Recaps

Shi Jian nearly killed Yan Qiu, but True Person Luanyuan intervened to stop the Fenghe Sect master from killing him and enforced the Supreme Purity Sect’s rules. After recognizing Shi Jian’s mutated bloodline and lightning Golden Core, True Person Luanyuan invited him to join the Supreme Purity Sect as a guardian spirit beast.

• Shi Jian used Lightning Explosion at point-blank range, leaving Yan Qiu near death and his Golden Core cracked.
• The Fenghe Sect master attacked Shi Jian with a giant hand of flame, but True Person Luanyuan severed it with a mountain Sword-Ray.
• True Person Luanyuan ruled that Yan Qiu had provoked the fight and ordered the Fenghe Sect to withdraw; Old Monster Mu then took Yan Qiu away.
• Shi Jian shrank and respectfully greeted True Person Luanyuan, who recognized his Purple Firmament Divine Lightning, Dao of Lightning Golden Core, and mutated bloodline.
• True Person Luanyuan invited Shi Jian to join the Supreme Purity Sect and become its guardian spirit beast.

True Person Luanyuan demanded that Shi Jian join the Supreme Purity Sect or leave Hongtian City, but Shi Jian refused and invoked his ties to the Sun Clan and White Cloud Temple. True Person Yun Du intervened by naming Shi Jian a guest elder and guardian spirit beast of White Cloud Temple, leaving Shi Jian to consider how to placate Luanyuan with a substantial benefit.

• True Person Luanyuan invited Shi Jian to join the Supreme Purity Sect as a guardian spirit beast, but Shi Jian refused, claiming a blood oath bound him to protect the Sun Clan and Hongtian City.
• True Person Luanyuan threatened to have Shi Jian and his descendants expelled from the Wei Kingdom within three days if he would not join the sect.
• True Person Yun Du stepped between them and claimed that Shi Jian was a White Cloud Temple guest elder and guardian spirit beast, with Hongtian City and its Spirit Veins granted to him for cultivation.
• Shi Jian backed Yun Du's claim, and Luanyuan recognized that forcing him out would interfere with White Cloud Temple's affairs.
• True Person Luanyuan complained about Yun Du and Zhao Qing, while Shi Jian realized he needed to offer Luanyuan a substantial benefit to prevent further conflict.

Shi Jian sent Shi Yin with True Person Luanyuan to the Supreme Purity Sect, then allied the Sun Clan with White Cloud Temple under an agreement of joint rule and clan autonomy. He returned to the devastated main peak, where his followers welcomed him as their Golden Core Old Ancestor, and he rewarded the families of those killed in battle.

• Shi Jian offered Shi Yin to True Person Luanyuan, who recognized the bear demon’s rare concealment and frost talents and took him to the Supreme Purity Sect.
• True Person Yun Du proposed merging the Sun Clan into White Cloud Temple as an independent branch and jointly governing White Cloud Commandery, and Shi Jian agreed on the condition that his clan retain complete autonomy.
• Yun Du departed for the Cloud Sword Mountain Range while Shi Jian returned to the Sun Clan’s ruined main peak.
• The surviving Sun Clan members and spirit beasts knelt and congratulated Shi Jian on reaching Golden Core.
• Shi Jian ordered a generous burial for the battle dead and promised their descendants triple resources, priority access, and eligibility for the Foundation Establishment inheritance.

After the battle destroyed most of the Sun Clan, Shi Jian decided to move its eighteen survivors to the White Cloud Temple, where they could recover under his protection while supporting his cultivation. He arranged for his great demons to settle into new roles and prepared to leave for White Cloud Mountain in three days.

