Recaps

Song Wen and Ying Wu dealt with Qiluo’s suspicions before Song Wen left Xuan Li’s cave, and three and a half years later Xugeng emerged from seclusion to visit them at Inverted Mountain. Xugeng revealed that his next lightning tribulation was expected within a month or two, though he could not say whether he would survive it.

• Qiluo suggested Song Wen carried Xuan Li’s aura, and Xuan Li rebuked her while Song Wen warned her to watch her words and conduct.
• Xuan Li told Song Wen that Ying Wu had returned, so Song Wen left her cave; Xuan Li then sealed the doors with Qiluo still inside.
• Three and a half years later, Xugeng visited Ying Wu and Song Wen at Inverted Mountain, surprising the Divine Blood Sect cultivators with his respectful treatment of Ying Wu.
• Xugeng told Ying Wu that his lightning tribulation would likely arrive within a month or two and that he had already prepared treasures and pills, but its outcome depended on Heaven.

Xugeng promised to protect Ying Wu from Ming Yuan, received Ying Wu’s Void Dragon Vine fusion method, and began his third heavenly tribulation a month later. He blocked the first two of twenty-seven increasingly powerful lightning strikes, but each strike consumed one of his carefully prepared defenses.

• Ying Wu asked Xugeng to address the death of Yan Ming, and Xugeng promised Ming Yuan would not hold a grudge against him.
• Xugeng asked Ying Wu for the Void Dragon Vine fusion method, and Ying Wu handed him a Jade Slip containing the steps and his insights.
• Song Wen learned from Gu Que that Xugeng’s third heavenly tribulation would include a heart tribulation, where Gu Que himself had once failed.
• More than a month later, Xugeng appeared beneath the tribulation clouds as cultivators from the Divine Blood Sect watched.
• Xugeng blocked the first lightning strike with corpse-baleful qi and the second with a corpse coffin, which crashed into a mountain.
• Gu Que explained that the tribulation contained twenty-seven increasingly powerful strikes, and Song Wen realized Xugeng was losing one defense with each blow.

Song Wen watched Xugeng endure his heavenly tribulation as Gu Que explained how tribulation lightning worked and warned against interference. After Xugeng’s defenses faltered against the twenty-fifth bolt, he deployed a powerful banner formation against the twenty-sixth, and Gu Que revealed its origins and capabilities.

• Song Wen asked Gu Que whether puppets or formations could shield a cultivator from tribulation lightning, and Gu Que explained the rules and dangers of interfering.
• Xugeng used a flaming cauldron, a sea of blood, and a Purple-Gold Hammer to withstand the first twenty-four bolts of tribulation lightning.
• Song Wen told Ying Wu that Xugeng seemed likely to succeed, but the twenty-fifth bolt overwhelmed the Purple-Gold Hammer and forced Xugeng to raise a formation of forty-nine banners.
• Xugeng used the banner formation to weaken the twenty-fifth bolt, swallowed pills, and then faced the far stronger twenty-sixth bolt.
• Gu Que identified the banners as Flood-Dragon Bone Banners forming the Celestial Dipper Unfading Formation, which could disperse tribulation lightning, and recalled that he had once been defeated during his own heart tribulation.

Xugeng endured the twenty-seventh lightning tribulation, but the heart tribulation trapped him for three days and drove him into madness. After his eyes cleared and his aura settled, seven-colored rosy clouds appeared and bathed him in light.

• Xugeng sacrificed his blood essence to restore his spiritual power, but the twenty-seventh lightning tribulation shattered the Celestial Dipper Unfading Formation.
• Xugeng's Limitless Divine Thunder failed to stop the lightning, so he shielded himself with Five Decays Yellow Springs Qi and survived the strike.
• Xugeng entered the heart tribulation as heavenly light shone into the pit, while Gu Que warned that his weakened mind was in danger.
• After three days, Xugeng opened his crimson eyes, cried that he did not want to die, and unleashed destructive waves of qi that sent onlookers fleeing.
• Xugeng's madness abruptly subsided and clarity returned to his eyes; then seven-colored rosy clouds appeared and sent rays of light down upon him.

