Recaps

Lu Changfeng received the Black Tortoise Crystal and investigated Primordial Spirit techniques while preparing to travel to the Secret Realm in Lu Prefecture. After treating Li Lingyue that night, he faced her pointed question about why he still insisted on keeping their relationship strictly transactional.

• Li Lingyue told Lu Changfeng about unusual activity in the Secret Realm in Lu Prefecture and said Sanlang wanted him to depart in three days.
• Lu Changfeng read Luo Qingge’s letter saying she had gone to Mount Yangluo to retrieve the Mystic Bone, then reassured Su Bonian and the Twelve Children and confirmed their Blood Guide poison was gone.
• Lu Changfeng studied the Black Tortoise Crystal and learned from Snow Robe about four Primordial Spirit methods, then went to the Pivot of Heaven Pavilion to research their uses and risks.
• Lu Changfeng treated Li Lingyue with Golden-Needle Acupoint Puncture, and she asked why they still had to insist on accepting no reward without merit.

Li Lingyue demanded that Lu Changfeng prove he had not pitied her, then boldly initiated an intimate encounter. They spent two days and nights together in seclusion, and Lu Changfeng emerged exhausted, thinking he needed to leave for Lu Prefecture to catch his breath.

• Li Lingyue asked Lu Changfeng to prove he had not pitied her.
• Li Lingyue pulled Lu Changfeng toward her and kissed him, taking the initiative despite her recent injuries.
• Li Lingyue and Lu Changfeng shut themselves away in the Waterside Study for two days and nights while Jinghong turned away visitors and passed in food and medicine.
• Li Lingyue fell asleep after reaching her limit, and Lu Changfeng emerged exhausted on the evening of the third day.
• Lu Changfeng decided he needed to put his trip to Lu Prefecture on the agenda and get away to catch his breath.

Lu Changfeng departed Chang'an for the dangerous Secret Realm in Lu Prefecture after Li Lingyue saw him off. Xue Chongyin warned his brother to assist Lu, while Xue Chongjian and Li Longji anticipated his arrival and questioned what he could do.

• Li Lingyue gave Lu Changfeng farewell wine and cautioned him to put safety first before he left for Lu Prefecture.
• Xue Chongyin watched the farewell, decided to preserve goodwill with Lu, and sent Xue Chongjian a stern letter ordering him to assist Lu and avoid conflict.
• Xue Chongjian read his brother’s letter at the Vice Prefect’s Residence and discussed Lu’s reputation with Li Longji.
• Li Longji said he wanted to see Lu’s abilities, especially because the Secret Realm was said to have been created by Marquis Wu’s descendants.

Lu Changfeng questioned the circumstances surrounding Li Longji’s discovery of the Secret Realm in Lu Prefecture and learned that the news had spread through rival factions. Adele intercepted his carriage seeking treatment for her brother and offered a mysterious gift as she warned him that many powers were converging on Lu Prefecture.

• Lu Changfeng reviewed the sparse report about the Secret Realm and suspected that Li Longji’s discovery and the local powers’ silence concealed something unusual.
• Lu Changfeng’s carriage was stopped by Adele and Ling Jiuxiao, who were disguised as traveling merchants and had the Three Baleful Skeletons hidden nearby.
• Lu Changfeng refused Adele’s request for help, wary of becoming entangled with foreign powers and political rivals.
• Adele revealed that the Secret Realm news had spread through the Ghost Market after leaking from Prince Xiang’s residence and being circulated by Crescent Moon Hall and the Golden Scale Guards.
• Adele warned Lu Changfeng that factions were converging on Lu Prefecture, then presented a jade box whose contents released an ancient, soul-piercing cold.

Lu Changfeng agreed to examine Adele’s elder brother after she offered the Northern Sea Flood Shark fin bone and promised to restrain him if he was healed. Adele also revealed that Shan Zheng had searched the Ghost Market for Marquis Wu’s Wind-Raising Sword, leaving Lu Changfeng intrigued by the unexpected connection.

