Recaps

The Kong Household hosted congratulatory guests after advancing to an Eighth-Grade True Spirit Lineage, while Kong Wenxuan prepared to demonstrate its strength. At the banquet’s Dao discussion, he displayed the Great Five Elements Sword Formation, leaving the guests alarmed by its power.

• The Bi Household, Jiao Household, Fu Household, and He Household sent parties to congratulate the Kong Household, each arriving with distinctive transport.
• The He Household traveled aboard a Bifang Cloud Boat from the Bi Household, signaling its close ties and warning the newly elevated Kong Household not to underestimate its backing.
• The Kong Household held a banquet at Peacock Garden, where the visiting leaders offered gifts and exchanged news before the Dao discussion began.
• Kong Wenxuan took the raised platform and summoned five Five Elements Divine Swords to demonstrate the Kong Household’s strength.
• Kong Wenxuan formed the Lesser Five Elements Sword Formation, then transformed it into the Great Five Elements Sword Formation, terrifying guests who activated their defenses.

Kong Wenxuan demonstrated the Kong Household’s strength with the Great Five Elements Sword Formation, then gave a brief exposition before the contest of arts began. The contest would decide prestige and the distribution of business interests and shop locations, and the Kong Household entered Kong Wenchang, Kong Wenyin, and Kong Huancai as its three representatives.

• Kong Wenxuan formed the Great Five Elements Sword Formation, then restrained its pressure when visiting Qi Refinement cultivators began to falter.
• Kong Wenxuan offered a superficial discussion of the five elements, avoiding any disclosure of the Five Elements True Scripture’s essence.
• The various Households prepared for the contest of arts, whose results would determine their standing and shares of businesses and market shops in Bifang Commandery City.
• The Kong Household selected Kong Wenchang, Kong Wenyin, and Kong Huancai, all at Qi Refining Ninth Layer, to compete.
• Kong Wenxuan recalled that Kong Huancai had awakened four Peacock Feathers and had received his guidance as a junior attendant.

At Peacock Manor, Kong Wenxuan watched the Kong Household’s Qi Refinement disciples defeat the other True Spirit Lineages in the contest of techniques, demonstrating the strength of their Five Elements inheritance. The results reshaped the lineages’ standings and business shares in Bifang Commandery City, with the defeated He Household forced to surrender the most.

• Kong Wenxuan observed the Ya, Jiao, Fu, and He Households’ Bloodline Divine Abilities and saw that the Kong Household’s Five Elements methods could counter them.
• Kong Wenchang and Kong Wenyin used Five Elements Talisman Slips to suppress their opponents’ techniques while Kong Huancai wielded four Five Elements Divine Swords to defeat them.
• The Kong Household won every match, overcoming even the Fu Household’s underground evasion by attacking the earth until its disciples surfaced.
• The Ya Household placed second, the Jiao Household third, the Fu Household fourth, and the He Household last.
• The contest’s results established the Kong Household’s largest share of business and shops in Bifang Commandery City, while the He Household had to cede the greatest share.

After the banquet, Kong Wenxuan accepted the Bi Household’s invitation for the Kong Household to join its trade caravan, gaining access to goods and markets across the prefecture. The Kong Household’s advancement to an eighth-grade true spirit lineage then drew dozens of bloodline households seeking to join as servant cultivator households.

• Bifang Silk invited Kong Wenxuan to join the Bi Household’s caravan, which traded across the prefecture and reached its capital.
• Kong Wenxuan accepted the invitation, and the Bi Household’s party departed; the Black Crane He Household’s party followed.
• News of the Kong Household’s advancement spread through Bifang Commandery, drawing households and factions toward Peacock County Seat.
• Within months, forty or fifty bloodline households submitted letters hoping to become the Kong Household’s servant cultivator households.

Patriarch Kong Changgeng entered the Peacock Secret Realm to break through to the Third Tier Purple Mansion Stage, with Kong Wenxuan guarding him. He succeeded with the Five-Colored Peacock True Spirit Star’s aid, becoming the Kong Household’s second cultivator at that stage.

