Recaps

After Bai Fu drove off the Devil Master, Qiaoqiao drew attention to a possible breach in the Flowing Cloud Sect’s mountain-protecting formation. She called out Peak Master Yue as he tried to leave, leaving him under suspicion of being the Devil Sect’s insider.

• Bai Fu defeated the Devil Master, who retreated after deciding he could not kill Qiaoqiao while Bai Fu was present.
• The Flowing Cloud Sect members blamed Qiaoqiao for provoking the Devil Master, but Bai Fu reminded them that the Devil Sect had long coveted the Flowing Cloud Divine Lamp.
• Bai Fu pointed out that the mountain-protecting formation should have prevented the Devil Master from opening a spatial rift, raising fears that someone inside the sect had sabotaged it.
• Qiaoqiao asked Peak Master Yue where he was going, making the birthday banquet crowd turn to watch him.
• Peak Master Yue froze as everyone focused on him, recalling his recent disgrace and his attempt to slip away after hiding during the attack.

At the Flowing Cloud Sect Master's birthday banquet, Mu Liuyun exposed Yue Su’s betrayal, and Bai Fu’s soul search uncovered more demonic sect moles. The demonic sect’s attack was repelled, and the sect began taking steps to root out its traitors and reorganize.

• Mu Liuyun questioned Yue Su about traces of the Flowing Cloud Spring Source, and he tried to flee before she and the others restrained him.
• Yue Su confessed his hatred for Ethereal Peak and the Flowing Cloud Sect, then revealed signs of demonic madness as Mu Liuyun questioned who had helped him enter the forbidden grounds.
• Bai Fu performed a soul search on Yue Su and identified several elders who had colluded with the demonic sect; Elder Yao led the pursuit, and the conspirators were captured.
• The demonic sect withdrew after Immortal Venerable Wanghan wounded the Devil Master, giving the Flowing Cloud Sect time to rebuild its formation and hunt down its remaining moles.
• Mu Liuyun acknowledged Fu Fengyuan as young sect master and stripped Elder Chang of his position as head elder of the main peak.
• Fu Fengyuan coughed and told Mu Liuyun that someone had kicked him earlier.

Qiaoqiao saw the Flowing Cloud Divine Lamp after Mu Liuyun granted her the chance as a reward for her service to the sect. Her Dao-comprehension session ended with no apparent breakthrough, though an unnoticed bead formed in her Dantian.

• Fu Fengyuan exposed Wu Fang and the other wastrels’ past misdeeds, and Mu Liuyun had the Enforcement Hall disciples take them away after they apologized to Qiaoqiao.
• Mu Liuyun brought Qiaoqiao to the teleportation array and allowed her to view the Flowing Cloud Divine Lamp.
• Shen Ji revealed that he had given Qiaoqiao the opportunity he had earned through a past service to the sect.
• Qiaoqiao entered the space around the divine lamp, made a wish to form her core, and experienced a vision of cold, darkness, pain, and hatred.
• The divine lamp’s light briefly brightened again, and a star fell into Qiaoqiao and formed a tiny bead in her Dantian, but she left believing she had gained nothing.

Qiaoqiao learned she would only serve as a reserve in the upcoming sect competition, then found herself without her senior sisters to accompany her to Flying Kite City’s lantern festival. Bai Fu took her there, where they discovered the blazing light came from a phoenix summoned by the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.

• Shen Ji told Qiaoqiao that Ethereal Peak would send its disciples as reserves to the sect competition, and she resolved to win first place.
• Xiao Tingyu and Wen Zhi each messaged Qiaoqiao to say they could not join her at the lantern festival.
• Bai Fu offered to accompany Qiaoqiao, and they flew together to Flying Kite City on his spirit sword.
• Qiaoqiao feared the city was on fire when she saw its crimson glow, but Bai Fu flew them closer to investigate.
• The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion summoned a fiery phoenix above the city, prompting the citizens to celebrate and worship him.

