Recaps

After conquering Daitao, Hou Niao and the grassland Sword Lineage decided not to occupy the kingdom, instead withdrawing and leaving its future to the Northern Borderlands powers. Hou Niao set their longer-term goal as uniting the grasslands over the next sixty years, while the Orthopedic Sect was left weakened and vulnerable to outside interference.

• Hou Niao reflected on how the old True Persons had helped make his rise to sect leader possible by giving way and supporting the Sword Lineage's future.
• Hou Niao asked Shi Le, Shi Bu, and Shi Zhu how they should handle the conquered Daitao Kingdom.
• Shi Le and Shi Bu argued that the grassland forces lacked the strength to occupy Daitao and that destroying the Orthopedic Sect would provoke further conflict.
• Shi Zhu proposed withdrawing from Daitao and letting the surrounding powers decide its future, and Hou Niao approved the plan.
• Hou Niao told the Golden Core cultivators to focus on uniting the grasslands and reaching agreements with neighboring powers over the next sixty years.
• The grassland Sword Lineage withdrew and issued a proclamation disclaiming any intent to destroy Daitao or eradicate the Orthopedic Sect, but outside powers began interfering as the weakened sect struggled with internal succession.

Hou Niao left the grasslands after ensuring the crisis had passed and received a request from Immortal Maiden Dong to help the Way of Harmony evaluate seven upper-realm traditions. The sect had unanimously accepted her recommendation of him, and he was left uncertain about what the task would involve.

• Hou Niao told the grassland Golden Core sword cultivators that Shizhu and Shi Le would take charge and urged them to distinguish core interests from expendable concerns.
• Hou Niao met Immortal Maiden Fangfei, who showed him a Hundred Beauties Mask, and then heard Immortal Maiden Dong explain the Way of Harmony’s dilemma.
• Immortal Maiden Dong explained that dual cultivation could involve a person, an object, or a broader connection with nature, and that a dao companion was needed to judge its practical results.
• Immortal Maiden Dong said she had recommended Hou Niao as a trustworthy Golden Core cultivator to test the seven traditions, and the Way of Harmony had agreed unanimously.

Hou Niao and Immortal Maiden Dong traveled to the Southeast Region, where they discussed the settling of inherited traditions and the uncertain claims surrounding the Anhe Daoist Sect. In Sangmo, Hou Niao challenged Immortal Maiden Dong over the Way of Harmony’s responsibility for the region’s prosperous, pleasure-seeking society.

• Immortal Maiden Dong explained that major Daoist and Buddhist sects had quickly secured their inheritances through powerful representatives, while more than ten traditions were reportedly seeking ties to the Anhe Daoist Sect.
• Immortal Maiden Dong told Hou Niao that Daoist Zhixuan had publicly claimed Anhe was also a Taiqing inheritance, and Hou Niao questioned the claim.
• Hou Niao decided he needed to return to Anhe soon, though no one had yet summoned him despite his absence of more than two months.
• Hou Niao and Immortal Maiden Dong entered Sangmo and saw its wealthy, pleasure-filled cities, which Immortal Maiden Dong said reflected generations of carefree living across the Southeast.
• Hou Niao told Immortal Maiden Dong that the Way of Harmony bore major responsibility for failing to guide the region’s people, then admitted that he liked places where he could amuse himself.

Hou Niao met Yuantong True Person and agreed to help the Way of Harmony assess seven candidates through blind dual-cultivation sessions. He was taken to the Exotic Garden to prepare, while Immortal Maiden Dong warned him that the trials could conceal traps or attempts at control.

• Yuantong True Person explained that seven candidates would undergo blind testing with Hou Niao, whose impressions would help the Way of Harmony choose a practitioner.
• Hou Niao showed Yuantong True Person his identity-concealing treasure and agreed to prepare for daily sessions in the Exotic Garden.
• Yuantong True Person assigned her disciple Fangfei to guide Hou Niao through the basics of dual cultivation before the trials began.
• Immortal Maiden Dong urged Hou Niao to take the assessment seriously and focus on judging each candidate rather than pursuing pleasure.
• Immortal Maiden Dong warned Hou Niao that the candidates from the upper realms might use hidden methods to lure or control him.

