Recaps

Shen Wan explained why the full-effect Profound Truth Condensing Void Pill was worth twelve thousand ruyi money, and Yu Ci and He Qing assembled an offer that exceeded that value. Just as Shen Wan was about to accept it, an old monk interrupted with a competing offer.

• Shen Wan distinguished the rare full-effect pill from replicated versions and explained its greater benefits and provenance.
• He Qing verified the casket’s mark, while the cultivators present fell silent rather than bid twelve thousand ruyi money.
• Yu Ci offered two ruyi jade tallies worth ten thousand ruyi money, but admitted the sum was insufficient.
• He Qing extracted Shan Gu’s spinal fluid and offered it as payment, which Shen Wan valued at thirty thousand ruyi money despite the risk to Shan Gu.
• An old monk interrupted Shen Wan and offered his Illusion Demon Golden Pagoda for the pill.

Monk Yi Xin offered the Illusion Demon Pagoda for the Profound Truth Condensing Void Pill, but Suixin Pavilion valued the pagoda too low for him to win the exchange, and Yu Ci obtained the pill instead. After the banquet, He Qing explained that Yu Ci and several factions were among eight threads connecting the recent unrest in Juebi City.

• Monk Yi Xin presented the Illusion Demon Pagoda and offered it for the Profound Truth Condensing Void Pill.
• Shen Wan valued the pagoda at only 120,000 to 130,000 Ruyi Money, so Yi Xin withdrew his offer and left the banquet.
• Yu Ci secured the pill by offering 130,000 Ruyi Money and accepted it in the Deep Sea Casket.
• Bi Chao asked Yi Xin whether he still intended to sell the pagoda, and he said they could discuss it later.
• He Qing took Yu Ci to the viewing platform and described the eight threads linking the recent events, including the ghost beasts, demons, Juebi City's five sects, and Yu Ci.

He Qing interrogated Yu Ci about his suspicious role in the Sky Rift Valley turmoil and exposed how little he had disclosed to the sect. She admitted he might still be worth saving, then said her investigation had narrowed the cause to only a few possibilities, including Yu Ci.

• He Qing reviewed the suspects in the Sky Rift Valley turmoil and singled out Yu Ci as the person whose trail appeared most often.
• He Qing questioned Yu Ci about his encounters with demons, the Bai Ri Mansion, and the fish-dragon, pointing out gaps in his reports.
• Yu Ci offered fortune as an explanation, but He Qing argued that his accounts suggested he had observed powerful foes from a distance or hidden himself unusually well.
• He Qing criticized Yu Ci for his narrow perspective and clever evasions, while explaining that Yu Zhou and Xie had overlooked his flaws because they favored him.
• Yu Ci asked why He Qing had taught him powerful methods despite looking down on him, and she said he might still be worth saving and that she had a reason to recommend him.
• He Qing said she had narrowed the cause of the turmoil to two or three remaining possibilities, and that Yu Ci might still prove to be involved.

Yu Ci learned that Immortal He planned to use him to investigate the Jingshui Altar and Lu Mingyue. Later, he attended a Wanling Sect banquet where Shi Song explained the dangers of the Hundred Spirits Manifesting Gauze, and a small guest rushed in to greet him.

• Yu Ci steadied himself during his conversation with Immortal He and asked how he could prove his innocence.
• Immortal He said Yu Ci’s fortune made him a useful lead and told him to investigate the Jingshui Altar and the missing Lu Mingyue.
• Yu Ci wondered whether to reveal what he had learned through the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror and worried about returning the Profound Truth Condensing Void Pill.
• As Juebi City quieted after the treasure convention, the Wanling Sect invited two people to a banquet at Dan Cliff.
• Shi Song explained that the Hundred Spirits Manifesting Gauze required a way to control resentment and warned Yu Ci against seeking such techniques.
• A small figure rushed into the water pavilion and greeted Yu Ci as “Brother Fishbone.”

Yu Ci met with Xiao Jiu, Shi Song, Hu Dan, and Monk Zhengyan at a Wanling Sect banquet, where he revealed a red gauze artifact containing an Outer Dao method for refining the God Slaying Thorn. The others were stunned by its significance, while Yu Ci kept his intentions behind the method to himself.

