Recaps

Xiao Fan discovered that the souvenir cup was a Dan-Hua Cup capable of collecting the sun’s essence, and Confusion told him to remember that he had always been part of the Human Race. Meanwhile, Li Qingyang entered the sword-nurturing Secret Realm and realized the Red Moon above it was an existence far beyond his understanding.

• Xiao Fan infused the souvenir cup with spiritual energy, revealing a white jade Dan-Hua Cup.
• Xiao Fan used the cup to collect Sun-View Cinnabar Dawn from sunlight and realized the drop of blood had let him use an item unavailable to the Human Race.
• Confusion told Xiao Fan not to forget his original heart and disappeared.
• Xu Xing told Chi Jiuyu he was ready to give her the gift he had prepared.
• Jiang Jing and the Void Return elder led Li Qingyang to the Secret Realm, where he entered through the passage they opened.
• Li Qingyang sensed the power of Sword Peak, then bowed to the Red Moon after realizing it was an absolute existence beyond his comprehension.

Li Qingyang fled the sword-nurturing Secret Realm after a Void Return elder nearly offended its mysterious resident, then Xu Xing brought Chi Jiuyu inside and explained that the realm was a gift to help her sword catch up with her cultivation. Chi Jiuyu messaged her master to express her gratitude, but her master threatened to punish her instead.

• Li Qingyang forced the Void Return elder to bow and apologize to the unseen senior, then hurried out of the Secret Realm with him and Jiang Jing.
• Li Qingyang told Jiang Jing to leave the area so they would not offend the senior living in the Secret Realm.
• Xu Xing led Chi Jiuyu back to the Secret Realm and explained that its sword-nurturing power would help her sword keep pace with her rapid cultivation.
• Chi Jiuyu realized her master had sent her to Xu Xing for the Secret Realm, then messaged her master with a Little Yellow Duck sticker.
• Chi Jiuyu's master replied with threatening stickers and warned her that it was too late to beg for mercy.

Chi Jiuyu let her Life-Bound Sword absorb red vapor from Mystic Profound Grass in the Secret Realm while Xu Xing explained how to nourish it safely. Meanwhile, Immortal Sect disciples traveled toward Mystic Sword City, and Confusion watched them alongside other figures, questioning whether Xiao Fan’s Heaven-favored fortune would be enough to secure his advantage.

• Xu Xing lifted Chi Jiuyu’s Life-Bound Sword above Sword Peak so Mystic Profound Grass could nourish it, and warned her not to let its spirit outgrow her.
• Young disciples from several Immortal Sects aboard a flying vessel discussed sparring in Mystic Sword City and the last Immortal Sect Grand Competition.
• A World Relief Valley alchemist mocked a Dragon-Elephant Heaven-Supporting Sect Body Cultivator, who apologized and offered to let him hit him.
• Confusion observed the disciples traveling to Mystic Sword City, Zhang Yunlu, Jiang Yujiu, and Xiao Fan, while noting that Xiao Fan had the greatest advantage.
• Confusion questioned whether Heaven’s favor could make up for everything and left the future uncertain.

Zhang Yunlu secured approval to use the Foundation Establishment Harvesting and Refining platform as Immortal Sect disciples gathered in Mystic Sword City. That night, cultivators below Spirit Transformation entered a mysterious trial, where they were ranked and faced enemies while suppressed to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

• Zhang Yunlu accepted Zhang Xiu’s insistence that she buy a care package for the harvesting and refining process.
• Xiao Fan began cultivating after drinking Sun-View Cinnabar Dawn, relying on his Cang Race blood to form a Heaven-Forged Dao Foundation.
• Xu Xing wondered whether Immortal Sect disciples, Zhang Yunlu, Xiao Fan, or an unknown genius would take the lead in the coming events.
• Lin Qiuxian’s cellmate fell asleep and entered a gray trial space, where he saw that his realm had been suppressed to the ninth level of Qi Refining.
• Cultivators across Mystic Sword City entered the same trial, and Lin Qiuxian charged at a Tyrant’s Canon body cultivator after learning that only the top three thousand could advance.
• An alchemist faced a Tyrant’s Canon initiate wielding Mountain-Shaking Fist and worried that he could not defeat a body cultivator.

