Recaps

Zhu Yin and Song Wen followed the Bloodthirsty Bees while six Foundation Establishment cultivators trailed behind them. In the royal palace, Cui Zaishi secretly met his father, who revealed their plan to attack sheep steward Zhu Jiao and escape Sheep Island before the people were harvested.

• Zhu Yin told the six Foundation Establishment cultivators to follow on their swords, then led Song Wen after the Bloodthirsty Bees.
• Cui Zaishi slipped through a hidden passage to a secret chamber outside the royal palace and met his father.
• Cui Zaishi reported that Zhu Jiao had fled west to Azure Edge Mountain Palace and that the cultivators were pursuing the Bloodthirsty Bees.
• Cui Zaishi's father revealed that the Cui family had learned Sheep Island's people were livestock for Limitless Island and had secretly raised poisoned-crossbow death warriors.
• Cui Zaishi and his father planned to seize the chance created by the Bloodthirsty Bees' attack and kill Zhu Jiao to obtain a passage token.

Song Wen and Zhu Yin tried to lure the Bloodthirsty Bee Queen from its underground hive, but the Queen never appeared. A mass brawl among the bees left thousands dead, and Zhu Yin allowed Jing Kai and the others to collect their corpses.

• Song Wen and Zhu Yin reached the mountain hive, where Zhu Yin chose a hill with several hive entrances as the site for their plan.
• Zhu Yin and six Foundation Establishment cultivators scattered Demon-Luring Incense, drawing thousands of Bloodthirsty Bees out, but the Queen did not appear before the incense lost its potency.
• Song Wen sent a Shadow Gu into a hive passage, but the bees discovered it and forced it to retreat with poisonous mist.
• After waiting six days for a fresh batch of incense, Zhu Yin's group lured out over a hundred thousand Bloodthirsty Bees, which fought each other over the powder.
• The second-grade bees disappeared into the hive, and the Queen remained hidden; Zhu Yin let Jing Kai and the others gather the dead bees' intact stingers.

Song Wen and Zhu Yin failed to lure the Bloodthirsty Bees' queen out with third-tier Demon-Luring Incense, so Song Wen proposed placing the incense inside the nest to weaken the swarm. After Zhu Yin returned to Shepherd Mountain to prepare, she found Yuan Qing waiting there, while Jing Kai received news of another problem.

• Zhu Yin scattered a fresh batch of Demon-Luring Incense in a mountain gully, but only a small number of mostly unranked Bloodthirsty Bees emerged.
• Song Wen suggested putting the incense inside the nest and sending small spirit beasts to find and kill the queen, and Zhu Yin said she had a plan.
• Zhu Yin took Song Wen, Jing Kai, and the others back to Shepherd Mountain to make preparations.
• Zhu Yin confronted Yuan Qing, a peak Golden Core cultivator and disciple of Devil Venerable Ye Hua, and rejected his offer to help with the infestation.
• Yuan Qing gave Song Wen his communication jade slip, and Jing Kai received troubling news before heading to see Zhu Yin.

Song Wen accompanied Jing Kai to Cold Mountain Kingdom to investigate Zhu Jiao’s unexplained death, while Yuan Qing traveled there separately. Jing Kai found no useful clues, and Song Wen learned that the kingdom’s ruler, Cui Zaishi, was the one person he had not tortured.

• Zhu Yin asked Song Wen to accompany Jing Kai to investigate Zhu Jiao’s death in Cold Mountain Kingdom and warned him to be wary of Yuan Qing.
• Song Wen, Jing Kai, and Yuan Qing traveled together, and Jing Kai told Yuan Qing about the Bloodthirsty Bees and Cold Mountain Kingdom.
• Yuan Qing left for the southwestern mountains while Song Wen and Jing Kai went to Shanfu City; Song Wen stayed hidden as Jing Kai investigated.
• Jing Kai found that Zhu Jiao had vanished after leaving the Azure Edge Mountain residence seven days earlier, but uncovered no useful clues.
• Jing Kai told Song Wen that he had tortured nearly everyone who had dealt with Zhu Jiao, except Cui Zaishi, the ruler of Cold Mountain Kingdom.

