Recaps

Li Qing learned that Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady were returning to Two Realms City to investigate the fake Commander Summoning Token, and devised a plan to manipulate their investigation. After Wu Qiyu reported that Lou Xingyue was badly injured, the two elders decided to test the report by attacking him with Red-Haired Old Ghost’s Ten-Moment Projection.

• Li Qing recorded the possible explanations Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady might consider and decided to use their return for his own plans.
• Li Qing chose Wu Qiyu as another pawn, while Wu Qiyu anxiously hoped Red-Haired Old Ghost would die and conceal his identity.
• Wu Qiyu used a wooden puppet to hear Lou Xingyue say he had less than twenty percent of his strength and would need at least a year to recover, unaware that the words had been planted for him to hear.
• Wu Qiyu sent the report to Red-Haired Old Ghost, who shared it with Demon Blood Lady as they returned to Two Realms City.
• Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady suspected the report might be a trap and agreed to test it by attacking Lou Xingyue with Red-Haired Old Ghost’s Ten-Moment Projection.
• Li Qing recorded their plan and considered whether they would attack Lou Xingyue or leave the report untested.

Li Qing manipulated Wu Qiyu into passing false information to Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady, who decided to attack Lou Xingyue despite suspecting a trap. Cui Mingri overheard the plan and warned Lou Xingyue, who ordered him to keep quiet and resolved to use the ambush to capture the attackers.

• Li Qing used the Wish Spell to make Wu Qiyu hear Huang Tianhe supposedly tell Baili Xi that Lou Xingyue would leave the next morning.
• Wu Qiyu relayed the information to Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady, who suspected the righteous path had set a trap but planned to attack with a Myriad Blood True Thunder Pearl.
• Cui Mingri overheard Wu Qiyu's mirror message and decided to report the planned assassination to Lou Xingyue.
• Cui Mingri told Lou Xingyue what he had witnessed, and Lou Xingyue ordered him to stay silent and remain in his room.
• Lou Xingyue suspected the situation was a chance to capture those behind the attack and learn their motives.

Li Qing’s plan turned the conflict over the Commander Summoning Token against the righteous and demonic paths as the Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady attacked Taihe Academy. The attack destroyed Lou Xingyue’s pavilion and killed Wu Qiyu, while Li Qing watched the survivors leave and prepared his final move.

• Lou Xingyue discovered the erased child mirror in Wu Qiyu’s room and secretly alerted the other academies, while Li Qing believed his scheme had concealed his role and protected Li Wushuang.
• The Red-Haired Old Ghost attacked Lou Xingyue’s pavilion, and Taihe Academy’s experts sealed the grounds and fought back.
• The Red-Haired Old Ghost threw a sphere that Yue Taishan’s spear intercepted, triggering a blast of black lightning that tore through the academy’s formations.
• The Red-Haired Old Ghost and Demon Blood Lady escaped, leaving Lou Xingyue’s pavilion in ruins and Wu Qiyu dead in the explosion.
• Lou Xingyue left with Yue Taishan and the other experts, while Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll watched them go and Li Qing announced his final step.

Lou Xingyue fell into a dream in which he lived for decades with a beautiful wife, then devoured her in a desperate bid for immortality. The dream triggered his Aberration in reality, and Yue Taishan fought the monstrous Lou Xingyue as Li Qing watched through the Shadow Paper Doll.

• A citywide array erased ordinary people's memories of the night's events, while Lou Xingyue rested at Yue Taishan's residence.
• Lou Xingyue dreamed that he met a beautiful woman, married her, and lived with her for many years.
• As an old man in the dream, Lou Xingyue feared death and devoured his wife, then transformed into a grotesque monster.
• Lou Xingyue's dream transformation caused his body to Aberrate in reality and unleash black radiance around Yue Taishan's residence.
• Yue Taishan attacked the monstrous Lou Xingyue, and the two battled above Two Realms City.
• Li Qing watched the fight through the Shadow Paper Doll and wondered whether his plan had worked.

