Chapter Summaries

As the Cosmic Direct-Reverse Heavenly River Great Array became a five-colored river, Demon Venerable Luosha and Demon Venerable Nether Sea brought out Wild Cauldrons while Cheng Buzheng prepared his own. Cheng Buzheng recalled that collecting Blood Baleful Mist with the cauldrons was essential to refining a powerful forbidden artifact that could open the path of ascension.

• Demon Venerable Luosha explained to Sha Minghong and the Black Spirit Tiger Shark Clan that the array had entered its complete form and could threaten even Demon Venerables.
• Demon Venerable Nether Sea showed Ao Yuan and the Golden Flood Dragon Clan a Wild Cauldron and explained that it was a low-grade Prohibited Artifact based on a method in the Spirit Realm Heavenly Book.
• Demon Venerable Nether Sea activated his Wild Cauldron, and the enormous cauldron vanished in a flash of five-colored light.
• Cheng Buzheng recalled Island-Moving Venerable entrusting him with a Wild Cauldron to collect Blood Baleful Mist for refining a ranked forbidden artifact.
• Cheng Buzheng reflected that the Wild Cauldron required rare Five Elements law Spiritual Items and other precious materials, making him reluctant to use it.

Cheng Buzheng and Island-Moving Venerable used the Wild Cauldron and the [Cosmic Direct-Reverse Heavenly River Great Array] to absorb and refine the Purgatory Clan’s Blood Baleful Mist, provoking the mysterious Progenitor in the black coffin. The Progenitor rallied the Purgatory Clan to attack the array’s nodes, and its Divine Envoy and priest powerhouses set out together to break through.

• Cheng Buzheng activated the Wild Cauldron, allowing Island-Moving Venerable to use it with the [Cosmic Direct-Reverse Heavenly River Great Array] to draw in and refine the Blood Baleful Mist.
• The black coffin at Blood Abyss trembled as its occupant sensed its power being stolen, then ordered the Purgatory Clan to destroy the array and promised its followers a chance to ascend to the Spirit Realm.
• Venerable Zongbao detected the mysterious aura and warned Island-Moving Venerable, who alerted the other cultivators to prepare for a major Purgatory Clan attack.
• The Progenitor mobilized the Purgatory Clan, whose forces targeted the array’s nodes and whose blood crystals blocked the Heaven-Peering Mirror’s detection.
• The Grand Divine Envoy gathered the Divine Envoy lineage, while the High Priest assembled the priests; both groups departed to attack the array.

Cheng Buzheng confronted the Purgatory Clan High Priest inside the five-colored Heavenly River array and began testing how much the array enhanced his Heavenly River Art. The High Priest merged with his ancestral god phantom as Cheng Buzheng prepared to unleash the transformed river’s power.

• The Purgatory Clan High Priest sent his priests to attack other array nodes and entered the five-colored mist to face its dangerous western region himself.
• The High Priest encountered Cheng Buzheng, who revealed himself and mocked him for failing to notice his presence.
• The High Priest struck with a demonic god phantom, but Cheng Buzheng resisted its mental attack and escaped the descending blow.
• Cheng Buzheng summoned the Heavenly River Art and transformed its phantom river into a real five-colored river by drawing in the surrounding mist.
• The High Priest used an ancient incantation and merged with his ancestral god phantom as Cheng Buzheng prepared to test the array-boosted power of his art.

Cheng Buzheng used the Heavenly River Pearl and the great array to resist the High Priest’s law-powered attacks, eventually spending his own law origin to overwhelm the High Priest’s blood phoenix. The High Priest withdrew the phoenix and fled, leaving Cheng Buzheng to preserve his strength for the danger he expected ahead.

• Cheng Buzheng summoned the Heavenly River Pearl, strengthening the Heavenly River Art enough to hold back the High Priest’s blood finger and blood phoenix.
• The High Priest changed the blood phoenix’s attack to black flames that shattered Cheng Buzheng’s sword lights, forcing Cheng Buzheng to spend his own law origin.
• Cheng Buzheng’s Chaos Law-powered sword-light river destroyed the High Priest’s black flames and pressed toward the blood phoenix.
• The High Priest recalled the blood phoenix, examined the points of light in the crystal in his palm, and fled.

