Recaps

Fang Shu left Mount Lu and traveled toward Floating Mountain, but at the Luomi River he found the aftermath of a flood caused by a demon calling itself the Five-Powers God. He traced the disaster upstream to Toad Valley, where a gigantic toad lay amid piles of bones and thousands of smaller toads.

• Fang Shu chose not to return to Guling Town and traveled through the mortal world toward Floating Mountain.
• Fang Shu found the Luomi River flooded with blood-stained water and helped a grieving father regain his senses beside his dead child.
• A scar-faced man told Fang Shu that the Five-Powers God, a toad demon, had flooded the river after locals failed to provide it with three wives a day.
• Fang Shu learned that the demon had recently grown more powerful and had begun demanding women after first demanding livestock.
• Fang Shu traveled upstream to Toad Valley, where he found thousands of toads and a house-sized demon beside heaps of bones and resentful souls.

Fang Shu confronted a giant toad surrounded by Killing Intent and discovered a Ghost Path immortal hiding inside its rotten back. He trapped the immortal in a gu insect formation and destroyed its body, leaving its soul bound and helpless.

• Fang Shu attacked the giant toad with Ghostfire Yin Talismans and seven paper blades, but ghost qi chains ambushed him from behind it.
• Fang Shu used the Flood Dragon Spine Hundred-Gu Banner to protect himself and sent his gu insects after the hidden attacker.
• Fang Shu formed a gu insect formation that suppressed the resentment and revealed a gaunt Daoist concealed in the toad’s back.
• The Daoist burned his essence blood, abandoned his body, and tried to flee as a ghostly soul, revealing himself as an immortal of the Ghost Path.
• Fang Shu used the banner to pin down the soul and blasted the Daoist’s physical body into a mist of blood.

Fang Shu defeated a ghost-path immortal who had been posing as a Lü Mountain Witch-Ghost Way disciple, then captured its soul in its bone-pearl artifact. After learning why the itinerant cultivator had come to Mount Lu, Fang Shu turned his attention to the giant toad beside him.

• Fang Shu restrained the ghost-path immortal and learned it was an itinerant cultivator from the Lü Mountain region, not a true disciple of the Witch-Ghost Way.
• The ghost-path immortal confessed that it had come to Mount Lu to gather information for a chance to join Lü Mountain’s outer sect.
• Fang Shu forced the creature to recite its Dao arts, but chose not to cultivate them because he lacked the secret inscriptions.
• Fang Shu used the Eighteen Bone Flying Pearls to capture and imprison the ghost-path immortal’s soul.
• Fang Shu collected the artifact and looked toward the giant toad, which began to react after remaining motionless during the battle.

Fang Shu freed the giant toad from the Ghost Dao immortal’s restriction and honored its wish to release the wronged souls, though the toad died in the process. After dispersing the valley’s Killing Intent, he carried the toad’s corpse to the river and began rites to cleanse its foul waters.

• Fang Shu discovered that the Ghost Dao immortal had bound the giant toad with vessels, yellow paper, and red thread to draw out its vital essence and nourish the valley’s Killing Intent.
• The tongueless giant toad refused Fang Shu’s offer to save it and instead indicated that it wanted the wronged souls released, even if doing so cost its life.
• Fang Shu destroyed the restriction around the toad, and the freed demon died after conveying its thanks through its divine sense.
• Fang Shu chanted the Rebirth Mantra and dispersed the Killing Intent, allowing the dead souls to vanish and sunlight to return to the valley.
• Fang Shu carried the giant toad’s corpse to the river, set it in the foul water, and began rites as the water gradually cleared.

Fang Shu purified the poisoned river with the giant toad’s remains and claimed its mysterious embryo egg before continuing to Floating Mountain. He entered the bustling demon market and found his acquaintance Brocade-Furred Lord, who appeared to be starving on a shabby street.

• Fang Shu dissolved the giant toad’s flesh and blood into the river, cleansing its water, and took the embryo egg hidden in its abdomen.
• Fang Shu buried the toad’s skeleton in the river mud and left the crowds believing the River God had sacrificed itself to save them.
• Fang Shu traveled by boat and on foot to Floating Mountain, where he entered Floating Market and saw its demons and unusual customs.
• Fang Shu used Tian Jinmao’s token to locate him and found Brocade-Furred Lord dozing on a mat in a decrepit street, apparently starving.

