Recaps

Qing Chen received Tie Ming’s support and hurried to secure control of the Miao-Conquest Army before the campaign into Qiongzhou. He ordered his officers to prepare the troops, then sought Chan Master Wuxiang’s backing as he began organizing his new command.

• Tie Ming gave Qing Chen a jade slip, a tiger tally, and promised resources for the Miao-Conquest Army, urging him to establish himself in Qiongzhou.
• Qing Chen calculated that he had about a year to secure the thirty-thousand-strong army and recognized that his ten thousand Central Army troops would form its core.
• Qing Chen ordered Lin Changsheng, Xin Bairen, and the others to inspect the troops’ equipment and medicines and place the army on wartime footing.
• Qing Chen assessed which factions might support him and went to seek help from Chan Master Wuxiang rather than ask Tie Ming to select his troops.
• Chan Master Wuxiang congratulated Qing Chen on his promotion and warned him to conduct himself carefully after gaining favor and approaching the rank that carried a Purple Robe.

Qing Chen secured two Central Army divisions for his campaign in Qiongzhou. Meanwhile, Young Master Lingxu and his allies resented Qing Chen’s rise, and Qing Guhong revealed his own grudge against him.

• Qing Chen asked Chan Master Wuxiang for more troops, and Wuxiang offered him Fierce-Eyed Vajra’s First Division and Wuxin Dharma Master’s Seventh Division, bringing his force to thirty thousand.
• Qing Chen thanked Chan Master Wuxiang, accepted the transfer orders, and left more confident about the campaign in Miaochong Prefecture.
• Young Master Lingxu complained about Qing Chen’s promotion, while Qingpeng True Person warned that Qing Chen was protected by the Iron Household and Chan Master Wuxiang.
• Qing Guhong argued that the Iron Household was using Qing Chen as a pawn and disclosed that he had old scores to settle with him.
• Qing Guhong recalled that Gong Shisan had advanced in the Primordial Magnetism Annihilation Great Art and become a Nascent Soul True Lord.

Qing Guhong and his allies discussed how to undermine Qing Chen during his expedition to Miaochong Prefecture, while True Lord Chongxu tacitly allowed their scheme. The chapter ended with Qing Chen’s newly established Miao-Conquest Army encamped tens of thousands of miles away.

• Gong Shisan’s success in forming his Nascent Soul left Qing Chen as the chief suspect in the disappearance of the Magnetic Origin Rule Thread, while his rival resolved to seek it from him.
• Zhaoshenzi and the Three Corpses Devil Lord sided with Qingpeng True Person and disparaged Qing Chen to Qing Guhong.
• Qing Guhong described Miaochong Prefecture as a dangerous, tangled region and implied that Qing Chen’s expedition could end in disaster.
• True Lord Chongxu spoke of fate and duty in a way that signaled he would not oppose efforts against Qing Chen.
• Qing Guhong, Young Master Lingxu, and Qingpeng True Person agreed to exploit Qing Chen’s expedition and potentially take command of his army if he died.
• Qing Chen’s Miao-Conquest Army established its command tent at the edge of the Gou Wu Whale Army’s Central Army encampment.

Qing Chen convened the officers of the Miao-Conquest Army and asserted his authority over the former Central Army divisions. He reorganized the divisions and began imposing strict military discipline, leaving the officers to hear the army’s punishments.

• Officers from the former First, Second, and Seventh Divisions gathered outside the command tent, where Lei Bao complained about Qing Chen making them wait.
• Gao Yuliang and Deng Ziyue announced Qing Chen’s command, and the officers entered the tent and paid their respects, though the First Division’s officers were reluctant.
• Qing Chen declared that the three former divisions would form one Miao-Conquest Army under his sole command and renumbered them as the First, Second, and Third Divisions.
• Qing Chen warned that disobedience would be punished under military law, and the officers gave uneven responses.
• Qing Chen ordered Lin Changsheng to read the army’s Thirteen Prohibitions and Thirteen Executions, and the severe punishments unsettled some officers.

Qing Chen enforced the military prohibitions by intimidating Lei Bao into accepting punishment, then began assigning commanders to the Miao-Conquest Army’s divisions. The chapter ended with Qing Chen appointing Lei Bao to lead the Third Division.

