Recaps

Jiang Yang watched the Water Palace bouts and won first place with six victories, while Xuan Di received congratulations for his talent. The sparring ended with Jiang Yang ready to claim the reward he had chosen.

• Xuan Di accepted congratulations from nearby cultivators, and Ao Qian said that anyone could earn treasures from the Water Palace.
• Jiang Yang ate and drank before watching Han Gui use Ji Earth techniques against a Kan Water cultivator, while Yun Zhen and the Dragon Prince explained the Earth Virtue path.
• Han Gui won three bouts before running out of Magic Power and losing to a Demon Cultivator; Wen Tao, Cheng Xingye, Qin Dingying, and other cultivators also fought.
• The bouts ended with Jiang Yang in first place with six wins, the cultivator surnamed Qu in second with four, and Han Gui in third with three.
• Yuanzhu announced the winners as they went to receive their treasures, and Jiang Yang prepared to claim his chosen reward.

Jiang Yang chose a Purple Mansion Spirit Treasure from the Dragon King's lavish rewards after winning the Martial Arts and Spell Duel. Yuanzhu identified it as the [Shuoding Manifestation Pupil], and the chapter ended as Jiang Yang asked what abilities it possessed.

• Ao Qian displayed an array of Spirit Treasures, Mystic Artifacts, and cultivation resources as rewards for the duel's victors.
• Ao Qian invited the victors to choose a treasure, while the Water-Merging Spirit Array screened out Spirit Sense.
• Jiang Yang waited before selecting the merfolk woman holding a jade tray in the second row.
• Yuanzhu revealed that Jiang Yang's choice was a Purple Mansion Spirit Treasure of the Three Yangs at Their Final Manifestation, belonging to the 'Shuo Yang' path.
• Yuanzhu opened the Jade Box and named the treasure the [Shuoding Manifestation Pupil].

At Ao Qian’s banquet, Jiang Yang received a rare shuo yang Spirit Treasure and listened to Yuanzhu’s advice about using it. The Dragon Prince then summoned Jiang Yang to a secluded pavilion to honor the sparring champion’s promised reward, but her purpose remained unclear.

• Yuanzhu gave Jiang Yang the shuo yang Spirit Treasure and warned him to keep it away from daylight and moonlight.
• Yuanzhu advised Jiang Yang that the treasure would be most useful to someone of a related Dao Lineage and suggested possible ways to use or trade it.
• Qu Huarou chose an ancient-method Cloud Pouch, while Han Gui selected a chunk of crystalline blue sea jade.
• Ao Qian resumed the banquet with wine, music, and dancing after the three guests finished choosing their rewards.
• The Dragon Prince told Jiang Yang that Ao Qian would honor the sparring champion’s promised reward and led him to a secluded pavilion.
• Jiang Yang questioned the Dragon Prince about why she had brought him there, but she remained silent.

Yuan Jun lured Jiang Yang to a private loft and proposed that he father a child with her, then restrained him when he refused. After Jiang Yang discovered something suspicious about the spirit tea and tried to escape, Yuan Jun subdued him and threw him onto the Cloud Bed.

• Yuan Jun served Jiang Yang spirit tea and asked whether he had a courtesy or Daoist name.
• Yuan Jun told Jiang Yang she wanted him to father a child with her, and Jiang Yang refused.
• Yuan Jun began removing her robe, and Jiang Yang noticed that the spirit tea contained feathers reacting to those in her cup.
• Jiang Yang tried to leave, but Yuan Jun's dragon tail coiled around his waist and held him fast.
• Jiang Yang attacked with Sword Qi, but Yuan Jun used Azure Tide Arises to immobilize him and toss him onto the Cloud Bed.

Yuan Jun restrained Jiang Yang and brought him to the Cloud Bed to discuss his Broadwood cultivation in private. She used Spirit Tea made from Wingmate Bird feathers to confirm that she believed he cultivated the Southern Nest Branch, and Jiang Yang asked what she wanted after learning this.

