Recaps

Song Wen questioned Ye Bing about the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill formula, Xiao Ying’s plans, and Ye Bing’s escape from her pursuers. He obtained Ye Bing’s Earth-Escape Talisman method but learned that she had no talismans left.

• Ye Bing gave Song Wen the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill formula and said Jiang Guyun, the Jiang Clan’s ancestor, had provided it.
• Song Wen showed Ye Bing the five-viscera spiritwood from Xiao Ying’s storage ring, and Ye Bing explained that Xiao Ying wanted it to purge accumulated toxins so she could join the Moon-Covering Hall.
• Ye Bing revealed that the Moon-Covering Hall was a Divine Blood Sect branch and recounted how Xiao Ying had planted a gu worm in her and forced her to steal the spiritwood.
• Ye Bing explained that she escaped Jiang Lanruo with a fifth-tier Earth-Escape Talisman she had drawn herself, but had used up all her talismans.
• Song Wen demanded Ye Bing’s Earth-Escape Talisman method, and she handed him a jade slip containing it.

Song Wen spared the injured Ye Bing after she swore to make him Earth-Escape Talismans and a Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill. While she recovered, he searched Wei Qian and Xiao Ying’s storage rings and found materials and knowledge that could aid his cultivation.

• Song Wen questioned Ye Bing about how he should deal with her, and she offered five fifth-rank Earth-Escape Talismans and a Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill in exchange for her life.
• Ye Bing swore a Heavenly Dao oath not to seek revenge and to fulfill her promises, so Song Wen spared her and gave her Spirit Aperture Grass to help repair her dantian.
• Ye Bing began tending to her injuries while Song Wen examined Wei Qian and Xiao Ying’s storage rings, finding over seven thousand high-grade spirit stones and Wei Qian’s Ghost-Head Guillotine.
• Song Wen found Xiao Ying’s Witch-Gu Dao Method, notes on raising Gu, and living insect eggs, which gave him ideas for cultivating the Shadow King Gu.
• Song Wen also obtained more than ten poisons capable of threatening Spirit Transformation cultivators, including Heart-Corroding Chill, which could accelerate his Myriad Poisons Primordial Body cultivation.

After recovering enough to travel, Ye Bing and Song Wen left Rotting Miasma Ridge and headed toward Phoenix Plume City, using false names to conceal their origins. They joined Jin Xiuqi’s party, and Ye Bing’s claim that she and Song Wen were Dao companions was exposed, leaving Jin’s intentions uncertain.

• Ye Bing thanked Song Wen for nursing her injuries, questioned him about his motives and identity, and explained that she planned to seek the herbs needed for the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill in Cloud-Hidden City.
• After more than two months of travel, Ye Bing reclaimed her Plum Blossom Fan from Song Wen, and the pair crossed the river marking the edge of Rotting Miasma Ridge.
• Jin Xiuqi and two companions pursued Ye Bing and Song Wen, who introduced themselves as Li Yue and Fang Pengyi and agreed to travel with the group toward Phoenix Plume City.
• When Jin Xiuqi asked about their relationship, Ye Bing claimed she and Song Wen were Dao companions, but Song Wen contradicted her, prompting Jin to apologize for prying.

Song Wen and Ye Bing settled in Phoenix Plume City and verified that the Jin Clan’s flying ship could take them to Cloud-Hidden City, though it would not depart for half a year. Song Wen then secretly moved to another inn, visited the Ghost Market, and fed his Gu insects.

• Jin Xiuqi invited Song Wen and Ye Bing to the Jin Clan, but Ye Bing declined, so he arranged a courtyard for them at a Jin Clan inn.
• Song Wen and Ye Bing gathered maps and information, confirmed Jin Xiuqi’s account of the route, and decided to wait for the Jin Clan’s flying ship to Cloud-Hidden City.
• Song Wen left the inn at night to visit the Ghost Market, disguised himself after making sure no one followed, and rented a separate courtyard to avoid Jin Xiuqi.
• Ye Bing messaged Song Wen the next morning, and they argued over his decision to keep his distance from Jin Xiuqi.
• Song Wen released the Shadow King Gu and three Shadow Gu, fed them Gu-insect corpses, and watched the Shadow King Gu claim the best prey.