• Kong Changgeng felt his chance to break through after reflecting on the Kong Household’s flourishing fortunes, and Kong Wenxuan encouraged him to proceed.
• Kong Changgeng entered the Peacock Secret Realm with Kong Wenxuan and saw how the Eighth-Grade True Spirit Star had strengthened the realm and its Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo.
• At the Ancestral Spirit Mountain Peak, Kong Changgeng entered a breakthrough state while Kong Wenxuan kept others from disturbing him.
• Kong Changgeng’s Law Power and Spiritual Consciousness fused, and his presence reached the Third Tier Purple Mansion Stage.
• The Five-Colored Peacock True Spirit Star sent Five-Colored Starlight into Kong Changgeng, suppressing his Yao nature and stabilizing his breakthrough.

After Kong Changgeng advanced to the Third Tier Purple Mansion Stage, the Kong Household celebrated its growing strength and prepared to expand Peacock County with newly organized servant cultivator teams. The household began testing the many lineages seeking its protection by evaluating their performance in the coming expansion war.

• Kong Changgeng advanced to the Third Tier Purple Mansion Stage, and the Peacock True Spirit Star appeared to brighten.
• Kong Changgeng urged Kong Yuhe, Kong Yuwen, and the other elderly cultivators to continue cultivating despite their age.
• The Kong Household celebrated Kong Changgeng’s breakthrough, which strengthened the lineage and confirmed its path to the Third Tier Purple Mansion Stage.
• News of the breakthrough drew more servant cultivator lineages to Peacock County, but the Kong Household carefully screened those seeking to join.
• The Kong Household planned to form servant cultivator teams to lead Peacock County’s expansion war and choose which lineages to accept based on their performance and merits.

The Kong Household held its first bloodline awakening ceremony under the Eighth-Grade Peacock True Spirit, achieving a success rate of around sixty percent. After mourning the seven youths lost to Demonic Nature Backlash, the successful awakeners began five years of full-time cultivation.

• Kong Yushuo oversaw the awakening of ninety-seven Kong Household youths as the Eighth-Grade Five-Colored Peacock True Spirit scattered starlight over them.
• Fifty-eight youths awakened their bloodlines, while seven suffered Demonic Nature Backlash, became Demon Beasts, and were killed by Kong Yushuo.
• Kong Wenxuan observed that the success rate had risen to around sixty percent, ten percentage points higher than when the Peacock True Spirit was Ninth-Grade.
• Kong Wenxuan sent Kong Yushuo a voice transmission, and Kong Yushuo led the successful awakeners in a solemn funeral for the seven dead clansmen.
• The successful awakeners departed for five years of full-time cultivation in the Lineage's Scripture Lecture Hall.

Kong Wenxuan refined the Black Water Divine Sword and Yellow Earth Divine Sword together while the Kong Household expanded Peacock County without needing his help. Six years later, the expansion had gone smoothly, the lineage had grown stronger, and Kong Wenxuan continued to pursue the rewards of refining both swords in tandem.

• Kong Wenxuan chose to refine the Black Water Divine Sword and Yellow Earth Divine Sword at once, hoping to strengthen their connection and future sword formations.
• The Kong Household launched an expansion war, with its servant legion, cultivators, battle formations, and patriarch clearing threats while Kong Wenxuan remained in seclusion.
• Over six years, the Kong Household expanded Peacock County with few casualties, and Kong Wenxuan never needed to join the fighting.
• Kong Wenchang, Kong Wenyin, Kong Huancai, and other younger members broke through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, bringing the lineage's total to more than thirty.
• Kong Wenjun led a lineage caravan through Extended Net Moon Deer Prefecture and its prefectural city, returning with rare goods and information.

After six years of refining two divine swords in sync, Kong Wenxuan reached the Early Purple Mansion Stage but realized their tempering would take longer than planned. He left seclusion after receiving notice of the Vermilion Bird Royal Court's minor court assembly and entered the online commandery office to attend as county magistrate.

• Kong Wenxuan spent six years refining nine Third-Tier crystal stone spiritual materials and synchronously tempering the Black Water Divine Sword and Yellow Earth Divine Sword, completing half the work and advancing to the Early Purple Mansion Stage.
• Kong Wenxuan set aside his plans to temper all five divine swords in sync and left the Peacock Secret Realm.
• Kong Wenxuan used an illusion to conceal his identity while walking through Peacock County's seat to the county government office.
• Kong Changgeng told Kong Wenxuan that the Vermilion Bird Royal Court's minor court assembly was about to begin and that he had to attend as county magistrate.
• Kong Wenxuan activated the magistrate's official seal and sent his mind and consciousness into the Star Network, appearing in the online Bifang Commandery office.

