Recaps

Du Heng, Qin Tiexin, and their companions discussed buying surplus Demon Beast flesh for Qin Tiexin’s body refinement, then Qin Tiexin began stewing the Demon Ape heart and meat. While the cauldron cooked, the group salvaged medicinal plants from the damaged herb garden, ending with Xu Ying carefully preparing to transplant its precious Bodhi Tree.

• Qin Tiexin asked Du Heng to sell him surplus Foundation Establishment Late Stage or stronger Demon Beast flesh, but Du Heng offered to give it to him for free.
• Lin Chuan suggested they settle the matter after leaving and proposed that Qin Tiexin keep the Demon Ape heart to stew and share.
• Qin Tiexin put the Demon Ape heart, meat, and medicinal ingredients into his rune-inscribed cauldron, and Xu Ying added two Dragon Blood Fruits.
• Lin Chuan directed Du Heng and Liu Suifeng to gather the remaining medicinal ingredients and told Xu Ying to transplant the intact Dragon Blood Tree.
• Du Heng uprooted the Dragon Blood Tree and placed it in Xu Ying’s special storage ring, while Xu Ying carefully dug around the Bodhi Tree’s roots to prepare it for transplantation.

Qin Tiexin and his companions recovered after defeating the Blood-Eyed Devil Ape, then followed a map and Liu Suifeng’s formation disc through the secret realm. After traveling northeast for two days, they had covered roughly a hundred and twenty li without finding another medicinal garden or encountering another beast as powerful as the ape.

• Qin Tiexin cooked the devil ape’s heart and flesh with the Dragon Blood Fruit, and Liu Suifeng, Du Heng, Lin Chuan, and Xu Ying each ate a small amount.
• Qin Tiexin consumed the remaining heart, meat, and broth, then refined their Qi and Blood overnight until his Essence Blood reached seventy-five percent.
• Xu Ying checked the group’s injuries and gave Lin Chuan pills, while Du Heng and Lin Chuan concealed the traces of their battle in the medicinal garden and Buddhist temple.
• Liu Suifeng confirmed their northeast direction with the temple map and his formation disc, and the five set out across the wasteland.
• The group traveled roughly a hundred and twenty li northeast over two days, avoiding dangerous areas and encountering no further powerful Demon Beasts.

The squad found several remnants of the ancient battlefield, including a fragment of a Golden Core formation disk and an incomplete wood-attribute sword art, before discovering a spiritual spring sustained by a deteriorating Spirit Gathering Formation. As they began collecting its water, six figures appeared across the lake.

• Liu Suifeng found and copied the patterns from a damaged Golden Core defensive formation disk.
• Lin Chuan found an incomplete Nascent Soul sword art called Azure Wood Sword Gang and kept its two surviving moves for later study.
• Qin Tiexin and Du Heng uncovered two green-patterned copper staff blanks, while the squad passed up other finds that were too risky or time-consuming to pursue.
• After two days, the squad reached a small lake whose Spirit Gathering Formation had accumulated a valuable spiritual spring from lingering spiritual power.
• Liu Suifeng explained that the spring was nearing the end of its life, so the five searched for containers and prepared to collect its water.
• Lin Chuan sensed danger across the lake, Qin Tiexin moved to shield Liu Suifeng and Xu Ying, and six figures emerged from behind the opposite hillside.

Lin Chuan and his companions confronted six Buddhist warrior monks who tried to claim the lake, and Liu Suifeng trapped them in two formations to begin a fight. Qin Tiexin bypassed the front line and attacked the formation master, leaving the battle unresolved as his kick struck toward the man’s chest.

