Recaps

Jiang Yang guarded three Jade Bamboo seedlings until Li Zhouying inspected them on the final day of the three-month chore. She rated all three superior grade and asked for his waist token, leaving his next step unclear.

• Jiang Yang killed Bamboo Dusk attacking the Jade Bamboo and spent the night guarding the healthy seedlings.
• Li Zhouying arrived on inspection day and examined all three plants.
• Li Zhouying found the bamboo healthy, jade-colored, and free of pests, rating it superior grade.
• Li Zhouying told Jiang Yang she would remember him and asked him to hand over his waist token.

Jiang Yang received fifty Dao Merit for his service assignment and planned to visit the library for spells before choosing a cultivation path. Shang Qingzheng hurried to meet him at the Rain Listening Pavilion, but arrived to find him gone and the stone table and stools missing.

• Li Zhouying awarded Jiang Yang fifty Dao Merit, including a twenty-point bonus, and advised him not to squander it.
• Jiang Yang compared his reward with ordinary service ratings and decided to use Dao Merit to seek spells at the library.
• Jiang Yang waited for Shang Qingzheng so he could say goodbye before leaving Dawn Rain Peak.
• Shang Qingzheng rushed toward the Rain Listening Pavilion with Little Sixteen but was delayed when a red-clad senior sister stopped to speak with her.
• Shang Qingzheng reached the bamboo grove and found Jiang Yang, the stone table, and the stools gone.

Shang Qingzheng found Jiang Yang in the Jade Bamboo Grove and learned he was leaving after completing his duties. Before they parted, she gave him an Embryonic Immortal Spirit-Guide Talisman so they could keep in touch.

• Little Sixteen led Shang Qingzheng to Jiang Yang, who was returning the stones he had brought to the grove.
• Jiang Yang told Shang Qingzheng that his work was finished and that he had earned a top evaluation and a Dao Merit reward.
• Jiang Yang shared his plans to study spells, cultivate, and pursue the Court Examination in hopes of becoming a True Person's disciple.
• Shang Qingzheng asked Jiang Yang what he thought of her, and he praised her sincerely.
• Shang Qingzheng taught Jiang Yang how to activate the paper crane talisman, which could carry letters between them.

Shang Qingzheng gave Jiang Yang a Spirit Talisman and explained how to use its messaging and tracking functions, then played and sang for him before he left the Bamboo Grove. She watched him go, flustered by his touch and her feelings for him.

• Shang Qingzheng explained that the Spirit Talisman could send messages and track a spiritual signature, and taught Jiang Yang its guiding incantation and range limits.
• Shang Qingzheng prayed with Little Sixteen to ward off calamity, explaining that the spirit cat's prayers might reach the Cat Immortal.
• Shang Qingzheng played the Pure Tone Nine Shao Flute and sang a longing song for Jiang Yang, who praised her music and voice.
• Jiang Yang caught Shang Qingzheng's wrist while trying to reassure her, then released her and apologized when she asked him to let go.
• Jiang Yang said goodbye and left the Bamboo Grove, while Shang Qingzheng watched him go and called him a blockhead under her breath.

Jiang Yang returned from his duties at Dawn Rain Peak and reported them to Zhou Yanwei, earning an upper rating. After hearing that Fang Xu had returned from a well-preserved Cave Abode with a good haul, Jiang Yang decided to visit him and spend some of his Dao Merit.

• Jiang Yang left the bamboo grove and hurried to the General Affairs Office on Morning Rain Peak to register his completed duties.
• Zhou Yanwei examined Jiang Yang's waist token and awarded his assignment an upper rating before returning the token.
• Jiang Yang told Zhou Yanwei that he planned to focus on cultivation and prepare for the year-end Court Examination rather than accept more duties.
• Zhou Yanwei asked whether Fang Xu had approached Jiang Yang and explained that Fang Xu had recently explored a well-preserved Cave Abode and made a modest haul.
• Jiang Yang decided to visit Fang Xu and left the General Affairs Office after saying farewell to Zhou Yanwei.

Jiang Yang traveled across Dew-Covered Lake toward the Ancestral Court to visit the Library Pavilion, sharing a seat with Dan Ruo along the way. After the lake’s scenery stirred his spirit sense, Dan Ruo mistook him for an alchemist’s apprentice, and he clarified that he was going to read Daoist texts.

