Recaps

Lu Mingyue searched Cangzhou Prefectural City for an affordable escort agency to take her through the pass, but every agency she visited charged more than she could afford. She and the innkeeper turned their attention to the struggling Evergreen Escort Agency, where its head escort began discussing a price with three prospective customers.

• Lu Mingyue and the innkeeper visited several escort agencies, but their quotes ranged from one hundred to two hundred taels of silver.
• The innkeeper took Lu Mingyue to the Sifang Escort Agency, where head escort Li Wu quoted the same hundred-tael fee as the others.
• The innkeeper explained that the Evergreen Escort Agency had lost many escorts to a rogue cultivator and was now considered unreliable.
• Lu Mingyue suggested asking the Evergreen Escort Agency anyway, and head escort Meng Hai came out to meet three people seeking passage through the pass.
• Meng Hai said the three visitors were the agency's first customers that summer and began quoting them a price.

Lu Mingyue joined Guo Ding, Yang Qin, and Bai Zishan in hiring the Evergreen Escort Agency to take them beyond the pass. As their caravan set out for Taiping City, Lu Mingyue recalled that the wilderness was lawless and dangerous, making the agency’s escort essential.

• Lu Mingyue parted from the Dragon Gate Inn proprietor and arrived at the Evergreen Escort Agency, where Meng Hai arranged travel documents for the group.
• Lu Mingyue met Guo Ding, Yang Qin, and Bai Zishan, recognized that they were immortal cultivators, and kept her own cultivation hidden.
• The four travelers spent the evening apart, then told Meng Hai they had no goods to bring beyond their personal belongings.
• Meng Hai assigned three carriages and led the four travelers out toward Taiping City with the agency’s escorts.
• Lu Mingyue recalled that mounted bandits threatened the lawless wilderness and that Taiping City offered a safe route toward the lands of immortal cultivation.

Lu Mingyue watched Meng Hai defeat the Tiger Head Gang’s chiefs and began memorizing his martial arts as the convoy continued toward Taiping City. She planned to keep studying the daily bandit encounters during the half-month journey.

• The Tiger Head Gang blocked the convoy shortly after it left Cangzhou Prefectural City and demanded money from Meng Hai.
• Meng Hai charged the gang’s chief and deputy chief while his sons and the other escorts fought the surrounding bandits.
• Lu Mingyue watched Meng Hai’s staff techniques closely and committed the fight to memory.
• Meng Hai killed both chiefs, and the surviving bandits fled; he ordered the escorts not to pursue them so they could continue protecting their clients.
• The convoy resumed its journey toward Taiping City, and Lu Mingyue treated the bandit fights along the road as chances to study martial arts.

The convoy continued toward Taiping City as Meng Hai noticed that Guo Ding and Yang Qin were hiding something, while Bai Zishan waited for them to act. Two days later, Meng Hai warned his escorts to stay away from the carriages after dinner, anticipating trouble.

• After the seventh bandit attack, Meng Qing suggested hiring more escorts, but Meng Hai told him to focus on the job.
• Meng Hai noticed that Guo Ding and Yang Qin were unusually calm around the bandits, but decided not to interfere with his clients.
• Bai Zishan secretly handled a miniature green sword and urged two unseen people to act before the convoy reached Taiping City.
• Guo Ding and Yang Qin agreed to wait two more days for a rogue cultivator before acting themselves.
• Meng Hai observed the couple's behavior and wrote a warning for his escorts to stay away from the carriages after dinner.
• Meng Qing helped Number Five and Number Seven conceal Meng Hai's warning by pretending to assign them watch duty.

Lu Mingyue noticed Meng Hai’s warning signs but went to sleep without learning what danger he suspected. She was trapped in a vivid dream of her grandfather accusing her of killing him, and after defending herself, she watched his charred corpse rise again.

• Meng Hai told Lu Mingyue and her companions to rest, then gathered his escorts around his own campfire, keeping them away from the three carriages.
• Lu Mingyue returned to her carriage, wondered about her family in her former world, and fell asleep while keeping a trace of vigilance.
• Lu Mingyue dreamed she was back in the burning courtyard in Yangguan City, where Old Lu accused her of killing him.
• Old Lu transformed into a gruesome figure and raised a bloodstained kindling cleaver, while Lu Mingyue saw Huahua’s injured body at his feet.
• Lu Mingyue spat flame at Old Lu, burning him to a charred corpse, but the corpse stood up again before she could find a way out of the dream.

