Recaps

After discovering the character "Huang" engraved inside the jade thumb ring, Boss Wu ordered a secret search for the young man who had pawned it. He classified the mission as the highest level and sent a message by pigeon, hoping the ring was genuine.

• Boss Wu recognized the engraved character "Huang" on the jade thumb ring and demanded that Chen Gui identify its former owner.
• Chen Gui said a young man had pawned the ring three days earlier, and Boss Wu ordered him to find the man and commission a portrait.
• Boss Wu warned Chen Gui to keep the matter secret, then instructed Old Yue to organize their men and search using copies of the portrait.
• Boss Wu asked Old Yue to bring him a messenger pigeon, wrote a note, and released it.
• Boss Wu hoped the jade thumb ring was genuine and that finding its owner would earn him great merit.

Huang Xiao and Xuanzhenzi arrived in Huaqing City for Bai Tianqi’s birthday celebration, where the crowds forced them to settle for ordinary rooms. After Xuanzhenzi and Hu Guyi went to deliver their visiting cards, Huang Xiao set out to explore the city with Liu Dacheng and Hu Qingqing.

• Huang Xiao arrived in Huaqing City with Xuanzhenzi and saw that martial artists had crowded the city for Bai Tianqi’s birthday celebration.
• Hu Guyi discovered that Fortune Inn could only provide ordinary rooms, and Xuanzhenzi accepted the inconvenience.
• Xuanzhenzi explained to Huang Xiao why the Green Ox Gate had to attend the celebration and told him to avoid wandering alone.
• Xuanzhenzi and Hu Guyi went to deliver their visiting cards to the Huaqing Sect.
• Liu Dacheng and Hu Qingqing invited Huang Xiao to explore Huaqing City, and Hu Qingqing led them around as she browsed and bought things.

Huang Xiao, Hu Qingqing, and Liu Dacheng ate vegetarian food at a crowded restaurant in Huaqing City and overheard martial artists discussing Bai Tianqi’s birthday celebration. Hu Qingqing then encountered Zhang Long, the son of the Huaqing Sect’s acting leader, and introduced him to her companions.

• Hu Qingqing led Huang Xiao and Liu Dacheng to the popular Elegant Abode restaurant for lunch.
• Huang Xiao and Liu Dacheng agreed to order vegetarian dishes, and Hu Qingqing chose six dishes without wine.
• Huang Xiao listened as nearby martial artists compared Bai Tianqi’s birthday celebration with a grander one hosted by the Ten Thousand Blades Sect.
• Zhang Long greeted Hu Qingqing and explained that he was in the city purchasing supplies for his grandmaster’s celebration.
• Hu Qingqing introduced Zhang Long to Huang Xiao and Liu Dacheng, and she said Zhang Long’s father, Zhang Ming, was likely to become the Huaqing Sect’s next sect master.

Huang Xiao stayed behind when Zhang Long took Hu Qingqing and Liu Dacheng to another restaurant, then shared his table with a swordsman named Dugu Sheng. The two introduced themselves and began a friendly meal together.

• Zhang Long invited Hu Qingqing to dine elsewhere, and she agreed despite Liu Dacheng’s reluctance.
• Huang Xiao declined to join them, so Liu Dacheng paid for the meal and left with Hu Qingqing and Zhang Long.
• Huang Xiao reflected on Zhang Long as a rival for Hu Qingqing before the waiter brought the six vegetarian dishes he had ordered.
• Dugu Sheng, unable to find another table, asked to share Huang Xiao’s table, and Huang Xiao welcomed him.
• Dugu Sheng ordered more vegetarian dishes and wine, then introduced himself as being from Dugu Manor; Huang Xiao gave his Daoist name as Qingxiao and identified the Green Ox Gate.

Huang Xiao met Dugu Sheng and Wu Yong at an inn in Huaqing City, where Wu Yong proposed that the Heavenly Qilin Pawnshop partner with Dugu Bank. As Wu Yong departed, three young men challenged Dugu Sheng’s reputation by claiming saber techniques surpassed swordsmanship.

