Chapter Summaries

The Kong Household defeated another assault on the Peacock True Spirit Star after Kong Wenxuan slew the Fourth Tier enemies attacking him and the patriarch. As a larger force approached with Demon Race flying boats and True Martial Chariots, the Kong Household's lack of comparable vessels left it at a disadvantage, and Kong Wenxuan and Kong Changgeng retreated behind the Five Elements Grand Formation.

• Kong Wenxuan used the Five Elements Divine Swords to kill the five Fourth Tier enemies attacking him, then helped Kong Changgeng defeat the four Fourth Tier enemies fighting the patriarch.
• Kong Wenxuan, Kong Changgeng, and the Kong Household forces destroyed the Ten Thousand Demons Formation and True Martial Grand Formation, winning the battle with fewer casualties than before.
• After the Kong Household recovered and cleared the battlefield, the Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram sent another assault toward the Peacock True Spirit Star.
• Kong Wenxuan and the others discovered that the approaching force included Demon Race flying boats and True Martial Chariots, including Third and Fourth Tier vessels.
• Because the Kong Household had only Second Tier Peacock Feather Boats and no comparable higher-tier vessels, Kong Wenxuan and Kong Changgeng withdrew into the Five Elements Grand Formation to defend against the incoming attack.

Kong Wenxuan tested the defenses of a Fourth-Tier Demon Race flying boat and found a way to exploit its rigid patterns. As the enemy assault threatened Peacock County Seat, Kong Changgeng took over the Five Elements Grand Formation, and Kong Wenxuan destroyed the flying boat and killed its crew.

• Kong Wenxuan attacked a Fourth-Tier Demon Race flying boat with the Sword Light Forest formed by the Azure Wood Divine Sword.
• Kong Wenxuan discovered that the flying boat’s powerful defenses relied on fixed patterns and used his sword art to probe for gaps in its Gang wind barrier.
• The invading Demon Race and martial cultivator forces bombarded Peacock County Seat until the Five Elements Grand Formation began to falter.
• Kong Changgeng took over operating the Five Elements Grand Formation from Kong Yujin, stabilizing the defenses and enabling a counterattack.
• Kong Wenxuan found openings in the flying boat’s defenses and drove the Sword Light Forest through them, dismantling the boat and slaughtering its crew.

Kong Wenxuan destroyed a Fourth Tier Demon Race Flying Boat and then a Fourth Tier Zhurong Chariot, helping the Kong Household resist the invasion. As the household celebrated, a True Spirit Star fell, revealing the mortal peril of the battle.

• Kong Wenxuan used the Azure Wood Divine Sword to destroy a Fourth Tier Demon Race Flying Boat, boosting the defenders’ morale.
• Kong Wenxuan attacked a Fourth Tier Zhurong Chariot, but its fire defenses and support from the enemy formations initially kept his sword at bay.
• Kong Wenxuan summoned the other four Five Elements Divine Swords, while Kong Changgeng and the defenders tied down the enemy forces to give him room to attack.
• After several shichen of fighting, Kong Wenxuan found the Zhurong Chariot’s weaknesses, destroyed it from within, and slaughtered its martial cultivators.
• A distant True Spirit Star fell and shattered beneath demonic and martial light, alarming Kong Wenxuan and the Kong Household.

Kong Wenxuan and the Kong Household endured months of attacks on the Peacock True Spirit Star, suffering heavy losses but surviving the enemy’s most dangerous assault. During a later battle, Kong Wenxuan witnessed the Black Crane True Spirit Star fall and realized the He Household had been wiped out.

• Over three months of fighting, the Kong Household and its allied servant households repelled wave after wave of invaders, though they suffered substantial casualties.
• During the ninth wave, enemies breached the Five Elements Grand Formation and entered the county city, forcing Kong Wenxuan to break two Five Elements Divine Swords and Patriarch Kong Changgeng to sacrifice his Golden-Horned Rhinoceros to save the Peacock True Spirit Star.
• After the ninth wave, the Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram sent fewer and weaker enemies, allowing the Kong Household to keep defending the Peacock True Spirit Star.
• Half a month later, while Kong Wenxuan led the defense against another attack, he sensed the Black Crane True Spirit’s desperate cry and saw its star shatter and fall.
• Kong Wenxuan recognized the Black Crane True Spirit Star as belonging to the He Household and realized its cultivators had all perished.

