Recaps

Xiao Hua freed You Zhongquan from the Underworld yin energy, then drew him into becoming a disciple by giving him a powerful flying sword and correcting his cultivation. After showing You Zhongquan the story of his past with Chang Yuan, Xiao Hua left him remorseful and grateful for the chance to make amends.

• Xiao Hua purged the Underworld yin energy from You Zhongquan and offered him the chance to leave, but Chang Yuan reminded Xiao Hua of his promise to give You Zhongquan a flying sword.
• Xiao Hua gave You Zhongquan a Mandarin Duck Sword, and Liu Yi persuaded him to accept Xiao Hua as his master so he could learn sword arts.
• Xiao Hua sealed a deer-shaped sword intent into You Zhongquan’s new sword, destroyed his flawed old sword, and gave him techniques to correct his cultivation.
• Xiao Hua showed You Zhongquan memories of Tianmen Mountain, Little Cabbage, and their past, leaving You Zhongquan in tears.
• You Zhongquan told Xiao Hua he understood that he owed Chang Yuan a great deal and thanked his master for his intentions.

Xiao Hua set You Zhongquan’s past-life memories aside and continued toward the Divine Demon Blood Swamp, where he planned to make alliances against the Immortal Palace. After giving Fu Zhiwen a spark to study, Xiao Hua met two Daoist cultivators who explained the Chu family’s search for the God Demon Chess and heard his questions about their motives.

• Xiao Hua erased You Zhongquan’s memories of his past life, and You Zhongquan accepted his place as the youngest disciple.
• Xiao Hua entered Gun Province, sent Liu Yi back to the Kunlun Immortal Realm, and summoned Fu Zhiwen to discuss making alliances against the Immortal Palace.
• Xiao Hua gave Fu Zhiwen a tricolored spark to study, saying that understanding it could let him control the sealed Heavenly Book.
• Xu Chuanping and Chen Zhuo arrived and praised Xiao Hua for defeating True Lord Qingyuan, then said they were headed to the Divine Demon Blood Swamp to seek opportunities.
• Xu Chuanping and Chen Zhuo explained that the Chu family had invited heroes to search for the God Demon Chess, and Xiao Hua asked why the family was pursuing it so openly in Gun Province.

Xiao Hua realized the Chu family’s invitation might connect to a larger plot involving the Four Great Families, then traveled with Fu Zhiwen, Chen Zhuo, and Xu Chuanping to the Divine Demon Blood Swamp. They found the swamp’s blood mist had expanded and grown dangerous, and Chu family guards challenged them as they approached.

• Fu Zhiwen reminded Xiao Hua that the Chu family’s actions in Yanzhou might conceal a political motive, and Xiao Hua suspected the Four Great Families were involved.
• Chen Zhuo described an earlier Chu family invitation and recognized the token Xiao Hua had received, prompting Xiao Hua to agree to introduce Chen Zhuo and Xu Chuanping to the Chu family.
• Xiao Hua revealed that he taught Fu Zhiwen Confucian cultivation techniques, then advised Chen Zhuo and Xu Chuanping on their cultivation as they traveled for several days.
• Fu Zhiwen, Chen Zhuo, and Xu Chuanping reported that the Divine Demon Blood Swamp’s blood mist had spread and that its baleful aura now threatened those approaching it.
• Xiao Hua sensed a familiar summons or warning and the scent of the Netherworld Blood Sea within the swamp, while his soul sense could not penetrate its strange mist.
• Chu family guards intercepted the group, and their red-faced leader dismissed Chen Zhuo and Xu Chuanping as opportunists seeking benefits.

Xiao Hua arrived at the Divine Demon Blood Swamp and made the Chu Family’s patrol disciples recognize and welcome him after demonstrating his strength. He learned that the swamp had expanded during the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, killing hundreds of thousands, and was received by Chu Yang after Chu Jianzheng declined to come in person.

