Recaps

Deng Qing trained the strange horses while replenishing his strength with wasteland beast offal, then learned that the Command Center needed his blood to help secure the missing body of a wasteland vein dragon. He agreed to join the mission after Jian Ruyu negotiated access to the Xiao Family’s baleful veins, and Xiao Jinglin arrived to meet him.

• Deng Qing persuaded Zhang Dahe to bring more strange horses for him to train, then practiced until his cultivation and strength improved.
• Centurion Duan Wei angrily confronted Deng Qing about his unruly mount, but Deng Qing demonstrated that he had trained the blue-gray horse to obey commands.
• Xia Daoyu summoned Deng Qing to Elder Jian, but Deng Qing delayed going so he could replenish his Dantian by feeding on offal at the horse grounds.
• Jian Ruyu told Deng Qing that the vein dragon’s body had vanished and explained that his blood was needed to pin it down; she offered him access to the Xiao Family’s baleful veins in exchange for helping.
• Deng Qing agreed to the mission, and Jian Ruyu introduced him to Xiao Jinglin as the two prepared to work together.

Deng Qing learned more about Xiao Jinglin’s respect for his achievements, reunited with Zhang Yan, and raised his suspicions about Li Dashan’s Pure Jade Method with Jian Ruyu. As the final operation against the Vein Dragon approached, Deng Qing gave blood for the mission and trained in his tent.

• Xiao Jinglin and Pei Zhao discussed Deng Qing’s role in killing Huo Dongfeng and agreed that he was talented and worth befriending.
• Zhang Yan visited Deng Qing, took back the Wasteland Bone for Master, and asked Deng Qing to deliver a letter to his sister-in-law.
• Deng Qing asked Jian Ruyu about Huang Changhe and the Pure Jade Method, and she warned that refining Wasteland Blood could cause humans to mutate.
• Jian Ruyu tested Deng Qing’s pulse, found no signs of Wasteland Blood contamination, and explained that Deng Qing would have to enter the Vein Dragon’s dangerous territory during the operation.
• Xia Daoyu brought someone to draw two tubes of Deng Qing’s blood, and Deng Qing trained in his tent until the wooden plaque sounded again.

Deng Qing declined to lead his former companions on the coming mission, then joined Xiao Jinglin’s contingent for the assault into Tiger Leaping Gorge. As the Beast Tide scattered the troops and Xiao’s guards kept taking the Qi Petals, Deng Qing broke away to fight on his own and pursue the spoils.

• Deng Qing told Long Xiu, Chen Hong, Lin Li, Hong Lin, and the others that secret orders kept him from joining their team, then shared a meal with them until dawn.
• Chen Hong gave Deng Qing a phoenix-emblem card that let him eat at Chen’s Restaurants, and the troops later assembled for Feng Xiuquan’s address.
• Deng Qing joined Xiao Jinglin’s contingent, learned that Furnace Realm experts could not enter the gorge, and heard that fighters could keep any Qi Petals they found.
• Strange Kites dropped Wasteland Beast offal into Tiger Leaping Gorge, drawing a Beast Tide toward the troops; the Donghuang Cult had apparently used the same tactic.
• The troops charged into the gorge, and Pei Zhao reunited Deng Qing with Xiao Jinglin after the fighting scattered them.
• As Xiao’s guards killed the Qi Beasts and collected their Qi Petals, Deng Qing grew frustrated, then charged into the forest alone and told Xiao Jinglin they would meet at the summit.

Deng Qing fought his way through the Canyon, using Qi Beasts to improve his Elephant-Throwing Method before reuniting with Song Que and Chen Kong. After Song Que discovered Deng Qing held an Eighth-Rank Commandant’s Jade Dog Pendant, the three went to help Dongting County Martial Artists confront Wei Tong’s group from Yanshan Prefecture’s city over stolen Qi Petals.

