Recaps

Li Yan reflected on Jin Zhiyuan’s resolve and clever escape before returning to the Five Hundred Arhat Hall. Shuang Qingqing noticed his return and packed away the hall’s Arhat statues after completing her study of their foundations.

• Li Yan concluded that Jin Zhiyuan had revealed his secrets only after securing his family’s safety and had used his knowledge of spirit plants to conceal the voice transmission talisman and evade pursuit.
• Li Yan considered why he had spared Jin Zhiyuan’s family but kept the other captives, reasoning that he had a new plan to protect them from Huiyan Hall.
• Li Yan entered the mountain and returned to the Five Hundred Arhat Hall, where he sat outside disguised as Wang Yi and regulated his breath.
• Shuang Qingqing emerged from contemplation, sensed Li Yan outside the formation, and felt reassured that he had returned.
• Shuang Qingqing stored the eighteen Arhats and more than a hundred other Arhat statues in two separate storage rings after studying their foundations.

Shuang Qingqing left the ancient cultivation city with Li Yan and saw him off at a teleportation formation after their journey gave them both new insights into puppet arts and formations. She planned to grow stronger and build connections through the Anyue trading house before eventually establishing the Woodflow Sect in the Immortal-Spirit Realm, while still worrying about Bai Rou’s feelings for Li Yan.

• Shuang Qingqing put away several Arhat statues, then found Li Yan and agreed to leave the ancient cultivation city with him.
• More than a year later, Li Yan and Shuang Qingqing reached the city of the Anyue trading house, where Li Yan prepared to depart through a teleportation formation.
• During their travels, Shuang Qingqing taught Li Yan about puppet arts and formations, and their exchanges advanced both cultivators’ understanding.
• Shuang Qingqing asked Li Yan to tell Bai Rou that she was well and urged her to cultivate diligently, while Li Yan insisted Bai Rou had become capable of standing on her own.
• Shuang Qingqing resolved to strengthen herself and build connections through the Anyue trading house before founding the Woodflow Sect in the Immortal-Spirit Realm.

Li Yan left Shuang Qingqing and traveled through Dongyi City, using her arrangements and an Anyue Trading Company token to board a teleportation array bound for the Jieyou Realm. As he waited for the array to activate, he thought of Su Hong and the final message he had sent her.

• Shuang Qingqing explained her plans to establish the Woodflow Sect in the Immortal-Spirit Realm and hoped Bai Rou would become its first sect master.
• Li Yan and Shuang Qingqing exchanged farewells, and he joined a group of Anyue Trading Company cultivators traveling to Dongyi City.
• After arriving in Dongyi City, Li Yan left the group and went directly to the teleportation array for the Jieyou Realm.
• Li Yan presented an internal Anyue Trading Company token, which the attendant verified and accepted for the journey.
• While waiting for the array to activate, Li Yan recalled hiding and crippling Cultivator Du and sending Su Hong a final message in Haina City.

Li Yan left Su Hong a coded jade slip containing information about Huiyan Hall and the cultivation of Corpse Gu Grass, then traveled from the Main Dao Realm to the Jieyou Realm. There, he discussed their next steps with Zuo Qiudan, who chose to remain in the city and recover, and Li Yan offered him resources before they parted.

• Li Yan encoded a message for Su Hong explaining Cultivator Du’s mission and the method for cultivating Corpse Gu Grass, and asked her to protect the other captive cultivators as evidence against Huiyan Hall.
• Li Yan kept the Brain-Winding White Corpse Gu and damaged Cultivator Du’s memories while preserving the main clues needed to expose Huiyan Hall.
• Li Yan teleported from Dongyi City to the Jieyou Realm and rented a room in a frontier city.
• Li Yan summoned Zuo Qiudan and explained that he had brought them to the Jieyou Realm because of danger, then asked whether Zuo wanted to travel with him or make other plans.
• Zuo Qiudan chose to stay in the city to recover and cultivate, and asked Li Yan for the locations of the Phantom Sect and Buluo.
• Li Yan gave Zuo Qiudan a jade slip with locations and routes, proposed traveling together to the North Pasture Realm later, and placed two storage rings on the table.

