Chapter Summaries

Kong Wenxuan raced through the mountains toward Black Snake Valley, cutting down attacking Demon Beasts with the quiet White Metal Divine Sword. Finding no one there, he used the Crimson Fire Divine Sword to signal his eldest uncle and the others, then followed the Blue Peacock’s appearance to a forest surrounded by wolves.

• Kong Wenxuan hurried through the shadowed mountains, using the White Metal Divine Sword’s Refining the Sword into Threads to kill attackers without drawing more beasts to him.
• He noticed that Demon Beasts and Demonic Birds avoided places touched by starlight and moonlight, but set the question aside to focus on finding his eldest uncle and the others.
• Kong Wenxuan reached Black Snake Valley and, finding it empty, fired the Crimson Fire Divine Sword into the sky with Sword Qi Thunderclap to reveal his location.
• A Blue Peacock appeared in the distant sky, and Kong Wenxuan recognized it as a sign that his eldest uncle and the others were nearby.
• Kong Wenxuan rushed toward the Blue Peacock and found nearly a hundred wolf-type Demon Beasts attacking a stretch of mountain forest.

Kong Wenxuan rescued Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo and the others from a wolf pack that had besieged their illusion array. After learning that a second-tier gray wolf demon had gravely wounded Kong Yushuo before being driven off, the group set out for Demon-Suppressing Pass.

• Kong Wenxuan attacked the wolf demons surrounding the woods with four of his Five Elements Divine Swords and killed more than half of them.
• The surviving wolf demons fled, and Kong Wenxuan kept his swords close while watching for the hidden wolf king or a cultivator controlling the pack.
• The illusion array collapsed, revealing that Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo and the others were wounded, with Kong Yushuo having lost an arm.
• Third Aunt Kong Yuyin explained that a second-tier gray wolf demon had wounded Kong Yushuo with a bite but had itself been severely injured by the Crimson Plume Feather Fan and then disappeared.
• Kong Wenxuan led the group toward Demon-Suppressing Pass, while Fifth Uncle carried the gravely injured Kong Yushuo.

Kong Wenxuan led the Kong Household survivors toward Demon-Suppressing Pass while his completed Five Elements Divine Swords cut down waves of wolf demons. After the pack retreated at dawn, they continued fleeing and were rescued by Kong Changgeng, Kong Wenzhang, and Kong Wenjun aboard a Feather Boat.

• Kong Wenxuan used his Five Elements Divine Swords to protect the group and slaughter the First Tier wolf demons sent after them by the Second Tier gray wolf demon.
• The Kong Household members feared the Second Tier gray wolf demon might attack, but it continued sending First Tier wolves instead.
• After following the group for hours, the gray wolf demon howled, and the wolf pack retreated as dawn broke.
• Kong Yushuo recovered enough to speak and urged everyone to keep moving toward Demon-Suppressing Pass without stopping at their supply outposts.
• Kong Changgeng, Kong Wenzhang, and Kong Wenjun arrived aboard a Feather Boat, and the survivors boarded it and flew back to Demon-Suppressing Pass.

As the Demon Beasts gathered outside the Demon-Suppressing Pass, Kong Wenxuan weighed attempting Foundation Establishment before the crisis worsened. The Du Household summoned the county’s Foundation Establishment cultivators to defend the pass just as a rumor accused it of secretly stealing servant Lineages’ bloodlines and preparing to sacrifice them all.

• Patriarch Kong Changgeng took the gravely injured Kong Yushuo back to the Lineage, while Kong Wenxuan and the others remained at the Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Over the next month, Demon Beasts gathered outside the pass, including four revealed Second-Tier beasts, and Kong Wenxuan considered whether to attempt Foundation Establishment and star inlaying.
• The Du Household summoned more cultivators from Cuckoo County’s servant Lineages, including Patriarch Kong Changgeng, to defend the pass as two more Second-Tier Demon Beasts appeared.
• A rumor spread that the Du Household’s true Bloodline Divine Ability was The Cuckoo Occupies the Magpie's Nest, which let it steal other Lineages’ bloodlines and turn their cultivators into controlled Demon Beasts.
• The rumor claimed the Du Household planned to use the remaining servant Lineages’ bloodlines to raise its Cuckoo True Spirit from the Ninth-Grade to the Eighth-Grade.

