Recaps

After the South Sea Dragon Clan’s ambush ended, the Mysterious Court’s Immortal Lords considered attacking Zhang Yuan, but Cui Yuanxi’s arrival changed their plans. Zhang Yuan accepted the Mysterious Court’s invitation to meet its two Great Immortal Lords, and the group prepared to travel there.

• Wenren Fuhai left the coast after Wenren Shangzhi and Deng Qiuzhi were defeated and Lu Danyan disappeared.
• Immortal Lord Xingfeng learned Zhang Yuan’s identity and urged Immortal Lord Lingxiang and Immortal Lord Liujing to join him in killing Zhang Yuan.
• Zhang Yuan warned the three Immortal Lords against attacking, and Cui Yuanxi flew from the Magic Ship to stand beside him.
• Immortal Lord Lingxiang said the Mysterious Court’s two Great Immortal Lords wanted to invite Zhang Yuan and Cui Yuanxi for a visit.
• Cui Yuanxi accepted the explanation, and Zhang Yuan agreed to follow the Immortal Lords to the Mysterious Court.

Deng Qiuzhi learned that the Great Beginning Heaven-Governing Primordial Lady’s protection made Zhang Yuan too dangerous to kill for now, but True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns planned to scheme his death while he sought truth and proved the Dao. Meanwhile, Zhang Yuan and Cui Yuanxi arrived at the Mysterious Court with three Immortal Lords aboard their Magic Ship.

• Deng Qiuzhi told True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns that Zhang Yuan had reached the late Celestial Person stage and asked how the clan could deal with him.
• True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns warned that killing Zhang Yuan would provoke his True Lord Master, then proposed arranging his death during his attempt to prove the Dao and claiming Sky Mountain’s golden position for Deng Qiuzhi.
• Deng Qiuzhi asked about Sky Mountain’s golden position, and True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns said he knew only that it was a lower golden position hidden in the Mysterious Court’s Ancestral Grounds.
• Zhang Yuan and Cui Yuanxi used the Golden Carriage Luan Chariot to tow the Magic Ship swiftly to the Mysterious Court in the Ao Kingdom.
• Zhang Yuan halted outside the Mysterious Court, dismissed the Golden Carriage, and asked Immortal Lords Lingxiang, Liujing, and Xingfeng to open the gate.

Immortal Lord Lingxiang went to report Zhang Yuan’s arrival to the Mysterious Court’s ancestor while Immortal Lord Liujing escorted Zhang Yuan, Cui Yuanxi, and Tong Ke through the sect. Zhang Yuan entered the Mysterious Court and became curious about the Immortal Lords’ Dao Fruits as they set off into the mountains.

• Immortal Lord Lingxiang entered the Mysterious Court to report to the ancestor, while Immortal Lord Liujing agreed to keep Zhang Yuan occupied and Immortal Lord Xingfeng stayed to handle the Magic Ship.
• Tong Ke left the ship and joined Zhang Yuan, Cui Yuanxi, and Immortal Lord Liujing after introducing herself as Shangxian True Person’s True Disciple.
• Zhang Yuan and the others disembarked, and Zhang Yuan watched Immortal Lord Xingfeng use his power to lift and lower the Magic Ship.
• Zhang Yuan wondered about the Dao Fruit Embryos of the Immortal Lords and studied Immortal Lord Liujing, making her and the others uncomfortable.
• Immortal Lord Liujing urged the group to enter the sect, and Zhang Yuan followed her toward the mountains.

Zhang Yuan visited the Mysterious Court and learned from Chi Guanguan about its ancient history and the powerful Profound Ancestor. As he pondered the Court’s decline, someone approached from behind and covered his eyes, asking him to guess who they were.

