Recaps

Fang Shu was summoned by Hall Master Du and Senior Sister Fang Lu, who praised his gu-refining talent and gave him a booklet about natal gu. After Fang Lu departed for the Five Viscera Temple, Hall Master Du began telling Fang Shu about her investigation of the Lead Mountain mine.

• The disciples questioned Qin Min about Fang Shu, and she confirmed that his gu-refining talent might let him enter an immortal sect; she rebuked Qu Yan for calling Fang Shu an outsider and for addressing her too familiarly.
• Fang Lu examined Fang Shu and explained that his ordinary roots prevented her from taking him into the mountains, though she judged him highly talented.
• Fang Lu gave Fang Shu a booklet copied from the Five Viscera Temple, then left on a spirit deer and said they would meet there.
• Hall Master Du explained that the booklet described natal gu and urged Fang Shu to study it, memorize it, and burn it afterward.
• Hall Master Du praised Fang Shu's progress and revealed that she had investigated the Lead Mountain mine while he was in seclusion.

Hall Master Du explained that the Gold-Seeking Insect droppings in Mine Owner Cao’s mine were planted, then gave Fang Shu three liang of spirit stones as an apology. She also advised him about the Lead Mountain mining grounds and sent him to learn Scorched-Tail Hall’s Lead Method, while Fang Shu quietly resolved to investigate the mine for Purple Lead Mica Milk.

• Hall Master Du showed Fang Shu the Gold-Seeking Insect droppings and explained why they were fake, though she could not say whether Mine Owner Cao had intended to harm him.
• Hall Master Du gave Fang Shu three liang of spirit stones from Mine Owner Cao, and Fang Shu accepted them along with the droppings.
• Hall Master Du told Fang Shu that Mine Owner Cao was only at the second tribulation of Essence Refinement and described the Lead Mountain mining grounds; Fang Shu privately considered investigating the location of the Purple Lead Mica Milk.
• Hall Master Du gave Fang Shu her calling card and instructed him to learn Scorched-Tail Hall’s Lead Method and compare its natal artifact embryo method with Fang Lu’s booklet.
• Fang Shu left the council hall, found disciples waiting outside to curry favor with him, greeted Li Hou'er, and hurried back to his residence.

After learning how natal gu could protect cultivators and aid their abilities, Fang Shu realized that Scorched-Tail Hall’s Lead-Mercury method might let him refine one in two stages. He decided to pursue the plan and went to Scorched-Tail Hall.

• Fang Shu read the booklet and learned that natal gu shared their cultivator’s fate, could ward off calamities, and offered benefits based on the gu chosen.
• Fang Shu considered using a Gold-Seeking Insect as his natal gu but worried about finding one and the high risk of failure during refinement.
• Fang Shu realized that gu could include many kinds of living, dead, tangible, and intangible things, and that artifact embryos could serve as gu-refining materials.
• Fang Shu used the Dao Register to assess his idea of refining an artifact embryo first and then turning it into a natal gu, potentially doing so before Qi Refinement.
• Fang Shu burned Senior Sister Fang’s booklet, took Hall Master Du’s calling card, and headed to Scorched-Tail Hall.

Fang Shu visited Scorched-Tail Hall to request its Marrow Refinement Chapter Lead Method, presenting a calling card from the Hall Master of Solitary Gu Hall. Steward Xiao Hu proposed that Fang Shu prove himself against Ling Baiquan, but Fang Shu questioned whether Xiao Hu had the authority to decide the matter.

• Yin Xiaojian mistook Fang Shu's visit for another attempt to join Scorched-Tail Hall and led him to Xiao Lili.
• Xiao Lili recognized Fang Shu and brought him to her father, Steward Xiao Hu, after reading the calling card.
• Steward Xiao Hu recognized Fang Shu as Yu the Second's nephew and learned that he sought the hall's Marrow Refinement Chapter Lead Method.
• Steward Xiao Hu offered to grant the method if Fang Shu proved himself in an exchange with a hall member, then chose Ling Baiquan to test him.
• Fang Shu pointed to the calling card and asked Steward Xiao Hu whether he was the master of Scorched-Tail Hall.

