Recaps

Ye Bing handed Yun Xinghai the Devouring Essence Array in exchange for the herbs needed to refine Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pills, then fled while Jin Xiuqi pleaded for her to return. She reunited with Song Wen in a hidden cavern, where they prepared to use the herbs together.

• Ye Bing gave Yun Xinghai the Devouring Essence Array, and he gave her a storage pouch containing five stalks each of purple spirit ginseng and heavenly star grass, but refused to help Li Yue with the Soul-Burying Curse.
• Jin Xiuqi tried to stop Ye Bing from leaving and promised to wait for her, but he could not catch up as she flew away.
• Ye Bing concealed herself in an underwater cavern, where Song Wen joined her after checking that Yun Xinghai had not followed and that the storage pouch bore no spiritual sense mark.
• Song Wen explained that he had considered leaving with the herbs but chose to stay because working with Ye Bing would give them five sets of pill ingredients instead of two.

Song Wen and Ye Bing gathered the herbs for the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill and began their journey back to Cloud-Hidden City, where they returned to Ice-Crystal Island. Song Wen warned that the Devouring Essence Array could bring disaster to the Jin Clan, then rewarded the island’s guardians and ordered them to cultivate Demon Radiance Grass alongside the Bodhi Spirit Stamens.

• Ye Bing said she would study the pill’s refinement after returning to Cloud-Hidden City, and Song Wen offered to discuss alchemy with her while hinting at his feelings.
• Song Wen showed Ye Bing a jade slip containing the Jin Clan’s route between Cloud-Hidden City and Phoenix Plume City, and they set out aboard his flying ship.
• Song Wen warned Ye Bing that Yun Xinghai’s Devouring Essence Array could draw the Divine Blood Sect to Jin Xiuqi and bring calamity upon the Jin Clan.
• Several months later, Song Wen and Ye Bing arrived at Ice-Crystal Island and found its great array intact and the island in good order.
• Song Wen rewarded the female cultivators guarding the island and gave them two hundred stalks of Demon Radiance Grass to plant and cultivate.

Song Wen and Ye Bing finalized their plans for refining the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill, then Song Wen encountered Qiluo in Cloud-Hidden City and learned how she escaped suspicion after Chi Pei’s death. Qiluo revealed that the Divine Blood Sect had investigated but found no clues, while its agents remained in Qicang Region.

• Song Wen and Ye Bing agreed to spend another year or two preparing before refining the pill, and Song Wen offered to guard her when she began.
• Song Wen left Ice-Crystal Island for Cloud-Hidden City to buy spiritual herbs and spotted Qiluo walking with an unfamiliar corpse-path cultivator.
• Song Wen contacted Qiluo through her communication jade slip and learned that Chi Pei, Shi Man, Tang Gui, and Sang Bu had all died.
• Qiluo told Song Wen that Ji Hong had investigated Chi Pei’s death but found no clues, leaving cultivators behind to continue the search.
• Qiluo explained that she had waited in Phoenix Plume City after leaving Rotting Miasma Ridge and that no one in Moon-Covering Hall knew she had accompanied Chi Pei there.

Song Wen learned that Xu Zhi had gone to Sanskrit Sound Nunnery and rushed there after discovering the Divine Blood Sect cultivator was alone. He confronted Xu Zhi as the nuns lay helpless, but Xu Zhi killed them before Song Wen could save them.

• Song Wen learned from Qiluo that Xu Zhi had gone to Sanskrit Sound Nunnery to seek beautiful female cultivators, and he headed southwest.
• Song Wen scouted Compassionate Ferry Mountain and confirmed Xu Zhi had come alone.
• Song Wen entered the grand hall and found Xu Zhi abusing the nuns while their cultivation and bodies were sealed.
• Xu Zhi killed a young nun and challenged the cloaked figure who arrived, not recognizing Song Wen.
• Xu Zhi released corpse qi that killed the remaining nuns and shattered their souls.

Song Wen defeated Xu Zhi and absorbed his spiritual power to break through to the peak Spirit Transformation realm. He ended the chapter having sealed Xu Zhi’s soul and hidden himself beneath a river.

