Recaps

Liu Yu took charge of patrolling the south side of the Spirit Herb Garden, established strict discipline among the Qi Refining disciples, and studied his cultivation arts while overseeing the defenses. Two years later, he was again on duty with Yan Hongyu’s group and returned to the hut after checking the surroundings.

• Yan Hongyu assigned Liu Yu to patrol the south and explained how to operate the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation.
• Liu Yu warned the three Qi Refining disciples that negligence would bring severe punishment and used his spirit pressure to compel their obedience.
• The disciples took up posts in the watchtowers and along the formation’s edge, while Liu Yu inspected the area with his divine sense.
• Liu Yu set up a barrier around the hut and studied the Azure Yang Art, Divine Preservation Art, and Spirit-Concealing Art, checking the surroundings at irregular intervals.
• Two years passed, and Liu Yu returned to the hut after assigning the usual patrols and checking the area during another duty rotation with Yan Hongyu’s group.

A Hehuan Sect raiding force discovered the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden and launched a surprise attack on its formation. Liu Yu received an emergency warning and left his cabin as the assault began.

• A black-robed cultivator identified the Spirit Herb Garden and reported its location to Steward Lu.
• Steward Lu led ten Foundation Establishment cultivators and more than twenty Qi Refining cultivators toward the garden for a surprise raid.
• A watchtower disciple spotted the incoming spells, raised the alarm, and sent Voice-Transmitting Talismans to Liu Yu and the other stewards.
• The attackers shattered the garden's illusion formation and bombarded the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation, but its protective shield held.
• Liu Yu received the emergency talisman, opened his cabin's formation, and went outside.

Liu Yu used the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation and the Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades to hold off a Hehuan Sect assault while concealing his true strength. Yan Hongyu and the others arrived to reinforce the defenders, and Yan Hongyu prepared to confront Steward Lu’s transformed Spirit Artifact.

• Liu Yu steadied the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation and sent dark wind blades against the enemy’s Qi Refining Period cultivators.
• Liu Yu used the Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades and ordered three Qi Refining Period disciples to intercept attacks aimed at the formation.
• Steward Lu blocked the dark wind blades, then attacked the formation with a High-Grade Spirit Artifact shaped like a black tiger.
• The formation shook under the intensified assault, but Yan Hongyu, Ding Hui, and Cao Mengyu arrived with reinforcements.
• Liu Yu handed control of the formation to Cao Mengyu and pretended to fight an enemy Foundation Establishment cultivator with all his strength.
• Yan Hongyu took out a black ring and prepared to confront Steward Lu’s transformed long black staff.

Yan Hongyu, Liu Yu, Cao Mengyu, and Ding Hui defended the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation against a group of Foundation Establishment attackers until reinforcements arrived. The defenders gained the advantage among the Qi Refining cultivators, but one Foundation Establishment middle stage enemy still threatened the formation.

• Yan Hongyu used the Black Ring to hold off Steward Lu, while Cao Mengyu wielded the formation to block three attackers and Liu Yu and Ding Hui engaged other enemies.
• Liu Yu easily blocked the Purple-Robed Cultivator’s golden arrows and Dark-Gold Flying Sword with the Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades and Golden Steel Banner, while the formation came under heavy assault.
• Three Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden arrived and engaged three attackers, leaving one Foundation Establishment middle stage cultivator free to strike the formation.
• The arriving Qi Refining disciples gave the defenders an advantage in numbers, and Yan Hongyu ordered several of them to harass the remaining cultivator as he attacked the formation.

Liu Yu helped defend the Spirit Herb Garden as the battle around its formation stalled and Lu Fubin considered retreat. Liu Yu then killed the Purple-Robed Cultivator with a surprise Yin Thunder Pearl and follow-up attacks, while Lu Fubin's attempt to intervene came too late.

• Liu Yu and the enemy cultivators traded attacks around the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation, but neither side could break the stalemate.
• Yan Hongyu identified Lu Fubin and condemned him for attacking the Primordial Yang Sect's resource site, while he weighed retreating.
• Liu Yu concealed a Yin Thunder Pearl among his fireballs and detonated it beside the Purple-Robed Cultivator, grievously wounding him and shattering his defensive artifact.
• Liu Yu recovered the Purple-Robed Cultivator's Dark-Gold Flying Sword and struck him with the Spirit-Shocking Thorn as Lu Fubin and the other Hehuan Sect cultivators tried to intervene.
• Liu Yu's flaming Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades pierced the Purple-Robed Cultivator, and the Azure Yang Demonic Flame burned him to ash before his attackers could rescue him.

