Recaps

Song Wen’s Heaven-and-Earth Avatar traded the Li Clan’s three captives for a severed arm and storage ring that Li Tianhe claimed belonged to the robber cultivator. Song Wen escaped the Li Clan’s trap, but Li Tianhe suspected he might still be hiding nearby.

• Song Wen kept the three Li Clan members injured and moved between remote locations until Li Tianhe appeared alone a month later.
• Li Tianhe presented a frozen severed arm and claimed its owner was the robber cultivator who had looted Song Wen’s cave abode.
• The Heaven-and-Earth Avatar sensed the arm’s residual aura, accepted its storage ring, and agreed to release the captives after Li Tianhe withdrew.
• After Li Tianhe left, the Heaven-and-Earth Avatar fled west, and Li Tianhe returned to free Li Rui and the other two captives.
• Li Tianhe summoned four concealed Void Refinement Realm cultivators, but none had seen Song Wen leave, prompting Li Tianhe to suspect Song Wen was still hiding nearby.

Song Wen tracked the one-armed robber cultivator to an underwater cave and broke through his concealment formation. After Shadow Void sensed an unhatched Void Demon inside the Azure Nether Hermit, Song Wen stopped attacking and pretended the assault was a mistake, leaving the Hermit wary but pleased with the spirit stones he accepted.

• Li Tianhe unleashed black astral winds that devastated the land, then left with his companions after failing to find Song Wen.
• Song Wen emerged from hiding after nightfall, followed the severed arm’s scent for nearly ten million li, and found the robber cultivator beneath a vast lake.
• Song Wen and Shadow Void located the Azure Nether Hermit inside a concealed underwater cave, and Song Wen shattered its barrier with the Blood Tide and Soul-Splitting Blade.
• Shadow Void told Song Wen that an unhatched Void Demon was inside the Hermit and asked him not to kill the host, since it wanted an intact Void Demon Egg.
• Song Wen claimed he had mistaken the Azure Nether Hermit for an enemy and offered him ten thousand high-grade spirit stones, which the Hermit cautiously accepted.

Song Wen killed Azure Nether Hermit after rescuing the Nether Fox and discovering that Azure Nether Hermit had taken his Gu insects. The chapter ended with Song Wen destroying Azure Nether Hermit's Nascent Soul as he tried to self-destruct.

• Song Wen struck Azure Nether Hermit's shield with the Soul-Splitting Blade, restrained him with tentacles, and tore out his heart.
• Shadow Void identified a walnut-sized mass inside the heart as a Void Demon egg and swallowed it through Song Wen's sea of consciousness.
• Song Wen recovered the Nether Fox from Azure Nether Hermit's storage pouch, and the fox claimed it had remained loyal to him.
• Song Wen learned Azure Nether Hermit had hidden four Gu insects in a Gu cauldron, then found them near death and attacked Azure Nether Hermit in anger.
• Azure Nether Hermit tried to self-destruct, but Song Wen's tentacle pierced his dantian and shredded his Nascent Soul.

Song Wen learned that Six Baleful Hall had given Qingming the Shadow Void egg and was based in the Source-Qi Death Domain, then returned to Cloud Creek Valley with the Nether Fox and the stolen spirit herbs. After healing the four gu insects, he set out for the Source-Qi Death Domain.

• Song Wen interrogated Qingming, learned Six Baleful Hall was stationed in a valley south of Yang Stone City, and discovered Qingming had looted his cave abode and framed the Li Clan out of spite.
• Song Wen returned to Cloud Creek Valley with the Nether Fox and gave Guan Lin the stolen spirit herbs to replant.
• Song Wen used Soul Source Essence to heal the four gu insects, then swallowed them to help their physical injuries recover.
• Guan Lin replanted more than a thousand Bodhi Spirit Stamens, and Song Wen summoned the Nether Fox and headed for the Source-Qi Death Domain.

Song Wen waited outside the suspected Six Baleful Hall hideout, then lured a wraith spirit into a cavern to rescue a cultivator named Feng Xin. Disguised as Ji Lin, he asked Feng Xin what treasure he was excavating, but Feng Xin remained reluctant to answer.

