Recaps

Zhao Ting chose Chu Ningshang as his master and was named the Heavenly Dao Sect’s fifteenth Purple-Robed Disciple. The next morning, Chen Xun ate the servant disciples’ entire breakfast supply, leaving the dining hall unable to explain the shortage to Qian Laifu.

• Zhao Ting chose Chu Ningshang, and Nangong Yao announced that Zhao Ting would be appointed a Purple-Robed Disciple in five days.
• Chen Xun arrived early at the dining hall while Qian Laifu addressed the servant disciples on the training grounds.
• Chen Xun devoured a barrel of porridge and all the steamed buns and pickled vegetables before leaving the dining hall.
• Hundreds of servant disciples arrived to find breakfast gone and argued with the disciples responsible for serving it.
• Qian Laifu questioned the dining hall workers, and one serving disciple blamed the shortage on Chen Xun, though the other disciples doubted the story.

Qian Laifu investigated the missing breakfast in the dining hall and brought Chen Xun in as a suspect. Chen Xun’s usual head-bobbing was mistaken for a denial, leaving the serving disciple furious as the investigation turned against the dining hall.

• The disciples disputed the dining hall’s claim that Chen Xun had something to do with the missing food, and Qian Laifu ordered more breakfast cooked and Chen Xun summoned.
• Zhao Ting told Chen Xun he had become the Fourth Elder’s disciple and offered to ask his master to examine him; Chen Xun stopped him from touching the wooden sword on his back.
• A servant disciple brought Chen Xun to the dining hall, where Qian Laifu asked whether he had seen the porridge and buns on the counter.
• Chen Xun bobbed his head, and the disciples took it as a denial; Qian Laifu accused the dining hall staff of trying to frame him, prompting the serving disciple to shout, “Chen Xun, you heartless bastard!!!”

Chen Xun’s enormous appetite was revealed, clearing the dining hall disciples of blame and earning him more food at each meal. As the Heavenly Dao Sect held a lavish investiture for a new Purple-Robed Disciple, the servant disciples were barred from attending and remained on their mountain.

• Chen Xun admitted he had eaten the missing breakfast, but Qian Laifu refused to believe he could have consumed food meant for hundreds and deducted contribution points from the dining hall disciples.
• At lunch, the servant disciples watched Chen Xun eat enough for dozens, so Qian Laifu returned the deducted points and ordered the dining hall to prepare extra food.
• Chen Xun continued eating, sleeping, and sweeping the mountain paths as news spread that the Heavenly Dao Sect would invest a newcomer with a metal-attribute heavenly spiritual root as a Purple-Robed Disciple.
• Representatives from other sects and factions arrived for the ceremony at Heaven Mystic Peak, while servant disciples were forbidden to descend Servant Disciple Peak.
• The servant disciples lamented that they could not attend the ceremony, and Qian Laifu appeared to send them back to work before thinking of Zhao Ting and Chen Xun.

Chen Xun climbed Heaven Mystic Peak after knocking out its guards and interrupted Zhao Ting’s Purple-Robe Investiture Ceremony by complaining about the noise. The ceremony stopped as the assembled sects and disciples recognized Chen Xun, leaving Zhao Ting terrified.

• Chen Xun rushed down Servant Disciple Peak, knocked out the two guards at Heaven Mystic Peak, and climbed toward the Martial Arena while reading his wordless book.
• Nangong Yao arrived with Zhao Ting, and the sect began Zhao Ting’s Purple-Robe Investiture Ceremony before visiting factions and Heavenly Dao Sect disciples.
• Liu Yunjian invested Zhao Ting as the sect’s fifteenth purple-robed disciple and presented him with a robe, identity token, cultivation art, and sword.
• Nangong Yao announced that Zhao Ting would acknowledge Chu Ningshang as his master.
• Chen Xun shouted that the ceremony was too noisy, stopping the drums and drawing everyone’s attention; Zhao Ting recognized him and turned pale with terror.

Chen Xun disrupted Zhao Ting's investiture ceremony, prompting the Heavenly Dao Sect to nearly punish him before Sect Master Nangong Yao intervened. The ceremony resumed, while Nangong Yao recognized Chen Xun as the senior he had met before and resolved to seize the chance to meet him again.

