Recaps

Gu Yuan was ordered to investigate the attack on the heir of the Prince of Mozhou and the theft of his tribute, while secretly intending to wreck the case so he would be dismissed. Qi Yueli used his thoughts to uncover the Heavenly Calamity Sect’s connection to the ambush and sent Shangguan Weiming to investigate the Orthodox Yang Taoist Order in secret; Gu Yuan then confronted the Mozhou heir.

• Dong Wuj iu reported that the attackers had left a ghost-marked token, and that the heir of the Prince of Mozhou had been found alive.
• Qi Yueli assigned Gu Yuan seven days to solve the case and threatened to dismiss him if he failed.
• Gu Yuan’s thoughts revealed that the Heavenly Calamity Sect had ambushed the procession to tamper with the tribute and that the Mozhou heir had been its target.
• Qi Yueli ordered Shangguan Weiming to investigate the Orthodox Yang Taoist Order secretly, without informing Gu Yuan.
• Gu Yuan kicked open the Mozhou heir’s doors and ordered his men to beat him for insulting the Mystic Shadow Guard.

Gu Yuan beat Mo Jiang, the King of Mozhou’s heir, until he confessed that he had come to the capital to retrieve the Mo Clan Mechanism Book. Qi Yueli covered for Gu Yuan while learning that Xiao Chen, the King of Qingzhou’s heir, was nearing the capital.

• Gu Yuan had Mo Jiang beaten until Mo Jiang confessed to seeking the Mo Clan Mechanism Book and assisting a hidden agent in the capital.
• Gu Yuan left Mo Jiang in the Mystic Shadow Guards’ hands and thought that keeping the mechanism book would disrupt the original plot.
• Gu Yuan met Ning Yan and persuaded him to go to the Bureau of Music instead of seeing Mo Jiang.
• Qi Yueli ordered medicine and gifts for Mo Jiang, then punished Gu Yuan by docking one year of his salary for injuring him.
• Qi Yueli learned that Xiao Chen was within a hundred li of Qi Capital and expected him to arrive the next day.

Gu Yuan used a system reward to craft powerful black stockings for Qi Yueli, who was shocked by their effects and thanked him. Qi Yueli began teaching him True Essence Weapon Manifestation, which Gu Yuan planned to use against the princes arriving in the capital.

• Qi Yueli learned that the princes were due to arrive in the capital and accepted Gu Yuan's plan to teach them a lesson as a way to buy time before war with Qingzhou.
• Gu Yuan collected black silk from Gu Shu and claimed a system reward, gaining The Exploitation of the Works of Nature, a method for crafting implements.
• Gu Yuan presented Qi Yueli with a pair of black stockings he had made and asked her to try them on.
• Qi Yueli discovered the stockings merged with her true essence, increased her strength by more than ten percent, and could be concealed or used to disrupt martial artists within ten zhang.
• Qi Yueli thanked Gu Yuan and began teaching him True Essence Weapon Manifestation, which he intended to use against the princes.

Huai'an went to the city gates hoping to see Gu Yuan as the heirs of the Nine Provinces entered the capital. Gu Yuan welcomed the Qingzhou delegation alongside Ning Yan, while the mysterious female heir of Ruzhou and Qingzhou’s Xiao Chen entered the story’s orbit.

• Xiaoyun persuaded Huai'an to visit the city gates, where she hoped Gu Yuan would notice her.
• Ning Yan discussed the provincial kings’ heirs and recognized that Gu Yuan’s planned challenge would send the Nine Provinces a message from the Empress.
• Gu Yuan told Ning Yan that the heir of Ruzhou was a woman, then saw Huai'an’s carriage and the approaching Qingzhou delegation.
• Huai'an went to have tea atop the city gate after Qingzhou’s arrival interrupted her chance to see Gu Yuan.
• Lü Luo identified Gu Yuan as the silver-armored martial arts genius, while Xiao Chen said he disliked Gu Yuan’s name.

Gu Yuan met Xiao Chen and learned that Hong Ni and Lü Luo were deceived into serving the King of Qingzhou, while a rivalry emerged between Gu Yuan and Xiao Chen. Lu Zhaoming challenged Xiao Chen, but his sister Lu Yunshu stopped him; after Lu Yunshu arrived and met Gu Yuan, Princess Huai'an hurried over, while Xiao Chen saw a chance to pursue her.

