Recaps

Li Ping'an accidentally triggered the White Jade Capital, which rose from Dragon-Tiger Mountain and entered his consciousness as a treasure he could summon. Five days later, he left the ruined mountain with the White Jade Capital in his possession and wondered where to find more Spirit Stones.

• Li Ping'an and the old Daoist approached the White Jade Capital, causing the stone stele to shatter and Dragon-Tiger Mountain to collapse.
• The White Jade Capital pursued Li Ping'an, shrank, and entered his consciousness as a Tower.
• Five days later, Li Ping'an learned that the White Jade Capital could suppress cultivators' Arts nearby, but would return to his consciousness if he went too far away.
• Li Ping'an left his Spirit Stones with the old Daoist as an apology and went down the mountain, while Qin Shi began clearing rubble to rebuild Dragon-Tiger Mountain.
• Li Ping'an admired the White Jade Capital's power and walked along the road with Old Ox, wondering where to find Spirit Stones next.

Two years later, Li Ping'an ambushed and killed Li Sanlang and his men, then claimed a reward for the wanted cultivators at Shushan. He returned to his cottage with Old Ox and prepared to cultivate under guard.

• Li Ping'an used White Jade Capital to suppress Li Sanlang and the Bearded Man's arts, crushing them before he killed the surviving men with the Fusang Saber.
• Li Ping'an collected the group's valuables and heads, then retrieved White Jade Capital and felt his strength drain as the pagoda returned to his sea of consciousness.
• At Shushan's Sword-Swapping Pavilion, Xiaodao thanked Li Ping'an for bringing Li Sanlang to justice and gave him his reward.
• Li Ping'an returned to his thatched cottage, secured the cellar with traps, and asked Old Ox to stand guard while he went inside.
• Old Ox agreed to protect Li Ping'an after he promised to give him beef jerky.

Li Ping'an’s cultivation in Shushan succeeded, dramatically improving his strength, though it destroyed much of his hut. As Shushan’s disciples prepared to travel for training, a young man summoned Li Ping'an outside after he finished a meal, leaving their meeting ahead.

• Li Ping'an performed a wine ritual before cultivating, and his breakthrough caused explosions that wrecked his hut and sent Old Ox flying.
• Li Ping'an checked his improved stats and realized that cultivating in Shushan had greatly strengthened him.
• Li Ping'an decided he needed to find a new place to live and joked with Old Ox about keeping a low profile instead of buying beef jerky.
• Shushan prepared its disciples for a five-year training journey, and some hired guards for dangerous excursions.
• At Shushan’s communal dining hall, a young man approached Li Ping'an and told him to meet outside when he had finished eating.
• Li Ping'an finished his meal, took his bamboo staff, and went outside.

Li Ping'an defeated Liu Yunwu in a fight on the martial arts platform, then met Qin Miaomiao, who asked him to accompany her to the Southern Border in search of Snake Desire Fruit. When he refused her offer of a thousand Spirit Stones, Qin Miaomiao declared that she was willing, leaving Li Ping'an unsure what she meant.

• Liu Yunwu introduced himself and challenged Li Ping'an on behalf of Shushan's retainers.
• Li Ping'an knocked Liu Yunwu off the platform with a single blow and left.
• Qin Miaomiao visited Li Ping'an and asked him to accompany her to the Witchcraft Gu Land in the Southern Border to seek Snake Desire Fruit.
• Li Ping'an said Qin Miaomiao's offer of one thousand Spirit Stones was too low and told her to ask someone else.
• Qin Miaomiao said she was willing, and Li Ping'an asked what she meant.

Qin Miaomiao hired Li Ping'an to help her find the Snake Desire Fruit, and the two agreed he would receive half of it as payment. After arriving late to the Shushan trial, Li Ping'an and Old Ox joined the flying boat to the Witchcraft Gu Land, where Qin Miaomiao traveled with Situ Lei and remained wary of her new retainer.

• Qin Miaomiao offered Li Ping'an half the Snake Desire Fruit in addition to his payment, and he accepted the deal.
• At the Shushan trial gathering, the Sect Master forgot his prepared speech and rambled before the disciples chose their destinations.
• Situ Lei offered Qin Miaomiao the help of his family retainer, Liu Yidao, when Li Ping'an failed to appear.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox hurried onto the departing flying boat, and Li Ping'an explained that climbing Main Peak had delayed them.
• Two days into the journey, Situ Lei promised to help Qin Miaomiao and warned her to be careful around retainers like Li Ping'an.

