Recaps

Jiang Mian combined her Azure Water Tides and Tidal Origin Spirit with three percent of the Water Dao Essence to overwhelm the Dark Emperor Golden Body with increasingly powerful strikes. Meanwhile, Qin Yan’s breakthrough to Domain Fusion Return to One was revealed to the gathered prodigies, who kept their distance.

• The Azure Water Heavenly Origin Golden Body’s torrent destroyed the Blood-Devouring Mosquito’s blood curtain, revealing Qin Yan breaking through inside.
• The surrounding prodigies recognized Qin Yan’s attempt to reach Domain Fusion Return to One in the Great Grandmaster Realm and retreated from the battle.
• Jiang Mian summoned her Azure Water Tides and Tidal Origin Spirit, which drove powerful waves against the Darkness Altar.
• Jiang Mian absorbed another one percent of the Water Dao Essence, bringing her total to three percent, and fused water power into the Azure Water Heavenly Origin Golden Body.
• Jiang Mian attacked the Dark Emperor Golden Body with the Thousand-Layer Wave Palm, forcing it back with a growing sequence of strikes.

Jiang Mian overwhelmed Mo Yuan and the Dark Emperor Golden Body with a relentless succession of palm strikes, forcing them to defend together against her tsunamis. As their attacks clashed in a fierce stalemate, she announced her nineteenth palm.

• Jiang Mian battered the Dark Emperor Golden Body with her seventh through thirteenth palms, while Mo Yuan used Yin-Yang Five Elements Block to stop the torrents.
• Jiang Mian's fourteenth through sixteenth palms pushed Mo Yuan to his limit, and the Dark Emperor Golden Body raised a dark barrier to help withstand the attacks.
• Jiang Mian sent two enormous waves at Mo Yuan and the Dark Emperor Golden Body, and Mo Yuan was blasted away after weakening their force.
• The Dark Emperor Golden Body's Shadow Clone unleashed fifteen Dark Lasers from the Hands of the Dark Abyss, clashing with the weakening torrents in a stalemate.
• Jiang Mian called out, "Nineteenth palm, descend!"

Jiang Mian unleashed her full-strength Thousand-Layer Wave Palm, sending a five-thousand-zhang river across the battlefield, but Qin Yan survived under the protection of Mo Yuan's Five Elements Yin-Yang Mystic Yellow Bell and continued his breakthrough. The flood receded, leaving the prodigies stunned by the bell's power and Qin Yan's survival.

• Jiang Mian used three percent of her Water Dao Essence to unleash a five-thousand-zhang river that shattered the Dark Lasers and swept across the battlefield.
• The prodigies fled the flood, but it swept up a dozen who had not escaped in time.
• Jiang Mian dispelled her Golden Body, took a pill, and saw that Qin Yan's Great Annihilation Spear Shadow still hung in the sky, showing that his breakthrough continued.
• The prodigies sensed the Five Elements Yin-Yang Mystic Yellow Bell protecting Qin Yan, the Shadow Clone, and Mo Yuan from the river.
• Mo Yuan's bell dissolved after absorbing the attack, and the prodigies marveled at its defensive power and Qin Yan's survival.

Qin Yan began merging with the Great Annihilation energy to break through to Domain Fusion Return to One, prompting the surrounding prodigies and Jiang Mian to flee. The Shadow Clone and Mo Yuan blocked Xiao Yutian and Bai Zhi from escaping, and the two Beast-Controlling Sect disciples unleashed their Dao Essences to break through.

• Qin Yan shouted “Merge!” and drew the Great Annihilation energy into himself as his breakthrough began.
• The watching prodigies fled, and Jiang Mian withdrew after warning Qin Yan that she would face him again.
• The Shadow Clone and Mo Yuan blocked Xiao Yutian and Bai Zhi as they tried to escape the Blood-Devouring Mosquito.
• The Shadow Clone refused Xiao Yutian’s attempt to negotiate, determined to keep him and Bai Zhi there and take their belongings.
• Xiao Yutian activated his Metal Dao Essence, while Bai Zhi activated her Thunder Dao Essence to break through the encirclement.

Qin Yan completed his breakthrough and unleashed Great Annihilation Spear Intent against Xiao Yutian, Bai Zhi, and their beasts. He blasted all four away, leaving the battle decisively in his favor.

