Recaps

Xiao Jiu intervened in a dispute between Tianfa Ling Sect disciples and Xiyu Alliance cultivators over spirit fish, then negotiated a future sale with Li Cunzhong. After settling the conflict, she reprimanded her sect companions for their reckless behavior.

• The red-robed captain questioned both groups after they argued over spirit fish and learned that Li Cunzhong and a Tianfa Ling Sect cultivator were fighting underwater.
• Li Cunzhong emerged battered, while Xiao Jiu stood unharmed on the lake and was identified as Nine Spirit Lady Shi Xin.
• The red-robed captain warned Li Cunzhong and Xiao Jiu to obey Xi Yu Lake’s rules, and Xiao Jiu offered to supply ten Three-tailed Spirit Fish in half a month.
• Li Cunzhong offered a bottle of Skywater Pill and a Dharma artifact in exchange, and he and Xiao Jiu agreed to meet again.
• Xiao Jiu returned to the seven Tianfa Ling Sect cultivators and scolded them for leaving the sect and acting recklessly.

Xiao Jiu reunited with Yu Ci after more than a dozen years, following her arrival at Xi Yu Lake to meet Fan Ping and his fellow Tianfa Ling Sect disciples. The chapter ended with Xiao Jiu bursting into tears at the sight of Yu Ci.

• Xiao Jiu questioned Fan Ping and the other Tianfa Ling Sect disciples about their conflict on the lake and their search for spiritual fish.
• Yan Chen complained that the crowded Three True Immortal Cities and lake environs offered no suitable spirit-gathering place, so Xiao Jiu offered to take the group beneath Xi Yu Lake.
• Yu Ci appeared behind Xiao Jiu, pressed down on her head, and tried to surprise her by asking her to guess who he was.
• Yu Ci moved around to face Xiao Jiu, and she began to cry aloud.

Yu Ci reunited with Xiao Jiu at Xi Yu Lake and comforted her before greeting Fan Ping, whose family had benefited from Yu Ci’s past help. After bringing the Tianfa Ling Sect disciples beneath the lake, Yu Ci learned that an injured Guanlin Dingjiao fish-dragon in Fan Ping’s Spirit Hiding Bag had drawn them into danger.

• Xiao Jiu burst into tears and clung to Yu Ci, then relaxed as he comforted her.
• Yu Ci recognized Fan Ping as Fan Lao’s son, and Fan Ping kowtowed in gratitude for Yu Ci’s past kindnesses to his family and sect elders.
• Yu Ci led Xiao Jiu and the Tianfa Ling Sect disciples to a place seven li beneath Xi Yu Lake and asked what had happened.
• Yan Chen explained that a spirit fish had pursued something connected to Xiao Jiu’s hometown and pointed out Fan Ping’s Spirit Hiding Bag.
• Yan Chen revealed that the bag contained an injured Guanlin Dingjiao fish-dragon raised by Fan Ping.

Yu Ci reunited with the fish-dragon he had befriended decades earlier and learned that Zhang Yan had been raising it. After discovering the creature had been caught near Fan Lao’s burial site, Yu Ci searched for Zhang Yan but found no trace, leaving the group to suspect the lake’s deep waters or a sealed mining area.

• Fan Ping opened the Spirit Hiding Bag, and the fish-dragon inside recognized Yu Ci and excitedly circled him, growing brighter as their shared True Dragon Form Qi resonated.
• Xiao Jiu revealed that Zhang Yan had raised the fish-dragon for nearly thirty years after rescuing it from traffickers who sold stolen Sword Garden treasures.
• Yu Ci learned that the fish-dragon had been caught near Fan Lao’s burial site and urgently led the group there to search for Zhang Yan.
• Yu Ci paid his respects at Fan Lao’s burial site while Xiao Jiu and the others searched the surrounding waters, but they found no useful traces.
• Xiao Jiu reasoned that Zhang Yan’s disappearance was most suspicious in Xi Yu Lake’s deep waters or in a sect-controlled mining area sealed by formations.

Yu Ci questioned Shang Qing, a Wuji Pavilion spy who had exposed the Tianfa Ling Sect disciples’ activities, and learned that Senior Brother Zhang had escaped during transport with other captured cultivators. Yu Ci located a special existence deep beneath Xi Yu Lake, leaving Xiao Jiu unaware of what he had discovered.

