Recaps

The charred figure killed Deacon Can and the young man, then sat in meditation and drained the surrounding plants to restore its body. It emerged as a white-haired figure, destroyed Deacon Can’s remains, and put on the Mystic Yellow Robe.

• The charred figure evaded Deacon Can’s sword and struck through his chest, removing every bone from his body.
• The charred figure killed the young man with a single blow and took the Jadeite Gourd from Deacon Can’s robes.
• The figure sat in meditation as the surrounding plants withered and their wood essence flowed into it.
• The charred figure’s body regenerated, transforming it into a tall figure with long white hair.
• The white-haired figure burned Deacon Can’s boneless remains and donned the Mystic Yellow Robe.

After Shen Hui woke inside the Soul-Searching Gourd, he found his senior brothers and sisters dead but present as spirits, and learned he was dead too. A bearded man examined him and discovered Shen Hui had only one soul and two po: Hidden Essence, Swallower of Thieves, and Non-Toxin.

• Shen Hui woke to find Jinghui, Li Changxing, Jingming, and Fifth Senior Brother gathered around him, and he wept with relief.
• Jingming told Shen Hui that they were all dead and imprisoned inside the Soul-Searching Gourd.
• Shen Hui realized he had died in the mountain forest and apologized for failing to preserve the Clear Wind Temple's legacy.
• Jinghui and Fifth Senior Brother pointed out that Shen Hui's spirit was much fainter than the others'.
• A bearded man examined Shen Hui and said he had only one soul and two po: Hidden Essence, Swallower of Thieves, and Non-Toxin.

Jinghui and First Senior Uncle questioned Shen Hui about how he could function with only one soul and two spirits, prompting him to investigate what had happened to him. Shen Hui regained control of a body with silver-white hair and discovered a corpse and unfamiliar belongings, including a token marked “Plague Patrol Office.”

• Jinghui asked First Senior Uncle whether Shen Hui was not completely dead, and he said he did not know why Shen Hui could still speak and move with one soul and two spirits.
• Shen Hui tried to check for the system but instead found himself walking toward Clear Wind Temple under someone else’s control.
• Shen Hui regained control of his right arm and stopped, discovering that he had a solid body, silver-white hair, a Mystic Yellow Robe, and two gourds at his waist.
• Shen Hui turned back along the mountain path and found a headless corpse wearing an identical Mystic Yellow Robe with the character “Crossing” embroidered on it.
• Shen Hui searched the corpse and examined items in his Jadeite Gourd, recognizing Second Senior Sister’s flying sword and finding a whole sword identical to the broken sword from the Crab Demon’s cave.
• Shen Hui inspected a heavy black token bearing the words “Plague Patrol Office” on the front and “Steward” on the back.

Shen Hui examined the Soul Ferrying Art and Essentials of Fierce Poisons before realizing that his body was acting without him because its Dark Essence had been removed. His body headed toward Clear Wind Temple to kill Ji Chen, while Shen Hui questioned what remained of him without love, hate, fear, or hope.

• Shen Hui read the Soul Ferrying Art and Essentials of Fierce Poisons, finding a systematic inheritance on ferrying souls and detailed knowledge of poisons.
• Shen Hui's body burned the corpse and its head, meditated, and then revealed an updated interface with new arts and increased cultivation.
• Shen Hui realized that his Dark Essence had been collected into the gourd, leaving Fetal Light and Bright Spirit to drive his body by the instinct to survive.
• Shen Hui's body set off for Clear Wind Temple to kill Ji Chen and gain strength and another sword, while compensating for its weakened defenses.
• Shen Hui considered whether he could still be called Shen Hui without Dark Essence and its emotions and desires.

Shen Hui regained control of his body and pieced together that Soul Crossing Temple’s descendants were spreading corpse Baleful Intent after the Sword Viewing Assembly. He burned Fourth Senior Sister’s corpse and attacked Old Taoist Ji Chen, whose sword cut apart his Fire Ghost.

