Recaps

Zhang Xiaohua brought Nie Qianyu back to Hui Chun Valley, where her father and sisters joyfully welcomed her home. He tried to leave at once, but Valley Master Nie and Nie Qianyu both stopped him.

• Nie Qianyu directed Zhang Xiaohua to take a quiet side path into Hui Chun Valley, avoiding the martial contest at the main gate.
• A guard recognized Nie Qianyu and hurried to report her return while keeping it quiet; Hui Chun Valley guards escorted the carriage to the side gate.
• Valley Master Nie embraced Nie Qianyu, and her two elder sisters joined in welcoming her home.
• Zhang Xiaohua told Valley Master Nie he had important matters to attend to and turned to leave.
• Valley Master Nie tried to catch Zhang Xiaohua's wrist, but Zhang Xiaohua evaded him; Nie Qianyu then caught his sleeve and pleaded with him not to hurry away.

Zhang Xiaohua entered Hui Chun Valley with Nie Qianyu, where he learned that her father had arranged a martial contest for her marriage. When Nie Qianyu agreed to proceed rather than endanger the valley, Zhang Xiaohua suggested she still had another choice.

• Nie Qianyu and Xiao Juzi persuaded Zhang Xiaohua to stay at Hui Chun Valley for a day, and Valley Master Nie welcomed him into the estate.
• Nie Qianyu introduced Zhang Xiaohua to her sisters, Nie Qianrong and Nie Qianxiu, as the man who had saved and escorted her home from Danhe City.
• Valley Master Nie revealed that he had arranged a martial contest for Nie Qianyu's marriage, but she refused to marry and said she wanted to remain in the valley.
• Valley Master Nie proposed making his maid Mo Mei his adopted daughter and redirecting the contest to her, while Nie Qianxiu warned that the participants and rival forces might threaten Hui Chun Valley.
• Nie Qianyu agreed to her father's wishes after hearing the danger, but Xiao Juzi protested that she should not marry a stranger, and Zhang Xiaohua said she had another choice.

Zhang Xiaohua agreed to enter Hui Chun Valley’s martial contest for marriage and win first place to protect Nie Qianyu from being wed to a stranger. As the family hurried to the arena, they feared the contest might end before he could take part.

• Zhang Xiaohua suggested delaying Nie Qianyu’s marriage and later finding a reason to expel the unwanted victor, then learned that Nie Qianyu and Xiao Juzi were both sixteen.
• Nie Qianrong proposed that Zhang Xiaohua win the contest and serve as a temporary groom whom Hui Chun Valley could later send away.
• Nie Qianyu and Valley Master Nie urged Zhang Xiaohua to help, while he questioned whether they could dismiss him if he behaved properly.
• Zhang Xiaohua agreed to compete but claimed he had less than an even chance of winning.
• Nie Qianrong realized the contest might soon decide its winner, and Valley Master Nie hurried Zhang Xiaohua toward the arena.

Zhang Xiaohua reached Hui Chun Valley’s arena just in time to challenge Long Linye for a place in the martial contest for marriage. Valley Master Nie arrived and allowed the match to proceed, leaving Zhang Xiaohua’s eligibility and confrontation with Long Linye unresolved.

• Valley Master Nie tested Zhang Xiaohua’s lightness skill on the way to the arena, but Zhang Xiaohua surged ahead and reached the gates first.
• As the final qualification count neared its end, Zhang Xiaohua stepped forward, introduced himself as Ren Xiaoyao, and challenged Long Linye.
• The crowd mocked Zhang Xiaohua’s youth and appearance, while two injured men recognized him with alarm.
• The adjudicator hesitated over Zhang Xiaohua’s eligibility until Valley Master Nie arrived at the arena.
• Valley Master Nie told the adjudicator to let Zhang Xiaohua and Long Linye fight, though the adjudicator raised concerns about Zhang Xiaohua arriving alone and appearing so young.

Zhang Xiaohua entered Hui Chun Valley’s marriage contest and proposed a three-move duel with Young Master Long, who accepted after discarding his sword. As they prepared to fight, Nie Qianyu arrived with her sisters, drawing the crowd’s attention.