• Xiao Hua slapped Chu Jing, who recognized him as the famous Xiao Hua of Black Wind Ridge and led the Chu Family scholars in greeting him.
• Xiao Hua warned Chu Jing not to plot against him, and Chu Jing sent Chu Feng to summon Chu Jianzheng.
• Xiao Hua asked about the gathering and the swamp, and Chu Jing explained that it had expanded from ten thousand li to over thirteen thousand li and its bloody mist had killed hundreds of thousands of people.
• Chu Jing said the mutation began during the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade and that Chu Family disciples had also been swallowed by the swamp.
• Chu Yang arrived in place of Chu Jianzheng, introduced himself as the Chu Family’s Great Steward, and received Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua arrived at the Divine Demon Blood Swamp and learned the Chu Family had arranged different accommodations for invited guests and those without tokens. The Murong family arrived in force, and Murong Congyun asked to stay at the swamp despite her granduncle’s warnings, hinting that an old acquaintance was there.

• Chu Yang explained that the Chu Family had separate accommodations for invited guests and cultivators without tokens, prompting Xiao Hua to consider leaving.
• The Murong family’s great boat arrived, and Chu Jianzheng, Chu Hong, and Chu Pingjing respectfully greeted its young leader.
• The young Murong leader questioned Chu Jianzheng about the Chu Family’s plans for God Demon Chess, then decided not to remain at the swamp.
• Murong Congyun pleaded to stay and watch the excitement, but her granduncle refused because the swamp’s yin and baleful energies could harm her cultivation.
• Murong Congyun continued pleading, asking whether two Martial Uncles could accompany her and mentioning that an old acquaintance was present.

Xiao Hua met Murong Jiang and Murong Congyun’s Murong family, and proved his strength when Murong Jiang tested him with a powerful punch. Murong Jiang invited Xiao Hua to accompany Murong Congyun to the Murong family in Ouwen, leaving him to protect her in the Divine Demon Blood Swamp as the chapter ended with Murong Junpeng arriving.

• Murong Jiang recognized Xiao Hua as Murong Congyun’s old acquaintance and tried to pull his heavenly horse toward him, but Xiao Hua’s sword light broke the restraint.
• Murong Jiang tested Xiao Hua with a punch that sent him crashing into the ground, but Xiao Hua emerged unharmed and revealed his Confucian sword Qi.
• Xiao Hua explained his conflict with the Immortal Palace, and Murong Jiang praised him and invited him to follow Murong Congyun to the Murong family in Ouwen.
• Murong Jiang and the others boarded their great boat, while Murong Congyun remained behind, apparently leaving Xiao Hua responsible for protecting her in the Divine Demon Blood Swamp.
• Murong Junpeng came down from the great boat, introduced himself as Murong Congyun’s clan uncle, and praised Xiao Hua for killing the Immortal Palace’s immortal soldiers.

Xiao Hua joined Murong Congyun, Fu Zhiwen, and the Chu Family at the edge of the Divine Demon Blood Swamp while Chen Zhuo and Xu Chuanping chose to stay behind. He entered the Chu Family’s hidden encampment and saw the family prepare a Kui Hall for Murong Junpeng, as the reason for their gathering remained unrevealed.

• Murong Congyun invited Xiao Hua to descend with her, and they exchanged jokes before she questioned his habit of helping others.
• Xiao Hua called Fu Zhiwen, Chen Zhuo, and Xu Chuanping over, then warned the two Daoist cultivators that the swamp was dangerous.
• Chen Zhuo and Xu Chuanping declined to leave, saying they hoped to find opportunities in the Divine Demon Blood Swamp.
• Xiao Hua and Murong Congyun passed through the Chu Family’s concealed gateway and saw its array-protected camp and the vast barrier surrounding the swamp.
• Chu Jianzheng’s disciples summoned a Mohist Kui Hall, and Chu Jianzheng gave its paperweight control to Murong Junpeng before leaving to handle other affairs.