• Deng Qing killed several Qi Beasts, followed one to a Mountain Hollow, and defeated many more while raising his Elephant-Throwing Method to 78% Grand Mastery.
• Deng Qing encountered Song Que and Chen Kong, who were surprised by his strength and discussed their Honorary Merit Rank pendants.
• Song Que examined Deng Qing’s jade pendant, and Chen Kong recognized it as an Eighth-Rank Commandant’s Jade Dog Pendant.
• A messenger reported that Wei Tong’s group had taken Qi Petals from Dongting County fighters, so Deng Qing joined Song Que and Chen Kong to address the dispute.
• Wei Tong mocked Chen Kong and argued that the stronger hunters deserved the Qi Petals, while the two groups traded accusations in the clearing.

Deng Qing helped defuse a dispute between Dongting County and prefectural-capital Martial Artists, then learned from Song Wuliang about Li Dashan and Huang Changhe’s shared past. The chapter left Deng Qing investigating the Pure Jade Method and the old theft that had separated his master from Huang Changhe.

• Song Wuliang arrived to stop the argument over Qi Petals, but Wei Tong turned his words into a public grievance and drew a crowd behind him.
• Chen Hong appeared to mediate, then slapped Wei Tong for sowing discord and ordered everyone to disperse.
• Song Que told Song Wuliang that Chen Hong had been speaking with Deng Qing and seemed eager to please him, prompting Song Wuliang to urge Chen Kong and Song Que to build a friendship with Deng Qing.
• Deng Qing returned and explained that Chen Hong had changed his attitude after recognizing him, then asked Song Wuliang to speak privately about Huang Changhe’s relationship with Li Dashan.
• Song Wuliang said Li Dashan and Huang Changhe had been close Named Disciples until a theft came to light, after which Li Dashan left the True Yang Martial Sect while Huang Changhe advanced to become an elder.
• Song Wuliang explained that Huang Changhe had contributed the Pure Jade Method, a cultivation method later abandoned because it caused severe backlash and made Qi deviation likely.

Deng Qing learned more about the old theft and his master’s ties to Elder Huang before Huang Bingyao tried to force him to join the True Yang Martial Sect’s group. Xiao Jinglin intervened and took Deng Qing along as the expedition advanced into Tiger Leaping Gorge, where their party defeated two Two-Petal Qi Beasts.

• Song Wuliang told Deng Qing that Li Dashan had once loved a senior sister in the True Yang Martial Sect, though he knew little for certain about the old theft or Elder Huang’s role.
• Flamebirds relayed Feng Xiuquan’s order for everyone to assemble at the Red Banner, where an officer warned that the dangers ahead were greater and offered a safe route back.
• Huang Bingyao demanded that Deng Qing go with him, but Xiao Jinglin rebuked Huang and drove him away by invoking his family’s influence.
• Deng Qing accepted Xiao Jinglin’s invitation to travel with his party as most of the gathered martial artists withdrew from the expedition.
• Xiao Jinglin’s guards defeated two Two-Petal Qi Beasts, suffering several injuries, and Xiao Jinglin gave Deng Qing one of the captured Qi Petals.

Deng Qing and Xiao Jinglin were ambushed by an organized group of cloaked fighters targeting Deng Qing, and they repeatedly used fog-producing Spheres to escape. After learning the pursuers may have tracked Deng Qing through his blood, Pei Zhao advised Xiao Jinglin and Deng Qing to split up.

• Deng Qing refused the two-petal Qi Petal Xiao Jinglin offered, and the group continued through the forest until cloaked figures surrounded them and demanded Deng Qing.
• Xiao Jinglin released a fog-producing Sphere and told Deng Qing to flee south, but Deng Qing avoided the obvious route and followed silver coins that Xiao Jinglin used to guide him out.
• Xiao Jinglin and Deng Qing escaped their first pursuers with more Spheres, met Pei Zhao, and reasoned that the attackers were a disciplined unit rather than Huang Changhe's men.
• Five cloaked figures caught up again, forcing Xiao Jinglin and Deng Qing to flee through more fog while Pei Zhao fought the pursuers.
• Pei Zhao suspected the attackers had tracked Deng Qing using his blood, and Xiao Jinglin explained that the blood's tracking power would fade after two or three days.
• Pei Zhao advised Xiao Jinglin and Deng Qing to split up rather than continue fleeing together.