• Valley Master Nie welcomed Zhang Xiaohua into the contest, and Yue Yan agreed to judge his match against Young Master Long.
• Zhang Xiaohua explained that he had left his sword below the arena, and Young Master Long threw away his own sword to preserve his reputation.
• Zhang Xiaohua proposed that they take turns striking three times, with neither allowed to retaliate during the other’s turn.
• Valley Master Nie worried that Young Master Long’s Dragon Soaring Cultivation Method could give him an advantage in the proposed contest.
• Nie Qianyu and her two sisters arrived at the valley entrance, and the assembled contestants scrutinized Nie Qianyu’s appearance.

At Hui Chun Valley’s contest to choose Nie Qianyu’s husband, Zhang Xiaohua used Young Master Long’s own rule against him and threw him off the platform. Young Master Long disputed the result, and they agreed to restart with two fist-against-fist exchanges, leaving Zhang Xiaohua alert to something suspicious in Long’s sleeve.

• The Nie sisters arrived to watch the final match, and Nie Qianyu privately trusted Zhang Xiaohua’s abilities despite Young Master Long’s confidence.
• Young Master Long proposed three hard blows, with either man losing if he moved his feet, and Zhang Xiaohua accepted.
• Young Master Long struck, but Zhang Xiaohua caught his wrist and redirected him off the platform, apparently winning under Long’s rule.
• Young Master Long accused Zhang Xiaohua of breaking their agreement, but Zhang Xiaohua pointed out they had agreed to three moves, not three punches.
• Zhang Xiaohua offered to restart, and Young Master Long agreed that the first exchange would count as a draw before demanding two fist-against-fist moves.
• As they prepared to continue, Zhang Xiaohua sensed something unusual in Young Master Long’s left hand inside his sleeve.

Zhang Xiaohua used the martial contest to test his Immortal Dao true qi against Young Master Long’s Dragon Soaring Cultivation Method and sent him flying from the platform. Young Master Long conceded the championship and rode away, leaving Zhang Xiaohua as the apparent favorite.

• Zhang Xiaohua challenged Young Master Long to settle their contest with punches and warned him against using a hidden weapon.
• Zhang Xiaohua and Young Master Long exchanged a second punch, and their strength matched in a draw.
• Young Master Long used the Dragon Soaring Cultivation Method’s stacked force in a palm strike, while Zhang Xiaohua studied the technique by sensing his meridians.
• Zhang Xiaohua increased his true qi to surpass Young Master Long’s fourth layer and sent him flying from the platform without injuring him.
• Young Master Long acknowledged Zhang Xiaohua’s strength, yielded the championship, and rode away from the valley.

Zhang Xiaohua secured the final qualification and joined the twenty-three-person brawl to determine the martial matchmaking contest’s winner. He stayed out of the fight at first, then defeated all four members of a group that attacked him.

• Valley Master Nie announced that Young Hero Ren had won the final qualification and that the final contest would begin in half an hour.
• Zhang Xiaohua studied the Dragon Soaring Cultivation Method while waiting, then learned that the final round would be a free-for-all with the last person standing declared the winner.
• Zhang Xiaohua carved a boundary into the stage and told the other contestants through his actions to fight among themselves without crossing it.
• As the contestants eliminated one another, Zhang Xiaohua waited alone until four men charged him.
• Zhang Xiaohua slipped through their attack, broke one man’s sword, struck another with Finger Wind, and sent the last two flying off the stage with his palms.

Zhang Xiaohua discovered that the four remaining fighters used an incomplete Great Evolution Five Elements Formation and broke their coordination to defeat them. After two opponents used poisoned returning hidden weapons against him, he turned their attack back on them and left one man poisoned and the other dead.

• The final eight fighters split into two groups, and the stronger group defeated the other four before surrounding Zhang Xiaohua.
• Zhang Xiaohua fought the four men with the Big Dipper Divine Fist and Misty Steps, then recognized their combined technique as an incomplete Great Evolution Five Elements Formation.
• Zhang Xiaohua completed the formation by taking the missing position, disrupted its movements, and threw two fighters from the arena.
• Two remaining fighters attacked Zhang Xiaohua with poisoned returning hidden weapons, but he dodged them and one weapon struck its owner in the face.
• Zhang Xiaohua seized the final fighter and flung him into the returning poisoned weapon, which pierced his neck and killed him.

