Chapter Summaries

During the Kong Household’s moon-worship ceremony, Kong Wenxuan awakened the Peacock Bloodline and survived its demonic nature after the Five-Colored Divine Light intervened. He watched many other children transform into Demon Beasts and die, then looked up at the stars of the True Spirit Realm.

• Kong Wenxuan’s consciousness entered a strange river, where the Five-Colored Divine Light engulfed the green peacock he was about to merge with and sent information into his mind.
• Kong Wenxuan awakened five-colored peacock plumes and became one of the few children to survive the Peacock Bloodline’s struggle between human and demonic nature.
• The patriarch captured children who were transforming into peacock Demon Beasts, waited for their transformations to finish, then killed them and collected their plumes.
• Kong Wenxuan saw that only forty of the forty-nine children remained and that just six bloodline awakeners, including himself, had survived.
• Kong Wenxuan looked up at the stars and reflected on the True Spirit Realm, where people cultivated through Demon Beast bloodlines.

Kong Wenxuan and five other newly awakened bloodline cultivators learned how the Kong Household had fallen from its former glory and renewed their pledge to restore it. When they joined the Du Household’s outer register by worshipping its Cuckoo True Spirit Star, Kong Wenxuan discovered it was draining his Peacock Bloodline, but a Five-Colored Divine Light secretly suppressed the star’s projection.

• At the ancestral hall, Patriarch Kong Changgeng recounted how the Kong Household rose to ninth-grade True Spirit status, nearly destroyed itself, and later settled on Peacock Ridge under the Du Household’s protection.
• Kong Wenyuan and the other newly awakened cultivators pledged to restore the Lineage, then registered their names and blood in the Kong Clan Genealogy.
• Kong Changgeng brought the six cultivators to the reception hall, where a Du Household cultivator manifested the Cuckoo True Spirit Star and told them to worship it and join the outer register.
• Kong Wenxuan realized that the Cuckoo star projection was drawing power from his Peacock Bloodline after its starlight entered his Dantian.
• A Five-Colored Divine Light descended from Kong Wenxuan’s mind and suppressed the Cuckoo star projection, unnoticed by the Du Household cultivator.

Kong Wenxuan cultivated the Five Elements True Scripture by refining his peacock plumes into Divine Swords, choosing combat strength over the Kong Household’s traditional crafts. After advancing to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining and serving on the patrol team, he began refining the Yellow Earth Divine Sword with Thick Mountain Stone and attempting to reach the Seventh Layer.

• Kong Wenxuan chose to refine his five peacock plumes into the Five Elements Divine Swords because the method raised his cultivation and combat strength quickly.
• Kong Wenxuan focused on cultivation during his three years free from other duties, reaching the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining in two years.
• Kong Wenxuan refined six stalks of Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo into the Azure Wood Divine Sword and advanced to the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining.
• Kong Wenxuan joined the Lineage's patrol team, became one of its main fighting forces, and earned contribution points.
• Kong Wenxuan refined Cold Spring Spirit Water into the Black Water Divine Sword and advanced to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining.
• Kong Wenxuan began refining Thick Mountain Stone into the Yellow Earth Divine Sword as he attempted to break through to the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining.

Kong Wenxuan considered how he might overcome the demonic nature of his bloodline when advancing to Foundation Establishment, then joined his patrol team to confront a snake demon. He trapped it with the Azure Wood Divine Sword and killed it with the Black Water Divine Sword.

• Kong Wenxuan estimated that he could refine the Yellow Earth Divine Sword and reach the Qi Refining Seventh Layer within a month, while considering the danger of demonic backlash during a Foundation Establishment breakthrough.
• Kong Wenxiong told Kong Wenxuan that Aunt Kong Yuling's bait trap had lured the snake demon ashore.
• Kong Wenxuan and Kong Wenxiong hurried to join Kong Yuling, Kong Yushan, and Kong Yutang, who were using illusions to hold the snake demon but could not seriously injure it.
• Kong Wenxuan sent the Azure Wood Divine Sword's eighteen streaks of sword light to trap the snake demon.
• Kong Wenxuan struck the trapped snake demon with the Black Water Divine Sword and cut it in two.

