Recaps

Shen Fu retrieved Zheng Yuanhua’s Storage Ring for Wang Ba, while Jiang Old Devil revealed that he had only two or three years left to live. Wang Ba discovered valuable treasures and used the General Ear Law Artifact to locate nearby Incense Dao cultivators, while Zheng Yuanhua realized his ring had already been cracked.

• Shen Fu persuaded Jiang Old Devil to crack the Storage Ring, and Jiang Old Devil admitted he would die within two or three years unless rare treasures restored his soul.
• Wang Ba reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of his Five-Element Combined Law Technique while waiting for Shen Fu to return.
• Shen Fu brought Wang Ba the Storage Ring and set up a formation to screen for tricks hidden inside it.
• Wang Ba found nearly two hundred drops of Divine Essence Dew, high-grade soul seeds, and other treasures in Zheng Yuanhua’s ring.
• Wang Ba activated the General Ear Law Artifact and identified the direction of the nearest Incense Dao cultivator.
• At Yutang Mountain, Zheng Yuanhua lamented his lost arm and ring, then discovered that the ring had been cracked far sooner than he expected.

After Zheng Yuanhua lost the General Ear, he warned the Yin God Lineage’s Third Tier god envoys and urged them to strike the Heavenly Gate Sect before it could act. Meanwhile, Wang Ba waited for Wu Buping to trade, only to learn that the fighting had already begun.

• Zheng Yuanhua ordered the Yin God Lineage to stop using Spirit Ears, move their people, and informed the Third Tier god envoys that the Heavenly Gate Sect had taken the General Ear.
• The Third Tier god envoys blamed Zheng Yuanhua but spared him, then decided to wait until their divine object was finished before attacking.
• After three days, Zheng Yuanhua learned that only twenty-odd Second Tier cultivators had been killed and persuaded God Envoy Gong to launch a surprise attack on the Heavenly Gate Sect in two days.
• Wang Ba used the General Ear to hunt Incense Dao cultivators, collected treasures, and sent most of the law artifacts to Shen Fu while waiting for Wu Buping.
• Wu Buping arrived and told Wang Ba that the Incense Dao and the Heavenly Gate Sect had already started fighting.

Wang Ba learned that the Heavenly Gate Sect and the Incense Dao had entered an all-out war, traded for Wu Buping’s treasures, and headed south with Shen Fu. Meanwhile, Lu Yuansheng defended Zhongyuan City as six Incense Dao True Persons plotted to defeat him with a divine object arriving in three days.

• The Fisherman Wu Buping told Wang Ba that Li Canghai had died and that the Heavenly Gate Sect had launched a full-scale attack on the Incense Dao.
• Wu Buping admitted he could not safely escort Wang Ba to the garrison, so he traded Wang Ba a Third-Tier Dragon-Seeking Compass and Meteoric Flame Red Gold Iron instead.
• Wang Ba and Shen Fu chose a southern route and learned from Incense Dao messengers that Lu Yuansheng had captured Zhongyuan City and was being besieged by six third-tier cultivators.
• An Incense Dao Law Technique caused the messengers to explode when they tried to reveal their message, leaving Wang Ba to continue south with only information about nearby defenses.
• In Zhongyuan City, Lu Yuansheng questioned Cheng Shu about breeding Spirit Chickens and Fanming’s Primordial Spirit before meeting Bai Yu of the Blood Bone Dao.
• The six Incense Dao cultivators planned to use a divine object against Lu Yuansheng after it arrived in three days, hoping to defeat him and then surround the Heavenly Gate Sect.

Wang Ba and Shen Fu traveled through Incense Dao territory toward the Eastern Saint Garrison, uncovering evidence of the sect’s reach and finding a concealed grove of Thousand-God Wood at Yutang Mountain. Their attack on the guarded site exposed the trees, while Zheng Yuanhua sensed the Thousand-God Wood was in danger.

