Recaps

Shang Qingzheng and her senior sisters met with True Person Dawn Rain after she emerged from seclusion, receiving guidance on cultivation difficulties and fears about breakthrough. The chapter ended with Shang Qingzheng asking her master for a portion of clear-wave origin water.

• Shang Qingzheng climbed to the summit of Dawn Rain Peak to pay her respects to True Person Dawn Rain alongside Xie Lezhi and Lian Fei, while their eldest senior sister remained away at a critical juncture in her cultivation.
• Xie Lezhi asked about sluggish True Essence while practicing Ren Spring Empty Radiance Sunflower Light, and True Person Dawn Rain advised her to practice with a Xin Metal Spirit Treasure.
• Lian Fei confessed that she feared attempting a breakthrough after Martial Uncle Xu of Chong'e Peak died during his, and True Person Dawn Rain explained that Xu Mingyi had hidden injuries, an inadequate cultivation method, depleted lifespan, and no Purple Mansion Spirit Treasure.
• True Person Dawn Rain asked Shang Qingzheng about the Clear-Sound Bamboo Grove prepared for her, and Shang Qingzheng said she was waiting for its jade bamboo to mature so she could gather the essence needed for Foundation Establishment.
• Shang Qingzheng asked True Person Dawn Rain to grant her a portion of clear-wave origin water.

Jiang Yang trained to control his Sword Qi and received a letter and precious spiritual water from Shang Qingzheng. After admitting he liked her, the Peach Branch in his Sea of Consciousness bloomed and revealed a new innate talent, “Lush Peach and Plum.”

• Bai Tang advised Jiang Yang to conserve magic power and focus on controlling himself while using Sword Qi.
• A Spirit Crane delivered Shang Qingzheng’s letter and a jade bottle of clear-wave origin water to Jiang Yang.
• Jiang Yang read Shang Qingzheng’s affectionate letter and realized she had sent him a valuable Foundation Establishment-grade spiritual water.
• Bai Tang told Jiang Yang that Shang Qingzheng liked him and pressed him to admit his feelings.
• Jiang Yang declared that he liked Shang Qingzheng, causing the Peach Branch in his Sea of Consciousness to bloom and reveal the innate talent “Lush Peach and Plum.”

Jiang Yang realized his feelings for Shang Qingzheng and accepted her gift by sending her a carefully written reply. Shang Qingzheng treasured his letter and hoped they would share the moonlight together.

• The Peach Blossom in Jiang Yang’s Sea of Consciousness fully bloomed, and a new bud appeared on the Peach Branch.
• Bai Tang urged Jiang Yang to accept Shang Qingzheng’s spirit water and respond honestly to her affection.
• Jiang Yang wrote and sent Shang Qingzheng a letter accepting her gift and wishing that they might share the moon’s beauty across a thousand miles.
• Shang Qingzheng read the letter, pressed it to her heart, and wondered whether Jiang Yang would share the moonlight with her.

Shang Qingzheng sensed a breakthrough and entered secluded cultivation, while Jiang Yang studied a spell for reviving a Spirit Seed. Bai Tang then emerged from his sword, seized the seed, and demanded to know where he had found it.

• Shang Qingzheng felt movement in her cultivation bottleneck and hurried into secluded cultivation.
• Jiang Yang studied the Seasonal Renewal Spirit-Nurturing Incantation and learned that reviving the Spirit Seed could require years of ongoing effort.
• Jiang Yang examined the black Spirit Seed he had bought at the Black Market and weighed whether to try the spell.
• Bai Tang emerged from the Spirit Sword, took the seed from Jiang Yang, and demanded to know where he had gotten it.
• Jiang Yang told Bai Tang he had bought the seed at a stall and asked what made it special.

Bai Tang identified the Spirit Seed as a depleted inheritance seed of the Cracking Wood path and recognized Jiang Yang’s Four Seasons Transformation method as a way to revive it. Jiang Yang decided to train for combat so he could seek the Spirit Treasures the method required, and Bai Tang began teaching him.

