Recaps

Zhang Jing declined to join Senior Brother Ding and the others in hunting Yaomo, choosing instead to open a talisman shop in Langya Commandery City’s Temporary Market. At a crowded stall, he traded valuable pills, talismans, and a Water Cloud Shield for a mist-root water spirit ginseng, then continued through the market with his prize.

• Zhang Jing told Senior Brother Ding, Senior Sister Tong, Senior Brother Zhou, and Senior Brother Xia that he would stay in the city to make and sell talismans rather than hunt Yaomo with them.
• The next morning, Zhang Jing saw the other four off and went to Bright Lamp Ward, where he found a bustling market filled with cultivators and Yaomo materials.
• Zhang Jing noticed a crowd pressuring a young woman to sell her mist-root water spirit ginseng for Spirit Stones.
• Zhang Jing examined the ginseng and offered the woman Purple Spirit Pills, ten Star-Attracting Talismans, five Scorching Sun Talismans, and a Water Cloud Shield in exchange.
• The woman accepted Zhang Jing’s offer and hurried away with the items, while Zhang Jing continued through the market carrying the mist-root water spirit ginseng.

Zhang Jing opened his talisman shop on Twin Phoenix Street and welcomed a neighboring alchemist who congratulated him and gave him ten Purple Spirit Pills. After using mist-root water spirit ginseng to advance his cultivation, Zhang Jing estimated that he would reach the Middle Qi Refining Realm within three days.

• Zhang Jing set up his shop with higher vehicle quality talismans, priced them above the Dao Academy's rates, and advertised a 20% discount for payments in Demon Cores.
• Senior Brother He, the alchemist running the Spirit Pill Cottage next door, visited to congratulate Zhang Jing and gave him a Communication Talisman and ten Purple Spirit Pills.
• Zhang Jing received no customers on his first day and cultivated with a stalk of mist-root water spirit ginseng that night.
• Zhang Jing found that the ginseng had greatly accelerated his cultivation and concluded that three more days of cultivating with Purple Spirit Pills would bring him to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Zhang Jing opened a talisman shop and attracted customers with higher-quality talismans and a discount for demon cores. After a group of rogue cultivators traded a core for talismans, their leader sent them to find more cores before the three-day offer ended.

• Zhang Jing crafted seven Star-Attracting Talismans before dawn.
• Four rogue cultivators entered Twin Phoenix Street and noticed Zhang Jing’s new shop and its demon-core discount.
• A Dao Academy cultivator bought several talismans at full price after discovering they were higher quality than those sold elsewhere in the market.
• The four rogue cultivators exchanged a Qi Refining Third Layer demon core worth about thirteen Dao Merit for talismans at a twenty-percent discount.
• The rogue cultivators realized they could profit by finding more demon cores and split up to search for them before Zhang Jing’s three-day offer expired.

Zhang Jing’s talisman shop prospered, and he promised a cultivator middle-grade talismans in exchange for a valuable Demon Core once he could make them. He broke through to the fourth Qi Refining layer and completed two Source Talismans, while rival Talisman Masters decided to undercut his prices.

• Zhang Jing counted his profits and Demon Cores, estimating that selling talismans and hunting demons could earn him over a thousand Dao Merit each month.
• A customer with a Qi Refining sixth-layer Demon Core rejected Zhang Jing’s lower-grade talismans, so Zhang Jing offered to provide middle-grade ones in a few days while keeping the exchange discount.
• Zhang Jing broke through to the fourth Qi Refining layer and saw that his cultivation technique was close to leveling up.
• Zhang Jing completed two Source Talismans in his Talisman-Making Room.
• A group of Talisman Masters discussed harming Zhang Jing but decided instead to lower their prices and drive his shop out of the market.

Zhang Jing used his Source Talismans to produce nearly one hundred talismans, rapidly increasing his Ninefold Evolution Spirit Star Talisman Canon experience and strengthening his sense of security. Meanwhile, Chu Lingyun and Deng An learned that a new shop on Twin Phoenix Street had forced other talisman sellers to cut prices, and they approached it.

