Recaps

The Heavenly Evolution Sect ambushed the Thunder Light Sect’s ship, killing most of its passengers and leaving the survivors unable to escape Lu Ye and the pursuing forces. After joining with Canglan Mountain, the allied sects reached Crimson Blood Valley, whose defenders were already deployed and preparing to resist.

• Zhao Li ordered the Heavenly Evolution Sect ship to ram the Thunder Light Sect ship, and the collision sent it crashing to the ground with more than two hundred cultivators aboard.
• Lu Ye pursued the Thunder Light Sect survivors, intercepted them in midair, and helped the Heavenly Evolution Sect wipe them out without losing anyone.
• The Thunder Light Sect Garrison Envoy learned that more than three hundred cultivator imprints had vanished, while Crimson Blood Valley realized its reinforcements were gone and began preparing for battle.
• The Canglan Mountain cultivators joined the Heavenly Evolution Sect, and the combined force advanced toward Crimson Blood Valley.
• Crimson Blood Valley formed its defenses behind its protective array as both sides exchanged threats and insults.

Lu Ye helped the two sects break Crimson Blood Valley’s Grand Array, but five powerful cultivators from beyond the Spirit Stream Realm turned the battle into a stalemate. One of them pierced Lu Ye with a sword, but Lu Ye countered with a crushing saber strike just as the old man prepared to finish him.

• Lu Ye and the Heavenly Evolution Sect’s formation cultivators broke a section of Crimson Blood Valley’s Grand Array while Zhao Li and Song Yin directed the troops.
• Lu Ye killed many of Crimson Blood Valley’s Body Cultivators, prompting its Garrison Envoy to summon five cultivators who had entered from higher realms.
• The five newcomers stabilized Crimson Blood Valley’s defenses, but Soul Extinguishing Divine Thunder weakened them after they killed more than twenty cultivators.
• The old man attacked Lu Ye, pierced his body, and tried to destroy his internal organs with Spiritual Power.
• Lu Ye struck back with a Double Heavy Pressure Spirit Pattern, forcing the old man to brace against his saber as they fell together.
• The old man saw a sun explode in his field of vision.

Lu Ye and Yiyi used the Nine Realms Map and their combined Spiritual Patterns to kill Crimson Blood Valley’s True Lake Realm Third Elder. Lu Ye returned to the battlefield and revealed the elder’s corpse, leaving both sides stunned.

• Lu Ye blinded the Third Elder with the Great Sun Spiritual Pattern, and Yiyi drew them into the Nine Realms Map.
• Yiyi secretly solidified the space around the Third Elder while Lu Ye attacked, landing several devastating wounds.
• Lu Ye killed the Third Elder, gained a large amount of Merit, and retrieved the elder’s longsword and corpse.
• Lu Ye returned to the battlefield and threw down the Third Elder’s corpse, shocking the fighters and prompting cries that the elder was dead.

Lu Ye and the allied cultivators captured Crimson Blood Valley’s camp, while Thunder Light Sect abandoned its own, completing the destruction of three Myriad Demon Ridge strongholds. After the victory feast, Zhao Li and Song Yin asked what Lu Ye planned to do next, as Vast Sky Alliance sects rushed to seek his help.

• The allied cultivators killed Crimson Blood Valley’s Third Elder, drove the defenders into Heaven’s Mystery Hall, and captured the camp after a brutal battle.
• News spread that two True Lake Realm cultivators had died and three others were suffering Heavenly Mechanism’s Soul Extinguishing Divine Thunder, shocking the Nine Provinces.
• Lu Ye’s group found Thunder Light Sect’s camp deserted, divided its Heaven’s Mystery Pillar enhancements, and returned to Canglan Mountain.
• Canglan Mountain held a victory feast, and Zhao Li and Song Yin asked Lu Ye about his next plans as other Vast Sky Alliance sects sought to meet him.
• Lu Ye agreed to receive the visitors, making Zhao Li and Song Yin rejoice.

