Recaps

Gu Sheng escorted Xie Qingxuan to Green Lotus City, gave her a Linlang Pavilion token, and sent her to Great Desolation City before continuing toward the southern region. In Blazing Sun City, he began searching for the Jade Capital Sect, settled into Moon Gazing Pavilion, and rejected Steward Liu’s offer of female martial artists.

• Gu Sheng offered Xie Qingxuan a Linlang Pavilion token for protection, and she accepted it after he warned that the two great sects might target the Xie Family.
• Gu Sheng escorted Xie Qingxuan through the mountains to Green Lotus City, where the Innate Spirit Embryo revealed it had used its spiritual energy to carry him there.
• Gu Sheng paid for Xie Qingxuan to teleport to Great Desolation City, and she asked whether they would meet again before the formation sent her away.
• Gu Sheng traveled to Blazing Sun City, hired Zhao San to find lodging and investigate the Jade Capital Sect, and booked a private courtyard at Moon Gazing Pavilion.
• Gu Sheng cultivated in the courtyard while an unseen shadow followed him, and Zhao San received a High-grade Spirit Stone from a Moon Gazing Pavilion steward for keeping quiet.
• Steward Liu offered Gu Sheng female martial artists skilled in dual cultivation, but Gu Sheng refused and frightened him with his pressure.

Gu Sheng discovered that the Blazing Sun King’s line descended from the Jade Capital Sect and fled Moon Gazing Pavilion after Tang Muzhi marked him and pursued the Innate Spirit Embryo. Unable to shake his trackers, Gu Sheng sought refuge at the Town South King’s Mansion, where an armored woman challenged him before agreeing to report his arrival.

• Zhao San warned Gu Sheng that a powerful figure in Blazing Sun City had stopped his investigation into the Jade Capital Sect, and Tang Qingyun revealed that the Blazing Sun King’s line descended from the sect.
• Tang Qingyun used spiritual force to test Gu Sheng’s explanation, warned him not to investigate the Jade Capital Sect again, and revealed his strength as a sixth-level Heavenly Martial Realm expert.
• Gu Sheng learned that Tang Muzhi had planted a Blazing Sun Mark on him and fled Moon Gazing Pavilion, disguising himself with the Thousand Illusions Mirror as Tang Qingyun led a pursuit force after him.
• Gu Sheng discovered that several experts were tracking him and realized Tang Muzhi would not act inside the city, so he headed toward the Town South King’s Mansion to use its protection.
• An armored woman stopped Gu Sheng outside the mansion, and he presented his Blazing Heaven Sacred Land token and explained that the Town South King might need a method to break through his realm and extend his lifespan.
• The woman withdrew her spear and went to report Gu Sheng’s arrival at the Town South King’s Mansion.

Gu Sheng helped Nangong Tiance overcome his cultivation bottleneck, allowing the Town South King to break through into the Earth King Realm. As Tang Muzhi ordered Gu Sheng seized when he left the estate, Nangong Tiance’s triumphant voice rang through the mansion.

• Gu Sheng used the Blazing Heaven Sacred Order to meet Nangong Tiance and explained that his true qi transformation had taken the wrong direction.
• Gu Sheng wrote “Break to Rebuild!” for Nangong Tiance, who broke through to the Earth King Realm in a massive surge of spiritual energy.
• Tang Muzhi learned of Nangong Tiance’s breakthrough and ordered Tang Qingyun to investigate its cause and have Gu Sheng seized when he left the Town South King’s territory.
• Nangong Yingying introduced Gu Sheng to Nangong Baye, who thanked him for helping Nangong Tiance and grew furious upon learning that the Blazing Sun King’s men were watching him.
• Gu Sheng studied the spiritual fluctuations while sheltering in the mansion, and Nangong Tiance’s voice announced his breakthrough to the assembled people.

Gu Sheng left Blazing Sun City after persuading Nangong Tiance to follow him and study the Dao resonance in a sword mark. On the way to the Southern Frontier, Gu Sheng evaded pursuing martial artists by disguising his aura and reached Blackwater City.

