Recaps

Lin Ming and his companions entered the Heavenly River and witnessed its immense power and danger. After the river crushed several cultivators, a White Dragon Disciple showed that identity tokens could become protective boats, revealing how the others might travel across it.

• Lin Ming, Zi Yan, North King, and Xia Jia entered the Heavenly River and saw visions of ancient disciples pursuing stars in its waters.
• Several cultivators plunged into the river without protection and were crushed into bloody water, including an expert at the peak of Tier 9.
• A calm gray-robed man explained that the river’s weight and conflicting forces made entering without protection fatal.
• The gray-robed man tossed his White Dragon Disciple token into the river, where it expanded into a protected boat that carried him safely across.
• Other token holders turned their tokens into boats, whose size and strength varied according to their rank.

Lin Ming and Zi Yan entered the Heavenly River in Golden Dragon Token skiffs to collect Heavenly River Spirits for a baptism, while North King and Xia Jia split off to search separately. As Lin Ming and Zi Yan ventured deeper, the river’s crushing pressure strained their skiffs, and they spotted a powerful dark-blue Heavenly River Spirit ahead.

• Lin Ming and Zi Yan launched their Golden Dragon Token skiffs into the Heavenly River after learning that a Perfect Baptism required the power of a hundred Heavenly River Spirits.
• Lin Ming and Zi Yan split from North King and Xia Jia, with each pair heading in a different direction to search for spirits.
• Qing Yanjing noticed Lin Ming but decided not to make a move amid the dangers and crowds in the Heavenly River, then sailed deeper elsewhere.
• Lin Ming and Zi Yan traveled deeper as the Heavenly River’s pressure began to strain their Golden Dragon barriers.
• Lin Ming and Zi Yan spotted a dark-blue Heavenly River Spirit radiating immense spiritual power ahead of them.

Zi Yan fought a powerful Heavenly River Spirit that repeatedly tried to smash through her Golden Dragon Token’s barrier. She drove it back with her Dragon Phoenix Sword, but the spirit became increasingly frenzied and kept charging.

• Zi Yan struck the Heavenly River Spirit with a purple-gold fist, but it barely slowed before crashing into her barrier and driving her skiff back.
• Lin Ming judged that the spirit’s near-Tier 9 Peak attacks could break the Golden Dragon Token after several more hits, while Zi Yan insisted on handling the fight herself.
• Zi Yan used the Dragon Phoenix Sword to repel the spirit and shatter a water dragon it had formed from the river.
• Lin Ming watched without intervening, keeping his spiritual power ready in case Zi Yan could no longer hold out.
• The Heavenly River Spirit went berserk and repeatedly charged Zi Yan, who countered each attack with forceful sword strikes.

Zi Yan captured the first Heavenly River Spirit, while Lin Ming judged that gathering enough for a baptism would take too long and risk the Heavenly River seal closing. He led Zi Yan deeper into the river, where the other cultivators disappeared from sight.

• Zi Yan wore down the Heavenly River Spirit, caught it with a Purple-Gold Dragon Claw, and claimed its crystalline true body as the first one.
• Lin Ming calculated that collecting the thirty spirits needed for the lowest-grade baptism could take several days, while a perfect-grade baptism would require at least a hundred.
• Lin Ming watched other cultivators struggle against the spirits, noting that their group attacks were poorly coordinated and caused severe losses.
• Lin Ming decided they needed another way and steered his Golden Dragon Token deeper into the Heavenly River with Zi Yan following beside him.
• Lin Ming and Zi Yan traveled past the scattered cultivators into a silent, secluded stretch of river, where Lin Ming stopped.

Lin Ming created a Spirit Gathering Formation as bait and concealed a grandmaster-level Three Essence Devouring Nether Formation around it to trap Heavenly River Spirits. A Heavenly River Spirit entered to feed, and Lin Ming activated the trap around it.

• Lin Ming explained to Zi Yan that Heavenly River Spirits were drawn to places rich in spiritual power, so he planned to lure them with a Spirit Gathering Formation.
• Lin Ming built a Three Essence Devouring Nether Formation around the bait and activated the Spirit Gathering Formation to concentrate spiritual power.
• Lin Ming and Zi Yan concealed themselves and waited as the formation gathered spiritual power into a dense mist and tiny crystal fragments.
• A Heavenly River Spirit approached, hesitated outside the formations, then entered the Spirit Gathering Formation and began devouring the spiritual power.
• Lin Ming activated the Three Essence Devouring Nether Formation, causing its layered spiritual patterns to flare and seal the area around the Heavenly River Spirit.