After Zhang Xiaohua stopped two poison-wielding attackers, Valley Master Nie secured the arena and declared Ren Xiaoyao the winner of the martial matchmaking. The wedding was postponed because blood had been shed, but Valley Master Nie invited the crowd to celebrate with a feast.

• Valley Master Nie surrounded the arena with Hui Chun Valley guards and government soldiers, calming the crowd and preventing further trouble.
• Valley Master Nie questioned Jin Tong about the two dead attackers, and Jin Tong explained that they had recruited him and Tao Guan for the final contest.
• Jin Tong apologized, then left with his companions despite Valley Master Nie inviting him to stay.
• Valley Master Nie announced Ren Xiaoyao as the victor, and the crowd cheered his decision.
• Nie Qianyu and Nie Qianrong withdrew into the manor, while Valley Master Nie postponed the wedding and invited everyone to the prepared feast.

After winning the arena, Zhang Xiaohua was treated as Nie Qianyu’s future husband by Yue Zhonglin and Qiangsheng, then went to release the acupoints he had sealed on two young men. Elder Yue tried to help but could not undo one of Zhang Xiaohua’s seals, leaving him worried about losing face.

• Yue Zhonglin and Qiangsheng claimed Zhang Xiaohua as their little brother-in-law and invited him into the manor.
• Zhang Xiaohua pulled his long sword from the ground after another man failed to move it.
• A young man asked Zhang Xiaohua to release two sect brothers’ sealed acupoints, and Zhang Xiaohua agreed to go despite Elder Yue already being summoned.
• Elder Yue greeted Zhang Xiaohua as his nephew and offered to release one of the two men’s acupoints himself.
• Zhang Xiaohua released one man’s acupoints, while Elder Yue’s techniques failed to release the other’s.

Zhang Xiaohua and Old Yue entered the manor after the wedding ceremony, and Old Yue asked about the acupoint technique Zhang had used. They reached Nie Qianyu’s peach grove and embroidered chamber, where Zhang saw her in new clothes before she led them to her father.

• Zhang Xiaohua secretly helped Old Yue release the man’s acupoints, and Old Yue restored him using another technique.
• Old Yue escorted Zhang Xiaohua into the manor and asked him to name the finger technique he had used; Zhang said it resembled a secret art of the Righteous Path Alliance.
• Old Yue explained that Nie Qianyu had planted the peach grove herself to honor her late mother, who had loved peach blossoms.
• Zhang Xiaohua and Old Yue reached Nie Qianyu’s residence, Peach Blossom Nunnery, and discussed her fondness for the poem about the Peach Blossom Immortal.
• Nie Qianyu appeared in new clothes, and Zhang Xiaohua stared at her before she invited him and Old Yue to join her father in the hall.

Zhang Xiaohua reasoned that the four attackers belonged to a five-person group whose strongest member had been eliminated from the marriage contest, and the others identified Dragon Soaring Sword Manor as a likely pawn of a greater enemy. As Zhang Xiaohua prepared to leave Hui Chun Valley for the north, Nie Qianyu proposed telling the public that their marriage would take place in a few years.

• Valley Master Nie and Uncle Yue thanked Zhang Xiaohua for rescuing Nie Qianyu and discussed the four attackers who had escaped.
• Zhang Xiaohua deduced that the attackers’ joint technique required five people, and the group concluded that their missing member had failed to qualify in the contest.
• Nie Qianyu and Zhang Xiaohua reasoned that the eliminated member was likely the group’s most important fighter, while Valley Master Nie explained why the conspirators could not openly field a second team.
• Uncle Yue suspected Dragon Soaring Sword Manor, but Valley Master Nie and Nie Qianyu judged it to be a pawn of a more powerful enemy and agreed to watch it discreetly.
• Zhang Xiaohua said he would leave for the north the next day, and Nie Qianyu suggested announcing that she would marry him in a few years.

Zhang Xiaohua explained that he wanted to find the Incense-Passing Cult to learn what had happened to his brother, who had joined the Misty Sect. Valley Master Nie and Elder Yue revealed that Nie Qianyu already knew where the cult was, leaving Zhang Xiaohua reconsidering his plans to leave Hui Chun Valley.

