Recaps

Tong Jialiang recalled his peaceful childhood before the poisonous stones in an abyssal mine turned him and the captured mountain folk into grotesque, dying creatures. After he killed them at their desperate pleas and failed to take his own life, a familiar voice called to him from the sealed mine entrance, leaving him overwhelmed by guilt and helplessness.

• Tong Jialiang remembered how his uncle and aunt raised him after his grandparents disappeared and how his cousin Baojian supported the household.
• After Tong Jialiang and the mountain folk were forced to mine poisonous stones, the adults tried to protect the children while digging to earn their release.
• The stones inflicted horrifying changes on everyone, and the sickened mountain folk begged Tong Jialiang to kill them before they lost their humanity.
• Tong Jialiang took an iron pickaxe and killed the old man, then killed the others as they pleaded for the same release.
• Tong Jialiang hesitated to use the pickaxe on himself because he still wanted to live for his uncle and aunt.
• A familiar voice called “A-Liang” from the sealed mine entrance, and Tong Jialiang anguished over his failure to save the others.

Tong Jialiang struggled against a voice urging him toward destruction in a dream, while black Qi spread from him to others taking the Heart-Questioning Road. Liu Yunan confirmed he could shut down the trial but found no way to stop what was happening.

• Tong Jialiang endured a voice telling him that destruction and extinction were the only truths as a dark mass grew around him.
• Liu Yunan saw black Qi spreading around the people on the Heart-Questioning Road and went to check the control room while Qin Jianghe and the others monitored them.
• Qin Jianghe called Sun Yigao to examine Tong Jialiang, whose body was nearly engulfed by black Qi seeping from his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, brow, and heart.
• Sun Yigao found nothing wrong with Tong Jialiang's body, and his Heart Purification Technique did not dispel the black Qi.
• Liu Yunan confirmed that the Heart-Questioning Road could be shut down, but he found no control option that would resolve the current situation.

Shen Yingzi’s dead mother turned hostile when he refused to surrender his life, and a blood swamp began swallowing him. Elsewhere, Xuanyuan Haoyue was sold by her father to Master Wei and assaulted.

• Shen Yingzi hesitated to let his mother take over his life, and the sky filled with thunder, lightning, and dark clouds.
• His mother transformed and dragged Shen Yingzi into a spreading swamp of blood.
• Xuanyuan Haoyue’s father presented her deed of bondage to Master Wei, and the men bound her and carried her away.
• Madam Xuanyuan tried to stop the abduction, but Xuanyuan Haoyue’s father struck her as the carriage left.
• Master Wei entered the bedroom where Xuanyuan Haoyue had been taken and forced himself on her despite her resistance.

Third-party interference connected the Heart-Questioning Road examinees’ dreams, forcing the sect to end trials early as Liu Yunan suspected Tong Jialiang’s illness was involved. While he hesitated over spending 500,000 Spirit Stones to stop the interference, thunderclouds gathered over the Lingxian Sect, and its members realized their sect master was coming out.

• Sun Yigao and Qin Jianghe organized checks on the many examinees expelled from the Heart-Questioning Road, and Sun Yigao sent Liu Yunan news of the situation.
• The console warned Liu Yunan that third-party interference had connected the examinees’ dreams, triggered emergency protection, and could be stopped by spending 500,000 Spirit Stones.
• After hearing Sun Yigao’s reports, Liu Yunan suspected Tong Jialiang’s illness, linked to the Execution Stone mine, had caused the interference, but he hesitated over whether to stop the assessment.
• Dark clouds and lightning gathered over the Lingxian Sect and the surrounding hundred li, drawing everyone’s attention and filling them with hope.
• Sun Yigao, Liu Yunan, and the other Lingxian Sect members recognized the signs and realized their sect master was coming out.

