Recaps

Zhou Suhua accepted the Barbarian King’s offer to join the coming upheaval and took a Blood Demon Seed intended to destroy the Demon Suppression Palace. Meanwhile, Li Qing studied the world’s hidden history and realized the Great Tang’s 300-year cycle was about to end, leaving him one year to prepare for war.

• A Blood-Armored Person approached Zhou Suhua and offered the School of Diplomacy recognition and independence if he allied with the Barbarian Tribe.
• Zhou Suhua examined the Barbarian King’s decree and agreed to help the Demonic Path’s plan.
• The Blood-Armored Person gave Zhou Suhua a Blood Demon Seed to bury above the Demon Suppression Palace, explaining that its destruction would activate arrangements in Dragon Path City.
• Zhou Suhua hid the box in his Universe Bag and blamed his master as a strange creature writhed in his bloodlit eyes.
• Li Qing studied the Jade Tablet’s records and learned that the world’s history followed 300-year cycles controlled by Dao Lineages.
• Li Qing realized the Great Tang Dynasty would reach its 300th year in one year and resolved to find deeper cultivation methods before chaos began.

Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to assess material prices and planned to earn Essence Stones by buying low and selling high. After selling his stock, he discovered that material prices had risen across the market, undermining his plan.

• Li Qing learned from the Jade Tablet that Emperor Chongxin had become an Anomaly and resolved to hide his cultivation while seeking resources.
• Li Qing surveyed prices for more than 200 materials in Hundred Gates Alley and used the Jade Tablet to identify their actual values.
• Li Qing sold materials taken from the Heavenly Maiden Temple and Mystic Gold Divine Iron for 300 Essence Stones.
• Li Qing returned to Hundred Gates Alley to hunt for bargains, but a Rogue Cultivator told him that prices for all materials had risen.

After discovering that cultivation material prices had surged, Li Qing sought a way to earn enough Essence Stones to reach the Body Strengthening Realm. He learned of a Huanzhen Sect ruin that might contain a Dharma Material formula and set out with a new opportunity, though Bai Qili secretly hoped he and the other cultivators would serve as expendable vanguards.

• Li Qing surveyed market stalls and updated the Jade Tablet, which reported that rising material prices suggested the Dao Lineages were preparing for war.
• Li Qing decided to research a new Dharma Material formula and sell it through Jixia Academy to secure a steady income.
• Li Qing visited the Scripture Pavilion and asked Bai Qili whether he had a Dharma Material formula for sale.
• Bai Qili told Li Qing that the Huanzhen Sect ruins had appeared at Wuling Source and might contain the Five Sparrow Red Copper formula.
• Li Qing thanked Bai Qili and left, while Bai Qili privately laughed and hoped the cultivators would act as vanguards in the dangerous ruins.

Li Qing investigated Huanzhen Sect’s dangerous history and prepared Hundred Shadows avatars before considering an expedition to its ruins. He discovered the Zhou Family was still targeting him and resolved to deal with Zhou Xinglong once he was ready to explore.

• Li Qing researched Huanzhen Sect and learned it had vanished after suspected evil sacrifices, leaving him wary of hidden dangers in its newly appeared ruins.
• Li Qing bought Dark Moon Ghost Flowers and prepared a hundred Shadow Paper Dolls after finding that someone had broken the warning thread outside his room.
• Li Qing asked Elder Zheng about Huanzhen Sect, and Elder Zheng warned him that the ruins were dangerous while deciding to secretly observe his exploration.
• Zhou Xinglong learned that Qian Jinchuan had found no hair or belongings in Li Qing’s room and vowed to find another way to kill him.
• Li Qing considered how to prepare for the Huanzhen Sect ruins and decided that Zhou Xinglong had to be eliminated.

Li Qing sent Shadow Paper Dolls to investigate the Huanzhen Sect ruins at Wuling Source, where strange Mist disrupted their senses. As one doll spotted a maddened Rogue Cultivator inside the Mist, the man cried that his Dao was complete.

• Li Qing considered ways to deal with Zhou Suhua and another threat, then prepared his Shadow Paper Dolls to scout and gather evidence.
• Li Qing learned that the Huanzhen Sect ruins were dangerous but had yielded valuable techniques, artifacts, materials, and pills to some explorers.
• Li Qing sent a shadow avatar north from the academy to Wuling Source and dispatched Shadow Paper Dolls to search the mountains.
• The dolls found a fog-shrouded peak and entered its Mist, which confused their senses until Li Qing linked them to navigate toward its center.
• One Shadow Paper Doll saw a Rogue Cultivator laughing and shouting that he had seen the Great Dao and that his Dao was complete.

