Recaps

Jiang Liu explored the Divine Hall of Rules, wondering how the Three Rule Lords had found it and why they had started the War of Rules. He sensed the hall’s strange energy and malevolent phantoms, then felt his Divine Sea stir as he seemingly discovered the divine statue he had been seeking.

• Jiang Liu concluded that he would need to become stronger before he could learn the truth from Yunzhi Shangren or Ming Bai.
• Jiang Liu examined the hall’s energy and sensed resentment and evil intent from the phantoms on its walls.
• Jiang Liu decided to search the hall while the battle between Bloodfall and the Divine Hall of Rules kept him from intervening.
• Jiang Liu reasoned that a divine statue must have supplied the Power of Rule used to help cultivators break through, then felt his Divine Sea stir as if he had found it.

Jiang Liu cautiously approached the statue in the Divine Hall of Rules while avoiding the powerful Phantoms of Resentment. When a beam of light struck him, he saw that the statue looked exactly like him.

• Jiang Liu restrained his aura and moved carefully past the Phantoms of Resentment, which returned to the walls instead of attacking.
• Jiang Liu realized the Phantoms of Resentment had attacked him earlier and considered how the Divine Hall of Rules preserved their strength.
• Jiang Liu approached a strangely familiar statue and reasoned that Yunzhi Shangren had rebuilt the hall to shelter the Phantoms of Resentment.
• Jiang Liu stopped before the statue, unsettled by its presence and by the silence from Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai's battle outside.
• A beam of light shot from the statue and struck Jiang Liu, revealing that the statue had his own appearance.

Jiang Liu discovered that the Divine Hall of Rules’ statue looked like him and realized its appearance might explain why the hall’s inhabitants had mistaken him for its incarnation. As the hall became visible around the statue, he reached toward it and was pulled inside, disappearing.

• Jiang Liu realized the Beast Soul and others had likely held back because they believed he was the divine statue’s incarnation.
• Jiang Liu decided to explore the hall while its inhabitants left him alone and spread his Divine Sense around the statue.
• Jiang Liu saw the plaza and meditation mats as the darkness receded, possibly because he had refined the Beast Soul’s Soul Force.
• Jiang Liu reached toward the statue to feel its material, but his hand passed through and a force dragged him inside.

Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai had used the War of Rules to gather the flesh and souls they needed to sustain their corrupted forms, hoping to escape them through a secret tied to the Divine Hall of Rules’ statue. After Jiang Liu, whose face matched the statue’s, entered it, Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai resumed their battle as they waited to learn whether Jiang Liu could find what they sought.

• Ming Bai asked Yunzhi Shangren whether Jiang Liu could find what they needed and free them, but Yunzhi Shangren watched the Divine Hall of Rules without answering.
• Yunzhi Shangren recalled that Jiang Liu had attracted his attention by absorbing the white mist and then astonished him with his resemblance to the divine statue.
• Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai had lured the Three Rule Lords into waging the War of Rules every thousand years to replenish the flesh and souls that sustained their corrupted forms.
• Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai had spent more than ten thousand years seeking a way to break free, but they could not approach the statue without their life force draining away.
• After sensing Jiang Liu vanish into the Divine Hall of Rules, Yunzhi Shangren sent a huge hand toward Bloodfall, and Ming Bai struck back.

Jiang Liu entered the alternate dimension inside the Divine Statue of Rules and examined its unusual energy, gravity, and limits. With the Data Panel disabled and an unseen consciousness watching him, he cautiously began investigating the dangerous space.

• Jiang Liu realized that the Divine Statue of Rules' power inside the Divine Hall had been suppressed and wondered whether the statue produced the energy filling the hall and its alternate dimension.
• Jiang Liu stepped forward and found that the space's heavy gravity shortened his stride and made his vital energy feel sluggish.
• Jiang Liu discovered that every icon on his Data Panel had turned gray, leaving him without its assistance.
• Jiang Liu sensed a hidden consciousness watching him and considered whether it belonged to Yunzhi Shangren or the Divine Statue of Rules.
• Jiang Liu spread his Divine Sense, but it stopped after extending only a dozen or so meters.

Jiang Liu explored the alternate space inside the Divine Statue of Rules, where gravity and his strength were suppressed as divine power held back the Grievance Souls. After a beast phantom and a cultivator phantom appeared and were destroyed by the statue’s power, Jiang Liu healed the resulting injury to his Divine Sea and was left wary of the dangers around him.

