Recaps

Chu Xingchen left Jiangyue City with Yunxiao and announced that he would lead a team to pursue Xu Linglong as soon as they returned. In Dongsheng Shenzhou, Chen Baiqing took over Ye Antao’s urgent Jade Token decisions and pieced together that her master was planning a dangerous strike against Xu Linglong.

• Chu Xingchen told Yunxiao that he had retrieved what the monk had hidden and had no reason to bring the monk or his mortal along.
• Chu Xingchen said he would return and personally lead a team to pursue Xu Linglong, and Yunxiao reluctantly accepted his decision.
• Ye Antao struggled to manage the urgent Jade Tokens and asked whether anyone had news of Senior Brother Yunxiao.
• Chen Baiqing arrived, claimed Chu Xingchen had sent her, and persuaded Ye Antao to hand over the Jade Token decisions.
• Chen Baiqing reviewed the information, inferred that Xu Linglong had set up a Grand Formation and Chu Xingchen intended to strike first, then grew angry at the danger he was taking.

Chu Xingchen combined the two maps into the Heaven's Way Map and investigated its ability to reveal and control the Five Continents' veins. After failing to move any vein, he put the map away and discovered that the mission's new plans resembled Chen Baiqing's work.

• Chu Xingchen fitted the Mountains and Seas Diagram and Mountains and Rivers Diagram into the True Board of the Map of the World, revealing the Five Continents' water and spirit veins.
• Chu Xingchen recorded the spirit veins and wondered whether their origins had been erased, then suspected the Heavenly Demons might rely on them to power a formation between worlds.
• Chu Xingchen poured his tribulation transcendence spiritual power and borrowed divine sense into the map, but could not move a spirit vein or a water vein.
• Yunxiao sensed Chu Xingchen's exposed aura, and Chu Xingchen concealed the map and claimed he had been studying a talisman from Bai Xuanling.
• Xu Jin showed Chu Xingchen a mission plan that resembled Chen Baiqing's work, leaving Chu Xingchen puzzled about whether she had made it.

The Firmament Rhyme Hall surrounded Qiyuan Mountain with a Grand Formation, and Chen Baiqing watched her injured master, Chu Xingchen, charge into battle before being struck down. Convinced he had not recovered, Chen Baiqing decided to use recordings of the fight to make those who cared about him stop him from taking such risks.

• The Firmament Rhyme Hall sealed Qiyuan Mountain with Grand Formations while Chen Baiqing, Ye Antao, and other cultivators watched from a safe distance.
• Chen Baiqing used the Azure Sky Treasure Ring to watch Chu Xingchen charge toward two Demons with Yunxiao following him.
• Chu Xingchen blocked the Demons’ attack with the Innate Primordial Origin Stabilizing Dao Two Qi Pearl, but was soon blasted backward.
• A Tribulation Transcendence cultivator defeated the two Demons, while Yunxiao hurried to check Chu Xingchen and shielded him from further observation.
• Chen Baiqing concluded that Chu Xingchen was still injured and recorded the scene, planning to show copies to Chu Xingchen, his wife, and her Eldest Senior Sister.

Chu Xingchen considered the investigation into the Heavenly Demons a smokescreen while he tracked the spirit veins and water veins with the Map of Heaven's Way. After Chen Baiqing arrived at the Temporary Hub, he took her aside to hear about her Eldest Senior Sister, and their conversation ended with her admitting she felt hurt that he kept excluding her.

• Chu Xingchen assessed the repeated but incomplete world-spanning rituals and believed the initiative remained in his hands because he had the Map of Heaven's Way and the Eighteen Immortal Sects were watching for signs of movement.
• Chu Xingchen found Chen Baiqing in the Discussion Hall and learned she had come after receiving a letter that Master's Wife had probably sent on his behalf.
• Chu Xingchen asked Chen Baiqing to report on her Eldest Senior Sister and led her outside, where she used the Azure Sky Treasure Ring to keep their conversation private.
• Chen Baiqing admitted she was angry because Chu Xingchen had promised not to treat her like a child but still kept her from taking part when trouble arose.
• Chu Xingchen teased Chen Baiqing about her familiar expression and promised to take her to buy sweets, just as he had when she was young.

