Recaps

Qing Chen took command of the Northwestern Circuit, mastered the Primordial Magnetism Cauldron, and defeated Xie Xuanwei before traveling west to confront the region’s entrenched powers. The arc ended with Qing Chen facing Faneng Temple and local officials as Pei Xuance arrived with Army-Garrison forces.

• Xiao Canglan and Hu Yong questioned Qing Chen’s experience, but Zhang Taiyue persuaded Emperor Jingtai to appoint him acting Circuit-Surveying Governor of the Northwestern Circuit and Protector of the Western Regions.
• The Iron Household approved Qing Chen’s use of the Primordial Magnetism Cauldron, and Xu Jiuling prepared a four-hundred-thousand-strong Dao Army for the northwest campaign.
• Qing Chen mastered the cauldron, then fought Xie Xuanwei at Immortal Severing Platform and defeated him with the Lawless Blood-Magnetism Prison-Suppressing Domain before Hu Yong ended the battle.
• Qing Chen traveled north and met Tie Zhongtang, who explained the Western Regions’ kingdoms, the Northwestern Circuit’s rival powers, and its deep corruption before giving him the Circuit-Surveying Seal.
• Qing Chen reached Faneng Temple, where Xin Bairen’s Demon Lotus Army faced Mei Zhili and the temple’s defenders over the army’s siege and authority.
• Qing Chen struck Faneng Temple’s protective formation with Primordial Magnetism Annihilation Divine Thunder, challenged Mei Zhili’s accusations, and waited for Pei Xuance to arrive with Army-Garrison forces.

Qing Chen destroyed Faneng Temple, seized its wealth, and asserted his authority over the Northwestern Circuit despite opposition from powerful cultivators. At Yanmen Pass, he secured the Border Army’s support and confronted Yue Ting, who revealed his ties to the Golden Tent and his desperate effort to save Xie Yu.

• Qing Chen exposed Faneng Temple’s leaders as agents who had betrayed Great Jin, won the Border Army’s backing, and ordered the temple attacked.
• Xin Bairen and Xu Jiuling led the assault that broke Faneng Temple’s defenses, and Ye Wushang killed the temple’s Abbot while Qing Chen’s forces overran the complex.
• Qing Chen distributed Faneng Temple’s captured wealth to his soldiers and challenged the gathered powers to oppose his authority, but Zhu Ritian arrived and threatened him before withdrawing to the Taotie Yuan-Devouring Sect’s headquarters.
• Qing Yuanjia opened the Taotie Heavenly Gate after using Qing Chen’s campaign to draw Zhu Ritian away, while Qing Chen ordered the Northwestern Circuit’s officials and commanders to convene at Yanmen Pass.
• Qing Chen recruited more than fifty thousand Dao soldiers, entered Yanmen Pass with the Northwestern Circuit-Surveying Seal, and promised the Border Army full pay and a counterattack against the Golden Tent barbarians.
• Qing Chen established inspections that uncovered hundreds of spies and suspected spies, then confronted Yue Ting in the Yueshan Army camp and accused him of colluding with the Golden Tent.
• Yue Ting revealed his Reincarnation Dead Sea discoveries, his ties to the Immortal-Locking Cult, and his powerful treasures, then asked Qing Chen to help save Xie Yu from the living corpse transformation.

Qing Chen consolidated control of the Northwestern Circuit, exposed and subdued rival commanders, and secured imperial approval for his reforms. When the Carefree Marquis and his allies challenged Yanmen Pass, Qing Chen faced Dugu Yifang’s Soul Annihilation attack.

• Yue Ting gave Qing Chen the secret technique and materials needed to restore Xie Yu, then pledged his support, while Qing Chen subdued Yue Ting’s demon banners and strengthened his own eight banners with corpses and śarīras.
• Qing Chen issued sweeping property-registration and transport-tax decrees, then exposed Yue Ting, Luo Chong, and Qin Wujiang for secret dealings and ordered their arrest.
• Qing Chen defeated Qin Wujiang and Luo Chong, while Yue Ting escaped after a destructive talisman killed Yan Zhen and Zhaoshenzi and devastated the pursuing forces.
• Qing Chen condemned the officials who had failed to help the pursuit, rewarded Jia Daoyi, reshuffled army and provincial leadership, and brought one and a half million Dao soldiers under his influence.
• Emperor Jingtai approved most of Qing Chen’s reforms and appointments while imposing annual remittances and military requirements, and Qing Chen considered how the Loulan marriage mission could help Yue Ting find the Undying Wood Heart.
• The Carefree Marquis, Dugu Yifang, and Xue Wuming arrived at Yanmen Pass and demanded concessions, but Qing Chen confronted them outside the formation with his forces behind him.
• Dugu Yifang revealed his refined Ancient Bloodline and attacked Qing Chen with Soul Annihilation, while Qing Chen invoked Mystic Womb Wuxiang, Demon Lotus Soul Suppression within his sea of consciousness.

Qing Chen defeated Dugu Yifang, consolidated his authority in the Northwestern Circuit, and used regional tensions to build a military trade network. After advancing the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda’s authority, he secured billions in weapons contracts and prepared to receive Dayuan’s delegation.

• Qing Chen used the Northwestern Circuit-Surveying Seal, more than 1.8 million Dao Soldiers, and his treasures to break Dugu Yifang’s Nine-Kill Domain, but the Carefree Marquis intervened before Qing Chen could finish him.
• Qing Chen privately offered Dugu Yifang and Carefree Spirit Venerable a lucrative trade scheme, then enlisted the Blood God Sect and Dugu Household to help control the routes and profit from escalating regional arms purchases.
• After the northwestern factions accepted his decrees and paid taxes, Qing Chen entered the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda, killed Arhat Fengchi, and defeated Jingyun Arhat with military formation power from the Dao Soldiers.
• Consort Nian sent Ji Chengjing to the northwest to seek Qing Chen as a master, while warning him to abandon his ambitions in the Struggle for the Heirship.
• Qing Chen sold Persia weapons to counter Loulan’s military buildup, learned from Altai about the Origin-Initial Devil Sect’s branches, and unlocked the pagoda’s Seven-Luminaries authority over the World Inside the Tower.
• Qing Chen oversaw Lie Feng and Bu Jingyun’s breakthroughs, investigated the pagoda’s costly enlightenment and attack abilities, and ordered his allies to expand military supplies for Western Regions buyers.
• Qing Chen persuaded Loulan, Qiuci, Chuyun, Juejing, and Qingqiu to sign military procurement and trade agreements, while Xu Jiuling calculated that the contracts from Persia, Loulan, and four kingdoms exceeded 4.5 billion Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
• After leaving Dayuan’s delegation waiting until night, Qing Chen agreed to receive them.