Song Wen left Shanfu City while Yuan Qing searched for the Demon Soul Token and pursued Cui Shi, who was fleeing Sheep Island. Yuan Qing caught Cui Shi at the mist barrier and revealed that the Cui Family’s discoveries in the mausoleum had been part of his scheme.

• Song Wen blamed Zhu Jiao’s death on a demonic beast and departed for Shepherd Mountain, while Jing Kai stayed in the Cold Mountain Kingdom.
• Yuan Qing entered the royal palace and soul-searched Cui Zaishi, learning that Cui Shi had the Demon Soul Token and had fled Shanfu City.
• Yuan Qing used Cui Zaishi’s blood to trace his relatives, captured Cui Zaishi’s soul, and followed the rune leading toward the eastern coast.
• Cui Shi tried to escape Sheep Island by boat, but Yuan Qing appeared at the mist barrier and stopped him.
• Yuan Qing told Cui Shi that the Cui Family’s discoveries in the mausoleum had been part of his plan.

Yuan Qing revealed that he had secretly engineered the Cui Family’s discovery of the Bloodthirsty Bees to cultivate a third-order queen and obtain Blood King Honey, then killed Cui Shi and seized the Demon Soul Token. Six days later, Zhu Yin returned to Shepherd Mountain and prepared to use a puppet to weaken the hive so they could search for the queen.

• Yuan Qing explained that he had spent decades arranging for the Cui Family to discover the tomb and raise a third-order Bloodthirsty Bee queen for him.
• Yuan Qing took the Demon Soul Token and Stellar Golden Sand from Cui Shi, then crushed Cui Shi and captured his soul.
• Yuan Qing flew toward the Bloodthirsty Bee hive.
• Six days later, Zhu Yin returned to Shepherd Mountain and questioned Song Wen about the island, Jing Kai, Zhu Jiao’s death, and Yuan Qing.
• Zhu Yin showed Song Wen a durable spider puppet that could carry demon-luring incense into the hive and help them locate the queen.

Song Wen and Zhu Yin investigated a deep tunnel Yuan Qing had excavated into the Bloodthirsty Bee hive, but found the Bee Queen's nest abandoned. They began luring bees with Demon-Luring Incense, and Zhu Yin asked Song Wen to refine two more batches.

• Song Wen examined Zhu Yin's costly spider puppet, and the two agreed to rest before heading for the Bloodthirsty Bee hive.
• Song Wen and Zhu Yin found Yuan Qing's Vertical Tunnel and suspected he had excavated it to locate the Bee Queen and obtain third-rank Blood King Honey.
• Song Wen and Zhu Yin descended into the hive's cavern but found no bees, then returned to the surface and began their original plan.
• Song Wen refined Demon-Luring Powder while Zhu Yin searched for bee activity, and she later found an entrance where bees were moving in and out.
• Zhu Yin sent her spider puppet underground with Demon-Luring Incense; it returned bloodied as several dozen Bloodthirsty Bees pursued it, and Zhu Yin killed them.
• Zhu Yin watched the hive's activity and asked Song Wen to refine two more batches of Demon-Luring Incense.

Song Wen and Zhu Yin located the likely nest of the Bloodthirsty Bee queen and prepared a plan to trap it, but Yuan Qing arrived and demanded to help. Zhu Yin refused to trust him and challenged him to reveal his motives.

• Zhu Yin sent a Swift Shadow Rat into the hive, while Song Wen secretly sent two Shadow Gu to search for the queen bee's nest.
• One Shadow Gu found a vast underground cavern about two hundred miles east, and three days later the Swift Shadow Rat returned with matching information.
• Song Wen and Zhu Yin followed the Swift Shadow Rat to a valley and Zhu Yin proposed using an Ice Crystal Pearl to seal the queen bee's large tunnels while they dug down to its nest.
• Yuan Qing arrived just as Song Wen and Zhu Yin discussed their plan, and Zhu Yin accused him of spying on them.
• Yuan Qing claimed he had come to help kill the queen bee, but Zhu Yin refused to let him act until he revealed his purpose.

Yuan Qing revealed that he sought the queen bee’s Blood King Honey to refine an Infant Spirit Pill, then persuaded Zhu Yin to join forces with him. The group found and killed the queen bee underground, leaving them able to claim the honey.

