Recaps

Chonghua and Yun Qi explored Red Heaven Palace’s Dao Fields, where Yun Qi explained how World Embryos were cultivated and why their treasures mattered. After Chonghua claimed the fields and uncovered valuable items stored by Fanming, he allowed the Ghost Kings to keep Hundred Ghosts Mountain as his window on the outside world while Fanming began to change after consuming five drained Dao Fields.

• Yun Qi explained the Great Sea Market, the factions’ maps, and how Red Heaven Palace used its predecessors’ Dao Seeds to nurture World Embryos and trade the treasures they produced.
• Yun Qi opened two mature World Embryos and found a fire-attribute spirit ore and Dao Fire Liquid, which Chonghua told him to keep.
• Chonghua opened the third embryo and captured a fiery leaf containing a Primordial Dao Treasure with eight Primordial Cloud Restrictions.
• Chonghua ordered Yun Qi to move the Dao Fields, and they drained five empty fields so Fanming could consume their primal chaos source substance.
• Chonghua showed Yun Qi the treasures Qiao Wensong had left in Fanming, including a Middle Grade Primordial Dao Treasure, an Extreme Boundary Talisman, and Immortal Marrow Jade Liquid.
• Chonghua let the five Ghost Kings return to Hundred Ghosts Mountain to monitor the Jade Pot Realm, then Fanming began visibly changing after swallowing the five drained Dao Fields.

Chonghua fed Fanming enough primal chaos source substance to advance, questioned Ji Wujiao about the Jade Pot Realm, and left the ruined Red Heaven Palace with Yun Qi. On their return, Yun Zaitian and his party discovered that the Red Heaven Realm had vanished.

• Chonghua ordered Yun Qi to supply Fanming with more primal chaos source substance while Yun Qi warned that Red Heaven Palace’s destruction would draw attention.
• Chonghua threatened to send Ji Wujiao to the Corpse-Cooking Ghost King, prompting Ji Wujiao to reveal the Jade Pot Realm’s strength and describe the Annihilation Forbidden Art.
• Chonghua learned that the Jade Pot Realm had ties to the Twin Body Realm and decided to avoid provoking the Jade Pot Realm for now.
• Fanming swallowed twelve Dao Fields, advanced to the mid-stage seventh tier, and later left the Red Heaven Palace ruins with Chonghua and Yun Qi.
• Yun Zaitian returned with Red Heaven Palace cultivators and planned to use Qiao Wensong’s death to turn the Jade Pot Realm against Hundred Ghosts Mountain.
• Yun Zaitian and his party arrived at an empty stretch of void and realized that the Red Heaven Realm had disappeared.

Wang Ba and Chonghua replenished the Little Cang Realm with primal chaos source substance, restoring its domain origin and spiritual energy while debating how to handle their captives. Chonghua set out for Hundred Ghosts Mountain, where Yun Zaitian confronted the Five Great Ghost Kings and demanded to know who had destroyed Red Heaven Palace.

• Wang Ba welcomed Fanming and Chonghua back, and learned that Chonghua had seized more than forty Dao Fields from Red Heaven Palace.
• Wang Ba persuaded Chonghua to reincarnate the Red Heaven Palace and Hundred Ghosts Mountain captives into the Little Cang Realm rather than kill them outright, while Chonghua kept Ji Wujiao in his custody.
• Chonghua and Fanming released their stores of primal chaos source substance, allowing the Little Cang Realm's domain origin, spiritual energy, and World Rank to recover.
• Chonghua visited Yu Yu, scolded her for remaining at the late Sixth Tier, and then left with Fanming for Hundred Ghosts Mountain.
• At the ruined Hundred Ghosts Mountain, Yun Zaitian confronted the Five Great Ghost Kings and demanded to know who had destroyed Red Heaven Palace.

Wang Ba discovered that combining Immortal Marrow Jade Liquid with Immortal Blood produced a mist that improved his body, Primordial Spirit, and Dao Domain, while the liquid alone greatly strengthened his Primordial Spirit. As he left to address Zhao Feng and the others’ Dao Domain problems, Chonghua encountered a pair of debris-filled cyclones and a powerful heat that made Yun Qi wonder whether the Palace Master had returned.

