Chapter Summaries

Fang Qianyuan used the Divine Wind Treasure Fan to redirect the forest fire away from his camp, but the enraged Firelight Beast charged the camp’s grand formation. When the beast’s repeated attacks strained the defenses, Fang Qianyuan ordered everyone to prepare for battle and mounted Little White.

• Fang Qianyuan rejected abandoning the camp and used the Divine Wind Treasure Fan to drive the forest fire north with a powerful gale.
• The camp’s staff advisors warned Fang Qianyuan to conserve his strength for the enemy’s top expert, but he said he knew what he was doing.
• The Firelight Beast charged the camp and slammed into its grand formation.
• The camp stewards revealed that the formation was designed to repel spirit creatures and was consuming far more energy as the Desolate Beast rammed it.
• Fang Qianyuan ordered the camp to prepare for battle, and Little White carried him into the air.

Fang Qianyuan fought the destructive Desolate Beast Pingpeng while the Spirit Taming Sect used the chaos to attack the Southern Wilds camp. After killing both beasts and driving off the attackers, he sensed a powerful enemy force concealed in the woods and returned to plan his next move.

• Wei Huan’s Spirit Taming Sect forces watched the Firelight Beast’s attack and sent Pingpeng into battle.
• Pingpeng smashed through the camp’s defenses, and Fang Qianyuan used the Golden-Wing Grub’s duplicates and Wind Blade Frost Sword to kill it.
• Enemies led by three Earth Rank Experts attacked while Ma Su and his Spirit Creatures were occupied with the Firelight Beast.
• Fang Qianyuan joined the defense and killed the attackers, but they retreated before his side could capture them.
• A dense haze covered the burned woods, and Fang Qianyuan sensed a powerful hidden force before returning to his lines.

After the Vanguard Camp’s defenses were badly damaged, Fang Qianyuan decided to evacuate everyone but himself and the Personal Guard, then withdraw to Shangyang City. Once the camp had been emptied, he told Wen Qingfei that he wanted to rely on himself to act freely.

• Fang Qianyuan learned that more than thirty percent of the camp’s defenses had been destroyed, concentrated on its northern end and eastern side.
• A staff advisor proposed evacuating the civilian workers and laborers, but Fang Qianyuan ordered everyone except himself and the Personal Guard to withdraw.
• Fang Qianyuan chose Shangyang City as the destination and led escort patrols with the Severed Karma Hall, Li Yan, Wen Qingfei, and other Earth Rank Spirit Tamers to deter interception.
• Fang Qianyuan’s presence helped the Southern Wilds Allied Army evacuate the Vanguard Camp over several days.
• Wen Qingfei questioned his decision, and Fang Qianyuan said he needed to rely on himself to have room to act.

The Elders' Council debated Fang Qianyuan's withdrawal from the frontline and settled on a mild warning, while Situ Sheng approached Grand Elder Bu about the commander appointment. As Fang Qianyuan prepared a new defensive line, the Warrior Hall's troops abandoned his orders, leaving him to suspect a larger plot behind the growing conflict.

• Yu Shixian led the Elders' Council in debating Fang Qianyuan's withdrawal, and they agreed to send him a warning letter rather than punish him.
• Situ Sheng told Grand Elder Bu that the Warrior Hall had been forced to serve under Fang Qianyuan after the command appointment bypassed the Elders' Council.
• Fang Qianyuan learned that the Warriors had left without orders and refused to follow the Commander-in-Chief's Residence's deployment plans.
• The Severed Karma Hall asked Fang Qianyuan whether he had offended the sect's higher-ups, and he suspected the Warrior Hall was pursuing its own agenda.
• Fang Qianyuan admitted he had underestimated the Warriors' independence and vowed not to spare whoever was directing them.

After Warrior Hall’s soldiers withdrew, Fang Qianyuan sent the young people and Flowing Cloud Grotto’s Immortal Maidens to Shangyang City, then resolved to defend Ruined Camp with the forces remaining. His allies pledged to stand with him as he prepared to hold off the Central Province Coalition Army.