Kong Wenxuan refined the Yellow Earth Divine Sword and advanced to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer before his patrol encountered fleeing beasts and Flamingo Lie Household spirit birds. A signal from the Du Household summoned its allies, and Kong Yushan ordered the team to go help.

• Kong Wenxuan killed a snake demon during patrol, then spent the next month refining the Yellow Earth Divine Sword and breaking through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.
• Kong Wenxuan and his patrol team saw frightened animals and Flamingo Lie Household spirit birds fleeing toward Kong territory, suggesting that trouble had struck the Lie Household.
• Kong Yushan and the other Kong cultivators used their bloodline abilities to stop the animals, while Kong Wenxuan used his three divine swords to defeat the attacking flamingos.
• A beam from the Flamingo Lie Household's territory formed the Du Household's cuckoo signal, and Kong Yushan told the team to go help.

Kong Wenxuan and the Kong Household joined other Du Household servant lineages at the ruined Flamingo Lie Household, where Du Zikai explained that its patriarch had become a Demon Beast after a failed Foundation Establishment breakthrough. Du Zikai urged the gathered lineages to attempt future breakthroughs at the Du Household’s protected site in the county city.

• Kong Wenxuan and his companions waited for reinforcements, then boarded a second-tier Feather Boat carrying Kong Changgeng, Kong Changfeng, and another patrol team.
• Kong Changgeng used the Feather Boat’s Soul-Bewitching Spirit Light to incapacitate fleeing Demon Beasts and flamingos as the group traveled toward the signal.
• The Kong Household arrived at the Flamingo Lie Household’s volcanic ancestral grounds and saw that an eruption had destroyed the site and killed many of its people.
• Du Zikai explained that the Flamingo Lie patriarch had failed to control the demonic nature in his bloodline during a Foundation Establishment breakthrough, becoming a second-tier flamingo Demon Beast and destroying the Lineage.
• Du Zikai urged the four gathered servant-cultivator Lineages to attempt Foundation Establishment at the Du Household’s county-city cultivation site, and the patriarchs of the Kong and Swift Yan Households endorsed his advice.

Du Zikai led the four Households to the Lie Clan’s volcano to destroy the fallen Lie Clan patriarch and the Fire Spirits within. The volcano erupted, and while Foundation Establishment cultivators fought the flamingo Demon Beast, Kong Wenxuan and the other Qi Refining cultivators battled the escaping Fire Spirits.

• Du Zikai explained that the Lie Household had created Fire Spirits in the volcano and that the fallen Lie Clan patriarch was devouring them to strengthen himself.
• Du Zikai assigned the Foundation Establishment cultivators to fight the second-tier flamingo Demon Beast and the Qi Refining cultivators to destroy the Fire Spirits.
• Du Zikai summoned the Cuckoo True Spirit Star’s power and caused the volcano to erupt, sending the flamingo Demon Beast into the air.
• Kong Changgeng’s Peacock Feather entranced the Demon Beast, and Yan Zhiyu’s Swallowtail Shears wounded it before Du Zikai’s tamed beasts surrounded it.
• The Fire Spirits escaped the volcano, and Kong Wenxuan used his Yellow Earth Divine Sword to block a flamingo-shaped Fire Spirit’s attack.

Kong Wenxuan hunted First-Tier late-stage fire spirits to collect spirit fire for refining the Crimson Fire Divine Sword and advancing to the Qi Refinement Eighth Layer. After securing two portions of First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit fire, he was interrupted while trapping a third fire spirit by a Wind Wings attack from the Hummingbird Feng Household.

• Kong Wenxuan killed a First-Tier middle-stage flamingo fire spirit with the Azure Wood Divine Sword and collected its First-Tier mid-grade spirit fire.
• He trapped a humanoid First-Tier late-stage fire spirit with the Azure Wood Divine Sword, blocked its flaming feathers with the Yellow Earth Divine Sword, and killed it with the Black Water Divine Sword.
• Kong Wenxuan collected the humanoid fire spirit's First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit fire and realized he needed six portions to refine the Crimson Fire Divine Sword and reach the Qi Refinement Eighth Layer.
• He killed a flamingo-shaped First-Tier late-stage fire spirit with the Black Water Divine Sword and collected a second portion of First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit fire.
• Kong Wenxuan trapped a third late-stage fire spirit, but a blue-gray Wind Wings attack from the Hummingbird Feng Household cut through his sword-light blockade and let the fire spirit escape.

