Recaps

Shu Da replicated the Extreme Realm Heaven Stele, turning Spirit Beast Continent’s apparent victory into a major gain for the Vast Heaven Sect. As the Spirit Communication Pagoda collapsed and the continents began to reconnect, the Four Saints’ remnant bodies appeared, and Chu Xinghe persuaded Gu Mingchao to wait before trying to seize them.

• Cui Wuming celebrated his victory until the Spirit Beast Continent crowd saw Shu Da’s replica of the Extreme Realm Heaven Stele on the Blazing Sun Continent’s side.
• Gu Mingchao announced that the Vast Heaven Sect would place the stele in the Haotian Mountain Range and let people from any faction apply to study it.
• Fan Sheng realized that Shu Da had combined the memories of countless copies to reproduce the stele, while Chu Xinghe lamented the unexpected result.
• Gu Mingchao ordered everyone out as the Spirit Communication Pagoda broke apart and its fragments became power reconnecting the three continents.
• Four illusory figures of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Xuanwu appeared, revealing the Four Saints’ broken remnant bodies.
• Chu Xinghe stopped Gu Mingchao from entering the collapsing pagoda to seize the remnants, and Gu Mingchao agreed to wait.

Ji Ya risked her life to seize and absorb the remains of the Four Sacred Beasts while Gu Mingchao stayed back, waiting to see how things unfolded. After the Spirit Communication Pagoda collapsed, the Beast God's spine appeared, and Gu Mingchao caught it and absorbed it before the Beast God could reclaim it.

• Gu Mingchao stayed out of the Spirit Communication Pagoda's destructive force, while Ji Ya charged through it to reach the remains of the Four Sacred Beasts.
• Ji Ya used her treasures and her Four Sacred Beasts to survive the spatial blades, seized the remains, and escaped the pagoda gravely wounded.
• Ji Ya immediately absorbed the remains of the Four Sacred Beasts, and their power began surging through her body as Gu Mingchao watched.
• The Spirit Communication Pagoda shattered, the barriers between the three continents vanished, and the Beast God's spine appeared above the ruins.
• The Beast God dispelled the spine's protection and tried to reclaim it, but Gu Mingchao caught it and absorbed it, saying he had told everyone to wait and see.

Gu Mingchao fused with the Beast God's spine, gaining a reconstructed body whose physical power reached the Half-Step Main God realm. Ji Ya's breakthrough to Peak Mystic God was eclipsed by Gu Mingchao's return as a figure revered by the Beast Race, and the grand elder covered him with a cloak.

• The Beast God's unclaimed spine flew to Gu Mingchao, who fused with it and had his original body replaced by one woven from the Immortal Body's power.
• Gu Mingchao's new body radiated the Beast God's ancient presence, and spirit beasts across the Spirit Beast Continent knelt and roared in recognition.
• Ji Ya fused with the Four Saints' remains, reached Peak Mystic God, and believed she had surpassed Gu Mingchao.
• Gu Mingchao emerged from the golden light with Half-Step Main God physical strength, while Ji Ya and the Spirit Beast Continent fell silent before him.
• The grand elder rushed over and wrapped Gu Mingchao in a cloak as he stood exposed before the gathered crowd.

Gu Mingchao became a physical Half-Step Main God after remaining true to his dao of watching and waiting, leaving Ji Ya stunned by the gap between them. He arrived on the Spirit Beast Continent, offered Ji Ya his guidance, and struck Clan Head Ning for his lax supervision.

• The grand elder covered Gu Mingchao with a cloak before the Vast Heaven Sect elders could see him exposed after his transformation.
• Ji Ya struggled to accept that Gu Mingchao had surpassed her through watching and waiting, while Gu Mingchao credited Xinghe for keeping him from pursuing the Remains of the Four Holy Ones.
• Gu Mingchao offered Xinghe a place as his personal disciple, but the Vast Heaven Sect elders claimed they could teach Xinghe physical cultivation themselves.
• Gu Mingchao crossed the spatial rifts to the Spirit Beast Continent, where he told Ji Ya she could seek his guidance and asked her to call him Main God Gu.
• Gu Mingchao slapped Clan Head Ning across the continent for lax supervision, and Clan Head Ning said he did not object.

