Recaps

Hou Niao returned to Pingliang to address the Ancient Langzhong Sect’s uncertain future and meet its elders. He demonstrated his developing Five Elements Mystic Light, while the sect’s hidden inheritor remained unexplained.

• Hou Niao attended Daoist Tianfeng’s child’s full-month banquet and continued their contest of Dao hearts.
• Hou Niao flew to Pingliang and observed that the prefecture had prospered under Li Chuping while the Ancient Langzhong Sect’s foundations weakened.
• Hou Niao visited the Ancient Langzhong Sect, whose elders had failed to locate the concealed inheritor despite the Quanzhen Sword Cultivators’ trials.
• Blackbeard, Mottledbeard, and Silverbeard welcomed Hou Niao as their sect leader, but he called himself only a nominal disciple.
• Hou Niao displayed two opposing Five Elements Light Wheels and asked the three elders for guidance on the Peacock Display Technique.

Hou Niao returned to the Ancient Langzhong Sect to study its Ancestral Diagram and exchange cultivation techniques with the three old Daoists. He discovered their hidden inheritor, a young woman from the Universe Peacock Clan, and learned why they had kept her secluded.

• Hou Niao demonstrated how two opposing wheels strengthened his Profound Light, and the three old Daoists shared their own Display Techniques with him.
• Hou Niao declined to voice his suspicions and said he had come to study the Ancestral Diagram again.
• The three old Daoists asked Hou Niao to stroll around the estate while they prepared a feast.
• Hou Niao recognized that one of the peacocks in the enclosure was a disguised visitor, who transformed into a young girl.
• Silverbeard explained that the girl was the Ancient Langzhong Sect's Upper Realm Envoy and a member of the Universe Peacock Clan, born in the Golden Core Realm but inexperienced with people.

Hou Niao advised the Ancient Langzhong Sect’s elders on how to manage the restless little peacock, then went to study the Ancestral Diagram. As he cultivated, someone interrupted him and challenged him to spar directly.

• Hou Niao told the Silver-Bearded Daoist that the little peacock needed sightseeing and new experiences rather than confinement.
• Hou Niao refused to take the little peacock traveling and went to study the Ancestral Diagram.
• The three old Daoists decided Hou Niao should take responsibility for the little peacock, and the Mottled-Bearded Daoist encouraged her to follow him.
• The little peacock questioned Hou Niao’s connection to the Ancient Langzhong Sect, and the Silver-Bearded Daoist explained that Hou Niao had originally belonged to the Sword Lineage.
• Hou Niao practiced with the Ancestral Diagram’s great bird until a voice beside him suggested that they sparred with each other instead.

Hou Niao challenged Kong Li to contests of their Display Techniques so he could learn from her, but she repeatedly defeated him. Kong Li declared that she would travel with him and protect him, while Hou Niao tried to delay her by claiming he needed to cultivate before the Ancestral Diagram.

• Hou Niao and Kong Li repeatedly competed with their Profound Lights, and Kong Li won each contest despite Hou Niao changing the rules.
• Kong Li revealed that her name was Kong Li and told Hou Niao to call her Nineteenth Aunt.
• Hou Niao tried to dissuade Kong Li from leaving with him, but she said she had run away to the Brocade Continent for freedom and insisted on protecting him.
• Hou Niao asked to cultivate before the Ancestral Diagram first, claiming he needed to show sincerity, and Kong Li reluctantly let him continue.

Hou Niao spent half a month in Pingliang Prefecture before secretly leaving his estate for Anhe Palace, hoping to avoid taking Kong Li into danger. Near the border, cultivators converged on him, and he unleashed a barrage of flying swords that caught his first two opponents off guard.

• Hou Niao spent his days practicing with Kong Li, meditating before the ancestral portrait, and exploring the mortal world with her.
• He told a Quanzhen Sect disciple to inform Li Chuping that the Ancient Langzhong Sect’s affairs were settled and that Pingliang Prefecture needed reinforcements.
• Hou Niao bought Kong Li a heap of curiosities, then used his meditation as cover to slip out through the skylight and head toward Anhe Palace.
• Two Golden Core cultivators approached Hou Niao near the border, while other presences converged on him from every direction.
• Hou Niao released dozens of flying swords with his Sword Frequency, overwhelming the two cultivators before they could respond.

