Recaps

Yang Qing and his companions decided to stop burdening themselves with urgent missions and travel through the Violet Luo Kingdom for pleasure. As their carriage entered the saline land near Heavenly Luo City, they heard a commotion coming from the saltworks ahead.

• Mu Feng urged Yang Qing to rest now that the threat of the Fierce Beasts had passed, and Yang Qing agreed to travel at leisure.
• Ouyang Lin looked forward to Heavenly Luo City's food, while Bu Er explained that saline land around the city left many people struggling to find food.
• Yang Qing warned Bu Er and Ouyang Lin not to seek trouble at the saltworks, and they abandoned their plan to visit.
• Yang Qing and his companions entered the gray-white saline land and spotted saltworks shacks as a commotion arose ahead.

Yang Qing and his companions were stopped by salt workers who accused them of trespassing and demanded their supplies. After Mu Feng put the workers to sleep and the group turned back, they found someone blocking the road ahead.

• Jiang Zhizhou pulled the carriage aside to let an approaching crowd pass, but the salt workers surrounded them and accused them of coming from the Cheng Household.
• Jiang Zhizhou explained that they had taken the wrong road and tried to turn around, but the workers demanded their food and supplies.
• Jiang Zhizhou realized someone had likely sent the workers to provoke them into attacking the Cheng Household.
• Mu Feng put the salt workers to sleep, and he and Jiang Zhizhou moved them off the road.
• Jiang Zhizhou turned the carriage around and found someone blocking the road ahead.

A bronze-skinned enforcer intercepted Yang Qing and his companions at the saltworks and demanded they go with him to Heavenly Luo City. The group agreed to accompany him, and his beast-taming skill began guiding their carriage onward, leaving them wary of his strength and motives.

• A group of armed enforcers surrounded Yang Qing's carriage, and their leader said he wanted to meet the person inside it.
• Jiang Zhizhou refused the leader's offer, prompting him to threaten the travelers and reveal that he wanted Yang Qing to come to Heavenly Luo City.
• Yang Qing and his companions agreed to go with the leader to learn what he wanted, avoiding a fight with the unfamiliar group.
• The leader sent most of his enforcers away and used his beast-taming technique to make the carriage horse move forward.
• Jiang Zhizhou and the others marveled at the leader's abilities as the carriage proceeded toward Heavenly Luo City.

Yang Qing and his companions questioned the burly man leading them away from the road to Heavenly Luo City, only for him to reveal that their suspicions had clouded their judgment. After Jiangli briefly broke the man’s influence over Yang Qing, the man explained that they were still going to Heavenly Luo City—but not the one they expected.

• Yang Qing and his companions admired the martial skill of the people keeping pace with their fast-moving carriage.
• Yang Qing noticed the group was traveling away from the visible walls of Heavenly Luo City and challenged the burly man leading them.
• The burly man accused Yang Qing of being attached to appearances and suggested his suspicions had distorted what he perceived.
• Yang Qing nearly attacked the man under the influence of a growing hostile impulse, but Jiangli intervened and cleared his mind.
• Yang Qing realized Jiangli’s intervention had been weakened and feared the burly man could restrain even a Divine Beast.
• The burly man said they were heading to a different Heavenly Luo City, then confirmed that two Heavenly Luo Cities existed.

Yang Qing and his companions were brought past one Heavenly Luo City and through a passage to a second, where the guards inspected them before they entered. The burly man told them they were in the Outer City and that everyone lived in the Inner City.

• A burly man showed Yang Qing and his companions a token of the Luo Family and ordered them to go to the Heavenly Luo City behind the one ahead, saying he was following orders and they could no longer change course.
• Yang Qing and the others rode through the first Heavenly Luo City and into the wilderness, where darkness gave way to a second, towering Heavenly Luo City.
• The guards at the second city inspected the burly man's identification plaque and used a small stick to examine Yang Qing and his companions before allowing them through.
• Yang Qing and the others entered the deserted Outer City, and the burly man explained that everyone lived in the Inner City.

Yang Qing and his companions were brought to a secluded courtyard linked to the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom, where they waited to meet a hidden master. After boarding a larger carriage and realizing someone was concealed behind its beaded curtains, Yang Qing directly asked why they had been summoned.

