Recaps

Li Ping'an visited the Wang residence, where he played the erhu for Master Gu after watching a martial arts exhibition. Master Gu was deeply moved by the piece and asked who had composed it.

• Monk Changqing challenged the Western Regions Swordsman, was struck down by a chilling force, and left after receiving advice on saving his meridians.
• Wang Yi invited Li Ping'an and his companions to the Wang residence, where two martial artists sparred for their entertainment.
• Li Ping'an tried to circulate his true qi but felt increasingly stifled, then drank wine with an old man who asked him to play the erhu.
• Li Ping'an played “The Moon's Reflection on the Second Spring,” and Master Gu became absorbed in the music.
• Wang Shan arrived and found Master Gu shaken; Master Gu praised the piece and asked who had composed it.

Li Ping'an visited the Wang Family with Wang Yi and impressed Master Gu with his singing. When Master Gu used his Qimen Divination Board to read Li Ping'an's fate, the board's lifespan indicator shot beyond its limit, and Master Gu collapsed after spitting blood.

• Wang Shan welcomed Li Ping'an into his home after Wang Yi introduced him, and the group shared a feast.
• Master Gu asked Li Ping'an to teach him the tune he had played, but Li Ping'an refused payment and agreed to teach him.
• Master Gu offered to read Li Ping'an's fortune with his Qimen Divination Board, and Wang Shan revealed that Master Gu was a renowned diviner.
• Master Gu examined Li Ping'an and found that the board's lifespan indicator kept rising beyond two hundred and three hundred years.
• Master Gu spat out blood as the board split in two, and the others cried out to him.

Mr. Gu recovered at the Wang residence, advised Wang Shan and Wang Yi on their political plans, and foretold that Wang Yi would benefit from a great man. Later, Li Ping'an found the injured monk Changqing and took him home to recover.

• After waking, Mr. Gu apologized to Li Ping'an and received the score for The Moon's Reflection on the Second Spring.
• After three days of recovery, Mr. Gu left the Wang residence and told Wang Shan that the Wang family's future depended on Li Ping'an's young associate.
• Mr. Gu told Wang Yi that his hexagram showed he would meet a great man who was his benefactor.
• On the ninth day of the seventh month, Li Ping'an bought willow branches and saw Changqing collapse outside a clinic.
• Li Ping'an carried Changqing home, treated him with his own medicinal decoction, and invited him to recuperate there.

Li Ping'an suffered a dangerous relapse, but Changqing saved him and taught him the Nirvana Sutra to help control his unruly true qi. After making rapid progress in the practice, Li Ping'an returned to eating heartily, only to discover he did not have enough money to pay his restaurant bill.

• Li Ping'an's true qi went berserk while he was hoeing, and Changqing used his remaining strength to keep him alive.
• Changqing explained that the unstable true qi could kill Li Ping'an and offered to teach him the Nirvana Sutra.
• Changqing taught Li Ping'an the sutra, and Li Ping'an spent two days and nights studying it, restoring his pulse and making progress in his cultivation.
• Li Ping'an practiced the Nirvana Sutra at home until his true qi became more stable and his cultivation grew stronger.
• Li Ping'an went to a restaurant, ate a table of dishes, and realized he lacked enough money to pay the bill.

Li Ping'an struggled to pay for an expensive meal until Liu Er covered the bill, and Wang Shan quietly reimbursed him after deciding he was the Wang family's destined benefactor. Later, while Li Ping'an played music on the street, The Moon's Reflection on the Second Spring reached level 3 and granted him a cultivation-boosting fate trait.

• Li Ping'an discovered he could not afford his meal, so Liu Er paid for it after meeting him at the restaurant.
• Wang Shan learned what had happened and secretly sent Liu Er money to reimburse Li Ping'an.
• Li Ping'an resumed cultivating at home, then went to his familiar street corner to play music and earn money.
• The Moon's Reflection on the Second Spring reached level 3 and granted Li Ping'an the fate trait Diligence Can Make Up for Clumsiness.
• Li Ping'an kept playing his tune and planned to return home to test the new trait.

Li Ping'an recovered through practicing the Nirvana Sutra and began teaching Wang Yi the erhu, though his student preferred martial arts. After Ma Sanniang summoned him to Spring Beauty Courtyard, she asked about his recovery and mentioned an interesting wager involving the Western Regions Swordsman.

