Recaps

Song Wen threatened to circulate a recording unless Shan Yue obtained the Soul-Concentrating Spike, forcing her to seek it in the Xing Family’s Transmission Hall. She secured the first level and used her Honor Merit Token to enter the fourth floor, where she could pursue the next level.

• Song Wen threatened Shan Yue with a recording of the previous night, then uprooted Poison Old Ghost’s poisonous plants and left two Sacred Beetle Gu to watch the Poison Grotto.
• Shan Yue returned to the Xing Family’s palace, changed her clothes, and went to the Transmission Hall to obtain the Soul-Concentrating Spike.
• Shan Yue pressured Xing Shi into copying the first level of the technique, promising to take responsibility for bypassing the family trial.
• At the fourth-floor barrier, Shan Yue presented her Honor Merit Token, and Xing Xian opened the formation to let her enter.

Shan Yue memorized the first two levels of the Soul-Concentrating Spike and brought them to Song Wen, who accepted them and released the formation holding Xing Chang. Song Wen then pressured Shan Yue to kill Xing Xinxin, and she stabbed Xing Xinxin to death.

• Shan Yue memorized the first and second levels of the Soul-Concentrating Spike, destroyed the Jade Slips, and left the Transmission Pavilion for Rift Valley.
• Song Wen followed Shan Yue to Rift Valley and waited until he was sure she had not contacted anyone before entering the Cave.
• Shan Yue gave Song Wen Jade Slips containing the two levels of the Soul-Concentrating Spike, and he removed the Four Symbols Reversal Formation.
• Song Wen stopped Shan Yue from reaching Xing Chang and demanded that she decide what to do with Xing Xinxin.
• Song Wen urged Shan Yue to kill Xing Xinxin, and Shan Yue stabbed her repeatedly until she was dead.

After Shan Yue killed Xing Xinxin, Song Wen removed the soul mark from her and left with her corpse, while Shan Yue tended to Xing Chang and began to doubt his weakness. Song Wen learned that Xing Xinxin’s Corpse King Blood Refinement Art came from Old Monster Yinshuo of Limitless Island, discovered that consuming its practitioners’ essence blood could boost his cultivation, and decided to go there.

• Song Wen erased the soul mark Xing Xinxin’s family had left in Shan Yue, then bound Xing Xinxin’s soul and took her corpse away.
• Shan Yue healed Xing Chang, who worried only about his wounds, and questioned whether her past teachings had made him weak-willed.
• Song Wen searched Xing Xinxin’s soul again and learned that Old Monster Yinshuo of Limitless Island had given her the Corpse King Blood Refinement Art and incomplete Corpse Curse Water formula.
• While devouring Xing Xinxin’s essence blood, Song Wen absorbed spiritual power and realized that consuming Foundation Establishment cultivators who practiced the art could increase his cultivation.
• Song Wen decided to visit Limitless Island, burned Xing Xinxin’s corpse, and collected her storage ring and Xing Chang’s.
• Song Wen studied Shan Yue’s jade slips and gained a preliminary understanding of the first two levels of the Soul-Concentrating Spike.

Song Wen set aside his plan to obtain the Heavenly Spirit Pill and returned to Fangzhu City under a new identity. Meanwhile, after learning that Xing Xinxin had died, Xing Liren investigated her murder and considered his mother's offer to enlist Jing Family support for refining the pill.

• Song Wen concluded that taking the Heavenly Spirit Pill from the Xing Family was too dangerous, so he decided to refine an Earth Spirit Pill first.
• Song Wen disguised himself as a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Rogue Cultivator, returned to Fangzhu City, and rented a new cave dwelling instead of using the identity Wei Ding.
• Jing Feiyao told Xing Liren that Xing Xinxin's soul lamp had gone out and that Granny Jin suspected her death was linked to an early Golden Core cultivator skilled in lightning arts.
• Xing Liren vowed to find Xinxin's killer and told Jing Feiyao that he had found five of the nine third-tier alchemists needed for the Heavenly Spirit Pill.
• Jing Feiyao said the Jing Family could help Xing Liren gather alchemists, but her maternal uncle wanted the Soul-Concentrating Spike technique in return.

