him on the mountain, but discovered its severed tail was still alive and could seek out its master. Following its trail, he found a clearing filled with human bones and an old man who called for help as the tail crawled toward him.

• Shen Hui dodged the White-headed Macaque's fruit-pit attack and countered with Sharp Gold Qi and a streak of fire, severing its long tail.
• Shen Hui burned the wounded macaque to death and gained more than a hundred and sixty Dao Xing points.
• Shen Hui recalled that the White-headed Macaque could survive having its tail severed and that the tail could seek its master and be reborn.
• Shen Hui noticed the severed tail had vanished and followed its blood trail through the forest.
• Shen Hui found a clearing filled with white skeletons and discarded tools, where an old man called to him for help as the tail crawled toward him.

Shen Hui encountered the Dark Yin Hermit after the old man captured a Flying Serpent in a Demon-Subduing Banner. Suspicious of the old man's story and the banner's black qi, Shen Hui tried to kill him, but the old man narrowly evaded the attack.

• Shen Hui helped the Dark Yin Hermit trap a severed tail in a Green-Gourd.
• The Dark Yin Hermit claimed a Flying Serpent had killed his disciple and porters, and said he was refining it inside his Demon-Subduing Banner.
• Shen Hui noticed black qi seeping from the banner and grew suspicious while the old man praised his skill and asked about his teacher.
• Shen Hui said he studied under Azure Sun True Person of Green City Mountain, prompting the old man to consider killing him if he could leave no trace.
• Shen Hui feigned surprise at seeing his master and struck the old man with Sharp Gold Qi, but the old man's head sank into his chest and the attack only grazed him.

Shen Hui fought the old man after disrupting his Soul Banner and defeated him with fire arts. The old man’s head was destroyed, leaving Shen Hui victorious.

• The old man released evil ghosts from his Jadeite Gourd, but Shen Hui summoned a Fire Ghost that burned them away and blasted the old man back.
• The old man sent out a poisonous Black Wind, but Shen Hui blocked it with earthen walls and trapped it.
• The old man used two crimson eyes to inflame Shen Hui’s anger, but the Bronze Ancient Lamp dispelled the mind-bewitching effect.
• The old man wrapped himself in the White Banner to withstand Shen Hui’s Fire Ghost, but the flames burned him and the banner badly.
• Shen Hui dodged the old man’s bizarre body contortions, ignited flames inside his belly, and sliced off his head with a line of fire.
• Shen Hui formed a seal and minced the old man’s head with dozens of lines of fire.

Shen Hui returned to the temple after burning and covering the site of his battle, reflecting on the old man's death and the newly available Corpse Liberation Wheel. He planned to ask Master about the old man's strange methods the next day and left the Jadeite Gourd on his table.

• Shen Hui burned the White Banner, the old man's remains, and the weapons, then scattered the ashes and leveled the scorched ground.
• Shen Hui checked his Parchment Interface, saw that his Dao Xing had risen to 1465 and the Corpse Liberation Wheel was available to draw, and decided not to use it yet.
• Shen Hui considered the old man's black-red aura and unusual abilities as he returned to the temple with his qi recovering.
• Shen Hui met Qingyi at the temple gate and learned that Master had stayed in the meditation room while Jinghui had gone to her room to draw talismans.
• Shen Hui ate his dinner, returned to his room, and placed the Jadeite Gourd in the corner of his table.

Shen Hui used 1,465 Dao Xing to advance to the middle stage of Qi Refining, then drew the Corpse Condensation Sword Refinement Dao Path and discovered its grisly material requirements. Unable to sleep after recalling the day’s violence, he meditated through the night and rose at dawn, intending to ask his master about the method and the Jadeite Gourd.

• Shen Hui spent all 1,465 available Dao Xing on cultivation and reached Qi Induction (3361/10000), which he judged to be the middle stage of Qi Refining.
• Shen Hui used the Corpse Liberation Wheel and drew the Dao Path called Corpse Condensation Sword Refinement.
• Shen Hui examined the method and learned that it required corpses from Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul cultivators to refine three life-bound swords.
• Shen Hui decided to ask his master about the Dao Path and the Jadeite Gourd’s origins the next day.
• Shen Hui struggled to sleep as memories of the day’s killings returned, so he meditated through the night and got up at dawn.

