Recaps

Jiang Lu prepared for the Heaven's Chosen Competition while Qin Yaner and the others explained its three rounds and selection rules. A few days later, a black hole appeared and dragged Jiang Lu into the Myriad Ghost Soul-Refining Domain before Ye Qing and the others could reach her.

• Ye Qing packed Jiang Lu’s luggage with numerous artifacts, and Jiang Lu questioned whether she needed to bring a suona and spirit-guiding bell.
• Qin Yaner and the other disciples explained the competition’s three rounds and said the Medicine King Pavilion’s candidates would be chosen next month in Void City.
• Jiang Lu prepared pills, talismans, and artifacts, then told her five Spirit Beasts to stay in the pavilion because they could not enter the domain.
• A few days later, a void black hole appeared and pulled Jiang Lu into its darkness.
• Ye Qing, Ye Qingluan, and the others arrived to find Jiang Lu gone as the black hole sealed itself shut.

Cangchen wondered whether Jiang Lu would return for dinner after she entered the Myriad Ghost Soul-Refining Domain. Jiang Lu arrived in the ghost domain, resisted its assault on her mind, and faced a gathering horde of spirits as lightning struck at her.

• Cangchen asked the Spirit Beasts and Ye Qing whether Master would come back for dinner, while Ye Qingluan said she hoped Lu'er was safe and departed.
• Jiang Lu landed in the Myriad Ghost Soul-Refining Domain and summoned the Qianming Sword and Divine Soul Banner to guard her.
• The domain announced that it would refine the body and temper the soul, then unleashed ghostly voices that tried to overwhelm Jiang Lu's mind.
• Jiang Lu recited the Stillness Mantra and used the Divine Soul Banner to steady her soul, while golden spiritual light briefly silenced the domain.
• Countless vicious ghosts and resentful spirits surged toward Jiang Lu as tribulation lightning struck her, but the Qianming Sword intercepted the bolt.
• Jiang Lu spread her Divine Sense as yin winds and ghosts closed in around her.

Jiang Lu endured a swarm of vicious ghosts, using the Divine Soul Banner to devour them as her power and soul grew stronger while Qianming was reforged by lightning. At the Medicine King Pavilion, Ye Qing trained five Spirit Beasts in a punishing formation and planned to make them continue after they ate.

• Jiang Lu fought off the ghosts with the Divine Soul Banner, absorbing their yin qi and soul power despite severe pain and injuries.
• The ghostly qi within the domain was purified into magical power, strengthening Jiang Lu as repeated attacks tempered her Divine Sense.
• Thunderbolts continued striking Qianming, gradually honing and reforging the sword.
• Ye Qing sealed Chi Li, Cangchen, Mingyue, Qiming, and Cutie in a formation where stronger phantom beasts forced them into repeated battles.
• Ye Qing released the exhausted Spirit Beasts, gave them spiritual food, and planned to send them back into the formation once they recovered.

While Ye Qing worried over Jiang Lu’s months-long absence in the Myriad Ghost Soul-Refining Domain, Jiang Lu endured a tense standoff with countless ghosts until a burst of light transported her back to the courtyard. She reunited with her Spirit Beasts, and Ye Qing rushed to see her after she sent him a message.

• Ye Qing trained the five Spirit Beasts and gave them rare spirit plants while he worried about Jiang Lu.
• Jiang Lu’s Divine Soul Banner and Qianming Sword grew stronger as she fought and tempered herself in the Myriad Ghost Soul-Refining Domain.
• A radiant force suddenly transported Jiang Lu, Qianming, and Fan Fan out of the God-Refining Domain, leaving the ghosts in chaos.
• Jiang Lu returned to the courtyard, healed her wounds, and reunited with the five Spirit Beasts.
• Chi Li told Jiang Lu about Ye Qing’s training, and Jiang Lu messaged him before he rushed into the courtyard to see her.

After returning from Myriad Ghost Purgatory, Jiang Lu reunited with Ye Qing and prepared to travel with him to the Xuancheng Domain. She joined the other cultivators aboard a heavily guarded spirit vessel, learning that the gathered disciples and geniuses would travel together through dangerous spatial currents.

• Ye Qing welcomed Jiang Lu back, praised her growth, and told her they would depart in two days.
• Jiang Lu rested in the courtyard for two days, then flew with Ye Qing to Void City's central plaza.
• Shi Yan tried to invite Jiang Lu to travel with his group, but Ye Qing took her away and addressed him as Sect Master Shi.
• Qin Yaner greeted Jiang Lu aboard the spirit vessel and explained why the cultivators were traveling together to the Xuancheng Domain.
• Jiang Lu saw elders, disciples, and Heaven's Chosen Ranking geniuses gathered for the journey.