• Chen Xun turned to leave the ceremony, but Liu Yunjian confronted Xu Ansong for allowing him onto Heaven Mystic Peak.
• Xu Ansong ordered an outer sect steward to execute Chen Xun, and Zhao Ting pleaded for his friend to be spared.
• Zhao Ting explained that Chen Xun was his friend from the mortal world, while Shen He admitted he had brought Chen Xun into the sect without authorization.
• Nangong Yao ended the matter and stopped Liu Yunjian from having Chen Xun seized as Chen Xun left the mountain.
• The investiture ceremony resumed, and Nangong Yao recognized Chen Xun as the senior he had met atop Little River Peak and resolved to approach him.

After Chen Xun disrupted the ceremony, the Heavenly Dao Sect’s leaders chose not to pursue the incident, while news of his actions terrified Steward Qian. Nangong Yao went to Servant Disciple Peak to see Chen Xun and arrived just as Qian Laifu recognized him as the Sect Master.

• Xu Ansong ordered the two mountain guards who had fallen asleep to be bound and taken away.
• Nangong Yao told Liu Yunjian and the other elders to leave the incident at Heaven Mystic Peak alone.
• Qian Laifu ordered two servant disciples to bring Chen Xun from his hut after hearing about the disturbance.
• Nangong Yao met the disciples carrying Chen Xun and followed them to the pavilion.
• Qian Laifu began scolding Chen Xun, then recognized Nangong Yao as the Sect Master and dropped to his knees.
• The two servant disciples realized who Nangong Yao was and knelt in terror.

Nangong Yao visited Servant Disciple Peak and treated Chen Xun as a revered senior, leaving Qian Laifu terrified of having offended him. Chen Xun refused to leave his thatched hut, and Qian Laifu resolved to attend to him carefully.

• Nangong Yao interrupted Qian Laifu and asked Chen Xun how he wanted the steward dealt with, revealing his respect for Chen Xun.
• Chen Xun said he was tired, so Nangong Yao asked Qian Laifu to show him Chen Xun's quarters.
• Nangong Yao saw Chen Xun's thatched hut and invited him to stay on Heavenly Dao Peak, but Chen Xun went inside and fell asleep.
• Nangong Yao left after Chen Xun ignored his invitation, telling Qian Laifu that Chen Xun was playing in the mortal world rather than truly being a mortal.
• Qian Laifu concluded that Chen Xun was a great figure in seclusion and resolved to serve him attentively.

Zhao Ting brought Chen Xun to Chu Ningshang for an examination, but she discovered that he was a powerful cultivator and tried to stop him from leaving. Nangong Yao identified Chen Xun as Senior Chen and warned Chu Ningshang not to obstruct him, leaving her stunned.

• Chen Xun refused Qian Laifu's offers of better lodging and continued sweeping until Zhao Ting took him to see his master.
• Chu Ningshang examined Chen Xun's wrist, sensed his extraordinary power, and suspected he had infiltrated the Heavenly Dao Sect under false pretenses.
• Chen Xun ignored Chu Ningshang and walked out of the Punishment Hall while reading his wordless book.
• Chu Ningshang sent a Spirit-Binding Lock after Chen Xun, but it shattered before reaching him and injured her.
• Chu Ningshang reported Chen Xun to Nangong Yao, who told her to let Senior Chen do as he pleased and not obstruct him.

During Chen Xun’s first year at the Heavenly Dao Sect, he continued living as a mortal while Sect Master Nangong Yao secretly visited him for guidance and Zhao Ting rapidly advanced in cultivation. The chapter ended with Nangong Yao catching all nine Core Elders secretly following him to Servant Disciple Peak.

• Chu Ningshang asked Zhao Ting how he had met Chen Xun, then suggested Chen Xun might not be an ordinary person.
• Qian Laifu looked after Chen Xun, while Zhao Ting’s friendship with him became known among the disciples.
• Zhao Ting drew spiritual energy into his body in half a day, reached the third level of qi refinement in ten days, and established his foundation in a hundred days.
• Nangong Yao repeatedly visited Chen Xun, treated his ramblings as instruction, and began calling him Teacher.
• By the end of the year, Zhao Ting had reached the middle stage of foundation establishment while some Servant Disciples left the sect.
• Nangong Yao caught Liu Yunjian and the other eight Core Elders hiding near the path and accused them of following him.

