Recaps

Deng Qiuzhi rescued Sun Wulie from Mysterious Scenery City and learned that the Jing Kingdom had destroyed the Heng Kingdom and that the Jingyang Li Clan wanted Mount Junya. Zhang Yuan returned to the city after testing whether a True Lord was watching him, and he discovered a strange law limiting travel time between distant places.

• Deng Qiuzhi broke Xiao Yuanjun's weather cage, freed the injured Sun Wulie, and left Mysterious Scenery City with him.
• At Dragon-Subduing Pass, Deng Qiuzhi found nine dead Deng Clan members and learned from Deng Tumian that Li Jiansong had killed Deng Lingjun and demanded Mount Junya.
• Deng Qiuzhi confirmed that the Heng Kingdom had fallen and vowed to stop the Jingyang Li Clan from taking Mount Junya.
• Zhang Yuan returned from Dragon-Subduing Pass with Liu Yihong after plundering its military storehouses, hoping to see whether a True Lord would detect his altered account of events.
• During the return trip, Zhang Yuan realized that a law of heaven and earth imposed a minimum travel time between distant places, then entered his residence after the Celestial Persons left Mysterious Scenery City.

Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun examined cultivation methods from the Wen Kingdom's military treasury before accepting an open-ended assignment to hold the line at Mount Junya. At the mountain, they joined the Ao-Ya faction, but an acquaintance called Zhang Yuan over before he could keep to the rear.

• Zhang Yuan emptied his Qiankun Pouch and military token, filling the courtyard with treasures and cultivation methods.
• Xiao Yuanjun explained that the Heavenly Radiance Illuminating the World True Scripture could not lead to [Heavenly Well Radiance] because that Golden Position was hidden in the Great Void.
• Xiao Yuanjun criticized the Heaven-Bestowed Lineage Sword Scripture for its flaws and its conflicting paths toward [Blazing Embers] and [Rain Master Coin].
• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun received an assignment to hold the line at Mount Junya, where the unlimited Battle Merit might earn Zhang Yuan a Calamity-Transforming Pill.
• Zhang Yuan drove the Golden Carriage to Mount Junya, where cultivators from the Ya, Ao, Wen, and Jingheng Kingdoms had gathered in three uneasy factions.
• As Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun tried to join the Ao-Ya side at the rear, a delighted voice called Zhang Yuan over.

Zhang Yuan met Cui Yuanxi at Mount Junya and learned that the mountain, formed from a fallen True Lord’s spine, would be decided by a contest among the Ao, Wen, and Jingheng kingdoms. As the Celestial Persons agreed to leave the fighting to the juniors, Xiao Yuanjun eagerly considered entering the contest herself.

• Zhang Yuan greeted Cui Yuanxi and asked after Chen Xinqiao and Xiao Shi, then met Cui Qiezhe, the Eastern Ya Cui Clan head and Ya Kingdom prime minister.
• Cui Qiezhe explained that Mount Junya came from a fallen True Lord’s spine and was about to change hands.
• Cui Yuanxi said she had advanced to the middle stage of the outer dao golden core and vowed to seize Mount Junya, while Cui Qiezhe acknowledged that the Ya Kingdom could not claim it for itself.
• Cui Yuanxi told Zhang Yuan that the Jingyang Li Clan had killed nine Wen River Deng Clan cultivators, escalating their feud and prompting the Ya Kingdom to call in the Aohai Cui Clan to mediate.
• Cui Yuanxi explained that Qi Refining Perfected Persons from the Ao, Wen, and Jingheng kingdoms would fight in pairs, with the final victor’s kingdom gaining Mount Junya.
• Xiao Yuanjun grew excited at the prospect of joining the contest, but Cui Wenshan warned her that Celestial Persons had to leave the fighting to the juniors.

Jiang Peilan arrived at Mount Junya and stopped Deng Qiuzhi and Li Wangshuo from fighting, allowing the battle for the mountain to begin. After entering the mountain with Cui Yuanxi, Zhang Yuan headed southwest to intervene in the fighting between the Wen River Deng Clan and the Jingyang Li Clan, hoping to keep enough opponents alive to earn battle merit.

