Recaps

Song Wen destroyed the rat plague and executed Zhao Xuanming and his court before traveling to Blood Radiance City to seek pill formulas and information about Yu Bi. He contacted Qiluo while disguised as Ye Hua, and she offered to enlist Master Xuan Li against his enemy after learning Yu Bi's name.

• Song Wen absorbed the Blood Tide after eliminating the rat plague, then killed Zhao Xuanming and the ministers for their treatment of the common people.
• Song Wen considered how to advance his Mahayana cultivation and decided to seek pill formulas and return to Southern Nether Province and Qicang Island.
• Song Wen reached Blood Radiance City, found no pill formulas or information about Yu Bi, and left before returning in disguise as Ye Hua.
• Song Wen sent Qiluo a message, and she replied that she had searched for him after he disappeared from their old courtyard.
• Song Wen named Yu Bi as his enemy, and Qiluo recognized him as a Mahayana Middle Stage inner sect elder and offered to have Master Xuan Li deal with him.

Song Wen arranged to meet Qiluo near Mirror-Moon Lake, where a lower-realm ascender was expected, and went to watch from a distance. He recognized the ascender as Cui Qiao and prepared to abduct her, but Yu Bi arrived and confronted her first.

• Song Wen reassured Qiluo that Yu Bi had likely forgotten their past encounter, then arranged to meet her near Mirror-Moon Lake and asked about Yu Bi’s whereabouts.
• Qiluo told Song Wen that an ascension phenomenon had appeared above Mirror-Moon Lake and agreed to go there, though she warned they could not acknowledge each other in public.
• A woman emerged from the black rift above Mirror-Moon Lake, and Hermit Zhengde blocked her escape and demanded that she serve him for a hundred years.
• Song Wen recognized the woman as Cui Qiao and prepared to kill Hermit Zhengde and abduct her.
• Yu Bi arrived, ordered Hermit Zhengde to get lost, and asked Cui Qiao whether she practiced the Corpse King Blood Refinement Art.

Cui Qiao escaped Hermit Zhengde’s control when Yu Bi recognized her cultivation art and took her as a disciple of the Divine Blood Sect. Song Wen watched them leave without intervening, then reunited with Qiluo in a concealed flying ship.

• Cui Qiao told Yu Bi that she had obtained the Corpse King Blood Refinement Art from ruins in the Heavenly Origin Realm, and Yu Bi revealed that its Divine Blood Sect shared a lineage with his own sect.
• Yu Bi accepted Cui Qiao as his disciple and asked how she wanted to deal with Hermit Zhengde; she chose to extract his soul and refine his spirit.
• Yu Bi immobilized Hermit Zhengde, dismissed his plea for mercy, and let Cui Qiao draw his soul into a soul bottle before taking her back to the Divine Blood Sect.
• Song Wen suppressed his killing intent and let Yu Bi and Cui Qiao depart, knowing a fight near the Divine Blood Sect could draw tribulation-transcending cultivators.
• Qiluo recognized Song Wen in his masked Ye Hua guise, followed his signal west, and found him waiting aboard a concealed flying ship in a valley.
• Song Wen removed his mask, and Qiluo dove toward him as they embraced.

Song Wen asked Qiluo to obtain Cui Qiao's communication jade slip, and she delivered it to him in Blood Radiance City. Their meeting was interrupted by Xuan Li, who confronted Song Wen and warned him to stay away from Qiluo.

• Song Wen persuaded Qiluo to get Cui Qiao's communication jade slip and told her not to ask Cui Qiao for it directly.
• Qiluo brought the jade slip to Song Wen in a teahouse in Blood Radiance City.
• As Qiluo and Song Wen said goodbye outside, Xuan Li appeared after tracking Qiluo with her soul lamp.
• Qiluo told Xuan Li that Song Wen, who used the name Ye Hua, was a sixth-tier alchemist she had visited to buy pills.
• Xuan Li warned Song Wen not to harbor improper intentions toward Qiluo, while Song Wen privately doubted her claim that Qiluo was simple-hearted.

