Recaps

Shen Le’s Copper Fragment restored more of the Broken Bronze Tripod and forced new energy pathways into his body, which he successfully joined to his existing cultivation. While discussing Dragon Lord’s damaged ship, Shen Le learned that the Heaven-Sealing Sea-Blocking barrier was deteriorating and that repairing its holes might provoke powerful beings trapped outside.

• Shen Le meditated as the Copper Fragment restored part of the Broken Bronze Tripod, revealed a map of the world, and unleashed new energy that expanded his golden orb and opened additional cultivation pathways.
• Shen Le used his Talismans to absorb and regulate the Copper Fragment’s energy, then emerged from meditation to find Dragon Lord’s garden damaged by the surge.
• Shen Le asked Dragon Lord for more time to repair the ship, and Dragon Lord explained that it had belonged to him and a badly injured friend thousands of years earlier.
• Shen Le described his understanding of Secret Realms and the wilderness, and Dragon Lord clarified that they occupied other dimensions and that the barrier between the human world and the wilderness had been made by people.
• Dragon Lord explained that the Heaven-Sealing Sea-Blocking barrier had kept savage monsters outside while also restricting spiritual energy, and that it could fail within two or three thousand years without repairs.
• Shen Le feared that repairing the barrier would draw the attention of ancient beings, and Dragon Lord reassured him that those inside would not attack him, though monsters trapped outside might.

Shen Le visited the Dragon Lord’s Water Manor, received spiritual fruits and protective talismans, and learned that Cloud Kun could travel between the manor and home. After returning by way of drought-stricken Poyang Lake, he alerted Gu Yulin about witnesses who might have seen the ship, and Gu Yulin asked to rent Cloud Kun for the Special Affairs Bureau.

• The Dragon Lord gave Shen Le spiritual fruits and protective talismans, invited him to return to the Water Manor, and added him on WeChat.
• Qing Li explained how Shen Le could visit the Water Manor, and Shen Le boarded Cloud Kun to leave.
• Cloud Kun surfaced in the shallow, dried-up Poyang Lake, so Shen Le sent Gu Yulin his location before telling Cloud Kun to take him home discreetly.
• Cloud Kun carried Shen Le back to his shipyard workshop, then shrank so Shen Le could bring it to his manor’s lotus pond.
• Shen Le told Gu Yulin about the Water Manor, Cloud Kun, and the witnesses at Poyang Lake, and Gu Yulin offered to pay a huge amount to rent the boat.

Shen Le introduced the restored Ming treasure ship Cloud Kun to the Shanghai Special Affairs Bureau and Shipwreck Museum, whose representatives competed to study or recruit it. Cloud Kun eagerly wanted to serve the navy and retrace Zheng He's voyages, and the meeting ended with a proposal for scholars to sail aboard while the navy protected them.

• Gu Yulin suggested renting Cloud Kun to the navy, and Cloud Kun enthusiastically wanted to dive and fight, forcing Shen Le to caution it about modern weapons.
• The Shanghai Special Affairs Bureau director and Shen Le's Doctor Senior Brother arranged visits, then arrived at Shen Le's workshop with their groups at the same time.
• Shen Le introduced Cloud Kun to both groups, whose members examined the ship while a Mazu Temple Keeper and an old monk tried to communicate with it.
• Shen Le showed the museum professor test reports, and the Temple Keeper confirmed Cloud Kun's account that it had sailed with Zheng He's fleet and could revisit its former routes.
• The bureau director proposed navy service, museum staff requested research access, and Cloud Kun eagerly agreed to sail and contribute to the country.
• A bureau staff member proposed that scholars sail Cloud Kun while the navy protected them, and the gathering considered the compromise.

Shen Le arranged for Cloud Kun to receive an identity, wages, and a nearby berth, then accompanied it on its maiden voyage to deliver supplies to the East Sea Secret Realm. Cloud Kun bypassed the Great Vortex and arrived safely, but after the cargo was unloaded, someone noticed that the huge wooden ship had disappeared.