• Nangong Tiance questioned Gu Sheng’s identity, but Gu Sheng refused his offer to marry Nangong Yingying and instead showed him a sword mark containing profound Dao resonance.
• Nangong Tiance agreed to serve Gu Sheng, who gave him a jade talisman and left the city with Nangong Yingying and Nangong Baye as escorts.
• Tang Muzhi and Tang Qingyun plotted to have Southern Frontier forces attack Gu Sheng, while Tang Muzhi suspected Gu Sheng carried one of the thirty-six inheritances left by an ancient sword cultivator.
• An enemy array platform forced Gu Sheng and the Nangong siblings to land; Gu Sheng changed his aura and separated from them to avoid capture.
• Gu Sheng passed himself off as a Southern Frontier cultivator named Zhao San, then reached Blackwater City and was stopped at a checkpoint.

Gu Sheng entered Tianyou City, learned that a secret realm had appeared near the city, and bought a place in the expedition while investigating who might be watching him. He identified the Five Poisons Sect patriarch as the Blood Centipede Protector, lured him into a valley, and faced the Five Poisons Bone Erosion Array.

• Gu Sheng paid for entry into Tianyou City and hired Zhao Laosan to find him a quiet inn and explain the city’s powers.
• Gu Sheng learned about the secret realm near Wusheng Temple and that the Tianyou Sect and Five Poisons Divine Cult were both pursuing it.
• Gu Sheng bought a secret realm slot from Market Master Mo Ling and learned that the Blood Centipede Protector, who wore a bronze mask, was stationed in the city.
• Gu Sheng suspected the Blood Centipede Protector was the Five Poisons Sect patriarch who had been watching him, so he deliberately drew his pursuers into a valley outside the city.
• The Blood Centipede Protector attacked Gu Sheng, but Gu Sheng dispersed his poisonous centipede with a breath; seven followers then formed the Five Poisons Bone Erosion Array around him.

Gu Sheng killed the Blood Centipede Protector, followed the Blood Soul Arrow Mark to the Five Poisons Divine Cult branch, and slaughtered everyone there while framing Tang Qingyun. As Tang Qingyun and the Tianyou Sect Patriarch moved to spread news about Gu Sheng’s treasure, Gu Sheng reached the guarded secret-realm entrance.

• Gu Sheng exposed the Blood Centipede Protector’s Phantom Centipede Substitute Talisman, overcame his poison and attacks, and killed him with the North Star Immortal Slaying Sword and God Slaying Thorn.
• The dying Blood Centipede Protector struck Gu Sheng with a Blood Soul Arrow Mark, and Gu Sheng followed it to the Five Poisons Divine Cult branch.
• Gu Sheng unleashed the Heavenly Demon Vine to kill everyone in the branch, then carved a message blaming Tang Qingyun, heir to the Blazing Sun King.
• Gu Sheng sent his Spirit Embryo Incarnation to impersonate Tang Qingyun across Tianyou City, stirring panic before he slipped away.
• Tang Qingyun denied responsibility to the Tianyou Sect Patriarch, who agreed to help spread news that Gu Sheng possessed a great treasure and summon intelligence brokers.
• Gu Sheng arrived at the secret-realm entrance and overwhelmed a guard with his immense pressure.

Gu Sheng entered the secret realm and killed thirteen Five Poisons Divine Cult martial artists before confronting Yin Jiuyou, the Tianyou Sect’s First Elder. After Yin Jiuyou ambushed him and used the Blood Burst Art to reach the Heavenly Martial Realm, Gu Sheng blocked his powerful saber strike with the Heavenly Demon Vine and prepared to attack.

• Gu Sheng forced a martial artist to open the secret realm, then entered using a token from the Five Poisons Divine Cult.
• Gu Sheng used the Heavenly Demon Vine to kill a Five Poisons Divine Cult martial artist refining a spiritual herb, then killed three more disciples traveling together.
• Gu Sheng hunted down thirteen Five Poisons Divine Cult martial artists and learned that the cult might be backed by a hidden great sect.
• Yin Jiuyou confronted Gu Sheng, claimed he had no friendship with the Five Poisons Divine Cult, and attacked him when Gu Sheng passed by.
• Gu Sheng wounded Yin Jiuyou and exposed his feigned death, then countered his activated defensive talismans with Divine Flame Sword Qi.
• Yin Jiuyou used the Blood Burst Art to reach the Heavenly Martial Realm and unleashed a massive saber strike, but Gu Sheng blocked it with the Heavenly Demon Vine and sent its tendrils toward him.