• Jiang Liu withdrew his suppressed Divine Sense into a barrier and began exploring the desolate alternate space.
• Jiang Liu realized the Divine Statue of Rules’ remaining divine power was suppressing chaotic Grievance Souls, and that this power was gradually weakening.
• A dark flying-beast phantom appeared, then exploded, spreading black aura and increasing the gravity pressing on Jiang Liu.
• A cultivator phantom appeared and laughed, prompting Jiang Liu to attack it with vital-energy knives that were destroyed by the statue’s divine power.
• Jiang Liu circulated the Heavenly Evolution Codex to heal the damage to his Divine Sea and looked around, fearing further attacks.

Jiang Liu discovered that his primordial energy, refined by the Heavenly Evolution Codex, could revive the barren dimensional space inside the Divine Statue of Rules. As strange cries and several powerful auras approached, he prepared to face whatever was coming.

• Jiang Liu noticed a weed in the once-barren space and found that his Divine Sense could now reach dozens of meters.
• Jiang Liu sensed a familiar trace of primordial energy in the weed and wondered whether he was connected to the Divine Statue of Rules.
• Jiang Liu used the Heavenly Evolution Codex to refine energy into primordial energy and spread it through the space, causing weeds to sprout and the dry ground to grow moist.
• Jiang Liu realized the Heavenly Evolution Codex, not his own existence, had caused the space to change, and he began to question where the codex came from.
• Strange cries sounded in the distance as several powerful auras rapidly approached Jiang Liu.

Jiang Liu’s cultivation nourished the Divine Statue of Rules, which began recovering and barred Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai from entering its hall. As Jiang Liu walked through the statue’s alternate space, his vital energy restored the barren land while Grievance Souls were destroyed.

• Jiang Liu sensed that his Heavenly Evolution Codex cultivation had strengthened the Divine Statue of Rules enough to annihilate the attacking Grievance Souls.
• The Divine Statue of Rules radiated light across the prayer mats, but the brief surge of vital energy was not enough to extend its recovery.
• Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai rushed to the Divine Hall of Rules after sensing the statue’s change, but its doors shut and its aura blocked them.
• Ming Bai sent Phantoms of Resentment toward the hall, and Yunzhi Shangren destroyed them and warned Ming Bai not to attack the Divine Hall.
• Yunzhi Shangren spread his phantom around the hall, while Ming Bai retreated and chose to wait.
• Jiang Liu walked through the alternate space as his vital energy restored the barren ground and the approaching Grievance Souls were annihilated.

Jiang Liu continued using the Heavenly Evolution Codex to refine the alternate space’s energy into vitality and restore the Divine Statue of Rules, while Grievance Souls grew stronger and more numerous. As he sensed resentment within the energy, he began to understand its origin and why the statue could not absorb it directly.

• Jiang Liu decided to keep restoring the Divine Statue of Rules, both to survive the Grievance Souls and to pursue control of the statue and its alternate space.
• The alternate space grew greener as grass, saplings, and larvae appeared, while the Grievance Souls attacking Jiang Liu increased in number and strength.
• Jiang Liu wondered who had written the Heavenly Evolution Codex, realizing it could refine energy that even the Divine Statue of Rules could not absorb.
• Jiang Liu continued refining the energy and feeding the resulting vitality to the statue, while his meridians, flesh, and physical strength improved.
• Resentment within the energy gathered around Jiang Liu in whirlwinds, and he began to understand where it came from and why the statue could not absorb it.

Jiang Liu reasoned that the Ancient Battlefield’s energy came from the resentment of its dead and could suppress the Divine Statue of Rules, while Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai struggled to contain the Grievance Souls. As the Divine Statue began recovering, Yunzhi Shangren sensed the souls weakening, but Ming Bai feared Bloodfall would soon consume him.

• Jiang Liu concluded that the Ancient Battlefield’s energy was formed from the souls and resentment of the dead, and that without his arrival the Divine Statue of Rules might have collapsed, unleashing the Grievance Souls.
• Jiang Liu reasoned that Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai had once tried to destroy the Divine Statue of Rules but later relied on it to suppress the growing Grievance Souls.
• Ming Bai’s greed had led him to refine dead cultivators’ blood into Bloodfall, which eventually took control of him and threatened to turn him into one of its Grievance Souls.
• Ming Bai held back from attacking the Divine Hall of Rules because he feared a fight to the death and could feel the souls inside Bloodfall nearing the point of escaping his control.
• Yunzhi Shangren sensed white light appearing inside the Divine Hall of Rules and inferred that the Divine Statue was recovering, weakening the Grievance Souls affecting him.