• Gu Yuan recognized Hong Ni and Lü Luo as survivors of the King of Qingzhou’s brutal deathsworn training and pitied them, puzzling Hong Ni.
• Gu Yuan and Xiao Chen exchanged distant greetings, and the system explained that Xiao Chen’s heavenly mandate made them natural rivals.
• Lu Zhaoming arrived by hurling his spear into the ground and challenged Xiao Chen, but a message from his eldest sister, Lu Yunshu, stopped him.
• Lu Yunshu arrived with Lu Ling and greeted Gu Yuan, while Lu Ling teased Ning Yan about courting her sister.
• Huai'an heard about Lu Yunshu and rushed down from the city wall to join the group; Xiao Chen recognized a chance to win the princess’s heart.

Huai'an arranged a martial arts contest among the provincial heirs, but Xiao Chen challenged them all at once and then tried to draw Gu Yuan into the fight. Gu Yuan revealed his True Essence Weapon Manifestation and declared that he would fight all eight alone.

• Huai'an asked Gu Yuan to arrange a sparring contest, and six provincial heirs arrived together to join Lu Zhaoming and Xiao Chen.
• Gu Yuan used his true qi to shield Huai'an from the heirs' powerful presence, and Hong Ni explained that his true essence martial physique let him manifest weapons despite his Sixth Grade cultivation.
• Huai'an offered her jade pendant as a prize for the contest, and Xiao Chen challenged the seven other heirs to fight him at once.
• Xiao Chen invited Gu Yuan to join the fight, and Gu Yuan pointed out that refusing would risk damaging the empress's reputation before agreeing to participate.
• After Gu Yuan manifested a long sword from true essence, Xiao Chen said he would fight Gu Yuan first and then the other seven, but Gu Yuan declared that he would fight all eight alone.

Gu Yuan defeated Lu Zhaoming and six other princes' heirs with ease outside the Qi Capital, then faced Xiao Chen, who remained confident in his fifth-rank advantage. As their final battle began, Gu Yuan hinted that he had not yet shown his full strength.

• Lu Zhaoming attacked Gu Yuan with his Cold Moon Dragon Spear, but Gu Yuan caught the spear tip between two fingers and sent him flying.
• Gu Yuan challenged the princes' heirs to attack together, and six of them joined forces while Xiao Chen chose to wait.
• Qi Yueli watched Gu Yuan's fight, wondered whether he would choose to remain by her side, and then vanished after threatening the Orthodox Yang Taoist Order.
• Gu Yuan defeated all six heirs in fewer than ten exchanges without moving from his spot, leaving Xiao Chen as his final opponent.
• Xiao Chen declared that Gu Yuan's sixth-rank strength could not overcome his fifth-rank cultivation, but Gu Yuan replied that he had not yet reached his limit.

Gu Yuan defeated Xiao Chen despite his Heavenly Martial Physique, revealing a power that could control others’ true essence and even repel a third-rank fighter. After ending the reception, he left the heirs in Ning Yan’s care and went to rest in Huai'an’s carriage.

• Gu Yuan took Xiao Chen’s White Tiger attack head-on and mocked him before knocking him senseless with a punch.
• Xiao Chen summoned his Heavenly Martial Clone, but Gu Yuan activated the Martial God Physique and shattered the clone with one blow.
• Gu Yuan overwhelmed Xiao Chen, then struck Lü Luo away when she tried to intervene.
• Gu Yuan declared the reception over and asked Ning Yan to escort the provincial heirs into the city.
• Huai'an offered Gu Yuan a jade pendant and permission to use her carriage, where he lay down to rest.

Xiao Chen punished Hong Ni after his defeat, while Lu Yunshu arranged for her to be healed. Gu Yuan woke in Huai'an’s lap and promised to visit her, as a thunderstorm erupted over the Orthodox Yang Taoist Order, where Qi Yueli demanded the truth about its stolen Heaven-Deceiving Cover.

• Xiao Chen ordered Lü Luo to strike Hong Ni, leaving her badly injured, then entered the city with Lü Luo.
• Lu Yunshu sent Lu Ling to heal Hong Ni, and the visiting provincial heirs accepted Gu Yuan’s strength.
• Gu Yuan woke with his head in Huai'an’s lap, promised to visit her, and saw lightning flash over the Qi Capital after he began swearing an oath.
• Qi Yueli confronted seven Orthodox Yang Taoist Order elders over the Heaven-Deceiving Cover, but they claimed it had been stolen years earlier.
• Qi Yueli used Gu Yuan’s black-stockings artifact to disrupt the Heavenly Dipper Grand Formation, destroyed its core, and threatened to destroy the Orthodox Yang Taoist Order if the elders lied again.

