Chapter Summaries

Ye Kong and Xiao Yan bonded over wine, poetry, and dancing, while Xiao Xiao worried that their new closeness would let Ye Kong claim the status of her uncle. She joined the drinking contest herself, leaving the moonlit gathering poised to continue with the siblings and their father.

• Ye Kong recited poems and drank with Xiao Yan, who welcomed him as a fellow townsman and treated him like a younger companion.
• Ye Kong and Xiao Yan sang and danced together, embarrassing Xiao Xiao as she watched with Xiao Lin.
• Xiao Xiao explained to Xiao Lin that Ye Kong might call himself their uncle after becoming close to their father, and threatened him into intervening.
• Xiao Lin joined the pair with a drinking chant, but Xiao Xiao found his singing ruined the atmosphere.
• Xiao Xiao kicked Xiao Lin aside, took his cup, and challenged Ye Kong and Xiao Yan to a drinking contest before downing her wine.

Ye Kong impressed Xiao Xiao with a poem, but she revealed that Kong Xuan had given her a Token meant to help restrain heartless men. Meanwhile, Xiao Yan put his knowledge of old poems into practice with Cai Lin and Gu Xun Er in the Crystal Palace.

• Ye Kong recited a poem for Xiao Xiao after she challenged him to make her happy, and she agreed to spare his life three years later.
• Xiao Xiao showed Ye Kong the Feather God Token that Kong Xuan had given her and teased him about being a heartless rogue.
• Xiao Yan’s distant true body woke Cai Lin and recited old verses before putting their words into practice with her.
• Gu Xun Er joined Xiao Yan and Cai Lin in hands-on study and practice at the Crystal Palace.

Kong Ming brought the Nine-Colored Peacock Tribe to seek Kong Xuan, but Ye Kong told him that the ancestor would not manage the tribe or intervene except in a grave crisis. After the others left, Kong Ming privately told Ye Kong that King Feng wanted to take Kong Ling or Kong Ling'er as her disciple, and asked for his and Kong Xuan’s opinion.

• Kong Ming arrived at the Endless Fire Domain with Peacock elders to pay respects to Kong Xuan and invite her to return to the tribe.
• Xiao Yan and Ye Kong met the delegation, and Kong Ming warmly treated Ye Kong as family because of his bond with Kong Ling.
• Ye Kong relayed that Kong Xuan would not take charge of the tribe or join its conflicts, though she might visit and guide its younger members later.
• Kong Ming sent the Peacock elders away but stayed behind to talk with Ye Kong about Kong Ling, who was recovering in seclusion and expected to reach at least Sixth-grade Venerate cultivation.
• Kong Ming told Ye Kong that King Feng of the Phoenix Tribe wanted to take Kong Ling or Kong Ling'er as her disciple, and asked for his and Kong Xuan’s opinion.

Ye Kong persuaded Kong Ming to send the young Kong Ling to become King Feng Feng Yusheng’s disciple, helping the Nine-Colored Peacock Tribe respond to the Phoenix Tribe’s peace overture. Kong Ming agreed to travel with Ye Kong to the Phoenix Tribe, while Kong Xuan and Xiao Yan prepared to accompany or protect them.

• Kong Ming explained that Huang Jin had been exiled into the Space Turbulence by Kong Xuan, prompting the Phoenix Tribe to summon Feng Yusheng back to the throne early.
• Kong Ming described Feng Yusheng as a principled, powerful ruler and revealed that she had invited the Peacock Clan to send her a disciple.
• Ye Kong persuaded Kong Ming to send Kong Ling instead of his daughter, arguing that a young disciple could earn Feng Yusheng’s genuine guidance and build trust between the tribes.
• Kong Ming agreed to take Kong Ling to the Phoenix Tribe, and Ye Kong offered to accompany him to help make peace and protect her.
• Kong Xuan and Xiao Yan discussed joining the trip to protect Ye Kong, and Xiao Yan said he was working on an elixir to separate the bond between people connected by a Bloodline Link.

Wen Qingxuan won the first round of the Alchemy Convention after refining an exceptional Bright Venerate Pill with Ye Kong’s blood as a catalyst. Ye Kong discovered that Xiao Xiao had captured his commentary Clone, and after the round ended he turned his attention toward Pill Tower to handle something.