Gu Mingchao punished Clan Head Ning for Ning Jichang’s attack on Ji Moran and warned the Spirit Beast Continent against opposing the Vast Heaven Sect. Watching Chu Xinghe and Gu Mingchao defend the Cloud Firmament Sect, Xing Yushen let go of his imagined hatred, broke through to Peak Martial God, and thanked the Vast Heaven Sect.

• Gu Mingchao slapped Clan Head Ning twice, explaining that one blow avenged Ji Moran and the other repaid Chu Xinghe for his injuries.
• Gu Mingchao warned the Spirit Beast Continent’s factions not to use underhanded tactics against the Vast Heaven Sect, and the clan heads acknowledged him in fear.
• Xing Yushen realized the Vast Heaven Sect had never treated the Cloud Firmament Sect as an enemy and recognized that Chu Xinghe had risked his life to save Ji Moran.
• Xing Yushen let go of his hatred and broke through from Early-Stage Martial God to Peak Martial God.
• Xing Yushen bowed to the Vast Heaven Sect’s great elder and thanked the sect for helping him shatter his inner demon.

Xing Yushen reconciled with Gu Mingchao after realizing the Vast Heaven Sect had never been his enemy, while the reunification of the three continents brought a surge of Spiritual Qi and new breakthroughs. When the Ning Clan tried to return Ji Moran’s Cosmos Ring, Ji Moran and Xing Yushen denied it belonged to the Cloud Firmament Sect—even after a Xuanwu Spirit Beast Talisman was found inside.

• Cheng Xiaotian recalled how he had warned Xing Yushen against secretly targeting the Vast Heaven Sect, and was glad that Xing Yushen had finally seen the truth.
• Xing Yushen thanked Gu Mingchao and admitted he had been blinded by appearances, while Ji Moran resolved to compete for the younger generation’s top position.
• The three continents reunited as their spatial rifts stabilized, Spiritual Qi increased, and Empress Ji Ya led the Spirit Beast Continent’s people onto the Blazing Sun Continent.
• Clan Head Ning brought Ji Moran’s Cosmos Ring to him, but Ji Moran denied ever owning one, and Xing Yushen likewise insisted the ring had nothing to do with the Cloud Firmament Sect.
• The Ning Clan found a Xuanwu Spirit Beast Talisman inside the ring, and Clan Head Ning accused the Cloud Firmament Sect of plotting against them.
• When Clan Head Ning challenged Xing Yushen about the talisman, Xing Yushen again denied that it had anything to do with the Cloud Firmament Sect.

Clan Head Ning unexpectedly claimed the Xuanwu Spirit Beast Talisman after the Cloud Firmament Sect and every other group denied ownership, while Ji Moran rejoiced that his death had made the talisman ownerless. After bonding with the treasure and celebrating the Ning Clan’s coming rise, Clan Head Ning teleported his clan home and landed headfirst in the latrine pit.

• Clan Head Ning found the Xuanwu Spirit Beast Talisman in Ji Moran’s storage ring, but Xing Yushen and the other powers all denied that it belonged to them.
• Clan Head Ning explained the talisman’s value and warned the witnesses that the Ning Clan would keep it, while Xing Yushen and the others promptly left.
• Back at the Cloud Firmament Sect, Xing Yushen celebrated, and Ji Moran realized his resurrection had severed his bond with the talisman and made it ownerless.
• Clan Head Cui asked for the talisman, but Clan Head Ning refused and bonded with it, gaining Xuanwu’s power.
• After Ji Ya warned Clan Head Ning against provoking the Blazing Sun Continent, he teleported the Ning Clan home and fell headfirst into the latrine pit.

After the three continents merged, Chu Xinghe returned to the Vast Heaven Sect to recover from the severe injuries he suffered saving Little Ji, while the Ning Clan struggled to recover from a latrine disaster. As Tantai Jing expanded Demon Demon Express onto Spirit Beast Continent, he learned its local Demonic Sect was attacking his couriers and resolved to retaliate.

