Recaps

Song Wen disguised himself to gather information on Limitless Island and learned that Ye Hua was secretly investigating Yuan Qing’s murder, with Song Wen among the suspects. Jing Kai also revealed that Zhu Yin had returned to the sect seriously injured, while Song Wen rewarded him and left the next move uncertain.

• Song Wen left Shan Yue under guard on an uninhabited island, then went to Limitless Island to buy spirit herbs and seek information.
• Song Wen recognized Jing Kai outside Corpse King Valley and, after noticing Jing Kai’s unease, persuaded him to talk in a secluded forest outside the city.
• Jing Kai told Song Wen that Yuan Qing’s soul lamp had gone out half a month earlier and that Ye Hua was secretly investigating the murder and monitoring Golden Core elders who had not answered his summons.
• Song Wen learned that Zhu Yin had returned to the sect the previous day, apparently seriously injured, though Jing Kai did not know whether she had been questioned.
• Song Wen gave Jing Kai fifty thousand spirit stones as a reward for his information.

Song Wen paid Jing Kai to investigate who tended the Candlefruit Tree on Limitless Island, then left with Shan Yue for Fangzhu Island. On the way, they stopped at Two Forms Island, where a young cultivator told them that the giant stone sword in the city supposedly concealed an unrivaled sword cultivation technique.

• Song Wen gave Jing Kai fifty thousand spirit stones and asked him to learn who tended the Candlefruit Tree in the Flame-Soil Spirit Fields, warning him to proceed cautiously.
• Jing Kai agreed to investigate and decided not to report Song Wen to the sect, suspecting he was connected to Yuan Qing's death.
• Song Wen returned to Shan Yue and told her they would leave Limitless Island for Fangzhu Island; she reluctantly agreed despite her fear of returning near the Xing Family.
• Half a month later, Song Wen and Shan Yue spotted Two Forms Island from their ship and chose to visit the city and market there.
• Song Wen and Shan Yue descended into the city plaza, where a young cultivator told them that the founding patriarch had forged the enormous stone sword and that it was said to contain a peerless sword cultivation technique.

Song Wen and Shan Yue hired Xiao Ling to guide them through Four Symbols City while searching for Azure Netherflower, which Song Wen needed to refine an Infant Spirit Pill. After the city’s shops had none, Xiao Ling claimed she knew where to find some and led them onward.

• Chen Er offered to guide Song Wen and Shan Yue, but Shan Yue chose Xiao Ling after the girl asked for work to help her injured father.
• Song Wen asked Xiao Ling to take them to the largest spirit herb shop, the Spirit Cultivation Hall.
• Wang Chao told Song Wen that neither the Spirit Cultivation Hall nor the rest of Four Symbols City had Azure Netherflower for sale.
• Xiao Ling claimed she knew where Azure Netherflower could be found, and Song Wen told her to lead them there.

Song Wen bought three Azure Netherflowers at an exorbitant price in Four Symbols City, then realized Xiao Ling and the shopkeeper had likely conspired to overcharge him. He and Shan Yue remained in the city after Xiao Ling left, while Xing Yixuan departed following a meeting with Two Forms Sect Master Lü Heng.

• Song Wen paid the bearded shopkeeper ninety thousand spirit stones for three Azure Netherflowers, despite initially trying to bargain.
• Song Wen and Shan Yue saw Xing Yixuan speaking with Lü Heng in the sky about the Xing Family's request to exchange for the Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique.
• Lü Heng told his followers that the technique was a Two Forms Sect secret and that Xuanchengzi would decide whether to approve the exchange.
• Song Wen paid Xiao Ling five spirit stones and sent her away after she asked where they would go next.
• Song Wen told Shan Yue that Xiao Ling and the shopkeeper had likely worked together to sell them overpriced Azure Netherflowers, and questioned whether Steward Wang had told them the truth about other sellers.

Song Wen and Shan Yue followed Xiao Ling to a shop where Deacon Wang and the bearded shopkeeper were running a scam involving Azure Netherflowers and young female cultivators. After Song Wen exposed them and revealed his Golden Core cultivation, the bearded man killed Xiao Ling and begged for mercy, but Song Wen declared that they all had to die.