• Wang Ba examined the Red Heaven Palace treasury and tested Immortal Marrow Jade Liquid, discovering its reaction with Immortal Blood and the transformative golden mist it produced.
• Wang Ba absorbed several more drops of Immortal Marrow Jade Liquid, strengthening his Primordial Spirit by the equivalent of hundreds of years of cultivation before reaching his limit.
• Wang Ba considered using the Threefold Suffering Curse Technique to accelerate his Primordial Spirit’s progress, then left the secret realm to address Zhao Feng and the others’ loss of control over their Dao Domains.
• Chonghua traveled with Fanming toward Hundred Ghosts Mountain, planning to bring its people and resources back to the Little Cang Realm and keep the realm’s existence secret.
• Chonghua and Yun Qi saw immense debris cyclones and felt an approaching heat; Yun Qi wondered if the Palace Master had returned.

Chonghua faced Yun Zaitian, the Palace Master of the Red Heaven Palace, and defeated him despite his newly advanced seventh-tier Dao Domain. After the Red Heaven Palace cultivators died and Chonghua claimed a Jade Pot Realm treasure, he sensed someone watching from the ruins.

• Yun Zaitian confronted Chonghua over the destruction of the Red Heaven Palace, while the Palace Master’s cultivators and the Five Great Ghost Kings accused Yun Qi of betrayal and tried to sway him.
• Yun Zaitian revealed his seventh-tier Dao Domain and attacked Chonghua, while the Red Heaven Palace cultivators fought Yun Qi and the Five Great Ghost Kings.
• Chonghua emerged from the sea of fire after killing Yun Zaitian, and the remaining Red Heaven Palace cultivators died in desperate attacks or burned themselves alive.
• Ghost King Tengmo tried to ingratiate himself with Chonghua, who took a middle-grade Primordial Dao Treasure from the Jade Pot Realm.
• Chonghua sensed a hidden observer in the ruins and demanded that they reveal themselves.

Chonghua faced Zu Wenqiu, a Jade Pot Realm cultivator whose perfected seventh-tier Dao Domain overwhelmed him, while Yun Qi and the Five Great Ghost Kings escaped with his permission. After a fierce battle, Chonghua let Zu Wenqiu seal his Blood Qi with a Plague Toxin Pill, then escaped on the Giant Bird and left Zu Wenqiu in pursuit.

• Zu Wenqiu revealed that he was Changying Dao Master's seventh disciple and attacked Chonghua with his seventh-tier Dao Domain.
• Chonghua seized Ji Wujiao and forced Zu Wenqiu to open a passage so Yun Qi and the Five Great Ghost Kings could leave; Zu Wenqiu then used Ji Wujiao as a shield when Chonghua attacked.
• Zu Wenqiu learned that Chonghua's double pupils might connect him to the Immortal Severance Land and vowed to capture him and uncover his secrets.
• Chonghua fought Zu Wenqiu at close quarters, repeatedly recovering from his wounds until Zu Wenqiu used a Plague Toxin Pill to slow his Blood Qi and seal him with his Dao Domain.
• The Giant Bird carried Chonghua away after breaking through Zu Wenqiu's sword phantoms, and Zu Wenqiu pursued them.

Wang Ba moved Little Cang Realm into Immortal Severance Land, welcomed the Hundred Ghosts Mountain cultivators into the Myriad Ghost Sect, and sought a way to use the Threefold Suffering curse to control dangerous Dao Domains. After more than a hundred years, Chonghua’s golden-red Blood Qi returned with a green-robed girl demanding to know where her father had gone.

• Yun Qi warned Wang Ba that Chonghua had encountered Zu Wenqiu, an Integrated Body Late Stage Cultivator from Jade Pot Realm, and Wang Ba decided to move Little Cang Realm.
• The Five Great Ghost Kings pledged Hundred Ghosts Mountain to Wang Ba, who established the Myriad Ghost Sect as a branch of Little Cang Realm’s Taiyi Daoist Grounds.
• Wang Ba moved Little Cang Realm into Immortal Severance Land and assigned the Wu Ape King to guard outside its protective barrier.
• Wang Ba asked Ghost King Xicai to study how to weaken the Threefold Suffering curse so it could help address cultivators’ uncontrolled Dao Domains, with A Er prepared to restore the extracted essence.
• More than a hundred years later, a green-robed girl emerged from Chonghua’s golden-red Blood Qi and demanded that Wang Ba tell her where her father had gone.

