Chapter Summaries

Bai Xiaowen used his formations to withstand the Netherdemon Army’s attacks and led a countercharge toward Li Chun’s soldiers. Just as Li Chun prepared a devastating strike against the weaker Arrow Formation, the Netherdemon soldiers’ coordination collapsed.

• Li Chun ordered the Netherdemon Army to advance, determined to rescue Li Yan from Ironblood Cliff.
• Bai Xiaowen split the martial artists into left and right formations, and they blocked two combined sword-energy strikes.
• Bai Xiaowen gathered three hundred martial artists into an Arrow Formation while the remaining fighters guarded both flanks in the Fortified Wall Formation.
• Bai Xiaowen rode Rageclaw at the head of the charge, leading the Arrow Formation toward the Netherdemon Army.
• Li Chun transferred Spirit Force from the rear ranks and ordered another combined strike, but the front-rank soldiers suddenly froze as their coordination broke down.

Bai Xiaowen used Death God's Visage to disrupt the Netherdemon Army and led the Jiangnan Circuit martial artists in routing its vanguard. As Li Chun’s forces retreated, Bai Xiaowen spotted their rear guard’s self-destruct attack and used the Dragon-Seizing Technique to pull young martial artists away from the explosions.

• Bai Xiaowen’s Death God's Visage weakened the Netherdemon Army, and he charged into its ranks with the Thousand-Person Slayer.
• The Jiangnan Circuit martial artists broke formation as they fought, but Bai Xiaowen judged they could still defeat the undead soldiers.
• Li Chun ordered the Netherdemon Army to retreat while its front soldiers stayed behind to cover the withdrawal.
• Bai Xiaowen noticed the rear guard’s Spirit Force Cores were about to explode and ordered the martial artists not to pursue.
• Several young martial artists kept attacking, and dozens of Netherdemon Army soldiers self-destructed.
• Bai Xiaowen used two Origin Force chains to pull young martial artists out of the blast zone, prompting others to praise his Dragon-Seizing Technique.

After exposing and surviving the Black Heaven Cult’s plot at Ironblood Cliff, Bai Xiaowen rallied the martial heroes to unite against the cult. The crowd chose him as leader of the newly formed Martial Alliance.

• Bai Xiaowen and Butcher rescued several young martial artists from an explosion, though two others were killed and one was badly injured.
• Li Yan and his party disappeared during the chaos, while Qin Changsheng thanked Bai Xiaowen for saving him.
• Yun Zhongli explained that Mo and Huang had deceived the leaders of the Three Mountains and Five Islands and turned the Ironblood Cliff Assembly into a Black Heaven Cult trap.
• Bai Xiaowen encouraged the gathered heroes to unite and fight the Black Heaven Cult, and the crowd and six remaining leaders pledged their support.
• The heroes nominated Bai Xiaowen to lead the Martial Alliance, and he accepted after the other leaders declined.

After leading the Ironblood Cliff fighters in a blood oath against the Black Heaven Cult, Bai Xiaowen organized them into ten banners and learned how the cult had ambushed the Supreme Clarity Sect. While resting and reflecting on his command abilities, he discovered and used a colorless Insight Orb.

• Bai Xiaowen divided the five hundred fighters into ten banners, appointing sect leaders and electing Wang Tieqiang and Ma Donghai to lead two of them.
• Qin Changsheng told Bai Xiaowen that the Black Heaven Cult had ambushed Supreme Clarity Sect search parties, captured him, and attacked the sect's headquarters.
• Bai Xiaowen considered how the Black Heaven Cult's branch network and numbers gave it an advantage over the Supreme Clarity Sect, though he had already killed many of its leaders.
• Bai Xiaowen let the exhausted fighters rest and reviewed his command clash with Li Chun, concluding that his Arrow Formation charge had been a risky experiment.
• Bai Xiaowen regretted missing a chance to trigger a side quest and thought of Chen Rong as a likely source of future quests.
• Bai Xiaowen found a transparent, colorless Insight Orb in his Sea of Consciousness and used it.

Bai Xiaowen gained brief insight into Taigong's Art of War, then led her martial artists toward the Supreme Clarity Sect. As the Black Heaven Cult and Li Feng besieged the sect, Chen Rong struggled to keep its Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation running while its defenders grew exhausted.

