Recaps

Qi Yun gained the righteous cultivators’ trust after True Person Xuanping vouched for him, then strengthened his reputation by supplying talismans and helping defeat demonic forces. As the others warmly praised him, Qi Yun privately reflected that he had not encountered such naïve Foundation Establishment True Persons in a long time.

• True Person Huchan welcomed Qi Yun to the righteous cultivators’ base, but True Persons Qingzhi, Lingfeng, and Moshou questioned his unknown origins.
• True Person Xuanping arrived and claimed he had known Qi Yun for nearly a hundred years, staking Nine Kings Mountain’s reputation on his guarantee.
• The cultivators accepted Qi Yun, and he began distributing effective talismans, aiding them in battles, and wiping out a small demonic sect.
• Qi Yun’s repeated contributions won the righteous cultivators’ admiration and friendship, even from those who had initially doubted him.
• After the group praised his work, Qi Yun reflected that the Foundation Establishment True Persons were remarkably naïve.

Qi Yun learned that Southern Yin’s northern expedition was driven by a search for one of the Great Tang’s lost Nation-Suppressing Imperial Weapons. After Zecheng revealed the four northwestern sects’ likely scheme to use Southern Yin’s army to uncover it, Qi Yun ordered continued surveillance and prepared to exploit the larger game.

• True Person Huchan told Qi Yun that the Great Tang had forged twenty-four Nation-Suppressing Imperial Weapons and that Southern Yin had found a clue pointing to one in the northwest.
• True Person Huchan explained that Southern Yin’s northern expedition was really a search for the Imperial Weapon, with the campaign against demons serving as a public pretext.
• Zecheng confirmed that Southern Yin had infiltrated the northwest for four hundred years and that its previous emperor had persuaded the True Lords of several holy lands to support the expedition.
• Qi Yun deduced that the four northwestern sects were letting Southern Yin and the demonic factions fight while using the army to search for the Imperial Weapon.
• Qi Yun ordered Zecheng to monitor the allied army’s leaders and the four northwestern sects for signs of secret searches or elite movements.

Li Xuanqing challenged Celestial Master Chen over the army’s slow search for the Imperial Weapon and the northern campaign’s strategy, then left to make his own arrangements. Qi Yun learned that the Southern Yin World-Suppressing Army had abruptly redirected toward Lifeless Valley and received an urgent order from the Holy Sect to go there as well, so he decided to question his righteous-path allies before setting out.

• Li Xuanqing asked Celestial Master Chen whether he had found the Imperial Weapon, and Chen said the army needed to advance farther before its concealment might be disrupted.
• Li Xuanqing accused the four true demonic peaks of remaining untouched and questioned the campaign’s strategy, but Celestial Master Chen said the plan belonged to the True Lords and His Majesty.
• Li Xuanqing ended the discussion and left the tent, saying he had his own arrangements.
• True Person Xuanping told Qi Yun that Li Xuanqing had ordered the World-Suppressing Army toward Lifeless Valley while the allied sects were ordered to hold their positions.
• Qi Yun received an urgent Holy Sect order directing him to Lifeless Valley and concluded that the valley was drawing the attention of both Southern Yin and the Holy Sect.
• Qi Yun told True Person Xuanping to monitor the coalition and decided to seek information from True Person Huchan and the other righteous-path cultivators before going to Lifeless Valley.

Righteous sect cultivators entered Lifeless Valley to investigate its hidden power, but the valley expanded mysteriously as they searched. When the Yin and Yang Chessboard opened and marked righteous and demonic cultivators in white light and black vapor, True Person Moshou discovered that his trusted partner, “Yun Zhongzi,” was surrounded by black vapor.

• True Person Huchan, True Person Qingzhi, True Person Lingfeng, and other righteous cultivators arrived at Lifeless Valley and decided to search in pairs.
• Qi Yun avoided pairing with True Person Huchan by teaming up with True Person Moshou, and the righteous cultivators slipped into the valley.
• The cultivators searched for months without finding anything, while Lifeless Valley seemed to expand and reveal new areas.
• The Yin and Yang Chessboard opened and declared that righteous and demonic cultivators would be marked as opposing sides.
• White light rose from righteous cultivators as black vapor poured from demonic cultivators, and True Person Moshou saw black vapor billowing from Qi Yun, whom he knew as “Yun Zhongzi.”

Qi Yun revealed himself to True Person Moshou as the Northwest Demon and fought to escape Moshou’s formation-based assault. Moshou sealed the region and unleashed the Thousand Spirits Great Fire, unaware Qi Yun had slipped outside the formation, where a mysterious hand touched his shoulder.