• Xiao Jiu identified the spirit fish as Siming Spirit Fish, which lived below the thirty-li water layer of Xi Yu Lake.
• Yu Ci dragged Shang Qing before the group and learned through his thoughts that Wuji Pavilion had arranged for him to follow the Tianfa Ling Sect disciples.
• Xiao Jiu sent Yan Chen and the other disciples toward their lodging with a refined spirit tool, while Yu Ci gave them golden bracelets that could summon Mystic Gate Warriors.
• Yu Ci learned that Senior Brother Zhang had been captured while training in the Outer Domain and escaped during transport with similar captured cultivators.
• Xiao Jiu said Senior Brother Zhang had switched to cultivating the Pure Sword Dao, and Yu Ci located a special existence one hundred and fifty li beneath Xi Yu Lake.

Zhang Yan rested in an abandoned underwater sanctuary after escaping capture at the bottom of Xi Yu Lake with an injured, amnesiac sword cultivator. As she began recalling a warning about the lake’s deep waters, a disturbance outside shook the cave.

• Zhang Yan found and secured a dry cave dwelling with defensive layouts after being driven more than one hundred miles beneath Xi Yu Lake.
• Zhang Yan reflected on his transformation into a sword cultivator and how he had escaped his captors before fleeing deeper into the lake with the woman he rescued.
• Zhang Yan observed that the woman’s head injury had scattered her memories and continued to weaken her, though she said they were gradually returning.
• The woman recalled her master warning that the deep waters beneath Xi Yu Lake were rife with treachery and started to remember where to flee from overwhelming enemies.
• Zhang Yan warned the woman not to touch her injured head as a powerful current struck outside and shook the cave.

Zhang Yan fought off a wave of lake-bottom demons in a cave, though his injuries left him unable to return to the water. Meanwhile, Su Shuanghe raged over the Wuji Pavilion’s failure and learned that Heavenly Monarch Yuanxu had come to visit.

• A fish demon broke through the cave’s array, and Zhang Yan killed it with a sword strike before driving back the other aquatic spirits and demons.
• Zhang Yan retreated into the cave’s shadows, coughing blood from the injuries he had sustained during nearly a day of running and fighting.
• The woman remarked that Zhang Yan’s swordsmanship looked familiar, then noticed his gold-flecked black snake had returned through another entrance.
• Su Shuanghe cursed the Wuji Pavilion for losing track of the people and blamed Zhang Yan’s fish-dragon for breaking through the blockade and becoming entangled with Yu Ci.
• Su Shuanghe resolved to take the field himself, but a servant announced that Heavenly Monarch Yuanxu of the Shangqing Sect had arrived to visit.

Su Shuanghe agreed to use the Xiyu Alliance’s Three Origins Secret Array to search for Yu Ci’s missing fellow disciple, unaware that Yu Ci had mainly come to probe his weakened state and draw out Zhai Que’er. The next day, Yu Ci arrived at Lotus Pond with Ye Chi for treatment and saw Madam Hua receiving a mysterious middle-aged visitor.

• Su Shuanghe welcomed Yu Ci and Xue Zhi, then agreed to ask the Xiyu Alliance’s supervising inspectors to activate the deep-water detection formation.
• Yu Ci left Su Shuanghe’s residence, and Su Shuanghe ordered Xue Zhi to recount everything that had happened aboard the ship before learning that Young Master Qizhe sought an audience.
• Yu Ci recognized that Su Shuanghe’s second Primordial Spirit was weakened and reasoned that his visit had been meant to pressure him and force Zhai Que’er to reveal herself.
• Yu Ci asked You Rui to investigate the plans involving Su Shuanghe and Flying Soul City, while Madam Huanyong’s avatar went to protect Zhang Yan and Ling Jiao beneath the lake.
• The following day, Yu Ci brought Luo Yuniang, Lu Ya, and the injured Ye Chi to Lotus Pond, where he saw Madam Hua speaking with a middle-aged man.

Yu Ci used the cold spring and an illusion to guide Ye Chi through honing her sword intent while nourishing her divine soul. Ye Chi’s training entered a sustainable cycle, though Yu Ci remained wary of the risks of relying on Equality Heaven’s powers.