• Ning Clan Head Ning and the clan elders were caught in a latrine explosion, leaving the clan traumatized and unable to stomach shrimp.
• The three continents merged, prompting travel between them and breakthroughs as Spiritual Qi surged and the world advanced beyond the Mystic God realm.
• Chu Xinghe returned to the Vast Heaven Sect, revealed the true extent of his injuries, and entered seclusion after ordering Ma Liang to keep sect disciples away from the Beast God Spirit Temple.
• The Ning Clan went quiet after its disaster, while outsiders mistakenly suspected it was preparing a major move with the Xuanwu Spirit Beast Talisman.
• Tantai Jing learned that the Demonic Sect on Spirit Beast Continent was killing his disciples and stealing Demon Demon Express packages, and vowed to deal with them.

Tantai Jing learned that the Soulless Sect had robbed and killed Demon Demon Express couriers on the Spirit Beast Continent, then secured the Vast Heaven Sect’s promise not to interfere in the Demonic Sect’s internal conflict. He rode toward Soulless Valley, where the Soulless Sect was celebrating, and declared that no one would survive.

• Tantai Jing learned that the Spirit Beast Continent’s Demonic Sect had robbed Demon Demon Express and ordered compensation for the lost parcels.
• Tantai Jing investigated the Spirit Beast Continent’s demonic sects and decided to confront them over the attack.
• Tantai Jing visited the Vast Heaven Sect and asked the righteous factions not to interfere in the Demonic Sect’s internal war; the Grand Elder agreed as long as innocents were not harmed.
• The Soulless Sect celebrated after its master ordered the robbery and killing of Demon Demon Express couriers and claimed the stolen parcels.
• Tantai Jing rode a black-flamed Skeleton Nightmare Steed to Soulless Valley and vowed that no one there would survive.

Tantai Jing avenged the twenty-two Demon Demon Express workers killed by Soulless Valley by wiping out the sect and turning its master and spirit beast into undead puppets. He left one terrified disciple alive to deliver his warning that he would slaughter twenty-two demonic sects across the Spirit Beast Continent.

• Tantai Jing surrounded Soulless Valley with malevolent spirits and killed the guards and disciples in his path.
• Tantai Jing planted the recovered Demon Demon Express flag before the Soulless Sect members and announced his identity.
• The Soulless Sect master sent his Ninth Rank Black-Tailed Scorpion to attack, but Tantai Jing caught its stinger, killed it with his Netherworld Ghost Hand, and raised it as a puppet.
• Tantai Jing killed the Soulless Sect master and turned him into an undead puppet, while the undead army slaughtered the sect members.
• Tantai Jing spared one disciple to carry his warning that he would visit demonic sects across the Spirit Beast Continent and destroy twenty-two of them.

After Tantai Jing slaughtered Soulless Valley in retaliation for the deaths of twenty-two Demon Demon Express disciples, he vowed to destroy twenty-two Demonic Sects, provoking the Spirit Beast Continent's sects to issue a kill order. The other continents refused to interfere, and Zheng Yu feared that without Chu Xinghe, no one could stop Tantai Jing.

• The Spirit Beast Continent's Demonic Sects arrived at Soulless Valley and found it devastated, while the terrified Zhao Ji identified Tantai Jing as the culprit.
• Zhao Ji explained that Tantai Jing planned to kill twenty-two Demonic Sects to prevent them from harming his people, then exploded after delivering his message.
• The Spirit Beast Continent's Demonic Sects issued a kill order for Tantai Jing and demanded that the Blazing Sun Continent answer for his actions.
• Ma Liang defended Tantai Jing and said the Vast Heaven Sect and the other powers would not interfere in the Demonic Sects' conflict unless innocents were harmed.
• Zheng Yu warned his subordinates not to provoke Tantai Jing and worried that the Spirit Beast Continent's Demonic Sects could not stop him without Senior Brother Xinghe.

