Recaps

Shen Ge visited the Sea Peak Merchant Association to inspect its auction items and search for objects with Spiritual Qi. After placing bids on a few items, he entered the last storage room, where a bead and a broken sword tip stirred his spirits.

• Shen Ge used his Spring Breeze Garden token to enter the Sea Peak Merchant Association and asked to inspect the auction items.
• The young woman refused to let Shen Ge see every item, but agreed to show him the storage rooms containing the two or three hundred items he had marked.
• Shen Ge rejected the medicinal herbs and found a sword with a faint trace of Spiritual Qi, placing an eight-hundred-tael bid on it.
• Shen Ge inspected several more rooms, found little of interest, and placed a few modest bids before proceeding to the final room.
• Shen Ge entered the last storage room and sensed Spiritual Qi from the bead and broken sword tip inside.

Shen Ge bought a demon core and a Law Treasure sword tip at an auction, then refined the sword tip and tried to make a Law Artifact. After half a month in Linhai City, he set out for Sunset Valley to meet other cultivators before going to the Spirit Moon Sect.

• Shen Ge bid on a demon core and a Law Treasure sword tip, then paid for his purchases with silver notes and pills.
• Shen Ge sold several items back to the auction house and gave the girl who assisted him a thousand taels of silver.
• Shen Ge refined the sword tip and gained a weapon he could direct at will.
• Shen Ge spent a day inscribing formation patterns on a longsword, but his failed attempts left it ugly; he refined it anyway.
• After half a month in Linhai City, Shen Ge set out for Sunset Valley, north of Kaohai Commandery.

Shen Ge and Lü Yang headed toward Sunset Immortal Market, but they were ambushed by five cultivators as they entered Sunset Valley. Shen Ge fought three opponents while Lü Yang tried to evade their two strongest attackers, leaving Shen Ge surrounded by a barrage of spells.

• Shen Ge learned from a villager about the dangerous Ghost Forest near Sunset Valley and left Li Household Town.
• Shen Ge met Lü Yang, a seventh-layer Rogue Cultivator, and agreed to guide him to the immortal market.
• As they traveled, Shen Ge and Lü Yang discussed joining the Spirit Moon Sect and saw cultivators riding a giant eagle.
• Upon entering Sunset Valley, Shen Ge and Lü Yang were attacked by five cultivators wielding spells and Law Artifacts.
• Shen Ge charged at a seventh-layer opponent while Lü Yang maneuvered away from the one-eyed leader and the white-haired cultivator.
• Three attackers surrounded Shen Ge with fireballs and earth spikes as he weighed whether he could withstand their assault.

Shen Ge used a Law Treasure fragment to defeat the ambushers and shared their spoils with Lü Yang before they reached a hidden market. After entering, Shen Ge began browsing the stalls for goods.

• Shen Ge killed the green-robed Daoist with the Law Treasure fragment, then pursued and killed another attacker while the man in purple escaped.
• Shen Ge helped Lü Yang drive off the remaining attackers, killed the white-haired man, and gave Lü Yang a bottle of Five-Leaf Ginseng pills.
• Shen Ge and Lü Yang collected the dead attackers' Storage Bags, and Shen Ge gave one to Lü Yang in recognition of his help.
• Lü Yang used a Sound Transmission Talisman to open a path through the market's illusion barrier, and the two entered the market before parting ways.
• Shen Ge went to the trading area and began inspecting the stalls, where a vendor offered him an intermediate Fire Dragon Talisman.

Shen Ge bargained with Wang Wei over talismans, trading spirit herbs and a storage bag for three valuable talismans. The deal ended with Wang Wei grudgingly refunding Shen Ge five spirit stones and warning himself never to do business with him again.

• Shen Ge bought Wang Wei's mid-grade Fire Dragon Talisman for eight lower-grade spirit stones after negotiating its price down.
• Wang Wei offered three upper-grade talismans for two hundred spirit stones, and Shen Ge negotiated to pay with spirit herbs and a storage bag.
• Wang Wei valued Shen Ge's poorly preserved Clear Brightness Grass at eighty spirit stones and his storage bag and its contents at forty.
• Shen Ge added more medicinal herbs, drawing the attention of nearby pedestrians, and Wang Wei hurriedly accepted the goods in exchange for the talismans.
• Shen Ge demanded the five spirit stones left over from the trade, and Wang Wei gave him the money and two Chicken Blood Flowers before telling him to leave.

Shen Ge traded three Five-Leaf Ginseng plants for a talisman compendium and paper, then rented a cave abode to study talisman-making. After many failed attempts, he drew one Golden Sword Talisman and decided that crafting talismans was too costly to pursue for profit.