• Ye Kong defended the new commentary broadcast to Wen Qingxuan, then gave her five drops of his blood for her One-Pattern Bright Venerate Pill.
• Xiao Xiao tied up Ye Kong’s commentary Clone and ordered him to keep praising the contestants until it was her turn to appear.
• Ye Kong realized his connection to the Clone had been severed and suspected Xiao Xiao, then vowed to make her stand out in the commentary.
• Guardians across the plaza destroyed the contestants’ pill lightning, and Ye Kong casually broke Wen Qingxuan’s tribulation with three punches.
• Wen Qingxuan completed a Bright Venerate Pill with faint traces of a second pattern, and the commentary declared it more valuable than Mu Yi’s and Cao Xin’s pills.
• Yao Chen announced Wen Qingxuan as the round’s champion, and Ye Kong told her to leave while he attended to something at Pill Tower.

Ye Kong confronted Xiao Xiao after she captured his Divine Soul clone and learned that her anger came from his repeated rejection and avoidance. After reflecting on his reliance on schemes, he felt freed from the past and resolved to get to know Xiao Xiao again.

• Xiao Lin explained that Xiao Xiao had trapped him with a Spirit Array Plate, taken Ye Kong’s clone hostage, and made him guard the Broadcasting Room.
• Ye Kong entered the room and found Xiao Xiao holding his sleeping clone; she revealed her Seventh-grade Venerate strength and warned she would make him merge any future clones.
• Xiao Xiao accused Ye Kong of swearing ten times that he had no interest in her and of avoiding her, then demanded he support her at the upcoming Pill Gathering.
• After Xiao Xiao left, Ye Kong questioned whether his planning had become excessive and recognized that he was tired and still affected by the Buddhist Sect tragedy.
• Ye Kong felt more at ease, saw Xiao Xiao among the incoming alchemists, and resolved to get to know her again.

Ye Kong commentated on Xiao Xiao’s Pill Gathering victory while trying to appease her and plan his escape. After Xiao Xiao won the round, Ye Kong fled and challenged her to catch him again in five years.

• Ye Kong’s promotional commentary and Xiao Lin’s display sparked a gift-giving frenzy, while the Heavenly Machine Pavilion’s Branch Pavilion Master sold information about Xiao Xiao’s interest in Ye Huan Kong.
• Ye Kong praised Xiao Xiao’s alchemy and told Xiao Lin that he was placating her because he feared she would force him to stay.
• Ye Kong introduced the masked challengers from the Pill God Tribe and the Ancient Ten Thousand Grasslands as they refined their pills.
• Xiao Xiao defeated the challengers with a perfect Three-pattern Bright Venerate Pill and won the round.
• Ye Kong quit commentating, told Xiao Lin he would stop running if Xiao Xiao could suppress him in five years, and escaped before she reached the Pill Tower.
• Xiao Xiao noticed Ye Kong had fled again and smiled toward the Heaven-Reaching Ape Tribe’s residence, making Xiao Lin shiver.

Ye Kong refused the Heavenly Machine Pavilion Branch Pavilion Master's request to deliver gifts to Xiao Xiao, then heard his proposal for the Pavilion to join the elixir cooperation between the Endless Fire Domain and the Heaven-Reaching Ape Tribe. Ye Kong agreed to discuss terms and offered to introduce the Pavilion Master to Young Master Xiao if they could reach an agreement.

• The Heavenly Machine Pavilion Branch Pavilion Master asked Ye Kong to deliver gifts from several factions to Xiao Xiao, but Ye Kong refused because he would not risk his ties with the Endless Fire Domain for favors or profit.
• The Branch Pavilion Master explained that he wanted the Heavenly Machine Pavilion to participate in the elixir cooperation between the Endless Fire Domain and the Heaven-Reaching Ape Tribe, and presented records of a Super Power's elixir purchases.
• Ye Kong approved of the documents and agreed to discuss cooperation, offering to introduce the Branch Pavilion Master to Young Master Xiao if the terms were suitable.
• The Branch Pavilion Master proposed mobilizing the Pavilion's intelligence network, outposts, and hidden agents to support the partnership.

Xiao Lin and Ye Kong negotiated a partnership between Endless Fire Domain and Heavenly Machine Pavilion, with Pavilion Master Xu eager to prove himself and rise in rank. After discussing Ye Kong's plans to leave soon, Xiao Lin revealed that Xiao Xiao had been listening nearby and reassured her that Ye Kong was not avoiding her forever.