After Lou Xingyue became an Anomaly and fled Two Realms City, Li Qing concealed the Commander Summoning Token, absorbed his gains, and obtained a divination art. He planned to travel to Daoist Fulong while secretly expanding his forces through the Taihe Dragon Palace.

• Lou Xingyue fell into Aberration, fought the three experts who pursued her, and escaped Two Realms City as they gave chase.
• Li Qing concluded that the Commander Summoning Token would divert attention from the Dream Black Hand and had a Shadow Paper Doll hide it beneath the bones in the Abyss Demon Cavern Array.
• Li Qing absorbed twenty baleful-grade Essence Stones, raising his cultivation to thirty-three strands of mana and one hundred forty-five strands of essence.
• Li Qing studied the Armor-Pushing Art and its divination tools, then decided to gather materials in Water Abyss City and visit Daoist Fulong.
• Li Qing planned to subdue nearby water demons, place them under Zhu Yiba's command, and have them secretly work with Ao Ming to expand his influence.

Li Qing found and subdued a serpent demon ruling an underwater manor in Hundred-Li Water Marsh, making him a devoted follower called the Black Snake King. He ordered the demon to build power under the Taihe Dragon Palace and Zhu Yiba, then left him with a new artifact-refining art.

• Li Qing used a Shadow Paper Doll to locate a hidden underwater manor and assess its serpent demon ruler and forces.
• Li Qing entered the manor, suppressed the serpent demon with his techniques, and overwhelmed him.
• Li Qing used Heavens Civilization Torrent to make the serpent demon his believer and ordered him to contact Ao Ming and pledge allegiance to Zhu Yiba.
• The serpent demon explained that he had once been named Snake Soup, and Li Qing renamed him the Black Snake King.
• Li Qing gave the Black Snake King an artifact-refining art and returned to his ship, while the Black Snake King awoke and called for his attendants.

Li Qing traveled to Water Abyss City while his plans expanded the forces controlled through Zhu Yiba, Wang Qianqiu, Ao Ming, and the Black Snake King. He arrived in the heavily guarded city and began preparing materials for his next move.

• Li Qing traveled toward Water Abyss City, collected thirty Curse-Grade Essence Stones, and continued cleansing himself with Evil-Extinguishing Talismans.
• The Black Snake King used an injured white snake to befriend Zhu Yiba, then allied with him and joined his growing faction.
• Ao Ming received an official title from the Taihe Dragon Palace and entered Wang Qianqiu's ranks as the gangs of Dragon Path City pledged themselves to Wang Qianqiu.
• Li Qing considered expanding his influence by subduing lesser demon kings and having them seek protection through Ao Ming and the Black Snake King.
• Li Qing reached Water Abyss City, observed its strong defenses and the farmers outside its walls, then entered the city to prepare materials.

Li Qing acquired the divination implements he needed and used Shadow Paper Dolls to learn about Water Abyss City's powers. He implanted the Hundred Things Eye in Hengshui Gang leader Zhou Qihua and ordered him to travel to Two Realms City and become Zhu Yiba's subordinate.

• Li Qing bought a set of century-old copper coins from antique shopkeeper Wang Guzhuo, who later revealed himself as a bloody, bizarre creature.
• Wang Guzhuo told Li Qing that Fang's Pharmacy sold century-old turtle shells, and Li Qing located one in its warehouse.
• Li Qing took a turtle shell from Fang's Pharmacy, left one thousand taels of silver in its place, and escaped with it.
• Li Qing sent Shadow Paper Dolls throughout Water Abyss City, learned that the Hengshui Gang controlled its waterways, and chose a person for the Hundred Things Eye.
• Li Qing appeared behind Hengshui Gang leader Zhou Qihua and ordered him to travel to Two Realms City, meet the boat gang leader, and become Zhu Yiba's subordinate.

Li Qing recruited the starving scholar Huang Bingzhang to expand his surveillance network in Water Abyss City, then refined the Worldly Copper Coins and began transforming a tortoiseshell with the Thirty-Six Hexagram Aspects. The chapter ended with the tortoiseshell changing under the flow of dharma power.

