Recaps

Mu Bai focused on cultivating his Inner Core while Mu Lan found a way to sell his pills through a counter at the Blue Flower Pavilion. Her sales flourished, and an expert from the Sun Tang Aristocratic Clan bought all the remaining pills.

• Mu Bai placed ten Soul Crystals in the Crow Cauldron, then spent several days drawing in essence and practicing the Flying Immortal Scripture.
• Mu Bai visited the Qing Mao Residence to spend time with Qing Ping, Qing Dai, and the women in the household as part of his reflections on cultivation.
• Mu Lan decided to rent a counter in the Blue Flower Pavilion, using its clientele and the Spirit Taming Sect's protection to sell Soul-Returning Pills and Soul-Nurturing Pills.
• Mu Lan opened the Mu Lan Pavilion counter, and her acquaintances helped attract buyers until more than half the Soul-Returning Pills had sold within three days.
• Mu Lan raised the price to a hundred and sixty Soul Crystals per pill, and the sales frenzy continued.
• An expert from the Sun Tang Aristocratic Clan arrived with a group of men and bought every pill Mu Lan had left.

Mu Bai built a profitable pill-selling operation with Mu Lan, Xi Bazì, and Sweet Potato Boy, while using the proceeds to support his family and advance his alchemy. After months of cultivation and refining every second-level pill, he worried that pills alone could not make him a true powerhouse and decided he needed a cultivation method.

• Mu Bai enlisted Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy to help buy and deliver pills, while he handled sect relations and shared the profits with his partners.
• Mu Bai cultivated in his cave abode, refined every second-level pill in the Compendium of Pills and Herbs, and improved his alchemy success rate to eighty or ninety percent.
• Mu Lan expanded Mu Lan Pavilion’s stock, and the Hundred Flowers Pill became a citywide sensation as female cultivators and their male companions rushed to buy it.
• Mu Bai gave soul crystals to the people of Qing Mao Residence, while Golden Roc helped Mu Lan manage customers and Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy deterred troublemakers.
• After more than half a year of pill-supported cultivation, Mu Bai recognized that his combat skills were limited and resolved to find a cultivation method.

Mu Bai visited the Spirit Taming Sect’s Repository of Cultivation Techniques and searched its collections for powerful arts. He left with Thousand Divine Herb Formulas after finding that the available cultivation arts did not meet his needs.

• Mu Bai flew to the Repository of Cultivation Techniques and used his Elder Token to enter after teasing the guardian about a bribe.
• Mu Bai overheard Zhou Dechen pressure Zeng Yuan to produce fifty thousand Soul-Nurturing Pills in three months and threaten him with the consequences of refusing.
• Mu Bai hid in a technique room while Zhou Dechen and Zeng Yuan left, then browsed the repository’s metal-, wood-, and earth-attribute arts.
• Mu Bai found that the cultivation arts he examined did not surpass the fourth level, but discovered a copy of Thousand Divine Herb Formulas.
• Mu Bai took Thousand Divine Herb Formulas, paid the required soul crystals, and left the repository.

Mu Bai helped Zhou Dekai expose a plot by the Fifth Sect Heir to frame him for raping Su He. Zhou Dekai was cleared and spared Su He and her father, but they were murdered after leaving the sect, while Zhou Dekai retreated into his cave with his faith in love shaken.

• Mu Bai learned that Su He and her father had accused Zhou Dekai of rape and warned him that someone was directing their actions.
• Mu Bai gave Zhou Dekai a jade slip recording Su He's father meeting with a Spirit Taming Sect disciple and discussing the plot.
• Zhou Qichang ordered Zhou Dekai whipped in Spirit Command Hall, but Zhou Dekai produced the jade slip and exposed the Fifth Sect Heir's role in the scheme.
• Zhou Dekai forgave Su He and her father and refused to pursue the matter against his fifth brother, prompting Zhou Qichang to end the proceedings.
• Su He and her father left the sect after Zhou Qichang pardoned them, but they were murdered nearby, while Zhou Dekai withdrew into his cave.

Mu Bai went to the Crane Soul Tribe seeking the Crane Feather Tribe, but was mistaken for a spy and captured after revealing his Spirit Taming Sect Elder Token. He learned the two tribes shared a common origin, then discovered You Cang had drugged him and marched out to attack the Crane Feather Tribe; Mu Bai woke in the dungeon and threatened the guards to free himself.

