Recaps

Xu Yi forced Commander Shao to reveal his ties to the Divine Temple, then refined both authority seals and questioned him about wish pearls and the realms of humans and demons. He woke Meng Temple Master with the wish pearls and Crescent Moon Three Stars Seal, and Meng erupted in anger before demanding to know where the seal came from.

• Xu Yi threatened to wake Meng Temple Master, and Commander Shao admitted that the Crescent Moon Three Stars Seal was the Divine Temple's seal and that he was its spy.
• Xu Yi used the Minor Cloud Crane Art to refine the Crescent Moon Three Stars Seal and then the Ancestor Demon Seal, despite Commander Shao's belief that the seals could not be refined by outsiders.
• Commander Shao explained the stages of human Transcendence and demonic Illusory Transformation, the role of wish pearls, and the hierarchy of the Western Ox Continent.
• Xu Yi knocked Commander Shao unconscious and woke Meng Temple Master, who had taken the form of an oversized yellow weasel with a golden snout.
• Meng Temple Master saw Xu Yi's more than thirty wish pearls and the Crescent Moon Three Stars Seal, cursed him as a Divine Temple remnant, and demanded to know where the seal came from.

After escaping the collapsing Purple Domain Space, Xu Yi found himself stranded without cultivation and hid in a forest to seek a way to regain strength. An experiment with Cloud Crane Pure Qi and a Wish Bead triggered an uncontrolled tempering process that left his Qi Sea Realm almost empty.

• Xu Yi killed Meng Temple Master and the other captives, then escaped as the Purple Domain Space collapsed and used the Four-Colored Seal to survive his fall.
• Xu Yi discovered that the Ruyi Pearl had been left behind and failed to sense Bai Jizi, but reasoned that Xiong Bei Ming and the others could manage without him.
• Xu Yi concealed himself in a forest cave and studied manuals on tempering the body with willingness before deciding to refine a Wish Bead.
• Xu Yi directed some Cloud Crane Pure Qi into his inner vortex, causing a Wish Bead to burst and its willingness to begin tempering his body and Divine Infant.
• The willingness concentrated on Xu Yi’s legs as the vortex vanished, his Infant Essence disappeared, and only one drop remained in his Qi Sea Realm.

Xu Yi used wish pearls to strengthen his body and discovered that wish power delayed the strange vortex, but his third Dragon Gate was about to disappear. He swallowed a Nine Spirit Sacred Blood Pill to break through the gate, then found the vortex had returned and consumed all his Mana Yuan.

• Xu Yi dissolved wish pearls, gaining Mana Yuan as the vortex repeatedly vanished and reappeared, and suspected wish power could treat it.
• After dissolving his thirtieth wish pearl, Xu Yi stopped to conserve the rest and realized his third Dragon Gate was on the verge of disappearing.
• Xu Yi refined a Nine Spirit Sacred Blood Pill with phoenix blood and Myriad Pill Aid Qi, then swallowed it.
• The pill's power shattered Xu Yi's third Dragon Gate and transformed his body as he circulated the Nine Revolutions Saint Creation Art.
• The strange vortex returned in Xu Yi's Qi Sea Realm and consumed the more than ten drops of Mana Yuan he had gathered.

Xu Yi awakened the Wrathful Chi Aspect and tested its three powerful monkey forms, but nine bolts of mystic thunder struck him unconscious. After recovering in Second Madam’s home, he examined Meng Temple Master’s tortoise shell and revealed hidden writing by channeling spiritual energy through the Demon Ancestor Seal.

• Xu Yi transformed into the Sky-Soaring Imp, the Water-Flowing Monkey, and the Three-Eyed Wrathful Chi Ape to test the Wrathful Chi Aspect’s abilities.
• Nine bolts of mystic thunder struck Xu Yi, and he lost consciousness.
• Xu Yi awoke seven days later in Second Madam’s home, where Cui’er told him that Second Madam had rescued him and was praying in seclusion.
• Xu Yi agreed to remain until Second Madam emerged, then set up a barrier and examined Meng Temple Master’s tortoise shell.
• Xu Yi channeled spiritual energy through the Demon Ancestor Seal into the tortoise shell, revealing hidden writing and a glowing pattern.

