Recaps

Jiang Jingnian fought the three Lin Mingxin Sect Grandmasters who had cornered the Mountain Cloud School, overpowering them with his lunar momentum and extreme yin true fire. As the battle continued, Jiang Nianci protected the others from Zhu Wuxia, and Jiang Jingnian used Elder Yi’s remains to batter Zhu Wuxia.

• Zhu Wuxia threatened to turn Jiang Jingnian into a corpse puppet and use Liu Qingzhi against the Liu Family, but Jiang Jingnian unsettled her by mentioning Zhu Yulin.
• Jiang Jingnian’s Frost Palace Gold momentum overwhelmed the three Grandmasters’ domain, and he sent Zhu Wuxia flying with a single Blackflame fist.
• Elder Yi used Coiling Shadow Wood to hinder Jiang Jingnian while Elder Guo attacked with a poisoned iron whip, but Jiang Jingnian beat Guo, took the whip, and drove Yi to the ground.
• Jiang Jingnian struck Zhu Wuxia again, then focused on pounding Elder Yi while taunting Elder Guo to keep the Grandmasters from fleeing.
• Zhu Wuxia tried to attack the Mountain Cloud School members, but Jiang Nianci trapped her with Silent Moistening.
• Jiang Jingnian swung Elder Yi’s remains into Zhu Wuxia until she was battered away and Yi’s Essence Flower shattered.

Jiang Jingnian killed Yi Shouming, then fought Zhu Wuxia as she betrayed Guo Yong and advanced to the Third Heaven of True Astral Force. He continued battling her despite her recovery, while in Lin'an the Great Might Martial Saint Son fought the Intent-in-Motion Sword and other Grandmasters.

• Jiang Jingnian killed Yi Shouming, seized control of the battlefield’s momentum, and sealed the area against escape.
• Zhu Wuxia stabbed Guo Yong, then used [Moon in the Woods] to recover and complete her advancement to the Third Heaven.
• Jiang Jingnian used his divine abilities and Sword Qi to badly wound Zhu Wuxia, but she repeatedly shed her damaged body and restored herself.
• Zhu Wuxia taunted Jiang Jingnian that she could outlast him and threatened his allies, while he swallowed Treasure Medicine and charged at her again.
• In Lin'an, the Great Might Martial Saint Son slaughtered civilians before the Intent-in-Motion Sword, Jiang Chenglin, and two local Grandmasters confronted him.
• The Great Might Martial Saint Son shrugged off their attacks, broke Jiang Chenglin’s water chains, and declared that he would use the Grandmasters as fuel for his advancement.

Jiang Jingnian absorbed stolen provincial momentum and advanced to the Second Heaven during his battle with Zhu Wuxia, then expanded his momentum domain and unleashed a monstrous black-flame form against her. Meanwhile, Lu Ze prepared to invade Dongjiang Prefecture, aiming to seize the Two-East Region and claim the Dragon Palace legacy.

• Jiang Jingnian refused to release his momentum seal, while Zhu Wuxia used Dao Radiance Great Medicine to restore her Divine Water and threatened the Mountain Cloud School.
• Jiang Jingnian completed the absorption of a Dragon Vein Fragment and advanced to the Second Heaven of True Astral Force during the battle.
• Jiang Jingnian's momentum domain expanded to nearly three hundred meters, suppressing Zhu Wuxia and disrupting her parasitic ability.
• Jiang Jingnian ignited the frost flowers across the jade platform and transformed into a muscular beast of black flame, declaring that Zhu Wuxia would be the first Third-Heaven Grandmaster he killed in a head-on fight.
• Lu Ze ordered four divisions to mobilize and planned to seize Dongjiang Prefecture, relying on the Lin Mingxin Sect and Barlo Lineage for support.

After killing a Third-Heaven Grandmaster, Jiang Jingnian chose to return to Lin'an and resist the Demon Sect despite the danger, with Jiang Nianci and Liu Qingzhi deciding to accompany him. The chapter left the city’s orthodox Grandmasters trapped by Demonic Path forces and revealed Ian Barlo’s plans to use the regional conflict to aid his ancestor’s revival.