Deng Qing fled his pursuers, used Dust-Evolving Pearls and a Misleading Doll to gain time, then lured the cloak-wearers into a herd of Qi Beasts while taking pills to force a breakthrough. After fighting off their attacks and surprising them with his strength, he swallowed more pills as Old Jiang charged him.

• Xiao Jinglin and Pei Zhao gave Deng Qing Dust-Evolving Pearls, a Dust Mirror, and Misleading Dolls before he left to face his pursuers alone.
• Deng Qing used the Devour Heaven Scripture and Great Fortune Pills to replenish his strength as he ran, then used fog and distractions to temporarily evade the cloak-wearers.
• Deng Qing found a stream surrounded by Qi Beasts and stirred the herd into chaos, using Collapse Step to evade the beasts while he waited for his pursuers.
• Seven cloak-wearers surrounded the rocky shoal, and the Red Taro Cloak-Wearer attacked Deng Qing while he maneuvered through the Qi Beasts.
• Deng Qing countered the White Lotus Cloak-Wearer's ambush with Phoenix Swaps the Nest, shocking the cloak-wearers with his strength and prompting them to suspect he was breaking through.
• Deng Qing swallowed two Great Fortune Pills and two Azure Fish Pills as Old Jiang knocked down a Qi Beast and charged toward him.

Deng Qing broke through to Bone Tempering Third Layer while fighting the cloak-wearers, then fled into a cave and turned to face his pursuers. He killed Old Jiang and several others, and the chapter ended as he snapped Red Taro Cloak-Wearer's neck.

• Deng Qing used the perfected Elephant-Throwing Method to hurl Old Jiang into a Qi Beast, killing them both, then escaped into the forest.
• Mountain Moon Cloak-Wearer tracked Deng Qing with a jade disc, and the six surviving cloak-wearers found him meditating in a cave.
• Deng Qing broke through to Bone Tempering Third Layer as the cloak-wearers approached, then fled deeper into the cave and was cornered.
• Deng Qing killed White Lotus Cloak-Wearer by smashing his skull against the wall, then threw River Cloak-Wearer into White Cloud Cloak-Wearer and killed them both.
• Deng Qing used Red Taro Cloak-Wearer's strike to flip him over his shoulder and snapped his neck against the ground.

Deng Qing killed the seven cloaked pursuers, then returned to the gathering and discovered that Huang Bingyao and Huang Changhe were likely connected to the attack. He told Jian Ruyu what had happened and asked whether they should report Huang Changhe to the Command Center.

• Deng Qing killed the Mountain Moon Cloak-Wearer after avoiding his poison, gathered the pursuers’ weapons and belongings, and headed southeast toward the troops.
• Deng Qing hid the weapons, wore a cloak marked with a white lotus, and drew Huang Bingyao into the forest by letting him spot him.
• Deng Qing struck Huang Bingyao in the chest, but Huang Bingyao survived the seemingly devastating injury and fled; he later appeared at the gathering with Huang Changhe.
• Deng Qing concluded that the seven cloaked figures were likely members of the Donghuang Cult and sought Jian Ruyu’s help as Huang Changhe’s hostility toward him became clear.
• Deng Qing recounted the attack and his suspicions to Jian Ruyu, who acknowledged that spies could be present in their camp and questioned Huang Changhe’s involvement; Deng Qing asked whether they should report it to the Command Center.

Deng Qing considered withdrawing after Huang Changhe and the Donghuang Cult targeted him, but Jian Ruyu revealed that he could still reach the Wasteland Veins while Furnace Realm experts could not. She publicly confronted Huang Changhe, defeated Feng Xiuquan, and left Huang Changhe gravely injured, establishing herself as Deng Qing’s powerful protector.