• Jiang Yang left Morning Rain Peak and traveled to Cold Creek to board a boat across Dew-Covered Lake.
• Jiang Yang paid one Spirit Stone to board and found Dan Ruo offering him the only nearby seat on the crowded third floor.
• Jiang Yang introduced himself to Dan Ruo, who said she was from Rain Marsh Peak.
• Jiang Yang gazed across the vast lake, felt his sea of consciousness clear, and sensed his spirit sense grow slightly stronger.
• Dan Ruo asked which alchemist Jiang Yang studied under, and he explained that he was heading to the Ancestral Court to read Daoist texts.

Jiang Yang arrived at the Library Pavilion after traveling by boat, reflecting on his strengthened Spirit Sense and his interest in medicine refinement. He entered the ancient repository and approached its elderly steward to ask about the rules.

• Jiang Yang and Dan Ruo parted ways when the treasure boat reached Pill Spring Island.
• After the boat continued across the lake, Jiang Yang examined his Spirit Sense and found that its range and strength had increased.
• Jiang Yang disembarked, identified the Library Pavilion's location, and made his way there.
• Jiang Yang entered the Library Pavilion and saw rows of books protected by restrictions.
• Jiang Yang approached the white-haired steward and began to ask him a question.

Jiang Yang browsed the Library Pavilion, learned why he should avoid choosing a lower-grade cultivation method without a proper lineage, and gathered records about the surrounding world. He discovered a damaged fifth-grade scripture but left it unredeemed, recognizing that it was incomplete and costly.

• Jiang Yang asked the pavilion elder how to choose Cultivation Arts and Spells, and the elder explained the borrowing rules and restricted him to the first floor.
• Jiang Yang examined lower-grade Cultivation Arts and realized that many could lead to an Immortal Foundation with no reliable continuation of the inheritance.
• Jiang Yang avoided taking a lower-grade method and instead copied geographical records and miscellaneous accounts for five Dao Merit.
• Jiang Yang found a damaged Ninefold Clear Avenue Scripture, learned that it was a fifth-grade method costing ninety-five Dao Merit, and concluded that it was incomplete.

Jiang Yang studied the Ninefold Clear Avenue Scripture and learned that its missing Qi-Gathering Formula made it unusable for foundation establishment. He then browsed combat techniques in the Library Pavilion and chose a sword art, leaving himself to select other spells later.

• Jiang Yang read about the Ninefold Clear Avenue Scripture's powerful Immortal Foundation and discovered that its Qi-Gathering Formula was missing.
• Jiang Yang reviewed what was required for foundation establishment, including gathering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy suited to a cultivation method.
• Jiang Yang browsed shelves of offensive, defensive, and movement Spells, planning to choose techniques he could master with his limited Dao Merit.
• Jiang Yang found shelves of weapon arts and decided that weapons could be practical for close-range fights among Qi Refining cultivators.
• Jiang Yang chose a sword art from the Library Pavilion's Jade Slips.

Jiang Yang chose a Sword Art, a movement art, and a defensive shield art at the Library Pavilion, then returned to his cave abode on Morning Rain Peak. After a long day of studying cultivation arts, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

• Jiang Yang copied the third-grade Cave-Origin One-Qi Sword Art and exchanged Dao Merit for a movement art and a defensive art.
• Jiang Yang studied Wind-Folding Returning Shadow and Clear-Wave Mystic Shield aboard the boat, noting that clear-wave origin water could strengthen the shield.
• Jiang Yang considered asking around Chuanwu Market for clear-wave spirit water and thought briefly of Dan Ruo, whom he had seen earlier.
• Jiang Yang got off at the boat's final stop, admired the mist over Cold Creek, and hurried back to his cave abode on Morning Rain Peak.
• Jiang Yang lay down to rest and fell asleep from exhaustion.

Jiang Yang studied the Clear-Wave Mystic Shield and struggled through repeated failures before casting it successfully and testing its defense. He wondered how his progress compared with other cultivators, though he had no one nearby to ask.

• Jiang Yang woke near noon after exhausting his Spirit Sense the previous day and decided to study the spell arts he had acquired.
• Jiang Yang set aside the sword art because he lacked a suitable sword and chose to practice the Clear-Wave Mystic Shield.
• Jiang Yang failed repeatedly while learning the complex spell, suffering aching meridians from Magic Power backlash.
• Jiang Yang finally condensed a translucent mystic shield and found that it withstood his Finger-Sword Awakening of Insects without breaking.
• Jiang Yang dispersed the shield, reflected on the spell’s difficulty, and guessed that his learning speed was average.