Bai Fu and Qiaoqiao encountered Song Wuya during the Flying Kite City lantern festival, where Song Wuya offered Qiaoqiao a phoenix lantern and hinted at a changed fate. As Bai Fu took Qiaoqiao through the festival, Devil Cultivators ambushed her, and he killed them with a flash of sword intent.

• Song Wuya summoned a spiritual phoenix, revealed himself to Bai Fu, and invited him to talk, but Bai Fu responded with killing intent.
• Song Wuya turned the phoenix into a lantern for Qiaoqiao, who declined the gift and left with Bai Fu.
• Song Wuya watched them go and wondered how things would turn out for Qiaoqiao this time.
• Qiaoqiao shopped at the lantern festival, while Bai Fu reacted when a vendor mistook him for her dao companion.
• Bai Fu and Qiaoqiao stopped for wontons, where Bai Fu asked the stallholder to use less chili.
• Devil Cultivators ambushed Qiaoqiao, and Bai Fu destroyed their Devil Qi and killed them with sword intent.

Bai Fu and Qiaoqiao spotted Wen Zhi with Liu Xiu, whom Qiaoqiao recognized from her dream as a man who would exploit and deceive her senior sister. Bai Fu stopped Qiaoqiao from confronting him, and the chapter ended as Liu Xiu ingratiated himself with Bai Fu while Qiaoqiao silently exposed his lies.

• Bai Fu killed three Devil Cultivators without spilling the wonton broth, impressing the onlookers.
• Qiaoqiao recognized Liu Xiu beside Wen Zhi and remembered that he would use Wen Zhi as a substitute for the Glazed Sea sect leader.
• Bai Fu prevented Qiaoqiao from rushing at Liu Xiu and urged her to trust Wen Zhi and wait to see what happened.
• Wen Zhi noticed Bai Fu and Qiaoqiao, and Liu Xiu persuaded her to approach and greet Bai Fu.
• Liu Xiu introduced himself to Bai Fu, privately scorned Qiaoqiao, and then tried to flatter Bai Fu as Qiaoqiao thought about how he had only just met Wen Zhi.

Wen Zhi left with Liu Xiu after Qiaoqiao refused to let him speak with Bai Fu alone. At the lantern festival, Bai Fu conjured Qiaoqiao a dazzling transforming lantern, and she gave him an extravagant feather hat.

• Qiaoqiao refused Liu Xiu's request to speak with Bai Fu alone, and Wen Zhi went with Liu Xiu to discuss a Pill Formula.
• After Wen Zhi and Liu Xiu left, Qiaoqiao asked Bai Fu whether he would attend the sect tournament, but he said he had important matters to handle.
• Qiaoqiao wanted a lantern that could transform, so Bai Fu conjured one that changed from a rabbit into a snow lotus, a flying dragon, and a dragon maiden.
• Qiaoqiao gave Bai Fu a hat woven from ten years' worth of A Xue's shed feathers and offered to put it on him.

Qiaoqiao and her companions traveled toward the Central Province to compete in the Four Immortal Sects Tournament, but bandits ambushed their carriage along the way. When their leader demanded to know who her senior brother was, Qiaoqiao turned to Shen Ji to ask whether he had a title.

• Qiaoqiao, Xiao Tingyu, and Wen Zhi rode in a Radiant Spirit Carriage driven by Shen Ji toward the tournament hosted by the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.
• Shen Ji warned Qiaoqiao about the powerful Golden Core competitors from the other three immortal sects, while Qiaoqiao thought she might enjoy discovering their secrets.
• A bandit arrow and horse-trapping formation halted the carriage, and mountain bandits surrounded it to rob the passengers.
• Qiaoqiao admired the bandit leader's broadsword and asked whether he knew who her senior brother was.
• The bandit leader challenged Shen Ji's standing, so Qiaoqiao asked Shen Ji whether he had a title; Shen Ji hesitated to reveal it.