• A burly man took Yang Qing and his companions through the busy city and left them at a small courtyard, telling them someone would come for them in an hour.
• Yang Qing and the others found Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom traditions throughout the courtyard and suspected their hosts might want them to keep searching for the Twelve Holy Envoys.
• They waited without sitting down or touching the flowers, while Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou examined the courtyard plants.
• After an hour, a hoarse-voiced attendant arrived with a larger carriage, and Yang Qing and his companions boarded it.
• A concealed person behind beaded curtains said they knew where he came from, and Yang Qing asked why he had sent people to bring them there.

Yang Qing and his companions confronted the hidden man who had manipulated their fates, but he seized Jiangli and nearly killed it to demonstrate his power. After the man vanished and ordered them to find the other successors to the Twelve Holy Envoys, the group tried to save Jiangli.

• The man behind the beaded curtain revealed that he had been directing Yang Qing and his companions and warned them they could not choose their own path until their strength surpassed his.
• Jiangli leapt behind the curtain, and the man seized it by the neck, threatening to kill it.
• Yang Qing lunged to save Jiangli, and Bu Er, Ouyang Lin, and the others rushed after him, but the man disappeared from behind the curtain.
• The man reappeared behind the group, mocked their attempt to save Jiangli, and ordered them to find the other successors to the Twelve Holy Envoys.
• Yang Qing asked Xiao Zhou and Mu Feng to help Jiang Zhizhou treat Jiangli, whose life was fading.

After the mysterious man killed Jiangli and left the group a better carriage and a clue, Yang Qing resolved to continue investigating the Twelve Holy Envoys. The clue pointed to Xiangyang City, where Mu Feng revealed that his Lineage was located and connected to the new lead.

• Jiangli died in Yang Qing's arms despite Jiang Zhizhou and Mu Feng giving it medicine, and Yang Qing decided to take its body out of the carriage.
• Yang Qing realized that Heavenly Luo City had never been divided into two cities and vowed to settle his debts with the mysterious man.
• Yang Qing concluded that the man had left clues for them in the carriage, and Mu Feng brought out a box pointing to Xiangyang City.
• Yang Qing told Mu Feng that he could share his troubles with the group when he was ready.
• Mu Feng revealed that his Lineage was in Xiangyang City and that the new lead on the Twelve Holy Envoys lay within it.

Mu Feng revealed that he had been born into the Chen Household, where his half-brother stole his Holy Envoy token, and decided to return to Xiangyang City with Yang Qing and the others. The group planned to use the danger surrounding the Twelve Holy Envoys to make Chen Zhilan face the consequences of taking Mu Feng’s place.

• Mu Feng told Yang Qing that he had taken his maternal grandparents’ surname, Mu, and no longer cared about returning to his lineage.
• Yang Qing and the others buried Jiangli on a hillside overlooking the sea, then set off for Xiangyang City.
• Mu Feng explained that the person they were searching for might be him, but Chen Zhilan had stolen his Holy Envoy token and claimed his position.
• Mu Feng planned to expose Chen Zhilan to the dangers of being a Holy Envoy and use the mysterious man’s interest in the Twelve Holy Envoys against the Chen Household.
• The group arrived in Xiangyang City, where the Chen Household controlled much of the commerce, and Yang Qing agreed to help Mu Feng confront them.

Yang Qing and Mu Feng arrived at the Chen Estate to confront the household, whose guards dismissed them as nobodies. Mu Feng presented the Chen Family Heirloom Jade, forcing the guards to take it inside while the group waited.

• Yang Qing and his companions reached Xiangyang City, pawned their carriage for safekeeping, and spent two days exploring the city.
• Yang Qing learned that Mu Feng's father, the head of the Chen Household, would return that day with the household's eldest young master, so they decided to visit the estate.
• Two Chen Estate guards stopped Yang Qing's carriage and insulted him when he asked to see the household head.
• Mu Feng showed the guards the Chen Family Heirloom Jade and told them to present it to their master.
• The guards recognized the jade's markings, took it inside, and asked Yang Qing and his companions to wait.

Mu Feng entered the Chen Estate with Yang Qing and the others after presenting the Chen Family Heirloom Jade. His return provoked Madam Ji, who confronted him after he knocked down her youngest son.