Shen Hui told Ji Chen about killing Dark Yin Hermit, an Evil Cultivator tied to the Yin Soul Sect and Hundred Ghosts Gate, and received a Jadeite Gourd as well as a warning about taking risks. Ji Chen agreed to teach him about cultivation sects on a journey down the mountain, but first ordered him to learn Talisman Arts.

• Shen Hui described his encounter with Dark Yin Hermit and learned from Ji Chen that his Soul Banner methods belonged to the Yin Soul Sect and Hundred Ghosts Gate.
• Ji Chen scolded Shen Hui for fighting an Evil Cultivator before he was ready, then accepted that Shen Hui had acted to stop a threat to others.
• Shen Hui showed Ji Chen the Jadeite Gourd, and Ji Chen explained how to refine and use it to store objects and Yin Souls.
• Shen Hui asked about Corpse Condensation Sword Refinement, but Ji Chen had never heard of it and said the Yin Soul Sect's lair was far away on East Sea Yingzhou.
• Ji Chen promised to tell Shen Hui about cultivation sects while traveling, and told him to learn healing and warding talismans before leaving the mountain.
• Ji Chen said Jinghui had borrowed the talisman book and told Shen Hui to ask her for it.

Shen Hui learned practical minor talisman arts and nurtured the Jadeite Gourd until he could use its storage space. He discovered the White-headed Macaque’s severed tail hidden inside, subdued it when it attacked, and burned away its sinister runes.

• Shen Hui studied talisman books and learned useful minor arts, including spells for stopping dogs, sending messages, finding water, and staving off hunger.
• Shen Hui nurtured the Jadeite Gourd for seven days until he could sense its room-sized interior and store objects inside it.
• Shen Hui discovered a python-like object tucked in the gourd and forcibly pulled out the White-headed Macaque’s severed tail.
• The severed tail sprang at Shen Hui with a bone spur, but he restrained it with a line of fire and the Dragon-Subduing Stake.
• Shen Hui recognized the runes on the tail as crooked sorcery and burned the tail until its black qi and runes vanished.

Shen Hui traveled down the mountain with the Old Taoist and learned about the hauntings, monsters, and bandits troubling Qu County. They reached the county, where the Old Taoist was expected to help with the problems.

• Shen Hui set out before dawn with the Old Taoist after bidding farewell to his senior siblings, who gave him food, books, and money.
• On the road, Shen Hui stored his rattan trunk in his Jadeite Gourd and met Chen Shou, Qu County's Assistant Magistrate, who had been sent to welcome the Old Taoist.
• Chen Shou listed recent troubles in the county, including a haunted residence, a disturbed corpse, missing children, and roving bandits.
• The Old Taoist said they would deal with the bandits on their return to the temple and continued toward Qu County on foot.
• Shen Hui and the Old Taoist arrived in Qu County with Chen Shou and his attendants.

Shen Hui accompanied the Old Taoist Ji Chen into Qu County, where they met local officials and practitioners investigating a string of strange incidents. Ji Chen chose to inspect the Liu Family Old Residence that night, setting the group on their first investigation.

• Ji Chen had Old Zhou take Shen Hui's measurements for an elaborate Daoist robe and Cloud Shoes, paying with silver and gold.
• On the way to the county yamen, Chen Shou chased off two thugs who were harassing a young man.
• County Magistrate Wang Jin introduced Shen Hui, whom Ji Chen called Qingxuan, to Scholar Li and Master Faming.
• Wang Jin listed seven problems afflicting the county, including a haunted residence, an ominous grave, missing children, a water ghost, bandits, a stolen corpse, and disturbed graves.
• Scholar Li and Master Faming offered their assessments, but Ji Chen remained silent until he chose to investigate the Liu Family Old Residence that night.

Shen Hui and the others entered the haunted Liu Family Old Residence to investigate, while Chen Shou waited outside. After a supernatural wind nearly extinguished their lanterns, Shen Hui restored their light and led the group deeper into the courtyard.