• Li Qing found Huang Bingzhang, a scholar who had failed the examinations for over twenty years and was starving in his courtyard.
• Li Qing gave Huang Bingzhang a roasted chicken and offered him food, money, and strength in exchange for his service.
• Li Qing recruited Huang Bingzhang, fused the Hundred Things Eye into him, taught him Martial Art, and left him money after he signed a contract.
• Li Qing completed the surveillance network in Water Abyss City and noted that he had ninety-six Shadow Paper Dolls remaining.
• Li Qing inscribed curses on three ancient coins and refined them into the Worldly Copper Coins.
• Li Qing wrote the Thirty-Six Hexagram Aspects on an emerald-green tortoiseshell, which glowed and began to transform.

Li Qing forged a tortoiseshell divination artifact and used it to read the signs for his planned journey to Feng River City. After interpreting a vision of a god and demon opposed by a shadowy figure, he set out from Water Abyss City to seek Daoist Fulong’s divination art.

• Li Qing finished refining the tortoiseshell and used three worldly copper coins to divine the prospects of his trip to Feng River City.
• Li Qing saw a Gods and Ghosts Battle Diagram and interpreted it as misfortune that might be overcome with an acquaintance’s help.
• Li Qing resolved to divine once each day and pursue Daoist Fulong’s method while remaining cautious about the signs.
• Li Qing ate noodles at a dockside stall, praised the old owner’s cooking, and left five copper coins.
• Li Qing boarded his small boat and traveled out across the mist-covered water.

Li Qing explored the Springwater River, gathered wealth from sunken ships, and considered whether Anomalies and cultivation distortions came from an invading force beyond the world. As night fell, he encountered a strange riverside pavilion complex that seemed to be drawing his boat toward its pier.

• Lou Xingyue, transformed into an Anomaly, wandered toward Golden River City while muttering fragments about Li Wushuang and the Black Hand.
• Li Qing sent Shadow Paper Dolls through the Springwater River to search sunken ships, collecting gold and silver for the gangs he planned to control.
• Li Qing reflected on how distorted cultivation and summoned Anomalies might be connected to a terrifying power beyond his world, and resolved to grow stronger.
• Li Qing noticed strange music and a mist-covered formation on the river, but found that his Shadow Paper Dolls could pass through it unharmed.
• Li Qing discovered a waterside complex of pavilions, towers, lantern-bearing figures, and moored boats, while a strange force pulled his boat toward the pier.

Li Qing’s substitute followed the guests invited to Peach Blossom Vale while his true body stayed hidden beneath a boat. Wang Mingde refused the invitation but was overcome by the fog and led away, while Li Qing entered the birthday banquet with the other guests.

• A steward invited the people gathered on the pier to attend the master of Peach Blossom Vale’s birthday banquet, and a refined young man accepted.
• Wang Mingde questioned when the vale was built, distrusted the steward’s answer, and chose to stay aboard his ship with his men.
• Guo Sanchuan accepted the invitation, and Li Qing’s substitute followed him and the other guests toward the pavilion.
• As the fog thickened, Wang Mingde and his men retreated into the cabin but lost consciousness when the fog seeped inside.
• A bell-ringing figure led Wang Mingde and his men from the ship and into the fog, while Li Qing’s substitute entered the brightly lit pavilion with Guo Sanchuan and the young master.

Li Qing and his companions attended the Vale Master’s birthday banquet in Peach Blossom Vale, where the strange guests viewed them as food. The Vale Master served them wine that seemed to marinate them from the inside, and braziers were brought in as Li Qing realized the feast was about to turn into a slaughter.

• Li Qing saw through the hall’s illusion and recognized that the strange guests were eyeing him and his companions as food.
• The Vale Master arrived, welcomed the guests, and promised them freshly slaughtered and cooked ingredients.
• The Vale Master served wine and fruit only to Li Qing’s group, and the guests eagerly drank the wine.
• As the group drank, Guo Sanchuan felt saturated with wine and heard someone say they had been marinated through.
• The steward ordered attendants to bring in braziers, and Li Qing remarked that the performance was about to begin.

