Recaps

Xiao Yuanjun learned that Li Huixi was betrothed to Zhang Yuan and promised to steal the groom at their wedding. Zhang Yuan arrived at Sun-Moon Cliff to meet the Eastern Bian Li Clan’s True Lord, only to find Li Huixi wearing a four-colored hairpin as the supposed True Lord remained absent.

• Li Huixi showed Xiao Yuanjun her Marriage Contract with Zhang Yuan, and Xiao Yuanjun said she would steal the groom at the wedding.
• Zhang Yuan searched Cloud Prefecture City for Li Houcheng but could not find him.
• Li Zhongshuang led Zhang Yuan out of the city toward Sun-Moon Mountain to meet the True Lord.
• Li Huixi brought Zhang Yuan and Li Zhongshuang to the summit, where Xiao Yuanjun and Dongfang Caibai waited but the True Lord was nowhere to be seen.
• Li Huixi turned toward Zhang Yuan and placed a four-colored hairpin in her hair.

Zhang Yuan learned that Li Huixi was the Eastern Bian Li Clan’s True Lord and agreed to the marriage in exchange for Chen Xinqiao’s resurrection. Xiao Yuanjun warned him that the betrothal was not what he thought, leading him to suspect Li Huixi herself was the intended bride.

• Li Huixi revealed her overwhelming authority over Zhang Yuan, served him tea, and sat with him and Li Zhongshuang to discuss the marriage.
• Zhang Yuan asked Li Huixi to resurrect Chen Xinqiao, and she agreed on the condition that he go through with the marriage.
• Zhang Yuan told Xiao Yuanjun he planned to play along until Chen Xinqiao returned, then escape the Eastern Bian Li Clan.
• Xiao Yuanjun said Li Huixi’s marriage to Zhang Yuan was scheduled for after the Chaos Calamity, when she expected to have attained True Lord status.
• Xiao Yuanjun explained that only a Celestial Person could have dug out Zhang Yuan’s spirit root without suffering the backlash, and Zhang Yuan realized Li Zhongshuang might not be his true betrothed.

Zhang Yuan discovered that his betrothed was Li Huixi rather than Li Zhongshuang, and Li Huixi accepted the marriage. When Zhang Yuan asked her to resurrect Chen Xinqiao, Li Huixi bristled at his mentioning another woman.

• Zhang Yuan realized that marrying Li Huixi could leave him under the Golden Core True Lord's control, but assured her he would not break their betrothal.
• Zhang Yuan asked whether Li Huixi truly wanted to marry him, and she decided she was willing because she found him appealing.
• Li Huixi said she would resurrect Chen Xinqiao and fulfill the betrothal once her current duties allowed.
• Li Zhongshuang learned that Li Huixi, not she, was betrothed to Zhang Yuan and felt unexpectedly upset.
• Zhang Yuan asked Li Huixi to resurrect Chen Xinqiao soon, and she scolded him for bringing up another woman in front of his fiancée.

Zhang Yuan learned that Li Huixi could revive Chen Xinqiao on the day the Great Era arrived, while Li Zhongshuang returned to her family and corrected her father's misunderstanding about Zhang Yuan's betrothed. Li Houcheng was left reeling after learning that Li Huixi, not Li Zhongshuang, was meant to marry Zhang Yuan.

• Zhang Yuan agreed to wait until the Great Era for Li Huixi to revive Chen Xinqiao, after consulting Xiao Yuanjun.
• Li Zhongshuang left Sun-Moon Cliff, while Li Huixi prevented Zhang Yuan from leaving; Zhang Yuan learned from Dongfang Caibai that Li Huixi was the Deputy Sovereign of Heaven and Earth.
• News that Zhang Yuan had reached Sun-Moon Cliff spread among the great clans, and Li Houcheng anxiously awaited Li Zhongshuang's return.
• Li Houcheng asked whether the Little Ancestor had agreed to Zhang Yuan's marriage to Li Zhongshuang, and Li Zhongshuang told him she had not.
• Li Zhongshuang revealed that Zhang Yuan was betrothed to Li Huixi, leaving Li Houcheng stunned.

