Recaps

Li Xiaoyu and Dawn Squad learned that the Styx Sect planned to open the Nether Gate at the Blood Soul Altar before the full moon peaked. They reached the altar and discovered the sect master beginning the ritual, but Li Xiaoyu stopped the squad from charging blindly into a hidden Ghost Maze Array.

• Zeng Shushu interrogated Wu Yong, who revealed that the Styx Sect planned to open the Nether Gate and unleash ghosts from the Nine Nether Ghost Realm.
• Wu Yong said the sect master was at the Blood Soul Altar, using 999 living souls and Wind-Snow City's fear to open the passage at the full moon's peak.
• Li Xiaoyu ordered Dawn Squad to hurry to the altar, and they raced through the Ancient Battlefield under the Blood Moon.
• Dawn Squad found the Styx Sect master performing the ritual beside the captured people from Wind-Snow City and a forming spatial rift.
• Chu Yu Hong and the squad prepared to attack, but Li Xiaoyu warned them that White Bone Banners concealed a Ghost Maze Array around the altar.

Li Xiaoyu used the Immortal-Slaying Gourd to reveal and destroy the Nine Nether Soul-Locking Array’s cores, opening the way to the Blood Soul Altar. As he charged toward the Styx Sect Master, the forming spatial rift trapped him in an illusion of Tian Ling'er, but he recognized it was false.

• Zeng Shushu identified the formation as the Nine Nether Soul-Locking Array and explained that its nine shifting cores had to be destroyed together.
• Li Xiaoyu empowered the Immortal-Slaying Gourd, whose golden light dispelled the formation’s illusions and exposed all nine White Bone Banner cores.
• Li Xiaoyu and Lu Xueqi destroyed the five central cores while Zeng Shushu, Chu Yuhong, and the others destroyed the remaining four, collapsing the array.
• Li Xiaoyu led Lu Xueqi and the Dawn Squad toward the Blood Soul Altar as they fought the Styx Sect disciples.
• The spatial rift’s eerie ripple trapped Li Xiaoyu in an illusion of Morning Sun Peak, where Tian Ling'er asked to make up with him.
• Li Xiaoyu remembered Lu Xueqi’s support and rejected the illusion, declaring that the woman before him was not Tian Ling'er.

Li Xiaoyu and Lu Xueqi escaped the Styx Sect Master's Heart Demon Illusion Realm and confronted his true strength. The Styx Sect Master summoned the Myriad Soul Banner's ghost army, leaving Li Xiaoyu and the Dawn Squad braced behind their formation as the ghosts charged.

• Li Xiaoyu broke free of the Heart Demon Illusion Realm, while Lu Xueqi resisted its influence with the Tianya Divine Sword.
• The Styx Sect Master revealed himself as an advanced-stage Upper Purity Realm expert and praised the Dawn Squad's discipline.
• Li Xiaoyu rallied the Dawn Squad into the Three Talents Origin-Returning Formation as the Styx Sect Master revealed the Myriad Soul Banner.
• Zeng Shushu identified the banner and warned that the Styx Sect Master intended to use their souls to open the Nether Gate.
• The Styx Sect Master unleashed Ten Thousand Ghosts Night Walk, and Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, and Zeng Shushu poured their power into the formation as the ghost army attacked.

Li Xiaoyu used the Immortal-Slaying Gourd to devour the Ghost King phantom and began swallowing the souls within the Myriad Soul Banner. The Styx Sect Master lost control of his life-bound treasure as Li Xiaoyu drove the gourd’s power to its peak.

• The Ghost King army battered the azure barrier while the Styx Sect Master summoned the True Form of the Ghost King.
• Li Xiaoyu brought out the Wine Gourd and aimed it at the Ghost King phantom’s bone saber.
• Li Xiaoyu powered the Immortal-Slaying Gourd, which tore apart and swallowed the bone saber and began devouring the Ghost King phantom.
• The gourd’s suction reached the Myriad Soul Banner and its 9,999 living souls, severing the Styx Sect Master’s connection to the treasure.
• The Styx Sect Master begged Li Xiaoyu to stop, but Li Xiaoyu commanded the gourd to devour and intensified its power.