• Mu Bai traveled toward the Crane Feather Tribe to repay the people whose elderly divine cultivator had saved his life, but Crane Soul Tribe sentries mistook him for a scout and shot him with Soul Arrows.
• Mu Bai showed his Spirit Taming Sect Elder Token, and Clan Patriarch You Cang identified himself and the tribe as the Crane Soul Tribe, which shared its origins with the Crane Feather Tribe.
• You Cang invited Mu Bai to stay, then drugged him at a feast while You Feng held a saber to his neck and the tribe prepared to attack the Crane Feather Tribe.
• You Cang led the Crane Soul Tribe's fighters toward the Crane Feather Tribe under cover of darkness, leaving Mu Bai locked in the dungeon.
• Mu Bai woke, summoned two Spirit Light Swords to the guards' heads, and demanded that they release him.

You Cang’s attempt to seize the Crane Blood Stone failed after Mu Bai sabotaged the Crane Soul Tribe and led him away from the Crane Feather Tribe. As the Crane Feather Tribe fled toward the Spirit Taming Sect, Zuo Changxiong and Zuo Si died holding off their pursuers, while Zuo Lin arrived with reinforcements; Mu Bai reached Spirit Command City after taking a detour.

• You Cang found the Crane Feather Tribe’s settlement deserted and lost clansfolk to its traps while searching for the Crane Blood Stone.
• Mu Bai destroyed the Crane Soul Tribe’s ancestral hall, altar, and statue, took a blood-red stone, and escaped, prompting You Cang to chase him in the wrong direction.
• Mu Bai returned to the deserted Crane Feather Tribe settlement, realized You Cang had failed to get the stone, and headed south toward Spirit Command City.
• You Feng’s cultivators caught up with the fleeing Crane Feather Tribe, and Zuo Changxiong and Zuo Si turned back with their companions to hold them off.
• Zuo Si and his companions died fighting, and Zuo Changxiong and You Feng killed each other before Zuo Lin arrived with Spirit Taming Sect cultivators.
• Mu Bai avoided the battle and reached Spirit Command City after nearly five days.

Mu Bai evaded Zhou Dechen in Spirit Command City, then discovered that three black-clad men had followed him and intended to kill him before he reached the sect. He killed two pursuers and fought the last, whose head was suddenly severed by an unseen attacker as Mu Bai sensed the hawklike gaze again.

• Mu Bai encountered Zhou Dechen and Jiang Xiao Qian at a restaurant, then slipped away from the city while a hawklike gaze followed him.
• Mu Bai realized his tea had been tampered with and hid in the woods as three black-clad pursuers searched for him.
• Mu Bai lured Sixth Brother into striking at false targets, then killed him from a tree hollow.
• Mu Bai used Sixth Brother's body parts to draw the remaining pursuers into an ambush and killed one of them.
• Mu Bai fought the thin man, who revealed his undying bird and healed wound, but an unseen attacker severed the man's head.

Mu Bai fought You Bingcheng, a Crane Soul Tribe warrior from the Spirit Taming Sect's War Hall, after You Bingcheng demanded the Crane Blood Stone. Mu Bai killed him before he could detonate his Divine Palace, but was left gravely wounded.

• You Bingcheng confronted Mu Bai and demanded the Crane Blood Stone, which Mu Bai threw away before fleeing and fighting back.
• You Bingcheng wounded Mu Bai and drove him into the forest, where Mu Bai used arrows and a surprise attack to injure him.
• Mu Bai and You Bingcheng exchanged grave wounds, then resumed fighting after swallowing medicinal pills.
• Mu Bai used his Divine Crow Soul Spirit and sword to cripple You Bingcheng's Soul Spirits and break his arm.
• You Bingcheng charged Mu Bai and began detonating his Divine Palace, but Mu Bai's Spirit Light Sword pierced it and killed him.

After surviving his fight with You Bingcheng, Mu Bai recovered at Qing Mao Residence and returned to his cave abode, still searching for cultivation methods. Zhou Dekai brought him two sect inheritance methods and a Bone-Shattering Pill, and Mu Bai accepted them as a sign of friendship.

