The Journey of Legend Episode 29 Recap
> The Journey of Legend Recap
As the Power Gang leader, Li Chenzhou, announced that the Thousand Kalpas Finger on everyone had been lifted, he offered those who still doubted him the option to take their promised payment and depart. However, most martial artists, grateful to Xiao Qiushui for saving them earlier, turned to him for guidance. Xiao Qiushui, realizing that directly confronting the "unfathomable" Li Chenzhou now would be "unwise" and "impossible to win," declared that supporting the frontline was paramount.
He urged everyone to set aside their conflicts, including those between the Xiao family and the Power Gang, and to ensure the collected treasures reached the "frontline warriors." He then challenged Li Chenzhou to "fulfill today's pledge" if he truly sought "the entire martial world's allegiance," to which Li Chenzhou readily agreed.
Inspired by Xiao Qiushui, various sects, including the Haisha Gang and Baibu Sect, renounced their rightful shares of the treasure, donating everything to the frontline efforts and later pledging their loyalty to Xiao Qiushui. While everyone helped load the collected treasures, Li Chenzhou confronted a newly recruited Huanhua Sect disciple brought by Xiao Yiren, who was "sneaking around." The disciple attempted to attack Li Chenzhou but was swiftly struck down.
Xiao Yiren, angered, was then forced by Li Chenzhou to reveal a North Wasteland mark on the fallen disciple's arm. Other martial artists immediately accused Xiao Yiren of colluding with the North Wasteland. Xiao Yiren, distraught, pursued another fleeing North Wastelander, demanding to know why he was framed, but the Wastelander dismissed him as an "insignificant worm" unworthy of their schemes. Yiren, furious and heartbroken, killed the man.
Xiao Qiushui quickly intervened, assuring the assembled sects that his brother, Xiao Yiren, could not possibly be a North Wasteland spy and must have been "ensnared in a plot." He promised that the Xiao family would provide a full account once the truth was uncovered. Zhao Shirong then stepped forward, reiterating the urgency of the frontline and allowing anyone unwilling to help transport the treasures to leave.
The other sects, reaffirming their trust in Xiao Qiushui, pledged their full support not only to Daxi but also personally to him, vowing to follow him through any peril. Once the treasures were loaded, Zhao Shirong approached Xiao Qiushui, relaying Li Chenzhou's message that Xiao Qiushui was to "handle the treasures' future arrangements" and "handle the overall situation" concerning them.
She further promised that after the treasures were successfully delivered to the frontline, the Power Gang would return the bodies of his parents, Xiao Xilou and Sun Huishan, to the Xiao family. Xiao Yiren returned to his severely damaged family home, where the black-clad man appeared once more. Yiren angrily confronted him, demanding to know why he had been tricked into bringing North Wastelanders to Nantiandang and what his true identity was.
The black-clad man brushed aside his identity as unimportant, declaring that Yiren's "only path now is to join me." He then revealed that when the North Wasteland "breached the capital" years ago, Daxi's "imperial jade seal" had vanished, hidden within the treasure hoard of Nantiandang. He explained that the North Wastelanders were sent to recover this seal to "return it intact" to Daxi's emperor, thereby performing a "great service" by "transforming conflict into harmony" and "sparing the people from war."
Xiao Yiren, though skeptical, questioned how Wastelanders could return the seal to the emperor and what it meant for reclaiming lost northern territories. The black-clad man scoffed at reclaiming lost lands as "martial artists' wishful thinking," claiming the emperor had no desire for war but merely lacked a proper "occasion to reconcile" with the North Wasteland. Returning the seal would fulfill the emperor's wishes and "benefit all."
Yiren expressed concern that his family would be labeled "forever traitors" for such an act. The black-clad man dismissed his worries about the nation's fate, promising "handsome rewards" and an "imperial plaque" for the Huanhua Sect, which would make both Jin City and the Central Plains martial worlds heed the Xiao family. Xiao Yiren pressed again for the man's identity.
Upon returning to his manor, Xiao Qiushui was relieved to find it rebuilt "exactly as it was before" with the assistance of the Shenzhou Alliance and various Guangling sects. They expressed their satisfaction and departed. Tang Fang was also present, offering her help. Suddenly, a wounded Xiao Kaiyan stumbled in, explaining that he and Xiao Yiren had pursued the Wastelander, but Yiren disappeared in the "treacherous paths" of Nantiandang.
Before Xiao Qiushui could inquire further, a report came that Zhao Shirong had arrived with the bodies of his parents, Xiao Xilou and Sun Huishan. Overcome with grief, Xiao Qiushui and Xiao Kaiyan mourned their parents. Kaiyan, consumed by sorrow and rage, swore "to avenge this blood debt." Xiao Qiushui restrained him, revealing that Li Chenzhou had claimed at Nantiandang that the Power Gang "weren't the murderers" and that "the true killer is someone else."
Kaiyan, however, was distrustful of the Power Gang and accused Qiushui of being "bewitched." Qiushui defended his belief, explaining that Li Chenzhou had shown him "irrefutable evidence" and promised to "expose the mastermind behind their deaths" within three days. Zhao Shirong then explained that the parents were killed by the "Marrow-Shattering Finger," a technique "left behind by Elder Tuoshan decades ago."
She presented "the iron sand" as "proof," having used "Twofold Needles to draw the iron sand" from their bodies "to their wrists." Xiao Qiushui inquired who Elder Tuoshan had taught the technique to. Zhao Shirong revealed he had "three direct disciples" from "three prominent martial families of the southern martial world": the Fei family, the Deng family from Hailin Sect's Qianxi branch, and the Tang Sect.
