Recaps

Yu Liang returned to Guangling to assess the city, support his uncle, and consider how the Ye Clan could gain influence among Jiangnan’s humble-born cultivators. After Yu Liang left without meeting him, Jia Ru decided to abandon his hiding place and join the Ye Clan.

• Yu Liang, seeking a respected figure to help recruit Jiangnan scholars for the Ye Clan, traveled through the snow toward Guangling.
• In Guangling, Yu Liang witnessed Azure Waves Heaven arresting humble-born cultivators and secretly recorded the abuses for possible future use against the Sima Clan.
• Yu Liang visited his uncle, gave him three Foundation Establishment Pills and ten thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, and asked him to spread word about the Ye Clan’s influence.
• Yu Liang stopped outside Jia Ru’s cottage but left without knocking, knowing Jia Ru would understand that he had come.
• Jia Ru recognized Yu Liang’s visit as an invitation to join the Ye Clan, chose to sell his services, and set out from his cottage.

Jia Ru presented Ye Jinyu with a strategy to build the Ye Clan’s power in Jiangnan through public support, military Dao Soldiers, secret operations against Azure Waves, and patience until the Sima Clan’s turmoil created an opening. Ye Jinyu entrusted him with the Ye Clan’s secret network, and Jia Ru began a spy war in Jiangnan as the Huainan Alchemy Gathering approached.

• Ye Jinyu welcomed Jia Ru and asked him for a plan to address the Sima Clan’s infighting, Jiangnan’s suffering, and the wider disorder.
• Jia Ru advised Ye Jinyu to win the people’s support, recruit talent, pursue the Gu and Lu clans’ Dao Soldier inheritances, weaken Azure Waves through covert action, and wait for civil strife before seeking dominion.
• Ye Jinyu gave Jia Ru the highest seal of the Ye Clan’s secret division and entrusted him with its agents, resources, and plans in Jiangnan and Huainan.
• Within seven days, Jia Ru mobilized the Ye Clan’s spies, gathered intelligence, disrupted supporters of Sima Canglan, and uncovered three assassination plots by Azure Waves Heaven agents.
• Jiangnan’s underworld was swept into a spy war as the world-famous Huainan Alchemy Gathering drew near.

At the Huainan Under-Heaven Pill Assembly, Shen Zhe'an recalled how Sima Canglan had groomed him to serve as a living key for the Thunder Nether Grotto-Heaven and its Nine Heavens Thunder Origin. As Sima prepared to use the pill assembly as a sacrifice, Shen met Qi Ming, whose warning urged him to take care.

• Shen Zhe'an recalled his high-grade thunder spirit root awakening, his rise to Foundation Establishment, and Sima Canglan's schemes to bind him through favors to his family and powerful thunder cultivation methods.
• Shen Zhe'an realized Sima had prepared him to enter the Thunder Nether Grotto-Heaven as a sacrifice and key to locate its Nine Heavens Thunder Origin.
• Qi Ming told Shen Zhe'an that his master was Ye Chen, a former pill assembly champion now surviving as a remnant soul, and Shen warned him to keep that secret.
• Qi Ming relayed Ye Chen's warning that some people bind others as tools while others treat them as friends, then urged Shen Zhe'an to take care.
• On the ninth floor of Pill Cloud Pavilion, Sima Canglan confirmed that Shen Zhe'an would make the finale entrance and declared the pill assembly a sacrifice for his ascent to Golden Core Heavenly Rank.

At the Huainan Alchemy Gathering, Gu Qingyin publicly broke off her engagement to Qi Ming, but Ye Chen arrived and refined the Thunder Nether Ninefold Mystery Divine Edict Pill at the cost of his remnant soul. Ye Chen gave Qi Ming the pill and a Jade Slip, sent him to the Cloud Mist Ye Clan, and died; Sima Canglan then ordered Qi Ming seized.

• Sima Canglan ordered Chief Clerk Li to recruit skilled Alchemists by force and arranged to pressure Ye Chen through Qi Ming.
• Gu Qingyan mocked Qi Ming and warned him that Ye Chen had agreed to end Qi Ming's engagement to Gu Qingyin.
• Gu Qingyin publicly broke off her engagement to Qi Ming and ridiculed him before the gathering.
• Ye Chen arrived and used a High Antiquity alchemy method to refine the Thunder Nether Ninefold Mystery Divine Edict Pill with his remnant soul.
• Ye Chen gave Qi Ming the pill and a Jade Slip, told him to seek the Cloud Mist Ye Clan, and dispersed after warning him to keep the pill from Sima Canglan.
• Sima Canglan ordered his guards to seize Qi Ming and take the pill while Shen Zhe'an watched without intervening.