Li Ping'an traveled to Witchcraft Gu Land with Old Ox, earning the attention of Shushan’s disciples when his erhu playing disrupted their Visualization. After three days, the group arrived at the dangerous region, where Li Ping'an surprised Elder Qingfeng by admitting he could not fly.

• Li Ping'an brewed medicinal ingredients and studied prescriptions with Old Ox as they traveled aboard the Flying Boat.
• Elder Qingfeng asked Li Ping'an to play the erhu, and its mournful music caused several disciples, including Situ Lei and Qin Miaomiao, to leave their Visualization; Lin Xue also stopped after Qingfeng intervened.
• Li Ping'an’s erhu skill improved, and he put the instrument away before continuing to study his medicinal broth with Old Ox.
• Three days later, the group reached Witchcraft Gu Land, and Elder Qingfeng warned them to beware of poisons and Gu Insects.
• As the disciples flew away on their swords, Li Ping'an climbed onto Old Ox, and Elder Qingfeng was bewildered when Li Ping'an said he was not a Qi Refining Practitioner.

Li Ping'an and the others traveled through the Witchcraft Gu Land, where they encountered Poison Beasts and reached the Mind-Seizing Ground. Situ Lei entered it confidently, but its effects transformed him into a strange, scuttling creature.

• Li Ping'an gathered plants, insects, and other materials as the group traveled through the forest.
• Lin Xue killed a tiger-like beast with a scorpion tail, and Li Ping'an took its corpse after she gave it to him.
• The group reached the Mind-Seizing Ground, and Qin Miaomiao relayed Situ Lei’s concerns that Li Ping'an might be affected by it.
• Li Ping'an entered the Mind-Seizing Ground and showed that he was unharmed, while other disciples steadied themselves before proceeding.
• Situ Lei hurried into the passage to impress Qin Miaomiao, then arched and twisted on the ground, scuttling and howling.

Li Ping'an saved Situ Lei from a giant python and its hidden offspring, changing Situ Lei’s opinion of him as the group continued through Witchcraft Gu Land. That night, Qingfeng sensed that two disciples had run into trouble.

• Li Ping'an revived Situ Lei after he had been knocked unconscious, and Liu Yidao concealed what had happened from him.
• Li Ping'an spotted a giant python and killed it before it could attack Situ Lei.
• A second snake sprang from the dead python, and Li Ping'an beheaded it just before it reached Situ Lei.
• Situ Lei thanked Li Ping'an over drinks, and Li Ping'an, Old Ox, Qin Miaomiao, and Situ Lei spent the night around the fire.
• Qingfeng sensed through his Divine Sense that two disciples had run into trouble.

Li Ping'an and Old Ox left Qin Miaomiao and Situ Lei to search for Star Spirit Grass, but they came upon Lin Xue surrounded by enemies. After a Wizard’s poisonous insect wounded her, Li Ping'an intervened and attacked the Wizard.

• Elder Qingfeng hurried to rescue another disciple in danger, while the rest of Li Ping'an’s group traveled without major incident.
• Qin Miaomiao and her companions found that the Snake Desire Fruit had already been picked, and Li Ping'an departed without collecting the rest of his payment.
• Old Ox identified a place where Star Spirit Grass might grow, and Li Ping'an hurried there with him.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox spotted Lin Xue fighting a group of attackers, led by a Wizard seeking revenge against Shushan.
• The Wizard’s insect bit Lin Xue and poisoned her, so Li Ping'an rushed from hiding and charged at the Wizard with a punch.

Li Ping'an killed the Wizard with help from Old Ox, then treated Lin Xue after she was poisoned. Lin Xue woke in a cave, learned Li Ping'an had taken her Star Spirit Grass as payment, and resolved to repay him.

