Recaps

Zhang Xuezhou demonstrated his progress in the Technique Within the Clouds to Venerable Lei, who praised his insight and offered to train him at the Vermilion Clouds Palace. Venerable Lei then questioned whether Zhang Xuezhou would survive long enough to finish training under Hongku.

• Zhang Xuezhou recovered from his surprise at Venerable Lei's appearance by praising the man's character over his looks.
• At Hongku's urging, Zhang Xuezhou demonstrated the Technique Within the Clouds and flew in circles above the courtyard.
• Hongku criticized Zhang Xuezhou's limited flight, but Venerable Lei said the boy had grasped the technique's deeper mysteries.
• Venerable Lei offered to take Zhang Xuezhou to the Vermilion Clouds Palace, and Hongku said he could do so after the boy completed his training.
• Venerable Lei noticed the names of Hongku's former students hanging beneath a roof beam and asked whether Zhang Xuezhou would live long enough to finish training.

Hongku tried to win Venerable Lei's support by offering his physiognomy, curse protection, and knowledge of an immortality secret in Western Kunlun. Venerable Lei agreed to test Hongku's abilities, leaving the possibility of an alliance open.

• Venerable Lei criticized Hongku for wasting the Yedie River Holy Land's promising disciples, including Wu Jin.
• Hongku asked Venerable Lei to form an alliance and offered to sever Wu Jin's talisman pull, but Venerable Lei warned that dealing with Hongku could make him a target.
• Hongku offered his physiognomy skills and Death-Exemption Technique, then revealed that he knew a route to the immortality elixir in Western Kunlun.
• Venerable Lei doubted Hongku's claim, so Hongku offered to predict whom Venerable Lei would meet on his way back to the Vermilion Clouds Palace.
• Venerable Lei agreed to the test and realized Hongku's physiognomy required no Essence Blood.

Zhang Xuezhou accidentally dropped Peacock Dynasty Soul-Severing Powder on Hongku while flying, leaving the Dharma Master in pain and temporarily vulnerable. As Venerable Lei left to verify Hongku’s divination, Zhang Xuezhou went inside to help Hongku wash, secretly mixing in the Water of Eternity.

• Zhang Xuezhou considered attacking Hongku from the air but hesitated, knowing Hongku’s cultivation could suppress him.
• Soul-Severing Powder fell from Zhang Xuezhou’s belongings and spread through Hongku’s courtyard, while Venerable Lei’s electric strike worsened the accident.
• Hongku rushed inside in agony, and Venerable Lei left to check whether the time from Hongku’s physiognomy had arrived.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered Hongku’s room after hearing him call for water and found him rubbing powder from his body with a towel.
• Zhang Xuezhou scooped water for Hongku and secretly mixed in the Water of Eternity.

Zhang Xuezhou secretly mixed Water of Eternity into water that Hongku drank, then learned Hongku planned to send him to Vermilion Clouds Palace to investigate the venerables. Hongku realized Zhang Xuezhou had murderous intent and suspected Wu Chao had incited him, just as Zhang Xuezhou’s blade flashed toward his neck.

• Zhang Xuezhou spilled Soul-Severing Powder, then deliberately mixed Water of Eternity into the bucket before Hongku rinsed himself and drank from it.
• Hongku warned Zhang Xuezhou against relying on powders and becoming entangled in the Xiong State, then admitted he had once served its royal family and made many enemies.
• Hongku told Zhang Xuezhou that Venerable Lei had agreed to receive him at Vermilion Clouds Palace, where he could encounter several venerables and help Hongku investigate his enemies.
• Hongku sensed Zhang Xuezhou’s murderous intent and concluded Wu Chao had likely incited him, but decided he still needed both students for his plans.
• As Hongku clutched his stomach and bent forward, a streak of cyan light flew toward his neck.

After Zhang Xuezhou’s failed attack on Hongku, the two were left incapacitated by diarrhea, and Hongku unexpectedly spared his student and explained his own precarious position. Zhang Xuezhou revealed that Wu Chao suspected Hongku had cursed him, prompting Hongku to turn his attention toward confronting Wu Chao as well.

