Recaps

Li Xuantong questioned the spirit in Li Hao’s Soul Bag and learned that it was Li Qingcang, the Li Family’s seventeenth Grand Elder. Though he accepted some of Li Qingcang’s claims, he deferred any decision about the ancestor’s place in the family to Li Xinge, who was in seclusion.

• Li Xuantong questioned the blurry spirit about the Li Family’s lost ancestral land and the Primordial Scripture, while Li Wuyou stopped Li Hao from interrupting.
• Li Qingcang revealed that the ancestral land had been in Ji Province and identified himself as the seventeenth Grand Elder, explaining that the family’s hereditary art must have been lost long ago.
• Li Xuantong concluded that the Li Family’s first generation in Green Maple Valley might have erased its past to protect the clan, and said Li Xinge would have to decide whether to trust Li Qingcang.
• Li Xuantong promised the family would provide treasures to sustain Li Qingcang’s spirit until Li Xinge emerged from seclusion, since it would otherwise last only three years.
• Li Xuantong told Li Qingcang not to use his seniority to dominate Li Xinge, warning that there could be only one sky over the Li Family.

Li Qingcang was stunned by Li Wuyou’s strength before Li Hao reunited with Guhongzi, who demanded to know why Li Hao had left without him. Li Hao then revealed a gift that immediately captivated the old Daoist.

• Li Qingcang learned that Li Wuyou was just over thirty and already at the mid-stage of the Divine Mansion Realm, leaving him astonished.
• Li Hao left Li Wuyou and headed to Li Wu’s courtyard, but Guhongzi threw a chicken bone at him from a tree.
• Guhongzi scolded Li Hao for leaving without telling him and listed the mischief they had done together.
• Li Hao offered Guhongzi a gift and pulled a whisk from his Void Ring, which caught Guhongzi’s attention.

Guhongzi refused Little Rat’s unauthorized gift of an Earth Weapon, insisting that the Li Family’s rules mattered more than his own desires. The First Elder arranged to bestow the whisk on him properly, while four Qi Kingdom cultivators gathered to discuss their humiliation in the Azure Rosy-Cloud Mountains.

• Guhongzi examined the Earth Weapon whisk but returned it to Li Hao, explaining that he could not accept a private gift that broke the Li Family’s rules.
• Li Hao apologized to Guhongzi and headed to the Internal Affairs Hall with a new appreciation for rules.
• Li Xuanyong told Li Xuantong that Little Rat had turned over his spoils and credited Guhongzi with teaching him to honor the Lineage’s rules.
• Li Xuantong ordered the whisk retrieved from the treasury and formally bestowed on Guhongzi as a reward for his advancement and service as a guardian.
• Zhao Qingyun, Yu Bufan, Ximen Xue, and Wu Yuan met secretly in the Qi Kingdom, where Zhao Qingyun declared they could not accept their humiliation in the Azure Rosy-Cloud Mountains.

After Li Wuyou crippled his cultivation prospects, Zhao Qingyun urged the other three family leaders to seek revenge by secretly aligning with Great Zhou against the Li Family. They rejected the plan, but his warning that Qi Kingdom would be destroyed whoever won the wider conflict left them shaken.

• Zhao Qingyun declared that he wanted revenge on the Li Family, but Wu Yuan, Yu Bufan, and Ximen Xue said the Li Family was too powerful to challenge.
• Zhao Qingyun proposed turning to Great Zhou, arguing that the Li Family and Great Zhou were destined to fight and that they could aid their enemy’s enemy.
• Yu Bufan, Ximen Xue, and Wu Yuan refused, warning that colluding with Great Zhou would provoke the Country Lord and pull Qi Kingdom into the conflict.
• Zhao Qingyun accused them of cowardice and warned that the Li Family’s growing power would leave no safe place for Qi Kingdom or its families.
• Zhao Qingyun argued that whichever power won the struggle would target Qi Kingdom for remaining neutral, leaving the three leaders to consider his warning.

Zhao Qingyun persuaded Wu Yuan, Yu Bufan, and Ximen Xue to secretly ally with Prime Minister Wen and divide the Qi Kingdom among their clans, while Tian Xuanjing prepared to investigate and punish them. Qian Xingping returned to life in the Qian ancestral hall, but a force appeared outside the territory and began an assault, ordering that no one be left alive.

