Recaps

Lin Qiao confronted the Southwest sword prodigy after killing the demonic cultivator in his cave. She revealed that his attacks had struck only an earth decoy, then declared that he was far beneath her.

• Chen Yang used spatial techniques to get Lin Qiao past the cave’s restrictions, and she killed the meditating demonic cultivator with one strike.
• The Southwest prodigy arrived, recognized that his collusion with the Demonic Dao had been exposed, and attacked Lin Qiao with three sword-shadows.
• Lin Qiao praised his ability to wield three distinct sword techniques, but the attacks pierced only an earth decoy that crumbled into sand.
• Lin Qiao’s voice echoed through the cave as faces formed from the earth and stone around the prodigy, and she told him that prodigies had ranks and he was far behind her.

Lin Qiao killed a Southwest prodigy, while Yang Yuanxing completed his mission by killing three demonic bandits and went looking for other cultivators who needed help. Elsewhere, Xuan Youli and Chu Jingxiao killed a powerful Southwest cultivator who had defected to the Demonic Dao, whose past struggles and exhausted potential were then revealed.

• Lin Qiao used quicksand and Dead Water to kill the Southwest prodigy, then secured his corpse and the demonic cultivator's corpse in the Turtle Shell Secret Treasure.
• Yang Yuanxing entered a bandit stronghold, killed its guards and leader, and collected the heads of three demonic bandits to complete his mission.
• Yang Yuanxing found six nearby demon-extermination sites and flew off to help fellow cultivators.
• Xuan Youli and Chu Jingxiao joined forces to kill a powerful Southwest Rogue Cultivator who had defected to the Demonic Dao.
• The Rogue Cultivator had once hoped to reach True Intent, but after sensing his talent had run out, he studied other Dao sects' arts in search of a breakthrough.

Xuan Youli and Chu Jingxiao reflected on how the Demonic Dao had drawn a Southwest Rogue Cultivator True Person into its service before going to investigate Yang Lingrui’s companion cultivator. They found Xue Qingluan standing above the ruins of the Nine Nether Sect, and wondered how the Yang Clan kept producing Golden Roll-level prodigies.

• A Southwest Rogue Cultivator True Person had joined the Demon Sect after repeated setbacks and killed righteous cultivators, but Xuan Youli and Chu Jingxiao found him dead and respectfully bowed before his corpse.
• Chu Jingxiao told Xuan Youli that Yang Lingrui’s companion cultivator, the Azure Wind Mandate Official, was stronger than him, and the two decided to seek out Yang Lingrui’s companion cultivator.
• Xuan Youli and Chu Jingxiao followed a pair of moons to a basin filled with condensed moonlight and learned that the Nine Nether Sect had been ordered exterminated.
• Xuan Youli and Chu Jingxiao discovered Xue Qingluan standing above the completely destroyed Nine Nether Sect, surrounded by the signs of her moon-art.
• Xuan Youli and Chu Jingxiao were astonished that the Northwest Yang Clan had produced another cultivator with Golden Roll potential in just ten years.

After destroying the Nine Nether Sect, Xue Qingluan, Chu Jingxiao, and Xuan Youli deduced that its sacrifice was part of a broader Demonic Path scheme in the Southwest. Their Turtle Shell Secret Treasures then sounded the highest-level distress signals, and the three split up to answer them as civilians fled a nearby city and villages.

• Xue Qingluan explained that she had crushed the Nine Nether Sect and burned away the demonic traces before its Blood Nightmare Evil Soul could form.
• Chu Jingxiao and Xuan Youli reasoned that the Nine Nether Sect’s leaders had long planned their sect’s sacrifice to conceal a greater Demonic Path scheme.
• Xue Qingluan, Chu Jingxiao, and Xuan Youli considered how similar sacrifices could target Demon Extermination Squad cultivators, devastate the Southwest, or serve another hidden purpose.
• The three received highest-level distress signals from three locations and split up to rush to the cultivators’ aid.
• Across the Southwest, Demon Extermination Squad cultivators faced grave crises as terrified civilians fled a city and nearby villages in the Eastern Region of Azure Waves Southwest.