Li Xiaoyu destroyed the Styx Sect Master's Myriad Soul Banner and killed him with Geng Metal Divine Thunder Sword Qi after he tried to force open the Nether Gate. The rift stopped expanding but remained unstable, threatening to unleash a spatial storm that could destroy Wind-Snow City.

• Li Xiaoyu's Immortal-Slaying Gourd devoured the Ghost King's phantom and drained the souls from the Myriad Soul Banner, leaving the Styx Sect Master gravely weakened.
• The Styx Sect Master begged Li Xiaoyu for mercy, then tried to widen the Nether Gate rift with his life essence blood when Li Xiaoyu refused.
• Li Xiaoyu used the transformed sword qi within the gourd to pierce the Styx Sect Master's brow and destroy his body and soul.
• The Nether Gate rift lost its energy source and stopped expanding, but Li Xiaoyu realized its collapse could cause a spatial storm that would devastate Wind-Snow City.

Li Xiaoyu and Lu Xueqi joined forces to cast the Heaven and Earth Demon Sealing Seal and close the spatial rift threatening Wind-Snow City. The seal held temporarily, but both cultivators collapsed from exhaustion, and Li Xiaoyu fainted in Lu Xueqi's arms.

• Li Xiaoyu recalled the Heaven and Earth Demon Sealing Seal and asked Lu Xueqi to help him perform it.
• Li Xiaoyu ordered Zeng Shushu and Chu Yuhong to evacuate the team members and prepare a defensive formation at the Ancient Battlefield's edge.
• Li Xiaoyu explained the sealing method to Lu Xueqi, and they joined their Spiritual Energy to form a Taiji Diagram.
• Li Xiaoyu and Lu Xueqi used the seal to purify the Nine Nether Ghost Qi and close the spatial rift, leaving a temporary Taiji Diagram to suppress the unstable space.
• Zeng Shushu, Chu Yuhong, and the others caught the collapsing pair, and Li Xiaoyu fainted in Lu Xueqi's embrace.

After recovering from his injuries in Wind-Snow City, Li Xiaoyu discovered a valuable fragment of the Ghost Path General Outline in the Styx Sect Master's storage pouch. He kept the find secret and shared the remaining spoils with his companions, ending the chapter reassured by Lu Xueqi's support.

• Li Xiaoyu woke after a day and a night of recovery, and Lu Xueqi told him the crisis in Wind-Snow City had been resolved.
• Zeng Shushu brought Li Xiaoyu the Styx Sect Master's storage pouch, which contained Ghost Path treasures and a fragment of the Ghost Path General Outline.
• Li Xiaoyu recognized the fragment's importance, concealed it, and asked Zeng Shushu to keep it secret.
• Li Xiaoyu gave Zeng Shushu the pouch's other spoils to share with Chu Yuhong and the rest of the team.
• Lu Xueqi warned Li Xiaoyu to guard his heart while studying Ghost Path arts, and he reassured her that he would not lose his way.

Li Xiaoyu led the Dawn Squad deep into the Far North Ice Plains to find the Northern Profound Dark Iron Vein. Guided by the Immortal-Slaying Gourd, he split open a glacier and revealed the legendary vein below.

• Li Xiaoyu led the Dawn Squad through the freezing astral winds and Nine-Nether Cold Qi toward the glacier range marked on their map.
• The Immortal-Slaying Gourd hummed as the group neared the destination, while Zeng Shushu's compass failed to find a precise direction.
• Li Xiaoyu sensed the vein beneath the glacier and told the others they were standing directly above it.
• Li Xiaoyu poured his Daoist true essence into the ice, causing the glacier to shake and split open.
• The Dawn Squad saw the enormous silver-white Northern Profound Dark Iron Vein exposed at the bottom of the Ice Abyss.

Li Xiaoyu found an immense ore vein beneath the glacier and began using the Immortal-Slaying Gourd to absorb its Northern Profound Dark Iron Essence. As the gourd devoured energy from the vein, Li Xiaoyu waited beneath the Ice Abyss while Lu Xueqi guarded its entrance.