• Zhao Qingyun convinced Wu Yuan, Yu Bufan, and Ximen Xue to seek an alliance with Prime Minister Wen and divide the Qi Kingdom among their four clans, excluding the Qian Family.
• Tian Xuanjing learned that Zhao Qingyun and the others had met secretly, then ordered King Sui to investigate their plans and gather evidence against the Zhao Family.
• Qian Xingping returned to life in the Qian ancestral hall, but his cultivation had fallen to the middle stage Innate Realm, and he vowed revenge on the Li Family.
• Two black-cloaked figures summoned a crowd in a mountain forest near the Qian Clan Territory and raised a barrier around it.
• A purple-robed leader ordered his forces to leave no one alive as murderous intent swept toward the Qian Clan Territory.

Blood-robed Demonic Path cultivators attacked the Qian Clan Territory under the cover of the Heavenly Net and Earthly Net formation, slaughtering its inhabitants and overwhelming its defenders. Qian Xingping fought back but was badly wounded by the coordinated assault.

• The purple-robed Fourth Elder watched more than a hundred Innate Realm blood-robed figures enter the Qian Clan Territory while a black-robed man praised the formation.
• The blood-robed attackers killed the night watch disciple and began slaughtering the Qian Family as the alarm bell sounded.
• Qian Xingping and the Qian Family Elders rushed from the Ancestral Hall, only to find the territory engulfed in bloodshed.
• Qian Xingping struck several attackers with a powerful palm, but the blood-robed men coordinated their Demonic Qi to resist him and surrounded him.
• The blood-robed attackers held off the Elders while more of their number continued killing throughout the territory.
• A Late-stage Innate blood-robed man ignored Qian Xingping's counterattack and slashed through his Body Protection Spiritual Light, leaving him with a deep, Demonic Qi-corroded wound.

The blood-robed figures annihilated the Qian Family and departed after harvesting its qi and blood and capturing its souls. At the Ximen Clan, Wu Yuan, Yu Bufan, and Ximen Xue discussed their schemes around Zhao Qingyun, then learned that the Qian Clan had been wiped out.

• Qian Xingping fled the battle but was captured by the purple-robed man, who kept him alive as a potential gift for an elder.
• The blood-robed figures slaughtered the Qian Family’s core, looted its treasury, absorbed power from the corpses, collected souls, and left through a Teleportation Array.
• At the Ximen Clan, Wu Yuan, Yu Bufan, and Ximen Xue agreed not to send anyone to Great Zhou and suspected Zhao Qingyun had secretly pledged himself to it.
• Yu Bufan suggested that the Country Lord already knew of the four lineages’ plotting, and Wu Yuan and Ximen Xue realized the others might have informed him.
• The head of the Ximen Clan arrived in alarm and reported that the Qian Clan had been slaughtered overnight.

After the Qian Family was annihilated overnight, Qi Kingdom’s leaders suspected the Li Family had done it to warn those who might side with Jiang Zhou. Tian Xuanjing ordered Wu Yuan, Ximen Xue, and Yu Bufan summoned, leaving the Zhao Family’s Zhao Qingyun out of the decree.

• The Ximen family head reported that the Qian Family had been wiped out, and Wu Yuan and Yu Bufan confirmed the news through their Jade Talismans.
• Ximen Xue, Wu Yuan, and Yu Bufan suspected the Li Family was responsible but could not explain how it had entered Qi Kingdom unnoticed.
• King Sui told Tian Xuanjing that the Li Family had destroyed the Qian Family, and Tian Xuanjing said the massacre was meant to warn him and the other clans against siding with Jiang Zhou.
• Tian Xuanjing ordered King Sui to summon Wu Yuan, Ximen Xue, and Yu Bufan, while leaving Zhao Qingyun off the summons.
• Tian Xuanjing told King Sui that Great Zhou had wronged him first and directed him to carry out the decree.

The Northern Aristocratic Coalition debated Great Zhou's response to the Qi Kingdom's destruction of the Zhao and Qian Clans and the ongoing World-Cleansing Evil Cult rebellion. Wen Zhong ruled out attacking Qi for now, planned to warn Tian Xuanjing, and insisted the coalition send more experts to the front lines.

