Recaps

Shen Le found a Studio willing to weave a replacement piece of Zhuanghua Satin in ten days, then received the perfectly matched fabric for repairing the moth-eaten scroll. With the damaged sections ready to be patched, he was close to discovering the scroll’s secret.

• Shen Le learned that the Flower Tower Looms at the Yunjin Institute were fully occupied and followed a referral to another Studio.
• Shen Le agreed to pay one hundred thousand yuan for a meter of custom satin woven within ten days, with seventy percent going to the masters.
• Shen Le destroyed the filthy beads on the Studio owner’s wrist and relieved his aches, then warned him to treat the masters better.
• The Studio owner accepted Shen Le’s payment arrangement, and Shen Le waited ten days for the satin to be woven.
• Shen Le laid the new satin over the damaged original and confirmed that its patterns and threads matched perfectly.

Shen Le repaired the damaged Zhuanghua Satin with help from Lan Zhuang and the Bookworm Monster, then began mounting the painting with its original Qi Paper backing. The Alloy Master believed the Qi Paper was close to revealing the location it described and called in friends to examine it, surprising Teacher Zhang.

• Shen Le traced the damaged satin pattern, and Lan Zhuang marked the areas that needed replacement.
• Shen Le made the Bookworm Monster bite replacement pieces out along the traced edges, while Teacher Zhang urged him to strengthen his own skills.
• Shen Le reconnected the replacement pieces’ threads for two days, then mounted the repaired Zhuanghua Satin onto the painting.
• Shen Le insisted on using the original Qi Paper backing despite its holes and incomplete writing.
• The Alloy Master said he was close to finding the place described in the Qi Paper and went to gather friends to inspect it, prompting Teacher Zhang to ask why so many Special Department members were present.

Shen Le let the Special Affairs Bureau study the Qi Paper, and the researchers used clues in the paintings to identify an anomalous area in Liaodong. The Bureau asked him to help open the Secret Realm, leaving him shocked that they expected a painting restorer to venture inside.

• Shen Le allowed the Special Affairs Bureau’s researchers to examine the original Qi Paper while Teacher Zhang warned them not to damage it.
• The Bureau identified three possible locations, and a scholar’s analysis of unusual brushstrokes led the Daoist to give the field team new search directions.
• Alloy Master admitted he could not understand the clues supposedly left for him, while the researchers continued examining the Qi Paper.
• The field team searched the Liaodong mountains with drones and robot dogs, then found an anomalous area after three days.
• The Bureau asked Shen Le to go to Liaodong and help open the Secret Realm, which could only be triggered at a particular time, in specific weather, and under a certain moon phase.

Shen Le completed the painting’s reversible mounting, allowing the Scroll to reveal the young general and Zhongjin Khatun enjoying the prosperity brought by the Tribute Market. Their reunion was interrupted by news that the general would be transferred west, while Zhongjin Khatun wondered whether they could find a way to be together in a realm of immortals.

• Shen Le refused the Special Affairs Bureau’s offers but agreed to use a reversible method when mounting the painting.
• Teacher Zhang helped Shen Le mount the painting with added Xuan Paper so the original Chu Paper could be removed later.
• The completed mounting fused the painting’s spiritual energy, and Shen Le received the Scroll’s next memories.
• The memories showed the young general and Zhongjin Khatun inspecting a thriving Tribute Market where grassland herders and Central Plains merchants traded goods.
• The general told Zhongjin Khatun that he was being transferred west to suppress a rebellion, and she mentioned a wondrous realm said to grant eternal life.

Jin Zhu revealed a sword pill, which Little Gold ate in exchange for protecting her while Nari Su returned to fight a rebellion. After waiting through the seasons, Little Gold sensed Nari Su was in danger and raced to rescue him on a battlefield against the Wa Kingdom.

• Jin Zhu showed Nari Su the sword pill, and Little Gold begged to eat it in exchange for protecting her.
• Nari Su left to suppress the Ordos Loop rebellion, while Jin Zhu kept Little Gold and her Iron Pagodas on the grasslands.
• Little Gold ate the sword pill and waited for Nari Su, who went east to fight the Wa Kingdom instead of returning.
• Little Gold sensed Nari Su was in danger and raced through the blizzard, with Shen Le following him.
• Little Gold reached the battlefield, grew gigantic, carried Nari Su, and charged with an elite Ming Army unit through the enemy lines.

