Recaps

Yang Zhen concealed the Mountain and River Court’s sealed ruins with an elaborate formation, then set off for Mountain and River City and the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain. At Mountain and River City’s gate, he discovered that people named Yang Zhen were banned, but he knocked the guards unconscious with the Great Deficiency Sword and entered.

• Yang Zhen finished disguising the sealed ruins with a formation so convincing that even Master Tie and the female demon could not detect it.
• Yang Zhen collected the black sand and prepared to head to Mountain and River City before traveling to the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain, while Master Tie stayed behind to look for Mountain and River Court survivors.
• At Mountain and River City’s Southern Heavenly Gate, a young woman told Yang Zhen that nobody named Yang Zhen could enter.
• Yang Zhen claimed his name was Yang Buzhen, but the cultivators guarding the gate surrounded him with surging True Essence.
• Yang Zhen used the Great Deficiency Sword’s daydream skill to knock the guards unconscious and swaggered into the city with the Shameless Cat.

Yang Zhen entered Mountain and River City and was attacked by the Dragon City Guard, whose members blamed him for Miss Feng’s death in the Mountain and River Ruins. After Yang Zhen fought back and struck a young Mahayana Realm cultivator, he learned the man accused him of killing his sister and demanded to know who she was.

• Shameless Cat asked Yang Zhen whether he had offended anyone in Mountain and River City, and Yang Zhen admitted he had no idea why he was targeted.
• The Dragon City Guard surrounded Yang Zhen, while the crowd identified him as the man who had taken Miss Feng into the Mountain and River Ruins.
• Yang Zhen gave the guards three breaths to produce someone in charge, then unleashed his presence and advanced as they retreated.
• A young Mahayana Realm cultivator descended and ordered Yang Zhen to stop, but Yang Zhen charged and punched him before he could finish accusing him of killing his sister.
• Yang Zhen asked the injured cultivator who his sister was, and the young man demanded to know how Yang Zhen dared hit him.

Yang Zhen beat Young Master Feng and the Dragon City Guards after they accused him of killing Feng Lingqiao. As he waited for someone in Mountain and River City to challenge him, a bloodied figure fell from the sky in front of him.

• Young Master Feng accused Yang Zhen of killing his sister and attacked him, but Yang Zhen knocked him down with a punch.
• Yang Zhen repeatedly beat Young Master Feng, even after the Dragon City Guards joined their power with him through a combined attack technique.
• Yang Zhen realized Young Master Feng might be Feng Lingqiao’s brother and wondered who had spread the false accusation.
• Yang Zhen kept punching Young Master Feng while the Dragon City Guards pleaded with him to stop, then challenged them to bring someone from Mountain and River City.
• A bloodied, bedraggled figure fell from the sky and landed motionless in front of Yang Zhen.

Yang Zhen confronted Guo Jing after Feng Jingtu arrived and asked about Feng Lingqiao’s fate. He exposed inconsistencies in Guo Jing’s accusations and began pressuring him to reveal who had put him up to the scheme.

• Feng Jingtu arrived and told Yang Zhen that the Feng Household had learned Guo Jing was behind what happened to his younger sister.
• Guo Jing accused Yang Zhen of being responsible for Feng Lingqiao’s death because she had entered the Mountain and River Ruins with him and had not returned.
• Yang Zhen pointed out that Guo Jing somehow knew his name and claimed to know what had happened to Feng Lingqiao, though few survivors knew either fact.
• Feng Jingtu tried to strike Guo Jing, but Yang Zhen stopped him and suggested someone else had put Guo Jing up to the accusations.
• Yang Zhen asked Guo Jing who was behind him, and both Guo Jing and Feng Jingtu reacted sharply.

Yang Zhen tried to frighten Guo Jing into revealing who was behind him by describing bizarre tortures. Guo Jing resisted the threats but panicked when Yang Zhen proposed the “rat gnawing on enoki mushrooms.”

