Recaps

Yu Ci tried to simplify Zhai Que'er’s talisman while remaining wary of her mental acuity and secret arts. After two hours of reverse-engineering, he produced a rough jade talisman with ninety-two aperture points, leaving Zhai Que'er and Xia Shuanghe keenly interested in his result.

• Zhai Que'er challenged Yu Ci to simplify a talisman, then set off with Third Master He and Xia Shuanghe to inspect the Black Robe’s former dwelling.
• The Shadow Ghost warned Yu Ci that Zhai Que'er could detect and exploit his emotional fluctuations.
• Yu Ci unexpectedly planted mental starlight in Xia Shuanghe’s soul and began receiving his perceptions and emotions.
• Yu Ci spent two hours reverse-engineering the talisman’s fractal structures instead of using his vital-energy-consuming analysis ability.
• Yu Ci produced a jade talisman with ninety-two aperture points, drawing intense attention from Zhai Que'er and Xia Shuanghe.

Yu Ci’s flawed ninety-two-aperture talisman unexpectedly revealed his exceptional skill when it formed a living phantom cat, earning him Zhai Que’er’s offer of a business deal and a trip to Fengdu City. Before he could discuss the Mysterious Water Luminous Rock Vein, a violent tremor and a scream interrupted them.

• Yu Ci learned that his ninety-two-aperture talisman ranked poorly by practical standards, while Xia Shuanghe praised Soul Chaser’s much higher-scoring Heavenly Script Society scroll.
• Xia Shuanghe explained the Heavenly Script Society’s Class A and Class B scrolls as Third Master He continued to criticize Yu Ci’s slow work.
• Zhai Que’er crushed Yu Ci’s jade talisman, releasing a black cat that displayed the Nine Lives Phantom Spirit Talisman’s spiritual nature and concealed her with its power.
• Yu Ci recognized that the cat’s form was incomplete, but Zhai Que’er offered him a business deal and invited him to travel with them to Fengdu City.
• A stronger subterranean tremor shook the group, and a scream was crushed by an even more intense sound wave.

As the battle between two Longevity True Men devastated the underground, Zhai Que'er guided Yu Ci, Third Master He, and Xia Shuanghe through the shifting shockwaves. They encountered Black Robe's Molten Core Puppet and realized he had targeted them, then scattered to escape as another wave approached.

• A scream and surging explosions revealed that the Longevity True Men had begun fighting in earnest, so Zhai Que'er led the group away from the danger.
• Zhai Que'er used the deaths of subordinates and the changing shockwaves to find safer paths through the underground.
• Zhai Que'er recognized a Molten Core Puppet sent by her senior brother Black Robe, and Third Master He destroyed it.
• Zhai Que'er warned that Black Robe was greedy and intended to seize them, while Yu Ci recommended splitting up to improve their chances of escape.
• As a massive shockwave approached, Zhai Que'er ordered everyone to flee separately, and the four shot underground as the air exploded.

Yu Ci escaped deeper underground while Zhai Que'er hid in his aura, then slipped away after giving him a Class A Heavenly Script Society scroll. Through his starlight link to Xia Shuanghe, Yu Ci watched Xia release Flying Firefly and follow it to an underground lava river, where something appeared to be floating.

• Zhai Que'er entered Yu Ci's protective aura and clung to him to conceal herself from her senior brother, then left him a Class A scroll before descending away.
• Yu Ci sensed that the battle between Black Robe and the other True Person had moved far from him, while Xia Shuanghe remained alive and outside the immediate danger zone.
• Xia Shuanghe released Flying Firefly from its bottle, and the luminous insect led him through the earth toward a heat-filled fissure.
• Xia Shuanghe followed Flying Firefly into a vast underground lava river, where Yu Ci noticed something floating in the magma.

Yu Ci watched Xia Shuanghe battle a Fire Rock Lizard in the lava river and uncover a mysterious object, only for Black Robe’s deadly power to erupt. Yu Ci fled underground but was caught in the resulting shockwave and raised his Seven Star Sword to defend himself.

