Recaps

The Eight Great Noble Families of Heng Province met secretly to plan for war after the Eternal Devil Sect destroyed the Situ Family and the Qian Family. The Murong Patriarch revealed that the stronger families might leave the weaker ones to fall, hoping to seize their place if the Eternal Devil Sect won.

• The Eight Great Noble Families discussed the destruction of the Situ Family and the Qian Family and concluded that the Eternal Devil Sect was directing the attacks.
• The families agreed to gather the Evil Moon Sect disciples, the Eternal Demon Alliance experts, and their recruited martial artists for a counterattack.
• The Wu Family proposed sending outstanding younger disciples out of Heng Province as a safeguard, and the families agreed to prepare them and their forces.
• After the meeting ended, the Murong Patriarch predicted that the Wang Family, the Qian Family, and the Li Family would soon be destroyed.
• The Murong Patriarch told his attendant that the Wu and Shangguan Families might refuse to rescue the weaker families and could use the Eternal Devil Sect to eliminate rivals.

After the Situ and Zhao Families were destroyed, Li Meng told Lin Bai and the others that he and his team planned to abandon the Murong Family and help the Eternal Devil Sect fight the Eight Great Noble Families. Lin Bai proposed that they remain as informants and turn against the Murong Family during a future attack, revealing that he also opposed the noble families.

• Li Meng gathered Lin Bai and the others to discuss the destruction of the Situ and Zhao Families and the Eternal Devil Sect's role in the conflict.
• Lin Bai deduced that Li Meng, Gongsun Ci, Meng Po, and Ni Zun had blood feuds with the Eight Great Noble Families because those families had destroyed their former clans and sects.
• Li Meng explained that his team had accepted the Murong Family's recruitment only to investigate its plans, and they now intended to help the Eternal Devil Sect instead.
• Lin Bai urged the team to stay with the Murong Family as informants and betray it when the Eternal Devil Sect attacked, arguing that the Murong, Shangguan, and Wu Families were its greatest obstacles.
• Lin Bai admitted that he also had grievances against the Eight Great Noble Families and would oppose their rule over the Eternal Thirteen Provinces.

Lin Bai revealed that he was Qing Luo, an Eternal Devil Sect disciple and the new master of the Sword Hiding Hermitage, and persuaded Li Meng and his companions to help the sect attack the Murong Family. After three months of waiting as the sect destroyed more noble families, they received a transfer order from the Murong Family as it prepared to counterattack.

• Lin Bai showed Li Meng and the others his identity token, proving he was Qing Luo of the Eternal Devil Sect.
• Lin Bai explained his role in the Eternal Trial and proposed that Li Meng's group remain in the Murong Family and aid the sect's attack.
• Li Meng, Meng Po, and the others agreed to help the Eternal Devil Sect and stayed in Water Ripple Town.
• Over the next three months, the Eternal Devil Sect's forces destroyed the Li Family, the Wang Family, and the Qian Family, bringing the number of fallen noble families to five.
• Lin Bai, Li Meng, and the others received a Murong Family transfer order as the family prepared to counterattack.

Lin Bai and the Rose Squad received orders to gather with other martial artists recruited by the Murong Family and travel to Zhennan Mountain. At the square, elder Murong Chouyuan led the gathering, but a long-haired martial artist challenged the Murong Family over its promised reward.

• Lin Bai and Li Meng discussed the order to go to Zhennan Mountain, while Meng Po explained that the area was a barren wilderness full of low-tier demonic beasts.
• Lin Bai and his companions reached Water Ripple Town’s central square and found several hundred Dao God Realm martial artists, many of whom recognized the Rose Squad.
• Murong Chouyuan arrived and ordered the recruited martial artists to follow him to Zhennan Mountain.
• Li Meng identified Murong Chouyuan as a powerful elder who had once suppressed an Eternal Devil Sect expert, and warned Lin Bai not to provoke him.
• A long-haired martial artist demanded the Dragon Immortal Jade promised by the Murong Family, and Murong Chouyuan said the reward would come after the mission.
• The long-haired martial artist accused the Murong Family of treating them as cannon fodder and refused to obey without payment.