Xiao Hua weighed the risks of Murong Congyun’s family seeking his alliance, then investigated the Divine Demon Blood Swamp and encountered the strange Chu Yang. Chu Yang’s questions about the blood waves and the purpose of life left Xiao Hua reflecting on memories as he prepared to explain why he lived.

• Xiao Hua declined to stay in Murong Junpeng’s hall, while Fu Zhiwen warned him that the Murong family might misunderstand his intentions and expose the Creation Sect.
• Xiao Hua decided to investigate the Divine Demon Blood Swamp, sent Fu Zhiwen back to the Kunlun Mirror to cultivate, and flew toward the swamp.
• Xiao Hua observed the blood waves and black currents but found no flaw in the swamp’s barrier.
• Xiao Hua found Chu Yang staring at the Blood Swamp, and Chu Yang wondered whether the blood waves lived happily and what the black currents sought.
• Chu Yang asked what people lived for, prompting Xiao Hua to recall strange images and say that he knew clearly why he lived.

Xiao Hua learned that the Murong family had secretly tasked him with investigating the Chu family's search of the Divine Demon Blood Swamp, while Murong Junpeng planned to investigate in person. The chapter ended with Murong Junpeng warning Murong Congyun that Xiao Hua might interfere with her trial, and Congyun defending her decision to involve him.

• Xiao Hua and Chu Yang discussed the meaning of living, and Chu Yang invited Xiao Hua to return in three days to hear some secrets.
• Xiao Hua learned from Murong Junpeng that the Chu family's search for God Demon Chess seemed suspicious and that Murong Junpeng wanted the truth uncovered.
• Murong Congyun explained that Murong Junpeng could not enter the swamp without alerting the Chu family, so Xiao Hua had been recruited to investigate under the guise of protecting her.
• Xiao Hua, Murong Congyun, and Murong Junpeng reviewed the Chu family's plans for three days before Murong Junpeng decided to investigate the swamp alone.
• After Xiao Hua left, Murong Junpeng warned Murong Congyun that involving him might affect her trial, but she said she needed outside help.

Chu Yang revealed the family injustices and lethal cultivation secret that had driven him to despair, then tried to enter the Divine Demon Blood Swamp to die. Xiao Hua stopped him, but a Buddhist light hidden within Chu Yang’s chest turned Xiao Hua’s intervention against him and began pulling him in.

• Chu Yang told Xiao Hua that his parents had survived a false accusation by blaming Chu Nan’s parents, who were executed, and that Chu Nan later died in a suspicious accident.
• Chu Yang said he had spent his life seeking vengeance against Chu Jianzheng and discovered that the Life and Death Talisman would eventually make his sword qi consume him.
• Chu Yang rejected Xiao Hua’s offer to help perfect the cultivation method, named Chu Jianzheng as his enemy, and flew toward the Divine Demon Blood Swamp to end his life.
• Xiao Hua sealed the space around Chu Yang to stop him, but a Buddhist light and Golden Kun script emerged from Chu Yang’s chest and shattered the seal.
• The Buddhist light sucked in Xiao Hua’s true essence and lightning as he struggled, and Xiao Hua struck at it with Mountain Power.

Xiao Hua watched Chu Yang sacrifice himself to form the Life and Death Talisman, which broke the Divine Demon Blood Swamp barrier and unleashed a dangerous surge of blood tides. As the Chu and Murong families prepared to respond, Chu Jianzheng sent out a signal, leaving Xiao Hua suspicious of the hidden motives surrounding the crisis.

• Xiao Hua escaped Chu Yang’s Buddhist light and saw a talisman split Chu Yang’s body, turning his blood and flesh into the Life and Death Talisman.
• Xiao Hua’s crystalline threads failed to stop the talisman, and Chu Jianzheng’s sword strike only enlarged it as it reached the barrier.
• The Life and Death Talisman shattered the Divine Demon Blood Swamp barrier, and Chu Jianzheng accused Xiao Hua of causing the breach.
• Murong Junpeng defended Xiao Hua and urged Chu Jianzheng to act as violent blood tides and an ominous aura stirred inside the barrier.
• Murong Congyun offered to bear responsibility for advancing the Chu family’s plan, and Chu Jianzheng sent a small sword signal across the barrier.