Hou Du spent seven days assessing the Way of Harmony's dual cultivation maidens and recorded detailed impressions for Immortal Maiden Yuantong. After he left, Immortal Maiden Yuantong revealed that she had secretly been one of the seven women, so she trusted his account firsthand.

• Immortal Maiden Dong taught Hou Du about the Dual Cultivation Path for three days before leaving him to assess the maidens in the Exotic Garden.
• Hou Du practiced with the first maiden and wrote a poetic account of her methods, then spent the next day in a serene, Dao-focused encounter with another maiden.
• On the fifth day, a maiden secretly gave Hou Du plant essence and hinted that she would provide more if he helped her become the successor.
• Hou Du completed his assessments, documented every change he noticed, and left the Exotic Garden without waiting for the result.
• Immortal Maiden Dong questioned Immortal Maiden Yuantong's confidence in Hou Du, and Yuantong revealed that she had been the seventh maiden he assessed.

A year after Hou Niao took office, Dushan’s Mountain Gate had transformed into a vast complex that helped bind Quanzhen together. At the anniversary gathering, the sect’s leaders discussed its future, and Hou Niao urged closer ties with the prairie’s Golden Bloodline as they prepared for coming turmoil.

• Over the year, Quanzhen Sword Cultivators helped build Dushan’s Mountain Gate, where True Person Wu oversaw the construction of immense ice halls and subsidiary buildings.
• Hou Niao reflected that the building work had strengthened the sect’s unity and helped his reforms take root, though Dushan’s development would take many more years.
• At the anniversary gathering, Hou Niao questioned how the enormous Ice and Snow Sword Pavilion would be roofed, and True Person Wu explained that it would remain open and be sealed by a formation.
• True Person Xu and Sea True Person criticized Hou Niao for spending little time at the Mountain Gate and warned that he needed a Nascent Soul True Person to accompany him while traveling.
• The senior ranks discussed the Mountain Gate’s rules, organization, staffing, rewards, external relations, and swordsmanship.
• Hou Niao reported that Jinxiu’s Lost Dao Alliance had few members and proposed exchanging Golden Core cultivators with the prairie’s Golden Bloodline to strengthen ties before war broke out.

Hou Du continued developing Quanzhen Sect’s swordsmanship and taught its cultivators the importance of free-ranging movement in combat. A message from Xiao True Person in Anhe summoned him, and Hou Du realized a difficult new problem awaited him.

• Quanzhen Sect’s Nascent Soul True Persons and many Golden Core cultivators greatly improved their Sword Light Division, while Hou Du expanded his swordsmanship and raised his sword-launching frequency to fifty.
• Yu Zhengxing demonstrated more than a hundred sword lights at the Sword-Dueling Arena and challenged Hou Du to show his skills.
• Hou Du fought Yu Zhengxing and the gathered cultivators, dodged their attacks, struck them all, and urged them to master free-ranging movement.
• Li Chuping told Hou Du that Xiao True Person in Anhe had sent a letter asking him to visit, and Hou Du dreaded the trouble ahead.

Hou Niao set out for Anhe to attend a succession assembly, hoping to protect Shanmen Quanzhen’s interests without openly interfering in Anhe’s affairs. He arrived near the Divine Capital and met Daoist Zhan, reflecting on how far their paths and cultivation had diverged.

• Hou Niao learned that Anhe’s succession had drawn interest from the Wu Sect and Upper Realm Visitors, while Li Chuping urged him to seek an impartial successor or preserve the status quo.
• Li Chuping arranged for Quanzhen Nascent Soul True Persons and Sword Cultivators to conduct border trials as a warning to the Daoist Sect not to pressure Anhe’s succession.
• Hou Niao left alone for Anhe after giving instructions about sect affairs and reread Xiao True Person’s invitation to the Dharma assembly at Anhe Palace.
• Hou Niao reached Wild Goose Return Lake near the Divine Capital and sent a message token to Daoist Zhan.
• Daoist Zhan met Hou Niao, and he reflected on their growing distance and on how his cultivation had left former peers far behind.

Hou Niao discussed the Anhe Daoist Sect’s dispute over which upper-realm lineage should transmit its Dao and learned that the sect remained divided. He and Daoist Zhan entered Anhe Palace to consult Xiao True Person, where they encountered Daoist Tianfeng of Shangqing playing a bamboo flute.

