Recaps

Su Zhan and the cultivation methods discovered that the three golems would self-destruct if their energy cores were badly damaged, threatening the Yuan Household members climbing below. The Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon proposed poisoning their energy circuits to disable them without breaking their cores, but needed help delivering the toxins inside.

• The Giant Axe Golem struck the platform and blasted the Thunder War God away with a wide shockwave.
• The Bow-Wielding Golem shattered the Immovable Wisdom King Wall's barrier, while the Ancient Life Tree and Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon restrained and corroded its joints.
• The Shadow Thousand Silk Lock found the Bow-Wielding Golem's core and warned that all three golems would self-destruct if their cores took too much damage.
• Su Zhan stopped the Blazing Dragon Venerate from continuing to attack and explained that a self-destruction could collapse the summit onto the climbing Yuan Household members.
• The Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon explained that poisoning the golems' energy circuits could paralyze them and shut down their cores, but required help getting the toxins inside.

Su Zhan used the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon and the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock to disable the bow-wielding golem, then sent poison pellets to help the other fighters. The spiked-club golem began to weaken after the Blazing Dragon Venerate injected poison into its back, while the battle continued.

• Su Zhan used the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock to map the bow-wielding golem's energy conduits and drove poison pellets into its chest.
• The poison spread through the golem's conduits, and the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock sealed its self-destruct triggers before its eyes went dark.
• Su Zhan sent poison pellets toward the other two golems and told the Blazing Dragon Venerate to follow his approach.
• The Blazing Dragon Venerate exposed the spiked-club golem's back, burned open a gap between its joints, and stuffed poison pellets inside.
• The spiked-club golem's limbs slowed, and its weakened swing struck with less force.

Su Zhan and his Cultivation Method Clones defeated the three obsidian guardian golems atop the altar in under thirty breaths. After the clones argued over credit, Su Zhan promised them extra food and began dismantling the golems for their stored energy.

• The Dragon Venerate and Thousand Silk Lock brought down one golem, while the Thunder War God disabled the greataxe golem by striking its three energy cores.
• Su Zhan recalled his six Cultivation Method Clones and felt his energy grow fuller as the Thousand Silk Lock absorbed spatial principle from the obsidian.
• The Cultivation Method Clones argued in Su Zhan's sea of consciousness over who had contributed most to the battle.
• Su Zhan promised the clones extra food, silencing their argument, then asked whether they wanted to eat the golems.
• The clones agreed, and Su Zhan had them begin breaking down and refining the obsidian into energy particles.

Su Zhan uncovered the Black Demon Sect’s Ten Thousand Demons Heart-Devouring Blood Pool and stopped Yuan Ji from activating it with the Yuan Household’s bloodline. The Yuan Household had reached the platform, but the path to the grotto-heaven’s core remained unopened.

• Su Zhan’s six cultivation methods consumed the three demonic statues, revealing a ring-shaped groove and a beating Black Crystal.
• Su Zhan recognized the altar as the Ten Thousand Demons Heart-Devouring Blood Pool, a trap that could steal the Yuan Household’s bloodline power and summon the Black Demon Sect’s Sect Master.
• Yuan Chou and then Yuan Ji arrived on the platform with the other Yuan Household disciples.
• Yuan Ji touched the runes and sensed a great door leading to the true core of the Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven.
• Yuan Ji prepared to pour in the Yuan Household’s bloodline power, but Su Zhan stopped his hand and told him not to rush.

Su Zhan discovered that the black crystal in the altar recess was a trap planted by the Black Demon Sect, not the key to opening the grotto-heaven's core. After learning that his cultivation methods could absorb the crystal's components, he proposed a way to deal with it.

• Su Zhan told Yuan Ji that the Black Demon Sect's Sect Master had planted a Myriad Demons Heart-Devouring Stone in the recess to trap members of the Yuan Household.
• Yuan Ji and the other Yuan Household disciples panicked, fearing they could never return home.
• Su Zhan examined the stone and learned that dismantling it could collapse the altar, while burning it would not reach its core.
• Su Zhan asked whether the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon could consume the stone's resentment and demon baleful intent, and Shadow Thousand Silk Lock could absorb its spatial principles.
• Su Zhan stood and announced that they could deal with the stone without taking it apart or burning it.