Murong Chouyuan forced the recruited martial artists to choose between serving the Murong Family and surrendering their Dragon Immortal Jade, then led those who stayed toward Zhennan Mountain. On the journey, Li Meng reflected on how talent and privilege shaped their paths, leaving Lin Bai brooding over the unfairness of the world.

• A long-haired martial artist demanded advance payment from Murong Chouyuan, then tried to leave with his Dragon Immortal Jade when Murong refused.
• Murong Chouyuan killed the long-haired man from a thousand miles away and reclaimed the jade, prompting several other martial artists to surrender their jade and depart.
• Murong Chouyuan led the remaining martial artists, including Lin Bai, Li Meng, and Gongsun Ci, toward Zhennan Mountain.
• Li Meng said that Murong Chouyuan had grown stronger over the centuries and estimated he now had a thirty percent chance of killing him.
• Li Meng compared the advantages of Murong Chouyuan and Lin Bai with his own humble beginnings, and Lin Bai grew melancholy over the world's unfairness.

Lin Bai and the others settled at Zhennan Mountain under Murong Chouyuan’s command, then learned the Murong Family had placed them at its southern gate. Lin Bai suspected Murong Chouyuan’s presence signaled a larger plan, but the group had not yet uncovered what it was.

• Murong Chouyuan led the martial artists to Zhennan Mountain and ordered them to hold the area without explaining why.
• Li Meng’s group settled in a nearby valley, and Ni Zun and Gongsun Ci repeatedly scouted the surroundings.
• Ni Zun concluded that Zhennan Mountain guarded the southern entrance to the Murong Family’s territory and that they might be used as cannon fodder against the Eternal Devil Sect.
• Lin Bai argued that the Eternal Devil Sect was unlikely to attack from the south because the Murong Family’s numerous demon vassals would delay its forces.
• Lin Bai noted that Murong Chouyuan’s presence seemed unnecessary for a routine guard post, prompting Gongsun Ci to ask whether the Murong Family had another scheme.

Lin Bai warned Liu Fuyun that the Eternal Devil Sect’s pause after defeating five noble families gave the remaining three time to recover and might be a ploy to sway the sect’s elders. Liu Fuyun resolved to urge the sect to press its attack, while Lin Bai remained alert to a hidden Murong Family motive in Zhennan Mountain.

• Lin Bai told Gongsun Ci and Li Meng to stay vigilant because Murong Chouyuan’s presence suggested the Murong Family valued something in Zhennan Mountain.
• Lin Bai contacted Liu Fuyun and learned that the Eternal Devil Sect’s leaders were deadlocked over whether to attack the Wu Family, Murong Family, and Shangguan Family or make peace with them.
• Lin Bai speculated that the three families had used old ties and promised rewards to persuade the sect’s Ancestors and elders to halt the campaign.
• Lin Bai warned Liu Fuyun that making peace would let the noble families prepare and strike back, arguing that the sect should destroy them while its army had momentum.
• Liu Fuyun decided to urge the Eternal Devil Sect to press forward and defeat the Eight Great Noble Families of Heng Province.

Lin Bai argued that the Eternal Devil Sect and the Eight Great Noble Families could not make lasting peace, and Liu Fuyun decided to urge the sect to continue the war. Liu Fuyun then told Li Mojun that Qing Luo favored war, leaving the Sect Master to consider Lin Bai’s advice.

• Lin Bai told Liu Fuyun that only the destruction of one side could end the war and warned that failing to eliminate the enemy would leave lasting trouble.
• Liu Fuyun agreed to persuade the sect’s upper echelons to fight on and asked Lin Bai to investigate why the Murong Family had stationed him at Zhennan Mountain.
• Liu Fuyun contacted Li Mojun, who said reclusive ancestors were pressuring him to make peace while the Warmonger Faction urged him to exploit the sect’s victories.
• Liu Fuyun told Li Mojun that Qing Luo favored war.

Liu Fuyun relayed Lin Bai’s analysis of the war to Li Mojun, who rejected peace and rallied the Eternal Devil Sect to launch a decisive attack on the Murong, Shangguan, and Wu families. Meanwhile, Lin Bai and Li Meng investigated Zhennan Mountain until Lin Bai’s new insight led him to rise above the clouds.

