Recaps

Chen Changming learned that Luo Lan could not travel to Great Qin until she reached the tenth level of Foundation Establishment, so he gave her Heavenly Spirit Pills to help her advance. He boarded the Floating Airship with Liu Qingwu, then sensed the familiar stench of the Yin Corpse Seed aboard.

• Chen Changming asked Liu Qingwu whether Luo Lan could travel to Great Qin, but learned that entry required the tenth level of Foundation Establishment and approval from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
• Chen Changming gave Luo Lan Zhao Jiucheng's Storage Ring containing two thousand Heavenly Spirit Pills, and she accepted it tearfully.
• Three days later, Chen Changming met Liu Qingwu at the dock and learned that only nine people could board the Floating Airship.
• Chen Changming and Liu Qingwu boarded with seven other Foundation Establishment cultivators and settled into a small cabin for the two-day trip.
• Chen Changming caught a stench like the one left by Yin Spirit Child and realized the Yin Corpse Seed had found him aboard the airship.

Chen Changming recognized five cloaked passengers as Yin Corpse Seed cultivators aboard the Floating Airship bound for Great Qin and watched them warily. After they endured a storm and flying Beasts, the five confronted Tang Xiaohu and Meng Zitian, demanding that they leave so they could speak privately with Liu Qingwu.

• Chen Changming detected the scent of Yin Corpse Seeds on five cloaked passengers and suspected they were Foundation Establishment tenth-layer cultivators.
• Chen Changming judged that the five were unlikely to attack aboard the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion airship, then watched the ship weather a thunderstorm and repel flying Beasts.
• Tang Xiaohu and Meng Zitian learned that Fellow Daoist Luo had saved Liu Qingwu and changed their attitude toward him.
• After night fell, the five cloaked men stood up, and the Gray-Robed Man asked Tang Xiaohu and Meng Zitian to step out while they discussed business with Liu Qingwu.
• Tang Xiaohu questioned the request, and the five advanced, releasing overwhelming pressure toward the others.

Chen Changming and Liu Qingwu were attacked by Yin Spirit Child and his men aboard a Floating Airship, which was destroyed in their explosive last resort. Chen Changming protected the unconscious Liu Qingwu but was swept toward Yan Kingdom, where a Deep Blue Sea Shark attacked them.

• The Gray-Robed Man accused Liu Qingwu of killing Liu Hong and trapped her and Chen Changming inside a concealment formation.
• Liu Qingwu fought back but was struck by the men’s magic weapons and knocked unconscious.
• Chen Changming released his Level 5 Demon Spirit Vine, which restrained the five attackers, and recognized them as Yin Corpse Seeds who had become Yin Corpse Puppet Bodies.
• The Gray-Robed Man and his men detonated lightning from their chests, destroying the formation and the Floating Airship; the Demon Spirit Vine shielded Chen Changming and Liu Qingwu.
• Chen Changming descended through the gale with Liu Qingwu, drove off wind-element Beasts with the Demon Spirit Vine, then struggled toward Great Qin as the wind swept him toward Yan Kingdom.
• A Deep Blue Sea Shark leaped from the sea and lunged at Chen Changming and Liu Qingwu.

Chen Changming fought his way through the Gale Zone and reached a small island, only to discover it was part of an early-stage Level 5 Deep Sea Turtle-Snake. With help from the Demon Spirit Vine and Silver Thread Heart-Devouring Insect, he subdued the beast and continued his journey, finally sighting Great Qin’s coastline.

• Chen Changming battled numerous demonic beasts and crossed the Gale Zone after several hours of fighting.
• Chen Changming landed on what he thought was a small island to rest, but the island rose from the sea as part of a Deep Sea Turtle-Snake.
• Chen Changming summoned the Level 5 Demon Spirit Vine, which bound the Deep Sea Turtle-Snake and dragged it underwater.
• Chen Changming released the Silver Thread Heart-Devouring Insect, which reached the turtle-snake’s heart and began devouring it while the Demon Spirit Vine consumed its flesh and blood.
• Chen Changming stowed the Demon Spirit Vine and flew for three more days, eventually reaching the dangerous sea’s edge and seeing Great Qin’s coastal mountains.

