Episode Summary
The illusion created by The Red Lotus, Li Mo, and Bai Jiusi shatters, leading to a direct confrontation. After being separated, Li Qingyue is tricked and stabbed by a mortal woman manipulated by The Red Lotus, causing a sympathetic injury to the magically-linked Bai Jiusi. Li Mo intervenes, saving Li Qingyue and wounding a heartbroken The Red Lotus. As the group hides to allow the severely injured Bai Jiusi to recover, Li Mo reveals his and The Red Lotus's tragic past. The episode culminates in a final battle where The Red Lotus threatens to freeze a village, forcing a desperate Li Qingyue to instinctively unleash a powerful "Blazing Fire," which defeats The Red Lotus and reveals to Bai Jiusi that she is his lost love, A Yue.
Spoiler Alert
They emerge from the dreamscape to find an injured The Red Lotus, revealing that the illusion was a shared construct powered by their own life forces. Unwilling to accept defeat, The Red Lotus flees. Bai Jiusi and Li Qingyue give chase but are separated. Li Qingyue is approached by the wife of a man named Xu Ying, who claims her husband has risen from the dead. Li Qingyue follows her home only to discover Xu Ying is not a zombie but is being magically manipulated, a threat she neutralizes with ease.
Elsewhere, Bai Jiusi catches up to The Red Lotus, and they engage in a fierce battle. However, Bai Jiusi is at a disadvantage; his abilities are damaged because he cut short his own healing meditation to rush to Li Qingyue's aid earlier. His focus is broken when he senses Li Qingyue is in peril. Back at the house, Li Qingyue lets her guard down and is drugged into unconsciousness by Xu Ying's wife. As Bai Jiusi tries to go to her, The Red Lotus intercepts him, preventing his escape.
Xu Ying's wife reveals her treachery, confessing that she murdered her abusive husband after being emboldened by The Red Lotus.Blaming Li Qingyue and Bai Jiusi for their intertwined love, she stabs the unconscious Li Qingyue. Because Bai Jiusi magically linked their bodies so they could sense one another, her injury is instantly inflicted upon him as well.
Just as Xu Ying's wife is about to deliver a final blow, Li Mo appears and saves Li Qingyue. He then moves to aid Bai Jiusi against The Red Lotus. The sight of Li Mo gives The Red Lotus pause, but her hesitation is met with an attack from Li Mo himself. The blow leaves The Red Lotus physically and emotionally devastated.
In a separate storyline, a character named Zhang Suan continues to endure the torturous "Heavenly Ladder" trial, determined to ascend to the Ninth Heaven.
With the immediate threat gone, Li Mo performs basic healing on Bai Jiusi, but his injuries are so severe that he will require months of seclusion to fully recover. With Bai Jiusi weakened, the group is no match for The Red Lotus and is forced to go into hiding.
Li Qingyue finds herself puzzled by the dynamic between Li Mo and The Red Lotus. The past she witnessed in the dreamscape showed a deep bond, which starkly contrasts with their violent encounter. Hoping to find a path to peace, she asks Li Mo about their history. Li Mo recounts that he took The Red Lotus in to treat a chronic ailment, but his efforts to help her also bred a toxic jealousy. To stop him from treating other women, The Red Lotus tampered with his medicine. Realizing she was becoming a danger to others, Li Mo chose to leave her. When Li Qingyue asks if he ever had romantic feelings for The Red Lotus, Li Mo, who has never experienced such emotions, denies it. Li Qingyue suggests that perhaps he was in love with The Red Lotus and simply didn't recognize the feeling.
Driven by despair, The Red Lotus decides to force a confrontation by threatening to freeze an entire village, knowing Li Mo will not stand by and watch innocents suffer. Li Mo resolves to face her, but Li Qingyue worries he will only escalate the situation.
As The Red Lotus unleashes her power, Bai Jiusi and Li Qingyue combine their strength to shield the village from the encroaching ice. The injured Bai Jiusi struggles to hold back the assault. When Li Qingyue moves to protect him, he pulls her behind him, taking the brunt of the attack. In this desperate moment, Li Qingyue instinctively unleashes a torrent of Blazing Fire, a powerful ability she didn't know she possessed.The flames overpower The Red Lotus's ice, saving Bai Jiusi and defeating her. Seeing her wield the Blazing Fire, Bai Jiusi has a stunning realization: Li Qingyue is his long-lost love, A Yue.