• Deng Qiuzhi and Li Wangshuo nearly fought until Jiang Peilan arrived with her daughter, Cui Zhaowei, and forced them to stand down.
• Jiang Lingche ordered the grand formation opened, and Jiang Peilan cut three entrances into Mount Junya for the competing sides.
• Cui Zhaowei led the Qi Refining cultivators into the mountain, and Zhang Yuan slipped inside with Cui Yuanxi.
• Zhang Yuan saw that his mission now rewarded him for suppressing, expelling, or killing Qi Refining cultivators from the Wen Kingdom and Jingyang Kingdom.
• Worried that the clans would kill too many opponents, Zhang Yuan told Cui Yuanxi he would intervene and flew southwest, leaving her behind.

Zhang Yuan intervened in a battle between the Wen River Deng Clan and the Jingyang Li Clan, suppressing both cultivators with his overwhelming pressure. After Deng Zicong defied him and was killed, Li Yueting fled Mount Junya.

• Cui Zhaowei joined Cui Yuanxi in pursuing Zhang Yuan after learning he was helping the Ya Kingdom.
• Deng Zicong and Li Yueting fought in a bamboo grove, each using a vicious divine ability against the other.
• Zhang Yuan descended and tried to stop the two clansmen, then released [First Under Heaven, Past and Present] to suppress their manifestations.
• Zhang Yuan offered Deng Zicong and Li Yueting the choice to leave Mount Junya or be sent to reincarnate.
• Deng Zicong invoked his clan and threatened Zhang Yuan, who killed him with Light-Splitting, [Fivefold Body-Rending Qi], and [Three Calamities Returning to Origin Divine Radiance].
• Li Yueting submitted to Zhang Yuan's demand and fled through the great formation.

Zhang Yuan amassed battle merit while clearing Mount Junya of hostile cultivators, but fell short of the amount needed for a Calamity-Transforming Pill after the two clans began avoiding him. He encountered the monk Miaoyuan, whose attempt to recruit him into Buddhism sent him fleeing north.

• Outside the mountain, Li Wangshuo reassured Li Yueting after he fled, while Cui Wenshan and Cui Qiezhe praised Zhang Yuan’s talent and character.
• Cui Qiezhe asked Jiang Peilan to teach Zhang Yuan swordsmanship, and Xiao Yuanjun agreed to the arrangement.
• Inside the mountain, Zhang Yuan continued urging cultivators toward goodness and destroyed those who refused, raising his battle merit to eight hundred and ten thousand.
• Zhang Yuan found that the Wen River Deng Clan and Jingyang Li Clan were avoiding him and sharing intelligence about his location.
• Zhang Yuan met the monk Miaoyuan, who called him a future Bodhisattva and invited him to join the Buddhist fold.
• Zhang Yuan fled north, suspecting that a True Lord had arranged Miaoyuan’s appearance.

Zhang Yuan realized Monk Miaoyuan was the appointed opponent in his first trial and resisted the monk’s attempt to convert him. After Zhang Yuan answered Miaoyuan’s questions about the troubled realm and how to live in it, Miaoyuan accepted defeat and vanished, leaving Zhang Yuan bewildered by how easily he had passed.

• Zhang Yuan recognized that he and Monk Miaoyuan were each other’s appointed figures in the [Monk Trial] and [Deliverance Trial].
• Zhang Yuan attacked Miaoyuan with his magic sword and three [Weather and Season Mystic Pearls], but Miaoyuan evaded the attacks with [Void Evasion].
• Miaoyuan offered to leave if Zhang Yuan answered his question, and Zhang Yuan agreed after Miaoyuan clarified that he would not force conversion either way.
• Zhang Yuan described the Azure Firmament Dust-Dyed Realm as a five turbid evils world and said people should cultivate virtue in themselves when their reach was limited.
• Miaoyuan said Zhang Yuan had resolved his doubts, then his body and cultivation disintegrated as his soul slipped into the void.
• Zhang Yuan sensed that he had passed the [Monk Trial] and wondered why Miaoyuan had conceded so readily.