Xu Xing’s trial drew cultivators below Spirit Transformation into battles against randomly assigned phantoms, while Mystic Sword City’s leaders struggled to understand the event. The Sword Sect’s Void Return elder told them not to interfere, leaving the city to watch the trial continue.

• Jiang Yujiu entered a trial against a sword cultivator phantom, while Xu Xing explained that the phantoms could feel pain and fear and were vulnerable to mental techniques.
• Xu Xing showed Chi Jiuyu screens displaying cultivators across the city fighting their trial opponents, including an elderly spear user.
• Xiao Fan lost to a body cultivator and a sword cultivator before defeating a Charm Cultivator on his third attempt.
• The next day, Mystic Sword City’s Spirit Transformation cultivators learned that eligible participants had ten attempts and that the top three thousand would advance.
• A Void Return elder arrived at the municipal building and relayed his grand-Martial Uncle’s message that the city should stay calm and leave the trial alone.

Xu Xing finalized the first trial rankings, with Lin Qiuxian in first place and Xiao Fan placing in the thousands. After the trial, Lin Qiuxian tried to train against a sword cultivator who had Comprehended the Logic, but the opponent killed him with a single strike.

• Chi Jiuyu mocked Spirit Net theories about the trial and posted her own hints while Xu Xing watched the rankings settle.
• Lin Qiuxian took first place, followed by a sword cultivator surnamed Feng and a Dragon-Elephant Heaven-Supporting Sect body cultivator; Zhang Yunlu placed ninth and Xiao Fan ranked in the thousands.
• The rankings showed that only one Immortal Sect disciple failed to reach the top three thousand: a World Relief Valley pill refiner who repeatedly drew body cultivators.
• After defeating a blood cultivator, Lin Qiuxian learned he was ranked first and that the top 500 would advance to the third trial.
• Lin Qiuxian summoned an eighth-layer Qi Refining sword cultivator who had Comprehended the Logic, but the shadow struck too quickly for him to defend and decapitated him.

Xiao Fan feared that the blood Senior Confusion gave him was changing him and questioned whether he was still human. Meanwhile, the Cang Race's pinnacle existence targeted True Monarch Purple Universe and Xiao Fan, and Xu Xing severed its connection to True Monarch Purple Universe before Confusion encountered a towering godlike being.

• Xiao Fan watched Jiang Yujiu's livestream but felt no attraction, then worried that Senior Confusion's blood had altered him and wondered if he was still human.
• True Monarch Purple Universe heard a voice associated with the Cang Race and realized its pinnacle existence was trying to brainwash him through his inner demon.
• True Monarch Purple Universe raced toward his sect to leave behind his legacy before he could be turned into a Cang Race Dao Integration cultivator.
• Confusion and Xu Xing discussed the Cang Race targeting both True Monarch Purple Universe and Xiao Fan, and Xu Xing severed the connection to True Monarch Purple Universe.
• Confusion heard the voice saying, "Heaven gives life to all things to nourish mankind," and saw a vast godlike being whose gaze met his.

An alchemist from World Relief Valley was left alone after failing the trial, while Xiao Fan went to the city library to prepare for the next round. There, he discovered a powerful Cang Race combat art, but found he could no longer hear himself say the word “Cang.”

• The alchemist waited alone outside the hotel as other cultivators discussed the trial and mistakenly assumed he had passed the first round.
• The alchemist's senior brother came out with the other cultivators and urged him to prepare for the second trial, but he could not admit that he had failed.
• Xiao Fan went to the city library and followed a familiar stir in his heart to a damaged page in Travels of Qingxu.
• Xiao Fan touched the page and saw the Cang Race's art of combat, including a perfected version of the fist technique he already knew.
• Xiao Fan returned to the reading room and realized that although he could say “Cang,” he could no longer hear the character.