Cheng Buzheng pursued the fleeing Purgatory Clan High Priest while refusing Venerable Bright Lamp’s request for aid, and Bright Lamp was left to face the Fourth Priest alone. Bright Lamp unleashed his strongest attacks but was ultimately crushed by the Fourth Priest’s Heaven-and-Earth Great Millstone.

• Cheng Buzheng chased the Purgatory Clan High Priest through the five-colored mist while keeping his distance and pretending to pursue with all his strength.
• Cheng Buzheng noticed the High Priest was following a suspiciously direct route and suspected he had a treasure that could navigate the great array.
• Cheng Buzheng received Venerable Bright Lamp’s call for help but told him to wait until he had driven back the High Priest.
• Venerable Bright Lamp summoned his Octagonal Lotus Lamp and attacked the Fourth Priest with eight Golden-Flame Dragons, but the Fourth Priest’s Heaven-and-Earth Great Millstone ground them away.
• The Fourth Priest adapted to the great array’s restrictions and crushed Venerable Bright Lamp’s Law Spirit Body with another use of the Heaven-and-Earth Great Millstone.

Venerable Peach Blossom rescued Venerable Bright Lamp from the Fourth Priest, who fled as soon as Cheng Buzheng arrived. After explaining how Bright Lamp could counter the priest’s millstone spell, Cheng Buzheng received a message from another ally.

• Venerable Bright Lamp re-formed after the Fourth Priest’s Heaven-and-Earth Great Millstone shattered his Law Spirit Body, but the priest soon drove him back into danger.
• Cheng Buzheng saw Bright Lamp’s light disappear from his communication-and-location Jade Tray, rushed to his location, and appeared as the Fourth Priest attacked.
• The Fourth Priest recognized Cheng Buzheng’s strength and fled, while Cheng Buzheng chose not to pursue him.
• Venerable Bright Lamp thanked Cheng Buzheng, who explained that the Fourth Priest’s spell imitated the Purgatory Clan’s Spirit Treasure and described a way to counter it.
• Cheng Buzheng received a message through his Jade Tray from a familiar voice.

Cheng Buzheng responded to Venerable Daoyuan’s call, learned that the Purgatory Clan forces had unexpectedly withdrawn, and accepted rare cultivation materials as thanks. He then rushed to check on the Stone Ape Demon Venerable, who was fighting a Purgatory Clan priest and faced a sudden counterattack.

• Cheng Buzheng went to Venerable Daoyuan’s array position after receiving his request for aid.
• Cheng Buzheng discovered that several messages reported the Purgatory Clan’s powerhouses had withdrawn, rather than asking for help.
• Venerable Daoyuan gave Cheng Buzheng Innate Gang Sha and Earthly Turbid Qi as thanks and sought favorable treatment in the upcoming formation reassignment.
• Cheng Buzheng remembered that the Stone Ape Demon Venerable had sent no report and flew toward his position.
• The Stone Ape Demon Venerable battered the Purgatory Clan priest in demon god form, but the priest ensnared him with bloodflame chains and sent poisonous leeches toward him.

Venerable Peach Blossom watched Stone Ape Demon Venerable awaken a trace of True Spirit Taotie bloodline and defeat a Purgatory Clan priest before intervening to stop their battle. After the priest fled and Stone Ape Demon Venerable regained his senses, the two discussed their situation and worried that the Divine Envoy Line might exploit the attack to ambush another formation position.

• Venerable Peach Blossom recognized Stone Ape Demon Venerable and watched him summon the Taotie phantom to devour the priest’s attacks and crush his demonic heart.
• The Purgatory Clan priest escaped Stone Ape Demon Venerable’s assault, and Venerable Peach Blossom appeared to stop the fight from consuming more Law Origin.
• Stone Ape Demon Venerable recovered his human form, thanked Venerable Peach Blossom, and subtly probed whether he had noticed the True Spirit bloodline’s influence.
• Venerable Peach Blossom offered to have Stone Ape Demon Venerable move to Position 85, but Stone Ape Demon Venerable declined and suggested they consult the others.
• Stone Ape Demon Venerable asked whether the Divine Envoy Line might ambush one of the other three formation positions while the Purgatory Clan Priest Line attacked them.

Cheng Buzheng returned to the Shock Position and confirmed that the Wild Cauldron remained safe, while the Purgatory Clan’s priest and divine envoy lineages launched attacks at separate array positions. At the south position, Island-Moving Venerable rallied the Spirit Transformation cultivators to counter the divine envoys and protect the array’s goal of opening an ascension passage.