• Lin Changsheng read the military prohibitions, and Lei Bao snorted in defiance.
• Qing Chen pressured Lei Bao with his killing intent and the power of heaven and earth until Lei Bao submitted.
• Qing Chen sentenced Lei Bao to ten strokes of the military rod, deferred until he could redeem his offense through merit in battle.
• Qing Chen promoted Ye Wushang to command ten thousand troops in the First Division of the Miao-Conquest Army.
• Qing Chen transferred Wuxin Dharma Master to command ten thousand troops in the Second Division of the Miao-Conquest Army.
• Qing Chen promoted Lei Bao to command ten thousand troops in the Third Division of the Miao-Conquest Army.

Qing Chen consolidated his command by promoting Lei Bao and assigning officers to control the divisions. Months later, as Tie Ming departed for Heavenly Abyss Pass, he confirmed Qing Chen’s supplies were in order and gave him a Storage Ring before Qing Chen’s own army marched.

• Qing Chen promoted Lei Bao to Third Division Gentleman of the Palace, winning his loyalty after Lei Bao had defied him.
• Qing Chen assigned Lin Changsheng, Sun Wudi, Xin Bairen, and Xue Qingxia to command and supervisory posts across the Second and Third Divisions.
• Several months later, Qing Chen reported the army’s ships, talismans, Spirit Stones, and other supplies to Tie Ming as the main force prepared to leave for Heavenly Abyss Pass.
• Tie Ming told Qing Chen that his troops would depart in half a year and that Tie Qingniu would meet him in Anman Prefecture.
• Tie Ming gave Qing Chen a Storage Ring as a parting gift before leaving with the main force.

After Tie Ming gave Qing Chen a black ring containing two low-grade Fortune Spirit Crystals, Qing Chen considered the powerful support and heavy expectations the gift represented. He surveyed his well-trained thirty-thousand-strong army and the improved cultivation of his followers as they prepared to campaign in Qiongzhou.

• Tie Ming gave Qing Chen a black ring, praised his response, and departed aboard a Giant Whale Treasure Ship after telling him to establish himself in Qiongzhou and return alive.
• Qing Chen discovered high-grade spirit stones, rare pills, and two low-grade Fortune Spirit Crystals in the ring, and recognized their value for cultivation and breakthrough.
• Qing Chen weighed the obligation created by Tie Ming’s lavish gift and considered how a Fortune Spirit Crystal could help him reach the pseudo-nascent soul stage.
• Qing Chen looked over his thirty-thousand-strong army, whose soldiers had advanced to late Qi refining or higher during ten years of training.
• Xu Jiuling advanced from pseudo-core to the Golden Core Realm, while Sun Wudi, Lin Changsheng, Xue Qingxia, Xin Bairen, the Spirit Crane, and Guangqi Jinsan had also improved their cultivation.

The Miao-Conquest Army drilled its battalions and divisions until their formations showed overwhelming power. The chapter left the thirty thousand cultivators testing a high-grade Fortune Talisman’s might through a unified formation.

• The army drilled its individual battalions, practicing attack, defense, movement, and concealment formations under the command of its Golden Core Commandants.
• Lin Changsheng, Xin Bairen, and Xu Jiuling coordinated the three divisions’ drills through precise instructions relayed by Ye Wushang, Wuxin Dharma Master, and Lei Bao.
• The three divisions combined into ten-thousand-man formations, each displaying power comparable to a Dharma Nascent Soul.
• Lin Changsheng, Xin Bairen, and Xu Jiuling directed all thirty thousand cultivators to form Blood Prison-Overturning the Sea.
• The unified formation activated part of a high-grade Fortune Talisman’s power and manifested a vast Dharma Form phantom as the army shouted, “Kill! Kill! Kill!”

Qing Chen studied the formidable forces and hostile factions around Miaochong Prefecture before receiving Wei Ting’s order to move his army to Anman Prefecture within fifteen days. He ordered the troops to muster and board the ships.