• Song Wen grew impatient after half a year of watching the valley and decided to find someone to investigate it.
• Song Wen found Feng Xin excavating a black source-qi crystal in an underground cavern and learned from Shadow Void that it held pure source qi.
• Song Wen captured an early fifth-rank wraith spirit and sent it after Feng Xin to create a chance to approach him.
• Song Wen killed the wraith spirit with lightning just as it was about to kill Feng Xin.
• Song Wen introduced himself as Ji Lin and questioned Feng Xin about the cavern and its treasure, but Feng Xin hesitated to explain.

Feng Xin told Song Wen how Worry-Forgetting Stones were traded and led him to Feng Youyou in Yang Stone City. Song Wen sought a way to earn spirit stones and was told that Shopkeeper Yin was recruiting Spirit Transformation cultivators for an expedition into the Source-Qi Death Domain.

• Feng Xin revealed that he had found fourteen Worry-Forgetting Stones and explained that they were used to make Worry-Forgetting Bewitching Qi.
• Song Wen declined the stones and asked Feng Xin about their buyers, learning that Moon-Drawing Pavilion in Yang Stone City traded goods from the Source-Qi Death Domain.
• Feng Xin introduced Song Wen to his aunt, Feng Youyou, a late Spirit Transformation cultivator who had connections to the city’s traders.
• Song Wen asked Feng Youyou which goods from the Source-Qi Death Domain were easiest to sell, claiming he needed spirit stones as a Rogue Cultivator.
• Feng Youyou said Shopkeeper Yin was recruiting Spirit Transformation cultivators to search the Source-Qi Death Domain for a treasure, but Song Wen’s participation required the agreement of Yin and two other cultivators.

Song Wen joined Feng Youyou, Shopkeeper Yin, Bu Ren, and Yan Tong in a bounty mission to capture a Beauty Serpent alive for one hundred thousand superior spirit stones. The group agreed to depart in three days, and Yan Tong showed Song Wen an image of the demon.

• Song Wen waited seven days in an inn courtyard until Feng Youyou introduced him to Shopkeeper Yin and Bu Ren.
• Yan Tong objected to Song Wen joining, but Feng Youyou, Shopkeeper Yin, and Bu Ren accepted him.
• Shopkeeper Yin revealed that the group had been hired to capture a humanoid Void Demon near Long Copper Mountain and claim a bounty of one hundred thousand superior spirit stones.
• Yan Tong identified the demon as a Beauty Serpent, and the group agreed to set out in three days.
• Yan Tong explained that the Beauty Serpent was a plaything for powerful sect and clan members and conjured an image of its strange form.

Song Wen learned that the Man-Snake bounty might be a risky search with no guarantee the creature was on Long Copper Mountain, and Feng Youyou proposed that they protect each other in the Source-Qi Death Domain. After spending the night with her, Song Wen discovered through Shadow Void that she made the same pact with Bu Ren and then slept with him too.

• Song Wen left the meeting with Yan Tong and returned to his courtyard, while Bu Ren followed him out.
• Feng Youyou visited Song Wen at night, raised a soundproof barrier, and warned him that the Man-Snake bounty might be a desperate search after a powerful figure failed to find her on Long Copper Mountain.
• Feng Youyou proposed that she and Song Wen watch out for each other in the Source-Qi Death Domain, and they spent the night together.
• Before dawn, Feng Youyou warned Song Wen to be wary of Bu Ren and left his courtyard.
• Song Wen sent Shadow Void to follow Feng Youyou and learned that she made the same pact with Bu Ren, warned him about Song Wen, and then went to bed with him.

Song Wen and four companions entered the Source-Qi Death Domain and used Yan Tong’s Owl Void to navigate safely to Long Copper Mountain, where they searched for a beautiful snake. Shadow Void identified the snake as a higher-ranking Bone Snake Void, while Song Wen continued plotting how to lead the others to Six Baleful Hall.

• Song Wen and the others traveled deep into the Source-Qi Death Domain as its source qi suppressed their perception.
• Yan Tong summoned his mid-stage fifth-rank Owl Void and explained that it was bound to him by a Life-Bound Blood Pact formed when it had just hatched.
• Guided by the Owl Void, the group avoided nearby wraiths and Void Demons and reached Long Copper Mountain.
• Shopkeeper Yin asked the group to search the mountain for clues to the beautiful snake, and they spread out to investigate.
• Song Wen asked Shadow Void about the snake, and Shadow Void identified it as a higher-ranking Bone Snake Void.