• Immortal Lord Lingxiang reported Zhang Yuan’s arrival, and Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui instructed him to welcome Zhang as a friend rather than treat him as an enemy.
• As Immortal Lord Liujing guided Zhang Yuan, Chi Guanguan told him the Mysterious Court had once been the Ancestral Grounds of the Mystic Gate under the Profound Ancestor.
• Chi Guanguan explained that several Great Luo had killed the Profound Ancestor after a prolonged battle, despite his apparent possession of two Dao Fruits.
• Immortal Lord Liujing paused the party at a pavilion, where Cui Yuanxi and Tong Ke went to fish while Zhang Yuan reflected on the Mysterious Court’s past decline.
• An unidentified person came up behind Zhang Yuan, covered his eyes with both hands, and asked him to guess who they were.

Zhang Yuan was ambushed by Ye Xiangning in the Mysterious Court, where she overpowered him and began exacting revenge for his past scheme. When Xu Lingyin and other Mysterious Court disciples arrived, Zhang Yuan silently signaled Xu Lingyin for help.

• Ye Xiangning revealed herself to Zhang Yuan, who attacked her with his banners and sword, but she nullified his techniques with a single finger.
• Ye Xiangning warned Zhang Yuan to stop resisting, then shattered his internal organs by crashing into him.
• Chi Guanguan called on Ao Xiu to bite Ye Xiangning, but Ye Xiangning knocked Ao Xiu unconscious.
• Ye Xiangning explained that she had been waiting for Zhang Yuan in the Mysterious Court to settle the score for his past scheme.
• Xu Lingyin and several Mysterious Court True Disciples arrived, and Zhang Yuan signaled Xu Lingyin with his eyes.

Zhang Yuan recognized Ye Xiangning as the dangerous True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts and tried to escape her grasp by threatening to expose her identity. Ye Xiangning instead invited him to explore a secret realm with Xu Lingyin and forced the other disciples to accept him.

• Xu Lingyin recognized Zhang Yuan and, at his urging, scolded Ye Xiangning to make her release him.
• Zhang Yuan realized the Mysterious Court's Great Immortal Lords did not know Ye Xiangning's identity, then hugged her and warned that revealing it would expose her.
• Ye Xiangning freed Zhang Yuan, who tried to leave with Xu Lingyin before she could make trouble.
• Ye Xiangning invited Zhang Yuan to join her and Xu Lingyin in exploring a secret realm, while threatening to kill anyone who objected.
• A Mysterious Court disciple protested and left after Ye Xiangning threatened him; Xu Lingyin then left the choice to Zhang Yuan.

Ye Xiangning took Zhang Yuan and the others to a hidden chamber beneath a lake in the Mysterious Court, where she and Chi Guanguan competed to teach him formation arts. The group entered the chamber, while Zhang Yuan avoided committing to either teacher.

• Zhang Yuan agreed to leave with Ye Xiangning, leaving Cui Yuanxi and Tong Ke behind, and set out with Xu Lingyin and five Mysterious Court disciples.
• Ye Xiangning led the group to a secluded lake and used a water-receding spell to reveal a stone door beneath it.
• Ye Xiangning broke the formation on the East Gate Mountain Fengshui Stone door and opened the hidden chamber.
• Chi Guanguan and Ye Xiangning each offered to teach Zhang Yuan formation arts, while Chi Guanguan warned him against Ye Xiangning.
• Zhang Yuan professed loyalty to Chi Guanguan without clearly agreeing to learn from her.

Zhang Yuan and the Mysterious Court disciples entered a strange secret chamber and found a Purple-Gold Gourd. When Ning Feng triggered its pill flame, Zhang Yuan put out the fire, leaving Ning Feng’s fate unresolved.

• Zhang Yuan, Ye Xiangning, Xu Lingyin, and the others entered the secret chamber, while Yu Lian and Qin Tianyi arrived at the lake and followed them inside.
• Fei Ting identified the chamber as a likely microcosm, and Xu Lingyin confirmed that its space was unusual.
• The disciples spotted a Purple-Gold Gourd, and Ning Feng approached it to retrieve it.
• The gourd released a crimson pill into Ning Feng’s mouth, and its savage flames began burning his body and soul.
• Zhang Yuan splashed water over Ning Feng and extinguished the flames.

The Purple-Gold Gourd’s three pills killed Ning Feng, first dissolving his body and then blasting apart his soul. Fei Ting and the others suspected the gourd was the legendary Profound Ancestor’s Three Calamities Gourd, suggesting the chamber had a connection to the Profound Ancestor.