After Zhang Yuan passed Miaoyuan’s first trial, Xiao Yuanjun hoped he would complete the remaining trials so she could resume cultivating. Cui Yuanxi and Cui Zhaowei joined Zhang Yuan at Mount Junya, where Cui Zhaowei began searching for the hidden Jingyang Li Clan and Wen River Deng Clan disciples.

• The Jingyang Li Clan and Wen River Deng Clan disciples dismissed Zhang Yuan’s description of the age as a Five Turbid Evils World, while Cui Qiezhe recognized the value of his answer and Xiao Yuanjun was pleased that he had passed the first trial.
• Xiao Yuanjun reflected that the link from her [Myriad Coexistence] divine ability prevented her from advancing, and she chose to wait for Zhang Yuan rather than sever the link and risk killing him.
• Cui Yuanxi and Cui Zhaowei arrived at Mount Junya, and Cui Yuanxi grabbed Zhang Yuan after complaining that he had kept moving too quickly for them to catch up.
• Zhang Yuan asked Cui Yuanxi to help locate the hidden Jingyang Li Clan and Wen River Deng Clan disciples, and she enlisted Cui Zhaowei, whose cave-viewing divine ability could find them.
• Cui Zhaowei sent sword qi across Mount Junya in countless perception-bearing threads to locate every remaining disciple, wondering whether Zhang Yuan could defeat them all at once.

Zhang Yuan used Cui Zhaowei’s tracking ability to rain deadly divine radiance on the Wen and Jingyang Kingdom cultivators in Mount Junya, but Jiang Peilan intervened and saved them. At the mountain’s foot, Cui Qiezhe promised Zhang Yuan his battle merit, and Zhang Yuan credited his helpers.

• Deng Qingyang saw a Sword Qi thread hover over every Wen and Jingyang cultivator in Mount Junya and realized they had been detected.
• Zhang Yuan unleashed the Three Calamities Returning to Origin Divine Radiance and Fivefold Body-Rending Qi at the 366 people Cui Zhaowei had located.
• Jiang Lingche, fearing the Ya Kingdom would face retaliation if the two kingdoms’ elites died, sought help from Cui Qiezhe and Jiang Peilan.
• Jiang Peilan cut through Mount Junya’s Grand Formation and dispersed the falling calamity light, allowing the trapped cultivators to flee.
• Deng Qingyang and the other survivors reached their Celestial Persons and denounced Zhang Yuan, who arrived shortly afterward with Cui Yuanxi and Cui Zhaowei.
• Cui Qiezhe promised Zhang Yuan he would receive his battle merit, and Zhang Yuan thanked Cui Yuanxi and Cui Zhaowei for their assistance.

Zhang Yuan’s victory at Mount Junya led to a confrontation between Xiao Yuanjun and Deng Qiuzhi, who withdrew after Jiang Peilan joined the fight. Zhang Yuan accepted Cui Qiezhe’s Calamity-Transforming Pill and agreed to stay in the Ya Kingdom’s capital.

• Li Wangshuo departed Mount Junya with the Jingheng Kingdom’s Perfected Persons, while Deng Qiuzhi blamed Zhang Yuan for the Wen River Deng Clan’s losses.
• Zhang Yuan insulted Deng Qiuzhi, and Xiao Yuanjun attacked him with the Weather and Season Mystic Pearls when he moved against Zhang Yuan.
• Cui Wenshan joined Xiao Yuanjun against Deng Qiuzhi, and Jiang Peilan’s sword threatened his Mountain-Suppressing Bone body.
• Deng Qiuzhi fled with the Wen Kingdom’s Perfected Persons, warning that the Wen River Deng Clan would remember the grudge.
• Xiao Yuanjun and Zhang Yuan accepted Cui Qiezhe’s invitation to stay in the Ya Kingdom’s capital, and Cui Qiezhe gave Zhang Yuan a Calamity-Transforming Pill in exchange for battle merit.

Zhang Yuan examined the Calamity-Transforming Pill and used [Heaven's Sight] to learn that the Wen River Deng Clan might sabotage his upcoming [Dragon-Squeezing Trial]. He planned to use the pill, then learned from Xiao Yuanjun that the trial involved a powerful flood dragon.