• Cloud Kun used Zheng He's Navigation Map to describe its routes, and Shen Le insisted that it receive compensation independently for its lease to the state.
• Shen Le and the Special Affairs Bureau agreed to arrange wages and bank accounts for Cloud Kun, Compass, and Scroll, and chose a pier near Shen Le's home as Cloud Kun's berth.
• Three days later, Shen Le accompanied Cloud Kun downstream and out to sea, where Old Sea Turtle explained the need to deliver supplies to the East Sea Secret Realm discreetly.
• Cloud Kun recognized the route to the Great Vortex and plunged through without waiting for it to open, arriving in the secret realm with the accompanying cargo ship.
• Shen Le identified the group as friendly, and the naval soldiers confirmed their identities and unloaded the supplies.
• After the unloading, someone turned around and shouted that Shen Le's huge wooden ship was gone.

Shen Le found Cloud Kun after the wooden ship disappeared from the harbor and discovered it had been salvaging ancient treasures from the seabed. Cloud Kun abandoned its plan to install missiles after a naval officer explained modern warfare, and agreed to help survey the sea instead.

• Shen Le searched for Cloud Kun with his spiritual power after it vanished from the harbor, then called it out when it appeared at the mountaintop temple and nearly crushed the teleportation array.
• Cloud Kun explained that it had been absorbing spiritual energy and had brought up a pile of objects buried underwater for centuries.
• Shen Le and the Special Affairs Bureau confirmed the finds were not stolen, sold them, and deposited the proceeds into Cloud Kun's account.
• Cloud Kun demanded missiles so it could sink an aircraft carrier, but a naval staff officer explained why its proposed attacks would not work in modern warfare.
• The staff officer suggested Cloud Kun use its diving and shrinking abilities to survey the seabed, and Cloud Kun eagerly accepted the job and offered to retrieve anything interesting it found.

Shen Le took Cloud Kun on a seabed expedition, where the ship amazed researchers with its scanning and salvage abilities but needed careful instruction to avoid damaging artifacts. After they returned, the Special Affairs Bureau offered Shen Le access to its collections, and he asked to visit Shanghai's warehouse.

• Shen Le and the experts tested Cloud Kun's seafloor scanning, and Cloud Kun complained that it needed more spiritual energy to see farther.
• Cloud Kun placed current meters in a deep-sea trench and found a sunken ship, but its first attempt to salvage artifacts broke a box and scattered the contents.
• After the experts taught Cloud Kun how to protect fragile relics, it safely lifted artifacts in water-filled boxes and tried to raise the entire wreck before Shen Le stopped it.
• The experts identified the wreck as a Qing Dynasty merchant ship with no exceptional artifacts, and Shen Le cheered Cloud Kun by asking it to find spiritually powerful objects or a seabed Secret Realm.
• After the expedition returned, the Shanghai Special Affairs Bureau director offered Shen Le a catalog of collections, and Shen Le asked to see the Shanghai warehouse.

Shen Le searched the Imperial Capital Special Affairs Bureau’s collection for an artifact he could restore, passing over objects with disturbing histories or repairs beyond his skills. He discovered a mischievous sentient safe but left it behind, then entered a room filled with a procession of figurines and sensed something inside a grand sedan chair.

• Shen Le found Shanghai’s collection unimpressive and was overwhelmed by the Imperial Capital warehouse’s vast stores of artifacts.
• Shen Le examined a bloodstained round fan and a pair of damaged fighting zither cases, but decided neither suited him.
• Shen Le encountered a sentient iron safe with a different elaborate unlocking puzzle each time, but passed on it because it needed no repairs.
• Shen Le entered another storage room and saw a procession of figurines leading to a luxurious Ten-Thousand-Work Sedan Chair.
• Shen Le sensed that something was inside the sedan chair as red silk obscured its interior.

Shen Le chose a vast wedding procession of figurines from the Special Affairs Bureau, only to discover that they grew when unpacked and needed careful restoration. After using a Five Thunder Peach Wood Sword to shrink one for a CT scan, he found that the figurine's framework was made of bones rather than wood or other materials.