Gu Sheng defeated a Tianyou Sect expert who guarded a valley of dense spiritual energy, using the Heavenly Demon Vine’s newly revealed poison to stop her secret technique and drain her life. Afterward, he suspected the vine had gained its poison from absorbing practitioners of poison arts.

• Gu Sheng watched the Heavenly Demon Vine complete its advancement after draining a middle-aged Heavenly Martial Realm cultivator, then recalled it into his body.
• The Innate Spirit Embryo detected unusually dense spiritual energy north of Gu Sheng, leading him to a mist-shrouded valley.
• A Tianyou Sect woman in the Heavenly Martial Realm accused Gu Sheng of trespassing and attacked him to claim the valley’s resources for herself.
• Gu Sheng countered her blade lights with the North Star Immortal Slaying Sword and sent the Heavenly Demon Vine to overwhelm her defenses.
• The woman used the Blood Fiend Soul Burning Great Law, but a hidden vine poisoned her and disrupted the technique before the Heavenly Demon Vine drained her life.
• Gu Sheng examined the blackened corpse and suspected the Heavenly Demon Vine’s poison came from absorbing practitioners of poison arts.

Gu Sheng claimed an Innate Spirit Spring, absorbed its core, and broke through to eighteen Grotto-Heavens while the Tianyou Sect mobilized after Youyun and the First Elder died. As Mo Tianyou attacked the Heavenly Demon Vine guarding the valley, Gu Sheng concealed his aura and prepared to face the approaching sect forces.

• Gu Sheng entered the spirit spring, advanced to the sixth level of the Earth Martial Realm, and captured its red core after the Spirit Embryo identified it as a treasure of the same origin.
• Gu Sheng collected the remaining Spiritual Spring Water and endured intense pain to open his second meridian, successfully forming eighteen Grotto-Heavens.
• Old Ancestor Tianyou discovered that Youyun and the First Elder's soul lamps had gone out and ordered the sect to search the secret realm for them.
• Gu Sheng tested his new strength, then sensed the Heavenly Demon Vine's spiritual fluctuation and heard Mo Tianyou demanding vengeance outside the valley.
• Mo Tianyou attacked the Heavenly Demon Vine with a sword formation as Gu Sheng watched from concealment and turned his attention toward the Tianyou Sect disciples.

Gu Sheng destroyed the Tianyou Sect Patriarch and escaped the Five Poisons Divine Cult’s pursuit after its checkpoint detected the Blood Soul Arrow mark. After traveling through the wilderness for half a month, he reached Xiaguang City, where a mysterious woman blocked his way.

• Gu Sheng ambushed the Tianyou Sect, killed its disciples and Patriarch, and looted their possessions before leaving the secret realm.
• Gu Sheng saw Tianyou City descend into chaos as rival factions fought over the fallen sect’s resources.
• At a Five Poisons Divine Cult checkpoint, Gu Sheng was exposed by the Blood Soul Arrow mark and killed the three martial artists guarding it.
• Gu Sheng evaded the pursuing Branch Master and his men by hiding in a swamp and misleading them with an afterimage.
• Gu Sheng avoided cities for half a month and finally reached Xiaguang City, where a woman in a violet-and-gold robe stopped him.

Gu Sheng entered Xiaguang City and learned that its teleportation array was sealed while the Purple Cloud Divine Sect’s people were visiting. After clashing with Tong Jiu and meeting Miao Muqing, he discovered she wanted his help with her mission involving Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven.

• A Purple Cloud Divine Sect girl leaped from her Purple Scale Beast to protect a child, and Gu Sheng learned the city’s teleportation array would reopen in three days.
• At the inn, Tong Jiu confronted Gu Sheng after Gu Sheng destroyed his spiritual probing, but the girl stopped Tong Jiu from escalating the dispute.
• Gu Sheng overheard the girl discuss Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven and its auctioned cultivation slots before she noticed his spying and invited him to talk.
• Miao Muqing told Gu Sheng that she and her younger sister, Miao Ren, shared one body and that she had awakened to pursue her master’s task of borrowing Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven.
• Miao Muqing revealed that she knew Gu Sheng had evaded the three great divine sects and bought Bone-Eroding Incense, then asked him to cooperate.