• Bai Tang explained the Spirit Seed’s origins and the Cracking Wood path, then warned that the seed had lost most of its vitality.
• Jiang Yang showed Bai Tang the Four Seasons Transformation Containment Spirit-Nurturing Guiding Incantation, and she said it could restore the seed if he gathered four seasonal Spirit Treasures.
• Bai Tang warned Jiang Yang to keep the rare method secret, and he asked her to teach him how to fight other cultivators.
• Jiang Yang resolved to leave his safe routine eventually and seek the Spirit Treasures, knowing he needed combat experience to survive beyond the sect.
• That night, Bai Tang appeared openly in the grove and told Jiang Yang to attack her; he unleashed his Sword Art at full power.

Bai Tang pushed Jiang Yang through a punishing sword spar, teaching him to fight decisively and stake his life on a strike. Jiang Yang finally found an opening with a calculated attack, and Bai Tang acknowledged that he had taken his first step before he collapsed from exhaustion.

• Bai Tang dodged Jiang Yang's hesitant Sword Qi and scolded him for lacking the resolve to kill.
• Jiang Yang attacked again, but Bai Tang parried every move and explained that he wasted strength on empty motions.
• Bai Tang took the offensive and repeatedly struck Jiang Yang with her Vine Sword as he struggled to defend himself.
• Jiang Yang adapted to Bai Tang's attacks and used three streaks of Sword Qi to force her toward his lethal thrust.
• Bai Tang dodged the attacks, praised Jiang Yang's strike, and stopped his sword three inches from her before he collapsed from exhaustion.

Bai Tang trained Jiang Yang through punishing sword practice, then watched his skill improve until he nearly defeated her. After she conceded the match and agreed to teach him sword flight, Jiang Yang greeted the sunrise at the cliff’s edge, brimming with excitement.

• After Jiang Yang exhausted himself in training, Bai Tang guided him through meditation and healed the welts she had inflicted during their lesson.
• Half a month later, Jiang Yang attacked Bai Tang with increasingly skilled Sword Qi, but she escaped by merging with the Vine Sword and flying into the air.
• Jiang Yang protested that Bai Tang had cheated, and she teased him before conceding that he had won.
• Jiang Yang asked to learn how to fly on a sword, and Bai Tang agreed to teach him.
• At dawn, Jiang Yang stood at the cliff’s edge with his hair loose as Bai Tang watched him silently.

Jiang Yang left Rain Xiang Mountain for his first journey beyond the Sect, heading toward the Great Dark Cold Marsh. At a temple near the marsh, he killed five bandits who attacked him, and continued to reckon with the reality of taking lives.

• Jiang Yang discussed the control of Sword Qi with Bai Tang as he walked away from Rain Xiang Mountain.
• Jiang Yang crossed the Jin River and approached the Great Dark Cold Marsh, studying the region's position between three Sects.
• Jiang Yang heard fighting at a temple and found bandits trying to force an old man to surrender spirit rice meant for King Alligator.
• Several bandits charged Jiang Yang, while their leader recognized his blue robe and fled with the others.
• Jiang Yang used Sword Qi to kill the five bandits who had attacked him, then considered his first experience of killing.

After Jiang Yang drove off bandits and rescued the temple keeper Li Rong, he learned about the fading Fortune Qi tradition and received its cultivation method. The chapter left Jiang Yang considering why the tradition could no longer gather qi: the abandoned temples had lost the worshippers whose prayers produced it.

• Jiang Yang killed the bandits who attacked Li Rong, then accepted the temple keeper’s invitation to drink tea.
• Li Rong introduced his orange cat, General, and explained that his temple worshipped the Blessing Heavenly Official, a deity depicted as a Wildcat.
• Li Rong told Jiang Yang that the Heavenly Official had lost his station and that Fortune Qi cultivators could no longer gather qi, leaving their path stalled at Qi Refining.
• Li Rong gave Jiang Yang the temple’s Third Grade cultivation method, the Scripture of Fortune Prayers and Auspiciousness.
• Jiang Yang read that the method gathered Qi of Enduring Prayer and Fortune from worshippers’ prayers, and realized that the loss of worshippers explained the tradition’s decline.