• Shen Le selected the wedding procession figurines, which included hundreds of dowry-bearing groups, despite the Bureau's warning that an important part was missing.
• After the figurines arrived at his Studio, Shen Le discovered that they grew from about twenty centimeters to 1.2 meters and had long tails and sharp nails.
• Shen Le found that the figurines were too heavy and fragile to carry safely, and Qing Deng's lightning startled them into bending and shedding fragments.
• Shen Le used the Five Thunder Peach Wood Sword to shrink one figurine, packed it into a box, and brought it to the CT room for scanning.
• Shen Le examined the CT image and discovered that the figurine's internal framework contained bones, joints, a spine, and a skull with an inhuman shape.

Shen Le documented and investigated a batch of ancient clay figurines while negotiating with Gu Yulin over his Five Thunder Peach Wood Swords. His first repair experiment failed catastrophically when his Growth Spell revived the fibers inside an Earth God statue, splitting it apart and producing a small white flower.

• Shen Le identified the skeleton inside a figurine as belonging to a small rat demon and learned from the landlady that it could not come back to life.
• Shen Le scanned and documented the dowry bearer figurines, then sent samples of their clay, fibers, and pigments to the laboratory for testing.
• Gu Yulin persuaded Shen Le to provide two spare Five Thunder Peach Wood Swords, while Shen Le's advisor considered lending his own sword to university field researchers.
• Shen Le practiced mixing clay and tested repair methods on an old Earth God statue, finding that synthetic consolidants obstructed its spirituality and that the Growth Spell initially seemed ineffective.
• The rotten fibers inside the Earth God statue suddenly grew, shattered the sculpture, and produced a small white flower.

Shen Le practiced restoring ancient clay sculptures by reviving their fibers, controlling moisture, and filling their cracks with precisely matched clay. After completing a layered repair, he wished the Copper Fragment would grant him control over soil, and a strange power suddenly enveloped him.

• Shen Le learned to revive individual plant fibers and used the test results from his junior martial brothers and sisters to identify the materials in the clay sculptures.
• Shen Le discovered that the revived fibers were rotting, so he practiced extracting moisture from fibers and clay; the tests also identified the animal hair as rat hair.
• Cloud Kun returned from the sea, scolded Shen Le for his dry skin, and distributed seabed gifts, including an inkstick that Shen Le restored by drawing out its water.
• Shen Le's junior martial brothers and sisters prepared matching clay mixtures, allowing him to clean and repair the sculptures by growing their fibers and extracting moisture from each layer.
• After finishing a sculpture's layered repair, Shen Le wished the Copper Fragment would give him control over soil, and a strange power enveloped him.

Shen Le gained control over soil and repaired hundreds of Mud Figurines, then entered a memory of the strange wedding procession they depicted. After the procession vanished into a dowry chest and became figurines, he recognized a familiar power formation and accidentally triggered the Copper Fragment.

• Shen Le absorbed the power of earth, learned to control soil, and used spells to repair the Mud Figurines.
• Shen Le restored hundreds of figurines and sensed that they were connected by an unusual formation.
• Shen Le experienced the figurines' memory from inside a bridal sedan as a bride traveled with a procession of demons.
• Shen Le watched the wedding procession shrink, pass through a dog hole, and turn into Mud Figurines inside a dowry chest.
• Shen Le traced the figurines' power lines, causing the Copper Fragment to activate just as he shouted for time to leave a message.

Shen Le awakened in a remote karst cave with the clay wedding procession and used the Copper Fragment to guide them along the earth veins back to his Studio. He returned safely on the Thousand-Craft Bed, while the little ones and the Special Affairs Bureau had been preparing to find him.

• Shen Le explored the cave, realized the clay sculptures had brought him there, and called Gu Yulin to report his location.
• Shen Le returned to the procession, arranged the figures in their original formation, and meditated to draw power from the earth.
• Little Oil Lamp, Cloud Kun, and the other artifacts panicked at Shen Le's disappearance, but the Compass persuaded them to wait a day before going to find him.
• Shen Le used the Copper Fragment's map to plot a route home, and the empowered clay wedding procession marched through the stone wall along the earth veins.
• The Special Affairs Bureau operatives watched the procession vanish on their drone feed, while the Azure Dragon briefly noticed Shen Le passing near Mount Lu.
• Shen Le and the clay procession arrived back in his Studio, where Little Oil Lamp rushed to greet him and wondered why he had left standing but returned lying down.

