Recaps

Hou Niao was captured by Quanzhen Sect cultivators after their fight in White Poplar Forest and taken to their home base. Seeing the community’s warmth and prosperity, he questioned how he could carry out his undercover mission against them.

• A pale-faced scholar struck down a man climbing Hou Niao’s tree, and the ensuing battle ended with the Quanzhen Sect group defeating their opponents as several fled.
• The Quanzhen Sect members freed Hou Niao and decided to take him with them, identifying him as a minor Daoist Sect cultivator.
• Junior Brother Liang carried Hou Niao as the four cultivators ran for hours using an unusual technique that kept one foot on the ground.
• The group reached a prosperous settlement where locals greeted them warmly and children asked for sweets.
• Hou Niao recognized that the residents’ genuine happiness would make his undercover mission difficult and wondered whether the distinction between demonic and Daoist factions was so clear.

Hou Niao explored Right River Town, learned that the Sword Abode guarded the settlement, and used its reputation to buy food and supplies on credit. He returned to the Sword Abode, where Liang asked whose tab he had charged.

• The four men left Hou Niao at the Sword Abode and told him to wash at the pond below Tiger Hill.
• Hou Niao searched the empty Sword Abode, washed himself, and put on white robes he had taken from it.
• Hungry, Hou Niao went to a noodle shop and learned about Right River Town and the Sword Abode's role as its guardian.
• Hou Niao tried to charge his meal to Bear Liang, then bought clothes, a saber, snacks, and dried meat on credit.
• Hou Niao returned to the Sword Abode, and when Liang asked whose tab he had used, Hou Niao brushed off the question.

After questioning Hou Niao, the four masters of Right River Town accepted his explanation and let him stay in the Sword Abode while they checked his background. As he learned about the Demonic Sect’s close involvement in worldly affairs and watched the patrol masters train and fight monsters, he waited for confirmation so he could travel to Jincheng.

• Pang, Lu, Luo, and Liang questioned Hou Niao about his origins and the supplies he carried, then introduced themselves by their proper names.
• Hou Niao settled into the Sword Abode and explored Right River Town while cultivating and learning about the Shan Kingdom’s cultivation forces.
• Hou Niao learned that the four masters served in Right River Town’s Territorial Patrol Guard, which dealt with monsters beyond the town.
• Hou Niao concluded that the patrol masters were investigating his background and that he would travel to Jincheng once they verified his story.
• Hou Niao watched the patrol masters return from dangerous work and practice swordplay and combat through the night.

Hou Niao tried cultivating two Dantians at once and discovered that, unlike other cultivators, he could do so without conflict, though the increased spiritual energy had an unexplained destination. His Qi Gathering accelerated, bringing intense pain as his body rapidly underwent remodeling.

• Hou Niao sought ways to speed up his cultivation despite lacking pills, Spirit Stones, and guidance.
• He added Joining the Same, Tracing the Source to Dragon-Tiger Convergence, attempting to cultivate the Middle and Lower Dantians simultaneously.
• Hou Niao found that the two methods did not hinder each other, though his cultivation speed increased by only a few tenths rather than doubling.
• He deduced that the changes began when his Soul Root left his body on the Sacrificial Altar, and accepted that his unusual good fortune might carry a cost.
• Vast amounts of spiritual energy surged into Hou Niao, rapidly remodeling his body and subjecting him to severe pain.

Hou Niao learned what Quanzhen Sect sought in new disciples and prepared to travel to Jincheng with Third Master Luo for the admission trial. After the four gentlemen explained the sect’s sword-courage requirement and warned him about its nature, they gave him a sword before he left.

• Master Pang told Hou Niao that Quanzhen Sect had approved his eligibility to apply and that Third Master Luo would take him to Jincheng.
• Hou Niao shared a farewell toast with the four gentlemen and asked them to explain Quanzhen’s rules for admitting disciples.
• Master Pang and Second Master Lu explained that Quanzhen judged applicants by sword courage rather than age, talent, or cultivation.
• Scholar Luo warned that sword courage was not the same as murderous intent and that Quanzhen could include both sincere disciples and dangerous people.
• Fourth Master Liang urged Hou Niao not to worry about whether he would be accepted, and Boss Pang gave him a Jiangyou-forged sword as compensation for the White Poplar Forest affair.

