Recaps

Xu Tingzi realized the Yaotai Gathering’s imperial formation was likely designed to leave only a few survivors, so he rescued the unconscious Xiao Hua and gathered Golden Core cultivators under his protection. When the formation’s three-colored python spear attacked Xu Tingzi, Xiao Hua suddenly awakened and trapped it with his Sleeve Universe technique.

• Xu Tingzi concluded that the imperial formation was far deadlier than expected and suspected Star Lord Palace had arranged a deadly contest with few survivors.
• Xu Tingzi went to where Xiao Hua had fallen, picked him up, and encountered Golden Core cultivators following him; two of them died in the formation’s attacks.
• Xu Tingzi demanded blood oaths from the Golden Core cultivators who sought his help, then led them through the formation while fighting its iron cavalry and immortal soldiers.
• As the battle’s sounds faded, Xu Tingzi hurried toward the cliff, but a three-colored python spear descended and attacked him.
• Xu Tingzi threw Xiao Hua aside and tried to evade the spear; Xiao Hua suddenly sprang up, unleashed Sleeve Universe, and enveloped the spear as Vast Righteous Qi battered his technique.

Xiao Hua confronted Jing Mu An, a Star Lord commanding the Yaotai Mountain formation, and fought to protect the trapped cultivators. As the formation’s two dragon shapes began turning it into a deadly weapon, Xiao Hua unveiled another tactic against Jing Mu An.

• Xiao Hua’s scheme was revealed when the python spear fell into his hand and vanished, and Jing Mu An appeared in the sky as the Star Lord guarding the formation.
• Jing Mu An offered Xiao Hua a place as his Star General, but Xiao Hua refused and declared he would not submit to Confucian cultivators.
• Jing Mu An activated the formation with two dragon shapes and a three-colored sphere, leaving the Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators struggling against its force.
• Xiao Hua struck Jing Mu An with the As-You-Wish Staff, breaking his spear and mangling his arm, but Jing Mu An healed and continued fighting with a strange weapon.
• Xiao Hua controlled the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors while fighting Jing Mu An, then brought out a tiny gourd that made Jing Mu An recognize danger and summon a three-colored “Zi.”

Xiao Hua and Jing Mu An fought amid the Yaotai Mountain formation, with Jing Mu An unleashing its Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl killing move. Xiao Hua used the Mountain River Seal to suppress Jing Mu An and his formation, but Jing Mu An began detonating his Primordial Spirit before Xiao Hua could finish him.

• Jing Mu An summoned a three-colored child that restored his clarity and helped him resist Xiao Hua’s Spirit Severing Primordial Light, while Xiao Hua’s lightning and fire attacks badly damaged him.
• Jing Mu An’s child struck Xiao Hua’s golden body, but a mysterious suction force forced Xiao Hua to recall his Nascent Soul before it could attack.
• Jing Mu An empowered the two dragon forms with his True Qi and Dragon Pearls, unleashing the formation’s final killing move against Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua released the Mountain River Seal, which suppressed the dragon forms, Dragon Pearls, and Jing Mu An’s child.
• The Spirit Severing Primordial Light severed Jing Mu An’s neck, but fluctuations from his fallen body and suppressed child revealed that he was detonating his Primordial Spirit.

Xiao Hua survived Jing Mu An’s self-destruction, and True Person Xiangtian tried to kill him to claim his treasures. Xiao Hua counterattacked, but a Righteous Qi Pillar appeared and seized Xiangtian’s Nascent Soul, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Jing Mu An’s self-destruction devastated the defensive array and blasted Xiao Hua’s body apart, while six Nascent Soul cultivators survived by fleeing or hiding.
• True Person Yuanqing and True Person Xiangtian emerged from hiding, and Xiangtian discovered Xiao Hua’s battered body before the others noticed him.
• True Person Xiangtian attacked Xiao Hua with his flying sword, but Xiao Hua’s As-You-Wish Staff blocked the strike and revealed that he was still alive.
• Xiao Hua cut True Person Xiangtian in half with golden light, and Xiangtian’s Nascent Soul attempted to teleport away.
• Xiao Hua sent the sword gourd after Xiangtian’s Nascent Soul, but a Righteous Qi Pillar blocked the Spirit Severing Primordial Light and dragged the Nascent Soul from the void.

