Recaps

Hu Chen Wuding won the succession contest, but Li Yan’s identity forced Patriarch Hu Chen to let him leave alive. The Ye family then sent Patriarch Red Fire after Li Yan, who fled across the desert and prepared a poison trap.

• Hu Chen Wuding won the mountain contest and was named heir, while Patriarch Hu Chen discovered that Li Yan had absorbed much of the magical treasure’s poison.
• Patriarch Hu Chen pressed Li Yan for his origins, but Li Yan showed his Phantom Sect token and was recognized as a disciple of Small Bamboo Peak, so the patriarch released him and Hu Chen Wuding.
• Hu Chen Wuding received the Xuanming Token and gifts for Zhuo Lingfeng, who left to visit Yue Xiangyun before joining Li Yan on the road.
• Li Yan and Zhuo Lingfeng parted at a market, and Li Yan teleported north to refine the poison he had absorbed.
• Jiang Mingyuan, the Crimson Fire Patriarch hired by the Ye family, pursued Li Yan and attacked him, but poison disrupted his spiritual power and let Li Yan escape.
• Li Yan used Qin Chengyi’s puppet to mislead Patriarch Crimson Flame, then hid beneath the desert sand after the patriarch destroyed the puppet.
• Patriarch Red Fire found Li Yan and took the Pine Inkstone, but its explosion injured him while Li Yan fled.
• Li Yan buried Moonlit Longing in the Pine Ink Inkstone as a trap, and Patriarch Red Fire used an illusion technique on him while approaching it.

Li Yan escaped Patriarch Crimson Fire through the Ancient Caverns of Flying Sand, where he encountered Shuang Qingqing and learned the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape’s history. After advancing his cultivation, he entered Pure Land Sect territory and reached Jade Pass City, where he prepared to bid for Crystal Bone Water.

• Li Yan used the Pine Soot Inkstone to grievously injure Patriarch Crimson Fire, then fled into the Ancient Caverns of Flying Sand and escaped through a black-hole entrance with the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief.
• Li Yan fell into the cavern’s abyss, survived attacks from increasingly powerful Golden Giants, and was rescued by the ancient ape puppet and its purple-winged bird before the Demon Cultivator dragged him outside and killed Patriarch Crimson Fire.
• Shuang Qingqing revealed herself as a remnant soul inside the puppet and explained her history, the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape, and how Li Yan’s five-element spiritual power had activated it.
• Shuang Qingqing traded Li Yan the Cloud-Piercing Willow for the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape, then departed after warning him to keep her identity secret.
• Li Yan secluded himself, refined the poisons sealed in his body, and advanced to the Foundation Establishment middle stage before traveling toward Pure Land Sect territory.
• In Jade Pass City, Li Yan posed as Huchen Jianghai of the Huchen Lineage, befriended Ouyang Jinfei, and learned about an upcoming auction featuring Crystal Bone Water.
• Li Yan bought materials, sold several treasures, and obtained an entry token for the Chanting Robes Gathering while Wang Lang and Pure Land Sect figures investigated missing pearl-like objects and Yiguang’s death.
• Li Yan entered the Gathering’s masked auction, where Wang Wuzhong opened proceedings with twenty-four zhu of Heavenly Gate Sand.

Li Yan failed to win the Crystal Bone Water at auction, then obtained it from Su Hong after saving her from Zhong Mengyin. He entered the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower, joined a group led by Cheng Wenming, and escaped their betrayal during a hunt for a Snow Spirit Lord, leaving the others trapped in battle with it.

• Li Yan lost the Crystal Bone Water auction to the Red Rose private room, then secretly rescued Su Hong from Zhong Mengyin and received the water along with other treasures.
• Su Hong revealed her Phantom Sect token and the sect’s intelligence mission, while Li Yan agreed to escort her toward a teleportation point before they parted ways.
• Li Yan reached the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower, entered with a Gold Star Mystic Nether Token, and crossed the snowfield while fighting swarms of Snow Mosquitoes.
• Li Yan joined Cheng Wenming, Ye Xiuwen, and Tan Zeshan to travel through the Melt Caverns, where they agreed to hunt a Snow Spirit Lord.
• The group found an upper-stage second-rank Snow Spirit Lord, and Cheng Wenming and Li Yan attacked while Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan drew away its horde.
• Cheng Wenming revealed his betrayal as the Snow Spirit Lord took control of Li Yan’s fire spell, but Li Yan escaped without a trace.
• The Snow Spirit Lord turned on Cheng Wenming, Ye Xiuwen, and Tan Zeshan, who fought back with fire, weapons, and defensive treasures as its blue flames healed its wounds and drained their spiritual power.

Li Yan exploited the conflict in the melting cavern, claimed its treasures, and left the first level for the second. There, he survived a clash with a powerful python, rescued Mei Hongyu, and arrived near Red Maple Pool as cultivators gathered to compete for entry to a palace.

• Li Yan let Cheng Wenming, Ye Xiuwen, and Tan Zeshan weaken the Snow Spirit Lord, then followed it to its hidden cave after Tan Zeshan died, Ye Xiuwen was devoured, and Cheng Wenming was captured.
• Li Yan entered the cave unseen, killed the Snow Spirit Lord after it devoured Cheng Wenming, and secured its possessions, including the Great Dragon-Elephant Array and a two-thousand-year-old Melting Bamboo Shoot.
• Li Yan discovered the real Melting Bamboo Shoot concealed in the ice seat, used a sliver to reach peak Foundation Establishment briefly, and left the cavern for the second level.
• Li Yan stole a Silvervein Flower while Ren fought Hu Hai and Ning Xiong, then refused to help a poisoned woman pursued by a Rhinoceros-Horned Green Python.
• Li Yan fought the python’s Jade Pillow Bone Division and then its true body, wounded the python in close combat, and carried off the immobilized woman after it fled.
• Li Yan treated the woman, Mei Hongyu, who repaid him with Wuku Powder and explained that she sought a medicinal catalyst for her son Fei'er’s injured soul.
• Li Yan traveled to Red Maple Pool and observed seventeen cultivators gathered there, while a blue-robed scholar explained to Buluo the dangers and limited entry to the palace.