Kong Wenxuan fought a Feng Household cultivator over a First-Tier Late Stage fire spirit, defeating him and taking the spirit fire. The Feng and Kong households nearly clashed, but the Feng Household head ordered his people to resume exterminating the fire spirits.

• Kong Wenxuan grievously wounded a Feng Household cultivator with his three divine swords and killed the flamingo fire spirit they had both targeted.
• Kong Wenxuan disabled the Feng Household cultivator without killing him, then attacked another Feng Household cultivator to claim his humanoid fire spirit.
• The Feng Household cultivators threatened to attack Kong Wenxuan, and the Kong Household members moved to confront them as fire spirits began escaping.
• The Feng Household head stopped his people from fighting the Kong Household and ordered them to focus on exterminating the fire spirits.
• Kong Wenxuan killed the humanoid fire spirit and obtained his fourth portion of First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit fire.

Kong Wenxuan gathered the spirit fire and materials he needed to refine the Crimson Fire Divine Sword after helping his relatives clear the battlefield. Du Zikai praised his sword artifacts and urged him to serve at the Demon-Suppressing Pass.

• Kong Wenxuan joined Kong Yuling and Kong Yushan to kill a first-tier superior-grade Fire Spirit, and they gave him its spirit fire.
• The households cleared the remaining Fire Spirits and searched the Lie Household ruins, where Kong Wenxuan found a superior-grade Law Artifact seal he could trade for more spirit fire.
• Kong Wenxuan saw Du Zikai capture the second-tier flamingo Demon Beast and wondered whether Du Zikai's other tamed beasts had once been bloodline cultivators.
• Du Zikai praised Kong Wenxuan's performance and sword artifacts, then invited him to go to the Demon-Suppressing Pass.

After Du Zikai summoned Kong Wenxuan to serve at the Demon-Suppressing Pass, the Kong Household prepared him for the dangerous assignment. Kong Wenxuan began forging the Crimson Fire Divine Sword, said farewell to his family and fellow cultivators, and set out with Patriarch Kong Changgeng.

• Du Zikai dismissed the gathering after assigning Kong Wenxuan to go to the Demon-Suppressing Pass, while the Du Household claimed the Lie Household's territory and resources.
• Patriarch Kong Changgeng promised support at the pass and told Kong Wenxuan to take the treasure seal to Kong Yushuo, who could use it on the front line.
• Kong Wenxuan received a sixth first-tier superior-grade spirit flame and entered seclusion to forge the Crimson Fire Divine Sword, but left after more than twenty days with the sword still unfinished.
• Kong Wenxuan visited his parents for three days, then accepted supplies and farewell gifts from the Kong Household cultivators at the affairs hall.
• Patriarch Kong Changgeng accompanied Kong Wenxuan as he departed for the Demon-Suppressing Pass.

Patriarch Kong Changgeng took Kong Wenxuan south through the mountains toward the Third Demon-Suppressing Pass, explaining the region’s routes, settlements, and the Du Household’s expansion. They reached the pass, where the Du Household’s strict ten-li no-fly rule required them to approach on foot.

• Patriarch Kong Changgeng piloted the Feather Boat south and explained the mountain settlements, trade routes, and their relations with the Kong Household.
• Kong Changgeng and Kong Wenxuan spent the night in Second Town, a settlement that had grown around the second Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Kong Wenxuan learned that the Du Household had expanded its territory over three centuries to meet a requirement for advancing the Cuckoo True Spirit lineage to the eighth rank.
• The next day, Kong Changgeng increased the Feather Boat’s speed and brought Kong Wenxuan to the Third Demon-Suppressing Pass by dusk.
• Kong Changgeng landed and put away the Feather Boat more than ten li from the pass, then led Kong Wenxuan onward on foot to obey the Du Household’s no-fly decree.