Lin Xiao endured the Lightning Tribulation and formed a golden pellet within his Nascent Soul, releasing a vast tide of Origin Qi across the North Mountain Range. The Origin Qi weakened the Heart-Questioning Road’s black Qi and changed the nightmares of those still trapped within it.

• Lightning struck the Nature Platform, and Lin Xiao endured the tribulation as his Nascent Soul condensed and absorbed Origin Qi.
• A golden film confined the Origin Qi within Lin Xiao’s Nascent Soul, where it formed a pellet that began converting surrounding Spiritual Qi into Origin Qi.
• Lin Xiao’s breakthrough released Origin Qi across the North Mountain Range, nourishing plants, easing mortals’ illnesses, stirring cultivators’ techniques, and fading the black Qi around people on the Heart-Questioning Road.
• The transformed dream world’s darkness cleared, giving those trapped in nightmares courage to fight back.
• Shen Yingzi used his protective talisman to destroy the woman’s soul and escape the blood swamp.
• Xuanyuan Haoyue stopped struggling, gathered her strength, and bit through the middle-aged man’s neck.

Tong Jialiang overcame the darkness of his dream and awoke among the survivors of the Heart-Questioning Road, who learned they had passed and were invited to join the Lingxian Sect. Lin Xiao welcomed 132 new disciples, while Qin Jianghe, Sun Yigao, and the others realized the road had ended and returned to the sect.

• Tong Jialiang heard a voice urge him to stand, saw sunlight, and felt black substance mixed with radiant light enter his body before he lost consciousness.
• Tong Jialiang awoke in white mist with the other survivors, and Wen Yuejun explained that failures would have been sent back to the mountain’s foot.
• The mist cleared to reveal Lin Xiao in a peach blossom tree, and Third Miss He and the other candidates agreed to join the Lingxian Sect.
• Lin Xiao received the system reward for reaching one hundred sect members and brought the new disciples to the sect plaza, counting 132 recruits.
• Qin Jianghe and Sun Yigao discovered that everyone had vanished from the Heart-Questioning Road, and Sun Yigao concluded Lin Xiao had emerged from seclusion.

Lin Xiao gathered the new disciples and formally welcomed them into the Lingxian Sect, while Liao Pantu and Liu Yunan helped establish the sect’s new order. The chapter ended with Liu Yunan introducing the elders as Lin Xiao watched from the sect master's seat.

• Lin Xiao noticed only 131 newcomers in the square, found Bai Zhu left behind in the living quarters, and brought him to the group with spiritual power.
• Liao Pantu led the sect members in welcoming Lin Xiao out of seclusion, and the new disciples followed their example.
• Lin Xiao thanked the recruiters, welcomed the newcomers, and urged them to cultivate and live in harmony at the Lingxian Sect.
• Lin Xiao handed the proceedings to Liu Yunan, who introduced himself and the elders to the new disciples.

Liu Yunan led the new disciples through their first sect orientation, introducing them to the elders and showing them how to collect supplies and use their identity tokens. The tour continued through the Lingxian Sect’s facilities, where the newcomers watched Sun Yigao refine pills in the Alchemy Chamber.

• Liu Yunan introduced the Lingxian Sect’s elders, and Xiaoluan startled the new disciples with a thunderous cluck and proudly displayed her identity token.
• Yang Jinshu appeared onstage, and an old woman in the crowd quietly celebrated that her daughter was well.
• Liu Yunan organized the new disciples into groups, led them to the General Affairs Hall, and explained how their identity tokens handled exchanges and sect matters.
• Liu Yunan took the newcomers on a tour of the sect as its halls prepared demonstrations for them.
• Sun Yigao refined successive furnaces of low-grade pills while Liu Yunan explained the Alchemy Chamber and its opportunities for disciples to study pill refinement and earn Spirit Stones.

Liu Yunan showed the new disciples around the Lingxian Sect, including its cultivation arts, spirit fields, and Beast Garden. The tour ended with Liang Zhonghuai realizing that the Beast Garden contained far more space than the small valley outside suggested.

• Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe arranged demonstrations at the Artifact Refining Hall, Formation Hall, and talisman-making room, where Liu Yunan revealed Liu Chun's flashy Fire Trees and Silver Flowers Talisman.
• Liu Yunan showed the disciples the sect's spirit fields and praised the flavor of its spirit rice.
• Liu Yunan pointed out the sect's main hall and Returning to the Garden Mountain Dwelling, then took the disciples to view the Beast Garden from outside.
• Xiaoluan used the Mirror of Surveillance to show the disciples the many Demon Beasts inside the Beast Garden.
• Liang Zhonghuai noticed that the Beast Garden's interior was much larger than the small valley containing it.

Liang Zhonghuai and the former Shangyang Sect cultivators were astonished by the Lingxian Sect’s beast garden, while Liang mistakenly assumed the sect had hidden its wealth for years. The new disciples toured the sect’s grounds, and the chapter ended with Liu Yunan postponing an explanation of the four secret realms until they were assigned.

• Liang Zhonghuai wondered how Myriad Connections had overlooked the Lingxian Sect, unaware that its reports had downplayed the sect’s power and that Li Zhanying had helped keep its deeds quiet.
• Liang Zhonghuai and the former Shangyang Sect cultivators were stunned by the beast garden, which far surpassed anything they had seen before.
• Liu Yunan persuaded Xiaoluan to show the newcomers the beast garden by promising that the interested disciples could later work for Xiaoluan.
• Xiaoluan gave the new disciples a detailed tour and smugly concluded that they would be eager to help in the garden.
• Lin Xiao had brought back two more ownerless Golden Core-restricted secret realms, bringing the garden’s total to four, but Liu Yunan postponed explaining them because he was tired and the disciples were not ready to enter.

Liu Yunan ended the new disciples’ tour early and brought them to temporary grass shelters, where they settled in and began adjusting to life in the sect. Zhu Xiurong helped Tong Wan make her bed, then met Liang Zhonghuai outside, who asked when she planned to see her daughter.

• Liu Yunan postponed the tour of Yaoguang Floating Island and led the new disciples to the residential area to rest.
• Liu Yunan showed the disciples their grass shelters and pointed out the cultivation hall, then left them to settle in.
• The new disciples divided into men’s and women’s shelters and began arranging their bedding from their Storage Bags.
• Zhu Xiurong helped Tong Wan arrange her mattress, and Tong Wan introduced herself as Wanwan.
• Liang Zhonghuai checked on Zhu Xiurong, saw that she was in better spirits, and asked when she planned to see her daughter.

Zhu Xiurong and Liang Zhonghuai settled in at the Lingxian Sect while Feng Xuanqie praised his new home. Tong Jialiang grappled with strange memories and a warmth in his chest, then Han Weishu invited him to visit his cousin Baojian, and Mo Yuanjiao decided to join them.

• Zhu Xiurong declined to meet her daughter Yang Jinshu immediately, and Liang Zhonghuai offered her a meat bun.
• Feng Xuanqie excitedly told Liang Zhonghuai about leaving the Shangyang Sect and praised the Lingxian Sect’s freedom and kindness.
• Tong Jialiang reflected on his hazy memories, the warmth in his chest, and his wish to see his cousin again.
• Han Weishu told Tong Jialiang that they could leave the sect to visit Baojian, and Mo Yuanjiao joined them to learn why Baojian had failed the Heart-Questioning Road.

Lin Xiao discovered that Tong Jialiang had gained the rare Execution-Conduit Physique and resolved to keep it secret. That night, the new disciples gathered fires and shared food before someone spotted a flickering object in the sky.

• Lin Xiao examined Tong Jialiang’s disciple panel and asked the system about his Execution-Conduit Physique.
• The system explained that Tong Jialiang could resist Execution Stone, convert Spiritual Qi into Origin Qi, and cultivate Execution Qi.
• Lin Xiao decided to conceal Tong Jialiang’s physique, but the system entered a 24-hour upgrade and stopped answering questions.
• The new disciples gathered firewood, lit fires, and shared food with those who had none.
• A new disciple pointed out a flickering object in the sky.

