Recaps

After resolving the crisis in Cloud-Parting Valley, Song Yan learned about the Asura Path and arranged to redeem the recovered Flying Sword with military merit. He visited Fang Cunsheng at Zhou Yan’s grave and offered him a chance to pursue a new Dao Path, while villagers gathered to honor the deceased Zhou Yan.

• Liu Tianfang identified Shi Yunhao as the Asura Path’s Dao Child and explained that each generation’s Asura had to be its strongest cultivator.
• Song Yan returned the recovered Flying Sword to Liu Tianfang for appraisal and asked to redeem it with military merit; a battle report confirmed Li Yi had destroyed the Seed Demon Way around Baiyun Mountain.
• At Zhou Yan’s grave, Master He told Fang Cunsheng he was leaving Huliang, and Song Yan arrived to pay his respects.
• Song Yan offered Fang Cunsheng a chance to follow a new Dao Path despite the risk of becoming a mortal, and Fang Cunsheng agreed to try.
• Fang Cunsheng chose to stay beside Zhou Yan’s grave for a few days, as villagers from the surrounding settlements arrived to honor Zhou Yan.

Song Yan reunited with Sheng Nian, arranged for A Yun to go to Jun Mountain, and refined an Ancient Sword before a change in his Two-Pole Realm began. The story then followed Yuyan and Tanshi in the Eastern Wilderness, where Yuyan killed a Demon Sect Young Lord and the sect threatened the region’s mortals to draw him out.

• Song Yan told Sheng Nian he had recognized him at the Taiyi Sect and agreed to take A Yun to Jun Mountain with Ju Luyi.
• Song Yan refined the Buddhist relic-repaired Ancient Sword and stored it in the Infinite Treasury as visions stirred within his Two-Pole Realm.
• Yuyan and Tanshi discussed the equal worth of lives and the purpose of Buddhist killing techniques while traveling through the Eastern Wilderness.
• Yuyan pressed Tanshi to show him the temple’s Sword Finger technique, but Tanshi refused and withdrew to meditate.
• Yuyan killed the Demon Sect Young Lord after witnessing him abducting women and girls to practice his Hehuan Evil Cultivation Method.
• The Demon Sect seized villagers and threatened mortals across the Eastern Wilderness to force Yuyan to reveal himself.

Yuyan and Tanshi fought to protect the Eastern Wilderness’s commoners from the Demon Sect, and Tanshi made a great vow that bound the region’s cultivators’ fates to the survival of mortals. After Tanshi and Yuyan died in battle, the commoners took up Yuyan’s sword, and the Eastern Wilderness’s cultivators finally united to defeat the Devil Cultivators.

• Tanshi gave Yuyan a Dharma-Transmission Wooden Figure, and Yuyan learned the Six Void Heaven-Falling Sword Finger, Shaoshang Sword.
• Yuyan and Tanshi saved Huzi from a Devil Cultivator and left to fight the Demon Sect’s forces.
• Yuyan battled the Demon Sect for days until exhausted, while Tanshi protected him and the commoners gathered to stand against the Devil Cultivators.
• Tanshi sacrificed himself to make a great vow that tied every Eastern Wilderness cultivator’s fortune and Dao Path to the survival of its mortals, and his Śarīra merged with Yuyan’s Flying Sword.
• Yuyan used the transformed sword to wound the palanquin’s master before dying, and the commoners took turns wielding his sword against the Devil Cultivators.
• The Eastern Wilderness’s cultivators united with the commoners and defeated the Devil Cultivators, then sealed Yuyan’s sword in Cloud-Parting Valley.

Song Yan gained the Shaoshang Sword technique from Senior Yuyan’s Flying Sword and prepared to leave the Eastern Wilderness for the Chu Kingdom. At Blackwater Pass, he completed his departure arrangements, named Fang Cunsheng his disciple, and learned that Li Yi had already been sent to Mount Li.