• Adele presented Lu Changfeng with a Northern Sea Flood Shark fin bone and asked him to treat her elder brother.
• Lu Changfeng used the Mind-Control Art to assess Adele and judged her sincere, but refused to heal her murderous elder brother at first.
• Adele knelt and promised to have her brother’s cultivation abolished, bind him with a blood-soul oath, and serve as a hostage if Lu Changfeng treated him.
• Lu Changfeng accepted the offer and told Adele to lead him to her brother.
• Adele said Shan Zheng had secretly sought information about Marquis Wu’s Wind-Raising Sword in the Ghost Market, and Lu Changfeng recognized the significance of the rumor.

Lu Changfeng diagnosed Mital’s cultivation deviation and prescribed medicine and meditation to treat him. He then recognized that Adele’s conflict with the Fire-Worshipping Cult’s doctrine was endangering her too, and began to offer her a different way to understand it.

• Lu Changfeng explained that Mital’s damaged meridians and the bestial nature of Mengji’s grafted limb had caused his murderous episodes.
• Lu Changfeng prescribed Clear-Heart Jade-Soul Powder and gave Adele the Ice-Pot Autumn-Moon Art for Mital’s recovery.
• Lu Changfeng warned Adele that her doubts about the Fire-Worshipping Cult’s doctrine could lead her to suffer the same cultivation deviation as Mital.
• Adele confided that she felt trapped between betraying the cult and losing herself to its doctrine.
• Lu Changfeng connected the Fire-Worshipping Cult to the Bright Cult and told Adele that changing her perspective might free her from what trapped her.

Lu Changfeng helped Adele reinterpret the Fire-Worshipping Cult’s sacred flame as a force for light and compassion, inspiring her to establish the Way of Light. He departed for Lu Prefecture unaware that his teachings had planted the seed of the Bright Cult, while Li Longji and Xue Chongjian waited at the city’s eastern gate.

• Lu Changfeng told Adele that fire could represent light, warmth, hope, and civilization rather than destruction, helping her resolve her conflict with her cultivation.
• Adele asked Lu Changfeng to name the new path, and he called it the Way of Light, founded on dispelling ignorance, doing good, and showing compassion.
• Adele pledged to uphold and spread the Way of Light, while Lu Changfeng gave her the pill formula, took the Flood Shark Wing Bone, and left for Lu Prefecture.
• Adele recited a compassionate new prayer as Ling Jiuxiao listened in shock, then told him that it was the path to salvation.
• Lu Changfeng traveled toward Lu Prefecture, unaware that Adele’s transformation had planted the seed of the Bright Cult.
• Li Longji and Xue Chongjian waited with their retainers at Lu Prefecture’s eastern gate.

Lu Changfeng arrived in Lu Prefecture, where Li Longji and Xue Chongjian welcomed him and prepared to discuss the Secret Realm. As they entered the city, Snow Robe identified Li Longji’s jade pendant as a priceless Soul-Nurturing Jade that could contain a powerful soul and help Lu Changfeng advance.

• Li Longji and Xue Chongjian waited for Lu Changfeng and recognized the Three Baleful Skeletons among his escorts.
• Lu Changfeng arrived and exchanged courteous greetings with Li Longji and Xue Chongjian, who escorted him toward Lu Prefecture.
• As the carriage passed through the city gate, Lu Changfeng considered Li Longji’s role in the historical Xiantian coup.
• Snow Robe spotted Li Longji’s jade pendant and identified it as Water Cang Jade, also called Soul-Nurturing Jade.
• Snow Robe urged Lu Changfeng to seize the pendant, claiming it could nourish the primordial spirit and help him break through to the fifth realm.

Lu Changfeng attended a welcoming banquet at Li Longji’s residence and learned more about the prince’s formidable attendants. When Wang Maozhong identified Lu Changfeng’s hidden sword, Lu revealed the Wind-Raising Sword, stunning Li Longji and Xue Chongjian.

• Lu Changfeng grew wary of the Soul-Nurturing Jade accompanying Li Longji and decided to proceed cautiously in Lu Prefecture.
• At the banquet, Li Longji introduced his attendants Gao Lishi and Wang Maozhong, whose cultivation impressed Lu Changfeng.
• Lu Changfeng recognized Wang Maozhong’s sword as Purple Lightning, and Wang confirmed that he had obtained it at the Mount Shu Sword Pool.
• Wang Maozhong sensed a powerful sword hidden on Lu Changfeng and asked to see it, so Lu summoned the weapon from his pouch.
• Li Longji and Xue Chongjian reacted with shock when Lu Changfeng revealed Marquis Wu’s Magic Sword, the Wind-Raising Sword.

