Recaps

Hu Qi treated Lu Hong’s illness in Rotten Leaf Settlement and forced Lu Shan and Lu Hong to become his subordinates. In the Sea of Sumeru, he interrogated Xizhong Si about the White King, then returned to Barren Star and headed toward the settlement’s guarded manor to investigate its supernatural paths.

• Hu Qi diagnosed Lu Hong with insufficient Blood Qi and pneumonia, then used Blood Qi to treat him at the cost of thirty years of his lifespan.
• Hu Qi placed a deadly monthly trigger in Lu Shan and demanded that she and Lu Hong obey him; Lu Hong awoke recovered, and the siblings accepted their new position.
• Hu Qi tortured Xizhong Si inside the black banner until he learned that a Three-Eyed Yuan Snake Reverse Scale had led the White King’s forces to him and that the White King was a powerful True God.
• Hu Qi learned that killing Xizhong Si might let the White King track him, so he kept Xizhong Si alive and resolved to grow strong enough to face the White King.
• Hu Qi failed to unseal his Essence, Vitality, and Spirit Treasury, concluded he needed to encounter Barren Star’s supernatural paths, and slipped out toward the illuminated manor.

Hu Qi infiltrated the Rotten Leaf Settlement manor, defeated its leader Iron Bear, and took control of the settlement. As the guards obeyed their new leader, three disheveled women were dragged out of the manor.

• Hu Qi killed the two guards at the gate and entered the manor.
• Hu Qi attacked Iron Bear, overwhelmed him with a barrage of strikes, and caused his body to collapse from internal damage.
• Liu Guang ordered the guards to shoot Hu Qi, but Hu Qi killed Liu Guang and the other attackers, then offered the survivors a choice between death and obedience.
• Hu Qi appointed Tong Chang to replace Liu Guang and declared himself the settlement's leader; the guards accepted and began cleaning up.
• The guards dragged three disheveled women out through the manor's main gate.

Hu Qi questioned Iron Bear about the Evolver awakening ritual and learned how acquired awakening worked before killing him. He dissected Iron Bear’s body overnight and discovered a strange rune on a bone fragment.

• Tong Chang asked Hu Qi what to do with Iron Bear’s three women, and Hu Qi ordered them taken away.
• The women insulted the wounded Iron Bear, who fainted after spitting blood.
• Hu Qi revived Iron Bear with cold water and tortured him until he explained the types and ranks of Evolvers.
• Iron Bear described the acquired-awakening ritual and asked Hu Qi for a quick death, which Hu Qi granted.
• Hu Qi dissected Iron Bear’s corpse to study Evolver biology and found a twisted rune on a bone fragment.

Hu Qi examined Iron Bear’s rune-bearing bone and decided to transplant it into Lu Hong to try to make him an Evolver. As Hu Qi began the operation, three mysterious riders arrived in the wilderness near Rotten Leaf Settlement.

• Hu Qi identified Iron Bear’s rune-bearing bone as the source of an Evolver’s power and considered whether it could be transplanted into another person.
• Lu Shan and Lu Hong learned that Iron Bear had been killed and that Hu Qi was the settlement’s new leader, then went to meet him at the manor.
• Hu Qi offered Lu Hong a dangerous chance to become an Evolver, and Lu Hong agreed to undergo the procedure.
• Hu Qi sterilized a blade, put Lu Hong to sleep, and began surgery to transplant Iron Bear’s rune-bearing bone into him.
• Three riders on spiked motorcycles raced across the wasteland and stopped about a hundred kilometers from Rotten Leaf Settlement.

Hu Qi confirmed that Lu Hong had likely become an evolver after receiving the bone-fragment transplant, then left to investigate a suspected Third-Order Wasteland Beast. While Hu Qi was away, Thorn Settlement arrived at Rotten Leaf Settlement with three outsiders and confronted Tong Chang.

