Recaps

Black Snake and Xiao Yu defeated the man who ambushed them, learning that he was guarding a cave rumored to enable ascension. They returned to the cave to recover, while Black Snake remained unsure whether the legend was true.

• Black Snake tricked the man and slammed him into a boulder, but the man’s special inner garment stopped his fangs from piercing his waist.
• Xiao Yu dived at the man and gouged out his eyes, then crashed into the grass because of her injured wing.
• Black Snake bit the blinded man and injected venom; before dying, the man revealed that he had attacked them to protect the cave’s supposed path to the Upper Realm.
• Xiao Yu searched the man’s belongings, and Black Snake took his Compass, inner garment, and Iron Rod before they climbed toward the cave to heal.
• At the cave, Xiao Yu asked whether they could really ascend there, and Black Snake doubted it while wondering whether he might someday try feigning death himself.

Black Snake and Xiao Yu fought off an incense-soaked living corpse, but a young gentleman discovered the treasured cave and claimed it for himself. After Xiao Yu’s shriek exposed the secret to nearby humans and demons, Black Snake fled with her into the forest as others converged on the summit.

• Black Snake waited while Xiao Yu recovered, then noticed an approaching living corpse and prepared to defend the cave.
• Black Snake and Xiao Yu fought the injured living corpse, knocking it back repeatedly despite lacking lightning to finish it.
• Three newcomers arrived, including a young gentleman carried on a chair frame, and the gentleman recognized the cave as a treasured ground and claimed it.
• Xiao Yu shrieked, exposing the treasured ground’s secret and enraging the newcomers.
• Black Snake gathered the loot and fled with Xiao Yu into the forest as human and demonic auras converged on the summit.

Black Snake returned to the Azure Cloud Monastery after recounting the cave’s destruction and the limping man’s threat, then learned that rumors blamed him for taking the dead cultivator’s treasures. He feared the rumor would draw dangerous cultivators to the monastery, but He Ning told him the Abbot had claimed the items were in her hands.

• Xu Jin treated Xiao Yu’s wound and examined the cave’s recovered items, deciding to sink the distinctive garment and melt down the iron rod.
• Black Snake left his friends and traveled upstream to the Azure Cloud Monastery, where he warned He Ning that the limping man and his companions had recognized him.
• He Ning asked the Abbot about the threat, and the Abbot told Black Snake he need not worry because the treasured site had not belonged to the limping man’s group.
• Black Snake resumed his patrols and lessons, while He Ning told him that powerful cultivators and great demons had taken control of the contested site.
• He Ning revealed that someone had spread a rumor accusing Black Snake of entering the cave first and taking the senior’s treasures.
• He Ning reassured Black Snake that the Abbot had told everyone the treasures were in her hands, leaving him puzzled about why she had taken the blame.

As drought gripped the mountains, Black Snake guarded Azure Cloud Monastery and practiced swordsmanship while He Ning’s words made him ponder how time would eventually separate him from the people he knew. He learned from a yellow ox spirit that a diviner had foreseen next spring’s rebellion and bloodshed, leaving him bewildered by the existence of people who could see the future.

• He Ning explained that the Abbot had asked Black Snake to protect Azure Cloud Monastery for a hundred years, and Black Snake worried about her and the Abbot leaving someday.
• Black Snake spent less time going down the mountain, but an unending drought dried the streams and halted his cultivation, so he sheltered in a ravine to conserve strength.
• After He Ning warned that drought could bring banditry and evil spirits, Black Snake kept watch, practiced swordsmanship below the mountain, and drove off approaching spirits.
• Black Snake met a yellow ox Yin Spirit at a mountain-road junction and asked why he was heading into the mountains.
• The yellow ox told Black Snake that an expert had predicted the drought would continue and Rebel Bandits would rise next spring, then explained that some people could divine the future.

Black Snake endured a cold, dry winter and briefly reunited with Xiao Yu before spring brought drought, banditry, and fighting near the county seat. As frightened refugees reached the mountain, he watched in confusion and decided to wait for the fighting to end before hunting.