Chu Xingchen teased Chen Baiqing while fishing, then revealed that his apparent Nascent Soul cultivation concealed power approaching Tribulation Transcendence. After explaining his plans and offering her a trusted role, he asked whether she would return to Southern Jambu Continent, and Chen Baiqing chose to stay with him.

• Chu Xingchen struggled to catch fish, and Chen Baiqing teased him while eating a Sugar Painting and joking about his fearsome reputation.
• Chen Baiqing told Chu Xingchen she had sent Eldest Senior Sister an account of his actions and asked whether he had sent them all to Southern Jambu Continent to handle matters there.
• Chu Xingchen displayed an aura approaching Tribulation Transcendence before returning to Nascent Soul, explaining that he concealed his cultivation and was waiting until his disciples were ready for greater responsibilities.
• Chu Xingchen said Southern Jambu Continent mattered greatly because Li Junzi might become a Second Sage and restore the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth.
• Chen Baiqing decided not to return to Southern Jambu Continent, and Chu Xingchen offered her trusted secretary-like duties while warning that Eldest Senior Sister might still punish her.

Chen Baiqing confronted Winter Melon over its fabricated intelligence and deliberate slacking, then threatened to make its death look like a heroic sacrifice to Xu Linglong. The chapter ended with her demanding to know whether Winter Melon feared death.

• Chu Xingchen entrusted Chen Baiqing with the Heaven's Way Map and assigned her to curb Winter Melon's slacking.
• Chen Baiqing gave Winter Melon a report documenting its false answers and evasions, leaving it unable to defend itself.
• Chen Baiqing told Winter Melon that Chu Xingchen had mistaken its sincerity and suggested its loyalty still lay with Xu Linglong.
• Chen Baiqing offered to spread a story that Winter Melon had bravely died for its fellow demons, then asked whether it was afraid of dying.

Winter Melon struggled to explain how it knew about the Teleportation Ritual as Chen Baiqing began to suspect it had useful secrets. At Marvelous Affinity Temple, Li Yingling received Chen Baiqing’s recordings, learned that her master was safe, and showed Li Xingtian an embarrassing image of his rescue.

• Winter Melon blamed Xu Linglong for setting it up, but Chen Baiqing questioned how it could know the supposedly secret Teleportation Ritual.
• At Marvelous Affinity Temple, Wuwang told Li Yingling that the New Policies had nearly shattered Hinayana Buddhism and that he expected punishment from the Venerable Buddha and the other Buddhas.
• A Heavenly Derivation Sect disciple delivered an Image-Recording Stone and a Jade Token from Chen Baiqing to Li Yingling.
• Li Yingling viewed Chen Baiqing’s message that her master was unharmed, destroyed the Jade Token’s contents, and kept the Image-Recording Stone.
• Li Xingtian watched a recording of his master rescuing him from the Dream Master and felt mortified by his master’s teasing remark.

Xu Linglong agreed to join Boluo’s plan to attack Chu Xingchen when the Grand Formation activated, while Chu Xingchen decided to keep Winter Melon under observation and discussed the New Policies with Chen Baiqing. Xie Lingyu arrived after learning about Chu Xingchen’s condition and declared that she would stand by him through hardship.

• Boluo proposed surrounding and attacking Chu Xingchen on the day the Grand Formation activated, and said he would face Bai Xuanling himself.
• Xu Linglong agreed to join Boluo’s plan, and he departed, leaving her alone on the boat beneath the moon.
• Chen Baiqing told Chu Xingchen that Winter Melon might have received information subconsciously from Xu Linglong, but Chu Xingchen chose to keep him around.
• Chu Xingchen and Chen Baiqing discussed whether the New Policies on the Southern Jambu Continent could produce a Second Sage.
• Xie Lingyu arrived to see Chu Xingchen after learning about his condition, grabbed his collar, and told him, “Lord Lingyu can do anything!”