• Miao Xu and Xu Qing argued during their journey toward Thorn Settlement, and their captain ordered them to continue toward the settlement.
• Lu Hong woke after his surgery, sensed Ether Particles and a rune in his body, and briefly hardened his skin after Hu Qi told him to mobilize his power.
• Hu Qi told Lu Hong the transplant had likely made him an evolver, then sent him away and learned of a suspected Third-Order Wasteland Beast near Rock Lake.
• Hu Qi took a convoy out of Rotten Leaf Settlement to investigate the beast, leaving Tong Chang in charge.
• Tong Chang raised the alarm when Thorn Settlement's convoy approached, then recognized its leader, the Bloodthorn Butcher, who presented Iron Bear to the three outsiders.

Hu Qi confronted and killed a powerful Two-Headed White Bear at Rock Lake, then used its blood to complete the Awakening Ritual and become an Evolver. He sensed his new strength exceeded the limits of a First-Order Evolver and summoned the Scarlet Panel.

• At Rotten Leaf Settlement, Miao Xu killed guards with his mental abilities, but a stern man stopped him from attacking ordinary people and had the gate opened so they could wait for Iron Bear.
• Hu Qi sent the hunting team to wait three kilometers away, provoked the Two-Headed White Bear out of Rock Lake, and killed it with the Tattered Black Banner.
• Hu Qi entered the bear's heart and began the Awakening Ritual, using his Spirit Devouring Talent to drain the beast's blood and life force.
• Hu Qi emerged from the bear's hide transformed, with a powerful body, white hair, dark blue eyes, and a silver light where his Essence, Vitality, and Spirit Treasury had been.
• Hu Qi examined the Ether Particles he could now perceive, concluded his strength surpassed a First-Order Evolver's limits, and summoned the Scarlet Panel.

Hu Qi raised his strength to the peak of the Fourth-Tier Heavenly King realm and learned that analyzing other Evolvers’ runes increased his Unknown Talisman’s completion. He returned to Rotten Leaf Settlement, where he subdued four Evolvers from Panshan Gathering Place and decided to keep them for his own purposes.

• Hu Qi used Modification Points to advance from Early Stage Core Forging to the peak of the Heavenly King realm, but found he could not advance further until his Unknown Talisman reached ten percent completion.
• Hu Qi analyzed the rune from Iron Bear and raised his Unknown Talisman’s completion from 0.09% to 0.12%.
• Hu Qi flew back to Rotten Leaf Settlement and sensed Evolvers waiting in the manor.
• The cold-faced man and his companions questioned Tong Chang about Hu Qi, then Hu Qi appeared and revealed that he was the settlement’s leader.
• Hu Qi overwhelmed the four visitors with his pressure, identified himself as the new leader, and froze them in place before dismissing Tong Chang.

Hu Qi strengthened Lu Shan, Lu Hong, and Tong Chang with transplanted runes, ordered them to spread the Sun God's faith, and flew toward Panshan Gathering Place to gather runes and seek knowledge of talismans. Meanwhile, Gerard tried to trace the destruction of Iron City and identified Lin Yi as the murderer, unaware that Hu Qi was using his body.

• Hu Qi raised his Unknown Talisman's completion to 0.29% by extracting and integrating runes from four people, then decided to accelerate his plans.
• Hu Qi appointed Lu Shan to manage Rotten Leaf Settlement and sent her, Lu Hong, and Tong Chang to spread the Sun God's faith.
• Hu Qi flew toward Panshan Gathering Place, passing over settlements and destroying a swarm of Six-winged Blood-striped Bees with a gesture.
• Caius asked Gerard to trace the destruction of Iron City, but Gerard suffered backlash when his vision encountered a giant face.
• Gerard recovered with Caius's aid, then used blood to reveal Lin Yi's face as the apparent murderer of the Second Prince.

Hu Qi infiltrated Panshan Gathering Place as Chen Yi and confronted its leaders, killing two Third-Order Evolvers before revealing his strength to Chief Yin Zuocang. After Hu Qi demanded that Yin Zuocang submit, Yin launched a spear attack, and the chapter ended before their clash was resolved.

• Caius gave Gerard a Hundred Faces Vermillion Fruit and a drop of his blood, allowing Gerard to create a tracker for their distant target.
• Caius ordered Gerard to gather the other Heavenly Kings so they could pursue the target together.
• Hu Qi disguised himself as Chen Yi, entered Panshan Gathering Place, and went to report to Chief Yin Zuocang.
• When two Evolvers challenged him over Xu Qing and Miao Xu's deaths, Hu Qi killed them with ice spikes.
• Yin Zuocang attacked Hu Qi, but their clash destroyed the meeting-room building and left Yin's arm numbed by frost.
• Hu Qi demanded that Yin submit or die, and Yin retaliated with his silver dragon-patterned spear and Annihilation Strike.

