Recaps

Chen Chen and Zixia camped in You Lan Grand Canyon, where Chen Chen fought off a Golden Eagle and then chased it with Zixia in hopes of finding spiritual herbs. Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaohua sensed danger, secured his companions in their caves, and began cultivating as a hostile watcher lurked outside.

• Chen Chen and Zixia shared roasted food by a bonfire and discussed Zixia’s lost memories and the Heavenly Bell Stone Milk.
• A Golden Eagle attacked Chen Chen for the jade bottle, but she drove it off with her flexible sword and chased after it with Zixia to find its nest.
• Zhang Xiaohua sensed an unknown threat near the forest but kept quiet as the Wuming Hall and Pill-Refining Hall disciples settled into their mountain caves.
• Zhang Xiaohua warned his companions to stay inside, then used restrictions to seal their cave entrances before returning to cultivate.
• A pair of hateful eyes watched the patrolling Wuming Hall disciples from the darkness, then vanished.

Zhang Xiaohua traveled with the Pill-Refining Hall convoy through Hancui Ridge, where a rockfall ambush trapped the disciples in A Thread of Sky Gorge. He escaped to the summit and discovered that a surviving human-faced monkey had gathered companions to take revenge on Wuming Hall, leaving the Pill-Refining Hall disciples in grave danger below.

• Zhang Xiaohua practiced his Big Dipper Divine Fist before the Pill-Refining Hall convoy set out for Hancui Ridge.
• Lu Chaoxian told Zhang Xiaohua that the convoy would cross Hancui Ridge on its way to Qi Hua Forest.
• Zhang Xiaohua sensed danger in A Thread of Sky Gorge just before attackers above began rolling boulders down on the convoy and sealing the exit.
• Zhang Xiaohua escaped the gorge and used the Riding the Wind Technique to reach the summit.
• Zhang Xiaohua saw a surviving human-faced monkey directing more than a dozen companions as they prepared to push additional boulders down on the trapped disciples.

Zhang Xiaohua stopped the Human-Faced Monkey and the Giant Apes from continuing their attack on the valley, then let them leave peacefully. Wuming Hall’s disciples arrived to find the mountaintop clear, while panic still gripped the Pill-Refining Hall disciples fleeing the valley.

• Zhang Xiaohua used Dreamchaser to pierce the hands of the Giant Apes pushing boulders and drive back the others.
• The Human-Faced Monkey pounced at Zhang Xiaohua, who seized it by the throat and subdued it.
• Zhang Xiaohua released the Human-Faced Monkey, and it led the Giant Apes away after its hatred gave way to gratitude.
• Wuming Hall’s disciples reached the mountaintop and found the Giant Apes retreating, leaving Senior Brother Chen puzzled about what had happened.
• Zhang Xiaohua returned to the valley entrance and told Lu Chaoxian that no more boulders had fallen.

After Giant Apes trapped the convoy behind enormous boulders, the disciples counted their dead and injured and searched unsuccessfully for another route. Wuming Hall sent up a wolf-smoke signal for help, and as night fell, a masked disciple arrived at the mountain peak.

• Lu Chaoxian calmed the disciples after the rockfall stopped, and Zhang Xiaohua joined the effort to clear the gorge and rescue the injured.
• Senior Brother Chen counted the losses: nearly twenty disciples had died, around fifty or sixty were injured, and many carriages and horses had been destroyed.
• Senior Brother Xu found the gorge exit blocked by towering boulders, failed to move them, and sent disciples to search for a carriage route and prepare wolf-smoke.
• Junior Brother Kong's group returned after being driven back by venomous bees, while Junior Brother Mi reported that wolf crocodiles had killed two disciples near an impassable stream.
• Senior Brother Xu ordered the wolf-smoke lit, and Wuming Hall disciples camped to await help as reinforcements arrived without a solution.
• A tall, thin disciple with his face covered appeared atop the mountain peak.

Zhang Xiaohua secretly cleared the boulders blocking the canyon while disguised as Senior Brother Zhang, letting the Wuming Hall disciples believe an inner sect expert had come to their aid. The next morning, he traveled with the Pill-Refining Hall convoy and joked with Lu Chaoxian about the wolf smoke that had summoned him.

