Recaps

Song Wen used teleportation talismans and a Death-Substitute Puppet to escape the three eighth-rank vengeful spirits, while an old woman from the Mahāyāna Realm pursued him under the guise of rescuing him. As the vengeful spirits closed in on her, the old woman cast baleful-qi tentacles to capture Song Wen before he could flee again.

• Song Wen teleported away from the humanoid vengeful spirit, but his next jump left him surrounded by three eighth-rank vengeful spirits.
• An old woman from the Mahāyāna Realm rushed toward Song Wen with blue-gray baleful qi, intending to seize him and his storage ring.
• The humanoid vengeful spirit slashed Song Wen in half, but the old woman discovered the corpse contained no blood and realized it was a Death-Substitute Puppet.
• Song Wen reappeared more than four thousand li away and fled as the three vengeful spirits broke through the old woman's baleful qi and pursued her.
• Song Wen asked the old woman to hold off the vengeful spirits, but she sent baleful-qi tentacles toward him to prevent his escape.

Song Wen escaped the old woman by drawing three eighth-rank resentful spirits into battle with her. The wounded Rong Luan returned to Southern Cinnabar City, where she explained that Rong Shao was cultivating a wood-element technique so he could later switch to the Longevity Art and gain standing in the Divine Blood Sect.

• Song Wen used a decoy and the Nine Calamities Measuring-Heaven Sword to draw the old woman’s attack, then fled when the three eighth-rank resentful spirits engaged her.
• The old woman recognized Song Wen’s Blood Sea Seal and mistakenly believed he was a core disciple of the Divine Blood Sect, but he escaped without trusting her offer of help.
• One resentful spirit wounded the old woman, so she used the Soul-Losing Corpse Bell to injure the spirits and fled to Southern Cinnabar City.
• Rong Luan returned through the city formation and told Old Man Bai that Song Wen had escaped.
• Rong Shao asked why he alone cultivated a wood-element technique, and Rong Luan said he would switch to the Longevity Art after reaching Mahayana so the Divine Blood Sect would value him.

After Southern Cinnabar City reopened, Song Wen gathered information about the Rong Clan, sold some spiritual materials, and bought herbs before traveling to Peach Blossom Valley. He arrived at the Peach Blossom True Person’s formidable stronghold and asked Gu Que whether he could break its defensive formation.

• Song Wen entered Southern Cinnabar City after the resentful spirit tide ended and learned about the city, the Rong Clan, and its ties to the Divine Blood Sect.
• Song Wen considered taking revenge on Rong Luan by targeting Rong Clan descendants in the Divine Blood Sect, but postponed his plans to handle more important matters.
• Song Wen sold a small portion of his spiritual materials for more than four hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones and bought herbs to improve his innate constitution.
• Song Wen traveled to Peach Blossom Valley, admired its spiritual qi but disdained its gaudy peach forest, and asked Gu Que about the valley’s defensive formation.
• Gu Que said the formation was formidable and asked whether Song Wen could forcibly break it and claim the valley.

Song Wen went to Peach Blossom Valley to meet Peach Blossom True Person and offered him ten-thousand-year Void Nightmare Wood. Peach Blossom True Person tried to take the treasure without hearing Song Wen’s request, but Rong Shu arrived before Song Wen could attack and drew her attention to him.

• Song Wen reached Peach Blossom Valley and bribed a guard to deliver his request for an audience with Peach Blossom True Person.
• Peach Blossom True Person emerged and accepted Song Wen’s ten-thousand-year Void Nightmare Wood, then ordered him to leave without hearing his request.
• Peach Blossom True Person demanded another treasure before he would listen, while Song Wen suppressed his Soul-Slaying Spikes and prepared to act.
• Rong Shu arrived, and Peach Blossom True Person eagerly welcomed her onto his palanquin bed.
• Rong Shu noticed Song Wen watching them and offered him a chance to sample her fragrance.