Kong Wenxuan met the other county magistrates and learned what to expect at the Vermilion Bird Royal Court’s minor court assembly. After arriving at the Vermilion Bird Hall, he discovered that his assigned place left him standing like a lackey.

• Kong Wenxuan greeted the magistrates of the other four counties and received their congratulations on the Kong Household’s rise to Eighth-Grade True Spirit status.
• Ya Xinghe and Magistrate Jiao explained that county magistrates mostly stood silently during the assembly and that the following banquet offered chances to make connections.
• The governor of Bifang Commandery gathered the magistrates and used their official seals to carry them into the Second-Grade True Spirit Heaven.
• Kong Wenxuan arrived at the Vermilion Bird Hall and learned that he could not move beyond half a zhang from his assigned place without orders.
• Kong Wenxuan followed the other magistrates’ formal stance and reflected that, nearly fifty years old, he stood in the hall like a lackey.

Kong Wenxuan attended a minor court assembly in the Vermilion Bird Hall and listened as officials reported widespread Demon Race activity across the Vermilion Bird Domain. He suspected the unrest was connected to the Heavenly Demon Grotto-Heaven and an impending invasion from the True Martial World, while the Bifang commandery governor began reporting on his commandery’s troubles.

• A Vermilion Bird descended into the hall and took the throne, opening the minor court assembly as Kong Wenxuan and the officials bowed.
• Kong Wenxuan listened to reports from commandery governors and learned that Demon Race activity had increased across the domain over the past ten years, with Demon Beast tides overrunning several county seats.
• Kong Wenxuan connected the unrest to the Heavenly Demon Grotto-Heaven and the True Martial World’s invasion, and feared that he and the Kong Household would soon have to fight the invaders.
• The Bifang commandery governor reported on thirty years of development and pleaded guilty over the Du Household’s forbidden ritual and the destruction of Cuckoo County.

Kong Wenxuan listened to reports from the seven prefectures and the royal court’s six ministries, learning that pressure from the True Martial World and Demon Race had intensified. The Vermilion Bird Royal Court ordered stronger hunts against the Demon Race and increased operations on the Outer Heaven Battlefield to counter the coordinated threats.

• The seven prefecture governors reported on regional affairs and the Outer Heaven Battlefield, revealing that attacks from the True Martial World had grown more severe over the past decade.
• Officials from the six central ministries reported on taxes, True Spirit Lineages, production, justice, relations with other domains, and fighting beyond the realm.
• The royal court’s senior officials questioned the governor of Bifang Commandery about the True Martial World’s infiltration through the Heavenly Demon Grotto-Heaven.
• The officials ordered Middle-Grade True Spirit Lineages to hunt Demon Race members and destroy their strongholds.
• The Vermilion Bird Royal Court ordered stronger defensive and offensive operations on the Outer Heaven Battlefield to repel the True Martial World’s attacks and disrupt its cooperation with the Demon Race.
• Kong Wenxuan listened to the remaining deliberations and memorized the decisions for the future.

Kong Wenxuan received a special reward from the Vermilion Bird King for his service, including five hundred merit points and Fifth Tier spirit dishes and wine. After the minor court assembly ended, he learned that the banquet’s benefits would carry back to his original body.

• The Vermilion Bird King's decrees rewarded and punished officials across the Southern Region, and the governor of Bifang Commandery received both for his achievements and faults.
• Kong Wenxuan received five hundred merit points and a Fifth Tier banquet for paying taxes, slaying demons, defending his territory, and helping clear the Demon Race secret realm and repel True Martial World invaders.
• Kong Wenxuan and the other rewarded officials thanked the Vermilion Bird King as the assembly's decisions and plans for the next thirty years were concluded.
• The presiding official ended the minor court assembly and moved the officials to the bestowed banquet hall.
• Jiao Shihuan told Kong Wenxuan that his Fifth Tier food and wine would benefit his original body, and Kong Wenxuan eagerly looked forward to partaking.