• Song Wen used his peak fifth-tier spirit corpse to repel Xu Zhi’s corpse coffin and blocked the Bone-Eroding Sha Qi with a black umbrella.
• Song Wen concealed the Blood Sea Seal with corpse qi, then trapped Xu Zhi in a blood tide and killed him.
• Song Wen sealed Xu Zhi’s Nascent Soul and divine soul, placed his corpse in a coffin, and fled Compassionate Ferry Mountain.
• Song Wen hid beneath a river using the Heavenly Secret Concealment Formation and began absorbing Xu Zhi’s spiritual power.
• Song Wen broke through the barrier in his dantian and reached the peak Spirit Transformation realm.

Song Wen interrogated Xu Zhi about the Divine Blood Sect’s investigation into Chi Pei’s death, then hid beneath the Withered Marsh to cultivate for thirteen months. When Ye Bing arrived at Wu Yuan Island to visit Gou Jun, Song Wen flew out to meet her.

• Song Wen tortured Xu Zhi’s soul with the Golden Broth Curse and learned that eight Divine Blood Sect cultivators had investigated Chi Pei’s death, including Ji Hong and Hong Zhe.
• Xu Zhi revealed that the remaining seven cultivators had another mission connected to the Ganchang Wasteland, though he did not know its details, and Song Wen swallowed his soul before destroying the corpse.
• Song Wen returned to Wu Yuan Island but chose to establish a hidden cave beneath the Withered Marsh, where he refined pills, fed his Gu, and cultivated for thirteen months.
• The Shadow King Gu alerted Song Wen that Ye Bing had arrived at Wu Yuan Island, and Song Wen flew to meet her, greeting her with flattery.

Song Wen accompanied Ye Bing to Ice-Crystal Island while she attempted to refine the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill. After her first batch failed at the final pill-condensation stage, they discussed the process, and Ye Bing began a second attempt after Song Wen encouraged her.

• Song Wen retrieved the Shadow King Gu and followed Ye Bing to Ice-Crystal Island, where she arranged for her subordinates to tend the island during their seclusion.
• Ye Bing entered the inner chamber to refine the pill while Song Wen guarded the outer room.
• Five months later, Ye Bing emerged and told Song Wen that her first batch had failed during pill condensation.
• Ye Bing explained her process and demonstrated key steps, and she and Song Wen spent half a month identifying possible causes of the failure.
• After Song Wen encouraged her and Ye Bing teased him about granting a wish if the next batch succeeded, she returned to the inner chamber to refine again.

Ye Bing successfully refined a Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill and gave it to Song Wen, fulfilling her Heavenly Dao oath. As they shared spirit tea, Ye Bing explained that strengthening the Primordial Spirit could help Song Wen advance to Void Refinement, though such treasures were rare.

• Ye Bing emerged from the secret chamber with a Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill she had refined on her second attempt.
• Ye Bing gave the pill to Song Wen to fulfill her Heavenly Dao oath and said she planned to rest before refining pills again in half a year.
• Song Wen invited Ye Bing to the pavilion and prepared tea with Azure Water Spirit Spring and Jade-Green Spirit Tea.
• Song Wen asked Ye Bing what other treasures could increase the chances of advancing to Void Refinement.
• Ye Bing explained that a sufficiently powerful Primordial Spirit could break through to Void Refinement and that treasures capable of strengthening it were exceedingly rare.

Du'e discovered that Song Wen and Ye Bing had the Bodhi Spirit Stamen he had been forced to surrender forty years earlier, and attacked Ice-Crystal Island. Ye Bing activated the island’s protective formation, but Du'e began gathering a giant Buddha hand to destroy the island.

