Chapter Summaries

During the Kong Household’s rank-advancement celebration, Kong Wenxuan learned that the Bi Household planned to establish an Origin-Securing Grand Formation across Bifang Commandery. The plan would require cooperation from all five county lineages, especially the wary Fire Crow Ya Household.

• The Kong Household’s six Huan-generation Qi Refinement participants displayed their Five Elements Divine Swords and Talisman Slips and advanced to the Law Debate’s final stage.
• Kong Wenxuan spoke with Bi Yanshu, a revenue-office head from the Bifang Commandery administration, while the debates continued.
• Bi Yanshu told Kong Wenxuan that the Bi Household planned to build a grand formation to suppress and seal Bifang Commandery’s origin fragments.
• Kong Wenxuan recognized that the plan would require each county lineage to grant the Bi Household access to its lands and True Spirit Secret Realm.
• Kong Wenxuan considered the Bi and Fire Crow Ya Households’ mutual wariness, rooted in the Ya Household’s Central Region ties, and saw that winning Ya’s cooperation would be difficult.

Bi Yanshu explained the Bi Household’s plan to establish the Myriad Fires All-Encompassing Origin-Fortifying Grand Array across Bifang Commandery and offered the Kong Household a Fifth Tier Nirvana Spirit Fire seed. Kong Wenxuan accepted the plan on behalf of the Kong Household, leaving the Bi Household ready to seek the other lineages’ support.

• Kong Wenxuan asked Bi Yanshu to explain the Origin-Securing Grand Formation, and Bi Yanshu described its relationship to the formation used in Qinggeng Commandery.
• Bi Yanshu said the Bi Household had approached the Kong Household first and asked for its opinion before consulting the other True Spirit Lineages.
• Bi Yanshu showed Kong Wenxuan a Jade Slip detailing subsidiary formations that would supplement each household’s city defenses and help protect Bifang Commandery’s origin fragment.
• Bi Yanshu offered each household a Nirvana Spirit Fire seed and explained its uses, then offered the Kong Household a Fifth Tier seed.
• Kong Wenxuan accepted the formation plan on behalf of the Kong Household, and Bi Yanshu said the matter was halfway to success.

Kong Wenxuan considered how the Bi Household’s formation would benefit the local lineages, then watched the Kong Household dominate the Dao discussions at Peacock Manor. The Kong disciples won the Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment contests, while their Purple Mansion cultivators impressed their peers, and the neighboring households handed over the stakes they had wagered.

• Kong Wenxuan concluded that the Bi Household’s formation and Nirvana Spirit Fire could help persuade the Fire Crow Ya Household and strengthen the Bi Household.
• The Kong Household’s Qi Refinement disciples defeated their peers from the county lineages in the discussion battles.
• The Kong Household sent six new Foundation Establishment disciples, who formed the Lesser Five Elements Sword Formation and Five Elements Talisman Formation and defeated the other households’ combined attack.
• Kong Yushuo and Kong Yuyin impressed the other Purple Mansion cultivators with their Third Tier Divine Swords, though the exchanges ended without a declared winner.
• The congratulating households handed over their wagered trade shares, benefits, and shops to the Kong Household.

After the Kong Household’s rank-promotion celebration, Kong Wenxuan explained why he had agreed to the Bi Household’s plan to build the Myriad Fires All-Encompassing Origin-Fortifying Grand Array. The elders approved the array, and Kong Wenxuan arranged for the Kong Household’s formation masters to study its construction.

• Kong Wenxuan met with the patriarch, Kong Changlan, Kong Yujin, and other relatives and showed them the Jade Slip detailing the Bi Household’s proposed array.
• The patriarch supported Kong Wenxuan’s agreement, reasoning that the array could protect Bifang Commandery’s Origin Fragments from a future large-scale invasion.
• Kong Changlan and Kong Yujin concluded that the array fit within the Kong Household’s Five Elements inheritance and that its subsidiary array might eventually be studied or controlled by the Lineage.
• Kong Yujin asked that Kong Household formation masters participate throughout construction, and Kong Wenxuan confirmed the Bi Household had agreed and assigned Kong Changlan and Kong Yujin to lead them.

