Recaps

Xiao Hua suspected the Hundred Herbs Sect had destroyed Shang Hua Ming and resolved to grow stronger and seek new cultivation techniques. After leaving Huanghua Ridge, he found and stored Shang Hua Ming’s discarded deity statue as he flew toward the Huanhua Sect.

• Xiao Hua blamed the Hundred Herbs Sect for Xiao Yuehong’s death and planned to avenge Shang Hua Ming, while deciding to travel and cultivate rather than rely on Suo Guang for answers.
• Xiao Xianrui watched Xiao Hua depart, and Jiang Fan sent disciples to pursue him; they returned at night without finding him.
• Xiao Hua decided to seek spirit herbs, pills, and a complete cultivation technique, then chose to visit Hundred Zhang Peak for the Hundred Zhang Old Man’s Golden Core techniques.
• Xiao Hua left his cave, bowed nine times toward Huanghua Ridge, and flew toward the Huanhua Sect.
• Xiao Hua found the deity statue from Shang Hua Ming’s Inheritance Palace and stored it in the space in his mind.

Xiao Hua escaped the Hundred Herbs Sect’s search and traveled far from Huanghua Ridge, where he reflected on the dangers of cultivation and resolved to grow stronger. Examining Dragon Yu, he discovered that its meridians reacted to his touch and wondered whether his own unusual meridians were connected to his stalled cultivation, ending on a startling new idea.

• Jiang Fan realized Xiao Hua might have hidden near Huanghua Ridge and sent disciples to search there, while Xiao Hua decided not to risk bringing Xiao Xianrui with him.
• Xiao Hua flew toward the Huanhua Sect at great speed, evaded the Hundred Herbs Sect’s searches, and stopped beside a mountain stream to recover.
• Xiao Hua pondered the deaths of Xiao Yuehong and Little White, concluded that strength was necessary for freedom, and resolved to improve his cultivation steadily.
• Xiao Hua examined Dragon Yu, recognized it as a dragon-shaped ring missing its head, and recalled the incomplete Dragon Transformation Art it had transmitted to him.
• Xiao Hua found that Dragon Yu’s meridians twitched when he held it and wondered whether his own living, unusual meridians explained his difficulty advancing in cultivation.

Xiao Hua considered whether his meridians could cultivate the Dragon Transformation Art, then set the idea aside and weighed the obstacles to cultivating Light Evasion and preparing for a journey to Hundred Zhang Peak. When he heard fighting nearby, he hid and watched Jiang Huanchi attack Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue, demanding that they hand over an item.

• Xiao Hua wondered whether his meridians could cultivate the Dragon Transformation Art, but dismissed the idea as impractical.
• Xiao Hua realized that cultivating Light Evasion required unfamiliar evasion techniques and bone-tempering methods he did not possess.
• Xiao Hua planned to prepare for the journey to Hundred Zhang Peak and considered trading his century-old spirit herbs for more yellow talismans.
• Xiao Hua hid after hearing weapons clash and saw Jiang Huanchi fighting Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue in midair.
• Jiang Huanchi used Sword Manifesting Twin Splendors to corner Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue, then demanded that they hand over the item.

Xiao Hua watched Jiang Huanchi corner Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue before Qing Fengmin and Tianqi intervened to negotiate their survival. Jiang Huanchi agreed to consider sparing them in exchange for compensation, and the two began listing what they owned.

• Jiang Huanchi attacked Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue, but Qing Fengmin arrived with Tianqi cultivators and protected the pair with Water Condensation Talismans.
• Qing Fengmin learned that Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue had ambushed Jiang Huanchi by mistake, then fled and later fell into his hands again.
• Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue begged Qing Fengmin to save them and offered to join Tianqi, while he explained that its members were equal.
• A Tianqi cultivator proposed that Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue compensate Jiang Huanchi for their lives, and Qing Fengmin persuaded Jiang to consider the offer.
• Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue listed their spirit stones, herbs, and pills, but Jiang Huanchi dismissed the value of their possessions.

Qing Fengmin used a mysterious emerald-green object and the promise of Linglong Grass to persuade Jiang Huanchi to spare Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue. After the pair agreed to join Heavenforsaken, Qing Fengmin invited Xiao Hua to join as well, and began explaining how the group helped Rogue Cultivators.