After reaching Great Qin, Chen Changming healed Liu Qingwu and told her the five attackers were Yin Corpse Seeds connected to Yin Spirit Child and Liu Ruyan. He left her behind, changed his appearance, and headed for Cangwu City to buy formations before settling near Yellow Sprout Mountain; the chapter ends when someone calls out to him in the city.

• Chen Changming reached the coast of Great Qin, brought the unconscious Liu Qingwu to a nearby village, and gave her a Healing Pill.
• After Liu Qingwu woke, Chen Changming told her the attackers had been Yin Corpse Seeds and that Liu Ruyan had joined forces with Yin Spirit Child.
• Liu Qingwu thanked Chen Changming for saving her and offered to help him through the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, and he left the village.
• Chen Changming changed his appearance, traveled to Clear Water City, and decided to establish a concealed cave dwelling on Yellow Sprout Mountain.
• Chen Changming flew to Cangwu City, paid two Spirit Stones to enter, and heard someone call out to him from behind.

Chen Changming hired Little Jin to guide him around Cangwu City and bought a Five Elements Spirit Light Illusion Array after comparing prices. When he left the city for Yellow Sprout Mountain, three Foundation Establishment cultivators ambushed him, and he killed two as the last fled.

• Chen Changming hired Little Jin, asked about Heavenly Spirit Pills and treasure forging, and learned that pills were scarce and expensive.
• At the Spirit Treasure Merchant House, Chen Changming found the Five Elements Spirit Light Illusion Array suited his cave-dwelling needs, compared its price at several shops, then bought it for one hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones.
• Little Jin warned Chen Changming that someone might target him after their tour of Cangwu City, and Chen Changming left for Yellow Sprout Mountain.
• Three third-level Foundation Establishment cultivators blocked Chen Changming and demanded his Storage Ring; he killed their leader with a sword strike.
• The other two cultivators fled, but Chen Changming killed one with a silver light and sent it after the last.

After killing three cultivators, Chen Changming arrived at Yellow Sprout Mountain and met rogue cultivators gathered under the protection of the Golden Core cultivator Wu Daozi. He chose a cave site behind a waterfall and began preparing to settle there.

• Chen Changming killed the last of three men with his Silver Thread Heart-Devouring Insect and stored the corpses in his Beast Taming Bracelet.
• At Yellow Sprout Mountain, Chen Changming used the alias Ning Jin when he met Song Xi, who told him about the rogue cultivators and their protector, Wu Daozi.
• Song Xi brought Chen Changming to Wu Daozi's valley, where they met Master Yuanjue and Jiang Chenggu, two other rogue cultivators seeking or maintaining a place on the mountain.
• Song Xi showed Chen Changming a waterfall, and Chen Changming decided the space behind it would make a suitable cave abode.
• Chen Changming carved out a spacious cave behind the waterfall and took out the Five Elements Spirit Light Illusion Array.

Chen Changming established a protective array over his cave abode, contracted the Rotten-Leaf Black Earthworm, and devoted himself to cultivation. After years of slow progress and consuming thousands of Heavenly Spirit Pills, he decided to visit Cangwu City to seek higher-grade pills.

• Chen Changming found a spirit spring beneath his cave abode and used its energy to activate the Five Elements Spirit Light Illusion Array.
• Chen Changming contracted the Rotten-Leaf Black Earthworm, then sent it to find food on Yellow Sprout Mountain.
• Chen Changming cultivated for five years, reaching the third layer of Foundation Establishment and the seventh layer in body refinement as his two Beasts advanced to the fourth level.
• Chen Changming spent another ten years reaching the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment and decided to go to Cangwu City for mid-grade or high-grade Heavenly Spirit Pills.

Chen Changming passed on Song Xi's invitation to help Master Yuanjue break an ancient ruin's formation and went to Cangwu City to seek cultivation resources. After finding mid-grade Heavenly Spirit Pills unavailable and low-grade ones too costly, he decided to learn alchemy and began looking for supplies.