• Xiao Jiu returned from recuperating in the south, greeted Yu Ci warmly, and excitedly described her time aboard the Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat.
• Shi Song reminded Xiao Jiu not to interrupt the adults, then welcomed Monk Zhengyan to the pavilion alongside Yu Ci and Hu Dan.
• Yu Ci asked Shi Song and Zhengyan for advice about a method for gathering resentment and refining it into a God Slaying Thorn.
• Yu Ci released the red gauze and infused it with true Baleful Intent, causing its patterns to reveal the words, "Outer Dao Refining Method of the God Slaying Thorn."
• Hu Dan and Shi Song were astonished by the method's connection to the God Slaying Thorn and wondered whether Yu Ci's apparent seriousness was an act.

Yu Ci used purple qi from his True Return Purple Smoke Warm Jade to treat Xiao Jiu’s divine-soul injuries, then tested a divine-soul-oscillating art on Shi Song and Zhengyan. The starlight of divine intent entered Zhengyan’s brain palace, leaving the result of Yu Ci’s experiment unresolved.

• Yu Ci declined Shi Song and Hu Dan’s offers to trade for the Hundred Spirits Manifesting Gauze during their banquet with Zhengyan and Xiao Jiu.
• When Xiao Jiu grew drowsy, Yu Ci used purple qi to nourish her divine soul and checked her condition with the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror.
• Yu Ci found Xiao Jiu’s divine soul stable, and Hu Dan carried her away to rest as the banquet ended.
• On the way out, Zhengyan asked about Yu Ci’s treatment method, and Yu Ci credited Elder Zhu while concealing the warm jade’s role.
• Yu Ci used a divine-soul-oscillating art and sent a starlight of divine intent into Zhengyan’s brain palace.

Yu Ci planted his Divine Intent Star Radiance in Monk Zhengyan’s shattered but powerful soul, then noticed the monk’s odd reaction before turning his attention to the Jingshui Altar and Xuan Yin Sect. The chapter ended with Yu Ci arriving at Youqiu Palace to demand answers about the Sky Rift Valley incident from the sect tied to the Rakshasa Sect.

• Yu Ci used a soul tremor to expose Zhengyan’s unusual soul state and parasitized him with the Divine Intent Star Radiance.
• A Jingshui Altar disciple summoned Zhengyan back at the abbot’s order, and Zhengyan left after an oddly strained exchange with Yu Ci and Shi Song.
• Yu Ci discussed Zhengyan’s relationship with Yixin with Shi Song and recalled Yixin projecting his soul into Zhengyan at Sky Rift Valley.
• Yu Ci went to Youqiu Palace and learned that Biting Tide was absent and Ming Lan was temporarily managing sect affairs.
• Yu Ci entered to meet Ming Lan, intending to question the Xuan Yin Sect about its knowledge of the faction behind the Sky Rift Valley incident.

Yu Ci met Minglan at Youqiu Palace and obtained Xuan Yin Sect intelligence on Jingshui Altar for He Qing. After reviewing the information, He Qing demanded a plan to act within five days, and Yu Ci proposed forcing Master Yixin to surrender alleged criminals and punishing them.

• Yu Ci found Minglan dramatically aged but spiritually powerful, and used his Soul-Observing Dharma Eye to recognize the strength of her soul source.
• Yu Ci asked Minglan about Master Yixin, Lu Mingyue, Jingshui Altar’s disciples, and their movements during the Sky Rift unrest; Minglan agreed to provide the sect’s dossiers and explain what she knew.
• After leaving Youqiu Palace, Yu Ci dismissed his carriage and met He Qing on the mountain ridges, giving her a jade slip of information about Jingshui Altar and its associates.
• He Qing explained that the sect’s Void Stepping cultivators would soon depart for the Outer Domain of the Nine Heavens and asked Yu Ci where to act first within five days.
• Yu Ci recommended that the sect order Master Yixin to hand over the alleged criminals, including Lu Mingyue, and punish them severely.

Yu Ci and He Qing moved against the Jingshui Altar, using rumors and pressure from other sects to weaken it while Yu Ci sought evidence connected to the unrest in Sky-Rending Valley. With Yi Xin and Zhengyan remaining strangely unresponsive, Yu Ci instead gained deeper access to Zhengyan’s soul, but someone’s touch abruptly interrupted his thoughts.