• Zeng Shushu and Chu Yuhong organized the team to set up warning and defensive arrays around the glacier.
• Li Xiaoyu asked Lu Xueqi to protect him as he descended into the Ice Abyss, and she stood guard at its entrance.
• Li Xiaoyu found the Northern Profound Dark Iron Essence at the heart of the ore vein and prepared the Immortal-Slaying Gourd to absorb it.
• Li Xiaoyu poured his Upper Purity Realm Cultivation into the gourd, which formed a golden vortex and began devouring the essence and energy from the entire ore vein.

Li Xiaoyu absorbed energy from the Northern Profound Dark Iron Vein and transformed his sword qi into Profound Heaven Ice Soul Sword Qi. After sealing the vein, he led the Dawn Squad back toward Green Cloud Mountain.

• Li Xiaoyu endured seven days of devouring the Northern Profound Dark Iron's energy while Lu Xueqi and the Dawn Squad guarded the Ice Abyss against demons and rogue cultivators.
• The Immortal-Slaying Gourd transformed, and Li Xiaoyu formed Profound Heaven Ice Soul Sword Qi by fusing the sharpness of Geng Metal Qi with the cold of Profound Ice Qi.
• Li Xiaoyu tested his new sword qi by silently reducing a Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Pillar to dust.
• Li Xiaoyu emerged from the Ice Abyss, told the Dawn Squad they had completed their mission, and sealed the glacier above the vein.
• Li Xiaoyu led the proud Dawn Squad back across the ice plains toward Green Cloud Mountain.

Li Xiaoyu returned to Green Cloud Sect with Dawn Squad after resolving the Wind-Snow City crisis, bringing proof of a vast Northern Profound Dark Iron vein and earning the squad an unprecedented reward. At Small Bamboo Peak, Master Shuiyue questioned whether she had been right to oppose her disciple’s love for Li Xiaoyu, when a voice came from beyond the door.

• Li Xiaoyu and Dawn Squad returned to Heaven-Reaching Peak, where Daoist Daoxuan and the disciples welcomed them.
• Li Xiaoyu reported that the squad had defeated the Styx Sect in Wind-Snow City and presented Yin Soul Stone and Northern Profound Dark Iron samples.
• Li Xiaoyu gave Daoist Daoxuan a map to a vast Northern Profound Dark Iron vein in the Far North Ice Plains.
• Daoist Daoxuan awarded Dawn Squad all the mission spoils and one-tenth of the vein’s output under Li Xiaoyu’s control.
• Master Shuiyue reflected on Li Xiaoyu’s achievements and her fear that her disciple would suffer the same heartbreak she had endured.
• Master Shuiyue began to doubt her decision to sever the romance as a voice came from beyond the door.

Lu Xueqi reconciled with Master Shuiyue and won her blessing to follow her own path with the person she loved. Years later, Li Xiaoyu had become a powerful leader of the Green Cloud Sect, while Ghost Li’s rise through the Demon Sect left him grieving for Zhang Xiaofan’s fate.

• Lu Xueqi told Master Shuiyue that love strengthened her cultivation and asked to walk her own path beside the person she loved.
• Master Shuiyue set aside her objections, blessed Lu Xueqi’s choices, and promised that Small Bamboo Peak would always be her home.
• Several years later, Li Xiaoyu stood as an established Upper Purity Realm cultivator while a new generation of Qingyun Disciples trained under his leadership.
• Li Xiaoyu reflected on how the Green Cloud Sect had risen to dominance and how the weakened Demon Sect’s factions had fallen into infighting.
• Li Xiaoyu thought of Ghost Li, once Zhang Xiaofan, whose grief had made him a feared vice sect master searching for a way to revive his beloved.

Li Xiaoyu reflected on the choices and fate that separated him from Ghost Li, while Lu Xueqi comforted him. News that the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor was about to emerge drew the righteous and demonic factions toward the Death Swamp, and Green Cloud Sect prepared to respond.