• Shen Hui realized his Nether Essence was gone and resolved to stay vigilant and grow stronger amid the looming chaos.
• He connected the two dead Taoists, the Plague Patrol Office, and the Crab Demon’s sword to Soul Crossing Temple, and suspected Green City Mountain had helped loot the temple centuries earlier.
• Shen Hui reasoned that Soul Crossing Temple’s descendants were using corpse Baleful Intent to drive cultivators mad, and feared disaster had already struck those at the Sword Viewing Assembly.
• He burned Fourth Senior Sister’s corpse in the well and found Old Taoist Ji Chen standing motionless in the courtyard.
• Shen Hui unleashed a Fire Ghost at Ji Chen, but Ji Chen’s sword, wrapped in black mist, shredded it in midair.

Shen Hui fought Old Taoist Ji Chen but found that the Golden Core cultivator could withstand his attacks and quickly heal from any damage. Unable to defeat him, Shen Hui released Ji Chen’s captured flying sword, which vanished into the twilight.

• Shen Hui captured Ji Chen’s flying sword in a Sword Box and attacked him with White Skeleton and a thunderfire strike, but Ji Chen survived and healed.
• Ji Chen unleashed a wave of Black Sword Fiend, forcing Shen Hui to retreat behind a stone wall.
• Shen Hui wandered through Clear Wind Temple and discovered that Ji Chen followed him, though the old Taoist would not stray far from his original spot.
• Shen Hui tested Fire Ghosts, White Skeleton, and heavenly lightning against Ji Chen, but the Golden Core cultivator resisted or recovered from every attack.
• Shen Hui opened the Sword Box and released Ji Chen’s damaged flying sword, which flew away into the twilight.

Shen Hui woke inside the gourd and told his senior brothers and sisters how the Spirit of Vitality and Fetal Light had fought Old Taoist Ji Chen using his body. As he examined the gourd’s mysterious residents and learned about their offerings, he was left wondering what the limits of communication with the outside world were.

• Shen Hui reflected on how decisively the Spirit of Vitality and Fetal Light had fought Ji Chen, while worrying that their lack of emotion could lead them to do terrible things.
• Jingming and the others questioned Shen Hui about his experience, then Jinghui identified several of the unfamiliar people inside the gourd and Shen Hui noticed a silent figure wearing a Mystic Yellow Robe.
• Shen Hui asked the First Senior Uncle what he had won in a bet, and the First Senior Uncle showed him a spirit-wine offering that Shen Hui had helped win.
• The First Senior Uncle explained how spirit food and offerings entered the gourd, then warned Shen Hui that nobody inside could communicate with those outside.

Shen Hui and the others learned that the Soul-Searching Gourd was tied to an ancient grudge between Soul Crossing Temple and Clear Wind Temple. Trapped inside the gourd, Shen Hui tried to calm First Senior Uncle and the vengeful Daoist, but the argument turned into a brawl.

• The Daoist in the Mystic Yellow Robe threatened Clear Wind Temple and accused its people of stealing Soul Crossing Temple's Magic Treasures.
• The Grandmaster's Grandmaster said she had killed the Daoist after he launched a sneak attack, prompting him to curse the group as bandits.
• Shen Hui realized the gourd and the recent attacks were part of a thousand-year-old debt, and asked First Senior Uncle how to control it.
• The Daoist refused to reveal how to control the gourd and resumed insulting everyone, so First Senior Uncle grabbed him and started a fight.
• Shen Hui stepped in on First Senior Uncle's side and urged him to stop, arguing that learning the gourd's secrets would not help them escape.

A white-haired Taoist arrived at Qu County and repeatedly struggled with himself over whether to kill the two soldiers guarding the city gate. He ended the confrontation still arguing that ruthless slaughter was justified by the need to survive and cultivate, while the soldiers withdrew from him.

• A white-haired Taoist rushed at the two gate guards with a longsword, then stopped inches from one soldier’s face and apologized.
• The Taoist’s expression changed, and he drew his sword again, insisting that killing the guards would help his cultivation.
• The Taoist argued with himself over whether killing innocent people was evil or necessary to survive troubled times.
• The Taoist imagined slaughtering Qu County and all living things to advance his cultivation, then defended the strong surviving at the weak’s expense.
• The two gate guards decided the Taoist was dangerous and retreated farther into the city gate passage.

Shen Hui forced the Daoist sharing his body to agree not to harm innocents, then searched the abandoned Fragrant Snow Book Studio for clues. Finding it cleared of anything useful, he emerged and turned his attention to Moon-Gazing Tower.