Kong Wenxuan witnessed the Black Crane True Spirit Star fall and enemies invade Black Crane County, but the Bifang Bi Household contained them in the Mystic Crane Secret Realm. A new summons called the Kong Household and other Lineages to help repel the invaders, while a message confirmed they would face no further wave on the Peacock True Spirit Star.

• Kong Wenxuan saw the Black Crane True Spirit Star fall, opening a breach through which the Demon Race and martial cultivators invaded Black Crane County.
• A Bifang True Spirit projection descended and burst into starlight, preserving Black Crane County City and sending the attackers into the Mystic Crane Secret Realm.
• Kong Wenxuan received a message explaining that the Bi Household had temporarily suppressed the invaders but that they could still break free.
• The Bifang Bi Household summoned county and servant Lineages to Black Crane County to suppress and repel the enemies.
• The Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty informed the Kong Household that no further enemy wave would attack the Peacock True Spirit Star, allowing them to focus on the invading forces inside the True Spirit Realm.

Kong Wenxuan joined the fighting in Bifang Commandery and learned that invaders had opened a rift from the Mystic Crane Secret Realm to the Heavenly Demon Grotto-Heaven, turning the burned realm into a continuing battlefield. True Person Bi Yanhong revealed that the Bi Household might be keeping the gateway open for a future counterattack, and Kong Wenxuan saw a possible opportunity for the Kong Household.

• Kong Wenxuan and the Kong Household disciples arrived in Black Crane County City, now under the Bifang Bi Household's control.
• At a welcoming banquet, True Person Bi Yanhong warned Kong Wenxuan that the battle in the Mystic Crane Secret Realm might become a protracted war.
• Kong Wenxuan entered the secret realm and found it burned by the Bi Household's grand array, while enemies continued to emerge from a rift in the sky.
• True Person Bi Yanhong explained that the rift connected the Mystic Crane Secret Realm to the Heavenly Demon Grotto-Heaven and would be difficult to close.
• Kong Wenxuan realized the upper True Spirit lineages might intend to use the rift for a counterattack and considered how the Kong Household could benefit.

Kong Wenxuan arrived at Demon-Suppressing Pass and was assigned to lead the Kong, Fu, and He Household forces alongside the Fu Household. He saw the fierce battle at the walls and the strength of the city’s Fifth-Tier defensive grand array.

• True Person Bi Yanhong assigned the Kong Household to fight with the Fu Household and offered the He Household’s remaining bloodline cultivators as reinforcements.
• Fu Zongchang and He Minghua paid their respects to Kong Wenxuan, who welcomed them and entrusted Kong Yushuo with integrating their forces and preparing them for battle.
• Kong Wenxuan climbed the walls of Demon-Suppressing Pass with True Person Bi Yanhong to assess the fighting.
• Kong Wenxuan watched the Ya and Jiao Household forces repel attackers with support from the city’s defensive grand array and the starlight of three manifested True Spirit Stars.

Ya Zhaoying and the Ya Household helped repel another invasion at Demon-Suppressing Pass, where Kong Wenxuan saw the strength of her bloodline abilities. Bi Yanhong introduced the Bi Household's merit-exchange treasury, and Kong Wenxuan realized the household could use its abundant fire resources to support new True Spirit Lineages.

• Ya Zhaoying burned a Fourth-Tier Zhurong martial cultivator to ash with her Fire Crow Divine Fire Shield as Kong Wenxuan watched.
• Ya Household forces destroyed the Ten Thousand Demons Formation, and the enemy's attack on Demon-Suppressing Pass ended for the moment.
• Ya Zhaoying joined Kong Wenxuan and Bi Yanhong, who urged their households to cooperate in defending Bifang Commandery.
• Bi Yanhong gave Kong Wenxuan and Ya Zhaoying Jade Slips listing resources available through the Bi Household's merit-exchange treasury.
• Kong Wenxuan found that the treasury offered abundant Nirvana Spirit Fire and fire seeds, and suspected the Bi Household intended to cultivate new True Spirit Lineages as its dependents.

Kong Wenxuan considered the Bi Household’s plan to recruit subordinate households through an exchange treasury and saw how it would draw bloodline and servant cultivator households into the war. He found that the treasury’s secluded cultivation ground was bait aimed specifically at him and the Ya Household, but chose to pursue it to strengthen himself and speed up the Crimson Fire Divine Sword’s upgrade.

