Recaps

Wu Yuan broke Shi Chang's formation and defeated him after Shi Chang's hidden poison needles failed to pierce Wu Yuan's scales. The chapter ended with Shi Chang barely alive and trapped by corpse qi, unable to escape with his Nascent Soul.

• Wu Yuan battered Shi Chang's defensive formation with corpse-qi handprints until it shattered.
• Shi Chang counterattacked with poisonous gas and three hidden needles, but Wu Yuan's scales repelled the final needle.
• Shi Chang fled toward the caves, but Wu Yuan sealed the exits and blocked every route with corpse qi.
• Shi Chang begged for his life and insisted he was not the person Wu Yuan sought, but Wu Yuan's corpse-qi torrent overwhelmed him.
• Wu Yuan absorbed the valley's corpse qi, leaving Shi Chang barely alive and bound so his Nascent Soul could not escape.

After discovering Shi Chang was not connected to the Heart-Corroding Chill, Wu Yuan killed him and grew suspicious of Song Wen. Song Wen decided Wu Yuan had to die and used an eight-thousand-year-old Withered Corpse Bamboo to draw his attention, setting up a chance to act alone with him.

• Wu Yuan took Shi Chang's storage ring, found no clue about the Heart-Corroding Chill, and searched Shi Chang's soul, confirming he was the wrong person.
• Wu Yuan questioned Song Wen about the mistaken identification, but Song Wen suggested the stall owner had disguised his appearance, and Shi Man defended him.
• Wu Yuan killed Shi Chang and took Song Wen and Shi Man aboard his flying ship toward Cloud-Hidden City.
• Song Wen decided to kill Wu Yuan, keep Shi Man from learning of the plan, and find a way to get her away so he could meet Wu Yuan alone.
• Song Wen presented an eight-thousand-year-old Withered Corpse Bamboo, and Wu Yuan turned toward it with eager interest.

Wu Yuan pursued Song Wen, whom he knew as Gou Jun, to seize the Baleful-Pattern Bamboo, while Shi Man returned to Moon-Covering Hall. After finding Gou Jun’s trail, Wu Yuan planned to ambush him near a ghost-filled canyon.

• Song Wen showed Wu Yuan the Withered Corpse Bamboo, and Wu Yuan identified it as Baleful-Pattern Bamboo capable of being refined into a pseudo-spirit treasure.
• Song Wen parted ways with Shi Man and Wu Yuan outside Cloud-Hidden City, and Wu Yuan later disguised himself and set off after him.
• Shi Man returned toward Moon-Covering Hall while Wu Yuan chased Song Wen west, initially failing to find his trail.
• Wu Yuan eventually detected Song Wen’s lingering aura and spotted him speeding ahead.
• Wu Yuan recalled a canyon filled with yin and evil qi and hid in the clouds, planning to drive Song Wen into it and kill him unseen.

Song Wen lured Wu Yuan into a gorge, where Wu Yuan attacked him and revealed why he wanted the Withered Corpse Bamboo. Wu Yuan explained the Divine Blood Sect’s secret use for cultivators of the Longevity Art, but a violet-gold lightning strike interrupted him as he prepared to kill Song Wen.

• Song Wen descended into a gorge filled with ghostly qi, and Wu Yuan followed him before attacking with a spear of corpse qi.
• Song Wen’s bronze ring failed to block the strike, and he crashed onto a cliffside platform beneath falling rubble.
• Wu Yuan uncovered the injured Song Wen and revealed he had attacked him to seize the Withered Corpse Bamboo.
• Song Wen invoked Shi Man and Chi Pei, but Wu Yuan dismissed Shi Man and revealed that the Divine Blood Sect used Longevity Art cultivators as life-extending medicines.
• A violet-gold lightning strike pierced the ghostly qi and shattered Wu Yuan’s corpse qi tornado.

Wu Yuan was ambushed by Song Wen, who used lightning, divine-sense attacks, and substitute-death puppets to break through his defenses. After Song Wen destroyed Wu Yuan’s jade token, another Soul-Concentrating Spike struck, leaving Wu Yuan badly injured and slowing his escape.