Shen Ji and Qiaoqiao stopped a band of rogue cultivators who tried to rob their carriage, only to discover Xiao Tingyu was traveling with them. Qiaoqiao confiscated the bandits’ weapons, valuables, and clothes, leaving them humiliated as they fled.

• Shen Ji attacked the rogue cultivators, while Qiaoqiao loudly announced his extravagant title and threw off his aim.
• Qiaoqiao took control of the bandits’ trapping formation and trapped them as Xiao Tingyu stepped out of the carriage.
• Qiaoqiao claimed the leader’s saber and demanded the bandits hand over their valuables, with Xiao Tingyu backing her up.
• Qiaoqiao ordered the bandits to surrender their clothes as well, leaving them in their underwear.
• Qiaoqiao mocked the leader’s figure, and the humiliated bandits fled with their leader coughing blood.

At Envy Fish City, Wen Zhi reunited with Liu Xiu, who invited her to meet other healers gathered to investigate a mysterious epidemic. Xiao Tingyu and Shen Ji heard Qiaoqiao’s inner voice reveal that Liu Xiu had ulterior motives and an old lover nearby, but they were left guessing whether she meant the Glazed Sea’s holy maiden Liu Yu or Elder Bing.

• The Yaoling carriage reached Envy Fish City, where a guard said an epidemic had forced the city gates to close.
• Liu Xiu recognized Wen Zhi and offered to introduce her to the medical cultivators gathered in the city.
• Xiao Tingyu heard Qiaoqiao’s inner voice say Liu Xiu had come for a secret rendezvous with his old lover, not to treat the illness.
• Liu Yu, the Glazed Sea’s holy maiden, arrived with her disciples, prompting Xiao Tingyu and Shen Ji to wonder if she was Liu Xiu’s lover.
• Qiaoqiao’s remarks about the lover’s age made Xiao Tingyu and Shen Ji suspect either Liu Yu or the stern Elder Bing.

The Flowing Cloud Sect disciples met Liu Yu, Liu Xiu, and Elder Bing near the city, where Qiaoqiao’s thoughts revealed scandalous suspicions about the adults’ relationships and Elder Bing’s interest in Wen Zhi. The group entered the city to investigate the epidemic after Liu Xiu said a demon was likely behind it and Wen Zhi could help refine a cure.

• Liu Yu greeted Shen Ji by his embarrassing title, and Qiaoqiao’s teasing thoughts made him ask her to call him by name.
• Shen Ji introduced his junior sisters, while Elder Bing studied Wen Zhi and wondered about her resemblance to someone.
• Elder Bing questioned why Liu Xiu was meeting the Flowing Cloud Sect, and Liu Xiu said Wen Zhi was an old acquaintance from his hometown.
• Qiaoqiao urged the group to enter the city and mentioned Wen Zhi’s skill as an Alchemist, and Liu Yu agreed.
• Liu Xiu said they had found evidence that a demon was behind the epidemic and that Wen Zhi could help refine pills to cure it.

Wen Zhi and her companions reached Envy Fish City, where an unexplained epidemic had left the streets deserted and infected residents suffering in sealed medical shelters. After Liu Xiu and the Glazed Sea leaders blocked Wen Zhi from treating the patients without a Water-Avoiding Pearl, the group went to the only open inn to rest.

• Shen Ji asked why the cultivators had not established a Spirit Purification Formation, and Liu Xiu said the source of the epidemic was unknown.
• Qiaoqiao questioned why the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion was absent, and Liu Xiu and the Holy Maiden explained how the Profound Heaven Sect and Glazed Sea had come to help.
• Wen Zhi saw townspeople covered in painful sores and learned from Liu Yu that the epidemic could infect cultivators without a Water-Avoiding Pearl.
• Wen Zhi asked to borrow a Water-Avoiding Pearl to examine the patients, but Elder Bing refused and Liu Xiu sent her group to rest.
• The group arrived at the only open inn, where the waiter expressed confidence that the cultivators would cure Envy Fish City's epidemic.