• A tall monk ordered Lin Chuan and his companions to leave the lake, claiming it shared a karmic bond with his Buddhist order.
• Lin Chuan challenged the claim, but the monk argued that six Buddhist disciples outweighed Qin Tiexin, their lone monk.
• Liu Suifeng activated the Essence-Locking Spirit-Trapping Array and Confining Quicksand Formation beneath the six monks.
• Qin Tiexin, Lin Chuan, and Du Heng charged across the lake while Liu Suifeng and Xu Ying supported them from behind a defensive barrier.
• Du Heng and Lin Chuan engaged the monks at the front as Qin Tiexin used the shield’s recoil to vault toward the formation master.
• Qin Tiexin descended before the formation master and kicked toward his chest.

Qin Tiexin, Lin Chuan, and Du Heng drove off the monks by trapping their formation master and bombarding their defensive barrier, then collected the spirit spring. The group buried the remains of a Golden Core Buddhist cultivator and left the area quickly, while the departing monk hinted that he and Qin Tiexin would meet again.

• Liu Suifeng’s vines bound the formation master, and Qin Tiexin kicked the fallen formation disc back to Liu Suifeng.
• Qin Tiexin, Lin Chuan, and Du Heng retreated beyond the formation and attacked the five monks with talismans, but the monks joined their spiritual power to withstand the fire dragons.
• The tall monk conceded the spirit spring, and he led his four junior brothers away after Liu Suifeng released the formation master.
• Xu Ying used a jade bottle to drain the lake, revealing a Golden Core Buddhist cultivator’s remains and broken formation pieces.
• Lin Chuan collected and buried the golden bones, while Du Heng and Liu Suifeng erased the group’s traces before they departed northeast.

Six monks pursued Mingjue and the others, planning to kill him at a pair of peaks, while the five companions continued northeast after collecting spirit spring water. Liu Suifeng described his plan to inscribe formations on the body, and Qin Tiexin felt the idea stir a vague memory in his sea of consciousness.

• The six monks identified Mingjue as a surviving remnant of Zhaoming Temple and hurried northeast to prepare a trap for him.
• Du Heng buried the traces of the group’s visit to the lake, and Liu Suifeng retrieved the formation flags before the five continued onward.
• Du Heng teased Liu Suifeng about his cultivation, and Liu Suifeng defended his formation studies and boasted about his Ultimate Cultivation Formation.
• Liu Suifeng explained his idea of inscribing formations onto a cultivator’s body, while Du Heng and Lin Chuan warned him about the dangers.
• Liu Suifeng examined the confiscated Buddhist formation plate, and Qin Tiexin felt a vague fragment stir in his sea of consciousness.

Qin Tiexin and the others reached Sky-Splitting Cliff, where Liu Suifeng discovered that Spiritual Qi steadily declined toward the canyon until it vanished completely. They weighed detouring against crossing the dangerous passage, and Lin Chuan was left to decide their route.

• Qin Tiexin saw a fleeting vision of a golden rune merging into someone, then continued onward with the group.
• Liu Suifeng confirmed with his formation disk that they had reached Sky-Splitting Cliff, the former Pure Land Chan Sect encampment and a route to the ancient battlefield.
• Liu Suifeng found that Spiritual Qi grew thinner toward the cliff and would reach zero there, while Qin Tiexin sensed that the uniform decline was an ancient remnant.
• Liu Suifeng explained that spiritual power, Law Techniques, storage rings, Law Artifacts, and protective spiritual light would all fail inside the Spiritual-Qi-free area.
• Lin Chuan considered the detours, Du Heng suggested rushing through the two-li passage, and Xu Ying advised going around before everyone looked to Lin Chuan for a decision.

Lin Chuan devised a rope-guided plan to cross the spirit-devoid passage, with Qin Tiexin going first because his body cultivation made him best suited to face danger without Spiritual Qi. As the group approached Sky-Splitting Cliff, the thinning Spiritual Qi forced them to prepare equipment and stop just short of the canyon entrance.