Four Northeast Demon Extermination Squad cultivators struggled to contain the spreading evil mist and evacuate civilians after an evil soul escaped a hidden formation. As Blood Corpses overwhelmed them, one cultivator fled to carry news of the Demonic Dao's scheme back to the squad.

• A Demon Sect Protector activated a hidden formation beneath the cult's cave, creating an evil soul that escaped and spread evil mist across the plateau.
• The six Northeast cultivators split up, with two Core Formation Cultivators staying to suppress the evil soul while four evacuated civilians and fought off Blood Corpses.
• A Late Qi Gathering cultivator, exhausted from defending the evacuation route, wandered into the evil mist and was killed by Blood Corpses.
• Another cultivator charged into the mist to avenge his fallen fellow disciple and was soon overwhelmed by more Blood Corpses.
• One of the two remaining cultivators used a spirit detonation to draw the Blood Corpses away, allowing his Senior Brother to escape with news of the Demonic Dao's scheme.

A cultivator sacrificed his chance to escape to hold back the evil mist until the commoners fled, only to discover that Senior Brother Guo had been mutilated and controlled by the evil soul. Yang Yuanxing arrived, rescued the cultivator, and captured the evil soul to subject it to endless torture.

• The Twelfth Floor Qi Gathering cultivator recorded the danger, sent a message toward the heavens, and fought alone at the mountain pass while the commoners escaped.
• After two hours, the cultivator saw Senior Brother Guo appear, but realized the evil soul had severed his lower body and was controlling him.
• The evil soul attacked the cultivator, but living earth pulled him through a passage in the corpse wall and saved him.
• Yang Yuanxing arrived, cut the evil soul into pieces with a blood sword, and seized its life-soul.
• Yang Yuanxing swallowed the evil soul and told it that he would subject it to at least one hundred forms of torture.

Lin Qiao and Yang Yuanxing saved Qi Andao from despair after his squad was killed and set out to answer another call for aid. As they departed, Yang Yuanxing revealed that he came from a small Northwest clan and bore the surname Yang.

• Lin Qiao brought the rescued Qi Andao out of the earth, and he grieved over the deaths of his fellow sect members.
• Lin Qiao and Yang Yuanxing steadied Qi Andao with true essence and confronted him with the choice to live on and honor the dead.
• Qi Andao regained his resolve, thanked the two seniors, and vowed to keep fighting the Demonic Dao.
• Lin Qiao summoned a cloud vessel and urged everyone to hurry to another place that had called for aid.
• Yang Yuanxing gathered the plateau's evil mist, then told Qi Andao that he came from a small Northwest clan and his surname was Yang.

Lin Qiao and Yang Yuanxing rescued wounded cultivators while Qi Andao escorted them to safety, and the Demon Extermination operation crushed most of the Demonic Path’s forces in the Southwest. Ning Jiu emerged as the operation’s most formidable fighter, with her presence tied to an old grudge between Meishan and Bai Sanli.

• Qi Andao learned that Lin Qiao and Yang Yuanxing came from the Northwest Yang Clan and marveled at their strength.
• Lin Qiao and Yang Yuanxing healed three gravely wounded Central Region cultivators with jade spirit treasures.
• Lin Qiao sent Qi Andao to escort the three survivors to a Demon Extermination Squad camp, then she and Yang Yuanxing flew toward another distress signal.
• Luo Qianchou and other True Intent Cultivators joined the fight and helped eliminate more than seventy percent of the Demonic Path’s infiltrators and demonic cultivators in the Southwest.
• Ning Jiu killed two major sects, one royal family, three hidden cult strongholds, and numerous cultivators while rescuing others.
• The chapter connected Meishan’s aid to the old enmity that began when Bai Sanli killed a Meishan sword cultivator nine years earlier.

The commendation list revealed the Northwest’s rising cultivators, including several Yang Clan prodigies, and led to new assignments within the Demon Extermination Squad. After Bai Yuan was exposed and executed, the Southwest’s righteous forces launched an open campaign against the Demonic Dao, while tensions spread and a new Wind Chasing Ceremony began.