• Fang Qianyuan summoned the camp and confirmed that Warrior Hall’s soldiers had all left, leaving the camp without its patrol forces.
• Fang Qianyuan ordered Chang Yu, Zhao Qing, Zhao Hongmei, Lin Qingyun, Ma Rulong, Le Taotao, Ink Fairy, Music Fairy, and others to evacuate to Shangyang City despite their objections.
• Lin Mo recognized Fang Qianyuan’s predicament and accepted the order, while Lin Qiao complained that they were being sent away.
• Fang Qianyuan provided Earth Rank flying mounts, and Lin Mo and Lin Qiao departed south with the other evacuees.
• Fang Qianyuan declared that he would hold Ruined Camp to prevent the enemy from advancing or retreating and buy time for the rear to prepare.
• Wu Longjie, Severed Karma Hall, and Wen Qingfei pledged to fight beside Fang Qianyuan.

Wen Qingfei proposed abandoning the ruined camp and waging mobile guerrilla warfare, and Fang Qianyuan led the group into the mountain forests to harass the Central Province Coalition Army. While seeking Wei Huan's whereabouts, they found a likely enemy command camp, and Fang Qianyuan decided to attack it himself.

• Wu Longjie suggested repairing the camp's fortifications, but Fang Qianyuan said the work would cost too much time and effort for little gain.
• Wen Qingfei proposed abandoning the ruined camp while continuing to fight across the surrounding region, and Fang Qianyuan praised her plan.
• Fang Qianyuan ordered the group to abandon the camp and begin mobile attacks through the mountain forests, confusing the Central Province Coalition Army.
• Fang Qianyuan and his companions captured enemy patrol scouts and searched northward for information about Wei Huan.
• After traveling several thousand miles, Fang Qianyuan found a large camp he suspected was the enemy command camp and decided to destroy it himself.

Fang Qianyuan was discovered while approaching the Central Province Coalition Army’s camp, where Wei Huan revealed his plan to wear down Fang’s forces by targeting his allies. After learning Wen Qingfei’s group was in danger, Fang chose to face Wei Huan and prepared a newly devised counter to the Wind-Settling Pearl.

• Fang Qianyuan evaded the camp’s scouts with invisibility grass, but they spotted him and raised the alarm with signal arrows.
• Wei Huan confronted Fang and explained that he planned to drain Fang’s reserves by hunting his spirit creatures and allies.
• Wen Qingfei warned Fang through an Echo Bug that Central Province scouts were approaching her group, and Fang told her to stay hidden while he fought Wei Huan.
• Fang refused to leave the battle to rescue Wen Qingfei, saying he trusted his allies and could finish the fight quickly.
• Wei Huan summoned the Bone Earth Dragon to attack, and Fang announced that he had found a way to counter the Wind-Settling Pearl and intended to decide the battle with one strike.

Fang Qianyuan defied Wei Huan’s attempt to stop him by summoning the Black Moon, a vast sphere of darkness, frost, and storm power that bypassed the Wind-Settling Pearl and spread across the battlefield. As the freezing zone continued to expand, Wei Huan recognized Fang Qianyuan’s extraordinary command of Dao Paths.

• Fang Qianyuan communed with Heaven and Earth, manifesting their laws and drawing Wei Huan’s alarm.
• Wei Huan used the Wind-Settling Pearl to seal the Wind Path, while his allies attacked Fang Qianyuan with pressure, gravity, talismans, fire, and a combined assault.
• Fang Qianyuan used Reverse Time Transformation to evade the attacks and remained suspended above the shattered ground.
• Fang Qianyuan unleashed the Greedy Wolf Style’s Black Moon, which spread frost and snow across the battlefield.
• Wei Huan realized Fang Qianyuan had used light to transmit frost and storm power, bypassing the Wind-Settling Pearl’s seal.

