Recaps

Chu Xingchen warned Li Yingling that humans from other forces might exploit the Desolate Ridge conflict, and she revealed her plan for the coming counterattack. Meanwhile, Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao traveled undercover through Desolate Ridge with Li Yingling, where Cui Hao discovered she had overheard his complaints.

• Chu Xingchen read Bai Xuanling's intelligence, which said Central Province was uninvolved in the Desolate Ridge incident but other Southern Jambu Continent forces might be plotting to take advantage.
• Chu Xingchen showed Li Yingling the letter and warned her to act carefully; he reframed the potential human schemers as demons wearing human skin.
• Li Yingling told Chu Xingchen she had ideas for the counterattack in two days, developed with Chen Baiqing's help, and promised to make the sect's name resound.
• At night, Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu traveled through Desolate Ridge disguised in foul-smelling clothes and complained about Eldest Senior Sister's arrangements.
• Li Yingling silently appeared beside Cui Hao as he complained about her, and he asked her to forgive his shallow thinking.

Li Yingling led Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu on a surprise attack against the Great Wu Demon King, relying on Chen Baiqing’s interrogation of captured demons to learn about the enemy’s weak, isolated position. As the assault began, an owl demon spotted three demons approaching the front line.

• Li Yingling explained that the concealment orbs hid their appearance but not their scent, then told Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu to stop lesser demons from escaping while she stirred up trouble.
• Cui Hao praised their master’s advice to ambush enemies and avoid fighting fair, and Li Yingling approved of his understanding.
• Chen Baiqing had interrogated three demons until they revealed that the Great Wu Demon King was a newly established Golden Core water buffalo with few troops and reduced strength in the dry Desolate Ridge.
• Li Yingling prepared to strike the Great Wu Demon King with Zhao Chun’s main force positioned behind her, hoping to break through the Demon Race’s front line.
• An owl demon on the quiet front line saw three demons racing toward it and remained confident that its ability to fly would let it escape if fighting began.

Cui Hao, Li Yingling, and Lin Luoyu reached the Front Line trench and convinced the demons there that they had escaped a Golden Core cultivator. The water buffalo offered them a foul basin of food while keeping a hand near its saber, leaving the three facing a suspicious welcome.

• The owl demon spotted Niu Er, the weasel captain, and the old snake approaching, and alerted the water buffalo squad leader.
• Cui Hao used the password to gain entry, and Li Yingling led the group into the trench.
• The water buffalo questioned them about their survival, and Cui Hao claimed they had fled a Golden Core True Person by taking a long detour.
• Cui Hao asked to report intelligence to the Great Wu Demon King, but the water buffalo insisted they eat first.
• A lesser demon brought a stinking basin of wild grasses and animal remains as the water buffalo rested a hand on its saber and urged them not to fight over the food.

Li Yingling, Cui Hao, and Lin Luoyu got the Water Buffalo Demon to reveal the Great Wu Demon King's location, though he suspected they were not ordinary demons and sent Owl to warn the king. Li Yingling intercepted Owl, and she explained that the Water Buffalo Demon only needed to send a messenger, whether or not the warning arrived.

• Li Yingling and Cui Hao refused the Water Buffalo Demon's grass soup, while Lin Luoyu avoided eating it after Cui Hao claimed she could only eat dry food.
• The Water Buffalo Demon gave the trio directions to the Great Wu Demon King's pool and sent Lin Luoyu off with hay.
• After the trio left, the Water Buffalo Demon told Owl he suspected them and ordered him to report their arrival to the Great Wu Demon King.
• Owl flew out at night but Li Yingling struck him down and brought him to where Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu were hiding.
• Li Yingling told Lin Luoyu that the Water Buffalo Demon had sent Owl merely to show he had warned the Great Wu Demon King.

Li Yingling’s group recruited an owl demon and headed for the Great Wu Demon King’s territory, while Chu Xingchen secretly followed to watch over their attack. The owl, tricked into taking a pill disguised as poison, reluctantly guided them toward the oasis.

