Recaps

Li Yan learned that a lightning strike had sent Baili Yuan’s group to the passage’s beginning and erased the Tai Xuan Sect cultivators, then set out alone to find Gong Chenying. A massive vortex appeared and dragged him toward it, where he saw two purple ribbons merge before losing consciousness.

• Gan Shi and Li Yan joined Baili Yuan’s group, where Baili Yuan explained that lightning had transported them to the current stage after the Tai Xuan Sect group vanished.
• Li Yan gave Baili Yuan the green gourd and restored the Five Elements balance in Baili Yuan and Gan Shi’s blue diamond crystals.
• Li Yan rejected Baili Yuan’s offer to accompany him and left alone to search for Gong Chenying.
• A huge vortex appeared behind Li Yan and pulled him backward despite his efforts to resist.
• Li Yan saw two purple ribbons merge before the vortex, then lost consciousness.

Cultivators and sect elders waited outside the Wheel of Life and Death as only seven teams remained, while Zhao Min worried about Li Yan. Far away, three emaciated figures sensed a familiar aura and spoke of returning, hinting at a coming change.

• Zhao Min watched the remaining bands of light and thought that Li Yan would be safe with Sixth Senior Sister.
• Li Wuyi and Li Changting discussed Zhao Min’s growing closeness with Li Yan and her improving relationship with her Master.
• Elder Peng, Elder Yi, and Peak Master Li suspected the other three sects had plotted against them and considered retaliating against the Supreme Mystery Sect.
• The elders of the Supreme Mystery Sect, Ten-Step Academy, and Pure Land Sect expressed confidence in their disciples and secret killing weapons inside the Wheel of Life and Death.
• Three emaciated figures rode an enormous meteoroid through a deadly void, and one sensed a familiar aura ahead and spoke of returning.

Li Yan found himself trapped in a sealed chamber filled with pure golden spiritual energy, where an ancient presence recognized the aura of the Gui Water Immortal Sect and questioned him about Dong Fuyi and the Gui Water True Scripture. After confirming Li Yan’s identity and learning that his fellow disciples had survived, the presence appeared in human form and promised him a stroke of good fortune.

• Li Yan woke in a sealed room of dense golden spiritual energy and heard an unseen voice say he could not find the exit with his current abilities.
• The voice identified the place as the former Ji Earth Immortal Sect and recognized the Gui Water Immortal Sect’s aura in Li Yan.
• A gigantic face used its Divine Sense to probe Li Yan and compelled him to reveal that Dong Fuyi had taught him the Gui Water True Scripture.
• Li Yan learned how terrifyingly powerful the presence was, then explained that Dong Fuyi had found him after searching for two million years.
• The presence told Li Yan that his fellow disciples had suffered heavy losses but that the three minor Foundation Establishment cultivators were alive.
• The presence manifested as a middle-aged man and promised Li Yan a stroke of good fortune.

Ping Tu told Li Yan the history of the secret realm, explaining how True Lord Qianzhong created it while searching the Mortal Realm for a successor to the Ji Earth Immortal Sect. He revealed that Qianzhong never returned after leaving the realm, while his disciple Pei Buchong eventually departed with three drops of Ping Tu’s source power.

• Ping Tu explained that the secret realm had been created by True Lord Qianzhong as a place to cultivate and search for successors to the five Immortal Sects.
• Ping Tu described how Qianzhong’s informants sought mixed-spiritual-root children and other valuable clues, and how the Flowing Torrent Sect was massacred after finding Qianzhong’s future disciple.
• Ping Tu told Li Yan that Qianzhong had used the Five Elements Dao-Evil Bead to create the Wheel of Life and Death and temper his disciple, Pei Buchong.
• After Pei Buchong reached the Nascent Soul Realm, Qianzhong left the secret realm after receiving a jade slip and never returned.
• Pei Buchong later reached the Spirit Transformation Realm and left to search for Qianzhong, taking three of Ping Tu’s five accumulated drops of source power for protection.