Song Wen found a Beauty Serpent scale in a cavern, and Shopkeeper Yin used a formation to track it. As the group pursued the scale, Yan Tong secretly proposed that he and Song Wen cooperate when danger arose.

• Shadow Void told Song Wen that Bone Snake Voids shed scales, then guided him to a cavern with two fourth-tier wraiths.
• Song Wen killed the wraiths with lightning and found a multicolored Beauty Serpent scale among the stones.
• Feng Youyou, Yan Tong, Shopkeeper Yin, and Bu Ren arrived, and Shopkeeper Yin identified the scale and summoned a tracking formation.
• Shopkeeper Yin sent the scale flying toward the Cave entrance, and the group followed it.
• Yan Tong drew alongside Song Wen and privately asked him to agree to help each other through any dangers.

Song Wen and Yan Tong agreed to cooperate while remaining wary of Shopkeeper Yin and Bu Ren, then followed the group into the underground labyrinth to hunt the Beauty Serpent. As they encountered a fifth-rank Void Demon, Shopkeeper Yin attacked it while Song Wen remained protected at the rear.

• Yan Tong told Song Wen he suspected Shopkeeper Yin and Bu Ren had a hidden agenda and proposed that they work together; Song Wen agreed but asked Yan Tong to use Owl Void to warn them of danger.
• Feng Youyou questioned how much farther they had to travel, and Shopkeeper Yin led the group another thirty thousand li to hills riddled with caves where the Beauty Serpent was believed to be hiding.
• Shopkeeper Yin, Bu Ren, Yan Tong, Feng Youyou, and Song Wen entered the caves together, and Shadow Void told Song Wen the Beauty Serpent was about five thousand li away with fourth- and fifth-rank Void Demons nearby.
• Yan Tong reported that Owl Void had located the Beauty Serpent near a fifth-rank Void Demon, and the group hurried forward with their magic treasures ready.
• A beastly cry unleashed a divine-sense attack; Shopkeeper Yin shielded the others with a jade tablet, Song Wen protected himself with a spirit-soul treasure, and Shopkeeper Yin attacked the tentacled Void Demon blocking the passage.

Song Wen and the others fought through the void demons while the beauty snake tried to escape, but Bu Ren suddenly attacked Yan Tong and left him surrounded. Bu Ren, Shopkeeper Yin, and Song Wen pursued the snake, while Feng Youyou fled back the way they had come.

• Shopkeeper Yin and Yan Tong killed a void demon, and the five reached the beauty snake's cavern, where the snake's cry and a horde of void demons attacked them.
• Song Wen used his disk alongside Shopkeeper Yin's jade tablet to resist the snake's divine sense attack, while the group fought the demons and Song Wen bombarded them with lightning.
• Song Wen asked Shadow Void to drive away the beauty snake, and its seventh-rank strength frightened the snake into fleeing toward another cavern exit.
• As the group struggled against the demons, Bu Ren struck Yan Tong from behind and sent him crashing into the void demon horde.
• Bu Ren urged the others to break through and pursue the snake; Shopkeeper Yin and Song Wen followed him, while Feng Youyou turned back and fled alone.

Song Wen caught up with Bu Ren and Shopkeeper Yin as they pursued the Beauty Snake, learning that Bu Ren served someone called Lord Ying Wu and intended to claim Feng Youyou as his plaything. Song Wen secretly overtook them, knocked the Beauty Snake unconscious with Shadow Void, and had the Nether Fox carry it toward Six Baleful Hall.

• Feng Youyou fled, and Song Wen let her go before stealing Yan Tong's unusual black cloth bag as Yan Tong was overwhelmed by Void Demons.
• Song Wen caught up with Bu Ren and Shopkeeper Yin at a fork, where Bu Ren used his glowing green eyes to identify the passage the Beauty Snake had taken.
• Bu Ren revealed his desire to capture Feng Youyou and hinted that he served Lord Ying Wu, then led Song Wen and Shopkeeper Yin through the right-hand passage.
• After reaching the surface, Bu Ren and Shopkeeper Yin headed west while Song Wen used Shadow Void to track the Beauty Snake and sped ahead of them.
• Song Wen ordered Shadow Void to attack the Beauty Snake, and the Nether Fox caught the unconscious creature and carried it toward Six Baleful Hall.