• Chen Changming met Song Xi, who invited him to join cultivators helping Master Yuanjue break an ancient ruin's formation on Yellow Sprout Mountain, but Chen Changming declined and headed to Cangwu City.
• At the Spirit Treasure Merchant House, Chen Changming learned mid-grade Heavenly Spirit Pills were unavailable and traded one top-grade and five mid-grade magical artifacts for a Geng-Gold Sword.
• Chen Changming considered refining Heavenly Spirit Pills himself using the Medicine Sect Canon and entered the Hundred Herbs Pavilion to ask about learning alchemy.
• A young attendant recommended starting with Hemostasis Pills and told Chen Changming he would need to buy a cauldron.

Chen Changming bought a pill furnace and Chicken Blood Grass, then began learning alchemy in his cave. After hundreds of failed attempts to make Hemostasis Pills, he discovered a spiritual-sense method in the Medicine Sect Canon that suited his enhancement ability.

• Chen Changming bargained for the cheapest furnace with a built-in formation and received five thousand stalks of Chicken Blood Grass with his purchase.
• Chen Changming returned to Yellow Sprout Mountain, carved out an alchemy chamber, and enhanced the Pill Control Technique three times while practicing with the furnace flames.
• Chen Changming tried to refine Hemostasis Pills but failed five hundred times, using all five thousand stalks of Chicken Blood Grass.
• Chen Changming read the Medicine Sect Canon and discovered an advanced method that used spiritual sense to control herbs directly.
• Chen Changming realized that enhancing the spiritual-sense Pill Control Technique could let him control more herbs and provide a shortcut to mastering alchemy.

Chen Changming studied the Medicine Sect's Pill Control Technique and went to Yellow Sprout Mountain to gather Chicken Blood Grass, where he stumbled upon cultivators trying to break into an ancient ruin. After the formation fell, the group found a strange Black Lotus Pond blocking their path, with Black Mist concealing whatever lay beyond.

• Chen Changming mastered the Pill Control Technique and gathered more than a thousand stalks of Chicken Blood Grass on Yellow Sprout Mountain.
• Chen Changming heard Song Xi and Master Yuanjue calling for help from a gorge and went to join them at an ancient ruin.
• Chen Changming learned that over thirty rogue cultivators had gathered to break the formation protecting a Bronze Gate, then joined their attacks.
• Master Yuanjue and Jiang Chenggu led the cultivators through the Bronze Gate after the formation shattered.
• Chen Changming and the others discovered a pool covered in strange black lotuses, with Black Mist obscuring the way forward.

Chen Changming and the rogue cultivators entered an underground Buddhist ruin after Master Yuanjue dispelled the Black Mist. In the temple’s rear hall, Chen recognized the Black Buddha as identical to the headless statue in his Storage Ring and realized they had found a ruin of the Black Buddha Sect.

• Master Yuanjue and Jiang Chenggu led the rogue cultivators into the Black Lotus pool, where Yuanjue used his Buddha Beads to dispel the Black Mist.
• The group found an underground valley and an unnamed temple surrounded by bones and bloodstains; Master Yuanjue recited scriptures for the dead before entering.
• In the first main hall, Master Yuanjue identified the black-armored statue as the Great Black Heaven War God, the Buddhist sect’s Dark Guardian Deity.
• Master Yuanjue led the group to the rear hall, where they found a Black Buddha standing above a bloodstained altar.
• Chen Changming recognized the Black Buddha as identical to the headless one in his Storage Ring, identified the site as a Black Buddha Sect ruin, and backed away from the others.

Chen Changming and the rogue cultivators discovered that the ancient ruins belonged to the Black Buddha Sect and found golden gourds containing an unknown dark-red liquid. Master Yuanjue and Jiang Chenggu attempted to awaken the Black Buddha, which opened its eyes as Chen Changming and Song Xi fled.

• Chen Changming recognized the ruins as those of the Black Buddha Sect and grew wary of the Black Buddha and its possible revival.
• Chen Changming spotted golden gourds among the altar offerings and recognized their patterns from the Medicine Sect Canon.
• Daoist Huang and the other rogue cultivators inspected the gourds and found them filled with a fragrant dark-red liquid, which Chen Changming proposed they divide.
• Master Yuanjue struck the Black Buddha with black light from his Black Buddha Beads after the cultivators began sharing the liquid, while Jiang Chenggu stood with him.
• The Black Buddha opened its eyes, and Song Xi and Chen Changming fled the hall as the other rogue cultivators followed.