• Huang Xiao admitted he knew little about the martial world or Dugu Manor, and Dugu Sheng spoke dismissively of Bai Tianqi.
• Wu Yong, the Heavenly Qilin Pawnshop’s Youzhou manager, joined Dugu Sheng and Huang Xiao, and the guests recognized both men as prominent figures.
• Wu Yong learned Huang Xiao belonged to Green Ox Temple of the Green Ox Gate and told Dugu Sheng that the pawnshop wanted to establish a bank and was considering partnering with Dugu Bank.
• Dugu Sheng agreed to relay Wu Yong’s proposal to his father, Manor Lord Dugu, and Wu Yong prepared to leave.
• Three young men mocked Dugu Sheng’s swordsmanship and claimed saber techniques were superior, while Dugu Sheng calmly drank his wine.

Dugu Sheng clashed verbally with three Ten Thousand Blades Sect disciples over the rivalry between their blade and sword traditions and the Young Eagle Ranking. When one disciple tried to take a nearby table, Dugu Sheng struck all three with a palm and sent them crashing through the inn.

• Three Ten Thousand Blades Sect disciples mocked Dugu Sheng, who dismissed their senior brother Mu Qiang’s One Blade, Hundred Jins achievement as unimpressive.
• Wu Yong explained that Dugu Sheng had mastered the fourth form of the Nine Heavenly Sword Forms and that the Young Eagle Ranking honored ten young martial artists every five years.
• Dugu Sheng told the disciples to leave him alone, but one of them claimed a nearby table despite other guests already sitting there.
• Dugu Sheng struck the three disciples with a single palm technique, sending them flying into tables and chairs.

Wu Yong tracked down Huang San, who had pawned Huang Xiao’s jade thumb ring, and learned that Huang Xiao might not be the biological child of his elderly parents. He ordered a portrait made and continued the search for Huang Xiao, hoping to learn the truth about him.

• Dugu Sheng drove off the Ten Thousand Blades Sect disciples, thanked Qingxiao, and left without paying for his meal.
• Wu Yong learned from Old Yue that Chen Gui had verified the jade thumb ring and went with him to question its former owner.
• Huang San admitted that he had stolen the ring from Huang Xiao and pawned it for silver.
• Wu Yong learned that Huang Xiao was a sixteen-year-old licentiate whose elderly parents were rumored not to be his biological parents.
• Wu Yong ordered Old Yue to have Huang Xiao’s portrait made and use it to find him.

Huang Xiao and his companions were invited to the Huaqing Sect after Bai Tianqi summoned Xuanzhenzi and Hu Guyi. Bai Tianqi thanked Xuanzhenzi for the medicines Green Ox Gate had supplied, and his praise left the reason for the summons still unfolding.

• Huang Xiao told Xuanzhenzi that Liu Dacheng and Hu Qingqing had left with Zhang Long, a Huaqing Sect disciple.
• Zhang Long arrived with Hu Qingqing and Liu Dacheng and invited Xuanzhenzi to the Huaqing Sect at Bai Tianqi's request.
• Xuanzhenzi accepted the invitation, and Zhang Long also welcomed Huang Xiao and the others to stay at the sect.
• Zhang Ming greeted Xuanzhenzi at the Huaqing Sect and led him to a courtyard where Bai Tianqi and Hu Guyi were waiting.
• Bai Tianqi thanked Xuanzhenzi for the healing medicines and pills Green Ox Gate had supplied to the Huaqing Sect, praising their benefits to its disciples.

Hu Guyi revealed to Bai Tianqi that Xuanzhenzi could refine a first-grade Sixty-Year Pill, prompting Bai Tianqi to ask for one to help him reach the first-class realm. Xuanzhenzi realized that his past confidence to Hu Guyi had exposed him and could bring danger to him and the Green Ox Gate.