• At Jade Emperor Peak, leaders of the Chen Kingdom’s five sects discussed the Incense Dao, Ning Daohuan, and the possibility that the Heavenly Gate Sect was concealing a trap.
• Wang Ba captured an Incense Dao cultivator with Shen Fu’s help and learned that the Heavenly Gate Sect and Incense Dao were fighting while their leaders’ whereabouts remained unclear.
• Wang Ba and Shen Fu avoided a hidden formation, then witnessed how the Incense Dao’s control made mortals act in eerie unison as they traveled south.
• Near the Eastern Saint Garrison, Wang Ba learned that Meng Xing Village and Water-Controlling City had fallen to the Incense Dao and chose to target Yutang Mountain instead.
• Shen Fu helped Wang Ba dispel Yutang Mountain’s formation, revealing Thousand-God Wood and catching an Ochre-Robed Cultivator off guard.
• At a tent outside Zhongyuan City, Zheng Yuanhua sensed that the Thousand-God Wood was in danger.

Wang Ba harvested and stored the Thousand-God Wood before hiding with Shen Fu as a battle erupted near Zhongyuan City. At Jade Emperor Peak, the Five Sects agreed to help the Incense Dao wear down Lu Yuansheng, while Ji Lan learned from his spy Cheng Shu that Ning Daohuan and the Heavenly Gate Sect’s elders were away, prompting him to plan an attack on their garrison.

• Wang Ba used the Spring Breeze Seed Transformation Formula to store the thirty-two Thousand-God Wood trees, then withdrew with Shen Fu and concealed themselves.
• Wang Ba and Shen Fu felt a tremendous clash of Law Power and Divine Soul power from the direction of Zhongyuan City.
• The Five Sects’ leaders judged that Lu Yuansheng could match a Nascent Soul True Lord and agreed to help the Incense Dao exhaust his Law Power.
• Ji Lan met his undercover disciple near Zhongyuan City, and Cheng Shu reported that Ning Daohuan and the other elders had gone to the Golden Rainbow Garrison.
• Ji Lan concluded that the Heavenly Gate Sect’s Chen Kingdom garrison was likely undefended and planned to reclaim it, recover the Fanming Primordial Spirit, and sever its Teleportation Array.
• Cheng Shu returned to his secret chamber and removed his robes, revealing himself as the former Ten Thousand Beasts Office cultivator.

Ji Lan led the Five Great Sects into the Eastern Saint Garrison after confirming Ning Daohuan and the Heavenly Gate Sect’s Gold Core cultivators were absent, but the smooth recapture ended with a Nascent Soul heavenly tribulation gathering overhead. The chapter leaves the cultivators facing the impending tribulation of Mountain-Sea Sect’s Grand Elder Pang.

• Ji Lan entered the Eastern Saint Garrison, confirmed Ning Daohuan and his Gold Core cultivators were gone, and secretly disabled the garrison’s two Teleportation Arrays.
• Ji Lan urged the Five Great Sects to dismantle the garrison’s defenses cautiously while he captured its remaining cultivators and found Fanming bound in chains.
• Lu Yuansheng shouted from Zhongyuan City as Incense Dao cultivators fought to hold him there, and the Five Great Sects continued breaking through the garrison’s formation.
• Ji Lan wondered why the operation was going so smoothly but could not identify a flaw in the information Cheng Shu had given him.
• The Five Great Sects finished breaching the formation and searched the garrison, then dark clouds gathered as Grand Elder Pang of the Mountain-Sea Sect prepared to face a Nascent Soul heavenly tribulation.

Wang Ba and Shen Fu watched the Five Great Sects attack the Eastern Saint Garrison, while Wang Ba feared for Bu Chan and suspected Ning Daohuan had left the garrison for another scheme. After Ning Daohuan killed newly ascended Nascent Soul Pang Xiao, Wang Ba and Shen Fu rushed to the garrison and found its ruins.

• Wang Ba opened a second Dantian inside Meteoric Flame Red Gold Iron, but it could not yet contain the Yin-Food Bug Mother.
• Wang Ba and Shen Fu heard that the Five Great Sects were attacking the Eastern Saint Garrison and feared for Bu Chan as Gold Core cultivators fell.
• Pang Xiao completed his Nascent Soul tribulation, but Ning Daohuan appeared at the Mountain-Sea Sect and killed him.
• The Mountain-Sea Sect threatened retaliation at the garrison, and Wang Ba recognized that the attackers were leaving for the southeast.
• Ji Lan abandoned Fanming and led the Eastern Saint Sect’s Gold Core cultivators away from the ruins.
• Wang Ba and Shen Fu hurried to the Eastern Saint Garrison, where Wang Ba saw the devastation and his eyes reddened.

