Recaps

Cui Jiuyang and the Ninth Lady were framed by Togo and Miss Abe, whose exploding beetles roused the divine attendants in the Water God's tomb. Cornered by the guardians and a powerful presence awakening below, Cui Jiuyang tried to provoke the Malevolent Flood Dragon so the Japanese would abandon their plan to keep it asleep.

• Togo detonated beetles above the offering platform, and the explosion caused the divine attendants to rise and attack Cui Jiuyang and the Ninth Lady.
• Cui Jiuyang took the jar of Golden Milk Stone Marrow while the Ninth Lady grabbed the three-foot sword, and they fled toward the palace as a mysterious power awakened.
• Cui Jiuyang drank some of the marrow before a divine attendant shattered the jar, while the Ninth Lady fought off the guardians with her Nuo Mask and Cui Jiuyang burned one with a talisman.
• Cui Jiuyang realized the Japanese wanted the Malevolent Flood Dragon to remain asleep and led the Ninth Lady toward the Iron Rhino.
• Cui Jiuyang arranged blood-marked copper coins around the Iron Rhino and used the Striking the Drum and Sounding the Metal spell to stir the Malevolent Flood Dragon.

Cui Jiuyang and the Ninth Lady escaped into the Water God’s tomb while the Japanese withdrew, then met the Turtle Chancellor, who explained how the Ji River Water God died fighting the Yellow River. The Chancellor’s account left Cui Jiuyang confronting the revelation that the Water God had been killed.

• Cui Jiuyang awakened the tomb guardian while fighting the Divine Attendants, and Abe and Togo withdrew rather than follow him into the palace.
• Cui Jiuyang collapsed after entering the empty palace, and he and the Ninth Lady found the Turtle Chancellor mourning the Water Lord.
• The Turtle Chancellor revealed that the Water God’s tomb was an empty cenotaph because the Ji River had lost its war against the Yellow River and had no wealth left for robes and a crown.
• The Turtle Chancellor recounted how the Ji River Water God refused to surrender, returned to fight, and was killed after the Yellow River seized the river’s course.

Cui Jiuyang learned that Jidu Shrine might be seeking a chief officiant to restore the Water Lord, while the Japanese were pursuing the same goal. The Malevolent Flood Dragon cornered Cui Jiuyang, Ninth Lady, and the Turtle Chancellor inside the Water God's palace, leaving them trapped behind its doors.

• The Turtle Chancellor explained that the Water Lord's spirit might survive and that a suitable chief officiant could reconstruct his divine body.
• Cui Jiuyang suspected the Japanese planned to use the Malevolent Flood Dragon and other offerings to win the Water Lord's favor at Jidu Shrine.
• The awakened Malevolent Flood Dragon roared outside the palace, and the Turtle Chancellor admitted he had invented the story of a powerful guardian to scare intruders.
• The Turtle Chancellor learned that his adopted son, the Little Turtle, might have been killed by the Japanese and angrily cursed them.
• The Malevolent Flood Dragon revealed itself coiled across the cavern ceiling and swooped at Cui Jiuyang, but Ninth Lady pulled him back into the palace.
• The Malevolent Flood Dragon could not enter the Water God's palace, and Cui Jiuyang realized that he and his companions might be trapped inside.

The Turtle Chancellor gave Ninth Lady the Ji River Ghost Masks, and she awakened their inheritance by taking the Drum-Thunder Sink mask. With Cui Jiuyang and the chancellor amplifying its power through the Water Palace, Ninth Lady drove the Malevolent Flood Dragon through the cave ceiling, collapsing the cavern; afterward, Cui Jiuyang and Ninth Lady were left injured and exhausted.

• The Turtle Chancellor decided Ninth Lady could inherit the Ji River Ghost Masks and warned that taking them would bind her soul to the Ji River.
• Ninth Lady touched the Flower-Blade Carp mask, saw a vision of the Ji River, and was recognized as the new master of the Ji River Ghost Masks.
• The Turtle Chancellor gave Ninth Lady the Drum-Thunder Sink mask and explained how she and Cui Jiuyang could use it with the Water Palace to drive out the Malevolent Flood Dragon.
• Ninth Lady activated Sudden Rain Rush as Cui Jiuyang and the Turtle Chancellor amplified its drumbeats, tormenting the Malevolent Flood Dragon.
• The Malevolent Flood Dragon dug through the weakened ceiling and escaped, causing the cave to collapse.
• Cui Jiuyang supported the exhausted Ninth Lady as her mask and iron box shrank and returned to her Treasure Bag.

