Recaps

Lu Li killed Zhang Meng, escaped the encirclement with Huang Rongyue, and warned Wu Ziyuanxiu that the attackers were rebel vanguard allied with the Incense Fragrance Sect. After Wu Ziyuanxiu rushed to confront them, Huang Rongyue told Elder Qiu that Zuo Qingtian had stayed behind, prompting Elder Qiu to hurry back toward the fighting.

• Lu Li killed Zhang Meng, gathered the poison inside his body, and prepared to flee with Huang Rongyue as enemies closed in.
• Huang Rongyue partially regained consciousness, carried Lu Li through the air, and fainted after reaching the mountainside; Lu Li then carried her through the encirclement to Wu Ziyuanxiu and the elders.
• Lu Li warned Wu Ziyuanxiu that the attackers were rebel vanguard and that the Incense Fragrance Sect was secretly allied with them, so Wu Ziyuanxiu flew off to fight them.
• Luo Bingyun checked Lu Li for injuries, and he explained what had happened; she praised him and said the Evergreen Sect would benefit from the Broken Mountain Sect's losses.
• Huang Rongyue told Elder Qiu that Zuo Qingtian had stayed behind to cover their retreat and that the enemy had a Xiantian Martial Artist, so Elder Qiu hurried away to find him.

After the battle, Wu Ziyuanxiu captured an Incense Fragrance Sect member and planned to use him as grounds to destroy the sect, while Lu Li's companions regrouped. Wei Zhantang arrived and learned that Zuo Qingtian had died, then demanded an explanation from Wu Ziyuanxiu.

• Wu Ziyuanxiu returned with a captured Incense Fragrance Sect member and said he would use the capture to accuse the sect of treason.
• The disciples returned from the fighting, and Lu Li learned that Ji Yun was injured but stable while the people he knew were otherwise safe.
• Elder Qiu returned carrying Zuo Qingtian's charred corpse, and Wu Ziyuanxiu pretended to regret the Broken Mountain Sect's losses.
• Wei Zhantang arrived and initially said the sect would accept responsibility for its disciples' deaths and injuries.
• After seeing Zuo Qingtian's body, Wei Zhantang flew into a rage, demanded an explanation from Elder Qiu, and finally turned to question Wu Ziyuanxiu.

After Elder Qiu confirmed that Zuo Qingtian was dead, Wei Zhantang blamed Wu Ziyuanxiu and vowed to help destroy the Incense Fragrance Sect. Wei Zhantang then attacked Lu Li, accused him of being Blood Ghost and killing Zuo Qingtian, and remained suspicious even after Huang Rongyue said Lu Li had saved her.

• Elder Qiu confirmed that the body was Zuo Qingtian, and Wei Zhantang demanded an explanation from Wu Ziyuanxiu.
• Wu Ziyuanxiu revealed that the attackers were rebel soldiers connected to the Incense Fragrance Sect, and Wei Zhantang pledged the Broken Mountain Sect to help wipe them out.
• Wei Zhantang suspected Lu Li of killing Zuo Qingtian and rushed to attack him, but Luo Bingyun and Lu Li intervened to keep him from capturing Lu Li.
• Wei Zhantang accused Lu Li of being Blood Ghost, while Wu Ziyuanxiu and Zhang Zhihuan moved to block him.
• Huang Rongyue said Lu Li had saved her and had nothing to do with Zuo Qingtian's death, but Wei Zhantang still insisted Lu Li might have arranged the killing.

Wei Zhantang tried to kill Lu Li, but the Evergreen Sect elders and others stopped him and forced him to withdraw. After the Prefect discussed plans to eradicate the Incense Fragrance Sect, Cang Baihe asked Lu Li whether he had killed Zuo Qingtian.

