Recaps

After receiving the Space Stone and Spirit Stones from Gu Xiao, Xu Yan went to the Alliance Technique Inheritance Hall to choose a cultivation technique. He entered the hall and began following a seemingly ordinary old man around its shelves.

• Gu Xiao paid Xu Yan with the promised materials and a hundred low-grade Spirit Stones, then carried Gu Feng away.
• Xu Yan saw the crimson bloodstain where the old man had fallen and resolved to kill him if an opportunity arose.
• Xu Yan approached the Alliance Technique Inheritance Hall, passed through its protective formation, and presented his Identity Jade Token to the scarred purple-robed old man guarding the entrance.
• Xu Yan entered the shabby hall and met a hemp-robed old man who offered to show him the cultivation techniques and spell inheritances.

Xu Yan searched the Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s inheritance hall for a cultivation art but could afford only an ordinary one. He discovered the Taiyi Five Elements Art, an extraordinarily powerful yet notoriously difficult foundation establishment art, and realized it suited his High-Grade Five Elements Spiritual Root and Mysterious Green Pearl.

• The old man in hemp robes showed Xu Yan the cultivation and spell inheritances and explained their restrictions and cultivation limits.
• Xu Yan asked for advice about replacing the Spirit Guiding Art, but the old man refused to guide him and warned him not to reach beyond his means.
• Xu Yan saw that he could afford only a first-row cultivation art and considered leaving to return with more Spirit Stones.
• Xu Yan picked up a dusty beast hide labeled Taiyi Five Elements Art, and the old man explained its great power and severe cultivation requirements.
• Xu Yan realized his High-Grade Five Elements Spiritual Root and Mysterious Green Pearl made the Taiyi Five Elements Art ideal for him.

Xu Yan bought the Taiyi Five Elements Art despite warnings that no cultivator had ever reached Foundation Establishment with it, then rented a cave abode and began practicing. After five months of arduous cultivation, he converted his magic power into five-element magic power and prepared to try refining a pill before his lease expired.

• Xu Yan paid the old man one hundred low-grade spirit stones for the Taiyi Five Elements Art and took the beast hide from the Cultivation Art Inheritance Hall.
• Xu Yan rented a cave abode for six months and studied the art, discovering that its first step required perceiving the five-element energies in spiritual qi.
• After several days of meditation, Xu Yan sensed the five-element energies and began drawing in spiritual qi to transform it into five-element magic power.
• Over five months, Xu Yan used up his Qi Gathering Pills and spirit stones, then relied on steady cultivation and the Green Pearl to return to the fourth layer of Qi Refining with far greater strength.
• Xu Yan summoned his alchemy furnace and planned to try refining the pill Lin Dao had mentioned before his cave-abode lease expired.

Xu Yan attempted to refine a Pill by fusing a Space Stone with blackstone, iron essence, and red sand. After the Pill burst from the furnace, it struck the Cave Abode’s Protective Formation and fell to the ground.

• Xu Yan studied Lin Dao’s cultivation notes, prepared Diamond Vajra Talismans, and cut a fingernail-sized piece from the Space Stone.
• Xu Yan heated the Space Stone in the Pill Furnace until it rounded into a Pill-shaped form.
• Xu Yan melted the blackstone, iron essence, and red sand together, then fused the liquid with the Space Stone using Lin Dao’s pill-forming method.
• Xu Yan kept the materials heating in the furnace until the sounds inside subsided, then opened the lid.
• A crimson Pill shot from the furnace, struck the Protective Formation, and fell to the ground.

Xu Yan refined crimson Pills that could hold and detonate compressed flames, then left his rented cave to seek information about the Short Young Man and the cultivator Scarface. At the Thousand Mechanism Hall, he spotted a self-proclaimed Know-It-All speaking to a teenage-looking cultivator.

• Xu Yan attuned the crimson Pill and successfully sealed a merged flame inside it.
• Xu Yan filled the Pill with four compressed flames, reaching the limit of his divine sense and judging it powerful enough to threaten a late Qi Refining cultivator.
• Xu Yan used his remaining materials to refine three more crimson Pills and sealed flames inside them.
• Xu Yan left his cave abode and headed to the Thousand Mechanism Hall to ask about the Short Young Man and the cultivator Scarface.
• Xu Yan saw a pale-gold-robed cultivator calling himself the Inspired Rogue Person, or Know-It-All, tell a teenage-looking cultivator that he looked familiar.