• Cheng Buzheng warned Stone Ape Demon Venerable that the Purgatory Clan’s ability to evade the Heaven-Peering Mirror threatened the array’s defenses, then returned to guard the Shock Position.
• Cheng Buzheng checked that the Wild Cauldron was safe and contacted the other array controllers to learn whether their positions had been attacked.
• Demon Venerable Nether Sea concluded that the priest-lineage assault on Cheng Buzheng had been a diversion and suspected the divine envoys were targeting Island-Moving Venerable.
• Island-Moving Venerable told Cheng Buzheng to stay at the Zhen position while he faced the divine envoys attacking the south position.
• Island-Moving Venerable urged the assembled Spirit Transformation cultivators to contribute law origin, arguing that delay risked the array’s destruction and would undermine their goal of opening an ascension passage.
• Island-Moving Venerable proposed using a fusion secret art, and several Spirit Transformation cultivators voiced their support.

Island-Moving Venerable used [Law-Gathering Unity] to combine the Spirit Transformation cultivators’ law origins and devastate the Purgatory Clan divine envoys, forcing them to retreat. After the envoys returned from the Blood Baleful Mist, Island-Moving Venerable sent the other cultivators back to their array posts and asked Venerable Zongbao to improve the Heaven-Peering Mirror’s detection capabilities.

• Island-Moving Venerable revealed the [Law-Gathering Unity] imprint, and Spirit Transformation old monsters who knew its power persuaded the others to support his plan.
• Island-Moving Venerable gathered the cultivators’ law origins into a five-colored orb and split its amplified power into spears that struck the Purgatory Clan divine envoys.
• The divine envoys reappeared amid the Blood Baleful Mist after the attack, and the Grand Divine Envoy ordered them to retreat.
• Island-Moving Venerable told the Spirit Transformation old monsters to resume guarding their array nodes, then asked Venerable Zongbao how to strengthen the Heaven-Peering Mirror.

Venerable Zongbao proposed using the Heaven-Peering Mirror at full power to track the concealed Purgatory Clan, though doing so could drain her law origin and even make her fall from Spirit Transformation. As the two races’ venerables discussed the cost, the Purgatory Clan’s Grand Divine Envoy and High Priest reported their failure to the Progenitor and received a black Jade Slip containing a formation to deploy at the edge of the Blood Baleful Mist.

• Venerable Zongbao told Island-Moving Venerable that fully unleashing the Heaven-Peering Mirror might reveal the Purgatory Clan’s concealment but would consume a hundred times more law origin and could cost her Spirit Transformation cultivation.
• Island-Moving Venerable contacted the Spirit Transformation cultivators of both races through the communication Jade Tray, and Venerable Zongbao explained her proposal and its risks.
• The Grand Divine Envoy and High Priest regrouped in the Blood Baleful Mist and decided to report their failed mission to the Progenitor.
• At the Blood Abyss Forbidden Ground, the Progenitor struck the Grand Divine Envoy and High Priest, then spared them and ordered them to deploy the formation contained in a black Jade Slip.
• The Grand Divine Envoy and High Priest departed with the Jade Slip, while the Progenitor murmured that he would reclaim his power when he emerged into the world.

Venerable Zongbao restored the Heaven-Peering Mirror’s view of the Purgatory Clan, while Island-Moving Venerable discovered that thousands of anomalies were disrupting the array’s absorption of Blood Baleful Mist. The mirror revealed Purgatory Clan fiends preparing battle arrays, and Lang Situ helped the Armor Tribe activate a Demon Wall Forbidden Domain Battle Array that began devouring the mist.

• The Spirit Transformation old monsters agreed on compensation for Venerable Zongbao’s depleted Law Origin, and she reassembled the Heaven-Peering Mirror.
• Island-Moving Venerable detected growing disruptions along the formation’s edge, and Venerable Zongbao used the mirror to investigate the marked locations.
• The mirror showed Lang Situ giving the Bottle Tribe Infernal Fiends more time to comprehend a battle formation, while Bottle Four’s kin blamed him for their delay and the loss of Infernal Fiend Crystals.
• Lang Situ went to the Armor Tribe, where its fiends raised the Demon Wall Forbidden Domain Battle Array and he infused it with Blood Baleful Mist.
• The Armor Tribe’s battle array began rapidly absorbing the Blood Baleful Mist.