Lu Ye led a growing Vast Sky Alliance army in a campaign that breached or forced the evacuation of Myriad Demon Ridge camps across the Spirit Stream Battlefield. As the operation spread beyond control, Lu Ye acquired the nickname Gate-Destroying Leaf, and Vast Sky Alliance sects eagerly awaited his army.

• Lu Ye agreed to lead an attack on Myriad Demon Ridge, and Heavenly Evolution Sect pledged its full support.
• Lu Ye coordinated with nearby Vast Sky Alliance factions, then sent two tower ships toward Quiet Peak Gate while the army attacked Profound Darkness Sect instead.
• After breaching Quiet Peak Gate, Lu Ye expanded the Allied Army and ordered member sects to restrain Myriad Demon Ridge factions whose camps had fallen.
• The army occupied more camps, prompting most Myriad Demon Ridge factions to abandon their strongholds rather than resist.
• The Allied Army grew to three thousand cultivators and eight ships, while the nickname Gate-Destroying Leaf spread across the battlefield.
• Vast Sky Alliance sects watched for Lu Ye's army, hoping to use its campaign to strike their Myriad Demon Ridge neighbors.

The Myriad Demon Ridge sent five Heaven Nine Ghost Cultivators to assassinate Lu Ye, hoping to halt his campaign across the Inner Circle. Lu Ye survived by drawing them into an ambush, but news that two Spirit Stream Ranking positions had vanished hinted at a cost elsewhere.

• Myriad Demon Ridge’s Divine Sea Realm cultivators decided to target Lu Ye as his Allied Army continued capturing their camps.
• Five powerful Ghost Cultivators infiltrated the Allied Army’s camp and waited for a chance to enter Lu Ye’s tent.
• Jujia followed Lu Ye’s instructions and let the Ghost Cultivators pass into the tent, where Lu Ye was waiting.
• Lu Ye escaped their attack and triggered an Illusion Array, allowing the surrounding cultivators to overwhelm and kill all five Heaven Nine Ghost Cultivators.
• Zhao Li and the others learned the assassins’ cultivation, then received confirmation that the thirty-ninth and eighty-second places on the Spirit Stream Rankings had been removed.

After five Heaven Nine Grade Ghost Cultivators failed to assassinate Lu Ye, Myriad Demon Ridge abandoned its camps and assembled a much larger force at the Wei River to halt the Vast Sky Alliance Allied Army. With both sides facing a costly stalemate and their Divine Sea Realm cultivators preparing to negotiate, Lu Ye proposed opening another battlefield.

• Lu Ye's formations killed the five Ghost Cultivators sent to assassinate him, and he led the Allied Army onward.
• Myriad Demon Ridge ordered its forces to abandon their camps and gather ahead of the Allied Army, while Core Region cultivators from both sides joined the conflict.
• Ten days later, over eighteen thousand Vast Sky Alliance cultivators and more than twenty thousand Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators faced each other across the Wei River.
• The two armies remained in a standoff for three days as Divine Sea Realm cultivators prepared to negotiate a settlement.
• Lu Ye told the commanders that negotiations would end the Allied Army's offensive, then proposed opening another battlefield, and Zhao Li asked if he meant starting elsewhere.

Lu Ye left the nearly twenty-thousand-strong Allied Army to pursue more Myriad Demon Ridge forces and traveled with Jujia to Silver Light Island, where Luo Fu and Qi Shi prepared to join his campaign. Meanwhile, Tang Yifeng and Pang Zhen flew to discuss the conflict between the two camps, and Tang learned that Lu Ye’s One Leaf talent had once caused the Azure Jade Sect to reject him.