Song Wen hatched and refined a Blood Earthworm Gu, fed his other Gu insects, and boarded the Jin Clan flying ship bound for Cloud-Hidden City. As the ship departed, he could not find Ye Bing among the passengers and worried something might have happened to her.

• Song Wen fed the Blood Earthworm Gu egg with blood essence and spirit stones while cultivating with Blood Demon Pills; four months later, the Gu hatched and attacked him.
• Song Wen subdued and refined the Blood Earthworm Gu, then fed it a spiritual herb and gave the Shadow King Gu a King Gu Pill.
• Two months later, Song Wen went to the plaza in Phoenix Plume City and boarded the Jin Clan flying ship bound for Cloud-Hidden City.
• Song Wen rented a room on the sixth floor and searched the departing ship for Ye Bing, but he could not find her.

Song Wen confirmed Ye Bing was safe and joined her at a cultivator exchange gathering aboard the flying ship. The ship’s steward opened the gathering and announced that it would be held monthly under the Jin Clan’s rules.

• Song Wen exchanged messages with Ye Bing and learned that she had avoided Jin Xiuqi by cultivating in seclusion for half a year.
• Half a month into the voyage, Ye Bing invited Song Wen to an exchange gathering, and he disguised himself with a mask and Xiao Ying’s cloak before meeting her.
• Ye Bing introduced Song Wen, who called himself Ye Hua, to Ni Guang, and Song Wen asked Ni Guang about Cloud-Hidden City, Withered Zen Temple, and Moon-Covering Hall.
• More than forty cultivators gathered in the hall, and steward Jin Xun announced the monthly exchange gathering and warned everyone not to cause disputes or fight aboard the ship.

At a trading gathering aboard the Jin Clan's airship, Song Wen became interested in Tara's Heart because the Shadow King Gu reacted to it. He won the auction despite a Spirit Transformation cultivator's threats, and she vowed to settle the matter in Cloud-Hidden City.

• Jin Xun offered Azure-Scaled Wood in exchange for a thousand-year-old earthfrost vine, but no one made a trade.
• A false monk presented Tara's Heart and invited bids in spirit stones.
• Song Wen noticed the Shadow King Gu reacting to Tara's Heart and joined the bidding.
• A middle-aged Spirit Transformation woman threatened Song Wen and promised to confront him in Cloud-Hidden City.
• Song Wen outbid the woman with eight hundred superior spirit stones and took Tara's Heart from the relieved monk.

Song Wen pretended to submit to Shi Man, who believed her impending Moon-Covering Hall membership made her powerful enough to command respect. After winning her favor, he revealed himself as a corpse-path cultivator and asked for help joining the Hall, while Ye Bing suspected he was plotting something.

• Shi Man threatened Song Wen over Tara's Heart and revealed that she planned to join Moon-Covering Hall by cultivating the Longevity Art.
• Song Wen apologized, handed Shi Man Tara's Heart, and introduced himself as Ye Hua while asking for her protection.
• Shi Man accepted Song Wen's flattery, ordered him to sit, and made him remove his cloak and iron mask.
• Song Wen revealed his peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivation and corpse-path aura, then asked Shi Man to help him join Moon-Covering Hall.
• Shi Man rejected Song Wen's hope of joining the Hall, and other Spirit Transformation cultivators came over to speak with her.
• Ye Bing watched Song Wen ingratiate himself with Shi Man and suspected Gou Jun was plotting another scheme.

After ten months aboard the airship, Song Wen arrived at Cloud-Hidden City and reunited with Shi Man, who was heading to the Moon-Covering Hall to take its outer elder assessment. Song Wen and Ye Bing then parted ways, each planning to explore the city and decide where to settle.