Xu Yan hired Jin Xin to investigate the whereabouts of the Short Young Man and Scarface, agreeing to pay eighteen low-grade spirit stones once Jin Xin found definite information. After leaving, Xu Yan headed back to the Thousand Mechanism Hall to earn spirit stones and pursue a plan he had been considering.

• Jin Xin approached a young cultivator in the Thousand Mechanism Hall, who hurried away without answering him.
• Xu Yan asked Jin Xin about two rogue cultivators, and Jin Xin led him to a private room in the Ancient Red Hall.
• Jin Xin used an Image Recording Mirror to capture the faces of the Short Young Man and Scarface from Xu Yan's memories.
• Jin Xin said he could find the Short Young Man's whereabouts within a few days but would need longer to investigate Scarface.
• Xu Yan agreed to pay Jin Xin eighteen low-grade spirit stones after he obtained definite information.
• Xu Yan left for the Thousand Mechanism Hall to earn spirit stones and prepare to carry out his plan.

Xu Yan put his plan to profit from ruined pills into action, earning Spirit Stones from pill-refining assignments and buying ruined pills from alchemists. After the Green Pearl processed some of them and weakened, he left Ascendant City to sell the purified pills.

• Xu Yan earned sixty low-grade Spirit Stones by taking pill-refining assignments at the Thousand Mechanism Hall for ten days.
• Xu Yan tried to buy ruined pills from Daoist Cangyun, who rejected his offer of one Spirit Stone for three batches.
• Xu Yan later purchased eighty batches of ruined pills from alchemists at two low-grade Spirit Stones for every three batches.
• Xu Yan rented a cave abode and used the Green Pearl to remove toxins from roughly sixty batches of ruined pills before the Green Pearl dimmed and stopped working.
• Xu Yan stored the processed pills and left Ascendant City to sell them.

Xu Yan arrived at Heavenly River Market and began selling his pills cautiously from a temporary stall. He recognized Wu Yun and Chen among his first customers, then left after three days of trading.

• Xu Yan reached Heavenly River Market after traveling for three days and paid two low-grade spirit stones for a Barter Jade Talisman.
• Xu Yan set up a secluded stall and displayed five bottles of Qi Gathering Pills.
• Wu Yun and Chen recognized the pills as unusual, and Chen bought all five bottles for twenty-three low-grade spirit stones.
• Xu Yan sold roughly twenty more bottles over the next three days, earning over a hundred low-grade spirit stones.
• When the Barter Jade Talisman's light faded, Xu Yan packed up and left the market.

Xu Yan bought the Black Tortoise Shield and the Bloodfiend Shadow-Escaping Steps in the Heavenly River Market, paying mostly with medicinal pills. After leaving the Myriad Arts Pavilion with a breath-concealing art, he noticed a distant figure in the market.

• Xu Yan bought the Black Tortoise Shield from Lang Ping for six hundred and sixty low-grade spirit stones, paying with medicinal pills.
• Xu Yan chose the Bloodfiend Shadow-Escaping Steps at the Myriad Arts Pavilion and bought it after bargaining with Zhou Wen.
• Zhou Wen offered Xu Yan the Great Void Breath-Concealing Art, and Xu Yan bought its single-use Jade Slip for ninety-nine low-grade spirit stones.
• Xu Yan left the Myriad Arts Pavilion and noticed a distant figure in the Heavenly River Market.

After encountering Wu Hua in Heavenly River Market, Xu Yan hid in a secluded cave to strengthen himself before seeking revenge. He mastered two cultivation arts and refined the Black Tortoise Shield, then left the cave.

• Xu Yan spotted Wu Hua managing a Pill Workshop in Heavenly River Market and resolved to kill him after improving his strength.
• Xu Yan found a secluded cliff, carved out a temporary cave abode, and discovered the Great Void Breath-Concealing Art and Bloodfiend Shadow-Escaping Steps were incomplete.
• Xu Yan mastered the Great Void Breath-Concealing Art and learned the Bloodfiend Shadow-Escaping Steps at the cost of five years of his lifespan.
• Xu Yan refined the Black Tortoise Shield into a usable defensive magic artifact and left the cave abode.

Xu Yan kept watch on Wu Hua and followed him from the Heavenly River Market into the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range, intending to kill him. Wu Hua vanished deep in the mountains before Xu Yan could attack.