Zhang Yunlu entered the Trial Space to improve her combat experience, then practiced the first step of the Harvesting and Refining Method at the service center. She endured the Nine-Qi Harvesting and Refining Method and succeeded, though she collapsed from exhaustion.

• Zhang Yunlu reviewed her ninth-place ranking and recalled losing to an eighth-level sword cultivator who had comprehended the Logic.
• Zhang Yunlu went to practice room nine and began the Harvesting and Refining Method under a staff member’s supervision.
• Zhang Yunlu drew starshine into her Spirit Sea, enduring severe pain as it passed through her meridians.
• Zhang Yunlu shattered the six-sided crystal and used the Nine-Qi Harvesting and Refining Method to refine the starshine at once.
• Zhang Yunlu collapsed, and the staff member checked her condition and confirmed that she had succeeded.

Zhang Yunlu survived the painful first stage of the Nine Qi Harvesting and Refining Method and left to train in the Trial Space. At a restaurant, Xu Xing explained why he had redirected a dangerous Cang Race being toward Confusion: to surprise the enemy and warn Confusion of its schemes.

• Zhang Yunlu endured the refinement, found her Spirit Sea expanded and her spiritual energy denser, then left through the back entrance.
• She saw a weakened cultivator carried out of the seventh room and a covered stretcher emerge from the eighth, though she sensed its occupant was still alive.
• Xu Xing and Chi Jiuyu ate at a mushroom hot pot restaurant as three Charm Cultivators from the Joyous Union Sect arrived.
• Chi Jiuyu asked whether Xu Xing's trial would admit later arrivals, and Xu Xing told her there would be no second chance.
• Xu Xing recalled that the Cang Race being had believed it could brainwash a Dao Integration cultivator, and said he had redirected it toward Confusion to surprise it and warn him.

Xiao Fan’s Cang Race bloodline began changing his behavior as he easily defeated a body cultivator in the Trial Space. Confusion severed the faint connection influencing Xiao Fan, while the other competitors prepared for the second round, which was about to begin.

• Xiao Fan refused his father’s offer of Spirit Coins, telling him to save the money for Big Brother, then entered the Trial Space.
• Xiao Fan defeated a Ninth-Level Qi Refining body cultivator with instinctive combat skill and celebrated his victory.
• Confusion recognized the Cang Race bloodline’s influence on Xiao Fan and severed the faint connection responsible for it.
• Lin Qiuxian, Jiang Yujiu, the Immortal Sect disciples, and Zhang Yunlu trained in the Trial Space as the second round approached.
• Yu Ming gathered with Spirit Transformation cultivators and other powerful figures in a quiet room at Xuanjian City No. 3 Middle School as the second round was about to begin.

Yu Ming and the other trial-takers faced stronger opponents after Xu Xing raised the second round’s difficulty. Xu Xing explained that he had offered the trial to the city’s people, but said he and Chi Jiuyu would soon leave while he kept watch on Huo.

• Yu Ming entered the trial and encountered a powerful Qi Refining ninth-layer body cultivator wielding the Tyrant's Canon and perfected Mountain-Shaking Fist.
• The body cultivator caught Yu Ming’s spear and flung him away.
• Xiao Fan charged his opponent, was beaten back, and used the Xuantian War Technique to strengthen himself, but the phantom dodged his punch and slammed his face toward the ground.
• Xu Xing explained that he had dynamically raised the second round’s difficulty based on each trial-taker’s abilities.
• Chi Jiuyu asked why Xu Xing had held the trial, and he said he had wanted to give the people of the city a chance before they left soon.

Lin Qiuxian fought the trial’s strongest opponent with the Seven Emotions Sword Canon while Xu Xing and Chi Jiuyu watched. After Zhang Yunlu won her match, Chi Jiuyu declared that she could lead the Sword Sect to even greater heights as its Sect Master.