• Kong Wenxuan reflected that supporting subordinate True Spirit Lineages was a mutual arrangement, like the Kong Household’s past agreements with the Yan, Ma, and Yun Households.
• Kong Wenxuan expected the Bi Household’s exchange treasury to attract households eager to earn resources and support by fighting in the war.
• Kong Wenxuan found Nirvana Spirit Fire in the catalog that could help him refine and upgrade the Crimson Fire Divine Sword.
• Kong Wenxuan discovered that the Bi Household had opened a secluded cultivation ground filled with fire-element origin and pseudo-primordial Spiritual Qi.
• Kong Wenxuan recognized the cultivation ground as bait meant to motivate him and the Ya Household to earn merit, but decided to seize the opportunity and pursue it.

At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Kong Wenxuan refined his Crimson Fire Divine Sword while Kong Changgeng fought a new wave of Fourth-Tier enemies. The golden-eyed giant ape shattered Kong Changgeng’s water technique, revealing a dangerous ability as the battle continued.

• Kong Wenxuan continued refining the Crimson Fire Divine Sword while the Kong Household guarded Demon-Suppressing Pass against low-tier enemies.
• A Fourth-Tier giant ape of the Demon Race emerged from the rift with a wolf and an eagle, and Kong Changgeng moved to intercept them.
• Kong Changgeng used his Black Water Peacock’s illusion to briefly ensnare the wolf and eagle, then attacked the giant ape with his Earth Dragon and Flame Sparrow.
• The golden-armored giant ape smashed the Earth Dragon in two, blasted the Flame Sparrow away, and used golden light from his eyes to expose and destroy the weak points in Kong Changgeng’s black-water technique.
• Kong Wenxuan recognized that the giant ape’s bloodline ability could reveal flaws in Law Techniques, making it a formidable opponent for Kong Changgeng.

Patriarch Kong Changgeng used Ten Thousand Laws Reach the Heavens to kill a Fourth Tier golden-eyed giant ape, then joined his tamed beasts to kill a wolf and an eagle. His Black Water Talisman Slip was badly damaged, so he left Kong Wenxuan to defend Demon-Suppressing Pass while he recovered and repaired it.

• The golden-eyed giant ape broke through Patriarch Kong Changgeng’s attacks while his Earth Dragon and Flame Sparrow engaged a wolf and an eagle.
• Patriarch Kong Changgeng used a Fourth Tier Gui Water Divine Lightning talisman to disrupt the giant ape, then trapped it in a Black Water Grand Formation.
• The formation unleashed Black Water Law Techniques, Law Treasures, and Spirit Pills until they broke the giant ape’s golden armor and killed it.
• Kong Wenxuan recognized the attack as Ten Thousand Laws Reach the Heavens, and Patriarch Kong Changgeng explained that his Third Tier Black Water Talisman Slip could not fully unleash the technique and was now severely damaged.
• Patriarch Kong Changgeng and his two tamed beasts killed the wolf and eagle, then he entrusted Demon-Suppressing Pass to Kong Wenxuan and went into seclusion to recover and repair the talisman slip.

Kong Wenxuan used his own battlefield merits to secure two months of cultivation in the Pseudo-Innate secret retreat, then entered the Myriad Fires All-Encompassing Origin-Fortifying Grand Array to refine the Crimson Fire Divine Sword. The chapter ended with him beginning his secluded cultivation on the array’s central fire island.

• During the Kong Household’s four-month watch at the Demon-Suppressing Pass, Kong Wenxuan slew Fourth Tier enemies and earned enough merits for two months in the Pseudo-Innate secret retreat.
• Kong Wenxuan declined to spend merits earned by Kong Changgeng, the clansmen, and servant cultivator lineages, preserving their ability to exchange for resources.
• Kong Wenxuan and Kong Changgeng comforted the returning cultivators and arranged support for the dead and wounded.
• Kong Wenxuan visited the Garrison Residence and asked True Person Bi Qingqing to arrange his entry into the secret retreat.
• Bi Qingqing verified Kong Wenxuan’s merits, activated the array’s subarray, and gave him a Bifang Jade Token to enter the retreat.
• Kong Wenxuan crossed the sea of fire to the array’s central fire island, sat down, and began refining the Crimson Fire Divine Sword with Nirvana Spirit Fire.

Kong Wenxuan cultivated in the Bi Household’s array core, where the fire-rich environment doubled his cultivation and sword-refinement speed. After leaving, he learned that the array came from an inheritance available only to middle-grade true spirit lineages, leaving him eager to earn merit points and advance his household.