• Xiao Lin met Ye Kong and Pavilion Master Xu at Wanghuo Pavilion and helped finalize a mutually beneficial business agreement.
• Pavilion Master Xu left excited to prepare the Heavenly Machine Pavilion's business, believing strong results could earn him promotion.
• Xiao Lin teased Ye Kong about Xiao Xiao, and Ye Kong explained that he would give her an explanation someday but was not ready yet.
• Ye Kong told Xiao Lin he would leave within the next few days after the Alchemy Convention and promised to let him know before departing.
• After Ye Kong left, Xiao Lin spoke to Xiao Xiao, who had been listening, and urged her not to pressure Ye Kong; Xiao Xiao departed through a spatial Teleportation Array disk.

Ye Kong and Lu Shengjun learned that Shi Luo had been confined after fighting Shi Ku, whose sudden increase in strength raised suspicions. At Spiritual Mountain, Shi Zhen defended his withdrawal from protecting the world, and Shi Luo confronted him about demonic aura in the Bodhi Ancestral Tree.

• Ye Kong and Lu Shengjun discussed their work and heard that Shi Luo had severely wounded Shi Ku before Shi Zhen confined him for ten years.
• Lu Shengjun told Ye Kong that Shi Ku had advanced to Late Immortal Grade and that Shi Qing and Shi Fa had recalled the Vajra Guardians by force.
• Shi Luo sat injured in confinement as Shi Zhen offered to heal him, but Shi Luo rejected his help.
• Shi Zhen told Shi Luo that the outside world was ungrateful and that Spiritual Mountain should stop sacrificing its disciples to save others.
• Shi Luo asked Shi Zhen why the Bodhi Ancestral Tree contained demonic aura.

Ye Kong bid farewell to Xiao Yan and Xiao Lin, then met Xiao Xiao beneath a Bodhi Tree to apologize for the lies he had told her. Xiao Xiao gave him a Bodhi seed and kept her promise to pursue him, but their farewell ended in playful intimacy.

• Ye Kong drank with Xiao Yan and Xiao Lin, then left Wanghuo Pavilion after Xiao Yan helped him evade Xiao Lin's attempt to keep him drinking.
• Ye Kong met Lu Shengjun, Kong Xuan, and the others at the teleportation plaza before entering the void alone to meet Xiao Xiao.
• Beneath the Bodhi Tree, Ye Kong confessed that he had lied to Xiao Xiao eleven times and apologized, explaining his views on Buddhist intent, goodness, and making amends.
• Xiao Xiao accepted Ye Kong's apology but warned that she would suppress him and drag him back if he could not stop her in five years.
• Xiao Xiao gave Ye Kong a Bodhi seed, and he wrapped it with a strand of his hair while joking about hair-binding spouses.
• Ye Kong teased Xiao Xiao, removed her veil, and playfully fought with her before they kissed and discussed the Elixir he had prepared for Little Wen.

Ye Kong and Xiao Xiao struggled for dominance during an intimate encounter inside the void while Kong Xuan watched over them. Outside, Peng Chaoyang misunderstood the situation and was urged to seek advice from Little Huan Kong about passing on his bloodline, a suggestion he inwardly rejected.

• Ye Kong and Xiao Xiao shifted between resisting and taking control as their intimate encounter continued beneath the Bodhi Tree.
• Kong Xuan watched Ye Kong and Xiao Xiao and assured Peng Chaoyang that Ye Kong was not in danger and should not be disturbed.
• Peng Chaoyang asked Huang Zhong what Ye Kong and Xiao Xiao were doing, and Huang Zhong explained that they were likely intimate.
• Peng Chaoyang offered to bring Ye Kong supplements, but Kong Xuan stopped him and told him to focus on his own bloodline.
• Kong Xuan suggested Peng Chaoyang ask Little Huan Kong for advice, and Peng Chaoyang privately insisted he would never do so.

Ye Kong left Xiao Xiao beneath the Ancient Bodhi Tree after promising to meet her again in five years, then heard Huang Zhong recount the Buddha Emperor’s complicated history. On the way back, the group was intercepted by Feng Yusheng of the Phoenix Clan, who invited Kong Xuan into her palanquin, where a fierce battle soon erupted.