• Hongku overpowered Zhang Xuezhou and made him drink the Water of Eternity mixed with Soul-Severing Powder, leaving them both suffering severe diarrhea.
• Zhang Xuezhou questioned why Hongku had not punished or killed him, and Hongku said he needed his students and faced a dangerous struggle within the Yedie River Holy Land.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked why Hongku had cursed Wu Chao, confirming Wu Chao’s suspicions to Hongku.
• Hongku realized Wu Chao had likely discovered his ritual and decided to deal with both rebellious students while pursuing a certain venerable.

Zhang Xuezhou questioned Hongku about the deaths of his fellow students, and Hongku swore that he had not tried to kill them while warning that Wu Chao faced danger to his neck. After Hongku summoned Wu Chao, Wu Chao prepared to confront him, believing Zhang Xuezhou may have exposed a weakness in Hongku.

• Hongku swore a Great Heart Demon Oath that he had not tried to kill Zhang Xuezhou or his students, then admitted he had foreseen danger for Wu Chao involving his neck.
• Hongku said the students might have been caught in the crossfire of an attack aimed at him and advised Wu Chao to wear armor.
• Hongku summoned Wu Chao, while Zhang Xuezhou stayed behind in the latrine and privately considered how Wu Chao and Jin Chang could turn the confrontation to their advantage.
• Wu Chao heard Hongku's summons and feared Zhang Xuezhou had already attacked him, but reasoned that Hongku must be weakened or vulnerable.
• Wu Chao discarded the bottles and jars he had been carrying and decided to rely on his techniques while letting Hongku believe he would use the sinister items.

Wu Chao and Jin Chang suspected Hongku was using the Fortune Technique to eliminate rivals and gain a higher position in the Yedie River Holy Land. They entered Hongku’s residence, where a formation left Wu Chao frozen and kneeling, while Jin Chang realized Zhang Xuezhou was still alive.

• Wu Chao and Jin Chang concluded that Hongku wanted to rise in the Holy Land and might have a venerable’s support.
• Jin Chang explained that Hongku might have used the Huang-Lao School’s Fortune Technique to cause the deaths of Wu Chao’s senior brothers, though he did not know how to resist it.
• Wu Chao warned Jin Chang to protect Zhang Xuezhou and entered the black-stone residence after Hongku summoned him.
• Jin Chang weighed the risks of killing Hongku with the Puppet Technique, then followed Wu Chao into the residence with Five-Step Bewitching Smoke.
• Hongku’s formation struck Wu Chao with Yin wind and left him frozen on the ground as Hongku demanded to know his crime.
• Jin Chang broke free of Hongku’s realm pressure and inferred from Wu Chao’s survival that Zhang Xuezhou was still alive.

Wu Chao confronted Hongku about the fatal Fortune Technique affecting him, and Hongku claimed an enemy had targeted his students to get at him. Wu Chao demanded that Hongku help protect him, but Jin Chang secretly planted his last surviving Snake Head Incantation hair on Hongku and launched an attack.

• Hongku restrained Wu Chao, saw that his Snake Head Incantation hair had died, and realized Wu Chao had likely taken a disaster meant for him.
• Hongku released Wu Chao and told him his Star-Fixing Technique had foretold a fatal danger to Wu Chao's neck.
• Wu Chao accused Hongku of placing the Fortune Technique on him, but Hongku claimed an enemy had targeted his students and said he wanted to use Wu Chao to identify the attacker.
• Wu Chao asked how he could save his life, and Hongku advised him to wear armor that protected his neck.
• Jin Chang secretly slipped his last surviving Snake Head Incantation hair into Hongku's trousers and released poisonous smoke as he began a supporting attack.

Wu Chao’s ambush on Hongku failed when Hongku’s Substitute Death Incantation redirected the attack back onto Wu Chao. Jin Chang exposed the secret behind Hongku’s students’ deaths, and Hongku waited injured for the Sacred Land’s response.

