Recaps

Chi Guanguan settled her divine sense in Zhang Yuan’s Dao Domain and had him bring in her stone coffin and the Five Elements Array Plate. After revealing her true appearance, she learned that Zhang Yuan’s fiancée was Li Huixi.

• Chi Guanguan claimed Zhang Yuan’s Dao Domain as her territory and persuaded him to bring in her coffin by promising him the Five Elements Heaven-Sealing Formation.
• Zhang Yuan resolved to placate Chi Guanguan until he could ask Chen Xinqiao or the Eastern Ya Cui Clan’s True Lord to remove her divine sense, while weighing the dangers of his enemies.
• Zhang Yuan moved the stone coffin and carefully carried the Five Elements Array Plate into his Dao Domain.
• Chi Guanguan asked Zhang Yuan to help open the coffin, and they released its restriction and raised the lid together.
• Chi Guanguan entered the body inside the coffin, revealed her immortal appearance, and challenged Zhang Yuan’s claim that Li Huixi was more beautiful.
• Zhang Yuan identified Li Huixi as his fiancée, and Chi Guanguan remarked that she was surprised someone like him had a fiancée.

Zhang Yuan learned that Chi Guanguan’s Five Elements Heaven-Sealing Formation could only protect him while he remained inside his Dao Domain. Meanwhile, Xiao Yuanjun ransacked the Grand Hua Jade Heaven Sect before pursuing Wangyou True Person, believing she could lead her to Zhang Yuan.

• Chi Guanguan explained that her formation could block Great Luo from spying on Zhang Yuan only while he stayed inside his Dao Domain, then promised him a reward for helping free her.
• Xiao Yuanjun and Chu Qingyuan entered the weakened Grand Hua Jade Heaven Sect unseen, and Xiao Yuanjun emptied its inner sect treasury and Scripture Pavilion.
• Xiao Yuanjun spotted Wangyou True Person leaving the sect and followed her, intending to find out where Zhang Yuan was.
• Wangyou True Person detected Xiao Yuanjun and confronted her, then learned that she was Zhang Yuan’s master, Dao Epithet [Perfect Self].
• Wangyou True Person denied being Zhang Yuan’s enemy and told Xiao Yuanjun that their misunderstanding had already been resolved.

Xiao Yuanjun pursued Wangyou True Person to Spirit Immortal City, where she demanded the Ji Earth and information about Zhang Yuan. Wangyou escaped through a teleportation array, and Xiao Yuanjun decided to take Chu Qingyuan to the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea, where Chu Qingyuan believed her family’s killers had ties.

• Wangyou True Person fled toward Spirit Immortal City with Xiao Yuanjun and Chu Qingyuan close behind, and Xiao Yuanjun’s Miasma Wind damaged the city wall.
• The city lord tried to stop Xiao Yuanjun, but she used [Dusk Veil] to blast him aside and entered the city after Wangyou.
• Xiao Yuanjun exposed Wangyou’s concealment and demanded the Ji Earth and Zhang Yuan’s whereabouts; Wangyou threw the Ji Earth away, then fled through a teleportation array.
• Xiao Yuanjun caught the Ji Earth, while Wangyou destroyed the array leading to the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea.
• Chu Qingyuan revealed that the Shang Family had acted on orders from an important figure at the Eastern Cen Palace, and Xiao Yuanjun chose to go there with her.

After the Golden-Armored Deity sent Zhang Yuan to the South Sea, he flew north seeking a city and a way back to the Central Land. A living coastline pursued him, but after Zhang Yuan wounded it, it tried to flee and bribe him while he continued the chase.

• Chi Guanguan told Zhang Yuan that he had landed in the South Sea of the Boundless Southern Heaven Realm, and he flew north to find a major city and a Teleportation Array.
• As Zhang Yuan approached a coastal city, he sensed danger and saw the coastline moving toward him, so he tried to escape in the Golden Carriage Luan Chariot.
• When the coastline restricted his escape, Zhang Yuan attacked it with Three-Colored Qi Light and the Eastern Mystic-Yang Fusang Banner, causing it to bleed and shudder.
• The wounded coastline retreated and sent treasures from its city toward Zhang Yuan as a peace offering, but he collected them and kept pursuing it.
• Chi Guanguan urged Zhang Yuan to beat the fleeing coastline to death.