• Zhang Jing used his Source Talismans to print nearly one hundred talismans and discovered his Ninefold Evolution Spirit Star Talisman Canon had gained almost one hundred experience points.
• Zhang Jing examined his Five-Law Spirit River and felt more secure with its twenty-four Law Technique Fish and his stored talismans.
• Chu Lingyun told Deng An that rumors about lower-grade Talisman Masters leaving the marketplace were false and that they had cut prices because of a new shop.
• Chu Lingyun led Deng An to Twin Phoenix Street, where he saw the quiet two-story shop called 'This Is a Talisman Shop' and Chu Lingyun walked toward its entrance.

Zhang Jing welcomed Chu Lingyun and Deng An to his talisman shop, accepted their demon cores, and remained unconcerned as rival shops cut prices. Later, Senior Brother Yan revealed that the mysterious talisman master was Zhang Jing, prompting speculation that the Inner Academy would recruit him.

• Chu Lingyun and Deng An discovered that Zhang Jing owned the shop and assumed he had connections to a powerful talisman master.
• Zhang Jing agreed to exchange Chu Lingyun's demon cores for talismans at the discounted rate, including future batches.
• After they left, Zhang Jing counted fifteen early Qi Refining demon cores and decided he needed to make middle-grade talismans.
• Zhang Jing dismissed the rival shops' price cuts and left his shop, relying on a spiritual-power restriction to protect it.
• At a gathering in the Langya Commandery Prefecture, Senior Brother Yan identified Zhang Jing as a new Luodu Squad member, and the others predicted the Inner Academy would take interest in him.

After breaking through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, Zhang Jing obtained middle-grade spirit paper from Senior Brother Yan and successfully began making middle-grade talismans. He discovered his success rate was about thirty percent, then met a familiar woman at the shop who asked whether he still wanted Mist-Root Water Spirit Ginseng.

• Zhang Jing accidentally smashed Senior Brother Yan's bronze doors and revealed that he had broken through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
• Senior Brother Yan told Zhang Jing that two other cultivators had entered the fifth layer and gained recognition on the front lines.
• Zhang Jing requested and received a hundred sheets of middle-grade spirit paper, and Senior Brother Yan suggested he could seek high-grade demon cores from Senior Brother Li.
• Zhang Jing used his Crimson Spirit Light and Mind's Eye Dao Seed to complete a Heavy Star Talisman, then estimated his middle-grade talisman success rate at thirty percent.
• A familiar woman arrived at Zhang Jing's shop and asked whether he still needed Mist-Root Water Spirit Ginseng.

Pei Xiaoshuang told Zhang Jing about a hidden place filled with spirit medicines and asked him to promise her a disciple slot at the Dao Academy in exchange. After hearing her account of the dangerous site, Zhang Jing swore to grant her a slot if her information proved true.

• Pei Xiaoshuang exchanged two fifty-year-old stalks of mist-root water spirit ginseng with Zhang Jing for Purple Spirit Pills and talismans.
• Pei Xiaoshuang revealed that she had found a hidden place containing hundreds of spirit medicines guarded by a terrifying Deer Demon.
• Pei Xiaoshuang asked Zhang Jing to promise her a disciple slot at the Dao Academy in exchange for the location.
• Zhang Jing questioned Pei Xiaoshuang about the site, the medicines, and whether anyone else knew about it.
• Zhang Jing swore upon his Dao Heart to grant Pei Xiaoshuang a disciple slot if her information was true.

Zhang Jing investigated the hidden spirit medicine cavern and found it guarded by a white deer nearing late Qi Refining, so he left without disturbing it. Back at his shop, Senior Brother He delivered an invitation to an internal exchange meeting scheduled for the following evening.

• Pei Xiaoshuang gave Zhang Jing the address of the spirit medicines and asked him to beware of the demon deer.
• Zhang Jing found the cavern and its abundant spirit medicines, but judged the powerful white deer too dangerous to confront without destroying the herbs.
• Zhang Jing returned to his shop and considered asking a late Qi Refining cultivator to help, though he worried about sharing the inheritance’s value.
• Senior Brother He visited Zhang Jing, teased him about being called the Plague God, and gave him an invitation to an internal exchange meeting.
• Zhang Jing learned the meeting would take place the next evening at the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion in the southern city.