• Bai Tianqi praised Xuanzhenzi’s pill-refining skills, and Hu Guyi revealed that Xuanzhenzi was preparing Sixty-Year Pills.
• Zhang Ming learned why Hu Guyi had insisted on meeting Xuanzhenzi and understood the pill’s value in helping a second-class expert reach the first-class realm.
• Xuanzhenzi denied that he could refine a Sixty-Year Pill, but Bai Tianqi asked him to name any conditions for providing one.
• Hu Guyi urged Xuanzhenzi to give Bai Tianqi a pill, then admitted he wanted one because he had been unable to advance beyond the second-rate middle grade.
• Hu Guyi explained that Xuanzhenzi had told him five years earlier that Green Ox Gate sect leaders refined a first-grade pill for their successors, and Xuanzhenzi realized that disclosure had put his sect in danger.

Hu Guyi revealed that he had befriended Xuanzhenzi to learn about the Sixty-Year Pill, and Bai Tianqi demanded the pill for the Huaqing Sect. When Xuanzhenzi refused to surrender it, Zhang Ming and Hu Guyi attacked him, but he knocked them both flying without leaving his chair.

• Hu Guyi confessed that he had deceived Xuanzhenzi for years to discover when the Sixty-Year Pill would be ready.
• Xuanzhenzi denied knowing how to refine the Sixty-Year Pill but admitted that a first-grade pill was being refined in his secret chamber.
• Bai Tianqi threatened Xuanzhenzi and the Green Ox Gate unless Xuanzhenzi handed over the pill.
• Bai Tianqi ordered Zhang Ming and Hu Guyi to seize Xuanzhenzi after he refused to cooperate.
• Xuanzhenzi evaded their attack in his chair and kicked Zhang Ming and Hu Guyi, sending them flying.

Bai Tianqi confronted Xuanzhenzi over the Sixty-Year Pill, but Xuanzhenzi revealed cultivation above Zhang Ming’s and escaped with Huang Xiao. Bai Tianqi, Zhang Ming, and Hu Guyi caught up after Xuanzhenzi succumbed to Heart-Burning Powder, leaving him poisoned and cornered.

• Xuanzhenzi offered to double his pill supply, but Bai Tianqi demanded the Sixty-Year Pill and challenged him to fight.
• Xuanzhenzi fought off Bai Tianqi’s men, then fled the Huaqing Sect carrying Huang Xiao as Bai Tianqi and the others pursued them.
• Xuanzhenzi stumbled and coughed up black blood, revealing that his injuries had worsened during their escape.
• Bai Tianqi caught up with Xuanzhenzi and Huang Xiao, while Hu Guyi refused to help and urged Huang Xiao to accept the situation.
• Bai Tianqi revealed that he had poisoned Xuanzhenzi with Heart-Burning Powder, which he said would kill him before the day ended.

Xuanzhenzi fought Bai Tianqi, Zhang Ming, and Hu Guyi after learning that Hu Guyi had poisoned him with Heart-Burning Powder. He sent Huang Xiao to warn the Green Ox Temple, but Hu Guyi caught up with him as Xuanzhenzi was held back.

• Xuanzhenzi revealed that Heart-Burning Powder had no antidote outside Poison God Valley, and Hu Guyi admitted he had poisoned him at the Green Ox Gate.
• Xuanzhenzi attacked Hu Guyi and Zhang Ming, while Bai Tianqi ordered them to fight and waited for the poison to weaken Xuanzhenzi.
• Xuanzhenzi urged Huang Xiao to return to the Green Ox Temple and warn Qingfeng and the others to flee.
• Bai Tianqi sent Hu Guyi after Huang Xiao, and Xuanzhenzi blocked Hu Guyi while Bai Tianqi and Zhang Ming joined the fight.
• Hu Guyi caught up with Huang Xiao and asked whether he thought he could escape.

Hu Guyi attacked Huang Xiao and used him to force Xuanzhenzi to surrender, but Xuanzhenzi rescued his disciple and quickly disarmed and wounded Hu Guyi. As Bai Tianqi and Zhang Ming joined the fight, Huang Xiao struggled to suppress the foreign internal power ravaging his meridians.

