Recaps

After escaping the room where he killed three pursuers, Chen Changming tried to flee Martial Spirit City but found the gates sealed and the Defense Array activated to trap him. As guards closed in, he remained stuck in the city with danger mounting.

• Chen Changming disguised himself in black clothes and headed for the East Gate after escaping the Wuling Pavilion rental area.
• At the scene, the woman in black concluded Chen Changming had not reached Foundation Establishment and ordered Shangguan Jian to activate the Defense Array.
• Shangguan Jian mobilized Foundation Establishment guards to secure the city gates and sent a guard to activate the array.
• Chen Changming found the East Gate closed and watched the guards, including four Foundation Establishment cultivators, who stood in his way.
• The Defense Array enveloped Martial Spirit City, and Chen Changming realized the Glazed Sect was trapping him to prevent his escape.
• Chen Changming retreated into a dark alley, where a patrol squad of more than a dozen guards confronted him.

Chen Changming killed a patrol squad and escaped through a hidden tunnel with Du Xiaoliang’s help, hiding in a room protected from divine sense. The woman in black tracked his scent to the city’s defense array and concluded he had escaped through a tunnel, then ordered Shangguan Jian to deactivate the array so she could pursue him.

• Chen Changming killed the twelve Qi Refining guards who confronted him and fled through the courtyards to Du Xiaoliang’s yard.
• Du Xiaoliang offered to help Chen Changming escape and led him through a hidden tunnel to the East District.
• Du Xiaoliang brought Chen Changming to a talisman-covered room that blocked divine sense and told him to lie low.
• The woman in black used a Scent-Tracking Insect to follow Chen Changming’s trail to the city’s defense array.
• The woman in black concluded Chen Changming had escaped through a tunnel and ordered Shangguan Jian to deactivate the Defense Array so she could hunt him down.

A Glazed Sect woman tracked Chen Changming to Martial Spirit City's East District, where Du Xiaoliang hid him from her search. After the Consistent Sect failed to find him, the woman punished its leader and ordered another search.

• The woman in black had Shangguan Jian shut down Martial Spirit City's Defense Array, then followed her Scent-Tracking Insect to the East District, where the foul air obscured Chen Changming's scent.
• The woman in black displayed Chen Shan's image and offered a reward for information, while Chen Changming and Du Xiaoliang watched from a hidden room.
• The woman in black ordered He Biying of the Consistent Sect to search the East District, and He Biying's members deliberately ignored the courtyard containing Chen Changming.
• Du Xiaoliang asked Chen Changming about his cultivation, and he confirmed he had established a Body-Refining Foundation using the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art.
• After the search failed, the woman in black severed He Biying's arm and ordered him to search again.

After the woman in black slaughtered He Biying and many Consistent Sect disciples, Du Xiaoliang confronted her and drove their battle from Martial Spirit City into the Wilderness. Chen Changming secretly followed, hoping to help Du Xiaoliang if the evenly matched fight turned against her.

• The woman in black killed He Biying after the Consistent Sect failed to find Chen Changming, then massacred dozens of disciples and other people in the East District.
• Chen Changming asked to go out, but Du Xiaoliang told him to stay and rushed to confront the woman in black.
• Du Xiaoliang shattered the woman’s sword beams with her fists, and the two Foundation Establishment cultivators fought fiercely.
• Du Xiaoliang’s attacks forced the woman in black to retreat from the East District and deep into the Wilderness.
• Chen Changming used the Breath Concealment Technique to follow the fighters secretly, intending to help Du Xiaoliang.

Chen Changming followed Du Xiaoliang and the black-clad woman as they fought through the Wilderness, waiting for a chance to kill the Glazed Sect cultivator. The battle left both women gravely injured, while a spreading black mist began flowing from a valley toward Martial Spirit City.

