Recaps

Jiang Jingnian uncovered the international schemes behind the Blood Moon Ritual and resolved to keep resisting despite the overwhelming forces involved. After refining the Baleful Blood Glaze, he witnessed a past encounter between the Forge Hero and Blood Moon Demon King Valentin, then completed his Moon Lotus Treasure Blossoms-Rebirth Body trait and gained a more powerful means of resurrection.

• Jiang Jingnian read the Baleful Blood Glaze’s history and learned how the Tummo Dharma Lineage, Lin Martial Hall, and other forces were tied to the Blood Moon Ritual.
• Jiang Jingnian realized the ritual involved powerful nations and forces, struggled with the apparent hopelessness of opposing them, then chose to keep fighting and save whoever he could.
• Jiang Jingnian refined the Baleful Blood Glaze and witnessed Forge Hero Barlo defeat Blood Moon Demon King Valentin, whose final words suggested he could return and whose remains were partly devoured by an abyssal maw.
• Jiang Jingnian considered whether his witnessing of the past had anchored Valentin’s existence and enabled the Blood Moon Ritual’s materials to persist.
• Jiang Jingnian absorbed the Blood Moon radiance into his incomplete Moon Lotus Treasure Blossoms-Rebirth Body trait, completing it so he could revive as a moon lotus at a chosen location several li away.

Jiang Jingnian refined the Wishful White-Bone Prayer Beads into the improved Phantom Shadow Evasion and planned to sabotage more of the Blood Moon Ritual. Meanwhile, Jinling Daily editor Ariya investigated the deaths of two reporters near Auspicious Peace Medical Hall and sensed a stronger Blood Moon presence at the scene.

• Jiang Jingnian tempered and devoured the Wishful White-Bone Prayer Beads, then fused Nethershadow Secret Escape into Phantom Shadow Evasion.
• Ariya argued with Wei Chongnan after he refused to publish her report about the blood-sacrifice ritual and its local and Western conspirators.
• A staffer told Ariya and Wei Chongnan that reporters Cao Ling and Fan Xiaolin had been found dead near Auspicious Peace Medical Hall.
• Ariya went to the sealed alley, and Fan Yanchang persuaded Constable Zhao to let her inspect the scene.
• Ariya smelled the Blood Lotus and sensed a clearer, stronger Blood Moon aura that unsettled her bloodline.

Jiang Jingnian and Jie Er moved to disrupt the Blood Moon Ritual by drawing its enemies toward Ariya, while Ariya uncovered evidence linking the Sterling Family and her own lineage to the conspiracy. At a teahouse, Zhuge Xin summoned Ariya and Jie Er to meet Tong Shaoxuan, and Ariya’s refusal brought the two women to the brink of a fight.

• Jiang Jingnian and Jie Er watched Six Doors arrive after the destruction at Lin Martial Hall, then left without approaching the constables.
• Jiang Jingnian gave Jie Er a crimson evil jade bead and supplies, asking him to find Ariya and draw the Dag Venerable Lord Monastery and other powerful enemies toward them.
• Ariya investigated the Auspicious Peace Medical Hall, concealed a half-burned photograph showing a possible Sterling Family baron, and suspected her Johnson Family bloodline was involved in the Blood Moon conspiracy.
• Jie Er met Ariya at the Jinling Daily and told her that her Johnson Family bloodline made her a key element of the Blood Moon Ritual.
• Zhuge Xin entered the teahouse and ordered Ariya and Jie Er to accompany her to Tong Shaoxuan; Ariya refused, and Zhuge Xin reached for her sword.

Liu Qingzhi decided to leave Mountain Cloud School for Jinling City after learning that trouble had gathered there and Jiang Jingnian was missing. In Jinling, Tong Shaoxuan confronted foreign forces and Tummo gurus who came for Jie Er and Ariya, then launched a brutal attack after they threatened his sect and demanded the pair be handed over.

