Recaps

Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers chose a gradual campaign to build a stable power base against the Radiant Church, following Zhao Nan’s advice to begin in the northern Chaotic Territory. They reached Black Earth City and prepared to make it their first target, with Black Shark offering to capture the city lord and take control of the army.

• Hogg chose Ankh’s gradual expansion plan, prioritizing the people’s support and breaking the Radiant Church’s influence rather than seizing territory rapidly.
• Zhao Nan advised the group to establish themselves near the Forest of Darkness and revealed that a Magic Crystal Mine in the area could supply Magic Crystal Cannons.
• Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers headed north while Zhao Nan stayed behind to cultivate after informing O'Brien.
• The group traveled through the war-torn Chaotic Territory and reached Black Earth City in less than a month.
• Hogg proposed taking impoverished Black Earth City as their first target, and Black Shark volunteered to defeat its city lord and seize control of the army.

Gates seized Black Earth City, killed its greedy lord and the lord’s son, and won the city’s soldiers and residents with his strength and reforms. After the city grew and expanded its army, Hogg ordered further expansion, and one of his brothers led troops toward Tu'er City.

• Gates entered Black Earth City and killed the fat lord and his son, then declared himself the city’s new lord.
• Gates demonstrated his power to the city’s 3,600 soldiers, promised them triple pay, and gained their allegiance.
• Gates announced that Black Earth City would stop collecting grain taxes, drawing residents and recruits into the city.
• Half a month later, Gates reported to Hogg that Black Earth City ruled over more than 700,000 people and had expanded its army to 9,000 soldiers.
• Hogg agreed to keep expanding the territory, and another half-month later Lord Dele prepared Tu'er City’s defenses as an army from Black Earth City approached.

Boone conquered Tu'er City for Black Earth City, while Zhao Nan unexpectedly comprehended the Laws of Life, Death, Fate, and Destruction. As his enlightenment deepened, he wondered whether combining the Four Edicts could create time.

• Boone marched on Tu'er City, rejected Dele’s attempted negotiation, and smashed open the city gate with his axe.
• Boone’s troops routed Tu’er City’s defenders, and Dele and the remaining soldiers surrendered.
• Zhao Nan watched the conquest and unexpectedly began comprehending the Laws of Life and Death, then sensed the powers of Fate and Destruction as well.
• Zhao Nan summoned his Fate Clone into his Consciousness Sea and fell into deeper enlightenment about all four Laws.
• Boone put Dele and the nobles on trial, then announced that Tu’er City and its surrounding territory would be incorporated into Black Earth City.
• Zhao Nan concluded that life was the beginning, death the end, fate the process, and destruction the final conclusion, then wondered if the Four Edicts combined could become time.

Zhao Nan’s enlightenment brought him close to comprehending the Laws of Time, but Hongmeng intervened to prevent him from damaging the Coiling Dragon World. After six months of training and growth, Zhao Nan approved a plan to challenge the Radiant Church and took Gates away for cultivation.

• Hongmeng disrupted Zhao Nan’s attempt to trace the Laws of Time, guiding him through a lifetime of questions and choices before his enlightenment ended with changes to his four rule pillars.
• Hongmeng explained that he had intervened because Zhao Nan’s comprehension of the Laws of Time could shatter space, and he wondered about the questions Zhao Nan had raised about world levels and the Three Thousand Great Daos.
• After learning he had been in seclusion for six months, Zhao Nan found that Hogg and Barker had reached human-form Saint-level, Gates neared a breakthrough, and Black Earth City’s territory, army, and population had grown.
• At a meeting, Boone argued that their strength justified founding a kingdom or empire, and Gates proposed using their teacher’s backing to provoke the Radiant Church into attacking them.
• Zhao Nan approved Gates’s plan, then took Gates away to train until he broke through to Saint level, leaving Hogg and the others to carry on without him.

Hogg and the Barker brothers planned the Ultimate Empire and recruited people to help govern it, while Linley returned to Ernst Institute and recounted his brutal training. Hazer delivered the empire’s request for Linley and Ace to help, and Linley told his friends he might leave the institute to assist them.