• Yuan Jun bound Jiang Yang with Water-Merging, while Bai Tang intervened so he could move freely.
• Yuan Jun explained that she had restrained Jiang Yang to speak with him privately on the Cloud Bed, which concealed them from outsiders.
• Yuan Jun asked whether Jiang Yang cultivated Broadwood's Southern Nest Branch, and he kept his answer guarded.
• Yuan Jun revealed that the Spirit Tea contained Wingmate Bird down feathers and that it was meant to test his cultivation.
• Jiang Yang connected Yuan Jun's explanation to the Wingmate Bird statues in Jun Guang Hall and asked what she wanted now that she had confirmed her suspicion.

Yuan Jun explained to Jiang Yang the origins of broadwood, from the primordial Jianmu tree to the later Immortal Mansion lineage, and revealed that she knew his Immortal Foundation. She offered Dragonkind’s support, believing he was Lady Xuanming Youwei’s creation, and left Jiang Yang questioning that assumption.

• Yuan Jun told Jiang Yang that Jianmu had once sheltered living beings and received the broad Fruit Position, becoming the first master of broadwood.
• Yuan Jun recounted how Jianmu’s fall ended the primordial age and how the Mysterious Capital Immortal Mansion later revived broadwood as the peach-radiance path.
• Yuan Jun said broadwood’s accumulated karma made Jiang Yang’s revealed Immortal Foundation impossible to hide from Dragonkind.
• Yuan Jun offered Dragonkind’s help, saying she believed Jiang Yang had been created by Lady Xuanming Youwei.
• Yuan Jun challenged Jiang Yang’s denial by asking why Yun Zhen had obeyed him at the ominous gathering of separation fire.

Yuan Jun warned Jiang Yang that the return of the Broadwood Dao Lineage could attract both allies and enemies, and offered him access to Dragonkind teachings to cultivate divine powers. She then revealed that the masterless grotto-heaven Azure Corner Heaven would soon fall.

• Jiang Yang rejected Yuan Jun’s suspicion of Yun Zhen, pointing out that Yuan Jun was also showing him goodwill.
• Yuan Jun warned Jiang Yang that Broadwood’s history and his Dao Fruit could draw people seeking to help or harm him, and urged him to cultivate divine powers.
• Yuan Jun offered Jiang Yang access to the Dragon Palace’s Dao Canon, including Southern Nest Branch and Mulberry in Time, after he cultivated divine powers.
• Jiang Yang thanked Yuan Jun and said he would visit the Water Palace if he needed the teachings.
• Yuan Jun explained how grotto-heavens differed from blessed lands and revealed that Azure Corner Heaven would soon fall.

Yuan Jun told Jiang Yang that Azure Corner Heaven, an inheritance from the Thunderbolt Wind Sky Windwood Lineage, would descend into the Spirit Marsh Domain within a few years. Jiang Yang realized that Ping Yan’s death had helped locate it and suspected that Fang Xu was the Destiny Bearer, but Yuan Jun said destiny alone could not open the Grotto-Heaven.

• Yuan Jun explained Azure Corner Heaven’s origins and its connection to the Thunderbolt Wind Sky Windwood Lineage, prompting Jiang Yang to recall scriptures he had found at Fang Xu’s home.
• Yuan Jun said the Grotto-Heaven would likely descend within three to five years and revealed that the lords had used a Purple Mansion cultivator’s death to locate it.
• Jiang Yang recognized the dead cultivator as Ping Yan and recalled witnessing his death, realizing it had been used to calculate the Grotto-Heaven’s position.
• Yuan Jun said the Grotto-Heaven would probably descend near the border of the Zheng Kingdom and the Wu Kingdom in the Spirit Marsh Domain, and warned Jiang Yang to keep the secret.
• Jiang Yang suspected Fang Xu was the Destiny Bearer and asked whether identifying him could open the Grotto-Heaven early, but Yuan Jun said the Destiny Bearer was only one link in the chain.

Yuan Jun teased Jiang Yang with a staged seduction before giving him the promised Azure Silk Severing Hub Dao Scroll. He learned that the difficult art was suited only to cultivators of the longevity qi and broadwood paths and could damage lifespan.

• Jiang Yang accepted Yuan Jun's explanation of Destiny Bearers and stopped pressing the subject.
• Yuan Jun disheveled their clothes to make their act convincing, then teased Jiang Yang with the spirit tea.
• Jiang Yang realized the tea had been a pretext and declined another cup, asking to return.
• Yuan Jun gave Jiang Yang the Azure Silk Severing Hub Dao Scroll and warned him to use it cautiously.
• Jiang Yang read that the scroll required the longevity qi or broadwood paths, and Yuan Jun revealed that its art could damage lifespan.

