Recaps

Hou Niao helped destroy the Undead’s formation, then traveled with Bai Qingqian to Shangyu and settled in Horseshoe Town. Disguised as Hao Ren, he entered Tianxin Pavilion’s contest against the True Disciples and defeated several challengers, while Dong Fangfei began to suspect his identity.

• Dai Xun led cultivators toward Xunfeng Valley, where Undead ambushed them, and Hou Niao escaped their attack by switching places with a corpse as Xiang Anshi watched.
• Hou Niao and Xiang Anshi attacked the twelve statues while Han Tiangang investigated their formation, and Hou Niao used an Ancient Thunder Talisman to interrupt Han Tiangang’s thunder and collect the statues.
• Hou Niao returned to Loulan New City, reported the battle to Yu Zhengxing, and left with Bai Qingqian after Yu Zhengxing warned him to depart.
• Hou Niao and Bai Qingqian traveled through Shangyu, visited the Nine Towns of Sui Mo, and settled in Horseshoe Town, where Gu Sou advised Hou Niao on cultivating the Five Elements and gave him a courtyard and a disguise cloth.
• Hou Niao agreed to help Gu Sou by following Daoist Qiu Shi’s instructions, took the identity of Hao Ren, and became one of Tianxin Pavilion’s assessors for the True Disciple candidates.
• Hou Niao studied how Strange Stone Orchids resisted reincarnation, then entered the Orchid Fragrance Small World as Hao Ren to face the True Disciples who challenged Tianxin Pavilion.
• Hao Ren defeated Wei Gu by catching his flying sword and using thunder, then endured Yan Baiyi’s banners and turned his tornado against him with stone figures.
• Hao Ren dismantled Tan Xiao’s techniques and pinned him down, while Dong Fangfei noticed his crescent-shaped mole and suspected he was Hou Niao.
• Monk Tiding lost to Hao Ren but encouraged the other True Disciples to continue, and Dai Xun volunteered to fight next as Cheng Kun and Lou Yue prepared to follow.

Hou Niao defeated the True Disciples who challenged him, then traveled through the grasslands and Yaoguang before returning to Jade Capital. He helped the Earth Spirit Pearl return to the land and agreed to speak at the Annual Assembly, where he would challenge Quanzhen’s selection rules.

• Hou Niao defeated Dai Xun, Cheng Kun, Lou Yue, and Yuan Xizhi in succession, then left for the Hundred Thousand Mountains with Fuyao as Bai Qingqian chose to stay in Year-End City.
• Dong Fangfei brought Hou Niao to Kangba Left Banner, where he negotiated with Shi Bu and Shi Le and defeated the grassland swordsmen who challenged him.
• Hou Niao reached the Winged People Tribe and studied the Earth Spirit Pearl while the tribe’s leaders and Northern Heaven Gate envoys tried to remove it from Xinghuan’s coffin.
• Hou Niao guided the Earth Spirit Pearl away from Huanghou and Baidou, who died fighting Northern Heaven Gate cultivators, then released the pearl back into the land and left Yaoguang.
• Judge Cheng told Hou Niao that he would speak for the Three Heavens Realms cultivators at the Annual Assembly, and Hou Niao’s friends helped him prepare to challenge the rules for choosing True Disciples.
• Yu Zhengxing warned Hou Niao that the reform effort could cost him a place among the True Disciples, but Hou Niao agreed to speak publicly, and Yu Zhengxing told True Persons Yuan and Wei he would honor the arrangement.
• At the Yingtai Trade Route gathering, Bai Qingqian told Xiangfei Bamboo that Zong Qian was Senior Brother Hou and had helped the Silver Sword Firm take the lead, but they decided to wait before approaching him.

Hou Niao challenged Duan Wu Qian at the Annual Assembly, lost his sword and place in Quanzhen, then began cultivating a new sword seed in seclusion. Years later, the Duan Prince’s Residence found his hiding place and sent Golden Core cultivators into the dangerous formation around his flower shop, where they vanished as Hou Niao searched for a way to use the intruders’ presence to his advantage.

• Hou Niao rejected an offer to become a True Disciple and challenged Duan Wu Qian, killing him in a duel at the Annual Assembly.
• True Person Xu abolished the True Disciple system, stripped Hou Niao of his sword seed, and expelled him from Quanzhen, while other sects opened their own positions to competition.
• Hou Niao chose to develop a new sword rather than restore Nameless, and entered seclusion to grow a Strange Stone Orchid and nurture a sword seed in his Purple Mansion.
• While Fang Yazi secured a place in Shanmen’s new True Disciple contest, the Duan Prince’s Residence continued searching for Hou Niao and discovered that Lady Bai was the woman they sought.
• Zhang Hancheng and Tang Yan arranged to attack Hou Niao, with Tang Yan luring Bai Qingqian away while Zhang entered the Stone Formation around the flower shop.
• Zhang Hancheng entered the formation and discovered that its courtyard was more dangerous than Hou Niao, whose struggle to cultivate the orchid had left him trapped there for years.
• Cheng Qianli and another Daoist entered the Stone Formation from opposite sides after Tang Yan grew suspicious, while Hou Niao sought to turn the intruders’ presence to his advantage.
• When Zhang Hancheng and the two other Golden Core cultivators failed to return, Tang Yan released Bai Qingqian but chose not to enter the courtyard himself.

Hou Niao survived the ancient trial, claimed a wounded Sword Cultivator, and gained support from the Commandant Prefecture as the wider cultivation world grew unstable. In a separate story, Lumian entertained Cordu’s visitors with a fabricated morgue tale, while Pierre explained how Aurora had named him and brought him to the village.

• Hou Niao merged with the Strange Stone Orchid, received a Sword Seed, and watched the trial kill the three Golden Core assassins before telling Tang Yan their feud would continue under the trade’s rules.
• Hou Niao claimed a wounded Sword Cultivator before Cao Dean could reach him, then attacked Cao Dean as he turned to leave.
• Li Chuping decided the Commandant Prefecture should stop investigating Hou Niao and support him, sharing responsibility for his offense and imposing financial penalties on them both.
• Luo Yewang and Daoist Ying watched Xinghuan climb faster as the Earth Spirit Pearl’s force dragged Ruthless Dao cultivators underground, while Uncle Niao told Xinghuan to stay put as nine cultivators gathered nearby.
• Hou Niao left Jingyang Mountain with Feilengcui and learned from Yu Zhengxing that Quanzhen Sect Bridge Linking disciples were being gathered to assess the major powers amid signs of turmoil.
• Hou Niao accepted Zhu Changwen’s banquet invitation and drank with merchants seeking to settle a dispute, but a Jiedu Prefecture message soon reported pirates had massacred the manor.
• Lumian told Ryan Koss, Valentine, and Léa a fabricated morgue story, then chose Green Fairy when Ryan offered to buy him a drink.
• Pierre told the visitors that Aurora had brought thirteen-year-old Lumian to Cordu five years earlier and given him the name Lumian Lee, while Lumian said he had forgotten his former name.