Xu Yi was caught in a household dispute when Second Madam was accused of adultery and her son Yun'er was taken hostage. He rescued Yun'er and returned him to Second Madam, leaving the household stunned by his strength.

• Xu Yi memorized the mysterious characters and spent two days studying Commander Shao's notebooks before Cui'er brought him to thank Second Madam.
• A middle-aged woman accused Second Madam of adultery, but the brocade-robed Eldest Master ordered her to leave.
• Cultivators warned the Eldest Master that his father was near death and that his rival Second Master had the advantage in the family-head succession struggle.
• Lei Ting brought in the unconscious Yun'er and surrounded the courtyard, while the middle-aged woman continued to accuse Second Madam.
• The Eldest Master tried to seize Second Madam, but Xu Yi stopped him, disarmed Lei Ting, rescued Yun'er, and revived the boy with spiritual liquid.

Xu Yi rescued Second Madam from the Lei family's power struggle, defeated the white-robed young man and his allies, and helped Lei Ming reclaim control of the family. He left Second Madam a Ruyi Pearl as a promise of help, then took Young Master Lei Er away and discovered that he had only three wish pearls.

• The white-robed young man arrived with the eight elders, revealed that he had inherited the family token, and demanded that Lei Ming kneel before him.
• Xu Yi struck down the white-robed young man and his entire party after mocking his ambition to become the Lei family's founding ancestor.
• Lei Ming's household urged him to make Second Madam his primary wife and name her son his heir, and Xu Yi gave Second Madam a Ruyi Pearl before leaving with Old Second Lei.
• The white-browed old man advised Second Madam to keep the pearl for an emergency, and Lei Ming promised to support her from then on.
• Xu Yi asked Young Master Lei Er what he had brought, and Lei Er said he had only three wish pearls because he had blown up his Starry Sky Ring.

Xu Yi forced Lei Ming to explain Western Ox Continent’s political structure and the importance of Wish Pearls, then decided to seek power by joining the army amid Fanyang Prefecture’s unrest. At Guangling, he learned that the purple cloud above the city held wish power that could become thousands of Wish Pearls, and he headed for the recruitment station.

• Xu Yi struck Lei Ming and forced him to describe the region, its unrest, and how the Ancestral Court and Church controlled Wish Pearls.
• Xu Yi decided to enter the turmoil to obtain Wish Pearls and forced Lei Ming to guide him toward the nearest major city.
• Xu Yi and Lei Ming reached Guangling, where Xu Yi noticed a purple cloud above the city and pressed Lei Ming to explain it.
• Lei Ming revealed that the cloud was gathered wish power and that Guangling could produce at least ten thousand Wish Pearls.
• Xu Yi took Lei Ming toward the city gate and declared that they would join the army, where they found a recruitment station.

After surviving nearly a month in Fanyang Prefecture’s army, Xu Yi spent a quiet evening with Cheng Yan and Zhong Wu, two squadmates with very different reasons for risking their lives. Zhong Wu decided to remain in Xu Yi’s Geng Squad because he trusted Xu Yi’s ability to keep the squad alive.

• Xu Yi rested after dinner while Cheng Yan offered him two Hundred Spirits Fruits in gratitude for saving his life.
• Zhong Wu teased Cheng Yan for staying in the army to earn another wish pearl and redeem Xueli Mei, and Xu Yi stopped him from insulting her.
• Xu Yi reflected on how cultivators’ outlooks changed after they realized wish pearls and the authorities’ monopoly made advancement beyond the Calamity Tribulation Realm difficult.
• Zhong Wu said he had enlisted only to earn a wish pearl and asked Xu Yi not to favor Cheng Yan, while Xu Yi suggested he join Squad Leader Liu’s Ding Squad instead.
• Cheng Yan urged Zhong Wu to transfer to Squad Leader Liu’s stronger squad, but Zhong Wu chose to stay in Geng Squad because he trusted Xu Yi’s judgment and ability to anticipate danger.