Jiang Lu met the disciples chosen for the Heaven's Chosen Competition before traveling with them through a domain Teleportation Array to the Xuancheng Domain. The Spirit Boat arrived safely, though the journey left Jiang Lu and the other young disciples seasick.

• Ye Qing introduced Jiang Lu to the sect and clan disciples competing in the Heaven's Chosen Competition, and they introduced themselves to her.
• Ye Qingluan explained that the Spirit Boat was entering the domain Teleportation Array, and Jiang Lu watched as it activated.
• The Spirit Boat and the other vessels crossed a dangerous spatial tunnel while the elders strengthened their protective barriers.
• The Spirit Boat emerged in the Xuancheng Domain, where Jiang Lu and the other disciples became dizzy and collapsed.
• Ye Qing used spiritual energy to cure Jiang Lu's dizziness.

Jiang Lu and the Crimson Reed Domain delegation arrived in Xuancheng Domain and traveled to Shaking Heaven City, where Ding Huairen welcomed them and escorted them to their guest courtyard. The group settled in the city ahead of the gathering of Heaven's Chosen from across the domains.

• Jiang Lu recovered from her first spatial teleportation, and Ye Qing explained that the discomfort would fade with experience or greater cultivation.
• Ye Qing showed Jiang Lu Xuancheng Domain's open plains and explained that they were heading to Shaking Heaven City, while she studied the map and learned about the region during their journey.
• The delegation spotted the vast Shaking Heaven City after a horn announced its approach, and Ye Qingluan greeted Ding Huairen, who told them Heaven's Chosen from Ling Shuo Domain had already arrived.
• Ye Qingluan put away the spirit vessel outside the city, and the delegation followed Ding Huairen to their assigned guest courtyard.
• Ding Huairen described the courtyard's quiet surroundings and complete protective formation before departing, and the delegation entered.

Jiang Lu explored Shaking Heaven City’s Eastern Elixir Market with her senior sisters and impressed the disciples by bargaining down the price of spirit plants. Their outing ended when they encountered two arrogant twins who claimed to be the sons of the City Lord.

• Qin Yaner, Fu Yao, and the other senior sisters invited Jiang Lu to explore Shaking Heaven City’s markets.
• Zhu Yue explained the four markets, and the group chose to visit Eastern Elixir Market first.
• Jiang Lu bargained a stall owner down from twenty to five High-grade Spirit Stones for a selection of spirit plants.
• Jiang Lu taught her fellow disciples how to bargain, and they resolved to haggle more firmly in the future.
• The group followed a commotion to a crowd where two twins argued with three sect disciples, then claimed to be the sons of the City Lord of Shaking Heaven City.

Jiang Lu’s group met disciples from the Reclusive Wen Family, and the two sides gathered information while shopping together. Afterward, Fu Yao and Wen Rui separately assessed the strength of their likely opponents in the upcoming competition.

• Jiang Lu wondered why the Shaking Heaven City Lord’s children and the Reclusive Wen Family disciples had left without fighting, and Qin Yaner explained that factions avoided open hostility unless necessary.
• Wen Rui introduced himself to Fu Yao’s group and asked to accompany them, and both groups became friendlier as they shopped and bargained together.
• Fu Yao reviewed what they had learned about the Ling Shuo Domain and warned her group not to trust Wen Rui’s information completely as they prepared for the competition.
• Wen Rui suspected that many of Fu Yao’s companions were participating Heavenly Prodigies and wondered who Jiang Lu was, recalling that the family head had told him to be careful of her.
• Wen Rui told visiting disciples from other families about his encounter with Fu Yao’s group, and they agreed that their opponents were formidable.

Jiang Lu studied an ancient seal and entered a prolonged enlightenment, then broke through to the Second Layer of the Golden Core just before the Heaven's Chosen Competition. Her companions brought her to the competition after she awakened, and she listened to the latest gossip as their spirit vessel arrived.

• Jiang Lu examined the oval seal and became absorbed in its laws, entering meditation for several days.
• Ye Qing announced that the Heaven's Chosen Competition would begin in seven days and invited the disciples to a banquet, but Fu Yao and the others declined to keep their strength hidden.
• Jiang Lu awakened after seven days and advanced to the Second Layer of the Golden Core.
• Qin Yaner hurried Jiang Lu onto the spirit vessel, where the group caught her up on recent gossip during the journey.
• The spirit vessel slowed and entered a plaza as the group arrived at their destination.