• Kong Wenxuan refined the Crimson Fire Divine Sword with Nirvana Spirit Fire and found the array core’s extreme fire environment suited his cultivation without disrupting his Five Elements balance.
• After two months, Kong Wenxuan left the formation eye and estimated that his progress had been twice as fast as in an ordinary environment.
• Kong Wenxuan resolved to earn more merit points by slaying members of the Demon Race, Demon Beasts, and martial cultivators.
• Kong Wenxuan returned to the survey hall and discussed the benefits of the array with Bi Qingqing.
• Bi Qingqing explained that the Bi and Geng Households’ arrays came from the Myriad Phenomena Grand Array inheritance, which only middle-grade true spirit lineages governing a commandery could access.

Over three years, the Bi, Kong, and Ya Households kept the Mystic Crane Secret Realm battlefield under control while the wider invasion spread across the True Spirit Realm. The Shrike Lao Household distinguished itself in battle, switched allegiance to the Bifang Bi Household, and became a Ninth-Grade True Spirit Lineage, taking over Black Crane County as Shrike County.

• The Demon Race and martial cultivators pushed their invasion into the True Spirit Realm as battles in the Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram largely ended.
• The Bi, Kong, and Ya Households repelled attempts to overwhelm Demon-Suppressing Pass, destroy the battlefield with arrays, and widen the rift to the Heavenly Demon Grotto-Heaven.
• The servant-cultivator and ordinary bloodline families suffered heavy casualties but earned spoils and battlefield merit to exchange for resources from the Bi Household treasury.
• The Shrike Lao Household used its Heart of Slaughter bloodline ability to kill enemies in battle and earned the Bifang Bi Household's support.
• The Shrike Lao Household betrayed the Fire Crow Ya Household, joined the Bifang Bi Household, and succeeded in Star Inlaying with its help.
• The Shrike Lao Household took over fallen Black Crane County, renamed it Shrike County, and was left to establish its own Shrike Secret Realm.

After three years of war, the Kong and Ya Households had grown stronger, and Kong Wenxuan had nearly refined all the Fourth Tier Nirvana Spirit Fire needed to advance his Crimson Fire Divine Sword. The battlefield suddenly shifted when a Dijiang True Martial manifestation attacked and widened the rift to the Heavenly Demon Grotto-Heaven, prompting Bi Yanhong to warn that they were in trouble.

• The Shrike Lao Household's Star Inlaying encouraged vassal and ordinary bloodline cultivators to join the war, stabilizing the battlefield and boosting morale.
• The Fire Crow Ya Household gained a third Golden Core True Person, while the Kong Household added two Purple Mansion cultivators and increased its numbers despite heavy casualties.
• Kong Wenxuan refined eight of nine portions of Fourth Tier Nirvana Spirit Fire and planned to earn more battle merits to advance his Crimson Fire Divine Sword.
• Kong Wenxuan returned to the map hall and spoke with True Person Bi Qingqing before sudden rumbling and tremors shook the Mystic Crane Secret Realm.
• Bi Qingqing activated the array to stabilize the secret realm as Kong Wenxuan saw a Dijiang True Martial manifestation tear open the rift to the Heavenly Demon Grotto-Heaven.
• True Person Bi Yanhong identified the manifestation and warned that the enlarged rift would bring stronger enemies into the battlefield.

Dijiang martial cultivators widened the rift into the Mystic Crane Secret Realm, forcing Bifang Commandery to prepare for a battle of life and death. Two Nascent Soul True Lords arrived to defend the realm, and True Lord Bi Zongcheng’s Calamity Fire struck the Dijiang True Martial image.

• True Person Bi Yanhong explained that Dijiang martial cultivators had widened the rift and ordered every household to commit all available forces to the battlefield.
• Kong Wenxuan, Ya Zhaoying, and the others contacted their lineages to convey the conscription order, and cultivators across Bifang Commandery began mobilizing.
• Kong Changgeng agreed to lead the Kong Household clansmen in battle while Kong Wenxuan hunted Fourth Tier enemies alone, and the lineage gave him its Space-Breaking Talisman.
• True Lord Bi Zongcheng and another Nascent Soul cultivator from the Bi Household arrived from the Outer Heaven Battlefield, steadying the defenders’ morale.
• True Lord Bi Zongcheng used his feather fan Spirit Treasure to send Calamity Fire through the spatial defenses and strike the Dijiang True Martial image.