Shen Le witnessed Little Gold battle Yamata no Orochi and learned how the commander later hid the route to a Secret Realm in a painting scroll for Jin Zhu and Little Gold. The memory ended with Shen Le realizing the scroll had to be dismantled to reveal its secrets and wondering why anyone expected a beast to know how to take apart a painting.

• Little Gold transformed into a metal monster and fought Yamata no Orochi, drawing the armies apart until both creatures vanished into the river.
• Little Gold returned injured, ate the commander’s gold ornaments to recover, and left for Wa Kingdom to feed on its silver and gold mines.
• The commander later helped the Ming Army reclaim territory, but he never saw Jin Zhu or Little Gold again.
• Years later, the commander sought the Secret Realm and hid its route in a painting scroll, hoping Jin Zhu and Little Gold would find it and share its secret.
• Shen Le finished watching the memory and questioned why anyone expected Little Gold to know how to dismantle the painting.

Shen Le completed the restoration of the sentient painting, which revealed that its creator had never visited the place depicted in it. The Scroll suggested that taking it there might help it find him, while Alloy Master went to assist the team struggling inside the opened Secret Realm.

• Alloy Master told Shen Le that he had watched over Jin Zhu until her death, but neither she nor anyone else had discovered where the painting pointed or whether its creator had survived.
• Shen Le used the painting’s guidance to complete the missing instructions on the Qi Paper, and Alloy Master sent pictures of them to the team exploring the Secret Realm.
• After the team reported that the Formation remained too difficult to cross, Alloy Master left to help while Shen Le stayed behind to finish mounting the painting.
• The restored painting’s sentience described its creator’s and Jin Zhu’s hopes for peace and freedom on the grasslands.
• When Shen Le asked where the painting had been made, the Scroll said its painter had never gone there and suggested it might find him if someone took it to the place.

Shen Le meditated after restoring the Scroll and discovered that the Copper Fragment could imprint Talismans into his Golden Core, letting him activate them without drawing them each time. While he inspected and repaired the mansion, the Scroll detected Old You entering and revealed that its perception could cover hundreds of miles with a map.

• The Scroll called Shen Le its godfather, then explained that it had been trying to bow despite being unable to bend its upper half.
• Shen Le meditated, absorbed a modest reward from the Copper Fragment, and guided it to form four Talismans that settled into his Golden Core.
• Shen Le inspected the mansion, climbed onto a roof to clear weeds, and was joined by Peregrine Falcon, who helped pull them up.
• The Scroll flashed an alarm when Old You approached, and Shen Le reassured it that he had allowed Old You to enter.
• The Scroll told Shen Le that a map could extend its perception range to hundreds of miles and asked him to find one.

Shen Le tested the scroll’s new ability and learned that it could memorize paper maps to reveal hidden places and render detailed local maps. After the scroll’s scan revealed a hidden site near Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant and another inside the Zen Temple, Alloy Master urgently called Shen Le for help.

• Shen Le asked how the scroll’s abilities differed from the Doll Cabinet, and the scroll claimed it could travel with him and locate places concealed by Formations.
• Shen Le obtained paper maps from Old You and laid a map of Zhuxi Town beneath the scroll.
• The scroll absorbed the map, briefly sent a bright light outside that alarmed Gu Yulin, then projected a detailed map marking two hidden locations.
• Shen Le recognized one marked location as the concealed storeroom behind Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant and stopped the scroll from scanning farther.
• Old You began sorting maps for another area, and Alloy Master urgently called Shen Le for help.

Shen Le agreed to join the Special Affairs Bureau's expedition to a dangerous Secret Realm after the Copper Fragment sensed something compelling there. As he prepared to leave with Qing Deng and the others, his household spirits rebelled and demanded to come along.

• Alloy Master called Shen Le for help, saying someone was trapped in a Formation, but the call ended before Shen Le could learn more.
• Gu Yulin visited Shen Le and asked him to help the Bureau explore the Secret Realm connected to Mr. Jin's forward team.
• Shen Le's Copper Fragment showed him a bright point in the northern mountains and urged him to go, so he agreed to join the expedition.
• Shen Le packed supplies, Qing Deng, and the Scroll, while the other household spirits demanded to go too.
• Shen Le refused to bring the spirits who could not help with the rescue and promised them a real vacation later.