Fang Shu confronted Steward Xiao Hu over his mistreatment and the destruction of Hall Master Du's calling card, then defeated and injured him in a brutal fistfight. As Fang Shu prepared to leave, Xiao Hu regained consciousness long enough to order Xiao Lili to bring out the Marrow Refinement Chapter of the Lead Method.

• Fang Shu challenged Xiao Hu's authority and accused him of swapping the spirit stones meant as apprenticeship gifts and insulting Hall Master Du's lineage.
• Xiao Hu destroyed Hall Master Du's calling card in anger, and Fang Shu attacked after Xiao Lili failed to calm the dispute.
• Fang Shu and Xiao Hu fought hand to hand, with Fang Shu using poisonous blood to gain an opening and eventually overpowering the older steward.
• Fang Shu broke Xiao Hu's ankle and left him unconscious, then collected the pieces of Hall Master Du's calling card and turned to leave.
• Xiao Hu briefly awoke and told Xiao Lili to fetch the Marrow Refinement Chapter of the Lead Method before collapsing again.

Fang Shu reported his confrontation with Xiao Hu to Hall Master Du, then advanced his cultivation through intense training and received secret manuals as compensation from Scorched-Tail Hall. Meanwhile, the Scorched-Tail Hall Master rewarded Ling Baiquan by giving him Xiao Hu’s duties, and Ling Baiquan began eyeing a sinister manual.

• Yin Xiaojian tried to claim kinship with Fang Shu, but Ling Baiquan rebuked him for forcing Fang Shu out of Scorched-Tail Hall and mocked his shoes.
• Fang Shu told Hall Master Du about Xiao Hu and presented the name-card fragment and Lead Method; she praised his conduct and explained how easing his resentment could aid cultivation.
• Fang Shu trained through the night, raising his First-Tribulation Essence-Refining Human Immortal progress from 37% to 42% and increasing his qi and blood to over fourteen feet.
• Fang Shu found two secret manuals on Hall Master Du’s table, recognized them as Scorched-Tail Hall’s compensation, and took them with him.
• The Scorched-Tail Hall Master praised Ling Baiquan’s handling of the dispute and transferred Xiao Hu’s duties to him while retaining Xiao Hu’s steward title.
• Ling Baiquan agreed to deliver the manuals to Solitary Gu Hall, then spotted a blood-red manual and redirected his covetous thoughts from Fang Shu to Xiao Hu.

Yin Xiaojian reunited with Tian Tianquan and Lü Daoist on Wind-Moon Bridge and learned how badly they had fared, while Fang Shu mastered the Lead Method’s Marrow Refinement Chapter using mercury. Fang Shu then left seclusion after an incident occurred at the Paper Workshop.

• Yin Xiaojian encountered Tian Tianquan working as a pimp and Lü Daoist working as a duck boy, and the three were thrown out of the brothel together.
• Lü Daoist explained that Tian Tianquan could not afford to return home after pawning his wife and daughter to pay for passage to Guling Town.
• Yin Xiaojian learned about Lü Daoist’s difficult work and heard the two men wonder whether Fang Shu was alive or had gone mining.
• Fang Shu tested whether his Purple-Lead Venom Blood and strong foundation could withstand mercury, then used it to accelerate his study of the Lead Method.
• Fang Shu completed the Lead Method’s Marrow Refinement Chapter and continued preparing for the second tribulation.
• An incident at the Paper Workshop reached Fang Shu and caused him to leave seclusion.

After learning that the Paper Workshop had burned down and Su Qingao was suspected of starting the fire, Fang Shu used his Tagalong Insect to search for her in the wilderness. The insect led him to a river valley, where he heard Su Qingao groaning from a recess in the rock wall.

• Li Hou'er told Fang Shu and Yu Le that Paper Workshop residents could get priority to buy new tiled houses, though the families might not have enough money.
• Yu Le explained that a fierce wind and blocked water supply had allowed the fire to destroy the Paper Workshop, and that Su Qingao was suspected of setting the blaze before fleeing town.
• Fang Shu learned that searchers were hunting Su Qingao and decided to find her first, hoping to claim her wealth and the bounty.
• Fang Shu used his Tagalong Insect to memorize the scent of Su Qingao's charred husband, then transformed into a gray fox and searched the wilderness.
• The Tagalong Insect led Fang Shu after a red-tailed rat to a river valley, where he heard Su Qingao groaning from a recess in the rock wall.