• Li Ping'an summoned the White Jade Capital to distract the Wizard, used Old Ox to interrupt him, and killed him with a slash to the throat.
• Li Ping'an found Lin Xue collapsing from poison and sealed her Qi and Blood with Silver Needles before giving her an Antidote Pill.
• Li Ping'an persuaded Old Ox to help suck the poison from Lin Xue's shoulder, then bandaged her wounds and left her in a cave.
• Lin Xue woke, recalled the attack, and found a note saying Li Ping'an had taken her Star Spirit Grass as payment for saving her.
• Lin Xue noticed her carefully bandaged wounds and the signs that someone had sucked out the poison, then vowed to repay Li Ping'an's kindness.

After returning to Shushan, Li Ping'an discovered that his home had been demolished to make way for an Elder’s residence, while Bai Gei’s protests ended in his expulsion. Li Ping'an continued researching a medicinal formula with Old Ox and finally succeeded after nearly half a month.

• The training expedition ended, and Li Ping'an returned to Shushan with Old Ox and the other disciples.
• Li Ping'an found that his hut and the surrounding homes had been demolished, and learned that an Elder wanted the land for a residence.
• Bai Gei led a protest demanding compensation, but a scandal turned Shushan against him, and he was expelled after the others received new housing and compensation.
• Li Ping'an saw Bai Gei off alone, then continued experimenting on his medicinal formula with Old Ox.
• After nearly half a month of research, Li Ping'an exclaimed that the formula had worked.

Li Ping'an and Old Ox made two inexpensive medicines and then sneaked into Medicine Valley to experiment on a third. Wu Mengxi caught them, but Li Ping'an proved he was making medicine, leaving her to wash her hair in a handstand as promised.

• Li Ping'an and Old Ox finished making a wound-healing medicine and a low-cost body-strengthening medicine, while Li Ping'an still lacked an herb for his own cultivation medicine.
• Situ Lei treated Li Ping'an to drinks and confided that Qin Miaomiao had distanced herself from him.
• After parting from Situ Lei, Li Ping'an and Old Ox entered Medicine Valley at night to gather herbs and experiment.
• Wu Mengxi discovered them while patrolling and accused Li Ping'an of lying about making medicine.
• Li Ping'an demonstrated that he could make medicine, so Wu Mengxi washed her hair in a handstand and admitted he had won.

Li Ping'an tested a new medicinal pill, then turned a confrontation with Grasshopper into a profitable settlement at the Enforcement Pavilion. He and Wu Mengxi launched a commission-based medicine business that rapidly dominated Shushan's low-end market, leaving Li Ping'an and Old Ox rich but overworked.

• Li Ping'an offered Wu Mengxi a ten-percent commission for bringing in buyers, and she agreed to help sell his medicine.
• After making and testing a large pill on himself, Li Ping'an cultivated for two days and felt refreshed.
• Grasshopper and his men confronted Li Ping'an, who pretended to be bullied before slapping Grasshopper and letting the group beat him until a disciple intervened.
• At the Enforcement Pavilion, Li Ping'an asked for monetary compensation and forgave Grasshopper, who grudgingly thanked him.
• Li Ping'an met Wu Mengxi in secret, sold medicine to her recruits, and offered them commissions for bringing in more buyers.
• Over the next month, Li Ping'an's Black Market medicine business spread rapidly, overwhelmed Shushan's low-end market, and filled his Storage Ring with Spirit Stones.

Li Ping'an took Old Ox to a market town, bought livestock after haggling with a chicken seller, and returned to Shushan to build animal shelters. After sharing a meal and wine with Elder Qingfeng, he waited for Qingfeng to fall asleep and began cultivating in peace.

• Li Ping'an rented a house, collected a pass to leave Shushan, and went to the market town with Old Ox.
• Li Ping'an identified an old hen as a poor layer, negotiated a low price, and bought several hens and other livestock.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox built shelters for the animals on their land at Shushan.
• Elder Qingfeng visited Li Ping'an, brought immortal wine, and stayed to share a meal.
• Elder Qingfeng fell asleep after drinking, and Li Ping'an closed the door and began cultivating.

Li Ping'an escaped a raid on his medicine-selling operation, only for Qingfeng to discover that he was the dealer. Qingfeng watched Li Ping'an refine the medicine and realized the culprit he had hoped to meet was the very person he knew.

