Recaps

Xiao Hua exposed True Person Yuanqing’s betrayal and learned that the four cultivators planned to kill him as a letter of allegiance to the Confucian cultivators. As the ambush closed in, Fairy Jing stood between Xiao Hua and the attackers, and Xiao Hua recognized that they had chosen beasts to counter their companions.

• Xiao Hua accused True Person Yuanqing of manipulating events at the Yaotai Gathering and revealed that Yuanqing had been nearby when Fairy Jing rescued him.
• True Person Yuanqing persuaded Hai Hongzi and the others that Xiao Hua had lost his cultivation, then declared that killing him would free them from the Confucian cultivators’ restrictions.
• True Person Yuanqing said Xiao Hua’s head would serve as their letter of allegiance and called him the second Ancestor Hongmeng.
• Xiao Hua identified Zhen Tiancang and the rainbow panther as counters to his Spirit Seeking Rat and Fairy Jing’s Ying Huo, while Fairy Jing stepped in front of him.
• The cultivators threatened Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing, and Xiao Hua remarked that Yuanqing’s elaborate ambush made him a talented man he would regret killing.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing faced an ambush by True Person Yuanqing, Hai Hongzi, and two other Nascent Soul cultivators. Xiao Hua revealed his formidable swordsmanship and divine sense, killed their demonic beasts and defeated the four cultivators, capturing their Nascent Souls.

• Fairy Jing shielded herself and Xiao Hua with her treasures, while Xiao Hua summoned Little Silver and the Divine Strength Centipede to meet the attackers' beasts.
• True Person Yuanqing, Hai Hongzi, and the other two cultivators attacked Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing from four sides.
• Xiao Hua unleashed four enormous sword attacks, damaged True Person Yuanqing's halberd, split Hai Hongzi's treasure, and shattered the other cultivators' Nascent Soul hands.
• Little Silver killed the Rainbow Leopard, and the Divine Strength Centipede cleaved Zhen Tiancang in two.
• As the four cultivators tried to flee, Xiao Hua restrained them with his divine sense and struck them with Divine Thought Hammers.
• Xiao Hua destroyed the four cultivators' bodies, captured True Person Yuanqing's Nascent Soul, searched the other three Nascent Souls, and stored them in the Mountain River Seal.

Fairy Jing revealed that her bloodline carried demon ancestry and that her Heart Shell was a magic treasure only she could refine. Xiao Hua exchanged old human essence with her and asked her to identify an object from a jade slip, leaving her promising to search for it and send news directly to him.

• Fairy Jing praised Xiao Hua's Light Feather Unicorn Horse, and Xiao Hua offered to refine her magic treasure as an apology, but she explained that only she could refine it.
• Fairy Jing admitted that demons' blood flowed through her veins, and Xiao Hua accepted her without judgment.
• Fairy Jing showed Xiao Hua her Heart Shell, whose runes and three-colored light reminded him of demon-beast bones and the seven-colored conch.
• Xiao Hua exchanged his golden human essence for Fairy Jing's smaller supply, which she said she needed for the Heart Shell.
• Xiao Hua gave Fairy Jing a jade slip to identify, and she said she had never seen the object but would search for it and send any news directly to him.

Xiao Hua told Fairy Jing about Xue Xue, his place on the Xuanhuang List, and his plans to investigate Xiao Jian in Danliang Kingdom. As their journey continued, Fairy Jing asked whether Xiao Hua knew stories about Ancestor Hongmeng from twenty thousand years ago.

• Fairy Jing asked who had become Xiao Hua’s dual-cultivation companion, and Xiao Hua recounted his relationship with Xue Xue.
• Xiao Hua told Fairy Jing that he had entered the Yellow Ranking of the Xuanhuang List and suspected Tongzhu Kingdom was behind it.
• Xiao Hua explained that he was going to Danliang Kingdom to uncover the truth about Xiao Jian and protect Jiang Kingdom’s restoration.
• Fairy Jing said Yuan Ya’s hopes of being with Butterfly Dance were complicated by Butterfly Dance’s identity as a princess, then asked to accompany Xiao Hua somewhere after their trip to Danliang Kingdom.
• Fairy Jing asked Xiao Hua about stories concerning Ancestor Hongmeng before he wreaked havoc in the Immortal Palace, and Xiao Hua asked how she knew of them.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing reached Danliang Kingdom and stopped to investigate a group of monks working in the fields. Xiao Hua met the farmer monk Chonghong and began chatting with him about monastic life and Buddhist precepts.