• Li Xiaoyu told Lu Xueqi he felt regret over what had happened to Ghost Li, and she reminded him that Ghost Li had followed his own path.
• Ghost Li kept watch over Bi Yao’s body in the ruins of Fox Qi Mountain and vowed to find a way to bring her back.
• Daoist Daoxuan received an urgent message from Incense Burning Valley reporting strange signs in the Death Swamp and the imminent emergence of the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor.
• Daoist Daoxuan told the Green Cloud Sect leaders that Ghost Li, Qin Wuyan, and Jin Ping'er were heading to the swamp, and he prepared the sect to act.

Green Cloud Sect sent Li Xiaoyu to lead an expedition to Death Swamp and investigate the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor before the Demon Sect could reach it. He and Lu Xueqi, Lin Jingyu, and Zeng Shushu arrived at the swamp’s edge and began their dangerous search.

• Daoist Daoxuan ordered Li Xiaoyu to lead Green Cloud Sect’s elite disciples to Death Swamp and keep the treasury from the Demon Sect.
• Li Xiaoyu accepted the mission and noticed Lin Jingyu, Zeng Shushu, and someone at Small Bamboo Peak were ready to join him.
• Li Xiaoyu assembled a squad with Lu Xueqi, Lin Jingyu, and Zeng Shushu, and they flew southwest from Rainbow Bridge.
• After traveling for more than ten days, the four reached Death Swamp and saw its poisonous miasma, black mire, and twisted trees.
• Li Xiaoyu shielded the group from the miasma, and they carefully descended into the swamp.

Li Xiaoyu and his companions fought their way through a swarm of Death Swamp Giant Ants and reached Great King Village. In its tavern, they waited for someone they dreaded meeting as the crowd grew louder.

• Li Xiaoyu led Lu Xueqi, Lin Jingyu, and Zeng Shushu through the swamp, where thousands of Death Swamp Giant Ants attacked them.
• Lin Jingyu and Lu Xueqi cut down ants while Zeng Shushu raised a wall of fire, but Li Xiaoyu crushed the entire swarm with a gesture.
• The four arrived at Great King Village and entered its crowded tavern, where patrons reacted warily to the Green Cloud Sect disciples.
• Li Xiaoyu ignored a Demon Sect thug's provocation, ordered food and wine, and told his companions they were waiting for someone they both wanted and dreaded to see.
• The four barely touched their meal before the tavern grew even noisier.

Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, and Lin Jingyu reunited with Zhang Xiaofan, now known as Ghost Li, in a tavern in Great King Village. After Ghost Li rejected Lin Jingyu’s attempt to reach him and left, the Green Cloud Sect group returned to their lodging in silence.

• Ghost Li entered the tavern, and Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, and Lin Jingyu recognized their old friend, changed and powerful after ten years away.
• Lin Jingyu confronted Ghost Li and demanded to know what had happened, but Ghost Li remained silent.
• When Lin Jingyu grabbed his collar, Ghost Li’s baleful energy forced him back, and Ghost Li said Zhang Xiaofan was dead and that he was Ghost Li.
• Ghost Li left the tavern, and Li Xiaoyu stopped Lin Jingyu from pursuing him, saying he had suffered too much.
• Li Xiaoyu led Lu Xueqi, Lin Jingyu, and Zeng Shushu out of the tavern, and the group later sat together in silence at their lodging in Great King Village.

The Demon Sect’s three leading figures, Ghost Li, Qin Wuyan, and Jin Ping'er, arrived at Great King Village and confronted Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, and their companions. As Qin Wuyan threatened the Green Cloud Sect team, Li Xiaoyu smiled, leaving the impending battle unresolved.

• Zeng Shushu urged the group to set aside their grief and focus on finding the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor, and Li Xiaoyu agreed they would enter the Death Swamp at dawn.
• Ghost Li, Qin Wuyan, and Jin Ping'er arrived above Great King Village, revealing that the Demon Sect’s three leading young figures had gathered.
• Jin Ping'er teased Qin Wuyan and asked Ghost Li whether he would greet his old friends, while Ghost Li silently watched Li Xiaoyu and the others.
• Li Xiaoyu and Lu Xueqi stood together to face the three Demon Sect figures, and Qin Wuyan warned that the Green Cloud Sect team would be killed.
• Li Xiaoyu smiled as the confrontation reached the brink of battle.