• Shi Jian promised generous burials and increased resources for the descendants of those killed in battle.
• Sun Mao reported that only eighteen Sun Clan cultivators remained, including himself and Sun Yao, and that the clan had lost its elders, most of its young people, and its ability to sustain itself.
• Shi Jian told Sun Mao that the Sun Clan would join the White Cloud Temple as an independent branch, surrender Hongtian City, and move to the Cloud Sword Mountain Range; Sun Mao accepted.
• Shi Jian ordered Sun Mao and Sun Yao to pack for their departure in three days and explained to Lord Rat that he intended to use the White Cloud Temple's resources for his own purposes.
• Shi Jian promised cultivation support to Shi Mo, Shi Pan, and Lei Huan, and ordered Lord Rat to leave half his rat kin in Hongtian City to maintain an intelligence network.

Shi Jian uprooted the Sun Clan’s main peak and carried it to the Cloud Sword Mountain Range, where True Person Yun Du welcomed him as a guest elder. The chapter ended with Yun Du granting Shi Jian a private Dao field comprising thirty-six first-tier Spirit Vein mountains and six second-tier peaks.

• Shi Jian tore the Sun Clan’s main peak and its Spirit Vein out of the ground, then carried it north with the Sun clansmen and spirit beasts aboard.
• Mortals and rogue cultivators across White Cloud Commandery watched the flying mountain and bowed in awe.
• Shi Jian reached the Cloud Sword Mountain Range and surveyed the White Cloud Temple’s territory and its central Sword Cloud Peak.
• True Person Yun Du welcomed Shi Jian and offered him a place to settle as the sect’s guest elder.
• Shi Jian requested the northern territory containing thirty-six first-tier Spirit Vein mountains and six second-tier peaks, and Yun Du agreed to make it his private Dao field.

Shi Jian fused Hongtian City's Spirit Vein with a northern high-grade Spirit Vein, establishing Purple Firmament Peak and assigning the surrounding peaks to his followers and the Sun Clan. He planned to strengthen Purple Firmament Peak with wood-attribute Heaven and Earth Qi and a strange stone forest, hoping to hasten the creation of a Blessed Land.

• Shi Jian fused two Spirit Veins, creating a mountain peak with Spiritual Qi nearing the third tier, and named it Purple Firmament Peak.
• Shi Jian assigned Purple Firmament Peak to the Lightning Bear lineage and allocated Boulder Peak, Ringing Metal Peak, Blood Sha Peak, and Frenzied Battle Peak to Shi Pan, Shi Mo, Lord Rat, and the black dog clan.
• Shi Jian gave the final second-tier mountain to Sun Mao's clan, named it Bo'an Peak, and entrusted the Sun Clan with managing the first-tier ridges.
• Shi Jian declared that the Sun Clan and White Cloud Temple had completely merged and began planning how to strengthen Purple Firmament Peak.
• Shi Jian planned to inject wood-attribute Heaven and Earth Qi into Purple Firmament Peak and bring the strange stone forest from the Clear Wind Mountain Range to help form a Blessed Land sooner.

Shi Jian strengthened Purple Firmament Peak with New Wood Myriad Splendors Qi and proposed that White Cloud Temple join him in expanding its territory into the Clear Wind and Great Maple Mountain Ranges. He and True Person Yun Du agreed to divide the resources from the enlarged Beast Pasture Mountain among Shi Jian, White Cloud Temple, and the Azure Light Gate.

• Shi Jian infused New Wood Myriad Splendors Qi into Purple Firmament Peak’s earth vein, transforming the mountain and empowering its lightning pool.
• True Person Yun Du visited Purple Firmament Peak and marveled at its increased Spiritual Qi.
• Shi Jian proposed taking control of the Clear Wind and Great Maple Mountain Ranges as Beast Pasture Mountain, with White Cloud Temple receiving most of the resources.
• Yun Du worried that offending True Person Qingshan of the Azure Light Gate could cause trouble, but Shi Jian argued that sufficient benefits could secure cooperation.
• Shi Jian and Yun Du agreed to expand Beast Pasture Mountain and divide its resources among their factions and the Azure Light Gate.