• Qing Chen examined a detailed map of Miaochong Prefecture, its ten counties, and the powerful factions surrounding its capital.
• Qing Chen judged that his thirty thousand soldiers could only establish a foothold and vowed to use the enemy’s remains to empower his Demon Banner.
• Gao Yuliang brought Qing Chen an urgent message from the Gou Wu Whale Army through the Fourth Tier Xuan Yuan Communication Array.
• Wei Ting ordered Qing Chen’s forces to travel by Giant Whale Treasure Ships and reach the designated camp outside Anman Prefecture’s capital within fifteen days.
• Qing Chen ordered the drums beaten and commanded the officers and troops to assemble and board the ships.

Qing Chen led the Miao-Conquest Army’s fleet northwest toward Anman Prefecture, using scouts and strict formations to navigate increasingly war-torn territory. The fleet reached the outskirts of Anman, where signs of ongoing clashes confirmed the region’s danger.

• Qing Chen ordered the eleven Giant Whale Treasure Ships into an arrowhead formation and sent fifty troop transports ahead to scout.
• Qing Chen’s fleet crossed into Qiongzhou and saw fortified settlements, wary travelers, and evidence of war grow more frequent as it advanced.
• Qing Chen’s fleet passed through Pingyin Prefecture, where damaged cities and suspicious garrisons showed the conflict’s toll.
• Thirteen days after setting out, Qing Chen received reports of beacon fires, a suspected engagement, and a miasma-covered valley near Anman Prefecture.
• Qing Chen slowed the fleet and steered it toward its encampment as Anman remained contested by the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty and rebel forces.

Qing Chen confronted Anman Prefecture’s unfinished military encampment and threatened the constable overseeing it with execution and the extermination of three generations for delaying military operations. Jia Daoyi arrived, killed the constable, and publicly pledged to carry out Qing Chen’s wishes, leaving the two officials facing one another.

• Qing Chen inspected the incomplete encampment and ordered Gao Yuliang to record the constable’s name and punish him for neglecting military duties.
• The constable invoked his rank and Anman Prefecture’s authority, while Qing Chen argued that the unfinished defenses endangered the thirty thousand Miao-Conquest troops.
• Gao Yuliang cited the Great Jin Military Code’s punishment of execution and possible extermination of three generations for disobeying wartime orders.
• Qing Chen demanded to know who had instructed the constable to obstruct the work and threatened to exterminate his family if he refused to answer.
• A Dharma Nascent Soul cultivator arrived and killed the constable before he could respond.
• Jia Daoyi introduced himself as Anman Prefecture’s Prefectural Assistant, apologized to Qing Chen, and announced that he would exterminate the constable’s three generations.

Qing Chen confronted Jia Daoyi over Anman Prefecture’s failure to finish the army camp and provide supplies, using Wei Ting’s orders and military law to force a response. When Jia Daoyi asked for fifteen more days, Qing Chen ordered his officers to prepare to enter the treasury, while Jia Daoyi found himself overwhelmed by the killing intent of the thirty thousand troops.

• Qing Chen recognized that Jia Daoyi was a fellow disciple of Qing Guhong and suspected their connection explained the obstruction and neglect.
• Qing Chen invoked Wei Ting’s orders and threatened to report Jia Daoyi to the battle inspector if Anman Prefecture delayed the camp further.
• Jia Daoyi asked for fifteen more days, explaining that the prefectural manpower had been reassigned to border fortifications.
• Qing Chen rejected the delay and ordered Xu Jiuling and Gao Yuliang to confirm that the meeting had been recorded.
• Qing Chen ordered Ye Wushang, Wuxin, and Lei Bao to assemble their troops and accompany him to Anman’s treasury to collect the army’s supplies.
• Qing Chen threatened to report Anman Prefecture for delaying military operations and aiding the enemy, while the soldiers’ killing intent left Jia Daoyi alarmed.

Qing Chen brought the Miao-Conquest Army to Anman Prefecture to collect its promised supplies, and the fleet’s threatening approach put the city’s defenders on alert. Tie Qingniu intervened to open the way and personally offered to lead Qing Chen to the treasury, leaving Jia Daoyi resentful.

• Jia Daoyi promised Qing Chen the supplies and led the Miao-Conquest Army toward Anman Prefecture.
• Anman Prefecture activated its defensive formation and deployed warships as Qing Chen’s fleet approached.
• Jia Daoyi urged the city’s defenders to let the army through, but a general hesitated and asked for the prefect’s authorization.
• Qing Chen warned that obstructing the supply collection would amount to aiding the enemy.
• Tie Qingniu came out of the city, rebuked the hesitant defenders, and offered to lead Qing Chen to the treasury.