Xiao Hua defeated True Person Xiangtian, but the Righteous Qi Pillar swept Xiangtian into a strange void, leaving his fate uncertain. After rescuing Xu Tingzi and nine injured Golden Core cultivators, Xiao Hua offered to protect them and support their future cultivation if they pledged loyalty to him.

• The Righteous Qi Pillar struck down True Person Xiangtian and carried him through a closing fissure, while Xiao Hua failed to determine whether he had died.
• Xiao Hua ordered True Person Yuanqing and the other four Nascent Soul cultivators to search Yaotai Mountain for treasures, then reflected on the incomplete magic treasures he possessed.
• Xiao Hua found Xu Tingzi badly injured beside nine surviving Golden Core cultivators and recovered Xu Tingzi's Heaven Shaking Hammer.
• Xiao Hua gave Xu Tingzi and the nine Golden Core cultivators medicinal pills, helping them recover enough to survive their injuries.
• Xu Tingzi told the Golden Core cultivators that their service had transferred to Xiao Hua, who promised to protect them and aid their cultivation if they pledged loyalty to him.

Xiao Hua stored Pan Yue, the other Golden Core cultivators, and Xu Tingzi in the Mountain River Seal, then worried that Kong Hongwu would retaliate for the broken formation and dead Star Lord. At Star Lord Palace, Kong Hongwu watched lights fall from a starry formation and spoke of greed, until a star flared and the nearby river of stars spun toward it.

• Xiao Hua gave Pan Yue and the others pills to help them re-condense their Golden Cores, then placed them inside the Mountain River Seal.
• Xu Tingzi warned Xiao Hua that the Nascent Souls of two dead cultivators had vanished in the formation, then agreed to enter the seal and cultivate.
• Xiao Hua stored the Mountain River Seal and worried that Kong Hongwu would pursue him for breaking a Star Lord imperial formation and killing a Star Lord.
• Kong Hongwu watched light motes fall from the Twenty-Eight Mansions into a starry river while his attendants marveled at the display.
• Kong Hongwu warned Xiaoyun against greed and called True Lord Huode greedy for entering the Dragon Gate.
• The star resembling Bi'an burst with starlight as the nearby dragon-shaped river of stars began spinning toward it.

Xiao Hua secured the National Teacher's token from a jade casket after the Jing Mu An Stellar Array was breached. Though he planned to stop exploring Yaotai Mountain, he asked the surviving cultivators whether they knew of Heavenly Soul, Earthly Essence, and Human Vitality.

• Kong Hongwu saw the Bi'an star collapse and blamed Old Man Hongmeng for sending Xiao Hua to attack the Star Lord Palace, then unleashed a golden-armored divine man toward the starry sky.
• Xiao Hua burned True Person Xiangtian's corpse, collected his belongings, and took the Cold Plum Flying Sword.
• True Person Jingting found the jade casket, and Xiao Hua told him the National Teacher's token inside would belong to Xiao Hua, with compensation offered in return.
• True Person Yuanqing and the other surviving Nascent Soul cultivators gave Xiao Hua gifts, and Jingting opened the casket to reveal the National Teacher's token, which Xiao Hua took.
• Xiao Hua said he would wait for the Yaotai Gathering to end instead of continuing onward, then asked the cultivators who knew of Heavenly Soul, Earthly Essence, and Human Vitality.

Xiao Hua and True Person Jingting headed toward the Human Essence as a blood-red radiance spread across Yaotai Mountain, drawing its cultivators inside. At the sandbar, Jingting revealed that he had attended thirteen Yaotai Gatherings seeking a National Teacher's token and explained how his original ambition had turned into a spiteful challenge.

• True Person Jingting told Xiao Hua he knew where the Human Essence lay and offered to lead him there in exchange for a share.
• A blood-red meteor crossed the sky, and the Star Lord Palace's radiance spread across Yaotai Mountain as cultivators rushed inside to pursue exotic treasures.
• Xiao Hua followed True Person Jingting toward the Human Essence while the other Nascent Soul cultivators entered the radiance; True Person Yuanqing chose to accompany Xiao Hua.
• The three reached a sandbar where three streams converged, and Jingting identified it as the likely location of the Human Essence.
• True Person Jingting revealed he had attended the Yaotai Gathering thirteen times without obtaining a National Teacher's token, and said that after his first three attempts he kept returning out of spite.

Xiao Hua and his companions entered the sandbank’s defensive formation after discovering someone had opened a breach, and found several Nascent Soul cultivators restraining a powerful demon beast while a wounded woman stood behind it. Xiao Hua recognized True Person Xifan and True Person Chu Feng among the cultivators as the confrontation inside the formation continued.