Song Wen manipulated Nether Fox and the pursuing Shopkeeper Yin and Bu Ren to bring Beauty Serpent near Six Baleful Hall while hiding his own presence. He captured the unconscious Beauty Serpent in Yan Tong’s refined black cloth sack and buried himself underground as Nether Fox continued toward the valley.

• Shopkeeper Yin and Bu Ren found no signs of conflict where Nether Fox had met Song Wen, then resumed their pursuit of Beauty Serpent.
• Song Wen used Shadow Void and staged encounters with a wraith and a Void Demon to keep Nether Fox ahead of the pursuers and guide it around danger.
• Song Wen had Shadow Void conceal him inside its tentacles and take him underground near the valley where Six Baleful Hall was located.
• Song Wen ordered Nether Fox to bite off one of Beauty Serpent’s tentacles and carry her toward the valley, where it was to hide the severed limb.
• Nether Fox dropped the tentacle-less Beauty Serpent into Song Wen’s black cloth sack, and Song Wen buried himself with an Earth-Escape Talisman ready while Nether Fox flew away.

Song Wen used Nether Fox and a monster-fish explosion to lure a Six Baleful Hall corpse cultivator away from the valley. After the corpse cultivator killed Shopkeeper Yin and Bu Ren and pursued Song Wen, they clashed at the edge of the Source-Qi Death Domain, where the fight remained unresolved.

• Song Wen learned that Nether Fox had led Shopkeeper Yin and Bu Ren into the valley, where they found its discarded tentacle and used a formation to search for the beautiful snake.
• The formation drew out a peak Void Refinement corpse cultivator from Six Baleful Hall, so Song Wen retreated more than ten thousand li before sending an inflated monster-fish corpse flying toward the valley.
• The corpse cultivator appeared at the explosion site, killed the gravely injured Shopkeeper Yin and Bu Ren, destroyed their souls, and pursued Song Wen.
• Song Wen deliberately left traces of his magical aura, leading the corpse cultivator on a million-li chase until they reached the edge of the Source-Qi Death Domain.
• The corpse cultivator attacked Song Wen with a Soul-Breaking Awl, and Song Wen met it with lightning that weakened the weapon before the corpse cultivator pressed his attack.

Song Wen defeated a corpse cultivator, devoured his spiritual power, and broke through to the peak of the Void Refinement stage. An Integrated Body Middle Stage cultivator then attacked him, seemingly destroying his body with a single sword strike.

• Shadow Void used a mental attack to incapacitate the corpse cultivator, and Song Wen carried him far from Six Baleful Hall.
• Song Wen killed the corpse cultivator and devoured his soul and spiritual power.
• Song Wen endured the violent influx of spiritual power and broke through his bottleneck to reach the peak of the Void Refinement stage.
• Shadow Void warned Song Wen that someone was approaching, and Song Wen burned the corpse before an arrogant middle-aged cultivator confronted him.
• The middle-aged cultivator revealed his Integrated Body Middle Stage cultivation and attacked Song Wen with a flying sword that pierced his head and shattered his body.

Song Wen escaped Gu Huang after their battle and disguised himself in Chu'an City, where Gu Huang's search was halted by the city's guardian, Wang Qiuyue. Gu Huang claimed he was pursuing an evil cultivator, while Song Wen remained concealed among the city’s residents.

• Song Wen's Soul-Splitting Blade wounded Gu Huang, but Gu Huang's soul-defense bead weakened Song Wen's attack and sent the blade flying.
• Song Wen fled using a substitute puppet, while Gu Huang discovered the puppet and stopped to expel the metal qi left in his body.
• Song Wen raced to Chu'an City, concealed his aura, changed his appearance, and blended into the streets as a young Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Gu Huang arrived and recklessly swept the city with his divine sense, searching for Song Wen.
• Wang Qiuyue confronted Gu Huang and reminded him that Chu'an City was not under the Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion's authority.
• Gu Huang withdrew his divine sense and told Wang Qiuyue that he was pursuing an evil cultivator responsible for the deaths of billions of mortals.