Jiang Yang learned about the Dark Marsh and its Greenback Alligator from Li Rong before entering the marsh to search for Green-Eyed Green-Twig Snakes. As he walked into the forest, he asked Bai Tang whether she could protect him if he provoked the alligator.

• Jiang Yang returned Li Rong’s Jade Slip and asked him about the Dark Marsh and its dangers.
• Li Rong explained that the Foundation Establishment Realm Greenback Alligator ruled the outskirts and received Spirit Rice from him in exchange for leaving his temple alone.
• Li Rong confirmed that Green-Eyed Green-Twig Snakes appeared in the area, and Jiang Yang recalled that he needed their fangs and gallbladders for a mission.
• Jiang Yang donated a Spirit Stone at the Celestial Official Temple, then asked Li Rong whether he had considered leaving; Li Rong said he could not leave the cat called General.
• After leaving the temple, Jiang Yang asked Bai Tang about Fortune Qi, and she warned that luck could not save someone from a deadly Tribulation Qi.
• Jiang Yang entered the dense forest and asked Bai Tang if she could protect him should he provoke the Greenback Alligator.

Jiang Yang explored the Dark Marsh, where he collected a Dark Marsh Baleful-Insect Crystal and hunted a Green-Eyed Green-Twig Snake. After resting beside a stream, he heard people shouting nearby and prepared to investigate.

• Bai Tang warned Jiang Yang that Foundation Establishment cultivators were dangerous, and he entered the Dark Marsh cautiously.
• Jiang Yang fought off several miasma-corrupted creatures and avoided the Greenback Alligator's deep pool.
• Jiang Yang recognized Human-Faced Moths nesting in an Iron Birch and retrieved a Dark Marsh Baleful-Insect Crystal from a cocoon.
• Jiang Yang stored the crystal properly, later killed a Green-Eyed Green-Twig Snake, and collected its venomous fangs and gallbladder.
• After searching for a day, Jiang Yang rested beside a clear stream while Bai Tang kept watch.
• Jiang Yang heard people arguing and shouting nearby, then rose to his feet.

Jiang Yang hid behind a waterfall as Mei Ling used enchanted stream water to treat Lin Xingchang, then watched the trio face the demonic woman pursuing them over a Spirit Treasure. As Mei Ling threw a jade box toward the waterfall to buy time, she and Mei Feng fled in the opposite direction, leaving the box near Jiang Yang.

• Jiang Yang concealed himself behind the waterfall and watched three newcomers arrive.
• Mei Ling used talisman water from the stream to drive killing intent from Lin Xingchang’s meridians.
• The demonic woman caught up with Mei Ling, Mei Feng, and Lin Xingchang, demanding the Spirit Treasure they had found.
• Mei Ling scattered poisonous powder, but the demonic woman dispersed it and formed a blade from killing intent.
• Mei Ling threw a jade box toward the waterfall and fled with Mei Feng, leaving Lin Xingchang with them.

Mei Ling threw the Jade Box to distract the girl in black, but the girl pursued the fleeing group and left the Spirit Treasure behind. Jiang Yang caught the box, discovered it held water-cutting mystic amber, and continued deeper into the Dark Marsh after leaving a fake box at the waterfall.

• Mei Ling threw the Jade Box toward the waterfall and fled with Mei Feng and Chang Xing while the girl in black chased them.
• The Jade Box landed in Jiang Yang’s hands, and he opened it with Bai Tang to find two pieces of water-cutting mystic amber.
• Jiang Yang put the Spirit Treasure away and decided to leave before the girl in black could return.
• Jiang Yang tossed an empty Jade Box into the waterfall as a decoy, then headed deeper into the marsh with Bai Tang.