• Xu Yan disguised himself, watched the Hundred Spirits Pill Workshop from the Autumn Moon Lodge, and waited for Wu Hua to leave the market.
• Wu Hua prepared a second-tier spirit-fruit plant as a gift for Gu Tieshan, hoping to become a nominal disciple of Purple Cloud Peak.
• Wu Hua left the workshop and told Senior Brother Li he would attend Gu Tieshan’s birthday celebration later.
• After Wu Hua carefully circled the market and left, Xu Yan followed him into the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range.
• Wu Hua continued deep into the mountains, and then suddenly vanished from Xu Yan’s view.

Xu Yan followed Wu Hua to a concealed cliff and discovered him harvesting a second-tier Vermilion Wood Thunderfruit. Xu Yan ambushed Wu Hua as he emerged, but Wu Hua used a pill to raise his cultivation and prepared another attack while Xu Yan revealed a crimson pill of his own.

• Xu Yan tracked Wu Hua to a hidden cliff and watched him inspect two Thunderstruck Woods.
• Wu Hua used a Formation Disk to reveal a Vermilion Wood Thunderfruit growing between the trees.
• Wu Hua uprooted the fruit tree, sealed it in a jade box, and stored it away.
• Xu Yan attacked Wu Hua with six fireballs as he flew up from the cliff, but Wu Hua's robe blocked them.
• Wu Hua recognized Xu Yan and attacked with a flying sword, which the Black Tortoise Shield stopped.
• Wu Hua swallowed a blood-red pill that raised his cultivation to the seventh layer of qi refining, and Xu Yan took out a crimson pill as Wu Hua attacked again.

Xu Yan killed Wu Hua with a Crimson pill explosion, took his flying sword and Storage Bag, and escaped to a hidden cave to recover. After refining the sword and inspecting his spoils, Xu Yan discovered a strange crimson token and opened the jade box containing a Vermilion Wood Thunderfruit.

• Xu Yan blocked Wu Hua's flying sword with the Black Tortoise Shield and detonated a crimson pill, killing Wu Hua in a sea of flames.
• Xu Yan collected Wu Hua's flying sword and Storage Bag, then traveled to a secluded cave and recovered his Magic Power.
• Xu Yan spent seven days refining the black flying sword and tested its power against the cave wall.
• Xu Yan searched Wu Hua's Storage Bag and found a Vermilion Wood Thunderfruit, cultivation supplies, and a chilling crimson token engraved with a ghost face.
• Xu Yan opened the purple jade box, releasing a beam of silver light and a rich fragrance.

After consuming the Vermilion Wood Thunderfruit, Xu Yan advanced to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining and learned the flying sword was far more powerful. He received Jin Xin’s information about the two cultivators he sought and learned that Chen Lie had entered the Ancient Ruins Battlefield.

• Xu Yan swallowed the Vermilion Wood Thunderfruit and, after a month of cultivation, broke through to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining.
• Xu Yan tested his pitch-black flying sword, cleaving a rock wall, then discovered the Sword Control Art was only an introductory manual.
• Xu Yan read a delayed message from Inspired Rogue Person Jin Xin and went to Ascendant City to meet him.
• Jin Xin told Xu Yan that Wang Liu was likely still near Separation Valley Market and that Chen Lie had entered the Ancient Ruins Battlefield three months earlier.
• Jin Xin explained that the Six Great Sects controlled the Ancient Ruins Battlefield and that rogue cultivators had to pay ten low-grade spirit stones to enter.

Xu Yan tracked down Wang Liu, one of the men who had ambushed him years earlier, and killed him in a ruined Land God Temple. After looting the temple and dealing with a silver marten, Xu Yan left with his gaze fixed toward the Ancient Ruins Battlefield.

• Xu Yan left Ascendant City determined to kill the two men who had ambushed him.
• Wang Liu recognized a teenage rogue cultivator at his market stall and, unsettled by memories of Xu Yan, packed up and fled to his hiding place in Inkstone City.
• Xu Yan confronted Wang Liu in the Land God Temple, revealed his identity, and heard Wang Liu blame Qin Lie for ordering the old ambush.
• Xu Yan killed Wang Liu before he could use a True Fire Talisman, then took the talisman and searched Wang Liu's Storage Bag.
• Xu Yan killed a silver marten that attacked him and left the temple looking toward the Ancient Ruins Battlefield.

Xu Yan arrived in Ancient Ruins Town to learn about the Ancient Ruins Battlefield, where he planned to kill Chen Lie and seek cultivation resources. After seeing Spirit Beast Mountain disciples arrive and hearing rumors that something had drawn more cultivators to the battlefield, he decided to enter through the guarded teleportation formation.

