Recaps

After the Ghost Hand Apothecary was destroyed, Gu Qingfeng mourned losing his home and searched Red Tears City for somewhere new to live. He found Red Chive Plain, paid a huge black dog one tael to pet it, and received a string of information in his sea of consciousness.

• Gu Qingfeng left the bounty board and returned to the burned-out Ghost Hand Apothecary, realizing he could no longer live there.
• Smoke Ghost Huang Qu returned to the ruins, mistook the bounty portrait for another test subject, and lamented losing his supply of Immortal Leaf.
• Gu Qingfeng decided to find a new home in Red Tears City and identified Red Chive Plain as a place where cultivators gathered.
• Gu Qingfeng met a huge black dog offering head-petting for one tael of silver and paid to pet it.
• The black dog swallowed the silver and pressed its head against Gu Qingfeng's hand, prompting information to appear in his sea of consciousness.

Gu Qingfeng discovered that the Five-Black Divine Hound could calm his mind and help gather qi, then joined Dongkong Sect for its generous food, lodging, and silver allowance. He entered the sect among a group of dubious recruits and decided he would reform it—or destroy it.

• Gu Qingfeng paid to pet the Five-Black Divine Hound, felt his mind settle and qi circulate faster, and learned that the dog could speak.
• Gu Qingfeng saw Clearwater Sect and Dongkong Sect recruiting, then chose Dongkong Sect because it offered food, lodging, and a monthly allowance.
• Martial Uncle Wang judged Gu Qingfeng's qi and blood suitable and hurried him inside before another sect could recruit him.
• Gu Qingfeng watched Dongkong Sect accept recruits with criminal or disreputable backgrounds, and resolved to infiltrate and reform or destroy the corrupt sect.
• Martial Uncle Wang welcomed the seven new outer disciples and hoped their performance would satisfy the sect master.

After joining the Dongkong Sect, Gu Qingfeng endured his new martial brothers’ unsavory boasts and said he wanted to become a great hero. The next morning, Elder Yan introduced the sect’s oversized sword art and began teaching its accompanying heart formula.

• Gu Qingfeng moved into the Dongkong Sect’s outer disciples’ quarters and learned that the sect had prospered through mining.
• Zhang Chao and the others traded stories of their crimes and mocked Gu Qingfeng after he said he hoped to become a great hero.
• Elder Yan gathered the seven new disciples and presented the Dongkong Great Sword Art and the Great Dongkong Heart Formula.
• Elder Yan began explaining the heart formula, which started with sitting in illumination and observing oneself.

Gu Qingfeng and the other new disciples received instruction in their cultivation manual while Sect Master Zhang Dongzhi pursued a mysterious technique found with a jade-entombed Kun Daoist. The chapter left the seven recruits unknowingly testing the nameless manual’s cultivation method under the guise of the Dongkong Great Sword Art.

• Elder Yan gave the seven new disciples detailed instruction and distributed their manuals, while Gu Qingfeng helped the illiterate recruits read.
• Elder Yan reported the recruitment to Zhang Dongzhi, who worried that the Dongkong Sect had become dependent on the Riches Bloom Gate and was losing its influence.
• Zhang Dongzhi recounted how miners uncovered the preserved corpse of a long-eared Kun Daoist inside a jade mine and found an unnamed manual on her.
• Zhang Dongzhi tested the manual on injured miners, some of whom went mad and gained extraordinary strength, causing many casualties.
• Zhang Dongzhi recruited disciples with cultivated qi and blood, then concealed the manual’s methods inside the Dongkong Great Sword Art taught to Gu Qingfeng and the others.

Gu Qingfeng discovered that the Dongkong Sect’s supposed Great Dongkong Heart Formula was Daoist Chen’s dangerous Soul-Loss Sword Intent, then reversed its cost and rapidly mastered it. He demonstrated astonishing strength before his fellow disciples and wondered whether the method could let him kill a Fourth-Tier Divine Sense Realm cultivator.