Hou Niao left Right River Town for Jincheng, refusing an escort so he could establish himself in Quanzhen on his own merits. He arrived at dusk and entered a courtyard to begin the sect’s assessment.

• Hou Niao found pills, talismans, and Daoist books left for him, then declined Scholar Luo’s offer to escort him and rode away alone.
• Second Master Lu judged Hou Niao’s motives and prospects harshly, while Scholar Luo predicted he would enter Quanzhen and do well.
• Hou Niao traveled safely to Jincheng, reflecting on the shared nature of the Daoist and demonic paths and on his need to settle his heart in Quanzhen.
• Wang Daoist recognized Hou Niao as a prospective recruit and offered to take him directly to the presiding examiner instead of making him wait until morning.
• Hou Niao announced himself at a courtyard and entered when the gate opened, finding a Daoist reading by candlelight.

Li Chuping questioned Hou Niao about the Anhe Prayer and accepted his past actions as proof of Sword Gall, granting him an advance selection into Quanzhen without a test. Hou Niao went to the outer lodge to await the results and received three foundational sword techniques from Senior Brother Wang.

• Li Chuping asked Hou Niao to recount the Anhe Prayer, and Hou Niao explained what had happened, including killing a man who tried to possess his body.
• Li Chuping judged Hou Niao’s past deeds to demonstrate Sword Gall and told him that he did not need to take the assessment test.
• Li Chuping instructed Hou Niao to wait nearly a month for the results and advised him not to change his three Qi Gathering cultivation methods.
• Hou Niao realized that Li Chuping had drawn him into his faction and kept the advance selection secret as instructed.
• Senior Brother Wang brought Hou Niao to the outer lodge and gave him three foundational Quanzhen sword techniques to study.
• Senior Brother Wang told Hou Niao that Li Chuping was one of Jincheng’s three outstanding Quanzhen figures and was renowned throughout the Shan Kingdom.

Hou Niao settled into the Sword Manor's Outer Residence and began training with the Quanzhen Sect's foundational sword techniques. He focused on adapting his saber skills to the sword and building his spiritual power, leaving him intent on strengthening himself before facing opponents beyond the mortal world.

• Hou Niao moved into a small courtyard in the Sword Manor's Outer Residence and decided to concentrate on improving himself.
• Hou Niao read the bamboo slip Wang Daoist had given him and examined the Quanzhen Sect's three foundational sword techniques.
• Hou Niao began practicing with his heavy sword, relying on his saber experience while working to guide spiritual power through the weapon.
• Hou Niao found that his Inner Qi ran out after about a hundred swings and that he could not yet project Sword Qi.
• Hou Niao kept to his courtyard for several days, practicing and building his foundation as he worried about the time pressure of his future challenges.

Hou Niao resisted the Dugu Household’s attempt to exchange lodgings without following the rules, then moved into Xiao Qiang’s secluded courtyard. He discovered that nearby Rogue Cultivators held loud drinking feasts, but began cultivating amid the noise.

• Dugu Lan and her relatives asked Hou Niao to exchange courtyards so Xiao Qiang could stay closer to them.
• Hou Niao insisted that the senior brother managing the outer guest compound approve the exchange and that he had to agree to it.
• Dugu Lan warned that refusing the Dugu Household could cost Hou Niao a useful connection, but he said he preferred to walk his own road.
• When the senior brother arrived, Hou Niao shouldered his bag and moved into Xiao Qiang’s courtyard.
• That night, Hou Niao heard Rogue Cultivators drinking and singing across a bamboo grove, then entered cultivation despite the clamor.

Hou Niao discovered that a vortex in his purple mansion consumed his spiritual power and forced him to cultivate both dantians together. When he followed its pull, he entered a crimson passage as a soul body, fought a hostile soul, and absorbed it after winning.

• Hou Niao found a vortex between his middle and lower dantians that drained his spiritual power and caused severe pain when he cultivated with only one dantian.
• Hou Niao chose to keep circulating both dantians and yielded to the vortex's pull, entering a mysterious crimson passage as a soul body.
• Hou Niao encountered another sword-wielding soul that attacked him and tried to consume him.
• Hou Niao fought the hostile soul until it dispersed, then inhaled it and felt his energy restored.

Hou Niao returned to the Soul Realm while circulating both Dantians and fought spirits, but the skilled swordsman spirit defeated him again. Afterward, he left his courtyard to clear his mind and received pear blossom jelly from Xiao Qiang.