• Wu Yuan used his corpse coffin to resist a powerful bolt of violet-gold lightning, then was struck by nine transparent divine-sense blades.
• A black spirit-treasure spear attacked Wu Yuan, and his mid-stage fifth-tier spirit corpse intercepted it while a cloaked attacker approached.
• Wu Yuan activated a jade token to weaken another divine-sense attack and fought the cloaked attacker, tearing apart a substitute-death puppet.
• Song Wen struck and shattered Wu Yuan’s jade token with the Soul-Splitting Blade, then escaped through another substitute-death puppet as Wu Yuan clawed at him.
• Wu Yuan fled with the corpse coffin and spirit corpse, but another Soul-Concentrating Spike pierced his brow and sharply slowed his escape.

Song Wen overwhelmed Wu Yuan, captured his remains, and trapped his soul in his sea of consciousness. He revealed that the Divine Blood Sect used cultivators like Wu Yuan as cultivation pills, then demanded intelligence on Moon-Covering Hall, but Wu Yuan refused to betray it.

• Song Wen struck Wu Yuan with Great Firmament Divine Thunder and Soul-Concentrating Spikes, then crushed his skull when the armor finally failed.
• Song Wen sealed Wu Yuan's remains and fled the canyon before the battle attracted powerful ghosts or cultivators.
• Wu Yuan found himself trapped in Song Wen's sea of consciousness, where Song Wen appeared in the form of Ye Hua.
• Song Wen told Wu Yuan that cultivators of the Corpse King Blood Refinement Art were treated as pills for the Divine Blood Sect's upper ranks, but Wu Yuan refused to believe him.
• Song Wen demanded a list of Moon-Covering Hall members and their abilities, while Wu Yuan vowed never to betray Moon-Covering Hall.

Song Wen learned Moon-Covering Hall’s secrets from Wu Yuan before devouring his soul, while Shi Man reported her failure to obtain the Heart-Corroding Chill to Chi Pei. Chi Pei suspected Wu Yuan had hidden a treasure, but believed his death might remain an unsolved mystery.

• Song Wen showed Wu Yuan that he had advanced to the middle stage of Spirit Transformation by devouring Wu Yuan’s cultivation, then learned about Moon-Covering Hall’s members and techniques before devouring Wu Yuan’s soul.
• Shi Man told Chi Pei that Shi Chang had been killed and that she had failed to recover the Heart-Corroding Chill.
• Chi Pei questioned Shi Man about Wu Yuan and ordered someone to bring him back from Cloud-Hidden City.
• Shi Man returned and reported that Wu Yuan’s soul lamp had gone out and Elder Rong Zuo was investigating his death.
• Shi Man suggested Wu Yuan had kept a treasure from Shi Chang’s storage ring, and Chi Pei concluded that the circumstances of Wu Yuan’s death might never be discovered.

Song Wen devoured Wu Yuan’s remains, broke through to the middle stage of Spirit Transformation, and claimed Wu Yuan’s treasures before settling in the Withered Marsh. After twenty years of cultivation and demon-beast hunting, he met Shi Man at Moon-Soothing Tower, where she arrived with a female cultivator.

• Song Wen used Wu Yuan’s remains to break through to the middle stage of Spirit Transformation, then examined Wu Yuan’s treasures, including the Profound Abyss Scale Armor and the Corpse-Baleful Spirit-Severing Formation.
• Song Wen moved into a cave abode beneath a barren island in the Withered Marsh and named it Wu Yuan Island.
• Over twenty years, Song Wen stabilized his cultivation, refined Wu Yuan’s treasures, advanced his Gu insects, and hunted twelve fifth-rank demon beasts before their traces became scarce.
• Song Wen visited Cloud-Hidden City to see Shi Man and learned that Chi Pei had obtained Heart-Corroding Chill, easing his concern that Shi Man might suspect him.
• Song Wen hosted Shi Man at Moon-Soothing Tower, where she arrived with an elaborately dressed female cultivator at the middle stage of Spirit Transformation.