• Xiao Yutian and Bai Zhi fought the Dark Emperor Golden Body and Blood-Devouring Mosquito but could not break through the encirclement.
• Mo Yuan weakened their strongest attacks, while Qin Yan’s Great Annihilation Spear Shadow nearly merged into his body.
• Qin Yan broke through and appeared above Xiao Yutian and Bai Zhi, surrounded by powerful Great Annihilation Spear Intent.
• Qin Yan summoned miniature spear shadows over the two Golden Bodies and two Fierce Beasts, sending Great Annihilation Spear Intent into them.
• Xiao Yutian, Bai Zhi, the Golden Astral Tiger, and the Thunder Moon Wolf were blasted away, their Golden Bodies shattered and the beasts badly wounded.

Qin Yan used his newly mastered Great Annihilation Spear Domain to subdue Xiao Yutian and Bai Zhi, then forced Xiao Yutian to reveal a hidden treasure site before killing him. He turned toward Bai Zhi, who prepared to make a desperate appeal.

• Qin Yan’s domain crushed Xiao Yutian, Bai Zhi, and their Fierce Beasts, leaving them unable to resist.
• Xiao Yutian offered information about a treasure site in exchange for his life, then tried to bargain for Bai Zhi before abandoning her.
• Bai Zhi and Xiao Yutian traded furious insults over his betrayal.
• Qin Yan compelled Xiao Yutian to reveal the treasure site’s location, entrance, features, and opportunities.
• Qin Yan killed Xiao Yutian, collected his remains and Storage Ring, and approached Bai Zhi.
• Bai Zhi’s face turned pale as she tugged at her robe’s collar.

Qin Yan killed Bai Zhi and her fierce beasts, collected their Dao Essences and other spoils, and left as prodigies discussed his new Domain Fusion Return to One realm. The story then shifted to July first, when Qin Yan arrived at a deadly sandstorm where Xiao Yutian had said a hidden treasure ground was located.

• Bai Zhi tried to seduce Qin Yan into sparing her, but he killed her and then killed the Golden Astral Tiger and Thunder Moon Wolf.
• Qin Yan recalled his Shadow Clone, the Blood-Devouring Mosquito, and Mo Yuan, then examined the Dao Essences and other spoils from Xiao Yutian and Bai Zhi.
• After Qin Yan left, nearby prodigies sensed his lingering Great Annihilation Spear Intent and debated his strength, while Jiang Mian resolved to report his abilities to the Origin Hall.
• On July first, Qin Yan appeared above a remote, deadly stretch of hills filled with tornadoes and recalled Xiao Yutian's information about a hidden treasure ground there.

Qin Yan entered the wind-and-sand wasteland and followed its forty-ninth tornado underground to the treasure site Xiao Yutian’s master had discovered. There, the powerful guardian Clown Light Puppet knelt and called Qin Yan Master, while thick Demon Qi seeped from the Cave Dwelling’s door.

• Qin Yan entered the wasteland and endured forty-eight tornadoes before letting the forty-ninth carry him underground.
• The tornado brought Qin Yan to an enclosed chamber with an old Cave Dwelling and a Light Puppet marked with the name Clown.
• As Qin Yan approached, the Clown Light Puppet knelt and repeatedly paid its respects to him as Master.
• Qin Yan stepped past the kneeling Puppet and found dense Demon Qi leaking from the Cave Dwelling’s stone door.

Qin Yan entered the sealed Cave Dwelling and cautiously descended its seemingly endless spiral staircase, following the Demon Qi below. After a hundred turns, he discovered a towering demon statue and suspected it depicted a Star-Splitting Demon Race warrior.

• Demon Qi surged from the stone door, immobilized Qin Yan, and searched him before retreating and opening the door.
• Qin Yan used the Chaos Origin Sect's Holy Son Token as reassurance and entered the Cave Dwelling, where the stone door shut behind him.
• Qin Yan descended the dark spiral staircase, but an unseen barrier prevented his mental power from reaching its end.
• After ten turns, Qin Yan spotted part of a giant hammer statue surrounded by Demon Qi in the darkness.
• Qin Yan descended a hundred turns and saw the complete statue of a formidable Demon Race warrior wielding the hammer.
• Qin Yan wondered whether the statue portrayed a Star-Splitting Demon Race warrior.

Qin Yan descended a vast staircase lined with statues representing the Demon Race’s great clans and was drawn into a space filled with Light Power and a towering Light Dao Enlightenment Tower. Little Black recognized the place as containing at least a tenth of the Light Essence, but neither of them yet knew how they had arrived there.

