Recaps

Chen Shuangbai attended Lu Zhiyuan and Huang Shanglan’s daughter’s celebration, honored his old bond with Lu Songting, and named the child Lu Xiangyuan. After returning to his cottage, he checked on the sea creatures and Spirit-Nurturing Clams he was raising.

• Chen Shuangbai arrived at Lu Zhiyuan and Huang Shanglan’s celebration, where the guests welcomed him as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Chen Shuangbai greeted Lu Songting as Martial Uncle, recalling the help Lu Songting had given him when he was a Qi Refining disciple.
• Chen Shuangbai presented the couple’s daughter with a jade longevity lock and named her Lu Xiangyuan.
• Chen Shuangbai left the celebration on his sword light and returned to his cottage at Verdant Hills Stream.
• Chen Shuangbai inspected the saltwater pool and its growing sea creatures, especially the Spirit-Nurturing Clams he hoped would produce more Spirit-Nurturing Pearls.

Chen Shuangbai refused Ji Ruohua’s request to use his influence to secure a relocation place for Accumulated Verdure Monastery, directing her to apply through the proper channels. He later rejected a visit from Chen Zonglin, leaving the Huangji Chen Clan’s effort to gain his help at a dead end.

• Ji Ruohua asked Chen Shuangbai to recommend Accumulated Verdure Monastery for relocation to East Mountain Commandery and offered him a jade box.
• Chen Shuangbai refused the gift, explained that the matter was overseen by True Person Bo and Senior Brother Ding, and advised Ji Ruohua to approach Senior Brother Ding directly.
• Chen Shuangbai told his attendant to turn away any similar visitors, then returned to handling his work.
• Yunxiu told Chen Shuangbai that an inner disciple claiming to be his clansman had come to visit, and Chen Shuangbai ordered her to send him away.
• Chen Zonglin left Chen Shuangbai’s cave abode without seeing him and told Seventh Granduncle that Chen Shuangbai did not acknowledge their kinship.

Chen Zonglin reluctantly approached Chen Shuangbai on behalf of the Huangji Chen Clan, hoping to restore their severed family ties. Chen Shuangbai rejected the household’s pressure and warned that he would personally visit if they tried again.

• Chen Chuyan rebuked Chen Zonglin for doubting the Huangji Chen Clan’s claim on Chen Shuangbai and gave him a jade box to deliver.
• Chen Zonglin registered for Chen Shuangbai’s alchemy lecture and waited until it ended to approach him.
• Chen Zonglin asked Chen Shuangbai to hear a private matter, and Chen Shuangbai took him to a pavilion on a spiritual peak.
• Chen Shuangbai warned Chen Zonglin that he would personally visit the Huangji Chen Clan if they tried to force their former relationship again.
• Chen Zonglin remained kneeling until Chen Shuangbai’s pressure eased, then collapsed and gasped for breath.

Chen Shuangbai arranged for Yan Heng to keep Chen Zonglin and other disciples occupied, then left with Yi Chongyue for Wu Country. On the journey, Li Changfeng entrusted them with his grandson Li Chenguang, and Yi Chongyue began explaining how Li Changfeng’s son had married into a Wu Country Lineage before Chen Shuangbai asked why the son had been “carried off.”

• Chen Shuangbai asked Yan Heng to summon the latest grade-A aptitude disciples and keep them focused on cultivation, including Chen Zonglin.
• Chen Shuangbai requested leave from Luo Tao to accompany Yi Chongyue to an elder’s birthday celebration.
• Li Changfeng asked Yi Chongyue to take Li Chenguang to his mother in Wu Country, then left after handing over the boy.
• Yi Chongyue told Chen Shuangbai that Li Changfeng’s son, Li Muxian, had married a woman from a Wu Country Lineage and stayed there as her son-in-law.
• Chen Shuangbai asked why Li Muxian had been carried off, and Yi Chongyue had not yet answered.

Yi Chongyue explained Li Chenguang’s family and unruly reputation to Chen Shuangbai as they traveled to Wu Country. After Chen Shuangbai stopped Li Chenguang from sneaking out overnight, they reached the Su Clan, where Li Chenguang reunited with his parents.