• Guo Jing denied knowing about anyone behind him, while Feng Jingtu asked Yang Zhen what truth he meant.
• Yang Zhen refused to reveal his suspicions to the crowd and discussed torturing Guo Jing with Shameless Cat.
• Yang Zhen described coating Guo Jing in Heavenly Snow Honey and letting Gold-Eating Ants eat through his flesh, terrifying Guo Jing and the onlookers.
• Yang Zhen dropped the ant torture as too troublesome and suggested the rat gnawing on enoki mushrooms instead.
• Guo Jing roared that Yang Zhen could not do that.

Yang Zhen rallied the people of Mountain and River City to support his plan to rescue Miss Feng, then followed Feng Jingtu to see the injured Old Master Feng. Learning that Old Master Feng had been struck by orange lightning during the True Essence surge Yang Zhen had caused, he reached the old man's bedside and was shocked by what he saw.

• Mountain and River City’s residents condemned Guo Jing and Fang Zhongjian and vowed to help Yang Zhen rescue Miss Feng.
• Feng Jingtu offered to gather outside allies, including several Mahayana Realm seniors, but Yang Zhen said he would handle the rescue himself and asked to see Old Master Feng.
• Feng Jingtu explained that Old Master Feng had been injured by orange lightning during a surge of heaven and earth’s True Essence, which Yang Zhen recognized as the surge caused when he opened the Heaven and Earth Shackles.
• Feng Jingtu said Old Master Feng had foreseen three years earlier that Miss Feng would face a tribulation, though he could not know its details or timing.
• Yang Zhen entered Old Master Feng’s recuperating quarters, admired the secluded grounds, and was stunned when he saw the old man lying in bed.

Yang Zhen spent five days examining Old Master Feng’s ruined body while the old man secretly communicated with him, and the Feng Household waited for news. As cultivators gathered at the Feng Household, two of Old Master Feng’s powerful friends discussed Yang Zhen and his efforts.

• Yang Zhen learned that Old Master Feng was still able to communicate with him and agreed to observe his condition before attempting treatment.
• Yang Zhen asked Feng Jingtu and the others to leave, then silently probed Old Master Feng’s body with delicate strands of runes.
• Yang Zhen went five days without food or water while Feng Jingtu kept watch outside the room.
• Cultivators from Mountain and River City arrived at the Feng Household, including two Peak Mahayana Realm friends of Old Master Feng.
• Old Meng doubted Yang Zhen’s reliability, but the purple-robed old man defended him, and Old Meng said he wanted to befriend Yang Zhen.

Meng Tinghao, the purple-robed elder, and Feng Jingtu sensed an unknown power around the cottage while Yang Zhen treated Old Feng. After a sudden moment of enlightenment, Yang Zhen resumed his treatment, newly confident he had found a way forward.

• Meng Tinghao and the purple-robed elder praised Yang Zhen while Feng Jingtu reflected on his character and reputation.
• The two elders sensed a strange power spreading from the cottage and rushed outside, with Feng Jingtu following them.
• The purple-robed elder wondered whether the power was Void Power, but Meng Tinghao said it differed from what he had encountered before.
• When the presence vanished, Feng Jingtu stopped Meng Tinghao from entering because Yang Zhen had ordered everyone to stay away.
• Inside the bamboo house, Yang Zhen told Old Feng that he had experienced a moment of enlightenment and had gained an idea for treating him.
• Yang Zhen placed his hand on Old Feng, who shuddered in fright, and Yang Zhen urged him to stay calm.

Yang Zhen used the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Suwen to begin repairing Old Master Feng's badly damaged body with yin and yang Qi. As vitality appeared, Yang Zhen kept treating him inside the lodge while Feng Jingtu and the others waited outside, unsure whether the treatment had succeeded.

