Recaps

Song Wen escaped the pursuing resentful spirit with Shadow Void’s help and learned that Shadow Void had hatched into a seventh-rank Void Race member. As Song Wen headed back toward Qicang Island, Shadow Void warned him that powerful void demons, including the injured giant canine, were waiting near the tunnel entrance.

• Song Wen fled through the rock with the Nether Fox while the resentful spirit pursued him, then turned to confront it after Shadow Void announced it had completed hatching.
• Shadow Void’s buzzing tentacles weakened the resentful spirit’s source-qi shield, allowing Song Wen’s golden lightning to strike and injure it.
• Shadow Void captured the resentful spirit, and Song Wen devoured it and the giant eagle void demon before rewarding Shadow Void with soul-source essences.
• Shadow Void told Song Wen that it had advanced to the seventh rank and could sense lower Void Race members within fifty thousand li.
• Shadow Void warned Song Wen that several void demons, including a late seventh-rank and a peak seventh-rank demon, were gathered near the tunnel entrance and that the injured giant canine intended to seek revenge.

Song Wen used Shadow Void to flee the pursuing void demons and hide in a sealed cave. After considering whether to return to the Qicang Region for more preparations, he decided to continue north through the Source-Qi Death Domain toward the Eastern Profound Continent.

• Song Wen discovered that his aura still lingered despite using the Two-Faced Buddha, then prepared to escape underground until Shadow Void offered to carry him without leaving an aura trail.
• Shadow Void carried Song Wen north for hundreds of thousands of li while the Nether Fox scouted, then stopped in a cave after the pursuers fell outside its sensing range.
• Song Wen inspected and sealed the cave, set up the Phantom Sea Trace-Free Array, and explained that he had come to confirm the tunnel led to the Eastern Profound Continent.
• The Nether Fox and Shadow Void urged Song Wen not to risk returning to the Qicang Region, and Song Wen reconsidered the need for more preparations.
• Song Wen decided to rest for two days and then continue north.

A year after entering the undersea tunnel, Song Wen escaped the Source-Qi Death Domain after surviving relentless pursuit and meeting a group of cultivators fighting corpse-path enemies. He intervened under a false pretext, and the battle shifted as two of the women turned back to help him.

• Song Wen and the injured Shadow Void fled from pursuing sixth-rank wraiths, with Song Wen using lightning and a Void Demon to distract them.
• Song Wen followed the Nether Fox’s directions through thinning Source Qi and escaped tens of thousands of li from the wraiths.
• The Nether Fox spotted five Spirit Transformation cultivators battling, and Song Wen approached after concealing his aura.
• Song Wen attacked the two late-stage Spirit Transformation corpse-path cultivators while pretending they were Jiang Yushan, prompting the three women to initially retreat.
• After Song Wen’s lightning blasted away the men’s corpse coffins, two women summoned their flying swords and advanced to help him.

Song Wen, posing as Lei Yue, helped Che Jing, Liu Shanshan, and Qiao Mengyu defeat two Divine Blood Sect corpse cultivators and claimed their souls. After learning the women were returning to Taitan City, he secured an invitation to travel with them.

• Song Wen and the three women destroyed Qiu Shan and Zhu Hui's dantians, and Song Wen captured their souls while offering the women the men's storage rings.
• Song Wen told Che Jing that one of the captured cultivators was Jiang Yushan, who had murdered his master under that alias.
• Che Jing explained that Qiu Shan and Zhu Hui had stolen the fifth-tier Nether Fox corpse the women had hunted and attacked them.
• Qiao Mengyu denounced the Divine Blood Sect, and Song Wen pretended to share her hatred of the sect.
• Qiao Mengyu agreed to let Song Wen accompany the women to Taitan City, and Che Jing summoned a flying ship for their departure.

Song Wen learned about Southern Nether Province and its three great sects while traveling with Qiao Mengyu and her companions to Taitan City. There, Qiao Mengyu’s master Bai Wei arrived, reprimanded her for entering the Source-Qi Death Domain, and paid Song Wen to part ways with them.

