Recaps

Xu Taiping saved refugees through the second hunt wave, then used Gu Qingcheng’s schemes to turn the Guifang hunters against each other. At the Ruined Temple, Wutu Ba trapped the survivors in a Blood Prison and forced them into fights, where Xiao Yu battled him over the destruction of Seven Sages Town.

• Xu Taiping fought through the giant rat swarm and rescued a brother and sister, earning the Tower Spirit’s highest-tier reward and awakening the first layer of his Blade Domain power.
• Xu Taiping led his companions north, warned them that Guifang hunters were disguised among the refugees, and used the Fish-Seeking Disc to locate the hunters.
• Xu Taiping and Gu Qingcheng used deception and a poisonous vine to kill Gou Dan during a ghostly head-passing ritual, prompting Helian to kill Wutu’s group.
• Xu Taiping impersonated Helian and brought his companions to the Ruined Temple, where Gu Qingcheng gave him her sect’s portion of the Great Sage Fist.
• A dying Helian disciple entrusted Xu Taiping with the Plate-Armor Ghost King’s finger bone and black skull, but Wutu Ba arrived and demanded the skull while holding captured hunters hostage.
• Xu Taiping abandoned his plan to trade the skull for a guide after learning it contained Goshu Miu’s power, and Wutu Ba trapped everyone in a Blood Prison that forced them to fight him.
• Xiao Yu challenged Wutu Ba over the massacre of Seven Sages Town, and their fight left Xiao Yu badly injured before he kicked Wutu Ba into the collapsing ground.

Xu Taiping saved Xiao Yu, defeated Wutu Ba, and accepted the Red Lion Ghost King’s offer to fight Goshu Miu in the Beast Cage. With guidance from the Martial Gods trapped inside Goshu Miu, he perfected his fist technique and destroyed his opponent’s head, but Dugu Ye warned him that the Mysterious Wasteland Tower would fall.

• Xu Taiping threatened to destroy the black skull and forced Wutu Ba to release the gravely injured Xiao Yu.
• Xu Taiping fought under the name Helian Su, advanced his blood-qi body tempering to golden arms, and defeated Wutu Ba.
• Gu Qingcheng explained the tower’s repeated historical resets, and Xu Taiping accepted the Red Lion Ghost King’s deal to fight Goshu Miu with restricted powers in exchange for protection.
• Xu Taiping trapped Goshu Miu at the valley entrance with the Red Lion Ghost King’s Beast-Trapping Power and revealed himself as Rusty Lion.
• Xu Taiping reached the Golden Essence Realm during the duel and learned that Goshu Miu wielded the powers of imprisoned Martial Gods.
• Dugu Ye and the other trapped Martial Gods guided Xu Taiping as he fused versions of the Great Sage Fist and brought the Raging Thunder Form into the ultimate realm.
• Xu Taiping activated his Dragon Whale Physique, shattered Goshu Miu’s arm, and destroyed his head after learning that the trapped Martial Gods’ outside bodies had rotted away.
• Dugu Ye secretly warned Xu Taiping that the Mysterious Wasteland Tower would fall and Mysterious Wasteland Heaven would become part of the Nine Abysses Demon Domain.

Xu Taiping's ascent stalled when the ninth layer's Ghost Horde overwhelmed his group, forcing him to reveal himself as Rusty Lion and seek reinforcements from the Five Heavens. He secured conditional support from two Dao Palaces and entered seclusion to prepare to kill two Ghost Kings as proof of his strength.

• Xu Taiping defeated Goshu Miu’s clone, received the Red Lion Ghost King’s Beast-Trapping Token, and continued toward the higher layers with his companions.
• Xuanyuan Xueluo awakened frost sky battle intent after Xuanyuan Qingshuang’s death, helped rout Goshu Miu’s army, and gave Xu Taiping the Snow Domain token.
• Xu Taiping used his Five-Life Bracelet to reverse the group’s deaths on the ninth layer, then killed the Snow Woman with Thunderflame during their next attempt.
• Xu Taiping fell to a Dragon Ghost after discovering the Ghost Horde, returned through another revival, and left the tower to seek reinforcements.
• Xu Taiping publicly revealed himself as Rusty Lion, invited cultivators below the Transformation Realm to enter the tower, and answered objections with recordings of his ascent and the Nine Abysses’ plot.
• Xu Taiping accepted Guangyuanzi’s demand to kill two chosen Ghost Kings within a month, securing conditional support from the Eight Views Dao Palace and the Three Sovereigns Dao Palace.
• Zhao Qian agreed to protect Xu Taiping from the Nine Abysses, while Zhang Honghu demanded another Life-Prolonging Needle to survive long enough to prepare the twelfth layer’s Spirit-Shocking Formation.
• Xu Taiping entered seclusion under Blade Ghost and Fairy Lingyue’s guidance, strengthened his Great Sage Fist, and trained toward the second level of the blade domain.

Xu Taiping defeated the Ghost Kings on the ninth layer, then spent years preparing while the Five Heavens rallied to support him. After seeing Mysterious Wasteland Heaven’s losses, he returned to the tower and let the Eight Views Dao Palace disciples challenge Old Smoky Ghost, whose power kept growing.

• Xu Taiping survived the Sand Worm Insect Queen’s blade domain, discovered the power of Mountain Spirit, and entered the Mysterious Wasteland Tower’s ninth layer.
• Xu Taiping defeated Snow Woman, Dragon Ghost, and Headless Ghost, overcoming their attacks and blade domains with his Great Sage Fist, thunderflame, and Hundred-Foot Blade Domain.
• Cultivators across the Five Heavens pledged forces to support Xu Taiping, who trained for three years on the ninth layer while waiting for them to advance.
• Xu Taiping learned that Dugu Qingxiao, Jiang Zhi, and Zhao Linglong had entered the tower, trained in the Infernal Blade Prison, and reached the Ultimate Realm of the Dragon Whale Physique.
• Zhao Qian warned Xu Taiping that Nine Abysses Demon Cultivators had infiltrated True Martial Heaven, then made him lord of Forget-Me-Not Peak, where its immortal swords welcomed him.
• Xu Taiping witnessed the suffering and sacrifices of Mysterious Wasteland Heaven’s people, then entered the ninth layer and found the Eight Views Dao Palace disciples challenging the Ghost Kings without him.
• After the disciples killed Snow Woman, Dragon Ghost, and Headless Ghost, Xu Taiping wagered his Azure Dragon Token on their ability to defeat Old Smoky Ghost.
• Old Smoky Ghost survived the Immortal-Trapping Sword Formation, regrew his severed arms, and grew stronger with each pull from his pipe as Xia Qi launched a decisive strike.