• Senior Brother Zhang arrived at the canyon after seeing the distress wolf smoke, and Chen Wei assumed he was an inner sect disciple.
• Senior Brother Zhang leaped into the canyon and threw the enormous boulders out of the way, astonishing the Wuming Hall disciples before disappearing.
• Zhang Xiaohua changed out of his disguise near the canyon entrance and returned to the tents unnoticed.
• The next morning, the Pill-Refining Hall convoy passed through the cleared canyon, and the disciples learned that a mysterious expert had moved the boulders.
• Lu Chaoxian asked Zhang Xiaohua how the rocks had been moved, and Zhang Xiaohua joked that inner sect disciples would handle such tasks if needed.

Zhang Xiaohua and the Pill-Refining Hall disciples reached Qi Hua Forest and began gathering spirit herbs for the You Lan Mu Lian. Zhang Xiaohua left his group to search for the hundred-year Ice Soul Grass, but after crossing the river he sensed someone lying in ambush nearby.

• Senior Brother Xu delivered the Pill-Refining Hall team to Qi Hua Forest, warned Senior Brother Chen to stay within the safe boundary, and led the Wuming Hall disciples away.
• Senior Brother Chen started the herb-gathering mission and divided the four peaks into separate territories, with Zhang Xiaohua joining Lu Chaoxian and eight other disciples by the northern river.
• Senior Brother Wang and the other disciples offered Zhang Xiaohua part of their harvest so he could search for Ice Soul Grass; Zhang Xiaohua thanked them and set off alone.
• Zhang Xiaohua recalled that Senior Brother Liao had told him where to find old Ice Soul Grass and headed north, hoping to collect ingredients for the Jade Return Pill as well.
• Zhang Xiaohua crossed the rushing river and sensed a concealed person watching him from beside a large tree.

Zhang Xiaohua searched Qi Hua Forest for Ice Soul Grass, gathered other valuable herbs, and found a discarded Xuan Kong Wood among his companions’ harvest. He left camp at night to investigate a beast-guarded location and discovered someone lying in ambush near the riverbank.

• Zhang Xiaohua spotted Lu Lihong entering the forest with lightness skill, then continued toward the location Senior Brother Liao had described.
• Zhang Xiaohua failed to find the Ice Soul Grass but gathered several herbs, including Cold Light Grass more than a hundred years old.
• Back at camp, Zhang Xiaohua took a sixty-year-old Xuan Kong Wood that Senior Brother Wang had set aside and agreed to look for similar herbs later.
• Zhang Xiaohua told Lu Chaoxian and the others he planned to search at night, warned them to stay inside the tent, and secured it with a restriction.
• Zhang Xiaohua traveled underground toward the riverbank and sensed someone lying in ambush atop the high slope.

Zhang Xiaohua followed Lu Lihong to a secluded pool, where Lu Lihong ambushed him on someone’s orders. Zhang Xiaohua revealed that the attack could not harm him and exposed his astonishing ability to fly, leaving Lu Lihong terrified.

• Zhang Xiaohua spotted Lu Lihong watching the campsite and suspected he was looking for him.
• Zhang Xiaohua left the camp and led Lu Lihong to a remote pool, where he baited him into attacking.
• Lu Lihong struck Zhang Xiaohua with his palms and sword, but Zhang Xiaohua caught the blade and revealed he had only faked his injury.
• Lu Lihong attacked Zhang Xiaohua again and fled, but Zhang Xiaohua caught up by flying above him.
• Lu Lihong fell in shock and asked who Zhang Xiaohua was, while Zhang Xiaohua taunted him about dying without answers.

Zhang Xiaohua confronted Lu Lihong, learned that Deputy Hall Master Xu had ordered his assassination, and killed Lu Lihong when he tried to strike with poisoned needles. Afterward, Zhang Xiaohua continued searching for Ice Soul Grass and discovered that the belt he had found contained Primordial Qi.