Song Wen accompanied Shi Man and Deacon Qiluo at a feast, where Qiluo sensed his unusually vigorous blood vitality and teased him about being a virgin. Shi Man revealed that she wanted to learn seduction to win over Chi Pei, and Qiluo advised her to first discover his preferences.

• Shi Man introduced Qiluo to Song Wen, who concealed his concern when Qiluo sensed his exceptional blood vitality.
• Qiluo flirted with Song Wen and offered to teach him bedroom arts, but Shi Man stopped her and had Song Wen serve them wine.
• Shi Man asked Qiluo to teach her seduction and bedroom arts, then admitted that she admired Chi Pei.
• Qiluo encouraged Shi Man by saying Chi Pei had never experienced romance and told her to learn what kind of women he liked.

Chi Pei questioned Shi Man and Ye Hua about a Blood-Eyed Divine Ape rumored to live in Rotting Miasma Ridge. Ye Hua indirectly confirmed its location, and Chi Pei identified the Gloom Miasma Mountains as the likely place to search, though the vast, perilous terrain made finding it difficult.

• Shi Man received a message from Chi Pei, who soon arrived at the Moon-Soothing Tower and invited Shi Man and Ye Hua into the private room.
• Chi Pei asked whether Shi Man and Ye Hua knew of a Blood-Eyed Divine Ape in Rotting Miasma Ridge, describing its immense size, strength, and blood-red eyes.
• Shi Man said she had never heard of the beast, while Ye Hua described a giant ape matching Chi Pei's account and claimed he had heard of it from an unnamed Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Chi Pei displayed a detailed map of Rotting Miasma Ridge and concluded that the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape was likely in the Gloom Miasma Mountains.
• Chi Pei's excitement faded as he realized the mountain range was enormous, densely shrouded in miasma, and difficult to search.

Song Wen learned that Chi Pei sought the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape and then used Qiluo’s advances to learn Chi Pei’s real request: finding Yin-Sinking Water. He warned Qiluo to keep the secret and not tell Chi Pei if she found the spirit material.

• Chi Pei explained that he wanted something from the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape, dismissed the old map’s information as unreliable, and warned Song Wen and Shi Man to keep their discussion secret.
• Chi Pei rewarded Song Wen with one thousand high-grade spirit stones and said Song Wen would accompany him to Phoenix Plume City.
• After Chi Pei left, Qiluo tried to learn what had been discussed, and Song Wen eventually feigned affection for her to gain her trust.
• Three days later, Song Wen told Qiluo that Chi Pei wanted them to find fifth-rank Yin-Sinking Water, claiming it could refine a spirit treasure.
• Song Wen warned Qiluo not to reveal the matter or report any discovery to Chi Pei, saying their lives would be in danger.

Song Wen visited Ye Bing on Ice-Crystal Island, inspected the Bodhi Spirit Stamen, and advised her how to obtain the herbs she needed for the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill. He also pressed her about the Earth-Escape Talismans she owed him and left with another one.

• Qiluo watched Song Wen leave Moon-Soothing Tower and considered keeping him alive because he might still be useful.
• Song Wen left Cloud-Hidden City, checked the Bodhi Spirit Stamen on Ice-Crystal Island, and met with Ye Bing.
• Ye Bing explained that she still lacked Purple Spirit Ginseng, Heavenly Star Grass, and Earthfrost Vine for her pill.
• Song Wen suggested Ye Bing use Jin Xiuqi to learn Jin Xun's whereabouts and potentially set a trap for him.
• Song Wen reminded Ye Bing that she owed him three Earth-Escape Talismans, and Ye Bing gave him one.

Song Wen met Qiluo at the Cloud-Soaring Inn, where she accused him of deceiving her about Chi Pei’s task to find Yin-Sinking Water. He maintained his cover and learned that Qiluo had located the water elsewhere, then offered a way to bring the discovery to Chi Pei without arousing suspicion.

