Recaps

Shi Sheng endured Ye Qiubai’s Sword Domain, and Ye used the pressure to temper his body and clear impurities. Shi Sheng survived and earned offers of instruction, while Lu Changsheng began the second round of testing.

• Ye Qiubai added grandmaster-level Sword Intent to the Sword Domain, creating storms around Shi Sheng and Chen Mingzhi to temper their bodies.
• Chen Mingzhi lost his will to endure, spat blood, and was thrown out of the Sword Domain, leaving Shi Sheng alone.
• Shi Sheng withstood the Sword Intent for more than two hours as impurities seeped from his body and his constitution improved.
• Ye Qiubai withdrew the Sword Domain, and Shi Sheng thanked him for the opportunity.
• Ye Qiubai offered to introduce Shi Sheng to his master, while Qin Tiannan offered to take him as a disciple if the Cottage refused him.
• Lu Changsheng began the second round of testing.

Lu Changsheng successfully repositioned the three arrays, allowing the Nine Nether Yellow Springs Grand Array to unleash its destructive attack. After the system assigned him a special disciple recruitment mission for Shi Sheng, Lu Changsheng headed to the Southern Region Hidden Dao Academy to find him.

• Lu Changsheng moved the three small arrays away from the core of the Nine Nether Yellow Springs Grand Array and asked Willow Tree to test the arrangement.
• The grand array gathered power and fired a pillar of destructive light that destroyed the willow-leaf puppet before Willow Tree's defensive barrier stopped it.
• Lu Changsheng declared the array's improved power sufficient to deal with attackers for the time being, then asked Hong Ying to make him food.
• The system gave Lu Changsheng a special recruitment mission for Shi Sheng, whose talent was D-rank and whose aptitude was listed as none, but who had strong potential for development.
• Lu Changsheng set off for the Southern Region Hidden Dao Academy to recruit Shi Sheng, leaving Hong Ying holding the prepared fish soup.

Lu Changsheng appeared at the admissions square and chose Shi Sheng as his disciple, surprising everyone and disappointing Qin Tiannan, who had hoped to take Shi Sheng himself. Lu Changsheng took Shi Sheng and Ye Qiubai back to the Cottage, while the remaining applicants decided whether to stay at the Hidden Dao Academy.

• Ye Qiubai praised Shi Sheng for enduring his Grandmaster Sword Domain and promised to recommend him to Lu Changsheng.
• Lu Changsheng arrived unnoticed and asked for Shi Sheng, then offered to take him as his disciple.
• Qin Tiannan protested that Lu Changsheng was taking away a promising student, but agreed to let Shi Sheng join the Cottage.
• Shi Sheng accepted Lu Changsheng's offer, bowed to him, and became his disciple.
• Lu Changsheng took Shi Sheng and Ye Qiubai back to the Cottage, while Qin Tiannan addressed the remaining applicants.

Lu Changsheng welcomed Shi Sheng into the Cottage and began preparing to raise his talent and potential to the system’s required level. He refined a Nirvana Remodeling Pill with the little bird’s Nirvana Fire and gave it to Shi Sheng, while Mu Wan’er learned from watching the process.

• Lu Changsheng gave Shi Sheng the Chaos Stars Record and Falling Star Divine Axe, then brought him to the Cottage, where Hong Ying and Ning Chenxin welcomed him.
• At dinner, Mu Wan’er asked Lu Changsheng why he had not accepted her as a disciple, and he told her it was not yet time.
• Lu Changsheng decided to use a Nirvana Remodeling Pill to improve Shi Sheng’s innate constitution and invited Mu Wan’er to observe him refining it.
• Lu Changsheng borrowed Nirvana Fire from the little bird and completed the powerful pill, then trapped it after it attacked him.
• Lu Changsheng gave the Nirvana Remodeling Pill to Shi Sheng and told him to take it.

Lu Changsheng gave Shi Sheng a Nirvana Remodeling Pill to transform his weak constitution, and Shi Sheng endured its agonizing effects with Lu Changsheng’s protection and encouragement. After ten days, his bones, meridians, and dantian were remodeled, leaving him reborn with a wisp of Nirvana Fire before he passed out.