• Lu Ye told the Allied Army to remain at its position and pressure the Myriad Demon Ridge while he and Jujia went to open another battlefield.
• Luo Fu learned Lu Ye was coming to Silver Light Island, and he and Qi Shi contacted the Dharma Flower Sect and arranged to meet him discreetly.
• Lu Ye arrived at Silver Light Island, where Luo Fu secretly brought him into a secluded chamber; the Dharma Flower Sect’s Garrison Envoy soon joined them.
• Tang Yifeng flew toward the negotiations with Pang Zhen, who explained that the Myriad Demon Ridge had demanded Tang’s presence because Lu Ye was a Crimson Blood Sect disciple.
• Pang Zhen told Tang Yifeng that the Azure Jade Sect had once passed over Lu Ye after testing his talent as One Leaf, and the two joked about Leshan and Lu Ye’s nickname.

Pang Zhen and the Sect Master negotiated with Myriad Demon Ridge at Sleeping Dragon Mountain while Lu Ye led attacks on Myriad Demon Ridge camps in the Spirit Stream Battlefield. After the Cloud Mist Sect and Miluo Sect camps fell, Myriad Demon Ridge made major concessions and its negotiator credited the Crimson Blood Sect’s remarkable young cultivator.

• Pang Zhen presented the Vast Sky Alliance’s demands, and both sides spent more than half a day bargaining without reaching an agreement.
• Lu Ye and Jujia led Silver Light Island and the Dharma Flower Sect in breaching the Cloud Mist Sect camp, killing its defenders and plundering its Heaven’s Mystery Pillar.
• Lu Ye left before the battlefield cleanup was complete and joined Vast Sky Alliance forces attacking another Myriad Demon Ridge camp.
• Myriad Demon Ridge’s negotiator offered a substantially improved final proposal and suggested signing a Heaven’s Mystery Contract.
• The Myriad Demon Ridge negotiator revealed that the Cloud Mist Sect and Miluo Sect camps had been taken and praised the Crimson Blood Sect’s extraordinary young cultivator.

Lu Ye’s attacks on Myriad Demon Ridge camps forced Pang Zhen to press for harsher peace terms while both sides scrambled to contain the Second Allied Army. After Hua Ci and Little Grey arrived, Lu Ye led his forces into battle and the Vast Sky Alliance won a crushing victory, leaving the wider conflict poised to escalate.

• The Vast Sky Alliance learned that Lu Ye had captured the Cloud Mist Sect and Miluo Sect camps and was advancing on another Myriad Demon Ridge faction, so Pang Zhen demanded the camps of half a province in negotiations.
• Lu Ye gathered more than a thousand cultivators from six sects, and Myriad Demon Ridge abandoned camps and concentrated its forces to halt the Second Allied Army.
• After the Second Allied Army’s advance was contained, Pang Zhen refused Myriad Demon Ridge’s unchanged terms, while the Crimson Blood Sect’s Sect Master declined to intervene on its own sect’s behalf.
• News arrived that six to seven thousand cultivators had begun fighting away from the Wei River, and the Second Allied Army crushed Myriad Demon Ridge’s forces with help from Crimson Blood Sect reinforcements.
• Hua Ci arrived with Little Grey, and Lu Ye ordered the Second Allied Army to attack the Myriad Demon Ridge force blocking its path.

Lu Ye’s Vast Sky Alliance army routed the Myriad Demon Ridge forces, and negotiations between the Divine Sea Realm cultivators intensified as Myriad Demon Ridge sought to stop his campaign. After learning Golden Cloud Tower had orchestrated the poisoning and ambush that nearly killed him, Lu Ye considered its nearby camp his next target.

• Little Grey tore through the Myriad Demon Ridge battle line, allowing Lu Ye and Jujia’s army to rout the defenders and pursue the survivors.
• Lu Ye’s and Luo Fu’s forces reunited after capturing abandoned camps, while Hua Ci treated Lu Ye’s wounds and told him the camp was being overseen by Gu Yang.
• Myriad Demon Ridge warned Pang Zhen that Lu Ye’s campaign could trigger a full-scale war, then offered to consider his demands.
• The Sect Master demanded to know which faction had poisoned Lu Ye, and a Myriad Demon Ridge elder identified Golden Cloud Tower as the mastermind.
• Lu Ye checked Golden Cloud Tower’s location and saw that his army could reach its camp in less than three days.