Hou Du defeated two Golden Core cultivators during an ambush, but Nineteenth Aunt’s interference drove off the other attackers before he could question them. He accepted that she would travel with him and began showing her the Anhe Daoist Kingdom, while insisting she keep her true form secret.

• Hou Du’s sword light killed one Golden Core cultivator and cut down the other as the attackers tried to retreat.
• Nineteenth Aunt fought several Daoists with her five-colored screen, and they scattered when Hou Du arrived.
• Nineteenth Aunt scolded Hou Du for sneaking away and insisted on protecting him as they traveled.
• Hou Du collected the fallen cultivators’ Storage Rings, and Nineteenth Aunt opened them and inspected their contents.
• Hou Du warned Nineteenth Aunt not to reveal her true form unless she killed anyone who saw it, and she promised to obey.
• Hou Du and Nineteenth Aunt flew through the Anhe Daoist Kingdom, and she demanded that he follow through on showing her the scenery.

Hou Niao brought the little peacock to Anhe Palace and warned her to conceal her identity among the powerful cultivators gathered there. After she met Lanting and complained about his lodging, Hou Niao promised to find her a larger house near the lake, while reminding her not to reveal her true form.

• Hou Niao explained Anhe Palace’s powerful visitors and told the little peacock to keep her true form secret.
• The little peacock said Grandpa Lingbao had secretly brought her through the Spatial Passage, and Hou Niao filled her in on the situation at Anhe Palace.
• Hou Niao and the little peacock flew into Anhe Palace, where cultivators lowered their heads to him.
• Hou Niao introduced the little peacock to Lanting as his nineteenth aunt, and the women sized each other up.
• The little peacock objected to Hou Niao’s modest lodgings, so he promised to arrange a house with gardens near the lake within three days.

Hou Niao asked the little peacock for advice on choosing among the visiting Daoist traditions, and she narrowed his options to the Three Purities. She told him he had already chosen Shangqing through his actions toward Daoist Tianfeng, leaving Hou Niao startled by the implication.

• The little peacock explained that the Peacock Clan lacked the strength to rival the great Daoist sects and mostly survived as a courted but marginal power.
• Hou Niao and the little peacock joked about their friendship and discussed how he had forced Daoist Tianfeng into marriage and fatherhood.
• Hou Niao pleaded with the little peacock to advise him on which of the nineteen traditions to choose and promised to consult her before leaving during the next sixty years.
• The little peacock dismissed the lesser branch traditions and told Hou Niao to consider only the Three Purities, which held the real power.
• The little peacock said Hou Niao had already chosen Shangqing because he had arranged Daoist Tianfeng's marriage and family.

Hou Niao considered how the Three Purities’ history and Shangqing’s ties to the Xiaoshan Sword Lineage affected the Anhe inheritance dispute, then returned to learn that the choice was about to be settled by vote. The chapter ended with Xiao True Person explaining that Anhe had accepted an unequal vote because it was weaker and divided.

• The little peacock explained that the Three Purities had repeatedly split and reunited, and that Shangqing was suspected of causing the latest split and had deep ties to the Xiaoshan Sword Lineage.
• Hou Niao realized he had to consider the Sword Lineage’s interests and accepted that he could not simply end the game with Xiao True Person.
• The little peacock argued that upper-realm disciples would follow their traditions’ direction, and Hou Niao rewarded her with three days of shopping in the Divine Capital.
• Xiao True Person summoned Hou Niao and said the thirteen Upper Realm Envoys and the Anhe Daoist Sect had agreed it was time to choose the sect’s future inheritance.
• Xiao True Person revealed that thirteen envoys and five Anhe True Persons would vote, and Hou Niao objected that the arrangement was unfair.
• Xiao True Person answered that Anhe was weaker and divided between its northern and southern branches, leaving it unable to demand a fairer process.

