Recaps

Chu Xingchen and Yan Yun entered the team competition’s opening match against Firmament Rhyme Hall, where their cultivation and divine sense would be suppressed. As Yan Yun warned Chu Xingchen that the Water-Curtain Mirror could relay their words, Chu Xingchen became intrigued.

• Chu Xingchen greeted Yuyang Daozi, then returned to the Heavenly Derivation Sect after exchanging glances with Xu Jin and Ye Antao.
• Lü Xuan explained the team competition rules, and Yan Yun said that only he and Chu Xingchen would compete for their sect.
• The draw matched the Heavenly Derivation Sect against Firmament Rhyme Hall in the first team match.
• Qingyun distributed jade talismans, and Chu Xingchen and Yan Yun activated theirs to enter Wuxu Arena.
• Chu Xingchen felt the ritual’s restraints, and Yan Yun warned him that the Water-Curtain Mirror might relay anything he said.

Chu Xingchen and Yan Yun faced a powerful combined formation from the Firmament Rhyme Hall, whose fire phoenix swept through the terrain to find them. Yan Yun attacked with her star-based technique and repeatedly blinked between hidden motes of light, leaving Chu Xingchen stunned by her strength.

• Yan Yun warned Chu Xingchen that their opponents were elite disciples of the Eighteen Immortal Sects, while Chu Xingchen sensed the strange constraints of the extended space.
• A combined formation manifested as a massive fire phoenix that searched for them while burning the surrounding woods and hills.
• Chu Xingchen summoned Myriad Forms as Yan Yun formed her Nascent Soul true form and charged the phoenix.
• Yan Yun used Hundred Stellar Constellations and Wing Severing to cut off one of the phoenix's wings, revealing two Firmament Rhyme Hall disciples within it.
• Yan Yun dodged the phoenix's counterattack by vanishing and reappearing among her scattered motes of light, then repeatedly struck the formation as Chu Xingchen watched in surprise.

Yan Yun fought ten Firmament Rhyme Hall disciples with skill, but their formation and fire gradually trapped her as Chu Xingchen remained motionless. He finally unleashed a karmic nascent soul and its devastating sword attack, leaving the spectators astonished and one opponent eliminated.

• Yan Yun gained an early advantage against the ten Firmament Rhyme Hall disciples, earning silent recognition from the spectators and satisfaction from Lü Xuan.
• Yuyang told the Great Dao Sect's sect leader that Yan Yun was formidable but that Chu Xingchen had seemed uncanny when they fought at Wuxuan Temple.
• The Firmament Rhyme Hall disciples formed a coordinated attack, overwhelmed Chenwei, and forced Yan Yun to retreat through a sea of fire.
• Chu Xingchen suddenly hurled Myriad Forms through the flames, then manifested his nascent soul dharma form and slashed through the disciples' wall of fire.
• The Great Dao Sect's sect leader recognized Chu Xingchen's nascent soul as a karmic nascent soul as its attack drove the Firmament Rhyme Hall disciples back.
• Chu Xingchen's sword blasted one Firmament Rhyme Hall disciple and his protective treasure away, triggering his elimination from the arena.

Chu Xingchen and Yan Yun drove the Firmament Rhyme Hall disciples into retreat while Chu Xingchen taunted them into reforming their grand array. As the phoenix-shaped formation took shape, Yan Yun followed Chu Xingchen’s order to charge it without holding back.

• Chu Xingchen’s nascent soul dharma form chased the Firmament Rhyme Hall cultivators while Ye Antao and her teammates tried to endure and wait for his spiritual power to run low.
• Ye Antao urged her teammates to stop fleeing and reform their grand array, and the others agreed after Chu Xingchen’s taunts angered them.
• The disciples converged to form the array as Chu Xingchen slowed his attacks and gave Yan Yun instructions.
• Outside the arena, the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect cut the water-screen mirror’s sound, while Yuyang Daozi told his master that Chu Xingchen’s taunts signaled an impending decisive move.
• Yan Yun charged the forming phoenix with a spirit treasure as the star behind Yan Yun struck the formation, carrying out Chu Xingchen’s order to go die.