Wang Ba disciplined Yu Yu for her impulsive attack and learned that Yu Wuhen might leave the Little Cang Realm after another century. As he prepared to seek treasures and an expert to repair the Immortal Essence Treasure Basin, the Great Sea Market appeared, offering the realm a chance to trade for resources.

• Yu Yu demanded that Wang Ba bring back Chonghua, then defeated the Five Great Ghost Kings before Wang Ba stopped her attack and sent her outside the realm to learn from Wu Ape King.
• Wang Ba explained that Yu Yu needed to cultivate her character, while Yu Wuhen agreed to remain in the Little Cang Realm for at most another hundred years and offered to guide Yuan Magnetism Rail Man.
• Ghost King Xicai estimated that improving Threefold Suffering would take at least two hundred years and suggested that Wang Ba trade local goods at the coming Great Sea Market for rare treasures.
• Wang Ba asked Ghost King Xicai about repairing Primordial Dao Treasures and considered seeking a seventh-tier sea pearl to help merge with Yuan Magnetism Rail Man and advance to Body Integration.
• Wang Ba had Jiying prepare the Little Cang Realm's spirit goods for trade, but several decades passed without Chonghua's return.
• Ghost King Xicai reported that the Great Sea Market had appeared and showed Wang Ba its location on a map.

Wang Ba prepared to leave the Little Cang Realm and travel to the Great Sea Market, entrusting Yao Wudi with guarding the realm and bringing Yu Yu, Wu Ape King, and others along. More than ten years later, his group arrived near the enormous market, where they learned that several other factions had also been destroyed.

• Wang Ba decided to visit the Great Sea Market himself, taking the Body Integration cultivators of the Myriad Ghost Sect and the Red Heaven Sect while leaving Yao Wudi to protect the Little Cang Realm.
• Wang Ba invited Yu Yu and Wu Ape King to join the journey, making Yu Yu promise to obey him.
• Wang Ba's treasure raft departed the Little Cang Realm and, more than ten years later, emerged from a Teleportation Array near the Great Sea Market.
• Wang Ba's group disguised their identities as cultivators of Primordial Demon Mountain and began discussing how to enter the market and gather information.
• The Corpse-Cooking Ghost King returned with news that seven or eight factions had been wiped out in addition to the Red Heaven Palace and Hundred Ghosts Mountain.

Wang Ba and his companions reached the Great Sea Market, where they discussed the recent destruction of several factions and prepared to trade goods while keeping the Little Cang Realm’s interests hidden. As they searched Dao Treasure Dock for an Artifact Refining Grandmaster, Yu Wuhen sensed fragments of the Earth-Cleaving Staff nearby.

• The Corpse-Cooking Ghost King reported that seven or eight factions had vanished, and Ghost King Tengmo suggested smaller factions might be stirring conflict and framing the Jade Pot Realm.
• Wang Ba decided to avoid getting involved in the turmoil until the group completed its objectives and to prepare for trouble at the Great Sea Market.
• The group arrived at the market, paid its mooring fee, and moved its cargo into a rented warehouse, concealing Little Cang Realm specialties among Red Heaven Palace’s goods.
• The Corpse-Cooking Ghost King explained the market’s trading areas and led Wang Ba’s group into Dao Treasure Dock to find an Artifact Refining Grandmaster.
• Yu Wuhen sensed fragments of the Earth-Cleaving Staff nearby and told Wang Ba through voice transmission.

Wang Ba learned that the Earth-Cleaving Staff fragment was being sold at a market stall and bought it after Yu Wuhen confirmed it had nine Primordial Cloud Restrictions. He then followed the Wind-Driving Staff fragment’s intermittent resonance to a treasure-gambling site, where he identified world embryo number nine as the likely source.

