Recaps

Song Wen and Ying Wu left the Mountain-Moving Ant nest and traveled across the Western Rong Continent toward a Teleportation Array leading to the Divine Blood Sect. Their journey took them near a Willow Snake, and Ying Wu decided to capture it despite Song Wen’s warning.

• Song Wen had Yan'e calm the Mountain-Moving Ant queen, then scattered the spiritual materials from Yan'e's storage ring to feed the colony.
• Song Wen harvested the ancient seven-leaf stargrass and left the ant nest with Ying Wu.
• Song Wen and Ying Wu set out across the Western Rong Continent toward the Teleportation Array, while Ying Wu collected unfamiliar beasts and herbs along the way.
• Ying Wu spotted a Willow Snake at a mountain pool and asked the Kui Bull to capture it so they could learn the location of the clan's lair.

Ying Wu and Song Wen arrived at the Willow Serpent Clan’s territory with Silver Ring as their guide. Song Wen’s past with the clan came to light when Qing Lian embraced him and the Silver Willow King recognized him, while the Crimson-Scaled King hurried toward them.

• Ying Wu asked Silver Ring to guide them to the Willow Serpent Clan, and Silver Ring eagerly agreed after learning Ying Wu and Extreme Yin were Mahayana cultivators.
• Ying Wu brought Silver Ring aboard her flying ship, and the group reached the Willow Serpent Clan’s territory at Cloud-Drooping Plain.
• The gathered Willow Snakes crowded around the ship and stared at Song Wen until the Silver Willow King arrived and questioned whether she had met him before.
• Song Wen identified himself as Extreme Yin and reminded the Silver Willow King of their meeting centuries earlier.
• Qing Lian rushed into Song Wen’s embrace, prompting Ying Wu to accuse him of having an old flame in the clan.
• The Silver Willow King recalled Song Wen as the former lover of the Crimson-Scaled King and her sister, and the Crimson-Scaled King raced toward them.

Song Wen reunited with Qing Lian in the Willow Snake Clan, where the Silver Willow King demanded he be punished for his past role in the clan's losses. After the Crimson-Scaled King sheltered him, he learned the Kui Bull and both humans were powerful enough to help with his plan to seize Venerable Biwu's true spirit.

• Qing Lian welcomed Song Wen, but the Silver Willow King accused him of poisoning the clan and stealing the Jadeglow Lotus, then demanded he be thrown into the Mating Abyss.
• The Crimson-Scaled King silenced the Willow Snakes and protected Song Wen, while the Silver Willow King left to seek justice from Venerable Biwu.
• Qing Lian vowed to protect Song Wen, and he and Ying Wu followed her and the Crimson-Scaled King to his cave dwelling with the Kui Bull.
• The Crimson-Scaled King bowed to the Kui Bull and asked about its strength; Song Wen explained that it was a late ninth-rank divine beast and that he and Ying Wu were Tribulation Transcendence cultivators.
• The Crimson-Scaled King asked Song Wen to help with a plan, and Song Wen guessed it involved capturing Venerable Biwu's soul and seizing her true spirit.

The Crimson-Scaled King sought Song Wen and Ying Wu’s help in removing Venerable Biwu and advancing to the ninth rank, while Ying Wu offered to purify her bloodline in exchange for a spirit beast contract. Venerable Biwu arrived with the Silver Willow King before the contract was completed, and the Crimson-Scaled King went out to greet them.

• The Crimson-Scaled King explained that Venerable Biwu’s worsening injuries, violence, and support for the Silver Willow King threatened her position in the clan.
• Ying Wu warned that Venerable Biwu’s true spirit would not be enough to help the Crimson-Scaled King reach the ninth rank, then offered to purify her bloodline if she became Ying Wu’s spirit beast.
• The Crimson-Scaled King agreed to the contract, but Venerable Biwu roared from outside the cave and interrupted Ying Wu’s ritual.
• The Crimson-Scaled King postponed the contract and went to lure Venerable Biwu inside, hoping to avoid being seen as ungrateful by the clan.
• The Crimson-Scaled King emerged and found Venerable Biwu accompanied by the Silver Willow King and two subordinates, then bowed to greet her master.