• The little bird recognized the pill Lu Changsheng gave Shi Sheng and warned that it could kill him, but Shi Sheng swallowed it without hesitation.
• The pill’s Nirvana Fire overwhelmed Shi Sheng, and Lu Changsheng protected his heart meridians, dantian, and soul while urging him to endure.
• Lu Changsheng reminded Shi Sheng that he had joined the Cottage to change his fate, and Shi Sheng drew strength from his wish to extend his parents’ lives.
• The pill shattered Shi Sheng’s bones, then rebuilt them as he resisted the pain and refused to lose consciousness.
• After three days, Shi Sheng’s meridians had been widened, and by the tenth day his bones, meridians, and dantian were remodeled.
• Shi Sheng completed his rebirth with a wisp of Nirvana Fire remaining in his body, then relaxed and passed out.

The Heavenly Spirit Sect resolved to continue its plan as the realm war approached, while Hong Ying began uniting the Wilderness Realm’s forces by rebuilding the Cloud Phoenix Empire. The news of her return as Empress Yunhuang spread across the continent, and Xiao Hei awakened with a noticeable change.

• Seven leaders of the Heavenly Spirit Sect agreed to proceed with their plan despite the threat from the Wilderness Realm.
• Shi Sheng survived the Nirvana Remodeling Pill and gained S-rank talent and the Nirvana Physique, then Ye Qiubai carried him to rest.
• Hong Ying told Lu Changsheng that she planned to unite the continent’s forces against the Upper Realm, and Lu Changsheng gave her his support.
• Half a month later, Hong Ying rebuilt the Cloud Phoenix Empire with the Nine Heavens Division and was revealed as Empress Yunhuang.
• Xiao Hei awoke from his contemplation, and everyone at the Cottage sensed that something about him had changed.

Xiao Hei’s memories began to stir, while Hong Ying faced growing opposition to rebuilding the Cloud Phoenix Empire and the Buddhist Sect resolved to stop her. After a hundred days, reports of a possible divine treasure in the Land of the Extreme North spread.

• After returning from the Sunset Dynasty, Xiao Hei spent dozens of days in a daze, then told Lu Changsheng that he felt compelled to do something but could not remember what.
• Lu Changsheng told Xiao Hei to focus on cultivation until he recovered more memories, and resolved to look for clues to Xiao Hei’s memory fragments.
• Qin Tiannan told Lu Changsheng that the Hidden Dao Academy and Hidden Sword Sect would support Hong Ying’s efforts to rebuild the Cloud Phoenix Empire.
• Four Buddhist Sect elders agreed to oppose the empire’s restoration and help the Upper Realm in hopes of earning passage there.
• Hong Ying and the Nine Heavens Division decided to rebuild their strength gradually rather than ask Lu Changsheng to intervene.
• A hundred days later, news spread that immense Spiritual Qi fluctuations in the Land of the Extreme North might signal the emergence of a divine treasure.

A divine treasure’s emergence in the Extreme Northern Icefield drew factions from across the continent, and Lu Changsheng suspected the Heart of the Realm had revealed itself. While Hong Ying and the Cottage disciples headed north, Lu Changsheng concealed the Wilderness Realm’s presence and set traps along the Heavenly Road to delay the Upper Realm’s descent.

• Hong Ying decided to seek the divine treasure as the first battle in rebuilding the Cloud Phoenix Empire, and factions across the continent set out for the Extreme Northern Icefield.
• Lu Changsheng refused to go, but Ye Qiubai, Ning Chenxin, and Xiao Hei persuaded him to let them accompany Qin Tiannan and help Hong Ying.
• Lu Changsheng suspected the Heart of the Realm’s manifestation could alert the Upper Realm and bring its forces down before Hong Ying had recovered her strength.
• Lu Changsheng sealed the Wilderness Realm’s presence around the ruined Heavenly Road and laid isolation and killing arrays to weaken any forces that tried to descend.
• The factions gathered outside the Extreme Northern Icefield, but the harsh conditions and powerful Devil Beasts obstructed their way into its depths.

Northern Plain City hosted titan-level forces gathering over a suspected divine object in the Extreme Northern Icefield, while its guests also discussed the rebuilding of the ancient Cloud Phoenix Empire. The chapter ended with a Central Region figure dismissing the empire’s chances of regaining its former power.