The Special Affairs Bureau made major progress adapting Shen Le’s Talismans into teleportation artifacts, and Shen Le received a bead string that dragged him into the pond during his first test. After promising his companions a future trip, he returned to restoring the Mud Figurines with their help.

• The Southwest Bureau director pressed the Southeast Bureau to develop a teleportation array for transporting goods from the Golden Triangle Secret Realm, and the researchers demonstrated that Shen Le’s Talisman design could move objects along a route.
• The researchers developed jade plaques that let practitioners teleport short distances, and the Bureau gave Shen Le a string of 108 crystal beads carved with the Talismans.
• Shen Le activated the beads, was dragged into the pond at his manor, and agreed to wait for the Special Affairs Bureau’s instructions before testing them again.
• Little Ink Marker and the other companions asked Shen Le to take them traveling, and he promised to go with them after finishing the Mud Figurines.
• Shen Le resumed restoring the Mud Figurines, while Lan Zhuang, Little Puppet, and Myriad Strands of Black Hair helped with the work and Little Oil Lamp went to make peach wood swords.

Little Oil Lamp used the manor’s electricity to make Five Thunder Peach Wood Swords, and Gu Yulin arranged for it to work at a remote substation. Shen Le restored the clay wedding figurines, but one began transforming into a yellow weasel demon just as Qing Deng’s lightning rang out.

• Little Oil Lamp repeatedly struck a peach wood sword with lightning, frightening the demons and customers near Shen Le’s manor.
• Gu Yulin checked with Xiang Yang, learned the manor’s electrical load had surged, and persuaded Little Oil Lamp to make swords at a remote substation; Shen Le approved the plan.
• Shen Le studied pigment research from his junior brothers and sisters, then used his earth power to stabilize the figurines’ flaking paint while the Silk Skirts touched up their colors.
• A restored figurine blinked, moved, and transformed into a yellow weasel demon, with clay crumbs falling from its face.
• Shen Le heard a bolt of lightning and shouted at Qing Deng to stop.

Shen Le investigated why the Mud Figurines had changed shape after restoration and learned that some demons could not return to their original forms because their power was too weak. After repairing the Yellow Weasel figurine, he discovered it had already been missing an ear and half its tail, and it asked him to make it a new tail.

• Shen Le asked Gu Yulin, Dr. Qin, and Professor Han whether demons could fool scans or artifacts could change form during restoration.
• Professor Han gathered accounts from restoration experts who had encountered artifacts changing shape or breaking after repairs.
• Little Oil Lamp told Shen Le that making ten Five Thunder Peach Wood Swords would take a month, so Shen Le mailed one to Professor Han.
• Shen Le tried to make the Mud Figurines reveal their original forms, but a bell from the Buddhist Shrine purified their power and a flowing-gowned figure explained that they were too weak to transform.
• Shen Le repaired the Yellow Weasel figurine while the flowing-gowned figures painted it and helped him recover.
• The Yellow Weasel revealed that it had already lost an ear and half its tail while fighting a Tartar, and asked Shen Le to make it a new tail.

Shen Le restored the wedding procession’s Mud Figurines and awakened a powerful bronze seal that caused havoc in his studio. After he subdued it with the Copper Fragment and placed it in Guanyin’s hands, he discovered that the Mother Tiger figurine had transformed into two four-legged tigers, leaving him unsure how to repair it.

• Shen Le restored the procession’s figurines and discovered that most of the wedding party consisted of demons, spirits, and ghosts, while its mounted escort resembled local gods riding possible dragons.
• Shen Le repaired the tiger demons carrying a sealed dowry, but a roar awakened the seal, which radiated power and made the Mud Figurines tremble and deform.
• Shen Le restrained the bronze seal with the golden bead’s current and the Copper Fragment, then placed it in the hands of Thousand-Hand Guanyin after failing to read its inscription.
• Shen Le calmed Ah Lu and reassured Gu Yulin, Nengqian, and his nearby junior martial brothers and sisters after the seal’s power frightened them and disturbed the mansion.
• Shen Le gathered the broken pieces of the Mother Tiger figurine and found that the two upright tiger demons had transformed into four-legged tigers.

Shen Le struggled to restore the animated clay sculptures, then repaired a Headless Ghost with help from the monk Nengqian. Afterward, he began tending to the other ghostly figures, realizing his restoration work had turned into something like undertaking.