• Bai Xiaowen used her forty seconds of insight to advance her understanding of Taigong's Art of War and troop deployment.
• Bai Xiaowen led her forces east toward the Supreme Clarity Sect to rescue Chen Rong.
• Qiu Zhenli and Snake Princess maintained the Black Heaven Cult's attacks, hoping to exhaust the sect's experts before breaking its formation.
• Li Feng, aided by Xu Geng, reflected on his return to favor and his plan to destroy the Supreme Clarity Sect before Li Chun could recruit allies.
• Chen Rong repaired a loose Formation Talisman and reassured the exhausted disciples maintaining the southwestern tower.

Chen Rong contacted Bai Xiaowen through the wooden talismans and urged him to leave, but he revealed that he had brought five hundred martial artists to aid the Supreme Clarity Sect. After she briefed him on the enemy’s forces, they prepared to coordinate against the Black Heaven Cult.

• Chen Rong’s wooden carving responded, and she spoke with Bai Xiaowen through the talisman while he traveled on Dongting Lake.
• Chen Rong urged Bai Xiaowen to leave the conflict, but he said he had to come and told her to call him Ah Wang.
• Bai Xiaowen revealed that he had defeated two hundred Netherdemon Army soldiers, rescued Qin Changsheng, and gathered five hundred martial artists under his command.
• Chen Rong accepted Bai Xiaowen’s help and offered to share the Supreme Clarity Sect’s intelligence so they could plan a joint attack.
• Chen Rong described the Black Heaven Cult’s forces, including its camps, two hundred Giant Savage Soldiers, two Guardians, and two powerful advisors.

Bai Xiaowen learned that the Black Heaven Cult leader might be keeping the righteous sects from helping the besieged Supreme Clarity Sect, whose Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation could hold for only about a month. He encouraged Chen Rong, received two quests to defeat the Black Heaven Demon Army and find the missing Yu Wangcheng and Chen Zhihe, then coordinated a plan with Chen Rong.

• Bai Xiaowen reasoned that the Black Heaven Cult leader was likely hiding in Jiangnan Circuit and using false sightings to stop other righteous sects from aiding the Supreme Clarity Sect.
• Chen Rong told Bai Xiaowen that the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation might fail within a month and that three elders doubted her right to succeed as Sect Master.
• Bai Xiaowen encouraged Chen Rong, promised to help find Yu Wangcheng and Chen Zhihe, and reassured her that they could prove her ability by defeating the Black Heaven Cult.
• The Spirit Realm Rules gave Bai Xiaowen the B+ Lord Tier quest Siege of the Supreme Clarity Sect and the A+ Heroic Tier quest Tracing the Trail.
• Bai Xiaowen asked Chen Rong about the demon army's attack schedule, then agreed on a strategy with her before ending their call.

Bai Xiaowen assessed the Giant Savage Soldiers attacking the Supreme Clarity Sect’s Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation and prepared a plan to weaken the Black Heaven Cult’s siege. He sent A-Banner and B-Banner to spread false reports of aid from the Heavenly Mountain Sect and Penglai Pavilion, hoping to draw out the Black Heaven Cult leader and pull the righteous sects into the war.

• Li Feng ordered two hundred Giant Savage Soldiers to attack the Supreme Clarity Sect’s formation, while Xu Geng warned him not to risk the scarce troops.
• Bai Xiaowen and the banner commanders observed the soldiers and discussed how their strength and resilience made them dangerous on a battlefield.
• Bai Xiaowen sent A-Banner west to Tanzhou and B-Banner east to Jiangning to spread rumors that the Heavenly Mountain Sect and Penglai Pavilion were sending aid.
• Bai Xiaowen privately planned to use the rumors to draw out the Black Heaven Cult leader and force the two righteous sects to enter the conflict.

The Black Heaven Cult’s leaders discussed their siege of the Supreme Clarity Sect and learned that Penglai Pavilion, the Heavenly Mountain Sect, and the Ironblood Alliance were moving to intervene. They mistook the Ironblood Alliance for reinforcements recruited by Li Chun, unaware that Lu Wang had united the martial world and that Li Chun and Li Yan had failed.