Lu Changfeng led Li Longji and Xue Chongjian to Hu Pass, where Marquis Wu’s Wind-Raising Sword resonated with a sealed passage in the Secret Realm. When the Suan Yu attacked with mind-bewitching cries, Lu Changfeng used the Lovesick Zither to play the Prince of Qin’s Battle-Formation Music, countering their sound and stirring Li Longji’s admiration.

• Li Longji and Xue Chongjian recognized that the Wind-Raising Sword might open the barrier at Hu Pass, and Lu Changfeng proposed going there immediately.
• Li Longji, Xue Chongjian, Lu Changfeng, Qing Dai, Wang Maozhong, Gao Lishi, and their escort rode to a hidden cave near Hu Pass.
• The Wind-Raising Sword trembled at the cave entrance, and Li Longji warned that Suan Yu cries and formations had stopped earlier expeditions.
• When the Suan Yu’s cries disrupted the group, Lu Changfeng played the Lovesick Zither and drove back their sonic attack with the Prince of Qin’s Battle-Formation Music.
• Li Longji recalled his hopes of restoring the Great Tang and felt admiration for Lu Changfeng, while the Water Cang Jade at his waist faintly warmed.

Li Longji’s hidden senior warned him to eliminate Lu Changfeng if he could not win him over, even as Lu led the group through the cavern. They reached the Eight Formations Diagram, where Lu began using Five Elements Positioning to find a safe route or the formation’s core.

• Li Longji’s senior praised Lu Changfeng’s abilities but warned that his ties to Princess Taiping made him a future threat who should be eliminated if he could not be recruited.
• Lu Changfeng suppressed Suan Yu’s demonic cries with the Lovesick Zither, and Li Longji led the party onward through the cavern.
• The group entered a vast stone formation, which Lu Changfeng identified as the Eight Formations Diagram.
• Li Longji explained that he and Mao Zhong had failed to cross the formation and asked Lu Changfeng to lead the way.
• Lu Changfeng summoned the Mysterious Crane Dharma Form and used Five Elements Positioning to search for the formation’s safe path or core.

Lu Changfeng crossed and temporarily disabled the Eight Formations Stone Forest, revealing his mastery of formations. The group reached a Formation Disk, but Li Longji questioned why a disciple of Marquis Wu had hidden something beneath Hu Pass.

• Lu Changfeng used his Divine Sense and comprehension to find the formation’s fleeting path to life and crossed the stone forest safely.
• Lu Changfeng located the formation’s pivot and used true qi to put the formation temporarily to sleep.
• Li Longji and the others crossed the dormant formation, while Xue Chongjian praised Lu Changfeng’s skill.
• Lu Changfeng examined the Formation Disk as the Wind-Raising Sword hummed in its sheath.
• Li Longji recognized Marquis Wu’s lineage in the Formation Disk’s design and wondered why it guarded something at Hu Pass.

Lu Changfeng and his companions discovered signs that the abbess of Purple Tenuity Abbey may have reached the formation before them, then used the Wind-Raising Sword to open a Mountain-Curtain Barrier guarding Marquis Wu’s hidden treasury. They entered the barrier, leaving the three Baleful Skeletons to guard its entrance.

• Lu Changfeng found a faint footprint and an unfamiliar fragrance, leading the group to suspect that Yuchenzi, the abbess of Purple Tenuity Abbey, had visited the stone platform.
• Li Longji cautioned the group to proceed carefully, but they decided to continue toward Marquis Wu’s treasures.
• Lu Changfeng fitted the Wind-Raising Sword into the bronze Formation Disk, activating it and revealing a glowing entrance through the rock wall.
• Lu Changfeng identified the entrance as a Mountain-Curtain Barrier that might be powered by a rare spirit artifact or divine artifact.
• Lu Changfeng ordered the three Baleful Skeletons to guard outside, then led Li Longji, Xue Chongjian, and the others through the barrier.

