Recaps

Zhong Haoran and the Creation Sect leaders realized Xuntian City's crude formation and unexpected response suggested a hidden force had concealed the approaching assault from both sides. As the sword cultivators launched their attack, Zhong Haoran chose to lead the Creation Sect into battle rather than reveal the truth behind the forged Sect Leader Token.

• Zhong Haoran asked Zhong Zhan whether scouts had found anything unusual, but Zhong Zhan reported no discoveries from his men or Fei Yunshu's disciples.
• Zhong Haoran warned that Xuntian City's hastily assembled formation suggested its sword cultivators had not known the Creation Sect was coming, while Zhao Ming argued the summoning order could not have remained secret.
• Cheng Jizi said Xuntian City's immediate battle formation pointed to a bloody fight, and the Creation Sect leaders fell silent as they recognized their forces could not match the sword cultivators.
• Zhong Zhan warned Zhong Haoran that the hidden force had blinded both the Creation Sect and Xuntian City, while Zhong Haoran stopped himself from confessing his role in the scheme.
• Xuntian City's sword cultivators launched their attack, and Zhong Haoran rallied the Creation Sect leaders to fight beneath the city's gates.

Ye Xixiang helped Xuntian City's leaders plan a defense after learning that He Jun had been killed while trying to escape. Given command of the North Gate, he led the Ye Family and allied Daoist cultivators toward the sword cultivators there, while arranging for Fairy Hongxia and her companions to leave amid the fighting.

• Ye Xixiang warned Xue Sheng that he could kill him, then learned from Ye Gu Xing that He Jun had been slain while carrying a message to Huan Country.
• Ye Xixiang urged the leaders to attack rather than rely only on Xuntian City's sword formation, and Zhuang Hong and Xue Sheng volunteered to defend gates.
• Ye Xixiang agreed to lead the Ye Family and four Daoist cultivator clans to the north, where sword cultivators were attacking, while Ye Gu Xing and Xue Sheng took other positions.
• Ye Gu Xing gave Ye Xixiang the City Lord's token and ordered him to guard the North Gate in place of the duty Sword Masters.
• Ye Xixiang told Fairy Hongxia that he would take her group to face the northern sword cultivators and help them escape during the battle.
• Yun Zichong arrived asking whether another Dao Sword Great Battle had begun, and Ye Xixiang directed him toward the North Gate.

Ye Xixiang gathered the Cai, Yu, Yun, and Huang families into alliances amid the crisis surrounding Xuntian City, while hiding his own motives and probing the others. Huang Mengxiang revealed her admiration for an unnamed great man, leaving Fairy Hongxia to suspect that her feelings were tied to jealousy.

• Huang Mengxiang introduced herself to Fairy Hongxia and eagerly praised her beauty, while Xiao Mao recalled his Dao companion Qin Jian.
• Ye Xixiang proposed a wider alliance, and Yun Zichong realized that Ye was testing him for clues about his hidden connections.
• Yu Tong agreed to join the Ye Family in resisting the invading sword cultivators, and he and Ye Xixiang struck palms to form an alliance.
• Yun Zichong also formed an alliance with the Ye Family, and Fairy Hongxia agreed to ally the Cai Family with Huang Mengxiang's family.
• Huang Mengxiang called Ye Xixiang only half a man worthy of her attention and hinted that she admired a man greater than anyone alive, prompting Fairy Hongxia to suspect jealousy.

Ye Xixiang led the families and Xuntian City sword cultivators outside the North Gate, where he claimed they would form a Ye Family sword formation to fight the besieging enemy. As the formation was arranged around a mountain peak, Yun Zichong and Yu Tong recognized it as the site of their Four Spirits Blood Curse, which they had prepared to lure Fairy Hongxia into their scheme.