• Sects and forces from across the four regions crowded Northern Plain City after a divine object was suspected to have appeared in the Extreme Northern Icefield.
• Bei Ling welcomed the gathered forces at Beiyuan Restaurant on behalf of his father, City Lord Bei Feng.
• Guests discussed the Spiritual Qi storm and the dangers of reaching the Extreme Northern Icefield, which likely required Void God Realm experts.
• Dean Yan and Lin Rufeng warned that old powers might emerge, including the Sunset Dynasty's old sovereign, who they suspected was already in Northern Plain City.
• Bei Ling raised the rebuilding of the Cloud Phoenix Empire, and a figure on the third level scoffed that it could not regain its former strength.

At Beiyuan Restaurant, Murong Mou and the Buddhist Sect opposed rebuilding the Cloud Phoenix Empire, drawing several factions to their side. Bei Feng then declared that Northern Plain City wanted peace, signaling his opposition to the empire’s return.

• Murong Mou publicly argued that rebuilding the Cloud Phoenix Empire would risk repeating the continent’s past destruction, and Yun Ming defended the empire’s old campaign plans.
• Hong Ying remained calm and let Yun Ming speak, while the Nine Heavens Division waited for her order to act.
• The Buddhist Sect rejected the empire’s rebuilding, and several other factions joined the opposition as the Mu Lineage, Li Clan, and Pill Sect withheld their positions.
• Hong Ying stopped the furious Yun Ming from acting, judging that force would turn the factions against her cause.
• Bei Feng arrived at Beiyuan Restaurant, and after Murong Mou asked him to choose sides, Bei Feng said Northern Plain City wished to develop in peace, signaling opposition to the Cloud Phoenix Empire.

Bei Feng questioned the Cloud Phoenix Empire’s strength and led the gathered factions toward the Extreme Northern Icefield in search of a divine object. Hong Ying guided her Cottage companions and allies into the depths, where an unknown presence prepared to make a choice.

• Bei Feng said Northern Plain City opposed the Cloud Phoenix Empire’s ambition to conquer the Heavenly Road and doubted Hong Ying had the strength to rebuild it.
• The factions gathered outside the Extreme Northern Icefield, where five powers revealed Void God Realm experts and Northern Plain City, the Murong Clan, and the Buddhist Sect stood allied.
• Ye Qiubai, Ning Chenxin, and Xiao Hei arrived, and Ye Qiubai told Hong Ying that the Cottage would share in her affairs.
• The factions entered the Extreme Northern Icefield, and Hong Ying offered to guide her group through the depths.
• Inside a cavern, an unknown presence beside a luminous sphere said little time remained and that it had to make a choice.

After the Nirvana Remodeling Pill expelled Shi Sheng’s impurities and improved his physique, he began cultivating the Chaos Stars Record with the Falling Star Divine Axe. He opened a Starry Sky Dantian and surged to the middle-stage Water Overflow Realm, while Hong Ying’s party encountered the city lord of Northern Plain City on the Extreme Northern Icefield.

• Shi Sheng woke to find his bamboo bed stained with foul-smelling impurities, and Lu Changsheng explained that the Nirvana Remodeling Pill had expelled them as it remodeled his physique.
• Shi Sheng washed the bamboo bed, then asked Lu Changsheng whether he needed to cultivate; Lu Changsheng ordered him to cultivate while he rested.
• Shi Sheng studied the Chaos Stars Record, learned that he needed the Power of the Stars to open a Starry Sky Dantian, and used the Falling Star Divine Axe to draw that power.
• Shi Sheng entered the Celestial Person State and, after three days, opened his Starry Sky Dantian and reached the introductory stage of the Chaos Stars Record.
• Shi Sheng’s cultivation surged past Golden Core and Purple Mansion to the middle-stage Water Overflow Realm, and Lu Changsheng received information that Shi Sheng had SS-rank talent and the Nirvana Physique and Star Physique.
• Hong Ying’s party encountered the city lord of Northern Plain City and his companions on the Extreme Northern Icefield.

Hong Ying’s party met Bei Feng and the Murong Clan in the middle reaches of the Extreme Northern Icefield, where Murong Yi questioned their support for rebuilding the Cloud Phoenix Empire. Ye Qiubai declared that the Cottage would stand with Hong Ying, and Murong Yi challenged him to exchange pointers with Murong Mou.

