Recaps

Su Mo endured the Heaven and Earth Pill Furnace’s flames as he advanced toward Spirit Transformation, resisting the Soul Incense Volume’s smoke with a remembered call from Girl. The Cloud and Thunder Sects arrived as his flames surged, and Du Pingsheng stepped between Su Mo and their leaders.

• Su Mo endured the furnace’s burning while his Nascent Soul refined into spiritual power, and the Book of Life and Death opened its third volume, the Soul Incense Volume.
• Du Pingsheng urged Su Mo to stay awake as strange blue smoke assailed his body and soul, but Girl’s call revived him.
• Su Mo asked Du Pingsheng about refining a Twin Perching Pill after reaching Spirit Transformation, and Du Pingsheng agreed to discuss it then.
• Su Mo spotted the Cloud and Thunder Sects approaching and increased the furnace’s flames with his Confucian Dao True Words.
• Cloud Sect Master Yun Huan and Thunder Sect Master Lei Ruo arrived with their people, and Du Pingsheng rose to confront them.

Du Pingsheng revealed that he had joined the Cloud Sect to uncover a truth and stood with Su Mo as he broke through to Spirit Transformation. The Rain Sect declared Su Mo its young master and moved to protect him, then another group arrived to join the standoff.

• Du Pingsheng rejected the Cloud Sect Master's charge of betrayal and said he had entered the sect to uncover a truth owed to him for over a thousand years.
• Du Pingsheng positioned himself before Su Mo, refusing to let the Cloud and Thunder Sects kill his disciple as Su Mo continued tempering his body in the Heaven and Earth Pill Furnace.
• The Rain Sect arrived in force, and its master declared Su Mo their young master and said they had come to protect him as he entered Spirit Transformation.
• Yu Gu urged the Cloud and Thunder Sects to stop their infighting, but the Cloud Sect Master insisted Su Mo had to die.
• Two swords bearing a small group of people appeared, and their leader asked what difference their arrival would make.

Du Pingsheng gathered allies from the Imperial Clan and numerous sects to protect Su Mo as he underwent Spirit Transformation inside the Heaven and Earth Pill Furnace. With the Cloud and Thunder Sects outnumbered by the assembled forces, the chapter left the threatened battle unlikely to begin.

• Two Imperial Clan elders arrived and agreed to repay their debt to Du Pingsheng by protecting Su Mo as he entered Spirit Transformation.
• Du Pingsheng refused to march on the Cloud Sect and instead asked the allies to keep Su Mo safe while he endured the furnace’s flames.
• A disheveled old man arrived with his sect’s Spirit Transformation cultivators and pledged support to Du Pingsheng.
• An old woman and her sect’s cultivators joined Du Pingsheng’s side, followed by dozens of groups from other sects.
• The Cloud and Thunder Sect leaders saw that Du Pingsheng’s allies could contend with their forces, and the Cloud Sect’s Inner Affairs Elder expected that fighting would be avoided.

Su Mo completed his Way of Plants and Trees under the Heaven and Earth Pill Furnace, but his attempt to enter Spirit Transformation provoked the Heavenly Tribulation. He chose to face it despite knowing it could kill him, and the lightning tribulation began.

• Su Mo told Du Pingsheng that the fire was too weak, and Du Pingsheng asked the Old Woman to stoke the furnace with half her power.
• The Old Woman unleashed flames that refined Su Mo’s Way of Plants and Trees, while the Cloud and Thunder Sects realized he had not shed his mortality and waited for the Heavenly Tribulation to kill him.
• Su Mo perfected his Way of Plants and Trees, causing the Heaven and Earth Pill Furnace and its flames to vanish as the thunderclouds briefly quieted.
• Su Mo asked Du Pingsheng about his history with the Cloud Sect, and Du Pingsheng promised to tell him after he reached Spirit Transformation.
• Su Mo accepted that he had no other choice and forced his two Great Daos toward Spirit Transformation, triggering a lightning tribulation.

Su Mo repeatedly challenged the Heavenly Tribulation to break through to Spirit Transformation, despite being badly injured by each strike. He persuaded Du Pingsheng not to use a pill that would draw the tribulation onto himself, and Du Pingsheng let it fall.