Yuan Jun gave Jiang Yang the Dao Scroll’s Azure Silk Hub-Cutting Art, which could erode or expend lifespan, and warned him to use its yang technique with care. They returned to the banquet, where Yun Zhen noticed a scent on Jiang Yang and glared at Yuan Jun.

• Yuan Jun explained that the Dao Scroll’s arts damaged lifespan and had once made their practitioners enemies across the world.
• Jiang Yang studied the yin art’s ability to erode opponents’ lifespans and the yang art’s power to spend his own lifespan to cancel theirs.
• Jiang Yang considered how the yang art might help him defeat a powerful cultivator near the end of their life, while Yuan Jun cautioned him against using it recklessly.
• Jiang Yang accepted the Dao Scroll and thanked Yuan Jun before she led him back to the banquet.
• Yun Zhen noticed a scent on Jiang Yang, looked toward the Dragon Prince, and bared her teeth at Yuan Jun when their eyes met.

At the seabed banquet, Jiang Yang spoke with Yun Zhen, who reluctantly left after giving him her life-bound plume and inviting him to visit the Green Perching Parasol Phoenix Court. After she departed, Xuan Di told Jiang Yang that it was time for their group to leave.

• Jiang Yang explained to Yun Zhen that he had received a high-grade spell scroll from Yuan Jun as his prize for taking first place.
• Yun Zhen learned that Jiang Yang had received his reward in an upper chamber with Yuan Jun and suspected that Yuan Jun's scent lingered on him.
• After several days of feasting, Yun Zhen received word from her elder that she had to leave and told Jiang Yang where to find her at the Green Perching Parasol Phoenix Court in the Wu Kingdom.
• Yun Zhen pulled out her life-bound plume and gave it to Jiang Yang, saying it would let him travel freely through her court and urging him to visit.
• Yun Zhen departed in a streak of separation light, and Xuan Di told Jiang Yang to prepare to leave.

After Jiang Yang departed the Dragon Palace, Ao Qian explained to Yuan Jun that Jiang Yang’s hidden nature was an unprecedented emptiness and warned her against scheming around him. Meanwhile, Jiang Yang traveled home with Xuan Di, who asked what he had learned from meeting the houses’ descendants.

• Yuan Jun told Ao Qian that she had sent Jiang Yang to the surface on a Jadewater Scale Beast and admitted she could not see through him.
• Ao Qian revealed that a Peach Talisman concealed Jiang Yang’s empty past and unusual fate, and warned Yuan Jun that Jiang Yang might have influenced her through sincerity rather than tricks.
• Yuan Jun reported that [Azure Corner Heaven] would descend too early for Jiang Yang to reach sword intent, so she had given him the dangerous [Azure Silk Severing Hub Dao Scroll] ahead of schedule.
• Ao Qian said other houses had their own contingencies in [Azure Corner Heaven] and advised Yuan Jun to watch rather than intervene.
• Jiang Yang traveled through the Great Void with Xuan Di, reflecting on the Spirit Treasure and Broadwood Dao Scroll he had gained at the banquet.
• Xuan Di asked Jiang Yang what he thought after meeting the houses’ descendants and winning several bouts, and Jiang Yang began to answer.

Jiang Yang learned why Yi Yuanguang’s yi wood tradition was considered to have reached the end of its road and discovered that his master was searching for the missing Divine Power, Green Tip Above. Xuan Di revealed that the method remained unknown, leaving Yi Yuanguang’s path to the upper mystic position unresolved.

• Xuan Di praised Jiang Yang for bringing honor to Rain Xiang Mountain and reflected on Yi Yuanguang’s talent and the sect’s past decline.
• Jiang Yang asked why yi wood was a declining tradition and which Divine Power his master lacked.
• Xuan Di explained that yi wood had lost much of its ancient association with the seasons and that reaching the golden position had become exceptionally difficult.
• Xuan Di named the missing Divine Power Green Tip Above and described the corresponding upper mystic positions of the other four virtues.
• Xuan Di told Jiang Yang that the sect knew only the name of Green Tip Above, not its method, lineage, grade, or properties.

