Recaps

Li Qing sent Wang Kuohai to Dragon Path City to build influence under the Demon Extermination Hall and promised to help him find a chance to kill Young Master Blood Spirit. He then used a Shadow Paper Doll to study the Qimen Dunjia formation surrounding Daoist Fulong’s tomb while Huikong struggled inside it.

• Li Qing told Wang Kuohai to seek out Zhang Blackskin and Wang Qianqiu, gain military authority in the Demon Extermination Army, and wait for an opportunity to kill Young Master Blood Spirit.
• Wang Kuohai accepted Li Qing’s plan and left after learning Li Qing was known as Lord Black Hand.
• Li Qing learned from information captured from Huikong’s mark that Huikong had found the tomb by tracing Daoist Fulong’s Qimen Dunjia techniques and records.
• Huikong fought through a blazing formation, suspecting Wang Kuohai was dead and struggling to identify a flaw in the array.
• Li Qing observed the formation through a Shadow Paper Doll and began recording its changes when the mist transformed into a silent forest.

Li Qing investigated the Qimen Dunjia array and learned that its flags were valuable Dharma artifacts, but he set his plans aside after discovering that fifteen people in Feng River City, including Xue Youde, had lost their souls. His divination pointed toward a cultivator and an event after dusk, so he surveilled the Government Office, graveyard, and coffin shops while waiting for the next development.

• Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to analyze the Qimen Dunjia array and determined that its flags were at least fine-grade Dharma artifacts.
• Li Qing learned that fifteen people in Feng River City had become unconscious without dying, and that Xue Youde was among them.
• Qin Zeming questioned physicians at the Government Office, where they suspected the victims had contracted soul-loss syndrome.
• Li Qing gathered records across Feng River City, but the Jade Tablet still lacked crucial information to reconstruct the incident.
• Li Qing divined an image of a Ghost God eating a person atop a coffin and concluded that a cultivator might strike after dusk.
• Li Qing sent Shadow Paper Dolls to watch the Government Office, mass grave, and coffin shops, hoping the incident would draw Su Muqin over from Dragon Path City.

Li Qing discovered that Feng River City prefect Qin Zeming was secretly refining a powerful Daoist Sect spell with stolen souls and had begun to undergo Aberration. The evidence suggested that a mysterious figure was planting Daoist Sect agents in the imperial court, leaving Li Qing wary of the growing struggle over Great Tang’s future.

• Li Qing learned that Su Muqin was investigating Lou Xingyue’s movements in Dragon Path City and planned to use the delay to frame a third pair of black hands.
• A Shadow Paper Doll followed a concealed figure out of the prefect’s Government Office and saw him use a seven-story tower spell to harvest the souls of three people.
• Li Qing identified the figure as prefect Qin Zeming and recorded that Qin secretly cultivated an evil spell and showed signs of Aberration.
• Li Qing’s records revealed that Qin had obtained the Soul-Suppressing Tower spell from the Daoist Sect’s True Treasure Path and needed vast numbers of human souls to master it.
• Li Qing suspected that a mysterious Daoist Sect figure was planting agents like Qin in the imperial court to prepare for a new Dragon Court.

Li Qing planted a fabricated report implicating the Daoist Sect and the Heaven-Burning Demon Cult in Feng River City's soul-loss incidents, hoping to draw out Su Muqin and provoke action. Wu Yongming and Huang Dongming found the report and began considering how to respond, with Huang deciding to deal with the Demon Sect and Qin Zeming but leave the Daoist Sect alone.

• Li Qing planned to use the Hundred Schools of Thought to target the Daoist Sect and Demon Sect and lure Su Muqin from Dragon Path City.
• After more than a dozen people lost their souls overnight, Li Qing used a brush to leave a fabricated report in Wu Yongming's office, accusing Qin Zeming and naming supposed Demon Cult and Daoist Sect agents.
• Wu Yongming used a spell to inspect the office's recent past, but a hazy interference concealed who had left the report.
• Wu Yongming believed the report could benefit the Hundred Schools of Thought and decided the incident should be reported for investigation.
• Huang Dongming found a copy of the report in the Demon Extermination Hall and considered whether the imperial court should exploit tensions among the major powers.
• Huang Dongming decided to handle the Demon Sect and Qin Zeming but not get involved with the Daoist Sect.