• Liu Qingzhi told Hong Yufang she was going to Jinling City to look for Jiang Jingnian, despite her family’s warning and the dangers there.
• Liu Qingzhi rejected Du Haichen’s attempt to stop her and continued down the mountain.
• Jie Er persuaded Zhuge Xin not to attack Ariya, and Ariya and Jie Er accompanied Zhuge Xin to meet Tong Shaoxuan at Linjiang Hotel.
• Tong Shaoxuan questioned Ariya and Jie Er about the events at Little Auspicious Village and Liao Chuzhou’s death.
• Foreign experts and Tummo gurus stormed Tong Shaoxuan’s suite, demanded that he surrender Jie Er and Ariya, and threatened him.
• Tong Shaoxuan killed one Tummo guru with a single hammer strike and continued fighting the invading forces.

Jiang Jingnian negotiated with Jiang Nianci to trade mithril and borrow secret treasures, while urging the Jiang Family to oppose the Blood Moon Ritual’s plans. After completing the deal, he was led to a practice room, where Jiang Nianci’s daughter Jiang Leer mistook him for a womanizing guest.

• Jiang Jingnian entered the Jinling Jiang Family estate and learned from He Tingfeng that Jiang Jingmeng was protected by a bloodline trump card but refused to practice martial arts.
• Jiang Nianci tested Jiang Jingnian’s strength, then discussed the Blood Moon Ritual and agreed the Jiang Family might secretly disrupt the ritual’s procedures.
• Jiang Jingnian asked Jiang Nianci about Flamebane Manor’s attack on Garuda Temple, and she said she would investigate the Black Shadow Sword Pavilion’s actions.
• Jiang Jingnian exchanged mithril and other valuables for Jiang Family secret treasures, then negotiated a loan of fifteen more treasures.
• Jiang Leer interrupted an argument with Jiang Xu, mistook Jiang Jingnian for her mother’s potential lover, and then followed him as he went to meditate in a practice room.

Jiang Jingnian devoured two Dragon Palace relics, gained new trait effects, and used a simplified process to condense True Astral Force in the Jiang Family’s training room. The breakthrough stunned Jiang Xu and Jiang Nianci, who had just been debating whether Jiang Jingnian was a suitable match for Jiang Leer.

• Jiang Nianci urged Jiang Xu to help cover the Mountain Cloud School and Jiang Jingnian, while Jiang Xu ordered San Huan to confine Jiang Leer after she vanished using an illusion.
• Jiang Jingnian devoured the Pure Jade Pearl and Bronze Life Lock, enhancing his traits and upgrading his Light-Shrouding Flame with greater range, more targets, and copper-fire poison.
• Jiang Jingnian swallowed Moon-Eye Dao Essence and began the simplified process of melting and burning his Inner Qi Crystals to refine True Astral Force.
• Tong Shaoxuan defeated the foreign experts at Linjiang Hotel, let the surviving enemies flee to summon reinforcements, and then turned to discuss Ariya and Jie Er’s matter.
• Jiang Xu warned Jiang Nianci against rushing Jiang Leer’s marriage to Jiang Jingnian, but a pillar of Fire-Virtue True Astral Force erupted from the training room before they could settle the dispute.
• Jiang Xu and Jiang Nianci realized Jiang Jingnian had condensed True Astral Force in under two hours, and Jiang Nianci asked whether her brother still wanted to wait years before considering him for Jiang Leer.

Jiang Jingnian refined his first wisp of True Astral Force at the Jiang Family estate, drawing the attention of Grandmaster Jiang Chenglin and gaining power enough to challenge Grandmasters. He discovered that his path to Grandmaster rank was incomplete and demanded a Great Vow to recreate heaven and earth, while Jiang Leer reacted to the destructive breakthrough from her confinement.