Cui Jiuyang struggled to carry the exhausted Ninth Lady through the collapsing Divine Tomb until a rope dropped through the opening and he lost consciousness. He woke near the threshold of the First Extremity and sensed an unstable, fiery presence outside the room.

• Cui Jiuyang carried the Ninth Lady across the rubble while the Turtle Chancellor urged them to hurry toward the opening.
• Cui Jiuyang weakened and coughed blood as he climbed, refusing to let the Ninth Lady use the Nuo Mask and risk her soul.
• A knotted rope dropped through the opening, and Cui Jiuyang lost consciousness.
• Cui Jiuyang woke to find the Ninth Lady asleep nearby and realized he had reached the threshold of the First Extremity.
• Cui Jiuyang sensed a fiercely unstable person outside the room, then opened his eyes to see the sleeping Turtle Chancellor close by.

Cui Jiuyang awoke after three days and learned that Old Man Xiang had rescued him and divined the Japanese pair’s whereabouts. As torrential rain threatened Jining City, the Turtle Chancellor laid out a plan to wait for the Jidu Shrine to reappear, while the injured Japanese and Master Lu remained trapped in uncertainty.

• Cui Jiuyang woke in the association hall and thanked Old Man Xiang for saving him from the sinkhole.
• Old Man Xiang revealed that his divinations had located the injured Japanese at the Fuxiang Commercial Association and shared what he had learned about Master Lu.
• Old Man Xiang told Cui Jiuyang that relentless rain had flooded parts of Jining City, and Cui Jiuyang realized the Malevolent Flood Dragon was causing the storm.
• The Turtle Chancellor told Cui Jiuyang and Old Man Xiang to wait for the Ancient Ji River Course to fill, the Jidu Shrine to reappear, and the Japanese to seek its Water Palace Relic.
• Abe and Togo lay grievously injured in the Fuxiang Commercial Association hall as insects gnawed at Togo and a struggling presence distended Abe’s belly.
• Master Lu watched the rain and agonized over the Japanese guests and an order to send grain to Jinan.

Cui Jiuyang and his companions entered the Jidu Shrine, where Ninth Lady offered sacred relics in hopes of becoming its Chief Sacrificer. Abe and Togo arrived with the Turtle Chancellor’s demon core, interrupting the offering as the Japanese faced the group before the Water God’s statue.

• The Jidu Shrine appeared outside Jining City, and Cui Jiuyang, Ninth Lady, Old Man Xiang, the Turtle Chancellor, Meng Da, and Meng Er hurried there through the flood-stricken city.
• The Turtle Chancellor and Ninth Lady kowtowed before the shrine, and Cui Jiuyang opened its heavy doors for the group to enter.
• Cui Jiuyang asked about the offering ritual, and Ninth Lady agreed to seek the role of Chief Sacrificer despite the uncertain cost to her future.
• Ninth Lady placed a withered White Lotus Root and a black pearl on the altar, and their pure energies began to resonate with the Water God’s statue.
• A brown demon core flew onto the altar, and the Turtle Chancellor identified it as belonging to his supposed son.
• Abe and Togo entered the shrine with the Demon Horned Imperial Guard, and the demon core’s water vapor pushed Ninth Lady’s offerings away from the statue.

Fifth Master Yang arrived at the Jidu Shrine as Cui Jiuyang’s group battled the Japanese, Lu Zhongqian, and their allies. The fight intensified as the Malevolent Flood Dragon attacked the shrine from outside, while Togo unleashed a giant beetle against Cui Jiuyang.