Fang Shu discovered that Su Qingao had colluded with Black Tiger Hall and crept into the riverside cave to rescue her. He killed the two men guarding her, but the chapter ended before he freed her.

• Fang Shu overheard two Black Tiger Hall lackeys discussing the Paper Workshop fire and realized Su Qingao was involved with them.
• A message-carrying rat left the cave, and Fang Shu waited until the two men inside fell asleep before approaching.
• Fang Shu removed his fox disguise, covered his scent, and entered the cave, where he found Su Qingao chained and injured.
• Su Qingao searched the sleeping men for a key just as Fang Shu's Long-Tongue Sword struck both men in the neck.
• One lackey awakened, but Fang Shu killed him with the Long-Tongue Sword and then smashed the other lackey's skull.

Fang Shu interrogated Su Qingao after killing two Black Tiger Hall men, learned she had cultivated the Painted Skin Technique, and killed her when she revealed her intent to prey on the Paper Workshop’s survivors. He destroyed the evidence, left with a corpse, and the red-tailed rat later found the cave burning.

• Fang Shu ordered Su Qingao to search the dead men and seized their talisman coins, Black Tickets, and pills.
• Su Qingao explained her connection to Black Tiger Hall and revealed the Painted Skin Technique by peeling off her face.
• Su Qingao admitted she had practiced the technique by skinning an old man alive and offered to obtain skins from the Paper Workshop’s dead.
• Fang Shu killed Su Qingao after she said she would buy the victims’ lives and peel their skins.
• Fang Shu disposed of the bodies, burned the cave to destroy evidence, and escaped in fox form with a corpse.
• The red-tailed rat returned and found the cave burning.

Fang Shu harvested secret characters and a magical artifact from a Black Tiger Hall immortal, then hid his spoils and returned safely to Guling Town. He overheard Ling Baiquan and Xiao Lili heading into the wilderness at night to hunt for Su Qingao, but chose not to follow them.

• Fang Shu examined the First Tribulation immortal’s skeleton, and his Dao Register recorded seventeen Black Tiger Hall secret characters and estimated that deducing the bone-refining art would take nearly four years.
• Fang Shu recorded secret characters from Su Qingao’s Painted-Skin Mask and discovered a clawed magical artifact hidden in the immortal’s hand bones.
• Fang Shu hid the valuables, destroyed traces of his journey, and hurried back toward Guling Town before nightfall.
• Fang Shu overheard Ling Baiquan and Xiao Lili passing near town, recognized them, and decided not to investigate their suspicious nighttime search.
• Ling Baiquan persuaded Xiao Lili to help him search for Su Qingao’s valuables, and the pair traveled deeper into the mountains.

Fang Shu and his companions secured housing vouchers for homes in the Paper Workshop, and Xiao Hu joined their arrangement to obtain a house for his daughter. Xiao Hu returned to Scorched-Tail Hall delighted, but Xiao Lili arrived late that night drenched, bloodstained, and gravely wounded.

• Li Hou'er brought Fang Shu and Yu Le to the Paper Workshop, where crowds competed for housing vouchers.
• Fang Shu, Yu Le, Li Hou'er, and Li Yuan registered and obtained vouchers for neighboring rooms despite strict requirements.
• Fang Shu's group and Xiao Hu were assigned a shared courtyard arrangement, giving Xiao Hu a main room for Xiao Lili and leaving another room for them to allocate.
• Li Hou'er went to tell Dou Sufu about the housing opportunity, while Fang Shu returned to Solitary Gu Hall to cultivate.
• Xiao Hu prepared food to celebrate with Xiao Lili, but she arrived late at night drenched in rain and blood, trembling and apparently badly injured.

