Recaps

Demon-Suppressing Pass faced another attack from the Ten Thousand Demons Sacred Land after the Taiyin Sacred Land ignored its pleas for aid, so the general appealed to the Divine Firmament Sword Sect instead. Ying Huaixu and Chen Zhiyuan arrived, discovered blood soul crystals beneath the pass, and prepared to face the new assault on Chen Zhiyuan’s terms.

• The general decided to ask the Divine Firmament Sword Sect for aid and promised that Great Yu would honor it as its overlord sect if Demon-Suppressing Pass survived.
• The Divine Firmament Sword Sect replied that Ying Huaixu and Chen Zhiyuan had already been sent, and the general went out to welcome them.
• Ying Huaixu and Chen Zhiyuan arrived at the devastated pass, where Ying Huaixu concealed his face beneath a veiled bamboo hat.
• Ying Huaixu sensed blood soul crystals beneath the city walls and learned from the general that the soldiers had destroyed Blood Luo Fruits because the fruit had killed livestock.
• When the Demonic Beasts attacked again, Ying Huaixu flew onto the wall as Chen Zhiyuan asked him not to interfere with the chaos he needed.

Chen Zhiyuan used a formation that drew heavenly tribulation lightning to destroy the demonic army attacking Demon-Suppressing Pass, then advanced to the Spirit Sea Realm. After the mission entered its second phase, he charged the Demon Clan encampment and defeated five Spirit Sea demonic beasts while Ying Huaixu watched.

• Ying Huaixu encouraged Chen Zhiyuan to fight, and Chen Zhiyuan unleashed his Nine Heavens Lightning-Inducing Formation on the charging demonic army.
• The formation’s heavenly tribulation lightning killed the demonic beasts and their formation master, while Ying Huaixu told the general that Chen Zhiyuan had lost his parents to the Demon Clan.
• Ying Huaixu fed Chen Zhiyuan a pill, and Chen Zhiyuan recovered, reached the Spirit Sea Realm, and privately confirmed that his performance had fooled the others.
• Ying Huaixu received the reward for defending Demon-Suppressing Pass and a new mission to kill the person behind the demonic tide.
• Chen Zhiyuan attacked the Demon Clan encampment and killed five Spirit Sea demonic beasts without Ying Huaixu’s help.

Chen Zhiyuan reached the second level of the Spirit Sea realm after killing Demonic Beasts with Ying Huaixu, and the two completed Phase Two of the Demon-Suppressing Pass quest. Ying Huaixu discovered Blood Luo Fruit that could increase vitality, and Chen Zhiyuan's strength surged after eating fifty-six of them.

• Chen Zhiyuan showed off his breakthrough in the sect group chat while keeping Ying Huaixu's demon-killing method secret.
• Ying Huaixu declined the general's banquet and accepted the Phase Three quest to reorganize Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Ying Huaixu considered using the pass and its Blood Soul Crystals to help develop the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, then found a Blood Luo Fruit plant with the Eye of Insight.
• Chen Zhiyuan ate Blood Luo Fruit at Ying Huaixu's request, increasing his vitality and strength until he could no longer consume more.
• Chen Zhiyuan tested his strength by punching Ying Huaixu, who judged him far stronger than others at the same cultivation level.

After Ying Huaixu took Demon-Suppressing Pass, Zhuang Mu revealed that the Divine Firmament Sword Sect’s leaders had their paths to higher cultivation severed. He decided to use the crisis to eliminate threats to Ying Huaixu, even at the risk of his own life.

• Zhuang Mu ordered Tong Xinran to take over Demon-Suppressing Pass and said he would notify the Taiyin Sacred Land.
• Zhuang Mu told Meng Wuya that the Grand Ancestor’s prophecy had been disrupted by Ying Huaixu, and explained that his own path to advancement had been severed.
• Zhuang Mu revealed that the Divine Firmament Sword Sect’s other peak masters faced the same obstruction, while He Xixiang and Lü Qingyi had overcome similar limits in different ways.
• Zhuang Mu explained that Ying Huaixu had given him hope that the sect would endure, so he planned to kill powerful figures who might threaten him.
• Meng Wuya asked about Ye Ningshuang, and Zhuang Mu said he could not determine her purpose as a Person of Heavenly Mandate or help much with her mission.

Meng Wuya learned that other sects might be secretly raising their limits and vowed to protect Ying Huaixu, while the Mile-High Heaven Clan debated how to contain Chen Zhiyuan. Tong Xinran took over Demon-Suppressing Pass, and Ying Huaixu received a new mission to find Ye Ningshuang and disrupt the Thousand Mechanisms Sect’s plan.