• Fairy Jing guided Xiao Hua to Danliang Kingdom after their half-month journey toward Yaotai Mountain.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing admired Danliang Kingdom’s prosperous countryside and decided to stop and explore in disguise.
• Xiao Hua spotted monks farming rice terraces and descended with Fairy Jing to investigate.
• Xiao Hua greeted the elderly monk Chonghong, who explained that he had only recently become a monk and farmed to earn his food.
• Chonghong praised Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing as a fortunate couple, then said he had given up smoking to observe Buddhist precepts.

Xiao Hua questioned Old Monk Chonghong about Danliang Kingdom’s farming monks and learned how Chenghui Temple supported the poor and cared for the vulnerable. Chonghong led Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing up Centipede Ridge to meet the temple’s abbot.

• Xiao Hua asked Chonghong why Danliang’s monks farmed and learned that Chonghong had become a monk after war scattered his family and left him alone.
• Chonghong described how Chenghui Temple cared for elderly monks, orphans, and struggling people, prompting Xiao Hua to praise the kingdom’s welfare and seek its Buddhist Imperial Preceptor.
• Chonghong blamed former ruler Xiao Jian for the war that devastated his village and separated his family, then said Danliang had enjoyed peace for years under Buddha’s protection.
• Xiao Hua asked Chonghong to take him to Chenghui Temple’s abbot, and Chonghong led him and Fairy Jing through the temple’s cultivated lands on Centipede Ridge.
• A middle-aged monk in a worn moon-white robe met Chonghong on the path, and Chonghong introduced Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing as visitors seeking the temple.

Xiao Hua visited Chenghui Temple and learned how its monks cultivated Centipede Ridge and shared its produce with the poor. He waited in a pine grove while an old monk chanted the Vimalakirti Sutra, leaving Fairy Jing outside to wonder whether he had found a Buddhist expert.

• Jiandong explained that Chenghui Temple used Centipede Ridge to grow crops for the temple and surrounding villagers, including famine refugees.
• Jiandong told Fairy Jing that women could not enter the temple, so Xiao Hua asked her to wait outside while he met the abbot.
• A young novice led Xiao Hua past the temple buildings to an old monk chanting the Vimalakirti Sutra in a pine grove.
• Xiao Hua listened silently for two hours as the old monk continued chanting, while Jiandong visited and left without disturbing him.
• Fairy Jing declined Jiandong's food and wondered whether Xiao Hua had found a Buddhist expert inside the temple.

Xiao Hua visited Chenghui Temple and debated Buddhism with its abbot, Shen Ku, whose views on cultivation and helping ordinary people impressed him. He continued exploring temples in Danliang Kingdom while a Buddhist light from Chenghui Temple flew toward the capital.

• A storm struck Centipede Ridge, and the monks set up a tent to shelter Fairy Jing while Shen Ku continued chanting in the rain.
• After the storm, Shen Ku questioned Xiao Hua, who explained his curiosity about Chenghui Temple and challenged the abbot about its work among the villagers.
• Shen Ku described cultivation through daily labor and helping people, and Xiao Hua praised his reasoning before departing with Fairy Jing.
• Xiao Hua told Fairy Jing that Chenghui Temple's Buddhist disciples were unusual and said he wanted to investigate further before visiting the Imperial Preceptor.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing visited other temples where monks farmed, while a beam of Buddhist light departed Chenghui Temple for Danliang Kingdom's capital.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing discovered that monks were blocking the way to Danliang Kingdom’s capital and suspected Xiao Jun had warned them of their arrival. Xiao Hua pushed past the groups of monks while demanding to see Xiao Jun, and the chapter ended with another elderly monk telling him to turn back.

• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing concluded that Danliang Kingdom’s prosperity had not made it strong enough to defend itself from neighboring Confucian cultivator countries, which explained Xiao Jun’s journey to Yaotai Mountain.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing encountered groups of Buddhist monks blocking the route to Danliang Kingdom’s capital and reciting scriptures.
• Xiao Hua questioned the monks, but they refused to let him proceed and insisted that he turn back.
• Xiao Hua forced his way past the monks and asked whether Xiao Jun had returned, knocking one monk aside when he would not answer directly.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing considered whether Xiao Jun had warned the monks, while Xiao Hua continued toward the capital and met a withered old monk who told him to return.