Qing Chen brought his fleet into Anman Prefecture City to collect supplies for his army, where the battered, heavily guarded city reflected the strain of war. He began loading construction materials from the prefectural treasury, and Tie Qingniu provided a Mountain-Carrying Treasure Ship to carry the immense cargo.

• Jia Daoyi welcomed Tie Qingniu, and the city defenders opened the western passage for Qing Chen’s fleet.
• Qing Chen sent Ye Wushang and Xu Jiuling into the city to collect supplies while Wuxin, Lin Changsheng, Lei Bao, and Xin Bairen guarded the perimeter with the remaining ships.
• Tie Qingniu led Qing Chen’s five Treasure Ships through the tense city to its underground treasury.
• Qing Chen ordered Ye Wushang and Xu Jiuling to inspect and load the supplies as his soldiers moved construction materials out of the storerooms.
• Tie Qingniu brought over a Mountain-Carrying Treasure Ship to transport the enormous volume of materials.

Qing Chen secured supplies and a Mountain-Carrying Treasure Ship in Anman Prefecture, then led his fleet toward rebel-held Wind-Splitting Gorge. He also ordered a report accusing Jia Daoyi of failing to prepare the army’s camp, backed by a Projection Recording.

• Xu Jiuling’s soldiers loaded the allotted supplies and extra Spirit Stones and Fortune Talismans, while Tie Qingniu helped Qing Chen take a Mountain-Carrying Treasure Ship on loan.
• Jia Daoyi protested the removal of the treasure ship, but Tie Qingniu insisted it was only being lent to support the Miao-Conquest Army.
• Qing Chen reviewed the supplies and ordered the fleet to change course for Wind-Splitting Gorge in Miaochong Prefecture.
• Xu Jiuling voiced concern about advancing into rebel territory, but Qing Chen reaffirmed his order, and the fleet headed south.
• Qing Chen summoned Ye Wushang, Wuxin, and Lei Bao and ordered them to report Jia Daoyi’s failure to prepare the camp to the Sea-Calming General and the Lingnan Circuit Ministry of War.

Qing Chen and his companions framed their advance into Miaochong Prefecture as a desperate act of loyal courage, while shifting responsibility onto Jia Daoyi. Centipede-Insect Daoist learned that Qing Chen’s thirty-thousand-strong army had fortified a position outside Wind-Splitting Gorge and ordered a coalition army mobilized to stop it.

• Qing Chen submitted a memorial declaring that he and Ye Wushang, Wuxin, and Lei Bao would establish an outpost near Fengsplit Gorge Valley, and the three men publicly pledged to follow him.
• The memorial cast the advance as loyal and necessary while accusing Jia Daoyi and placing the pressure on Anman Prefecture.
• Ma Kui reported that Qing Chen’s thirty thousand troops had occupied a ridge outside Wind-Splitting Gorge and were building defenses linked to local spirit and earth veins.
• Centipede-Insect Daoist warned that losing Wind-Splitting Gorge County would weaken the rebels’ territorial fortune and strengthen Great Jin’s forces.
• Centipede-Insect Daoist ordered a coalition army assembled from the prefectural garrison, sects, and counties, with Ma Kui in command.

Centipede-Insect Daoist ordered Ma Kui to lead forty thousand troops against Qing Chen, while Qing Chen explained that he wanted Miaochong Prefecture’s forces to gather for a decisive battle. The chapter left the opposing armies preparing for a major confrontation outside Wind-Splitting Gorge.

• Centipede-Insect Daoist promised Ma Kui forty thousand troops by stripping soldiers from several counties, drawing elites from the Prefectural City, and conscripting sects and rogue cultivators.
• Ma Kui accepted command and vowed to bring back Qing Chen’s head or submit to military law.
• At the Miao-Conquest Army camp, Lin Changsheng questioned why Qing Chen had not seized Wind-Splitting Gorge County while its garrison was unprepared.
• Qing Chen explained that a slow campaign would not suit his need to earn military merit and gather resources for his plans to become a Nascent Soul True Lord.
• Qing Chen told Lin Changsheng that he wanted Miaochong Prefecture’s forces and neutral cultivators to gather, grow anxious, and seek a decisive battle.