The Lingxian Sect delivered a lavish, spiritually nourishing dinner to its new disciples in specially designed flying food baskets and insulated lunch boxes. Yuan Jinsheng gained hope that the sect could help his son Yingzi cultivate, while Xie Rong and Yin Xiaoxiao worried about Hua Xiao'er and Xu Duojin, who had gone home.

• A remotely controlled basket marked "dinner" landed, and the hungry newcomers carried it to the stones and opened it.
• Tietou, Lin Lei, Mo Yuanjiao, and others had made insulated lunch boxes and the flying food basket in the Artifact Refining Hall.
• The new disciples ate Jiang Youfu's Spirit Cuisine and felt it warm and restore their bodies; Yuan Jinsheng also felt his ailments ease.
• Yuan Jinsheng compared the meal's Spiritual Qi to Spirit Stones and hoped the Lingxian Sect could help Yingzi cultivate.
• Xie Rong and Yin Xiaoxiao worried that Hua Xiao'er and Xu Duojin might be whipped at home, and Yin Xiaoxiao said she had notified their parents before leaving.

Ma Changlong and the other new disciples enjoyed dinner while the sect’s senior members gathered to celebrate Lin Xiao’s return from seclusion and his advance to the Nascent Soul stage. After dinner, Lin Xiao asked how the sect would assign and teach its new disciples, and Liu Yunan presented their plans.

• Ma Changlong enjoyed the sect’s food, while two unclaimed meals were set aside for absent new disciples.
• Jiang Youfu prepared a celebratory dinner, and Liu Shengsheng summoned the sect’s members to the Spirit Cuisine Hall.
• Qin Jianghe and the others congratulated Lin Xiao on advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, and Lin Xiao thanked them.
• Lin Xiao asked who would take disciples, and Liu Yunan named Yigao, Mo Yuanjiao, Fuzi, Tietou, Liao Pantu, and Liu Chun as prospective teachers in their respective fields.
• Liu Yunan explained that instructors would teach rotating morning classes and showed Lin Xiao the instructor list and schedule.

Lin Xiao approved Lingxian Sect’s group teaching schedule and agreed to lecture new disciples, while Xiaoluan revealed they had secretly studied the sect’s cultivation methods and wanted to teach as well. The chapter ended with Liao Pantu confirming Xiaoluan’s knowledge, surprising everyone else.

• Liu Yunan arranged group classes for cultivation and technical skills, with Teacher Pei and Wen Yuejun set to manage Lingxian Academy while Sun Yigao lectured there occasionally.
• Lin Xiao approved the teaching plan and wrote his name at the top of the cultivation lecture schedule.
• Xiaoluan told the gathered sect members they could take disciples and teach because they had studied cultivation methods up to the Golden Core Stage.
• Liao Pantu explained that Xiaoluan had long studied human cultivation methods and secretly asked him questions.
• Liao Pantu confirmed Xiaoluan’s claim, leaving the others astonished.

Xiaoluan became a lecturer for the new disciples, while Big Peach was allowed to attend their classes. The next morning, Liu Yunan gathered the new disciples and hurried them down the mountain to begin their sect activities.

• Liu Yunan agreed to make Xiaoluan a lecturer after she promised to teach in human language, answer questions patiently, and refrain from beating disciples.
• Big Peach asked to attend classes with the new disciples, and Lin Xiao gave him permission.
• At dinner, Old Master Lin, Yang Jinshu, and others pressed Liu Yunan to say when the new disciples could begin working.
• Liu Yunan posted the list of eleven lecturers and their rotation schedule, then spent the night writing and drawing in the General Affairs Hall.
• The new disciples changed into their sect uniforms the next morning, with some needing help to dress.
• Liu Yunan used the Wind Riding Technique to speed the new disciples down the mountain.