• Lu Lihong begged Zhang Xiaohua for his life and confessed that Deputy Hall Master Xu had ordered him to kill Zhang Xiaohua.
• Zhang Xiaohua rejected Lu Lihong’s offer to serve him and confronted him about investigating his background at Tianmu Peak.
• Lu Lihong distracted Zhang Xiaohua and flung poisoned steel needles at him, but Zhang Xiaohua stopped them with a spell and sent them back, killing Lu Lihong.
• Zhang Xiaohua decided Deputy Hall Master Xu would answer for the assassination attempt, took Lu Lihong’s bundle, and resumed his search for Ice Soul Grass.
• Zhang Xiaohua examined the belt he had found beside a pool, broke its failing restriction, and discovered that it contained Primordial Qi.

Zhang Xiaohua discovered pill formulas and a large storage space in the belt he had taken, then continued searching You Lan Grand Canyon for Ice Soul Grass. He found three-hundred-year-old Baihua Grass beside a swamp, where a beast disguised as fragrant spirit fruits attacked him.

• Zhang Xiaohua found a jade slip in the belt that described pill refining with demon cores and medicinal stones, including formulas for the Marrow Cleansing Pill and Poison Dragon Pill.
• Zhang Xiaohua concluded that spatial items could not be stored inside one another and found that he could not break the restrictions on his small ring.
• After Lu Lihong's corpse was corroded by poison, Zhang Xiaohua judged himself safe from further interference and resumed searching for Ice Soul Grass.
• Zhang Xiaohua watched a swamp beast lure and swallow a squirrel with spirit fruits growing from its horn.
• Zhang Xiaohua recognized rare, three-hundred-year-old Baihua Grass beside the swamp and began to collect it using a formula.
• The swamp beast roared, leapt at Zhang Xiaohua, and released a fragrance that made his head feel faint.

Zhang Xiaohua escaped a guardian beast, discovered a hollow rich in Primordial Qi, and drove off the Monkey-Hunting Bird that lived there. Investigating underground, he found a jade vein and wondered how Shu Yu Hall mined such deeply buried jade.

• Zhang Xiaohua sealed the three-leaved Baihua Grass in a jade box and escaped the pursuing guardian beast by tunneling underground.
• Zhang Xiaohua found a flower-filled hollow where the Primordial Qi was unusually dense and herbs grew exceptionally well.
• A Monkey-Hunting Bird attacked Zhang Xiaohua, but he wounded its beak and clipped its feathers with his sword aura, forcing it to flee.
• Zhang Xiaohua realized the hollow was the Monkey-Hunting Bird's nest and searched underground for the source of the dense Primordial Qi.
• Zhang Xiaohua endured the increasing pressure as he tunneled deeper and discovered a stretch of jade that appeared to be a vein.

Zhang Xiaohua explored a jade vein, gathered herbs, and continued searching You Lan Mu Lian for Ice Soul Grass. He eventually found a freezing cave in a mountain valley and entered it, hoping the herb grew inside.

• Zhang Xiaohua pried a piece of white jade from an underground vein and found its Primordial Qi weaker than he had hoped.
• Zhang Xiaohua gathered rare herbs from the hollow, cultivated there, and considered visiting Mount Jiuhua to inspect its jade veins.
• Zhang Xiaohua returned to the campsite at night and set restrictions around Lu Chaoxian and the others’ tents, while they later assumed he had died.
• Zhang Xiaohua searched the mountain range for Ice Soul Grass and discovered a bitterly cold valley that seemed suited to the herb.
• Zhang Xiaohua followed the cold wind to a cave entrance and walked inside with the Azure Water Sword and a Luminous Pearl.

Zhang Xiaohua fought through a cavern of giant bats and discovered an immense icy chamber filled with ancient spirit herbs and mysterious treasures. As he flew toward the milky liquid in a stone bowl, strange creatures shot from the pool.