• Song Wen went to Courtyard Thirty-Six after Qiluo summoned him, and she shut the doors, activated the protective formation, and struck him.
• Qiluo accused Song Wen of lying about Chi Pei ordering him and Shi Man to search for Yin-Sinking Water, citing Shi Man’s lack of interest in her fabricated Lantuo Ghost Market lead.
• Song Wen pretended to be wounded and devoted to Qiluo, then argued that Shi Man was concealing her intentions and might already be seeking the water.
• Qiluo revealed that the Lantuo Ghost Market rumor was a test and that she had found real news of Yin-Sinking Water elsewhere.
• Song Wen advised Qiluo to let him report the discovery to Chi Pei in stages so Chi Pei would learn that she had acquired it without suspecting her investigation.
• Qiluo agreed with Song Wen’s plan, and he asked where the Yin-Sinking Water was and whether she needed his help retrieving it.

Song Wen used Qiluo’s clothes to track her to Yuan Luo’s ghost den, where she tried to bargain for his Yin-Sinking Water. Yuan Luo rejected her offer and ordered her to leave, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Qiluo gave Song Wen healing pills and said she would obtain Yin-Sinking Water and later need him to contact Chi Pei.
• After Qiluo left, Song Wen used her clothes and the Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique to follow her south.
• Song Wen sent the Shadow King Gu ahead and found Qiluo meeting Yuan Luo at a sinkhole.
• Qiluo offered to trade for Yuan Luo’s Yin-Sinking Water, but he demanded a Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill.
• Qiluo tried to seduce Yuan Luo, but he rebuffed her and ordered her to leave without the Yin-Sinking Water.

Yuan Luo attacked Qiluo when she refused to trade Yin-Sinking Water, driving her deep underground despite her spirit-treasure shield. Purple-gold lightning then destroyed Yuan Luo’s Ghost Emperor, and as he fled toward the Ghost Cave, another bolt descended.

• Yuan Luo ignored Qiluo’s threat of Moon-Covering Hall’s retaliation and attacked her with ghostly powers and a ghost banner.
• Qiluo’s low-grade spirit treasure shield protected her from Yuan Luo’s attacks, but he knocked her into a crater and drove her more than twenty li underground.
• Dark clouds gathered overhead, and purple-gold lightning struck Yuan Luo’s Ghost Emperor, obliterating it.
• Yuan Luo fled toward the Ghost Cave, but the clouds thickened and formed another powerful bolt of lightning.
• The second bolt descended toward Yuan Luo.

Song Wen defeated Yuan Luo with lightning and the Chasing Sun Spear, but Yuan Luo destroyed his Nascent Soul rather than be captured. Song Wen collected Yuan Luo’s storage ring and left the area, while Qiluo fled toward Cloud-Hidden City.

• Yuan Luo tried to escape to the underground cavern as Song Wen attacked him with the Chasing Sun Spear and Great Firmament Divine Thunder.
• The lightning damaged Yuan Luo’s ghost banner, and the Chasing Sun Spear pierced his body after his weakened ghostly shield collapsed.
• Yuan Luo fled in his Nascent Soul, but Song Wen trapped him in a lightning net.
• Yuan Luo self-detonated his Nascent Soul and soul, destroying the lightning net and devastating the surrounding land.
• Song Wen recovered Yuan Luo’s storage ring, sensed that Qiluo had fled toward Cloud-Hidden City, and left the area without pursuing her.

Song Wen secretly obtained Yuan Luo’s Yin-Sinking Water, then heard Qiluo’s account of her failed attempt to acquire it. He urged Qiluo to win Chi Pei’s favor through pillow romance and raised the possibility of using Red-Dust Fragrance, leaving her concerned about the risks.