• Liu Qingzhi covered Jiang Jingnian with a padded jacket and clashed with Jiang Nianci over his marriage alliance to the Jiang Family.
• Jiang Jingnian sent the Mountain Cloud School’s people toward Peace City but decided to return to Lin'an, and Jiang Nianci and Liu Qingzhi chose to stay with him.
• Jiang Jingnian recovered to roughly sixty or seventy percent of his strength, then prepared to enter Lin'an and find surviving orthodox allies.
• In Lin'an, the Great Might Martial Saint Son and Zhou Feng trapped four injured orthodox Grandmasters in a miasma domain and prepared to attack them.
• Aboard a ship departing Peace City, Hico Sterling reported to Ian Barlo, who said the region’s eventual victor would become nourishment for his Lineage and aid his ancestor’s revival.

Jiang Jingnian and his companions continued toward Lin'an as the Five Poisons Sect’s plague threatened Dongjiang Prefecture, and he declared that killing Ren Wuqing was the way to stop it. Meanwhile, Qu Lanlan advanced to the Late Inner Qi Realm and escaped a Grandmaster’s attempt to recruit her; Jiang Jingnian then encountered Tong Shaoxuan’s losing battle but chose to walk away because of their past enmity.

• Liu Qingzhi warned that plague poison from the dead could contaminate the Qiantang River system, while Jiang Nianci feared an epidemic would spread through Dongjiang Prefecture.
• Jiang Jingnian said he would avert the calamity by killing Ren Wuqing and considered how Martial Saints and the Celestial Fruits might be constrained or contaminated by higher existences.
• Qu Lanlan killed the Demonic Path fighters who tried to claim her blood pool, absorbed its Demonic Qi and resentment, and advanced to the Late Inner Qi Realm.
• The Illusory Body Dharma King tried to recruit Qu Lanlan into his monastery, but she broke free of his Grandmaster Momentum and vanished in a burst of blood mist.
• Du Wuxing shattered Tong Shaoxuan and Zhuge Xin’s sword formation and prepared to finish Tong Shaoxuan before Jiang Jingnian and his companions arrived.
• After Liu Qingzhi confirmed that Tong Shaoxuan had once opposed the Mountain Cloud School, Jiang Jingnian told the others to leave him to his fate.

Jiang Jingnian defeated Tang Xiangling and Du Wuxing, then saved the wounded Tong Shaoxuan and the remaining Hanging Mountain Sword Sect disciples. Tong Shaoxuan survived but was left unable to retain his Grandmaster-level martial arts, ending the Life-Severing Sword Lineage’s last hope.

• Liu Qingzhi and Jiang Nianci left Tong Shaoxuan’s group, while Du Wuxing recognized Jiang Jingnian as the person who had ambushed him at Southland Lake and pursued him.
• Tang Xiangling intercepted Jiang Jingnian, Jiang Nianci, and Liu Qingzhi, but Jiang Jingnian caught her blades and beat her near death with three punches.
• Du Wuxing arrived and attacked Jiang Jingnian with Blackflame Punishment Blade, but Jiang Jingnian’s six-armed behemoth broke and devoured the divine ability before defeating him.
• Jiang Jingnian killed the remaining Demonic Path fiends and accepted Tong Shaoxuan’s storage pouch after Tong Shaoxuan apologized and thanked him.
• Jiang Jingnian expelled the poison from Tong Shaoxuan’s wounds and told Zhuge Xin that Tong Shaoxuan would live but could no longer keep his Grandmaster-level martial arts.

Jiang Jingnian recovered in Lin'an and refined Tong Shaoxuan’s golden ring into the powerful Fivefold Gold trait while considering how to form a clean divine ability from contaminated Martial Dao Intent. Elsewhere, Yanhuazi arrived in time to rescue the remaining righteous Grandmasters from the Great Might Martial Saint Son and Zhou Feng, then attacked the demonic pair.