Wu Yongming and Huang Dongming pursued Prefect Qin Zeming and confronted him over using people of the Nine Provinces to cultivate his arts. Li Qing watched from afar as Qin Zeming overwhelmed the two men, and the chapter left their battle unresolved after Qin summoned a sword to meet their artifacts.

• Wu Yongming and Huang Dongming agreed to target Qin Zeming first while avoiding action against the Daoist Sect without proof.
• Wu Yongming and Huang Dongming followed a figure from the prefect's Government Office to a western district courtyard and sealed the city around it.
• Qin Zeming emerged with a pagoda and attacked the two men, revealing a powerful True Soul Fist Body that shattered their formation.
• Li Qing observed from a hundred li away as Qin Zeming gained the upper hand against Wu Yongming and Huang Dongming.
• Wu Yongming proposed retreating to the city wall to use its formation, but Qin Zeming summoned a gray-black sword that clashed with their ruler and spear.

Li Qing watched Qin Zeming overpower Wu Yongming and Huang Dongming before a mysterious youth from Mind Learning Academy killed Qin with a jade ruler. Recognizing the youth as a third child of destiny, Li Qing recorded what he had learned and began investigating him.

• Qin Zeming used his Seven Treasures True Body to strike down Wu Yongming and Huang Dongming inside the academy, then moved to crush the academy beneath his foot.
• Li Qing realized he had underestimated Qin Zeming’s cultivation and resolved to gather better information before plotting against enemies.
• A jade ruler rose from Mind Learning Academy and shattered Qin Zeming’s Seven Treasures True Body, killing him with a single strike.
• Li Qing observed the youth holding the ruler and recognized the eighteen- or nineteen-year-old True Method Realm cultivator as a child of destiny.
• Li Qing entered the youth’s known details into the Jade Tablet and began investigating his background.

Li Qing studied Nangong Haoran’s background and devised a plan to use Gongsun Jiuniang and Li Sanhu to draw the righteous Child of Destiny into protecting the weak. He gave Gongsun Jiuniang the Mystic Maiden Manual and ordered her to approach Nangong Haoran as a helpless novice cultivator.

• Li Qing learned that Nangong Haoran was a powerful, righteous disciple of Mind Learning Academy who wielded the Vast Spirit Ruler.
• Li Qing planned to have Gongsun Jiuniang’s women seek Nangong Haoran’s protection and to use Li Sanhu’s gang as a chance for him to demonstrate benevolence.
• Li Qing reflected that the growing number of Children of Destiny suggested the coming dynastic calamity would be unusually severe.
• After the city’s sealing formation lifted, Li Qing appeared in Gongsun Jiuniang’s study and explained the costs and benefits of cultivating the Mystic Maiden Manual.
• Gongsun Jiuniang accepted the manual, learned its mysteries under Li Qing’s guidance, and received the task of approaching Nangong Haoran as a weak and helpless novice cultivator.

Li Qing distributed cultivation methods to the gang leaders under his control, preparing them for roles in military forces, naval forces, espionage, and assassination. Meanwhile, news of Nangong Haoran killing Qin Zeming spread, and Su Muqin suspected a mysterious organization had protected Li Wushuang.

• Gongsun Jiuniang agreed to investigate Nangong Haoran while Li Qing planned to contact him.
• Li Qing began teaching controlled gang leaders cultivation methods chosen to keep them from attracting the attention of major Dao Lineages.
• Li Qing taught Cao Dechun the Blood Slaughter Codex, which required regular military drills and yearly killings to avoid Aberration.
• Li Qing gave Zhou Qihua the True Water Codex for naval support and taught Zhang Blackskin the Majestic Assassin Codex for covert work.
• News spread that Nangong Haoran had used Mencius's Vast Spirit Ruler to kill Qin Zeming after the prefect used people of the Nine Provinces to refine a spell.
• Su Muqin connected Lou Xingyue's death with the unfinished investigation of World Patrol Li Wushuang and suspected someone had acted to protect him.

Su Muqin investigated Li Wushuang’s possible ties to the mysterious Black Hand, then traveled to Feng River City to examine a new incident. With Su Muqin distracted, Li Qing entered Daoist Fulong’s tomb, refined its six formation flags, and discovered that Huikong was trapped inside a deadly illusion of fire.