• Lin Chuan asked for sturdy rope, and Liu Suifeng and Xu Ying provided coils that he tied together into a line long enough for the crossing.
• Lin Chuan assigned Qin Tiexin to scout ahead with the rope secured around him, while the others planned to follow in order and pull him back if danger appeared.
• As the group advanced, Lin Chuan told everyone to take out their equipment and supplies before the Spiritual Qi grew too thin to access their storage items.
• Du Heng put on bone armor, Lin Chuan readied his armor and sword, and Xu Ying distributed pills for injuries and protection against mental attacks.
• The group continued through the draining Spiritual Qi, and Lin Chuan stopped them fewer than three hundred paces from the entrance to Sky-Splitting Cliff.

Qin Tiexin entered Sky-Splitting Cliff to investigate the region without Spiritual Qi while his companions carefully managed a safety rope outside. His spiritual powers faded completely inside, leaving him to rely on physical strength as he cleared a path through the gorge.

• Qin Tiexin and the others examined the immense sword scars and prepared a rope-guided plan for his entry into Sky-Splitting Cliff.
• Lin Chuan instructed Qin Tiexin to clear hazards, signal danger with a hard tug, and signal Spiritual Qi or the end of the rope with distinct tugs.
• Qin Tiexin walked into the gorge and found that his Spiritual Qi had dwindled, his cultivation techniques were unusable, and his Fire of Life had weakened.
• Qin Tiexin confirmed that his physical strength remained and continued through the gorge after all Spiritual Qi vanished at its entrance.
• Qin Tiexin pushed broken weapons and debris aside to protect the rope as his companions paid it out beyond a li, waiting without any sign of trouble.

Qin Tiexin was trapped inside the gorge after attackers dropped two boulders to seal both exits, while Lin Chuan set out to reach him. Qin Tiexin spotted a concealed cave high on the cliff and braced for the ambushers’ next move.

• Qin Tiexin hurried toward the gorge’s exit, but a boulder crashed down ahead of him, revealing a deliberate ambush.
• Qin Tiexin ran back toward the entrance, but a second boulder blocked his retreat and pinned the rope around his waist.
• Qin Tiexin freed himself from the rope, readied his staff and pills, and searched the cliffs for the attackers.
• Liu Suifeng and the others felt the rope go taut, and Lin Chuan sent them to wait while he tied on the rope and ran to help Qin Tiexin.
• Qin Tiexin spotted a disguised cave partway up the cliff and prepared for the ambushers to attack.

Yuanshun and the other Golden Summit Temple infiltrators tried to kill Mingjue in the spirit-nullifying gorge, but their attacks weakened before reaching Qin Tiexin. When their Law Techniques failed, they launched physical attacks from above, then abruptly stopped as Qin Tiexin spotted a mass of Law Artifacts in the air.

• Yuanshun explained that his group had found the cliff cave and set an ambush for Mingjue, whom they recognized among Qin Tiexin's group.
• The formation master fired a flaming arrow at Qin Tiexin, but the spirit-nullifying zone drained its power before it reached him.
• The monks tested several Law Techniques and a Law Artifact, but each attack weakened or dissipated in the zone.
• Qin Tiexin sheltered beneath the cliff and dodged the ice spears and metal arrows that retained some force.
• The monks stopped attacking, and Qin Tiexin saw reflections from numerous Law Artifacts filling the air.

Qin Tiexin survived the monks’ barrage of damaged Law Artifacts by deflecting them with his staff, then used a broken spear to strike back at the monks in the cave. He began hurling weapons up toward the entrance, forcing Yuanshun and the others to scramble for cover.

• The six monks of Golden Summit Temple sent damaged Law Artifacts down at Qin Tiexin, who knocked them aside with his refined iron staff.
• As the barrage wore him down and debris restricted his footwork, Qin Tiexin swallowed a Bone-Mending and Flesh-Growing Pill and kept fighting.
• Qin Tiexin recognized a broken spear’s familiar length and weight, then threw it at a monk leaning out of the cave entrance.
• The broken spear struck the monk’s chest and hurled him into the cave wall, prompting Yuanshun to warn the others that Qin Tiexin was fighting back.
• Qin Tiexin threw more weapons toward the cave as the six monks took cover, and he raised a hatchet to throw next.