Shi Jian and Yun Du negotiated with True Person Qingshan to establish the Clear Wind and Great Maple Mountain ranges as a Beast Pasturing Mountain, securing the Azure Light Gate's support against the Fenghe Sect. In exchange for hunting a level-five Sea Ape Beast for its third eye, Shi Jian accepted Qingshan's Lightning-Attracting Fruits, and the three swore an oath to the Great Dao before preparing for the hunt.

• True Person Qingshan discussed Yan Qiu's injury with Yun Du and Shi Jian, then heard their plan to designate the two mountain ranges as a Beast Pasturing Mountain.
• Yun Du offered the Azure Light Gate a share of the profits and exclusive spirit medicine purchasing rights if it joined them against the Fenghe Sect.
• True Person Qingshan agreed to the alliance on the condition that Yun Du and Shi Jian retrieve the third eye of a level-five Sea Ape Beast for his Three-Transformation Longevity Pill.
• True Person Qingshan offered Shi Jian two high-grade, third-tier Lightning-Attracting Fruits, along with supplies and future support, and Shi Jian accepted the hunt.
• Yun Du and Shi Jian agreed to Qingshan's terms, and the three swore an oath to the Great Dao to finalize their arrangement.

After stabilizing his Golden Core cultivation and strengthening his soul with Enlightenment, Shi Jian sought a Thunder Method suited to his bear-demon body. He spent five months creating the Mad Lightning Demon Codex, and Purple Firmament recognized his potential to reach Nascent Soul.

• Shi Jian consumed a Lightning-Attracting Fruit, stabilizing his Early Golden Core cultivation and strengthening his Nine-Pattern Lightning Core.
• Shi Jian used seven Enlightenment points on himself, raising his soul to the strength of a Golden Core Late Stage cultivator and greatly improving his comprehension.
• Shi Jian asked Purple Firmament to teach him the fundamental True Intention of the Dao of Lightning, then received a fragment of the Supreme Purple Firmament Lightning-Control True Instruction.
• Shi Jian spent five months in seclusion combining the lightning inheritance with his bear-demon nature, repeatedly tempering his body as he developed his own method.
• Shi Jian completed the three-level Mad Lightning Demon Codex, which cultivated his body and lightning power and granted the abilities Lightning Armor, Thunder Sound, and Mad Lightning Prison Domain.
• Purple Firmament called Shi Jian a freak and judged that he might attempt the Nascent Soul realm within three hundred years.

Sun Lin reached Foundation Establishment with help from Sun Yao and the White Cloud Temple’s Spirit Vein, then took on deputy roles in the formation and talisman halls. As the Sun Clan settled into the sect, Sun Chengyue continued its Spirit Plant legacy under Sun Caiya’s guidance.

• Sun Lin emerged from seclusion at Foundation Establishment early stage after taking a high-quality Foundation Establishment Pill and cultivating on the second-tier Spirit Vein.
• Sun Yao gave Sun Lin tokens appointing him deputy Peak Master of Formation Dao Peak and Talisman Crafting Peak, along with substantive deputy hall master positions.
• Sun Lin agreed to repay the cost of his pill, study formations and talismans, and gradually place Sun Clan members in sect positions.
• Sun Lin resumed secluded cultivation, Sun Yao entered seclusion to advance her cultivation, and Sun Mao devoted himself to managing the Lineage’s affairs.
• Sun Caiya taught Sun Chengyue how to tend the medicinal fields, and Sun Chengyue used her wood-attribute spiritual power to nourish the purple blood ginseng.

Sun Yao urged Sun Mao and Sun Lin to support Sun Chengzu in competing for the Heaven and Earth Qi in the Return to Origin Sword Tomb, and Sun Mao agreed to commit the clan’s resources to him. Meanwhile, Shi Jian prepared to join True Person Qingshan on a demon hunt and test his newly developed Mad Lightning Demon Codex.