Bi Qingqing and the Bi Household’s array masters completed the Myriad Fires All-Encompassing Grand Formation subformation around Peacock County Seat, with Kong Wenxuan activating it through the county magistrate’s official seal. The formation strengthened his Peacock Bloodline and promised the Kong Household a steady source of spirit fire and other cultivation materials.

• Bi Qingqing arrived with the Bi Household’s array masters, and Kong Wenxuan welcomed them and arranged for the Kong Household’s array masters to assist.
• Bi Qingqing, Kong Changlan, Kong Yujin, and the others surveyed the area and selected a fire pool linked to the Kong Household’s Five Elements Grand Formation as the subformation’s core array eye.
• The Kong Household’s array masters helped construct the subformation, linking it to their own protective formation while Kong Wenxuan refined the Azure Wood Divine Sword and met with Bi Qingqing.
• After four months, the subformation was complete, and Bi Qingqing explained that it had no control plate and would be controlled through the Peacock County Magistrate’s Official Seal.
• Kong Wenxuan activated the subformation with the seal, spreading flame-like runes across Peacock County Seat as his Peacock Bloodline stirred and grew stronger.

Kong Wenxuan confirmed that the Nirvana Spirit Fire and the subsidiary array could strengthen the Kong Household’s avian bloodlines, then learned from Bi Qingqing that another invasion might come within a few years. After the Bi Household’s array masters departed for Fire Crow County, he summoned the patriarch and others to discuss expanding Peacock County.

• Kong Wenxuan assessed how the Nirvana Spirit Fire could improve the Kong Household’s bloodlines and judged that the benefits outweighed the increased risk of demonic backlash.
• Kong Wenxuan deactivated the array’s visible phenomena while leaving it running at low intensity, then thanked Bi Qingqing and pledged the Kong Household’s support for the full grand array.
• Bi Qingqing said the Bi Household aimed to complete the grand array within five years and warned that True Martial World forces might invade the True Spirit Realm again within a few years.
• Three days later, Bi Qingqing and the Bi Household’s array masters confirmed that Peacock County’s subsidiary array worked properly and departed for Fire Crow County.
• Kong Wenxuan told the patriarch and the others about Bi Qingqing’s warning and began discussing a campaign to expand Peacock County.

Kong Wenxuan began clearing the South Lake Mountains of Fourth Tier Demon Beasts to prepare the Kong Household’s planned territorial expansion. He defeated the Feathered Serpent King and captured it, then continued his hunt.

• Kong Wenxuan flew on the Crimson Fire Divine Sword to the highest peak in the South Lake Mountains, where the Fourth Tier Feathered Serpent King dwelled.
• The Feathered Serpent King and the other Feathered Serpents attacked Kong Wenxuan with a massive tornado filled with wind blades and poison.
• Kong Wenxuan formed the Great Five Elements Sword Formation and tore apart the tornado.
• Kong Wenxuan used the sword formation to slaughter the Feathered Serpents and grind down the peak, leaving the Feathered Serpent King grievously wounded.
• Kong Wenxuan suppressed the Feathered Serpent King and drew it into a Fourth Tier Azure Dragon Command.

Kong Wenxuan swept through the South Lake Mountains, killing or taming Fourth-Tier Demon Beasts and demonic birds and securing valuable resources for the Kong Household. After three months, he arrived at South Lake, the final and most beast-filled location.

• Kong Wenxuan considered the Kong Household’s preparations for a possible invasion and used the Four Spirits Command to strengthen its Fourth-Tier combat forces.
• Kong Wenxuan subdued the Fourth-Tier Feathered Serpent King, searched its mountain, claimed its resources, and marked the site for the Kong Household.
• Kong Wenxuan flew among the South Lake Mountains’ major locations, killing or taming Fourth-Tier Demon Beasts and demonic birds and marking resource veins for later development.
• After sweeping through the mountains for three months, Kong Wenxuan reached South Lake, where the greatest number of Fourth-Tier Demon Beasts lived.

Kong Wenxuan sent two Fourth Tier tamed beasts into South Lake to lure out its hidden inhabitants, but a spread of demonic light killed both beasts and shattered their Commands. The chapter leaves him facing an unknown threat at the bottom of the lake.

