Recaps

Yang Qing and his companions witnessed the Sacred Emperor’s campaign against neighboring countries and saw the suffering it caused ordinary people. While studying a map of the conquered cities, they began to suspect that the Sacred Emperor’s advance followed a hidden purpose tied to the former Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom.

• Yang Qing and his companions hid beside the road as Eastern Splendor’s army marched past toward war.
• Jiangli told Yang Qing that cities within several hundred miles would soon become satellite cities of Eastern Splendor.
• The Sacred Emperor personally led a force of one hundred thousand to defeat a million enemy soldiers and more than double Eastern Splendor’s territory.
• Yang Qing and his companions saw the devastation and displaced people left by the campaign, though the small city where they stayed had surrendered without a fight.
• Mu Feng studied the map of conquered cities and told Yang Qing that they were connected to cities of the former Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom.
• Yang Qing recognized a pattern in the campaign route and wondered whether the Sacred Emperor was pursuing an old scheme.

Yang Qing and his companions realized Emperor Zetian was pursuing immortality and would eventually target Yang Qing’s body. They went to Xiangyang City to reach the Heavenly Stone, but arrived without knowing how to enter the resting place of Eastern Splendor’s ancestors.

• Yang Qing and his companions connected the cities Emperor Zetian had conquered and saw that they formed a phoenix around the Heavenly Stone in Xiangyang City.
• Yang Qing concluded Emperor Zetian sought immortality so he could preserve his rule, and Bu Er warned that Gongsun Ze’s body was only a temporary vessel before Emperor Zetian targeted Yang Qing.
• Yang Qing chose to strike directly at Emperor Zetian’s plans by returning to Xiangyang City.
• Mu Feng worried Emperor Zetian would anticipate their move, but Yang Qing decided they had little choice but to proceed.
• Yang Qing and his companions entered Xiangyang City, then found themselves unable to access the resting place without Qin Yue’s help.

Yang Qing and his companions remained trapped in Xiangyang City, unable to enter the ancestral Resting Place and confront the Heavenly Stone of prophecy. As Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou debated power and the Sacred Emperor, the Mysterious Man from Unrivaled City appeared, offering a possible solution to their impasse.

• Yang Qing and his companions spent three days trying and failing to find a way into the secret realm, then paused their efforts so they could regain their composure.
• Jiang Zhizhou asked Yang Qing whether he had ever considered rising to the summit so they could take control of their own fates.
• Yang Qing warned Jiang Zhizhou that power and immortality could corrupt them into becoming like the Sacred Emperor, and Jiang Zhizhou admitted he had become fixated on the idea.
• Jiang Zhizhou asked how they could enter the ancestral Resting Place, which remained their most urgent problem.
• The Mysterious Man they had met in Unrivaled City appeared again, and his arrival seemed poised to solve their problem.

Yang Qing confronted the black-robed Mysterious Man, who warned him against resisting the Sacred Emperor. When Yang Qing and his companions cut away the man’s hood, they discovered a familiar face and realized he was not the original Envoy.

• The black-robed Mysterious Man arrived at Yang Qing’s courtyard in Xiangyang City and warned him that resisting the Sacred Emperor would shorten his life.
• Yang Qing rejected the warning and challenged the man to reveal his face, saying he lacked the standing to advise him while hiding his identity.
• Yang Qing signaled Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou, and they used Sword Qi to slice away half the man’s hood.
• Yang Qing said he had guessed the man was not the original Envoy, while Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou cried out in shock at his revealed face.

Yang Qing discovered that the Black Hat was Qin Yue, the friend he had believed died at the Life-and-Death Gate. Qin Yue warned that the Sacred Emperor’s centuries-long plan left Yang Qing no choice, but Yang Qing refused to surrender and learned that Qin Yue had been sent to persuade or control him.

• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou reacted in shock when the Black Hat revealed his face, and Yang Qing recognized Qin Yue, whom he had believed dead.
• Yang Qing explained that their shared past had exposed Qin Yue’s disguise, and Qin Yue warned him that the Sacred Emperor’s plan could not be defeated.
• Qin Yue argued that Yang Qing had no choice but to accept his role as a sacrifice, while Yang Qing recalled his oath to command his own fate.
• Yang Qing refused to give up trying, and Qin Yue warned that the Sacred Emperor would be away for months but that Yang Qing would lose his freedom if he resisted.
• Yang Qing understood that Qin Yue had been sent to persuade him and would be forced to control him if persuasion failed.