• Yi Chongyue told Chen Shuangbai that Li Chenguang was a gifted but spoiled child cherished by the Su Household and notorious in Wu Country.
• The travelers rested in a valley, where Chen Shuangbai caught Li Chenguang trying to slip past the formation and bound his foot with a jade cord.
• Yi Chongyue warned Li Chenguang to behave on the way to Jade Bay and threatened to tell his parents if he did not.
• The carriage reached the Yuliu Su Clan, and Li Chenguang ran to his mother, Su Rong, while his father, Li Muxian, greeted Yi Chongyue and Chen Shuangbai.

Li Muxian and Su Rong hosted Yi Chongyue and Chen Shuangbai before they continued to Spring-Returning Mountain for Gongye Chun’s birthday. Yi Chongyue revealed that he had also come to help with a brewing succession crisis, and the pair arrived at the mountain as the birthday guests gathered.

• Li Muxian and Su Rong welcomed Yi Chongyue and Chen Shuangbai to the Su Household and learned they were traveling to celebrate Gongye Chun’s birthday.
• Yi Chongyue and Chen Shuangbai departed for Spring-Returning Mountain the next morning.
• Chen Shuangbai deduced that Yi Chongyue had another purpose for the journey, and Yi Chongyue confirmed that he intended to help with divisions over Spring-Returning Mountain’s succession.
• Yi Chongyue explained that Gongye Chun had sought help from their lineage because the aging elder could not resolve the growing discord himself.
• Spring-Returning Mountain’s steward disciple Liu Wenyan welcomed Yi Chongyue and Chen Shuangbai, and Yi Chongyue announced their visit to offer birthday wishes to Gongye Chun.

Yi Chongyue and Chen Shuangbai arrived at Spring-Returning Mountain to visit Gongye Chun for his birthday, where Chen noticed signs of conflict within the sect. After Chen’s Sword Essence frightened Song Zheyu, Liu Wenyan led them to Gongye Chun’s secluded cave abode.

• Liu Wenyan welcomed Yi Chongyue and Chen Shuangbai and escorted them into Spring-Returning Mountain to meet Gongye Chun.
• Chen Shuangbai noticed Liu Wenyan’s excessive caution and sensed tension among the sect’s disciples.
• Song Zheyu blocked their flying Law Artifact and provoked Liu Wenyan, but Yi Chongyue urged him to move on.
• Chen Shuangbai’s murderous intent, fused with Sword Essence, frightened Song Zheyu into stopping, and two other visitors recognized Chen’s talent.
• Liu Wenyan apologized for the incident and brought Yi Chongyue and Chen Shuangbai to Gongye Chun’s cave abode, where Yi paid his respects.

Yi Chongyue and Chen Shuangbai visited Gongye Chun, whose failing health and troubled leadership of Spring-Returning Mountain became clear. While Yi Chongyue spoke privately with Gongye Chun, Xie Hong barged in and accused him of withholding his grandfather’s inheritance, prompting Liu Wenyan to attack.

• Gongye Chun warmly welcomed Yi Chongyue and praised Chen Shuangbai’s Foundation Establishment middle-stage cultivation.
• Yi Chongyue and Gongye Chun discussed their former companions and the worsening disagreements within Spring-Returning Mountain.
• Gongye Chun said Yi Chongyue’s arrival reassured him, and Yi Chongyue asked whether the disputes had grown worse.
• Chen Shuangbai and Liu Wenyan withdrew so Gongye Chun and Yi Chongyue could speak privately.
• Xie Hong forced his way toward Gongye Chun’s cave abode and accused him of keeping his grandfather’s inheritance.
• Liu Wenyan confronted Xie Hong and sent spirit-fire cranes to attack him.

Chen Shuangbai cut apart Xie Hong’s Fire-Capturing Ring and forced him to kneel after Xie attacked Liu Wenyan and insulted the Jade Spring Sect and Grand Martial Uncle Gongye. When Liu Shouren arrived, Chen challenged his failure to uphold Spring-Returning Mountain’s rules, and Liu responded with spiritual pressure.