Song Wen refined an Earth Spirit Pill and used it to cultivate the first level of the Soul-Concentrating Spike, then resumed his preparations in Fangzhu City. After returning to his cave, he received a humble request for help from Shan Yue, leaving him wondering what she wanted.

• Xing Liren refused Jing Feiyao’s suggestion that he give Jing Lie the first two levels of the Soul-Concentrating Spike and said he would refine the Heavenly Spirit Pill himself.
• Song Wen studied the Earth Spirit Pill’s refinement for a month, successfully made one, and used it to form a divine sense blade while cultivating the first level of the Soul-Concentrating Spike.
• Song Wen fed dragon-pattern grass to a sacred beetle gu, then went to Fangzhu City and bought third-tier spirit herbs as the Spell Arts Tournament drew closer.
• Song Wen searched the Dark Star Black Market for profound yin stone or baleful crystals, bought netherworld stone for the Ghost King, and returned to his cave.
• Song Wen received a message from Shan Yue asking him for help and replied to ask what she needed.

Shan Yue tried to hire Song Wen to hunt a Tidal Demon, then offered information about Heavenly Spirit Pills as payment. Song Wen accepted the deal after learning that Xing Liren planned to secretly refine pills using cultivators with Soul-Origin Physiques, and Shan Yue sent him details about the demon.

• Shan Yue asked Song Wen to hunt a Tidal Demon, but he refused despite her increasing the reward.
• More than a month later, Shan Yue offered information about Heavenly Spirit Pills in exchange for the demon’s essence blood and soul.
• Shan Yue told Song Wen that Xing Liren planned to use the Spell Arts Tournament to find nine Qi Refining cultivators with Soul-Origin Physiques and secretly refine Heavenly Spirit Pills.
• Shan Yue said she learned of Xing Liren’s plan from Xing Gaohan, who had revealed it while she attended him.
• Song Wen agreed to the transaction, and Shan Yue sent him information about a late second-order Tidal Demon that preyed on mortals on a remote Inner Sea island.

Song Wen watched the islanders sacrifice a young girl to the Tidal Demon, then killed the demon with six Sacred Beetle Gu and took its corpse. As he fled Yuyang Island, a powerful female Golden Core cultivator pursued him and demanded the Tidal Demon.

• Song Wen confirmed that no cultivators were on Yuyang Island and watched the islanders prepare their full-moon sacrifice to the Tidal Demon.
• A Sacred Beetle Gu alerted Song Wen to the demon's arrival, and he saw it destroy a fishing boat and kill the bound Jade Maiden.
• The Tidal Demon attacked the settlement, but six Sacred Beetle Gu surrounded it and killed it while Song Wen watched.
• Song Wen sealed and stored the Tidal Demon's corpse as the islanders hailed him as their sea god.
• A powerful female cultivator demanded that Song Wen hand over the Tidal Demon, so he fled as she pursued him.

Song Wen fled Xing Yixuan, a peak Golden Core cultivator of the Xing Family, and endured her Raging Water Banner attacks before escaping with his Blood Escape Technique. He vanished into high-altitude clouds, leaving Xing Yixuan searching for his trail.

• Xing Yixuan attacked Song Wen with the Raging Water Banner, but his pagoda, lightning shield, and green Great Lu let him survive and flee.
• Xing Yixuan introduced herself and offered to recruit Song Wen into the Xing Family, but he ignored her and continued escaping.
• Xing Yixuan unleashed a stronger torrent, and Song Wen used the Blood Escape Technique to reappear two hundred li away.
• Song Wen replenished his essence blood from jade bottles and continued fleeing as Xing Yixuan pursued him.
• Song Wen entered a bank of clouds, where Xing Yixuan lost his trace and began tracking his faint aura through the shifting cloud banks.

Song Wen escaped Xing Yixuan and completed a secret exchange with Shan Yue for the Tidal Demon. After learning Xing Liren planned to refine the Heavenly Spirit Pill at Treasure Peak, Song Wen began watching the mountain for signs of the alchemy operation.

