Chapter Summaries

After becoming a guest elder of the Supreme Clarity Sect, Bai Xiaowen studied its Talisman Array techniques while the sect contributions he could earn offered a path toward upgrading his territory's defenses. Chen Rong told him that Penglai Pavilion and other orthodox forces had answered the Hero Summons to help suppress the Black Heaven Cult.

• Bai Xiaowen gained access to the Supreme Clarity Sect's talismans, cultivation methods, treasury, and a monthly allowance of sect contributions.
• Bai Xiaowen prioritized cultivating the Scripture of the Grand Void and studied the sect's Talisman Array scriptures during his rest.
• News spread across the Shaoding Plane that Lu Wang had led the martial artists to defeat the Black Heaven Cult and rescue the Supreme Clarity Sect.
• Chen Rong told Bai Xiaowen that Penglai Pavilion and nearby orthodox forces had responded to the Hero Summons.
• Chen Rong explained that the Black Heaven Cult Leader had seized twelve Penglai islands before Penglai Pavilion's experts defended their main island, and that a young envoy questioned whether the Supreme Clarity Sect had fabricated news of Penglai's aid.

After accepting an Epic Tier quest to destroy the weakened Black Heaven Cult, Bai Xiaowen rejected Chen Rong’s offer of a relationship because he already loved someone. The chapter ended with him identifying Li Yan and Special Envoy Li Chun as the likely abductors of his allies’ families, seeking to force the banner leaders into submission.

• Chen Rong told Bai Xiaowen that the Black Heaven Cult Leader had left Penglai Pavilion, and they discussed rallying allies to destroy the cult.
• Bai Xiaowen activated and accepted the Epic Tier side quest to destroy the Black Heaven Cult.
• Chen Rong explained that she could not marry because she would become Supreme Clarity Sect’s Sect Master, and Bai Xiaowen told her he already loved someone.
• Yun Zhongli and the other banner leaders arrived at Heartlake Island to report that Black Heaven Cult attackers had abducted members of their households.
• Bai Xiaowen suspected that Li Yan, Special Envoy Li Chun, and their Ironblood Cliff companions had seized the families to force the banner leaders to submit.

Bai Xiaowen explained how Li Chun and Li Yan’s failed campaign had left the Black Heaven Cult vulnerable, then promised to rescue the families the cult had kidnapped. He planned to infiltrate the cult to find the families and locate the Supreme Clarity Sect’s Old Sect Master and First Elder, while Chen Rong warned him against the danger.

• Bai Xiaowen explained that Li Chun and Li Yan had concealed their defeat at Ironblood Cliff, leaving the Black Heaven Cult unprepared for the alliance’s attack.
• Chen Rong asked Yun Zhongli and Zhao Wuji whether they would submit if the Black Heaven Cult threatened their families, and both vowed to die rather than betray the Righteous Alliance.
• Bai Xiaowen promised to rescue Yun Zhongli and Zhao Wuji’s families, triggering an Elite Tier side quest, and advised the other sect leaders to warn their families with Message Talismans.
• Bai Xiaowen announced that he would disguise himself and infiltrate the Black Heaven Cult to find the kidnapped families and the locations of the Old Sect Master and First Elder.
• Chen Rong objected that infiltrating the cult was too dangerous, explaining that the alliance depended on Bai Xiaowen.

Bai Xiaowen organized support for his infiltration of the Black Heaven Cult, then disguised himself as a cultist and learned that its forces were regrouping at Black Heaven Peak. He left Lord Du’s group to intercept Li Chun and Li Yan’s Netherdemon Army, which was expected to pass through Tiele Mountain with Yun Zhongli’s and Zhao Wuji’s families as hostages.

• Bai Xiaowen rejected Chen Rong’s warning and decided to infiltrate the Black Heaven Cult to help rescue Yun Zhongli’s and Zhao Wuji’s families.
• Bai Xiaowen arranged for Chen Rong to recruit an allied army while his banner lords’ fighters dispersed nearby to await signals and support him.
• Bai Xiaowen disguised himself as an ordinary cultist, joined Lord Du’s group, and learned the Black Heaven Cult was gathering its followers at Black Heaven Peak.
• Bai Xiaowen estimated that Li Chun and Li Yan’s Netherdemon Army would pass through Tiele Mountain within a day or two with the families held hostage.
• Bai Xiaowen slipped away from Lord Du’s group during a rest stop to act on his estimate.