Bai Zishan broke free of Yang Qin and Guo Ding’s nightmare spell and fought to disrupt their attack, waking Lu Mingyue to help him. Lu Mingyue revived the others while her powerful fireball held back the ghostly soldiers, and Bai Zishan recognized a clue in its strength.

• Bai Zishan escaped the Yellow Springs Nightmare and dodged the ghostly bandits controlled by Yang Qin as Guo Ding began casting a spell.
• Bai Zishan blinded Yang Qin and Guo Ding with the Golden Light Technique, then cut open Lu Mingyue’s carriage and woke her.
• Bai Zishan raised a Thick Earth Shield against Yang Qin’s Wind Array Wall and urged Lu Mingyue to awaken Meng Hai and the others.
• Yang Qin sent ten ghostly figures after Lu Mingyue, but Lu Mingyue joined her fireball with Bai Zishan’s to create a larger blaze that kept them back.
• Lu Mingyue went to revive Meng Hai and the others while Bai Zishan studied the enormous fireball and thought, “Five Elements Generating Each Other...”

Lu Mingyue woke Meng Hai and his escorts to help stop Guo Ding and Yang Qin, then shielded them from Guo Ding’s fire spell. As Meng Hai and the surviving escorts attacked, Guo Ding incapacitated several of them before Lu Mingyue’s vines trapped him and the last two escorts struck him.

• Lu Mingyue used her Origin Power to wake Meng Hai, Meng Qing, and the escorts, then warned them that Guo Ding and Yang Qin were evil cultivators.
• Lu Mingyue asked whether the escorts had ranged weapons, but Meng Hai said they had none; he sent Meng Qing and two escorts away and led the others against Guo Ding.
• Guo Ding cast a Fireball Technique at the charging escorts, but Lu Mingyue blocked it with her Water Mirror Shield.
• Meng Hai attacked Guo Ding, who used Yellow Springs Nightmare to knock him down and incapacitate three more escorts.
• Lu Mingyue’s vines bound Guo Ding and lifted him upside down, allowing the two remaining escorts to strike him with their iron staffs.

Guo Ding unleashed the Yellow Springs Ghost Coffin, which devoured two escorts and left Lu Mingyue and the others struggling to escape. The coffin’s pull dragged Meng Hai, the remaining escorts, and Lu Mingyue toward it as her Water Mirror Shield failed to stop them.

• Guo Ding summoned the Yellow Springs Ghost Coffin, and its devouring force pulled two escorts inside despite Lu Mingyue trying to throw him away.
• The coffin reduced the two escorts to bones, and Lu Mingyue urged Meng Hai and the others to flee while attacking Guo Ding with fireballs.
• Meng Hai struck Guo Ding with an iron staff, and Lu Mingyue realized Guo Ding was nearly out of Origin Power.
• Guo Ding opened the coffin again, and its force dragged the three remaining escorts, Meng Hai, and Lu Mingyue toward it.
• Lu Mingyue cast Water Mirror Shield, but it could not stop the escorts from being pulled in.

Bai Zishan and Lu Mingyue fought Guo Ding and Yang Qin, while Meng Hai tried to get Lu Mingyue to safety. After Bai Zishan killed Yang Qin and appeared to be pulled into the Yellow Springs Ghost Coffin, he turned the tables and killed Guo Ding, leaving Lu Mingyue and Meng Hai alive.

• Meng Hai rescued Lu Mingyue from the collapsing Water Mirror Shield, put her on his horse, and urged her to flee east toward Taiping City.
• Yang Qin shielded Guo Ding from Meng Hai’s iron staffs and shouted for him to run as she died from Bai Zishan’s attack.
• Guo Ding summoned the Yellow Springs Ghost Coffin and dragged Bai Zishan toward it, while Lu Mingyue lacked the strength to intervene.
• Bai Zishan’s azure light circled behind Guo Ding and severed his head, causing the coffin to dissolve and Bai Zishan to fall to the ground.
• Lu Mingyue helped Bai Zishan sit up and gave him water as Meng Hai collapsed nearby in relief.

After the attack by Guo Ding and his wife, Lu Mingyue and Bai Zishan survived, but five of Meng Hai's escorts were dead and the escort journey could not continue. As Lu Mingyue gathered the remains, she revealed that her corpse-wrapping cloth was her life-bound magical artifact.

• Bai Zishan comforted Lu Mingyue, who grieved for the five escorts killed while protecting them.
• Meng Hai returned the escort fees and said he could no longer escort Lu Mingyue and Bai Zishan to Taiping City.
• Lu Mingyue suggested Meng Hai wait overnight for Changqing and the other escorts, then return with them to Cangzhou Prefectural City.
• Lu Mingyue sorted and wrapped the five escorts' remains, then used her sash to wrap Guo Ding's body and head.
• Lu Mingyue explained that the sash was a corpse-wrapping cloth and recalled that her life-bound essence blood had made it her magical artifact.