• Qin Yan identified the Star-Splitting Demon Race and continued down the staircase, studying the powerful statues he encountered.
• After a full day, Qin Yan reached the bottom of the 4,900-step staircase and suspected its forty-nine statues represented the Demon Race’s Forty-Nine Great Clans.
• Qin Yan approached a black hole surrounded by dense Demon Qi, and it pulled him into an unfamiliar space filled with Light Power, Light Chains, and a towering Light Dao Enlightenment Tower.
• Little Black complained about the Light Power from within the Blood Demon Nest, then emerged after Qin Yan learned it was ready to break through to the Ninth-Grade Realm.
• Little Black recognized the place as the Light Dao Enlightenment Tower and saw that it contained a tenth of the Light Essence.
• Qin Yan recounted his journey to Little Black, who listened and then showed unmistakable joy.

Qin Yan and Little Black discovered that the chamber was a Light Prison and learned how its Demon Race defenses worked. Little Black retrieved the Light Chains holding one-tenth of the Light Essence, but after Qin Yan absorbed them, his body began to crack under the power.

• Little Black identified the chamber as a Light Prison and explained that it held Light Cultivators and was guarded by power left behind by the Demon Race's forty-nine strongest races.
• Little Black used his Darkness Force to lower the Darkness Barrier and wrap the Light Chains in Darkness Membrane.
• Little Black sent the Light Chains into Qin Yan, whose body began to crack as the Light Power overwhelmed him.
• Little Black plunged into Qin Yan's body to help him withstand the Light Essence.

Qin Yan suppressed the Light Chains with Little Black’s help and acquired one-tenth of the Light Essence. Little Black then began taking the Light Dao Enlightenment Tower, leaving its shrinking form shrouded in black mist.

• Little Black used Darkness Chains to seal Qin Yan’s Light Chains, calming his body and leaving him with one-tenth of the Light Essence.
• Qin Yan examined the Light Essence in his Blood Demon Nest and considered using it to comprehend the Light Rule after reaching the True King level.
• Little Black told Qin Yan that the Light Dao Enlightenment Tower could greatly accelerate cultivation of the Light Rule and was one of the Temple of Light’s three divine towers.
• Little Black’s Darkness Barrier and black mist suppressed the tower’s Light Power, and the Light Dao Enlightenment Tower began shrinking.

Qin Yan stored the Light Dao Enlightenment Tower in Cangwu Small World and returned with Little Black to the Staircase Space, where Little Black identified a statue as belonging to the Nine Netherworld Heavenly Demon Royal Family. Little Black absorbed the statue’s dark-gold Demon Qi, strengthening his foundations, while his sealed origins remained unknown.

• Qin Yan drew the Light Dao Enlightenment Tower into the Heavenly Dao space of Cangwu Small World.
• Qin Yan and Little Black left the Light Cage and returned to the Staircase Space.
• Little Black identified the statue at the bottom of the space as a member of the Nine Netherworld Heavenly Demon Royal Family, the Demon Emperor’s race.
• Qin Yan asked about the dark-gold patterns that had once marked Little Black’s seed, and Little Black said his memories and Inheritance were still sealed.
• Little Black touched the statue with a vine and absorbed its dark-gold Demon Qi, strengthening his foundations.

Qin Yan and Little Black climbed the stairs in Emperor Fall Land, where Demon Race statues gave Little Black gifts of Demon Qi. Little Black stored the energy for a future breakthrough as Qin Yan learned about the Demon Race’s clans and supreme races.

• Little Black told Qin Yan that a powerful member of the Nine Netherworld Heavenly Demon Royal Family had given him a gift, bringing his Body Refining close to Venerable.
• Qin Yan and Little Black found an Abyssal Prison Demon Dragon statue, but it gave Little Black nothing because their races were on bad terms.
• They reached a Netherworld Soul-Devouring Demon Tree statue, which poured Demon Qi into Little Black; he sealed it away and thanked the senior.
• As they climbed past more statues, Little Black explained the Demon Race’s Forty-Nine Great Clans, Nine Supreme Races, and strongest figures to Qin Yan.
• About half the statues gave Little Black Demon Qi while the others remained unresponsive, and Qin Yan said the gifts might help him break through to True King after leaving Emperor Fall Land.

Qin Yan left the Light Prison with the Light Essence and Light Dao Enlightenment Tower, while Little Black absorbed the Demon Qi bestowed by the forty-nine statues. After emerging from underground, Qin Yan continued exploring Emperor Fall Land as news spread that he had reached Domain Fusion Return to One in the Spear Path.