Lu Changfeng and the others discovered that the Wind-Raising talisman and Horizon Spear anchored an ancient formation suppressing battlefield baleful energy. As the formation began to crack, the sealed murderous force threatened to escape.

• Lu Changfeng and the others entered an ancient chamber and found the Wind-Raising Formation talisman and Horizon Spear hovering above a white jade altar.
• Xue Chongjian recognized Horizon as Zhao Zilong's divine weapon, while Lu Changfeng connected the talisman to the Eight Formations Diagram.
• The group read Zhuge Jing's inscription explaining that the treasures anchored a seal built to contain ancient battlefield baleful energy and warning that removing them would unleash disaster.
• Li Longji realized the chamber was a prison rather than a treasure cache, and Lu Changfeng worried that rival factions would try to seize the treasures.
• The chamber shook, fissures spread across the altar, and a terrifying aura of hatred and murderous intent battered the failing seal.

Yuchenzi ambushed Li Longji and disrupted the group’s efforts to hold the seal, causing the altar to collapse and release the Sixth-Tier War-Baleful Demon Ge. As Yuchenzi approached the weapon, Lu Changfeng prepared to rely on the remnant soul in the Water Cang Jade and wondered whether it would prove friend or foe.

• Lu Changfeng and the others poured their True Qi into the altar to stabilize the failing seal.
• Yuchenzi attacked from the barrier entrance with three flying swords, gravely wounding Li Longji and sending Wang Maozhong flying.
• Li Longji’s blood struck the altar runes, triggering a violent surge that shattered the altar and released the War-Baleful Demon Ge.
• Yuchenzi entered the barrier and revealed herself as the attacker, while Lu Changfeng caught the Wind-Raising Hexagram Talisman and Horizon Spear.
• Lu Changfeng realized Yuchenzi had reached the Fifth Realm and called on the remnant soul within the Water Cang Jade to reveal itself.

Lu Changfeng refused Yuchenzi’s demand to surrender the Demonic Halberd and two divine weapons, challenging her to explain her motives while secretly urging Li Longji’s remnant soul to possess him. The soul surged through the Water Cang Jade toward Li Longji’s ancestral aperture as Lu Changfeng took a defiant spear stance, leaving the confrontation poised for a fight.

• Xue Chongjian accused Yuchenzi of disloyalty and unrighteousness, but she dismissed his appeals and argued that strength decided who lived or died.
• Yuchenzi demanded that Lu Changfeng hand over the Demonic Halberd, the Wind-Raising Formation, and the Horizon Spear in exchange for everyone’s lives.
• Lu Changfeng suspected Yuchenzi would betray them and secretly urged Li Longji’s remnant soul to possess him, buying time against the great grandmaster.
• Lu Changfeng pretended to consider surrendering, then demanded to know why Yuchenzi was helping the Demonic Weapon emerge and seeking Marquis Wu’s legacy and Zhao Yun’s weapon.
• Lu Changfeng raised the Horizon Spear in a disciplined stance and declared that he would rather be jade shattered than submit, while the Water Cang Jade’s light surged into Li Longji.

Yuchenzi demanded the Wind-Raising Formation and Horizon Spear, claiming she would use the martial baleful intent to attain transcendence. As Lu Changfeng pretended to surrender, the remnant soul in the Water Cang Jade possessed Li Longji and confronted Yuchenzi for threatening a son of the Li Clan.

• Yuchenzi explained that she sought to transform the baleful intent into spiritual energy and ordered Lu Changfeng to hand over the Wind-Raising Formation and Horizon Spear.
• Lu Changfeng considered how absorbing killing intent could drive practitioners into madness and doubted Yuchenzi could control it.
• Lu Changfeng pretended to accept Yuchenzi's demand and slowly moved the treasures as though offering them to her.
• The Water Cang Jade released its light into the badly injured Li Longji, and a powerful will awakened within him.
• The possessed Li Longji opened his eyes, displayed the force of a sixth-realm martial will, and warned Yuchenzi not to harm a son of the Li Clan.