Li Chun and Li Yan led the Netherdemon Army and their captives through Tiele Mountain, where Yun Zhongli and Zhao Wuji’s forces sprang an ambush. The Netherdemon Army’s coordination failed under Tier Suppression, leaving Li Chun and Li Yan surrounded and vulnerable.

• Li Chun reassured Li Yan that Li Feng had been bewitched and offered him seventy percent of the Yun-Zhao Families’ spoils, along with access to their women.
• A Black Heaven Cult scout sensed killing intent ahead, so Li Yan sent four guards up the ridges to investigate.
• A Snake-Bone Whistle warned of an ambush, and Li Chun ordered a retreat as martial artists with Ren, Gui, A, and B banners attacked from both sides.
• Yun Zhongli and Zhao Wuji confronted Li Chun and Li Yan and tossed the severed heads of Li Yan’s guards at their feet.
• Li Chun ordered the Netherdemon Army to deploy its array, but Tier Suppression disrupted its Spirit Force coordination, and he suspected Lu Wang was behind it.

Bai Xiaowen used Death God's Visage and his troops to break the Netherdemon Army's coordination and turn the battle against Li Chun and Li Yan. Li Chun escaped while ordering the remaining soldiers to self-destruct.

• Li Chun recognized that Bai Xiaowen had again disrupted the Netherdemon Army's coordination and realized his forces were encircled.
• Yun Zhongli and Zhao Wuji led the martial artists in an Arrow Formation, but Li Chun rallied his soldiers into a Three-Three Formation that wounded several martial artists.
• Bai Xiaowen used Targeted Airdrop to save a wounded martial artist, then sent the Death Knight and six Terror Knights charging through the Netherdemon Army's ranks.
• Bai Xiaowen joined the fight and advanced toward Li Chun and Li Yan, cutting down soldiers in his path.
• Li Chun urged Li Yan to fight Bai Xiaowen together, then fled while Li Yan leaped forward to face him alone.
• Li Chun crushed a jade talisman and ordered the remaining Netherdemon Army soldiers to self-destruct.

Bai Xiaowen defeated Li Yan and Li Chun’s forces at Tiele Mountain, rescued the hostages, and completed the Hostage Rescue quest at 100%. After regrouping with his allies, he used his reward to advance the first volume of Taigong's Art of War to the Proficiency Tier.

• Bai Xiaowen warned the martial artists that the Netherdemon Army was about to explode, and they retreated before the soldiers detonated.
• Bai Xiaowen’s Four Symbols Formation blocked Li Chun’s teleportation talisman, and Li Chun died in the ensuing explosions.
• Bai Xiaowen captured Li Yan, destroyed the Black Heaven Cult guards, and rescued the families of Yun Zhongli and Zhao Wuji.
• Bai Xiaowen submitted the completed quest and received 100 Spirit Crystals and an Elite 4A-Tier Insight Orb.
• Chen Rong sent word that the Immortal Sects Righteous Coalition was heading to attack Black Heaven Peak, while Bai Xiaowen’s ten banners withdrew to the Cangzhou Golden Blade Sect.
• Bai Xiaowen used the Insight Orb and cultivated for two days and two nights, advancing the first volume of Taigong's Art of War to the Proficiency Tier.

After reaching level 13, Bai Xiaowen learned Spirit Force Coordination and gained the Water Mirror Formation, though Volume Two of Taigong's Art of War remained blank. He regrouped the ten banners by their Astral Qi attributes to prepare for drilling Spirit Force Coordination before joining Chen Rong's Immortal Sect Allied Army.

• Bai Xiaowen advanced Taigong's Art of War to Mastery, reached level 13, gained attributes and True Essence Force, and learned Spirit Force Coordination and the Water Mirror Formation.
• Bai Xiaowen found Volume Two of Taigong's Art of War blank and decided to improve his cultivation of Scripture of the Grand Void instead.
• Bai Xiaowen considered the requirements of Spirit Force Coordination and chose to drill with his troops before meeting Chen Rong's allied army.
• Bai Xiaowen divided the warriors of the ten banners by their five-element Astral Qi attributes and named the new groups Sharp Metal, Giant Wood, Floodwater, Blazing Fire, and Thick Earth.