• Jiang Jingnian decided to recover and trace the scattered experts after collecting spoils, while Jiang Nianci treated the pollution burning between his brows.
• Jiang Jingnian refined special items until his Second Heaven cultivation reached 73%, then transformed Tong Shaoxuan’s golden ring into the Fivefold Gold trait.
• Jiang Jingnian examined Zhu Wuxia’s contaminated Moon in the Woods intent and considered absorbing it to form a new, uncontaminated divine ability.
• The Great Might Martial Saint Son and Zhou Feng killed Grandmaster Li and weakened the Intent-in-Motion Sword, Jiang Chenglin, and their remaining companion.
• Yanhuazi broke through the demonic force domain with his Falling Flame Flowers overarching force, freeing the surviving Grandmasters.
• Yanhuazi overpowered the Great Might Martial Saint Son and Zhou Feng in their first clash, then charged the Great Might Martial Saint Son again.

Jiang Jingnian condensed the nascent divine ability [Flower Reflecting the Moon] from the contaminated intent of [Moon in the Woods]. Meanwhile, Yanhuazi fought Great Might Martial Saint Son and Zhou Feng, nearly killing Great Might before Xu Shangqing intervened and revealed his alliance with him.

• Jiang Jingnian transformed most of the contaminated [Moon in the Woods] intent into the nascent divine ability [Flower Reflecting the Moon], gaining enhanced recovery and defense.
• Great Might Martial Saint Son and Zhou Feng combined [Phantom Water Nāga] and [Phantom-Sound Fire] into [Phantom-Dream Nāga], which struck Yanhuazi and trapped nearby Grandmasters in hallucinations.
• Yanhuazi broke free of the dream attack and countered with [Flower Without Obstruction], badly injuring both opponents; Zhou Feng survived through [Blood into Smoke], while Great Might fled.
• Yanhuazi confined Great Might and Zhou Feng within his Grandmaster Momentum, pursued Great Might, and weakened him until he was close to death.
• An old man and Xu Shangqing broke into the Momentum, and Xu Shangqing blocked Yanhuazi's attack while asking him to spare Great Might.
• Yanhuazi accused Xu Shangqing's Lin Mingxin Sect of colluding with the Demon Sect and foreigners, then attacked him.

Jiang Jingnian completed his Fivefold Gold preparations while Xu Shangqing and Chao Xianfeng fought Yanhuazi in Lin'an. Outside the city, Yuehuan and Yueming attacked Jiang Leer’s group, but Jiang Jingnian and Liu Qingzhi arrived; as Liu Qingzhi moved to kill the sisters, another Demonic Path expert intervened.

• Jiang Jingnian filled Fivefold Gold with five Metal Virtue Divine Abilities and relied on Treasure Medicine to recover.
• Xu Shangqing held Yanhuazi off until Chao Xianfeng revealed three baleful puppets, and the four of them forced Yanhuazi onto the defensive.
• Yuehuan and Yueming sent Demonic Path fighters into Lin'an, then attacked Jiang Leer, San Huan, and Constable Ma’s group with poisoned needles.
• Jiang Jingnian and Liu Qingzhi arrived to protect Jiang Leer, and Jiang Jingnian captured the wounded Yuehuan and Yueming as they tried to escape.
• Liu Qingzhi began to strike the unconscious sisters, but an unknown expert sent killing-intent sword light at her, which Jiang Jingnian blocked with his body.

Jiang Jingnian and Liu Qingzhi killed Yuehuan and Yueming, then Jiang Jingnian defeated Boshuwu, a veteran Second-Heaven Grandmaster, in one move. After the Demonic Path forces broke and fled, Jiang Jingnian captured Wanyan Ma, who begged for his life and offered information about the Five Poisons Sect’s plans.