• Su Muqin received a report about secret letters in Feng River City and decided to investigate, though he remained uncertain whether Li Wushuang was connected to the mysterious Black Hand.
• Li Qing learned that Su Muqin had left for Feng River City and used the time to advance through the Qimen Dunjia Mist with a Shadow Paper Doll.
• The Shadow Paper Doll reached a formation flag above earthly vein essence, and Li Qing concluded that Daoist Fulong’s tomb might be part of a scheme to advance his cultivation.
• Li Qing arrived at the formation, destroyed the living spiritual imprint inside the flag, and suspected Daoist Fulong was still alive.
• Li Qing refined all six formation flags and withdrew thirty li away, then used Shadow Paper Dolls to observe the formation.
• Li Qing sensed that Huikong was struggling through a blazing, perilous world while taking a bloody medicinal pill.

Li Qing discovered a fat Daoist inside Daoist Fulong’s tomb and forced Huikong out of the formation to confront him. The two Spirit Consciousness Realm cultivators exchanged deadly attacks in the lamp-lit passageway while Li Qing watched from the shadows.

• Li Qing used a Shadow Paper Doll to spot the fat Daoist protected by a black pearl as he walked through the blue-lit passageway.
• Li Qing shifted Huikong out of the Qimen Dunjia formation and placed him at the cave entrance, where he encountered the fat Daoist.
• Huikong and the fat Daoist exchanged polite pretenses before recognizing each other as threats and preparing to fight.
• Huikong attacked with the Blood Buddha Curse, while the fat Daoist countered with a mirror, a talisman, and Sword Qi.
• Huikong’s relic shielded him from the Sword Qi, and the two accused each other of plotting to kill while Li Qing watched nearby.

Li Qing watched Wu De and Huikong agree to explore Daoist Fulong’s tomb together and used the Jade Tablet to uncover Wu De’s background as a gifted Eclectic School practitioner. As the pair advanced into the tomb, a trap wounded them, and Li Qing secretly burdened Wu De with Calamity Qi.

• Wu De explained that Netherworld Ghost Lamps guarded the passage and summoned Deep Blue Spirits that attacked the soul, while Huikong shared legends about Daoist Fulong and his rumored treasure of immortality.
• Wu De and Huikong exchanged names, agreed to cooperate, and continued toward the underground palace despite suspecting each other of withholding information.
• Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to learn that Wu De was a once-in-a-generation Eclectic School genius who had used a mechanical talisman and his knowledge of formations to find the tomb entrance.
• Li Qing decided he could not yet subdue Wu De but planned to make him suffer a loss, while relying on Calamity Qi to trouble Huikong.
• Huikong triggered a mechanism, and he and Wu De rushed through a cavern filled with needles that pierced their protective light and left dozens embedded in them.
• A Shadow Paper Doll secretly transferred Calamity Qi to Wu De, who felt something was wrong as he and Huikong forced out the needles and suspected they had been poisoned.

Wu De and Huikong endured a string of traps before reaching the tomb’s great door, where they narrowly escaped a Dragon-Severing Stone. Li Qing followed them inside through the shadows and saw something that left him stunned.

• Wu De and Huikong recovered from a poison trap, then avoided a snake pit as Huikong wondered whether someone was plotting against him.
• Wu De triggered a thread-and-arrow trap, survived its explosions, and continued with Huikong through dozens of traps.
• Wu De and Huikong reached a Dharma Material door, and Huikong used a black awl to destroy its ward.
• Wu De recognized the falling Dragon-Severing Stone, and he and Huikong rushed through the door just before it crashed down.
• Li Qing's Shadow Paper Doll slipped through the door unharmed, and Li Qing saw what had shocked Wu De and Huikong.

Li Qing, Wu De, and Huikong found a vast mercury lake blocking their way through Daoist Fulong’s tomb, and Huikong’s test revealed that mercury puppets endlessly attacked intruders. Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to uncover that the lake was the Galaxy Feng Shui Formation, with the true tomb hidden beneath it, while Wu De also recognized the formation’s nature.