• Zhang Yuan doused Ning Feng with water, but the Purple-Gold Gourd fed him a second pill that made his flesh melt away without pain.
• Ning Feng’s body dissolved completely, leaving behind his apparently intact but vacant soul.
• The gourd sent a pale green pill into Ning Feng’s soul, causing it to explode and injure several Mysterious Court Disciples.
• Fei Ting and the others identified the pills’ fire, water, and wind as the Profound Ancestor’s Three Calamities and suspected the chamber held a Great Immortal Lord’s legacy.

Zhang Yuan ignored the danger of the Profound Ancestor's Three Calamities Gourd, endured its three pills with his late Celestial Person dharma body, and claimed the treasure. After the Mysterious Court disciples demanded he hand it over, he coldly asked them to repeat themselves.

• Ye Xiangning stopped Zhang Yuan from fleeing after he suspected Ji Guang had drawn him into the Profound Ancestor's karma.
• Zhang Yuan approached the Purple-Gold Gourd and caught its fire pill, then swallowed it without being harmed.
• Zhang Yuan caught and ate the water pill, then reached the gourd and took it as it released the wind pill.
• After swallowing all three pills, Zhang Yuan advanced to the middle Foundation Establishment Realm and threatened the shaking gourd until it became still.
• Fei Ting and the other Mysterious Court disciples claimed the gourd and its pills belonged to the dead Ning Feng, demanding that Zhang Yuan hand it over.
• Zhang Yuan's smile vanished, and he asked the disciples to say their demand again.

Zhang Yuan and the Mysterious Court disciples argued over Ning’s Purple-Gold Gourd, but Xu Lingyin intervened and prevented a fight. The group continued through the Secret Chamber, where Ye Xiangning broke a formation on another stone door, revealing a conceptual image of the five skandhas and six qi.

• Xu Lingyin rebuked Fei Ting, Meng Xuan, and the others for demanding Ning’s Purple-Gold Gourd, and Zhang Yuan spared them after she intervened.
• Fei Ting told Meng Xuan to wait for a chance to kill Zhang Yuan inside the Secret Chamber, while Zhang Yuan kept the gourd and followed the others onward.
• Xu Lingyin triggered a formation on the next stone door and was thrown toward Zhang Yuan, then asked Ye Xiangning to break the formation.
• Ye Xiangning quickly dismantled the door’s formation, dismissed Fei Ting’s request to study formations, and Zhang Yuan saw a conceptual image of the five skandhas and six qi beyond the door.

Zhang Yuan and the others opened the Profound Ancestor’s secret chamber and discovered a beating skeleton inside. Meng Xuan volunteered to enter first, while the others waited at the gate.

• Zhang Yuan suspected the strand of five skandhas and six qi might be bait left by a True Lord, but Ye Xiangning said she had never visited the chamber before.
• Zhang Yuan opened the stone gate and heard a thunderous heartbeat coming from within.
• Zhang Yuan found a skeleton in Daoist robes at the chamber’s center, and the group debated whether it could be the Profound Ancestor’s remains.
• Meng Xuan volunteered to enter the chamber first, believing its dangers were unlikely to be lethal.

After confirming the chamber was safe, Zhang Yuan discovered that Meng Xuan had taken the ancient book he sought and confronted him over access to the Mysterious Court’s scriptures. Xu Lingyin intervened to defend Zhang Yuan, leaving Meng Xuan’s response unresolved.

• Xu Lingyin checked Meng Xuan’s identity before leading the others through the stone gate into the chamber.
• The group found preserved elixirs and a shelf of ancient Mysterious Court scriptures, and Zhang Yuan noticed one book was missing.
• Zhang Yuan realized Meng Xuan had taken the book containing the five skandhas and six qi.
• Meng Xuan ordered Zhang Yuan away from the scriptures and threatened him when Zhang Yuan refused to back down.
• Xu Lingyin rebuked Meng Xuan and warned him not to trouble Zhang Yuan, an honored guest of the Mysterious Court.