Master Yuanjue awakened the Black Buddha and the temple’s statue puppets, trapping the Yellow Sprout Mountain rogue cultivators in the hall and turning the battle against them. As the fighting became a rout, Yuanjue noticed Chen Changming’s hidden strength, and Jiang Chenggu flew off to kill him.

• Master Yuanjue used the Buddha Beads to raise Black Mist in the Black Lotus Pool, trapping the arriving rogue cultivators and prompting them to unite against him.
• Yuanjue awakened the Great Black Heaven War God, the Little Ghosts, and other statue puppets, and they attacked the cultivators.
• Song Xi’s sword light caught Chen Changming’s attention, while Chen joined the melee and fought the Little Ghosts.
• Yuanjue empowered the Black Buddha, which joined the battle and inflicted heavy casualties on the rogue cultivators.
• Chen Changming showed his strength as a Body Cultivator, and Yuanjue noticed him; Jiang Chenggu then flew out to kill him.

Chen Changming killed Jiang Chenggu and fought the Black Buddha while the battle at the ancient temple decimated the Yellow Sprout Mountain cultivators. After Yuanjue and his puppets killed the last survivors, only Yuanjue and Chen Changming remained as the weakened Black Buddha rose again.

• Chen Changming killed Jiang Chenggu with a single sword strike after knocking aside his Flying Sword.
• Yuanjue empowered the Black Buddha with his vital blood, and it killed Song Xi and several other rogue cultivators.
• Chen Changming charged the Black Buddha, pierced it with his Geng-Gold Sword, and fought it with two swords.
• Chen Changming's Rotten-Leaf Black Earthworm sprayed black liquid over the Black Buddha, weakening it.
• Yuanjue and the Great Black Heaven War God killed the remaining Yellow Sprout Mountain cultivators while Chen Changming pinned the Black Buddha to the ground.
• The Black Buddha pulled out Chen Changming's sword and stood again, but its aura had greatly weakened; only Yuanjue and Chen Changming remained.

Chen Changming used the Demon Spirit Vine to overwhelm Master Yuanjue and the Black Buddha after the Artifact Spirit restored the Buddha with Yuanjue’s life force. Master Yuanjue burned himself to death, leaving Chen Changming with the Black Buddha Beads.

• Master Yuanjue recognized Ning Jin’s strength, while Chen Changming revealed another Geng-Gold Sword and identified the Black Buddha Sect’s legacy.
• The Artifact Spirit in the Black Buddha Beads drained Master Yuanjue’s blood to heal and strengthen the Black Buddha.
• Chen Changming summoned the Demon Spirit Vine, which battled the Black Buddha and destroyed the divine statues and Great Black Heaven War God protecting Master Yuanjue.
• With the Black Buddha suppressed and no escape, Master Yuanjue asked the Artifact Spirit if he had a way out, then burned himself to ash.
• Chen Changming caught the Black Buddha Beads as they fell, knowing they controlled the Black Buddha.

Chen Changming took Song Xi’s Origin-Returning Sword Qi manual after surviving the battle at the Black Buddha Sect ruins. Wu Daozi arrived with two subordinates, claimed the Black Buddha and the dead cultivators’ Storage Rings, and left Chen with Song Xi’s ring and the task of handling the remains.

• Chen Changming took Song Xi’s Storage Ring and found the Origin-Returning Sword Qi manual inside.
• Wu Daozi arrived with a Foundation Establishment woman and a white-robed man, then questioned Chen Changming about the ruins’ massacre.
• Chen Changming claimed Master Yuanjue had turned the temple’s statues and Black Buddha against the group, leaving him as the sole survivor.
• Wu Daozi took the Black Buddha and refused Chen Changming’s request for additional Storage Rings, allowing him only Song Xi’s.
• Wu Daozi’s subordinates collected the dead cultivators’ Storage Rings, and Wu Daozi told Chen Changming to take care of their remains.