• Song Wen evaded Xing Yixuan through the clouds until she abandoned her pursuit and headed for Fangzhu Island.
• Beneath the sea, Yuan Hao and Wind Eagle discussed the damage caused by Xing Yixuan and their plans against the Human Race.
• Song Wen recovered at his cave abode, arranged a meeting with Shan Yue, and rejected her suggestion to trade at the Listening Wind Pavilion.
• At Heavenfang Mountain, Shan Yue received the Tidal Demon from Song Wen's Sacred Beetle Gu and revealed that Xing Liren would refine the Heavenly Spirit Pill at Treasure Peak.
• Song Wen investigated Treasure Peak several times and found its usual mist, formation, and Treasure Gathering undisturbed.

Xing Wenyao told Xing Yixuan that Xing Liren planned to refine Heavenly Spirit Pills with the Jing Family’s help, and hinted that she could act against him. Meanwhile, Song Wen cultivated and spent heavily to advance one Sacred Beetle Gu to the early third order, leaving him seeking cheaper Dragon-Pattern Grass for the rest.

• Xing Yixuan presented Xing Wenyao with a peak second-order Nether Fox she had captured in the Ghost Mist Domain.
• Xing Wenyao told Xing Yixuan that Xing Liren had traded the first two layers of the Soul-Concentrating Spike to the Jing Family for help gathering alchemists to refine Heavenly Spirit Pills.
• Xing Wenyao revealed that Xing Liren planned to hold the alchemy at Treasure Peak and left Xing Yixuan to decide what to do.
• Song Wen continued cultivating the Myriad Poisons Primordial Body and bought more Dragon-Pattern Grass to advance one of his Sacred Beetle Gu.
• After eating seventy plants and sleeping for half a year, the Sacred Beetle Gu advanced to the early third order and devoured several sea-beast corpses.
• Song Wen calculated that advancing all six Sacred Beetle Gu would consume most of his spirit stones and hoped to find Dragon-Pattern Grass at a lower price.

Song Wen watched Treasure Peak as Xing Liren gathered nine soul-source cultivators to refine the Heavenly Spirit Pill, then waited for a chance to seize it. As the pill neared completion, three masked cultivators broke the peak’s illusion array and attacked Xing Liren.

• Song Wen bought Dragon-Pattern Grass, hid near Treasure Peak, and used his Gu insects to watch the mountain.
• Gan Hong abducted nine cultivators with soul-source physiques and brought them to Treasure Peak for Xing Liren’s pill refinement.
• Three masked cultivators arrived near Treasure Peak and waited until the Heavenly Spirit Pill was nearly complete.
• The ox-masked cultivator used four Formation Flags to break Treasure Peak’s illusion array.
• The goat-masked cultivator attacked Xing Liren with a flying sword, overwhelming his Coldlight Mirror with Sword Qi.

Xing Liren fought the goat-headed woman while Gan Hong and Jing Lie’s group watched or intervened, and Jing Lie demanded a cultivation art in exchange for help. After an unseen elderly man secretly saved Xing Liren, Jing Lie stepped in and clashed with the goat-headed woman, whose water techniques overcame his hurricane.

• Xing Liren used his Coldlight Mirror to block the goat-headed woman’s flying sword while Gan Hong’s saber was repelled by the horse-headed man’s giant bell.
• Jing Lie refused to help unless Xing Liren promised him the third level of the Soul-Concentrating Spike cultivation art, while the Rogue Cultivator alchemists hung back.
• The ice shield shattered, and an elderly man in gray robes secretly deflected the flying sword before it could strike Xing Liren.
• Jing Lie claimed credit for saving Xing Liren and attacked the goat-headed woman with a hurricane conjured by his green-dragon banner.
• The goat-headed woman summoned water columns that weakened and ultimately collapsed Jing Lie’s hurricane.

Xing Yixuan and Jing Lie fought to a standstill as Song Wen watched from hiding, while a gray-robed elder activated a vast black formation. Song Wen tried to flee but was trapped inside the formation, where a sudden force left him weightless and distorted his surroundings.