Xu Yi became leader of the newly merged Third Squad, astonishing the soldiers when he revealed that he had survived nine battles. As he rested before the coming battle, he reflected on the wish beads he had earned and the strength that had kept him alive.

• Cheng Yan reported that understrength squads would merge, and Xu Yi learned that Squad G would join Squad C.
• Cheng Lian challenged Xu Yi for leadership, boasting of his five battle merits, but Jia Kang announced that Xu Yi had already been named leader of the new squad.
• Cheng Lian demanded an explanation, so Xu Yi showed his merit token with nine marks and convinced Cheng Lian and the others to accept his command.
• Xu Yi returned to rest beneath the elm tree while Cheng Yan kept watch, and he counted the twenty-three wish beads he had accumulated.

Xu Yi used twenty-three wish pearls to try to break through to the Mortal Transformation First Realm, but remained at pale gold and concluded that his unusual circumstances might explain the failure. He returned to camp as a massive army marched to Guangling City, determined to give everything in the coming battle.

• Xu Yi entered a cave before dawn and refined all twenty-three wish pearls, but his lower limbs stayed pale gold and he failed to break through.
• Xu Yi reasoned that Commander Shao’s qualification that cultivators advanced within a certain range left room for unusual cases, then returned to camp.
• Xu Yi and Cheng Yan rushed to the drill ground before the final drumbeat and joined their unit as the army assembled for battle.
• A black-armored elder promised doubled rewards and bonuses, and the troops marched toward Guangling City.
• Xu Yi noted that the wish cloud above Guangling City was nearing gold and that the garrison was short on soldiers as the rebels grew stronger.
• Xu Yi prepared to fight at full strength by refining more than twenty wish pearls, temporarily making the vortex disappear so he could use his spiritual power.

Xu Yi led his squad through a brutal battlefield assault and then killed Tong Ba, the enemy commander responsible for the deaths of three leaders. His sudden victory made him the center of attention on the battlefield.

• Xu Yi guided his squad through spiritual formation attacks and Spirit Cannon fire, saving them from several strikes.
• Xu Yi led the squad against charging Tiger-Tearing Beasts, saving Cheng Yan and keeping the third squad from being wiped out.
• Commander Kong Dian, Deputy Commander Zhao, and Commander Dong died, and the enemy announced that Tong Ba of Beiling had killed them.
• Xu Yi and three others charged Tong Ba after the prefectural army offered its highest merit and twenty Wish Pearls for his death.
• Xu Yi used the Three Hearts Two Minds Sword to shatter Tong Ba's spear and kill Tong Ba, his mount, and rider alike.

After Xu Yi killed Tong Ba and earned a major reward, Zhong Wu warned him that his battlefield fame could make him a target in the struggle over vacant command posts. Zhong Wu advised Xu Yi to approach Li Tang, but Huang Wei arrived before they could continue.

• Xu Yi blocked the enemy's spirit arrows, but a golden orb was shattered by a wave of light from the cloud platform, ending the battle and sending both sides into retreat.
• The camp rewarded Xu Yi with wish pearls for leading his squad and killing Tong Ba, and the soldiers hailed him as Fierce Squad Leader.
• Cheng Yan offered Xu Yi a wish pearl in gratitude for saving his life, but Xu Yi refused to accept it.
• Zhong Wu warned Xu Yi that Li Tang and Huang Wei might see his battlefield success as a threat to their claims on vacant posts.
• Zhong Wu advised Xu Yi to reassure Li Tang that he had no ambitions for higher command and suggested he could then become military law officer.
• Cheng Yan announced that Military Law Officer Huang had arrived.