Jiang Lu and the other cultivators arrived at the beast arena as the Five Domains Heaven's Chosen Competition began. The representatives drew the first-round match order, and the tournament was ready to proceed.

• Jiang Lu admired the arena and settled into Crimson Reed Domain's private box with her companions.
• Jiang Lu spotted banners bearing her name, and Qin Yaner explained that sect supporters raised banners to encourage their disciples.
• The Shaking Heaven City Lord announced the tournament's three rounds and opened the Heaven's Chosen Individual Tournament.
• Ye Qingluan and the representatives from the other four domains went to the judges' seats to draw the battle order.
• The five representatives drew the spirit stones for the first round, which would pair fifty contestants into twenty-five one-on-one matches, then returned to their private boxes.

Lin Zhixu fought Qin Che in the Prodigy Individual Tournament, overcoming Qin Che’s swift attacks with solid defense and powerful counters. He defeated Qin Che and advanced, while Jiang Lu watched and cheered from the stands.

• Xiao Longfei announced Lin Zhixu of the Crimson Reed Domain and Qin Che of the Ling Shuo Domain as the first-round opponents.
• Qin Che launched a swift opening attack with his silver crescent blade, but Lin Zhixu blocked it with his Heaven-Piercing Halberd.
• Lin Zhixu pressed Qin Che with broad, forceful halberd strikes while Qin Che relied on nimble movement and blade feints.
• After dozens of exchanges, Lin Zhixu wore Qin Che down and struck as Qin Che faltered.
• Lin Zhixu shattered Qin Che’s defense with a powerful halberd blow, and Xiao Longfei declared him the winner.
• Jiang Lu and the people around her cheered for Lin Zhixu.

Jiang Lu watched the tournament’s Golden Core battles and learned from Ye Qing to control her wandering attention through a chess game. After the disciples reviewed their defeats, Liu Qingqing complained to Jiang Lu about Fu Yao pressuring her not to surrender in the competition.

• Jiang Lu studied the tournament matches and reflected on how combat experience strengthened the cultivators competing in them.
• After nearly two months of matches, Zhang Xingchu, Dou Yiqing, and Wen Xi secured the top three places in the individual arena competition.
• While playing chess with Ye Qing, Jiang Lu lost focus because of outside noise, and Ye Qing used spiritual power to settle her mind and warned her against divided attention.
• Jiang Lu completed the chess game, thanked Ye Qing for his instruction, and joined Ye Qingluan and the disciples as they reviewed their battles.
• Liu Qingqing told Jiang Lu that Fu Yao had pressured her not to surrender, and Fu Yao explained that she had warned Liu Qingqing to put aside her pampered frailty.

Jiang Lu calmed herself by playing Go with Ye Qing before joining the twelve contestants on the Heaven's Chosen Ranking stage. The competition rules banned her from using the Divine Soul Banner, but she confidently prepared to fight with Qianming instead.

• Jiang Lu comforted Liu Qingqing after Fu Yao left, then hurried to the chess room to seek coaching from Ye Qing.
• Jiang Lu played several games of Go with Ye Qing until the arena drums announced the start of the final competition.
• Ye Qing told Jiang Lu to go, and she took her seat among the twelve Heaven's Chosen from the Five Domains.
• Jiang Wenxu watched Jiang Lu while the contestants sized one another up on the platform.
• The rules allowed contestants to use their full strength but prohibited Jiang Lu from using her Divine Soul Banner.
• Jiang Lu decided she could rely on Qianming, whose blade still carried violet-gold lightning from the God-Refining Domain.

Liu Qingqing and Bu Yi fought for hours in a nearly powerless, embarrassing match before Liu Qingqing remembered her sword techniques and knocked Bu Yi off the platform. Afterward, Bu Mingxuan blamed his disciples for indulging Bu Yi, then defended his training to Zhao Youqi, who challenged his explanation about opportunity.

• Liu Qingqing and Bu Yi exchanged weak physical attacks, each mistaking the other's poor fighting for a chance to win.
• The spectators and the disciples watching grew embarrassed and exhausted as the two fought for hours without using spiritual energy.
• Liu Qingqing gathered spiritual energy into her sword and blasted Bu Yi off the platform with Sword Qi.
• The referee declared Liu Qingqing the winner, and Bu Yi crouched below the platform in tears.
• Bu Mingxuan scolded his disciples for spoiling Bu Yi, then told Zhao Youqi that a Stellar Body required patience and opportunity.
• Zhao Youqi scoffed at Bu Mingxuan's appeal to opportunity.