• Sun Mao trained Sun Chengzu in swordsmanship, pushing him to repeat the Cloud and Water Sword Instruction’s eighteen forms.
• Sun Yao told Sun Mao and Sun Lin that the Return to Origin Profound Sword Qi would soon take shape and that Sun Chengzu could compete for it.
• Sun Yao argued that Sun Chengzu’s dual Spirit Roots and the support of a Golden Core ancestor gave him a chance to reach Core Formation.
• Sun Mao agreed to devote the Sun Clan’s resources to helping Sun Chengzu reach Foundation Establishment Perfection and compete for the Heaven and Earth Qi.
• Shi Jian received True Person Qingshan’s message that their equipment and formations were ready for a sea demon hunt in three days.
• Shi Jian activated his Lightning Armor and looked forward to testing the Mad Lightning Demon Codex against a level-five Sea Ape Beast.

Shi Jian, Yun Du, and True Person Qingshan traveled from White Cloud Commandery to the North Sea to pursue their plans at Black Wind Abyss. They reached Sea-Suppressing Immortal City and entered to learn about conditions in the abyss.

• Shi Jian and Yun Du arranged to fake entering seclusion so the Fenghe Sect would not realize they had left White Cloud Commandery.
• Shi Jian and Yun Du secretly traveled to meet the aging True Person Qingshan, then boarded the Silver Plume Boat with him and headed north.
• During the journey, Shi Jian reflected on how the Human Race controlled the continent and how his own survival depended on the competing interests of human factions.
• The group passed the Profound Purity Sect's territory, then reached the North Sea after five more days of travel.
• Yun Du put away the Silver Plume Boat, and the group paid the entry fee and entered Sea-Suppressing Immortal City to rest and investigate conditions in Black Wind Abyss.

Yun Du learned that a beast tide might strike early and withdrew from the perilous trip to Black Wind Abyss, but Shi Jian demanded greater payment and agreed to go with True Person Qingshan. The three set out by spirit ship into the North Sea, where Shi Jian looked forward to tasting the sea beasts.

• Yun Du reported that high-level sea demons were appearing near shore and warned that an early beast tide could make the trip to Black Wind Abyss deadly.
• Yun Du invoked their agreement’s life-or-death exception and refused to continue the deal, while True Person Qingshan tried to persuade him and Shi Jian to go.
• Shi Jian demanded more payment because the beast tide raised the danger, and True Person Qingshan offered his accumulated treasures, including Tribulation Lightning Spirit Wood.
• Shi Jian took the Tribulation Lightning Spirit Wood and a quarter of the treasures, and Yun Du accepted another share before agreeing to join the expedition.
• The next morning, Shi Jian, Yun Du, and True Person Qingshan sailed into the North Sea aboard a disguised spirit ship, and Shi Jian wondered how sea beasts tasted.

Shi Jian, Yun Du, and True Person Qingshan took the Abyss-Diving Boat into the deep sea to hunt the Sea Ape Beast. They reached Black Wind Abyss and prepared to lure the beast out, with Shi Jian agreeing to draw it toward the surface.

• True Person Qingshan explained how the Abyss-Diving Boat concealed itself from sea creatures, and Yun Du said flying would attract attacks from demons and demon birds.
• When a school of Red-Eyed Jiao Sharks blocked the boat, Shi Jian released his level 5 Demon General demonic might and scattered them.
• After half a month, the group reached Black Wind Abyss, where True Person Qingshan said the Sea Ape Beast’s lair lay at the bottom.
• True Person Qingshan revealed his Demon-Luring Incense and Water-Avoidance Pearls, then proposed luring the Sea Ape Beast to the surface.
• Shi Jian agreed to draw out the beast while Yun Du and True Person Qingshan supported him, and True Person Qingshan sent the incense into the abyss.

Shi Jian lured the Four-Armed Sea Ape from the Black Wind Abyss to the surface, where Yun Du and True Person Qingshan joined the fight and trapped it. The battle escalated into a clash of storm and sea, but the Sea Ape’s third-eye soul attack struck Shi Jian and began disrupting his storm and lightning.