Xu Yi was deceived into signing a recommendation that Li Tang and his allies intended to use to sideline him, while they planned their own promotions. Their scheme collapsed when Cao Bao announced that Xu Yi had already become the new Regimental Commander.

• Zhao Ling and Huang Wei praised Xu Yi and persuaded him to sign a petition recommending him for Military Law Officer.
• Li Tang, Zhao Ling, and Huang Wei celebrated, believing Xu Yi had accepted the post and would no longer threaten their plans.
• Zhao Ling warned Li Tang and Huang Wei to win Commander Shen's favor to secure further promotions, and Li Tang agreed to offer a bribe.
• Cao Bao rushed in and announced that the Record of Merit Officer had named Xu Yi the new Regimental Commander.
• Li Tang struck Cao Bao in anger, while Huang Wei wondered whether Xu Yi's accomplishments had prompted the Colonel to intervene.

Xu Yi secured the post of Regimental Commander by giving all twenty-four of his reward wish beads to Shen Wuhai, while Li Tang and Huang Wei learned they had been outmaneuvered. After his inauguration, Zhong Wu warned Xu Yi that his enemies’ public congratulations might not be sincere.

• Zhao Ling learned that Xu Yi had met secretly with Shen Wuhai, and he explained to Li Tang and Huang Wei how Xu Yi had arranged his promotion.
• The Record of Merit Officer officially appointed Xu Yi as Regimental Commander of Fifth Regiment, leaving Zhong Wu stunned.
• Xu Yi’s past meeting with Shen Wuhai was revealed: he had offered all twenty-four wish beads from his reward, securing approval for the transfer.
• At Xu Yi’s inauguration, Li Tang and Huang Wei publicly praised his promotion and promised to serve under him.
• Xu Yi made Cheng Yan his personal guard and put off Zhong Wu’s request for the same role.
• Zhong Wu privately warned Xu Yi that Li Tang and Huang Wei might not have meant their congratulations sincerely.

Xu Yi learned about possible attacks from within his own ranks, studied his new commander's manuals through the night, and joined the army as it marched toward a decisive battle over the vow-beads. The chapter ended with the opposing commander challenging Ming Liding and accusing him of trying to claim the beads for himself.

• Zhong Wu warned Xu Yi that Li Tang and Huang Wei might arrange a covert attack and described military schemes for harming rivals.
• After Zhong Wu left, Xu Yi studied the Ancestral Court Code and military manuals until dawn.
• Ming Liding assembled the troops, announced the vow-cloud would condense into vow-beads that day, and promised double rewards for victory while singling out Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi marched with the army to Guangling City, where the vow-cloud had turned gold and the rebels had formed outside the walls.
• Xu Yi focused on the Huang Temple Master, learned the vow-beads would form within an hour, and heard the opposing commander challenge Ming Liding to settle the battle themselves.

The rebels destroyed Guangling City's array and scattered its cloud of wishes, while Xu Yi realized Meng Temple Master's incantation might draw wish-force. As the battle resumed, two First-Realm Mortal Transformation experts drove Xu Yi into a distant forest and pursued him.

• The rebels used Three-tailed Candle Yin Dog blood to break the array protecting Guangling City's cloud of wishes, and Huang Temple Master gathered the drifting wish-force before it burst apart again.
• Xu Yi watched Huang Temple Master and suspected Meng Temple Master's incantation was meant for wish-force, but he held back from using it.
• Ming Liding angrily ordered his troops to attack, and the two armies returned to close combat.
• Two First-Realm Mortal Transformation experts charged Xu Yi, overwhelmed him, and pursued him into a distant forest.
• Cheng Yan tried to follow Xu Yi, but Zhong Wu stopped him, while Li Tang lamented the loss of their wish-beads to Huang Wei.

Xu Yi used a cloud of wishes to master the Guidance of Wishes Art and convert the remaining wish power into more than a hundred Wish Pearls. After refining 108 of them, he triggered a sudden upheaval as the will of Heaven surged through him.