• Qi Yun dropped his Yun Zhongzi disguise and introduced himself as Qi Yun, a Great Luo True Person and third-generation disciple of the Wuji Sacred Sect.
• True Person Moshou recognized Qi Yun as the Northwest Demon and decided he had to kill him to protect the secrets Qi Yun had learned.
• Moshou used his Thousand Spirits Hidden Subjugation Dao Foundation to trap Qi Yun, but Qi Yun’s Southern Ming Li Fire Sword broke the Quicksand Dragon-Trapping Formation.
• Moshou spent his Essence Blood to activate a vast sealing formation and prepare to refine Qi Yun with the Thousand Spirits Great Fire.
• Qi Yun used the Tribulation-Avoiding Incantation to slip out as Moshou’s formation closed, then a slender hand emerged from the shadows and rested on Moshou’s shoulder.

Qi Yun and True Person Xuanping revealed their demonic allegiance and overcame True Person Moshou’s defenses. Qi Yun killed Moshou, absorbed his Dao Foundation, and sent his Divine Soul into the Human Emperor Banner, then began refining the Dao Foundation.

• True Person Xuanping arrived and revealed his demonic Qi, confirming True Person Moshou’s fears that Nine Kings Mountain had secretly served the demonic path.
• True Person Xuanping used the Human Emperor Banner to seal the area with three grand formations while True Person Moshou prepared to activate an escape treasure.
• Qi Yun took control of True Person Moshou’s formation with Wield Myriad Laws, trapping him beneath four formations.
• Qi Yun manifested Great Luo Heaven and burned True Person Moshou to nothing with Southern Ming Li Fire, then seized his Dao Foundation and sent his Divine Soul into the Human Emperor Banner.
• Qi Yun ordered True Person Xuanping to guard and conceal the area, then meditated as Great Luo Heaven refined the Dao Foundation.

Qi Yun used the updated Formation Art to make himself the core of a formation, briefly manifesting the vast Northern Defense Grand Formation across Lifeless Valley. He then compressed it to a smaller scale he could control, discovering a powerful new way to wield formations.

• Qi Yun realized Formation Art 3.0 allowed formation cores to be placed anywhere and considered using his own body as the core.
• Qi Yun manifested the Northern Defense Grand Formation around himself, spreading its pressure across Lifeless Valley and suppressing the valley’s deathly mist.
• Qi Yun found that maintaining the full formation overwhelmed his mind and drained his Law Power.
• Qi Yun contracted the formation to about one-tenth its original size, making it far denser and easier to control.
• Qi Yun regained his composure and decided the reduced formation’s scale suited him.

Qi Yun realized that the turmoil in Lifeless Valley could reveal the Origin of Beginnings, a key to advancing his cultivation, and decided to enter the conflict directly. He intervened to protect a wounded Five Decays Cult elder from three righteous True Persons and unveiled his Northern Defense Grand Formation as Qiaoshanke attacked with a heart sword.

• Qi Yun sent True Person Xuanping back into the Human Emperor Banner and observed that the board showed three devil-path True Persons had been killed by Southern Yin’s Imperial Apex Pagoda Army Formation.
• Qi Yun sensed the Origin of Beginnings amid the region’s immense cause and effect, abandoned his passive role, and flew toward the heart of Lifeless Valley.
• Qi Yun arrived in the Bewildering Dust Barrier as Xuanhengzi, Fairy Shuyu, and Qiaoshanke pursued an injured Five Decays Cult elder, then ordered them to leave him alone.
• Fairy Shuyu attacked Qi Yun with her Soul-Intoxicating Flower, but he shattered it with the Supreme Mystery Register-Severing Ties and Scattering Blossoms Talisman.
• Qiaoshanke struck at Qi Yun’s causal connections with his Green Cliff Heart Sword, and Qi Yun answered by manifesting the Northern Defense Grand Formation.

Qi Yun used the Northern Defense Grand Formation to suppress three righteous-path True Persons, but Xuanhengzi sacrificed himself to send Qiaoshanke and Fairy Shuyu out of the formation. After Qi Yun bound Xuanhengzi’s soul to the Human Emperor Banner, he questioned him about the Heavenly Star Sect’s techniques and stopped him at a Law Technique he wanted to study.