• Xing Yixuan revealed her identity and accused Xing Liren of betraying the Xing Family by colluding with the Jing Family.
• Jing Lie and Xing Yixuan unleashed their banners against each other, and their attacks shattered in a violent clash that injured them both.
• A gray-robed elder activated a blood-colored formation disk in a distant valley, sending a black barrier across the surrounding region.
• Song Wen felt uneasy as the barrier passed through him, so he left the beast cave and fled through the forest.
• Song Wen reached the formation's edge, tested it with a stone, and watched the barrier destroy it before the formation darkened.
• Song Wen felt weightless as the world around him spun and warped.

Song Wen was transported to Nether God Mountain, an ancient secret realm opened by the Xing Family, where ghost mist threatened the entrants. As Xing Gaohan revealed the family’s secrets and confronted Jing Wuming, the arrival of Yinshuo exposed another dangerous rival in the realm.

• Song Wen arrived in a ghost-mist-filled plaza at Nether God Mountain and ignored a Qi Refinement cultivator’s pleas for help.
• Xing Gaohan and Xing Wenyao appeared and explained that they had opened the secret realm, while Xing Gaohan warned Xing Liren that they would later settle accounts for his scheme.
• Xing Gaohan revealed that the Xing Family had entered the secret realm five times and that the Soul-Concentrating Spike originated there.
• Xing Gaohan identified Jing Wuming as an intruder, and Jing Wuming disclosed that Yinshuo was also inside the secret realm.
• Yinshuo descended through the ghost mist, and Xing Gaohan accused him of manipulating his daughter into practicing an incomplete demonic art and causing her death.

In the Nethergod Mountain Secret Realm, Yinshuo revealed that he had tried to use Xiao Xinxin as a cauldron and warned Xing Gaohan about possible Demon Race intruders. After the Nascent Soul Cultivators headed for the mountain, Song Wen hid his immunity to the ghostly mist as the remaining Golden Core Cultivators formed uneasy alliances and clashed.

• Yinshuo admitted that he had recruited Xiao Xinxin to cultivate demonic arts so he could use her as a Turbid Yin Sha cauldron, angering Xing Gaohan.
• Yinshuo described two suspicious figures in the secret realm, and Xing Gaohan and Xing Wenyao rushed toward the mountain after suspecting Demon Race activity near the summit.
• Xing Wenyao warned Xing Yixuan and Xing Liren about the ghostly mist and the secret realm's one-year limit before heading uphill with Yinshuo and Jing Wuming.
• Song Wen concealed that the Corpse King Reincarnation Art protected him from the ghostly mist while nearby low-level cultivators transformed into resentful spirits.
• Xing Yixuan and Xing Liren argued over the Heavenly Spirit Pill, then agreed with Jing Lie to avoid fighting the Jing Family.
• Xing Yixuan attacked the five Rogue Cultivators, and Jing Lie ordered the Jing Family to help the Xing Family eliminate them.

Song Wen fled Xing Liren through the ghostly mist, then turned to fight him with thunder techniques and spirit flames. His silver firebird revealed both supremely yang and supremely frigid flames, leaving Xing Liren alarmed as their powers clashed.

• Xing Liren killed the middle-aged Rogue Cultivator who had fled toward Song Wen, then pursued Song Wen into the ghostly mist.
• Xing Yixuan followed Xing Liren and Song Wen, while Gan Hong chose to assist the horse-headed man instead.
• Song Wen attacked Xing Liren with thunder spears and Jade Pivot Divine Thunder, but Xing Liren accelerated and continued the chase.
• At the foot of a mountain, Xing Liren unleashed a barrage of ice spikes, and Song Wen sent out a silver firebird that formed a fire dragon to meet them.
• Xing Liren froze the fire dragon with the Coldlight Mirror, but the silver firebird countered his frost mist with supremely frigid yin flames, startling him.

Song Wen used his hidden allies and a series of feints to overcome Xing Liren’s powerful ice spear and kill him. Xing Liren died after the Shadow Gu distracted him and Song Wen pierced his dantian with the Black Frost Blade.