• Song Wen asked Qiao Mengyu about Thunder Arts and the strongest cultivators in Southern Nether Province, learning that the Jade Spirit Palace had no Tribulation Transcendence cultivators.
• Song Wen meditated during the month-long journey as the flying ship approached Taitan City.
• Bai Wei met the group in the air, scolded Qiao Mengyu for secretly entering the Source-Qi Death Domain, and questioned Song Wen.
• Che Jing explained that Song Wen had saved the three women from two Divine Blood Sect members.
• Bai Wei gave Song Wen ten thousand Superior Spirit Stones as a reward and told him not to approach the women again before taking her disciples back to the sect.

Song Wen checked whether Bai Wei had followed him, then questioned the captured souls of Qiu Shan and Zhu Hui about the Divine Blood Sect. Qiu Shan revealed that the sect had ordered them to monitor the Source-Qi Death Domain, but he did not know why.

• Song Wen found Bai Wei's divine-sense imprint on a spirit stone and used Shadow Void to search for her nearby, but it found no trace of her.
• Song Wen traveled to a mountain cave, set up the Phantom Sea Trace-Free Array, and devoured Qiu Shan and Zhu Hui's imprisoned souls.
• Song Wen questioned the two souls and sent the defiant Zhu Hui to Shadow Void for torment.
• Qiu Shan told Song Wen that the Divine Blood Sect had ordered them to monitor changes and activity within the Source-Qi Death Domain, though he did not know the sect's purpose.

Song Wen questioned Qiu Shan about the Divine Blood Sect and learned that its local agents reported to Luo Shao at Little Moon Lake, but knew little else. He went to Taitan City seeking information and discovered Jade Spirit Palace had outlawed Ghost Markets throughout its territory.

• Song Wen learned that the Divine Blood Sect was based in Cangwu Province and that Qiu Shan and Zhu Hui answered to Luo Shao, whom they met monthly at Little Moon Lake.
• Song Wen devoured Qiu Shan's soul and let Shadow Void consume Zhu Hui's soul.
• After waiting several days to ensure Bai Wei posed no immediate threat, Song Wen used a spirit stone carrying a divine sense imprint to buy pills in Taitan City and then returned disguised as a middle-aged Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Song Wen surveyed Taitan City's layout and asked a stallholder where to find a nearby Ghost Market.
• The stallholder told Song Wen that Jade Spirit Palace's former Palace Master had banned Ghost Markets across its territory.

Song Wen sought discreet trading contacts and information in Taitan City, but the available maps and intelligence shops offered little help. He bought herbs to practice refining pills and began considering how to develop a new pill suited to his cultivation.

• Song Wen paid Shi Lei for an introduction to a high-level exchange gathering scheduled for a month later at Auspicious Jade Mountain.
• Song Wen visited the Primordial Spirit Shop and bought maps of the area around Taitan City and Southern Nether Province.
• Song Wen asked the shopkeeper about the Jade Spirit Palace and Divine Blood Sect, but she had no intelligence to offer.
• Song Wen visited three more intelligence shops without finding useful information.
• Song Wen purchased sixth-tier spiritual herbs to practice refining pills and considered replacing the Blood Demon Pill with one suited to his cultivation.

Song Wen followed Shi Lei to an exchange gathering, where he exposed an ambush organized by Kang Shi and the stallholder. As the attackers launched their formation, Song Wen revealed that he had expected stronger opponents and prepared countermeasures.

• Song Wen chose a foul-smelling, abandoned stretch of hills near Taitan City for a temporary cultivation abode and hollowed out a cave.
• Song Wen set up two sixth-tier arrays and argued with the Nether Fox, which criticized his choice of residence before returning to its spirit beast pouch.
• One month later, Song Wen met Shi Lei at Auspicious Jade Mountain and followed him to a flying ship beside a great river.
• Song Wen identified Kang Shi and Shi Lei's plot, noting that four Nascent Soul cultivators and a Spirit Transformation cultivator were hiding nearby.
• Kang Shi attacked Song Wen, then triggered a barrier formation that sent black needles toward him after the poison weakened Kang Shi.

