Recaps

Ye Qiubai and his companions reached the Ancestral Emperor Palace, a steel fortress built from rare rule steel, and learned that its first trial tested fortune. They entered the palace’s deadly passageways, hoping their Immortal Affinity Marks would improve their odds.

• Ye Qiubai and the others discovered that the Ancestral Emperor Palace stood on a vast plain of rule steel, which Mu Fusheng and Song Xiao recognized as a rare material that could hold many kinds of rules.
• Ai Xue and the wooden-faced man headed for the palace gates, while Ye Qiubai and his companions followed and bowed respectfully after hearing the Human Ancestors’ message about defending the Mortal Realm from the Evil Devil Domain.
• Inside, the group found ten passageways and heard that only one led to life, making the first trial a test of fortune.
• Ning Chenxin, Mu Fusheng, and Shi Sheng discussed whether their fortune was sufficient, and Shi Sheng suggested their Immortal Affinity Marks could strengthen it.
• Mu Wan'er entered a passageway first, and Ye Qiubai and the others followed, trusting their life-saving items and pressing on toward the means of resisting the Evil Devil Domain.

Ye Qiubai and his companions entered the middle passage and discovered that an unseen presence was devouring their providence. They protected themselves with the Immortal Affinity Mark, while the wooden-faced man used the Star-Shifting Compass to shield himself and Ai Xue; after half a day, they emerged before an enormous painting radiating spatial power.

• Ai Xue and the wooden-faced man followed Ye Qiubai and his companions into the middle passage.
• An unseen presence seeped from the steel walls and began devouring everyone’s providence.
• Hong Ying identified the danger, and Fang Qiong and the others used the Immortal Affinity Mark to slow the loss of their providence.
• The wooden-faced man used the Star-Shifting Compass to absorb the presence and gave the compass to Ai Xue.
• Ye Qiubai and his companions, Ai Xue, and the wooden-faced man left the passage after half a day and found an enormous painting filled with scenes of mortal life and radiating spatial power.

Ai Xue was pulled into the Fusheng Diagram and forced to face the Ninefold Rashomon’s trial, where refusing to answer truthfully brought a brutal punishment. As the next gate questioned her motives and threatened her other arm, the wooden-faced man worried she might reveal the Supervisory Sacred Hall’s mission.

• Ai Xue reached toward the Fusheng Diagram, but a black hole sucked her into the scroll.
• Ai Xue found herself surrounded by nine Rashomon gates, and the first ghost face demanded to know why she had come.
• When Ai Xue refused to answer, the gate unleashed a thorn-covered vine that pierced her arm and inflicted immense pain.
• Ye Qiubai and the others watched from outside the scroll and realized the gates punished those who withheld the truth.
• The wooden-faced man hoped Ai Xue would endure without revealing the Supervisory Sacred Hall’s objective.
• A second gate asked whether Ai Xue’s force sought its own interests or the good of all living beings, threatening to take her other arm if she lied or refused.

The Rashomon trial revealed that the Supervisory Sacred Hall sought the Fusheng Diagram, an ancient Ancestral Artifact, though its true intentions remained uncertain. Ye Qiubai and the others entered the gate, Xin Hongyi followed them through, and Liu Ziru reacted with alarm after learning the artifact’s name.

• Ai Xue answered that she sought the object for all living beings under heaven, and the Rashomon let her pass without attacking.
• The wooden-faced man named the Fusheng Diagram as his goal, then was punished when he said he did not know whether his faction sought it for selfish gain or for all living beings; he eventually passed the trial.
• Mu Ziqing identified the Fusheng Diagram as an ancient Ancestral Artifact that had helped resist enemies from beyond the realm.
• Ye Qiubai decided to report the Supervisory Sacred Hall’s goal to Liu Ziru, and he and his companions entered the Rashomon.
• Xin Hongyi entered the trial, truthfully answered that she came from the Xin Clan of the Wilderness Realm, and passed through the Rashomon.
• Liu Ziru received Ye Qiubai’s message about the Fusheng Diagram and reacted with alarm.

