Recaps

Shi Man and the others searched Rotting Miasma Ridge for the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape and found signs of its past battle with another demon beast. Song Wen deduced where the ape’s lair was likely to be, earning Chi Pei’s trust as the group prepared to search south.

• Shi Man guided the flying ship through Rotting Miasma Ridge for two months while Qiluo’s influence over Chi Pei raised her suspicions.
• Chi Pei ordered the group to search the ruins of a battle, where Shi Man found long claw marks on a collapsed mountain.
• Chi Pei identified the marks as evidence that the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape had appeared there and proposed searching nearby rivers and lakes for its lair.
• Song Wen argued that the battlefield marked the border between two beasts’ territories and that the hoofprints of the defeated beast pointed toward its own lair.
• Song Wen inferred that the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape’s lair lay in the opposite direction, south, and Chi Pei praised him and ordered him to stay at his side.

Chi Pei led Song Wen and four other cultivators through Rotting Miasma Ridge, where they found signs that a giant ape frequently rested beside a lake. Believing it was the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape, Chi Pei set a trap and planned to wait in a nearby mountain.

• Chi Pei promised Song Wen help advancing to the Spirit Transformation stage if they killed the Blood-Eyed Giant Ape, and Song Wen pledged to serve him loyally.
• The six traveled south and found a deep-green lake, then searched its shore for a mountain that might shelter the ape.
• Qiluo spotted a smooth patch of rock, where Sang Bu found a giant beast’s hair and the group discovered enormous tracks and prey remains.
• Chi Pei concluded that the giant ape likely visited the area often and ordered the group to lay a trap for it.
• Chi Pei revealed the Nether Corpse Purgatory Formation, and the group hid its flags across ten li before heading to a nearby mountain to wait.

Song Wen and the others left their hiding place to lure the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape into their formation. The giant ape overwhelmed Tang Gui and Sang Bu, leaving them defenseless as its next attack loomed.

• Chi Pei grew increasingly lustful toward Qiluo under the influence of Red-Dust Fragrance, but an aerial disturbance diverted his attention.
• After hearing what they believed was the giant ape eating nearby, Chi Pei deactivated the concealment formation and assigned Tang Gui and Sang Bu to lure it toward the formation’s center.
• Tang Gui and Sang Bu found the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape eating a giant python and fled toward the smooth rock after provoking it.
• The giant ape smashed Tang Gui’s corpse coffin aside, then struck both the coffin and Sang Bu’s shield, leaving Tang Gui and Sang Bu without protection.

Chi Pei trapped the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape inside the Nether Corpse Purgatory Formation and used endless corpse-qi chains to wear it down. As Song Wen reconsidered whether to ambush Chi Pei, the formation bound the ape completely, leaving it encased in a huge sphere of chains.

• Chi Pei activated the formation, and its chains forced the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape to abandon its attack on Tang Gui and Sang Bu.
• The ape smashed through the chains repeatedly, but they reformed and drove it back whenever it tried to reach the barrier’s dome.
• Song Wen wondered why Chi Pei had gone to such lengths to capture the ape and weighed the risks of attacking him.
• Chi Pei opened the barrier to let Tang Gui and Sang Bu out, and Song Wen postponed his plan to strike.
• The formation’s chains caught the ape’s legs, then bound its limbs, torso, and head until they covered it in a huge sphere.

Song Wen watched Chi Pei and the others nearly defeat the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape, until the Azure Mystic Dove arrived and forced the wounded ape to promise it would stop killing humans. The Azure Mystic Dove then turned on Chi Pei's group, leaving them facing a new attack.

• Song Wen noticed that Chi Pei's Blood Tide came from a Blood Sea Seal like his own, though the two treasures differed in quality and essence blood.
• The Blood-Eyed Divine Ape used its Law-Breaking Divine Light to damage Tang Gui's corpse coffin, Sang Bu's Soul-Breaking Awl, and part of Chi Pei's Blood Tide, then fled toward the lake.
• Chi Pei summoned a peak fifth-tier spirit corpse, and he, Tang Gui, Sang Bu, Qiluo, and Shi Man renewed their assault until the ape was badly wounded.
• An Azure Mystic Dove burst through the miasma and disrupted Chi Pei's lethal attack with a fierce gale.
• The Blood-Eyed Divine Ape promised the Azure Mystic Dove it would stop killing humans, and the dove accepted before unleashing a cutting gale at Chi Pei and the others.