Song Wen decided to eliminate Rong Shu and Peach Blossom True Person after Rong Shu angrily attacked him for rejecting her. His Soul-Slaying Spikes crippled Rong Shu and killed several of Peach Blossom True Person’s maidservants, and Song Wen followed with a lightning attack.

• Song Wen reconsidered his plan to cultivate in Peach Blossom Valley after recognizing Rong Shu, but chose to stay when Shadow Void reported that no other living people were nearby.
• Rong Shu took Song Wen’s rejection as an insult and unleashed her pressure against him.
• Song Wen revealed his Integrated Body cultivation and launched nine Soul-Slaying Spikes, sending five at Rong Shu and four at Peach Blossom True Person.
• Peach Blossom True Person shoved Rong Shu into the attack and used maidservants as shields against the four spikes.
• Song Wen sent a streak of silver lightning at Peach Blossom True Person, who raised a magic power shield as the lightning struck.

Song Wen defeated Peach Blossom True Person, killed him after learning how to control Peach Blossom Valley’s defensive formation, and entered the valley with Rong Shu in tow. He incapacitated the women inside, confiscated their storage rings, secured the valley with formations, and began meditating there.

• Song Wen shattered Peach Blossom True Person’s shield with lightning, destroyed his dantian and Nascent Soul, and captured him and Rong Shu.
• Song Wen rejected Rong Shu’s threats, interrogated Peach Blossom True Person’s soul, and obtained the formation plate and instructions for controlling Peach Blossom Valley’s defenses.
• Song Wen opened the sect gate and entered Peach Blossom Valley, where he found more than a thousand female cultivators and ordinary spiritual herbs.
• Song Wen used his pressure to knock the valley’s cultivators unconscious, further injured Rong Shu’s soul, and confiscated everyone’s storage rings.
• Song Wen set up concealment and defensive formations throughout the valley, then sat outside the palace to meditate.

Song Wen used the Jadeglow Lotus and auxiliary medicines to improve his spiritual roots, then consumed the lotus root while draining Rong Shu’s essence blood to break through his cultivation bottleneck. The breakthrough succeeded, leaving him at the edge of the Integrated Body Late Stage.

• Song Wen swallowed the Jadeglow Lotus and auxiliary medicines, enduring intense heat as his spiritual roots advanced to eighth-grade.
• Gu Que told Song Wen that the lotus stalk and root could further improve his aptitude and that the root might help him break through a minor realm.
• Song Wen drained Rong Shu’s essence blood while she remained unconscious, causing his aura to surge to a bottleneck.
• Song Wen ate the lotus root, which transformed his marrow and spiritual roots as its spiritual source battered his cultivation bottleneck.
• Song Wen shattered the bottleneck with a final surge of power.

Song Wen reached the integrated body late stage and gained a ninth-grade spiritual root, then traveled to the Rong Clan’s Blood-Baleful Abyss to draw out Rong Yiwen. His avatar posed as a wounded Divine Blood Sect disciple and demanded to see whoever was in charge.

• Song Wen learned from Gu Que that his spiritual root could improve further through tribulation, then found that his breakthrough had scorched the valley and killed its spiritual herbs.
• Song Wen opened the white jade palace, waking the women inside, and departed; ten years later, he arrived at the Weeping Wind Plain.
• Song Wen confirmed that the Blood-Baleful Abyss had only one entrance and that its powerful formation made a direct assault unwise.
• Song Wen sent his wounded Heaven-and-Earth Avatar toward the entrance, carrying the Blood Sea Seal and claiming to be Fan Kang, a core disciple of the Divine Blood Sect.
• When the guard captain asked for proof, the avatar refused, demanded to see the person in charge, and kicked the captain to one knee.

Song Wen’s Heaven-and-Earth Avatar tried to gain access to the Blood-Baleful Abyss but learned that Rong Yuqin and Rong Yiwen were away. He persuaded Rong Shao to escort him to Southern Cinnabar City, where he hoped to approach Rong Yiwen while concealing his true identity.

