Recaps

Winter Melon offered Li Xingtian a mysterious crystal and tried to recruit him, but he refused and recognized her concealed killing intent. Li Xingtian struck first, and Winter Melon prepared to fight him.

• Winter Melon approached Li Xingtian with a crystal from Ancient Ruins that she said could change the world and offered him a share in studying it.
• Li Xingtian refused to join Winter Melon's group, accused her of arranging an earlier encounter, and said he would leave soon.
• Winter Melon considered whether to recruit or silence Li Xingtian, while concealing her hostile intentions.
• Li Xingtian attacked Winter Melon with his full Blood Qi, blasting her out of the cave abode and killing several Evil Cultivators inside.
• Winter Melon survived the strike, and Li Xingtian said he had noticed the killing intent in her eyes; she raised her Soft-Bone Sword to fight.

A young man met Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu in Qulin City and examined the Black Crow Command Token they presented, which seemed genuine despite its suspiciously polished appearance. He led them toward his people while growing uneasy about their conspicuous private conversation, leaving him to suspect the Dark Crow Cult Leader’s situation was stranger than he expected.

• The young man decided to investigate the Dark Crow Cult Leader while sending Corn to support Winter Melon.
• Chu Xingchen brought Xie Lingyu to meet the young man and presented him with a Black Crow Command Token.
• The young man checked the token’s Spiritual Power and hidden anti-counterfeiting mark, found them convincing, and agreed to lead Chu Xingchen to his people.
• Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu openly transmitted messages to each other as they followed the young man out of the city.
• The young man heard their frequent voice transmissions and grew suspicious about what the Dark Crow Cult Leader was doing.

Chu Xingchen tested the young Vice Hall Master’s loyalty and ordered him to assemble his forces near Stillbone Forest, while the young man secretly planned to warn Winter Melon. Chu Xingchen then revealed to Xie Lingyu that the assignment was a diversion, and planned to seal off the area around Qulin City and force the hidden evil cultivators out.

• Chu Xingchen confronted the young Vice Hall Master about the small force he had gathered and confirmed that any other evil cultivators they encountered could be killed.
• Chu Xingchen ordered the young man to muster his people outside Stillbone Forest in three days to confront a Nascent Soul Realm blood qi evil cultivator.
• The young man realized the target was Winter Melon's prospective recruit and decided to warn Winter Melon while arranging for key people to escape.
• Xie Lingyu asked whether Chu Xingchen meant to capture or kill the young man, and Chu Xingchen said luring him away would reassure the remaining hidden cultivators.
• Chu Xingchen planned to bring in reinforcements from the Great Dao Sect and seal off the area within a hundred li of Qulin City.

Yuyang Daozi sent Great Dao Sect Secret Council cultivators to capture Chu Xingchen’s targets in Qulin City while Chu Xingchen went to Stillbone Forest, where Li Xingtian fought Winter Melon. Winter Melon unleashed a strange power after Li Xingtian cut through her sword, and Li Xingtian answered with one of Master’s quotes as they prepared to clash again.

• Yuyang Daozi ordered the masked Secret Council cultivators to capture every target in Qulin City without revealing his presence.
• Yuyang Daozi looked toward Stillbone Forest, where Chu Xingchen had gone to protect Li Xingtian, unaware that Great Dao Sect cultivators were secretly guarding him.
• Winter Melon and Li Xingtian fought amid the ruined landscape of Stillbone Forest, with Li Xingtian’s blood qi and Ghost-Head Broadsword matching her attacks.
• Winter Melon’s Soft-Bone Long Sword broke against Li Xingtian’s saber, but she advanced instead of retreating and covered her sword and eyes in black power.
• Li Xingtian recalled Master’s advice, told Winter Melon that dead people could not speak, and resolved to memorize more of the quotes.

Outside the Stillbone Forest, Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu arrived as the young man watched Winter Melon fight Li Xingtian. Misreading the situation and believing the Dark Crow Archbishop was present, the young man attacked Winter Melon and warned her that she had been exposed.

• The young man watched Winter Melon’s battle with Li Xingtian but hesitated to intervene, suspecting the Evil Spirit Cult’s envoy was observing him.
• Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu appeared behind the young man, and Chu Xingchen ordered him to help Winter Melon fight the evil cultivator.
• The young man charged at Li Xingtian, who mistook him for an ally until he saw the scythe aimed at him.
• Winter Melon joined the fight, and the young man realized she was the person he had mistaken for an enemy and attacked her instead.
• The young man told Winter Melon that Li Xingtian’s side belonged to the Evil Spirit Cult and claimed the Dark Crow Archbishop had come in person, then urged her to run.