Zhang Jing experienced a sudden enlightenment while cultivating with mist-root water spirit ginseng, raising the Five Viscera Water-Origin Guiding Commentary to level six and gaining the Five-Treasure Spirit River trait. He spent the day preparing Middle-Grade Talismans for the trading gathering, which began that evening at the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion.

• Zhang Jing decided to cultivate before making more talismans and used the mist-root water spirit ginseng to advance the Five Viscera Water-Origin Guiding Commentary.
• Zhang Jing contemplated the nature of water and suddenly entered an enlightened state, pushing his skill to level six and advancing his cultivation toward Qi Refining fifth layer.
• Zhang Jing learned that the Five-Treasure Spirit River could wield five Law Artifacts together but would consume enormous spiritual power.
• Zhang Jing spent the day making Middle-Grade Talismans to prepare for the trading gathering.
• Cultivators gathered around the brightly lit Hidden Fragrance Pavilion as powerful Dao Academy cultivators began arriving for the trading gathering.

Zhang Jing attended the Dao Academy’s fourth internal trading gathering, where he watched the auction and discovered that he owned Spirit Divine Liquid like the rare batch that sold for 1,100 Dao Merit. He left realizing his own full tael could earn him 2,200 Dao Merit.

• Onlookers identified Zhang Jing as the Plague God, while Tong Yao and Senior Brother Ding recognized how far he had advanced in only a few months.
• Zhang Jing entered the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion, greeted Senior Brother He and Shen Qingqing, and took a seat near the back.
• Liu Nanshu began the gathering’s auction, and Zhang Jing watched without bidding because he lacked Dao Merit.
• Zhang Jing considered buying the top-grade Yellow Dragon Whip for his Five-Treasure Spirit River but abandoned the idea when its price rose beyond his means.
• When Liu Nanshu auctioned five qian of Spirit Divine Liquid, Zhang Jing recognized its fragrance and found that he had a full tael stored away.
• A senior brother bought the auctioned Spirit Divine Liquid for 1,100 Dao Merit, leading Zhang Jing to calculate that his own supply could sell for 2,200 Dao Merit.

During the internal trading gathering, Zhang Jing traded Spirit Divine Liquid for a powerful water-aspect Law Artifact and turned down Senior Brother Gou’s attempt to exploit his Demon Core cleansing method. The chapter ended with Liu Nanshu asking whether Zhang Jing still had Spirit Divine Liquid.

• Zhang Jing offered purified Demon Cores and talismans for trade, then exchanged two qian of Spirit Divine Liquid for the Netherwater Flood Dragon Soul Bell.
• Senior Brother Gou asked Zhang Jing to partner with him or hand over his method for cleansing Demon Cores, but Zhang Jing declined.
• Senior Brother Yan intervened when Senior Brother Gou refused to leave, then told Zhang Jing that Senior Brother Li would have fine middle-grade Law Artifacts available.
• Zhang Jing reunited with Liu Nanshu, Senior Brother He, and Shen Qingqing, and learned that few Alchemists had attended the gathering.
• Liu Nanshu asked Zhang Jing whether he still had any Spirit Divine Liquid and offered to pay a high price for it.

Zhang Jing traded Spirit Divine Liquid to Liu Nanshu for a Qi Refining ninth layer Demon Core, bringing his estimated wealth close to the amount needed for an upper-grade inheritance. After several quiet days of business and preparations, he set out to visit Senior Brother Li, hoping to trade for another powerful Demon Core and the remaining Law Artifacts for his Five-Treasure Spirit River.