Su Zhan used Yuan Ji’s Power of Bloodline to activate the Black Crystal, then began hollowing it out with the help of his six cultivation methods. As the Blood Pool formed and threatened the Yuan Household, the cultivation methods worked to drain the crystal, contain the mist, and keep the formation stable.

• Su Zhan told Yuan Ji to activate the Black Crystal with a small amount of his Power of Bloodline so Su Zhan could drain its contents.
• Yuan Ji activated the runes, causing the recess to shake as the Blood Pool formed and vengeful souls appeared in its liquid.
• Su Zhan used Devour to send his six cultivation methods into action against the crystal’s demonic energy and spatial seal.
• The Nine Heavens Divine Lightning blocked the spreading bloody mist while the Ancient Life Tree and Immovable Wisdom King Wall stabilized the formation and Su Zhan.
• The Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer’s Canon drew out the crystal’s contents, and the Blazing Dragon Venerate struggled to refine them quickly enough.

Su Zhan drained the Myriad Demons Heart-Devouring Stone, restoring the Yuan Household’s ancestral arrays and opening the way to the Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven’s core. Before they descended, he discovered that someone had secretly altered the runes to hide a teleportation array meant for outsiders.

• Su Zhan drained the Black Crystal until it crumbled, causing the Blood Pool to vanish and the Yuan Household’s original arrays to awaken.
• Elder Yuan Ji poured his bloodline power into the runes and opened a golden staircase leading to the grotto-heaven’s core.
• Yuan Chou tried to rush down the stairs, but Su Zhan stopped him after spotting dark purple runes among the golden ones.
• Shadow Thousand Silk Lock identified the altered runes as a teleportation array leading to the space at the bottom of the staircase and intended for outsiders.

Su Zhan discovered that someone had entered the Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven’s core through a hidden passage and was lying in wait. He left Yuan Ji and the others above, then bypassed the staircase and broke into the core space, where he found the grotto-heaven’s heart.

• The Shadow Thousand Silk Lock told Su Zhan that a hidden passage led directly to the core and had been used recently.
• Su Zhan asked Yuan Ji to sense the space below, and Yuan Ji detected a faint presence concealed in the eastern area.
• Su Zhan suspected the Black Demon Sect’s Sect Master had planted a hidden defense in the core and told Yuan Ji to keep the others above.
• Su Zhan bypassed the golden staircase, descended along the altar’s outer wall, and smashed through the rock foundation.
• Su Zhan entered the core space and saw the translucent sphere that served as the grotto-heaven’s heart.

Su Zhan found the Black Demon Sect's Sect Master’s Martial King Fifth Layer clone fused with the grotto-heaven’s core and confronted him. The clone unleashed the core’s power, but Su Zhan attacked before he could finish speaking.

• Su Zhan recognized the half-formed figure in the core space as the Black Demon Sect's Sect Master’s manifestation clone, which had been synchronizing with the grotto-heaven’s core for three days.
• Su Zhan called out the clone, who opened his eyes and listed the obstacles Su Zhan had overcome before declaring he would kill him and examine his body.
• The clone completed his transformation into a full human form and unleashed his Martial King Fifth Layer presence, binding the grotto-heaven’s core to himself with black chains.
• The clone reversed gravity in the core space and began to attack Su Zhan.
• Su Zhan charged with a lightning-and-fire-wreathed fist, and the clone raised a barrier of condensed darkness between them.

Su Zhan discovered that the clone used the grotto-heaven core to reflect attacks and manipulate Principles, making it far stronger than its own abilities. He and the Chat Group began devising a way to distract it while severing the chains that bound it to the core.

• Su Zhan struck the clone's barrier, but it reflected the force of his blow and drove him backward.
• The clone suppressed Su Zhan's fire and lightning and cracked his shield by altering the Principles within the grotto-heaven.
• Su Zhan realized the clone drew its borrowed strength through seventeen black chains connected to the grotto-heaven core.
• Su Zhan asked Thousand Silk Lock how many chains it could sever, and learned it could cut only three or four unless the clone was distracted.
• The Chat Group proposed ways to hold the clone's attention, and Su Zhan agreed with Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon that poison might bypass its Principle-based defenses.