• Hou Niao was defeated by a spirit with sharp swordsmanship and returned to the real world, where he practiced with his heavy sword.
• At dawn, Hou Niao circulated both Dantians and returned to the Soul Realm, where he killed three weak spirits before the skilled swordsman spirit defeated him again.
• Hou Niao left his courtyard to breathe fresh air and ease the strain of his repeated Soul Realm battles.
• Xiao Qiang gave Hou Niao a basket of pear blossom jelly to thank him for swapping houses with her.

Hou Niao’s repeated battles in the Soul Realm strengthened his soul and rapidly advanced his swordsmanship, while his real-world cultivation depended on how long he survived there. After declining to join an outer-courtyard demon hunt, he returned to cultivation, only to find Gu Weixin waiting for him.

• Hou Niao endured more blows from the wandering ghost in the Soul Realm and learned its sword technique, becoming a genuine swordsman.
• Ye Zigao invited Hou Niao to join outer-courtyard cultivators leaving Jincheng to suppress demons, but Hou Niao asked whether the Quanzhen Sect supported the expedition.
• Senior Brother Zheng explained that the demon hunt was spontaneous and that some candidates sought to prove their sword gall before recruitment ended.
• Hou Niao decided not to join the cultivators, returned to his courtyard, and continued cultivating.
• Gu Weixin of Anhe Sanjiang Prefecture greeted Hou Niao at his courtyard entrance.

Hou Niao met fellow Anhe cultivator Gu Weixin in Jincheng and learned how the Quanzhen Sect’s mass recruitment drew foreign cultivators into its many political and philosophical factions. They parted on friendly terms, with Hou Niao remaining uncommitted while leaving open the possibility of future cooperation.

• Gu Weixin recognized Hou Niao as a fellow cultivator from Anhe and asked why he had not joined the group going to suppress demons.
• Gu Weixin explained that many outer-courtyard candidates were outsiders and that the mass recruitment could leave them vulnerable to being used by competing factions.
• Gu Weixin described how sects recruited talent from other countries and outlined the regional, political, and cultivation factions within the Quanzhen Sect.
• Hou Niao joked that his loyalties depended on who was asking, signaling that he did not want to join a faction yet.
• Gu Weixin and Hou Niao agreed to support one another as fellow provincials, then parted after a cordial conversation.

Hou Niao overcame the formidable wandering soul in the Soul Realm Passage, whose swordsmanship had repeatedly cut him down, and his own swordsmanship advanced sharply. He returned to his body satisfied with his Qi Gathering progress, while wondering how to obtain the True Self Sword and pursue justice.

• Hou Niao entered the Soul Realm Passage and fought the wandering soul whose swordsmanship had repeatedly defeated him.
• After enduring the soul's attacks and waiting for an opening, Hou Niao trapped its sword and struck it down, causing it to dissolve.
• Hou Niao charged onward and cut through ordinary wandering souls with his improved swordsmanship before a group overwhelmed him and sent him back to his body.
• Hou Niao felt the gains from his prolonged Qi Gathering and considered the mysterious vortex less troubling for now.
• Hou Niao stroked his longsword and wondered when he might find the True Self Sword to cut down the injustices of the mortal world.

A drunken group of cultivators barged into Hou Niao’s courtyard looking for the Xiao Young Lady, then turned on him when he ordered them to leave. When their leader attacked, Hou Niao used the sword technique he had learned from the Sword Soul to kill him, leaving the others stunned.

• A drunken group entered Hou Niao’s courtyard and demanded to know where the Xiao Young Lady was.
• Hou Niao told them to leave and crushed his message talisman to report their trespass.
• The group’s leader drew his sword and attacked Hou Niao despite his warnings.
• Hou Niao stepped into the attack and pierced the leader’s heart with a precise sword strike.
• Hou Niao knocked the leader away, and the remaining cultivators stood gaping at his swordsmanship.

Senior Brother Zheng investigated the killing at Hou Niao’s residence and weighed how to handle the incident without harming his own standing. Hou Niao persuaded him that the intruders had actually been targeting Xiao Young Lady, and Senior Brother Zheng sent him away while considering the consequences.