• Liu Wenyan summoned a fire crane, but Xie Hong used the All True Persons' Fire-Capturing Ring to absorb it and Liu’s spirit fire.
• Xie Hong threatened to suppress Chen Shuangbai, so Chen cut the ring apart and pinned Xie to his knees with his scabbard.
• Chen questioned Xie about insulting the Jade Spring Sect and Grand Martial Uncle Gongye while Spring-Returning Mountain disciples watched.
• Song Zheyu arrived with Martial Uncle Liu and urged him to punish Chen, but Chen challenged Liu over his treatment of guests and the sect’s rules.
• Liu Shouren called Chen insolent and unleashed his foundation establishment late stage spiritual pressure.

Gongye Chun unleashed his Golden Core power when Xie Hong insulted him, killing Xie Hong and crippling Liu Shouren and Song Zheyu before Zhang Jing intervened. He drove Zhang Jing away, then received Chen Shuangbai and Liu Wenyan inside his cave abode, where he insisted he would not die soon.

• Gongye Chun opened the cave abode’s restrictions and crushed Liu Shouren, Song Zheyu, and Xie Hong with his spiritual pressure.
• Gongye Chun burned Xie Hong to ashes for insulting him.
• Zhang Jing tried to stop Gongye Chun’s true fire, but Liu Shouren and Song Zheyu were left crippled.
• Gongye Chun warned Zhang Jing that he could purge the sect before his death, then forced him to leave in humiliation.
• Chen Shuangbai and Liu Wenyan entered Gongye Chun’s cave abode, and Gongye Chun dismissed Liu Wenyan after he knelt and wept.

Yi Chongyue told Chen Shuangbai that Gongye Chun planned to split Spring-Returning Mountain after years of internal conflict, and revealed that the dispute centered on access to a damaged blessed land. The chapter left Chen Shuangbai and his master preparing to enter it alongside the rival faction’s invited guests.

• Yi Chongyue warned Chen Shuangbai that Gongye Chun was ending the pretense and splitting Spring-Returning Mountain into separate factions.
• Yi Chongyue revealed that five founders had once shared jade rings that together opened a blessed land, and that he had been entrusted with two rings, including one from a departed founder.
• Yi Chongyue explained that the blessed land was badly damaged and might collapse, so the founders had postponed exploring it further.
• Chen Shuangbai realized Gongye Chun intended to make a clean break by gathering what remained in the blessed land, and asked whether he and Yi Chongyue would get a share.
• Yi Chongyue said Golden Core cultivators could not enter the blessed land, while Zhang Jing had also invited outsiders, leaving the two factions evenly matched.

At Gongye Chun’s five-hundredth birthday banquet, guests presented lavish gifts while Spring-Returning Mountain’s disciples concealed their unease about the aging Golden Core True Person. Just as Zhang Jing was about to offer his gift, Gongye Chun abruptly stopped the proceedings, and Chen Shuangbai realized his grandmartial uncle was about to confront the matter directly.

• Chen Shuangbai and Yi Chongyue arrived at Danxia Hall and took seats near the place of honor as guests gathered for Gongye Chun’s birthday.
• Gongye Chun arrived, received the disciples’ salute, and welcomed the guests to his five-hundredth birthday celebration.
• True Person Qian of the Setting Sun Sect presented Earth’s Core Fire Jade, and Zhao Buyan of the Painstaking Heart Sect presented an ink painting said to temper the soul.
• Yi Chongyue presented Gongye Chun with a water-nurturing jade lingzhi, while Chen Shuangbai suspected his master had also privately given him an Aging-Delay Pill.
• When Zhang Jing was about to present Spring-Returning Mountain’s gift, Gongye Chun raised his hand and ordered everyone to wait.

At his five-hundredth birthday celebration, Gongye Chun confronted Zhang Jing and announced that he and his lineage would leave Spring-Returning Mountain to establish their own sect. Zhang Jing demanded that Gongye Chun leave a valuable item behind, but Gongye Chun insisted he had never intended to take it.

• Gongye Chun accused Zhang Jing of insulting him and rejected his attempt to blame the dispute on someone sowing discord.
• Gongye Chun proposed splitting Spring-Returning Mountain and said he would take only what belonged to him.
• Zhang Jing protested that the split would ruin the sect’s foundation, but Gongye Chun declared he was willing to let it be destroyed.
• Zhang Jing claimed Gongye Chun would have to leave instead, and Gongye Chun asked the guests to witness his lineage’s withdrawal and formation of a new sect.
• Zhang Jing demanded that Gongye Chun leave a certain item behind, and Gongye Chun replied that he had never intended to take it.

