Recaps

With both Kagura and the emperor reduced to one breath of stamina, they faced off in a decisive final exchange. The emperor’s punch met Kagura’s world-merging technique, and he realized he had to act again or lose.

• Kagura reflected on her long lack of worthy opponents and told the emperor that she would remember him.
• The emperor felt the inherited memories and will of human ancestors, realizing that humans had avoided passing down memories of their past enslavement so they could rise anew.
• The emperor launched a direct, overwhelming punch that sealed off every route of escape, and Kagura prepared to meet it with her strongest ability.
• Kagura relaxed and slowly merged with her surroundings, then caught the emperor’s punch and dissipated its force.
• The emperor felt his attack stop as if it had struck cotton and realized he would lose unless he acted again.

The human emperor’s battle with Kagura turned against him when she used the palace’s Four Symbols configuration to reverse his power through the Two Aspects Image. Just as the empress ordered a retreat, Ziyue appeared and shattered the Four Saints Domain, disrupting the formation Kagura relied on.

• The War Priest explained to Zhang Xiaoyun that Kagura was reversing the Four Symbols’ laws into the Two Aspects to neutralize the human emperor’s power.
• Kagura told the human emperor that he had forced her to attempt the technique, and she prepared to break him down into the world’s primitive essence.
• Quefeng warned the empress that the human emperor could not overcome Kagura’s technique and urged her not to risk a hopeless battle.
• The empress ordered her troops to retreat after realizing that she could not win either.
• Ziyue appeared above the formation and caused the Four Saints Domain to collapse, prompting the empress to turn toward the emperor as Kagura’s advantage became uncertain.

After Ziyue destroyed the Four Saints Grand Formation, Kagura and the emperor both suffered severe injuries, while the empress used the Yin Crow Flame to save her brother at great cost. The Ancient Demon clan recognized its advantage and waited to see how the factions would respond.

• Ziyue destroyed the Four Saints Grand Formation, giving Kagura an opening to strike the weakened emperor and forcing her to retreat after both fighters were badly hurt.
• The empress caught her dying younger brother and used the Yin Crow Flame to burn away his qi and blood, preventing his body from collapsing.
• The Ancient Demon priest explained the costs of the Yin Crow Flame and Kagura’s secret techniques, and Zhang Xiaoyun realized their enemies’ strongest fighters were crippled.
• The Ancient Demon priest warned Zhang Xiaoyun that the other factions might unite if the Ancient Demons appeared too powerful, so he chose to wait and assess the situation.
• Quefeng moved to protect the empress, while Chen Baifeng concluded that the Ancient Demon clan would decide which faction to attack first.

Chen Baifeng judged that the weakened Ancient Demons were unlikely to attack his leaderless forces first, while Ziyue advised the priest on which enemy to target. The Ancient Demons chose to attack the Vermilion Bird Palace, though the imperial court and Quefeng posed serious risks.

• Chen Baifeng reassured the deputy general that the Ancient Demons would probably target a force with a Four Saints Body rather than attack them.
• The priest asked Ziyue which faction the Ancient Demons should attack, and she warned that Quefeng made the imperial court dangerous.
• Zhang Xiaoyun proposed attacking Jiangnan, but the priest stopped the argument and dismissed the suggestion.
• The priest favored attacking the White Tiger Palace, but Ziyue warned that the Northern Lands might have hidden forces in reserve.
• The priest accepted Ziyue's recommendation and ordered the Ancient Demons to seize the Vermilion Bird Palace.

Kagura weighed the threat posed by the West Sea Army while the Four Saints Army advanced on the Vermilion Bird Palace. There, the Four Saints Guard and the imperial court’s Ghost Army began a brutal battle, leaving Chen Baifeng and General Tian to assess which force would prevail.

• Kagura held back her last trump card and warned that the concealed Outer Heaven Demon Statue might be a faction’s pawn.
• The Four Saints Army attacked the Vermilion Bird Palace, where it clashed with the imperial court’s Ghost Army.
• Chen Baifeng watched the battle and asked General Tian which army was stronger.
• General Tian explained that the Ghost Army had ten times the numbers, while the Four Saints Guard had far greater individual strength and formation-breaking potential.

The Four Saints Guard’s superior forces should have overwhelmed the court army’s formation, but Quefeng’s speed and assassination skills kept all sixteen attacking fronts from defeating their defenders. The war priest faced a choice between confronting Quefeng himself and letting the battle drag on.