• Liu Qingzhi killed Yuehuan and Yueming with the Frost-Snow Sword, while Wanyan Ma retreated toward the Demonic Qi.
• Boshuwu arrived, revealed his Bitter Golden Toad momentum, and attacked Jiang Nianci’s group with Bitter Gold Baleful Intent; Jiang Jingnian countered with Purifying Golden Haze.
• Boshuwu transformed into his Heaven-Swallowing Earth-Devouring Form and challenged Jiang Jingnian, who concealed himself and struck Boshuwu down in one move.
• The witnesses watched Boshuwu die, while Wanyan Ma and the remaining Demonic Path fiends tried to flee.
• Jiang Jingnian killed fleeing fiends with his Yin-Flame Sword Pellet, captured Wanyan Ma, and severed his limbs; Wanyan Ma begged to live and offered information about the Five Poisons Sect’s plans.

Jiang Jingnian and his companions eliminated fleeing Demonic Path fiends, learned that the Five Poisons Sect had gathered its poison lineages, and continued toward Jiang Nianci’s great-uncle amid the battles in Lin'an. As the righteous Grandmasters faced Ren Wuqing and Fang Mo, Jiang Jingnian chose to enter the fighting and reinforce them.

• Jiang Nianci and Liu Qingzhi killed most of the Demonic Path fiends while Jiang Jingnian tracked down and eliminated those hiding nearby, and San Huan escorted Jiang Leer and the survivors toward the Qiantang River docks.
• Jiang Jingnian questioned Wanyan Ma, who revealed that the Five Poisons Sect had gathered the five poison lineages and that Chao Xianfeng was a powerful Grandmaster, before a hidden demonic art made Wanyan Ma explode into blood Gu that Jiang Jingnian destroyed.
• Jiang Nianci chose to stay with Jiang Jingnian and Liu Qingzhi as they followed her bloodline secret art toward her great-uncle, while Jiang Leer reluctantly left with San Huan.
• Chao Xianfeng and his Baleful Puppets pressured Yanhuazi until Fei Yanxin and Wandering Monk broke through Fang Mo’s blockade and joined the fight.
• Fang Mo appeared with Ren Wuqing’s oppressive presence and confronted Yanhuazi, while Jiang Jingnian, Jiang Nianci, and Liu Qingzhi arrived nearby and decided not to wait before entering the battle.

Jiang Jingnian and Liu Qingzhi reached the Black Gu Region as the righteous and demonic factions clashed, while Jiang Nianci confronted Flamebane Manor over its alliance with the Demonic Path. Jiang Jingnian revealed overwhelming strength against two Fangchi Cave lords, then entered the wider battle as Fang Mo’s forces moved to engulf them.

• Jiang Jingnian led Jiang Nianci and Liu Qingzhi toward the Black Gu Region and warned Liu Qingzhi to stay close and avoid direct attacks.
• The Unyielding Mountain Lord refused Chen Xingtu’s invitation to help cripple the righteous Grandmasters, choosing to continue his Ritual Array instead.
• Chen Xingtu explained Flamebane Manor’s support for the Lu Family, and Jiang Nianci severed her ties to the manor and attacked him.
• Jiang Jingnian mocked Cave Lord Huju and Tree-Cypress Cave Lord, then seized both and hurled them into Fang Mo’s battle.
• Fang Mo expanded the Black Gu Region to engulf Jiang Jingnian and the others, while Cave Lord Huju and Tree-Cypress Cave Lord renewed their attacks.
• Jiang Jingnian dodged Tree-Cypress Cave Lord’s flames and struck Cave Lord Huju hard enough to cave in his chest and send him flying.

Jiang Jingnian dominated the cave lords and Chen Xingtu while the righteous Grandmasters struggled against the Five Poisons Sect’s forces. As he began exploiting the weakening Black Gu formation, Chao Xianfeng broke away and sent a blood beast to attack him.