Li Houcheng struggled to accept Li Zhongshuang’s claim that the Little Ancestor would marry Zhang Yuan, while Zhang Yuan spent the night on Sun-Moon Cliff studying a secret art to restore his spirit roots. He gathered the materials he could find and began preparing to use the method.

• Li Zhongshuang told Li Houcheng that the Little Ancestor had agreed to marry Zhang Yuan and that Zhang Yuan was staying at Sun-Moon Cliff.
• Li Houcheng believed most of Li Zhongshuang’s claim and feared Zhang Yuan would kill him, so he resolved to find a way to survive.
• At Sun-Moon Cliff, Xiao Yuanjun promised to reach seeking truth to protect Zhang Yuan, while he urged her not to take unnecessary risks.
• After Xiao Yuanjun fell asleep, Zhang Yuan opened the Form and Spirit Cultivation Method and learned that restoring his spirit roots required rare, high-grade treasures.
• Zhang Yuan searched the Mysterious Court and Nine Serenities Lu Clan treasures, selected several materials for the method, and woke Dongfang Caibai with their glow.

Zhang Yuan restored his spiritual root to low-grade black-tier, allowing more of his conceptual images to link with sword qi. When Li Houcheng came to beg forgiveness, Zhang Yuan immediately attacked him, forcing him to flee.

• Zhang Yuan refined heavenly materials and earthly treasures, restoring his spiritual root first to low-grade yellow-tier and then to low-grade black-tier.
• Zhang Yuan found that the restored root let more than ten percent of his conceptual images transform into sword qi and allowed him to resume cultivating the Beyond-the-World Qi Refining Path.
• Li Houcheng arrived at Sun-Moon Mountain Summit carrying thorn branches and claiming to beg the Little Ancestor's forgiveness.
• Li Huixi revealed the mountain path and agreed to settle Li Houcheng's matter as she and Zhang Yuan had arranged.
• Zhang Yuan charged down the path with the Primordial Form-Converging Sword, and Li Houcheng dropped the thorn branches and fled toward Cloud Prefecture City.

Zhang Yuan failed to kill Li Houcheng, who escaped through a life-saving talisman, then tried to flee Sun-Moon Cliff but was caught by Li Huixi and ordered to comb her hair. Li Houcheng reappeared at the Eastern Sunken Pavilion, where the waiter revealed that he had intervened for revenge against Zhang Yuan.

• Zhang Yuan subdued Li Houcheng and killed him with the Primordial Form-Converging Sword, but Li Houcheng vanished before the strike landed.
• Zhang Yuan calculated that someone had erased the karma of Li Houcheng’s escape and could not determine where he had gone.
• Zhang Yuan attempted to leave Sun-Moon Cliff on the Golden Carriage, but Li Huixi stopped him and made him follow her into the Little Wooden House to comb her hair.
• Li Houcheng appeared at the Eastern Sunken Pavilion in the southwest of the Bian Kingdom and thanked the waiter for saving him with a life-preserving talisman.
• The waiter accepted Li Houcheng’s payment and revealed that he had intervened to take revenge on Zhang Yuan.

Li Houcheng learned that the waiter wanted him to seek protection from the South Sea Wenren Dragon Clan by revealing what he knew about Zhang Yuan. At Sun-Moon Cliff, Li Huixi questioned Zhang Yuan about Flying Immortal Peak and the people he had mentioned, leaving him to explain his ties to the Azure Nether Immortal Sect.

• The waiter accepted Li Houcheng's Spatial Treasure and directed him to seek refuge with the South Sea Wenren Dragon Clan, where he could trade information about Zhang Yuan for protection.
• Li Houcheng believed the advice and hurried toward the South Sea, while the waiter expected him to arrive around the beginning of the great era.
• At Sun-Moon Cliff, Zhang Yuan followed Li Huixi into her wooden house and saw the vast world contained inside it.
• Li Huixi asked Zhang Yuan where Flying Immortal Peak was and who Qin Jieyu and Jiang Xinyi were.
• Zhang Yuan explained that Qin Jieyu was the Azure Nether Immortal Sect's Supreme Elder, Jiang Xinyi was its Grand Elder Fairy Xuan Su, and he had joined Qin Jieyu's peak.