Nangong Yao explained to the Core Elders why he frequently visited Servant Disciple Peak and revealed that Senior Chen was the extraordinary master who had spared Liu Yunjian at Zhao Ting’s investiture. The elders left with new awe for Senior Chen, while Nangong Yao warned them not to disturb him.

• Liu Yunjian admitted that the elders had gathered to investigate Nangong Yao’s frequent visits to Servant Disciple Peak.
• Nangong Yao said he visited to pay his respects to an esteemed master and hinted that the man was the mortal who had caused a disturbance at Zhao Ting’s investiture.
• The elders realized Senior Chen was that man, and Liu Yunjian panicked over having spoken disrespectfully to him.
• Nangong Yao reassured Liu Yunjian that ignorance carried no guilt and promised to take him to apologize to Senior Chen.
• Chu Ningshang explained that Zhao Ting had met Senior Chen by chance before joining the sect.
• Nangong Yao described meeting Senior Chen in the mountains and said the master’s disappearance surpassed the abilities of Nascent Soul cultivators and even Spirit Transformation True Lords.

During Chen Xun’s third year in the Heavenly Dao Sect, war between Northern Mystic’s righteous and devil paths left the sect’s disciples missing and presumed captured. Nangong Yao confronted the elders with the scale of their losses, while Jiang Bailu demanded action to save Su Jingyao.

• Nangong Yao and the core elders came to respect Chen Xun’s teachings, and Liu Yunjian and the others began addressing him as Teacher.
• Zhao Ting reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment and kept visiting Chen Xun after leaving seclusion, prompting Chu Ningshang to scold him for his overfamiliar conduct.
• The devil sects’ abduction of righteous disciples sparked war, but the righteous sects failed to defeat their united opponents and imposed bans on disciples leaving their sects.
• The Heavenly Dao Sect counted 215 outer disciples, 24 inner disciples, and one purple-robed disciple among the missing; Jiang Bailu urged Nangong Yao to rescue his disciple Su Jingyao.
• Nangong Yao rebuked Jiang Bailu for focusing on Su Jingyao and reminded him that all the missing disciples mattered to the sect.

With the Heavenly Dao Sect running short on resources, Nangong Yao ordered an expedition led by Wang Tianfu and Zhou Tong, and agreed to let Zhao Ting join for experience. Zhao Ting eagerly set out and diverted to Servant Disciple Peak to visit Chen Xun.

• Liu Yunjian warned Nangong Yao that the sect's resources might run out within two months, while Liu Xuan Yin and Jiang Bailu urged him to lift the ban on leaving.
• Nangong Yao refused to lift the ban and ordered Wang Tianfu and Zhou Tong to lead disciples and elders from Human Mystic Peak and Earth Profound Peak on an expedition.
• Chu Ningshang asked Nangong Yao to let her disciple Zhao Ting join the expedition so he could gain experience, and Nangong Yao approved.
• Wang Tianfu and Zhou Tong left to organize the expedition, and Chu Ningshang told Zhao Ting about his assignment.
• Zhao Ting eagerly flew toward the sect gates, then changed course to visit Chen Xun at Servant Disciple Peak.

Chen Xun briefly regained his clarity as his three-year term neared its end, while Zhao Ting joined an expedition against the demonic cultivators. Five days later, Chen Xun’s clarity returned, and Nangong Yao recognized the master he had once admired.

• Zhao Ting visited the sleeping Chen Xun, confided that Senior Sister Su had been abducted by demonic cultivators, and left wine before departing for the sect gates.
• Chen Xun awoke with unusual clarity and noted that five more days remained until another three years passed, before his crazed grin returned.
• Wang Tianfu and Zhou Tong led Zhao Ting, Shen He, and the disciples aboard the Sky Boat to confront the demonic threat.
• Elder You held back the concealed demonic cultivators, reasoning that the Heavenly Dao Sect’s group would return and offer a better opportunity to attack.
• Five days later, Nangong Yao visited Chen Xun and was delighted to see him calm and warm again, then accepted a cup of wine from him.