• Qiao Fengyue and Han Fei offered Jiang Huanchi news of several-hundred-year-old Linglong Grass in exchange for their lives.
• Jiang Huanchi inspected their spirit herbs, while Qing Fengmin offered him a mysterious emerald-green object to strengthen the bargain.
• Jiang Huanchi accepted the object, heard the pair's information in private, and left after agreeing to spare them.
• Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue thanked Qing Fengmin and agreed to join Heavenforsaken.
• Qing Fengmin called Xiao Hua out from behind a tree and invited him to join Heavenforsaken too.
• Xiao Hua asked how members joined and supported one another, and Qing Fengmin began to explain what Rogue Cultivators lacked most.

Qing Fengmin explained that Heaven's Forsaken let Rogue Cultivators exchange cultivation techniques, and Xiao Hua weighed the benefits against the risks of revealing Shang Hua Ming's technique. Xiao Hua declined to join for now but agreed to travel with the group to Jingbo City, where Ma Dengsheng offered to help him.

• Qing Fengmin explained that Heaven's Forsaken required members to contribute their full cultivation techniques in exchange for access to the alliance's collection, with cultivators who hid part of their techniques punished by having their cultivation abolished.
• Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue agreed to join after learning that the alliance had techniques suitable for different bodily attributes, including techniques reaching Foundation Establishment and possibly Golden Core.
• Xiao Hua hesitated to reveal Shang Hua Ming's technique because of his attachment to it and fear that doing so could expose him to the Hundred Herbs Sect, so he asked for time to consider joining.
• Qing Fengmin invited Xiao Hua to travel with the group to Jingbo City, and Xiao Hua accepted.
• Ma Dengsheng introduced himself and offered to answer Xiao Hua's questions and help him find a suitable cultivation technique.

Xiao Hua traveled toward Jingbo City with Qing Fengmin and other cultivators, using Ma Dengsheng’s Twin Flight Talisman. As the group grew excited over a chance to receive guidance from Elder Fan, Xiao Hua worried about joining Heaven Abandoned and asked Ma Dengsheng how the alliance handled members’ grudges.

• Qiao Fengyue offered Qing Fengmin his cultivation method, but Qing Fengmin told him to wait until they reached Jingbo City.
• Ma Dengsheng activated a Twin Flight Talisman that let Xiao Hua fly beside him with little effort as the group headed toward the city.
• The group paused for Elder Fan of Qingmaling to pass, and Qing Fengmin greeted him and said he might visit Huayun Courtyard to guide their cultivation.
• Han Fei, Qiao Fengyue, and the others became excited at the prospect of Elder Fan’s guidance, while Xiao Hua remained subdued.
• Xiao Hua asked Ma Dengsheng how Heaven Abandoned handled the grudges and enmities its members might have.

Ma Dengsheng tried to persuade Xiao Hua to join Heaven's Forsaken by explaining its loose rules, martial contests, and dangerous group ventures. Xiao Hua remained unwilling to contribute Shang Hua Ming's cultivation technique, but accepted Ma Dengsheng's communication talisman as they approached Jingbo City.

• Ma Dengsheng disparaged Jiang Huanchi and argued that sect-backed cultivators held an advantage over Rogue Cultivators, while Xiao Hua listened and agreed.
• Ma Dengsheng explained that Qing Fengmin had persuaded him and an old enemy to postpone their duel until one could decisively surpass the other.
• Ma Dengsheng described Heaven's Forsaken's martial contests and group ventures, including an expedition to the Mo Ran Black Forest where only ten of a hundred Rogue Cultivators returned.
• Xiao Hua considered joining Heaven's Forsaken but remembered Xiao Yuehong and felt uncomfortable giving away two levels of Shang Hua Ming's cultivation technique.
• Ma Dengsheng accepted Xiao Hua's hesitation, gave him a communication talisman, and asked whether Xiao Hua would give him one in return.

While flying with Ma Dengsheng, Xiao Hua refined his first communication talisman and unexpectedly succeeded on the first attempt, drawing attention to his unusual talent. Ma Dengsheng explained that Heaven Abandoned needed talisman crafters, but Xiao Hua would have to prove his abilities before receiving access to its cultivation techniques.