• Xia Shuanghe provoked the Fire Rock Lizard and used three Voodoo Soul Puppets to paralyze it, sending it tumbling into the magma.
• Xia Shuanghe raised a mysterious translucent object from the lava with a magma puppet, but a red light erupted and melted the puppet as he escaped.
• The Shadow Ghost identified the red light as Molten Core Great Annihilation Magnetic Light and suspected Black Robe had unleashed it.
• Yu Ci fled deeper underground, but the shockwave tore through the earth, so he summoned the Seven Star Sword and shielded himself with Sword Qi.

Yu Ci survived the shockwaves from the clash between two Longevity True Men by refining his sword techniques under the shadow ghost’s guidance, though the strain cost him several years of lifespan. After refusing the shadow ghost’s offer to become a sword cultivator, he wondered whether the battle had ended as the impacts ceased.

• Yu Ci endured the True Person cultivators’ devastating shockwaves with the Flawless Sword Circle while the shadow ghost warned him not to draw on his Innate Vital Energy.
• As the pressure crushed his sword circle, Yu Ci followed the shadow ghost’s sword guidance and used the Seven Star Sword to redirect and dissolve the force.
• Yu Ci slipped free of the battle zone, but his injuries triggered his blood marrow vital energy and cost him three to five years of lifespan as his body recovered.
• The shadow ghost offered to help Yu Ci form a Sword Embryo within three days, but Yu Ci refused because he remained committed to the Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman.
• Yu Ci recalled the sword formulas the shadow ghost had taught him and found that they clarified his understanding of swordsmanship.
• The impacts stopped and the pressure eased, leaving Yu Ci uncertain whether the battle had ended.

Yu Ci discovered that the Mind Intent Star Glow had transferred from Xia Shuanghe to a sleeping passenger inside the mysterious object, whom he identified as Ling Xi Wanderer. Fearing Ling Xi Wanderer would expose him once awake, Yu Ci set out to kill him before he could be found.

• Yu Ci sensed a new, healthy target through the Mind Intent Star Glow and fled the battlefield rather than investigate.
• While sleeping, Yu Ci dreamed of a yellow-red lotus seed absorbing streams of light and heard a strange scripture before Shadow Ghost woke him.
• Yu Ci realized the star glow had transferred to an unknown sleeping person whose six faculties were blocked, and the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror reacted.
• Yu Ci and Shadow Ghost inferred that the fast-moving target was inside the elliptical object and was likely Ling Xi Wanderer.
• Yu Ci rejected Shadow Ghost's suggestion to disguise themselves and decided to find and kill Ling Xi Wanderer before he woke up.

Yu Ci considered using long-range curse talismans against Ling Xi Wanderer, but realized he first needed an altar and greater cultivation. While searching underground for a Mysterious Water Luminous Rock Vein, he encountered Lu Qing in a confrontation with two men.

• Yu Ci discussed using the Nail Head Seven Arrows Book or the North Star Soul Control and Death Infliction Art to kill Ling Xi Wanderer from afar, but concluded that both required an altar he had not yet built.
• Yu Ci spent seven or eight days underground searching for the Mysterious Water Luminous Rock Vein while monitoring the distant divine-intent starlight for signs of Black Robe.
• Yu Ci found a magma pool without any Mysterious Water Obsidian and followed the magma upstream.
• Yu Ci sensed living beings on the Zhaoshen Map and heard two men threaten a woman.
• Yu Ci recognized Lu Qing as she punched the two men, her force solidifying the surrounding earth strata.

Yu Ci hurried to help Lu Qing fight Old Gu and a nine-foot-tall brute, but Lu Qing wounded Old Gu with a concealed ribbon-like Dharma artifact before Yu Ci could intervene. Old Gu survived, expelled Yu Ci’s Divine Intent, and revealed that he had detected Yu Ci nearby.