• Zhao Nan subjected Gates to Fate-based illusions and punishing fire magic while Hogg and the Barker brothers discussed founding an empire.
• Hogg and the others chose the name Ultimate Empire, and Hazer suggested recruiting capable administrators from Wushan Town and Linley’s acquaintances.
• Hogg agreed to gather people from Wushan Town, while Hazer accepted the task of visiting Ernst Institute to find Linley.
• Linley told Yale how the Fate Clone had forced him and his companions to fight up to twelve illusory opponents, and Doehring Cowart later had Linley and Ace begin learning carving.
• Hogg returned to Wushan Town, where Hillman, Hiri, and the residents agreed to travel with him to the Chaotic Territory.
• Hazer told Linley and Ace about the empire’s plans, and Linley later told Yale, George, and Reynolds that he and Ace might leave the institute to help govern it.

Yale, George, and Reynolds agreed to join Linley in the Chaotic Territory, where they received government and military posts after a year-long journey. Meanwhile, Zhao Nan’s Life Clone became divine, and a strange force began stirring within his Consciousness Sea, leaving his Fate Clone and Life Clone perceiving time differently.

• Hazer persuaded Yale, George, and Reynolds to build their futures in the Chaotic Territory, and Linley reassured them that their friendship would not change.
• Reynolds told Hazer about Linley and Delia, while Linley explained that Delia would remain at the Institute for now.
• Hazer led Linley and his friends to Wushan Town, where they met Hogg, then the group traveled with the villagers for a year to the Chaotic Territory.
• Barker appointed Yale Minister of Commerce, George Director of Foreign Affairs, Reynolds a battalion commander, and Linley and Ace co-mayors of Black Earth City.
• Barker told Hogg that Zhao Nan had put Gates and the others through daily training, while Zhao Nan’s Life Law reached godhood and his Fate and Life Clones began reacting strangely in his Consciousness Sea.

Zhao Nan became a god of the Life Law and arranged for Gates to seize the Magic Crystal Mine, while Beirut revealed that the mine contained a hidden cultivation space. Gates conquered the surrounding cities and brought Linley and the others to the mine, where he punched the ground.

• Zhao Nan noticed that time had begun to pass inside his Consciousness Sea at roughly one hundredth the speed of the outside world, then told Gates to conquer the Magic Crystal Mine.
• Beirut visited Zhao Nan, gave him Soul Golden Pellets, praised his cultivation, and revealed that the mine held a hidden space he had once used for cultivation.
• Gates returned to Black Earth City and led his Gates Legion toward the mine, prompting cities throughout the region to surrender.
• Gates arranged the newly conquered territory and summoned Linley, his three brothers, and Ace to help manage it.
• Gates led Linley and the others to a low hill at the Magic Crystal Mine and punched the ground.

Linley and his companions discovered a vast Magic Crystal vein that could fund Black Earth City and the Ultimate Empire. After assigning everyone jobs to mine it, protect it, and build the empire, Linley met Zhao Nan, who directed him to train in Misty Canyon.

• Gates revealed that the crater contained Magic Crystals and explained that Zhao Nan had ordered him to occupy and mine the vein.
• Linley told Yale to turn the crystals into supplies, asked Ace to bring his Violet Flame Warrior family into the empire, recruited George’s talented relatives, and assigned Reynolds to form a city guard.
• Gates agreed to send trusted soldiers and summon his brothers to guard the secret vein while mining began.
• Linley explained that he would oversee the mining site and cultivate there to help keep the discovery secret.
• Zhao Nan appeared and told Linley to take Bebe to the Magical Beast Mountain Range and train in Misty Canyon; when Linley objected, Zhao Nan assured him that his past troubles would not happen again.

Zhao Nan checked on his disciples and found Olivier training in the Arctic Icecap. After overpowering and disciplining Olivier, Zhao Nan took his injured disciple toward the Chaotic Territory for treatment.