Lu Mingyue used the Corpse-Wrapping Cloth to learn Guo Ding’s past and discovered that Bai Zishan had approached the murderous couple before their journey. As she hid her surprise, Meng Hai noticed a predatory look in Bai Zishan’s eyes.

• Lu Mingyue told Bai Zishan and Meng Hai that she would bury Guo Ding and Yang Qin to avoid drawing suspicion, then carried Guo Ding’s body aside.
• Lu Mingyue stitched Guo Ding’s head back onto his neck and used her life-bound Corpse-Wrapping Cloth to read his memories.
• Lu Mingyue learned that Guo Ding had become an evil cultivator after avenging his family, and that Yang Qin had rescued him before they began robbing travelers together.
• Lu Mingyue saw that Bai Zishan had been the young man in white who approached Guo Ding and Yang Qin, a discovery that conflicted with his reserved manner.
• Meng Hai noticed Bai Zishan looking at them like a rogue cultivator who had once targeted the Evergreen Escort Agency.

Lu Mingyue buried Guo Ding and Yang Qin, then learned from Yang Qin’s memories that Bai Zishan had approached the couple first, deepening her suspicions about him. Her thoughts were interrupted when Meng Qing and two others returned with a group of a hundred people.

• Lu Mingyue buried Guo Ding and Yang Qin separately while Bai Zishan rested in the carriage and Meng Hai kept watch.
• Bai Zishan assumed Lu Mingyue would grow fond of him during their journey to Taiping City.
• Lu Mingyue absorbed Yang Qin’s memories and learned how her past had led her to meet Guo Ding.
• Lu Mingyue recalled that Bai Zishan had approached Guo Ding and Yang Qin on his own, making her suspect his motives.
• Meng Qing and two others returned at night with a group of a hundred people.

Lu Mingyue joined a caravan guarded by the Zongjian Escort Agency to travel to Taiping City, hoping the group would protect her from Bai Zishan. When Meng Hai warned her at their parting to be careful, she understood he meant Bai Zishan and promised to stay alert.

• Lu Mingyue recognized the Zongjian Escort Agency escorts and decided their hundred-strong party could protect her on the journey to Taiping City.
• Meng Hai introduced Lu Mingyue and Bai Zishan to Dugu Sheng and the caravan leader, and Lu Mingyue persuaded the group to let them travel together.
• Dugu Sheng welcomed the two immortals, while Meng Hai arranged to return with Meng Qing, the other escorts, and the remains of his disciples.
• The next day, Meng Hai warned Lu Mingyue to be careful in Taiping City, and she understood the warning was about Bai Zishan and assured him she would be cautious.

Lu Mingyue traveled toward Taiping City with Bai Zishan, wary of his intentions and determined to keep her distance once they arrived. She spent the journey studying spells from two demonic legacies and reached Taiping City without confronting him.

• Lu Mingyue and Bai Zishan departed with a caravan, while Meng Hai and his companions returned to Cangzhou Prefectural City.
• Meng Hai urged Bai Zishan to look after Lu Mingyue and warned her to separate from him upon reaching Taiping City; Bai Zishan abandoned his plan to kill Meng Hai and the others.
• Lu Mingyue suspected Bai Zishan had come for her and decided it was safer to travel with him until they reached Taiping City, where cultivators could not harm one another outside the Deathmatch Platform.
• Lu Mingyue rejected the demonic cultivation arts from Guo Ding and Yang Qin's legacies because they harmed lifespan and would delay her cultivation progress.
• Lu Mingyue studied Yellow Springs Nightmare and Yellow Springs Ghost Coffin during the three-day journey, ignoring Bai Zishan's amorous glances, and arrived in Taiping City.

Lu Mingyue secretly left Bai Zishan and the caravan upon entering Taiping City, hoping to escape his attention. Bai Zishan discovered her departure and left after hearing her message, while Dugu Sheng and the escort agency settled in the city.

• The caravan approached Taiping City, and Lu Mingyue reflected on the city lord's influence and the city's unusual authority.
• As the caravan entered the city, Lu Mingyue secretly slipped away from the group and disappeared into the crowded streets.
• After the caravan reached a restaurant, Bai Zishan noticed Lu Mingyue was missing and searched for her with his divine sense.
• Dugu Sheng told Bai Zishan that Lu Mingyue had left and sent word that she would repay his kindness if they met again.
• Bai Zishan gave Dugu Sheng a pouch of silver and left, while Dugu Sheng departed with the Zongjian Escort Agency for the Clear Wind Inn.