Li Yan gave Zuo Qiudan spirit stones, Pills, and Dongmen Gaozhi’s storage ring before leaving, while declining Zuo Qiudan’s offer of a pill formula. Five days later, Zuo Qiudan watched a cultivator head for the city’s teleportation array and murmured his thanks.

• Li Yan gave Zuo Qiudan healing and cultivation Pills, a large supply of middle-grade spirit stones, and three months of inn rent.
• Li Yan warned Zuo Qiudan to deal cautiously with Dongmen Gaozhi and left the ring containing him on the table.
• Zuo Qiudan asked Li Yan for a blank jade slip so he could share his pill formula, but Li Yan refused and offered five and a half unidentified Pills in its place.
• Li Yan left before Zuo Qiudan could reveal the formula, and Zuo Qiudan praised Wei Zhongran’s judgment in choosing Li Yan as his disciple.
• Zuo Qiudan examined the gifts, stored the unidentified Pills, and found the spirit stones Li Yan had given him.
• Five days later, Zuo Qiudan watched a cultivator head toward the city’s teleportation array and murmured his thanks.

Li Yan confirmed that Zuo Qiudan had found a safe place, then mapped a route toward the Black Devil Race and set out to reunite with a mother and son. Years later, Jin Zhiyuan and his Dao companion lived in hiding with their awakened children, who had been used as bodies for their souls.

• Li Yan watched Zuo Qiudan secure a position at a medicinal-pill shop, then left the border city without revealing his identity.
• Li Yan pieced together maps, charted teleportation routes toward the Black Devil Race, and estimated the journey would take a little over ten years.
• Several years later, Jin Zhiyuan and his Dao companion emerged from their cave in a hidden gorge and visited the crescent spring.
• Jin Zhiyuan and his Dao companion discussed pausing their cultivation while their souls and newly possessed bodies continued to fuse.
• Jin Zhiyuan and his Dao companion had escaped to the gorge with their children, released the children from their bodies, and made them guard the hiding place.

Jin Zhiyuan and his wife seized new bodies, reunited with their children, and found a measure of peace after years of terror. Meanwhile, Su Hong left Haina City after seeking the ancestor’s help, carrying only protectors she trusted.

• Jin Zhiyuan and his wife possessed two prepared late-stage Spirit Transformation Realm bodies and spent several years stabilizing their souls, remaining at the early Void Refinement Realm.
• Jin Zhiyuan and his wife walked through the peach blossom forest and discussed the azure-robed young man who had freed them, choosing to value their family’s safety over power and ambition.
• Jin Zhiyuan and his wife emerged from seclusion by Clear Spring Lake, where their two children greeted them as the rising sun illuminated the family.
• Su Hong stopped participating in her former activities, spoke with Su Liuyun, and privately visited the ancestor.
• Su Hong left Haina City despite her family’s attempts to stop her, taking only the protectors she trusted.

Su Hong waited in East Yi City for Li Yan, hoping to protect him from her parents’ search, until a coded jade slip revealed that he was alive and had uncovered another deep-rooted enemy agent within Returning Home. She set out at once to report his warning, leaving her uncertain whether Li Yan would ever meet her again.

• Su Hong remained in East Yi City and deployed people to disrupt anyone searching for Li Yan, while Su Liuyun sent her accumulated jade slips and privately sympathized with her.
• Su Hong recognized Li Yan’s secret pattern on a jade slip and decoded his message, learning that he did not resent her and that Huiyan Hall concealed another major enemy agent within Returning Home.
• Su Hong summoned Uncle Ning and ordered him to set out with her immediately so she could deliver Li Yan’s crucial warning.

Su Hong returned to the Return and Return headquarters with more than ten unconscious Huiyan Hall cultivators, including Cultivator Du, whom Li Yan had captured. Their memories revealed Huiyan Hall’s name and immense hidden strength, but left the identity and power of its chief hall master unknown.