• True Person Jingting explained how he had first entered the sandbank and offered to serve Xiao Hua in exchange for his support in the future.
• Xiao Hua accepted True Person Jingting’s offer, but suddenly seized him and True Person Yuanqing and pulled them toward the sandbank when a breach opened in its formation.
• Xiao Hua forced a passage through the defensive formation and entered the sandbank with True Person Yuanqing and True Person Jingting.
• Xiao Hua discovered several Nascent Soul cultivators restraining a huge rabbit-like demon beast and guarding a wounded female cultivator.
• Xiao Hua recognized True Person Xifan and True Person Chu Feng among the cultivators, while the demon beast struggled against its restraints.

Xiao Hua intervened when seven cultivators besieged Fairy Jing, breaking their attacks and freeing her demon beast. As powerful cultivators emerged from the spell formations and struck at him, Xiao Hua countered them, and a fresh blast shook the formation.

• Fairy Jing recognized True Person Jingting and called out to him while she struggled against seven mid-Nascent Soul cultivators.
• True Person Chu Feng tried to persuade Xiao Hua not to interfere, but Xiao Hua suddenly attacked him and True Person Xifan with a golden giant hand.
• Xiao Hua's strike disrupted the trident restraining Fairy Jing's demon beast, allowing it to break free and tear off its forepaw ring.
• A black-armored cultivator and two other powerful cultivators emerged from the spell formations and launched attacks at Xiao Hua, including True Lord Huode.
• Xiao Hua countered the incoming attacks, blasted apart True Lord Huode's crimson fist, and withdrew amid a new violent explosion near where he had stood.

Xiao Hua avenged True Person Jingting by killing True Person Chu Feng and destroying True Person Xifan’s physical body, then fought True Lord Huode and the cultivators with him. The battle was interrupted when Fairy Jing spotted True Person Jingting’s surviving Nascent Soul at the edge of the formation.

• True Person Chu Feng used a powerful diamond-shaped magic treasure to kill True Person Jingting and wound True Person Yuanqing, while Xiao Hua rushed back in fury.
• Xiao Hua seized True Person Chu Feng and True Person Xifan, crushed their bodies, and used the Spirit Severing Primordial Light to destroy True Person Chu Feng’s Nascent Soul.
• Xiao Hua spared True Person Xifan’s Nascent Soul, but the Star Lord Palace’s Vast Righteous Qi pulled it away as Xiao Hua’s giant hand collapsed.
• Xiao Hua attacked True Lord Huode and warned Shui Ming and the others not to interfere, then used the Sea-Overturning Seal to suppress the Xuanjia cultivator’s halberd.
• Fairy Jing noticed True Person Jingting’s faint, surviving Nascent Soul at the edge of the formation, and Xiao Hua realized it had survived the blast.

Xiao Hua failed to save True Person Jingting’s Nascent Soul from the Star Lord Palace’s defensive array, then learned that Fairy Jing’s Human Vitality was actually a Mother-Child Spirit Fruit. As the array swept cultivators away, Xiao Hua and green-robed Xiao Hua concluded that an overwhelming force was targeting Nascent Souls, but they could not break the array or rescue Jingting.

• Xiao Hua tried to shield True Person Jingting’s Nascent Soul, but the Righteous Qi Pillar swept it away before he could reach it.
• True Lord Huode, the Xuanjia cultivator, Shui Ming, and other cultivators were carried off by the defensive array’s blood-red radiance.
• Fairy Jing gave Xiao Hua the Human Vitality, and Xiao Hua recognized the fruit as a Mother-Child Spirit Fruit rather than the Human Vitality he sought.
• Xiao Hua took Fairy Jing’s Ink Cloud Pupil, returned the fruit to her, and sent her away with the radiance after learning her demon beast was named Ying Huo.
• Green-robed Xiao Hua told Xiao Hua that a powerful force threatened Nascent Souls outside their bodies, while the array’s protection kept that force from acting until they left.

Xiao Hua realized that the Star Lord Palace’s killings at Yaotai Mountain were part of a plan to eliminate nearly every cultivator, so he sent green-robed Xiao Hua to seek a way through the imperial formation. Xiao Hua was caught in the blood-colored glow, while his connection to green-robed Xiao Hua began to weaken as the latter tried to refine the Ice Mirror.