• Mu Bai collapsed from his wounds at Qing Mao Residence, where First Madam and Third Madam cared for him and he carved wooden puppets for Qing Ping and Qing Dai.
• After more than ten days of recovery, Mu Bai returned to his cave abode and tended his overgrown herb field, discovering that the medicinal plants had grown quickly from the abundant essence of heaven and earth.
• Zhou Dekai visited Mu Bai and explained that the Repository of Cultivation Techniques held little suitable for him.
• Zhou Dekai presented Mu Bai with the Green Duckweed Sword Art, the True Method of Controlling Thunder, and a Bone-Shattering Pill.
• Mu Bai accepted the gifts and told Zhou Dekai he would remember their friendship.

Mu Bai left the Spirit Taming Sect to practice the True Method of Controlling Thunder on Biyou Peak, where he survived a deadly strike from Yin Thunder and absorbed its power. He emerged stronger, with mid Second Level Soul Power and thunder coursing through his body, and stood ready to pursue the Golden-Foil Book’s next revelation.

• Mu Bai left the Spirit Taming Sect on a rainy night to cultivate the True Method of Controlling Thunder at Biyou Peak.
• Mu Bai rode the Divine Crow toward the Yin Thunder, then entered the dark clouds after sending his Soul Spirit back.
• Mu Bai took Life-Restoring Pills and a Bone-Shattering Pill as Yin Thunder ravaged his body, but a lightning bolt blasted him into charcoal.
• Mu Bai revived as the Bone-Shattering Pill’s power restored his vitality, and he endured another lightning strike that settled in his Dantian.
• Mu Bai unleashed thunder through his palms and summoned a Divine Crow with bones and flesh, reaching mid Second Level Soul Power.
• Mu Bai saw signs that the Golden-Foil Book’s third page was emerging as he contemplated his newfound strength and future cultivation.

Mu Bai encountered a supernatural wedding in a mountain village and exposed a Yellow Weasel Bride who had ensnared Chen Shichong with an illusion. After Mu Bai awakened Chen, the bride fled into the forest, leaving Chen safe but shaken.

• Mu Bai descended the mountain in the rain, grieving his ruined tribe and longing for Hai Chen and Ling’er.
• Mu Bai discovered that the village wedding was an illusion staged by mountain rats and paper figures, and the bride was a Yellow Weasel.
• The Yellow Weasel Bride explained that she and Chen Shichong had spent three days together after she bewitched him with the illusion of a beautiful lotus-picker.
• Mu Bai rejected the bride’s pleas and dodged her attack while using his mental power to wake Chen Shichong.
• Chen Shichong realized the bride was a weasel and recoiled, so she tearfully bade him farewell, bowed to Mu Bai, and fled into the forest.

Mu Bai traveled north with Chen Shichong to the Sword Sect and joined him in hunting Silver Swordfish at Ice Lake. After they defeated a school of second-rank fish, they pressed deeper into the lake together.

• Mu Bai introduced himself to Chen Shichong, who invited him to visit the Sword Sect in the Northern Plains and help him find a suitable Soul Soldier.
• Mu Bai and Chen Shichong traveled north for ten days and reached the thousand-year-old frigid Ice Lake, where they agreed to hunt Silver Swordfish.
• Mu Bai used his Divine Crow manifestation and lightning attacks while Chen Shichong controlled a sword formation to kill the first school of Silver Swordfish.
• The two drank from Mu Bai's wine gourd, competed as they hunted, and collected the Silver Swordfish bones.
• Mu Bai and Chen Shichong faced a school of second-rank Silver Swordfish, dropped their defenses, and fought with their bodies and strongest attacks.
• Mu Bai attacked the fish with mental-power swords, leaving them helpless, and Chen Shichong's sword formation finished off the school.

Mu Bai and Chen Shichong fought together to kill a third-tier Silver Swordfish, and Mu Bai claimed its bones for a Soul Soldiers weapon. As they flew toward the Northern Plains, Chen Shichong told Mu Bai where red sun stone could be found, and Mu Bai decided to seek it for a better weapon.