• Yu Ci recognized Lu Qing’s opponents as the two men who had caused trouble at the Red Fang Workshop, and noticed Old Gu had recovered from his earlier injuries.
• Lu Qing held off Old Gu’s evasive attacks while the nine-foot-tall brute disrupted her Divine Intent and threatened to strike.
• Yu Ci approached the battlefield and prepared to assist Lu Qing, but she used a hidden ribbon-like Dharma artifact to slash Old Gu’s neck.
• Old Gu emitted an eerie infant-like wail, survived his injury, and warned the brute that Yu Ci was ten miles away.
• Old Gu forced Yu Ci’s Divine Intent out of his brain palace, leaving the Zhaoshen Map’s view of the battlefield hazy.

Yu Ci used Tie Lan to hold off a nine-foot-tall Void Stepping cultivator while he tried to help Lu Qing escape Old Gu’s suppression. Old Gu’s attack failed to stop Yu Ci, but the combined strikes of Lu Qing and Tie Lan wounded him and drove him into a furious transformation.

• Yu Ci summoned Tie Lan, who emerged from the strata and engaged the nine-foot-tall man in battle.
• Yu Ci reached the edge of Lu Qing’s fight with Old Gu and asked whether she could break away, but Old Gu attacked him with a Sound Killing Technique.
• Yu Ci’s Immortal Binding Rope countered much of the attack, and he retreated while secretly sending an attack toward Old Gu.
• Old Gu’s protective baleful intent stopped the hidden strike, but the follow-up Sword Qi and Lu Qing’s Fist Intent injured him.
• Old Gu unleashed his accumulated power, collapsed the surrounding strata, and revealed a giant body as he threatened to eat his opponents raw.

Old Gu and the nine-foot giant revealed their demonic forms and fought Tie Lan and Lu Qing in the collapsing strata. After Lu Qing and Tie Lan coordinated a counterattack, a sudden wound to the giant and an eruption of magma disrupted the demons’ assault.

• The Shadow Ghost identified Old Gu’s transformed form as a Gu Diao, while Lu Qing suspected the two enemies had come from the Six Barbarian Mountains.
• The nine-foot giant and Old Gu combined their demonic auras to attack Tie Lan, but Lu Qing disrupted their connection and helped Tie Lan escape the first strike.
• Lu Qing used Chaotic Collapse Strike with Tie Lan’s sword assault to counter the two demons, and they exchanged several fierce clashes across the collapsing strata.
• The nine-foot giant exploited a coordination error to charge Lu Qing, but a sudden attack wounded his shoulder as magma erupted and damaged Old Gu’s water vapor.
• Tie Lan and Lu Qing regrouped and restored their formation after the delays disrupted the demons’ assault.

Yu Ci used carefully timed talismans and remote interference to disrupt the battle between Lu Qing, Tie Lan, and the two great demons, helping the allies recover their coordination. As the nine-foot giant escalated its cultivation and recognized the Primordial Formless Sword, the Shadow Ghost urgently warned Yu Ci to stop.

• Yu Ci drew magma into the battlefield and struck the nine-foot giant with a God Slaying Thorn, forcing the demons to resume fighting in the oppressive heat.
• Yu Ci used a Grand Unity Star Pivot Clone and paired Heavenly River Auspicious Prayer Curses to help Lu Qing and Tie Lan coordinate despite Tie Lan's clones.
• Yu Ci continued disrupting the demons' rhythm with precisely timed talismans, while his divided consciousness gave him several viewpoints on the battle.
• The nine-foot giant raised its cultivation and pressured Lu Qing, but Yu Ci's Sword Qi delayed its attack.
• The nine-foot giant recognized the Primordial Formless Sword, and the Shadow Ghost shouted for Yu Ci to stop.

Yu Ci used talismans, illusions, and swordplay to evade the nine-foot giant and give Tie Lan and Lu Qing openings to close in. After the giant struck him, Lu Qing’s attack and a sudden blade at the back of its head caught it off guard.

• The nine-foot giant abandoned its fight with Tie Lan and Lu Qing and charged after Yu Ci, while Lu Qing struggled to intercept it.
• Yu Ci used Water Strike Three Thousand Miles to turn magma against Gu Diao, giving Tie Lan a chance to break free with her Demon Slaying Sword.
• Yu Ci slowed the giant with an Earth-to-Steel Talisman, then scattered Grand Unity Star Pivot Clones to confuse its pursuit.
• The giant destroyed most of the clones with a shockwave, caught up to Yu Ci, and punched him more than a li away after he deflected part of the blow with his sword.
• As the giant prepared to attack again, Lu Qing’s pale, semi-ethereal weapon threatened it from one side, while a sharp edge suddenly pierced the back of its head.