Ping Tu recounted how his slaughter of the cultivators shattered and sealed the secret realm, then explained why Li Yan had awakened him. He offered Li Yan the Five Immortals Sect’s three promised gifts and advised him to save the breakthrough opportunity for later.

• After losing more source power, Ping Tu awakened to find cultivators had spread through the secret realm and were attacking his master's cave residence and the Wheel of Life and Death.
• Ping Tu destroyed the realm's ten exits and fought five Void Refinement cultivators, detonating a drop of source power that killed two and devastated most of the realm.
• When the survivors escaped into spatial rifts, Ping Tu sealed the rifts, preserved the remaining third of the realm, and fell into a deep slumber.
• Ping Tu explained that Li Yan's entry into the Wheel of Life and Death had resonated with the Five Elements Dao-Evil Bead and awakened him.
• Ping Tu told Li Yan that the Five Immortals Sect had arranged three gifts for a destined visitor: a future breakthrough, a supreme-grade spatial treasure, and a crystal that opened a passage into and out of the realm.
• Ping Tu advised Li Yan to save the breakthrough gift for a later stage and required him to swear by a Blood Word Curse to replace the spatial treasure after reaching the Integrated Body Middle Stage.

Li Yan accepted Ping Tu’s conditions and signed an ancient blood contract to obtain Tuban, a top-grade storage treasure that could also shelter him in a secret realm. He stored his belongings inside it and received an ancient formation crystal, leaving with treasures whose powers he hoped to explore as his cultivation advanced.

• Li Yan chose to save his advancement opportunity for a later breakthrough, then asked Ping Tu about the contract and Tuban’s limits.
• Ping Tu explained that Tuban would return after five thousand years or Li Yan’s death, and that breaking the blood contract would bring inner demons; Li Yan then signed the oath with his essence blood.
• Ping Tu gave Li Yan Tuban, and Li Yan linked it to his Divine Sense, shaped it into a birthmark on his wrist, and transferred items into its spacious inner world.
• Li Yan planned to conceal Tuban and sell his spare Storage Pouches so no one would discover his treasure.
• Ping Tu gave Li Yan a soybean-sized diamond crystal engraved with an ancient formation, and Li Yan placed it inside Tuban.

Li Yan learned that the blue crystals had to remain in the Wheel of Life and Death and received Ping Tu’s guidance on the rare materials needed for his lifebound Guiyi Water-Parting Spike. Ping Tu warned that Li Yan’s team was in danger, while Gong Chenying’s fight against Demon Beasts ended with her gravely wounded.

• Ping Tu told Li Yan that the blue crystals sustained the Wheel of Life and Death and could not be taken away or absorbed freely.
• Li Yan asked where to find an Endless Roaming tree, and Ping Tu said one might grow near the Northern Abyss Sea or Mingqin Lake and described the dangers of seeking it.
• Ping Tu gave Li Yan a jade slip detailing the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike’s required materials, their sources, and nearby Demon Beasts and plants.
• Ping Tu asked whether Li Yan would wait in the secret realm or join the final stage, warning that his team was in dire circumstances.
• Gong Chenying and the Wangliang Sect fought five Demon Beasts inside the yellow sphere, using poisons to weaken and kill them.
• The longhorn beetle leader traded its life for a final lance thrust into Gong Chenying’s lower abdomen, leaving her gravely wounded.

After the Wheel of Life and Death abruptly changed its rules, Gong Chenying and the other surviving teams were transported into a vast realm and ordered to reach a central sphere. As the teams set out, immense black shadows gathered behind them and drove everyone toward the center.

• Gong Chenying's team emerged from the previous stage badly wounded, with only six people still able to fight.
• An aged voice announced that teams could fight one another freely and that reaching the central sphere would complete the trial.
• Wang Lang, Qiu Jiuzhen, and Baili Yuan each heard the announcement and began considering how to reach the center.
• Gong Chenying spotted the metallic sphere atop a distant mountain and discovered that powerful black vapor was gathering nearby.
• Gong Chenying ordered Mei Bucai and the others to flee toward the hollow's exit as the black shadows spread across the realm and drove the teams toward the center.