• Yu Ci had Lu Ya place Ye Chi in the cold spring and asked Luo Yuniang to witness over them.
• Ye Chi’s sword-focused thoughts began nourishing her divine soul, but Yu Ci judged that the conflicting sword qi made this approach unsuitable.
• Yu Ci used Rakshasa Illusory Power to create a sword duel in Ye Chi’s mind, guiding her to absorb the God Slaying Thorn’s strengths.
• Ye Chi continued tempering her sword intent as the spring’s power kept nourishment ahead of depletion, while Yu Ci bore the cost of sustaining the illusion.
• Yu Ci reflected that Equality Heaven’s cultivation methods might leave traces that could expose him to dangers from the Realm of Truth or the Heaven and Earth Law System.

Yu Ci examined the laws behind Equality Heaven and the Rakshasa Ghost King's power, then treated Madam Hua and asked about the Clear Sky Discourse. They had no clues for their planning despite its rules being finalized.

• Yu Ci reflected on the risks of his four strands of true intent and the fundamental laws connecting reality and illusion.
• Yu Ci confirmed that his method for resolving conflicting sword intents was working as Ye Chi entered a normal track.
• Yu Ci visited Madam Hua and checked her pulse, using the opportunity to study her true intent before giving her a lotus talisman filled with sweet dew.
• Madam Hua told Yu Ci that the Clear Sky Discourse's date and rules had been finalized, but she had no clues for their plan.

Yu Ci discussed the Clear Sky Discourse’s new contest rules with Madam Hua and learned that Ao Yang had proposed marriage to her. Madam Hua explained that she intended to pursue her own goals, which would bring her into conflict with the Sea Merchant Guild, and Yu Ci was left considering the scale of her ambitions.

• Yu Ci learned that claiming a Void world would require three wins across five Talisman Methods, with each cultivator allowed to compete only once, and worried that his side lacked enough qualified talisman artists.
• Yu Ci asked Madam Hua about the Sea Merchant Guild’s preparations, and she said Ao Yang had come to propose marriage to her.
• Madam Hua told Yu Ci that Ao Yang had once accused her of plotting against the guild and suggested that he understood she was no longer on the same path as its members.
• Madam Hua described how merchant guilds endured by pursuing profit and cultivating far-sighted leaders, then said she wanted to act on her own ambitions.
• Madam Hua asked whether Yu Ci would abandon his cultivation and follow her to open another heaven and earth; after he refused, she said the Sea Merchant Guild’s members might not get to choose their paths.

Madam Hua explained why she had refused Ao Yang and challenged Yu Ci over the Shangqing Sect’s place in the coming upheaval. As she began to reveal what she truly sought, an assassin attacked her, and Yu Ci intervened with his Void Divine Ability.

• Madam Hua told Yu Ci that she had rejected Ao Yang because a great upheaval was approaching and the old order would not endure.
• Madam Hua asked whether Yu Ci would restore the Shangqing Sect under new laws or old rules, then implied that it would be too insignificant to join the coming currents of the world.
• Yu Ci accused Madam Hua of using her words to seek a new patron, but she replied that her failing health left her little to gain and began to explain what she wanted.
• A masked assassin in blue burst from beneath the pavilion and thrust a sword toward Madam Hua.
• Yu Ci used his Void Divine Ability to stretch the space between the water and pavilion, halting the assassin’s blade before it could reach her.

Yu Ci was ambushed at the Lotus Pond by two assassins and trapped by its formations, while Madam Hua remained protected behind a shield. After Yu Ci seized the bowman's arrow and held the attackers at bay, the sword-wielding assassin detonated himself, and another attacker appeared beside Yu Ci with a strike aimed at his mind.

• A hidden archer shot at Yu Ci while the Lotus Pond's formations disrupted his Inner Void and helped the attack reach him.
• Yu Ci expanded his Inner Void, caught the arrow, and locked onto the fleeing bowman as Madam Hua warned him about the Three Origins Secret Array.
• A wave of light activated the array, suppressed Yu Ci, and enclosed Madam Hua in a protective shield.
• Yu Ci realized the assassins' attacks were part of a trap, but the sword-wielding assassin exploded inside his Inner Void and scattered blood and flesh into a sinister pattern.
• A figure sprang up within three steps of Yu Ci and drove fierce killing intent toward his mind palace.