Xu Lingyin defied the Mysterious Court disciples who wanted to arrest Zhang Yuan and protect him from their accusations. Zhang Yuan ordered her to kill Meng Xuan, and she obeyed, leaving the other disciples staring at his severed head.

• Meng Xuan accused Xu Lingyin of favoring Zhang Yuan and proposed arresting him as a suspected Hidden Operative.
• Fei Ting and the other disciples agreed with Meng Xuan and closed in on Zhang Yuan, but Xu Lingyin invoked her authority as the Mysterious Court Dao Maiden to stop them.
• Zhang Yuan placed a hand on Xu Lingyin’s shoulder and ordered her to kill Meng Xuan.
• Xu Lingyin attacked Meng Xuan, overwhelmed him, and severed his head with her Ritual Sword.
• Xu Lingyin reported to Zhang Yuan that Meng Xuan was dead.

Zhang Yuan killed Meng Xuan, recovered the stolen manuals, and ordered Xu Lingyin to spare the witnesses despite her willingness to kill them. Fei Ting and the others realized Zhang Yuan was no ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, but Ye Xiangning erased their suspicions and left them unable to speak.

• Zhang Yuan praised Xu Lingyin for killing Meng Xuan, took Meng Xuan's storage pouch, and recovered the manuals and yi wood.
• Chi Guanguan confirmed the yi wood had no hidden dangers, and Zhang Yuan stored it and the manuals in his dao domain.
• Xu Lingyin offered to kill Fei Ting and the others to conceal what had happened, but Zhang Yuan ordered her to spare them because he had been invited as a guest.
• Fei Ting and the others protested Xu Lingyin's loyalty to Zhang Yuan, so Zhang Yuan silenced them with a word.
• Fei Ting suspected Zhang Yuan was the Demon Realm Earth Immortal [Return to True Celestial Person] Zhang Yuan and wondered whether Ye Xiangning was also an Earth Immortal.
• Ye Xiangning erased Fei Ting's suspicions, and he silently vowed to report Zhang Yuan to his Master once he returned.

Zhang Yuan searched the ancient texts for a spatial escape art, then learned that Chi Guanguan could teach him the Grand Immortal Art "As Though the Emperor Walked in Person." Ye Xiangning led him and Xu Lingyin to a skeleton, but its identity remained unknown.

• Zhang Yuan searched the shelves for an escape art but found only offensive and defensive spells.
• Chi Guanguan told Zhang Yuan that she knew every escape art and offered to teach him "As Though the Emperor Walked in Person."
• Zhang Yuan stopped searching and followed Ye Xiangning toward the skeleton, bringing Xu Lingyin with him.
• Ye Xiangning asked Zhang Yuan to guess whose bones the skeleton held and promised a reward.
• Zhang Yuan asked Chi Guanguan about the Profound Ancestor's disciples, but she could not identify the skeleton.

Zhang Yuan deduced that the skeleton belonged to the Mysterious Court Profound Ancestor and received the Great Luo Dao Scripture, which he quickly passed along to Fei Ting. The scripture summoned the Ancestor of All Profundities, who began rejecting Fei Ting’s wishes on the grounds that granting them would harm his cultivation.

• Zhang Yuan reasoned that the skeleton was the Mysterious Court Profound Ancestor’s remains, and Ye Xiangning rewarded his guess with an ancient scripture.
• Zhang Yuan sensed great karma on the Great Luo Dao Scripture and passed it to Xu Lingyin, who quickly tossed it to Fei Ting.
• Fei Ting opened the scripture and summoned the Ancestor of All Profundities, who offered to grant him three wishes in exchange for a price.
• Fei Ting wished for Ye Xiangning to fall in love with him, but the Ancestor of All Profundities told him to choose another wish.
• Fei Ting asked the Ancestor of All Profundities to kill Zhang Yuan, but the Ancestor refused and told him to choose another wish.

Fei Ting’s wishes to the Profound Ancestor were rejected, so the ancient Daoist took Fei Ting’s body and lost access to his cultivation. Zhang Yuan then claimed to be the first god of creation and offered the Profound Ancestor three wishes in exchange for a price.