• Ye Bing explained secrets about advancing to Void Refinement, and Song Wen thanked her for sharing them.
• Du'e struck Ice-Crystal Island’s protective formation, and Ye Bing activated its thirty-six formation nodes to withstand his attack.
• Du'e recognized the Bodhi Spirit Stamen on the island and accused Song Wen and Ye Bing of extorting him forty years earlier.
• Song Wen realized that one of Ye Bing’s subordinates, Ning Qiao or Zhong Fei, had leaked the Bodhi Spirit Stamen by selling stolen plants; Zhong Fei stood among the island’s cultivators.
• Du'e formed an enormous golden Buddha hand above Ice-Crystal Island, terrifying everyone beneath it.

Song Wen tried to convince Du'e that the Bodhi Spirit Stamens on Ice-Crystal Island were unrelated to the temple’s stolen plants by claiming membership in the Divine Blood Sect. Du'e saw through his story and shattered the island’s barrier, leaving Song Wen falling beneath the Buddhist hand while Ye Bing escaped underground.

• Ye Bing blamed Song Wen for bringing Du'e to the island, but Song Wen urged her to flee if danger arose and then confronted Du'e himself.
• Song Wen claimed the Bodhi Spirit Stamens came from Moon-Covering Hall and revealed corpse qi and lightning to convince Du'e that he was from the Divine Blood Sect.
• Du'e questioned Song Wen’s identity, then rejected his claims and sent the massive Buddhist handprint crashing through the barrier.
• Song Wen cried out as he fell and saw the island’s cultivators helpless beneath the descending hand, while Ye Bing used an ochre talisman to sink into the earth and vanish.

Du'e pursued Ye Bing underground and Song Wen across the sky, but Song Wen used a string of Substitute-Death Puppets to escape Du'e's perception. Du'e headed northeast to track him, unable to find any trace of him.

• Du'e's golden hand seal destroyed Song Wen's Substitute-Death Puppet, while his Demon-Subduing Pestle pursued Ye Bing deep underground.
• Du'e chose to chase Song Wen east, believing Ye Bing would keep fleeing underground and be easy to catch later.
• Song Wen turned to confront Du'e, then used successive Substitute-Death Puppets to teleport farther northeast.
• Du'e lost all sense of Song Wen after his fifth Substitute-Death Puppet and grew certain that he had to kill him to protect himself and Withered Zen Temple.
• Du'e searched northeast for traces of Song Wen but found no living person within nearly three thousand miles.

Song Wen fled Du'e by burrowing deep into the earth, then spent fifteen years cultivating in concealment. After emerging from the Withered Marsh, he sought news about Moon-Covering Hall and Du'e at Lantuo Ghost Market but learned little.

• Song Wen used a substitute-death spell and an Earth-Escape Talisman to flee tens of thousands of li, then hid underground in a concealed cavern.
• Song Wen spent fifteen years cultivating, stabilizing his cultivation and advancing his Gu, while using up most of his Bodhi Spirit Stamens.
• Song Wen dug toward the surface, was drenched in foul marsh sludge, collected some in a storage ring, and emerged from the Withered Marsh.
• Song Wen disguised himself as a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator and bought corpses, souls, and spiritual herbs at Lantuo Ghost Market.
• Song Wen asked an intelligence shop about Moon-Covering Hall and Du'e, but the old man reported no public news about either.

In Cloud-Hidden City, Song Wen contacted Qiluo to learn about the Moon-Covering Hall and then leveraged his knowledge of Du'e's secrets to demand Bodhi Spirit Stamens. Du'e agreed to deliver the herbs anonymously, and Song Wen waited for the exchange to be completed.

• Song Wen contacted Qiluo, learned that Hong Zhe and the Divine Blood Sect cultivators remained near the Moon-Covering Hall, and confirmed that no major events had occurred there in twenty years.
• Song Wen concluded that Du'e had kept his cultivation of the Corpse King Reincarnation Art secret and contacted him using a Jade Slip obtained from Hui Zhen.
• Song Wen asked Du'e about the missing female Spirit Transformation cultivator, and Du'e said he had not caught or killed her.
• Song Wen demanded Bodhi Spirit Stamens as compensation and negotiated with Du'e for the island's herbs plus five hundred additional four-hundred-year-old stamens.
• Song Wen instructed Du'e to place the herbs in a storage ring and throw it into the pool beneath Shanbai Waterfall, warning him not to delay or attempt a trick.