After returning from the Vermilion Bird Royal Court's lesser court assembly, Kong Wenxuan briefed Kong Changgeng on its orders and resumed refining the Black Water Divine Sword and Yellow Earth Divine Sword. Three years later, both swords reached the level of Third-Tier Treasure Artifacts.

• Kong Wenxuan returned to the county offices after the day-and-night court assembly and feast, carrying five hundred merit points and news from the Vermilion Bird Royal Court.
• Kong Wenxuan told Kong Changgeng about the Demon Race threat, attacks from the True Martial World, and the court's orders and development plans.
• Kong Wenxuan returned to Ancestral Spirit Mountain Peak and used the feast's Fifth-Tier spirit food and spirit wine to accelerate the simultaneous refinement of both swords.
• Over the next three years, the Kong Household continued expanding Peacock County, while Kong Wencheng brought back news of other lineages intensifying their campaigns against the Demon Race.
• Kong Wenxuan completed the refinement of the Black Water Divine Sword and Yellow Earth Divine Sword, and both became Third-Tier Treasure Artifacts.

Kong Wenxuan completed the refinement of the Black Water and Yellow Earth Divine Swords, raising them to Third-Tier Treasure Artifacts and discovering their fused Mountain and River Sword Momentum. After reviewing reports that required no intervention, he began upgrading the Crimson Fire Divine Sword with Three Yang Metal Fire.

• Kong Wenxuan tested the fused power of the Black Water and Yellow Earth Divine Swords and recognized that their combined momentum and force could shatter mountains and sever rivers.
• Kong Wenxuan absorbed the power fed back from the upgraded swords, stabilized his Purple Mansion, and found he still needed to upgrade another Five Elements Divine Sword to reach the Middle Purple Mansion Stage.
• Kong Wenxuan reviewed the Lineage’s reports and learned that Peacock County and the Kong Household were flourishing while the campaign against the Demon Race continued elsewhere.
• Kong Wenxuan resumed secluded cultivation and brought out the Crimson Fire Divine Sword and a sealed portion of Third-Tier Three Yang Metal Fire gifted by the Ya Household.
• Kong Wenxuan used his Spirit Law to form Treasure Restrictions and began refining the Three Yang Metal Fire into the Crimson Fire Divine Sword.

After five years of benefit from the Vermilion Bird King’s spirit meal and brew, Kong Wenxuan paused refining the Crimson Fire Divine Sword and emerged from seclusion as Peacock County completed its expansion. He prepared to settle the county’s new territory and lead the next expansion into the Peacock Secret Realm.

• Kong Wenxuan exhausted the spirit meal and brew’s spiritual power, having advanced the Black Water and Yellow Earth Divine Swords and nearly completed the Crimson Fire Divine Sword.
• Kong Wenxuan stopped refining the remaining Three Yang Metal Fire, nurtured the Crimson Fire Divine Sword in his Purple Mansion, and left the Peacock Secret Realm.
• The Kong Household completed its eleven-year expansion war, bringing three thousand li under Peacock County’s control and advancing the county to an Eighth-Grade middle-class county.
• Kong Wenxuan returned to Peacock County Seat to relocate the Boundary Stele and grant lineage lands to meritorious bloodline lineages joining the Kong Household as servant cultivator lineages.
• Kong Wenxuan prepared to lead the Peacock Secret Realm’s expansion and test his Third-Tier Divine Swords and Mountain and River Sword Momentum against Devil Creatures.

After emerging from seclusion, Kong Wenxuan received the patriarchs and representatives of the servant cultivator families who had served the Kong Household in Peacock County’s expansion war. He promised to help their families rise and gave them a Five-Colored Starlight baptism before arranging to issue deeds for their ancestral territories.

• More than sixty servant cultivator families came to the Peacock County yamen to pay their respects to Kong Wenxuan after learning he had emerged from seclusion.
• Kong Wenxuan thanked the families for joining the Kong Household and promised that he and the household would not fail them as long as they remained loyal.
• The eighth-grade Peacock True Spirit Star manifested and sent Five-Colored Starlight over the assembled cultivators, slightly improving their bloodlines and Law Power.
• After absorbing the baptism, the families thanked Kong Wenxuan and the Kong Household for its benefits.
• Kong Wenxuan told the representatives to return to their chosen ancestral territories and wait while he visited each family to issue its deed.