• Wu Chao used his Snake Head Incantation to bind Hongku and strike at him while resisting Hongku’s realm suppression.
• Hongku allowed the python to bite him, but the damage and venom rebounded onto Wu Chao through the Substitute Death Incantation.
• Jin Chang recognized that Hongku had used his students as substitutes to bear his injuries and called out the secret to the hidden watchers.
• Hongku demanded to know who else was in the courtyard, then prepared to defend himself after his secret was exposed.
• Twelve patrol lanterns rose above the Sacred Mountain as Hongku healed his injuries and braced for a fight over his life.

Jin Chang exposed Hongku's alleged use of his students in Incantations, prompting the Holy Land's Venerables to debate investigating him. As four Venerables entered Hongku's residence, he activated a formation and asked the Dao Lord for permission to advance to Venerable rank and fight them.

• Jin Chang used the Demonic Sound Technique to accuse Hongku of harming his students and defying the Holy Land's rules.
• The Venerables questioned Hongku about his students' deaths and the claim that he used them for the Substitution Technique, while Hongku denied the accusation.
• Venerable Lei watched as Venerable Wenhuang, Venerable Yun, Venerable Daode, and Venerable Sanxiao left their palaces to investigate Hongku's residence.
• Hongku's formation shrouded his residence in darkness as the four Venerables entered, and he asked the Dao Lord for permission to advance to Venerable rank.
• The Dao Lord asked whom Hongku would fight, and Hongku answered that he would fight those trapped in the jar.

Venerable Sanxiao tried to force his way through Hongku’s Five Ghost Yin Wind Sword Formation, but Hongku’s illusions led him to attack a ghost while the real formation remained intact. Hongku struck Sanxiao with a bone sword, and white maggots spilled from the wound as his internal organs fell out.

• Venerable Yun entered the smoke created by her staff rather than taking the first attack against Hongku.
• Venerable Daode explained that the formation’s Yin Wind weakened its victims and that its five ghosts guarded the pivotal points.
• Unable to discern directions, Venerable Sanxiao used his three magic swords to hack through the formation, but realized he might have been attacking in place.
• Hongku appeared as a youth carrying a bone sword, and Sanxiao used his swords to destroy the apparent ghost and believed he had slain three formation guardians.
• Hongku revealed that the true pivotal points were the Yin Wind Swords held by the five ghosts, then pierced Sanxiao’s chest with a white bone sword.
• White maggots poured from Sanxiao’s wound, and a mass of his internal organs fell out.

Venerable Wenhuang tried to use Wu Chao to draw Hongku into a battle, but Jin Chang killed her before she could finish. Jin Chang took control of her severed head and demanded that she help him avoid getting involved in the Yedie River Holy Land’s affairs.

• Venerable Wenhuang recognized that Hongku could use Wu Chao to take a fatal blow in his place, then decided to attack Hongku through Wu Chao despite the danger to the student.
• Venerable Wenhuang cut Wu Chao and used his blood to activate her plague techniques, while Jin Chang considered intervening to keep his student alive.
• Jin Chang emerged from Wu Chao’s shadow and used a fine thread to slice Venerable Wenhuang’s body apart.
• Jin Chang preserved Venerable Wenhuang’s head with white powder and told her he was borrowing it, ordering her to shield him from the Yedie River Holy Land’s affairs.
• Venerable Wenhuang watched Jin Chang dissolve her original body with corpse-dissolving water, then heard him demand that she draw the plague poison out of his body.

Venerable Daode navigated Hongku’s Five Ghost Yin Wind Sword Formation and fought off his Snake Head Incantation with the Seven-Feather Fan, but Hongku’s poison smoke overcame him. Hongku secured Daode’s surrender and looked toward Wu Chao, who had been joined by a woman in white protecting him from the formation.

• Venerable Daode used the five ghosts’ movements to understand the formation and reach Hongku’s courtyard.
• Venerable Daode burned Hongku’s swarming incantation snakes and snake king with his Seven-Feather Fan.
• Hongku revealed that poisonous smoke from the burning snakes had poisoned Venerable Daode, who agreed to surrender his position in exchange for an antidote.
• Zhang Xuezhou counted as Venerable Daode approached Hongku, and Daode collapsed after five steps from the Five-Step Poison Smoke.
• Hongku rebuked Zhang Xuezhou for his earlier plot, then saw Wu Chao beside a woman in white whose five-colored umbrella shielded them from the Yin Wind.