• Little Black finished absorbing the Demon Qi from the Demon Race statues and returned to Qin Yan's Blood Demon Nest to cultivate.
• Qin Yan left the Light Prison, wondered why the Demon Race had placed it there, and departed with the Clown Light Puppet bidding him farewell.
• Jiang Mian confirmed that Qin Yan had reached Domain Fusion Return to One, then left the eastern Core Zone after failing to contact Zhao Tianji.
• Qin Yan emerged from underground in a remote desert and decided to explore the area before Emperor Fall Land closed.
• Qin Yan spent the next half month traveling across the hills and searching with his mental power.

After finding no more treasures in the hills, Qin Yan traveled to Xuantian Valley, where a hidden treasure ground had trapped every prodigy who entered. He stepped into its first trial, the Myriad Phenomena Maze, but the maze blocked his mental power and suppressed his vital energy and blood.

• Qin Yan searched the hills for half a month, killed an Eighth-Grade Peak Hillside Giant Bear, and found only one Eighth-Grade Spirit Medicine.
• Qin Yan decided to investigate Xuantian Valley, where a hidden treasure ground had appeared and no entrants had returned.
• Qin Yan reached Xuantian Valley, entered the silver barrier, and learned that he had to pass the Myriad Phenomena Maze by breaking through its Formations.
• The maze produced nine paths and repelled Qin Yan’s mental power when he tried to examine them.
• Mysterious silver symbols wrapped around Qin Yan and suppressed the vital energy and blood in his body.

Qin Yan pushed through the Myriad Phenomena Maze by destroying its Low-Eighth Grade formations, then had his Shadow Clone take over while he practiced spear techniques and saved Skill Points. Three days later, the Shadow Clone had broken nearly a hundred arrays, and Qin Yan remained deep in the maze.

• Qin Yan broke the formation that blocked his vital energy by overwhelming its silver Array Patterns with his own stronger black ones, leaving one path open.
• Qin Yan entered an Illusion Formation and destroyed its arrays to clear the shifting forest, volcanic, frozen, desert, and lightning-filled scenes.
• Qin Yan summoned his Shadow Clone to break the maze’s arrays while he practiced his Spear Technique and accumulated Skill Points.
• Over three days, the Shadow Clone studied and broke nearly a hundred arrays in the Myriad Phenomena Maze.

Qin Yan and his Shadow Clone advanced through increasingly powerful Spirit Arrays in the Myriad Phenomena Maze, improving Qin Yan’s Array Mage mastery as they went. They joined forces to shatter the maze’s final barrier, revealing the way to a palace beyond.

• The Shadow Clone destroyed a three-hundred-pattern Mid-Eighth Grade Spirit Array, and Qin Yan followed it into a vast sea-filled space.
• As the Shadow Clone broke successive arrays, Qin Yan practiced his Spear Technique and raised his Array Mage progress to nine percent of Mid-Eighth Grade.
• After five more days, the Shadow Clone reached a five-hundred-and-ninety-nine-pattern array and told Qin Yan it was likely the maze’s final barrier.
• Qin Yan and the Shadow Clone combined nearly eight hundred black Array Patterns to attack the silver Formation’s weaknesses.
• The pair destroyed the final silver Array Pattern, shattering the barrier and opening the way to the palace beyond.

Qin Yan cleared the Myriad Phenomena Maze and entered Xuantian Hall for its final trial. There, he encountered nine other trial-takers, including the renowned array prodigy Shen Xinglan, and his arrival astonished them.

• The trial voice congratulated Qin Yan for clearing the Myriad Phenomena Maze and summoned him to face the final trial.
• Qin Yan approached Xuantian Hall and saw it sealed by a vast web of silver Array Patterns powerful enough to threaten even Emperors.
• Mystic Light drew Qin Yan into Xuantian Hall, where nine other maze-clearing prodigies were waiting.
• Shen Xinglan, a Heavenly Pivot Array Sect prodigy praised as having the makings of an Emperor-Rank Array Mage, sensed Qin Yan's arrival.
• Qin Yan appeared in the hall, and the other trial-takers exclaimed in surprise that he had reached the final trial and was skilled in array arts.

Qin Yan joined the array prodigies gathered in the palace and spent the three days before the final trial practicing his spear while his Shadow Clone cultivated formations. When the trial began, Mystic Light enveloped Qin Yan and the other eleven trialists, and the space around them changed.

• The palace voice explained that the final trial, Enlightenment Within the Array, would begin in three days and reward stronger and more numerous Spirit Arrays with better inheritance.
• Qin Yan recognized Shen Xinglan but no one else, then practiced his spear technique while the other prodigies prepared for the array trial.
• Qin Yan's Shadow Clone devoted itself to formation cultivation in the Blood Demon Nest to help him pursue Xuantian Valley's array inheritance.
• Two more array prodigies arrived during the three-day wait, bringing the number of trialists to twelve.
• The palace voice announced the start of the final trial, and Mystic Light enveloped Qin Yan and the other eleven trialists as the space around them changed.