• Chen Changming collected dead Beasts while tracking Du Xiaoliang and the black-clad woman through the aftermath of their battle.
• The black-clad woman trapped Du Xiaoliang inside the Vermilion Bird Profound Fire Cover, but Du Xiaoliang broke free with the Profound Heaven Sword Intent.
• A cloud of black mist poured from an unnamed valley, corrupted a Level 2 Demonic Beast, and began moving toward Martial Spirit City.
• Du Xiaoliang and the black-clad woman fought through the night, and Du Xiaoliang eventually cracked the woman's shield with a punch.
• Several hours later, both women fell from the sky, and Du Xiaoliang declared that the black-clad woman would die that day.

Chen Changming killed the injured woman in black from the Glazed Sect and helped Du Xiaoliang recover. As they headed toward Martial Spirit City, a Black Mist surrounded them.

• Chen Changming emerged from hiding and pretended to be frightened while the woman in black and Du Xiaoliang struggled to recover.
• The woman in black attacked Chen Changming with her Flying Sword, but he deflected it and rushed in to break her shield and kill her.
• The woman in black's Primordial Spirit tried to escape, but Chen Changming's punch destroyed it; he then gave her Storage Ring to Du Xiaoliang, who took healing pills.
• Chen Changming stood guard while Du Xiaoliang cultivated, and they later noticed a Black Mist spreading through the woods.
• Chen Changming carried Du Xiaoliang toward Martial Spirit City with the woman's belongings, but the Black Mist quickly surrounded them.

Chen Changming escaped the Black Mist with Du Xiaoliang and raced through the night to Martial Spirit City, but the mist caught up and surrounded the city. They took refuge inside, while the Glazed Sect’s sect master set out with Foundation Establishment cultivators to avenge Elder Li.

• Chen Changming used his Foundation Establishment physique and repeated punches to escape the Black Mist, which consumed the Beasts in the forest.
• The Glazed Sect’s sect master learned that Elder Li had died and led dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators toward Martial Spirit City.
• Chen Changming carried Du Xiaoliang through the Wilderness for a day and night until they reached Martial Spirit City.
• The Black Mist arrived at Martial Spirit City and began surrounding it as cultivators watched in alarm.
• Du Xiaoliang and Chen Changming entered the city, thanked each other for saving their lives, and she gave him her Storage Ring.
• Du Xiaoliang worried that Shangguan Jian and the others had still not activated the Defense Array.

Li Xiuning, the Glazed Sect’s Golden Core Sect Master, arrived in Martial Spirit City and learned that Elder Li had vanished after pursuing Chen Changming. When the Black Mist overwhelmed the slums and clung to the city’s Defense Array, Chen Changming and Du Xiaoliang took shelter, only for the mist to break through their courtyard wall.

• Shangguan Jian hesitated to activate Martial Spirit City’s Defense Array as Black Mist spread across the Wilderness, then learned that Li Xiuning had arrived aboard a Dragon Boat.
• Li Xiuning’s divine sense was swallowed by the Black Mist, and she asked Shangguan Jian how Elder Li had died.
• Shangguan Jian explained that Elder Li had gone after Chen Shan and fought a Consistent Sect Body Cultivator before disappearing into the Wilderness.
• Li Xiuning sent Foundation Establishment elders to test the Black Mist, but their sword attacks had no effect, and the mist surged toward the city’s slums.
• Shangguan Jian activated the Defense Array in time to protect Martial Spirit City, while infected cultivators disappeared into the Black Mist.
• Chen Changming and Du Xiaoliang breathed a sigh of relief inside their courtyard until Black Mist burst through a crack in the wall behind Du Xiaoliang.

Du Xiaoliang sacrificed herself to save Chen Changming as black mist broke into Martial Spirit City. With the teleportation array destroyed and the black mist spreading, Chen and the Glazed Sect’s experts fled through the city while the mist pursued them.

• Du Xiaoliang shoved Chen Changming out a window and was swallowed by the black mist after telling him to run.
• Chen Changming watched the black mist spread toward the center of Martial Spirit City and realized the city was doomed.
• Shangguan Jian and Li Xiuning tried to reach the teleportation array, but a Black Mist Dragon destroyed it before they arrived.
• Shangguan Jian and the Glazed Sect’s experts attacked the mist, briefly clearing it from the array before it split into dragons and swallowed the array again.
• Li Xiuning’s Glazed Lamp was infected and consumed by the black mist, so she ordered the others to flee when the city’s defenses failed.
• Dozens of black dragons pursued Li Xiuning and the Glazed Sect’s experts through Martial Spirit City as Chen Changming fled from the spreading mist.