• The Enforcement Pavilion elder condemned the fake-medicine operation, while Qingfeng assumed it had nothing to do with him.
• Li Ping'an sold medicine at the latrine until Wu Mengxi warned that the Enforcement Pavilion was coming, then escaped through a tunnel with his accomplices.
• Lin Xue led the Enforcement Pavilion raid and captured more than twenty people left behind.
• Qingfeng read that the medicine was effective rather than fake, and the Enforcement Pavilion ordered the alchemy hall elders to investigate their disciples.
• Qingfeng followed Li Ping'an to Medicine Valley and watched him refine herbal medicine, confirming that Li Ping'an was the dealer.

Li Ping'an teamed up with Elder Qingfeng to protect and expand his medicine business, then gained a Field Cultivation Technique and gave Old Ox a Magical Brick. Qingfeng brought Li Ping'an to a Medicine Valley on Heaven-Reaching Peak to recommend him for a garden-tending position.

• Qingfeng caught Li Ping'an and Old Ox making medicine, then demanded a share of the profits as his protective umbrella.
• Li Ping'an paid Qingfeng, and their partnership helped his low-end medicine business flourish.
• Li Ping'an advanced The Moon's Reflection on the Second Spring and gained the Field Cultivation Technique and a Magical Brick, which he handed to Old Ox.
• Qingfeng introduced Li Ping'an to the Medicine Valley on Heaven-Reaching Peak and said he had recommended him for a disciple position tending the garden.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox entered the valley, marveled at its spirit medicines, and excitedly explored the garden.

Li Ping'an impressed Medicine Valley with his cultivation skills and secured a job there, moving in with Old Ox to tend the fields and animals. He settled into a peaceful routine while knowing he was destined to leave Shushan and return to the martial world someday.

• Lin Xue and Li Ping'an blushed as they recalled the time he treated her poisoned wounds, while Old Ox hid his face.
• Qingfeng introduced Li Ping'an to Gao Shicheng, who tested him by assigning him a small patch to sow despite learning he was not a cultivator.
• Li Ping'an used his Field Cultivation Technique to sow all thirty-odd mu, clear the weeds, and impress Gao Shicheng with his work.
• Li Ping'an secured a place in Medicine Valley and moved there with Old Ox, bringing their chickens and pigs as they settled into a busy routine.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox secretly stole taro, roasted it beneath a pine tree, and watched the sunset.

Li Ping'an settled into life guarding Medicine Valley, where he caught a chah stealing spirit herbs and built a bathing pool with Old Ox. He became enemies with Elder Lu Bai over the elder’s embezzlement and hostility toward his medicine business, and the chapter ended with Situ Lei telling Qin Miaomiao that Academy disciple Jing Yu had reached the fifth grade.

• Li Ping'an caught the chah stealing spirit herbs, and Old Ox helped him string it up as punishment.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox built a pool fed by the valley’s spring water, where they later bathed with the chah beneath the moonlight.
• Li Ping'an learned that Elder Lu Bai resented his cheaper medicine and often embezzled from Medicine Valley, so the two became enemies.
• Li Ping'an met Situ Lei and Qin Miaomiao at the dining hall, where Situ Lei said Jing Yu had reached the fifth grade.

Li Ping'an reflected on the lives of old acquaintances, cultivated medicines, and experimented with new remedies before Elder Lu Bai demanded spirit herbs without proper paperwork. The chapter ended with Li Ping'an asking Lu Bai to sign for the ten shilan plants he had requested.

• Li Ping'an read news about Jing Yu and Yan Shisan, who had become a Confucian disciple and slain an Evil Cultivator.
• Li Ping'an planted spirit medicine seeds and watched other disciples struggle under the pressure of cultivation.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox read news of the Turkic Lands' destruction and the Empress's achievements while Chah ate Li Ping'an's failed medicinal brews.
• Elder Lu Bai demanded ten two-hundred-year-old shilan plants without presenting a requisition slip.
• Li Ping'an had Old Ox fetch the plants but asked Lu Bai to sign for them before handing them over.

Li Ping'an tested his new Mighty Pill by setting up a stall on Red Agate Street, where two disciples sent by Lu Bai tried to intimidate him. He then went to Elder Qingfeng and framed their harassment as an insult to the elder, leaving Qingfeng to react to the provocation.