• Shen Ge bought the Complete Compendium of Low-Level Talismans and two stacks of talisman paper by trading three Five-Leaf Ginseng plants.
• Shen Ge rented a cave abode and found that the compendium described thirty talismans, but only ten were for attack, defense, or movement.
• Shen Ge repeatedly failed to draw a Golden Sword Talisman, blaming an invisible force he called the power of heaven and earth.
• Shen Ge practiced for more than four hours and finally drew one Golden Sword Talisman with his last sheet of talisman paper.
• Shen Ge calculated that his materials and time made talisman-making unprofitable and abandoned the idea of selling talismans.

Shen Ge visited the market in disguise and found a Wan Household stall selling three high-grade Law Artifacts. After waiting for potential robbers to leave, he bought all three and returned safely to his cave abode, where he began refining the folding fan.

• Shen Ge disguised himself and went to the market to look for talisman paper and other useful goods.
• He discovered a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator selling three Law Artifacts and learned from other shoppers that the stall belonged to the Wan Household.
• Shen Ge held back while several buyers hesitated over the prices, noticing that greedy groups were watching those who seemed able to afford the artifacts.
• After the onlookers dispersed, Shen Ge paid twelve hundred Spirit Stones for all three Law Artifacts and quickly left the market.
• Shen Ge avoided being followed on his way back to his cave abode and began refining the folding fan Law Artifact.

After refining his three Law Artifacts, Shen Ge browsed the market and met Lü Yang, whom he invited for a drink. Lü Yang revealed a connection that could help him enter Flowing Gold Valley, while Shen Ge said he planned to join the Spirit Moon Sect after the market ended.

• Shen Ge completed refining his three Law Artifacts and went to browse the market.
• Shen Ge bought an ice phoenix pendant and ran into Lü Yang, then invited him to a restaurant.
• Lü Yang explained that he had hidden his Storage Bag because he had feared Shen Ge might kill him after Shen Ge beheaded the white-haired man.
• Over drinks, Lü Yang told Shen Ge that his grandfather had connections to Flowing Gold Valley and offered to help him join.
• Shen Ge declined Lü Yang's invitation to travel with him and said he intended to join the Spirit Moon Sect after the market ended.

After leaving the dwindling market, Shen Ge accepted a Law Artifact from a battered boy in exchange for killing three Rogue Cultivators pursuing him. Shen Ge wondered whether the boy was a child of fortune, then let him go after the boy found a technique among the corpses and hinted there might be more to his luck.

• Shen Ge left the nearly deserted market after spending five months improving his talisman drawing and building up his supplies.
• A boy at the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining offered Shen Ge the Azure Dark Robe, a defensive Law Artifact, to kill three men who had attacked him.
• Shen Ge killed the three Sixth Layer Rogue Cultivators with his Golden Light Sword and advised the boy not to flaunt valuable possessions.
• After pretending to leave, Shen Ge watched as the boy searched the corpses, found a book called Spirit Rhinoceros Finger, and hurried away.
• Shen Ge suspected the boy had found something valuable but decided not to pursue him, reasoning that they had no enmity and the boy might be a child of fortune.

After searching Qingyang Commandery for the Spirit Moon Sect, Shen Ge reunited with Su Liuyue and was brought to the sect. Mo Qingyu offered to take him as her disciple, and Shen Ge eagerly accepted.

• Shen Ge searched the mountains of Qingyang Commandery for the Spirit Moon Sect while nearing a breakthrough in Qi Refinement.
• Su Liuyue sensed Shen Ge’s disciple token and went to bring him to the sect after her master, Mo Qingyu, approved.
• Su Liuyue met Shen Ge on the road, accepted his carved ice phoenix gift, and carried him to the Spirit Moon Sect.
• Su Liuyue brought Shen Ge to Mo Qingyu, who praised his aptitude and offered to take him as her disciple.
• Shen Ge knelt and greeted Mo Qingyu as his Master and Su Liuyue as his Eldest Senior Sister.

Shen Ge became Mo Qingyu’s second personal disciple and replaced his harmful cultivation method with the Gold Sword Instruction. After settling into his new residence and converting his spiritual power, he prepared to use his remaining pills to reach Foundation Establishment.

• Mo Qingyu accepted Shen Ge as her second personal disciple, warned him about the Yin Cold Instruction’s harm, and gave him the Gold Sword Instruction and supplies.
• Mo Qingyu announced that she would enter seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm and placed Su Liuyue in charge of Divine Sword Peak.
• Su Liuyue took Shen Ge to his courtyard and explained how to open it and get around the peak.
• Shen Ge spent three months converting his spiritual power to the Gold Sword Instruction, reaching the early Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement and increasing his Sword Qi’s power.
• Shen Ge returned inside and began cultivating with his remaining pills, aiming to reach Foundation Establishment.