• Bei Feng met Hong Ying’s party and questioned how they had reached the middle reaches of the icefield so quickly.
• Murong Mou asked whether the Hidden Dao Academy and Hidden Sword Sect truly supported rebuilding the Cloud Phoenix Empire, and Lin Rufeng’s Sword Intent forced Murong Yi to intervene.
• Murong Yi suggested that Ye Qiubai and Murong Ce should have been allies, but Ye rejected his overture and warned Murong Mou to watch his words.
• Ye Qiubai, Ning Chenxin, and Xiao Hei stood with Hong Ying, and Ye declared that the Cottage would clear any obstacles in her way.
• Murong Yi questioned whether the Cottage could oppose the entire continent, and Ye invited him to try.
• Murong Yi told Murong Mou to exchange pointers with Ye Qiubai.

Ye Qiubai faced Murong Mou in a fight to the death and shattered his Sea of Clouds and Monstrous Waves Array with Sword Ancestor Sword Intent. He charged at Murong Mou, but Murong Yi appeared to shield him, and Ye Qiubai drew the Dark Demon Sword and sped toward Murong Yi.

• Murong Mou challenged Ye Qiubai to a fight to the death without suppressing his cultivation, and Ye Qiubai accepted.
• Murong Mou unleashed his strongest array, the Sea of Clouds and Monstrous Waves Array, trapping Ye Qiubai in crushing waves.
• Xiao Hei, Ning Chenxin, Hong Ying, and Ye Qiubai compared Murong Mou's array unfavorably with their master's techniques, angering Murong Mou.
• Ye Qiubai released Sword Ancestor Sword Intent, pierced through the array, and cleaved it apart with a swing of his wooden sword.
• Ye Qiubai charged at Murong Mou, but Murong Yi stepped in front of him, so Ye Qiubai drew the Dark Demon Sword and rushed at Murong Yi.

Ye Qiubai and Xiao Hei fought Murong Yi and Murong Mou while Dean Yan and Lin Rufeng kept Bei Feng and the Buddhist Sect elder from intervening. Xiao Hei overwhelmed Murong Yi, and Ye Qiubai killed Murong Mou, deciding the battle.

• Xiao Hei blocked Murong Yi and shattered his Sea of Clouds and Monstrous Waves Array with a punch.
• Ye Qiubai slipped past Murong Yi to attack Murong Mou while Xiao Hei kept Murong Yi occupied.
• Murong Yi called for Bei Feng and the Buddhist Sect elder to help, but Dean Yan and Lin Rufeng stopped them.
• Murong Yi used the Murong Clan's Transforming the Body into an Array secret art, but Xiao Hei shattered his flaming halberd and battered him.
• Ye Qiubai pierced Murong Mou between the brows and annihilated his soul.

After Xiao Hei killed Murong Yi, the group continued into the depths of the Extreme Northern Icefield and reached a Spiritual Qi storm blocking their way to their goal. Bei Feng proposed that the gathered forces join forces to cross it, and they agreed to try before competing for what lay inside.

• Xiao Hei killed Murong Mou and then destroyed Murong Yi’s meridians, defeating the Early Void God Realm formation specialist with overwhelming physical strength.
• A willow leaf from Willow Tree suppressed Xiao Hei’s Devil Qi before he lost control, and a third marking appeared on his fist as he advanced in the Eternal Devil Body.
• Ye Qiubai and the others continued through the icefield until they encountered many Void God Realm Devil Beasts and an immense Spiritual Qi storm blocking their path.
• Bei Feng, the Buddhist Sect elder, and other forces arrived and waited as the storm raged for a day.
• Bei Feng proposed that the forces cooperate to get through the storm and then rely on their own abilities to claim what lay within, and everyone agreed.

Shi Sheng struggled to understand how to cultivate with the Chaos Stars Record until Lu Changsheng carried him into the starry sky, where he entered the Celestial Person State and began to comprehend the stars. His insight awakened the first star in his Starry Sky Dantian.

