Recaps

Bai Ye visited Lü Bufan in the stable, explained his motives and the state of Two Realms Village, and directed him to learn Old Skeleton’s identity in Guangling Commandery. As Lü Bufan traveled north with the Vigorous Martial Gate, the Liu Clan prepared to sacrifice Liu Xian'er and Liu Xue'er to secure favor with a newly descending Immortal.

• Bai Ye told Lü Bufan that Two Realms Village’s elders had survived their severe wounds, while Big Black had entered the Wild Spirit Land to visit old acquaintances.
• Bai Ye defended the upheaval he had caused, urged Lü Bufan to follow his own path, and said Guangling Commandery held secrets about Old Skeleton’s identity.
• Lü Bufan agreed not to return to Two Realms Village until he could help his masters, and Bai Ye departed at dawn.
• Lü Bufan and four companions from the Vigorous Martial Gate set out north for Guangling Commandery, traveling through ruined villages and deserted towns.
• The Liu Clan Ancestor ordered Liu Xian'er and Liu Xue'er to wear mourning clothes and take their lives after the new Immortal descended, unless the Immortal chose to spare them.
• Liu Xian'er accused the Liu Clan of discarding her and Liu Xue'er after using them, then led her frightened niece toward the rear courtyard with four Attendants.

Zhong Huan brought Lü Bufan to the Vigorous Martial Gate in Guangling Commandery, where Lü joined as an Attendant and met Zhao Ping. The group then discussed how to protect the sect’s share in an ice soul ore mine, and Lü proposed negotiating with Immortal Master Bai directly rather than involving Bai’s powerful backer.

• Zhong Huan bribed the city gate guards and used the Taihua Sect’s silver waist token to obtain Lü Bufan’s Official Travel Permit at the Guardian Office.
• Zhong Huan brought Lü Bufan to the Vigorous Martial Gate, where Lü met Zhao Ping, signed a nonbinding Attendant contract, and offered incense to the sect’s dead.
• Duo'er learned that Old Master Song and six members of his family had died amid the unrest, then Zhong Huan warned her to watch what she said near Mount Zhilin.
• Liu Zhi urged Zhong Huan to seek help from Immortal Master Bai’s master to secure the Vigorous Martial Gate’s share of the ice soul ore mine.
• Lü Bufan advised Zhong Huan to negotiate only with Immortal Master Bai, giving Bai an incentive to protect the sect’s interests without drawing in a potentially hostile powerful faction.

Lü Bufan received a mysterious heavy sword and spiritual armor from the Vigorous Martial Gate, then asked its old Sect Master about treating his master’s injured senior. He learned that Land God Temples had been forbidden and their gods slaughtered, leaving him wondering about Old Skeleton and the temple in Two Realms Village.

• Duo'er and Zhong Huan took Lü Bufan to the Secret Vault, where touching a heavy sword stirred the bead in his dantian and awakened it.
• Lü Bufan chose the heavy sword, which had been found near Two-World Mountain, and accepted a piece of Bamboo-Silk Armor from Zhong Huan.
• Lü Bufan visited the old Sect Master, who warned him to keep his master Ming’s Seventh Realm cultivation and identity secret.
• Lü Bufan asked about skilled healers for his master’s injured senior, whom he said was the keeper of a Land God Temple.
• The old Sect Master explained that the Immortals had slaughtered the Land Gods and banned Land God Temples throughout Central Earth, prompting Lü Bufan to wonder who Old Skeleton was.

Lü Bufan pondered the mysteries of his heavy sword before preparing to escort supplies to the Twelfth Guardian City. As Zhao Ping introduced him to two retired Vigorous Martial Gate veterans, Sima Xiu and the Prince of Linhe discussed the court’s plans and the coming descent of the Immortals.

• Lü Bufan wondered whether his heavy sword was connected to Big Black after it reacted to the mark inside him, then went to eat with Liu Zhi.
• Sima Xiu and the Prince of Linhe discussed Bai Ye, the court’s wager, the threat of Two-World Mountain, and their plan to build the Ascension Platform; the Prince gave Sima Xiu a Spirit Immortal Nine Splendors Pill.
• The Vigorous Martial Gate accepted a Taihua Sect supply-escort commission, and Zhao Ping assigned Lü Bufan and Feng Hu to the journey while Liu Zhi stayed to help Zhong Huan.
• Zhao Ping advised Lü Bufan not to rush his path and took him to visit old friends Qi Fengyuan and Sun Dameng, former Vigorous Martial Gate attendants injured in service.