• Fei Ting asked the Profound Ancestor to make him the Mysterious Court Daoist Heir, but the Daoist refused to interfere in the court’s affairs.
• After Fei Ting rejected ordinary treasures and secret arts, the angry Profound Ancestor revoked his three wishes and demanded three wishes from him.
• The Profound Ancestor used a demonic art to reshape Fei Ting’s flesh and blood into a new vessel, entered the body, and began again at the qi refining realm.
• Zhang Yuan, Ye Xiangning, and Xu Lingyin recognized the middle-aged Daoist as the Profound Ancestor, while Zhang Yuan noted that he posed little threat in his weakened state.
• Zhang Yuan claimed to be the first god of creation of the Boundless Southern Heaven Realm and offered the Profound Ancestor three wishes, warning that he would have to pay a price.

Zhang Yuan tried to persuade the revived Profound Ancestor to join forces by offering to grant his wishes, then recruited him to infiltrate the First God Cult. The Profound Ancestor agreed, and Zhang Yuan told him how to find information about his identity.

• Zhang Yuan used the Mirror-Holding Armored Lord’s Long Halberd to prove he was a Divine Master, and the Profound Ancestor raised a shield before accepting the proof.
• The Profound Ancestor wished to switch to the Great Luo path, but Zhang Yuan said he could only promise him Divine Master status if he changed to the qi sea uniting spirit dao.
• Zhang Yuan warned the Profound Ancestor that Sky Mountain’s golden position was now in the Dust-Dyed Realm and would draw the attention of many True Lords.
• Zhang Yuan proposed that the Profound Ancestor infiltrate the First God Cult in exchange for joining forces, and the Profound Ancestor agreed.
• Zhang Yuan gave his name as Zhang Yuan, with the Dao epithet Return to True, and advised the Profound Ancestor to seek information in the Ya Kingdom rather than the Eastern Sunken Pavilion.

Zhang Yuan and Xu Lingyin left the secret chamber after the middle-aged Daoist claimed to be the Profound Ancestor. The Daoist revealed he was an impostor, killed two Mysterious Court Disciples, and was interrupted by black-clad men who seized the skeleton.

• Ye Xiangning accused Zhang Yuan of deceiving the Profound Ancestor, then left the chamber.
• Zhang Yuan and Xu Lingyin used the spatial translocation formation to leave, while the two Mysterious Court Disciples stayed behind.
• The middle-aged Daoist demanded the disciples submit to him as the Profound Ancestor, then admitted he was an impostor and killed them with a talisman.
• The middle-aged Daoist searched for the Great Luo Dao Scripture, gathered the chamber's pills and texts, and prepared to leave.
• Yu Lian and a group of black-clad cultists entered, ignored the middle-aged Daoist, and carried off the skeleton in a black sack.

Yu Lian and the First God Cult took the Profound Ancestor’s remains from the burial chamber and recruited the middle-aged Daoist, Xuan Chen, into their ranks. Xuan Chen joined to gain an identity outside the Mysterious Court, and the group led him out wearing the cult’s black robes.

• Yu Lian and Qin Tianyi warned the middle-aged Daoist not to interfere as a cultist carried away the Profound Ancestor’s remains.
• Yu Lian considered killing the witness, then offered him the choice to join the First God Cult or die.
• The middle-aged Daoist agreed to join and gave his Dao Epithet as Xuan Chen.
• Yu Lian offered Xuan Chen cultivation manuals, but Xuan Chen said he was already a cultivator and demonstrated his ability with a weapon talisman.
• Yu Lian accepted Xuan Chen’s explanation, gave him a set of First God Cult Black Robes, and led him out of the burial chamber.

Zhang Yuan returned to Purple Jade Peak with Xu Lingyin and explained the secret-realm expedition to Immortal Lord Liujing, who learned that three Mysterious Court True Disciples had died. Liujing invited Zhang Yuan and Cui Yuanxi to meet the sect's ancestors, and they waited for two more disciples to emerge.