• Cui Qiezhe brought Zhang Yuan, Xiao Yuanjun, and the others to Ya Kingdom Capital City, where Zhang Yuan praised his fair governance and Cui Zhaowei realized how deeply his words affected her father.
• At Brightheart Residence, Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun examined the Calamity-Transforming Pill, and Xiao Yuanjun confirmed it contained no blood essence from living people.
• Xiao Yuanjun advised Zhang Yuan to take the pill during a trial because it could dispel forty percent of its power.
• Zhang Yuan consulted [Heaven's Sight] and foresaw that the Wen River Deng Clan could interfere with his [Dragon-Squeezing Trial], so he decided to use the pill.
• Xiao Yuanjun explained that the [Dragon-Squeezing Trial] involved a flood dragon, a nine-turn monster with outer dao golden core perfection, and Zhang Yuan grew gravely concerned.

Cui Zhaowei learned why Cui Qiezhe gave Zhang Yuan the Calamity-Transforming Pill and reflected on her parents’ unlikely marriage and her own lingering grievance. At Brightheart Residence, Cui Yuanxi arrived to confront Zhang Yuan for hiding his real surname from her.

• Jiang Peilan questioned Cui Qiezhe about giving Zhang Yuan the Calamity-Transforming Pill, and he said Zhang would die within a year without it.
• Cui Zhaowei told Cui Qiezhe she had grievances but refused his offer to seek another pill, saying she could reach Foundation Establishment without one.
• Cui Zhaowei recalled learning that Jiang Peilan had married Cui Qiezhe because she fell for him at first sight, and she regretted that her parents had never held her hands together.
• Cui Zhaowei reached Brightheart Residence and found Cui Yuanxi waiting outside to demand an accounting from Zhang Yuan for giving her a false surname.

Deng Qiuzhi destroyed Dragon-Subduing Pass and released a white true dragon, setting it on a river journey that would trigger Zhang Yuan’s [Dragon-Squeezing Trial]. Zhang Yuan sensed the trial’s arrival, and Xiao Yuanjun realized the Wen River Deng Clan’s True Lord had arranged multiple trials to kill him.

• Deng Qiuzhi obeyed the True Lord’s decree, destroyed Dragon-Subduing Pass, and told the released white dragon to travel through the rivers toward the East Sea to regain its status.
• The white dragon agreed and began its river-path journey, while Deng Qiuzhi expected its passage to force Zhang Yuan into the [Dragon-Squeezing Trial].
• Cui Zhaowei invited Zhang Yuan to study swordsmanship under Jiang Peilan, and Xiao Yuanjun explained that he could still refine a strand of sword qi despite reaching ten-turn qi refining.
• Zhang Yuan sensed the [Dragon-Squeezing Trial] and saw a white dragon approaching the Ya Kingdom; Cui Yuanxi questioned the vision because flood dragons were traditionally black.
• Xiao Yuanjun examined Zhang Yuan’s premonition, confirmed the creature was a true dragon, and warned that the Wen River Deng Clan’s True Lord had arranged the trials against him.

Zhang Yuan realized that Balance-Governing Myriad-Turns True Lord had manipulated his trials, but swallowed a Calamity-Transforming Pill and retained a chance to pass. The True Lord then revealed that he intended to test Zhang Yuan’s Dao heart rather than kill him, leaving the outcome of the third trial unresolved.

• Zhang Yuan identified Balance-Governing Myriad-Turns True Lord as the one who had shifted his trials and swallowed the Calamity-Transforming Pill after Heaven's Sight showed his futures were unchanged.
• Dharma-guarding heavenly gang pinned the white dragon in the river, and Deng Qiuzhi prepared to free it so Zhang Yuan would have a harder time passing the Dragon-Squeezing Trial.
• Balance-Governing Myriad-Turns True Lord stopped Deng Qiuzhi and explained that Zhang Yuan had used the pill to dissolve the trial’s power.
• Deng Qiuzhi urged his younger brother to kill Zhang Yuan, but Balance-Governing Myriad-Turns True Lord said he planned to test Zhang Yuan’s Dao heart in the third trial instead.