• Nie Qianyu helped Zhang Xiaohua avoid the evening banquet, and he said he planned to leave early the next morning.
• After Valley Master Nie and Elder Yue offered to help, Zhang Xiaohua asked them for the Incense-Passing Cult's location.
• Zhang Xiaohua explained that he hoped to find his brother, who had joined the Misty Sect before it was destroyed.
• Nie Qianyu apologized for misunderstanding Zhang Xiaohua and addressed him warmly as Brother Ren.
• Elder Yue told Zhang Xiaohua that some Misty Sect disciples had been taken to the Incense-Passing Cult, and Nie Qianyu said she could have given him its location earlier.
• Valley Master Nie and Nie Qianyu implied that the Incense-Passing Cult was not in the north, suggesting Zhang Xiaohua need not travel to Danhe City first.

Zhang Xiaohua learned that reaching the Incense-Passing Cult would require a disciple to guide him, so Valley Master Nie proposed sending him there as Hui Chun Valley’s future son-in-law and a herb-tending youth. Zhang Xiaohua agreed to prepare for the opportunity and asked to study medicine and pharmacology in Hui Chun Valley.

• Zhang Xiaohua asked Valley Master Nie how to reach the Incense-Passing Cult and explained that he wanted to see whether his brother was alive.
• Valley Master Nie explained that Hui Chun Valley could ask the Cult for news but might not receive a reply, and Nie Qianyu noted that outsiders could not enter without a Cult disciple to lead them.
• Valley Master Nie proposed presenting Zhang Xiaohua as Hui Chun Valley’s future son-in-law and sending him with the valley’s herb-tending youths when the Cult next came to recruit them.
• Zhang Xiaohua worried that using Hui Chun Valley’s name might implicate the valley, but Valley Master Nie reassured him that the favor was deserved because Zhang had saved Nie Qianyu and the valley.
• Zhang Xiaohua said he knew something about herbs, answered Valley Master Nie’s questions, and asked permission to study medical theory and pharmacology in Hui Chun Valley.
• Valley Master Nie welcomed Zhang Xiaohua’s request and offered to teach him the valley’s healing, herbal, and pill-making arts.

Zhang Xiaohua secured permission to study Hui Chun Valley’s herbs, medicine, and pill-making before entering the Incense-Passing Cult, and Nie Qianyu arranged for him to stay in a pavilion. As he prepared to begin studying, Lu Meng of the Artifact Refining Gate arrived to challenge him to a contest of strength.

• Valley Master Nie agreed to let Zhang Xiaohua study Hui Chun Valley’s medical arts and pharmacology with Nie Qianyu’s help.
• Zhang Xiaohua declined the banquet and accepted Nie Qianyu’s offer to stay in a pavilion beside Peach Blossom Nunnery.
• Zhang Xiaohua reflected that his invitation to the Incense-Passing Cult gave him a safer way to search for Second Brother and that Hui Chun Valley could help him improve his pill-refining skills.
• Lu Meng of the Artifact Refining Gate entered the hall and challenged Zhang Xiaohua, saying he wanted to compete in strength rather than martial techniques.
• Zhang Xiaohua realized Qiangsheng was secretly watching nearby as Lu Meng prepared to test his strength.

Zhang Xiaohua persuaded Lu Meng to wager an artifact-refining booklet on a strength contest, with Zhang agreeing to leave Hui Chun Valley if he lost. The chapter ended as Lu Meng approached Zhang’s long sword to test whether he could lift it.

• Zhang Xiaohua drew out Lu Meng’s reasons for challenging him and learned that Lu had heard talk about making Zhang leave Hui Chun Valley.
• Nie Qianyu returned and told Lu Meng to stop bothering Zhang Xiaohua, but Zhang called Lu back and agreed to compete.
• Zhang Xiaohua proposed that Lu Meng wager his artifact-refining booklet against Zhang’s promise to leave Hui Chun Valley if he lost.
• Lu Meng agreed to use the booklet as stakes, and Zhang asked him to prove his strength by raising Zhang’s long sword above his head.
• Lu Meng accepted the challenge and strode toward the sword.