• Song Yan named the reborn Flying Sword Great Vow for All Under Heaven and received the Shaoshang Sword portion of the Six Void Heaven-Falling Sword Finger.
• Song Yan studied the Shaoshang Sword for three days and found it far more powerful than the Shaochong Sword, with no upper limit on the Sword Qi it could consume.
• Feng Siyuan and a Little Daoist Boy summoned Song Yan to Blackwater Pass, while Deng Ke returned Song Yan’s repaired Sword Sect Jade Seal.
• Song Yan told Xiao He and Deng Ke that he planned to visit the Chu Kingdom and the Sword Sect, and he considered bringing his disciple Xiao Ju to acknowledge her roots there.
• At Blackwater Pass, Song Yan relinquished his post, exchanged his remaining military merits for Spirit Stones, and asked Xu Zhiye and Liu Tianfang to bring his new Named Disciple, Fang Cunsheng, back to Jun Mountain.
• Song Yan learned from Lü Luo that Li Yi had received a Mobilization Order and left for Mount Li three days earlier.

Li Yi led Heaven's Deputy Office soldiers toward Mount Li for standby duty while wondering why the area had become troubled. Meanwhile, Li Qingfeng learned that the Xuanyuan Sect planned to test the Dongyuan Sect at the Nine Veins Grand Competition, and Li Pang hurried to warn them as Lü Ketai prepared to destroy the sect.

• Li Yi rested his company by a lake, discussed Mount Li's unexplained troubles with a young office soldier, and ordered the soldiers onward.
• Li Pang returned to the Chu Kingdom, heard cultivators discuss Song Yan and Ju Luyi, and learned the Xuanyuan Sect meant to use the Nine Veins Grand Competition to probe the Dongyuan Sect's strength.
• Li Pang rushed toward the Dongyuan Sect after hearing Ju Luyi could be killed if the sect proved too weak to resist the Xuanyuan Sect.
• Deng Yu offered Lü Ketai the Hehuan Sect's help in destroying the Dongyuan Sect, but Lü Ketai refused and said he would kill its members himself if Chen Linyuan was dead and it had no Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Wu Zheng left Lü Ketai's courtyard and reflected that he had once been a Dongyuan Sect disciple before joining the Yellow Springs Way.

Song Yan and Deng Ke entered the Sword Sect’s Inner Sect through the Eighteen-Pavilion Crossing, where the trial sealed their cultivation and tested their swordsmanship. Song Yan failed the first exchange, but Deng Ke passed by relying on the basic sword forms he had practiced for nearly a century.

• Song Yan, Deng Ke, and Xiao He arrived at the Sword Sect Ruins, and Deng Ke told Song Yan that his clan’s records traced the sect’s founding patriarch, Ancestor Zheng, to an ascension thirty thousand years earlier.
• Song Yan and Deng Ke entered the Inner Sect grounds and learned from Deng Ke’s map that the Eighteen-Pavilion Crossing required entrants to pass eighteen Sword-Comprehension Pavilion trials.
• The crossing’s power sealed Song Yan and Deng Ke’s cultivation, while Xiao He reverted to a snake and hid in Song Yan’s robe.
• At the first pavilion, the phantom disarmed Song Yan after he tried to counter with Blameless Sword Momentum, then attacked Deng Ke when he caught the bamboo sword.
• Deng Ke defended himself with the basic sword forms and passed the trial, revealing that they were the only swordsmanship he had practiced for nearly a hundred years.

Song Yan renewed his Sword Dao foundations through the Eighteen-Pavilion Crossing and, with Deng Ke, reached the Sword Sect’s Inner Sect. In the Patriarch Hall, they found a message from Zhong Min saying the Sword Sect had not been destroyed and warning its inheritors to beware of the Yellow Springs Way.

• Song Yan reflected on his weak sword foundations, restarted the first pavilion trial, and defeated its figure by relying on basic sword forms.
• Song Yan repeatedly studied and challenged the pavilion figures, gradually deepening his swordsmanship until he passed the final trial alongside Deng Ke.
• The Crossing Pavilion figure blew Song Yan and Deng Ke off the summit, and a sword light carried them to Fallen Sword Terrace as their cultivation recovered.
• Song Yan and Deng Ke entered the Patriarch Hall, paid respects to the Sword Sect’s patriarchs, and found Zhong Min’s jade slip beneath a cushion.
• Song Yan and Deng Ke learned that the Sword Sect had left temporarily and that its inheritors should beware of cultivators of the Yellow Springs Way.