• Tian Yu explained that powerful generals at the formation’s nodes were essential to resisting elite attackers, and Chen Baifeng recognized that the Four Saints Guard had the stronger generals.
• Zhang Xiaoyun watched from safety after losing Fei Jun’s body and realized the battle was far more complicated than expected.
• Quefeng repeatedly threatened the Four Saints Guard’s generals whenever they neared a kill, preventing any of the sixteen fronts from breaking through.
• The war priest’s deputy general asked what they should do, while the priest hesitated to face Quefeng alone and risk the battle on personal valor.

The priest weighed whether to confront Quefeng or wait for his stamina to fail, then chose to preserve the Four Saints Army by holding back. As the battle wore on and Quefeng began to weaken, the priest again hesitated over whether to wait longer.

• The priest considered intercepting Quefeng himself but feared that losing him or the Four Saints Guard would cripple the Ancient Demon clan, so he ordered his forces to keep fighting and wait.
• Chen Baifeng and Tian Yu discussed the cautious Ancient Demon commander and the risks of an elite raiding force, when a mysterious man appeared behind them unnoticed.
• Chen Baifeng asked the mysterious man whether it was time to act, and the man replied that there was not much time left.
• After half a quarter of an hour, the deputy general reported that the Four Saints Guard had lost vigor while the Ghost Army had stabilized its defense.
• The priest noticed that Quefeng’s movements had grown stiff and wondered whether to wait for him to tire further before withdrawing.

Quefeng was worn down as the war priest ordered the sixteen groups to keep attacking, while Ziyue condemned the priest’s greedy command. News arrived that giant pythons were advancing from the Black Tortoise Palace, and the black-armored man asked Ziyue to hand over Chen Ying.

• Quefeng dodged a general’s silver spear but was wounded, and the war priest recognized that his movements had slowed from exhaustion.
• The war priest ordered the sixteen groups to continue charging, hoping to wear Quefeng down instead of retreating.
• Ziyue told Zhang Xiaoyun and a black-skinned official that the war priest was greedy and dangerous because he would neither take responsibility nor abandon his advantage.
• A Black Tortoise general reported that a tide of giant pythons was coming from the Black Tortoise Palace, but the black-armored man told Zhang Xiaoyun not to panic yet.
• The black-armored man asked Ziyue to hand over Chen Ying, whom she had kept inside a fragment of space.

Ziyue recounted how her risky Fusion with a Reincarnator helped the Ancient Demons complete the Warlock Dynasty plan, though the process left her identity and memories uncertain. She handed Chen Ying to the Ancient Demon envoy, then recognized that he too was a Fuser as he departed for the Black Tortoise Palace, leaving Zhang Xiaoyun with her.

• The Ancient Demon envoy challenged Ziyue’s trustworthiness and recalled how she had proposed Fusion to extract the Reincarnators’ secrets and advance the Warlock Dynasty plan.
• The envoy explained that after Fusion, Ziyue’s identity and memories became unstable, and that she had escaped after the dynasty’s planned collapse.
• Ziyue handed over the spatial fragment containing Chen Ying, and the envoy promised to protect her before asking her to look after Zhang Xiaoyun.
• Ziyue identified the envoy as a Fuser, and he confirmed she had been responsible for his transformation.
• The envoy led his people north toward the Black Tortoise Palace, while Zhang Xiaoyun reluctantly remained with Ziyue.

Zhang Xiaoyun questioned Ziyue’s loyalty and grew suspicious when the West Sea Army mobilized under the command of the monster holding Tian Heng hostage. The guard captain had left Ziyue in charge of the remaining elite guards, deepening Zhang Xiaoyun’s conviction that something was wrong.

• Zhang Xiaoyun warned Zhang Zhiyun that Ziyue might not be the real princess, but Zhang Zhiyun defended her loyalty.
• A messenger reported that the West Sea Army was heading to the White Tiger Hall under the command of the monster that had taken Tian Heng hostage.
• Ziyue and the others worried that the guard captain’s forces would face an attack from two sides.
• Ling Sheng revealed that the guard captain had ordered Ziyue to decide where the remaining elite guards would go.
• Zhang Xiaoyun accused Ziyue of causing the guard captain’s decision, while Zhang Zhiyun guessed that handing over Chen Ying had earned his trust.