• As Su Mo reached for Spirit Transformation, the Heavenly Tribulation struck him and forced his cultivation back to Nascent Soul, leaving him wounded.
• Su Mo tried to break through again, endured another strike, and declared that the tribulation could not stop him.
• The Heavenly Tribulation struck Su Mo once more, splitting his skin and leaving him covered in blood as Du Pingsheng prepared a pill.
• Su Mo recognized that Du Pingsheng intended to use the pill to draw the Heavenly Tribulation onto himself and asked to face it alone.
• Su Mo called Du Pingsheng Master and pleaded with him not to sacrifice himself, and Du Pingsheng dropped the pill.

Su Mo repeatedly tried to enter Spirit Transformation, but the heavenly tribulation struck him down each time. Badly wounded and exhausted, he ended the chapter kneeling beside the Heaven-Defying Pill as the clouds prepared another strike.

• Su Mo forced his cultivation into Spirit Transformation again, but tribulation lightning blasted him back to Nascent Soul and left him kneeling in the void.
• Du Pingsheng urged Su Mo to stop and seek another way, but Su Mo said he already knew there was no other choice and tried again.
• The tribulation struck Su Mo repeatedly, and Yu Gu and the Rain Sect Master also called on him to stop.
• Su Mo contemptuously challenged the heavens and attempted Spirit Transformation once more, but another strike knocked him motionless to the ground.
• The Young Master of the Cloud Sect left, while a girl asked the brocade-robed old man why Su Mo kept trying.
• Su Mo struggled to his knees, told the heavens to kill him or get out of his way, then noticed the Heaven-Defying Pill and said he was tired.

Su Mo swallowed Du Pingsheng's Heaven-Defying Pill and forced his Confucian Dao cultivation toward Spirit Transformation, provoking a world-destroying Heavenly Tribulation. As the lightning began to fall, he sent his allies away and faced it alone, while the Phoenix Woman left him a multicolored feather and insisted he keep his promise to protect her.

• Su Mo swallowed the Heaven-Defying Pill and advanced toward Spirit Transformation, drawing a vast thundercloud vortex that threatened to destroy everything nearby.
• The Cloud Sect and Thunder Sect left, and Su Mo sent the Rain Sect and Du Pingsheng's companions away from the coming tribulation.
• Su Mo called Du Pingsheng his Master and teleported him to the Bamboo Pavilion, asking him to wait there.
• Su Mo brought the Phoenix Woman and Frost out of his Spirit Sea and urged the Phoenix Woman to leave, but she said she had nowhere to go.
• The Phoenix Woman gave Su Mo a multicolored feather and reminded him to protect her until her nirvana was complete.
• A hundred-zhang-wide lightning tribulation descended, shaking the earth and setting ten thousand miles of mountains ablaze.

Su Mo was erased by the heavenly lightning tribulation, and those connected to him across the world felt his loss. The National Fortune Bell rang mournfully in the Ninth Realm, where his loved ones remained behind, waiting for his return.

• The lightning tribulation destroyed Su Mo, and the Cloud and Thunder Sects' people sensed his presence vanish.
• Yu Gu returned to the Rain Sect and watched the rain continue after the thunderclouds dispersed.
• Du Pingsheng felt the perfected Way of Plants and Trees disappear and returned to his bamboo hut, promising to wait for Su Mo to finish crafting “Twin Perching.”
• In the Ninth Realm, the Hundred Ghosts guarded the people while Prince Ying's Princess Consort embroidered a dragon robe for Su Mo and spoke with Prince Ying about him.
• Prince Ying's Princess Consort suddenly began weeping, and Prince Ying held her as the National Fortune Bell rang with sorrow across the Ninth Realm.

The nine tolls of the Kingdom-Sacrificing Bell announced that Su Mo had died, leaving Cheng An'an, Dao Hua, and Prince Ying's family grieving while hoping the news was false. Half a year later, a Phoenix Bird hatched, broke open a nearby pebble to reveal a sleeping boy, and carried him toward a newly opened secret realm.

• National Fortune Power rang the Kingdom-Sacrificing Bell nine times, announcing that the Human Emperor had passed away.
• Cheng An'an heard the bell and insisted that Su Mo must be joking and could not have died.
• Dao Hua returned to the Back Mountain and asked Dao Twelve to help him practice the inherited technique.
• Prince Ying's Princess Consort embroidered Su Mo a Confucian Robe as she and Prince Ying struggled to accept his apparent death.
• After half a year, a Phoenix Bird hatched in the mountains, cracked open a pebble containing a sleeping boy, and carried him toward a newly opened secret realm.

The Nine Heavens’ prodigies gathered to enter the Forbidden Lands and compete for Divine Seals, while several elders made a wager over who would collect the most. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Bird carried a sleeping little boy to a hot spring, where two days later it emerged as a little girl.