• Cui Hao teased the captured owl with jerky, and Li Yingling fed him after he cooperated.
• Lin Luoyu questioned whether they should bring the owl along, but Li Yingling used a Perfect Tonic Pill hidden in jerky to frighten him into compliance.
• The owl told Li Yingling that the Great Wu Demon King’s territory lay near a small oasis and suggested she attack directly.
• Li Yingling, Lin Luoyu, Cui Hao, and the owl traveled toward the oasis while discussing Li Yingling’s plan.
• Chu Xingchen watched from above, deciding to oversee the operation because it targeted a Demon King.

Tiger Seven and Broken Abacus headed to the Great Wu Demon King's oasis, hoping to involve other demons in their dangerous plan. As Li Yingling prepared to strike the Great Wu Demon King, she sensed a powerful demon approaching and revised her plan to protect her junior siblings.

• Tiger Seven worried that their plan would get him killed, but Broken Abacus urged him to seek allies and use Cowardly Bull as a fallback if things went wrong.
• Li Yingling, Cui Hao, Lin Luoyu, and Owl reached the Great Wu Demon King's heavily guarded pool, where Owl's unease aroused suspicion from a Foundation Establishment buffalo demon.
• Cui Hao challenged the buffalo demon over the poor treatment of the front-line troops, and Li Yingling forced the buffalo demon to back down with her aura.
• Li Yingling sensed a Golden Core-level Spiritual Energy fluctuation coming from the east and warned Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu that a tough opponent was approaching.
• Li Yingling prepared a surprise attack and signaled her junior siblings to ready their Teleportation Talismans so they could escape after she struck.

Li Yingling and her companions faced the arrival of Tiger Seven, the Kunshan Demon King, and she realized her master had secretly refined the pearl that kept them from being recognized. Tiger Seven came to meet the Great Wu Demon King, who mistook the meeting as a chance to arrange an escape from the front line.

• Li Yingling, Cui Hao, Lin Luoyu, and Owl waited as a Foundation Establishment bull demon threatened them, while Li Yingling sensed a powerful aura approaching from the east.
• Tiger Seven arrived with an old fox and called for the demons to unite, not realizing Li Yingling and the others were humans.
• Li Yingling concluded that her master had refined the pearl and was protecting their identities.
• The Great Wu Demon King rushed to embrace Tiger Seven and complained that other Demon Kings had abandoned it on the front line.
• The old fox hinted that Tiger Seven had come to fulfill the Great Wu Demon King's dream of building the Demon Kingdom, and the bull demon invited them inside to talk.

Owl warned Kunshan Great King that humans had come to ambush the demons, prompting Li Yingling to reveal her Golden Core power. The old fox silenced Owl and guided the Demon Kings into camp, leaving Owl wounded and abandoned.

• Owl saw Tiger Seven and recognized the humans’ danger, but forced himself to warn Kunshan Great King that they had come to ambush the demons.
• Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu turned on Owl as Li Yingling summoned her Spirit Treasure and faced Tiger Seven and Great Wu Demon King.
• The old fox accused Owl of spreading nonsense, dragged him forward, and stabbed him repeatedly.
• The old fox welcomed Li Yingling as the Little Dragon Demon King, and Great Wu Demon King and Kunshan Great King entered the camp without looking back at Owl.
• Li Yingling approached the wounded Owl with a pill, put it away, and walked into the camp.

Li Yingling met with the old fox, Tiger Seven, and the Great Wu Demon King, who offered to help her undermine the Demon Kingdom in exchange for a way to survive. After agreeing to their proposal, Li Yingling told her companions she still intended to kill the demons herself.