• Xu Yan arrived in Ancient Ruins Town and learned that the Six Great Sects governed it and controlled access to the Ancient Ruins Battlefield.
• Xu Yan listened at the Spirit Wind Lodge as rogue cultivators discussed the battlefield and the Six Great Sects' decision to let rogue cultivators stay there for half a year.
• A tall, thin rogue cultivator invited fellow Daoist Yun and fellow Daoist Lan to explore the battlefield with him, suspecting that the Six Great Sects had discovered something.
• More than a dozen Spirit Beast Mountain disciples rode armored Demon Beasts into town, prompting Xu Yan to suspect that dangers and opportunities awaited in the battlefield.
• Xu Yan resolved to enter the battlefield to kill Chen Lie and left the inn for the teleportation formation.

Xu Yan entered the Ancient Ruins Battlefield through a random teleportation array and found himself alone on its desolate outskirts. As he prepared to head toward the battlefield’s center, his expression suddenly changed.

• Xu Yan learned that Foundation Establishment cultivators Ancient Jade and Yu Qianji guarded the entrance, and he declined a rogue cultivator’s offer to team up.
• After waiting his turn and paying ten low-grade spirit stones, Xu Yan entered a group of twenty cultivators and heard that the array could teleport them separately.
• Ancient Jade activated the array, and Xu Yan was transported alone into the Ancient Ruins Battlefield.
• Xu Yan surveyed the gray, barren landscape, found that a fragment of Third-Tier Spirit Iron had crumbled to dust, and concluded he had landed near the battlefield’s outskirts.
• Xu Yan decided to head toward the center, but his expression suddenly shifted.

Xu Yan practiced the Redfire Burning Art against Ruin Beasts as he traveled toward the center of the Ancient Ruins Battlefield, eventually reaching the Nine-Flame Realm. He then infused his Scarlet Pills with the perfected spell, creating powerful trump cards for the dangers ahead.

• Xu Yan killed a Ruin Beast with the Redfire Burning Art and decided to use the beasts as targets to perfect the spell.
• Over half a month, Xu Yan killed several hundred Ruin Beasts and advanced the Redfire Burning Art to the eight-flame realm while traveling thousands of miles toward the battlefield's center.
• Twenty days later, Xu Yan instantly unleashed the Nine-Flame Realm spell to kill a seventh-layer Qi refining Ruin Beast, completing his spell's perfection.
• Xu Yan infused his Scarlet Pills with nine-flame fire, finding that each pill could safely hold two masses of flame before it risked cracking.

Xu Yan encountered a Demon Cultivator elder in the Ancient Ruins Battlefield and fought back against his attempt to seize Xu Yan’s blood essence. The elder revealed his Ninth Layer strength and Bloodfiend Cloak, leaving Xu Yan to hurl a Scarlet Pill at the elder’s enormous claws.

• Xu Yan restored his magic power and continued traveling toward the center of the Ancient Ruins Battlefield.
• A Demon Cultivator elder emerged from behind a sand dune, identified Xu Yan as a Sixth Layer cultivator, and demanded his blood essence.
• Xu Yan struck with an instantly cast flame spell, shattering the elder’s black beast-bone barrier and damaging his artifact.
• Xu Yan sent his flying sword at the elder, who activated the Bloodfiend Cloak and surged to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.
• The elder merged the cloak with his arms and attacked Xu Yan with enormous demonic claws.
• Xu Yan threw a Scarlet Pill toward the descending claws.

Xu Yan defeated a Ninth Layer Qi Refining Demon Cultivator and pursued him across nearly a thousand li before killing him. Xu Yan took the man’s Storage Bag and began inspecting its contents, though the chase had left him weakened.

• Xu Yan’s Scarlet Pill shattered the elderly Demon Cultivator’s blood-red claw and gravely injured him.
• The elderly Demon Cultivator fled using a Superior Spirit Talisman, but Xu Yan pursued him with the Bloodfiend Shadow-Escaping Steps.
• Both cultivators consumed pills to restore their strength and speed as their pursuit stretched across several hundred li.
• After nearly a thousand li, Xu Yan used his flying sword to sever the elderly Demon Cultivator’s right arm.
• Xu Yan ignored the man’s threat that the Scarlet Firmament Demon Sect would seek revenge and killed him with his flying sword.
• Xu Yan took the elderly Demon Cultivator’s Storage Bag, swallowed a pill, and extended his divine sense into it.

Xu Yan looted the elderly Demon Cultivator’s Storage Bag, learned about the Blood Demon Pill, and recovered before pressing deeper into the Ancient Ruins Battlefield. He stopped two rogue cultivators carrying news of an ancient Nascent Soul True Person’s tomb in the Demonfall Pit.