After the Spirit Beast Continent learned of Tantai Jing’s fearsome record, Shen Yue publicly challenged him to a fight to the death at the border between the continents. Shen Yue and Qiu Tian prepared for the duel, including a plan to kill Tantai Jing by ambush if Shen Yue could not defeat him openly.

• The Great Prophecy Art predicted that Tantai Jing facing the Spirit Beast Continent’s group would lead to total annihilation because he would kill Ning Jichang and then everyone else.
• Shen Yue publicly challenged Tantai Jing to fight at the border in three days, and Tantai Jing accepted, declaring that the duel would decide who lived and who died.
• Qiu Tian worried about Shen Yue facing Tantai Jing, but Shen Yue said that he would either kill Tantai Jing openly or have Qiu Tian strike if he began to lose.
• Qiu Tian made preparations for the duel and possible interference, while Shen Yue entered seclusion to reach his peak before the battle.

Demonic Sects from Spirit Beast Continent and Blazing Sun Continent wagered and traded insults over Shen Yue’s coming showdown with Tantai Jing. As Shen Yue secluded himself to prepare and began entering sudden enlightenment, Tantai Jing ambushed him, crippled him, destroyed his spiritual sea and soul, then left him alive but mentally ruined.

• The two continents’ Demonic Sects placed enormous bets on the fight, with Spirit Beast Continent’s Devil Master Qiu Tian repeatedly driving Tantai Jing’s odds back to five to one.
• Wu Xingyun tried to raise more resources for Blazing Sun Continent’s bets, but its Demonic Sects had run out of things to sell and stopped wagering.
• Ma Liang suggested that the Vast Heaven Sect bet on Tantai Jing, but Chu Xinghe refused and kept the sect out of the betting.
• Shen Yue secluded himself to prepare for Tantai Jing and began entering sudden enlightenment in a bamboo grove.
• Tantai Jing ambushed Shen Yue, tore off his limbs, destroyed his spiritual sea and soul, and left him planted in a pit as an idiot before escaping through the mountain-protecting formation.

Tantai Jing infiltrated the Spirit Beast Continent’s Demonic Sect and crippled Shen Yue before their scheduled duel, leaving spectators from three continents waiting in vain. Qiu Tian decided against retaliation after hearing the Blazing Sun Continent’s Demonic Sect was too powerful, then tried to seize the duel’s betting pool, only to learn its bookmakers had already fled with everything.

• Tantai Jing bypassed the Demonic Sect’s defenses, ambushed Shen Yue, and carved “Grandpa Tantai was here” into his face before leaving.
• Qiu Tian’s people discovered Shen Yue the next day, and the Demonic Sect members realized Tantai Jing had infiltrated their compound and left Shen Yue severely injured and mentally damaged.
• Spectators gathered for the full-moon duel, but neither Tantai Jing nor either Demonic Sect appeared; news soon spread that Tantai Jing had ambushed Shen Yue instead.
• Qiu Tian considered invading the Blazing Sun Continent, but the grand elder warned him that its Demonic Sect might be too strong to challenge safely.
• The grand elder suggested seizing the betting pool’s resources, but Qiu Tian learned its bookmakers had fled the previous day with everything.

After the betting operation vanished with the resources wagered across three continents, Qiu Tian and the major powers blamed each other while trying to identify its mysterious bookmaker. Ma Liang suspected Chu Xinghe, who privately decided the Blazing Sun Continent’s Demonic Sects were behind the scam, possibly through Tantai Jing.

• Qiu Tian ordered an investigation into the vanished betting operation, but gambling houses across the Spirit Beast Continent said they knew nothing about its bookmaker.
• As news of the disappearance spread, bettors across the three continents argued over whether Tantai Jing’s sneak attack counted as a win before realizing the bookmaker had run off with their resources.
• Spirit Beast Continent powers accused Qiu Tian of being the bookmaker, but Qiu Tian blamed Wu Xingyun and the Blazing Sun Continent’s Demonic Sects.
• Wu Xingyun denied running the scam and swore a vicious oath, pointing out that he had won his bet and had no reason to flee.
• Ma Liang asked Chu Xinghe if he was the mysterious bookmaker, and Chu Xinghe privately suspected Tantai Jing or the Blazing Sun Continent’s Demonic Sects.