Island-Moving Venerable and Venerable Zongbao discussed how the Purgatory Clan’s formations, empowered by the Blood Baleful Mist, had hindered the [Cosmic Direct-Reverse Heavenly River Great Array], and considered seeking advice from Venerable Seeking the Dao. Meanwhile, Cheng Buzheng and other guardians discovered that the Great Array’s collection of blood-colored energy had sharply weakened and alerted Island-Moving Venerable.

• The Sky-Peering Mirror revealed the Purgatory Clan’s formations along the Blood Baleful Mist, prompting Island-Moving Venerable and Venerable Zongbao to recognize that the formations were blocking the Great Array.
• Venerable Zongbao proposed attacking the Purgatory Clan’s formations in small squads, but Island-Moving Venerable explained that the Blood Baleful Mist could empower them and supply them with reinforcements and resources.
• Island-Moving Venerable said the formations’ weak points might offer a solution, and Venerable Zongbao contacted Venerable Seeking the Dao to ask for help identifying one.
• Cheng Buzheng inspected the Wild Cauldron and found that its blood-colored energy was gathering at only one-tenth its previous rate, so he contacted Island-Moving Venerable.
• Demon Venerable Nether Sea and the Spirit Transformation cultivators at the western main array position also detected declining energy convergence and sent word to Island-Moving Venerable.

Venerable Peach Blossom discovered that the Purgatory Clan’s strange formation was crippling the [Cosmic Direct-Reverse Heavenly River Great Array] and threatening the Spirit Transformation cultivators’ path to ascension. Unable to decipher its complex Array Diagram in time, he sent it to Cheng Buzheng’s true self, who saw an opportunity to study the Purgatory Clan’s mysterious inheritance.

• Venerable Peach Blossom learned from Island-Moving Venerable that the Purgatory Clan’s formation was interfering with the Blood Baleful Mist and threatening both races’ Spirit Transformation cultivators.
• Venerable Peach Blossom examined the Purgatory Clan’s Array Diagram with [Master of Dharma Derivation] and found that its many special Spirit Restrictions made it too difficult to decipher quickly.
• Venerable Peach Blossom decided to send the Array Diagram to his true self and use the Creation Small Plate despite its enormous Spirit Stone cost.
• Cheng Buzheng opened his eyes in his Ping'an City quiet room and welcomed the chance to analyze the Array Diagram and uncover the Purgatory Clan’s secret formation inheritance.

Cheng Buzheng used Small Plate to deduce the Purgatory Clan’s inherited Array Diagram, spending most of his Deduction Value and a mountain of Spirit Stones. He mastered its special Spirit Restrictions and suspected it was a simplified version of a fifth-tier battle formation, leaving the diagram’s true origin to be confirmed.

• Cheng Buzheng checked his cultivation status and noted his recent progress in comprehending the Water Law while his divided True Spirit limited his efficiency.
• Cheng Buzheng tried to deduce the Array Diagram with 27 Deduction Value, but Small Plate ran out of power before completing the process.
• Cheng Buzheng converted a large pile of Spirit Stones into Deduction Value, raising his total to 120, and began the deduction again.
• Cheng Buzheng spent 100 Deduction Value to complete the deduction and mastered more than a hundred Spirit Restrictions, including the Purgatory Clan’s special Array Patterns.
• Cheng Buzheng concluded that the incomplete diagram was likely a simplified version of a fifth-tier battle formation created by the Purgatory Clan’s Progenitor.

Cheng Buzheng concealed his knowledge of the Purgatory Clan’s formation weakness and used his authority as Venerable Peach Blossom to direct the allied armies through systematic tests. He continued gathering evidence from their attacks, preparing to identify the formation’s core nodes without arousing suspicion.

• Cheng Buzheng realized that openly revealing the formation’s weakness could make the other Spirit Transformation cultivators suspect him of collusion, so he chose to guide them indirectly as a Formation Master.
• Cheng Buzheng used Venerable Peach Blossom’s Identity Token to order the allied armies to probe the Blood Baleful Mist formation, while secretly holding back several hundred squads.
• Cheng Buzheng studied the formation’s reactions as the attacking squads met resistance, then recalled them after they suffered losses.
• Cheng Buzheng sent the waiting squads to attack specific formation nodes and recorded the resulting changes in a Jade Slip.
• Cheng Buzheng identified the Wind Valley node’s reaction with the Earth Well node and the Treacherous Lure image position as a possible sign of a core junction, and marked it for further testing.