• Yan Zhi, a merchant from the Great People Country, explained that high-grade Primordial Dao Treasures cost far more than ten million tokens and offered to trade with Wang Ba’s group.
• Wang Ba followed Yu Wuhen’s sense of the Earth-Cleaving Staff fragment to a stall, where he paid three million tokens for it after she confirmed its nine restrictions.
• Wang Ba sensed the Wind-Driving Staff fragment nearby, but its resonance repeatedly vanished as he approached.
• Wang Ba joined the others at a treasure-gambling site and realized the fragment was inside one of the world embryos being opened there.
• Wang Ba identified number nine, an enormous ink-black world embryo, as the likely location of the Wind-Driving Staff fragment just as someone bid two million chips to open it.

Wang Ba recognized that World Embryo number nine contained a fragment of the Wind-Driving Staff, but an attack by the Jade Pot Realm disrupted the market before he could obtain it. He tracked down the bamboo-pole cultivator who had opened it and discovered that the man possessed another fragment, then began negotiating a trade for Spirit Cuisine.

• Wang Ba had the Corpse-Cooking Ghost King bid on World Embryo number nine, then withdrew so the bamboo-pole cultivator could open it; Wang Ba confirmed the jade treasure was a Wind-Driving Staff fragment and had Yu Wuhen bet on the result.
• The Teleportation Array's far end came under attack, the Ten Thousand Treasures Market deputy market master was apparently killed, and the market identified the attackers as the Jade Pot Realm before closing the gate.
• Wang Ba lost his chance to claim the newly revealed fragment, then found the bamboo-pole cultivator as the crowd dispersed and offered to trade Spirit Cuisine for a wind-attribute Dao Treasure.
• The bamboo-pole cultivator showed Wang Ba a stone with eighteen Primordial Cloud Restrictions, and Wang Ba recognized it as another Wind-Driving Staff fragment.

Wang Ba secured a Wind-Driving Staff fragment and considered the Jade Pot Realm’s suspicious attack, then learned that the damaged Immortal Essence Treasure Basin might be the lost treasure of that realm. After Master Zheyang referred him to an eccentric cultivator, Wang Ba and his companions entered the Human Market, where he noticed a bald young man quietly preaching about the Supreme True Buddha.

• Wang Ba deduced that the Bamboo-Pole Cultivator possessed a fragment with eighteen primordial cloud restrictions and acquired it for his Wind-Driving Staff.
• Wang Ba warned his companions that the Jade Pot Realm’s attack on the Ten Thousand Treasures Market might have been staged, and told them to stay vigilant.
• At Precious Treasures Hall, Master Zheyang identified Wang Ba’s Immortal Essence Treasure Basin as a possible lost treasure of the Jade Pot Realm and said he could not repair it.
• Master Zheyang explained the history of the Treasure Light Jade Pot and referred Wang Ba to an eccentric cultivator who might be able to repair the basin.
• Wang Ba and his companions entered the Human Market, where Wang Ba noticed a bald young man speaking to passersby about the Supreme True Buddha.

Wang Ba watched the Ten Thousand Treasures Market confront the Jade Pot Realm over the destruction of several factions, then concluded that the Three Realms would not allow the other forces to unite against them. He left the gathering to find a madman, while noting that the mysterious bald young man had appeared beside Li Zhongping.

• Wang Ba and Ghost King Tengmo followed the crowd to the Jade Pot Market after hearing that the Ten Thousand Treasures Market was confronting the Jade Pot Realm.
• Li Zhongping denied that the Jade Pot Realm needed to seize World Embryos, but Image-Recording Stones showed Zu Wenqiu at the ruins of Flowing Light Valley.
• Zu Wenqiu admitted passing through Flowing Light Valley and injuring people while pursuing an enemy, but denied causing the valley's disappearance.
• Lu Shifu of the Twin Body Realm arrived with Sacred Defilement Realm cultivators and declared that the Jade Pot Realm's actions represented all Three Realms.
• Wang Ba decided the Three Realms' interests were aligned, left the crowd with Ghost King Tengmo, and suspected the Twin Body Realm might have destroyed the missing factions.
• Wang Ba spotted the bald young man behind Li Zhongping, asked Ghost King Tengmo about the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths and the Supreme True Buddha, then set out to find a madman.