Song Yan and Deng Ke searched the Sword Sect for useful resources but found almost nothing, then explored Sword-Listening Cliff, where Deng Ke entered seclusion. Song Yan used the Infinite Treasury to revisit Chen Linyuan’s sword strike and was stunned when Chen Linyuan appeared to speak to him, claiming he was dead and not truly Chen Linyuan.

• Song Yan and Deng Ke read Zhong Min’s warning about the Yellow Springs Way, then searched the Sword Sect’s halls and found only a few old flying swords.
• Song Yan and Deng Ke discussed how to rebuild the Sword Sect, including recruiting disciples, developing businesses, and seeking resources in the Eastern Wilderness.
• At Western Heaven Sword-Listening Cliff, Deng Ke gained an insight and entered seclusion while Song Yan sensed spiritual potency flowing toward the Infinite Treasury during a storm.
• Song Yan poured Two-Pole Qi into Sole Laughter and reopened the Sword Dao illusion of Chen Linyuan defeating nine Nascent Soul devil cultivators.
• Chen Linyuan spoke directly to Song Yan, told him to call him Senior Brother, and explained that he was already dead and was not strictly Chen Linyuan.

Song Yan learned from Chen Linyuan how to refine his sword techniques before the illusion realm faded, then traveled with Deng Ke toward the Nine Veins Grand Competition. In Forget-Worry Market Ward, they heard that the Xuanyuan Sect planned to publicly execute Ju Luyi, putting the Dongyuan Sect in danger.

• Chen Linyuan urged Song Yan to create a sword strike of his own and helped him simplify the Shaochong Sword and Shaoshang Sword techniques.
• The Sword Dao Illusion Realm dispersed, and Chen Linyuan vanished; Song Yan returned to the real world at Western Heaven Sword-Listening Cliff.
• After Deng Ke emerged from seclusion, he and Song Yan set out for the Dongyuan Sect but learned that the Nine Veins Grand Competition was underway in Lichuan.
• Song Yan and Deng Ke changed course for the competition, and Deng Ke began choosing a first-meeting gift for Song Yan's disciple, Xiao Ju.
• At Forget-Worry Market Ward, Song Yan and Deng Ke overheard cultivators say the Xuanyuan Sect had taken Ju Luyi into custody and planned to execute her publicly.

As the Dongyuan Sect and its allies demanded Ju Luyi’s release at the Nine Veins Summit, the Xuanyuan Sect’s Xiao Langyu threatened them with his late Golden Core power. A young Daoist arrived in crow form, resisted Xiao Langyu’s pressure, and demanded to know where his disciple Ju Luyi was.

• At the Nine Veins Summit, Xi Shuyan learned that the Dongyuan Sect’s sect master had arrived and left the Martial Practice Ground as Dongyuan Sect cultivators also headed to Bingzhu Academy.
• Xiao Langyu began his final Dao lecture while Luo Xiaming, Xu Ziqing, and Li Qingfeng arrived to demand Ju Luyi’s return; Xi Shuyan followed them.
• Xiao Langyu defended Ju Luyi’s detention, while Luo Xiaming insisted the Xuanyuan Sect had no right to judge the matter alone.
• Nangong Xuanlang and True Person Shaoxuan backed the Dongyuan Sect, and Xiao Langyu invoked the Xuanyuan Sect’s duty to enforce order before unleashing his late Golden Core pressure.
• A crow transformed into a young Daoist who remained unmoved by Xiao Langyu’s pressure and demanded to know where Ju Luyi was, promising to spare him if he answered.

Song Yan returned to Lichuan and demanded to know where his disciple Xiao Ju was, then killed Xiao Langyu despite Lü Ketai’s intervention. He pressed Lü Ketai for Xiao Ju’s whereabouts, leaving the Nascent Soul True Lord facing him on the Chaotian Altar.