Song Wen secured the Bodhi Spirit Stamens Du'e had promised and confirmed that the storage ring was free of traps. Seeking an isolated place to attempt a breakthrough into Void Refinement, he studied a map and headed toward the Source-Qi Death Domain, the only route off Qicang Island he could currently pursue.

• Song Wen hid in a collapsed burrow while his Heaven-and-Earth Avatar collected Du'e’s storage ring and received no answer to its calls.
• Song Wen tested whether Du'e had set a trap, then retrieved the ring and found no spiritual sense imprints on it or its contents.
• Song Wen decided to find a secluded place to attempt a breakthrough into Void Refinement and considered the risks of cultivating without allies to guard him.
• Song Wen studied Chi Pei’s map of Qicang Island and considered Rotting Miasma Ridge as a potential secluded cultivation site.
• Song Wen flew north toward the Source-Qi Death Domain, hoping to cross it because he could not use the Moon-Covering Hall’s Teleportation Array.

Fifteen months after setting out, Song Wen reached Lotus Square City to seek information about the nearby Source-Qi Death Domain. Chen Jing had little useful knowledge, but his account of the domain’s steady expansion left Song Wen suspecting that vast regions of the lower realms had been submerged beneath Source-Qi.

• Song Wen arrived at Lotus Square City, near the Source-Qi Death Domain, and entered the Chen Family Treasure Pavilion seeking detailed intelligence.
• A maidservant brought Song Wen to Chen Jing, who recognized him as an early Spirit Transformation cultivator after he revealed his face.
• Song Wen asked Chen Jing to share everything the Chen Family knew about the Source-Qi Death Domain, even rumors and hearsay.
• Chen Jing explained that most cultivators could only enter a few thousand li before Source-Qi corrosion forced them to retreat.
• Chen Jing said the Source-Qi Death Domain had expanded southward by at least ten thousand li over the past thousand years.
• Song Wen connected this expansion to the Ghost Mist Domain he had seen in the lower realm and wondered whether much larger regions lay submerged beneath Source-Qi.

Song Wen learned that the Source-Qi Death Domain was spreading and draining spiritual qi from the surrounding lands, then obtained a map of nearby spiritual qi concentrations from Chen Jing. He entered the domain with the Nether Fox, whose senses proved unusually powerful there, and stopped their exploration after they traveled ten thousand li inside.

• Song Wen asked Chen Jing whether the Source-Qi Death Domain might eventually swallow Lotus Square City, and Chen Jing explained that its spread had been draining spiritual qi from the region.
• Song Wen received a detailed map of the surrounding area from Chen Jing without paying for it, then left the shop.
• Song Wen entered the Source-Qi Death Domain and found that its Source-Qi clung to him, though his cultivation and Corpse King Reincarnation Art resisted it.
• Song Wen released the Nether Fox, which eagerly welcomed the domain and said it could sense roughly two thousand li around itself there.
• Song Wen asked the Nether Fox to lead the way, and they traveled ten thousand li into the domain before he suddenly told it to stop.

Song Wen and Nether Fox encountered a strange monster in the Source-Qi Death Domain after a phantom vine injured Nether Fox’s demon soul. Song Wen unleashed Thunder Arts to reveal and fight the creature, leaving their battle underway.

• Song Wen chose to retreat after noticing they had traveled ten thousand li without encountering any Wraiths.
• A phantom vine burst from the ground and pierced Nether Fox, but Song Wen drove it back with lightning.
• The monster beneath the earth wailed, injuring Nether Fox again as Song Wen summoned Great Firmament Divine Thunder.
• The monster emerged with an Origin Qi shield and attacked Song Wen, who stored Nether Fox in his spirit beast pouch and fought back.
• The monster knocked aside Song Wen’s Soul-Concentrating Spikes, then struck his Lightning Sphere as he charged; Song Wen transformed into silver lightning plasma that battered its shield.