• Shi Sheng pondered how to cultivate using the power of the stars while Lu Changsheng watched the night sky with Mu Wan'er.
• Shi Sheng asked Lu Changsheng to take him among the stars, and Lu Changsheng carried him into the sky.
• Shi Sheng entered the Celestial Person State again, and Willow Tree explained that his pure devotion to giving his parents eternal life shaped his cultivation path.
• Shi Sheng observed the stars and understood their power as boundless, accepting, weighty, and present in their final afterglow.
• Shi Sheng remembered his parents and his father's promise to become a star, and a star began to shine in his Starry Sky Dantian.

Shi Sheng cultivated the Chaos Stars Record, broke through to the Qianyuan Realm, and glimpsed a mysterious castle of starlight that called him to seek it out. Meanwhile, Bei Feng led the Northern Region factions into an alliance to enter the Spiritual Qi storm in the Extreme Northern Icefield.

• Shi Sheng lit the first star in his starry sky dantian and broke through to the late Qianyuan Realm.
• Shi Sheng saw a castle of starlight above the stars, but it vanished at dawn after a voice told him he was still not enough.
• Shi Sheng asked Lu Changsheng about the castle, and Lu Changsheng urged him to pursue his own Dao despite not knowing what it was.
• Shi Sheng resolved to seek the castle of starlight in addition to freeing his parents from the mortal cycle of life and death.
• Bei Feng organized the Northern Region factions into an alliance, assigning the Void God Realm experts to protect the formation while the Qianyuan Realm experts stabilized it.
• Bei Feng told the alliance to set off toward the Spiritual Qi storm, where they would compete for any treasures they found.

The allied factions advanced through the Spiritual Qi storm, but two Void God Realm Devil Beasts approached, leaving the nine experts maintaining the barrier unable to fight. Bei Feng maneuvered the Cottage into confronting them, and Ye Qiubai agreed to let Xiao Hei handle both after securing protective treasures from the factions, including Bei Feng.

• Nine Void God Realm experts maintained a barrier as the factions advanced through the Spiritual Qi storm, while Ye Qiubai and the others conserved their strength.
• Li Heng sensed two Void God Realm Devil Beasts approaching, and Bei Feng and the Buddhist Sect elder pushed Ye Qiubai to have the Cottage deal with them.
• Ye Qiubai accepted Bei Feng's open stratagem and chose Xiao Hei to fight both Devil Beasts so he could temper his Eternal Devil Body.
• Ye Qiubai stipulated that the fight would take place outside the barrier and secured protective treasures from the factions, including a suit of armor from Bei Feng.

Xiao Hei fought two Void God Realm Serrated White Rats outside the Spiritual Qi barrier and killed them with overwhelming physical strength. He stood bloodied after their gruesome deaths, leaving the onlookers shaken by his power.

• Xiao Hei left the Spiritual Qi barrier and charged at the two Serrated White Rats despite the Spiritual Qi storm battering him.
• Xiao Hei struck the rats’ fangs with both fists, cracking them and sending the beasts flying.
• The Serrated White Rats activated their Bloodthirsty Berserk bloodline power, doubling their speed and strength and threatening to drain Xiao Hei’s blood if they wounded him.
• Ye Qiubai refused Li Heng’s offer to help Xiao Hei, saying Xiao Hei could handle the fight himself.
• Xiao Hei shattered one rat’s fangs, smashed its head, then used the other rat’s fangs to destroy its eyes and skull.
• Xiao Hei killed both Serrated White Rats and stood covered in blood as the onlookers reacted with shock and concern.

Kong Jianghan discovered that the Heavenly Spirit Sect could no longer sense the Wilderness Realm and suspected a white-robed man had concealed it with a formation. He sent the grand elder to investigate, where the formation resisted Ping Ling’s attack.

• The old man reported that the sensing formation had been unable to detect the lower realm for two days, and Kong Jianghan ruled out spatial turbulence or a malfunction.
• Kong Jianghan suspected the white-robed man and ordered the grand elder to investigate the Wilderness Realm for a concealment formation.
• The grand elder led ten people through the Heavenly Road and found that a formation blocked his presence at the entrance to the Wilderness Realm.
• The grand elder sent an inner sect elder to inform Kong Jianghan and ordered Ping Ling to destroy the formation.
• Ping Ling struck the formation with a palm attack, but it left no ripple, so he drew his saber.