• Su Hong sent Uncle Ning and his companions beneath a mountain to find sealed cultivators, and they recovered more than ten unconscious people, including Cultivator Du.
• Su Hong ordered Soul Searches and learned that Cultivator Du had served Huiyan Hall, while the more powerful Cultivator Wu was missing; she suspected Li Yan had dealt with him and left no traces.
• Su Hong spent more than two years returning to Haina City, taking precautions against hidden agents and sending a message to Su Liuyun.
• Su Hong brought the captives and secret-language records to the Return and Return headquarters, where the main headquarters master began searching their souls.
• The main headquarters master learned that Huiyan Hall had two known deputy hall masters at the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, while Cultivator Du knew nothing of its chief hall master or the organization’s full strength.

Su Hong returned with captured Huiyan Hall agents and revealed that the True Transmission Hall was only part of a much larger network infiltrating Return Home. She then disclosed a way to detect Brain-Tangling White Corpse Gu carriers at a distance, leaving her family stunned by the chance to expose Huiyan Hall’s important agents.

• The Chief Altar Master realized Huiyan Hall had more deeply placed agents in Return Home than he had thought and wondered how Su Hong uncovered the plot.
• Su Liuyun asked Su Hong why she had investigated the matter and where she had found her allies.
• The woman in azure palace robes praised Su Hong and promised that her family would no longer act against Li Yan, but Su Hong interrupted her.
• Su Hong described a method to detect Brain-Tangling White Corpse Gu carriers from a distance and proposed using it to uncover Huiyan Hall’s agents and locate its secret realm or entrance.
• The Chief Altar Master asked Su Hong whether her detection method truly required no highly cultivated examiner.

Su Hong revealed that Li Yan had provided a way to detect Brain-Twining White Corpse Gu and the captives, but her parents reacted with anger and suspicion. She left the hall after asking that the captives be spared, then stood alone among the flowers, remembering Li Yan and a bleak night from the past.

• Su Hong described a spirit-plant method that could detect Brain-Twining White Corpse Gu from a distance, prompting the Chief Altar Master and the others to ask where she had learned it.
• Su Hong said Li Yan had told her about the method, and the Chief Altar Master accused Li Yan of having ulterior motives while the woman in azure palace robes also grew displeased.
• Su Hong revealed that Li Yan had provided all the information and captives, asked that the captives be allowed to live, and relinquished credit for the operation.
• The Chief Altar Master's pressure halted above Su Hong as she left the hall, and Su Liuyun stayed behind to deal with the unfolding plan.
• Su Hong went to her old courtyard, gazed toward a room where she imagined Li Yan, and murmured a verse recalling a cold night of wind and snow.

After Yang Wuying defected from Return Home with part of his clan, the First and Third Ancestors pursued him but failed to capture him. The First Ancestor returned to Haina City to oversee the firm’s purges and revealed that Yang Wuying had escaped badly wounded.

• News spread across the four regions that Yang Wuying had betrayed Return Home and escaped the joint attack of the First and Third Ancestors with some of his clan’s core members.
• The First Ancestor returned to Return Home’s Haina City headquarters and met with the Headquarters Master, an elderly woman in yellow robes, and a young scholar in silver robes.
• The Headquarters Master reported that Return Home had locked down its headquarters, executed suspected members of Yang Wuying’s faction and their relatives, and begun purging its branches.
• The First Ancestor explained that he had struck Yang Wuying’s Nascent Soul, but Yang Wuying used Blood Nascent Needles and the Blood Nascent Art to escape.
• The First Ancestor said Yang Wuying’s injuries had greatly weakened him, leaving the Third Ancestor capable of dealing with him if he was found.

After receiving Li Yan’s intelligence about a hidden threat, the Supreme Grand Elder reprimanded the main headquarters master for interfering in Hong’er’s affairs and ordered new deployments to protect Guiqu Laixi. Once the other masters left to carry out their duties, the main headquarters master sat alone, questioning his choices.