After Ye Chen sacrificed himself to refine the Thunder Nether Ninefold Mystery Divine Edict Pill, Sima Canglan detained the Alchemists and kept the pill, while Yu Liang secured Qi Ming’s release. Jia Ru later explained to Ye Jinyu that the flawless pill and Sima Canglan’s suspicions were meant to distract him and create an opening around the Thunder Nether Grotto-Heaven.

• Qi Ming mourned Ye Chen, and Sima Canglan ordered the Alchemists detained to examine the pill.
• Yu Liang invoked the Ye Clan’s claim to Qi Ming and negotiated his release, but Sima Canglan kept the pill.
• Nearly a hundred Alchemists examined the pill for three days and found it genuine, with only a faint trace of Ye Chen’s soul.
• Ye Jinyu summoned Jia Ru, who revealed how he had persuaded Ye Chen to sacrifice himself by promising protection for Qi Ming and restoration of Ye Chen’s clan standing.
• Jia Ru explained that Ye Chen’s lingering desire to live could make Shen Zhe'an hesitate, while Sima Canglan’s suspicions would consume his attention and create an opening for the Ye Clan.

Qi Ming arrived at Gu Qingyin and Lu Ji’s marriage celebration with a bell as his congratulatory gift, turning the ceremony into a public challenge against the Gu and Lu Households. He declared that he had come to see both clans off on their final journey.

• The Gu and Lu Households celebrated their marriage alliance while secretly preparing for the Ye Clan’s possible response to their broken engagement with Qi Ming.
• Gu Yongshi assumed the Ye Clan would accept a conciliatory gesture and instructed his steward to welcome its small delegation courteously.
• Qi Ming entered the hall with four Ye Clan disciples as guests whispered about his broken engagement and Gu Qingyin ignored him.
• Qi Ming presented a rusted bronze bell as his congratulatory gift, stunning the guests and freezing Gu Yongshi’s smile.
• Lu Hongyuan unleashed his Purple Mansion pressure and demanded an explanation, but Qi Ming said he had come to see the Gu and Lu Households off on their final journey.

Yu Liang used the Ye Clan’s Azure Nether Token to force the Gu and Lu Households to bow, while Qi Ming confronted Gu Qingyin and defended his late master. As Qi Ming and Yu Liang left, the Thunder Nether Grotto-Heaven began opening over Jianghuai, cutting off the households’ communications and leaving them facing an unknown threat.

• Gu Yongshi and Lu Hongyuan crushed Qi Ming with their spiritual pressure after he delivered a bronze clock, and Yu Liang arrived to defend him with the Azure Nether Token.
• Yu Liang made the Gu and Lu Households and their guests bow, then declared that the clock was a congratulatory gift and warned the household heads against challenging the Ye Clan.
• Gu Qingyin insulted Qi Ming and his late master, but Qi Ming answered that the Ye Clan’s backing had forced the Gu and Lu Households to bow.
• A fissure opened in the sky as the Thunder Nether Grotto-Heaven descended, and Yu Liang took Qi Ming away from the unfolding crisis.
• Gu Yongshi ordered his clan to seek help and activate their defenses, but the Gu and Lu Households discovered their communications had been blocked.

Fengyi led eight Ye Clan Purple Mansion cultivators in an attack on the Gu and Lu Clans, overwhelming their defenders with the Azure Nether Heaven-Suppressing Seal and his powerful Divine Abilities. As the clans faced defeat, the Thunder Nether Grotto-Heaven suddenly widened and unleashed a devastating bolt of lightning upon Lake Tai.