Ziyue took command of the guards and led them to aid the reckless war priest, while Zhang Xiaoyun grew increasingly suspicious of how the captain of the guard had supposedly entrusted her with the troops. The priest’s strange fury and insistence on continuing the battle deepened the unease, and a returning deputy commander challenged Zhang Xiaoyun’s account.

• Ziyue ordered the guards to help the war priest, arguing that the captain of the guard could manage without them and that their forces needed to deter the other parties.
• Zhang Xiaoyun objected that they could not leave the site unguarded, but Ziyue insisted there were too few people to defend it unless the Four Saints Army was recalled.
• The war priest refused to withdraw despite mounting casualties, then demanded command of Ziyue’s guards and claimed Quefeng was close to collapsing.
• Ziyue rebuked the priest and urged him to retreat, but he flared up again and asserted that military affairs belonged solely to him.
• A deputy commander returned to find most of the guards gone, and Zhang Xiaoyun said the captain had given Ziyue command; the deputy commander asked who had told him that.

Zhang Xiaoyun, Zhang Zhiyun, and Ying Sheng investigated how false memories had made them trust Ziyue and misread events. Ying Sheng blamed the Thousand-Faced Fox and concluded that the demon was among the guards with them.

• Zhang Xiaoyun accused Zhang Zhiyun of sending him a fake voice transmission, then realized his own memory of their conversation might have been fabricated.
• Zhang Xiaoyun claimed Ziyue had impersonated the captain, but Ying Sheng rejected voice transmission as the cause and proposed illusion arts.
• Ying Sheng identified the Thousand-Faced Fox as the likely culprit, saying she could have planted memories in Ling Sheng and others.
• Zhang Zhiyun and Zhang Xiaoyun questioned whether the fox had enough power to alter Transcendents' memories, and Ying Sheng speculated that her ability was limited and conditional.
• Ying Sheng concluded the fox had to remain nearby to manipulate them and declared that she was among the guards stationed there.

The West Sea Army arrived at the battlefield but watched without attacking, while the Ancient Demon guard captain grew suspicious when Ying Sheng failed to return with reinforcements. At the Azure Dragon Palace, Ying Sheng killed the remaining guards while searching for the Thousand-Faced Fox, then turned his suspicion toward Zhang Xiaoyun and Zhang Zhiyun.

• Kagura halted her attack when Chen Baifeng led the West Sea Army onto the battlefield, and the soldiers surrounded the fighting forces without intervening.
• The Ancient Demon guard captain ordered Ying Sheng to gather five hundred guards, then wondered why his deputy had not returned.
• Tian Yu questioned Chen Baifeng about merely watching, and Chen Baifeng insisted they could not abandon Lord Tian Heng.
• Ying Sheng reached the Azure Dragon Palace and, fearing the Thousand-Faced Fox had infiltrated it, struck down the ten remaining guards.
• Ying Sheng found no sign of the suspected intruder among the guards and turned to stare at Zhang Xiaoyun and Zhang Zhiyun.

Zhang Xiaoyun realized that someone had been manipulating the Ancient Demons’ emotions, but the mysterious celestial manifestation killed Ying Sheng before he could act. Zhang Xiaoyun confronted the attacker and concluded that he had an accomplice.

• Zhang Xiaoyun recognized that the war priest and Ying Sheng were acting unusually and suspected their emotions were being manipulated.
• Ying Sheng stopped himself from attacking Zhang Xiaoyun, but a mysterious celestial manifestation stabbed him through the heart with a black short sword and destroyed his Ancient Demon Worm.
• The mysterious attacker froze Ying Sheng’s body, and Zhang Xiaoyun recognized the figure who had ambushed Tian Heng.
• Zhang Xiaoyun accused the celestial manifestation of manipulating people’s emotions to provoke the war priest and Ying Sheng and conceal his approach.
• The celestial manifestation praised Zhang Xiaoyun’s insight, and Zhang Xiaoyun insisted that the attacker had someone working with him.

Zhang Xiaoyun realized the enemy had manipulated the battle by exploiting the emotions and personalities of the Ancient Demons, then identified the celestial figure’s master. The prince’s death triggered panic among the Ancient Demons and threatened to rout the Four Saints Army.