• Jiang Jingnian’s breakthrough produced a Golden Crow Phantom, and the Jiang Family Clan Elders inferred that he cultivated a Mountain Cloud School art before Jiang Nianci corrected them about his farming background and body-tempering technique.
• Jiang Chenglin used the Jiang Family’s Martial Dao Momentum to inspect Jiang Nianci and Jiang Jingnian, saw their manifestations in the void, and found Jiang Jingnian’s origins obscured and his Life Essence wavering.
• Jiang Chenglin agreed that the Jiang Family could participate in the Blood Moon Ritual with restraint, while he and Jiang Huazhi planned to oppose the Swordsmanship Master from Eastern Wu Kingdom and hoped the Nine Hanging Mountain Swords would trouble the Japanese pirates.
• Jiang Jingnian assessed his new Indestructible Vajra True Astral Force and strengthened Pure-Killing Splendid Flame, then resolved to destroy the Celestial Gate and weaken the Joyous Blood Moon’s escape body.
• Jiang Jingnian’s panel revealed that his Grandmaster Archetype was incomplete and required a Great Vow to reopen earth, wind, water, and fire; he discovered that his vow to recreate heaven and earth required Flame, Wind, Water, and Earth Nature materials.
• Jiang Leer, confined in her room, saw Jiang Jingnian’s pillar of fire shake the estate and shatter her window’s talismans, then vanished into watery light.

Jiang Jingnian refined True Astral Force, used Grandmaster Vision to glimpse Jinling’s tangled powers, and drew the Jiang Family’s attention with his breakthrough. After turning down Jiang Nianci’s offer to betroth Jiang Leer, he urged the family to act against the Sterling Family and revealed that the Barlo Lineage might also be involved in the Blood Moon Ritual.

• Jiang Jingnian devoured special items, refined True Astral Force, and awakened Grandmaster Vision through his Golden Crow True Astral Core.
• Jiang Jingnian surveyed the void reflection of Jinling City, sensed the Jiang Family’s goodwill, and glimpsed the Dongjiang Prefecture Governor’s Office’s Momentum and other powerful presences obscured by chaos and the Blood Moon.
• Jiang Leer approached the ruined training room, where Jiang Jingnian’s gaze hurt her eyes; San Huan stabilized her, and Jiang Jingnian apologized for the disturbance.
• Jiang Nianci and Jiang Xu welcomed Jiang Jingnian into the Flowery Hall, where they discussed the Heavenly Prodigy Ranking and tested his outlook on martial cultivation.
• Jiang Nianci proposed that Jiang Jingnian marry Jiang Leer, but Jiang Jingnian declined because he already loved someone, and Jiang Leer protested the arrangement.
• Jiang Jingnian asked the Jiang Family to oppose the Sterling Family’s forces and revealed that the Barlo Lineage of the Kingdom of Migallon might also be involved in the Blood Moon Ritual.

Jiang Jingnian persuaded the Jiang Family to provide intelligence and support for his campaign against the Eastern Wu Kingdom Chamber of Commerce, then left to prepare for action. Meanwhile, Tong Shaoxuan arrived to challenge Jiang Nianci, and the devastated Burning Cloud Martial Hall debated seeking help as its surviving disciples feared another attack.

• Jiang Jingnian told Jiang Nianci and Jiang Xu that the Barlo Lineage had aided the Dou'a Sect and intervened in the Blood Moon Ritual, and he urged the Jiang Family to restrain the Sterling Family and strike the Japanese pirates.
• Jiang Jingnian offered to serve as the vanguard against the Eastern Wu Kingdom Chamber of Commerce, and Jiang Nianci agreed to give him intelligence about its forces and experts.
• After reading the dossier about the Japanese pirates' attacks on martial halls, Jiang Jingnian refused the Jiang Family's invitation to stay and left to prepare for battle.
• A Jiang Family guard reported that Tong Shaoxuan had arrived to challenge Jiang Nianci, leaving Jiang Xu and Jiang Nianci on alert.
• At Burning Cloud Martial Hall, Zhang Sijie learned that Hall Master Li had died from poison and that Elders Chen and Liu remained gravely injured after the Straight-Heart Style Hall's attack.
• Lin Nanyi urged Guo Yan and several disciples, including Zhang Sijie, to seek help from the Governor-General's Office and Flamebane Manor, while Guo Yan doubted that Jiang Jingnian could intervene.

Saionji Shion and the Eastern Wu Kingdom Chamber of Commerce attacked Burning Cloud Martial Hall, injured its disciples, and revealed that they intended to use them as living sacrifices for Grandmaster Ryunosuke. Jiang Jingnian arrived and faced the surrounding Eastern Wu Kingdom experts, then summoned bronze flames.