Song Wen defeated Kang Shi and his allies after their ambush failed, then learned that Shi Lei was connected to Jade Spirit Palace. He arranged for Shi Lei to be taken away under the guise of turning him over for judgment, while concealing his true identity and demonic methods.

• Song Wen used the Chasing Sun Spear to break the formation and kill five hidden attackers, then killed Kang Shi and sealed his soul in his corpse.
• Shi Lei begged for his life and claimed Yin Tianzong, a powerful Jade Spirit Palace elder, had promised to make him a true disciple.
• Song Wen’s true body revealed that he had used a Heaven-and-Earth Avatar and Bone-Eroding Incense to prepare for the ambush.
• Song Wen changed his appearance to Lei Yue and offered to take Shi Lei to Jade Spirit Palace for judgment, while his avatar pretended to agree.
• Song Wen knocked Shi Lei unconscious with a gale, cleaned up the battlefield, and departed with him.

Song Wen took control of Cloud Creek Valley and forced Guan Lin to work for him after learning she had helped Kang Shi torture women. He then left the valley and contacted Qiao Mengyu to hand over the captured Shi Lei, who claimed to belong to the Jade Spirit Palace.

• Song Wen entered Cloud Creek Valley and confronted Guan Lin, telling her that Kang Shi was dead.
• Song Wen accused Guan Lin of helping Kang Shi torture women, then controlled her with a Blood Earthworm Gu and ordered her to reclaim a spirit field.
• Song Wen gave Guan Lin instructions and spirit stones for the work, set up three concealment formations around Cloud Creek Valley, and left.
• Song Wen retrieved the unconscious Shi Lei and took him to an inn in Taitan City.
• Song Wen used Qiao Mengyu's communication jade slip to request that she come take custody of Shi Lei.

Song Wen met Qiao Mengyu at Auspicious Jade Mountain, handed over Shi Lei, and coaxed her into revealing that Divine Blood Sect members had recently appeared near Xiuyang City. Qiao Mengyu left with Shi Lei, while Song Wen learned where to pursue his search for the sect.

• After waiting three days for Qiao Mengyu's reply, Song Wen arranged to meet her at Auspicious Jade Mountain and brought the unconscious Shi Lei.
• Qiao Mengyu arrived, and Song Wen praised her before explaining that Shi Lei had joined two Spirit Transformation cultivators in an attempt to kill him.
• Qiao Mengyu accepted custody of Shi Lei and prepared to return to her sect, but Song Wen invited her to stay and enjoy the scenery.
• After another couple's noisy embrace embarrassed them, Song Wen asked Qiao Mengyu about the Divine Blood Sect and lamented that he could not find its members.
• Qiao Mengyu warned Song Wen not to act recklessly and told him that Divine Blood Sect members had recently appeared near Xiuyang City before departing with Shi Lei.

Song Wen used Fu Hongwen to investigate the corpse cultivator in Xiuyang City, then devised a way to draw Fu Chengye out. The chapter ended with Song Wen and his Heaven-and-Earth Avatar staging a destructive battle in a remote valley.

• Song Wen accepted spirit stones from Fu Hongwen in exchange for advice on pursuing women and learned that Fu Hongwen belonged to the Fu Clan of Xiuyang City.
• Song Wen persuaded Fu Hongwen to quietly investigate reports of a Spirit Transformation Realm corpse cultivator in Xiuyang City.
• Fu Hongwen returned a day later without clues and revealed that his father, Fu Chengye, had forbidden him from investigating corpse cultivators.
• Song Wen escorted Fu Hongwen to Taitan City, then secretly returned to Xiuyang City disguised as a middle-aged cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Transformation Realm.
• Song Wen summoned his Heaven-and-Earth Avatar in a remote valley and staged a fierce battle that devastated the surrounding area.