• Zhao Nan sent Linley into the Magical Beast Forest alone, where Linley survived dangers and learned to stay alert.
• Ace brought his father and brothers to the Ultimate Empire, where shipments of supplies began despite repeated attacks.
• Zhao Nan's Fate Clone visited the O'Brien Empire, confirmed Stone Drum and Wharton were doing well, and searched for Olivier.
• Zhao Nan found Olivier fighting a mysterious man in the Arctic Icecap and watched the man leave after Olivier was injured.
• Olivier attacked Zhao Nan, but Zhao Nan stopped his sword and beat him until he accepted Zhao Nan as his teacher.
• Zhao Nan learned Olivier had no belongings to pack, pulled him from the glacier, and flew toward the Chaotic Territory to get his injuries treated.

Zhao Nan entered a hidden micro-plane carved into the Spatial Turbulence, where he planned to cultivate and deepen his understanding of the Laws. As he began training there, Linley arrived at the mountain peak above Misty Canyon.

• Barker told Zhao Nan that miners had found a door hidden deep in the Magic Crystal vein, and Zhao Nan went to investigate it.
• Barker reported that Olivier had reached the Saint level and could fight Sathius to a draw, while Linley had not yet returned from the Magical Beast Forest.
• Zhao Nan and Barker passed through the door into a small, protected space surrounded by Spatial Turbulence, which Zhao Nan identified as a micro-plane carved out by a powerful figure.
• Zhao Nan told Barker he would cultivate there and instructed him to guard the passage and send Linley to him when he returned.
• Zhao Nan began cultivating in the micro-plane, sensing the Heavenly Laws more clearly as Linley arrived above Misty Canyon.

After reaching the eighth rank as both a warrior and mage, Linley entered Misty Canyon to retrieve the divine artifact Zhao Nan had made his trial. He reached the area near the cave but hesitated before the magical beasts, and Doehring Cowart challenged his fear.

• Linley completed his secluded training, while Doehring Cowart continued comprehending the Mysteries of the Earth Element.
• Linley and Bebe flew to Misty Canyon, where he sensed more than a hundred Pterodactyls and recalled Zhao Nan's order to retrieve the divine artifact in Sathius's cave.
• A flock of Pterodactyls surrounded Linley, so he descended, concealed himself, and cautiously made his way toward the cave.
• Linley reached the buildings left by Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers, but hesitated at the magical beasts between him and the cave.
• Doehring Cowart awoke and asked why Linley feared the beasts when the strongest were only eighth-rank and Linley was already ninth-rank.

Linley experienced a ten-day enlightenment that transformed him into a formidable fighter, then found a mysterious magic array and a Purple Longsword in Sathius's cave. He broke Zhao Nan's seal with his newly comprehended technique and was left wondering what the array did and why his teacher had told him to retrieve the sword.

• Doehring Cowart told Bebe to draw away the powerful magical beasts while Linley remained immersed in his enlightenment.
• Linley fought and killed more than a hundred magical beasts without breaking his concentration, and his battle seemed to deepen his comprehension.
• After nine days and nine nights of enlightenment, plus the time spent fighting, Linley awoke and learned that about ten days and ten nights had passed.
• Linley went with Bebe to Sathius's cave and used his newly comprehended Army Breaker technique to shatter Zhao Nan's seal on a circular platform.
• Linley discovered a complex magic array and a Purple Longsword at its center, while Doehring Cowart admitted he did not know the array's purpose.

Linley examined the magic array and purple longsword while Doehring Cowart gained insight into the Earth Element and explained the planes and divine hierarchy. Linley learned the sword came from the Infernal Realm and tried to bind it with his blood.

• Linley sensed the magic array and sword, then listened as Doehring Cowart explained that the sword was as valuable as a Saint Realm Magic Crystal Core.
• Doehring Cowart fell into a three-day enlightenment and emerged able to give form to the Mysteries of the Earth Element.
• Doehring Cowart told Linley about the Four Higher Planes, the gods and Chief Gods, and identified the sword as a divine artifact from the Infernal Realm.
• Doehring Cowart advised Linley to bind the sword by dripping his blood on it, and Linley touched his bleeding finger to the purple longsword.

Linley claimed the Purple Longsword and escaped as the magic array beneath Sathius’s cave shattered, freeing Dylan. After Dylan’s children attacked the magical beasts outside Misty Canyon, O'Brien confronted him at Zhao Nan’s request, but Catherine arrived just as they were about to fight.