The Crimson-Scaled King lured Venerable Biwu and the Silver Willow King into her sealed cave, where they discovered Song Wen, Ying Wu, and a Kui Bull. Venerable Biwu attacked the Crimson-Scaled King, but a barrier blocked her, and a streak of Netherglow severed her claw.

• Venerable Biwu demanded that the Crimson-Scaled King hand over Song Wen and Ying Wu, and the Crimson-Scaled King admitted they were inside her cave abode.
• The Crimson-Scaled King let Venerable Biwu and the Silver Willow King enter, then sealed the stone door behind them.
• Venerable Biwu and the Silver Willow King saw the Kui Bull emerge from the pool and realized the cave was a trap.
• Venerable Biwu lunged at the Crimson-Scaled King, but her azure barrier repelled the attack.
• Venerable Biwu launched another icy strike, and a streak of Netherglow struck her claw and broke it off.

Song Wen and Ying Wu killed Venerable Biwu and Silver Willow King, allowing Crimson-Scaled King to obtain Biwu’s true spirit. Crimson-Scaled announced Biwu’s death to the Willow Snake Clan while Song Wen remained in Crimson-Scaled’s cave abode with Ying Wu.

• Song Wen destroyed Venerable Biwu’s demon core, extracted her soul, and helped Crimson-Scaled King claim her true spirit.
• Song Wen killed Silver Willow King, and Crimson-Scaled sealed Biwu’s body in a coffin and left to calm the clan.
• Crimson-Scaled told the Willow Snake Clan that Venerable Biwu had died and announced forty-nine days of mourning.
• Song Wen asked Qing Lian to help Crimson-Scaled while he spoke privately with Ying Wu.
• Ying Wu teased Song Wen about Qing Lian’s devotion, and Song Wen recalled using tricks to survive among the Willow Snakes.

Song Wen learned that Ying Wu wanted to use the Crimson-Scaled King to develop a method for improving the Dragon Void Vines’ bloodlines, and the two discussed their lack of children before planning their cultivation. After spending time with Qing Lian, Song Wen left for the Eastern Profound Continent while Ying Wu remained with the Willow Snake Clan.

• Ying Wu explained that he intended to study the Crimson-Scaled King’s bloodline to help the Dragon Void Vines evolve, and said he planned to remain with the Willow Snake Clan.
• Ying Wu wondered whether Song Wen had a hidden ailment because none of his partners had borne children, and admitted he had wanted to conceive a child with Song Wen.
• Song Wen said he would delay devouring Youye’s cultivation until he was ready to face the Second Nine Heavenly Tribulation, and Ying Wu offered to stand guard when the time came.
• Song Wen spent several days with Qing Lian, then set out with Ying Wu for the Teleportation Array as Qing Lian tearfully clung to him.
• Song Wen confirmed the array was intact, handed its disc to Ying Wu, and teleported alone toward the Eastern Profound Continent.

Song Wen returned to the Divine Blood Sect, oversaw its affairs, and mastered the Celestial Dipper Unfading Formation. He then witnessed Ying Wu complete his heavenly tribulation, and Ying Wu offered him the ninety-nine strands of immortal spiritual qi that followed.

• Song Wen returned to the Divine Blood Sect and learned that its army was advancing against the Pagoda Temple while the Flood Dragon Banners were still being crafted.
• Song Wen gave the Seven-Leaf Stargrass to Xuan Li for refining into pills, then spent fifteen years cultivating and studying the formation.
• Song Wen mastered the Celestial Dipper Unfading Formation and hesitated to enter his cave abode, where Yan'e remained trapped in a blood cocoon.
• Song Wen traveled to the Willow Snake Clan and saw Ying Wu withstand a powerful tribulation strike by sending his flying swords into the lightning and clouds.
• Ying Wu completed his tribulation, received ninety-nine strands of immortal spiritual qi, and offered them to Song Wen, who feared approaching in case he provoked the Heavenly Dao.

Song Wen absorbed the Immortal Spiritual Qi Ying Wu shared after passing his first ninefold Heavenly Tribulation, bringing his cultivation close to the peak of the mid Tribulation Transcendence stage. After the Crimson-Scaled King reached the ninth tier, Ying Wu took Song Wen aside, and Song Wen realized Ying Wu expected a personal congratulatory gift.