• Yang Zhen warned Old Master Feng to stay calm and avoid using any power while he treated him.
• Yang Zhen applied Star Literary Talent Qi and used the Suwen's principles to circulate yin and yang Qi through Old Master Feng's body.
• Yang Zhen formed a Taiji cycle inside Old Master Feng, and a fragile trace of vitality emerged.
• More than half a day passed as Yang Zhen continued treating Old Master Feng inside the lodge.
• Outside, Meng Tinghao urged Feng Jingtu to let them check on Old Master Feng, but Feng Jingtu insisted they wait longer.

Yang Zhen used the Two Qi of Yin and Yang to heal Old Feng, while Meng Tinghao and the purple-robed elder watched in astonishment. Yang Zhen imparted the Dao through the Yin-Yang Diagram, and Old Feng emerged laughing and asked to borrow clothes.

• Feng Jingtu told Meng Tinghao that Old Feng had secretly communicated with Yang Zhen, giving him reason to believe there was hope.
• A powerful presence erupted from the cottage as Yang Zhen formed a mysterious Yin-Yang Diagram from the Two Qi of Yin and Yang.
• Meng Tinghao and the purple-robed elder realized Yang Zhen had likely reached the Celestial Person Realm and listened as he explained the Physiology and Heavenly Derivation Art of Numbers.
• Yang Zhen's words led Meng Tinghao and the purple-robed elder to recognize that he was imparting the Dao through the diagram.
• The cottage exploded, and Old Feng laughed from within the mist before asking Yang Zhen for clothes; Yang Zhen demanded one purple crystal.

Yang Zhen cured Old Feng, who regained his vitality and broke through to the Heaven Realm. After Yang Zhen declined Feng Jingtu’s gratitude, Feng Jingtu realized that Yang Zhen was cultivating the Great Dao, and Old Feng offered the Feng Household’s help in return.

• Old Feng emerged from the treatment with youthful skin and abundant strength, then reached the Heaven Realm.
• Feng Jingtu wept with relief as he realized his grandfather was cured and had grown stronger.
• Old Feng asked Yang Zhen how he had done it, but Yang Zhen gave a vague answer and kept the method to himself.
• Feng Jingtu kowtowed to Yang Zhen, who refused to accept the three bows, leading Feng Jingtu to suspect Yang Zhen was deliberately suppressing his cultivation to pursue the Great Dao.
• Old Feng thanked Yang Zhen and promised that he and the Feng Household would spare no effort to fulfill any request.

Yang Zhen refused the Feng Household’s offer of allegiance after saving its old master and asked it to help retrieve Feng Lingqiao from the Heavenly Spring Sacred Land. He then reached Peak Mahayana Realm in two days, and news of his power spread through Mountain and River City as he prepared for the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain Grand Assembly.

• The Feng Household’s old master offered to put the household at Yang Zhen’s disposal, but Yang Zhen refused and asked him to help bring back Feng Lingqiao, who had been abducted by the Heavenly Spring Sacred Land.
• Shameless Cat recognized Yang Zhen’s Yin-Yang Diagram as a method akin to the Taiji Diagram, while Yang Zhen recalled spending two years suppressing his cultivation.
• After two days of cultivation, Yang Zhen reached Peak Mahayana Realm and the Unity of Heaven and Man, astonishing Shameless Cat and Feng Jingtu.
• The Feng Household’s old master awakened and broke through to Heaven Realm, prompting Mountain and River City to celebrate for two days.
• News that Yang Zhen had advanced from Tribulation Transcendence Realm to Peak Mahayana Realm in two days spread through the city, and Meng Tinghao declared that the heavens were finally about to change.

Yang Zhen left Mountain and River City ahead of the Feng Household and traveled north toward the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain Grand Assembly with Shameless Cat. The Feng elders planned to follow and support him, while Yang Zhen and Shameless Cat reached the snowy lands and set off on a sled.