Lu Mingyue sought a long-term rental in Taiping City and learned that the City Patrol Office needed a skilled corpse collector. She applied for the position and was told she could earn it by restoring the remains of a cultivator killed on the Deathmatch Platform.

• Lu Mingyue told a rental agent that corpse collecting was her family trade and asked for a suitable courtyard.
• The agent directed her to the City Patrol Office, explaining that the city needed corpse collectors to handle cultivators killed in mortal feuds.
• Lu Mingyue arrived at the City Patrol Office and introduced herself to its two gray-robed guards as an applicant for the corpse collector position.
• The guards told Lu Mingyue to restore the remains of a cultivator sliced apart on the Deathmatch Platform as a test.
• The guards explained that fighters surrendered their belongings before a match, and the office kept the dead person's possessions as payment for handling the corpse.

Lu Mingyue applied to become a corpse collector for Taiping City's City Patrol Office and learned why collecting cultivators' remains was dangerous. The man in blue showed her a corpse still burning with a demonic spell and explained that Taiping City's Spirit Gathering Grand Formation kept spiritual qi—and lingering spells—unusually strong.

• Lu Mingyue asked about Taiping City's duel fees, thanked the City Patrol Office cultivators, and went inside to apply as a corpse collector.
• The man in blue led Lu Mingyue to the corpse collectors' courtyard, where an elderly mortal explained that he feared handling cultivators' remains.
• The man in blue took Lu Mingyue to a sealed room and opened it to reveal a corpse wreathed in persistent black flames.
• Lu Mingyue recognized the flames as a powerful demonic spell and sensed that Taiping City's spiritual qi was far denser than elsewhere.
• The man in blue explained that the city lord's Spirit Gathering Grand Formation drew spiritual qi into Taiping City, sustaining spells on fallen cultivators and making their remains difficult to handle.

Lu Mingyue learned that she had to completely remove the Demonic Path spells from nine corpses to pass the City Patrol Office’s assessment and earn her choice of rewards. As she used a water spell on the first corpse, she realized the deathmatch fighters deliberately left spells behind to make the City Patrol Office bear some of the cost of their duels.

• The man in blue explained why the corpses’ lingering spells had to be completely removed and gave Lu Mingyue a White Jade Token containing the chamber-opening incantation.
• He set Lu Mingyue the task of handling all nine corpses before sunset and offered pills, magic artifacts, or spirit stones if she passed.
• Lu Mingyue decided she wanted all three kinds of rewards and entered a Spirit-Sealing Stone Chamber to treat the first corpse.
• She cast Water Mirror Shield to counter the corpse’s black flames and began erasing its lingering spell.
• While working, Lu Mingyue concluded that deathmatch fighters intentionally left spells in corpses to make the City Patrol Office expend effort, and that the office tolerated this practice.

Lu Mingyue completed the City Patrol Office’s corpse-collector assessment by removing a Frost Spell from an armored mortal’s body. Deng Yuan accepted her and gave her an Identity Token, while the City Patrol Envoys were reprimanded for showing interest in her instead of focusing on cultivation.

• City Patrol Envoys asked Deng Yuan about Lu Mingyue, but he pressured them to focus on cultivation and sent them away after they apologized.
• Lu Mingyue discovered that the last corpse she had to prepare was an armored mortal who had been killed by a cultivator’s Frost Spell.
• Deng Yuan watched as Lu Mingyue used the Fireball Technique to clear the spell and remove the mortal’s armor.
• Lu Mingyue finished examining the body before sunset, and Deng Yuan told her she had passed the assessment.
• Deng Yuan introduced himself as a City Patrol Office steward and handed Lu Mingyue her Identity Token.

Lu Mingyue passed the City Patrol Office's assessment, received her Identity Token, and learned the terms of her corpse-collector post. After renting a small courtyard, she heard broker Ma Zhuo offer to connect her with buyers for her future pills.

• Lu Mingyue greeted Deacon Deng after passing the City Patrol Office's assessment, and he gave her an Identity Token containing Taiping City's rules.
• Deng Yuan explained Lu Mingyue's corpse-collector stipend, including the limits on choosing spirit stones, and suggested she prioritize improving her cultivation.
• Lu Mingyue thanked Deng Yuan and said she would find lodgings before reporting for duty the next day.
• Broker Ma Zhuo took Lu Mingyue to view courtyard residences, and she rented a small courtyard for two hundred taels a year.
• Ma Zhuo told Lu Mingyue that he could help her sell pills from the City Lord for silver if she needed money.