• The Daoist argued that Nether Essence was necessary for cultivation, but admitted Shen Hui could disrupt his actions and threatened to perish together if the innocent were harmed.
• The Daoist and Shen Hui agreed to jointly rule the body, with Shen Hui setting moral limits and the Daoist handling tactical killings.
• The Daoist entered Willow Lane Street and walked through the wall into Fragrant Snow Book Studio, alarming the people outside.
• Shen Hui searched the studio and found that its owner had removed all important items and left no useful clues.
• Shen Hui walked back through the wall and looked across the street toward Moon-Gazing Tower.

Shen Hui used a strand of hair from Moon-Gazing Tower to track a woman east from the city. He found her traveling in a carriage with a seemingly ordinary driver, and the chapter ended as the driver’s lantern formed a ghostly head of fire.

• Shen Hui found cut black hair and traces of cosmetics on a pillow in Moon-Gazing Tower and used the hair to animate a paper crane tracking talisman.
• Shen Hui followed the paper crane out of the city and accelerated it with spiritual energy.
• The crane led Shen Hui to a carriage traveling east, where the woman inside caught it and called for the hidden cultivator to reveal himself.
• Shen Hui emerged and recognized the woman from Fragrant Snow Book Studio, while his Aura Observation Art revealed resentment above her and bloodlight above the driver.
• The old driver’s lantern flared, and its flames formed a savage ghostly head poised to attack.

Shen Hui interrogated a woman at Lanjin Ferry and learned that Zhou Yunzhi and the others had fled toward Nine Gates Mountain with a young girl. After killing the woman and the old coachman, he rode to Lanjin Ferry, where he sensed demonic aura beneath the swollen river.

• Shen Hui questioned the woman and learned that Zhou Yunzhi and three others had left for Northern Mang Mountain, while Zhou Yunzhi had taken a three- or four-year-old girl through Nine Gates Mountain.
• The woman begged Shen Hui to spare her, but he killed her and the old coachman with two Fire Ghosts and burned their carriage.
• Shen Hui strengthened the old horse with Yi Wood essence energy and a Fire Ghost, then rode east along the official road.
• Shen Hui reached Lanjin Ferry during the spring floods and used the Aura Observation Art to detect demonic aura beneath the river.

Shen Hui crossed the river and followed the Fire Ghost’s faint aura to a camp where Zhou Yunzhi watched over a sleeping girl and recalled how he had been planted in Clear Wind Temple by White Bone Hall. Zhou Yunzhi reflected on the Hall’s latest order to kill his junior brother, leaving his divided loyalties and the danger to his fellow disciple unresolved.

• Shen Hui crossed the great river on Bone Sword: White Skeleton and continued along the mountain path after sensing the Fire Ghost’s aura.
• Shen Hui followed the faint trail to a valley camp, where Zhou Yunzhi sat beside a fire while a little girl slept nearby.
• Zhou Yunzhi recalled that White Bone Hall had coerced him into spying on Clear Wind Temple by holding the Zhou Family’s lives over him.
• Zhou Yunzhi remembered that White Bone Hall had recently ordered him to kill his junior brother after an assassination attempt failed.

Qingyi fled Clear Wind Temple with Lu Huan after its disciples were slaughtered, carrying her toward the White Bone Hall. Shen Hui found them at a camp, killed Qingyi and the others with fire, then left with Lu Huan, telling her the others had left.

• Qingyi recalled fleeing Clear Wind Temple with Lu Huan after their master returned in a deranged state and the other disciples were slaughtered.
• Qingyi noticed a spark Shen Hui had planted in his dantian and watched over Lu Huan and their companions at the camp.
• Shen Hui appeared beside Lu Huan, and Qingyi recognized his junior brother without asking what had happened at the temple.
• Qingyi's body burst into flames, which spread to Master Bai, Accountant Zhao, and the owner of Fragrant Snow Book Studio, consuming all four and the campfire.
• Shen Hui drew the flames into his palm, woke Lu Huan, and walked away with her after telling her the others had left.

Shen Hui took Lu Huan down to the river and used his power to carry them across its rushing waters. At a quiet bend, he uncovered and killed a monstrous Red Ru, leaving its corpse floating in the bloodied river.