Tantai Jing’s betting scam had fleeced factions across the three continents, while Chu Xinghe’s warning kept the Vast Heaven Sect out of it. Pressured to identify the bookmaker, Hua Xichen used the Great Prophecy Art and received the name Yin Soul Patriarch.

• Ma Liang realized Senior Brother Xinghe had warned him that Wu Xingyun might be diverting suspicion from Tantai Jing, while Zheng Yu and other factions swallowed their losses for lack of evidence.
• Tantai Jing revealed that he had arranged the betting scam, used Wu Xingyun’s acting to distract everyone, and ambushed Shen Yue to keep attention away from the vanished wagers.
• The factions gathered at the Hua Clan and demanded that Hua Xichen use the Great Prophecy Art to identify the bookmaker, despite the Hua Clan also having lost resources.
• Hua Xichen agreed to divine the culprit, and the Heavenly Dao’s answer named Yin Soul Patriarch.

Hua Xichen’s Great Prophecy Art named the long-dead Yin Soul Patriarch as the mastermind behind the betting pool, leaving Tantai Jing cleared of suspicion and the three continents baffled. After the Black Sha Sect was destroyed for accusing the Vast Heaven Sect, Tantai Jing resumed his attacks on Spirit Beast Continent’s minor Demonic Sects, while Qiu Tian struggled to stop them from launching a dangerous invasion.

• Hua Xichen used the Great Prophecy Art twice, and both times it identified the deceased Yin Soul Patriarch—not Tantai Jing—as the betting pool’s mastermind.
• The Vast Heaven Sect’s great elder sent Demonic Emperor Wu Xingyun to destroy the Black Sha Sect after Black Wind Old Monster accused the sect of conspiring with Yin Soul Patriarch.
• The great elder thanked Wu Xingyun publicly and warned the Demonic Sects not to involve the Vast Heaven Sect in their conflicts.
• Tantai Jing attacked eight minor Demonic Sects in one night, prompting their leaders to demand that Devil Master Qiu Tian protect them and pursue Tantai Jing.
• Qiu Tian rejected calls to invade the Blazing Sun Continent, explaining that its Demonic Sects were scattered and that an invasion risked provoking the Vast Heaven Sect.

Qiu Tian used the Flying Heaven Ring to make the smaller Demonic Sect factions pay for his protection, forcing Tantai Jing to delay his attacks. With Yuan Ying in seclusion and Wu Xingyun newly a Half-Step Mystic God, Tantai Jing instead sent his forces after the factions’ families to make them defend their kin.

• Qiu Tian charged the smaller Demonic Sect factions five times the resources to install Flying Heaven Ring arrival points, then set them up across their territories.
• Tantai Jing learned the ring would summon Qiu Tian to any threatened faction and found Yuan Ying in seclusion attempting to break through to the Mystic God realm.
• Wu Xingyun revealed he had reached the Half-Step Mystic God realm and argued that Yuan Ying would remain with the Demonic Sect because he had few alternatives and still opposed the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Tantai Jing gathered Demonic Sect strategists to find a way around Qiu Tian’s defenses and dismissed slaughtering the remaining factions as a last resort.
• Tantai Jing’s followers identified a strategist who questioned attacking families as a Jade Void Palace spy and arranged to ransom him back to the palace.
• Tantai Jing ordered his forces to find the Spirit Beast Continent factions’ families and make those factions fight to defend them.

Tantai Jing stirred up a feud between the Demonic Sect and the Cui Clan by exposing Qiu Tian’s connection to Liu Xing and spreading outrageous rumors about Clan Head Cui. The chapter ended with Tantai Jing arriving at the Cui Clan’s gates to meet Clan Head Cui.