• The brocade-robed old man, the black-robed old man, Yun Huan, and Lei Ruo agreed to wager Spirit Artifacts on which of their factions would obtain more Divine Seals.
• The brocade-robed old man secretly told the girl beside him to give her Divine Seals to the Great Chu Imperial Clan, and she realized the elders were plotting together.
• The Phoenix Bird carried the sleeping little boy into the Forbidden Lands and took him to a hot spring deep in the forest.
• The Phoenix Bird dropped the boy into the hot spring, then entered the water with him as dazzling rosy light filled the area.
• After two days, the light faded, revealing the still-naked little boy and the Phoenix Bird transformed into a little girl in a brilliant long dress.

Phoenix and Su Mo woke after half a year of Nirvana and discovered they had both become children. They were already inside the Forbidden Lands, where Su Mo learned he could grow faster by absorbing Divine Seals but had only Qi Refining cultivation to face the competition.

• Phoenix woke in the hot spring and roused Su Mo by flicking him painfully.
• Su Mo recognized Phoenix, then realized he had undergone Nirvana and become a child.
• Phoenix admitted she had saved Su Mo with her Phoenix Feather, while Su Mo revealed the Book of Life and Death might have saved him too.
• Phoenix said Su Mo could grow faster by absorbing Divine Seals in the Forbidden Lands, which had already opened during their half-year Nirvana.
• Su Mo discovered his Spirit Transformation cultivation had fallen to Qi Refining and worried about competing for Divine Seals.

Little Su Mo persuaded little Phoenix Woman to help him steal Divine Seals once she recovered some cultivation, and the two planned to ambush other entrants using her ability to teleport and his Divine Race body. After half a day of meditation, they set off together, with Su Mo carrying the Floating Life Pool stele as a weapon.

• Little Su Mo asked little Phoenix Woman to help him snatch Divine Seals after she recovered her cultivation, and she agreed in exchange for a future request.
• Little Su Mo and little Phoenix Woman decided they could ambush other entrants by teleporting close and overpowering them in combat.
• Little Phoenix Woman lent little Su Mo phoenix feathers that transformed into girls' clothes after his Confucian Robe was destroyed.
• Little Su Mo brought the Floating Life Pool stele out of his Spirit Sea Gate and chose it as his weapon.
• After half a day of meditation, little Phoenix Woman said she could take Su Mo to ambush people, and the two set off down the mountain.

Fu Hong encountered Xu Lin in the Forbidden Lands and surrendered two Divine Seals, but Xu Lin attacked him anyway. Little Su Mo and little Phoenix Woman defeated Xu Lin, searched him for valuables, and continued through the Forbidden Lands after Fu Hong fled in terror.

• Fu Hong searched the Forbidden Lands for Divine Seals while wondering whether Su Mo had arrived.
• Xu Lin confronted Fu Hong and forced him to hand over two Divine Seals, then attacked him as he tried to leave.
• Little Su Mo and little Phoenix Woman struck Xu Lin down, took three more Divine Seals, and frightened Fu Hong into fleeing.
• Little Su Mo searched Xu Lin’s Storage Ring, found nothing worthwhile, and accidentally dropped the stone stele on Xu Lin’s head again.

Little Su Mo and little Phoenix Woman escaped a group of newcomers, then used the Reincarnation Mirror to track the Cloud Sect Young Master and his disciples. They secretly followed the group, planning to exploit Su Mo’s grudge and let the Young Master lead them to more Divine Seals.

• Little Su Mo and little Phoenix Woman hid as a group arrived, then returned after the group moved on and noticed its members carried Divine Seals.
• Little Su Mo used the Reincarnation Mirror to find the Cloud Sect Young Master, who had taken Divine Seals from other cultivators.
• A phantom watched the children leave, recognized Su Mo as a surviving member of the Divine Race, and vowed that no one would bully him in the Forbidden Lands.
• Little Su Mo and little Phoenix Woman concealed themselves with Chen Meiren's Jade Clasp and watched the Cloud Sect group on an ancient road.
• Little Su Mo told little Phoenix Woman that the Young Master was an incarnation and that they could use him to find more Divine Seals, so they followed the group quietly.
• When several Divine Seals appeared in the distance, the Young Master rushed toward them, and the two children followed.

Little Phoenix Woman and Little Su Mo ambushed the Young Master of the Cloud Sect, stole his Storage Ring, and left the rival factions believing evil spirits haunted the Forbidden Lands. They returned the ring empty and headed deeper into the forest to lure their pursuers toward the Thunder Sect.