Song Wen watched the Azure Mystic Dove and Blood-Eyed Divine Ape drive Chi Pei and the others into retreat, then killed Shi Man when she attacked him. After revealing a Blood Tide technique tied to the Divine Blood Sect, he absorbed her soul and disappeared.

• The Azure Mystic Dove and Blood-Eyed Divine Ape shattered Chi Pei's blood wall, forcing Chi Pei, Tang Gui, Sang Bu, Shi Man, and Qiluo to flee.
• Chi Pei, Tang Gui, and Sang Bu fled together while Qiluo and Shi Man veered off in different directions to avoid being used as decoys.
• Shi Man encountered Song Wen, who had stayed behind to track Chi Pei, and attacked him after he ignored her.
• Song Wen revealed Spirit Transformation-level power and killed Shi Man with a single sweep of his spear, destroying her Nascent Soul.
• Song Wen used a Blood Tide technique that made Shi Man suspect he belonged to the Divine Blood Sect, then swallowed her soul and vanished.

Chi Pei used a formation to attack the Azure Mystic Dove, then revealed that the formation was draining Sang Bu and Tang Gui to strengthen itself. The blood-powered phantom repelled the dove’s attack, while Sang Bu and Tang Gui were left near death and accused Chi Pei of betraying them.

• Chi Pei, Tang Gui, and Sang Bu stopped fleeing and used the Three Baleful Soul-Extinguishing Formation against the pursuing Azure Mystic Dove.
• The dove’s astral wind shattered the formation’s blades and damaged its phantom, alarming Tang Gui and Sang Bu.
• Chi Pei told them to pour their blood essence into their formation disks, and the disks bound them and drained their blood.
• Chi Pei revealed that the formation was actually the Two Extremes Unity Formation, which consumed the assistants’ blood essence and divine souls to boost its power.
• The blood-red phantom recovered and drove the Azure Mystic Dove back, while Tang Gui warned Chi Pei that the sect would punish him for killing fellow disciples.

Chi Pei sacrificed Tang Gui and Sang Bu to power the Two Extremes Unity Formation and fought off the Azure Mystic Dove and Blood-Eyed Divine Ape. He captured the dying ape, stored its head in a jade coffin, and dismantled the formation.

• Chi Pei mocked Tang Gui and Sang Bu, then drew their souls into the array disk to activate the formation.
• The awakened humanoid phantom hurled two curved blades at the Azure Mystic Dove, which joined the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape to destroy them, though both beasts were injured.
• The Azure Mystic Dove escaped as Chi Pei, low on spiritual power, refrained from pursuing it.
• Chi Pei dragged the dying Blood-Eyed Divine Ape from the dust, crushed its body, and stored its head in a jade coffin.
• Chi Pei dismissed the phantom and deactivated the formation, leaving Tang Gui and Sang Bu's corpses to fall.

Song Wen ambushed Chi Pei with Soul-Scattering Smoke and the Soul-Splitting Blade, but Chi Pei survived the first strike with a corpse-puppet substitute. Song Wen then attacked him with the Chasing Sun Spear while the poison disrupted Chi Pei’s soul, leaving Chi Pei vulnerable.

• Chi Pei sealed Tang Gui and Sang Bu’s corpses and stored them, then met Song Wen, who claimed he had not seen Shi Man or Qiluo.
• Chi Pei led Song Wen to a mountain Cave and ordered him to guard it while Chi Pei recovered in seclusion.
• Song Wen suddenly released pale yellow Soul-Scattering Smoke and stabbed Chi Pei with the Soul-Splitting Blade.
• Chi Pei’s body proved to be a corpse-puppet substitute, and he struck Song Wen with enough force to send him crashing into the Cave wall.
• Chi Pei identified Song Wen as a mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator, but Soul-Scattering Smoke paired with Red-Dust Fragrance caused him intense pain.
• Song Wen charged Chi Pei with the Chasing Sun Spear while Chi Pei struggled to suppress the soul damage.