• Fairy Hongxia and Huang Mengxiang led their disciples toward Xuntian City's North Gate, followed by Ye Xixiang, Yun Zichong, and Yu Tong.
• Using the Sword Master Token, Ye Xixiang took command of the North Gate sword cultivators and led several thousand of them outside the city.
• After Yun Zichong warned him, Ye Xixiang stopped near a ring of mountains and persuaded the sword cultivators to prepare for battle with a secret Ye Family formation.
• Ye Xixiang explained the formation's two layers and assigned the family heads to lead groups of Xuntian City sword cultivators in its inner formation.
• Yu Tong asked where the formation's foundation would be, and Ye Xixiang pointed to the mountain peak where Yun Zichong and Yu Tong had placed the Four Spirits Blood Curse.
• Yun Zichong and Yu Tong recognized that Ye Xixiang's chosen formation site would help draw Fairy Hongxia into their scheme to sanctify their bloodlines.

Yun Zichong and Yu Tong prepared to activate the Four Spirits Blood Curse near Xuntian City while Ye Xixiang organized the city’s sword cultivators for an approaching battle. Ye Xixiang’s last-minute shift of their array disrupted the curse’s original placement, but Yu Tong adjusted its range and kept it functioning.

• Yun Zichong recalled the sword array from the Great Sword Dao Battle and found a suitable location for the Four Spirits Blood Curse near Xuntian City's North Gate.
• Ye Xixiang assigned the sword cultivators and clan disciples to their formations as enemy cultivators approached Xuntian City.
• Xiao Mao asked Ye Xixiang to let him join the Cai Family's array to protect Fairy Hongxia, and Ye Xixiang agreed.
• Ye Xixiang ordered the array moved to another mountain peak so its sword intent could connect with the surrounding defenses, angering Yun Zichong and Yu Tong.
• Yu Tong and Yun Zichong exchanged disciples, then Yu Tong altered the curse's range by switching the Silver Tiger and Flame Dragon positions, allowing its power to persist.

Yun Zichong and Yu Tong plotted to exploit the Four Spirits Blood Curse while Fairy Hongxia and the others were caught off guard by the Creation Sect disciples’ reaction to her. At Xuntian City, Zhong Haoran’s alliance leaders faced the sword formations’ overwhelming strength, and Zhao Ming urged them to learn and grow through battle.

• Yu Tong told Yun Zichong to activate the Four Spirits Blood Curse and claim forty percent of its bloodline power, and Yun agreed.
• Creation Sect disciples recognized Fairy Hongxia and hurried to report her to their Sect Leader, leaving her, Xiao Mao, and Huang Mengxiang bewildered.
• Zhong Haoran asked the Golden Core sect leaders for their views as they watched Xuntian City’s sword formations and lost confidence in their plans.
• Wang Jiancheng and Xu Zhonglin argued over their earlier proposals until Zhao Ming rebuked them for turning against their allies.
• Zhao Ming called the Creation Immortal Alliance’s disciples a rabble compared with the sword cultivators and urged the alliance to learn from its enemies and grow through battle.

Zhong Haoran led the Creation Sect disciples in an assault on Xuntian City after they mistook Fairy Hongxia for Xiao Hua’s Dao companion and believed she was being forced to marry Ye Xixiang. Ye Xixiang proposed to Hongxia, but as she began to accept, a vast burst of firelight shattered the sword formation surrounding her.

• Zhong Haoran ordered the Creation Sect disciples to attack Xuntian City and launched a signal that sent azure swords into the sky.
• Fairy Hongxia learned that the Creation Sect had come to stop her supposed engagement to Ye Xixiang, while Huang Mengxiang teased her about Xiao Hua.
• Ye Xixiang raised Hongxia into the air with the sword formation and crossed a magpie bridge to propose marriage before the gathered disciples.
• Ye Xixiang’s words and changing face made Hongxia see Xiao Hua, and she began to accept his proposal.
• A mass of firelight erupted beneath Hongxia and instantly dissolved the sword light enclosing her.

Ye Xixiang exposed his schemes against Xiao Mao and Fairy Hongxia, including the Ye family’s use of Qin Jian, then unleashed a Snow Tapir to fight Huo Hong. The two powerful creatures battled outside Xuntian City as Ye Xixiang told Fairy Hongxia that his family’s true foundations were far greater than she knew.