• Wu De inspected the mercury lake and said it was a dangerous formation whose origins he could not yet identify.
• Huikong sent a Bone Vajra into the lake, where it fought three mercury puppets before retreating to shore.
• Huikong destroyed one mercury puppet with the Black Divine Awl, but another soon emerged from the lake.
• Li Qing recorded what he saw in the Jade Tablet and learned that the Galaxy Feng Shui Formation concealed Daoist Fulong’s true tomb beneath the mercury.
• Li Qing wondered why Daoist Fulong had gathered a new dragon vein, and Wu De concluded that the lake was a feng shui formation.

Wu De used the Void Spirit-Devouring Ring to drain the mercury lake, revealing a pavilion surrounded by anomalous plants. After Wu De and Huikong cleared the plants, a powerful Anomaly stirred inside the pavilion, while Li Qing watched from hiding.

• Wu De and Huikong agreed to return to the shore, but Wu De used the Void Spirit-Devouring Ring to drain the mercury lake instead.
• Wu De, Huikong, and Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll descended to the lakebed and discovered a garden surrounding a pavilion marked like a mourning hall.
• The anomalous plants attacked Wu De and Huikong, who fought back while Li Qing observed from hiding.
• Li Qing noticed that the plants’ Essence Stones vanished into the earth and gathered inside the pavilion.
• Wu De and Huikong destroyed the plants, then faced a freezing wind as a powerful Anomaly began to emerge from the pavilion.

Li Qing watched Wu De and Huikong battle the bride Anomaly in the pavilion beneath the mercury lake. His record book revealed that the bride was Qiu Yuehua, whose resentment had fused her with a Corpse Devourer, while the fight remained locked in a stalemate.

• The bride emerged from the pavilion, and Huikong identified her as a Peak Fierce-grade Anomaly nearing Disaster-grade with traces of the mysterious path.
• Wu De and Huikong used their treasures to isolate themselves from the bride’s power, while Li Qing retreated his Shadow Paper Doll to the Dragon-Severing Stone and watched remotely.
• The bride repeatedly demanded that her husband consummate their marriage, and Wu De and Huikong attacked her with darkness and a giant Buddha palm.
• The bride’s unveiled face revealed black eyes and pale, veined skin as her ripples clashed with both men’s attacks.
• Li Qing used his record book to uncover that the bride was Qiu Yuehua, whose despair and resentment had caused her to merge with the Corpse Devourer.

Li Qing watched Wu De and Monk Huikong battle the mysterious Anomaly Qiu Yuehua and her corpse mountain beneath the lake, reflecting on the need to remain cautious. Wu De and Monk Huikong seized an opening with a talisman-enhanced flying sword and a transformed Buddha, leaving Qiu Yuehua under a coordinated attack.

• Li Qing studied the Jade Tablet's warning that the attic Anomaly's logic could control anyone who heard its words, and reminded himself to stay hidden and cautious.
• The forces of Wu De and Monk Huikong destroyed the attic, revealing a corpse mountain that pulled Qiu Yuehua back and attacked them.
• Wu De and Monk Huikong fought the corpse mountain while resisting Qiu Yuehua's soundless ripples, and Li Qing observed their battle from above.
• Wu De attached a talisman to a fine-grade flying sword and sent it piercing through the corpse mountain and ripples toward Qiu Yuehua.
• Monk Huikong transformed his Buddha into a black-red, blood-eyed form that tore apart the ripples as Wu De's enhanced sword flashed past Qiu Yuehua.

Wu De and Old Monk Huikong entered the Nine-Dragon Tomb’s underground passageways after defeating Qiu Yuehua, while Li Qing used his records to identify the true dragon passage. Just as Li Qing prepared to explore it, news from Water Abyss City revealed that Lou Xingyue had not been dealt with.

• Wu De and Old Monk Huikong destroyed Qiu Yuehua, and Wu De claimed the Fierce-grade Essence Stone as his share.
• Huikong found the entrance to an underground cavern with nine passages, and Wu De explained that one led to the real tomb while the other eight were false.
• Li Qing recorded information identifying the formation as the Nine Dragons Tomb-Suppressing Formation and learned that the true passage bore the rune “lei.”
• Wu De and Huikong emerged from a false passage injured, then lost Wu De’s mechanical rat and Huikong’s Bone Vajra puppet while testing another passage.
• Li Qing received news from Water Abyss City that Lou Xingyue had not been dealt with.

