Recaps

Li Yan spent time at home with Gong Chenying and Zhao Min before receiving an urgent order for all traveling Wangliang Sect disciples to return. He left the village to seek materials for his lifebound magical treasure while the two women returned to the sect, and he arranged for the Bloodleaf Sect cultivators to send letters to his family.

• Gong Chenying and Zhao Min learned to cook, and Li Yan joined a hunting party to bring back demon beast meat for them.
• Xu Shi and Wang Wuying delivered two jade slips ordering Wangliang Sect disciples away on trials to return within half a month; Wei Zhongran's message exempted Li Yan but called for Gong Chenying and Zhao Min to return.
• Li Yan decided to continue searching for materials for his lifebound magical treasure, while Gong Chenying and Zhao Min prepared to return to the sect.
• After six more days, Li Yan left the village with the two women and promised his family he would send letters.
• Li Yan gave Xu Shi and Wang Wuying letters for his family and instructions to arrange official identities for the three travelers.

Li Yan left Gong Chenying and Zhao Min and traveled toward the Northern Underworld Sea, planning to visit the Pure Land Sect and seek the Crimson Mother Essence and a Boundless Wanderer tree. Near Mystic Purity Temple, four cultivators arrived at the gate just as an unknown group blocked their way.

• Li Yan parted from Gong Chenying and Zhao Min, who urged him to stay safe as he set out alone.
• Li Yan reviewed Ping Tu’s warning that a Blue Demon Flood Dragon guarded the Boundless Wanderer tree and considered how to approach it safely.
• Li Yan suppressed his cultivation, disguised himself as a Bloodleaf Sect disciple, and planned a route through teleportation formations toward the Pure Land Sect.
• Li Yan used maps gathered from Wei Zhongran and smaller sects to locate Mystic Purity Temple and its eight-thousand-li teleportation formation.
• Fatty Luo Three, Song Bo, Qin Chengyi, and Senior Brother Liu discussed their overnight gambling losses and Senior Brother Liu warned Qin Chengyi against gambling.
• A group flew out beside Mystic Purity Temple’s mountain gate and blocked the four cultivators from entering.

Luo Sanpang and three fellow cultivators returned to Xuanqing Temple after ignoring a sect order, and Kong Nantian confronted them at the mountain gate. As the four went to answer to the Sect Master, Kong reflected on the disappearance of two nearby sects and resumed his patrol when an azure streak approached.

• Kong Nantian stopped Luo Sanpang, Liu, Song Bo, and Qin Chengyi at the mountain gate for breaking the order that disciples remain within the sect.
• Qin Chengyi recited the Sect Master's order, and Liu and Song Bo admitted their mistake and offered to explain themselves to the Sect Master.
• Kong told the four that the Sect Master had summoned Foundation Establishment cultivators the previous evening, and Liu sternly warned Luo to behave humbly when they met him.
• The four saluted Kong Nantian and headed up the mountain, while Kong recalled that two nearby sects had vanished and that the Phantom Sect had ordered an investigation.
• A new disciple learned from a senior that Luo Sanpang relied on the sect ancestor's favor and was obsessed with the number three; Kong silenced the chatting patrol disciples and noticed an azure streak flying toward the gate.

Li Yan reached Xuanqing Temple to use its teleportation array to travel to Lishui City and negotiated a discount with Feng Zhiran. Feng Zhiran led him through the temple’s elaborate formations toward the teleportation array, while Li Yan learned of the sect’s history and reached a pond surrounded by pavilions.

• Li Yan arrived at Xuanqing Temple after failing to find needed materials at a nearby market.
• Feng Zhiran questioned Li Yan and explained that the northern teleportation array could take him to Lishui City for three hundred spirit stones, or allow him to travel alone for a higher fee.
• Li Yan bargained with Feng Zhiran and agreed to pay two hundred and twenty spirit stones for the teleportation and fifty more as a fee, saving thirty spirit stones.
• Feng Zhiran checked Li Yan’s Blood Leaf Sect token, mistook him for a possible descendant of Blood Leaf High Person, and escorted him inside.
• Feng Zhiran showed Li Yan the temple’s formations and described its past ties to the Phantom Sect as they made their way through the temple.
• Feng Zhiran led Li Yan to a pond of blooming lotuses surrounded by groves, pavilions, and towers.