• Tantai Jing targeted families tied to the Spirit Beast Continent’s Demonic Sect, provoking its members while avoiding families connected to the four great clans.
• Tantai Jing learned that Qiu Tian had kept Liu Xing, Clan Head Cui’s former favorite concubine, inside the Demonic Sect, and he sent the news to the Cui Clan.
• After the Cui Clan killed his messenger and stayed silent, Tantai Jing spread fabricated stories about a love triangle involving Clan Head Cui, Qiu Tian, and Liu Xing across the three continents.
• Chu Xinghe investigated Liu Xing’s past through Vast Heaven Sect spies and read the rumors, praising Tantai Jing’s ingenuity.
• Clan Head Cui seethed as the rumors humiliated the Cui Clan, then Tantai Jing arrived at its gates and announced that he had come to pay his respects.

Tantai Jing revealed evidence against the Cui Clan and persuaded Clan Head Cui to cooperate against Qiu Tian by promising access to the Demonic Sect’s lucrative businesses. The Cui Clan agreed to help him, and Clan Head Cui was left wondering how much more terrifying Chu Xinghe must be to have repeatedly outmaneuvered Tantai Jing.

• Tantai Jing told Clan Head Cui that he had destroyed Liu Xing’s birth lineage and obtained evidence that Liu Xing had been given to the Cui Clan.
• Tantai Jing offered Clan Head Cui two choices: kill him to hide the evidence or cooperate against Qiu Tian in exchange for access to Demonic Sect businesses.
• When a young Cui clansman insulted him, Tantai Jing subdued the man with a terrifying glance.
• Tantai Jing explained that he could take over Qiu Tian’s business chains in name while the Cui Clan helped hold Qiu Tian back and took control behind the scenes.
• The Cui Clan elders agreed that the plan was feasible, and Clan Head Cui realized Tantai Jing had used the rumors as a pretext for the Cui Clan to intervene.
• Clan Head Cui marveled at Tantai Jing’s schemes and wondered how powerful Chu Xinghe must be to have repeatedly outmaneuvered him.

Tantai Jing explained to the Cui Clan how Chu Xinghe had repeatedly outmaneuvered him, then secretly partnered with the clan to attack the Demonic Sect’s business network. The Cui Clan publicly appeared to fight Qiu Tian while helping Tantai Jing seize thirteen factions, and Qiu Tian realized he had lost the round.

• Clan Head Cui hosted Tantai Jing at a banquet, where Tantai Jing praised Cui Wuming and described how Chu Xinghe had always beaten him.
• Tantai Jing warned the Cui Clan that Chu Xinghe’s open schemes made him nearly impossible to surpass, leaving Cui Wuming and the clan members stunned.
• After Tantai Jing departed, the Cui Clan publicly accused Qiu Tian of abducting Liu Xing and declared that it would fight the Demonic Sect.
• Clan Head Cui led Cui Clan experts to surround Demonic Mountain and hold Qiu Tian in place while Tantai Jing attacked thirteen Demonic Sect factions and seized their businesses.
• The three great clans discovered that Tantai Jing and the Cui Clan had secretly cooperated, while Qiu Tian recognized that the Cui Clan had taken over the seized businesses and that his side had lost.

Tantai Jing ended the conflict between the Demonic Sect factions by using the Cui Clan to take control of the businesses belonging to twenty-two rival factions, while warning others not to attack his couriers. He explained that the alliance protected his forces and advanced his long-term plan to expand across the Spirit Beast Continent, as Chu Xinghe remained baffled by Tantai Jing’s reputation and their past encounters.

• Tantai Jing wiped out Soulless Valley and defeated the forces opposing him, then used rumors about the Cui Clan to draw them into taking over the businesses of twenty-two Demonic Sect factions.
• Tantai Jing declared that he had avenged his disciples and warned the Spirit Beast Continent’s Demonic Sect not to attack Demon Demon Express couriers; the factions stopped attacking as the businesses spread.
• Wu Xingyun asked why they had surrendered the businesses, and Tantai Jing explained that taking no resources secured the Cui Clan’s favor and helped deter Qiu Tian.
• Tantai Jing told Wu Xingyun that he hoped to ally with the other three great clans, expand Demon Demon businesses until the Spirit Beast Continent depended on them, and eventually contend with Chu Xinghe.
• Tantai Jing became known across the three continents as Tantai Jing of the Unfailing Plans, while people from the Blazing Sun Continent reminded others that Chu Xinghe had repeatedly outmaneuvered him.
• Chu Xinghe privately admitted that he feared interfering in the conflict and could not understand why Tantai Jing had once acted so helplessly around him.

