Recaps

Ouyang reassured Leng Qingsong that he had never opposed his cultivation and urged him to pursue his own dreams. Though Ouyang carried guilt over how he and Hu Yun had changed Leng Qingsong’s fate, he left him free to choose his path.

• Leng Qingsong offered Ouyang his treasured sword and asked whether Ouyang wanted him dead, but Ouyang dismissed his fears and flicked his forehead.
• Ouyang reflected that Hu Yun’s intervention had changed Leng Qingsong from a destined Immortal Gate key into the reincarnation of the immaculate sword heart, binding his Dao to the mortal world.
• Ouyang invited Leng Qingsong to sit beside him and said Leng Qingsong should not blame Hu Yun when the time came.
• Leng Qingsong said he trusted Hu Yun and Ouyang and would listen to them.
• Ouyang told Leng Qingsong that he was himself, not someone’s reincarnation, and encouraged him to pursue his dreams.

Ouyang agreed to accompany Leng Qingsong back to the Extreme Eastern Land so he could investigate the mysteries surrounding the Sky-Piercing Giant Pillar and Li Taibai’s Green Lotus Sword Intent. Leng Qingsong was delighted to travel alone with his brother, while Ouyang warned him not to return without finding anything.

• Ouyang asked Leng Qingsong whether he had discovered anything in the Extreme Eastern Land, and Leng Qingsong asked about the Green Lotus Sword Intent he had sensed on both the Sky-Piercing Giant Pillar and a pillar in the Nine Hells.
• Ouyang told Leng Qingsong he would have to return to the Extreme Eastern Land to find the answers, but Leng Qingsong showed little interest in pursuing the mystery.
• Ouyang decided to go with Leng Qingsong on his next trip and urged him to make an effort to uncover an opportunity.
• Leng Qingsong happily agreed, carried wooden planks away to repair the collapsed roof, and listened as Ouyang warned him not to bring his bedding into Ouyang’s room if the roof was not fixed by nightfall.
• Ouyang picked up Gouzi and left the courtyard, telling Leng Qingsong he would not be back for dinner.

Ouyang visited Jade Maiden Peak, where he sold cards of Little Mountain Peak’s Three Rebellious Sons before meeting Su Ling'er. Su Ling'er confessed that she loved him, leaving Ouyang unsure how to respond.

• Ouyang entered Jade Maiden Peak, where the Jade Bees welcomed him and spared Liang Zai.
• Ouyang sold animated portraits of Leng Qingsong, Chen Changsheng, and Bai Feiyu to the eager junior sisters.
• Su Ling'er arrived and reprimanded the girls for neglecting their cultivation, leaving Ouyang alone with her.
• Ouyang tried to leave, but Su Ling'er stopped him and confessed that she loved him.
• Ouyang froze, unsure how to answer Su Ling'er's direct confession.

Ouyang struggled to respond to Su Ling’er’s confession, and she left after making clear that her feelings were her own. He then reached Jade Maiden Peak’s Main Hall, where the three women overwhelmed him with questions and scolding.

• Su Ling’er confessed that she liked Ouyang, then walked away without waiting for his answer.
• Ouyang watched Su Ling’er leave, remained uncertain about his feelings, and headed to Jade Maiden Peak’s summit.
• Mu Yunge and Su Xiaoqi discussed Su Ling’er’s confession while Mu Yunhai considered recruiting her as a disciple.
• Ouyang entered the Main Hall and greeted Su Xiaoqi, Mu Yunge, and Mu Yunhai, prompting them to argue and bombard him with questions.
• Ouyang shouted for the women to stop talking, and two of them grabbed his ears.

Ouyang returned to Jade Maiden Peak, where Su Xiaoqi and the Mu Yunge sisters examined his strange, self-repairing injuries. That night, he visited Mu Yunhai to enter her Life-Bound Dream again, but she used the Musical Dao to put him to sleep.

• Su Xiaoqi and the Mu Yunge sisters examined Ouyang and found his meridians repeatedly breaking down and repairing themselves.
• Ouyang reassured the three women that he had only overexerted himself, then ate a large meal and fell asleep on Su Xiaoqi's couch.
• After midnight, Ouyang crept to Mu Yunhai's room, and she pulled him inside.
• Ouyang asked Mu Yunhai to let him sleep, and she mistook his words for a lewd request before he explained he meant her Life-Bound Dream.
• Mu Yunhai invoked the Musical Dao, and Ouyang fell asleep before he could finish speaking.

Ouyang returned to the life-bound dream of the city where he had lived his previous life and met his former self at the orphanage. After sharing a cigarette, he let the dream disappear and made peace with himself.