Liu Yunan brought the new disciples to Lingxian Sect’s teleportation platform and sent them to Yaoguang Floating Island, where they were stunned to discover the sect possessed a vast, sky-borne cultivation ground. Liang Zhonghuai weighed the dangers of Lingxian Sect’s mysterious origins against his faith in its rigorous recruitment and chose to walk its path as a disciple.

• Liu Yunan warned the newcomers to adapt to the extraordinary world of immortal cultivation, then instructed them to teleport in groups of ten.
• The disciples stepped onto the platform and appeared on Yaoguang Floating Island, whose teleportation capacity had increased after the island reached level two.
• The newcomers looked out over the floating island and saw the sect buildings far below, while Yuan Jinsheng and Liang Zhonghuai marveled at its dense Spiritual Qi.
• Liang Zhonghuai wondered whether Lingxian Sect was dangerously wealthy or backed by a powerful figure, then considered that it might instead be a peaceful refuge.
• Liang Zhonghuai touched his Lingxian Sect disciple token, recalled the Heart-Questioning Road, and resolved to walk the road ahead alongside the sect.

Liu Yunan finished showing the new disciples around Lingxian Sect and explained how their daily cultivation lessons would work. Yang Jinshu secretly recognized her mother among the visitors, while the disciples were tasked with choosing a name for their mountain peak.

• During the tour, Yang Jinshu recognized her mother, Zhu Xiurong, but the two did not acknowledge each other, and Yang Jinshu noticed her father was absent.
• Liu Yunan skipped a tour of the Yaoguang Small World herb garden and led the new disciples back to their cultivation hall around noon.
• Liu Yunan explained that lessons would begin the next day at the hour of the rabbit and that perfect monthly attendance would earn a small reward.
• Liu Yunan asked Bai Zhu to track lateness for the next month, and Bai Zhu earnestly agreed.
• Liu Yunan asked the new disciples to suggest names for their mountain peak, with Bai Zhu collecting their ideas.

Liu Yunan explained the new disciples’ plans for building homes, exploring the sect, and choosing masters. Meanwhile, Yang Jinshu secretly brought an elderly woman to meet Liu Yunan and Liu Shengsheng, revealing her as their grandmother.

• Liu Yunan told the new disciples they would build their own homes, explore the sect, and choose one skill to study under a master.
• The new disciples gathered around Bai Zhu to discuss names for their mountain and then set out to explore the sect.
• Yang Jinshu pulled Liu Yunan from the General Affairs Hall and brought him and Liu Shengsheng to the new disciples’ living quarters.
• Yang Jinshu entered the shelters using the Concealment Technique and later emerged supporting an elderly woman.
• Yang Jinshu introduced the woman as her mother and told Liu Yunan and Liu Shengsheng to greet their grandmother, leaving the siblings stunned.

Yang Jinshu reunited with her mother, Zhu Xiurong, while Liu Yunan reflected on how vast the world was and mourned the grandfather who had died before returning home. Lin Xiao proposed creating a sect cemetery, then hurried to teach the new disciples as their first cultivation lesson was about to begin.

• Yang Jinshu spent the night talking with Zhu Xiurong and later shared her thoughts with the urn containing her father's ashes.
• Liu Yunan told Lin Xiao how his grandmother had journeyed from the Immortal Cultivation Realm to find his mother, and Lin Xiao suggested that the sect establish a burial ground for its disciples and their families.
• Liu Yunan agreed to discuss the cemetery plan with Jianghe before presenting it to the sect.
• Lin Xiao and Liu Yunan talked until dawn, then Lin Xiao rushed off to teach the new disciples.
• The new disciples struggled to get ready, helping one another fix their hair before gathering at the cultivation hall, where Lin Xiao waited at the lectern.