Liu Yu helped repel the Hehuan Sect’s attack on the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden after killing a Foundation Establishment Realm enemy. Lu Fubin ordered a retreat, and Yan Hongyu’s group considered whether to pursue.

• Liu Yu used the Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades and the formation to hold off the remaining enemy cultivator while the Primordial Yang Sect cultivators rallied around him.
• Yan Hongyu and the other Primordial Yang Sect cultivators reassessed Liu Yu after seeing him kill the Purple-Robed Cultivator.
• Liu Yu and the remaining enemy cultivator exchanged weakened attacks as both conserved their strength, while Lu Fubin watched Liu Yu with malice.
• Lu Fubin ordered the Hehuan Sect cultivators to retreat, and their Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and Qi Refining Period cultivators withdrew north.
• The Primordial Yang Sect cultivators looked to Yan Hongyu to decide whether to pursue the retreating enemies.

After the Hehuan Sect cultivators withdrew, Yan Hongyu ordered the group to stay at the Bing Six Herb Garden and strengthen its defenses rather than pursue them. Reinforcements arrived from Moonwatch City, and Liu Yu began reporting how the surprise attack unfolded.

• Yan Hongyu stopped the others from pursuing the retreating Hehuan Sect cultivators and directed them to discuss the Spirit Herb Garden's defenses.
• Cao Mengyu and a senior brother questioned Liu Yu about his victory and spoils, but he deflected their questions and Yan Hongyu changed the subject.
• The seven Foundation Establishment cultivators waited while Qi Refining disciples cleaned up the battlefield.
• Hu Zhiwei led nine Foundation Establishment reinforcements from Moonwatch City and asked what had happened.
• Liu Yu began recounting the attack because he had guarded the southern side where the Hehuan Sect cultivators struck.

Liu Yu recounted the attack on the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden while concealing his use of the Spirit-Shocking Thorn. As Yan Hongyu sought reinforcements, Liu Yu weighed escape from the Primordial Yang Sect, and Hu Zhiwei agreed to help after a private discussion with her.

• Liu Yu described how he had killed the Purple-Robed Cultivator, omitting the Spirit-Shocking Thorn, and Hu Zhiwei praised his actions.
• The cultivators recounted the enemy attack, and Hu Zhiwei questioned the Qi Refining Period disciple who had first spotted the enemies.
• Yan Hongyu urged Hu Zhiwei to request Foundation Establishment reinforcements, while Liu Yu worried that the garden might be attacked again and considered a way to escape the sect.
• Hu Zhiwei said he would report the situation to the Elders Council, then prepared to return to Moonwatch City with the other cultivators.
• Yan Hongyu stopped Hu Zhiwei and spoke with him through Divine Sense; after their exchange, he nodded with a satisfied smile.

After the enemy reinforcements departed, Liu Yu rewarded the disciple who had spotted the attack and considered the Spirit Herb Garden’s exposure and his own chances of survival. He then searched the Purple-Robed Cultivator’s storage bag, finding spirit stones, cultivation pills, artifacts, and other items.

• Hu Zhiwei and the nine reinforcements left for Moonwatch City, and Yan Hongyu assigned the cultivators to remain vigilant and rotate their duties.
• Liu Yu praised Yan Kai for discovering the enemy and gave him a bottle of Jade Spirit Pills as a reward.
• Liu Yu inspected the exposed Spirit Herb Garden, reflected on the danger of the ongoing war, and returned to his hut after nightfall.
• Liu Yu emptied the Purple-Robed Cultivator’s storage bag and added its spirit stones to his reserves.
• Liu Yu identified three bottles of Qi Refining Powder, discarded the cultivator’s ordinary jade slips, and burned his clothing.

Liu Yu refined two top-grade metal-element magical artifacts and continued cultivating and studying secret arts while concealing his true progress. Three days later, reinforcements arrived at the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden, and the cultivators reorganized into new groups under Yan Hongyu's continued command.

• Liu Yu named the two artifacts the Sharpgold Sword and Gleaming Gold Bow, erased their former owner's imprints, and refined them for his own use.
• Liu Yu studied the Divine Preservation Art and advanced his cultivation while hiding how quickly he was progressing.
• Liu Yu focused more time on the Spirit-Concealing Art so he could better conceal himself from Golden Core cultivators after returning to Moonwatch City.
• Four reinforcements arrived from Moonwatch City, including late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator Li Butong, the grandnephew of True Person Changfeng.
• Yan Hongyu welcomed the reinforcements, and the cultivators reorganized into two groups while Yan Hongyu remained in charge of the Spirit Herb Garden.
• Liu Yu observed that Li Butong did not appear interested in competing for power or advantage.