• Song Yan arrived at the Chaotian Altar and identified Ju Luyi as his disciple, while cultivators across Chu Kingdom recognized him as a Golden Core cultivator.
• Xiao Langyu declared that Ju Luyi would be publicly executed the next day, and Song Yan challenged him to a fight.
• Song Yan and Xiao Langyu fought with their abilities, but a strange ripple erased the battle while leaving Xiao Langyu’s spent essence blood and law power intact.
• Song Yan attacked Xiao Langyu again, but Lü Ketai appeared and caught the Sword Qi before it could kill him.
• Song Yan’s lingering Sword Qi struck Xiao Langyu, then gathered and pierced him with a final sword light, killing him before Lü Ketai could intervene.
• Song Yan demanded that Lü Ketai tell him where Xiao Ju was, while Lü Ketai regarded him with hostility.

Song Yan fought Lü Ketai above Chaotian Altar after the Xuanyuan Sect and Dongyuan Sect drew their forces into battle. He destroyed Lü Ketai’s body and nascent soul, then demanded Deng Yu hand over his disciple.

• Lü Ketai brought Xuanyuan Sect reinforcements to face Song Yan and the Dongyuan Sect, while Deng Yu arrived with Elysian Heaven and revealed she held Song Yan’s disciple.
• Deng Yu tried to bargain for a night with Song Yan, but Xiao He attacked her, triggering the battle between the Golden Core cultivators.
• Song Yan fought Lü Ketai with the Unmoored Boat and his sword arts, breaking through the Mountain-Subduing Seal and forcing Lü Ketai to flee.
• Song Yan launched the Shaoshang Sword, destroyed Lü Ketai’s physical body, and pursued his escaping nascent soul into Great Night Filling the Sky.
• Song Yan’s Asura Dharma Body crushed Lü Ketai’s nascent soul, killing him, and Song Yan turned to Deng Yu and demanded she hand over his disciple.

Song Yan killed Lü Ketai and forced Deng Yu to reveal Ju Luyi, who was imprisoned in Elysian Heaven. Ju Luyi resisted Deng Yu’s illusion, escaped the formation, and killed her, leaving the battlefield stunned.

• Song Yan’s killing of Lü Ketai stunned the cultivators gathered at Bingzhu Academy’s Chaotian Altar and ended the battle between the Dongyuan and Xuanyuan Sects.
• Deng Yu stopped fighting and raised Elysian Heaven, revealing Ju Luyi imprisoned inside; Song Yan demanded that she return his disciple.
• Deng Yu used the Myriad Transformations Hehuan Bewitching Formation to exploit Ju Luyi’s feelings for Song Yan and tried to make her succumb to an illusion of her master.
• Ju Luyi rejected the illusion in anger, escaped Elysian Heaven, and appeared before Deng Yu’s True Body.
• Ju Luyi killed Deng Yu with Flying Sword Joined Branches as the cultivators watched in silence.

After Ju Luyi killed Deng Yu, Song Yan faced down the Xuanyuan Sect’s Golden Core cultivators and announced a campaign against its remnants across the Chu Kingdom. Back at Sword-Wiping Peak, Xiao Ju woke from her injuries and learned that Lü Ketai was dead and the Xuanyuan Sect was on the verge of destruction.

• Ju Luyi killed Deng Yu and collapsed from exhaustion, while Song Yan confronted the Xuanyuan Sect cultivators at the Chaotian Altar.
• Lou Zhengze urged the Xuanyuan Sect cultivators to attack Song Yan, then tried to detonate his Golden Core when they refused; True Person Shaoxuan and the other cultivators suppressed him.
• Several Xuanyuan Sect cultivators fled, and Song Yan called on the Righteous Path throughout the Chu Kingdom to hunt down the sect’s remnants.
• Song Yan left the aftermath at Lichuan to Luo Xiaming and Xu Ziqing, then returned to the Dongyuan Sect with Ju Luyi to recover.
• Xiao Ju woke in Song Yan’s cave abode, learned she had killed Deng Yu, and was stunned when Song Yan told her Lü Ketai was dead and the Xuanyuan Sect might soon be gone.

