Recaps

Ding Songyan and Twelfth Madam Luo went to Xiumei Mountain, where he disguised himself and challenged Li Linquan to break him out of his confusion. Li Linquan grasped the path he had been pursuing, while Ding Songyan disappeared after the encounter.

• Ding Songyan decided to have Chef Shi and the others investigate Shushui Street before he and Twelfth Madam Luo headed toward Xiumei Mountain.
• Twelfth Madam Luo won a phoenix sugar painting, and she and Ding Songyan joked over homemade sugar cakes before continuing up the mountain.
• Ding Songyan bought a plain longsword and, with Twelfth Madam Luo's help, disguised himself as Ling Donglai to keep Li Linquan from recognizing him.
• Ding Songyan attacked Li Linquan with a succession of sword techniques, forcing Li Linquan to defend himself and showing him how varied techniques converged on simplicity.
• Ding Songyan told Li Linquan that someone had asked him to knock sense into him, then vanished as Li Linquan understood the path he had been seeking.

Li Linquan recovered from his martial obsession after witnessing Ding Songyan’s swordsmanship, while Twelfth Madam Luo discussed his potential and challenged Ding to consider Emperor Jianwu’s authority. Back at the Prince’s Residence, Ding tested his new insights against Li Baima, who asked him for regular instruction.

• Li Linquan left Xiumei Mountain with a renewed understanding of swordsmanship and told Xie Fengchao and Bai Qilin that an unknown Great Grandmaster had shown him the path of a sword immortal.
• Twelfth Madam Luo explained how Li Linquan’s acquired Yin might improve the Thunderlight Heaven-Splitting Sword, then asked Ding Songyan to consider why Emperor Jianwu commanded the realm despite being only a Law Realm Martial Grandmaster.
• Twelfth Madam Luo recalled her youthful ambition by Golden Pool Lake before heading toward Tiger Tail Alley, while Ding Songyan reflected on her guidance.
• Ding Songyan returned to the Prince’s Residence and practiced incorporating his new insights into Dao One Sword, then agreed to spar with Li Baima.
• Ding Songyan repeatedly broke through Li Baima’s sword techniques with precise strikes, leaving Li Baima convinced he should seek Ding’s instruction regularly.

Ding Songyan guided Li Baima in the Fire-Stealing Bird's Fire-Commanding Sword, improving his own Passing the Torch as they learned from one another. He sought information on the Ghost-Wyrm Path and a member of the Returning Ruins Sect, then asked Twelfth Madam Luo how to hide from a deduction of Heaven's secrets.

• Li Baima asked Ding Songyan for guidance, and Ding corrected his Fire-Stealing Bird's Fire-Commanding Sword while Li practiced with intense focus.
• Ding used what he learned from Li to improve Passing the Torch by controlling scattered sparks for longer.
• Ding planned to find a Returning Ruins Sect member and obtain True Qi before Twelfth Madam Luo left the Flame Capital, then went out to pursue those leads.
• Wu Mo and Fan Chunlin saw Li practicing obsessively and worried that he had gone mad like Li Linquan.
• At the Cheap Wine Shop, Shi Wuyan sold Ding a lead on a Ghost-Wyrm Path traitor for one thousand taels and agreed to search for a Returning Ruins Sect member.
• Ding asked Twelfth Madam Luo whether he could conceal himself from a deduction of Heaven's secrets.

Ding Songyan learned that his bond with Demoness Ji might let her divine his whereabouts even after he disguised himself, so Twelfth Madam Luo secretly followed him as he went after the Ghost-Wyrm Path's Traitor. Ge Heng escaped Ding Songyan's ambush, but found crude figures depicting sword stances drawn on his jacket, exposing the openings in his defenses.

• Twelfth Madam Luo explained that divinations grew vague after seven days, but a close connection could still let Demoness Ji track Ding Songyan.
• Twelfth Madam Luo disguised Ding Songyan as Ling Donglai and agreed to follow him secretly while he investigated the Ghost-Wyrm Path's Traitor.
• Ding Songyan watched Cui Tieshan at the Mianheng Rice Shop before confronting him in the storeroom and demanding to know who had ordered him to investigate Ge Heng.
• Ge Heng resisted the terrifying shadow that appeared to him, abandoned his chance to kill Cui Tieshan, and fled to a hidden refuge.
• Ge Heng found crude figures drawn on his jacket, each showing a sword stance aimed at an opening in his defenses.

Ding Songyan, disguised as Ling Donglai, confronted Ge Heng and learned how he defected from the Ghost-Wyrm Path and why he had been hiding in the Flame Capital. He agreed to protect Ge Heng from the Path for now and sent him to deliver cultivation methods through Twelfth Madam Luo, while planning to target the Ghost-Wyrm Path himself.

• Ge Heng discovered that someone had drawn a charcoal figure on his jacket, then found Ling Donglai waiting by the window and gave up his attempt to flee.
• Ge Heng told Ling Donglai that he had been Human Character Number Nine, defected after falling in love with a woman, and fled to protect her from the Ghost-Wyrm Path.
• Ge Heng explained that he had not entered the Law Realm and offered Ling Donglai his saved silver for the woman if Ling Donglai chose to kill him for his past assassinations.
• Ling Donglai spared Ge Heng and agreed to help against the Ghost-Wyrm Path, while Ge Heng revealed that Black Sanlang was Earth Character Number Three and controlled all three sections of the Ancestor Yu Scripture.
• Ling Donglai told Ge Heng to move near the Treasure Market and deliver the Heaven and Earth Gloom section and Seven Sand-Spitting Methods to Twelfth Madam Luo at the Cheap Wine Shop.
• Ling Donglai said he would eventually make trouble for the Ghost-Wyrm Path, then vanished before Ge Heng could see him leave.