After discussing the Demonic Sect’s threat with Nangong Yao, Chen Xun left his mountain retreat to explore Heavenly Dao Sect’s territory. He approached a group of demonic cultivators in hiding, who mistook him for an unsuspecting mortal, and stopped just outside their concealment formation.

• Nangong Yao told Chen Xun that demonic cultivators had abducted disciples, and Chen Xun urged the righteous sects to unite against them.
• Nangong Yao invited Chen Xun to move to Heavenly Dao Peak, but Chen Xun declined and went out to sweep the mountain path.
• Chen Xun finished sweeping, left the sect, and began exploring its vast territory.
• You Sha and the other demonic cultivators spotted Chen Xun and debated whether he was bait or an easy source of human blood.
• Chen Xun walked toward the concealed demonic cultivators and stopped just outside their formation.

Chen Xun exposed a concealment formation, then his wooden sword killed the demonic cultivators who had tried to lure him in. At a cultivation market, he met a wine seller who gifted him a flask of Hundred Flavors of the Mortal World and offered his friendship.

• Chen Xun spoke to the demonic cultivators hiding behind a concealment formation, revealing that he could see them.
• Chen Xun shattered the formation with a touch, and You Sha and the other demonic cultivators knelt in terror, believing he was a Spirit Transformation Stage senior.
• As Chen Xun walked away, his wooden sword flew out and beheaded hundreds of demonic cultivators before returning to its sheath.
• Chen Xun entered a cultivation market, where his uncovered face drew startled looks from disguised cultivators.
• Chen Xun recognized the quality of a masked stallholder's wine, and the cultivator gifted him a flask of Hundred Flavors of the Mortal World and offered friendship.

Chen Xun bought wine at the Spirit Market and let a group of cultivators mistake him for an easy target. Ji Mengli saved him from their ambush, and the two shared wine beside a lake as she prepared to talk about her troubles.

• Chen Xun paid a hundred low-grade spirit stones for Hundred Flavors of the Mortal World and left the Spirit Market, followed by cultivators intent on robbing him.
• The cultivators blocked Chen Xun’s path and attacked him, but Ji Mengli struck them with a Spiritfire Spell and carried him away.
• Chen Xun revealed that he recognized Ji Mengli and knew she was a woman, prompting her to remove her disguise and introduce herself.
• Ji Mengli invited Chen Xun to drink and listen to her troubles, and he agreed on the condition that she supplied the wine.
• Chen Xun and Ji Mengli sat in a dilapidated pavilion beside a lake and chose to drink Hundred Flavors of the Mortal World straight from the flasks.

Chen Xun listened as Ji Mengli explained her hatred of the Great Evolution Demonic Sect and her forced return to it. Days later, Heavenly Dao Sect disciples found hundreds of dead demonic cultivators, including the Great Evolution Demonic Sect’s You Sha, and hurried to report the scene at their sect.

• Chen Xun drank with Ji Mengli as she revealed that she was the holy maiden of the Great Evolution Demonic Sect and the sect master’s daughter.
• Ji Mengli told Chen Xun she hated the sect after witnessing mortals, including children, being abducted and killed to refine pills, and said her father had summoned her back.
• Ji Mengli invited Chen Xun to visit the Great Evolution Demonic Sect, then left to return there while Chen Xun departed.
• Several days later, Zhao Ting, Wang Tianfu, Zhou Tong, and other Heavenly Dao Sect members found hundreds of dead demonic cultivators and severed heads on their territory.
• Wang Tianfu and Zhou Tong identified You Sha, the Great Evolution Demonic Sect’s fourth elder, and realized the ambushers had been killed instantly.
• Wang Tianfu ordered the disciples to take the corpses back to the sect.

Heavenly Dao Sect’s elders identified the Great Evolution Demonic Sect as the force behind the abduction of Jingyao and the other disciples, and Nangong Yao prepared to invite its sect master to negotiate. Meanwhile, Chen Xun appeared to have returned to normal, leaving the servant disciples and Qian Laifu astonished.