• Luo Bingyun told the Evergreen Sect elders that Wei Zhantang had tried to kill Lu Li after Lu Li helped him.
• Cang Baihe and the other elders, along with Wu Ziyuanxiu, Zhang Zhihuan, and Elder Qin, stood between Wei Zhantang and Lu Li and condemned Wei Zhantang's attack.
• Wei Zhantang left with his disciples, and Vajra Gate departed afterward.
• Wu Ziyuanxiu praised Lu Li's reputation as Blood Ghost and said he planned to wipe out the Incense Fragrance Sect with Wei Zhantang's help.
• Cang Baihe told Wu Ziyuanxiu that the Evergreen Sect elders would go after the Incense Fragrance Sect, then asked Lu Li if he had killed Zuo Qingtian.

Lu Li absorbed Luo Bingyun’s complete Extreme Ice Marrow and broke through to the seventh level of the Houtian Realm. Cang Baihe explained the dangerous All-Things Creation Technique, and Lu Li resolved to learn it as they traveled to consult the Supreme Elder.

• Lu Li explained that he had recognized Luo Bingyun as the expert who once secretly followed him, and she gave him a complete Extreme Ice Marrow.
• Luo Bingyun guided the marrow’s energy through Lu Li’s body, helping him break through to the seventh level of the Houtian Realm.
• Cang Baihe carried Lu Li through the air and explained that Luo Bingyun had secretly protected him since he first arrived.
• Cang Baihe described the All-Things Creation Technique and warned that it could cause cultivation deviation, madness, or monstrous mutations.
• Lu Li declared that he wanted to learn the technique, and Cang Baihe agreed to seek the Supreme Elder’s permission.

Lu Li entered Tianlan Cave to cultivate and chose its most dangerous central path, where lingering battlefields and killing intent tested his mind. At the cave’s end, he witnessed the apparitions of General Yuwen and Gongsun Wujiu charging into their final battle.

• The Prefect brought Lu Li to Tianlan Cave, where soldiers mocked him before following him inside.
• Lu Li realized the Prefecture Commandant might be a threat because he had ordered an attack on Blood Ghost, and he hurried deeper into the cave.
• Lu Li chose the central route, where the cave’s killing intent conjured visions of the ancient armies’ brutal battle.
• Lu Li used the Clear Spirit Jade Pendant Huang Rongyue had given him to resist the cave’s influence and continued to the end.
• Lu Li saw General Yuwen and Gongsun Wujiu exchange defiant words before charging at each other in a violent clash.

Lu Li witnessed General Yuwen and Gongsun Wujiu fight the Great Yan forces, ending in a devastating explosion that killed the combatants. Back in the cave, Lu Li faced a crushing wave of Killing Intent infused with the emotions of all those who had died.

• Lu Li recognized the Eight Directions Dragon-Trapping Array as the technique used in Changfeng County and watched General Yuwen summon Gongsun Wujiu to fight beside him.
• The Great Yan Grandmaster trapped General Yuwen and Gongsun Wujiu with the Eight Directions Dragon-Trapping Array, but General Yuwen's Killing Intent had driven him mad.
• As the Great Yan forces overwhelmed them, General Yuwen, Gongsun Wujiu, and a sword fused into a cocoon, and General Yuwen began to swell.
• General Yuwen exploded in a blast of red light, killing the Great Yan commanders and fatally wounding the Great Yan Grandmaster.
• Lu Li found no trace of the sword, then returned to the dark cave as a powerful wave of combined Killing Intent pressed down on him.

Lu Li comprehended the Concept of slaughter in the cave and fought the vengeful spirits of General Yuwen and the Great Yan Grandmaster. After defeating them, he gained a powerful slaughter ability and left the cave, while two soldiers waited at a nearby fork.

• Lu Li focused on the essence of slaughter and formed a faint Concept seed in his sea of consciousness.
• General Yuwen, the Great Yan Grandmaster, and the other wraiths appeared and attacked Lu Li.
• Lu Li used his blade and Extreme Ice inner qi to destroy the wraiths, including General Yuwen and the Great Yan Grandmaster.
• A refined force entered Lu Li and transformed his Concept seed into a blood-red light that granted him a powerful slaughter ability.
• Lu Li tested the ability with a slash that shattered the cave rocks, then headed for the exit.
• Two soldiers hid at a fork in the passage and watched the central passage with hostile intent.

