Recaps

Fang Zelin explored Yuanqing Prefecture before heading into Cloud-Linking Mountain, where a mysterious, contained fire had been burning for some time. As he entered, a wild bear and an enormous python set out to find humans who might help Grandfather Tree extinguish the fires in exchange for territory.

• Fang Zelin promised Jiuchuan a taste of his Clear as Empty wine once it was ready, then left after Jiuchuan became tipsy.
• Fang Zelin toured Yuanqing Prefecture and headed toward Cloud-Linking Mountain with Bearing the Heavens.
• A passerby warned Fang Zelin about a strange fire burning in a limited area deep in the mountain.
• A wild bear and an enormous python discussed how humans might help Grandfather Tree put out the mountain fires in return for a patch of territory.
• The wild bear and the enormous python waited at the mountain path and spotted Fang Zelin walking in alone.

Fang Zelin met two demons who led him through a mountain fire to their Grandfather Tree, which promised him land for a city and other rewards if he extinguished the blaze. After learning that visitors from another country had already made progress fighting it, Fang Zelin stepped up to try putting it out himself.

• A wild bear told Fang Zelin that Grandfather Tree would grant him territory if he helped extinguish the fire.
• The wild bear and a giant python led Fang Zelin through the forest toward the blaze, where the fire burned the demons but did not affect him.
• Grandfather Tree offered land, protection, and other benefits, including help with cultivating immortality, in exchange for extinguishing the fire.
• Grandfather Tree explained that the blaze was connected to a tribulation the Demon Race faced when its cultivation matured, and said earlier visitors had made progress fighting it.
• Fang Zelin approached a burning tree and reached out to put out the flames, while Grandfather Tree warned him to bring more people.

Fang Zelin exposed the tree demon’s buried victims and refused to help it, provoking its attack. He and Bearing the Heavens prepared a powerful sword strike, ending with an enormous blade phantom forming overhead.

• Fang Zelin pushed over the burning tree and found countless bones, including children’s skulls, tangled in its roots.
• The tree demon attacked Fang Zelin with a root, but he cut it apart with his treasured sword and kicked the severed piece into the fire.
• Fang Zelin called on Bearing the Heavens to help him strike the tree demon, while the black bear and giant python fled.
• Fang Zelin poured his Spiritual Power into the Bearing the Heavens Sword as the tree demon raised a vast net of roots to block him.
• Bearing the Heavens lifted Fang Zelin into the air, and an enormous blade phantom appeared, darkening heaven and earth.

Fang Zelin used the Bearing the Heavens Sword to sever the tree demon’s roots and open a ravine through which heavenly fire could reach it. The Yuanqing City God and his underworld officials arrived and began pulling up the weakened demon’s roots.

• The Yuanqing City God sensed Fang Zelin’s sword force and ordered the underworld officials to go after the tree demon.
• Fang Zelin saw that the tree demon had endured the heavenly fire by using the bones and wronged souls buried beneath it, and rejected its defense of devouring people.
• Fang Zelin brought down a powerful sword strike that cut through the tree demon’s root net and carved a deep ravine into the earth.
• The strike left Fang Zelin drained and unsteady, and he struggled to remain standing as he watched the flames.
• The Yuanqing City God and Judge Wen arrived with the underworld officials, who pulled the tree demon’s severed roots from the ground while the heavenly fire burned them.

Fang Zelin and the City God’s forces destroyed the thousand-year-old tree demon after the City God used a Soul-Bewildering Formation to keep approaching mortals away. With the wronged souls being taken to the City God Temple, Fang Zelin left, hoping to learn the formation for Yingping Peak.