• Xiao Hua told Ma Dengsheng that he had never owned or refined a communication talisman, so Ma Dengsheng gave him blank talisman paper and taught him the incantation.
• Xiao Hua suppressed most of his spiritual power and successfully refined a communication talisman on his first attempt while flying.
• Ma Dengsheng marveled at Xiao Hua's skill and said Fellow Daoist Qing had recognized his extraordinary gifts; Xiao Hua claimed he had practiced similar hand seals from incomplete book pages.
• Ma Dengsheng urged Xiao Hua to join Heaven Abandoned and improve his cultivation, then explained that talisman crafters were valuable to the group.
• Ma Dengsheng said Xiao Hua would need Fellow Daoist Qing to assess his talisman-crafting ability and that access to cultivation techniques would depend on his progress or contributions to Heaven Abandoned.

Xiao Hua arrived at Jingbo City with Ma Dengsheng and marveled at the vast lake-city and its powerful protective formations. After Ma Dengsheng spoke privately with Qing Fengmin about Xiao Hua, the group entered the city in silence, leaving Xiao Hua to wonder how he should handle Heaven Abandoned.

• Ma Dengsheng assured Xiao Hua that Heaven Abandoned protected talisman masters and urged him to wait until they reached Huayun Courtyard for a fuller explanation.
• Xiao Hua saw Jingbo City, discovered that it consisted of countless lakes, waterways, streets, and buildings, and learned from Qing Fengmin and Ma Dengsheng about its formations and ban on flight for cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage.
• Ma Dengsheng pulled Qing Fengmin aside and whispered about Xiao Hua, prompting Qing Fengmin to question him before agreeing to discuss the matter at Huayun Courtyard.
• Qing Fengmin led the group into Jingbo City, and Xiao Hua followed behind Ma Dengsheng while considering how to deal with Heaven Abandoned and noticing young cultivators and their wary elders.

Xiao Hua entered Jingbo City with Ma Dengsheng and Qing Fengmin, where he saw the city’s unusual entrance and bustling shops. Qing Fengmin decided to take him to Huayun Courtyard in Tianqi for his transmission talisman to be examined, while Xiao Hua noticed a shabby talisman shop and began considering an idea.

• Ma Dengsheng warned Xiao Hua to avoid the Xunyan Sect disciples, and the group saw True Person Zhuoming fly over the road into Jingbo City.
• Xiao Hua watched cultivators pass through the city’s strange radiance, then entered with Ma Dengsheng and saw the Xunyan children playfully leave their silhouettes on it.
• Qing Fengmin told Xiao Hua to accompany him to Huayun Courtyard in Tianqi so that a talisman maker could examine his transmission talisman, and Xiao Hua agreed.
• As they walked through Jingbo City’s busy streets, Xiao Hua spotted a shabby yellow talisman shop and privately considered an idea.
• Qing Fengmin stopped to greet many acquaintances, and Ma Dengsheng praised his extensive connections as Xiao Hua’s thoughts turned toward them.

Xiao Hua arrived at Heaven Forsaken’s Huayun Courtyard and spoke with Ma Dengsheng, learning about spatial arts, concealed cultivation, and Jingbo City’s leaders. As Ma Dengsheng explained how communication talismans were refined, Xiao Hua realized that his own familiarity with the method could expose him.

• Xiao Hua resolved to join Heaven Forsaken while keeping his desire to avenge Shang Hua Ming secret from Hundred Herbs Sect.
• Qing Fengmin brought the group to Huayun Courtyard, where Han Fei and Qiao Fengyue were received separately and Ma Dengsheng led Xiao Hua into a pavilion.
• Ma Dengsheng explained that spatial arts enlarged the pavilion and that Jingbo City’s formations helped power such techniques.
• Ma Dengsheng told Xiao Hua that cultivation-concealing arts could hide even a Golden Core cultivator’s strength, and that City Lord Liu and Old Man Muqiang belonged to no Xi Kingdom sect.
• Ma Dengsheng began explaining how communication talismans were refined, and Xiao Hua realized he could not plausibly know the method without having learned it.