Li Yan waited at Tiandu Temple’s guest courtyard for enough travelers to gather for the northbound teleportation array, while taking precautions against intrusion. When the group assembled, he found himself among several powerful and suspicious-looking cultivators, and the party set out for the array.

• Feng Zhiran led Li Yan to a guest courtyard near the teleportation array and warned him not to wander into the formation-protected residences.
• Li Yan chose a private side room, searched it with Divine Sense, and set up protective formation flags before meditating.
• A servant summoned Li Yan when the northbound group was complete, and Li Yan retrieved his formation flags before leaving the room.
• Li Yan joined the travelers outside the main hall and assessed a Foundation Establishment cultivator with two young companions, two late Foundation Establishment figures in black robes, and a sorrowful young man with a dangerous hunched attendant.

Li Yan and the other visitors were detained by the Profound Clarity Temple after a series of explosions and the report that Senior Brother Liu had been killed. The group was summoned to the scene, where the temple's Sect Master was waiting to explain what had happened.

• Li Yan and the visitors heard explosions from inside the Profound Clarity Temple, followed by a cry that Senior Brother Liu had been killed.
• Daoist Ji arrived with three fellow Daoists and ordered the visitors to remain under watch while the temple investigated.
• Sect Master Yue challenged Daoist Ji, who warned the visitors not to move freely through the temple's array-protected grounds.
• Daoist Ji recognized Blood-Hand Flying Sickle, Fellow Daoist Lin of the Blood Hand Sect, whose bloody fan unsettled the gathered cultivators.
• A deep-voiced Sect Master Gong summoned the visitors to the courtyard where the disturbance had occurred, and Daoist Ji led them there under guard.

Li Yan and the other cultivators were brought to Xuanqing Temple to investigate the mysterious death of Senior Brother Liu. After examining the body, Li Yan discovered that Liu's heart had been destroyed by spiritual power, while Taoist Gong questioned the gathered guests under the pressure of his False Core aura.

• Li Yan sensed that Xuanqing Temple's formations had activated around the group and recognized that Taoist Gong was near the False Core Realm.
• Luo Sanpang recounted how he and Qin Chengyi broke into Liu's courtyard after hearing his faint plea for help, only to find him dead.
• Taoist Gong warned the guests that he would question them, then led them to inspect Liu's body.
• Li Yan found tiny fissures in Liu's heart and concluded that spiritual power had shattered it, likely after Liu tried to open the courtyard formation.
• Bloody-Handed Flying Sickle asked Taoist Gong whether he had found any clues, while Li Yan secretly kept watch over the gathered cultivators.

Daoist Gong investigated the baffling murder of Junior Brother Liu, whose courtyard formation remained intact and whose Storage Pouch had vanished. After ruling out the initial suspects, he questioned formation expert Gui Liugang, who moved to examine the courtyard’s restrictions while two mysterious black-robed cultivators watched.

• Daoist Gong outlined the murder’s unexplained clues and proposed that an acquaintance, a formation master, or a trick involving Junior Brother Liu’s apparent death could be responsible.
• Daoist Gong questioned Luo Sanpang and Qin Chengyi, but Qin showed his Storage Pouch and both men produced witnesses confirming their movements and the time they arrived.
• Kong Nantai arrived after activating the sect’s grand formation, and Daoist Gong turned his attention to Gui Liugang’s possible role in the murder.
• A black-robed cultivator recognized Gui Liugang as the famed “Banners Sweeping Through Connected Camps,” and his companion recounted Gui’s reputation as a formation master.
• Gui Liugang concealed his anger at the two black-robed cultivators and walked toward the courtyard to examine Xuanqing Monastery’s formations, followed by Blood-Handed Flying Sickle.

Daoist Gong and the visiting cultivators investigated Senior Brother Liu’s murder, finding that the killer had used wood- and water-attributed power but had left no trace of entering or escaping the sealed courtyard. After Sect Master Yue and Gui Liugang were cleared, suspicion fell on the remaining guests, including Li Yan, as they awaited further questioning.