Wen Zhi reconsidered her trust in Liu Xiu after Qiaoqiao warned that he would exploit her work and eventually lead her to a tragic end. She refused his Water-Avoiding Pearl, while Xiao Tingyu challenged him to find another way for Wen Zhi to reach the patients.

• Liu Xiu told Wen Zhi that a rat demon was connected to the epidemic and offered her his Water-Avoiding Pearl so she could visit the patients.
• Qiaoqiao warned that Liu Xiu would take credit for Wen Zhi’s cure and that their future relationship would end in tragedy.
• Wen Zhi recalled her childhood admiration for Liu Xiu, then resolved not to risk her life for a man and refused the pearl.
• Qiaoqiao mocked Liu Xiu, and Xiao Tingyu backed Wen Zhi’s refusal and challenged Liu Xiu’s claim that the pearl was necessary.
• Liu Xiu argued that the Water-Avoiding Pearl was an exceptionally rare treasure and questioned whether Xiao Tingyu could provide anything rarer.

Qiaoqiao told Shen Ji that the rat demon had been framed and that Liu Xiu and Elder Bing planned something important that night. Shen Ji assigned his junior sisters to investigate Liu Xiu while he watched the rat demon, but Qiaoqiao’s cryptic claim left him flustered.

• After Liu Xiu left, Shen Ji curbed his curiosity about Liu Xiu and Elder Bing and decided to watch the rat demon while his junior sisters investigated Liu Xiu.
• Qiaoqiao told Shen Ji that Master had visited her in a dream and that the rat demon was innocent.
• Qiaoqiao said Liu Xiu and Elder Bing were going to do something big that night, and Shen Ji blushed as he misunderstood her meaning.

Liu Xiu sneaked into Elder Bing’s courtyard, while Qiaoqiao and Wen Zhi followed under an invisibility cloak to spy on them. They discovered that Liu Xiu had cultivated a secret dual-cultivation technique to trade pleasure for rare Pill Formulas, and the chapter ended as his relationship with Elder Bing was exposed.

• Shen Ji told his juniors to watch Hall Master Liu while he went to investigate the rat demon, and Xiao Tingyu gave him a protective artifact.
• Liu Xiu slipped into Elder Bing’s courtyard after knocking out the guards with sleeping incense.
• Qiaoqiao and Wen Zhi followed Liu Xiu under Xiao Tingyu’s invisibility cloak, and Wen Zhi realized she no longer felt attached to her old idealized image of him.
• Elder Bing welcomed Liu Xiu through a half-open window, and he claimed he was tending to her because her dao companion neglected her.
• Elder Bing asked about Liu Xiu’s progress with a technique and delayed giving him the Pill Formula he had been promised.
• Qiaoqiao’s thoughts revealed that Liu Xiu had become a Cauldron Physique through a secret dual-cultivation manual and used it to obtain rare formulas from influential lovers.

Qiaoqiao learned that Liu Xiu and Elder Bing planned to frame and kill the rat demon, then hurried to warn Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu. At a well in Envy Fish City, Elder Liu lured the rat demon into a trap and attacked him, intending to blame him for the epidemic.

• Liu Xiu told Elder Bing that their trap for the rat demon was ready and that Liu Yu would witness the planned killing.
• Wen Zhi messaged Qiaoqiao that she feared Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu were in danger, so Qiaoqiao left to save them.
• Elder Liu and his people waited by a well, where they had secretly added moon essence to lure the rat demon.
• The rat demon arrived, and Elder Liu activated the formation and drove him into the net with attacks.
• Elder Liu accused the rat demon of poisoning Envy Fish City, but the rat demon realized he was being framed and was struck by a rain of arrows.