Qiu Yue publicly humiliated Gu Huang instead of helping him hunt Song Wen, driving him from Chu'an City. After waiting a month, Song Wen left the city and returned to the Source-Qi Death Domain to retrieve the Nether Fox, which grew suspicious when it found his scent but not him.

• Qiu Yue announced throughout Chu'an City that Gu Huang had been badly wounded by a Void Refinement corpse-path cultivator, prompting the city to search for Song Wen.
• Gu Huang left after threatening to remember Qiu Yue's insult, and Qiu Yue mocked his expectation that she would help him.
• Song Wen stayed in Chu'an City for a month, then remembered that the Nether Fox remained in the Source-Qi Death Domain and set out to retrieve it.
• Shadow Void confirmed that no human cultivators were near the Nether Fox and sent it a voice transmission from Song Wen.
• The Nether Fox left its cave, found Song Wen's lingering aura but no sign of him, and wondered whether a powerful Void Race expert had captured him.

Song Wen captured living Void Demons for Nether Fox and discovered that Beauty Serpent could regrow a severed tentacle. After returning to Cloud Creek Valley to temper his cultivation, he learned that one of his fourth-rank gu insects had suddenly died.

• Song Wen reunited with Nether Fox and explained that he could capture living Void Demons for it to eat outside the Source-Qi Death Domain.
• Song Wen examined Beauty Serpent and discovered that its severed tentacle had begun to regrow; Shadow Void told him that only the Bone Snake Void race could do so.
• Song Wen questioned Beauty Serpent about why humans had tried to capture it, but it did not know, so he continued searching the Source-Qi Death Domain.
• Song Wen captured thirteen fifth-rank Void Demons and two sixth-rank Void Demons, then returned to Cloud Creek Valley and gave one to Nether Fox.
• Song Wen spent three months tempering his cultivation as his four gu insects awakened and were fed demon beast corpses.
• Song Wen sensed that one of his contracts had dissipated and realized that a fourth-rank gu insect had died in the valley.

Song Wen subdued and sealed a fifth-tier Gu insect that had turned hostile, then spent ten years cultivating and preparing to advance to the Body Integration Realm. He learned that Bai Wei still lacked two rare herbs for the Heavenly Dipper Body Integration Pill and refused to share Jade Spirit Palace breakthrough secrets, leaving Song Wen to seek another way forward.

• Song Wen discovered that his newly advanced fifth-tier Gu insect was attacking its own kind, froze it, and tried a blood sacrifice, but the insect remained hostile, so he sealed it in a small cauldron.
• Over the next ten years, Song Wen stabilized his cultivation, raised his divine sense to the peak of the Void Refinement Realm, and mastered the Mystic Thunder Nine Heavens Escape Art.
• Song Wen traveled to Taitan City and contacted Bai Wei to ask about the Heavenly Dipper Body Integration Pill.
• Bai Wei told Song Wen that she still needed Soul-Nirvana Grass and Heavenly Soul Lingzhi to refine the pill, and said those herbs were controlled by the three great sects.
• Bai Wei explained that Song Wen needed more than the pill to break through and refused to share the Jade Spirit Palace's secret cultivation insights, telling him to find another way.

Song Wen, disguised as Lei Yue, persuaded Mi Man to take him to a gathering of Gu masters in search of powerful Gu Worms. After entering under the alias Feng Xin, he met the gathering’s gatekeeper, Senior Feng Mu.

• Song Wen asked Bai Wei to share her insights on reaching the Integrated Body Realm, and she advised him to refine his magical power.
• Song Wen contacted Mi Man and negotiated three thousand superior spirit stones for her to introduce him to a gathering of Gu masters.
• Seven days later, Song Wen met Mi Man near Taitan City, and they traveled to a mist-shrouded valley where dozens of masked cultivators had gathered with Gu Worms.
• Mi Man and Song Wen put on masks and entered the gathering plaza, where Senior Feng Mu greeted Mi Man and asked Song Wen for his name.
• Song Wen introduced himself as Feng Xin, and Mi Man claimed he was her fellow disciple who had come to observe the gathering.

Song Wen attended a gu-raising exchange gathering with Mi Man, bought a Dragon Gu Pill formula, and sought Feng Mu’s advice about a fifth-tier gu worm turning on its master. The chapter ended with Feng Mu poised to answer.