• Yuan Qing told Zhu Yin that Blood King Honey was a main ingredient in the Infant Spirit Pill, which could increase the chance of forming an infant, and withheld the pill formula.
• Zhu Yin agreed to join Yuan Qing in killing the queen bee, and they decided that Song Wen could still be useful to them.
• Yuan Qing sent his Earth Armor Beast and Zhu Yin sent her Swift Shadow Rat into separate tunnels with Ice Crystal Pearls to help trap the queen bee.
• Yuan Qing and Zhu Yin excavated a sixty-mile Vertical Tunnel with Song Wen’s assistance and broke into a cavern full of Bloodthirsty Bees.
• Yuan Qing searched the cavern, found the queen bee digging through a fresh tunnel, and killed it with his six flying swords.

Yuan Qing and Zhu Yin failed to find Blood King Honey in the slain queen bee’s cave, but Song Wen discovered that the Shadow Gu had brought him two sacs of it. After returning to Tide-Listening Pavilion, Song Wen learned from Chu Qian that Xing Gaohan had died.

• Yuan Qing searched the cave and queen bee’s corpse for Blood King Honey but found nothing, while Zhu Yin offered to help cultivate new queen bees in exchange for the Infant Spirit Pill formula.
• The Shadow Gu returned to Song Wen with two sacs of Blood King Honey, which Song Wen stored away and planned to use to obtain the formula.
• Yuan Qing left the tunnel, and Zhu Yin thanked Song Wen for helping resolve the bloodthirsty bee scourge and told him he could collect his mission reward.
• Song Wen went to Tide-Listening Pavilion, where Chu Qian hosted him and revealed that Xing Gaohan, the Xing Family’s foremost cultivator, had died.

Song Wen learned of Xing Gaohan’s suspicious death and agreed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills with ingredients supplied by Chu Qian. After completing his Myriad Poisons Primordial Body cultivation, he prepared to make the pills ahead of a coming surge in demand.

• Chu Qian told Song Wen that Xing Gaohan had died, and rumors linked his death to Xing Wenyao after the Xing Family delayed announcing it.
• Song Wen asked Chu Qian about obtaining Foundation Establishment Pills and agreed to split the pills with him in exchange for ingredients.
• Song Wen returned to Limitless Island, collected his mission reward, and learned through the Shadow Gu that An Tong and her sister had stayed on the island.
• Song Wen completed the Myriad Poisons Primordial Body, refined Blood Spirit Pills, and continued cultivating.
• Chu Qian delivered three sets of Foundation Establishment Pill ingredients and explained that an upcoming family-strength evaluation would drive up their value.

Song Wen refined eleven Foundation Establishment Pills, shared them with Chu Qian, and learned that Yuan Qing had posted a mission offering a Ksitigarbha Lotus. The chapter ended with Chu Qian denying to Senior Yu that he had refined any pills.

• Song Wen refined three batches of Foundation Establishment Pills and brought all eleven to Chu Qian on Limitless Island.
• Chu Qian took five pills and bought four more from Song Wen for two thousand mid-grade spirit stones.
• Song Wen asked Chu Qian about the Ksitigarbha Lotus and Five-Colored Gold, and Chu Qian revealed that Yuan Qing had posted the mission for the Ksitigarbha Lotus.
• Chu Qian warned Song Wen that Yuan Qing was a Golden Core peak cultivator and a personal disciple of Ye Hua, the Demon Venerable.
• Senior Yu confronted Chu Qian about gathering materials for Foundation Establishment Pills, and Chu Qian claimed he had not yet gathered enough for one batch.

Song Wen confronted Yu Qi after the Limitless Island cultivator demanded his Foundation Establishment Pills and exclusive access to his alchemy. Song Wen revealed his Origin-Returning Sha Qi and launched a divine sense attack, leaving Yu Qi trying to withstand it and retreat.