Chu Xingchen and Yan Yun defeated Firmament Rhyme Hall after Yan Yun risked elimination to create an opening for his decisive strike. Back in the stands, Chu Xingchen praised Yan Yun, who remained troubled by his casual attitude toward winning.

• Yan Yun struck the phoenix with a life-risking attack, but it overwhelmed her and her protective treasure eliminated her from the arena.
• Chu Xingchen's Nascent Soul Dharma Form used Myriad Forms to shatter the phoenix's wings and defeat Firmament Rhyme Hall.
• Yan Yun returned to the Heavenly Derivation Sect seating area, where Lü Xuan praised her willingness to sacrifice herself for her teammate.
• Bai Xuanling recognized that Chu Xingchen had pushed Yan Yun into taking the risk and teased Yan Yun about falling short of Lü Xuan's selflessness.
• Chu Xingchen returned and credited Yan Yun for the victory, while Lü Xuan warned him to avoid provoking Firmament Rhyme Hall.
• Chu Xingchen sat beside Yan Yun and asked, "Didn't we win?"

Sandong inspected the steadily progressing construction of the sect on Ten Thousand Flowers Ridge and reflected on the family it had found there. Cui Hao proposed a special folding roof for Sandong’s room, then suggested Sandong ask Third Senior Sister about the design instead of bothering Li Yingling.

• Sandong made its rounds around the construction site, where Qinghe and Green Snake worked, Li Xingtian and Lin Luoyu built the Main Hall, and Chen Baiqing oversaw residential planning.
• Sandong felt happy imagining that the sect and its people would be its home and family for many winters to come.
• Cui Hao showed Sandong his design for a spiritual-power-operated folding roof that could open to reveal the sky.
• Sandong asked whether the design would be too much trouble and decided to ask Yingling for approval.
• Cui Hao said Sandong should discuss the design with Third Senior Sister instead, since Yingling was busy, leaving Sandong unsure whether that was right.

Chen Baiqing approved Sandong’s unusual roof design while confronting Cui Hao for using Sandong to test her reaction to his extravagant plans. Li Yingling allowed Cui Hao to build the lavish house he wanted, and Chen Baiqing hoped he had understood her warning about trust within the Sect.

• Chen Baiqing examined the roof blueprints and agreed to build Sandong’s roof the way it wanted.
• Chen Baiqing secretly sent Sandong to fetch Li Yingling, then stopped Cui Hao from leaving and confronted him about using Sandong for his own purposes.
• Chen Baiqing told Cui Hao that the Sect depended on its members trusting one another and that he should have discussed his plans openly.
• Cui Hao admitted that he had come to ask about remodeling his house with an extravagant design.
• Li Yingling inspected Cui Hao’s blueprint, told him to build it if he liked it, and left.
• Chen Baiqing asked Cui Hao if he understood her point, then hoped the episode would rein in his troublemaking.

The Heavenly Derivation Sect secured first place, while Xu Jin led the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect to a narrow team victory over the Great Dao Sect. Afterward, Chu Xingchen encouraged Yuyang Daozi to accept defeat without giving up, and Yuyang ended the night ready to face Xu Jin again.

• The Heavenly Derivation Sect won every team match and claimed first place, leaving the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect and Great Dao Sect to compete for second.
• Yuyang Daozi overwhelmed the opposing team with Divine Arts, but Xu Jin seized their mistakes and led the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect to a narrow victory.
• Chu Xingchen decided to fight last in the individual competition and told Yan Yun to prepare to go first.
• Yuyang Daozi drank alone beneath the full moon after his defeat, and Chu Xingchen joined him, teasing him before urging him not to give up.
• Yuyang Daozi accepted Chu Xingchen's words, drank deeply, and declared that Xu Jin was nothing but a head with a price tag.