Fang Shu learned how Tian Jinmao lost its fortune in a Foundation Establishment scam and followed the rat demon around Floating Market to see how it survived. The chapter ended as Tian Jinmao brought Fang Shu into an auction and asked whether he had ever seen Earth Immortal slaves.

• Tian Jinmao told Fang Shu that a supposed Foundation Establishment Mutual Aid Association had taken its assets and left it deep in debt.
• Fang Shu examined the scripture Tian Jinmao had received and realized the association had offered no real guarantee or binding promise.
• Tian Jinmao showed Fang Shu how it used its manners and polished appearance to get free food and seek work around Floating Market.
• Fang Shu saw that Floating Market's demons often needed respectable clothing and a humanlike manner to find employment.
• Tian Jinmao led Fang Shu into an auction and whispered that it would show him Earth Immortal slaves.

Fang Shu attended a Floating Market auction, learned how landless Foundation Establishment cultivators were enslaved, and watched the market display its wealth and influence. While discussing the Five Viscera Temple’s mountain closure with Tian Jinmao, he discovered that powerful inner sect disciples had left earlier and taken over the temple’s businesses on Floating Mountain.

• Tian Jinmao explained that the auction’s Earth Immortal slaves were landless Foundation Establishment cultivators whose strength had fallen after losing their blessed lands.
• Fang Shu watched the enslaved shopkeeper open the auction and introduce Nine Oxen, Two Tigers pastries, whose bidding quickly soared beyond his means.
• Tian Jinmao pointed out wealthy local demons and warned Fang Shu not to provoke Guardian Bai, the mountain guardian.
• Fang Shu told Tian Jinmao that the Five Viscera Temple had sealed the mountain, while concealing his status and implying that he had fled after receiving news.
• Tian Jinmao revealed that prominent inner sect disciples had taken over the temple’s Floating Mountain businesses, and Fang Shu realized his own position in the temple was not as secure as he had thought.

Fang Shu attended Floating Mountain’s monthly auction in disguise and saw his former neighbor Jiao Lulu among the Beauty Palace disciples accompanying Protector Bai. After Protector Bai searched the crowded venue without finding what she sought, Fang Shu settled his mind and focused on finding something useful for his cultivation.

• After more than two months on Floating Mountain, Fang Shu kept a low profile and prepared to attend the monthly auction alone in refined fox fur.
• Fang Shu entered the packed auction disguised as a fox demon and saw Protector Bai arrive with Beauty Palace disciples, including Jiao Lulu.
• Fang Shu realized Jiao Lulu’s position and her connection to Old Madam Jiao suggested she had a powerful background or exceptional talent.
• Protector Bai swept the venue with her divine sense, recognized that Fang Shu wore fox fur, and searched the crowd without finding what she sought.
• Fang Shu noted Protector Bai’s formidable Six Tribulations cultivation, reaffirmed his confidence in his own methods, and watched the auction platform eagerly.

Fang Shu attended the monthly grand auction, buying Plague-Miasma Venom Baleful Qi and a damaged Nail-Head technique that he hoped to repair. After the auction, he chose a Witch-Ghost Dao soul-searching method as his promised bonus, leaving with several useful cultivation tools and a much lighter heart.

• Fang Shu bought a portion of Plague-Miasma Venom Baleful Qi for one hundred and seventy taels of spirit stones.
• Fang Shu watched the Copper Juice Iron Pellet Consumption Method sell for over one thousand taels, far beyond his means.
• The auctioneer presented a damaged Seven-Arrow Nail-Head Technique, and Fang Shu bought it for two hundred spirit stones after learning it might come from the Witch-Ghost Dao.
• Fang Shu chose the Soul-Searching Truth-Extraction Technique as the bonus method included with his purchase.
• Fang Shu left the auction satisfied with his gains despite having spent more than half his fortune.