Li Qing learned that Su Muqin was heading to Feng River City and devised a plan to use Lou Xingyue and the Confucian Sect’s cultivation arts to erase suspicion of Li Wushuang. After arranging for Lou Xingyue to be delayed and checking his plans in Feng River City, Li Qing tried to enter Daoist Fulong’s tomb but found its formation blocked his Shadow Paper Dolls, so he used a controlled rat to lure the two explorers into action.

• Li Qing learned Su Muqin would reach Feng River City that day and Lou Xingyue would reach Golden River City in about three days.
• Li Qing sent ten Shadow Paper Dolls to hold Lou Xingyue back and planned to imitate Confucian Sect methods to deceive anyone investigating him.
• Gongsun Jiuniang completed her initial cultivation and reached Foundation Establishment—Essence Refining, while Tang Yiming began recording the Hundred Things Eye in place of Xue Youde.
• Li Qing sent a Shadow Paper Doll into Daoist Fulong’s tomb, but the tomb’s feng shui formation destroyed it despite the Myriad Transformation Talismans.
• Li Qing controlled a rat and sent it into the tomb’s passage, intending to use it as bait for the two explorers.

Wu De and Huikong chose a passage after seeing a rat emerge from it, then endured a series of traps while Li Qing watched from the shadows. They reached a restriction-covered black door they believed led to Daoist Fulong’s main tomb and began trying to break it open.

• Wu De and Huikong recovered from their injuries and followed a gray rat into one of the passages, believing the route might be safe.
• Wu De and Huikong broke a restriction and continued deeper, while Li Qing listened from the shadows and suspected Huikong had sensed his presence.
• A lightning trap struck Wu De and Huikong and destroyed the Shadow Paper Doll following them.
• Wu De and Huikong pressed on through more traps, using up medicine and magical power as their injuries accumulated.
• Wu De and Huikong reached a black door covered in restrictions and began attacking them with Sword Qi and a Buddhist hand.

Li Qing, Wu De, and Huikong discovered a dangerous star formation and the legendary Immortal Coffin inside the main burial chamber. When Wu De sent a puppet into the formation, it activated the Celestial Cycle Star Back-Pushing Diagram and overwhelmed them with a chaotic flood of information, leaving Li Qing struggling to protect his mind.

• Wu De and Huikong opened the chamber doors and found a star-filled burial chamber with a black coffin atop a nine-tiered platform.
• Wu De identified the formation as the Celestial Cycle Star Slaughter Array, and Li Qing learned from the Jade Tablet that it had helped bring down the Great Yu Dynasty.
• Wu De recognized the coffin as the legendary Immortal Coffin, while Huikong briefly suffered a terrifying force after looking at its blood-red patterns.
• Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to identify the chamber's simplified array and the star map as Daoist Fulong's Celestial Cycle Star Back-Pushing Diagram.
• Wu De sent a wooden cat puppet into the array, which vanished and triggered the formation, drawing Wu De, Huikong, and Li Qing into an illusion of overwhelming information.
• Li Qing sensed the information battering his mental stability and realized that the assault could drive an ordinary person insane.

Li Qing survived a dangerous flood of information and glimpsed a future in which his true identity appeared on a sinister list, leading him to suspect a powerful enemy. Through the Shadow Paper Dolls, he then disrupted the Aberration afflicting Wu De and Huikong, though both emerged weakened.

• The Blood Demon Seed's spiritual imprint shared its mental power with Li Qing, allowing him to use Heavens Civilization TorrentInvincible Human Dao Dharma Body to repel the invading information and sever his connection to the Shadow Paper Doll.
• Li Qing glimpsed a sinister list bearing his real name and face, and concluded that an unknown enemy might expose him and bring about his death.
• Li Qing resolved to stay alert and use the Jade Tablet and his accumulated knowledge to change the dangerous future he had seen.
• The Shadow Paper Dolls found Wu De and Huikong suffering from Aberration, and Li Qing had them throw stones at the men's heads to jolt them back to clarity.
• Wu De and Huikong used their powers to suppress the Aberration, but Huikong's strength fell below half his peak and Wu De complained that he had suffered a great loss.