Liu Ziru realized the Supervisory Sacred Hall sought the Fusheng Diagram and contacted the Dark Lord and Lu Changsheng. After passing through Rashomon, Ye Qiubai and the others entered the diagram’s final trial, where they had to train villagers to compete for four stone houses through a village vote.

• Liu Ziru learned that the Supervisory Sacred Hall wanted the Fusheng Diagram and suspected it planned to use the artifact to strengthen its disciples.
• Liu Ziru left the Ancestral Emperor Palace and sent voice transmissions to the Dark Lord and Lu Changsheng.
• Ye Qiubai and the others arrived in a mountain village alongside Song Xiao, Jiang Qingluan, Ai Xue, the wooden-faced man, and Xin Hongyi, whose presence surprised them.
• A voice announced that the final trial required each participant to train at least one villager and help them earn a place in one of four stone houses within a year.
• The voice explained that the villagers and village chief would vote on who moved into the stone houses, and the participants began searching for promising villagers.

Ye Qiubai searched Fortune Temple Village for a disciple and chose Mu Shi for his character, despite Ai Xue’s dramatic display drawing away other candidates. Just after Ye Qiubai accepted Mu Shi as his disciple, Ai Xue offered to take the boy for herself.

• Ye Qiubai reassured the villagers of Fortune Temple Village and examined young people for sword-cultivation potential.
• Ye Qiubai selected two prospective disciples, including Niu Zhong and Mu Shi.
• Ai Xue displayed her power at the village entrance and invited villagers to undergo testing for discipleship.
• Niu Zhong and other candidates Ye Qiubai’s companions had chosen abandoned them and ran to Ai Xue’s platform.
• Ye Qiubai praised Mu Shi for staying loyal to his father’s teachings and accepted him as his disciple.
• Ai Xue told Mu Shi that he had good talent and asked him to become her disciple instead.

Ye Qiubai kept Mu Shi as his disciple despite Ai Xue’s attempt to recruit him, while several other disciples were chosen during the village trial. He began teaching Mu Shi swordsmanship with a wooden sword, leaving Mu Shi determined to surpass Niu Zhong, whom Ai Xue had taken as her disciple.

• Ai Xue challenged Ye Qiubai’s choice of Mu Shi, but Mu Shi refused to change masters, and Ye Qiubai shielded him from Ai Xue’s intimidating stare.
• Ai Xue took four disciples, while Mu Wan’er lost a potential alchemy disciple and Jiang Qingluan narrowly kept hers.
• Mu Wan’er went looking for another alchemy disciple as Ye Qiubai and the others began assessing their new disciples.
• Ye Qiubai gave Mu Shi a wooden sword and demonstrated how a slender branch could split a boulder.
• Mu Shi vowed to make Niu Zhong regret switching masters, and Ye Qiubai both warned him against envy and said a disciple sometimes needed to prove his strength.

Mu Wan'er met Xiaoshu, a girl searching the mountain for herbs to save her dying grandfather, and cured him with a healing pill. As Mu Wan'er prepared to leave to find a disciple, Xiaoshu asked her to teach her to be a pharmacist.

• Mu Wan'er heard villagers discuss Xiaoshu's daily search for herbs to treat her gravely ill grandfather and went to see her.
• Mu Wan'er told Xiaoshu that the herbs she had gathered could not cure her grandfather, then offered to examine him as a pharmacist.
• Mu Wan'er diagnosed the old man's accumulated toxins and failing health, then gave him a healing pill and used Immortal Qi to help it take effect.
• The old man's black spots faded and his strength returned, and he and Xiaoshu thanked Mu Wan'er.
• As Mu Wan'er stood to leave and continue searching for a disciple, Xiaoshu asked her to teach her to be a pharmacist.

Mu Wan'er accepted Xiaoshu as her disciple and began building up the girl’s cultivation and alchemy skills. Three months later, Ye Qiubai watched Mu Shi fight a Golden Core Realm silver lion, then challenged him to show how far his training had taken him.