Song Yan visited Xiao Ju after she awakened and then traveled to the Nangong Clan Lands to see Qin Xijun. He confronted Qin Xijun with the farewell letter he had found, leaving her to explain why she had written it.

• Song Yan told Xiao Ju that he and Sheng Nian had killed Lü Ketai, encouraged her recovery, and left Xiao He to look after her.
• Xiao He reunited with Xiao Ju and recounted what had happened on Lichuan, prompting Xiao Ju to hide beneath the covers in embarrassment.
• Song Yan visited Nangong Xuanlang and Nangong Ming, thanked the Nangong Aristocratic Clan for supporting the Dongyuan Sect, and met Lu Ziye and Nangong Ling.
• Song Yan gave Lu Ziye and Nangong Ling clay wedding gifts made by Xiao He, then went to the courtyard to speak privately with Qin Xijun.
• Song Yan showed Qin Xijun the farewell letter he had found and accused her of lying to him.

Song Yan pressed Qin Xijun to explain her ruined cultivation and the Phoenix Feather she had once said could heal her. After Qin Xijun revealed the feather’s mysterious origins and handed him an old map, Song Yan joined it to two charts he already possessed, uncovering a nearly complete sea chart whose markings seemed familiar.

• Song Yan confronted Qin Xijun about her failed recovery and the Phoenix Feather, and she explained that her secret technique had destroyed her cultivation but had not diminished her vitality.
• Qin Xijun told Song Yan that a wandering Daoist had given her a Phoenix feather as a child, which had entered her body, and said he had instructed her to seek the Phoenix in Yang Valley.
• Qin Xijun admitted she had withheld the truth to keep Song Yan from wasting his time and delaying his cultivation, while Song Yan promised to keep searching and asked her not to deceive him again.
• Qin Xijun gave Song Yan a map fragment from the Daoist and said Yang Valley might be the legendary site of the Fusang Tree.
• Song Yan fitted Qin Xijun’s fragment to two matching charts he had obtained from Ye Yin and Yang Zhu, forming a sea chart with a small central piece still missing.
• Song Yan examined the chart’s faint ink traces and found them strangely familiar, while Qin Xijun asked where he had obtained the other two pieces.

Song Yan returned to the Chu Kingdom, reunited with Qin Xijun and Xiao Ju, and prepared to remain for the postponed Nine Veins gathering. He visited Shiliang with Xiao He and saw how time had changed the people there, while Sheng Nian arranged for Sheng Yun to go to Jun Mountain.

• Song Yan told Qin Xijun about his years in the Central Region and invited her to Jun Mountain, but she chose to stay in the Chu Kingdom.
• Song Yan learned the Lichuan gathering had been postponed for two months and told Xiao Ju she could return to Jun Mountain with him after the competition.
• Song Yan invited Xiao He to visit Shiliang and watched Meng Lu pay respects at Song Ying's grave, where she recognized that Brother Song had returned.
• Song Yan and Xiao He visited their old home and discussed what they would do if Grandpa had lied about being dead.
• Sheng Nian told Sheng Yun to go to the Central Region with Song Yan and cultivate at Jun Mountain after the Lichuan gathering.

Song Yan visited Xu Ziling’s cenotaph and approved Xu Ziqing’s use of a demonic lamp to torment True Person Shuihan, though he told him to explain it to Sect Master Luo. At the Lichuan Assembly, Ju Luyi defeated Xie Chan in the Nine Veins Grand Competition’s final match and became champion.