Hou Niao learned that thirteen Upper Realm Envoys were competing to determine which of the Three Purities would guide the Anhe Daoist Sect. He rejected Yuqing on Shanmen Quanzhen’s behalf and tentatively favored Zhixuan, while the Anhe True Persons planned to wait for the vote the next day.

• True Person An and Xiao True Person explained how the Upper Realm Envoys were steering smaller Daoist sects toward the Three Purities and said thirteen envoys had come to Anhe.
• Hou Niao questioned how the envoys would choose Anhe’s inheritance and learned that Yuqing had strong support among the local True Persons.
• Hou Niao declared that Shanmen Quanzhen would reject Yuqing because of its longstanding grievances with the Wu Sect.
• When Xiao True Person pressed him to choose between the remaining contenders, Hou Niao said he leaned slightly toward Zhixuan over Tianfeng.
• Xiao True Person ended the discussion and said the Anhe True Persons would wait for the vote the next day.

Hou Niao struggled to influence Anhe’s choice of Daoist lineage and learned that the True Persons were leaning toward Taiqing. As the sect gathered at Yanhuai Lake for the decision, the Upper Realm Envoys arrived, but the vote’s outcome remained unknown.

• Hou Niao told Nineteenth Aunt he felt unable to affect the coming vote and weighed the support for Taiqing, Yuqing, and Shangqing.
• Daoist Zhan reported that Xiao and An True Persons had grown close to Daoist Zhixuan and admired Taiqing’s teachings.
• Hou Niao lamented that Chongxi’s death had ruined his chance to sound out the Upper Realm Envoys, while Nineteenth Aunt rejected his request for peacock feathers.
• Anhe Palace’s cultivators gathered around Yanhuai Lake as the sect prepared to decide the inheritance’s affiliation on Heart-of-the-Lake Island.
• Anhe’s five True Persons and thirteen Upper Realm Envoys arrived, and the envoys drew cheers with spectacular displays.

Daoist Zhixuan arranged a vote to settle the Anhe Daoist Sect’s succession among candidates representing Taixuan, Zixiao, and Shangqing. Hou Niao was summoned to witness and mark the votes on three banners, as the contest between the Three Purities began.

• Daoist Zhixuan secured agreement that the vote would determine the succession and named Gu of Taixuan, Yun of Zixiao, and Tianfeng of Shangqing as the three candidates.
• Xiao True Person pointed out that the vote needed an announcer, and Zhixuan summoned Sect Leader Hou to serve as witness.
• Nineteenth Aunt hurried to tell Hou Niao that his chance had come, and he reluctantly left his roof to attend the gathering.
• Zhixuan explained that Hou Niao would mark each vote beneath the corresponding banner, and Hou Niao agreed.
• Zhixuan raised three banners above Heart-of-the-Lake Island, representing Taixuan, Zixiao, and Shangqing, readying them for the vote.

The Three Purities and their allied Daoist schools cast open votes to choose between Taixuan, Zixiao, and Shangqing. Yunji abstained, leaving Taixuan poised to win eight to seven once Anhe's five True Persons voted.

• Daoist Zhixuan nominated Taixuan, and Hou Niao marked its banner with a vote before Juemingzi nominated Zixiao and Tianfeng nominated Shangqing.
• Daoist Gu and Daoist Yun cast votes for Taixuan and Zixiao, tying them at two votes each while Shangqing remained at one.
• Yellow Court, Hunyuan, Zhouyi, and Dongyuan split their votes evenly between Taixuan and Zixiao, bringing both candidates to four votes.
• Chisu voted for Shangqing, while Dafang and Guangling voted for Taixuan, giving Taixuan six votes and Zixiao four.
• Daoist Yunji abstained, and Zhixuan's plan left Taixuan expected to win eight to seven through the coming votes of Anhe's five True Persons.

The Anhe Daoist Sect’s vote took an unexpected turn when Xiao, An, Dou, Ni, and Wan all backed Shangqing, giving Daoist Tianfeng the victory and restoring unity among Anhe’s five True Persons. Hou Du, who had been kept unaware of their plan, confronted them at Xiao True Person’s Small Temple and demanded an explanation.