Bai Xiaowen trained the Five Elements Banners and Giant Savage Soldiers in combined attacks, then interrogated the captured Black Heaven Cult holy son Li Yan for intelligence. Li Yan revealed that Chen Zhihe had reportedly jumped from Sea-Watching Cliff, a notorious deadly forbidden place, but knew nothing about the Supreme Clarity Sect's former sect master.

• Bai Xiaowen organized the Five Elements Banners by Spirit Force attribute and trained them in coordination, while he successfully directed the Giant Savage Soldiers in alternating combined attacks.
• Bai Xiaowen reflected that the Giant Savage Soldiers were only under his temporary authority and that the Five Elements Banners would need further training before they could fight reliably.
• Wang Tieqiang and Ma Donghai brought the battered Li Yan to Bai Xiaowen, and Li Yan agreed to answer questions about Black Heaven Peak and the Black Heaven Cult.
• Bai Xiaowen questioned Li Yan repeatedly to check his answers, then learned that Chen Zhihe had reportedly jumped from Sea-Watching Cliff while escaping capture.
• Ma Donghai and Wang Tieqiang explained that Sea-Watching Cliff was one of the martial world's three deadly forbidden places, and Li Yan said he did not know where the Supreme Clarity Sect's former sect master was.

After Bai Xiaowen joined forces with Chen Rong, the Immortal Sect Alliance and the Five Elements Banners began their assault on Black Heaven Peak. Chen Rong led the frontal attack while Bai Xiaowen took the secret passage toward the Black Heaven Cult’s rear, where his group encountered Vampire Bats.

• Bai Xiaowen reported that he had rescued the hostages, destroyed the Netherdemon Army, and captured Li Yan, prompting Chen Rong to decide that the allied forces would march on Black Heaven Peak.
• The Black Heaven Cult Master taunted the allied forces from a black-mist illusion, and Bai Xiaowen told Chen Rong about the Black Heaven Formation and a secret passage to the rear mountain.
• Chen Rong agreed to lead a frontal assault while Bai Xiaowen took the Five Elements Banners and two hundred Giant Savage Soldiers through the secret passage.
• Chen Rong gathered the alliance’s formation experts and led the First Army into Black Heaven Peak to challenge the Black Heaven Formation.
• Bai Xiaowen’s group found the passage entrance and was attacked by Vampire Bats, which Bai Xiaowen burned with Orochi Nagi.

Bai Xiaowen led the Five Elements Banners and Giant Savage Soldiers through a secret passage to the Black Heaven Cult’s rear mountain and broke through its guarded passes. He confronted Snake Princess and began an assault on her forces while the Black Heaven Cult Leader remained absent.

• Bai Xiaowen used Ma Donghai’s insect repellent to drive away bats and snakes as the raiding force crossed the secret passage.
• Bai Xiaowen led his forces onto the rear mountain and ordered them to attack the passes leading to Black Heaven Palace.
• The Giant Savage Soldiers used Spirit Force Coordination to smash through the gates of three passes.
• Bai Xiaowen’s force met Snake Princess and a group of Black Heaven Cult experts, and he deduced that the cult leader was not about to arrive.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered the Five Elements Banners into formation and led an attack on Snake Princess’s forces.

Bai Xiaowen’s formations let his outnumbered forces drive back the Black Heaven Cult, but Snake Princess used her Seven Flashes and Formless Blade to break through his guard and stab him. The chapter left Bai Xiaowen struck from behind, with Snake Princess’s attack piercing his body.

• Snake Princess dodged the Giant Savage Soldier’s club as the Sharp Metal, Blazing Fire, and Thick Earth Banners broke through the Black Heaven Cult’s formation.
• The banner warriors used coordinated formations to block a Leader Tier elder’s attack and wound him, with Bai Xiaowen directing their squad leaders through Spirit Sense.
• Snake Princess recognized Bai Xiaowen as the force coordinating the warriors and decided to kill him to break their formations.
• Bai Xiaowen called for protection, and three Thick Earth Banner squads formed a guard around him.
• Snake Princess used Seven Flashes to evade the guards, killed all nine Thick Earth Banner warriors, and merged behind Bai Xiaowen.
• Snake Princess’s Formless Blade pierced Bai Xiaowen’s protective Spirit Force and drove into his body.