Gu Sheng allied with Miao Muqing and Miao Muxue to enter the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven, while learning that rumors about him had made him a target. At the auction venue, Qi Shaoling challenged his right to sit among the guests and reached for his admission token.

• Gu Sheng agreed to help Miao Muqing in exchange for access to the Purple Cloud Divine Pool and a Guest Elder identity, and she gave him a Soul Rune that could wake her.
• Miao Muxue awoke in the same body, introduced herself as Miao Muqing's twin soul, and gave Gu Sheng a Thousand Faces mask to disguise himself from pursuers.
• Miao Ren reported that Eastern Wasteland martial artists were hunting Gu Sheng over rumors that he had stolen a treasure from the Town South King's Mansion.
• Miao Muxue told Gu Sheng that she and Miao Muqing sought a Twin Soul Flower in the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven so they could separate, and the three headed to Purple Cloud Residence for the auction.
• Gu Sheng presented his jade token and entered the third-floor auction hall, where Qi Shaoling mocked him as an independent cultivator and reached for his token.

Gu Sheng attended Purple Cloud Residence’s auction, where Ye Yiyi revealed she wanted a Sovereign Realm Demon Core to forge the Soul-Slaying Sword. He outbid Qi Shaoling for the core and drove him from the auction, leaving Ye Yiyi stunned by his intervention.

• Ye Yiyi stopped Qi Shaoling from bullying Gu Sheng and warned him against invoking his aunt or repeating what he had done to her younger sister.
• Gu Sheng learned that the auction’s grand finale would be entry slots to the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven, which drew powerful figures from across Southern Border.
• Yuexia auctioned the Spiritual Rhinoceros Finger and Cloud-Breaking Spear, while Ye Yiyi asked Gu Sheng to help her bid on an item she needed.
• Ye Yiyi bid forty-five thousand High-grade Spirit Stones for the Sovereign Realm Demon Core, but Qi Shaoling raised the price to one hundred thousand and taunted her.
• Gu Sheng outbid Qi Shaoling at two hundred fifty thousand High-grade Spirit Stones, displayed a Purple Firmament Token, and secured the demon core as Qi Shaoling withdrew.

At the auction, Gu Sheng rejected Ye Yiyi’s mistaken belief that he had bought a demon core for her, then received a King Realm martial skill from Miao Muqing as a test of his strength. As the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven entry slots went up for auction, Gu Sheng learned more about Ye Yiyi’s ties to the Miao sisters while Miao Ren and the great sects entered the bidding.

• Gu Sheng told Ye Yiyi that he had bought the demon core for himself, leaving her humiliated and speechless.
• Yuexia presented the King Realm technique Void God Slaying Slash and a Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven entry slot; Miao Xue’s bid made the great sects withdraw.
• Miao Muqing took control of Miao Muxue and gave the martial skill to Gu Sheng, privately explaining that the gift was a test and a bid for cooperation.
• Gu Sheng accepted the jade slip as several cultivators scrutinized him, while Ye Yiyi questioned his connection to the Miao sisters and invited him to her residence.
• Ye Yiyi revealed that she was a disciple of the Purple Cloud Divine Sect’s leader, and Gu Sheng said he planned to bid late to avoid drawing attention.
• Miao Ren appeared and bid on the first grotto-heaven slot, but the Azure Blood Divine Sect’s Little Princess won it for 1.8 million High-grade Spirit Stones; the sect and the Skyfire Divine Sect then bought the second slot for two million.

Gu Sheng traded the Mountain Breaker saber to Ye Yiyi for help entering the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven, but the auction revealed that powerful factions were hunting him for the supreme treasure and the King Realm art he had bought. He and Ye Yiyi drew their pursuers to an open area, where Gu Sheng faced the Blood Wolf Gang and summoned a golden cauldron.