Lu Li emerged from Tianlan Cave unharmed and killed two Xiantian martial artists who ambushed him by overwhelming them with the killing intent of his Concept Realm. Wu Ziyuanxiu explained that the bones in the cave belonged to Great Yan's Grandmaster and General Yuwen, and Lu Li left resolved to settle accounts with the prefecture commandant once he was strong enough.

• Two Xiantian martial artists waited outside the passage, expecting Lu Li to emerge dead or injured, then attacked him when he appeared.
• Lu Li dodged their blades with Spirit Void Step and disarmed them with a strike enhanced by his slaughter Concept Realm.
• Lu Li's killing intent overwhelmed the two men, who collapsed and died of fright before his blade struck them.
• Lu Li emerged from the cave and told Wu Ziyuanxiu that he had witnessed the battle between Great Yan's Grandmaster and General Yuwen and had comprehended a complete Concept Realm.
• Wu Ziyuanxiu explained that the prefecture commandant had arranged the resentful bones in the cave and said his scheme had inadvertently helped Lu Li refine his Concept Realm.
• Lu Li vowed to make the prefecture commandant pay once he had gained enough strength.

Lu Li learned that the prefecture commandant had become a threat, while Wu Ziyuanxiu led an assault that crippled the Incense Fragrance Sect. The chapter ended with the prefecture commandant hearing that his own operation had failed and insisting that Lu Li would not anticipate his next move.

• Wu Ziyuanxiu warned Lu Li that the prefecture commandant might target him after learning he was the Blood Ghost and had comprehended a Concept Realm seed.
• Wu Ziyuanxiu told Lu Li he would attack the Incense Fragrance Sect, then led government forces and the three great sects against it using evidence of its crimes.
• Incense Fragrance Sect believers blocked Wu Ziyuanxiu's advance, but he killed most of its leaders and cultists, leaving the sect gravely weakened.
• News spread through Qingfeng Prefecture that Lu Li was the Blood Ghost, and people praised his talent and the Evergreen Sect's rising prospects.
• A black-robed subordinate reported to the prefecture commandant that the plan against Lu Li and the commandant's operation the previous day had both failed.

The prefecture commandant learned that Lu Li had grown stronger and reflected on his estranged son, Nangong Ying, while Black Hawk began a dangerous cultivation technique to prepare for revenge. Two months later, Lu Li had nearly reached the Pre-Heaven Realm and was working to fuse techniques and create one of his own.

• The prefecture commandant ordered his subordinate to monitor Lu Li and asked about Black Hawk, then privately wondered whether Ying'er resented him.
• Black Hawk told Elder Qing that he had decided to risk a technique with a thirty percent chance of reaching the Xiantian Realm so he could take revenge on Nangong Yutao.
• Elder Qing transmitted the technique to Black Hawk, who endured intense pain and resolved to survive for revenge.
• Two peaceful months passed after the purge of the Incense Fragrance Sect, while people debated whether Lu Li, Zuo Qingtian, or Wen Ziliang was the strongest chief disciple.
• Lu Li raised the Endless Life Technique to Houtian Realm Level 9 and continued his effort to fuse techniques and create his own.

Lu Li broke through to the first layer of the Pre-Heaven Realm after experimenting with fusing his techniques, though the combined Inner Qi Realm remained unstable. Wen Ziliang arrived to challenge him, and Lu Li effortlessly defeated him.

• Lu Li carefully combined the Inner Qi Realms of his techniques while keeping the Endless Life Technique separate, then discovered the fusion had forced the Endless Life Technique into a Pre-Heaven Realm breakthrough.
• Lu Li tested the life-filled power of the Endless Life Technique and the unstable, shifting Inner Qi Realm, realizing the latter could deliver a devastating surprise attack.
• Wen Ziliang came to Lu Li’s room, jealous that the chief disciples only talked about Lu Li and Zuo Qingtian, and admitted he had broken through to the eighth layer of the Houtian Realm.
• Wen Ziliang attacked Lu Li, but Lu Li casually blocked and repelled his blows, leaving him sprawled on the floor and unable to get up.