Qi Yueli took the Orthodox Yang Sword from the Orthodox Yang Taoist Order after learning that Ren Rumo had borrowed the Heaven-Deceiving Cover, then promoted Gu Yuan to Mystic Shadow Guard commander. Reading Gu Yuan’s diary, she discovered he planned to rebel and gather provincial allies, so she summoned him to the palace and resolved to send him to suppress the rebels.

• Daoist Zhenyi told Qi Yueli that Ren Rumo had taken the Heaven-Deceiving Cover three years earlier with an edict from the late emperor, and Qi Yueli took the Orthodox Yang Sword from the temple.
• Zhenyi told the Taoists to cultivate behind closed doors, explaining that the Heavenly Calamity Sect had been a disposable pawn.
• Shangguan Weiming reported that Gu Yuan had defeated the provincial heirs and driven back a third-rank expert, and Qi Yueli appointed him a Mystic Shadow Guard commander.
• Qi Yueli read Gu Yuan’s diary and learned he intended to rebel, win over the kings of Mozhou, Shuzhou, and Ruzhou, and exploit a conflict between Qingzhou and the empress.
• Qi Yueli summoned Gu Yuan to the palace and decided to send him to suppress the rebels.

Gu Yuan was promoted to commander of the Mystic Shadow Guard and ordered by Qi Yueli to hunt down the bandits who attacked the Heir of Mozhou and recover the festival gifts. He gathered allies and supplies before setting out, with Qi Yueli giving him a tracking mirror and promising to help him advance when he returned.

• Qi Yueli promoted Gu Yuan and gave him the Orthodox Yang Sword, ordering him to hunt the bandits with Shangguan Weiming and Dong Wuj iu.
• Lu Zhaoming and Lu Ling arrived at the Gu residence to join the expedition after Lu Yunshu guessed the empress wanted Gu Yuan out of Qi Capital.
• Gu Yuan told Gu Shu to accept any gifts visitors brought and warned Meixiang to avoid people from Qingzhou while he was away.
• Qi Yueli visited Gu Yuan, gave him the Cloud-Peering Mirror, and said she would help him refine his sinews and bones when he returned.

Xiao Ye dismissed concerns about Gu Yuan and learned that the Northern Desert would send an envoy delegation to Qi Capital, while Gu Yuan and his companions followed a trace to Nine Geese Village. After entering the suspicious village in disguise, they realized someone had released a knockout drug into their room.

• Xiao Ye’s adviser assured him that Gu Yuan’s rise and the Qingzhou heir apparent’s defeat would not disrupt their plans, then urged him to use the Northern Desert delegation to present the empress with a grand gift.
• As Gu Yuan and his companions departed, someone told Hong Ni to meet at Mount Mangdang that night to learn the truth about her family’s murder.
• The Cloud-Peering Mirror led Gu Yuan, Shangguan Weiming, Lu Zhaoming, and Lu Ling toward Nine Geese Mountain, where Gu Yuan recognized the location of the Heavenly Calamity Sect’s headquarters.
• Disguised as traveling merchants, the four persuaded an old man to let them stay in Nine Geese Village, despite the village’s rule against hosting outsiders.
• After the old man left them in his home, sandalwood smoke spread through the room, and Lu Ling identified it as a knockout drug.

Gu Yuan and his companions escaped the villagers’ attempt to use them as sacrifices and learned that Nine Geese Village had been offering people to its mountain god for two years. After Lu Ling discovered that Zhu Laosi was dying from evil corruption, Gu Yuan killed him for revealing the villagers’ plans to sacrifice children.

• The villagers drugged Gu Yuan and his companions, tied them up, and prepared to offer them to the mountain god, but Gu Yuan pretended to be unconscious and escaped his cellar.
• Gu Yuan reunited with Lu Zhaoming and Shangguan Weiming, then found Lu Ling beating Zhu Laosi in a hut after he had tried to assault her.
• Gu Yuan threatened Zhu Laosi and asked him about the mountain god and the sacrifices; Lu Ling examined him and found that evil corruption had left him with at most ten days to live.
• Zhu Laosi revealed that villagers had sacrificed passersby for two years and planned to offer a baby girl and a three-year-old child if no outsiders had arrived.
• Gu Yuan condemned Zhu Laosi for the children’s deaths and stomped him to death.