• Meng Wuya worried that hidden forces were manipulating the world and resolved to pave a way for Ying Huaixu, but Zhuang Mu said the sect’s disciples already understood the danger.
• The Mile-High Heaven Clan’s figures watched Chen Zhiyuan’s lightning formation, then decided to send Descent Envoys to test him and Ying Huaixu.
• Tong Xinran arrived to take command of Demon-Suppressing Pass and brought outer disciples to mine its Blood Crystal deposit.
• Ying Huaixu completed his mission to reinforce Demon-Suppressing Pass and received a new task to find Ye Ningshuang and disrupt the Thousand Mechanisms Sect’s plan.
• Ying Huaixu complained that the mission credited Ye Ningshuang with conquering the Cold Pool Secret Realm, then checked his rewards and found materials for his next cultivation realm.

Ying Huaixu advanced to Spirit Sea Sixth Layer and decided to strengthen his sect by taking Chen Zhiyuan to fight a boss at Cold Mountain Temple. As Ying Huaixu headed there, the black dragon learned he was coming, and An Ruoyun of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect arrived to offer support and a deal.

• Ying Huaixu spent all his experience and Spirit Stones to advance from Spirit Sea Third Layer to Spirit Sea Sixth Layer, leaving him with a vast Spirit Sea.
• Worried that his strength far outpaced his sectmates, Ying Huaixu told Chen Zhiyuan he would take him to fight a Spirit Sea Realm King-Level Boss.
• Ying Huaixu asked Qiu Shiyi for the Cold Mountain Temple mission, learned the Thousand Mechanisms Sect was behind the demonic dragon, and received a three-star subjugation mission.
• The black dragon devoured Blood Crystals at Cold Mountain Temple and questioned how a human had killed Azure Fox and her companions.
• An Ruoyun, the Holy Maiden of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect, appeared before the black dragon and the abbot, saying Ying Huaixu was on his way and offering support and a deal.

An Ruoyun gave Black Dragon life energy in exchange for fighting Ying Huaixu, while Ying Huaixu tested how Blood Crystals strengthened Xiaoxue and brought Chen Zhiyuan toward Cold Mountain Temple. The chapter ended with Qiu Shiyi asking Huang Tianqi how he entered the Spirit Sea Realm without a lightning tribulation.

• An Ruoyun gave Black Dragon life energy and told him to fight Ying Huaixu for as long as he could, then vanished after warning him not to die too quickly.
• Black Dragon chose to absorb the Life Essence and told the abbot to avoid conflict with the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, while the abbot sent a novice to check for other sect members.
• After Blood Crystals at Demon-Suppressing Pass began working normally, Ying Huaixu took Chen Zhiyuan toward Cold Mountain Temple and made Xiaoxue devour Blood Crystals.
• Xiaoxue's physique limit increased fivefold, and Chen Zhiyuan warned the Divine Firmament Sword Sect's group about how quickly Demonic Beasts could grow stronger.
• Huang Tianqi praised Chen Zhiyuan, then told Qiu Shiyi that his cultivation method was different when asked about his Spirit Sea Realm breakthrough and missing lightning tribulation.

Huang Tianqi explained how replacing his meridians and Dantian with space let him reshape his cultivation, wield spatial powers, and store resources, leaving Qiu Shiyi stunned by his strength. After Ying Huaixu and Chen Zhiyuan joined them, Chen Zhiyuan began considering whether formations that sealed space could counter Huang Tianqi.

• Huang Tianqi demonstrated a spatial spell that burned a tree to charcoal and explained how his understanding of space let him create spaces with different attributes.
• Huang Tianqi trapped Qiu Shiyi with Spatial Shackles, then revealed that his spatial Dantian stored resources and converted them into Spiritual Power.
• Qiu Shiyi asked whether Huang Tianqi could defeat Ying Huaixu, and Huang Tianqi said he could not affect her spatial fluctuations.
• Ying Huaixu arrived with Chen Zhiyuan and learned from Qiu Shiyi how Huang Tianqi had transformed his cultivation.
• Chen Zhiyuan considered improving his formations to seal space and potentially restrain Huang Tianqi.

Qiu Shiyi, Huang Tianqi, and Chen Zhiyuan led the assault on Cold Mountain Temple while Ying Huaixu stayed back as support. Huang Tianqi annihilated the temple’s defenders, and Black Dragon emerged as the last opponent.