• Huo Hong broke Ye Xixiang’s sword illusion, and Xiao Mao and Fairy Hongxia confronted him for plotting against them.
• Ye Xixiang revealed that Luoxing Heaven had known Xiao Mao was coming and planned to use him while scheming to take control of the Thunder Control Sect.
• Xiao Mao insisted Ye Xixiang would not harm Fairy Hongxia, and Ye Xixiang revealed that Qin Jian was actually Ye Jian, a Ye family disciple placed near Xiao Mao.
• Ye Xixiang released a Snow Tapir from his Sword Pouch, and it began battling Huo Hong with ice and snow against her flames.
• As Huo Hong and the Snow Tapir fought to a standstill, Ye Xixiang told Fairy Hongxia that the Ye family’s foundations exceeded what she imagined.

Ye Xixiang attacked Fairy Hongxia and Xiao Mao, but the Four Spirits Blood Curse suddenly activated and dragged them and many others toward four vast abysses. The curse began drawing in True Spirit Dharma Bodies and Creation Sect disciples, while Ye Xixiang realized Yu Tong and Yun Zichong had set the trap.

• Fairy Hongxia refused Ye Xixiang's demand, and Xiao Mao and Fairy Hongxia fought to protect themselves from his attacks.
• Ye Xixiang's spirit artifact destroyed Xiao Mao's blood shadow, leaving Xiao Mao gravely injured, while Fairy Hongxia summoned her Ice Phoenix Dharma Body to confront Ye Xixiang.
• Four explosions opened four enormous abysses, and a blood-red vortex pulled Fairy Hongxia and her Ice Phoenix down.
• Ye Xixiang recognized the Four Spirits Blood Curse and saw that Yu Tong and Yun Zichong had arranged it using the True Spirit Dharma Bodies of the families' disciples.
• The other three vortices swallowed Huang Mengxiang, Yun Xiaoying, Yu Xisong, their Dharma Bodies, and numerous nearby disciples as blood threads spread through the air.

Yu Tong and Yun Zichong’s Four Spirits Blood Curse slaughtered sword cultivators and Creation Sect disciples while Ye Xixiang abandoned his attempt to save Fairy Hongxia and escaped with the Ye family disciples. Elsewhere, wounded Zhong Haoran questioned whether his choices and the deaths they caused had been worth it.

• Yu Tong refused to release Fairy Hongxia, and Ye Xixiang ultimately declined to risk his life to rescue her.
• Yun Zichong opened a narrow gap in the blood array, allowing Ye Xixiang and the Ye family disciples to escape.
• Yu Tong and Yun Zichong celebrated their plan to obtain Saint Bloodlines as the blood curse continued grinding up its victims.
• Zhong Haoran killed a swordsman who ambushed him, then pulled the sword from his wound amid the chaotic battle south of Xuntian City.
• Zhong Haoran looked over the battlefield’s dead and questioned whether his choices had been worth the cost in lives.

The Creation Sect’s assault on Xuntian City turned into a trap when sword cultivator reinforcements arrived and encircled them. Zhong Haoran ordered a retreat, while Zhong Zhan refused to leave and prepared to die fighting for the Creation Sect.

• Zhong Haoran saw Wu Cheng flee and then spotted sword cultivators closing in behind the Creation Sect, confirming his fear that they had fallen into a trap.
• Sword cultivator reinforcements poured out of Xuntian City as more forces encircled the Creation Sect, throwing its disciples into chaos.
• Zhong Zhan urged the Creation Sect to attack Xuntian City, but Fei Yunshu argued that retreat was their only way to escape the pincer attack.
• Zhong Haoran used a crimson flying sword to signal a retreat, and the Creation Sect disciples began withdrawing toward Xuntian City’s southern side.
• Zhong Zhan denied issuing the Sect Leader Token, then refused to retreat and told Zhong Haoran to leave while he stayed to honor True Person Xiao.