At Gongye Chun’s birthday gathering, he revealed Spring-Returning Mountain’s key to a blessed land and announced that its final entry opportunity would be used immediately. Zhang Jing brought in Qing Yizi as a fallback, but Gongye Chun offered him a share, leaving the gathering’s balance of power unsettled.

• Gongye Chun revealed a jade ring as the key to a blessed land, drawing the attention and greed of everyone in Danxia Hall.
• Gongye Chun announced that the blessed land could be entered only once more, by up to eight Foundation Establishment cultivators, and True Person Qian and True Person Zhao stopped Zhang Jing from attacking him.
• Gongye Chun demanded Zhang Jing hand over two jade rings, while Yi Chongyue and Chen Shuangbai avoided Zhang Jing’s accusing gaze.
• Zhang Jing summoned Qing Yizi, a middle Golden Core demonic cultivator, as his backup against Gongye Chun.
• Gongye Chun offered Qing Yizi a share of the spoils, and Qing Yizi accepted after acknowledging that he could not confidently defeat all three other Golden Core cultivators.

The five jade pendants opened the entrance to Wondrous Origin Blessed Land, and the Golden Core cultivators divided the eight places among their disciples. Chen Shuangbai entered and was randomly transported to a floating mountain, where he found an ancient Daoist temple.

• Qing Yizi sided with Gongye Chun, forcing Zhang Jing to hand over his two jade pendants and complete the set of five.
• Gongye Chun activated the pendants, opening a water-mirror entrance to Wondrous Origin Blessed Land and explaining that Golden Core cultivators could not enter.
• The Golden Core cultivators divided eight places, with Gongye Chun taking two and the remaining places shared among the others.
• Qing Yizi asked everyone to wait for his disciple, and the eight chosen disciples entered the blessed land the following day.
• Chen Shuangbai arrived alone on a floating rock, used the Three Warmings and Six Chills Wind Incantation to clear the mist, and found an ancient Daoist temple on a mountain peak.

Chen Shuangbai discovered a strange pearl in the Abiding Nourishment Temple, then made his way toward the blessed land’s core to find Liu Wenyan. He arrived as Liu Wenyan fought Fang Xu and struck Fang Xu with a powerful sword attack, leaving the conflict unresolved.

• Chen Shuangbai entered the Abiding Nourishment Temple, paid respects to the Jade Truth tablet, and found a dull gray pearl hidden in the incense burner.
• Chen Shuangbai found that Gongye Chun’s locating talisman could not sense Liu Wenyan, so he headed toward the blessed land’s core.
• Chen Shuangbai reached the core region and saw Liu Wenyan fighting Fang Xu before a white jade hall.
• Fang Xu tried to persuade Liu Wenyan to abandon his grandmaster and join Zhang Jing, while using his purple crystal gourd and spirit hook to press his attack.
• Chen Shuangbai intervened with a sword strike that drove Fang Xu back and damaged his purple crystal gourd; Fang Xu responded by releasing earthen-gold sand.

Chen Shuangbai defeated Fang Xu despite his Poison Fire Golden Sand, severing his arm before Fang Yan intervened. Fang Yan revealed his connection to Fang Xu and threatened Chen Shuangbai and Liu Wenyan, leaving them facing his ominous spiritual pressure.

• Fang Xu used Poison Fire Golden Sand to suppress Chen Shuangbai's sword strike, while Liu Wenyan protected Chen Shuangbai from Fang Xu's spirit hook.
• Chen Shuangbai concentrated his sword light into a droplet and cut through Fang Xu's golden-sand defenses, severing half of his arm and ruining his purple crystal gourd.
• Fang Xu fled, but Chen Shuangbai's follow-up strike was stopped by an invisible barrier raised by a blue-robed young master.
• Fang Xu greeted the young master as his elder brother, and Chen Shuangbai identified him as Fang Yan, Qing Yizi's personal disciple.
• Liu Wenyan accused Fang Xu and his master of scheming against the sect, while Fang Yan acknowledged Chen Shuangbai had guessed their plan and threatened to take his head.
• Fang Yan released a cold, obscure spiritual pressure, making Liu Wenyan pale.