• Black Snake met Xiao Yu on the mountain, and she visited the Azure Cloud Monastery before flying away.
• Black Snake woke in spring to a rain-praying ritual, but the drought persisted and reports spread that the river had run low.
• Black Snake heard that a bandit force of over a thousand had appeared, and bailiffs took able-bodied men from the village, including a man he had watched grow up.
• Black Snake saw crowds heading toward the county seat and heard that fighting had broken out there, with smoke and fires visible on the horizon.
• Wealthy families fled the county seat by cart and climbed the mountain at night, while Black Snake kept watch at the crossroads.
• Black Snake remained unsettled by the turmoil and decided to wait for the fighting to end before going to hunt.

Black Snake guarded the Azure Cloud Monastery as unrest grew in the County Seat, then watched the conflict unfold after rain returned to the parched land. Two months later, a new group confronted the rebels, and Black Snake continued observing the human struggle in search of its underlying principles.

• Black Snake stopped a hotheaded Yin Soul from heading up the mountain, then turned away the old scholar who came to retrieve him.
• Black Snake watched more than a hundred people arrive at the Azure Cloud Monastery and leave after speaking with a Daoist.
• He Ning told Black Snake to keep unfamiliar Yin Souls and Spirit Monsters off the mountain, and he agreed to guard the North Slope too.
• Black Snake asked He Ning to teach him divination once the turmoil settled, then warned the foxes and weasels and began stopping intruders.
• Black Snake watched rebel troops occupy and fortify the County Seat as the Government Office prepared to suppress them, then eagerly drank rain essence when rain finally came.
• After waiting about two months, Black Snake observed a new group confronting the County Seat’s occupants and continued studying the human conflict.

Black Snake watched unrest and heretic cultivators trouble the countryside while staying out of human affairs. After fighting broke out between the authorities and the Rebel Bandits, he fed on a fallen horse and seized another horse and a sack, then carried the sack up the mountain.

• Black Snake watched martial artists deliver grain to the monastery and escort women and children away, then saw heretic cultivators meditating by burial pits.
• After hearing fighting begin in the county seat, Black Snake went to the crossroads and found a wounded rider dragged behind his horse.
• Black Snake ate the horse while the wounded rider watched helplessly.
• Black Snake ambushed and strangled a second horse as its rider fled, then took a heavy sack and climbed the mountain.
• Torch-bearing people gathered around the wounded rider as Black Snake carried the sack away.

Black Snake guarded the mountain amid wartime chaos, then followed He Ning and the Azure Cloud Monastery to a wasteland outside the County Seat to help guide the war dead onward. As the ritual continued, it intercepted a Red-Skirted Vengeful Ghost before returning to its watch.

• Black Snake ignored a sack of gold, kept watch over the crossroads, and avoided the smoky morning mist rising from the war-torn County Seat.
• He Ning told Black Snake that the Azure Cloud Monastery had been asked to perform a ritual for the restless dead, and Black Snake agreed to accompany the Daoists down the mountain.
• The Daoists and Black Snake reached a wasteland outside the County Seat, where they performed a ritual while Government Office cultivators guarded against interference.
• The chanting soothed many resentful yin souls, who joined the procession toward the Underworld, and Black Snake sensed an unseen benefit settling upon it.
• Black Snake confronted an approaching Red-Skirted Vengeful Ghost, which fled after recognizing the difference in their strength, then returned to guard the ritual.

Black Snake guarded the ritual at the wasteland and entered the Underworld to disrupt three Heretic Cultivators who were diverting the dead into a black banner. He returned safely, while the ritual continued through the night under the protection of the Government Office and its spirit beast.

• Black Snake noticed a breach between yin and yang above a burial pit, where souls were being drawn away from the ritual’s queue.
• At the Daoist elder’s request, Black Snake sent his yin spirit through the breach and found three Heretic Cultivators setting up a formation around a black banner.
• Black Snake dodged their attacks and severed several triangular flags, throwing the formation into disarray and forcing the Heretic Cultivators to flee.
• Black Snake followed He Ning’s chanting back to his body and resumed guarding the wasteland, driving away stray dogs without pursuing the fleeing cultivators.
• Government Office personnel turned away a group trying to cross the wasteland, and the Daoists rested while relying on Black Snake to guard their backs.

Black Snake guarded the Daoists during a night ritual and detected a concealed intruder, who fled before anyone could identify them. After returning safely to Azure Cloud Monastery, Black Snake asked He Ning to bring it some yellow silver, and He Ning fondly recalled climbing the mountain in the past.