• Shen Hui carried Lu Huan down the slippery cliffside steps to the riverbank.
• Shen Hui walked across the river and rescued Lu Huan when she plunged into the water, then raised a wave to carry them downstream.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan found more than a dozen human skins floating at a calm river bend.
• Shen Hui summoned White Skeleton and sent it beneath the water, drawing out a huge Red Ru that had used the skins as bait.
• The wounded Red Ru tried to escape, but Shen Hui struck it with crimson thunderfire and left it dead on the river.

After Shen Hui defeated the Red Ru, he declared himself Clear Wind Temple’s tenth-generation temple master and began teaching Lu Huan magic. They entered a silent, abandoned village, where Shen Hui found something inside a house and set it ablaze.

• Shen Hui burned the Red Ru’s corpse and retrieved his bone sword.
• Shen Hui told Lu Huan that he was Clear Wind Temple’s new temple master and offered to teach her its arts.
• Lu Huan chose the Lesser Five Elements Art and the human method of Qi Induction, though she admitted she could not read.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan reached a silent village with no signs of life.
• Shen Hui passed through a house’s wall and emerged with a sword coated in black substance as the house caught fire.

Shen Hui searched the village, found no survivors, and burned the houses after killing the walking corpses. He destroyed a Qizhong and the strange worm inside it, then continued down the road with Lu Huan, suspecting the beast had brought the plague.

• Shen Hui and Lu Huan searched a house, where Shen Hui killed three walking corpses and found a dead family and an empty cellar.
• Shen Hui searched the village house by house, found no survivors, and set the buildings on fire.
• A Qizhong flew in from the mountains and attacked Shen Hui and Lu Huan at the village entrance.
• Shen Hui killed the Qizhong with Sharp Gold Qi and found a crimson worm inside its abdomen.
• Shen Hui froze the expanding worm, then destroyed it and the Jiafunu sealed in his gourd with Divine Bing Fire Thunder.
• Shen Hui told Lu Huan that the Qizhong had most likely brought the village's calamity, and they continued down the road.

Shen Hui continued east with Lu Huan and the stray yellow dog, then arrived at a village where a man who had gone mad after entering the mountains was tied to a post. After examining his bite wound and claws, Shen Hui had yet to determine what was wrong with him.

• Lu Huan's stomach growled, so Shen Hui gave her locust blossoms to eat.
• A yellow dog from the burned village followed Shen Hui and Lu Huan, and Lu Huan fed it the remaining blossoms.
• Shen Hui, Lu Huan, and the dog reached a larger village, where villagers begged Shen Hui to help a man who had gone mad and bitten people.
• Shen Hui examined the bound man's bluish-black neck wound and unnaturally thick, dark fingernails.
• After Shen Hui removed the gag, the man licked his lips and rumbled instead of speaking.

Shen Hui identified the infected villagers as walking corpses and killed them before their corpse poison could spread. He left the survivors with Fire Ghosts to protect them from lingering corpse Baleful Intent, while Lu Huan warned them that everyone in the previous village had died except a dog.

• Shen Hui burned a man who had been dead for many days and used a stone mill to make a towering stone figure, convincing the villagers he was an immortal.
• Shen Hui ordered the villagers to bring anyone who had been bitten or scratched so he could examine them.
• Shen Hui found that the infected villagers had corpse Baleful Intent in their bodies and cut them down with fire-lines, then burned their remains.
• Shen Hui sent Fire Ghosts into the survivors to burn away lingering corpse Baleful Intent and kill them if they became infected.
• Shen Hui explained that the infected had become walking corpses and left the village with Lu Huan, who warned the villagers that the previous village had died except for one dog.

Shen Hui, disguised as Zhou Yunzhi, met Pang Hong of the Plague Emperor Sect and agreed to join his search for a rogue Qizhong. As they traveled together, Pang Hong grew suspicious of Zhou Yunzhi’s identity and challenged his claim to pursue a fire-wielding Daoist.

• Pang Hong introduced himself as a Poison-Rearing Deacon and asked Zhou Yunzhi who he was.
• Zhou Yunzhi claimed that a rogue Daoist had burned a village and ruined one of the sect’s arrangements.
• Pang Hong explained that a Qizhong had escaped the Plague God Gu’s control and that he was searching for it with a Plague Slave.
• Zhou Yunzhi offered to help Pang Hong and claimed he had obtained the Soul-Searching Gourd as a sect relic.
• Pang Hong said he could use the Plague Slave to spread corpse plague if he failed to find the Qizhong, and agreed to travel with Zhou Yunzhi.
• Pang Hong questioned how Zhou Yunzhi, an executive who cultivated plague arts and poison techniques, could pursue someone skilled in fire arts.