Gong Chenying stayed behind to delay Wang Lang while Mei Bucai and the others escaped toward the center. After Wang Lang broke through her formation and pursued her, Baili Yuan's and Qiu Jiuzhen's groups met, with Qiu Jiuzhen harrying Baili Yuan to stop him from reaching the battle.

• Gong Chenying detected Wang Lang's squad approaching and ordered Mei Bucai and the others to flee while she stayed behind to intercept them.
• Gong Chenying drove Mei Bucai's group away, gave them a spirit storage bag, and set out to trap Wang Lang with formations.
• Wang Lang entered the formation, where Gong Chenying's traps killed the three Qi Condensation Realm cultivators accompanying him.
• Wang Lang shattered the formation and pursued the injured Gong Chenying, vowing to hunt down Mei Bucai's group afterward.
• Baili Yuan's group and Qiu Jiuzhen's group encountered each other as they headed toward Wang Lang, and Qiu Jiuzhen harassed Baili Yuan to prevent his advance.

Li Yan received two precious True Essence Pills from Ping Tu and was sent to the final trial to find his injured Senior Sister. There, Gong Chenying fought Wang Lang while retreating toward the black qi, and their battle continued with her close to being overwhelmed.

• Li Yan learned that Gong Chenying was badly injured, and Ping Tu gave him two True Essence Pills before explaining how to reach the final trial.
• Ping Tu warned Li Yan not to use the round diamond crystal to leave the secret realm and sent him directly to the final trial.
• Gong Chenying fled from Wang Lang, who pursued her despite his own injuries, and she led him toward the advancing black qi.
• Wang Lang continued attacking Gong Chenying near the black qi, and she sent four azure monstrous insects against his flying swords and himself.
• Wang Lang drew a cold-radiating sword and struck as two explosions erupted; Gong Chenying coughed blood and retreated with the black shadows close behind her.

Gong Chenying and Wang Lang’s clash left both badly wounded, and Li Yan saved Gong Chenying from the deadly black shadow at great cost to himself. Li Yan discovered that the Gui Water True Scripture had eased his injuries, then carried the barely conscious Gong Chenying away while Wang Lang could only watch.

• Wang Lang renewed his attack on Gong Chenying with his flying swords, while Gong Chenying fought back using her physical strength and the azure long ge.
• Their clash broke the azure long ge and sent Gong Chenying hurtling toward the black shadow, where Li Yan caught her and took the shadow’s corrosive force on his back.
• Li Yan pushed Gong Chenying away from the shadow and struck the ground with his right fist, then used the Gui Water True Scripture to ease his pain and found his arm intact.
• Wang Lang recovered enough to suppress his bleeding and take pills, but Li Yan carried Gong Chenying away without trying to fight him.
• Li Yan examined his injuries as he fled and realized Gong Chenying’s condition was critical, so he sought a safe place to treat her.

Li Yan hid the gravely injured Gong Chenying in a concealed cave and assessed how little time they had before Wang Lang could recover. He overcame his hesitation and used a rare eighth-grade True Essence Pill to treat her, leaving the pill struggling against his control.

• Li Yan found a small cave, carried Gong Chenying inside, and used Lin Daqiao's formation flags to conceal the entrance.
• Li Yan calculated that he had less than half an incense stick to treat Gong Chenying before returning outside became dangerous.
• Li Yan disarmed Gong Chenying and removed her clothes to reach her reopened abdominal wound, then discovered her shattered organs and unstable Purple Mansion.
• Li Yan hesitated over using one of his precious True Essence Pills but decided to save Gong Chenying rather than keep it for himself.
• Li Yan took out a mid-stage eighth-grade True Essence Pill, which resisted his spiritual power as he began to administer it.

Li Yan used half of an eighth-grade pill to save the gravely wounded Gong Chenying, who dreamed of a painful childhood trial before waking. She discovered that Li Yan had seen her while treating her, and confronted him about it.