Yu Ci faced a maid-assassin whose sudden rise to the Calamity Law realm and targeted attacks threatened his body and inner void. He unleashed the Twelve Jade Towers Heavenly Sound, whose sword intent began severing the laws supporting the assassin and breaking through the Three Origins Secret Array.

• The maid-assassin surged from the Returning Pill realm to the Calamity Law realm and struck Yu Ci with earthquake-law power that caved in his chest.
• The assassin's burst foul qi contaminated Yu Ci's attempts to seal it, threatening to damage his inner void.
• Yu Ci recognized that the assassins' tactics targeted his Self-Created World, but his inner void had deeper foundations than they had anticipated.
• Yu Ci invoked the Twelve Jade Towers Heavenly Sound, releasing ten transformations of sword intent across the Earth and Law System.
• The sword intent cracked open the Three Origins Secret Array and began severing the laws that gave the maid-assassin her foothold in heaven and earth.

Yu Ci killed the maidservant with the Twelve Jade Towers Heavenly Sound, but the Three Origins Secret Array’s overseer turned against him and helped a distant archer attack. Bound and afflicted by a curse, Yu Ci faced another deadly arrow as observers in Wuji Pavilion’s dark chamber watched and began identifying the trap’s clues.

• Yu Ci stripped away the maidservant’s boosted cultivation with the Twelve Jade Towers Heavenly Sound and killed her with a strand of Sword Qi.
• The Three Origins Secret Array’s overseer ignored Madam Hua’s explanation, branded Yu Ci a suspect, and suppressed him with chains while the maidservant’s corpse vanished and its curse began afflicting his soul.
• A masked bow-wielding assassin revealed himself and fired a powerful arrow; Yu Ci broke it apart with Profound Ice Dissolution and a fist-chop, but his injuries left him bound by the array.
• The overseer dismissed Yu Ci’s warning about the archer as the assassin drew another arrow, while a curse spread through Yu Ci’s soul and blocked him from tracing its source.
• Wuji Pavilion’s master Zhao Xiangshan showed the battle to distant observers, who discussed the attackers’ techniques and speculated about Crimson Firmament Heaven’s involvement.
• An observer noticed a pattern emerging in the blood-red mark on Yu Ci’s forehead as the archer continued gathering power for another shot.

Zhao Xiangshan revealed that the Blood Mansion Ancestor had trapped Yu Ci with the Crimson Firmament Curse Kill Seal, while Sun Weizhen used the Three Origins Secret Array to isolate him and block anyone trying to help. Yu Ci pierced Sun Weizhen’s defenses with his gaze just as an azure arrow streaked toward Lotus Pond, leaving its impact unresolved.

• Zhao Xiangshan explained that the Blood Mansion Ancestor’s Blood Aspect Puppets had enabled the Crimson Firmament Curse Kill Seal to take hold of Yu Ci.
• Zhao Xiangshan told the assembled sect leaders that he intended to prevent the Shangqing Sect from regaining influence in Xi Yu Lake and had summoned them to witness the attack.
• Sun Weizhen used the Three Origins Secret Array to keep Madam Hua and the nearby cultivators away from Yu Ci, sealing Luo Yuniang inside the hidden waterway.
• Yu Ci repeatedly fixed Sun Weizhen with his gaze and sent him a cutting message through the layers of formations, unsettling the temporary inspector.
• An azure arrow shot toward Lotus Pond as Sun Weizhen realized the bow-wielding assassin had not released it and an alarm sounded in the inspector core.

Yu Ci killed the bow-wielding assassin with Shangqing Thunder Law, while Sun Weizhen’s desperate attempt to attack him ended in Sun’s death and the exposure of his memories. Zhao Xiangshan then used the incident to explain his plan and argue that the Later Sage’s power in the True Realm was limited, beginning an analysis of the battle against the East China Sea figure.

• Yu Ci used Upper Azure Star-Glow Induction Divine Thunder to destroy the bow-wielding assassin and send the Taihao City-Shattering Bow into the lake.
• Sun Weizhen poured his vital energy into the Three Origins Secret Array and tried to kill Yu Ci, but he died as his Yang God burned, transmitting his memories to Yu Ci.
• Xun Yuan of the Haoran Sect entered the array hub, restrained Sun Weizhen’s fading Yang God, and contacted Yu Ci, who closed his eyes without responding.
• Zhao Xiangshan described Sun Weizhen as a dying Shanjian Sect cultivator who had volunteered for inspector duty, then told the gathered factions that extraordinary matters did not always require extraordinary force.
• Zhao Xiangshan argued that the Later Sage had few believers and limited power in the True Realm, then began presenting his analysis of the battle between the Later Sage and the East China Sea figure.