• Yu Ci persuaded He Qing that Zhengyan might help expose the Jingshui Altar’s crimes, and He Qing set a five-day deadline before departing for the Outer Domain of the Nine Heavens.
• Yu Ci spread rumors that He Qing intended to punish the Jingshui Altar, prompting residents and several sects to turn against its monks.
• After three days, Yu Ci found that Yi Xin and Zhengyan had not communicated or taken visible action as the Jingshui Altar faced mounting pressure.
• Yu Ci discovered that the Divine Intent Star Glint had rooted itself deeply in Zhengyan’s soul, letting him perceive the monk’s emotions and memories.
• As Yu Ci considered searching Zhengyan’s Sea of Consciousness, someone touched his shoulder and startled him.

Yu Ci joined He Qing and Gan Shizhen to investigate intelligent demons that had vanished from underground hiding places near Juebi City. Suspecting a connection to the city’s factions, He Qing questioned the sect leaders, while Yu Ci decided to use the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror to track the demons.

• Gan Shizhen told Yu Ci that He Qing’s Heavenly Law Absolute Prison had detected demons roaming outside Juebi City.
• Gan Shizhen carried Yu Ci to the southern outskirts, where He Qing said the demons had occupied deep underground hiding places but disappeared.
• He Qing explained that the demons seemed intelligent and that their long-established hiding places suggested a connection to someone within the city.
• He Qing summoned the heads of the city’s sects to question them about the demons’ hiding places.
• Yu Ci agreed that He Qing had considered the matter thoroughly, then said he still wanted to investigate the demons’ traces and gripped the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror in his sleeve.

Yu Ci revealed the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror to He Qing and joined the sect leaders in excavating the demons’ former hiding place. The dig uncovered an underground passage and signs of a maintained underground palace, which Yi Xin admitted knowing about.

• Yu Ci used the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror to survey the jungle and showed it to He Qing, who suggested he look for records about its incomplete design.
• Shi Song, Hu Dan, Dong Yan, Yi Xin, Shan Jiao, and Incense Slave arrived at the site of the demons’ former hiding place.
• With He Qing’s permission, Yu Ci directed the attendants to excavate carefully, and they uncovered a man-made passage about two zhang underground.
• Dong Yan tested the passage with sword radiance and revealed that a weak barrier still protected it.
• Shi Song reasoned that the extensive, recently maintained underground construction could only have been built by a few groups, while the other sect leaders denied knowledge of it.
• Hu Dan pressed Yi Xin about the project, and Yi Xin admitted that he knew of the underground palace.

The cultivators searched Jingshui Altar’s underground palace for the demon, following its fresh tracks through the chambers. Their search uncovered monks abusing captive women, and Yu Ci prepared to guard against further trouble as they continued deeper.

• Monk Yi Xin explained that Bai Ri Mansion had built the underground palace and agreed to guide the cultivators inside.
• He Qing traced the demon’s route through a sealed chamber and corridor, while Yu Ci watched Monk Yi Xin for signs of guilt.
• Monk Yi Xin had the underground palace’s restrictions shut down before leading the group into an area used by the temple.
• He Qing broke through a wall and exposed monks abusing captive women, prompting Yu Ci to summon attendants to handle the victims.
• Yu Ci placed his divine-intent starlight in everyone’s mind palaces, then felt a sudden chill as the group continued searching.

Yu Ci discovered a Core Formation demon disguised as a woman in Monk Yi Xin’s underground palace, and He Qing captured it with the Heavenly Law Absolute Prison. The demon then exploded before anyone could question it, leaving Yi Xin’s responsibility unresolved.

• Yu Ci identified the high-coiffured woman as a hidden demon, and Gan Shizhen told him that He Qing already knew and was waiting to act.
• He Qing attacked as the disguised demon followed the rescued women, exposed its true form, and dragged it through the rock with a golden demon-binding ring.
• Shi Song, Hu Dan, and the others joined He Qing above ground, where she subdued the Core Formation demon with the Heavenly Law Absolute Prison.
• Yu Ci challenged Monk Yi Xin to explain the underground palace, and Yi Xin agreed without specifying what he would do.
• The demon suddenly swelled and exploded inside the ring, destroying the chance to question it.