Xiao Hua confronted State Preceptor Jingyi in Danliang Kingdom and learned that Jingyi had been blocking him to prevent turmoil, not because Xiao Jun was there. Jingyi’s explanation of his ascetic service to the kingdom left Xiao Hua questioning his motives, and Jingyi dismissed both Xiao Jian and Xiao Jun as mere dung and earth.

• Xiao Hua gave up questioning the old monk who guarded the road and flew toward Danliang Kingdom’s capital with Fairy Jing.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing reached the capital, where Buddhist senses detected them before Jingyi and Jingkou came out to meet them.
• Jingyi insisted that the person Xiao Hua sought was not in Danliang Kingdom and said he had barred Xiao Hua to keep the kingdom out of future disputes.
• Xiao Hua recognized Jingyi as an Ascetic Dhuta, and Jingyi explained that serving as State Preceptor was his way of enduring the world’s suffering and helping Danliang Kingdom’s people.
• Jingyi called Xiao Jian and Xiao Jun dung and earth, leaving Xiao Hua nearly speechless.

Xiao Hua discovered that the powerful Buddhist monk Jingyi had tried to keep hidden was the figure whose likeness appeared in the Cihang statue at Changsheng Town. After meeting the monk, Xiao Hua explained that he had come to Danliang Kingdom to verify what Xiao Jian and Xiao Jun had told him, not to seek the monk.

• Xiao Hua seized Jingyi and demanded to know who he was being prevented from meeting, prompting the hidden Grandmaster to summon him from a distant mountain.
• Jingyi and Jingkou warned their Grandmaster that revealing himself was a trap, while Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing agreed to visit him despite learning he was a seventh-grade Yuan force expert.
• Jingyi explained that the mountain had been donated by King Xiao Jun and led Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing to the cave where the Grandmaster meditated.
• The Grandmaster turned around, and Xiao Hua recognized him as the monk depicted by the Cihang statue at Jiangchao Temple, realizing he had met the true Cihang.
• Xiao Hua explained that he had come to check whether Xiao Jian or Xiao Jun was lying and described how he had learned about the monk from events in Changsheng Town.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing met Master Cixiang, who explained that he was not Cihang and then expounded the Dharma for eighty-one days. After a miraculous display of Buddhist light, Xiao Hua shared his understanding, and the group visited Danliang Kingdom’s capital to resolve his doubts about Xiao Jun.

• Xiao Hua told Cixiang he had concealed his identity because he feared being silenced, and Cixiang explained that someone had used his appearance in Changsheng Town.
• Xiao Hua asked about Cixiang’s reflections on the mortal body and sarira, prompting Cixiang to invite Jingyi and Jingkou inside and expound the Dharma.
• Cixiang’s eighty-one-day Dharma exposition triggered radiant Buddhist phenomena across the mountain, and Fairy Jing found herself unable to move.
• Cixiang asked Xiao Hua whether he had understood, and Xiao Hua answered with an allegory about a lamp, its stand, and the light it cast.
• Xiao Hua, Fairy Jing, Jingyi, and Jingkou went to the capital of Danliang Kingdom, where Xiao Hua resolved his doubts about Xiao Jun and learned of his humble life with Queen Zhi Ji.
• Xiao Hua thanked Jingyi and offered him a huge Cosmic Bag as a token of appreciation.

After Master Cixiang entered nirvana, Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing traveled across Cangxian Continent toward a hidden place she had long wanted to visit. When they reached a desolate valley, Fairy Jing began telling Xiao Hua the story of a girl who loved cultivation.

• Master Jingyi accepted Xiao Hua’s Cosmic Bag of rice after learning it was for Xiao Jun and the people of Danliang Kingdom, then sensed that Master Cixiang had entered nirvana.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing left the area, and Xiao Hua gave her another Cosmic Bag filled with rice.
• Fairy Jing reminded Xiao Hua of his promise to accompany her somewhere before going to the Secret Realm, and Xiao Hua agreed to follow her there first.
• During their month-long journey, Xiao Hua’s internal cultivation progressed as Bodhi, green-robed Xiao Hua, and Soul Cultivator Xiao Hua worked on their respective tasks.
• Fairy Jing led Xiao Hua to a valley in a barren desert, where she began telling him about a girl who loved cultivation.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing reunited with Fu Zhiwen, who explained that his family had cast him out for refusing to abandon his wife. At Fu Zhiwen’s hut, he revealed a strange crystal that Fairy Jing identified as a Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal.