• Black Snake played with a mole cricket while the Government Office workers and Daoists drove away wild dogs and ushered departed souls onward.
• Black Snake detected trampled grass and crushed insects, warned the Daoists, and helped them confront a human-shaped intruder who escaped into the darkness.
• The ritual ended at dawn, and Black Snake traveled with He Ning and the Daoists back toward Azure Cloud Monastery, confirming that the intruder had not followed them.
• At a stream on the mountain road, Black Snake asked He Ning what yellow silver was and told her to bring some the following night.
• He Ning remembered climbing to the mountain summit and said Little Black would keep growing and stay young forever.

Black Snake rested on the mountaintop and later brought He Ning a gold bar, hoping to trade it for eggs. He Ning explained its value and taught him characters with charcoal, leaving him absorbed in memorizing them.

• Black Snake stayed on the mountaintop to lie low, spent the day with Xiao Yu, and watched the young Female Daoists gather mushrooms.
• That evening, Black Snake carried a gold bar to the Stone Terrace, then went to drink at the Spring Well and listen to the Evening Liturgy.
• He Ning discovered the bar was gold and explained that it could buy many things, though it could not buy time.
• He Ning wrote characters on the ground with charcoal, and Black Snake remained behind to study and memorize the strokes.

Black Snake watched two powerful Daoists visit Azure Cloud Monastery, then spent the evening studying with He Ning before checking on the village. He learned that some villagers taken away had died, while the old fellow he worried about was still alive but working in the county town.

• Black Snake spotted two powerful Daoists arriving at Azure Cloud Monastery and watched them leave with the Abbot.
• Black Snake waited at the crossroads for food or valuables, then returned to study characters with He Ning.
• Black Snake snapped at a firefly while He Ning admired it, then listened as she taught him to read.
• Black Snake went to the village and learned that several young men taken away had died, while the old fellow remained alive and was being made to work in the county town.

Black Snake watched the Abbot seal a Heretic Cultivator's Evil Soul in a Stone Well, then continued learning to read with He Ning as winter approached. After He Ning's senior sister Wang died, Black Snake stayed nearby to comfort her and gathered supplies in the mountain cave.

• Black Snake practiced writing in the soil and watched workers build an eight-sided Stone Well beside the Stone Terrace.
• The Abbot poured the concealed Heretic Cultivator's Evil Soul into the Stone Well, and He Ning explained why he had been sealed.
• Black Snake studied characters with He Ning and improved its reading while gathering nuts for her.
• As autumn turned cold, Black Snake collected Pine Cones and medicinal herbs to stock its cave.
• He Ning's senior sister Wang died, and Black Snake quietly stayed with He Ning as she grieved.

Black Snake woke from an unusually restorative hibernation, then traveled downriver to visit Xu Jin and Xiao Yu. Along the way, Black Snake discovered villagers worshipping a ghost as the Dragon King and was confronted by the creature as it pursued Black Snake into the River.

• Black Snake woke in spring to find that the medicinal herbs had fueled rapid growth, leaving many more soft spines along its back.
• Black Snake decided to visit Xu Jin and Xiao Yu, caught fish, and traveled downstream through the River.
• Black Snake saw that Lin Family Crossing had changed, with tall walls and fewer livestock than before.
• Black Snake discovered a crowd worshipping a huge ghost at a newly built Dragon King Temple and decided not to interfere.
• As Black Snake continued downstream, the ghost rode a cloud of incense smoke after it and shouted that Black Snake had trespassed in its waters.

Black Snake destroyed a riverside temple after defeating the incense-powered Fake Dragon King, then traveled downstream to meet Xiao Yu. She confirmed that temples had multiplied across hills with traces of spiritual qi.

• Black Snake fought the Fake Dragon King in the river, gradually stripped away its incense aura, and destroyed it.
• Black Snake returned to the bank and found villagers stealing offerings from the Dragon King Temple.
• Black Snake coiled around the small temple and crushed it, then fled downstream through the river.
• Black Snake reached the valley near dawn and asked Xiao Yu why there were more temples along the riverbanks.
• Xiao Yu said that many temples had appeared over the years on hills with even a trace of spiritual qi.