• The old fox recognized Li Yingling as a human Golden Core sword cultivator and realized she was too dangerous to confront directly.
• Li Yingling rejected the old fox's formalities and demanded he explain his proposal.
• The old fox offered information and operational help against the Demon Kingdom in exchange for a chance for the demons to escape later.
• After an hour of negotiations, Li Yingling left with her companions, while Tiger Seven questioned how easily the deal had been reached.
• The old fox warned Tiger Seven not to trust humans and asked the Great Wu Demon King to let him handle matters.
• On the way back, Li Yingling told Lin Luoyu she still planned to kill the demons, comparing them unfavorably to a dog she had once cared for.

While the war against the demons continued, Chu Xingchen waited in Yunzhou City with Chen Baiqing and Lin Luoyu, then met Bai Xuanling to receive payment for the pills she had sold. Bai Xuanling urged him to produce more, leaving him to decide whether to stay in the city or go with her.

• Chen Baiqing served tea to Chu Xingchen while Lin Luoyu sat silently, troubled by her emotions.
• Chu Xingchen wondered why Bai Xuanling had not arrived on the seventeenth, and she appeared at the teahouse soon afterward.
• Bai Xuanling gave Chu Xingchen a storage ring containing payment for the pills she had sold through the Heavenly Derivation Sect and other buyers.
• Bai Xuanling assured Chu Xingchen that she had kept his identity secret and told him to hurry with the next batch of pills.
• Bai Xuanling suggested that Chu Xingchen wait in Yunzhou City for a few quarters of an hour if he could not leave with her.

Bai Xuanling joined Li Yingling and Cui Hao at Desolate Ridge and realized their intelligence operation had likely been exposed. She stopped them from retreating and confronted the Demon Kings lying in wait, promising to send them to explain themselves to their dead companions.

• Cui Hao complained that Li Yingling had let sand blow into his mouth, and Bai Xuanling appeared and teased Li Yingling for bullying him.
• Li Yingling explained that she and Cui Hao had come to exchange intelligence with a Demon Kingdom informant.
• Bai Xuanling said Li Yingling had turned three Golden Core Stage demons, prompting Li Yingling and Cui Hao to realize their informants had likely been exposed and betrayed.
• Li Yingling ordered Cui Hao to retreat and warn the Alliance Leader about a possible ambush, but Bai Xuanling stopped them.
• Great King You Kui, the Spider Demon King, and the Rongke Demon King discussed their dead allies and the traitor as three human cultivators appeared above them.
• Bai Xuanling mocked the three Demon Kings and said she would send them to explain themselves to their dead companions.

Bai Xuanling killed two Demon Kings, left a scorpion alive for Li Yingling to interrogate, then killed it and used her divine sense to locate the remaining demons. She returned to Yunzhou City with Li Yingling and Cui Hao, while Chu Xingchen continued refining Tenfold Great Tonic Pills.

• Bai Xuanling killed the spider and deer Demon Kings and severed the scorpion Demon King's tail, leaving it alive for Li Yingling to question.
• Li Yingling asked the scorpion what information had brought the demons, but it only sneered and refused to answer.
• Bai Xuanling took Li Yingling's Tenfold Great Tonic Pill, killed the scorpion, and declared that they had learned where the Demon Kings gathered.
• Bai Xuanling said she could find the other Demon Kings by sweeping her divine sense along the way, and the group set out.
• In Yunzhou City, Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling's pill furnaces produced Tenfold Great Tonic Pills while Lin Luoyu bottled them.
• Bai Xuanling, Li Yingling, and Cui Hao suddenly returned to the teahouse, and Bai Xuanling told Chu Xingchen that the matter was resolved.

Bai Xuanling advised Chu Xingchen to guide and encourage Li Yingling instead of letting her learn only through mistakes, and Chu took her criticism seriously. Meanwhile, Li Xingtian met the bloodied Zhang Yuanshan, whose unusual poison would supposedly disappear once he reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