• Fairy Jing confessed her feelings for Xiao Hua, but Fu Zhiwen’s arrival interrupted their conversation before Xiao Hua answered.
• Xiao Hua told Fu Zhiwen that he had investigated Xiao Jian and was disappointed in him, though he still planned to help the Princess of Jiang Kingdom establish her kingdom.
• Fu Zhiwen explained that his father had expelled him from the Fu Family because he chose to stay with his wife, and Fairy Jing gave him a magic treasure.
• Fu Zhiwen brought Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing to his hut, where he explained that he had first met his wife there and showed them a crystal stored in Xiao Hua’s Lightning Derivation Wood box.
• Fairy Jing recognized the object as a Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal and stopped Xiao Hua from touching it.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing learned that Fu Zhiwen’s wife was imprisoned inside a Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal, and Fairy Jing warned him of the danger of keeping it. Fu Zhiwen explained how he met Youtan and began searching for her, then described their reunion before recounting how she warned him away.

• Fairy Jing explained that the Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal was an Immortal Palace punishment and warned that trying to open it could bring deadly reprisals.
• Fu Zhiwen insisted that he would never abandon his wife, while Xiao Hua encouraged him to tell their story.
• Fu Zhiwen recounted meeting Youtan, a woman who claimed to be a mountain spirit, and fleeing after she transformed and was struck by lightning.
• Unable to forget Youtan, Fu Zhiwen returned to the mountain, searched for her, and carved passages into the stone wall where she had appeared.
• Youtan returned a year later and prepared to attack Fu Zhiwen, but stopped when he offered himself without fear and saw the passages he had made.
• After they reunited, Youtan warned Fu Zhiwen that she was unlike ordinary humans and had given herself to other men before him.

Fu Zhiwen recounted how he discovered Youtan imprisoned in a Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal and devoted himself to helping her, while Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing debated her identity and their future. Fairy Jing then took Xiao Hua to Shattered Heart Mountain, where she explained that its perilous path led to Forgetfulness Water for people seeking to forget their beloved.

• Fu Zhiwen described finding the Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal and how Youtan emerged for one hour each year before the inscriptions and lightning imprisoned her again.
• Fu Zhiwen explained that he had left home and sought the Lightning Derivation Wood to help Youtan endure the heavenly lightning.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing speculated that someone had loosened the Law-Binding Chains and that Youtan might be connected to the Immortal Palace's inner court.
• Fu Zhiwen invited Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing to meet Youtan, but Fairy Jing refused and urged Xiao Hua to leave with her.
• Fairy Jing criticized Xiao Hua's soft heart and warned him about the Immortal Palace, then continued toward her destination with him.
• At Shattered Heart Mountain, Fairy Jing watched two lovers abandon their climb and reconcile, then told Xiao Hua that the mountain's summit held Forgetfulness Water.

Fairy Jing drank the Forgetfulness Water on Shattered Heart Mountain and forgot Xiao Hua, who realized he had been the person she loved. As Xiao Hua flew back toward Fu Zhiwen's wooden house, green-robed Xiao Hua sensed True Lord Huode nearby and explained that the fire gourd still contained a thread of his Primordial Spirit.

• Fairy Jing led Xiao Hua to the summit of Shattered Heart Mountain and asked him to keep her story secret after she drank the Forgetfulness Water.
• Fairy Jing drank the water, forgot Xiao Hua, and departed after introducing herself as Li Jing, a ruler of a coastal nation.
• Xiao Hua realized Fairy Jing had loved him but chose not to reveal his identity, then left the dried spring behind.
• Xiao Hua's Primordial Spirits discussed his feelings about Fairy Jing as he headed toward Fu Zhiwen's wooden house.
• Green-robed Xiao Hua sensed True Lord Huode nearby through the Primordial Spirit thread in the stolen fire gourd and asked whether Xiao Hua was planning to refine a natal magic treasure.

Xiao Hua and his divided selves discussed the foundations of cultivation and the secrets of natal magic treasures before discovering that Chen Yuming’s storage bag held the last Kunlun Mirror fragment. The discovery sparked an unexpected insight into the limits of their control over their space, and the chapter ended with Fire Virtue arriving as they prepared to confront him.