• Wen Zhong told the coalition that Tian Xuanjing had destroyed the Zhao and Qian Clans after they sided with Great Zhou.
• The coalition urged an attack on Qi, but Wen Zhong said Tian Xuanjing's Heavenly Weapon and the threat of intervention from the south made war too dangerous.
• Wen Zhong said he would visit Qi personally to warn Tian Xuanjing.
• The coalition objected to sending more experts against the World-Cleansing Evil Cult, citing the Wen Clan's losses and distrust of the Princess Royal.
• Wen Zhong said the Princess Royal had been ambushed by a great-perfection Divine Mansion expert and insisted the coalition reinforce the front to defeat the cult before Great Zhou confronted the south.

The Li Family Elders' Council provisionally replaced its elder promotion rules, requiring merit and an assessment rather than cultivation alone. Two years later, the south had greatly expanded its forces, while the Pure World Holy Church was near collapse and a world-shaking catastrophe loomed.

• Li Xuantong proposed freezing elder promotions and replacing the old cultivation-only system with rules requiring Innate Realm cultivation, an assessment, and merit.
• Li Xuanyong, Li Xuanzhong, Li Wu, Li Xingyue, and the other elders supported the proposal, which passed unanimously and took effect provisionally while the Family Head remained in seclusion.
• Over the next two years, Princess Royal and the Northern Aristocratic Coalition reclaimed Yong Province, Cang Province, and Xuan Province, forcing the Pure World Holy Church back into Liang Province.
• The south prepared for war and recorded more than one hundred and forty Innate Realm cultivators, along with four new Divine Mansion Realm cultivators: Hua Wuyi, Fu Yu, one from the Chu Province Cui Clan, and one from the Wu Province Wei Clan.
• A looming catastrophe threatened to sweep across the entire world.

Green-Eyed Snake Lord survived his tribulation and became a Divine Mansion Realm Demon King, while the Li Family’s strength continued to grow. With the World-Purifying Cult close to defeat, Li Xuantong ordered forces to mass along Great Zhou’s border and pressure it into diverting troops from the rebellion front.

• Green-Eyed Snake Lord transformed into human form after advancing to the Demon King realm and humbly pledged to remain the Li Family’s gatekeeping snake.
• Li Xuantong granted Green-Eyed Snake Lord privileges equal to those of a Purple-Robed Attendant.
• The Li Family’s ranks had grown to include more than three hundred Innate Realm cultivators, and Li Xuanzong had reached innately great perfection.
• Li Xuantong told the elders that the World-Purifying Cult was close to collapse and proposed deploying troops along the border to make Great Zhou reinforce its northern defenses.
• The elders approved the plan, and armies and Divine Mansion Realm experts from across the Southern Ten Provinces mobilized toward the border.

The emperor ordered the Princess Royal to send half her troops to guard the southern border after Li Xinge massed forces there. In a secret chamber, two conspirators chose to abandon one side of their plans and judged that the Princess Royal currently held a slight advantage over the King of Chu.

• The emperor summoned Wen Zhong and accused Li Xinge of using the southern troop movements to force Great Zhou to divert soldiers from the rebellion campaign.
• Wen Zhong warned that the Li Family could turn its feint into an invasion, and the emperor ordered the Princess Royal to send half her elite troops to the north-south border.
• An old man and a young man discussed how the southern crisis had disrupted their plans and decided to abandon one side rather than face the King of Chu's growing threat.
• The old man asked Zhong Yan to compare the Princess Royal and the King of Chu, and Zhong Yan said the Princess Royal currently had the edge by half a stone.

The Princess Royal received an imperial order to send half her forces to the borders and accepted it despite warnings that it could let the World-Purifying Cult escape. She continued the assault with her remaining troops and hinted that she was waiting for Li Xinge.

• An old Attendant urged the Princess Royal to defy the edict, warning that dividing her army would weaken the siege, but she ordered the troops to comply.
• The Princess Royal's armies split off ten million troops for the northern and southern borders, reducing her forces and authority.
• Cao Jin urged the Princess Royal to retract the order and enter the capital to purge traitors, but she warned him against such talk.
• The Princess Royal ordered her remaining forces to keep advancing and encircle the World-Purifying Cult's headquarters.
• The Princess Royal looked south and said she hoped Li Xinge would not disappoint her.