• Song Wen told Shan Yue he planned to follow Xiao Ling and find the person behind the Azure Netherflower scam.
• Xiao Ling returned to the shop, handed the bearded man five spirit stones, and hid in a secret chamber; Wang Chao later arrived and paid the bearded man his share of the ninety thousand spirit stones.
• Song Wen and Shan Yue confronted Wang Chao and the bearded man, and Song Wen demanded to buy three more Azure Netherflowers before leading them into the rear courtyard.
• Song Wen broke open Xiao Ling's hiding place and exposed the scam, while Wang Chao warned him against causing trouble in Two Forms Sect territory.
• Wang Chao and the bearded man realized Song Wen was a Golden Core cultivator and begged for mercy; the bearded man killed Xiao Ling and offered to return the spirit stones.
• Song Wen rejected the offer and declared that they all had to die.

Song Wen killed Wang Chao and the bearded man, then fled by flying ship with Shan Yue as Yin Bing learned of her disciple’s death. Yin Bing realized the ship had likely carried Wang Chao’s killer and turned to pursue it.

• Song Wen killed Wang Chao and the bearded man with Divine Sense Blades, destroying the split soul Yin Bing had planted on Wang Chao.
• Xing Yixuan persuaded Yin Bing to steal the Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique in exchange for a Golden Core Pill and one thousand superior spirit stones, with the exchange set for half a month later.
• Yin Bing sensed that Wang Chao and her split soul had been destroyed, then flew toward Four Symbols City to investigate.
• Song Wen gathered the dead men’s souls and bodies, boarded a flying ship with Shan Yue, and explained that a Golden Core cultivator would come looking for them.
• Yin Bing passed Song Wen’s ship, then realized its Golden Core passenger had likely killed Wang Chao and that the ship had come from the direction of Four Symbols City.

Song Wen killed Yin Bing after she pursued his flying ship, then used the Binding Soul Technique to obtain the Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique from her memories. He learned Yin Bing had arranged to sell it to Xing Yixuan for a thousand high-grade spirit stones, and the chapter ended with him tending to Shan Yue’s injured toe.

• Yin Bing chased Song Wen’s flying ship, but his spiritual sense attacks and Void-Breaking Blade killed her.
• Song Wen gathered Yin Bing’s corpse and treasures, then used the Binding Soul Technique while Shan Yue complained that he kept secrets from her.
• Song Wen obtained the Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique and learned Yin Bing had planned to trade it to Xing Yixuan for a thousand high-grade spirit stones.
• Song Wen checked Shan Yue’s injured toe, healed it with spiritual power, and offered her a Bone-Replenishing Pill.

Song Wen ambushed Xing Yixuan on a deserted island with Si Xi’s Yellow Springs Ghost-Slaying Formation. Xing Yixuan broke free at great cost, and both were left badly weakened as she demanded to know who Song Wen was and where Yin Bing had gone.

• Half a month after his encounter with Shan Yue, Song Wen waited on the island where Xing Yixuan expected to meet Yin Bing.
• Song Wen trapped Xing Yixuan inside the Yellow Springs Ghost-Slaying Formation and attacked her with eerie winds and an endless stream of ghosts.
• Xing Yixuan used the Raging Water Banner to defend herself, then spent her essence blood to empower it and destroy one of the formation’s black runes.
• The formation collapsed, injuring Song Wen with a backlash and leaving Xing Yixuan depleted from sustaining her treasure and expending essence blood.
• Xing Yixuan demanded Song Wen identify himself and reveal Yin Bing’s whereabouts, while Song Wen told her to worry about herself.

Song Wen killed Xing Yixuan, learned that Xugeng had escaped Limitless Island, and took her valuables before traveling with Shan Yue to Fangzhu Island. At Poison Old Ghost's poison den, Song Wen discovered that someone had recently opened a hidden chamber.

