Recaps

Qing Chen founded the Cangming Army, allied with Jiaogu Island, and turned the campaign against Penglai’s forces into an opportunity to expand his power and cultivation. After conquering Tianshui Island and forging his fourth Brahma aperture, he left Jiaogu Island facing a battle with the Vajra Zen Sect.

• Qing Chen rejected the coalition’s opposition, accepted True Lord Fire Jiao’s support, and founded the Cangming Army with promises of ranks, rewards, and a share of Penglai’s wealth.
• Qing Chen learned that Yan Moyou wanted his magnetic origin rule power for the Ancient Blood Contest, then prepared for the contest while helping Lin Changsheng pursue Nascent Soul formation.
• Kuang Sha and Fire Jiao offered Qing Chen troops, resources, and instruction in rules, and Qing Chen agreed to join their effort against the Gouwu Sea while privately weighing the rewards.
• Qing Chen inspected Penglai True Lord’s treasures and chose to focus on cultivation as the Cangming Army attacked Tianshui Island and other Penglai territories.
• Qing Chen fought Fire Jiao over the delayed campaign, spared him after defeating him, and recognized that Hui’an’s forces were attacking Jiaogu Island while leaving the Demon Lotus Sect and Penglai alone.
• Qing Chen led the assault on Tianshui Island, broke its protective array, killed True Lord Tianshui, and ordered the Cangming Army to suppress the remaining defenders.
• Over the next two years, the Cangming Army devastated Penglai’s affiliated islands, expanded the Demon Lotus Sect, and attracted new recruits as accounts of the campaign spread fear of Qing Chen.
• Qing Chen forged his fourth Brahma aperture and solidified three strands of Blood Path Rules, while Fire Jiao faced Chan Master Wuxiang and Wuchen at the Red Reef Archipelago.

Qing Chen marched on the Vajra Zen Sect, then turned the confrontation into a bid to unite the Gouwu Sea under the Golden Scale Pact. Yue Hanshan intervened to end the fighting, but Hui'an challenged Qing Chen over the sect’s losses and the Nine Netherworlds Ancient Bloodline undertaking.

• Qing Chen summoned a sixty-thousand-strong force and sailed for Vajra Mountain, prompting the region’s factions to mobilize and Abbot Hui'an to lead a large allied fleet against him.
• Qing Chen and Hui'an faced each other as their forces’ battle formations clashed, and Qing Chen resisted Hui'an’s spiritual pressure before ordering Ye Wushang and Xin Bairen into battle.
• Xin Bairen broke through the Vajra formation while Ye Wushang fought Wuchen, and Qing Chen confronted Yuan Chen and Yinji before Yaoyue intervened.
• Qing Chen withdrew his demon banners, declared the march a joint battle formation drill, and proposed the Golden Scale Pact with the Demon Lotus Sect taking Penglai Spirit Island’s place among the Upper Eight Cave Spirit Islands.
• Qing Chen revealed Tie Ming and Wei Ting’s Heavenly Abyss Pass authority and urged the factions to unite, while Ye Wushang and Wuchen returned from their duel having advanced their cultivation.
• Yue Hanshan appeared, ordered the fighting to stop, and named Hui'an leader of the Golden Scale Pact, but Hui'an refused to accept the settlement without compensation for his losses.
• Qing Chen backed Hui'an’s refusal and raised six White Bone Demon Mara Banners, and Yue Hanshan offered compensation for the losses.
• Hui'an accepted the compensation but demanded a place in the Nine Netherworlds Ancient Bloodline undertaking, then challenged Qing Chen to a bout with the pact’s leadership and conditions at stake.

Qing Chen survived Hui'an’s challenge and helped establish the Golden Scale Alliance, then expanded the Demon Lotus Sect’s power while pursuing resources and cultivation. The arc left him battling Thunderclap Arhat in the Sixth Layer of the Seven-Luminaries Immortal Realm trial.

• Qing Chen and Hui'an fought to a standstill when Qing Chen opened the Immortal-Burying Coffin and released the Red-Haired Blood Hand, after which Hui'an named himself Alliance Leader and Qing Chen Deputy Alliance Leader.
• Yue Hanshan convened the Gouwu Sea’s True Lords, and Qing Chen, Hui'an, and Yaoyue helped establish the Golden Scale Alliance with centralized leadership, a treasury, and a law division.
• Qing Chen’s forces pursued Yunwu and Chonghe, killed Chonghe, captured Yunwu, and then destroyed Penglai Spirit Island.
• Xiao Canglan revealed that the Immortal Dynasty hoped to integrate the Gouwu Sea and that Qing Chen needed major merit to obtain the complete Brahma Demon-Refining Art.
• Qing Chen assigned the Penglai Archipelago to the Demon Lotus Sect and the Mistveil Archipelago to Yaoyue’s Blissful Union Tower, then gave Lin Changsheng new techniques and named him Longevity Devil Lord.
• Lin Changsheng reported the Demon Lotus Sect’s forces and resources, proposed a Golden Scale Alliance purchasing station, and Qing Chen appointed him Vice Sect Leader to manage the sect and gather cultivation materials.
• Qing Chen defeated the fifth-layer Pure Water Venerable in the Seven-Luminaries Immortal Realm trial and entered the Sixth Layer.
• Qing Chen fought Thunderclap Arhat in the endless sea of thunder, countering his attacks until the Arhat formed a purple lightning dragon with Thunder Sound Prison Suppression.

Qing Chen broke through in the Blood Path, destroyed Heavenly South City, and seized control of its survivors and leaders. After the Golden Scale Alliance learned of the devastation, Qing Chen received intelligence about Zhao Ningyi and Blood Fiend Venerable’s legacy.

• Qing Chen defeated Thunderclap Arhat, faced Arhat Fengchi, and condensed a complete Blood Path Rules Thread after gaining insights from their battle.
• The Golden Scale Alliance debated admitting Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City and expanding into the Star Sea Region, then approved the city’s admission in principle.
• Qing Chen attacked Heavenly South City, damaged its defenses, and fought Nangong Lie and Yan Tong while Thunderclap Arhat and the Di Jiang Demon God intercepted Nangong Lie’s escape.
• Thunderclap Arhat and the Di Jiang Demon God fatally wounded Nangong Lie and captured his Nascent Soul as Qing Chen prepared to plunder the city.
• Qing Chen’s demon gods captured Daoist Qingyue, Xuan Lingzi, and Tie Sha, while his forces ravaged the archipelago and gathered corpses and treasure.
• Qing Chen compelled Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi to serve him, assigned them to reorganize the surviving rogue cultivators, and ordered Rogue Cultivator City moved to the Star Sea Region.
• The Golden Scale Alliance learned that Heavenly South’s leaders had vanished and its archipelago had been devastated, while Qing Chen left a blood-carved message on Heavenly South Mountain.
• Han Shi and Jueqing brought Qing Chen intelligence that Zhao Ningyi had implanted a Marrow-Devouring Gu in Qing Jie and that Blood Fiend Venerable’s legacy lay in the Nine Netherworlds Ancient Bloodline Forbidden Grounds.