• Senior Brother Zheng found a dead intruder and heard accounts establishing that Hou Niao had killed him after the group trespassed into his residence.
• Senior Brother Zheng ordered the drinking party to disperse and brought Hou Niao to the steward’s office for questioning.
• Hou Niao argued that he had acted in self-defense and suggested publicizing the incident as a lesson rather than punishing him before he had joined the sect.
• When Senior Brother Zheng accused him of withholding details, Hou Niao revealed that the intruders had been looking for Xiao Young Lady and said she had moved because she sensed trouble.
• Senior Brother Zheng realized the Dugu Household connection could implicate him, learned that Hou Niao had met Commandant Li Chuping, and told Hou Niao to return while he considered how to handle the case.

Quanzhen admitted around a hundred new disciples in Jincheng, including Hou Niao, after sending out Message Birds to announce the results. The new disciples completed the sect’s initiation rites and received Treasure Gourds, leaving Hou Niao newly equipped but aware of how little he knew about cultivation.

• Message Birds delivered admission tokens to the successful candidates, and Hou Niao received one bearing his name.
• Hou Niao joined the procession to the Jincheng Sword Manor, where Dugu Lan thanked him for helping her household and Xiao Qiang tried to recruit his support.
• The new disciples gathered in the great hall before Governor-Marshal You Sunzhi, Commandant Li Chuping, Palace General Gao Jianli, and Jincheng’s elders.
• The cultivators completed Quanzhen’s initiation rites, and Jincheng admitted around a hundred new disciples.
• The sect gave each new disciple a basic Treasure Gourd, which Hou Niao examined as an unfamiliar marvel.

After joining the Quanzhen Sect, Hou Niao considered his future duties and settled into a rented home in Jincheng. He inspected his initiation gifts and three months of sect benefits, while postponing the choice of cultivation methods and combat techniques.

• The chapter explained that Quanzhen disciples would eventually take local posts, but Hou Niao could remain in Jincheng because he had not reached the Foundation Cultivation Realm.
• Hou Niao found the Hidden Sword Pavilion crowded and decided to keep using his existing cultivation methods and rely on Soul Realm battles for combat experience.
• Hou Niao hired a property broker, who found him a quiet courtyard home on the edge of Jincheng.
• After fighting in the Soul Realm, Hou Niao opened his Treasure Gourd and examined his sect sword, three jade slips, thirty low-grade spirit stones, and three bottles of Qi Gathering Pills.

Hou Niao met with Wang Shouzhong after joining the Quanzhen Sect and learned what it meant to bear Commandant Li’s mark. He returned to his lodgings unsure how to contact Daoist Chongling and began to consider whether the Quanzhen Sect might suit him after all.

• Hou Niao thanked Wang Shouzhong for Commandant Li’s selection and offered to follow his instructions.
• Wang Shouzhong explained that Hou Niao’s recruitment tied him to Commandant Li and warned him not to waver between loyalties.
• Wang Shouzhong described the duties of Jincheng’s three prefectures and warned Hou Niao that the Commandant Prefecture drew both fear and scrutiny.
• Wang Shouzhong advised Hou Niao to avoid factional struggles and keep his conduct upright.
• Hou Niao returned to his lodgings and wondered whether to contact Daoist Chongling, reflecting that the Quanzhen Sect might be an acceptable place to settle and cultivate.

Hou Niao discovered that a Qi Gathering Pill suppressed the mysterious vortex in his Lower Dantian, so he chose to cultivate without pills and continue exploring the Soul Realm. After surviving a brutal fight with a powerful wandering soul, he awoke resolved to keep moving forward at his own pace.

• Hou Niao took his first Qi Gathering Pill and found that the vortex in his Lower Dantian did not appear while he circulated his qi.
• Hou Niao heard a woman singing in a neighboring courtyard, then confirmed during morning practice that the vortex returned when he cultivated without a pill.
• Hou Niao entered the Soul Realm, marked a fork in the passage, and chose the left-hand path.
• Hou Niao fought a wandering soul that used both fire and savage punches, and the battle left both soul forms in pieces.
• Hou Niao awoke from the Soul Realm and decided that the first Qi Gathering Pill he had taken would also be his last.

Hou Niao explored the Hidden Sword Pavilion, keeping his existing cultivation methods and choosing the Quanzhen Sect’s Sword Net along with sword techniques to study. He left determined to master the fundamentals behind the sword techniques, while regretting that he had killed the Sword Soul before learning more from it.