• Mu Bai and Chen Shichong discussed their fighting skills and learned that a third-tier Silver Swordfish could provide materials for a High-Rank Soul Sword.
• Mu Bai and Chen Shichong attacked the third-tier Silver Swordfish, and Mu Bai endured its blows while weakening it with his mental power and fists.
• Chen Shichong drove the Autumn Sun Sword into the Silver Swordfish, and Mu Bai struck its hilt to drive the blade through its skull.
• Mu Bai accepted the Silver Swordfish's bones from Chen Shichong, and the two agreed to leave the lake before another powerful beast arrived.
• Chen Shichong explained that red sun stone could be found near a region of earthfire and molten lava, and Mu Bai decided to search for it.

Mu Bai and Chen Shichong reached the Earthfire Magma Zone, where Mu Bai searched for Crimson Flame Fruits while waiting for the rare red sun stone to emerge. He found a fruit-bearing tree beneath the magma and collected its five fruits, leaving the roots intact.

• Mu Bai and Chen Shichong traveled west from the Ten-Thousand-Mile Ice Blades to the Earthfire Magma Zone and learned that its hundred-year eruption was near.
• Chen Shichong flew to Earthfire City to seek news of red sun stone while Mu Bai stayed by the magma to search for Crimson Flame Fruits.
• Mu Bai endured the magma’s heat as he searched with his Divine Sense, then saw Xiu Zun cultivators converge to fight over a rising magma column.
• Mu Bai returned to searching and spotted a Crimson Flame Fruit Tree growing in a cliff beneath the magma.
• Mu Bai entered the magma inside the Three-Legged Crow Cauldron, collected all five fruits, and left the tree rooted so it could grow again.

Mu Bai refined three Ice-Fire Pills from Crimson Flame Fruits and mystic ice grass to prepare for bidding on a red sun stone in Earthfire City. As he set out for the auction, a Magma Red Dragon attacked him, and its cries drew three more dragons from the magma pool.

• Mu Bai used earthfire in a volcanic crater to refine an Ice-Fire Pill, relying on mystic ice grass to balance the Crimson Flame Fruit's heat.
• Mu Bai refined three Ice-Fire Pills over five attempts, leaving himself exhausted.
• Chen Shichong waited in Earthfire City, heard rumors about treasures from the eruption, and sent Mu Bai a voice transmission when treasure-bearing Xiu Zun cultivators arrived.
• Mu Bai prepared to leave the volcanic cave for the auction, hoping to win a red sun stone with his pills.
• A Magma Red Dragon lunged at Mu Bai, who trapped it inside the Crow Cauldron.
• Three more Magma Red Dragons emerged from the magma pool after the trapped dragon roared.

Mu Bai descended into a magma pool and discovered an earth yang thunder source that fused with his Yin Thunder Soul, creating a violet thunder seed within his dantian. He left the volcano newly empowered, intending to return for more thunder after rejoining Brother Chen in Earthfire City.

• Mu Bai used the Crow Cauldron to fend off Magma Red Dragons, but they chased him deep into the magma pool.
• Red lightning struck the Crow Cauldron, and Mu Bai recognized the depths as a Yang Thunder Pool Acupoint containing earth yang thunder.
• Mu Bai withdrew the Crow Cauldron and allowed his Yin Thunder Soul to meet the earth yang thunder, forming a circling blue-and-red disc.
• Mu Bai drew the fused thunder into his dantian and discovered he could control its speed and unleash powerful violet lightning.
• Mu Bai resolved to return for more thunder later, since he needed to maintain the balance of yin and yang, and set his sights on rejoining Brother Chen in Earthfire City.

After absorbing the Yang Thunder Soul, Mu Bai left the cooling magma and met Chen Shichong at Earthfire City’s Golden Tower, where they discussed the coming auction and cultivation. The two enjoyed the crowded hall’s performances as cultivators gathered in the city.

• Mu Bai left the magma pool after absorbing the Yang Thunder Soul and noticed small gains in his Soul Power and mental power.
• Mu Bai disguised himself as Zhou Qichang and went to the Golden Tower, where he reunited with Chen Shichong.
• Mu Bai and Chen Shichong discussed the red sun stone’s expected auction price and Mu Bai’s shortage of Soul Crystals.
• Chen Shichong shared cultivation insights with Mu Bai, who chose not to reveal his secret of immortal cultivation.
• As more cultivators arrived in Earthfire City, Mu Bai and Chen Shichong watched the Golden Tower’s performances and drank together.