Yunzhi Shangren waited for the Divine Statue of Rules to recover as it slaughtered the Grievance Souls, hoping to use the chance to escape the Divine Hall of Rules. Ming Bai sensed the change and attacked Yunzhi Shangren with the Bloodfall, beginning a decisive battle outside the hall.

• Yunzhi Shangren let Ming Bai destroy the Divine Statues of Rules while the statues killed the dwindling Grievance Souls, hoping to escape when the hall was nearly cleared.
• Yunzhi Shangren sent Ming Bai a signal not to act rashly, but Ming Bai inferred that something inside the hall was going in Yunzhi Shangren's favor.
• Ming Bai and Yunzhi Shangren gathered their auras as both prepared to fight over the Divine Hall of Rules.
• Ming Bai expanded the Bloodfall and swept it across the hall and Yunzhi Shangren, whose phantom grew brighter and more solid.
• Ming Bai unleashed blood mist to overwhelm Yunzhi Shangren in one attack because the situation inside the Divine Hall of Rules made him uneasy.

As Jiang Liu refined soul energy inside the Divine Statue of Rules, a Grievance Soul trapped him in a vast sea-of-blood illusion. The Rule Statue’s Divine Soul watched helplessly as Jiang Liu prepared to use God Fills the World to break free.

• The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue watched Jiang Liu and recognized that he practiced the cultivation method created by a person who had once emerged from the statue.
• The Divine Soul sensed a powerful Grievance Soul attacking Jiang Liu’s sea of consciousness but could not intervene without risking destruction.
• Jiang Liu’s vision blurred, and he found himself surrounded by an endless sea of blood created by the Grievance Soul.
• Jiang Liu recognized the scene as an illusion and formed a Phantom Sound Flute from primordial energy to play God Fills the World.

Jiang Liu used an essence-formed Phantom Sound Flute to confront an illusion of Blood Dragons while the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue recovered its power from the music. The Blood Dragons attacked, and Jiang Liu’s wind blades met their black aura in an even first exchange.

• Unable to use his real Phantom Sound Flute, Jiang Liu manifested one from Heaven and Earth Essence and played music throughout the sealed space.
• The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue welcomed the music because it filled the space with essence and sped up its recovery.
• Blood Dragons emerged from the sea of blood, and Jiang Liu felt disgust toward their dark aura, recognizing that the Divine Statue of Rules was influencing his emotions.
• Jiang Liu played an eerie tune and summoned walls of wind and wind blades to block the Blood Dragons’ charge.
• The Blood Dragons smashed the wind blades with their black aura, and the sea of blood began churning as Jiang Liu’s flute music changed again.

Jiang Liu used his flute to create an illusion within the Grievance Soul’s blood-sea illusion and sent a Fire-Winged Monkey to attack the fused blood dragon. The monkey was destroyed, Jiang Liu’s music stopped, and the hidden Grievance Soul revealed itself and rushed toward him.

• Jiang Liu created an illusion that connected seamlessly with the Grievance Soul’s illusion and summoned a powerful Fire-Winged Monkey.
• The blood dragons merged into one, and the Fire-Winged Monkey struck the resulting dragon while Jiang Liu continued playing his flute.
• Jiang Liu aimed to weaken the Grievance Soul enough to expose it so the Divine Statue of Rules could find it and Jiang Liu could devour its illusory space.
• The blood dragon endured the monkey’s attacks, then shattered it with a sweep of its tail.
• Jiang Liu’s flute vanished and the music stopped as a black figure appeared and rushed toward him, revealing the Grievance Soul.

Jiang Liu trapped the Grievance Soul in an illusion so convincing that the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue failed to notice their disappearance. With the Grievance Soul bound, Jiang Liu began devising a way to devour its Soul Force without being detected.

• The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue tried to seize the black figure, but Grievance Soul tentacles blocked its palm long enough for the figure to reach Jiang Liu.
• A dazzling light enveloped Jiang Liu and the Grievance Soul, making both vanish from the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue's perception.
• Jiang Liu revealed that he had used a flute-sound illusion to deceive the Grievance Soul and conceal their disappearance from the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue.
• Jiang Liu considered how to devour the Grievance Soul's Soul Force without exposing himself to the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue.
• Jiang Liu tightened the mental chains binding the Grievance Soul.