• Lin Qiuxian struggled against a powerful heavy-sword cultivator whose Flowing Cloud Sword Technique repeatedly overwhelmed his defenses.
• Lin Qiuxian drew on the Seven Emotions Sword Canon, embraced his joy in the challenge, and launched a blood-red sword strike.
• Chi Jiuyu criticized the trial participants’ reliance on other people’s styles, while Xu Xing recognized that Lin Qiuxian’s Seven Emotions Sword Canon had been completed.
• Chi Jiuyu spotted Zhang Yunlu defeating her opponent and claimed that her own pointers deserved some credit for Zhang Yunlu’s progress.
• Chi Jiuyu told Xu Xing she wanted to become Sword Sect Master and believed she could raise the sect’s overall level.

After passing the second trial, Xiao Fan received the Clarify My Origin Method, which stirred memories of his family and his brother. When his mother told him his brother had awakened, Xiao Fan chose to pursue a personal chance encounter before visiting the hospital.

• Chi Jiuyu watched the remaining trial matches, including Jiang Yujiu fighting a lightning spell cultivator and a Dragon-Elephant Heaven-Supporting Sect body cultivator battling a Celestial Human.
• Xiao Fan awoke after winning the second trial and received the Clarify My Origin Method as his reward.
• As Xiao Fan studied the method, he recalled his family and began to wonder whether he had been too cold toward them lately.
• Xiao Fan's mother sent him a voice message saying his big brother had awakened.
• Xiao Fan decided to seek his chance encounter first, reasoning that his brother was already out of danger.

Yu Ming restored his foundation after the second trial, while Xiao Ming recovered from his injuries and met Xiao Fan at the hospital. Xiao Ming revealed that he had passed the trial, then confronted Xiao Fan about his cultivation level.

• Yu Ming regained his youthful appearance and restored foundation after the second trial, and he chose not to advance to Spirit Transformation so he could remain eligible for the third trial.
• Li Qingyang took the other cultivators away and said he would oversee the upcoming third round in the real world.
• Xiao Ming arrived at the hospital recovered, while Xiao Fan carried a black ring containing the sinister Herding Spirit Nourishing Self Scripture.
• Xiao Ming asked Xiao Fan to speak with him privately, then explained that passing the second round had restored his health.
• Xiao Ming asked why Xiao Fan was still at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and Xiao Fan met his brother's violet, shadowy eyes.

Xiao Fan worried that Xiao Ming had noticed his unusual cultivation, while Xiao Ming privately grew suspicious of his younger brother. As Xiao Fan questioned his identity and the Cang Race, Xu Xing observed that his corruption had advanced to its second stage.

• Xiao Fan told Xiao Ming he had passed the second round of the trial and tried to teach him the Xuantian War Technique, but Xiao Ming did not seem to hear the explanation.
• Xiao Ming encouraged Xiao Fan to join an Immortal Sect, then grew suspicious after noticing his cultivation and unnaturally steady reaction; he decided not to worry their parents.
• Outside the hospital, Xiao Fan wondered why Senior Confusion had forbidden him from thinking of himself as Cang and questioned whether he was worthy of that identity.
• In the Red Moon Secret Realm, Xu Xing observed Chi Jiuyu cultivating her Life-Bound Sword and sensed that Xiao Fan’s corruption had reached its second stage.
• Xu Xing noted that Xiao Fan had mistaken Confusion for someone of the Cang Race, then turned his attention to the trial and the Red Moon Secret Realm.

After the second trial, Xu Xing began reorganizing the Secret Realm and took Chi Jiuyu to explore Mystic Sword City before the third trial. Their stroll ended with Chi Jiuyu explaining Sword Sect demolition compensation and declaring her ambition to become Sect Master.