• A guard recognized Mu Feng's Jade Pendant and allowed him and his companions into the Chen Estate.
• Madam Ji's young son brought out the jade, insulted Mu Feng and his companions, and treated the heirloom carelessly.
• Mu Feng reclaimed the chipped jade and tossed the boy aside when he called Mu Feng a bastard.
• Mu Feng questioned whether Chen Jing still ruled the estate as Madam Ji arrived and threatened him.

Mu Feng visited the Chen Household with Yang Qing, Bu Er, and the others, provoking Madam Ji while showing her a Holy Envoy token numbered nine. He left without confronting her, but confirmed to Bu Er that he had come for revenge.

• Madam Ji confronted Mu Feng and reminded him that she had once persuaded Chen Dewang to spare his life.
• Mu Feng introduced his companions and claimed they had come to pay a special visit because Chen Dewang and Chen Zhilan had returned.
• Mu Feng showed Madam Ji a button bearing the Holy Envoy number nine, and her reaction revealed that she understood its significance.
• Madam Ji ordered Mu Feng to leave and warned him not to scheme against Chen Zhilan.
• Mu Feng led Yang Qing, Bu Er, and the others out of the Chen Household, then told Bu Er that he had come for revenge.

Mu Feng and Yang Qing planned to use Mu Feng’s Holy Envoy Token to lure Chen Zhilan into disrupting the hidden man’s plans. Mu Feng recalled that his Jade Pendant could preserve anything it touched, and Yang Qing suggested its power was Time Imprisonment.

• Mu Feng said Chen Zhilan had gained his status through a Holy Envoy Token and wanted to use the token in his hand to draw him out.
• Yang Qing, Mu Feng, Bu Er, and the others agreed to oppose the hidden man and use the token to interfere with his search for the Twelve Holy Envoys.
• At an inn, Yang Qing reasoned that Chen Zhilan would be more interested if Mu Feng’s token had a unique power.
• Mu Feng recalled that his Jade Pendant had fallen on his dead rabbit, which remained unchanged for years after he buried it.
• Yang Qing called the token’s power Time Imprisonment, and Mu Feng offered to take them to see the rabbit the next day.

Yang Qing and his companions plotted to exploit Chen Zhilan’s lack of children to gain access to the Chen Estate and destroy the Holy Envoy Token. Ouyang Lin’s suspiciously easy visit led Yang Qing to suspect that a hidden lord was manipulating them, so they decided to find another way to help Mu Feng.

• Ouyang Lin told Yang Qing that rumors claimed Chen Zhilan had no children, and Yang Qing proposed using the matter to pressure him.
• Yang Qing and his companions spent several days preparing, then bribed a minor steward to bring Ouyang Lin into the Chen Estate as a miracle physician.
• Ouyang Lin met Chen Zhilan’s personal steward, left a prescription, and returned to warn the others that his visit had gone too smoothly.
• Yang Qing reasoned that a hidden lord might be waiting for them to eliminate the Chen Household’s false Holy Envoys and then blame them for destroying the token.
• Yang Qing and the others decided to find another way to let Mu Feng vent his anger without falling into the hidden lord’s scheme.

Chen Zhilan decided to steal the Holy Envoy Token from his mother, Madam Ji, and use it to trick Mu Feng into giving up his higher-ranked token. As he left with the brocade box, an unfamiliar man intercepted him, took it, and warned him to stay in the manor if he valued his life.

• Mu Feng and the others concluded that Chen Zhilan’s success through the Holy Envoy Token could bring about the Chen Household’s downfall.
• Chen Zhilan decided to follow the prescription and obtain Mu Feng’s token, believing he could use his own as bait.
• Madam Ji warned Chen Zhilan that Mu Feng’s return and new token might be a trap, and refused to give him the Jade Pendant.
• After Madam Ji left, Chen Zhilan secretly took the brocade box containing the token from her inner chamber.
• An unfamiliar man stopped Chen Zhilan, seized the brocade box, and warned him not to leave the manor if he valued his life.

Chen Zhilan lost the Holy Envoy Token to a mysterious thief, while Qin Yue confronted Yang Qing and the others with Mu Feng’s Jade Pendant. After Qin Yue shattered the pendant, he declared that Mu Feng would not be able to escape.