• Qi Yun activated the Northern Defense Grand Formation, trapping Xuanhengzi, Qiaoshanke, and Fairy Shuyu beneath the crushing force of its domain.
• Xuanhengzi burned his life-bound star and used the Fallen Star Void Escape to create a brief opening, sending Qiaoshanke and Fairy Shuyu through the formation’s boundary.
• Xuanhengzi fell, and Qi Yun drew him into the Human Emperor Banner after asking whether his sacrifice had been worth it.
• Qi Yun refined Xuanhengzi’s Divine Soul into an obedient servant, then had him recount the Heavenly Star Sect’s stellar techniques and insights.
• Qi Yun stopped Xuanhengzi at a rarely used True Person Realm technique and asked him to repeat its complete scripture and insights.

Qi Yun used the Heavenly Star Sect secret method Ominous Star Shines High to unleash a massive star pillar on Qiaoshanke and Fairy Shuyu. The attack left Qiaoshanke gravely wounded and Fairy Shuyu unconscious as Qi Yun’s Law Technique Panel showed repeated improvements to the method.

• Qiaoshanke and Fairy Shuyu escaped the Bewildering Dust Barrier and mourned Xuanhengzi, while Qiaoshanke warned that the young devil was an extraordinary threat.
• As the two prepared to seek out other righteous cultivators, they sensed imminent danger and raised their strongest defenses.
• Half an hour earlier, Qi Yun condensed an Ominous Star with Great Luo Heaven’s Law Power and used it to locate Qiaoshanke and Fairy Shuyu.
• Qi Yun brought down a hundred-meter pillar of starlight, which broke through Qiaoshanke’s sword domain and Fairy Shuyu’s spirit web.
• Qiaoshanke survived on one knee with his wooden sword badly damaged, while Fairy Shuyu lay unconscious and barely breathing.
• Qi Yun’s Law Technique Panel displayed successive upgrades to Ominous Star Shines High, increasing its power and range.

Qi Yun fully unleashed his enhanced [Ominous Star Shines High] from deep underground, using its vast-range scouting and sniping to strike righteous-path cultivators across Lifeless Valley. The battlefield was thrown into confusion as the unseen attacker remained impossible to locate.

• Qi Yun realized [Great Luo Heaven] had absorbed only the stellar Dao intent he could understand, while the rest would gradually deepen his foundation.
• Using [Ominous Star Shines High], Qi Yun surveyed Lifeless Valley and located Qiaoshanke and the barely breathing Fairy Shuyu.
• Qi Yun summoned the [Human Emperor Banner], activated three grand formations with three True Person-level Main Souls, and hid underground behind their protection.
• Qi Yun unleashed [Ominous Star Shines High] at full power and struck a Vast Righteousness Sect elder, who survived but lost the northwest True Person he had been suppressing.
• Qi Yun's subsequent star-power strikes shattered a Three Talents Demon-Purifying Formation and attacked targets across Lifeless Valley, allowing northwest True Persons to escape.
• The righteous-path cultivators failed to identify or locate Qi Yun, while his dark silver [Ominous Star] continued watching over the increasingly chaotic battlefield.

Qi Yun used Ominous Star Shines High to disrupt the righteous cultivators in Lifeless Valley, helping the northwestern devils turn the battle in their favor and forming the Origin of Beginnings. With the killing tribulation intensifying, he refined Xuanhengzi’s Hundred Stars King Clasp to strengthen his Law Technique further.

• Qi Yun’s star pillars broke through the righteous cultivators’ defenses, and he exploited a formation’s weak point to injure three True Persons.
• The northwestern devil-path elders recognized the righteous side’s confusion and ordered coordinated ambushes against isolated or weakened opponents.
• Qi Yun precisely supported the devil-path attacks, and three more righteous True Persons fell over the next two days.
• Qi Yun formed a weak wisp of the Origin of Beginnings by guiding the battle’s karmic killing tribulation and stored it in Great Luo Heaven.
• Qi Yun refined Xuanhengzi’s Hundred Stars King Clasp to advance Ominous Star Shines High toward version 10.0.

Qi Yun upgraded [Ominous Star Shines High] to automatically target and strike perceived enemies, then used it to rain attacks across Lifeless Valley, disrupting the righteous True Persons and aiding the northwestern Devil Cultivators. As the resulting karmic conflict nourished the [Origin of Beginnings], Qi Yun spotted an area beyond the star’s full coverage and addressed the World-Suppressing Army.