• Cultivators across the region noticed Xue Qingluan, He Shenglai, Luo Yuan, Lin Qiao, and Yang Yuanxing among the operation’s top performers, and discussed the Northwest’s growing strength.
• Xue Qingluan became a Southwest Demon Extermination Squad commander, He Shenglai and Luo Yuan joined the Secret Guard, and Lin Qiao and Yang Yuanxing joined Ning Jiu’s special operations team.
• The Demon Extermination Squad uncovered and executed Bai Yuan, the young sect master of the Zichen Sect and Bai Chuan’s grandson.
• The righteous forces built more than ten Demon Suppression Passes along the Southwest border and began openly sweeping beyond it.
• As clashes escalated over the next year and a half, Central Region cultivators were secretly sent to the Southwest, and the Fuyao Sect convened a new Wind Chasing Ceremony.

As the Wind Chasing Ceremony began, Fuyao Sect and Dongfang Clan leaders prepared to enter the Unreturning Wind Cave to retrieve Yun Xiwu and Yang Lingrui. Nie Wuchen cleared the cave’s spatial currents, but the Azure Flame Demon Venerable’s attack forced him to turn back to their battle in the Otherworldly Realm.

• The righteous forces gathered for the Wind Chasing Ceremony, equipped with tortoise-shell treasures that could identify demonic cultivators.
• Dongfang Yinghao asked Liu Yanqing how to address Yang Lingrui, and she advised him to follow their respective relationships.
• Nie Wuchen cleared the Unreturning Wind Cave’s spatial currents and gave Peng Tao a jade flute treasure to break spatial closures.
• The Azure Flame Demon Venerable projected his voice from the Otherworldly Realm and spread wicked fire through the gathered True Intent Cultivators.
• Nie Wuchen extinguished the wicked fire, mocked the Azure Flame Demon Venerable, and dispersed his avatar to resume their fight.

Peng Tao and Dongfang Zonggan reopened the hidden legacy in the Unreturning Wind Cave, but found Yun Xiwu and Yang Lingrui missing despite signs that they had awakened and advanced to Spiritual Connection Perfection. At Dao Seeking Peak, the Mystic Insight Venerable sensed two cultivators claiming titles and crossing tribulation together, and suspected one was Qingming and the other the Azure Wind Mandate Official.

• Peng Tao and Dongfang Zonggan used the jade flute to open a passage into the sealed hidden legacy and confirmed its spiritual essence remained stable.
• Peng Tao located Yun Xiwu’s aura, but the cave residence was empty, and a search found no trace of her or Yang Lingrui.
• Dongfang Yinghao and Liu Yanqing noticed the lingering auras showed both Yun Xiwu and Yang Lingrui had reached Spiritual Connection Perfection.
• Peng Tao and Dongfang Zonggan realized the pair had likely left to advance and decided to wait for them in the hidden legacy.
• The Mystic Insight Venerable sensed two cultivators claim titles and cross tribulation together, then identified them as likely Qingming and the Azure Wind Mandate Official.

The Mystic Insight Venerable witnessed Yun Xiwu, Yang Lingrui, and Yang Yuanhong claim the titles Clear Void, Sever Karma, and Dragon Martial as they succeeded in Tribulation Crossing. After celebrating the auspicious sign, he was summoned to a challenge and set out to confront the challenger.

• The Mystic Insight Venerable approved of Yun Xiwu's title, Clear Void, and wondered about the weight of Yang Lingrui's title, Sever Karma.
• The Mystic Insight Venerable sensed another cultivator with strength and martial arts cultivation, as well as True Dragon Breath, and recognized Yang Yuanhong's title as Dragon Martial.
• The Mystic Insight Venerable sent news of the three titles to the Central Region's top factions and celebrated their success ahead of the Great Competition of Two Daos.
• A force summoned the Mystic Insight Venerable to a challenge, and he took up a sword before cleaving open the heavens and striding into the sky.

Dongfang Yinghao and Liu Yanqing discovered Divine Wind Spirit Cores in the hidden treasure space and learned how they could rapidly strengthen Wind Dao techniques. As Dongfang Yinghao deployed his puppets to search for more, Dongfang Zonggan hinted that Yinghao was not the puppet Dao’s most gifted figure.