• Judge Wen asked why Fang Zelin had not struck again, and the City God surmised that he had left the tree demon for them to finish off.
• The City God ordered an underworld official to set up a Soul-Bewildering Formation, trapping approaching martial artists in the mist and preventing them from reaching the demon.
• Fang Zelin recovered while the City God and the underworld officials uprooted the tree demon and burned it to ashes with heavenly fire.
• Fang Zelin saw the countless bones buried beneath the ground, and the City God explained that the demon had planned to trick Yuanqing Prefecture’s people into helping it survive and replenish its vitality.
• The City God prepared to take the tree demon’s wronged souls to the Underworld Bureau, while Fang Zelin decided he would ask to learn the Soul-Bewildering Formation and then departed through the mist.

Fang Zelin left Cloud-Linking Mountain and recovered his Spiritual Power at an inn while Bearing the Heavens absorbed most of the Spiritual Qi. After the mist cleared, the people on the mountain found buried remains and a massive fresh trench, and suspected an immortal had slain a demon there.

• Fang Zelin promised Bearing the Heavens more Spiritual Qi so it could recover and grow strong enough to carry him in flight.
• Fang Zelin returned to Yuanqing Prefecture and cultivated at an inn, letting Bearing the Heavens absorb most of the Spiritual Qi until its glow returned.
• The mist on Cloud-Linking Mountain dispersed, and the people there found scorched earth covered with exposed bones and the buried bodies of missing companions.
• The people formed groups of three and discovered a fresh trench dozens of meters deep that had cleaved the scorched earth in two.
• The onlookers connected the trench, the buried dead, and the strange mist to the phantom sword and speculated that an immortal had slain a demon.

Fang Zelin learned from the Yuanqing City God why the ancient tree demon had gone unchecked and asked for the Soul-Bewildering Formation. He then discovered that Bearing the Heavens had stored the Spiritual Qi it absorbed and released it to amplify their sword strike, leaving him eager to cultivate more.

• The Yuanqing City God thanked Fang Zelin for killing the tree demon and explained that it had survived since before the Great Han Dynasty, growing powerful amid centuries of demonic chaos.
• Fang Zelin asked why the City God had not stopped the demon sooner, and the City God described the wars and devastation caused by demons and devils across successive dynasties.
• The Yuanqing City God agreed to send Fang Zelin the Soul-Bewildering Formation before taking his leave.
• Fang Zelin questioned Bearing the Heavens about the extraordinary power of their strike and learned it had stored Spiritual Qi in its blade and released it all at once.
• Fang Zelin realized he could have Bearing the Heavens absorb more Spiritual Qi during cultivation to make their future sword strikes even stronger.

Fang Zelin visited Jiuchuan after dealing with the demon on Cloud-Linking Mountain, where he heard that people believed an immortal had slain it. After saying his business was finished, Fang Zelin left, and Jiuchuan wondered whether they had become people of different worlds.

• Fang Zelin praised Bearing the Heavens for learning to absorb more Spiritual Qi and went to visit Jiuchuan.
• Jiuchuan and his wives discussed reports that an immortal had split a sea of flames on Cloud-Linking Mountain and slain a demon buried among countless bones.
• Fang Zelin told Jiuchuan that the sword strike did not prove an immortal had appeared and might have become exaggerated through rumor.
• Fang Zelin said he had found the person he sought in Jiangxing Prefecture and would soon return home; Jiuchuan invited him to visit again.
• After Fang Zelin left, Jiuchuan watched him go and reflected that they seemed to have become people of different worlds.

Fang Zelin returned to Anzi County and Yingping Peak, where he apologized for passing on the Wind-Riding Sword Art, settled in to cultivate, and formed a mist barrier around the peak. As he prepared to stay in seclusion for two years, he discovered a ginseng spirit in the medicinal garden.