Xugeng passed his third heavenly tribulation and received the Heavenly Dao’s blessing, leaving him able to ascend to the Immortal Realm. After congratulating him, Song Wen watched Ying Wu retrieve an iron fragment carrying a lingering strand of tribulation lightning.

• Gu Que explained that Xugeng had received the Heavenly Dao’s blessing and could ascend once it ended, while Song Wen considered collecting immortal spiritual qi and tribulation lightning.
• The blessing faded, and Song Wen congratulated Xugeng as the gathered cultivators joined in.
• Xugeng privately thanked Ying Wu for helping him pass the tribulation, leaving the Divine Blood Sect cultivators astonished.
• Ying Wu searched the crater and retrieved a palm-sized iron fragment with a lingering strand of tribulation lightning on it.
• Song Wen realized Ying Wu had found the tribulation lightning he had hoped to collect, and suspected the fragment was extraordinary.

After Xugeng survived his tribulation, Song Wen separated a wisp of tribulation lightning from Ying Wu’s iron shard using the Law-Breaking Divine Eye and enclosed it with his Thunder Kui Wings. Xugeng then announced an Ascension Celebration for three days later and opened the Divine Blood Sect’s gates to all visitors.

• Xugeng examined the iron shard and suggested that Ying Wu refine it, while Song Wen asked to take its tribulation lightning.
• Song Wen failed to draw the lightning away with his own lightning and Thunder Kui Wings, and Xugeng suggested refining the shard with the lightning still attached.
• Ying Wu offered Song Wen the iron shard, and Gu Que advised him to use the Law-Breaking Divine Eye to weaken the lightning’s connection to it.
• Song Wen used the eye technique to separate the tribulation lightning and trapped it inside his Thunder Kui Wings before returning the iron shard to Ying Wu.
• Xugeng invited Ying Wu and Song Wen to an Ascension Ceremony three days later, then ordered the Divine Blood Sect’s gates opened to all who came to celebrate.

At Xugeng’s three-day banquet, Ying Wu and Song Wen met Deputy Sect Master Ming Yuan, who outwardly reconciled with Ying Wu over Yan Ming’s death. Afterward, Song Wen warned Ying Wu that Ming Yuan had likely arranged Yan Ming’s provocation and would resent Ying Wu’s rank once he became sect master, though he would not act before Xugeng ascended.

• Xugeng hosted a banquet at the Divine Blood Sect and toasted the guests gathered to witness his impending ascension.
• Xugeng introduced Ming Yuan to Ying Wu and Song Wen, and Ming Yuan humbly accepted responsibility for Yan Ming’s death while agreeing to let their grievance go.
• Xugeng reminded Ming Yuan that Ying Wu would remain a grand elder above him after his ascension, and Ming Yuan promised to show Ying Wu proper respect.
• Song Wen observed five other Tribulation Transcendence cultivators at the banquet and memorized their appearances, names, and auras.
• After the three-day banquet, Ying Wu secretly messaged Song Wen to ask what he thought of Ming Yuan.
• Song Wen reasoned that Ming Yuan had likely sent Yan Ming to provoke them and would resent Ying Wu’s position, but said Ming Yuan would not dare act before Xugeng ascended.

Song Wen and Ying Wu decided to leave the Divine Blood Sect and cultivate in seclusion rather than risk asking Xugeng to kill Ming Yuan. When they went to bid farewell, Xugeng insisted that Ying Wu demonstrate how she fused Void Dragon Vines, leaving their departure uncertain.

• Song Wen warned Ying Wu that Xugeng's loyalties were uncertain, and they agreed to leave the Divine Blood Sect and return to the Southern Nether Province.
• Song Wen and Ying Wu visited Xugeng ten days later to bid farewell while Daoist Nun Suwei and Qingxuanzi were visiting him.
• Xugeng asked Ying Wu to fuse a Void Dragon Vine in the Divine Blood Sect, saying he could provide the necessary materials.
• Daoist Nun Suwei asked to inspect a Void Dragon Vine, and Xugeng showed her one he had obtained from Ying Wu.
• Song Wen and Ying Wu realized Xugeng would not let them leave for now, so they took their leave and returned to Inverted Mountain.