Shen Ge broke through to Foundation Establishment and learned to fly on his Golden Light Sword before visiting Su Liuyue’s cave abode. There, he met Jin Ling, who learned that Shen Ge was her senior brother, and Su Liuyue invited them inside.

• Shen Ge reached Foundation Establishment after five days of cultivation, gaining more than three times his previous spiritual power and cleansing impurities from his body.
• Shen Ge tested his Golden Light Sword in flight, discovered he could fly at full speed for about four hours, and later returned to the mountain.
• Qin Yu, Li Kui, Liu Xiao, and Lu Fan watched Shen Ge fly and discussed his rapid cultivation, his connection to Su Liuyue, and visiting him.
• Shen Ge arrived at Su Liuyue’s cave abode and met Jin Ling, who mistook him for a junior before Su Liuyue clarified that Jin Ling was his junior sister.
• Su Liuyue opened the cave’s restrictions and invited Shen Ge and Jin Ling inside.

Shen Ge asked Su Liuyue and Jin Ling about sect affairs before meeting several Azure Jade Peak and other hall disciples who welcomed him and offered advice. He learned more about cultivation and sect life, while Liu Xiao invited him to consider joining the Artifact Refining Hall.

• Shen Ge asked Su Liuyue about sect resources and received a Jade Slip containing the rules for new disciples.
• Jin Ling asked Su Liuyue about Shen Ge's sudden Foundation Establishment and received Golden Body Talismans and Burst Talismans for hunting Burrowing Spiders.
• Qin Yu, Lu Fan, Li Kui, and Liu Xiao visited Shen Ge, introduced themselves, and welcomed him to the sect.
• Liu Xiao invited Shen Ge to join the Artifact Refining Hall because of his Supreme-Grade Metal Spirit Root, but Qin Yu urged him to focus on consolidating his cultivation first.
• Shen Ge invited the visitors into his courtyard and asked about sect affairs and cultivation, learning from their answers.

Shen Ge accepted a staged artifact-refining mission and bought spirit fruit, wine, and a flower before visiting Su Liuyue with gifts. She gave him talismans and advised him to focus on cultivation while learning artifact refining and talismans only as time allowed.

• Shen Ge accepted a long-term artifact-refining mission that offered increasing contribution points as he advanced through its stages.
• Shen Ge bought spirit fruit, spirit wine, and a moonlight flower at the trading building.
• Shen Ge visited Su Liuyue and arranged the gifts in her cave, explaining that he wanted to be better prepared to receive visitors.
• Su Liuyue questioned his spending, then gave him five Burst Talismans and three Golden Body Talismans and urged him to gain combat experience and study Law Techniques.
• Su Liuyue advised Shen Ge against pill refining and intensive formation study, and said artifact refining and talismans suited him best, though cultivation should remain his priority.

Shen Ge visited the Artifact Refining Hall, where Liu Xiao welcomed him and introduced him to the hall’s people and study arrangements. Liu Xiao directed Shen Ge to Martial Uncle Wang’s lesson and explained how artifact refining and other assignments could earn Spirit Stones.

• Shen Ge arrived at the Artifact Refining Hall and asked Liu Xiao to guide him in learning artifact refining.
• Liu Xiao introduced Shen Ge to Mu Wan, and the three exchanged jokes about visiting each other for food and drink.
• Liu Xiao explained that Mu Wan was Martial Uncle Qingyou’s granddaughter and told Shen Ge not to mind her temper.
• Liu Xiao told Shen Ge to accept a permanent artifact refining assignment that paid Spirit Stones while he studied, and described spirit medicine and talisman work as other ways to earn them.
• Liu Xiao led Shen Ge to Martial Uncle Wang’s lesson, then left to meet Ye Lin while Shen Ge went inside on his own.

After more than a year of studying and cultivating, Shen Ge joined Mu Wan on a trip to hunt a Tide Crab near the coast. They found the creature in shallow water and discovered it was badly wounded and close to advancing to the third tier.

• Shen Ge spent more than a year studying artifact refinement, cultivating, and sparring with fellow disciples.
• Mu Wan asked Shen Ge to help hunt a Tide Crab near the sect’s Sand Copper mine, and he agreed to split the materials with her.
• Shen Ge and Mu Wan traveled by flying boat to the coast and learned that the Tide Crab was in a shallow bay near a reef.
• A disciple from Azure Jade Peak directed them to the bay, then sent a talisman after their flying boat had departed.
• Mu Wan’s sword attack failed to draw out the Tide Crab, so Shen Ge bombarded the reef area with flying swords.
• The Tide Crab emerged and attacked with water bullets, and Mu Wan noticed its wound and judged that it was close to becoming a third-tier Demon Beast.