After Chu Yang’s transformation triggered an abnormal change in the Divine Demon Blood Swamp, Xiao Hua and the others joined the Chu Family’s early deployment of its Nine Sword Diagrams. The formation began sealing the swamp, and Xiao Hua and Murong Congyun entered a sword grid to help activate it.

• Murong Congyun urged Chu Jianzheng to put the Chu Family’s plan into action, while Xiao Hua warned that the Buddhist sect might be behind the trap.
• A violent wind shattered the barrier above the Divine Demon Blood Swamp, and blood mist began rising into the sky as the cultivators assembled around it.
• The Chu Family activated its nine sword diagrams ahead of schedule, and Murong Junpeng joined the cultivators overseeing one of them.
• The sword diagrams advanced into the blood mist, while Murong Congyun and the other waiting cultivators used small swords to enter the formation.
• Xiao Hua and Murong Congyun arrived in the same sword grid, where Xiao Hua formed a giant sword from his sword radiance and Vast Righteous Qi.

Xiao Hua and Murong Congyun helped the Chu family’s sword diagram suppress the Divine Demon Blood Swamp, but a strange, frigid aura threatened the cultivators. The chapter ended as eight women arrived and revealed eight naked female statues, stunning Xiao Hua.

• Xiao Hua, Murong Congyun, and the other cultivators joined the sword diagram, which split the blood dragon and sealed off the swamp’s blood mist.
• The Chu family’s sword pillars descended into the swamp and began annihilating the blood mist, while Xiao Hua sensed a dangerous aura invading through them.
• Murong Congyun explained that the swamp’s mixed blood filth contained unknown forces that even powerful Confucian cultivators could not safely resist.
• A freezing aura weakened Murong Congyun, so she summoned a giant lily that shielded her and Xiao Hua.
• Several dozen musicians and eight flower-adorned women arrived, and the eight women produced naked female statues that left Xiao Hua staring in shock.

Xiao Hua watched the Chu family use the Eight Beauties Statues to suppress the Divine Demon Blood Swamp, but a strange force then began breaking the sword diagram. He confronted Murong Congyun about what she was hiding as the swamp’s danger returned.

• Murong Congyun explained that eight Literary Stars had created the Eight Beauties Statues, which could unleash power at the realm of a Literary Saint by consuming the life essence of the young women who cultivated them.
• The eight women sacrificed their essence blood to activate the statues, and five of them withered into bones before the statues regained their beauty.
• The Eight Beauties Statues sang and sent Righteous Qi and crystal threads into the sword diagram, forcing it to seal the Divine Demon Blood Swamp.
• After Chu Jianzheng called for the cultivators to rest, bubbles rose from the trapped swamp and shattered the sword pillars they touched.
• Xiao Hua sensed a familiar but altered fluctuation, noticed Murong Congyun’s unease, and asked whether she was concealing anything; Murong Congyun replied that the swamp held many unknown abnormalities.

Xiao Hua forced Murong Congyun to reveal that the Chu Family’s search for God Demon Chess was a trap intended to kill Buddhist sect forces and help the Chu Family rise in rank. As the Chu Family activated the Vajra Subduing Demon Diagram Formation, Murong explained how the plan had gone awry, leaving Xiao Hua to recognize that the Buddhist sect had also been maneuvering.