Hu Qi killed Yin Zuocang, took control of Panshan Gathering Place, and learned from his captive soul about Fifth-Tier Human War Gods and runes. After raising his Unknown Talisman completion to 9.11%, Hu Qi faced a new threat as the Desolate God Rudra approached the gathering place.

• Hu Qi froze Yin Zuocang and killed him with an ice blade, then forced the surviving Evolvers to obey him and assumed Yin Zuocang's appearance.
• Hu Qi captured Yin Zuocang's soul in the Tattered Black Banner, tortured him for information about Fifth-Tier Human War Gods, then extinguished his soul and examined his rune collection.
• Gerard and Caius lost track of their target near a restricted zone and concluded that he was somewhere in the eastern Southern War Zone.
• Hu Qi absorbed the runes collected by Yin Zuocang over two days, raising his Unknown Talisman completion to 9.11%.
• Zhang Ming warned Hu Qi that the Desolate God Rudra was heading toward Panshan Gathering Place, and Hu Qi went to the gates to meet it as a massive black tornado approached.

Hu Qi used the prayers of Panshan Gathering Place’s survivors to manifest the Sun God’s Divine Avatar, which killed the Fifth-Tier Desolate God Rudra with one arrow. After absorbing Rudra and beginning to study its rune, Hu Qi’s power stirred alarm among the strongest beings on Barren Star, who recalled the recent destruction of Iron City.

• Hu Qi identified Rudra as a newly ascended Fifth-Tier Desolate God, and Zhang Ming received confirmation that the radar had misjudged its threat level.
• Hu Qi refused to flee and told everyone in Panshan Gathering Place to pray to the Sun God as Rudra’s tornado drew near.
• The survivors’ prayers let Hu Qi manifest the Sun God’s Divine Avatar, which fired an arrow through Rudra’s tornado and killed the Desolate God.
• Hu Qi absorbed Rudra’s body, leaving behind a black bone covered in runes, then sat down to study it.
• On Barren Star, powerful Humans and Desolate Gods sensed Hu Qi’s aura and remembered the destruction of Iron City and the suspected severe injury of the Western War Zone’s leader.

Marshal Muke Duo warned the other War Zone leaders about a Demon from Beyond the Heavens, while Hu Qi advanced to the peak of the fifth tier at Panshan Gathering Place. After revealing that an unknown force was tracking him, Hu Qi followed the red thread leading from his wrist, as a survivor in a nearby gathering place begged for his life.

• Muke Duo recovered in an underground cavern, sensed a troubling aura, and sent a secret message to the other War Zones warning them about the Demon from Beyond the Heavens.
• Huang Lin received the Western War Zone's warning, and the Eastern and Northern War Zones received the same information.
• Hu Qi spent over four thousand Modification Points to advance to the peak of the fifth-tier Human War God, triggering a fifth-tier alert at Panshan Gathering Place that Zhang Ming identified as Hu Qi's breakthrough.
• Hu Qi sensed a vast talisman hidden in the sky that resembled the runes in his body and considered whether completing the Unknown Talisman would let him borrow its power.
• Hu Qi stopped concealing himself with Twisted Light, saw a red tracking thread winding around his wrist, and decided to find who was tracking him.
• At a gathering place three hundred kilometers away, survivors and Evolver leaders lay as shriveled corpses while someone begged an unseen assailant not to kill him.

Gerard tracked Hu Qi to lead Caius and six Heavenly Kings to him, but Hu Qi overwhelmed the group, captured Caius, killed Gerard, and forced the survivors to submit. In the Western War Zone, Muke Duo sensed that his protective power on Caius had been broken and rushed to find out what had happened.