• The guard captain failed to reach Rong Yuqin or Rong Yiwen, then explained that they were in Southern Cinnabar City when Rong Shao arrived.
• Rong Shao introduced himself to Gu Huang and asked him to look out for him when he joined the Divine Blood Sect.
• The Heaven-and-Earth Avatar hid his suspicions about Rong Shao and claimed he would avenge his injuries himself.
• Rong Shao offered to let Gu Huang recover inside the Blood-Baleful Abyss, but Gu Huang said he needed an Armor-Shedding Pill from Southern Cinnabar City.
• Rong Shao agreed to escort Gu Huang to Southern Cinnabar City.

Song Wen deceived Rong Shao into believing he was Gu Huang, a Divine Blood Sect core disciple, and traveled with him toward Southern Cinnabar City. Fearing his disguise would be exposed in the city, Song Wen stayed outside and sent Rong Shao to buy an Armor-Shedding Pill and summon Rong Yiwen.

• Song Wen ordered the Blood-Baleful Abyss guards to keep his visit secret, then reunited with his Heaven-and-Earth Avatar and retrieved the Blood Sea Seal.
• Rong Shao emerged from the abyss and took Song Wen aboard his flying ship, escorting him toward Southern Cinnabar City while Song Wen entertained him with stories.
• Near the city, Song Wen asked Rong Shao to stop and explained that an enemy might have informants there, so he would wait outside while Rong Shao bought the pill.
• Rong Shao imagined that Song Wen's enemy was a powerful Divine Blood Sect figure, but Song Wen claimed the enemy belonged to an underground faction in Yujiang Province.
• Rong Shao agreed to buy the Armor-Shedding Pill, and Song Wen asked him not to reveal his presence and to invite Rong Yiwen if he was in the city.

Song Wen waited for Rong Shao while a fleeing Su Fan drew him into a fight with Rong Caizhe and his guards. Song Wen left all five men seriously injured, and Rong Shao arrived to explain that Rong Caizhe belonged to the Rong Clan.

• Song Wen waited on a mountain for Rong Shao and Rong Yiwen, but encountered Su Fan fleeing Rong Caizhe and three guards.
• Su Fan redirected his escape toward Song Wen and called him Wu Zong, hoping to make him intervene.
• Rong Caizhe ordered Rong Yi to attack Song Wen with Corpse-Suppressing Nails.
• Song Wen knocked aside the nails and struck Su Fan and Rong Caizhe's group with his spear, leaving all five seriously injured but alive.
• Rong Shao arrived and asked Song Wen to spare Rong Caizhe, revealing that he was a member of the Rong Clan.

Rong Shao treated Rong Caizhe and the guards after Gu Huang defeated them, then seized Su Fan as he tried to escape. When Su Fan revealed why he had confronted Rong Caizhe, Rong Shao learned that Rong Caizhe had imprisoned Su Fan’s wife and angrily condemned him.

• Rong Shao stabilized the grievously wounded Rong Caizhe and three guards, then rebuked them for accusing Gu Huang instead of thanking him for sparing their lives.
• Song Wen stopped Rong Shao from revealing Gu Huang’s identity, accepted Rong Shao’s offer to address each other as fellow Daoists, and received three Armor-Shedding Pills.
• Rong Shao captured Su Fan with an azure phantom claw as he attempted to escape underground with an Earth-Escape Talisman.
• Su Fan told Rong Shao that he had sought out Rong Caizhe because Rong Caizhe had imprisoned his wife, whom he feared might be dead.
• Rong Caizhe admitted imprisoning Su Fan’s wife, and Rong Shao denounced him for abusing the Rong Clan’s backing and harming its reputation.

Rong Shao killed Su Fan to protect the Rong Clan’s reputation, then left to return to Southern Cinnabar City. Song Wen grew wary of Rong Shao and used his Heaven-and-Earth Avatar to lure Rong Yiwen toward an ambush, while Rong Yiwen wondered where Rong Shao had gone.