Qin Dingyi discovered that the Jade Box she recovered was empty and tracked Jiang Yang down, suspecting he had taken the Spirit Treasure. After Jiang Yang refused to let her inspect his Storage Bag, Qin Dingyi declared she would take it by force.

• Qin Dingyi found an empty Jade Box, destroyed it in anger, and decided to search for the woman who had escaped her.
• Jiang Yang traveled deeper into the Dark Marsh and killed a concealed Jade-Eyed Snake for its materials.
• Bai Tang warned Jiang Yang of an approaching attacker, and Jiang Yang’s Sword Qi exposed Qin Dingyi in the mist.
• Qin Dingyi introduced herself as a fellow disciple of a great sect and asked Jiang Yang whether he had seen the woman she was pursuing.
• Qin Dingyi demanded to inspect Jiang Yang’s Storage Bag, and Jiang Yang refused.
• Qin Dingyi said she would take the Storage Bag herself.

Jiang Yang fought Qin Dingyi and resisted her sword attacks and demonic bell sounds with his swordsmanship and Mystic Shield. After Qin Dingyi’s Ring Blade struck his sword at close range, Jiang Yang seized the opening and launched White Rainbow Pierces the Sun.

• Qin Dingyi attacked Jiang Yang with Nether Blades, and he countered with his Mystic Shield and sword qi.
• Jiang Yang pressed Qin Dingyi with repeated sword strikes, while she blocked with her Ring Blade and secretly replenished her magic power with an Elixir.
• Qin Dingyi used her silver bells to daze Jiang Yang and sent a Nether Blade at him, but his Clear-Wave Mystic Shield stopped it.
• Bai Tang told Jiang Yang to focus his mind and brave danger, then left him to face Qin Dingyi’s next bell attack alone.
• Jiang Yang recovered just before Qin Dingyi’s Ring Blade reached him, blocked it with his sword, and lunged at her with White Rainbow Pierces the Sun.

Jiang Yang and Qin Dingyi fought to a standstill after he wounded her, then resumed their duel once both had recovered some Magic Power. Jiang Yang’s reinforced Mystic Shield let him press the attack, but Qin Dingyi revealed that his strike had fallen into her trap.

• Jiang Yang pierced Qin Dingyi with his sword after breaking through her Dark-Moon Origin Shield, but she struck him away before he could finish her.
• While they recovered and questioned each other, Qin Dingyi learned Jiang Yang had used pain from a cut on his palm to resist her Netherfiend Heavenly Sound Bells.
• Jiang Yang used Clear-Wave Origin Water to reinforce his Mystic Shield and charged Qin Dingyi as their battle resumed.
• Qin Dingyi retreated into Root Vines, and Jiang Yang seized the opening to sever the arm holding her Ring Blade with Body and Sword as One.
• Qin Dingyi declared that Jiang Yang had fallen for her trap.

Jiang Yang survived Qin Dingyi’s attack after Shang Qingzheng’s breakthrough fed him cultivation and magic power through their Dao companion bond. Qin Dingyi escaped at the cost of her arm, leaving Jiang Yang exhausted but newly advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

• Qin Dingyi attacked Jiang Yang after his magic power ran dry, but he broke through to the fifth level of Qi Refining and dispelled her killing-intent blade.
• Jiang Yang unleashed One Qi Faces the Sun, while Qin Dingyi sacrificed her severed arm to summon a Black-Winged Mystic Bat and escape in black mist.
• Jiang Yang collapsed beneath a dawn redwood, and Bai Tang explained that she had spared him further combat because his body was in poor condition.
• Bai Tang said Qin Dingyi’s escape art would likely prevent her arm from regrowing for years and delay her Immortal Foundation.
• Jiang Yang realized Shang Qingzheng had reached the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, and their Dao companion bond had returned some of her cultivation and magic power to him.
• Jiang Yang reviewed the dangerous duel with Bai Tang, who praised his performance against Qin Dingyi, a well-equipped core disciple.