• Hou Niao entered the Hidden Sword Pavilion and decided not to replace his cultivation methods, which he believed would carry him to Profound Connection without disturbing the vortex in his Purple Mansion.
• On the second floor, Hou Niao selected Sword Net, a combat-focused method for training the six consciousnesses.
• On the third floor, Hou Niao examined the pavilion’s many sword techniques and focused on how each circulated qi rather than on memorizing fixed moves.
• Hou Niao resolved to learn the techniques’ fundamentals, then regretted killing the Sword Soul before he had learned more from it.

Hou Niao chose three relentless sword techniques at the Hidden Sword Pavilion and committed to mastering swordsmanship rather than dividing his time with spells. Afterward, he met Gu Weixin and joined him and several cultivators from Anhe for a farewell meal, where his ties to the Commandant Prefecture quickly warmed their welcome.

• Hou Niao asked the old cultivator how many sword manuals he could take, then selected [Linked Strikes to Slay Generals], [No-Return Sword], and [Short Thrust].
• Hou Niao resolved to hone sword techniques to their extremes before learning other styles, and decided to leave spell cultivation for later.
• After spending six hours choosing cultivation methods and techniques, Hou Niao left the Hidden Sword Pavilion and met Gu Weixin with Gongcheng Yi, Tao Ji, and Wanshouqi.
• Gu Weixin invited Hou Niao to join a farewell meal for Senior Brother Gong, and Hou Niao learned their assignments would not be made for another month.
• When Gu Weixin mentioned Hou Niao's ties to the Commandant Prefecture, Gongcheng Yi and the others welcomed him warmly and escorted him to a famous Jincheng restaurant.

At a dinner with his fellow cultivators, Hou Niao discussed their upcoming postings and learned how they planned to secure safer, more promising positions. He offered Wanshouqi a way to send letters home while quietly intending to use the route to maintain contact with Daoist Chongling, and the chapter ended with a hint that he planned to strike back when the time came.

• Tao Ji asked Hou Niao whether he would go directly to the Commandant Prefecture, and Hou Niao gave an ambiguous answer about gaining experience in Jincheng first.
• Gongcheng Yi explained that he was heading early to Chongshan Town to secure a relatively safe posting where he could hunt demonic creatures and improve his strength.
• Gu Weixin said the others would also leave soon, while Wanshouqi worried about contacting his family in Anhe.
• Hou Niao offered to use his contacts at the Sword Abode in Right River Town to get Wanshouqi's letters to Liuyang City, where Wanshouqi's family had business.
• Hou Niao privately planned to use the letter route to stay in touch with Daoist Chongling and ended the evening thinking of a future opportunity to turn the tables.

Hou Niao visited Jincheng’s cultivation market to buy a sword suited to his chosen path of swordsmanship. He chose the Nameless Lonely Sword and traded his Spirit Stones, pills, and talismans for it.

• After the gathering at the Great Wind Tower, Hou Niao joined the Anhe Association as a fellow townsman.
• Hou Niao went to Jincheng’s largest cultivation market street to prepare for his cultivation.
• Hou Niao entered the Top Grade artifact shop and asked the old shopkeeper to recommend an attribute-free sword focused on sharpness and sturdiness.
• The shopkeeper presented the Xiaohe Sword, the Dipper-Ox Sword, and the Nameless Lonely Sword, and Hou Niao chose the nameless blade.
• Hou Niao offered forty Spirit Stones, forty-nine Qi Gathering Pills, and two sets of talismans for the sword, and the old man accepted the exchange.

Hou Niao settled into cultivation after spending his wealth on a Nameless Sword and watched sword bouts at the Sword Manor, where he realized the local swordsmanship differed sharply from what he had learned in the Soul Realm. He left resolved to stop watching those fights and focus on cultivation without letting their Ceremonial Sword distort his Killing Sword.

• Hou Niao bought the Nameless Sword, accepted that he would be penniless for three months, and planned to cultivate in his courtyard.
• The Quanzhen Sect disciples’ postings became clearer as they competed for assignments and the commotion around the new recruits faded.
• Hou Niao continued cultivating with his dual dantian and visited the Sword Manor to watch sword bouts.
• Senior Brother Zheng warned Hou Niao that he should focus on improving his cultivation realm rather than watching sword fights.
• Hou Niao left the Sword Manor, judging its Ceremonial Sword incompatible with the Killing Sword he had learned in the Soul Realm.