Recaps

Chou Zhan arrived at the banquet hall gravely wounded and offered Gongyang Ying a War Martial Realm Moon Swallowing Beast core in exchange for treatment. After pressure from the other geniuses left her torn between her healer’s duty and the consequences of defying them, Sikong Jing stepped in to treat Chou Zhan himself.

• Chou Zhan entered the banquet hall, asked for Gongyang Ying, and offered her the Moon Swallowing Beast’s core to treat his injuries.
• Guo Zixia recognized the core as belonging to the beast the Way of Heaven Academy had sent to kill Chou Zhan.
• Shang Fu, Ling Feiyan, Nu Guang, Guo Zixia, and Fu Jiaoxing warned Gongyang Ying against treating Chou Zhan.
• Gongyang Ying struggled with the choice but began to resolve to treat Chou Zhan despite the threats.
• Sikong Jing interrupted her and offered to treat Chou Zhan in exchange for the beast’s core and corpse.

Sikong Jing cured Chou Zhan of the Moon Swallowing Beast’s venom and left the banquet hall with him to collect his payment. After they departed, Nu Guang accused Gongyang Ying of secretly giving Sikong Jing the antidote, and the gathered prodigies demanded an explanation.

• Chou Zhan gave Sikong Jing the Moon Swallowing Beast’s inner core in exchange for treatment, and Sikong Jing examined his injuries and cultivation.
• Sikong Jing gave Chou Zhan a pill containing his blood, which immediately dispelled the beast venom and restored Chou Zhan’s complexion.
• Chou Zhan thanked Sikong Jing and promised to hand over the Moon Swallowing Beast’s corpse outside, then the two left the banquet hall.
• Nu Guang accused Gongyang Ying of having an affair with Sikong Jing and claimed she had supplied the antidote.
• Shang Fu and Junior Sister Lan pressed Gongyang Ying for an explanation, but she denied giving Sikong Jing the pill.

Sikong Jing returned to the banquet and defended Gongyang Ying from accusations that they were having an affair, slapping Nu Guang, Junior Sister Lan, Junior Brother Liu, and Ling Feiyan. He then declared that he was married and threatened anyone who used Gongyang Ying to insult him, leaving her furious after she had begun to feel moved by his defense.

• Fu Jiaoxing and the banquet guests accused Gongyang Ying of giving Sikong Jing an antidote pill and having a relationship with him, while Ling Feiyan also condemned her.
• Sikong Jing returned, called out the guests for bullying Gongyang Ying, and told Chou Zhan to wait for him.
• Nu Guang, Junior Sister Lan, and Junior Brother Liu continued to accuse Gongyang Ying, so Sikong Jing slapped each of them.
• Ling Feiyan called Sikong Jing and Gongyang Ying a pair of cheating dogs, and Sikong Jing kicked and slapped her.
• Sikong Jing warned the guests not to insult his character by claiming he was having an affair with Gongyang Ying, then revealed that he was married.

Sikong Jing admitted to breaking the Tyrant Heaven Chamber of Commerce’s rules by striking the banquet guests, then left after Executive Luo let him go when she heard his name. The others speculated about his influence, while Ling Feiyan apologized to Gongyang Ying in hopes of gaining Sikong Jing’s favor.

• Sikong Jing warned the guests not to credit Gongyang Ying for his antidote pill and started to leave with Chou Zhan.
• Fu Jiaoxing called the Chamber of Commerce’s enforcers to punish Sikong Jing for attacking people inside the banquet.
• Sikong Jing admitted the accusations and told the Dao Inquiry Realm experts to move aside, saying he had struck them because his name was Sikong Jing.
• Executive Luo ordered her enforcers to let Sikong Jing leave, and he departed the tower with Chou Zhan.
• After Sikong Jing left, Executive Luo said his name was the reason she let him go, and Ling Feiyan apologized to Gongyang Ying to curry favor with him.

Sikong Jing’s alleged ties to the Tyrant Heaven Chamber of Commerce were exposed as a consequence of the danger he faced, leaving Gongyang Ying abandoned by those who had just courted her. The banquet then welcomed Hua Meixi, captain of the Raging Flower Battle Team, who called Guo Zixia, Fu Jiaoxing, and Shang Fu forward.