• Song Yan found Xu Ziqing mourning Xu Ziling and learned that Xu Ziqing had imprisoned True Person Shuihan’s soul in the Lamp of Everlasting Light, Neither Dead nor Alive.
• Song Yan left a flower at Xu Ziling’s cenotaph and suggested that Xu Ziqing ask Sect Master Luo to let the lamp brighten the Memorial Spirit Hall.
• After the purge of the Xuanyuan Sect, the five remaining great sects resumed the Lichuan Assembly, where Ju Luyi and Xie Chan advanced to the final of the Nine Veins Grand Competition.
• Ju Luyi and Xie Chan fought with their sword arts as Song Yan watched, and Ju Luyi used the Five Spirits Restraint and Purification Sword Formation to withstand Xie Chan’s powerful strike.
• Xie Chan’s flying sword cracked, and she conceded to Ju Luyi, who won the title of Nine Veins Grand Champion.

Ju Luyi won the Nine Veins Grand Champion title, and Song Yan arranged for her and Sheng Yun to travel with him to the Central Region. After leaving Deng Ke to return to Wusun, Song Yan planned to use a teleportation array near Wushang to make the journey safer.

• Ju Luyi defeated Xie Chan and won the Nine Veins Grand Champion title for the Dongyuan Sect, then received a Sword Sect Jade Seal and Golden Core Sword Talisman from Deng Ke.
• Song Yan praised Xie Chan and gave her a jade slip that could help her seek an opportunity at Jun Mountain in the Central Region.
• Song Yan stayed in the Chu Kingdom, told the Sheyang Sect he would take Sheng Yun to the Central Region, and informed Dongyuan elders that Ju Luyi would accompany him.
• Song Yan, Deng Ke, and Ju Luyi visited Qin Xijun and the Sword Sect Ruins before collecting Sheng Yun from the Sheyang Sect.
• Deng Ke parted from Song Yan to return to Wusun, while Song Yan told Sheng Yun they would travel by teleportation array near Wushang.

In the Mohist School’s dungeon, Zhou Zhu offered Ruan Zhi a chance to compete for the Juzi position so she could lawfully keep Unsolved Spiritual Resonance, and she named Song Yan as her Dao protector. Meanwhile, a letter from the Mohist School reached Jun Mountain for Song Yan, who was still in seclusion.

• Zhou Zhu told Ruan Zhi that she could not leave yet because the Mohist School was investigating Unsolved Spiritual Resonance, but offered to nominate her as a Juzi candidate.
• Zhou Zhu praised Ruan Zhi’s past acts of kindness and explained that she needed a Dao protector for the selection.
• Ruan Zhi named Song Yan as her close friend and Dao protector, and Zhou Zhu recognized him as Jun Mountain’s chief True Disciple.
• After leaving the dungeon, Zhou Zhu told his disciples that Ruan Zhi’s sincere nature made her a worthy Juzi candidate amid the Mohist School’s leadership crisis and the Demon Ruins’ threat.
• Sheng Yun brought a Mohist School letter for Song Yan to Chiyu Peak, where Ju Luyi took it and decided to give it to Xiao He while Song Yan remained in seclusion.

Song Yan received a letter from Ruan Zhi asking him to serve as her Dao protector in the Mohist School’s contest for Juzi, and traveled to the school with Xiao He and Ju Luyi. At the Mohist School, Wu Mengliu learned that Song Yan was arriving, while Li Zhi recognized Ju Luyi; Song Yan then reunited with Ruan Zhi.

• Xiao He and Xiao Ju discovered that a mechanical figure bore the Mohist School’s mark, and Xiao Ju recalled rescuing its former owner in the Chu Kingdom.
• At the Nuo Realm gathering, Lanzhu told Song Yan that an outsider had refined the Mohist School’s inherited treasure, Unsolved Spiritual Resonance, and Song Yan asked the others to look for a sea chart.
• Song Yan read Ruan Zhi’s letter asking him to come to Tengyang Yinzhou as her Dao protector for the contest for Juzi, and he decided to travel with Xiao He and Xiao Ju.
• At Little Mirror Lake Market, Wu Mengliu learned that Song Yan would support a Mechanism Puppet candidate, while Li Zhi recognized Ju Luyi among Song Yan’s companions.
• Song Yan arrived at the Mohist School, introduced Ju Luyi to Zhou Zhu, and met Ruan Zhi again after more than a decade.