Bai Xiaowen used a Wood Incarnation to trick Snake Princess, then killed her with the Formless Blade and routed the Black Heaven Cult forces. As he advanced toward Black Heaven Palace, the Black Heaven Cult Master ambushed the Immortal Sect Alliance, and bells rang from the palace.

• Snake Princess stabbed Bai Xiaowen's Wood Incarnation, but Rageclaw seized her ankle and Bai Xiaowen's summoned creatures broke through her defenses.
• Bai Xiaowen struck Snake Princess with the Formless Blade, killing her, and stored her corpse.
• With Snake Princess dead, the Black Heaven Cult experts fled; Bai Xiaowen's forces surrounded and killed most of them before charging toward Black Heaven Palace.
• The Black Heaven Cult Master ambushed the Immortal Sect Alliance inside the Black Heaven Formation, killed nine experts, and later escaped a battle with four Lord Tier powerhouses and more than a dozen Rare Bosses.
• Bells rang from the direction of Black Heaven Palace.

Bai Xiaowen’s forces captured Black Heaven Palace and discovered the Origin Martial True Scripture, a unique stele that could help martial artists advance through comprehension. As the Five Elements Banner Lords began studying it, Bai Xiaowen warned them that the Black Heaven Cult Leader had arrived.

• The Black Heaven Cult Leader heard the alarm and rushed back to Black Heaven Palace, leaving the Black Heaven Formation behind.
• Zhao Wuji and Yun Zhongli reported that the alliance had defeated the palace’s remaining guards, and Bai Xiaowen ordered a search for the formation’s control hubs.
• Bai Xiaowen assigned the Giant Savage Soldiers to intercept the returning Black Heaven Cult Leader rather than risk the Five Elements Banners.
• Wang Tieqiang led Bai Xiaowen to a stone stele in the Forbidden Palace, which the Spirit Realm Rules identified as the Origin Martial True Scripture.
• The Five Elements Banner Lords began comprehending the stele’s inscriptions, but Bai Xiaowen’s warning that the Black Heaven Cult Leader had arrived snapped them out of it.

Bai Xiaowen led the Five Elements Banners Warriors into Black Heaven Palace and began excavating the Primordial Stele while they searched for the Black Heaven Formation’s Main Hub. After the formation was disabled, the Black Heaven Cult Master attacked, and Bai Xiaowen struggled to counter his overwhelming strength as the chapter ended.

• Bai Xiaowen ordered his summoned creatures to dig up the Primordial Stele and sent the Five Elements Banners Warriors to search the palace’s mechanisms.
• Bai Xiaowen went to the front courtyard and faced the Black Heaven Cult Master, who demanded to know how he had found the secret tunnel and where Snake Princess was.
• Wounded survivors revealed that Snake Princess had been killed, while the Five Elements Banners Warriors reported finding the Main Hub and shutting down the Black Heaven Formation.
• The Black Heaven Cult Master attacked the Giant Savage Soldiers with the Spectral Claw, slicing more than a dozen of them apart.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered another coordinated attack, but the Black Heaven Cult Master dodged it and taunted Bai Xiaowen and the frightened warriors.

Bai Xiaowen used the Five Elements Banners to form a defensive wall at Black Heaven Palace’s gate, holding off the Black Heaven Cult Master while waiting for the Immortal Sect Allied Army. After his attacks failed to break through quickly, the Cult Master ordered his followers to demolish the palace gates and seize the Prohibition Stele.

• The Black Heaven Cult Master efficiently killed more than a hundred Giant Savage Soldiers while conserving his Astral Qi.
• Bai Xiaowen gathered the Five Elements Banners and formed the Fortified Wall Formation to block Black Heaven Palace’s gate.
• The Black Heaven Cult Master’s Spectral Claw briefly cut through the Astral Qi wall and wounded the front ranks, but Bai Xiaowen rallied them and joined the formation’s front row.
• The Black Heaven Cult Master struck the formation with a powerful palm, injuring some martial artists, while Bai Xiaowen rotated the squads to maintain the defense.
• After learning that the righteous sect experts had not yet arrived, the Black Heaven Cult Master ordered his followers to tear down Black Heaven Palace’s gates and take the Prohibition Stele.