• Mu Yunhai brought Ouyang back to his life-bound dream, where he drifted down through an illusory version of the modern city.
• Ouyang walked to the orphanage and saw the children playing in its yard.
• Ouyang met his previous-life self at the gate, and the two spoke about his return and the regrets between them.
• Ouyang accepted a cigarette from his former self and lit it; the orphanage shattered and vanished as Ouyang made peace with himself.

Ouyang and Leng Qingsong set out from the Azure Cloud Sect for the Extreme Eastern Land, with Ouyang riding a donkey and Leng Qingsong on a Unicorn Night-Qi. Ouyang unknowingly took the Spirit Beast Peak Master, disguised as a donkey, and the pair continued their journey at speed.

• Ouyang refused to let Leng Qingsong travel by Sword Flight and borrowed a Unicorn Night-Qi from Spirit Beast Peak.
• After the other Demon Beasts refused to carry him, Ouyang beat a blue-and-white donkey, saddled it, and took it along.
• The Night-Qi cautiously followed the donkey, which was led onward by a carrot tied to a bamboo pole.
• Ouyang and Leng Qingsong left the Azure Cloud Sect, while Spirit Beast Peak disciples realized Ouyang had taken their Peak Master, who had transformed into a donkey.
• Ouyang closed his attribute panel and traveled with Leng Qingsong, cutting paper butterflies as their mounts carried them swiftly along the mountain road.

Xuanlingzi, disguised as a donkey, was forced to carry Ouyang and appealed to Dongxu Zi for help. Dongxu Zi assigned him to accompany Ouyang to the Ethereal Pavilion, while Leng Qingsong confronted Ouyang about his secrets and offered him a sword.

• Xuanlingzi panicked when Leng Qingsong stared at him, then brayed to maintain his donkey disguise.
• Xuanlingzi contacted Dongxu Zi, who scolded him for transforming in front of outsiders and told him to accompany Ouyang to the Wind and Cloud Ranking ceremony.
• Dongxu Zi blocked Xuanlingzi after he protested, leaving the donkey to carry Ouyang with a carrot dangling in front of him.
• Leng Qingsong questioned Ouyang about his paper cutting and accused him of hiding things since returning from the Mortal World.
• Leng Qingsong stopped Ouyang, drew his sword, and told him to stab him if he was concealing something; Ouyang sighed at his reaction.

Leng Qingsong confronted Ouyang and learned that Ouyang and their Master had deliberately severed his Sword Dao. After realizing they had done so to spare him the fate Bai Feiyu had feared, Leng Qingsong accepted their choice and resolved to make the Dao pursue him instead.

• Leng Qingsong demanded to know why Ouyang had hidden something from him, while their pets faced off beside them.
• Ouyang revealed that he and their Master had personally broken Leng Qingsong's Dao during the trip to the Extreme Eastern Land.
• Leng Qingsong recalled Bai Feiyu's warning about the painful choice at the end of the Dao and understood why his brother and Master had intervened.
• Leng Qingsong laughed with relief, dodged Ouyang's worried slap, and declared that he would make the Dao pursue him.

Ouyang reassured Leng Qingsong that he had escaped the fate of becoming a pawn, then urged him to rethink what it meant to become an Immortal. As they approached the Ethereal Pavilion, Ouyang declared that someone needed to redefine true Immortality.

• Leng Qingsong rejected Supreme Heartlessness and said he would rather not cultivate than end up alone.
• Ouyang told Leng Qingsong that his Master had changed his fate and that Ouyang had guided him away from becoming a sacrifice to powerful factions.
• Ouyang questioned what cultivation and becoming an Immortal were ultimately for, and Leng Qingsong struggled to answer.
• Ouyang said the ancient Immortals had become parasites, so Li Taibai had been right to slay them.
• Ouyang and Leng Qingsong reached a mountaintop overlooking countless cultivators rushing toward the Ethereal Pavilion, while Xuanlingzi hoped to stop being a donkey.
• Ouyang pointed toward the approaching crowd and said someone needed to redefine what an Immortal truly was.

Ouyang learned about the Heavenly Ranking and its three leading prodigies, then revealed that he had brought Leng Qingsong to compete. He sent his Integration Realm junior brother to claim the title of number one under heaven.

• A young cultivator told Ouyang and Leng Qingsong about the Heavenly Ranking and named Ye Chen, Ji Yuze, and Song Mu as its leading contenders.
• After giving the young cultivator a top-grade spirit stone, Ouyang learned more about Song Mu and concluded the ranking posed no threat to the troublemakers on his mountain.
• Leng Qingsong questioned why Ouyang had brought him to the gathering and showed no interest in watching the younger cultivators compete.
• Ouyang praised Leng Qingsong for guessing his plan and ordered him to win the title of number one under heaven.