• Li Yan split the eighth-grade pill and placed one half in Gong Chenying’s wound and the other in her mouth.
• Gong Chenying dreamed of reaching into a venomous-creature-filled urn while her father and elders watched, then felt the pill’s heat and cooling effects.
• Gong Chenying woke in a cave and tried to defend herself before recognizing Li Yan.
• Li Yan apologized for his impropriety and turned away while Gong Chenying covered herself and checked that she was unharmed.
• Gong Chenying found her injuries nearly healed and realized Li Yan had seen her while treating her.
• Gong Chenying told Li Yan, “Little Junior Brother, you saw.”

Li Yan tried to explain that he had only treated Gong Chenying's wound, while she pressed him about what he had seen. As he left the cave, Li Yan realized Gong Chenying seemed ready to die there and blurted out that he had seen her ring, prompting her to ask if he had seen her navel ring.

• Li Yan told Gong Chenying that he had used an unknown pill from the five-colored space to heal her, and she lamented that the rare pill had been wasted.
• Li Yan urged Gong Chenying to leave before Wang Lang found them, but she repeatedly asked what he had seen while treating her wound.
• Li Yan admitted that he had removed her upper-body undergarment to bandage her, while insisting he had touched nothing else.
• Gong Chenying told Li Yan to go ahead while she recovered, and he left the cave believing she did not want to travel with him.
• Li Yan recognized Gong Chenying's despair as an intent to die, remembered her silver ring, and blurted out that he had seen it.
• Gong Chenying opened her eyes and asked Li Yan hoarsely whether he had seen her navel ring.

Li Yan learned that seeing Gong Chenying’s navel ring bound her by Tianli Clan custom to marry him, and he acknowledged what he had seen. Gong Chenying agreed to accompany him home after he reached Foundation Establishment, while privately resolving to pursue her own goals and reconsider her place if Li Yan and Zhao Min loved each other.

• Li Yan confirmed that he had seen Gong Chenying’s navel ring, and she took him from the cave on a white jade boat.
• Gong Chenying explained that she came from the Tianli Clan, whose customs required her to marry the unrelated man who first saw her navel ring if he acknowledged it.
• Li Yan considered the consequences of refusing and chose to tell Gong Chenying he had seen the ring, offering to take her home when he reached Foundation Establishment.
• Gong Chenying agreed to go with Li Yan and privately resolved to reach the late Golden Core Realm before deciding what to do about her feelings and Zhao Min.

Mei Bucai and five surviving disciples evaded the battles until Gan Shi discovered them and raced to their aid. As Bai Liyuan’s group regrouped with the survivors, Qiu Jiuzhen realized that unfamiliar forces had entered the region and feared the Tai Xuan Sect’s other teams had been lost.

• Mei Bucai led five disciples cautiously through the fighting, but Gan Shi detected them with his Divine Sense.
• Gan Shi followed a faint Divine Sense ripple to Mei Bucai’s group, and Bai Liyuan left Qiu Jiuzhen to pursue him.
• Gan Shi’s Divine Sense caught Mei Bucai and the others again, and they recognized his voice and celebrated their rescue.
• Gan Shi told Bai Liyuan that only six disciples remained, Gong Chenying was absent, and Li Yan was not among them; Bai Liyuan ordered his disciples to hurry ahead while he guarded the rear.
• Bai Liyuan unleashed his formidable aura, prompting nearby Divine Senses to turn away, while Qiu Jiuzhen realized unfamiliar forces were present and feared for the Tai Xuan Sect’s other teams.

Gan Shi reunited with Mei Bucai and learned that Gong Chenying had stayed behind, so he and Baili Yuan led the disciples to search for her. As Wang Lang found Li Yan and Gong Chenying aboard a flying boat, Gong Chenying sensed his Divine Sense and opened her eyes.

• Gan Shi reached Mei Bucai and the others, who lowered their poisonous mist after verifying his token.
• Mei Bucai told Gan Shi that Gong Chenying had stayed behind to cover their escape after Wang Lang seriously wounded her.
• Gan Shi and Baili Yuan led the disciples back toward the battlefield, but found only traces of the fight and no sign of Gong Chenying or Wang Lang.
• Wang Lang pursued Li Yan, discovered his flying boat traveling along the black shadow, and hesitated when Gong Chenying's aura appeared to be recovering.
• Gong Chenying sensed Wang Lang's Divine Sense sweep over the boat, recognized it, and opened her eyes.