• Linley claimed the Purple Longsword with his blood, wrapped the soft blade around his waist, and fled Misty Canyon with Bebe.
• The magic array beneath the cave overloaded and shattered, destroying Sathius’s home and allowing Dylan to escape with his three kittens.
• Dylan sent his hungry children to hunt, and the three giant beasts began devouring the magical beasts outside the canyon until an unknown force stopped them.
• Linley and Doehring Cowart recognized O'Brien as the god-level powerhouse who had intervened, while Dylan introduced himself and said he wanted to live on the Yulan Continent for his children’s sake.
• At Zhao Nan’s urging, O'Brien prepared to test Dylan’s strength, but Catherine arrived before the fight began.

After Dylan emerged from the Gabadan Plane Prison, O'Brien and Catherine challenged him but were swiftly defeated. Zhao Nan then overpowered Dylan and pressured him into becoming his disciple, leaving with him after Dylan recovered.

• Catherine joined O'Brien above the Magical Beast Forest, and Dylan explained that Beirut had imprisoned him in the Gabadan Plane Prison five thousand years earlier.
• Zhao Nan ordered O'Brien to test Dylan, and Dylan shattered O'Brien's Fire Domain before knocking both O'Brien and Catherine away.
• Zhao Nan appeared before Dylan and offered to take him as a disciple, but Dylan refused.
• Zhao Nan restrained and repeatedly beat Dylan for three days until Dylan began to give in.
• Zhao Nan invoked his connection to Beirut and claimed to be a Middlegod in his twenties, prompting Dylan to agree to become his disciple.
• Zhao Nan let Dylan recover and then took him away.

Zhao Nan gave Dylan territory in the Magical Beast Forest and taught him secret techniques, then shared Dylan’s abilities and bloodline. After Zhao Nan formed a Destruction Clone, all three of his clones were drawn into his Consciousness Sea as his soul began to spin and his body underwent a sudden change.

• Zhao Nan assigned the Magical Beast Forest to Dylan and had O'Brien and Catherine help him establish a Magical Beast Empire.
• Dylan hesitated because he feared Beirut’s reaction, but Beirut gave Zhao Nan permission to proceed, and Dylan agreed to build the empire while focusing on cultivation.
• Zhao Nan taught Dylan the Visualization Technique and Zhan Tiangang, then left the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
• O'Brien told Catherine he planned to follow Zhao Nan in exchange for a Fire-type Highgod Godhead, and Catherine realized she might have accepted a similar offer.
• Zhao Nan shared Dylan’s talent, bloodline, realm, and other attributes, fully comprehended the Laws of Destruction, and formed a Destruction Clone.
• Zhao Nan’s three clones were pulled into his Consciousness Sea, where his nebula-like soul began to spin as his body gave a sudden rumble.

Zhao Nan tested his newly awakened Devour ability and discovered it could destroy creatures inside a space in his Consciousness Sea, leading him to choose a path of nurturing a world. While he cultivated, the Day of Destruction arrived early, and the Yulan Continent’s alliances collapsed as the Ultimate Empire and Dylan’s Magical Beast Empire rose.

• Zhao Nan examined the transformed Consciousness Sea, used Devour on a Saint-level Tyrannosaurus Rex in the Sunset Mountain Range, and saw Destruction power consume it inside his inner space.
• Zhao Nan decided to cultivate an inner world and seek time-related innate abilities in the Infernal Realm, while Hongmeng calmed the Coiling Dragon World after it trembled.
• Zhao Nan considered asking Beirut for Soul Golden Pearls, then focused on the Earth Laws and raised his Earth Element comprehension to seventy percent after half a month.
• Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers established the federal Ultimate Warrior Empire, giving decision-making power to Yale, George, Reynolds, Linley, Ace, Stone Drum, and Gates.
• With O'Brien and Catherine supporting him, Dylan united the Magical Beasts and unleashed a destructive tide two years early, conquering the western half of the Yulan Continent and leaving the Holy Union on Holy Island while the Dark Alliance fled to the Chaotic Territory.