• Wang Tianfu and Zhou Tong brought hundreds of slain demonic cultivators to Heavenly Dao Peak, where the elders concluded the Great Evolution Demonic Sect had ambushed the sect’s disciples.
• Nangong Yao guessed that the mysterious master had killed the demonic cultivators, then warned the elders against attacking the Great Evolution Demonic Sect recklessly.
• Nangong Yao ordered Liu Yunjian to invite the Great Evolution Demonic Sect’s sect master to meet him at White Fox Ridge in three days, hoping to secure the disciples’ release and avoid war.
• At the Servant Disciple Peak dining hall, Chen Xun ate calmly and spoke gently, shocking the disciples who remembered him as insane.
• Qian Laifu realized Chen Xun had changed, attributed it to his unpredictable conduct in the mortal world, and hurried after him to see him off.

Chen Xun shared a meal with Nangong Yao and the Heavenly Dao Sect elders, then admitted he had killed the demonic cultivators who had ambushed them. Meanwhile, Ji Wucang prepared to use a meeting at White Fox Ridge to wound Nangong Yao and launch an attack on the Heavenly Dao Sect.

• Chen Xun welcomed Nangong Yao, Liu Yunjian, and the other elders, sharing roast chicken and Hundred Flavors of the Mortal World with them.
• Nangong Yao told Chen Xun that they had found several hundred beheaded demonic cultivators, and Chen Xun admitted he had killed them.
• Wang Tianfu and Zhou Tong thanked Chen Xun for saving them from the demonic cultivators who had planned to drink his blood.
• A disciple delivered the Heavenly Dao Sect's invitation for Ji Wucang to meet Nangong Yao at White Fox Ridge in three days.
• Ji Wucang ordered his elders to prepare an ambush at White Fox Ridge and severely wound Nangong Yao, so the demonic sects could join forces against the Heavenly Dao Sect.

Chen Xun listened as Zhao Ting excitedly recounted the demonic cultivators’ defeat, while keeping his own role in it to himself. Three days later, Nangong Yao met Ji Wucang at White Fox Ridge to negotiate the return of their captured disciples, but Ji demanded his own people back first.

• Zhao Ting visited Chen Xun, celebrated what he thought was Chen Xun’s recovery, and told him that a mysterious senior had killed hundreds of demonic cultivators in one move.
• Chen Xun ended their drinking conversation, and Zhao Ting left after remembering that Chen Xun was a mortal.
• Nangong Yao, Liu Xuan Yin, and Jiang Bailu waited at White Fox Ridge to negotiate with the Great Evolution Demonic Sect and discuss the return of their captured disciples.
• Nangong Yao rebuked Jiang Bailu for questioning the master’s decision to kill You Sha, explaining that it had protected the sect’s people.
• Ji Wucang arrived with three elders and demanded that Nangong Yao return the Great Evolution Demonic Sect’s fourth elder, stewards, and elite disciples before he would return the Heavenly Dao Sect’s captives.

The Great Evolution Demonic Sect trapped Nangong Yao and the Heavenly Dao Sect elders in a formation on White Fox Ridge, where their spiritual power steadily drained. Jiang Bailu sacrificed himself by detonating his Nascent Soul, allowing Nangong Yao and Liu Xuan Yin to escape as the ridge was destroyed.

• Ji Wucang refused to return the Heavenly Dao Sect disciples and activated a grand formation that trapped Nangong Yao, Liu Xuan Yin, and Jiang Bailu.
• The Nether Snake Dragon-Suppressing Grand Formation drained the trapped cultivators’ spiritual power while Ji Wucang and his elders attacked them.
• Liu Xuan Yin failed to find a way to break the formation or seize its flag as the battle and the spiritual drain worsened.
• Jiang Bailu urged Nangong Yao and Liu Xuan Yin to escape, then began swelling his abdomen to self-detonate his Nascent Soul.
• Ji Wucang ordered the formation dispelled and retreated with his elders, while Liu Xuan Yin pulled Nangong Yao away.
• Jiang Bailu’s explosion razed White Fox Ridge and injured both sects’ cultivators, and Nangong Yao ordered Liu Xuan Yin to return to the sect.