Kong Wenxuan and the Kong Household connected rumors about the Du Household to the suspicious history of Cuckoo County’s bird-bloodline families. Convinced that danger was approaching, Kong Wenxuan resolved to establish his foundation and inlay a star, then left the Demon-Suppressing Pass to return to Peacock Ridge.

• Kong Yuyin, Kong Wenzhang, and Kong Yuluo compared the rumors with the repeated destruction of servant-cultivator households and the Du Household’s plans to advance to Eighth-Grade True Spirit.
• Kong Wenxuan recalled that the Cuckoo True Spirit Star projection had tried to steal his Peacock Bloodline power, and he decided the rumors were true.
• Kong Wenxuan told his relatives that he planned to establish his foundation and inlay a star, raising the Kong Household’s Peacock Bloodline to Ninth-Grade True Spirit.
• Kong Yuyin contacted the patriarch, and Kong Changgeng arranged to meet Kong Wenxuan north of the Demon-Suppressing Pass and take him home on the Feather Boat.
• Kong Wenxuan left the pass, traveled north with others amid the turmoil, and reached Kong Changgeng and the waiting Feather Boat.

Kong Wenxuan returned to Peacock Ridge, received the clan’s aid, and entered seclusion to attempt Foundation Establishment and Star Inlaying. He opened his Sea of Consciousness and formed Spiritual Consciousness, successfully reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage.

• Kong Changgeng brought Kong Wenxuan to the ancestral hall, where they paid respects and Kong Wenxuan received the Star Stone and supplies for his breakthrough.
• Kong Changgeng led Kong Wenxuan to a secluded chamber, where he began cultivating without meeting the other clan members to keep the attempt secret from the Du Household.
• After seven days, Kong Wenxuan prepared his body and Law Power, then summoned his five-colored peacock bloodline spirit into his Dantian.
• Kong Wenxuan’s peacock merged with the Five Elements Divine Swords and charged into the chaos of his Sea of Consciousness.
• The five Divine Swords shattered the chaos, allowing Kong Wenxuan to open his Sea of Consciousness, form Spiritual Consciousness, and advance to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Kong Wenxuan suppressed the Peacock Bloodline’s demonic backlash and completed Foundation Establishment with help from the Five-Colored Divine Light. He climbed the starlight stairway into the Ninth-Grade True Spirit Heaven to set a star for his Lineage.

• The five-colored peacock attacked Kong Wenxuan’s newborn Spiritual Consciousness, but the Five-Colored Divine Light let him refine and control it.
• Kong Wenxuan reached beyond his newly opened Sea of Consciousness, and the Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram guided him toward the Ninth-Grade True Spirit Heaven.
• Kong Wenxuan refused to abandon the ascent and used the Five Elements Divine Swords’ sword intent to cut through the pressure blocking his way.
• Kong Wenxuan entered the Ninth-Grade True Spirit Heaven and found himself surrounded by countless stars.

Kong Wenxuan faced the trials of inlaying a star in the Ninth-Grade True Spirit Heaven, battling endless First-Tier Demon Beasts and then a Second-Tier peacock. He used the Lesser Five Elements Sword Formation to defeat the peacock and completed the Peacock True Spirit Star.

• Kong Wenxuan circulated his Peacock Bloodline, and the starlight transported him to a battlefield where countless First-Tier Demon Beasts attacked.
• Kong Wenxuan used his five Five Elements Divine Swords to slaughter the beasts as their remains gathered into a forming star.
• After the First-Tier beasts vanished, a Second-Tier peacock Demon Beast appeared, and Kong Wenxuan took pills to restore himself.
• Kong Wenxuan arranged the five swords into the Lesser Five Elements Sword Formation, which defended against the peacock's elemental and soul-bewitching attacks.
• Kong Wenxuan's sword formation drew in and killed the Second-Tier peacock, whose starlight completed and lit the star beneath him.
• The five-colored peacock merged with the lit star and transformed it into the Peacock True Spirit Star.

Kong Wenxuan strengthened the newly established Peacock True Spirit Star with two inheritances and a Star Stone, gaining soul-bewitching techniques that helped him defeat its first attacker. After restoring himself with the star’s starlight, he faced a giant spirit martial cultivator manifested by the Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram.