• Liu Nanshu offered Zhang Jing a Qi Refining ninth layer Demon Core in exchange for four mace of Spirit Divine Liquid, and he accepted the trade.
• Senior Brother Yan told Zhang Jing that Senior Brother Li should return in seven days and reminded him to come discuss his middle-grade spirit paper allocation.
• Zhang Jing calculated that his talismans, purified Demon Cores, and medicinal garden were worth at least eight thousand Dao Merit, leaving him close to exchanging for an upper-grade inheritance.
• Zhang Jing traded talismans to a senior brother, gave Pei Xiaoshuang a marked Communication Talisman for a future summons, and sold discounted talismans to Senior Brother Ding and his companions.
• After noticing that Demon Core sales had dwindled, Zhang Jing concluded that the demonic upheaval in Langya was nearly over and went to visit Senior Brother Li.

Zhang Jing learned from Senior Brother Li that Langya would soon become a battlefield for powerful cultivators and was urged to leave. Before returning to the Dao Academy, he bought four offensive Law Artifacts and began adding his Netherwater Flood Dragon Soul Bell to the Five-Treasure Spirit River.

• Zhang Jing visited the injured Senior Brother Li, who warned that Inner Academy members would arrive in ten days to half a month and told him to leave Langya soon.
• Zhang Jing asked to trade Spirit Divine Liquid for late Qi Refining Demon Cores, but Senior Brother Li had none and suggested checking the squad's resource repository.
• Zhang Jing bought the Azure Light Banner, Mountain-Weight Seal, Dark Gold Heavy Mace, and Nine-Flame Bottle from Senior Brother Li for two hundred and thirty Dao Merit.
• After returning to the talisman shop, Zhang Jing summoned the Five-Treasure Spirit River and began placing his Netherwater Flood Dragon Soul Bell inside it.

Zhang Jing discovered that Demon Cores could power and refine the Five-Treasure Spirit River, allowing him to cultivate faster. After breaking through to the qi refining fifth layer, he left Langya Commandery City to deal with the white deer.

• Zhang Jing tested the Five-Treasure Spirit River with five Law Artifacts and found that one full-power attack nearly emptied his spiritual power.
• He discovered that the spirit river could absorb spiritual qi from Spirit Stones, but the process was too slow to rely on them.
• Zhang Jing fed a Demon Core into the spirit river and found that its spiritual qi powered the artifacts while purified qi flowed into his body.
• He used a qi refining sixth layer Demon Core to cultivate and changed his plan to break through before confronting the white deer.
• Two days later, Zhang Jing emerged from This Is a Talisman Shop at the qi refining fifth layer and flew southeast of Langya Commandery City on a Spirit Crane.

Zhang Jing returned to his hidden herb garden while evading a pursuer, then faced a gray-robed man demanding the Crimson Millstone. Gou Sheng appeared to bargain for Zhang Jing’s Demon Core Purification Method, but the gray-robed man attacked him with a deadly bone whistle.

• Zhang Jing sensed that someone was following him and slipped into the Black River to reach his herb garden unseen.
• Zhang Jing confirmed the Demon Deer had not yet completed its breakthrough and prepared his Five-Treasure Spirit River as the gray-robed man entered the cave.
• The gray-robed man demanded the Crimson Millstone, while Zhang Jing stalled and realized another person was concealed nearby.
• Gou Sheng revealed himself and offered to protect Zhang Jing in exchange for the Demon Core Purification Method.
• The gray-robed man blew a bone whistle, broke through Gou Sheng’s defenses, and covered his face with gray-black markings.

Zhang Jing killed the gray-robed man with the full power of his Five-Treasure Spirit River, then spared the white deer after it begged to become his mount. Lu Thirty-Eight revealed that a treasure beneath the medicinal garden enabled its spirit medicines to thrive.

• Zhang Jing unleashed the Five-Treasure Spirit River and killed the gray-robed man, whose defenses and Law Artifacts were destroyed.
• Zhang Jing took Senior Brother Gou's Storage Bag, burned both corpses, and approached the medicinal garden.
• Lu Thirty-Eight awoke, pleaded for its life, and offered to become Zhang Jing's mount.
• Zhang Jing asked Lu Thirty-Eight about its abilities, and the deer explained that it could identify spirit medicines and had cultivated the garden.
• Lu Thirty-Eight revealed that its ancestor Lu Eleven had found a treasure beneath the garden that kept the spirit medicines growing.