• The Young Master of the Cloud Sect and the Great Chu Imperial Clan prepared to fight over a Divine Seal.
• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman appeared, struck the Young Master of the Cloud Sect with a Stone Stele, and stole his Storage Ring.
• The Great Chu Imperial Clan and Cloud Sect disciples blamed evil spirits for the ambush, and the Young Master of the Cloud Sect woke to find his ring missing.
• Little Su Mo returned the empty ring, then escaped with Little Phoenix Woman through the Dense Forest.
• Little Su Mo asked Little Phoenix Woman to let her aura leak so their pursuers would follow, and directed the Reincarnation Mirror to take them to the Thunder Sect.

Little Su Mo and little Phoenix Woman followed the Reincarnation Mirror through the Forbidden Lands, where a Divine Seal flew into Su Mo’s hand. They found the Thunder Sect’s group and struck down its leader, after which a Jade Slip appeared before him.

• Little Phoenix Woman led little Su Mo through the Forbidden Lands, explaining that she had visited before and had named the Nirvana Pool herself.
• A stationary Divine Seal floated down and entered little Su Mo’s hand when he reached for it.
• Little Su Mo and little Phoenix Woman found the Thunder Sect’s group and decided to attack its leader when their pursuers drew near.
• Little Phoenix Woman carried little Su Mo behind the leader, and Su Mo struck the man unconscious with the Stone Stele.
• The leader’s Storage Ring vanished, a Jade Slip appeared before him, and the ring returned to his hand.

Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman used the yin aura of the Stone Stele to frame the Thunder Sect and provoke a battle with the Cloud Sect. After the children vanished, both sects became convinced that evil spirits were harming people in the Forbidden Lands.

• A Thunder Sect leader woke after being struck, found a Jade Slip blaming the Cloud Sect, and discovered that his Divine Seals and belongings were missing from his Storage Ring.
• The Cloud Sect's Young Master saw the Thunder Sect leader taking his belongings and attacked him, starting a fierce battle between the sects.
• Little Phoenix Woman explained that the Stone Stele's yin aura could affect people's minds when it struck them, and Little Su Mo watched as both sides suffered serious injuries.
• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman appeared atop the Stone Stele, frightening the fighters before vanishing with it.
• A Cloud Sect disciple cried that evil spirits were harming people, and the Young Master of the Cloud Sect and the other disciples grew fearful.

Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman discovered that absorbing Divine Seals barely accelerated his growth, so they continued deeper into the Forbidden Lands to steal more. An ethereal figure watched them affectionately before vanishing.

• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman wondered why the Cloud and Thunder Sects’ disciples and the Rogue Cultivator had looked terrified after being tricked.
• Little Su Mo absorbed more than twenty Divine Seals, but felt he had grown only five or six days older.
• Little Su Mo estimated that he needed tens of thousands of Divine Seals to return to age twenty, and he and Little Phoenix Woman agreed to keep collecting them.
• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman set off to ambush lone people and take their Divine Seals, while sparing those they had no grudge against.
• After the children left, an ethereal figure appeared, watched them affectionately, and vanished.

Daoist Mude and Monk Zhixuan entered the Forbidden Lands disguised as wealthy merchants, but Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman knocked them out and took their Divine Seals. The children continued deeper into the forest with the seals and Stone Stele, while the Divine Seal followed them.

• Daoist Mude and Monk Zhixuan discussed hiding their identities as people from the Ninth Realm and mourned Su Mo, whom they believed had died in a heavenly tribulation.
• Daoist Mude and Monk Zhixuan spotted a Divine Seal and ran toward it, but Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman knocked them unconscious.
• Little Su Mo searched Mude's Storage Bag and found more than twenty Divine Seals, which he took while he and Little Phoenix Woman accused the men of robbing people.
• Little Su Mo used the Reincarnation Mirror to record the unconscious men's appearances and asked it to knock them out again if they woke.
• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman headed deeper into the Forbidden Lands to collect more Divine Seals, and the floating seal followed Little Su Mo.

Zhixuan and Mude woke to find their Storage Bags and Divine Seals stolen, then learned that two terrifying childlike evil spirits had been robbing people across the Forbidden Lands. Mude proposed disguising themselves as evil spirits to frighten others into handing over their Divine Seals.