Qin Tiexin kept returning the Law Artifacts thrown at him, forcing Yuanshun and the other monks to stay behind their shields. Yuanshun used Heart-Burning Powder against him, and the chapter ended as the broken bottle released its gas above Qin Tiexin.

• Qin Tiexin recalled the Falling Star Spear technique and found he could throw long weapons accurately enough to pressure the monks, though his aim with short weapons remained poor.
• Yuanshun ordered the monks to keep their shields raised after Qin Tiexin's returning weapons nearly struck the formation master.
• Yuanshun took out Heart-Burning Powder, explaining that the sinister drug was especially dangerous to Buddhist cultivators.
• Yuanshun and the monks protected themselves from the powder while the formation master raised an airflow barrier.
• Yuanshun threw the bottle toward Qin Tiexin and shattered it with a Metal Arrow Technique, releasing pink mist that quickly became colorless gas.

Qin Tiexin absorbed the Heart-Burning Powder with the pink bird mark on his chest, then pretended to succumb so Yuanshun would send monks down to check on him. When the monks approached, Qin Tiexin sprang up and raced for the rope leading to the cave.

• Qin Tiexin's bird mark devoured the Heart-Burning Powder, leaving him unaffected, and he decided to feign collapse.
• Qin Tiexin dropped his sword and acted as though the powder had incapacitated him while Yuanshun watched from the cave.
• Yuanshun sent Yuan'an and Yuanzhen down with antidote pills to check Qin Tiexin and kill him if he was alive.
• Yuan'an and Yuanzhen descended into the spirit-nullifying zone and approached Qin Tiexin's motionless body with their monastic sabers.
• As one monk reached to turn him over, Qin Tiexin sprang up and shot between them toward the hanging rope.

Qin Tiexin climbed toward the cave after Yuanshun cut the rope, using embedded weapons to reach the entrance and awakening his Spiritual Qi along the way. He broke into the cave and faced Yuanshun and two monks, who attacked him from three sides.

• Qin Tiexin rushed up the rope, but Yuanshun cut its anchor and sent him falling.
• Qin Tiexin caught a curved blade and a short axe embedded in the cliff, then grabbed the cave entrance as Spiritual Qi entered his meridians and healed his wounds.
• Qin Tiexin endured Yuanshun’s staff strike, vaulted into the cave, and knocked Yuanshun and two monks to the ground.
• Yuanshun ordered the others to kill Qin Tiexin, and the three monks attacked him with a saber and two staffs.

Qin Tiexin fought Yuanshun and the other monks in the narrow cave, enduring their attacks while struggling to replenish his barrier. When Yuanshun offered Spirit Stones to negotiate, Qin Tiexin realized he could access his storage ring and brought out Edgeless, leaving the fight poised to change.

• Qin Tiexin held off the monks’ attacks with his barrier and powerful fists, while Yuanshun’s staff struck through his defenses with hidden force.
• Qin Tiexin cracked the shield-bearing monk’s artifact shield and blasted him into the cave wall, but Yuanshun struck Qin Tiexin from behind.
• The monks and Qin Tiexin fought to a stalemate as his barrier weakened and the monks’ weapons took damage.
• Yuanshun offered thirty thousand, then fifty thousand Spirit Stones to end the fight, pointing out that Qin Tiexin had no weapon.
• Qin Tiexin withdrew his barrier, opened his storage ring, and summoned the massive black saber Edgeless onto the cave floor.

Qin Tiexin revealed Edgeless and overwhelmed Yuanshun’s monks, killing two and leaving a third badly injured. Yuanshun took a Blood Essence Pill and charged Qin Tiexin with his empowered staff.