Fang Shu cultivated in seclusion, discovered the Dao Register protected him while soul-searching, and cautiously sought ways to earn spirit stones without attracting attention. After spending more than half a year in Floating Mountain, he considered renting a house, and Tian Jinmao brought him a promising offer.

• Fang Shu condensed a third kind of Killing Intent and mastered the Soul-Searching Truth-Extraction Technique, learning that the Dao Register blocked backlash from his targets.
• Fang Shu studied the Seven-Arrow Nail-Head Technique, then searched for evil ancient treasures to cleanse and sell, but found few and avoided buying them conspicuously at Old Goods Antique Hall.
• Fang Shu stopped openly asking about evil treasures, and the attention he had attracted in the Floating Market gradually died down.
• After more than half a year in Floating Mountain, Fang Shu considered renting a small house for long-term cultivation.
• Tian Jinmao told Fang Shu about a house near the market boundary that an immortal under the Four Limbs Temple wanted to rent or sell, and asked to use Fang Shu's address if he rented it.

Fang Shu followed Tian Jinmao to a manor where the Four Limbs Temple tried to recruit him into its society, but he refused and discovered the invitation was a trap. Surrounded by the society’s members, he learned Tian Jinmao had planned to seize his resources and status, leaving Fang Shu to face their threats.

• Fang Shu agreed to inspect the rental property with Tian Jinmao, though he suspected the offer might conceal a scheme.
• Tian Jinmao led Fang Shu to a large manor outside Floating Market, where the Four Limbs Temple was dividing an ancestral estate into rooms for rent.
• Dai Kuan urged Fang Shu to join the society and promised a room and help with Foundation Establishment, while Tian Jinmao told Fang Shu to agree for now.
• Fang Shu rejected the offer and tried to leave, but a formation sealed the ancestral hall and the workers blocked the exit.
• Dai Kuan revealed that Fang Shu had to surrender his wealth and Five Viscera Temple status to join, while Tian Jinmao accused him of hiding his resources and admitted his greed.
• Fang Shu realized Tian Jinmao had plotted against him for a long time and lamented that he and Old Mountain Lord had misjudged it.

Fang Shu revealed his quasi-Foundation Establishment artifact and trapped Tian Jinmao, Dai Kuan, and the Four Limbs Temple disciples in his Three-Insect Gu Formation. He killed them all in the ancestral hall, leaving himself the only one standing.

• Tian Jinmao attacked Fang Shu after revealing his Six-Calamity cultivation, while Dai Kuan and the Four Limbs Temple disciples joined in to seize Fang Shu and his artifact.
• Fang Shu evaded their attacks, activated the Flood Dragon Spine Hundred-Gu Banner, and trapped everyone inside a Gu Formation.
• Dai Kuan tried to flee and ordered the disciples to break the formation, but Gu insects overwhelmed Tian Jinmao and drained his strength.
• The Four Limbs Temple disciples sheltered beneath Dai Kuan's Lotus Spell Sash, but Fang Shu sent Poison-Sand Centipedes underground to attack them inside it.
• Dai Kuan tried to bargain and warned Fang Shu about the Four Limbs Temple's chief steward, but Fang Shu refused to spare anyone.
• Fang Shu's Gu insects killed the disciples, and he smashed Dai Kuan's protective sash with the banner pole, killing him.

Fang Shu killed the Four Limbs Temple disciples and Tian Jinmao, then fled as the Temple’s chief steward attacked him with thunder arts. Fang Shu’s Three Talents Four-Gu Formation withstood the chief steward’s strike, and he entered the market district safely.

• Fang Shu sealed the souls of Dai Kuan and the other Four Limbs Temple disciples, collected their corpses, and took Dai Kuan’s Storage Bag.
• Tian Jinmao entrusted Fang Shu with the Tian Family’s holdings at Little West Mountain and asked him to clear the family’s name; Fang Shu killed him and sealed his soul despite his plea for release.
• Fang Shu erased traces of the fight, concealed himself as a fox, and hurried toward the market district as the Four Limbs Temple’s chief steward struck the area with lightning.
• The childlike chief steward pursued Fang Shu with the Tongue-Blooming Golden Thunder Technique, but Fang Shu’s Three Talents Four-Gu Formation blocked the attack.
• Fang Shu memorized the chief steward’s face and walked into the market district unharmed.