Zhang Jing accepted Lu Thirty-Eight as his mount and harvested the spirit medicines in its garden, then discovered a mysterious, incredibly heavy silk fragment that absorbed spiritual power and could not be stored. He left the cave with Lu Thirty-Eight, promising to find it a size-changing technique.

• Zhang Jing agreed to try taking Lu Thirty-Eight as his mount, and Lu Thirty-Eight began calling him lord.
• Lu Thirty-Eight dug up and sorted around a hundred spirit medicines, including twenty-three water-affinity medicines that Zhang Jing hoped to use for cultivation and Dao Merit.
• Lu Thirty-Eight uncovered a five-colored silk fragment that drew in five-element spiritual qi from the earth veins, explaining the garden's unusual abundance of spirit medicines.
• Zhang Jing struggled to lift the fragment, found that it absorbed his spiritual sense and spiritual power, and discovered that neither his Storage Bag nor Spirit Pendant Space could contain it.
• Zhang Jing had Lu Thirty-Eight carry the fragment out through the narrow cave entrance and offered to look for a technique to change its size.

Zhang Jing returned toward Langya Commandery City on Lu Thirty-Eight after discovering that his Spirit Crane had been burned to ashes. At the north gate, Senior Brother Luo attacked the approaching Demon Deer, but its ice-blue defenses stopped his hammer strike.

• Zhang Jing found his Spirit Crane reduced to ashes and suspected that Senior Brother Gou or the gray-robed man had killed it.
• Zhang Jing rode Lu Thirty-Eight toward Langya Commandery City and urged the mount to fly higher despite its fear of heights.
• Two cultivators at the city’s north gate spotted the approaching Demon Deer and called for Senior Brother Luo.
• Senior Brother Luo sent the two cultivators away and hurled his hammer at the Demon Deer with a Secret Method.
• The Demon Deer blocked the hammer with layers of ice-blue spiritual light, leaving Senior Brother Luo stunned.

Zhang Jing entered Langya Commandery City on Lu Thirty-Eight, whose lack of a Spirit Beast Ring nearly caused a fight at the gate. After reaching his shop, Zhang Jing found Senior Brother Ding and Tong Yao gravely injured, and his expression turned cold.

• Senior Brother Luo mistook Lu Thirty-Eight for a threat, but Zhang Jing appeared and explained that the encounter was a misunderstanding.
• Senior Brother Luo recognized Zhang Jing, apologized for nearly attacking his mount, and invited him to visit his shop to trade for Demon Cores.
• Zhang Jing rode Lu Thirty-Eight into the city as cultivators watched in awe, while Lu Thirty-Eight begged him to buy a Spirit Beast Ring for protection.
• Zhang Jing spotted Senior Brother Ding and Tong Yao waiting outside his shop, both badly injured, and his smile vanished as he approached.

Zhang Jing told Senior Brother Ding and Tong Yao that he had killed the gray-robed cultivator and revealed his breakthrough to the Qi Refining fifth layer. After preparing to return to the Dao Academy and learning he could qualify as a Luodu Squad manager, he was awakened by a huge fiery disturbance over Langya Commandery City.

• Zhang Jing confirmed the gray-robed cultivator had attacked Senior Brother Ding and the others, then revealed that he had killed him and reached the Qi Refining fifth layer.
• Lu Thirty-Eight broke the shop doors while entering, and Zhang Jing made him guard the entrance as he went to notify Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Yan of his departure.
• Senior Brother Li told Zhang Jing to meet the Luodu Squad captain at Luodu Tower and apply to become a squad manager, citing his cultivation and middle-grade talisman success rate.
• That night, Zhang Jing saw a scarlet giant draw a bow and shoot a flaming arrow into the sky, setting the clouds ablaze.

As a battle devastated Langya Commandery, Zhang Jing fled with Lu Thirty-Eight and narrowly avoided a deadly trace of Dao Rhyme left by the fighting. Three days later, they reached Dragon Marsh Lake, where Zhang Jing considered Lu Thirty-Eight’s needs and asked about his innate cultivation abilities.

