Recaps

Mu Fusheng overwhelmed Shen Han with six kinds of Ancient Divine Lightning after Shen Han threatened his fellow disciples from the Cottage. When Shen Han tried to escape the God Ascension Ruins by detonating himself behind a powerful defensive scroll, Mu Fusheng struck him from behind with a hidden bolt of gray lightning.

• Mu Fusheng used talismans to restrain Shen Han and unleashed six lightning dragons that shattered Shen Han's Sword Intent and battered him into the ground.
• Shen Han emerged wounded, and his divine upper-grade treasured sword broke apart as Mu Fusheng approached.
• Shen Han threatened Mu Fusheng and the Mortal Realm, prompting Mu Fusheng to attack with a spear formed from six kinds of Ancient Divine Lightning.
• Shen Han's array scroll blocked the spear, and he began swelling as Qi Wu warned that he planned to detonate his body and send his soul out of the God Ascension Ruins.
• A bolt of gray lightning pierced Shen Han's chest, and Mu Fusheng revealed that he had more than six kinds of Ancient Divine Lightning.

Mu Fusheng killed Shen Han with Purple Firmament Divine Lightning, then imprisoned Chu Xiang and the others before rushing to help his fellow disciples. He and Jiu Bailu arrived to find one Divine Miracle Academy student badly injured, while Gu Sheng restrained their remaining Divine Realm opponent.

• Shen Han recognized the lightning piercing his chest as Purple Firmament Divine Lightning, and Mu Fusheng used it to destroy Shen Han's body and soul.
• Mu Fusheng left Qi Wu to handle the scene, then set up a talisman prison around Chu Xiang and the others before departing with Jiu Bailu.
• Chu Xiang failed to escape the lightning cage, while Qi Wu warned him that Mu Fusheng would return to deal with him.
• Mu Fusheng and Jiu Bailu hurried across the Chu River and Han Border toward their fellow disciples.
• They arrived to find a Divine Miracle Academy student covered in blood and Gu Sheng holding their remaining Divine Realm opponent in place.

Mu Fusheng and the others defeated the remaining Divine Miracle Academy fighters and cleared the illusion forest. As Ye Qiubai recovered, Mu Fusheng disappeared to take care of something, which Jiu Bailu guessed was erasing the evidence.

• Mu Fusheng learned that Ye Qiubai had been gravely injured after using the Azure Cloud Sword against an enemy who had boosted his strength with a forbidden technique and pill.
• Mu Fusheng, Xiao Shitou, and Xiao Hei joined forces to kill the last Divine Realm expert from the Divine Miracle Academy.
• Mu Fusheng captured and killed the three students guarding the general and advisor pieces, while Xiao Shitou erased their bodies.
• Mu Fusheng let Gu Sheng go without placing a restriction on his soul after Xiao Hei said Gu Sheng was trustworthy.
• The fog dispersed, a road opened through the forest, and the chess pieces vanished; Mu Fusheng then disappeared while Ye Qiubai recovered.

Mu Fusheng dealt with the witnesses and Chu Xiang after trapping them, then joined Ye Qiubai and the others, who teased him for caring about them. The group had reunited, with Mu Fusheng having learned more about the Cangxuan Continent from Chu Xiang.

• Mu Fusheng made the three Cangxuan Academy students accept restrictions in their seas of consciousness before letting them leave.
• Qi Wu willingly accepted a restriction from Mu Fusheng, confirming their alliance.
• Mu Fusheng read Chu Xiang’s memories, learned about the Cangxuan Continent, and shattered Chu Xiang’s soul.
• Mu Fusheng used attributeless talismans to destroy the area and erase traces before leaving with Qi Wu.
• Mu Fusheng rejoined Ye Qiubai and the others, and Ye Qiubai teased him for caring so much about them.

Ye Qiubai and his companions reunited with Mu Fusheng and learned that Divine Miracle Academy had lost nearly all its students. They reached the steps leading to the God Ascension Platform, where they spotted Ding Xuan, ranked ninth on the Cangxuan Ranking, already far ahead.

