Recaps

After killing Young Master Wang and surviving the Anhe Prayer, Hou Niao accepted Daoist Chongling’s offer to infiltrate the Shan Kingdom’s Demonic Sect. He broke through his cultivation barrier on the journey north, reached the White Poplar Forest, and was captured by four men who suspected his motives.

• Hou Niao confessed to killing Young Master Wang, was condemned to the Anhe Prayer, and survived the ritual with Zhou Qianyang after destroying Baoshi Old Man’s soul.
• Daoist Chongling proposed that Hou Niao infiltrate the Demonic Sect, and Hou Niao accepted in exchange for resources and the chance to join the Anhe Daoist Sect later.
• At Maple Bridge, Hou Niao discovered he could finally absorb spiritual energy and began cultivating with several methods.
• Hou Niao defended a passenger from water demons, but Daoist Zhan killed the River Mother and rebuked him for acting without understanding the danger.
• Hou Niao reached the Qi Gathering Realm, passed Liuyang City without stopping, and continued toward the Great Wind Plains.
• In the White Poplar Forest, Hou Niao lost his poisoned horse, evaded monsters, and was seized by four cultivators.
• The four men questioned Hou Niao, threw him to the ground, and hid him in a poplar tree as their companions approached.

Hou Niao joined the Quanzhen Sect after Li Chuping recognized his Sword Gall, then settled in Jincheng while cultivating with his unusual dual dantians and fighting souls in the Soul Realm. He chose to avoid factional commitments for now, acquired a new sword, and continued searching for a path that suited his own swordsmanship.

• Hou Niao was rescued by the Quanzhen Sect patrol, brought to Right River Town, and learned that the four masters served in its Territorial Patrol Guard.
• Hou Niao combined two cultivation methods, survived a painful surge of spiritual energy, and received a sword and advice about Quanzhen’s admission tests before traveling to Jincheng.
• Li Chuping judged Hou Niao’s past deeds proof of Sword Gall and secretly advanced his application, while Hou Niao began training in Quanzhen’s foundational sword techniques.
• Hou Niao discovered a vortex between his dantians that drew him into a crimson Soul Realm passage, where he fought and eventually defeated a skilled wandering soul.
• Hou Niao refused to join an unsanctioned demon hunt, formed a cautious alliance with Gu Weixin, and killed an intruder who broke into his courtyard looking for Xiao Qiang.
• Hou Niao received his admission token, completed Quanzhen’s initiation rites, and learned from Wang Shouzhong that his recruitment tied him to Commandant Li Chuping.
• Hou Niao selected Sword Net and three sword manuals, joined the Anhe Association, and offered to help Wanshouqi contact his family through his Right River Town connections.
• Hou Niao traded his spirit stones, Qi Gathering Pills, and talismans for the Nameless Sword, then rejected the Sword Manor’s Ceremonial Sword as incompatible with the Killing Sword he had learned in the Soul Realm.

Hou Niao’s stand against corruption exposed him to the human cost of the purge, and he risked his life escorting displaced families through the White Poplar Forest. He left the surviving child in Daoist care, witnessed Immortal Guan’s fatal divination, and departed Liuyang after confronting the rogue cultivators who targeted him.

• Hou Niao confronted the Heavenly Fragrance Tower over its underage workers, killed a swordsman who attacked him, and was punished while the authorities investigated the dependents of fallen cultivators.
• Hou Niao chose to stand openly for disadvantaged Quanzhen disciples, then refused Dugu Lan’s offers of marriage and material support.
• Commandant Li sent Hou Niao to Liuyang, where he encountered families expelled after their household heads were executed and realized his earlier actions had helped trigger the crackdown.
• Hou Niao obtained six deer sleds and led the families through the White Poplar Forest, where Demon Beasts killed nearly everyone before a cultivator subdued Tiger-head and ended the attack.
• Hou Niao found a little girl alive, carried her to Liuyang, and arranged for Daoist Xi to take her into a Daoist sanctuary after Daoist Zhan helped him.
• Immortal Guan returned Hou Niao’s gourd, then died from heavenly lightning after choosing Hou Niao as the focus of his final divination.
• Hou Niao bought movement-art books and forty weapons in Liuyang, then killed two of three rogue cultivators who ambushed him near the White Poplar Forest as the last brother fled.

Hou Niao entered Foundation Cultivation, received a dangerous posting in Yinling, and joined Xiang Zhiwen and Dou Gong in investigating a trap that injured the Town Office cultivators. After proving himself among demons while tracking the Wax Hive, the story shifted to Zhang Yuanqing, who received a mysterious black card from Lei Yibing.

• Hou Niao defeated Sword Two in the Soul Realm, broke through the barrier beyond him, and entered Foundation Cultivation after balancing the spiritual energy in his body and dantians.
• Hou Niao chose new sword techniques, intensified his training, and was assigned to Yinling despite his six-month punishment.
• Hou Niao reached Yinling, killed soul ghosts disguised among fleeing villagers, and fought alongside the monk Tiding against ghosts and demons on the road to Fang Clan Fort.
• At Fang Family Fort, Hou Niao treated injured cultivators, struck Qian Chong unconscious, and learned from Yao He that the Quanzhen forces in Yinling were divided and weakened.
• Xiang Zhiwen welcomed Hou Niao into the Patrols and explained how the Town Office cultivators had been injured by White-Footed Slender-Waisted Bees while pursuing Horned Beasts.
• Hou Niao proposed investigating Fang Family Fort for a human planner, then accompanied Xiang Zhiwen and Dou Gong to track the Wax Hive using bee corpses and a scent hound.
• In Grass Dragon Gully, Hou Niao killed a white-browed wolf demon in a challenge, won the demons' acceptance, and joined Xiang Zhiwen and Dou Gong in observing their trading gathering.
• Zhang Yuanqing stayed home while Jiang Yu'er went to her blind date, then opened a parcel from Hangcheng containing a black card and Lei Yibing's letter calling it a gift between brothers.