• Xiaoshu told Mu Wan'er she wanted to heal the sick and save her grandfather, and Mu Wan'er agreed to take her as a disciple despite her poor talent.
• Mu Wan'er brought Xiaoshu to a mountain cave, demonstrated pill refining, and gave her four pills that improved her constitution, soul, perception of rules, and meridians.
• After Xiaoshu absorbed the pills, Mu Wan'er taught her the Alchemy Saint Scripture and guided her into Foundation Establishment, where she began sensing flame artistic conception and learning to refine pills.
• Three months later, Mu Shi defeated a Peak Golden Core Realm silver lion with his wooden sword, showing Ye Qiubai his Late Golden Core cultivation and progress toward becoming a Sword Master.
• As Ye Qiubai told Mu Shi to seek another opponent, the surrounding temperature rose, and an unseen speaker told them to stay so they could assess Ye Qiubai’s teaching.

Mu Shi faced Niu Zhong in a battle after Ai Xue brought her disciple to test his strength before the election. Niu Zhong’s artificially boosted cultivation gave him the advantage, but after being thrown into the river, Mu Shi returned with his Sword Intent beginning to swirl.

• Ai Xue arrived with Niu Zhong and challenged Ye Qiubai’s group to a spar before the election.
• Mu Shi volunteered to fight Niu Zhong, and Ye Qiubai gave him the Dark Demon Sword.
• Niu Zhong revealed his flame-patterned iron staff and charged at Mu Shi with peak Purple Mansion Realm strength.
• Ye Qiubai realized Ai Xue had used pills to force Niu Zhong’s rapid growth and confronted her about the cost to his future.
• Niu Zhong struck Mu Shi into the river and mocked his choice of master.
• Mu Shi climbed out of the water and demanded that Niu Zhong take back his insult as his Sword Intent began to swirl.

Mu Shi fought Niu Zhong and broke through to the Sword Master realm under the pressure of a life-or-death battle. When Niu Zhong’s fiery attack closed in, Mu Shi vanished, and Ye Qiubai set off to find him.

• Mu Shi’s Sword Intent sharpened, and he fought Niu Zhong, who wounded him with flames from his staff.
• Niu Zhong knocked Mu Shi down and raised his staff for a killing blow, but Mu Shi’s Sword Intent erupted as he broke through to the Sword Master realm.
• Mu Shi countered with the second sword of the Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon, but Niu Zhong’s twin fiery vortices overwhelmed him.
• A Heavenly Lightning Escape Talisman made Mu Shi vanish before the vortices could crush him, leaving Niu Zhong and Ai Xue unable to find his body.
• Ye Qiubai left to search for Mu Shi, while Ai Xue ordered Niu Zhong to return to cultivating for the selection.

Ye Qiubai reassured Mu Shi after his defeat, while Xiaoshu continued improving as an alchemist in Fortune Temple Village. An abnormally early beast tide approached the village, and Ye Qiubai and the others identified hidden Evil Devil Qi behind it, suspecting Xin Hongyi.

• Ye Qiubai rescued Mu Shi from a wolf, healed him, and encouraged him to learn from his loss to Niu Zhong.
• Mu Shi renewed his resolve to train and defeat Niu Zhong in their next fight.
• Four months before the election, Xiaoshu refined Profound Grade pills successfully under Mu Wan'er's guidance.
• A beast tide struck Fortune Temple Village ten years earlier than expected, and Mu Wan'er sensed a strange, familiar presence behind it.
• Shi Sheng identified the presence as Evil Devil Qi, and Ye Qiubai concluded that someone among the trial participants had triggered the beast tide to eliminate their competitors' disciples.
• Ye Qiubai suspected Xin Hongyi was the remnant of the Evil Devil Domain responsible.

As a massive beast tide approached Fortune Temple Village, Ye Qiubai and the others uncovered Xin Hongyi’s connection to the Evil Devil Domain and chose to defend the village. Xu Meng took command of the villagers, while Ai Xue secretly plotted to sabotage her; the villagers’ opening volley struck the leading beasts and slowed the tide.