Su Zhan fused five principles into a manifestation and attacked the clone in the Core Space. It broke through five of the clone’s seven barriers, but the remaining defenses held as the fusion began to destabilize.

• Su Zhan proposed fusing five principles, and the Chat Group warned that the strain and calculations would be immense.
• Su Zhan combined earth, thunder, true fire, life, and poison principles into a powerful manifestation.
• The clone raised seven principle barriers to defend itself.
• Su Zhan’s manifestation punched through five barriers in one blow.
• The clone pushed the wind and thunder barriers to their limits, slowing Su Zhan’s fist as the five-principle fusion grew unstable.

Su Zhan baited the clone into diverting its attention, allowing the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock to sever three chains and strip away the clone’s spatial defense. The clone forged the remaining chains into a giant sword and swung at Su Zhan.

• Su Zhan leaped over the Wind-Thunder chains and sent the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock toward the Grotto-Heaven Heart.
• Su Zhan compressed five Principles into a destabilizing sphere, forcing the clone to release three chains to protect the grotto-heaven’s core.
• The Shadow Thousand Silk Lock severed the chains controlling space, wind, and darkness, weakening the clone and removing its physical-attack defense.
• Su Zhan revealed that the sphere had been a feint, while the clone turned its remaining chains into a black sword and attacked him.

Su Zhan defeated the Black Demon Sect Sect Master's clone with Five Elements Return to Origin and searched its soul for the Sect Master's weaknesses and a way to remove the chains on the Grotto-Heaven Heart. He learned the Sect Master was a weakened Second Level Martial Emperor with a damaged soul, and discovered the chains were contracts that could be undone by a simple method.

• Su Zhan's Five Elements Return to Origin shattered the clone's sword and pierced its chest.
• Su Zhan suppressed the clone and used Soul Search while the Thunder Emperor Divine Seat blocked its counterattack.
• Su Zhan learned that the Sect Master was a Second Level Martial Emperor whose unstable foundation and damaged soul left him unable to recover fully for three months.
• Su Zhan found that the chains binding the Grotto-Heaven Heart were contracts between the Sect Master and the Grotto-Heaven Core, mediated by power.

Su Zhan killed the clone that controlled the contract binding the Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven, freeing its heart and allowing the damaged realm to heal. He received an instruction manual from the Grotto-Heaven Heart and prepared to study it before the Yuan Household members arrived.

• Su Zhan used Soul Search to find that the clone was the contract's executor, then erased it with five Principles.
• The clone's death shattered the ten remaining black chains, and the Grotto-Heaven Heart and Core Space began repairing themselves.
• Su Zhan dismissed his Five-Method Fusion Dharma manifestation after the battle depleted his Law Power reserves.
• Su Zhan touched the Grotto-Heaven Heart and received organized information about the Grotto-Heaven and its builder.
• Su Zhan withheld the information from the Ancient Life Tree and prepared to study it before the Yuan Household members came down.

Su Zhan discovered that the Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven was an ancient prison, and that breaking its black chains had begun to revive the being sealed beneath its core. He kept the danger from the Yuan Household for now, and Elder Yuan Ji arrived as the sphere repaired itself.

• Su Zhan read the grotto-heaven's instruction manual and learned that its final function was the First Seal · Demon-Suppressing Lock.
• Su Zhan sensed a living presence beneath the sphere and learned from Nine Heavens Divine Lightning and [Thunder Emperor Divine Seat] that the Yuan Household's bloodline had served as the seal's medium.
• Su Zhan realized the entity had been considered dangerous even by a second-level Martial Emperor, but decided not to warn the Yuan Household while the seal remained intact.
• Elder Yuan Ji descended into the Core Space and froze when he saw the glowing Grotto-Heaven Heart sphere.

Yuan Ji reconnected the Yuan Household’s bloodline to the Grotto-Heaven Core, restoring the inheritance and purifying the grotto-heaven. Su Zhan learned that the Principle Tempering Chamber could accelerate cultivation but had only enough Spiritual Qi for three uses, and Yuan Ji opened its door.