• Shen Hui, Chen Shou, Scholar Li, the monk, and two constables arrived at the Liu Family Old Residence after dark.
• Chen Shou and Scholar Li hesitated to enter, and Chen Shou stayed outside while Shen Hui and the others went in.
• A cold wind swept through the residence, dimming the lanterns and cutting off the group from the outside.
• The Soul-Alarm Bell rang, and Shen Hui made his lantern blaze brightly, restoring the light in the others' lanterns.
• Shen Hui led the group farther into the courtyard.

Shen Hui and the others uncovered an infant’s skeleton beneath a pillar in the Liu Family house and learned it had been buried as a living stake to suppress the house. As the young constable pointed at the bones and asked if the child was causing trouble, a deafening crash sounded overhead.

• Shen Hui sensed concentrated yin energy in the main hall and traced it to a pillar with freshly laid bricks beneath it.
• Shen Hui used a hand seal to force a small infant’s skeleton out of the ground.
• Shen Hui concluded the infant was unlikely to be a Liu family child because it had been buried beneath the main beam.
• Xu Bantou recalled that a carpenter and a laborer had died while the Liu Family house was being built forty years earlier.
• Ji Chen identified the skeleton as a living stake, and Monk Faming explained that the buried soul was used to suppress a house.
• The young constable asked whether the child was causing the trouble, and a deafening crash sounded overhead.

Shen Hui and Old Taoist fought the ghostly black qi at the residence and destroyed it, though they suspected someone had cultivated it deliberately. They left the matter as bait for whoever was responsible, then joined Chen Shou and the others for a meal and rooms at the post station.

• A falling beam threatened the group, and Shen Hui used a Fire Ghost to knock it away before striking the black qi with Sharp Gold Qi.
• Old Taoist pinned the fleeing strands of black qi with a talisman, and Shen Hui burned them to ashes before Monk Faming's prayer bead could reach them.
• Old Taoist questioned Shen Hui about learning Sharp Gold and Earth-Transformation arts, warned him against practicing too many arts, and said they would use the incident to draw out the culprit.
• Shen Hui asked Constable Xu to arrange a proper burial for the skeleton, and Old Taoist told Shen Hui the ghost's elimination might provoke the person behind it.
• Chen Shou welcomed Shen Hui and Old Taoist, then led the group to a hot meal at the post station.
• Chen Shou arranged the limited rooms, with Shen Hui sharing with Old Taoist and Monk Faming taking a room alone.

Shen Hui told the Old Taoist that he had mastered all five spells of the Lesser Five Elements Art and reached Mid Qi Refining, leaving his master quietly absorbing the news. The next morning, Shen Hui waited on the Old Taoist and joined him for breakfast, where Scholar Li mistreated the post station master.

• Shen Hui admitted that he had learned all five Lesser Five Elements Art spells and broken through to Mid Qi Refining.
• The Old Taoist questioned Shen Hui about his Sharp Metal energy and meridians, then went to bed without comment.
• The Old Taoist slept restlessly, and Shen Hui meditated through the night.
• At dawn, Shen Hui warmed water and helped the Old Taoist wash and rinse his mouth.
• Scholar Li complained about the breakfast and ordered the post station master to replace several dishes.
• Shen Hui ate with the Old Taoist and quietly moved the pickled radish closer to him.

Shen Hui confronted Scholar Li for wasting food and forced him to eat the discarded pickled melon by threatening him with his magic. After Scholar Li fled, Shen Hui questioned Monk Faming, who left without answering.

• Scholar Li complained about the pickled melon and threw a half-eaten piece onto the table.
• Shen Hui rebuked Scholar Li for wasting food and ordered him to pick up and eat the melon.
• Shen Hui used a streak of white light to shave a neat patch of hair from Scholar Li's head and threatened to kill him if he refused.
• Scholar Li ate the pickled melon and hurried out, leaving his folding fan behind.
• Shen Hui asked Monk Faming whether he had been about to intervene, and Monk Faming left for his room without replying.
• Shen Hui dismissed the innkeeper, then gathered Scholar Li's fallen hairs and examined them.

