Recaps

Xiao Hua rescued Li Xiang and the Zhu family, strengthened Black Cloud Ridge, and set out for the Yaotai Gathering despite warnings about the Confucian powers that controlled it. After defeating an ambusher and saving Xuan Songzi, he reached Yaotai with new companions and entered the Star Lord Palace.

• Xiao Hua defeated Yan Zhijin and Zhan Rushui, broke Qianyu Mountain’s demon array, freed Li Xiang and the other prisoners, and accepted Zhu Cheng’s inherited bone pellet.
• Xiao Hua sent Little Yellow and Little Black on their way, removed the restriction on Li Xiang’s Nascent Soul, and brought Li Xiang and his disciples to Black Cloud Ridge.
• Xiao Hua restored his disciples’ cultivation and persuaded Li Xiang to guard Black Cloud Ridge while he attended the Yaotai Gathering, though Li Xiang warned him that the gathering served the Immortal Palace’s political aims.
• Xiao Hua studied the bone pellet and continued toward Yaotai as Xuan Songzi was ambushed and captured by a Confucian general and scholar.
• Xiao Hua killed Xuan Yanming, seized his Mountain River Seal and national fortune, and learned that Xuan Songzi had survived as a scattered Nascent Soul.
• Xiao Hua rescued Xuan Songzi, returned his pagoda and cultivation technique, and traveled toward Yaotai with Chang Yu, Zhu Chengli, and Wu Tianxin.
• Xiao Hua and his companions reached the gathering grounds, accepted recruitment tokens, met renowned Nascent Soul cultivators Yuanqing and Hong Songzi, and entered the Star Lord Palace.

Xiao Hua navigated political pressure and gathered new allies before entering Yaotai Mountain, where he overcame a dangerous formation and began searching for a National Teacher’s token. The arc left him flying toward a scream in the forest.

• Wu Tianxin revealed his divination ability and told Xiao Hua that Yaotai Mountain held both his looming calamity and a slim chance of survival, so Xiao Hua agreed to protect him.
• Xue Ping described the religious tensions around Dharma Master Cihang and offered to guide Xiao Hua after the Yaotai Gathering, while Xiao Hua declined to let him discuss Xiao Hua’s affairs without permission.
• At True Lord Huode’s banquet, Xiao Hua refused to be intimidated by accusations that he was a Confucian spy and crushed Huode’s fiery Nascent Soul hand before leaving.
• True Lord Qingxu told Xiao Hua that Ancestor Hongmeng had escaped his seals and sought to revive the Daoist sect, then offered a way to communicate with him.
• Xiao Hua bought unusual materials and a black Snake Eye Fruit, made a supply agreement with Ying Bo, and returned a broken mirror rather than let the trading meet’s disorder dictate his actions.
• Kong Hongwu and the Immortal Envoy arranged the Yaotai Gathering and its treasures, while Xiao Hua accepted Chang Yu and Wu Tian as registered disciples and altered their flawed cultivation techniques.
• Kong Hongwu opened the Dragon Gate and sent three promised treasures and ten National Teacher’s tokens into Yaotai Mountain, after True Lord Huode challenged him to prove the jade caskets’ contents.
• Xiao Hua entered Yaotai Mountain alone, overcame a formation around a weak-water pool, recovered a Weak Water Bead, and flew toward a scream while searching for a National Teacher’s token.

Xiao Hua survived the imperial formation, claimed the National Teacher’s token and Human Vitality, and discovered the Star Lord Palace was drawing the Yaotai cultivators into a trap. After being transported into a starry red sky, he fought True Lord Huode, Ao Zhantian, and Shui Mingzi, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Xiao Hua fought Jing Mu An, survived his self-destruction, and defeated True Person Xiangtian after Xiangtian tried to steal his treasures.
• Xiao Hua rescued Xu Tingzi and nine Golden Core cultivators, then took them into the Mountain River Seal as Kong Hongwu reacted to the Star Lord Palace’s collapsing constellations.
• Xiao Hua claimed the Suanni-shaped National Teacher’s token from the jade box and followed True Person Jingting and True Person Yuanqing to the sandbar where they found the Human Vitality.
• Xiao Hua fought True Person Chu Feng, True Person Xifan, True Lord Huode, and their allies after they attacked Fairy Jing and her demon beast, while True Person Jingting was struck down.
• Fairy Jing gave Xiao Hua the Human Vitality and revealed that her demon beast was Ying Huo, but the Righteous Qi Pillar swept away True Person Jingting’s Nascent Soul.
• Xiao Hua and green-robed Xiao Hua concluded that the Star Lord Palace planned to eliminate the cultivators, but the imperial formation seized them and drew Xiao Hua into a blood-colored glow.
• Xiao Hua emerged in a starry red sky surrounded by True Lord Huode, Ao Zhantian, Shui Mingzi, and other Nascent Soul cultivators, who accused him of being a Confucian spy.
• Xiao Hua fought the encircling cultivators, damaged their treasures with Five Qi True Thunder, and attacked True Lord Huode after stealing his Fire Gourd.

Xiao Hua survived the Yaotai Mountain formations, rescued trapped cultivators, and defeated two Star Lords before discovering that the Immortal Palace was feeding captured cultivators into the Demon Refining Pot. He confronted Kong Hongwu, refused his offer to become a Star General, and ended trapped in the vortex’s intensified suction.

• Xiao Hua escaped the collapsing imperial formation, rescued Xiong Yi, and used Lightning Evasion to reach a hidden passage out.
• True Lord Huode reported to Kong Hongwu that Xiao Hua had killed Jing Mu An, then received permission to pursue Xiao Hua and seek restoration as a Star General.
• Xiao Hua joined Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren in the star formation, helped Daoist cultivators survive the falling boulders, and stayed behind to rescue and train with those still trapped.
• Xiao Hua and Bodhi spent months cultivating inside the formation as Taishi Zhanran and Ouyang Jingran tried to kill them, and Xiao Hua and Bodhi defeated both Star Lords and learned the Immortal Palace had arranged the deadly formations.
• Disguised as Taishi Zhanran, Xiao Hua reached the forbidden area beneath Yaotai Mountain, used the Immortal Palace Token to open a star path, and followed it to green-robed Xiao Hua inside the Demon Refining Pot’s vortex.
• Xiao Hua found Kong Hongwu above the vortex and attacked him, but Kong activated the inscriptions in Xiao Hua’s armor and tried to seal his Confucian true qi.
• Xiao Hua escaped the armor and revealed his identity, and he rejected Kong Hongwu’s offer to make him a Star General and shattered Kong’s Righteous Qi Pillars, which intensified the vortex’s suction and left him trapped in Kong’s scheme.