• Deng Qing told Jian Ruyu he suspected Huang Changhe wanted his blood for a sinister purpose and considered abandoning the mission, but Jian Ruyu explained that the dense Wasteland Qi barred Furnace Realm experts from the depths.
• Jian Ruyu assured Deng Qing that Huang Changhe would not be able to enter the dangerous area and led him toward the command gathering.
• Jian Ruyu warned Huang Changhe that targeting Deng Qing meant targeting her, but Huang Changhe denied the accusation and invoked military discipline.
• Jian Ruyu immobilized Feng Xiuquan’s thirteen personal guards with finger flicks, then struck Feng Xiuquan back with a single palm.
• Huang Changhe tried to flee, but Jian Ruyu intercepted him, shattered his chest with a palm strike, and warned the assembled crowd against making trouble.
• After Jian Ruyu left, Long Xiu, Lin Li, Su Yun, and the others praised her strength and called Deng Qing fortunate to have gained such a powerful backer, while Chen Hong resolved to improve Deng Qing’s Black Token.

Jian Ruyu publicly protected Deng Qing, then guided him toward the newly opened Nameless Underground Palace, where the Wasteland Qi remained dangerous. Deng Qing joined Xiao Jinglin and the others in entering the ruins, leaving the group behind as they pressed farther underground.

• Jian Ruyu explained that she had injured Huang Changhe to put confidence into Deng Qing and warned him to weigh caution against boldness himself.
• Jian Ruyu told Deng Qing that Li Dashan and Zhang Yan had disappeared, then the mist parted to reveal stone steps leading into the Nameless Underground Palace.
• Three Furnace Realm cultivators entered the palace and emerged badly injured, and Feng Xiuquan barred Furnace Realm Martial Artists while allowing Bone-Forging Realm Martial Artists to enter at their own risk.
• Deng Qing deposited his spoils, learned that Xiao Jinglin’s party would enter the palace, and joined them after the dense Wasteland Qi forced several companions to turn back.
• Pei Zhao asked Deng Qing to protect Xiao Jinglin, and Su Yun pulled Deng Qing and the others farther into the underground passage.

Deng Qing and the gathered martial artists entered the Underground Palace, where Cao Chun attempted to impose authority and direct them. After the crowd killed two Wasteland Beasts, their bodies vanished and activated ancient patterns across the plaza, and two cloaked figures emerged from behind an exploding stone stele.

• Deng Qing and the others entered the vast Underground Palace, where Cao Chun ordered them to gather and follow his command, assigning Huang Bingyao to oversee discipline.
• Cao Chun distributed numbered armbands and claimed the martial artists would earn merits, while Su Yun suspected they were being used as bait against the Donghuang Cult.
• After smoke and thrown knives destroyed the Flamebirds’ Divine Shadow Stones, the martial artists ignored Cao Chun’s orders and charged the two weakened Wasteland Beasts.
• The crowd killed both Wasteland Beasts, but their bodies and Qi Petals dissolved, revealing red patterns that spread across the plaza and began to rumble.
• The stone stele exploded, and two cloaked figures rushed into the plaza; one figure’s hood fell back, revealing a bluish-white face with bulging veins and dark red movement beneath the skin.

Deng Qing recognized Zhang Yan among the Donghuang Cult’s mutants and realized Wasteland Blood had caused Zhang Yan’s transformation, deepening his anger toward Li Dashan. As the plaza descended into disorder, Huang Bingyao accused Deng Qing of being a mutant spy and Cao Chun ordered him inspected, while Xiao Jinglin challenged the accusation.

• Donghuang Cult members and blood corpses emerged from the broken stone stele, then headed toward the northern corridor as the martial artists refused Cao Chun’s orders to pursue them.
• Deng Qing recognized the mutated Zhang Yan and recalled his strange behavior, concluding that Wasteland Blood had caused his transformation and that Li Dashan’s Pure Jade Method had failed him.
• Cao Chun and Huang Bingyao discussed making an example of someone, and Huang Bingyao accused Deng Qing of being a spy, citing Zhang Yan’s mutation and Deng Qing’s bundle.
• Huang Bingyao demanded that Deng Qing be inspected, and Cao Chun ordered the guards to enforce it despite Xiao Jinglin questioning the evidence and warning against false accusations.