Song Wen and Ying Wu planned to use the coming century to prepare for escape from Xugeng, strengthening Ying Wu’s combat power and Song Wen’s protective treasure. Song Wen then visited Xuan Li’s dwelling, where Qiluo surprised him by asking whether he knew Ye Hua.

• Song Wen warned Ying Wu that Xugeng would watch them after their attempted farewell, so fleeing the Divine Blood Sect would be difficult.
• Ying Wu agreed to improve his cultivation, master the Taiyi Light-Dividing Sword Array, and delay the Void Dragon Vine’s fusion while asking the sect to provide the needed flying swords.
• Song Wen decided to strengthen the Undying Blood Sea Yama Emperor Seal with rare materials from the Divine Blood Sect and pursue a breakthrough toward peak Mahayana.
• Song Wen went to Xuan Li’s Cave Dwelling, but Qiluo said her master was away and invited him inside to wait.
• After the dwelling’s doors closed and its formation activated, Qiluo asked Song Wen whether he knew a cultivator named Ye Hua.

Qiluo confronted Song Wen, suspecting that he was her old acquaintance Ye Hua, and tried to confirm his identity before Xuan Li returned. Xuan Li caught them in an awkward scene, blamed Qiluo for seducing Song Wen, and Qiluo struggled to explain her intentions.

• Qiluo told Song Wen that his scent, mannerisms, and use of the Law-Breaking Divine Eye made her believe he was Ye Hua, but Song Wen denied it.
• Qiluo began undressing, claiming she could identify someone by distinguishing objects, while Song Wen objected that they were in her master's cave abode.
• Xuan Li returned unexpectedly, and Qiluo hurriedly put her clothes back on before Xuan Li entered and shut the stone door.
• Xuan Li saw Qiluo's disheveled clothing and accused her of seducing Song Wen; Qiluo denied doing anything improper.
• Qiluo tried to explain that she had suspected Song Wen was her old acquaintance, but faltered before revealing how she meant to confirm it.

Song Wen revealed to Xuan Li and Qiluo that he was Ye Hua, then explained his earlier low cultivation as a cover for severe injuries. Xuan Li forgave Qiluo and invited her to join them, leaving Song Wen surprised by the turn of events.

• Xuan Li questioned Qiluo about her encounter with Extreme Yin, and Qiluo admitted that she and Ye Hua had once been lovers.
• After Xuan Li assured them her cave abode was shielded from spying, Song Wen admitted that he was Ye Hua.
• Song Wen told Qiluo that he had hidden his Mahayana cultivation because severe injuries had reduced his strength and threatened his soul.
• Xuan Li said she would not punish Qiluo and asked whether she would accompany them together; Qiluo agreed.
• Xuan Li kissed Qiluo and urged the stunned Song Wen to join them, though he had come for serious business.

Song Wen visited Xuan Li to ask about secret realms, then went to Kurong to make peace and learn of a possible urgent mission. Kurong accepted his apology after Song Wen mentioned that Ying Wu was handling matters for Patriarch Xugeng, leaving the two cultivators on supposedly friendly terms.

• Song Wen asked Xuan Li about secret realms, and she suggested he speak with Kurong about an urgent mission.
• Song Wen insisted on meeting Kurong despite being told that Kurong was in secluded cultivation.
• Song Wen apologized for past conflicts and explained that cooperation could be vital if danger arose.
• Kurong recalled how Song Wen and Ying Wu had attacked him when he tried to stop them from killing Yan Ming, and refused to forgive them.
• Song Wen said Ying Wu was occupied with urgent matters entrusted by Patriarch Xugeng and might apologize later.
• Kurong changed his attitude, declared their past grudges over, and proposed that he and Song Wen become like blood kin and siblings.