• Fang Zelin apologized to the martial arts school's master for teaching the Wind-Riding Sword Art to someone else, and the master explained that the art was not restricted.
• Fang Zelin left a peace-and-warding spell in the school's main hall before returning to Yingping Peak with medicinal herb seeds.
• Fang Zelin cleaned his cabin, tended the spirit rice, and planted ginseng and other herbs before planning to cultivate in seclusion for two years.
• Fang Zelin cast the Soul-Bewildering Formation, surrounding Yingping Peak with mist that allowed boats to pass but prevented them from reaching the peak.
• Fang Zelin sensed a powerful presence in the medicinal garden and recognized the small leafy figure that appeared as a ginseng spirit.

Fang Zelin took in the ginseng spirit, which promised to tend his medicinal fields in exchange for spiritual rain. After the spirit and Bearing the Heavens settled their dispute over who was boss, Fang Zelin opened his newly brewed wine and decided to save it for guests and a tasting in Jiuchuan.

• The ginseng spirit asked Fang Zelin to let it stay so it could cultivate near him and receive his spiritual rain.
• Fang Zelin agreed to let the ginseng spirit tend the medicinal fields, warning it to hide from outsiders.
• The ginseng spirit tried to make Bearing the Heavens call it Boss, but surrendered when the sword released its pressure.
• The ginseng spirit began tidying the medicinal garden while Bearing the Heavens returned to Fang Zelin's side.
• Fang Zelin opened his wine jar, admired the fragrant Clear as Empty, then sealed it to share with guests and take some to Jiuchuan.

Fang Zelin cultivated, tended his garden, and entered a profound state while listening to the stream before welcoming two familiar demons. As the tiger and deer demons sought his guidance, Meng Yunqing of the Jing River arrived and was shocked by Fang Zelin's Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique.

• Fang Zelin cultivated until Bearing the Heavens Sword finished absorbing its daily share of Spiritual Qi, then ate and watered his medicinal garden.
• Fang Zelin listened to the stream and entered a meditative state, awakening around midday with a butterfly on his shoulder.
• The tiger demon and deer demon visited with medicinal herbs, and Fang Zelin told the ginseng child to plant them.
• The ginseng child revealed he had become Fang Zelin's medicine attendant, making the two demons jealous, and Fang Zelin promised to guide them when the opportunity arose.
• Meng Yunqing emerged from the Yongding River, introduced himself as being from the Jing River, and stared in shock at Fang Zelin's rain technique.

Fang Zelin guided Meng Yunqing, the second prince of the Jing River Dragon Palace, toward insight into how the Dragon Race might attain a True Dragon’s body. Meng Yunqing remained absorbed in contemplation while Fang Zelin returned to reading.

• Meng Yunqing told Fang Zelin that he had settled nearby while searching for him on his royal father’s behalf.
• Meng Yunqing asked Fang Zelin to guide him toward becoming a True Dragon, and Fang Zelin stopped him from kneeling.
• Fang Zelin asked why the Dragon Race, as head of the Aquatic Race, built its palaces beneath rivers rather than above the heavens.
• Fang Zelin explained how streams and rivers flowed into the Jing River and said that rivers and seas became kings of the valleys by taking the lower place.
• Meng Yunqing began contemplating Fang Zelin’s words, while Fang Zelin told the two yao not to disturb him and resumed reading.

Fang Zelin visited Seeking Dao Mountain again, where an old Daoist invited him to play Go and implied he would return. Back at his cabin, Fang Zelin agreed to water the spirit rice twice a day to encourage more harvests.

• Fang Zelin arrived at Seeking Dao Mountain, where the old men recognized him as a frequent visitor.
• The old fisherman sent Fang Zelin to join an old Daoist, who had just called a Go game with a boy a draw.
• Fang Zelin played Go against the old Daoist, found his black stones increasingly surrounded, and left when he sensed he had to return.
• Fang Zelin woke in his wooden cabin and learned from the medicine boy that the spirit rice had grown sturdier and produced new seedlings.
• Fang Zelin agreed to cast the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique each morning and evening, then used it to water the plants.