Doehring Cowart ascended to godhood, and Zhao Nan refused to let him serve the Ultimate Empire, urging its leaders to avoid relying on overwhelming power. In seclusion, Doehring explained that he had become a god by comprehending Gravity Space, leaving Zhao Nan to consider the wonder of fate.

• Doehring Cowart became a god in Linley's room, discovered his connection to the Coiling Dragon Ring had been severed, and reunited with Linley.
• Linley introduced Doehring Cowart to Yale and the others, who asked him to serve as the Ultimate Empire's guardian deity.
• Zhao Nan arrived and forbade any god from serving the Ultimate Empire, then warned its leaders against using overwhelming strength to conquer their neighbors.
• Zhao Nan took Doehring Cowart to his secluded residence, introduced him to Hogg and the Barker brothers, and asked how he had ascended so quickly.
• Doehring Cowart said he had reached a bottleneck in the Mysteries of the Earth Element, then unexpectedly found Gravity Space easy to comprehend and became a god after a few months.

Zhao Nan discovered a remnant of the Fate Overgod’s power inside Doehring Cowart and met the Overgod in a hidden space within his Consciousness Sea. After learning that Doehring’s survival was compensation for an unknown reason, Zhao Nan returned to cultivating and then visited Beirut to receive resources.

• Zhao Nan examined Doehring Cowart and found a fading trace of the Fate Overgod’s power clinging to his soul.
• Zhao Nan’s Fate Clone entered a separate space in his Consciousness Sea, where he met the Fate Overgod and learned that Doehring’s situation was compensation for a reason other than a change in fate.
• The Fate Overgod disappeared before Zhao Nan could ask about his restriction on comprehending laws, and Zhao Nan resumed cultivation while Hongmeng remarked that he might soon have a second brother.
• Beirut summoned Zhao Nan to the Metal Castle and offered him the resources he had meant to deliver after Zhao Nan became a god again.
• Zhao Nan accepted Beirut’s offer, and Beirut recognized that Zhao Nan was close to comprehending the Mysteries of the Earth Element.

Zhao Nan chose to remain on the Yulan Continent while he grew stronger, and Beirut revealed how highly he valued him. Two years later, the Ultimate Empire faced a massive invasion by the Radiant and Darkness Churches, whose leaders prepared to besiege Beihe City as their Saint-level fighters remained trapped.

• Zhao Nan told Beirut he might explore other planes once he became a Paragon, and Beirut gave him Soul Golden Pearls to sustain his cultivation on the Yulan Continent.
• Beirut told Harry, Hart, and Harvey that Zhao Nan was the person he valued most, while Zhao Nan strengthened his soul with the pearls and focused on comprehending the Mysteries of the Earth Element.
• By 10002, Linley and Olivier had reached the Saint level, other figures advanced in strength, and the Radiant and Darkness Churches amassed 2.35 million troops against the Ultimate Empire.
• Yale, George, Linley, Ace, Stone Drum, Reynolds, and Wharton agreed to defend Beihe City with Magic Crystal Cannons, while Ace explained that Zhao Nan had restrained the churches' Saint-level experts.
• Outside Beihe City, Gilmer told Wesport that the Ultimate Empire had trapped their Saint-level fighters, and the church leaders agreed to begin the siege the next day.

The Radiant Church and the Darkness Church launched an assault on Beihe City, where Reynolds revealed the Ultimate Empire’s powerful new Magic Crystal Cannons No. 1. As the allied army attacked again, Wesport came to the city wall and offered the Darkness Church’s alliance against the Radiant Church, leaving Linley and the others to consider his proposal.

• Linley, Ace, and the others watched the 2.35-million-strong allied army approach Beihe City, while Reynolds predicted that it would attack soon.
• Reynolds ordered three hundred Magic Crystal Cannons No. 1 to fire on the first 50,000 attackers, killing the entire force after nine volleys.
• Gilmer and Wesport discussed the cannons’ range and planned to attack Beihe City from three directions with successive waves of soldiers.
• The allied army began its three-pronged assault the next morning, as Wesport arrived at Beihe City and asked Reynolds and Linley to form an alliance against the Radiant Church.
• Linley and the others recognized Wesport’s apparent sincerity but paused to discuss whether to accept his offer.