• Hu Guyi struck Huang Xiao, leaving him gravely injured as his internal power rampaged through Huang Xiao's meridians.
• Hu Guyi seized Huang Xiao and threatened Xuanzhenzi, but Xuanzhenzi charged him and caught Huang Xiao when Hu Guyi threw him aside.
• Xuanzhenzi disarmed Hu Guyi with a blow to his wrist and kicked him away, prompting Hu Guyi to call for Bai Tianqi's help.
• Bai Tianqi and Zhang Ming faced Xuanzhenzi, who explained that opening his Ren and Du Meridians let him sustain his strength despite the poison.
• Huang Xiao realized he had absorbed Hu Guyi's incompatible internal power and worked to suppress it, feeling its assault on his meridians gradually weaken.

Xuanzhenzi used the Green Ox Gate’s secret art to strike Bai Tianqi with a blood-red ice crystal, then escaped with Huang Xiao while Bai Tianqi and his men hesitated. A mysterious middle-aged man appeared and identified Xuanzhenzi’s technique as the Poison God Valley’s Death Seal, questioning why its user had succumbed to Heart-Burning Powder.

• Xuanzhenzi weakened by Heart-Burning Powder fought off Bai Tianqi, Hu Guyi, and Zhang Ming until he could barely stand.
• Xuanzhenzi cut his palm and formed a blood-red ice crystal, which shot into Bai Tianqi’s forehead and made him scream.
• Xuanzhenzi seized the chance to reach Huang Xiao and flee, while Hu Guyi and Zhang Ming stayed back.
• Bai Tianqi recovered and ordered his men to pursue Xuanzhenzi, believing the strange current in his meridians had vanished.
• A middle-aged man appeared before Bai Tianqi, Hu Guyi, and Zhang Ming, saying Xuanzhenzi had used the Poison God Valley’s Death Seal and wondering why it had not countered the poison.

Bai Tianqi learned that Xuanzhenzi had struck him with Poison God Valley’s Death Seal and ordered his men to seize Green Ox Temple while he returned to the Huaqing Sect to enter seclusion. In Huaqing City, Wu Yong recognized Huang Xiao from a portrait, then welcomed the Dragon-Seeking Envoy, who was the man who had identified the Death Seal.

• The Dragon-Seeking Envoy explained that Xuanzhenzi had used a half-finished Death Seal and warned Bai Tianqi that its poison would be difficult to remove.
• Bai Tianqi ordered Zhang Ming and Hu Guyi to take control of Green Ox Temple and its Sixty-Year Pills, then returned to the Huaqing Sect and sent disciples to search for Xuanzhenzi and Huang Xiao.
• Wu Yong received a portrait of Huang Xiao, recognized him as the young Daoist Qingxiao he had met at the Elegant Abode, and set out to find him.
• The Dragon-Seeking Envoy arrived at Wu Yong’s manor, and Wu Yong greeted him as the altar master of the Youzhou Branch Altar.

The Dragon-Seeking Envoy and Wu Yong learned that Huang Xiao, the Jade Thumb Ring’s owner, had been gravely injured by the Huaqing Sect, and they hurried to find him while sending protection to his sect. At a ruined temple, Xuanzhenzi treated Huang Xiao’s injuries, discovering that Huang Xiao was absorbing his internal power as he healed.

• The Dragon-Seeking Envoy told Wu Yong that he had come to investigate clues Bai Tianqi of the Huaqing Sect had obtained about the Scripture of Great Peace, but the search for the Jade Thumb Ring’s owner now took priority.
• Wu Yong showed the Dragon-Seeking Envoy a portrait of Huang Xiao, whom the envoy recognized as the gravely injured young Daoist he had seen with the Huaqing Sect.
• The Dragon-Seeking Envoy and Wu Yong rushed to find Huang Xiao, and the envoy ordered Wu Yong to guard the Green Ox Gate against the Huaqing Sect.
• Xuanzhenzi carried Huang Xiao to a dilapidated temple thirty li away, where he began treating Huang Xiao’s damaged meridians and chaotic true qi.
• Xuanzhenzi discovered that Huang Xiao was absorbing his internal power and incorporating it into his own, while Huang Xiao felt his injuries begin to heal.