After recovering from his battle with the black-robed demoness, Jiang Yang resumed hunting Green-Eyed Green-Twig Snakes and obtained her Ring Blade from Bai Tang. When he found the final snake near a Greenback Alligator’s pool, Bai Tang intervened, and Jiang Yang unleashed a mysterious sword technique as the beast emerged.

• Jiang Yang meditated under Bai Tang’s guard, recovered enough to travel, and decided to continue hunting the remaining Green-Eyed Green-Twig Snakes.
• Bai Tang gave Jiang Yang the demoness’s Ring Blade, and he considered selling it because its baleful qi did not suit his cultivation path.
• After searching nearly another day, Jiang Yang found and killed the final Jade-Eyed Snake he needed.
• Jiang Yang nearly approached the Greenback Alligator’s pool, but Bai Tang stopped him and retreated with him when the beast stirred.
• The Greenback Alligator emerged and roared, so Bai Tang entered the sword and told Jiang Yang to hold on.
• Jiang Yang felt a profound urge, pressed two fingers against the blade, and invoked Withering and Flourishing Tribulation.

Jiang Yang escaped the Dark Marsh and traveled toward Rain Xiang Mountain, while Bai Tang explained that his strike against the Greenback Alligator had carried a trace of her divine powers. The two reached the Sect’s heartland, but Bai Tang still knew only fragments of her origins.

• Jiang Yang emerged from the Dark Marsh under the moonlight, and Bai Tang said the wounded Greenback Alligator would not dare pursue them.
• Jiang Yang continued toward Rain Xiang Mountain with the assignment’s materials and two baleful qi items to sell after returning to the Sect.
• Jiang Yang asked Bai Tang about his sword strike, and she explained how divine powers developed from an immortal foundation and why choosing a Dao mattered.
• Bai Tang revealed that contact with Jiang Yang’s Spirit Seed had restored fragments of her memories and divine powers, and that she likely belonged to the Cracking Wood Dao.
• Jiang Yang comforted Bai Tang about her uncertain origins, and they continued toward home through the night.

After returning to the Sect and recovering, Jiang Yang sent Shang Qingzheng a letter and set out to handle his outstanding affairs. He collected his task reward and opened a stall in Chuanwu Market Ward to sell his Harvests and look for Spirit Treasures.

• Jiang Yang returned to the Sect, bathed after asking Bai Tang for privacy, and cultivated the Dew Essence Consumption Method at dawn.
• After resting for two days to stabilize his meridians, Jiang Yang wrote Shang Qingzheng a letter about his travels and sent it, then realized he had not found her a gift.
• Jiang Yang turned in five sets of Snake Fangs and Gallbladders at the General Affairs Office and received eighty Dao merits.
• Jiang Yang learned from Zhou Yanwei that he would need to visit Pure Etiquette Peak to claim the reward for the water-cutting mystic amber, and decided to sell his other Harvests first.
• Jiang Yang rented a stall in Chuanwu Market Ward, arranged his Harvests on a cloth, and waited for customers.

Jiang Yang set up a stall to trade his valuable finds for Qi Refining Spirit Treasures that matched the four seasons. He exchanged the Dark Marsh Baleful-Insect Crystal with Dan Ruo for the Mulberry-Grove Seasonal Wind and a cicada husk, then learned how to protect the seasonal wind.

• Jiang Yang displayed his Mystic Artifact, Spirit Treasures, and Fetal Breathing beast materials at his stall, hoping to exchange his treasures for ones suited to the four seasons.
• A senior brother in blue robes bought all of Jiang Yang's beast materials for nearly thirty Spirit Stones.
• Dan Ruo, an alchemist Jiang Yang had met on Pill Spring Island, asked to trade for the Dark Marsh Baleful-Insect Crystal.
• Dan Ruo exchanged the insect crystal for the Mulberry-Grove Seasonal Wind and gave Jiang Yang a cicada husk that could contain the wind.
• Dan Ruo warned Jiang Yang that frost, snow, or cold could turn the seasonal wind into Cold Autumn Northern Gale, and invited him to visit her on Pill Spring Island.