Wang Ba searched the devastated South Lake area for Bu Chan, but found only her ring and grew convinced the Mountain-Sea Sect was responsible for her disappearance. After helping rebuild the Eastern Saint Garrison, he heard a familiar voice call to him.

• Wang Ba searched the ruins with Shen Fu but found no trace of Bu Chan, and Fanming’s phantom seized Bing Yi through a crack in its chains.
• Shen Fu found Bu Chan’s muddy ring by South Lake, and Wang Ba recognized the belongings inside as things he had given her and blamed the Mountain-Sea Sect.
• At the Eastern Saint Garrison’s victory celebration, Wang Ba learned that Ning Daohuan had used the garrison as bait to kill Mountain-Sea Sect supreme elder Pang Xiao.
• Wang Ba and Shen Fu assisted Jing Kongcheng in rebuilding the garrison’s Teleportation Array, while Wang Ba planned to leave the Heavenly Gate Sect with Shen Fu once he was ready.
• As Wang Ba thought of Bu Chan, a familiar voice suddenly called, “Senior Brother!”

Lu Yuansheng learned that Ning Daohuan planned to transform the Heavenly Gate Sect’s demonic cultivation into a righteous path by using Pang Xiao’s body, and was ordered to defend the Eastern Saint Garrison for half a year. After Ning Daohuan secretly assessed possible spies, Wang Ba reunited with Bu Chan and embraced her in relief.

• Lu Yuansheng returned to Ning Daohuan with news that he had killed two Incense Dao cultivators while the others escaped, and Ning Daohuan praised his work against the Eastern Saint Sect.
• Ning Daohuan revealed that the Heavenly Gate Sect’s four Nascent Soul methods followed the Demonic Dao and said he would turn to the righteous path by using Pang Xiao’s body as a vessel.
• Ning Daohuan ordered Lu Yuansheng to hold the Eastern Saint Garrison against the five Chen Kingdom sects and the Incense Dao for at least half a year, while keeping Fanming secure.
• After Lu Yuansheng departed, Ning Daohuan questioned a shadow about people who had met him and decided to keep Wang Ba under observation after learning he had bribed him with a high-grade Spirit Chicken.
• At the Eastern Saint Garrison, Wang Ba saw Bu Chan and rushed to embrace her, and she comforted him as he repeated that he was glad she was still there.

Wang Ba watched Yu Sha use the Spirit-Entrusting Tokens to curse deserters and threaten the sect's cultivators, then returned to cultivating while trapped at Eastern Saint Garrison. When five alleged traitors were displayed in the square, Bai Yu appeared and told Wang Ba that Elder Lu wanted to see him.

• Wang Ba used his Foundation Establishment status and Spirit Stones to have Bu Chan assigned to him, then took an easy rebuilding task.
• Yu Sha publicly cursed eight deserters through their Spirit-Entrusting Tokens, killing them in agonizing ways and warning the gathered cultivators to confess their betrayals.
• Wang Ba, Bu Chan, and Shen Fu moved into a secluded cave abode, where Wang Ba advanced his second dantian to the third layer of Qi Refining while considering the need for a better cultivation method.
• Wang Ba saw five corpses, including Dong Qiyu, displayed in the square as Jing Kuang accused them of betraying the sect.
• Bai Yu stopped Wang Ba and told him that Elder Lu wanted to see him.

Lu Yuansheng killed Cheng Shu and forced Wang Ba to promise to breed a third-tier Spirit Chicken within a year, supplying the resources Wang Ba demanded. Wang Ba prepared to flee the Heavenly Gate Sect with Bu Chan and Shen Fu by teaching them the Mixed Origin Two Extremes Art and began cultivating the Baleful Blood Art, but the chapter ended with news that Lu Yuansheng had been gravely wounded.

• Lu Yuansheng asked Wang Ba and Cheng Shu whether they could breed a third-tier Spirit Chicken within six months, then killed Cheng Shu for betraying the Heavenly Gate Sect.
• Lu Yuansheng pressed Wang Ba to meet the six-month deadline; Wang Ba negotiated for one year and demanded a metal-and-fire cultivation method or one covering all five elements, along with other resources.
• Wang Ba met Bu Chan and Shen Fu at his Swordwave Garrison territory, activated its defenses, and gave them the Mixed Origin Two Extremes Art to help conceal their Divine Soul signatures.
• Lu Yuansheng supplied Wang Ba with the Baleful Blood Art and other requested resources, while Wang Ba resumed breeding Spirit Chickens and arranged for Bu Chan to manage recovered Spirit Fields.
• Wang Ba heard that Lu Yuansheng had been gravely wounded and was near death.