Shen Hui suspected Scholar Li had feigned illness to avoid going to Zhang Family Village, so he and the Old Taoist set out without him. Shen Hui then used a detour to return secretly to the post house and search Li’s empty room, but found nothing.

• Shen Hui predicted Scholar Li would claim illness to avoid the journey, and the postmaster soon reported that Li would not go to Zhang Family Village.
• Shen Hui and the Old Taoist left for the village, while Shen Hui told the postmaster to let the other two companions stay behind.
• Shen Hui asked driver Zhang Qi to take them toward Confucian Temple Street, then used the crowd to slip back to the post house with the Old Taoist.
• The Old Taoist sensed that Scholar Li was no longer in his room, and Shen Hui searched it but found no clues.

Shen Hui used a paper crane tracking talisman to follow Scholar Li to an abandoned hut, where he and the Old Taoist overheard Scholar Li plotting with a sinister Immortal Master. They learned the pair planned to gather Yin Sha in Zhang Family Village and flee once their scheme was complete.

• Shen Hui drew and folded a Paper Crane Seeking Talisman, using Scholar Li's hair to guide it.
• Shen Hui and the Old Taoist followed the crane west from the county town to a deserted thatched hut.
• Shen Hui and the Old Taoist overheard Scholar Li explain that he had fled the Post House after recognizing their power.
• The Immortal Master blamed Scholar Li for exposing the Yin Ghost at the Liu Family Old Residence and asked about the Yin Sha in Zhang Family Village.
• Scholar Li said he had set up a Yin Gathering Array and insisted he had left no evidence behind.

Shen Hui attacked two Qishan Sect villains at a thatched hut and defeated the Evil Cultivator using his five-element spells. After learning that the entire Qishan Sect was his accomplice, Shen Hui killed him and was left facing the sect’s wider threat.

• The Old Taoist identified the two men in the hut as likely Qishan Sect villains and warned Shen Hui about their sinister methods.
• Shen Hui asked to handle them himself, and the Old Taoist allowed him to proceed after cautioning him not to underestimate them.
• Shen Hui summoned a Fire Ghost to destroy the hut, then attacked the Evil Cultivator as he emerged with Scholar Li.
• Shen Hui killed Scholar Li and countered the Evil Cultivator’s skull, ghost flames, and bone spike with his spells, severing both of the cultivator’s arms.
• The Evil Cultivator claimed that everyone in the Qishan Sect was his accomplice and threatened revenge, so Shen Hui burned him to ashes.

Shen Hui and the Old Taoist returned to the county town, where Magistrate Wang welcomed them with a lavish feast. Alone afterward, Shen Hui reviewed his cultivation points and puzzled over why he had not received a Corpse Liberation Wheel draw.

• Magistrate Wang and the others rushed to greet Shen Hui and the Old Taoist after hearing they had returned.
• Magistrate Wang hosted a feast, praising the Old Taoist and Shen Hui while Shen Hui played along with his flattery.
• After the guests became drunk and left, Shen Hui escorted the Old Taoist to his room and went to Scholar Li's prepared room.
• Shen Hui counted nearly six hundred cultivation points from defeating the Yin Ghost and the Evil Cultivator from Qishan Sect.
• Shen Hui wondered why killing the Evil Cultivator had not earned him a Corpse Liberation Wheel draw and decided to test the conditions later.

Shen Hui rejected a maid sent by the county magistrate to attend him, then angrily turned away a young man sent afterward. He settled down to cultivate, still frustrated by the magistrate's repeated interruptions.

• A maid brought Shen Hui bedding, clothes, and food, then offered to attend him for the night.
• Shen Hui politely but firmly sent the maid away and returned to his tea and plans to visit Zhang Family Village.
• A young man arrived, saying the magistrate had sent him to attend Shen Hui.
• Shen Hui warned the young man to tell the magistrate not to send anyone else, then shut the door on him.
• Shen Hui drank his cold tea and sat cross-legged on the bed to regulate his breathing.