Kong Wenxuan and Kong Huancai used a newly forged Five-Colored Peacock Feather Boat to relocate Peacock County’s eight County Boundary Steles to the expanded borders. The work completed the county’s three-thousand-li territory and transformed the Magistrate’s Official Seal into a high-grade Third Tier Treasure Artifact.

• Kong Wenxuan and Kong Huancai flew south aboard a new Five-Colored Peacock Feather Boat, which proved more than twice as fast as the ancestral boat.
• Kong Wenxuan removed the southern County Boundary Stele from the old border and planted it at Peacock County’s new southern boundary, adding the expanded land to the county map and barrier.
• Kong Wenxuan and Kong Huancai traveled to all eight boundaries over more than ten days and relocated every County Boundary Stele.
• Kong Wenxuan’s Magistrate’s Official Seal completed its transformation into a high-grade Third Tier Treasure Artifact capable of drawing on the power of Peacock County and the Peacock True Spirit Star.

Kong Wenxuan granted land deeds to the servant cultivator Lineages that had helped expand Peacock County, binding them more closely to their ancestral grounds and the Kong Household. After settling more than sixty Lineages across the new territory, he returned to Peacock County Seat, which remained large enough for the time being.

• Kong Wenxuan formed a land deed for Zhenniao Poison Valley and gave it to Diao Rongxiu, who imprinted the Diao Household's bloodline mark and pledged loyalty to the Kong Household.
• Kong Wenxuan issued land deeds for Black Wind Valley and Dog River Valley to the Xiong and Quan Households.
• Kong Wenxuan visited nearly sixty other servant cultivator Lineages across the newly conquered territory and granted each one a land deed over the following two months.
• The servant cultivator Lineages strengthened the Kong Household's control of the expanded county and helped guard its spirit lands and resources against returning Demon Beasts.
• Kong Wenxuan and Kong Huancai returned to Peacock County Seat, where the Kong Household decided not to expand the recently built seat yet.

The Kong Household fought Devil Creatures as the Peacock Secret Realm expanded, showing how much its combat strength had grown. As the realm reached five hundred li across and stronger enemies continued to arrive, the Lineage's Foundation Establishment cultivators prepared to join the battle.

• The Peacock True Spirit Star expanded the Peacock Secret Realm as the Kong Household's forces took up positions on all four sides to fight the invading Devil Creatures.
• The Peacock Dao Soldiers and Qi Refinement cultivators' True Spirit Battle Formations slaughtered the Devil Creatures, including occasional Second-Tier creatures, while the star's Five-Colored Starlight restored their strength.
• Kong Wenxuan, Kong Changgeng, and other senior cultivators watched as the Lineage's forces fought effectively without their help.
• The Peacock Secret Realm expanded from three hundred li to five hundred li across, while the Devil Creatures grew more numerous and powerful.
• The Foundation Establishment cultivators prepared to enter the battle as the Qi Refinement formations and Peacock Dao Soldiers came under increasing pressure.

The Kong Household’s cultivators fought off waves of Devil Creatures as the Peacock Secret Realm expanded, while Kong Wenxuan and Patriarch Kong Changgeng guarded its two most vital places. When the realm crossed six hundred li and a stronger wave arrived, Kong Changgeng ordered the household’s sword cultivators to form eight Lesser Five Elements Sword Formations.

• Kong Household Foundation Establishment cultivators used Five Elements Divine Swords and Talisman Slips to kill Second Tier Devil Creatures and relieve pressure on the defenders.
• The Peacock Secret Realm expanded as slain Devil Creatures became its land and terrain, while Kong Changgeng and Kong Wenxuan watched over the battle from the sky and the Ancestral Spirit Mountain Peak.
• Kong Wenxuan guarded the Ancestral Spirit Mountain Peak and ancestral hall, while Kong Changgeng stayed near the first Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo at the realm’s center.
• The Peacock Secret Realm reached six hundred li, triggering a new wave of Devil Creatures in which Second Tier attackers outnumbered First Tier ones and badly wounded or killed Peacock Dao Soldiers.
• Patriarch Kong Changgeng ordered the sword cultivators to raise their formations, and they deployed eight Lesser Five Elements Sword Formations across the four fronts.