• Liu Fuyun told Li Mojun that Lin Bai believed the sect’s peace advocates were compromised and that the war would end only when one side was destroyed.
• Li Mojun decided to ignore the Ancestors who favored peace and wage war against the Murong, Shangguan, and Wu families.
• Li Mojun explained Lin Bai’s analysis to the Ancestors, gained their support, and summoned the Elders to plan the campaign.
• The Eternal Devil Sect mobilized Dao God Realm martial artists, while the three clans learned they were being isolated and prepared for battle.
• Lin Bai and Li Meng searched Zhennan Mountain and its surroundings, then Lin Bai flew above the clouds after a sudden realization.

Lin Bai discovered that the mountains and rivers around Mountain River City formed a vast hidden formation protecting the Murong Family. Li Meng identified it as the Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation, and the group realized they had already entered its territory.

• Lin Bai and Li Meng surveyed the landscape from above Zhennan Mountain, and Lin Bai recognized an unusual pattern.
• Back in the valley, Lin Bai drew a map of the surrounding mountains and rivers, revealing their arrangement as a formation.
• Li Meng explained that the mountains served as formation flags, the rivers as spiritual veins, and Mountain River City as the formation eye.
• Li Meng recalled that a Murong ancestor had brought the Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation from the Devil Realm and that his sect’s patriarch had supposedly died while helping arrange it.
• Lin Bai and Li Meng concluded that the Murong Family had concealed the formation’s success and its true power from outsiders.

Lin Bai warned Liu Fuyun that the Murong Family’s Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation made it the strongest of the Three Great Clans and a trap for the Eternal Devil Sect. He proposed using a feint against the Murong Family to draw its allies out while secretly attacking the Shangguan Family.

• Lin Bai and Li Meng discussed the Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation, and Li Meng began studying Zhennan Mountain’s role in it.
• Liu Fuyun told Lin Bai that the sect planned to attack the Murong Family first because the Wu and Shangguan Families had allied with outside forces.
• Lin Bai warned Liu Fuyun that the completed formation could trap and kill the sect’s experts, making the Murong Family more dangerous than it appeared.
• Lin Bai proposed feinting against the Murong Family and secretly sending the sect’s experts to destroy the Shangguan Family while its Demon Race allies might flee.

The Three Great Clans agreed to join forces against the Eternal Devil Sect, but the sect used decoys and rumors to draw the Wu Family and Shangguan Family away from their ancestral lands. The Shangguan Family and Wu Family were destroyed, leaving the Murong Family as the last surviving one of the Eight Great Noble Families of Heng Province.

• The Murong Family Patriarch urged the Wu Family and Shangguan Family to attack the Eternal Devil Sect from the rear when it besieged the Murong Family.
• The Wu Family and Shangguan Family agreed to join forces with the Murong Family and sent experts toward Mountain River City.
• The Eternal Devil Sect tested Mountain River City with attacks, then used a force that turned away to spread rumors of treasure seekers targeting the Murong Family.
• The Wu Family and Shangguan Family sent experts to Mountain River City, where they found no great army and learned that the Shangguan Family was under attack.
• After three days of fighting, the Shangguan Family was nearly wiped out, and its allied demons fled.
• Five days later, the Wu Family was destroyed, leaving only the Murong Family among the Eight Great Noble Families of Heng Province.

After the Eternal Devil Sect destroyed the Wu and Shangguan Families, their surviving experts joined the Murong Family to resist its advance. At Zhennan Mountain, Li Meng revealed that the mountain was a crucial “nail” holding together the southern part of the Murong Family’s formation, and Lin Bai asked what would happen if it were destroyed.

• The Murong Family Head learned that the Eternal Devil Sect had destroyed the Shangguan and Wu Families and invited their surviving experts to help defend the Murong Family.
• The Wu and Shangguan experts agreed to remain with the Murong Family and help fight the Eternal Devil Sect.
• Lin Bai relayed Liu Fuyun’s reports of the sect’s victories, and Gongsun Ci reacted with relief when he heard the Wu Family had been destroyed.
• Li Meng explained that Zhennan Mountain was a “nail” that anchored and coordinated the southern formations within the Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation.
• Lin Bai asked whether destroying Zhennan Mountain would make the Murong Family lose control of every formation in the southern region.