Shen Le arrived at the Secret Realm to help the Special Affairs Bureau rescue agents trapped beyond a dangerous Formation. After his Compass failed to find a way through the mist, the Scroll began projecting a detailed map, leaving Shen Le waiting to see what it could reveal.

• The Special Affairs Bureau told Shen Le that agents were trapped in the Secret Realm’s second layer and that Alloy Master had escaped injured without rescuing them.
• Shen Le entered the chaotic mountain camp and reached the Secret Realm’s mist-filled valley entrance.
• Shen Le asked the Special Affairs Bureau to provide a detailed map, then used the Scroll to copy it onto itself.
• Shen Le questioned his Compass, which could not find a stable route through the shifting mist or reach Lao Jin.
• The Scroll emitted strange beams and began forming a miniature map above itself, while Shen Le warned the nearby agents and moved the setup outside.

Shen Le and the response team used the Scroll to map the Formation and locate trapped people, while Alloy Master repeatedly tried to reach them. The chapter left Alloy Master preparing to reenter with Shen Le’s Compass and Qing Deng’s Silver Light guiding him.

• The Scroll stopped sulking after Shen Le explained that the people inside needed rescuing, then scanned the Secret Realm and revealed that it was much larger than the response team’s map.
• Alloy Master emerged from the mist, told Shen Le he could sense the trapped people but could not reach them, and asked for help.
• The Scroll mapped the Formation’s layers and revealed groups of trapped people, while Taoists studied its anchors and debated how to stabilize them.
• Alloy Master entered the Formation again and returned with the trapped people’s notes, but said he still could not get through to them.
• After receiving supplies, Alloy Master prepared to go back inside, and Shen Le gave him his Compass so it could guide him using the Scroll’s map.
• Qing Deng sent a ball of Silver Light to accompany the Compass and offered to write messages for Alloy Master.

Shen Le used the Scroll and Copper Fragment to probe the shifting formation while Alloy Master explored it, discovering that the fragment resonated with an inner hub. As Shen Le struggled to penetrate the hub, the formation shook and Alloy Master charged toward the exit.

• Alloy Master entered the white mist, while Shen Le learned that the formation repeatedly destroyed cameras and railway tracks laid inside it.
• The Scroll and Little Oil Lamp projected a real-time image of the formation, and Daoist Yangzhen and Daoist Shouyi argued over which route Alloy Master should take.
• Shen Le used the Scroll's guidance and the Copper Fragment's protection to extend his perception through the formation's shifting paths.
• Shen Le reached a White Jade Disc and discovered that the Copper Fragment resonated with it, but he could not penetrate the disc with his mental power.
• The formation shook violently as Alloy Master grew to about ten feet tall and charged toward the outside through smoke and fire.

Shen Le suppressed the formation long enough for Alloy Master to rescue the trapped field personnel, then helped the gathered experts plan how to disable its first layer. The teams finally suppressed several points in the mist, and someone was sent in to seize the formation hub.

• Alloy Master carried the trapped field personnel out of the second layer while Shen Le used the Copper Fragment to keep the formation from activating as he escaped.
• Alloy Master and the rescued personnel were cooled and treated, but he accidentally burned Shen Le by patting his shoulder.
• Shen Le showed the experts the formation’s White Jade Disc hub on the Sand Table and explained how the layers and nodes behaved.
• After two days of planning, cultivators, monks, Daoists, and Special Affairs Bureau personnel coordinated their techniques and equipment to suppress several points in the mist.
• The experts announced that the formation was suppressed and called for someone to enter and take control of its hub.

Shen Le explored the Water Curtain Cave after jumping through its waterfall, then hurried to find Alloy Master when he became distressed inside the Formation. Alloy Master revealed his beast form and told Shen Le that someone was dead.

• A distant scream startled Shen Le, and he followed Alloy Master toward the waterfall after losing contact with him.
• Shen Le leaped into the waterfall, was swept back out into the pool, and returned to shore soaked.
• Shen Le entered the vast cave with a Special Affairs Bureau staffer, passing a lake, forest, and several unusual landscapes.
• Shen Le found Alloy Master raging and keeping staff away while crushing something underfoot.
• Shen Le approached Alloy Master, who said that someone was dead.

Shen Le comforted the grieving Alloy Master while experts excavated the battlefield remains and reconstructed a Ming Army officer’s last stand. By reading the shattered altar’s power, Shen Le learned that the officer had destroyed the Secret Realm’s exit to imprison the Jurchens who had gained immortal power.