• Li Ping'an refined a black medicine called the Mighty Pill, which proved three times as effective as an ordinary Qi-Blood Pill, and decided to test it himself before selling it widely.
• Li Ping'an set up a stall on Red Agate Street, where two disciples approached him and demanded pork and Cunjin Soft Bone.
• Li Ping'an fulfilled their orders and gave them Spirit Stones, leaving the disciples satisfied and convinced that their presence had intimidated him.
• Li Ping'an packed up his stall, dirtied his face and clothes, and went to Elder Qingfeng's residence to report that he had been bullied.
• Li Ping'an told Elder Qingfeng that the disciples' actions were not just a slap in his face but a slap in the elder's face.

Li Ping'an joined Situ Lei on a mission to investigate the Hundred Mothers Hall, a temple rumored to worship a demon responsible for several deaths. While Old Ox distracted the worshippers with acrobatics, Situ Lei exposed the demon, which fled as he attacked it.

• Qingfeng settled Lu Bai’s dispute with Li Ping'an, and Lu Bai thereafter treated him courteously.
• Li Ping'an accepted Situ Lei’s offer to investigate a suspicious temple in the county town.
• At the Hundred Mothers Hall, Situ Lei asked Li Ping'an to divert the worshippers while he used the Absolution Divine Order to reveal the demon.
• Old Ox drew the crowd’s attention by performing acrobatics outside the temple.
• Situ Lei exposed the demon inside the hall and attacked, but it turned and ran.

Li Ping'an's temple visit led to the fiend's defeat after it absorbed poisoned incense, while Situ Lei assumed the battle had gone smoothly. The old man who had paid for Li Ping'an's incense returned home to hear alarming news about his son.

• Situ Lei chased the fiend into the woods and fought it while Li Ping'an stayed at the temple eating offerings.
• An old man scolded Li Ping'an for eating the temple fruit, bought him three sticks of incense, and asked the immortal to heal his sick son.
• Li Ping'an burned the incense, weakening his qi and poisoning the fiend when it absorbed the incense power.
• The fiend collapsed, and Situ Lei bound it with the Demon-Binding Rope before returning to the temple.
• Li Ping'an suggested the fiend's defeat might have been a staged accident, and the old man returned home to find his wife crying about their son.

An old man realized that the blind physician who cured his son was the immortal he had met at the temple. Later, Lin Xue visited Li Ping'an for herbs before the Sect Grand Tournament, and she fell asleep after confiding her worries to him.

• The old man's son recovered, and his wife explained that a blind physician had treated him and left a prescription.
• The old man recognized the physician as the blind man from the temple and concluded that he was an immortal.
• Li Ping'an played a game with Old Ox, then showed off his vegetable garden to Lin Xue when she arrived to collect medicinal herbs.
• Lin Xue told Li Ping'an she was preparing for the Sect Grand Tournament and hoped to break through to the third rank peak.
• While resting in Li Ping'an's garden, Lin Xue shared her anxieties about the tournament and fell asleep.

Lin Xue woke refreshed, while Li Ping'an spent the days before the Sect Grand Tournament fishing, cooking, and catching up on letters from friends. A month later, the tournament began.

• Lin Xue woke among the medicinal plants and found the ingredients Li Ping'an had prepared for her.
• Situ Lei visited before entering seclusion, and Li Ping'an cooked for him after learning he would pay.
• Li Ping'an refused Xiaodao's mission offer so he could enjoy the approaching Sect Grand Tournament and fish instead.
• Li Ping'an read letters from Jing Yu, Aliya, Qin Shi, Wang Yi, and Old Ox, learning that his friends were doing well.
• A month later, the Sect Grand Tournament began.

Shushan’s disciples gathered for the Sect Grand Tournament while Li Ping'an prepared medicine and practiced, then traveled to Main Peak with Old Ox and Run Tu. He arrived ready to watch the matches with snacks, a sunshade, and Projection Stones to record the fights.

• Li Ping'an spent the night practicing visualization as Shushan prepared for the tournament.
• Situ Lei and the disciples of Lesser Qiong Peak set off for Main Peak, where they encountered Lin Xue and the group from Heaven-Reaching Peak.
• Lin Xue thanked Li Ping'an for helping her feel at ease after their conversation in Medicine Valley.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox walked up Main Peak with Run Tu and arrived at the crowded tournament square.
• Old Ox opened their box of refreshments, a sunshade, and Projection Stones for recording the battles.