• Gu Sheng agreed to lend Ye Yiyi the Sovereign Realm saber Mountain Breaker in exchange for her help entering the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven.
• After buying the Nine Revolutions of the Profound Heavens, Gu Sheng sensed powerful cultivators probing him, and Ye Yiyi warned that outsiders had surrounded Purple Cloud Residence.
• Miao Muqing revealed that people from the three great divine sects were waiting outside for Gu Sheng, whose identity as Qin Tian of the East Desolation had been exposed.
• Gu Sheng convinced Ye Yiyi to let their pursuers gather, then led her through the encirclement toward an open place to confront them.
• A Blood Wolf Gang leader unleashed his third-level Grandmaster Realm pressure, and Gu Sheng answered by summoning a radiant golden cauldron marked with nine dragons.

Gu Sheng defeated a Sect Realm attacker but suffered severe injuries, then learned from Ye Yiyi that the Purple Cloud Immortal Pool could remake bodies and that Miao Muqing carried the Southern Emperor’s remnant soul and Imperial Seal. Miao Muqing revealed that her body was failing and asked Gu Sheng for help, leaving him demanding to know what the Southern Emperor’s line would offer in return.

• Gu Sheng killed a third-layer Sect Realm expert with the Nine Dragon Universe Cauldron, and Ye Yiyi helped him conceal his weakness while they escaped to safety.
• Two pursuing elders reconsidered attacking Gu Sheng and left to report his power to their sect masters; Gu Sheng later recovered rapidly from his wounds.
• Ye Yiyi explained that the Purple Cloud Divine Pool was the Creation Immortal Pool, which could reshape a body, and suspected Miao Muxue’s remnant soul was the Southern Emperor’s.
• Miao Muqing revealed that she was the Southern Emperor’s daughter, shared her body with her mother’s remnant soul, and held the Imperial Seal of Southern Frontier within her soul’s origin.
• Miao Muqing said her body was failing, explained that the Seventy-two Divine Sects had secretly targeted her, and admitted that Situ Qingfeng had told her about Gu Sheng.
• Gu Sheng asked what sincerity the Southern Emperor’s line had prepared, and Miao Muqing began to answer with a question of her own.

Gu Sheng uncovered the Nangong sisters’ and Miao Muqing’s concealed plans, then accepted Miao Muqing’s Soul restriction in exchange for answers about the Southern Emperor Seal. While attempting to study the seal in a protected courtyard, he watched the Nine Dragon Universe Cauldron seize it against his will.

• Miao Muqing offered Gu Sheng the Southern Emperor Seal and revealed that Earth King Realm experts had infiltrated Xiaguang City, asking him to help her escape her dead end and condense a physical body.
• Gu Sheng identified Ye Yiyi as Nangong Yingying, and Nangong Yuexia revealed that the Purple Cloud Divine Sect had secretly served the Southern Emperor lineage for a thousand years.
• Gu Sheng confronted the sisters over their hidden motives, and Miao Muqing admitted she needed his Soul Power to open the Creation Immortal Pool’s seal.
• Miao Muqing let Gu Sheng place a Soul restriction on her, then confirmed that the Southern Emperor Seal contained the Southern Emperor’s Longevity Dao.
• Gu Sheng entered a guarded courtyard to study the seal, but the Nine Dragon Universe Cauldron appeared and pulled the Southern Emperor Seal into itself.

Gu Sheng refined the Southern Emperor Seal with the Nine Dragon Universe Cauldron, absorbed the Southern Emperor's Longevity Dao, and reached initial completion of the Indestructible Golden Body. Miao Muqing revealed the escalating danger surrounding the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven, and Gu Sheng asked to hear the full details before deciding whether to stay or leave.

• Gu Sheng used the Nine Dragon Universe Cauldron to refine the Southern Emperor Seal, suppress its remnant soul, and absorb the resulting Dao essence.
• Miao Muqing learned the Southern Emperor Seal had vanished and heard from Nangong Xing Lan that unfamiliar King Realm experts had joined the Purple Cloud Divine Sect.
• Mu Xue took control of Miao Muqing's body, and Miao Muqing later ordered Miao Wu to deploy five more King Realm experts.
• After refining the Dao essence overnight, Gu Sheng mastered the Southern Emperor's Longevity Dao and advanced his body refinement to initial completion of the Indestructible Golden Body.
• Miao Muqing warned Gu Sheng that entering the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven could mean severe injuries or death, and Gu Sheng asked her to bring her people so he could learn the full situation before deciding whether to stay or leave.