• Gerard used Bloodline Tracking to find Hu Qi, then joined Caius and six Heavenly Kings in pursuing him.
• Hu Qi’s overwhelming pressure brought down the group, and he froze the Heavenly Kings as Caius fled.
• Hu Qi caught Caius, shattered his defenses, and knocked him unconscious after hurling him through a mountain.
• Gerard and the remaining Heavenly Kings offered to submit, but Hu Qi killed Gerard and bound the six survivors with icy power.
• Muke Duo sensed that the power protecting Caius had been destroyed and left his cave to investigate.

Muke Duo learned that his son Caius had gone to the Southern War Zone and prepared to seek revenge on Hu Qi, while Hu Qi waited at Panshan Gathering Place for the Western leader and other Fifth Tier powerhouses to arrive. When the leaders of the Northern, Eastern, and Western War Zones joined Huang Lin to attack, the Sun God statue began to move in response to the danger.

• Muke Duo struck the Fourth Tier King who had followed Caius's order to keep his departure secret, then ordered him to contact the leaders of the three major war zones.
• Hu Qi refused Zhang Ming's suggestion to visit the Empress after ashes and Copper Knife cut off trade with Panshan Gathering Place, choosing instead to wait for his enemies.
• Several days later, Yu Mo, Li Xinghai, Muke Duo, and Huang Lin arrived above Panshan Gathering Place and planned to destroy Hu Qi before he recovered his strength.
• Yu Mo enlarged himself to a thousand meters and brought a gigantic foot down toward Panshan Gathering Place, triggering its alarm and pinning its people beneath his pressure.
• The Sun God statue released golden light that healed the gathered survivors, who prayed in relief as the statue began to move.

The Sun God Statue awakened to protect Panshan Gathering Place and battled four Tier Five Human War Gods, who eventually restrained it with a sealing formation. Hu Qi then appeared in his colossal Heavenly Phenomenon Manifestation, revealing himself as the true Demon from Beyond the Heavens, and killed Muke Duo as he fled.

• The Sun God Statue awakened, shielded Panshan Gathering Place, and pierced Yu Mo's foot with golden saber light, forcing him to sever part of his leg before it could burn him alive.
• Yu Mo, Muke Duo, Li Xinghai, and Huang Lin joined forces against the Sun God, unleashing their abilities as it fought back with the Sea-Covering Sky-Splitting Saber.
• After the Sun God blasted the four War Gods away, Muke Duo urged them to use their joint sealing move, and their formation restrained the Sun God with chains.
• Hu Qi appeared in his colossal Heavenly Phenomenon Manifestation, freezing the battlefield and revealing that he was the true Demon from Beyond the Heavens.
• Muke Duo broke free and fled, but Hu Qi struck him with his giant palm and crushed him into a blood mist.

Hu Qi killed three war zone leaders, spared Li Xinghai to reorganize humanity under his rule, and built the City of Dawn while hunting Desolate Gods and gathering runes. As the Unknown Talisman’s completion stalled at 89.13%, two former subordinates from Rotten Leaf Settlement arrived seeking an audience with him.

• Hu Qi killed Muke Duo and Yu Mo, then devoured Huang Lin when she tried to possess him.
• Hu Qi spared Li Xinghai and ordered him to unite the four war zones and establish a Central War Zone.
• Over the next three years, Hu Qi killed Desolate Gods and consolidated most of humanity in the City of Dawn, where faith in the Sun God spread.
• Hu Qi saw that the Unknown Talisman remained at 89.13% completion despite the collection of runes from Evolvers and Desolate Gods.
• A subordinate told Hu Qi that two former members of Rotten Leaf Settlement had come to see him, and Hu Qi agreed to meet them.

Hu Qi discovered that the runes implanted in Lu Shan and Lu Hong had grown, accelerating their cultivation and potentially improving his Unknown Talisman. In the City of Dawn, Meng Hao seized an opportunity to join a city-sponsored New Awakening Ritual, hoping to become an Evolver.

• Lu Shan and Lu Hong found Hu Qi and told him how their settlement had grown after he left, while reporting that Tong Chang had died in a Desolate Beast attack.
• Hu Qi examined Lu Shan and Lu Hong, discovered their implanted runes had grown at different rates, and realized he might be able to increase the Unknown Talisman's completeness by influencing more Evolvers.
• City guards distributed relief porridge and warned able-bodied adults to seek work instead of claiming emergency food.
• Meng Hao and Xiao Mo praised the City Lord's aid as Meng Hao reflected on his family's deaths and his inability to afford an Awakening Ritual.
• A guard announced that the City of Dawn would recruit ten thousand people aged twelve to twenty-five for a New Awakening Ritual and provide the needed wasteland beasts.
• Meng Hao hurried to register, seeing the city-sponsored ritual as his best chance to become an Evolver.