Eight years after repelling Lu Fubin, Liu Yu completed the second Demon Fire Refining Essence tempering and prepared to return to guard the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden. He traveled with Cao Mengyu and Ding Hui, leaving the city as Cao Mengyu’s recent advance to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage came to light.

• Liu Yu completed his second Demon Fire Refining Essence tempering and reflected on his progress in the Spirit-Concealing Art and Divine Preservation Art.
• Liu Yu gathered his belongings and left his cultivation abode to resume his five-year rotation guarding the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden.
• Liu Yu met Cao Mengyu and Ding Hui outside Moonwatch Immortal Fate City, where he noticed Cao Mengyu had reached the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Liu Yu evaded Cao Mengyu’s questions about his keen perception and flew toward the Spirit Herb Garden, with Cao Mengyu and Ding Hui following.

Liu Yu and Cao Mengyu and Ding Hui arrived at the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden, where Yan Hongyu told them about repeated enemy attacks and the garden's worsening danger. While beginning his watch, Liu Yu considered ways to obtain the rare origin-returning flower growing there, including waiting for an enemy assault to create an opportunity.

• Liu Yu and the others presented their credentials to Yan Hongyu and entered the Spirit Herb Garden.
• Yan Hongyu described two enemy attacks, including a recent battle against fifteen cultivators, and Liu Yu said they should not risk making a stand at the garden.
• The three took over the watch from the departing cultivators, and Liu Yu returned to his cave abode to cultivate.
• Liu Yu reviewed his dwindling supply of Essence-Refining Pills and his plans to refine Azure Origin Pills, which required origin-returning flowers.
• Liu Yu considered taking an origin-returning flower during a possible enemy assault but avoided trading with Yan Hongyu or the Many Treasures Pavilion for now.

Liu Yu spent half a year preparing for a possible assault on the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden while its defenses remained undisturbed. The formation then began to tremble, and Yan Hongyu sent word that enemy cultivators were attacking in force.

• Yan Hongyu assigned Liu Yu and Ding Hui to guard the southern side of the formation with their group during its watch rotation.
• Liu Yu studied cultivation methods and secret arts, inspected the formation with Ding Hui, and nurtured his magical artifacts while avoiding lengthy cultivation.
• The Spirit Herb Garden went without an attack for half a year as Liu Yu continued preparing for danger.
• Liu Yu sensed the underground space trembling and received Yan Hongyu's urgent message that enemy cultivators were attacking in force.
• Liu Yu and the disciples were ordered to return to the surface and engage the enemy cultivators.

Liu Yu drove the Spirit Herb Garden’s disciples to the surface, then joined the defenders as enemy cultivators bombarded the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation. He fought to maintain appearances while secretly weighing the battle, and Cao Mengyu struggled to keep the formation operating.

• Liu Yu ordered the Qi Refining Period disciples to follow the Foundation Establishment cultivators to the surface, threatening to execute anyone who deserted.
• After nearly everyone left, Liu Yu rode toward the surface and used the Divine Preservation Art to survey the formation and battlefield.
• Liu Yu saw eighteen enemy Foundation Establishment cultivators and their disciples attacking the formation while ten defenders, including Yan Hongyu and Li Butong, fought back.
• Li Butong intercepted two powerful enemy spells with an azure whirlwind, and Liu Yu compared his strength with Li Butong’s.
• Liu Yu joined Cao Mengyu and Ding Hui, sending out the Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades and Sharpgold Sword to intercept two enemy cultivators.
• Cao Mengyu continued directing the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation as it shuddered under the attack.

The Primordial Yang Sect’s defenders struggled to hold the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation against a powerful Hehuan Sect assault. Qi Shaoan, one of the Six Sons of Hehuan, released pink mist from a special gourd, and Liu Yu realized the defenders were in grave danger.

• Enemy cultivators battered the formation while Cao Mengyu concentrated on keeping it intact, and Liu Yu held off two Foundation Establishment cultivators without revealing his full strength.
• Qi Shaoan taunted Li Butong, and Ding Hui recognized him as the third-ranked Six Sons of Hehuan, the Pink-Faced Gentleman.
• Qi Shaoan summoned a pink gourd and used hand seals to release mist that drifted toward the formation.
• Liu Yu recognized the threat, restrained his attacks further, and resolved to act if an opportunity arose.
• Li Butong, Yan Hongyu, and the other defenders could not break free from their opponents, while their attacks failed to disperse the replenished, thickening mist.