Yang Qing pressed Qin Yue to reveal what he intended to do as the Sacred Emperor’s Envoy, while refusing to abandon the chance to investigate the Heavenly Stone. Qin Yue chose to obey the Sacred Emperor’s orders outwardly but secretly gave Yang Qing a clue before attacking Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou.

• Yang Qing questioned Qin Yue’s intentions and suspected the Sacred Emperor had used both of them as pieces in his plans.
• Qin Yue said the Sacred Emperor controlled the outcome and urged Yang Qing to accept a few more years of life, but Yang Qing refused to surrender the chance to examine the Heavenly Stone.
• Yang Qing explained that the Heavenly Stone might contain hidden information and that this could be their last chance to uncover it.
• Qin Yue warned that the Sacred Emperor had planned for centuries and could not tolerate their interference, then told Yang Qing he could move somewhere else but not leave Xiangyang City.
• As he passed Yang Qing, Qin Yue traced the word “south” on his hand, then drew his sword and thrust it at Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou.

Yang Qing refused Qin Yue’s attempt to help him and his companions escape, forcing Qin Yue to leave so he might avoid the Sacred Emperor’s punishment. The Sacred Emperor then appeared briefly at the courtyard gate, leaving Yang Qing aware that their peril remained inescapable.

• Qin Yue pointed his sword at Yang Qing and urged him to leave Xiangyang City, but Yang Qing refused to let him risk his life for them.
• Yang Qing told Qin Yue to leave and act as if they had never met, while Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou attacked Qin Yue and drove him beyond the courtyard gate.
• Yang Qing used an array to prevent Qin Yue from entering again, and Qin Yue eventually boarded his carriage and left.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou accepted that death awaited them, while Jiangli stayed unusually silent in Yang Qing’s arms.
• An image of Gongsun Ze, or Emperor Zetian, appeared briefly at the gate, and Yang Qing realized the Sacred Emperor could reach them from hundreds of li away.

Emperor Zetian brought Qin Yue back to warn Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou against opposing him, then killed Qin Yue with a single palm strike. After burying Qin Yue, the survivors abandoned their plans to reach the Resting Place of the Ancestor Imperial Merchant, and Jiangli awoke.

• Emperor Zetian's Divine Soul carried Qin Yue back to the courtyard gate and released him before Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou.
• Qin Yue traced "Take care" into Yang Qing's palm before dying from the destruction of his heart meridians.
• Yang Qing blamed himself for Qin Yue's death, while Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou urged him to keep living.
• Yang Qing and the others buried Qin Yue and stopped discussing how to enter the Resting Place of the Ancestor Imperial Merchant.
• Jiangli awoke again.

Jiangli revealed that it had sensed an Earth Dragon Upheaval likely to devastate the surrounding region, and Yang Qing considered how to protect the people. Jiangli warned him that the Sacred Emperor might exploit the disaster and urged him to preserve himself first, leaving Yang Qing to question whether he had another choice.

• Yang Qing feared Jiangli's listlessness meant its health had worsened, and his despair over losing those close to him led him to spit blood.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er comforted Yang Qing, and Jiangli explained that it had exhausted itself sensing signs of an Earth Dragon Upheaval.
• Jiangli admitted it could not predict when the upheaval would strike but warned that everything within several hundred miles might be affected.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou about the danger and said they could gamble on finding a chance to survive.
• Jiangli said the Sacred Emperor had sent Astronomical Bureau experts to monitor the earth dragon and suggested the ruler intended to use the disaster's power.
• Jiangli told Yang Qing that he should protect himself before trying to save others, and Yang Qing wondered whether he had any other path.

Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou followed Jiangli’s directions into a valley to escape the Earth Dragon Upheaval, reaching a raised platform beside a waterfall. They survived the first major tremor there, but waited anxiously as the disaster intensified around them.