Lu Qing and his allies wounded the nine-foot-tall brute with the Utmost Yin Blood Transformation Blade, forcing it to flee while Gu Diao covered its escape. Lu Qing’s blood-soaked weapon pursued Gu Diao, but the Shadow Ghost sensed another danger as a natal divine ability was unleashed.

• The nine-foot-tall brute mistook Lu Qing’s God Slaying Thorn for a lethal attack, then realized the other weapons and sonic techniques were disrupting its defenses.
• Lu Qing revealed Stepping Void cultivation through the Heavenly Demon Soul Splitting Incarnation and combined attacks with Tie Lan’s twin-hooked cables to disrupt the brute’s meridians.
• Lu Qing’s white silk ribbon blade pierced the brute’s chest, drained its blood, and poisoned it, but the brute tore free and escaped upward with wings sprouting from its back.
• Gu Diao covered the brute’s retreat from Tie Lan, then fled when Lu Qing’s blood-red ribbon pursued and pierced it.
• The Shadow Ghost identified Lu Qing’s weapon as the Demonic Sect’s Utmost Yin Blood Transformation Blade and warned everyone to dodge a natal divine ability.

Yu Ci survived Gu Diao’s feather attack but was left with a poisoned, badly injured leg, while Lu Qing offered him shelter after revealing more of her hidden cultivation. As Yu Ci and Shadow Ghost discussed the demons’ ties to Hao Dian, Gu Diao’s apparently lifeless body flew past with Tie Lan beside it.

• Yu Ci dodged most of Gu Diao’s barrier-piercing feathers, but several struck his left leg, and he used the Heavenly River Auspicious Prayer Curse to suppress their poison.
• Lu Qing offered to help Yu Ci and apologized when he confronted her about her concealed Void Stepping cultivation.
• Yu Ci chose not to question Lu Qing about her demonic techniques and accepted her offer to find a place to rest.
• Yu Ci recovered the Jade God Cave Spirit Seal and discussed Qiongqi, Hao Dian, and the Hundred Spirits Manifesting Gauze with Shadow Ghost.
• Yu Ci spotted Gu Diao’s seemingly lifeless body flying through the strata, driven by Tie Lan.

Yu Ci and Lu Qing examined Gu Diao's corpse and recovered its inner core, but learned it could not cure the poison. Qiongqi was expected to recover from the Blood Transformation Curse in about a month, leaving Yu Ci to prepare for its return while helping Tie Lan recover.

• Tie Lan returned with Gu Diao's corpse, and Shadow Ghost explained that the Supreme Yin Blood Transformation Blade had killed the great demon by draining its vitality and poisoning its blood.
• At Lu Qing's suggestion, Tie Lan opened Gu Diao's skull and retrieved its inner core, which Shadow Ghost identified as powerful artifact material but too tainted to detoxify poison.
• Lu Qing declined the inner core, and Yu Ci considered keeping it despite the risk of Qiongqi seeking revenge.
• Lu Qing estimated that Qiongqi would need about a month to purge the Blood Transformation Curse, and Yu Ci worried it would come after him once it recovered.
• Yu Ci asked Tie Lan to help him stand and promised to embed the Iron Soul Returning Spirit Pearl in the Seven Stars Altar of Footwork to help Tie Lan absorb yin energy.

After helping Lu Qing defeat the Gu Diao, Yu Ci rested in her old lava grotto and discussed the demon’s inner core and the Blood-Melting Saber with her. He then sensed Ling Xi Wanderer stirring ten thousand miles away and realized Black Robe was forcing him awake, leaving Yu Ci with several urgent problems and little time.