The Ning Clan lost its hidden bet on Tantai Jing when the betting operation vanished, then suffered a string of business failures and a collapsed ceremony for the Xuanwu Spirit Beast Talisman. Convinced the Vast Heaven Sect was secretly targeting them, Clan Head Ning and the clan’s elders resolved to strike back.

• The Ning Clan discovered that the betting operation had vanished after Tantai Jing captured Shen Yue, wiping out the fortune Grand Elder Ning Buqu had expected to win.
• As the Ning Clan’s businesses suffered unexplained losses, Clan Head Ning blamed their bad luck and ordered a sacrificial ceremony for the Xuanwu Spirit Beast Talisman.
• The altar collapsed during the ceremony, burying the clan’s bigwigs, who climbed out dusty but unharmed.
• Grand Elder Ning Buqu reported rumors that the Cloud Firmament Sect had given them Xuanwu’s bad luck because Chu Xinghe had won all of Xuanwu’s luck, but Clan Head Ning dismissed the story as unbelievable.
• Clan Head Ning suggested the Vast Heaven Sect was secretly causing the Ning Clan’s troubles, and the clan’s bigwigs agreed and called for retaliation.

Clan Head Ning planned to use the Earth Spirit Gushing Spring to take the Vast Heaven Sect’s spirit medicine market, but the clan hall collapsed before the discussion was finished. At the Vast Heaven Sect, Empress Ji Ya visited and discovered that the smoke over the legendary Haotian Palace came from Gu Mingchao’s porcelain kilns, which had repeatedly set the mountain on fire.

• Clan Head Ning convinced the Ning Clan to sell Earth Spirit Gushing Spring water cheaply and seize the Vast Heaven Sect’s spirit medicine business, but their main hall collapsed during the planning discussion.
• Chu Xinghe emerged from seclusion, reflected on the sect’s unexpected victory in the Demonic Sect dispute, and decided not to prepare for the upcoming Beast God Spirit Temple opening.
• Senior Brother Shen Chun told Chu Xinghe that Empress Ji Ya had arrived, and Chu Xinghe joined the Grand Elder in welcoming her at the mountain gate.
• Empress Ji Ya visited the Vast Heaven Sect to meet Gu Mingchao and investigate his reputation as the number one under heaven, then toured the sect with the Grand Elder and Chu Xinghe.
• At Haotian Palace, Ji Ya and the Grand Elder saw disciples extinguishing a fire and learned that Gu Mingchao’s porcelain kilns had repeatedly burned the front and back mountains.

Empress Ji Ya visited Haotian Palace and interpreted Gu Mingchao’s chaotic surroundings and unconventional arts as profound expressions of his Dao. Gu Mingchao agreed to show her his Dao Porcelain, leaving Chu Xinghe to confront the fact that it looked like a pile of roof tiles.

• Ji Ya observed Haotian Palace’s dilapidated grounds and the smoke from its porcelain kiln, then concluded that Gu Mingchao’s paintings, stone carvings, and surroundings embodied a hidden Dao.
• Ji Ya explained her interpretation to the great elder and Chu Xinghe, who were stunned by how convincing her wild claims sounded.
• Gu Mingchao appeared, and Ji Ya praised his supposed fusion of painting, stone carving, and porcelain-making into a single Dao.
• Ji Ya asked to see Gu Mingchao’s Dao Porcelain, and Gu Mingchao ordered the guard disciples to bring it.
• The disciples carried over Gu Mingchao’s recent firing, and Chu Xinghe realized the supposed Dao Porcelain looked like dull gray roof tiles.