Monk Yi Xin met with Zhili in the Bao Yan Pagoda and discussed their failed invasion and the coming upheaval at the temple. When Zhili tried to seize the body of Yi Xin’s captive disciple Zhengyan, Yi Xin trapped him in golden light.

• Zhili confronted Monk Yi Xin over the losses in Sky Rift Valley, and Yi Xin demanded explanations for the failed plan and the poor demon troops.
• Monk Yi Xin told Zhili that trouble would strike the temple the next day and led him to a hidden refuge in the Bao Yan Pagoda.
• Monk Yi Xin explained that his eldest disciple Zhengyan was imprisoned upstairs after growing close to Yu Ci of the Li Chen Sect.
• Zhili proposed taking over Zhengyan’s body to recover his strength and move through the human world under the disciple’s identity.
• Zhili began reaching for Zhengyan, but Monk Yi Xin invoked a Buddhist prayer and golden light swept Zhili away.

Monk Yi Xin used the Illusion Demon Golden Pagoda and the Eighteen Yin Demon Wheel Formation to trap He Qing and threaten Juebi City's inhabitants, turning the sects' ambush into a standoff. He Qing remained trapped in the formation while Yi Xin prepared to escape.

• Monk Yi Xin sealed Zhili away and faced He Qing as she arrived with Shi Song, Hu Dan, Dong Yan, and the other cultivators to capture him.
• He Qing attacked with the Heavenly Law Absolute Prison, but Yi Xin summoned black flames and revealed the Illusion Demon Golden Pagoda, which disrupted her control of the surrounding spiritual qi.
• The Bao Yan Pagoda collapsed, burying Monk Zhengyan, while Yi Xin stood beneath the Golden Pagoda and He Qing's binding power vanished.
• He Qing became trapped in an invisible formation as Yin Demons appeared, and Yu Ci and Gan Shizhen warned the others not to attack because their force could strike He Qing.
• Monk Yi Xin explained that he had used Zhili's essence to activate the pagoda and warned that breaking the Eighteen Yin Demon Wheel Formation could release three thousand Yin Demons into Juebi City.

He Qing broke the formation around the Illusion Demon Golden Pagoda and used the Heavenly Law Absolute Prison to capture and crush Monk Yi Xin. After finding him beaten and apparently lifeless, she accused him of being Lu Mingyue’s accomplice.

• Monk Yi Xin tried to escape while Hu Dan called for Gan Shizhen to take charge.
• He Qing used the Great Void Splitting Curse to crack the formation and free herself from its isolation.
• A stream of light struck the Illusion Demon Golden Pagoda, and the Heavenly Law Absolute Prison formed a vortex that contained the leaking Evil Yin Demon Qi.
• Gan Shizhen shielded Yu Ci and the others from the vortex as He Qing used ambient vital Qi to batter Monk Yi Xin into a deep crater.
• He Qing confronted the apparently lifeless Monk Yi Xin and declared that Lu Mingyue was his accomplice.

He Qing confronted Monk Yi Xin as he shed his disguise and raised his cultivation, while Gan Shizhen explained that his divine intent was distorting their perceptions. When black fiery snakes surged from the Jingshui Altar temple and merged with Yi Xin, Yu Ci saw through Bai Ri that something was happening there.

• He Qing bluffed that Yi Xin had killed Lu Mingyue, and Yi Xin admitted that Lu Mingyue had been a True Person’s Yang God in a Moon Demon puppet.
• Yi Xin began restoring his strength, and He Qing attacked his concealed position while he evaded her using a protective dharma artifact and divine intent.
• Gan Shizhen warned Yu Ci that Yi Xin’s divine intent interfered with primordial qi and their perceptions, then sensed something moving from the temple to join him.
• Black fire lines flew from the Jingshui Altar temple, and Gan Shizhen dispersed the one Dong Yan had struck with his sword radiance.
• Gan Shizhen decided to return to reinforce the temple as black fiery snakes rose from the soil and merged with Yi Xin, whose aura continued to climb.
• Yu Ci saw through Bai Ri’s stored starburst of divine intent what was happening at the temple.

Monk Yi Xin began using the monks of the Jingshui Altar as fuel to restore his golden body, unleashing black flames across the temple and wasteland. While He Qing watched for a chance to advance, Yu Ci organized efforts to restrain surviving monks, then discovered that Monk Zhengyan’s soul was unusually peculiar as the battle began.