• Huang Wei sent Li Tang a voice transmission, and Li Tang sent a Second Realm expert in a hemp robe after Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi escaped Li Jue, Guo Si, and the hemp-robed expert by fleeing to a secluded mountain cave.
• Xu Yi gathered a cloud of wishes and used it to master all three levels of the Guidance of Wishes Art.
• Xu Yi channeled the remaining wish power into Meng Temple Master's tortoiseshell and produced more than 120 Wish Pearls.
• Xu Yi refined 108 Wish Pearls, and the will of Heaven surged through him as the sky seemed to split open.

Xu Yi broke into the First Realm and was ambushed by Zhan Hong, a Second Realm expert hired to kill him. Xu Yi overwhelmed Zhan Hong with his formidable body and sword intent, then revealed his monkey form and trapped him in a towering curtain of water.

• Xu Yi left the stone chamber after breaking through and hurried back toward the battlefield, but Zhan Hong struck him from behind.
• Zhan Hong attacked with a giant-foot technique, but Xu Yi countered with an equally powerful foot and shattered Zhan Hong's leg.
• Xu Yi broke Zhan Hong's four light walls with the Heart Severing Sword, forcing him to flee into a nearby river.
• Xu Yi shaped the river into a net, lifted Zhan Hong inside a vast curtain of water, and revealed himself as a black, short-tailed monkey.
• Zhan Hong recognized Xu Yi as a member of the Demon Race, and Xu Yi sent the curtain of water surging toward him.

Xu Yi returned from killing Zhan Hong and took command of the battered Fifth Unit, saving its wounded and ordering an assault on the enemy's right flank. Li Tang and Huang Wei obeyed his orders while plotting to hold him responsible after the battle.

• Xu Yi killed Zhan Hong, collected his resources, and found forty-seven Wish Pearls among them.
• Xu Yi reached the battlefield, revived the gravely wounded Cheng Yan, and learned that Li Tang had led the Fifth Unit while Xu Yi was away.
• Xu Yi ordered Zhong Wu to evacuate the soldiers too badly wounded to fight, overruling Li Tang's objection that military rules forbade retreat.
• Xu Yi assembled the Fifth Unit and ordered Li Tang and Huang Wei to join him at the spearhead of an attack on the enemy's right flank.
• Li Tang and Huang Wei secretly resolved to endure the assault and discuss Xu Yi with Zhao Ling after the battle as two figures rushed toward them from the enemy ranks.

Xu Yi led the Fifth Company through the enemy formation, capturing Li Jue and Guo Si and using them as shields. After promising the soldiers the entire reward, he ordered Li Tang and Huang Wei to join him in another charge, forcing them to submit.

• Li Jue and Guo Si attacked Xu Yi, but he seized them and charged into the enemy ranks with them as shields.
• Xu Yi led the Fifth Company through the enemy formation; five soldiers died, and Li Jue and Guo Si were battered to dust.
• Xu Yi promised to give the company the entire reward, winning the soldiers' loyalty while Li Tang and Huang Wei suspected his motives.
• Xu Yi ordered Li Tang and Huang Wei to join him in charging the enemy centurion, and the two apologized and agreed to obey.
• Xu Yi ignored their pleas to withdraw the order and charged ahead.

After the army crushed the rebels, Xu Yi received recognition and rewards for his company’s breakthroughs and prepared to meet Zhao Ling. Zhao Ling welcomed him warmly, but Xu Yi directly raised his fear of being harmed by his own people, leaving Zhao Ling’s response unresolved.

• Li Tang and Huang Wei charged the enemy lines and were killed as the battle escalated into a decisive victory for the military forces.
• Xu Yi returned to camp, where the Record of Merit Officer awarded him and his company for breaking through the enemy lines; Xu Yi distributed the company’s hundred wish beads.
• Xu Yi counted his wish beads and decided to save them rather than refine them immediately, then learned from Zhong Wu that Zhao Ling had agreed to meet him.
• Zhong Wu warned Xu Yi that Zhao Ling might have arranged the plot against him, but Xu Yi went to Zhao Ling’s tent anyway.
• After exchanging praise, Xu Yi asked Zhao Ling about Li Tang and Huang Wei and said he feared dying at the hands of his own people; Zhao Ling laughed and reassured him.