• Xiao True Person voted for Shangqing, stunning the gathering and derailing Daoist Zhixuan’s expected victory for Taixuan.
• An True Person followed Xiao, then Dou, Ni, and Wan also voted for Shangqing, bringing its total to seven votes.
• Hou Du recorded the votes, and the sect declared Shangqing the winner and added its inheritance to Anhe.
• The Upper Realm Envoys congratulated Daoist Tianfeng and departed, while Anhe’s disciples celebrated their True Persons’ reconciliation.
• Daoist Tianfeng promised Shangqing’s inheritance would remain in Anhe and that the sect would not be swayed by outsiders.
• Angry at being kept in the dark, Hou Du flew into Xiao True Person’s Small Temple and confronted all five True Persons.

Xiao True Person explained to Hou Du that the Anhe Daoist Sect’s century-long schism had been staged to prevent a devastating war with the Wu Sect. The old True Persons had reunited after Daoist Tianfeng’s actions, leaving Anhe intact and Shangqing in control of the sect.

• Hou Du demanded the truth from Xiao True Person and threatened to leave the Anhe Daoist Sect if he did not get an explanation.
• Xiao True Person recounted how the Wu Sect threatened Anhe over a hundred years earlier and how Daoist Chongling and many others died amid the growing tension.
• Xiao True Person revealed that the five Anhe True Persons had deliberately split the sect, with some siding with the Wu Sect and others cooperating with Shanmen to avert a catastrophic war.
• Hou Du challenged the elders’ strategy, saying the Sword Lineage would have fought to the death, while Xiao True Person defended their choice as best for Anhe.
• Xiao True Person said Daoist Tianfeng had achieved Shangqing’s goal of taking over the Anhe Daoist Sect, and that the arrangement gave Anhe a mainstay against the Wu Sect.

Hou Niao left Anhe with Nineteenth Aunt after learning that Daoist Zhan had kept the turmoil under control and was starting an internal purge. They traveled north to Dushan, where Nineteenth Aunt eagerly chose to build herself a home.

• Hou Niao told Nineteenth Aunt to pack for their return to Dushan, and Daoist Zhan visited with gifts before explaining that Anhe’s Internal Purge would punish everyone involved in framing Daoist Chongling.
• Daoist Zhan asked Hou Niao to help Anhe if it ever needed him, while Hou Niao admitted he probably would not return to Fufeng City.
• Daoist Tianfeng arrived with his wife and child, and he and Hou Niao exchanged silent, hostile looks before the child wet Hou Niao’s favorite chair.
• Hou Niao and Nineteenth Aunt traveled north, stopping in Pingliang to visit the Ancient Langzhong People, descendants of the Peacock Clan.
• At Dushan’s main peak, Nineteenth Aunt admired the colorful buildings and asked Hou Niao to find her a place to build her own house.

After returning to Dushan, Hou Niao saw the Quanzhen Sect settle into its new cultivation-based system and sought access to the Sword Tomb Small World to strengthen his mental power. He arranged to enter it under guard and urged Wei True Person to free promising cultivators from administrative work.

• Sword Cultivators welcomed Hou Niao back to Dushan, while the little peacock envied their display and reflected on the different lives of humans and sacred beasts.
• Hou Niao observed that the Quanzhen Sect had completed its transition from the Three Prefectures system to administration based on cultivation realms and master-disciple succession.
• Hou Niao told Wei True Person that he wanted to enter the Sword Tomb Small World because his mental power limited his swordsmanship.
• Wei True Person explained the small world's history and security arrangements, and Hou Niao chose to use it inside the Ice and Snow Sword Pavilion under the guards' protection.
• Hou Niao described how the Xiaoshan Sword Lineage kept its true core members free of office and proposed that Quanzhen let promising cultivators focus on cultivation while others handled sect duties.