• Xiao Hua and green-robed Xiao Hua concluded that the Star Lord Palace intended to leave almost no cultivators alive at Yaotai Mountain, and Xiao Hua decided they had to find a flaw in the imperial formation.
• When green-robed Xiao Hua first flew out, Xiao Hua’s innate suction force kept him from being drawn in, so Xiao Hua used Nascent Souls to summon the formation’s righteous energy, dense fog, and pulling force.
• Xiao Hua equipped green-robed Xiao Hua with a mid-Nascent Soul body, the Ice Mirror, another mirror from True Person Xifan’s Cosmic Bag, and a two-colored spirit flame.
• The imperial formation pulled green-robed Xiao Hua into the dense fog as he used the spirit flame to refine the mirror, then drew Xiao Hua into the blood-colored glow as well.
• Blood-red inscriptions sealed much of Xiao Hua’s magical power and cut off his senses, while his perception of green-robed Xiao Hua began to weaken.

Xiao Hua entered a blood-red void within the imperial formation, lost contact with green-robed Xiao Hua, and was ambushed by Daoist sect cultivators who accused him of being a Confucian spy. He warned them to leave as he counted down, and the chapter ended with the cultivators still surrounding him as he reached two.

• Xiao Hua lost his link to green-robed Xiao Hua and realized the blood-red sky was a void where his divine sense, Buddhist consciousness, and soul sense could not reach beyond his body.
• A sudden force shifted Xiao Hua to a star-filled sky, where a cultivator attacked him with a long halberd and dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators closed in.
• True Lord Huode accused Xiao Hua of being a Confucian spy and demanded that he seal his cultivation for an investigation.
• Xiao Hua defended his efforts to help Jiang Kingdom and revive the Daoist sect, then gave the surrounding cultivators until the count of ten to leave.
• True Lord Huode, Ao Zhantian, and Shui Mingzi dismissed Xiao Hua's warning while the surrounding cultivators remained in place.
• Xiao Hua counted down to two as the assembled cultivators waited and watched.

Xiao Hua fought True Lord Huode and dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators inside a formation that restricted divine sense, using lightning and his Dragon Vein Nascent Soul to counter their attacks. After True Lord Huode exposed his real target—the sword gourd—Xiao Hua faced a renewed assault from Huode, Shui Mingzi, and Ao Zhantian.

• Xiong Yi tried to leave the encirclement, but True Lord Huode attacked him with a fire shuttle; Xiao Hua stopped it with lightning and declared the others would no longer control their own fates.
• Xiao Hua had Dragon Vein Xiao Hua control his Nascent Soul, and its Five Qi True Thunder shattered the magic treasures of two early Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Xiao Hua sent the Spirit Severing Primordial Light after True Lord Huode while Huode rallied dozens of cultivators to combine their life-bound magic treasures into a strike.
• Shui Mingzi and Ao Zhantian joined the attack, but Xiao Hua used five-colored heavenly lightning to damage the attackers' treasures with his bare hands, leaving his Nascent Soul weakened.
• True Lord Huode seized the opening to extinguish the Spirit Severing Primordial Light with his fire gourd and sent its infant-like hand reaching for Xiao Hua's sword gourd.

Xiao Hua fought True Lord Huode, Ao Zhantian, and Shui Mingzi at once, using Confucian techniques and multiple treasures to overwhelm them. He crippled True Lord Huode and seized his life-bound fire gourd, then continued attacking as the battle remained underway.

• Xiao Hua sent the Sea-Overturning Seal and Divine Strength Centipede against Shui Mingzi while meeting Ao Zhantian's dragon halberd with the As-You-Wish Staff.
• Xiao Hua's Confucian verses struck True Lord Huode with Righteous Qi and internal fire, forcing him to use Fire Qi Ascending to Origin.
• Xiao Hua's staff broke Ao Zhantian's dragon halberd and sent him plunging away as a blood-red dragon phantom revealed his True Dragon bloodline.
• Shui Mingzi used his essence blood to empower his whisk and halt the Sea-Overturning Seal while Xiao Hua abandoned the seal and rushed at True Lord Huode.
• Xiao Hua's Spirit Severing Primordial Light and golden scissors severed True Lord Huode's left arm, and Xiao Hua stole the fire gourd.
• Xiao Hua launched sword lights at True Lord Huode, who was repeatedly struck by attacks on his Niwan Palace.