• Shi Jian waited near the Black Wind Abyss until the level-five Four-Armed Sea Ape emerged, then attacked it with Lightning Armor.
• Shi Jian exchanged blows with the Sea Ape underwater and deliberately retreated toward the surface while the beast pursued him.
• Shi Jian called for Yun Du and True Person Qingshan, who appeared and used a trapping formation and venomous demons to encircle the Sea Ape.
• The Sea Ape unleashed a torrent of Dao-infused rain and water blades, while Shi Jian charged in to hold it off.
• Shi Jian and the Sea Ape clashed with storm and lightning against the power of the sea, ending their exchange in a draw.
• The Sea Ape opened its third eye and struck Shi Jian with a soul attack, causing his storm and lightning to falter.

Shi Jian, Yun Du, and True Person Qingshan killed the Sea Ape Beast, but its death triggered a bloodline resonance that awakened other powerful sea beasts. They fled into the deep sea, leaving their pursuers and destination uncertain.

• Shi Jian resisted the Sea Ape Beast's spiritual assault and seized it in close combat.
• Shi Jian blasted the beast with Purple Firmament Divine Lightning while Yun Du bound it and True Person Qingshan poisoned its meridians.
• Shi Jian tore out the Sea Ape Beast's third eye, and True Person Qingshan killed it with a venomous ray.
• The Sea Ape Beast's death awakened powerful presences in the North Sea, so Yun Du, Shi Jian, and True Person Qingshan fled by flying boat.
• True Person Qingfeng summoned a spirit boat, and the group raced through the deep sea, changing direction as they fled.

After nearly half a year fleeing the sea demons, Shi Jian, Yun Du, and True Person Qingshan reached a deserted island and divided the Sea Ape Beast’s spoils. Once they recovered, they decided to avoid the North Sea and take a longer route through unknown waters.

• Yun Du brought the Abyss-Diving Boat to a deserted island, where Shi Jian confronted True Person Qingshan over killing the Sea Ape Beast and endangering them.
• Yun Du persuaded Shi Jian to give him the Sea Ape Beast’s Demon Core in exchange for a share of future benefits, while Shi Jian claimed the corpse.
• Shi Jian demanded two Three-Transformation Longevity Pills from True Person Qingshan, who agreed to provide them if the refining succeeded.
• Shi Jian ate the Sea Ape Beast’s flesh to recover, while Yun Du and True Person Qingshan restored their strength in their own ways.
• Yun Du concluded they could not return through the North Sea, so Shi Jian proposed detouring west into deeper, unfamiliar waters.

After a perilous three-year sea journey, Shi Jian, Yun Du, and Qingshan reached the Jin Kingdom and learned that the North Sea beast tide had become a crisis after a Sea Ape Demon King blamed them for killing his descendant. Shi Jian urged them to conceal their involvement and prepare to answer the Wei Kingdom’s conscription order.

• After two more years at sea, Shi Jian, Yun Du, and Qingshan survived repeated dangers and finally spotted the continent.
• Shi Jian, Yun Du, and Qingshan settled in Black Rock City, where Yun Du killed the residence’s former demonic cultivator owner.
• Yun Du used an intelligence Jade Slip to reveal that the North Sea beast tide had erupted on an unprecedented scale and Sea-Suppressing Immortal City was surrounded.
• Yun Du explained that the Sea Ape Demon King had declared war on the Wei Kingdom, believing three Human Race Golden Core cultivators had killed his descendant in the Black Wind Abyss.
• Yun Du told Shi Jian that the Wei Kingdom’s three great sects had ordered Golden Core factions to send half their forces to defend Sea-Suppressing Immortal City.
• Shi Jian refused to flee and told Yun Du and Qingshan to keep silent about the killing while maintaining their claim of secluded cultivation.