• Li Feng urged the Black Heaven Cult to launch a final assault, but Qiu Zhenli and Snake Princess explained that the Cult Master planned to exhaust the Supreme Clarity Sect’s formation before striking.
• Qiu Zhenli revealed that the Cult Master had gone to Penglai Island to exploit its weakened defenses after Penglai Pavilion sent elite forces to aid the Supreme Clarity Sect.
• A helmsman reported that Heavenly Mountain Sect experts were crossing Tanzhou toward the Supreme Clarity Sect, and then reported that the Ironblood Alliance had come ashore from Dongting Lake.
• Li Feng and the others assumed Li Chun had recruited the Ironblood Alliance, and Li Feng eagerly volunteered to welcome his brother.
• The chapter revealed that Li Chun and Li Yan had concealed their failed recruitment, while Lu Wang had formed a blood oath and united the martial-world heroes.

Bai Xiaowen lured Li Feng and his Giant Savage Soldiers into an ambush near Dongting Lake, using Qin Changsheng’s terrain-altering Daoist art to trap them in a swamp. The chapter ended as Bai Xiaowen began casting the same art, just as Li Feng mocked Qin Changsheng’s limited results.

• Bai Xiaowen listened as Li Feng mistook Wang Tieqiang’s Geng Banner martial artists for Li Chun’s recruits, and the two sides began fighting.
• Bai Xiaowen told Ma Donghai to wait until Li Feng’s forces were near the shore and urged Qin Changsheng to prepare his crucial move.
• Wang Tieqiang led Li Feng and the Giant Savage Soldiers to the chosen battlefield, where Bai Xiaowen’s martial artists surrounded them.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered Qin Changsheng to cast his terrain-altering art, turning the ground beneath the Giant Savage Soldiers into a swamp.
• Li Feng laughed when the shallow swamp barely hindered his soldiers, but his laughter stopped when Bai Xiaowen formed the same hand seal and struck the ground.

Bai Xiaowen trapped the Giant Savage Soldiers in a deep swamp and marked Li Feng, who escaped with a teleportation talisman. As Bai Xiaowen pursued him on Rageclaw, Li Feng headed for the Black Heaven Cult camp but heard Bai Xiaowen order him to stop.

• Bai Xiaowen unleashed a powerful Mud Swamp Dao Art that sank the Giant Savage Soldiers while the martial artists evaded the mud and mocked them.
• Li Feng activated an Instant Hundred-League Jade Talisman to escape, but Bai Xiaowen placed a Dao Arts Mark on him before he vanished.
• Bai Xiaowen told the banner masters to guard the trapped Giant Savage Soldiers and rode north on Rageclaw with Qin Changsheng's Swift Movement Talismans.
• Li Feng reasoned that the Giant Savage Soldiers could survive underwater and planned to seek help from the Black Heaven Cult's protectors.
• Li Feng tried to remove Bai Xiaowen's Dao Arts Mark with Cleansing Wind, but it remained, and he ran toward the Black Heaven Cult camp.
• After Li Feng had traveled a dozen or so li, Bai Xiaowen's voice called from behind him, ordering him to stop.

Bai Xiaowen used a Heart-Confounding Talisman to take control of Li Feng after Delifa and Rageclaw disrupted his defenses. He discovered that Li Feng’s authority would let him command the two hundred Giant Savage Soldiers and headed back to the swamp battlefield with Li Feng.

• Li Feng threatened Bai Xiaowen, but Bai Xiaowen declared the Great Tang Domain his enemy and vowed to show no mercy.
• Bai Xiaowen struck Li Feng with a Heart-Confounding Talisman as Li Feng tried to defend himself with magic.
• Rageclaw shattered Li Feng’s Wind Shield, and Delifa pierced his brow, disrupting his magic and letting Bai Xiaowen’s talisman overpower his consciousness.
• Li Feng submitted to Bai Xiaowen, who searched his memories and learned he could use Li Feng’s authority to control the Giant Savage Soldiers.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered Rageclaw to carry him and Li Feng back to the swamp battlefield, and Rageclaw agreed after Bai Xiaowen promised him three months of paid leave.