After escaping Dai Jintong’s attack, Fang Shu searched the souls of the Four Limbs Temple disciples and discovered the wealth and secrets behind the Foundation Establishment Mutual Aid Association. He then searched Tian Jinmao’s soul, but a veiled visitor appeared in his room before he could finish.

• Dai Jintong mocked Jiao Lulu and warned her about the dangers of dealing with outsiders, while Yan Gou led her away to meet Luan Tong'er.
• Immortals and demons gathered at the battle site, where news spread that Fang Shu had survived Dai Jintong’s thunder spell and killed Dai Kuan and the other Four Limbs Temple disciples.
• Fang Shu returned to his inn, practiced soul-searching on the menials’ souls, and realized he needed to keep a subject’s head and soul together to retrieve clear memories.
• Fang Shu searched Dai Kuan’s soul, seized his Storage Bag and enchanted handkerchief, and learned that Dai Jintong controlled the association’s savings.
• Fang Shu searched Tian Jinmao’s soul with the help of his Divine Silk and Dao Register, but stopped when a barefoot, veiled visitor appeared in his room.

Fang Shu met White Protector, who offered him a token and recruited him as an occasional helper in exchange for protection and privileges at Floating Mountain. After she examined his fox-skin transformation and departed using an extraordinary wall-piercing art, Fang Shu wondered what she had expected from his disguise and coveted her technique.

• White Protector visited Fang Shu and offered to shield him from the Four Limbs Temple dispute if he served under her command.
• Fang Shu accepted her offer, received a token, and gave her the name Hu Muhuang.
• White Protector noticed Fang Shu's fox-demon aura and asked him to demonstrate his fox-skin transformation.
• Fang Shu transformed, blocked White Protector's divine-consciousness inspection, and heard her say his fox skin needed refinement to deceive qi-refining demons.
• White Protector passed through the inn wall and departed, leaving Fang Shu astonished by her wall-piercing art and eager to obtain it.

After discovering Tian Jinmao’s deception, Fang Shu relocated and focused on raising his cultivation with the spirit stones he had acquired. He condensed another Killing Intent, then received a summons from the white-clad woman to meet other token holders in the mountains a month later.

• Fang Shu moved to a new inn, interrogated Tian Jinmao’s soul, and learned that Little West Mountain’s earth vein concealed dangerous dragon-vein filth placed there by the Tian Family.
• Fang Shu tortured Tian Jinmao’s soul until it dispersed, then studied the Killing Intents taken from Tian Jinmao and Dai Kuan and planned to increase his cultivation.
• Fang Shu bought a copied Copper Juice Iron Pellet Consumption Method for six hundred spirit stones and used the Dao Register to analyze and improve it.
• Fang Shu spent heavily on cultivation and, after more than two months, condensed another Killing Intent and increased his mana by nearly five toads’ worth.
• Fang Shu discovered three messages from the white-clad woman summoning all token holders to meet at a mountain location one month later, and he decided to honor the meeting without committing to follow her orders.

After a month of secluded cultivation, Fang Shu met Protector Bai and three other specialists at an inn in the marketplace. Protector Bai recruited them for a rescue aboard the Dragon Girl Ship, offering a rare Foundation Establishment text and the prospect of an unusual path to Foundation Establishment; Fang Shu accepted the invitation.

• Fang Shu completed a month of secluded cultivation, replenished his talismans, and mastered the Six-Calamity Dharma Veil.
• Fang Shu went to the agreed meeting place in the marketplace, wearing his fox fur and secretly using the Dharma Veil for protection.
• Protector Bai introduced Fang Shu, Brother Zhuang, Fairy Luo, and Old Sun as the specialists she had gathered for an undertaking.
• Protector Bai offered them invitations to the Dragon Girl Ship and promised a rare text detailing Foundation Establishment and earth-vein harvesting in exchange for helping her rescue someone.
• Protector Bai suggested the undertaking could give them a chance at Foundation Establishment without being bound to a blessed land, and Fang Shu and the others accepted the invitations.