• Kong Wenxuan released his Fourth Tier green python and giant turtle tamed beasts into South Lake to investigate its depths and draw out Demon Beasts.
• The two tamed beasts stirred the lake, devouring lesser Demon Beasts to recover from their injuries.
• A Fourth Tier single-horned black python attacked the green python, while a Fourth Tier giant fish fought the giant turtle.
• As the four beasts battled beneath the surface, a vast expanse of demonic light engulfed them.
• Kong Wenxuan saw both Four Spirits Commands shatter, confirming that the green python and giant turtle had died.

Kong Wenxuan was trapped in South Lake’s Misty Heaven and Earth by hidden Demon Race members and martial cultivators, who sent four Fourth Tier Demon Beasts to attack him. He broke their coordinated assault and killed all four beasts, leaving the trap’s other enemies still at large.

• Kong Wenxuan realized that hidden invaders in South Lake had killed his two Fourth Tier tamed beasts and were targeting him, so he tried to flee on the Crimson Fire Divine Sword.
• The enemies raised the Misty Heaven and Earth around Kong Wenxuan, trapping him above the lake before he could reach shore.
• Four Fourth Tier Demon Beasts attacked from different directions, their assaults linked by the mist into one powerful strike.
• Kong Wenxuan used the Great Five Elements Sword Formation to kill the one-horned black python Demon Beast, opening a gap in the coordinated attack.
• Kong Wenxuan severed the mist linking the remaining beasts’ attacks and killed the giant crab, crayfish, and great fish Demon Beasts.

Kong Wenxuan fought to break free of the fog snare in South Lake, using his tamed beasts and Great Five Elements Sword Formation to expose and attack the hidden enemy. He finally confronted a real Fourth-Tier black flood dragon and a Fourth-Tier Gonggong martial cultivator, facing his first true challenge since reaching the Golden Core Stage.

• Kong Wenxuan released five Fourth-Tier tamed beasts to attack in every direction and shake the foundations of the fog-bound world.
• Demon Beasts emerged through the fog to counterattack, but Kong Wenxuan cut them down with the Great Five Elements Sword Formation.
• Hidden enemies struck with demon artifacts, divine weapons, and Divine Abilities, killing the Feathered Serpent King and Fire Wolf King and severely wounding the other three tamed beasts.
• Kong Wenxuan attacked the concealed Demon Race members and martial cultivators, destroying their weapons and killing many of them.
• A Fourth-Tier black flood dragon and a Fourth-Tier Gonggong martial cultivator emerged from the fog and blocked Kong Wenxuan's sword lights.

Kong Wenxuan found that his Great Five Elements Sword Formation could not overcome the Fourth-Tier black flood dragon and Gonggong martial cultivator, whose powerful defenses and attacks threatened to break it. He dispersed the formation and used One Sword Gives Rise to Ten Thousand Laws to trap the Gonggong martial cultivator, leaving him free to focus on the black flood dragon.

• Kong Wenxuan attacked the Fourth-Tier black flood dragon and Gonggong martial cultivator with his Great Five Elements Sword Formation, but his sword lights could barely penetrate their defenses.
• The black flood dragon and Gonggong martial cultivator battered Kong Wenxuan’s formation until it shuddered on the verge of collapse.
• Kong Wenxuan dispersed the formation, kept the Yellow Earth Divine Sword to protect himself, and sent the Azure Wood Divine Sword against the Gonggong martial cultivator while the other three swords targeted the black flood dragon.
• Kong Wenxuan used One Sword Gives Rise to Ten Thousand Laws to turn the Azure Wood Divine Sword’s sword lights into a forest of trees, vines, and weeds that enclosed the Gonggong martial cultivator.
• The Gonggong martial cultivator used Crushing Waves to break through the sword-light vegetation, but Kong Wenxuan replenished the forest and used it to wear down and trap him while focusing on the black flood dragon.

Kong Wenxuan used three of the Five Elements Divine Swords to defeat and kill the Fourth Tier black flood dragon, breaking the Demon-Summoning Banner and dispersing much of the mist. As he turned back to the Fourth Tier Gonggong martial cultivator, the Azure Wood Divine Sword snapped, and its damage grievously injured him.