• Shang Fu slapped Nu Guang and ordered him away, while people from other factions apologized to Gongyang Ying.
• Steward Huang revealed that Sikong Jing was suspected of helping Hua Lidian kill a steward and would be tried before the quota battle.
• Ling Feiyan and Shang Fu disowned Gongyang Ying after learning Sikong Jing had stood up for her.
• Steward Huang announced that Hua Meixi, captain of the Eastern Tyrant Heaven Branch’s Raging Flower Battle Team, had arrived.
• Hua Meixi entered with her armored team, introduced herself, and ordered Guo Zixia, Fu Jiaoxing, and Shang Fu to step forward.

Hua Meixi searched for Sikong Jing and revealed that her father had asked her to protect him, while Chou Zhan asked Sikong Jing to investigate his master's death. The chapter ended with Sikong Jing realizing Chou Zhan had identified the Steel Bone Flying Vulture on his shoulder.

• Hua Meixi asked the gathered geniuses where Sikong Jing was, then learned he had left with Chou Zhan.
• Hua Meixi said she wanted to meet the man her father had insisted she protect and praised Gongyang Ying before leaving.
• Sikong Jing stored the Moon Swallowing Beast's corpse in the Blood Devour Dragon Pearl and prepared to depart from Chou Zhan.
• Chou Zhan showed Sikong Jing his master's corpse and explained that a hidden attacker had helped kill his master during an ambush.
• Chou Zhan asked Sikong Jing to inspect his master's Spirit Platform Sea of Consciousness, explaining that he trusted no other Soul-Reversal Realm expert.
• Sikong Jing realized Chou Zhan had recognized the Steel Bone Flying Vulture on his shoulder.

Sikong Jing uncovered evidence that the Way of Heaven Academy had killed Chou Zhan’s master, then left to return to the Treasure Immortal Tower. There, he found Hua Meixi waiting amid a gathering of powerful experts.

• Chou Zhan explained that he had gambled on Sikong Jing because he had no safer choice, and Sikong Jing agreed to investigate his master’s death.
• Sikong Jing examined Chou Zhan’s master’s corpse and found an aura belonging to the Way of Heaven Academy, warning Chou Zhan not to act rashly.
• Chou Zhan revealed that he possessed a battle body rather than a ninth-grade heavenly vein and promised to repay Sikong Jing.
• Sikong Jing left for the Treasure Immortal Tower, where Hua Meixi and numerous powerful experts awaited him.
• Hua Meixi asked Sikong Jing how he knew the gathered experts meant him no harm.

Sikong Jing met Hua Meixi, Hua Lidian’s daughter, who explained that she could save either him or her father by making one of them bear all responsibility for Ren Dongmeng’s death. Sikong Jing volunteered to take the blame, but Hua Meixi revealed that Hua Lidian had asked her to protect Sikong Jing instead, believing he would become a vital comrade and save her life someday.

• Hua Meixi questioned Sikong Jing about why he had entered Treasure Immortal Tower and learned he wanted to overturn the case and protect Lang Zhengzhi.
• Hua Meixi revealed her identity as Hua Lidian’s daughter and explained that her authority offered little chance to challenge Ju Dan’s influence.
• Hua Meixi offered to forcefully protect either Sikong Jing or Hua Lidian if the other took sole responsibility for Ren Dongmeng’s death.
• Sikong Jing freely accepted the blame, saying Ren Dongmeng had been killed by him alone and that Hua Meixi should save her father.
• Hua Meixi told Sikong Jing that Hua Lidian had instead instructed her to protect him, predicting he would become a loyal comrade and save her life in the future.

Sikong Jing rejected Hua Lidian’s offer to have Hua Meixi protect him, insisting that he would not let Hua Lidian bear responsibility for Ren Dongmeng’s death. As Sikong Jing prepared to face the danger with Lang Zhengzhi and Lang Yisuo’s help, Hua Meixi struggled to understand why both he and her father had chosen to protect each other.