• Ye Kong gave Xiao Xiao a Nine-Colored Alchemy Furnace for body tempering, promised to meet her beneath the Bodhi Tree in five years, and departed.
• Ye Kong, Huang Zhong, and Lu Shengjun traveled toward the Heaven-Reaching Ape Tribe aboard a Nine-Colored Flying Speedboat built by Kong Xuan.
• Huang Zhong explained that the Buddha Emperor had returned to Mount Sumeru, executed its chief culprits, and later led the Eternal Buddha Lord and Mount Sumeru’s experts to their deaths against the Outer Domain Evil Tribe.
• Ye Kong reflected on the Eternal Buddha Lord’s failings and muttered that Shi Zhen would eventually have to answer for killing someone.
• Feng Yusheng of the Phoenix Clan intercepted the group and invited Kong Xuan to meet with her, and Kong Xuan entered the Fire Feather Palanquin.
• Red Sun Phoenix Flame and nine-colored radiance poured from the palanquin as an intense battle began inside.

Kong Xuan fought Feng Yusheng inside the Fire Feather Palanquin, defeated her probing attack, and revealed that Feng Yusheng had come to address the Phoenix Clan’s conflict with Ye Kong. Kong Xuan proposed that Feng Yusheng marry her disciple to reconcile the clans, angering Feng Yusheng, while Ye Kong was left dreading his master’s wife’s matchmaking plans.

• Feng Yusheng exchanged powerful attacks with Kong Xuan, and Kong Xuan’s Immortal Wisdom King manifestation overcame Feng Yusheng’s Sun Moon Taiji Diagram.
• Feng Yusheng explained that the Phoenix Clan had asked her to address the deaths and injuries involving Huang Jin’s family and Ye Kong, and Kong Xuan admitted that Ye Kong was her son.
• Kong Xuan teased Feng Yusheng about her beauty and proposed that she marry Ye Kong, but Feng Yusheng angrily rejected the suggestion and ordered her people to leave.
• Kong Xuan departed, and Feng Yusheng hurried back toward the Mountain Sea Continent, regretting that she had met the demoness.
• Kong Xuan reassured Ye Kong and urged him to pursue Feng Yusheng, while Ye Kong worried that Xiao Xiao would punish him.

Lin Jing planned to escape the monotonous Martial Realm by joining a journey to the Ice Spirit Ancestral Sacrifice, while her mothers prepared to let her go once she reached the Venerate Realm. Meanwhile, Ye Kong returned to the Heaven-Reaching Ape Tribe and received an invitation to the same ceremony, leaving him curious whether he would meet the Martial Ancestor.

• Lin Jing declared that she would run away from home after learning the Ice Spirit Race would host an Ancestral Sacrifice in two years.
• Ling Qingzhu and Ying Huahuan agreed Lin Jing could travel once she reached the Venerate Realm and planned to equip her with protective treasures and puppets.
• Lin Dong arrived and embraced Ling Qingzhu and Ying Huahuan as they reflected on their family and their younger selves.
• After a month aboard the Nine-Colored Flying Ship, Ye Kong returned to the Primordial Giant Mountain with Lu Tongming and the others.
• Lu Tongming gave Ye Kong the Ice Spirit Race's invitation, and Ye Kong considered attending and meeting the Martial Ancestor.

Ye Kong learned that his master, the Buddha Emperor, had been the greatest Battle Array Master of ancient times and had created a method powered by the faith and aspirations of all living beings. After hearing how the method embodied the duty to protect them, Ye Kong asked Kong Xuan to pass it on and vowed to uphold his master's legacy.

• The Great Ape King of Heaven offered Ye Kong Battle Array Master inheritances and explained the dangers and high cultivation threshold of the path.
• Kong Xuan told Ye Kong that the Buddha Emperor had been the strongest Battle Array Master and had fought the Heavenly Evil God in the ancient war, losing his life as half the Sacred Buddha Continent was destroyed.
• Kong Xuan explained how the Buddha Emperor created the All Beings Fearless Contemplation Method, using the faith and incense wishes of living beings as Battle Array power.
• Kong Xuan described the Buddha Emperor's vision of leading all living beings to the supreme realm and his belief that protecting them would give future practitioners a duty to resist slaughter and oppression.
• Ye Kong bowed to Kong Xuan, requested the method, and vowed to uphold the Buddha Emperor's and his Fourth Senior Brother's will by protecting the Great Thousand World and destroying its enemies.

Ye Kong studied the basics of Battle Arrays and arranged to command an army of the Heaven-Reaching Ape Tribe, hoping his four brothers would help him. The Four Great Vajras returned from seclusion far stronger than before, and Ye Kong promptly tested their new strength in a fierce training fight.