Zhong Zhan, Fei Yunshu, and Zhong Haoran prepared to die defending the Creation Sect, but True Person Xiao and his allies arrived as the Four Spirits Blood Curse devastated the battlefield. Ye Xixiang then tried to break into the curse to save Fairy Hongxia, revealing a Golden Mace spirit artifact and shocking Yu Tong.

• Zhong Zhan and Fei Yunshu refused Zhong Haoran’s pleas to retreat and charged the sword cultivators, while Zhong Haoran began transforming into a sword.
• Thunder and lightning heralded the arrival of a figure Zhong Zhan recognized as True Person Xiao, followed by Feng Wu, Yuan Ya, Xiang Zhili, Wu Qing, and Cui Yingying.
• Yun Zichong opened the Four Spirits Blood Curse, and Ye Xixiang and the Ye Family disciples escaped as the formation devoured Creation Sect disciples.
• Ye Xixiang ordered the Ye Family disciples to withdraw, then turned back after seeing a crimson sword signal and tried to pierce the curse to rescue Fairy Hongxia.
• Ye Xixiang used his essence blood to reveal a Golden Mace spirit artifact, leaving Yu Tong stunned that he could wield a Dao cultivator’s spirit artifact.

Ye Xixiang disrupted the Four Spirits Blood Curse, but his actions completed Yu Tong’s hidden formation and revealed his plan to create a Four Spirits Sacred Body. As the spirit crystals emerged and the other cultivators were drawn into the vortices, Yu Tong was seized by the final vortex, and he claimed Immortal Envoy Wen was both far away and right before Ye Yaotian.

• Ye Xixiang smashed the curse’s confinement and the mountain peak supporting it, causing the Four Spirits Blood Curse to fall and its vortices to recoil.
• Yu Tong summoned dragon, phoenix, tiger, and Vermilion Bird phantoms, drawing out crystals containing Fairy Hongxia and Huang Mengxiang with their Dharma Bodies.
• The drought demon and Xiao Mao were pulled into a vortex, while Yu Tong revealed that Yun Zichong’s bloodline and formation had been used for a plan begun a thousand years earlier.
• Yun Zichong was dragged into a vortex, and a crystal containing the Flame Dragon Dharma Body emerged with Yun Xiaoying’s body already destroyed.
• Ye Xixiang recognized the Four Spirits Sacred Body, and Yu Tong said Immortal Envoy Wen was both far away and before Ye Yaotian before the final vortex seized him.

Xiao Hua arrived as Immortal Envoy Wen attempted to open a mysterious passage with the Four Spirits Blood Curse, and he killed Wen before the ritual could be completed. With Fairy Hongxia still trapped in a crystal and three lives at stake, Xiao Hua considered how to break the formation.

• Immortal Envoy Wen condemned Ye Yaotian as the four crystals combined their bloodline powers and opened a tiny point of light in the void.
• A vast divine sense shattered the Four Spirits Blood Curse, and Xiao Hua arrived, startling Wen and Ye Yaotian.
• Xiao Hua used Spirit Severing Primordial Light to expose Wen in the void and kill him, while Huang Tong swallowed Wen's tiger-shaped silver light.
• Huang Tong explained that he had brought Cai Zhuoxia, Li Zongbao, and Ye Yin to Xuntian City after hearing the Creation Sect was heading there.
• Cai Zhuoxia asked whether Fairy Hongxia was safe, and Xiao Hua said he knew how to break the formation but had to consider the three lives involved.

Xiao Hua killed Ye Yaotian after uncovering his plot against Cai Zhuoxia, while Yuan Ya and the others rescued Zhong Haoran, Zhong Zhan, and Fei Yunshu during the battle. The rescued disciples reunited with Creation Sect allies, and Xiang Zhili began explaining the sect as they prepared to join the fighting.