• Daoist Zhan told Hou Niao that thirteen Daoists from branches of the Three Pure Ones’ Daoist Sect had gathered at Anhe Palace to compete to transmit their teachings.
• Hou Niao learned that the thirteen excluded outsiders and that Juemingzi of Yuqing, already chosen by the Wu Sect, was backed by Southern Anhe but opposed by Northern Anhe.
• Daoist Zhan explained that Anhe’s internal divisions prevented its True Persons from reaching a decision, and they wanted Hou Niao’s opinion.
• Hou Niao and Daoist Zhan entered the dilapidated Anhe Palace and crossed Yanhuai Lake on their way to Xiao True Person’s secluded quarters.
• Hou Niao and Daoist Zhan heard a bamboo flute on Heart-of-the-Lake Island and saw Daoist Tianfeng of Shangqing standing in its pavilion.

Hou Niao and Daoist Tianfeng exchanged powerful attacks on Heart-of-the-Lake Island before a Cloud Board stopped their fight. Meanwhile, Daoist Zhixuan urged Tianfeng to unite the Qi Sect, Wu Sect, and Anhe Daoist Sect, but Tianfeng warned that the plan depended on whether others agreed.

• Hou Niao recognized Daoist Tianfeng from the rift, and Tianfeng demanded that he take responsibility for the karma tied to the Azure Sky Legacy.
• Hou Niao and Daoist Tianfeng traded attacks, with Tianfeng breaking apart Hou Niao’s Sword Dragon and Hou Niao answering Tianfeng’s Pure Qi net with Five-Colored Radiance.
• A Cloud Board sounded, and Hou Niao and Daoist Tianfeng withdrew before either could gain the upper hand.
• Daoist Zhan asked Hou Niao whether he could have beaten Tianfeng, and Hou Niao said neither could know after one exchange, though a winner would pay a steep price.
• Daoist Zhixuan proposed that the Three Purities disciples unite the Qi Sect, Wu Sect, and Anhe Daoist Sect, while Daoist Tianfeng said their agreement alone would not make the plan succeed.

Hou Niao met with True Person An and Xiao True Person to discuss the upheaval surrounding the Brocade Continent and Anhe. They urged him to learn about the powerful visitors without rushing to oppose them, leaving him to shoulder a role the local cultivators could not fulfill.

• Hou Niao told True Person An and Xiao True Person that he could find no workable plan for Anhe amid the Brocade Continent's unexplained upheaval.
• Xiao True Person explained that Buddhist sects had proposed building sanctuaries in Anhe in exchange for Daoist temples in their lands, and True Person An said they had stalled the proposal.
• Xiao True Person asked Hou Niao to spend time observing and engaging with the visitors, including Daoist Tianfeng, to understand their intentions.
• Hou Niao recalled that Daoist Tianfeng was very strong, but said he had not been afraid to fight him.
• Xiao True Person argued that Hou Niao could not rely on Anhe or Brocade Continent cultivators to match the visitors and urged him to consider that they might become allies in strengthening Jinxiu.

Xiao True Person theorized that the Brocade Continent’s spiritual-energy revival and rapid cultivation growth had been engineered to prepare it for a coming crisis. He predicted that an external threat would arrive in sixty years, leaving Jinxiu to face it with little help from the Upper Realms, and urged Hou Niao to accept his role in the coming events.

• Xiao True Person explained that the New Era had revived spiritual energy on the Brocade Continent and suggested that Jinxiu had been uniquely sealed and accelerated by powerful lineages.
• Xiao True Person reasoned that the Upper Realm Visitors had grown anxious and predicted that an external threat would come in sixty years.
• Hou Niao asked whether Heaven-Opening would bring more Upper Realm Envoys, and Xiao True Person said Jinxiu would probably have to face the danger largely on its own.
• Hou Niao joked that he wished he had stayed on Hell Star, while Xiao True Person insisted he could not escape what he was born to face.
• Hou Niao protested that he had only intended to work undercover and change the Sword Lineage, but Xiao True Person called him a potential legendary cultivation-world spy.