• Yu Qi met Song Wen at Tide-Listening Pavilion and questioned him about his meeting with Chu Qian.
• Chu Qian warned Song Wen that Yu Qi was scheming, and Song Wen later discovered Yu Qi had followed him to an uninhabited island.
• Yu Qi demanded Song Wen's Foundation Establishment Pills and an oath to stop dealing with Chu Qian, while Song Wen asked whether Yu Qi cultivated the Corpse King Blood Refinement Art.
• Song Wen attacked Yu Qi, using Origin-Returning Sha Qi to block and seize Yu Qi's iron spike.
• Song Wen sent three transparent blades toward Yu Qi in a divine sense attack, and Yu Qi gathered his divine sense while retreating.

Song Wen killed Yu Qi, devoured his essence and spiritual power, then stabilized his cultivation in seclusion. After emerging, he gave An Tong and An Yin two Foundation Establishment Pills and learned that Jing Kai was grieving Yu Qi’s death, unaware Song Wen was the killer.

• Song Wen killed Yu Qi, searched his memories, and learned that Yu Qi and the Chu Qian father and son profited by helping outer sect families strengthen their claims to properties.
• Song Wen devoured Yu Qi’s soul, essence blood, and spiritual power, gaining the equivalent of decades of cultivation before burning the corpse and returning to Extreme Yin Island.
• After half a year in seclusion, Song Wen inspected Yu Qi’s storage ring and gave An Tong and An Yin two Foundation Establishment Pills.
• Song Wen went to Corpse King Valley and found Jing Kai demoted to guard after Yu Qi’s death; Jing Kai vowed to avenge his master, while Song Wen concealed his guilt and offered him support.

Song Wen accepted Zhu Yin’s invitation to assist Demon Venerable Ye Hua with refining the Life-Breath Pill, learning that its main ingredient was young, strong two-legged sheep. He reached Living Soul Cave and waited beside the enormous pill furnaces as five other Golden Core cultivators arrived.

• Song Wen asked Qiao Ke to remove his expired alchemy task and paid the one-thousand-contribution-point penalty.
• Zhu Yin recruited Song Wen to assist with the Life-Breath Pill’s refinement, offering twenty high-grade spirit stones and fifty thousand contribution points as a reward.
• Zhu Yin told Song Wen that the Life-Breath Pill’s main ingredient was young and strong two-legged sheep, prompting him to wonder whether Yinshuo was short on lifespan.
• Zhu Yin brought Song Wen to Living Soul Cave, where a massive central pill furnace and nine smaller furnaces stood in a pit filled with lingering soul fragments.
• Song Wen waited beside the furnaces, and five Golden Core cultivators arrived and asked whether he was there to help refine the Life-Breath Pill.

Song Wen and eight other third-tier alchemists gathered in Living Soul Cave to help Demon Venerable Ye Hua refine the Life-Breath Pill, which required living humans as its main ingredient. After three days of preparation, Zhu Yin delivered the human ingredients, and Ye Hua ordered the refinement to begin.

• Song Wen met Yu Jiao and the other inner-sect alchemists, then watched Yu Jiao and Ke Shuang trade barbs over Ke Shuang's age and alchemy experience.
• Demon Venerable Ye Hua arrived and warned the nine alchemists that any mistake during the Life-Breath Pill refinement would bring severe consequences.
• Ye Hua gave the alchemists Jade Slips describing the formula and assigned each of them six supplementary ingredients to extract.
• Song Wen studied his assigned herbs and suspected that the great pill furnace might help Ye Hua extract vitality from the more than a million human ingredients.
• Three days later, Zhu Yin arrived with an enormous airship carrying the human ingredients, and Ye Hua ordered the alchemists to start refining.

Ye Hua directed the refinement of a Life-Breath Pill, using spirit herbs and one hundred thousand mortals as ingredients. The first attempt failed after Ke Shuang delayed adding the Wood Spirit Fruit essence; Ye Hua killed her, then Zhu Yin told the remaining alchemists to rest before the next attempt.

• Ye Hua ordered Song Wen and the other alchemists to add spirit herb essences to the furnace as ten flying ships dropped one hundred thousand mortals into it.
• Ye Hua called for the Wood Spirit Fruit essence before Ke Shuang had finished refining it, and her small furnace exploded.
• Ke Shuang extracted another Wood Spirit Fruit essence, but the pill liquid boiled over and most of it splattered across the cave.
• Song Wen absorbed a drop of the blood-red pill liquid and sensed that it contained a small amount of spiritual power and life force.
• Ye Hua killed Ke Shuang, then vanished after blaming her for the failed refinement.
• Zhu Yin reassured the alchemists and told them to rest in the Living Soul Cave until the furnace was opened again.