Xuan Di explained that a True Lord of Geng Metal had blocked Xuan Guang’s path to a Divine Power, then clarified the ranks of Golden Cores and revealed Rain Xiang Mountain’s uncertain connection to its immortal patron. The chapter left Jiang Yang aware that the sect’s supposed protection might be weakened, though no one dared test it.

• Xuan Di told Jiang Yang that a True Lord associated with Geng Metal controlled the Divine Power Xuan Guang needed and could force him to submit.
• Jiang Yang realized the True Lord’s opposition stemmed from Yi Wood’s old conflict with Geng Metal and feared for his master’s Dao Path.
• Jiang Yang asked about Rain Xiang Mountain’s patron, and Xuan Di explained the sect’s Weak Water lineage and its founding by Xiang Fan.
• Xuan Di described Fruit Positions as the highest rank of Golden Core, Surplus Positions as holders of partial authority, and Intercalary Positions as powerful figures with little authority.
• Xuan Di revealed that Xiang Fan, Zaiyang, and Ji Shang had all died pursuing a Weak Water Surplus Position, while the immortal Lady had stopped responding.
• Xuan Di said Rain Xiang Mountain still relied on the Lady’s reputation for protection, though he suspected she was in poor condition.

Jiang Yang returned to Rain Xiang Mountain with Xuan Di and learned more about the Sect’s precarious position without a True Lord to protect it. After resting, he and Bai Tang discussed clues linking her origins to Azure Corner Grotto-Heaven and planned to seek information about Fang Xu.

• Xuan Di explained to Jiang Yang that Rain Xiang Mountain’s standing was precarious without a True Lord, though its connection to the Lady of Hidden Mystery deterred outright attacks.
• Xuan Di brought Jiang Yang through the mountain-guarding array to Fushu Peak, where Jiang Yang reunited with Xuan Guang and recounted his visit to the Dragon Palace.
• Xuan Guang sent Jiang Yang away to rest while he and Xuan Di stayed behind to discuss Sect matters.
• Jiang Yang returned to his Courtyard, rested, and asked Bai Tang about the Dragon Prince’s remarks concerning Azure Corner Heaven.
• Jiang Yang and Bai Tang connected the clues around her discovery in the Sword-Washing Pool to the Thunderbolt Wind Sky Windwood Lineage and Azure Corner Grotto-Heaven.
• Jiang Yang proposed visiting Morning Rain Peak in a few days to ask about Fang Xu, and Bai Tang agreed.

Jiang Yang broke through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage after meditating for more than half a year, and discovered that his refined impurities had formed a low-grade Broadwood Spirit Treasure. The chapter ended with Shang Qingzheng thinking about Jiang Yang’s letter as she managed Dawn Rain Peak’s affairs.

• Jiang Yang wrote to Shang Qingzheng to explain that he had to postpone his planned visit and began breaking through to the Middle Stage.
• Jiang Yang meditated for more than half a year while Bi Xingjian and Chu Qingjian were turned away from his courtyard.
• Jiang Yang completed his breakthrough and found that the Turbid Qi he expelled had become a Qi Refining Level One Broadwood Spirit Treasure, which he stored away.
• Jiang Yang left his courtyard and headed out after cleaning the room and taking up the Spirit Sword.
• At Dawn Rain Peak, Shang Qingzheng read Jiang Yang’s letter while Li Zhouying teased her about how lost in thought she was.

Shang Qingzheng arranged for Xie Lezhi and nine Qi Refining disciples to guard the Towering Mine Vein. Meanwhile, Jiang Yang discovered that Fang Xu had been assigned there years ago, and reunited with Meow.

• Li Zhouying told Shang Qingzheng that Dawn Rain Peak needed to send disciples to reinforce the Towering Mine Vein, and Shang Qingzheng selected nine disciples for Xie Lezhi to lead.
• Li Zhouying teased Shang Qingzheng about a man she liked, and Shang Qingzheng eventually whispered an answer to her.
• Jiang Yang searched the General Affairs Office records and learned that Fang Xu had left nearly five years earlier to guard the Towering Mine Vein on a ten-year assignment.
• Meow surprised Jiang Yang in the woods and tried to make him guess who she was, while Shang Qingzheng watched and warned him not to upset her.