Wang Ba and his companions learned how the Human Market’s treasure hunters captured and sold cultivators, then found Half-Immortal Chen, whom they hoped could help repair the Immortal Essence Treasure Basin. Chen recognized that they came from outside the Sea of Boundary Turmoil and revealed a golden Double Pupil like Yu Yu’s, saying he had come from outside too.

• Wang Ba assessed Yu Wuhen and Yu Yu’s combat abilities and reflected on how outmatched the Little Cang Realm was by the Jade Pot Realm.
• The Corpse-Cooking Ghost King warned Wang Ba that treasure hunters targeted cultivators to sell their bodies, Primordial Spirits, and Dao Domains, and they passed shops displaying captive cultivators and corpses.
• A shopkeeper told Wang Ba about rumors of an immortal’s corpse and directed him to Half-Immortal Chen, whom Zheyang and Gongsun had recommended.
• Wang Ba’s group found Chen drunk in the street, cleaned him up, and brought him to a private chamber after he recognized they were not from the Sea of Boundary Turmoil.
• Chen revealed a golden Double Pupil matching Yu Yu’s, and told the group that he too had come from outside.

Chen Xuan revealed that he came from the Zhuyan Realm and needed help retrieving his second self, trapped in the Great Sea Market. After Chen Xuan identified the Immortal Essence Treasure Basin’s damage and linked its repair to the Market, Wang Ba agreed to meet him in sixty years and began preparing for the journey.

• Chen Xuan told Wang Ba and the others that he had entered the Great Sea Market from the Immortal Severance Land and had lost one of his Double Pupils eyes while using his treasure arts.
• Chen Xuan explained that his second self was trapped in the Great Sea Market, and that seven Sixth-Tier Dao Domain cultivators he hired had failed to retrieve it.
• Chen Xuan used his Peering into the Profound art to examine Wang Ba’s Immortal Essence Treasure Basin and said its damaged rules could only be repaired in the Great Sea Market.
• Wang Ba agreed to help Chen Xuan in sixty years, and they established a restriction preventing either from revealing the other’s identity.
• Wang Ba arranged for his companions to sell Spirit Cuisine and treasures, gather information about the Great Sea Market and the Three Realms, and acquire items useful to their Primordial Spirits.
• Wang Ba joined the Wind-Calming Stone with the Wind-Driving Staff and began investigating the supreme-grade Primordial Dao Treasure with the Yuan Magnetism Rail Man.

Wang Ba emerged from seclusion after refining more of the Wind-Driving Staff and prepared to enter the Great Sea Market with Yu Wuhen, Yu Yu, Chen Xuan, and the Corpse-Cooking Ghost King. His departure drew the attention of the Treasure Hunter scouts and major factions, including Zu Wenqiu, who watched for his move.

• Li Zhongping and Zu Wenqiu suspected Primordial Demon Mountain had found an abundant source of ingredients in the Great Sea Market, and Li Zhongping ordered Zu Wenqiu to approach and monitor them.
• Wang Ba and the Yuan Magnetism Rail Man refined the Wind-Driving Staff's twentieth Primordial Cloud Restriction, though Wang Ba realized his Primordial Spirit could not yet wield the treasure freely.
• Ghost King Tengmo reported that Primordial Demon Mountain had collected limited Primordial Spirit supplies and that several factions had vanished, while Wang Ba declined to meet the Three Realms and other factions before his trip.
• Wang Ba left Yun Qi and four Ghost Kings behind and flew with Yu Wuhen, Yu Yu, Chen Xuan, and the Corpse-Cooking Ghost King toward the Great Sea Market.
• Treasure Hunter scouts tracked the group's departure, and news reached the major factions; Zu Wenqiu reacted with delight and coldness.

Wang Ba and his companions entered the Great Sea Market, where treasure hunters quickly targeted them over Primordial Demon Mountain’s Spirit Cuisine. A red-robed woman effortlessly crushed their attackers, deterring the pursuers, while a mirage appeared over the grasslands and drew everyone’s attention.