Jiang Liu devoured the Soul Force the Grievance Soul released, strengthening his spiritual power and expanding his Divine Sea. When the Grievance Soul refused to release more, Jiang Liu prepared to cut it apart with a spiritual knife.

• The spiritual chains tightened around the black figure, and its released Soul Force was pulled into Jiang Liu's Divine Sea.
• Jiang Liu's Spiritual Avatar swallowed the Soul Force, weakening the Grievance Soul and increasing Jiang Liu's control over the illusion.
• Jiang Liu realized that devouring the Grievance Soul could advance his spiritual power and help him escape the other space.
• The Grievance Soul stopped releasing Soul Force, and Jiang Liu struggled to draw more out without tearing it apart.
• Jiang Liu formed a spiritual-power knife to cut the Grievance Soul, and a voice formed from intent appeared beside his ear.

Jiang Liu captured a Grievance Soul that retained clear consciousness and pressured it to reveal how to leave the alternate space. The soul explained its escape method, but Jiang Liu realized it might not work in his favor.

• A Grievance Soul offered to show Jiang Liu how to leave if he protected it, but he refused to promise protection.
• Jiang Liu considered the danger of returning outside, where Bloodfall and Yunzhi Shangren might seize him, and questioned whether what they sought was elsewhere in the Divine Hall of Rules.
• When the Grievance Soul hesitated to reveal the escape method, Jiang Liu tightened his spiritual chains and threatened to destroy it.
• The Grievance Soul gave in and explained how to leave, and Jiang Liu furrowed his brows after hearing that its method might not suit him.

Jiang Liu refused the Grievance Soul’s plan to escape and instead tried to absorb its Soul Force. The Grievance Soul exposed him by breaking out, and the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue appeared as Jiang Liu faced the resulting danger.

• The Grievance Soul asked Jiang Liu to help it escape through a weakness in the dimensional space’s defenses, but he refused to trust it.
• Jiang Liu tightened his Soul Force chains around the Grievance Soul and absorbed some of its Soul Force to strengthen his divine soul.
• The Grievance Soul erupted with its aura to expose Jiang Liu before it disappeared, and the chains destroyed it.
• The Grievance Soul’s outburst split Jiang Liu’s Seemingly Real Illusion, allowing the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue to appear.
• The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue purified the scattered Soul Force, while Jiang Liu considered how to handle the threat before him.

Jiang Liu negotiated with the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue, offering to help restore its divine power in exchange for three conditions. The Divine Soul was inclined to agree to two but hesitated over letting him explore the alternate dimension, fearing he might give Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai what they sought.

• Jiang Liu reasoned that the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue needed his help and decided to negotiate for his safety.
• Jiang Liu sent his mental intent to the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue and requested free passage in and out, refuge when his life was in danger, and permission to explore the alternate dimension in exchange for helping restore its divine power.
• The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue considered Jiang Liu’s conditions and believed his resemblance to its former master and his cultivation of the Heaven Evolution Codex meant it would not kill him regardless.
• The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue was willing to accept the first two conditions but hesitated over the third, fearing Jiang Liu might find what Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai wanted and hand it to them.
• Jiang Liu hoped to explore the alternate dimension and devour its Grievance Souls, both to strengthen himself and to help purify the area.

Jiang Liu refined the Grievance Soul’s Soul Force, purged its lingering resentment, and experienced a surge in strength. He then saw the alternate space’s true, colorful form and spotted more Grievance Souls in the distance.

• The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue accepted Jiang Liu’s conditions, confident that its restored power would let it overcome Ming Bai and Yunzhi Shangren.
• Jiang Liu cultivated the Heaven Evolution Codex, refined the absorbed Soul Force, and purified the resentment within it.
• Jiang Liu’s aura briefly surged, surprising the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue, before he returned to his calm state.
• Jiang Liu saw the alternate space in its dazzling, multicolored form and realized the Grievance Soul he had absorbed had expanded his Divine Sea.
• Jiang Liu spotted shadowy Grievance Souls in the distance and smiled, though he knew he was still weaker than the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue.

Jiang Liu discovered that he could see hidden Grievance Souls and tried to ambush one, only to find its counterattack threatened his Divine Sea. The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue killed it and saved him, while Jiang Liu wondered why other Grievance Souls had appeared to delay its arrival.