• Shen Le calmed the Alloy Master, who mourned his friend, a Ming Army officer pinned to a tree after being killed in the Secret Realm.
• Shen Le persuaded the Alloy Master to let the staff document and collect the remains, then joined the archaeological team as an external expert.
• Experts analyzed the bones and armor, concluding that a small force of Ming soldiers had fought a much larger group of nearby Jurchens.
• The experts found the officer’s saber embedded in a stone altar, where it had shattered a White Jade Disc.
• Shen Le sensed through the Copper Fragment that the altar and disc controlled the Secret Realm’s entrance, and learned the officer had destroyed them to keep the Jurchens from returning to the outside world.

Shen Le and Alloy Master mourned Alloy Master’s deceased friend and worked with the researchers to decipher the second layer of the Formation. After the team reached the Jade Palace entrance, they came under enemy attack.

• Alloy Master mourned his friend and asked Shen Le whether the dead could reunite in the afterlife.
• Shen Le promised to help return the remains to the friend’s grave, while an explorer explained that official applications were needed to move the bones and dig at the protected site.
• Shen Le helped calm the Scroll after it became angry at a Daoist who questioned the restored passage manual, and the Scroll resumed projecting maps of the second and third layers.
• The researchers adjusted the passage guide to account for changes in the twenty-eight lunar mansions and, a week later, crossed the second-layer Formation to reach a Jade Palace.
• As Shen Le waited outside for the team to secure the area, people shouted that they were under enemy attack.

Shen Le evacuated from the attacked camp, rescued falling researchers with Qing Deng’s help, and fought back against a monster threatening the Formation. The Earth Elemental continued toward the first layer’s core, and Shen Le ended up facing it after catching a thrown utility pole.

• Shen Le carefully packed away his Compass and Scroll before fleeing with a Special Affairs Bureau agent as an unknown force breached the Formation’s second layer.
• When monsters hurled people through the air, Shen Le caught one researcher, and Qing Deng used an Electric Net to slow the others’ falls.
• Shen Le ordered Qing Deng to attack a giant stitched-together monster, whose rotting flesh fell away under repeated lightning strikes and revealed an Earth Elemental immune to further electricity.
• Shen Le realized the Earth Elemental was heading for the first layer’s Formation core, while the remaining fighters failed to stop it.
• A Martial Monk struck the Earth Elemental with a utility pole but was thrown back; Shen Le caught him and the pole, then faced the advancing monster.

Shen Le and the Martial Monk lured the Earth Elemental away from the researchers and artifacts, but the creature leaped onto them after Shen Le’s flagpole broke. Shen Le braced against its crushing weight, and a surge of warmth from his dantian strengthened his arms as the pressure suddenly eased.

• Shen Le struck the Earth Elemental with a utility pole, but its stomp sent nearby people stumbling and injured some of them.
• When the Earth Elemental turned toward researchers carrying human remains and artifacts, Shen Le drew it away by throwing rubble at it.
• Shen Le used the Copper Fragment to bring down a flagpole, then joined the Martial Monk in striking and luring the Earth Elemental away from the entrance.
• The flagpole broke during the fight, and the Earth Elemental leaped toward the Martial Monk; Shen Le rushed in to shield him with the broken pole.
• The Earth Elemental slid down Shen Le’s pole and crashed onto him, but warmth from Shen Le’s dantian strengthened his arms as the weight on them suddenly eased.

After absorbing the Earth Elemental’s spiritual essence, Shen Le was buried in the resulting collapse but escaped with help and rushed to the second layer of the Formation. There, he joined the command staff’s effort against a fast monster controlling demons and the dead, and Qing Deng used the Sand Table to strike it with lightning.

• Shen Le absorbed the Earth Elemental’s spiritual essence with the Copper Fragment, triggering a collapse that buried him beneath rocks and soil.
• The Martial Monk and Little Oil Lamp helped Shen Le breathe and dig himself free, and he hurried toward the second layer of the Formation.
• Shen Le found the defensive line holding and learned from an officer that a fast, bird-and-mouse-like monster controlled demons and the dead while resisting conventional attacks.
• Shen Le asked Qing Deng to locate the monster, and Qing Deng requested access to the Sand Table after failing to find it from above.
• With the officer’s permission, Qing Deng entered the Sand Table, which flashed brightly as a bolt of lightning struck across the battlefield.