• Zhixuan and Mude woke with painful injuries and discovered their Storage Bags, holding more than twenty Divine Seals, were gone.
• A man emerging from the grass told Zhixuan and Mude that two childlike ghostly creatures had been knocking people unconscious and stealing their Divine Seals.
• The man said the Cloud and Thunder Sects had lost nearly half their people trying to slay the creatures, leaving everyone in the Forbidden Lands afraid.
• Zhixuan and Mude suspected the evil spirits had attacked them and discussed how the pair had treated Mude more roughly than Zhixuan.
• Mude suggested that he and Zhixuan disguise themselves as evil spirits to scare people into surrendering their Divine Seals, and Zhixuan agreed.

The Young Master of the Cloud Sect was knocked down again by Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman, who had stolen the Divine Seals from his Storage Ring. After he passed the ring to a disciple, the children struck him once more, took the seals, and returned the ring to him before leaving.

• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman knocked the Young Master of the Cloud Sect down for the third time and stole the Divine Seals from his Storage Ring.
• The Young Master of the Cloud Sect made a disciple wear the ring and continued searching for Divine Seals.
• Two days later, the children knocked the Young Master of the Cloud Sect down again and searched his finger for the ring.
• The disciple threw the ring to Little Su Mo, who took the Divine Seals and put the ring back on the Young Master of the Cloud Sect.
• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman carried away the Stone Stele and disappeared.

After the Cloud Sect was attacked again, Mude and Zhixuan tried impersonating Evil Spirits to steal Divine Seals but were chased away by both the Cloud Sect and the Thunder Sect. The chapter ended with the Thunder Sect’s Senior Brother Diao collapsing after another eerie gust, leaving his group fearing the Evil Spirits would keep targeting them.

• Junior Brother Xiang returned the ring to himself and let another disciple knock him unconscious so the Cloud Sect group could explain the attack to their Young Master.
• The Cloud Sect mistook Mude and Zhixuan’s Evil Spirit disguise for deliberate mockery and chased them away.
• Mude and Zhixuan encountered the Thunder Sect and tried the same Divine Seal scam, but the Thunder Sect blasted them with Thunder Arts and drove them off.
• Senior Brother Diao lamented that he had no Divine Seals and still needed opportunities to claim the young master position.
• An eerie wind swept through the Thunder Sect group, and Senior Brother Diao fell to the ground convulsing.

Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman worried that their repeated thefts had stopped cultivators from collecting Divine Seals, so they planned to trick people into searching again. They tested their plan on the Cloud Sect, knocking out the entire group.

• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman realized cultivators had stopped collecting Divine Seals because they feared being robbed.
• Little Su Mo proposed promising not to steal seals, then robbing cultivators after they had gathered more.
• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman decided to try their plan on the Cloud Sect.
• The Young Master of the Cloud Sect smugly believed he was safe without Divine Seals and planned to collect some near the end of the year.
• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman struck the Cloud Sect group from behind, leaving everyone unconscious.

Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman knocked out the Cloud Sect members and left them three Divine Seals, hoping to show they would not steal from them again. When the Cloud Sect misunderstood the gesture and ignored the Seals, the children returned and knocked everyone out once more, leaving the Seals again.

• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman knocked out the Cloud Sect members, left three Divine Seals before the Young Master of the Cloud Sect, and went to find the Thunder Sect.
• A phantom appeared and lamented that the last little seedling of the Divine Race had to find ways to grow without anyone to rely on.
• The Cloud Sect members woke and misread the Seals as a warning to search for more; the Young Master of the Cloud Sect refused to submit and ordered them to ignore the Seals.
• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman returned, saw the Seals untouched, and decided the Cloud Sect still did not understand their message.
• The children knocked out the Cloud Sect members again, noticed the Young Master of the Cloud Sect's head was bleeding, left three more Divine Seals, and hid nearby.

The Cloud Sect devised a way to appease the supposed evil spirits by dragging a Storage Ring filled with Divine Seals behind them, while Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman secretly collected the seals and spared them further blows. The method spread to the Thunder Sect and other groups, who began using it too.

• After being struck unconscious again, the Young Master of the Cloud Sect agreed to a disciple’s plan to place Divine Seals in a Storage Ring and drag it behind the group as an offering.
• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman approached the Cloud Sect’s ring, took most of its Divine Seals, and left three behind.
• The Cloud Sect concluded that the spirits would take the seals instead of attacking them, and continued collecting more to put in the ring.
• Little Su Mo and Little Phoenix Woman decided to keep taking the Cloud Sect’s seals at intervals without hitting them again, then went to check on the Thunder Sect.
• The Thunder Sect copied the Cloud Sect’s method, and the approach spread among other sects and individuals.