Bai Xiaowen held the Black Heaven Cult Leader at bay while the Immortal Sect Allied Army arrived to confront him. Chen Rong trapped the cult leader inside a formation powered by four Ancestral Talismans and ordered the attack.

• Bai Xiaowen's forces broke open the Black Heaven Palace entrance, while he maintained the Fortified Wall Formation against the Black Heaven Cult Leader.
• The Black Heaven Cult Leader learned that Bai Xiaowen had taken the Prohibition Stele and asked whether his son was captured; Bai Xiaowen confirmed it but refused to explain further.
• Chen Rong and the Immortal Sect leaders arrived and confronted the Black Heaven Cult Leader.
• The Black Heaven Cult Leader threatened to flee and take revenge on the righteous sects, but Chen Rong declared he could not escape.
• Four Lord Tier powerhouses activated the Supreme Clarity Sect's Ancestral Talismans, forming a barrier around Black Heaven Palace, and Chen Rong ordered the cult leader's death.

Chen Rong and the righteous sect experts used the Demon-Sealing Talismans to pressure the Black Heaven Cult leader while Bai Xiaowen’s forces fought the remaining cult members. Bai Xiaowen recovered the hidden Origin Martial True Scripture stele and sent a Wood Incarnation to command the battle in his place.

• The Black Heaven Cult leader’s Spectral Claw wounded the Leader Tier experts and killed many weaker fighters before Yuan Zhiheng and the other Lord Tier experts activated the Demon-Sealing Talismans.
• The Black Heaven Cult leader evaded the talismans with Seven Flashes and attacked Chen Rong, but her golden Spell Talisman shielded her from his claw.
• Chen Rong ordered the four Lord Tier experts to keep the Demon-Sealing Talismans charged and wait for a clear chance to bind the Black Heaven Cult leader, forcing him to rely on quick ordinary attacks as his Astral Qi drained.
• Bai Xiaowen’s Five Elements Banners warriors fought the remaining Black Heaven Cult members and gained the advantage on the second front.
• Bai Xiaowen met Kitz behind the rubble, recovered the Origin Martial True Scripture stele hidden in the leader’s bedchamber, and stored it in his bracelet.
• Bai Xiaowen created a Wood Incarnation to command the battle from the Five Elements Banners’ protection while keeping his real body concealed.

Bai Xiaowen’s forces overwhelmed the Black Heaven Cult’s remaining experts while the Black Heaven Cult Master and Immortal Sect experts neared exhaustion. To draw the Master into a trap, Bai Xiaowen used his Wood Incarnation as bait and fled with the Origin Martial True Scripture, leaving the Master closing in on him.

• Bai Xiaowen directed the Five Elements Banners to defeat and kill the trapped Black Heaven Cult experts.
• Bai Xiaowen secretly recovered some True Essence Force and received Chen Rong’s plan to bait the Black Heaven Cult Master so he could be immobilized.
• Bai Xiaowen refused to let Chen Rong risk herself and said he would serve as bait instead.
• Bai Xiaowen’s Wood Incarnation, posing as Lu Wang, carried the Origin Martial True Scripture toward the formation’s northeastern corner and claimed he was leaving.
• The Black Heaven Cult Master recognized the scripture, pursued Lu Wang, and attacked him with a palm that began pulling him backward.

Lü Wang used a Wood Incarnation to survive being cut down while the Demon-Sealing Talismans destroyed the Black Heaven Cult Master. He revealed himself alive, apologized to Chen Rong, and prepared for the spoils to be divided.

• Lü Wang used the Prohibition Stele to bait the Black Heaven Cult Master into Chen Rong and the elders' Demon-Sealing Talisman trap.
• The four Lord Tier experts bound the Black Heaven Cult Master with interlocking rings and unleashed the talismans' sealing power.
• The Black Heaven Cult Master cut Lü Wang in half before the purple light consumed and destroyed him.
• Chen Rong and the others mourned Lü Wang until she discovered his body was made of spirit wood and heard his voice near the palace gate.
• Bai Xiaowen revealed Lü Wang was alive, listed his contributions to the battle, and apologized to Chen Rong for worrying her.
• Chen Rong called him A-Wang, and Bai Xiaowen turned his attention to dividing the spoils.