Fang Qianyuan unleashed the Greedy Wolf Style: Black Moon against Wei Huan’s camp, but Wei Huan’s Double-Pupiled Bird absorbed the attack at the cost of its own destruction and Wei Huan’s injury. Fang Qianyuan left satisfied after avenging the loss of his Wormfish, while Wei Huan ordered a retreat as Fang headed toward the other battlefield.

• Fang Qianyuan expanded the black moon above Wei Huan’s camp, unleashing a vast storm of darkness and frost that bypassed the Wind-Settling Pearl.
• Wei Huan used the Double-Pupiled Bird’s Return to the Abyss to absorb the black moon’s explosion and protect the camp.
• The Double-Pupiled Bird froze and shattered after absorbing the attack, while Wei Huan suffered injuries from the backlash.
• Fang Qianyuan celebrated the destruction of Wei Huan’s spirit creature as revenge for his lost Wormfish, then departed toward the other battlefield.
• Wei Huan ordered his retainers to retreat after they failed to catch Fang Qianyuan.

Fang Qianyuan returned to his allies after wounding Wei Huan, but his powerful Black Moon technique had drained much of his strength. After the group drove off Central Province Spirit Tamers who had attacked them, Fang Qianyuan called off pursuit and proposed resting before deciding what to do next.

• Fang Qianyuan traveled through the forest with Little White in her manifested wolf form and reflected on Black Moon’s power and heavy cost.
• Fang Qianyuan found Severed Karma Hall, Li Yan, and Wen Qingfei fighting Central Province Spirit Tamers, and Wen Qingfei’s exploding insect swarm badly wounded an enemy warrior.
• Fang Qianyuan tore apart one summoned fire dragon, and the group destroyed the remaining dragons as their opponents fled.
• Wen Qingfei told Fang Qianyuan that Wei Huan had anticipated their raid and attacked the group while they waited.
• Fang Qianyuan revealed that he had wounded Wei Huan, explained that Black Moon had exhausted him, and urged the group to rest instead of pursuing the fleeing enemies.

Fang Qianyuan refined his Black Moon Divine Ability while Wen Qingfei visited him at camp and revealed how she had advanced to the Earth Rank. Her inheritance came from the secret legacy inside the Blackwood Beehive artifact Fang had sold to the Wen family.

• Fang Qianyuan and his companions found that the Central Province Coalition Army had linked its camps and formations, forcing him to retreat while avoiding costly fights.
• At a mountain camp, Fang Qianyuan practiced controlling the Black Moon Divine Ability as black serpents formed around him.
• Wen Qingfei returned from patrol, brought Fang Qianyuan wild fruit, and asked him for cultivation advice.
• Fang Qianyuan asked why Wen Qingfei's Dao Path resembled the Blackwood Beehive's approach.
• Wen Qingfei explained that she had found a senior expert's secret legacy inside the artifact Fang had sold to the Wen family and inherited it, advancing to the Earth Rank.

Wen Qingfei told Fang Qianyuan that the Blackwood Beehive held a Desolate God Thunderflame Bee queen that may have lived for over ten thousand years and belonged to the legacy of the destroyed Desolate God Sect. She had formed a lifebound contract with the queen and used the Insect-Taming Wonder Art to grow into a powerful cultivator.

• Wen Qingfei explained that the bee queen was descended from a venomous insect of the Primordial Era and that the Blackwood Beehive was made to house its colony.
• Wen Qingfei revealed that records linked the beehive and queen to the Desolate God Sect, whose masters may have raised the same queen for ten thousand years or more.
• Wen Qingfei connected the Desolate God Sect's destruction to its dispute with the Pill Sect over developing the Millennium Longevity Pill.
• Fang Qianyuan warned Wen Qingfei to keep the queen's origins secret to protect herself and the Wen clan.
• Wen Qingfei said she had contracted with the queen as her lifebound spirit creature and learned the Insect-Taming Wonder Art from a senior expert's cave abode.
• Wen Qingfei described how the art let her alter the queen's spirit essence, breed specialized bee swarms, and control wild colonies.