After Zhang Yuan suppressed the White Dragon, he began learning swordsmanship from Jiang Peilan, but discovered that his missing outer dao spirit root kept him from refining Sword Qi. Cui Qiezhe offered a clan treasure that could replenish his innate foundation and might let him try again.

• Zhang Yuan learned that the White Dragon would remain suppressed for at least three months and went with Cui Zhaowei to study under Jiang Peilan.
• Jiang Peilan gave Zhang Yuan the Tai Bai Arms and Warfare Sword Scripture, which he quickly understood, but his attempts to refine Sword Qi failed.
• Jiang Peilan found that Zhang Yuan had suffered a severe injury and was missing an outer dao spirit root, which he revealed had been extracted by the Eastern Bian Li Clan.
• Jiang Peilan explained that Zhang Yuan could not readily refine Sword Qi without replacing the missing spirit root, and Zhang Yuan accepted that he would give up.
• Cui Qiezhe offered a Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure that could replenish Zhang Yuan's innate foundation and potentially allow him to refine Sword Qi.

Zhang Yuan exchanged the [Nine-Vault Golden Li Furnace] and the "Heavenly Radiance Illuminating the World True Scripture" for the Eastern Ya Cui Clan’s [Lamp-Lighting Oil-Adding Pill]. After Xiao Yuanjun confirmed it was safe and explained its rank, Zhang Yuan learned the items had drawn a True Lord’s attention, but he had not been watched before acquiring them.

• Cui Qiezhe offered Zhang Yuan the [Lamp-Lighting Oil-Adding Pill] in exchange for the [Nine-Vault Golden Li Furnace] and the [Heavenly Well Radiance] method, and Zhang Yuan asked why the True Lord wanted them.
• Cui Qiezhe said no True Lord had watched Zhang Yuan before he acquired the two items, and that he faced no danger to his life despite being a piece in the Lords of Heaven and Earth’s contest.
• Zhang Yuan gave Cui Qiezhe the [Nine-Vault Golden Li Furnace] and the "Heavenly Radiance Illuminating the World True Scripture" and received the [Lamp-Lighting Oil-Adding Pill].
• Zhang Yuan returned to Brightheart Residence and asked Xiao Yuanjun to examine the pill, and she confirmed it was safe to refine.
• Xiao Yuanjun explained that the pill and the [Weather and Season Mystic Pearls] were Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasures, and remarked that Zhang Yuan owned two such rare treasures while still at qi refining.

Zhang Yuan refined the [Lamp-Lighting Oil-Adding Pill], gained its [Mending Heaven] and [Qi Concealment] effects, and began cultivating sword qi for the [Dragon-Squeezing Trial]. Lu Zhiyu then arrived at Brightheart Residence with Lu Zhiming, transformed into a maid, to serve Zhang Yuan for eight hundred years.

• Zhang Yuan used Xiao Yuanjun's help through [Myriad Coexistence] to refine the [Lamp-Lighting Oil-Adding Pill] and draw it into his body.
• Zhang Yuan learned that the pill could replenish his innate foundation and conceal accumulated sword qi.
• Zhang Yuan produced a tiny thread of sword qi, stored it in the pill, and resolved to keep cultivating for the [Dragon-Squeezing Trial].
• Lu Zhiyu brought Lu Zhiming to Brightheart Residence and said his cousin had to serve Zhang Yuan as a maid for eight hundred years.
• Zhang Yuan recognized that the Hengyang Lu Clan had transformed Lu Zhiming into a female body as promised.

Lu Zhiyu gave Zhang Yuan the former Lu Zhiming, now renamed Bai Fu, as a servant and left him a jade pendant that controlled her life. After Zhang Yuan offered Bai Fu a chance to die, she chose to live and swore revenge on the Hengyang Lu Clan, winning his quiet support.