Chen Shuangbai revealed his strength in the white jade hall, killing Fang Xu and pursuing the wounded Fang Yan. The other sects’ cultivators arrived as Fang Yan fled, and Chen Shuangbai called after him.

• Chen Shuangbai sent Liu Wenyan into the hall while holding off Fang Yan and Fang Xu.
• Chen Shuangbai struck Fang Yan’s soul with the Lesser Yin Soul-Slashing Saber, then killed Fang Xu when he tried to flee.
• Fang Yan recovered from the soul attack and fought Chen Shuangbai, but soon began retreating under his pursuit.
• Four Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Painstaking Heart Sect and Setting Sun Sect arrived, and Fang Yan turned one of them into a demonic puppet.
• Chen Shuangbai destroyed the puppet and chased Fang Yan, asking why he was fleeing without a fight.

Chen Shuangbai and Fang Yan fought in the blessed land, with Chen Shuangbai countering Fang Yan’s demonic ghosts using Heavenly Wood Spirit Light. Chen Shuangbai then revealed the Clear Waves Reflecting the Moon Banner, whose ripples weakened Fang Yan’s Law Power, leaving their battle unresolved.

• Fang Yan sent illusionary yin ghosts at Chen Shuangbai, then recovered enough from his soul injury to confront him.
• Chen Shuangbai attacked Fang Yan, but an invisible defense blocked his Sword Essence as Demonic Qi gathered around Fang Yan.
• The Painstaking Heart Sect cultivators and the remaining Setting Sun Sect cultivator withdrew to seek opportunities in the blessed land.
• Fang Yan unleashed ghostfire yin ghosts, but Chen Shuangbai used Heavenly Wood Spirit Light to scour them away.
• Chen Shuangbai split Fang Yan’s Ghost Qi cocoon with Shattering the Moon and Parting the Waves, then summoned the Clear Waves Reflecting the Moon Banner.
• The banner’s ripples made Fang Yan’s Law Power sluggish and sharply reduced his strength.

Chen Shuangbai and Fang Yan fought within the blessed land, with Chen Shuangbai breaking through Fang Yan’s attacks and revealing his Snow-Plumed Eagle, Feiguang. As Chen Shuangbai’s storm of wind, clouds, frost, and ice trapped Fang Yan, a strange black moonlike image appeared between Chen Shuangbai’s brows.

• Fang Yan praised Chen Shuangbai’s spirit banner, but Chen Shuangbai absorbed Fang Yan’s spirit-seed attacks with an unseen curtain.
• Chen Shuangbai destroyed Fang Yan’s six coffin-nail Spirit Artifacts with his sword shadows and continued attacking with [Foot-Long Silk] and [Midnight Month Cold Light Yin Thunder].
• Fang Yan defended himself with the souls of two Foundation Establishment snake demons, whose forms withstood Chen Shuangbai’s sword shadows and lightning.
• Chen Shuangbai mocked Fang Yan for repeatedly bringing out methods that he could counter, and Fang Yan sent the two snake demon souls to attack him.
• Feiguang emerged, wounded both snake demon souls, and devoured one, while the other fled back into Fang Yan’s ghost banner.
• Chen Shuangbai surrounded Fang Yan with a storm of dark clouds, wind, frost, snow, and ice, then revealed a black moonlike image between his brows as Fang Yan gathered Demonic Qi.

Chen Shuangbai killed Fang Yan with [Fallen Toad Light], then watched Fang Yan calmly accept his death and buried him. Chen Shuangbai collected Fang Yan’s ghost banner and unusual Spirit Artifact before entering the pill chamber, where he found Liu Wenyan and the others exploring beside a fragrant Pill Furnace.

• Fang Yan realized Chen Shuangbai’s [Fallen Toad Light] had struck him, and his body died as his soul escaped with the ghost banner.
• Chen Shuangbai followed Fang Yan’s soul to a hilltop, where Fang Yan explained that he had known he was doomed and had chosen a scenic place to die.
• Fang Yan’s soul dissipated, and Chen Shuangbai raised a simple gravestone for him.
• Chen Shuangbai sensed a curtain-like Spirit Artifact falling from the sky, collected it, and stored it with the ghost banner.
• Chen Shuangbai returned to the white jade hall and entered its pill chamber, where Liu Wenyan and the others were examining a fragrant Pill Furnace.