• Gui Liugang inspected the courtyard formation and found no sign that anyone had broken through it, while Li Yan noticed the formation’s spirit stones had been drained by Luo Sanpang’s attack.
• Gui Liugang, Sect Master Yue, and the blood-handed flying sickle scholar concluded that Senior Brother Liu’s fatal wound had been made by a wood- and water-attributed finger attack or matching magic treasures.
• Li Yan recognized a clue in the wound and heard the purple-robed young man whisper “Xiren,” while the hunchbacked servant noticed Li Yan looking toward them.
• Daoist Gong offered to let guests leave if they gave convincing explanations, but said the rest would have to stay until his master returned if they could not.
• Sect Master Yue and Gui Liugang corroborated each other’s whereabouts, and Hall Master Ji confirmed their alibis by questioning the servants, clearing both groups.
• Daoist Gong ruled out the blood-handed flying sickle scholar because his fire-dominated roots and blood-aura cultivation did not match the evidence, leaving Li Yan and several other guests under suspicion.

Daoist Gong questioned those who had stayed in the side room and allowed several people to leave, while Li Yan and four others remained under suspicion. Qin Chengyi escorted them to guest quarters for the night as Daoist Gong arranged guards and waited for the Golden Core cultivator to return.

• Zhang Peng and his wife explained their visit, showed their medicine and Pine Moon Sect tokens, and Daoist Gong let them leave after recognizing their master, Min Songzi.
• The purple-robed young man and his hunchbacked servant admitted they could not prove they had stayed in the side room, while one black-robed man and Li Yan made the same admission.
• Daoist Gong sent Kong Nantai to escort the cleared guests away, then ordered Luo Sanpang to guard Senior Brother Liu's place and Qin Chengyi to arrange accommodations for the remaining five.
• Qin Chengyi led Li Yan, the purple-robed young man, and the two black-robed cultivators to a guest courtyard with six rooms and small protective formations.

At Xuanqing Monastery, Li Yan and the other suspects were confined to rooms overnight after a Taoist priest was murdered. As Li Yan investigated the courtyard and pondered the purple-robed young man's knowledge, the young man's servant suspected Li Yan while the two black-robed men plotted to break out after completing a secret job.

• Qin Chengyi warned the visitors to stay in their rooms because Xuanqing Monastery's formations could kill anyone who wandered outside, and everyone chose a room for the night.
• Li Yan noticed the black-robed men show killing intent toward the purple-robed young man, then inspected his room and watched the lotus pond without activating its restrictions.
• The purple-robed young man and Uncle Sang discussed whether the black-robed men were tracking them and whether the murdered Taoist had been killed by a rare poison; Uncle Sang warned that Li Yan seemed unusually dangerous.
• The two black-robed men decided to act that night, relying on a magic treasure to break the monastery's formations and escape before the Golden Core Realm Taoist returned.

Li Yan watched Uncle Sang secretly probe the courtyard before a scream from next door brought Xuanqing Temple’s cultivators rushing to investigate. The temple’s Martial Uncle Song had been murdered, and the two black-robed men were detained nearby as Li Yan and his companions prepared to go see what happened.

• Li Yan observed Uncle Sang withdraw his Divine Sense from his room and probe the black-robed men’s rooms instead.
• A scream came from the neighboring courtyard, and Uncle Sang returned to the purple-robed young man before they joined Li Yan outside.
• The two black-robed men hurried back toward their courtyard but stopped when Kong Nantian and his disciples confronted them.
• A disciple reported that Martial Uncle Song had been murdered, and Daoist Gong and Hall Master Ji entered the courtyard while Kong Nantian’s group guarded the black-robed men.
• The purple-robed young man asked Li Yan to accompany him to investigate, and Li Yan agreed that they would likely be summoned regardless.

After Song was murdered inside the Profound Clarity Temple, Daoist Gong and Hall Master Ji questioned Li Yan and the other visitors while searching for the killer and Song’s soul. Li Yan gave an alibi confirmed by Qin Chengyi, but the murderer remained unidentified as suspicion continued to fall on those nearby.

• Li Yan and his companions entered the courtyard and saw Song’s corpse, whose Dantian and Purple Palace had been destroyed by a strike from behind.
• Daoist Gong explained that Song had likely let his killer out through the gate, suggesting the murderer was someone he trusted, and said Song’s soul had been destroyed.
• Hall Master Ji returned from searching the area without finding the killer or Song’s soul, then questioned the visitors about what they had seen and heard.
• The young man in purple described the group’s movements and drew attention to the two black-robed men, while also identifying Li Yan as someone who had left his room after the scream.
• Li Yan told Daoist Gong and Hall Master Ji that he had heard the scream before entering the courtyard and had seen no one pass the gate; Qin Chengyi arrived and confirmed Li Yan’s account.