• Yuan Ji activated the Grotto-Heaven Core with his bloodline, restoring the Yuan Household’s inheritance and improving the grotto-heaven’s Spiritual Qi and air.
• The Yuan Household members knelt and celebrated their return to their ancestors’ legacy while Su Zhan recalled the seal’s warning that its holder might have to sacrifice his life.
• Su Zhan considered using the Principle Tempering Chamber to strengthen himself before the sealed entity awoke.
• Yuan Ji warned Su Zhan that the chamber consumed a tenth of the grotto-heaven’s Spiritual Qi reserves per use and could be activated only three times.
• Yuan Ji infused the western stone door with his bloodline power, opening the Principle Tempering Chamber.

Su Zhan used the Principle Tempering Chamber’s first activation to help Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon and Ancient Life Tree break through their bottlenecks. The two breakthroughs expanded his control over poison and strengthened his Withering and Flourishing Power.

• Su Zhan assessed the chamber’s rich Five Elements power and assigned its three activations to the group members according to their needs.
• Su Zhan began the first activation by directing power to Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon and Ancient Life Tree.
• Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon completed the eighth page, expanding Su Zhan’s poison perception and control to three thousand zhang.
• Ancient Life Tree split its Withering and Flourishing leaf into two, allowing Su Zhan to wield both extremes against living beings below Martial King.

Su Zhan completed three rounds of tempering, strengthening his defenses, Shadow Thousand Silk Lock, Blazing Dragon Venerate, and Nine Heavens Divine Lightning. After learning that the seal had only six months of power left, he prepared to leave the Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven and confront the Black Demon Sect Master.

• Su Zhan completed the first round of tempering and gained at least twenty percent more overall strength.
• The Immovable Wisdom King Wall gained adaptive defenses, while the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock expanded to three thousand independently thinking threads.
• The Blazing Dragon Venerate’s true fire gained white flames that could corrode Principle shields, and the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning advanced to the Triple Dragon stage.
• Yuan Ji told Su Zhan that the grotto-heaven’s administrative authority had been partially restored and showed him a warning that the seal had only seventeen percent of its power remaining.
• Su Zhan estimated the seal would collapse in six months and decided to return outside to deal with the Black Demon Sect Master.
• Su Zhan ordered Yuan Ji to open the teleportation exit, saying he was going to collect a debt.

Su Zhan traveled alone through the Demon Sea toward the Black Demon Sect, intent on attacking its injured Sect Master before he recovered. He flew openly through the toxic sea mist, and large shapes began moving beneath the water nearby.

• Su Zhan activated the teleportation array after telling Yuan Ji to keep the grotto-heaven sealed if he failed to return.
• Su Zhan arrived at the Demon Sea and learned from the Cultivation Methods that its waters were filled with dense Demonic Energy and deadly poisons.
• Su Zhan chose to fly directly toward the Black Demon Sect rather than conceal himself, reasoning that its Sect Master’s soul had not yet healed.
• Su Zhan used Nine Heavens Divine Lightning’s Purple-Gold Lightning to charge through the blood mist while the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer’s Canon absorbed its toxins.
• After several minutes of flight, Su Zhan sensed enormous dark shapes swimming beneath the sea at nearly his speed.

Su Zhan crossed the Demon Sea and confronted the demonized sea beasts, then stopped before the Black Demon Sect's Sect-Protection Grand Formation. He planned to slip through its patrol gaps and reach the Sect Master before the thirty-six Martial King guardians could raise an alarm.

• Su Zhan suppressed the largest demonized sea beast with the Immovable Wisdom King Wall and used lightning to disable others as he flew past.
• After another half hour of flight, Su Zhan reached a boundary where the Demonic Energy grew much denser.
• Shadow Thousand Silk Lock detected the Sect-Protection Grand Formation and reported that thirty-six Martial King-level guardians protected its seabed nodes.
• Su Zhan chose to avoid alerting the guardians, and Shadow Thousand Silk Lock proposed guiding him through the patrol gaps between nodes.
• Su Zhan agreed to try the route while Shadow Thousand Silk Lock spread three thousand threads ahead to mark the timing.