• Chu Xingchen slowed his pill refining to make future price increases easier, while Li Yingling and Cui Hao wrote reviews of the recent incident.
• Bai Xuanling told Chu Xingchen that Li Yingling needed guidance and affirmation, and Chu admitted his approach to teaching disciples had been too rough.
• Bai Xuanling noticed Chu Xingchen refining pills more slowly than usual, but he insisted that he was giving every pill his full concentration.
• In a tavern in the Central Province, Li Xingtian watched Zhang Yuanshan vomit blood and swallow a bottle of Blood-Replenishing Pills with his meal.
• Zhang Yuanshan explained that a strange poison was infecting his blood, and that a Nascent Soul medical cultivator had advised him to endure it until he broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Li Xingtian brought the blood-poisoned Zhang Yuanshan back to his Sect near Yuzhou City, hoping his master could examine him. When Li Xingtian tried to enter, the mountain-protecting formation hurled him back, leaving Zhang Yuanshan to wonder if he had been expelled.

• Zhang Yuanshan described how Li Xingtian's failed attempt to treat his poison had made him vomit blood uncontrollably, though he did not blame Li Xingtian.
• Li Xingtian took Zhang Yuanshan back toward the Sect, intending to ask his master to examine him and hoping to save money on further treatment.
• Zhang Yuanshan praised Li Xingtian's master, making Li Xingtian visibly pleased as they approached the Sect.
• Li Xingtian flew toward the Sect's main gate, but its mountain-protecting formation struck him and sent him crashing to the ground.
• Zhang Yuanshan cautiously asked Li Xingtian whether his master had expelled him.

Li Xingtian returned to his sect with Zhang Yuanshan and found it transformed by an expensive formation and lavish improvements, leaving him wondering how his master had become so wealthy. After Ning Qianqian verified his identity and showed them inside, the new disciples mistook Zhang Yuanshan for Li Xingtian and greeted him as their Second Senior Brother.

• Li Xingtian and Zhang Yuanshan inspected the sect's new mountain-protecting formation and grand renovations, and Li Xingtian wondered whether he had returned to the right place.
• Ning Qianqian cautiously asked Li Xingtian to prove who he was, then recognized him and brought both men into the sect.
• Ning Qianqian told Li Xingtian that Chu Xingchen and the others were away and would return soon, while Zhang Yuanshan agreed to wait in the guest rooms.
• Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu saw Zhang Yuanshan beside Li Xingtian and mistook him for their Second Senior Brother, greeting him while Li Xingtian froze with his gifts in hand.

Li Xingtian met his junior disciples Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao, who initially mistook Zhang Yuanshan for him, and gave them gifts. Zhang Yuanshan laughed at Li Xingtian’s embarrassment until he suddenly spat blood.

• Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu mistakenly bowed to Zhang Yuanshan before Ning Qianqian’s hint redirected them to Li Xingtian.
• Cui Hao introduced himself as Li Xingtian’s Fifth Junior Brother, and Lin Luoyu introduced herself as his Fourth Junior Sister.
• Li Xingtian gave Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu Dharma Treasures and Artifacts, then introduced himself by name.
• Zhang Yuanshan laughed at Li Xingtian’s awkwardness until he violently spat a mouthful of blood.

Li Xingtian reunited with Chu Xingchen and his fellow disciples after returning to the Sect, while Chu Xingchen brought Bai Xuanling in to treat Zhang Yuanshan’s poison. The chapter ended with Bai Xuanling asking whether Zhang Yuanshan feared pain before restraining him with spiritual power.

• Ning Qianqian left the Main Hall, where Zhang Yuanshan, Lin Luoyu, and Li Xingtian remained awkwardly silent while Cui Hao watched them.
• Cui Hao asked Li Xingtian about his trip to Central Province, but Li Xingtian’s brief answer left the hall quiet again.
• Chu Xingchen arrived with Li Yingling and Chen Baiqing, and Li Xingtian greeted his master respectfully.
• Chu Xingchen examined Zhang Yuanshan and said he was not a physician, then called for the Sect’s real expert.
• Bai Xuanling gave Li Xingtian a bottle of pills and asked Zhang Yuanshan whether he feared pain.
• Zhang Yuanshan tried to change his answer, but Bai Xuanling locked him in place with spiritual power.