• Feng Jingtu told Old Master Feng and Meng Tinghao that Yang Zhen had left, and they decided to travel ahead to support him at the assembly.
• Rumors spread that Yang Zhen was heading to the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain alone, prompting people to follow and watch.
• Yang Zhen joked with Shameless Cat about using the Thousand Faces to disguise himself, but refused to hide his identity.
• Yang Zhen and Shameless Cat crossed the North Isle Mountain Range into the snow-covered lands north of it.
• Yang Zhen taunted Shameless Cat into pulling a sled rope, then tricked him into pulling the sled with Yang Zhen aboard.

Yang Zhen and Shameless Cat traveled to the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain to investigate a gathering called to break an ancient restriction, which Yang Zhen suspected was connected to the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth. At the entrance, Yang Zhen used his Heavenly Snow Token and learned he had been invited as an Honored Guest Elder, while Shameless Cat slipped in disguised as an ordinary cat.

• Yang Zhen and Shameless Cat learned that the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain and Heavenly Spring Sacred Land planned to destroy a restriction from High Antiquity, and they suspected it concealed treasure and knowledge about the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth.
• Yang Zhen and Shameless Cat reached the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain and saw that its Tribulation Transcendence Realm disciples checked visitors’ wooden tokens.
• Shameless Cat challenged Yang Zhen to see who could enter without trouble, then walked on all fours and meowed his way past the guards.
• Yang Zhen presented his token to Liu Xian, who recognized him as Yang Kaixin and revealed that the Sacred Domain had been waiting for him as an Honored Guest Elder.
• Shameless Cat ran over to Yang Zhen and rubbed against his feet, and Liu Xian exclaimed that the cat was cute.

Yang Zhen tried to hide his identity from Liu Xian by pretending to adopt Shameless Cat as a kitten, but their arrival at Plum Fragrance Heaven exposed him to the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain disciples. He left the crowd debating whether he was Yang Zhen or Yang Kaixin after his supposedly profound words convinced them he was not Yang Zhen.

• Yang Zhen pretended to reject Liu Xian for Shameless Cat, then played along when Shameless Cat rubbed against him like a pet.
• Liu Xian explained that adopting a cat might make Yang Zhen resemble the Sage of Saunter, who was known for traveling with Shameless Cat.
• Yang Zhen decided to adopt Shameless Cat anyway, and Liu Xian promised to tell others that he was not Yang Zhen.
• Liu Xian brought Yang Zhen to Plum Fragrance Heaven, where the scent of pills led him to learn that a holy maiden of the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain lived there.
• Disciples recognized Shameless Cat and suspected Yang Zhen’s identity, but Yang Zhen’s words about being himself persuaded them that he was the scholar Yang Kaixin.

Yang Zhen arrived at Apricot Blossom Residence in Plum Fragrance Heaven and met Qi Dinglong, a cat-loving Cloud Void Sect disciple who followed him around. As they discussed the Sacred Domain gathering, an enormous blast sent them and the residence flying.

• Liu Xian told the other guests to treat Yang Zhen as Yang Kaixin and Shameless Cat as a pet he had just taken in.
• Qi Dinglong introduced himself to Yang Zhen and offered five purple crystals to buy Shameless Cat, but Yang Zhen refused.
• Yang Zhen reached Apricot Blossom Residence, and Qi Dinglong revealed he was staying next door at Chrysanthemum Pavilion.
• Qi Dinglong said the gathering was linked to the True Essence eruption two years earlier and warned Yang Zhen to set up a formation around his residence.
• A massive boom blasted Yang Zhen, Qi Dinglong, and Apricot Blossom Residence into the air.

Yang Zhen encountered Miss Guan Guan after her pill refinement exploded and joined her in examining the residue. As they both reached for the last piece, they grabbed each other’s hand, leaving the onlookers stunned.