Kong Wenxuan tested the Mountain and River Sword Momentum as the Peacock Secret Realm’s expansion drew a Third-Tier Devil Creature inside. He destroyed the creature with a single blow, leaving him satisfied with the sword momentum’s crushing power.

• The Peacock Secret Realm expanded to seven hundred li as the power of slain Second-Tier Devil Creatures flowed into it.
• A two-headed, snake-tailed Third-Tier Devil Creature charged into the realm and shattered the Lesser Five Elements Sword Formation controlled by Kong Huancai and Kong Wenzhao.
• Kong Huancai and Kong Wenzhao activated their defensive Treasure Artifacts as the creature’s black wind and flames attacked them.
• Kong Wenxuan struck the creature with the Crimson Fire Divine Sword, cleaving its flames and severely wounding it.
• Kong Wenxuan used the Mountain and River Sword Momentum to smash the Third-Tier Devil Creature to pieces, then recalled his five divine swords.

Kong Wenxuan, Patriarch Kong Changgeng, and the Kong Household’s beasts fought off waves of Third-Tier Devil Creatures as the Peacock Secret Realm expanded. After the battle ended, the realm had grown to nine hundred li across, but Kong Wenxuan wondered why no Origin Fragment had appeared.

• The death of a Third-Tier Devil Creature caused a volcano and a wind mountain to rise as its origin power merged into the Peacock Secret Realm.
• More Third-Tier Devil Creatures charged from the murky Origin Sea, and Kong Wenxuan used his Five Elements Divine Swords and Mountain and River Sword Momentum to trap and kill them.
• Patriarch Kong Changgeng summoned his Black Water Talisman Slip, White Tiger Command, and Vermilion Bird Command to fight alongside Kong Wenxuan.
• Kong Wenxuan, Kong Changgeng, the black tiger, and the azure sparrow slew more than a dozen Third-Tier Devil Creatures, whose origin power expanded the realm and enriched its resources.
• The waves subsided after the Peacock Secret Realm grew to nine hundred li across, and Kong Wenxuan wondered whether it would yield an Origin Fragment.

After the Peacock Secret Realm expanded successfully, a gigantic wave from the turbulent Origin Sea struck and damaged it. Kong Wenxuan saw signs that the Demon Race and True Martial World martial cultivators might be colluding to launch another invasion.

• Kong Wenxuan and the Kong Household slaughtered the Devil Creatures during the Peacock Secret Realm’s expansion without losing any Lineage members.
• The Peacock Secret Realm expanded to nine hundred li, but the Peacock True Spirit did not seize another Otherworld Origin Fragment.
• A sudden upheaval in the Origin Sea sent a towering wave toward the secret realm, and Kong Wenxuan raised the Great Five Elements Sword Formation to defend it.
• The wave damaged the secret realm, shattered branches of the Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo, and scattered Five-Colored Starlight.
• Kong Wenxuan saw projections of the Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram, the Demon-Summoning Banner, and the Twelve True Martial Grand Formation, and suspected a new invasion coordinated by the Demon Race and True Martial World martial cultivators.

Kong Wenxuan watched the Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty suppress the Demon Race and True Martial World forces, but a burst of bloody light tore open the Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram. True Martial Spirit Light poured through the breach, and one stream broke into the Peacock Secret Realm despite Kong Wenxuan’s defenses.

• Kong Wenxuan ordered the younger members of the Kong Household to repair the damage caused by the Origin Sea’s waves while he monitored the battle through the Peacock True Spirit Star.
• Kong Wenxuan and the others saw the Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram suppress the Demon-Summoning Banner and keep the True Martial Grand Formation outside the True Spirit Realm.
• A vast burst of bloody light shot from the Demon-Summoning Banner and tore a crack through the Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram’s projection.
• Chaotic True Martial Spirit Light rushed through the breach and scattered into hundreds of streams across the Origin Sea.
• Kong Wenxuan activated the Great Five Elements Sword Formation, but a stream of True Martial Spirit Light smashed through its defenses and entered the Peacock Secret Realm.