Hou Niao visited Daoist Zhixuan to oppose Yuqing’s participation in the contest for Anhe’s Daoist tradition, but Zhixuan said he lacked the authority to change the Wu Sect’s plans. Hou Niao left determined to find divisions among the thirteen Daoist sects and seek another way to protect Anhe.

• Xiao True Person told Hou Niao that Jinxiu’s history had to be made by its own people and urged him to meet and understand the Upper Realm Visitors.
• Hou Niao barged into Anshen Hall and challenged Daoist Zhixuan, who refused to fight and offered him wine instead.
• Hou Niao warned Zhixuan that the Sword Lineage would intervene if the Wu Sect and other sects continued coveting Anhe, and argued against Yuqing joining the succession contest.
• Zhixuan said Juemingzi had little chance and that the Wu Sect’s Nascent Soul True Persons, not people like them, would decide its expansion plans.
• Hou Niao left without reaching an agreement and resolved to find a rift among Taiqing’s Zhixuan, Yuqing’s Juemingzi, and Shangqing’s Tianfeng.

Hou Niao joined the Anhe Daoist Sect, determined to fulfill his childhood dream and irritate the upper-realm emissaries by staying. At Chenglu Hall, he began the sect’s joining formalities by giving deliberately unconventional answers to routine questions.

• Hou Niao settled into ordinary quarters and insisted that he was simply an Anhe disciple.
• The northern and southern branches reunited at Anhe Palace to welcome the upper-realm emissaries, though their leaders remained divided.
• Hou Niao joined a crowded queue at Chenglu Hall to complete the basic formalities for entering the sect.
• When an upper cultivator asked him the opposite of living, Hou Niao answered, “Cooked,” and explained that he meant raw and cooked.
• Asked to explain “Love Anhe, love the Daoist Sect,” Hou Niao began describing how narrow love could make people hate strangers and take pride in achievements they had not contributed to.

Hou Du returned to the Anhe Daoist Sect to complete his admission paperwork and claim the stipend he had accumulated, shocking the priestesses and junior cultivators when they recognized him as the legendary Hou Constellation. He revealed that an earlier admission under his childhood name had let him spend nearly two hundred years undercover in Shanmen Quanzhen, and he left the priestesses calculating his total stipend.

• Hou Du gave irreverent answers about cultivation and teachers, angering a priestess who demanded his name so she could punish him.
• Hou Du identified himself as Hou Du, also known as Hou Xiaoshi, and said he had joined decades earlier but never completed his paperwork.
• The priestesses found his formal admission record from eighty-one years and seven months earlier and realized he was Hou Constellation.
• Hou Du apologized to the waiting junior cultivators by distributing treasures, then discussed the meaning of goodness with them.
• Hou Du asked the priestesses to check another record and revealed that he had joined under his childhood name 178 years earlier to infiltrate Shanmen Quanzhen.
• Hou Du asked the priestesses to calculate the stipend owed to him for his nearly two hundred years of service.

Hou Niao reunited with Lanting and learned how Anhe’s lower-ranking disciples viewed the competition over the sect’s inheritance. He declared that Anhe’s independence was his priority, then reached Cornelian Hall, where Lanting warned him about its master, Martial Uncle Chongxi.

• Lanting took Hou Niao from Chenglu Hall to Cornelian Hall to handle his affairs as a Golden Core cultivator and told him that her sister, Lanruo, was there too.
• Hou Niao asked Lanting about the inheritance candidates and learned that Anhe disciples could only observe their demonstrations and had formed opinions based on the candidates’ bearing and teachings.
• Lanting asked whether Hou Niao would influence Anhe’s choice, and he said he would protect the sect’s independence while avoiding interference that would undermine his position.
• Lanting told Hou Niao that he had considerable support among Anhe’s lower-ranking disciples, but he said that speaking up would make the Sword Lineage’s interference in sect affairs a serious taboo.
• Hou Niao gave Lanting three medicinal pills to help with a possible breakthrough, and she warned him that Cornelian Hall’s master, Martial Uncle Chongxi, was difficult to deal with.
• Lanting and Hou Niao arrived at Cornelian Hall, and Hou Niao recognized Chongxi as a fellow disciple of Daoist Chongling.

