Recaps

Fang Zelin ate spirit rice in a ruined temple while a group of travelers feared he was a demon. After the travelers fled at dawn, Fang Zelin extinguished their campfire and prepared to continue his journey.

• Fang Zelin ate his spirit rice as Old Wu warned the travelers that the strange young man might be a demon.
• A rabbit with a little spiritual intelligence crept over and ate the leftover rice while Fang Zelin watched without intervening.
• The travelers kept watch through the night, then hurried away at dawn, afraid of the ruined temple and Fang Zelin.
• Fang Zelin extinguished the abandoned campfire with water magic, washed up, and considered which way to travel next.

Fang Zelin picked up the white rabbit that had followed him for spirit rice and carried her to a roadside station, where frightened merchants mistook his arrival for a pursuit. After someone offered to buy the rabbit for meat, Fang Zelin refused and suspected she had awakened a little spiritual intelligence; he planned to let her go later.

• Fang Zelin left spirit rice for the white rabbit, but pheasants ate most of it, so she followed him in hopes of getting more.
• Fang Zelin caught the rabbit and carried her in his arms despite her biting his palm and struggling.
• Fang Zelin reached a roadside station where the merchants from the previous night were resting, and they fled after wrongly suspecting he had chased them there.
• Fang Zelin rested without ordering food because he had little silver, then continued on his way with the rabbit.
• Fang Zelin refused a person's offer to buy the rabbit for meat and concluded that she seemed to have awakened a little spiritual intelligence.

Uncle Wu’s caravan sought shelter at a remote inn while fleeing Fang Zelin, only to enter a place filled with fox spirits. Fang Zelin followed a surge of Yao Qi to the inn with his struggling white rabbit, and the fox spirits set their sights on him and the rabbit.

• Uncle Wu dismissed the possibility that Fang Zelin was harmless and led his men toward a crowded inn to escape him.
• A beautiful woman welcomed Uncle Wu’s caravan, and the fox women served the men wine and food until they grew hazy-eyed.
• Fang Zelin sensed thick Yao Qi near the inn and headed there with the white rabbit in his arms.
• The white rabbit struggled as they approached, sensing danger, while a fox spirit eyed Fang Zelin and considered keeping him as prey.
• Fang Zelin recognized that the inn was full of fox spirits, and the frightened rabbit burrowed into his arms.

Fang Zelin entered an inn run by fox spirits, where traveling merchants believed he was a demon pursuing them. The fox spirits became captivated by his looks and one of them went to approach him.

• Fang Zelin entered the inn after telling the woman outside that he was a wandering Rogue Person.
• A traveling merchant saw Fang Zelin and became frightened, causing the group to grow clearer-headed despite the fox spirits’ spell.
• The merchants warned the fox spirits that Fang Zelin was a demon who had followed them for a day and a night.
• The fox spirits dismissed the warning and admired Fang Zelin, while Old Wu urged them not to trust his handsome appearance.
• One fox spirit said she would take Fang Zelin for herself and rose to approach him.

Fang Zelin confronted the fox spirits in a temple after the traveling merchants mistook him for a yao. He revealed the den’s true appearance and freed the captives, while the fox spirits realized he was an immortal cultivator.

• The traveling merchants suspected Fang Zelin was a yao after hearing him understand their whispers, and a fox spirit invited him to stay and help lure wealthy young women to the den.
• Fang Zelin denied being a yao, said he had come to investigate the yao Qi and stop the killings, and asked the fox spirits to let the other people leave.
• Fang Zelin opened his wine gourd, and golden lesser-seal characters transformed the room, exposing human remains and the fox spirits’ monstrous forms.
• The golden light bound the fox spirits, and Fang Zelin ordered the traveling merchants and other captives to flee.
• The frightened captives scrambled out of the den while the fox spirits recognized Fang Zelin as an immortal cultivator.

Fang Zelin questioned the fox spirits about demons plotting against Northern Liang’s cultivators and discovered they had captured thirty children to trade for protection. He rescued the children and killed the fox spirits, then asked the Night Wandering Gods of Anling to identify the children and return them home.