• Kong Wenxuan unleashed the Crimson Fire, Black Water, and White Metal Divine Swords against the Fourth Tier black flood dragon, overwhelming his attacks and destroying his scale armor Demon implement.
• The black flood dragon suffered severe injuries, swallowed his damaged flood dragon pearl, and fled into the mist while summoning Demon Beasts to cover his escape.
• Kong Wenxuan used the Yellow Earth Divine Sword to shield himself and sent the other three swords after the black flood dragon, cutting him in two and destroying the Demon-Summoning Banner.
• The Black Water Divine Sword shattered the Demon-Summoning Banner, dispersing more than half the mist, and the White Metal Divine Sword killed the fleeing black flood dragon.
• The Fourth Tier Gonggong martial cultivator destroyed the Sword Light Forest and snapped the Azure Wood Divine Sword, causing its damage to rebound on Kong Wenxuan and leave him grievously injured.

Kong Wenxuan defeated the Fourth-Tier Gonggong martial cultivator by summoning Five-Colored Starlight to strengthen himself and weaken his foe. After clearing South Lake of the remaining enemies and their installations, he returned toward Peacock County Seat with his spoils and damaged Five Elements Divine Swords.

• The Fourth-Tier Gonggong martial cultivator broke free of the Sword Light Forest and attacked Kong Wenxuan, who countered with his damaged divine swords.
• Kong Wenxuan weakened the Gonggong martial cultivator’s defenses with the Black Water, White Metal, and Yellow Earth Divine Swords, but the Gonggong True Martial manifestation blocked his finishing attack.
• Kong Wenxuan summoned a projection of the seventh-grade peacock true spirit star, and its Five-Colored Starlight restored and empowered his swords while suppressing the Gonggong martial cultivator.
• Kong Wenxuan’s empowered swords shattered the Gonggong True Martial manifestation, broke the cultivator’s weapons and armor, and killed him.
• The fallen enemies’ power flooded South Lake, and Kong Wenxuan cleared the battlefield, killed the remaining low-tier enemies, and destroyed their formations and palaces.
• Kong Wenxuan departed for Peacock County Seat with his spoils and five severely damaged Five Elements Divine Swords.

After returning from hunting in the South Lake Mountains, Kong Wenxuan found that four Kong Household members had advanced to the Third Tier Purple Mansion Stage, bringing the Lineage’s total to nine. Their breakthroughs showed that the Lineage’s new spiritual powers were boosting cultivation, and the chapter ended with more disciples preparing to advance and a bloodline awakening ceremony being planned.

• Kong Wenxuan returned to Peacock County after several months hunting Fourth Tier Demon Beasts and clearing the South Lake Mountains of the Demon Race and hostile martial cultivators.
• Kong Wenxuan learned that Kong Yuluo, Kong Yuqian, Kong Yuyan, and Kong Yugui had advanced to the Third Tier Purple Mansion Stage, restoring the Lineage’s total to nine Purple Mansion cultivators.
• Kong Wenxuan recognized that the four cultivators’ combat and logistical skills would strengthen the Lineage’s fighting forces, Spirit Plant cultivation, pill and artifact production, and shipbuilding.
• The four breakthroughs demonstrated that the Seventh-Grade Peacock True Spirit Star, Nirvana Spirit Fire, and formation sub-arrays aided major cultivation advances and bloodline awakening.
• Kong Wenxuan found Peak Qi Refining and Peak Foundation Establishment disciples preparing to advance, while Kong Changgeng arranged the Lineage’s first bloodline awakening ceremony since it became a Seventh-Grade True Spirit Lineage.

After clearing the South Lake Mountains, Kong Wenxuan handed the Kong Household key resources and resumed refining the Five Elements Divine Swords while the Household launched its third expansion war. Five years later, Peacock County had expanded by three thousand li, and the campaign was nearing completion.

• Kong Wenxuan reported his sweep of the South Lake Mountains, gave the Kong Household records of Fourth-Tier resources and three tamed beasts, then returned to the Peacock Secret Realm to repair and strengthen his swords.
• The Kong Household organized three expansion armies, supported by servant cultivator lineages, new recruits, its members, and Peacock Dao Soldiers, and advanced into the South Lake Mountains.
• Over five years, Peacock County expanded from three thousand li to six thousand li as the campaign proceeded smoothly and approached its end.
• The Kong Household’s Foundation Establishment cultivators grew to nearly three hundred, while Kong Yuling, Kong Yuqin, and Kong Wenjun advanced to the Purple Mansion Stage, bringing the Household’s Purple Mansion cultivators to twelve.
• Remembering Bi Qingqing’s warning about a possible Demon Race invasion allied with martial cultivators, the Kong Household prioritized claiming territory and securing key sites over fully developing every resource and road.