The rat demon escaped Elder Liu’s net with a Demon Devouring Orb and fled into a secret passage beneath Envy Fish City. Liu Yu, Qiaoqiao, Wen Zhi, and Elder Liu pursued him while Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu secretly followed him ahead.

• The rat demon detonated a Demon Devouring Orb, blasting a hole through Elder Liu’s net and disappearing into a pit.
• Liu Yu saw Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu fall into the pit during the explosion and decided to investigate with Elder Liu.
• Qiaoqiao and Wen Zhi joined Liu Yu, and Qiaoqiao claimed her senior brother had been captured to persuade the group to hurry.
• The group found a secret passage in the pit and followed the Yao Qi deeper underground, while Qiaoqiao amused Liu Yu with her explanations.
• Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu, hidden beneath an invisibility cloak, secretly followed the rat demon through the passage as he cursed the human cultivators.

Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu followed the rat demon to a hidden cavern where humans and demons were being used to cultivate Spirit Plants and refine pills. As the rat demon prepared to destroy the cavern and everyone inside, Shen Ji offered to save the captives.

• The rat demon nearly discovered Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu in the tunnel but continued after an ordinary rat distracted him.
• Three barriers vanished mysteriously, and the rat demon entered the cavern with Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu close behind.
• Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu found injured humans and demons being used to grow Spirit Plants for pill refining.
• The rat demon rejected the captives’ pleas for help and took out a Demon Devouring Orb to destroy the cavern.
• Shen Ji told the rat demon to wait and said he could save the captives.

Shen Ji tried to stop the rat demon from detonating the demon devouring, but Liu Yu and the others arrived and subdued him. Qiaoqiao persuaded the rat demon to reveal who ran the pill-refining business, but Elder Liu tried to kill him before he could name anyone.

• Shen Ji prepared to shield the others from the demon devouring’s explosion, but Liu Yu sealed it off with the Glazed Heart Method.
• Liu Yu, Qiaoqiao, Wen Zhi, and the Glazed Sea disciples restrained the rat demon, and Qiaoqiao recognized Shen Ji beneath his invisibility cloak.
• Qiaoqiao believed the rat demon’s claim that he had not helped refine mortals and demons into pills, then offered to let him go if he identified those responsible.
• The rat demon began explaining that the secret pill business served powerful cultivators, but Elder Liu attacked him to silence him.
• Qiaoqiao blocked Elder Liu’s strike and accused him of rushing to admit his involvement.

Qiaoqiao showed Elder Liu and the gathered disciples a Zhaowu Mirror recording of Liu Xiu and Elder Bing in a secret rendezvous, exposing their scheme to frame the rat demon. Elder Liu recognized them and erupted in anger over Liu Xiu’s betrayal, while their role in the plot to refine pills using Envy Fish City’s people and the Demon Race remained to be confronted.

• Qiaoqiao used the Zhaowu Mirror to show the gathered disciples footage of Liu Xiu and Elder Bing meeting secretly.
• The mirror recording revealed Liu Xiu and Elder Bing discussing a plan to blame the incident on the rat demon.
• The witnesses realized that Elder Liu, Liu Xiu, and Elder Bing were implicated in the scheme involving Envy Fish City’s people and the Demon Race.
• Elder Liu recognized the pair in the recording and grew furious as he recalled how Liu Xiu had deceived him.

Qiaoqiao exposed Elder Bing and Liu Xiu’s schemes, and Elder Liu realized Liu Xiu had been using him. Elder Liu rushed to confront Liu Xiu at the inn, where powerful cultivators arrived as the disciples followed to watch.

• Elder Liu tried to leave, but Liu Yu blocked him with a barrier.
• Qiaoqiao blamed Liu Xiu for using Elder Liu and exposing their secret, and Elder Liu agreed.
• Elder Liu shattered Liu Yu’s barrier and flew toward the inn to confront Liu Xiu.
• Shen Ji and the disciples followed Elder Liu, while Liu Yu stayed behind to investigate the pill furnace and arrange care for the civilians and demons.
• Commandant Feng and Protector Cheng arrived at the inn with Heavenly Secrets Pavilion disciples.