Li Qing watched Peach Blossom Vale’s monsters prepare to butcher him and the other guests, then revealed that he intended to kill them instead. He trapped the monsters in a gray mist that suppressed their powers, while the old woman transformed into a gigantic spider and unleashed a sound-wave attack.

• The attendants revealed human remains as dishes, including the face of the merchant Wang Mingde, and the guests collapsed after losing their strength.
• The monsters laid the helpless guests on tables and prepared to cut them open, while Li Qing assessed their numbers and strength.
• Li Qing stopped the servants and told the old woman and the other monsters that his reward was to send them all to hell.
• The old woman attacked Li Qing with eight tentacles, but he dodged and appeared outside the hall.
• Li Qing shut the doors and filled the hall with Doomsday Mist Extinguishing Transcendence, suppressing the monsters’ powers.
• The old woman transformed into a many-eyed giant spider and unleashed a sound-wave spell to disperse the mist.

Li Qing used the mist and his Golden Needles and Sword Pellet to kill nearly twenty monsters, including the spider old woman, then made the surviving visitors forget what had happened and leave. He discovered Peach Blossom Vale was an isolated, distorted space and found the monsters’ loot and the human souls bound inside Old Spider Lady’s servants.

• Li Qing’s mist suppressed the monsters as his Golden Needles killed all but the spider old woman.
• Li Qing evaded the spider old woman’s venom and cut her down with his Sword Pellet.
• Li Qing used Wish Spell to make the visitors forget the events and sail away from Peach Blossom Vale.
• Li Qing found Peach Blossom Vale enclosed by a strange barrier, like a small illusory world overlapping the riverbank.
• Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll collected the monsters’ bags, artifacts, essence stones, and herbs, then found Old Spider Lady’s treasure vault.
• Li Qing discovered the servants were bone-and-vine creations containing human souls, and they stood motionless after Old Spider Lady died.

Li Qing freed the souls trapped in the puppets, claimed the old spider woman’s treasures, and strengthened his cultivation by refining Curse-Grade Essence Stones. He took control of Peach Blossom Vale’s formation, concealed its water vein beneath a tiny pocket space, and burned the rest of the vale to hide it for future use.

• Li Qing gathered the puppets and used an Evil-Subduing Talisman to destroy their evil spells, freeing the souls inside them.
• Li Qing collected the treasures in the treasury, including spiritual herbs, natural Dharma Materials, Dharma artifacts, and Curse-Grade Essence Stones.
• Li Qing refined all the Curse-Grade Essence Stones, increasing his mana to one hundred forty-eight and his essence energy to one hundred seventy.
• Li Qing mapped Peach Blossom Vale and discovered the formation and Essence Water Vein Node beneath the pavilion.
• Li Qing took control of the formation flags and contracted the barrier around the underground space, leaving Peach Blossom Vale exposed outside it.
• Li Qing burned Peach Blossom Vale to ashes so other monsters would not find the water vein, and planned to send Flesh Seeds and Essence Stones with the Shadow Paper Dolls.

After Li Qing left Peach Blossom Vale, a snake demon arrived and searched for the one who had killed the spider demon, while Li Qing evaded pursuit and investigated the Monster Path’s plans in Yang Province. He considered turning its hidden agents into his own insiders, and a Shadow Paper Doll soon discovered something beneath the water.

• A snake demon arrived at the ashes of Peach Blossom Vale, found the spider demon and the other demons dead, and used a spell to search for traces of their killer.
• Li Qing learned the snake demon was pursuing him, hid in a tree, and sent a Shadow Paper Doll to follow it while he escaped by skiff.
• Li Qing recorded his suspicions about the Monster Path in the Jade Tablet, which identified the dead spider demon as the Hundred-Eyed Spider, a Demon Race agent gathering intelligence for a planned takeover of Yang Province.
• Li Qing considered finding and subduing the Monster Path’s hidden agents to use them as insiders and create greater chaos among Yang Province’s forces.
• At midnight, a Shadow Paper Doll searching underwater sent Li Qing a message that it had made a new discovery.