Pei Leide led Xia Ying and three other Eastern Cen Palace disciples on a mission to find and slay the demonic cultivator responsible for Colorful Mist City’s disappearance. They discovered Zhang Yuan pursuing the city as it raced across the sea, leaving them questioning whether he could really be only in the Nascent Soul Realm.

• Pei Leide warned the disciples that their mission was dangerous and explained that Colorful Mist City had vanished after its inhabitants were blood-refined into the city.
• Pei Leide said he had located the city and believed its demonic cultivator was a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator from the Central Demon Realm.
• Xia Ying questioned whether their group could defeat a demon fiend associated with the slaughter of the Grand Hua Jade Heaven Sect, but Pei Leide assured them they could win together.
• A thunderous crash sent towering waves across the sea, and Xia Ying spotted a moving coastline with a city, followed by Zhang Yuan in the Golden Carriage Luan Chariot.
• Zhang Yuan pursued Colorful Mist City and formed an enormous hand to seize the coastline, while Xia Ying and the others recognized him as the supposed demon fiend and doubted Pei Leide’s assessment of his realm.

Zhang Yuan chased a blood-refined coastline but failed to catch it, then confronted disciples from the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea. He exposed Pei Leide as the Demonic Cultivator behind Colorful Mist City's sacrifice and declared that his word was evidence.

• The blood-refined coastline escaped after Zhang Yuan's divine ability damaged it, and he realized it was part of Heaven and Earth and not bound by heavenly law.
• Zhang Yuan stopped the disciples from the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea from fleeing and confronted them at the harbor.
• Pei Leide claimed that the group had been sent to eliminate the Demonic Cultivator who blood-refined Colorful Mist City, and Zhang Yuan tore off his head and destroyed his body.
• The disciples accused Zhang Yuan of being a Demon Fiend and prepared to fight, while Pei Leide demanded to know why he had attacked him.
• Zhang Yuan said Pei Leide had blood-sacrificed Colorful Mist City, and after Pei Leide demanded evidence, Zhang Yuan declared that his words were the evidence.

Zhang Yuan forced Pei Leide to confess to the massacre in Colorful Mist City and learned that he had been deceived by an evil art promising an Immortal Pill. After killing Pei Leide, Zhang Yuan questioned Xia Ying and her companions about how to reach the Central Land, then learned that Xia Ying had concealed a possible route through Venerable Youkong.

• Zhang Yuan compelled Pei Leide to confess that he sacrificed Colorful Mist City’s people in pursuit of an Immortal Pill that would improve his aptitude and comprehension.
• Pei Leide revealed that the ritual also required the bodies and souls of four Golden Core or Fate Lord cultivators, alarming Xia Ying and the other disciples.
• Zhang Yuan concluded that the secret art was a deception, killed Pei Leide, and questioned Xia Ying and her three companions.
• Xia Ying told Zhang Yuan that the Eastern Continent had no Teleportation Array to the Central Land or Grand Hua Jade Heaven Sect because of her sect’s feud with the latter.
• A disciple mentioned that Venerable Youkong had an array to the Central Land, and Zhang Yuan confronted Xia Ying about concealing the information.

Zhang Yuan used [Myriad Coexistence] to make three disciples believe he was their senior brother and planned to enter the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea with them. Xia Ying resisted the influence enough to recognize his deception, but Zhang Yuan spared her mind and warned her to keep quiet as they prepared to return to the sect.

• Zhang Yuan claimed he was a True Disciple of the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea who had exposed Pei Leide’s plot and rescued the group, and three disciples accepted his story.
• Zhang Yuan discovered that Xia Ying’s strong will was resisting [Myriad Coexistence] and withdrew its influence before it damaged her mind.
• Xia Ying realized Zhang Yuan intended to enter the sect openly as her senior brother, while the other disciples accepted his explanations as true.
• Zhang Yuan told Xia Ying to say nothing about Pei Leide and explained that he only wanted to find Venerable Youkong and borrow the sect’s Teleportation Array to the Central Land.
• Xia Ying agreed to follow Zhang Yuan’s instructions and addressed him as her eldest senior brother.