• Xing Yixuan attacked Song Wen, but his corpse puppets, Ghost King, and spiritual-sense blades overcame her defenses, and the Silver Corpse killed her.
• Purple Cloud arrived after Song Wen fled and found signs of a battle between two Golden Core cultivators, but no clues linking them to Yin Bing's death.
• Song Wen searched Xing Yixuan's soul and learned that she had been sent to negotiate with Limitless Island and help track the escaped Xugeng using the Soul Shackle.
• Song Wen found spirit stones, a Golden Core Pill, a soul-defense treasure, and three Profound Ice Flowers in Xing Yixuan's storage ring, then consumed her essence blood and soul and burned her corpse.
• Song Wen reunited with Shan Yue and took her to Poison Old Ghost's den near Fangzhu Island, where he noticed fresh wear suggesting someone had recently opened its secret chamber.

Song Wen and Shan Yue discovered that Jiang Fen had hidden in the poison den and forced her to reveal her hatred of the Xing Family. Jiang Fen explained that she belonged to the Anti-Xing Society, whose elusive Golden Core president sent members intelligence through Darkstar Ghost Market.

• Song Wen confronted Jiang Fen in the poison den and used Origin-Returning Sha Qi to force her to confess that she had lied.
• Jiang Fen said the Xing Family had tried to force her to join them and plant a Soul-Locking Curse, leaving her gravely injured when she resisted.
• Jiang Fen revealed that she had stayed on Fangzhu Island to seek revenge and joined the Anti-Xing Society, a group of cultivators opposed to the Xing Family.
• Song Wen asked about the society, and Jiang Fen said it required Foundation Establishment cultivation and a deep hatred of the Xing Family, and was led by a Golden Core president.
• Jiang Fen explained that members received intelligence about the Xing Family from the president on full-moon nights at Darkstar Ghost Market.

Song Wen spared the old woman but secretly tracked her, then followed her to the Darkstar Ghost Market and discovered she was collecting detailed intelligence on the Xing Family for the Anti-Xing Society. After taking the intelligence jade slip, he faced the old woman’s suspicion that he had come to kill her.

• Song Wen spared the old woman and secretly sent a Shadow Gu after her while Shan Yue questioned his claim that he treated others with kindness.
• Song Wen and Shan Yue cleaned and furnished the cave, and Song Wen decided to cultivate in seclusion and forge the Blood Sea Seal before pursuing the Holy Spirit Pill.
• Song Wen went to Fangzhu City to buy Shan Yue supplies and search for ways to strengthen the Shadow Gu, but found no useful pills or formulas.
• Song Wen followed the old woman to the Darkstar Ghost Market, where she collected Anti-Xing Society intelligence on the Xing Family.
• Song Wen confronted the old woman at her hidden cavern and took her detailed intelligence jade slip, prompting her to ask whether he intended to kill her.

Song Wen allowed the dying old woman to attack the Xing Family’s hidden mine at Cloud Ridge Mountain, then secretly watched as she prepared her assault. The old woman confronted the mine’s barrier, but the Xing Family’s Nascent Soul ancestor Xing Xinyu appeared, leaving her shocked and outmatched.

• The old woman told Song Wen she planned to strike the Xing Family’s mine before she died, and Song Wen agreed to let her go.
• The old woman asked Song Wen to save her Black Spirit Sparrow, gave him an Anti-Xing Society communication jade slip, and freed the bird before heading to Cloud Ridge Mountain.
• The old woman confirmed there were no visible Xing Family guards, then set up a formation outside the underground mine while Song Wen watched from a distant mountain.
• The old woman attacked the mine’s barrier with fireballs and shouted a challenge, but the barrier held as the surrounding woods caught fire.
• Xing Xinyu appeared above the mine, and the old woman realized the Xing Family’s Nascent Soul ancestor was there.

Xing Xinyu killed Jiang Fen after she sacrificed herself in a failed attack at Cloud Ridge Mountain, and Song Wen suspected the Xing Family was guarding a valuable secret there. He used Jiang Fen’s communication jade slip to pressure the Anti-Xing Society into investigating the mountain and agreed to meet its mysterious president.