Ouyang sent Leng Qingsong to claim first place on the Heavenly Ranking, hoping the public contest would help him find a new Immortal Path. Ouyang reflected on the balance he was trying to create between Bai Feiyu’s God-Sealing Dao and the prodigies’ pursuit of Immortality, then discovered his donkey was missing.

• Leng Qingsong hesitated to compete for the Heavenly Ranking, but Ouyang told him to win first place publicly rather than merely defeat the leading contenders.
• Ouyang gave Leng Qingsong a golden Calling Card, and Leng Qingsong set off on his Unicorn Night-Qi with his sword strapped to his back.
• Ouyang reasoned that Bai Feiyu’s Divine Dao suited the masses but would shackle restless prodigies, who needed a difficult path toward Immortality.
• Ouyang saw Leng Qingsong as a key to the coming upheaval and entrusted the choice of how to use it to his brother.
• Ouyang turned to find his donkey so he could watch the contest, but the donkey was gone.

The Ethereal Pavilion prepared to host the Heavenly Ranking as young cultivators gathered in the Luminous Blessed Land. Ye Chen and Ji Yuze nearly fought before the event began, but Song Mu appeared and redirected their hostility toward himself.

• Young cultivators gathered at the arena in the Luminous Blessed Land as the Heavenly Ranking approached.
• Ye Chen arrived with Sage Manor scholars, and Ji Yuze mocked his grand entrance.
• Ye Chen and Ji Yuze sensed each other as formidable rivals and prepared to fight while onlookers placed bets.
• Song Mu appeared amid white-lotus mist and asked Ye Chen and Ji Yuze to stop.
• Ye Chen and Ji Yuze grew angry at Song Mu's arrogant entrance and nearly turned their attention to him.

Song Mu arrived in a flashy display and fought Ye Chen and Ji Yuze, reflecting their attacks with his white lotus sword technique. After exhausting his strength, he pretended to stop fighting and gambled that Ji Yuze would not kill him, but a familiar Sword Intent flew toward him.

• Song Mu landed between Ye Chen and Ji Yuze on an enormous white lotus and asked them to do him a favor.
• Ye Chen and Ji Yuze attacked Song Mu together, and Song Mu blocked them with his sword and reflected their strikes using his white lotus technique.
• The watching cultivators praised Song Mu, while Ye Chen and Ji Yuze felt humiliated at being made to look like his backdrop.
• Song Mu declared that he was done fighting, and Ji Yuze rushed at him but stopped his saber at Song Mu's neck.
• Song Mu revealed internally that the lotus technique had drained his strength and that he had gambled Ji Yuze would not dare kill him because his master was Tai'a, the Sword Sect Master.
• Song Mu sensed a familiar Sword Intent flying toward him.

Song Mu recognized Leng Qingsong, an Azure Cloud Sect sword cultivator whose talent had once shaken his confidence, and recalled how his master sacrificed his cultivation to give him a new path. When Leng Qingsong arrived, he only asked for directions to the Ethereal Pavilion, and Song Mu’s companions mistook his departure for a sign of respect toward Song Mu.

• Song Mu recognized Leng Qingsong’s Green Lotus Sword Intent and remembered the Azure Cloud Sect prodigies who had defeated great sword cultivators in the Immortal Tomb.
• Song Mu recalled that his master, Tai'a, had destroyed his own Dao foundation to remove Song Mu’s Green Lotus Sword Intent and reshape it into a White Lotus Sword Seed.
• Song Mu resolved to forge his own Sword Dao and surpass Sword Immortal Li Taibai.
• Leng Qingsong rode up to Song Mu, Ji Yuze, and Ye Chen, silencing the gathered cultivators with his formidable sword intent.
• Leng Qingsong asked how to reach the Ethereal Pavilion, and Song Mu pointed him in the right direction.
• After Leng Qingsong left, Ji Yuze, Ye Chen, and the onlookers admired Song Mu, believing the great cultivator had shown him deference.

Ouyang met Xiaoyaozi, the Ethereal Pavilion’s Pavilion Master, who came to investigate him with killing intent and threatened to banish him for disrupting a long-laid plan. When Xiaoyaozi tried to stop him from questioning the Heavenly Ranking, Ouyang revealed overwhelming power and confronted him directly.