Wu De and Huikong used the Crossing Bridge to cross the formation, while Li Qing recorded a divination art from the gate’s canopy. The two cultivators reached the Immortal Coffin but had to set aside their hostility when the bridge began to fail, and Huikong prepared to act.

• Wu De and Huikong recovered their strength with precious pills, then Wu De proposed using his Crossing Bridge to cross the formation together.
• The two infused the Crossing Bridge with spiritual power, stopped the formation’s starry forces, and crossed toward the high platform as Li Qing approached the gate.
• Li Qing used the Shadow Paper Doll and Jade Tablet to record the Celestial Cycle Star Back-Pushing Diagram and the Cosmic Star Divination Art.
• Wu De and Huikong reached the Immortal Coffin, grew suspicious of each other, and felt a killing intent arise between them.
• The Crossing Bridge began shaking, so Wu De warned that it would hold for only thirty breaths and suggested they postpone fighting; Huikong agreed to act first while Li Qing watched.

Li Qing watched Wu De and Monk Huikong open the Immortal Coffin, unleashing an Anomaly that made them flee and destroyed his Shadow Paper Doll. He escaped to a mountain hollow outside Feng River City and began recording what he had witnessed, especially the ancient corpse they had found.

• Li Qing sent a Bone Vajra to open the Immortal Coffin while Wu De and Monk Huikong protected themselves from its influence.
• As the coffin opened, strange whispers and black ripples spread, and the Bone Vajra began to manifest an Anomaly.
• Wu De and Monk Huikong saw an ancient corpse and fled the burial chamber as black smoke surged after them.
• The smoke engulfed the Shadow Paper Doll, so Li Qing withdrew his formation flags and escaped to a mountain hollow outside Feng River City.
• Li Qing hid underground and began recording the strange phenomena and the ancient corpse.

After the Ancient Corpse’s records revealed that it came from 3,300 years ago and could aberrate all things, Li Qing considered seeking secrets from the Dao Lineages. A black pillar rose from Daoist Fulong’s tomb, drawing powerful cultivators toward it, while Li Qing mobilized his agents to gather information and began considering how to organize the Rogue Cultivators.

• The Jade Tablet identified the Ancient Corpse as a mysterious corpse from 3,300 years ago whose aberration could affect all things and whose presence must not be sensed.
• A massive pillar of black qi erupted from Daoist Fulong’s tomb, and Su Muqin flew toward it after recognizing its significance.
• Wu Yongming and Huang Dongming suspected Su Muqin had come for the person behind the secret letter, then headed toward the disturbance themselves.
• Li Qing ordered Li Sanhu, Gongsun Jiuniang, and Tang Yiming to gather information, investigate the emerging Disaster, and focus on Dao Lineage cultivators.
• Feng River City’s experts rushed toward the black pillar as a formation put ordinary people to sleep, while some Rogue Cultivators fled the city.
• Li Qing noticed the Rogue Cultivators fleeing and considered organizing them under the Chosen One of Heaven.

Li Qing laid plans to secretly build a supreme Dao Lineage and sent Shadow Paper Dolls to gather knowledge from Mind Learning Academy and the Demon Extermination Hall. Meanwhile, Su Muqin suppressed an ancient corpse’s spreading black mist near Feng River City, which was sealed as the Dao Lineages summoned support; Li Qing watched from outside the city and learned that the corpse held secrets from an ancient era.

• Li Qing planned to secretly combine the Children of Destiny’s power and knowledge into a colossal Dao Lineage of his own, despite the calamity this could cause.
• Li Qing’s Shadow Paper Doll recorded books and hidden texts in Mind Learning Academy, but a formation destroyed it when it approached the academy’s core Library Tower.
• Li Qing sent another Shadow Paper Doll to the Demon Extermination Hall, where it recorded the available Anomaly files.
• Su Muqin used a vast starlight formation to burn away the black mist and destroy Aberrated creatures, but could not stop the mist from continuing to pour out.
• Su Muqin warned seven arriving figures that an ancient corpse had appeared and urged them to alert their Dao Lineage headquarters; Feng River City then sealed itself and raised its defensive formation.
• Li Qing observed the response from outside Feng River City and learned that the ancient corpse was connected to an ancient era and contained enormous secrets.