Meng Hao survived his transplant and discovered that he could transfer his injuries to others, while Lu Hong later recruited him to help kill the City Lord. The chapter ended as Meng Hao challenged Lu Hong to consider what would happen if their plan failed, and a tearing sound rang out.

• Meng Hao woke after his transplant and learned from Lu Hong that he was one of the few survivors and had become an official Evolver.
• Meng Hao’s injury-transfer ability healed his neck by inflicting the same wound on Lu Hong, and he demonstrated the ability again when Lu Hong cut his arm.
• Over ten years, the New Awakening Ritual spread, Evolvers multiplied, and the City of Dawn and surrounding settlements prospered under Hu Qi’s rule.
• Lu Hong urged Lu Shan to help overthrow the City Lord, but she rebuked him and threatened to take him to meet the City Lord if he spoke that way again.
• Lu Hong visited Meng Hao in Radiant Harbor and ordered him to come meet the City Lord, intending to use his Swap Injury ability to kill him.
• Meng Hao asked what they would do if their plan failed, and a tearing sound suddenly came from the courtyard.

Meng Hao exposed Lu Hong’s plot and brought him before Hu Qi, who stripped Lu Hong of his powers and assigned Meng Hao to the War Department. Hu Qi then completed the Unknown Talisman, which weakened every evolver and Barren Beast, and learned that it was the Primordial Demon Refining Record, a source of world-altering power and a route to the Cangzhou Realm.

• Meng Hao used Swap Injury and his blade to defeat Lu Hong, revealing that he could transfer poisons and other negative effects after reaching the Fourth Tier.
• Lu Shan arrived, stopped Lu Hong from attacking Meng Hao, and ordered both men to accompany her to see Hu Qi.
• Lu Shan confessed Lu Hong’s crimes to Hu Qi, who spared Lu Hong’s life but stripped away his strength and possessions.
• Hu Qi examined Meng Hao, recognized his rune alteration, and sent him to report to Li Xinghai at the War Department.
• Hu Qi completed the Unknown Talisman, causing evolvers and Barren Beasts across Barren Star to lose a major realm of strength.
• The talisman entered Hu Qi and revealed itself as the Primordial Demon Refining Record, making him the world’s master and giving him a way to locate and travel to the Cangzhou Realm.

After gaining control of Barren Star through the Primordial Demon Refining Record, Hu Qi learned that the world had weakened its inhabitants and then moved the shrunken world into his Void Glimpse Space. The move advanced his Cave Heaven World’s evolution, and as he traveled onward, a dazzling beam of light pierced the Sea of Sumeru and halted everything around him.

• Lu Shan, Li Xinghai, and another Fifth Tier Evolver reported that everyone’s strength had fallen by a major realm, and Hu Qi used his new authority to learn that the world had imposed a Fourth Tier limit.
• Hu Qi explained the change to the three Evolvers, then summoned his true body and merged with his avatar, gaining a third Spirit Seed.
• Hu Qi judged that the Void Glimpse Space could not hold all of Barren Star, so he used his authority to erase barren regions and shrink the world by roughly two-fifths.
• Hu Qi swallowed Barren Star into the Void Glimpse Space, where its arrival raised the Cave Heaven World evolution progress to twenty percent.
• More than ten days later, Hu Qi noticed a dazzling beam pierce the Sea of Sumeru, freezing the surrounding lights and a nearby bubble world in place.

Hu Qi fled the White King’s overwhelming attack through the Mind Realm, but the White King’s power struck him down and sent his consciousness into an unknown state. He survived with his Spirit Seeds damaged, restored them using Crimson, and regained clarity.