• Gu Yongshi tried to send Gu Qingyin away through a secret passage, but Fengyi sealed the estate and Lake Tai with the Azure Nether Heaven-Suppressing Seal.
• Gu Yongshi, Lu Hongyuan, and the Gu and Lu elders attacked the Ye Clan, but Fengyi’s seal nullified their strikes while the Ye cultivators trapped and countered them.
• Gu Yongshi summoned the Jiefan Heavenly Spirit Formation, and Gu Yu emerged from seclusion to join the battle, but Fengyi destroyed their attacks with Azure Nether Intent and Autumn Clears the Universe.
• Gu Yu sacrificed his lifespan to summon the Gu Clan ancestor’s remnant soul, whose halberd clashed with Fengyi’s eight Azure Nether Intents before the remnant dissipated and the Jiefan Seal shattered.
• As Fengyi prepared to finish the battle, the rift to the Thunder Nether Grotto-Heaven widened, and a bolt of heavenly lightning struck Lake Tai.

As Thunder Nether Grotto-Heaven fell over Lake Tai, Sima Canglan entered it to seize its lightning origin while the other powers waited and watched. Sima Honglin then revealed that he had used his younger brother to obtain the origin, claimed it for himself, and attained the thunder-attribute heavenly position, drawing a wary reaction from Zhang Chen.

• Fengyi reinforced the Azure Nether Heaven-Suppressing Seal to keep the Gu and Lu clan cultivators trapped as the grotto-heaven descended.
• Ye Zhanqiu and Ye Qingming watched the confrontation between the Great Peace Temple and the Wang and Xie clans, choosing to wait before taking sides.
• Sima Canglan entered Thunder Nether Grotto-Heaven and fought its remnant soul, using the Jin dynasty’s national fortune to break down the lightning giant and absorb its power.
• Sima Honglin intervened, wrested control of the thunder origin from Sima Canglan, and used the Imperial Jade Seal to claim it.
• Sima Honglin absorbed the thunder origin and attained the thunder-attribute heavenly position, while Zhang Chen warned that the powerful new oriole might not remain unchallenged.

Sima Honglin consolidated his authority after uniting three Daos, securing the submission of Great Jin’s vassal clans while warning the Ye Clan not to overstep. Heaven and earth then recognized his new honored title, Primordial Supreme Sovereign.

• Wang Lan and Xie Zeming pledged the Wang and Xie Clans’ service to Sima Honglin, while Zhang Chen warned him about the Thunder Palace’s downfall and the Great Peace Temple declined his offer of court positions.
• Sima Honglin questioned the Ye Clan about its destruction of the Gu and Lu Clans, and Ye Qingming claimed they had colluded with witch and demonic forces; Sima Honglin accepted the explanation but warned that Jiangnan must remain part of Great Jin.
• Sima Honglin summoned the imperial jade seal and called on those present to witness his change of honored title as his Dao resonance spread across Great Jin.
• An apparition conjured by heaven and earth proclaimed Sima Honglin’s virtues and declared that his title would be Primordial Supreme Sovereign, recognizing his united Daos and authority over the realm.

After uniting three Daos, Sima Honglin became Primordial Supreme Sovereign Heaven but realized his path of relentless increase left him unable to stop. In Yunlan Heaven, Ye Qingming explained addition and subtraction to Ye Jinyu, who proposed that both were means toward freedom and that losing and gaining depended on a change of thought.

• Sima Honglin imprisoned Sima Canglan, dismissed the gathered cultivators, and admitted to Ye Qingming that he had gained supremacy at the cost of his freedom and could not stop advancing.
• Ye Qingming and Ye Zhanqiu warned Sima Honglin that a former Thunder Palace ruler had become tyrannical and destroyed the palace, but Sima Honglin vowed not to follow that path.
• Ye Qingming told Ye Jinyu that the Ye Clan would stay out of Jiangnan’s disputes, then taught him the opposing cultivation paths of Add and Increase to Maintain Fullness and Subtract to Seek Emptiness.
• Ye Qingming explained that Sima Honglin followed the path of addition while the Great Peace Temple’s old temple master followed subtraction, and that neither path was superior.
• Ye Jinyu argued that addition and subtraction were only means, and that cultivators should neither cling to emptiness nor existence, illustrating his view with Ye Qingming’s enduring influence over the winds.

A plain-robed singer provoked Sima Ying by performing a song mourning Former Wei, prompting a brutal search and a public display meant to flush out loyalists. The chapter ended as Cao Huan, a frail young man who had just awakened in Ye Capital, remembered his uncle’s sacrifice and declared he would rather die fighting than submit to traitors.