The Sect held its forty-first Whole-Sect Gathering, where Zhang Yuanshan recovered from Qianji Poison and Chu Xingchen encouraged Li Yingling to enjoy the games instead of refereeing. As the gathering ended, Chu Xingchen traded Bai Xuanling one hundred bottles of pills for another Heavenly Derivation Sect token so Li Xingtian could carry it while traveling.

• Bai Xuanling stayed for the gathering, while Zhang Yuanshan rested after surviving the poison that had spread through his body.
• Chu Xingchen thanked Zhang Yuanshan for looking after Li Xingtian and invited him to stay in the sect until he recovered.
• Chu Xingchen took the referee's flag from Li Yingling and sent her into the games, reminding her to relax and have fun.
• Bai Xuanling joined games designed by Chu Xingchen, and the gathering ended with her mood soothed.
• Chu Xingchen asked Bai Xuanling for another Heavenly Derivation Sect token for Li Xingtian and agreed to give her one hundred bottles of pills in exchange.

Li Xingtian returned to find the sect thriving while his master and fellow disciples remained familiar in their own eccentric ways. After Cui Hao submitted an absurdly long summary, Chu Xingchen sent Li Yingling to teach him a lesson, and Li Xingtian left as the commotion began.

• Li Xingtian saw how much the sect had changed and reflected on how Chu Xingchen still treated him with warmth and trust.
• Li Xingtian spotted Chen Baiqing apparently letting a fish grill itself, then convinced himself he had imagined it.
• Li Xingtian and Cui Hao entered the Main Hall, where Chu Xingchen was refining pills and Li Yingling was revising an assignment.
• Cui Hao handed Chu Xingchen his lengthy summary, and Chu Xingchen skimmed it before demanding a reason not to beat him.
• Chu Xingchen gave Cui Hao's summary to Li Yingling and told her to focus on page fifty-three.
• Li Yingling confronted Cui Hao about his remarks on correcting a leader's flawed plan, while Li Xingtian hurried away from the ensuing commotion.

As Chizhou’s ongoing floods displaced refugees, Chu Xingchen offered to help and Yuankong arrived pleading for urgent aid. Chu Xingchen gave him a Spatial Ring full of gold and silver, leaving Yuankong to suspect they had misunderstood each other.

• The Sect members gathered in the rain to drink tea and listen to Li Yingling play the zither.
• Lin Luoyu and Li Yingling noticed the rain had continued without stopping, and Cui Hao reported that floods in Chizhou had killed people and sent refugees toward Yuzhou City.
• Chu Xingchen told Cui Hao to contact Chanwood Temple and offer money to help the refugees.
• Yuankong rushed into the pavilion and begged Chu Xingchen for help with an urgent matter concerning Chizhou.
• Chu Xingchen handed Yuankong a Spatial Ring containing gold and silver, and Yuankong said Chu Xingchen might have misunderstood him.

Chu Xingchen agreed to help Yuankong search for his missing abbot after a demon attack, but a hidden quest revealed that a luck thief was traveling through the waterways. Chu Xingchen and Li Xingtian reached flood-stricken Chizhou, where Li Xingtian entered the raging river to capture demons and Chu Xingchen went after him when blood qi rose from the water.

• Yuankong told Chu Xingchen that his abbot had been attacked by river demons near Chizhou, and Chu Xingchen agreed to help him search.
• When Chu Xingchen told Li Xingtian to accompany Yuankong, a hidden quest appeared, requiring him to capture a luck thief traveling through the water veins.
• Chu Xingchen chose Li Xingtian to travel with him to Chizhou and told Li Yingling to stay behind and look after the others.
• Chu Xingchen arranged donations for flood relief and traveled with Li Xingtian and Yuankong toward Chizhou, where Yuankong distributed food to victims.
• Li Xingtian entered the flooded river to capture demons, but blood qi rose from the water, so Chu Xingchen went after him.