Gu Sheng learned that Miao Muqing sought to recover the Southern Emperor’s body from Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven and chose to remain despite the danger. He secretly improved teleportation Formation Plates, then followed Nangong Yingying toward the grotto-heaven, where she warned him to trust no one.

• Miao Muqing told Gu Sheng that the Southern Emperor’s body was sealed in the Creation Immortal Pool and that she needed to claim it to regain strength.
• Gu Sheng decided to stay in Xiaguang City, and Miao Muqing explained that her soul lived symbiotically within Miao Muxue after generations of Southern Emperor Saintesses failed to awaken her.
• Gu Sheng studied Yue Shen Gong’s late wife’s formation notes and fashioned teleportation Formation Plates from materials found in his storage rings.
• After two days of work, Gu Sheng completed improved plates that could teleport three hundred li in a single breath and hid several as emergency escape routes.
• Nangong Yingying, disguised as Ye Yiyi, told Gu Sheng that Miao Muqing had already gone to the teleportation formation and led him toward Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven.
• Nangong Yingying said they would meet before the Creation Immortal Pool and warned Gu Sheng not to trust anyone, including her.

Gu Sheng and Nangong Yingying were ambushed after reaching a false Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven, but Gu Sheng killed six peak Heavenly Martial Realm fighters and their Sovereign Realm leader. They tracked an Earth Spirit Sect group toward the real grotto-heaven and stopped near a Purple Cloud Divine Sect checkpoint.

• Gu Sheng sensed an ambush in a barren valley and realized the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven had been used as bait.
• Nangong Yingying threw Gu Sheng into the enemy formation, where he used the North Star Immortal Slaying Sword to kill six Heavenly Martial Realm fighters.
• Gu Sheng revealed the Nine Dragon Universe Cauldron, reached the Half-step Sovereign Realm, and beheaded the Sovereign Realm expert who attacked him.
• Gu Sheng gave Nangong Yingying a healing pill, then flew with her toward the grotto-heaven while warning her to stop using Ye Yiyi's identity.
• Gu Sheng and Nangong Yingying encountered a white-clad Earth Spirit Sect Saintess, withdrew when she ordered them west, then secretly followed her group toward the grotto-heaven.
• Gu Sheng and Nangong Yingying stopped after sensing powerful auras ahead, where the Purple Cloud Divine Sect had set up a checkpoint.

Gu Sheng and Nangong Yingying infiltrated the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven after Gu Sheng killed the Sixth Elder and escaped the Fourth and Fifth Elders. As the grotto-heaven opened, they joined the gathered sect forces and launched a coordinated attack on its guards, leaving Gu Sheng striking Fourth Elder’s King Realm Armor Talisman.

• The Sixth Elder attacked Gu Sheng and Nangong Yingying, but Gu Sheng shattered his spiritual force and killed him after surviving the Purple Cloud Sealing Heaven Talisman.
• Gu Sheng and Nangong Yingying fled from the approaching Fourth and Fifth Elders, then changed course when the Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven opened and the elders turned back toward it.
• Gu Sheng persuaded Nangong Yingying to follow the elders and infiltrate the gathered martial artists, where they found hundreds of Sect Realm experts guarding the entrance.
• Gu Sheng and Nangong Yingying slipped into a formation and agreed that she would lure Fifth Elder away while Gu Sheng attacked Fourth Elder.
• Nangong Yingying drew Fifth Elder into pursuit, and Gu Sheng ambushed Fourth Elder, whose King Realm Armor Talisman shield cracked under Gu Sheng’s sword strike.

Gu Sheng entered Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven and was ambushed by the Purple Cloud Divine Sect’s forces, who sought to kill him for allegedly colluding with the Southern Emperor's Saintess. As the battle escalated, Gu Sheng crushed a Thousand-Mile Teleportation Talisman while turning his Divine Flame Sword Qi against the sect’s attack.