• Fang Zelin questioned the fox spirits, and their leader admitted that a Demon Race visitor had asked her to join a plot against cultivators.
• The leader revealed that she had promised to provide a hundred children and had captured thirty, so Fang Zelin found them unharmed in a cellar.
• Fang Zelin bound the fox spirits, led the children out of the woods, and annihilated the demons with golden light.
• Fang Zelin summoned the Night Wandering Gods of Anling and asked them to identify the children and send them home.

Fang Zelin rescued the abducted children and waited at the fox spirits’ den for whoever was behind the offerings to arrive. Meanwhile, Zhenke met cultivators from Northern Liang, whose reaction to her having sought the Dao five times left her surprised.

• Fang Zelin handed the rescued children to two Night Wandering Gods, who took them away through the fog.
• Fang Zelin returned to the fox spirits’ houses and waited, hoping to catch the yaoguai’s agents coming to collect the children.
• The traveling merchants and others who had fled the wooden house watched Fang Zelin and realized he had defeated the fox spirits.
• Yunzi and other Northern Liang cultivators arrived at Dinggui Mountain and greeted Zhenke, a cultivator from Jade Willow Mountain.
• Yunzi asked how many times Zhenke had entered Seeking Dao Mountain, and Zhenke answered that she had done so five times in a little over forty years.
• Yunzi froze when Zhenke described her five attempts at seeking the Dao as something to be ashamed of.

Zhenke told the cultivators of Northern Liang that a yao had targeted their people and brutally humiliated two dead cultivators, though its identity and abilities remained unknown. Daoist Fuqing urged everyone to recall their disciples from the mountain as they considered how to respond.

• Yunzi marveled that Zhenke had sought the Dao five times, while Zhenke modestly credited her progress to Senior Fang’s guidance.
• Yunzi led the cultivators into Dinggui Mountain’s hall, where Fuqing served them the mountain’s prized tea.
• Zhenke found the tea pleasant but underwhelming compared with Senior Fang’s wines, though she praised it when asked.
• Zhenke recounted her search from Great Qian and explained that an unknown yao seemed intent on targeting Northern Liang cultivators after tormenting two dead cultivators.
• Daoist Fuqing warned that the yao might be powerful and urged the others to recall disciples who had gone down the mountain.

Northern Liang’s Daoists discussed the demon plotting against their cultivators and the threat to the Human Race Karmic Fortune. Zhenke revealed that Fang Zelin had secured Heaven’s blessing for Great Qian, extending its reign to a thousand years, leaving the Daoists eager to learn how he did it.

• Daoist Fuqing ordered divination, group investigations, and checks on the Northern Liang imperial capital while disciples returned to the mountain.
• Guangchengzi described how exploitation and disasters caused mortal dynasties to fall and new rulers to begin the cycle again.
• Guangchengzi said his observations and divination showed that Great Qian’s imperial star was bright and its reign would last a thousand years.
• Zhenke explained that Fang Zelin had prayed to Heaven for blessings, leading Heaven to bless Great Qian’s emperor and extend the dynasty’s reign.

Zhenke told the Northern Liang cultivators about Fang Zelin’s extraordinary cultivation, his success at praying for blessings, and his wine-scented spell battles. The cultivators became eager to meet him and asked Zhenke to introduce them.

• The cultivators discussed how difficult it was to pray for blessings, and Yunzi and Daoist Fuqing admired Fang Zelin for making heaven hear his prayers.
• Zhenke praised Fang Zelin as Great Qian’s top cultivator, describing his unfathomable cultivation and his ability to guide others into Seeking Dao Mountain.
• Zhenke clarified that she could only speak for Fang Zelin’s standing in Great Qian, but the cultivators remained impressed and said they wanted to meet him.
• Zhenke described Fang Zelin’s gentle manner, fine wine, and habit of carrying his wine gourd and drinking after spell battles.
• Yunzi and the other cultivators asked Zhenke to introduce them to Fang Zelin while he was in Northern Liang.

Fang Zelin learned that the abducted children had been returned home with no memory of what happened, then waited near the fox spirit’s lair for the demon behind the abductions. Meanwhile, the merchants left hoping to catch up with him, unaware he was hiding nearby with the white rabbit.