• Lin Nanyi and Zhang Sijie were struck by a saber slash as they left the council hall, and Saionji Shion’s warriors surrounded Burning Cloud Martial Hall.
• Saionji Shion’s forces destroyed the hall’s plaque, replaced it with one reading “Chen State Cowards,” and defeated the stewards who tried to stop them.
• Guo Yan offered to surrender the martial hall to spare the disciples, but Saionji Shion revealed that they were intended as sacrifices for the Joyous Blood Moon and Grandmaster Ryunosuke’s attempt to open the Celestial Gate.
• As Saionji Shion moved to kill Lin Nanyi, Jiang Jingnian arrived and shattered the warriors’ oppressive blade-light with his scorching aura.
• Saionji Shion, Hase Shoji, Saionji Zhenghong, and Eastern Wu Kingdom martial-family experts surrounded Jiang Jingnian and revealed that the attacks on Burning Cloud Martial Hall had been a trap for him.
• Jiang Jingnian remained calm, condemned the Mysterious Mountain Dao Lineage, and exhaled a cluster of bronze flames.

Jiang Jingnian used the Remnant Veiled-Light Copper Flame and his overwhelming strength to destroy the Eastern Wu Kingdom force that had trapped him at the Burning Cloud Martial Hall. The chapter ended with the attackers dead and the martial hall disciples staring in shock at Jiang Jingnian’s brutal victory.

• Jiang Jingnian unleashed the Remnant Veiled-Light Copper Flame, killing nearly all of Saionji Shion’s warriors and wounding Saionji Shion.
• Saionji Zhenghong and Hase Shoji attacked Jiang Jingnian with the Shuten Magatama Twin-Heaven Blade, while Saionji Shion fled toward her father.
• Jiang Jingnian endured the divine ability with his Indestructible Vajra True Astral Force, then killed Hase Shoji with Life-Shortening Age-Stealing (Fleeting Splendor).
• Jiang Jingnian’s copper flame pierced Saionji Shion’s heart and devastated the remaining Eastern Wu Kingdom experts.
• Jiang Jingnian killed Saionji Zhenghong with a single punch and finished off the other surviving attackers, leaving Guo Yan and the Burning Cloud Martial Hall disciples stunned.

Jiang Jingnian annihilated the Eastern Wu attackers at Burning Cloud Martial Hall, saved the poisoned elders, and ordered the disciples to evacuate before he pursued the enemy. After uncovering and destroying a Blood Moon ritual beneath Hall Master Li’s room, he prepared to strike the Straight-Heart Style Hall, whose warriors still believed their assault had succeeded.

• Jiang Jingnian killed the remaining Eastern Wu warriors and rescued Zhang Sijie from a blade attack, then the martial hall disciples helped him loot the corpses.
• Jiang Jingnian used Samadhi True Fire to purge the poison afflicting Liu Ningbei and Chen Bing, who confirmed that Phosphorfire Hall had transferred them to Jinling two months earlier.
• Jiang Jingnian promised increased compensation for the injured and dead, then ordered the elders and disciples to flee to Jiangyou Prefecture while he stayed behind to settle the score with the attackers.
• Jiang Jingnian discovered a Blood Moon ritual beneath Hall Master Li’s bed and destroyed it with Samadhi True Fire.
• Jiang Jingnian refined newly acquired trait items and decided to launch a lightning strike on the Straight-Heart Style Hall, while Kuroda Shinya and Sugiyama Takashi still expected the Burning Cloud Martial Hall to have fallen.

Jiang Jingnian stormed the Straight-Heart Style Hall and slaughtered its defenders in retaliation for the trap set at the Burning Cloud Martial Hall. After killing Kuroda Shinya and defeating his family’s divine ability, Jiang Jingnian burned the stronghold to the ground.