• Qin Tiexin drew Edgeless and charged the monks after Yuanshun realized the intelligence about him might be wrong.
• Qin Tiexin split the shield-bearing monk’s tower shield and cleaved him in two with a single strike.
• Qin Tiexin swept his saber through the other attackers, killing the staff-bearing monk and injuring the saber-bearing monk.
• Yuanshun swallowed a Blood Essence Pill, unleashed the Vajra Demon-Subduing Staff Technique, and lunged at Qin Tiexin.

Qin Tiexin held off Yuanshun’s relentless staff and talisman attacks in the cave, then used Yuanshun’s momentum to knock him to the edge of the entrance. Yuanshun teetered over the drop as Qin Tiexin charged at him with Edgeless aimed at his heart.

• Yuanshun unleashed rapid staff strikes and talismans, but Qin Tiexin blocked or broke through each attack with Edgeless.
• Qin Tiexin kept his footing and steady rhythm as Yuanshun’s spiritual power waned and he unknowingly retreated toward the cave entrance.
• Qin Tiexin let Yuanshun’s horizontal staff strike pass, causing Yuanshun to stumble forward and lose his balance.
• Qin Tiexin smashed Yuanshun’s chest with Edgeless’s flat, breaking the Glazed Glass Body-Protecting Seal and sending him flying backward.
• Yuanshun stopped himself with his staff at the cave’s edge, but Qin Tiexin charged at him with the blade aimed at his heart.

Qin Tiexin killed Yuanshun with Shatter the Mountain after enduring his desperate counterattack, then broke free of a formation master’s vines and stopped him from escaping. The formation master lay helpless before Qin Tiexin after Qin punched the spiritual power from his Dantian.

• Qin Tiexin drove Shatter the Mountain through Yuanshun’s golden barrier and killed him despite Yuanshun’s pleas and threats.
• Qin Tiexin collapsed from exhaustion, but dark green vines rose from the cave floor and tried to drag him toward the entrance.
• Qin Tiexin used his physical strength to snap the vines and broke free of the formation master’s attack.
• The formation master ran toward the cave’s exit, but Qin Tiexin struck his calf with a broken spear and made him fall.
• Qin Tiexin punched the formation master in the Dantian, dispersing the spiritual power left in his body.

Qin Tiexin killed Yuanding after learning that Golden Summit Temple had infiltrated Withering and Flourishing Temple and was hunting Mingjue while searching for a Pure Land Chan Sect relic. He and Lin Chuan regrouped in the valley and left the bodies and scattered weapons behind to return later.

• Qin Tiexin interrogated Yuanding, who revealed Golden Summit Temple's infiltration, its mission to find a sacred relic, and its connection to Zhaoming Temple's destruction and great bell.
• Qin Tiexin killed Yuanding, while Lin Chuan killed the two monks remaining in the valley.
• Qin Tiexin collected the fallen monks' valuables and Law Artifact wreckage, concealed Edgeless, and burned the corpses with Vajra Flame.
• Qin Tiexin used broken weapons along the cliff to descend safely into the valley and met Lin Chuan.
• Qin Tiexin took Yuanshun's storage ring and monk's staff, then left with Lin Chuan to return later for the corpses and scattered weapons.

Lin Chuan and Qin Tiexin returned from the gorge after defeating the ambushers, who Qin Tiexin revealed were from Withering and Flourishing Temple. The group recovered, shared the spoils according to their usual rules, and examined the damaged artifacts before preparing to leave.

• Du Heng, Liu Suifeng, and Xu Ying welcomed Lin Chuan and Qin Tiexin back from the gorge and treated their injuries.
• Qin Tiexin told the group that Withering and Flourishing Temple had helped destroy Zhaoming Temple and had ambushed them to kill him.
• Lin Chuan and Du Heng said the group had faced a common enemy, and Xu Ying provided Qin Tiexin with supplies to treat his wounds.
• Qin Tiexin offered the spoils to Xu Ying, but Lin Chuan explained that individually obtained loot belonged to the person who claimed it and jointly obtained loot would be split equally.
• Du Heng examined Yuanshun's monk's staff, Liu Suifeng took formation plate fragments, and Qin Tiexin stored the remaining artifact wreckage for salvage.