Lin Ming and Zi Yan used a grandmaster-level formation to capture Heavenly River Spirits and amassed fifteen crystals in an hour, while other cultivators watched or struggled to catch spirits themselves. As the harvest spread across the Heavenly River, the dangerous spirits and disputes over their crystals made the region increasingly chaotic.

• Lin Ming trapped a Heavenly River Spirit in the Three Essence Devouring Nether Formation, and Zi Yan caught the crystal it became.
• Lin Ming and Zi Yan captured fifteen Heavenly River Spirits in an hour, drawing nearby cultivators who admired their haul but dared not interfere.
• Qing Yanjing used a Buddha Ancient Clan ice formation to capture Heavenly River Spirits, and nearby cultivators withdrew when they recognized her.
• Cultivators across the Heavenly River suffered deaths, joined forces to capture spirits, and fought over the crystals they had earned.
• Perfected Tier 9 Supreme cultivators searched and battled Heavenly River Spirits, turning the river into a tumult of spiritual light and crashing waves.

Lin Ming and Zi Yan gathered one hundred Heavenly River Crystals, hoping to trigger a perfect-grade Heavenly River Baptism, but the Golden Dragon Token rejected the hundredth crystal. Lin Ming investigated the crystals for a clue, while suspecting that the baptism’s rules might be damaged.

• Zi Yan caught the crystal from the Heavenly River Spirit and counted sixty-nine crystals, enough for a high-grade baptism.
• Lin Ming decided to keep gathering crystals so Zi Yan could attempt a perfect-grade baptism, and the pair used their Spirit Formations to collect more.
• After another day, Zi Yan held ninety-nine crystals while Lin Ming subdued the hundredth Heavenly River Spirit and obtained its crystal.
• Zi Yan tried to insert the hundredth crystal into the Golden Dragon Token, but it bounced off; her stomp made the token release the other ninety-nine crystals.
• Lin Ming examined the crystals for a connection and wondered whether the perfect-grade baptism was impossible or its rules had become incomplete.

As the Heavenly River’s opening neared its end, Lin Ming realized the ninety-nine Heavenly River Crystals might fuse into the hundredth crystal needed for Zi Yan’s perfect baptism. Zi Yan chose to risk the attempt, and the chapter ended with the crystals merging into a growing sphere of light inside Lin Ming’s formation.

• Lin Ming noticed the Heavenly River’s buoyancy increasing as baptisms began across the river, signaling that its opening was almost over.
• Lin Ming suspected the ninety-nine Heavenly River Crystals could devour one another and combine into a hundredth crystal, but warned Zi Yan that his theory might be wrong.
• Zi Yan chose to gamble on fusion rather than settle for a high-tier baptism.
• Lin Ming sealed the area with the Three Essence Devouring Nether Formation and used the Black Flame to drive the crystals together while Zi Yan marked them with Spirit Seals.
• The Heavenly River Crystals devoured and fused with one another until they formed a slowly brightening sphere of multicolored light.

The Heavenly River Baptism purified a cultivator’s body and strengthened his Supreme Dharma Body, prompting more experts to begin their own baptisms. The North King and Xia Jia also triggered baptisms after collecting more than twenty Heavenly River Crystals each.

• A young Tier 9 Supreme gathered twenty Heavenly River Crystals and triggered a low-tier Heavenly River Baptism.
• Emerald rain strengthened the man’s Supreme Dharma Body and purified his body, leaving him delighted with the results.
• Other experts saw the improvement and reconsidered how many crystals to gather before triggering their own baptisms.
• The North King collected over twenty crystals after defeating Heavenly River Spirits with his heavy sword, while Xia Jia gathered more than twenty by targeting wounded spirits.
• The North King and Xia Jia triggered their baptisms almost simultaneously, producing dark golden and silver-white light.

The Heavenly River Baptism cleansed North King and Xia Jia, letting North King break through to early Tier 9 Supreme and Xia Jia reach peak Tier 8 Supreme. Qing Jianyi then completed a high-tier baptism and advanced to Tier 9 peak, leaving the other cultivators astonished by his strength.

• North King underwent the Heavenly River Baptism, broke through his bottleneck, and advanced from peak Tier 8 to early Tier 9 Supreme.
• Xia Jia's baptism strengthened her Dharma Body and brought her to peak Tier 8 Supreme, one step short of Tier 9.
• North King and Xia Jia congratulated each other after finishing their baptisms as lights appeared across the Heavenly River.
• The cultivators spotted Qing Jianyi's high-tier baptism, fueled by sixty-three Heavenly River Crystals and marked by a stream of concentrated spiritual power.
• Qing Jianyi's baptism sharpened his sword intent and advanced him from the pinnacle of Tier 9 to Tier 9 peak.