Zhao Xiangshan analyzed Yu Ci’s strength and urged sects to undermine the Shangqing Sect by shaping public opinion, while a distant roar hinted at trouble. Trapped by the Crimson Firmament Curse Kill Seal and unable to find its mastermind, Yu Ci recognized that the momentum surrounding his rise had become a snare and feared that either victory or defeat would make him a spectacle.

• Zhao Xiangshan argued that Yu Ci could withstand the Rakshasa Ghost King’s attacks and wielded the Xuan Huang Killing Sword, then proposed using worldly sentiment to oppose the Shangqing Sect’s return to the North.
• A cultivator challenged Zhao Xiangshan to present a concrete plan, and Zhao Xiangshan concealed that the gathering and its attendees were already part of his scheme to spread doubt about Yu Ci and the Later Sage.
• A cultivator near Xi Yu Lake reported a roar heard from hundreds of miles away, while Zhao Xiangshan declined to inspect the Lotus Pond and concluded that his arrangements against Yu Ci were in place.
• Yu Ci endured the Crimson Firmament Curse Kill Seal’s erosion and learned that the Blood Mansion Ancestor and the Crimson Prison Banner remained beyond his reach.
• Yu Ci realized that the cheering around his arrival had pushed him into the open and that both defeat and victory could turn him into a spectacle for the factions watching him.

Yu Ci realized that he needed to make the great figures of the world fear his power, and began gathering and refining his anger and other negative emotions into strength. He rejected schemes as the wrong path for him and resolved to unleash that power in his own way.

• Yu Ci recognized that the title “Shangqing Later Sage” could not protect him without strength that others could see and fear.
• He concluded that he needed a loud warning capable of making the great figures take notice, but his accumulated power was not yet enough.
• Yu Ci drew on anger, humiliation, frustration, and other negative emotions, refining them into a force within his mind and heart.
• As Madam Hua watched him, Yu Ci accepted that he could not solve the problem through schemes and wisdom.
• Yu Ci resolved to make his own voice heard by unleashing the emotional power he had accumulated.

Yu Ci used the No-Illumination Fire and emotional divine power to strike back at the curse seals in his divine soul, unleashing a wave of terror across Xi Yu Lake. The backlash revealed that the curse seal’s connection lay roughly to the west, and Yu Ci gained a deeper understanding of the curse system.

• Yu Ci examined his inner void and saw the curse forces surrounding Chengqitian while the No-Illumination Fire damaged his altar, ritual implements, True Dragon Form Qi, and Cloud Tower Tree.
• Yu Ci released a silent roar that sent his emotional divine power outward, terrifying cultivators and spreading panic across Xi Yu Lake.
• Xun Yuan tried to calm Yu Ci and use the Three-Party Primordial Energy to contain the disturbance, but the fear kept spreading through the crowd.
• Yu Ci used the turmoil to collide with the curse seals in his divine soul with greatly increased force and sensed their connection lay roughly to the west.
• Yu Ci seized the lingering traces of the clash to better understand the Crimson Firmament Curse Kill Seal’s curse system.

Yu Ci endured the Crimson Firmament Curse Kill Seal, refined his inner realms with the No-Illumination Fire, and unleashed a second roar that struck emotions and damaged the Three Origins Secret Array across Xi Yu Lake. Xun Yuan recognized that the spreading turmoil could become a demonic tribulation, but found himself unable to stop it.

• Yu Ci sensed the Crimson Firmament Curse Kill Seal and its Crimson Prison Banner defense, marveling at how its mixed techniques formed a tenacious whole.
• Yu Ci examined the fire-scorched Chengqitian and saw that the No-Illumination Fire had purged impurities and exposed hidden weaknesses throughout his inner realms.
• Yu Ci raised his head and unleashed a long whistle whose emotional force surged across the void despite its limited audible range.
• Xun Yuan suffered a backlash when he formed malicious intent against Yu Ci, and blood came from his mouth.
• Xun Yuan tried to activate the Three Origins Secret Array, but Yu Ci's sound killing technique had shattered nearby nodes and blurred the image-transmission arrays.
• Xun Yuan watched the unrest on Xi Yu Lake intensify and feared it would become a demonic tribulation.