• The airship reached Cloud-Hidden City after a ten-month journey and stopped outside the city.
• Song Wen spotted Shi Man, whose blood energy had grown stronger after refining Tara's Heart, and exchanged communication Jade Slips with her.
• Shi Man flew into Cloud-Hidden City to take the Moon-Covering Hall's outer elder assessment.
• Ye Bing questioned Song Wen about why he had courted Shi Man and warned him not to provoke the Moon-Covering Hall.
• Song Wen and Ye Bing shared their plans to explore Cloud-Hidden City, then flew off separately.

Song Wen disguised himself as a monk and learned about Cloud-Hidden City and the factions around it. He rented an Earth-category cave abode, but found it small, damp, and neglected.

• Song Wen shaved his head, burned six ordination scars into it, and kept his hair to make a wig.
• Song Wen bought a map and faction intelligence, then studied Cloud-Hidden City’s layout and the influence of Withered Zen Temple and Moon-Covering Hall.
• Song Wen visited Brahma Sound Pavilion to rent a cave abode and learned the prices for its four categories.
• Song Wen chose to inspect an Earth-category abode and followed a novice to Earth No. 357.
• Song Wen entered the small cave abode and saw that it was damp and marked by insects.

Song Wen rented a cave dwelling under the name Mi Hai, settled in with his Nether Fox and Gu insects, and refined pills to replenish his supplies. After receiving no reply from Shi Man, he began making King Gu Pills and Earth Gu Pills for his Gu insects.

• Song Wen rented a cave dwelling from Ming Cheng for ten years and gave the name Mi Hai.
• Song Wen inspected the dwelling, set up two formations, and began cultivating while feeding his Gu insects.
• Song Wen released the Nether Fox, which rejected a poisonous spider corpse until his Gu insects began eating it; he stopped their quarrel and provided another corpse.
• Song Wen used his last Blood Demon Pill, then refined six batches of Blood Demon Pills over more than ten days.
• Song Wen messaged Shi Man to ask whether she needed his help, but received no reply.
• Song Wen began refining King Gu Pills and Earth Gu Pills for the Shadow King Gu and Shadow Gu.

Song Wen searched for herbs to refine King Gu Pills and discovered that demon radiance grass was called the Bodhi Spirit Stamen and was found almost exclusively at the Withered Zen Temple. He reached the Lantuo Ghost Market and, after failing to find the herb elsewhere, approached the temple-linked Wonderful Ease Pavilion.

• Song Wen used up Xiao Ying’s herbs, strengthened his four Gu Worms, and wondered whether Shi Man was still alive after months without a reply.
• Song Wen searched Cloud-Hidden City for demon radiance grass and yin-sinking water but could not find either.
• An information-shop owner identified demon radiance grass as the rare Bodhi Spirit Stamen, which was found mainly at the Withered Zen Temple.
• Song Wen bought directions to nearby black markets and traveled to the Lantuo Ghost Market.
• Song Wen searched dozens of shops without finding a Bodhi Spirit Stamen and went to the Wonderful Ease Pavilion, suspecting it was run by the Withered Zen Temple.

Song Wen sold a supreme-grade flying sword at the Wonderful Ease Pavilion and asked about obtaining yin-sinking water and Bodhi Spirit Stamens. He learned that the Withered Zen Temple barred the sale of the rare plants and that his best chance was through the elders of its Spirit Herb Peak.

• Song Wen intimidated a novice monk into summoning the pavilion's steward by revealing his supreme-grade flying sword.
• Song Wen sold the flying sword to the old monk steward for three hundred and fifty superior spirit stones.
• Song Wen asked the steward for yin-sinking water and Bodhi Spirit Stamens, but the shop had neither available.
• The steward told Song Wen that the Withered Zen Temple and Moon-Covering Hall had gathered all Bodhi Spirit Stamens in the Qicang Region and severed earth veins to prevent more from growing in the wild.
• Song Wen offered the steward ten superior spirit stones, and the steward said Song Wen's only option was to approach elders of the temple's Spirit Herb Peak.