Xu Ru arrived with eighty Heavenly River Spirits and used her high-grade Heavenly River baptism to hatch her Life-Bound Spirit Insect rather than temper her Supreme Dharma Body. The pink butterfly emerged, revealing that Xu Ru was a Spirit Insect Master and giving her the potential to grow stronger alongside it.

• Xu Ru and other top-ranked young experts arrived at the Heavenly River, drawing the attention of the assembled factions.
• Xu Ru revealed eighty Heavenly River Spirits, surpassing Qing Jianyi's sixty-three and astonishing the observers.
• Xu Ru summoned a vast high-grade baptism, whose river of spiritual energy descended from the sky.
• Xu Ru directed the baptism into a pink cocoon emerging from her brow instead of using it to temper herself.
• The cocoon cracked and hatched into a pink butterfly, which onlookers identified as Xu Ru's Life-Bound Spirit Insect.

The holders of Azure Dragon and Golden Dragon Tokens began their baptisms after Xu Ru, with the Golden Dragon Token owners each releasing ninety-nine Heavenly River Spirits and triggering immense lakes of spiritual power. As they underwent their baptisms, the observers concluded that reaching one hundred spirits and obtaining a perfect-grade baptism required more than ordinary collection.

• Xu Ru’s successful baptism prompted the Azure Dragon Token holders to release their accumulated Heavenly River Spirits, with some displaying more than ninety.
• The Golden Dragon Token owners released ninety-nine Heavenly River Spirits each, astonishing the spectators with the maximum count for a high-grade baptism.
• The ninety-nine spirits formed enormous whirlpools and a vast spiritual lake with bridges of concentrated spiritual power above the river.
• The Golden Dragon Token owners sat on the bridges as the spiritual power strengthened their Supreme Dharma Bodies and refined their physical bodies.
• The spectators wondered why none of the Golden Dragon Token owners had collected one hundred spirits, then reasoned that a perfect-grade baptism could not be achieved through ordinary means.

Golden Dragon Token holders received the Heavenly River Baptism as their Supreme Dharma Bodies grew stronger, while onlookers wondered why Qing Yanjing, Lin Ming, and Zi Yan had not appeared. A tremendous golden-white light then erupted from beneath the river, leaving everyone staring at the depths.

• Spirit-light waterfalls poured down from the heavenly lakes and bathed the Golden Dragon Token holders and their Supreme Dharma Bodies.
• Onlookers admired the powerful Dharma Bodies, including the Cold Abyss Divine Body, ranked twenty-seventh on the Supreme Dharma Body Rankings.
• Cultivators speculated about the absence of Qing Yanjing, Lin Ming, and Zi Yan, and wondered whether they were attempting a perfect baptism.
• A scarlet-robed youth completed his baptism, but his smug expression froze when boundless light burst from beneath the Heavenly River.
• The river shuddered as a blazing golden-white radiance rose from its depths, drawing every gaze and silencing the crowd.

Zi Yan emerged from the Heavenly River with a hundred Heavenly River Spirits, revealing that she had achieved the rare perfect baptism. She explained that she had formed the hundredth Spirit by fusing ninety-nine others, leaving the surrounding cultivators stunned by her risky success.

• A tremendous purple-gold radiance and an overwhelming pressure rose from the Heavenly River, drawing the attention of the cultivators above it.
• Zi Yan emerged from the river atop a vast ring of light that contracted into a ball containing one powerful Heavenly River Spirit and ninety-nine smaller ones.
• The Golden Dragon Token holders realized Zi Yan had obtained the hundred Spirits needed for a perfect baptism, and those with ninety-nine grew solemn and dismayed.
• North King and Xia Jia asked Zi Yan whether she had found the hundredth Heavenly River Spirit, and she confirmed it had formed by fusing ninety-nine Spirits.
• The cultivators considered the risks of Zi Yan’s gamble, while others reflected that her perfect baptism was a once-in-a-lifetime achievement.

Zi Yan summoned a vast Heavenly River phenomenon, surpassing every other baptism displayed by the Golden Dragon Token holders. After revealing her Dragon Phoenix form, she began absorbing the river’s spiritual power in the Perfect Baptism.