Lin Bai and Li Meng uncovered how Zhennan Mountain controlled the unstable Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation and told Liu Fuyun that the Eternal Devil Sect must destroy its hubs before attacking Mountain River City. Liu Fuyun prepared to send experts to find the hubs, beginning with Zhennan Mountain.

• Lin Bai, Li Meng, and the others learned that Zhennan Mountain was one of several hubs controlling the formation and that the Murong Family had built the hubs to stabilize its incomplete remnant formation.
• Lin Bai and Li Meng concluded that destroying the hubs would make the formation's forces clash and collapse, opening a path into Mountain River City.
• Liu Fuyun told Lin Bai that several thousand Eternal Devil Sect Formation Daoists had found clues confirming the formation and discovered spirit-vein markers hidden throughout the region.
• Li Meng explained that the Formation Daoists could not quietly destroy the countless markers and that the sect would need to break the hubs instead.
• Lin Bai and Li Meng urged the sect to send experts to destroy Zhennan Mountain and the other hubs, and Liu Fuyun agreed to arrange an investigation and coordinate an attack.

Lin Bai and his companions prepared to destroy Zhennan Mountain during the Eternal Devil Sect's coordinated dawn assault, but Murong Chouyuan learned of the plan and assigned them to guard distant Yunhai Valley. They waited for the attack, uncertain whether they could reach Zhennan Mountain in time.

• After Liu Fuyun reported Lin Bai's information, Li Mojun's experts found seven Murong Family hubs around Mountain River City and prepared simultaneous attacks.
• Liu Fuyun told Lin Bai that five hundred experts would attack Zhennan Mountain at dawn while other groups struck the remaining hubs, and Lin Bai planned to act amid the chaos.
• Murong Chouyuan summoned the martial artists, warned them vaguely of approaching trouble, and assigned Lin Bai, Li Meng, Gongsun Ci, and their companions to guard Yunhai Valley.
• Lin Bai and the others realized Murong Chouyuan's three defensive circles placed them far from Zhennan Mountain, beyond Murong Family guards and Murong Chouyuan himself.
• Lin Bai explained that the Eternal Devil Sect would send several hundred experts rather than its full army, and Li Meng agreed to wait for dawn.

Lin Bai and his companions watched the Eternal Devil Sect attack Zhennan Mountain, where Liu Fuyun defeated Murong Chouyuan before Murong summoned the Vermilion Bird Formation Spirit. The Vermilion Bird overwhelmed Liu Fuyun with a single strike, leaving the battle's outcome uncertain.

• At dawn, Lin Bai and his companions learned the fighting had begun and slowly advanced toward Tianzhu Mountain without joining the battle.
• Lin Bai recognized the attackers at Zhennan Mountain as disguised martial artists of the Eternal Devil Sect, led by Liu Fuyun.
• Liu Fuyun defeated Murong Chouyuan and ordered his forces to break through the blockade and seize Zhennan Mountain.
• Murong Chouyuan drove a command token into the ground, summoning the Vermilion Bird Formation Spirit from the Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation.
• The Vermilion Bird struck Liu Fuyun once and sent him flying thousands of miles, badly burned and bleeding.

Murong Chouyuan used the Vermilion Bird to devastate the Eternal Devil Sect’s forces, while the other Formation Spirits of the Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation drove back attacks across the region. Lin Bai concluded that the sect’s defeat was certain and led his companions toward Zhennan Mountain, where more than twenty Murong Family martial artists remained on guard.

• Murong Chouyuan rode the Vermilion Bird and used its flames to slaughter the Eternal Devil Sect and Murong Family martial artists alike.
• Lin Bai recognized that the jade command token let Murong Chouyuan control the Vermilion Bird, but Li Meng warned him that approaching it was too dangerous.
• Lin Bai and the others learned that the Azure Dragon, tortoise-snake, and White Tiger were also rampaging at the other formation hubs, forcing the Eternal Devil Sect to retreat.
• Lin Bai decided to seize the opportunity at Zhennan Mountain while Murong Chouyuan was away, and Li Meng, Gongsun Ci, Meng Po, and Ni Zun followed him.
• More than twenty Murong Family descendants guarding Zhennan Mountain spotted Lin Bai and his companions, and Lin Bai saw that they were all Dao God Realm martial artists.