• Shen Le tried and failed to get the tiger sculptures to respond, then repaired animal statues using research gathered by his university colleagues.
• Shen Le touched a Headless Ghost and heard echoes of its violent death before the Buddhist Shrine’s chimes prompted it to raise its head toward its neck.
• Shen Le called Nengqian for help, then carefully removed the Headless Ghost’s head and reattached it with clay and plant fibers.
• Nengqian advised Shen Le to paint a red ring around the neck to preserve evidence of the injury, and the Headless Ghost lowered its arms after the repair.
• Nengqian asked to return and chant scriptures while Shen Le worked, and Shen Le began repairing the other battle-dead and ghostly clay figures.

Shen Le finished restoring the damaged Mud Figurines, then became immersed in their memories of how they were made and worshipped. The memories revealed a powerful black shadow that gathered monsters and ghosts into a mountain court, and ended as a little girl offered incense at its temple.

• Shen Le repaired the Mud Figurines while Nengqian chanted sutras, then thanked the figures and replenished their incense.
• Nengqian declined Shen Le’s offers of food and water, left for a Dharma assembly, and hoped to help with future deliverance work.
• Shen Le asked the Buddhist Shrine to stay at home, then used his mental power to explore the Mud Figurines’ memories.
• Shen Le watched ancient craftsmen make scarred clay statues that people honored as fallen warriors and temple officials, even as Tartar soldiers watched them warily.
• Shen Le saw a black shadow gather monsters and ghosts into a mountain court, commission clay statues and temples for them, and draw increasing spiritual power from worshippers.
• A little girl entered the temple and offered incense to the deity in its main hall.

Shen Le watched a poor little girl pray for her sick mother and missing father, then share her meager food with a hungry boy. After the boy was reunited with his caretaker, animal demons recognized the girl as their young miss and the old master's descendant.

• Shen Le studied the unfamiliar military god statue before the hall transformed into a vast divine domain crowded with watching gods and ghosts.
• The little girl offered three cheap incense sticks and prayed for her mother, her father, and enough food to eat.
• Shen Le followed the girl outside and watched her struggle to eat a hard piece of flatbread and sour wild fruit.
• The girl shared her wild fruit with a hungry little boy, who was soon found and embraced by a woman calling for Young Master Jie.
• A fox comforted the girl, and the gathered animal demons recognized her as their young miss and the old master's bloodline.

Shen Le discovered how the clay figurines’ earth-vein teleportation worked and derived a new Talisman while watching the girl and boy grow up and part during wartime. After his first experiment left him stuck in a rockery, researchers tested the Talisman and successfully teleported an intact target to the southwest.

• Fox Demon and the yellow weasel secretly brought the girl’s sick mother herbs and food, and the girl later learned healing and temple duties.
• The boy trained in martial arts and, when he left with his family, gave the girl a dagger and promised to return safely.
• Shen Le studied the repaired clay figurines, copied their power pathways, and derived a Talisman that resembled a map of a mountain.
• A Daoist Priest identified the Talisman’s resemblance to the Five Sacred Mountains True Form Diagram, and Shen Le sent the design and experimental plans to researchers.
• Shen Le accidentally teleported himself into a rockery and had Ah Lu pull him free.
• Researchers tested Shen Le’s Talisman and successfully teleported an intact target to somewhere in the southwest.

Professor Guo’s archaeological excavation uncovered a newly made teleportation artifact, which the Special Affairs Bureau seized and used to develop long-distance teleportation experiments. As the technology began working, Alloy Master looked forward to going home, while Cloud Kun demanded a device of his own and returned to the East Sea with a ship full of seabed finds for Shen Le.

• Professor Guo’s team unearthed enormous cow bones that assembled and ran, injuring him before the Special Affairs Bureau contained the site with a Peach Wood Sword.
• Professor Guo’s team discovered a transparent, golden-threaded artifact, but the Special Affairs Bureau confiscated it and revealed it had been made only days earlier.
• The Special Affairs Bureau tested the artifact’s teleportation technology repeatedly and confirmed that shipments arrived in a remote mountain range, then expanded experiments to different locations and cargo.
• Alloy Master watched the institute teleport spiritual items and sensed that the device used earth escape; staff confirmed the transmission succeeded and told him he might go home after another month.
• Cloud Kun demanded a teleportation device so it could send its accumulated seabed treasures back to Shen Le, but the staff asked it to wait until the mission ended.
• Cloud Kun gathered the remaining finds and sped back toward the East Sea docks, where its ship expelled the passengers and sank as Cloud Kun headed home.