At Great King Village, Li Xiaoyu exposed the Demon Sect alliance’s mutual distrust and tried to bring Ghost Li back to the Green Cloud Sect, but Ghost Li refused. Jin Ping’er proposed a temporary truce to enter the Death Swamp together, and Li Xiaoyu agreed while hinting to Lin Jingyu and Zeng Shushu that he had a further plan.

• Li Xiaoyu warned Qin Wuyan and Jin Ping’er that the Demon Sect’s three branches were not truly united, weakening their resolve to fight.
• Li Xiaoyu called Ghost Li Xiao Fan and asked him not to stand against the world, but Ghost Li said their paths were different and tightened his grip on the Fire Poker.
• As battle approached, Jin Ping’er proposed a temporary truce so the righteous and demonic factions could enter the Death Swamp together and preserve their strength for the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor.
• Li Xiaoyu accepted the truce on the condition that neither side provoke disputes before reaching the Treasury, and Qin Wuyan accepted reluctantly.
• When Lin Jingyu worried that the demons might betray them, Li Xiaoyu said he did not trust them and was using their internal rift to buy time, then asked whether they had noticed something.

Li Xiaoyu urged his companions to wait while the Demon Sect factions weakened each other, but Qin Wuyan’s scheme to pit Longevity Hall against the righteous path ended in a devastating explosion. Yu Yangzi arrived at the ruins and confronted Qin Wuyan and Jin Ping'er, leaving the factions on the brink of open conflict.

• Li Xiaoyu told Zeng Shushu and Lin Jingyu to hold their position and wait for the opposing sides to wear each other down.
• Disciples of Longevity Hall arrived in Great King Village, fought with the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, and were attacked by rogue cultivators from the righteous path.
• Ghost Li, Qin Wuyan, and Jin Ping'er watched from a hillside as Qin Wuyan's plan to weaken Longevity Hall unfolded.
• A wounded Longevity Hall elder detonated his primordial spirit, destroying much of Great King Village and killing cultivators from both sides.
• Yu Yangzi arrived at the ruins and demanded to know who had killed his disciples.
• Qin Wuyan blamed the righteous path, but Yu Yangzi challenged his account and pressured him and Jin Ping'er; Qin Wuyan warned Yu Yangzi not to push them too far.

Li Xiaoyu exposed the Demon Sect leaders’ plan to attack the Green Cloud Sect and led a counterattack that killed Yu Yangzi. Qin Wuyan and Jin Ping'er withdrew, while Ghost Li headed deeper into the swamp.

• Ghost Li persuaded Yu Yangzi, Qin Wuyan, and Jin Ping'er to join forces against the Green Cloud Sect and claim the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor’s treasures.
• Li Xiaoyu revealed that he had been hiding nearby, and Lu Xueqi, Lin Jingyu, Zeng Shushu, and the Green Cloud Sect’s main force emerged from the ruins.
• Li Xiaoyu and the Green Cloud Sect disciples overwhelmed Yu Yangzi, who detonated the Yin-Yang Mirror and tried to flee.
• A golden sword aura caught Yu Yangzi and destroyed his body and soul, ending Longevity Hall.
• Qin Wuyan and Jin Ping'er left with their disciples, while Ghost Li silently walked deeper into the swamp.

Li Xiaoyu met Ghost Li in the Death Swamp and urged him to return to Qingyun, but Ghost Li refused because he was determined to revive Bi Yao. Li Xiaoyu left with Lu Xueqi, and a world-shaking roar sounded from deep in the swamp.

• Li Xiaoyu found Ghost Li in the Bone Forest and asked whether he had been well over the past ten years.
• Li Xiaoyu urged Ghost Li to return to Qingyun and reminded him that his friends still waited for him, but Ghost Li said he could not leave Bi Yao's side or abandon his mission to revive her.
• Li Xiaoyu promised that Ghost Li would always be Zhang Xiaofan of Big Bamboo Peak and his friend, then Ghost Li flew deeper into the swamp.
• Ghost Li remembered his past with Li Xiaoyu but recommitted himself to his promise to Bi Yao when the Golden Bell chimed.
• Li Xiaoyu left the Bone Forest with Lu Xueqi, and a world-shaking roar came from the depths of the Death Swamp as they flew away.