Fang Zelin shared his Clear as Empty wine with Zhang Weichu and He Chenyi, who praised its extraordinary flavor, and Zhang later delivered a bottle to Judge Wen. As Meng Yunqing continued meditating beneath the snow, Fang Zelin agreed to celebrate the approaching New Year and planned to buy supplies in Anzi County.

• Fang Zelin welcomed Zhang Weichu and He Chenyi, who noticed Meng Yunqing meditating nearby.
• Fang Zelin served the two visitors Clear as Empty, and they admired the wine’s fragrance, taste, and ability to reflect the sky in its cups.
• Fang Zelin gave Zhang Weichu a small bottle of Clear as Empty for Judge Wen.
• Judge Wen tasted the wine and praised it, but the City God arrived and tried to snatch the bottle.
• The herb boy worried about snow covering Meng Yunqing, but Fang Zelin assured him the dragon was fine and told him to keep sweeping.
• Fang Zelin agreed to celebrate the New Year and said he would go to Anzi County to buy supplies.

Fang Zelin celebrated New Year's Eve on Yingping Peak while Meng Yunqing remained motionless by the stream. On the Lantern Festival, Meng Yunqing passed Heaven's tribulation and gained the body of a True Dragon, and the Dragon King of the Jing River invited Fang Zelin to a banquet at the Dragon Palace.

• Fang Zelin decorated Yingping Peak for the New Year, celebrated with the tiger demon and deer demon, and left Meng Yunqing undisturbed.
• On the Lantern Festival, Meng Yunqing transformed into a dragon and rose into the sky to seek Heaven's investiture.
• Meng Yunqing endured lightning and heavenly fire, then drew up the waters of a hundred rivers and passed the tribulation.
• The Dragon King of the Jing River thanked Fang Zelin for guiding Meng Yunqing and invited him to the Dragon Palace's True Dragon banquet.
• Fang Zelin accepted the invitation, curious to visit the Dragon Palace.

Meng Yunqing survived his tribulation and attained the body of a True Dragon, with Fang Zelin’s guidance earning the Dragon King’s gratitude. The Dragon King returned with his son to the dragon palace and announced a grand banquet, leaving the Aquatic Race and Meng Yunqing’s relatives reacting to his sudden achievement.

• Meng Yunqing descended after passing his tribulation, thanked Fang Zelin, and was invited by the Dragon King of the Jing River to a banquet.
• The Dragon King took Meng Yunqing into the Yongding River to recuperate, while Fang Zelin encouraged the deer demon and another demon to cultivate.
• On the way to the dragon palace, the Dragon King told Meng Yunqing to treat Fang Zelin as a benefactor and his senior, and Meng Yunqing asked about learning to summon clouds and bring rain.
• The Dragon King announced a True Dragon banquet in half a month to celebrate Meng Yunqing’s achievement.
• Aquatic Race kings prepared gifts for the banquet, while Meng Yunqing’s elders and peers felt conflicted or pressured by his success.

Fang Zelin learned from the medicine boy that herbs cultivated from seeds had greater medicinal potency than mature herbs replanted from Wangqing Mountain. As spring arrived, Fang Zelin watched fish demons carrying goods through the Yongding River for the Jing River Dragon Lord’s banquet and resolved to make more friends among fellow cultivators.

• Fang Zelin asked the medicine boy whether his regrown ginseng leaves could be picked, then told him to watch the medicinal field while Fang Zelin prepared to visit the Dragon Palace.
• The medicine boy explained that herbs cultivated from a young age with the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique had greater medicinal potency than mature herbs replanted from Wangqing Mountain, so Fang Zelin abandoned the idea of gathering more herbs there.
• As early spring arrived, mist settled over Yingping Peak and the Yongding River, while locals grew used to the river boy rescuing people from the water.
• Fishermen spotted immense shoals of fish in the Yongding River, and Fang Zelin recognized them as fish demons hauling chests for the Jing River Dragon Lord’s banquet.
• Fang Zelin watched a black flood dragon pass through the fish demons and decided to build ties with other cultivators so he could have friends to invite to his hundredth birthday.