• Qiu Shiyi asked Ying Huaixu to watch while he, Huang Tianqi, and Chen Zhiyuan handled the secret realm themselves.
• Qiu Shiyi killed the gatekeepers and attacked Cold Mountain Temple, while Chen Zhiyuan sealed the area with a formation.
• Huang Tianqi shattered the temple’s protective formation and killed the demon monks and destroyed the mountain gate with a single move.
• An Ruoyun watched the Divine Firmament Sword Sect’s overwhelming strength and noted that Ying Huaixu had not even acted.
• Black Dragon emerged from the pool, transformed into his true form, and faced Huang Tianqi, Qiu Shiyi, and Chen Zhiyuan.

Chen Zhiyuan, Huang Tianqi, and Qiu Shiyi defeated the Black Dragon at Cold Mountain Temple, while Ying Huaixu reconsidered the dangers of the Main Quest. After they left, An Ruoyun watched from hiding and decided to make plans of her own.

• Chen Zhiyuan and the others overwhelmed the Black Dragon with their strength, formations, poison, and spatial powers, then captured his divine soul.
• The system announced that the Cold Mountain Temple Subjugation Mission was complete and awarded experience, Spirit Stones, and Spirit Leaves.
• Chen Zhiyuan asked Ying Huaixu to take them to a stronger opponent, and Huang Tianqi looked forward to another fight.
• Ying Huaixu agreed to continue while focusing on the Main Quest and investigating the Star-Seizing Sect's Secret Realm.
• After the others left, An Ruoyun hid in a dark corner and decided to make plans.

Ye Ningshuang pushed her body through repeated destruction and healing to force a breakthrough after reaching the peak of the qi sea stage without a heavenly tribulation. She reached the absolute peak of the spirit sea realm and opened two complementary spirit seas, leaving Black Shadow and Black Cat stunned by the Netherworld Spiritual Root’s potential.

• Ye Ningshuang slaughtered monsters and repeatedly tore her body apart to strengthen it, ignoring Black Cat and Black Shadow’s warnings.
• After drinking Black Shadow’s soup, Ye Ningshuang reached the peak of the qi sea stage but found no heavenly tribulation to help her advance.
• Ye Ningshuang detonated and rebuilt her Dantian eighty-one times, forcing her way into the spirit sea realm.
• Ye Ningshuang’s spirit sea expanded as it absorbed souls, carrying her from the first layer to the absolute peak of the spirit sea realm.
• Ye Ningshuang opened a black spirit sea and a white spirit sea, which merged while separately absorbing evil thoughts and combat abilities from souls.
• Black Cat and Black Shadow realized Ye Ningshuang had revealed a way to use the Netherworld Spiritual Root that Black Shadow had never discovered.

After leaving the gray world, Ye Ningshuang sensed that someone was suppressing the Hongmeng World and absorbed the combat memories she had collected. Black Cat warned Black Shadow that Ye Ningshuang’s discovery of the world’s hidden opportunity would put her in danger, but Ye Ningshuang received a message from Ying Huaixu to gather for a mission.

• Ye Ningshuang slaughtered the monsters in the gray world, sealed their souls in her Spirit Sea, and returned to the Hongmeng World, where she sensed that its growth was being suppressed.
• Ye Ningshuang washed away the blood and meditated by a river, absorbing her combat memories and strengthening her sword mastery.
• Black Shadow recalled that she had detonated herself after discovering the Hongmeng World, while Black Cat reasoned that Ye Ningshuang’s discovery of its hidden opportunity would attract danger.
• Black Cat urged Black Shadow to reveal what she knew and help protect Ye Ningshuang, but Black Shadow said she could not help with the Netherworld Spiritual Root.
• Ye Ningshuang finished meditating and felt ready to stand alongside Ying Huaixu, though she worried about facing him after disappointing him.
• Ying Huaixu contacted Ye Ningshuang and told her to stay where she was while he and the others came to gather her for a mission.

Ying Huaixu learned that Qiu Shiyi needed a vessel for his Weak Water to break through to the Dao Seal realm, and discovered that the Merfolk Clan’s Tear of Returning to the Sea could provide one. Remembering the coming merfolk civil war and Ye Ningshuang’s role in it, Ying Huaixu headed to find her while Chen Zhiyuan fought off their pursuers.