• Ying Wu sent the Immortal Spiritual Qi from his tribulation to Song Wen, who absorbed it and felt his cultivation approach the peak of the mid Tribulation Transcendence stage.
• Ying Wu told Song Wen that his first ninefold Heavenly Tribulation had been surprisingly easy to overcome.
• The Crimson-Scaled King arrived after advancing to the ninth tier, thanked Ying Wu, and agreed to continue enduring the pain of strengthening his Soaring Serpent bloodline.
• Song Wen told Ying Wu he had come to ask him to guard the Divine Blood Sect while Song Wen prepared for his second ninefold Heavenly Tribulation, but Yan'e had escaped for now.
• Ying Wu led Song Wen away to discuss his congratulatory gift, and Song Wen understood she was asking for intimacy.

Song Wen began his Two-Nine Heavenly Tribulation at the Divine Blood Sect and used his magical treasures and formations to withstand the first seventeen bolts. The final bolt shattered his defenses and struck him, leaving the outcome of the tribulation unresolved.

• Song Wen took two Blood Leech Pills, triggering his breakthrough and the arrival of the heavenly tribulation.
• Song Wen used the Thunder Kui Wings, Nine Calamities Measuring-Heaven Sword, and blood sea to overcome the first fifteen bolts, sacrificing the blood sea against the fifteenth.
• Song Wen restored his magic power with Blood Spirit Sacrifice and deployed the Celestial Dipper Unfading Formation to block the sixteenth and seventeenth bolts.
• Song Wen faced the final bolt with his defenses at full strength, but it destroyed the purple lightning net, sent the Nine Calamities Measuring-Heaven Sword flying, and shattered the formation barrier.
• The remaining lightning struck Song Wen after his defenses collapsed.

Song Wen survived the Double Nine Heavenly Tribulation and advanced to the late Tribulation Transcendence stage, then considered how to strengthen himself before the next tribulation. Ying Wu visited to celebrate, and thirty days later Song Wen got out of bed aching while Ying Wu declared their time together passable.

• Song Wen blocked all eighteen bolts of the Double Nine Heavenly Tribulation and completed his advancement to the late Tribulation Transcendence stage.
• Ying Wu, the Crimson-Scaled King, Xuan Li, Baleful Devourer, Zhou Siyi, and the Divine Blood Sect disciples congratulated Song Wen.
• After the celebrations, Song Wen returned to his cave abode and devoured Yan'e's cultivation, then considered seeking late-stage corpse cultivators in Central Profound Province.
• Song Wen decided to wait before traveling, since he needed to temper his cultivation, prepare for the Triple Nine Heavenly Tribulation, and would need Ying Wu and the Kui Bull's help.
• Ying Wu visited Song Wen's cave abode to celebrate, and thirty days later Song Wen got out of bed supporting his sore waist while Ying Wu said their time together was passable.

After eight years of secluded cultivation, Song Wen learned that Mountain-Crushing City had been destroyed by a swarm of poisonous insects and that contact with nearby Myriad Phenomena Market was also lost. The Divine Blood Sect identified the attackers as an unknown humanoid insect race, but their origin and next move remained unclear.

• Ying Wu left Song Wen’s cave abode with Zhou Siyi, the Crimson-Scaled King, and the Kui Bull, and Song Wen began eight years of secluded cultivation.
• Xuan Li reported that Mountain-Crushing City had gone silent and that every sect member’s soul lamp there, including Elder Zhang Peng’s, had gone out.
• Song Wen ordered an investigation through Myriad Phenomena Market, but Xuan Li soon reported that the outpost there could not be contacted either.
• The Lu Clan of Glazed Light City confirmed that Mountain-Crushing City had been destroyed by poisonous insects and sent an image of the attackers to the Divine Blood Sect.
• Baleful Devourer said the humanoid insects were unknown to him and might be a Demon Race appearing in the world for the first time.

Song Wen discussed the poisonous insects that had destroyed Mountain-Crushing City with the Divine Blood Sect elders, then visited Ying Wu and learned that she had cultivated a ninth-rank Void Dragon Vine. He discovered growing traces of spiritual resonance in Zhou Siyi and the Crimson-Scaled King, and Ying Wu said she cultivated the vines simply because she wanted to.