Demons gathered near Fallen Phoenix City and plotted to destabilize the Great Jin Dynasty so they could devour its human fortune, celebrating Demon King Wu’s return. Fang Zelin was summoned by the Dragon Lord of the Jing River to attend a banquet, and the fish demons arrived to escort him.

• A demon reported that Grandfather Tree had been killed, apparently after suffering a heavenly tribulation, and warned the others to avoid cultivators near the ends of their lives.
• The demons learned that Demon King Wu had returned to exploit Great Jin’s recovering human fortune and the fortune brought by foreign visitors.
• The demon leader ordered the others to cause locust plagues, floods, droughts, and corruption among officials to push Great Jin toward collapse.
• Fang Zelin noticed Bearing the Heavens could no longer keep up, then used the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique and prepared to cook.
• Fish demons arrived from the Yongding River with a sedan chair and invited Fang Zelin to the Dragon Lord of the Jing River’s banquet.

Fang Zelin traveled by sedan chair toward the Jing River Dragon Palace as aquatic guests gathered to celebrate Meng Yunqing’s success in attaining a True Dragon body. The Dragon Lord kept the method secret from his kin, including Lady Jade River, and prepared to welcome Fang Zelin with Meng Yunqing.

• Fang Zelin boarded the dry, pearl-adorned sedan chair and traveled toward the Jing River Dragon Palace.
• Aquatic Race guests crowded the Dragon Palace, where many dragons discussed how Meng Yunqing had succeeded in his tribulation.
• The Dragon Lord refused to reveal Fang Zelin’s involvement or explain Meng Yunqing’s success, despite his kin’s questions.
• Lady Jade River pleaded with the Dragon Lord to tell her how to attain a True Dragon body, but he urged her and the others to return to their seats.
• After his kin left, the Dragon Lord summoned Meng Yunqing and told him to welcome Fang Zelin, then keep a low profile at the banquet.

Fang Zelin arrived at the Dragon Palace for the Aquatic Race banquet celebrating Meng Yunqing’s transformation into a True Dragon. The Dragon Lord treated him as an honored peer and seated him beside the place of honor, while the other guests wondered who he was.

• Fang Zelin crossed into the strange underwater realm and arrived at the Dragon Palace, where Meng Yunqing and the Dragon Lord greeted him.
• Fang Zelin asked the Dragon Lord to change how he addressed him, and they agreed to treat each other as peers.
• The Dragon Lord led Fang Zelin into the banquet and seated him in the place of honor on his right, puzzling the Aquatic Race guests.
• The Dragon Lord toasted the gathering in celebration of Meng Yunqing attaining the body of a True Dragon, and the guests offered their congratulations.
• Fang Zelin sampled the wine and delicacies and watched the mermaids perform while the banquet grew lively.

The Great Marsh Dragon King tried to use Xiao Qin to learn about Fang Zelin, but the young dragon instead approached him hoping to trade a drink for mortal-world toys. Fang Zelin had no toys to give her, but invited her to sit beside him as the Dragon Lord left to attend to other guests.

• When the demons questioned Meng Yunqing about Fang Zelin, he only said that Fang Zelin was Uncle Fang.
• The Great Marsh Dragon King coaxed Xiao Qin into approaching Fang Zelin by promising she might get mortal-world treats in return for a gift.
• Xiao Qin gave Fang Zelin a small porcelain bottle of sweet drink and asked him for toys such as a pellet drum, shadow puppets, or little sugar figurines.
• Fang Zelin said he had no toys with him, and Xiao Qin began to leave disappointed.
• Fang Zelin called Xiao Qin back and invited her to sit beside him, while the Dragon Lord went to attend to other friends.