Zhang Yuan entered the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea with Xia Ying and headed to Youkong Hall to ask Venerable Youkong to lend him the sect’s teleportation array. He arrived just as Wangyou True Person sought refuge there, and the two old acquaintances came face to face.

• Zhang Yuan changed into green Daoist robes, shrank Xia Ying and her three companions into his sleeve, and flew them to the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea.
• Xia Ying brought Zhang Yuan through the sect gates by presenting her True Disciple token and introducing him as her eldest senior brother.
• Zhang Yuan dismissed Xia Ying’s companions and had her lead him to Venerable Youkong at Youkong Hall to request the use of the teleportation array.
• Wangyou True Person arrived at Youkong Hall and told Venerable Youkong that he had come to seek refuge.
• Zhang Yuan and Xia Ying entered Youkong Hall, where Wangyou True Person recognized Zhang Yuan and greeted him.

Zhang Yuan confronted Wangyou True Person at Youkong Hall and learned that Lu Chaosheng was acting under the Divine Master's orders to hunt him. After discovering that the Teleportation Array was destroyed, Zhang Yuan considered how to return to the Central Land, and Chi Guanguan offered to modify the array if she could borrow his body.

• Wangyou True Person tried to escape Youkong Hall, but Zhang Yuan’s Three-Colored Qi Light trapped her and forced her into a standoff with him and Venerable Youkong.
• Xia Ying pretended not to know why Zhang Yuan had come, and Wangyou True Person and Venerable Youkong joined forces against him.
• Wangyou True Person said she had severed her master-disciple relationship with Lu Chaosheng and revealed that he was helping the Divine Master hunt Zhang Yuan.
• Zhang Yuan asked to use Venerable Youkong’s Teleportation Array to reach the Central Land, but Wangyou True Person told him she had destroyed it.
• Chi Guanguan claimed she could modify the array in three breaths if Zhang Yuan let her borrow his body.

Zhang Yuan asked Chi Guanguan how to modify the Teleportation Array without letting her into his sea of consciousness, and she gave him instructions requiring several rare materials. He learned where to find most of them, but Sumeru Stone was scarce after an entire ore vein was stolen, and Chi Guanguan denied having taken it.

• Zhang Yuan rejected Chi Guanguan's proposal and asked for another way to modify the Teleportation Array, so she transmitted the necessary inscriptions and materials to him.
• Zhang Yuan accepted Venerable Youkong's Array Plate and asked him to supply the materials he lacked.
• Venerable Youkong provided most of the materials and named Mystic Dark Golden Sand, cinnabar glow five-colored water, and Sumeru Stone as the three the palace could not supply.
• Venerable Youkong told Zhang Yuan where to find the first two materials and said an entire Sumeru Ore Vein had been stolen, suggesting he try the Pawnshop for reserves.
• Chi Guanguan denied stealing the Sumeru Stone vein, and Zhang Yuan called her out for eavesdropping again.

After leaving the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea, Zhang Yuan found the mine where mystic dark golden sand was produced and took several large chunks. Meanwhile, Venerable Youkong decided to report Zhang Yuan’s whereabouts to his sect, and Chi Guanguan angrily confronted Zhang Yuan over the ore he dropped into the Immortal Palace.

• Wangyou True Person left the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea to travel around the Eastern Continent, while Venerable Youkong questioned Xia Ying about Zhang Yuan and Pei Leide.
• Venerable Youkong confirmed that Pei Leide had likely fallen into the Demonic Dao and told Xia Ying she could search for Colorful Mist City to earn sect contribution points.
• After Xia Ying left, Venerable Youkong decided to report Zhang Yuan’s whereabouts to the sect because he feared Zhang Yuan’s terrifying Dao Domain.
• Zhang Yuan followed Venerable Youkong’s directions to a mine near a large city and demanded mystic dark golden sand from the Mine Manager.
• Zhang Yuan cut three large chunks of ore from the mine and sent them into the Great Grotto Yin-Scenery Immortal Domain, jolting Chi Guanguan from her bed.
• Chi Guanguan accused Zhang Yuan of dropping the ore on her on purpose, and Zhang Yuan breezily admitted nothing.

