Night fight with the stranger who sensed a soul shifter
A stranger senses a great soul inside sleeping Mu-deok; Uk confronts him and their fight breaks out as Uk tells her to run.
Master Lee Cheol
Every Alchemy of Souls moment featuring Master Lee Cheol, in story order. Played by Im Cheol-soo.
64 moments · 2h 28m
Meet Master Lee, and the sleepwalking cover
The stranger apologizes, introduces himself as Master Lee and suggests Mu-deok sleepwalks; she and Uk bicker over the bed and deny being married.
Sizing up Master Lee: Jipsu, Ryusu, Chisu
Mu-deok and Uk watch Master Lee light a fire and dry his clothes with energy, and Uk realizes how badly last night could have gone.
Hemp Master Lee and the chaste herb tea
Uk learns he drank a pot of libido-killing chaste tea; then Master Lee says training under him means drinking more of it.
Mu-deok smashes Uk's peaceful life
Uk is happily cooking and fishing with Master Lee; Mu-deok attacks the scene with a knife and calls him a coward.
Master Lee offers to cut Uk's energy flow
Master Lee recalls his one pupil who married and left, then offers Uk an ordinary life by cutting off his energy.
Uk calls Mu-deok a bird's egg
Looking for Mu-deok, Uk says she needs to be embraced; at a corpse in town, Master Lee explains soul shifters and pitches Hwansu.
Heo Yeom's old master breaks the barrier
Debating the Jin marriage, an elder admits he once left his master for love; then an intruder breaks the barrier and Heo Yeom greets his master.
Master Lee comes to Songrim with Gwigu
Master Lee suspects Cheonbugwan, reins in Heo Yeom, teases grown-up Park Jin, and reveals he took the dog Gwigu to hunt soul shifters.
Master Lee catches Mu-deok training Uk
Master Lee realizes Mu-deok is Uk's real master and warns her Tansu could kill him; Uk's sword nearly hits her.
Uk's arm burns from forced Tansu
Master Lee warns Uk's arm could rot; Mu-deok calls him lucky and fine, and Uk sees through his cruel master's kind lies.
Uk learns he is getting married
Over thin pheasant soup, Master Lee reports Cho-yeon is marrying the Gwanju's son; Uk is stunned and teased about the chaste tea.
The legend of the unmelting ice stone and the Soul Ejector
A Songrim elder tells a boy how a hailstone that never melted produced the Soul Ejector, plunged Daeho into war, and why Jinyowon's relics are feared.
Accused of cheating, Uk is saved by Master Lee
Elders demand who taught Uk Tansu; he insists he trained alone, and Master Lee steps in to vouch for him and his maid.
Maid Kim's petal-picking ends in Master Lee's arms
Picking petals at Chwiseonru, Maid Kim slips and is caught by Master Lee, who came only for food; untangling them leaves him rattled.
Master Lee reveals the book is a love letter
Master Lee says it would take a year of training, then lets slip a secret: the poem was written for a woman who could not see.
Maid Kim gives Master Lee a warm coat
Heo Yeom fusses over Master Lee's thin clothes, then Maid Kim arrives and gives Master Lee a coat as a thank-you gift, not a bribe.
Uk unlocks Words of the Heart with Seol-ran's name
Reasoning that every love letter starts with a name, Uk learns who the poem was for, and the invisible text appears to him.
Master Lee on the birth under the King's Star
Discussing Uk, Master Lee recalls that Jang Gang performed the alchemy of souls twenty years ago and a child was born under the King's Star.
Park Jin brings weeds, Master Lee brings flowers
Master Lee visits Maid Kim with flowers; Park Jin shows up worried and empty-handed, and she tells him she wants flowers, not weeds.
The ice stone and the Soul Ejectors explained
Jin Mu's courting of Jinyowon is linked to the ice stone, whose power is being used to make Soul Ejectors that grant new bodies.
The truth about who Naksu was killing
Two masters piece together that Naksu, Cho Chung's daughter, unknowingly disposed of Jin Mu's discarded soul-shifter bodies.
Maid Kim remembers Cho Chung and the daughter Jang Gang searched for
Maid Kim recalls Jang Gang's friend Cho Chung and his lost daughter, believes the girl is dead, and wants to drive off her lingering spirit.
Fake probation and the legend of the Golden Fish
Master Lee finds Uk home on 'probation'; Uk refuses to fish so he can train, until Mu-deok hears about the Golden Fish and volunteers him.
Master Lee catches a Golden Fish with no bait
At the lake Master Lee fishes with his own energy and pulls up a Golden Fish; Mu-deok reveals the trip is really a lesson in Chisu.
Uk and Master Lee trade secrets about love and Naksu
Uk guesses Master Lee's feelings for Maid Kim and admits he likes Mu-deok; Lee reveals he knows Naksu was Yul's first love.
Jang Uk reaches Chisu while Master Lee talks about geniuses
Master Lee explains that some are born able to grasp energy and others fear them, as Uk catches the Golden Fish and Mu-deok tells him he has reached Chisu.
Old masters bicker over who Maid Kim really loves
Master Lee says his chastity is over, Park Jin insists she still loves Jang Gang, and he is told he is the slow-witted one.
Withered flowers bloom again at Maid Kim's house
Over quince tea, Maid Kim's dried wildflowers come back to life, and she wonders whether the man she loves simply does not like her.
Master Lee treats Heo Yeom like a forgetful boy
Before leaving for the palace, Master Lee reminisces about the young Heo Yeom and scolds him over the gift's delivery time.
Master Lee tells the King he is a soul shifter
At the palace the King rants about Shaman Choi, then Master Lee reveals his soul is over a century old in a borrowed body; Mu-deok seeks the broker.