Li Qing discovered a group of beavers led by a True Method Realm demon king and tried to recruit the Beaver Demon King for the Lord of All Monsters. After the Beaver Demon King refused his oath, Li Qing beat it into submission and sent it to join the Black Snake King at Hundred-Mile Lake.

• Li Qing found the beavers' underwater dam and confronted their True Method Realm leader, the Beaver Demon King.
• Li Qing claimed to serve the Lord of All Monsters and offered the Beaver Demon King a smoother path to cultivation in exchange for an oath of loyalty.
• The Beaver Demon King refused to sign the oath, so Li Qing transformed with the Invincible Human Dao Dharma Body and knocked it down with a punch.
• Li Qing threatened to enslave the Beaver Demon King unless it surrendered, and the Beaver Demon King agreed to sign the Blood Oath Curse Talisman.
• The Beaver Demon King swore loyalty and secrecy, and Li Qing ordered it to find the Black Snake King at Hundred-Mile Lake in Two Realms City.

Li Qing secretly expanded Zhu Yiba’s influence by subduing water demons while keeping the wider situation under watch. In Two Realms City, Su Muqin arrived to investigate the School of Diplomacy’s losses and concluded that a hidden force had engineered several recent disasters, though its larger aim remained unclear.

• Li Qing used Wish Spell to make the beaver demons forget what had happened, then sent the Beaver Demon King to report to the Black Snake King.
• Li Qing planned to recruit more water demons for Zhu Yiba and help Ao Ming rise within the Dragon Palace, while Wang Qianqiu’s strength in North Province also grew.
• Su Muqin arrived in Two Realms City to investigate the failed dragon struggle, the missing ancient battlefield treasure, and Lou Xingyue’s Aberration.
• Su Muqin argued that the Demonic Path likely knew Lou Xingyue’s movements and that the events surrounding Han Qiu’s diary and the treasure appeared deliberately arranged to spark conflict.
• Su Muqin said Lou Xingyue’s Aberration suggested the hidden force behind the incidents had a greater goal than provoking conflict between the righteous and demonic sides.

Su Muqin and the others analyzed the Demonic Sect’s attack, Lou Xingyue’s Aberration, and the mystery of the Commander Summoning Token. Su Muqin concluded that a hidden force had manipulated both sides, switched out the treasure, and used Lou Xingyue’s blood to trigger his second Aberration.

• Yang Minglin explained how outsiders would interpret the events as the group stealing the Commander Summoning Token and framing the Slaughter Demon Sect.
• Su Muqin proposed that the Demonic Sect had targeted Lou Xingyue to stop his Dream Black Hand investigation or weaken him for a larger scheme.
• Hua Qiankun pointed out that the Underworld Soldiers’ siege ended shortly after Lou Xingyue was attacked, contradicting the theory that the Demonic Sect had simply hidden the treasure.
• Su Muqin theorized that a powerful hidden force had manipulated the academies and the Demon Cult, switched the Commander Summoning Token, and caused Lou Xingyue’s Aberration.
• Yue Taishan confirmed that Lou Xingyue had coughed up blood during the first ambush, leading Su Muqin to conclude that someone had used his blood in a curse technique to cause the second Aberration.

Su Muqin suspected that a mysterious organization spanning Dragon Path City and Two Realms City was manipulating events to seize the ancient battlefield treasure and preserve peace in North Province. He ordered investigations on several fronts, while Li Qing learned that the group had pieced together much of his scheme and lamented how clever everyone was.

• Su Muqin proposed that a force with members in both the righteous and Demonic Paths had staged events to claim the ancient battlefield treasure, create a scapegoat, and deepen factional conflict.
• Su Muqin connected Lou Xingyue's investigation of the Dream Black Hand in Dragon Path City to the Eerie Sound Black Hand in Two Realms City and questioned whether Li Long's discovery of Han Qiu's diary had been arranged.
• Yang Minglin reported that Li Long had found and sold the diary by chance, unaware that Li Qing had secretly altered his memories with the Wish Spell.
• Su Muqin outlined two possible explanations for the events and ordered investigations into the Slaughter Demon Sect, Lou Xingyue's actions, suspicious members of North Province's Dao Lineages, and Lou Xingyue's whereabouts.
• A child eye hidden in a stone recorded Su Muqin's meeting, and Li Qing received the conversation on his Jade Tablet while traveling by skiff.
• Li Qing sighed that the people of this world were remarkably smart.