The enemies tore open the breach to the Heavenly Demon Grotto-Heaven and poured into the Mystic Crane Secret Realm in overwhelming numbers. Kong Wenxuan and the other county leaders agreed to activate the Myriad Fires All-Encompassing Origin-Fortifying Grand Array as the battle escalated.

• True Lord Bi Zongcheng burned away the Dijiang True Martial form and the Dijiang cultivators who had summoned it.
• A Bi Household True Lord failed to retake the breach after a Fifth Tier martial cultivator and a Fifth Tier Demon Race member repelled her attack and tore the breach wider.
• A Fifth Tier Gonggong martial cultivator and a Fifth Tier black flood dragon led more than a hundred thousand enemies through the breach, including over a hundred Fourth Tier fighters.
• Kong Wenxuan recognized that Bifang Commandery's Golden Core cultivators were badly outnumbered, while True Lord Bi Zongcheng summoned the Commandery Governor's Official Seal to call down the Bifang True Spirit's Calamity Fire.
• The Bi Household requested that the counties activate the grand array, and Kong Wenxuan and Ya Xinghe activated the sub-arrays in Peacock County and Fire Crow County.
• The Bifang, Fire Crow, and Peacock True Spirits answered with their cries as a phoenix's cry rang out and a sea of fire descended.

The Bi Household’s Fifth Tier grand array trapped the invading forces in a sea of fire, but two Fifth Tier enemies unleashed their domains to suppress it. With the Bi Household True Lords engaging them and the fire restored, the invaders charged Demon-Suppressing Pass, where Bi Yanhong rallied the defenders to fight to the death.

• The Fifth Tier Gonggong martial cultivator unleashed a Great Flood, and the Fifth Tier black flood dragon added a domain attack that battered the sea of fire.
• True Lord Bi Zongcheng and the female True Lord joined their domains and sent their Bifang Dharma Idols against the attackers, then engaged the two Fifth Tier enemies directly.
• With the enemies occupied, the grand array’s flames surged back and attacked the invading Demon Race, Demon Beasts, and martial cultivators as they charged toward Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Bi Qingqing drew on the sea of fire to shield and stabilize the shaking pass.
• True Person Bi Yanhong ordered the defenders to stand and fight, and the cultivators answered, “Victory or death!”

The True Spirit Lineages and invading Demon Race and martial forces fought across the sea-of-fire battlefield outside Demon-Suppressing Pass. As the formations and troops clashed without either side gaining the upper hand, True Person Bi Yanhong promised double merits and fivefold compensation before leading a charge.

• Bifang True Spirits and other True Spirits scattered starlight that strengthened the True Spirit Lineages and their allies while suppressing the invading forces.
• True Person Bi Yanhong ordered the households’ flying boats and chariots to attack, and they met the Demon Race flying boats and True Martial Chariots outside the pass.
• The two sides’ flying boats and chariots exchanged attacks, while the invading Ten Thousand Demons Formations and True Martial Battle Formations advanced through the sea of fire toward Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Bi Qingqing and the other formation masters used the pass’s grand formation to defend the flame barrier and attack the enemy formations as the ground forces clashed beneath them.
• True Person Bi Yanhong promised double merits and fivefold compensation, then leaped from the city wall and led his forces toward a breached True Martial Battle Formation.

Kong Wenxuan changed to the Lesser Five Elements Sword Formation after his individual sword attacks left him struggling against the enemies on the battlefield outside Demon-Suppressing Pass. By amplifying the Crimson Fire Divine Sword within the fire-filled Mystic Crane Secret Realm, he swept through enemy ranks and destroyed their formations and weapons of war.

• Kong Wenxuan found that fighting with the Five Elements Divine Swords separately left him vulnerable and unable to kill groups of Fourth Tier enemies quickly.
• Kong Wenxuan deployed the Lesser Five Elements Sword Formation to contain selected enemies and protect himself from attacks by those outside it.
• Kong Wenxuan used the formation’s five-elements cycle and the surrounding flames to temporarily raise the Crimson Fire Divine Sword to the level of a Fourth Tier Law Treasure.
• Kong Wenxuan unleashed One Sword Gives Rise to Ten Thousand Laws, filling the formation with swift, sword-sharp flames that killed trapped Demon Beasts, members of the Demon Race, and martial cultivators.
• Kong Wenxuan charged through enemy ranks, cleaving apart Ten Thousand Demons Formations, True Martial Battle Formations, demon flying boats, and True Martial Chariots, then slaying those exposed within them.