• Chu Jianzheng summoned hundreds of Chu Family Buddhist disciples, who spread the Vajra Subduing Demon Diagram Formation over the Divine Demon Blood Swamp.
• Xiao Hua tried to leave the sword diagram, but its suction trapped him; he then used his power to crack it until Murong Congyun warned that tens of thousands of cultivators could die if he broke free.
• Xiao Hua stopped and demanded answers, and Murong Congyun admitted the Chu Family’s treasure search had become a trap against Buddhist forces ten years earlier.
• Murong Congyun explained that she had been brought as bait to make the operation seem credible and that the Chu Family expected to be promoted to a third-tier family after the battle.
• Murong Congyun said the plan was to lure Buddhist disciples into attacking Confucian cultivators while the Vajra Subduing Demon Diagram Formation was activated, but the timing changed after the Buddhist side exploited Chu Yang’s death.

Xiao Hua discovered that the Vajra Demon Array Diagram was actually a soul artifact, and the green seal characters it unleashed formed a transmission passage. He realized the Buddhist sect planned to send experts into the Divine Demon Blood Swamp, while Chu Jianzheng’s attack failed to stop him from seeing the danger.

• Xiao Hua explained how Chu Yang’s suicide had forced the Chu Family to act early, and Murong Congyun revealed that she had been used as bait.
• Murong Congyun admitted she would order Chu Jianzheng to destroy the sword diagram if she faced certain death, while Xiao Hua questioned what the Vajra Demon Array Diagram was meant to do.
• Xiao Hua spotted ghostly soul threads in the array diagram and warned that it was a soul artifact just as the Vajra figures burst into green seal characters.
• Chu Jianzheng attacked Xiao Hua with the sword diagram, but the strike failed to injure him; Xiao Hua then used Three Corpse Yin Thunder against the seal characters.
• The seal characters combined into a huge character that formed a vortex, and Xiao Hua recognized it as a transmission passage meant to bring Buddhist sect experts into the swamp.

A concealed teleportation passageway unleashed a Buddhist army onto the Chu family's Sword Diagram, turning the Confucian cultivators’ trap into a desperate battle. As monks overwhelmed the sword formation and Xiao Hua and Murong Congyun faced a powerful Buddhist Protector, Xiao Hua called on his flying sword to meet the monk’s karmic obstruction power.

• A fat monk and an aged monk emerged from the teleportation passageway and used a Zen staff, kasaya, and mountain artifact to shield it, but the Sword Diagram killed them.
• More than a thousand Buddhist Protectors poured through the passageway and counterattacked, causing Confucian cultivators to fall across the Sword Diagram.
• Xiao Hua urged the others to destroy the passageway, but Murong Congyun argued that doing so would ruin the families’ plan and that reinforcements would arrive.
• A tall, thin monk attacked Xiao Hua and Murong Congyun with Buddhist light from his alms bowl, and Murong Congyun used the Six Arts to hold it back.
• Xiao Hua struck the alms bowl with the As-You-Wish Staff, then the monk countered with karmic obstruction power, prompting Xiao Hua to summon his red-blue flying sword.

Xiao Hua resisted the old monk’s Buddhist techniques and transformed into a giant flying sword to block his Demon Subduing Pestle, but he fell into the blood swamp after the clash. Murong Junpeng arrived to save Murong Congyun, who then spotted a concealed streak of Buddhist light approaching.

• The old monk’s heavenly flower attack failed against Xiao Hua’s four-colored true qi, so he summoned his Demon Subduing Pestle and struck several sword lattices.
• Xiao Hua told Murong Congyun to withdraw her avatar, then transformed into a giant flying sword and blocked the Demon Subduing Pestle at the cost of severe injuries.
• The old monk swung the Demon Subduing Pestle at Murong Congyun again, but Murong Junpeng’s Righteous Qi Pillar knocked it away and drove the old monk back.
• Murong Junpeng filled in the broken sword lattice and assumed Xiao Hua had died in the blood swamp, while Murong Congyun mourned his sacrifice.
• Murong Congyun noticed a concealed streak of Buddhist light approaching along the sword marks and warned Murong Junpeng.