Bai Xuanling kept watch over the disciples near Marvelous Affinity Temple while enjoying a rare leisurely day, then received a Jade Token from Li Xingtian. After hearing his plea, she chose to go see Chu Xingchen, leaving Li Xingtian confident he could persuade the others to return to the Heavenly Derivation Sect.

• Bai Xuanling ate noodles and reflected on Chu Xingchen’s decision to send her to protect the disciples and on the new policies’ progress.
• Bai Xuanling bought candied hawthorns for Qinghe and a Gilt Hairpin for Xie Lingyu as she strolled through town.
• Bai Xuanling sensed Li Xingtian’s spiritual power, recognized him, and accepted the Jade Token Chu Xingchen had sent.
• Bai Xuanling destroyed the token’s contents after asking Li Xingtian whether he had anything to say to her.
• Li Xingtian urged Bai Xuanling to go see Chu Xingchen and offered to persuade Eldest Senior Sister and the others to return to the Heavenly Derivation Sect.
• Bai Xuanling agreed to follow Li Xingtian’s advice.

Chu Xingchen and Chen Baiqing studied spirit vein changes that suggested Xu Linglong's group was preparing multiple possible sites to activate the Grand Formation. Bai Xuanling arrived, became fascinated by the Heaven's Way Map, and asked Chu Xingchen to lend it to her for a couple of days.

• Chen Baiqing showed Chu Xingchen, Yuyang Daozi, and Xu Jin how spirit veins had shifted across several regions, revealing possible Grand Formation activation points.
• Bai Xuanling arrived at Yunxiao Hall's temporary headquarters and recognized the Heaven's Way Map as a powerful Spirit Treasure.
• Bai Xuanling questioned Chu Xingchen about how he had found the map, and Chu Xingchen claimed he had picked it up after falling from a mountain.
• Xie Lingyu revealed that Bai Xuanling had once kept the Heavenly Derivation Sect's Heaven-Deriving Disc for fifty years before returning it.
• Bai Xuanling admired the Heaven's Way Map and asked Chu Xingchen to lend it to her for a couple of days.

Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling planned a secret strike against the Devil Race’s Grand Formation while Chu Xingchen prepared to bait Xu Linglong or another Heavenly Demon. Xie Lingyu and Chen Baiqing volunteered to accompany him, and Bai Xuanling demonstrated her strength by striking Yuyang Daozi into a wall.

• Bai Xuanling reported that Li Xingtian would handle matters on the Southern Jambu Continent, and Chu Xingchen outlined a plan to use four trusted sects as the main force while keeping the others nearby.
• Chu Xingchen suspected Xu Linglong’s revealed trump card required powerful cultivators’ Dao Resonance and said he would try to lure out a Heavenly Demon.
• Xie Lingyu offered to join Chu Xingchen as bait, and Chu Xingchen accepted; Chen Baiqing also volunteered, but he refused her.
• Yuyang Daozi teased Bai Xuanling, who tapped his forehead and sent him crashing into a wall.

As Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu walked along the Jade Flow River, he explained why he had refused Chen Baiqing’s request to accompany him and admitted his fears about saving the world. Xie Lingyu reassured him, then smoothly broke through from the late spirit transformation stage into the early integrated body stage.

• Chu Xingchen refused to let Chen Baiqing accompany him, and she left after calling him a bully.
• Xie Lingyu apologized for prompting Chen Baiqing’s argument, but Chu Xingchen told her she was not responsible for his decision.
• Chu Xingchen admitted he was afraid of failing the people he cared about, and Xie Lingyu promised to support him.
• Xie Lingyu’s cultivation surged as she walked with Chu Xingchen, and a golden beam of Dao resonance descended upon her.
• Xie Lingyu reached the early integrated body stage, displaying power that surpassed ordinary cultivators in the middle stage.

Chu Xingchen recruited Winter Melon to pilot a ship into the Eastern Sea and openly bait Xu Linglong into a fight. As the ship set out, Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu looked forward to the coming confrontation while Bai Xuanling and Huang Miao prepared a separate sweep for the Cross-Realm Grand Formation.