• Song Wen and the Divine Blood Sect elders debated where the poisonous insects came from and how to stop them, then Song Wen left to invite Supreme Elder Ying Wu back to the sect.
• Song Wen found Ying Wu, the Crimson-Scaled King, and Zhou Siyi with a Void Dragon Vine that Ying Wu said had reached the ninth rank after she enhanced its bloodline.
• Ying Wu explained that she had used upper Void Demons and Star-Dust Spirit Sand to strengthen the vine, though she said those rare materials limited how many ninth-rank vines she could cultivate.
• Song Wen noticed that Zhou Siyi and the Crimson-Scaled King had faint spiritual resonance, and Ying Wu demonstrated that the Void Dragon Vine converted spiritual qi into source qi.
• Song Wen asked Ying Wu why she was so intent on cultivating Void Dragon Vines, and Ying Wu said she did it because she wanted to.

Song Wen and Ying Wu traveled to Glazed Light City to investigate the poisonous insects that destroyed Mountain-Crushing City, then continued west after learning the insects might be acting under a cultivator’s control. Near Mountain-Crushing City, they finally found several of the insects feeding on a giant tiger.

• Song Wen asked Ying Wu to help investigate Mountain-Crushing City, and they left the Divine Blood Sect together while the Crimson-Scaled King and the ninth-rank Void Dragon Vine stayed behind to guard it.
• Song Wen and Ying Wu reached Glazed Light City and learned from Lu Yuanxiu that its cultivators had mostly fled and that the poisonous insects had not appeared nearby.
• Lu Yuanxiu suggested the insects behaved like disciplined soldiers and might be controlled by cultivators, so Song Wen and Ying Wu set off for Mountain-Crushing City.
• Song Wen reasoned that the insect swarm was likely lying in wait near the city because it had not attacked other surrounding settlements or entered the Azure Flame Desert.
• As Song Wen and Ying Wu approached Mountain-Crushing City, they spotted several poisonous insects feeding on a giant tiger, including one with late fifth-rank strength.

Song Wen and Ying Wu captured a group of poisonous insects and discovered they belonged to the Void Carapace Race, creatures claiming to come from the void. The fifth-rank insect revealed that they had descended on the Profound Realm to feed on its living beings.

• Song Wen and Ying Wu found seven fourth-rank poisonous insects and one fifth-rank insect feeding on a demon beast, then decided to capture them.
• Ying Wu used the Kui Bull’s lightning to immobilize the insects and began examining the fifth-rank one before Song Wen urged him to focus on questioning them.
• The insects sent out calls that Ying Wu identified as a summons to their kin, and Song Wen struck the fifth-rank insect to stop its cries.
• Song Wen used the Truth-Listening Technique and learned that the insects called themselves the Void Carapace Race and claimed to come from the void.
• The fifth-rank insect told Song Wen that its race had come to the Profound Realm for the living beings’ fresh blood, which served as food and nourishment.

Song Wen and Ying Wu discovered that the Void Beetles had destroyed Mountain-Crushing City, then fought off a swarm led by three seventh-order beetles and captured them for questioning. Their interrogation suggested the insects feared revealing where they came from, and one died when it began to answer.

• Song Wen told Ying Wu that a Void Beetle had claimed to come from the void and that the insects might have destroyed Mountain-Crushing City.
• A swarm of Void Beetles arrived, and Song Wen overwhelmed their combined attack, killing most of them while sparing three seventh-order beetles.
• Song Wen and Ying Wu withdrew with the captives, and Song Wen learned that the beetles called themselves the Sacred Race and feared their Insect Mother.
• When a captive began to reveal where the beetles came from, its head and soul suddenly shattered.
• Song Wen questioned another beetle without success, and Ying Wu suspected a soul restriction that killed them if they revealed their origins.

Song Wen and Ying Wu discovered that soul restrictions prevented high-rank Void Beetles from revealing their race’s secrets, so they planned to lure the swarm into an ambush instead of attacking Mountain-Crushing City directly. They traveled around the city and found a group of young, weak Void Beetles, hoping their capture would draw stronger defenders.