• Yang Qing accepted Jiangli’s warning that he could not alert the people to the disaster without drawing the Eastern Splendor Royal Family’s attention.
• When the Earth Dragon Upheaval began, Yang Qing stopped Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou from heading for the mountains and sent them toward the valley Jiangli had indicated.
• Yang Qing and his companions traveled for hours through the dark valley until they reached a waterfall and found a raised platform beside it.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou used ropes and daggers to climb the platform, then brought Yang Qing up after checking the area.
• A deep rumble toppled trees and opened huge pits in the forest, while the three companions waited on the platform for the next wave of upheaval.

Yang Qing, Jiang Zhizhou, and Bu Er waited out the Earth Dragon Upheaval on Jiangli’s high platform as tremors, fissures, lightning, and fire devastated the valley. After two days, they remained sheltered, but the platform had sunk twenty feet and the waterfall was nearly dry.

• Yang Qing noticed the valley had grown eerily silent, and Bu Er climbed down to catch fish.
• The earth dragon’s movement shook the platform, and Bu Er hurried back up with the fish.
• Further tremors split the nearby woodland and opened a deep fissure, while lightning ignited a vast fire.
• The fissure turned toward the pool, draining much of its water, and Yang Qing reflected that Emperor Zetian’s defiance of the Heavenly Dao would end in ruin.
• Over the next two days, the earth dragon split the valley and reduced the waterfall to a narrow stream as the high platform sank twenty feet.

As the platform sank to ground level, Jiangli guided Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou through fallen woods instead of a winding trail. After Yang Qing was injured by a branch with a corpse-like odor, he realized the wound was worsening and ordered Bu Er to cut away the affected flesh.

• Yang Qing watched the platform sink during another earth dragon tremor and waited until it finally reached ground level.
• Jiangli told Yang Qing to avoid the winding trail and escape along the edge of the fallen woods.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou struggled through the woods, and Yang Qing emerged with a branch embedded in his back.
• Yang Qing noticed the branch smelled like the odor they had found near the platform and suspected the wound was contaminated.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou found the wound had spread, so Yang Qing urged Bu Er to gouge the affected flesh from his back.

Yang Qing used burning wild peach wood to purge the strange corruption in his wound, then climbed to survey the earthquake’s devastation. He saw that a corner of Xiangyang City containing the ancestral emperor’s resting place and the Heavenly Stone had vanished, leaving him unsure whether the change was a blessing or a calamity.

• Yang Qing stopped Bu Er from cutting away more flesh and told him to smoke the wound with branches from a wild peach tree.
• Bu Er repeatedly applied the burning peach wood until the wound stopped bleeding and a layer of blackened flesh fell away as ash.
• Yang Qing reassured Bu Er that they must live and wondered how the world outside had changed.
• Yang Qing led Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou out of the valley and climbed a nearby hillside to survey the terrain.
• Yang Qing saw that an enormous earthquake had devastated the land and sheared off a corner of Xiangyang City, including the ancestral emperor’s resting place and the Heavenly Stone.

After the earthquake destroyed much of Xiangyang City and the entrance to the ancestral resting place, Yang Qing realized Emperor Zetian was turning the disaster’s survivors into power for the Spirit-Gathering Formation. Yang Qing and his companions remained free for now, as some urgent matter had diverted Emperor Zetian’s attention.

• The earthquake devastated Xiangyang City and buried the entrance Yang Qing and his companions had planned to visit.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and their companion returned to their damaged courtyard, then left because its foundations were unsafe.
• The three found no residents or bodies in the city, and Yang Qing deduced that the survivors had been gathered and guarded.
• Yang Qing realized Emperor Zetian intended to use the disaster’s accumulated resentment to activate the Spirit-Gathering Formation.
• Yang Qing concluded that Emperor Zetian was occupied with another urgent matter, giving the three companions a brief respite.

After seeing black energy rise from Xiangyang City's grieving townsfolk toward the City Lord's Mansion, Yang Qing tried to frustrate the Sacred Emperor's plan by secretly giving the displaced households money. At dawn, black smoke rose again, but Bu Er spotted a change in its color, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Yang Qing and his companions saw black energy gather above the injured and bereaved townsfolk and drift toward the City Lord's Mansion.
• Yang Qing decided to ease the townsfolk's hardship, hoping to reduce their resentment and undermine the Sacred Emperor's plan.
• Yang Qing ordered Bu Er to give households ten taels of silver and Jiang Zhizhou to enlist trustworthy residents to distribute the money.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou carried out their tasks in secret, then returned to report to Yang Qing that night.
• At dawn, black smoke rose again, and Bu Er pointed out that its color had changed in one spot.

Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou’s efforts began weakening the resentment, drawing Emperor Zetian to confront Yang Qing. Yang Qing defied the Sacred Emperor and exposed his limits, and Emperor Zetian chose to watch him for now rather than deal with him directly.

• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou worked through the night and saw the resentment appear briefly before dissipating.
• Yang Qing noticed Emperor Zetian materializing nearby while Bu Er remained unaware.
• Emperor Zetian accused Yang Qing of defying his orders and sabotaging his plans, but Yang Qing calmly challenged the Royal Family’s claim over the Yang Clan.
• Yang Qing explained that repeated use of the Teleportation Art consumed Innate Power and said Emperor Zetian had no time to deal with him.
• Emperor Zetian admitted he could not spare the time and said he would observe Yang Qing’s other abilities.

Emperor Zetian offered Yang Qing and his companions a chance to live longer if they helped resettle the people devastated by the earthquake. Yang Qing rejected the request and questioned the value of the emperor’s promise, leaving their lives in Emperor Zetian’s hands.

• Emperor Zetian proposed sparing Yang Qing, Bu Er, and their companion for the time being if they stayed out of his way.
• Yang Qing asked what Emperor Zetian wanted from them, and the emperor ordered him to arrange food and shelter for earthquake victims.
• Emperor Zetian reminded Yang Qing of the Yang clan’s duty to protect the people, but Yang Qing said they lacked the authority and resources to do so.
• Yang Qing refused Emperor Zetian’s request, doubting that the emperor’s promise to spare them meant anything.
• Emperor Zetian offered to let Yang Qing live a few more years, and Yang Qing told him to kill them quickly instead.

Yang Qing accepted Emperor Zetian’s appointment as City Lord of Xiangyang City, despite seeing it as a shackle, and moved into the City Lord’s Mansion. After discovering that most of the disaster-relief treasury silver was missing, he began investigating the former City Lord and prepared to seek alms for the earthquake victims.

• Gongsun Ru delivered Emperor Zetian’s appointment decree, and Yang Qing accepted the City Lord position while privately anticipating a future fight with the emperor.
• Prefectural Soldiers escorted Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou to the City Lord’s Mansion after the rain eased.
• Yang Qing found less than a million taels of treasury silver remaining, far below the usual reserve of more than ten million.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er to track down the former City Lord’s remaining associates and establish his whereabouts.
• Yang Qing took a roster and left with Jiang Zhizhou to solicit alms for Xiangyang City’s earthquake victims.

Yang Qing visited Xiangyang City’s wealthy merchants and mobilized the Prefectural Soldiers to begin repairing the city’s problems. He remained uncertain whether his efforts could ease the growing resentment gathering over the City Lord’s Mansion.

• Yang Qing persuaded wealthy merchants to help search for the former City Lord and recover the stolen money, promising to use it to rebuild Xiangyang City.
• Jiang Zhizhou dragged a defiant Prefectural Soldier before Yang Qing, who threatened the man for rejecting the Sacred Emperor’s appointment.
• Jiang Zhizhou killed the soldier with a stomp, and the remaining Prefectural Soldiers agreed to follow Yang Qing’s orders.
• Yang Qing assigned the Prefectural Soldiers their tasks and watched them leave to carry them out.
• Jiang Zhizhou worried that the growing cloud of resentment above the City Lord’s Mansion would overwhelm their efforts, but Yang Qing resolved to improve the people’s lives regardless.

After finding a Seven-Story Golden Pagoda with inscriptions nobody could read, Yang Qing searched the ruined temple where it was discovered. Jiangli revealed that the pagoda’s base concealed something that could only be exposed with vinegar, but advised Yang Qing not to look.

• Yang Qing learned that Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou had found a Seven-Story Golden Pagoda in an underground chamber beneath a ruined temple.
• Yang Qing examined the pagoda’s unfamiliar inscriptions and took Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou to inspect the chamber.
• The three found only the pagoda’s base, and Yang Qing searched it for clues.
• Yang Qing asked Jiangli to inspect the base, and Jiangli identified its material as incense stone powder and said aromatic vinegar would reveal what was inside.
• Jiangli advised Yang Qing not to uncover the base’s contents.