• Qi Yun used the [Hundred Stars King Clasp] to complete the upgrade of [Ominous Star Shines High], gaining automatic targeting and casting at reduced power and consumption.
• Qi Yun moved to a secluded earth-vein fissure and established the [Twenty-Four Qi Penetrating Illumination Diagram] to replenish his Law Power.
• Qi Yun activated [Ominous Star Shines High · 10.0], and star rays began automatically attacking enemies throughout Lifeless Valley.
• Old Monk Huijue shielded himself and two fellow monks from the star rain, then tried to lead them toward their meeting point as new attacks anticipated their escape.
• The star rain disrupted righteous True Persons across Lifeless Valley while largely sparing the northwestern Devil Cultivators, shifting the battle in the northwest’s favor.
• Qi Yun sensed the battle’s karma nourishing the [Origin of Beginnings], spotted an area the [Ominous Star] could not fully cover, and addressed the World-Suppressing Army.

Qi Yun unleashed the [Ominous Star] with the power of the [Great Star Lord], forcing the World-Suppressing Army to answer with its [Imperial Apex Pagoda Army Formation]. Their forces clashed above Lifeless Valley, advancing Qi Yun’s [Four Seasons] while the battle remained unresolved and the [Human Emperor Banner] began to stir.

• Qi Yun awakened the [Great Star Lord] Divine Ability and used it to turn the [Ominous Star] into a vast starry world that descended upon the World-Suppressing Army.
• Li Xuanqing ordered the army to form up, and five hundred thousand soldiers condensed the War Gods of the Ten Directions with the [Imperial Apex Pagoda Army Formation].
• Qi Yun’s starry world collided with the army’s ten war gods, unleashing a devastating shock wave across Lifeless Valley.
• The collision nourished Qi Yun’s [Origin of Beginnings] and caused the embryonic [Origin of Flourishing] to appear.
• As Qi Yun’s strength began to run dry against the army’s combined might, the [Human Emperor Banner] glowed and its three Main Souls opened their eyes.

Qi Yun used the Great Luo Edict to upgrade the Human Emperor Banner and merge with it, temporarily gaining Foundation Establishment Middle Stage power and manifesting the Great Luo Myriad Laws Domain. Celestial Master Chen considered intervening but was restrained by four powerful gazes, while the struggle over the Imperial Weapon grew more unpredictable.

• Qi Yun used the Great Luo Edict to raise the Human Emperor Banner to version 5.0 and awaken its Human and Banner as One mechanic.
• The banner's three Main Souls, Xuan Ping, Mo Shou, and Xuanheng, joined with its ten thousand souls as the banner transformed into black-gold light and entered Qi Yun.
• The banner's power raised Qi Yun's Dao Foundation and temporarily gave him strength rivaling or surpassing an ordinary Foundation Establishment Middle Stage True Person.
• Qi Yun summoned the Great Luo Myriad Laws Domain, whose Dao rhythm and pressure surpassed those of an ordinary Middle Stage Domain Heaven.
• Celestial Master Chen began forming a Method Formula but stopped when four powerful gazes warned him not to interfere.
• Celestial Master Chen observed that the contest for the Imperial Weapon had grown more complicated, with an unforeseen variable emerging in Lifeless Valley.

Li Xuanqing fused with the World-Suppressing Army to manifest his Blood Conquest and Slaughter Domain and clash with Qi Yun’s Great Luo Myriad Laws Domain. Qi Yun’s Wield Myriad Laws began seizing control of Li Xuanqing’s domain, but Celestial Master Chen intervened with a mysterious power that shook Lifeless Valley.

• Li Xuanqing fused with the five hundred thousand soldiers and the Imperial Apex Pagoda Army Formation to manifest a martial Dao God-Devil.
• Li Xuanqing opened his Blood Conquest and Slaughter Domain and challenged Qi Yun to fight within it.
• Li Xuanqing’s domain collided with Qi Yun’s Great Luo Myriad Laws Domain in a contest of Daos.
• Qi Yun used Wield Myriad Laws to pry Li Xuanqing’s authority away from his domain, shaking the World-Suppressing Army.
• Celestial Master Chen shook his horsetail whisk, unleashing a mysterious power that made Lifeless Valley tremble.

The Imperial Weapon Wealth Connects to the Divine emerged in Lifeless Valley, interrupting Qi Yun and Li Xuanqing’s battle and drawing powerful figures from across the realm. As the four demonic sect leaders moved to seize it, Smiling Buddha Venerable, the Dragon-Slaying Sword Master, and Huangfu Qianqiu arrived, leaving control of the confrontation uncertain.