She specified that the "hard and rigid" technique could "only be practiced by men," and within the Tang Sect, its practitioner was Tang Yaoshun. Tang Fang swiftly clarified that her father, Tang Yaoshun, had been "bedridden for years" and "hasn't left Tang Sect in a year," rendering him incapable of using the Marrow-Shattering Finger, which demands "complete internal energy control."
Zhao Shirong corroborated this, acknowledging that Tang Yaoshun's "energy is severely depleted," thus making it impossible for him to perform the technique. Zhao Shirong then concluded that the killer "must be from the other two families," identifying Fei Yuqiao as the practitioner for the Fei family and Deng Qingfeng for the Deng family. Deng Yuhan immediately sprang to his father's defense, asserting he had "never seen my father use this technique" nor heard him "learning from Elder Tuoshan."
Xiao Qiushui, trusting Yuhan, declared he "doubts your father harmed my family." He decided that "For now, I'll investigate Fei Yuqiao first" by testing his skills to get answers. Before he could leave, Zhao Shirong intervened, stating that Li Chenzhou had "urgent information" for him and requested that he "visit Power Gang headquarters first," handing him a token for access. She then departed.
After Zhao Shirong left, Xiao Qiushui instructed Xiao Kaiyan to descend the mountain and "prepare coffins" so their parents could be laid to rest promptly, and to "inform Yiren and Xueyu." Other members of the Shenzhou Alliance offered their assistance. Xiao Qiushui then took a moment to be alone with his parents' bodies, weeping as he apologized for finally bringing them home. As he held Sun Huishan's hand, he unexpectedly discovered an "S" etched onto it.
This discovery sent his thoughts into a flurry, and he had a "wild guess" that there might be "another transmigrator" in this world, triggering a crucial memory from his life before transmigrating. Before transmigrating, Xiao Mingming had started working at a company owned by his senior from the Chinese department, Li Nan.
While Li Nan's latest work, `Sect Leader`, was receiving praise from fans, some wished for more romantic subplots, and Mingming privately labeled Li Nan as "shameless" and "a fraud." Li Nan had reviewed Mingming's "pure wuxia" novel outline, `Halfway Hero`, which featured "patriotic themes," but expressed reservations about the "genre." Mingming reminded Li Nan of their agreement: if `Sect Leader` met certain metrics, Mingming would receive an author contract.
However, Li Nan criticized Mingming's recent "slow updates," causing "readers to complain," and suggested he "reset" the story and "give more cheat codes" for popular appeal, even proposing to revive a retired character, Immortal Li. Mingming resisted, insisting that while "readers do enjoy cheat codes, but cannot overdo it," and that he preferred to write "pure wuxia."
Li Nan, claiming to treat Mingming "like my own brother" since Mingming's "parents died young," urged him to drop his "stubborn" attitude, "focus on writing well," and "don't overthink it." Driven by frustration, Xiao Mingming refused to let Li Nan continue to steal his work. His colleague, Li Cai, suggested that while one shouldn't "overthink" workplace matters, Mingming could try the "Demon Codex" interactive writing software.
Li Cai explained that the system used AI for writing and notably "includes the adaptation you're working on of Wen Rui'an's Heroes of Divine Land." Xiao Mingming opened the software, finding his own `Heroes of Divine Land` manuscript within it. He later discovered that `Sect Leader II`, Li Nan's "new book," used his `Halfway Hero` outline, leading to a heated confrontation in Li Nan's office.
Li Nan dismissed Mingming's accusations, claiming he had planned `Sect Leader II` months ago and arguing that his own authorship made the copyright "more valuable." Mingming, however, believed Li Nan had "lacked creativity for years" and was merely "counting on you to reset him." He declared, "This is my novel," and refused to ghostwrite further, demanding proper credit.
Li Nan attempted to negotiate, offering money, a new book, or authorship, but Mingming stated that while his personal matters could be set aside, "selling state secrets to foreign powers is a different story," revealing that he had discovered Li Nan secretly transmitting photos taken at a "military forum event" — photos that contained "state secrets." As they struggled over Li Nan's computer, an electrical shock occurred, leading to their simultaneous transmigration.
Back in the martial world, Xiao Qiushui, recalling the "reset" and connecting it to Li Nan, realized "It's him." He deduced that if Li Nan had also transmigrated into this world since his own arrival, then Li Nan might be responsible for manipulating events. He reflected on his past attempts to change the story, like rushing reinforcements home, yet his brother (Xiao Yiren) still "met misfortune on the way," and his parents were still killed.
He wondered if Li Nan had "changed the story's path again" and if he had "accomplices in my family." He recalled Li Chenzhou's earlier words: Power Gang's orders for the Xiao family were only to besiege, not to kill. When Power Gang's second group arrived, Sword Retreat had already fallen from within, suggesting that "the real killer of your clan is one of your own people."
This reinforced Qiushui's suspicion that his parents' killer was someone else, and he questioned Li Nan's identity and how he could "infiltrate my family so deeply." Still reeling from these revelations, Xiao Qiushui was approached by Deng Yuhan, who expressed his deep guilt.
Yuhan recounted that when "Sword Retreat was besieged," he had "vowed" to Xiao Qiushui that he would bring his father to aid the Huanhua Sect, but his father "cowered and did nothing," making Yuhan feel he had "failed" his sworn brother. Xiao Qiushui reassured him, stating that no matter his father's actions, Yuhan "will always be my brother," and the Marrow-Shattering Finger theory was "just speculation," advising him not to "dwell on it."
He reminded Yuhan of their oath as sworn brothers, that "no matter what happens and no matter when, you'll always be my sworn brother." Moved by this, Deng Yuhan offered to "accompany" Xiao Qiushui to Hailin Sect "to confront my father for answers." Xiao Qiushui agreed, believing "It'll spare you the torment," and told Yuhan to "Wait for me."