• Gu Qingfeng studied the Great Dongkong Heart Formula and devised a way to visualize emotions as flames burning white bones.
• His sea of consciousness revealed that the manual was actually Daoist Chen’s Soul-Loss Sword Intent, a powerful sword art that could destroy its cultivator’s soul and spirits.
• Gu Qingfeng suspected the Dongkong Sect was using new outer disciples to test a dangerous cultivation method and decided to try it after reversing its cost.
• Gu Qingfeng cultivated the sword intent using despair, then reversed its cost and felt power well up from within him.
• Gu Qingfeng lifted and effortlessly tossed around a massive granite pedestal without using true qi, stunning the fellow disciples watching him.
• Gu Qingfeng wondered whether combining his new strength with true essence and killing qi could let him defeat a Fourth-Tier Divine Sense Realm cultivator.

Gu Qingfeng used his understanding of Daoist Chen's Soul-Losing Sword Intent to gain extraordinary strength and taught the fake Great Dongkong Heart Formula to the other new disciples. Elder Yan discovered that all seven disciples had mastered it and gained powerful strength, then went to report the successful test to Sect Leader Zhang Dongzhi.

• Gu Qingfeng swung a massive stone lock with ease, leaving the other disciples jealous and wondering whether he had mastered the Great Dongkong Heart Formula.
• The escaped prisoner followed Gu Qingfeng's explanation, gained tremendous strength, and inspired the rest of the courtyard to ask Gu Qingfeng for instruction.
• Gu Qingfeng taught the disciples through the night, and even Coachman Zhang Chao joined in after seeing their results.
• Elder Yan arrived the next day and found that all seven disciples had mastered the technique and gained strength far beyond their apparent cultivation levels.
• Elder Yan learned how Gu Qingfeng had taught the technique, mastered it himself, and hurried to tell Sect Leader Zhang Dongzhi that the test had achieved tremendous results.

Elder Yan demonstrated that the nameless manual had rapidly improved his swordsmanship, making Sect Leader Zhang Dongzhi jealous but wary of practicing it himself. That night, strange changes overtook the trainees, and Elder Yan also began acting abnormally.

• Elder Yan borrowed Zhang Dongzhi's Sky Stone Heavy Sword and performed the Dongkong Great Sword Art, astonishing the sect leader.
• Elder Yan explained his training to Zhang Dongzhi, who ordered him to keep observing the trainees but secretly resented him for wielding the treasured sword.
• Zhang Dongzhi stayed awake debating whether to practice the manual, then decided to let the others test it first.
• Zhang Jianqiang threatened Zhang Chao and the other disciples into having sex with him, while Gu Qingfeng noticed their behavior becoming increasingly abnormal.
• Zhang Chao grew more aggressive and fixated on stealing men, and Elder Yan's disciple found him kneeling strangely and asking about the meaning of life.

Gu Qingfeng watched the Soul-Losing Sword Intent change the courtyard disciples and drive Zhang Jianqiang and Zhang Chao to attack inner disciples. After Gu Qingfeng gave the humiliated disciples a revised Great Dongkong Heart Formula, Wang Qing embraced the altered mindset and set out to confront Elder Yan about fairness.

• Elder Yan fell into a melancholy trance while gazing at the stars, and Gu Qingfeng noticed that the courtyard disciples were developing different mental afflictions.
• Zhang Jianqiang and Zhang Chao left the courtyard and assaulted several inner disciples, while Elder Yan claimed the Sect Master had arranged the test and refused to intervene.
• The inner disciples obtained a new version of the Great Dongkong Heart Formula from Gu Qingfeng and blamed Elder Yan for favoring the newcomers.
• The four humiliated inner disciples practiced the manual and quickly made progress in cultivation.
• Wang Qing cried out and announced to Xiao Qin that he wanted fairness, then went to confront Elder Yan.