Shang Qingzheng, missing Jiang Yang after their separation, wrote him a carefully worded letter and sent it by Spirit Crane. Jiang Yang, absorbed in practicing spells, received it and realized he had forgotten his promise to write to her.

• Shang Qingzheng complained that Jiang Yang had not written and decided to send him a letter herself.
• Shang Qingzheng drafted and revised her message, then sent it to Jiang Yang with a Spirit Crane talisman.
• Jiang Yang practiced Wind-Folding Returning Shadow and Clear-Wave Mystic Shield, alternating between them as the shield spell’s backlash forced him to rest.
• Jiang Yang received Shang Qingzheng’s Spirit Crane, remembered his promise, and returned to his Cave Abode to read her letter.

Jiang Yang happily read Shang Qingzheng’s letter and wrote her a detailed reply, then sent it by Spirit Crane. He went to Rain Marsh Peak to visit Zhou Yanwei and called to him outside his Cave Abode.

• Jiang Yang read Shang Qingzheng’s letter several times and smiled at her affectionate request for a swift reply.
• Jiang Yang wrote Shang Qingzheng a long letter describing his recent experiences and cultivation, then sent it away with a Spirit Crane.
• Jiang Yang decided to visit Zhou Yanwei on the monthly rest day to return the guidance Zhou had given him.
• Jiang Yang climbed Rain Marsh Peak, found Zhou Yanwei’s Cave Abode, and called out to him from the platform.

Jiang Yang visited Zhou Yanwei’s well-appointed Cave Abode and learned that wealth had helped him secure it. Zhou Yanwei served Jiang Yang Xiang Mountain Timely Rain, whose effects on Spirit Sense left Jiang Yang wondering why his senior brother had offered such a valuable tea.

• Zhou Yanwei welcomed Jiang Yang into his Cave Abode and showed him its empty Spirit Insect Chamber and Spirit Puppet Chamber.
• Zhou Yanwei explained that Cave Abodes on Rain Marsh Peak varied in quality and hinted that his family wealth had helped him obtain his residence.
• Zhou Yanwei summoned a misty apparition to serve Jiang Yang Xiang Mountain Timely Rain.
• Jiang Yang drank the tea and felt its coolness stir his Sea of Consciousness and Spirit Sense.
• Zhou Yanwei explained that the tea came from the Spirit Root Dewglow Four Seasons Spring and could steady the soul and strengthen Spirit Sense.
• Jiang Yang grew uneasy about accepting the valuable tea and questioned Zhou Yanwei’s reason for offering it.

Jiang Yang visited Zhou Yanwei, drank Spirit Tea, and learned about the unusual Spirit Summoning and Command spell. He asked where to obtain a Sword Weapon for practicing his sword manual, and Zhou Yanwei began explaining how to get one.

• Zhou Yanwei explained that Rain Xiang Mountain disciples could obtain ten-year Spirit Tea and that its strongest effects came from drinking it once.
• Zhou Yanwei described Spirit Summoning and Command, a high-grade spell whose summoned Spirit General's strength depended on heavenly destiny rather than cultivation.
• Jiang Yang declined Zhou Yanwei's offer to help him exchange for the spell, and the two chatted over tea.
• Jiang Yang asked Zhou Yanwei where he could buy or have a sturdy mundane Sword Weapon made so he could practice his sword manual.
• Zhou Yanwei discussed the strength and rare talent of Sword Cultivators, admitted he regretted not becoming one, and began explaining how Jiang Yang could obtain a Sword Weapon.

Jiang Yang asked Zhou Yanwei how to obtain a sturdy Sword Weapon, and Zhou Yanwei outlined several options before recommending a degraded Artifact Embryo from a Cave-Dwelling Legacy. Jiang Yang realized Fang Xu’s recent expedition to a Sword Pool might provide one and decided to ask him about it.