• Jiang Jingnian overpowered the Tree-Cypress Cave Lord and Cave Lord Huju, while Chao Xianfeng used Fang Mo’s spiritual attack to leave Yanhuazi vulnerable until the wandering monk intervened and took Chao Xianfeng’s dagger strike.
• Fang Mo’s Corpse-Venom Black Cocoon continued to suppress the Grandmasters, but its strain began cracking Fang Mo’s body; the Great Might Martial Saint Son tried to attack Jiang Jingnian and was intercepted by the Intent-in-Motion Sword, Jiang Chenglin, and the Short-Staff Grandmaster.
• Jiang Jingnian fought off the two cave lords and Chen Xingtu, then charged the Tree-Cypress Cave Lord while Jiang Nianci delayed Chen Xingtu and helped him strike back.
• Fang Mo recognized Jiang Jingnian as a threat and sent Chao Xianfeng after him; Chao Xianfeng transformed into a blood beast with [Baleful Blood Return] and lunged at Jiang Jingnian.

Jiang Jingnian destroyed Chao Xianfeng’s blood beast, killed the Tree-Cypress Cave Lord, and revealed overwhelming power beneath the moonlight. With the Demonic Path trapped in his Jade Platform Domain and calamity turning against them, he attacked the Great Might Martial Saint Son and Sacred Fire Elder Zhou Feng.

• Chao Xianfeng’s [Baleful Blood Return] engulfed Jiang Jingnian, but Jiang Jingnian used [Life-Shortening Age-Stealing (Years of Swaying)] to collapse and destroy the blood beast.
• The blood beast’s destruction shattered Fang Mo’s [Corpse-Venom Black Cocoon], and Fei Yanxin struck Fang Mo as the surrounding Grandmasters were thrown apart.
• Jiang Jingnian killed the fleeing Tree-Cypress Cave Lord after transferred calamity caused him to lose control of his bowels and stumble into Jiang Jingnian’s [Purifying Golden Haze].
• Jiang Jingnian expanded [Frost Palace Gold] beneath the moonlight, sealing the battlefield and revealing the calamity-transfer power of [Greater Yin Form-Shifting].
• Jiang Jingnian’s Moonlight Essence Clone battered the Great Might Martial Saint Son while Jiang Jingnian used Cave Lord Huju as a weapon to strike Sacred Fire Elder Zhou Feng.

Jiang Jingnian crushed Zhou Feng and Fang Mo, while Liu Qingzhi became a Grandmaster and stopped Chen Xingtu from escaping. With the other Demonic Path experts defeated, Xu Shangqing revealed the Withering-and-Flourishing Martial Saint's possession, and the Martial Saint shattered the Frost Palace Gold field.

• Jiang Jingnian battered Zhou Feng with Cave Lord Huju until Zhou Feng was buried in the jade platform and left unable to fight.
• Fang Mo exposed Jiang Jingnian's Flower-Tree Withered-Lotus Codex, but Yanhuazi rallied the righteous Grandmasters to attack the Demonic Path forces.
• Jiang Nianci restrained Chen Xingtu with water chains, and Liu Qingzhi appeared as a newly risen First-Generation Grandmaster and struck him down.
• Jiang Jingnian tore Fang Mo apart, then confronted Xu Shangqing as the last remaining Demonic Path fighter.
• Xu Shangqing summoned the Withering-and-Flourishing Martial Saint through possession, who wounded the surrounding Grandmasters and shattered the Frost Palace Gold field.

Jiang Jingnian fought the Withering-and-Flourishing Martial Saint’s possessing phantom while the other righteous Grandmasters fled, using his moonlight abilities to withstand the phantom’s overwhelming authority. He destroyed the phantom with a final blow but apparently died too; a Moon Lotus seed drifted beneath the Qiantang River as another took root underground, hinting at his rebirth.