• Lu Zhiyu explained that Bai Fu's soul was bound to a jade pendant, then left her with Zhang Yuan as his servant.
• Zhang Yuan offered Bai Fu a precious sword and told her to take her own life, then discussed with Xiao Yuanjun why he had not killed her himself.
• Bai Fu returned with the sword and declared that she wanted to live and destroy the Hengyang Lu Clan.
• Zhang Yuan silently welcomed Bai Fu's plan for revenge and hoped she would also wipe out other rival clans.

Zhang Yuan gave Bai Fu the Heaven-Bestowed Lineage Sword Scripture to support her revenge against the Hengyang Lu Clan, then celebrated his progress with Xiao Yuanjun. Xiao Yuanjun explained that True Lords had created spatial treasures and spirit stones, leaving Zhang Yuan stunned by the hidden costs of ordinary cultivation tools.

• Zhang Yuan gave Bai Fu the flawed Heaven-Bestowed Lineage Sword Scripture and sent her away to cultivate.
• Zhang Yuan told Xiao Yuanjun that he had refined the [Lamp-Lighting Oil-Adding Pill] and expected to draw out a strand of Sword Qi within three months.
• Xiao Yuanjun prepared a feast and explained that Celestial Persons could store things in their Dao Domains without spatial treasures.
• Xiao Yuanjun revealed that a True Lord with the [Sumeru Mustard Seed] Golden Position had created sumeru stone, and that using spatial treasures could cause their contents or the carrier's vital presence to vanish.
• Xiao Yuanjun told Zhang Yuan that an ancient True Lord had created spirit stones and set Celestial Persons' lifespans at eight hundred years.

Zhang Yuan learned that clan True Lords conceal their Golden Positions and use rogue cultivators to uncover which ones are unoccupied, making the path to Seeking Truth deadly. Xiao Yuanjun gave him a book that explained why Celestial Persons must forge Dao Domains within a hundred days, and Zhang Yuan realized his Ten-Turn Divine Ability provided a blueprint for his own.

• Zhang Yuan asked Xiao Yuanjun which Golden Position the ancient True Lord had attained, but she said she did not know.
• Xiao Yuanjun explained that clan True Lords hide their Golden Positions and use outsiders who attempt attainment as tests, then eliminate promising prodigies before sending their own descendants to claim vacant positions.
• Xiao Yuanjun gave Zhang Yuan the Record of Ancient Immortal Caves to help with Celestial Attainment.
• Zhang Yuan read that Celestial Persons must forge a Dao Domain within a hundred days or risk ascending into the Outer Chaos and dying there.
• Zhang Yuan realized his Ten-Turn Divine Ability was a blueprint for his future Dao Domain, and he praised Xiao Yuanjun for her insight.

Xiao Yuanjun insisted on sleeping in Zhang Yuan’s room, leaving him only space to meditate while she rested. The next morning, Cui Qiezhe asked Zhang Yuan to help evacuate people threatened by the True Dragon’s passage along the Ya East River, and Zhang Yuan heard the request as Cui Zhaowei arrived.

• Xiao Yuanjun followed Zhang Yuan to his room and claimed the bed, leaving him a narrow space to refine his Sword Qi overnight.
• The next morning, Zhang Yuan left the Brightheart Residence while Xiao Yuanjun was still asleep.
• Cui Zhaowei practiced swordsmanship as Cui Yuanxi praised her and wondered whether Zhang Yuan might become a Sword Immortal.
• Cui Qiezhe told Zhang Yuan that the True Dragon’s passage had devastated settlements along the Wen River and threatened towns along the Ya East River.
• Cui Qiezhe asked Zhang Yuan to travel with Cui Zhaowei and deliver paper boats so people along the river could escape, and Cui Zhaowei entered the study.

Liu Zezheng received a Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure and several Pre-Heaven Spirit Treasures from a hidden [Woodcutter] and set off for the Ya Kingdom to cultivate. After delivering Cui Qiezhe’s protective paper boats, Zhang Yuan headed toward the dragon beneath the divine mountain.