• Chu Xingchen thanked Winter Melon for its recent help and summoned a ship from his Spatial Ring.
• Chu Xingchen told Winter Melon they planned to find Xu Linglong and either kill it or be killed, then handed over the ship’s Ritual Command.
• Chu Xingchen explained that three concealed Tribulation Transcendence cultivators would follow at a distance while Bai Xuanling and Huang Miao led teams to search for the Cross-Realm Grand Formation.
• Chu Xingchen threatened to hang Winter Melon from the ship as bait, so Winter Melon agreed to steer them toward Xu Linglong.
• Xie Lingyu said she was looking forward to the confrontation, and she and Chu Xingchen exchanged victory signs.

Zheng Zhaoling, now a Body Integration Realm core disciple of Cloud Dream Pavilion, went to meet Cui Hao, who had arrived to keep an old appointment. After Cui Hao sparred verbally with Pei Liang, Zheng Zhaoling greeted him and he asked her about the Cloud Dream Tassel she had promised.

• Zheng Zhaoling meditated on Calm Mind Peak, reflecting on her twenty-year confinement and her cultivation’s progress to the Body Integration Realm.
• A Cloud Dream Pavilion disciple told Zheng Zhaoling that Cui Hao had arrived and was being received by Pei Liang at Dream Fate Pavilion.
• Zheng Zhaoling went to Dream Fate Pavilion and heard Cui Hao trade insults with Pei Liang about their respective backers.
• Zheng Zhaoling entered and greeted Cui Hao, who praised her and said he had missed her.
• Zheng Zhaoling teased Cui Hao about bringing Spring Warmth, and he produced a jar before asking whether she had brought the Cloud Dream Tassel she had promised.

Cui Hao met Zheng Zhaoling at the Cloud Dream Pavilion to seek her help with a reported Heavenly Demon situation in Northern Jambudvipa. She offered him Cloud Dream Tassel, a precious drink that might trigger his Golden Core breakthrough, and the chapter ended with them clinking cups.

• Cui Hao brought Spring Warmth to Zheng Zhaoling and proposed drinking it with good news, while she agreed to serve Cloud Dream Tassel first.
• Zheng Zhaoling dismissed Pei Liang and led Cui Hao across the Cloud Dream Immortal Bridge to a waterfall.
• Zheng Zhaoling used a token to draw Cloud Dream Tassel from beneath the waterfall and warned Cui Hao that drinking it might break through his Golden Core Realm.
• Zheng Zhaoling offered to guard Cui Hao during his breakthrough, but Cui Hao insisted they share the drink and clinked cups with her.

Cui Hao broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm at Cloud Dream Pavilion, where Zheng Zhaoling guarded him. Afterward, he openly shared his mission to assess the pavilion and learned that its support for the Great Calamity would be limited by its need to protect its own spirit vein and legacy.

• Zheng Zhaoling protected Cui Hao as he spent three days breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.
• After Cui Hao's breakthrough, Zheng Zhaoling remarked on his bold claim about defying Heaven's Will, and he joked that he was speaking ahead to his future as a Mahayana cultivator.
• Cui Hao showed Zheng Zhaoling Chen Baiqing's Jade Token and asked how far Cloud Dream Pavilion would support his master and the Great Calamity.
• Zheng Zhaoling explained that the pavilion believed the Great Calamity was real but would prioritize protecting its spirit vein and preserving its legacy.
• Cui Hao declared that he would change the principle that cultivators remained little more than mortals, and Zheng Zhaoling admitted she sometimes thought the same way.

Boluo and Xu Linglong watched as Huang Miao and Bai Xuanling searched for the altered spirit veins, while debating whether Chu Xingchen was baiting them. Xu Linglong agreed to keep watch over Chu Xingchen in the Eastern Sea, and Boluo began preparing for a second upheaval.