Song Wen tried and failed to get help from a monk at the Ghost Market, then followed Hui Zhen and Ming Cheng to a secret fighting arena in North City. After seeing Hui Zhen’s influence there, Song Wen found a possible way to pursue the Bodhi Spirit Stamen, but a stranger interrupted Hui Zhen’s bet.

• Song Wen offered the old monk ten superior spirit stones for help contacting Spirit Herb Peak, but the monk refused, and Song Wen left the Ghost Market.
• On his way back to Cloud-Hidden City, Song Wen encountered Ming Cheng and Hui Zhen, Du'e’s biological son, traveling toward North City.
• Song Wen joined Hui Zhen and Ming Cheng, hoping Hui Zhen might help him obtain the Bodhi Spirit Stamen.
• The three entered a hidden pavilion where wealthy spectators watched two Foundation Establishment cultivators fight as combat slaves.
• Hui Zhen criticized the fighters, bet ten superior spirit stones on the woman, and an unknown voice chided him for betting so little.

Hui Zhen accepted Gao Cang’s wager to pit fighting slaves against each other for a thousand superior spirit stones. After choosing their fighters, Hui Zhen promised his female captive freedom if she won, while she faced the duel with fury and resentment.

• Gao Cang taunted Hui Zhen about his weak cultivation and challenged him to wager a thousand superior spirit stones on a fight between chosen slaves.
• Hui Zhen ordered Song Wen to provide the stones, and Song Wen produced a thousand without hesitation.
• Ran Da led Hui Zhen, Gao Cang, and their guards to the underground cages holding the fighting slaves.
• Gao Cang and Hui Zhen agreed that their fighters could use neither spells nor treasures and must fight hand to hand.
• Gao Cang chose a gaunt old man at the Foundation Establishment peak stage, while Hui Zhen chose a powerfully built woman at the late stage.
• Hui Zhen promised the woman freedom if she won and threatened her if she lost, as she prepared to fight for survival.

Hui Zhen lost a thousand superior spirit stones to Gao Cang after the burly woman was killed by the gaunt old man in the arena. Song Wen then revealed his suspicion that Gao Cang had secretly strengthened the old man and proposed another wager involving Hui Zhen’s protective Jade Buddha.

• The gaunt old man defeated the burly woman, killed her at her request, and reported his victory to Gao Cang.
• Hui Zhen stomped the woman’s remains, then paid Gao Cang a thousand superior spirit stones after losing their wager.
• Gao Cang offered to wager two thousand superior spirit stones against Hui Zhen’s life-saving Jade Buddha, but Hui Zhen refused and left with Song Wen and Ming Cheng.
• Song Wen told Hui Zhen that he had seen Gao Cang sprinkle white powder on the old man and suspected it had boosted the old man’s strength.
• Hui Zhen turned back to confront Gao Cang, but Song Wen warned that they had no proof and suggested wagering the Jade Buddha instead.
• Hui Zhen refused to risk the Jade Buddha, and Song Wen asked to see it after hearing it was a wondrous object.

Song Wen abducted Hui Zhen by exploiting the Jade Buddha’s failure to respond to a nonlethal threat. He escaped North City with Hui Zhen, demanded a ransom from Du'e, and discarded the Buddha to prevent being tracked.

• Song Wen persuaded Hui Zhen to show him the Jade Buddha, then sent a gu worm into Hui Zhen’s mouth and seized him.
• Song Wen escaped with Hui Zhen and told Ming Cheng to inform Du'e that Hui Ming would be returned for a thousand intact, transplantable Bodhi Spirit Stamens at least four hundred years old.
• Ming Cheng realized he would have to report Hui Zhen’s abduction and feared Du'e’s retaliation.
• Song Wen suppressed Hui Zhen’s magic, took more than three hundred superior spirit stones and several communication Jade Slips from his storage ring, then discarded the ring.
• Song Wen tore off the Jade Buddha and threw it away before continuing to drag Hui Zhen into the darkness.