Xiao Hua learned that joining Heaven's Forsaken would require a talisman-making assessment, but Qing Fengmin could not find any talisman makers to evaluate him. Qing Fengmin gave him a Fireball Talisman booklet and a spirit stone so he could practice and find an inn, and Xiao Hua later headed toward a talisman shop before a cloaked cultivator approached him.

• Ma Dengsheng explained that refining blank communication talismans required years of practice, while Qing Fengmin said Xiao Hua would need three talisman makers to assess his potential to join Heaven's Forsaken.
• Qing Fengmin gave Xiao Hua a Fireball Talisman booklet to study while he waited for an assessment, but told him he could not stay at Huayun Courtyard before joining.
• Qing Fengmin lent Xiao Hua a middle-grade spirit stone so he could stay at an inn, and Xiao Hua accepted it after deciding he should avoid drawing attention by refusing help.
• Ma Dengsheng directed Xiao Hua toward cheaper inns in southwest Jingbo City, and Xiao Hua left Huayun Courtyard before making his way to a yellow-talisman shop.
• As Xiao Hua approached the shop, a cloaked cultivator emerged from a nearby shop and walked directly toward him.

Xiao Hua visited the Fu Zhan Sect talisman shop in Jingbo City, where Fellow Daoist Bai explained the abilities and prices of its talismans. Xiao Hua bought low-grade Fireball Talismans and learned that higher-grade versions cost far more, while his plan to sell Communication Talismans seemed unlikely to work.

• Xiao Hua watched a cloaked cultivator threaten him and leave, then met Fellow Daoist Bai outside the Fu Zhan Sect shop.
• Fellow Daoist Bai showed Xiao Hua the Earth Evasion Talisman and explained that it concealed its user underground and hid their aura, but could not carry them far.
• Xiao Hua asked whether the shop bought talismans, but Fellow Daoist Bai refused and explained that Communication Talismans were usually made by their users.
• Xiao Hua inspected the shop's Communication Talismans and considered selling his own, then bought ten low-grade Fireball Talismans for one low-grade spirit stone.
• Fellow Daoist Bai told Xiao Hua that a mid-grade Fireball Talisman cost ten low-grade spirit stones and a high-grade one cost fifty to a hundred.

Xiao Hua bought Fireball Talismans and bargained with Bai for a tiny storage pouch before finding lodging in Jingbo City. At the inn, a shop attendant asked him for a healing pill for his gravely ill mother, and Xiao Hua remained unsure whether to trust him.

• Xiao Hua examined Bai's mid-grade and top-grade Fireball Talismans, bought talismans, and bargained for an old storage pouch.
• Xiao Hua discovered the pouch held exactly nineteen spirit stones but had only three chi of space.
• Xiao Hua paid ten low-grade spirit stones for a room at an inn and learned that a nearby Rongcao Shop branch sold ordinary medicinal pills.
• The shop attendant asked Xiao Hua for a healing pill for his mother, who had been ill for a year.
• Xiao Hua questioned why the shop attendant had chosen to ask him after stopping his requests for help two months earlier.

Xiao Hua gave Fan Yueguan a Wutuodan and followed his directions to Mò Líng Cǎo Táng, where the shopkeeper explained that a cultivator’s pill could kill Fan Yueguan’s mother. Xiao Hua realized he may have given Fan Yueguan a dangerous medicine, and the shopkeeper suspected that he had done so.

• Xiao Hua gave Fan Yueguan a Wutuodan after hearing that he sought medicine for his mother, then asked for directions to shops selling talisman supplies.
• Fan Yueguan called Xiao Hua “True Person Xiao,” and Xiao Hua set off alone toward Mò Líng Cǎo Táng after spotting a mysterious cloaked cultivator leaving a nearby inn.
• Xiao Hua found Mò Líng Cǎo Táng and clashed with its dismissive shopkeeper, who assumed he was a Rogue Cultivator.
• Xiao Hua told the shopkeeper that Fan Yueguan had recommended the shop and defended Fan Yueguan’s filial devotion.
• The shopkeeper warned that mundane people could not safely take cultivator pills, and Xiao Hua realized the Wutuodan he had given Fan Yueguan might endanger his mother.