• Gu Sheng wounded the Fourth Elder as he escaped with a Thousand-Mile Teleportation Talisman, then fought through the pursuing warriors and activated the formation leading to Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven.
• Miao Muqing fled through a purple-mist forest with the wounded Little White while dozens of Grandmaster Realm pursuers chased them; she briefly lost her usual composure and asked where she was.
• Gu Sheng arrived in a spiritual-energy-rich estate, where the Purple Cloud Divine Sect’s warriors ambushed him with a force led by a sixth-level Grandmaster Realm cultivator.
• Gu Sheng attacked the encircling warriors with the North Star Immortal Slaying Sword, wounding three, then crushed a Thousand-Mile Teleportation Talisman as the purple-robed leader struck at him.
• Gu Sheng redirected more than a hundred Divine Flame Sword Qi to intercept the leader’s twin blade auras.

Gu Sheng escaped into the Creation Immortal Pool, where he encountered Mu Xue fleeing a group of Sect Realm pursuers and reunited with Miao Muqing beneath the water. Miao Muqing explained how to pass the seal around the Southern Emperor’s remains, and the two began approaching it with Gu Sheng using his Soul Power.

• Gu Sheng used an Escape Armor Talisman and a Thousand-Mile Teleportation Talisman to escape his attackers and arrive at the Creation Immortal Pool.
• Gu Sheng explored the pool, sensed the Southern Emperor’s Dao intent, and suppressed the Heavenly Demon Vine’s attempt to consume it.
• Mu Xue fled into the pool while pursued by more than twenty Sect Realm experts, then used a poison formation to block them outside.
• Gu Sheng found Mu Xue beneath the pool and learned that Miao Muqing’s soul had been injured while protecting her sister.
• Miao Muqing awakened and told Gu Sheng that the seal had three layers, which only pure Soul Power could pass.
• Gu Sheng summoned his Soul Power, and he and Miao Muqing moved toward the deepest part of the pool as the first seal resisted them.

Gu Sheng broke the seals in the Creation Immortal Pool and found the Southern Emperor’s corpse, only to discover that the Seventy-two Divine Sects had been refining her into a puppet. As the Southern Emperor struggled against the seal, Miao Muqing merged with the Innate Spirit Embryo in hopes of preserving her soul, while the battle outside the pool escalated.

• Gu Sheng overcame the three seals and broke the barrier protecting the Southern Emperor’s corpse.
• Miao Muqing approached the corpse, but it awakened and struck Gu Sheng, injuring him and knocking Mu Xue unconscious.
• Miao Muqing revealed that the Seventy-two Halls had used the Southern Emperor’s remnant soul to seal her and that a Nine Nether Soul Refining Formation was consuming the corpse.
• The Southern Emperor briefly regained control, begged Gu Sheng to kill her, and warned that she would soon become a puppet again.
• Gu Sheng brought out the Innate Spirit Embryo, and Miao Muqing merged with it to preserve her memories and give her a chance to survive.
• Mu Xue woke, and Gu Sheng reassured her as explosions and cracks shook the Creation Immortal Pool.

Gu Sheng and Yun Qingyao escaped Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven as the Southern Emperor destroyed it, then learned Situ Qingfeng was trapped near Nine Heavens City and decided to rescue him. Their pursuers discovered the teleportation array had been destroyed and began searching for Gu Sheng.

• Mu Xue gave Gu Sheng the Great Teleportation Ancient Talisman and the Southern Emperor's Secret Treasure, and they escaped just as the Southern Emperor began destroying Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven.
• The Southern Emperor broke free of the Nine Nether Sky Locking Array and self-destructed, destroying Purple Cloud Grotto-Heaven and killing many of the Divine Sect ancestors.
• Gu Sheng and Yun Qingyao reached ancient ruins and learned their teleportation array could lead to either Blazing Sun City or the Southern Emperor's imperial capital.
• Gu Sheng received Situ Qingfeng's message that he had been ambushed near Nine Heavens City, and he and Yun Qingyao chose to travel to the imperial capital before attempting a rescue.
• A purple-robed half-step King Realm expert arrived at the ruins, learned the teleportation array had been destroyed, and ordered his forces to find Gu Sheng within three days.
• Gu Sheng sensed dozens of hostile auras, including five King Realm pressures, locking onto him as the teleportation light faded.