Recaps

Li Qing sent a Shadow Paper Doll to search Lou Xingyue’s residence for a trace he could use against him, but found the rooms completely empty. Lou Xingyue’s investigation led him to suspect a long-range spell and that he was being watched, so Li Qing decided to risk deploying paper effigies in Dragon Path City.

• Li Qing researched Lou Xingyue’s residence and sent a Shadow Paper Doll into the Yin-Yang School compound at Taihe Academy.
• The Shadow Paper Doll crossed the residence’s restriction and searched the dark-red building, but Li Qing found no hair or other personal traces to use against Lou Xingyue.
• Lou Xingyue used Starlight Illuminates the Past to inspect Wang Qianqiu’s home and found no evidence of nearby spellcasting.
• Lou Xingyue concluded that Dream Entry Technique might work over a distance and suspected that he was being watched, with Li Qing again among the suspects.
• After reading the Jade Tablet’s report, Li Qing decided to take a small risk and send paper effigies into Dragon Path City.

Li Qing continued investigating Zhang Family Ancient Battlefield while keeping a subsidiary eye hidden in Lou Xingyue's guest room. The Shadow Paper Doll found a rare Death Baleful Flower and then discovered a hollow concealed behind bizarre vines, leaving Li Qing poised to investigate it.

• Li Qing hid a subsidiary eye in Lou Xingyue's guest room but found no trace of anything Lou Xingyue had left behind.
• The Shadow Paper Doll searched the ancient battlefield and recorded five strange books whose contents added two terrifying figures to The Truth of the World.
• Li Qing wondered whether the figures depicted in the books were behind the ancient battlefield and continued exploring deeper into it.
• The Shadow Paper Doll found a Death Baleful Flower growing from a cultivator's corpse, and Li Qing sealed it and stored it in his Universe Bag.
• The Shadow Paper Doll reached a boundary covered in bizarre vines and spotted what seemed to be a hidden hollow behind them.

Li Qing discovered a Fierce Baleful Intent earth vein beneath the Zhang Family Ancient Battlefield and considered using it as a safe respawn point. He left a Shadow Paper Doll to guard the cave and sent another deeper into the battlefield, where it witnessed Underworld Soldiers fighting one another.

• Li Qing recognized the corrosive black mist as Fierce Baleful Intent essence and realized an earth vein could provide a site for his Flesh Seed and defensive arrays.
• The Shadow Paper Doll explored the cave and found an earth-vein network above a vast layer of bones, which Li Qing suspected extended throughout the Zhang Family Ancient Battlefield.
• Li Qing discovered three thousand-year-old Blood Baleful Ganoderma growing beside the pool and decided to leave them untouched while he gathered resources for a formation.
• Li Qing left a Shadow Paper Doll hidden in the cave to guard it and sent another farther into the battlefield.
• The second Shadow Paper Doll heard thunderous noise and saw a group of Underworld Soldiers fighting each other.

Li Qing explored the Mist with Shadow Paper Dolls, collecting Dharma plants and materials before selling them to fund his plans. After learning Lou Xingyue would soon investigate him in Water Abyss City, Li Qing prepared a scheme to use the Slaughter Demon Sect’s hidden members to obscure his identity and attack Lou Xingyue.

• Li Qing watched Underworld Soldiers battle, then realized that ambushing them for resources was too dangerous.
• Li Qing sent fifty Shadow Paper Dolls to search the area, losing ten to a barrier at two hundred zhang but finding ten Dharma plants and four kinds of Dharma Material.
• Li Qing returned to Two Realms City, stored the harvest, and sent disguised Shadow Paper Dolls toward Hundred Gates Alley to sell the materials.
• Li Qing learned Lou Xingyue would investigate suspects in Dragon Path City on July 4 and could reach Water Abyss City by July 5 to investigate him.
• Li Qing mapped thirty Slaughter Demon Sect members in Two Realms City, including two Divine Soul Realm cultivators, and planned to use them to injure Lou Xingyue and confuse the investigation.