A mysterious Li clan expert took control of Li Longji’s body and overwhelmed Yuchenzi, Shan Zheng, and Lu Xuantong. He left Yuchenzi struck in the chest by his mountain-like palm, with her fate unresolved.

• The mysterious expert unleashed overwhelming martial true force through Li Longji and made Yuchenzi question his identity.
• He condemned Yuchenzi’s cultivation and challenged her to fight.
• Yuchenzi summoned Taiyin and attacked with five flying swords while controlled Shan Zheng and Lu Xuantong moved to protect her.
• The expert shattered Yuchenzi’s five swords and broke Shan Zheng’s spear and Lu Xuantong’s sword, sending both men flying.
• His mountain-like palm shattered Yuchenzi’s Dharma Form and defenses before striking her chest.

Li Longji’s remnant soul defeated Yuchenzi, arranged the sealing of the War-Baleful Demon Ge, and passed the Sun-Moon Cosmos Sword to Lu Changfeng before collapsing. Lu Changfeng began treating Li Longji while Qing Dai discovered talismans and a booklet among Yuchenzi’s belongings.

• Li Longji struck Yuchenzi with Mountain Tremor, leaving her mortally wounded, and ordered Lu Changfeng to retrieve her Demon-Sealing Object and arrange for the War-Baleful Demon Ge to be sealed.
• Li Longji assigned the Wind-Raising Formation to Lu Changfeng and the Horizon Spear to himself, then transmitted the Sun-Moon Cosmos Sword to Lu Changfeng.
• Li Longji’s remnant soul withdrew into the Water Cang Jade, and he collapsed from exhaustion.
• Lu Changfeng examined Li Longji, confirmed his life was not in danger, and used the Huayang Needle to treat him.
• Qing Dai searched Yuchenzi’s robe and found spiritual talismans and a booklet titled Essential Arts of Taiping.

Lu Changfeng stabilized Li Longji and Wang Maozhong, while Qing Dai sealed the War-Baleful Demon Ge and recovered the Essential Arts of Taiping. As the group prepared to return to Lu Prefecture with Shan Zheng and Lu Xuantong under guard, Xue Chongjian dissolved Yuchenzi’s corpse to eliminate any lingering threat.

• Lu Changfeng used the Nine Dragon Stone and Shennong Qi to stabilize Li Longji, then treated Wang Maozhong and received the Purple Star Flexible Sword as a reward.
• Xue Chongjian discovered strange curse seals branded into Shan Zheng and Lu Xuantong, and Lu Changfeng ordered them restrained and secretly escorted to Lu Prefecture.
• Qing Dai sealed the War-Baleful Demon Ge with Demon-Sealing Talismans and gave Lu Changfeng the Essential Arts of Taiping found on Yuchenzi.
• Lu Changfeng ordered the group to leave and instructed Xue Chongjian to keep the two men under strict guard until Li Longji woke or the curse seals could be resolved.
• Xue Chongjian poured Corpse-Dissolving Water over Yuchenzi, completely destroying her body, then sealed Shan Zheng and Lu Xuantong’s Governing Vessel acupoints with golden needles.

After escaping the Hu Pass Secret Realm, Lu Changfeng and his companions returned to Lu Prefecture, where their allies fortified the Deputy Prefect’s Residence and dealt with the injured and captured. Lu Changfeng received the Tathagata Divine Palm as a reward and began studying the Essential Arts of Taiping, while the threat posed by Yuchenzi and the emerging Demonic Weapon remained unresolved.

• Lu Changfeng found the Three Baleful Skeletons frozen by Yuchenzi’s ice talismans and led the group out of the Secret Realm with them.
• The party reached the Deputy Prefect’s Residence, and Han Cheng’s troops surrounded Purple Tenuity Abbey while the Plum Blossom Guards and Prince Xiang’s supporters reinforced the residence.
• Lu Changfeng treated Li Longji and the others, and the Three Baleful Skeletons recovered after their talismans melted and he expelled the cold poison.
• Lu Changfeng received the Tathagata Divine Palm as his reward for treating Li Longji and assimilated the inheritance.
• Lu Changfeng picked up the Essential Arts of Taiping to study Yuchenzi’s talisman art.