After Song Bo was found murdered, Daoist Gong tightened Xuanqing Temple’s security and gathered the visiting cultivators in Jade Purity Hall while the investigation continued. He and Hall Master Ji narrowed their suspicions to someone inside the temple, and Daoist Gong noticed clues pointing toward Kong Nantai.

• Daoist Gong acknowledged that Li Yan and his companions had alibis for Song Bo’s murder but said Junior Brother Liu’s death still needed investigation.
• Daoist Gong ordered the temple’s defenses strengthened, established Blood Oath Formations around the two courtyards, and sent for the patriarch.
• Qin Chengyi escorted Li Yan’s group to Jade Purity Hall, while Kong Nantai brought the two black-robed men there under watch.
• Daoist Gong questioned Hall Master Ji about the junior brothers’ movements, and Hall Master Ji reported that Kong Nantai had been free to leave patrol alone.
• Daoist Gong examined Song Bo’s expression and asked whether Kong Nantai had patrolled nearby, then said the killer was likely still within the temple.
• Luo Sanpang arrived at Jade Purity Hall grieving Song Bo and openly glared at the two black-robed men.

During Xuanqing Temple’s morning incense ritual, Luo Sanpang died after being poisoned by Gray Song Datura Water hidden on his incense. Daoist Gong suspected the murder was connected to two nearby sects that had vanished, while Hall Master Ji found no useful clues.

• Daoist Gong presided over the Blood Drop Oath Array as Li Yan and the others waited through the night.
• Luo Sanpang died while holding incense in the main hall, and Daoist Gong ordered everyone to stay put as he investigated.
• Bai Kui described finding Luo Sanpang motionless, and Daoist Gong used the Azure Mist Pearl to identify Gray Song Datura Water on the incense.
• Daoist Gong feared the poison and the earlier disappearances of two nearby sects pointed to a powerful enemy, but he could not determine when or how the incense had been tampered with.
• Hall Master Ji returned from patrol and confirmed that the many people who had entered the hall left no clear trail; Daoist Gong suggested the murders might be linked to the missing sects.

Daoist Gong and Hall Master Ji investigated the deaths and strange incidents at Xuanqing Temple, while learning that the suspects might include notorious rogue cultivators and that a Blood Leaf Sect disciple’s identity was false. Li Yan revealed his Phantom Sect identity and considered helping Xuanqing Temple investigate, hoping to learn what had prompted the sect’s orders.

• Hall Master Ji and Daoist Gong discussed the deaths, the vanished sects, and the Phantom Sect’s order to report abnormalities.
• Daoist Gong read three jade slips and learned that the black-robed men were likely the rogue cultivators He Manzi and He Manhua, while the remaining information raised questions about a Blood Leaf Sect disciple.
• Daoist Gong privately confronted Li Yan and apologized after confirming that Li Yan was a guest from a superior sect.
• Li Yan presented his authentic Phantom Sect token and ordered Daoist Gong to arrange his departure.
• Daoist Gong showed Li Yan the Phantom Sect’s order to investigate and report strange events, persuading Li Yan to reconsider leaving.
• Li Yan offered to help identify the culprit at Xuanqing Temple.

Li Yan questioned Daoist Mu about the deaths and the temple’s suspects, then they set out to resolve his remaining doubts while Xuanqing Temple tightened its security. At the Dao Scripture Hall, an intruder used two golden wind-chime halves to open the formation passage, but a concealed Quicksand Technique trapped him as he desperately tried to escape.

• Li Yan asked Daoist Mu about Fellow Daoist Luo's death, the temple’s residents, and the clues he had gathered, then learned that Daoist Mu already suspected two people.
• Daoist Mu organized patrols across Xuanqing Temple and kept watch on the main hall with Hall Master Ji while the Patriarch was expected to return by dusk.
• An unidentified man approached the Dao Scripture Hall, used two golden wind-chime halves to open a passage through its defensive formation, and rushed toward the gate.
• The man stepped into a concealed Quicksand Technique that burned his feet, poisoned his meridians, and pulled him downward.
• The trapped man sacrificed several spiritual artifacts and treasures to rise above the sandpit, with fewer than two breaths left before his ten-breath limit.