Cloud Kun returned home with gifts but found Shen Le away testing teleportation Talismans. Shen Le accidentally teleported into a guarded Special Affairs Bureau base, where officials asked him to help improve their inaccurate teleportation positioning.

• Cloud Kun arrived at the pond with salvaged gifts and learned from Little Ink Marker that Shen Le had gone away to conduct an experiment.
• Shen Le used a downgraded teleportation Talisman and a positioning Talisman to travel through the earth veins, but emerged inside a guarded military base.
• The soldiers challenged Shen Le, and Little Oil Lamp began raising an electric defense before Shen Le stopped it and explained that he had teleported there by accident.
• A Special Affairs Bureau member arrived, recognized Shen Le, and escorted him farther into the base.
• The Bureau member asked Shen Le to help correct the teleportation system's inaccurate positioning or provide more Talismans, but Shen Le said he did not know how it worked.

Shen Le helped researchers test teleportation Talismans, improving his ability to sense their destinations and uncovering how earth energy shaped their accuracy. While examining an unfamiliar Talisman, he vanished through the earth veins, and the researchers discovered that neither his home nor Cloud Kun could find him.

• Shen Le tested jade Talismans for the researchers, identifying destinations such as North Peak Mount Heng, Mount Song, and Mount Tai while sinking into the laboratory floor twice.
• The researchers brought Shen Le carts full of Talismans, and he spent days testing them as his speed and accuracy improved.
• Shen Le realized the Talismans depicted regional earth energy and considered ways to improve teleportation positioning.
• An unfamiliar Talisman showed Shen Le detailed visions of mountains, waterways, and creatures, and the Copper Fragment and a complex Talisman suddenly pulled him underground.
• The researchers searched for Shen Le and learned he had not returned home, while Cloud Kun came back with gifts and began looking for him.

After Shen Le vanished during a teleportation experiment, Cloud Kun stormed the research institute and threatened to tear it apart until Shen Le was found. Shen Le escaped from deep underground near Jinling and sent Qing Deng to alert the others, while Cloud Kun rushed off to retrieve him and left the institute flooded.

• Shen Le disappeared after using the teleportation Talismans, and the research institute called across departments to search for him.
• Cloud Kun enlarged his ship in the institute courtyard, flooded the buildings, and demanded that the researchers hand over Shen Le.
• Shen Le found himself trapped deep underground, used the Copper Fragment to locate himself near the Yangtze River, and eventually escaped to the surface.
• Shen Le's phone exploded when Qing Deng tried to charge it, so he asked Qing Deng to reach home and contact the Special Affairs Bureau.
• Qing Deng told the manor's inhabitants that Shen Le was safe and sent his location to Cloud Kun.
• Cloud Kun shrank down and rushed through a pipe to pick up Shen Le, leaving the researchers to deal with the flooding.

Shen Le apologized after Cloud Kun, the Scroll, and the Compass caused trouble while searching for him, then returned to restoring artifacts. Cloud Kun brought him a strange, formerly spiritual object from a South Sea shipwreck, but Shen Le’s attempt to restore it ended with the object collapsing into ash.

• Shen Le scolded Cloud Kun, the Scroll, and the Compass for disrupting the research institute, then took them there to apologize to the researchers.
• Shen Le struggled to identify and restore the wedding procession’s unusual dowry and Bronze Seal.
• Cloud Kun gave Shen Le salvaged objects from the South Sea, and he carefully stored and documented them before using Cleansing Spells to remove the encrusted debris.
• Shen Le sensed that a lump hidden among the broken porcelain had once possessed spirituality, and Cloud Kun said the shipwreck’s contents felt a little like it.
• Shen Le infused the lump with spiritual energy, causing it to gather scattered material and regain its texture and fragrance, but it suddenly collapsed into ash.