Li Qing sold his accumulated treasures, bought materials for the Wish Spell and an Abyss Demon Cavern Array, and successfully tested the newly learned spell. He then turned to his plan for the second Black Hand and began considering a suitable target.

• Li Qing sold Dharma plants, Dharma Materials, and Dharma artifacts, leaving him with five hundred Curse-Grade Essence Stones and twenty Baleful Intent-Grade ones after his purchases.
• Li Qing reviewed the Wish Spell and Abyss Demon Cavern Array, which he planned to use as part of his scheme.
• Li Qing made Wish Spell ink from a Faith Stone, a Wish Tree leaf, and his blood, then wrote the Prayer Curse on his brow and formed the spell in his sea of consciousness.
• Li Qing used the Wish Spell to create a breeze, open a gap in his window paper, and extinguish an oil lamp, confirming that the spell worked.
• Li Qing decided to choose a target and begin the second Black Hand.

Li Qing used a Shadow Paper Doll and the Wish Spell to observe Wang Cheng, a Slaughter Demon Sect spy at Taihe Academy, as he overheard news about Lou Xingyue’s search for a treasure. Wang Cheng left the academy to report the intelligence, unaware that Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll followed him.

• Li Qing watched Wang Cheng direct the servants cleaning Taihe Academy’s schoolhouse through a Shadow Paper Doll.
• Wang Cheng used Wind-Hearing Ear outside the headmaster’s office and overheard that Lou Xingyue would return soon after finding traces of a treasure through information from the Master at Jixia Academy.
• Wang Cheng recognized Lou Xingyue as a leading figure of the School of Diplomacy and decided to pass the news along immediately.
• Wang Cheng dismissed the servants and left Taihe Academy through the back gate, claiming he needed medicine for a stomachache.
• Wang Cheng reached the Wang Family Pharmacy in the west of the city, while a Shadow Paper Doll followed him.

Li Qing used a Shadow Paper Doll to follow Wang Cheng’s superior, a Slaughter Demon Sect spy, to the hidden elders’ meeting. After the spy revealed that Lou Xingyue had gone to Dragon Path City, Demon Blood Lady and the Red-Haired Old Devil suspected the information was bait, but Demon Blood Lady found no one watching them.

• Wang Cheng reported what he had heard at Taihe Academy to the old man hiding in the pharmacy.
• Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll followed the old man through a secret passage to the Slaughter Demon Sect’s elders.
• The old man found Demon Blood Lady and the Red-Haired Old Devil feasting on human remains and reported Lou Xingyue’s whereabouts and the treasure in Two Realms City.
• Demon Blood Lady and the Red-Haired Old Devil questioned whether the intelligence was genuine and suspected it had been deliberately leaked.
• Demon Blood Lady searched the area for watchers and concluded that no one was observing them.

Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady learned that Lou Xingyue was absent from Taihe Academy and prepared to ambush him. Li Qing secretly manipulated events to set their plan in motion, then returned to the ancient battlefield with a newly forged artifact-refining furnace.

• Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady decided to use a planted pawn to confirm whether Lou Xingyue was in Taihe Academy before attempting an ambush.
• Wu Qiyu broke into Lou Xingyue’s residence, confirmed it was empty, and reported his absence through the Yin-Yang Mother-Child Mirror.
• Red-Haired Old Ghost trusted Wu Qiyu’s report, and Li Qing watched them from the shadows through a Shadow Paper Doll, pleased that his plan to kill with a borrowed knife had succeeded.
• Li Qing collected the artifact-refining furnace he had commissioned from blacksmiths and carried it out of the city.
• Li Qing reached a quiet cave outside the ancient battlefield and prepared to begin refining artifacts.

Li Qing refined a qi-refining furnace and successfully made the first of the nine flags for the Abyss Demon Cavern Array. Meanwhile, a Baleful Intent-grade aberration attacked Fang Qirui in Dragon Path City.