Gu Yuan and his companions chose to confront the mountain god of Nine Geese Mountain rather than risk it sacrificing more children, and they prepared an ambush with the Mystic Shadow Guard. As the mountain god arrived at Nine Geese Village’s altar, Gu Yuan struck with the Orthodox Yang Sword, and the guards surrounded the creature and villagers.

• Lu Ling suspected the mountain god was an evil entity being raised with human sacrifices, and Gu Yuan vowed to kill it despite the risk to their mission.
• Lu Ling, Lu Zhaoming, and Shangguan Weiming agreed to help Gu Yuan, who ordered Shangguan to position the Mystic Shadow Guard around the village.
• Gu Yuan revealed that the Orthodox Yang Sword was highly effective against evil entities, while Lu Zhaoming asked him to forge a dharma sword.
• Qi Yueli worried that Gu Yuan was in danger, entered seclusion by decree, and used the Cloud-Peering Mirror to seek him out.
• The villagers gathered at the altar with child sacrifices, and the mountain god arrived in a cloud of black mist.
• Gu Yuan attacked with the Orthodox Yang Sword, injuring the mountain god, as the Mystic Shadow Guard surrounded the altar and villagers.

Gu Yuan fought the black mist in Nine Geese Village until it overwhelmed his mind and trapped him in a tempting vision of imperial power and pleasure. He recognized a mysterious black book marked with the word “Immortality,” leaving him with a clue to the illusion.

• The black mist incited the villagers to attack, and Gu Yuan ordered the Mystic Shadow Guard to kill those corrupted by the evil presence.
• Gu Yuan refused the black mist’s offer to retreat, but it spread rapidly and caused everything to go black.
• Gu Yuan awoke in a vision as the empress’s imperial consort and learned that the King of Shuzhou planned to send the Lu siblings into the palace.
• Qi Yueli offered to pass the throne to Gu Yuan and let him take the Lu siblings into his harem, but a black book fell from her clothes.
• Gu Yuan opened the book despite Qi Yueli’s objections and discovered that its pages contained the word “Immortality.”

Gu Yuan broke free of an illusion and defeated the evil serpent and the scarred man at Nine Geese Village, but a fissure swallowed him and the others. Trapped beneath Nine Geese Mountain, he drew a map of the labyrinth from memory while Qi Yueli followed it, as a black-robed figure prepared to create a Nine-Clawed Evil Dragon.

• Gu Yuan rejected the illusion of Qi Yueli and used his Orthodox Yang Sword to defeat the evil serpent and the scarred man, freeing the Mystic Shadow Guards.
• The scarred man revealed that he had another plan, and a fissure opened beneath the altar, pulling everyone into the depths of Nine Geese Mountain.
• Qi Yueli condemned the use of human sacrifices to raise dragons and leaped into the fissure after the others.
• Gu Yuan recalled the labyrinth map from his past experience and drew it in his diary while trying to locate himself.
• Qi Yueli read Gu Yuan's diary, recognized it as a map, and followed it through a dragon-patterned door toward the labyrinth's center.
• A black-robed figure held two dragon cores and declared his plan to create a Nine-Clawed Evil Dragon and take revenge on Qi Yueli.

Qi Yueli confronted the black-robed man raising sinful dragons beneath Nine Geese Mountain, but after overpowering him, she was engulfed by evil miasma that began corrupting her mind. As Gu Yuan raced toward the maze’s center and Lu Ling rescued Mystic Shadow Guards, Qi Yueli lost consciousness and seemed to see Gu Yuan at the entrance.

• Qi Yueli arrived at the maze’s center and challenged the black-robed man, who revealed he was raising dragons with human sacrifices.
• Gu Yuan discovered he had taken the wrong route, defeated ambushing Heavenly Calamity Sect assassins, and hurried toward the maze’s center.
• Lu Ling rescued Mystic Shadow Guards with the help of her gu worms and followed their trail through the maze.
• Qi Yueli destroyed the two sinful dragons and overwhelmed the black-robed man, who revealed that he knew she was the empress of Great Qi.
• The black-robed man used the Sinful Dragon Pearls to restore his dragons, then shattered one and released evil miasma that entered Qi Yueli’s body.
• As the miasma disrupted Qi Yueli’s true essence and clouded her mind, she thought she saw Gu Yuan at the entrance.