• Confucian cultivator Xiao Hua reflected on the essence of Confucian cultivation, and Jade Slip Xiao Hua and Green-robed Xiao Hua agreed that each cultivation path depended on grasping its foundation.
• Jade Slip Xiao Hua explained how natal magic treasures could preserve a cultivator’s Primordial Spirit and revealed that he wanted to understand the art of Primordial Spirit Entrustment.
• Green-robed Xiao Hua warned Jade Slip Xiao Hua against using Yin Yang dual-opened magic treasures to block disasters, and Jade Slip Xiao Hua realized that a storage bag held the missing Kunlun Mirror fragment.
• Green-robed Xiao Hua identified the storage bag as Chen Yuming’s and recalled that it had belonged to Qiang Yuefeng; Jade Slip Xiao Hua concluded that even they could not know or control everything within their space.
• The starry space trembled and expanded after Jade Slip Xiao Hua’s insight, and he gave the Kunlun Mirror fragment to Green-robed Xiao Hua to examine.
• Green-robed Xiao Hua sensed that Fire Virtue had arrived and proposed that he and Jade Slip Xiao Hua kill him together.

Jade Slip Xiao Hua observed Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran searching for Shattered Heart Mountain with True Lord Huode and five cultivators. When Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran fell from the sky, they discovered Huode had poisoned them and was accusing them of conspiring with the Star Lord Palace.

• Jade Slip Xiao Hua hid nearby as Zhai Xingzi, Gusu Qiuran, True Lord Huode, and five mid-Nascent Soul cultivators searched for Shattered Heart Mountain.
• Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran failed to find the mountain, but their exchange revealed that they felt bound by a mysterious connection from a past life.
• Gusu Qiuran suddenly lost the ability to fly, and Zhai Xingzi fell while trying to protect her; both crashed onto the mountain rocks.
• True Lord Huode had the five cultivators surround Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran, then accused them of colluding with the Confucian cultivators and plotting to return a strange treasure to the Star Lord Palace.
• Gusu Qiuran exposed Huode as a Star General under Kong Hongwu and revealed that she had also been working for the Star Lord Palace, before realizing he had used the palace's secret poison, Corrosive Heart Bone Rot.

True Lord Huode accused Gusu Qiuran and Zhai Xingzi of betraying the Daoist sects and tried to kill them while hiding his own crimes. Xiao Hua appeared just as Huode attacked and fled, trapping the area with a powerful restriction.

• True Lord Huode accused Gusu Qiuran of colluding with Zhai Xingzi and convinced five Nascent Soul cultivators to witness his claims.
• Zhai Xingzi revealed that Gusu Qiuran had created the rainbow bridge that saved the Daoist cultivators at the Yaotai Gathering, but True Lord Huode used this knowledge to accuse him of being a Star Lord Palace spy.
• True Person Mingchen questioned Huode’s evidence, but Huode declared that he would decide Zhai Xingzi’s fate himself.
• Gusu Qiuran stood between Huode and Zhai Xingzi, while Huode mocked her threats and prepared to attack.
• An unseen speaker exposed Huode’s poisonings and secret dealings with the Star Lord Palace, prompting Huode to attack and flee as he sent a giant fist toward Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran.
• Xiao Hua appeared, revealed that Huode’s natal magic treasure had been taken, and trapped the area around the mountain peak with a powerful restriction.

Xiao Hua killed True Lord Huode after destroying the Primordial Spirit inside his Fire Gourd, then rescued Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran. The five cultivators swore not to reveal the incident, and Zhai Xingzi offered Xiao Hua the Pure Yang Ancestor in thanks.

• Xiao Hua blocked Zhai Xingzi’s secret technique and trapped True Lord Huode, who broke free and tried to flee.
• Xiao Hua destroyed True Lord Huode’s Primordial Spirit through the Fire Gourd, cut apart his physical body with the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors, and captured his fleeing Nascent Soul with the Kunlun Mirror.
• The five mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivators pleaded for mercy, and Xiao Hua had them swear blood oaths to keep Fairy Qiu’s matter from Star Lord Palace.
• Xiao Hua spoke with Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran, while Zhai Xingzi apologized for his earlier harsh words.
• Zhai Xingzi thanked Xiao Hua for saving him and offered him the Pure Yang Ancestor.

