Recaps

Xu Qi'an accompanied Daoist Jinlian’s group into an ancient tomb to find Lina and survived its formation and awakened guardian. Back in the capital, he helped Xu Xinnian withstand an examination-fraud accusation, then used the Buddha statue to injure Chu Xianglong as Li Miaozhen approached the city.

• Xu Xinnian and Xu Lingyue attended Wang Simu’s gathering, where Xu Xinnian forced Yan’er to apologize and pay compensation after she insulted and threatened Xu Lingyue.
• Xu Qi'an traveled to Xiang Prefecture with Daoist Jinlian, Zhong Li, Chu Yuanzhen, and Hengyuan to search for Number Five, whom the Houtu Gang had taken into a tomb expedition.
• Zhong Li’s misfortune repeatedly endangered the group, but her observations led Xu Qi'an to the Houtu Gang and the formation trapping Lina and Number Five.
• Xu Qi'an’s group entered the tomb, where a maze separated them and an awakened yellow-robed corpse recognized Xu Qi'an as its lord before attacking him.
• Monk Shenshu took control of Xu Qi'an’s golden body, defeated and sealed the corpse, while Zhong Li returned through the collapsing tomb to find Xu Qi'an and he carried her to safety.
• After returning to the capital, Xu Qi'an learned that Xu Xinnian had been arrested for examination fraud and discovered that officials were using the case to target Cloud Deer Academy and pressure Wei Yuan.
• Xu Xinnian defended himself before Emperor Yuanjing with a poem and earned praise, while Xu Qi'an worked to restore his reputation and negotiated with Prince Yu and Duke Cao.
• Xu Qi'an gave Chu Xianglong the stone Buddha statue, triggering violent Qi that left Chu severely injured, as Li Miaozhen traveled toward the capital and sensed blood ahead.

Xu Qi'an stopped the Heaven and Human Contest, uncovered clues about the stolen Fate, and accepted the court’s dangerous mission to investigate the three-thousand-li massacre. He led the delegation north by land after suspecting the princess consort was in danger, while an attack destroyed the ship and its pursuers believed she was still aboard.

• Li Miaozhen brought a murdered northerner’s corpse and remnant soul to the capital, where Xu Qi'an examined the body and Wei Yuan presented its testimony of a bloodbath across three thousand li to Emperor Yuanjing.
• Xu Qi'an defeated Chu Yuanzhen and Li Miaozhen at the Wei River, stopping their contest and helping delay the Heaven and Human Contest.
• After learning from Lina about a stolen treasure and Heaven Gu Granny’s prophecy, Xu Qi'an connected the theft of Fate to the Tax Silver Case and questioned Wei Yuan about the Battle of Shanhai Pass.
• Daoist Jinlian recruited Xu Qi'an, Li Miaozhen, Chu Yuanzhen, Hengyuan, and Lina to defend his nearly mature Nine-Colored Lotus, while Xu Qi'an and Song Qing explored whether it could provide Susu with a body.
• The court appointed Xu Qi'an chief investigator of the massacre, and Wei Yuan warned him that the assignment could put him at risk before he sailed north with Yang Yan and the delegation.
• Xu Qi'an challenged Chu Xianglong’s authority aboard the ship, defended the imperial guards, and forced Chu Xianglong to accept his conditions and apologize.
• After finding no refugees in Butter Commandery, Xu Qi'an suspected the princess consort’s secret journey involved danger and persuaded the delegation to travel overland while Yang Yan tested the water route.
• A black-scaled flood dragon destroyed the official ship at Flowing Stone Shoal, and the attackers concluded they had been deceived and pursued the princess consort, believing she was still with the delegation.

Xu Qi'an rescued the princess consort and secretly investigated the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre, uncovering the Prince Who Guards the North's slaughter of Chu Prefecture City to refine a Blood Pill. As barbarian and demon forces attacked the city, Xu Qi'an entered the battle and claimed the Nation-Guarding Sword.

• Xu Qi'an helped defend the delegation from Fourth-Rank attackers after Chu Xianglong fled with the disguised princess consort.
• Shenshu took control of Xu Qi'an and killed the northern experts, allowing Xu Qi'an to rescue the princess consort and question the dead.
• Xu Qi'an concealed the princess consort's survival and traveled with her to Sanhuang County while Yang Yan led the delegation into Chu Prefecture.
• Xu Qi'an questioned a slain spy's soul and learned that the Prince Who Guards the North had slaughtered people to strengthen his martial blood and Qi.
• Li Miaozhen located the surviving Zheng Xinghuai and brought Xu Qi'an to hear his account of Que Yongxiu's massacre of Chu Prefecture City.
• Xu Qi'an witnessed the massacre through Empathy and sent Li Miaozhen to inform the barbarians and the Demon Race before departing to confront the prince.
• Jili Zhigu and the demon forces attacked Chu Prefecture City as its dead civilians' blood Qi and souls fed the Blood Pill.
• Xu Qi'an pulled the Nation-Guarding Sword from the ruins after the attacking experts knocked down the Prince Who Guards the North and dislodged it.

Xu Qi'an exposed the Prince Who Guards the North’s massacre, then defied Emperor Yuanjing to avenge Chu Prefecture and clear Zheng Xinghuai’s name. After the emperor was forced to issue an edict of self-reproach, Xu Qi'an pursued the mystery of Su Hang’s forgotten case and prepared for the Nine-Colored Lotus’s ripening.

• Xu Qi'an wielded the Nation-Guarding Sword, exposed the Prince Who Guards the North’s slaughter of 380,000 people, and killed him after Shenshu’s power overwhelmed the prince and his allies.
• Xu Qi'an returned to the capital with Zheng Xinghuai and the delegation, where Emperor Yuanjing resisted demands to punish the dead prince and Wei Yuan admitted he had maneuvered events against him.
• Emperor Yuanjing ordered Zheng Xinghuai arrested after Que Yongxiu accused him of colluding with demons and barbarians, then Duke Cao and Que Yongxiu staged Zheng’s death as a suicide.
• Xu Qi'an publicly beheaded Duke Cao and Que Yongxiu after they confessed to the massacre, renounced his office, and faced Emperor Yuanjing’s attempt to brand him a Shaman God Cult spy.
• Zhao Shou and the Superintendent forced Emperor Yuanjing to issue an edict of self-reproach, while the court and commoners accepted that Xu Qi'an had told the truth.
• Xu Qi'an learned from Que Yongxiu’s ghost that Emperor Yuanjing had planned the massacre to obtain a Soul Pill, then investigated Duke Cao’s secret residence and found evidence connected to Su Hang’s execution.
• Xu Qi'an arranged to inspect Su Hang’s case records and realized that officials could not remember Su Hang, but forgot his suspicion that someone had veiled heaven’s secrets.
• Daoist Jinlian told the Heaven and Earth Society that the Nine-Colored Lotus would ripen in half a month, and Xu Qi'an enlisted Wei Yuan’s help as Emperor Yuanjing also learned of the seeds.