Lu Ye agreed to stop attacking Myriad Demon Ridge camps after the factions' Divine Sea Realm cultivators reached an understanding, but he headed for Golden Cloud Tower's camp to fulfill his threat. With Li Baxian protecting him, he entered the camp and confronted its cultivators, leaving them under the pressure of Li Baxian's sword.

• The Sect Master relayed Myriad Demon Ridge's warning to Lu Ye, who agreed to halt his campaign and summoned the Allied Army's Garrison Envoys to arrange their withdrawal.
• After the Allied Army departed, Lu Ye revealed that Li Baxian had secretly followed him to protect him, and the group set off for Golden Cloud Tower's camp.
• Li Baxian's Sword Control carried them to the camp in less than a day, where hundreds of Golden Cloud Tower cultivators had refused to abandon their base.
• Lu Ye used Formation Flags to open the Protective Grand Array and led his companions inside while Li Baxian intimidated the gathered cultivators.
• When Golden Cloud Tower's black-robed envoy threatened Li Baxian, Li Baxian placed a short sword against the man's forehead and warned him to stay silent.

Lu Ye and Li Baxian left Golden Cloud Tower after plundering its Heaven's Mystery Pillar blessings, while Divine Sea Realm cultivators settled the crisis and arranged compensation. Lu Ye returned to a jubilant Crimson Blood Sect camp, and Li Baxian, his old regrets resolved, decided to leave.

• Lu Ye ordered Jujia to clear a path through Golden Cloud Tower's cultivators, then plundered the blessings from its Heaven's Mystery Pillar while Li Baxian guarded the hall.
• Li Baxian flew Lu Ye and the others away, and the Divine Sea Realm cultivators learned that Golden Cloud Tower had avoided escalating the conflict.
• The Myriad Demon Ridge elder agreed to compensate for Golden Cloud Tower's losses within a month, and Pang Zhen offered Lu Ye a safer place to cultivate at Righteous Qi Sect's camp.
• Seven or eight days later, Lu Ye and his companions returned to the Crimson Blood Sect, where Chen Yu, Gu Yang, and the disciples welcomed them.
• Li Baxian told Lu Ye he was going back, having let go of his regrets about the Crimson Blood Sect's future.

Lu Ye converted the blessings he had plundered from Myriad Demon Ridge camps into more than three million sect Merit for Crimson Blood Sect, then spent it developing the sect and buying rare pills. The Heaven's Mystery Pillar reached its limit of ninety-nine Spiritual Energy blessings, leaving the sect with four hundred thousand Merit.

• Lu Ye returned to Crimson Blood Sect and converted his plundered blessings into a little over three million sect Merit.
• Lu Ye issued himself a monthly stipend of three hundred and ten thousand Merit, then began purchasing Spiritual Energy blessings for the camp.
• The camp's spiritual energy stirred and dark clouds gathered, alarming the disciples, but Lu Ye told Gu Yang that the anomaly was nothing.
• Lu Ye let Gu Yang take over buying blessings and purchased two rare pills from the Heaven's Mystery Vault for one hundred and fifty thousand Merit each.
• The Heaven's Mystery Pillar reached ninety-nine Spiritual Energy blessings, and Lu Ye confirmed that no more could be bought.

Lu Ye returned to the Crimson Blood Sect camp after the Heaven's Mystery Pillar increased its Spiritual Energy tenfold, then visited the Main Sect and learned that Shui Yuan had advanced to the Divine Sea Realm. He ended the chapter training in the Weapon Manipulation Technique with Li Baxian while Yiyi secretly slipped into Moon Lake.