Fang Qianyuan and his companions returned to Shangyang City as the enemy’s main force approached, and he assessed the city’s defenses with its lord, Shang Yi. After a welcoming banquet, Fang gathered local leaders to address the warriors going out of control and the senior sect’s failure to help.

• Fang Qianyuan promised Wen Qingfei Bug Master secret arts and sought a defensive ability for her before Li Yan reported enemy movements near Shangyang City.
• Fang Qianyuan decided to return to Shangyang City with Wen Qingfei, Wu Longjie, Lu Feiyang, and the others.
• Shang Yi welcomed Fang Qianyuan and described the city’s reinforced defenses and their ability to withstand attacks from powerful enemies.
• Fang Qianyuan learned how much money and resources the city’s formations required to maintain.
• Fang Qianyuan gathered his trusted followers and the city’s aristocratic elders to discuss the warriors going out of control, while Shang Yi complained that the senior sect’s Warrior Hall had offered no help.

Fang Qianyuan explained to Wen Qingfei why the sect depended on Warriors despite their exploitation, and admitted he would not challenge the system until he had the power to change it. After Warrior Hall agents were caught plotting to sabotage the city, the conflict became an immediate security threat.

• Fang Qianyuan told Wen Qingfei that the Warriors’ rebellion stemmed from years of exploitation and that the sect could not function without controlling them.
• Wen Qingfei condemned the exploitation, while Fang Qianyuan said he sympathized with Warriors but remained bound to the Honored Elders and the sect.
• Fang Qianyuan ordered secret surveillance after Warriors began moving furtively through the city.
• The Shang household raided several sites and arrested Warrior Hall officers suspected of planning to sabotage the defenses and open the gates to the enemy.
• Wen Qingfei realized the Warriors had broken with the sect, and Fang Qianyuan’s side began treating them as potential enemies.

After Warriors sabotaged a medicinal-herb warehouse in Shangyang City, Fang Qianyuan found the sect’s response to the escalating conflict passive and ordered stronger defenses. As the Central Province Coalition Army prepared to attack and the Warriors remained absent, Sect Master Yu Shixian told Fang Qianyuan to prepare to fight without them and guard against betrayal.

• Shang Yi and Fang Qianyuan arrived at the burning warehouse, where Shang Yi reported that Warriors had set it ablaze.
• City Guard Army experts brought back one dead Warrior and a captured Leopard-Man woman, who insulted Fang Qianyuan before killing herself with spirit essence.
• Fang Qianyuan reported the incident to the Azure Cloud Sect, whose sect master instructed him to wait and observe.
• Fang Qianyuan heightened Shangyang City's vigilance and coordinated joint defenses with its aristocratic clans and factions.
• As the Central Province Coalition Army increased its probes and the Warriors continued to withhold support, Yu Shixian secretly told Fang Qianyuan to prepare to fight without them and guard against the Warrior Hall.

Fang Qianyuan suspected that powerful hidden figures were exploiting the Warriors' uprising, but he focused on securing Shangyang City and preparing for war. He also recruited talent, sought supplies, and began developing a powerful new technique as he aimed to reach Heaven Tier.

• Fang Qianyuan told Wen Qingfei that the Warriors' uprising might be driven by hidden powers and chose not to confront them rashly.
• Fang Qianyuan ordered Shangyang City sealed and launched a sweeping purge, requiring everyone to submit to inspection and registration or be treated as a spy.
• Shang Yi warned Fang Qianyuan that the purge would anger influential merchants and factions, but Fang Qianyuan insisted, and Shang Yi carried out the orders.
• Fang Qianyuan invited the city's clans and independent factions to join him, requested more supplies from the sect, and relied on Wu Longjie and his other followers to build up his forces.
• Fang Qianyuan began combining the Seven-Kill Style, Army-Breaking Form, and Greedy Wolf Style into a technique called 'Seven Killings, Breaking Army, Greedy Wolf,' with the goal of reaching Heaven Tier.