As the Black Mist overwhelmed Martial Spirit City, Chen Changming’s reinforced body kept him conscious while a Black Giant Tree captured the city’s inhabitants. He encountered Li Xiuning hanging from the tree and, after she begged him to save her, killed her instead.

• Li Xiuning tried to lead the Glazed Sect out of Martial Spirit City after the Defense Array broke, but the Black Mist’s tendrils seized her group and dragged them away.
• Chen Changming activated the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, which slowed the Black Mist’s invasion, but a tendril captured him and carried him to a giant tree.
• Chen Changming found more than a hundred thousand people and many Beasts from the Wilderness hanging from the tree’s branches, then used a branch to steady himself after the Spirit-Devouring Insect freed him.
• Li Xiuning recognized Chen Changming’s Spirit-Devouring Insect and begged him to save her as her barrier broke and the Black Mist began tainting her.
• Chen Changming flew to Li Xiuning and twisted her head off instead of using the Spirit-Devouring Insect to save her.

Chen Changming escaped Martial Spirit City with the injured Du Xiaoliang after the Spirit-Devouring Insect bargained with the demonic tree to save them. He hid in a cave in the Wilderness, cleared the Black Mist from his body, and began cultivating, while the Glazed Sect suffered a series of deaths.

• Li Xiuning tried and failed to possess Chen Changming, and he shattered her spiritual sense and took her Storage Ring.
• The demonic tree captured Chen Changming, but the Spirit-Devouring Insect communicated with it and persuaded it to return Du Xiaoliang and release them from Martial Spirit City.
• Chen Changming realized the Spirit-Devouring Insect had stayed behind, then fled with the unconscious Du Xiaoliang into the Wilderness.
• Chen Changming used the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art to burn the Black Mist out of his body and fed Du Xiaoliang juice from two healing spirit herbs.
• Chen Changming found a cave, concealed its entrance, and resumed cultivating while Du Xiaoliang remained unconscious.
• The soul lamps of the Glazed Sect's sect master and many Foundation Establishment experts went out in the Soul Hall, alarming the elder on watch.

After Li Xiuning and the Glazed Sect’s Golden Core expert fell in Martial Spirit City, the sect was weakened and destroyed by the Infinite Sect, though Su Linger escaped. Two newcomers arrived at the Black Mist surrounding Martial Spirit City, identified it as a Demon Spirit Tree, and the cloth-clad old man attacked it to claim the Spirit-Devouring Insects.

• The Glazed Sect grandmaster sent six Foundation Establishment cultivators to investigate Martial Spirit City, but they recorded its Black Mist from a distance and returned.
• After seeing the recording, the grandmaster ordered the Glazed Sect’s Defense Array activated, fearing the Infinite Sect would exploit the sect’s weakened state.
• The Infinite Sect and allied factions besieged the Glazed Sect, and Bai Yutang led Su Linger out through a secret passage to preserve the sect’s survivors.
• The Defense Array fell, the Infinite Sect wiped out the Glazed Sect, and its survivors were hunted under a kill order.
• A cloth-clad old man and the grown Xiu'er arrived at Martial Spirit City, where he identified the Black Mist as a Demon Spirit Tree containing the Spirit-Devouring Insects.
• The cloth-clad old man summoned a giant magical hand and brought it down over Martial Spirit City.

A Cloth-Clad Elder entered Martial Spirit City to seize the Spirit-Devouring Insect, but the insect fed a mysterious white thread to the Demon Spirit Tree, greatly strengthening it. The elder retreated with Xiu'er, leaving the insect with the tree.