• Jiang Liu used his new ability to locate a hidden Grievance Soul and observed that it retained some intelligence.
• Jiang Liu attacked the Grievance Soul with the Heavenly Evolution Codex, but it retaliated by sending chaotic consciousness into his Divine Sea.
• Jiang Liu fought the invading consciousnesses within his Divine Sea and endured their assault.
• The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue killed the Grievance Soul, leaving Jiang Liu to refine its Soul Force.
• Jiang Liu realized several other Grievance Souls had briefly blocked the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue and questioned why.

Jiang Liu refined the Soul Force from a powerful Grievance Soul and realized that several Grievance Souls had joined forces against him. He continued playing his flute to draw them out, relying on the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue to annihilate them while refining what Soul Force he could.

• Jiang Liu finished refining the Soul Force from the Grievance Soul and assessed the dangers of facing the united Grievance Souls.
• Jiang Liu decided to keep using the Phantom Sound Flute to protect himself and gather Soul Force despite the risks to his Divine Soul.
• The Grievance Souls tried to attack Jiang Liu, but the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue annihilated them before they could act.
• Jiang Liu played God Fills the World, drawing out more Grievance Souls as the Rule Statue's divine power recovered.
• Jiang Liu played more forcefully and refined the surrounding Soul Force while the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue destroyed the attacking Grievance Souls.

Jiang Liu played his xiao to expose hidden Grievance Souls while searching the pocket dimension for its entrance and exit, fearing the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue might trap him once it recovered. Outside, Yunzhi Shangren and Ming Bai fought amid Ming Bai’s blood mist, and Jiang Liu wondered why the Grievance Souls seemed to multiply as they were killed.

• The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue annihilated exposed Grievance Souls, growing stronger as Jiang Liu dodged the attacks’ aftershocks.
• Jiang Liu played God Fills the World to reveal hidden Grievance Souls and investigate the pocket dimension without exposing his Divine Sense directly.
• Jiang Liu searched for the pocket dimension’s entrance and exit because he feared the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue would turn against him after clearing the Grievance Souls.
• Yunzhi Shangren delayed Ming Bai in the blood mist by creating numerous figures around the Divine Hall of Rules, forcing Ming Bai to attack them one by one.
• Jiang Liu saw that the Grievance Souls seemed to grow more numerous even as the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue killed them.

Jiang Liu realized that the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue was secretly drawing Grievance Souls into the strange space while growing stronger from killing them. After overusing his Soul Force, he was forced to flee as the Grievance Souls swarmed him, and the Data Panel became usable again near the entrance.

• Jiang Liu noticed that later Grievance Souls were weaker and inferred that the entrance had opened, allowing some to enter from the Divine Hall of Rules.
• Jiang Liu suspected that the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue could still control the Grievance Souls and was using him to clear them out.
• Jiang Liu's Divine Sea began to run dry, so he stopped his flute-music attack and raised a vital-energy barrier.
• The Grievance Souls rushed toward Jiang Liu as soon as the music stopped, and he activated Nebula Shrunken Earth to race toward the entrance.
• Jiang Liu refined scattered Soul Force while fleeing, and the Data Panel reappeared before him.

Jiang Liu used the Sky Devouring Cat to draw the Grievance Souls’ attention while he fled toward the exit, but the Divine Soul of the Rule Statue eliminated his pursuers. Jiang Liu began restoring his Divine Sea with scattered Soul Force, and the Sky Devouring Cat fought off the Black Mist and returned to him.

• Jiang Liu summoned the Sky Devouring Cat, which tried to hold back the Black Mist with wind blades but could not affect it.
• Jiang Liu left the Sky Devouring Cat behind as a distraction and rushed toward the exit while Grievance Souls closed in around him.
• The Divine Soul of the Rule Statue killed the Grievance Souls pursuing Jiang Liu, and Jiang Liu stopped to prepare the Phantom Sound Flute.
• Jiang Liu circulated the Heavenly Evolution Codex and absorbed scattered Soul Force, beginning to restore his dried-up Divine Sea.
• The Sky Devouring Cat unleashed black tornadoes that swept the Black Mist away, then flew back to Jiang Liu.
• Jiang Liu sensed that the Sky Devouring Cat’s strength had stabilized at the Third-Tier Divine Realm and wondered whether the System Space had helped it improve faster.