Arc 8Chapters 176–200
No recap yet.
No recap yet.
Lin Mo learned that the Divine Firmament Sect had sealed itself off and set out with a crowd of cultivators heading toward it. Along the way, a scruffy young man approached him and asked whether he had heard of the Astrology Pavilion.
Lin Mo met Dantai Jingyu, a disciple of the Astrology Pavilion who had been sent by Zhuge Fengming to find him, and learned that a Divine Firmament Sect Outer Elder was said to possess half the formation disc for the Divine Firmament Sky-Locking Formation. At the gathering of cultivators preparing to enter the sect, Lin Mo sensed that someone present carried the Tai Sui Gate’s hidden influence.
Lin Mo recognized signs of the Tai Sui Gate in the gray-robed old man distributing talismans that supposedly bypassed the Divine Firmament Sect’s formation. After Lin Mo challenged the talismans’ origins, the old man offered to take his back, leaving Lin Mo’s next move unresolved.
Lin Mo exposed the Yellow Paper Talismans as carriers of the Tai Sui Gate's blood-slave secret art, but Qi Feng activated them before everyone could discard them. With nearly half the cultivators controlled, Lin Mo called for Qi Feng to be killed and promised to restore the victims' senses.
Lin Mo used his special physique and a barrel of bathwater to cure the cultivators controlled by Qi Feng’s evil art after the Golden Core True Lords killed Qi Feng. With the crisis over, the cultivators abandoned their attempt to enter the Divine Firmament Sect, and Luan invited Lin Mo to return to Vaultheaven City with him.
Lin Mo agreed to investigate the area with Luan Xiuping, while Dantai Jingyu revealed that Zhuge Fengming’s divination had told him to follow Lin Mo. The three became closer, and Luan Xiuping asked Lin Mo what had brought him to the Divine Firmament Sect.
Lin Mo used the Spirit-Devouring Vine to locate and pierce a Spiritual Qi Spring Eye, exposing a flaw in the Divine Firmament Sky-Locking Formation. He and Luan Xiuping and Dantai Jingyu began digging toward the breach to enter the Divine Firmament Sect.
The Divine Firmament Sect’s six weakened elders faced imminent threats from the Qiongxiao Sect and a stranger who had entered their protective formation. Lin Mo prepared to enter the sect with Luan Xiuping and Dantai Jingyu, taking precautions to prevent a misunderstanding.
Lin Mo and his companions emerged from the Divine Firmament Sky-Locking Formation and convinced Qiongyuzi that they meant the Divine Firmament Sect no harm. When Lin Mo tried to explain that he had encountered a similar crisis before, Qiongyuzi misunderstood his answer and attacked him.
Lin Mo confronted Qiongyuzi after the elder attacked him and his companions, insisting that only he could break the formation threatening the Divine Firmament Sect. The sect’s other supreme elders arrived and agreed to compensate him, but Lin Mo demanded that Qiongyuzi prove his apology by drinking the spring water.
Lin Mo revealed that the bathwater could restore the Divine Firmament Sect's failing fortunes, and Qiongsongzi tested it, recovering some of his vitality and cultivation. The elders then learned the limited supply could either restore the Six Elders or help purify the dragon vein and restore the sect's fortune, leaving them to choose.
Lin Mo earned the Divine Firmament Sect elders’ trust by sacrificing his essence blood to make spirit liquid that restored their vitality. With the Six Elders recovered, he urged them to take him to the dragon vein and destroy the Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formation.
Lin Mo persuaded the Six Elders of the Divine Firmament to take him underground to investigate the failing Earth Vein Fire Pool, while pretending to risk his life to destroy the Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formation. After Qiongsongzi brought out his defensive ancient treasure, the Two-World Bell, Lin Mo asked whether he could buy a similar treasure, and Qiongsongzi offered him the bell instead.
Lin Mo accepted Qiongsongzi’s White Sun Tower and arranged for Luan Xiuping to receive the Two-World Bell before they entered the Earth Vein Fire Pool. After Lin Mo sensed the Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formation beneath the pool, Qiongsongzi gave him a protective Feather Cloak for the perilous descent.
Lin Mo and Qiongsongzi traveled into the Fire Pool while Qiongsongzi explained the Sun-Eating Nether Crow and the transition from the Primordial Era to the modern cultivation world. Lin Mo suspected his Treasure Gourd might be one of the ancient wondrous objects that could restore collapsing bodies, as the Blood-Colored Sphere stirred within his dantian and they descended into the pool’s center.
Lin Mo and Qiongsongzi discovered the third Ancient Sword had broken the hidden Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formation and acknowledged Lin Mo as its master. As they prepared to leave, a sword-shaped apparition appeared, leaving them unsure what it was.
Lin Mo helped Qiongsongzi dismantle the formation beneath the fire pool and restore the Divine Firmament Sect's fortune, revealing a chance to reunite the sect with its branch, the Qiongxiao Sect. As Qiongsongzi led Lin Mo back to the sect, the imprisoned Qiongxiao Nascent Soul witnessed the Fortune Lotuses revive and realized Qiongsongzi might reach the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage.
Lin Mo explained how he destroyed the Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formation and restored the Divine Firmament Sect’s providence, while Qionghengzi struggled to believe the Six Elders had recovered. Qionghengzi demanded to inspect the formation’s remains and Ancient Sword and verify whether Lin Mo was destined to answer both providence and calamity.
Lin Mo persuaded Qionghengzi that the Qiongxiao Sect and Divine Firmament Sect should reunite, while warning that the Tai Sui Gate might be preparing a major threat. The sect leaders agreed to pursue a merger without abandoning body refinement, and Lin Mo asked about a suspected Soul-Devouring Formation in the Central Continent.
Lin Mo learned that the fourth Ancient Sword lay beneath Buddha Hand Peak, the sacred site of Western Esoteric Buddhism, and prepared to travel to the Western Regions despite the difficulty of entering it. Before leaving the Divine Firmament Sect, he asked Qionghengzi for a body refinement manual for Senior Brother Liu.
Lin Mo learned that Liu Xianzong’s unusual physique could make him suited to Western Esoteric Buddhism’s body-refinement methods, and received rare Message Jade Slips from the Divine Firmament Sect. After returning to East Sea Island, Lin Mo changed his appearance and concealed his aura as he headed back to the Azure Cloud Sect with Luan Xiuping and Dantai Jingyu.
Lin Mo returned to the Azure Cloud Sect with Luan Xiuping and Dantai Jingyu, bringing new allies and plans for his trip to the Western Region. Han Kang then called for help from seclusion after his golden core shattered without forming a nascent soul.
After Han Kang shattered his golden core in a forced attempt to form a nascent soul, Lin Mo sought a powerful Nascent Soul Condensation Pill to save him. As Han Kang neared death on the seventh day, Lin Mo gave him spirit liquid to buy time while they awaited Qiongsongzi’s promised pill.
Lin Mo tried to keep Han Kang alive with spirit spring water while accepting responsibility for the Azure Cloud Sect’s future, but the treatment could no longer match Han Kang’s fading vitality. Qiongsongzi arrived and discovered that Han Kang’s nascent soul was forming, warning that tribulation lightning would soon strike the sect.
As Han Kang’s nascent soul formed and triggered a sixfold tribulation, Lin Mo broke through to the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment. Lin Mo gave Han Kang three powerful treasures and spirit spring water to help him survive, then fled beyond the tribulation’s range as Han Kang prepared to face the lightning.