• Miss Guan Guan’s pill-refining experiment exploded, destroying her house and Apricot Blossom Residence.
• Miss Guan Guan searched the debris and muttered about the ingredients and fusion in her failed pill, while the guests wrote down her observations.
• Yang Zhen ignored the little fatty’s warning and approached Miss Guan Guan as she examined the residue.
• Yang Zhen and Miss Guan Guan tasted the pill residue and examined it together, astonishing the onlookers.
• Yang Zhen and Miss Guan Guan reached for the last piece of residue at the same time and grabbed each other’s hand.

Yang Zhen identified a flaw in Guan Guan’s pill refinement and traced the failed refinement to her furnace. The chapter left Guan Guan shaken after Yang Zhen correctly recognized that she had been making an Origin-Stabilizing Pill.

• Guan Guan’s pill-refining furnace exploded, and Yang Zhen tasted some residue before declaring her technique wrong.
• The onlookers doubted Yang Zhen’s pill-refining skill, while Young Master Tian predicted that he would soon expose himself as a fraud.
• Yang Zhen ignored Guan Guan and examined the formula, concluding that its ingredients, proportions, and heat were correct.
• Yang Zhen found that Guan Guan’s Year Metal Earth furnace was unsuitable for the pill’s medicinal properties.
• Yang Zhen pointed out that Guan Guan had used a metal-natured furnace to refine an Origin-Stabilizing Pill, and Guan Guan trembled at his deduction.

Yang Zhen identified the wood nature in Geng Lin Liquid as the flaw in Guan Guan’s Origin-Stabilizing Pill method, and Guan Guan quickly worked out a new approach. She ran off to put her calculations into practice, telling Yang Zhen to wait for her.

• Young Master Tian tried to smooth over Yang Kaixin’s question, but Yang Zhen and Guan Guan ignored him and discussed the pill instead.
• Yang Zhen explained that the wood nature in Geng Lin Liquid interfered with Guan Guan’s ingredients.
• Yang Zhen realized Guan Guan’s unusual method could greatly improve the pill’s success rate, though five problems remained to be solved.
• Guan Guan rapidly grasped the new direction, ran off, and returned to ask Yang Zhen to wait while she worked out her method.
• Guan Guan ran off again, leaving Yang Zhen amazed by her talent and unaware how much the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain valued the refinement.

Yang Zhen watched Guan Guan refine a pill while Elder Mei Chaofeng and a crowd from the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain gathered to see whether she could solve a long-standing problem. As Guan Guan began her work, Yang Zhen and Ji Yourong exchanged knowing looks while Young Master Tian watched them sourly.

• Guan Guan returned with Elder Mei Chaofeng, Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain disciples, and other elders, surprising Yang Zhen and prompting Shameless Cat to hide.
• Mei Chaofeng asked for Yang Kaixin, and Yang Zhen introduced himself before reacting with surprise to her name.
• Mei Chaofeng explained that Guan Guan had said Yang Zhen’s advice might help solve a problem that had troubled the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain for years.
• Guan Guan arranged the Sui Metal, Earth Pill Furnace, and other materials, then began refining the pill as the assembled crowd watched intently.
• Ji Yourong quietly exchanged meaningful glances with Yang Zhen, while Young Master Tian watched them with a dark expression.

Yang Zhen secretly guided Guan Guan through a crucial stage of pill refinement at the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain Grand Assembly, astonishing everyone when she followed his instruction. Guan Guan began a more demanding method of harmonizing the pill’s ingredients, and the furnace’s next movement left her sweating under pressure.

• Ji Yourong silently warned Yang Zhen to behave and avoid drawing Mei Chaofeng’s attention, but Yang Zhen ignored her.
• Yang Zhen called out, “Nine revolutions of the furnace fire, no more and no less,” and Guan Guan completed another cycle before thanking him.
• The onlookers realized that Guan Guan, a young Alchemy Grandmaster, had followed Yang Zhen’s guidance during her pill refinement.
• Guan Guan shifted to a more demanding method of harmonizing the ingredients and wrapped the furnace in wood-attribute True Essence.
• The Pill Furnace moved slightly, and Guan Guan’s expression changed as sweat poured down her forehead.