• Fifth Master Yang brought armed men to the shrine, where the Turtle Chancellor’s power prevented their rifles from firing.
• Ninth Lady and Cui Jiuyang fought Abe, Togo, and the Demon Horned Imperial Guard as the merchant guild guards clashed and Meng Da and Meng Er captured Lu Zhongqian.
• The Malevolent Flood Dragon circled the shrine and used wind, rain, thunder, and lightning to weaken its mist defenses while seeking a magical treasure inside.
• Ninth Lady nearly defeated the Demon Horned Imperial Guard, and Cui Jiuyang drove Togo close to defeat with fire spells and Golden Thunder.
• Togo tore open his abdomen and released a washbasin-sized beetle to lead a swarm of insects at Cui Jiuyang, who answered by throwing copper coins.

Cui Jiuyang, Ninth Lady, and Old Man Xiang defeated Abe and Togo, but Old Man Xiang died after using Heart-Removal Divination to protect them. Ninth Lady became the Ji River Water Palace’s Chief Sacrificer, while the Malevolent Flood Dragon remained outside the shrine.

• Cui Jiuyang killed Togo with a formation and talisman, and Abe unleashed the Great Five Elements: Ghost Veil.
• Old Man Xiang shielded Cui Jiuyang and Ninth Lady from Abe’s attack, revealing that he had removed his own heart to perform Heart-Removal Divination.
• Cui Jiuyang used the Five Elements Evil-Breaking Technique to erase Abe’s attack, and Ninth Lady beheaded her.
• Old Man Xiang died after learning his divination had foretold certain death, and the others carried his body away.
• The Jidu Shrine’s investiture ceremony made Ninth Lady Chief Sacrificer of the Ji River Water Palace and gave her a jade talisman and seal.
• Ninth Lady received knowledge of the Water Palace as the Malevolent Flood Dragon remained outside.

Cui Jiuyang activated the Jidu Shrine’s Vast Marsh Jidu Heavenly Cycle Formation so Ninth Lady could fight the Malevolent Flood Dragon with the River-Swallowing Alligator Nuo Mask. Ninth Lady wounded the dragon and unleashed a massive attack of water and sand, while Cui Jiuyang struggled to sustain the formation.

• Ninth Lady explained that the shrine’s formation could amplify her power, and Cui Jiuyang volunteered to direct it despite his injuries.
• Cui Jiuyang reached the formation’s core and activated the Vast Marsh Jidu Heavenly Cycle Formation as the Malevolent Flood Dragon battered the shrine.
• Cui Jiuyang gathered the Ancient Ji River Course’s spiritual energy into Ninth Lady, who put on the River-Swallowing Alligator Nuo Mask.
• The Malevolent Flood Dragon entered the formation, and Ninth Lady met its charge with the Autumn Rainbow Sword.
• Ninth Lady dodged the dragon’s tail and cut a wound into its scales, then evaded its venomous spit.
• Ninth Lady summoned an immense surge of water and yellow sand with River-Swallowing Alligator: Turbid Waves Strike the Sky.

Cui Jiuyang sacrificed his meridians and vital blood to empower Ninth Lady with the Ghost-Mask Chi Dragon, allowing her to overwhelm the Malevolent Flood Dragon. As she prepared her third strike, the wounded dragon knelt and begged for mercy.

• Ninth Lady’s Dragon Tail Slash wounded the Malevolent Flood Dragon, but the collision shattered her Nuo Mask and left her badly injured.
• Cui Jiuyang reversed the formation’s spiritual energy into his body, damaging his meridians as he forced the energy into Ninth Lady.
• Ninth Lady manifested the Ghost-Mask Chi Dragon and struck the Malevolent Flood Dragon with Inverse-Scale Fury, piercing its belly.
• Ninth Lady’s Soul-Cleansing Rain shattered the dragon’s scales and riddled its body with sword wounds.
• Ninth Lady raised her sword for a third strike, but the Malevolent Flood Dragon knelt and begged for mercy.

Ninth Lady defeated the Malevolent Flood Dragon, and the Turtle Chancellor used the Dragon-Transformation Wall to save Cui Jiuyang, though Ninth Lady would be bound to the Jidu Shrine to keep its lord's spirit from fading. Afterward, Ninth Lady confronted Fifth Master Yang and Lu Zhongqian about information she had uncovered, and Lu Zhongqian began confessing to a vow he had made at the shrine.