• The Heaven's Mystery Pillar granted the camp ninety-nine blessings, making its Spiritual Energy ten times denser and prompting the disciples to celebrate.
• Lu Ye returned to the Main Sect, where the Sect Master told him to lie low until Myriad Demon Ridge delivered its compensation and warned him not to provoke a larger conflict.
• Lu Ye reflected that Pang Dahai had guided him into joining the Crimson Blood Sect, then shared a meal with Shui Yuan, Li Baxian, and Jujia.
• Li Baxian told Lu Ye that Shui Yuan had advanced to the Divine Sea Realm and advised him not to follow Eldest Senior Brother's path by carrying the sect's development alone.
• Li Baxian revealed that he could control a hundred swords and began teaching Lu Ye the Weapon Manipulation Technique through sparring.
• As Lu Ye and Li Baxian trained by Moon Lake, Yiyi slipped into the water while watching their fishing rods.

Lu Ye gave Li Baxian Soul Cleansing Water and two Aperture Mending Pills, allowing his Fourth Senior Brother to repair his damaged Spiritual Aperture and pursue advancement to Cloud River. He then helped Shui Yuan plan the Crimson Blood Sect’s recruitment and development, leaving her with spoils to fund the sect.

• Li Baxian left after instructing Lu Ye in artifact control, then discovered that his gift contained half a bottle of Soul Cleansing Water and two Aperture Mending Pills.
• Li Baxian realized the pills could repair his damaged Spiritual Aperture and let him advance to Cloud River without sacrificing his future potential, then thanked Lu Ye by message.
• Shui Yuan asked Lu Ye whether he had bought the two pills, and he explained that he had done so because one might not be enough to repair Li Baxian’s long-damaged aperture.
• Lu Ye urged Shui Yuan to recruit talented disciples so the Crimson Blood Sect could develop a stronger future roster, and she agreed to hold a Disciple Recruitment Ceremony.
• Lu Ye gave Shui Yuan Storage Bags containing spoils from the forces that had captured Myriad Demon Ridge, asking her to use them for the sect’s expenses.

Lu Ye returned to the Crimson Blood Sect camp, reviewed its new layout and plans, and advised Gu Yang on taking responsibility for the sect. He then summoned Feng Yue, who had reached Spirit Stream Tier Eight, and left her trembling as he ordered her closer.

• Lu Ye entered the camp and learned from Gu Yang that the disciples were cultivating amid the greatly increased Spiritual Energy.
• Gu Yang showed Lu Ye the camp’s newly planned areas, including the Assembly Hall, Spirit Plant Area, residences, and Guest Quarters.
• Lu Ye told Gu Yang to form his own judgments, keep cultivating, and choose one hundred people for Official Disciple status while promoting worthy Rogue Cultivators to Registered Disciples.
• Lu Ye asked about Feng Yue and had Gu Yang summon her from the Spirit Plant Area.
• Feng Yue came to the Assembly Hall in fear, and Lu Ye noted that she had reached Spirit Stream Tier Eight before ordering her to come closer.

Lu Ye made Feng Yue an Official Disciple of the Crimson Blood Sect and oversaw the admission of hundreds of disciples. As Lu Ye examined a Weapon Casket to improve his use of Controlled Artifacts, the Sect Master set out to attend the Three Saints Institute’s Disciple Recruitment Ceremony and seek talent for the sect.

• Lu Ye stamped his Garrison Envoy Great Seal on Feng Yue’s hand, registering her as an Official Disciple and giving her a place and future within the Crimson Blood Sect.
• Feng Yue gathered disciples to help her build a house in the Official Disciples’ residential area.
• Gu Yang finalized the admission roster, and Lu Ye and Hua Ci reviewed it before one hundred Official Disciples and two hundred Registered Disciples were entered into the Crimson Blood Sect’s records.
• Shui Yuan discussed recruitment with the Sect Master, who decided to attend the Three Saints Institute’s Disciple Recruitment Ceremony to find talented prospects for the Crimson Blood Sect.
• Lu Ye found a Mid-Grade Spiritual Artifact called a Weapon Casket in the Heaven’s Mystery Vault, which could make using and replenishing his Controlled Artifacts more efficient.