• Boluo and Xu Linglong suspected that Huang Miao and Bai Xuanling were using the spirit veins to find their hidden base.
• Boluo questioned whether the Chu Xingchen at sea was genuine, and Xu Linglong said Xie Lingyu was real and Chu Xingchen might be using them as bait.
• Xu Linglong volunteered to draw Chu Xingchen's attention and possibly lure Huang Miao and Bai Xuanling away, while Boluo promised to seek a way to get her ashore.
• Boluo gave Xu Linglong's clone a dark-purple rhombic crystal to keep for emergencies, and she swallowed it.
• After Xu Linglong vanished into the earth, Boluo reflected on his time as a monk and resolved to prepare for a second upheaval against Heaven's Way.

Chu Xingchen and his companions continued searching the Eastern Sea when Xu Linglong appeared with an army of sea demons. Xie Lingyu attacked her avatar and the surrounding horde with a devastating sword strike.

• Chu Xingchen reflected on Li Junzi’s successful New Policies and waited for news from the Eastern Sea search.
• Winter Melon nervously defended its efforts to Chu Xingchen, then Xu Linglong arrived and confirmed it had guessed her intentions.
• Xu Linglong challenged Chu Xingchen’s confidence and summoned thousands of sea demons, whose strength rose as her Origin blood dyed the sea crimson.
• Xie Lingyu offered to fight, and Chu Xingchen told him not to hold back.
• Xie Lingyu unleashed a sword strike that split the waves and clouds and reduced the sea demons in its path to dust.

Xie Lingyu overwhelmed Xu Linglong’s sea demon reinforcements, but Xu Linglong relied on a hidden influence planted in Winter Melon to target Chu Xingchen aboard the Great Wave Ship. Winter Melon suddenly stiffened and told Chu Xingchen that nothing was wrong, only then realizing what it had said.

• Xu Linglong summoned a giant octopus, but Xie Lingyu erased its tentacles and severed its head with her Sword Intent.
• Xie Lingyu revealed and killed a crimson-armored sea demon before Xu Linglong summoned four more Body Integration Realm sea demons.
• Xu Linglong planned to use the power planted in Winter Melon’s Sea of Consciousness to make it attack Chu Xingchen while Xie Lingyu was away from the ship.
• Winter Melon stiffened at the ship’s controls, answered Chu Xingchen that nothing was wrong, and realized it had spoken under the influence.

Winter Melon struggled against Xu Linglong’s command to kill Chu Xingchen, then chose to attack him for the chance to hurt Cui Hao. Its Soft-Bone Long Sword struck the Innate Primordial Origin Stabilizing Dao Two Qi Pearl, leaving Winter Melon declaring its hatred and its noble demon identity.

• Xu Linglong urged Winter Melon to remember its demon heritage and kill Chu Xingchen, promising to help.
• Chu Xingchen tried to reassure Winter Melon and said it would soon be free of Xu Linglong’s threat.
• Winter Melon hid its intentions and approached Chu Xingchen while debating whether to obey Xu Linglong.
• Winter Melon decided that killing Chu Xingchen could help it take revenge on Cui Hao, then drew its Soft-Bone Long Sword and attacked.
• The Innate Primordial Origin Stabilizing Dao Two Qi Pearl blocked Winter Melon’s strike, and Winter Melon shouted that it wanted to kill Chu Xingchen, Cui Hao, and everyone else before proclaiming its noble surname, Anbolola.

Winter Melon burned through its cultivation to wound Chu Xingchen, but Chu Xingchen defeated it and pulled it from the sea. Xu Linglong then appeared in her true body and threatened Chu Xingchen with a Dark Red Arrow.

• The flower Xu Linglong had planted drained Winter Melon's power, which it poured into the Soft-Bone Long Sword to break through Chu Xingchen's defense and pierce his left shoulder.
• Chu Xingchen summoned Myriad Forms to strike Winter Melon away, and their clash shattered Winter Melon's sword and left it sinking beneath the sea.
• Chu Xingchen pulled Winter Melon from the water and asked why it had thrown away its chance to survive; Winter Melon replied that Chu Xingchen would lose too.
• Xu Linglong arrived in Battle Armor with a Dark Red Arrow, declared that Chu Xingchen would die, and he recognized that her true body had come.