• A clash between a white magical hand and the Black Mist shook the Wilderness, startling Chen Changming in his cave.
• The Cloth-Clad Elder entered Martial Spirit City despite Xiu'er’s warning and demanded that the Demon Spirit Tree hand over the Spirit-Devouring Insect.
• The Spirit-Devouring Insect spat out a mysterious white thread, which the Demon Spirit Tree absorbed, causing its aura and strength to surge.
• The Cloth-Clad Elder judged that he could not safely defeat the strengthened Demon Spirit Tree and withdrew from the Black Mist.
• Xiu'er comforted her grandfather, said she no longer wanted the Spirit-Devouring Insect, and left the Wilderness with him.

Chen Changming survived the battle near Martial Spirit City and spent ten years caring for the unconscious Du Xiaoliang while cultivating in the Wilderness. After Du Xiaoliang awoke as a ninth-level Foundation Establishment Body Cultivator, they investigated a ruined valley and discovered signs that it had once belonged to the Medicine Sect.

• Chen Changming stayed hidden in the Wilderness after the battle near Martial Spirit City and cared for Du Xiaoliang while practicing his cultivation.
• Over ten years, Chen Changming advanced to the fourth level of Foundation Establishment as a Body Cultivator and reached Qi Cultivation Level 10, while Du Xiaoliang's injuries healed but she remained asleep.
• Chen Changming sensed a formation in a distant valley, and Du Xiaoliang awoke and revealed she had reached the ninth level of Foundation Establishment as a Body Cultivator.
• Du Xiaoliang led Chen Changming to investigate the ruined valley, where they found two stone tablets bearing the characters “Gate” and “Medicine.”
• Chen Changming realized the ruins belonged to the Medicine Sect.

Chen Changming and Du Xiaoliang discovered the Medicine Sect’s hidden branch in the Yan Kingdom and traced the demon tree that attacked Martial Spirit City to the ruins. They found a second cultivation pit where a tiny green vine had survived and begun growing again.

• Chen Changming and Du Xiaoliang entered the Medicine Sect ruins and wondered whether the sect was connected to the demon tree that attacked Martial Spirit City.
• Du Xiaoliang found a vast pit, and both recognized the demon tree’s familiar aura there.
• Chen Changming concluded that the demon tree had escaped after devouring the Medicine Sect’s disciples, and Du Xiaoliang cursed the sect for its crimes.
• Chen Changming and Du Xiaoliang examined a smaller cultivation pit filled with withered black vines and realized the cultivation attempt had failed.
• A tiny green vine emerged from the withered vines, and Du Xiaoliang leapt into the pit after noticing it had survived and begun growing again.

Chen Changming found a timid green vine in the ruins and learned it was the legendary Demon Spirit Vine, a dangerous creature created by the Medicine Sect. He took it into a Beast Taming Bracelet, but after hearing how the Demon Spirit Tree had escaped and devastated Martial Spirit City, he feared the vine might turn on him.

• Du Xiaoliang watched as the green vine recoiled from her but reached out to Chen Changming, who sensed its bloodthirsty urge and learned it was a Beast.
• Du Xiaoliang gave Chen Changming a Beast Taming Bracelet, and he placed the vine and soil from the valley inside it.
• Du Xiaoliang found a fragmentary book identifying the vine as the Demon Spirit Vine, a half-demon, half-devil, and half-ghost creature that the Demon Spirit Tree had defeated.
• Du Xiaoliang explained that the escaped Demon Spirit Tree had devoured the Medicine Sect and hundreds of thousands of people in Martial Spirit City.
• Chen Changming took off the bracelet to abandon the Demon Spirit Vine, but Du Xiaoliang laughed and told him their meeting was fated.

Chen Changming and Du Xiaoliang found a damaged teleportation array in the Wilderness, but Du Xiaoliang's powerful father arrived before they could use it. He insisted that she return with him, and she agreed on the condition that he repair the array so Chen Changming could leave safely.