• The Supreme Grand Elder returned to the headquarters after the Second Patriarch escaped, and he adjusted the response to unrest at Guiqu Laixi’s branch offices.
• As his golden face vanished, the Supreme Grand Elder warned the main headquarters master not to interfere in Hong’er’s affairs again and reminded him that Li Yan’s information had saved the merchant house from a grave threat.
• The elderly woman in yellow robes and the young silver-robed scholar left to carry out their assigned duties while Guiqu Laixi faced dangers from within and without.
• The main headquarters master sat alone on the dragon throne, wrestling with his doubts and emotions about Hong’er, Li Yan, and the decisions he had made.
• The main headquarters master recalled reporting Li Yan’s intelligence to the Supreme Grand Elder because the threat and evidence were too important to conceal or delay.

The Grand Supreme Elder assessed the intelligence Li Yan had delivered and suspected that a powerful hidden sect had aided him. He ordered Guiqulaixi to cultivate Corpse Gu Grass and secretly prepare for a covert struggle with Huiyan Hall.

• The Grand Supreme Elder realized Li Yan's information about Guiqulaixi's survival could have come from the hidden sect and reluctantly accepted its favor.
• The Grand Supreme Elder prioritized the Corpse Gu Grass and continued covert investigations while postponing the search for Huiyan Hall's location.
• The Grand Supreme Elder ordered the Chief Headquarters Master to keep the intelligence secret and secretly accelerate preparations across Guiqulaixi's branches.
• The Grand Supreme Elder questioned Su Hong about Li Yan's message and concluded that the hidden sect had likely helped Li Yan escape Haina City.
• The Grand Supreme Elder suspected Li Yan was an outstanding junior protected by the hidden sect and believed it had sent the intelligence to secure ties with Guiqulaixi.

Homeward Bound’s Grand Supreme Elder cultivated Corpse Gu Grass from Jin Zhiyuan’s method and used it to search the sect and Hai Na City for Brain-Winding White Corpse Gu. The plant reacted inside the Second Ancestor’s cave dwelling but not at the Third Ancestor’s, leaving the Grand Supreme Elder with a startling suspicion about the Second Ancestor.

• The Grand Supreme Elder cultivated a large supply of Corpse Gu Grass and prepared a secret investigation across Homeward Bound’s branches and Hai Na City.
• After confirming that the grass could detect Brain-Winding White Corpse Gu, the Grand Supreme Elder and the chief of the main headquarters sent teams to investigate locations simultaneously.
• The searches uncovered many suspicious sites, and the grass reacted at an important location within the main headquarters.
• The Grand Supreme Elder secretly entered the Second Ancestor’s cave dwelling, where the grass showed an unusual reaction despite the Second Ancestor seeming normal.
• The Grand Supreme Elder visited the Third Ancestor afterward, but the grass showed no reaction, prompting him to suspect someone he had never expected.

The Supreme Grand Elder suspected that the Second Ancestor was the Huiyan Hall Master and convinced the Third Ancestor to verify the accusation with a spirit plant. The Third Ancestor chose to cooperate, and the two began setting a trap while the Second Ancestor arrived unaware of their suspicions.

• The Supreme Grand Elder told the Third Ancestor that he suspected the Second Ancestor was Huiyan Hall's hidden leader, and the Third Ancestor struggled to accept the claim.
• The Supreme Grand Elder brought cultivators carrying Brain-Winding White Corpse Gu, and the Third Ancestor confirmed the Gu and saw the spirit plant's leaves react to them.
• The Third Ancestor trusted the Supreme Grand Elder enough to plan with him, though he hoped the spirit plant had misjudged the Second Ancestor.
• The Supreme Grand Elder told the Chief Master to postpone arrests, monitor the suspects and Yang branch, and invite the Second Ancestor to meet with them.
• The Second Ancestor joined the other two ancestors, wary of the Supreme Grand Elder's repeated visits but confident that his hidden identity remained safe.
• During their discussion, the Third Ancestor claimed he might possess a related item, and the Supreme Grand Elder offered him a forty-percent share of future benefits if it proved useful.