Song Yan learned that Ruan Zhi had to win the Mohist School's Jumaster Contest to resolve the disappearance of Unsolved Spiritual Resonance, and agreed to help her enter Mechanism City. Meanwhile, Li Zhi recruited Wu Mengliu as his partner, and Song Yan arranged for Xiao He to accompany him as the contest approached.

• Ruan Zhi told Song Yan that she could die if she failed to become Juzi, and Zhou Zhu explained that she was a candidate because she had been accused of taking the Mohist School's Unsolved Spiritual Resonance.
• Ruan Zhi said she and Song Yan had found matching floating cubes in Deng Ruikai's lair, and Song Yan proposed that the treasure had been drawn to her because she had absorbed something related to it.
• Song Yan promised to help Ruan Zhi in the Jumaster Contest after Zhou Zhu explained that the candidates and their guardians would enter Mechanism City.
• Li Zhi escorted Ju Luyi to her courtyard, then admitted to Wu Mengliu that he had met her decades earlier; Wu Mengliu agreed to enter Mechanism City with him to retrieve something her father had left there.
• Song Yan admitted that mechanical puzzles were beyond his strengths, then learned that he could bring one spirit pet and chose Xiao He to help him in Mechanism City.

Song Yan visited Master Xu’s residence in Sword-Casting Valley and met Xu Xiaoxiong, who diagnosed a dangerous strain from his Pupil Technique and gave him medicine to suppress it. After Song Yan left, Xu Xiaoxiong told her cousin Jiang Gudong about meeting him and asked how he would fare against Song Yan.

• Song Yan visited Sword-Casting Valley hoping to meet Master Xu, but Xu Xiaoxiong told him her grandfather was away and would return before the Juzi contest.
• Xu Xiaoxiong recognized that Song Yan practiced a Pupil Technique and examined his eyes, finding that his pupil power was dangerously excessive.
• Xu Xiaoxiong warned Song Yan that his vision could fail as his cultivation advanced, then sold him three years’ worth of medicine and instructed him to keep his Pupil Technique circulating.
• Jiang Gudong arrived after Song Yan left and worried that Xu Xiaoxiong had allowed an outsider into the residence.
• Xu Xiaoxiong asked Jiang Gudong how he would fare against Song Yan, and Jiang Gudong joked that Song Yan could kill him eight times in two breaths.

Song Yan met Master Xu and recognized Jiang Gudong from their earlier encounter, then entered the Mohist School’s Juzi contest with Ruan Zhi. The trial began inside the Mohist School Mechanism City, where they received a slate that recorded their assessment, initially marked zero.

• Song Yan visited Master Xu, discussed Mount Li and his sword case, and reunited with Jiang Gudong, whom he had once met in Immortal-Descending Pass.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi arrived at the Juzi contest, where Wu Mengliu disguised as Deng Caiwei; Song Yan recognized her and warned her not to steal anything.
• The former Heavenly Craftsman Commander opened the trial by sending the contestants into the Mohist School Mechanism City.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi explored the Mechanism City and met a Mechanism Golem that gave them a Heavenly Craftsman Slate.
• Ruan Zhi accepted the slate, and the character zero appeared on it.

Song Yan, Ruan Zhi, and Xiao He began the Mohist School’s nine trials, earning modest scores in cooking and medicine before Xiao He excelled at the mechanical craftsmanship trial. The Heavenly Craft Slate awarded her a golden nine, bringing their total score to eighteen as they crossed the completed path over the abyss.

• A mechanical golem explained the trial system, gave Song Yan and Ruan Zhi the Heavenly Craft Slate, and directed them into the trial ground.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi cooked kung pao chicken under a chef’s supervision and received a score of four for the food trial.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi completed a medicine trial and earned five points, bringing their slate total to nine.
• Ruan Zhi admitted she accepted that she might lose her life for having lost the other candidates’ treasure, and Song Yan urged her to continue.
• Song Yan recognized the next area as a mechanical craftsmanship trial, where Xiao He manipulated the Heavenly Craft Hub to assemble a passage across the abyss.
• The slate awarded Xiao He a golden nine, raising their total score to eighteen.