• Xu Xing rewarded the trial participants and began reorganizing the Secret Realm, causing its landscape to churn violently.
• Chi Jiuyu’s sword absorbed the last of the red mist, flew around, then retreated to her when the Red Moon rippled.
• Xu Xing took Chi Jiuyu to Mystic Sword City, where they browsed the night market and she bragged about her competition victories.
• Chi Jiuyu told Xu Xing she was the first junior he had taken for a stroll, then sent a message that made her senior sister bombard her with replies.
• Xu Xing and Chi Jiuyu walked through a district marked for demolition, and Chi Jiuyu explained how compensation was calculated before announcing she planned to become Sword Sect Sect Master.

Zhang Yunlu completed the second stage of the Harvesting and Refining Method, and the Sword Sect offered to recruit her. Xiao Fan completed the first layer of the Herding Spirit Nourishing Self Scripture and realized he could pursue a Heaven-Forged Dao Foundation through another path; he was interrupted when his family entered.

• Zhang Yunlu endured the dangerous refining stage and completed the second stage of the Harvesting and Refining Method.
• A staff member gave Zhang Yunlu a Red Sun Pill to restore her body and congratulated her after she recovered.
• The staff member offered to report Zhang Yunlu to the Sword Sect for recruitment, and Zhang Yunlu considered the offer.
• Xiao Fan drank Plain-Soul True Radiance and completed the first layer of the Herding Spirit Nourishing Self Scripture.
• Xiao Fan realized his Cang Race blood let him use the scripture to pursue a Heaven-Forged Dao Foundation without a rare treasure of Heaven and Earth.
• Xiao Fan prepared to test his new cultivation, but his parents and elder brother entered carrying things.

Xiao Ming disguised himself and secretly followed Xiao Fan, who was testing the Herding Spirit Nourishing Self Scripture by commanding a rat. The chapter left Xiao Ming puzzled by Xiao Fan’s apparent beast-taming and unexpected talent for making money.

• Xiao Fan left home to get some fresh air, and Xiao Ming promised their parents he would follow and keep an eye on him.
• Xiao Ming changed into an old man’s disguise and overheard children disparaging body cultivators as he tracked Xiao Fan.
• Xiao Fan fed a large gray rat and used the Herding Spirit Nourishing Self Scripture to make it obey his commands.
• Onlookers mistook Xiao Fan for a beast tamer and paid him Spirit Coins to make the rat perform.
• A World Relief Valley alchemist offered to buy Xiao Fan’s beast-taming method, but Xiao Fan refused because he had no such method to sell.
• Watching from hiding, Xiao Ming wondered whether Xiao Fan had come out simply to make money and how he had learned to tame beasts.

Xiao Fan considered using his new spirit-taking ability on stronger creatures, but a group of thugs tried to rob him before Xiao Ming intervened. Meanwhile, Confusion watched the encounter, and Chi Jiuyu enjoyed messages from Senior Sister Who Doesn't Give Me Books until her outburst abruptly ended.

• Xiao Fan took the spirits of a mouse and a mosquito, then considered seeking stronger spirits from large animals or exotic beasts.
• A group of thugs confronted Xiao Fan and demanded his beast-taming technique, threatening the gray rat they called his contracted beast.
• As Xiao Fan prepared to fight, Xiao Ming grabbed the blond thug and shielded his little brother, making the bystanders notice the attempted robbery.
• Confusion watched and wondered whether Xiao Fan would have taken the thugs' spirits, then noted that the Cang Race old monster was becoming less discreet before disappearing.
• Chi Jiuyu read messages from Senior Sister Who Doesn't Give Me Books, who confirmed she had brought her master out of seclusion and was forbidden from visiting Chi Jiuyu, then abruptly cried out.

Chi Jiuyu delivered Xu Xing’s application for the large-scale trial while the Secret Realm finished transforming into a canyon filled with strange creatures. Xu Xing and Confusion prepared to use the realm for the third trial and draw out a powerful Cang Race expert.

• Chi Jiuyu chatted with her Master, then apologized to Xu Xing for provoking Senior Sister.
• Xu Xing wrote an application for the large-scale event and sent Chi Jiuyu to deliver it to the local authorities.
• The Secret Realm’s changes stopped, revealing a vast canyon, chained Sword Peak, and countless silver creatures embedded in the canyon floor.
• Confusion appeared in the Secret Realm, and its Red Moon attacked him before Xu Xing arrived and calmed it.
• Confusion altered the creatures and the Secret Realm, then he and Xu Xing agreed to draw out the Cang Race expert behind the coming threat.