Song Wen warned Cui Qiao that Elder Yu Bi had taken her as a human medicinal treasure and tried to enlist her help in tracking Yu Bi. He then turned to strengthening himself, learning that Shadow Void was ready to advance but needed more soul source essence.

• After Xuan Li and Qiluo left, Song Wen changed his appearance and contacted Cui Qiao through her communication jade slip.
• Song Wen told Cui Qiao that Yu Bi intended to use her for cultivation and urged her to watch the Divine Blood Sect for signs of disciples disappearing when powerful cultivators broke through.
• Song Wen claimed his late Dao companion had been abducted by the Divine Blood Sect and asked Cui Qiao to learn Yu Bi's whereabouts so someone could deal with him.
• After ending the exchange, Song Wen admitted he wanted both Yu Bi and Cui Qiao dead and had contacted her to create a way to track Yu Bi.
• Song Wen learned Shadow Void had reached the peak of the early eighth tier and could advance with enough soul source essence, but he had few spirit stones and needed to obtain more souls.

Song Wen disguised himself as a wealthy young master to buy beast souls in Blood Radiance City, then arranged a much larger purchase through the stallholder Wang Qi. After paying a deposit and marking Wang Qi with his spiritual sense, Song Wen watched him leave, hinting that he wanted more than beast souls.

• Song Wen decided against buying beast souls from shops and disguised himself as an elegant young gentleman before visiting the rogue cultivators' stalls.
• Song Wen inspected Wang Qi's beast souls, bargained the price down to fifteen thousand superior spirit stones, and bought them.
• Song Wen asked Wang Qi to gather a hundred times as many beast souls within ten days and offered up to one million five hundred thousand superior spirit stones.
• Wang Qi asked for a deposit, and Song Wen agreed to pay fifty thousand superior spirit stones and place a spiritual sense mark on him.
• Song Wen and Wang Qi arranged to meet at a city tavern in ten days, after which Wang Qi hurried out of Blood Radiance City.

Song Wen secretly tracked Wang Qi to a secluded valley and discovered a ghost cultivator stronghold ruled by Ancestor Youquan. After Wang Qi reported Song Wen’s large demon-soul order, Ancestor Youquan suspected Song Wen possessed an extraordinary ghost-path technique or treasure and began considering how to profit from it.

• Song Wen avoided tailing Wang Qi directly, then followed the divine sense marks on the spirit stones out of the city and toward a remote rift valley.
• Song Wen used his divine sense to spy on the valley, finding a hidden ghost cultivator settlement built around a bone-filled pit and nine ghost banners.
• Wang Qi reported to Ancestor Youquan that Song Wen had offered to buy demon souls worth one million five hundred thousand superior spirit stones.
• Ancestor Youquan erased the divine sense mark on Wang Qi, inspected the spirit stones, and heard the old man suggest Song Wen was buying in bulk to save money.
• Ancestor Youquan speculated that Song Wen’s ghost-path technique or spirit treasure might be extraordinary and considered taking advantage of him.

Patriarch Youquan consulted his subordinate about how to handle the sale of demon souls to Wang Qi, then secretly sought help from his sworn brother Xuanming. Song Wen followed Youquan to Xuanming’s Ghost Cave and listened as Youquan requested demon souls.

• An old subordinate advised Patriarch Youquan to prepare for different possibilities at the transaction and use his two sworn elder brothers if needed.
• Song Wen sensed Youquan’s scheme, then hid in a cave and followed Youquan when he left the valley three days later.
• Patriarch Youquan traveled to a vast sinkhole and met his sworn brother Xuanming, who led him into the underground Ghost Cave.
• Xuanming asked why Youquan needed demon souls, and Youquan claimed he wanted to refine a ghost creature from a seventh-rank demon beast.
• Youquan declined Xuanming’s offer of human souls and asked him to sell all the demon souls he had.

Patriarch Youquan bought demon souls from Xuanming and Wang E, while Song Wen secretly followed him to the Island of Forgetfulness. Song Wen exposed the valley of ghosts beneath the Lake and launched an attack on Wang E, claiming to act on Heaven’s behalf.