Qin Yan entered the Ten Thousand Array Stele’s trial, where contestants earned Points by comprehending Spirit Arrays over a month. As he trained while his Shadow Clone studied the stele, Shen Xinglan surged far ahead on the Dark Ranking List, leaving Qin Yan with only three Points.

• Qin Yan learned that the Ten Thousand Array Stele held Formations from Seventh Grade to Eleventh Grade, including an Emperor-Level Spirit Array, and that his Points would determine his Inheritance.
• Qin Yan sent his Shadow Clone to study the stele while he practiced his spear technique.
• The Dark Ranking List appeared, and Shen Xinglan quickly reached twenty Points as the only name on it.
• Shen Xinglan’s score climbed to three hundred Points before Ling Feng appeared in second place with six.
• Qin Yan’s Shadow Clone earned three Points, placing Qin Yan eleventh on the list, and Qin Yan fell silent at his low ranking.

Qin Yan spent his Skill Points and had his Shadow Clone study formations to raise his Array Mage progress, eventually reaching Eighth-Grade Upper-Rank. He then entered the Ten Thousand Array Stele’s vast array world, determined to claim second place despite Shen Xinglan’s overwhelming lead.

• Qin Yan used 35,200 Skill Points to raise his Mid-Eighth Grade Array Mage progress from twenty to forty-four percent.
• Qin Yan had his Shadow Clone study the Ten Thousand Array Stele while he trained, combining their progress to advance his Array Mage rank faster.
• After half a month, Qin Yan spent his accumulated Skill Points and broke through to Eighth-Grade Upper-Rank Array Mage.
• Qin Yan saw that the Shadow Clone had reached tenth place with 560 Points, while Shen Xinglan led with 57,600 and Ling Feng held second with 1,300.
• Qin Yan went to the Ten Thousand Array Stele, merged his mental energy with its Mystic Light, and entered a vast world of arrays.

Qin Yan entered the Ten Thousand Array Stele’s inner world and comprehended a Beginner-level Eighth-Grade Upper-Rank Spirit Array, earning ten Points. He calculated that his projected score might only narrowly surpass third place by the end of the assessment.

• Qin Yan examined the floating formations and chose a Spirit Array with six hundred Array Patterns to study.
• Qin Yan entered the array’s world, observed its Blade Qi vortex, and repeatedly probed its patterns as they shifted between defensive and offensive arrangements.
• After an hour and a half, Qin Yan identified the array’s two main pattern groups and how their central node enabled the endless creation of Blade Qi.
• The Ten Thousand Array Stele awarded Qin Yan ten Points and returned his consciousness to the stele.
• Qin Yan estimated he could earn about twelve hundred more Points in fifteen days, but worried that his final score might only barely exceed third place.

As the assessment neared its end, Qin Yan’s Points surged and pushed him up the rankings, alarming the other array prodigies. On the final day, he fought Mu Dong for third place while Shen Xinglan remained far ahead in first.

• Qin Yan continued studying Formations and began gaining Points rapidly after struggling to keep pace with the other prodigies.
• Lin Xuan saw Qin Yan’s Points jump to 730 and then rise by another fifteen, dropping Lin Xuan to tenth place.
• The other candidates noticed Qin Yan’s sudden progress and intensified their efforts to protect their rankings.
• On August 27, the final day of the assessment, Shen Xinglan remained far ahead of the other eleven prodigies with more than one hundred thousand Points.
• Mu Dong struggled to keep studying as exhaustion set in, while Qin Yan closed the gap between them to fewer than twenty Points and pushed for third place.

Qin Yan and Mu Dong fought over third place in the Ten Thousand Arrays Stele assessment as the deadline approached. Qin Yan edged ahead at the final moment, and the assessment ended before he could check the final rankings.

• Qin Yan's points rose to 2,394 while Mu Dong continued comprehending an Eighth-Grade Upper-Rank Spirit Array.
• Qin Yan turned to a simpler Mid-Eighth Grade Spirit Array and used his Shadow Clone's insights to analyze it rapidly.
• Mu Dong completed his formation and reached 2,396 points, briefly taking third place before collapsing from exhaustion and swallowing a Seventh-Grade recovery pill.
• Qin Yan gained three points, reached 2,397, and pushed Mu Dong into fourth place, leaving Mu Dong in disbelief.
• The aged voice announced the end of the final test, and Mystic Light enveloped Qin Yan before he could inspect the rankings.