• Chen Zhiyuan searched Black Dragon’s soul and learned that the Thousand Mechanisms Sect was investigating Ying Huaixu’s strength.
• Qiu Shiyi revealed that he needed a treasure capable of holding Weak Water before he could break through to the Dao Seal realm.
• Ying Huaixu explained that the Merfolk Clan’s Tear of Returning to the Sea could hold divine water, but Qiu Shiyi rejected the idea of becoming cultivation partners with the merfolk princess.
• Ying Huaixu recalled that the Thousand Mechanisms Sect would spark a Merfolk Clan civil war and that Ye Ningshuang would help resolve it and receive the Tear of Returning to the Sea.
• Ying Huaixu and the others boarded a Flying Boat to find Ye Ningshuang while Chen Zhiyuan killed their pursuers along the way.

Ying Huaixu and his companions fought off increasingly powerful assassins, and Ying Huaixu’s freezing artistic conception wiped them out. They suspected the Thousand Mechanisms Sect and its allies were preparing a deadly trap for the next secret realm, leaving the Divine Firmament Sword Sect facing an unprecedented threat.

• Chen Zhiyuan, Huang Tianqi, and Qiu Shiyi fought the attackers, whom Huang Tianqi identified as Death Servants, while protecting Ying Huaixu.
• Ying Huaixu suspected the Thousand Mechanisms Sect was probing his strength to prepare a more dangerous next secret realm.
• Ying Huaixu unleashed his artistic conception, freezing the attackers and his companions before withdrawing it.
• Huang Tianqi theorized that other sects had allied with the forces behind the Thousand Mechanisms Sect and were targeting the Divine Firmament Sword Sect.
• Chen Zhiyuan argued that the enemy feared something and urged the group to conceal Ying Huaixu’s strength, while Ying Huaixu considered whether they might try to eliminate that fear.
• Ying Huaixu and Huang Tianqi realized the other sects might sacrifice the Divine Firmament Sword Sect to gain power, and Huang Tianqi warned of an unprecedented challenge.

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect master reluctantly accepted more life essence from the Mile-High Heaven Clan to keep testing Ying Huaixu, while An Ruoyun planned to use other demonic cultivators to do the probing. He tried to leave the sect to clear his head but found the Divine Firmament Sword Sect blacksmith blocking its entrance until Ying Huaixu returned, so he went back to sleep.

• The Thousand Mechanisms Sect master complained to the Mile-High Heaven Clan that his disciples and deathsworn were dying while testing Ying Huaixu, and they offered more life essence in exchange for continuing.
• The Thousand Mechanisms Sect master accepted the Mile-High Heaven Clan's supplies, including blood soul crystals An Ruoyun had requested.
• An Ruoyun told the sect master she would learn Ying Huaixu's plans and create obstacles so other demonic cultivators would test him, possibly drawing on their desire for revenge over the Blood Crystals.
• The Thousand Mechanisms Sect master suspected An Ruoyun had deeper plans and decided to leave the sect to clear his head.
• The sect master found the Divine Firmament Sword Sect blacksmith blocking the entrance and learned the sect was preventing anyone stronger than Ying Huaixu from leaving until his return.
• The sect master left the smithy and went back to sleep.

The Star-Seizing Ancestor found that the Star Sea Secret Realm had emptied of its Falling Star Giant Beasts, then sealed itself off and changed in response to the Star-Seizing Sect master's offhand remarks. The Ancestor could no longer inspect or control it, and he left the master to explain the strange events.

• The Star-Seizing Ancestor discovered that the Star Sea Secret Realm's destruction aura had changed into dark power and that its Falling Star Giant Beasts had vanished.
• The Star-Seizing Ancestor told the Star-Seizing Sect master that something seemed to have transported the beasts away, though he could not determine where.
• The Star-Seizing Sect master remarked that the empty secret realm was safe, and the realm immediately seethed and sealed itself.
• The Star-Seizing Ancestor found that the master's offhand guess had apparently caused a powerful new presence to appear, then blamed him for the secret realm's changes.
• The Star-Seizing Ancestor told the Star-Seizing Sect master to explain the missing beasts, and the master claimed they had always been gone.

The Star-Seizing Ancestor stopped trying to destroy the Starry Sky Secret Realm after a powerful figure, apparently his grandfather, intervened. He warned the sect master about hidden forces and ordered the sect to seek the Falling Star Giant Beasts while forbidding disciples from practicing other cultivation arts.