Zhang Yuan combed Li Huixi’s hair, teased her, and was punched out of the hall, but Li Huixi soon gave him a new Daoist robe and let him leave her house. Back on Sun-Moon Cliff, Xiao Yuanjun checked that he was safe and resolved to watch over him.

• Li Huixi told Zhang Yuan to comb her hair and challenged him to be bolder with her.
• Zhang Yuan sniffed Li Huixi’s hair and told her she smelled lovely, so she punched him out into the chaos.
• Li Huixi ordered Zhang Yuan to return, gave him a matching white Daoist robe, and promised it could be refined into a defensive Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure.
• Zhang Yuan finished combing Li Huixi’s hair, then left through her doorway and returned to Sun-Moon Cliff.
• Xiao Yuanjun confirmed Zhang Yuan was uninjured and decided to stay alert in case Li Huixi bullied him later.

After three months of cultivation on Sun-Moon Cliff, Zhang Yuan reached the great perfection of the ninth layer of qi refining. Li Huixi sent him to visit the Hengyang Lu Clan, while she ordered Dongfang Caibai to inherit the vacant throne of the Bian Kingdom.

• Zhang Yuan tested his refined Sword Qi and assessed his cultivation progress after three months on Sun-Moon Cliff.
• Li Huixi challenged Zhang Yuan to spar, but he declined to fight her.
• Li Huixi told Zhang Yuan to set out for the Hengyang Lu Clan, and he agreed to leave while promising to return for their agreement when the Chaos Calamity came.
• Li Huixi opened a path down the mountain, and Zhang Yuan departed carrying the sleeping Xiao Yuanjun.
• Li Huixi told Dongfang Caibai that the Bian Emperor had died and ordered her to inherit the Bian Kingdom's throne; Dongfang Caibai insisted she had truly been asleep.

After emerging from Sun-Moon Cliff, Zhang Yuan traveled to Seaheart City to learn about the changed Azure Firmament Dust-Dyed Realm. When the city attacked him, he confronted the Celestial Persons gathered around it and claimed to be Lu Qingwu of the Nine Serenities Lu Clan.

• Zhang Yuan discovered that the world had expanded and learned that Seaheart City lay three thousand li south of Sun-Moon Cliff.
• Zhang Yuan secured Xiao Yuanjun to his back and flew to Seaheart City, where a streak of cyan light attacked him as he approached.
• A middle-aged cultivator warned Zhang Yuan not to break Seaheart City's rules, while more than a dozen Foundation Establishment Celestials watched nearby.
• Zhang Yuan threatened to destroy the city, unleashed his Great Grotto Yin-Scenery Immortal Domain, and frightened the gathered cultivators.
• Chu Jingtian of the Western Bian Chu Clan tried to negotiate, and Zhang Yuan introduced himself as Lu Qingwu of the Nine Serenities Lu Clan.

Zhang Yuan pretended to be Lu Qingwu of the Nine Serenities Lu Clan and accepted Chu Jingtian’s invitation to discuss Seaheart City. At Chu Jingtian’s cave abode, Chu Xiwen recognized Zhang Yuan but concealed his identity after he warned her not to expose him.

• Chu Jingtian gave Zhang Yuan a spatial treasure full of spirit stones, prompting Zhang Yuan to drop his threatening Dao Domain and claim he was only joking about being a demonic cultivator.
• Chu Jingtian led Zhang Yuan to a temporary cave abode near Seaheart City, where a group of Chu Clan youngsters gathered and greeted Zhang Yuan as a senior.
• Chu Xiwen came outside, recognized Zhang Yuan from their past spar, and remembered learning that he had become the Return to True Celestial Person.
• Chu Xiwen pretended not to recognize Zhang Yuan, and Zhang Yuan secretly warned her not to reveal his identity.