Lu Meng challenged Zhang Xiaohua to lift a seemingly ordinary sword, then lost and offered him a secret refining booklet and jade pendants. Zhang Xiaohua let Lu Meng keep the booklet but accepted the pendants, and the chapter ended with Nie Qianyu asking whether he was still angry with her.

• Lu Meng struggled to raise Zhang Xiaohua's heavy sword and watched Zhang Xiaohua swing it effortlessly.
• Lu Meng admitted defeat and offered Zhang Xiaohua the Artifact Refining Gate booklet for safekeeping until he could redeem it for silver.
• Nie Qianyu warned Lu Meng that Zhang Xiaohua could learn the booklet's contents through her, then asked him to spare Lu Meng from punishment by returning it.
• Lu Meng returned the booklet to his robe and gave Zhang Xiaohua several jade pendants as the prize, which Zhang Xiaohua accepted after sensing primordial qi in them.
• Lu Meng promised not to object to Zhang Xiaohua staying at Peach Blossom Nunnery and hurried away, while Zhang Xiaohua saw him scold Qiangsheng.
• Nie Qianyu asked Zhang Xiaohua whether he was still angry with her.

Zhang Xiaohua learned from Nie Qianyu about the Artifact Refining Gate’s methods and the rare weapons that could amplify internal energy, while she gave him basic Hui Chun Valley books to study. They also wondered who had prompted Senior Brother Lu to challenge Zhang Xiaohua, and the chapter ended with Zhang Xiaohua considering how to consult the Weapon Forging Gate about his unusually heavy sword.

• Nie Qianyu told Zhang Xiaohua that alliance members could borrow the Artifact Refining Gate’s basic materials, though its deepest secrets remained restricted.
• Nie Qianyu explained that the Artifact Refining Gate and Weapon Forging Gate could make weapons that magnified internal energy, and Zhang Xiaohua regretted not reading a booklet he had seen.
• Zhang Xiaohua and Nie Qianyu agreed that Senior Brother Lu’s challenge seemed to have been prompted by someone else, but neither knew who was behind it.
• Nie Qianyu brought Zhang Xiaohua basic Hui Chun Valley books, including pill formulas, and explained that he could study them under her father’s guidance.
• Nie Qianyu said the Weapon Forging Gate was better suited to tempering Zhang Xiaohua’s strange sword blank, and Zhang Xiaohua joked that he would get one of its members to challenge him.

Zhang Xiaohua discovered an Artifact Refining Compendium in a jade pendant and spent two months studying Hui Chun Valley’s arts. After learning about the valley’s organization and exploring its texts, he became absorbed in the art of healing, whose deeper mysteries surprised him.

• Xiao Juzi led Zhang Xiaohua and Nie Qianyu to his lodging, where Zhang Xiaohua dismissed the maids and examined the jade pendants he had collected.
• Zhang Xiaohua found an intact jade slip containing the Artifact Refining Compendium, studied it, and considered how its methods differed from pill refinement and Martial Dao artifact crafting.
• Over the next two months, Zhang Xiaohua learned how Hui Chun Valley was organized and studied its records on herbs and pill refinement.
• Zhang Xiaohua asked to observe pill refinement, but before Nie Qianyu could bring him into the Inner Valley, he began studying the art of healing.
• Zhang Xiaohua found unexpected depth in Hui Chun Valley’s acupuncture and medicinal prescriptions when he compared them with his Immortal Dao knowledge.

Zhang Xiaohua studied medicine at Hui Chun Valley and found that the human body and medical arts deepened his understanding of the Heavenly Way, advancing his cultivation. Valley Master Nie reminded him to focus on alchemy for his planned infiltration of the Incense-Passing Cult, then promised to show him pill refinement soon.

• Zhang Xiaohua studied the human body and acupuncture, discovering connections between medical theories and the Heavenly Way that advanced his Carefree Heart Sutra.
• Zhang Xiaohua spent nearly forty days learning at Mu Qingxuan's Qihuang Institute and developed methods for treating difficult illnesses.
• Mu Qingxuan reported Zhang Xiaohua's progress to Valley Master Nie, who instructed him to teach Zhang Xiaohua properly.
• Valley Master Nie questioned Zhang Xiaohua's focus on medicine and warned that he needed to study alchemy and herbs for his Incense-Passing Cult mission.
• Zhang Xiaohua said he had finished the foundations of medical arts and had already studied Hui Chun Valley's herb and alchemy books.
• Valley Master Nie told Zhang Xiaohua to keep studying medicine while reading about medicinal pills, and promised to show him pill refinement in a few days.