Shen Hui exposed his disguise while questioning Pang Hong about the Plague Slave and killed him when a strange insect burst from his head. He burned the Plague Slave to ash, then stood with Lu Huan beside the deserted road.

• Shen Hui demonstrated his swordsmanship to Pang Hong, who apologized for underestimating him.
• As they walked, Pang Hong told Shen Hui about recent changes in the valley, including Deputy Office Chief Qiu and Office Chief Liu’s troubles.
• Shen Hui held Pang Hong at swordpoint, but a red insect burst from Pang Hong’s temples and Shen Hui killed both the insect and Pang Hong.
• Shen Hui ordered Lu Huan to move away, then struck the Plague Slave with a fire thunderbolt and burned him to ash.

After killing Pang Hong, Shen Hui considered the Plague Emperor Sect’s lethal gu restraints and the effects of corpse Baleful Intent before deciding to investigate Yanuo Valley as a possible lead to Yanluo Valley. He and Lu Huan changed course and found a roadside tavern, where several armed men and a solitary scholar were gathered.

• Shen Hui found Pang Hong’s Poison Cultivation Office deacon plaque and concluded a gu insect had killed him to prevent him from revealing sect secrets.
• Shen Hui burned Pang Hong’s remains, returned the night-luminous pearl to Lu Huan, and asked her to recite the Taishang Ganying Pian as they walked.
• Shen Hui recalled that Yanuo Valley in Yuanqiu County might be connected to Yanluo Valley and decided to investigate it.
• Shen Hui told Lu Huan they were changing course for Yanuo Valley, and she agreed.
• Shen Hui and Lu Huan reached the Hundred-Mile Fragrance Rest tavern and entered, finding armed men arguing over a robbed escort shipment, a scholar reading alone, and travelers resting by the stove.

Shen Hui and Lu Huan stopped at an inn, where her antlers drew wary attention from the martial travelers. After learning that a plague had closed roads near their destination, Yuanqiu County, Shen Hui rejected Black-Faced Zhao’s attempt to approach him and told Lu Huan to continue reciting her book.

• Shen Hui ordered food and wine at the inn and tucked Lu Huan’s luminous pearl into his Jadeite Gourd.
• Shen Hui removed Lu Huan’s hood, revealing her antlers and startling the martial travelers and the servant boy.
• Lu Huan ate the smoked meats while Shen Hui overheard the travelers discussing him and asking how to deal with him.
• Shen Hui asked the servant boy about Yuanqiu County and learned that a plague had reportedly killed many people and led authorities to seal the roads.
• Black-Faced Zhao approached Shen Hui with a bowl of wine, but Shen Hui told him to scram.
• Lu Huan asked for Shen Hui’s wine, then began reciting her book when he told her to continue.

Shen Hui killed Zhao and his five men when they threatened him, then continued Lu Huan’s lesson as if nothing had happened. He gained six cultivation points and began teaching Lu Huan to copy characters from the passage she had recited.

• Zhao demanded that Shen Hui accept his offer and threatened him after Shen Hui ignored him.
• Shen Hui sent a streak of fire through Zhao and the five men, killing them and burning their bodies to ash.
• Lu Huan continued reciting while the sleeping travelers mistook the disturbance for the men leaving.
• Shen Hui saw that he had gained six cultivation points and wrote characters on the table for Lu Huan to copy.

Shen Hui cultivated at the wilderness inn while Lu Huan fed a starving yellow dog and practiced writing. A middle-aged scholar noticed her work and told her she had used the wrong stroke order for the character “Dao.”

• Shen Hui meditated, drawing sparse spiritual energy into his dantian as he considered how long it would take to reach Core Formation.
• Lu Huan spotted a starving yellow dog and, with Shen Hui’s permission, fed it braised meat from another table.
• The yellow dog ate the meat, let Lu Huan stroke its head, then settled beneath Shen Hui’s table.
• Lu Huan practiced copying characters on the tabletop, producing convincing shapes with incorrect stroke order.
• The middle-aged scholar approached Lu Huan and pointed out that she had written the character “Dao” with the wrong stroke order.