Hongku asked Zhang Xuezhou to persuade Jin Chang to kill Venerable Yun, offering protection, Wu Chao’s release, and the Fuxi Physiognomy School’s inheritance in return. He gave Zhang Xuezhou two inheritance jades and urged him to stay alive, leaving the outcome of the fight in Zhang’s hands.

• Hongku explained that he needed Jin Chang’s help to use Venerable Wenhuang’s disguise to ambush Venerable Yun, and Zhang Xuezhou doubted he could persuade Jin Chang.
• Hongku described his hatred of the Venerables, whom he blamed collectively for his family’s deaths and decades of confinement, and asked Zhang to negotiate for him.
• Hongku promised Jin Chang concealment and a place to hide, and offered to remove Wu Chao’s restraints if Jin Chang killed Venerable Yun.
• Hongku promised to pass the Fuxi Physiognomy School’s inheritance to Zhang Xuezhou, explaining that it contained the Star-Fixing, Person-Fixing, and Acupoint-Fixing Techniques.
• Hongku gave Zhang Xuezhou the Person-Fixing and Acupoint-Fixing inheritance jades and urged him to stay alive.

Zhang Xuezhou negotiated a mutual-control agreement between Hongku and Jin Chang to secure their cooperation against Venerable Yun. Hongku submitted to Jin Chang’s Technique, while the shifting alliances left him questioning who truly controlled the contest.

• Zhang Xuezhou rejected Hongku’s two inheritance jades and demanded that Jin Chang place a Technique on Hongku, with Wu Chao and Hongku each serving as leverage over the other.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that Jin Chang would not kill Hongku because Hongku’s Substitution Incantation linked his life to Wu Chao, and Hongku agreed to the condition.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered the formation and secured Jin Chang’s agreement, while Jin Chang dismissed Venerable Wenhuang’s objections to their plan against Venerable Yun.
• Hongku arrived and asked Jin Chang to cast the Technique, warning that the Golden Toad Poison left him capable of only one strike.
• Jin Chang planted a fine thread in Hongku, and Hongku wondered whether the Golden Toad Dharma King was controlling Jin Chang and cussed Zhang Xuezhou inwardly.

Hongku learned that his son’s careless remark had sparked the venerables’ suspicion and resolved to retaliate against them, then joined Jin Chang in moving against Venerable Yun. As Jin Chang entered the formation to lure Venerable Yun, Hongku revealed his life-bound Heart-Piercing Nail, while Wu Chao began to feel his restraints lifting.

• Jin Chang admitted he could not heal Wu Chao and urged Zhang Xuezhou to help him advance so Jin Chang could learn the corresponding cultivation technique.
• Venerable Wenhuang told Hongku that his son’s remark about wanting a spacious palace had spread among the venerables and made them wary of Hongku’s ambition.
• Hongku regretted his earlier words, decided to hunt down the venerables he believed were targeting him, and chose to rely on Jin Chang’s strength despite his weakness.
• Jin Chang entered Venerable Yun’s formation while controlling Venerable Wenhuang to call for help, as Hongku prepared to kill Venerable Yun himself.
• Hongku showed Zhang Xuezhou his life-refined Heart-Piercing Nail, and Wu Chao sensed his heart’s shackles loosening as Zhang Xuezhou healed him.

Hongku defeated four venerables in the Five Ghost Yin Wind Sword Formation, killing three and forcing Venerable Wenhuang to surrender. He emerged as the victor and rose to power under the Sacred Land’s rules.

• Venerable Yun learned from Venerable Wenhuang that Hongku had defeated Venerable Sanxiao and Venerable Daode, leaving the four attackers badly outmatched.
• Venerable Wenhuang collapsed after speaking, and Venerable Yun tried to negotiate with Hongku while preparing to attack if he appeared.
• Hongku appeared with the Heart-Piercing Nail as Venerable Wenhuang secretly restrained Venerable Yun’s vital acupoints.
• Hongku used the Heart-Piercing Nail and two Yin ghosts’ bone swords to kill Venerable Yun and two others, while Venerable Wenhuang survived.
• Venerable Wenhuang conceded defeat, and the assembled venerables and mages recognized Hongku as the victor in the one-against-four contest.