• Xiao Hua condemned Ye Yaotian for plotting against Cai Zhuoxia and killed him, destroying both his body and Primordial Spirit before taking his Sword Pouch and examining the Four Spirits Blood Curse.
• Feng Wu arrived with Yuan Ya and the others, and Yuan Ya slaughtered the sword cultivators threatening Zhong Haoran, Zhong Zhan, and Fei Yunshu before bringing the three to safety.
• Xiang Zhili revealed that he was True Person Xiao's godson, while Wu Qing and Cui Yingying treated the rescued disciples and Cui Yingying's pill began restoring Zhong Zhan's severed arm.
• Xiang Zhili refused to let Cui Yingying save Wu Cheng after Zhong Zhan identified him as the cultivator who had led the escape, and Fei Yunshu explained that Wu Cheng had fled before the surrounding sword cultivators appeared.
• Wu Qing urged the group to move toward the ongoing battle, and Xiang Zhili asked Cui Yingying to explain the Creation Sect to Zhong Haoran and the others.

Xue Sheng, Ye Gu Xing, and Zhuang Hong discovered that the apparent battle around Xuntian City concealed Creation Sect reinforcements and overwhelming allies, while Xiao Hua confronted the strange Four Spirits Blood Curse formation. Xiao Hua pinned the formation’s center with Spirit Severing Primordial Light, causing it to descend from the void and unleash devastating waves across the battlefield.

• Xue Sheng fled the South Gate after Feng Wu and Yuan Ya revealed the Creation Sect’s strength, then met Ye Gu Xing and Zhuang Hong near the East Gate.
• Xue Sheng told Ye Gu Xing and Zhuang Hong that Zhong Haoran, Fei Yunshu, and Zhong Zhan had been rescued by a powerful Daoist cultivator, and identified the rear forces as reinforcements and a hidden Creation Sect reserve.
• A terrifying Daoist cultivator blocked Senior Ling Jian’s approach, and Xue Sheng led Ye Gu Xing and Zhuang Hong to the North Gate, where they discovered four enormous crystals and a concealed formation.
• Xiao Hua asked Feng Wu and Huang Tong to protect Li Zongbao and the others while he dealt with the Four Spirits Blood Curse.
• Xiao Hua sent his sword gourd to the formation’s center and pinned it with Spirit Severing Primordial Light, making the crystals grow heavy as the formation descended and violent waves shook the battlefield.

The Four Spirits Blood Curse emerged near Xuntian City, destroying its sword formation and stirring black qi beneath the Sword Tomb. As Xiao Hua waited for the curse to stabilize, an ancient Confucian cultivator awakened and headed toward the city, while the Creation Sect’s forces routed Qin Jing and Yang Ji’s troops.

• The Four Spirits Blood Curse shattered Xuntian City's sword formation, and its aura shook the land and drew black qi from the four abysses.
• A Confucian cultivator formed from the black qi beneath the Sword Tomb, recognized Xiao Hua's actions, and flew toward Xuntian City.
• Qin Jing and Yang Ji abandoned their attack on Zhong Haoran's disciples to face the advancing Creation Sect forces led by Xiong Yi and Li Xiang.
• Creation Sect fighters overwhelmed the opposing forces, and Qin Jing struggled against a Nascent Soul cultivator who rescued a Foundation Establishment disciple.
• Yuan Ya intercepted Zuo Ming, shattered his sword-transformed left arm, and forced him to stop with a spear at his brow.

Xiao Hua’s allies arrived in force, ending the fighting around Xuntian City as the opposing sects surrendered or withdrew. Xiao Hua then used the Four Spirits Blood Curse’s recovered essence and a forbidden soul art to restore Fairy Hongxia, but she had not yet awakened when the chapter ended.

• Xuan Jing and the leaders of several sects from Xi Kingdom and Meng Kingdom arrived to support Xiao Hua, followed by Zhang Qingxiao and the Thirteen Heavenly Demon Sects.
• Xiong Yi ordered the defeated cultivators to surrender and join Creation Sect to avoid execution, while Xuntian City’s disciples retreated inside the city.
• Xiang Zhili sent Zhong Haoran, Zhong Zhan, and Fei Yunshu to manage Creation Sect’s forces as Xiao Hua appeared in his Lightning Dharma Body and told the allied sects to wait.
• Xiao Hua began restoring Fairy Hongxia by drawing the bloodline essence back into her Ice Phoenix Dharma Body, with Feng Wu helping through the sword gourd.
• Xiao Hua used a soul art to merge the Ice Phoenix Dharma Body into Fairy Hongxia, then gently touched her forehead, but she remained unconscious.