Shi Jian, Yun Du, and True Person Qingshan crossed the Jin Kingdom and returned to White Cloud Temple, where a Supreme Purity Sect envoy ordered the temple to send reinforcements to the North Sea. Shi Jian refused to go, then considered taking advantage of Yan Qiu’s isolation while Old Monster Mu was away.

• Shi Jian, Yun Du, and True Person Qingshan disguised their strength while crossing the Jin Kingdom, where True Person Qingshan killed bandit cultivators and plundered several clans.
• Shi Jian recalled the Blood Sha Sect intelligence network hidden in the Wei Kingdom and began forming a plan to exploit it.
• The three returned to the Wei Kingdom and parted ways, with True Person Qingshan going back to the Azure Light Gate and Yun Du and Shi Jian returning to White Cloud Temple.
• A Supreme Purity Sect envoy ordered White Cloud Temple to send one Golden Core True Person and ten Foundation Establishment cultivators to Sea-Suppressing Immortal City within three days.
• Shi Jian refused to join the North Sea campaign, and Yun Du decided to lead the team; he assigned Sun Yao to represent the Sun Clan.
• Yun Du told Shi Jian that Old Monster Mu was heading north and injured Yan Qiu would remain at the Fenghe Sect, prompting Shi Jian to consider killing Yan Qiu.

Yun Du departed White Cloud Temple for the North Sea front, leaving Yun Tianfan to manage the temple while the Yun Clan maintained its control. Sun Mao and Sun Lin discussed the Sun Clan’s duties and influence as Shi Jian’s watchers monitored the factions’ maneuvering.

• Yun Du led ten Foundation Establishment cultivators, including Sun Yao, toward the North Sea front and warned Shi to avoid acting rashly against Yan Qiu.
• Yun Tianfan took charge of White Cloud Temple’s affairs and instructed the Yun Clan elders to keep the disciples diligent and the Sun Clan in check.
• Sun Mao told Sun Lin that Sun Yao’s departure was the price the Sun Clan owed Ancestor Shi, and urged him to deepen their clan’s roots in the temple.
• Sun Lin reported that he had placed seven Sun Clan members among the Formation and Talisman Halls, though the clan lacked people and needed time to build its strength.
• The chapter explained that White Cloud Temple was divided among the Yun, Sun, and Zhao Clans and the other disciples and elders, who largely served the clans’ interests.
• Shi Jian’s spirit mice watched the temple’s factions, including the Zhao Clan, as they began maneuvering after Yun Du’s departure.

Zhao Yanshan sought Shi Jian’s support after failing to secure help from Yun Tianfan and Sun Mao. Shi Jian agreed to hear him out, leaving the Zhao Clan’s bid to regain influence unresolved.

• Lord Rat reported that Yun Tianfan had warned the Sun Clan, while Sun Lin’s plans to place people in the array and talisman halls had strained relations between the clans.
• Lord Rat told Shi Jian that Zhao Yanshan had unsuccessfully approached Yun Tianfan and Sun Mao before setting out for Purple Firmament Peak.
• Shi Jian decided to receive Zhao Yanshan, seeing the Zhao Clan as a second faction that could balance the Sun Clan’s loyalty to him.
• Zhao Yanshan met Shi Jian and explained why he had approached Yun Tianfan and Sun Mao first.
• Zhao Yanshan plainly asked Shi Jian to back him and give the Zhao Clan a chance to rise again.

Shi Jian accepted Zhao Yanshan's allegiance and tasked the Zhao Clan with negotiating the mountain-range merger and uncovering Azure Light Gate's plans. He also ordered Lord Rat to scout the Clear Wind Mountain Range for hidden valuables, while Sun Mao remained unaware that Shi Jian had begun recruiting the Zhao Clan.