• Jiang Fen burned her blood essence and soul to attack Xing Xinyu, but Xing Xinyu shattered her array and blood pillar, and Jiang Fen died as Xing Xinyu destroyed the battlefield.
• Song Wen hid until night, recovered the unconscious Black Spirit Sparrow with a Shadow Gu, and went to the black market.
• Song Wen contacted Jiang Fen’s associate, claimed to be her dear friend, and demanded that the Anti-Xing Society investigate Cloud Ridge Mountain’s secret.
• The associate invited Song Wen to join the Anti-Xing Society and offered to meet him by a river east of the Ghost Market, and Song Wen decided to go.

Song Wen met the Anti-Xing Society’s two chairmen and learned that Jing Feiyao supplied their intelligence on the Xing Family. After following the ghost-faced chairman and forcing him to talk, Song Wen discovered that the other chairman was Jing Lie and asked to see the ghost-faced man’s true face.

• Song Wen refused to join the Anti-Xing Society, but its beast-head chairman promised to investigate Cloud Ridge Mountain’s secret within a month.
• Song Wen used Shadow Gus to follow the ghost-faced chairman after the two chairmen went their separate ways.
• Song Wen confronted the ghost-faced chairman, who revealed that Jing Feiyao had supplied the society with intelligence about the Xing Family.
• The ghost-faced chairman said Jing Lie had helped establish the Anti-Xing Society and that he had once served as a Golden Core retainer to the Xing Family.
• Song Wen asked the ghost-faced chairman to remove his mask and reveal his true identity.

Song Wen killed Gan Hong and found a Soul-Nourishing Wood Core that might lead him to Xugeng. After mastering the Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique, he followed the aura from the core southeast, leaving the Poison Grotto to search for Xugeng.

• Song Wen used the Soul-Concentrating Spike to kill Gan Hong, then searched his soul and confirmed Gan Hong's account.
• Song Wen found the Soul-Nourishing Wood Core in Gan Hong's storage ring and suspected it had once housed Xugeng's soul.
• Song Wen realized he could use the core's residual aura to track Xugeng and hurried to learn the Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique.
• Song Wen mastered the technique in two months and used it to draw out a wisp of smoke that drifted southeast.
• Song Wen left Shan Yue to guard the Poison Grotto and flew southeast with the smoke sealed in a jade bottle.

Song Wen tracked Xugeng to Jade Terrace Island and found him concealed on Cui Huo, a Cui Family cultivator competing in the family tournament. Cui Huo defeated the favored Cui Xingchen with the Wrathful Soul Blood Seal, drawing the attention of the watching clan members and elders.

• Song Wen arrived at Jade Terrace Island, disguised himself as a young Foundation Establishment Rogue Cultivator, and followed the trail to Jade Terrace City.
• Song Wen sensed Xugeng hidden in a treasure carried by Cui Huo, a nervous Qi Refinement cultivator preparing for the family competition.
• Cui Xingchen challenged Cui Huo to concede, then summoned his Mother-and-Child Ghost to attack him.
• Cui Huo used the Wrathful Soul Blood Seal to bind the ghost mother and infant, forcing Cui Xingchen to concede before his ghosts were destroyed.
• Cui Hongying and Cui San wondered where Cui Huo had learned the unfamiliar spell, while Cui Huo basked in the attention of his shocked clansmen.

Song Wen entered the Cui Family tournament’s challenge round under the name Wei Ding after Cui Huo won the championship and brutally killed two Rogue Cultivators. He fought Cui Huo to a draw, and the Cui Family invited him to join as an external relative.

• Cui Huo won every match and claimed first place in the grand tournament.
• Cui Huo killed his first Rogue Cultivator challenger after defeating her, then killed a second challenger despite the man’s plea to concede.
• Song Wen appeared as Wei Ding and used a corpse puppet to block Cui Huo’s Wrathful Soul Blood Seal before attacking him with a wolf-tooth club.
• Song Wen and Cui Huo wounded each other and fell, so the referee stopped the duel and declared a draw.
• The referee asked Wei Ding to join the Cui Family, and Song Wen accepted.