• The boy in Wugou Village woke with no memory of where he had been, and his parents learned that other returned children had forgotten their abductions too.
• Two Night Wandering Gods reported to Fang Zelin that they had delivered the children home, and he thanked them before deciding to wait at the fox spirit’s lair.
• The merchants searched for Fang Zelin, but Old Wu and the others could not find him or learn where he had gone.
• The merchants guessed Fang Zelin had gone ahead along their route and hurried after him, hoping to meet him again.
• Fang Zelin stayed hidden in a nearby treetop with the white rabbit and waited for the demon, while the rabbit continued to eye its chance to escape.

Fang Zelin waited for the yao expected to collect the children, then followed the sound of a Law Technique to a battle between cultivators and yaoguai. The cultivators struggled against a powerful ape-like yaoguai, and they stayed to fight because the yaoguai had captured ten children.

• Fang Zelin wondered why the yao had not appeared after more than half a month and waited outside the fox spirit’s wooden house.
• Fang Zelin drank Clear as Empty, and the white rabbit escaped while spilling wine on his clothes.
• Fang Zelin heard what sounded like a Lightning Summoning Technique and flew toward the battle.
• An ape-like yaoguai battered the cultivators and trapped several with beams of divine light, but Zhenke’s flying sword interrupted its attack.
• Zhenke urged the cultivators to retreat, but a Rising Tide Valley cultivator explained that the yaoguai had captured ten children and would devour them if left behind.
• The Rising Tide Valley cultivator used his Law Treasure, a book that sent golden light at the yaoguai and disrupted them.

Fang Zelin rescued Zhenke and the Rising Tide Valley cultivators by binding the demons with golden seal-script characters. After the demons were subdued, Yunzi thanked him and introduced herself and her disciples.

• The ape used its Divine Ability to freeze Zhenke, then moved to swallow her and the other cultivators.
• Yunzi tried to reach Zhenke, but the demon fighting her pressed its attack and kept her away.
• Fang Zelin arrived and sent golden seal-script characters from his wine gourd to bind the demons.
• Zhenke thanked Fang Zelin, and he scolded her for her lack of combat experience.
• Yunzi introduced herself as a cultivator of Rising Tide Valley, thanked Fang Zelin, and presented her disciples to him.

Fang Zelin rescued the children captured by the demons and learned that the ape belonged to the overseas Demon Race, which considered cultivation through plunder righteous. He suppressed the ape so Rising Tide Valley could take him back for divination and investigate who was behind the scheme.

• Yunzi released more than ten unharmed children from the largest demon’s mouth and said the demons had intended to use them as blood sacrifices.
• Fang Zelin asked the ape whether it had recruited the fox spirit to capture children, but the ape refused to explain and defended the Demon Race’s cultivation methods.
• Fang Zelin recognized the ape as a member of the overseas Demon Race and realized its words suggested a larger scheme.
• Yunzi said a Northern Liang cultivator could use divination to identify who was behind the ape.
• Fang Zelin suppressed the ape’s Yao Qi, preventing it from killing itself before Rising Tide Valley could take it back.

Fang Zelin joined Yunzi and the Rising Tide Valley cultivators as they searched for the mastermind behind the yao attacks. When they asked how to preserve Great Qian after its allotted span ended, he explained that the way of heaven took from surplus to make up for want, leaving the disciples stunned.

• Yunzi gathered the yao into her sleeve, while Fang Zelin retrieved the nearby small-seal script characters with his wine gourd.
• Fang Zelin agreed to accompany Yunzi and the Rising Tide Valley cultivators as they resumed their search.
• Zhenke asked Fang Zelin whether another blessing could extend Great Qian's reign, and he said another would be difficult to obtain.
• Fang Zelin said the alternative was to follow the way of heaven, which took from surplus to make up for want.
• The Rising Tide Valley disciples stood rooted to the spot as Fang Zelin's words echoed in their hearts.

Fang Zelin discussed the decline of dynasties and questioned whether Northern Liang's approaching fall had drawn demons out into the open. The group continued investigating demon activity, and Fang burned the abandoned fox demons’ lair after revealing they had killed hundreds of people.

• Yunzi praised Fang Zelin’s explanation of how dynasties exploited the people and eventually declined.
• Fang Zelin and Yunzi discussed Northern Liang’s age and whether its Human Race Karmic Fortune had attracted the demons; Fang doubted that explanation because the demons were acting too openly.
• Yunzi told Fang Zelin that disciples had already been sent to Northern Liang’s imperial capital to investigate.
• A Rising Tide Valley disciple showed Fang Zelin a map marking known demons, and Fang said he had already killed the fox demons near their former lair after they had eaten at least three hundred people.
• Fang Zelin set the fox demons’ abandoned house ablaze, where piles of bones remained.