• Monk Yi Xin explained that he had secretly prepared hundreds of monks as nutrients to rebuild his destroyed golden body, and his transformation unleashed a wave of black flames that devastated the temple and surrounding land.
• Gan Shizhen told Yu Ci that He Qing was holding back because she needed the encounter as a reference point for her impending breakthrough to the True Person realm.
• Yu Ci led the group back to the temple and ordered them to find surviving monks who practiced the Ignis Ardor Method and restrain their souls and blood-and-qi circulation.
• The cultivators rescued Monk Zhengyan and subdued more than forty surviving monks, preventing the fire serpents from killing the restrained survivors.
• Yu Ci and Gan Shizhen examined Zhengyan for clues about Yi Xin, and Yu Ci found that Zhengyan’s soul was in an unusual state as the battle began in the distance.

Yu Ci and the others witnessed Monk Yi Xin unleash his golden Kurukulla King Vajra Dharma Form against He Qing, while the battle’s shockwaves devastated Juebi City. As Gan Shizhen recognized that Yi Xin intended to massacre the city, Yu Ci was left facing a catastrophe already underway.

• Yu Ci failed to uncover Monk Yi Xin’s methods while probing the monks, but sensed a possible thought stirring within Monk Zhengyan’s sealed spiritual soul.
• He Qing struck Monk Yi Xin’s fireclouds with Cloud Peak Three Severances, but Yi Xin formed a massive golden Kurukulla King Vajra Dharma Form.
• Gan Shizhen ordered Yu Ci and the others to retreat while she stayed behind to protect the Illusion Demon Golden Pagoda’s barrier.
• A golden handprint destroyed the Bao Yan Pagoda ruins and the barrier, while its shockwaves killed cultivators and devastated Juebi City.
• Gan Shizhen realized the Three Thousand Yin Demons and the city’s wronged souls were part of Yi Xin’s plan to massacre the city.

Gan Shizhen and Yu Ci identified Blood Monk Tu Ling as the force behind the chaos in Juebi City, while Yi Xin’s Yin Demon Wheel Formation threatened the cultivators below. As the battle above intensified and Yu Ci adapted to its dangerous rhythms, a new combatant suddenly joined the fight.

• Gan Shizhen explained that the notorious Blood Monk Tu Ling had concealed himself in Juebi City and recognized Yi Xin’s methods as evidence of his identity.
• A cursed howl heralded Yin Demons possessing flesh-and-blood puppets, and Gan Shizhen led Yu Ci and Monk Zhengyan away from them.
• Shi Song recognized eighteen puppets and Three Thousand Yin Demons arranged in the Eighteen Yin Demon Wheel Formation.
• Gan Shizhen noticed that the battle’s rhythms were harming the cultivators below, while Yu Ci used breath regulation to resist their effects.
• Yu Ci sensed someone joining the battle, and a brilliant meteor shot through the dust toward the fighters above.

Yu Ci and Gan Shizhen faced the activated Eighteen Yin Demon Wheel Formation while a Rakshasa Sect expert intervened in the battle above. With the formation’s Yin Demons threatening the group, Yu Ci directed Gan Shizhen to move the sword circle northeast so he could lead an attempt to break the formation.

• A silver-gray-mist-covered newcomer used the Myriad Laws Devouring Light Barrier to swallow Khadirali King's blood-red radiance, and Gan Shizhen identified the art as a Rakshasa Sect divine technique.
• Gan Shizhen used her sword to create a protective circle for Yu Ci, Shi Song, and the others as the increased Domain pressure overwhelmed Yu Ci.
• Yu Ci sensed that the newcomer’s Domain rhythm had the scent of the Xuan Yin Sect, and Shan Jiao identified the expert as Master Ming.
• The Eighteen Yin Demon Wheel Formation activated, releasing Yin Demon ghosts, and Shi Song warned that destroying its puppets would unleash its full power and endanger the children.
• Gan Shizhen warned that her sword circle could not hold indefinitely, so Yu Ci ordered her to move half a li northeast and charged through the opening with a purple beam.