• Ye Qiubai and the others realized Xin Hongyi was a remnant of the Evil Devil Domain, and Ye Qiubai decided they would defend Fortune Temple Village and question her later.
• Xu Meng took charge of the village’s defense and ordered the villagers to use bows behind the fences while the disciples prepared to fill gaps and attack.
• Ai Xue told Niu Zhong and the other three to hold back and secretly let beasts through the fences so Xu Meng’s formation would collapse.
• Xu Meng ordered the villagers to loose their arrows, killing the leading beasts and slowing those behind them.
• The villagers cheered as Xu Meng called for the first group to reload and the second group to follow up.

Xu Meng directed the villagers and disciples in defending Fortune Temple Village against a beast tide, but three powerful bears turned the battle against them. As Mu Shi kept one bear occupied and Niu Zhong and Wang Dan were injured, Ai Xue admitted she was treating the trial as a competition and challenged Hong Ying to intervene.

• Xu Meng organized the villagers’ defense, while Ye Qiubai and the others praised Xu Meng’s leadership and discussed Hong Ying recruiting her for the Cloud Phoenix Empire.
• Mu Fusheng and Ye Qiubai left to search for Xin Hongyi and confront her about becoming a remnant of the Evil Devil Domain.
• Three giant bears with sinister black markings joined the beast tide, and Xu Meng ordered Mu Shi, Niu Zhong, and Wang Dan to hold them back.
• Mu Shi used the bears’ slow reactions to keep one occupied, but Niu Zhong and Wang Dan were sent flying and spat blood.
• Hong Ying accused Ai Xue of using a trick, and Ai Xue said the disciples were competitors in the trial and challenged Hong Ying to risk interfering.

Niu Zhong and Wang Dan turned three giant bears against Mu Shi while Xu Meng held the defensive line, and Mu Shi used his Sword Domain to wound one bear. Ye Qiubai and Mu Fusheng confronted Xin Hongyi over her release of Evil Devil Qi, and their second clash was about to begin.

• Niu Zhong and Wang Dan used pills to retreat toward the fence, drawing the other two giant bears onto Mu Shi.
• Xu Meng kept command of the villagers’ defensive line instead of leaving to help Mu Shi.
• Mu Shi used his Sword Domain to evade the bears and slash one of their paws, though he continued to suffer injuries.
• Ye Qiubai and Mu Fusheng found Xin Hongyi and demanded to know why she had joined the Evil Devil Domain.
• Xin Hongyi refused to stop releasing Evil Devil Qi unless they forced her, and Ye Qiubai drew the Geng Metal Divine Sword as their battle began.

Xin Hongyi attacked Ye Qiubai and Mu Fusheng with black flames, then summoned a rain of flaming meteors aimed near Fortune Temple Village. Mu Fusheng blocked the first meteor with the Eight Peaks Thunder Prison, and Ye Qiubai rose to support him despite the flames still burning him.

• Xin Hongyi spread black markings across her body and sent two enormous black-flame tigers charging at Ye Qiubai and Mu Fusheng.
• Ye Qiubai and Mu Fusheng struck the tigers with their sword and lightning attacks, but the tigers endured and wounded Ye Qiubai.
• Xin Hongyi cast Demonic Flame Heavenly Tribulation, summoning a huge flaming meteor whose shock waves threatened the people near Fortune Temple Village.
• Mu Fusheng raised the Eight Peaks Thunder Prison and used five kinds of Ancient Divine Lightning to hold the meteor above the ground.
• Xin Hongyi sent several more meteors down, and Ye Qiubai stood up with the Geng Metal Sword Case to support Mu Fusheng as he fought her.

Ye Qiubai and Mu Fusheng fought Xin Hongyi as she attacked them with devil-flame meteors. Mu Fusheng destroyed the meteors and wounded Xin Hongyi, but she escaped and could not be tracked.

• Ye Qiubai used the Geng Metal Sword Case and Pohong Sword Art to split one of Xin Hongyi's devil-flame meteors, worsening his injuries.
• Mu Fusheng revealed his Half-Step Divine Lord Realm cultivation and used five kinds of Ancient Divine Lightning to destroy Xin Hongyi's fiery cloud.
• Mu Fusheng struck Xin Hongyi with lightning and used barriers and a talisman to blast away one of her arms.
• Xin Hongyi regenerated her arm, said she had no need to kill Mu Fusheng, and warned that Evil Devil Domain Qi could not be tracked.
• Xin Hongyi vanished, and Mu Fusheng confirmed that he could not follow her presence.