Hongku became a Venerable after the Dao Lord’s decision, despite Venerable Yinghua’s objections. Hongku then offered to expel Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao, while Jin Chang warned them that Hongku was dangerous.

• Venerable Yinghua challenged Hongku’s claim to a Venerable’s position and proposed that he duel another Venerable.
• The Dao Lord’s dislike of the number nine forced Hongku to spare Venerable Wenhuang, leaving ten Venerables and securing Hongku’s new position.
• Venerable Yinghua questioned Hongku about the deaths of his students and the alleged Substitute Death Incantations.
• Hongku offered to expel Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao, take no more students, and send Wu Jin to study at the Vermilion Clouds Palace.
• Jin Chang warned Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao that Hongku was dangerous, while Wu Chao privately recognized that Jin Chang was dangerous too.

The Exalted One visited the Dao Lord, asked for help and for Venerable Wenhuang, then left after confirming that Zhang Xuezhou had survived the crisis. Watching him depart, the Dao Lord reflected on his own approaching death and considered how far he might go before the end.

• The Dao Lord refused the Exalted One’s request to curse the Golden Crow Great Emperor, Emperor Jing, Li Guang, Haotian, and the Queen Mother.
• The Exalted One revealed that he had watched Zhang Xuezhou and the others survive their fight with Hongku, and said Zhang had passed his test.
• The Exalted One asked for Venerable Wenhuang, but then said he wanted to beat her to death; the Dao Lord’s response about the number nine made him abandon killing Jin Chang for now.
• The Exalted One departed in his dragon carriage, and the Dao Lord suspected that the aging, desperate man had come for more than he admitted.
• The Dao Lord considered his own mortality, studied a flying blade that reflected several powerful figures, and carved a stone image of Hongku while contemplating his cultivation limits and possible final actions.

Hongku lifted the Substitute Death Incantation from Wu Chao and negotiated with Jin Chang over removing the Puppet Technique and cooperating against the venerables. Jin Chang asked Hongku to raise Zhang Xuezhou’s cultivation to at least the Body Transformation Realm, and Hongku was pleased to gain a powerful ally for his revenge.

• Hongku broke the guiding jade and confirmed that Wu Chao’s Substitute Death Incantation had been lifted, but Wu Chao refused to learn the dangerous technique.
• Jin Chang and Zhang Xuezhou also refused to examine Hongku’s Incantation Technique, wary of its risks and weaknesses.
• Jin Chang pulled puppet thread from Hongku and agreed to undo the Puppet Technique, though neither man could be sure the other had not tampered with their technique.
• Hongku proposed cooperating with Jin Chang to track and kill the venerables, but Jin Chang said he wanted the Nine Heavens Sect’s inheritance and had little need for Hongku’s help.
• Jin Chang asked Hongku to raise Zhang Xuezhou’s cultivation to at least the Body Transformation Realm, and Hongku welcomed the prospect of Jin Chang’s help in his revenge.

Hongku persuaded Zhang Xuezhou to visit Vermilion Clouds Palace and learn the Technique Within the Clouds from Venerable Lei, while asking him to bring back a medium for the Star-Fixing Technique if he could. Zhang Xuezhou arrived to find Venerable Lei lecturing on the very Technique he had come to study.

• Hongku urged Zhang Xuezhou to seize the chance to learn the Technique Within the Clouds, warning that its power to fly could save his life.
• Hongku placed a Technique on Zhang Xuezhou and gave him a storage pouch, explaining how to bind it to his own Law Power and asking him to collect a medium if the opportunity arose.
• Zhang Xuezhou filled the pouch with his belongings and set off for Vermilion Clouds Palace, while Wu Chao wondered what more he might gain from their failed assassination attempt.
• Zhang Xuezhou reached Vermilion Clouds Palace and found Venerable Lei lecturing a few servants on the Technique Within the Clouds.