• Kong Wenxuan imprinted the Five Elements True Scripture onto the Peacock True Spirit Star and merged the Star Stone into it, making the star more solid.
• The Star Stone’s power awakened the Peacock Soul-Bewitching Scripture in Kong Wenxuan, advancing it to the Second Tier Foundation Establishment level and adding a second inheritance to the star.
• Kong Wenxuan restored his body, Law Power, and Spiritual Consciousness by refining the star’s starlight.
• A giant spirit martial cultivator appeared, and Kong Wenxuan recognized him as a likely test from the True Martial World.
• Kong Wenxuan combined the Azure Wood Divine Sword with soul-bewitching illusions to trap the attacker and cut him in two, discovering it was a manifestation of the Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram.

Kong Wenxuan defended the Peacock True Spirit Star through escalating trials, defeating martial cultivators and a chariot formation before fighting a green-robed sword cultivator to a standstill. The sword cultivator vanished, and Kong Wenxuan realized he had passed the trial.

• Kong Wenxuan used three Five Elements Divine Swords to slay three attacking martial cultivators, then defeated five more with all five swords.
• Kong Wenxuan formed the Lesser Five Elements Sword Formation and used its peacock illusion to make ten martial cultivators fight one another before the formation killed them.
• Kong Wenxuan fought a chariot and ten soldiers whose battle formation resisted his illusions, then used the Peacock True Spirit Star's starlight to overpower and annihilate them.
• Kong Wenxuan faced a green-robed sword cultivator whose pure sword techniques matched his own, and the two fought evenly for a prolonged battle.
• The green-robed sword cultivator vanished, and Kong Wenxuan realized he had passed the trial to defend the Peacock True Spirit Star.

Kong Wenxuan successfully established the Peacock True Spirit Star, restoring the Kong Household to a Ninth-Grade True Spirit Lineage. After discovering that the Du Household was draining its servant lineages’ bloodline power, Kong Wenxuan and Kong Changgeng worked to protect the clan’s cultivators while concealing their actions.

• Kong Wenxuan emerged from seclusion and told Kong Changgeng that he had successfully established the Peacock True Spirit Star.
• Kong Changgeng bowed to the star, received the Water Element True Scripture inheritance, and felt the Cuckoo True Spirit Star drawing on his bloodline power.
• Kong Wenxuan advised Kong Changgeng to have the clan’s cultivators draw the Peacock True Spirit Star’s projection into their bodies to protect their bloodlines.
• Kong Wenxuan explained that the ancestral star stone would let the projection deceive the Cuckoo True Spirit Star into thinking it was still draining the clan’s power.
• Kong Changgeng and Kong Wenxuan held ceremonies in the ancestral hall and summoned the cultivators in batches to draw the Peacock True Spirit Star’s projection into their bodies.
• The clan’s cultivators experienced renewed bloodline awakenings, changes to their peacock-feather abilities, and received Five Elements True Scripture inheritances.

Kong Wenxuan helped Kong Wenzhang, Kong Wenjun, and Kong Wenzhong awaken their Peacock bloodlines and inherit the Five Elements True Scripture, freeing them from the Du Household’s influence. As unrest spread through Cuckoo County and the Demon-Suppressing Pass faced an approaching demon tide, the Kong patriarch agreed to join other Lineages in confronting the Du Household, and Kong Wenxuan secured permission to accompany him.

• Kong Wenzhang, Kong Wenjun, and Kong Wenzhong drew the Peacock True Spirit Star’s power into themselves, awakened their bloodlines anew, and received the Five Elements True Scripture inheritance.
• Kong Wenzhang told Kong Wenxuan that rumors about the Du Household had spread throughout Cuckoo County, and servant-cultivator Lineages were resisting conscription and organizing to pressure the Du Household.
• Kong Wenzhang warned that the Demon-Suppressing Pass was likely to fall to the gathered demon tide, while the Kong patriarch advised the Kong cultivators to retreat if necessary and avoid openly challenging the Du Household.
• Kong Wenzhang, Kong Wenjun, and Kong Wenzhong returned to the Demon-Suppressing Pass after removing the Cuckoo Star True Spirit projections from their bodies.
• Three days later, the Kong patriarch agreed to accompany other servant-cultivator Lineages to the Cuckoo County seat, and Kong Wenxuan persuaded him to let him come by defeating him with the Lesser Five Elements Sword Formation.

