Recaps

The Ten Fiends of the East Sea sprang the Poison Origin Water Array on Gui Yan and the other cultivators, using poisonous filaments and skin-bag creatures to slaughter them. Gui Yan burned through the array’s threads, but a mysterious fluctuation killed the last survivor, and he sensed a Demon Lord at the array’s core.

• The Poison Origin Water Array caught the cultivators off guard, dissolving their bodies into poison and turning the dead into floating skin bags.
• The person in charge used his Void Stepping Domain to snap two filaments, while Gui Yan remained untouched by the attacks.
• The surviving cultivators failed to destroy the skin bags as they filled with poisonous liquid and formed small jellyfish.
• Gui Yan vanished into the cloud-mist jellyfish and burned its fine filaments with Azure Flame Yin Fire, disrupting the array.
• A fluctuation passed through the cliff bottom and caused the person in charge’s head to explode.
• Gui Yan remained at the array’s central hub and asked, “Demon Lord?”

Gui Yan fought the Jellyfish Demon Lord’s formation, but the Demon Lord withdrew and the Ten Fiends of the East Sea fled, spreading deadly venom. As Gui Yan absorbed the poison, the Cloud Mist Jellyfish rushed at Yu Ci and Ye Chi, and Jiu Yan pulled Ye Chi behind him.

• The Jellyfish Demon Lord warned Gui Yan to choose a side, and Gui Yan attacked the Cloud Mist Jellyfish with Five Injuries Qi.
• The Demon Lord withdrew, weakening the Poison Origin Water Array and exposing the Ten Fiends of the East Sea.
• Gui Yan struck at the Ten Fiends’ minds, but they burst the little jellyfish and fled through venomous mist that corroded everything in its path.
• Gui Yan used the Sea Swallowing Bottle to absorb the venom while the Cloud Mist Jellyfish turned toward Yu Ci and Ye Chi.
• Ye Chi prepared to draw his sword, but Jiu Yan hooked an arm around his shoulder and pulled him behind him.

Yu Ci protected Ye Chi from the Cloud Mist Jellyfish, then used a talisman and the North Star Soul Control and Death Infliction Art to kill all ten of the fleeing Ten Fiends of the East Sea. After proving his intentions to Ye Chi, he asked whether the Sea Crossing Incense could truly solve the problem facing Island Master Ye.

• Yu Ci used the Inner Void and Three-Party Primordial Energy to withstand the Cloud Mist Jellyfish’s venomous attacks.
• Yu Ci struck the Cloud Mist Jellyfish with the Taiyi Demon Slaying Talisman, killing it and sending an azure slash past Gui Yan to strike another foe far away.
• Ye Chi touched the lingering slash and cut her hand, then recognized Yu Ci’s attack as a Mystic Sect sword talisman.
• Yu Ci sensed the other Ten Fiends of the East Sea through their tethered life-forces and used the North Star Soul Control and Death Infliction Art to kill the remaining nine.
• Yu Ci told Ye Chi that killing the Ten Fiends was a loyalty token and asked whether the Sea Crossing Incense could resolve Island Master Ye’s problem.

Yu Ci urged Ye Chi to address Half-Mountain Island’s long-term survival rather than rely only on Sea Crossing Incense, then explained that his help came from his admiration for Island Master Ye. The chapter ended with Yu Ci recalling Ye Bin’s sword flight and reflecting on how much had changed in twenty years.

• Yu Ci asked Ye Chi to inspect the Ten Fiends’ letters of allegiance while they cleaned up the poisonous sludge.
• Yu Ci offered help with Sea Crossing Incense but warned Ye Chi that it would not solve Half-Mountain Island’s deeper vulnerability.
• Yu Ci argued that the island could not depend on Island Master Ye and the injured Half-Mountain Sword Immortal to protect it indefinitely.
• Ye Chi asked Yu Ci why he had repeatedly helped her sect despite their limited past dealings.
• Yu Ci told Ye Chi that he had always admired Island Master Ye, then remembered Ye Bin and the passage of twenty years.