• Hu Qi ignited his three Spirit Seeds to escape the White King’s confinement, then fled as she pursued and attacked him.
• Hu Qi used the Tattered Black Banner to enter the Mind Realm, but the White King’s power pierced its barrier and blew apart his body.
• Hu Qi’s consciousness drifted through darkness and a distorted ball of light before slowly re-forming, with his three Spirit Seeds near collapse and a fourth intact Spirit Seed of secret martial arts.
• Hu Qi called for Crimson and ordered it to restore his Spirit Seed losses.
• Crimson used Modification Points to repair Hu Qi’s three damaged Spirit Seeds, clearing his muddled consciousness.

Hu Qi completed his rebirth through his Cosmic Coiling Serpent bloodline and awakened as a snake in the Cangzhou Realm. As he adapted to his new body, sects across the realm began searching for the prophesied Tribulation Person.

• Hu Qi discovered that his Cosmic Coiling Serpent bloodline gave him endless growth and rebirth, while his Divine Abilities and Spirit Seeds remained preserved but unusable during incubation.
• Yuqingzi told Song Lingzi that the Patriarch had foreseen an early Great Tribulation and ordered him to find the Tribulation Person and bring them to Taiqing Palace.
• An aged monk from Jue'an Temple and a scholar from Tianyi Academy also set out to find the Tribulation Person for their respective sects.
• Hu Qi awakened inside a snake egg in the Cangzhou Realm and used his Spirit Devouring Talent to absorb spiritual energy, guided by information from his Rune Spirit Seed.
• Hu Qi hatched as a black snake over a meter long, inspected his surroundings, and found himself in a damp mountain cave beside a stream and other snake eggs.

Hu Qi discovered that his new Cosmic Coiling Serpent body could use Water Control and that his Spirit Devouring Talent could absorb essence from prey, then hid in a cave to cultivate. Half a month later, he had grown into a large black snake, while Ah Huang and Ah Hong brought him food and sought his approval.

• Hu Qi used Water Control to wash away the egg fluid, then spared the remaining eggs when two hatchlings emerged.
• Hu Qi hunted small creatures in the stream and confirmed that devouring living prey added their essence to his own.
• Hu Qi returned to the cave, began cultivating by breathing in spiritual energy, and drove Ah Huang and Ah Hong away when they approached him.
• Over the next half month, Hu Qi grew to three or four meters long while Ah Huang and Ah Hong grew to nearly a meter.
• Ah Huang and Ah Hong brought Hu Qi a red-tailed silverfish and a crab, set them down beside him, and tried to curry favor with him.

After shedding his skin, Hu Qi grew to ten meters long and discovered that he had condensed Demonic Power as his Cosmic Coiling Serpent bloodline began to awaken. He rescued Ah Huang from a Bald Eagle, then subdued a young hunter who had shot at him and demanded to know whether the man wanted to live or die.

• Hu Qi cultivated while Ah Hong and Ah Huang brought him prey, and he developed breathing techniques that improved his Spiritual Energy absorption.
• Hu Qi shed his skin, grew to around ten meters, and found a thread of Demonic Power inside his body.
• Ah Hong returned injured and urgently led Hu Qi to the stream, where a Bald Eagle was attacking Ah Huang.
• Hu Qi killed and swallowed the Bald Eagle, saving Ah Huang, but a young hunter shot an arrow at him and failed to pierce his scales.
• Hu Qi silently coiled around the young hunter and asked whether he wanted to live or die.

Hu Qi traveled toward Taize Lake seeking knowledge of the world and its cultivation paths, then ambushed a wounded Mountain Ogre and learned about the realms of cultivators and demons. The Pockmarked Old Daoist died after revealing what he knew, leaving Hu Qi with new information but no deeper details about the higher realms.

• Hu Qi questioned a hunter about the Great Ye Dynasty, then killed him and led Ah Huang and Ah Hong downstream toward Taize Lake.
• Hu Qi passed a village without stopping and continued traveling, hunting and practicing his breathing exercises along the way.
• The Pockmarked Old Daoist defeated a Mountain Ogre with his Hundred-Year Peachwood Sword, but Hu Qi struck him from behind before he could collect the monster’s remains.
• Hu Qi used Water Control to bind the Pockmarked Old Daoist and questioned him about the supernatural realms.
• The Pockmarked Old Daoist revealed the Qi Refining sub-realms and the Dao Foundation and Condensing Essence realms before Hu Qi killed him.