Song Wen tracked Fu Chengye to a hidden cavern where the elder Blood Sorrow was refining the Nine Nether Profound Baleful with Yin-Yao True Water and tens of thousands of paired corpses. Blood Sorrow promised to finish it within half a month if Fu Chengye delivered one final bottle, while Song Wen watched from outside.

• Song Wen and his Heaven-and-Earth Avatar split up after their brief battle, and Fu Chengye investigated the ruined valley before searching the river for Song Wen.
• Song Wen hid underwater and learned from Shadow Void that Fu Chengye was heading southwest, then followed him as he changed course several times.
• Fu Chengye entered a hidden crevice among jagged rocks, and Shadow Void revealed the underground cavern and its rows of blood-red corpse coffins to Song Wen.
• Fu Chengye gave Blood Sorrow a bottle of Yin-Yao True Water and demanded to know when the Nine Nether Profound Baleful would be ready.
• Blood Sorrow said he needed one more bottle and promised to complete the Nine Nether Profound Baleful within half a month, then give Fu Chengye the Cloud-Unraveling Pill.

Song Wen secretly watched as Fu Chengye and Blood Sorrow prepared the Nine Nether Profound Baleful, hoping to claim both it and the Cloud-Unraveling Pill. Their bargain collapsed when Blood Sorrow trapped Fu Chengye in ice, while Song Wen stayed hidden and waited.

• Fu Chengye warned Blood Sorrow that two peak Spirit Transformation corpse cultivators had fought outside Xiuyang City, raising the possibility that someone from the Divine Blood Sect was tracking him.
• Song Wen remained hidden beneath rubble rather than kill Blood Sorrow, deciding to wait and take the Nine Nether Profound Baleful and Cloud-Unraveling Pill for himself.
• Three days later, Fu Chengye brought Blood Sorrow more Yin-Yao True Water, and Blood Sorrow used it to refine the Nine Nether Profound Baleful from a pair of corpses.
• When Blood Sorrow began absorbing the baleful vapor, Fu Chengye demanded the Cloud-Unraveling Pill and threatened him with a flying sword.
• Blood Sorrow tossed Fu Chengye an exploding jade bottle, then trapped him in a massive block of cyan ice with the remaining mist.
• After Shadow Void reported what happened, Song Wen stayed hidden, waiting as long as Blood Sorrow remained alive and his Nascent Soul intact.

Blood Sorrow captured Fu Chengye and planned to use him to extort the Fu Clan, but Song Wen ambushed them and killed both men. After absorbing their essence and breaking through to the middle stage of Void Refinement, Song Wen went to Taitan City in Lei Yue’s identity to meet Qiao Mengyu and head off her suspicions.

• Blood Sorrow revealed that the Nine Nether Profound Baleful was already refined, sealed Fu Chengye’s dantian, and destroyed the cavern hall with green flames.
• Song Wen confronted Blood Sorrow, revealed himself as a Void Demon, and used a spiritual sense attack to knock out Blood Sorrow and Fu Chengye.
• Song Wen killed Blood Sorrow and absorbed his soul, essence blood, and spiritual power, breaking through to the middle stage of Void Refinement.
• Song Wen killed Fu Chengye, took both men’s storage rings, and destroyed their corpses and the traces of battle.
• Song Wen changed into Lei Yue’s identity and traveled to Taitan City to prevent Qiao Mengyu from suspecting him.
• Song Wen contacted Qiao Mengyu, and they agreed to meet again at Auspicious Jade Mountain.

Song Wen met Fu Hongwen and Mi Man at Auspicious Jade Mountain, then witnessed Qiao Mengyu’s hostility toward Mi Man. Fu Hongwen learned that his father, Fu Chengye, had died, leaving Song Wen to offer his condolences.