Yu Ci investigated the deaths of the East Sea’s Ten Fiends while explaining his proposed alliances to Ye Bin. By the seventh corpse, he understood that the North Star Soul Control and Death Infliction Art killed through the law of life and death, and its effects were becoming increasingly subtle.

• Yu Ci examined a fiend whose brain palace had been destroyed and whose primordial spirit had been annihilated, then had Ghost Annihilation collect the toxic slurry.
• Yu Ci advised Ye Bin to seek allies beyond the East Sea’s major powers and learned that the Rakshasa Ghost King had fallen out with Ye Bin’s master after the master refused to help deduce an unrighteous cultivation technique.
• Yu Ci and Ye Bin found a third fiend’s remains aged and withered, then discovered that a fourth had died from nether fire burning through his viscera and brain palace.
• Yu Ci observed that the fifth fiend had died after his dantians ruptured, the sixth from inner demons, and the seventh in the same manner as the third.
• Ye Bin asked whether Master Jiu Yan had induced the fiends’ tribulation passes, and Yu Ci realized that all their deaths resulted from the law of life and death exploiting their vulnerabilities.

Yu Ci explained why Ruizhu Palace could oppose the Rakshasa Sect, but a cry for help interrupted him. He rescued two cultivators from a Heavenly Demon Delusion Realm and learned that a Demon Tide was approaching from the north.

• Yu Ci realized the Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman had strengthened his control over the Law of Life and Death, and Ye Chi grew wary of his mysterious methods.
• Yu Ci proposed seeking an alliance with Ruizhu Palace, and Ye Chi asked him to explain the past battle between the Rakshasa Sect and the Tai Xuan Demon Mother.
• Yu Ci and Ye Chi heard a cry for help and found a poisoned female cultivator near the corpse of a vicious man Yu Ci had killed.
• Yu Ci used the Crimson Heaven Demon Subduing Golden Light Talisman to dispel the Heavenly Demon Delusion Realm and free a trapped cultivator.
• The rescued female cultivator warned Yu Ci and Ye Chi that a Demon Tide from the north had crossed the mountains and urged them to flee.

Yu Ci treated two cultivators from the Siming Sect after rescuing them from a heavenly demon, then learned that a demon calamity had swept south toward Donghua Mountain. After assessing the danger and reassuring himself that Xiao Jiu’s group was safe, he let Ye Chi leave to check on a friend and sent him a message.

• Yu Ci cast a curse on the poisoned female cultivator, learned that she and her companion were from the Siming Sect, and destroyed the fiend’s corpse.
• The female cultivator told Yu Ci that heavenly demons had descended through the Azure Sky Domain five days earlier and spread south toward Donghua Mountain.
• Yu Ci used qi-watching to judge that the demon tide’s force had weakened near Donghua Mountain, whose protected inner region remained relatively safe.
• Ye Chi asked to leave early because a friend had gone north, and Yu Ci thought of Xiao Jiu and the others while confirming they were not in immediate danger.
• Yu Ci gave Ye Chi a jade slip with information and contact instructions, and Ye Chi departed on his sword.

Shen Wan managed the growing pressures surrounding Suixin Pavilion’s Xuanming True Water trading convention as the demonic tribulation drove refugees and merchants into Donghua Mountain. She worked to turn rising interest in the water into real transactions, while Yu Ci helped a poisoned Siming Sect cultivator seek treatment from her.

• Yu Ci asked the poisoned Siming Sect cultivator whom she wanted to find for treatment, and she named Shopkeeper Shen of Suixin Pavilion’s Donghua branch.
• Shen Wan treated her old friend with help from a physician and Suixin Pavilion’s poison-dispelling treasure.
• Shen Wan learned that the Northern Demonic Tribulation had reached Donghua Mountain, where the Seven Earth Immortals’ scars held back its advance.
• As refugees and merchants gathered in Donghua Mountain, rumors about Donghua Palace’s relics drove market prices upward and threatened the Xuanming True Water convention.
• Shen Wan spread word that Xuanming True Water could harm heavenly demons and planned to secure early buyers so the convention’s anticipation would lead to actual trades.