• Xiaoyaozi appeared behind Ouyang with killing intent, and Ouyang identified him as the Ninth-Level Tribulation Transcendence Realm Pavilion Master of the Ethereal Pavilion.
• Ouyang used a Projection Stone to embarrass Xiaoyaozi with Dongxu Zi’s account of their past, then invited him to sit beneath a tree where tea and fruit were ready.
• Xiaoyaozi explained that he was curious about the person who had prompted Dongxu Zi to bring the Heavenly Ranking into the world five years early at the cost of his cultivation.
• Ouyang asked whether Xiaoyaozi considered him a threat to the plans laid over countless years, and Xiaoyaozi sealed their surroundings before threatening to banish him into chaos.
• When Ouyang began asking about the Heavenly Ranking, Xiaoyaozi tried to silence him, but Ouyang’s True Essence shattered the surrounding space and forced Xiaoyaozi back.
• Ouyang shattered his teacup and denounced the Heavenly Ranking as he faced Xiaoyaozi without his usual grin.

Ouyang condemned the Heavenly Ranking as a way to select vessels for dead Immortals and confronted Xiaoyaozi with overwhelming True Essence. He announced that after the ranking, he would take his second junior brother east and challenge those behind the scheme to show themselves.

• Ouyang concluded that the Heavenly Ranking selected prodigies to be occupied by Immortals or to replace them, and he condemned the Ethereal Pavilion's plan.
• Ouyang unleashed his True Essence against Xiaoyaozi, suppressing his cultivation and leaving him unable to resist.
• Xiaoyaozi asked who Ouyang was, and Ouyang identified himself as a disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect and said he would reveal one of his cards.
• Ouyang asked Xiaoyaozi why his sect master had agreed to bring the Heavenly Ranking forward, then declared that he would travel east with his second junior brother after the ranking and called on their hidden opponents to appear.

Ouyang confronted Xiaoyaozi over the Ethereal Pavilion’s ambition to replace the Old Immortals, then demanded the Heavenly Ranking be destroyed. As Leng Qingsong’s Green Lotus Sword Intent drew out the Heritage Golden Ranking, he challenged anyone to ascend it.

• Ouyang warned Xiaoyaozi that exposing the truth behind the Sky-Piercing Giant Pillar would plunge the world into chaos, and Xiaoyaozi panicked and denied that Ouyang could overturn Heaven and Earth.
• Ouyang reasoned that Dongxu Zi had allowed the Immortal Usurpation plan as a fallback, while trusting Little Mountain Peak’s prodigies to resist any new Immortals.
• Ouyang told Xiaoyaozi he was an old acquaintance of the reincarnated Sword Immortal and said he would not interfere with the agreement between Xiaoyaozi and Dongxu Zi, provided the Heavenly Ranking ceased to exist.
• A giant green lotus appeared above the Ethereal Pavilion and drew the Heritage Golden Ranking out of the void.
• Leng Qingsong’s voice rang across Heaven and Earth: “I stand beneath the Heavenly Ranking. Who dares ascend it?”

Leng Qingsong challenged every prodigy at the Ethereal Pavilion and refused to let anyone claim the Heavenly Ranking. After the Ethereal Pavilion sent three Mahayana cultivators to stop him, he effortlessly defeated them, leaving Song Mu awed by his swordsmanship.

• Leng Qingsong announced that none of the world's prodigies would make the Heavenly Ranking, drawing curses from the crowd.
• Xuanlingzi identified Leng Qingsong as a disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect but insisted the sect had no control over his actions.
• An Ethereal Pavilion elder offered to discipline Leng Qingsong, and Xuanlingzi agreed to let him try.
• Three Mahayana cultivators attacked Leng Qingsong, but he sent them flying with barely a movement of the green lotus beneath his feet.
• Song Mu watched Leng Qingsong and decided that carrying a sword on one's back was more badass than wearing it at the waist.

Leng Qingsong recognized the Heavenly Ranking as connected to the Immortals and resolved to stop anyone from ascending it. When an Ethereal Pavilion elder attacked with his laws true form, Leng Qingsong drew on the Green Lotus Sword Dao and struck back.

• Leng Qingsong sensed the Heavenly Ranking's presence and unleashed his Green Lotus Sword Intent, forcing the ranking to appear.
• Leng Qingsong concluded the Heavenly Ranking was connected to the Immortals and decided to prevent anyone from ascending it.
• An Ethereal Pavilion elder used his laws true form to suppress Leng Qingsong, while Xuanlingzi prepared to intervene.
• Leng Qingsong resisted the elder's law by invoking his Green Lotus Sword Dao and raising his sword.
• Leng Qingsong shouted “The Great River's Waters Come from Heaven!” and slashed down.