Jiang Yang visited Jade-Washing Studio to sell the Ring Blade he had acquired. Gao Yuezhen identified it as a mid-grade Mystic Artifact and praised its craftsmanship, leaving Jiang Yang waiting to hear his offer.

• Jiang Yang discussed alchemy with Bai Tang while they waited at his stall, but the remaining goods attracted few buyers.
• Jiang Yang left the stall and visited the shops on a nearby market street to find a buyer for his goods.
• Jiang Yang chose Jade-Washing Studio and met its owner, Gao Yuezhen, who introduced himself as a former disciple of Rain Marsh Peak.
• Jiang Yang showed Gao Yuezhen the Ring Blade and asked whether he would buy it.
• Gao Yuezhen examined the Ring Blade, identified it as the mid-grade Dark Mystery Dance Wheelblade, and complimented its craftsmanship.
• Jiang Yang praised Gao Yuezhen's eye and asked what price he would offer.

Jiang Yang negotiated with Gao Yuezhen to sell a Ring Blade and a nether spring scale stone, then used the proceeds to seek Spirit Treasures and a larger Storage Bag. Gao Yuezhen showed him the shop's available seasonal materials, though he had no winter Spirit Treasures in stock.

• Gao Yuezhen identified the Ring Blade as a weapon made from refined Baleful Qi and linked it to the Threefold Way.
• Gao Yuezhen agreed to buy the Ring Blade for fifteen hundred Spirit Stones and the nether spring scale stone for one hundred.
• Jiang Yang declined to exchange the sixteen hundred Spirit Stones for dao merit and asked to buy Spirit Treasures and a larger Storage Bag.
• Gao Yuezhen brought out the shop's available spring and summer Spirit Treasures and said he had no winter materials in stock.

Jiang Yang bought two Spirit Treasures and a larger Storage Bag from Gao Yuezhen, then organized his belongings before setting out for Pure Etiquette Peak to seek the final treasure he needed. The chapter left him arriving at the Ancestral Court lakeshore and heading west toward the peak.

• Jiang Yang bought [Early Spring Blossom], [Youyang Locust Rain], and a large Storage Bag from Gao Yuezhen for 1,120 Spirit Stones, with Gao Yuezhen waiving the small remainder.
• Jiang Yang returned to his cave abode, transferred his possessions into the new Storage Bag, and kept his old one for sentimental reasons while Bai Tang teased him about hoarding.
• Jiang Yang noted that he had gathered three of the four Spirit Treasures required for the Four Seasons Transformation Spirit-Nurturing Method and planned to seek the winter treasure at Pure Etiquette Peak.
• The next morning, Jiang Yang traveled by boat from Cold Creek to the Ancestral Court and set out toward Pure Etiquette Peak beyond White Elm Peak.

Jiang Yang visited Pure Etiquette Peak to turn in task materials, where Yu Xiuyuan invited him to cultivate the lineage of Grace and Bearing because of his exceptional looks. Jiang Yang learned that appearance and bearing were treated as innate aptitude on this path, then remembered his actual errand and postponed the invitation.

• Jiang Yang reached Pure Etiquette Peak and met Yu Xiuyuan, who invited him to cultivate there.
• Yu Xiuyuan explained that Pure Etiquette Peak cultivated Grace and Bearing, a path of Ancient Music suited to people with exceptional appearances.
• Jiang Yang feared Yu Xiuyuan had discovered the Peach Branch, then realized he was praising Jiang Yang's looks and bearing.
• Yu Xiuyuan explained that appearance and bone structure were innate qualities and that cultivating Grace and Bearing could lead to a Dao body.
• Yu Xiuyuan invited Jiang Yang to join Pure Etiquette Peak again, but Jiang Yang remembered his task and took out the jade box of materials.