Ye Qiubai began breaking through while Mu Shi and the villagers fought the beast tide, until the beasts suddenly weakened and Zhao Ya killed the three giant bears. Zhao Ya’s display won the villagers’ cheers and frustrated Ai Xue, while Hong Ying and the others recognized that Xin Hongyi had achieved her goal.

• Mu Fusheng used lightning power to help Ye Qiubai expel demonic flames, and Ye Qiubai’s presence surged as he began breaking through.
• Mu Shi endured the three giant bears’ assault and advanced to the Early Stage of the Qi Sea Realm while the villagers struggled against the beast tide.
• The beasts’ black markings and bloodshot eyes faded, leaving them briefly stunned, and Zhang He charged into the herd as Xu Meng ordered a counterattack.
• Zhao Ya appeared before Mu Shi and killed all three giant bears with his bone-spiked whip, then charged into the remaining beasts.
• The villagers cheered Zhao Ya and Zhang He, while Hong Ying and the others concluded that Xin Hongyi had secured her intended effect and Ai Xue realized Zhao Ya had taken the opportunity she had arranged for Niu Zhong and the others.

After the beast tide, Fortune Temple Village held its vote for the four stone houses, and Xu Meng won first place while Xiaoshu came second before withdrawing. Niu Zhong challenged Mu Shi to a fight for the village chief’s votes, and Mu Shi accepted, determined to defeat him.

• The villagers thanked Mu Shi and the others for saving Fortune Temple Village, while Ye Qiubai and Mu Fusheng reported that Xin Hongyi’s bloodline power made her a formidable opponent.
• After the beast tide, Ye Qiubai and the others focused on training their disciples as the village vote approached.
• The villagers voted for the stone houses, placing Xu Meng first, Xiaoshu second, Zhang He third, and Zhao Ya fourth, while Mu Shi finished fifth.
• Xiaoshu withdrew from the competition, moving Zhao Ya and Mu Shi into the top four and leaving Niu Zhong just behind Mu Shi by two votes.
• Niu Zhong asked the village chief to award his votes to him if he defeated Mu Shi, and Mu Shi accepted the challenge.

Mu Shi challenged Niu Zhong to avenge his earlier defeat and revealed that he had become a Great Sword Master. After defeating Niu Zhong despite his boosted cultivation, Mu Shi won the village chief’s three votes and secured the contest’s result.

• Mu Shi accepted Niu Zhong’s challenge, and the villagers cleared space for their fight.
• Niu Zhong attacked with his flame-patterned staff, but Mu Shi’s Sword Domain and sword strike cut through his flames and injured his arms.
• Niu Zhong covered himself in the staff’s flame patterns to strengthen his Spiritual Qi, then attacked Mu Shi again.
• Mu Shi used the fourth sword of the Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon to split Niu Zhong’s fiery Spiritual Qi and send him flying, badly wounded.
• The village chief gave his three votes to Mu Shi, and Ai Xue called Niu Zhong trash.

After the trial, the village chief revealed his immense power and offered the successful participants a chance to enter the Fusheng Diagram’s core area. Ye Qiubai and the others chose to bring their disciples with them, while Ai Xue revealed that the wooden-faced man was far stronger than she was.

• Ai Xue expelled Niu Zhong and her other disciples after none of them made the top four.
• The village chief revealed his powerful soul and offered the successful participants time to say goodbye to their disciples before entering the core area.
• Mu Wan'er insisted that Xiaoshu and the others were their genuine disciples, and the village chief allowed them to take their disciples out.
• The village chief permitted Xin Hongyi to enter the core area despite her connection to the Evil Devil Domain, and Ye Qiubai, Hong Ying, the wooden-faced man, and Xin Hongyi followed him through a spatial rift.
• After the rift closed, Ai Xue told the others that the wooden-faced man was stronger than she was and that they could not defeat him.