• Song Wen took Yin-Sinking Water from Yuan Luo’s storage ring and returned to his courtyard in Cloud-Hidden City.
• Qiluo returned and told Song Wen that Yuan Luo had attacked her, then died fighting a righteous-path cultivator skilled in lightning arts who took the Yin-Sinking Water.
• Qiluo explained that she hoped to gain Chi Pei’s favor and reach the Void Refinement stage through the resources and opportunities of the Divine Blood Sect.
• Song Wen told Qiluo that Chi Pei planned to hunt a demonic beast at Rotting Miasma Ridge, then suggested she seduce him instead.
• Song Wen suggested using Red-Dust Fragrance, and Qiluo hesitated because it could harm Chi Pei and bring punishment from Moon-Covering Hall and the Divine Blood Sect.

Song Wen gave Qiluo Red-Dust Fragrance to help her win over Chi Pei, then returned to his cave abode and spent months refining the Blood Sea Seal with Yin-Sinking Water. He finished the refinement and resumed tending his cave, while Chi Pei had still not set out.

• Song Wen gave Qiluo Red-Dust Fragrance and advised her on using it to seduce Chi Pei; Qiluo promised to repay him if she succeeded.
• After several days with Qiluo, Song Wen bought a Yin-Yang Message Transmission Array and arranged for Shi Man to collect its subsidiary array.
• Song Wen returned to his cave abode on Wu Yuan Island and used the Yin-Sinking Water and his essence blood to refine the Blood Sea Seal.
• After nearly ten months, Song Wen completed the refinement and swallowed the Blood Sea Seal to nurture it.
• Song Wen found no message from Shi Man about Chi Pei, removed the cave's formations, recalled his Gu, and fed his spirit beast.

Song Wen left his cave to join Chi Pei’s journey from Cloud-Hidden City to Phoenix Plume City. After six months aboard the flying ship, the group stopped ten thousand li outside Phoenix Plume City, with Qiluo looking radiant and Chi Pei visibly weakened.

• Song Wen received Shi Man’s message that Chi Pei would depart in three days, packed his pills and formations, and left for Cloud-Hidden City.
• Song Wen stopped at Ice-Crystal Island to visit Ye Bing but learned from Ning Qiao that Ye Bing had been away for several months.
• Song Wen met Shi Man, Tang Gui, and Sang Bu at a remote mountain rendezvous, where Chi Pei and Qiluo arrived and the group boarded a flying ship.
• Chi Pei gave Shi Man a route map from the Jin Clan and assigned Tang Gui and Sang Bu to guard the ship as it set out for Phoenix Plume City.
• After six months of travel, the ship stopped ten thousand li from Phoenix Plume City, and Qiluo emerged looking healthy while Chi Pei appeared pale and exhausted.

Chi Pei sent Song Wen and four others to search for the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape while Qiluo and Shi Man clashed over their attempts to win his favor. After Qiluo privately revealed that Chi Pei had become dangerously addicted to Red-Dust Fragrance, Song Wen reassured her that they had time to find a solution before returning to Cloud-Hidden City.

• Chi Pei divided a map among the group and ordered them to seek information about the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape, with everyone to reunite in half a month.
• After Chi Pei, Tang Gui, and Sang Bu departed, Shi Man accused Qiluo of using her to learn Chi Pei’s preferences and win his affection.
• Qiluo mocked Shi Man’s looks and dragged Song Wen into the argument, prompting him to flatter Shi Man before she flew toward Phoenix Plume City in anger.
• Qiluo took Song Wen to a secluded mountain and told him that Chi Pei’s growing use of Red-Dust Fragrance had contaminated his sea of consciousness and could endanger them both.
• Song Wen said they had time to consider a solution before returning to Cloud-Hidden City.

Song Wen went to Phoenix Plume City to investigate an exchange gathering and encountered Ye Bing with Jin Xiuqi. Ye Bing sought Jin Xun’s Azure-Scaled Wood, while Song Wen judged her plan to lure Jin Xun into a trap too immature.

• Qiluo asked Song Wen to investigate Shi Man’s enemies and arrange for them to kill her, and Song Wen agreed.
• Song Wen arrived in Phoenix Plume City and spent three days pretending to search for the exchange gathering.
• Song Wen saw Ye Bing walking with Jin Xiuqi, who invited her to a spirit feast at Starry Sky Tower.
• Ye Bing told Jin Xiuqi she had come seeking Azure-Scaled Wood, and he offered to ask his uncle Jin Xun to sell it to her.
• Song Wen was pleased that Ye Bing had targeted Jin Xun but concluded she would need to offer him something he urgently wanted to lure him somewhere remote.