Shen Ge and Mu Wan killed a Tide Crab with talismans and a powerful Soul-Losing Gall, then returned to the sect with its remains. Their hidden ambushers gave up on attacking them and planned to lure another Demon Beast instead.

• Shen Ge and Mu Wan attacked the Tide Crab, and Shen Ge used a Fire Dragon Talisman and two Burst Talismans to injure it and destroy one eye and three legs.
• Mu Wan threw a Soul-Losing Gall at the Tide Crab, killing it with a tremendous explosion, then recovered its huge pincer and gave Shen Ge a piece of its shell.
• Several people hiding among the distant clouds decided not to ambush Shen Ge and Mu Wan after seeing the Soul-Losing Gall’s power.
• The ambushers planned to lure another Demon Beast and obtain a defensive Law Artifact so they could control their next target.
• Shen Ge and Mu Wan returned to the sect, where Shen Ge planned to use the Tide Crab’s shell to refine two shield Law Artifacts.

After half a year of studying artifact refining, Shen Ge made several weapons and improved a Tide Crab shell. He then heard Mu Wan’s concerns about two disciples who had died near the South Sea, where the sect had sent an enforcement squad to investigate.

• Shen Ge forged a low-grade Law Artifact saber and a hollow, split longsword whose blank could rival a high-grade Law Artifact.
• Shen Ge briefly heated a Tide Crab shell to remove impurities without damaging its defensive structure.
• Mu Wan told Shen Ge that two Foundation Establishment disciples had died while fighting a First Tier Peak Giant-Mouthed Fish near the South Sea.
• Shen Ge and Mu Wan considered whether another Demon Beast might have killed the disciples, though they could not explain why so many beasts had appeared in shallow water.
• Mu Wan said the Law Enforcement Hall had sent five Foundation Establishment cultivators to investigate, and Shen Ge urged her to wait for their findings.

Shen Ge sold a Law Artifact at the sect market and met Senior Sister Wang Yan, who had just come out of seclusion. Mu Wan told them that a Law Enforcement Hall squad sent to the South Sea had been killed, and Wang Yan agreed to join them in hearing Liu Xiao's report.

• Shen Ge sold his Fire-element saber for three hundred contribution points after Wang Yan praised its formations.
• Shen Ge showed Wang Yan his Water-element sister swords, but she declined to buy them because she had a Wood Element Spirit Root and already owned Law Artifacts.
• Mu Wan kicked Shen Ge away from Wang Yan, then greeted Wang Yan and asked whether Tongxuanzi had succeeded in refining the pill.
• Wang Yan introduced herself to Shen Ge and offered to provide pills for the cost of materials.
• Mu Wan told Wang Yan that Liu Xiao had called a meeting about the South Sea and that the Law Enforcement squad there had been killed.
• Shen Ge blamed the Devil Creek Sect remnants or Rogue Cultivators, and Wang Yan proposed they go hear Liu Xiao's report.

Wang Yan and the others discussed suspected attacks on Spirit Moon Sect disciples and the sect’s likely response. They also prepared for the East Approach Secret Realm, whose dangers and powerful cultivators could make the coming expedition costly.

• Liu Xiao, Shen Ge, Mu Wan, Chu He, and Jin Ling concluded that the Tide Crabs and other incidents pointed to an ambush and a lost ore vein, though the enemy’s strength remained unknown.
• Wang Yan instructed Liu Xiao to monitor the sect’s response and said they would join any enforcement squads, but not interfere if a Golden Core elder was sent.
• Jin Ling reported that the East Approach Secret Realm would open within three to five months, and Wang Yan urged that cultivators attempting Golden Core breakthroughs be awakened and postpone them.
• Mu Wan and Jin Ling explained that the secret realm contained deadly beasts and sect rivalries, but its rules restricted the strongest beasts and discouraged righteous sects from killing one another.
• Chu He said Meng Yan of Yellow Maple Valley might be the realm’s strongest cultivator, having previously killed several devil cultivators with his Thunder Method.

Shen Ge learned about the Southern Barbarian Lands’ renowned Foundation Establishment cultivators and was warned to avoid the dangerous East Approach Secret Realm. He chose to study an escape technique at the Scripture Repository, where Martial Uncle Fenghuo reminded him of their previous unpleasant encounter.