• Song Wen used the Golden Broth Curse to torture a Void Beetle, but it died before revealing how many ninth-rank beings the race had or how strong the Insect Mother was.
• Song Wen and Ying Wu concluded that soul restrictions protected the Void Beetle Race’s secrets and agreed that attacking Mountain-Crushing City would risk an encirclement.
• Song Wen proposed capturing and torturing Void Beetles near a killing formation to lure their reinforcements into an ambush, and Ying Wu praised the plan.
• Song Wen gave Ying Wu jade slips containing the Truth-Listening Technique and the Golden Broth Curse, and they changed direction to look for more Void Beetles.
• After traveling two or three hundred thousand li, Song Wen and Ying Wu found more than a dozen low-rank Void Beetles hunting in a lake, including a newly hatched one.

Song Wen and Ying Wu lured a ninth-rank Void Beetle to the Lake by capturing a group of its kin, then discovered the off-white beetle was especially important to it. Song Wen kept the off-white beetle alive and began testing the ninth-rank Void Beetle’s combat methods.

• Song Wen and Ying Wu restrained the low-rank Void Beetles and let them call for help while Ying Wu wounded them without killing them.
• A mid ninth-rank Void Beetle arrived and demanded that Song Wen release its kin, while Song Wen suspected the off-white beetle was a female and especially important.
• Song Wen seized the off-white beetle and handed it to Ying Wu, ordering him to keep it alive and guard against interference.
• Song Wen attacked the ninth-rank Void Beetle with Yan'e's Ghost-Head Long Saber, but its arm blocked the strike and its counterattack sent him flying.

Song Wen and Ying Wu fought a ninth-rank Void Beetle, only for the Insect Mother to arrive and attack Song Wen with a soul-piercing Stinger Needle. The chapter left the Stinger Needle speeding toward Song Wen’s face.

• Song Wen used lightning and Soul-Slaying Spikes to injure the ninth-rank Void Beetle, then struck its shoulder and neck with the Ghost-Head Long Saber.
• Ying Wu ordered Song Wen to spare the beetle and sent the Azure Luan Sword to seize it, but a green flash knocked the sword aside.
• The Insect Mother arrived, demanded that the humans release her kin, and threatened to rescue them herself.
• Song Wen questioned whether the Insect Mother was weakened, but she showed no sign of accepting his probe.
• The Insect Mother revealed the soul-attacking Stinger Needle in her tail and fired it at Song Wen.

Song Wen and Ying Wu fought the Insect Mother, whose green spiritual light effortlessly extinguished Song Wen’s Primordial Chaos Divine Thunder. The battle continued as the Insect Mother targeted Ying Wu with the Stinger Needle and Song Wen stepped in to protect her.

• Song Wen deflected the Stinger Needle with the Nine Calamities Measuring-Heaven Sword and survived its soul attack before counterattacking the Insect Mother.
• Song Wen judged that the Insect Mother was not at its peak and urged Ying Wu to join him in killing it.
• Ying Wu attacked with the Azure Luan Sword and one hundred and eight flying swords, but the Insect Mother disrupted the sword formation with its blade-arms.
• Song Wen’s Primordial Chaos Divine Thunder vanished against the Insect Mother’s green spiritual light, while the Azure Luan Sword passed through it without obstruction.
• The Insect Mother redirected the Stinger Needle toward Ying Wu, and Song Wen blocked it as Ying Wu sent her flying swords after the Insect Mother.
• Ying Wu kicked the Kui Bull and scolded it for failing to join the fight.

Ying Wu, the Kui Bull, and Song Wen joined forces against the Insect Mother as it tried to flee. The Insect Mother was torn apart by their combined attacks, though Song Wen had used his substitute-death spell to escape its final lunge.

• The Kui Bull struck the Insect Mother with a blue-green thunder serpent, scorching its carapace and cracking its arms.
• The Insect Mother fled, and Song Wen shattered his own head to appear in its path and attack with his saber and sword.
• The Insect Mother blocked Song Wen's blades with its mandibles and spat poisonous netherglow, which Song Wen stopped with Five Decays Yellow Springs Qi.
• The Insect Mother ignited its spiritual radiance and charged Song Wen, but the Kui Bull's thunder struck it as Song Wen escaped with his substitute-death spell.
• The Kui Bull's lightning, Song Wen's weapons, and Ying Wu's flying swords engulfed the Insect Mother and tore its body apart.