• Zhang Xiaohua’s divine sense was attacked by giant bats, and the three-legged crow talisman in his Niwan Palace sent out sound waves that knocked many of them down.
• Zhang Xiaohua used Zhuimeng and the Dream Weaving Sword Technique to kill more bats, then burned the survivors with jade talismans.
• Zhang Xiaohua continued through the cavern and found a vast icy pool surrounded by ancient spirit herbs, with black-and-white vines bearing two unusual fruits.
• Zhang Xiaohua spotted a stone bowl holding milky-white liquid beneath a suspended droplet and judged the substance to be extraordinarily precious.
• Zhang Xiaohua flew over the icy pool with a jade bottle, but several strange things shot out of the water.

Zhang Xiaohua subdued the four-winged Oddity Snake guarding the cold pool and collected its venom and the milky liquid from the stone bowl. As he picked the black fruit from the black-and-white vine, the vine withered and the white fruit fell toward the pool.

• A four-winged Oddity Snake attacked Zhang Xiaohua, but its hide deflected both Chasing Dreams and the Azure Water Sword, and the pool extinguished his fire talismans.
• Zhang Xiaohua used his Dragon Binding Rings to capture the Oddity Snake and draw it onto the ground beside the pool.
• The Oddity Snake sprayed venom at Zhang Xiaohua, who condensed it into a bead, collected it in a jade bottle, and sealed it away.
• Zhang Xiaohua gathered all the milky liquid from the stone bowl into a jade bottle and stored it.
• Zhang Xiaohua picked the black fruit from the black-and-white vine, causing the vine to wither and the white fruit to fall toward the cold pool.

Chen Chen and Zixia fled into a gorge to escape a swarm of black bees, while Zhang Xiaohua harvested spiritual herbs and watched two strange fruits fuse into a black-and-white formation. After securing the fused fruit, he turned his attention to the Oddity Snake.

• Chen Chen and Zixia encountered tens of thousands of black bees and ran into a gorge, where the swarm turned back at the entrance.
• Disciples in the You Lan Grand Canyon found Cold Light Grass, and a tall man began digging it up.
• Zhang Xiaohua accidentally nearly dropped the white fruit into the cold pool, then stored it with the black fruit in a jade box.
• The black and white fruits fused into a linked fish-shaped form after absorbing the surrounding Primordial Qi, and Zhang Xiaohua sealed it away.
• Zhang Xiaohua finished harvesting the spiritual herbs around the cold pool and eyed the Oddity Snake as valuable material.

Zhang Xiaohua left the cold pool with the Black and White Fruit and got lost while trying to return to camp. At a waterfall, he found Zhang Ping'er poisoned by a snake and realized that the bite was in a difficult place to treat.

• Zhang Xiaohua spared the Oddity Snake after taking the Black and White Fruit and subdued it with the Dragon Binding Ring.
• Zhang Xiaohua tried to fly west toward Qi Hua Forest but became lost and found the waterfall Senior Brother Liao had described.
• Zhang Xiaohua found the waterfall pool bare of Ice Soul Grass and noticed freshly turned soil, suggesting someone had already harvested it.
• Zhang Xiaohua discovered a dead White Bear and an unconscious female disciple nearby, then recognized her as Zhang Ping'er.
• Zhang Xiaohua gave Zhang Ping'er an antidote pill and used his true qi to locate her snakebite, which left him uncertain how to treat it.

Zhang Xiaohua saved Zhang Ping'er from Crimson Stork Snake venom, and she explained that she had entered the You Lan Grand Canyon to search for Guiyuan Grass to help her master recover. After giving her another antidote pill, Zhang Xiaohua began to make an unusual request.

• Zhang Xiaohua used his true qi to force the remaining snake venom from Zhang Ping'er's wound, and she woke and recognized him as the masked disciple who had saved her before.
• Zhang Ping'er asked Zhang Xiaohua not to look while she changed clothes, and he brought her water in a trumpet flower.
• Zhang Ping'er explained that she had come to the canyon seeking Guiyuan Grass for a Guiyuan Pill to treat her master's Qi Deviation.
• Zhang Ping'er recounted how she killed a White Bear before a Crimson Stork Snake bit her, and Zhang Xiaohua's antidote pill saved her.
• Zhang Xiaohua gave Zhang Ping'er another pill, then told her he had an unreasonable request to make.