Song Wen pursued Chi Pei after the wounded cultivator escaped his first attacks with a substitute-death puppet, then trapped him in the Blood Sea Seal. Chi Pei broke through the barrier with a lightning talisman and vanished using what appeared to be a Minor Teleportation Talisman, while Song Wen remained calm.

• Chi Pei blocked Song Wen's Chasing Sun Spear with a talisman shield, but Song Wen destroyed the shield and struck him with the spear, only to discover he had hit a substitute-death puppet.
• Song Wen tracked Chi Pei, who used the Myriad Poisons Primordial Body to resist the poison and then attempted to flee with the Blood Escape Technique.
• Song Wen formed a hundred-li Blood Sea Seal barrier around Chi Pei and attacked him with blood-colored tentacles.
• Chi Pei used a high-grade lightning talisman to break the Blood Sea Seal barrier while defending himself with a Thick Earth Talisman.
• Chi Pei vanished in silver light using what Song Wen suspected was a Minor Teleportation Talisman, and Song Wen remained calm.

Song Wen tracked Chi Pei across more than a hundred thousand li and cornered him in a cave, where Chi Pei fought back with his remaining power. As Song Wen’s attacks overwhelmed him, Chi Pei released high-grade Demon-Luring Incense in a desperate bid to take them both down.

• Song Wen used Chi Pei’s abandoned formation flags to track his aura and pursued him for over a hundred thousand li.
• Song Wen confronted Chi Pei as he prepared a concealment formation in a cave, and Chi Pei realized that escape was impossible.
• Song Wen summoned a vast blood sea and attacked Chi Pei, who drove his Blood Sea Seal to its utmost to counter the tentacle.
• Chi Pei used a black lightning talisman, but Song Wen’s Great Firmament Divine Thunder destroyed its lightning pillar and Lightning Sphere.
• Chi Pei broke a jade bottle and released what Song Wen recognized as high-grade Demon-Luring Incense.

Song Wen used Great Firmament Divine Thunder to break Chi Pei’s Blood Sea Seal and nearly exhaust his spiritual power, but Chi Pei unleashed a Blood Sacrifice Technique and escaped his collapsing body as a Nascent Soul. The chapter ended with Chi Pei’s Nascent Soul speeding away while Song Wen pursued him.

• Song Wen moved Chi Pei’s Blood Tide more than a hundred thousand li away from the Demon-Luring Incense and trapped it inside a blood sphere.
• Song Wen struck Chi Pei’s Blood Tide with repeated bolts of Great Firmament Divine Thunder, forcing Chi Pei to reveal himself after his spiritual power nearly ran out.
• Song Wen pierced Chi Pei with the Chasing Sun Spear, but Chi Pei’s body turned out to be a Blood Shadow Clone, and he re-formed above the Blood Tide.
• Song Wen shattered Chi Pei’s Blood Sea Seal with another bolt of divine thunder and attacked him with blood tentacles.
• Chi Pei used the Blood Sacrifice Technique to restore his spiritual power, formed a giant blood sword, and broke through Song Wen’s blood sphere.
• Chi Pei’s body fell with the dispersing Blood Tide as his three-inch Nascent Soul shot away, and Song Wen pursued him.

Song Wen trapped Chi Pei’s Nascent Soul and discovered he could devour its cultivation by returning it to Chi Pei’s corpse. After devouring Chi Pei, Tang Gui, and Sang Bu, Song Wen reached the late Spirit Transformation stage, examined Chi Pei’s notes, and began questioning Chi Pei’s spiritual soul.

• Song Wen used corpse qi, blood, and tentacles to stop Chi Pei from escaping or detonating his Nascent Soul, then sealed him in a blood cocoon.
• Song Wen put Chi Pei’s Nascent Soul back into his corpse and devoured its cultivation, discovering that the corpse’s remaining blood essence made it possible.
• Song Wen devoured Tang Gui’s and Sang Bu’s cultivation, broke through into the late Spirit Transformation stage, and approached its bottleneck.
• Song Wen searched Chi Pei’s storage ring and found cultivation methods, a jade slip on the Myriad Poisons Primordial Body, and Chi Pei’s notes on the Blood Sea Seal.
• Song Wen questioned Chi Pei’s spiritual soul in his sea of consciousness and threatened him with the Golden Broth Curse, startling Chi Pei.