• Zi Yan launched the sphere of light into the sky, where it spread radiance and spirit mist across the Heavenly River.
• The mist parted to reveal a massive crystalline Heavenly River filled with Earth Sovereign-level spiritual power crystals and forms of divine beasts.
• The experts recognized Zi Yan’s phenomenon as the legendary Perfect Baptism, and the Golden Dragon Token holders looked on with envy and awe.
• Zi Yan revealed her enormous Dragon Phoenix form, combining True Dragon and Heavenly Phoenix power.
• A column of water descended from the Heavenly River and enveloped Zi Yan, officially beginning her Perfect Baptism.

Zi Yan endured the Perfect Heavenly River Baptism as its Spiritual Energy tempered her Dragon Phoenix body, strengthened her meridians, and healed old injuries. Her body steadily shrank as her presence climbed toward the next threshold, leaving the watching experts to witness her transformation.

• Zi Yan charged into the descending Heavenly River water and absorbed its immense Spiritual Energy through her dragon head.
• The wild energy painfully coursed through Zi Yan, forming crystalline threads that reinforced her meridians, flesh, and bones.
• The baptism expelled black blood and fragments of old injuries while Spiritual Energy repaired Zi Yan’s damaged tissues.
• Zi Yan unleashed her Dragon Phoenix Power, and crystalline points of light spread across her scales and feathers.
• As the water continued to flush her body, Zi Yan’s presence rose from Tier 9 Supreme Perfection toward the next threshold.
• Zi Yan’s body compressed from hundreds of thousands of feet to tens of thousands as her strength and radiance grew more concentrated.

Zi Yan’s perfect Heavenly River Baptism brought her to the verge of the Earth Sovereign realm, and Lin Ming moved her and the baptism into his Inner World so she could advance safely. After Lin Ming left with the perfect baptism, the watching cultivators coveted it but did not dare pursue him, while North King and Xia Jia followed.

• Zi Yan’s perfect baptism condensed her Dragon Phoenix body and brought her Spiritual Energy to the threshold of the Earth Sovereign realm.
• Lin Ming used Black Flame to draw Zi Yan and her baptismal Heavenly River into his Inner World, where she could advance without being repelled by the Heavenly River array or exposed to outside Earth Sovereigns.
• The other cultivators were shocked when the perfect baptism vanished, and some grew greedy at the thought of taking it from Lin Ming.
• The cultivators held back because they feared Lin Ming’s power and the array he had used to capture Heavenly River Spirits.
• North King and Xia Jia set off after Lin Ming on their token boats.

Qing Yanjing emerged from the Heavenly River after achieving a Perfect Baptism and used it to strengthen herself and her Great Buddha Dharma Body. Nearly at the Earth Sovereign threshold, she set off after Lin Ming to reclaim the Master of the Star Residence's formation inheritance.

• Qing Yanjing rose from the Heavenly River with a hundred Heavenly River Spirits, revealing that she had achieved a Perfect Baptism.
• Qing Yanjing summoned the Great Buddha Dharma Body, the Buddha Ancient Clan's ranked inheritance, and let the emerald Heavenly River baptize it and her body.
• Qing Yanjing's strength surged beyond Tier 9 Peak, bringing her within one step of the Earth Sovereign threshold.
• Qing Yanjing looked toward the direction Lin Ming had gone and said she would take back the formation inheritance he had taken from the Star Residence.
• Qing Yanjing's Golden Dragon Token boat carried her after Lin Ming.

After leaving the Heavenly River, Lin Ming, North King, and Xia Jia approached the Five Halls and discussed the elusive Scripture Repository, a high-rank sacred artifact that tested those seeking entry. Lin Ming believed its test had begun when they entered the Ancient Heavenly Palace, and the group wondered whether it had been watching their every action.

• Lin Ming, North King, and Xia Jia reached a ruined peak beyond the Heavenly River while Zi Yan continued advancing to Earth Sovereign in Lin Ming's Inner World.
• Lin Ming explained that they were approaching the Five Halls, whose Hall Masters had been Perfected Earth Sovereigns.
• North King asked about the Scripture Repository, and Lin Ming revealed that it was a high-rank sacred artifact that concealed itself within the Ancient Heavenly Palace.
• Lin Ming said the Repository would appear after they passed its test, which he thought had begun when they entered the palace.
• Lin Ming explained that the Repository recognized disciples for outstanding displays, though even unremarkable disciples could enter through fate.
• Lin Ming suggested the Repository had watched them since their arrival, leaving Xia Jia and North King uneasy about their earlier actions.

Lin Ming gained entry to the Scripture Repository after it recognized his qualities, then climbed through its seven floors in search of its greatest treasures. On the seventh floor, he discovered a distinctive dark-blue ray of light surrounding a human-head-sized sphere.