As the Individual Battle approached, Yuyang Daozi prepared to face Xu Jin while Chu Xingchen negotiated with Li Moze over the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect’s refusal to yield on the matter involving Luo Yue. Chu Xingchen asked Li Moze to instruct him in a discussion framed as seeking the Dao.

• After Yuyang Daozi left, Chu Xingchen watched the moon and thought of the disciples and friends he had left behind.
• During the rest period, Bai Xuanling trained Yan Yun by suppressing him with a Spirit Sword while Chu Xingchen taunted him from the sidelines.
• Yuyang Daozi requested to face Xu Jin in the first Individual Battle, and both entered the Water Curtain Realm arena as the other sects watched.
• Li Moze told Chu Xingchen that the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect would not compromise further over the matter involving Luo Yue.
• Chu Xingchen stepped forward and asked Li Moze to grant him instruction as he had come to seek the Dao.

Xu Jin and Yuyang Daozi fought an intense battle in the arena while Chu Xingchen faced Sect Leader Li Moze in a separate contest. Chu Xingchen unleashed several unusual abilities, and the chapter ended as he prepared to counter Li Moze’s Supreme Profundity.

• Yuyang Daozi used his lightning Divine Arts to attack Xu Jin, who broke through the storm with his sword and clashed with him.
• Yan Yun noticed that her master and Chu Xingchen were absent, and Bai Xuanling said they had likely gone to court death.
• Li Moze suppressed his cultivation to Chu Xingchen’s realm and attacked him with a strange domain and concentrated Spiritual Power.
• Chu Xingchen countered with the Yingling Great Art, then revealed powerful blood qi and Righteousness Qi through Myriad Forms.
• Chu Xingchen unleashed the Yingling Great Art’s Water Mirror, Silent and Soundless as Li Moze answered with Supreme Profundity: All Things Return to One.
• Chu Xingchen silently recited White Azure Method: Flowers in the Mirror, Moon on the Water.

Chu Xingchen used the White Azure Method to trap Li Moze in an illusion and drew him into a real attack with the Yingling Great Art—Three Thousand Weak Waters. The chapter ended as Li Moze met Chu Xingchen’s Flowing Water Sword with his Spirit Treasure sword, and their powers collided.

• Lü Xuan watched Li Moze unleash a powerful sword strike, then realized Li Moze was attacking an illusion of Chu Xingchen.
• Lü Xuan recognized that Chu Xingchen’s illusion technique had deceived Li Moze, but believed it would work only once against such an experienced fighter.
• Chu Xingchen concealed his spiritual power and used the White Azure Method to prepare a genuine attack.
• Li Moze sent white spiritual-power chains to seal off Chu Xingchen’s escape and struck at the apparent charge and torrent of swords.
• The illusion collapsed, revealing Chu Xingchen wielding a sword of flowing water, and Li Moze clashed with it using his Spirit Treasure sword.

Chu Xingchen lost a brief clash with Li Moze, prompting Lü Xuan to confront the other sect leader before discovering that Chu Xingchen was unharmed and had been acting injured. Chu Xingchen returned to watch Xu Jin and Yuyang Daozi’s battle and told Yan Yun that he had lost a fight.

• Chu Xingchen struck Li Moze with a water-based attack, but Li Moze blasted him away with his sword.
• Lü Xuan attacked Li Moze, accusing him of using his cultivation against Chu Xingchen, and stopped only after Li Moze insisted Chu Xingchen was unharmed.
• Lü Xuan found Chu Xingchen in a crater and checked him, realizing he had no injuries despite pretending to be hurt.
• Chu Xingchen politely accepted defeat, while Lü Xuan reproached Li Moze and Li Moze sighed.
• Yan Yun watched Xu Jin and Yuyang Daozi’s fierce battle as Lü Xuan and Chu Xingchen returned; Chu Xingchen told her he had fought and lost.