• A plain-robed man sang of Former Wei above Ye Capital and evaded the attacks of the imperial guards.
• Sima Ying killed the guards’ commander, ordered a citywide search, and commanded his forces to kill anyone suspected of loyalty to Former Wei.
• Sima Ying sent his son Sima Hui to parade Former Wei’s imperial carriage through Ye Capital, humiliating prisoners and descendants of Wei loyalists.
• Sima Hui taunted a young woman of the Xun Clan and tortured her as the subdued crowd watched.
• Cao Huan awakened in a dilapidated house and recalled that his uncle had hidden the imperial sword with him before sacrificing himself.

Cao Huan, awakened as a surviving scion of Great Wei, witnessed Sima Hui brutalize former Wei prisoners and kill an old man who challenged him. Cao Huan declared himself emperor and faced Sima Hui, while Xun Mozhi and Xiahou Xuan watched from outside Ye Capital and recalled the Luo River oath.

• Cao Huan awoke in a ruined house and recognized Sima Hui riding Wei Ming’s imperial carriage, dragged by 999 shackled prisoners.
• Sima Hui forced the prisoners to sing praise for Jin, then killed an old man who declared him unworthy to ride Emperor Ming’s carriage.
• Cao Huan recalled the Sima Clan’s atrocities against Great Wei and resolved to face Sima Hui, despite an old investigator’s warning that it was a trap.
• Cao Huan stepped into the street, declared himself emperor of Great Wei, and stood his ground as Sima Hui struck at him.
• A plain-clothed man appeared and cut apart Sima Hui’s palm wind, while Xun Mozhi and Xiahou Xuan discussed the surviving imperial bloodline and the Sima Clan’s Luo River oath.

Cheng Fasi defended Cao Huan against Sima Ying until an unseen Divine Core exposed the Prince of Ye’s stolen Cold Qi authority and revealed Cao Zijian as its rightful holder. Cao Zijian arrived in a coffin wielding [Zhou Clearing Snow], and the surviving people of Former Wei recognized him as the Prince of Chen.

• Cheng Fasi used [Heavenly Law Vastness] to shield Cao Huan and resist Sima Ying, who arrived and attacked with the [Heavenly Cold Yin Qi Life and Death Record].
• Sima Ying’s Nether Snow killed loyal ministers of Former Wei and weakened Cheng Fasi, while Cao Huan remained protected by an unseen power.
• An unseen voice explained that Cao Zijian held the Cold Qi Heavenly Position and condemned Sima Ying for stealing its authority.
• Sima Ying wounded Cheng Fasi and summoned black-armored cultivators, but the snow and Yin Qi suddenly quieted and began to shine with Mingyang.
• Cheng Fasi identified the arriving [Zhou Clearing Snow] as Cao Zijian’s Divine Ability as a coffin entered Ye Capital and the survivors recognized the Prince of Chen.
• Cao Zijian spoke from the coffin, apologizing to his elder brother for arriving late.

In Ye Capital, Wang Lan used a heavenly decree to seal the city and command the extermination of the Wei imperial house, while the Prince of Chen defied him from inside his coffin. In Luoyang, Sima Honglin ordered the remaining Cao Clan members to drink poisoned wine, and they faced death with defiance and urged the Prince of Chen to keep fighting.

• Wang Lan appeared over Ye Capital and urged the Prince of Chen to accept Wei's fall and remain in his coffin.
• The Prince of Chen called Wang Lan a foolish slave and petty wretch, rejecting his counsel.
• Wang Lan unfurled a heavenly decree declaring that all sects must unite to exterminate the imperial house of Wei, and its power sealed Ye Capital from the outside world.
• Sima Ying welcomed the decree, believing the Prince of Chen would die and that he could claim the vacant place as the realm's master of Cold Qi.
• In Luoyang, Sima Honglin told the kneeling Cao Clan members that their deaths were heaven's will and had soldiers bring them cups of wine.
• The Cao Clan's white-haired head raised his cup, and the clansmen denounced the Sima Clan and urged the Prince of Chen to kill more of their enemies.

Sima Honglin planned to use marriages and the Li Fire succession to consolidate imperial power while Wang Dunhua seized control of Langya and claimed a new Heavenly Position. As Wang Lan and Cao Zijian fell, Cao Huan was chosen to become emperor of the rising Wei Imperial House.