• Zhou Yanwei told Jiang Yang that he could commission a weapon from Fireworker Disciples on Craft Peak or look for one at the Exchange Meeting in Chuanwu Market Ward.
• Zhou Yanwei warned Jiang Yang that Ghost Market merchants often sold fakes, and Jiang Yang hid that he had already bought something there.
• Zhou Yanwei explained that Artifact Embryos were degraded Mystic or Spirit Artifacts whose materials remained durable despite losing their special properties.
• Jiang Yang recalled the heavy sword fragment sold by Song Qi and recognized that it might be an Artifact Embryo.
• Zhou Yanwei suggested that Jiang Yang visit Fang Xu, who had recently returned from exploring a Cave-Dwelling Legacy containing a Sword Pool.
• Jiang Yang decided to approach Fang Xu for a Sword Weapon and joked that he hoped Fang Xu would offer a reasonable price.

Jiang Yang thanked Zhou Yanwei for arranging a weapons purchase, then learned about a Pure Etiquette Peak decree seeking two spiritual substances. Back in his cave abode, he studied a book about Zheng Kingdom and learned which great powers controlled the realm.

• Jiang Yang took leave of Zhou Yanwei, who promised to contact Fang Xu so Jiang Yang could visit him the next day.
• On Morning Rain Peak, Jiang Yang learned that Pure Etiquette Peak was offering rewards for Crimson Vermilion Grease and Water-Cutting Mystic Amber.
• A disciple explained where the two qi refining level one spiritual substances could be found and speculated that they would help disciples prepare for Foundation Establishment.
• Jiang Yang returned to his cave abode and read Three Hundred Years of Zheng Kingdom Customs to learn about the surrounding cultivation world.
• Jiang Yang learned that the Yi Sword Gate, the Threefold Way, and Rain Xiang Mountain shared power across Zheng Kingdom, with Rain Xiang Mountain controlling three prefectures.

Jiang Yang practiced his spells and movement technique before visiting Fang Xu to ask about swords. Fang Xu told him about a recent cave-abode expedition that had gone smoothly but left him frustrated by a near miss.

• Jiang Yang read about the Zheng Kingdom's powers, then cultivated overnight with an Essence-Nourishing Pill.
• Jiang Yang practiced his Clear-Wave Mystic Shield and movement technique until his magical power fell to the reserve limit he had set.
• Jiang Yang found Fang Xu's Lone Chant Residence beneath a Water-Cloud Fir and greeted him there.
• Fang Xu said Zhou Yanwei had told him why Jiang Yang had come and regretted that Jiang Yang had not joined him on an earlier trip, which could have earned him swords.
• Fang Xu explained that his cave-abode expedition had gone smoothly, but a near miss left him bitter despite what he had gained.

Fang Xu told Jiang Yang how his group’s failed array-breaking had ruined the Spirit Swords in an ancient Sword-Washing Pool. Jiang Yang examined the salvaged weapons and chose an unmarked, heavily corroded sword, then asked Fang Xu its price.

• Fang Xu explained that his group had found an ancient Sword-Washing Pool, but breaking its array by brute force dispersed its last trace of Spirit Vigor and ruined the swords within.
• Jiang Yang tried to console Fang Xu, who accepted that the swords could now only be sold as Spirit Material for Artifact Embryos.
• Fang Xu showed Jiang Yang the corroded swords and damaged jade slips recovered from the pool.
• Jiang Yang inspected the swords, learned that the Foundation Establishment Mystic Artifact Azure Torch was too expensive for him, and chose an unnamed sword of unknown Spirit Material.
• Jiang Yang asked Fang Xu how much he wanted for the unnamed sword.

Jiang Yang bought an unusually sturdy sword from Fang Xu and examined the damaged Jade Slips Fang Xu had collected. He discovered a spell that might revive his dead Spirit Seed and asked to pay for the sword with Dao Merit.

• Jiang Yang bought the nameless sword from Fang Xu for a hundred and fifty spirit stones.
• Fang Xu let Jiang Yang browse and copy the damaged Jade Slips without charge.
• Jiang Yang found incomplete records of the Thunderbolt Wind Sky Windwood Lineage but no trace of its Sword Canon.
• Jiang Yang discovered the Seasonal Renewal Spirit-Nurturing Guiding Incantation, which could restore a damaged Spirit Plant or Withered Seed.
• Jiang Yang asked Fang Xu whether he could make up the sword's price with Dao Merit because he lacked enough Spirit Stones.

Jiang Yang paid Fang Xu for the Seasonal Renewal Spirit-Nurturing Incantation, then studied and practiced the Cave-Origin One-Qi Sword Art. After someone laughed at his practice, he demanded to know who was there, and the unseen person gave the name Bai Tang.