Mu Bai and Chen Shichong drank in Dome Hall when two women began competing for Chen Shichong’s attention, first fighting and then challenging each other to drink. The women offered him access to Red Sun Stone and a fortune in soul crystals, and both eventually drank themselves unconscious while Mu Bai watched from the sidelines.

• A pink-robed cultivator flirted with Chen Shichong, while Mu Bai’s offer of company earned him her scorn and laughter from Chen Shichong.
• A woman in blue confronted the pink-robed cultivator, and their argument over their figures escalated into a sword fight.
• Chen Shichong stopped the fight and invited both women to drink with him, leaving Mu Bai isolated as they competed for his attention.
• The woman in blue, Miss Ji, offered to take Chen Shichong home and give him Red Sun Stone because her father was Earthfire City’s city lord.
• Gusu Wan'er offered a hundred thousand soul crystals for Chen Shichong, who objected to both women treating him like someone who lived off women.
• The two women continued drinking to outdo each other until both collapsed on the floor, while Mu Bai watched.

After a sinister man attacked Mu Bai and Chen Shichong beneath the moon, Chen Shichong was poisoned by multiplying green insects. Mu Bai slowed the poison by soaking Chen Shichong’s wound in sand wolf blood and began searching for the attacker and an antidote.

• Chen Shichong and Mu Bai left the Golden Tower after drinking, while a sinister man escorted Gusu Wan'er away.
• The sinister man attacked the pair in the desert, shattered Mu Bai’s Spirit Light Shield, poisoned Chen Shichong, and vanished into the sand.
• Mu Bai found that green insects were spreading through Chen Shichong’s body and killed five sand wolves to obtain fresh blood.
• Mu Bai soaked Chen Shichong’s poisoned shoulder in wolf blood to slow the insects’ spread.
• Mu Bai showed the innkeeper spiritual images of Gusu Wan'er and the sinister man, but the innkeeper said he had never seen them.

Mu Bai tracked Gusu Wan'er and the sinister man to a hidden chamber, where he witnessed their gruesome corpse ritual and learned that Gusu Wan'er had been killed and revived. After confronting her about Chen Shichong’s illness, he received a remedy and watched her draw blood from A Jiu to prepare it.

• Mu Bai followed the sinister man from the Golden Tower to a residence and discovered a hidden chamber beneath a tree.
• Mu Bai saw the sinister man kill a captive and throw the body into a blood pool, then watched green mist restore Gusu Wan'er’s desiccated corpse.
• The sinister man trapped Mu Bai with a silver thread, but Gusu Wan'er cut it and let him explain that Chen Shichong had been afflicted by her green insects.
• Gusu Wan'er gave Mu Bai a bottle of Mighty Corpse Powder to draw the corpse plague from Chen Shichong.
• Gusu Wan'er called A Jiu over and cut his wrist, collecting his blood in the jade bottle.

Mu Bai used Mighty Corpse Powder and his own blood to save Chen Shichong from the Corpse Plague, then attended Earthfire City's auction with him. After passing on Body-Tempering Pills and missing out on Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, Mu Bai put a Water-Fire Pill up for auction, where it caused a sensation.

• Mu Bai left Gusu Wan'er's residence with Mighty Corpse Powder and hurried back to the inn.
• Mu Bai mixed the corpse powder into Chen Shichong's wolf-blood bath and added his own blood, curing him enough to wake; he fed him Life-Restoring Pills.
• Two days later, Mu Bai and Chen Shichong attended Earthfire City's auction, presided over by Xiu Zun Ji Yang.
• Mu Bai gave Chen Shichong five Body-Tempering Pills, while a burly man won the three pills on auction for eight thousand Soul Crystals.
• A middle-aged female cultivator bought the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron for forty thousand Soul Crystals, beyond Mu Bai's means.
• Mu Bai submitted a Water-Fire Pill for auction, and its promised effect on second-level body cultivators stirred the crowd.