Guardian Bai explained the ancient Daoist practice of creating an Inner Heaven and Earth, then revealed that it had been erased from the world and offered a different Foundation Establishment method. Fang Shu and the others read an inheritance from the Vast Sea Desert that used the body as a vessel for mountains, rivers, and earth veins, leaving Fang Shu eager to use the Dao Register to analyze it further.

• Guardian Bai said that ancient Daoists were mostly natives who cultivated the Great Dao and described their Inner Heaven and Earth.
• Guardian Bai explained that the Former Sages and Former Masters had Severed Heaven and Earth, making the ancient method impossible to practice.
• Guardian Bai gave Fang Shu and the others jade slips containing a Foundation Establishment method inherited from Yang Zhuzi of the Vast Sea Desert.
• The group learned that the method refined immortal mountains and earth veins into the body, turning its organs and fluids into landscapes and waterways.
• Fang Shu judged the inheritance highly credible and decided to spend mental effort and dragon qi using the Dao Register to deduce it.

Fang Shu and the other immortals discussed the Vast Sea Foundation Establishment Method with Protector Bai, who explained why it had arisen in the region’s harsh, lawless deserts. The group then turned to the Dragon Girl’s search for a husband, and Fang Shu learned that no Foundation Establishment immortal was aboard her ship.

• Fang Shu questioned Protector Bai about the method’s harm to earth veins and whether local sects opposed it, prompting the others to reconsider their excitement.
• Protector Bai explained that the Vast Sea’s barren deserts and unstable conditions had shaped a nomadic, fiercely competitive society where immortals could not preserve regions for cultivation.
• Luo noted that Vast Sea immortals had become less aggressive after building cities and trade routes under the rule of Nascent Soul Immortals, and Fang Shu’s doubts about the method eased.
• Fang Shu apologized to Protector Bai, then joined the others in asking questions about the technique and how they would receive the jade slip’s remaining password.
• Protector Bai shifted the discussion to the Dragon Girl’s search for a husband, and Fang Shu learned that no Foundation Establishment immortal was aboard the Dragon Girl Ship.

After leaving Bai Yangyang, Fang Shu prepared to flee after the Dragon Maiden Flower Boat job while Bai resolved to pursue her own chance to leave Floating Mountain and follow the wandering Foundation Establishment path. Three days later, Fang Shu followed his invitation to the extravagant ship where the guests were gathering.

• After Fang Shu and the others departed, Bai Yangyang reflected on the dangers of wandering Foundation Establishment and decided she would rather be a wild demon than a household slave.
• Bai Yangyang considered the Dragon Maiden journey her long-awaited chance to leave Floating Mountain before its earth qi bound her to the mountain.
• Fang Shu returned to his hiding place, gave up trying to decipher the jade slip, and spent heavily on supplies while selling off items he did not need.
• Fang Shu prepared to flee after the job, suspecting Bai Yangyang and the Dragon Maiden Flower Boat journey concealed greater risks than he had been told.
• Three days later, Fang Shu's invitation summoned a golden flood dragon that led him to the lavish Dragon Maiden Flower Boat, where invited guests were gathering.

Fang Shu and Protector Bai infiltrated the Dragon Ship, uncovered its hidden passages and captive bloodlines, and fought their way to a caged creature. They freed a horned rabbit demon, which Old Apothecary Sun identified as a Dragon Rabbit with true dragonblood.

• Protector Bai warned Fang Shu and the others that the Dragon Ship used its guests’ true qi and secretly abducted immortal bloodlines.
• Fang Shu found a hidden passage beneath their chamber, and Protector Bai led the group through it to investigate the ship.
• The group followed Protector Bai’s scarlet snake through the passages and silently killed the attendants they encountered.
• They reached a cabin packed with cages, where Protector Bai located the creature they had come to rescue.
• Fang Shu disrupted the formation around the golden cage, and Protector Bai cut the cage free and took it.
• The caged creature revealed itself as a horned rabbit demon, and Old Apothecary Sun recognized it as a Dragon Rabbit with true dragonblood.

Protector Bai revealed that the group’s rescue target was a living Dragon Rabbit, making their mission a dangerous violation of the rule against imprisoning dragonkind. After she gave them the inheritance secret command and escape plans, they agreed to carry on and began retreating with the caged creature.