Xiao Hua defeated Ao Zhantian and forced him and the other Nascent Soul cultivators to swear thousand-year oaths of service. After True Lord Huode escaped, Xiao Hua controlled the remaining battle and began binding the cultivators to his command.

• True Lord Huode escaped through a jade pendant’s array, leaving Xiao Hua unable to pursue him.
• Ao Zhantian summoned his blood dragon Dharma Body, but Xiao Hua’s Golden Body and As-You-Wish Staff shattered it and wounded him.
• Xiao Hua halted his Spirit Severing Primordial Light and offered Ao Zhantian the choice of death or a thousand years of service, promising cultivation support.
• Xiao Hua demanded that the other Nascent Soul cultivators also swear oaths, while his Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors severed the arm of one who tried to flee.
• Ao Zhantian swore to serve Xiao Hua for a thousand years, and Xiao Hua absorbed the oath’s sigil before ordering the remaining cultivators to choose.

Xiao Hua subdued Shui Mingzi and gathered the Nascent Soul cultivators into his space as Yaotai Mountain’s imperial formation began collapsing. He fled the spreading crimson torrents and rescued Xiong Yi, leaving them racing to escape the destruction.

• Xiao Hua ordered the Nascent Soul cultivators to surround Shui Mingzi, accepted their blood oaths, and let Xiong Yi leave.
• Shui Mingzi agreed to serve Xiao Hua for a thousand years after Xiao Hua gave him a ten-thousand-year-old human essence; Xiao Hua also gifted one to Ao Zhantian.
• As the imperial formation began collapsing, Xiao Hua persuaded the cultivators, Ao Zhantian, and Shui Mingzi to enter his space for safety.
• Xiao Hua flew away from the advancing crimson torrents and rescued Xiong Yi, who was fleeing on a flying shuttle.

Xiao Hua learned that the Imperial Array consisted of separate spaces and that a collapsing section was closing in around him. After enduring streams of deadly blood-colored liquid, he found the route he had entered through and raced toward it with Confucian cultivator Xiao Hua's aid.

• Xiao Hua questioned Xiong Yi about True Lord Huode's group and learned that Fairy Jing and True Person Yuanqing had not appeared in their section of the Imperial Array.
• Xiong Yi agreed to follow Xiao Hua, who stored him in the Mountain River Seal.
• Blood-red streams struck Xiao Hua, corroding his protective golden light and piercing his body with poison and Netherworld power.
• Xiao Hua realized the Imperial Array contained separate spaces and identified the place where he had first entered as his escape route.
• Xiao Hua used the Lightning Evasion Technique to race toward the collapsing exit, while Confucian cultivator Xiao Hua's verses increased his speed severalfold.

Xiao Hua escaped the imperial formation by forcing his Lightning Evasion Technique into the realm of Thunderous Three Realms, but he was swept through successive spatial fractures and emerged somewhere unknown. Meanwhile, True Lord Huode reached the Immortal Soldiers’ camps seeking Lord Linghu, only to be condemned for violating military law and struck by a deadly sword.

• Xiao Hua used Five Qi True Thunder to activate the Lightning Evasion Technique, escaped the formation, and was carried through more spatial fractures.
• True Lord Huode used his jade pendant to enter the blood-cloud territory and learned that Shangguan Yeran had perished.
• True Lord Huode persuaded Zhou Hong to take him toward Lord Linghu’s military camp with news concerning Shangguan Yeran’s death.
• An Immortal General barred True Lord Huode from the central command tent, and Lord Linghu emerged after hearing their argument.
• Lord Linghu declared that True Lord Huode had violated Military Order Article Four and swung his treasured sword at him, cutting through the radiance from his Nascent Soul.

True Lord Huode brought news of Jing Mu An’s death to Kong Hongwu’s camp, where Linghu Piran subjected him and Zhou Hong to a harsh military inquiry. Huode identified Xiao Hua as Jing Mu An’s killer, but Kong Hongwu’s reaction suggested he already suspected him.

• Linghu Piran ordered True Lord Huode and Zhou Hong into the command tent, then accused Zhou Hong of bringing a Daoist cultivator into camp without authorization.
• Linghu Piran discovered Zhou Hong had not been informed that Huode’s Star General Token was revoked and ordered an investigation that could cost Zhou Hong his life.
• Linghu Piran told Huode that entering the command tent as a Daoist cultivator warranted execution, then summoned Kong Hongwu to decide his fate.
• Kong Hongwu rejected Huode’s claim to Star General status, and Huode offered to reveal secrets before entering the formation to seek death.
• True Lord Huode named Xiao Hua as the cultivator who concealed his cultivation and killed Jing Mu An, while Kong Hongwu appeared unsurprised.