Song Wen and Ying Wu discovered that the Insect Mother had survived by shedding its shell and pursued it toward Mountain-Crushing City. The Insect Mother escaped into a massive Void Beetle swarm after a loyal ninth-stage Void Beetle sacrificed itself to delay the pursuers.

• Song Wen realized the Insect Mother had left no soul fragments behind and used a shell fragment to trace its escape toward Mountain-Crushing City.
• Song Wen, Ying Wu, and Kui Bull caught up with the weakened, newly molted Insect Mother being carried by a mid ninth-stage Void Beetle.
• The ninth-stage Void Beetle flung the Insect Mother forward, then transformed itself into a mass of white light that destroyed the Azure Thunder Python and delayed the pursuers.
• A vast swarm of Void Beetles arrived to rescue the Insect Mother and knocked the Nine Calamities Measuring-Heaven Sword and Azure Luan Sword off course.
• The Insect Mother disappeared into the swarm before Song Wen and Ying Wu could strike again.

Song Wen, Ying Wu, and the Kui Bull fought the Void Beetle swarm, but the insect mother escaped into a fortified nest that the Kui Bull could not damage. Song Wen tried to bargain for the Void Beetles’ withdrawal from Cangwu Province by threatening their captured kin.

• Ying Wu and the Kui Bull attacked the swarm, but the insects combined their strength into a giant phantom that broke through the Kui Bull’s Lightning Domain.
• Song Wen realized the phantom depended on the already-injured insect mother and that its depleted demon essence could make it collapse.
• The phantom retreated into a ruined city and drew strength from a vast nest, allowing it to withstand the Kui Bull’s lightning.
• Song Wen took a pouch from Ying Wu and released more than a dozen low-rank Void Beetles before demanding that the insect mother withdraw from Cangwu Province in exchange for their release.

Song Wen and Ying Wu searched for a way to overcome the Void Beetle Race’s giant insect phantom, first testing poison and then Origin Qi. The insect mother reacted with alarm to the Origin Qi as the Void Dragon Vine’s black dragon attacked the phantom.

• Song Wen threatened the insect mother with a captive Void Beetle, then killed it and several other Void Beetles when she refused to negotiate.
• Song Wen asked Gu Que how to defeat the Void Beetles, and Gu Que suggested poison or rallying human cultivators, but Song Wen rejected the call for a united effort.
• Song Wen asked Ying Wu to find a poison that could restrain the Void Beetles, and they tested his collection of toxins and Nether Poison against the giant insect phantom without success.
• Song Wen proposed trying Origin Qi, and Ying Wu summoned an early eighth-order Void Dragon Vine to gather spiritual energy and produce black mist.
• The insect mother reacted with shock and fear to the Origin Qi, and the black mist formed a dragon that lunged at the giant insect phantom.

Song Wen and Ying Wu discovered that Source Qi could badly injure the giant insect phantom, but the small amount they used eventually dissipated. Ying Wu left to fetch a ninth-rank Void Dragon Vine while Song Wen stayed to watch the Void Beetle Race, ending with him learning that their Heaven-Destroying Divine Light could resist heavenly tribulation.

• The black dragon, protected by the green bird, struck the giant insect phantom and spread Source Qi across its shoulder, carving a massive crater into it.
• The insect mother drew spiritual energy from the earth veins to contain the damage, but the Source Qi eventually dissipated and the phantom healed.
• Song Wen asked Ying Wu to fetch the ninth-rank Void Dragon Vine, and Ying Wu reluctantly departed while Song Wen stayed behind to keep watch.
• The insect mother attacked Song Wen with a gray torrent, but he used the Life-Substitution Technique to retreat twenty thousand li away.
• Song Wen questioned the insect mother about the Void Beetles and learned that their Heaven-Destroying Divine Light could restrain lightning arts, divine-sense attacks, and heavenly tribulation.