• The Corpse-Cooking Ghost King and Chen Xuan explained the Great Sea Market’s dangers, its treasure hunters, and the risks facing cultivators from the Three Realms.
• Wang Ba’s group entered the Great Sea Market and avoided joining a chase between a black-robed cultivator and two treasure hunters.
• Chen Xuan guided the group toward his clone as they crossed a distorted grassland, and Wang Ba noticed treasure hunters watching them with greed.
• Treasure hunters attacked Wang Ba’s group, but a red-robed woman stepped forward and crushed eight integrated body middle stage cultivators with sixth-tier Dao Domains.
• Zu Wenqiu and the other pursuers hesitated to follow, while the treasure hunters grew more determined to learn Primordial Demon Mountain’s secrets.
• A mirage of immortal clouds and buildings appeared in the sky, and Zu Wenqiu and the treasure hunters recognized it.

Wang Ba and his companions traveled through the Great Sea Market, collecting Immortal Marrow Jade Liquid and fighting a powerful shape-shifting Fierce Beast that the Wu Ape King converted into the As-You-Will Staff. They reached a starry region and found a World Embryo surrounded by Primal Chaos Source Substance, where several figures watched them.

• Yu Wuhen warned Wang Ba that using the Earth-Cleaving Staff repeatedly could overwhelm her Primordial Spirit, and the group spotted a mirage drawing thousands of treasure hunters away.
• Chen Xuan explained how they might repair the Immortal Essence Treasure Basin, then led the group to a mercury-like space droplet containing Immortal Marrow Jade Liquid.
• Yu Yu repeatedly entered similar droplets and defeated their fierce inhabitants, collecting Immortal Marrow Jade Liquid for Wang Ba.
• A treasure hunter attacked Wang Ba, but the Wu Ape King defeated and converted him; Wang Ba learned the attacker served Yan Zhi, the king of the Great People Country.
• A juvenile shape-shifting Fierce Beast attacked the group, and after a half-day battle, Wang Ba let the Wu Ape King convert it into a staff named the As-You-Will Staff.
• Wang Ba and his companions reached a starry region with a World Embryo surrounded by Primal Chaos Source Substance, where several figures turned to look at them.

Wang Ba and his companions fought off cultivators around a world embryo, then opened it and found a rare seventh-tier yin-yang spirit ore. As they headed toward the White Hills, a mirage vanished and pointed the major factions in the same direction.

• Cultivators near the world embryo attacked Wang Ba and his companions, but Yu Wuhen used the Earth-Cleaving Staff to resist the local rules and defeat their strongest fire-domain cultivator.
• Chen Xuan warned Yu Wuhen not to pursue the fleeing enemies, and Wang Ba realized that the Great Sea Market’s active rules strengthened some Dao domains while suppressing others.
• After the world embryo matured, Yu Wuhen opened it and found a seventh-tier yin-yang spirit ore, which she gave to Wang Ba for his Heavenfall Saber.
• Wang Ba and his companions set off toward the White Hills after Chen Xuan said they were close to their destination.
• Li Zhongping and Zu Wenqiu discussed the mirage and its possible connection to immortals, but the factions gathered around it could not approach it.
• The mirage faded, became a streak of light pointing toward the White Hills, and prompted the gathered factions to race after it.

Wang Ba and his companions traveled through the Great Sea Market toward the white hill, where he used the Wind-Driving Staff to greatly increase the storage Dao Treasures’ capacity for absorbing primal chaos source substance. After overcoming the mountain range’s restrictive rules and a natural disaster, they reached the hill and saw buildings and flickering figures reflected in the sky.

• Wang Ba used the Wind-Driving Staff to alter the rules within the storage Dao Treasures, allowing them to absorb all the primal chaos source substance they could carry.
• Chen Xuan sensed his avatar’s location, and the group found the white hill at the heart of the Verdant Mountain Range.
• Wang Ba and his companions discovered that the mountain range forbade flight and swift travel, forcing them to climb on foot.
• Wang Ba, Yu Wuhen, and the others sheltered from a natural disaster of rain, meteors, lightning, and other hazards.
• Wang Ba and his companions reached the white hill, where they saw jade-like steps and buildings with figures reflected in the mirrorlike sky.

Wang Ba and the others climbed the white hill toward Chen Xuan’s avatar, overcoming mercury beads and rule-born monsters while collecting Immortal Marrow Jade Liquid and scattered rules. Near the summit, Wang Ba studied the As-You-Will Staff’s rules to prepare for the final monster as several figures raced up the steps toward them.