Ning Daohuan emerged from Zhongyuan City and overpowered the Chen Kingdom’s Four Sects, but the Incense Dao cultivators used the Yin God Descending World Bow to injure him while demanding the Yin Spirit Great Dream Scripture. The bow then broke free and flew south, while Wang Ba unknowingly called to it from afar.

• After Lu Yuansheng was gravely wounded and the Heavenly Gate Sect lost three Gold Core True Persons, Tsering Puntsok ordered an attack on Zhongyuan City.
• Zhong Bu broke the city’s defensive barrier, but Ning Daohuan seized and severely wounded him with a black hand before demanding the Four Sects submit or die.
• The four Incense Dao cultivators revealed the crimson Yin God Descending World Bow and fired an invisible arrow that shattered Ning Daohuan’s body, but he reassembled himself and lost his left arm to a second shot.
• The Incense Dao cultivators demanded the Yin Spirit Great Dream Scripture, but the bow broke free and flew south; Ning Daohuan crushed the four cultivators and returned to Zhongyuan City.
• At the outskirts of Swordwave Garrison, Wang Ba sensed a faint call, answered by thinking “Come!”, and continued feeding the Spirit Beasts as the Faceless Divine Statue gleamed.

Ning Daohuan punished elders over Lu Yuansheng’s injuries while a cultivator named Tang Ji learned that a Nascent Soul Cultivator had been killed in the Chen Kingdom and decided to investigate. As Wang Ba prepared to deliver a disguised spirit chicken to Lu Yuansheng and escape, Tang Ji appeared above the Eastern Saint Garrison, wondering whether the Heavenly Gate Sect was connected to a demonic sect.

• Ning Daohuan healed Lu Yuansheng, then blamed Elder Hu and Junior Brother Yin for his injuries and ordered them to remain on guard and cultivate in seclusion.
• Tang Ji learned that a newly advanced Nascent Soul Cultivator had been killed in the Chen Kingdom and decided to travel there.
• Wang Ba, still short of Foundation Establishment, told Bu Chan to leave with Shen Fu and promised to join them after delivering a Third-Tier Spirit Chicken to Lu Yuansheng.
• Bu Chan and Shen Fu left, and Wang Ba transformed a second-tier supreme grade spirit chicken into a convincing Third-Tier offering before preparing to flee.
• Tang Ji appeared above the Eastern Saint Garrison and questioned whether the Heavenly Gate Sect shared its name with a demonic sect in the Yan Kingdom.

Wang Ba handed Lu Yuansheng a Third-Tier Spirit Chicken and hurried back toward the Swordwave Garrison, unaware that Zhu Ziji was following him. Meanwhile, Tang Ji reached the Eastern Saint Garrison and confronted Ning Daohuan about a newly advanced Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Chen Kingdom whom he had killed.

• Lu Yuansheng accepted a Third-Tier Spirit Chicken from Wang Ba and sent him away, while the young Daoist stayed behind to study their Go game.
• Wang Ba returned to the Swordwave Garrison by Teleportation Array and headed toward the passage between the three perilous regions to seek safety near the Exquisite Ghost Market.
• Zhu Ziji left the Swordwave Garrison with a compass and pursued Wang Ba after discovering he had left the garrison.
• Tang Ji breached the Eastern Saint Garrison's protective Formation and demanded to know who was in charge.
• Ning Daohuan arrived and, sensing Tang Ji's overwhelming strength, greeted him cautiously; Tang Ji asked whether he had killed a newly advanced Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Chen Kingdom.

Tang Ji, a Vassal State Guardian of Great Jin, compelled Ning Daohuan to restore the Mountain-Sea Sect and return the Eastern Saint Sect’s territory, then searched the Heavenly Gate Sect for gifted young cultivators. He chose Wang Ba after hearing of his spirit-chicken breeding, but Wang Ba was already fleeing when Zhu Ziji was sent to stop him.