• Chen Changming accepted Du Xiaoliang's book on the Demon Spirit Vine and decided to practice its Contract Technique before attempting to contract the Demon Spirit Tree.
• Du Xiaoliang led Chen Changming to an ancient teleportation array, where they found that key parts had been removed.
• A powerful man arrived and immobilized them, then Du Xiaoliang called him Dad.
• Du Xiaoliang explained that Chen Changming had saved her after Martial Spirit City fell, and her father praised their escape from the Demon Spirit Tree.
• Du Xiaoliang asked whether the person who had been waiting for her had married, and her father said he had remained devoted to her.
• Du Xiaoliang agreed to return with her father if he repaired the array so Chen Changming could leave the Wilderness safely.

Chen Changming and Du Xiaoliang said goodbye after her father repaired the teleportation array, and she revealed that she had fled Golden Turtle Island to escape an arranged marriage. She left with her father, while Chen Changming vowed to reach the Nascent Soul Realm and go to Golden Turtle Island for her.

• Du Xiaoliang's father repaired the teleportation array and gave Chen Changming several thousand Spirit Stones.
• Du Xiaoliang told Chen Changming she had fled Golden Turtle Island to escape an arranged marriage and admitted she had come to like him.
• Chen Changming learned Du Xiaoliang's father was a Nascent Soul cultivator, and Du Xiaoliang warned him not to come to Golden Turtle Island.
• Chen Changming asked whether he could visit if he reached the Nascent Soul Realm, and Du Xiaoliang agreed.
• Du Xiaoliang left with her father, while Chen Changming vowed to reach the Nascent Soul Realm and take her away.

Chen Changming returned to Yue Kingdom and learned that Lingxiao Sect had been devastated by a decade-long war. He arrived at the sect to visit Luo Lan, who was managing its affairs while Qin Changtian was away.

• Chen Changming left his cave dwelling through a teleportation array and arrived near the ruins of the Medicine Sect in Yue Kingdom.
• Chen Changming traveled to Lingyun City and learned that the Yue and Chu Kingdom sects had been fighting for ten years, leaving Lingxiao Sect with just over a thousand disciples.
• Chen Changming learned that Qin Changtian and Luo Lan had become cultivation partners and that Luo Lan was managing Lingxiao Sect while Qin Changtian fought in the war.
• Chen Changming went to Lingxiao Sect and told the lone gatekeeper that he had once been a disciple and had returned to see Luo Lan.

Chen Changming returned to the declining Lingxiao Sect after thirty years away and reunited with his Senior Sister Luo Lan. He offered to help the impoverished sect by growing spirit crops, while Luo Lan vowed to give him its remaining Foundation Establishment Pill.

• Chen Changming showed his Lingxiao Sect identity token and entered the sect, then recognized Luo Lan outside the Sect Master Hall.
• Luo Lan recognized Chen Changming as her Little Junior Brother, embraced him, and asked where he had been for thirty years.
• Chen Changming told Luo Lan he had fled to the Yan Kingdom after encountering bandits and had only recently learned of the sect's condition.
• Luo Lan explained that the sect had only two Foundation Establishment cultivators left and promised Chen Changming its last Foundation Establishment Pill when he reached the peak of Qi Cultivation Level 10.
• Chen Changming declined to prioritize the pill and offered to grow medium-grade Spirit Rice to earn Spirit Stones for the struggling sect.

Chen Changming reached Spirit Finger Flick’s fifth breakthrough and learned that his strengthening ability had a limit of five improvements. After delivering two hundred thousand pounds of medium-grade Spirit Rice to Luo Lan, he saw Qin Changtian arrive just as she offered him Lingxiao Sect’s only Foundation Establishment Pill.

• Chen Changming tended the Spirit Rice fields alone and trained his cultivation and Spirit Finger Flick while living peacefully at Lingxiao Sect.
• After eight months and a hundred thousand uses, Chen Changming advanced Spirit Finger Flick to its fifth breakthrough, increasing its range to a thousand meters.
• Chen Changming learned that his ability could strengthen any cultivation method or divine ability a maximum of five times.
• Chen Changming brought two harvests totaling two hundred thousand pounds of medium-grade Spirit Rice to Luo Lan at the Sect Master Hall.
• Luo Lan praised Chen Changming’s work and offered him the sect’s only Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Qin Changtian arrived and objected as Luo Lan handed the pill to Chen Changming.