Kong Wenxuan and Patriarch Kong Changgeng joined the servant-cultivator lineages gathered to negotiate with the Cuckoo Du Household, where the Shrike Lao Household revealed it had enlisted the powerful Fire Crow Ya Household. The Ya Household promised to free the lineages and punish the Du Household, but Kong Wenxuan suspected its intervention might bring new danger and feared one female cultivator had seen through his disguise.

• Kong Wenxuan and Patriarch Kong Changgeng arrived at the gathering north of Cuckoo County City, where more than thirty servant-cultivator lineages had assembled.
• Patriarch Kong Changgeng greeted Patriarch Lao and explained that he had brought only Kong Wenxuan because the Kong Household was not suited to fighting.
• Patriarch Lao introduced five cultivators from the Eighth-Grade Fire Crow Ya Household, which he had invited to support the lineages in negotiations with the Cuckoo Du Household.
• The scarlet-haired Ya Household leader promised to force the Du Household to lift its bloodline ability and report it to the imperial court, earning cheers from the gathered lineages.
• Kong Wenxuan and Patriarch Kong Changgeng praised the Ya Household publicly but privately worried its intervention could replace one oppressor with another.
• Kong Wenxuan suspected a female Ya Household cultivator was at the Purple Mansion Stage and had noticed his concealed Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Forty-three servant-cultivator Lineages gathered to pressure the Du Household, but its silence and the closed outposts made cautious leaders suspect a trap. As the crowd entered Cuckoo County City, several Lineages and even the Lao and Ya Households fell back, leaving Kong Wenxuan stunned by how many people were wary.

• Representatives from forty-three Lineages assembled near Cuckoo County City, demanding that the Du Household undo The Cuckoo Occupies the Magpie's Nest and provide compensation.
• The Du Household ignored the gathering, and its fortified outposts remained closed behind activated protective formations.
• Patriarch Kong Changgeng urged the Lao Household patriarch to investigate the outposts, but Patriarch Feng rallied the crowd to press into the city.
• Kong Changgeng warned Kong Wenxuan to watch their escape route, and the two slowed down as several Lineages fell behind.
• After entering the city, the Lao and Ya Households also joined the rear group, leaving Kong Wenxuan surprised by the number of cautious people.

Kong Wenxuan and the servant lineages entered Cuckoo County to pressure the Du Household, only to discover the gathering was a trap aimed at the Fire Crow Ya Household. Du Yuxian activated the Cuckoo Household’s array, transporting everyone into the Cuckoo Secret Realm.

• Du Yuxian confronted the assembled servant lineages with hundreds of tamed birds, silencing their demands.
• The Feng Household and several other servant lineages knelt before Du Yuxian and revealed they had brought the others into town on the Du Household’s instructions.
• Kong Wenxuan realized the Du Household had orchestrated the gathering and retreated toward the town gate with Kong Changgeng.
• Du Yuxian revealed that the Fire Crow Ya Household was the gathering’s true target, while the servant lineages were merely bait.
• The Fire Crow Ya Household’s leader challenged Du Yuxian, who declared the Du Household would rise to Eighth-Grade status by defeating them.
• Du Yuxian activated the array, and the Cuckoo True Spirit appeared as the assembled cultivators were transported from Cuckoo County into the Cuckoo Secret Realm.

The Du Household trapped the servant-cultivator Lineages and the Fire Crow Ya Household inside the Cuckoo Secret Realm, revealing its three legions and its plan to eliminate the servant-cultivator Lineages. Ya Zhaoying answered with the Fire Crow Ya Household’s Fire Crow Clone ability, and Du Yuxian began summoning the Du Household’s trump card.

• Kong Wenxuan and the others entered the Cuckoo Secret Realm and found themselves surrounded by the Cuckoo Dao Soldier Legion, the Cuckoo True Spirit Legion, and the Beast-Taming Legion.
• Du Yuxian admitted that the Du Household intended to use a Demon Beast attack to conceal its destruction of the servant-cultivator Lineages, prompting many of them to surrender.
• Ya Zhaoying confronted Du Yuxian and formed hundreds of Fire Crow Clones with the four other Fire Crow Ya Household members, turning the standoff into a battle between the two True Spirit Lineages.
• Kong Changgeng pulled Kong Wenxuan back as the servant-cultivator groups tried to avoid the looming fight.
• Du Yuxian recognized Ya Zhaoying and sent a Law Seal south, calling out, “A Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix, rise!”