Xiao Hua reassured himself that the Wutuodan he gave Fan Yueguan would not harm the boy, then sold aged spiritual herbs to Liang for nearly twenty middle-grade spirit stones. He left Mò Líng Cǎo Táng cautiously and went to a Yellow Talisman shop to buy materials for making talismans.

• Xiao Hua tried to retrieve the Wutuodan, but Liang told him Fan Yueguan would not return until the next morning and that the pill was safe for mortals.
• Xiao Hua offered Liang more than a dozen aged spiritual herbs, and Liang bought them for nearly twenty middle-grade spirit stones, including two extra as a token of regard.
• Xiao Hua asked Liang about obtaining a pill furnace and learning alchemy, but Liang advised him to wait until he reached the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation and explained that Rogue Cultivators lacked pill-refining methods.
• Xiao Hua left Mò Líng Cǎo Táng, checked that nobody was following him, and headed for the Yellow Talisman shop Fan Yueguan had recommended.
• Xiao Hua told the shopkeeper he wanted talisman ink, paper, and brushes, and the middle-aged cultivator showed him the supplies.

Xiao Hua bought low-grade talisman materials at the Talisman Refining Sect's shop and learned that selling ordinary yellow talismans would not earn him much. On his way back to the inn, he encountered mysterious cloaked cultivators and discovered that Fan Yueguan had already left to take the Wutuodan to his mother.

• Xiao Hua asked about prices, then had the shopkeeper select low-grade materials for crafting Fireball Talismans and paid with a mid-grade spirit stone.
• Xiao Hua learned that the shop would not buy ordinary low- or mid-grade yellow talismans and that high-grade talismans could sell for varying prices.
• Xiao Hua encountered cloaked figures on the street, and one of them flew away despite the apparent flight restriction.
• Xiao Hua returned to the inn and learned from a waiter that Fan Yueguan had left for the western city about half an hour earlier.
• Xiao Hua worried that the Wutuodan might not save Fan Yueguan's mother, then asked the waiter why people were wearing cloaks.

Xiao Hua learned that Mihuan cloaks concealed their wearers’ identities, then practiced making talismans in his room. He successfully refined an improved Communication Talisman but failed repeatedly at Fireball Talismans, and began to suspect his low-grade materials were the problem.

• The waiter explained that Mihuan cloaks hid immortals’ identities and were refined by the Seven Wonders Sect, prompting Xiao Hua to consider Jingbo City’s strength and its wariness of the kingdom’s great sects.
• Xiao Hua ended the waiter’s long explanation, secured his room, and reflected that Fan Yueguan’s comments had made the waiter covet the pills he had received.
• Xiao Hua studied Qing Fengmin’s Fireball Talisman booklet and refined a Communication Talisman with all his spiritual power, producing a better result than before.
• Xiao Hua made several blank Communication Talismans and then attempted to refine Fireball Talismans, but his spiritual power faltered and every sheet of paper burned away.
• After exhausting Ma Dengsheng’s talisman paper, Xiao Hua suspected that low-grade materials were causing his failures, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

Xiao Hua abandoned the talisman brush and discovered hand seals that let him refine superior-grade Fireball Talismans with remarkable ease. After making more than three hundred, he was left wondering whether he could eventually craft talismans without ink or paper and recover the memories behind his innate techniques.

• Xiao Hua failed to refine a Fireball Talisman with the talisman brush, even after replenishing his spiritual power and switching to specialized talisman paper.
• Xiao Hua realized he could use his fingers and spiritual power to form the talisman pattern, then recalled unfamiliar hand seals that struck the pattern onto talisman paper.
• Xiao Hua successfully refined a superior-grade Fireball Talisman and found that the process consumed very little spiritual power.
• Xiao Hua wondered whether he could refine talismans without ink or paper and reflected on his missing memories and the Suo Guang.
• Xiao Hua refined more than three hundred superior-grade Fireball Talismans with the purchased ink, while more than a thousand sheets of talisman paper remained unused.

Xiao Hua discovered that refining Fireball Talismans greatly increased his magical power, then went to the Talisman Refining Sect’s shop to return his talisman brush and sell the high-grade talismans he had made. The shop’s middle-aged cultivator agreed to inspect them, while Xiao Hua remained worried that Fan Yueguan had not returned.