Jiang Lu faced Chen Cheng in the tournament and overwhelmed the Music Cultivator with Qianming’s lightning-charged sword techniques. Chen Cheng was knocked out of the arena, and Jiang Lu advanced.

• Bu Mingxuan agreed to plan for the Ascension Passage after the tournament, while he and others believed Jiang Lu’s fortune and Chaos Spirit Root could help open it.
• Liu Qingqing returned from her match victorious, and Xiao Longfei announced that Jiang Lu would face Chen Cheng.
• Jiang Lu and Chen Cheng took the arena, where Jiang Lu revealed Qianming’s powerful sword spirit and lightning aura.
• Chen Cheng attacked with invisible sound blades, but Jiang Lu countered with lightning and sword intent that cracked the arena.
• Jiang Lu defeated Chen Cheng in three exchanges, sending her and her damaged bonded artifact crashing beneath the arena.

Jiang Lu defeated Chen Cheng in three moves and returned to her seat as the crowd celebrated. The third match began with Jiang Wenxu and Mu Xiaoqing exchanging attacks, and their fight remained underway.

• Jiang Lu won her match against Chen Cheng, then helped her to her feet and accepted her concession.
• Jiang Lu returned to her seat, where Liu Qingqing praised her and blushed at a stray thought.
• The referee announced the third match between Jiang Wenxu of the Azure Tide Domain and Mu Xiaoqing of the Xuancheng Domain.
• Mu Xiaoqing opened the fight by placing formation stones and attacking Jiang Wenxu with ice spikes and silver threads.
• Jiang Wenxu countered with lightning that shattered Mu Xiaoqing's formation and forced her to evade a lightning blade.
• Jiang Wenxu summoned bolts of lightning around his Staff as Mu Xiaoqing's fight continued.

Jiang Wenxu narrowly defeated Mu Xiaoqing, whose injuries revealed that she was suffering backlash from refusing to give up on her master. Liu Qingqing then challenged Lü Wenjie, but he knocked her off the arena almost immediately.

• Jiang Wenxu defeated Mu Xiaoqing after their spiritual powers clashed, and both fighters were badly injured.
• You Xi discovered signs of rupturing in Mu Xiaoqing's meridians and realized she was suffering backlash, while the Jade Void Sect's Grand Elder waited to learn what had happened.
• The referee announced that Lü Wenjie would face Liu Qingqing, and Jiang Lu and Fu Yao doubted Liu Qingqing could win against the far stronger opponent.
• Liu Qingqing charged at Lü Wenjie, who sent her flying off the arena with a burst of spiritual power.
• The referee declared Lü Wenjie the winner, and spectators anticipated his upcoming match against Jiang Wenxu.

You Xi and Zhao Hezhi fought in the fifth match of the Heaven's Chosen Competition, with You Xi using her flute music to disrupt his attacks and pressure him across the arena. The battle remained unfinished as Zhao Hezhi struggled against her sound waves.

• Liu Qingqing lost to her opponent in one move, then leaned on Jiang Lu and Fu Yao as they helped her back to her seat.
• The steward announced the fifth match between You Xi of Xuancheng Domain and Zhao Hezhi of Desolate Qian Domain.
• Zhao Hezhi charged at You Xi and summoned a golden hammer phantom, but her flute music shattered it with powerful sound waves.
• Zhao Hezhi used Startling Wind Thunder to send three pursuing streams of spiritual power at You Xi, who dispersed them with layers of sound-wave barriers.
• You Xi struck the nodes of Zhao Hezhi's spiritual power with sound blades, disrupting his attack and forcing him to retreat.

You Xi defeated her opponent with sound-wave techniques, and Jiang Lu studied how to counter them before Fu Yao faced Gu Tong in the sixth match. Gu Tong's strength and endurance overwhelmed Fu Yao, leaving Jiang Lu to prepare for the body cultivator's style of combat.

• You Xi won the fifth match after her sound waves exhausted and staggered her opponent.
• Jiang Lu analyzed how airflow carried You Xi's sound-wave attacks and began deducing a counter.
• Fu Yao and Gu Tong entered the arena, where Gu Tong opened with a powerful strike and Fu Yao tried to attack his weak points.
• Gu Tong's Blacksteel Guard Mirror blocked Fu Yao's blades, and he forced her into close combat with his heavy attacks.
• Gu Tong defeated Fu Yao with Mountain-Splitting Slash after her spiritual power ran low.
• Jiang Lu gave Fu Yao a pill, and Fu Yao warned her to fight body cultivators from a distance.