• The group saw the Mirage reflected above the Great Sea Market, and Chen Xuan sensed that his avatar was deep inside the white hill.
• Wang Ba noticed the unusually active rules around the jade steps and slowed to study them before catching up with the others.
• Yu Yu and the others fought through mercury beads and rule-born monsters as Wang Ba collected scattered rules and suspected their obstacles were not coincidental.
• After several battles, the group neared the summit and saw a dangerous white-headed, horse-bodied monster guarding the path beyond the final mercury bead.
• Wang Ba sat down to study the rules surrounding the As-You-Will Staff while the Wu Ape King stood guard, then heard several figures racing up the steps toward them.

Wu Ape King guarded the sleeping Wang Ba on the jade steps, defeating successive groups of cultivators who tried to seize him or pass toward the pavilion. When Lu Shifu overwhelmed Wu Ape King, Wang Ba intervened and appeared before the gathered cultivators.

• A first wave of cultivators tried to capture Wang Ba, but Wu Ape King and the Great People Country cultivator drove them back, and Wu Ape King shattered the attackers' Dao Domains.
• Wu Ape King defeated Yunyun High Person and scattered more than twenty cultivators who attacked him together, declaring that no one could pass until his master woke.
• Lu Shifu arrived and used the Hidden Dragon Cauldron to suppress Wu Ape King, then sent a black Dao Domain down upon him.
• Li Zhongping arrived and watched as a finger imprint from behind Wu Ape King met Lu Shifu's black Dao Domain and dissolved it.
• Wang Ba appeared in blue robes and asked Lu Shifu why he had attacked his spirit beast.

Wang Ba arrived at the mirage’s steps and drew the attention of Lu Shifu and Li Zhongping, who each tried to recruit him. After the cultivators gathered, a Wen-generation cultivator attacked the strange beast and was struck down when it awakened, revealing its Mystic Sensation Realm presence.

• Lu Shifu recognized Wang Ba as the Taiyi Mountain Master and, wary of his strength, apologized and offered to join forces with him.
• Li Zhongping introduced himself and tried to win Wang Ba over, then warned him about Lu Shifu; Wang Ba declined to commit to either alliance.
• Zu Wenqiu arrived with injured cultivators after Treasure Hunters ambushed them, and Yu Yu, Yu Wuhen, and the others emerged from the shattered mercury bead.
• Li Zhongping asked a Wen-generation cultivator to test the white-headed, horse-bodied beast, whose awakening unleashed a storm and destroyed the cultivator’s physical body with a thunderbolt.
• Li Zhongping and Lu Shifu recognized the beast’s presence as belonging to the Mystic Sensation Realm.

Wang Ba realized the white-headed, horse-bodied beast was connected to Chen Xuan’s trapped avatar and learned it could wield the active rules of the White Hills. As four cultivators from Beyond the Boundary fought the beast, Wang Ba recognized its rules as a potential match for repairing the Immortal Essence Treasure Basin, while Lu Shifu and Li Zhongping confirmed it had reached the Mystic Sensation Realm.

• Wang Ba considered leaving to avoid the conflict but concluded the other cultivators would not let his group depart safely, so he decided to wait for an opportunity.
• Lu Shifu and Li Zhongping proposed that the factions join forces against the beast, and Wang Ba agreed to contribute while four cultivators with seventh-tier Dao Domains volunteered to lead the attack.
• Li Zhongping and Lu Shifu gave Dao treasures to the four vanguard fighters, and Wei Shucheng approached the beast with defensive arts and crocodile-jawed shears.
• The beast unleashed wind, rain, lightning, and other phenomena against Wei Shucheng, then trapped him in manifestations of the Five Elements, Yin-Yang, and other forces before the other three fighters rescued him.
• The beast fought all four cultivators, and Wang Ba recognized that it was using the rules of the White Hills in a way that could help repair the Immortal Essence Treasure Basin.
• Lu Shifu and Li Zhongping concluded that the beast had reached the Mystic Sensation Realm and touched the threshold of Tribulation Crossing.