• Dongfang Yinghao found a Divine Wind Spirit Core, and Liu Yanqing confirmed it was the fifth they had found that day.
• Liu Yanqing explained the cores’ value and refined all five into her Netherparting Wind, greatly strengthening it and cutting its advancement time in half.
• Liu Yanqing told Dongfang Yinghao that the Fuyao Sect had once produced such cores but had exhausted them generations ago.
• Dongfang Yinghao released hundreds of puppets to search the hidden treasure region for more Divine Wind Spirit Cores.
• Peng Tao praised Dongfang Yinghao’s puppet talent, but Dongfang Zonggan said that calling him the puppet Dao’s most gifted person was still inappropriate.

Dongfang Zonggan revealed to Peng Tao that Dongfang Yingcai, long overlooked by the Central Region powers, had shown extraordinary talent in artifact crafting from childhood. He identified her innate special physique as Heavenly Craft, while Peng Tao promised to keep the secret.

• Peng Tao realized Dongfang Zonggan was referring to Dongfang Yingcai, Dongfang Yinghao's younger sister, who had studied in the Northwest and then cultivated in seclusion.
• Dongfang Zonggan explained that Yingcai's time in the Northwest was not merely a ploy to hide her, and Peng Tao reconsidered his assumptions about the region.
• Dongfang Zonggan connected Yingcai's talent to the Spirit Forging Dao lineage and showed Peng Tao puppet blueprints she had drawn at eight years old.
• Peng Tao inferred that Yingcai possessed an innate special physique and congratulated Dongfang Zonggan, promising to keep the matter secret.
• Dongfang Zonggan told Peng Tao that Yingcai's special physique was called Heavenly Craft.

Dongfang Zonggan revealed that Ying Cai and Yuanhong were destined to be together, then proposed that the Dongfang, Yang, and Peng families unite through three pairings. Peng Tao supported the possibility of Yang Lingrui and Yun Xiwu, but Fuyao Sect had not yet reached a decision.

• Peng Tao recognized that the Heavenly Craft special constitution matched that of the ancient Artifact Path Great Venerable, and Dongfang Zonggan confirmed it was linked to the Spiritforge lineage.
• Dongfang Zonggan asked Peng Tao what Fuyao Sect thought of Yang Lingrui and Yun Xiwu, and Peng Tao said the sect had not decided but personally supported the match.
• Dongfang Zonggan revealed that the Dongfang Clan had agreed Ying Cai and Yuanhong were bound by fate.
• Dongfang Zonggan proposed uniting Ying Hao with Yan Qing, Yun Xiwu with Yang Lingrui, and Yuanhong with Ying Cai, saying the three pairings could bring six Gold Ranking figures together under their families.

Peng Tao learned that the Dongfang Clan supported Qiwu and Ling Rui’s marriage, while Dongfang Yinghao and Liu Yanqing found a way to locate the last Divine Wind Spirit Core. Liu Yanqing began condensing the scattered Core Wind into a physical Spirit Core.

• Dongfang Zonggan told Peng Tao that Venerable Ziyu had approved the Dongfang Clan’s proposal and that Peng Tao could inform the Fuyao Sect’s elders.
• Dongfang Yinghao and Liu Yanqing found four more Divine Wind Spirit Cores but could not locate the tenth through Liu Yanqing’s wind resonance.
• Dongfang Yinghao used a centipede-shaped puppet to amplify his mental power and discovered that the final Core Wind was scattered throughout the Place of Hidden Treasures.
• Liu Yanqing gathered the scattered Core Wind with her wind arts while Dongfang Yinghao assisted her by transferring true essence.
• Liu Yanqing compressed the gathered wind into a small sphere and began turning it into a tangible Divine Wind Spirit Core.

Liu Yanqing nearly refined the Divine Wind Spirit Core, but its violent resistance pushed her to the brink of exhaustion, and she chose to stop rather than risk injuring herself. A mysterious breeze then restored the Spirit Core, and two familiar figures appeared, one taking the crystal and the other drawing the wind breath from Liu Yanqing.