Xiao Hua fell into the Divine Demon Blood Swamp, where its strange fluctuations sealed his bloodline as his Primordial Spirits debated how to save him. The Chu family’s Eight Beauties Sculpture waited beneath the battlefield, planning to gather enough vital blood to open the restriction and release the God Demon Chess.

• Murong Junpeng fought off a Buddhist Protector while the Sword Diagram battle turned into a deadly clash between Buddhist Protectors and Confucian cultivators.
• An upper sixth-grade Yuan force monk knocked Xiao Hua into the blood swamp, where black flames and blood mist reacted with his body before icy fluctuations sealed his bloodline.
• Vital blood from fallen cultivators gathered at a hidden restriction, whose absorption of their souls made the blood waves grow more turbulent.
• Demon Spirit Xiao Hua asked the other Primordial Spirits for help, but Confucian cultivator Xiao Hua hesitated to aid him without the main body's consent.
• Soul Cultivator Xiao Hua detected people in the swamp, and the Eight Beauties Sculpture appeared as its members discussed waiting for more vital blood before opening the restriction.
• The Chu family family head worried that the Buddhist sect's unexpected arrival had disrupted their plan and left their disciples exposed while Murong Jiang and the others were delayed.

The Chu Family’s hidden wills emerged from the Eight Beauties Sculpture and turned the tide against the Buddhist disciples, but powerful Buddhist Heavenly Kings arrived to challenge them. As the two sides prepared for battle, Chu Yun faced Subduing Flood Dragon Heavenly King directly.

• Confucian cultivator Xiao Hua used his True Qi to restore his body, allowing Demon Spirit Xiao Hua to control the Demonic Qi and black flames within the blood swamp.
• Chu Yun and the seven Chu Family elders appeared atop the damaged sword diagram through the Eight Beauties Sculpture and slaughtered Buddhist Protectors.
• The Chu elders sensed eighth-rank Buddhist Protectors approaching and unleashed their full strength, but the Eight Beauties Sculpture fell as eight powerful Buddhist Heavenly Kings arrived.
• Subduing Flood Dragon Heavenly King revealed that he and the other Heavenly Kings had come on their own initiative to fight the Chu Family.
• Chu Yun and Subduing Flood Dragon Heavenly King exchanged threats, then launched into battle as Chu Yun transformed into a sword-like body and attacked.

Murong Junpeng and Murong Congyun faced death on the sword diagram as Buddhist Protectors slaughtered the trapped Confucian cultivators, but a host of Literary Sages arrived and destroyed the transmission passage. The Literary Sages joined the battle against the nine Heavenly Kings, while the Subduing Flood Dragon Heavenly King exploited Chu Yun’s moment of distraction.

• Murong Congyun urged Murong Junpeng to escape, but he explained that they could not leave the sword diagram while it remained active.
• A Heavenly King drove a Whirling Pot toward Murong Congyun, and a Literary Sage’s giant hand tried to move the transmission passage before its green script collapsed it and shattered the hand.
• Gongshu Yanyin, Duanmu Jishi, Huangfu Gongcheng, Changsun Ji, Yuwen Ming, Kong Cheng, Meng Meng, Mo Xie, Zou Zhen, Lü Chen, and other Literary Sages arrived and surrounded the battlefields.
• Gongshu Yanyin and other Literary Sages aided the Chu Family elders, while Kong Cheng and six others sent sword-wielding avatars against the Buddhist Protector Heavenly Kings.
• The Subduing Flood Dragon Heavenly King condemned the Confucian cultivators, and Chu Yun became unsettled before a blood-threaded Buddhist light appeared at his chest.

Chu Yun and Gongsu Yanyin helped the Literary Sages bring down the Subduing Flood Dragon Heavenly King, while Xiao Hua awakened beneath the restriction and realized the battle above was part of a vast trap. As essence blood from the fallen Heavenly King intensified the restriction, Xiao Hua continued cultivating amid the rising black qi.