• Hua Meixi accused Hua Lidian of doubting her by asking Sikong Jing to protect her, while Sikong Jing realized that Hua Lidian was sacrificing himself out of trust in him.
• Sikong Jing refused Hua Lidian’s goodwill, saying he could not let Hua Lidian suffer for Ren Dongmeng’s death and that a father should remain by his daughter’s side.
• Hua Meixi dismissed Sikong Jing’s confidence and called him an insignificant figure, but he calmly told her to protect Hua Lidian instead and entered the Treasure Immortal Tower.
• Lang Zhengzhi went to receive Hua Meixi while Lang Yisuo asked Sikong Jing if he could withstand the Tyrant Heaven Chamber of Commerce; Sikong Jing said he needed a million mercenaries, and Lang Yisuo said he had contacted a group.
• Hua Meixi asked Lang Zhengzhi why Hua Lidian and Sikong Jing had both chosen to protect the other, and whether they were normal people at all.

Lang Zhengzhi explained why Sikong Jing refused Hua Lidian’s offer, then revealed that a Battle-Killing Diagram might sway the Eastern Tyrant Heaven Branch to protect Sikong Jing and Hua Lidian. Sikong Jing secretly had several diagrams and strengthened his mercenary forces, leaving the Sky Ox Mercenary Corps commander determined to fight hard for the mission.

• Lang Zhengzhi told Hua Meixi that Hua Lidian had hoped to secure Sikong Jing as someone his daughter could rely on, but Hua Meixi rejected his explanation and left.
• Lang Zhengzhi told Sikong Jing that a precious treasure might persuade the Eastern Tyrant Heaven Branch to intervene, and Sikong Jing privately considered his Blood Devour Dragon Pearl and Battle-Killing Diagrams.
• Lang Zhengzhi said a Battle-Killing Diagram could balance Ju Dan’s advantage, and Sikong Jing secretly realized he had several diagrams but chose not to reveal them.
• Sikong Jing and Lang Yisuo met Niu Gong, commander of the Sky Ox Mercenary Corps, who warned that his mercenaries might not obey like a regular army if the situation became hopeless.
• Sikong Jing gave Niu Gong several hundred Bright Core Crystals, prompting Niu Gong to order his troops to give everything they had and not retreat unless absolutely necessary.

Hua Meixi decided to forcibly protect Hua Lidian and blame Sikong Jing, convinced that Sikong’s million Innate Realm mercenaries could not stand against the Tyrant Heaven Chamber of Commerce. After confronting her father, she left unsettled as her team defended Sikong’s character.

• Sikong Jing returned to the Treasure Immortal Tower and told Lang Zhengzhi that he did not need to drill the Sky Ox Mercenary Corps.
• Hua Meixi dismissed Sikong Jing’s plan and told the decision-makers she would forcibly protect Hua Lidian while letting Sikong make his own mess.
• Elder Ge reminded the decision-makers that she had arranged a possible refuge with Ju Dan through Tian Budian.
• Hua Meixi told Hua Lidian she would protect him to save face and blame Sikong Jing, then rejected his attempts to defend Sikong.
• Hua Lidian worried that Sikong Jing’s plan would not save him and regretted failing to keep his promises to Sikong.
• Hua Meixi asked her team why she felt unhappy after insulting Sikong, and two members praised him as a reliable comrade who would never betray a friend.

The Tyrant Heaven Chamber of Commerce convened a public trial over Sikong Jing’s killing of Ren Dongmeng, alongside a contest for the remaining departure slots. Sikong Jing stood by Chou Zhan as the judgment began, with Hua Meixi and two Western Lands decision-makers serving as jurors.

• Hua Meixi left after declaring that a person like Sikong Jing was unsuited to survive, while the Raging Flower Battle Team wondered at her contradictory attitude.
• Chou Zhan stood beside Sikong Jing at the Tyrant Heaven Ancient Tower and warned Guo Zixia that he would die soon too.
• Old Mo announced that the geniuses would compete for eight remaining slots and that the chamber would publicly judge Sikong Jing for Ren Dongmeng’s death.
• Hua Meixi and the Western Lands decision-makers Elder Feng and Elder Le arrived to serve as jurors.
• Hua Lidian was brought in shackled, exchanged an apologetic look with Sikong Jing, and then Old Mo asked Sikong Jing whether he had anything to say about killing Ren Dongmeng.

Sikong Jing accepted sole responsibility for Ren Dongmeng’s murder and cleared Hua Lidian of involvement during the trial. Old Mo released Hua Lidian but found Sikong Jing guilty, leaving his life-for-life sentence to be carried out.