Yang Qing and his companions uncovered inscriptions in the Underground Palace that revealed the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s history and the cost of inheriting its extraordinary lifespan. Jiangli told them they had already become Immortal Thunder Kingdom people, and Yang Qing decided to seek more treasure.

• Bu Er poured vinegar over the buried foundations, revealing inscriptions like those on Yang Qing’s golden pagoda.
• Jiangli read the inscriptions aloud after enhancing Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou so they could understand its words.
• Jiangli explained that the Immortal Thunder Kingdom had never been meant to exist and that its people suffered from long lives and difficulty having children.
• Jiangli recounted how the kingdom’s last survivor built the Underground Palace to preserve its treasures and history.
• Jiangli told Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou that finding the Treasure Vault had made them Immortal Thunder Kingdom people, exposing them to danger from those seeking their blood.
• Yang Qing accepted that they could not undo the change and proposed searching for more treasure.

Yang Qing and his companions searched the Underground Palace for the formation that would open its true entrance, guided by Jiangli’s account of a seemingly unrelated love story. Yang Qing recognized the story’s clue in a fissure on the pagoda base, and Bu Er’s strike revealed a hidden world beneath it.

• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou searched the tiny Underground Palace but found no formation before dawn approached.
• Jiangli recalled a story about a poor young man and a woman whose love ended because he never confessed his feelings.
• Yang Qing realized that the story’s separation might point to a crack and asked the others to search for one.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou found a fine fissure in the pagoda base, and Yang Qing asked Bu Er to strike it with his sword.
• Bu Er struck the fissure, revealing that a hidden world lay beneath it.

Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou entered the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s Underground Palace through a bronze Time Gate, but found only an empty stone passage. They discovered their footprints on the paving—and then a child-sized fourth set appeared among them.

• Bu Er opened the crack in the ground and revealed an ancient bronze door, which Jiangli identified as the Time Gate leading into the Underground Palace.
• Jiangli explained that the Time Gate could freeze time and that evolving their blood might make them gods, while Yang Qing said they needed power to survive.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou pushed the heavy bronze door open and entered before it closed behind them.
• The three men walked through a vast, empty space and found no treasure or traps, leaving Jiangli confused.
• Yang Qing noticed their footprints on the stone paving, and he and his companions realized they should not have left tracks while walking normally.
• Yang Qing spotted a faint fourth set of footprints, about half the size of theirs, and stopped Bu Er from speaking.

Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou followed Wood into the valley of the Immortal Thunder Kingdom's Underground Palace, where Wood presented Yang Qing with the Sacred Bone Token. They learned it could command beasts, but Yang Qing refused to claim it simply for its power, leaving Wood's plan thwarted.

• Wood revealed himself after Yang Qing noticed a fourth trail of footprints, then led Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou into a valley.
• Wood brought the three to his courtyard and handed Yang Qing a stone that Jiangli identified as the Sacred Bone Token.
• Jiangli explained that the token came from an ancient ruler's rib and could command beasts, though its power had diminished over time.
• Wood described the token's power and waited for Yang Qing and the others to become greedy, but they showed little interest.
• Yang Qing asked Wood why they should take something that did not belong to them.

Yang Qing rejected Wood’s attempts to give him the Sacred Bone Token and explored another courtyard with Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou. They discovered Heavenly Fragrance Divine Dew in a flower painting, and Wood was shocked that they had obtained it.

• Yang Qing refused Wood’s offer of the Sacred Bone Token and left the courtyard with Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou.
• Wood followed Yang Qing, brooding over his clan’s destiny and the old ancestor’s warning.
• Yang Qing entered a spotless courtyard drawn to its sunflowers, which reminded him of his lost homeland, Western Chu.
• Yang Qing found fragrant droplets on a peony in a painting and shook the flower to share them with Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou.
• Bu Er expelled foul qi and felt lighter after receiving the dew, and the three bowed to the painting before leaving.
• Wood watched them depart in shock, realizing they had obtained Heavenly Fragrance Divine Dew.