Song Wen persuaded Kurong to invite him on a Divine Blood Sect expedition to the Western Rong Continent, which was set to depart in one month. Back at Inverted Mountain, Ying Wu confronted him about spending ten days with Xuan Li and accused him of sneaking off for a fling.

• Song Wen ingratiated himself with Kurong and asked whether any sect secret realms would soon open.
• Kurong told Song Wen that a mission to inspect the Western Rong Continent was being organized because only one of the sect's Teleportation Arrays there remained usable.
• Song Wen agreed eagerly to join Kurong's advance expedition, and Kurong set their departure for one month later.
• Song Wen returned to Inverted Mountain, where Ying Wu questioned him about his ten-day visit to Xuan Li.
• Song Wen claimed Xuan Li had been away, but Ying Wu said he knew she had stayed in her cave abode and warned Song Wen not to sneak off for a fling again.

Song Wen traveled with Kurong, Fu Tian, and four Divine Blood Sect cultivators to the Western Rong Continent, where they arrived safely at a lake. As the four scouts searched the surrounding area, Song Wen decided not to attack Kurong and Fu Tian yet, while suspecting that Fu Tian was being prepared as Kurong’s cultivation pill.

• Song Wen met Kurong’s group at the Divine Blood Sect and learned that Fu Tian was the White Bone Hall Master who had received Kurong’s support.
• Song Wen suspected that Fu Tian was a pill Kurong had prepared to help himself break through to the tribulation-crossing stage.
• Kurong activated the sect’s intact teleportation array, and the group traveled to a damp cave beneath a lake on the Western Rong Continent.
• Kurong sent the four Integrated Body Realm cultivators in different directions to investigate the region and ordered them to return within half an hour.
• Song Wen considered hunting Kurong and Fu Tian but held back because Kurong would be difficult to kill and could escape.
• Song Wen watched Fu Tian regard Kurong as a benefactor, despite suspecting that Kurong intended to use him as a pill.

Xin Qi captured an unusually intelligent rat demon, and Kurong interrogated it about its clan and the surrounding demon clans. The rat died without revealing what it was hiding, and Fu Tian identified it as a Burrowing Rat.

• Xin Qi returned with a sixth-order rat demon that could understand and speak human language.
• Kurong promised to release the rat if it answered his questions, and the rat demanded that Xin Qi be given to it as well.
• The rat told Kurong that its clan lived westward and had five eighth-order powerhouses, but denied knowing of any other nearby powerful demon clans.
• Kurong whipped the rat repeatedly, then killed it when it still refused to disclose what it was concealing.
• Xin Qi suggested the rat had protected another demon clan's secrets, and Fu Tian recalled that the creature was called a Burrowing Rat.

Kurong and the others set a corpse-path formation around the Lake to ambush Rat Clan experts, then trapped a swarm led by a small rat demon. The small rat demon revealed it had tracked the dead clansman by its scent, but the group still knew little about the Rat Clan’s plans.

• Kurong agreed with Xin Qi’s suggestion to use the dead rat demon as bait and set up an eighth-rank corpse-path formation around the Lake.
• After several hours, dozens of giant rats arrived, and one retrieved the dead rat demon’s corpse from the water.
• The formation activated, trapping the rat demons behind a barrier as Song Wen and the others confronted them.
• Kurong offered the small rat demon a safe release in exchange for answers, and it reluctantly agreed to trade questions.
• The small rat demon said it had followed the dead clansman’s scent to the Lake and had come to punish it for leaving the group without permission.

Kurong deceived the rat demons into a deadly array, and the scrawny eighth-rank demon sacrificed itself to save two seventh-rank survivors. After Kurong and Fu Tian planned to lure the rat clan into a new array, Song Wen questioned whether they should seek information from another demon clan instead.