• Sikong Jing admitted killing Ren Dongmeng and claimed Hua Lidian had tried to stop him.
• Hua Meixi used her true qi to silence Tian Budian when he challenged Sikong Jing’s account.
• Sikong Jing said Ren Dongmeng had threatened to expose Su Yuexi’s secret, but he had no evidence.
• Sikong Jing insisted Hua Lidian had no part in the killing, and Old Mo ordered Hua Lidian released while noting his dereliction of duty.
• Old Mo announced that Sikong Jing was guilty of killing Deacon Ren Dongmeng and that a life must be paid for with a life.

Sikong Jing rejected the Tyrant Heaven Chamber of Commerce’s judgment and refused to be taken into custody, while Hua Meixi stopped Hua Lidian from being made to capture him. When a million mercenaries surrounded the Tyrant Heaven Ancient Tower, the hall mocked Sikong Jing’s apparent backup, but he flew outside to show Tian Budian what was really happening.

• Sikong Jing rejected the judgment, arguing that the Tyrant Heaven Chamber of Commerce had no authority over him because he had not joined it.
• Guo Zixia, Fu Jiaoxing, and Shang Fu urged Hua Meixi to have Hua Lidian capture Sikong Jing, but Hua Meixi slapped them and ordered them back.
• Old Mo ordered Tian Budian to apprehend Sikong Jing and hand him over to the Wind and Music Elders.
• A messenger reported that a million mercenaries had surrounded the Tyrant Heaven Ancient Tower and were demanding Sikong Jing’s release.
• The gathered martial artists laughed at Sikong Jing for allegedly hiring a million Innate Realm mercenaries, but Sikong Jing invited Tian Budian to see for himself and flew out of the hall.

Sikong Jing faced the Tyrant Heaven Chamber of Commerce and the Wind and Music Elders with a million mercenaries at his side. He formed the Bloodforged Army-Slaying Formation, leaving Tian Budian and the others stunned as he prepared to demonstrate its power.

• Tian Budian chased Sikong Jing from the ancient tower, and Sikong Jing stopped before the million mercenaries instead of escaping.
• The Wind and Music Elders pressured the mercenaries, but Sikong Jing ordered them to release their true qi and used it to form a vast blood-colored formation.
• Sikong Jing completed the Bloodforged Army-Slaying Formation, forcing back the elders’ pressure and shocking the gathered decision-makers and martial arts geniuses.
• Hua Meixi and Hua Lidian recognized the formation, while Sikong Jing challenged Tian Budian to witness its power.

Sikong Jing revealed that he had mastered the Army-Slaying Formation and used it to overpower Tian Budian and the Wind and Music Elders. He secured a temporary clearing of the charges against him by offering Hua Meixi the Army-Slaying Diagram, then turned his forces on the two Western Lands elders.

• Sikong Jing used the Army-Slaying Formation to strike Tian Budian, then blasted the Wind and Music Elders through a structure in the Tyrant Heaven Ancient Tower.
• The Wind and Music Elders urged Mo Ya and the others to join forces against Sikong Jing, while Hua Meixi and the Five Elders hesitated over the consequences of fighting him.
• Sikong Jing offered Hua Meixi the Army-Slaying Diagram in exchange for resolving the conflict and clearing the charge hanging over him.
• Hua Meixi declared Sikong Jing's charges temporarily void and ordered a thorough reinvestigation of Ren Dongmeng's death, which Mo Ya accepted.
• Sikong Jing announced that he would drill the Army-Slaying Diagram against the Wind and Music Elders, and his mercenaries surrounded the Tyrant Heaven Ancient Tower with blood clouds.

Sikong Jing used the Bloodforged Army-Slaying Formation to drive off the Wind and Music Elders without killing them, temporarily forcing the Tyrant Heaven Chamber of Commerce to set aside its accusations. With the immediate crisis over, Old Mo began the quota battle’s ranking proceedings.

• Sikong Jing battered the Wind and Music Elders with the Bloodforged Army-Slaying Formation until they fled War Martial City, while onlookers discussed his military potential.
• Sikong Jing slapped Tian Budian for insulting him, then told the five elders that their troubles were temporarily resolved.
• Sikong Jing spoke with Hua Lidian and asked Hua Meixi about his Battle-Killing Diagram, and Hua Meixi told him to handle the quota battle first.
• Old Mo brought the geniuses back to the ruined courtyard and announced the start of reestablishing the rankings.