Deng Qing turned Cao Chun and Huang Bingyao’s accusations back on them, passed an inspection, and exposed Huang’s refusal to submit to the same scrutiny. After smoke threw the gathering into chaos, Deng Qing admitted releasing it and attacked Cao Chun’s guards, leaving Cao Chun isolated as Huang Bingyao fled toward the north corridor.

• Cao Chun ordered Deng Qing to submit to an inspection and placed him under guard, but Deng Qing agreed and accused Huang Bingyao of secretly meeting cloaked figures.
• Deng Qing revealed his back for inspection, then demanded that Huang submit to the same examination; Xiao Jinglin and Su Yun rallied the crowd against Huang and Cao Chun.
• Cao Chun shut down the dispute and ordered his guards to seize Deng Qing, but smoke filled the hall and many Martial Artists used the confusion to escape.
• Cao Chun accused Xiao Jinglin of releasing the Dust-Evolving Pearl, but Deng Qing took responsibility and attacked the guards who moved to arrest him.
• Deng Qing defeated Cao Chun’s guards and advanced on Cao Chun, who called on Xiao Jinglin, Su Yun, and the remaining Martial Artists for help.
• Huang Bingyao charged away from Deng Qing toward the north corridor, leaving Cao Chun without the support he had expected.

Deng Qing killed Cao Chun’s guards and struck Cao Chun down after Huang Bingyao escaped by severing his own arm. Xiao Jinglin and Su Yun helped cover up Cao Chun’s death, but their discovery of Huang Bingyao’s unnatural arm raised new questions about him.

• Deng Qing intercepted Huang Bingyao, who cut off his own arm to escape, then knocked Cao Chun unconscious.
• Xiao Jinglin used a Divine Shadow Stone to record witnesses blaming Huang Bingyao for Cao Chun’s death, then killed Cao Chun; Su Yun and the other Martial Artists joined in attacking the corpse.
• Deng Qing collected the loot and accepted the Divine Shadow Stone from Xiao Jinglin, recognizing that Xiao Jinglin had secured the group’s cooperation.
• Su Yun examined Huang Bingyao’s severed arm and revealed strange, dark-red tendons twisted around and grown into its bone.

Deng Qing gathered a group to continue exploring the Nameless Divine Temple and search for his kidnapped Senior Brother, Zhang Yan. After finding three separated martial artists, the group reached a shifting stone forest, where Su Yun activated a carved deity and began investigating it.

• Deng Qing confirmed Huang Bingyao had mutated, then invited Xiao Jinglin to continue with him while warning that he planned to pursue the Donghuang Cult and rescue Zhang Yan.
• Su Yun and the others agreed to travel under Deng Qing's leadership, and Xiao Jinglin warned them not to spread a false account of Cao Chun's death.
• Deng Qing led the group north across a battle-scarred plaza and into a stone forest, following Xiao Jinglin's suggestion that danger lay ahead.
• Chen Jun and his two companions met the group, learned that Huang Bingyao had killed Cao Chun, and agreed to follow Deng Qing.
• Chen Jun led everyone to a stone pillar that had appeared and blocked a path; Su Yun smeared blood into a carved groove, lighting up the deity, then wrapped his arms around it.

Deng Qing opened a passage by turning a stone pillar, then practiced Collapse Step in a corridor decorated with sword murals. Su Yun activated a hidden formation in the wall, and Deng Qing began trying to strike its moving green light to uncover what it concealed.

• Su Yun explained how the stone pillar controlled the Six-Turn Palace-Shift Formation, but neither he nor a guard could turn it.
• Deng Qing turned the pillar three times left and three times right, opening a stairway beneath the pagoda-holding statue.
• The group explored a mural-lined corridor, where Su Yun recognized paintings that appeared to depict a sequence of sword movements.
• Deng Qing stayed behind to practice Collapse Step while the others searched nearby, and Su Yun examined the murals.
• Su Yun activated a formation in the wall, revealing a moving green light that he said had to be struck to uncover the hidden contents.
• Deng Qing used Collapse Step to hit the green light once, but nothing changed, so Su Yun suggested he try hitting it three, six, or nine times.