• Li Ping'an triggered his Diligence Can Make Up for Clumsiness fate trait while studying the Nirvana Sutra and spent several days recovering.
• Li Ping'an brought dates to Wang Shan to thank him for paying off his debt, and Wang Shan persuaded him to teach Wang Yi the erhu.
• Wang Yi arrived for his first lesson with Rose Dew Wine, and Li Ping'an accepted the gift and agreed to teach him wholeheartedly.
• Wang Yi complained about music lessons, demonstrated his boxing routine, and offered to protect Li Ping'an from anyone who bullied him.
• Ma Sanniang summoned Li Ping'an to Spring Beauty Courtyard, asked about his recovery, and brought up a wager involving the Western Regions Swordsman.

Li Ping'an agreed to join Ma Sanniang's wager against the Western Regions Swordsman, then advised Liu Er to leave his betting choice to fate. As the swordsman’s final match drew a huge crowd despite the rain, Liu Er learned that his bet on the swordsman losing might have cost him half his possessions.

• Ma Sanniang offered Li Ping'an a share of the winnings to fight the Western Regions Swordsman, and he accepted.
• Li Ping'an brought Liu Er dates and advised him to let fate choose his bet; Liu Er followed the advice and bet on the swordsman losing.
• Wang Yi braved the storm to attend his erhu lesson at Li Ping'an's home instead of watching the swordsman's final match.
• Crowds and local gang members gathered at Autumn Wind Court to watch the match and follow the enormous betting pool.
• The Venomous Snake Gang leader told Liu Er that Ma Sanniang was supposedly using her bet to fool people into betting on the swordsman's defeat, and Liu Er feared losing half his possessions.

Wang Yi, Aliya, Pang Jun, and Zhao Ling'er sneaked away to watch the duel at Autumn Wind Court, where Li Ping'an defeated the Western Regions Swordsman with a single saber strike. Li Ping'an returned to his courtyard and dried himself with his true qi.

• Pang Jun persuaded Wang Yi and Aliya to slip away from Li Ping'an's courtyard to watch the duel, and Zhao Ling'er joined them.
• The four reached a restaurant opposite Autumn Wind Court and watched a masked swordsman approach the sedan chair through the rain.
• The Western Regions Swordsman attacked Li Ping'an with a storm of sword strikes, but Li Ping'an waited until the final step to draw his saber.
• Li Ping'an shattered the sedan chair and cut off the Western Regions Swordsman's top button, and the swordsman admitted defeat.
• Li Ping'an returned through the alley to his courtyard, removed his rain gear, and used his true qi to dry his clothes.

Wang Yi and Aliya returned from sneaking out to watch the fight at Autumn Wind Court, where they and their friends warmed up with ginger soup and discussed the mysterious fighter. Zhao Ling'er admired Li Ping'an's calligraphy and accepted a sheet as a gift. Over the following days, Li Ping'an improved at go, but Changqing repeatedly swept away the board to avoid losing.

• Wang Yi and Aliya returned soaked from sneaking out, and Li Ping'an gave them and their friends blankets and ginger soup after revealing he knew they had gone outside.
• Wang Yi, Aliya, and Pang Jun discussed the masked fighter from Autumn Wind Court, and Wang Yi resolved to search for him and ask to become his disciple.
• Zhao Ling'er admired Li Ping'an's calligraphy, praised his writing, and accepted one of his sheets as a gift.
• Li Ping'an played go with Changqing over the next few days and gained enough skill to turn a game in his favor.
• Changqing scattered the stones and invoked the danger of idle amusements to leave the game, then returned for another match and did it again.

Changqing parted ways with Li Ping'an, who then advanced his Turtle Breath Technique and celebrated with Liu Er. Wang Yi was forced to study calligraphy with Li Ping'an, and his ride through the fields ended when a bloodied man and a hovering short sword appeared nearby.

• Changqing said goodbye to Li Ping'an after his injuries had healed, and Li Ping'an joked that he should stop cheating at chess.
• Li Ping'an advanced his Turtle Breath Technique from 92% to 93% and felt he had reached a new realm.
• Liu Er thanked Li Ping'an for advising him to follow heaven's will before winning a wager, then invited him to a meal.
• Wang Shan told Wang Yi to study calligraphy with Li Ping'an after he mastered the erhu, and Li Ping'an agreed to teach him.
• Wang Yi rode into the fields and found a bloodied man lying in a thicket beside a humming short sword hovering in the air.