Su Zhan crossed twelve layers of formation nodes without triggering an alarm, using the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning to escape a closing light screen. He reached a reef and spotted a massive floating complex roughly sixty miles ahead.

• Su Zhan followed the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock’s route through the first six formation layers, narrowly avoiding the patrolling light screens.
• At the seventh layer, Su Zhan used the Three-Dragon Stage: Limit Flash to clear a passage whose window had unexpectedly shrunk.
• Su Zhan crossed the remaining layers with increasingly smooth movements and launched himself through the final gap using the Immovable Wisdom King Wall.
• Su Zhan landed on a reef with a damaged shoe and saw a purple-black complex of halls and towers floating above the sea ahead.

Su Zhan confronted the Black Demon Sect Sect Master's divine sense projection in the Demon Sea and learned that the Sect Master had turned the sea and its refined Demonized Sea Beasts into weapons. As the creatures surrounded him, Su Zhan considered how to fight without revealing his evolved techniques and called on the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon to handle the poisoned sea.

• Su Zhan found the Black Demon Sect Sect Master's divine sense projection waiting for him beneath a reef.
• The Sect Master accused Su Zhan of destroying his clone, taking his Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven, and using Soul Search on his elders, then threatened to kill him.
• Su Zhan deduced that the Sect Master had not recovered enough to attack him directly, and the Sect Master revealed that the Demon Sea was his weapon and domain.
• The black sea churned with refined Demonized Sea Beasts bearing Demonic Energy brands linked to the Sect Master's divine sense.
• Su Zhan held back the Blazing Dragon Venerate and Nine Heavens Divine Lightning to conceal his methods, then asked the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon whether it could handle the sea's toxins.

Su Zhan used the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon to seize control of the Demon Sea's poison and repel the Sect Master's attacks. The Sect Master's projection vanished, but the black buildings ahead activated with purple-black runes.

• Su Zhan released the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon, causing the demonized sea beasts to halt and submit as their toxins came under his control.
• Su Zhan spread the Shennong Domain across the sea and began absorbing the demonic poison in the water.
• The Sect Master sent waves of seawater filled with fragments of his malice at Su Zhan, but the Thunder Emperor Divine Seat purified them and the Immovable Wisdom King Wall shielded him.
• Su Zhan warned the Sect Master that his wounded soul could not sustain the projection, which then shrank into a ball of light and disappeared after promising to wait for him.
• The purple-black runes on the black buildings ahead lit up after the Sect Master's projection vanished.

Su Zhan entered the black sect headquarters after the Sect Master opened the formation and invited him to a banquet. As he approached the main hall, he discovered the headquarters was built around a river of concentrated Demonic Energy, while resentful souls in the doors were drawn to his divine canon.

• Su Zhan concluded that the Sect Master wanted to settle the fight quickly and flew to the headquarters.
• Eight hundred black-armored warriors saluted Su Zhan as Li Wusheng introduced himself and led him toward the main hall.
• Su Zhan sent his threads underground and learned that a river of liquid Demonic Energy ran beneath the headquarters and converged below the main hall.
• As Su Zhan passed through the hall's doorway, the carved faces turned toward him and the resentful souls inside tried to escape toward his Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon.

Su Zhan faced the Black Demon Sect Master in the sect headquarters, where the underground river’s Demonic Energy weakened several of Su Zhan’s Principles. The Sect Master prepared to fight on his home ground, leaving Su Zhan estimating his strength at the sixth or seventh level of Martial King.

• Su Zhan entered the hall and saw the Black Demon Sect Master’s aged true body seated at the table.
• The Sect Master said he wanted to fight Su Zhan and challenged him to consider how much of his fused Principles he could use inside the sect.
• The Sect Master cracked the floor, flooding the hall with Demonic Energy from the underground river.
• Su Zhan found that the Demonic Energy weakened his lightning and fire, restricted the Ancient Life Tree, strengthened his poison technique, and left his defensive wall unaffected.
• Su Zhan estimated that the Sect Master’s home-ground advantage left him fighting at roughly the sixth or seventh level of Martial King.