• Sima Honglin showed Sima Linxun portraits of daughters from the Ye, Xiao, and Wang clans and said he wanted someone trusted to take charge of Li Fire; Sima Linxun agreed that all three women should enter the Sima Clan.
• Wang Dunhua's ninth granduncle condemned him for serving the Sima Clan and slaughtering his kin, but Wang Dunhua absorbed the beauties in his hall and revealed that he had entered the evil path.
• Wang Dunhua summoned the three thousand Fire Qi Tiger Guards, claimed the Heavenly Position of Summer Vast Mysterious Blazing Heaven, and ordered his forces to seize Qingzhou's wealth and resources.
• Wang Lan and the Prince of Chen, Cao Zijian, fell at nearly the same time, causing signs of their lost Heavenly Positions to appear across the realm.
• Wang Lan disintegrated in Ye Capital, leaving white ash that sank into the earth as a faint earthy-yellow light appeared.
• A voice in the void addressed Cao Huan and declared that the Wei Imperial House would rise again with him as its new emperor.

Cao Huan’s supporters broke Sima Ying’s control over Ye Capital and killed him, allowing Cao Huan to proclaim himself emperor and order sacrifices for the Greater Yang and the fallen. In Luoyang, Zhang Chen openly defied Sima Honglin, leaving the conflict between them unresolved.

• Wu Earth broke Sima Ying’s heavenly decree, and Cao Huan raised an imperial sword as people in Ye Capital began to hail him as their emperor.
• Sima Ying unleashed his Yin souls against the kneeling crowd, but Xiahou Xuan cut them apart and Xun Mozhi trapped him in a spirit-locking cage.
• Sima Ying realized he had been manipulated into cultivating a doomed path and blamed Sima Honglin before fighting back with five Divine Abilities.
• Xiahou Xuan struck Sima Ying with Qiu Yan Vast Sky while Xun Mozhi used East Wind Break to halt his Divine Abilities, killing him and destroying the Heavenly Cold Yin Qi Life and Death Record.
• Cao Huan declared Sima Ying a traitor, ordered sacrifices to the Greater Yang and commemoration of the fallen, and silently resolved to make the immortals face the suffering they had caused.
• In Luoyang, Sima Honglin condemned Zhang Chen for defying the will of all under heaven, and Zhang Chen replied that he was obeying his master and opposing Jin’s rule.

Sima Honglin confronted Zhang Chen as the Great Peace Temple and the immortal clans rose against the Jin court, causing the realm to collapse into rebellion. After Qingzhou and other provinces surrendered or fell, Ye Jinyu received orders to raise the Ye Clan's forces and seize Jiangnan.

• Sima Honglin rejected sharing power with the clans and fought Zhang Chen and other True Lords beyond the heavens as the Great Peace Temple launched its uprising.
• Sima Jiong learned that Wang Dunhua's forces had surrounded Linzi and surrendered Qingzhou to the Wang Clan.
• Sima Wei surrendered Xuzhou to the Xie Clan, Gongsun Hao killed Sima Yao and handed Yanzhou to the Chen Clan, and the Great Peace Temple captured Yuzhou.
• Ye Jinyu learned that only Sili, Yongzhou, and possibly Yizhou remained under the court's control, while the Ye Clan was ordered to take Jiangnan.
• Ye Jinyu ordered the Ye Clan to raise its forces and begin taking Jiangnan.

Ye Jinyu outlawed Dao Devouring in Jiangnan and executed the Zhu Clan after it secretly hid its Dao Ginseng. He then learned that Lin Dong, a rapidly advancing Ruin Realm cultivator who had killed Yanran and fled, might have ascended to Cangxuan, and ordered him found and killed.

• Jia Ru advised Ye Jinyu to outlaw Dao Devouring and make the Zhu Clan an example, while Yu Liang described the clan’s crimes.
• Ye Jinyu ordered Jiangnan’s clans to submit records of Dao Ginseng and incomplete Cultivation Methods, threatening death for those who disobeyed.
• After the Zhu Clan secretly moved its Dao Ginseng, Jia Ru delivered evidence, and Great True Person Fengyi and eight Ye Clan Purple Mansion cultivators captured the clan; Fengyi killed its two Purple Mansion clan heads, and the Zhu Clan’s direct line was executed.
• Ye Jinyu considered how to give Rogue Cultivators and humble families a path to advancement, then received a report about Lin Dong’s rebellion in the Wulang Realm.
• The report recounted how Yanran abandoned Lin Dong after ascending to Yunlan; Lin Dong later killed her, rebelled, and disappeared, with the report suggesting he might have reached Cangxuan.
• Ye Jinyu ordered Xu Feng to find and kill Lin Dong and to investigate everyone in the Wulang Realm.