Xiao Hu learned that Ling Baiquan had nearly killed Xiao Lili to cultivate a Flesh-Womb Human-Body Vitality-Nourishing Pill, and set off toward the depths of Scorched-Tail Hall in fury. Meanwhile, Ling Baiquan returned from the wilderness nursing a grudge, while Fang Shu left Solitary Gu Hall before dawn to inspect his newly acquired Black Tickets.

• Xiao Hu treated Xiao Lili's injuries and learned that Ling Baiquan had taken her into the wilderness and used an evil medicine-growing technique on her.
• Xiao Lili revealed that Ling Baiquan had planned to drain her cultivation and grow ginseng inside her body to aid his own breakthrough.
• Xiao Hu restrained himself to comfort his traumatized daughter, then set off toward the depths of Scorched-Tail Hall to confront the matter.
• Ling Baiquan returned from outside town, blamed the Black Tiger Hall men for ruining his scheme, and vowed to remember Master Rat.
• Fang Shu left Solitary Gu Hall before dawn to check the wealth in his three Black Tickets and look for something he and his Second Uncle could use to establish themselves.

Fang Shu turned the goods from three Black Tickets into a fortune and found Tiger-Bone Vitality Paste among them, which greatly accelerated his cultivation in seclusion. After reaching 86% of the First-Tribulation Essence-Refining Human Immortal realm, he joined Li Hou'er at the Paper Workshop to buy land and saw Xiao Hu reduced to selling his house ticket.

• Fang Shu secretly collected the goods from three Black Tickets, discovered Su Qingao's fortune and a strange jujube recipe, and found Tiger-Bone Vitality Paste among the other goods.
• Fang Shu had the paste appraised, confirmed through the Dao Register that it was beneficial, and used it while cultivating in seclusion.
• After half a month of cultivation, Fang Shu's realm reached 86% of the First-Tribulation Essence-Refining Human Immortal stage.
• Li Hou'er summoned Fang Shu to the Paper Workshop to draw lots for land and choose merchants to build their houses.
• Fang Shu saw Xiao Hu selling the house ticket he had obtained for his daughter and noticed that Xiao Hu had become markedly humble and desperate.

Fang Shu and his companions settled the purchase of their courtyard in Guling Town, meeting their wealthy new neighbors, Old Madam Jiao and Jiao Lulu. After seven days of construction, the tiled house was finished, and Second Uncle Yu Le moved in happily.

• Li Yuan explained that Xiao Hu was selling his house ticket to raise money for his gravely ill daughter, and Xiao Hu sold it to Old Madam Jiao, who introduced her granddaughter Jiao Lulu.
• Fang Shu and his companions learned the courtyard would cost five hundred thousand talisman coins, so Fang Shu pawned his Pure-Moon Treasure Jade and the others gathered money to pay.
• The mistress of Seven Fragrance Tower recognized Fang Shu's jade and suggested Xiang Xingwu redeem it and lend Fang Shu money, but Xiang Xingwu and her sisters declined.
• Fang Shu's group and Old Madam Jiao's household paid for their plots, drew lots, and began construction that night.
• After seven days, the new tiled courtyard was completed, and Second Uncle Yu Le moved into his house that night.

After arranging Yu Le’s household and property, Fang Shu cultivated free of worldly attachments until his First-Tribulation realm reached ninety percent. Meanwhile, Xiao Hu cared for the gravely ill Xiao Lili, and Fang Shu left town to retrieve valuables and sell them at the Monster Market to fund his next cultivation step.

• Fang Shu entrusted the house-building and household registration to Yu Le, then cultivated in Solitary Gu Hall and advanced to eighty-nine percent.
• Xiao Hu bought medicine and pastries for Xiao Lili, endured the disciples’ taunts, and learned that the Flesh Ginseng was consuming nearly all the medicine’s spiritual qi.
• Xiao Lili realized that the Flesh Ginseng had passed its seven-day growth period and questioned whether it would ever mature and detach naturally.
• After half a month of secluded cultivation, Fang Shu reached ninety percent and decided he needed talisman money for precious medicine and preparations for the second tribulation.
• Fang Shu left town, retrieved his belongings from the wilderness, and headed to the Monster Market to sell them.