Li Ping'an taught calligraphy to Aliya, Zhao Ling'er, and Wang Yi, whose contempt for scholars led to an argument with his teacher. After leaving, Wang Yi took Fat Jun to meet the mysterious Kong Yang, who confronted him for bringing someone along.

• Li Ping'an taught calligraphy while Aliya and Zhao Ling'er practiced, and Wang Yi told them he had met a master who could command a flying sword.
• Li Ping'an guided Wang Yi through writing and explained the value of learning, but Wang Yi insulted scholars, tore up the paper, and challenged his teacher.
• Zhao Ling'er and Aliya rebuked Wang Yi, while Li Ping'an calmly picked up the torn paper and murmured about the brave and the cowardly.
• Wang Yi met Fat Jun and took him to a cave in the eastern mountains to visit Kong Yang, promising to teach him swordsmanship later.
• Kong Yang fixed his sharp gaze on Fat Jun and reprimanded Wang Yi for telling anyone about him.

Li Ping'an rescued Wang Yi and Pang Jun by defeating the wounded cultivator Kong Yang. He left with the boys after making them promise to keep the fight secret, while Old Ox buried Kong Yang's corpse.

• Wang Yi charged toward Kong Yang's flying sword to protect Pang Jun, but Li Ping'an stepped in front of him and blocked it.
• Kong Yang attacked Li Ping'an with his Short Sword, but Li Ping'an dodged and cut off one of Kong Yang's arms with his cane.
• Kong Yang drove Sword Qi into Li Ping'an, but it vanished inside him, and Li Ping'an killed Kong Yang.
• Li Ping'an warned Wang Yi and Pang Jun to keep the incident secret, then left with them.
• Old Ox buried Kong Yang's corpse and lamented that the family could not last a day without him.

Li Ping'an struggled to erase Kong Yang's Sword Qi from the three-inch short sword while resuming his ordinary routines and reconnecting with Liu Yong. After more than ten days of effort, Li Ping'an faced the sword's final resistance and was wounded in the hand.

• Li Ping'an practiced with a branch, then tried to remove Kong Yang's lingering Sword Qi from the short sword, but the blade resisted and cut his finger.
• Li Ping'an met Liu Yong at a food stall on Southwest Street and learned that Liu Yong was serving under General Xiahou and had come to the Anbei Four Garrisons on confidential business.
• Wang Yi hurried to Li Ping'an's lessons, hoping that his obedience and diligent calligraphy practice would eventually earn him a place as Li Ping'an's final disciple.
• After more than ten days of battling the sword's remaining Sword Qi, Li Ping'an focused his strength into his fingertip, but the blade pierced the back of his hand.

Li Ping'an mastered the first stirrings of controlling his Short Sword, named it Fine Rain, and accepted an escort commission from Ma Sanniang. He traveled with a convoy carrying General Xiahou Shang’s wife and young son, whose journey had been disrupted by a threat from their enemies.

• Li Ping'an sent True Qi into the Short Sword, briefly controlled it in flight, and named it Fine Rain.
• Ma Sanniang gave Li Ping'an an escort commission and his medicine, then told him to leave the Spring Beauty Courtyard.
• Li Ping'an joined a convoy of Spring Beauty Courtyard assassins and military men, where he encountered Liu Yong.
• Liu Yong told Li Ping'an that the carriage held General Xiahou Shang’s wife and young son, and that they had been reassigned after a mishap amid threats from the Hu and other rivals.
• The convoy turned onto a narrow trail and reached a stream near evening.

Li Ping'an and the Spring Beauty Courtyard's assassins survived a Turkic ambush, with Li Ping'an helping kill the enemy cultivator who attacked their carriage. The other three mounted parties were wiped out after Ma Sanniang used them as bait to draw away the enemy forces.

• Li Ping'an gained a cultivation-speed increase and accidentally stabbed Old Ox's tail with the Drizzle Sword.
• Turkic warriors attacked the camp with Xuan Crossbows before charging on horseback, and the Spring Beauty Courtyard's assassins fought back.
• A pale cultivator attacked the carriage, and Li Ping'an wounded him with his saber before the mysterious cultivator inside the carriage beheaded him.
• The Spring Beauty Courtyard's party killed more than fifty Turkic death warriors and survived the battle.
• The other three mounted parties were wiped out; Ma Sanniang had used them as bait to divide the enemy's forces.