• Kuroda Shinya belittled Jiang Jingnian while Sugiyama Takashi and the disciples praised Kuroda’s status and rumored courtship of Saionji Shion.
• Jiang Jingnian entered the Straight-Heart Style Hall amid crimson-gold flames and killed Yoshida Futago, the resting disciples, and the warriors who confronted him.
• Sugiyama Takashi and Kuroda Shinya rushed to investigate, where they recognized Hase Shoji’s Blacknote Hound Tachi in Jiang Jingnian’s hands and learned he had come for revenge.
• Jiang Jingnian used the Moon-Reflecting Lotus Eye to stun Sugiyama Takashi, killed him, and withstood Kuroda Shinya and the other experts’ attacks before cutting them down.
• Kuroda Shinya unleashed a Blacklight Scythe from his life-saving jade pendant, but Jiang Jingnian’s Golden Crow and Samadhi True Fire destroyed it.
• Jiang Jingnian taunted Kuroda Shinya about Saionji Shion, killed him, then eliminated the remaining defenders and burned the Straight-Heart Style Hall to the ground.

Jiang Jingnian sensed a great upheaval as Western Ocean forces launched coordinated attacks on powerful figures around Jinling. Tong Shaoxuan was ambushed by Vak Dono and Tummo Dharma King, Li Yan faced Hase Ryunosuke and two Swordsmanship Masters, and Liu Qingzhi raced toward Jinling to find her junior brother.

• Jiang Jingnian looked into the void, suffered Blood Moon Calamity backlash, and realized a tremendous upheaval would strike that night.
• Tong Shaoxuan and Bao Qingwen were trapped in Vak Dono's Stone Marsh Black Mire, where Tong fought Vak before Tummo Dharma King joined the battle.
• Li Yan confronted Hase Ryunosuke, Kuroda Kazuta, and Saionji Yoshiki, whose fused Shuten-doji Momentum clashed with his Life-Slaying Bloodplain.
• Liu Qingzhi saw the distant Grandmaster battle, sensed that her junior brother was still alive, and rode toward Jinling City.

Jiang Jingnian cleansed the Blood Moon pollution from his body and discovered that the Jinling Lu Family had colluded with the Japanese over a stolen coastal defense map. While Tong Shaoxuan was ambushed nearby, the Jiang Family debated intervening, then faced pressure from visiting factions to stay out of the battle and distance themselves from Jiang Jingnian.

• Jiang Jingnian used the Samadhi True Fire and a Water-Cleansing Rejuvenation Pill to purge the Blood Moon pollution caused by glimpsing the void.
• Jiang Jingnian inferred that Grandmasters had surrounded the Jiang Family’s territory and learned from a treasure-map entry that the Jinling Lu Family had traded a stolen coastal defense map to the Kuroda Family.
• Jiang Jingnian refined items from the Straight-Heart Style Hall and discovered that the Jinling Lu Family had colluded with the Japanese.
• Jiang Xu, Jiang Nianci, and the Jiang Family elders debated rescuing Tong Shaoxuan after Grandmasters ambushed him near their territory, and the Third Granduncle decided to intervene.
• Chen Xingtu, a Pei Family elder, Lu Zhishan, and Lu An arrived at the Jiang Family and pressed them not to help Tong Shaoxuan, offering the Beizhen Arsenal in exchange for their compliance.
• The Pei Family elder and Pei Yunwu warned the Jiang Family to avoid Jiang Jingnian, while Jiang Xu and Jiang Nianci concealed whether the family had received him.

Jiang Jingnian refined Blacknote Hound and gained the Light-Hiding Blackflame trait, then followed a connection to the Fire Jade Pearl as battles elsewhere shifted. Tong Shaoxuan escaped an ambush after Jiang Family Momentum disrupted the attackers, while Li Yan gained an opening against the Eastern Wu Grandmasters when Hase momentum was damaged; the Transmigration Dharma King then sent Jibu to seize Ariya.

• Jiang Jingnian refined Blacknote Hound, learned how the Hase Family’s Momentum worked, and advanced Remnant Veiled-Light Copper Flame into Light-Hiding Blackflame.
• Jiang Jingnian used the Fire Jade Pearl fragment to trace a direction and decided to seek Ariya while traveling.
• Tong Shaoxuan was nearly forced to abandon his attempt to form a Divine Ability, but Jiang Family Water Virtue Momentum weakened Fire-Earth Scorched Hell and allowed him to escape.
• Hase Ryunosuke’s Shuten-doji Momentum lost half an arm after Shinya’s aura vanished, giving Li Yan an opening to unleash the Bloodplain Momentum against the Eastern Wu Grandmasters.
• The Transmigration Dharma King ordered Jibu to capture Ariya, and Jibu left to carry out the order.