• Li Qing engraved the furnace with incantations, activated it with three Curse-Grade Essence Stones, and bound it to his Dharma power.
• Li Qing used the furnace and Control of Myriad Laws and Myriad Qi to refine a five-colored rod and silver flag into the first array flag.
• Li Qing reflected that his ability to control materials and flames had made the artifact refinement easier, then continued making magical artifacts.
• Fang Qirui, a second-layer True Method Realm cultivator at Jixia Academy, walked through an alley while recovering from drinking at a banquet.
• A Baleful Intent-grade aberration attacked Fang Qirui, who countered with his sword and Black Mystic Gold Divine Armor.

Lou Xingyue tested several suspected cultivators in Dragon Path City and concluded that Li Wushuang was the last likely culprit. Li Qing learned that Lou Xingyue had secretly departed for Two Realms City while finishing the ritual implements for his formation and considering the danger posed by the Slaughter Demon Sect elders.

• Fang Qirui escaped an attack by a Baleful Intent-grade Anomaly, and Lou Xingyue retrieved the plaque it became.
• Wang Qianqiu destroyed a white-clad Anomaly at an abandoned estate and wondered whether someone was directing it.
• Lou Xingyue ruled out Fang Qirui and Wang Qianqiu, then identified Li Wushuang as the remaining suspect and decided to test him with help from two others.
• Lou Xingyue secretly left for Two Realms City, while Li Qing's Shadow Paper Doll and Hundred Things Eye monitored him and relayed the news.
• Li Qing finished refining nine formation flags and recalled that two Slaughter Demon Sect elders were lying in ambush outside Two Realms City.

Li Qing prepared a hidden formation and Flesh Seed safe house before returning to watch the battlefield. Demon Blood Lady spotted Lou Xingyue approaching and summoned Red-Haired Old Ghost to ambush him.

• Li Qing observed Demon Blood Lady through a Shadow Paper Doll and went to the earth-vein cavern to prepare for his own rebirth.
• Li Qing set nine formation flags, sealed the pool inside a concealed formation, and placed his Flesh Seed and five hundred Curse-Grade Essence Stones there.
• Li Qing left a Shadow Paper Doll to guard the safe house and returned to monitor the battlefield.
• Demon Blood Lady spotted Lou Xingyue entering the area covered by her Anomaly eyes and sent Red-Haired Old Ghost a message.
• Red-Haired Old Ghost reached Demon Blood Lady, and they prepared to attack Lou Xingyue when he came within range.

Lou Xingyue was ambushed by Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady, then fled toward Two Realms City while Yue Taishan and Hua Qiankun came to his aid. Gravely wounded, he sacrificed his silver form and leaped through the starlight as the battle continued.

• Lou Xingyue reached the mountains near Two Realms City, where Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady attacked him from both sides.
• Lou Xingyue resisted with his Infinite Starlight Chessboard, but the clash unleashed twisting forces that mutated creatures across the surrounding area.
• The Shadow Paper Doll collected Lou Xingyue's fallen silver blood and bloodstained soil before leaving the battlefield.
• Gray light spread through Two Realms City, putting its inhabitants to sleep, while Yue Taishan and Hua Qiankun flew out to help Lou Xingyue.
• Yue Taishan struck Red-Haired Old Ghost with a black arrow as Lou Xingyue counterattacked Demon Blood Lady, but her sword wounded him and he shed his silver form.
• Lou Xingyue forced out another spell and leaped through the starlight.

After narrowly escaping an ambush, Lou Xingyue warned Yue Taishan and Hua Qiankun that the Slaughter Demon Sect might be hunting a mysterious treasure in Two Realms City. Li Qing learned the treasure’s history and location, then began arranging a plan to create chaos and kill Lou Xingyue; the chapter ended as Zhu Yiba and Bai Shishi attended an auction where the Water Marsh Boat Gang and Eighteen Streets Gang were present.