Song Wen and the other alchemists helped Ye Hua refine the Life-Breath Pill, with Xugeng’s soul power saving the process when Ye Hua faltered. Yinshuo seized the completed pill and promised Xugeng a suitable body in exchange for his help.

• Yu Jiao captured Ke Shuang’s remaining soul in a soul bottle while Song Wen and the other alchemists kept silent.
• Ye Hua returned with Zhu Yin and Xugeng, whose soul was imprisoned in a Soul Shackle, and waited for Le Liang to join the alchemists.
• Ye Hua and the alchemists spent sixty days refining a million human ingredients into Life-Breath Pill essence.
• Xugeng used his soul power to stabilize the pill embryo when Ye Hua ran short of power, allowing Ye Hua to complete the Life-Breath Pill.
• Yinshuo appeared, took the pill, and promised to find Xugeng a body in return for his assistance before leaving with the pill and Soul Shackle.

After completing the Life-Breath Pill mission, Song Wen traded a branch of his Earthcore Smelting Flame to Le Liang for spirit stones and information about Five-Colored Gold. Le Liang revealed that it had been found in the deadly Rebirth Valley, but had only begun explaining the dangers there.

• Zhu Yin announced the mission’s completion, and Song Wen collected twenty Superior Spirit Stones and fifty thousand contribution points at the Mission Hall.
• Yu Jiao invited Song Wen to her cave dwelling, but he refused and left the Living Soul Cave.
• Le Liang followed Song Wen in the market district and asked to buy an offshoot of his Earthcore Smelting Flame.
• Song Wen agreed to trade a flame offshoot for fifty Superior Spirit Stones and information about Five-Colored Gold, then gave Le Liang the flame.
• Le Liang told Song Wen that Five-Colored Gold had been found in Rebirth Valley, a poisonous undersea canyon where even Golden Core cultivators struggled to survive.

Song Wen learned that Five-Colored Gold might be found in Rebirth Valley, while Yu Jiao discovered that he possessed Origin-Returning Sha Qi and recruited Shi Bo and Shi Zhong to help seize it. Yu Jiao intercepted Song Wen over the sea, and he tried to evade her.

• Le Liang told Song Wen that Rebirth Valley's poisonous miasma periodically weakened and gave him a Jade Slip marking the seabed fissure where Five-Colored Gold had been found.
• Yu Jiao used a Qi Refining cultivator as a tonic, then visited Shi Bo and Shi Zhong and told them she had sensed Origin-Returning Sha Qi in Extreme Yin.
• Yu Jiao persuaded Shi Bo and Shi Zhong to help her secretly attack Extreme Yin and divide the Origin-Returning Sha Qi.
• Song Wen contacted Chu Qian for information about Rebirth Valley, bought spiritual herbs, and headed toward Extreme Yin Island.
• Yu Jiao appeared over the sea and blocked Song Wen's path, so he released Shadow Gu and abruptly changed direction to evade her.

Song Wen fought Yu Jiao, Shi Bo, and Shi Zhong in the depths of the sea, using divine sense attacks and lightning to destroy Yu Jiao’s Ghost King and kill Shi Zhong. He then pursued the fleeing Shi Bo while the Sacred Beetle Gu surrounded Yu Jiao.

• Yu Jiao, Shi Bo, and Shi Zhong ambushed Song Wen with their flying swords, but he used Origin-Returning Sha Qi to withstand their attack and fled into the sea.
• Song Wen summoned his silver corpse and Ghost King to engage the group’s corpse puppets, while Yu Jiao sent her own Ghost King after him.
• Song Wen struck the three cultivators with divine sense blades, then used lightning to destroy Yu Jiao’s Ghost King.
• Shi Bo and Shi Zhong tried to flee, but Song Wen’s divine sense attack slowed Shi Zhong, and Song Wen beheaded him with the Void-Breaking Blade before imprisoning his soul.
• Song Wen sent the five Sacred Beetle Gu after Yu Jiao and used the Blood Escape Technique to block Shi Bo near the sea surface.