• The Star-Seizing Ancestor tried to crush the Starry Sky Secret Realm, but a giant palm stopped him and a figure in the void persuaded him to stand down.
• The Star-Seizing Ancestor told the sect master that the Divine Firmament Sword Sect's strength came from Lü Qingyi and He Xixiang, and that the sect had repeatedly recovered from decline through powerful individuals.
• The Star-Seizing Ancestor said the Star-Seizing Art could reveal the laws' trajectories and warned that some people who expected to grow powerful had already been marked.
• The Star-Seizing Ancestor decided the Star-Seizing Sect's Holy Son and Holy Daughter should search for the Falling Star Giant Beasts for experience.
• The sect master ordered that no one in the Star-Seizing Sect could practice other cultivation arts, on pain of having their cultivation crippled and being expelled.

Ye Ningshuang killed the merfolk child Ying Huaixu needed for a quest, so Ying Huaixu revived him and persuaded him to lead the group to his clan. On the way, Ying Huaixu discovered that bosses were disappearing from the map, while strange monster portraits appeared briefly in their place.

• Ye Ningshuang killed a group of black-clad attackers and a frightened child with demonic energy while waiting for Ying Huaixu.
• Ying Huaixu found Ye Ningshuang and learned she had killed the merfolk child he was seeking for a quest.
• Ye Ningshuang revived the child with black mist, and Ying Huaixu convinced him to invite the group to visit the Merfolk Clan.
• Ying Huaixu noticed that boss icons and subjugation stages had vanished from the map, then found a boss missing without any sign of a fight.
• Ying Huaixu saw monster portraits flash across the map as boss icons disappeared and demanded that Heavenly Dao give him back his exit button.

Ying Huaixu took the merfolk child to the Merfolk Clan, looted treasures across the seabed, and prepared for the next fight. He agreed to let Chen Zhiyuan and the others try to defeat their coming enemy without his help.

• Ying Huaixu gave up chasing the disappearing raid bosses and took the merfolk child toward the Merfolk Clan on his Flying Boat.
• Ying Huaixu led the group across the seabed, gathering hidden treasures and salvaging a shipwreck full of Magic Treasures, spirit stones, and materials.
• Ying Huaixu dismantled an enormous spirit stone ore chunk into 20 million spirit stones and distributed most of the other loot to Huang Tianqi and the others.
• Ying Huaixu entered an underwater cave and began crafting talismans and refining pills to prepare for battle.
• Chen Zhiyuan asked to fight the coming enemy without Ying Huaixu intervening, and Ying Huaixu agreed.

Ying Huaixu prepared for the hidden raid bosses by refining powerful formation materials for Chen Zhiyuan, who demonstrated how easily he could restrain Qiu Shiyi and nearly harm Huang Tianqi. As the group headed for the Merfolk Clan, the Mile-High Heaven Clan worried over Ye Ningshuang’s rapid growth and wondered why the demonic beasts they had released had not appeared.

• Ying Huaixu refined Chen Zhiyuan’s formation materials into supreme-quality magic treasures to help him prepare for powerful enemies.
• Chen Zhiyuan used successive formations to defeat Qiu Shiyi in a spar and briefly trapped Huang Tianqi by eliminating space.
• Huang Tianqi began contemplating his weakness, while Chen Zhiyuan credited his victory to luck and Ying Huaixu continued preparing supplies.
• Ying Huaixu used up the group’s spirit herbs and talisman-refining materials, then led them toward the Merfolk Clan.
• The Mile-High Heaven Clan discovered that Ye Ningshuang had reached Spirit Sea Great Perfection and feared that the world’s natives would grow too powerful to control.
• The Mile-High Heaven Clan wondered why the demonic beasts, including the Falling Star Giant Beast sent into the Hongmeng World, had not appeared.

The Falling Star Giant Beasts hid from the Mile-High Heaven Clan and planned to assess Ying Huaixu and Ye Ningshuang before attacking them. After learning human cultivation and customs, their leader set the beasts to work near Merfolk Island so they could watch the coming conflict from a safe distance.

• The Falling Star Giant Beasts concealed themselves as mountains while the Mile-High Heaven Clan searched for them and brought An Ruoyun into the search.
• The Falling Star leader warned his followers that Ying Huaixu had killed all Four Azure Fox Sisters, so they needed to learn more before confronting him and Ye Ningshuang.
• The beasts learned human cultivation methods, transformed into muscular humans, and studied human culture in small villages.
• The leader used Soul-Searching Technique on a Mile-High Heaven agent and a merfolk, learning about the factions within the Merfolk Clan and the expected clash with Ying Huaixu and Ye Ningshuang.
• The Falling Star Giant Beasts took work at a dock near Merfolk Island to observe the conflict from a position where Ying Huaixu would not detect them.
• When a beast began drooling over the humans’ sacred fragrance, the leader slapped him and forbade him from pursuing humans.