Lu Changfeng studied the principles of talismanic arts and wondered whether the ancient craft could work again. A thousand miles away, the Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal awakened, chose Zhang Qingyuan, and restored Mount Dragon-Tiger’s lost talismanic arts.

• Lu Changfeng read the Essential Arts of Taiping and realized talismans commanded the qi of heaven and earth rather than ghosts and spirits.
• Snow Robe pointed out the Five-Thunder Talisman, prompting Lu Changfeng to wonder why Mount Dragon-Tiger’s lineage no longer used talisman arts and whether their lost conditions had been fulfilled.
• The Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal awakened in Mount Dragon-Tiger’s Demon-Subduing Forbidden Ground and gathered primordial qi.
• The seal chose Zhang Qingyuan and passed down the lost Five-Thunder Orthodox Method, Cavern Mystery Jade Pivot Talismans, and Dugong Seal Art.
• Zhang Qingyuan drew a talisman in the air and summoned lightning that struck the Guardian Thunderstruck Stone Array.
• Zhang Gaolong declared that the ancestral arts had returned and Mount Dragon-Tiger would rise.

Sima Cheng awakened the Sima Clan’s Tomb Tiger Tally and Wang Jingxian claimed the Langya Wang Clan’s Army-Breaker Sword as the spiritual tides stirred. In Lu Prefecture, Lu Changfeng discovered that his Jade Pendant was tied to Ghost Valley and saw a vision of the Treatise on All Under Heaven, leaving him intent on going south toward Mount Yunmeng.

• Sima Cheng used the Tomb Tiger Tally to raise nine Terracotta Soldiers from earth and declared that the Tomb Tiger’s power would emerge again.
• Wang Jingxian took up the Army-Breaker Sword, endured its visions of slaughter, and vowed to quell the age’s chaos.
• Lu Changfeng felt a strange summons urging him south, and his Jade Pendant shed its aged surface to reveal the words “Ghost Valley.”
• Lu Changfeng touched the pendant and saw a vision of the Treatise on All Under Heaven in an ancient stone chamber.
• Lu Changfeng recognized the connection to Mount Yunmeng and looked south while gripping the Ghost Valley Jade Pendant.

Li Longji recovered from Yuchenzi’s attack and visited Lu Changfeng to thank him, but Lu declined the Horizon Spear and explained why accepting it would bring trouble. As they played go, Lu inferred that the powerful ancestor in Li Longji’s Jade Pendant was likely Li Xuanba.

• Li Longji learned from Gao Lishi how the remnant soul in the Water Cang Jade had killed Yuchenzi and granted Lu Changfeng the Sun-Moon Cosmos Sword.
• Li Longji brought Lu Changfeng the Horizon Spear as a reward, but Lu declined it, citing the risks of accepting such a weighty legacy and his lack of spear expertise.
• Lu Changfeng and Li Longji played go while discussing the ancestor who had manifested from the Jade Pendant.
• Lu Changfeng identified the ancestor as likely Li Xuanba, Li Shimin’s younger brother who had died in his youth.

Lu Changfeng left Lu Prefecture with Qing Dai and Snow Robe to seek the Ghost Valley inheritance at Mount Yunmeng, while Li Longji remained behind and prepared to return to Chang'an. The chapter ended with both men sensing that an awakened ancient treasure or inheritance was calling to them.

• Lu Changfeng told Li Longji he could not treat Shan Zheng or Lu Xuantong's Soul-Severing Talisman afflictions without the Essential Arts of Taiping.
• Lu Changfeng resolved to reach Mount Yunmeng and obtain the Treatise on All Under Heaven, whose Divine Command of the Six Forces could let its practitioner command the qi and laws of heaven and earth.
• Lu Changfeng told Li Longji he had to settle personal matters and promised to return to Chang'an within a few weeks or two or three seasons.
• Qing Dai appeared ready to travel with Snow Robe, and Lu Changfeng said he could not wait to begin the journey south.
• Lu Changfeng, Qing Dai, and Snow Robe left the Deputy Prefect's Residence and headed toward Mount Yunmeng as Li Longji watched them go.
• Li Longji sensed a destiny-bearing spirit object calling him toward Chang'an and looked forward to meeting Lu Changfeng again.