Huang Xiao’s meridians nearly burst as he involuntarily absorbed Xuanzhenzi’s Internal Power, but he used the Golden-Winged Roc’s breathing and a vision of his dantian as an endless sea to contain it. Xuanzhenzi stopped resisting and deliberately fed him more power, while Huang Xiao continued absorbing it.

• Xuanzhenzi’s Internal Power surged uncontrollably into Huang Xiao, leaving them unable to separate and putting Huang Xiao’s meridians in danger of rupturing.
• Xuanzhenzi feared he had doomed his disciple, but Huang Xiao reassured him that he held no resentment.
• As Huang Xiao faced death, memories of the Golden-Winged Roc’s breathing led him to imagine his dantian as the vast Northern Darkness gathering countless rivers.
• Huang Xiao imitated the Roc’s breathing and drew Internal Power from his meridians into his dantian, where it seemed to vanish without filling it.
• Xuanzhenzi realized Huang Xiao could contain the power and actively increased its flow, while Huang Xiao continued absorbing it.

Xuanzhenzi passed the Green Ox Gate leadership, its Death Seal technique, and his remaining internal power to Huang Xiao before dying. Huang Xiao buried his master and left, vowing to seek revenge only after he became strong enough.

• Xuanzhenzi died after transferring much of his internal power to Huang Xiao and teaching him the Death Seal.
• Xuanzhenzi named Huang Xiao the new Green Ox Gate sect leader, gave him the Sect Leader Token, and warned him not to return to Green Ox Temple or seek revenge yet.
• Huang Xiao buried Xuanzhenzi and vowed to avenge him when he had enough strength.
• Huang Xiao prayed that his three senior brothers would escape Bai Tianqi's attack and decided to avoid Green Ox Temple and the Huaqing Sect.
• Huang Xiao kowtowed before Xuanzhenzi's grave and resolutely departed.

Huang Xiao hid from the Huaqing Sect and took shelter in a dilapidated Daoist temple, where a mysterious woman sealed his acupoints and meditated beside him. After three lecherous pursuers revealed that they had poisoned her, she covered his eyes with a handkerchief, leaving Huang Xiao unable to see what she would do next.

• Huang Xiao traveled through the mountains at night and settled down to sleep in an abandoned Daoist temple.
• A woman in white appeared, sealed Huang Xiao's acupoints, and sat meditating beside him.
• The Three Flower-Picking Heroes searched nearby for the woman and bragged that they had poisoned her with Instant Bewitchment.
• The woman, already suffering from another poison, cursed Du Tianchou and tossed a handkerchief over Huang Xiao's eyes.

Huang Xiao’s internal power merged and grew stronger after an encounter with the poisoned Zhao Xin'er, who then moved to kill him. Du Tianchou interrupted her, and Zhao Xin'er turned to face him as he revealed his plan to obtain her and the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion’s Bliss Canon.

• Huang Xiao’s internal power merged rapidly, then flowed into Zhao Xin'er’s meridians and returned to him purer and more powerful.
• Zhao Xin'er stood over Huang Xiao, drew her sword, and prepared to thrust it into his chest.
• Du Tianchou entered the temple and taunted Zhao Xin'er about fleeing after being poisoned with Spirit-Transforming Powder.
• Zhao Xin'er confronted Du Tianchou, who admitted poisoning her and offered her an antidote in exchange for marrying him.
• Du Tianchou said he wanted Zhao Xin'er’s cultivation technique, the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion’s Bliss Canon.

Zhao Xin'er confronted Du Tianchou after recovering from the Spirit-Transforming Powder, while he tried to exploit the aphrodisiac poison he believed was affecting her. Huang Xiao listened from the inner room, unable to help as Zhao Xin'er launched her attack.