• Mu Fusheng's companions teased him about his concern for Jiu Bailu, and the group left the forest together.
• Outside the God Ascension Ruins, the Divine Miracle Academy elder discovered that only two of his students' soul tablets remained intact and lamented the failure of their mission.
• Hong Ying and Ning Chenxin suspected Azure Firmament Academy had caused the Divine Miracle Academy's losses, and Hong Ying had Ning Chenxin warn the Immortal and Demon Realm leaders that the Divine Realm might target them.
• Ye Qiubai and his companions emerged from the forest and found the enormous altar, accessible by climbing ninety-nine steps.
• Jiu Bailu identified the green-robed man ahead on the forty-seventh step as Ding Xuan, the ninth-ranked person on the Cangxuan Ranking.

Ye Qiubai and his companions climbed the God Ascension Steps by replacing the Immortal Qi in their bodies with Divine Qi, rapidly overtaking Ding Xuan. Mu Fusheng grew wary of Ding Xuan’s questions, and two students from Divine Miracle Academy arrived at the foot of the steps.

• Qi Wu explained that Ding Xuan had risen to prominence in recent decades and had become difficult to read.
• Hao Tian told Ye Qiubai and the others that they had to refine the Divine Qi on each step to replace the Immortal Qi in their bodies.
• Ye Qiubai and most of his companions converted the Divine Qi and climbed the steps, while Xiao Hei and Qi Wu stayed below.
• After three days, Ye Qiubai reached the eighty-first step, ahead of Ding Xuan, while the others climbed at different paces.
• Ding Xuan asked Mu Fusheng whether Azure Firmament Academy had encountered a fortuitous opportunity, prompting Mu Fusheng to regard him as dangerous.
• Two students from Divine Miracle Academy appeared at the foot of the steps, and Qi Wu warned that they had arrived.

Jiang Yousheng and Fu Yuan arrived at the God Ascension Steps, where Qi Wu stopped them and knocked Jiang Yousheng unconscious. Seven days later, Ye Qiubai reached the God Ascension Platform, refused an offer that required him to join the Divine Realm, and returned with a token.

• Jiang Yousheng and Fu Yuan found that they were the only Divine Miracle Academy students left in the God Ascension Ruins and came to the God Ascension Steps.
• Qi Wu blocked them, then punched Jiang Yousheng and overwhelmed him with pressure until he collapsed; Fu Yuan checked on him.
• After seven more days, Ye Qiubai reached the God Ascension Platform and transformed all the Immortal Qi in his body into Divine Qi.
• An old man offered Ye Qiubai a method to undergo up to nine lightning tribulations if he joined the Divine Realm and severed ties with the other great realms, but Ye Qiubai refused.
• The divine light formed a token marked with the numeral 1, and Ye Qiubai returned to Xiao Hei and said the opportunity was a method for undergoing nine lightning tribulations.

Ye Qiubai and the others rejected the God Ascension Platform’s opportunity to undergo nine tribulation lightning strikes, while Jiang Yousheng and Fu Yuan accepted it. Azure Firmament Academy took first place and Divine Miracle Academy finished last, and the group began to leave the ruins as they wondered where Ji Qianyao was.

• Ye Qiubai explained that the God Ascension Platform offered a method to undergo nine tribulation lightning strikes, but he and the other Cottage members refused the opportunity.
• Shi Sheng, Gu Sheng, Mu Ziqing, Hao Tian, and others also declined, while Ding Xuan and Zong Yun’s choices remained unknown.
• Jiang Yousheng and Fu Yuan accepted the opportunity, and the rankings placed Azure Firmament Academy first and Divine Miracle Academy eighth.
• Jiang Yousheng threatened the others with the Divine Realm’s wrath, so Mu Fusheng called for him and Fu Yuan to be stopped, and Qi Wu killed them.
• Shi Sheng asked where Ji Qianyao was, and the group suspected she might be trapped somewhere in the ruins.
• A towering whirlpool appeared above the sea outside the God Ascension Ruins as the people aboard the ships watched.

The academies discovered that Azure Firmament Academy had taken the top seven places in the God Ascension Ruins, prompting concern that the Divine Realm might retaliate. Meanwhile, Ji Qianyao inherited the Hongmeng Heaven-Imprisoning Art, reached the mid-stage Demigod Realm, and set out to reunite with the others.