Ariya resolved to destroy or reverse the Love Rite, but the Corpse Venom Sect and the Transmigration Dharma Lineage attacked Heart Sword Pavilion to seize her. After A Hewan defeated the defenders and moved to take Ariya, Jiang Jingnian arrived and struck him down with a blazing punch.

• Ariya recalled her aunt Linnali and the Blood Moon Ritual, then decided to resist becoming its living sacrifice as gray-black miasma seeped into her room.
• A Hewan and A-Lin activated the Corpse Venom Sect’s rite to capture Ariya, while Jibu and the Transmigration Dharma Lineage arrived to claim her for themselves.
• The miasma engulfed Heart Sword Pavilion, and the Corpse Venom Sect and Transmigration monks fought Zhuge Xin, Yun Guizhu, Jie Er, and the others.
• A Hewan ambushed Zhuge Xin and Yun Guizhu, then used a Black Cocoon Corpse Qi treasure to break Jibu’s possession technique and grievously wound him.
• A Hewan advanced on the trapped Ariya, but Jiang Jingnian arrived and shattered A Hewan’s arm with a scorching punch.

Jiang Jingnian defeated A Hewan with his Pure-Killing Splendid Flame and rejected He Xun’s offer to join the Corpse Venom Sect. He killed He Xun with a single palm and then crushed A Hewan, while Ariya and Jie Er left the courtyard with A-Lin.

• Jiang Jingnian withstood A Hewan’s Black Cocoon Corpse Qi and repeatedly battered him with blazing fists.
• A Hewan transformed with his Silver Corpse Cocoon Form and fought Jiang Jingnian with Grandmaster-level power, while Jie Er led Ariya away from the rear courtyard.
• A-Lin joined Ariya and Jie Er, offered to guide them through a gap in the poisonous miasma, and secretly released powder near Ariya.
• A Hewan unleashed his final attack, but Jiang Jingnian’s Pure-Killing Splendid Flame destroyed the poison mass and burned through A Hewan’s life-saving cocoon.
• He Xun appeared, struck Jiang Jingnian, and offered to recruit him into the Miao Borderlands Demon Sect; Jiang Jingnian refused.
• Jiang Jingnian used Life-Shortening Age-Stealing to kill He Xun with one palm, then crushed the dying A Hewan.

Jiang Jingnian killed He Xun and A Hewan, while the blood moon absorbed He Xun’s power and used him as a sacrifice. After gathering the spoils, Jiang Jingnian hunted down the fleeing Corpse Venom Sect fiends, leaving the battlefield nearly cleared.

• He Xun’s death unleashed a plague-bearing storm in the void, but the blood moon suppressed it and took his divine-ability manifestations as a sacrifice.
• At the Gou Wu Ruins, Aofei Duchy nobles used Yun Fengyou’s corpse and the final Blood Moon Oil Painting to advance their ritual, while Bella Jielin learned that a Grandmaster had become a living sacrifice.
• Jiang Jingnian collected He Xun’s weapons, secret arts, and other spoils, then burned the bodies and pursued the remaining demonic fiends.
• The Corpse Venom Sect survivors mistook the ritual’s returning momentum for He Xun’s arrival, but realized the Supreme Elder and Holy Son were likely dead when the miasma vanished.
• Jiang Jingnian caught and killed the fleeing Corpse Venom Sect experts, then swept through the ruins and nearly wiped out the remaining demonic fiends and Esoteric Sect monks.
• Jiang Jingnian recognized Qian Xuan among the dead and reflected on how quickly his former enemies had become insignificant before he left the battlefield.