Song Wen defeated and captured a rare monster by trapping its tongue in the black hole in his sea of consciousness and striking it with lightning. He left the Source-Qi Death Domain and tried to save the severely injured Nether Fox with a Divine Soul Restorative Pill.

• Song Wen discovered that the monster’s body was weak but its shrieks and soul attacks were powerful, then baited its incorporeal tongue into his sea of consciousness.
• The black hole in Song Wen’s sea of consciousness immobilized the monster’s tongue, allowing him to weaken its shield with violet-gold lightning and strike it with the Chasing Sun Spear.
• Song Wen’s lightning forced the monster back into corporeal form, snapped its tongue, and left it near death; he carried it out of the Source-Qi Death Domain.
• Song Wen hid in a mountain cave and examined the monster, finding its organs woody and bloodless and confirming that the severed tongue was comparable to a fourth-rank demonic beast’s soul.
• Song Wen gave the unconscious Nether Fox a Divine Soul Restorative Pill, unsure whether the human pill would heal its soul.

Song Wen healed the Nether Fox with a Divine Soul Restorative Pill, then killed a strange monster whose language he could not understand. After the Nether Fox consumed the corpse and recovered, it asked to enter the Source-Qi Death Domain alone to break through, and Song Wen agreed.

• Song Wen helped the Nether Fox refine the pill, and it woke with its damaged demon soul beginning to heal.
• Song Wen questioned the Nether Fox about the monster, but neither could understand its speech, so he killed it with his spear and lightning.
• The Nether Fox ate a fragment of the monster and said its corpse could repair its soul and increase its strength.
• Song Wen tested a fragment himself, found it foul, and devoured it with the black hole in his sea of consciousness, gaining only soul fragments.
• The Nether Fox ate the monster's remains, fully recovered, and announced that it was about to break through.
• The Nether Fox asked to enter the Source-Qi Death Domain alone to cultivate, and Song Wen agreed after considering the risks.

Song Wen, posing as the Nascent Soul cultivator Yang Yu, entered Corpse Soul Ravine by pretending to seek Wu Yue’s guidance and allegiance. He revealed his Spirit Transformation cultivation, subdued Wu Yue, and ordered him to show him around the ravine as Song Wen planned to keep his presence there secret.

• Song Wen arrived at Corpse Soul Ravine and introduced himself to Wu Yue as Yang Yu, a newly advanced Nascent Soul corpse cultivator seeking guidance.
• Wu Yue invited Yang Yu inside the defensive formation, suspecting he had come with a hidden scheme and hoping to capture him.
• Song Wen entered the formation without hesitation and claimed he would serve Wu Yue.
• Wu Yue attacked Song Wen with corpse qi, but Song Wen overwhelmed the attack and bound him with his own corpse qi.
• Wu Yue realized Song Wen was a Spirit Transformation cultivator and begged for forgiveness.
• Song Wen told Wu Yue to show him around Corpse Soul Ravine and promised not to make things difficult if Wu Yue obeyed.

Song Wen took control of Corpse Soul Ravine and forced Wu Yue to seal it off and surrender all communication items. He settled into Wu Yue’s cave abode and prepared layered defenses while secretly monitoring Wu Yue and his subordinates.

• Song Wen bound Wu Yue’s life with a snake of corpse qi and ordered him to guide him through Corpse Soul Ravine.
• Wu Yue showed Song Wen the ravine’s facilities and cave abode, then removed its formation flags and led Song Wen inside.
• Song Wen ordered Wu Yue to seal the ravine, collect every communication item, and prevent anyone from contacting the outside world; he promised freedom and treasures if Wu Yue obeyed.
• Wu Yue activated the ravine’s barrier and delivered the collected communication jade slips to Song Wen.
• Song Wen installed the Nine Heavens Origin-Returning Formation, the Nether Corpse Purgatory Formation, and the Heavenly Secret Concealment Formation.
• Song Wen sent the Shadow King Gu and three Shadow Gu to watch Wu Yue and his subordinates.