Lu Ye bought a Weapon Casket and Core Fire, then entered the Mirage Realm to practice controlling artifacts. He repeatedly clashed with a mysterious Myriad Demon Ridge cultivator who overwhelmed him, while the chapter ended with that cultivator entering the Mirage Realm and an honored guest arriving at Three Saints Institute.

• Lu Ye bought a Nine-Hole Weapon Casket and fifty portions of Core Fire, leaving him with just over two thousand Merit.
• Lu Ye refined nine Spiritual Artifacts, placed them in the Weapon Casket, and entered the Mirage Realm to train his artifact control.
• Lu Ye encountered a mist-shrouded Myriad Demon Ridge cultivator, whose powerful palm strike killed him immediately.
• Lu Ye repeatedly reentered the transfer space and attacked the cultivator, but the opponent killed him each time until Lu Ye stopped after seven deaths.
• The Myriad Demon Ridge cultivator waited for Lu Ye to return, then entered the Mirage Realm, while Three Saints Institute welcomed an honored guest.

Lu Ye returned to studying the Spirit Pattern Path with Madam Yun while the Three Saints Institute held its disciple recruitment ceremony. The ceremony ended with the discovery that Tang Yifeng had abducted all fifty top-ranked applicants for the Crimson Blood Sect, leaving Yu Ganjun furious.

• Tang Yifeng told Yu Ganjun he had come to observe the ceremony because the Crimson Blood Sect needed new disciples and he lacked experience recruiting them.
• Lu Ye honed his Art of Artifact Control in the Mirage Realm, then visited Madam Yun and resumed his Spirit Pattern Path studies.
• The Three Saints Institute completed its recruitment rankings, with the Top Fifty expected to join the sect.
• The next morning, the Three Saints Institute discovered that all fifty top-ranked applicants had vanished.
• Yu Ganjun learned that Tang Yifeng had abducted the applicants and angrily condemned the Sect Master of the Crimson Blood Sect.

Lu Ye dealt with fifty talented youths whom Sect Master Tang Yifeng had abducted from the Three Saints Institute, then learned that the institute’s Sect Master had come to confront the Crimson Blood Sect. Pang Zhen arrived to separate the two Sect Masters as Yu Ganjun demanded an explanation.

• Lu Ye learned from Shui Yuan that the fifty youths at the outpost were the top fifty candidates from the Three Saints Institute’s recruitment ceremony.
• When the youths demanded to return, Lu Ye identified himself as the Gate-Destroying Leaf and offered the Top Ten a chance to leave after a year of cultivation.
• Lu Ye sent the youths with Gu Yang to be settled and taught, then returned to the Main Sect and found Tang Yifeng fighting Yu Ganjun.
• Shui Yuan told Lu Ye that Yu Ganjun had come to demand an explanation, not to take the youths back, and said Tang Yifeng could handle him.
• Pang Zhen arrived and separated Tang Yifeng and Yu Ganjun, who accused Tang Yifeng of abducting the Three Saints Institute’s best fifty recruits.

After settling the dispute with the Three Saints Institute, the Crimson Blood Sect received new disciples and a large share of compensation from Myriad Demon Ridge. Lu Ye arranged for Chen Yu to enter the Inner Circle, where he could pursue Merit and further cultivation.