• Patriarch Youquan paid Xuanming more than two hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones for his demon souls, then traveled west to visit Wang E.
• Patriarch Youquan bought Wang E’s much larger collection of demon souls for more than six hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones.
• Song Wen captured the guard Wang E sent to question Xuanming, then appeared before Wang E disguised as Yu Bi and forced him to submit.
• Song Wen demanded to know what lay beneath the Lake, and Wang E dispelled the formation concealing a valley filled with bones and ghostly souls.
• Song Wen unleashed a Blood Tide against Wang E, declaring that he would punish the ghost cultivators for their crimes.

Song Wen used Blood Tide to devour Wang E, the ghosts at the Island of Forgetfulness, and Xuanming, then looted their lairs before confronting Patriarch Youquan in disguise. After forcing Youquan to open the canyon and summon Wang Qi, Song Wen revealed his true face to them.

• Song Wen used Blood Tide to kill Wang E and devour the ghosts at the Island of Forgetfulness, then collected spiritual items and yin qi.
• Song Wen disguised himself as Yu Bi, slaughtered Xuanming, and stripped the Ghost Cave bare.
• Song Wen arrived at Patriarch Youquan's canyon and presented the heads of Xuanming and Wang E, accusing them of plotting against a Divine Blood Sect disciple.
• Song Wen demanded that Youquan open the canyon's formation for an inspection and summon Wang Qi.
• Song Wen let the corpse qi recede, revealing his true face to Wang Qi and Patriarch Youquan.

Song Wen killed Ancestor Youquan and Wang Qi, seized their souls, ghost banners, and other treasures, then retreated to a cave to assess his haul. After rewarding Shadow Void with soul source essence, he began refining the Geng Metal Pearl to merge it into the Blood Sea Imperial Seal.

• Wang Qi recognized Song Wen as the man who had asked to buy demon souls, and Ancestor Youquan offered him demon souls and nine ghost banners in hopes of surviving.
• Song Wen demanded Youquan's soul, but Youquan hurled Wang Qi at him, fled into the canyon, and activated the banners.
• Song Wen killed Wang Qi, overwhelmed Youquan's defensive formation with the Blood Tide, and swallowed Youquan and the canyon's remaining inhabitants.
• Song Wen escaped to a limestone cave and counted more than two million superior spirit stones along with souls and other plunder worth millions more.
• Song Wen released soul source essence for Shadow Void, then began refining the Geng Metal Pearl for the Blood Sea Imperial Seal.

Song Wen tried to recruit Cui Qiao to help him find Yu Bi, offering her a way to hide her soul from the Divine Blood Sect. Cui Qiao agreed to cooperate but could not provide Yu Bi’s whereabouts, leaving Song Wen to seek another way to learn them.

• During his eight years of seclusion, Song Wen advanced Shadow Void, refined the Blood Sea Imperial Seal and a Steel Corpse, and cultivated the Void-Shattering Divine Thunder.
• Song Wen contacted Cui Qiao and urged her to help him eliminate Yu Bi, promising that the Myriad Transformations Incantation could conceal her soul’s fluctuations.
• Cui Qiao questioned Song Wen’s motives and the risks of escaping Yu Bi, but accepted the incantation’s outline and asked for time to consider his proposal.
• After seven days, Cui Qiao agreed to cooperate but said Yu Bi rarely left his cave abode and she did not know his movements.
• When Cui Qiao pointed out that Song Wen had first claimed Yu Bi might act at any moment and then suggested waiting, Song Wen pressed her to find information and asked whether she had heard anything about Yu Bi from others.

Song Wen learned that Yu Bi was seeking Nine-Heavens Star Dew and devised a plan to make Yu Bi discover its supposed whereabouts without arousing suspicion. At a gathering outside Blood Radiance City, Song Wen approached three Divine Blood Sect disciples searching for Soul-Nirvana Grass and told them it had been found in Ten-Thousand Silence Ridge.