Lin Bai and his companions infiltrated Zhennan Mountain by pretending Murong Chouyuan had sent them to inspect it, hoping to find and destroy its hidden hub mechanism. They reached a strange valley but found no clue before the Murong Family guards realized their story was false, leaving them on the verge of a fight.

• Lin Bai convinced the Murong Family guards that Murong Chouyuan had ordered his group to inspect Zhennan Mountain.
• As the guards led them inside, Lin Bai secretly told his companions to prepare to destroy the hub and flee.
• Lin Bai told the guards that Murong Chouyuan had won at Tianzhu Mountain, easing their suspicions as they entered the mountain.
• The guards brought the group to a bleak valley, where Lin Bai and Li Meng searched for its hidden secret but found nothing unusual.
• The Murong Family guards grew suspicious, accused the group of being spies, and Lin Bai and Li Meng silently resolved that it was too late to retreat.

Lin Bai searched Zhennan Mountain for the Murong Family's hub while Li Meng and the others held off the family’s martial artists. Li Meng’s group escaped after suffering heavy injuries, leaving Lin Bai alone in the poison-filled valley as the others wondered how he could survive.

• Li Meng ordered Gongsun Ci, Ni Zun, and Meng Po to fight while Lin Bai searched the valley for the hub, and Meng Po released poisonous fog over Zhennan Mountain.
• Lin Bai entered the valley and evaded attacks from Murong Family Dao God realm martial artists, using his flying swords and the fog to escape.
• Li Meng told Lin Bai that the others were badly injured and could not hold out, so Lin Bai ordered them to retreat without him.
• Gongsun Ci, Ni Zun, Meng Po, and Li Meng fought their way out of Zhennan Mountain and fled several hundred thousand li to recover.
• The group worried that Lin Bai would be killed once Meng Po’s poison dissipated, but Li Meng believed Lin Bai had a way to survive.

Lin Bai realized that the valley itself was the hidden hub of the Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation, then unleashed the Azure Gourd’s Flame Spirit to escape the Murong Family’s search. The Murong Family martial artists were left fighting the rampaging Flame Spirit as Lin Bai fled.

• Lin Bai searched the valley for the formation’s hub while Meng Po’s poisonous mist concealed him from the returning Murong Family martial artists.
• Remembering Liu Fuyun’s explanation of how the Murong Family disguised the formation’s spiritual veins, Lin Bai realized that the valley itself was the hub.
• A Murong Family martial artist found Lin Bai and attacked him, so Lin Bai opened the Azure Gourd and released its Flame Spirit.
• The Flame Spirit burned the poisonous mist and killed the seventh-grade Dao God Realm martial artist with a single sword strike.
• Lin Bai rode his flying sword out of the mist while the Flame Spirit rampaged, forcing the Murong Family martial artists to surround it instead of pursuing him.

Lin Bai used the Flame Spirit to draw the Murong Family away from Zhennan Mountain, but Murong Chouyuan returned with the Vermilion Bird and began overpowering it. Lin Bai summoned his Supreme Avatar to destroy the Vermilion Bird, then commanded the Flame Spirit to break the valley’s protective formation.

• Lin Bai watched the Flame Spirit ravage the mountains around Zhennan Mountain while Murong Chouyuan learned of the flames and led the Vermilion Bird to reinforce the site.
• The surviving Murong Family warriors told Murong Chouyuan that the Rose Squad had betrayed them, and he drove the Vermilion Bird into battle against the Flame Spirit.
• The Vermilion Bird gained the upper hand, and Lin Bai decided to intervene rather than let the Flame Spirit lose and miss his chance to seize Zhennan Mountain.
• Lin Bai summoned his Supreme Avatar and struck the Vermilion Bird with its black sword, splitting the Formation Spirit in two.
• Lin Bai ordered the Flame Spirit to attack the valley, and it shattered the protective formation, melting the surrounding land into molten lava.