• Xing Liren unleashed a massive ice spear that overcame the silver corpse, the Ghost King, Song Wen’s Profound Yellow Pagoda, his Baleful Path secret art, and his green bell.
• Song Wen appeared to be trapped by the ice spear, while Xing Liren grew careless and failed to notice the approaching Shadow Gu.
• The Shadow Gu struck Xing Liren’s mana shield, and Song Wen appeared behind him and stabbed his lower back with the Black Frost Blade.
• Xing Liren blocked the blade and used a Soul-Severing Talisman, but Song Wen survived the attack as the Shadow Gu entered Xing Liren’s wound.
• Song Wen clawed Xing Liren’s eyes, disrupting his mana, and drove the Black Frost Blade into his dantian, killing him.

Song Wen escaped Xing Yixuan’s ambush but was wounded by her Bone-Eroding Cone, while she used his blood to track him. Seeking shelter higher up Nethergod Mountain, he found an ancient cave just as a bizarre Wraith emerged from the ghost mist.

• Xing Yixuan ambushed Song Wen after Xing Liren’s death, but Song Wen escaped using a puppet substitute and a blood escape technique.
• Xing Yixuan found blood on her Bone-Eroding Cone and used the Blood Curse Tracking Technique to pursue Song Wen.
• Song Wen sealed his wound, climbed into denser ghost mist, and discovered an artificially excavated mountain Cave.
• A grotesque Wraith with three human heads, a snake body, four arms, and six insect-like legs burst from the ghost mist above Song Wen.

Song Wen defeated and absorbed a powerful wraith, then sent a Corpse Puppet into the cave as a decoy while he fled. Xing Yixuan tracked him to an underground hall resembling the Corpse Demon Sect’s Corpse Dissection Cave, where wraiths attacked her and Song Wen suddenly fell from the sky.

• The Ghost King and Song Wen’s Thunder Arts weakened the wraith, and Song Wen destroyed one of its heads with a Divine Sense blade.
• Song Wen struck the fleeing wraith with thunder spears, then absorbed it into his Sea of Consciousness Black Hole.
• Song Wen sent a weakened Corpse Puppet into the cave to mislead whoever was approaching and flew toward the high sky.
• Xing Yixuan followed Song Wen’s bloodstain to the cave and chose to investigate the obvious trail leading inside.
• Xing Yixuan found an underground hall with hundreds of platforms resembling the Corpse Demon Sect’s Corpse Dissection Cave, while wraiths tore apart Song Wen’s Corpse Puppet.
• Five Third Rank wraiths attacked Xing Yixuan, and as she fled, Song Wen crashed onto a platform before her.

Song Wen fled down the mountain but encountered Jing Lie, who suspected Song Wen had killed Xing Liren and demanded the Heavenly Spirit Pill. Song Wen survived Jing Lie’s attacks using a substitute-death puppet and escaped upward, but Jing Lie pursued him with the Flood Dragon Banner and sent a wind dragon after him.

• Song Wen encountered Jing Lie, who asked where Xing Yixuan was and concluded that Song Wen might have killed Xing Liren.
• Song Wen fled as Jing Lie attacked with the Flood Dragon Banner, and Jing Lie used the Myriad Phenomena Eye to track him through the ghostly mist.
• Jing Lie trapped Song Wen with wind walls, but Song Wen used a substitute-death puppet to fake his death and escaped with the Thunder Escape Technique.
• Jing Lie pursued Song Wen with a wide-range barrage of wind blades, then formed a wind dragon and sent it after him.
• Song Wen raised a corpse-baleful shield and green great bell and unleashed Jade Pivot Divine Thunder at the wind dragon.

Song Wen fled into the Cave after being struck down, while Xing Yixuan and Jing Lie fought outside as wraiths emerged from within. Jing Lie escaped, and Xing Yixuan waited at the entrance, expecting Song Wen to come back out with the Heavenly Spirit Pill.