• Cui Qiao told Song Wen that Yu Bi was searching for Nine-Heavens Star Dew, and Gu Que explained its effects and showed Song Wen what it looked like.
• Song Wen decided not to directly claim he possessed Nine-Heavens Star Dew and instead planned to let Yu Bi discover its whereabouts himself.
• Song Wen gathered information in Blood Radiance City, then left and appeared at a cultivator gathering ten thousand li away half a month later.
• Song Wen identified three Divine Blood Sect disciples seeking Soul-Nirvana Grass and approached them.
• Song Wen told the disciples that someone had found Soul-Nirvana Grass in Ten-Thousand Silence Ridge, and the male disciple explained why they could not safely search there without knowing its location.

Song Wen traded a false map and rumors of nine-heavens star dew to three Divine Blood Sect cultivators, hoping they would pass the bait to Yu Bi. Cui Qiao confirmed that the three visited Yu Bi, and Song Wen prepared to monitor his next move.

• The three cultivators accepted Song Wen's map of Ten-Thousand Silence Ridge in exchange for the Profound Baleful Corpse Refinement Art.
• Song Wen warned them of a supposed eighth-tier demonic beast, then secretly told them a pool in the valley might contain nine-heavens star dew.
• After Song Wen left, Senior Sister Wang suggested the information could bring them a great opportunity, and the three returned to the Divine Blood Sect.
• Song Wen asked Cui Qiao to watch Yu Bi's cave abode, and she reported that the three cultivators had visited him.
• Song Wen recognized the visitors from Cui Qiao's descriptions and told her to monitor Yu Bi for signs of an upcoming journey.

Song Wen verified through Mo You and Cui Qiao that Yu Bi was preparing to travel to Ten-Thousand Silence Ridge, then hurried there to wait for him. After reaching the valley he had named as the bait, Song Wen silently killed its four Swamp-Armored Crocodiles with spiritual-sense blades.

• Song Wen asked Mo You and Qiluo to investigate Yu Bi’s travel plans, and Mo You later reported that Yu Bi had collected several kinds of eighth-tier pills.
• Mo You told Song Wen that he had reached the peak of Void Refinement and planned to attempt a breakthrough to the Integrated Body Realm.
• Cui Qiao reported that Yu Bi had visited her and that his subordinate Chi Yuan was buying travel and escape treasures, confirming Yu Bi would soon venture into danger.
• Song Wen set out for Ten-Thousand Silence Ridge and used an Earth-Escape Talisman to reach the valley in its swamp.
• Song Wen emerged inside the valley and struck the four attacking Swamp-Armored Crocodiles with spiritual-sense blades, leaving them unconscious.

Song Wen prepared a concealed trap in the valley, using the Ten-Directions Annihilation Formation and bait made from Rosy-Glow True Water and silver metal. Yu Bi arrived with his companions, and Song Wen released the four Swamp-Armored Crocodiles to attack them.

• Song Wen subdued the four Swamp-Armored Crocodiles and hid them at the bottom of the valley pool.
• With Gu Que's help, Song Wen set up and concealed the Ten-Directions Annihilation Formation around the valley.
• Song Wen sealed Rosy-Glow True Water beneath fused silver metal, then concealed himself in the pool's sludge.
• After two days, Yu Bi arrived on a flying ship with three Void Refinement Realm cultivators and Chi Yuan, an Integrated Body Middle Stage cultivator.
• Yu Bi spotted the silver metal bait, and Song Wen released the four Swamp-Armored Crocodiles, which burst from the pool roaring.

Song Wen trapped Yu Bi and his companions in the Ten-Directions Annihilation Formation and revealed that he had reached the Mahayana Realm. Yu Bi recognized Song Wen, but dismissed him as a newly advanced cultivator and vowed to kill him.

• Yu Bi used his Corpse-Suppressing Nails to kill the four Swamp-Armored Crocodiles, then realized the supposed Nine-Heavens Star Dew was not what it seemed.
• A transparent barrier trapped Yu Bi, Chi Yuan, three Void Refinement cultivators, and their flying ship; Yu Bi failed to break through it with his Corpse-Suppressing Nails.
• Yu Bi sensed an unusual fluctuation beneath the pool and sent his nine nails toward it, their ghostly howls incapacitating the three Void Refinement cultivators.
• Song Wen emerged from the pool in a vast Blood Tide and trapped the Corpse-Suppressing Nails in its depths, forcing Yu Bi to recall them.
• Yu Bi recognized Song Wen as Gu Huang and was shocked to learn he had reached the Mahayana Realm; Song Wen declared that he had come to kill Yu Bi, who answered with a threat.