Zhang Yuan learned that Seaheart City held three major opportunities and decided to pursue its Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure. After hearing why the Celestial Persons were waiting outside, he told Chu Jingtian that their goals did not conflict, and Chu Jingtian considered joining forces with him.

• Chu Xiwen recognized Zhang Yuan’s Iron Chain Sha but kept his identity secret and denied knowing him when someone in the tree asked.
• Chu Jingtian explained that Seaheart City offered control of a sea stone vein, a strand of five-aggregate Xin metal, and a Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure.
• Zhang Yuan decided to stay and seize the Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure, while questioning why the Celestial Persons had not entered the city.
• Chu Jingtian revealed that the city’s inhabitants had vanished overnight, leaving an uncontrolled Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure, so the group was waiting for it to stop before sending people inside.
• Chu Jingtian said the Western Bian Chu Clan wanted all three major opportunities, and Zhang Yuan stated that he wanted only the Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure.
• Chu Jingtian recognized that Zhang Yuan was proposing they enter the city together and considered the alliance.

Zhang Yuan learned that the Western Bian Chu Clan wanted to claim a True Dragon hidden in Seaheart City, then attacked the city after its treasure struck at him. He left the city gate destroyed and his Azure Thunder surging toward the dragon sculpture at its center.

• Zhang Yuan agreed to cooperate with Chu Jingtian while secretly planning to watch for betrayal.
• Chu Zhuoyu approached Zhang Yuan at night, questioned him about Chu Xiwen, and then answered Zhang Yuan's questions.
• Chu Zhuoyu revealed that the Western Bian Chu Clan intended to bring a True Dragon lost beyond the heavens under its command.
• An azure light shot from Seaheart City toward Zhang Yuan, and Chu Zhuoyu warned him to watch out.
• Zhang Yuan used the [Eastern Mystic-Yang Fusang Banner] to shatter the incoming light and Seaheart City's protective formation, then sent Azure Thunder toward the big-headed dragon sculpture.

Zhang Yuan pursued Seaheart City after it fled, destroyed it, and captured the Dragon Sculpture’s cyan sword. The sword proved to be an unclaimed pre-heaven supreme treasure.

• Seaheart City unleashed its power, then rose into the sky and fled as Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun watched.
• Zhang Yuan seized Seaheart City with his divine abilities, but the Dragon Sculpture escaped after the city was crushed.
• Zhang Yuan pursued the Dragon Sculpture in his Golden Carriage while Xiao Yuanjun helped trip it over a mountain.
• Zhang Yuan and his treasures broke through the Dragon Sculpture’s defenses, and he caught its cyan longsword.
• Zhang Yuan discovered that the sword was an ownerless pre-heaven supreme treasure.

Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun captured the five-clawed green snake after it survived their attack, and Zhang Yuan demanded another Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure for its release. Before the snake could reveal its identity, a beam of Mystic Light struck Zhang Yuan, leaving the snake convinced Heaven had punished him.

• Zhang Yuan gave the Pear-Settling-Inch-Reaching Sword to Xiao Yuanjun, and they pretended to leave after seeing the Dragon Sculpture buried beneath the mountain’s ruins.
• After waiting for a day, Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun caught the five-clawed green snake as it emerged from a mound and threatened to beat them.
• Zhang Yuan bound the snake and demanded another Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure, while the snake offered to take him to its wealthy father.
• As the green snake started to answer Zhang Yuan’s questions about its identity, a beam of Mystic Light shot down from the moon and struck him.
• The bound green snake laughed and declared that Heaven had punished Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan survived the Moon-Wheel Profound Light and realized someone had manipulated him into violating the Azure Firmament Dust-Dyed Realm’s Heavenly Law. He fled with Xiao Yuanjun and Green Snake, then examined the bound dragon in their temporary cave.

• Green Snake tried to escape its Iron Chain, then watched Zhang Yuan emerge unharmed from the Moon-Wheel Profound Light.
• Zhang Yuan thawed himself with Cinnabar Yang Fire Qi and told Xiao Yuanjun they had been set up.
• Zhang Yuan suspected several clans, then called out True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts, but no one appeared.
• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun decided to retreat, grabbed Green Snake, and fled across the mountains while concealing their auras.
• The trio hid in a temporary cave, where Zhang Yuan examined Green Snake and learned that True Dragons had no male or female divisions.