Kong Hongwu and Linghu Piran discussed Xiao Hua, Huode, and other powerful cultivators inside the Yaotai Gathering, while Kong Hongwu sent Huode to hunt Xiao Hua as a final chance to keep his rank. Xiao Hua emerged from a spatial interstice into a vast star-filled space, where he saw an enormous sphere encircled by a slowly rotating ring of shattered rocks.

• True Lord Huode blamed Xiao Hua for Shangguan Yeran’s death and offered to execute him, and Linghu Piran persuaded Kong Hongwu to grant Huode one last chance.
• Kong Hongwu promised to restore Huode’s position if he killed Xiao Hua, while Linghu Piran warned Huode that soldiers would escort him back.
• After Huode left, Kong Hongwu and Linghu Piran discussed Huode’s ambition, Xiao Hua’s strength, and the other prominent cultivators at the Yaotai Gathering.
• Kong Hongwu warned Linghu Piran to be cautious if he confronted Xiao Hua, then departed the command tent.
• Linghu Piran went to a cloud-shrouded space and looked at several brilliant stars.
• Xiao Hua emerged from a spatial interstice and saw a massive sphere surrounded by a rotating ring of enormous shattered rocks beneath a starry sky.

Xiao Hua encountered Zhang Daoran’s Daoist cultivators aboard a flying ark and was invited to join them against the dangers in the star formation. A second ark led by Xunkong Shangren arrived, and the two leaders began discussing how to handle their rivalry over the Qing Ming Dragon Saliva as Xunkong took notice of Xiao Hua.

• Xiao Hua recognized the recurring starry sky and wondered about its connection to the Star Moon Palace and the star-power seals on Liu Yi and the others.
• Fairy Jing explained that Zhang Daoran had gathered Daoist cultivators aboard his ark and led them through the star formation after Confucian soldiers and generals ambushed them.
• Zhang Daoran invited Xiao Hua aboard, and Xiao Hua hesitated because he had killed Star Lord Palace immortals, soldiers, and generals.
• Xunkong Shangren arrived aboard another ark and challenged Zhang Daoran over who should claim the Qing Ming Dragon Saliva.
• After noticing Xiao Hua’s unusual cultivation, Xunkong softened his stance and addressed him as a peer, then asked where he practiced.

Xiao Hua, Xunkong Shangren, and Zhang Daoran tried to form an alliance at the Yaotai Gathering, but Xunkong killed three cultivators who rushed for a jade case. Xiao Hua then backed Xunkong’s judgment and attacked four others who had tried to undermine Zhang Daoran, leaving their Nascent Souls exposed.

• Xiao Hua told Xunkong Shangren that he sought only the National Teacher’s token and had no interest in the three rare treasures, while Zhang Daoran proposed a temporary alliance.
• A jade case appeared after a meteor-like radiance blasted open the banded object, and three cultivators from Zhang Daoran’s boat flew to seize it.
• Xunkong Shangren struck down the three cultivators despite Zhang Daoran’s pleas, and their Nascent Souls vanished amid purple Vast Righteous Qi.
• Xiao Hua used a golden giant hand to suppress the cultivators who had incited others against Zhang Daoran, then killed four of them as their Nascent Souls escaped.

Xiao Hua killed four Nascent Soul cultivators in the imperial array and helped stop Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren from fighting over the jade boxes. After revealing that he had killed a Star Lord and feared Star Lord Palace’s pursuit, he found Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren willing to join forces with him.

• Xiao Hua restrained and killed four early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, impressing the onlookers and winning Xunkong Shangren’s admiration.
• More jade boxes emerged from the imperial array, and Xiao Hua persuaded Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren to send cultivators to search for them.
• Zhang Daoran told Xiao Hua that he sought the Chilling Phantom Gall to break through to the Out-of-Body Realm, while Xunkong Shangren sought the Qing Ming Dragon Saliva to extend his lifespan.
• Xiao Hua declined to join forces with the two men because he feared Star Lord Palace would pursue him for killing a Star Lord.
• After Xiao Hua confirmed that he had erased the Star Lord’s Primordial Spirit and burned his body, Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren agreed to join forces with him.