Song Wen interrogated Chi Pei about the Divine Blood Sect, learning that Qicang Island was isolated from the Eastern Profound Continent by Origin Qi and that the sect controlled the only known teleportation route. He also learned Chi Pei had sought the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape’s eyes to cultivate the Annihilation Divine Eye.

• Song Wen threatened Chi Pei with molten gold until Chi Pei agreed to answer his questions.
• Chi Pei explained that the Divine Blood Sect had sent him to inspect the Moon-Covering Hall, and that he had stayed to investigate the rumored Blood-Eyed Divine Ape.
• Chi Pei revealed that Qicang was an island separated from the Eastern Profound Continent by a sea shrouded in Origin Qi, and that a teleportation array linked the Moon-Covering Hall to the Divine Blood Sect.
• Song Wen learned that only Divine Blood Sect members could use the array, leaving him unsure how to reach the wider world.
• Chi Pei said he had hunted the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape to obtain its eyes for the Annihilation Divine Eye, but had kept the secret from the Moon-Covering Hall’s Void Refinement cultivators to prevent them from claiming the prize.

Song Wen obtained the Annihilation Divine Eye technique and its required materials from Chi Pei, extracted the Blood Spirit Sacrifice technique, and destroyed Chi Pei’s soul. After taking stock of his spoils, he began tempering his cultivation and planned to raise his divine sense to match it.

• Song Wen learned that Chi Pei’s storage ring contained the Annihilation Divine Eye technique’s stone sphere and every material needed to cultivate it.
• Song Wen made Chi Pei recite the Blood Spirit Sacrifice, suspected the technique was dangerous or altered, then accepted Chi Pei’s explanation that it had been like that when he found it.
• Song Wen asked about Shadow Void, learned Chi Pei knew little, and destroyed Chi Pei’s soul despite his warning about a Divine Blood Sect imprint.
• Song Wen inventoried the storage rings and gained more than thirty thousand high-grade spirit stones, a fifth-rank peak spirit corpse, and three top-tier fifth-rank formations.
• Song Wen stayed to temper his boosted cultivation and focused on advancing his divine sense, which had nearly reached the middle stage of Spirit Transformation.

After twenty years of cultivation, Song Wen remembered his promise to help Ye Bing obtain the ingredients for a Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill and traveled to Green Oak Lake to find her. He located her on Gou Jun Island, and Ye Bing told him to follow her.

• Song Wen completed twenty years of cultivation, strengthened his treasures and spirit companions, and advanced his divine sense to the late Spirit Transformation stage.
• Song Wen left Rotting Miasma Ridge and learned from a pair of cultivators that a likely Spirit Transformation expert had claimed Gou Jun Island twenty years earlier.
• Song Wen reached Gou Jun Island, found no one there, and prepared to contact Ye Bing with his communication jade slip.
• Ye Bing approached Song Wen in disguise, confirmed her identity, and descended to Gou Jun Island, telling him to follow her.

Song Wen reunited with Ye Bing on Gou Jun Island and proposed using his Devouring Essence Array to lure Jin Xun into an ambush. Ye Bing agreed to contact Jin Xun in Phoenix Plume City, while Song Wen stayed behind to prepare.

• Ye Bing confronted Song Wen over his twenty-year absence, and he claimed that severe injuries had forced him into seclusion.
• Ye Bing told Song Wen that Jin Xun had obtained the earthfrost vine, ruining their original plan to lure him out.
• Song Wen proposed using a life-extending spirit medicine as bait and revealed an incomplete method for a Devouring Essence Array that could extend lifespan by three sixty-year cycles.
• Ye Bing questioned the array’s cruelty and the Moon-Covering Hall’s interest in Longevity Art cultivators, but Song Wen warned her not to investigate further.
• Song Wen proposed setting an ambush on the island, and Ye Bing agreed to contact Jin Xun after gathering her belongings.
• Ye Bing revealed that her cave abode was on an island two thousand li to the east, and Song Wen realized she had recognized him when he passed nearby.