Ma Sanniang faced the Anbei Four Garrisons’ underworld after defying the Turks and raising their monthly tribute. Uncle Deng severed their relationship, leaving her surrounded by hostile gang leaders.

• Ma Sanniang recalled how Xiahou Shang had avenged her mother’s death, and how she had promised to repay his kindness.
• After Ma Sanniang defied the Turks, their demanded share of the gangs’ profits rose from forty percent to sixty percent, turning the Anbei Four Garrisons’ underworld against her.
• Uncle Deng confronted Ma Sanniang at his residence, asking why she had risked her life, and she said she had acted to repay a favor.
• Uncle Deng burned Ma Sanniang’s calling card and ended their relationship.
• Jia Wan and the other gang leaders ordered Ma Sanniang to leave, while the surrounding underworld forces prepared to move against her.

Ma Sanniang endured the Anbei Four Garrisons underworld leaders’ execution until Li Ping'an returned and rescued her. He used the threat of his cultivation to get them out, then promised the leaders that the Spring Beauty Courtyard would repay them in days to come.

• Jia Wan and Zhao Jun accused Ma Sanniang of past wrongs and stabbed her repeatedly as the underworld leaders carried out her execution.
• Li Ping'an arrived with his monkey mask, stopped Ma Sanniang's bleeding, and untied her.
• Ma Sanniang asked why Li Ping'an had returned, and he said she still owed him a month's wages.
• Li Ping'an threatened to kill most of the gathered leaders with his cultivation if they blocked their way, and they stepped aside.
• Li Ping'an led Ma Sanniang away and warned the leaders that the Spring Beauty Courtyard would repay them later.

Li Ping'an helped Ma Sanniang recover, then watched the underworld bosses he had killed get replaced by newcomers and struggled with a lack of income. Later, his erhu music clashed with Jing Yu’s qin playing, and Jing Yu’s string snapped, leaving their contest unresolved.

• Li Ping'an sheltered Ma Sanniang, who left the Anbei Four Garrisons alone half a month later without saying goodbye.
• The Spring Beauty Courtyard was demolished, and several underworld bosses were killed, but newcomers soon took their places.
• Li Ping'an practiced controlling Fine Rain, struggled to afford food, and later played his erhu in a garden.
• Jing Yu played Master Zhong’s qin while Li Ping'an played a discordant tune nearby, turning their music into a contest.
• Jing Yu grew anxious under Li Ping'an’s melody, lost control of his playing, and snapped a qin string.

Li Ping'an gained the Green Fate Single-Minded Devotion, improving his cultivation, and continued earning money by writing at his street stall. Master Zhong discovered Li Ping'an's calligraphy and poetry, invited him to the Academy, and left after Li Ping'an declined but directed him to ask the children's parents about enrolling them.

• Li Ping'an gained Single-Minded Devotion and found that it helped him enter meditation quickly and cultivate through the night.
• Li Ping'an returned to his street stall, where he wrote family letters and couplets for customers.
• Aliya and Zhao Ling'er collided with Master Zhong, who read the poems in their basket and asked to meet their teacher.
• Master Zhong praised Li Ping'an's calligraphy and poetry and invited him to enter the Academy, but Li Ping'an refused.
• Master Zhong asked whether Li Ping'an would send his pupils to the Academy; Li Ping'an said their parents had to decide, and Master Zhong bought several pieces of calligraphy.

Li Ping'an explained why he had pretended not to recognize Master Zhong, while Zhao Ling'er’s chance to enter the Academy excited her father. As Great Sui began purging collaborators in the Anbei Four Garrisons, Wang Shan feared arrest, but he and the other parents later visited Li Ping'an to ask for his help with the children’s journey to the Academy.

• Li Ping'an told Aliya and Zhao Ling'er that Master Zhong was a renowned scholar and that he had avoided admitting he recognized him to sidestep trouble.
• Zhao Ling'er told her father, Zhao Kai, that Master Zhong had offered her a place at the Academy, and Zhao Kai received a visiting card confirming the offer.
• Great Sui stationed twenty thousand cavalry in the Anbei Four Garrisons and began purging officials, merchants, and others who had cooperated with the Turkic people.
• Wang Shan feared soldiers had come to arrest him, but the official leading them instead congratulated him because Master Zhong had selected his son for the Academy.
• Li Ping'an saw the arrests and wanted posters spreading through the city, then welcomed Wang Shan, Zhao Kai, and Pan Yong, who asked him to help with the children’s two-thousand-li journey to the Academy.