After defeating Wen Ziliang, Lu Li revealed that he had reached the Xiantian Martial Artist realm and continued seeking techniques to fuse. Having found nothing left to learn in Evergreen Sect's Scripture Pavilion, he was challenged by its old man, who promised to reveal stronger techniques if Lu Li fought him.

• Lu Li helped Wen Ziliang up and told him he had broken through to the Xiantian Martial Artist realm, leaving Wen Ziliang shocked and frustrated.
• Wen Ziliang left, promising to seek Lu Li out again after reaching Xiantian, and Lu Li went to the Evergreen Sect the next morning.
• Lu Li searched the Scripture Pavilion for techniques to learn, but the old man discovered he had already mastered the manuals that interested him.
• The old man considered whether Lu Li could cultivate the All-Things Creation Technique and worried about the risk of another failure like Xiao Jinglei.
• Lu Li declared that Evergreen Sect had nothing left for him to learn, so the old man challenged him to a fight before agreeing to reveal stronger techniques.

Lu Li challenged the mysterious Scripture Pavilion guardian and was effortlessly defeated, then learned that the old man intended to pass on the All-Things Creation Technique. Luo Bingyun summoned Lu Li to the council hall, where the elders noticed he had reached the Pre-Heaven Realm.

• Lu Li attacked the old man with his full strength and the Five-Tiger Coiling Dragon Blade, but the old man suppressed him without effort.
• The old man praised Lu Li's talent and decided to pass the All-Things Creation Technique on to him.
• Luo Bingyun brought Lu Li to the council hall, where the elders were waiting for him.
• The elders sensed Lu Li's breakthrough to the Pre-Heaven Realm and welcomed him to take a seat.

Lu Li attended Evergreen Sect’s high-level meeting, where the elders discussed the weakened Incense Fragrance Sect and the suspicious silence of Broken Mountain Sect. As the sect prepared to settle its conflict with Broken Mountain Sect, Lu Li judged that Evergreen Sect’s disciples had grown stronger.

• Huo Wuyai, Xie Liuyun, and Bai Ding'an competed to teach Lu Li, until Cang Baihe called the meeting to order.
• Cang Baihe explained that Lu Li could attend because he was a key figure in Evergreen Sect’s future and already had dealings with its rivals.
• Lu Li recalled how Wu Ziyuanxiu’s campaign had left Incense Fragrance Sect with only a few scattered members, while popular resistance had limited the authorities’ actions.
• Lu Li said Incense Fragrance Sect was too weakened to act freely, but Wei Zhantang of Broken Mountain Sect was likely plotting revenge.
• Cang Baihe declared that Evergreen Sect should settle matters with Broken Mountain Sect, and Lu Li said Evergreen Sect’s disciples were stronger.

Lu Li learned that Evergreen Sect’s disciples had improved dramatically, but the elders decided to avoid attacking Broken Mountain Sect and let their strength grow. After mastering Extreme Ice power with Luo Bingyun, Lu Li left, while Broken Mountain Sect faced a tense gathering under Wei Zhantang.

• Lu Li told Evergreen Sect’s elders that his guidance had greatly improved the disciples, and Cang Baihe confirmed their progress.
• Cang Baihe and the elders agreed that Evergreen Sect should not attack Broken Mountain Sect yet, despite its recent gains.
• Luo Bingyun helped Lu Li fuse Extreme Ice Marrow, and he learned to form ice walls and attack with ice needles.
• Lu Li asked whether Houtian cultivators could awaken special physiques, and Luo Bingyun explained their limits and the vast cost of cultivating one.
• Lu Li bid Luo Bingyun farewell and went down the mountain as Wei Zhantang and Broken Mountain Sect’s elders gathered in a grave atmosphere.

After Zuo Qingtian's death, Wei Zhantang prepared a surprise attack on the Evergreen Sect and recognized Huang Rongyue's strength, granting her sweeping privileges. Huang Rongyue sent a secret message and revealed her plan to take control of the Broken Mountain Sect while feeding on surging killing intent.