Song Wen, disguised as the monk Mi Hai, met Ye Bing and Jin Xun to trade the Devouring Essence Array for azure-scaled wood. After Jin Xun sealed them inside a Sword Qi barrier and inspected the wood, Song Wen launched a sudden attack, leaving Jin Xun retreating as the swords surged toward him.

• Song Wen watched Ye Bing and Jin Xun approach Green Oak Lake, then used blue prayer beads to reassure Ye Bing that no one was following them.
• Song Wen greeted Jin Xun as Mi Hai, and Jin Xun judged the disguised cultivator to be no threat.
• When Ye Bing invited them to discuss the exchange on Gou Jun Island, Jin Xun refused and formed a Sword Qi barrier around the three of them.
• Song Wen presented the jade slip containing the Devouring Essence Array, while Jin Xun produced the azure-scaled wood for inspection.
• As Jin Xun reached for the jade slip, Song Wen attacked with an icy spear, and Jin Xun retreated as his Sword Qi swept toward Song Wen.

Song Wen and Ye Bing trapped Jin Xun in an ice sphere and tried to drive him down onto Gou Jun Island, where they had prepared a trap. Jin Xun realized their plan and abandoned his defensive Sword Qi to charge his flying sword for a desperate strike at the ice wall.

• Jin Xun blocked Song Wen’s Chasing Sun Spear with his flying sword but was badly injured by the impact.
• Ye Bing attacked Jin Xun from behind with the Plum Blossom Fan, freezing his Sword Qi shield inside an ice sphere.
• Song Wen guarded Jin Xun with the Spirit-Taming Umbrella and summoned a peak fifth-tier corpse puppet to smash the ice sphere toward the island.
• Jin Xun realized Song Wen and Ye Bing meant to force him into a prepared trap on Gou Jun Island.
• Jin Xun stopped replenishing his Sword Qi shield and charged his flying sword, then launched it at the ice wall as the cold closed in.

Jin Xun broke free of Ye Bing’s ice sphere but was trapped by Mi Hai’s corpse-path formation, where Song Wen and Ye Bing demanded information about the spiritual herbs needed for the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill. Jin Xun offered to help them find Purple Spirit Ginseng and Heavenly Star Grass in exchange for his life, and Song Wen entered the formation with Ye Bing to continue the confrontation.

• Jin Xun shattered Ye Bing’s ice sphere, tried to escape, and was blocked by Mi Hai’s Nether Corpse Purgatory Formation.
• Jin Xun fought the formation’s regenerating corpse-qi chains and learned that Song Wen had taken the Azure-Scaled Wood.
• Jin Xun offered information about Purple Spirit Ginseng and Heavenly Star Grass, but Song Wen insisted that he still had to die unless he could prove his claim.
• Jin Xun sent his unlocked storage ring through the formation barrier, and Ye Bing and Song Wen confirmed it held the required herbs except Purple Spirit Ginseng and Heavenly Star Grass.
• Song Wen chose to enter the formation, took Jin Xun’s storage ring, and was followed inside by Ye Bing.

Jin Xun revealed that Yun Xinghai possessed Purple Spirit Ginseng and Heavenly Star Grass, hoping to bargain for his life and a share of the herbs. Song Wen and Ye Bing rejected his demand for the Devouring Essence Array, while Jin Xun argued that they needed him to negotiate safely with Yun Xinghai.

• Song Wen sealed the array against outside observers and demanded that Jin Xun explain what he knew about the herbs.
• Jin Xun identified Yun Xinghai, a dying sixth-rank alchemist at Xintang Mountain, as the owner of multiple Purple Spirit Ginseng and Heavenly Star Grass plants.
• Jin Xun explained that Yun Xinghai’s dangerous temperament deterred the major factions, while the Jin Clan had stopped supporting Jin Xun after he failed to advance to Void Refinement.
• Song Wen realized that he and Ye Bing could pursue the herbs themselves, and rejected Jin Xun’s offer to trade them for the complete Devouring Essence Array.
• Jin Xun warned that without his mediation, approaching Yun Xinghai could provoke him and bring Song Wen and Ye Bing a fatal calamity.