Du Yuxian activated the forbidden A Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix ritual in the Cuckoo Secret Realm, intending to sacrifice every other lineage and elevate the Du Household’s Cuckoo True Spirit. As the victims’ bloodlines were drawn into the Phoenix Terrace, Ya Zhaoying urged the survivors to fight back against the Du Household.

• Du Yuxian activated the formation, raising a Phoenix Terrace whose carvings showed the servant-cultivator Lineages paying homage to a cuckoo.
• Ya Zhaoying accused Du Yuxian of practicing a forbidden technique, and he admitted he intended to kill everyone in the secret realm and use their bloodlines to advance the Du Household.
• The Cuckoo True Spirit descended and caused the servant Lineages’ bloodline power to be torn from their bodies and drawn into the Phoenix Terrace.
• The Feng Household, Lin Household, and other Lineages that had betrayed their peers cried out as the Du Household sacrificed them too.
• Ya Zhaoying revealed that the Du Household had planned to sacrifice every outside lineage, including the Fire Crow Ya Household, and urged the survivors to fight back.

Du Yuxian activated the forbidden A Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix technique, using the servant-cultivator lineages’ blood to strengthen the Cuckoo True Spirit and attack the Fire Crow Ya Household. As Ya Zhaoying’s forces became trapped in a stalemate with the Du Household, Kong Wenxuan finally moved against the Cuckoo Dao Soldier Legion.

• Du Yuxian used the Phoenix Terrace to draw bloodline power from the servant-cultivator lineages and ordered the Cuckoo Secret Realm’s formations to suppress the Fire Crow Ya Household.
• Ya Zhaoying and four Ya Household cultivators formed Fire Crow Grand Formations, holding off the giant net and the Du Household’s three legions.
• Du Yuxian sent the transforming Cuckoo True Spirit to attack Ya Zhaoying and the four Foundation Establishment cultivators, whose defenses began to crack.
• Ya Zhaoying urged the surviving servant-cultivator lineage members to attack the Du Household and destroy the forbidden technique’s formation.
• Kong Wenxuan protected himself and Kong Changgeng from the cuckoo birds, then shouted for an attack and sent the Five Elements Divine Swords toward the nearest Cuckoo Dao Soldier Legion.

Kong Wenxuan shattered the Cuckoo Dao Soldier Legion with his Five Elements Divine Swords, while Patriarch Kong Changgeng used his new Black Peacock illusion to turn the Du Household’s Beast-Taming Legion against itself. Both legions collapsed, leaving Ya Zhaoying’s Fire Crow Clones free to press their assault.

• Kong Wenxuan’s Crimson Fire Divine Sword breached the Cuckoo Dao Soldier Legion’s formation, and his other four swords slaughtered its ranks.
• Kong Wenxuan killed several Second Tier Cuckoo Dao Soldiers and scattered the rest of the legion.
• Patriarch Kong Changgeng summoned his Black Peacock Bloodline Divine Ability and unleashed Peacock Spreads Its Tail on the Du Household’s tamed birds.
• The illusion made the tamed birds attack one another and their handlers, collapsing the Beast-Taming Legion and leaving it unable to resist Ya Zhaoying’s Fire Crow Clones.

Kong Wenxuan suspected Ya Zhaoying had a hidden purpose when she withdrew her Fire Crow Clones, while the Du Household attacked the Kong Household. Kong Wenxuan and Kong Changgeng revealed that their household had successfully star-inlaid the Peacock True Spirit Star, and Du Yuxian ordered five Foundation Establishment cultivators to kill them as he began a breakthrough of his own.

• Ya Zhaoying recalled her Fire Crow Clones to the battle formation, and Kong Wenxuan suspected she had another purpose.
• Du Yuxian directed the Cuckoo True Spirit Star to attack Kong Wenxuan and Kong Changgeng, but projections of the Peacock True Spirit Star appeared and blocked its light.
• The Du Household and servant cultivators realized the Kong Household had succeeded in star inlaying, and the surviving servant cultivators cheered while the Du Household grew furious and afraid.
• Du Yuxian summoned Du Zhimin, Du Zhihuan, Du Zikai, Du Ziting, and Du Ziying to attack the two Kong Household members with their tamed beasts.
• As the five Du Household cultivators charged, Du Yuxian sat on the Phoenix Terrace and began absorbing its flames, spiritual light, and bloodlight to prepare for a breakthrough.