• Rong Shao refused to spare Su Fan and killed him, keeping his head in a storage pouch.
• Rong Shao left for Southern Cinnabar City with Rong Caizhe and the others, while Song Wen chose to wait behind.
• Song Wen questioned whether Rong Shao suspected his identity, hid the Blood Sea Imperial Seal in his Heaven-and-Earth Avatar, and concealed himself over five thousand li away.
• Rong Yiwen arrived at the mountain, recognized the Blood Sea Seal, and followed the Heaven-and-Earth Avatar after it offered him a deal.
• Song Wen abandoned his plan to use the Blood Sea Imperial Seal and secretly prepared the Soul-Slaying Spike as the Avatar led Rong Yiwen toward him.
• Rong Yiwen said he had come after receiving Rong Shao’s message but had not seen him, and Song Wen feigned surprise.

Song Wen lured Rong Yiwen into a trap, killed him, and devoured his blood essence and spiritual power. After learning his next target was Huang Yangshu in Yijing City, Song Wen set his sights on the Rong Clan’s ancestral grounds at Rong Ridge.

• Rong Yiwen attacked the Heaven-and-Earth Avatar with his Soul-Breaking Awl, triggering the corpse qi ambush below.
• Song Wen used the corpse qi as a smokescreen and struck Rong Yiwen’s sea of consciousness with nine transparent blades, killing him.
• Song Wen fled more than a million li, devoured Rong Yiwen’s blood essence and spiritual power, then burned his remains.
• Song Wen interrogated Rong Yiwen’s divine soul and learned that Huang Yangshu was in Yijing City, near the Rong Clan’s ancestral grounds at Rong Ridge.

Song Wen finally located Huang Yangshu in Yijing City, where Huang stood beside Rong Luan awaiting a visitor from the Divine Blood Sect. Elder Yu Bi arrived aboard a formidable flying ship and scrutinized Rong Shao, leaving the purpose of his visit unclear.

• Song Wen searched for Huang Yangshu for over a month without success and considered changing his target.
• Song Wen saw Rong Luan waiting in the sky with Rong Shao and Huang Yangshu, whom he had been seeking.
• A massive black flying ship arrived over Yijing City, silencing the city with its overwhelming pressure.
• Elder Yu Bi greeted Rong Luan and the Rong Clan, revealing that he had reached the perfected realm of mid-stage Mahayana.
• Yu Bi questioned Rong Shao and praised him in a cold, appraising manner that made Rong Shao uncomfortable.

Song Wen watched Yu Bi learn that Rong Shu and Rong Yiwen had died, then returned to Hundred Fragrances Pavilion under the identity of Young Master Jiang Yushan. His evening with Nishang and Shuyu was interrupted when Rong Ziming demanded to see the two women.

• Rong Luan told Yu Bi that Rong Shu and Rong Yiwen had been killed and that their murderer remained unknown.
• Song Wen left after watching Yu Bi and the others depart, then went to Hundred Fragrances Pavilion as Young Master Jiang Yushan.
• The madam led Song Wen to his private room, where Nishang and Shuyu welcomed him.
• Rong Ziming arrived and shouted for Nishang and Shuyu to come out, refusing the madam's offer to send other women.

Song Wen, disguised as Jiang Yushan, befriended Rong Ziming at Hundred Fragrances Pavilion and accompanied him to a private room. There, he learned that Rong Ziming’s companion Lin Feng was his stepfather and heard that Rong Luan’s Dao companion Huang Yangshu pursued other lovers, leaving Song Wen eager to meet him.

• Rong Ziming summoned a corpse coffin to pressure the madam into arranging for Nishang and Shuyu to attend him.
• Song Wen introduced himself as Jiang Yushan, flattered Rong Ziming, and offered to pay for the women’s expenses.
• Rong Ziming brought Song Wen to a private room, where Song Wen met Lin Feng, Rong Ziming’s handsome Foundation Establishment Realm stepfather.
• Rong Ziming told Song Wen that his father, Rong Yiwen, had died two months earlier and that he had barely known him.
• Rong Ziming confided that Patriarch Rong Luan’s Dao companion, Huang Yangshu, went around attracting other lovers, and Song Wen asked to meet him.