• Old Apothecary Sun, Zhuang, Luo, and Fang Shu recognized the imprisoned rabbit demon as dragonkind and warned that rescuing it could bring disaster upon them.
• Protector Bai admitted she had concealed the Dragon Rabbit’s identity, while the others condemned her for hiding the danger.
• Protector Bai gave the group a jade slip containing the inheritance-unlocking command and several escape routes, and Fang Shu unlocked the remaining contents of his inheritance jade slip.
• Fang Shu urged the group to move before they ran out of time, and the others agreed to continue the rescue.
• Protector Bai tried to store the golden birdcage in a living-creature pouch, failed because of its restriction, and led the group back toward the elegant chamber with the cage in hand.
• Fang Shu moved into the middle of the retreating group, and Luo questioned why he had stopped guarding the rear.

Fang Shu, Bai Yangyang, and their companions fought their way off the dragon ship while pursued by its snake immortals and Shen Yin of Flesh Abbey. After the others scattered, Fang Shu stayed with Bai Yangyang, and the two fled west to the frontier of the Vast Sea Desert.

• Protector Bai blasted an ambush at the secret passage exit, then led Fang Shu and the others through the dragon ship as they fought off snake-scale Dao soldiers.
• Protector Bai broke the ship's formation with the Spirit-Fixing Pearl, and the group escaped while Shen Yin of Flesh Abbey attacked with a soul artifact.
• Luo Fuyin was trapped inside the closing formation, while a crimson snake immortal pursued the escapees.
• After leaving the dragon ship, the martial artist surnamed Zhuang and Old Apothecary Sun fled in separate directions, but Fang Shu stayed beside Bai Yangyang.
• Bai Yangyang led Fang Shu west, evading the pursuing crimson snake shadow until they crossed the Jade Kingdom and reached the frontier near the Vast Sea Desert.

Fang Shu and Protector Bai reached the Dead Sea, where they used its corrosive waters to weaken the golden birdcage holding a dragon rabbit. After learning that escorting the Dragonkin to the Western Dragon Palace could earn them merit, Fang Shu refused to join Protector Bai’s dangerous journey, leaving their uneasy parting unresolved.

• Fang Shu questioned why Protector Bai was leaving Floating Mountain, and she promised to explain at the Dead Sea shore.
• Protector Bai lowered the birdcage into the Dead Sea to corrode its restrictions and told Fang Shu about the sea’s deadly waters.
• The dragon rabbit revealed its ties to the Western Dragon Palace and offered Fang Shu and Protector Bai rewards for escorting it there.
• Protector Bai confirmed that she planned to travel through the Vast Sea toward the Western Sea, and Fang Shu realized the journey could earn them merit for following the dragon.
• Fang Shu refused to accompany Protector Bai because the route and Dragon Palace seemed too dangerous, while the dragon rabbit insulted him.
• Protector Bai stopped trying to persuade Fang Shu, and he grew wary that she might attack him before he left.

Bai Yangyang gave Fang Shu the Dragon-Whale Body-Nurturing Method and dragon essence blood before they parted at the Dead Sea. As they drifted away on submerged yinwood, they recognized each other as old friends, exchanged news, and continued on their separate paths.

• Bai Yangyang gave Fang Shu the Dragon-Whale Body-Nurturing Method, which included detailed cultivation guidance and medicinal formulas for strengthening the body.
• The Dragon Rabbit escaped its corroded cage and rewarded Fang Shu with three drops of essence blood to help him cultivate the method, though Fang Shu only dabbed the blood onto his fur.
• Bai Yangyang showed Fang Shu her submerged yinwood raft and gave him a piece, which he used to drift across the Dead Sea instead of traveling to Vast Sea Immortal City.
• Bai Yangyang recognized Fang Shu by his manner of drifting and called out to ask whether he had found relatives on Mount Lu.
• Fang Shu and Bai Yangyang confirmed their identities as old acquaintances, and Bai Yangyang told him that Master Huang was cultivating in Vast Sea Immortal City.
• A black wind separated their sight and voices, and Fang Shu watched Bai Yangyang disappear before continuing to drift alone.