Ji Wucang and the injured elders survived Jiang Bailu’s self-detonation and planned to attack the weakened Heavenly Dao Sect. Nangong Yao and Liu Xuan Yin returned to the sect unconscious, and Liu Yunjian ordered the Heavenly Dao Bell rung nine times, leaving Zhao Ting to hurry off while Chen Xun remained behind.

• Ji Wucang praised Jiang Bailu’s sacrifice, then ordered his elders to return and mobilize the Great Evolution Demonic Sect against the Heavenly Dao Sect.
• Ji Wucang told the elders that the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Sect had ordered the capture of righteous cultivators as blood slaves and suspected other regions might also be involved.
• Nangong Yao and Liu Xuan Yin reached the Heavenly Dao Sect’s territory, where Liu Yunjian and the core elders met them and carried them back after they lost consciousness.
• Liu Yunjian ordered the Heavenly Dao Bell rung nine times, prompting disciples across the sect to stop cultivating and await orders.
• Zhao Ting explained the bell’s warning to Chen Xun, then left Servant Disciple Peak on his flying sword while Chen Xun stayed behind drinking wine.

After the Heavenly Dao Sect suffered heavy losses at White Fox Ridge, Chen Xun told the wounded Nangong Yao that the Great Evolution Demonic Sect would soon attack them and gave him two pills. The elders doubted the pills’ quality until one instantly healed Nangong Yao, leaving them stunned.

• Nangong Yao woke and explained that Jiang Bailu had detonated himself to break the Nether Snake Dragon-Suppressing Grand Formation, allowing Nangong Yao and Liu Xuan Yin to escape.
• Nangong Yao declared that the Heavenly Dao Sect would attack the Great Evolution Demonic Sect in five days to rescue its abducted disciples and avenge Jiang Bailu.
• Chen Xun arrived, advised the sect not to march on the demonic sect because Ji Wucang would soon attack, and gave Nangong Yao two pills for severe injuries.
• Nangong Yao and the elders concluded that Ji Wucang might enlist other demonic sects, so Nangong Yao ordered them to request help from righteous sects and prepare for battle.
• Jin Huashan judged Chen Xun’s pills ordinary, but Nangong Yao swallowed one and recovered so quickly that he abruptly stood up.

Nangong Yao and Liu Xuan Yin recovered from their grave injuries after taking Sir’s pills, while the Heavenly Dao Sect prepared for the Demonic Sect’s arrival. At the servant disciples’ dining hall, Chen Xun caught up with Yu Zheng, who feared he would soon have to leave the sect.

• Nangong Yao used one of Sir’s pills to heal Liu Xuan Yin despite the elders’ objections, and Liu Xuan Yin woke to learn that the third elder had died.
• Nangong Yao ordered the elders to prepare for the Demonic Sect’s arrival, and the Heavenly Dao Sect spent two days readying supplies and formations.
• Chen Xun reassured a worried food-serving disciple that servant disciples would not have to fight in a sect war.
• Yu Zheng recognized Chen Xun and explained that the other youths from Clear Sky City had left the sect while he remained at the first level of Qi Refinement.
• Yu Zheng asked whether Chen Xun would return to the mortal world, and Chen Xun said he would consider the idea.

The Heavenly Dao Sect prepared for an assault by the Great Evolution Demonic Sect, but only the Heavenly Puppet Gate and Azure Blade Pavilion sent aid. When ten demonic sects arrived with an overwhelming army, Zhao Ting rushed to Chen Xun and offered to lead him out through a secret passage.

• Nangong Yao rejected the suggestion that the gentleman intervene and worried that the Demonic Sect would use Jingyao and the other captured disciples as hostages.
• Pang Nian and Pu Yidao arrived with their forces, heard Nangong Yao's account of the conflict, and grew uneasy about the danger they had entered.
• Ten demonic sects advanced on the Heavenly Dao Sect with more than a hundred Demonic Boats and tens of thousands of Qi Refinement cultivators.
• Nangong Yao ordered Liu Yunjian to activate the prepared formations once the enemy entered their range.
• Zhao Ting flew to Chen Xun and offered to take him out of the sect through a secret passage in the back mountains.