Zhang Yuan tried to buy mystic dark golden sand with spirit stones, but Situ Bikang, lord of Dark Gold City, attempted to extort him. Zhang Yuan defeated Situ Bikang and claimed the mine and city for one spirit stone, leaving Situ to guard them for a thousand years.

• Zhang Yuan paid three hills of spirit stones for three chunks of mystic dark golden sand and prepared to leave.
• Situ Bikang arrived and demanded eighty thousand spirit stones, claiming Zhang Yuan had underpaid for the ore.
• Zhang Yuan offered one spirit stone for the ore, the entire vein, and Dark Gold City.
• Situ Bikang attacked Zhang Yuan, but Zhang Yuan's [Primordial Form-Converging Sword] stripped away his power and severed his right arm.
• Zhang Yuan claimed the vein and city, ordered Situ Bikang to guard them for a thousand years without regrowing his arm, and revealed his Dao Epithet as [Return to True].

Xiao Yuanjun and Chu Qingyuan confronted the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea, but Xiao Yuanjun discovered the sect had not destroyed the Chu Family. After Xiao Yuanjun invoked the Nether Bureau against Juesheng True Person, he fled in terror, leaving the others baffled.

• Xia Ying departed with several fellow disciples to seek Colorful Mist City and sect contribution points.
• Xiao Yuanjun and Chu Qingyuan arrived at the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea, where Xiao Yuanjun sensed Zhang Yuan's Karma and hidden things beneath the palace.
• Xiao Yuanjun asked the sect who had ordered the Chu Family's extermination, then used Karma to learn that Chu Qingyuan had mistaken the sect for her enemy.
• Juesheng True Person attacked Xiao Yuanjun after she remarked that he was near death.
• Xiao Yuanjun invoked [Fivefold Body-Rending Qi], which destroyed Juesheng True Person's cyan palm and drew the Nether Bureau's attention to him.
• Juesheng True Person begged Queyin True Person and Venerable Youkong for help, then fled while they remained behind, confused.

Xiao Yuanjun demanded a contest of arts with the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea to gain a conceptual image for proving the Dao. After fighting Queyin True Person to a draw, she left, while Queyin concealed that she had actually lost.

• Xiao Yuanjun spared Juesheng True Person, knowing the Nether Bureau would eventually apprehend him.
• Queyin True Person tried to explain that the Eastern Cen Palace of the Azure Sea had no quarrel with Zhang Yuan, but Xiao Yuanjun insisted on a contest or the sect's treasury.
• Xiao Yuanjun moved Queyin True Person to the nearby sea, where they fought for about a quarter of an hour.
• Queyin True Person returned alone and told Venerable Youkong that she and Xiao Yuanjun had drawn.
• Queyin True Person privately admitted that Xiao Yuanjun's three mystic wonders had defeated her.

Zhang Yuan waited on a remote island for cinnabar glow five-colored water while Ao Xiu woke and demanded pastries. After revealing Chi Guanguan had eaten them, Zhang Yuan sent Ao Xiu into his Dao Domain to confront her, hoping to curb Chi Guanguan’s arrogance.

• Zhang Yuan settled on a remote island in the South Sea to wait for cinnabar glow five-colored water to appear.
• Chi Guanguan repeatedly urged Zhang Yuan to play chess with her while he watched the sea.
• Ao Xiu woke in Zhang Yuan’s robes and was relieved to find him alive after the Mirror-Holding Armored Lord had attacked them.
• Ao Xiu asked Zhang Yuan for pastries, and he told her Chi Guanguan had eaten them, including the last box.
• Ao Xiu demanded to confront the pastry thief, so Zhang Yuan sent her into the Great Grotto Yin-Scenery Immortal Domain to meet Chi Guanguan.

Ao Xiu entered the [Great Grotto Yin-Scenery Immortal Domain] to confront the pastry thief, only to discover Chi Guanguan was a Great Luo Divine Sense. Outside, Zhang Yuan subdued the sea creatures and collected five-colored water that could improve his Spirit Root aptitude.