Shen Le and Little Oil Lamp helped turn the battle against the monsters by weakening their leader and healing the fallen fighters. After the battle, the Copper Fragment absorbed the dead Pig-Tail Monster and urged Shen Le to move forward.

• The Pig-Tail Monster's piercing roar incapacitated people across the command center and front line, while Alloy Master held back the monsters.
• Shen Le used the Copper Fragment and talismans to heal fallen personnel, and the recovered fighters stabilized the battle line.
• Little Oil Lamp repeatedly struck the Pig-Tail Monster with lightning until it fell, though its final bolt also hit Alloy Master.
• The forces advanced, defeated the remaining monsters, and began disinfecting and collecting their bodies.
• The Copper Fragment absorbed the Pig-Tail Monster's corpse, then urged Shen Le to move forward.

Shen Le reached the jade palace and learned that the monsters had emerged from a damaged Jade Altar leading to the Formation’s distant third layer. The Copper Fragment offered to swallow the altar and control the gate, but Shen Le refused because the space and its resources belonged to the country.

• Shen Le followed the Copper Fragment’s vague directions to the jade palace, where monks, Taoists, and researchers studied its fading Defense Shield.
• After the Taoists performed a ritual that removed the shield, Shen Le explored the three-room palace and learned that a horde of monsters had emerged from the Jade Altar.
• The expedition’s leader asked Shen Le to use the Scroll and Copper Fragment to scan what lay beyond the Jade Altar, and researchers cleared the altar for him to investigate.
• Shen Le connected the Scroll to the Jade Altar and discovered that its internal structure was broken and could not activate until repaired.
• The Copper Fragment offered to swallow the Jade Altar and claim control of the gate, but Shen Le objected that the space and resources belonged to the country.

Shen Le used the Scroll to scan the Secret Realm’s enormous third layer, helping the Special Affairs Bureau assess whether it could safely expand its operations. The scan revealed a distant gate where spiritual energy was seeping through, leaving Shen Le worried that another dangerous breach would need repairing.

• Shen Le exhausted his spiritual power while the Scroll scanned the Secret Realm, then fell asleep as the Special Affairs Bureau argued over whether to explore the third layer.
• After waking, Shen Le found the Scroll had stopped working because it would not operate more than ten meters from him, and he restarted it.
• Shen Le saw the Copper Fragment depict rivers and mountains across a vast territory and realized its makers had gathered knowledge across the land.
• Shen Le suggested the third layer might have another entrance that outsiders could use, prompting the Bureau to continue scanning it.
• After three days of scanning, the Scroll revealed that the third layer lay at least a hundred kilometers away, extended beyond the national border, and contained a suspected gate to another dimension.
• Shen Le and the Bureau concluded that spiritual energy might be leaking through the gate, and Shen Le feared he might have to repair another breach.

Shen Le explored the third layer of the Formation and found an abandoned cultivation sect before approaching a vast waterfall. When he investigated the abyss with the Copper Fragment, a giant Whale carried him away, leaving the rescue team in chaos.

• Shen Le entered the third layer and learned that its 999 mountain peaks held the ruins and graves of a cultivation sect, with no living people in sight.
• Shen Le traveled for two days to a massive waterfall, where the team struggled to measure the depth of the abyss below.
• Shen Le released his mental power through the Copper Fragment, and a giant Whale leaped from the abyss and pulled him off the cliff.
• The Copper Fragment protected Shen Le as the Whale swallowed him, while Little Oil Lamp was suppressed and the rescue attempts failed.
• The staff reported that a monster had taken Shen Le, the Scroll rolled itself up, and Alloy Master charged toward the cliff to bring him back.

Shen Le was carried from a whale’s mouth by a giant bird to a colossal tree and asked to repair the enormous hollow threatening its world. After examining the damage, he realized the tree seemed to exist on a flat plane with a hole in it.

• Shen Le fell from the whale through the clouds until a giant bird caught him and carried him to its nest high in a gigantic tree.
• The Big Bird asked Shen Le to help mend what was wrong with its world and took him to a massive hollow near the tree’s base.
• Birds gathered around the tree and prepared a nest and food for Shen Le as he agreed to inspect the damage.
• Shen Le extended his spiritual power toward the hollow, felt it twist and tear, and concluded that the tree seemed like a flat plane with a hole letting wind through.