Shen Wan updated Gui Yan on Suixin Pavilion’s trade fair preparations and proposed using Lei Tonghao and his disciple Huo Lian to promote the Xuanming True Water. She left Gui Yan intrigued by her claim that Huo Lian was a lovesick fool.

• Shen Wan accelerated negotiations with influential regional figures to build support for the trade fair and Suixin Pavilion.
• Shen Wan met Gui Yan in a secret chamber and reported the trade fair’s plans, risks, and responses.
• Shen Wan identified Xin Yi of the Eight Sceneries Palace as a major artifact-refining figure and explained that Lei Tonghao and Huo Lian were on Donghua Mountain.
• Shen Wan proposed drawing Lei Tonghao to the fair by appealing to his interest in tribulation-crossing artifacts and hinted that Huo Lian’s romantic feelings could also help.

Guiyan considered expanding his trade needs beyond Donghua Relics after Shen Wan showed him a valuable inventory, while Yu Ci and Zhai Que'er toured the market and encountered Huo Lian investigating a supposed drop of Xuanming True Water. The chapter ended when an angry newcomer burst into the shop and accused the shopkeeper of selling the water after promising it to Xu.

• Shen Wan showed Guiyan a list of valuable trade goods, and Guiyan said he would prepare a list of his own needs.
• Yu Ci and Zhai Que'er visited the market to assess the trade fair's usefulness after Wang Renye's death heightened their concern about the Donghua Palace ruins.
• Yu Ci spotted Huo Lian in a shop, where the artifact-refiner was examining newly arrived magical artifacts.
• The shopkeeper claimed he had acquired a contaminated drop of Xuanming True Water, and Huo Lian agreed to inspect it in a hidden chamber.
• An enraged person smashed through the door and accused the shopkeeper of selling the water despite promising it to Xu.

Zhou Tian Huo Lian met Xu Bo while inspecting a trading stall, and the two bonded over their knowledge of artifacts. After learning Zhou Tian Huo Lian’s reputation, Zhai Que'er bought the copper Mystic Pearl and headed after him, while Yu Ci remained wary of the complications.

• Xu Bo confronted the shopkeeper over a reneged trade and exchanged his Innate Secret Treasure, the Mystic Pearl, for Xuanming True Water.
• Zhou Tian Huo Lian examined the Mystic Pearl, then questioned Xu Bo about the altered ritual-refining method of his gourd, and they spent half an hour discussing artifacts.
• Yu Ci realized Zhai Que'er had noticed his attention on Zhou Tian Huo Lian and warned her that the youth’s backers were troublesome.
• Zhai Que'er told Yu Ci that Zhou Tian Huo Lian was a renowned young cultivator and Lei Tonghao’s chosen successor.
• Zhai Que'er returned to the shop, bought the Mystic Pearl, and set off after Zhou Tian Huo Lian and Xu Bo.

Huo Lian and Xu Bo exchanged ideas about artifact forging until Zhai Que'er drew them into a discussion about the upcoming trading convention. Huo Lian returned to his party with a Jade Talisman from Zhai Que'er, while Yu Ci grew wary of her knowledge and Huo Lian felt troubled by Lei Tonghao doing his homework.

• Huo Lian visited Xu Bo, and the two enthusiastically discussed artifact forging and examined Xu Bo's seventh-layer bronze ball.
• A visitor arrived, and Zhai Que'er recognized Xu Bo as the bronze ball's maker and asked about his connection to Xu Yang.
• Zhai Que'er learned Huo Lian's name, then kept him and Xu Bo talking about artifact techniques and the upcoming Xuanming True Water trading convention.
• Yu Ci, posing as Jiu Yan, suspected Zhai Que'er already knew Xu Bo's background and wondered what the Eastern Branch of the Demonic Sect might do next.
• Zhai Que'er asked Xu Bo to help select materials and appraise items at the trading convention, then gave Huo Lian a Jade Talisman inviting him to join.
• Huo Lian returned to the countryside courtyard and learned that Lei Tonghao was doing his homework, which weighed on him.