Venerable Lei taught Zhang Xuezhou the Technique Within the Clouds, repeating the lecture three times before demonstrating its flight technique. After Lei vanished, the gathered venerables questioned Zhang Xuezhou about Hongku, hoping to learn how to guard against him.

• Venerable Lei taught Zhang Xuezhou advanced material on flight techniques, wing refinement, and spatial leaps at the Vermilion Clouds Palace.
• Five venerables arrived and discussed how Venerable Lei was severing his bond with Hongku, while Zhang Xuezhou focused on memorizing the lesson.
• Venerable Lei repeated his explanation twice, helping Zhang Xuezhou fill gaps in his memory of the Technique Within the Clouds.
• Venerable Lei finished the lesson and demonstrated the technique with enormous feathered wings before vanishing in a burst of thunder.
• An elderly venerable asked Zhang Xuezhou to share what he knew about Hongku so they could guard against him.

Zhang Xuezhou tried to use tea and fruit to help Hongku mark the Venerables, but he ate poisonous fruit and was caught in their scheme to keep him in the Sacred Land. After the Venerables discussed Hongku, Venerable Lei gathered the teacups with Hongku’s hidden strand of hair and flew to the Ostentatious Palace.

• Zhang Xuezhou served the Venerables tea and fruit, then ate a Thunderclap Fruit and suffered from its extreme sourness and poison.
• The Venerables revealed that stealing Venerable Lei’s fruit could earn Zhang Xuezhou a long punishment, and they blocked him from leaving.
• Venerable Black Mountain confirmed that Zhang Xuezhou had eaten poisonous fruit, while Venerable White Bone eased his trembling with a wave of his fan.
• After Zhang Xuezhou left, the Venerables discussed Hongku’s Substitute Death Incantation, divination, and alliance with Wenhuang.
• A strand of Hongku’s hair listened beneath Zhang Xuezhou’s meditation cushion, then bound the teacups together for Venerable Lei.
• Venerable Lei took the teacups and flew to the Ostentatious Palace.

Wu Chao weighed his uncertain future and decided to preserve his alliance with Zhang Xuezhou, while Jin Chang and Hongku argued over how to raise Zhang Xuezhou’s cultivation. The chapter ended with Jin Chang limiting their deal to advancing Zhang Xuezhou three levels within the Body Transformation Realm in exchange for killing three venerables.

• Wu Chao worried that Jin Chang’s disguise as Venerable Wenhuang would be exposed and considered the dangers of his own future paths.
• Wu Chao recognized Zhang Xuezhou as a reliable ally and resolved to repay him and maintain their relationship.
• Jin Chang warned Wu Chao that Zhang Xuezhou had likely eaten a Heavenly Thunder Fruit, making the Life-Sustaining Pill ineffective.
• Hongku explained that Venerable Lei had given Zhang Xuezhou the fruit, which could strengthen his wind and thunder powers and help him break through lower cultivation realms.
• Jin Chang forbade Hongku from forcibly raising Zhang Xuezhou’s cultivation and agreed to kill three venerables if Hongku advanced Zhang Xuezhou three levels step by step within the Body Transformation Realm.

After the Heavenly Thunder Fruit left Zhang Xuezhou unable to feel his teeth, Hongku and Wu Chao explained its effects and offered advice. Wu Chao offered Zhang Xuezhou one last batch of cultivation materials, and Zhang Xuezhou resolved to keep improving as he prepared a long list.

• Zhang Xuezhou checked his appearance and teeth after recovering, while Wu Chao reassured him that the numbness from the Heavenly Thunder Fruit would pass.
• Hongku advised Zhang Xuezhou to cultivate the Technique Within the Clouds to help his body recover, and Jin Chang explained that the fruit helped great demons withstand heavenly lightning.
• Wu Chao offered to provide Zhang Xuezhou with one last batch of cultivation materials before their cooperation ended.
• Zhang Xuezhou reconsidered his cultivation goals, deciding that becoming stronger would help him maintain an equal footing with Wu Chao.
• Zhang Xuezhou wrote down more than a hundred materials for the Technique Within the Clouds, while Jin Chang compared Wu Chao's generosity with Zou Bugui's stinginess.