A Rhinoceros Ox Behemoth approached Shangyang City and attacked its defensive grand array. As the alarm summoned the city’s experts, the behemoth struck again, leaving the assault underway.

• Old Song and the other guards spotted a towering creature approaching through the mist and recognized it as a top-class War Behemoth.
• The gate officer ordered the alarm sounded, and experts in the city, including Fang Qianyuan’s group, rushed toward the battlements.
• The Rhinoceros Ox Behemoth slammed into the city’s gang-essence barrier and cracked it despite the grand array reinforcing the damaged area.
• The behemoth repositioned and charged the barrier again.

Fang Qianyuan defended Shangyang City from Wei Huan’s forces, defeating a Warrior expert but failing to stop the Rhinoceros Ox Behemoth from breaking the city wall. Wei Huan withdrew after declaring victory in the opening round, and Fang ordered his troops to retreat.

• Shang Longhua and the city’s soldiers attacked the Rhinoceros Ox Behemoth, but their strikes barely harmed it and the beast smashed through part of Shangyang City’s wall.
• A Warrior expert from the Central Province Coalition Army led an assault through the breach, and Fang Qianyuan used the Divine Wind Treasure Fan to blast him into the air.
• Little White pinned the Warrior with her jaws while Fang Qianyuan pierced his chest, but the wounded expert escaped with a secret art.
• The Rhinoceros Ox Behemoth backed away as Fang Qianyuan faced it, and Wei Huan arrived with Feng Yan, He Dongling, Jian Ruyi, and other Earth Rank Experts.
• Wei Huan declared that Fang’s damaged wall meant he had lost the opening round and withdrew with the Rhinoceros Ox Behemoth, while Fang ordered his troops to retreat.

Fang Qianyuan abandoned his cautious approach after Wen Qingfei reminded him that the sect could not hold him responsible for every consequence, and he resolved to rely on himself. When the Central Province Coalition Army attacked Shangyang City again, Fang Qianyuan raided its camp alone, prompting Wei Huan to fly back and confront him.

• Fang Qianyuan heard proposals for countering the giant Rhinoceros Ox, but decided to keep defending the city and seek volunteers before risking his friends or himself.
• Wen Qingfei told Fang Qianyuan that the sect would not blame him if Shangyang City fell, and he realized he had been worrying too much about consequences.
• Fang Qianyuan resolved to act boldly and depend on himself rather than be constrained by the Warriors, the sect, or the Shang Household.
• The Central Province Coalition Army attacked the eastern defenses with the giant Rhinoceros Ox and broke through another section of the city wall.
• Wei Huan noticed Fang Qianyuan was missing, then learned from a scout that Fang Qianyuan had gone alone to raid the Coalition Army's camp.
• Wei Huan ordered the army to continue attacking the city and flew back to deal with Fang Qianyuan.

Fang Qianyuan attacked the fortified camp north of Shangyang City and realized that he and Wei Huan were both constrained by fears for those under their protection. Resolving to fight regardless, he overwhelmed the camp’s defenders and unleashed the Divine Wind Treasure Fan, leaving the formation in chaos.

• Fang Qianyuan arrived at the camp with Little White and found two powerful Warriors stationed there to hold him back.
• After reflecting on his and Wei Huan’s shared fears and constraints, Fang Qianyuan resolved to fight without hesitation.
• Fang Qianyuan ignored the male Warrior’s Mountain-Breaking Palm and gravely wounded both Warriors with his claws.
• Fang Qianyuan used the Divine Wind Treasure Fan to unleash Black Dragons' Wild Dance, battering the formation as Little White entered and slaughtered the defenders.