Huo Lian reported his encounters to Lei Tonghao, who asked him to help Xu Bo and prepare for the trading convention. Half a month later, the Suixin Pavilion completed its elaborate four-arena venue, and Shen Wan ordered the Xuanming True Water owner to enter.

• Huo Lian told Lei Tonghao about Xu Bo’s artifact-refining skill and his agreement with Xin Yi, and Lei Tonghao urged him to help Xu Bo.
• Lei Tonghao instructed Huo Lian to collect Xuanming True Water and bring back Donghua Relics for him to assess.
• The Suixin Pavilion organized the convention into four arenas with rules for displaying, appraising, auctioning, and directly trading treasures.
• The Suixin Pavilion activated the Myriad Treasure Shelf and began filling the venue with booths and wares.
• Shen Wan watched the convention preparations and ordered the black-robed owner of the Xuanming True Water to enter.

Shen Wan opened the trading grounds and directed the surging crowd through the Myriad Treasure Shelf’s venues as the first auction round approached. Yu Ci and Zhai Que'er observed the convention while Xu Bo and Huolian searched for materials among the Donghua relics, unaware of Zhai Que'er's strange interest in them.

• Shen Wan activated the appraisal ground and began public guidance as the trading venue filled with cultivators.
• Gui Yan sensed the crowd's desires, while Zhai Que'er praised Shen Wan and teased Yu Ci about Gui Yan's interest in her.
• Xu Bo and Huolian examined magical treasures and Donghua relics against a list of materials their employer wanted to acquire.
• Xu Bo and Huolian planned to recover scarce materials by dismantling and refining damaged magical treasures, treating the search as a test of their craft.
• Zhai Que'er told Yu Ci that Xu Bo and Huolian's enjoyment made them more delicious, then watched as the venue announced the start of the first competitive bidding round.

Yu Ci and Zhai Que'er surveyed the auction appraisal area, where Yu Ci noticed a Black Heaven Cult cultivator watching another man with a red-skinned gourd. They entered the crowded auction hall just as the bidding began, where someone approached Yu Ci and addressed him as Brother Jiu Yan.

• Fire Refining and Zheng Bo stayed behind to examine and dismantle magical artifacts while Zhai Que'er and Yu Ci went to survey the auction.
• Ghost Loathing secretly alerted Yu Ci to a cultivator whose aura resembled the Black Heaven Cult's Future Star Tribulation Scripture.
• Yu Ci observed the cultivator watching a man whose red-skinned gourd passed the first two appraisal stages after demonstrating Black Baleful Intent sword light.
• Yu Ci and Zhai Que'er left the appraisal area and entered the auction hall as the auction began.
• A man behind Yu Ci opened a paper fan and asked whether he and Brother Jiu Yan were destined to meet.

Yu Ci reunited with Gu Zhi and Jiang Shangyan at the auction, where Gu Zhi sought help with his failing lifespan and the Western Heaven Gate. Their conversation was interrupted when Yu Ci sensed a resonant object and ordered Gui Yan to send its owner into the Treasure Arena.

• Yu Ci greeted Gu Zhi and Zhai Que'er, and he reunited with Jiang Shangyan before they found seats together.
• Gu Zhi explained that he was seeking treasures to extend his life because he had remained at the Returning Elixir realm and was nearing decline.
• Zhai Que'er revealed that Gu Zhi held the title of vice gate master of the Western Heaven Gate within the Buyun Society and tried to recruit him into her sect.
• Gu Zhi asked Yu Ci to join the Buyun Society and help him stabilize the difficult situation at the Western Heaven Gate.
• Yu Ci sensed a resonance with an object behind the cliff wall and ordered Gui Yan to designate its owner to enter the Treasure Arena.

Yu Ci learned that powerful clans and sects had gathered at Donghua Mountain as the demonic tribulation disrupted the outer domains. At the auction, Gui Yan used his Xuanming True Water to claim the right of first refusal on a Donghua Relic, bidding three drops.