• Ninth Lady killed the Malevolent Flood Dragon, while Cui Jiuyang collapsed from the strain of controlling the formation.
• The Turtle Chancellor explained that the Dragon-Transformation Wall could repair Cui Jiuyang's shattered meridians, but removing it would confine Ninth Lady to the Jidu Shrine for life.
• Ninth Lady agreed to the sacrifice, and the Turtle Chancellor used the Dragon-Transformation Wall to heal Cui Jiuyang's meridians and save him.
• The Turtle Chancellor said the Wall had become part of Cui Jiuyang's energy circulation, making his cultivation difficult but potentially extraordinary.
• Ninth Lady summoned Fifth Master Yang and Lu Zhongqian, ordered them to kneel, and asked Lu Zhongqian to explain himself.
• Lu Zhongqian admitted that he had vowed to build a temple for the Water God and erect a thirty-foot gilded statue after obtaining the Treasure-Gathering Copper Coin.

Ninth Lady judged Lu Zhongqian for stealing Yang Xiaowu’s pearl, breaking his vow, and siding with the Japanese, then gave his remaining twenty years of life to Yang Xiaowu. After the survivors left Jidu Shrine, Ninth Lady found a way to leave briefly and cared for the unconscious Cui Jiuyang, who awoke stronger after two days.

• Ninth Lady exposed Lu Zhongqian’s crimes, took back the Treasure-Gathering Copper Coin, and declared he had only six months to live.
• Yang Xiaowu refused to resent his lost fortune, and Ninth Lady gave him Lu Zhongqian’s twenty years of life.
• The Turtle Chancellor told Ninth Lady she could use the Malevolent Flood Dragon’s corpse to leave Jidu Shrine for a little over half a month.
• The groups left Jidu Shrine, and Fifth Master Yang arranged Old Man Xiang’s funeral while Ninth Lady stayed to care for Cui Jiuyang.
• Cui Jiuyang awoke after two days, healed and established in the ultimate unity realm, and Ninth Lady asked how he felt.

Cui Jiuyang and the Ninth Lady attended Old Man Xiang’s funeral after he died without family. They paid their respects at his home, where friends and religious figures had kept vigil, and Cui Jiuyang burned joss paper beside the coffin.

• The Ninth Lady accompanied Cui Jiuyang to breakfast and stopped him after six beef buns and two bowls of soy milk.
• The Ninth Lady and Cui Jiuyang shared a rickshaw to Old Man Xiang’s funeral, drawing gossip from onlookers.
• The Ninth Lady and Cui Jiuyang read funeral couplets and reflected on Old Man Xiang’s courage and death.
• The Ninth Lady and Cui Jiuyang entered Old Man Xiang’s home, where friends, monks, and Daoist priests had kept vigil in the absence of family.
• Cui Jiuyang lit joss paper from the eternal lamp and placed it in the brazier before Old Man Xiang’s coffin.

Cui Jiuyang and Ninth Lady wandered Jining City while he tried to learn how they had saved him and what strange presence lay in his dantian. Ninth Lady evaded his questions, and Cui Jiuyang ended the outing convinced she liked him.

• Cui Jiuyang reflected that his injuries and the lifespan he had burned left him with only a year to live.
• Cui Jiuyang asked Ninth Lady again how she and the Turtle Chancellor had saved him and what was inside his dantian.
• Ninth Lady ignored his questions while browsing embroidery patterns and buying snacks during their walk through the recovering city.
• Cui Jiuyang wondered whether their outing resembled a date and concluded that Ninth Lady liked him.

Cui Jiuyang visited Wang Dali’s home with Ninth Lady and divined that Wang Dali’s pregnant wife would give birth to a boy. He arranged for Wang Dali to manage a Shengdelong Chamber of Commerce shop, revealing that the child would grow up to become the famed swimmer known as Lake God and fight the Japanese.