Lin Luoyu reached the Golden Core Stage, and Chu Xingchen’s letter assigned her a training mission with Cui Hao before he returned. She agreed to take Cui Hao along, and the pair prepared to leave the next day.

• Cui Hao asked Chen Baiqing whether Chu Xingchen had gone sightseeing or was handling business, and Chen Baiqing reminded him to focus on his cultivation.
• Lin Luoyu arrived after breaking through to the Golden Core Stage, her breakthrough concealed by the formation Chu Xingchen had built.
• Chen Baiqing told Lin Luoyu that Chu Xingchen’s letter offered her a training task if she reached Golden Core before he returned, and said she could bring Cui Hao.
• Lin Luoyu agreed to take Cui Hao on the mission after he promised to follow her instructions, and they decided to set out the next day.
• Chen Baiqing revealed that Cui Hao had his own task in the letter and would have gone alone if Lin Luoyu had refused; Lin Luoyu promised to bring him back safely.

Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu traveled through Dongsheng Shenzhou to a ruined mountain god temple, where they reunited with Li Yingling instead of their master. Li Yingling recalled the sect’s humble beginnings and announced that she had a task for them.

• Cui Hao asked Lin Luoyu what the Golden Core Realm felt like as they rode spirit horses through the mountains.
• Cui Hao suggested visiting their eldest senior sister, but Lin Luoyu said they should handle their business first.
• Lin Luoyu stopped at a dilapidated mountain god temple and told Cui Hao they had arrived.
• Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu found Li Yingling warming herself by a fire and greeted her with surprise.
• Li Yingling recalled how their master had recruited her at a ruined temple and described the hardships she and their second senior brother had faced.
• Li Yingling said she had brought Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu there to show them the sect’s difficult beginnings, then announced that she had a task for them.

Lin Luoyu received a Spirit Treasure and was assigned to question an injured target with Cui Hao, while Li Yingling warned them to return safely. The target was revealed to be the half-dead young man Winter Melon was dragging through the mountains, and she refused to abandon him.

• Li Yingling gave Lin Luoyu a top-tier Spirit Treasure, which acknowledged her as its master with ease.
• Li Yingling told Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao to contact the wounded target for information, gave them instructions and Spirit Stones, and ordered them to prioritize their safety.
• Winter Melon dragged the badly injured young man along a mountain path as he urged her to leave him and escape.
• Winter Melon told the young man she would abandon him only when he was no longer useful, and he answered, "As long as... you hate me."

Winter Melon, gravely wounded and pursued by a Blood Qi Evil Cultivator, persuaded Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu to help her and the bound young man escape the mountain woods. After they got clear, she tried to ingratiate herself with Cui Hao, whose teasing left her confused.

• Winter Melon hid from Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu as they descended the mountain, then called out to them for help.
• She claimed that an Evil Spirit Cult cultivator had attacked her and the young man, and Lin Luoyu reluctantly offered medicine and protection.
• Winter Melon secretly fed a pill to the vine-bound young man before the group made it out of the woods.
• Winter Melon learned that her companions were Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu, disciples of the Burning Heaven Lijin Sect, and decided to cultivate Cui Hao's favor.
• Cui Hao joked that Winter Melon could repay him by serving as his ox or horse, then asked why she was not laughing.

Winter Melon persuaded Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao to let her and the wounded boy travel with them, while Cui Hao secretly signaled a Great Dao Sect cultivator that their mission was proceeding smoothly. At Fuyao Immortal Pavilion, Chu Xingchen handed Corn over to Yuyang Daozi and prepared to leave, with Xie Lingyu set to act in his place.

• Winter Melon refused to take the boy to an inn, then asked Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao to let them accompany them toward Fuyao Immortal City.
• Lin Luoyu agreed to help treat the boy, and Cui Hao went to find a carriage.
• After leaving the house, Cui Hao signaled a nearby Great Dao Sect cultivator that the mission was proceeding smoothly.
• At Fuyao Immortal Pavilion, Xie Lingyu told Chu Xingchen that Yingling had been picked up and Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao had contacted their targets.
• Chu Xingchen told Corn that Watermelon had revealed Winter Melon's plans, then gave Corn to Yuyang Daozi under their agreement.
• Chu Xingchen said he needed to return and left Xie Lingyu to make decisions in his place.

Winter Melon tried to secure Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu’s help while hiding her intentions, but Cui Hao unexpectedly began revealing their mission. The chapter left Winter Melon stunned after Lin Luoyu stopped him from explaining what the Great Dao Sect had done at Wuxuan Temple.