Bai Xiaowen rescued and assessed two hundred Giant Savage Soldiers, then prepared to use them and Ma Donghai’s poisons against the Black Heaven Cult. Li Feng led a force toward the cult’s main camp while Bai Xiaowen followed secretly, leaving the next attack underway.

• Bai Xiaowen claimed a secret medicine let him control Li Feng and command the Giant Savage Soldiers, then used Li Feng to help rescue all two hundred soldiers from the mud.
• Bai Xiaowen examined the Giant Savage Soldiers, recognized their strengths and weaknesses, and decided to use them as expendable troops because Taizong retained ultimate control over them.
• Bai Xiaowen asked the banner commanders for ways to ease the coming battle, and Ma Donghai supplied poisons for drinks, food, and incense.
• Bai Xiaowen approved using the poisons against the Black Heaven Cult, and Li Feng led two hundred Giant Savage Soldiers and a hundred martial artists toward the cult’s main camp.
• Bai Xiaowen followed the force in secret and used his Spirit Sense to avoid the Black Heaven Cult’s lookouts on the way to its eight camps.

Chen Rong persuaded Supreme Clarity Sect’s elders to shut down the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation and join forces with Lu Wang against the Black Heaven Cult. At the Black Heaven Cult’s auxiliary camp, Li Feng revealed plans to bring another elite force from the Great Tang Domain, prompting Qiu Zhenli and Snake Princess to question why Xu Geng was absent.

• Chen Rong urged Pan Dechang, Zou Wuji, and Yuan Zhiheng to attack alongside Lu Wang, arguing that waiting behind the formation would doom the sect.
• Chen Rong pledged to destroy her Supreme Clarity Treasure Register and give up her claim to the Sect Master position if her plan failed, and Pan Dechang agreed to fight with her.
• Li Feng hosted Qiu Zhenli, Snake Princess, and several Helmsman Tier experts at a banquet instead of sending out his troops.
• Li Feng said a third group of elite troops from the Great Tang Domain would soon support the Black Heaven Cult and that allies would need to help build the Resonance Array Diagram.
• Qiu Zhenli questioned why he had not heard about the plan, while Snake Princess asked why Xu Geng was absent.

Xu Geng exposed that Li Feng had been replaced by Bai Xiaowen, and the poisoned Black Heaven Cult leaders were ambushed by Giant Savage Soldiers and allied martial artists. As Qiu Zhenli and Snake Princess faced Lu Wang, Chen Rong and the remaining Supreme Clarity Sect elders attacked the cult’s camps from within.

• Xu Geng broke through the Giant Savage Soldiers guarding him and warned the Black Heaven Cult that Li Feng had been replaced.
• Qiu Zhenli realized the banquet’s wine and food had poisoned him, while Snake Princess sensed that her Origin Force had also weakened from the poisonous incense.
• Li Feng revealed the ambush, and Giant Savage Soldiers and martial artists stormed the tent as Bai Xiaowen arrived with reinforcements.
• Qiu Zhenli expelled some of the poison and killed a charging martial artist before Lu Wang confronted him and Snake Princess.
• Chen Rong and the remaining Supreme Clarity Sect elders led an attack from within after the sect’s Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation was shut down.

Bai Xiaowen’s ambush of the Black Heaven Cult camp turned into a chaotic battle, and Qiu Zhenli and Snake Princess broke through the attackers after unleashing their deadly techniques. Bai Xiaowen confronted Qiu Zhenli as the two began to mirror each other’s movements, leaving their clash unresolved.

• Bai Xiaowen’s forces attacked the poisoned Black Heaven Cult leaders while his Giant Savage Soldiers blocked reinforcements and the Supreme Clarity Sect fought its way toward the camp.
• The cult’s branch leaders and trusted subordinates fell, and Yun Zhongli and six other banner masters pursued Xu Geng as the remaining cultists fled.
• Qiu Zhenli unleashed the Seven Fiends Great Hand Seal, crushing martial artists and driving back Butcher and Rageclaw, while Snake Princess killed several attackers and badly wounded the Death Knight.
• Qiu Zhenli and Snake Princess reunited and charged through the attackers, but Bai Xiaowen blocked their path and assembled his summoned creatures around him.
• Bai Xiaowen summoned a Giant Terror Knight, the Banshee Queen, and the Mother of Blood Thorns, then struck at Qiu Zhenli with Lightning Strike while Snake Princess restrained the other summons with Spirit Serpent Garrotes.
• Qiu Zhenli challenged Bai Xiaowen and used Seven Fiends Return as One; Bai Xiaowen formed the same gesture and used his Eye of Evolution to imitate Qiu Zhenli’s Astral Qi circulation.