Li Ping'an left the Anbei Four Garrisons with four children and two guards, heading south toward the Academy after helping Liu Er and his former colleagues. An unexpected snowfall slowed the travelers and left the children shivering around a fire.

• Li Ping'an visited imprisoned Liu Er with food and wine, then asked Wang Shan to bring supplies to his former colleagues at the Spring Beauty Courtyard.
• Li Ping'an set out south with Aliya, Wang Yi, Pang Jun, Zhao Ling'er, Cui Cheng, and Cui Cai.
• Jing Yu met the group outside town and joined them, talking at length about food, fashion, and life at the Academy.
• The travelers took shelter from unseasonable snow, and Li Ping'an warned that it could ruin crops and bring hardship.
• The cold caught Aliya and the other children unprepared, so Li Ping'an built up the fire while they huddled beside it.

Li Ping'an and the southbound group met a wandering former Confucian scholar searching for a missing woman before taking shelter in an eerie village. After Jing Yu mysteriously collapsed, Li Ping'an and Cui Cheng investigated a mourning hall and discovered paper figures resembling their companions.

• Li Ping'an refused Jing Yu's invitations to compose poetry, spar, or play music, then entered visualization after sending Jing Yu into the woods.
• The group shared fire and food with a silent traveler, who revealed that he was a former Confucian scholar searching for Yan, his missing fellow scholar and partner.
• The travelers reached a quiet village and were led to an empty courtyard by a wary old man.
• Jing Yu suddenly fainted, and Li Ping'an confirmed that his breathing and pulse were steady.
• At midnight, Li Ping'an and Cui Cheng followed a faint crying sound to a locked mourning hall and found seven paper figures that looked like them.

Li Ping'an discovered that a formation trapped the village and made his companions repeat the same day, while he and Old Ox remained unaffected. He met Yan Xun, the woman tied to the formation, and learned she had been missing for ten years and once knew a Confucian scholar.

• Li Ping'an found seven figurines resembling his companions, with no figurine matching him, and the next morning the group tried to leave the village.
• The companions returned to the village and repeated their previous day's actions, while Li Ping'an and Old Ox were unaffected; Li Ping'an also failed to carry Aliya out.
• Li Ping'an questioned Yan Xun in the well and learned she could not release his friends without undoing the formation, which would make her vanish.
• Li Ping'an met Yan Xun in the village and promised to deliver his companions safely to the Academy; she said she did not want the scholar searching for her to see her as she was.
• Yan Xun told Li Ping'an how she and the scholar had met, entered the Academy, and traveled together before their story was cut short.

Li Ping'an spent ten days with Yan Xun inside her formation, encouraging her to let go of the past, and she agreed to dissolve it. Before she vanished, Yan Xun gave him the Fusang tree and reunited with the man who had searched for her for ten years.

• Yan Xun explained that she had trapped herself and others in the formation because she could not accept dying, while Li Ping'an continued searching for a way to save them.
• Li Ping'an told Yan Xun about his life, and she agreed to undo the formation after ten days together.
• Li Ping'an taught Yan Xun basketball, and she enjoyed playing it with him.
• Yan Xun gave Li Ping'an the Fusang tree to make into a saber, asking him to return its seed to the Duke of Southern State's Residence.
• Li Ping'an led Yan Xun to the village entrance, where she reunited with the man who had searched for her; the formation dissolved, and Yan Xun began to vanish.

After Yan Xun dissolved the formation, Li Ping'an and the others traveled across the desert with Gu Xizhou, who learned that Li Ping'an could not cultivate. Li Ping'an continued shaping the Fusang Tree into a saber as a sandstorm approached.

• Yan Xun unraveled the formation, making the village vanish and freeing those who had been trapped there.
• Gu Xizhou thanked Li Ping'an for helping the others escape, revealed his name, and explained that the Fusang Tree would turn into a seed if one of its limbs was severed.
• As the group traveled through the desert, Li Ping'an used his flying sword Fine Rain to shape the Fusang Tree while Gu Xizhou offered to find a smith to design his saber.
• Jing Yu told Gu Xizhou that Li Ping'an could not cultivate, and Gu Xizhou confirmed that Li Ping'an's blocked apertures kept him from the path to immortality.
• Wang Yi and the children mocked Jing Yu's claim that he was a rare Academy genius, and Aliya's attempt to soothe him made him angrier.
• A cloud of yellow sand and flying stones appeared in the distance.