Song Wen questioned Rong Ziming and Xu Yan at Hundred Fragrances Pavilion about Huang Yangshu’s arrangements for receiving women. When Xu Yan resisted answering, Song Wen threatened her son and implanted a Blood Earthworm Gu in her.

• Song Wen learned from Rong Ziming that Huang Yangshu kept the locations where women were sent secret, then left when Nishang and Shuyu arrived.
• Song Wen followed Xu Yan to a private room and offered her ten thousand high-grade spirit stones for information.
• Xu Yan said she was not qualified to handle arrangements for Huang Yangshu and tried to return the spirit stones.
• Song Wen threatened Xu Yan by revealing that her son Xu Xiao served as a squad captain in Yijing City's enforcement squad.
• Song Wen implanted a dormant Blood Earthworm Gu in Xu Yan and warned that it would burst open her dantian when awakened.

Song Wen interrogated Xu Yan about Huang Yangshu’s favored woman, Zhu Mei, then disguised himself as a handsome young cultivator and arranged a chance encounter with her. Zhu Mei became interested in his seemingly innocent manner, leaving Song Wen’s honey trap underway.

• Song Wen forced Xu Yan to reveal that Zhu Mei lived at Hundred Fragrances Villa and secretly met Huang Yangshu, then took a jade slip containing her detailed information.
• Song Wen knocked Xu Yan unconscious, retrieved the Blood Earthworm Gu, and left the Hundred Fragrances Pavilion.
• Song Wen disguised himself as a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator and watched the entrance to Hundred Fragrances Villa from a nearby inn until Zhu Mei appeared.
• Song Wen changed into elegant clothes and followed Zhu Mei as she shopped for robes and cosmetics.
• Song Wen staged a chance encounter with Zhu Mei and acted flustered and innocent, catching her interest with his exceptional looks.

Song Wen endured Zhu Mei’s humiliating treatment to obtain her communication jade slip and continued posing as her lovesick admirer while trying to learn Huang Yangshu’s whereabouts. After Zhu Mei said she would leave in three days, Song Wen suspected she planned to meet Huang Yangshu and began watching her closely.

• Zhu Mei alternated between seducing and slapping Song Wen, then gave him a thousand superior spirit stones and her communication jade slip.
• Song Wen messaged Zhu Mei daily and met her four more times, but failed to get useful information from her.
• Zhu Mei told Song Wen they could not meet for a while because she planned to go out in a few days.
• Song Wen suspected Zhu Mei was going to meet Huang Yangshu and monitored her messages and the gates of the Hundred Fragrances Villa.

Song Wen tracked a black-robed figure he suspected was Zhu Mei from Yijing City to a remote valley, where he attacked the flying ship carrying her and Huang Yangshu. His sword and lightning failed to break the ship’s powerful protective barrier, so he unleashed a sea of blood to wear it down.

• Song Wen received a message from Liu Mei saying she would return within five days, then watched a black-robed figure leave Hundred Fragrances Villa with three women.
• Song Wen followed the small flying ship until the black-robed figure transferred to a massive flying ship that continued away from Yijing City.
• After the massive flying ship landed in an uninhabited valley more than three million li away, Song Wen launched a full-strength attack.
• The flying ship’s protective barrier withstood Song Wen’s Nine Calamities Measuring-Heaven Sword and Vast Extremity Divine Thunder.
• Song Wen summoned a vast sea of blood to wear down the barrier and drain the flying ship’s master, Huang Yangshu.