Bai Xiaowen defeated the poisoned Qiu Zhenli by copying his Seven Fiends Great Hand Seal, though the clash left him with little True Essence Force. As Snake Princess attacked the weakened Bai Xiaowen, a woman hurled a golden Sword Talisman at her.

• Bai Xiaowen replicated Qiu Zhenli's Seven Fiends Great Hand Seal and met his blood-red palm with a blazing white one.
• The collision injured Qiu Zhenli and exhausted much of Bai Xiaowen's True Essence Force, leaving Qiu Zhenli below half health.
• The martial artists cheered for Bai Xiaowen, while he recognized that Qiu Zhenli's poison and his own stronger True Essence Force had decided the clash.
• Snake Princess used Seven Flashes to slip past Bai Xiaowen's summoned creatures and reach for his throat.
• A woman shouted at Snake Princess and sent a golden Sword Talisman streaking toward her.

Bai Xiaowen survived Snake Princess’s attack with Chen Rong’s timely intervention, while his summoned creatures killed Qiu Zhenli. Chen Rong ordered the Supreme Clarity Sect to trap and annihilate the Black Heaven Cult’s remaining forces.

• Bai Xiaowen swapped places with a Bone Archer to evade Snake Princess, and Chen Rong’s Sword Talisman forced Snake Princess to retreat.
• Bai Xiaowen’s summoned creatures overwhelmed the wounded Qiu Zhenli and killed him with a Lightning Strike.
• Qiu Zhenli warned that the Black Heaven Cult Leader would destroy the Supreme Clarity Sect after returning from his campaign against Penglai Pavilion.
• Bai Xiaowen urged Chen Rong to seize the chance to annihilate the Black Heaven Cult followers, and the elders accepted her authority as the likely next Sect Master.
• Chen Rong ordered the elders to block the outer sect’s main routes and directed the disciples to kill any cult followers who resisted or fled.

Bai Xiaowen and Chen Rong led the defense of the Supreme Clarity Sect, destroying the Black Heaven Cult’s camps and driving off or capturing most of its followers. After the battle, Bai Xiaowen claimed valuable equipment, including the Dark Gold Blackfeather Cloak, while Chen Rong thanked him and reacted warmly to his reply.

• Bai Xiaowen and Chen Rong directed the fighting as the Supreme Clarity Sect and martial artists broke the Black Heaven Cult’s resistance and searched the mountain for fugitives.
• The allied forces destroyed all eight cult camps, killing more than half the followers, capturing over three hundred, and allowing about two hundred to escape.
• Bai Xiaowen collected weapons from powerful cult leaders and looted Qiu Zhenli, obtaining Deerskin Gloves and the Dark Gold Blackfeather Cloak with its Spirit Force Grand Seizure skill.
• Chen Rong thanked Bai Xiaowen for saving her and the sect, and she blushed and looked at him with joy after he said it was what he should have done.

After Bai Xiaowen helped break the Supreme Clarity Sect’s siege, he submitted the side quest and received 510 Spirit Crystals. Chen Rong became acting Sect Master and invited him to join the sect as a guest elder, strengthening ties between the Supreme Clarity Sect and the White Phoenix Fief.

• The six flag leaders returned with Xu Geng’s head after tracking him with Bai Xiaowen’s Dao Arts Mark.
• Bai Xiaowen submitted the completed siege quest with 91% completion, earning 510 Spirit Crystals and an Insight Orb.
• Pan Dechang proposed that Chen Rong formally succeed as Sect Master, but Yuan Zhiheng and Zou Wuji argued that she should serve as acting Sect Master until her master’s fate was known.
• Chen Rong agreed to become acting Sect Master on the condition that the Supreme Clarity Sect appoint Young Master Lu Wang as a guest elder.
• Bai Xiaowen accepted the guest elder position, seeing it as a way to strengthen the relationship between the sect and the White Phoenix Fief.