• A cultivator’s artifact was approved for direct entry to the treasure grounds, while a suspected Black Heaven Cult member failed to follow him through a guarded doorway.
• Gu Zhi told Yu Ci and Zhai Que'er that heavenly demons had made the Three Norths nearly impossible to enter or leave and that the society’s strength was concentrated there.
• Gu Zhi revealed that powerful figures from the Demon Sect, Sword Discussion Pavilion, Eight Sceneries Palace, and Kongyou Nunnery had come to Donghua Mountain.
• The auction displayed a Donghua Relic suspected to be a magical array’s central Dharma seal as Shen Wan awaited a major development.
• Gui Yan activated the right of first refusal and bid three drops of Xuanming True Water for the relic.

The owner of the Xuanming True Water bought the damaged Donghua Relic after raising the offer to five drops, and Shen Wan reflected on how the auction had kept the trade fair lively. Yu Ci examined the Dharma Seal and rejected Zhai Que'er’s proposal to turn Shen Wan into one of the Heavenly Demon Kin, before an imposing visitor arrived to meet them.

• The consignor refused the owner of the Xuanming True Water’s offer, and the bidder raised it to five drops to secure the Donghua Relic’s Dharma Seal.
• Shen Wan watched the lively exchange and considered how she had used the auctioneer to keep the trade fair active without undermining the organizer’s bidding privilege.
• Yu Ci examined the Dharma Seal through Guiyan’s perspective while Zhai Que'er asked him to let Guiyan plant a demonic seed in Shen Wan; Yu Ci refused.
• An attendant warned Shen Wan that someone outside was forcing their way in, and a powerful visitor appeared, filling the space with tyrannical sword intent as he demanded to meet her and the fellow Daoist.

Ghost Yan fought the swordsman identified as Ghost God Sword inside Suixin Pavilion while Shen Wan summoned help. Dao Hua True Man arrived and recognized Ghost Yan, leaving the gathering of Longevity True Men poised for an explanation.

• Ghost Yan and Ghost God Sword clashed, killing an attendant and forcing Shen Wan to activate the defensive arrays and raise an alarm.
• Ghost Yan turned the fight against Ghost God Sword, whose sword qi had to drive out demonic qi from his body.
• Suixin Pavilion’s combatant reinforcements arrived and called the intruder Ghost God Sword.
• Dao Hua True Man entered the room, and the pressure from the four Longevity True Men shattered the defensive arrays.
• Dao Hua True Man recognized Ghost Yan, who returned to physical form, removed his Black Robe, and demanded an explanation.

Ghost Weariness confronted Dao Hua True Man and Ghost God Sword while Shen Wan’s protection failed, then demanded to know why Concubine Tao had withdrawn. Concubine Tao appeared and, fearing Ghost Weariness’s notorious reputation, worried about the consequences of the standoff.

• Ghost Weariness and Dao Hua True Man exchanged barbed remarks after Ghost God Sword’s shriek shattered the barrier around Shen Wan.
• Ghost Weariness confirmed his true body had received his information and judged that his opponents were unlikely to risk a battle to the death.
• Suixin Pavilion’s offering withdrew, leaving Shen Wan exposed to the pressure of Dao Hua True Man and Ghost God Sword.
• Ghost Weariness asked who had withdrawn, and Shen Wan called Concubine Tao back into the room.
• Concubine Tao entered and feared Ghost Weariness, recalling his repeated escapes from Sword Discussion Pavilion and his growing notoriety.

Shen Wan gambled that Ghost Hater would back her play and escorted him from the damaged trading convention, with Concubine Tao forced to comply. Dao Hua True Man then asked Ghost Hater to reveal the exalted figure he served, leaving Ghost Hater to wonder how the rumor of a hidden master had spread so widely.

• Shen Wan ordered Concubine Tao to clear the unrelated people and damaged area, then asked Ghost Hater to accompany her to the main site.
• Ghost Hater agreed to Shen Wan's request, and Concubine Tao reluctantly accepted her instructions.
• Shen Wan reflected that she had risked her position on Ghost Hater's support and had won his backing, though she gained no security for her future.
• As Shen Wan and Ghost Hater were leaving, Dao Hua True Man asked to hear the name of Ghost Hater's supposed master on behalf of her allies and peers.
• Ghost Hater wondered how the rumor of a powerful figure behind him had reached Eight Sceneries Palace and Sword Discussion Pavilion, and recognized that his own conduct had helped fuel suspicion.