Zhang Yuan learned that the green snake was Ao Xiu of the East Sea Dragon Clan, then became entangled with a Dragon Clan True Lord through Ao Xiu’s true name. The True Lord ordered Zhang Yuan to complete three tasks in exchange for clearing his debt over Ao Ruo’s death and granting him an opportunity.

• Green Snake explained that orthodox East Sea dragons were born without male or female distinctions but could transform, and Zhang Yuan revealed that he had killed Ao Ruo.
• Green Snake gave its true name, Ao Xiu, allowing a Dragon Clan True Lord to reach Zhang Yuan through their karma and halt his attempt to sever it with sword qi.
• The Dragon Clan True Lord ordered Zhang Yuan to slay Wenren Qihan, return Ao Xiu unharmed to the Eastern Deep, and visit the Hengyang Lu Clan.
• The Dragon Clan True Lord promised to clear Zhang Yuan’s debt for killing Ao Ruo and grant him a great opportunity if he completed the tasks, but threatened to imprison and punish him if he failed.

Zhang Yuan learned that Ao Xiu’s innate true name had drawn the attention of an East Sea Dragon Clan True Lord, so he decided to take Ao Xiu back to the East Sea. Meanwhile, Chu Miaofu identified Zhang Yuan from Chu Jingtian’s account and warned Chu Zhuoyu about him.

• Zhang Yuan loosened Ao Xiu’s restraints, and Ao Xiu tried to ingratiate himself by pounding Zhang Yuan’s shoulders.
• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun discussed how Ao Xiu’s true name had exposed them to the Dragon Clan True Lord, and Xiao Yuanjun promised to support Zhang Yuan wherever he went.
• Zhang Yuan decided to take Ao Xiu to the East Sea and send him home, while Ao Xiu secretly plotted to win control over him with massage techniques.
• Chu Jingtian told Chu Miaofu about the demonic cultivator he had encountered, and she recognized Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun from his description.
• Chu Miaofu warned Chu Zhuoyu that Zhang Yuan preyed on people like him, while Chu Xiwen concealed that she had recognized Zhang Yuan before.

Zhang Yuan, Xiao Yuanjun, and Ao Xiu traveled to Henggou City on their way to the Hengyang Lu Clan, planning to use its influence to find Wenren Qihan. They encountered another incarnation of True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts, who offered directions but objected to Zhang Yuan's meager payment.

• Zhang Yuan decided to visit the Hengyang Lu Clan first, then search for Wenren Qihan and eventually return Ao Xiu to the East Sea.
• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun disguised themselves before entering Henggou City, and Ao Xiu transformed into a green snake.
• Zhang Yuan entered a cultivators' market shop to ask about the Hengyang Lu Clan and recognized the shopkeeper as an incarnation of True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts.
• The shopkeeper noticed Ao Xiu was a True Dragon and offered to buy it, but Zhang Yuan agreed only to provoke him.
• Zhang Yuan asked for a Geomantic Map and then directions to the Hengyang Lu Clan; the shopkeeper demanded payment, and Zhang Yuan gave him half a spirit stone.

After learning that the Wen River Deng Clan and South Sea Dragon Clan were pursuing him, Zhang Yuan decided to hurry to the Hengyang Lu Clan for protection. A Nine Serenities Lu Clan Celestial Person arrived in Henggou City and challenged Zhang Yuan, who insisted they fight beyond the heavens.

• [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] warned Zhang Yuan that the Wen River Deng Clan and South Sea Dragon Clan were likely on their way to kill him.
• Zhang Yuan sold his useless possessions to [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] and decided to reach the Hengyang Lu Clan quickly.
• The sign for [Eastern Sunken Pavilion] burned away to reveal the shop's original name, Fragrant Liquor Tower, as Zhang Yuan left with Xiao Yuanjun and Ao Xiu.
• A Nine Serenities Lu Clan Celestial Person descended on Henggou City with a demonic Black Mountain and demanded that [Return to True] come out to die.
• The attacker gravely wounded Henggou City's lord, and Zhang Yuan identified himself and challenged the Celestial Person to fight beyond the heavens.

Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun ambushed Lu Wuyu, then fled as the Solar Profound Light descended and struck all three of them. The pair survived in a remote forest, while Lu Wuyu was left barely alive after taking two beams.

• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun lured Lu Wuyu away from Henggou City and attacked him from behind with their Supreme Treasures and Divine Abilities.
• Zhang Yuan kicked Lu Wuyu’s fallen demonic mountain into him, but Lu Wuyu survived the blow with only minor injuries.
• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun fled toward the Jingheng Kingdom before the Solar Profound Light struck them and Lu Wuyu.
• Lu Wuyu was pierced by two beams of Solar Profound Light and left barely alive, while Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun fell into a mountain forest and recovered.
• Xiao Yuanjun changed out of her scorched robe, and Ao Xiu teased her and Zhang Yuan for lying together with their heads side by side.

Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun pursued the badly wounded Lu Wuyu into the Outer Chaos, where Lu Wuyu trapped them with his sealing mystic wonder. Xiao Yuanjun reversed its effects long enough for Zhang Yuan to kill Lu Wuyu before he could recover.

• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun located Lu Wuyu outside Henggou City and flew to attack him while he was injured.
• Zhang Yuan used the Golden Carriage to carry Lu Wuyu into the Outer Chaos, then struck off his head, but Lu Wuyu healed and reattached it.
• Lu Wuyu activated [Hundred Evils Banishment], sealing divine abilities, mystic wonders, and treasures within a hundred meters.
• Xiao Yuanjun reversed the mystic wonder's effects, allowing Zhang Yuan to use his sword and treasures while Lu Wuyu's dharma body was suppressed.
• Zhang Yuan beheaded Lu Wuyu and used the Five-Direction Banners to blast his head to ashes before it could reunite with his body.

After Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun killed Lu Wuyu, they fled to the Yu Kingdom to recover and plan their route toward the Hengyang Lu Clan. A strange phenomenon in the Yu Kingdom Capital suggested that Taihu Dragonheart Grass was emerging, but Ao Xiu warned it might be a trap.

• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun used the Fivefold Body-Rending Qi and the Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasures to destroy Lu Wuyu completely, then returned to the Azure Firmament Dust-Dyed Realm outside the Bian Kingdom.
• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun reached a mountain near the Yu Kingdom Capital, where Zhang Yuan considered the dangers of traveling onward to the Hengyang Lu Clan.
• Zhang Yuan questioned Ao Xiu about the South Sea Dragon Clan, and Ao Xiu named the thunder cultivator Wenren Shangzhi as a possible threat.
• Xiao Yuanjun spotted dark clouds and lightning over the Yu Kingdom Capital, and Zhang Yuan recognized the phenomenon as a sign of Taihu Dragonheart Grass.
• Ao Xiu warned Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun that the grass's emergence could be a trap and urged them to leave.

Zhang Yuan escaped a trap set by the South Sea Dragon Clan, the Wen River Deng Clan, and the Nine Serenities Lu Clan, then split from Xiao Yuanjun to protect Ao Xiu and draw their pursuers away. He fled alone while Xiao Yuanjun carried Ao Xiu toward the Jingyang Kingdom to seek help from the Hengyang Lu Clan.

• Zhang Yuan sensed a trap at the Yu Kingdom's Capital City and fled with Xiao Yuanjun before Wenren Shangzhi struck their Golden Carriage.
• Wenren Shangzhi revealed himself and demanded Ao Xiu, warning that Deng Qiuzhi would soon arrive.
• Zhang Yuan refused to surrender Ao Xiu and used a divine ability to escape with Xiao Yuanjun.
• Zhang Yuan gave Ao Xiu to Xiao Yuanjun, sending her toward the Hengyang Lu Clan while he drew the pursuers away.
• Deng Qiuzhi arrived and traded barbs with Wenren Shangzhi as Zhang Yuan fled alone.