Song Wen met Ye Bing in Phoenix Plume City, where they discussed her plan to ambush Jin Xun and Jin Xiuqi. After Song Wen pointed out a flaw in the plan, Ye Bing received word that Jin Xun would meet her inside the city, and Song Wen told her to learn which spirit herbs Jin Xun urgently needed.

• Song Wen returned to his inn courtyard and received Ye Bing, who had come to discuss Jin Xun.
• Ye Bing explained that she had secretly watched the Jin Clan for four months and planned to lure Jin Xun and Jin Xiuqi outside the city for an ambush.
• Song Wen warned that Jin Xun would not agree to meet outside the city without bringing powerful cultivators or keeping other safeguards.
• Ye Bing received a message from Jin Xiuqi that Jin Xun would meet her inside Phoenix Plume City to negotiate the azure-scaled wood trade.
• Song Wen told Ye Bing to reject Jin Xun's proposed terms and find out which spirit herbs he urgently needed, and she agreed before leaving.

Song Wen helped Ye Bing plan how to lure Jin Xun into a trade for the Azure-Scaled Wood, then parted from her to attend to his own affairs. More than ten days later, he traveled to meet Chi Pei with Shi Man, who asked whether his earlier words had been true.

• Song Wen moved to Courtyard No. 36 and watched Courtyard No. 32 before Ye Bing returned from meeting Jin Xun.
• Ye Bing told Song Wen that Jin Xun had refused her offer, and Song Wen advised her to disappear before claiming she had found someone with Earthfrost Vine.
• Song Wen and Ye Bing agreed to meet at Green Oak Lake after he finished his affairs, then left the inn separately.
• More than ten days later, Song Wen flew toward his rendezvous with Chi Pei and encountered Shi Man, who joined him.
• Shi Man asked Song Wen whether the words he had spoken to her earlier were true.

Shi Man asked Song Wen to help her kill Qiluo during the dangerous trip to Rotting Miasma Ridge, promising him a night together in return. The group gathered at the mountain summit, where Chi Pei arrived and asked whether they had found clues about the Blood-Eyed Giant Ape.

• Shi Man proposed ambushing Qiluo at Rotting Miasma Ridge and making her death look like a demon beast attack.
• Song Wen pretended to accept Shi Man's offer after she promised to be his Dao companion for one day.
• Song Wen and Shi Man traveled to the agreed meeting place, where Tang Gui and Sang Bu were already waiting.
• Qiluo arrived and greeted the group; Tang Gui and Sang Bu responded courteously, Shi Man ignored her, and Song Wen greeted her respectfully.
• Chi Pei arrived after Qiluo and asked whether anyone had uncovered clues about the Blood-Eyed Giant Ape.

Chi Pei questioned his companions for the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape's whereabouts in Rotting Miasma Ridge, but Shi Man and Qiluo offered only vague reports. Song Wen revealed a precise location in the Gloom Miasma Mountains, earning Chi Pei's reward as the group prepared to go there.

• Shi Man reported that an elder had once seen the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape in Rotting Miasma Ridge but could not say where, and Chi Pei rebuked her.
• Qiluo admitted she had found no more useful details, but Chi Pei comforted her, deepening Shi Man's jealousy.
• Tang Gui projected a map marking dozens of places where fourth-tier or stronger giant apes had appeared, but Chi Pei found the locations too scattered to search easily.
• Song Wen claimed a Spirit Transformation senior had sold him the exact place where a giant ape fought an Earth Savage Bull and projected a map with one red dot in the Gloom Miasma Mountains.
• Chi Pei questioned the clue's reliability, then gave Song Wen two thousand superior spirit stones and ordered the group to head for the marked location, while Shi Man regretted not finding the clue first.