• Zhang Jing packed his belongings and ordered Lu Thirty-Eight to carry him away from Langya Commandery, steering clear of the battle’s aftershocks.
• Zhang Jing stopped Lu Thirty-Eight before a dangerous trench, but a Late Qi Refining cultivator crossed it and was reduced to rotten bones by the lingering Dao Rhyme.
• Zhang Jing warned others about the trench and kept his Mind’s Eye Dao Seed active as they traveled nearly a thousand miles from Langya Commandery City before flying out of Yun Province.
• Three days later, Zhang Jing and Lu Thirty-Eight reached Dragon Marsh Lake, where Lu Thirty-Eight asked for a Life-Saving Ring and land to grow spirit medicine.
• Zhang Jing learned that Lu Thirty-Eight had no cultivation method and had been born able to absorb spiritual energy, tread on water, and ride the wind.

After bringing Lu Thirty-Eight to his spacious cave abode, Zhang Jing met Luodu Squad Captain Li, who tested whether Zhang Jing could reach the Qi Refining Tenth Layer within fifteen months. Li then began explaining the coming Myriad Gods Lesser Void Heaven and hinted that he was prepared to bear the consequences of involving Zhang Jing.

• Zhang Jing brought Lu Thirty-Eight into his cave abode and showed him the Spirit Beast Room and Spirit Plant Room.
• Zhang Jing promised Lu Thirty-Eight cultivation resources, a spirit-medicine island, and the prospect of becoming an immortal's mount if he worked hard.
• Zhang Jing went to Luodu Tower, where Captain Li considered Zhang Jing a promising candidate for the Myriad Gods Lesser Void Heaven.
• Li asked whether Zhang Jing could reach the Qi Refining Tenth Layer within fifteen months if given sufficient resources, and Zhang Jing confidently agreed.
• Li said he believed Zhang Jing and would take responsibility if the Inner Academy blamed him, then asked whether Zhang Jing knew about the Myriad Gods Lesser Void Heaven.

Zhang Jing learned that Myriad Gods Lesser Void Heaven would open in seventeen months and could help cultivators build superior Dao foundations. Senior Brother Li pledged to support Zhang Jing’s cultivation so he could reach the Qi Refining tenth layer and enter, leaving Zhang Jing determined to seize the opportunity.

• Senior Brother Li gave Zhang Jing a jade slip describing Myriad Gods Lesser Void Heaven and explained its importance to Dao foundations.
• Senior Brother Li told Zhang Jing that the Heaven would open in seventeen months and that Coiling Dragon and Rosy Clouds were racing to prepare Chen Xiandao and Shen Qingqing to enter.
• Senior Brother Li asked whether Zhang Jing was confident he could reach the Qi Refining tenth layer, and Zhang Jing vowed not to disappoint him.
• Senior Brother Li excused Zhang Jing from Dao Academy missions and promised him thirty Water Origin Pills each month, plus guidance with cultivation difficulties.
• Zhang Jing returned to his cave abode and told Lu Thirty-Eight he had not bought the Life-Saving Ring.

Zhang Jing planned to exchange resources for an Upper-Grade Inheritance and build up his cultivation before the Myriad Gods Lesser Void Heaven opened. At the Luodu Squad resource repository, he learned that purified Demon Cores could fetch twice the price of ordinary ones.

• Zhang Jing resolved to sell unneeded spirit medicines and purified Demon Cores to earn Dao Merit for an Upper-Grade Inheritance.
• Zhang Jing planned to become a Manager so he could obtain water-aspect resources cheaply and issue missions to collect more.
• Lu Thirty-Eight reminded Zhang Jing about his Life-Saving Ring and explained he was planting spirit medicines in the spirit plant room.
• Zhang Jing visited the Luodu Squad resource repository to sell resources and learned its attendant belonged to the Thousand Techniques Pavilion.
• The old man offered to buy Zhang Jing's purified Demon Cores for twice the price of ordinary Demon Cores of the same level.