• The academies emerged from the God Ascension Ruins, and the leaders initially assumed Cangxuan Academy had placed first while Divine Miracle Academy's students had all died.
• Ding Xuan and Bi Yan revealed that Azure Firmament Academy had ranked first and Cangxuan Academy second, with Azure Firmament Academy occupying the top seven places.
• Vice Dean Lin feared the Divine Realm would act against Azure Firmament Academy, so Hong Ying told everyone to gather aboard their ship and prepare to leave if trouble arose.
• Ye Qiubai and the others waited anxiously for Ji Qianyao, but decided they could not search the vast ruins without knowing where she was.
• Ji Qianyao completed the Hongmeng Heaven-Imprisoning Art's inheritance, broke through to the mid-stage Demigod Realm, and vowed to fulfill the senior's request before reuniting with her companions.

Ji Qianyao rejoined Ye Qiubai and the others after reaching the Demigod Realm, and they returned from the God Ascension Ruins with the Classic of Mountains and Seas and the painting rod. When Divine Miracle Academy’s elder demanded a Soul Search or the artifact, Hong Ying refused, and Azure Firmament Academy escaped by teleportation, promising to repay him.

• Ji Qianyao reunited with Ye Qiubai and the others, and they left the God Ascension Ruins together.
• Divine Miracle Academy’s elder accused Azure Firmament Academy of killing his students and demanded a Soul Search or the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
• Hong Ying refused the elder’s demands as cultivators from the Immortal and Demon Realms moved to support her group.
• The elder summoned over a hundred armored cultivators and threatened to replace Hong Ying as dean.
• Hong Ying’s group activated a teleportation array powered by Heavenly Lightning Escape Talismans and vanished, with Hong Ying promising the elder they would repay him another day.

News of Azure Firmament Academy’s victory and its acquisition of the Classic of Mountains and Seas spread through the Chaos Realm, while Lu Changsheng learned more about the treasure from Qi Wu. Comparing Qi Wu’s fragmentary page with the others, Lu Changsheng suspected the world was far more complicated than it seemed.

• The Listening Wind Pavilion’s master decided to sell information about the Six Realms Academy Exchange, including the details the Divine Realm had suppressed, despite concerns about the rising Dark Domain.
• Qi Wu joined Ye Qiubai and the Azure Firmament Academy group, while Vice Dean Lin returned to Chaotic Spirit Academy with Tan Zongzhao and Gu Sheng chose to stay and train with the group.
• Hong Ying activated Lu Changsheng’s spatial node and brought the group back to Azure Firmament Academy, where Qi Wu met Lu Changsheng.
• Qi Wu told Lu Changsheng that the Classic of Mountains and Seas contained seventy-five scattered exotic beasts and that its Heaven Rod and Earth Rod could unlock some of its powers.
• Qi Wu gave Lu Changsheng his fragmentary page; after comparing it with the other three pages, Lu Changsheng grew certain that the world was not simple.

After discovering that the four loose pages matched the Classic of Mountains and Seas from his previous life, Lu Changsheng learned from Willow Tree about a mysterious world where the same exotic beasts had fought people. He decided to investigate the connected mysteries and set out with Huang Qian and his companions.

• Lu Changsheng learned that the Earth Rod was somewhere on the Devil Beast Continent and told Ye Qiubai and the others to search for it after a short rest.
• Lu Changsheng gave Qi Wu a powerful pill as payment, then Ye Qiubai and the others agreed to show Qi Wu around the Mortal Realm.
• In the Changsheng Realm, Lu Changsheng told Huang Qian to have Liu Ziru watch for loose pages of the Classic of Mountains and Seas in the Chaos Realm.
• Willow Tree recalled visiting a world where exotic beasts matching the pages fought people, and seeing a woman use the Classic of Mountains and Seas to summon a beast powerful enough to destroy a world.
• Lu Changsheng decided to investigate the mysteries and set out with Huang Qian, Xiangliu, Zhu Jiuyin, and the Bone-Winged Serpent Tiger.