Song Wen hid Hui Zhen in a remote desert cave and negotiated with Du'e for a thousand Bodhi Spirit Stamens while keeping his identity concealed. Du'e offered 1,000 four-hundred-year-old stamens, and the chapter ended with Song Wen needing to arrange the exchange.

• Song Wen sealed Hui Zhen's spiritual power, hid him in a desert cave, and forced him to identify Du'e's communication Jade Slip.
• Song Wen traveled away from Hui Zhen, switched to a wooden avatar, and secretly returned toward Cloud-Hidden City.
• Song Wen checked the Brahma Sound Pavilion, rented an inexpensive inn, and received messages from Ming Cheng saying Du'e was secretly gathering Bodhi Spirit Stamens.
• Two days later, Du'e contacted Song Wen and threatened him, believing Hui Zhen had been abducted by a lineage faction.
• Song Wen lied that Hui Zhen was badly injured, and Du'e offered 1,000 four-hundred-year-old Bodhi Spirit Stamens and asked how to exchange them.

Song Wen used a succession of deceptions to exchange Hui Zhen for the Bodhi Spirit Stamen in the desert, then escaped before Du'e could catch him. Du'e rescued Hui Zhen and revealed that he had secretly taken forbidden plants from Moon-Covering Hall, leaving Hui Zhen confined to the temple.

• Song Wen rejected the meeting at Wandering Cloud Lake and arranged for Du'e's messenger to meet him at ruins in the desert instead.
• Jie Wang followed a Gu insect to Song Wen, who showed him the bound Hui Zhen and took the Bodhi Spirit Stamen after verifying it was genuine.
• Song Wen fled after sending corpse qi into Hui Zhen, and Jie Wang summoned Du'e to purge it.
• Du'e pursued Song Wen but lost his trail after the spiritual-sense mark on the storage pouch was erased.
• Du'e warned Hui Zhen to keep quiet about the forbidden Bodhi Spirit Stamen and ordered him to remain in Withered Zen Temple until he formed his Nascent Soul.

Song Wen secured the Bodhi Spirit Stamen and returned to Cloud-Hidden City to seek information about a suitable place to establish a cave dwelling. There, he unexpectedly saw Shi Man accompanying Chi Pei and pretended to be her old acquaintance, hoping to learn what they were searching for.

• Song Wen hid beneath the desert sands, waited several days, and used the Shadow King Gu to confirm he was not being followed.
• Song Wen decided to return to Cloud-Hidden City to find intelligence about places where he could establish a cave dwelling and cultivate Bodhi Spirit Stamens.
• In North City, Song Wen spotted Shi Man, who had joined Moon-Covering Hall as an outer sect elder, acting deferentially toward the Spirit Transformation cultivator Chi Pei.
• Song Wen changed his appearance to look like Gou Jun and approached Shi Man and Chi Pei, claiming he knew North City well and could help with their search.
• Chi Pei threatened Song Wen and ordered him to leave, while Shi Man dismissed him as a mere rogue cultivator and followed Chi Pei.

Song Wen used flattery to learn that Chi Pei sought Heart-Corroding Chill, then decided to offer some of his supply to gain favor. When he met Shi Man at Moon-Soothing Tower, Chi Pei was absent, and Song Wen realized Shi Man intended to take all the credit.

• Song Wen repeatedly transmitted Shi Man until she replied and boasted about her status and Moon-Covering Hall.
• Song Wen learned that Chi Pei sought Heart-Corroding Chill and that Shi Man hoped to earn his favor by finding it.
• Song Wen recognized that he had Heart-Corroding Chill in Xiao Ying's storage ring and decided to offer some while remaining wary of joining Moon-Covering Hall.
• Five days later, Song Wen told Shi Man he had obtained the poison, and she summoned him to Moon-Soothing Tower.
• Song Wen arrived at Moon-Soothing Tower, where only Shi Man appeared, leading him to realize she planned to claim the credit herself.