Lin Chuan’s group crossed the spirit-barren canyon and continued northeast through the ancient battlefield, mapping the route and inspecting the Pure Land Chan Sect’s ruined supply points. They discovered signs that someone had visited the third stockpile site within the past several decades.

• Qin Tiexin and Du Heng cleared a path through the boulders, allowing the group to leave the spirit-barren canyon and regain access to Spiritual Qi.
• Liu Suifeng copied the recovered maps onto his formation disc and led the group toward the ancient battlefield, where he recorded terrain, spiritual power, and spatial rifts.
• Lin Chuan set collecting seawater as the group’s priority and told them to avoid detours for distant discoveries.
• The group inspected two ruined supply points and found that both had been destroyed and stripped of anything useful.
• At the third supply point, Qin Tiexin sensed buried traces of metallic spiritual power, and Liu Suifeng found recent pry marks where a formation-foundation Spirit Stone had been removed.

Qin Tiexin and his companions discovered and buried the remains of a Golden Core cultivator, then detected other cultivators gathering in the northeast. The group rested and resumed their approach, wary that the strangers might be hostile.

• Qin Tiexin found a storage ring on the remains of a Pure Land Chan Sect cultivator who had died in battle over a thousand years earlier.
• Qin Tiexin examined the ring and found old monk's robes, a bronze Pill Furnace, and three Golden Core pill formulas, but no Spirit Stones, pills, or law artifacts.
• Lin Chuan and the others respectfully reburied the cultivator, and Liu Suifeng marked the grave's location.
• Liu Suifeng detected at least five or six cultivators to the northeast, and Lin Chuan ordered the group to rest before moving toward them.
• The group crossed into low hills and noticed more cultivators gathering ahead, while Lin Chuan warned everyone to stay alert.

Qin Tiexin's group reached a sealed cave belonging to the ancient Spirit Taming Sect and reunited with Lin Wei and her team. The seal appeared to screen entrants for beast-taming talent, and Lin Wei urged Lin Chuan to enter with her to seek the sect's inheritance.

• Qin Tiexin's group found a cave entrance surrounded by active golden Spirit Runes, where several teams of cultivators had gathered.
• Lin Wei ran to greet Lin Chuan and Qin Tiexin, then introduced her teammates Liu Xiaoyu, Han Ling, and Lan Lingwei.
• Lan Lingwei explained that the cave belonged to the Spirit Taming Sect's young master, who had sealed his inheritance and valuables inside before dying from war injuries.
• Liu Suifeng examined the seal and concluded that its hidden outer layer screened cultivators while its inner layer contained a spatial formation.
• Lin Wei asked Lin Chuan to enter the cave with her so she could seek the Spirit Taming Sect's inheritance for her spirit beast, Little Red.

Lin Chuan and the others entered the sealed cave to explore the Spirit Taming Sect inheritance, while Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng stayed outside to keep watch. As the seal admitted more cultivators but turned away monks, Qin Tiexin concealed himself nearby and began examining the captured monks’ belongings.

• Lan Lingwei assured Lin Chuan that she could protect Lin Wei inside the cave, and Lin Chuan agreed to let a group enter while Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng stayed behind.
• Lan Lingwei opened the seal, and Lin Wei, Liu Xiaoyu, Han Ling, Xu Ying, Du Heng, and Lin Chuan followed her inside.
• A rogue cultivator monk failed to pass through the seal, while body cultivators and sect disciples entered and several other monks were rejected.
• Qin Tiexin used Liu Suifeng’s soundproofing and concealment array discs to hide near the entrance while keeping it in sight.
• Qin Tiexin searched three captured monks’ Storage Bags and found Spirit Stones, pills, combat talismans, a monk’s saber, Buddhist scriptures, robes, and broken Law Artifact fragments.