Lu Changsheng and his companions searched for a remnant page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas in Phoenix Cry City, then heard reports of a phoenix cry at the sealed Phoenix Cry Sect. They infiltrated the sect to investigate, disguising themselves as two unconscious disciples.

• Lu Changsheng failed to sense the remnant page, but learned at a restaurant that a phoenix had cried at the Phoenix Cry Sect, which had sealed its grounds.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian connected the phoenix cry to events from a million years ago and considered it a possible sign of a remnant page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
• Xiangliu gathered information about the Phoenix Cry Sect, and Lu Changsheng and his companions found Phoenix Cry Mountain under heavy guard and surrounded by a barrier.
• Lu Changsheng concealed himself and Huang Qian and brought them inside the sect, where they hid in a cramped corner.
• Lu Changsheng knocked two disciples unconscious, and he and Huang Qian disguised themselves as them and imitated their presences.

Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian entered the Phoenix Cry Forbidden Land disguised as low-ranking disciples and saw a Divine Phoenix Soul appear in a pillar of fire. Lu Changsheng suspected it had been summoned through a medium, leaving them to search for the medium and the summoner to locate the Earth Rod.

• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian concealed their identities and bloodlines to pass the elders’ Phoenix Cry Stone test.
• An unfamiliar disciple recognized them as Brother Tang and Brother Liang, then explained that cultivation and bloodline strength determined how close disciples could approach the Phoenix Soul.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian passed the checkpoint with modest results and followed the disciple through a canyon lined with Divine Phoenix statues.
• The three reached a plaza where a Divine Phoenix phantom released waves of fire from a pillar of light, and the disciple sat down to endure the heat and comprehend its power.
• Lu Changsheng realized the Divine Phoenix Soul seemed to have been summoned through a medium, so he and Huang Qian set out to identify the medium and summoner and trace the Earth Rod.

Lu Changsheng traced the Divine Phoenix soul’s frenzy to a disciple and used the chaos to conceal his investigation with Huang Qian. That night, they entered the disciple’s cave abode and found a fragmentary page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas bearing a phoenix portrait.

• Lu Changsheng secretly sent Holy Qi into the Divine Phoenix soul, traced its hidden presence to a disciple in the square’s inner circle, and waited rather than confront him.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian pretended to be badly injured, then hid while the Phoenix Cry Sect elders contained the fire waves and the Divine Phoenix soul disappeared.
• After night fell, Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian left the courtyard, while the disciple checked on two unconscious disciples they had placed in their beds as decoys.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian sneaked into the disciple’s cave abode and found him drawing beside a fragmentary page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas bearing a phoenix portrait.

Lu Changsheng met Xu Yeming, whose Great Wilderness Beast Heart and connection to the Classic of Mountains and Seas made him a potential disciple, but Xu Yeming refused to trust him. The next morning, Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian were summoned to the Elders' Hall after approaching the Divine Phoenix soul.

• Lu Changsheng learned from the system that Xu Yeming had SSS-rank talent and a Great Wilderness Beast Heart, and that the system wanted him to accept Xu Yeming as a disciple.
• Xu Yeming attacked Lu Changsheng with a painted Azure-Eyed White Tiger, but Lu Changsheng restrained him and destroyed the beast with a golden light from his eyes.
• Lu Changsheng released Xu Yeming and offered to take him as his disciple, but Xu Yeming accused him of wanting the Classic of Mountains and Seas Scroll Rod and refused to trust him.
• Lu Changsheng left with Huang Qian, while Xu Yeming investigated their departure and then returned to painting with the fragmentary page put away.
• The next morning, Qin Zhan told Lu Changsheng that the elders had summoned everyone who approached the phoenix soul to the Elders' Hall, and Lu Changsheng went there with Huang Qian.

Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian entered the Divine Phoenix Hall for the bloodline test, while a senior expert investigated the phoenix statues’ reaction to Huang Qian. The Phoenix King took over the examination and unleashed his bloodline pressure, which suddenly vanished when a presence descended upon Xu Yeming.