Lin Bai destroyed the hub at Zhennan Mountain, breaking the formations across the southern mountains and eliminating the Vermilion Bird Formation Spirit. He urged Liu Fuyun to exploit the open route to Mountain River City, but Liu Fuyun hesitated and said he would defer the decision to Li Mojun.

• After Murong Chouyuan rode the Vermilion Bird away, Liu Fuyun learned from Lin Bai that he had found Zhennan Mountain's hub and warned him that Murong Chouyuan was heading there.
• At the Eternal Devil Sect encampment, Li Mojun learned that the forces sent against the other six hubs had been defeated and recognized Zhennan Mountain as their last hope.
• Lin Bai's Flame Spirit destroyed the hub valley and Zhennan Mountain, causing the southern formations to collapse and the Vermilion Bird to disappear.
• Lin Bai concluded that the southern route to Mountain River City was open and urged Liu Fuyun to lead the full army through it to attack the Murong Family.
• Liu Fuyun said he would report Lin Bai's proposal to Li Mojun and hesitated to commit the army without further consideration.

Li Mojun and her master accepted Lin Bai’s proposal and sent the Eternal Devil Sect army through the southern mountains toward Mountain River City. After destroying Zhennan Mountain’s formation hub, Lin Bai unexpectedly gained the Flame Spirit’s submission and rode it toward the city.

• Liu Fuyun relayed Lin Bai’s proposal, and Li Mojun’s master agreed that the sect should risk an all-out attack before Murong Family could repair its formation hub.
• Li Mojun ordered the Eternal Devil Sect army into the southern mountains, where its forces fought through the Demon Race and advanced toward Mountain River City.
• After seeing Zhennan Mountain’s hub destroyed, Murong Chouyuan ordered Murong Family’s fighters to retreat and left recruited martial artists to delay the pursuers.
• Lin Bai emerged from the flames and approached the Flame Spirit, which knelt and submitted to him instead of attacking.
• Lin Bai climbed onto the Flame Spirit and rode it toward Mountain River City to join the sect’s assault.

Lin Bai arrived at Mountain River City, where the Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation had stopped the Eternal Devil Sect’s army for hours. He offered a way to break the formation for half an hour and asked whether the sect could use that time to enter the city and fight Murong Family.

• Li Mojun led the Eternal Devil Sect’s army to Mountain River City, where Murong Family activated the Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation and gathered allies to defend the city.
• Lin Bai reached the devastated battlefield and learned from Jiang Xuansu and Liu Fuyun that the formation and Murong Family’s guards had made an assault too costly.
• Jiang Xuansu told Lin Bai that the Eternal Devil Sect’s forces had failed to capture the other formation hubs because Murong Family had moved the Formation Spirits and reinforced the hubs.
• Lin Bai joined Li Mojun and the elders on a mountain, where they discussed how to overcome Mountain River City’s defenses.
• Lin Bai said he could break the formation for at most half an hour and asked whether the Eternal Devil Sect could enter the city and fight Murong Family within that time.

Lin Bai persuaded the Eternal Devil Sect to risk a half-hour assault on Mountain River City, and Li Mojun set the attack for noon three days later. As the army gathered outside the city, Lin Bai offered the defenders surrender terms, but the Murong Family Head refused and the two sides prepared to fight.

• Lin Bai told the Eternal Devil Sect's leaders he could break the Thousand Autumns Mountain River Four Gods Formation for half an hour, warning that they had to capture the city within that time.
• Li Mojun chose Lin Bai's plan and ordered the sect's experts to gather outside Mountain River City for an all-out assault at noon three days later.
• Lin Bai's search for Li Meng, Gongsun Ci, and the others found no trace of them.
• Three days later, the Eternal Devil Sect's army advanced toward Mountain River City, and the Murong Family activated the formation and summoned its three Formation Spirits.
• The Eternal Devil Sect's army stopped one hundred li from the city, and Lin Bai approached alone to demand the Dragon Immortal Jade and offer safe surrender.
• The Murong Family Head rejected Lin Bai's terms, insisting that the formation would protect the city as the two sides faced off.