Li Yan realized the North Sea Shadowwater could not harm him while the Gui Water True Scripture was circulating, and he used that discovery to stage a deception for Wang Lang. Gong Chen Ying escaped the black shadow after Li Yan fell into it, but Wang Lang caught up and attacked her with his Moon Becomes Shadow Cup.

• Li Yan reasoned that the Gui Water True Scripture had protected him from the North Sea Shadowwater, then secretly approached the shadow with the white jade skiff.
• Li Yan and Gong Chen Ying pretended to quarrel and lose control of the skiff, convincing Wang Lang that they were about to crash into the black shadow.
• Gong Chen Ying struck Li Yan into the black tide, then took control of the skiff and sped toward the center while Wang Lang pursued her.
• Wang Lang caught up with the injured Gong Chen Ying and confronted her as she held her broken ge.
• Gong Chen Ying attacked from above, but Wang Lang countered with his enlarged sword and released the time-wielding tea from his Moon Becomes Shadow Cup.

Gong Chenying turned the fight against Wang Lang with a surprise counterattack, and Li Yan struck him from the black shadow, forcing him to flee. Li Yan reappeared injured and naked, leaving Gong Chenying flustered before they boarded the skiff and headed toward the region's center.

• Gong Chenying used a Ghost Chariot Talisman to fend off Wang Lang's tea attack, then countered his sword strike and drove him back with her broken halberds.
• A hidden weapon shot out from the black shadow and pierced Wang Lang's back, letting Gong Chenying wound his shoulder as he staggered.
• Wang Lang swallowed a red object, his aura surged, and he fled while the weapon embedded in his back was knocked into the black shadow.
• Li Yan emerged from the black shadow injured and naked, and Gong Chenying turned away in embarrassment while he asked for his Storage Pouches.
• After Li Yan dressed and assured Gong Chenying that his injuries were minor, they boarded the white jade skiff and flew toward the region's center.

Li Yan and Gong Chenying’s ambush drove Wang Lang to flee after he took a life-burning Foundation-Borrowing Pill to survive Li Yan’s poisoned sword. As Wang Lang raced toward the secret realm’s center, the poison continued corroding him and he struggled to stay alive long enough to report his suspicions about the Phantom Sect.

• Li Yan recalled how he and Gong Chenying had tricked Wang Lang into approaching the black shadow, where Li Yan emerged to stab him with a poisoned sword.
• Gong Chenying misunderstood Li Yan’s glances and sinister smile, believing they reflected romantic interest and remembering his earlier gaze at her.
• Wang Lang swallowed a Foundation-Borrowing Pill that burned his life to protect him from harm, and his body rapidly aged.
• Wang Lang recognized the sword as Miao Zhengyi’s and suspected that the Phantom Sect had discovered secrets of the realm unknown to the other sects.
• Wang Lang fled toward the center to report his suspicions, but the poison kept corroding his body despite the pill’s protection.

Li Yan and Gong Chenying headed toward the central region while searching for their missing companions. At the metal sphere, Baili Yuan and Gan Shi outmaneuvered two Demon Cultivator groups and claimed one of the three positions, leaving Jin Chuiyan and Wu Wu'an to contest the last one.

• Li Yan and Gong Chenying flew toward the center, confirmed their companions were still alive, and continued searching for them.
• Baili Yuan and Gan Shi led the Wangliang Sect disciples to the central platform, where the Golden Flame Sacred Lions and Azure Crystal Centipedes were fighting.
• Baili Yuan charged into the demons’ partial encirclement and used formations and poisonous miasma to block their path to the arch.
• Baili Yuan’s group slipped through the arch into the metal sphere, where they used one of the three position discs before the demons broke through the formations.
• Jin Chuiyan and Wu Wu'an found only the lowest disc still available and turned on each other over who would claim it.