• Jiang Yang transferred Fang Xu twenty Dao Merit and copied the Seasonal Renewal Spirit-Nurturing Incantation onto a Jade Slip for him.
• After returning to his cave abode, Jiang Yang studied the Cave-Origin One-Qi Sword Art and realized its lethal moves depended on Sword Qi.
• Jiang Yang practiced the sword art in a clearing, sending light beyond the blade and slicing through fallen leaves and pine needles.
• Jiang Yang heard a sudden snicker, raised his sword, and called for the hidden person to reveal themself.
• The unseen person answered that their name was Bai Tang.

Jiang Yang discovered that the Spirit Sword Embryo contained a sword spirit named Bai Tang, who had lost most of her memories. Bai Tang acknowledged him as her master and showed him the power of true Sword Qi.

• Jiang Yang heard Bai Tang speak from the sword and cautiously asked who she was, fearing she might possess him.
• Bai Tang explained that she was a sword spirit with no ability to possess him, then asked where he had found her.
• Jiang Yang recounted the Cave-Dwelling Legacy and the sword’s discovery in the Sword-Washing Pool, while Bai Tang said her spirit was incomplete and her memories were mostly gone.
• Bai Tang said the sword had awakened to Jiang Yang’s soul and acknowledged him as its master.
• Bai Tang guided Jiang Yang through a sword strike that released Sword Qi and carved a deep gash into the mountainside.

Bai Tang taught Jiang Yang how to release sword qi through his Cave-Origin One-Qi Sword Art, then pushed him to keep practicing until he collapsed. After Jiang Yang managed one final streak of sword qi, Bai Tang manifested in human form, carried him into the Cave Abode, and disappeared with the spirit sword.

• Bai Tang corrected Jiang Yang's mistaken idea of sword qi and agreed to teach him the Sword Dao.
• Following Bai Tang's instructions, Jiang Yang used his Cave-Origin One-Qi Sword Art to release the sword qi technique One Qi Faces the Sun.
• Jiang Yang struggled to reproduce the strike, but kept practicing as Bai Tang urged him to focus and persist.
• After exhausting his magical power, Jiang Yang drew out enough spiritual qi for one final swing, released a tiny streak of sword qi, and collapsed.
• Bai Tang manifested in human form, carried the sleeping Jiang Yang into the Cave Abode, and vanished with the spirit sword.

Jiang Yang practiced swordsmanship with Bai Tang in the rain and witnessed a sect senior’s failed attempt to break through to the Purple Mansion. Bai Tang identified the heavenly phenomenon as the collapse of an immortal foundation of the Gui Water path, while Jiang Yang’s admiration for the realm deepened.

• Jiang Yang woke sore and exhausted, thanked Bai Tang for bringing him back to bed, and went outside to practice swordsmanship.
• Jiang Yang produced Sword Qi through the rain, and Bai Tang praised him cautiously and urged him to keep practicing.
• As the rain intensified, a surge of Spirit Vigor and blue-green radiance filled the sky, alarming the disciples on the mountain.
• Bai Tang told Jiang Yang that a senior had failed to break through to the Purple Mansion and perished.
• Bai Tang explained that the radiance came from a collapsed Gui Water immortal foundation, and Jiang Yang asked how she could read the phenomenon so easily.

After a failed breakthrough shook Rain Xiang Mountain, Jiang Yang found a valuable Spirit Treasure and learned how a cultivator’s death scattered treasures across the land. He returned to sword practice, where Bai Tang continued to train him sternly over the next five days.

• Bai Tang identified the deathly Celestial Phenomena as likely connected to the Gui Water Dao Lineage and advised Jiang Yang to search for scattered Spirit Treasures.
• Jiang Yang admitted he had invented a Purple Mansion master, and Bai Tang explained how cultivators’ bodies dispersed into Spirit Treasures after death.
• Jiang Yang found a Nether Spring Scale Stone, learned it was a Ren Water Dao Spirit Treasure, and stored it for its potential value.
• Bai Tang explained that Gui Water blended with cloud qi could transform into Ren Water, while treasures at the death’s core would remain Gui Water Foundation Establishment-grade treasures.
• Jiang Yang spent the next five days cultivating and practicing swordsmanship under Bai Tang’s demanding instruction, and prepared to take Elixir to replenish his magic power.