Jiang Jingnian rescued Ariya and Jie Er from A-Lin, a Demon Sect spy, and explained the risks of the Love Rite to Ariya. After Ariya agreed to proceed, Jiang Jingnian met Jiang Nianci at the courtyard and learned that Tong Shaoxuan had vanished after being pursued by two Grandmasters; Ariya then emerged and found Jiang Nianci with him.

• Jie Er exposed A-Lin as a Demon Sect agent, but her layered Gu poisons overwhelmed Ariya and weakened him.
• Jiang Jingnian arrived, killed A-Lin, and used Samadhi True Fire to remove most of the poison from Ariya and Jie Er.
• At a secluded courtyard, Jiang Jingnian explained the Love Rite and its dangers, and Ariya agreed to accept the consequences and begin preparations the next day.
• Jiang Jingnian informed Jiang Nianci of Ariya's existence, then learned that Tong Shaoxuan had gone missing near the Qin River after two Grandmasters pursued him.
• Ariya came into the courtyard and saw Jiang Nianci speaking with Jiang Jingnian, leaving her unsettled and self-conscious.

Jiang Jingnian prepared a flawed Love Rite with Ariya to contain the Blood Moon Ritual’s damage, while concealing their plans from the factions watching them. After two days of staged dates around Jinling City, they returned with the rite’s final scene still ahead and Finn of the Sterling Family investigating their intentions.

• Jiang Nianci warned Jiang Jingnian that the Jiang Family’s residence was being watched, declined to let him use its treasure vault, and cautioned that the Blood Moon Ritual was nearing its final stage.
• Jiang Jingnian refined Ember Dragon Slash into the Light-Hiding Black True Swordflame trait and fused the Fire Jade Pearl with its fragment to create a Crescent Jade Shard for the Love Rite.
• Jiang Jingnian explained to Ariya that he planned to perform an incomplete Love Rite using substitute paintings and other ritual elements, then began preparing it with her and Jie Er.
• Jiang Jingnian and Ariya spent two days visiting crowded locations around Jinling City as part of the rite, while Jie Er followed and hidden watchers tracked them.
• Finn of the Sterling Family questioned what Jiang Jingnian was trying to accomplish, noting that his family had not acted because they could not find the Phosphorfire Dao Lord.

On the eve of the decisive Blood Moon Ritual, Jiang Jingnian prepared for Liu Qingzhi’s arrival, gave Jie Er supplies for her protection, and shared his past with Ariya before her birthday gift brought them closer. At the Blue Queen Ballroom, Jiang Jingnian’s piano performance was interrupted by a three-Grandmaster assault; Ariya stabbed him as part of the planned ritual, and he dragged his attackers into the Greater Yin Furnace as the Blood Moon rose and the Celestial Gate opened.

• Jiang Jingnian told Jie Er that Liu Qingzhi might be near Jinling and entrusted him with a token, two sealed [Pure-Killing Splendid Flame] abilities, and medicine to help her escape if needed.
• Jiang Jingnian told Ariya about his impoverished childhood and journey from Elder Apricot Village to the Mountain Cloud School, and Ariya gave him a jade pendant and embroidered birthday handkerchief.
• Jiang Jingnian refined the Myriad Gu Corpse Staff into the [Myriad Gu Garment] trait while Finn reported his plans to Bella Jielin, and Liu Qingzhi searched the ruins of Garuda Temple for him.
• At the Blue Queen Ballroom, Jiang Jingnian played Für Elise for Ariya, silencing the gathered factions before the Tummo Dharma King attacked him and Elder Wack and Grandmaster Kuroda joined the assault.
• Ariya stabbed Jiang Jingnian with a mirror shard and dropped a Blood Moon jade fragment; Jie Er recorded the moment in an oil painting as Jiang Jingnian praised Ariya and bound the three Grandmasters with his shattered bracers.
• Jiang Jingnian pulled the Tummo Dharma King, Elder Wack, and Grandmaster Kuroda into the Greater Yin Furnace, and the Blood Moon appeared as the Celestial Gate opened above Jinling City.