• Song Wen arrived at Auspicious Jade Mountain and found Fu Hongwen chatting with Mi Man.
• Song Wen greeted Fu Hongwen and Mi Man, then praised Mi Man’s beauty while Fu Hongwen grew uneasy.
• Qiao Mengyu arrived and confronted Mi Man, accusing her of deception and scheming.
• Aunt Su found Fu Hongwen and told him that his father, Fu Chengye, had died.
• Fu Hongwen discovered that he had ignored Aunt Su’s messages while spending time with Mi Man, and Song Wen offered his condolences.

Song Wen secured Qiao Mengyu’s Blood Essence Pills and persuaded her to give him the secret formula. Just as he held her hand, an unseen speaker angrily warned him to stay away from her.

• Fu Hongwen hurried back to Xiuyang City to investigate the report of his father’s death, while the old woman followed him.
• Mi Man departed for Jade Spirit Palace, and Song Wen reflected that he had concealed his role in Fu Chengye’s death.
• Song Wen reassured Qiao Mengyu that he preferred her to Mi Man, then asked her for Blood Essence Pills and their formula.
• Qiao Mengyu gave Song Wen two Blood Essence Pills and, after hesitating, secretly handed him the formula on a jade slip.
• Song Wen took Qiao Mengyu’s hand, and an angry voice warned him not to approach her again.

Bai Wei caught Qiao Mengyu with Song Wen, ordered her back to Jade Spirit Palace, and punished Song by shattering his knees before leaving. As Song flew away from Taitan City, Mi Man caught up and claimed she had informed on him because she loved him at first sight, leaving Song to test her with a provocative demand.

• Bai Wei arrived at the pavilion and ordered Qiao Mengyu to return to Jade Spirit Palace, then warned Song Wen to stay away from her.
• Qiao Mengyu pleaded with Bai Wei not to harm Song, and Bai Wei promised not to kill him before sending Qiao back to the sect.
• Bai Wei rejected Song Wen's excuses, shattered both his knees, and left after threatening him not to approach Qiao again.
• Song Wen took a pill, repaired his knees, and flew away from Taitan City, but Mi Man caught up and boarded his vessel.
• Mi Man admitted she had reported Song and Qiao to Bai Wei because she claimed she loved Song at first sight.
• Song Wen challenged Mi Man to spend a night with him if she wanted him to believe her.

Mi Man tried to use Song Wen to torment Qiao Mengyu, but Song Wen exploited her scheme and kept her with him for several days. When Mi Man finally fled, he threatened to spread a secret recording of them unless she left him alone.

• Mi Man asked Song Wen to return with her to Taitan City, announce their engagement, and help her torment Qiao Mengyu.
• Song Wen refused unless Mi Man first became his Dao companion, and she reluctantly agreed to sleep with him.
• Song Wen repeatedly delayed their trip, even after his leg healed, and Mi Man realized he had been toying with her.
• Mi Man drew her sword against Song Wen, but he warned her with a bolt of lightning and she put the sword away.
• Mi Man fled, and Song Wen stopped her by claiming he had secretly recorded them and would spread the recording throughout Taitan City if she harmed him.

Song Wen returned to Cloud Creek Valley, continued developing his cultivation resources, and gave Guan Lin more spirit stones and Bodhi Spirit Stamens to cultivate. He left her tending the spirit field while he resumed seclusion to temper his mana.

• Song Wen scolded Guan Lin for making little progress on the spirit field, then set up protective formations around the pavilion.
• Song Wen refined the Nine Nether Profound Baleful and absorbed it, then made Insect Nine Pills for his three Shadow Gu and King Gu Pills for the Shadow King Gu.
• Song Wen let the Nether Fox leave the pavilion but forbade it from leaving the gorge; the fox frightened Guan Lin before Song Wen ordered it to stop.
• Song Wen gave Guan Lin one hundred Bodhi Spirit Stamens to plant and another ten million low-grade spirit stones for the spirit field.
• Song Wen promised to consider returning Guan Lin's freedom if she tended the herbs well, then returned to the pavilion to temper his mana in seclusion.