Hou Niao went to Cornelian Hall to claim his Daoist Register and nearly two centuries of unpaid wages, but Hall Master Daoist Chongxi rejected his claim and destroyed his service record. Hou Niao beat Chongxi and took control of the hall, leaving the Anhe cultivators too wary to intervene.

• Hou Niao presented his service record at Cornelian Hall and demanded his Daoist Register and outstanding pay.
• The reception Daoist, afraid to decide the matter, summoned Hall Master Chongxi.
• Chongxi refused Hou Niao’s claim and tore his service record in two.
• Hou Niao struck Chongxi, seized him, and dragged him to the hall’s seat of honor.
• Hou Niao trampled Chongxi and denounced the sect for mistreating him after his long undercover service.
• The gathered cultivators watched without intervening, with the Northern Anhe faction enjoying Chongxi’s humiliation.

Hou Niao forced Cornelian Hall to address Daoist Chongxi’s treatment of his appointment after beating him in public. The deputy hall masters secured Chongxi’s reluctant agreement to handle Hou Niao’s post according to the rules, while Chongxi remained humiliated and resentful.

• Daoist Zhan and Daoist Wuwei arrived as Hou Niao continued complaining and planted a foot on the fallen Daoist Chongxi, crushing his bones.
• Hou Niao explained that Chongxi had torn up his credentials despite True Person Xiao approving his appointment to Cornelian Hall.
• Daoist Zhan judged both Chongxi and Hou Niao at fault and urged the deputy hall masters to resolve Hou Niao’s appointment first.
• Daoist Wuwei restrained Chongxi, and Hou Niao apologized while Daoist Zhan urged everyone to treat the fight as a roughhousing incident.
• Daoist Wuwei proposed processing Hou Niao’s appointment according to the register, and Chongxi reluctantly nodded under pressure from both deputy hall masters and Hou Niao.

After provoking Chongxi and receiving his Daoist Register, Hou Niao settled in Anhe Palace to study the five elements from Xiao True Person and True Person An. He left the thirteen Upper Realm Envoys to their own contest of patience while waiting for an opening to reveal their loyalties.

• Hou Niao received his Daoist Register and told Daoist Zhan and Lanting that he had deliberately angered Chongxi to provoke a response from the Upper Realm Envoys.
• Daoist Zhan worried that Hou Niao’s provocation could spark a bloody conflict within Anhe, while Lanting feared Chongxi would blame her for bringing Hou Niao to the palace.
• Daoist Zhan asked to borrow Hou Niao’s appearance-changing treasure for an upcoming mission, and Hou Niao realized Qingqian had told her about it.
• Hou Niao settled in Anhe Palace and stopped seeking out the thirteen Upper Realm Envoys while watching for shifts in their relationships.
• Hou Niao began learning fire and metal techniques from Xiao True Person and True Person An, drawing on knowledge the Upper Realm Envoys had shared about the five elements.

Hou Du pursued the Five Elements to strengthen his swordsmanship while waiting for his plans involving the Upper Realm Envoys to unfold. After Daoist Chongxi was killed, Daoist Xi admitted she had arranged the killing and explained why Hou Du’s forceful methods did not suit the Anhe Daoist Sect.

• Hou Du trained with True Person An and another True Person, hoping to master all five elements and greatly increase his sword frequency.
• True Person An challenged Hou Du to get on with his work, but Hou Du claimed his bait was already set and the plan was waiting for a response.
• News spread that Chongxi had died in a duel with an unfamiliar Qian Cultivator in the Wu Kingdom, making Hou Du a suspect and disrupting his plan.
• Daoist Xi visited Hou Du, returned his Mask Cloth, and admitted that she had arranged Chongxi’s killing.
• Daoist Xi told Hou Du that the Daoist Sect relied on compromise and individual conviction, so his coercive Sword Lineage methods did not suit it.

Hou Niao accepted the post of Anhe Conduct Inspector and helped introduce stricter rules to reform the Anhe Daoist Sect’s lax culture. The new regulations were announced, and he considered whether similar discipline would suit Dushan before deciding the Sword Lineage and Daoist Sect needed different approaches.