Xiao Hua reunited with Fairy Hongxia after rescuing her from Yu Tong and Ye Xixiang, then helped her reunite with Cai Zhuoxia. As he revived Huang Mengxiang, her affection for him stirred Fairy Hongxia’s jealousy, leaving Xiao Hua caught between them.

• Xiao Hua awakened Fairy Hongxia, who embraced and kissed him before realizing he had returned, then tearfully asked why he had been gone for seven hundred years.
• Xiao Hua explained that Yu Tong and Ye Xixiang were dead, the Cai Family disciples had perished, and he would save Xiao Mao after rescuing her.
• Xiao Hua brought Fairy Hongxia out to meet Cai Zhuoxia, and the sisters reunited in tears while Cai Zhuoxia explained that Xiao Hua had restored her to life.
• Xiao Hua revived Huang Mengxiang, who kissed his cheek and openly declared that she wanted to become his Dao companion.
• Fairy Hongxia watched Huang Mengxiang’s advances and admitted that she had seen everything, while Xiao Hua tried to push Huang Mengxiang away.

Xiao Hua struggled to reverse the collapsing Four Spirits Blood Curse and push the Silver Tiger crystal across its yin-yang boundary without triggering his ascension or endangering the Three Great Continents. As the crystal stalled at the boundary and his arms sank into it, he realized there might be another way to save Xiao Mao and the drought demon.

• Huang Mengxiang told Xiao Hua she would marry no one but him, while Fairy Hongxia ignored him and remained angry.
• After Huang Mengxiang was rescued, the Four Spirits Blood Curse rapidly collapsed, threatening the remaining crystals and the people sealed inside them.
• Xiao Hua used his silver-lit arms to hold the two crystals as lightning and immortal spiritual aura swept through the battlefield, forcing Huang Tong and Feng Wu to carry everyone away.
• Xiao Hua pushed the Silver Tiger crystal toward the other side of the blood curse, using Lightning Evasion to overcome the opposing forces.
• At the yin-yang boundary, the crystal stopped and Xiao Hua’s arms sank into it; he withdrew them and suddenly realized a possible way forward.

Xiao Hua stabilized the remaining Flame Dragon and Silver Tiger crystals into a Two Spirits Blood Curse and began reversing it to free the cultivators trapped within. After a mysterious voice claimed the released cultivators as sacrificial offerings, a series of distant blasts revealed a vast Imperial Formation spreading across the snowfield.

• Xiao Hua used Feng Wu’s Spirit Severing Primordial Light to divide the crystals’ powers into yin and yang and form the Two Spirits Blood Curse.
• Xiao Hua began releasing the cultivators within the crystals, but a dozen blood-red crystal specks escaped into the earth as a strange voice threatened to make them sacrificial offerings.
• Feng Wu and Huang Tong searched for the hidden speaker, while Xiao Hua sensed faint demonic qi, sword qi, and traces of the blood curse but found no one.
• After a distant explosion, Xiao Hua sent Yuan Ya and the Black Bear Spirit to protect Fairy Hongxia, Zhang Qingxiao, and the others.
• Further blasts erupted around the snowfield and forced Xiao Hua out of teleportation; he saw an enormous execution pillar drawing in Vast Righteous Qi and recognized the spreading black-and-yellow phenomenon as an Imperial Formation.

Xiao Hua recognized the punishment formation as the work of the Book Immortal who had wounded Xu Zhi and Fairy Xingyue, and realized it was meant to harvest souls in a blood sacrifice. As the formation sealed the area, Xiao Hua fought the Book Immortal while Feng Wu and Huang Tong tried to reach the trapped disciples.