Jin Chuiyan and Wu Wuan filled the third rotating disc with their Demon Beasts and used a blue crystal to transport everyone away, while Gan Shi’s group explored a treasure chamber. Qiu Jiuzhen arrived at the empty platform searching for Quan Jiuxing, but a transparent bubble carried her and her disciples through the archway.

• Jin Chuiyan and Wu Wuan agreed to board the third rotating disc together, alternate their clansmen onto it, and divide any treasures they found equally.
• Jin Chuiyan inserted a blue diamond-shaped crystal into the disc, transporting him, Wu Wuan, and all the Demon Beasts away as Wu Wuan’s crystal crumbled in his Storage Pouch.
• Gan Shi inspected rare medicinal plants, Pills, jade slips, and magic treasures in a secret chamber, while regretting that he and Baili Yuan had only two crystals for the three discs.
• The platform outside the metal sphere reset, erasing the evidence of the battle between Jin Chuiyan and Wu Wuan.
• Qiu Jiuzhen arrived with eight Supreme Profound Sect disciples, found no sign of Quan Jiuxing, and was carried with her companions through the archway inside a transparent bubble.

Gong Chenying and Li Yan reached the metallic sphere at the center of the Life-and-Death Wheel and were carried inside by a strange bubble. There they found nine Taixuan Sect cultivators trapped in another bubble, while the three platforms suggested the first three places had already been claimed.

• Gong Chenying worried over the powerful medicinal energy remaining in her body and reflected on Li Yan giving her the pill.
• Li Yan and Gong Chenying reached the mountaintop platform, where a bubble suddenly enclosed them and carried them through the arched door.
• Gong Chenying used her last Ghost Chariot Talisman to protect Li Yan as they were swept into the metallic sphere.
• Inside the sphere, they encountered nine Taixuan Sect cultivators, including Qiu Jiuzhen, trapped in a separate bubble.
• Gong Chenying tested the bubble and confirmed it repelled her spiritual power, while Li Yan concluded the first three spots had already been taken.

Li Yan and Gong Chenying waited in the final safety bubble as the missing blue crystals left them unable to help their allies. Wang Lang arrived gravely wounded and aged by a poison or other vicious method, and the bubbles then transported their occupants away while the people outside the Wheel of Life and Death watched the sphere behave strangely.

• Gong Chenying discovered her blue rhombus crystal had vanished, and Li Yan told her his two crystals were gone as well.
• An unconscious, severely wounded old man arrived in another bubble, and Gong Chenying and Li Yan recognized him as Wang Lang.
• Qiu Jiuzhen identified Wang Lang and feared his injuries and gray, deathly skin would prove fatal without treatment.
• The three bubbles rose and sped into a five-colored space as the metal sphere shook violently.
• Outside the Wheel of Life and Death, the remaining bands of light vanished and a vast radiance illuminated the spherical mountain’s forests.

The sect elders watched the Life-and-Death Wheel produce an unprecedented change as its contestants emerged, and Li Yan reached the spherical mountain alongside Gong Chenying. After Li Yan pointed out the suspicious wounds on Wang Lang, Qiu Jiuzhen tried to approach him, but Sword King Xia Chi stopped her and a Grand Mystery Sect elder intervened.

• Elder Peng and the other observers debated the strange changes in the Life-and-Death Wheel, while Sword King Xia Hua worried that Wang Lang and the others had met with disaster.
• Li Wuyi agreed to take Li Changting and Zhao Min for insect wine, and Wei Chi Tuo asked to join them.
• Li Yan and Gong Chenying emerged onto the spherical mountain as the other contestants appeared, including unconscious Wang Lang.
• Li Yan quietly pointed out that Wang Lang’s wounds looked like cuts from a blade, and Gong Chenying agreed that their direction did not match a Demon Cultivator’s claw attack.
• Qiu Jiuzhen rushed toward Wang Lang, but Sword King Xia Chi blocked her and warned her to move aside.
• A Grand Mystery Sect elder appeared behind Qiu Jiuzhen, dispelled Xia Chi’s pressure, and challenged him for bullying a junior.