Black Snake reunited with Xu Jin and Xiao Yu in the Valley and told them about the outside world and his medicinal Absorption Method. After Xu Jin explained how spiritual ties might carry across lifetimes, Black Snake resolved to find his old friend He Ning again, and the three celebrated together with wine.

• Black Snake left Xiao Yu and returned to the Valley, where Xu Jin greeted him warmly.
• Xu Jin warned Black Snake and Xiao Yu that people had distorted ancient myths and that speaking the truth could make them targets.
• Black Snake described his Absorption Method, and Xu Jin explained that it could poison humans but suited Black Snake's venomous constitution.
• Black Snake asked whether medicine could keep He Ning young, and Xu Jin suggested her spiritual cultivation might let them recognize each other in a future life.
• Black Snake vowed to find He Ning and promised to seek Xu Jin again if they did not become immortals in this life.
• Xu Jin brought out medicinal wine, and the three friends drank and celebrated their promise to meet again.

Black Snake hunted a huge wild boar in the River and brought its hide back for Xu Jin, while boats of cultivators gathered to hunt a child from the Upper Realm. Xiao Yu later reported that fox demons had entered the mountains, and Black Snake returned to the valley to find Xu Jin preparing a shimmering medicinal broth.

• Black Snake killed a huge wild boar in the River, ate most of it, and carried its hide back after hearing boats approach.
• Black Snake and Xiao Yu watched cultivators travel downstream, and Xiao Yu learned they were hunting a child from the Upper Realm.
• Black Snake suspected the hunted child might lack a guardian and decided to return to the mountain the next morning to gather medicinal herbs.
• Xiao Yu reported that fox demons led by a fox demon had entered the deep mountains, and she and Black Snake discussed how foxes shared knowledge.
• Black Snake returned to the valley and found Xu Jin warming a bowl of medicinal broth with a faint golden shimmer.

After dreaming that the Abbot asked him to escort a child to Lin Family Crossing, Black Snake set off with Xiao Yu to find the child. He found the child aboard River Ash’s Little Black Boat amid a chaotic battle on the River and rammed a pursuing boat to protect them.

• Black Snake dreamed that the Abbot asked him to help a child and bring him safely to Lin Family Crossing.
• Black Snake asked Xiao Yu to guide him, then left Xu Jin behind and traveled downstream through the River.
• Xiao Yu led Black Snake to a chaotic battle, where he spotted River Ash transporting a man, a woman, and a child in his Little Black Boat.
• Black Snake saw another boat pursuing River Ash’s boat and rammed it to protect them.

Black Snake protected River Ash and the family from their pursuers, then confronted a short-haired man wielding a long staff who tried to take the boy as his disciple. After the parents refused, Black Snake attacked while River Ash joined him in the water.

• Black Snake struck down pursuers who tried to reach the black boat, then asked River Ash where he was taking the family.
• River Ash explained that he had accepted a dreamer's deposit to take them to Lin Family Crossing, and Black Snake wondered who had guided them in their dreams.
• A short-haired man on driftwood attacked Black Snake with his long staff, sending painful vibrations through the water and making him bleed.
• The man offered to take the boy as his disciple, but the parents refused after the child called out to the otter and big snake.
• The short-haired man turned on Great Black Snake, who circled him and churned the River as River Ash left the boat and swam over to help.

Black Snake, River Ash, and Xiao Yu worked together to defeat the short-haired man in the river, where Black Snake killed him with lightning and venom. They continued upstream as the onlookers considered trying walking corpses and water ghosts after nightfall, while the child aboard the black boat began to show signs of illness.

• Black Snake and River Ash distracted the short-haired man while Xiao Yu struck him with a piercing cry, leaving him off balance and sending him into the river.
• Black Snake dragged the man underwater and slammed him against the riverbed while River Ash bit his thigh.
• Black Snake shocked the short-haired man unconscious with lightning, then injected venom and tore apart his corpse.
• Black Snake surfaced and pursued the black boat upstream as the onlookers hesitated and considered releasing walking corpses and water ghosts after nightfall.
• River Ash asked if Black Snake was all right, and Black Snake noticed the child had a fever as the child's parents tried to cool him down.