• Yu Ci and Lu Qing returned to her old lava grotto, where he offered to buy the Gu Diao’s inner core after they reached a major city.
• Yu Ci accidentally revealed that he knew the Blood-Melting Saber, and Lu Qing said she had acquired the evil weapon and demonic techniques by chance.
• Yu Ci began checking his talisman scripture for a way to counter the Gu Diao’s poison, then suddenly sensed Ling Xi Wanderer stirring from ten thousand miles away.
• Yu Ci and Shadow Ghost concluded that Black Robe had violently disturbed Ling Xi Wanderer, who briefly stirred before falling back into a coma.
• Yu Ci considered the poison, Ling Xi Wanderer, Qiongqi, and his own lifespan, and recognized that time was running short.

Yu Ci struggled to devise a way to cure the Gu Diao’s poison before it permanently damaged his leg, and spent three days preparing a powerful earth-based talisman. Lu Qing returned with a mysterious crimson stone that seemed to contain water, leaving Yu Ci stunned.

• Yu Ci found that the Returning True Purple Smoke slowed his injury but could not remove the poison quickly enough, while the talismans that might work were too demanding to use at once.
• Yu Ci reinforced and tested the Earth Deity Profound Virtue Divine Talisman’s pattern, using Fusheng Grass seeds and spiritual liquid to strengthen its foundation.
• Yu Ci realized Lu Qing had been gone for an hour and struggled to work without her quiet assistance, while Shadow Ghost warned him not to trust her too readily.
• Lu Qing returned and told Yu Ci to pause his work, then placed a large, charred-looking stone on the ground.
• Yu Ci recognized the stone as Mysterious Water Obsidian and was dumbfounded.

Yu Ci learned that Lu Qing had found Mysterious Water Obsidian and used her abilities to reproduce his talisman array on it. After Lu Qing urged him to seek treatment for his Gu Diao poison in Huayan City, Yu Ci agreed to travel with her aboard the Clear Sky Gang Thunder Boat and prepared to disguise himself.

• Lu Qing told Yu Ci that she had found a large deposit of Mysterious Water Obsidian about four hundred miles away, and Yu Ci confirmed the nearby stone was genuine.
• Lu Qing warned Yu Ci about the Qiongqi threat and urged him to seek medical help for his poisoning at the Evergreen Gate in Huayan City.
• Lu Qing brought out the Clear Sky Gang Thunder Boat and explained that she could fly it about twenty thousand miles a day, reaching Huayan City in four or five days.
• Lu Qing used her Soul Splitting Incarnation technique to copy Yu Ci's completed talisman array and its spiritual energy onto the Mysterious Water Obsidian.
• Yu Ci thanked Lu Qing, shaved off his beard with the Seven Star Sword, and introduced himself as a casual cultivator before their journey.

Wang An struggled to protect Three Families Market’s Floating Cloud Ship as Sand Bandits raided it above the Black Sandstorm. Just as the core fighters threatened the cargo holds, a lightning-wreathed craft burst into the sky and killed an attacking bandit, giving Wang An new hope.

• Wang An ordered the Floating Cloud Ship to descend into the Black Sandstorm to drive off the looters, damaging the vessel in the process.
• Sand Bandit Core Formation fighters attacked the ship’s guards and cargo holds while Wang An worried about the valuable beast skull among the goods.
• Two returning Sand Bandits pressed toward the cargo hold, worsening the fight as You Rui remained calmly detached.
• A craft surrounded by purple lightning burst through the Black Sandstorm, and its lightning killed a Sand Bandit who attacked it.
• Wang An rejoiced at the arrival of the lightning-wreathed craft.

Yu Ci and Lu Qing fled a flying armored demon dragon in the Clear Sky Gang Thunder Boat and prepared to descend near a populated city. Yu Ci realized the pursuing beast could unleash a sandstorm on the city and considered turning back to kill it.

• The flying armored demon dragon smashed into Wang An's floating cloud ship while chasing the Clear Sky Gang Thunder Boat, and You Rui urged Wang An to focus on saving the damaged vessel.
• Yu Ci learned from Lu Qing that they had passed sand bandits robbing a Three Families Market airship and continued working on his talismans and altar materials during the journey.
• Lu Qing decided to descend underground to escape the flying armored demon dragon, which could not enter the earth.
• Lu Qing spotted a city below and steered the flying boat past its defensive array as they prepared to dive underground.
• Yu Ci sensed that tens of thousands of people lived in the city and proposed turning back to kill the demon dragon before it endangered them.