Li Qing used Shadow Paper Dolls to explore a Mist-shrouded Ruins where cultivators were turning into Aberrations and grotesque creatures were being drained by tubes connected to a blood-red palace. He found the Scripture Repository empty, then watched a blood-armored figure bring a monster to the palace before it attacked the nearby doll.

• Li Qing saw cultivators undergo Aberration and charge into the Mist, then sent ten Shadow Paper Dolls into the Ruins.
• The dolls found a plaza filled with monsters pierced by flesh-like tubes leading to a blood-red palace, while red beetles devoured a Shadow Paper Doll.
• Li Qing noted the dolls could be detected and destroyed, and continued searching the Ruins for Dharma Material formulas.
• A Shadow Paper Doll found the empty Scripture Repository and collected scraps of ancient writing, but Li Qing found nothing useful.
• A blood-armored figure brought a huge monster to the plaza, where a tube from the palace pierced him before he noticed the Shadow Paper Doll and attacked.

Li Qing searched the abandoned Huanzhen Sect while avoiding the powerful Blood-Armored Person and learned that his Shadow Paper Dolls could extract writing from books onto the Jade Tablet. He uncovered hidden instructions for two Dharma Materials and Dharma Plants, giving him the resources he needed to reach the peak of Body Strengthening.

• Li Qing concluded that the Blood Demon Sect had cleared out Huanzhen Sect and was using the Mist to capture Rogue Cultivators and feed a mysterious monster.
• Li Qing sent his remaining Shadow Paper Dolls to search the ruins while keeping them away from the Blood-Armored Person.
• After a night of searching, Li Qing discovered that his dolls could transfer the contents of books they touched onto the Jade Tablet.
• Li Qing noticed a curled corner on the Ancestor Worship Painting in the Scripture Repository and had his dolls peel the paper from the wall.
• Li Qing found writing on the paper's reverse side listing Five Sparrow Red Copper and Crimson Blood Vine, and the Jade Tablet revealed how to refine them.

Li Qing decided to trade his improved Five Qi Bronze recipe to Jixia Academy while concealing his connection to the other modified materials. He met the Master at Natural Abode and began proposing the deal.

• Li Qing chose Five Qi Bronze as the single Dharma Material to offer, fearing the Blood Demon Sect and others might trace the modified recipes back to him.
• He wrote down the complete Five Qi Bronze refinement method and decided to approach the Master rather than Elder Zheng.
• Li Qing carried the recipe to Natural Abode and waited outside its mist until the Master appeared beside him.
• The Master explained that the different versions Li Qing had seen were both him, then led Li Qing to a pavilion behind the academy.
• Li Qing told the Master he had a secret Dharma Material recipe and wanted to make a mutually profitable deal with Jixia Academy, and the Master asked what kind of deal he meant.

Li Qing negotiated a deal with Jixia Academy to produce Five Qi Bronze in exchange for a tenth of the profits and requested an advance of Essence Stones. After leaving the meeting, he discovered Zhou Xinglong’s lackey Qian Jinchuan was spying on him, then detected Aberrant Contamination impersonating Elder Zheng outside his room.

• Li Qing negotiated with the Master as Jixia Academy’s World Patrol Officer, securing a tenth of the profits from Five Qi Bronze and agreeing to the Academy’s rules.
• The Master approved the material, agreed to advance Li Qing a thousand Curse-Grade Essence Stones, and considered using friendship and mutual interest to bind the Fate-less One to the Academy.
• The Master reflected on the coming end of the dynasty, the Dao Lineages’ schemes, and the approaching great tribulation.
• Li Qing sensed Qian Jinchuan, a student and Zhou Xinglong’s lackey, watching him, and sent a shadow to follow him.
• Li Qing returned to his room and realized Qian Jinchuan was still targeting him, but decided to wait until he reached the Human Tribulation realm before acting.
• Li Qing detected that the supposed Elder Zheng outside his door was deceptive information created by Aberrant Contamination and refused to open the door.

Li Qing established precautions against Aberrant Contamination, then used a thousand Essence Stones to complete nine rounds of Body Strengthening and push his cultivation further. After seven days of absorbing hundreds more stones, he shattered a mysterious barrier within his body and began a painful breakthrough.

• Li Qing set rules to distrust sudden voices and use Shadow Paper Dolls for reconnaissance, then sent one to watch Zhou Xinglong and spread others around Dragon Path City to monitor the Blood Demon Sect.
• Fang Qinghong delivered a thousand Essence Stones from the Master, bringing Li Qing's total to about 1,290.
• Li Qing used Essence Stones to complete Body Strengthening nine times, then replenished his essence and had 655 stones left.
• Li Qing absorbed another 500 Essence Stones over seven days, sensing his body press toward a new threshold despite a powerful force resisting his breakthrough.
• Li Qing continued compressing his essence until a mysterious barrier shattered, unleashing boiling essence and scorching pain throughout his body.