• Zhang Xiaoyun deduced that the enemy could intensify emotions and had used intelligence about the War Priest and Lord Ying Sheng to shape the battle.
• Zhang Xiaoyun recognized that the celestial figure was working for someone, but the figure refused to explain and killed him.
• Zhang Zhiyun watched Zhang Xiaoyun die, reflected on his own insignificance, and closed his eyes as the celestial figure approached.
• The death of Zhang Xiaoyun caused panic among everyone with Ancient Demon blood and disrupted the Four Saints Army’s qi and blood.
• The War Priest realized that the prince’s death had struck at the worst moment and foresaw the Four Saints Army beginning to rout.

After the prince’s death threw the Four Saints Army into disarray, Ziyue took command and ordered the Ancient Demons to launch one final charge. She promised to deal with the assassin blocking their advance herself.

• The priest prepared to retreat after the prince’s death, but Ziyue warned that retreat would shatter the army’s morale and get them wiped out.
• Ziyue told the priest to press the attack, and when he raised the stakes and tried to shift blame onto her past plan, she accepted responsibility and demanded the command token.
• Using the token, Ziyue ordered soldiers across all sixteen routes not to retreat and to prepare for one final charge.
• When a commander said they could not break the enemy line while the assassin remained, Ziyue promised to deal with him personally.

Ziyue took command of the Four Saints Army and went alone to confront Quefeng, restoring the soldiers’ resolve. Quefeng unleashed his sealed King Level power after realizing an unknown opponent had approached him, leaving Ziyue’s fate uncertain.

• Ziyue’s promise to handle the crisis revived the Four Saints Army’s morale, and its generals vowed to break the formation quickly.
• The priest offered to accompany Ziyue, but she refused and told him she might fall while he stayed to hold the army together.
• Ziyue left the military command token with the priest and recalled that she had once said a king should step forward even without certainty of success.
• Quefeng noticed the Four Saints Army’s sudden surge and restored his stamina by gradually releasing the seal on his power.
• Ziyue appeared within three zhang of Quefeng and challenged the story that he had been wounded by the commanding generals.
• Quefeng released his full King Level power, and the priest realized Ziyue could be killed by the famed assassin.

Ziyue repeatedly reappeared after Quefeng struck her, leaving him unable to understand how she survived his attacks. Meanwhile, the captain of the guard and Kagura discussed their past conflict and watched Ziyue's battle, which ended with Quefeng demanding to know what she had done.

• Kagura accused the captain of the guard of betraying the Reincarnators by joining the Ancient Demons, and the captain said he had died many times at Kagura's hands.
• Kagura questioned why the captain had allowed his daughter Ziyue to fuse with a Reincarnator, and they noticed Ziyue force Quefeng to remove his seal.
• The emperor and empress sensed Quefeng unleash his full power, and the empress reflected on Ziyue's reputation and her connection to Liu Yu.
• Quefeng stabbed Ziyue, watched her body dissolve into black dust, and realized she had not truly died when she appeared behind him again.
• Quefeng attacked Ziyue at terrifying speed, but each body he struck vanished into ash and she kept reappearing closer to him.
• Quefeng asked Ziyue what she had done, and she refused to explain because they were enemies.

Ziyue provoked Quefeng into breaking his King Level seal, then used an unknown technique to thwart his attack on the Four Saints Army’s commander. Quefeng was left facing Ziyue as the imperial army’s formation collapsed.

• Quefeng realized Ziyue had tricked him into using his trump card and tried to keep calm as she taunted him.
• Quefeng vanished and launched a sneak attack on the Four Saints Army commander, but the commander survived without understanding what had stopped the strike.
• The commander assumed Lord Ziyue had protected him, rallied his troops, and ordered them to charge.
• The imperial army’s formation began collapsing as Quefeng stared at his dagger and Ziyue asked whether he was going to attack.

Quefeng repeatedly tried to assassinate a commander, only to be sent back to the same moment by Ziyue’s time-controlling technique. He identified several limits to her power and realized that he retained his memories after each reversal while Ziyue did not.

• Quefeng found himself back at the start after striking, and Ziyue told him it was already the second round.
• The emperor recalled that the group had returned to the starting point during three crises while sealing the golem, and he and the empress suspected the power had belonged to Ziyue.
• Quefeng attacked a commander again, returned to the same moment, and concluded that Ziyue controlled time.
• Quefeng reasoned that Ziyue could not pause time, her reversal restored his energy, and the effect was limited to him and Ziyue.
• Quefeng realized he kept his memories across reversals while Ziyue did not.