• Liu Zezheng learned that the world had changed while he was unconscious and decided against entering the Ya Kingdom Capital City to reclaim more treasures.
• Liu Zezheng intercepted the masterless treasures sent by the [Woodcutter] and believed they were a sign of his heaven-reaching fortune.
• The [Woodcutter] watched Liu Zezheng fly toward the Ya Kingdom and remarked on his foolish confidence.
• Zhang Yuan used the [Golden Carriage Luan Chariot] to deliver Cui Qiezhe’s paper boats to towns and villages along the Ya East River.
• After finishing the deliveries, Zhang Yuan set out to visit the dragon undergoing the [Dragon-Squeezing Trial].

Zhang Yuan met Ao Ruo, the White Dragon suppressed beneath the [Dharma-Guarding Heavenly Gang], and learned that the Wen River Deng Clan had released it. After spotting a suspicious glimmer on the Ya East River, Zhang Yuan suspected the Deng Clan planned to use his [Dragon-Squeezing Trial] to kill Ao Ruo and exhaust his Calamity-Transforming Pill.

• Ao Ruo recognized Zhang Yuan as the person obstructing its [Dragon-Transformation Trial] and demanded that he bow, but Zhang Yuan insulted it and let it assume he was connected to the Western Bian Chu Clan.
• Zhang Yuan asked Ao Ruo about the Deng Clan, and Ao Ruo said the clan's Mountain-Bearing Celestial Person had lifted its suppression under an agreement with Human Race True Lords.
• After noticing a faint gleam of fire on the Ya East River, Zhang Yuan thanked Ao Ruo and departed; Ao Ruo warned him that the Dragon Clan could turn the dead into Dragonkind.
• During the three-day journey to the capital, Zhang Yuan refined his sword qi, then returned to Brightheart Residence and told Xiao Yuanjun that the Deng Clan might not let Ao Ruo survive.
• Zhang Yuan concluded that the Deng Clan intended to make him kill Ao Ruo in the [Dragon-Squeezing Trial], use up his Calamity-Transforming Pill, and then trouble him in his third trial.

Zhang Yuan worried that seven True Lords were maneuvering around him, but Xiao Yuanjun urged him not to provoke forces beyond his reach; he resolved to pursue his third trial anyway. As the trial approached, Cui Qiezhe learned it would test Zhang Yuan’s Seven Emotions and tried to arrange a match between him and Cui Zhaowei to help him pass.

• Zhang Yuan told Xiao Yuanjun that several True Lords appeared to be watching and manipulating him, and he could not understand their aims.
• Xiao Yuanjun compared Zhang Yuan to an ant at the mercy of greater powers, but Zhang Yuan insisted he would still attempt the third trial and reach the Celestial Person realm.
• More than eighty days later, Cui Qiezhe complained that Zhang Yuan showed no romantic interest in Cui Zhaowei and learned that Zhang wore the same red robe because he had no others.
• Cui Qiezhe sent Cui Zhaowei to give Zhang two Dharma Robes before his trial and told Jiang Peilan that Zhang’s third trial tested the Seven Emotions and would be extremely difficult.

Zhang Yuan prepared to leave Brightheart Residence and slay Ao Ruo before the dragon reached the Ya Kingdom’s capital. As Ao Ruo surged down the Ya East River, Zhang Yuan went out to meet it, still fearing the heavens would make him kill someone close to him in the next trial.

• Cui Zhaowei delivered two sets of dharma robes to Zhang Yuan and learned he planned to leave at midnight, while Cui Yuanxi was in seclusion refining heavenly gang.
• Zhang Yuan reflected on his growing reserve of Sword Qi and worried that the third trial might force him to kill someone he knew, including Cui Yuanxi, Cui Zhaowei, Liu Yihong, Xiao Yuanjun, or Li Huixi.
• Zhang Yuan saw that Ao Ruo had broken free and calculated that it would reach a point three thousand li from the capital at midnight, so he called Xiao Yuanjun and left in the Golden Carriage Luan Chariot.
• Ao Ruo’s passage caused the Ya East River to flood and destroyed cities along its banks, while paper boats carried the people to safety.
• Ao Ruo continued downstream, confident it could pass the trial despite losing more than half its strength, and regretted that Zhang Yuan had not sought it out during its three months of captivity.