Song Wen and Ye Bing considered Jin Xun’s offer to trade for the rare herbs needed for the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill, but Song Wen attacked and killed him before he could swear an oath. Song Wen argued that Jin Xun had intended to betray them through Yun Xinghai, leaving Ye Bing doubtful about why the Void Refinement cultivator would help him.

• Jin Xun offered his storage ring as collateral and claimed he had told no one about his plan to obtain Purple Spirit Ginseng and Heavenly Star Grass.
• As Jin Xun began swearing a Heavenly Dao oath, Song Wen pierced his dantian with the Chasing Sun Spear and destroyed his Nascent Soul with the Blood Tide.
• Ye Bing challenged Song Wen for killing Jin Xun, and Song Wen cited Jin Xun’s past crimes and suspicions about his intentions.
• Song Wen suggested Jin Xun meant to use Yun Xinghai to reclaim the storage ring and deal with them, but Ye Bing questioned why Yun Xinghai would help him.

After Jin Xun’s death, Song Wen and Ye Bing fled Green Oak Lake and discussed how to obtain purple spirit ginseng and heavenly star grass from Yun Xinghai. Song Wen contacted Jin Xiuqi in Phoenix Plume City and tried to persuade him to visit Xintang Mountain by claiming he had captured Li Yue.

• Song Wen explained that Jin Xun had planned to trade a life-extending formation for Yun Xinghai’s herbs and enlist him to attack them, then suggested using Jin Xiuqi as an intermediary.
• Ye Bing rejected the idea of seducing Jin Xiuqi, insisting she would not trade her independence for spiritual herbs, and Song Wen said he had another plan.
• Song Wen and Ye Bing left Green Oak Lake, anticipating that the Jin Clan would investigate Jin Xun’s death and search the area for the killer.
• Disguised as a white-bearded Golden Core cultivator, Song Wen reached Phoenix Plume City, rented a room, and contacted Jin Xiuqi using Ye Bing’s communication jade slip.
• Song Wen falsely told Jin Xiuqi that he had wounded and imprisoned Li Yue, then demanded that Jin Xiuqi visit Yun Xinghai at Xintang Mountain to trade for purple spirit ginseng and heavenly star grass.
• Song Wen claimed he had a formation that could extend Yun Xinghai’s life by three sixty-year cycles and challenged Jin Xiuqi to risk the journey for Li Yue.

Song Wen coerced Jin Xiuqi into obtaining rare herbs and bringing Yun Xinghai to the Pure Spirit Market in exchange for Li Yue and the complete Spirit-Devouring Formation. After seeing Ye Bing’s injured image, Jin Xiuqi headed for Xintang Mountain, and the chapter left him standing with Yun Xinghai near the market.

• Song Wen refused to let Jin Xiuqi see Li Yue, directing him to find an Image-Recording Stone and incomplete formation, then bring Yun Xinghai to the Pure Spirit Market with the requested herbs.
• Song Wen warned Jin Xiuqi to travel alone and threatened Li Yue if anyone followed him.
• Jin Xiuqi retrieved the stone from a deep pool and saw an image of the injured Ye Bing, then destroyed the stone and flew toward Xintang Mountain.
• Several days later, Jin Xiuqi met Yun Xinghai atop a mountain beside the Pure Spirit Market.

Jin Xiuqi and Yun Xinghai waited for a ghost cultivator to deliver the complete Devouring Essence Array, but Ye Bing arrived instead, claiming a Soul-Burying Curse forced her to come. Yun Xinghai confirmed the curse and remained focused on completing the transaction.

• Yun Xinghai threatened to refine Jin Xiuqi into a Life Essence Pill if the ghost cultivator failed to appear, while Jin reminded him of their agreement concerning the Devouring Essence Array.
• Yun Xinghai sensed a beautiful female cultivator approaching, and Jin recognized her as Li Yue, his beloved, but Yun stopped him from rushing to meet her.
• Ye Bing arrived and warned Jin not to approach, claiming that a Soul-Burying Curse would destroy her soul if she failed to return in time.
• Yun Xinghai inspected Ye Bing's sea of consciousness and confirmed that she was bound by a Soul-Burying Curse.
• Yun Xinghai said he could not break the curse and urged them to discuss the transaction, caring chiefly about obtaining the Devouring Essence Array.