After returning to Lingxiao Sect, Chen Changming learned that the Yue Kingdom had lost the war and that the Xiaguang Sect would take control of the sect. Unable to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, he returned to his Spirit Rice fields and remembered the Demon Spirit Vine in his Beast Taming Bracelet.

• Qin Changtian returned and questioned Chen Changming, then softened his attitude after learning Chen had grown two hundred thousand catties of medium-grade Spirit Rice.
• Qin Changtian told Luo Lan and Chen Changming that the Yue Kingdom had been defeated and Lingxiao Sect would become subordinate to the Chu Kingdom's Xiaguang Sect.
• Qin Changtian refused to allocate the Foundation Establishment Pill, saying the sect no longer had authority over such precious pills.
• After Chen Changming left, Qin Changtian doubted that Chen could survive Foundation Establishment, while Luo Lan defended him.
• Chen Changming returned to his courtyard, lamented losing access to the pill, and remembered the Demon Spirit Vine in his Beast Taming Bracelet.

Chen Changming transplanted and cultivated the Demon Spirit Vine, learned how to form a contract with it, and successfully bonded with it. After a month of feeding it medicinal herbs, the vine grew to first-level, mid-tier strength, comparable to the seventh level of Qi Refining.

• Chen Changming transplanted the Demon Spirit Vine into his courtyard and used Cloud Rain Art to revive it.
• Chen Changming studied the vine’s care and contract methods in Du Xiaoliang’s tattered book, learning that it would eventually need flesh and blood.
• Chen Changming practiced the Contract Technique, then used it repeatedly on Spirit Rice to strengthen the rune.
• Chen Changming contracted the Demon Spirit Vine and fed it medicinal herbs whenever its hunger returned.
• Over a month, the Demon Spirit Vine spread across a trellis and a nearby tree, growing from first-level, low-tier to first-level, mid-tier.

Xiaguang Sect took control of Lingxiao Sect, and Huang Zhenzhen stripped its former leaders of their positions while forcing the survivors to submit. Chen Changming was assigned to the Logistics Hall to keep growing Spirit Rice, and he planned to stay quiet until he was strong enough to act.

• Chen Changming arrived at Lingxiao Peak after nine chimes and learned that Xiaguang Sect had voided his identity token and taken over Lingxiao Sect.
• Huang Zhenzhen introduced herself as Lingxiao Sect's new sect master and demoted Qin Changtian, Luo Lan, and the other elders.
• When an old elder protested and tried to leave, Huang Zhenzhen killed him with a sword strike and warned the others to obey.
• Huang Zhenzhen demoted Chen Changming to an ordinary Logistics Hall steward, where he would assist Luo Lan and continue growing Spirit Rice.
• Chen Changming followed Luo Lan to the Logistics Hall and resolved to lie low while he assessed Xiaguang Sect's strength.
• Inside the Sect Master Hall, Qin Changtian sat embracing Huang Zhenzhen.

Chen Changming cultivated in the Logistics Hall’s Spirit Rice fields, trained his body, and nurtured Demon Spirit Vine while Luo Lan sought him a Foundation Establishment Pill. Luo Lan gave him the pill, but Qin Changtian arrived and accused her of spending her savings on Chen Changming.

• Luo Lan lamented the Lingxiao Sect’s decline and urged Chen Changming to focus on cultivation and protect himself.
• Chen Changming tended the Spirit Rice and fed spirit herbs to Demon Spirit Vine, which grew into a Rank 1 Upper-Tier Beast over two months.
• Chen Changming practiced the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art and learned to shift some muscles and compress some bones.
• Luo Lan visited Chen Changming, noticed Demon Spirit Vine, and gave him a Foundation Establishment Pill she had obtained after spending her savings and killing Level 2 Demonic Beasts.
• Qin Changtian appeared and accused Luo Lan of secretly spending her savings to buy the pill for Chen Changming.