• The Core Wind resisted Liu Yanqing’s refinement, swelling and sending a wisp of wind breath into her body.
• Dongfang Yinghao supplied Liu Yanqing with true essence as she struggled against the Core Wind for an hour.
• Near exhaustion, Liu Yanqing stopped the refinement and let the almost-formed Spirit Core turn insubstantial.
• Peng Tao and Dongfang Zonggan praised Liu Yanqing’s judgment as Peng Tao prepared to intervene.
• A mysterious breeze gathered the dispersing Spirit Core, and two familiar figures appeared before Liu Yanqing and Dongfang Yinghao.
• The bluish-faced man formed the wind mass into a Spirit Core crystal, while the woman drew the wisp of wind breath from Liu Yanqing.

Yun Xiwu and Yang Lingrui returned after twelve years, reunited with Liu Yanqing and Dongfang Yinghao, and revealed the rare Void Nether Divine Wind and Yang Lingrui’s title, “Sever Karma.” Their senior escorts realized Yang Lingrui might make history in Azure Waves, while Peng Tao resolved to promote his marriage to Yun Xiwu.

• Yun Xiwu brought Liu Yanqing and Dongfang Yinghao out of their shock, and Yang Lingrui gave Liu Yanqing the final Divine Wind Spirit Core as a first-meeting gift.
• Yun Xiwu and Yang Lingrui greeted Peng Tao and Dongfang Zonggan, who welcomed them back and asked about their True Self Cave Heaven titles.
• Yun Xiwu explained how Yang Lingrui’s Three Rhyme Divine Wind had merged with her Azure Nether Divine Wind to form the adaptable Void Nether Divine Wind.
• Yun Xiwu revealed that her title was “Clear Void,” and the four seniors praised the title and marveled at the power of her new Divine Wind.
• Peng Tao heard Yang Lingrui’s title, “Sever Karma,” and decided to push for his marriage to Yun Xiwu, while Peng Tao and Dongfang Zonggan recognized the significance of his potential in the Killing Dao.

Peng Tao left the Unreturning Wind Cave after learning of Dongfang Zonggan’s plans, while Dongfang stayed to guide the young cultivators exploring the realm. Yang Yuanhong emerged from seclusion at the Twelfth Layer of Spiritual Connection, received guidance from Chen Yang, and departed for the Central Region as tensions between the Righteous and Demonic Paths continued to build.

• Peng Tao discussed matters with Dongfang Zonggan, then left the Unreturning Wind Cave while Dongfang watched over the four young cultivators.
• Yang Yuanhong opened his eyes on Longyin Peak after reaching the Twelfth Layer of Spiritual Connection and earning the title “Dragon Martial.”
• Chen Yang praised Yang Yuanhong’s cultivation, gave him Blood Sun’s idol, and told him about the Divine Path Steles and opportunities to advance his dragon body.
• Yang Yuanhong bid farewell to Wu Tong and Yang Lingqing, transformed into a dragon, and flew toward the Central Region before the younger Yang Clan members could see him.
• The Righteous and Demonic Paths continued preparing for conflict in the Southwest, while the Righteous Path strengthened defenses along its other borders, including the sea defenses guarded by East Sea Penglai Palace.

The chapter explained the Dragon Descendants’ Dragon Body cultivation and their hatred of the Demonic Path after losing a perfected Dragon Body cultivator. Murong Qiuhan returned to the East Sea defense camp after hunting demonic cultivators, then continued cultivating, aware of the gap between herself and the strongest Heavenly Talents.

• The chapter described how the Dragon Descendants used the dangerous Nine Tribulations Dragon Transformation Art to cultivate Acquired Dragon Bodies, and noted that a perfected Dragon Body cultivator besides Long Yuan had died in a Demon Sect ambush.
• Murong Qiuhan returned to a Water Camp after hunting three demonic cultivators in an undersea rift gorge and gave their heads, sealed Primordial Spirits, and location to a Penglai Palace True Person.
• The Penglai Palace cultivators praised Murong Qiuhan for passing the True Dragon Trial and growing stronger on the sea defense line.
• Murong Qiuhan returned to her underwater cave abode and resumed cultivating, remembering the overwhelming pressure of a Dragon Lord and the distance she still had to overcome.