Xu Yi asked Zhao Ling to help secure the Dongshan Prefecture post, offering eighty wish pearls to fund the move. After leaving Zhao Ling’s tent, Xu Yi returned to find an unknown middle-aged man already inside, undetected by both Cheng Yan and himself.

• Xu Yi told Zhao Ling he wanted to leave Fanyang Prefecture and compete for the Dongshan Prefecture post, and Zhao Ling agreed the move would benefit them both.
• Xu Yi offered Zhao Ling eighty wish pearls to secure support from Commander Shen and the commandant’s office advisers.
• Zhao Ling resolved to help send Xu Yi to Dongshan Prefecture, even if he had to contribute some wish pearls himself.
• Xu Yi returned to his tent and found an unfamiliar middle-aged man reading inside, having evaded Cheng Yan’s and Xu Yi’s senses.

Xu Yi discovered that the dying rebel leader Zhu Shisan was a fellow Night Walker serving the Sect Master. Zhu Shisan passed him the mission to find the old prefect’s treasure and return its Sun Radiance Token, then died, leaving Xu Yi to conceal the encounter and continue the search.

• Zhu Shisan appeared in Xu Yi’s tent, revealed his identity, and showed him a seal matching the Sect Master’s.
• Zhu Shisan explained that he had once been a leading contender to become prefect before being framed for the old prefect’s suspicious death and forced to raise a rebellion.
• Zhu Shisan told Xu Yi to find the old prefect’s treasure and return the Sun Radiance Token to the Sect Master, then died after using a fatal secret art to locate him.
• Xu Yi dissolved Zhu Shisan’s corpse, gathered his belongings, and found notes explaining that Night Walkers could contact one another only through a life-ending secret art when desperate.

Xu Yi studied the Seven Aversion Palace Locking Formation before meeting with Zhao Ling, who returned twenty Wish Pearls and gave him a guide to Dongshan Prefecture. After Commander Ming summoned him, Xu Yi noticed a Weeping Blood Stone stele at the Fanyang Prefect's compound and learned it had been erected about a decade earlier.

• Xu Yi found a hide bearing the Seven Aversion Palace Locking Formation and studied the formation through the records in his Ruyi Pearl.
• Zhong Wu told Xu Yi that Sima Zhao had arranged a meeting, and Xu Yi went to see Zhao Ling.
• Zhao Ling returned twenty Wish Pearls to Xu Yi and gave him a booklet about Dongshan Prefecture's people and customs.
• Xu Yi ate lunch with Zhao Ling, then left after receiving a summons from Commander Ming.
• At the Fanyang Prefect's mountain compound, Xu Yi noticed a Weeping Blood Stone stele and learned it had been erected about a decade earlier.

Xu Yi secured his appointment to Dongshan Prefecture, recruited soldiers for his new command, and set out with a much larger force than expected. Meanwhile, Ming Liding faced complaints from officers whose elite veterans had followed Xu Yi.

• Xu Yi met Ming Liding, promised to deliver Dongshan Prefecture’s tribute, and left after a brief audience.
• Xu Yi returned to camp, learned the soldiers were eager to follow him, and asked Zhong Wu to recruit thirty or forty men.
• Xu Yi received his Army Commander’s seal and set out for Dongshan Prefecture with thirty-odd soldiers.
• Zhong Wu caught up with Xu Yi and brought fifty-six recruits, many of them familiar veterans who had left their companies to serve him.
• Regimental Commanders complained to Ming Liding that Xu Yi had taken their elite soldiers, while Ming Liding rebuked them and felt relieved Xu Yi was gone.