As the slot competition began, Tian Budian tried to remove the one-armed Sikong Jing from ninth place, but the other geniuses insisted he remain. Gongyang Ying won several matches and defied Ling Feiyan’s demand that he lose to a Star Luo Academy opponent, leaving Ling Feiyan furious.

• Old Mo noticed Wang Ge was absent and opened an additional slot for the competition.
• Tian Budian argued that Sikong Jing should compete for a place because he had lost an arm, but Shang Fu, Guo Zixia, and Fu Jiaoxing objected, and Sikong Jing kept ninth place.
• Gongyang Ying defeated Nu Guang and continued winning matches in the contest for the final slots.
• Ling Feiyan ordered Gongyang Ying to lose to his Star Luo Academy opponent and threatened him with the academy’s enmity.
• Gongyang Ying rejected Ling Feiyan’s demand, defeated the Star Luo Academy student, and walked toward Sikong Jing as Ling Feiyan vowed that they would all die.

Sikong Jing offered to become sworn siblings with Gongyang Ying, but fled when she tried to learn whether he was older. After Chou Zhan protected her from Ling Feiyan, the Eastern Plains Northern Lands rankings were announced and the group prepared to travel to Eastern Plains Bright Dragon Stronghold; meanwhile, Shang Fu and Fu Jiaoxing sought an alliance with Guo Zixia, who refused.

• Sikong Jing proposed becoming Gongyang Ying's sworn brother, then changed his offer to becoming her master when she asked which month he was born.
• Gongyang Ying's mood lifted, and she broke through to the fifth level of the Extraordinary Realm.
• Ling Feiyan attacked Gongyang Ying, but Chou Zhan blocked her and said he was acting because of Sikong Jing.
• Old Mo and the others stopped the conflict, and the final rankings placed Sikong Jing ninth and Gongyang Ying twelfth.
• Old Mo announced that the group would leave at dawn for Eastern Plains Bright Dragon Stronghold.
• Shang Fu and Fu Jiaoxing recruited Guo Zixia for an alliance, but Guo Zixia refused them.

Sikong Jing tried to reassure Hua Lidian about his estranged daughter, Hua Meixi, but she angrily dismissed his offer of help and mocked his reputation as an Invincible Divine General. Sikong Jing challenged her assumptions by revealing that he had learned the Bloodforged Army-Slaying Formation in less than four months, leaving her to examine proof of its recent origin.

• Hua Lidian asked Sikong Jing to forgive Hua Meixi’s harsh behavior and to look after her in the Central Plains Northern Lands.
• Hua Meixi arrived and rebuked Hua Lidian and Sikong Jing, insisting that she needed no one’s help.
• Hua Meixi claimed Sikong Jing had practiced army-slaying formations since childhood and mocked his reputation as an Invincible Divine General.
• Sikong Jing said he had studied army-slaying formations for less than four months and identified his formation as the Bloodforged Army-Slaying Formation.
• Sikong Jing handed Hua Meixi the Blood-Refining Battle-Slaying Diagram and explained that he had taken it from an enemy who received it from the Bloodforged Patriarch less than half a year earlier.

Hua Meixi challenged Sikong Jing to prove his knowledge of battle-killing formations, and he instantly solved an advanced assessment diagram, humiliating her. She gave him a second, more complicated diagram, and after careful study he rearranged its points, but Hua Meixi declared his answer wrong.

• Hua Meixi angrily rejected Sikong Jing's offer to exchange pointers and challenged him to identify the errors in a Central Plains assessment diagram.
• Sikong Jing immediately identified all nine errors and correctly rearranged the troop points, leaving Hua Meixi stunned.
• Sikong Jing asked whether the diagram was an entry-level assessment, and Hua Meixi grew more embarrassed because it was from before the final assessment.
• Hua Meixi dismissed his success as luck and presented Sikong Jing with a second, more complicated formation assessment diagram.
• Sikong Jing studied the second diagram for half a quarter-hour, rearranged its points, and Hua Meixi declared his solution wrong.