Quefeng searched for a flaw in Ziyue’s reincarnation technique, while she urged him to surrender and escape his bond to the woman controlling him. The Xiao Household’s emperor arrived and asked Ziyue whether her past opposition to the King of Qin’s compromise with demons had been an act.

• Quefeng realized that reincarnating could free him from the incomplete technique binding him to the woman.
• Ziyue offered to guarantee Quefeng’s life if he surrendered, and explained that reincarnation would remove his existing bond.
• Quefeng questioned whether Ziyue was an Ancient Demon or a Reincarnator and said his choice depended on her answer.
• The Xiao Household’s emperor arrived and asked Ziyue whether she had opposed the King of Qin’s policy only to serve him.
• Ziyue remained silent, then challenged the emperor on what purpose his question served.

The emperor deduced the limits of Ziyue’s time-reversal ability and crippled her so she could not use it to escape. As Ziyue suffered in his flames, the high priest moved to rescue her, threatening to disrupt the army’s attack and give the Four Saints Army a chance to win.

• Ziyue challenged the emperor over his distrust of Reincarnators, and he hesitated as he considered Chen Qing’s rule and the human cost of fighting the ancients.
• The emperor inferred that Ziyue’s reincarnation depended on predictions with strict conditions, then struck her and shattered both her hands instead of killing her.
• Quefeng realized that the emperor had avoided the condition Ziyue predicted, preventing her from reincarnating and exposing the limits of her ability.
• The emperor used the Golden Crow Flame to burn Ziyue while keeping her alive, and the sight enraged the commanders of the sixteen forces.
• The high priest ordered the army to keep breaking the formation and went to rescue Ziyue, while Ziyue feared that his death would leave the army vulnerable to the Four Saints Army.

The emperor burned Ziyue with Golden Crow Flame, but a mysterious golem rescued her before the Four Saints Army could retreat. The emperor recognized the golem as one the King of Qin had secretly kept, then attacked it head-on.

• The deputy urged the High Priest to honor Ziyue’s wish to bring the children home, and the High Priest hesitated before ordering a retreat.
• Ziyue endured the Golden Crow Flame without crying out and recalled the cruel experiments she had suffered in the Warlock Dynasty’s laboratory.
• A mysterious figure transformed the flames into a landscape painting and pulled Ziyue to safety.
• The emperor identified the newcomer as the golem the King of Qin had secretly kept, and the golem asked why the emperor was nervous when he had kept a golem of his own.
• The emperor charged the golem with a powerful punch, and the golem raised one hand to block it while holding Ziyue.

The demon statue withstood the Emperor’s Golden Crow punch and revealed that its name was Bai Hua, one of the four great demon statues associated with the game’s unknown fourth version. As the Emperor became trapped in Bai Hua’s ink-like power, he saw Chen Qing before him.

• Bai Hua caught the Emperor’s Golden Crow punch head-on, turning its flames into an image within illusory ink.
• Quefeng, the priest, and Kagura recognized the Emperor’s overwhelming power, while Kagura and the captain of the guards discussed how the world’s imbalance might be prompting its consciousness to fight back.
• Bai Hua told the Emperor that the King of Qin had given him that name, causing Kagura and the captain to recall the four demon statues named in the fourth-version preview.
• Kagura and the captain wondered whether Bai Hua had been the King of Qin’s hidden backup plan and grew wary of what his appearance might mean.
• The Emperor’s attacks failed to overcome Bai Hua’s power, and the Emperor became like a figure trapped in a painting.
• The Emperor looked at the person before him and recognized Chen Qing.

Chen Qing explained to the emperor that the golem had captured him and brought him into a painted space where abundant spiritual energy had healed his injuries. He showed the emperor a scroll displaying the outside world, but the emperor realized the space was affecting him and tried to escape.

• The emperor confronted Chen Qing in the painted space and suspected he might be controlling the golem.
• Chen Qing said the golem had captured him after he sealed his power, and that the space had nearly healed his injuries in half an hour.
• Chen Qing explained that he had trusted the spiritual energy because it helped him recover without causing harm.
• Chen Qing unfurled a painted scroll that showed the outside world, insisting he had been captured and could not leave.
• The emperor thought of his injured elder imperial sister and sensed that something was wrong as he tried to escape.