Li Qing arrived in Feng River City and began establishing a network to monitor and control the city. By dawn, he had subdued the Axe Gang leader, recruited Xue Youde, and forced Gongsun Jiuniang to gather intelligence for him.

• Li Qing sent Shadow Paper Dolls into Feng River City, learned about its factions and leaders, and selected Xue Youde to receive the Hundred Things Eye.
• Before dawn, Li Qing subdued Li Sanhu and gained Xue Youde's allegiance with the promise of money.
• Li Qing appeared in Gongsun Jiuniang's chamber and offered her the choice to join him or be controlled by force.
• Gongsun Jiuniang agreed to gather and record intelligence about Feng River City and its surroundings, then swore a blood oath not to reveal Li Qing.
• Li Qing established his initial intelligence network and planned to identify any Monster Path or Demonic Path members in the city that night.

Li Qing searched the Soaring Dragon Mountain Range for Daoist Fulong's tomb and discovered Wang Kuohai with a sinister old monk outside a dangerous formation. He suspected the monk was connected to Wang Kuohai and planned to use the monk's attempt to enter the formation as an opportunity to approach them.

• Li Qing traveled from Feng River City to the Soaring Dragon Mountain Range and sent Shadow Paper Dolls to search for dragon-vein traces.
• Li Qing's Shadow Paper Doll found Wang Kuohai, who had become a bald monk in the True Method Realm and radiated powerful hatred.
• Li Qing saw an old monk with Wang Kuohai near a mist-shrouded valley and suspected the monk had caused Wang Kuohai's transformation.
• Li Qing recognized the valley's mist as a powerful formation and considered the possibility that it guarded Daoist Fulong's tomb.
• Li Qing decided to wait for the old monk to attempt the formation, then ambush him and approach Wang Kuohai.

Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to uncover Wang Kuohai’s history and learned that Huikong had been grooming him as medicinal material. After Huikong entered the mist, Li Qing revealed the truth to Wang Kuohai and offered to help him in exchange for compensation.

• Li Qing used information gathered by his Shadow Paper Doll to deduce that Wang Kuohai had survived the destruction of the All-Under-Heaven Escort Agency and become Huikong’s disciple.
• The Jade Tablet revealed that Huikong, a cultivator from the western Curse Calamity Temple, had taught Wang Kuohai the Heart Curse Manual and intended to consume him as great medicine.
• Li Qing decided to recruit Wang Kuohai by promising to help him take revenge and remove the danger Huikong posed.
• Huikong entered the mist to test the formation and told Wang Kuohai to seek help from Huineng if he did not return within seven days.
• Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll approached Wang Kuohai and warned him that Huikong planned to devour him.
• Wang Kuohai revealed that he already suspected Huikong’s intentions, and Li Qing offered to help him in return for compensation.

Li Qing removed the mark Huikong had placed on Wang Kuohai and secured Wang Kuohai’s loyalty with a Blood Oath Curse Talisman. The Shadow Paper Doll revealed that Young Master Blood Spirit of the Blood Demon Sect had destroyed Wang Kuohai’s Escort Agency and told him to build his strength before seeking revenge.

• Wang Kuohai agreed to consider pledging loyalty to Li Qing if Li Qing could remove Huikong’s mark.
• Li Qing suppressed Wang Kuohai and used the Heavens Civilization Torrent to destroy the cursed Buddha hidden in his sea of consciousness, freeing him from the mark.
• Wang Kuohai swore the Blood Oath Curse Talisman, vowing loyalty and secrecy to the person before him.
• The Shadow Paper Doll identified Young Master Blood Spirit of the Blood Demon Sect as the one who had sent people to wipe out Wang Kuohai’s Escort Agency.
• The Shadow Paper Doll told Wang Kuohai to build his strength, reach the peak of the True Law realm, and command an army before taking revenge.