Daoist Gong and Li Yan captured the injured Qin Chengyi after he tried to escape their ambush, and Qin admitted that he had come to steal a mysterious gray bead from the Dao Scripture Hall. Qin then bargained for an explanation of how the temple discovered his plot, warning that his contact would learn of his failure at noon.

• Daoist Gong struck Qin Chengyi from the air, and Qin crashed onto the bluestone steps instead of falling into the sandpit.
• Qin recognized Daoist Gong and Li Yan, while Daoist Gong accused him of killing three people and threatened his Qin Lineage.
• Daoist Gong explained that Li Yan had advised him to let Qin enter the ambush so they could expose and capture any accomplices.
• Qin confessed that he had been sent to steal a gray bead believed to be an eyeball of a Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle, but said he did not know its purpose or who ordered the theft.
• Qin revealed that he had acted alone inside the temple and that his contact would know the mission had failed if he did not appear by noon.
• Qin offered to disclose everything he knew if Daoist Gong explained how he uncovered the plot and promised him a quick death.

Li Yan confronted Qin Chengyi and revealed that he had identified the poison used to kill Senior Brother Liu, then began explaining how Qin Chengyi had carried out his plan. Qin Chengyi listened as Li Yan connected the theft scheme to the gambling incident, while the remaining details of the murder were still to be explained.

• Daoist Gong accused Qin Chengyi of killing Senior Brother Luo, and Qin Chengyi explained how he had anticipated Daoist Gong's suspicions and limited his ability to investigate.
• Qin Chengyi realized Li Yan had broken his plan, and Li Yan admitted he had only guessed while praising Qin Chengyi's careful calculations.
• Li Yan identified 'Tears That Strike' as the poison that killed Fellow Daoist Liu and explained its properties and how it could be activated without killing its user.
• Li Yan said that Fellow Daoist Gui's observation about the spiritual-power traces led him to identify the poison, though he had initially lacked enough information to identify the killer.
• Li Yan reasoned that Qin Chengyi had waited for his master's departure to steal the Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle's eyeball and had used the gambling game with Fellow Daoist Luo, Fellow Daoist Liu, and Fellow Daoist Song to prepare the poison's activation method.

Li Yan explained how Qin Chengyi used a poisoned spirit stone to kill Fellow Daoist Liu and steal his Storage Pouch, then identified the unresolved method Qin Chengyi used to handle 'Striking Tears.' The confrontation ended with Li Yan revealing a humanoid puppet beside Qin Chengyi, connecting it to the second murder.

• Li Yan reconstructed how Qin Chengyi planted 'Striking Tears' in a depleted spirit stone, gambled it to Fellow Daoist Liu, and arranged for the poison to erupt through Liu's courtyard formation.
• Li Yan explained how Qin Chengyi took Fellow Daoist Liu's Storage Pouch while pretending to be knocked down, and Qin Chengyi admitted that he had laid the trap.
• Li Yan clarified that the first murder remained unexplained because Qin Chengyi needed a way to put the poison inside a spirit stone without letting it touch his spiritual power.
• Li Yan said he had confirmed Qin Chengyi's method and that it also explained the second murder, then pointed to a humanoid puppet lying beside Qin Chengyi.
• Qin Chengyi recognized that Li Yan's ambush had forced him to reveal the puppet, while Li Yan's Quicksand Art and controlled poison had trapped him.

Li Yan explained how Qin Chengyi used a puppet and a carefully staged alibi to kill Song, then outlined Qin Chengyi’s third murder and the suspicions it created. Daoist Gong asked how Qin Chengyi ensured Luo Sanpang would take the poisoned incense, leaving Li Yan to solve the final piece of the scheme.

• Li Yan revealed that he had preserved Qin Chengyi’s life after Daoist Gong severed Qin Chengyi’s feet to stop the poison from spreading.
• Li Yan explained that Qin Chengyi placed a puppet at his rear window as an alibi while secretly entering Song’s courtyard and killing him with a powerful inkstone.
• Li Yan deduced that Qin Chengyi made the scream himself, then used the puppet to draw attention and switched places with it after returning home.
• Li Yan described how Qin Chengyi used Gray Crooked Mandala Water on the incense to kill Luo Sanpang, making both Qin Chengyi and Kong Nantai appear suspicious.
• Daoist Gong asked how Qin Chengyi ensured Luo Sanpang would take the poisoned incense, and Qin Chengyi waited for Li Yan to answer.