Fang Zelin and the Rising Tide Valley cultivators found that more yaojing had vanished, while an unknown enemy remained hidden. As they discussed Northern Liang’s fading karmic fortune and Great Qian’s possible expansion, Yunzi raised the prospect of Great Qian annexing Northern Liang, though Fang Zelin warned that it would be difficult to govern.

• Fang Zelin searched two locations marked on the Rising Tide Valley cultivators’ maps and found that the yaojing were gone from both.
• Fang Zelin and the cultivators camped for the night, and he observed that Northern Liang’s Purple Tetrarch Star looked dim beside Great Qian’s.
• Yunzi agreed that Northern Liang’s karmic fortune was nearly exhausted and said cultivators lacked the power to bless someone as Fang Zelin could.
• Fang Zelin suggested Northern Liang’s future ruler could learn from Great Qian’s policies, but Yunzi questioned how cultivators could influence a mortal ruler.
• Yunzi asked what Fang Zelin thought of Great Qian annexing Northern Liang, and Fang Zelin said it depended on the emperor’s intentions and warned that Northern Liang would be difficult to govern.

Fang Zelin stood guard while his fellow cultivators recovered and planned to resume searching for the overseas Demon Cultivator the next day. At Seeking Dao Mountain, Wu Qing and the Rising Tide Valley disciples discovered Wu Ling had failed to enter, while the Fishing Old Man and the old Daoist reflected on the immortal cultivation world’s decline and the lad who had begun to reverse it.

• Fang Zelin agreed to stand guard while Yunzi and the other cultivators meditated and recovered overnight.
• The Rising Tide Valley disciples gathered before Seeking Dao Mountain and celebrated that Wu Qing and their other sect members had entered.
• Wu Qing counted the group and realized Junior Sister Wu Ling had failed to enter again.
• Wu Qing rejected a suggestion to ask the senior for more guidance, warning that forcing Wu Ling could unsettle her Dao Heart.
• The Fishing Old Man and the old Daoist discussed the great calamity that had weakened immortal cultivation and doubted the lad could restore its former peak.

The Fishing Old Man and the old Daoist playing chess recalled how they had sacrificed themselves to preserve the immortal cultivators’ last sliver of fortune, and feared what would happen if it were stolen again. After Fang Zelin’s companions finished cultivating at Seeking Dao Mountain, Yunzi asked whether he planned to found a sect, but he said he would consider taking disciples only after further cultivating his character and virtue.

• The Fishing Old Man warned that immortal cultivators might be beyond redemption if their fortune were stolen again, and the old Daoist feared the mortal world would be left to the Demon Race.
• The Fishing Old Man said he hoped none of his companions would stop him from revealing heaven’s secrets and sacrificing himself in a Lightning Tribulation if that time came.
• The next day, Fang Zelin’s fellow Daoists thanked him after completing their cultivation, and Yunzi and the others admired his guidance.
• Yunzi asked Fang Zelin when he planned to found a sect and invited him to let them know so they could congratulate him.
• Fang Zelin said he would not take disciples until he had further tempered his character and virtue, because he did not want to lead them astray.

Fang Zelin and Yunzi set out with the Rising Tide Valley disciples to search for demons, while Wu Qing confronted Wu Ling for failing to understand Fang Zelin’s guidance. Wu Ling learned she might be punished for neglecting cultivation and begged her fellow disciples to intercede.

• Fang Zelin told Yunzi he felt he had not cultivated long enough to claim complete virtue, and they set out as the Rising Tide Valley disciples searched ahead for demons.
• Wu Qing scolded Wu Ling for missing Fang Zelin’s guidance, which had helped the other disciples enter Seeking Dao Mountain while cultivating.
• Wu Ling congratulated her fellow disciples on their progress, but they warned her that Master was disappointed and might punish her.
• Wu Ling panicked at the thought of punishment and asked her fellow disciples to plead for her, while they lamented that she still missed the point.

Wu Qing and Yunzi worried that Wu Ling had failed to comprehend the Dao despite her promising temperament and aptitude. Yunzi decided that once their current affairs were settled, she would ask to send Wu Ling to Jade Void Mountain to read the Scripture of Salvation in hopes that she could enter Seeking Dao Mountain.