• Lou Xingyue escaped Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady with Yue Taishan and Hua Qiankun’s help, then returned to Two Realms City badly injured.
• Lou Xingyue told Yue Taishan and Hua Qiankun that the Slaughter Demon Sect might have infiltrated the city to seize a mysterious treasure, and asked them to hold things together while he recovered.
• Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to learn that Han Qiu had brought the treasure from the ancient battlefield and buried it at his ancestral residence, which Zhu Yiba had purchased.
• Li Qing planned to create chaos so Lou Xingyue could die, while joining Zhu Yiba’s ranks and involving the Water Marsh Boat Gang and Eighteen Streets Gang.
• Zhu Yiba and Bai Shishi attended the Treasure Auction House with Shang Xuewen, while Wu Derui of the Water Marsh Boat Gang sat nearby.

Zhu Yiba bid on a rare piece of Clear Sky Jade at an auction but lost it to Wu Derui, chief of the Water Marsh Boat Gang. Afterward, Wu Derui sent Zhu Yiba the jade with an invitation to a banquet at Hundred Miles Restaurant, leaving Zhu Yiba surprised and wondering why he had been invited.

• Shang Xuewen told Zhu Yiba that the auction's final lot was Clear Sky Jade, a rare Dharma Material that could protect the mind.
• The auctioneer presented the jade, and Zhu Yiba borrowed money from Shang Xuewen and Bai Shishi before bidding sixty thousand taels.
• Wu Derui outbid Zhu Yiba with a bid of seventy thousand taels and won the jade.
• Zhu Yiba, Shang Xuewen, and Bai Shishi went to a lakeside restaurant, where a waiter delivered Zhu Yiba a box containing the jade and an invitation.
• Zhu Yiba read Wu Derui's invitation to a banquet at Hundred Miles Restaurant that evening.

After learning that the Water Marsh Boat Gang’s leader wanted to meet him, Zhu Yiba considered Shang Xuewen’s advice that an alliance could provide strength amid coming turmoil. At a dinner with Wu Derui and Zhu Qingyu, he agreed to consider their offer and asked how they would establish leadership.

• Shang Xuewen explained that the Water Marsh Boat Gang had Government Office backing and might want to recruit Zhu Yiba, and he urged Zhu Yiba to treat the gang as a potential ally.
• Zhu Yiba went to Hundred Miles Restaurant, where Wu Derui introduced him to Zhu Qingyu, leader of the Eighteen Streets Gang.
• Wu Derui said the two gangs had more than ten thousand members and offered intelligence, troops, and an alliance to help Zhu Yiba survive the coming chaos.
• Zhu Yiba agreed to the alliance in principle but said they needed rules and asked who would be in charge.

Zhu Yiba secured the support of Wu Derui and Zhu Qingyu, while Li Qing secretly retrieved a box from Zhu Yiba’s courtyard during an Underworld Soldiers’ assault on Two Realms City. After evading a probing spell, Li Qing opened the box and discovered a black General Appointment Token.

• Zhu Yiba accepted Wu Derui and Zhu Qingyu’s support, gaining a foothold and sources of information in Two Realms City.
• Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll dug up Han Qiu’s sealed treasure box beneath an orchid in Zhu Yiba’s courtyard.
• As the box was removed, fog enveloped Two Realms City and Underworld Soldiers attacked the city’s Four Symbols Demon Suppression Formation.
• Yang Minglin used the School of Names art Erudition to investigate the city but detected no unusual appearance.
• Li Qing concealed the box from Yang Minglin’s probing spell, sealed his room, and opened the box to find a black General Appointment Token.

Li Qing learned that the Commander Summoning Token could summon an Underworld General stronger than its user and began using its value to advance his scheme. He manipulated Wu Qiyu’s wooden puppet to overhear Lou Xingyue discussing the token, but the conversation ended before Wu Qiyu learned its location.

• Li Qing sealed the Commander Summoning Token and used the Jade Tablet to learn that spending a year of lifespan could summon an Underworld General one realm above the user.
• Li Qing decided the token was powerful enough to attract greed and began the second step of his plan.
• The Underworld Soldiers vanished, and Yue Taishan, Hua Qiankun, and Yang Minglin went to Taihe Academy to find Lou Xingyue.
• Wu Qiyu sent a wooden puppet toward Lou Xingyue’s tower, and Li Qing used Wish Spell to make it carry their conversation to Wu Qiyu.
• Lou Xingyue told Yue Taishan and the others about the Commander Summoning Token and urged them to find it, but the puppet could not hear where it was located.