• Shi Jian asked Zhao Yanshan about the Zhao Clan's decline and said he wanted to support a faction to challenge the Sun Clan.
• Shi Jian accepted Zhao Yanshan's allegiance and ordered him to negotiate the merger of the Great Maple Mountain Range and the Clear Wind Mountain Range with Azure Light Gate, while uncovering its hidden schemes.
• Shi Jian offered the Zhao Clan rewards based on the benefits it secured, and Zhao Yanshan accepted the task.
• Shi Jian told Lord Rat not to inform Sun Mao about Zhao Yanshan's allegiance and ordered two rats to investigate the Clear Wind Mountain Range's rogue cultivators and hidden valuables.
• Zhao Yanshan left with steadier steps, while Sun Mao continued teaching Sun Chengzu swordsmanship, unaware that Shi Jian had recruited the Zhao Clan.

Shi Jian uprooted Lei Huan’s lightning-gathering stone forest and merged it into Purple Firmament Peak to strengthen the Thunder Pool Blessed Land. With Sun Lin’s formation and a new body-tempering method, he established a training ground for lightning-attribute bear demons.

• Shi Jian learned from Lord Rat that the North Sea war was worsening and that Yun Du could not return from the front lines.
• Shi Jian traveled to the Clear Wind Mountain Range and used his power to uproot Lei Huan’s stone forest and its earth-vein foundation.
• Shi Jian brought the stone forest to Purple Firmament Peak and ordered Sun Lin to locate the earth-vein nodes and design a lightning-guiding formation.
• Sun Lin spent three days directing Shi Jian as they embedded the 108 main stone pillars into Purple Firmament Peak, creating a formation that gathered regular thunderstorms.
• Shi Jian invited Lei Huan and the lightning-attribute bear demons into the formation and taught them the Lightning-Guiding Instruction to temper their bodies with heavenly lightning.

Shi Jian established a foundation for the bear demons by creating three cultivation methods and giving them to the Rock, Dark Gold, and Primal lineages. He rejected both immediate war and blind trust in humans, setting a cautious strategy for the four lineages to grow under his leadership.

• Shi Jian studied human cultivation methods and adapted their principles into three methods suited to bear demons.
• Shi Jian gave Shi Pan the Thick Earth Rock Instruction, Shi Mo the Geng Metal Heaven-Rending Record, and Xiong Shan the Blood Sha Tyrant Body Instruction.
• Shi Jian asked the assembled demons for their views; Shi Mo called for war against humans, while Shi Pan advocated patiently growing stronger.
• Lord Rat argued that humans should be used for their skills and resources, with White Cloud Temple serving as cover until the demons became powerful enough.
• Shi Jian ordered the demons not to attack humans recklessly, told Shi Mo to control his hatred, and directed the four lineages to claim territory and develop their people.

Zhao Yanshan secured the Azure Light Gate’s cooperation and oversaw the forced clearing and development of the Clear Wind Mountain Range as an eight-hundred-li Beast Pasturing Mountain. Alarmed by the Zhao Clan’s rising influence, Sun Mao ordered the Sun Clan to invest heavily in Chengzu so he could reach Foundation Establishment and restore their standing.

• After a Golden Core Demon Beast uprooted the lightning-struck stone forest, news of its power spread and silenced resistance to White Cloud Temple’s expansion.
• Zhao Yanshan persuaded Qingxuan to cooperate with the mountain-range merger, and True Person Qingshan ordered the Azure Light Gate to follow Zhao’s plan.
• White Cloud Temple and the Azure Light Gate drove Rogue Cultivators and clan cultivators from the Clear Wind Mountain Range, killing three Foundation Establishment troublemakers as a warning.
• Formation masters began linking the mountain ranges’ earth veins, while Zhao Yanshan coordinated the spoils and secured White Cloud Temple the largest share.
• Sun Mao learned that Zhao Yanshan had gained the ancestor’s favor and feared the Sun Clan would be sidelined.
• Sun Mao ordered the Sun Clan to divert another twenty percent of its resources to Chengzu so he could reach Foundation Establishment within three years.