• Zhang Yuan arrived at Purple Jade Peak through the Relocation Formation, and Xu Lingyin returned soon after.
• Immortal Lord Liujing arrived with Cui Yuanxi and Tong Ke, and Zhang Yuan claimed he had joined Ye Xiangning and the True Disciples in exploring a secret realm.
• Xu Lingyin confirmed Zhang Yuan's account, while Liujing suspected he had a special relationship with Ye Xiangning.
• Tong Ke and Cui Yuanxi invited Zhang Yuan to share grilled fish and fish soup, and Cui Yuanxi said Xiao Shi would come to cook.
• Liujing invited Zhang Yuan and Cui Yuanxi to meet the Mysterious Court's two ancestors, and Zhang Yuan asked to wait for the two disciples still in the secret realm.
• Zhang Yuan described the secret realm with alterations and apologized that three True Disciples had died, leaving Liujing uncertain whether their deaths were truly accidental.

Zhang Yuan met with the Mysterious Court’s Great Immortal Lords, who offered to send him near the East Sea Dragon Clan in exchange for helping them. They brought him to the Secret Chamber and asked him to slay a remnant soul born from the Profound Ancestor’s immortal bones.

• Immortal Lord Liujing led Zhang Yuan and the others to Sky Mountain to meet Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui and Immortal Lord Youhuang Miefa.
• Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui offered to settle the Mysterious Court’s grievance with Zhang Yuan and invited him to state his conditions.
• Zhang Yuan asked the Great Immortal Lords to send him to the East Sea Dragon Clan, but Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui instead offered to send him to the Azure Nether Immortal Sect after he completed a task.
• Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui told Zhang Yuan that Wang Chengdao and Kong Dewu had been killed by someone else and that Fei Ting and two others had brought their deaths upon themselves.
• Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui explained that a vicious remnant soul had emerged from the Profound Ancestor’s immortal bones and asked Zhang Yuan to destroy it.

Zhang Yuan agreed to hunt down the Profound Ancestor Evil Spirit for [Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui] in exchange for protection from the South Sea True Dragons and freedom to move through the Mysterious Court. The locating compass could not track the evil spirit because a robe concealed his karma, so Zhang Yuan prepared to wait until it was exposed.

• [Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui] asked Zhang Yuan to kill the Profound Ancestor Evil Spirit, and Zhang Yuan accepted after weighing his alternatives.
• Zhang Yuan asked [Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui] to keep the South Sea's True Dragons and other celestial person perfection experts from attacking him, and the Immortal Lord agreed while he remained in Mysterious Court territory.
• [Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui] gave Zhang Yuan a compass refined by [Immortal Lord Youhuang Miefa], but its needle spun because the evil spirit's karma-concealing robe blocked it.
• [Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui] explained that the compass would locate the evil spirit once he removed the robe, and Zhang Yuan decided to wait for that opportunity.
• [Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui] gave Zhang Yuan a Mysterious Court True Disciple Token with access and command privileges, then destroyed the secret-chamber microcosm as Zhang Yuan left.

Zhang Yuan left Sky Mountain without telling his companions about his mission to slay the Profound Ancestor’s evil spirit, then found his cave abode in the Mysterious Court. After Immortal Lord Liujing learned that the ancestors had not promised her to Zhang Yuan, Xu Lingyin stayed for dinner with him, Cui Yuanxi, and Tong Ke.

• Zhang Yuan left Sky Mountain with Cui Yuanxi, Tong Ke, and Xu Lingyin while the Compass still failed to locate the Profound Ancestor’s evil spirit.
• Immortal Lord Liujing asked Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui whether he had bestowed her upon Zhang Yuan, and he and Immortal Lord Youhuang Miefa assured her he had not.
• Zhang Yuan followed his True Disciple Command Token to his cave abode and lit the courtyard with the conceptual image of Ding Fire.
• Zhang Yuan asked Xu Lingyin why she had followed him instead of returning to Purple Jade Peak.
• Cui Yuanxi and Tong Ke invited Xu Lingyin to stay for dinner, and Xu Lingyin accepted.