At the Pure World Holy Church Headquarters, the Pure World Holy Venerable learned that Great Zhou had withdrawn half its army, likely because the King of Chu had made a move. He explained to the man in the bamboo hat why he continued fighting for equality despite knowing it could never be fully achieved.

• A black-robed man told the Pure World Holy Venerable that half of Great Zhou's army had withdrawn south.
• The man in the bamboo hat suggested the King of Chu had forced Great Zhou to divert its troops, and the Pure World Holy Venerable agreed that the King feared Great Zhou would defeat the Holy Church and then turn on him.
• The Pure World Holy Venerable revealed that the chill from his injuries had seeped into his Divine Mansion World and was unlikely to heal.
• The Pure World Holy Venerable described his wish to free common people from aristocratic clans, great families, and immortal sects, and the man in the bamboo hat revealed his face before asking whether all beings could truly be equal.
• The Pure World Holy Venerable admitted equality was impossible but said someone had to work toward it, recounting how his parents were killed over unpaid rent and how revenge changed nothing.
• The Pure World Holy Venerable concluded that the oppressive social order itself had to be torn down, even if those who planted seeds would not live to see what grew.

Great Zhou’s army, led by Princess Royal Jiang Qinghuang, broke the Pure World Holy Church’s mountain-protecting formation and confronted its Divine Mansion experts. Jiang Qinghuang pursued the Pure World Holy Venerable and the man in the bamboo hat beyond the heavens, where their battle began.

• Jiang Qinghuang ordered Great Zhou’s forces to attack the Great Snow Mountain, and their combined assault shattered the Pure World Holy Church’s formation.
• The Lotus Throne Great Protector confronted Jiang Qinghuang as eighteen Pure World Holy Church Divine Mansion experts faced Great Zhou’s ten.
• The Pure World Holy Venerable and the man in the bamboo hat refused to retreat and went to face Jiang Qinghuang together.
• Jiang Qinghuang drew her Heavenly Weapon sword and demanded the Pure World Holy Venerable pledge himself to her, but he refused.
• The man in the bamboo hat challenged Jiang Qinghuang to fight beyond the heavens, and the three supreme powerhouses left as the armies began slaughtering one another.
• Beyond the heavens, the man in the bamboo hat revealed his Purple-Gold Giant Dragon form, and the Pure World Holy Venerable summoned the Pure World Lotus Staff.

The Princess Royal fought the Sacred Venerable and the hat-wearing man in the starry sky, using her Ice Phoenix Mark to shatter the Sacred Venerable’s white lotus. Meanwhile, Great Zhou’s outnumbered Divine Mansion experts struggled to defend themselves at the Pure World Holy Church’s headquarters.

• The Princess Royal invited the Sacred Venerable and the hat-wearing man to attack her together, and they launched assaults on her body and Divine Soul.
• The Princess Royal froze the Sacred Venerable’s Dao sound and repelled the hat-wearing man’s punch with her Heavenly Weapon sword.
• The Sacred Venerable expanded his white lotus and poured power from his Divine Mansion World into it, but the Princess Royal’s Ice Phoenix Mark froze and shattered it, worsening his injuries.
• The hat-wearing man rushed the Princess Royal again, and the two exchanged blows while the Sacred Venerable joined the fight; their battle shattered stars across the sky.
• At the Pure World Holy Church’s headquarters, ten Great Zhou Divine Mansion experts fought eighteen opponents, and the black-robed Attendant urged them to hold on until the Princess Royal won.
• Four Pure World Holy Church experts attacked the black-robed Attendant, but two allies blocked their spiritual blasts and warned that the group still had to survive the battle.

As Great Zhou’s forces prepared to face the World-Purifying Cult, Sui Tianbo and other Divine Mansion cultivators betrayed the cult, turning the battle’s numbers and injuring its fighters. Sui Tianbo explained that he had joined the Sacred Venerable for power but now believed the Sacred Venerable’s vision of equality would fail, as the Lotus Platform Protectors renewed their resolve to fight.