Liu Xiu was exposed with Elder Bing in bed before his former lovers and a large crowd, sparking a furious confrontation. The chapter ended with Protector Cheng and Commandant Feng challenging each other as Qiaoqiao and the others watched eagerly.

• Elder Liu stormed into Liu Xiu's room and attacked him after finding him with Elder Bing.
• Elder Liu's Sword Qi destroyed the bedclothes, and Elder Bing kicked Liu Xiu out of the room and into the courtyard.
• Over a hundred disciples saw Liu Xiu exposed, while the crowd mocked his size.
• Protector Cheng questioned Liu Xiu about Elder Bing, and Commandant Feng accused Protector Cheng of being unable to accept their relationship.
• Protector Cheng challenged Commandant Feng to exchange blows, and Commandant Feng said he was no match for him.

Liu Xiu was caught in a compromising situation with Elder Bing, and several of his romantic rivals confronted him while the gathered disciples watched and laughed. He tried to explain himself, but the chapter ended with Protector Cheng demanding to know whether Liu Xiu cared about him.

• Elder Bing knocked Elder Liu unconscious after he tried to attack Liu Xiu, then calmly dressed and walked out.
• Protector Cheng demanded to know Liu Xiu's relationship with Elder Bing, and Liu Xiu claimed they were only friends.
• Liu Xiu said he had suffered Qi Deviation and that Elder Bing had helped him cultivate, while Qiaoqiao joked that his marks came from cupping.
• Commandant Feng questioned whether Liu Xiu was satisfied with Elder Bing, and Liu Xiu awkwardly nodded as both women exerted pressure on him.
• Protector Cheng accused Liu Xiu of caring only about the other two, while Qiaoqiao shared melon seeds and watermelon with Shen Ji and her senior sister.

Liu Xiu tried to flee after being exposed, but Qiaoqiao recovered his booklet and revealed his secret meetings and a plan to abduct people for the Spirit Transformation Cauldron. He unleashed gu insects at Qiaoqiao, while the story also shifted to the sealed cave, where the Glazed Sea disciples treated civilians and the Holy Maiden ordered them to shelter the demons in Envy Fish City.

• Qiaoqiao urged Elder Bing to let Liu Xiu get dressed, and Liu Xiu covered himself and tried to leave.
• Liu Xiu slipped on a watermelon rind and fell, dropping a booklet that Qiaoqiao picked up.
• Qiaoqiao read the booklet’s entries, exposing Liu Xiu’s scheduled trysts and his plan to abduct three people from Envy Fish City.
• Liu Xiu attacked Qiaoqiao with gu insects, and Shen Ji warned everyone to watch out.
• In the sealed cave, the Holy Maiden ordered the Glazed Sea disciples to treat the demons and settle them in Envy Fish City.
• Liu Yu asked the Holy Maiden whether she intended to kill him.

Liu Yu and the disciples discovered a giant Pill Furnace beneath Envy Fish City that appeared to be brewing a legendary Saint Pill from human-grown herbs and demon flesh. Liu Yu concealed what she saw, sealed the furnace, and left as the disciples recalled rumors of the Ear-Eating Beast and its Nightmare Bell.

• Liu Yu ordered the disciples to take the restrained rat demon away, and he wondered why Qiaoqiao had saved him from Elder Liu’s attack.
• Liu Yu inspected the enormous Pill Furnace and saw golden liquid that suggested someone was refining a Saint Pill.
• Liu Yu prepared to destroy the furnace but stopped when her eyes turned black, then ordered the disciples to seal and guard it without approaching.
• A disciple watched Liu Yu leave and remembered rumors that the Nightmare Bell heralded the Ear-Eating Beast, which had taken her senior sister’s ear and hearing.