Fang Shu sold his recovered materials at the Monster Market and searched its stalls for unusual spells. He found a quasi-Fourth Tribulation saber art suited to Essence-Refining cultivators, but the chapter ended before he decided whether to buy it.

• Fang Shu reached the Monster Market, where he sold an immortal skeleton for eighteen thousand coins and a painted-skin mask for seven hundred.
• Fang Shu watched a pig-demon tanner process discarded skins and learned how Monster Market craftsmen repaired and repurposed worn-out magical artifacts.
• Fang Shu searched the stalls for obscure spells but held back from buying any, wary of wasting the Dao Register's analysis time.
• Fang Shu examined a soul-devouring art linked to the Five Viscera Temple, but the masked vendor warned him that it could harm someone below the Third Tribulation.
• Fang Shu asked the vendor for a sword art and was shown the Red Snake Blood-Thread Flame Saber Art, a quasi-Fourth Tribulation spell that could be cultivated at the Essence-Refining stage.

Fang Shu bought the Red Snake Blood-Thread Flame Saber Art and learned the Dao Register could analyze its incomplete method, though it would take 138 days. While searching the Monster Market for precious medicine, he discovered a crowd gambling on spirit stones and heard that ancient treasures came from Daoists who lived a hundred thousand years ago.

• Fang Shu chose the Red Snake Blood-Thread Flame Saber Art, bought it for five thousand coins, and saw the Dao Register estimate 138 days to analyze its incomplete method.
• Fang Shu tried to resell the booklet but rejected offers of no more than two thousand coins, then continued searching the Monster Market for precious medicine.
• Fang Shu failed to find medicine he could test, while recording secret characters from the wares at several stalls and angering their owners.
• Fang Shu joined a crowd watching spirit-stone gambling and learned that ancient treasures were its main attraction.
• Fang Shu heard that ancient treasures dated back a hundred thousand years and had been left by beings called Daoists.

Fang Shu learned how the Monster Market handled ancient treasures and discovered that the baleful qi in a gambling stone was Dragon Qi the Dao Register could absorb. He bought the stone, secretly refined most of its Dragon Qi into the register, and found a worthwhile ancient treasure among the fragments.

• Fang Shu questioned a horse-faced monster about ancient treasures and learned that Mountain Lord helped customers transport valuable finds safely.
• Fang Shu watched a leopard-headed monster uncover a pillow-shaped stone that leaked baleful qi, then heard the monster offer it for five taels of Spirit Stones.
• Fang Shu recognized the stone's baleful qi as corrupted rootless Dragon Qi and learned that the Dao Register could extract and cleanse it.
• Fang Shu bought the stone and entered a smoke-filled shack to open it privately.
• Fang Shu smashed the stone with a hammer, drew most of its Dragon Qi into the Dao Register, and found a decent ancient treasure among the fragments.

Fang Shu brought the ancient deer-antler treasure he unearthed to the Monster Market’s Ganoderma Terrace, where the Mountain Lord and assembled monster gods identified it as the Horn Gentleman. After the Mountain Lord offered him a choice of treasures in exchange, Fang Shu asked to trade it for a few cups of wine.

• Fang Shu realized the Dao Register had removed the evil aura from the demonic treasure, leaving him with a strange ancient collectible whose purpose he could not determine.
• Monkey attendants led Fang Shu from the gambling den toward the mountaintop as gongs announced his discovery and the leopard-headed monster regretted selling him the Pillow Stone.
• Fang Shu reached Ganoderma Terrace and saw monster gods gathering to drink wine infused with moonlight; he learned that the Mountain Lord was the giant ganoderma platform itself.
• The Mountain Lord and the gathered monsters examined Fang Shu’s treasure, identified it as the Horn Gentleman, and laughed over its vulgar nature.
• The Mountain Lord offered Fang Shu Talisman Coins, Spirit Stones, precious medicines, magical artifacts, jewelry, or spells, but Fang Shu asked to exchange the treasure for a few cups of wine.

Fang Shu earned a place at the Ganoderma Mountain Lord’s banquet by drinking three great cups of mushroom wine and using his venom-blood cultivation to withstand the intoxication. He feasted through the night, completing his early Essence Refinement cultivation and raising his innate gifts to upper-middle before falling asleep at dawn.