The Third Patriarch uncovered the Second Patriarch’s hidden Brain-Twining White Corpse Gu, but a cave-abode mechanism exposed the trap and sparked a battle in which the Second Patriarch escaped heavily injured. Su Hong learned that Li Yan’s information had helped Returning Home avert disaster, left Haina City, and stayed away even after hearing the patriarch’s instructions; meanwhile, Li Yan traveled near the Black Devil Race.

• The Third Patriarch searched the Second Patriarch’s cave abode and discovered a large number of Brain-Twining White Corpse Gu in his breeding chamber.
• A hidden mechanism alerted the Second Patriarch, who realized the Grand Elder and Third Patriarch had set a trap and launched an attack.
• The Second Patriarch was heavily injured and escaped, while the Third Patriarch pursued him.
• Su Hong learned that Li Yan’s information and methods were reliable, then left Haina City with her people before the chief could tell her the patriarch’s instructions.
• After receiving the instructions later, Su Hong chose not to return to Haina City or the Main Dao Realm.
• Li Yan traveled through Jieyou Realm and reached the vicinity of the Black Devil Race.

Li Yan learned that Mu Guyue and Mu Sha had been sent to fight the Crimson-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race, where the battle was fierce, and set out for the front lines to find them. More than three years later, a concealed Crimson-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race squad waited in a marsh to ambush the Devil Blade Camp, unaware that Li Yan was watching them.

• Li Yan gathered and cross-checked information in a market city, discovering that Mu Guyue and Mu Sha had been dispatched to the front lines against the Crimson-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race.
• Li Yan concluded that the mother and son were in grave danger and left for the battlefield despite the risks posed by the powerful armies there.
• More than three years later, Kai Min and other Crimson-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race cultivators hid in a marsh, waiting to ambush the Devil Blade Camp.
• Senior Sister Meng explained that the enemy was likely to scout the Mountain-Pulling Camp through their guarded route, while Kai Min voiced his eagerness to kill their foes.
• Li Yan floated unseen above the waiting squad, and none of the nearly hundred cultivators detected him.

Li Yan searched the front lines for Mu Guyue and Mu Sha, then discovered Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast cultivators preparing an ambush against a Devil Blade Camp unit. He waited in hiding as Mu Sha arrived with forty cultivators to gather intelligence.

• Li Yan avoided crossing through the heart of the Black Devil Race army and spent more than two months searching along the battlefield and its flanks for Mu Guyue and Mu Sha.
• Li Yan overheard Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast cultivators planning to ambush a Devil Blade Camp unit and decided to wait for the Black Devil Race force to appear.
• Mu Sha entered the wetlands at night with forty elite cultivators to gather intelligence and attack only if an opportunity arose.

Mu Sha led his elite squad into enemy territory to investigate the Mountain-Pulling Camp, while Li Yan watched them approach an ambush without intervening. The chapter revealed that Mu Sha had gained a mysterious bloodline ability: an eye between his brows that could sense whether another person’s blood and qi were vigorous.

• Mu Sha led several dozen loyal Black Devil Race cultivators through the water grass, relying on their stealth and coordination to infiltrate enemy territory.
• Li Yan spotted the squad approaching an ambush of Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast cultivators and chose to observe rather than warn Mu Sha.
• Mu Sha had secretly refined the essence blood of a powerful Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast cultivator in pursuit of an innate divine ability.
• The refinement gave Mu Sha a hidden eye between his brows, but its ability to judge the vigor of another person’s blood and qi initially disappointed him.
• Mu Sha found no record of the ability and suspected its unusual form came from his mixed Black Devil Race and human blood.

Mu Sha used his mutated ability, Blood Judgment, to detect a concealed formation and an ambush ahead. When the enemy pursued his retreating group, he ordered his men to turn and fight, leaving them facing a battle deep in enemy territory.