Li Xiaoyu and his companions witnessed the Yellow Bird and Black Water Profound Snake clash as the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor rose from the Death Swamp. After the treasury opened and cultivators rushed toward it, the beasts attacked them, giving Li Xiaoyu and the others a chance to charge for the gate.

• The Yellow Bird descended into the Death Swamp and began fighting the Black Water Profound Snake.
• Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zeng Shushu, and Lin Jingyu watched the beasts weaken each other as the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor rose from the bog.
• Ghost Li, Qin Wuyan, Jin Ping'er, and other powerful auras approached the treasury.
• The stone gate opened, and cultivators from righteous and demonic factions rushed toward it, sparking a chaotic battle.
• The Yellow Bird and Black Water Profound Snake attacked the cultivators together, killing hundreds.
• Li Xiaoyu called for his companions to move, and the four charged through the battlefield toward the treasury.

Li Xiaoyu and his companions fought their way to the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor, but the closing gate admitted only Ghost Li, Lu Xueqi, Li Xiaoyu, and Little Gray. Inside, Little Gray ate the Undying Divine Medicine and fell asleep, leaving the others stunned.

• Li Xiaoyu led Lu Xueqi, Lin Jingyu, and Zeng Shushu in a Four Symbols Sword Formation that broke through the Demon Sect's attacks and opened a path to the treasury.
• Ghost Li, Qin Wuyan, and Jin Ping'er reached the gate as it began closing, and the seven young cultivators rushed to get inside.
• Ghost Li entered first, Lu Xueqi followed, and Li Xiaoyu used Shrinking Ground to an Inch to slip through just before the gate shut; Little Gray entered with Ghost Li.
• Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, and Ghost Li found a star-filled realm and an altar holding the Undying Divine Medicine.
• Little Gray leapt onto the altar, swallowed the medicine and its transparent stone, then toppled over and fell into a deep sleep.

Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, and Ghost Li found Little Gray asleep after it ate the Undying Divine Medicine, then realized the true treasure of the Heavenly Emperor's treasury was the third volume of the Heavenly Tome hidden in the starry sky. As they studied it and gained new insight, they voiced differing interpretations of the Heavenly Tome's teachings.

• Little Gray ate the Undying Divine Medicine and fell asleep as its medicinal power transformed its body, leaving Ghost Li grieving over the lost chance to save Bi Yao.
• Li Xiaoyu reasoned that the medicine was bait and that the treasury's real treasure lay in the starry sky above the altar.
• Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, and Ghost Li meditated beneath the stars and gained profound insights into the Dao.
• Li Xiaoyu recognized the starry sky as the third volume of the Heavenly Tome, while Ghost Li and Lu Xueqi each experienced revelations connected to their cultivation and the volumes they had read.
• Li Xiaoyu recited the Heavenly Tome's opening line, and Ghost Li and Lu Xueqi offered contrasting interpretations before Li Xiaoyu said they were all right and all wrong.

Li Xiaoyu helped Lu Xueqi and Ghost Li reflect on the Dao, then urged Ghost Li to face the pain and hatred that had consumed him since Bi Yao’s death. He told Ghost Li that Bi Yao might still be saved and revealed an ancient book, leaving both Ghost Li and Lu Xueqi astonished.

• Li Xiaoyu explained that cultivating the Dao meant understanding and transcending the laws of heaven and earth, prompting Lu Xueqi and Ghost Li to reflect.
• Li Xiaoyu called Ghost Li Xiao Fan and reminded him of the kind, self-sacrificing Zhang Xiaofan he had once been.
• Ghost Li asked what he should do, and Li Xiaoyu asked whether Bi Yao would want him to become a bloodthirsty fiend in her name.
• Li Xiaoyu told Ghost Li that Bi Yao might still be saved, rekindling hope in him and surprising Lu Xueqi.
• Li Xiaoyu took out an untitled ancient beast-hide book containing a fragment of the Ghost Path General Outline.