• Mu Wan told Shen Ge about the ranked Foundation Establishment cultivators, and Jin Ling explained that Senior Sister Liuyue was excluded because she had reached the Golden Core Realm.
• Liu Xiao dismissed the rankings as unreliable, then left to oversee the sect’s arrangements.
• Jin Ling warned Shen Ge and Mu Wan not to enter the East Approach Secret Realm, while Mu Wan invited Shen Ge to a market and auction in Changliu.
• Shen Ge agreed that the secret realm was too dangerous for him and said he would wait for Liu Xiao’s advice before deciding what to do.
• Shen Ge spent four hundred contribution points to learn Gale Escape from a Jade Slip at the Scripture Repository.
• Martial Uncle Fenghuo warned Shen Ge not to pry into his cultivation or mention their past discussion, which had ended with Fenghuo throwing him down a mountain.

Shen Ge returned to his courtyard after advising Martial Uncle Fenghuo, while Lü Yang reached Flowing Gold Valley and became Xuanfeng’s youngest disciple. Meanwhile, Princess and Han Yu arrived in Linhai City, where the Princess questioned Han Yu about her studies.

• Fenghuo angrily threw Shen Ge out after he advised him to abandon his obsession, and Shen Ge returned to his courtyard to study an escape technique.
• Lü Yang entered Flowing Gold Valley and asked to return to the sect as Lü Hou’s descendant and Xuanfeng’s disciple.
• Xuanfeng examined Lü Yang’s Spirit Roots, accepted him as her youngest disciple, and warned him not to follow his grandfather’s old path.
• A merchant caravan carrying the Princess and Han Yu arrived in Linhai City, and the Princess told Han Yu about the Flowing Cloud Kingdom’s grain wealth and asked whether she had studied her books.

Shen Ge and Mu Wan traveled to Changliu, stopping at the Verdant Sea so they could pay respects to the dead. At Ghost Demoness’s grave, Shen Ge uncovered and reburied a strange light that later took on his likeness, while an ambitious youth climbed toward the Evergreen Sect’s elders.

• Liu Xiao told Shen Ge that Li Hai would lead an investigation into the enforcement squad’s annihilation, and Mu Wan took Shen Ge aboard her flying boat to Changliu.
• At the Verdant Sea, Mu Wan burned incense for the fallen while Shen Ge went to Ghost Demoness’s grave and bowed to her.
• Shen Ge cautiously uncovered a small white light in the soil, then buried it again without touching it.
• After Shen Ge rejoined Mu Wan, the white light grew into a fist-sized orb and briefly displayed an image of Shen Ge.
• At the Evergreen Sect, a Qi Refinement Eighth Layer youth climbed through storms toward the sect elders, and the Sect Master promised to make him his personal disciple if he reached the top.

Shen Ge and Mu Wan arrived at Changliu Market, where Mu Wan sold Law Artifacts to fund their visit to the evening auction. Meanwhile, Li Hai investigated the South Sea mine, caught a suspicious guard, and destroyed his body to question his spirit.

• Shen Ge and Mu Wan heard that the Wan Household was seeking a Foundation Establishment husband for Wan Yue, and Shen Ge joked about entering the selection.
• Mu Wan spent most of her Spirit Stones on artifact-refining materials, then sold low- and mid-grade Law Artifacts to raise three thousand Spirit Stones for the auction.
• Shen Ge and Mu Wan entered the auction building and waited in a private room until the evening auction began.
• At the South Sea mine, Li Hai secretly watched the guard and noticed him receive a suspicious voice-transmission Jade Slip.
• Li Hai confronted the guard, who admitted nothing and begged to explain, so Li Hai crushed his body and left his spirit alive.

Shen Ge and Mu Wan attended an auction, where Mu Wan bought a top-grade defensive Law Artifact for Shen Ge after a bidding contest drove its price to 2,600 Spirit Stones. The auction ended the sale with Shen Ge facing a large debt to Mu Wan.

• Shen Ge and Mu Wan entered the auction hall and watched bidders compete for several items without placing bids.
• Shen Ge bid 1,500 Spirit Stones for a top-grade defensive Law Artifact but stopped when another bidder raised the price to 1,700.
• Mu Wan began bidding on Shen Ge’s behalf, explaining that she would lend him the Spirit Stones and he could repay her with money or artifact-refining materials.
• The rival bidder raised the price to 2,300 Spirit Stones, and Mu Wan countered with 2,600.
• Xiao Ya sold the defensive Law Artifact to Mu Wan for 2,600 Spirit Stones, leaving Shen Ge worried about his debt.