The Falling Star Leader studied human techniques and learned that Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples were far stronger than expected. To avoid confronting them directly, he arranged for his followers to stir up rival factions against Ying Huaixu and Ye Ningshuang while he hid and watched for a chance to gauge Ying Huaixu's strength.

• The Falling Star Leader warned his underling not to draw human attention before they secured the racial flame, then grew stronger by adapting human cultivation methods and refining his true form into a magic treasure.
• The Falling Star Leader studied alchemy, talismans, and human affairs, then secretly followed a Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciple and heard that Ying Huaixu had nearly wiped out the powerful demonic beasts in Baoyue Province.
• After the disciples headed for Pinglan Province, the Falling Star Leader sent Seventh and Fifth to report on developments there and gave them talismans and pills while ordering them to keep their true forms secret.
• The Falling Star Leader ordered his followers to offer the Shura Hall a Highest Bounty Order for Ying Huaixu and Ye Ningshuang, and sent Third and Fourth to contact Yuhua Sheng and Ten Thousand Buddha Mountain under the guise of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect.
• Third and Fourth were told to spread an exaggerated rumor that Ying Huaixu was seeking a crucial treasure among the Merfolk Clan, while the Falling Star Leader lay low to use the ensuing conflict to test Ying Huaixu's strength.

Ying Huaixu suspected the cautious raid Boss was monitoring him from far away, so he led the group through the merfolk prince’s palace to gather treasure while avoiding a confrontation. The group continued strengthening their abilities, and Qiu Shiyi wondered how powerful Ye Ningshuang had become.

• Ying Huaixu had Ye Ningshuang move to test the map and concluded that the raid Boss was watching them from a great distance.
• Ying Huaixu and the others ransacked the merfolk prince’s palace, taking treasure and dismantling equipment for enhancement stones.
• Ying Huaixu told Ye Ningshuang that the Boss was too cautious to be lured out by putting her in danger.
• Chen Zhiyuan decided to keep following Ying Huaixu, while Qiu Shiyi and Huang Tianqi continued developing their abilities.
• Huang Tianqi comprehended a way to counter Spatial Elimination and gained a new spatial skill with the same name.
• Qiu Shiyi wondered how powerful Ye Ningshuang had become after her experience in the Illusory Dream Trial.

Ying Huaixu asked Xu Yaoyang to investigate the hidden raid Bosses, then gathered his companions to explain his plan for the Merfolk Clan. The merfolk prince learned that Ying Huaixu intended to help him seize power and use the clan as the stage for a larger scheme.

• Ying Huaixu contacted Xu Yaoyang, who found no trace of the Falling Star Giant Beast but suggested asking the Star-Seizing Holy Son and Holy Maiden to track it.
• Xu Yaoyang agreed to contact the Star-Seizing Holy Son and Holy Maiden while Ying Huaixu turned his attention to the Merfolk Clan.
• Ying Huaixu told his companions that the West Sea king was preparing to attack the East Sea and proposed helping the merfolk prince seize power.
• Chen Zhiyuan suggested killing the merfolk princess, but Ying Huaixu explained that the clan’s treasury and kingship rituals made force impractical.
• Ying Huaixu revealed that he planned to use the Merfolk Clan as the stage for a grand show, leaving the merfolk prince bewildered by how much the human knew about his people.

Ying Huaixu left the merfolk war to Ye Ningshuang and the others after arranging their plan, while the priestess grandmother explained why the merfolk prince needed to rely on them. The prince reluctantly agreed to enter the Deep Sea Fog in three days, and his grandmother urged him to gamble the East Sea’s fate on their help.

• Ying Huaixu discovered that the Hongmeng Mission continued while he was away and told Chen Zhiyuan and the others to summon him for the decisive battle.
• Chen Zhiyuan, Huang Tianqi, Qiu Shiyi, and Ye Ningshuang took the merfolk prince to his priestess grandmother, who gave them the Merfolk Clan’s defense map and information about the West Sea Merfolk King.
• Ye Ningshuang told the merfolk prince that they would take him into the Deep Sea Fog in three days, and he agreed after protesting that he was only a child.
• The priestess grandmother told the merfolk prince that the East Sea faced destruction without their help and urged him to accept being used in exchange for a chance to unite the merfolk under his rule.