Li Qing underwent a transformation and formed a Dao Body after strange whispers filled his mind, while Humanity's Righteous Path is Vicissitudes protected him from their effects. He discovered that his Dao Body reduced the cost of all spells by thirty percent and began explaining how Human Tribulations and Dao Foundations worked.

• Li Qing activated Humanity's Righteous Path is Vicissitudes to dispel the negative effects of strange whispers and their incomprehensible information.
• Li Qing's vital essence boiled, purged black filth from his body, and left him with a Dao Body.
• Li Qing used a Shadow Paper Doll to dispose of the ashes and establish another surveillance point in Dragon Path City.
• Li Qing concluded that his Dao Body reduced the cost of all spells by thirty percent.
• Li Qing sensed his Human Tribulation aura strengthening and explained that surviving a tribulation could yield Qi Fate for forming a Dao Foundation.

Li Qing learned that his vast Human Tribulation was centered on all of Dragon Path City and decided to investigate its connections before choosing whether to face it or avoid it. After concealing his Calamity Qi, he sought the city's archived task files but fled when the strange old man demanded his past and future as the price of failure.

• Li Qing sensed that his Human Tribulation covered Dragon Path City and weighed facing it against using a spell to avoid it.
• Li Qing recorded possible causes and people connected to the calamity, including Zhou Xinglong, Zhou Suhua, the mysterious Blood-Armored Person, the Master, and Elder Zheng.
• Li Qing concealed his Calamity Qi with the Qi-Concealing Bead and went to the task hall at Peaceful Abode Pavilion to request Dragon Path City case files.
• The strange old man offered to show Li Qing the sealed files if he solved a riddle, but warned that failure would cost him his past and future.
• Li Qing felt the old man's uncanny influence and immediately left without accepting the offer.

Li Qing learned that the Mission Hall’s desk was an anomalous item, though he remained concerned because he alone had seen an old man there. Unable to access restricted case files, he went to the Library Pavilion to ask Elder Xu about Dragon Path City and his supposed friend’s Human Tribulation.

• Li Qing asked Elder Zheng about the Mission Hall’s old man and learned that the desk was an anomalous item that handled administrative work.
• Elder Zheng refused Li Qing’s request to read Dragon Path City case files, explaining that the Academy restricted dangerous information.
• Li Qing decided to seek answers in the Library Pavilion and brought wine to Elder Xu.
• Li Qing told Elder Xu that a friend’s Human Tribulation seemed connected to Dragon Path City and asked for information.
• Elder Xu pointed Li Qing toward a special bookshelf containing records about Dragon Path City from ancient times to the present.

Li Qing secretly copied books on Dragon Path City and Human Tribulation, then studied their histories and theories of cultivation. He learned that demonic cultivators had repeatedly brought Dragon Path City to the brink of ruin and that tribulations arose as Heaven and Earth tried to restore fate’s balance.

• Elder Xu opened a hidden room so Li Qing could read books on Dragon Path City and Human Tribulation.
• Li Qing used the Shadow Paper Doll to copy the books and found that it seemed able to evade a mysterious detection ripple while inside his shadow.
• Li Qing considered how to test the Shadow Paper Doll’s limits and how to obtain higher-level cultivation methods before the upheaval expected in a year.
• Li Qing studied Dragon Path City’s corrected history and learned that Demonic Path cultivators had sacrificed its people and prepared disasters to weaken the city.
• Li Qing read the Human Tribulation case studies and learned that cultivators faced tribulations because their growing power disrupted fate, with survival depending on eliminating other cultivators who affected the world.

Li Qing learned from the Jade Tablet that his growing tribulation would erase everyone and everything connected to him, then began planning to fight it by starting with the Zhou Family. Meanwhile, Zhou Xinglong attended a musical performance by Qin Qingyin, who said she was feeling unwell.

• Li Qing concluded that his status as the Fate-less One and his deep cultivation had caused an immense tribulation to gather around him.
• The Jade Tablet revised Li Qing's analysis, predicting that Dragon Path City and several other cities would be erased along with everyone influenced by him.
• Li Qing decided to face the tribulation, turn those caught in it into a source of strength, and begin by investigating the Zhou Family.
• Zhou Xinglong and other prominent guests listened to Qin Qingyin perform on her pleasure boat on the Taihe River.
• Qin Qingyin ended her performance early, saying she felt unwell and needed a few days of rest.