• The wind dragon struck Song Wen, shattering his Corpse-Baleful Shield and knocking him onto the platform before the Cave.
• Five third-rank wraiths emerged and attacked Xing Yixuan with piercing shrieks as Song Wen disappeared into the Cave.
• Jing Lie arrived, blocked Xing Yixuan's retreat, and demanded the Heavenly Spirit Pill; Xing Yixuan said Song Wen had taken it into the Cave.
• Xing Yixuan used Soul-Severing Talismans to destroy two wraiths and blocked Jing Lie's wind attack with a water wall.
• Jing Lie retreated from Xing Yixuan and the wraiths, while Xing Yixuan stayed outside the Cave to wait for Song Wen.

Song Wen escaped a pack of wraiths into the Blood Refining Cave, where he found no way out and realized he was trapped. He used the Exorcising Evil Sword Formation to keep the wraiths at bay while he prepared to cultivate the second level of the Soul-Concentrating Spike and face his pursuers.

• Song Wen endured the shrieks of eight third-rank wraiths and fled into a passage that led to the Blood Refining Cave.
• Song Wen sealed the passage with Jade Radiance Flame and Jade Pivot Divine Thunder, driving the wraiths back temporarily.
• Song Wen discovered the copper furnace was broken and found neither treasure nor an exit in the cave.
• Song Wen considered cultivating the second level of the Soul-Concentrating Spike to escape Xing Yixuan and Jing Lie, but the wraiths prevented him from resting.
• Song Wen arranged nine flying swords in the Exorcising Evil Sword Formation and used Jade Pivot Divine Thunder to form a lightning barrier that stopped the wraiths from advancing.

Song Wen cultivated the second level of the Soul-Concentrating Spike in the Blood Refining Cave and uncovered a mysterious, immensely heavy Blood Brick that contained vast stores of blood essence. He stored it and withdrew his formation, only to face a powerful vengeful spirit in the passage.

• Song Wen spent half a year cultivating the second level of the Soul-Concentrating Spike and learned to form two spiritual sense blades.
• Song Wen noticed a bright red patch in the pit and had the Ghost King cut out the Blood Brick hidden beneath it.
• Song Wen found that touching the Blood Brick flooded him with blood essence, then stored the object after confirming it caused no other changes.
• Song Wen returned to the cave passage and withdrew the Exorcising Evil Sword Formation, revealing a lone late third-tier vengeful spirit.
• The ox-headed, winged vengeful spirit lunged at Song Wen as he prepared to fight.

Song Wen defeated and devoured the wraiths in Corpse Dissection Cave, then fled the mountain as a disturbance erupted above. At the mountaintop, Xing Wenyao continued breaking the ninth bronze gate while Xing Gaohan and Yinshuo argued over the secret realm and how Yinshuo learned of it.

• Song Wen used lightning and the Exorcising Evil Sword Formation to defeat and devour the wraiths guarding the passage.
• Song Wen searched Corpse Dissection Cave, found no treasures, and waited for Xing Yixuan and Jing Lie, but neither appeared.
• Song Wen left the cave and flew down the mountain, then hurried away when a thunderous boom shook the mountaintop.
• At the mountaintop, Xing Wenyao worked to break the ninth bronze gate while Xing Gaohan, Jing Wuming, and Yinshuo watched.
• Yinshuo challenged the Xing Family over its failure to open the gate and revealed that Xing Wenyao had disclosed the secret realm’s location and opening time after Yinshuo offered spiritual materials.

Xing Gaohan, Yinshuo, and Jing Wuming entered the ancient hall’s maze after the bronze door opened, while the Xing Family secretly planned to hunt Jing Wuming. Two cloaked figures arrived after them and condemned the human race.

• Xing Gaohan challenged Jing Wuming and Yinshuo over their arrival, while the three sides maintained a tense standoff.
• Xing Wenyao’s formation-breaking attack made the bronze door open, releasing dense ghost mist from the hall.
• Yinshuo entered first, followed by Jing Wuming, who used an oil lamp to fend off the ghost mist.
• Xing Gaohan revealed the Xing Family knew about the maze and sent a Nether Fox to track Jing Wuming, then followed with Xing Wenyao.
• Two cloaked figures appeared at the door, and one denounced the human race as unworthy to rule the sea region.