Zhang Yunlu headed to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall to complete the final stage of the Harvesting and Refining Method, while Chi Jiuyu encountered her on the way. At City Hall, the mayor discovered that a vast Secret Realm was appearing above Mystic Sword City, apparently as the site of the Third Trial.

• Zhang Yunlu told Chi Jiuyu she was cultivating the third and final stage of the Harvesting and Refining Method as she walked to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.
• Chi Jiuyu speculated that Zhang Yunlu fit the pattern of a storybook protagonist, then rode away on her tricycle.
• The mayor initially dismissed the Law Enforcement Hall's application for Chi Jiuyu's Third Trial, but reconsidered after seeing her name on it.
• The mayor and his secretary spotted a pale-red phantom sphere appearing above Mystic Sword City and used a magical satellite artifact to examine it.
• The mayor identified the enormous sphere as a Secret Realm entering reality and realized it would serve as the Third Trial's location.

A vast Moon Shadow Secret Realm appeared above Mystic Sword City, and the third trial was announced to be underway. As trial-takers and residents reacted, Huo and Xu Xing suspected that an unseen entity was using Xiao Fan as bait for some unknown purpose.

• Chi Jiuyu calmly bought two Little Yellow Duck charms while the city watched the mysterious object appear, then hinted that people would understand what was happening later.
• Jiang Yujiu livestreamed the spectacle and spotted the message announcing the third trial at the Moon Shadow Secret Realm, but the city government revealed the truth before she could.
• The Xiao brothers returned home and saw the trial announcement, while Xiao Fan briefly perceived purple threads around the Secret Realm and heard a mysterious voice before the vision vanished.
• Huo watched Xiao Fan from the hospital and discussed with Xu Xing whether the unseen entity was using Xiao Fan as bait and what it might be plotting.

Zhang Yunlu completed the third stage of the Harvesting and Refining Method and reached the third round of trials, while Xu Xing prepared to begin the trial in the Moon Shadow Secret Realm the next day. Chi Jiuyu gave Xu Xing a Little Yellow Duck keychain, and he told Martial Sister that she had likely prepared a present for her as well.

• Zhang Yunlu completed the Harvesting and Refining Method’s final stage and perfected the Purple Enclosure Qi Observation Method.
• A staff member offered Zhang Yunlu a place in the Sword Sect and a divine essence for Foundation Establishment, but she asked to wait until the third round of trials was over.
• Chi Jiuyu returned to the villa and learned Xu Xing planned to start the trial the next day and return to the sect afterward.
• Chi Jiuyu gave Xu Xing an angry Little Yellow Duck keychain as a return gift for upgrading her sword.
• Xu Xing sent Martial Sister a photo of the keychain and warned her that Chi Jiuyu had likely prepared a present for her too.
• Home-Guarding Sword Venerable said she would accept the present first and then beat Chi Jiuyu.

Xu Xing watched Zhang Yunlu advance in her cultivation and anticipated Xiao Fan’s progress as discussion of the Secret Realm spread online. As cultivators gathered in Mystic Sword City to observe the realm before the trial, Han Yun left using a paper decoy, keeping his real body hidden.

• Xu Xing observed the Secret Realm’s eerie threads and saw that Zhang Yunlu had completed the third stage of the Harvesting and Refining Method.
• Chi Jiuyu read online reactions to the Secret Realm and claimed that she had delivered the application for the trial.
• Cultivators and livestreamers gathered in Mystic Sword City’s central plaza to watch the Secret Realm before the trial.
• Yang Lin and Han Yun discussed their reluctance to enter the trial, then left the crowded plaza separately.
• Han Yun turned into a paper figurine in a secluded spot, and the decoy burned to ash.