Song Wen joined the Cui Family as Wei Ding to get close to Cui Huo and take the jade token containing Xugeng’s soul. After learning about life on Handsome Peak from Cui Qiao, he heard someone outside demand that he come out and pay respects.

• Song Wen and Cui Huo were invited to reside on Handsome Peak, and Song Wen agreed so he could approach Cui Huo and seize his jade token.
• Cui Hongying took Song Wen to Ancestral Shrine Peak, where he passed the Cui Family’s identity checks and became a clansman using a borrowed soul aura.
• Cui Hongying escorted Song Wen to his courtyard on Handsome Peak and advised him that marriage into the Cui Family could help him establish himself.
• Song Wen encountered Cui Qiao outside his courtyard and invited her inside, where she explained Handsome Peak’s residents, benefits, duties, and restrictions.
• Song Wen asked Cui Qiao where Cui Huo lived, and she offered to find out; then an unseen person ordered him to come out and pay respects.

Song Wen dealt with rumors that he and Cui Qiao were romantically involved after Cui Xin spread gossip about them. Cui Qiao left him her communication jade slip, while Song Wen still needed to find Cui Huo.

• Cui Qiao told Song Wen that Cui Xin had come to demand filial money and promised to stop her from taking his winnings.
• Cui Xin mocked Cui Qiao and Song Wen as lovers, then flew away to spread rumors about them.
• Song Wen searched Handsome Peak for Cui Huo but could not find anyone who knew where he lived.
• Cui Gu visited Song Wen, warned him not to approach Cui Qiao with ulterior motives, and said he would not interfere if she was happy.
• Cui Qiao returned after hearing that the rumors had spread through the Cui Family, and Song Wen told her Cui Gu had said he did not object to their relationship.
• Cui Qiao gave Song Wen her communication jade slip and agreed to help him find Cui Huo.

Song Wen met Cui Huo and learned that the jade token he sought was still with him. When Cui Huo later visited Song Wen’s courtyard, Xugeng recognized Song Wen’s Heavenly Soul Stone and urged Cui Huo to obtain it.

• Cui Qiao told Song Wen that Cui Huo was recovering at Cui San’s grandfather’s cave abode and would soon go to Handsome Peak.
• Song Wen apologized to Cui Huo, confirmed the jade token was still on his chest, and left after Cui Qiao rebuked Cui Huo.
• Cui Huo spoke with Xugeng, who explained Song Wen’s physical strength and urged him to uncover Song Wen’s secret and find soul-restoring treasures.
• Song Wen planned to lure Cui Huo away from his guarded courtyard, then displayed a Heavenly Soul Stone to tempt him when Cui Huo arrived unexpectedly.
• Xugeng identified the Heavenly Soul Stone as valuable for restoring his soul, and Cui Huo drank the spirit tea Song Wen served.

Song Wen lured Cui Huo out of Azurefall Mountain by arranging a trip to Jade Terrace City with Cui Qiao. As they flew toward the western outskirts, Song Wen incapacitated Cui Qiao with the Shadow Gu and seized control of Cui Huo.

• Cui Huo followed Xugeng's instructions and plotted to lure Song Wen out of Azurefall Mountain so Xugeng could seize the Heavenly Soul Stone and the body-tempering secret.
• Song Wen persuaded Cui Qiao to join him and Cui Huo on a night outing to Jade Terrace City.
• Song Wen led Cui Qiao and Cui Huo toward Immortal Fate Restaurant on the city's western outskirts, despite Cui Huo's doubts about the destination.
• Song Wen sent the Shadow Gu at Cui Qiao, striking her between the brows and rendering her unconscious.
• Song Wen grabbed Cui Huo and flooded his body with black baleful qi, leaving him unable to move or speak.

Song Wen captured Cui Huo and discovered the soul in his jade pendant was Xugeng, whom Cui Huo knew as Bie Chou. After Xugeng recited a false version of the Corpse King Reincarnation Art, he revealed his deception and invaded Song Wen’s sea of consciousness.