Lü Bufan heard how the old Sect Master Zhao Ping and his comrades had failed to protect Magistrate Zhou’s family from the Immortal Sects, and learned why the Vigorous Martial Gate felt compelled to appease the Taihua Sect. When Qingming arrived seeking ice soul stones, he promised fair payment and protection for the Vigorous Martial Gate, leaving Zhong Huan astonished by his generosity.

• Zhao Ping recounted how Martial Warriors tried to escort Magistrate Zhou’s family after Zhou was stripped of office and killed himself, but Zhou’s wife and mother died during the journey.
• Lü Bufan and Liu Zhi discussed the Vigorous Martial Gate’s need to preserve its share of the ice soul ore profits and the Immortal Sects’ power over the court.
• Qingming arrived at the Vigorous Martial Gate after sensing Bai Jiu nearby and learned that the gate had discovered an ice soul ore deposit.
• Bai Jiu explained that mountain sects had skimmed the Vigorous Martial Gate’s rightful share, and Qingming ordered him to demand the missing profits from Left Cloud Mountain.
• Qingming accepted Zhong Huan’s three ice soul stones, promised to buy them and protect the gate’s full share, then gave Zhong Huan a supreme-grade spirit weapon.

After the Vigorous Martial Gate agreed to work with Immortal Master Qingming, Lü Bufan and Feng Hu traveled to the Taihua Sect to collect an escort assignment. They were ordered to take prisoners to Dantu Mountain instead of supplies, leaving Lü Bufan suspecting the sect had been targeted over the ice soul ore deal.

• Qingming gave the Vigorous Martial Gate the ice soul stone deal and examined Lü Bufan’s heavy sword, warning that it might be connected to the ghost and living corpse race.
• Lü Bufan and Feng Hu discussed the sect’s reluctance to side with immortal sects and their uncertain plans for the future.
• Feng Hu led Lü Bufan and the escort party to the Taihua Sect, where they bowed before the Investiture Stele and reported to Young Immortal Master Bai.
• Young Immortal Master Bai told them their assignment had changed from escorting supplies to taking prisoners to Dantu Mountain for compulsory labor within seven days.
• Lü Bufan suspected that Qingming’s enemies or those who wanted the ice soul ore profits had arranged the troublesome assignment.

Feng Hu, Lü Bufan, and young Immortal Master Bai took charge of escorting 315 prisoners to Dantu Mountain, where they faced a dangerous five-hundred-li journey with too few guards. After calming the prisoners and organizing the chains, the party prepared to depart, while Attendant Liu warned Feng Hu that he might have to use lethal force to prevent a revolt.

• Feng Hu sent an escort runner to summon reinforcements as his party traveled toward White Tiger Pass, and young Immortal Master Bai joined them as an accompanying overseer.
• At White Tiger Pass, Taihua Sect cultivators handed over 315 prisoners and withdrew, leaving Feng Hu's small escort party to deliver them to Dantu Mountain within seven days.
• A prisoner described Dantu Mountain's mines and herb gardens as deadly places where prisoners became laborers or medicine testers, and Immortal Sect guards whipped prisoners who reacted.
• Lü Bufan bribed a martial guard and invoked Immortal Master Qingming to stop the guards from further provoking the prisoners.
• Lü Bufan urged Feng Hu to reorganize the prisoners, and young Immortal Master Bai reassured them with promises of work and a possible pardon.
• Feng Hu assigned himself to clear the route while Lü Bufan and Attendant Liu took the rear, and Attendant Liu warned Feng Hu to be ready to kill prisoners who caused trouble.

Lü Bufan helped an injured prisoner and arranged an ox cart to carry the weakest captives, then gave provisions to refugees hiding in a valley. As the convoy camped for the night without the Sect Master, Attendant Liu rode off to find him, leaving Lü Bufan in charge of the rear.

• Lü Bufan stopped a guard from striking an injured prisoner and learned the man had lost his family in the fighting.
• Lü Bufan and Feng Hu questioned Wu Ya, then paid him to carry sick prisoners in his ox cart toward Dantu Mountain.
• Lü Bufan gave dry provisions to refugees hiding in a cave and advised them they could reach the outskirts of Taihua Sect territory in two days.
• Feng Hu settled the exhausted convoy in a valley for the night and discussed how to contact the missing Sect Master.
• Attendant Liu rode out to find the Sect Master while Lü Bufan stayed behind to oversee the prisoners and guards.