Mu Qingxuan finished teaching Zhang Xiaohua the Five Elements and yin-yang principles of medicine, which Zhang Xiaohua compared with the Heavenly Dao and found deeply illuminating. Nie Qianyu then led him to the inner valley with Valley Master Nie, where Zhang Xiaohua noticed a striking warmth and fragrance as they entered.

• Mu Qingxuan explained how the Five Elements and yin-yang principles applied to medicine, and Zhang Xiaohua compared them with his insights into the Heavenly Dao.
• Mu Qingxuan told Zhang Xiaohua that Nie Qianyu would come for him the next day to visit the inner valley and study alchemy.
• After cultivating, Zhang Xiaohua welcomed Nie Qianyu, who said Valley Master Nie was waiting to take them to the inner valley.
• Valley Master Nie cautioned Zhang Xiaohua against neglecting his main pursuit, while Zhang Xiaohua thanked him and said he still hoped to learn from Mu Qingxuan.
• Zhang Xiaohua, Nie Qianyu, and Valley Master Nie entered the inner valley, where Zhang Xiaohua noticed its unusual warmth and fragrance.

Zhang Xiaohua toured Hui Chun Valley’s medicinal fields and alchemy caves, where he discovered that the valley’s pill-making methods differed sharply from the alchemy described in books. He realized Hui Chun Valley boiled herbs in cauldrons over underground fire, losing much of their medicinal essence in the escaping steam.

• Valley Master Nie explained that Hui Chun Valley’s inner valley stayed warm year-round, helping its medicinal herbs grow exceptionally well.
• Zhang Xiaohua learned that Hui Chun Valley’s previous-generation seniors lived within the stone walls and that the valley had once produced top martial experts.
• Nie Qianyu showed Zhang Xiaohua the medicinal fields and explained how Hui Chun Valley grew gastrodia for Blood Replenishing Pills.
• Nie Qianyu led Zhang Xiaohua into an alchemy cave, where he saw herbs boiling in cauldrons over blue-red flames.
• Zhang Xiaohua sensed that the steam carried away the herbs’ essence and understood why Hui Chun Valley’s Grain Abstinence Pills only staved off hunger briefly.
• Nie Qianyu revealed that underground fire reached the cauldrons through passages beneath the valley, making their heat difficult to control.

Zhang Xiaohua examined Hui Chun Valley’s pill-making process and offered to try refining a Blood Replenishing Pill by the methods described in the books. In Valley Master Nie’s private pill room, he discovered how the specially forged cauldron used internal energy to control its temperature.

• Zhang Xiaohua recognized that Hui Chun Valley made Blood Replenishing Pills by boiling herbs into an essence and shaping it into pills.
• Zhang Xiaohua asked for another cave so he could use Hui Chun Valley’s cauldron and earth fire to test the methods recorded in the books.
• Valley Master Nie led Zhang Xiaohua and Nie Qianyu to his private pill room and left Nie Qianyu to assist him.
• Zhang Xiaohua examined the cauldron and found no Primordial Qi, then questioned how its protrusions controlled the temperature.
• Nie Qianyu explained that the Artifact Refining Gate had made the cauldrons to channel internal energy outside the body and regulate the heat.

Zhang Xiaohua easily refined a Blood Replenishing Pill with the pill furnace, while Valley Master Nie failed to reproduce the result. Zhang Xiaohua offered to teach Nie a method for controlling internal force, leaving Valley Master Nie to consider learning it.

• Zhang Xiaohua used true qi to control the furnace and successfully refined the herbs into Blood Replenishing Pill powder as Nie Qianyu watched.
• Nie Qianyu fetched Valley Master Nie, who asked Zhang Xiaohua to demonstrate the process again and watched him refine another batch.
• Valley Master Nie tried refining the herbs himself but turned them to ash, and he and Nie Qianyu asked Zhang Xiaohua to explain his success.
• Zhang Xiaohua decided to share a Big Dipper Sect method for controlling internal force, and Valley Master Nie hesitated over whether it was appropriate to learn it.