Chu Xingchen revealed that he had been hiding his Tribulation Transcendence cultivation and used the sea and Myriad Forms to gain the upper hand against Xu Linglong. Xu Linglong countered with the power of Authority, leaving their clash unresolved.

• Xu Linglong attacked Chu Xingchen, but the Innate Primordial Origin Stabilizing Dao Two Qi Pearl blocked her strike, revealing that he had kept controlling it.
• Xu Linglong burned her Origin blood and unleashed her power, while Chu Xingchen used the sea and Myriad Forms to draw in its energy and fight back.
• Chu Xingchen revealed his Tribulation Transcendence cultivation and claimed Winter Melon had helped him deceive Xu Linglong; Winter Melon, gravely weakened, believed it would soon die.
• Chu Xingchen sent Xu Linglong flying and realized her injuries had left her weakened, then pressed his apparent advantage with another attack.
• Xu Linglong's eyes turned gold as she invoked Reverse Truth, reversing and dispersing Chu Xingchen's Spiritual Power; he recognized the ability as the power of Authority.

Chu Xingchen fought Xu Linglong, who used her authority to wear down his power and threatened Xie Lingyu to force him into a disadvantage. Xu Linglong mistook the Dao Stabilizing Pearl's protection for the reason her authority could not affect Chu Xingchen, and he feigned weakness to lure her into attacking.

• Chu Xingchen drew his spiritual power inward and used his body and Myriad Forms to overpower Xu Linglong in close combat.
• Xu Linglong kept her distance with a bow and water dragons, then shot at Xie Lingyu to make Chu Xingchen divert the Dao Stabilizing Pearl's protection.
• Chu Xingchen sent the Dao Stabilizing Pearl to Xie Lingyu, and Xu Linglong changed her weapon back into a sword as her eyes began turning red and white.
• Chu Xingchen realized Xu Linglong had misread why her authority was ineffective and pretended its power had weakened him.
• Xu Linglong charged at Chu Xingchen, while he secretly welcomed her rash attack.

Chu Xingchen exploited Xu Linglong’s Authority backlash and wounded her, but Boluo’s crystal unleashed Wish Power that let her regain her strength for a final struggle. At the Yellow Lotus River, Boluo learned the crystal had shattered and ordered his people to act today.

• Chu Xingchen feigned weakness to draw Xu Linglong into pursuing him, then pierced her abdomen with Myriad Forms when Authority’s backlash slowed her movements.
• Eight Tribulation Transcendence Cultivators surrounded Xu Linglong, and Xie Lingyu was escorted to safety.
• Xu Linglong activated Boluo’s diamond-shaped crystal, releasing Wish Power that flooded into her and renewed her Authority.
• Xu Linglong formed a blade from Wish Power and began burning her remaining Origin Power as Chu Xingchen worried she would prolong the fight.
• Boluo sensed that his yellow glazed bead had shattered and lamented that Xu Linglong had let greed and anger take hold.
• Boluo told the child beneath the lotuses to pass on the order to act that day.

Cui Hao and Zheng Zhaoling spent their time at Cloud Dream Pavilion discussing her burdens as a core disciple and his laid-back ways. A sudden message brought Bai Xuanling to Cloud Dream Pavilion, where his arrival activated the grand formation and he demanded that the gates be opened.

• Cui Hao compared Zheng Zhaoling's constant errands with the greater freedom enjoyed by core disciples such as Yan Yun, Xu Jin, and Yuyang Daozi.
• Zheng Zhaoling teased Cui Hao about his laziness, and he described his eccentric sect and invited her to become its extra-grand protector.
• Cui Hao asked why Zheng Zhaoling kept helping other disciples instead of using him as an excuse to refuse their requests, but she did not explain her personal difficulties.
• Zheng Zhaoling asked whether Cui Hao intended to do anything at Cloud Dream Pavilion, and his jade pendant lit up as he sensed an arrival from the east.
• Bai Xuanling arrived above Cloud Dream Pavilion, triggering its grand formation, and ordered, "Open the gates!"