Venerable Wantong and Demon Venerable Luosha gathered the two races’ Formation Masters to study and break the Purgatory Clan’s formation in the Blood Baleful Mist. After True Lord Hu’s powerful formation was shattered with ease, the Formation Masters considered another method and heard that one of them possessed fragments of the legendary Array-Linking Cycle Method.

• Venerable Wantong explained the mission and promised rewards to the Formation Masters, while Demon Venerable Luosha warned them against misconduct.
• The Formation Masters read the reward terms, agreed to cooperate across their past rivalries, and entered the Blood Baleful Mist.
• True Lord Hu deployed the Nine Dragons Overturning Origin Great Array against the Purgatory Clan’s barrier, but the barrier destroyed it and sent him flying.
• The Formation Masters concluded that ordinary formation-based attacks would not work and discussed the legendary Array-Linking Cycle Method.
• A Formation Master revealed that he possessed incomplete fragments of the method, which he had spent years deducing and refining.

True Lord Ming’s incomplete formation secret art failed to break the Purgatory Clan’s array, while Venerable Seeking the Dao’s investigation also stalled when the array defied his deductions. Cheng Buzheng understood that the array’s special restrictions were confusing the other formation experts and chose to wait before acting.

• True Lord Ming persuaded the Formation Masters to combine six fourth-tier formations, and they offered him array diagrams in hopes of earning greater rewards.
• Demon Venerable Luosha and the other Spirit Transformation Venerables watched the combined array attack fail, leaving True Lord Ming and the other array masters injured and the Purgatory Clan’s formation intact.
• Venerable Seeking the Dao identified the [Yang-Life Array Node] as a likely core node, but his follow-up tests produced no changes and left him confused.
• Cheng Buzheng continued recording the formation’s changes and directing several hundred squads to probe it, recognizing that its special Spirit Restrictions had misled the other formation experts.
• Cheng Buzheng decided to wait longer before revealing what he knew about the formation.

After half a month of testing, Cheng Buzheng detected that the Blood Baleful Mist was thinning and summoned the other Spirit Transformation cultivators to explain how to break the Purgatory Clan’s formation. The other venerables recalled their Formation Masters and gathered at Cheng Buzheng’s position, while they postponed deciding his compensation.

• Cheng Buzheng ended the allied forces’ probing and ordered the surviving cultivators to withdraw after noticing the Blood Baleful Mist had begun to thin.
• Island-Moving Venerable confirmed Cheng Buzheng’s discovery and arranged for Venerable Zongbao to open real-time communication so Cheng Buzheng could explain the method to the other venerables.
• Demon Venerable Raging Thunder argued that Cheng Buzheng deserved only token compensation, then backed away when the others mocked his claims of willingness to sacrifice for the cause.
• Demon Venerable Luosha and Demon Venerable Nether Sea ordered their sides to recall their Formation Masters, with Demon Venerable Nether Sea assigning an escort to protect his group.
• The Spirit Transformation monsters from the other directions gathered their Formation Masters, and Cheng Buzheng saw his own Formation Masters arrive at the easternmost position.

Cheng Buzheng gathered the Spirit Transformation cultivators and explained how he had uncovered the Purgatory Clan’s deceptive formation nodes. He began demonstrating his method at marked point No. 4156, leaving the other cultivators ready to follow his analysis.

• Cheng Buzheng summoned the Formation Masters and connected with the Spirit Transformation cultivators through the communication-and-positioning Jade Tray.
• Venerable Zongbao projected Venerable Peach Blossom across the distant array positions, then explained the limits and cost of the Heaven-Peering Mirror.
• Demon Venerable Luosha postponed discussion of compensation so the cultivators could prioritize breaking the formations and gathering Blood Baleful Mist.
• Cheng Buzheng asked Venerable Zongbao to project marked point No. 4156 and dispatched a squad to test the formation there.
• Cheng Buzheng explained that special Array Patterns in the Purgatory Clan’s Spirit Restrictions could disguise false nodes, and described how repeated probes helped him identify the true Mystic Fate Array Node.