Recaps

Chen Qing secured control of the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley, prepared Jiangnan for war, and rejected the court’s order to return to the capital. When imperial forces advanced, Yuchi Feihu led the Battle God Army into battle while Xu Hu engaged Yuchi Peng.

• Chen Qing negotiated control of the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley and agreed with the eldest princess to rule Jiangnan for one year.
• As Jiangnan mobilized troops and built its strength, Gu Beiquan and Squire Liu tried to recruit Shen Yuan and Yuchi Feihu into a court-backed effort against Chen Qing.
• Yuchi Feihu killed the scholars plotting against Chen Qing, then chose to stay and fight after Chen Qing gave him the option to leave.
• Yuchi Peng and Luo Yi delivered the court’s summons, but Chen Qing refused to return, citing his duty to protect Xiaoli and the Xiao Household from the empress’s influence.
• Yuchi Feihu demonstrated his first-rank strength against Yuchi Peng, while Xiaoli appeared with the Golden Crow Flame and Chen Qing challenged the ninth prince’s regency.
• Xu Hu faced Yuchi Peng across the river as Yuchi Feihu took command of Chen Qing’s 30,000 troops, and the Battle God Army began crossing into battle.
• Yuchi Hong Lie charged the landed Battle God Army with cavalry, but their spell threw the horses and riders into chaos, and Luo Yi realized the soldiers could cultivate both magic and martial arts.

Chen Qing defeated the court’s army and drew rival powers to Nanming Prefecture with Jiangnan’s prosperity, inventions, and Dragon Palace secrets. As negotiations began, Lu Ming plotted to exploit the gathering, while his buried family ties resurfaced.

• Yuchi Feihu’s troops routed Yuchi Hong Lie’s cavalry, while Xu Hu defeated Yuchi Peng in a duel, saved his life, and secured the surrender of the imperial army.
• Lu Ming learned that Chen Qing had sent only thirty thousand soldiers against Yuchi Peng, rejected Zhou Hanyang’s plan to attack, and asked Mu Hongqing to gather intelligence.
• After Xu Hu’s victory, Chen Qing prepared to host the Eldest Princess, the Duke of Wei, and the court’s representatives in Nanming Prefecture to discuss Jiangnan’s awakening ancient power.
• The Eldest Princess and the Duke of Wei agreed to travel to Nanming, while the court accepted Chen Qing’s offer to return Yuchi Peng in exchange for talks.
• Wei Gongcheng brought Luo Yi and Yuchi Peng to Liuzhou, where they saw its prosperous city and academy inventions, learned about the Dragon Palace’s underwater location, and discovered Wei Gongcheng ruled the Underworld.
• Chen Qing welcomed the Eldest Princess and the Duke of Wei’s party, while the scholar identified Yan Lifeng as a figure linked to the Dragon Palace’s past and the Monster Master questioned her about sealing his ghosts.
• Chen Qing opened Nanming Prefecture’s enormous barrier and demonstrated its Dragon Palace formation, then learned that Lu Ming was approaching and ordered preparations.
• Lu Ming revealed a hidden ship and confronted Mu Hongqing, who taunted him about his mother and sister, while Yun Niang rejected Di Dahu’s proposal and held the jade token Lu Ming had left behind.

Chen Qing tried to unite the factions before the Dragon Palace opened while Lu Ming’s wife attacked Yun Yu’e and Ke’er. He exposed and killed Madam Lu, defeated Lu Ming, and learned the Flying Star Bottle was an artifact from the Great Snake Kingdom.

• Chen Qing revealed the Dragon Palace’s dangers and proposed that the factions cooperate, but the leaders delayed their alliance until its location was confirmed.
• Yun Ke’er’s Spirit Eye brought her to the Heaven Academy, and Chen Qing arranged for her and Yun Yu’e to travel to Nanming Prefecture.
• Madam Lu’s attackers abducted Yun Yu’e and Ke’er, but Yuchi Feihu rescued Ke’er at the cost of his deputy commanders’ lives.
• Chen Qing traced Madam Lu’s foul stench to a Flying Star Bottle and explained how she used its linked bottles to spy, attack, and escape.
• Chen Qing exposed Madam Lu as a snake demon, and Shen Yiyun killed her in Nanming Prefecture’s Underworld.
• Chen Qing defeated Lu Ming, tore off his arms, and imprisoned him in the Underworld as the Lu Household prepared to retaliate.
• Lu Ming identified the Flying Star Bottle as one of the Great Snake Kingdom’s four demonic artifacts, while Chen Qing brought him to see Yun Yu’e at Ke’er’s request.

Shen Yuan returned to the capital, demonstrated his formation skills, and secured the Shen Family a chance to study his methods, while bringing Madam Zheng with him to Jiangnan. As the families sent youths to compete for places at Jiangnan’s academies, Shen Xue prepared to escape Shen Yu’s control and Shen Yu decided to stay after learning about the academies’ spiritual energy.

• Shen Yuan used the Martial Edge Formation to defeat elders who tried to seize him, then agreed to Chen Qing’s mission to obtain the spellcasting families’ guarded techniques for Jiangnan.
• Shen Yuan demonstrated Void Formation Drawing at the Shen Family banquet, sealed Du Kangnian in a crystal, and agreed to teach the family on the condition that Madam Zheng keep her position and accompany him to Jiangnan.
• Madam Zheng admitted that fear of Shen Yan had driven her away from Shen Yuan, and Shen Yuan brought her and Shen Yu into the family’s plans for Jiangnan.
• Shen Yuan arranged for the Shen Family to exchange techniques and send promising youths to Jiangnan Academy, where Shen Xue excelled at the new studies while Shen Yu struggled with their foundations.
• Bai Hua agreed to teach the Shen children after Shen Xue impressed him, and Shen Xue accepted a marriage proposal while securing her future children’s right to join the Shen Family.
• Shen Yu attacked Shen Xue with the Ghost King's Curse, but Old Master Shen stopped him, and Shen Xue resolved to enter Jiangnan Academy and take her mother with her.
• More than three hundred candidates traveled to Jiangnan, where Shen Yu failed to answer Murong Bingyun’s questions about architecture and dismissed the studies that Shen Yang recognized as essential.
• Murong Bingyun and other youths chose their preferred academies, while Shen Xue sought a place away from Shen Yu and Shen Yu decided to remain after hearing about the academies’ rich spiritual energy.