• A mysterious man stole the Holy Envoy Token from Chen Zhilan, who collapsed in despair after failing to pursue him.
• Qin Yue arrived at the inn and told Yang Qing and the others that he had come because of their ties to the Chen Estate.
• Qin Yue presented a brocade box containing Mu Feng’s Jade Pendant and challenged him to reclaim the keepsake his mother had left him.
• Mu Feng refused to take the pendant, saying it no longer belonged to him and asking Qin Yue to leave.
• Qin Yue knocked the box to the floor and shattered the pendant, then told Mu Feng he would not be getting away.

Qin Yue tried to force Yang Qing and his companions to go to his residence for punishment, destroying the inn to intimidate them. When he attacked Yang Qing, he was shocked by the result.

• Qin Yue threw the Jade Pendant to the ground, collapsing the inn while leaving Yang Qing's group and the surrounding area unharmed.
• Yang Qing and his companions left the ruins, but Qin Yue told them to come with him and claimed they had to receive punishment for shattering the token.
• Yang Qing questioned Qin Yue's authority to take them away, and Qin Yue insisted they could not leave.
• Qin Yue turned to walk away, expecting Yang Qing and the others to follow, but a Binding Formation appeared in his path.
• Qin Yue dismissed the formation and struck at Yang Qing, then stared in shock at what happened.

Yang Qing used the Rootless Wood to deflect Qin Yue’s attack, then left with his companions after Qin Yue compensated the innkeepers. As the group considered the Holy Envoy Tokens and their next move, they encountered Qin Yue again outside another inn.

• Qin Yue attacked Yang Qing, but Yang Qing used the Rootless Wood to disperse the strike and destroy the inn’s rubble.
• Qin Yue recognized the Rootless Wood as the Eastern Radiance Remnants’ Sacred Relic and let Yang Qing and his companions leave.
• Qin Yue gave the innkeepers a banknote to compensate them, then departed.
• Yang Qing and Mu Feng discussed Qin Yue, the Holy Envoy Tokens, and the Chen Household’s loss of its status as a Holy Envoy Successor.
• Yang Qing proposed gathering the remaining tokens to uncover their purpose, then led the group to find a place to rest.
• Yang Qing and his companions saw Qin Yue standing outside the inn they had chosen.

Yang Qing and his companions waited for Qin Yue to make his move, then invited him to tea and discussed why he had followed them. Qin Yue revealed that he wanted to know why Yang Qing persisted in doing something he believed impossible, leaving the reason unexplained.

• Qin Yue followed Yang Qing and his companions to their inn, and Yang Qing suspected he wanted the Rootless Wood.
• Yang Qing told his companions to stay put, reasoning that Qin Yue was more anxious than they were and that they might have interests in common.
• After two days, Qin Yue came to the courtyard, where Yang Qing invited him to tea.
• Qin Yue asked to see the Rootless Wood, but Yang Qing questioned why he had followed them if the relic alone was not enough to motivate him.
• Qin Yue said he wanted to know why Yang Qing insisted on doing something he knew could not be done, and Yang Qing replied that they would not act against their own wishes.

Yang Qing invited Qin Yue to travel with his companions instead of continuing to serve the leader of the Eastern Radiance Remnants. Qin Yue returned that evening and agreed to join them under two conditions, while Yang Qing added one of his own.

• Yang Qing told Qin Yue that their group had caused the Jade Pendant to shatter by pooling their efforts, and argued that they still had a chance against Qin Yue's master.
• Yang Qing invited Qin Yue to travel with the group, but Qin Yue left without answering; Yang Qing then told everyone to prepare to leave the next day.
• Qin Yue returned that evening and said he would travel with them if he did not have to participate in their actions and could sometimes make their troubles worse, and if no one but Yang Qing knew he had joined them.
• Yang Qing accepted Qin Yue's two conditions and said Qin Yue would also have to agree to one condition of his own.

Yang Qing asked Qin Yue where the next Holy Envoy Token would appear and explained that his group wanted to gather the tokens to learn their purpose. Qin Yue agreed to cooperate, and their discussion linked the tokens’ return to the reappearance of the Eastern Radiance Ruins.