Deng Qing reached grand mastery in Collapse Step by learning to center its circle on a moving target, then helped Su Yun record the mural’s ancient sword dance. After the group investigated a new plaza, Su Yun discovered signs of an ancient formation influencing Wasteland Beasts, and the chapter ended with him recognizing something alarming in the Stone Forest.

• Deng Qing adapted Collapse Step to the shifting green light, achieved grand mastery, and struck it repeatedly until the mural awakened.
• Deng Qing used the Divine Shadow Stone to record the painted woman’s sword dance, and Su Yun asked for a copy to study.
• Deng Qing’s Great Fortune Pills failed to raise Devour Heaven Scripture beyond 59%, so he agreed with Su Yun to investigate the formation affecting the Divine Hall.
• Xiao Jinglin returned with the investigators, and the group followed Su Yun’s proposal to locate the formation eye and stop the disappearance of Wasteland Beast remains.
• The group found three Wasteland Beasts ramming a wall, and Su Yun concluded that an ancient formation had trapped them in a Nightmare Art rather than helping the Donghuang Cult breach the building.
• Su Yun inspected the Stone Forest and abruptly stopped, his expression changing drastically.

Deng Qing helped activate the Taiyin Blood-Transforming Formation, defeated the Wasteland Beasts, and discovered a new Blood Control Art as his cultivation advanced. After feasting and training, he told Xiao Jinglin about the sword demonstration recorded on his Divine Shadow Stone and offered to make him a copy.

• Su Yun identified the Taiyin Blood-Transforming Formation, and Deng Qing stepped on the moving light until the formation exposed the Donghuang Cult emblem and stopped the Wasteland Beasts from dissolving.
• Xiao Jinglin led the group in killing the exhausted Wasteland Beasts, and Deng Qing accepted their three three-lobed Qi Petals.
• Deng Qing absorbed blood baleful intent from the buried offal, advanced the Devour Heaven Scripture, and gained the Blood Control Art.
• Deng Qing used blood threads to extract Wasteland Blood and practiced the Elephant-Throwing Method, advancing to Bone Tempering Third Layer (58%).
• Deng Qing ate and trained while the others packed meat, then told Xiao Jinglin about the mural's sword demonstration and offered to let him copy its recording.

Deng Qing used the Blood Control Art to trace Zhang Yan through blood preserved in his farewell letter, then parted ways with Xiao Jinglin, Su Yun, Chen Jun, and the others. He set off alone toward Zhang Yan’s location disguised as Xie Xuan to avoid enemies searching for him.

• Deng Qing discovered that his refined wasteland blood could not locate Zhang Yan, but extracted a trace of wasteland blood from Zhang Yan’s farewell letter and used the Blood Control Art to sense nine blood-red points, identifying one isolated point as Zhang Yan’s likely location.
• Chen Jun and the others decided to return with their gains, while Xiao Jinglin offered to accompany Deng Qing; Deng Qing convinced Xiao Jinglin to leave rather than risk going farther.
• Deng Qing recorded the sword manual onto Xiao Jinglin’s Divine Shadow Stone, asked him to make a copy for Su Yun, and requested that the Xiao Family share any insights it gained from studying the manual.
• Xiao Jinglin left with his guards, and Su Yun gave Deng Qing a booklet of notes on the desolate soil before returning with Chen Jun and the others.
• Deng Qing followed the direction revealed by the Blood Control Art, changed his clothes and appearance, and set out disguised as Xie Xuan because Huang Changhe and Huang Bingyao were colluding with the Donghuang Cult and Huang Changhe was searching for him.

Deng Qing defeated Donghuang Cult corpse handlers, used their red armband to pass himself off as a cult member, and learned that Zhang Yan was being kept as a medicinal primer. He joined the handlers returning to a gathering of cultists, where he saw the guarded, apparently mindless Zhang Yan.