• Wei Zhantang dismissed warnings and ordered the Broken Mountain Sect to launch a surprise attack on the Evergreen Sect that night.
• Wei Zhantang tested Huang Rongyue and was forced back when her punch struck his finger.
• Wei Zhantang praised Huang Rongyue, granted her priority access to the sect's resources, and told Elder Qiu to protect her.
• Huang Rongyue refused protection and said she wanted to fight Lu Li to the death.
• Huang Rongyue sent a message with a Hidden Sparrow and declared that the Broken Mountain Sect would soon belong to her.
• Huang Rongyue sensed surging killing intent and prepared to devour it to advance further.

Lu Li led Evergreen Sect in a night raid on Broken Mountain Sect, slaughtering the guards and patrolling disciples. After Niu Man wounded an Evergreen Sect disciple, Lu Li healed him and let Zuo Cangyun face Niu Man, who was left badly wounded by Zuo Cangyun’s dual swords.

• Lu Li reassured the doubtful disciples that he had reason to attack Broken Mountain Sect, then led them toward its mountain gate beneath a moonless sky.
• Lu Li killed the two guards, broke through the gate, and slaughtered the patrolling disciples as his group advanced to the plaza.
• Niu Man attacked the Evergreen Sect disciples and inflicted a lightning-laced wound on one of them.
• Lu Li healed the wounded disciple, then allowed Zuo Cangyun to fight Niu Man over their past grudge.
• Zuo Cangyun used his dual-sword technique to pierce Niu Man and press his attack.

Zuo Cangyun defeated and killed Niu Man, and Lu Li's disciples seized Broken Mountain Sect's resources before preparing to withdraw. Their retreat was interrupted by a group of black-clad newcomers with red scarves on their arms.

• Zuo Cangyun overpowered Niu Man, killed him, and received Lu Li's praise for his dual-sword technique.
• Lu Li's group swept through Broken Mountain Sect and took control of its council hall.
• Lu Li ordered the disciples to find the sect's resources, take what they could, and destroy what they could not carry.
• The disciples gathered high-grade supplies while setting fire to a building filled with lower-grade items.
• Lu Li sensed a powerful presence, then saw an injured disciple die and a red-scarved group of black-clad people approach.

Lu Li confronted a burly saber-wielding leader and an Incense Fragrance Sect elder who had joined forces against the Evergreen Sect. He identified the enemy’s likely ties to the prefecture commandant or Rebel Army, and the battle left him fighting both men while his disciples faced their soldiers.

• The burly leader revealed that his men had come to aid the Broken Mountain Sect while hoping to claim more resources, and he challenged Lu Li.
• An Incense Fragrance Sect elder stepped forward to fight Lu Li, who recognized the elder and guessed that the attackers served the prefecture commandant or the Rebel Army.
• Lu Li assessed the opponents’ strengths and met the elder’s attack, forcing him to call the burly leader into the fight.
• The attackers charged the Evergreen Sect disciples, who held their ground through their training and teamwork.
• Lu Li activated his secret art and struck at the weaker elder, driving him back and cracking his sword.

Lu Li used his fused Inner Qi to defeat the burly man and the old man, leaving them badly wounded but alive. Before he could take them back to the Evergreen Sect for questioning, an elder of Incense Fragrance Sect appeared, rescued the two men, and confronted Lu Li.

• Lu Li fought the burly man and the old man at once, then decided to test his fused Inner Qi against them.
• Lu Li threw a multicolored sphere at the two attackers, and its explosion left them badly wounded in a crater.
• Lu Li ordered his people to take the unconscious men back to the Evergreen Sect for questioning.
• An elder of Incense Fragrance Sect appeared, healed the two men with pills, and warned Lu Li that his advance had ended.
• Lu Li recognized the newcomer as an Incense Fragrance Sect elder and mocked him about the sect's incense.

Lu Li faced Elder Yun of the Incense Fragrance Sect, who threatened the Evergreen Sect disciples and attacked him, but Lu Li had summoned Wu Ziyuanxiu and Zhang Zhihuan. Elder Yun was defeated and captured, and Wu Ziyuanxiu planned to use him to strike at the Incense Fragrance Sect’s leaders.