Jiang Lu watched the tournament matches and prepared tactics for her next opponent before facing Jiang Wenxu. She immobilized him with a swiftly drawn talisman, leaving the match poised for her follow-up attack.

• Lü Wenjie and You Xi fought in the seventh match, and You Xi won.
• Jiang Lu assessed the remaining competitors and concluded that Wen Rui was too strong for her to defeat.
• Wen Rui won the eighth match against Gu Tong, and Jiang Lu was matched against Jiang Wenxu in the ninth.
• Jiang Lu drew an Immobilization Talisman in midair and froze Jiang Wenxu before his spell could take effect.

Jiang Lu defeated Jiang Wenxu with an Immobilization Talisman and her Third Layer of the Golden Core cultivation, securing a place in the top three of the Heaven's Chosen Ranking. The venue reeled at her hidden abilities as she left the arena after the referee declared her victory.

• Jiang Lu immobilized Jiang Wenxu with a talisman, overwhelmed him with spiritual pressure, and kicked him out of the arena.
• The crowd realized Jiang Lu could draw talismans in the air and had reached the Third Layer of the Golden Core.
• Crimson Reed Domain disciples questioned Ye Qing about Jiang Lu's breakthroughs and talisman skills, but he admitted he had not known either.
• Jiang Lu reflected that her swift victory had secured a top-three ranking, then landed below the arena as Jiang Wenxu lamented his defeat.
• Liu Qingqing and Fu Yao praised Jiang Lu, and the referee declared her the winner of Match Nine.

After the arena rounds, the top three contestants were left unranked, and Jiang Lu told Ye Qing about what she had learned while the disciples reviewed the battles. The elders announced that the next team trial would take place in the dangerous Hunting Secret Realm, leaving the competitors anxious and uncertain.

• The referee announced that Jiang Lu, Wen Rui, and You Xi would not receive fixed rankings after the arena rounds.
• Jiang Lu told Ye Qing everything she knew, and he cautioned her to understand and master her cultivation arts instead of learning them superficially.
• Shi Yan used the Recording Stone to review the arena battles and explain how Crimson Reed Domain's disciples could better face body cultivators.
• Ye Qing began explaining the dangers of different secret realms before Ye Qingluan arrived with several grave-faced elders.
• Ye Qingluan announced that the next team trial would be held in the Hunting Secret Realm, and a disciple asked what kind of place it was.

Ye Qingluan explained the Hunting Secret Realm trial, where survival, opportunities, and the Stellar Stone would determine the competition. Ye Qing revealed that the powerful domains were using the trial to seek a way to open the Ascension Passage, and Jiang Lu traveled with her team toward the realm.

• Ye Qingluan announced that the Hunting Secret Realm was a deadly trial where surviving hunts brought rewards, and obtaining the Stellar Stone meant taking first place.
• Ye Qingluan explained that the competition also depended on individual opportunities and how many disciples from each domain remained, while teleporting out would end a participant’s tournament eligibility.
• Jiang Lu privately wondered whether the powerful domains had a hidden reason for sending the Heaven’s Chosen into danger, and Ye Qing confirmed they hoped this generation could open the Ascension Passage.
• Ye Qing warned Jiang Lu to conceal her abilities, stay with Fu Yao and the team, and remember that the Heaven-Piercing Mystic Mirror would reveal their actions and words.
• Several days later, Jiang Lu traveled with Ye Qing toward the Hunting Secret Realm entrance, carrying Qianming on her back.

Jiang Lu and the other Heavenly Prodigies formed a life-and-death contract with the Hunting Secret Realm and entered through its lightning-wreathed gate. Jiang Lu awoke with her companions in a peaceful sea of flowers, where Fu Yao warned them not to trust what they saw.

• The Spirit Boats reached the Hunting Secret Realm’s entrance above the Soul-Eating Sea, where judges gathered the sixty-two Heavenly Prodigies and explained the dangers and rules.
• The head judge summoned five secret-realm discs and guided the cultivators in forming contracts that could transport them out if they chose to retreat or faced mortal danger.
• The gate unleashed its power, and the Heavenly Prodigies were pulled inside as elders watched them disappear.
• Ye Qing returned to his chamber, resolved to plan for Jiang Lu’s future and the hardships she would face after completing the trials.
• Jiang Lu awoke among her senior brothers and sisters in a vast sea of flowers, and Fu Yao warned them to stay alert and not be deceived by their surroundings.