• Kurong learned that the rat clan had five eighth-rank experts and a Rat King nearing ninth rank, but the scrawny rat demon refused to discuss other nearby demon clans.
• Kurong activated the corpse qi array and attacked the rat demons despite having promised to let them leave safely.
• The scrawny rat demon fought to protect its clansmen, then snapped off its tail to hurl two seventh-rank rat demons to safety before sacrificing itself against the magical treasures.
• Kurong and Fu Tian planned to rebuild and expand the array, expecting the survivors to bring the rat clan back.
• Song Wen urged Kurong and Fu Tian to seek information from another demon clan rather than continue fighting the rats.

Kurong led the group toward the Rat Race’s lair after clearing the lake and its surroundings of traces of the slain rat demons. Song Wen and Fu Tian both favored splitting up, each secretly hoping to get the other alone, but Kurong refused, and the group continued west underground.

• Fu Tian argued that the group should exploit the chance to learn from the Rat Race, while Song Wen warned that a battle near the lake could destroy their route back to the Eastern Profound Continent.
• Kurong gathered the rat demon corpses and used corpse qi to erase the blood, scent, and other traces before leading the group west toward the Rat Race’s lair.
• Song Wen proposed splitting up to protect the four Body Integration Realm cultivators, while privately intending to separate Kurong and Fu Tian so he could kill them.
• Fu Tian first mocked Song Wen’s caution, then supported splitting up because he also wanted Kurong away while he dealt with Song Wen.
• Kurong rejected the proposal and led the group through the mountains toward the Rat Race’s territory.
• After detecting low-ranking rat demons ahead, Kurong used three Earth-Escape Talismans to take all seven travelers underground and continue west.

Song Wen, Kurong, and their companions found the Rat King’s lair and planned to weaken the rat clan by drawing out its strongest fighters. Kurong and Song Wen confronted the peak eighth-tier Rat King, whose unexpected strength left Kurong astonished.

• The group discovered a mountain nest filled with rat demons and captive female demons from many races, then sensed three eighth-tier and more than fifty seventh-tier rat demons.
• Fu Tian proposed that Song Wen and Kurong lure the rat clan’s eighth-tier experts away while the others attacked the nest; the group agreed and withdrew to prepare.
• Song Wen and Kurong surfaced near low-tier rat demons and released their auras to attract the Rat King and two other rat demons.
• Kurong attacked the Rat King with a corpse qi dragon and blood-red corpse coffin, but the Rat King countered both attacks with its claws.
• Kurong realized the Rat King was far stronger than an ordinary peak eighth-tier demon, while the Rat King taunted Song Wen and Kurong and offered them a chance to surrender.

Kurong and Song Wen lured the Rat King and two eighth-rank rat demons away from their nest, then revealed that their companions were attacking the Burrowing Rat clan. They stopped the demons from returning, leaving the Rat King convinced its clan was in grave danger.

• Kurong and Song Wen fled from the Rat King, drawing it and two eighth-rank rat demons far from the Rat Clan's nest.
• Kurong revealed that he and Song Wen had lured the clan's powerhouses away so their companions could attack the nest.
• The late eighth-rank rat demon rushed back toward the nest, prompting the Rat King and the other demon to follow.
• Kurong sent out a peak eighth-rank Steel Corpse to fight the Rat King and used a Soul-Breaking Awl to block the late eighth-rank rat demon.
• Song Wen used Void-Shattering Divine Thunder to hold off the early eighth-rank rat demon, while the Rat King realized it had fallen for Kurong's scheme.

Kurong fought the Rat King and demonstrated that his body could withstand the demon’s attacks while wounding it in close combat. As a second rat demon joined the fight, Fu Tian arrived to support Kurong.

• The Rat King burned its blood and energy to boost its speed, but Kurong used lightning and his corpse coffin to kill the early eighth-rank rat demon.
• The Rat King drove back Kurong’s weapons and charged him, while Song Wen retreated to watch from a distance.
• Kurong transformed his body with corpse energy and injured the Rat King in their close-range exchange, while remaining unharmed behind a thin layer of black energy.
• The late eighth-rank rat demon returned to help the Rat King, so Kurong withdrew from their attacks.
• Fu Tian arrived from the distant horizon as Kurong announced that he had a helper too.