Lu Changsheng realized the Heavenly Spirit Sect had found the screening formation, then went back to his afternoon nap. When the sect’s Great Elder and eight experts attacked it, Lu Changsheng’s formations killed the eight and drove the Great Elder back to the Heavenly Spirit Realm.

• Lu Changsheng noticed that the screening formation had been discovered and decided to study concealment formations another day.
• Ping Ling attacked the screening formation with his saber, but was silently annihilated before his strike could reach it.
• The Great Elder and eight Heavenly Spirit Sect experts joined forces to attack the formation, but Jianmu branches blocked their strikes without damage.
• The Spatial Lockdown Grand Array hindered the nine experts, and an unseen attack killed all eight besides the Great Elder.
• The Great Elder escaped by tearing through space, though the effort crippled his cultivation for at least three years, and fled to report what had happened.

After crossing the Spiritual Qi storm, the factions discovered the Heart of the Realm, a source of spiritual power whose destruction would doom the world. As the factions coveted it, Bei Feng steered them toward attacking the Cottage, and the Buddhist Sect demanded that its members withdraw.

• The nine Void God Realm experts crossed the Spiritual Qi storm and found a sphere of concentrated Spiritual Qi that they hoped could help them reach the Emperor Realm.
• Hong Ying explained to Ning Chenxin, Ye Qiubai, and Xiao Hei that the sphere was the Heart of the Realm, and that damaging it would destroy the realm; the Cottage members vowed not to let others obtain it.
• Ren Dongsheng asked how the factions would divide the divine object, and Bei Feng proposed eliminating some factions before the contest began.
• Ye Qiubai realized Bei Feng was likely targeting the Cottage, while Dean Yan and Lin Rufeng moved closer to protect it.
• The Buddhist Sect elder demanded that the Cottage withdraw, then revealed two early Void God Realm elders and six bodhisattvas; several factions, including the Eastern Extremity Sect, moved toward the Buddhist Sect.

Bei Feng rallied six Void God Realm experts and demanded that the Cottage withdraw, but Ye Qiubai and the others refused, and Hong Ying challenged their enemies. The battle began with the Cottage’s disciples facing four Void God Realm opponents while Lin Rufeng and Dean Yan engaged two others.

• Bei Feng gathered Ren Dongsheng, He Cheng, a Styx Sect expert, and other allies, giving his side six Void God Realm experts, while some factions waited to see how events unfolded.
• Ye Qiubai rejected Bei Feng’s demand that the Cottage withdraw and warned that factions that had threatened them before had been destroyed.
• Hong Ying stepped forward to challenge the assembled forces, and Ye Qiubai, Xiao Hei, and Ning Chenxin joined her as Bei Feng ordered everyone to attack.
• The six Void God Realm experts unleashed their powers, while Lin Rufeng and Dean Yan stepped forward to fight alongside the Cottage.
• Ren Dongsheng attacked Ye Qiubai, but Lin Rufeng intercepted him, and Dean Yan engaged He Cheng.
• Hong Ying charged the Styx Sect elder, Ye Qiubai and Ning Chenxin attacked Buddhist Sect elders, and Xiao Hei rushed toward another opponent as Bei Feng resolved to eliminate the Cottage.

Hong Ying fought Ming Ao, the Styx Sect's supreme elder, while the Cottage's side faced a six-to-three disadvantage in Void God Realm experts. Her spear strike matched Ming Ao's Nether River, and she then launched a Spear of Samsara at his dangerous Nether Qi technique.

• Hong Ying charged Ming Ao, who summoned the Nether River and praised her talent while offering to take her as his disciple.
• Ye Qiubai and Hong Ying rejected Ming Ao's offer and defended their master, Lu Changsheng, as Ye Qiubai fought the Buddhist Sect elder.
• Ming Ao pressed Hong Ying from all sides with the Nether River, but her spear gleam stopped its advance and met it evenly.
• Ming Ao formed a gigantic ball of Nether Qi, while Li Yan warned that piercing it would trigger a destructive eruption.
• Hong Ying gathered Intent of Samsara into an enormous Spear of Samsara and thrust it at the Nether Qi ball; Lin Rufeng urged her to retreat, but Dean Yan trusted her ability.