• Wu Qing urged Wu Ling to try harder to comprehend the Dao, while Wu Ling compared herself unfavorably with Zhenke, who had comprehended the Dao six times.
• Wu Qing and Wu Ling discussed visiting Jade Void Mountain to read the Scripture of Salvation, which could help cultivators enter Seeking Dao Mountain.
• Wu Qing left Wu Ling when she noticed Yunzi approaching, and Wu Ling nervously greeted her master.
• Yunzi lamented that Wu Ling had fallen behind her junior sisters despite her good temperament and aptitude, while Wu Ling apologized for disappointing her.
• Yunzi told Wu Ling she would ask a fellow Daoist to let her visit Jade Void Mountain and read the Scripture of Salvation after their current affairs were settled.

Fang Zelin questioned Wu Ling about her Non-Action cultivation after learning she had failed to find her own Dao. His challenge shook Wu Ling’s Dao Heart, leaving Yunzi and Fang Zelin concerned that she might be in danger.

• Wu Ling apologized to Yunzi for failing to enter Seeking Dao Mountain, and Yunzi comforted her.
• Fang Zelin approached Yunzi and Wu Ling, learned Wu Ling had not found her Dao, and heard Wu Qing explain that Wu Ling had comprehended the Dao only once.
• Fang Zelin said Wu Ling’s quiet, serene disposition should suit cultivation, prompting the disciples to hope he could guide her.
• Fang Zelin asked Wu Ling what kind of Non-Action she cultivated and challenged her belief with the example of demons stealing Human Race Karmic Fortune.
• Wu Ling became conflicted between her master's teaching to uphold justice and her Non-Action path, and her Dao Heart began to shake.

Fang Zelin clarified Wu Ling’s misunderstanding of Non-Action and guided her toward the path of Clarity and Stillness and Non-Action. Wu Ling attained enlightenment in the Dao, setting her cultivation on a broad and promising path.

• Fang Zelin explained that Non-Action meant following nature rather than doing nothing, but Wu Ling remained confused.
• Fang Zelin elaborated on stillness, spirit, and Qi, and Wu Ling began to understand his words.
• Fang Zelin described Clarity and Stillness and Non-Action, and Wu Ling attained enlightenment in the Dao.
• Wu Qing and the other disciples realized Wu Ling’s enlightenment would let her enter Seeking Dao Mountain at least three times.
• Yunzi thanked Fang Zelin and reassured him that Wu Ling had overcome the hurdle in her Dao Heart.

Fang Zelin and Wu Ling entered Seeking Dao Mountain while cultivating, and Fang Zelin treated the familiar place like home. He brought Wu Ling to see the Fishing Old Man, who immediately clarified that he had caught fish and thrown them back.

• Wu Ling gained insight and began cultivating, while Fang Zelin also sat down to cultivate and his spirit sword Bearing the Heavens absorbed much of the surrounding Spiritual Qi.
• The Rising Tide Valley disciples and Yunzi watched Bearing the Heavens cultivate and were astonished by its fierce sword intent and appetite for Spiritual Qi.
• Fang Zelin entered Seeking Dao Mountain, and Wu Ling appeared there as well; he praised her improved cultivation and invited her to come along.
• Fang Zelin led Wu Ling to the Fishing Old Man, who said he had caught fish and thrown them back rather than getting skunked.

Fang Zelin returned to Seeking Dao Mountain, where he played Go with an old Daoist and heard a cryptic warning about forces plotting against cultivators. The old Daoist began to ask him about the fortune of immortal cultivators, leaving Fang Zelin and Wu Ling puzzled.

• The Fishing Old Man sent Fang Zelin to play Go with the old Daoist, who recognized him from his many visits despite Fang Zelin forgetting each one.
• Wu Ling teased a boy who praised her cultivation but admitted he could not give her pointers.
• Fang Zelin lost the Go game and observed that the old Daoist had dismantled his stones while leaving him an empty-looking position.
• The old Daoist warned Fang Zelin that someone might be laying plans against cultivators, but denied knowing who had killed two cultivators outside Great Qian.
• The old Daoist asked Fang Zelin whether he knew about the fortune of immortal cultivators, confusing both Fang Zelin and Wu Ling.