Yan Yun realized the Heavenly Derivation Sect would have to rely on her performance after Chu Xingchen’s sparring had weakened their bargaining position. Xu Jin defeated Yuyang Daozi in a desperate final clash, leaving Yan Yun to prepare for a battle she could not afford to lose.

• Yan Yun reasoned that Chu Xingchen had likely sparred with Li Moze and concluded the Heavenly Derivation Sect needed her to impress the gathering.
• Chu Xingchen pretended to nurse severe injuries while Li Moze watched, and Yan Yun offered to handle the rest if he needed to rest.
• Xu Jin gained the upper hand over Yuyang Daozi, and Chu Xingchen predicted that Yuyang would lose.
• Yuyang Daozi used the divine art Chonglou and staked his life on a lightning strike, while Xu Jin answered with a sword attack that shattered the arena’s protective rituals.
• Xu Jin remained standing with blood running down his right arm, while Yuyang Daozi was pierced in the left shoulder and teleported back to the Great Dao Sect’s position.
• Yan Yun realized she faced a battle she could not lose and resolved to increase her extra training with Martial Uncle Bai.

Chu Xingchen reflected on the tournament schedule and planned to check on Yan Yun, while Chen Baiqing oversaw construction at Ten Thousand Flowers Ridge. Green Snake regained its work ethic after remembering Qinghe’s advice, leaving Chen Baiqing to wonder how it would react to Qinghe’s true nature.

• Chu Xingchen noted that Yan Yun was training with Bai Xuanling and decided he might visit her while waiting for the final sparring match.
• Chen Baiqing inspected the disciples’ residences at Ten Thousand Flowers Ridge and prepared to report that construction could move to its next stage.
• Chen Baiqing found Green Snake working listlessly after Qinghe had left and told it to rest or wait for Qinghe’s return.
• Green Snake refused to rest, saying Qinghe had told it that working harder was the way forward.
• Chen Baiqing wondered how Green Snake would react if it ever discovered Qinghe’s true nature.

Li Yingling received a letter from Yuankong that troubled her enough to summon her Fourth Junior Sister. When Chen Baiqing offered to help as a fellow senior sister, Li Yingling recognized how much she had grown and entrusted the letter to her.

• Li Yingling reviewed the Sect’s accounts and joked with Zhang Miaoyu about Cui Hao causing trouble again.
• Zhang Miaoyu gave Li Yingling a letter forwarded from the Black Tortoise Kingdom, and Li Yingling read its two sheets with growing concern.
• Chen Baiqing reported that the residential area had reached the topping-out stage and presented her interior-fittings material requirements.
• Li Yingling asked Zhang Miaoyu to summon her Fourth Junior Sister, prompting Chen Baiqing to ask whether she could help too.
• Li Yingling realized Chen Baiqing had grown into someone dependable, handed her the letter, and told her she had grown taller.

Chen Baiqing and Li Yingling learned from Zhao Xuan’s letter that Li Junzi faced a dangerous disputation at Junzi Mountain, and Lin Luoyu decided to go help her teacher. Li Yingling chose Cui Hao to accompany Lin Luoyu, leaving him bewildered.

• Chen Baiqing read Li Junzi’s letter saying she had advanced to the Great Confucian Realm and was safe, then found Zhao Xuan’s letter describing a challenge to the Second Sage’s teachings at Junzi Mountain.
• Lin Luoyu read the letters and decided to travel to Junzi Mountain to help Li Junzi.
• Li Xingtian offered to accompany Lin Luoyu, but Li Yingling refused because she feared his rigid honesty would undermine the disputation.
• Chen Baiqing volunteered to go with Lin Luoyu, and Li Yingling considered the option before Cui Hao arrived.
• Li Yingling chose Cui Hao to accompany the others, leaving him confused about why he had been selected.

Chen Baiqing, Cui Hao, and Lin Luoyu arrived at Junzi Mountain in a Heavenly Derivation Sect carriage to find Li Junzi and intervene in an urgent matter. They were admitted on foot, while Chen Baiqing’s dismissive remark about the Second Sage left Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu uneasy.