Yang Zhen helped Guan Guan stabilize her Pill Furnace by explaining how to control the five elements, earning her gratitude and surprising everyone with his alchemy knowledge. When Mei Chaofeng pressed him about his origins, Yang Zhen began inventing a story about learning alchemy on a stormy night.

• Guan Guan's Pill Furnace shook violently as she struggled to control the alchemy, and the little fatty fled in anticipation of another explosion.
• Yang Zhen explained the elemental gates using the Eight Trigrams, and Guan Guan redirected her True Essence to stabilize the furnace.
• Guan Guan thanked Yang Zhen, while the little fatty praised him and Mei Chaofeng asked who had taught him alchemy.
• Yang Zhen claimed he had no sect or master and had come to the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain as a Rogue Cultivator with Ji Yourong's token.
• Mei Chaofeng questioned where Yang Zhen had learned alchemy, and Yang Zhen began making up a story about a stormy night on the back mountain.

Yang Zhen invented a tale about Elder Yao to deflect questions about his alchemy knowledge and protect Ji Yourong from suspicion. With Yang Zhen’s guidance, Guan Guan refined an exceptionally pure Origin-Stabilizing Pill, and a heavenly phenomenon formed as she prepared to bring it out.

• Yang Zhen claimed a dying Elder Yao had passed his lifetime of alchemy knowledge into his Divine Sense, and Mei Chaofeng accepted his explanation.
• Guan Guan completed the Origin-Stabilizing Pill, producing five-colored light and a fragrance that revealed its extraordinary purity.
• Mei Chaofeng praised Guan Guan’s success and celebrated the benefits her new refining method could bring to the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain.
• A boom and rumbling heavenly phenomenon announced the pill’s emergence, astonishing everyone with the speed and quality of the refinement.
• Yang Zhen watched curiously as Guan Guan prepared to bring out the pill.

Guan Guan successfully refined a hundred pill-clouded Origin-Stabilizing Pills, proving her skill and raising hopes for the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain. Yang Zhen learned that the Heavenly Spring Sacred Land had invited the Ghost Alchemist to contest leadership, and Mei Chaofeng asked Guan Guan if she could defeat him.

• Yang Zhen watched Guan Guan collect the pills as the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain elders and Ji Yourong anxiously looked on.
• Guan Guan used the Phoenix Divides the Heavens technique to stop a hundred escaping Origin-Stabilizing Pills, each bearing pill clouds.
• Ji Yourong congratulated Guan Guan, and the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain celebrated her success.
• Yang Zhen questioned Mei Chaofeng about the Heavenly Spring Sacred Land and realized the two sacred lands were rivals rather than close allies.
• Liu Xian brought Mei Chaofeng news that the Heavenly Spring Sacred Land had invited the Ghost Alchemist to compete for leadership.
• Mei Chaofeng asked Guan Guan whether she could defeat the Ghost Alchemist, and Guan Guan recognized him as a madman.

Mei Chaofeng revealed that High Antiquity ruins in the far north might hold answers about the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth, and Yang Zhen suspected that opening them required an accomplished alchemist. Yang Zhen continued plotting to exploit the rivalry between the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain and the Heavenly Spring Sacred Land as the gathering reacted to his question.

• The little fatty questioned Mei Chaofeng about the Ghost Alchemist and why his arrival mattered, prompting her to disclose more about the operation.
• Yang Zhen showed off an Earth Treasury Root while hoping the Ghost Alchemist would be powerful enough to deepen the conflict between the two rival factions.
• Mei Chaofeng revealed that the Heavenly Snow Sacred Domain had discovered High Antiquity ruins in the far north that might be connected to the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth.
• The little fatty said he was interested in the treasures and opportunities inside the ruins, regardless of the ancient catastrophe.
• Yang Zhen asked whether opening the ruins required a powerful expert with deep alchemical skill, and Guan Guan reacted with alarm and hesitation.