• Hou Niao accepted that he could not make choices for others and suspected that True Persons stood behind Shan Daoist’s actions.
• After the master of Cornelian Hall died, the sect appointed Daoist Wuwei as master and added a southern deputy.
• Xiao True Person appointed Hou Niao Anhe Conduct Inspector, explaining that the Upper Realm Envoys supported correcting the sect’s conduct.
• Hou Niao agreed to enforce the rules without making exceptions, including for the True Persons.
• The sect announced dozens of regulations, including limits on flying speed after drinking in crowded areas.
• Hou Niao considered imposing similar rules in Dushan but concluded that the Sword Lineage and Daoist Sect required different standards.

Hou Niao went on his first field inspection of Anhe Palace’s rectification campaign and caught Daoist Tianfeng speeding while drunk. Tianfeng claimed an exemption because his wife was about to give birth, leaving Hou Niao to decide whether the rules applied.

• Hou Niao enjoyed learning about the Five Elements Passages and left Xiao True Person's Small Temple after the True Persons began a meeting.
• Hou Niao donned a Rectification Team helmet and flew through Anhe Palace to conduct his first field inspection.
• Hou Niao spotted Daoist Tianfeng speeding out of Anhe Palace and ordered him to stop.
• Hou Niao questioned Tianfeng about drinking, and Tianfeng admitted he had drunk three pots.
• Hou Niao cited the rules and asked which exemption applied, and Tianfeng said his wife was about to give birth.

Daoist Tianfeng tried to evade Hou Du’s discipline by claiming he needed to visit his wife, but Hou Du followed him to a clinic in Jade Grove Town. After Tianfeng improvised a story around a woman and her newborn daughter, Hou Du accepted the excuse and left the matter open for a future visit.

• Daoist Tianfeng claimed his wife was at the Jade Grove Clinic, and Hou Du insisted on accompanying him there.
• At the clinic, Tianfeng picked Qiu Di’s name from the patient register, only to learn she had already given birth to a daughter.
• Hou Du urged Tianfeng to check on the mother and child, so Tianfeng asked the physician to take him to their room.
• Tianfeng admitted privately to Qiu Di that he had been caught speeding after drinking and had used the newborn as an excuse.
• Qiu Di told Hou Du that Tianfeng was her husband and asked him to spare her husband, and Hou Du accepted her explanation and said he would visit again for the child’s full-month banquet.

Daoist Tianfeng agreed to help the woman in Jade Grove Town after Hou Du maneuvered him into staying for the child’s Full-Moon Banquet. Later, Hou Du discussed the Upper Realm Envoys’ factions and the convict cultivators’ future with Fang Yazi and Li Shipeng, while Hongkan remained undecided about joining events on the Brocade Continent.

• Daoist Tianfeng offered to help the woman after realizing Hou Du might expose him if he missed the Full-Moon Banquet.
• Hou Du left Jade Grove Town pleased that he had forced Tianfeng into a wager over who would give in first.
• Li Shipeng relayed Tower Master Li’s advice that Hou Du return, but Hou Du chose to wait and ordered Li Chuping to stop the border trials.
• Li Shipeng explained that Upper Realm Envoys belonged to loosely divided Daoist factions and that many had other prospective inheritances.
• Hou Du read Hongkan’s letter and learned that Hongkan was considering whether his group of convict cultivators should remain secluded overseas or take part in events on the Brocade Continent.

Hou Du discussed suspicions about Ancient Langzhong and the coming changes on Jinxiu, then gave his friends pills and swordsmanship insights. At the clinic, Daoist Tianfeng agreed to let Qiu Di stay after Hou Du sent her flowers anonymously, leaving Tianfeng struggling to contain his anger.

• Hou Du rejected using force against Ancient Langzhong cultivators and decided to visit them himself to preserve trust.
• Hou Du warned Li Shipeng and Li Chuping to focus on strengthening the Quanzhen Sect, then gave them medicinal pills and swordsmanship insights.
• Hou Du explained that he would contact Daoist elites to learn their views on Jinxiu, the universe, and the Great Dao.
• Hou Du sensed a powerful presence, bought flowers, and had the old physician deliver them anonymously to Room Wu.
• Qiu Di told Daoist Tianfeng she would stay in the Divine Capital, and Tianfeng agreed to make arrangements after recognizing Hou Du's message.