Lu Mingyue received an Origin Condensation Pill from Deng Yuan and used it to break through to the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Stage. Just as she reflected on her new strength, an ax-wielding figure smashed through her door and charged in.

• Lu Mingyue continued cultivating after discovering that repeatedly depleting and restoring her cultivation had strengthened it and improved her control.
• Ten days after joining the City Patrol Office, Lu Mingyue received one of her three monthly Origin Condensation Pills from Deng Yuan.
• Lu Mingyue swallowed the pill, which greatly increased her spiritual energy absorption and refining capacity.
• After an hour of cultivation, Lu Mingyue broke through from the third to the fourth layer of Qi Refining and realized she could cast spells about ten times.
• As Lu Mingyue considered how much stronger she had become, she dodged when a tall figure wielding twin axes burst through her door.

Lu Mingyue fought off a Mighty Warrior by layering fire, grass, and wind spells, but a second attacker proved far more dangerous. As his greatsword shattered her Water Mirror Shield, she realized he could kill her despite being mortal.

• Lu Mingyue recognized the armored intruder as a Mighty Warrior and tried to identify which Household had sent him.
• She used a Fireball Technique, Water Mirror Shield, and Wooden Caltrops to restrain and burn the first Mighty Warrior, then confirmed he was dead.
• A second Mighty Warrior attacked from the left, and Lu Mingyue used wild grass to try to stop him.
• The second Mighty Warrior cut through the grass and shattered Lu Mingyue's Water Mirror Shield with his greatsword.
• Lu Mingyue realized the second attacker could contend with a cultivator at the fifth layer of Qi Refining and that she was in danger of being killed.

Lu Mingyue was attacked by two Mighty Warriors in Taiping City, but Bai Zishan arrived in time to save her. After she trapped one attacker and pressed Bai Zishan to finish him off, he was forced to choose how to respond.

• Two Mighty Warriors attacked Lu Mingyue, and she prepared a demonic spell to defend herself.
• Bai Zishan arrived and used his little azure sword to knock away the greatsword aimed at Lu Mingyue.
• Bai Zishan explained why deadly fights often went unchecked in Taiping City, but Lu Mingyue kept demanding to know why he had come.
• One Mighty Warrior tried to escape, and Lu Mingyue trapped him with vines from within and beyond her courtyard.
• Lu Mingyue challenged Bai Zishan to kill the trapped attacker, leaving him to consider whether to abduct her or disappear from her life.

Lu Mingyue grew more suspicious of Bai Zishan after he helped kill one of the attackers, then used her Corpse-Wrapping Cloth to uncover the dead man's past. His memories revealed that the Zhang Family had trained him as a killer and sent him to assassinate her.

• Bai Zishan killed a fierce martial soldier with his azure sword, then offered to dispose of both attackers' corpses.
• Lu Mingyue refused Bai Zishan's offer and said she would take the bodies to Steward Deng at the City Patrol Office to investigate who wanted her dead.
• After Bai Zishan left, Lu Mingyue used her Corpse-Wrapping Cloth to confirm that the dead soldier was a mortal who had taken Body Tempering Pills.
• Lu Mingyue experienced the soldier Tian Youfu's memories and learned the Zhang Family had bought and brutally trained him and three other children.
• Tian Youfu and one companion survived a deadly contest and became the Zhang Family's fierce martial soldiers, and the Zhang Family's young master had ordered them to kill Lu Mingyue.

Lu Mingyue learned that the two assassins had been hired through the Zhang Family but found no proof to hold the family responsible. Bai Zishan revealed that he had paid the Zhang Family to stage the attack, then warned its young master not to interfere with his plans for Lu Mingyue.

• Lu Mingyue examined Tian Youfu and Qi Fugui’s memories and learned that both had been ordered by the Zhang Family’s young master to kill her, though neither knew who had arranged the order.
• Lu Mingyue suspected Bai Zishan had hired the assassins to stage a rescue, but she had no evidence and decided to remember the Zhang Family’s involvement.
• Lu Mingyue took the corpses to the City Patrol Office, expecting the Zhang Family would not risk attacking her again.
• Bai Zishan paid the Zhang Family’s young master two Lower-Grade Spirit Stones for helping him win Lu Mingyue’s favor.
• When the young master questioned Bai Zishan’s interest in Lu Mingyue, Bai Zishan revealed his ninth-level Qi Refining strength and warned him not to interfere.