After Wu Daozi left, Chen Changming collected the Medicine Sect gourds and the damaged Great Black Heaven War God, then heard a woman’s remnant soul speak from the Black Buddha Beads. The woman recognized the key on Chen Changming’s chest and offered to help repair his Black Flame Earth Buddha, revealing that the gourds held Human Origin Liquid refined from Golden Core cultivators.

• Chen Changming collected two golden gourds and stored the damaged Great Black Heaven War God puppet.
• A woman’s voice from the Black Buddha Beads warned Chen Changming that the Demon Spirit Vine was dangerous and offered him the Black Buddha Sect’s inheritance, but he refused.
• The woman manifested as a black lotus and recognized the key on Chen Changming’s chest, then reacted with fear when he asked about its origin.
• The woman offered to help Chen Changming repair and control his headless Black Flame Earth Buddha, explaining that Human Origin Liquid from the gourds could regrow its head.
• The woman revealed that each gourd of Human Origin Liquid required nine Golden Core cultivators to refine.

Chen Changming learned about the origins of Human Origin Liquid and helped Bi Cang restore the Black Flame Earth Buddha with it. Meanwhile, Wu Daozi prepared a deadly formation to kill Ning Jin, and Bi Cang discovered the extraordinary power of his Purple Blood.

• Bi Cang explained that the Medicine Sect had refined Human Origin Liquid from Golden Core cultivators for the Black Buddha Sect and offered to restore the Great Black Heaven War God if Chen Changming gathered its pieces and altar.
• Bi Cang entered one of Chen Changming’s Black Buddha Beads, and he gathered the broken pieces and altar, burned the corpses, and returned to his cave abode.
• Wu Daozi rejected the white-robed man’s demand to kill Ning Jin immediately, then began setting up his powerful Soul-Startling Array.
• Bi Cang examined Chen Changming’s headless Black Flame Earth Buddha and learned it had devoured an Ancient Demon’s blood essence in the Chu Kingdom.
• Bi Cang poured the Human Origin Liquid from the three Golden Gourds into the Buddha, restoring its head, then asked Chen Changming for a drop of blood essence.
• Bi Cang recognized Chen Changming’s crystalline Purple Blood and tested it through the Black Buddha, exclaiming at its power.

Chen Changming uncovered Wu Daozi’s plan to lure him into a trap and launched a surprise attack with the Black Flame Earth Buddha and Demon Spirit Vine. The forces surrounded Wu Daozi, leaving him horrified and outmatched.

• Bi Cang told Chen Changming that the Black Flame Earth Buddha could rival a first-layer Golden Core cultivator when supplied with enough blood essence.
• Wu Daozi’s aide invited Chen Changming to a victory banquet meant to lure him into the Soul-Startling Array, but Chen refused and proposed going to see Wu Daozi in person.
• When the aide tried to stop him, Chen Changming killed her with the Black Flame Earth Buddha and took the Array Access Token from her Storage Ring.
• Chen Changming entered Wu Daozi’s valley using the token and confronted him, confirming that he had killed Qiao’er.
• Chen Changming repelled the white-robed man’s attack with the Black Flame Earth Buddha, then released the Demon Spirit Vine, leaving Wu Daozi despairing at the fifth-level Beast’s power.

Chen Changming and Bi Cang used the Black Buddha and Demon Spirit Vine to corner Wu Daozi, who fought back with powerful treasures and talismans. Chen Changming killed Wu Daozi and Bi Cang dispelled his Star Fate Paper Doll curse, leaving them to assess the Black Buddha’s minor injuries.

• Chen Changming strengthened the Black Buddha with his essence blood as Bi Cang helped it reach Golden Core-level power, and Wu Daozi summoned a Crimson Fan and talismans to fight back.
• The Black Buddha and Demon Spirit Vine overcame Wu Daozi’s fire, golden-armored figures, and sword-light, while his Grey Hook failed to harm Chen Changming or the Black Buddha.
• Wu Daozi destroyed his Crimson Fan and detonated a lightning bead, damaging many vines and throwing him through the air.
• Chen Changming pierced Wu Daozi’s chest with the Geng-Gold Sword, but Wu Daozi activated a Star Fate Paper Doll that attacked Chen Changming at seven points.
• Bi Cang dispelled the paper doll’s curse, and the Black Buddha emerged from the flames with only minor injuries.