• Tang Ji confronted Ning Daohuan over killing Pang Xiao and seizing Eastern Saint Sect territory, giving him three years to rebuild the Mountain-Sea Sect, repay its losses, and return the stolen land.
• Ning Daohuan agreed to Tang Ji’s demands and named several Heavenly Gate Sect talents, including Yan Chi, Yan Yun, and Zhu Ziji.
• Tang Ji became interested in Wang Ba after learning that he had reached Foundation Establishment recently and bred second-tier supreme-grade spirit chickens.
• Ning Daohuan discovered that Wang Ba was missing and attempted to contact him through the Spirit-Entrusting Token.
• Wang Ba met Song Buping while hurrying toward the exit, then fled when Zhu Ziji arrived shouting for someone to stop him.
• Zhu Ziji shot past Song Buping in pursuit, and Song Buping followed, hoping to claim Wang Ba’s flying Law Artifact.

Wang Ba fought Zhu Ziji, overcame his Yuan Magnetic Power with the blood Qi absorbed through his Second Dantian, and killed him. He then pursued Song Buping, while Ning Daohuan and Tang Ji learned that Zhu Ziji’s Spirit-Entrusting Token had dimmed too.

• Zhu Ziji ambushed Wang Ba, but the Wu Ape King and Wang Ba’s layered Five Elements Law Techniques forced him to defend himself.
• Zhu Ziji trapped the Wu Ape King in a Sea Bowl Law Artifact and struck Wang Ba with a concealed Blood-Colored Law Sword, but Wang Ba remained unharmed and unleashed a powerful chain of Law Techniques.
• Zhu Ziji’s Yuan Magnetic Beads disrupted Wang Ba’s Five Elements Law Power, but Wang Ba absorbed the Blood Qi from Zhu Ziji’s scattered blood beads through his Second Dantian.
• Wang Ba killed Zhu Ziji with a Law Artifact, retrieved the Wu Ape King, and pursued the fleeing Song Buping.
• Ning Daohuan mistook Wang Ba’s dimmed Spirit-Entrusting Token for proof that he had died, and then discovered that Zhu Ziji’s token had dimmed as well.

Ning Daohuan reacted furiously after Tang Ji left and began investigating the deaths of Zhu Ziji, Wang Ba, and Song Buping. At Swordwave Garrison, two cultivators traced the deaths toward a devastated area and suspected Zhu Ziji—and possibly Lu Yuansheng—was involved.

• Tang Ji dismissed Ning Daohuan’s explanation, promised to return in a year, and flew away; Ning Daohuan wrecked the pavilion in anger.
• Ning Daohuan learned Zhu Ziji and Wang Ba had both visited Lu Yuansheng, then received word that Song Buping’s Spirit-Entrusting Token had gone dark and ordered an investigation.
• At Swordwave Garrison, the young Daoist surnamed Bei and Senior Brother Gu found Song Buping’s body pinned to a tree by his own magic sword.
• The two investigators found traces of Blood Art Law Power and considered whether Zhu Ziji had killed Song Buping after killing Wang Ba, while the young Daoist suspected Lu Yuansheng might have ordered the killings.
• Following the suspected route, the young Daoist and Senior Brother Gu reached a vast area of shattered terrain and overturned mountains, then fell silent at the sight.

Bei and Gu concluded that Wang Ba may have survived a battle in which Zhu Ziji died, then considered secretly finding him to obtain a way to escape the Spirit-Entrusting Token. Lu Yuansheng learned of Wang Ba’s apparent victory and possible escape, and went to meet Ning Daohuan at the Twenty-Four Arms Divine Statue, feeling uneasy.

• Bei and Gu found Zhu Ziji’s remains at the yuan magnetic battlefield and inferred that Wang Ba might still be alive because there was no second corpse.
• Bei reconstructed the fight, concluding that Wang Ba likely killed Zhu Ziji and pursued Song Buping, though the evidence left Wang Ba’s survival uncertain.
• Gu urged Bei to search for Wang Ba and obtain his method of escaping the Spirit-Entrusting Token, arguing that it could free cultivators from Ning Daohuan’s control.
• Lu Yuansheng heard that Wang Ba had killed Zhu Ziji and escaped, and realized Wang Ba might have broken free of the Spirit-Entrusting Token.
• Lu Yuansheng learned that Ning Daohuan wanted to see him, then traveled to the swamp and approached the Twenty-Four Arms Divine Statue with a sudden sense of unease.