Li Qing set plans in motion to spread information about Han Qiu and a world-shaking treasure, while refining a Force-Borrowing Talisman to capture a Yin general. After hiding the talisman and a fake Commander Summoning Token for Zhu Yiba to find, Li Qing concluded that the second step of his plan was complete.

• Li Qing chose cultivators from several factions and Rogue Cultivators to spread Han Qiu's information and details about the treasure, then sent Shadow Paper Dolls to deliver the news.
• Li Qing refined a Force-Borrowing Talisman and used it on Zhu Qingyu's Yin general, absorbing the general into the talisman.
• Li Qing placed the talisman on a fake Commander Summoning Token and had a Shadow Paper Doll hide it in Zhu Yiba's courtyard.
• Zhu Qingyu awoke exhausted, then received a martial art from Li Qing that promised to extend his lifespan by ten years.
• Li Qing returned to his guest room and decided that the second step of his plan was complete and the next step could begin the following day.

Tang Yueming extorted a diary from Li Long and found a record suggesting Han Qiu had recovered a box from an ancient battlefield. Li Qing’s Wish Spell had secretly altered the diary, setting Tang Yueming and Li Long in motion as pieces of his plan.

• Tang Yueming threatened a stall owner with reporting his crimes and took Han Qiu’s diary in exchange for leaving him alone.
• Tang Yueming read the diary and suspected that the box Han Qiu brought back from an ancient battlefield was what the Dao Lineage sought.
• Tang Yueming realized Li Long had killed Han Qiu and decided to act on the information in the diary.
• A Shadow Paper Doll watched Li Long as Li Qing’s Wish Spell secretly changed the diary’s contents.

Tang Yueming captured Li Long and reported his diary to Zhou Muwen, while news of the ancient battlefield’s Commander Summoning Token spread among rival factions. Li Qing’s scheme drew the factions toward false leads as he left Two Realms City, and Zhu Yiba learned that soldiers and other forces had surrounded his area.

• Tang Yueming knocked Li Long unconscious, took him to Zhou Muwen, and was told to keep the matter secret.
• Wang Baichuan overheard talk of Han Qiu, Li Long, and an ancient battlefield treasure, but arrived too late to find the speakers.
• Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady learned the treasure was a Commander Summoning Token and agreed to pursue it together without reporting it.
• The major factions searched for Han Qiu and Li Long, and their attention turned toward Tang Yueming, the School of Names, and Han Qiu’s former residence.
• Li Qing watched the factions take his bait, then left Two Realms City for the underground cave beyond the ancient battlefield.
• A young man from the Eighteen Streets Gang warned Zhu Yiba that people and government soldiers had surrounded the area.

Zhu Yiba learned that the treasure from the ancient battlefield might be hidden in his newly purchased courtyard, drawing powerful factions to search it. As Li Qing’s staged confrontation unfolded, Zhu Yiba, Bai Shishi, and Shang Xuewen searched the house and turned their attention to an apricot tree.

• The major factions gathered near Zhu Yiba’s courtyard, while Li Qing watched them through a Shadow Paper Doll and prepared his performance.
• Bai Shishi and Shang Xuewen told Zhu Yiba that the treasure was linked to Han Qiu, whose former house he had bought, and warned him that powerful groups were closing in.
• Zhu Yiba decided the three of them should search the courtyard, while Bai Shishi and Shang Xuewen contacted their masters for protection.
• Li Qing revealed that he had used the Wish Spell to fabricate the information that brought Bai Shishi and Shang Xuewen to Zhu Yiba.
• After searching the room without finding anything, Zhu Yiba noticed the apricot tree in the courtyard.

Zhu Yiba’s discovery of a wooden box triggered a battle among powerful cultivators in Two Realms City, while Li Qing used Shadow Paper Dolls to infiltrate the Four Great Academies and copy their records. As the city’s forces clashed, Li Qing’s doll found the Armor-Pushing Art in the Library Tower of Azure Spirit Academy.