• The phoenix statues bowed toward Huang Qian, and an old man in seclusion ordered someone to investigate anyone who showed exceptional talent in the bloodline test.
• Lu Changsheng warned Huang Qian that the statues’ reaction might attract the sect’s higher-ups, and they joined the line for testing while watching Xu Yeming.
• The Phoenix King arrived and began examining the disciples himself, summoning a phoenix phantom whose bloodline pressure forced nearly everyone to the floor.
• As Lu Changsheng watched Xu Yeming struggle under the pressure, a sudden presence descended upon him and erased the oppressive bloodline might.

Lu Changsheng concealed Xu Yeming’s awakened bloodline from the Phoenix King, then waited to learn what Xu Yeming would do. Xu Yeming triggered a second, stronger Phoenix Soul manifestation at the Phoenix Cry Sect, and Lu Changsheng chose to watch as the sect searched for him.

• The Phoenix King tested the disciples for awakened bloodlines, warned them to report any awakening, and left without discovering Xu Yeming.
• Lu Changsheng sent Qin Zhan away, waited for Xu Yeming, and heard him acknowledge a debt while refusing to involve the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
• After Xu Yeming left, Lu Changsheng investigated the Phoenix Cry Sect further, suspecting the young man was about to make a bold move.
• A second, stronger Phoenix Soul appeared in the valley, and the Phoenix King ordered the elders to secure the area and search for anyone who had approached it.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian spotted Xu Yeming hiding from the search, but Lu Changsheng refused to intervene and decided to see what he would do.

Xu Yeming tried to give the Phoenix Soul a physical body using the Classic of Mountains and Seas, but his attempt stalled until an unknown person sent him the Heaven Rod. After combining it with the Earth Rod and painting the phoenix onto the completed scroll, Xu Yeming was exposed to the Phoenix King, who chose to capture him alive.

• The Phoenix King sensed that someone had caused the Phoenix Soul to descend and ordered a search of Phoenix Cry Mountain.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian realized Xu Yeming was using the Phoenix Cry Sect’s Phoenix Soul to test whether the Earth Rod could summon a beast, and Lu Changsheng learned that Xu Yeming’s Great Wilderness Beast Heart could resonate with and accommodate exotic beasts.
• Xu Yeming’s attempt to solidify the Phoenix Soul faltered, and he feared his concealment pill was wearing off.
• An unknown person delivered the Heaven Rod to Xu Yeming, who joined it with the Earth Rod and his fragmentary page to form the Classic of Mountains and Seas scroll.
• Xu Yeming painted the phoenix onto the scroll, causing a physical body to appear over the Phoenix Soul’s phantom.
• The Phoenix King found Xu Yeming and burned away the surrounding terrain, exposing him while deliberately sparing him.

Xu Yeming completed a phoenix using the Classic of Mountains and Seas, then refused to surrender the book as the Phoenix King and Phoenix Cry Sect tried to capture him. Surrounded and nearly out of strength, he called on an unknown senior and prepared to test the Classic’s exotic beasts across Phoenix Cry Mountain.

• Xu Yeming’s fading concealment revealed his location, and the Phoenix King recognized the Classic of Mountains and Seas as the source of his work.
• The Phoenix King offered to nurture Xu Yeming if he surrendered the Classic, or kill him and take it; Lu Changsheng told Huang Qian that Xu Yeming would not die.
• Xu Yeming completed the phoenix, whose bloodline pressure shattered the valley’s restrictions and forced many disciples to kneel.
• Xu Yeming refused to hand over the Classic and rode the phoenix into the air, but the Phoenix King ordered the elders to capture him.
• Cornered, Xu Yeming entrusted his fate to an unknown senior and unleashed the phoenix’s bloodline pressure across Phoenix Cry Mountain; Qin Zhan wondered where Brother Tang and Brother Liang were.

Xu Yeming and the phoenix were overwhelmed by the Phoenix King and the elders, but Liang Yuan intervened and revealed herself as Huang Qian. Huang Qian confronted the Phoenix Cry Sect with Divine Phoenix Fire, leaving the Phoenix King and elders stunned by her power.