Xiao Hua brought the poisoned Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran to Shattered Heart Mountain, where they recovered their love despite having drunk Forgetfulness Water. Rather than spend their final days there, the reunited pair agreed to help Fu Zhiwen and Youtan with the Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal.

• Zhai Xingzi offered Xiao Hua his belongings and inheritance, while Gusu Qiuran said she could not provide an antidote for Corrosive Heart Bone Rot.
• Gusu Qiuran planned to return to Star Lord Palace for an antidote, but Zhai Xingzi warned that it would be dangerous and chose to stay with her.
• Xiao Hua took the pair to Shattered Heart Mountain, where they recognized it as the place where they had drunk Forgetfulness Water and reunited with their love.
• Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran offered Xiao Hua their possessions and asked to spend their remaining days together.
• Xiao Hua told them about Fu Zhiwen and Youtan and asked for their help with the Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal.
• Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran agreed to help, though Gusu Qiuran cautioned that she could only offer suggestions because opening the crystal required the Immortal Palace's Jade Seal Inscription.

Xiao Hua brought Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran to Fu Zhiwen’s house, where he revealed that he had found the antidote to Corrosive Heart Bone Rot in Jin Yude’s Cosmic Bag. After they took it, Zhai Xingzi gave Xiao Hua a Small Qiankun Bag containing the Pure Yang Ancestor and a jade slip with the method to unlock its inscription seal, while Xiao Hua learned that Zhai Xingzi sought a treasure infused with stellar and moonlight power.

• Xiao Hua brought Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran to Fu Zhiwen’s wooden house and told them he could not detoxify them with his own arts.
• Xiao Hua revealed that he had found the antidote in Jin Yude’s Cosmic Bag and gave a drop to Zhai Xingzi to test.
• Zhai Xingzi passed the antidote to Gusu Qiuran, and she confirmed it cured Corrosive Heart Bone Rot.
• Zhai Xingzi gave Xiao Hua a Small Qiankun Bag containing the Pure Yang Ancestor and a jade slip with the inscription-seal unlocking method.
• Xiao Hua asked about the secret manuals in Zhai Xingzi’s bag, and Zhai Xingzi explained that he wanted a stellar- and moonlight-powered treasure for his stalled secret art.

Xiao Hua invited Zhai Xingzi to join a treasure expedition and learned about Fu Zhiwen’s unusual cultivation, then accepted him as a disciple. The chapter ended with Gusu Qiuran offering Fu Zhiwen a chance to become her disciple instead.

• Xiao Hua told Zhai Xingzi about an ancient ruin in Jing Province and invited him to join the expedition after he and Gusu Qiuran finished expelling the poison.
• Xiao Hua asked Fu Zhiwen about his cultivation, and Fu Zhiwen explained how he had formed a Heavenly Book from Vast Righteous Qi and developed inscription-based arrays.
• Fu Zhiwen demonstrated an inscription-formed flying sword, and Xiao Hua praised its power and agreed to accept him as a disciple.
• Gusu Qiuran emerged from the hut and told Fu Zhiwen she had wanted to take him as a disciple, offering him orthodox Confucian methods and a path to the immortal palace.
• Fu Zhiwen respectfully declined Gusu Qiuran’s offer, saying she already knew his answer.

Xiao Hua and his companions opened the jade box containing the Pure Yang Ancestor and discovered it was the Innate Fire Mother, while Fu Zhiwen demonstrated his skill with Confucian inscriptions. Zhai Xingzi and Gusu Qiuran decided to join Xiao Hua on his journey to the ancient ruins, and Gusu Qiuran examined Fu Zhiwen’s Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal but could not identify its origins.

• Zhai Xingzi gave Fu Zhiwen a Water Qi Ascending to the Origin cultivation method, and Gusu Qiuran gave him a method for refining imperial artifacts.
• Xiao Hua read the jade slip explaining how to unlock the box’s inscription chains, then had Fu Zhiwen break the chains with his Confucian inscriptions.
• Xiao Hua broke the restriction and revealed the Innate Fire Mother, while its Taihe Azure Light joined the other azure lights in his middle dantian.
• Zhai Xingzi agreed to accompany Xiao Hua to the ancient ruins after his cultivation recovered, and Gusu Qiuran chose to go with him.
• Gusu Qiuran examined Fu Zhiwen’s Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal but could only confirm that it came from the Immortal Palace.