• Chu Yun used a blood-forged sword and Gongsu Yanyin's formation talismans to pierce the Subduing Flood Dragon Heavenly King's heart, while the Literary Sages sealed the area around the Divine Demon Blood Swamp.
• The Subduing Flood Dragon Heavenly King invoked the Thousand-Handed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin Dharani and died, sending streams of faith power toward Changsheng Town as other Heavenly Kings turned against their opponents and Confucian disciples.
• Xiao Hua awakened atop the restriction, examined it with his Eye of Delusion Breaking, and suspected that the Chu clan was trying to break through to the God Demon Chess beneath it.
• The Subduing Flood Dragon Heavenly King's essence blood struck the restriction, making it bulge and greatly increasing the flow of demonic qi and black flames into Demon Spirit Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua inferred that the trap involved far more Literary Sages than expected and that the conflict could help ignite the Immortal-Buddha War, then resumed cultivating as the black qi thickened around him.

After the Literary Sages helped Chu Yun destroy the nine Buddhist Protector Heavenly Kings, the aristocratic families revealed they knew the Chu family's blood-sacrifice plan and negotiated rewards for their support. Chu Yun secured the Chu family's promotion to a third-rank family and a right of first selection beneath the Divine Demon Blood Swamp, while the families prepared to claim the God Demon Chessboard.

• Duanmu Jishi released the Whirling Pot, allowing it to escape toward Changsheng Town, and the Literary Sages and allied families finished off the trapped Buddhist disciples.
• Chu Yun thanked the Literary Sages, then learned they expected his Chu family to recognize the sacrifices their families had made, including Murong Congyun's role as bait.
• Murong Jun and the other Literary Sages revealed they knew the Chu family had used the battle as a blood sacrifice to break the Divine Demon Blood Swamp's restriction, and Chu Yun admitted his plan.
• Murong Jun promised the families would recommend the Chu family for promotion to third-rank status, and Chu Yun accepted their support.
• Chu Yun proposed that the twelve families divide the six Divine Generals and six Demon Generals, and Murong Jun agreed that the Chu family could choose one other item first.
• Chu Yun said his family had found two tokens needed to enter the God Demon Chessboard, but Murong Jun said the other families would find their own.

The Divine Demon Blood Swamp overwhelmed the Chu Family sword diagram, then transformed into the God Demon Chessboard as Xiao Hua was caught inside its deadly vortex. The Literary Saints watched the board form while Murong Jun, Duanmu Jishi, and Chu Yun’s triangular objects responded to its fluctuations.

• Chu Yun and Duanmu Jishi ordered the families’ disciples to retreat before the Chu Family sword diagram was withdrawn.
• The sword diagram collapsed, and the blood tides swept away the Chu Family disciples who had not escaped.
• The blood swamp erupted with black qi and flames, then formed a vast vortex of silver light and black qi.
• Xiao Hua was dragged into the vortex, where silver light destroyed his body and black qi restored it as he tempered his bones and fused his bloodline.
• The vortex formed the God Demon Chessboard, and Murong Jun, Duanmu Jishi, and Chu Yun examined their triangular objects as the pieces reacted to the board.

Chu Yun and the other Literary Saints opened the God Demon Chessboard and entered, while Xiao Hua endured its forces outside and followed them in through a different entrance. Inside, he found an immense blood-red realm of silver and black chess squares and more than a dozen enormous deity statues.

• Duanmu Jishi and Murong Jun exchanged triangular tokens, and Chu Yun explained that the opened restriction likely led beneath the God Demon Chessboard.
• Chu Yun used two triangular objects to open a silver-and-black doorway, entered it, and the other Literary Saints followed.
• Xiao Hua emerged from the edge of the chessboard after its silver light and black qi battered and strengthened his body.
• Xiao Hua decided to enter using the tokens he had obtained from Gunnian and Qin Jian, then opened a doorway at the board's edge.
• Xiao Hua entered the chessboard and saw a vast blood-red space patterned with silver and black squares and more than a dozen enormous deity statues.