• The Withering-and-Flourishing Martial Saint possessed Xu Shangqing, and his Withering authority incapacitated many of the righteous Grandmasters while he revealed that Martial Saints were prisoners after the Dragon Vein Shattering.
• Jiang Jingnian held back the phantom’s withering torrent with his Extreme Yin Unadorned Body, giving Liu Qingzhi and the other Grandmasters time to escape.
• Jiang Jingnian repeatedly recovered with the Lesser Yin Divine Ability, Flower Reflecting the Moon, and fought Han Qingwu across the ruins and the Qiantang River.
• Han Qingwu gathered his remaining power into the Taihua Sword Canon’s twenty-third form, Withering and Flourishing: No Birth, No Death, and struck Jiang Jingnian down.
• Jiang Jingnian landed a final punch that destroyed Han Qingwu’s phantom, while Xu Shangqing and Jiang Jingnian’s remains crumbled away.
• A Moon Lotus seed drifted beneath the Qiantang River, while another seed sprouted underground with the trait Moon Lotus Treasure-Rebirth Body (Thread).

After Lin'an’s demonic calamity, Xu Shangqing regenerated at the cost of most of his martial strength but was killed by Qu Lanlan, who advanced to Half-Step Grandmaster while fleeing the Illusory Body Dharma King. The Lu Family seized a gateway town and began its invasion of Dongjiang, while three days later an inhumanly handsome youth emerged from the Qiantang River and rented a fisherman’s boat.

• Liu Qingzhi and Jiang Nianci returned toward Lin'an to search for Jiang Jingnian as the city’s fighting ended and its survivors surveyed the devastation.
• Xu Shangqing regenerated in an abandoned field, discovered his strength had collapsed, and fled when he sensed Qu Lanlan and a pursuing Grandmaster approaching.
• Qu Lanlan killed Xu Shangqing with Withered Lotus, consumed the Pestilence Gu, and broke through to Half-Step Grandmaster as she escaped the Illusory Body Dharma King.
• Lu Ze received news of Lin'an’s devastation and, with Lu Qibo, mobilized the Lu Family’s War Puppet Divisions to seize a fortified town in Dongjiang Prefecture.
• Three days later, a pale youth emerged from the Qiantang River, frightened an elderly fisherman, and offered silver to rent his boat.

Jiang Jingnian learned that the Eastwater Lu Family had seized territory across Dongjiang Prefecture and carved up part of Lin'an, then killed Blind Bear and the Water Dragon Gang members who served them. The chapter left Lu Hong and Xue Yan discussing whether Clearwater Workshop would join the Lu Family’s side.

• Jiang Jingnian refined the special items he had collected, bringing his Second Heaven True Astral Force progress to ninety percent and strengthening his Grandmaster Momentum.
• Old Li told Jiang Jingnian that Lin'an remained chaotic, and at the dock Blind Bear and the Water Dragon Gang tried to charge him a management fee.
• Jiang Jingnian used his Grandmaster Momentum to question Blind Bear and learned that the Water Dragon Gang served Commander Lu and that the Lu Family had taken control of a quarter of Lin'an.
• Jiang Jingnian concluded that the Lu Family’s invasion had broad backing and killed Blind Bear, the gang members, and others within range with his Yin-Pole Sword Flame.
• At a residence near Xiaonan Wharf, Lu Hong asked Xue Yan whether Clearwater Workshop would join them while the Water Dragon Gang leader waited outside.

Jiang Jingnian destroyed the demon-corrupted Water Dragon Gang and Eastwater Xue Family forces at Xiaonan Wharf, then confronted Lu Family allies who had gathered in Lin'an. As the Five Poisons Sect attacked the Hanging Mountain Sword Sect and the Hanging Mountain Sword Saint’s plan collapsed, the chapter recounted how demonic calamity and war spread across the realm in the sixth year of spring.

• Jiang Jingnian killed the Water Dragon Gang members and Eastwater Xue Family fighters at Xiaonan Wharf, then used his true astral force to drag swimmers from the river and burned the ships with black moonflame.
• Xue Yan proposed helping Li Yue’s son, Li Zhile, become a Grandmaster through human pills and demonic ritual arrays so Clearwater Workshop would join the Lu Family’s cause.
• Jiang Jingnian confronted Xue Yan, Lu Hong, Wen Xinchong, and their allies, dismissed them as juniors, and unleashed [Frost Palace Gold].
• The Five Poisons Sect’s black tide approached Empty Hanging Mountain, and the Hanging Mountain Sword Sect’s elders recognized that the sect was under attack.
• The Hanging Mountain Sword Saint told Wuhuizi that his original plan had failed and ordered him to leave before Ren Wuqing announced his arrival.
• The chapter’s account of events after the Southern Martial Gathering described the fall of the Hanging Mountain Sword Sect, the Southward Faction’s expansion, and mounting military crises across the realm.