• Elder Yun identified himself and challenged Lu Li, threatening to kill the Evergreen Sect disciples if Lu Li could not withstand his attacks.
• Elder Yun blocked Lu Li’s Inner Qi sphere and broke through his ice walls as he pressed his attack.
• Lu Li called for the prefect, and Wu Ziyuanxiu and Zhang Zhihuan arrived and overwhelmed Elder Yun.
• Wu Ziyuanxiu and Zhang Zhihuan kicked Elder Yun between them until the assembled fighters surrendered their weapons.
• Elder Yun ignited blood-red flames and tried to fight back, but Wu Ziyuanxiu pierced his abdomen with a beam of Inner Qi.
• Wu Ziyuanxiu told Lu Li he would use Elder Yun to weaken the Incense Fragrance Sect, while Elder Yun demanded to know how Lu Li had learned he was coming.

Lu Li and Wu Ziyuanxiu interrogated Elder Yun, who revealed that Wei Zhantang had hired the Incense Fragrance Sect to guard the Broken Mountain Sect during its attack on the Evergreen Sect. Lu Li uncovered a vast treasure store and took its cultivation techniques, while Wu Ziyuanxiu tried to find an excuse to claim the remaining valuables.

• Lu Li questioned Elder Yun, and Wu Ziyuanxiu promised to spare him if he exposed the Incense Fragrance Sect's crimes.
• Elder Yun said Wei Zhantang had asked the Incense Fragrance Sect to guard the Broken Mountain Sect in exchange for compensation, and admitted he had hoped to loot the sect afterward.
• Elder Yun identified a captured soldier as someone he had seen among the Prefecture Commandant's men, and Wu Ziyuanxiu had the man taken away.
• A disciple led Lu Li to a hidden tunnel in Wei Zhantang's residence, where they found weapons, medicinal pills, and many cultivation techniques.
• Lu Li ordered the cultivation techniques taken, then suggested burning the valuables they could not carry.
• Wu Ziyuanxiu objected and claimed he wanted to search the Broken Mountain Sect for evidence of treason.

Lu Li and Wu Ziyuanxiu’s forces stripped Broken Mountain Sect of its resources, while Lu Li returned to Evergreen Sect and reported their victory to Luo Bingyun. The chapter ended with Wei Zhantang’s battered group fleeing Broken Mountain Sect and discovering they were not being pursued.

• Lu Li let Wu Ziyuanxiu and Zhang Zhihuan take resources from Broken Mountain Sect’s cellar, and together they cleared out the sect’s remaining stores and burned what they could not carry.
• Lu Li led his people back to Evergreen Sect, where Luo Bingyun froze the lingering Inner Qi on the damaged mountainside and heard that the operation had succeeded at the cost of ten disciples’ lives.
• Lu Li asked Luo Bingyun about her battle, and she told him her side had also won a great victory.
• Wei Zhantang’s wounded group fled from Broken Mountain Sect, with Huang Rongyue supporting the badly injured Elder Qiu.
• After confirming there were no pursuers, Wei Zhantang collapsed in exhaustion and cursed Gu Jiuxiao for still being alive.

After returning to the Broken Mountain Sect, Wei Zhantang discovered that Lu Li’s attack had left the sect in ruins and its treasures stolen. The losses overwhelmed him, and the chapter ended with him collapsing after spitting blood again.

• Wei Zhantang blamed Gu Jiuxiao and Cang Baihe for his injuries, mourned the elders lost in battle, and admitted he had led the survivors into disaster.
• Wei Zhantang noticed that no disciples had welcomed them and found two dead disciples at the Broken Mountain Sect’s gates.
• Wei Zhantang found the sect engulfed in flames, its pavilions destroyed, and no surviving disciples; he recognized Lu Li’s killing stroke on the bodies.
• Wei Zhantang tried to take comfort in the sect’s surviving members and separately stored treasures, but discovered his cave cellar had been emptied and fainted.
• Elder Qiu revived Wei Zhantang with an elixir, and he destroyed his cave residence in a rage as the other elders blamed her.
• Wei Zhantang spat blood and collapsed, and the others rushed to catch him.