Kong Wenxuan arrived at the Demon-Suppressing Pass and learned that the Du Household had shifted from expansion to defense, making the mountains beyond the pass more dangerous. The patriarch planned to visit Du Zhimin and warned that the Du Household’s coming attempt to rise to an eighth-rank True Spirit Lineage could endanger the Kong Household as well.

• Kong Wenxuan met Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo and learned that some Kong clansmen were guarding a nearly ripe vermilion fruit tree in the southern mountains.
• Kong Yushuo told Patriarch Kong Changgeng that Du Zhimin had replaced Du Ziting as overseer of the pass, and Kong Changgeng explained that the Du Household would likely focus on defense.
• Kong Yushuo grew concerned for the clansmen guarding the tree, but Kong Changgeng proposed visiting Du Zhimin before they set out to join them.
• Kong Changgeng warned that the Du Household might soon attempt to become an eighth-rank True Spirit Lineage and that the Kong Household should prepare for the risks.
• Kong Wenxuan learned over dinner that servant lineages mainly explored and gathered resources beyond the pass, while the Du Household alone maintained armies there.

The patriarch visited Du Zhimin at Demon-Suppressing Pass, then returned to the Lineage while Kong Wenxuan joined Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo and the others to travel beyond the pass. Before they set out to protect the Vermilion Fruit tree, Kong Wenzhang tested Wenxuan’s Five Elements Divine Swords, which blocked and shattered his attacks.

• The patriarch and Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo visited Du Zhimin, then the patriarch returned to the Lineage with supplies and concerns about the pass and the Vermilion Fruit tree.
• Kong Wenxuan declined to stay inside Demon-Suppressing Pass and agreed to go beyond the pass with Eldest Uncle and the others.
• Eldest Uncle gave Kong Wenxuan talismans and pills, while Wenxuan offered him a volcanic stone treasured seal that he had obtained at the 'Flamingo' Lie Lineage's grounds.
• Kong Wenxuan displayed his Yellow Earth, Azure Wood, and Black Water Divine Swords, prompting Eldest Uncle to ask Kong Wenzhang to test his abilities.
• Kong Wenzhang attacked with Layered Waves Technique, which the Yellow Earth Divine Sword blocked without difficulty.
• Kong Wenzhang followed with Water Moon Saber, but the Yellow Earth Divine Sword shattered it just before it struck Kong Wenxuan.

Kong Wenxuan and his relatives left the Demon-Suppressing Pass cautiously, where Kong Wenzhang explained that rival bloodline cultivators made the lands beyond it lawless and dangerous. Ninth Uncle Kong Yuchui later reported that three households had tailed Kong Wenxuan and Kong Wenzhang.

• Kong Wenzhang ended his test of Kong Wenxuan’s swordsmanship and advised him to stay close and rely on concealment beyond the pass.
• Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo split the party into three groups to scout ahead, leave separately, and watch for anyone following them.
• Kong Wenzhang explained that bloodline cultivators, not Demon Beasts, were the main threat beyond the pass, where no authority enforced order.
• Kong Wenxuan and Kong Wenzhang met up with Kong Yushuo and Third Aunt Kong Yuyin after they checked the area for traps and ambushes.
• Ninth Uncle Kong Yuchui reported that the Shrike Lao Household, Forest Owl Lin Household, and Hummingbird Feng Household had followed Kong Wenxuan and Kong Wenzhang.

Kong Wenxuan traveled with Kong Yushuo’s group through the mountains beyond Demon-Suppressing Pass as they evaded possible Feng Household pursuers and taught him how to survive there. After five cautious days and visits to three hidden supply bases, they reached the area near the Vermilion Fruit Tree, where Fifth Uncle and the others were waiting.

• Kong Yushuo rejected Kong Yuyin’s suggestion to ambush the Feng Household cultivators, choosing instead to use illusions to shake off pursuers and reserve a prepared trap near the Vermilion Fruit Tree if needed.
• Kong Yuyin sent straw men disguised by her Straw Man Illusion Technique to scout ahead and lure away any tails while the group traveled through the mountains.
• The group rested at a concealed cave base, replaced its stored pills and talismans, and continued onward without being attacked.
• Over the next several days, Kong Wenzhang taught Kong Wenxuan about the mountains’ dangers and the bloodline cultivators they encountered, while the group avoided contact and laid false trails.
• After five days of travel and visits to three bases, Kong Wenxuan and the others arrived near the Vermilion Fruit Tree guarded by Fifth Uncle and his group.