An overseas demon named Chen Shanyao arrived at the Jing River Dragon Palace and urged the Dragon Race to help plunder Great Jin’s fortune. The Dragon Lord rejected him, but Chen Shanyao’s claims stirred the gathered dragons, and Fang Zelin told Xiao Qin they were nonsense.

• Xiao Qin poked Bearing the Heavens and asked whether it was alive, and Fang Zelin explained its spirituality.
• A shrimp soldier announced that an enormous overseas envoy had come to congratulate the second prince on attaining a True Dragon body.
• The Dragon Lord and his guests went outside, where Chen Shanyao introduced himself as a king from the East Sea and said he had come to Great Jin seeking a share of its fortune.
• Chen Shanyao suggested that Great Jin would soon fall and urged the Dragon Race to flood it and seize the Human Race’s fortune so they could attain more True Dragon bodies.
• The Dragon Lord condemned the proposal and ordered Chen Shanyao to leave, but Chen Shanyao’s argument stirred the gathered dragons.
• Xiao Qin asked whether her elders lacked True Dragon bodies because of their rivers, and Fang Zelin said Chen Shanyao was talking nonsense.

Fang Zelin stopped Chen Shanyao from persuading the Dragon Race to seize Great Jin’s fortune, then revealed his power by helping Xiao Qin approach the body of a True Dragon. Terrified, Chen Shanyao fled toward the East Sea.

• Fang Zelin warned Xiao Qin that Chen Shanyao was a bad person and reminded the Dragon Race that easy cultivation in the East Sea would have left Chen Shanyao no reason to covet Great Jin’s fortune.
• Chen Shanyao challenged Fang Zelin, who identified himself as a cultivator and warned that anyone who meddled with Human Race fortune would have difficulty leaving Great Jin.
• Chen Shanyao argued that demons would take Great Jin’s fortune whether or not he acted, but Fang Zelin condemned seizing it as cutting off the Human Race’s path.
• Fang Zelin touched Xiao Qin between the brows, causing her to transform into a dragon as True Dragon Qi appeared and her scales shone.
• Chen Shanyao fled several hundred li, then decided to return directly to the East Sea.

Xiao Qin received Fang Zelin’s guidance and showed the potential to become a True Dragon, while the other dragons realized their earlier behavior had cost them a chance to seek his help. After learning that demons and monsters would grow more active as Great Jin declined, Fang Zelin left the dragon palace to strengthen his cultivation.

• Xiao Qin transformed into a dragon, and Meng Yunqing and the other dragons realized she could eventually become a True Dragon.
• The dragons discovered Chen Shanyao had fled, and Fang Zelin decided to let him go as long as he stopped targeting the Human Race’s fortune.
• The Dragon King told the dragons Fang Zelin would not guide them because their earlier behavior showed their Dao did not accord with his.
• Fang Zelin decided to return and cultivate so he could face the demons and monsters expected to appear as Great Jin declined.
• Xiao Qin asked Fang Zelin to take her to the human world, and he told her she could visit when she was older before leaving in a seahorse-drawn sedan chair.

Fang Zelin returned to Yingping Peak, cultivated, and spent the passing season tending his fields before hearing that the Great Jin emperor was gravely ill. When a red star appeared in the sky, he and Zhang Weichu recognized it as Mars Guards the Heart and feared the dynasty’s end was near.

• Fang Zelin returned to Yingping Peak, sent the Aquatic Race shrimp soldiers away, and cultivated with Bearing the Heavens.
• Fang Zelin played Go with the old Daoist on Seeking Dao Mountain and lost from a nearly hopeless position.
• As early summer arrived, Fang Zelin harvested his spirit rice, brewed some into wine, and stored the rest.
• Zhang Weichu told Fang Zelin that the emperor’s health was failing, officials were being exiled, and hardship was driving people toward Yuanqing Prefecture.
• Fang Zelin and Zhang Weichu saw a fiery red star on the horizon and identified it as Mars Guards the Heart, an omen that could be used to inflame bloodshed.