Zhang Xiaohua accepted spirit herbs and a White Bear's tail from Zhang Ping'er, then set out toward Qi Hua Forest. Hearing roars nearby, he went to investigate and found a veiled woman in palace robes fighting a Fire Lion.

• Zhang Ping'er gave Zhang Xiaohua several spirit herbs, including Ice Soul Grass, and offered him the White Bear's tail; they agreed to address each other as senior brother and junior sister.
• Zhang Ping'er explained that she was still searching for Guiyuan Grass to save her master, and Zhang Xiaohua asked her for directions to the Trial Stone Forest and Qi Hua Forest before departing.
• Zhang Xiaohua realized he had been traveling in the wrong direction and flew toward Qi Hua Forest, but changed course after hearing beast roars nearby.
• Zhang Xiaohua used Earth Escape to approach the roars and saw a veiled woman in palace robes fighting a bloodied Fire Lion.
• The woman in palace robes evaded the Fire Lion's attacks and struck its vital points seven times while Zhang Xiaohua watched.

Zhang Xiaohua watched an Incense-Passing Cult disciple kill a Fire Lion and take the Fire Seed Golden Lotus, then found and harvested the fire-growing seed she had overlooked. He returned to Qi Hua Forest at night and overheard Lu Chaoxian mourning him as dead.

• Zhang Xiaohua followed the masked Incense-Passing Cult disciple to a magma-filled mountaintop, where she killed the Fire Lion and harvested the golden lotus.
• Zhang Xiaohua resisted the urge to kill the disciple for the treasure and experienced a brief vision in which the Heavenly Dao seemed to recognize him.
• After the disciple left, Zhang Xiaohua entered the magma and collected the Fire Seed Golden Lotus seed with surrounding magma, storing it in a sealed jade case.
• Zhang Xiaohua searched the magma for Luminous Pearls but found none, then cut off the Fire Lion's tail before leaving.
• Zhang Xiaohua returned to Qi Hua Forest at night and heard Lu Chaoxian lamenting that Junior Brother Ren had died.

Zhang Xiaohua returned safely to the tent, reassured the disciples, and prepared to resume searching for Ice Soul Grass. That night, mysterious roars stirred every beast in You Lan Grand Canyon into a violent rush, while Zhang Xiaohua remained undisturbed in his cave.

• Zhang Xiaohua returned to the tent and told Lu Chaoxian, Senior Brother Wang, and the other disciples that he had found traces of Ice Soul Grass but still needed to deal with its formidable guardian.
• Senior Brother Wang explained that Junior Brother Fan had left to join another group after arguing that Zhang Xiaohua had failed to protect them.
• Zhang Xiaohua told the disciples he would not take their herbs, and they reaffirmed their trust in him; he said he had found rare herbs across the river but warned them about the dangerous beasts there.
• Zhang Xiaohua set restrictions around the tent, went to his cave, and cultivated the Carefree Heart Sutra as his absorption of starlight and vital energy increased.
• Roars from the far east awakened the beasts and trial participants, and successive cries sent the beasts racing east before another sound drove them into a violent surge through You Lan Grand Canyon.
• Zhang Xiaohua remained calm and undisturbed in his cave as the canyon descended into turmoil.

A massive beast tide swept across You Lan Grand Canyon and the surrounding grounds, slaughtering disciples from several halls and trapping others as they tried to survive. The chapter ended with Senior Brother Fan killed outside a strange protected tent where Junior Brother Ren and eight others remained inside.

• Vajra Crows and charging beasts attacked Shu Yu Hall's camp, killing its disciples in the darkness.
• Venomous snakes and Blood Wolves surrounded Wuming Hall's disciples in the Trial Stone Forest, while Mad Elephants and other huge beasts toppled their stone pillars.
• Outer disciples across You Lan Great Grassland suffered heavy casualties as the beast tide grew and made escape difficult.
• A palace-robed inner disciple was killed by a swift shadow she identified as Yellow Wind.
• Beasts slaughtered Pill-Refining Hall's disciples, but an invisible barrier kept them from entering the tent where Junior Brother Ren and eight others hid.
• Senior Brother Fan begged Junior Brother Ren to save him, but a Thunder Tiger killed him outside the tent.