Master Lee's body is burned, so he returns as a child
After a 100-day meditation, Master Lee steps out of his body to test Hwansu, finds villagers cremating it, and berates young Yeom from a boy's body.
Master Lee tells the King how he spots soul shifters
Master Lee says soul shifters look like anyone else and only fear reveals them, then offers the King a gift: a dog.
Gwigu the dog barks at the palace, and the Queen objects
Master Lee reveals he put Gwigu's spirit into a dead dog; its bark shows soul shifters are in the palace and the Queen demands it be taken away.
Master Lee warns the King the ice stone has returned
Master Lee says someone is making Soul Ejectors again, and that a power able to bring chaos means someone strong enough to stop it will appear.
Master Lee leaves having seen enough, and Uk nurses a cut
Master Lee says the soul shifters showed themselves through fear; Uk, hurt in the fight, fusses over the dog while Yul wonders what Lee knows.
Tea with the Crown Prince turns into a debate on Naksu in Blue
Over tea, a rumor about Naksu's new body leads to an argument over whether ordinary people are foolish or simply frightened.
Jin Ho-gyeong storms Songrim and calls Master Lee a thief
Jinyowon's leader demands Gwigu back, accuses Master Lee of stealing it, and kills the dog that housed the relic to protect her daughter.
Cho-yeon confesses to using a Lovers' Charm
Asked why Gwigu attacked her, Cho-yeon admits she used a love charm; Gwigu is gone for good and her mother turns on her.
Songrim decides it needs Jang Gang to return
Songrim's elders fear Jin Mu will use Uk's birth against them, and pin their hopes on the wandering Jang Gang hearing the soul shifter rumours.
Master Lee leaves a blank letter for Jang Gang
Expecting Jang Gang to surface, Master Lee gives Maidservant Kim a blank page for him and explains why Seo Gyeong's pupil stays away.
A stranger tells children about the sad King's Star
A man explains to two children that the King's Star brings great power and lonely responsibility, and says the star will soon appear.
Master Lee Cheol learns the ice stone is inside Uk
Fishing with Master Lee, Uk admits the ice stone may be in him but refuses to awaken it, and asks for help if Mu-deok runs wild.
The season closes at the soul shifters' grave
Mu-deok wakes freed of the bells as Jin Mu predicts her end, while a voice tells Uk, the King's Star, that this is not his end.
The truth about Bu-yeon's body and the soul inside it
Jin Ho-gyeong is confronted over hiding Bu-yeon; a flashback shows the petrified body from the lake and an impossible choice between two souls.
A mother's bitter bargain to save her daughter's body
Lady Jin learns the revived girl will grow Naksu's features and lose her powers and memory, and vows Jang Uk will never learn of her.
Master Lee returns with a secret about Bu-yeon
A patient demands to know what is inside his body; then Master Lee reappears after three years, saying he treated Jin Bu-yeon.
Master Lee returns to Uk's stone towers
Master Lee reunites with Uk among the towers for slain soul shifters and learns Jin Bu-yeon tried to rebuild one; he reveals he once saved her.
Lady Jin begs Bu-yeon to come home
Bu-yeon tells her mother she is regaining her powers and refuses to leave Uk; Lady Jin sees she is in love and demands Uk come apologize.
Master Lee tells Uk about the fire bird
Master Lee suspects a charm is a copy of the volcano-born fire bird locked in Jinyowon and asks Uk to check on it; Uk refuses to get involved.
Uk's fury over what was done to Naksu
Told the royal family and Cheonbugwan are waking the fire bird and that the King's Star is his, Uk vows vengeance on a world he no longer cares for.
Master Lee reveals Uk's real father
Master Lee hands Uk a gold plaque and letter: he is the late King's son, born through the alchemy of souls, and must not let his power bring chaos.
The plan behind Jin Bu-yeon's returning powers
Lady Jin weighs how to cure a blood parasite, and it emerges that as Bu-yeon's divine powers return, Naksu's body may reject her.
Seo Yul wakes after three days
Yul learns So-i died and the parasite is gone, and apologises to Bu-yeon about Danhyanggok as Master Lee arrives.
Master Lee: Naksu's soul will soon disappear
Yul asks if Master Lee knew who she was; Lee says two souls share the body and Jin Bu-yeon's will awaken and erase Naksu's.
Why Jang Uk must never know about Naksu
Two allies agree Uk is better off not knowing: with Hwansu he could keep Naksu's soul, but only through forbidden sorcery.
Master Lee decides the two of them must marry
Refusing to watch one hunt the other, Master Lee announces he will end their current relationship by being witness at their wedding.
Four names, and she chooses Cho Yeong
After a mix-up over which way to face, Master Lee lists all four of her names; she picks her birth name, and he links light and shadow.
The wedding of Jang Uk and Cho Yeong
Over the wedding drink, echoes of their past promises play out before Master Lee declares them husband and wife.
A month of tomorrows and a promised last love letter
Uk refuses to count the days left; she promises a sign when her final memory returns, and Master Lee thinks of Seo Gyeong's unsent letter.
Jin Seol-ran shows Master Lee the fire bird's future
A spirit shows Master Lee the fire bird drying out the world, says only the man under the King's Star can stop it, and names her reborn self.
Empty coffins, then word that three still live
Songrim mourns Jin Ho-gyeong, Maid Kim and Park Jin with empty coffins, until Master Lee says the three did not die after all.
How Bu-yeon saved Jinyowon and Naksu's soul left
Jin Ho-gyeong learns Bu-yeon entered the collapsing Jinyowon through a door from Danhyanggok, and that Naksu has left her body.
31 relics loose, and Jin Ho-gyeong makes peace
The escaped relics list is read out, and Jin Ho-gyeong explains why seeing Bu-yeon no longer brings her agony.