Hou Niao visited the Ice and Snow Sword Pavilion, where True Person Yan and True Person Zong warned him about the dangers of the Sword Tomb Small World and taught him how to enter. He entered the world and found it filled with funerary swords, whose long-expected transformation had still not occurred.

• Hou Niao reviewed Quanzhen Sect affairs and visited True Person Yan and True Person Zong at the Ice and Snow Sword Pavilion.
• True Person Yan warned Hou Niao not to risk the sect leader’s life in the Sword Tomb Small World, while True Person Zong told him he could stay if he found it useful.
• The two True Persons showed Hou Niao the Turing Scroll, the Cretaceous Stone, and a broken sword, then gave him the secret key to enter the Sword Tomb Small World.
• Hou Niao and the True Persons discussed whether he and the other Nascent Soul cultivators would leave Quanzhen Sect to explore the Universe, and he challenged them to ensure some would stay behind to guard the sect.
• Hou Niao entered the Sword Tomb Small World and found countless funerary swords belonging to Quanzhen Sword Cultivators who had died over the centuries.
• Hou Niao recalled that few Quanzhen swords had been returned to the world and that, despite a thousand years of accumulating them, no expected change had occurred.

Hou Du entered the Sword Tomb Small World to strengthen his Mental Power and find a way to make it produce flying swords for the Quanzhen Sword Lineage. He began using positive emotions to influence the sword weapons, but the effort drained his Mental Power as he tried to disrupt their solitary patterns.

• Hou Du reflected on Yueduo’s theory that Jinxiu’s Jian Family Small World needed nurturing to develop a self-sustaining supply of sword pellets.
• After examining the Quanzhen Sect, Hou Du discovered that most of its cultivators could not wield flying swords and concluded that the sect needed another path to obtain them.
• Hou Du tried to move the sword weapons by wielding his flying sword, but they would not accept his influence because each belonged to a deceased cultivator.
• Hou Du entered the Body Sword Technique state and decided to replace the sword weapons’ negative emotions with positive ones to encourage them to venture into the world again.
• Hou Du began spreading his sword sense through the space, spending Mental Power to influence the weapons and deciding to throw their solitary order into disarray.

Hou Du gathered Quanzhen and grassland Sword Cultivators to transform the Jian Family Small World into a source of spiritually aware flying swords for the Jinxiu Sword Lineage. After their influence grew to a thousand swords, he ordered the True Persons and Golden Core cultivators to attack them so the change would spread faster.

• Hou Du spent years influencing the swords in the Jian Family Small World, gradually turning the most irascible sword and then more than a dozen others toward an indomitable spirit.
• Hou Du told True Person Xu that he wanted to recreate the Qiaoshan Sword Lineage’s Sword Tomb Small World and asked him to summon Body Sword cultivators.
• True Person Xu gathered more than two hundred Golden Core Sword Cultivators, including grassland leaders Fang Yazi, Li Shipeng, and Shi Gong, and brought them into the Jian Family space.
• Hou Du led the cultivators in spreading conviction and courage among the swords, growing their following to a thousand swords within a year.
• Fang Yazi urged Hou Du to find opponents, and Hou Du ordered the True Persons and capable Golden Core Sword Cultivators to attack his group.

Lumian Lee entertained the tavern in Cordu with a fabricated story about working at a morgue, then met the outsiders Ryan Koss, Valentine, and Léa. Pierre revealed that Aurora had brought Lumian to the village five years earlier, given him her surname and his name, and that he had never left Cordu since.

• Lumian told a story about a poor young man who found work watching over a hospital morgue and began dreaming of a great fog after touching a strange mark on a corpse.
• Lumian admitted the story was made up and explained that his sister Aurora wrote the tales he told at the tavern.
• Ryan Koss introduced himself and his companions Valentine and Léa, then offered Lumian a drink for his story.
• Lumian ordered a Green Fairy, and Ryan cautioned him that absinthe could harm his body and mind.
• Pierre told Ryan that Aurora had brought Lumian to Cordu when he was thirteen, that Lumian had never left, and that Aurora had given him the name Lumian Lee.