• Xiao Hua found that one night of refining Fireball Talismans had increased his magical power more than three days of cultivation.
• Xiao Hua learned from the inn waiter that Fan Yueguan had still not returned, paid what he could, and left the inn.
• Xiao Hua visited the Talisman Refining Sect’s shop and asked about talisman formulas, but the boy Qing Miao rebuffed him and the middle-aged cultivator directed him toward South City’s market.
• Xiao Hua claimed he could not use the talisman brush he had bought and negotiated a return for thirty low-grade spirit stones, which the middle-aged cultivator deducted from Qing Miao’s stipend.
• Xiao Hua offered to sell his high-grade Fireball Talismans, and the middle-aged cultivator asked him to show them for inspection.

Xiao Hua asked Tian Haoguang to appraise his Fireball Talisman, and Tian recognized it as a genuine superior-grade talisman despite its low-grade materials. Tian tested its power in the shop’s secret chamber, where its blast overwhelmed the protective barrier and left both cultivators stunned.

• Xiao Hua presented his Fireball Talisman to Tian Haoguang, while Qingmiao protested that Xiao had not known its grade.
• Tian invited Xiao into the secret chamber to test the talisman, and Xiao agreed after asking who would pay for it.
• Tian examined the talisman and puzzled over how its even inscriptions and low-grade materials could produce a superior-grade result.
• Tian activated the Fireball Talisman, and its explosion nearly collapsed the azure barrier before burning a huge hole in the wall.

Xiao Hua sold Tian Haoguang one hundred unusually powerful top-grade Fireball Talismans and received spirit stones, a refund, and talisman paper. He left the Yellow Talisman shop with the sale complete and Tian Haoguang hoping to learn what better materials could produce.

• Tian Haoguang tested Xiao Hua's Fireball Talisman and concluded its power exceeded that of an ordinary top-grade Yellow Talisman.
• Tian Haoguang offered Xiao Hua one mid-grade spirit stone for each Fireball Talisman, and Xiao Hua presented one hundred of them.
• Tian Haoguang inspected the talismans and paid Xiao Hua one hundred mid-grade spirit stones.
• Tian Haoguang returned two mid-grade spirit stones for the talisman brush and gave Xiao Hua one hundred sheets of top-grade talisman paper.
• Tian Haoguang asked Xiao Hua to bring more powerful talismans made with better materials, and Xiao Hua left the shop.

Xiao Hua escaped the talisman shop with a fortune and was later found by Fan Yueguan, whom he feared had come to complain about the medicine. Fan Yueguan instead thanked him for the Wutuodan and began explaining what had happened after he brought it home.

• Xiao Hua left the shop with one hundred and twenty mid-grade spirit stones, then realized he had lost his way.
• Qingmiao complained about Xiao Hua to Zhang Zhihao, drawing Zhang Zhihao’s attention to him.
• Fan Yueguan found Xiao Hua and knelt to thank him, asking him to call him A'gen.
• Xiao Hua learned that Fan Yueguan had taken the Wutuodan home for his sick mother-in-law, who refused to take it and gave it to his five-year-old daughter instead.

Fan Yueguan told Xiao Hua how his family had shared the Wutuodan and how it cured his mother, prompting Xiao Hua to realize the pills Xiao Yuehong had left were top-grade. After a city official warned Xiao Hua not to cause trouble, he decided to leave for another inn, while Fan Yueguan asked him to visit his family in West City.

• Fan Yueguan explained that his mother and wife had both wanted the young daughter to receive the pill, but he secretly gave it to his mother instead.
• Fan Yueguan described his mother’s severe reaction to the Wutuodan, followed by her recovery and renewed strength.
• Xiao Hua realized that the pill’s unusual effect came from the Wutuodan’s rare quality and understood why Xiao Yuehong had kept the top-grade pills.
• Xiao Hua became distraught over the family’s care for one another, and a city official emerged from the lake to warn him against disturbing City Lord Zhao’s visit.
• Xiao Hua decided not to return to the Flying Fish Inn, and Fan Yueguan asked him to visit West City to accept his family’s thanks.
• Xiao Hua declined the invitation and told Fan Yueguan to care well for his mother instead.