The Primordial Yang Sect cultivators struggled to hold the Spirit Herb Garden as the pink mist and enemy attacks drained the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation. Yan Hongyu ordered the disciples to escape when it fell, and the formation began to collapse.

• The pink mist rapidly weakened the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation, while Liu Yu quietly moved closer to the passage to the Spirit Herb Garden.
• Cao Mengyu failed to reverse the formation's decline as Yan Hongyu, Li Butong, and the other defenders remained occupied by enemy cultivators.
• Yan Hongyu told the disciples to break out once the formation fell and said they would meet again in Moonwatch Immortal Fate City.
• Liu Yu drank Snowflake Brew and absorbed energy from two mid-grade spirit stones while conserving his magical power and fighting defensively.
• After another twenty or thirty breaths of attacks, formation nodes began exploding throughout the Blackwater Extreme Wind Formation.

After the formation collapsed, the Primordial Yang Sect cultivators scattered as the Hehuan Sect pursued them. Liu Yu fled toward the Spirit Herb Garden's entrance with a white-bearded foundation establishment cultivator on his tail, while the sect's disciples suffered heavy casualties.

• The formation broke, and Cao Mengyu suffered a backlash as the Primordial Yang Sect cultivators fled in every direction.
• Qi Shaoan ordered some Hehuan Sect cultivators to guard the Spirit Herb Garden's entrance and led the others in pursuit.
• Liu Yu feigned panic and fled toward the Spirit Herb Garden's entrance, while a greedy white-bearded elder chased him for his two Top-grade Magical Artifacts.
• Hehuan Sect cultivators caught and killed many Primordial Yang Sect qi refining disciples as the pursuit spread across the battlefield.

Liu Yu entered the Spirit Herb Garden, destroyed his residence to erase traces of his aura, and waited for the white-bearded elder. He unleashed his full strength against the elder, and their battle began with neither side gaining the upper hand.

• Liu Yu entered the Spirit Herb Garden while the white-bearded elder hesitated outside, then followed after two Hehuan Sect cultivators arrived to guard the entrance.
• The two Hehuan Sect cultivators stayed behind and planned to demand a share of the spoils from the white-bearded elder.
• Liu Yu destroyed the formation around his residence and burned the building to erase traces that could be used to track him.
• The white-bearded elder found Liu Yu waiting and cautiously questioned him, but Liu Yu attacked without hesitation.
• Liu Yu summoned the Profound Departure Sword, the Gleaming Gold Bow, and other artifacts, forcing the white-bearded elder to defend against a barrage of attacks.
• The white-bearded elder blocked Liu Yu’s first attacks with his artifacts and talismans, and the two sides clashed repeatedly without either gaining the upper hand.

Liu Yu used the Spirit-Shocking Thorn to disrupt the white-bearded elder’s secret art and turn their battle in his favor. He killed the elder, burned the corpse with the Azure Yang Demonic Flame, and collected his possessions.

• The white-bearded elder began gathering spiritual energy to unleash a powerful secret art, so Liu Yu struck him with the Spirit-Shocking Thorn and caused the spell to backfire.
• Liu Yu’s weapons overwhelmed the injured elder’s defenses, while the elder used Spirit Talismans to block the Gleaming Gold Bow’s attacks.
• As the elder brought out a Purple Little Bell Talisman Treasure, Liu Yu hit him with two more Spirit-Shocking Thorns and left him dazed.
• Liu Yu’s Profound Departure Sword cleaved the landscape painting and blasted the elder’s head into a bloody mist.
• Liu Yu burned the elder’s corpse with the Azure Yang Demonic Flame, then collected his magical artifacts, Storage Bag, and Talisman Treasure.

Liu Yu broke into the Spirit Herb Garden and collected rare herbs, including an origin-returning flower and a Primordial Chaos Fruit seedling, before leaving the remaining plants intact to avoid provoking enemy cultivators. Three Spirit Planters asked him to take them along, and Liu Yu questioned their request.

• Liu Yu destroyed the restrictions around the spirit fields with the Profound Departure Sword and rushed inside.
• Liu Yu collected one specimen of each herb he needed, preserving roots so he could grow them in the Immortal Mansion.
• Liu Yu found a Primordial Chaos Fruit seedling and took it, then decided to leave the other spirit herbs undamaged.
• Three Spirit Planters approached Liu Yu and pleaded for him to take them with him.
• Liu Yu asked the Spirit Planters, “Take you with me?”