Song Wen used a false story about buying Heart-Corroding Chill to draw Chi Pei and Shi Man to an empty stall, where he showed them an illusion of his master, Extreme Yin. After meeting Ye Bing outside North City and receiving an Earth Escape Talisman, he learned she wanted to buy his Five-Viscera Spiritwood.

• Shi Man took the small amount of Heart-Corroding Chill from Song Wen and later summoned him to North City with Chi Pei to find its supposed vendor.
• Song Wen led Chi Pei and Shi Man to an empty stall and used corpse qi to form an image of Extreme Yin as the vendor.
• Shi Man gave Song Wen two hundred superior spirit stones before she and Chi Pei left, and Ye Bing emerged from the crowd to question him about the man.
• Ye Bing led Song Wen beyond the city, where she gave him one of the five promised fifth-tier Earth Escape Talismans.
• Ye Bing removed her veil and asked Song Wen to sell her his Five-Viscera Spiritwood.

Song Wen negotiated with Ye Bing over his five-viscera spiritwood, which she needed to refine a Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill. He visited her hidden island cave abode and proposed selling the spiritwood while planting demon radiance grass there, then asked about nearby islands.

• Ye Bing offered Song Wen five hundred superior spirit stones for his five-viscera spiritwood, but he refused the low price after learning she still lacked several other rare ingredients.
• Song Wen asked to become Ye Bing's neighbor, and she led him northwest to her hidden island in a mist-covered swamp.
• Ye Bing showed Song Wen her island, where women cultivators tended spirit fields and lived in wooden huts.
• Ye Bing offered to give Song Wen half the island for his spiritwood, but Song Wen said he would sell it for one thousand superior spirit stones if she also let him plant and tend demon radiance grass there.
• Song Wen asked Ye Bing whether any other nearby small islands could support a cave abode.

Song Wen declined Ye Bing’s offer to share her island, gathered her information on the Withered Marsh, and chose a barren island as a future abode. He sought a high-grade fifth-tier formation to hunt the marsh’s demonic beasts, but Shi Man’s urgent summons to the Moon-Covering Hall left him wondering whether his identity had been exposed.

• Ye Bing traded Song Wen a jade slip of her Withered Marsh research for the five-viscera spiritwood, and Song Wen entrusted her with a hundred Bodhi Spirit Stamens to cultivate.
• Song Wen studied the jade slip, traveled to a spiritually rich island in the marsh’s north, and found it strangely barren and made entirely of black rock.
• Song Wen decided to exploit the marsh’s demonic beasts for cultivation resources and went to Cloud-Hidden City to buy demon-luring powder and a trapping-and-killing formation.
• Song Wen bought a fifth-tier demon-luring powder formula but could find no formation stronger than a low-grade fifth-tier one in Cloud-Hidden City or the Lantuo Ghost Market.
• Shi Man summoned Gou Jun to the Moon-Covering Hall, and Song Wen worried she had discovered something about him before entering a private room to consider changing his face and identity.

Song Wen accompanied Shi Man and Wu Yuan to confront Shi Chang, a poison cultivator mistaken for the vendor who had sold Heart-Corroding Chill. The chapter ended with Wu Yuan demanding that Shi Chang lower his formation and submit to a search, threatening to break in and search his soul if he refused.

• Song Wen learned that Moon-Covering Hall had found Shi Chang, who resembled Master Extreme Yin, and agreed to identify him.
• Song Wen met Shi Man and Wu Yuan above Cloud-Hidden City, and the three flew to Shi Chang's poison-filled valley.
• Shi Man accused Shi Chang of refining Heart-Corroding Chill, but Shi Chang denied knowing anything about the poison.
• Song Wen said he could not be certain that Shi Chang was the vendor he had met, leaving Shi Man unsure what to do.
• Wu Yuan ordered Shi Chang to lower his formation and allow a search, threatening to break in and search his soul if they found evidence against him.