• A golden pillar erupted from beneath Lifeless Valley, suppressing the battle and causing Qi Yun’s Origin of Flourishing artifact to reach perfection.
• Qi Yun struck Li Xuanqing’s military manifestation back, then watched the pillar condense into a divine tree identified as the Imperial Weapon Wealth Connects to the Divine.
• The four Great True Persons of the northwest’s demonic sects appeared and overwhelmed the valley with their pressure as they prepared to seize the Imperial Weapon.
• Smiling Buddha Venerable arrived from the south and eased the pressure, urging the four demonic leaders to negotiate.
• The Dragon-Slaying Sword Master appeared from the east, followed by Huangfu Qianqiu of Hao Ran Holy Land.

Seven Great True Persons prepared to fight over Wealth Connects to the Divine, but the sentient Imperial Weapon shrank, grew legs, and fled, scattering Innate Treasure Coins to distract its pursuers. Qi Yun followed one of the coins after True Person Southern Dipper told him what they were.

• The Dragon-Slaying Sword Master and True Person Lunzhuan began a clash as the other Great True Persons held one another at bay.
• Wealth Connects to the Divine shrank to human size, formed legs from its roots, and ran away.
• The seven Great True Persons and the cultivators pursued the fleeing Imperial Weapon.
• Wealth Connects to the Divine tossed out more than a dozen golden coins and escaped among their streaks of light.
• True Person Southern Dipper told Qi Yun that the scattered coins were Innate Treasure Coins containing rare power of Creation, and Qi Yun chased one instead of pursuing the Imperial Weapon.

Qi Yun pursued the sentient [Innate Treasure Coin] through Lifeless Valley and captured it with the [Great Luo Myriad Laws Domain], using the [Ominous Star] to overcome its evasions. After learning it was the [Armaments Gold], one of twenty-four coins produced by the Imperial Weapon [Wealth Connects to the Divine], he prepared to pursue another, but an urgent voice asked him for help.

• Qi Yun chased the fleeing [Innate Treasure Coin] with the [Great Luo Myriad Laws Domain], forcing other cultivators to flee his path.
• When the coin evaded his Divine Sense, Qi Yun used the [Ominous Star] to lock onto it and caught it in a giant hand of chaos.
• Qi Yun picked up the coin and discovered that it was the [Armaments Gold], which could summon a Great Tang military unit.
• Qi Yun stowed the [Armaments Gold] and prepared to pursue another treasure coin while his empowered state lasted.
• An urgent voice transmission reached Qi Yun and said, "Help me—".

Qi Yun agreed to hide Wealth Connects to the Divine after a new aspect of the Four Seasons Dao appeared in his Great Luo Heaven. The Imperial Weapon sent its essential spiritual light into Qi Yun’s Domain Heaven, while its main body was captured by seven Great True Persons, who failed to discover the hidden connection.

• Wealth Connects to the Divine contacted Qi Yun and asked him to open his Domain Heaven so it could escape the pursuing Great True Persons.
• Qi Yun hesitated over the danger and promised reward, then sensed the Mystery of Suspension and Concealment forming in Great Luo Heaven and resolved to help.
• Qi Yun opened a tiny crack in his Domain Heaven, and Wealth Connects to the Divine used Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell to send its essential spiritual light through it.
• Qi Yun sealed the crack and concealed the spiritual light within Great Luo Heaven as the seven Great True Persons captured the weakened main body of Wealth Connects to the Divine.
• The seven Great True Persons searched Lifeless Valley with a vast karmic investigation, but Wealth Connects to the Divine’s spiritual light remained hidden inside Qi Yun.

Inside Qi Yun’s Great Luo Heaven Dao Foundation, Wealth Connects to the Divine tried to make its home after escaping the Great True Persons, while Qi Yun considered destroying it. It offered knowledge of the Supreme Dao Foundation’s Golden Core path to persuade him to let it stay, then warned him that his foundation carried a great karma.

• Wealth Connects to the Divine praised Qi Yun for helping it escape and claimed that its presence was the promised fortuitous opportunity.
• Qi Yun realized that Wealth Connects to the Divine meant to hide and recover inside his Dao Foundation, and judged the risks too great to let it stay.
• Qi Yun’s killing intent roused Great Luo Heaven, whose laws and chaotic currents moved to crush Wealth Connects to the Divine’s spiritual projection.
• Wealth Connects to the Divine offered to reveal the method for seeking the Golden Core and proving the Dao for a Supreme Dao Foundation, and Qi Yun agreed to let it stay.
• Wealth Connects to the Divine said Qi Yun was not yet ready to receive the full instruction, then warned that a Supreme Dao Foundation carried great karma and that “the supreme-must be unique.”

