Recaps

Huang Xiao and the others uncovered the Seven Spirit Blades’ secret and set out toward Yama Ridge, while a Khitan invasion forced Hong Yi and Liaochen to defend Great Song’s border pass. The arc ended with Dalha challenging Hong Yi as Habibullah faced Liaochen and Meng Jiu.

• Huang Xiao kept Dugu Sheng’s uncertain fate from Yan Xi and reunited with Zhao Xin'er, Zhao Yunhui, You Lian'er, and Xiao Yan in Kaifeng.
• Old Sun and Duan Siping warned Huang Xiao that Wu Longfeng would come to claim the Seven Spirit Blades’ secret, and Old Sun revealed that Ling Tianya could not leave Khitan.
• Huang Xiao, Old Sun, Duan Siping, and Tong Jiuyang met Wu Longfeng at Rising Dragon Slope, where the gathered blade holders assembled all seven blades on the Seven-Spirit Disc.
• Wan Qingteng spotted faint markings on the disc, and the group placed the blades in their correct slots to reveal a map pointing to Yama Ridge.
• Wu Longfeng and the other blade holders prepared to travel to Gaozhou, while Old Sun warned the defenders in Kaifeng that Wu Longfeng and Tuoba Xiongzhen might attack the city.
• Hong Yi and Liaochen led Jianghu fighters to the border pass after Zhao Yuankan reported that two hundred thousand Khitan troops were marching south.
• Hong Yi exposed Commander Liu’s plot to open the pass gates for Xiao Dalin, and General Yang arrested Liu as the Khitan army began its siege.
• Hong Yi and Liaochen fought Khitan and Black Fire Sect experts on the walls, while Dalha challenged Hong Yi and assigned Liaochen and Meng Jiu to face Habibullah.

Hong Yi and Dugu Sheng helped repel the Khitan assault, while Huang Xiao and his companions uncovered the Seven Spirit Blades’ hidden valley and faced a conspiracy among the martial experts. The battles against Tuoba Ao and his allies continued, with Mu Jingfei finally gaining the upper hand against Gui Jiu.

• Hong Yi used a forbidden art against Dalha until Dugu Sheng arrived, suppressed Hong Yi’s rampaging energy, and wounded Dalha, who escaped over the city wall.
• After the Khitan forces withdrew, General Yang ordered the wounded treated and prepared to retreat toward Chanzhou City, while Dalhe heard how Dalha and Habibullah had been defeated.
• Huang Xiao and his companions found the underground chamber, assembled the Seven-Spirit Disc, and used its moonlit transformation to open a gate into a secluded valley.
• Wu Longfeng and Tuoba Xiongzhen joined forces against Old Sun’s group, and Tuoba Xiongzhen was exposed as Tuoba Ao, who had survived for generations using the Everlasting Spring Youth-Restoring Art.
• Tuoba Ao revealed that he had deceived Youwan, caused her death, and killed Cao Wuxin, then fought Old Sun and Fang Chongyi as the rival groups clashed around them.
• Tong Jiuyang and Wan Qingteng traded heavy blows, while Huang Xiao struggled against Wu Longfeng and Tuoba Ao battered Fang Chongyi and Sun Simiao.
• Gui Jiu gained the advantage over Mu Jingfei with his deathly true qi and White Bone Ghost Claw, but Mu Jingfei suddenly stopped retreating, evaded Gui Jiu’s attack, and struck his waist.

Ling Tianya and Sun Simiao helped defeat Tuoba Ao, but Tuoba Ao rose again after revealing his true strength and attacked the survivors. Qingfeng arrived to confront him, then revealed the deception behind his show of power as Old Sun began a plan that depended on Huang Xiao.

• Mu Jingfei, Fang Chongyi, and Sun Simiao fought Tuoba Ao until Ling Tianya revealed himself as Gui Jiu, whom he and Sun Simiao had killed a year earlier.
• Ling Tianya and Sun Simiao battled Tuoba Ao, and Sun Simiao weakened him by striking his vital acupoints before Tuoba Ao ruptured them to surge in power.
• Ling Tianya fought Tuoba Ao until his strength faded and he collapsed, while Old Sun stopped the injured Ling Tianya from joining Huang Xiao against Wu Longfeng.
• Mu Jingfei and Tong Jiuyang fought Wan Qingteng, while Huang Xiao, Ling Tianya, and Old Sun attacked Wu Longfeng and Huang Xiao drained his Taixuan True Qi.
• Wu Longfeng and Wan Qingteng gained the upper hand, but Tuoba Ao's corpse rose again, and he killed Fang Chongyi before revealing his breakthrough and the scriptures he had fused.
• Tuoba Ao defeated Wu Longfeng and revealed his plan to restore Northern Wei, control the Imperial Court and Jianghu, and destroy the Taixuan Sect, but Qingfeng arrived to face him.
• Qingfeng used his control of the power of heaven and earth to force Tuoba Ao back to the ground, then killed Wan Qingteng and gave the Ageless Crystal to Old Sun.
• Qingfeng coughed up blood, and Old Sun revealed that Qingfeng had used an empty city stratagem to lure Tuoba Ao into the formation before beginning a plan that depended on Huang Xiao.

Huang Xiao underwent a second Rejuvenation to prepare for Tuoba Ao, then stayed behind with his allies when Tuoba Ao escaped the formation. After a desperate battle, Huang Xiao broke through to the Half-Step Martial Realm and gained the upper hand with several techniques, but Tuoba Ao activated Demon Ghost Possession and Huang Xiao faced another life-or-death gamble.

• Huang Xiao chose to undergo the second Rejuvenation despite Ling Tianya’s objections, absorbed the Ageless Crystal’s life essence, and succeeded with Old Sun’s help, though he could not break through to the Half-Step Martial Realm.
• Tuoba Ao escaped the formation and reached the Thatched Hut, where he found Li Taibai’s message telling him to go back, then survived a Phoenix Feather attack by using his three lives.
• As the formation collapsed, Old Sun fell after transferring his cultivation to Huang Xiao, who refused to flee and stayed with Qingfeng and the others to face Tuoba Ao.
• Tuoba Ao overwhelmed the elders and fought Huang Xiao, who used Heavenly Demon Disintegration and the Northern Darkness Absorption Method before shattering his Dantian to unleash its stored True Qi.
• Huang Xiao’s shattered meridians began rebuilding under Tuoba Ao’s pressure, and he broke through to the Half-Step Martial Realm, dispelling Tuoba Ao’s control of Heaven and Earth Momentum.
• Huang Xiao matched Tuoba Ao with the Yin-Yang Mysterious Union Palm, Nine-Turn Heaven and Earth, and other techniques, repeatedly redirecting or returning Tuoba Ao’s force.
• Tuoba Ao activated Demon Ghost Possession, and Huang Xiao’s attempt to absorb his corrosive True Qi damaged his meridians and dantian, leaving Huang Xiao to retreat and stake his life on his next move.