Qing Chen planned to lure Miaochong Prefecture's forces into a decisive battle at Wind-Splitting Gorge, while rival commanders and officials dismissed his strategy as reckless. As the enemy gathered to attack, Qing Chen quietly prepared his troops and warships for battle.

• Qing Chen told Lin Changsheng that he would use the camp at Wind-Splitting Gorge as bait to draw out Miaochong Prefecture's forces, and ordered him to finish the defenses and reward the soldiers.
• Wei Ting read Qing Chen's report and consulted Chan Master Wuxiang, True Lord Yunmiao, and the Guanyin Tower Master, who disagreed over whether Qing Chen's advance was wise.
• Tie Ming received Qing Chen's message but could not read it while preparing to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Young Master Lingxu, Qingpeng True Person, and Zhaoshenzi mocked Qing Chen and celebrated news that forty thousand troops led by Ma Kui were marching on his camp.
• Qing Chen watched Body Cultivators drill formations and practice with two Treasure Ships inside the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda.

Qing Chen inspected the World Inside the Tower, where he had secretly restored two Treasure Ships and assembled a hidden fleet while building a vast army of battle-hardened Body Cultivators. With his own body cultivation at the Half-Step Undying Realm and the tower’s forces prepared, he waited in Fengsplit Gorge Valley to crush Miaochong Prefecture’s approaching army.

• Qing Chen secretly repaired two supposedly lost Treasure Ships, silenced the Artifact Refiners who knew of the work, and gathered more than thirty Warships in a hidden valley.
• Qing Chen’s Half-Step Undying Realm physical strength drove the World Inside the Tower to expand into a vast, vertically developed realm with dense spiritual energy.
• Qing Chen trained six million mortals through relentless battles against Flying Yakshas, Demon Generals, armored corpses, and the White Bone Demon Tide, then supplied resources to strengthen his warriors.
• Lie Feng, Bu Jingyun, Little Stone, and Xiao Cangfeng joined the six Vajra Realm Body Cultivators, while more than three hundred reached the Boulder Realm and over eight thousand reached the Body Tempering Realm.
• Qing Chen reviewed his hidden fleet and drilled army, prepared to ambush the forces Miaochong Prefecture was gathering to attack him at Fengsplit Gorge Valley.

Ma Kui dismissed Qing Chen’s Miao-Conquest Army as timid while preparing his own forces for a decisive attack. Meanwhile, Qing Chen’s agents spread recruitment notices across Miaochong Prefecture, stirring hope and suspicion among rogue cultivators and small cultivation groups as Wu Gui’s forces began inspections.

• Ma Kui mocked Qing Chen for keeping his thirty thousand troops in camp, but continued integrating his forty thousand soldiers before attacking.
• Ma Kui ordered his divisions to hold their positions and intensify their siege and formation-breaking drills.
• Lin Changsheng, Xu Jiuling, and the others distributed Qing Chen’s recruitment notices and promises of rewards through covert channels across Miaochong Prefecture.
• Rogue cultivators and members of small sects debated whether Great Jin would protect and reward them or whether its promises were a trap.
• Wu Gui’s forces began checking Spirit-Energy Copper Rail consumption and forbade people from leaving.

Qing Chen used intelligence from Tie Qingniu and his campaign of persuasion to prepare for an assault on Wu Gui’s forces in Miaochong Prefecture. He ordered the Miao-Conquest Army to ready itself for battle at the hour of the Dragon the next day.

• Rogue cultivators and small lineages weighed whether to support Qing Chen, while some secretly sent people to investigate the fighting at Wind-Splitting Gorge.
• Qing Chen surveyed the enemy camps and reflected on how doubt and hope could weaken Wu Gui’s forces from within.
• Qing Chen studied a jade slip from Tie Qingniu that detailed Miaochong Prefecture’s defenses, troop deployments, and Golden Core officers.
• Qing Chen secretly returned to the Miao-Conquest Army camp and ordered Xu Jiuling to assemble the officers.
• Qing Chen ordered the army to check its equipment and prepare for an assault the next morning, promising rewards if they won.