Mu Bai sold an Ice-Fire Pill at the auction, gave another to Chen Shichong, and waited for the bidding on Red Sun Stones to begin. When Mu Bai pulled Chen Shichong away from Gusu Wan'er at the Golden Tower, a hostile group suddenly surrounded them.

• Mu Bai watched the Ice-Fire Pill sell for twenty-five thousand Soul Crystals and gave Chen Shichong his remaining pill so they could pursue strength together.
• Chen Shichong bought several medicinal herbs for Mu Bai, while Ji Ruxia searched the auction crowd for Chen Shichong without finding him.
• Earthfire City's lord announced that five Red Sun Stones would be auctioned five days later, and Mu Bai noticed Gusu Wan'er at Volcano Plaza.
• The next day, Gusu Wan'er approached Chen Shichong at the Golden Tower, but Mu Bai answered her and pulled Chen Shichong away.
• A group rushed into the Golden Tower, surrounded Mu Bai and Chen Shichong, and ordered everyone else to keep their distance.

Gusu Wan'er and a sinister-looking man unleashed the Corpse Plague in the Golden Tower before escaping west, while Ji Yang Xiu Zun contained the outbreak and led a pursuit. Mu Bai and Chen Shichong followed after the pursuers disappeared from sight, and Chen Shichong wondered whether Gusu Wan'er would escape.

• The sinister-looking man spread green plague smoke through the Golden Tower, then fled with Gusu Wan'er as Ji Yang Xiu Zun gathered the smoke and sent men after them.
• Ji Yang Xiu Zun revealed that the attackers had used plague insects to cause disappearances and kill people, and he burned the infected victims before they could spread the plague.
• Desiccated corpses rose and attacked the crowd, but Mu Bai and Chen Shichong helped destroy one as Ji Yang Xiu Zun ordered the corpses and infected cultivators burned.
• Ji Yang Xiu Zun reassured the survivors that the food had not poisoned them, then led his men west in pursuit of Gusu Wan'er and the sinister-looking man.
• Mu Bai and Chen Shichong followed the pursuit but soon lost sight of the cultivators, and Chen Shichong speculated that the attackers might have come from the Western Plains.

Luo Cheng and Luo Qian attacked Mu Bai and Chen Shichong for the Ice-Fire Pill, forcing the fugitives into a deadly fight. Gusu Wan'er intervened against the pursuers, and Mu Bai killed Luo Cheng with a thunder-powered attack while Chen Shichong tended to her.

• Mu Bai distracted Luo Cheng with a jade bottle of corpse-plague smoke, allowing himself and Chen Shichong to flee west.
• Luo Cheng and Luo Qian caught up and attacked, while Chen Shichong used the Autumn Sun Sword and a pill to wound Luo Cheng and sever his arm.
• Chen Shichong and Mu Bai fled again, but Gusu Wan'er emerged from the sand and engulfed Luo Cheng in green smoke before collapsing from her wounds.
• Mu Bai returned to fight Luo Cheng as Chen Shichong supported Gusu Wan'er, and Chen Shichong gave Mu Bai the Autumn Sun Sword.
• Mu Bai struck Luo Cheng with a thunder-wreathed beam of light that pierced his chest and killed him.

Mu Bai and Chen Shichong survived the fight with Luo Cheng, but Ji Yang Xiu Zun arrested them over the Corpse Plague killings. Chen Shichong revealed his identity and his connection to Ji Ruxia, securing their release and an invitation to the City Lord’s Manor, where Ji Ruxia greeted him enthusiastically.

• Luo Qian fled after Mu Bai killed Luo Cheng, and Gusu Wan'er left for the quicksand after thanking Chen Shichong for saving her.
• Ji Yang Xiu Zun arrived, heard Mu Bai explain that he had used plague-tainted blood to kill Luo Cheng, and ordered Mu Bai and Chen Shichong taken to Earthfire City.
• As the crowd cursed them and Luo Qian stirred up their anger, Chen Shichong revealed his identity as a member of the Sword Sect’s Chen family and invoked his friendship with Ji Ruxia.
• Ji Yang Xiu Zun released Chen Shichong and Mu Bai and invited them to the City Lord’s Manor, where he mentioned that Elder Chen had recently visited.
• Ji Ruxia rushed out to greet Chen Shichong, leaped onto him, and kissed his forehead while Mu Bai watched.