• After explaining the Scripture Repository to North King and Xia Jia, Lin Ming saw an ancient pavilion appear in the void and heard it invite him inside.
• Lin Ming crossed the blue stone steps and entered the Scripture Repository as its doors opened.
• Lin Ming climbed past the lower floors, ignoring their divine abilities and overcoming the growing resistance on the staircase.
• Lin Ming reached the seventh floor and found dozens of powerful divine abilities, including the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art.
• Lin Ming noticed a dark-blue ray of light at the hall's center and approached the sphere floating at its base.

Lin Ming and Qing Yanjing confronted each other over the Master of the Star Residence's array inheritance, but their clash activated the Dragon and Phoenix Reversed Yin-Yang Array. The array stirred their desires and trapped them in a haze, ending with Qing Yanjing kissing Lin Ming.

• Lin Ming reached the seventh-floor sphere and found Qing Yanjing waiting opposite him on a taiji diagram.
• Qing Yanjing demanded the Master of the Star Residence's array inheritance and offered a trade, but Lin Ming refused.
• Qing Yanjing attacked Lin Ming, and he easily blocked her strikes.
• The taiji diagram spun into the Dragon and Phoenix Reversed Yin-Yang Array, which prevented Lin Ming from entering his Inner World and stirred intense desire in both of them.
• Qing Yanjing approached Lin Ming in a daze, loosened her sash, and kissed him.

Lin Ming and Qing Yanjing succumbed to the formation’s influence, then Qing Yanjing left with the Lin Residence master’s formation inheritance. Lin Ming climbed an ancient altar and found a golden page floating above its stone platform.

• Lin Ming and Qing Yanjing were overcome by the formation’s influence and became intimate.
• Qing Yanjing awoke, attacked Lin Ming, and argued with him about what had happened.
• Lin Ming gave Qing Yanjing the Lin Residence master’s formation inheritance, and she left with it.
• A golden plaza appeared after Qing Yanjing departed, and Lin Ming climbed the altar at its center.
• Lin Ming found a thin golden page floating above the altar’s stone platform.

Lin Ming received the Vast Sun Immortal Body cultivation method from the Scripture Repository and learned that mastering it would let him undergo a perilous golden magma baptism. He returned to North King and Xia Jia, with the Scripture Repository gone and the method in his mind.

• Lin Ming examined the golden page and saw a vision of a Supreme Dharma Body melting into golden magma filled with ancient Laws.
• The golden light revealed that the Dharma Body must enter the magma lake to shed its mortal form and become a golden body.
• Lin Ming received the nine-realm Vast Sun Immortal Body cultivation method and understood that mastering it would prepare him for the baptism.
• The Spirit of the Scripture Repository told Lin Ming it would invite him back once he had mastered the Vast Sun Immortal Body.
• Lin Ming returned to North King and Xia Jia, who asked if he was all right, and he looked toward the vanished Scripture Repository with a smile.

Lin Ming, North King, and Xia Jia entered the Five Halls through a damaged Spirit Formation, but a spatial disturbance separated them. As Lin Ming was swept toward an unknown destination, he saw the halls and discovered an Ancient Mandala that might hold the Heavenly Emperor’s inheritance.

• Lin Ming led North King and Xia Jia through the damaged formations and thick haze toward what he believed was the entrance to the Five Halls.
• The trio passed through a Spirit Formation and were caught in a spatial disturbance that separated them.
• Lin Ming remained calm as the spatial force carried him away, trusting that North King and Xia Jia had protective tokens.
• Images of the Five Halls appeared before Lin Ming, and he memorized their layout and defenses.
• Lin Ming spotted an Ancient Mandala in a ruined hall and committed its location and route to memory so he could investigate after escaping the disturbance.

Lin Ming examined a vision of the First Hall, where a damaged Ancient Mandala rested on a Lotus Pedestal and an intermediate-level Grandmaster Spirit Formation concealed danger among the ruins. He then arrived over a vast sea dotted with halls and islands, and sped toward its depths while noticing traces of ruined Spirit Formations.

• Lin Ming studied the sleeping, damaged Ancient Mandala and judged that it could not attack while it remained dormant.
• Lin Ming identified the skeletons beneath the pillars as Array Eyes sustaining an intermediate-level Grandmaster Spirit Formation.
• Lin Ming left the Scripture Repository's replay and emerged above a vast blue sea.
• Lin Ming flew across the sea and found islands covered with halls where other experts searched for treasures.
• Lin Ming ignored the experts and continued toward the sea's depths, observing traces of Spirit Formations that had been shattered in an ancient battle.