Qi Yun learned that heaven’s Supremes were destined to fight until only one remained. Outside Lifeless Valley, Celestial Master Chen stole the Imperial Weapon amid the seven Great True Persons’ battle, and the four Northwest leaders revealed that the clash had been a coordinated scheme.

• Wealth Connects to the Divine warned Qi Yun that only one Supreme could survive an era and said his battle with another Supreme was near; it asked him to call it Cai Shen.
• The seven Great True Persons fought over Wealth Connects to the Divine’s sealed true body, and their techniques shook Lifeless Valley and damaged the seals.
• Celestial Master Chen appeared during the stalemate and used the Ten-Thousand-Li Rivers and Mountains Scroll to capture the Imperial Weapon and vanish with the World-Suppressing Army.
• The righteous Great True Persons withdrew from Lifeless Valley after the treasure disappeared, while True Person Lunzhuan mocked the demonic leaders.
• True Person Southern Dipper told the other three Northwest Great True Persons that their plan had succeeded, and they agreed that their staged conflict was over.

After Lifeless Valley, Qi Yun learned that the Four Northwestern Sects’ True Lords had orchestrated the calamity to send the unusable Imperial Weapon Wealth Connects to the Divine to Southern Yin. Having gained three of the Four Seasons, Qi Yun left to cultivate in seclusion and seek the last one as the Imperial Weapon’s arrival threatened to sow new trouble.

• Cai Shen explained that Emperor Taizong’s Edict barred anyone without an official post under the legitimate Great Tang from wielding an Imperial Weapon, leaving the Four Northwestern Sects’ True Lords unable to use Wealth Connects to the Divine.
• Cai Shen revealed that the True Lords had spent centuries staging events to make Southern Yin seize the weapon, shifting its burden and weakening both Southern Yin and the righteous coalition.
• Cai Shen explained that Southern Yin might take decades or centuries to discover the weapon’s restrictions, while its ties to Southern Yin’s land would make returning it difficult.
• Qi Yun reflected that he had formed three of the Four Seasons during the calamity in Lifeless Valley and was closer to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Qi Yun headed into the secluded mountains to consolidate his gains and seek the final of the Four Seasons.

Qi Yun recovered an ancient pearl from a hidden pool and received the Great Tang title of Principal Ninth Rank Benevolent and Brave Commandant. As he and Cai Kun prepared to return to Lifeless Valley to conceal their karmic traces, Qi Yun’s Tribulation-Avoiding Incantation suddenly appeared on his wrist.

• Qi Yun traveled to a remote valley and used his Law Power to lift the dark pool, exposing its bed.
• Cai Kun identified a white pearl in the mud, and Qi Yun drew it out.
• Cai Kun tapped the pearl, triggering a vision in which a Great Tang ruler bestowed the title of Principal Ninth Rank Benevolent and Brave Commandant on Qi Yun.
• Cai Kun urged Qi Yun to return to Lifeless Valley and set up the Great Formation for Resolving Cause and Effect before their enemies traced their karmic links.
• As Qi Yun prepared to leave, the Tribulation-Avoiding Incantation emerged on his left wrist and caused him searing pain.

Qi Yun learned that another Supreme had vaguely sensed his presence after the events in Lifeless Valley, then returned there with Cai Kun to hide their connection to the escaping Imperial Weapon's sentience. After they completed the Cause-Ending, Effect-Resolving Grand Formation, Cai Kun neared slumber and Qi Yun left the valley.

• Cai Shen explained that the Tribulation-Avoiding Incantation had reacted to another Supreme's failed attempt to locate Qi Yun, whose Supreme Qi signature had leaked after he stirred up karma in Lifeless Valley.
• Qi Yun decided to return to Lifeless Valley and sever the karma linking him and Cai Kun to the Imperial Weapon's escaping sentience.
• Cai Kun gave Qi Yun the formation diagram and explained how to build the Cause-Ending, Effect-Resolving Grand Formation.
• Qi Yun established the formation's four directional pillars and eight anchors, then gathered the remaining threads of cause and effect.
• Qi Yun and Cai Kun activated the formation, erasing their genuine traces and replacing them with false effects suggesting the Imperial Weapon's sentience had fallen dormant.
• Cai Kun nearly exhausted his sentience, and Qi Yun departed Lifeless Valley as the formation concealed the truth.