Kong Wenxuan joined the Kong family service squad guarding a hidden vermilion fruit tree and learned how its illusion formation concealed it. After two months of cultivation and patrols, the tree’s eight fruits finally ripened, and their fragrance began to escape the formation.

• Kong Wenzhang led Kong Wenxuan and the others through the persimmon grove’s illusion formation using peacock feathers manifested by their bloodline abilities.
• Kong Wenxuan saw through an illusory tree and met Fifth Uncle Kong Yuluo and the other members guarding the vermilion fruit tree.
• Kong Wenzhang explained that the patriarch, Kong Changgeng, had refined the second-tier illusion formation to conceal the tree and protect the Kong family’s front-line fighters.
• Kong Wenxuan joined the service squad, cultivated within the formation, and occasionally patrolled the grove with the off-duty team.
• After two months, the vermilion fruit tree’s eight fruits ripened, and their sweet fragrance began to overwhelm the illusion formation.

Kong Wenxuan guarded the persimmon grove while his relatives harvested the vermilion fruits and dug up the tree. The "Gray Wolf" Lang Household arrived and demanded a share, leaving Kong Wenxuan facing a likely confrontation.

• Third Aunt, Fifth Uncle, and the others picked the eight ripe vermilion fruits and sealed them in a jade box while Eldest Uncle and the others began digging up the tree.
• Eldest Uncle ordered Kong Wenxuan to guard the area, and Kong Wenxuan killed a red-billed blue magpie Demon Bird and a masked palm civet Demon Beast.
• The vermilion fruits' fragrance faded, causing most nearby birds, beasts, and Demon Beasts to retreat.
• A hulking cultivator from the "Gray Wolf" Lang Household approached Kong Wenxuan and demanded a share of the treasure, while three other Lang Household cultivators followed behind him.

Kong Wenxuan faced the Grey Wolf Lang Household cultivators while the Hummingbird Feng Household exposed his identity and manipulated the Lang men into underestimating his swords. After Lang San charged and was cut by the Azure Wood Divine Sword, his Bronze Head and Iron Bones ability resisted the sword light.

• Kong Wenxuan held the Azure Wood Divine Sword and Black Water Divine Sword at bay against four Lang Household cultivators, hoping to buy time for his relatives to dig up the vermilion fruit trees.
• Hummingbird Feng Household cultivators revealed that Kong Wenxuan came from the Peacock Kong Household and was known for illusion techniques, prompting the Lang Household men to mistake his swords for illusions.
• Lang San charged at Kong Wenxuan with a cleaver, while the Feng Household cultivators hoped the clash would deepen the feud between the Kong and Lang Households.
• Kong Wenxuan turned the Azure Wood Divine Sword into twenty-one streaks of sword light and sent them at Lang San.
• Lang San struck the sword net with his cleaver, but the sword light cut into him before he activated Bronze Head and Iron Bones, which resisted the blades.

Kong Wenxuan slew Lang San with the Azure Wood Divine Sword and Black Water Divine Sword, then fought the three remaining Gray Wolf Lang Household cultivators. He killed their Seventh Sister with the Yellow Earth Divine Sword as the two others rushed to protect her.

• Kong Wenxuan blocked the Lang Household cultivators' attacks with the Yellow Earth Divine Sword while his other two swords overwhelmed Lang San's defenses and killed him.
• Watching Kong Wenxuan slay Lang San, the surrounding cultivators marveled at his strength, and some began withdrawing warily.
• Kong Wenxuan targeted the weaker Lang Household woman with the Azure Wood and Black Water Divine Swords, forcing the other two cultivators to stop attacking him and intervene.
• Kong Wenxuan sent the freed Yellow Earth Divine Sword crashing down on the woman, shattering her defenses and killing her.