• Deng Qing killed five men tending a blood pool, took their supplies, and discovered that blood baleful intent let him restore the fading red armband.
• Deng Qing examined the pool, found its liquid dangerously impure, and tried to obstruct it by throwing fallen stone pillars into it.
• At another pool, Deng Qing pretended to belong to Blood Butcher Xiong Zhen's group and learned that the cult was gathering power to claim the Wasteland Veins.
• Deng Qing learned that Huang Changhe had entered the Underground Palace and that the mutant was being kept as a medicinal primer.
• Deng Qing helped three cultists dispose of corpses, then followed them to a gathering of Donghuang Cult members and recognized the guarded Zhang Yan.

Deng Qing rescued Zhang Yan from the Donghuang Cult and extracted some of the corrupt blood baleful intent that had driven him berserk. After Zhang Yan recovered, he defended Li Dashan and refused to leave, insisting he had to return and finish his task.

• Deng Qing killed Xiong Zhen and fought through the crowd to seize Zhang Yan, then escaped with him while the survivors discovered Xiong Zhen was dead.
• Deng Qing bound Zhang Yan in a secluded forest and used Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood and the Devour Heaven Scripture to suppress and extract the corrupt blood baleful intent.
• Zhang Yan regained awareness and told Deng Qing that he had been guarding Li Dashan while his master prepared for a breakthrough, but he could not remember how the Donghuang Cult captured him.
• Deng Qing challenged Zhang Yan's trust in Li Dashan, but Zhang Yan defended his master out of gratitude and rebuked Deng Qing for criticizing him.
• Deng Qing knocked Zhang Yan unconscious and removed some of the poison, then offered to treat him; Zhang Yan refused to leave and said he had to return to complete his task for Li Dashan.

Deng Qing escaped the moving passage into a flooded stone chamber, where Donghuang Cult members attacked him after Zhao Laosan exposed him as an Imperial Court spy. Zhang Yan and seven other Personal Disciples rescued him, and Deng Qing learned that they were all his senior brothers.

• Zhang Yan told Deng Qing that Master had ordered him not to disturb Deng Qing after he refined the Wasteland Blood, then left him with a letter for his sister-in-law.
• The sword mural activated and shattered, causing the passage to move and collapse; Deng Qing escaped through the ceiling into a chamber flooding with deadly bloody water.
• Deng Qing climbed onto a raised platform, where Zhao Laosan identified him as an Imperial Court spy and accused him of killing Xiong Zhen.
• Deng Qing fought the Donghuang Cult members surrounding him, but their coordinated attacks and reinforcements left him increasingly battered.
• Zhang Yan and seven cloaked fighters arrived, drove off the Donghuang Cult members, and helped Deng Qing survive.
• Zhang Yan introduced Fang Bingshan, Zhou Heng, Zheng Ping, Xu Zhaonian, Lu Kuan, Du Changgeng, and Meng Qiusheng as Master's Personal Disciples and Deng Qing's senior brothers.

Deng Qing exposed Huang Bingyao’s alleged role in Cao Chun’s death and warned Tang Xingyao that Huang Changhe might be allied with the Donghuang Cult, but Huang Changhe arrived and ordered Deng Qing to help him. As Zhang Yan and two senior brothers poured Wasteland Blood into the pool, the Vein Dragon stirred, beginning the attempt to pin down the Wasteland Veins.

• Fang Bingshan and six other Celebration Hall disciples rescued Deng Qing, then left to carry out their task; Zhang Yan told Deng Qing that Li Dashan was in the blood pool and that their lineage had come to settle accounts with Huang Changhe.
• The Command Center’s soldiers arrived with Tang Xingyao and Huang Bingyao, who identified Deng Qing; Deng Qing revealed his true face and accused Huang Bingyao of colluding with the Donghuang Cult and killing Cao Chun.
• Deng Qing used the Divine Shadow Stone to show Xiao Jinglin and others identifying Huang Bingyao as Cao Chun’s killer, then warned Tang Xingyao that Huang Changhe might also be working with the enemy.
• Huang Changhe arrived and demanded that Deng Qing come help him; Deng Qing refused, while Zhang Yan called to him from a nearby pass and offered a chain.
• Zhang Yan and two cloaked senior brothers poured Wasteland Blood into the pool, stirring azure lights and raising the Vein Dragon’s back above the surface.