Gu Yuan killed the black-robed man with Scorching Yang Flame and tried to save Qi Yueli from the evil miasma, but her confusion led to an intimate encounter that Lu Ling accidentally interrupted. Qi Yueli fled with her diary, leaving Gu Yuan to decide he would help her again in Qi Capital and keep what happened between them unspoken.

• Gu Yuan burned away the evil miasma attacking him and killed the black-robed man with his Scorching Yang Flame, while the dragon pearl disappeared.
• Gu Yuan caught the afflicted Qi Yueli and tried to treat her, but she mistook him for a betrayer and pinned him down.
• Gu Yuan surrounded them both with Scorching Yang Flame, and Qi Yueli kissed and bit him while their clothes burned away.
• Lu Ling entered the labyrinth and was blasted away by a surge of true essence as the entrance gate shut; Qi Yueli took Lu Ling's outer robe and left with her diary.
• Gu Yuan resolved to help Qi Yueli clear the remaining evil miasma in Qi Capital and not mention what happened unless she did.

Gu Yuan gathered the survivors in the maze and led them to the Heavenly Calamity Sect’s hidden treasure vault, openly claiming some of its riches for himself. Meanwhile, Qi Yueli suppressed the evil corruption in her body and worried about what Gu Yuan would think if he learned that she was Lin Yao.

• Lu Ling clung to Gu Yuan after someone stole her clothes, and Gu Yuan explained that a mysterious expert had defeated the evil dragon and mastermind.
• Gu Yuan asked Lu Ling to use her gu insects to gather the maze’s survivors, then identified Ren Rumo as the likely culprit behind the incident.
• Gu Yuan showed the Mystic Shadow Guards how to open a hidden door and found the festival tribute alongside the sect’s treasure hoard.
• Gu Yuan ordered the guards to record the treasures but said he would embezzle several piles of rare artifact-making materials, leaving Lu Zhaoming, Lu Ling, and Shangguan Weiming stunned.
• Qi Yueli suppressed the remaining evil corruption, recalled kissing Gu Yuan, and wondered whether he would stay by her side if he discovered she was Lin Yao.

Hong Ni questioned the story behind her loyalty to Xiao Chen while Lü Luo tasked her with stealing the Mo Clan Mechanism Book from Meixiang. After Gu Yuan returned and gave away the bandit treasure, Qi Yueli accepted his actions without protest, leaving Gu Yuan baffled and heading to the palace to seek her forgiveness.

• Hong Ni recalled a letter claiming Xiao Chen had arranged the Mu Clan massacre to make her serve him, and she decided to investigate the truth.
• Lü Luo gave Hong Ni a hairpin and told her that Xiao Chen wanted them to approach Meixiang and take the Mo Clan Mechanism Book.
• Gu Yuan distributed treasure recovered from the bandits to the people at the Qi Capital’s city gate, while Shangguan Weiming and Dong Wuj iu worried he had acted without the empress’s permission.
• Qi Yueli calmly accepted Gu Yuan’s actions and granted Zhao Sheng and the others three days’ leave.
• After hearing that Qi Yueli had not punished him, Gu Yuan ordered the distribution to continue and went to the palace to beg her forgiveness.

Gu Yuan collected valuable artifacts from Great Qi’s treasury while Qi Yueli learned from his diary that he planned to undermine her and pursue immortality. After Jiaozhou’s heir apparent was found dead in the capital, Gu Shu was detained, and Gu Yuan went to investigate the unexplained murder.

• Gu Yuan accepted a reward from the state vault and took more than ten valuable artifacts and all the artifact-making materials.
• Qi Yueli read Gu Yuan’s diary and learned of his plans involving immortality, the provinces, and the approaching Heavenly Longevity Festival.
• Duan Tianya reported that Jiaozhou’s heir apparent had been murdered without visible injuries or a known cause of death, and Qi Yueli ordered an investigation completed within three days.
• Qi Yueli learned that Shangguan Ling, Xiao Chen’s two companions, and Gu Shu had visited the heir apparent before his death, and she authorized Duan Wuya to ask Gu Yuan for help.
• Meixiang told Gu Yuan that the Mystic Shadow Guard had detained Gu Shu, so he set out with her to examine the heir apparent’s death.