Li Qing used Shadow Paper Dolls to investigate the Zhou Family and discovered that Zhou Suhua was conspiring with a Blood-Armored Person to plant a Blood Demon Seed as part of a plot to destroy Dragon Path City. He spread more dolls throughout the city to uncover the wider scheme and its hidden agents.

• Li Qing sent fifty Shadow Paper Dolls into the Zhou Family residence to copy its books and watch its members.
• A Blood-Armored Person appeared in Zhou Suhua's study, and Li Qing learned they planned to plant a Blood Demon Seed at the Academy and serve the Barbarian King's scheme.
• Li Qing recorded the new evidence in his Jade Tablet and determined that his human tribulation was tied to the Zhou Family and the Blood Demon Sect.
• Li Qing placed ninety more Shadow Paper Dolls across Dragon Path City to investigate suspicious people and hidden agents.
• The next day, Li Qing was eating tofu pudding near Jixia Academy when he suddenly sensed something.

Li Qing searched Dragon Path City for clues to his friend’s Human Tribulation but found no information about the Zhou Family’s plot, so he visited Elder Xu and learned of a book fair at the Seven Treasures Pagoda. Keeping his distance from danger, Li Qing sent a Shadow Paper Doll to the fair, where gossip about children found as dried corpses sparked a sudden insight.

• Li Qing spent two days searching Dragon Path City, uncovering several low-level Demonic Path moles but finding no clues to the Zhou Family’s plot.
• Li Qing asked Elder Xu about hidden records of Dragon Path City and learned that forbidden books required the Master’s permission.
• Elder Xu invited Li Qing to a book fair at the Seven Treasures Pagoda, scheduled for the next day.
• Li Qing sent a Shadow Paper Doll to the fair instead of going himself, wary of his Human Tribulation and the Zhou Family.
• At the pagoda, Li Qing heard scholars discuss children in the east of the city turning into dried corpses, and the conversation gave him a sudden flash of inspiration.

After gathering thousands of books, Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to uncover the Blood Demon Sect’s plan to destroy Jixia Academy’s Demon Suppression Palace and bring down Dragon Path City. He began searching the academy for the hidden demonic treasure and encountered Zhou Suhua in the gardens, where both men concealed their suspicions.

• Li Qing had the Shadow Paper Doll record every book in the Seven Treasures Pagoda, adding 3,500 books of unofficial histories and legends to the Jade Tablet.
• The Jade Tablet revealed that Zhou Suhua and the Blood Demon Sect planned to destroy the Demon Suppression Palace, release deadly Anomalies, and attack Dragon Path City from within and without.
• Li Qing resolved to uncover the sect’s schemes and locate the Demon Suppression Palace and the demonic treasure that could destroy it.
• Li Qing used his investigative abilities to search Jixia Academy for unusual energies and traces of the Demonic Path.
• Li Qing met Zhou Suhua in the academy gardens, and the two exchanged courteous words while privately regarding each other with suspicion.

Li Qing discovered a living mass of flesh hidden beneath a pavilion and used the Humanity River to master its spirit. He suspected it was central to the plan to destroy the Demon Suppression Palace and set out to uncover the Blood Demon Sect and Hundred Desires Demon Sect's remaining schemes.

• Li Qing sensed an unusual vacuum of vital essence beneath the pavilion and used his spells to locate it.
• Li Qing descended underground and found a grotesque ball of flesh with signs of life.
• Li Qing used the Humanity River and his other spells to overpower the creature's chaotic spirit and bring it under his control.
• Li Qing left the pavilion, believing the creature was key to destroying the Demon Suppression Palace, and resolved to investigate the two sects' other plans.

Li Qing used his mental connection to watch the Flesh Giant Tree devour a powerful monster in a hidden space, while his art protected him from its mind-warping influence. He discovered that Blood Demon Son was conspiring to use the tree and the Demon Suppression Palace’s monsters to destroy the palace and infest Dragon Path City.

• Li Qing recorded his findings about Zhou Suhua and the strange lump of flesh in the Demon Suppression Palace Conspiracy Record.
• The lump’s tendrils breached a mysterious barrier underground and drained a gigantic monster held by a blood-wreathed figure.
• Li Qing’s Humanity's Righteous Path is Vicissitudes repelled the monster’s twisted will, and he watched the lump grow vastly more powerful.
• The blood-colored figure merged with the Flesh Giant Tree, while Li Qing hid his own mental imprint and learned the figure’s identity and mission.
• Li Qing recorded that Blood Demon Son planned to ripen a Blood Demon Seed into a Flesh Giant Tree, release monsters from the Demon Suppression Palace, and spread Flesh Seeds throughout Dragon Path City.