Chen Changming learned more about the Six Ancients and gathered the spoils from Wu Daozi’s defeat before leaving Yellow Sprout Mountain to hide in Cangwu City. He rented a cave dwelling and began examining Wu Daozi’s Storage Ring.

• Bi Cang explained that the Six Ancients included Ancient Demons, Ancient Buddhas, Ancient Demon Beasts, Ancient Ghosts, Ancient Humans, and Ancient Gods, and that the Demon Spirit Vine was an attempt to recreate their power.
• Chen Changming recovered Wu Daozi’s Void Stealth Hook, dismantled the Soul-Startling Array and Five Elements Cloud Mist Array, and collected Wu Daozi’s corpse and the white-robed man for the Black Flame Earth Buddha and Demon Spirit Vine.
• Worried that the battle and Wu Daozi’s death would attract powerful forces, Chen Changming decided to leave Yellow Sprout Mountain and hide in Cangwu City.
• Bi Cang entered the Blue Mole to conceal her presence, allowing Chen Changming to store the Buddha Beads and take them out when he needed the Black Flame Earth Buddha.
• Chen Changming rented a Foundation Establishment cave dwelling in Cangwu City and took out Wu Daozi’s Storage Ring to inspect it.

Chen Changming failed to break Wu Daozi’s Storage Ring but looted two other rings, then practiced alchemy and the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art. Meanwhile, news of the Black Buddha Sect Ruins reached the Great Qin Cultivation Alliance, whose investigators found signs that Wu Daozi had died.

• Chen Changming found the Golden Core imprint on Wu Daozi’s Storage Ring too strong to remove, but cleared the imprints from two other rings and claimed their resources.
• Chen Changming practiced the Pill Control Technique until his divine sense ran dry, then used the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art to recover it.
• Bi Cang saw Chen Changming’s Purple Flame and learned that his techniques grew stronger as he cultivated them; she also recognized that his Spirit-Devouring Insect could withstand the flames.
• Chen Changming spent the next half month alternating between body refinement and alchemy practice, using the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art to restore his divine sense.
• The Great Qin Cultivation Alliance sent two Golden Core cultivators to investigate the Black Buddha Sect Ruins and seek information from Wu Daozi.
• At Yellow Sprout Mountain, the white-robed cultivator told Junior Sister Linger that Wu Daozi had fallen after they found battle traces and blood in the valley.

Bai Yutang and Su Linger investigated Wu Daozi’s death and concluded he had taken the Black Buddha Sect Ruins, prompting the Immortal Alliance to search recent arrivals in Cangwu City. When Chen Changming was swept up in the investigation, he killed a protesting cultivator in front of the guards.

• Bai Yutang and Su Linger questioned rogue cultivators near Yellow Sprout Mountain and learned Master Yuanjue had led Foundation Establishment cultivators to break the formation at Wu Daozi’s valley.
• Bai Yutang suspected Wu Daozi had used the formation-breaking as a false trail, then returned to Cangwu City to alert the Immortal Alliance and investigate recent arrivals.
• Bai Yutang and Pei Shan ordered Foundation Establishment cultivators who had recently entered the city to be taken outside for a search.
• Chen Changming broke through to the eighth level of Foundation Establishment, hid his belongings, and followed the City Lord Mansion guards toward East City Gate.
• When an eighth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator challenged the guards, Chen Changming seized him and twisted his head off.

Chen Changming fought his way out of Cangwu City after the guards tried to search the rogue cultivators, then fled into the mountains with Bai Yutang in pursuit. Bai Yutang summoned Pei Shan for help as he cautiously chased the exceptionally fast Body Cultivator.

• Chen Changming killed numerous City Lord Mansion guards and urged the rogue cultivators to flee, then escaped through the West City Gate.
• Bai Yutang learned of the attack from Pei Shan and went after Chen Changming while Pei Shan led guards to hunt the fleeing cultivators.
• Chen Changming activated a second-tier Lightness Talisman and sped into the mountains, but Bai Yutang continued pursuing him.
• Bai Yutang sent a messenger Flying Sword to summon Pei Shan, wary of confronting Chen Changming alone.