• Xu Yan found Spirit Stones, pills, magic artifacts, and formation disks in the elderly Demon Cultivator’s Storage Bag, including a Blood-Colored Pill Furnace and a Jade Slip explaining the Blood Demon Pill.
• Xu Yan stored the furnace and two Spirit-Detonating Pills, then retreated to a temporary cave abode to recover from his injuries.
• After three days, Xu Yan destroyed three Ruin Beasts attacking his formations and noticed that Ruin Beasts were appearing with unusual frequency.
• Xu Yan traveled toward the center of the Ancient Ruins Battlefield, where Ruin Beasts grew more numerous, then stopped to recover his magic power in a mountain cave.
• Xu Yan overheard two rogue cultivators report an ancient tomb in the Demonfall Pit and blocked their path with a pitch-black flying sword.

Xu Yan questioned Liu Feng and Liu Yun about an ancient Nascent Soul True Person’s cave abode in the Demonfall Pit, then robbed them of their Storage Bags and set off for the site. After fighting ruin beasts and recovering his magic power, he concealed his aura and approached the enormous pit.

• Xu Yan stopped Liu Feng and Liu Yun, made them swear Heart-Demon Blood Oaths, and asked about the ancient cave abode.
• Liu Feng explained that the cave abode had been found in the Demonfall Pit three days earlier but remained protected by an ancient formation and surrounded by ruin beasts.
• Xu Yan spared the two cultivators but demanded their Storage Bags, then took their belongings and left for the cave abode.
• Xu Yan traveled for half a day, killed twelve ruin beasts, recovered his magic power, and concealed his aura with the Great Void Breath-Concealing Art.
• Xu Yan continued onward and saw the enormous Demonfall Pit in the distance.

Xu Yan entered the Demonfall Pit, fended off ambushes and pursued Ruin Beasts while pressing toward the Nascent Soul True Person's cave abode. He reached an enormous rift where hundreds of cultivators faced a growing horde of Ruin Beasts blocking the way.

• Xu Yan entered the Demonfall Pit after spotting three old men on a flying boat, then fought off a brown-robed old man's ambush and let him flee.
• Xu Yan encountered three rogue cultivators fleeing more than twenty Ruin Beasts, killed the woman when she rushed toward him, and escaped as the beasts overwhelmed the two men.
• Xu Yan used a medicinal pill to recover before continuing deeper into the Demonfall Pit, where the demonic qi grew thinner.
• Xu Yan arrived at an enormous rift emitting white light and saw more than five hundred cultivators held back by over three hundred Ruin Beasts, with more crawling out from below.

Xu Yan observed rogue cultivators battle Ruin Beasts at the Demonfall Pit while Chen Lie prepared a demonic ritual and the Six Sects plotted to slaughter outsiders. After noticing the ground devour the blood essence of the dead, Xu Yan tried to flee, but a sudden upheaval began.

• Xu Yan noticed that no Six Sects cultivators were present as rogue cultivators gathered at the fissure and attacked the Ruin Beasts.
• Chen Lie watched cultivators converge on the Demonfall Pit, then used a blood-red jade flute to summon the Sacred Sect for his prepared spiritual sacrifices.
• The Six Sects assembled a thousand li away, where their leading disciple issued an order to kill every cultivator outside their sects who had entered the battlefield.
• Xu Yan cautiously fought off Ruin Beasts and withdrew as the battle grew chaotic and nearly a hundred rogue cultivators died.
• Xu Yan saw the ground absorb the blood essence from the dead and hurried toward the Demonfall Pit's outskirts, but a sudden upheaval struck.

A blood-colored formation trapped the cultivators, and Daoist San Zui identified it as a simplified Blood-Devouring Spirit-Nourishing Formation. After the Ruin Beasts were slain, a group descended into the fissure to seek a Spirit Treasure, where they were attacked by something unseen.

• A blood-colored formation sealed the area, and Ruin Beasts killed more than ten cultivators before the survivors fought back.
• The old man from the Azure Flying Boat rallied the cultivators and unleashed Talisman Papers against the Ruin Beasts.
• Daoist San Zui recognized the formation and hurried to another section of its edge after examining the fissure; Xu Yan followed him.
• The cultivators killed the Ruin Beasts, and more than twenty rogue cultivators followed the Azure Flying Boat old man into the fissure to search for a Spirit Treasure.
• The white light inside the fissure vanished, and screams came from below before the wounded old man crashed back out as two terrifying roars sounded.