• Ao Xiu found Chi Guanguan eating pastries in the Central Immortal Palace and challenged her, but Chi Guanguan revealed she was a Great Luo named Chi Guanguan.
• Ao Xiu recognized Chi Guanguan's power, introduced herself as the East Sea Dragon Lord's daughter, and denied being Zhang Yuan's spirit pet before admitting she did not know what she was.
• At sunset, Zhang Yuan spotted five-colored water shimmering in the mist above the Azure Sea as sea creatures surged toward it.
• Zhang Yuan used [Yellow Springs Drink] to drive the sea creatures back beneath the waves, then collected the five-colored water and stored it in the [Great Grotto Yin-Scenery Immortal Domain].

Zhang Yuan asked an old turtle for directions to a cultivator city while seeking Sumeru stone, then sensed an approaching opportunity that contained the stone he needed. Meanwhile, Xia Ying, Ji Chuan, and Zhuang Rouyi reached Colorful Mist City to investigate it, and Zhuang Rouyi asked about Xia Ying’s mysterious eldest senior brother.

• Zhang Yuan pulled an old turtle from the sea and asked where to find a large city and whether it had Sumeru stone.
• The old turtle directed Zhang Yuan to Pavana City and warned that the city had little Sumeru stone because many residents practiced Formation Arts.
• Zhang Yuan decided to visit Pavana City, then sensed an approaching opportunity that contained the Sumeru stone he needed.
• The old turtle fled after Zhang Yuan warned him to leave the area before danger arrived.
• Xia Ying, Ji Chuan, and Zhuang Rouyi reached Colorful Mist City to explore it and report their findings to the sect.
• Zhuang Rouyi asked Xia Ying about her eldest senior brother, and Xia Ying evaded the question before urging the group into the city.

Xia Ying, Zhuang Rouyi, and Ji Chuan entered Colorful Mist City to investigate after Pei Leide’s death, only to discover that the city and its entire coastline had become a monstrous trap. They were left hovering in the mist, surrounded by snapping mouths with no safe way to escape.

• Xia Ying and Zhuang Rouyi persuaded Ji Chuan to enter Colorful Mist City rather than return to the sect for help.
• Ji Chuan used a spell to smash open the city gates, and the three entered the thick mist.
• Xia Ying sensed danger and leaped aside as a huge, fanged mouth erupted from the ground where she had stood.
• Xia Ying ordered Zhuang Rouyi and Ji Chuan to flee, but the gates had transformed into mouths and blocked their exit.
• Xia Ying saw that the ground, buildings, objects, and coastline were all sprouting fanged mouths, trapping the three in midair.
• Ji Chuan blamed the others and panicked as the mouths spread through the mist.

Qin Tianyi rescued Xia Ying, Ji Chuan, and Zhuang Rouyi in Colorful Mist City and learned they were connected to his old friend Zhang Yuan. After Qin Tianyi declared that Zhang Yuan would come to save them, Zhang Yuan sensed his name being invoked nearby and set off toward Colorful Mist City.

• Qin Tianyi arrived in time to destroy the bloody maws threatening Xia Ying, Ji Chuan, and Zhuang Rouyi, then carried them to a courtyard in the western part of Colorful Mist City.
• Qin Tianyi introduced himself to the three and brought them to meet Situ Yuanbai and the other survivors sheltering in the courtyard.
• Xia Ying told Situ Yuanbai that her sect knew little about the crisis in Colorful Mist City and had sent only the three of them.
• Qin Tianyi asked Xia Ying about Zhang Yuan, recognized him as his old friend, and said they could escape once Zhang Yuan fought his way to them.
• Zhang Yuan sensed someone nearby invoking his true name and Dao epithet, then set off toward the Sumeru Stone and the source of the call.

Juesheng True Person revealed that he had orchestrated Colorful Mist City's blood sacrifices to refine a new body and target Qin Tianyi. As his monstrous city attacked Qin's Dao Domain, Qin and the others fought back while Qin warned that his violent-tempered old brother might arrive.

• Juesheng True Person watched the western quarter and revealed that Pei Leide had been his pawn in a scheme to lure cultivators to Colorful Mist City as nourishment.
• Juesheng True Person transformed the City Lord's Residence and buildings across the city into a mass of bloody mouths and sharp teeth, then sent them toward Qin Tianyi's sanctuary.
• Qin Tianyi confronted Juesheng True Person and realized that he had been the intended target of the scheme.
• Qin Tianyi warned Juesheng True Person that his old brother would arrive, but Juesheng ignored the threat and ordered the attack forward.
• Qin Tianyi unleashed Azure Thunder against the monstrous city, while Situ Yuanbai urged Xia Ying and the other cultivators to help defend the western quarter.