Kong Wenxuan’s Golden Core cultivation and refinement of the Azure Wood Divine Sword continued steadily, while he considered the decades still required to advance. When Kong Huanying brought word that visitors from the Bi Household had arrived to connect Peacock County’s array, he paused to guide her in sword cultivation before going to receive them.

• Kong Wenxuan estimated that refining his five Five Elements Divine Swords and completing his Golden Core cultivation would take at least fifty or sixty years.
• Kong Huanying told Kong Wenxuan that the Bi Household had arrived, likely to connect Peacock County’s subsidiary array to the Myriad Fires All-Encompassing Origin-Fortifying Grand Array.
• Kong Wenxuan asked Kong Huanying about her cultivation, and she explained that she could not master Sword Light Differentiation with her White Metal Divine Sword.
• Kong Wenxuan demonstrated Sword Light Differentiation with his Azure Wood Divine Sword so Kong Huanying could observe its divine might firsthand.

Kong Wenxuan learned that a True Spirit Realm victory on the Outer Heaven Battlefield had delayed another invasion, giving the Kong Household a few years to prepare. The Bi Household completed the Myriad Fires All-Encompassing Origin-Fortifying Grand Array in Peacock County Seat, strengthening its defenses and nourishing the Kong Household’s bloodline.

• At a banquet, Kong Wenxuan asked True Person Bi Qingqing about the Outer Heaven Battlefield and the risks of expanding the Peacock Secret Realm.
• Bi Qingqing explained that a year earlier the Second-Grade White Tiger True Spirit Bai Household had led a crushing assault that killed more than half of the gathered True Martial World forces.
• Kong Wenxuan realized the victory would buy only a few years of safety and resolved that the Kong Household should use the time to grow stronger.
• After the banquet, Bi Qingqing and the Bi Household delegation joined Kong Changlan, Kong Yujin, and others to connect Peacock County Seat’s array sub-array to the main formation.
• Kong Wenxuan sensed the sub-array merge into the array’s world of fire, while the Nirvana Spirit Fire and its seed flame grew stronger and its nourishment of the Peacock Bloodline improved.

After the Bi Household connected Peacock County’s array to the commandery network and departed, Kong Wenxuan oversaw the county’s expansion, moved its boundary steles, and issued land deeds. He then faced requests from both newly settled and long-standing servant cultivator lineages, including several that sought Peacock True Spirit Star imprints.

• Bi Qingqing and the Bi Household connected Peacock County Seat’s subsidiary array to the main array and left to continue their work across Bifang Commandery.
• Kong Wenxuan postponed seclusion to oversee the end of the expansion war and prepare for the Peacock Secret Realm’s expansion.
• Three days later, Kong Wenxuan moved the County Boundary Steles to Peacock County’s new borders, strengthening the Magistrate’s Official Seal.
• Kong Wenxuan issued land deeds to bloodline lineages that had earned enough merit to settle as servant cultivators in Peacock County.
• Long-standing servant cultivator lineages presented requests to expand ancestral lands, trade merit for resources, and settle more members in the county seat.
• Several servant cultivator lineages collectively asked the Kong Household to imprint the Peacock True Spirit Star’s projected power on their cultivators.

Yan Zhiyu and the Swift Yan Household chose to accept the Kong Household's Peacock True Spirit Star projection imprint and become its subordinate Lineage. Kong Wenxuan granted their request, and the imprint helped two Yan Household cultivators advance to Foundation Establishment.

• Kong Wenxuan considered how little the Swift Yan Household had grown compared with the Kong Household and the risks of binding itself to a stronger Lineage.
• Yan Zhiyu confirmed that his people wanted the Peacock True Spirit Star projection imprint so the Yan Household could remain with and serve the Kong Household.
• Kong Wenxuan agreed, seeing the arrangement as useful preparation for the Kong Household's future advancement, territorial expansion, and possible wars.
• Kong Wenxuan summoned the Peacock True Spirit Star projection, and its Five-Colored Starlight imprinted the Yan Household cultivators.
• The Yan Household sent cultivators showing signs of advancement into secluded cultivation, and two gained the Foundation Establishment Realm.