• Ye Kong learned that a Battle Array Master unified soldiers’ wills and directed their battle intent, then asked Kong Xuan for an army to train with.
• Kong Xuan told Ye Kong that the Ape King had assembled ten thousand Venerates below the Fifth Rank for him to command.
• Lu Hou, Lu Duowen, Lu Lutong, and Lu Kaizhi emerged from seclusion; Lu Hou had reached Half-step Seventh-grade Venerate, and the other three had become Sixth-grade Venerates.
• The Four Great Vajras teased Ye Kong about their rapid cultivation, prompting him to summon the Great Sun Undying Body and chase them into a fight.
• Ye Kong pursued the four apes for tens of thousands of li, knocking down their Heaven-Reaching Ape True Bodies and helping them practice their unfamiliar powers.

Ye Kong inspected the Divine Ape Army and launched its training, while the Heaven-Reaching Ape Tribe’s leaders praised his plans and appointed Huang Zhong as chief instructor. Two months later, Kong Ming arrived with Kong Ling and Kong Ling’er, where Great Ape King of Heaven teased him over his daughters’ names, leaving Kong Ming determined to study and become a cultured bird.

• Ye Kong addressed the assembled Divine Ape Army, and Great Ape King of Heaven, Lu Shengjun, Huang Zhong, Bro Peng, and the Elders gave speeches in support of it.
• Ye Kong ordered the apes to learn proper battle stance and battle commands under the Four Great Vajras, led by Lu Hou and the other commanders.
• Two months later, Kong Ming arrived at the Primordial Divine Mountain with Kong Ling and Kong Ling’er, and the visitors and hosts exchanged prolonged greetings.
• Great Ape King of Heaven praised Kong Ling’s cultivation and credited Ye Kong’s gift of Vermillion Bird essence blood with strengthening her prospects.
• Great Ape King of Heaven mocked Kong Ming’s choice of the names Kong Ling and Kong Ling’er, and Kong Ming resolved to study so he could become a cultured bird.

Ye Kong demonstrated his Battle Array Master talent by leading the Divine Ape Army against Huang Zhong, whose strength he forced up to the peak of the Eighth-grade Venerate realm. After the army’s War Intent surpassed one hundred thousand runes and drove Huang Zhong back, Kong Ming offered Ye Kong the Nine-Colored Peacock Tribe’s elites to train.

• Kong Ling asked Lu Shengjun where Ye Kong was, and he explained that Ye Kong was training at the clan grounds to master Battle Array techniques.
• Kong Ming, Kong Ling, Kong Ling'er, the Great Ape King, and Lu Shengjun watched Lu Duowen lead the Divine Ape Army through its disciplined morning training.
• Ye Kong led 2,501 apes in the Heaven Shaking Hammer formation, and their War Intent reached eighty thousand patterns as they fought Huang Zhong.
• Ye Kong ordered the army to activate its Berserk talent, and their War Intent surpassed one hundred thousand runes before their hammer strike blasted Huang Zhong away.
• Ye Kong stopped the exhausted army and greeted the spectators, while Kong Ming privately offered him the Nine-Colored Peacock Tribe’s elite soldiers to command and train.

Ye Kong declined Kong Ming’s request and refused Kong Ling’er’s offer of five hundred million Supreme Spirit Liquid, then escaped the Peacock Clan women’s attention to rest with Peng Chaoyang. He rejected the idea of a political marriage with Kong Ling and reflected on the danger of Xiao Xiao learning about it.

• Ye Kong reflected on how he had organized and trained the Divine Ape Army, whose ten thousand soldiers could now unleash a powerful Spirit of War Intent.
• Ye Kong declined Kong Ming’s request because his Clone was exhausted, and Lu Shengjun praised the army’s growing strength.
• Kong Ling’er offered Ye Kong five hundred million Supreme Spirit Liquid, but he politely refused the gift and told her he would not accept an unearned reward.
• Kong Ling reassured her aunt about her relationship with Ye Kong, and Ye Kong left after exchanging courteous words with the two women.
• Peng Chaoyang teased Ye Kong about fleeing the Peacock women, and Ye Kong said they wanted his talent and influence.
• Ye Kong rejected the prospect of a political marriage with Kong Ling and joked that Xiao Xiao might come after him if she heard about it.