Jiang Yang and Shang Qingzheng discussed Little Sixteen’s transformation and her fortune-based immortal foundation, which made fish rain from the sky. Shang Qingzheng led Jiang Yang inside and remarked on how quickly he had advanced to the middle stage of foundation establishment.

• Jiang Yang revealed that he had recognized Little Sixteen as the wildcat Chi Yu, and Shang Qingzheng explained that the Pill had helped her transform, awaken her bloodline, and establish her immortal foundation.
• Little Sixteen summoned a golden auspicious cloud that made fish rain down, then changed into a wildcat and chased them.
• Shang Qingzheng explained that Little Sixteen’s immortal foundation, auspicious cloud proclamation, granted blessings and fulfilled wishes within the limits of her magic power or incense offerings.
• Jiang Yang reassured Shang Qingzheng that Little Sixteen was still young and should not be pushed too hard to cultivate.
• Shang Qingzheng took Jiang Yang inside and noted that he had reached the middle stage of foundation establishment after only a few years.

Jiang Yang and Shang Qingzheng shared a tender moment in the snowy Bamboo Grove, but Little Sixteen interrupted them with an awkward question. Jiang Yang comforted both women and distracted Little Sixteen with elixirs and a spirit treasure.

• Jiang Yang credited Shang Qingzheng's Fortune Elixir for helping him advance, then encouraged her to cultivate toward the Purple Mansion stage.
• Shang Qingzheng explained that peak duties had kept her from cultivating and that Third Senior Sister would soon return to take over.
• Jiang Yang and Shang Qingzheng grew intimate in the Bamboo Grove, but Shang Qingzheng asked him not to go further there, and he respected her request.
• Little Sixteen appeared and asked to taste what Jiang Yang and Shang Qingzheng were secretly nibbling, embarrassing Shang Qingzheng, who struck her forehead.
• Jiang Yang soothed Shang Qingzheng and placated Little Sixteen with elixirs and a broadwood spirit treasure, which Little Sixteen swallowed eagerly.

Jiang Yang promised to help Shang Qingzheng investigate her mother's suspicious death once he attained Purple Mansion, easing her long-held worry. He later studied the Azure Silk Severing Hub Dao Scroll and considered beginning the Profound Eyes of Lunar Phases Manifestation spell.

• Little Sixteen ate a piece of Jiang Yang's qi and happily asked for more, while Jiang Yang teased her and sent her off to play.
• Shang Qingzheng told Jiang Yang that she suspected foul play in her mother's death and wanted to return to the Heqiu Snowfield to uncover the truth.
• Shang Qingzheng explained that her master had taken her away as a child and advised her to reach Purple Mansion before returning to her clan.
• Jiang Yang promised to help Shang Qingzheng investigate as soon as he attained Purple Mansion, and she rested contentedly in his arms at dawn.
• Jiang Yang studied Yuan Jun's Azure Silk Severing Hub Dao Scroll and weighed it against the Profound Eyes of Lunar Phases Manifestation spell as his next cultivation task.

Jiang Yang studied and began cultivating the Azure Silk Hub-Cutting Art, using Bai Tang’s guidance to locate its seven Profound Apertures. After testing the Azure Silk Profound Light on a Spirit Elm branch and seeing it drain away the branch’s vitality, he understood Yuan Jun’s warnings about the Spell’s dangers; then a visitor arrived from the sky.

• Jiang Yang chose to study the Azure Silk Hub-Cutting Art first because he lacked the Purple Mansion Spirit Treasures needed to cultivate the Profound Eyes of Lunar Phases Manifestation.
• After several days of studying the Dao Scroll, Jiang Yang called on Bai Tang, who explained that true essence brought the seven Profound Apertures into being and showed him where they were.
• Jiang Yang meditated for more than half a month, forming the seven apertures, and soon gathered pale blue-green currents within them.
• Jiang Yang tested the Azure Silk Profound Light on a branch from the Spirit Elm Tree, and it drained the branch’s vitality until it withered and crumbled to powder.
• Jiang Yang realized the Spell could provoke widespread hatred if used carelessly, then a golden arc descended and an arriving visitor remarked that Jiang Yang had been in seclusion during several previous visits.