• The Phoenix Cry Sect Master sensed Xu Yeming’s pure Phoenix Bloodline but remained in seclusion, expecting the Phoenix King and elders to handle him.
• The Phoenix King ordered the elders to attack Xu Yeming and seize the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
• Xu Yeming used the phoenix’s Nirvana Fire to hold off the elders’ attacks, but the Phoenix King’s fire overwhelmed it and engulfed him.
• Liang Yuan appeared unharmed before Xu Yeming, then shed her disguise and revealed herself as a woman in a fiery-red dress.
• Huang Qian warned the Phoenix King that he could not kill Xu Yeming and unleashed Divine Phoenix Fire, manifesting a Divine Phoenix above the clouds.

Huang Qian revealed her Divine Phoenix Bloodline and forced the Phoenix Cry Sect to submit, while Lu Changsheng secured the sect master’s obedience and secrecy. The sect master received a pill to resolve his predicament, and the Phoenix Cry Sect was left under Huang Qian’s authority.

• Huang Qian’s Divine Phoenix presence made the Phoenix Cry Sect elders and disciples kneel, and her surging cultivation forced the Phoenix King to submit.
• The Phoenix Cry Sect Master ordered the entire sect to treat an audience with Huang Qian as an audience with him.
• Lu Changsheng, speaking through a puppet, ordered the sect master to keep the day’s events secret and place soul restrictions on the sect’s witnesses, including himself.
• Lu Changsheng warned the sect master not to harbor ill intentions toward Xu Yeming, whom he named as his disciple.
• Lu Changsheng left a fiery-red pill for the Phoenix Cry Sect Master, who thanked him and promised to remember his instructions.

After the Phoenix Cry Sect’s crisis ended, Lu Changsheng asked Xu Yeming to become his disciple, and Xu Yeming accepted. Lu Changsheng gave him a rare brush and the Great Wilderness Art, then asked why he had risked coming to the sect.

• The elders arranged for the Phoenix Cry Sect’s disciples to have restrictions planted in them, while Huang Qian assured Qin Zhan that Liang and the others were safe.
• Xu Yeming offered Lu Changsheng the Heaven Rod, but Lu Changsheng told him to keep using it and asked him to become his disciple.
• Xu Yeming accepted Lu Changsheng as his master after questioning his motives and hearing Huang Qian joke that he would have to learn to cook.
• Lu Changsheng gave Xu Yeming the Heavenly Wilderness Spirit-Controlling Brush and passed the Great Wilderness Art into his mind.
• After Xu Yeming spent three days absorbing the art, Lu Changsheng asked why he had risked coming to the Phoenix Cry Sect.

Xu Yeming told Lu Changsheng that he had risked summoning the phoenix to find Nirvana Fire for his dying parents, whose meridians had withered and Dantians had shattered. Lu Changsheng agreed to take him to them with Huang Qian, and Huang Qian clasped Lu Changsheng’s hand as they entered the spatial rift.

• Lu Changsheng confronted Xu Yeming about his hidden motive, and Xu Yeming explained that he had hoped phoenix fire could save his parents.
• Xu Yeming revealed that his human father and beast mother had been hunted by a powerful Lineage and left gravely injured.
• Xu Yeming said that his parents were near death despite treatments and that he had heard Nirvana Fire might prolong their lives.
• Lu Changsheng agreed to take Xu Yeming to his parents, with Huang Qian’s Divine Phoenix Fire offering hope of treatment.
• Lu Changsheng tore open a spatial rift, and Huang Qian took his hand as they stepped inside.

Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian saved Xu Yeming’s dying parents by restoring their vitality and rebuilding their shattered Dantians. After nine days, Xu Canghai and the white fox recovered their peak strength, and Xu Canghai asked Lu Changsheng whether he came from the Cangxuan Continent.

• Lu Changsheng followed Xu Yeming to a remote cabin and found Xu Yeming’s father and eight-tailed white fox mother gravely injured.
• Lu Changsheng used his Intent of Unending Life to restore their failing vitality, then asked Huang Qian to help rebuild their Dantians.
• Huang Qian enveloped the pair in Divine Phoenix Fire while Lu Changsheng supported the treatment, and Xu Yeming watched for nine days.
• Xu Canghai and the white fox recovered their strength and assumed human form, then knelt to thank Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian.
• Xu Canghai asked Lu Changsheng whether he was human and came from the Cangxuan Continent.