At the Fusheng Diagram’s core, Ye Qiubai challenged Jiang Mu for the chance to claim it and discovered that the seemingly dull man was a powerful hidden expert. Ye Qiubai continued fighting despite being badly outmatched, while Jiang Mu revealed his full strength and declared that Ye Qiubai would have no chance from then on.

• The village chief explained that whoever harmonized with the Fusheng Diagram’s power would gain the core’s recognition, prompting the group to decide who would try first.
• Ye Qiubai challenged the dull-witted man, who revealed himself as Jiang Mu and knocked Ye Qiubai away with a single blow.
• Ye Qiubai attacked Jiang Mu again with the Pohong Sword Art, but Jiang Mu blocked his strikes with a wind-wall palm imprint and golden armor.
• Ye Qiubai sent a barrage of swords at Jiang Mu, who revealed golden armor and a halberd and repelled every sword with a storm.
• Jiang Mu praised Ye Qiubai’s skill but said Ye Qiubai would have no chance from then on.

Ye Qiubai used the Geng Metal Sword Case to fuse five swords and wounded Jiang Mu despite their disparity in cultivation, but Jiang Mu defeated him with a burst of Spear Intent. When Jiang Mu urged Ye Qiubai to join the Supervisory Sacred Hall and insulted his sect, Hong Ying stepped forward to confront him.

• Jiang Mu revealed overwhelming strength and attacked Ye Qiubai with a golden wind dragon infused with Spear Intent.
• Ye Qiubai compressed his Sword Domain into the Geng Metal Sword Case, then used Sword Case Sword Control, Sword Fusion to combine five swords and break through Jiang Mu's storm.
• Ye Qiubai's Sword Intent pierced Jiang Mu's armor and injured him, but Jiang Mu unleashed a burst of Spear Intent that scattered the swords and sent Ye Qiubai flying.
• Jiang Mu invited Ye Qiubai to join the Supervisory Sacred Hall and claimed that no other faction, including the Primordial Sword Sect, could offer him a better future.
• Hong Ying rejected the invitation and said Jiang Mu had wronged Ye Qiubai and insulted their sect, then summoned the Samsara Long Spear as the Intent of the Emperor rose.

Hong Ying challenged Jiang Mu after he disparaged the Cottage, using her imperial intent and the Samsara Long Spear to overcome him. She broke through to the middle God Emperor Realm during the fight and defeated him, leaving her spear at his throat.

• Hong Ying confronted Jiang Mu and suppressed him with her imperial intent and the Dao Law of Samsara.
• Hong Ying used the first and second forms of her Imperial Record, but Jiang Mu answered with his full strength and shattered her spear light.
• Hong Ying unleashed the third and fourth forms, Earth Splitting and Heaven Collapse, as the battle intensified.
• Hong Ying broke through to the middle God Emperor Realm during the fight and attacked Jiang Mu with Lu Changsheng's Samsara Spear Technique.
• Hong Ying knocked Jiang Mu's golden spear from his hands and held the Samsara Long Spear to his throat, asking whether Ye Qiubai still needed to join the Supervisory Sacred Hall.

Hong Ying resonated with the Fusheng Diagram's core and claimed it, despite the village chief's rules and Jiang Mu's attempts to bargain for it. Back in Fortune Temple Village, she rejected the Supervisory Sacred Hall's threats, while Jiang Mu and Ai Xue withdrew to seek another chance to seize it.

• The village chief ruled that Hong Ying could try sensing the Fusheng Diagram's core first, despite Xin Hongyi's objections.
• Xin Hongyi's cultivation reached the Half-Step Divine Lord Realm, but she withdrew rather than fight the village chief.
• The Fusheng Diagram's core absorbed Hong Ying's Intent of the Emperor and Dao Law of Samsara, then chose her and fed its Power of Rules into her.
• Hong Ying broke through to the Late God Emperor Realm, drew the core into her dantian, and returned with the others to Fortune Temple Village.
• Jiang Mu offered Hong Ying a greater reward if she handed the Fusheng Diagram to him, but she rejected the Supervisory Sacred Hall's claim and dared its deputy hall masters to come take it.
• Jiang Mu stopped Ai Xue from attacking, admitted neither of them could defeat Hong Ying, and left with her to plan another attempt.