Lin Xiao taught the new disciples the first section of the Peach Blossom Spring Myriad Void Instruction, and several showed signs of beginning to draw Qi into their bodies. The disciples then chose representatives to plan their residential area and began organizing its construction themselves.

• Lin Xiao distributed the Peach Blossom Spring Myriad Void Instruction and explained its first section to the new disciples.
• Bai Zhu realized he could read because the Heart-Questioning Road had taught him, and he felt grateful to the sect.
• Several new disciples showed faint signs of drawing Qi into their bodies, so Lin Xiao reviewed the material before dismissing the class.
• Liu Yunan guided the disciples in meditation and answered their questions while Hu Liang prepared to help with construction.
• The new disciples chose Bai Zhu, Liang Zhonghuai, Yuan Jinsheng, Xuanyuan Haoyue, and Teacher Pei to make a residential-area plan.
• The five representatives completed a general plan, and the new disciples began assigning people to gather materials and build.

The Lingxian Sect’s five newest disciples organized the construction of housing for all 132 newcomers, while the rest of the sect worked harder to feed and support them. Lin Xiao emerged from seclusion and shut himself away in the Artifact Refining Hall, leaving his unfinished business a mystery.

• The five new disciples planned a large courtyard with 22 smaller courtyards, then organized everyone to gather construction materials.
• Liu Yunan watched the new disciples cooperate, while Jiang Youfu and Liu Shengsheng brought them dinner each evening.
• Old Master Lin drew on the spirit-rice stores for the newcomers’ meals, prompting the spirit-field group to work harder and open more plots.
• Old Master Lin encouraged Sun Yigao to research pills for plants, and Sun Yigao and Liao Pantu became absorbed in the work.
• Xiaoluan supplied spirit-beast meat for the new disciples, while Qin Jianghe continued the Finance Hall’s trade and sought to expand it.
• Lin Xiao left seclusion, shut himself inside the Artifact Refining Hall, and continued attending Jiang Youfu’s dinners.

A group of ten cultivators traveling to the Mortal Realm to investigate the Execution Stone was ambushed by Spirit-Devouring Beasts and nearly out of spiritual power. Yao Yuchang forced He Yi to deal with the beasts, and He Yi destroyed them with a costly barrage of talismans, leaving the group to continue its journey.

• Jiang Youfu left meals outside Lin Xiao’s door, and the food repeatedly disappeared before returning empty.
• Ten cultivators from major sects encountered a pack of Spirit-Devouring Beasts on the road to the Mortal Realm and struggled because their spiritual power was nearly exhausted.
• Yao Yuchang singled out He Yi, the youngest and weakest cultivator, and demanded that he find a way to handle the beasts.
• He Yi used high-grade Explosive Flame Talismans to blow up the Spirit-Devouring Beasts, splattering some of the cultivators with black liquid.
• He Yi claimed the talismans were all he had, while Yao Yuchang looked down on him and worried about delaying the investigation.

He Yi and the others continued through the desolate Spiritless Land while he considered his secret reasons for joining the expedition. At Lingxian Sect, Bai Zhu balanced cultivation and mountain-naming duties, then learned that Xiushui Village was suffering from an overwhelming infestation of biting insects.

• Yao Yuchang reassured the group that they were close to leaving the Spiritless Land, while He Yi followed behind and reflected on how he had joined the expedition.
• After ten days at Lingxian Sect, most new disciples had drawn Qi into their bodies, and Bai Zhu was among the first to succeed.
• Bai Zhu collected possible names for the disciples' mountain and discussed the strongest candidates with Teacher Pei, Liang Zhonghuai, Yuan Jinsheng, and Xuanyuan Haoyue.
• Bai Zhu sent clean clothes and mixed-grain steamed buns to the old beggar who had once cared for him, hoping to visit him soon.
• The plants and animals around Xiushui Village had grown abundant in recent years, but the villagers found the greatly increased mosquitoes and other biting insects unbearable.