After saving a character who was originally supposed to die as canon fodder, Shen Qingqiu soon gets to the subplot where the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect faces an invasion from the demon realm.
- Adaptation Deviation: Although the novel includes a brief narration about Shen Qingqiu's comments on Liu Qingge's appearance, he never expressed said thoughts out loud. He does in the donghua, which results in a hilarious exchange between the two.
- Blood from the Mouth: Liu Qingge keeps coughing up blood while recovering from a qi deviation that nearly had him killed.
- But Thou Must!: The System warns that Luo Binghe must participate in a single battle against the Demon Realm, or Shen Qingqiu will die.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The fight between Shen Qingqiu and Elder One-Arm ends completely in the former's favor. Even during the fight, Shen Qingqiu was casually dodging the latter's attacks without breaking a sweat.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Shen Qingqiu remarks out loud that he didn't expect Liu Qingge to look like a Pretty Boy, which quickly confuses Liu Qingge. Shen Qingqiu then backtracks and says that he thought Liu Qingge would be more of the rugged but handsome type, which just unsettles the latter even further.
- Easily Forgiven: Played with. When Shen Qingqiu tells Liu Qingge that they should bury their past grudges and start anew, Liu Qingge remains wary of him and tells him to piss off. However, he does acknowledge that Shen Qingqiu saved his life, and the fact that three years passed with the two meditating in the same cave in peace hints that Liu Qingge accepted the olive branch given to him.
- Exact Words: When Sha Hualing suggests that Shen Qingqiu cuts off one arm so that his fight against Elder One-Arm would be fair, Shen Qingqiu counters that he won't use either of his arms during the fight instead. He does keep to his word, since he doesn't need to use his hands to wield Xiu Ya.
- Feet-First Introduction: Although she makes a brief cameo in the first episode during the sequence explaining what happened in the novel's original canon, the viewer gets their first glimpse of Sha Hualing in her proper introduction by showing her legs and feet.
- Glory Seeker: While Sha Hualing claims that she's "paying a visit" to the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect for civil reasons, Shen Qingqiu knows that her real motive is to attain fame.
- He Is All Grown Up: Considering that Shen Qingqiu cultivated in seclusion for three years, it makes sense that his disciples are taller and have more mature features by the time they're reappear again.
- Inciting Incident: According to Shen Qingqiu, the original Shen Qingqiu's reputation worsened after he murdered Liu Qingge.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Shen Qingqiu comments on how three years of meditating flew by so fast that in a TV show, such scenes would be shown for around ten seconds.
- Lost in Translation: When Shen Qingqiu wonders why Liu Qingge looks so "young and cute", the words he actually used translate to "small white face". Contextually speaking, it does mean "Pretty Boy", but it's also a slang for "male prostitute".
- Power High: Downplayed. After winning the first bout of the duel with total ease, Shen Qingqiu remarks that he now understands Shen Qingqiu's arrogance.
- Precision F-Strike: When Shen Qingqiu wonders if he was powerful enough to brush off an attack from Liu Qingge, the latter uses a rather crass translation of "Nonsense!" (仿皮) in response. A closer translation for the word would be "bullshit".
- Took a Level in Badass: After three years' worth of cultivating by meditation, Shen Qingqiu's powers have significantly increased to the extent that he's able to defeat any of the demons that sieged Qiong Ding Peak without breaking a sweet.
- Worf Had the Flu: The only reason Shen Qingqiu had the upper hand in his brief clash with Liu Qingge was because the latter's spiritual energy was highly unstable at the time.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: This trope is all over his expression when the System tells him that he'll die if Luo Binghe doesn't get to fight against Sha Hualing's army.