Xia Ying and the others struggled to survive Juesheng True Person’s attack while Qin Tianyi fought him in Colorful Mist City. Unaware of their danger, Zhang Yuan approached the city and prepared to strike from a distance after sensing a Celestial Person-level battle.

• Xia Ying and the others defended the courtyard from the Bloodmouth Brickstones while Qin Tianyi’s Dao Domain held back most of the enemy.
• Ji Chuan blamed Xia Ying for bringing him into danger, and Zhuang Rouyi rebuked him for choosing to come himself.
• Qin Tianyi realized Juesheng True Person had sealed the Great Void and used the city’s formation to prevent escape, leaving them evenly matched for the moment.
• Zhang Yuan planned to collect the Sumeru Stone, kill Lu Chaosheng, take Ao Xiu home, and enlist others to punish Ji Guang.
• After sensing thunder from a Celestial Person nearby, Zhang Yuan recognized the coastal city and decided to send a sword strike into it rather than enter.

Zhang Yuan arrived in Colorful Mist City and rescued Xia Ying, Qin Tianyi, and the others with a single sword strike. He confronted Juesheng True Person and offered him a choice between surrendering the city's opportunities or being killed.

• Juesheng True Person tried to devour Xia Ying and the others after failing to subdue Qin Tianyi.
• Zhang Yuan's Three-Colored Qi Light cleaved through Colorful Mist City's gates, swept away the monsters, and sent Juesheng True Person flying.
• Xia Ying recognized Zhang Yuan as her eldest senior brother, and Qin Tianyi rejoiced at his arrival.
• Zhang Yuan assessed Juesheng True Person's weakened condition and approached him.
• Zhang Yuan introduced himself as [Return to True] and offered to spare Juesheng True Person if he surrendered the city's opportunities.
• Juesheng True Person recognized Zhang Yuan as the disciple of the [True-Self Celestial] and angrily accused them of going too far.

Zhang Yuan attacked Juesheng True Person and grievously wounded the Blood-Colored Head, but the enemy regenerated and began absorbing Colorful Mist City and the coastline. Zhang Yuan evacuated the others as the city transformed into a colossal Blood-Colored Giant standing in the South Sea.

• Zhang Yuan realized Xiao Yuanjun had already beaten Juesheng True Person and struck him with the Primordial Form-Converging Sword, severely wounding the Blood-Colored Head.
• The Blood-Colored Head sprang back and swallowed Ji Chuan while Situ Yuanbai, Xia Ying, and Zhuang Rouyi dodged its bite.
• Juesheng True Person used a talisman to make Colorful Mist City and the coastline collapse into blood-red sludge that merged with the Blood-Colored Head.
• Zhang Yuan carried the nearby survivors away, and Qin Tianyi followed him as the rest of the city joined the transformation.
• Colorful Mist City and the coastline rose from the sea as a gigantic Blood-Colored Giant, whose aura made creatures throughout the South Sea tremble.

Zhang Yuan identified Juesheng True Person’s Blood-Mud Giant as a regenerating Dharma Body and judged that Juesheng had likely been deceived about escaping the Nether Bureau. As Juesheng confronted Zhang Yuan and Qin Tianyi, Zhang Yuan backed away and left Qin Tianyi to fight, promising to support him.

• Zhang Yuan tested the Blood-Mud Giant with sword qi, severing it before its powerful vitality restored it instantly.
• Juesheng True Person weighed whether to fight Zhang Yuan, fearing that acting would attract the Nether Bureau Ghost Deity.
• Qin Tianyi attacked Juesheng with Azure Thunder and declared that he would carry out heaven’s justice.
• Juesheng furiously accused Qin Tianyi and Zhang Yuan of turning heaven’s order upside down and said they had forced him to go this far.
• Zhang Yuan retreated several thousand meters and urged Qin Tianyi to slay Juesheng, promising to act if Qin Tianyi was in danger.
• Qin Tianyi reluctantly agreed to show Zhang Yuan what he could do, while secretly planning to make a few attacks and then flee.