• Song Wen escaped with Cui Huo while the Shadow Gu left Cui Qiao in a mountain ravine to divert pursuers.
• Cui Huo explained that he had bought the jade pendant in Jade Terrace City and that its soul, calling itself Bie Chou, had promised him ancient arts in exchange for soul-restoring treasures.
• Song Wen killed Cui Huo, took the pendant, and confronted Xugeng, offering the Soul-Nourishing Wood core for the complete Corpse King Reincarnation Art.
• Xugeng warned Song Wen about the difficulties of cultivating the art, then recited a flawed method when Song Wen refused to let him enter the core first.
• Song Wen exposed the false method by displaying his own Corpse King Reincarnation Art cultivation, and Xugeng revealed that he did not possess its inheritance.
• Xugeng unleashed his full soul power, entered Song Wen’s sea of consciousness, and declared that he would take over Song Wen’s body.

Song Wen subdued Bie Chou, who had posed as Xugeng, and learned that he was a former Blood Nether Guard rather than the master of the Nether God Temple. Bie Chou gave Song Wen several techniques and said the Corpse King Reincarnation Art’s Nascent Soul method was likely at the Divine Blood Sect’s former grounds beyond the Endless Desert, but he did not know their exact location.

• Song Wen stopped Bie Chou’s attempt to possess him by nearly pulling his soul into a Black Hole, then threatened him with a Divine Sense Blade.
• Bie Chou revealed his true identity and explained how the Divine Blood Sect had imprisoned him and used Blood Nether Guards as sources of spiritual power and pill ingredients.
• Bie Chou admitted that Yinshuo’s supposed Corpse King Reincarnation Art was a method he had devised himself, disappointing Song Wen, who had sought the real inheritance.
• Song Wen tortured Bie Chou until he agreed to recite the Undying True Corpse Transformation, the Life-Breath Pill formula, and other techniques, then asked about the Demon Soul Spirit-Breaking Pill formula.
• Bie Chou said he did not know that pill formula and pointed Song Wen toward the Divine Blood Sect’s former grounds in the Vast Azure Mountain Range, beyond the Endless Desert, without knowing their exact location.

Song Wen devoured Bie Chou’s soul, stabilized his cultivation, and spent months refining the Blood Sea Seal as his lifebound magic treasure. After testing it, he discovered its vast power and abilities exceeded what he could currently control.

• Song Wen swallowed Bie Chou’s soul with the Black Hole, then returned to the Poison Grotto and entered secluded cultivation.
• After three years, Song Wen stabilized his cultivation but failed to break through his Divine Sense realm, so he began refining the Blood Sea Seal.
• Song Wen spent three months devouring and expelling all the essence blood from the Blood Brick, then used it and rare spirit materials to forge the Blood Sea Seal.
• Song Wen stored the completed seal in his dantian and told Shan Yue he was going out to test it.
• Song Wen summoned a Blood Sea spanning more than thirty li, demonstrated its rapid travel and resilient Blood Shadow Clones, and found he could wield less than one-tenth of its full power.

One month later, Jing Feiyao struggled to discipline her son Xing Qiwen while Shan Yue blackmailed her into stealing the Holy Spirit Pill. Jing Feiyao turned to Jing Lie for help, but he urged her to obtain the pill and continue spying on the Xing Family.

• Jing Feiyao reprimanded Xing Qiwen for neglecting cultivation, but he defied her and went to the seaside to meet Big Ox.
• Shan Yue contacted Jing Feiyao and threatened to expose evidence of her affairs unless she delivered the Holy Spirit Pill within a day.
• Jing Feiyao told Jing Lie about the blackmail and admitted she had secretly dismissed several guards with whom she had affairs.
• Jing Lie told Jing Feiyao to steal the Holy Spirit Pill so the Jing Family could use it to draw out Shan Yue and her backer.
• Jing Lie reminded Jing Feiyao to seek the third level of the Soul-Concentrating Spike cultivation method and investigate Cloud Ridge Mountain.