• Mu Sha recalled how he had discovered that his hidden eye could sense differences in blood and qi, and named the ability Blood Judgment.
• Mu Sha detected weakened blood and qi among aquatic creatures ahead and realized a concealment formation covered the area.
• Mu Sha ordered his group to retreat and watched for the enemy's reaction while they remained concealed.
• The enemy shouted that Mu Sha's group could not escape and launched an attack, confirming they had been targeted.
• Mu Sha brought his group out of concealment, ordered them to wipe out the pursuers, and charged back toward the enemy's leading edge.

Mu Sha and his Black Devil Race force counterattacked a much larger group led by a mountain-like old man of the Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan. While Mu Sha fought the old man, his troops used a mobile formation to battle through the enemy ranks, leaving the outcome of the slaughter unresolved.

• The Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan leader pursued Mu Sha's group, but Mu Sha ordered his Black Devil Race cultivators to countercharge before they could be surrounded.
• Mu Sha engaged the mountain-like old man while six of his strongest fighters took on the enemy's other leading cultivators.
• The remaining Black Devil Race cultivators gathered into a tight formation, stowed their scouting companions, and plunged into the larger enemy force.
• The old man gained the advantage in their first clash, then used a spinning shoulder charge and a black awl to attack Mu Sha as his azure whip struck from behind.
• Mu Sha evaded the old man's strengthened charge, while his troops' mobile killing formation churned through the enemy ranks and inflicted heavy casualties on both sides.

Mu Sha used a hidden technique to disrupt Bi Kui’s blood and qi, then killed him and took his treasures. He rushed to attack Kui Min, while continuing to conceal his unusual abilities and considering the risks of using poison or soul techniques in the melee.

• Mu Sha ignored the surrounding deaths and targeted the mountain-like old man, Bi Kui, to quickly turn the battle in his side’s favor.
• Bi Kui appeared behind Mu Sha and stabbed at his back with his black-light awl, but a faint red light from Mu Sha’s brow caused Bi Kui’s blood and qi to boil and his magic power to run wild.
• Mu Sha’s green whip pierced Bi Kui’s dantian and Nascent Soul, then exploded his body before Mu Sha seized his magic awl and spatial treasures.
• Mu Sha rushed to a nearby battle and confronted Kui Min, whose side panicked after learning that Bi Kui had been killed.
• Mu Sha avoided unleashing poison that might hit his allies and kept his soul techniques concealed to prevent others from discovering his abilities.

Mu Sha used his secret techniques to break an ambush, then led his surviving companions toward the Black Devil Race’s defensive line while the Crimson-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast cultivators pursued. Li Yan watched without intervening and discovered that enemy forces, including two Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators, were moving to encircle Mu Sha’s group.

• Mu Sha used Blood Judgment and soul arts to kill the enemy leader and three other powerful cultivators during the battle.
• The remaining Crimson-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast cultivators assembled and withdrew, then followed Mu Sha’s group at a distance while awaiting reinforcements.
• Mu Sha retreated toward his side’s defensive line and stored his severely injured companions, leaving twenty-three combat-capable followers beside him.
• Li Yan watched Mu Sha’s actions without helping, judging his combat skill and the trust his companions placed in him.
• Li Yan detected several enemy forces ahead, including two Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators positioned to intercept Mu Sha and help form an encirclement.

Mu Sha led the surviving Demon Blade Camp cultivators straight toward the strongest part of the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan encirclement. As the armies clashed, he used a hidden rune to transform and combine his squad’s strength, shattering a Spirit Transformation cultivator’s attack and impaling him with his dragon form.

• Mu Sha sensed the enemy forces surrounding his squad and chose to charge toward the strongest blockade, where two Spirit Transformation cultivators waited.
• The Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan commanders identified Mu Sha as their target and advanced, while their Nascent Soul soldiers moved to engage the rest of his squad.
• Mu Sha secretly formed a black rune and threw it behind him, enveloping the twenty-three Demon Blade Camp cultivators as he transformed into a black, bone-spiked dragon.
• Mu Sha and his squad combined their power to shatter the middle-aged captain’s gigantic palm, wounding him and disrupting his attack.
• Mu Sha’s dragon form lunged at the injured captain and pierced his chest with its horn and bone spikes.