• Chen Baiqing traveled toward Junzi Mountain with Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu in a conspicuous Heavenly Derivation Sect carriage, intending to make their status clear from the outset.
• Cui Hao pointed out the Second Sage Hall, and Chen Baiqing said that the dead did not count, unsettling Cui Hao and worrying Lin Luoyu.
• Junzi Mountain’s head rode an ink road to greet the carriage and asked what the Heavenly Derivation Sect visitors wanted.
• Chen Baiqing asked whether Li Junzi was on Junzi Mountain, and the old man confirmed she was preparing for the third Scholarly Debate.
• The old man asked the visitors to disembark because carriages and aerial travel were forbidden on Junzi Mountain, and Chen Baiqing agreed to proceed on foot.

Chen Baiqing and her companions visited Junzi Mountain to see Li Junzi before her third scholarly debate. Chen Wenqian let them enter the courtyard, while reflecting that Junzi Academy might lose a rare Great Confucian.

• Chen Wenqian introduced Junzi Academy and guided Chen Baiqing, Cui Hao, and Lin Luoyu through its grounds.
• Chen Baiqing asked whether Junzi Mountain would accept change as well as teach it, and Chen Wenqian replied that a gentleman examined himself three times a day.
• Chen Wenqian led the group to Li Junzi's secluded courtyard and warned them not to disturb her scholarly debate without a connection to her.
• Chen Baiqing explained that Li Junzi was Lin Luoyu's teacher, and Chen Wenqian allowed Lin Luoyu to attend, offering to postpone the debate if necessary.
• Chen Baiqing, Lin Luoyu, and Cui Hao entered the courtyard, while Chen Wenqian considered the stakes of Li Junzi's academic challenge.

Lin Luoyu, Chen Baiqing, and Cui Hao visited Li Junzi and learned that she had lost the first two Scholarly Debates but still intended to challenge the Second Sage’s principles. As night fell, they joined her in studying, determined to help her continue the debates.

• Lin Luoyu found Li Junzi writing and asked why she had not been told about the Scholarly Debate with Junzi Mountain.
• Li Junzi explained that she wanted to investigate principles she could not accept rather than study them uncritically, and Lin Luoyu offered to help.
• Chen Baiqing asked about the first two debates, and Li Junzi admitted that she had lost both outright.
• Cui Hao declared that he would help Li Junzi, while Chen Baiqing and Lin Luoyu agreed to support her.
• That night, Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao studied with Li Junzi, whose challenge was to reject treating the Second Sage’s principles as the truth of the age or as eternal truth.

At the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect, Yan Yun continued training under Bai Xuanling while Chu Xingchen received an urgent letter from his eldest disciple. He invited Yuyang Daozi to join him in handling the matter, then left when Yuyang hesitated, prompting Yuyang to call after him.

• At Junzi Mountain, Chen Baiqing decided to wait for her senior sister and master’s advice and see how the third Scholarly Debate went before intervening.
• Bai Xuanling repeatedly overpowered Yan Yun in practice, while Chu Xingchen’s teasing distracted and angered Yan Yun.
• Chu Xingchen asked Yuyang Daozi whether he had been feeling better, and Yuyang said he had no urgent matters after his matches ended.
• Lü Xuan delivered an urgent letter from Chu Xingchen’s eldest disciple to Chu Xingchen.
• After reading the letter, Chu Xingchen invited Yuyang Daozi to come with him to handle something, then started to leave when Yuyang hesitated.
• Yuyang Daozi called out to Chu Xingchen, who stopped and turned back with a satisfied smile.

Li Junzi’s side lost the third scholarly debate at Junzi Academy, and Li Junzi fell from the Great Confucian Realm to the Confucian Scholar Realm. The group returned to Bamboo Grove Cottage, where Chen Baiqing found her master waiting.