Jiang Yang welcomed Chu Qingjian and her disciple Cong Huaijin after returning from seclusion, while Chu Qingjian wrestled with her grandfather’s wish that she find a partner and leave descendants. She had begun to think of Jiang Yang as a possible partner but had not yet found the courage to broach the subject.

• Jiang Yang greeted Chu Qingjian and Cong Huaijin, congratulating the girl on reaching Qi Refining.
• Chu Qingjian told Jiang Yang that Bi Xingjian had entered seclusion to try to break through to the Late Stage, and urged Jiang Yang to shame him with his faster progress.
• Jiang Yang asked Cong Huaijin about her cultivation, and she said she had been assigned the fourth-grade Rain-Washing Clarity Art.
• Chu Qingjian recalled that her dying grandfather, Chu Tianshu, had asked her to find a worthy partner and leave descendants for the clan.
• Chu Qingjian realized that Jiang Yang had become the person on her mind, and she had returned to his door intending to raise the matter.

Chu Qingjian visited Jiang Yang intending to speak about her feelings, but Cong Huaijin’s presence made her flee before she could confess. Jiang Yang returned to studying the Chongyi Zhangu qi and realized a strand of longevity qi in a spirit treasure might offset its lifespan cost.

• Chu Qingjian admired Jiang Yang and considered him a suitable match, but worried he might not be willing.
• Jiang Yang noticed Chu Qingjian was troubled and invited her to share what was wrong.
• Chu Qingjian gathered her courage to speak, then saw Cong Huaijin and left with her in a streak of lightning, promising to visit again.
• Jiang Yang resumed studying the Spells and considered using his ability to see remaining lifespans to measure their effects.
• Jiang Yang learned that the Zhangu method spent his lifespan to reduce a target’s, with a steep exchange rate against stronger cultivators.
• Jiang Yang found that longevity qi could offset the cost and recalled that a spirit treasure should contain a strand.

Jiang Yang prepared to cultivate the Profound Eyes of Lunar Phases Manifestation and realized that the Azure Corner Heaven would likely descend near the Towering Mine Vein within three to five years. He brought two Purple Mansion Spirit Treasures to his master, Xuan Guang, and asked for help refining them.

• Jiang Yang decided to fill his seven profound apertures with azure silk profound light and memorize the Hub-Slashing Method while practicing the Dao Scroll.
• Jiang Yang learned that the Sect had mobilized disciples to relieve the guards at the Ore Vein, then connected the deployment and Fang Xu's disappearance to the Towering Mine Vein.
• Jiang Yang concluded that Azure Corner Heaven would likely descend near the border of the Zheng Kingdom, the Wu Kingdom, and Heavy Mountains within three to five years.
• Jiang Yang examined the [Moon-Full Crescent of Darkness] and the [Shuoding Manifestation Pupil], but declined to use the former to nourish his eager Moon-White Spirit-Clear Elm.
• Jiang Yang took the two Purple Mansion Spirit Treasures to Xuan Guang and asked his master to help him cultivate the Profound Eyes of Lunar Phases Manifestation.

Jiang Yang gave two Yin-Yang Spirit Treasures to Xuan Guang to refine for his Profound Eyes of Lunar Phases Manifestation, then began studying the ancient Pupil Art while awaiting the results. The chapter left Jiang Yang cultivating the art with the Spirit Seeds set to complete its final stage.

• Xuan Guang reassured Jiang Yang that Rain Xiang Mountain would not seize his Spirit Treasures and accepted the Silver Bottle and Jade Box for refinement.
• Xuan Guang explained that tempering each Spirit Treasure would take eighty-one days and sent Jiang Yang away to study his Spells and strengthen his foundations.
• After Jiang Yang left, Xuan Guang marveled at the rarity of the Spirit Treasures and the Pupil Art's potential to let a future Sword Immortal harm Purple Mansion cultivators.
• Jiang Yang returned to his cultivation and closely studied the Jade Slip's ancient instructions for cultivating the Profound Eyes of Lunar Phases Manifestation.
• Jiang Yang learned that mastering the Pupil Art required refining two corresponding Purple Mansion Spirit Treasures into his eyes.