• Mi Man paid Feng Mu the attendance fee and brought Song Wen into the gathering, where she showed her Thousand-Illusion Butterfly and Song Wen displayed an unhatched gu egg.
• Feng Mu sealed the gathering’s entrance and presented several gu worm eggs for sale, but few attendees showed interest.
• Attendees traded gu worms, formulas, and other goods; Song Wen bought a Dragon Gu Pill formula for a thousand superior spirit stones and reflected on Shadow Void’s enormous feeding costs.
• During the private exchanges, Song Wen approached a ghost-masked late Void Refinement cultivator, who said they did not know how to raise gu.
• Song Wen asked Feng Mu how to handle a fifth-tier gu worm that stopped obeying its master and attacked them.

Song Wen sought Feng Mu’s help with his violent gu worm, but discovered Feng Mu had lured him there to punish Mi Man. Before Feng Mu could attack, Bi Xiaoyu arrived to capture him over the stolen Gu Divine Scripture, and Song Wen demanded that Mutu settle his gu worm problem first.

• Feng Mu explained that Song Wen’s gu worm might have become violent because its soul was disordered after an unnatural advance to the fifth tier, then told him to wait for a fuller explanation.
• Song Wen paid Mi Man three thousand superior spirit stones, and after the gathering ended, Feng Mu summoned him to a river east of the gathering.
• Mi Man returned to Taitan City while Song Wen took a long, roundabout route to meet Feng Mu alone.
• Feng Mu revealed that he had summoned Song Wen because Mi Man had repeatedly flirted with and cheated him, then threatened to take his anger out on Song Wen.
• A ghost-masked cultivator arrived, revealed herself as Bi Xiaoyu, and accused Mutu of stealing the Gu Divine Scripture and causing her disfigurement.
• Bi Xiaoyu trapped Mutu in a blood-red formation and sent chains toward him, but Song Wen interrupted to demand that Mutu first resolve his gu worm’s violent behavior.

Song Wen defeated Bi Xiaoyu and Mutu, destroyed the formation, and captured their souls and Gu insects before escaping. He reached a small marketplace, where he discovered Bi Xiaoyu’s soul looked far younger and more attractive than her body.

• Song Wen destroyed Bi Xiaoyu’s chains and attacked the Blood-Crying Mother-Child Gu with divine sense blades, disrupting its connection to the formation diagram.
• Song Wen’s Blood Tide swallowed Bi Xiaoyu, Mutu, and the ten Blood-Crying Mother-Child Gu, collapsing the formation before he fled with their storage rings and Gu cauldron.
• Two Jade Spirit Palace cultivators investigated the battlefield after Song Wen had left and returned toward Taitan City.
• Song Wen traveled more than a million li, concealed his cultivation, and entered a small marketplace tavern.
• Song Wen examined Bi Xiaoyu and Mutu’s suppressed souls in his sea of consciousness and saw that Bi Xiaoyu appeared young and unscarred.

Song Wen questioned Mutu and Bi Xiaoyu about the Shadow King Gu’s disordered soul and learned several ways to improve its foundation, including a dangerous formation recorded in the Gu Divine Scripture. He retrieved the scripture and learned that the Gu Evolution Sect had been destroyed, leaving Mutu and Bi Xiaoyu as its last members before their deaths.

• Mutu offered to help resolve the Gu Worm’s troubles in exchange for a chance to possess a body, while Bi Xiaoyu warned that Song Wen would not let them leave alive.
• Song Wen threatened them with molten gold, then asked them to explain the Gu Worm’s condition; Mutu said it could improve by devouring Gu Worms of its own kind, while Bi Xiaoyu recommended abandoning it or refining it into a life-bound spirit Gu.
• Bi Xiaoyu and Mutu described the Blood Refinement Gu Sacrifice Formation, which could forcibly improve the Gu Worm’s foundation but required immense blood essence and had never been successfully established.
• Song Wen searched Mutu’s storage ring, found the Gu Cauldron containing the Gu Divine Scripture, and examined its methods for raising and advancing Gu Worms.
• Bi Xiaoyu told Song Wen that the Gu Evolution Sect had been destroyed in Scarlet Firmament Province and that she and Mutu had been its last surviving members.