• Cui Jiuyang and Ninth Lady ran into Wang Dali, who invited them to his home for tea.
• Cui Jiuyang recognized that Mrs. Wang was pregnant and predicted she would have a son, delighting the couple.
• Cui Jiuyang gave Wang Dali a talisman and told him to seek a shop manager’s position through Fifth Master Yang at Shengdelong Chamber of Commerce.
• Cui Jiuyang told Ninth Lady that Wang Dali’s son would become Lake God, an exceptional swimmer who would join the Huxi Guerrilla Force against the Japanese.

Ninth Lady and Cui Jiuyang visited Shovel Liu’s meat flatbread stall, then climbed Jining’s city wall, where Ninth Lady spoke about being abandoned as a child. The Land God warned them that unexploded bombs in Lake Taibai could be ignited underwater by Flame-Breathing Beetles, leaving them facing an imminent threat to the sluice gate.

• Ninth Lady and Cui Jiuyang ate Shovel Liu’s meat flatbreads and watched him perform with his enormous shovel.
• Ninth Lady told Cui Jiuyang that the troupe master had found her as an unwanted child at the foot of the city wall.
• Ninth Lady explained that Lake Taibai’s floodwater had nowhere to drain and that the sluice gate was holding.
• Cui Jiuyang joked that his great-grandfather’s cultivation reached as high as his raised hand, making Ninth Lady laugh.
• The Land God told Ninth Lady and Cui Jiuyang that the Giant Softshell Turtle had damaged a beam beneath the sluice gate.
• The Land God revealed that fishers had pulled up unexploded bombs and that Flame-Breathing Beetles could ignite them underwater.

Ninth Lady and Cui Jiuyang used Little Huzi to fish explosive charges from beneath the Water Gate, then spent rainy days reflecting on their time together in Jining City. As Ninth Lady prepared to return to Jidu Shrine, Cui Jiuyang decided he had to leave soon to seek a way to extend his dwindling life.

• Ninth Lady and Cui Jiuyang found that fish would not approach the Water Gate and recruited Little Huzi to fish out the explosive charges.
• Little Huzi hauled up two charges, and Cui Jiuyang and Ninth Lady arranged for the old man to reward him for retrieving the rest.
• Ninth Lady recalled her adventures with Cui Jiuyang and the quiet happiness of exploring Jining City with him.
• Ninth Lady realized she would soon return to Jidu Shrine, while Cui Jiuyang reflected that he needed to leave and search for opportunities before his life ran out.
• Cui Jiuyang remembered leaving home, becoming lost, and disguising himself as a fortune-teller to reach Jining City.

On the day Jining City celebrated its victory over the flood, Ninth Lady spent the day with Cui Jiuyang, bringing him back to his old fortune-telling spot and then treating him to a meal beside the canal. Their farewell remained unspoken as they shared wine and food.

• Ninth Lady dragged Cui Jiuyang through the city's flood celebration and watched the procession and opera with him.
• Ninth Lady persuaded Cui Jiuyang to reopen his old fortune-telling stall, where he advised a steady stream of customers until evening.
• Ninth Lady counted the eighty-two copper coins Cui Jiuyang had earned and used them to arrange their promised drink.
• Ninth Lady chose a quiet canal-side eatery, supplied wine from her Treasure Bag, and shared a meal with Cui Jiuyang.
• Cui Jiuyang raised his cup and offered to drink as punishment for not earning enough, while Ninth Lady sat across from him.

Cui Jiuyang learned that Ninth Lady loved him and discovered she had sacrificed greatly to save him, then promised to return with a Numinous Treasure despite his short lifespan. The story shifted to Yangshan County, where Old Li took his five sheep to graze on West Mountain.

• Ninth Lady confessed her feelings for Cui Jiuyang and recounted how his courage and kindness had won her heart.
• Cui Jiuyang told Ninth Lady he was going to die, and she revealed that saving him had bound her to remain at the Jidu Shrine.
• The Turtle Chancellor interrupted them, and Ninth Lady left after telling Cui Jiuyang to bring a Numinous Treasure and take her out of the shrine.
• Cui Jiuyang returned to the guild hall and realized that the gourd Ninth Lady had been drinking from contained water, not wine.
• Old Li drove his five sheep up West Mountain to graze, hoping the ewe would give birth to a lamb he could sell for new clothes.