• Yang Qing asked Qin Yue where the next Holy Envoy Token would appear, and Qin Yue asked what Yang Qing intended to do with the remaining tokens.
• Yang Qing said his group wanted to gather the tokens to discover their purpose, and Qin Yue admitted he also wanted to know the truth behind them.
• Qin Yue recalled that the Twelve Holy Envoys had vanished after Emperor Zetian’s fall and that Eastern Splendor’s Final Secret Archive had disappeared.
• Qin Yue told Yang Qing that the Twelve Holy Envoys had begun appearing again over the past two years.
• Yang Qing connected their return to the reappearance of the Eastern Radiance Ruins and said they needed to uncover the truth.

Qin Yue warned Yang Qing that a token connected to the troubled Du, Lin, Qian, and Si households might soon appear, possibly putting Yang Qing in danger. Yang Qing stayed in Xiangyang City, where two armed men confronted him and showed him Lin Zhong’s inherited snuff bottle to make him comply.

• Qin Yue told Yang Qing that tokens belonging to the Du, Lin, Qian, and Si households still needed to be found, and hinted that one might come for Yang Qing.
• Qin Yue asked whether Yang Qing would choose a token or righteousness if his own safety were at stake, and Yang Qing decided to remain in Xiangyang City rather than leave.
• Yang Qing and Ouyang Lin encountered two men with strong murderous auras while strolling through the city.
• The two men invited Yang Qing to come with them and threatened his friends if he refused.
• One man produced Lin Zhong’s snuff bottle, making Yang Qing and Ouyang Lin realize the men had leverage over Lin Zhong.

Yang Qing and his companions were lured to a courtyard where Lin Zhong and Du Yongquan had been captured, and their captors demanded Yang Qing surrender the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring. Yang Qing challenged their claim and sent the green Rootless Wood toward the speaker, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Yang Qing realized Lin Zhong was being held and followed the two men with his companions to a courtyard.
• Lin Zhong warned Yang Qing to leave, but Yang Qing stayed, while Lin Zhong wondered about the captors’ connection to the Holy Envoy Tokens and Du Yongquan’s fate.
• Du Yongquan arrived in the courtyard, confirming Yang Qing’s suspicion that someone was pursuing the Holy Envoy Tokens.
• A man demanded Yang Qing hand over the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring, claiming they belonged to his master.
• Yang Qing rejected the claim and sent a streak of green light toward the man, telling him to ask the Rootless Wood whether Yang Qing was only borrowing it.

Yang Qing confronted two men who demanded the Rootless Wood and threatened his companions, while he tried to uncover their true plans. He exposed their personal greed, but the men still held Lin Zhong hostage as Yang Qing demanded to know what they intended to do with the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring.

• Yang Qing used the Rootless Wood to wound one of the men, who accused him of violating their master's taboos and demanded that he surrender it.
• Yang Qing rejected the men's claims about their master and said he and his companions would decide their own fate.
• The second man demanded the Rootless Wood and threatened to kill everyone present, while Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou guarded Yang Qing.
• The blood-covered man grabbed Lin Zhong by the throat and used his life to pressure Yang Qing into handing over the Rootless Wood.
• Yang Qing inferred that the men had used the token to lure them there for the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring, then asked what they planned to do with the relics.

Yang Qing refused to surrender the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring to the two men who had captured Lin Zhong and Du Yongquan. He exposed their selfish motives and deduced that the items and his life were connected to the Sacred Emperor, leaving everyone stunned.

• Yang Qing rejected the men's claim that handing over the items would keep him alive and accused them of misusing their master's name.
• Yang Qing refused to surrender the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring, despite the men holding Lin Zhong and Du Yongquan hostage.
• The men hesitated when Yang Qing pointed out that killing the hostages would not get them the items, exposing their plan to earn promotion by obtaining them.
• Yang Qing offered to hear their desires and then said his life had been tied to the Sacred Emperor ever since he obtained the Rootless Wood.
• The men fell silent and released Lin Zhong as Yang Qing concluded that the Rootless Wood, Bone Jade Thumb Ring, and his life were connected to the Sacred Emperor, startling Bu Er and the others.