• Zhu Yiba unearthed a wooden box beneath an apricot tree, and a Yin General emerged before being destroyed by a demonic claw.
• Zhu Yiba tossed the box into the air and escaped with Bai Shishi and Shang Xuewen as cultivators converged to seize it.
• Ming Lifang, a crimson-ribboned woman, Yue Yishui, Yue Taishan, and Lou Xingyue joined the battle over the box, while Red-Haired Old Ghost fled with it and fought off his pursuers.
• Li Qing sent Shadow Paper Dolls toward the Four Great Academies and had one copy the School of Diplomacy’s secret documents at Taihe Academy.
• Li Qing shifted his consciousness to a doll in the Library Tower of Azure Spirit Academy, where it recorded books and found the Armor-Pushing Art.

Li Qing copied the Four Great Academies’ records and used the Death Dream Curse Technique to curse Lou Xingyue during the battle at Two Realms City. After Demon Blood Lady and Red-Haired Old Ghost escaped, powerful figures confronted Zhu Yiba, Bai Shishi, and Shang Xuewen.

• Li Qing copied the records from the Four Great Academies and destroyed the Shadow Paper Dolls.
• Demon Blood Lady seized the Commander Summoning Token as the damaged formation let her and Red-Haired Old Ghost escape Two Realms City.
• Li Qing began the Death Dream Curse Technique, sending a black aura from the silver-blooded straw effigy toward Lou Xingyue.
• Lou Xingyue failed to notice the curse, and Demon Blood Lady and Red-Haired Old Ghost escaped the city before he and three others pursued them.
• Zhu Yiba, Bai Shishi, and Shang Xuewen stayed in their courtyard until several figures arrived and one recognized Zhu Yiba.

Zhu Yiba was questioned over the ancient battlefield treasure, but after his account cleared him of suspicion, the great Dao lineages began courting him as a suspected Child of Destiny. Through the Shadow Paper Doll, Li Qing reflected on how the Demonic Path had taken the blame and planned his next moves to conceal his identity.

• Wu Yaofeng defended Zhu Yiba from the Four Great Academies' demands for an investigation, and prefect Xu Qingfeng proposed questioning him in court.
• Shang Xuewen and Bai Shishi revealed that their masters were Mr. Shepherd and Master of Rites and Music, prompting the gathered leaders to reassess Zhu Yiba.
• Huang Tianhe and Xu Qingfeng changed their minds about convening court, and Zhu Yiba explained how he had dug up the wooden box while concealing the Eighteen Streets Gang's involvement.
• After verifying Zhu Yiba's account, Wu Yaofeng cleared him and promised to promote him to Deputy Hall Master, while Yue Yishui and Huang Tianhe invited him to their academies.
• Li Qing watched through the Shadow Paper Doll and planned to stage another mysterious Black Hand incident in two cities after confirming Lou Xingyue's fate.

Li Qing arranged for his substitute to travel to Golden River City while he planned to create distractions and conceal his identity. In Two Realms City, the orthodox experts and the demonic sect both suffered setbacks over the ancient battlefield treasure, and Demon Blood Lady and Red-Haired Old Ghost decided to investigate the suspected switch.

• Li Qing sent his substitute from Water Abyss City toward Golden River City and planned to cause incidents in nearby cities to divert suspicion from Li Wushuang.
• Lou Xingyue and the other Soul Essence experts returned to his pavilion without the ancient battlefield treasure, and Lou Xingyue spat up silver blood tainted by a living black substance.
• Lou Xingyue told the others to report their failure and resolved to investigate the mastermind and the Supreme Dao Foundation while he treated his injuries.
• Demon Blood Lady and Red-Haired Old Ghost opened the stolen box and discovered that its wooden token was not the Commander Summoning Token.
• Red-Haired Old Ghost proposed several explanations for the switch, including that the room's owner had deceived them or that someone had framed them.
• Fearing punishment for their failure, Demon Blood Lady agreed to return to Two Realms City with Red-Haired Old Ghost to uncover the truth.