Wang Qing defeated Zhang Jianqiang and Zhang Chao after their fight escalated, but Elder Yan intervened and protected them. When Sect Master Zhang Dongzhi confronted Elder Yan, Yan declared himself Madam’s dog and challenged the sect master, leaving a clash imminent.

• Wang Qing overwhelmed Zhang Jianqiang, and Zhang Chao joined the fight against him.
• Wang Qing knocked both men down and beat them until Elder Yan stopped him with a soul-shaking roar.
• Elder Yan struck Wang Qing aside and carried Zhang Jianqiang and Zhang Chao to his quarters, saying he had been ordered to observe them.
• Zhang Dongzhi confronted Elder Yan over injuring Wang Qing and protecting the two Outer Disciples.
• Elder Yan declared his loyalty to Madam, accused Zhang Dongzhi of mistreating her, and challenged him as Gu Qingfeng watched.

Elder Yan challenged Sect Master Zhang Dongzhi, and their heavy-sword duel devastated the Dongkong Sect courtyard. After Zhang defeated Yan, Gu Qingfeng resolved to study the sect’s sword art.

• Zhang Dongzhi confronted Elder Yan over his betrayal, and the two began fighting with true essence.
• Elder Yan unleashed a relentless barrage of heavy-sword thrusts, shocking Elder Feng and the watching disciples.
• Zhang Dongzhi summoned his own heavy sword, and the two clashed with force that shattered buildings and injured nearby disciples.
• At the forty-second clash, Zhang disarmed Yan, bound him with true essence, and slammed him into a pit, leaving him unable to fight.
• Zhang told Yan to practice more and walked away, while Gu Qingfeng admired the heavy sword’s power and decided to learn the Dongkong Sect’s sword art.

After Zhang Dongzhi defeated Elder Yan, the Dongkong Sect descended into panic as the new Great Dongkong Heart Formula spread among its factions. Gu Qingfeng tested the Dongkong Great Sword Art with devastating results, then found Zhang Jianqiang and Zhang Chao unconscious and apparently soulless.

• Zhang Dongzhi returned to the Spring Arrival Courtyard coughing and considered practicing the Nameless Manual despite its effect on people’s temperaments.
• The Dongkong Sect’s disciples learned that the new Great Dongkong Heart Formula had empowered Wang Qing and Elder Yan, and the manual rapidly spread through the sect.
• Gu Qingfeng took an Inner Disciple’s copy of the Dongkong Great Sword Art and cleaved stone and the courtyard ground with its New Year’s Greeting move.
• Gu Qingfeng combined true essence and killing aura with Thrusting Force, blasted a hole through the courtyard wall, and frightened the nearby Fugitive into wetting himself.
• Gu Qingfeng entered his room and found Zhang Jianqiang and Zhang Chao limp and incontinent; their pulses still beat, but he wondered if they had lost their souls.

Gu Qingfeng left the stinking courtyard and settled into an Inner Disciple’s room, where nearby disciples fought over a sword and manual he had taken. Elder Yan’s Soul-Loss worsened, while Zhang Dongzhi was summoned to meet Master Gui of the Riches Bloom Gate and saw him as a threat to himself and the Dongkong Sect.

• Gu Qingfeng watched the severely Soul-Lost Zhang Jianqiang and Zhang Chao lie helpless while other depressed disciples lingered in the stinking courtyard, then moved to an Inner Disciple’s room.
• A disciple next door accused Zhao Dahai of stealing his sword and secret manual, which Gu Qingfeng had taken, and the two began fighting.
• Elder Yan realized he was drooling uncontrollably and feared that Soul-Loss had made him look like an idiot.
• Zhang Dongzhi was summoned by Master Gui and went to the Riches Bloom Gate despite feeling too agitated to refuse.
• Zhang Dongzhi admired the Gate’s wealth, then saw Master Gui in his gold chair and silver clothing and regarded him as a monster threatening the Dongkong Sect.