Song Wen used the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill to push his Primordial Spirit and cultivation toward a breakthrough, triggering a vast spiritual energy phenomenon around Corpse Soul Ravine. He remained in seclusion as Wu Yue prepared to protect him from intruders.

• Song Wen spent eleven years raising his Primordial Spirit to the peak of Spirit Transformation, then cultivated for another eighteen years until its growth stalled.
• Song Wen set up a fifth-rank Spirit-Gathering Formation with 7,200 high-grade spirit stones and swallowed the Void-Merging Origin-Breaking Pill.
• Song Wen devoured stored souls and absorbed spiritual energy as his Primordial Spirit and spiritual power showed signs of advancing.
• The spiritual energy vortex spread ten thousand li, startling the cultivators in Corpse Soul Ravine and prompting Wu Yue to suspect Yang Yu was breaking through to Void Refinement.
• Song Wen sent two peak fourth-rank corpse puppets out and ordered Wu Yue to handle Nascent Soul cultivators and below who might come to interfere.
• Wu Yue eagerly promised to protect Song Wen and prevent anyone from disturbing his breakthrough.

Song Wen had Wu Yue pretend to be in seclusion to draw intruders into Corpse Soul Ravine while Song Wen advanced in secret. When Wen Liu and Lian Cang attacked the valley, Wu Yue lured them inside, where they found themselves trapped by a powerful fifth-rank formation.

• Song Wen ordered Wu Yue to claim he was cultivating in seclusion so outsiders would suspect the strange spiritual energy came from him.
• Wu Yue sent Ji Yang to turn away Wen Liu and Lian Cang, but the two Nascent Soul cultivators decided to attack the valley and interrupt his supposed breakthrough.
• Wen Liu and Lian Cang broke Wu Yue's outer formation and descended toward the cave where they believed he was cultivating.
• Song Wen told Wu Yue to let the attackers enter, and Wu Yue appeared at the valley floor to confront them.
• Lian Cang tried to flee, but he and Wen Liu discovered that a fifth-rank formation had sealed the gorge entrance.

Wu Yue restored the formation protecting Song Wen's cave, and Song Wen killed Lian Cang and Wen Liu when they attacked. Months later, a newly ascended Spirit Transformation cultivator investigated Corpse Soul Ravine, where six fourth-rank corpse puppets destroyed his Ghost Emperor, leaving him to confront the canyon's hidden threat.

• Wu Yue restored the Corpse Baleful Formless Formation and warned Lian Cang and Wen Liu that they had disturbed Senior Yang Yu's cultivation.
• Song Wen unleashed a blood torrent from his cave that swallowed Lian Cang and Wen Liu, then praised Wu Yue and ordered him to deal with future intruders the same way.
• After more than a dozen Nascent Soul Cultivators vanished over three months, a Spirit Transformation old man arrived to investigate Corpse Soul Ravine.
• The old man seized a female Golden Core cultivator whose master had entered the ravine, but a peak fourth-rank corpse puppet killed her before she could provide information.
• The old man sent his peak fourth-rank Ghost Emperor into the ravine, where six corpse puppets overwhelmed and tore it apart.

Wu Yue watched as Song Wen’s blood tide killed Ghost Hero, while Song Wen advanced his primordial spirit to Void Refinement and pushed his magical power toward a breakthrough. Just as Song Wen neared success, three cultivators arrived and decided to attack him during his vulnerable moment.

• Ghost Hero attacked Wu Yue but was swallowed by the blood tide pouring from Song Wen’s cave, and his Soul-Breaking Awl vanished with him.
• Song Wen absorbed souls from several soul bottles and broke through to Void Refinement in primordial spirit cultivation.
• Song Wen poured spiritual energy into his body for months, battering at the bottleneck in his magical power until it began to loosen.
• A white-haired late Spirit Transformation ancestor and two companions arrived above Corpse Soul Ravine, drawn by the spiritual energy vortex.
• The ancestor urged his companions to interrupt Song Wen’s breakthrough, arguing that he would be weakened by the attack, and the woman agreed while the middle-aged man remained hesitant.