• Winter Melon considered using the experimental Rules Crystals to alert her superiors and relied on Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu for protection.
• Cui Hao asked Watermelon whether losing half his body made him lighter, then told him to drive the carriage despite his injuries.
• Winter Melon offered to drive instead, but Lin Luoyu took over and pulled Cui Hao into the carriage.
• Cui Hao sat beside Winter Melon and revealed that their mission involved investigating what the Great Dao Sect had done at Wuxuan Temple.
• Lin Luoyu shouted at Cui Hao, cutting off his explanation and leaving Winter Melon shocked.

At the inn, Winter Melon planned to use Cui Hao to stir up trouble while Watermelon distracted Lin Luoyu, but Cui Hao suspected Watermelon posed the greater danger. Winter Melon and Cui Hao met in the corridor to admire the moon, then immediately agreed to go back to sleep when they saw the storm-dark sky.

• Winter Melon rented rooms and told Watermelon she wanted to manipulate Cui Hao into doing their work while Watermelon kept Lin Luoyu occupied.
• Cui Hao told Lin Luoyu that Watermelon seemed more dangerous than Winter Melon and warned her to stay alert.
• Cui Hao decided to have Second Senior Brother increase the pressure on Winter Melon and Watermelon.
• Winter Melon emerged from her room, and she and Cui Hao agreed to go admire the moon together.
• Cui Hao and Winter Melon found the sky covered in dark clouds and decided to return to sleep.

Lin Luoyu traveled with Cui Hao, Winter Melon, and Watermelon while Li Xingtian arranged an ambush by two Golden Core cultivators. As the attackers approached, Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao silently acknowledged that they had noticed them.

• Lin Luoyu greeted her new Righteousness Sword and reflected that she would help Cui Hao if he got into trouble.
• Cui Hao, Lin Luoyu, Winter Melon, and Watermelon ate breakfast, then set out in a shabby carriage driven by Cui Hao.
• Li Xingtian watched them depart and told Wen Zuo and Yu Jing to follow the plan while warning them to be careful around Lin Luoyu.
• Wen Zuo and Yu Jing pursued the carriage, intending to attack once it was far from inhabited areas.
• Winter Melon sensed two Golden Core cultivators closing in, and Lin Luoyu confirmed she had noticed them.
• Cui Hao looked at Lin Luoyu, who lowered her eyelids in acknowledgment, and he smiled at their silent signal.

Winter Melon and Cui Hao fled while Lin Luoyu stayed behind to confront Yu Jing and Wen Zuo. Lin Luoyu’s overwhelming swordsmanship startled the two cultivators, and a clumsy exchange revealed that all three were trying to stage a fight.

• Winter Melon offered to stay behind, but Lin Luoyu insisted she protect Cui Hao and left the carriage to face the pursuers.
• Winter Melon drove away with Cui Hao while they watched Lin Luoyu unleash the Righteousness Sword’s power.
• Yu Jing and Wen Zuo hesitated to approach Lin Luoyu, who assumed she had forgotten to deliver a righteous speech before fighting.
• Lin Luoyu charged Yu Jing, but he blocked her strike and redirected its force away from himself.
• Yu Jing warned Lin Luoyu that Li Cult Leader was coming, and Lin Luoyu realized the others were also staging the fight.

Winter Melon fled with Cui Hao and the unconscious half of Watermelon while Lin Luoyu confronted Li Xingtian, the Nascent Soul blood cultivator. At Zhuyunluo, Winter Melon explained why the Evil Spirit Cult was unlikely to harm them, and Cui Hao immediately regretted running.

• Cui Hao urged Winter Melon to flee after she pointed out that Lin Luoyu was losing against two Golden Core cultivators.
• Winter Melon took the half of Watermelon and Cui Hao and abandoned the carriage, then saw Li Xingtian's blood blade clash with Lin Luoyu's Righteousness Qi.
• Li Xingtian recognized Lin Luoyu as his Fourth Junior Sister, and they exchanged news about their fellow disciples before he suggested they stop for tea.
• Winter Melon reached Zhuyunluo with Cui Hao and the half of Watermelon, struggling with pain from Li Xingtian's Blood Qi.
• Winter Melon reasoned that the Evil Spirit Cult would avoid harming Lin Luoyu or anyone tied to the Great Dao Sect, prompting Cui Hao to say he wished he had not run.

Lin Luoyu returned to the group injured after escaping the Evil Spirit Cult and arranged for Great Dao Sect cultivators to purge the pursuers. At an abandoned hunter’s home, she pulled Winter Melon aside and asked why she was being hunted and what she had concealed.