Sikong Jing insisted that his answer to the second battle-killing assessment diagram was correct, while Hua Meixi dismissed it as a failure. After she showed the diagram to the Fury Flower Squad, it lit up and exploded, revealing that Sikong Jing's answer had surpassed the question setter's abilities.

• Hua Meixi told Sikong Jing that his second assessment diagram was wrong because none of its star points had lit up.
• Sikong Jing told Hua Lidian that the diagram had no error and suggested the assessment itself or its question setter was inadequate.
• Hua Meixi told the Fury Flower Squad that Sikong Jing had studied battle-killing diagrams for less than four months and showed them his supposedly failed assessment.
• The star points on the assessment diagram lit up brilliantly and the chart exploded before Hua Meixi and the Fury Flower Squad.
• A Fury Flower Squad member explained that a chart explosion meant Sikong Jing's answer had exceeded the abilities of the person who created the assessment.

Sikong Jing’s answer to the Army-Slaying assessment diagram proved so powerful that it destroyed the diagram, leaving Hua Meixi torn between humiliation and studying his methods. At the Treasure Immortal Tower, Hua Lidian explained the Central Plains’ rank system, and Sikong Jing confirmed that his Blood-Refining Battle-Slaying Diagram was at least Spirit-grade.

• Sikong Jing’s answer caused the assessment diagram to explode, and the Fury Flower Squad members began reconstructing it while Hua Meixi struggled with whether to study his methods.
• Hua Lidian explained that military formation master ranks followed the five martial realms and depended on the grade of formation a person could wield, not their own cultivation realm.
• Sikong Jing learned how Central Plains grades corresponded to the Eastern Plains’ classifications for formations, weapons, treasures, cultivation arts, and martial skills.
• Hua Lidian said the Qianyuan War Emperor had been an Emperor Martial Stage cultivator but a Saint-grade military formation master.
• Hua Lidian asked about Sikong Jing’s Blood-Refining Battle-Slaying Diagram, and Sikong Jing said it was definitely Spirit-grade and might be Emperor-grade.

Sikong Jing learned more about Hua Lidian’s painful past with Hua Meixi and prepared to leave the Eastern Plains Northern Lands. The chapter ended as the Tyrant Heaven Chamber of Commerce’s group boarded a Divine Void Shuttle Ship bound for the Eastern Plains Bright Dragon Stronghold.

• Hua Lidian regretted losing the Blood-Refining Battle-Slaying Diagram, but Sikong Jing dismissed the loss as unimportant.
• Hua Lidian revealed that Hua Meixi had inherited her mother’s Demonic Charm Battle Body and hinted that it was tied to why he had left them.
• Hua Lidian drank until he passed out, and Sikong Jing declined Lang Zhengzhi’s offer to investigate Hua Lidian’s past.
• Sikong Jing completed the ninth demon dragon’s beast technique, reached the fifth level of the Dao Inquiry Realm, and said his left hand might regrow in the Golden Body Realm.
• Hua Meixi arrived exhausted after studying Sikong Jing’s restored battle-slaying assessment diagram and refused to speak with Hua Lidian.
• Old Mo summoned the group aboard a Divine Void Shuttle Ship to begin their journey to the Eastern Plains Bright Dragon Stronghold.

The Divine Void Ship brought Sikong Jing and the others to the Azure Dragon Small Domain, where Fu Jiaoxing boasted about his supposed role in Su Old Devil’s death and the battle over the Qianyuan Battle-Killing Diagram. Hua Meixi asked Fu Jiaoxing whether he had seen the diagram, and he claimed that he had mastered ordinary battle-killing diagrams after studying it.

• Old Mo’s Divine Void Ship reached the Long Night Imperial Capital in two days and soon arrived near the Azure Dragon Small Domain.
• Fu Jiaoxing claimed he had witnessed Su Old Devil’s death and advised Cold Dragon Patriarch during the battle for the Qianyuan Battle-Killing Diagram.
• Sikong Jing laughed at Fu Jiaoxing’s story but chose not to expose his lies.
• Fu Jiaoxing invented a tale in which Cold Dragon Patriarch killed Su Old Devil and seized his treasures, while the gathered listeners praised Fu Jiaoxing.
• Hua Meixi asked Fu Jiaoxing whether he had seen the Qianyuan Battle-Killing Diagram, and Fu Jiaoxing claimed he had studied it and could master ordinary battle-killing diagrams.