Wang Ba reunited with Bu Chan and Shen Fu in Canglan City, but Shen Fu chose to set out on his own, partly to seek a way to help Jiang Old Devil. After Shen Fu discovered Wang Ba’s gifts and learned more about his senior brother’s Five-Element Combined Law Technique, the story shifted to Lu Yuansheng arriving before Ning Daohuan in the Marsh Region.

• Wang Ba returned to Canglan City and told Bu Chan and Shen Fu that he had killed Zhu Ziji and that they needed to leave before the Heavenly Gate Sect tracked them down.
• Shen Fu said he would travel alone; Wang Ba gave him a Storage Bag and a Spirit Beast Bag, and Shen Fu departed after Bu Chan wished him well.
• Jiang Old Devil urged Shen Fu to join a demonic sect and eventually seek the Hundred-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Spirit Marrow, while Shen Fu examined Wang Ba’s gifts.
• Shen Fu found Wang Ba’s insights into the Five-Element Combined Law Technique and learned from Jiang Old Devil how difficult it was to master, then heard that Fanming’s Primordial Spirit contained a Dao opportunity for Spirit Transformation.
• Lu Yuansheng arrived at the Twenty-Four-Arms Divine Statue in the Marsh Region, where Ning Daohuan summoned him closer.

Lu Yuansheng challenged Ning Daohuan with a Spirit Chicken empowered by Fanming, but the chicken’s power failed, allowing Ning Daohuan to sacrifice Lu Yuansheng and seize the chance to refine Fanming. Fanming escaped in a Black Spirit Chicken, Ning Daohuan was killed by his former master, and Tang Ji arrived to contain the exposed Aperture before reporting the crisis to Senior Brother Yao.

• Ning Daohuan revealed that Heavenly Gate Sect’s Sect Masters had sacrificed Gold Core cultivators to pursue higher realms, then attacked Lu Yuansheng, who used a Spirit Chicken empowered by Fanming to fight back.
• Lu Yuansheng and the empowered Spirit Chicken gained the upper hand, but the chicken’s power suddenly faded, and Ning Daohuan captured Lu Yuansheng and used him as a catalyst to complete his refinement ritual.
• Ning Daohuan reached Nascent Soul Perfection and tried to refine Fanming, but Fanming escaped inside a Black Spirit Chicken; the Blood-Bone Venerable then drained Ning Daohuan’s power and killed him.
• Tang Ji arrived at the exposed Aperture, bound the Blood-Bone Venerable and the divine statue, and threw them into the vortex to plug it.
• Tang Ji contacted the Brocade-Robed Elder and Senior Brother Yao, then admitted that Fanming had escaped and the Aperture had been exposed, prompting Senior Brother Yao to erupt in alarm.

At the Shanli Clothing Auction, Wang Ba posed as Shen Fu and sold Spirit Chicken Essence before Xuli Sect cultivators tried to force him to reveal Master Shen Fu’s whereabouts. Wen Yong intervened, and Wang Ba escaped by teleportation, while news of a second-tier artifact refiner gave him hope of obtaining the Law Artifact he needed.

• Zhao Wei opened the Clothing Auction at the Shanli boundary stele and reported that Great Qi had helped Great Chu defeat the Myriad Gods Kingdom in Wei Kingdom.
• The auction offered pills, artifacts, and a Chipo Lineage Body Cultivator, before Shen Fu’s Spirit Chicken Essence drew intense bidding and the final bottle sold for fifty middle-grade Spirit Stones.
• After the auction, Xuli Sect cultivators surrounded Zhao Wei and demanded that he swear an oath and lead them to Master Shen Fu.
• Wen Yong arrived, identified the attackers, and made them retreat; Zhao Wei’s concealed face then cleared, revealing that he was Shen Fu.
• Wen Yong told Shen Fu that a second-tier artifact refiner was passing through the area, gave him one thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones, and left.
• Shen Fu used a talisman to teleport home, where his reflection revealed his true identity as Wang Ba.

After nine years at White Cloud Flat, Wang Ba had reached the middle stage of Foundation Establishment and built a thriving spirit-beast operation, but his attempts to raise beasts to the third tier had failed. He worried about Bu Chan’s Foundation Establishment and sensed that White Cloud Flat’s long peace might soon end, leaving him prepared to relocate.