Li Qing pieced together the Blood Demon Sect’s plan to infect Dragon Path City and attack the Hundred Schools of Thought, then began preparing talismans to test the Library Tower’s restriction. He discovered Zhou Xinglong’s disturbing diary and suspected Zhou was undergoing Aberration or Aberrant Contamination, while planning to destroy the diary after Zhou died.

• Li Qing recorded the Blood Demon Sect’s plan and outlined his next steps: uncover the remaining conspirators, deal with Zhou Xinglong, and test the Library Tower’s restriction.
• Li Qing bought talisman-making tools and spent a day practicing concealment talismans for a Shadow Paper Doll to evade the Library Tower’s search.
• Li Qing sensed the Blood Demon Seed absorbing monsters and decided to wait for an opportunity to strike the Blood Demon Son.
• A Shadow Paper Doll found Zhou Xinglong’s hidden diary, which contained violent, fragmented entries and references to strange voices.
• Li Qing suspected Zhou Xinglong was undergoing Aberration or Aberrant Contamination and resolved to destroy the diary when Zhou died.

Li Qing used his essence-manipulating spell to overcome the difficulty of making an Invisibility Talisman and completed one. Suspecting someone was waiting for him to leave, he used the talisman to depart the Peaceful Abode Pavilion, while a watcher followed his movements.

• Li Qing set aside thoughts of Zhou Xinglong and began making an Invisibility Talisman, but his first attempts exploded when the essence cycles in the paper and ink failed.
• Li Qing realized he could use Myriad Qi and Myriad Dao Domain to adjust the essence in the materials and create a complete cycle inside the rune.
• Li Qing successfully made an Invisibility Talisman and considered applying his technique to other crafts, but decided to keep his abilities and products hidden for now.
• Li Qing sensed someone was waiting for him, packed away his supplies, used the Invisibility Talisman, and left behind a strand of hair before departing the Peaceful Abode Pavilion.
• A watcher outside Jixia Academy saw Li Qing leave and sprang into action, saying he had finally left.

Li Qing let Qian Jinchuan steal one of his hairs, then used the man’s delivery of it to Zhou Xinglong to uncover their scheme. After subduing Qian Jinchuan with Humanity’s Righteous Path is Vicissitudes, Li Qing sent him back to Zhou Xinglong as a hidden agent.

• Qian Jinchuan searched Li Qing’s room and took a hair while Li Qing watched under an Invisibility Talisman.
• Qian Jinchuan delivered the hair to Zhou Xinglong, who promised to recommend him for the imperial court faction.
• Li Qing ambushed Qian Jinchuan in an alley and overwhelmed his spirit with Humanity’s Torrent.
• Li Qing remade Qian Jinchuan’s sense of self and ordered him to remain beside Zhou Xinglong and await further instructions.

Li Qing discovered that Zhou Xinglong had hired Curse Daoist to curse him with the Seven Kill Curse Technique, so he killed the Daoist and planned to erase the evidence after Zhou Xinglong died. Zhou Xinglong returned home believing Li Qing would die that night.

• Zhou Xinglong paid Curse Daoist eighty Essence Stones to use the Seven Kill Curse Technique on the owner of a strand of hair.
• Curse Daoist cursed the straw doll and declared that his target would be dragged into a nightmare at midnight.
• After Zhou Xinglong left, Li Qing ambushed Curse Daoist and killed him, then collected his possessions while leaving the White Bone Altar untouched.
• Li Qing planned to deal with the altar after Zhou Xinglong died and erase every trace.
• Zhou Xinglong returned home, convinced Li Qing would die and that he could then ask for Wan'er's hand.

Li Qing directed Qian Jinchuan to confront Zhou Xinglong if he became an aberrant, then studied the curse spells he had taken from Curse Daoist. At midnight, a curse invaded Zhou Xinglong’s dreams and began tormenting him with terrifying visions.

• Li Qing ordered Qian Jinchuan to wait outside the Zhou Family estate and cripple Zhou Xinglong if he turned into a monster, and Qian Jinchuan obeyed under the influence of the River of Humanity.
• Li Qing examined the Seven Kill Curse Technique and Death Dream Curse Technique, learning their methods, effects, and dangers.
• Li Qing reviewed what evidence could connect him to the night’s events and decided that Zhou Xinglong’s unique diary was the remaining liability.
• A black force entered Zhou Xinglong’s mind, where he dreamed that Li Qing led soldiers to seize him and then transformed into a monster that bit him in two.
• Zhou Xinglong awoke in another dream as a Heavenly Emperor and ordered the Great Heavenly God summoned.