Chu Xingchen discovered that demons were dismantling dams to expose a Water Vein needed for a ritual, and sent Li Xingtian and Yuankong to search other dams for Yuanjing. After studying how Water Veins worked in Yunze City, Chu Xingchen saw Li Xingtian return after three days, apparently having found Yuanjing.

• Li Xingtian told Chu Xingchen that several water demons had acted strangely and self-destructed, leaving only a bighead carp to question.
• Chu Xingchen found a trace of unusual Spiritual Power on the carp and concluded that Yuanjing’s attack was connected to a larger matter.
• Chu Xingchen and the others found demons dismantling a dam, so he sent Li Xingtian and Yuankong to check other dams for Yuanjing while he handled the demons.
• Chu Xingchen learned that the dam’s destruction would expose a Water Vein needed for a ritual, then studied a book to understand Water Veins.
• After three days, Li Xingtian returned to Yuelai Restaurant in Yunze City, and Chu Xingchen suspected he had found Yuanjing.

Chu Xingchen sent Yuanjing and Yuankong back to Chanwood Temple while preparing to investigate the unnatural disaster in Chizhou and catch an unknown “big fish.” He gave Li Xingtian the Commentary on the Water Classic to study water veins, but two days later Li Xingtian admitted he could not understand it and asked Chu Xingchen to bring Eldest Senior Sister.

• Li Xingtian brought Yuanjing and Yuankong to meet Chu Xingchen, who urged the frail abbot to return to Chanwood Temple.
• Yuanjing warned Chu Xingchen that the disaster in Chizhou was not a simple natural disaster, and Chu Xingchen told him the next steps were not his concern.
• Li Xingtian explained that he had threatened villagers downstream of the dam into evacuating after Yuanjing failed to persuade them.
• Chu Xingchen said he planned to catch an unknown big fish and gave Li Xingtian the Commentary on the Water Classic to learn how to locate water veins.
• After struggling with the book for two days, Li Xingtian asked Chu Xingchen to bring Eldest Senior Sister to help.

At Yuelai Inn, Chu Xingchen tasked Li Yingling and Li Xingtian with mapping nearby water veins while he prepared additional plans. At the Heavenly Derivation Sect, Bai Xuanling confronted Qinghe over allegedly inflating pill prices, but an urgent message from the sect leader changed her mood before she could cut off Qinghe’s horn.

• Li Yingling quickly studied the Commentary on the Water Classic, then agreed to teach Li Xingtian how to survey and map the water veins.
• Chu Xingchen sent Li Yingling and Li Xingtian to compile a clear map book and vanished to make further arrangements.
• Bai Xuanling accused Qinghe of raising pill prices and keeping the extra spirit stones, threatening to cut off one of her horns.
• Qinghe denied the accusation, tried several excuses, then defiantly told Bai Xuanling to cut off her horns.
• Xie Lingyu arrived and tried to intervene, but an urgent message from the sect leader reached Bai Xuanling first.
• After reading the message, Bai Xuanling released Qinghe’s horn and said she could not bear to cut it off.

Li Yingling and Li Xingtian mapped Chizhou’s water veins and suspected their winding route was a deliberate feint. After Li Yingling proposed that the Southern Candle Kingdom might offer a better route to the sea, Chu Xingchen questioned why a Black Tortoise would protect the Black Tortoise Kingdom and left her recalling a bizarre unofficial history.

• Li Yingling and Li Xingtian explored Chizhou’s rivers, with Li Yingling detecting water veins and Li Xingtian recording them.
• Li Yingling noticed the water veins followed a dangerously crooked route and wondered whether they were meant to mislead anyone seeking a path to the sea.
• Li Yingling and Li Xingtian returned to Yunze City, where Chu Xingchen joined them and examined their map.
• Li Yingling suggested that the Southern Candle Kingdom’s extensive coastline and river network might provide a better route to the sea.
• Chu Xingchen questioned why the Black Tortoise would guard a mortal kingdom for nearly four hundred years, prompting Li Yingling to remember an outlandish unofficial history.