Song Wen, posing as Gu Huang, fought Yu Bi inside the Ten-Directions Annihilation Formation, using his sea of blood to withstand Yu Bi’s attacks. Yu Bi recognized Song Wen’s true body among the Blood Shadow Clones but remained confident that he could outlast him.

• Song Wen mocked Yu Bi for falling for false information about the Nine-Heavens Star Dew, then evaded the Corpse-Suppressing Nails by dispersing into blood mist.
• Yu Bi combined the nine Corpse-Suppressing Nails into a black spear and drove it into the sea of blood, but the spear shattered after breaking through twenty-seven crimson tentacles.
• Song Wen expanded the sea of blood across the formation and sent a scarlet torrent against Yu Bi’s giant nether nail, locking the two attacks in a stalemate.
• Song Wen sent a hundred Blood Shadow Clones to attack while Yu Bi used his corpse coffin and corpse-qi pythons to defend and planned to exhaust Song Wen’s spiritual power.
• Yu Bi spotted Song Wen’s true body among the clones and challenged him to keep fighting until his spiritual power ran out.

Song Wen used Shadow Void’s divine sense attack to overwhelm Yu Bi, then devoured Yu Bi’s mana and killed him. After binding the remaining Divine Blood Sect members, Song Wen stopped before killing Chi Yuan and asked about Chi Pei.

• Song Wen burned his blood essence, split into a hundred figures, and sent them toward Yu Bi while Yu Bi prepared for a sword strike.
• Shadow Void emerged from one of Song Wen’s clones and attacked Yu Bi’s sea of consciousness with a divine sense soundwave.
• Song Wen pierced Yu Bi’s chest, devoured his mana and soul, and burned his dried corpse to ashes.
• Song Wen bound the other four Divine Blood Sect members and killed the three Void Refinement cultivators.
• Song Wen stopped the tentacles around Chi Yuan and asked what relationship Chi Pei had to him, and Chi Yuan pleaded for his life.

Song Wen killed Chi Yuan and looted the storage rings of Yu Bi and the others before interrogating Yu Bi’s imprisoned soul about Cui Qiao. When Yu Bi had no trace of Cui Qiao’s aura to offer, Song Wen used the Golden Broth Curse to torture him.

• Song Wen revealed that he had killed Chi Pei, then killed Chi Yuan with blood-colored tentacles.
• Song Wen flew toward Blood Radiance City and found numerous escape talismans, a powerful defensive talisman, and a fortune in spirit stones in the group’s storage rings.
• Song Wen questioned Yu Bi’s imprisoned soul about an item bearing Cui Qiao’s aura, and Yu Bi realized Song Wen had used the Myriad-Mile Tracking Art to locate him.
• Yu Bi accused Cui Qiao of betraying him, while Song Wen revealed that he hated her and intended to kill her painfully.
• Yu Bi said the Divine Blood Sect held Cui Qiao’s soul lamp and that he had no item bearing her aura, so Song Wen began torturing him with the Golden Broth Curse.

Song Wen persuaded Cui Qiao to leave the Divine Blood Sect and arranged for Qiluo to watch her departure. After Qiluo reported that Cui Qiao had left, Song Wen followed her for more than a hundred thousand li as she fled by a winding route.

• Song Wen sent Cui Qiao the Myriad Transformations Incantation and urged her to leave the Divine Blood Sect, but she declined to meet him.
• Song Wen asked Mo You and Qiluo to watch Cui Qiao, and Qiluo agreed after Song Wen assured her of his devotion.
• After half a month without hearing from Cui Qiao, Song Wen received Qiluo's message that she had left her cave abode and was heading for the sect gates.
• Song Wen risked briefly sweeping the sect gates with his spiritual sense and located Cui Qiao as she passed through the barrier.
• Song Wen followed Cui Qiao from a distance as she accelerated, changed directions, and traveled more than a hundred thousand li from the Divine Blood Sect.