• Lin Luoyu returned to the camp and explained that her protective Dharma Treasure and escape talisman had helped her evade the Evil Spirit Cult.
• Lin Luoyu told Winter Melon that she had requested Great Dao Sect reinforcements and warned the group to beware of the pursuers, especially the Nascent Soul Realm Blood Qi Evil Cultivator.
• The group extinguished the campfire and traveled deeper into the forest while Cui Hao asked Lin Luoyu to show him her protective treasure.
• The group reached an abandoned hunter’s home and rested while half a Watermelon volunteered to keep watch.
• Lin Luoyu asked Winter Melon to speak privately, then questioned why she was being hunted and whether she had hidden something.

Cui Hao revealed to Winter Melon that he had overheard her conversation with Lin Luoyu and proposed betraying the Great Dao Sect to claim the mysterious object for themselves. Winter Melon welcomed his greed, but the two ended their bargain with a threat to discover who would be the rat and who the pig.

• After traveling through the day and night, Cui Hao asked the group to stop and rest because his spiritual power was nearly exhausted.
• While Lin Luoyu took the first watch, Cui Hao used a Soundproofing Talisman to speak privately with Winter Melon.
• Cui Hao told Winter Melon he knew about her conversation with Lin Luoyu and revealed that the object she carried was a Great Dao, a path beyond immortality.
• Cui Hao proposed that he and Winter Melon keep the object instead of handing it to the Great Dao Sect, offering Winter Melon thirty percent and himself sixty percent.
• Winter Melon questioned whether Cui Hao had been pretending to act foolish, and he admitted he had wanted to disgust Lin Luoyu.
• Winter Melon called Cui Hao a rat, and he warned her that they would see who was the rat and who was the pig.

Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu agreed to stage a betrayal so he could use Winter Melon to pursue a bigger target. After Winter Melon showed him a Rules Crystal, Cui Hao revealed that he did not know how it worked and asked whether he had to swallow it whole.

• Cui Hao told Lin Luoyu he planned to sell her off, and she agreed to cooperate with his scheme and cover for him if it went wrong.
• Cui Hao and Winter Melon left the group and set up a barrier in a secluded spot while Lin Luoyu stayed behind.
• Winter Melon questioned what Cui Hao had told Lin Luoyu, and he claimed he had told her they were sneaking off together to indulge themselves.
• Winter Melon handed Cui Hao a blackish-gray Rules Crystal, and he eagerly examined it.
• Cui Hao admitted he did not know how to use the Rules Crystal or what its black threads were, and asked if he had to swallow it whole.

Chu Xingchen welcomed Li Junzi back to the Great Confucian Realm and learned she planned to honor her appointment at Junzi Mountain. He then arranged for Ning Qianqian to study at the Heavenly Derivation Sect so she could improve her cultivation, promising she could return whenever she wished.

• Chen Baiqing served tea as Chu Xingchen congratulated Li Junzi on returning to the Great Confucian Realm.
• Li Junzi told Chu Xingchen she planned to go to Junzi Mountain and give her answer, declining his offer to accompany her.
• Chu Xingchen invited Li Junzi to rest at the sect and suggested Luo Yu could find her after her affairs were settled.
• Chu Xingchen asked Ning Qianqian about her cultivation and proposed sending her to the Heavenly Derivation Sect to find a suitable method.
• Ning Qianqian worried about leaving the sect's spirit plants, so Chu Xingchen arranged for Sandong to tend them and promised Ning Qianqian his protection.

Winter Melon told Half of Watermelon that Cui Hao knew about her dealings with Lin Luoyu and wanted to exploit Lin Luoyu’s debt to his family. They agreed to wait and see what happened when Winter Melon and Cui Hao acted the next day, while Watermelon considered returning to Qu Lin to find survivors.

• Winter Melon punched Watermelon after he joked that she had offered herself to Cui Hao.
• Winter Melon explained that Cui Hao had learned of her conversation with Lin Luoyu and planned to use Lin Luoyu’s indebtedness to him for his own gain.
• Watermelon proposed giving Cui Hao what he wanted, then leaving the group while he returned to Qu Lin to look for survivors.
• Winter Melon refused to abandon the plan, saying Cui Hao was not clever enough to outmaneuver her and that she did not want to waste Waterman as a trump card.
• Watermelon advised waiting until the situation settled before taking action, and Winter Melon said she had already agreed to act with Cui Hao the next day.
• Winter Melon returned to treat the Blood Qi in her body while Waterman stayed by the tree, gazing at the half-moon.