As Great Jin weakened, Sima Linxun seized regency and tried to organize resistance, but the Jia and Yang Clans checked his power while regional clans prepared to claim royal titles. In Jiangnan, a visitor named Liu sought the Ye Clan’s Yunlan Heaven Palace, alarming everyone who heard his surname.

• Ye Jinyu ordered Xu Feng to continue searching Jiangnan for Lin Dong, who had vanished after defecting from the Ruin Realm.
• With Sima Chengzhong incapacitated, Sima Linxun declared himself regent, killed an official who challenged him, and ordered the Luoxia Death Warriors to secure Luoyang and raise a relief army for Youyan.
• Sima Linxun imprisoned Sima Liang and Sima Lun, but Jia Nanfeng and Jia Mi allied with Yang Jun to seize influence at court and barred Sima Linxun from his father’s bedchamber.
• Sima Linxun ordered the Luoxia Death Warriors to root out hidden Jia and Yang Clan operatives and watch their leaders while avoiding an open clash.
• The Wang, Xie, and Chen Clans sent envoys to invite the Ye and Xiao Clans to a gathering in Xuzhou to confer royal titles upon one another.
• A green-robed visitor surnamed Liu arrived in Jiangnan and asked for the way to the Ye Clan’s Yunlan Heaven Palace, frightening the cultivators he met.

Ye Jinyu received Liu Chen, a netherworld figure of the Liu Clan, who urged him to attend the clans’ gathering to proclaim kings in Xuzhou and warned that northern barbarians threatened the world. Liu Chen offered Jingzhou and innate thunder Qi in exchange for the Ye Clan’s support, leaving Ye Jinyu to weigh kingship against the chance to reach Purple Mansion.

• Xu Feng escorted Liu Chen to Zhong Mountain, where Ye Jinyu welcomed him to a lavish banquet and questioned his purpose in coming to Jiangnan.
• Liu Chen declared his loyalty to the Han legacy, and Ye Jinyu deduced that he was a ghost from the netherworld inhabiting a shell of a body.
• Ye Jinyu challenged Liu Chen about the Liu Clan’s allies and plans, while Liu Chen said the clans would gather in Xuzhou to proclaim kings and warned that northern barbarians could bring catastrophe.
• Liu Chen argued that Ye Jinyu should join the gathering, explaining that ruling Jiangnan could give him the order Dao needed to complement his Three Calamities and advance to Purple Mansion.
• Liu Chen offered to borrow Jingzhou for the Liu Clan and provide innate thunder Qi in return for Ye Jinyu’s support; Ye Jinyu gave no clear answer as Liu Chen departed.
• Ye Jinyu watched Liu Chen leave and considered the proclamation of kings in Xuzhou as both a chance for Purple Mansion and the beginning of kingship.

Ye Jinyu traveled with the Ye Clan to Pengcheng for the gathering to choose a king, witnessing the devastation of war and the Xie Clan’s corruption along the way. There, Xie Qingying invited him to a secluded meeting, revealed a verse describing the rival clans converging on Xuzhou, and asked what the Ye Clan intended to do.

• Ye Jinyu read reports of spreading wars and Dao Devouring as the Ye Clan’s greatship left Jinling for Xuzhou.
• The Ye Clan passed through ruined Guangling and war-stricken northern lands before reaching the prosperous, fortified city of Pengcheng.
• In Pengcheng, Ye Jinyu saw Wang Clan members taking bets on the gathering and learned that the Xie Clan was charging cultivators an entrance offering while its members fought the Chen Clan over a woman.
• Ye Jinyu skipped the Xie Clan’s welcoming banquet, then accepted an invitation from Xie Qingying to meet in a bamboo grove.
• Xie Qingying recited a verse naming the clans gathering in Xuzhou and asked Ye Jinyu what the Ye Clan intended to do.