Chen Chen and Zixia escaped a massive beast gathering and joined another disciple fleeing through You Lan Grand Canyon. Zhang Xiaohua found Pill-Refining Hall’s campsite slaughtered, but discovered that the eight people sheltered in his tent had survived behind his restrictions.

• A group of disciples hid in mountain caves after hearing a beast roar, while Chen Chen and Zixia left their canyon shelter at dawn.
• Chen Chen and Zixia found nearly every kind of fierce beast gathered at the valley entrance and fled as the beasts gave chase.
• Chen Chen and Zixia rescued a red-robed inner sect disciple from Thunder Tigers and Giant Apes, then led her toward You Lan Great Grassland.
• Zhang Xiaohua noticed the morning was unnaturally silent and returned to find Pill-Refining Hall’s campsite covered in blood, with its people and horses gone.
• Zhang Xiaohua killed the Blood Wolves that attacked him and discovered that eight people in his tent had survived behind his restrictions.
• A Thunder Tiger spotted Zhang Xiaohua and drew nearby beasts toward him as the survivors watched from inside the tent.

Zhang Xiaohua rescued Lu Chaoxian and seven other disciples from the beasts that attacked their camp, but found no other survivors. He moved the exhausted group to nearby caves and followed the blood trail toward Hancui Ridge, where an enormous eagle suddenly swooped at him.

• Zhang Xiaohua killed the savage beasts attacking the tent and told Lu Chaoxian and the others that the camp was safe.
• Zhang Xiaohua searched the devastated tents, collected the abandoned herb boxes, and found no other survivors.
• Zhang Xiaohua concluded the disaster might have spread beyond Qi Hua Forest and advised the group to shelter in nearby caves rather than leave at once.
• Zhang Xiaohua settled Lu Chaoxian and the others in caves, then searched the camp again before following the trail of blood.
• Zhang Xiaohua rode the wind toward Hancui Ridge, saw signs of more slaughter along the way, and was charged by an enormous eagle.

Zhang Xiaohua killed a charging eagle and more than a hundred beasts, gaining insight into the cycle of life and death before returning to shelter the Pill-Refining Hall disciples. Elsewhere, Chen Chen and Zixia discussed how to gather scattered Incense-Passing Cult disciples amid the beast attacks, but had not yet settled on a plan.

• Zhang Xiaohua killed an eagle and then slaughtered more than a hundred beasts that charged toward him.
• Zhang Xiaohua reflected on the cycle of life and death and decided to collect the beasts' tails as a trial-points test.
• Zhang Xiaohua returned to the Qi Hua Forest cave and cultivated quietly while Lu Chaoxian and the others slept.
• Chen Chen, Zixia, and several inner sect disciples rested behind a waterfall after fighting beasts and considered how to survive the widespread attacks.
• Zixia proposed gathering the scattered disciples, while Chen Chen and the others worried that a signal could attract more beasts or draw disciples away from the exit.

Zixia persuaded Chen Chen and the other inner sect disciples to send a signal asking others to gather at the Valley Entrance, while Zhang Xiaohua and his companions decided to leave the canyon at dawn. The signal drew the attention of scattered disciples, and the group prepared to make their way south rather than retrace their longer route.

• Zixia argued that the inner sect disciples should use their signal to guide and help other Incense-Passing Cult disciples, and Chen Chen agreed to send one that night.
• Chen Chen’s group released a bright signal bearing the words “Valley Entrance,” which Senior Sister Xia and Junior Brother Zhao saw from their cave.
• Zhang Xiaohua spotted the signal, woke Lu Chaoxian and the others, and discussed whether it meant the inner sect disciples were in danger.
• Lu Chaoxian proposed returning along their original route, but Zhang Xiaohua advised heading directly back to avoid the longer way through the You Lan Great Grassland.
• Zhang Xiaohua told the group to prepare to leave at dawn, explaining that he still needed to sleep.