Yu Ci and Lu Qing killed a Flying Armored Demon Dragon attacking a Northern Wasteland city, then escaped underground and reached the busy passage leading toward Huayan City. They ended at a brightly lit underground thoroughfare, still some distance from the city.

• Yu Ci and Lu Qing prepared to fight the Flying Armored Demon Dragon as it pursued them toward a city.
• A loose-haired man tried to bind the demon dragon with multicolored threads, but the beast broke free and left him trapped outside the defensive array.
• Yu Ci struck the demon dragon with the Primordial Formless Sword and God Slaying Thorn, while Lu Qing pinned it with her Fist Intent and lightning-powered punch, killing it.
• Yu Ci collected the beast's resentful spirit with the Taiyin Banner as the loose-haired man argued with the city's residents and fled underground.
• Yu Ci and Lu Qing escaped underground and arrived at the well-lit, carriage-filled passage leading toward Huayan City.

Yu Ci and Lu Qing traveled toward Huayan City, where Lu Qing explained the widespread use and dangers of Ghost Prison Powder. They passed a ghost cultivator checkpoint and reached the city entrance, with Lu Qing revealing how the powder helped drive the region’s ghost-cultivation trade.

• Lu Qing explained that Huayan City consisted of many settlements and pushed Yu Ci’s wooden cart as they traveled.
• A group of Ghost Prison Powder users crashed into a lizard carriage, then danced and sang in a delirious frenzy; Lu Qing described the powder’s effects and risks.
• A ghost cultivator stopped Yu Ci and Lu Qing, asked where they were from, and let them pass after Lu Qing explained they were seeking treatment at Evergreen Gate.
• Lu Qing told Yu Ci that Huayan City was a major center for ghost cultivators and that Ghost Prison Powder could stimulate yin-spirit cultivation, enabling some to convert to the ghost path.
• Yu Ci learned that Ghost Prison Powder was widely used across the Northern Wasteland and that Evergreen Gate controlled part of its trade as they arrived at Huayan City’s checkpoint.

Wang An sought help repairing the Floating Cloud Ship, while You Rui browsed Three Families Market and noticed Yu Ci inspecting a valuable item. The chapter ended with You Rui and Yu Ci both asking about the same Yin Ore.

• Wang An met You Rui at Three Families Market, then secured shipwrights from the Left Manager to repair the Floating Cloud Ship.
• The Left Manager told Wang An that You Rui had checked market registrations and gone to browse Baichuan Market.
• You Rui's guard broke the wrist of a man who reached for You Rui's foot, and market guards dragged him away.
• Yu Ci and Lu Qing arranged an appointment with Mr. Qingsong to treat Yu Ci's legs and then went to Three Families Market to shop for treatment materials.
• You Rui and Yu Ci both asked a vendor about the same Yin Ore.

At a Baichuan Market stall, Yu Ci and You Rui competed for a Yin ore until Lu Qing exposed the ghost cultivator’s illness and offered it a cure. Yu Ci then withdrew from the transaction, leaving the ghost cultivator caught between two valuable offers.

• You Rui joined Yu Ci at the stall and asked the ghost cultivator how much it wanted for the Yin ore.
• Yu Ci introduced himself to You Rui as Lu Dun, and the ghost cultivator said it wanted to trade for ghost-path cultivation texts.
• You Rui offered the ghost cultivator a remnant of the Impermanence Method Explanation, which could let it cultivate to Manifesting Shadow Under the Sun.
• Lu Qing diagnosed the ghost cultivator’s Yin Fire Tribulation and offered it a Yin Luo Pill to reshape its ghost body.
• The ghost cultivator hesitated between taking the pill and the cultivation method, and You Rui moved to retrieve the jade slip.
• Yu Ci said they no longer wanted the Yin ore.