Leng Qingsong used the Green Lotus Sword Song to suppress a Tribulation Transcendence Stage elder, then destroyed the Heavenly Ranking with one strike. As heavenly punishment gathered around him, Ouyang challenged Xiaoyaozi’s Chess Players to overturning the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, while the author’s note announced a pause to plan the next volume.

• Leng Qingsong’s Green Lotus Sword Intent suppressed the Tribulation Transcendence Stage elder’s metal laws true form.
• Leng Qingsong transformed into a Green Duckweed Sword and cleaved the Heavenly Ranking in two, destroying the Dao Treasure and scattering the names of its past prodigies.
• Ouyang celebrated Leng Qingsong’s strike and told the pinned Xiaoyaozi that the Chess Players would face the consequences if their Heaven and Earth Chessboard were overturned.
• Leng Qingsong sensed a call from the Extreme Eastern Land as eyes of heavenly punishment opened around him and cursed him.
• The author said they would take time to adjust their writing and plan the next volume, and revealed that Ouyang would not be the Grand Ancestor.

Leng Qingsong attacked the Old Immortals after destroying the Heavenly Ranking, while Dongxu Zi watched from the Azure Cloud Sect, unable to intervene without endangering the larger plan. Leng Qingsong wounded several of the Immortals, but they trapped his remaining flying sword in a vast Net of Laws, and it charged toward the net’s center.

• The Immortals froze time in the area and fixed their countless eyes on Leng Qingsong after he destroyed the Heavenly Ranking.
• Dongxu Zi restrained himself from attacking, knowing the Immortals held the Mortal Worlds hostage and that their true forms had not appeared.
• Leng Qingsong turned his Green Lotus Sword Intent into twenty-five flying swords and launched them at the Immortals’ eyes.
• The Immortals suppressed the sword formation with their laws, but Leng Qingsong merged the swords into one and cut down several eyes.
• The remaining Immortals formed a vast Net of Laws around the flying sword, which thrust toward the net’s center rather than retreating.

Ouyang waited as Leng Qingsong’s Green Lotus Flying Sword was trapped by the Immortals’ net of laws, gambling that someone would intervene. Li Taibai appeared to rescue Leng Qingsong, but a black hand emerged to oppose him.

• The Immortals bound Leng Qingsong’s Green Lotus Flying Sword in their net of laws, threatening to destroy his Dao.
• Ouyang kept Xiaoyaozi motionless while Xiaoyaozi mocked his gamble and secretly reached into his Storage Space.
• As the sword neared breaking, it released a pillar of azure light that summoned Li Taibai from the Extreme Eastern Land.
• Li Taibai’s enormous azure hand reached to seize the Immortals and their net of laws, halting their power and time.
• A black hand emerged from the void and pressed down on Li Taibai’s azure hand.

Ouyang watched the azure and black giant hands battle after Leng Qingsong confronted the Immortals, while secretly overcoming the Time Stop. He concluded that Li Taibai and the Immortals were pieces in a larger conflict, then gathered strength to act now that he had drawn out evidence of a higher-level opponent.

• The Immortals’ Time Stop froze the Ethereal Pavilion as Leng Qingsong’s Green Lotus Flying Sword remained trapped in the Net of Laws between the battling giant hands.
• Ouyang slowly regained control of his body by resonating with the true essence in his Paper Cranes and Paper Butterflies, but continued pretending to be frozen.
• Ouyang recalled that he had brought Leng Qingsong to confront the Immortals to clarify his path and provoke the hidden mastermind behind the world’s destruction in Chen Changsheng’s previous life.
• A black giant hand appeared to oppose Li Taibai’s azure hand, and the two fought with raw strength, shattering and repairing space around them.
• Ouyang decided he had obtained the answer he wanted, widened his eyes, and unleashed the strength he had been gathering.

Ouyang stopped the clash between Li Taibai’s residual power and a mysterious force representing death, preventing further damage to the world. After time resumed and Xiaoyaozi fled, Leng Qingsong woke and mistook Ouyang for Ouyezi.

• Ouyang realized the black giant hand represented death and was naturally opposed to the vitality within him.
• Ouyang restrained both giant hands with his true essence, causing the black hand to flee and the azure hand to return to the Green Lotus Flying Sword.
• The sword repaired itself, and Ouyang confirmed that Leng Qingsong was still alive.
• Ouyang ended the time stop, leaving the Cultivators and Xiaoyaozi unaware of the clash between the giant hands.
• Ouyang told Xiaoyaozi that the grand show was about to begin, and Xiaoyaozi vanished.
• Leng Qingsong opened his eyes and asked Ouyang if he was Ouyezi.