After ten years cultivating in Cloud Creek Valley, Song Wen traveled to Taitan City to buy supplies and contacted Mi Man when he could not reach Qiao Mengyu. He used an Image-Recording Stone to pressure Mi Man into helping him obtain two rare medicinal herbs.

• Song Wen reviewed his progress over ten years, including advancing his Shadow Gu and cultivating the Dream-Floating True Eye.
• The Nether Fox complained about life in Cloud Creek Valley, but Song Wen refused to take it back to the Source-Qi Death Domain because of the Divine Blood Sect's presence nearby.
• Disguised as a late Spirit Transformation cultivator, Song Wen went to Taitan City to buy herbs and demonic beast souls, but could not find two ingredients for his Blood Essence Pill plans.
• Song Wen sent messages to Qiao Mengyu, Che Jing, and Liu Shanshan, but received no replies.
• Song Wen contacted Mi Man, who angrily accused him of taking advantage of her, then threatened to copy and sell an Image-Recording Stone to make her cooperate.
• Mi Man agreed to hear Song Wen's request, and he asked for ten Bright-Purity Herbs and ten True Yang Grasses, offering to pay for them.

Song Wen arranged to buy Bright-Purity Herb from Mi Man while seeking a way to obtain True Yang Grass. After their trade at the Pingshu River, Mi Man pointed him toward Azure Cloud Ridge, where Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion cultivators would soon hunt a demonic beast.

• Mi Man told Song Wen that the Jade Spirit Palace had no True Yang Grass and explained that the Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion supplied it, while agreeing to sell him ten Bright-Purity Herbs.
• Song Wen traveled indirectly to the Pingshu River and hid in its silt while his Heaven-and-Earth Avatar went to meet Mi Man.
• Mi Man arrived and exchanged ten Bright-Purity Herbs for one hundred superior spirit stones, then offered discounts for larger future purchases.
• When Song Wen offered two hundred superior spirit stones for ten True Yang Grass plants, Mi Man refused and left.
• Before departing, Mi Man told Song Wen that Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion cultivators would soon hunt a demonic beast at Azure Cloud Ridge, where True Yang Grass might be found.

Disguised as Jiang Yushan of Jade Spirit Palace, Song Wen visited Tancang Market to learn about Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion cultivators who had entered Azure Cloud Ridge. After obtaining their numbers, cultivation levels, route, and a crude map, he flew northwest toward the ridge, while the shopkeeper doubted his claimed identity.

• Song Wen questioned the manager of Tancang Market's largest shop about Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion cultivators and claimed to be Jiang Yushan of Jade Spirit Palace.
• The manager revealed that six Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion cultivators, including one Void Refinement cultivator, had entered Azure Cloud Ridge from the northwest several days earlier.
• The manager gave Song Wen a crude map of Azure Cloud Ridge and explained that the region's persistent black clouds interfered with divine sense and perception.
• Song Wen paid the manager, threatened him against giving false information, and flew northwest toward Azure Cloud Ridge.
• After Song Wen left, the manager dismissed him as a fake and complained that the spirit stones he had received were worth less than the map.

Song Wen searched Azure Cloud Ridge for traces of the Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion but found none and turned back after Shadow Void warned him about the black clouds. After Song Wen killed a Mountain-Devouring Rat, a Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion cultivator demanded the beast, and Song Wen offered it to him.

• Song Wen entered Azure Cloud Ridge beneath the black clouds, found no trace of the Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion, and turned back after Shadow Void warned him not to venture deeper.
• Shadow Void sensed a Mountain-Devouring Rat underground, and Song Wen killed the early sixth-rank demon beast with his spear and Soul-Concentrating Spikes.
• A late-stage Void Refinement cultivator emerged and claimed he had tracked the Mountain-Devouring Rat first, demanding that Song Wen return it.
• Song Wen asked whether the cultivator belonged to the Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion, then offered him the Mountain-Devouring Rat as compensation.