Chen Shuangbai returned to Liu Wenyan after killing Fang Xu and Fang Yan, then intimidated the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators into deferring to him. The group explored the blessed land together, and Chen Shuangbai and Liu Wenyan claimed most of the surviving treasures before turning to the ancient books.

• Chen Shuangbai told Liu Wenyan that Fang Xu and Fang Yan had fallen to his sword, alarming the three other Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Liu Wenyan explained that he had found pill and ingredient chambers, along with a sealed chamber he suspected held pill formulas.
• Chen Shuangbai threatened the three cultivators and demanded that they defer to him while exploring the masterless blessed land, and they reluctantly agreed.
• Chen Shuangbai and Liu Wenyan took most of the surviving items from the pill and ingredient chambers, while the other cultivators divided the remainder.
• Chen Shuangbai turned his attention to the ancient books on the second-floor bookshelves.

Chen Shuangbai and the others tried to open an ancient Pill Furnace and discovered that Chen Shuangbai’s gray pearl fit its lid. The furnace opened a crack, releasing a powerful pill fragrance and spiritual light as they watched for what lay inside.

• Chen Shuangbai collected the ancient texts and examined the sealed Pill Furnace with the others.
• Liu Wenyan showed Chen Shuangbai a picture of a similar Pill Furnace, revealing a red pearl set into its lid.
• Chen Shuangbai placed his gray pearl into the lid’s hollow, and it transformed into a crimson precious pearl.
• The Pill Furnace glowed and its lid shifted open, releasing a powerful pill fragrance and strands of spiritual light.
• Chen Shuangbai, Liu Wenyan, and the others stared into the opening without seeing what was inside.

Chen Shuangbai and Liu Wenyan confronted Sun Yuan and Wu Qiong after the Setting Sun Sect cultivators ambushed and killed the Painstaking Heart Sect cultivator to seize the Pill Furnace’s treasure. Chen Shuangbai drove Wu Qiong back and revealed his Fallen Toad Light, while Sun Yuan’s Golden Core talisman treasure rapidly weakened under Chen Shuangbai’s attacks.

• Sun Yuan and Wu Qiong ambushed and killed the Painstaking Heart Sect cultivator as the Pill Furnace opened, then Wu Qiong entered its spiritual light.
• Sun Yuan blocked Chen Shuangbai and Liu Wenyan with his flying wheels and declared that the Setting Sun Sect would take the treasure.
• Liu Wenyan engaged Sun Yuan while Chen Shuangbai attacked with his Sword Essence, splitting it into sixteen strands that shattered the flying wheels.
• Sun Yuan activated a Golden Core talisman treasure, but Chen Shuangbai’s Sword Essence battered its golden light and weakened its power.
• Chen Shuangbai entered the Pill Furnace’s spiritual light and drove Wu Qiong into the pill chamber wall, revealing that Wu Qiong’s talisman treasure had been tainted by Fallen Toad Light.
• Chen Shuangbai and Wu Qiong faced off in the pill chamber as Sun Yuan remained unable to help either Wu Qiong or himself.

Chen Shuangbai overwhelmed Sun Yuan and Wu Qiong with his Frost Osmanthus Sword Essence and [Fallen Toad Light], forcing them to surrender. After binding both men and sealing their Qi seas, he stood with Liu Wenyan as the three precious pills were secured.

• Chen Shuangbai used [Fallen Toad Light] and sixteen streams of Frost Osmanthus Sword Essence to wear down Wu Qiong's Golden Core talisman treasure while fighting Sun Yuan.
• Wu Qiong surrendered two precious pills, and Chen Shuangbai withdrew the mysterious light before binding Wu Qiong with the [Turning Heart Ruyi Cord].
• Sun Yuan continued resisting until his talisman treasure was nearly spent, then conceded defeat and allowed Chen Shuangbai to bind and seal him.
• Liu Wenyan flew over to praise Chen Shuangbai, who replied, "Senior brother, you flatter me."