Yu Ci used the True Return Purple Smoke Warm Jade to weaken the Eighteen Yin Demon Wheel Formation, but the flesh-and-blood puppets regenerated and overwhelmed his plan. A vast silver-gray figure appeared from the sky, destroyed the puppets and extinguished the fire, while Gan Shizhen identified it as a Xuan Yin Clone.

• Yu Ci used brooding purple qi to weaken a flesh-and-blood puppet, allowing Gan Shizhen and the other cultivators to destroy it and disrupt the formation.
• Yu Ci and the cultivators destroyed three more puppets, but the puppets rose again from the ground, and Dong Yan suspected they were made from Juebi City's missing residents.
• Yu Ci retreated to Gan Shizhen as his supply of purple qi ran low and the formation's pressure surged.
• Starlines descended onto the puppets, while a silver-gray radiance merged with the light mist around Ming Lan and a bell sounded.
• A towering figure appeared beneath a silver-gray crane cloak, extinguished the fire, and caused all eighteen puppets to collapse into fleshy sludge.
• Master Shan Jiao and Incense Slave prostrated themselves, while Gan Shizhen identified the figure as a Xuan Yin Clone.

A Rakshasa Sect divine avatar projection overwhelmed Monk Yi Xin’s Khadirali King golden body, but it vanished before delivering a final victory. He Qing then appeared and sent the Xingtian Magic Sword plunging toward Yi Xin.

• Yu Ci and Gan Shizhen recognized the enormous figure as a projection of the Rakshasa Sect’s divine lord, summoned through Master Ming’s transformation into a divine attendant.
• The avatar projection distorted the sky and suppressed Monk Yi Xin’s golden body, then trapped it with illusionary arts and cut it in half.
• Monk Yi Xin’s golden body survived and counterattacked, but the avatar projection disintegrated his blood-red spear and remained dominant.
• The silver-gray avatar vanished as its thirty breaths expired, and Monk Yi Xin’s golden radiance surged again.
• A deep-blue light streaked down toward the golden body, and Yu Ci spotted He Qing as she invoked the Xingtian Magic Sword.

He Qing summoned the Li Chen Sect’s Xingtian Magic Sword, destroying the Mingwang golden body and carving a vast fissure through the land near Juebi City. As the survivors assessed the devastation, Ming Lan revealed her transformed Yang God and explained why she had intervened, leaving He Qing’s suspicions of the Xuan Yin Sect unresolved.

• He Qing’s Xingtian Magic Sword split the Mingwang golden body and tore a fissure through the ground, while Gan Shizhen pulled Yu Ci and the others out of its path.
• Yu Ci asked about the sword, and Gan Shizhen explained that it was a foundational treasure enshrined in the Li Chen Sect’s Ancestor Hall and could be summoned across tens of thousands of miles.
• He Qing, nearly exhausted from controlling the sword, confronted Blood Monk Tu Ling as Ming Lan emerged from the silver-gray mist in her youthful Yang God form.
• He Qing congratulated Ming Lan on gaining a divine attendant’s body, and Ming Lan said she would ascend to Li Huan Heaven within an hour or two.
• Ming Lan said she had intervened to protect Juebi City’s congregation, while He Qing made clear that she had delayed using the sword to judge the Xuan Yin Sect’s intentions.

Immortal He and Ming Lan captured Monk Yi Xin after the Xingtian Magic Sword struck him, but he sacrificed himself and destroyed both body and soul before he could be questioned about the Sky Rift. Afterward, Yu Ci joined Immortal He in paying respects to the Xingtian Magic Sword and unexpectedly drew a response from its Sword Qi.

• Immortal He used the Heavenly Law Absolute Prison to pursue Monk Yi Xin, and Ming Lan trapped him with the Five Elements Rings.
• Yu Ci and the others saw Monk Yi Xin bound and gravely wounded, while Immortal He identified him as Blood Monk Tu Ling and demanded answers about the Sky Rift.
• Monk Yi Xin withdrew the technique suppressing his injuries, unleashed bloody radiance, and destroyed himself before Immortal He and Ming Lan could preserve his Yang God.
• Immortal He withdrew her prison after confirming that Monk Yi Xin's body and soul were both destroyed, then summoned Yu Ci to pay respects to the Xingtian Magic Sword.
• Yu Ci's Sword Qi responded to the sword's vibration, and Immortal He told him that he had an affinity with the sect.