Gu Yuan investigated the Jiaozhou heir’s unexplained death and used the Witch God Sacrificial Art to reveal signs that witchcraft had killed him. The discovery left Duan Tianya and the others stunned when Gu Yuan admitted that the method itself was witchcraft.

• Gu Yuan arrived at the Jiaozhou heir’s residence and learned that Empress had assigned him to help Duan Tianya investigate the murder because Gu Shu was involved.
• Zhao Long told Gu Yuan that the heir had no wounds or internal injuries and that Shangguan Ling, Hong Ni, Lü Luo, and Gu Shu had visited him before his death.
• Gu Yuan claimed the heir had left clues, obtained the Witch God Sacrificial Art from his system, and summoned Duan Tianya to the room.
• Gu Yuan used clean water and the Witch God Sacrificial Art to reveal marks left by the heir’s struggle, concluding that witchcraft had killed him.
• Duan Tianya asked Gu Yuan to teach him the technique, and Gu Yuan admitted that it was witchcraft, alarming everyone present.

Gu Yuan investigated Long Ye’s death and uncovered signs implicating Shangguan Lin, whom he recognized as the disguised Miss Shangguan. After reassuring Qi Yueli about Gu Yuan’s alleged witchcraft, Duan Tianya left him to investigate alone; Gu Yuan ended by proposing an alliance with Shangguan Lin and demanding that Ruzhou raise an army in rebellion when he commanded it.

• Gu Yuan used a talisman to reveal traces at the scene and identified the emblem of the Shangguan family, then insisted on visiting Shangguan Ling alone.
• Duan Tianya reported to Qi Yueli that Gu Yuan believed witchcraft had killed Long Ye, but Qi Yueli trusted Gu Yuan and dismissed concerns about the forbidden art.
• Qi Yueli reflected on the return of witchcraft and planned to visit Gu Yuan that night to address her lingering affliction.
• Gu Yuan met Shangguan Lin and suggested that she and Long Ye had been expected to become engaged before Long Ye’s death.
• Gu Yuan revealed that he knew Shangguan Lin was actually Miss Shangguan and asked what she had discussed with Long Ye.
• Gu Yuan offered to help resolve Ruzhou’s internal strife and told Shangguan Lin that he wanted Ruzhou to raise an army in rebellion when necessary.

Gu Yuan revealed his witchcraft to Shangguan Lin and asked the Shangguan family to support his future rebellion, while investigating Long Ye’s murder. The pair learned that someone was using the name of Great Li to target the heirs of the Nine Provinces, and a second black silk message arrived for Shangguan Lin.

• Gu Yuan showed Shangguan Lin his witchcraft and argued that the Gu family needed to rebel to escape the empress’s coming investigation.
• Shangguan Lin agreed to relay Gu Yuan’s proposal to her father, then explained that Long Ye had received a black silk message before his death.
• Shangguan Lin revealed the message calling for the destruction of Qi and the slaughter of the Nine Provinces’ heirs, marked with the character for “one.”
• Gu Yuan told Shangguan Lin that Long Ye had been killed by spirit-seizing witchcraft and warned that she would be the next target.
• A maid delivered an anonymous letter to Shangguan Lin, and Gu Yuan found a second black silk message marked with the character for “two.”

Gu Yuan deduced that the sorcery killings were meant to turn the people against the empress, then searched Shangguan Lin’s belongings for the medium used to target her. He found black energy on the replacement tassel of her sword and realized the attack was about to begin.

• Gu Yuan explained that the black silk was meant to provoke the empress into searching for a killer while the heirs kept dying, weakening her support among the people.
• Gu Yuan suspected that Qingzhou’s companions had given Long Ye a sorcery medium, and Shangguan Lin realized her death was intended to let the killers present both pieces of silk to the empress.
• Gu Yuan asked Shangguan Lin about new items she had received, and she mistakenly handed him an intimate undergarment before taking it back in embarrassment.
• In an underground chamber, a black-masked man assured a white-masked young master that Junior Brother Zi, a Great Shaman, would kill the heir of Ruzhou with sorcery.
• Gu Yuan examined Shangguan Lin’s sword and saw black energy on its replacement tassel, identifying it as the medium and sensing that the attack was imminent.