Li Chuping briefed Hou Du on the Lost Dao Alliance’s growing membership and the uncertain bid by White Waterfall Temple to join. As the Jinxiu Sword Lineage prepared for its first Grand Ceremony, Hou Du and Li Chuping discussed the ceremony’s arrangements and how to attract more guests.

• Li Chuping told Hou Du that twelve sects had confirmed their participation in the Non-Inheriting Alliance, while about a dozen others were still undecided.
• Li Chuping explained that White Waterfall Temple, a Buddhist temple from the Northern Borderlands with an unusual tradition, wanted to join, and he was still investigating its background.
• Hou Du and Li Chuping agreed to keep gathering information about White Waterfall Temple and avoid rejecting it without cause.
• Li Chuping told Hou Du to study the Grand Ceremony’s etiquette, while Hou Du joked about choosing a mistress of ceremonies and proposed making guests bring their own wine.
• Li Chuping rejected Hou Du’s wine idea, then agreed that Hou Du should invite the Anhe Daoist Sect to help organize the ceremony.
• Li Chuping considered recruiting more minor traditions, as the ceremony would be the new Sword Lineage’s first appearance before the continent.

Hou Du tested the limits of his swordsmanship in his great hall, using his gains from seven years in the Jian Family Small World to increase his Sword Frequency and Sword Light Division. He concluded that his strongest combat range lay within two hundred zhang, while his limited mental power still prevented him from advancing further.

• Hou Du reflected on his role as Quanzhen Sect leader, his contributions to the Sword Lineage, and the delayed investiture ceremony that had secured his position.
• Hou Du recalled how the Upper Realm Envoys demonstrated formidable strength at Anhe Palace, while Miaomiao'er said Daoist Tianfeng had been the only one without genuine hostility toward him.
• Hou Du accelerated his two Profound Light Wheels until he could release a hundred swords per breath, then divided his sword swarm into four hundred and eventually nine hundred rays.
• Hou Du assessed his combat range, finding his swordsmanship most effective within two hundred zhang because his mental power limited his second Sword Light Division.
• Hou Du attributed his slow mental-power growth to his rapid Law Power cultivation during the Golden Core Stage and recognized that he needed a special opportunity to make a qualitative leap.

Lumian Lee spun a grim story about working at a morgue, then revealed it was one of his sister Aurora’s inventions. He met the visiting Ryan Koss, Valentine, and Léa at the tavern, where Pierre explained that Aurora had brought Lumian to Cordu five years earlier and given him the Lee surname and the name Lumian.

• Lumian told Ryan Koss a story about a poor night watchman who touched a strange mark on a corpse and began dreaming of thick fog.
• Lumian admitted the story was a tall tale written by his sister, Aurora, and the tavern regulars laughed at Ryan for believing him.
• Ryan introduced himself and his companions, Valentine and Léa, and bought drinks for Lumian and Pierre.
• Ryan and Léa recognized the surname Lee as connected to the feared Frank Lee, while Lumian ordered absinthe without concern for its risks.
• Pierre revealed that Aurora had brought thirteen-year-old Lumian back to Cordu five years earlier and had given him his name and surname.

Guzhu and the Daoists discussed how the Sword Lineage had influenced Anhe and other traditions, then considered how to respond to the Quanzhen Sect’s upcoming Dushan Grand Ceremony. Zhixuan decided the Daoist sects should attend in force, with plans to stir up trouble.

• Guzhu explained why he had let Shangqing take charge of Anhe, suspecting the Anhe True Persons were secretly united and wary of the Sword Lineage’s influence.
• Guzhu warned Zhixuan and the others that Cult Leader Hou and the Sword Lineage had ties to several traditions across the continent.
• Taixuan Gubai and Guangling Huiyuan criticized the Quanzhen Sect for holding the Dushan Grand Ceremony, while Xiaoyue proposed boycotting it.
• Cen Shen suggested the Daoists attend instead and use the gathering to undermine the Sword Lineage, and Guzhu praised the idea.
• Zhixuan announced that the Taiqing and Qi Sect True Persons would attend the ceremony in force and urged the other Daoists to join them.