• Fang Shu accepted the Ganoderma Mountain Lord’s challenge to drink three cups of moonlight wine for a seat at the banquet.
• Fang Shu drank the cups, hallucinated that the world had turned into dancing little people, then used Insect Method boxing to refine the wine and sober himself.
• The Ganoderma Mountain Lord praised Fang Shu’s endurance and gave him a seat among the monster guests.
• Fang Shu drank and ate the banquet offerings, filling his Dao Register’s cultivation progress to completion and raising his innate gifts to upper-middle.
• Fang Shu continued feasting until dawn, then succumbed to drunkenness and fell asleep.

After waking from the Mountain Lord’s banquet, Fang Shu discovered his tribulation prospects had improved and received the Mountain Lord’s whisker as a token of favor. He returned to Guling Town and prepared to refine his marrow and enter the Second Tribulation.

• Fang Shu woke on Ganoderma Terrace and found his Dao Register gave him a 63% chance of surviving the next tribulation.
• Fang Shu asked the old Mountain Lord for an escort home and received a wooden whisker that marked him as a favored guest.
• The little thin monkey attendants treated Fang Shu with greater respect and escorted him from Ganoderma Mountain to the Monster Market in a sedan chair.
• Fang Shu concealed the whisker before entering Guling Town, changed his clothes, and returned to the Solitary Gu Hall.
• Fang Shu gathered medicinal materials and waited in the quiet chamber for the moment to refine his marrow and attempt the Second Tribulation.

Fang Shu used the Lead Method to refine his marrow with mercury and successfully passed the Soft Bones, Crumbly Flesh tribulation. He reached the Second Tribulation, Essence-Refining Human Immortal realm with a body strengthened like copper and iron.

• Fang Shu saw that his chance of passing the tribulation had risen to ninety-nine percent and began refining mercury in a large vat.
• Fang Shu spun the mercury for three hours, grinding impurities from his qi and blood until only a small, medicinally refined orb remained.
• Fang Shu chanted the Lead Method incantation and used his mouth, throat, and nose to vaporize and expel the mercury while its essence refined his bones and marrow.
• Fang Shu held his breath, moved through the mercury vapor, and expelled it in a torrent of droplets after roaring.
• Fang Shu successfully passed the Soft Bones, Crumbly Flesh tribulation and reached the Second Tribulation, Essence-Refining Human Immortal realm.

Fang Shu completed his second tribulation, improving his bone structure and discovering that Dragon Qi could accelerate the Dao Register’s analysis. After mastering the Red Snake Blood-Thread Flame Saber Art, he left seclusion with a powerful new weapon technique.

• Fang Shu inspected his body after his second tribulation and found his bone structure had risen to Superior Superior.
• Fang Shu used Dragon Qi to speed up the Dao Register’s analysis of the Red Snake Blood-Thread Flame Saber Art.
• Fang Shu’s second-tribulation qi and blood updated the Dao Register, further reducing the time needed to analyze his spells.
• Fang Shu completed the Flame Saber Art and practiced it with the Long-Tongue Sword, producing scorching bloodfire and poison-inflicting attacks.
• Fang Shu assessed that the technique gave him power comparable to a quasi-Third Tribulation spell and decided to leave seclusion.

Fang Shu repaired the meditation chamber, then told Hall Master Du that he had passed the Second Tribulation using the Lead Method and White Mercury Marrow. After learning about the Spring Examination and the chance to enter an immortal sect early, he vowed to compete for a place and received permission to choose a reward from the treasury.

• Fang Shu restored the damaged meditation chamber with stones prepared by his Second Uncle.
• Fang Shu visited Hall Master Du and reported that he had passed the Second Tribulation, surprising her and Qin Min.
• Hall Master Du tested Fang Shu's strength, confirmed his breakthrough, and praised his use of the Lead Method to refine White Mercury Marrow.
• Hall Master Du explained the Spring Examination and urged Fang Shu to seek early entry into an immortal sect; Fang Shu agreed to cultivate toward it.
• Hall Master Du rewarded Fang Shu with permission to select an item from the treasury, but a clear voice called out to him as he left.