Song Wen disguised as Gu Huang confronted Huang Yangshu and Rong Shao aboard the Rongqi, trying to seize Huang and turn Rong Shao against the Rong Clan. Huang Yangshu activated the ship’s formation and escaped the Blood Tide, leaving Song Wen facing the threat of the Rong Clan’s Mahayana Realm cultivators.

• Song Wen approached the Rongqi and claimed he only wanted to meet fellow disciples, while Huang Yangshu warned him the ship’s defenses were too strong to breach.
• Song Wen revealed Gu Huang’s appearance to Rong Shao, admitted killing Rong Yiwen, and demanded that Rong Shao hand Huang Yangshu over.
• Song Wen accused the Rong Clan of raising Rong Shao as a source of vitality because he cultivated the Longevity Art, leaving Rong Shao shaken and doubtful.
• Huang Yangshu revealed that he had stalled Song Wen while the Nine-Heavens Rainbow Transformation Formation activated.
• The Rongqi’s prow became invincible, and the ship escaped the Blood Tide in a streak of light.

Song Wen expanded the sea of blood until Huang Yangshu’s Rongqi became trapped inside, then exploited the growing distrust between Huang Yangshu and Rong Shao. The chapter ended with Song Wen asking Rong Shao to ally against Huang Yangshu while Huang Yangshu watched him warily.

• Huang Yangshu used the Rongqi’s Nine-Heavens Rainbow Transformation Formation to smash Song Wen’s Blood Shadow Clone and try to escape the sea of blood.
• Song Wen expanded the sea of blood across ten thousand li, trapping the Rongqi as the vessel slowed under the pounding waves.
• Huang Yangshu grew suspicious that Rong Shao might betray him and considered striking first, while Rong Shao warned that escaping the sea would be difficult.
• Huang Yangshu slapped Zhu Mei when she asked whether he had a way to escape.
• Song Wen appeared beside the Rongqi and asked Rong Shao to join him against Huang Yangshu, prompting Huang Yangshu to retreat and watch Rong Shao closely.

Song Wen trapped Huang Yangshu’s flying ship in a sea of blood and tried to turn Rong Shao against him by accusing the Rong Clan of stealing Longevity Art cultivators’ vitality. When Rong Luan arrived and attacked the sea of blood, Song Wen vanished into it, leaving Huang Yangshu and Rong Shao relieved but uncertain what would happen next.

• Song Wen accused Huang Yangshu of knowing about the Rong Clan’s theft of Longevity Art cultivators’ vitality, deepening Rong Shao’s suspicion.
• Huang Yangshu denied the accusation, pleaded for reconciliation, and revealed that he had sent word to his Dao companion, Rong Luan.
• Song Wen refused to withdraw the Blood Sea Seal and pointed out that Huang Yangshu was running low on spiritual power.
• Song Wen asked Rong Shao to join him against the Rong Clan, while Huang Yangshu tried to keep Rong Shao loyal and take over the ship.
• Rong Luan arrived and lashed a hundred-li bone whip at the sea of blood, prompting Song Wen to vanish into it.
• Huang Yangshu and Rong Shao, unable to sense what was happening outside, felt relieved when Song Wen disappeared.

Rong Luan attacked the blood sea and forced the Rongqi airship to escape, then confronted Huang Yangshu and Rong Shao. Rong Shao questioned the purpose of the Longevity Art, but Rong Luan silenced his doubts and turned her anger toward Gu Huang.

• Rong Luan struck the blood sea with her bone whip, tearing it apart long enough for Huang Yangshu to fly the Rongqi airship out.
• Rong Luan met Huang Yangshu and Rong Shao, then glared at Huang Yangshu over the women aboard the airship and his desperate situation.
• Rong Shao asked Rong Luan whether the Divine Blood Sect could use the Longevity Art to consume its cultivators' life force and extend someone else's lifespan.
• Rong Luan denied the accusation, rebuked Rong Shao for doubting her, and reminded him that she had guided his cultivation.
• Huang Yangshu blamed Gu Huang for the trouble, redirecting Rong Luan's attention and prompting her to lash the blood sea again.