After fleeing the Divine Blood Sect, Cui Qiao celebrated her newfound freedom and imagined building her strength in the upper realm. Song Wen caught up with her, revealed himself as Extreme Yin, and confronted her over killing Senior Sister Zhou.

• Cui Qiao escaped more than five hundred thousand li from the Divine Blood Sect and stopped at a mountain cliff.
• Cui Qiao reflected on Yu Bi's death and the unnamed person's help, then looked forward to cultivating freely and growing powerful.
• Song Wen suddenly appeared before Cui Qiao, and she tried to deter him by claiming she was a direct disciple of the Divine Blood Sect.
• Song Wen removed his disguises and revealed himself as Extreme Yin.
• Song Wen accused Cui Qiao of crossing the Endless Desert to kill Senior Sister Zhou in retaliation against him.

Cui Qiao revealed how she had pursued revenge against Extreme Yin by betraying and torturing Zhou Siyi, whose death left Song Wen consumed by rage. Song Wen began torturing Cui Qiao’s soul and promised to keep her alive, while she tried to bargain for a swift death by claiming she had lied about Zhou Siyi’s soul being destroyed.

• Cui Qiao recounted how she crossed the Endless Desert, learned Extreme Yin had ascended, and targeted Zhou Siyi instead.
• Cui Qiao confessed that she had gained Zhou Siyi’s trust before ambushing and torturing her until her body died.
• Song Wen seized Cui Qiao, condemned himself for failing to eliminate her earlier, and smashed her into the cliff before carving her body with the Soul-Splitting Blade.
• Song Wen killed Cui Qiao’s physical body and dragged her soul into his sea of consciousness.
• Song Wen burned and distorted Cui Qiao’s soul with golden liquid, then let the silver light heal her so he could continue torturing her.
• Cui Qiao begged Song Wen for death and claimed she had lied about Zhou Siyi’s soul being destroyed.

Song Wen learned that Zhou Siyi's soul remained imprisoned in a Yin Soul Cave on Jade Terrace Island in the Heavenly Origin Realm, though its Soul-Nourishing Wood was nearly exhausted. Gu Que explained the dangers and rules of crossing between world planes, leaving Song Wen to weigh whether to travel there himself or send someone else to rescue her.

• Cui Qiao told Song Wen that Zhou Siyi's soul had endured in the Yin Soul Cave on Jade Terrace Island, sustained by Soul-Nourishing Wood that was nearly exhausted.
• Song Wen questioned Gu Que about crossing between world planes, and Gu Que explained how smugglers used unstable spatial rifts and navigated spatial storms while avoiding lethal spatial turbulence.
• Gu Que said Song Wen could descend to the Heavenly Origin Realm only by sealing his cultivation and avoiding any use of power, lest its Heavenly Dao force him to ascend or erase him.
• Song Wen considered cultivating a second Primordial Spirit or sending peak Nascent Soul Cultivators to retrieve Zhou Siyi's soul, but he recognized the risks each option carried.

Song Wen verified Cui Qiao’s account that Zhou Siyi’s soul still existed, then sought a way to find a spatial rift that could take him to the lower realm. At a gathering in Blood Radiance City, he learned that Xuan Li of the Divine Blood Sect was the leading expert on spatial rifts.

• Gu Que warned Song Wen that descending to the lower realm in his Mahayana body was dangerous and that suitable spatial rifts would be difficult to find.
• Song Wen used the Soul Search Technique on Cui Qiao and confirmed that she had told the truth about Zhou Siyi’s soul.
• Song Wen placed a rune on Cui Qiao’s soul to prevent the Divine Blood Sect from tracking him through her soul lamp, then fled to a market city.
• Song Wen learned about the Mystic Dao Inquiry gathering at Immortal Spirit Inn and attended while disguised as an early Void Refinement Rogue Cultivator.
• After Song Wen said he was interested in spatial rifts, a young female cultivator told him that Xuan Li of the Divine Blood Sect had researched them more than anyone in Cangwu Province.