Reynolds negotiated a surrender treaty with the Darkness Church, then the Ultimate Empire’s attack turned the Radiant Church and Darkness Church against each other. Wesport revealed that Linley’s mother had been sacrificed by the Radiant Church, and Gilmer responded by ordering a full assault on Beihe City.

• Yale, Linley, Reynolds, and the others agreed to accept the Darkness Church’s surrender and inform the Radiant Church at the last moment.
• Reynolds negotiated a treaty in which the Darkness Church ceded a third of the Chaotic Territory and paid one hundred million gold coins and three hundred million kilograms of grain.
• The Ultimate Empire’s Magic Crystal Cannons spared the Darkness Church’s troops, prompting the Radiant Church’s forces to attack their former allies.
• Wesport told Gilmer that Linley and Wharton’s mother, Hogg, had been sacrificed to the Radiant Church, and that this discovery had led the Darkness Church to campaign against the Ultimate Empire.
• Gilmer demanded that Wesport attack Beihe City, but Wesport refused and urged him to leave the Radiant Church.
• Gilmer ordered the gathered generals to attack Beihe City with all their might and kill anyone who retreated.

After Linley killed Gilmer and Wesport, the Ultimate Empire conquered the Chaotic Territory and established worship of Zhao Nan, whose faith-fueled cultivation accelerated. Zhao Nan then ordered his followers to spread his faith across the eastern Yulan Continent, while Beirut allowed the campaign to proceed and sent his sons to assist Bebe.

• Linley flew to the allied camp, killed Gilmer and Wesport, and forced the invading soldiers to surrender.
• The Ultimate Empire conquered the Chaotic Territory in three months, and Linley abolished the Radiant Church and the Darkness Church in favor of worshipping Zhao Nan.
• Zhao Nan gathered faith in his Soul Sea and burned it to accelerate his comprehension of the Earth Element Law, but the supply ran out after one day.
• Zhao Nan ordered his disciples to help Linley conquer the Far East Prairie and Luo'ao Empire, instructed Dylan to have the magical beasts worship him, and tasked Doehring Cowart and O'Brien with protecting the group.
• Beirut allowed Zhao Nan's campaign to continue and sent his three sons to help Bebe cleanse the rats in the Forest of Darkness.

Beirut agreed to let his sons help Linley after explaining Zhao Nan’s extraordinary potential, and Bebe led the Forest of Darkness’s rats toward the Far East Prairie. The enormous horde reached the prairie, where Linley and Barker prepared to use it against the region’s cities.

• Beirut told Harry, Harvey, and Hart that Zhao Nan possessed talent across the Four Edicts and seven elemental laws and had become a Highgod in only twenty years.
• Hart contacted Bebe and invited him to the Forest of Darkness, where Bebe accepted command of its rats.
• Linley and his allies chose the Far East Prairie as their target, and Bebe led the rat horde east from the Forest of Darkness.
• Six days later, Bebe demonstrated that he could control the horde, and Linley directed it toward the Far East Prairie.
• Barker advised Bebe to spread the rats out to search for food without straying too far, and Bebe began organizing the leading groups.

Linley led the rat-type magical beasts into the Far East Prairie to conquer it, and the ensuing slaughter forced War God Tulilei to withdraw from the conflict. The battle against the prairie’s army began, and the soldiers’ ranks started to collapse as they deserted.

• Bebe’s rat-type magical beasts swept across the Far East Prairie, devouring its land and inhabitants as Linley announced that the Ultimate Empire had come to conquer it.
• When the prairie’s people attacked the beasts, Linley ordered the rats to devour them and let the slaughter continue through the night.
• Tulilei arrived with powerful figures and troops, then offered to hand over the Darkness Church and withdraw rather than oppose the Ultimate Empire.
• After a man in fine clothes rejected Tulilei’s decision, Bebe killed him, and Linley gave the Far East Prairie’s forces the choice to leave or fight.
• Tulilei and seven others withdrew from the battle, while Linley assigned Barker to handle the powerful figures and sent the rats against the army.
• As the rat swarm overwhelmed the soldiers, deserters began fleeing in growing numbers.