Li Yan explained how Qin Chengyi had used poisoned incense, a damaged puppet, and stolen Storage Pouches to carry out the murders. Qin Chengyi refused to reveal who he had been meeting with, and Daoist Gong subjected him to a silent, agonizing spell.

• Li Yan deduced that Qin Chengyi poisoned three incense sticks, counting on Luo to choose them first, then stole Luo's Storage Pouch unnoticed.
• Li Yan explained that Qin Chengyi had used a puppet to put Assailant's Tears into a spirit stone, leaving its arm formations damaged and revealing the trick when it raised a cup.
• Li Yan and Daoist Gong had found traces of Assailant's Tears and inferred that Qin Chengyi killed Liu and Luo to obtain the two halves of the wind chime that opened the Dao Scripture Hall.
• Qin Chengyi questioned whether Li Yan was truly a Blood Leaf Sect cultivator, but Li Yan did not answer and Daoist Gong demanded to know where Qin Chengyi had been meeting someone.
• Qin Chengyi refused to speak, so Daoist Gong trapped him in a barrier and sent black light into his brow, causing him to writhe and howl in silence as Li Yan looked away.

Daoist Gong tortured Qin Chengyi for information, then sent Hall Master Ji to secure the Qin Lineage while he and Li Yan investigated the stolen Gu Luo Nine-Tailed Turtle's eyeball. The chapter ended with Daoist Gong retrieving a gray object from a protected shelf in the Hall of Daoist Scriptures and inviting Li Yan to examine it.

• Daoist Gong used pills and spells to keep Qin Chengyi conscious through excruciating pain, but Qin Chengyi admitted that his story about meeting someone was fabricated and said he had planned to steal the Gu Luo Nine-Tailed Turtle's eyeball.
• Li Yan urged Daoist Gong to secure the Qin Lineage rather than keep torturing Qin Chengyi, and Daoist Gong ordered Hall Master Ji to guard Qin Chengyi and ensure no one escaped.
• Hall Master Ji carried Qin Chengyi away and said he would place him in the Quiet Prison before going to the Qin Lineage, while Daoist Gong stayed to oversee the sect.
• Daoist Gong gave Li Yan the damaged second-tier puppet as a reward, then restored the golden wind chime from the two halves found in Qin Chengyi's Storage Pouch.
• Daoist Gong led Li Yan into a secret chamber on the third floor of the Hall of Daoist Scriptures and retrieved a gray object from a protected shelf.
• Daoist Gong examined the gray object, found its nature unclear, and called Li Yan over.

Li Yan examined Xuanqing Temple’s mysterious Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle eyeball and warned Daoist Gong that Qin Chengyi’s actions might point to a powerful hidden force. Daoist Gong decided to secure the orb and alert the Phantom Sect, while Li Yan prepared to leave.

• Daoist Gong told Li Yan how Xuanqing Temple had acquired the gray orb and how generations of cultivators had failed to identify or refine it.
• Li Yan reasoned that Qin Chengyi’s wealth and crimes, the disappearances of two sects, and the Phantom Sect’s secret decree might all be connected to a powerful hidden force seeking the orb.
• Daoist Gong considered sending the orb to Li Yan’s sect, then concluded it was safer to send messages and keep Xuanqing Temple guarded while awaiting the Phantom Sect.
• Li Yan returned the orb and asked Daoist Gong to let him leave, and Daoist Gong activated the inner formations before agreeing to see him out.

Li Yan left Xuanqing Temple with four other cultivators through its northbound teleportation array, after the temple waived their transmission fees. The young man in purple robes realized too late that the two black-robed figures had been deliberately waiting to follow him, and the five were transported toward Linsui City.

• Li Yan received a detailed map and calming incense from Daoist Gong, then asked Feng Zhiran to escort him to the teleportation array without drawing attention to his identity.
• At the transmission hall, Li Yan saw the young man in purple robes, the hunchbacked old man, and two black-robed figures waiting in silence.
• A gray-haired elder offered free transmissions north or east, and Li Yan chose the northbound route to Linsui City.
• The young man in purple robes and the hunchbacked old man joined Li Yan on the northbound array, while the two black-robed figures waited before declaring that they were also going to Linsui City.
• The five cultivators activated their spiritual energy barriers as the gray-haired elder powered the array and sent them into transmission.