• Du Tianchou reflected on his plan to use Zhao Xin'er and the Bliss Canon to gain power and standing in the Peaceful Heaven Sect.
• Du Tianchou doubted that Zhao Xin'er had resisted the Spirit-Transforming Powder, but she said she had recovered enough to fight him.
• Du Tianchou tried to use the aphrodisiac poison as leverage, claiming she would need him to relieve its effects.
• Zhao Xin'er dismissed his claim and prepared to kill him.
• Huang Xiao realized Zhao Xin'er had been poisoned and worried about her, but his sealed acupoints left him unable to intervene.
• Zhao Xin'er attacked Du Tianchou in the outer hall.

Zhao Xin'er overwhelmed Du Tianchou and revealed that she had mastered the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion's Profound Yin Palm. The fight ended with Du Tianchou discovering Huang Xiao and exposing Zhao Xin'er's connection to him.

• Zhao Xin'er wounded Du Tianchou repeatedly while he mistook her strength for a temporary boost.
• Du Tianchou forcibly raised his power and tried to escape, but Zhao Xin'er revealed her profound internal power and used the Profound Yin Palm to blast him away.
• Zhao Xin'er pursued Du Tianchou and kicked him through a wall, leaving him badly injured.
• Du Tianchou spotted Huang Xiao lying nearby and realized Zhao Xin'er had given herself to him, then mocked her over the scandal.

Zhao Xin'er drove Du Tianchou off after he mocked her and threatened to expose what had happened, but he escaped by provoking her into destroying the temple. She spared Huang Xiao and left beneath the moonlight, burdened by the events of her journey.

• Du Tianchou mocked Zhao Xin'er and Huang Xiao, then offered to keep their encounter secret if Zhao Xin'er became his concubine.
• Zhao Xin'er struck Du Tianchou with the Profound Yin Palm, and he used the force of the blow to collapse the temple and escape.
• Zhao Xin'er realized Du Tianchou had provoked her to create a chance to flee, while Huang Xiao failed to find his trail.
• Zhao Xin'er struck Huang Xiao and ordered him to leave, and he dragged himself away without finishing what he had tried to say.
• Zhao Xin'er vented her anger by smashing a tree, retrieved her sword from the ruins, and vanished beneath the moonlight.

Huang Xiao reached Jin City hungry and penniless, where a Beggar Gang disciple named Hong Yi took him to Prince Jin’s Manor for Princess Yunya’s alms. Hong Yi introduced himself as a powerful Six-Bag Disciple, while Huang Xiao kept Zhao Xin’er’s kerchief hidden beneath his robes.

• After leaving the collapsed Taoist temple, Huang Xiao spent half a month crossing the mountains and emerged outside the Huaqing Sect’s territory.
• Unable to find work or food in the city, Huang Xiao sat down hungry until a beggar pulled him toward a crowd gathering for free alms.
• At Prince Jin’s Manor, Huang Xiao learned that Princess Yunya gave alms regularly and carried Zhao Xin’er’s kerchief close to his chest.
• The beggar introduced himself as Hong Yi, a Six-Bag Disciple of the Beggar Gang, and Huang Xiao gave his own name.

Huang Xiao accompanied Hong Yi to Princess Yunya’s residence, where Hong Yi received a jar of imperial wine and Huang Xiao observed the princess’s dealings with Beggar Gang leaders. The visit ended with Princess Yunya explaining that Liu Xia and his disciples belonged to the Rich Beggar Faction, leaving Huang Xiao with a clearer view of the gang’s internal divide.

• Hong Yi sensed Huang Xiao’s internal power, and Huang Xiao said he had learned martial arts from a deceased, unaffiliated master.
• Huang Xiao and Hong Yi saw Princess Yunya emerge from her residence, and Hong Yi accepted a jar of imperial wine from her.
• Liu Xia arrived with his disciples, received a pouch of money from Princess Yunya, and exchanged greetings with Hong Yi.
• After Liu Xia and his disciples left, Princess Yunya explained that they belonged to the Rich Beggar Faction, unlike Hong Yi’s Poor Beggar Faction.