Fu Tian reported that the rat clan had been slaughtered, and Kurong and Fu Tian attacked the Rat King and Towering Rat. As Song Wen questioned Kurong’s protective Killing Intent, a human-bodied, serpent-tailed figure arrived to challenge the humans.

• Fu Tian told Kurong that the entire rat clan had been killed, and the Rat King vowed revenge.
• Towering Rat sacrificed itself to block Kurong’s corpse coffin and urged the Rat King to escape, but the Rat King rescued it instead of fleeing alone.
• The Rat King and Towering Rat fought off attacks from Kurong, Fu Tian, and their Steel Corpse, though both were gravely wounded and pressed toward defeat.
• Song Wen asked Gu Que about the black qi protecting Kurong and suspected that lightning could break through it.
• Fu Tian accused Song Wen of holding back, but Song Wen insisted that the battle depended on Fu Tian and Kurong.
• A human-bodied, serpent-tailed figure rushed in and condemned the humans for slaughtering the rat clan and targeting the Rat King.

The Crimson-Scaled King arrived as Kurong, Fu Tian, and Song Wen fought the Rat King, then summoned a powerful Soaring Serpent phantom and overwhelmed them. Song Wen teleported away, but the Crimson-Scaled King recognized the name “Extreme Yin” and pursued him after he reappeared only several thousand li away from her.

• The Crimson-Scaled King appeared and promised to stop the humans from running wild on the Western Rong Continent.
• The Crimson-Scaled King summoned a Soaring Serpent phantom, whose golden beams pierced Kurong’s defenses and hurled him through several mountains.
• Fu Tian attacked the phantom, but it proved intangible, and its wind blades forced him to escape with a silver talisman.
• Kurong urged Song Wen to flee, so Song Wen used a Teleportation Talisman to escape the battlefield.
• The Crimson-Scaled King heard Kurong call Song Wen “Extreme Yin” and vowed to kill him, then her wind blades struck only the fading teleportation light.
• Song Wen reappeared several thousand li from the Crimson-Scaled King, in the direction of her location.

Song Wen escaped Crimson-Scaled King and pursued Fu Tian, who tried to seize Song Wen’s Thunder Kui Wings. Song Wen revealed his late Great Ascension cultivation, killed Fu Tian, and devoured his essence blood, magical power, and divine soul, leaving his own cultivation significantly advanced.

• Song Wen used a Death-Substitute Puppet to escape Crimson-Scaled King’s attack and followed Fu Tian’s lingering magical power aura.
• Crimson-Scaled King suspected Song Wen was Extreme Yin and pursued Kurong with the two rat demons.
• Fu Tian tried to take Song Wen’s Thunder Kui Wings and attacked him with a ghost-headed saber.
• Song Wen revealed his late Great Ascension cultivation, deflected Fu Tian’s saber, and overwhelmed him with a lightning strike.
• Song Wen crushed Fu Tian’s skull, concealed the area within a blood sea, and devoured Fu Tian’s essence blood, magical power, and divine soul.

Song Wen interrogated Fu Tian’s divine soul, learned that Kurong was headed to the Rat Race’s lair, and destroyed Fu Tian’s soul before traveling there. He arrived as Kurong trapped three demon cultivators, where Kurong tested Song Wen’s knowledge and grew suspicious of his presence.

• Song Wen learned from Fu Tian that Kurong was likely heading to the Rat Race’s lair, then consumed Fu Tian’s divine soul to keep Kurong from discovering the truth through his soul lamp.
• Song Wen concealed his aura and traveled to the Rat Race’s lair, where he found its mountains devastated and the Crimson-Scaled King, the Rat King, and Towering Rat trapped inside a formation.
• Kurong welcomed Song Wen and invited him to help interrogate the three trapped demon cultivators while Xin Qi and the other three stood behind him.
• Kurong asked whether Song Wen had seen Fu Tian, and Song Wen denied it.
• Kurong questioned how Song Wen had found the killing formation and revealed his suspicion that Song Wen should have avoided the Rat Race’s lair.