Black Snake and River Ash escorted the feverish Hu'er upstream while Xiao Yu fetched medicinal broth and danger gathered along the river. As night fell, Black Snake told River Ash to speed toward Lin Family Crossing without stopping, leaving himself to face the threats alone.

• Black Snake sent Xiao Yu ahead for medicine while the boat continued past watchers who feared to intercept it.
• Xiao Yu brought steaming medicinal broth, and Hu'er's parents carefully fed it to him, though his fever persisted.
• The family stopped at a riverside village for porridge and vegetable cakes, where Hu'er nibbled a boiled duck egg before they resumed the journey.
• Xiao Yu flew back to the valley for Xu Jin after Hu'er failed to improve, then returned with another jar of medicinal broth near sunset.
• As night approached, River Ash offered to fight alongside Black Snake, but Black Snake ordered him to hurry toward Lin Family Crossing without stopping.

Black Snake fought the heretic cultivators’ ghost creatures while trying to protect a feverish boy and his family on the river. After destroying most of the spirits and battling corpses beneath the water, he left the family’s fate uncertain as Xu Jin searched for a cure in the valley.

• A father begged Black Snake to save his feverish son Hu'er, but Black Snake admitted he knew no medicine and urged them to get through the night until a physician arrived.
• Heretic cultivators and demon beasts unleashed ghosts and other sinister entities against the boat, and Black Snake drew his sword to destroy the spirits.
• When a cultivator’s spell spread darkness across the river, Black Snake returned to his serpent body and disrupted the spell before diving underwater to attack the corpses.
• Black Snake tore apart several strange corpses and a walking corpse, while onlookers marveled that he had destroyed most of the heretics’ treasured evil spirits.
• At the Thatched Hut, Xiao Yu watched as Xu Jin searched medical books and prepared another dose of medicine for the child.

Black Snake and River Ash fought through repeated Heretic Cultivator blockades to escort the gravely ill boy toward Lin Family Crossing, while Xiao Yu brought him medicine. The boy died just as they reached the crossing, and his parents cursed those who had harmed him.

• Black Snake sank beneath the River and attacked Heretic Cultivators who had blocked the boat with felled trees, while River Ash steered through the fog and scattered logs.
• Black Snake continued fighting through further blockades as his spiritual qi dwindled, then realized the boy's life was fading.
• Black Snake broke through another net-wielding blockade, and Xiao Yu arrived with medicine that briefly seemed to revive the boy.
• The boy died in his mother's arms as the boat approached Lin Family Crossing.
• River Ash pushed the boat to shore, where physicians could not save the boy, and his parents cursed the humans and demons who had harmed him.

After the River battle, Black Snake returned to its quiet life in the mountains, while the Abbot explained why striving to help someone still mattered despite fate. Black Snake met He Ning on the Stone Terrace, where she accepted its survival tactics and began teaching it a character.

• The Abbot told Black Snake that its efforts had brought kindness and warmth to the suffering man, even though she did not know why he had descended from the Upper Realm.
• The Abbot explained that people who loudly claimed to be immortals were impostors, then left as Black Snake slipped into the grass.
• Black Snake traveled through the spring mountains, gathered medicinal herbs, and returned to the Azure Cloud Monastery Back Mountain to resume its routine.
• He Ning found Black Snake on the Stone Terrace and confirmed that rumors about its battle on the River were true, though its wounds were only shallow scratches.
• He Ning decided not to criticize Black Snake's deception and ambushes, and began teaching it a character by lantern light.

More than fifty years passed as Black Snake cultivated, gathered herbs, and watched He Ning grow old. Hoping to extend her life, he searched distant mountains for spirit ginseng, but found only ordinary old roots and continued his search.

• Black Snake recovered on the mountain, sensed his cultivation improving, and heard pilgrims worry that his future flood dragon crossing might flood their homes.
• He visited the village and heard a returned young man describe the exhausting labor and hunger that had left him nearly unrecognizable.
• Black Snake spent years cultivating, practicing swordsmanship, gathering herbs, and learning to write with He Ning.
• More than fifty years passed, and He Ning grew old while still teaching Black Snake, who promised to find a way to make up for what his cultivation lacked.
• Black Snake searched distant mountains for spirit ginseng that might prolong He Ning's life, but found only ordinary old ginseng and kept looking.