Divine Lord Cold Bamboo arrived to contain the crisis on Xi Yu Lake but chose to wait for Heavenly Monarch Yuanxu to act, while studying Yu Ci’s power over Sun Weizhen’s inner demons. As he examined Yu Ci through the array, a terrifying sword aura targeted him and left him struggling to move.

• Divine Lord Cold Bamboo appeared beside Xun Yuan and focused on Sun Weizhen’s unconscious Yang God instead of immediately addressing the crisis.
• Divine Lord Cold Bamboo told Xun Yuan that the Alliance would wait to see whether Heavenly Monarch Yuanxu acted with restraint before intervening.
• After learning that Yu Ci had merely looked at Sun Weizhen, Divine Lord Cold Bamboo recognized that Yu Ci had triggered the man’s inner demons across space with a glance.
• Divine Lord Cold Bamboo examined Yu Ci through the restored projection array and reached toward its central controls.
• A chilling sword aura struck at Divine Lord Cold Bamboo, freezing him in place as Xun Yuan sensed its source high above.

Yu Ci spread an emotional web across Xi Yu Lake to find the mastermind behind the attempt on his life. Divine Lord Cold Bamboo warned the Xiyu Alliance’s powerful figures not to provoke Yu Ci, while Yu Ci maintained control over the affected cultivators and searched for signs of malice.

• Divine Lord Cold Bamboo recognized that sword intent had suppressed his true body and ordered monitors to warn powerful cultivators not to provoke Yu Ci.
• Xun Yuan transmitted Cold Bamboo’s warning to long-lived members of the Xiyu Alliance in Xi Yu Lake and the Three Immortal Cities.
• Yu Ci concluded that the mastermind behind the trap was likely nearby, since the plot had been prepared too quickly to originate far away.
• Yu Ci formed a temporary emotional web across Xi Yu Lake, flagging extreme malice in hopes of finding the mastermind or the person directing the attack.
• Yu Ci sorted the cultivators’ emotions without losing control, restraining their actions as he continued searching for suspicious malice.

Yu Ci used his emotion-based divine ability and Xuan Huang’s sword intent to disrupt Xi Yu Lake while sensing conspirators discussing the title “Later Saint.” The chapter ended with the conspirators’ dark chamber in chaos as Yu Ci appeared in their water mirror.

• Yu Ci directed Xuan Huang’s sword intent toward experts on Xi Yu Lake while his emotional assault kept them off balance.
• Yu Ci sensed people hundreds to thousands of miles away speaking of “Later Saint” and recognized the title given to him by Saint Xiao of the Eight Sceneries Palace.
• Conspirators in a dark chamber questioned whether Heavenly Monarch Yuanxu had caused the disturbance, while Zhao Xiangshan dismissed their concerns.
• The Xiyu Alliance sent warnings through the communication arrays, prompting several conspirators to sever their connections.
• The conspirators recognized that an emotion-based divine ability covered the lake, but Yu Ci’s image appeared in their water mirror before they could escape.

Yu Ci traced Zhao Xiangshan’s projection to his hiding place beneath Xi Yu Lake, while Zhao’s escape left the gathered factions shaken. Yu Ci began using the Realm of Truth and the Ziwei Emperor’s Command to prepare to reach him through the lake’s formidable defenses.

• Zhao Xiangshan’s projection shattered and destroyed the dark room and its communication arrays, erasing the evidence of the gathering.
• The cultivators of the factions realized Zhao had used them as cover and feared Yu Ci would otherwise have targeted them all.
• Yu Ci recognized Zhao’s repeated, emotionless calls to the Later Sage as the clue that had revealed him, and valued Zhao as a sufficiently powerful target.
• Yu Ci followed the connection left by Zhao’s projection and located him a thousand miles beneath Xi Yu Lake, though the lake’s defenses and shifting sensation made pursuit difficult.
• Yu Ci connected with the Realm of Truth, drew down starlight, and raised a heavenly palace and city by invoking the Ziwei Emperor’s Command.