• Wang Ba recalled choosing White Cloud Flat as a refuge near the Exquisite Ghost Market and far from the Heavenly Gate Sect, while the Yan Kingdom’s sects were occupied fighting the Incense Dao.
• Wang Ba reviewed his nine years of progress, including reaching the middle stage of Foundation Establishment and earning a fortune as Master Shen, while failing to advance any spirit beast to the third tier.
• Wang Ba focused his breeding efforts on Jia Ten Five and the Azure-Water Spirit Turtles, whose strong bodies might withstand Gold Core Tribulation Lightning, though scarce materials and long breeding times delayed his plans.
• Wang Ba tended his spirit beasts and Thousand-God Wood, then worried that Bu Chan might fail her attempt at Foundation Establishment.
• Wang Ba reflected on the growth of his Yin Spirit Power and the risks of using it against sect cultivators protected by Soul-Guarding Talismans and formations.
• After recalling that Xuli Sect cultivators had surrounded and intercepted him, Wang Ba feared White Cloud Flat’s peace was ending and prepared to move elsewhere if necessary.

Wang Ba learned that a second-tier artifact refiner was nearing White Cloud Flat and visited the rogue cultivators’ Vermin Market while disguised as Zhao Wei. There, he overheard reports of heavy sect losses and a startling claim that the demonic sect to the west had been abandoned.

• Wang Ba cultivated with Cave God Condensing Spirit Incense, then received Wen Yong’s message that a second-tier artifact refiner would reach White Cloud Flat in three to five days.
• Wang Ba finished refining Spirit Chicken Essence and used his Yin Spirit Power to disguise himself as Zhao Wei before leaving his home.
• Wang Ba walked through Vermin Market and listened to rogue cultivators discuss the war, including reports that Xuli Sect had suffered losses and Zhenling Palace had lost three Gold Core True Persons.
• Wang Ba heard a cultivator claim that someone had entered the demonic sect to the west and found it completely empty.

Wang Ba learned that the Heavenly Gate Sect had vanished nine years earlier and traveled with Wen Yong to Zhenling Palace to have second-tier Spirit Chef law artifacts refined. After Zhenling Palace’s funeral revealed that Zhang Daobai might be gravely ill, Wen Yong hurried home to prepare for turmoil, while Wang Ba stayed to complete the artifacts.

• Wang Ba heard rumors that the Heavenly Gate Sect had been found deserted and secretly questioned the dark-faced cultivator, learning it had disappeared nine years earlier, the year Wang Ba left.
• Wang Ba met Wen Yong, agreed to travel to Zhenling Palace to find a second-tier artifact refiner, and declined a new cultivation method in favor of the Three-Aspect Creation Art.
• Wang Ba and Wen Yong met the artifact refiner surnamed Li, who recognized Wang Ba as Master Shen and traded Artifact Refining materials for Spirit Chicken Essence.
• The artifact refiner surnamed Li attended Zhenling Palace’s seven-day funeral and returned reporting that Zhang Daobai had not appeared, raising fears that the Yan Kingdom would fall into turmoil.
• Wang Ba urged Wen Yong to return home and prepare, then stayed with the artifact refiner surnamed Li to work on the law artifacts.
• Half a month later, Wang Ba received a complete set of kitchen-like law artifacts that would let him refine second-tier Spirit Chickens into essence.

Wang Ba perfected his second-tier Spirit Chicken Essence, made a deal with Shang Li for rare materials, and returned to White Cloud Flat. He reunited with Bu Chan after she successfully reached Foundation Establishment.

• Wang Ba refined second-tier Spirit Chicken Essence and discovered that it nourished the Divine Soul as well as providing Spiritual Qi, Essence, and blood Qi.
• The Li-surnamed Artifact Refiner tasted Wang Ba's essence, praised its benefits, and received two portions before they set out for White Cloud Flat.
• At the Exquisite Ghost Market, Wang Ba paid Shang Li a deposit to obtain two rare materials needed to help Jia Ten Five advance to the third tier.
• Wang Ba learned that Tang Ji had gone to the Chen Kingdom, then traveled with the Li-surnamed Artifact Refiner back to White Cloud Flat.
• Wang Ba waited outside Bu Chan's Cultivation Chamber until she emerged five days later, having reached Foundation Establishment.