Cui Hao devised a plan to fake a grave injury and force Lin Luoyu to use a certain item, while Winter Melon and Watermelon prepared to play along. Lin Luoyu waited at a distance, then heard a violent surge of Spiritual Power and headed back, unsure whether Cui Hao’s plan had worked or his companions were simply foolish.

• Cui Hao stopped the group repeatedly, then privately told Lin Luoyu something with a Soundproofing Talisman, and she left them behind.
• Cui Hao told Winter Melon and Watermelon to fake injuries so Lin Luoyu would believe they had been attacked, but Winter Melon questioned his plan.
• Watermelon suspected Cui Hao was hiding something about his relationship with Lin Luoyu, but he kept his doubts to himself.
• Cui Hao revealed a pill from his Spatial Ring and confidently claimed it would work, easing Winter Melon’s suspicion.
• Lin Luoyu waited at a distance until a violent surge of Spiritual Power erupted, then began returning to the group.

Lin Luoyu discovered that Cui Hao had faked his collapse, then learned he was truly gravely injured after an ambush. Winter Melon offered to use the Experiment to save him, though its price was a life.

• Lin Luoyu found Cui Hao lying unharmed and learned he had taken a pill to make himself unable to move.
• Winter Melon told Lin Luoyu that they had been ambushed and that Cui Hao had collapsed; Lin Luoyu changed their route and carried him away.
• In a cave, Lin Luoyu diagnosed Cui Hao with ruptured Spirit Veins and a muddled Spiritual Altar, then decided to take him to the Great Dao Sect.
• Winter Melon warned that the route was dangerous and offered to use the Experiment to save Cui Hao.
• Winter Melon pressed the Experiment to Cui Hao's chest and explained that it could repair his injuries, while privately knowing its price was a life.

Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao tested Winter Melon’s prototype while Winter Melon and Watermelon debated whether their meeting was a trap. The test revealed that the device left hidden traces and had unstable effects, and Lin Luoyu asked whether those traces could be put on them.

• Lin Luoyu accepted the prototype from Winter Melon but chose to test it on her own, then left with Cui Hao.
• Winter Melon said they could use Lin Luoyu’s righteousness qi and learn about the Great Dao Sect, while Watermelon suspected they had been manipulated into accepting a lifeline.
• Winter Melon argued that Lin Luoyu’s righteous convictions made her unlikely to be allied with the Evil Cultivator, and Watermelon reluctantly accepted that they had to gamble.
• Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu decided to have a Great Dao Sect cultivator test the prototype on a wild animal instead of using it on Cui Hao.
• The middle-aged cultivator reported that the prototype left hidden traces on both user and target, had strange effects, and remained unstable; Lin Luoyu asked if he could place the traces on them.

Winter Melon forced Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao to negotiate over the addictive Experiment, while Cui Xingchen arrived at Fuyao Immortal Pavilion with Zhang Miaoyu and found Xu Jin alongside Yuyang Daozi. The chapter left Zhang Miaoyu stunned by the legendary figures gathered with her sect leader.

• Winter Melon confirmed that Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao had used the Experiment and warned that their strengthened meridians would collapse without more of it.
• Lin Luoyu attacked Winter Melon, but Cui Hao persuaded his senior sister to hear Winter Melon's proposal to solve the Experiment's problems together.
• Cui Hao objected to Winter Melon threatening him, and she restrained herself to keep the negotiations on track.
• Chu Xingchen arranged for Qinghe to accompany Ning Qianqian at the Heavenly Derivation Sect and brought Zhang Miaoyu to Fuyao Immortal Pavilion.
• Chu Xingchen found Xu Jin and Yuyang Daozi in the pavilion, leaving Zhang Miaoyu astonished to see her sect leader among legendary figures.

Chu Xingchen and Xu Jin compared their investigations into demons disguising themselves as humans and agreed to monitor Cui Hao’s actions before escalating matters. Yuyang Daozi considered whether the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect could intervene if events became uncontrollable, while Zhang Miaoyu listened in awe.

• Chu Xingchen read a jade slip about Cui Hao’s actions and agreed to cooperate while taking responsibility for his disciple.
• Yuyang Daozi examined Zhang Miaoyu, and Chu Xingchen introduced her as the sect’s Outer Sect elder and reassured her that the sect would support her.
• Xu Jin explained that the demons’ transformation ability was likely connected to the Dao and that researchers were studying an imitation experiment to find ways to identify disguised demons.
• Chu Xingchen proposed waiting to see what happened with Cui Hao before making a conspicuous move, and Xu Jin agreed to let him take the lead.
• Xu Jin asked whether Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect cultivators could intervene if the situation became uncontrollable, and Yuyang Daozi said he would consult his sect leader.