Yu Ci, posing as Ghost Yan, learned why the Eight Sceneries Palace wanted his moniker carved onto the Purple Extreme Yellow Diagram and discovered the treasure could shield those on the Divine Path from heavenly punishments. He remained wary of agreeing, especially because he had no suitable moniker and feared exposing himself to ridicule.

• Dao Hua True Man asked Ghost Yan for his honorific so the Eight Sceneries Palace could carve his name onto the Purple Extreme Yellow Diagram.
• Ghost Yan feigned disdain and secretly stole information about the diagram from Concubine Tao’s thoughts.
• Dao Hua True Man explained that having a name carved on the diagram could avert heavenly punishments during the coming tribulations.
• Ghost Yan learned that the Purple Extreme Yellow Diagram was an ancient treasure once used by the witchcraft god to invest spirits and monsters with divine authority.
• Ghost Yan discovered that the Karmaless Sword Immortal had damaged the diagram, but the Eight Sceneries Palace still used it to protect those on the Divine Path from disasters.

Gui Yan learned more about the Purple Extreme Yellow Diagram but refused the Eight Sceneries Palace’s invitation, then weighed its possible benefits and dangers while settling into a private auction room. As Shen Wan confided in him, he reached out to straighten her hairpins, and she froze.

• Gui Yan rejected the invitation to be listed on the Yellow Diagram and left with Shen Wan, despite Dao Hua True Man warning that the gathering would be a rare grand occasion.
• Shen Wan led Gui Yan to a private VIP room overlooking the auction, where he considered the diagram’s benefits, unknown costs, and the arrival of elite cultivators at Donghua Mountain.
• Gui Yan decided he needed to ask Zhai Que'er what she knew about the cultivators’ movements.
• Shen Wan asked whether Gui Yan believed in a deity, and he replied that having something to entrust oneself to was good.
• Gui Yan noticed Shen Wan’s three emerald hairpins were crooked and reached out to straighten them, causing her to freeze.

At the auction’s final lot, Ghost Weary focused on a damaged divine statue and an Innate Secret Treasure linked to Li Xia, while Shen Wan endured his teasing. After the owner of the Xuanming True Water chose the statue and arranged a secret face-to-face trade, Yu Ci and his companions left the hall and were stopped by Ghost God Sword.

• The auctioneer put ten drops of Xuanming True Water up for bidding, drawing a flood of public offers and secret bids.
• Ghost Weary teased Shen Wan, then selected a damaged divine statue and Li Xia’s bloodstained flying-wheel treasure as the items he wanted.
• Jiu Yan and Zhai Que'er decided to leave before the result, and Gu Zhi called Jiang Shangyan to go with them.
• The Xuanming True Water’s owner chose the divine statue and designated a secret bid for a face-to-face trade.
• Yu Ci and the others headed out, but Ghost God Sword blocked their path and demanded a greeting.

Yu Ci and Zhai Que'er encountered the Ghost God Sword and the Sage Wisdom Walker, who explained why the Sword Discussion Pavilion was granting access to Donghua Palace. The Ghost God Sword gave Yu Ci a token and invited him to a symposium at Taichu Peak in twenty days, leaving Yu Ci wondering what the pavilion hoped to uncover and why the Buddhist sect was involved.

• Zhai Que'er confronted the Ghost God Sword and the Sage Wisdom Walker as they blocked the way.
• The Ghost God Sword gave Yu Ci a sword token granting access to the Donghua Palace ruins and said discoveries had to be registered before departure.
• The Sage Wisdom Walker explained that the Sword Discussion Pavilion sought secrets behind the Northern Demonic Tribulation and asked Yu Ci to reveal his true face.
• The Ghost God Sword said token holders were expected at a symposium, then invited Yu Ci to Taichu Peak in twenty days.
• Yu Ci considered the factions' conflicting aims and wondered why the Sword Discussion Pavilion had involved the Buddhist sect.