• Pang Zhen mediated an agreement between the Sect Master and Yu Ganjun, who wanted Lu Ye to train at the Three Saints Institute's camp and help it withstand pressure in the Spirit Stream Battlefield.
• The Sect Master explained that Yu Ganjun hoped Lu Ye's presence would also draw support from his powerful senior brothers, while Shui Yuan worried about the consequences for Fourth Junior Brother.
• Gu Yang cared for the fifty abducted recruits and established monthly assessments, prompting them to commit themselves to cultivation at the Crimson Blood Sect camp.
• Myriad Demon Ridge's compensation arrived, including five hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and Lu Ye told Shui Yuan to keep the supplies for the sect's future needs.
• Chen Yu asked Lu Ye for permission to enter the Inner Circle to earn Merit, and Lu Ye advised him to conceal his Crimson Blood Sect origins and act carefully.

Chen Yu left the Crimson Blood Sect camp, and Hua Ci set out for Mount Ying to retrieve a Medical Cultivator legacy despite Lu Ye’s worries. As the camp adjusted to their departures, Lu Ye absorbed the last of his Core Fire and gained a technique for interlocking Spiritual Patterns.

• Chen Yu departed before dawn with Spirit Stones and Spiritual Pills, leaving Lu Ye and Hua Ci to see him off.
• Hua Ci told Lu Ye she was heading near Mount Ying to retrieve a Medical Cultivator legacy, but refused his offer to accompany her and left on Little Grey.
• He Xiyin saw Lu Ye holding Hua Ci’s hand, believed Hua Ci’s teasing claim that she was pregnant, and attacked Lu Ye after Hua Ci departed.
• Feng Yue asked Lu Ye for resources to enter the Inner Circle, but he told her to get lost, and she went to cry with He Xiyin.
• Lu Ye absorbed the remaining Core Fire and gained a technique for interlocking Spiritual Patterns, having already acquired six patterns from the Core Fire.

After switching to the Great Sun Glazed Art, Lu Ye reached Heaven Seven and prepared to enter the Core Region. He agreed to attach himself to the Three Saints Institute, gathered his companions, and learned that Fourth Senior Brother had recovered.

• Lu Ye opened his 240th aperture, switched to the Great Sun Glazed Art, and reached Heaven Seven while deciding to keep cultivating toward 360 apertures before advancing to Cloud River.
• Lu Ye tested his new strength in the Mirage Realm, then visited Madam Yun and collected books on Spiritual Patterns before telling the Sect Master he planned to enter the Core Region.
• The Sect Master told Lu Ye that the Three Saints Institute wanted him to attach himself to their sect in exchange for not pursuing the fifty disciples taken from their recruitment ceremony, and Lu Ye agreed.
• Lu Ye sent word to Amber, Yiyi, Jujia, and Feng Yue to prepare for the journey, then learned from Fourth Senior Brother that his damaged Spiritual Apertures had fully recovered.

Lu Ye brought Jujia, Yiyi, and Feng Yue from the Crimson Blood Sect camp to the Core Region to visit his Fourth Senior Brother, Li Baxian, at the Pill Heart Sect. There, he learned that Li Baxian was away and faced the sect’s hostility toward the Crimson Blood Sect, rooted in their shared history.

• Lu Ye left Gu Yang in charge of the camp and set out with Jujia, Yiyi, and Feng Yue, keeping his Garrison Envoy position because he might need it to negotiate alliances and claim blessings.
• Lu Ye and Jujia took turns flying the group through the Outer and Inner Circles, reaching the Core Region after ten days and finding the journey peaceful.
• Lu Ye arrived at the Pill Heart Sect camp and asked its guards to tell Li Baxian he was there, but his transmission had failed because Li Baxian was likely back at the Nine Provinces Main Sect.
• A green-robed Pill Heart Sect cultivator challenged Lu Ye’s claim to Li Baxian, revealing the sect’s hostility toward the Crimson Blood Sect.
• Lu Ye reflected on the old bond between the Crimson Blood Sect and Pill Heart Sect, their devastating losses in Feng Wujiang’s final battle, and the growing estrangement between the sects.
• Lu Ye recalled that Li Baxian had endured an awkward place at the Pill Heart Sect, where Eldest Senior Brother’s widow secretly protected him, and that her daughter was Feng Yue.