Jiang Jingnian pressured Lin'an’s local factions to follow his plan to resist the Eastwater forces, then uncovered a possible reason Martial Saints were restrained: supernatural power might bind its users to higher beings. The chapter ended when an urgent report arrived from Peace City.

• At a meeting in Silver Leaf Studio, local leaders debated whether to join the Southward Faction after hearing about the Five Poisons Sect’s horrific Mother-Child River and living sacrifice.
• Jiang Jingnian warned the factions not to betray him, demanded the resources they had promised, and confirmed that the arena matches against the Eastwater factions would take place in five days.
• Jiang Jingnian checked the Joyous Blood Moon’s unsealing progress and sensed a dangerous calamity approaching as chaos spread across the southeast.
• While studying why Martial Saints could not act freely, Jiang Jingnian deduced that all supernatural power might bind its practitioners to higher beings and strip away their free will.
• A messenger urgently summoned Jiang Jingnian with a report from Peace City.

Jiang Jingnian learned that Eastern Wu raiders had devastated Little Qian Island and that Peace City faced threats from the Eastwater Army and foreign powers, but he decided to hold Lin'an rather than rush to defend Peace City. He warned the Le Family about their coming deathmatch, then the chapter ended as a bare-chested man in West Lu County opened his eyes and was asked about the situation.

• Li Mincheng reported that Eastern Wu raiders ambushed Little Qian Island, badly wounded Jiang Xu, and left Jiang Nianci in command while Peace City faced pressure from the Eastwater Army and foreign embassies.
• Jiang Jingnian reasoned that the island raid might be a trap to lure him away from Lin'an, and he ordered Peace City's factions to prepare to abandon the river defenses, Qingtian County, and Little Qian Island if necessary.
• Jiang Jingnian told Li Mincheng that he would hold out in Lin'an and, if the situation collapsed, strike the Dongjiang Prefecture Governor's Office and the Lu Family's stronghold.
• Jiang Jingnian entered the Le Family's secret chamber and asked Le Qinghong whether he was healthy enough for the coming deathmatch, leaving the family elders to suspect he had come to warn them.
• In West Lu County, a brawny, bare-chested man opened his eyes as someone asked Sect Master Wen about the situation.

After Jiang Jingnian treated Mi Yan and learned that the Falling Blossom Pavilion faced a Martial Saint-led assault, he refused Yanhuazi’s advice to retreat if Lin’an fell. He then consumed several trait-bearing treasures, strengthening his Heavenflame Sword and resurrection abilities, as preparations continued for the coming conflict.

• Jiang Jingnian accepted the Mi Family’s resources in exchange for treating Mi Yan, then cured some of Mi Yan’s Corpse Gu contamination and warned him to recuperate.
• Mi Yan told Jiang Jingnian that two Martial Saints had attacked the Falling Blossom Pavilion, its Supreme Pavilion Master had been injured, and Yue Xiaoque remained sealed because of severe Blood Moon Contamination.
• Mi Yan relayed Yanhuazi’s advice that Jiang Jingnian preserve himself if the situation became hopeless, but Jiang Jingnian declared that he would not retreat now that he had begun practicing martial arts.
• Jiang Jingnian refined Cave Lord Huju’s Golden Ring and other trait-bearing items, turning Fivefold Gold into Fivefold Spirit-Stacked Gold and greatly enhancing Heavenflame Sword and Moon Lotus Treasure-Rebirth Body.
• Jiang Jingnian considered how his strengthened traits could help him fight across a prefecture, while recognizing that a Martial Saint could still defeat him by waiting over his remains.