Jiang Jingnian’s sacrifice unleashed the Greater Yin Furnace and triggered the Blood Moon Ritual ahead of schedule, devastating Jinling City and forcing the Mountain Cloud School’s besiegers to retreat. As the Celestial Gate opened and Grandmasters fought over it, Hase Ryunosuke entered the gate to pursue ascension, while the Jiang Family’s Third Elder Patriarch wounded him and was gravely injured in return.

• The Greater Yin Furnace consumed Jiang Jingnian and three Grandmasters, while Xue Xiuxiu led Su Wanzhi and the others away from its spreading flames.
• Jiang Nianci and the Jiang Family’s Third Elder Patriarch escaped with Jiang Leer, whose eyes burst after she looked directly at the miniature Blood Moon and Celestial Gate.
• The Blood Moon separated above Jinling City, and its appearance forced the foreign families besieging Cloudpool Cliff to withdraw to Baobai Mountain.
• Li Yan, Intent-in-Motion Sword, and Han Jingfeng joined forces against Bella Jielin, Saionji Yoshiki, the Transmigration Dharma King, and Shui Hanyu in a battle over the Celestial Gate.
• Wen Qilang tried to seize the gate but was struck down by Shuten-doji, and Hase Ryunosuke entered the gate to pursue his opportunity.
• The Jiang Family’s Third Elder Patriarch attacked Hase Ryunosuke with Three Thousand Weak Waters, aggravating his injuries before Hase’s sword strike gravely wounded him; Jiang Nianci then carried him away.

Hase Ryunosuke failed to become a Martial Saint when Ren Wuqing stole his Celestial Fruit and used the Blood Moon to attain the Pestilence Moon fruit instead. Ren Wuqing killed Life-Slaying Sword and nearly unleashed a plague on Jinling City, but a mysterious elder from Qixia Mountain stopped him; beneath the Sky-Patrolling Great River, a moon lotus began to bloom.

• Hase Ryunosuke’s attempt to prove [Sea That Embraces All Rivers] stalled, and Ren Wuqing used his Yin-Moon Form-Seizing Ability to parasitize the Celestial Fruit.
• Ren Wuqing received the Blood Moon’s blessing and declared that he would become the Pestilence Martial Saint, bearing the costs of a new demonic path.
• Li Yan and the other Hanging Mountain swordsmen attacked the gate, but Ren Wuqing used Hase Ryunosuke as a shield and emerged as a Martial Saint.
• Ren Wuqing killed Li Yan with a tide of gu insects and sent a plague toward Jinling City, but an azure sea from Qixia Mountain purified it and forced him to leave.
• Intent-in-Motion Sword recognized that the Greater Yin martial shackles had loosened, while Shui Hanyu fled and the Transmigration Dharma King announced the return of the Venerable Lord Secret Canon’s glory.
• A tiny moon lotus beneath the Sky-Patrolling Great River absorbed moonlight as a Greater Yin divine ability began to form.

Jiang Jingnian survived the Greater Yin Furnace, devoured the Clear Moon Radiance Wheel Fragment, and gained the Greater Yin Form-Shifting Divine Ability. As Nock Sterling and Saionji Yoshiki plotted revenge against his loved ones, Jiang Jingnian appeared alive beside their ship.

• Jiang Jingnian awoke beneath the river, realized his escape from the Greater Yin Furnace had increased his Life Essence, and swallowed the Clear Moon Radiance Wheel Fragment before it could possess him.
• Jiang Jingnian witnessed the sorrowful Greater Yin Mystic Maiden imprisoned within a vast moon, then absorbed the Moon Tear and transformed his Inexpressible Nobility (Bright Water) trait into Inexpressible Nobility (Moon Tears).
• Jiang Jingnian saw that the Greater Yin Furnace was collapsing and condensed the Greater Yin Form-Shifting Divine Ability, which could transfer calamities through karmic ties and create a powerful moon-shadow combat clone.
• Nock Sterling and Saionji Yoshiki discussed their failed Blood Moon Ritual, Hase Ryunosuke’s grave injuries, and plans to attack the Mountain Cloud School and punish Jiang Jingnian’s relatives and friends.
• Jiang Jingnian appeared alive on the river beside Nock Sterling and Saionji Yoshiki’s ship and challenged their assumption that he was dead.