Cui Jiuyang followed a divination to a mountain where Old Man Li had vanished, then joined villagers searching for him. After Old Man Li’s son Jincai and Li Jinbo went toward the mountain’s forbidden back side, Cui Jiuyang stayed overnight in Heyang Village to await their return.

• Old Man Li lost sight of a pregnant ewe, searched the woods behind the mountain with his remaining sheep, and disappeared.
• Cui Jiuyang’s divination led him to the same mountain, where he met villagers seeking the missing Old Man Li.
• Cui Jiuyang used Old Man Li’s bowl to divine that he was alive and somewhere on the mountain.
• Jincai rushed toward the back of the mountain, and Li Jinbo followed with two young men after ordering the others to take Cui Jiuyang to his home.
• Cui Jiuyang learned that the villagers feared the back of the mountain, ate sorghum buns and pickles at Li Jinbo’s house, and waited in the courtyard for Li Jinbo to return.

Cui Jiuyang joined Li Jincai and Li Jinbo in searching the mountains behind Heyang Village for Li Jincai’s missing father. After finding signs that Old Li had entered the vast, dangerous forest, the three went in to search.

• Li Jinbo told Cui Jiuyang that villagers had long been forbidden from entering the mountains, where people often disappeared and rumors spoke of a demon.
• Cui Jiuyang sensed a faint connection to something on West Mountain and decided to accompany Li Jincai and Li Jinbo into the mountains to find Old Li.
• The three followed signs of sheep droppings into the ancient forest, confirming that Old Li had gone there.
• Cui Jiuyang reassured Li Jincai that his father was alive, and the three entered the dense forest, where darkness and thorny undergrowth made travel difficult.

Cui Jiuyang, Li Jincai, and Li Jinbo searched the forest for Old Li, but a divination said he was safe and meeting an old friend. The three became lost after nightfall, made camp beneath a large oak, and Cui Jiuyang sensed the elusive connection again.

• Li Jincai and Li Jinbo searched the forest with Cui Jiuyang, but found no trace of Old Li and eventually changed direction to search east.
• Cui Jiuyang cast a coin divination and told the others that Old Li was safe and happily meeting an old friend in the forest.
• As darkness fell, Li Jinbo suggested returning to the village, but the three realized they were lost in the woods.
• Cui Jiuyang, Li Jincai, and Li Jinbo returned to a large oak, lit a fire, and toasted buns for supper.
• Cui Jiuyang sensed the faint, elusive connection again while the three sat by the fire.

Cui Jiuyang followed Li Jinbo and Li Jincai through the forest to a clearing where Heyang Village’s missing residents gathered around a bonfire. The wine jar at the clearing’s center drew Cui Jiuyang in, and he succumbed to its influence as he walked toward it.

• Cui Jiuyang woke to find Li Jinbo and Li Jincai sleepwalking toward the source of his strange sensation.
• Cui Jiuyang followed the two men through the forest and discovered a clearing filled with thatched huts.
• Cui Jiuyang saw Li Jinbo, Li Jincai, and a crowd of people warmly greeting one another around a bonfire.
• Cui Jiuyang sensed that the pull came from a wine jar on a stone platform and struggled against its growing influence.
• Cui Jiuyang left the grass with a dreamy smile and walked toward the wine jar.

Cui Jiuyang resisted a wine that entranced everyone in a hidden settlement and discovered it came from the corpse vapor of a Feifei skeleton. He stored the vapor and realized the wine had drawn missing villagers into a carefree life that could end in starvation as its supply dwindled.

• Cui Jiuyang accepted a cup of wine from the villagers, but his spiritual protections and a fireball jolted him out of its enchantment before he could drink.
• Cui Jiuyang used the Three Realms Clear-Sight Spell and saw vapor rising from beneath the stone platform and condensing into wine.
• Cui Jiuyang struck the platform with Mysterious Thunder Strike, shattering it and sending the wine jar flying while the villagers licked up the spilled wine.
• Cui Jiuyang identified a small beast skeleton as possibly belonging to a Feifei and collected its vapor in his Celadon Porcelain Gourd.
• Cui Jiuyang deduced that the wine had drawn missing people from Heyang Village into the forest, where they lived without worry and risked wasting away as the wine ran out.