Qing Chen positioned the Miao-Conquest Army for battle and used a deliberately public challenge to provoke Ma Kui. Enraged by the humiliation and the rumors spreading through town, Ma Kui ordered his entire army to fight the next morning.

• Qing Chen assigned Wuxin and Lin Changsheng to the left-wing vanguard, Lei Bao and Xin Bairen to the right wing, and Ye Wushang to the Central Army.
• Qing Chen ordered Xu Jiuling to record the battle and told Xue Qingxia to spread an insulting challenge to Wind-Splitting Gorge County's defenders, reaching local cultivators before Ma Kui.
• Ma Kui received Qing Chen's challenge and initially recognized it as an attempt to provoke him, but learned that its insults had spread throughout town and his camp.
• Ma Kui smashed a desk in fury and ordered all four divisions to prepare to meet the Miao-Conquest Army the next morning.

Qing Chen sent Wuxin Dharma Master and Lin Changsheng to lead a battalion against Ma Kui’s challenge, and their disciplined formation routed Miaochong Prefecture’s troops. Seeing his forces overwhelmed, Ma Kui decided to launch an all-out assault before Qing Chen’s army could reveal more of its strength.

• Ma Kui ordered his generals to prepare for battle, and the news spread through Wind-Splitting Gorge County.
• A Miaochong Prefecture general challenged Qing Chen to send out a battalion, and Qing Chen dispatched Wuxin Dharma Master and Lin Changsheng.
• Lin Changsheng led two thousand cultivators in an Arrowhead Formation that smashed into the enemy’s Rock-Solid Giant Shield Formation.
• Lin Changsheng’s forces used killing-intent chains and Wuxin Dharma Master’s power to overwhelm the Miaochong Prefecture soldiers and break their commander’s attack.
• Ma Kui recognized that Qing Chen’s troops were a disciplined, battle-tested army and ordered his generals to launch an all-out assault.

Ma Kui committed Miaochong Prefecture’s forty-thousand-strong army to battle, but Qing Chen launched the Miao-Conquest Army before the enemy could finish forming up. Qing Chen’s troops broke through the vanguard and were then surrounded, where they held their formation as the clash became a brutal melee.

• Ma Kui ordered his Front Army to attack, his flanks to encircle the enemy, his Central Army to prepare the Myriad Ghosts Paying Homage Formation, and his Rear Army disciplinary troops to prevent retreat.
• Qing Chen issued commands through the Formation Talisman and led the Miao-Conquest Army in a rapid arrowhead charge before Miaochong Prefecture’s formations were ready.
• Qing Chen’s main force swallowed the disordered Miaochong Prefecture troops fighting Lin Changsheng and Wuxin, and their veterans joined the advancing formation.
• Qing Chen’s army struck Ma Kui’s newly formed Three Talents Baleful-Intent-Breaking Formation, shaking it and throwing it into chaos.
• Ma Kui’s Central Army and flanks counterattacked and surrounded Qing Chen’s troops, but Qing Chen directed his thirty thousand soldiers to hold firm in the ensuing slaughter.

Qing Chen used his command of the Miao-Conquest Army and his blood-path laws to withstand Ma Kui’s powerful formation strike. He then seized Ma Kui’s distraction to launch attacks on both wings, leaving the battle in a brutal stalemate.

• Qing Chen coordinated the outnumbered Miao-Conquest Army with precise formations, while Ma Kui struggled to control his less disciplined troops.
• Ma Kui activated the Myriad Ghosts Worshiping the Sect Formation and formed a Giant Ghost Claw to strike the Miao-Conquest Army.
• Qing Chen combined his blood-path rules, demonic power, and a High-Grade Fortune Talisman to block the Giant Ghost Claw with the Blood Prison Heaven-Crushing Formation.
• A thousand elite Miao-Conquest Army warriors broke through Miaochong Prefecture’s right wing, forcing Ma Kui to divert his attention.
• Qing Chen ordered Lin Changsheng and Ye Wushang to attack the enemy’s Front Army, inflicting heavy casualties on its Coiled Serpent Formation.
• Ma Kui tried to aid the Front Army, but Qing Chen drove the Giant Whale Treasure Ship into the weakened Giant Ghost Claw and kept Ma Kui occupied.