• Chen Wenqian recited the Second Sage’s teachings as the third debate reached its close, while Cui Hao struggled to find a response.
• Li Junzi ended the debate by thanking her opponents, then her cultivation fell back to the Confucian Scholar Realm.
• Chen Wenqian suggested canceling the remaining two debates, but Li Junzi insisted that a gentleman must pursue truth without fear.
• Li Junzi and her companions left for Bamboo Grove Cottage, subdued by their decisive defeat.
• Chen Baiqing hurried into the cottage and exclaimed, “Master, you're here.”

Chu Xingchen arrived after the Scholarly Debate and challenged Confucian scholars with the question, “Is a white horse not a horse?” His riddle left Yuyang Daozi, Cui Hao, and Li Junzi pondering, while Li Junzi sensed she was close to a new principle.

• Chu Xingchen joined Lin Luoyu, Chen Baiqing, Cui Hao, and Li Junzi after Cui Hao had lost the Scholarly Debate.
• Cui Hao asked who Yuyang Daozi was, and Yuyang introduced himself after Chu Xingchen drew him away from the paper.
• Chu Xingchen criticized the Confucian School for relying on ritual and asked whether a white horse was not a horse.
• Cui Hao praised Chu Xingchen’s argument as sophistry, and Chu Xingchen corrected him that it was philosophical thought.
• Li Junzi felt the question could lead her beyond her old perspective, while Chu Xingchen urged the group to see how the Great Confucians would answer it.

Chu Xingchen visited Bamboo Grove Cottage, where Chen Baiqing’s tea impressed Yuyang Daozi, while Junzi Academy prepared to counter Cui Hao’s sophistry. Days later, Cui Hao opened a Scholarly Debate by claiming that a white horse was not a horse.

• Chen Baiqing brewed tea for Chu Xingchen and Yuyang Daozi, whose first sip left him amazed by its clarity and flavor.
• Chu Xingchen told Chen Baiqing that his affairs at the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect were nearly finished and said his disciples mattered most.
• Chen Wenqian and the Great Confucians studied Cui Hao’s strange arguments and prepared notes to guard against future sophistry.
• Cui Hao skipped the preparation period, asked Chen Wenqian whether a white horse was a horse, and declared that it was not.

Cui Hao used the white-horse argument to challenge the foundations of Confucian ritual, leaving Chen Wenqian unable to refute him before time ran out. As Li Junzi prepared to take over the debate, she recalled Chu Xingchen urging her to cast aside the Second Sage’s books and focus on correcting wrongs through action.

• Cui Hao argued that a white horse was not simply a horse, forcing Chen Wenqian and the other Great Confucians into silence as they considered the challenge to Confucian ritual.
• The students outside passed notes to discuss the debate, while Chu Xingchen observed them and wondered whether Junzi Mountain sought more than fame.
• With the Destitute Brush signaling that time was short, Chen Wenqian said that winning arguments did not mean winning people’s hearts, and Cui Hao accepted the partial concession.
• Cui Hao yielded the floor to Li Junzi, who looked to Chu Xingchen before beginning her response.
• Three days earlier, Li Junzi had asked Chu Xingchen how to correct the errors she saw in the Second Sage’s principles, and he told her to cast aside the books and act.

Li Junzi argued that principles had to be tested through practice, not accepted solely because they appeared in books, then conceded the fourth scholarly debate to seek answers in the world. As she prepared to leave calligraphy at Junzi Mountain, the Broken Pen appeared before her, resonating with Righteousness Qi and Literary Qi.

• Li Junzi told the students that books were references, and that people could understand many principles only by putting them into practice.
• Li Junzi conceded the fourth scholarly debate, explaining that she still had much to learn and wanted to test her principles in the world.
• Li Junzi asked Chen Wenqian to postpone their fifth debate for five, ten, or twenty years, and Chen Wenqian agreed that Junzi Mountain would await her return.
• Chen Wenqian asked Li Junzi to leave calligraphy in the debate hall, and he and the students affirmed that she was a Great Confucian.
• As Li Junzi reached for her brush, the Broken Pen flew before her, glowing as Righteousness Qi and Literary Qi resonated.