Jiang Jingnian reached second-heaven perfection and learned that advancing further required refining countless realms, while his dwindling Life Essence threatened to cloud the battle ahead. As Eastwater’s factions gathered near Lin’an, Huo Jiang arrived as a powerful outside reinforcement and promised to kill him at Heavenbright Peak.

• Jiang Jingnian reached second-heaven perfection, perceived the Celestial Gate and the emptiness before it, and feared that pursuing a lunar path could make him a celestial being’s prisoner.
• Jiang Jingnian discovered that advancing required ninety-nine Metal Nature traits and one Lunar Phase Trait, refined sixty-nine Metal Nature items, and watched his Life Essence decline.
• Jiang Jingnian assessed his growing strength, checked his arrogance, and prepared for the coming battle while his calamity worsened.
• Eastwater’s factions and foreign reinforcements gathered near Lin’an, where their leaders planned to kill Jiang Jingnian at Heavenbright Peak and debated his apparent decline.
• Huo Jiang arrived at the restaurant as a Red Jade Sect reinforcement, and she told Lu Min she would help beat Jiang Jingnian to death the next day.

Huo Jiang arrived in Eastwater Prefecture and challenged Ding Huo, damaging a restaurant before Lu Min stopped their fight. As the Dawn Peak Battle approached, Jiang Jingnian received a visit from Red Jade Sect representatives seeking to absorb the Mountain Cloud School, while the Sea-Gazing Pavilion arrived to observe him.

• Huo Jiang, a Red Jade Sect Grandmaster and relative of Lü Lan, exchanged a powerful blow with Ding Huo and wrecked half a restaurant before Lu Min intervened.
• Huo Jiang dismissed Jiang Jingnian as a threat, while Lu Min warned her that Jiang had reached the Second Heaven of True Astral Force before age twenty and wielded a peerless martial art.
• Zhou Qinglong and Zhou Sheng arrived at Silver Leaf Studio for the Dawn Peak Battle, and Zhou Qinglong said they would assess Jiang Jingnian while keeping the Sea-Gazing Pavilion independent of the Southward Faction.
• Mi Lin told Jiang Jingnian that Red Jade Sect representatives had requested a meeting, and the local Grandmasters discussed the sect's power and possible intentions.
• Lü Tongguang told Lü Buyan that the Red Jade Sect hoped to incorporate the Mountain Cloud School, then Jiang Jingnian entered their room and the visitors were struck by his appearance.

Jiang Jingnian rejected the Red Jade Sect’s demand that the Mountain Cloud School submit, killed Lü Buyan, and drove Lü Tongguang and another Grandmaster from Lin'an. He rallied Dongjiang’s wavering allies, received a promise of supplies from Jiangyou Prefecture, and the chapter ended with the injured Red Jade Sect survivors reaching Huo Jiang at Heavenbright Peak to report Lü Buyan’s death.

• Lü Tongguang offered to protect the Mountain Cloud School if Jiang Jingnian surrendered its holdings, but Jiang Jingnian refused and demanded the Red Jade Sect help destroy Eastwater Prefecture’s powers.
• Lü Buyan revealed that Huo Jiang had gone to aid the Eastwater Lu Family and threatened the Lin'an Grandmasters, so Jiang Jingnian killed him and fought off Lü Tongguang and another Red Jade Sect Grandmaster.
• Jiang Jingnian told the gathered Grandmasters that he had rejected the Red Jade Sect for Dongjiang’s sake, strengthening the resolve of Lin'an’s wavering allies.
• Zhou Qinglong and representatives from Jiangyou Prefecture offered aid in five shipments, while Zhou Sheng questioned Jiang Jingnian’s confidence before the battle at Heavenbright Peak.
• At Heavenbright Peak, Lü Tongguang and Huo Li arrived injured and told Huo Jiang that Jiang Jingnian had killed Lü Buyan.