Liu Yu killed the three Spirit Planters, escaped the Spirit Herb Garden beneath the Black Great Swamp, and avoided pursuit when the Hehuan Sect cultivators concealed the white-bearded old man's death. He emerged a hundred li east of the garden and flew toward Moonwatch City, remaining prepared for an attack.

• Liu Yu burned the three Spirit Planters to ash with his Azure Yang Demonic Flame and took their Storage Bags.
• Liu Yu sensed two Hehuan Sect Foundation Establishment cultivators approaching and used an Earth Escape Talisman to flee underground.
• The two Hehuan Sect cultivators found the ashes, decided to blame the missing herbs on the Primordial Yang Sect cultivator, and chose not to pursue Liu Yu.
• Liu Yu traveled east beneath the Black Great Swamp, keeping his aura concealed and detouring to avoid enemy cultivators.
• Liu Yu emerged a hundred li east of the Spirit Herb Garden and flew toward Moonwatch City on the Wind-Evasion Boat, readying his weapons in case of an attack.

Liu Yu returned to Moonwatch City and reported to the surviving Primordial Yang Sect cultivators after the Spirit Herb Garden fell. As the hours passed without more survivors arriving, Yan Hongyu waited anxiously while Liu Yu concealed his gains and injuries.

• Liu Yu entered Moonwatch City and headed to the City Lord's Mansion to report his return.
• Liu Yu found Yan Hongyu, Li Butong, Cao Mengyu, and two other Foundation Establishment cultivators recovering in the side hall, with only five of the eleven stationed at the Spirit Herb Garden accounted for.
• Yan Hongyu welcomed Liu Yu back and worried that the loss of the garden and its defenders would bring punishment.
• Liu Yu concealed his true condition and reflected that the rare spirit plants he had taken, including a Primordial Chaos Fruit tree, made him one of the incident's greatest beneficiaries.
• After another two hours passed without further survivors arriving, Yan Hongyu repeatedly watched for their return.

Liu Yu and the five other survivors of the attack on the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden were summoned before three Golden Core elders to explain what happened. Yan Hongyu recounted the assault, and Liu Yu began giving his own account while concealing his herb gathering and the details of his escape.

• Only six Foundation Establishment cultivators returned from the Spirit Herb Garden, and Wu Yuhan led them to meet the elders at noon.
• Liu Yu and the other five survivors agreed without speaking to present a united front before the elders.
• Liu Yu sensed the elders before the others and secretly used the Spirit-Concealing Art to mask his unusually rapid cultivation progress.
• Elder Yan ordered Yan Hongyu to explain the attack, and she described the force led by Qi Shaoan and their failed defense of the garden.
• The survivors each gave their accounts, and Liu Yu claimed that a weak pursuer had abandoned the chase after several dozen li.

Liu Yu and the other survivors faced judgment for the fall of the Bing-Character No. 6 Spirit Herb Garden. The elders imposed a limited punishment, though Yan Hongyu also received fourteen years of service at the Main Camp on the Frontline Battlefield.

• Liu Yu finished reporting how he survived the attack and considered that the sect’s failure to send reinforcements, rather than the defenders’ actions, had caused the garden’s fall.
• Elder Yan conferred with Elder Sun and Elder Fang before declaring that the six survivors shared some responsibility for the sect’s losses.
• Elder Yan confiscated the six cultivators’ stipends for seven years and ordered Yan Hongyu to serve at the Main Camp on the Frontline Battlefield for fourteen years.
• Liu Yu, Yan Hongyu, Li Butong, and the other survivors accepted the punishment without objection.
• Elder Sun agreed to Elder Yan’s arrangement, and the three Golden Core elders left after warning the survivors to be cautious on future missions.

After the elders left, Liu Yu reflected on his solitary path to immortality, returned to his cave abode, and recovered from the exhausting day. He resumed cultivation and prepared to replace Essence-Refining Pills with Azure Origin Pills now that he had gathered the required herbs.

• Liu Yu felt reassured that ordinary Golden Core Cultivators could not see through his Spirit-Concealing Art, then parted ways with the others after the elders departed.
• Liu Yu wandered through Moonwatch City's East Market and concluded that he would pursue immortality alone, accepting the loneliness that came with guarding the Immortal Mansion's secret.
• Liu Yu returned to his cave abode, washed, and slept for twelve hours to recover from the battle and mental strain.
• Liu Yu swallowed an Essence-Refining Pill and cultivated the fourth level of the Azure Yang Art, intending to refine Azure Origin Pills with the herbs he had gathered.