• The Twelve Lotus Platform Great Protector mocked Jiang Qinghuang’s forces as the World-Purifying Cult prepared to attack Great Zhou’s outnumbered cultivators.
• Sui Tianbo stabbed Great Lotus Platform from behind, and defectors from the Sui, Han, and Ma clans ambushed the cult’s fighters before joining Great Zhou’s side.
• The surprise attacks shifted the battle from ten against eighteen to sixteen against twelve, with half of the World-Purifying Cult’s remaining fighters injured.
• Sui Tianbo told Great Lotus Platform that he had joined the Sacred Venerable to make his clan more powerful, but rejected the idea of equality between cultivators and mortals.
• Sui Tianbo urged the Lotus Platform Protectors to abandon the Sacred Venerable, but Great Lotus Platform rallied them to fight, and they renewed their resolve to kill.

The Princess Royal defeated the Pure World Holy Venerable and the bamboo-hatted figure with her Ice Phoenix Manifestation, then killed the Sacred Venerable. His death was felt by his followers and the common people he had helped across the Northern Border.

• The Pure World Holy Venerable and the bamboo-hatted figure unleashed their strongest attacks against the Princess Royal, but her Ice Phoenix Manifestation shattered both their manifestations.
• The ice fragments grievously wounded the Pure World Holy Venerable and the bamboo-hatted figure, and the Princess Royal declared their defeat.
• The Pure World Holy Venerable refused to flee, insisting that his defeat did not mean his Way was wrong.
• The Princess Royal pierced the Pure World Holy Venerable's chest with her sword, and he died hoping others would one day resist oppression.
• The Pure World Lotus Staff broke after its master's death, while the Sacred Venerable's followers and the Northern Border common folk were overcome with grief.

Princess Royal discovered that Sacred Venerable’s True Spirit had escaped, then faced the arrival of Li Xinge, the Great Sun Golden Crow. As Li Xinge’s power transformed the sky, two suns appeared above the world, revealing that he had emerged from seclusion.

• Princess Royal killed Sacred Venerable, but golden light carried a faint speck of his True Spirit away.
• Princess Royal attacked the wounded hat-wearing man, but a golden divine claw emerged from a shattered void and forced her to defend herself.
• Princess Royal used Eternal Ice Seal against the claw’s True Sun Fire, but the Ice Phoenix began to falter.
• Li Xinge appeared and acknowledged that he had allied with the hat-wearing man, the former Alliance Leader of the Four Seas Alliance and third Crown Prince of Southern Liang’s former dynasty.
• Li Xinge released his Golden Crow power, making a second, brighter sun appear in the sky and melting snow across the Ten-Thousand-Mile Snow Mountains.
• Sui Tianbo recognized the Twin Suns Patrol the Heavens phenomenon and declared that the Great Sun Golden Crow had emerged from seclusion.

Li Xinge faced Jiang Qinghuang, whose Ice Phoenix sacred body and saint-tier sword ability failed against his Great Sun Golden Crow. The Golden Crow overwhelmed her attack and struck at her, leaving her fate unclear amid a blinding explosion.

• Li Xinge inspected Jiang Qinghuang’s cultivation and sacred body, then challenged her confidence in the Ice Phoenix.
• Jiang Qinghuang unleashed her Ice Phoenix against Li Xinge’s Great Sun Golden Crow, but its True Sun Fire burned away her icy attack and defenses.
• Jiang Qinghuang combined her Ice Phoenix power with her Heavenly Weapon and unleashed a saint-tier sword strike.
• Li Xinge merged two great suns, strengthening the Golden Crow until it burned Jiang Qinghuang’s sword strike to nothing.
• The Golden Crow transformed into a flaming arrow and appeared before Jiang Qinghuang, triggering a blinding explosion that Li Xinge watched without flinching.

Li Xinge defeated Jiang Qinghuang in a crushing battle, leaving her grievously wounded but alive. With the Sacred Venerable dead and Li Xinge acknowledged as the strongest under heaven, the World-Purifying Cult chose to lie low rather than submit to the King of Chu.