Song Wen killed Shi Bo, Shi Zhong, and Yu Jiao, absorbing the first two cultivators’ magical power and breaking through to the middle Golden Core stage. After learning why they had hunted him and gathering their possessions, he avoided returning to Extreme Yin Island and settled on a nearby uninhabited island to cultivate.

• Song Wen used the Soul-Concentrating Spike to weaken Shi Bo, killed him, and absorbed his soul and blood essence, breaking through to the middle Golden Core stage.
• Song Wen consumed Shi Zhong’s soul and blood essence, pushing his cultivation close to the late Golden Core stage despite pain in his meridians.
• Song Wen captured Yu Jiao and learned that she had hunted him to obtain his origin-returning sha qi, which her Spirit-Seeking Treasure Eyes had detected.
• Song Wen killed Yu Jiao, collected her body, and reclaimed the Ghost King and Silver Corpse after they captured the Corpse Puppets.
• Song Wen burned the three corpses, chose not to return to Extreme Yin Island, and moved into a cave beneath a nearby uninhabited island.
• Song Wen inventoried the spoils, refined the two Corpse Puppets anew, and entered seclusion to stabilize his cultivation.

After two years in seclusion, Song Wen sent An Yin to Limitless Island for supplies and news, then went there himself to trade pills. He learned the island had recently searched for a missing wooden statue, which made him suspect that Xugeng had escaped its Soul Shackle.

• Song Wen emerged from seclusion, confirmed that An Yin had reached early Foundation Establishment and An Tong had reached the peak of Qi Refining, and sent An Yin to Limitless Island with spirit stones and a flying boat.
• An Yin returned and reported that Shadow City had been placed under martial law after Limitless Island lost a supreme treasure.
• Song Wen sent An Yin back a month later, learned the lockdown had ended, and then traveled to Shadow City to trade pills with Chu Qian.
• Song Wen asked Chu Qian about the lockdown and learned that the missing treasure was a half-foot-tall wooden statue.
• Song Wen suspected that Xugeng had escaped its Soul Shackle, then asked Chu Qian about other major events on Limitless Island.

Song Wen sought demonic eyes to cultivate the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Eyes and followed a lead to a reef field where the Cui Family had barred entry. After a confrontation with Cui Family cultivators, he withdrew without learning why they had sealed off the sea.

• Song Wen learned that the murders of Yu Jiao, Shi Bo, and Shi Zhong remained unsolved, then searched the market for Abyss Sea Butterfly demonic eyes.
• Song Wen bought ten-year-old information about an Abyss Sea Butterfly sighting and traveled to the reef field west of the Sea of Disorder.
• Song Wen found the reef field sealed by the Cui Family and attacked a young Cui cultivator who ordered him to leave.
• A middle-aged Golden Core cultivator rescued the young woman and warned Song Wen that the Cui Family had more cultivators nearby.
• Song Wen agreed to withdraw and took a detour, while the young woman complained to her Third Grandfather that he had escaped too easily.

Song Wen captured Cui Qiao and hid her in a deep-sea cave to use her as leverage against the Cui Family while he searched for the Abyss Sea Butterfly. He left Cui Qiao trapped in a formation and planned to ask her family to handle a matter for him.

• Song Wen returned to the Reef Sea despite the Cui Family's presence and sent his Sacred Beetle Gu to scout the seabed.
• Cui Qiao searched the deeper waters for a second-order demon beast, but Song Wen's Shadow Gu struck her unconscious and captured her.
• Song Wen searched Cui Qiao's memories, learned that her grandfather Cui Gu led the Cui Family party, and decided to keep her alive as leverage.
• Song Wen took Cui Qiao to a seabed cave, stripped her of anything that could contact outsiders, and concealed her inside formations.
• Song Wen searched the reef cluster for the Abyss Sea Butterfly but found no trace of it.
• After Cui Qiao woke, Song Wen warned her that leaving the formation would expose her to crushing water pressure and told her he intended to ask the Cui Family for help.