• Feng Wu recognized the voice as speaking the language of Confucian cultivators from Cangxian Continent, and Xiao Hua suspected the Book Immortal had fallen into Xiaoyu Continent.
• Xiao Hua and Huang Tong concluded that the Book Immortal had prepared the formation to carry out a blood sacrifice during the Great Sword Dao Battle, and Xiao Hua gave Feng Wu the Kunlun Mirror to evacuate the disciples.
• The punishment formation blocked Feng Wu’s spatial escape, and the Book Immortal revealed himself and declared that no one could escape.
• Xiao Hua distracted the Book Immortal and struck him with the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors, then shattered a punishment chain with his golden body.
• The Book Immortal realized Xiao Hua came from another realm, noticed the Kunlun Mirror, and transformed his robes into armor before attacking Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua enlarged his golden body and met the Book Immortal’s fists head-on.

Feng Wu and Huang Tong fought the Book Immortals as punishment-inscription chains engulfed the cultivators near Xuntian City. Wu Daoist arrived to counter the Six Arts incarnations, and the chapter left him striking the flute-wielding Book Immortal between the brows with the Ya Brush.

• Feng Wu flew over the Punishment Formation with Huang Tong and used the Kunlun Mirror to rally the Creation Sect disciples.
• A flute-wielding Book Immortal attacked Feng Wu for the Kunlun Mirror, and Huang Tong engaged him with spatial and demonic powers.
• The Book Immortal summoned generals formed from the Five Tones to encircle Huang Tong, but Wu Daoist appeared and shattered them with divine chants.
• An archer Book Immortal attacked Huang Tong with a bone arrow, and Huang Tong dispelled it with demonic Qi.
• Huang Tong recognized the Book Immortals as Six Arts incarnations, while Wu Daoist used the Ya Brush to destroy the flute-wielding Book Immortal's generals and strike his forehead.

Xiao Hua and his allies discovered that the Book Immortal’s Five Qi clones could reform as long as their true qi survived, making the Penal Formation the real obstacle. As the formation strengthened again, its Law-Binding Chains began slaughtering the Xiaoyu Continent disciples trapped inside.

• Wu Daoist recognized that a vanished strand of blood-patterned true qi was one of the Book Immortal’s Five Qi, and Xiao Hua used the Way of Life and Death to destroy another clone’s shell.
• Feng Wu battled a mounted Book Immortal while a concealed sword-clad Book Immortal attacked him from behind.
• The mounted Book Immortal transformed into a centaur and struck Feng Wu down, but Thunderclap True Person arrived and destroyed its shell with a lightning sword.
• Thunderclap True Person defeated the sword-clad Book Immortal, but its true qi escaped; Xiao Hua said they had to destroy the Penal Formation to end the Book Immortal’s near-indestructibility.
• The punitive pillars expanded after eighty-one thunderous blasts, strengthening the Law-Binding Chains as they began killing Creation Sect, sword cultivator, and Heavenly Demon Sect disciples.

Xiao Hua rallied the gathered sects and released his Creation Sect disciples to attack the dangerous punishment array. He learned that all eighty-one punishment pillars had to be toppled at the same time, leaving the battle poised for a coordinated assault.

• Xiao Hua urged the sects to unite against the punishment array, and their leaders agreed to follow his orders.
• As the punishment pillars unleashed enormous bamboo slips and changed the array’s laws, Xiao Hua summoned his Creation Sect disciples and sent them to protect people and break through in different directions.
• Xiao Hua offered Fairy Hongxia, Li Zongbao, and the others shelter inside the Kunlun Immortal Realm, but Hongxia and Li refused to leave the fight.
• Xiao Hua assigned Yuan Ya and the Black Bear Spirit to protect Hongxia, then sent a squad of Creation Sect disciples to escort the group north.
• Xiao Hua withdrew the Spirit Severing Primordial Light and stored the nearly condensed Flame Dragon Crystal in the Kunlun Immortal Realm.
• Demon Venerable Slayer explained that the punishment array depended on all eighty-one pillars and that they had to be toppled simultaneously.