Recaps

Lumian entertained Cordu’s tavern with a fabricated morgue story before meeting Ryan Koss, Valentine, and Léa. Pierre explained how Aurora had brought Lumian to Cordu and given him his name and surname, while Lumian said he had forgotten his original name; elsewhere, Hou Niao stopped his followers from attacking the Orthopedic Sect’s survivors and promised to return its territory.

• Lumian told a grim story about a hospital morgue watchman who found a strange mark on a corpse and began dreaming of a vast fog, then admitted it was made up and credited his sister Aurora with writing such tales.
• Ryan Koss introduced himself and his companions, Valentine and Léa, and warned Lumian that his surname Lee recalled the feared sailor Frank Lee.
• Lumian ordered Green Fairy, and Ryan bought drinks for him and Pierre as the tavern regulars explained Lumian’s reputation for inventing stories and pranks.
• Pierre said Aurora had brought Lumian to Cordu when he was thirteen, given him the name Lumian, and passed her surname Lee to him, and Lumian said he had forgotten his former name.
• The Four Huncheng Families backed Hou Niao’s defiance, and Paper Arhat accepted that the Buddhist Sect would join the fighting.
• Monk Yuanxing asked Monk Tiding if he could defeat Hou Niao, and Tiding admitted he was not strong enough yet and advised attacking multiple targets instead of singling out Quanzhen.
• Hou Niao found the Orthopedic Sect’s Mountain Gate burning and Miao Renlong and True Person Sun dead, then stopped his followers from attacking the remaining minor cultivators and ordered them to contain the fire and return the Dharma Bodies.
• Wei True Person told Hou Niao he had secretly followed the campaign to support him, and Hou Niao promised to return the Orthopedic Sect’s territory, and Wei offered to explain the decision to neighboring traditions.

Hou Niao returned to Anhe as upper-realm factions competed over its inheritance, and he tried to protect the sect’s independence while learning what the visitors intended. He left Anhe under new rules and alliances still unsettled, turning to diplomacy with the Ancient Langzhong cultivators and seeking the Daoist elites’ views of Jinxiu.

• Hou Niao withdrew the grassland Sword Lineage from Daitao and urged its Golden Core cultivators to unite the grasslands and reach agreements with neighboring powers.
• Immortal Maiden Dong recruited Hou Niao to assess seven Way of Harmony candidates, and he completed the blind trials before leaving without waiting for the result.
• Hou Niao helped oversee Dushan’s development, demonstrated his swordsmanship, and left for Anhe after Xiao True Person summoned him.
• At Anhe Palace, Hou Niao learned that thirteen Daoist visitors were competing to transmit their teachings, clashed with Daoist Tianfeng, and warned Daoist Zhixuan against Yuqing joining the succession contest.
• Hou Niao reclaimed his long-delayed Daoist Register by assaulting Hall Master Chongxi, then learned that Daoist Xi had arranged Chongxi’s death.
• Xiao True Person appointed Hou Niao Anhe Conduct Inspector, and Hou Niao enforced the new rules by catching Daoist Tianfeng speeding after drinking and accompanying him to the Jade Grove Clinic.
• Hou Niao stayed in Anhe, stopped the border trials, and rejected using force against the Ancient Langzhong cultivators as he prepared to visit them and consult Daoist elites.
• Hou Niao sent flowers anonymously to Room Wu, and Qiu Di told Tianfeng she would remain in the Divine Capital, prompting him to arrange for her.

Hou Niao helped settle Anhe’s inheritance, returned to Dushan, and worked to strengthen Quanzhen’s sword tradition as the sect prepared its Grand Ceremony. The Sword Lineage’s rivals planned to attend and challenge its influence, while a separate storyline introduced Lumian in Cordu.

• Hou Niao met Kong Li, the Peacock Clan’s Nineteenth Aunt, and brought her to Anhe Palace, where she advised him to favor Shangqing among the Three Purities.
• Hou Niao witnessed Shangqing win Anhe’s inheritance vote and confronted the five Anhe True Persons, who revealed that their apparent divisions had been a strategy to avert war with the Wu Sect.
• Hou Niao returned to Dushan with Kong Li and discussed entering the Sword Tomb Small World and freeing promising Quanzhen cultivators from administrative duties.
• Hou Niao entered the Sword Tomb Small World and used his sword sense to awaken the abandoned swords, later rallying hundreds of cultivators to spread courage among them and test their resolve in battle.
• Li Chuping told Hou Du that twelve sects had joined the Non-Inheriting Alliance, and they discussed investigating White Waterfall Temple and organizing the Dushan Grand Ceremony.
• Hou Du expanded his sword swarm to nine hundred rays but concluded that his limited mental power kept his effective range to two hundred zhang.
• Lumian told Ryan Koss and his companions a story written by his sister Aurora, while Pierre explained that Aurora had brought Lumian to Cordu and given him his name.
• Guzhu and other Daoists discussed opposing the Sword Lineage, then decided to attend the Dushan Grand Ceremony and use it to undermine Quanzhen.

Lumian entertained a Cordu tavern with a fabricated morgue story written by Aurora, then met Ryan Koss and his companions. Pierre explained how Aurora had brought Lumian to Cordu and given him his name, while Lumian said he had forgotten his original one.

• Lumian told a visitor an eerie story about a morgue watchman and a dead former colleague, then admitted he had made it up and that Aurora wrote his tales.
• The tavern regulars laughed at Ryan Koss for believing Lumian’s story, and Lumian introduced himself to Ryan and his companions, Valentine and Léa.
• Ryan remarked that Lumian’s surname, Lee, recalled the feared sailor Frank Lee, then bought Lumian and Pierre drinks.
• Pierre said Aurora had brought thirteen-year-old Lumian to Cordu five years earlier and given him her surname and the name Lumian.
• Lumian said he had forgotten his original name and continued drinking Green Fairy without embarrassment.