• Li Xinge's Golden Crow sacred body reached minor attainment, and he struck Jiang Qinghuang with overwhelming force, burning her sacred body and shattering her Heavenly Weapon longsword.
• Jiang Qinghuang admitted defeat, changed into fresh robes, and vowed to wash away her humiliation, while Li Xinge warned that he might kill her in the future before vanishing.
• Jiang Qinghuang departed through a void rift, and the witnesses realized the Princess Royal had lost and that the balance of power had changed.
• Sui Tianbo urged the Great Zhou cultivators to flee, and they rushed toward Shenjing for safety.
• The First Lotus Seat rejected joining Li Xinge, reminded the World-Purifying Cult of the Sacred Venerable's ideals, and ordered his followers to lie low until the world changed again.

Li Xinge recalled how he had spared Ming Tianchen years ago and invited him to unite against Great Zhou. After defeating the Princess Royal, Li Xinge offered Ming Tianchen a chance to serve him and ascend to the Upper Realm, where he could restore the Ming Clan’s kingdom.

• The Great Lotus Seat ordered the remaining Pure World Holy Church members to leave the main sanctuary, scatter, and lie low.
• Li Xinge remembered sparing Ming Tianchen after defeating him years earlier and proposing an alliance against Great Zhou.
• Ming Tianchen greeted Li Xinge, who said the Princess Royal’s defeat meant Great Zhou’s allotted fortune had run out.
• Li Xinge asked whether Ming Tianchen’s ambition ended with Great Zhou’s downfall, then explained that he intended to ascend to the Upper Realm.
• Li Xinge offered to take Ming Tianchen with him if Ming Tianchen served him, promising that the Upper Realm could make restoring his kingdom possible.

Li Xinge defeated the Princess Royal and reached the great perfection of Divine Mansion, prompting Ming Tianchen to submit to him. As the emperor struggled with the news, Mysterious Immortal told Li Taiming that Li Xinge was the long-awaited figure their branch had awaited for thousands of years.

• Ming Tianchen accepted Li Xinge’s offer and pledged to serve the King of Chu.
• Wei Wuya reported that the Princess Royal had lost to Li Xinge, and the emperor lashed out in disbelief.
• Song Wuya explained that Li Xinge had reached the great perfection of Divine Mansion at only forty-four and defeated the Princess Royal.
• The emperor realized Li Xinge had advanced far sooner than expected and sat silently on the Dragon Throne.
• Mysterious Immortal confirmed Li Xinge’s victory to Li Taiming and urged him to act because their branch’s long-awaited man had arrived.

Li Xuanxian left for Yang Province with Li Taiming’s Jade Talisman, while Li Taiming revealed the sacred black sword and said the person they had awaited was about to arrive. After defeating the Princess Royal, Li Xinge returned to lead the Li Family, tightened its elder rules, and heard from Li Xuantong that a matter concerning the family’s origins remained.

• Li Taiming sent Li Xuanxian to visit someone in Yang Province secretly on behalf of their branch.
• Li Taiming entered a hidden chamber, bowed to the black sword Sacred Spirit, and said the long-awaited person was about to arrive.
• News spread that Li Xinge had defeated the Princess Royal, boosting Southern morale and frightening the Northern People.
• Li Xinge heard reports on the Li Family’s growth and approved merit-based elder appointments and assessments every ten years.
• After the meeting, Li Xuantong told Li Xinge that he had a grave matter to discuss concerning the Li Family’s origins.

Li Xinge questioned Li Hao about his trip to the Qi Kingdom and learned that he had lost his Primordial Yang to the Qi Kingdom's imperial princess. He refused to make Li Hao marry her and said the Qi Kingdom’s ruler would have to choose the Li Family’s side.

• Li Xinge asked Li Xuantong about Li Hao’s experiences in the Qi Kingdom and learned about Li Qingcang, then summoned Li Hao.
• Li Hao boasted about gaining True Dragon Essence Blood and powerful techniques, but Li Xinge told him he had grown up and asked when he lost his Primordial Yang.
• Li Hao panicked when Li Xinge revealed he had noticed the changes in his blood qi and Essence, then blamed the Qi Kingdom’s imperial princess.
• Li Xinge said venting the dragon’s lustful nature had prevented hidden cultivation problems, then asked who the woman was and what Li Hao intended to do.
• Li Hao assumed Li Xinge would arrange a marriage, but Li Xinge said he would not make him marry the imperial princess.
• Li Xuantong argued that the marriage could sway the Qi Kingdom, while Li Xinge dismissed the princess as unworthy and warned that the Qi Kingdom’s ruler must choose wisely.