Murong Qiuhan joined Long Heng, Long Che, and two undercover cultivators at a concealed Penglai Palace hideout to plan a strike against Demonic Dao forces at Niliu Abyss. After learning the enemy had brought spirit treasures designed to counter dragon-body cultivators, she questioned the plan and proposed moving the treasures before setting the ambush.

• Murong Qiuhan received a Demon Extermination Secret Order and traveled from the Water Camp to a concealed hideout in the Sea of Ten Thousand Demons.
• Murong Qiuhan met Long Heng, Long Che, the undercover cultivator Hu, and Qin, who had spent decades working among the demonic forces.
• Qin revealed that Demon Soil had sent new spirit treasures to Niliu Abyss to target Penglai Palace's dragon-descendant cultivators and those with dragon bodies.
• Qin proposed ambushing the arriving secret-art cultivators, seizing the treasures, and helping Hu infiltrate the demonic forces while Qin escaped by feigning death.
• Murong Qiuhan warned that the treasures could leave the dragon-bodied fighters vulnerable and suggested moving them before the ambush.

Murong Qiuhan and her companions infiltrated Niliu Abyss with help from the cultivator surnamed Qin, intending to move the Demonic Dao spiritual treasures. They reached the hidden chamber without raising an alarm, but found its treasure boxes empty.

• Murong Qiuhan, Long Heng, Long Che, and the cultivator surnamed Qin agreed to enter Niliu Abyss and relocate the spiritual treasures.
• The four used Qin's coastal defense map to evade the demonic cultivators and entered the abyss, where the crushing pressure barely hindered them.
• Murong Qiuhan noticed the hooded cultivator was unaffected by the currents' pressure and suspected he was a powerful body cultivator from Kudhan Temple.
• The four found a weak point in the Sea-Churning Grand Formation and crossed it without triggering the formation.
• They reached the secret chamber and found more than ten treasure boxes, but every box was empty and lacked the protective restrictions Qin had described.

Murong Qiuhan, Long Heng, Long Che, and their cloaked companion were ambushed in the dark chamber by Qin, a gray-robed Old Devil, and eighteen Demonic Dao cultivators. Long Heng and Long Che’s joint attack was crushed by a dragon-catching net, leaving the four trapped.

• Murong Qiuhan sensed the ambush and tried to flee, but spell-light blocked the stairs, so she regrouped with Long Heng and the others.
• Qin and the gray-robed Old Devil appeared with eighteen Demonic Dao cultivators and urged the four to surrender.
• Long Heng and Long Che unleashed their Twin Dragons Emerging from Water technique while Murong Qiuhan and the cloaked cultivator attacked the surrounding Demonic Dao cultivators.
• Murong Qiuhan pierced one opponent with ice spikes, and the cloaked cultivator sent another flying.
• The Old Devil tapped his bone staff, summoning ghostly shadows and opening a dragon-catching net above the chamber.
• The net’s chilling influence destabilized Long Heng and Long Che, and eighteen demonic shadows defeated their Dragon Shadows and waterspout art.

Murong Qiuhan unleashed her hidden Dynasty technique to fight off the gray-robed Old Devil and the cultivator surnamed Qin, but the Old Devil’s Dragon Slaying Staff broke through her defenses. The hooded cultivator caught the killing blow, revealing his strength, and offered the Old Devil a chance to live if he killed Qin.

• The gray-robed Old Devil ordered the Eighteen Sons of Yin-Yang to attack Murong Qiuhan and the hooded cultivator while Long Heng and Long Che remained trapped in the dharma net.
• Murong Qiuhan activated her dragon body and fought alongside the hooded cultivator, but the Old Devil swallowed her incarnation and the demonic cultivators rapidly recovered from their wounds.
• Murong Qiuhan unleashed her Sole Supremacy techniques, repeatedly regenerating under their golden light as she charged the Old Devil despite Qin and the demonic cultivators encircling her.
• The Old Devil struck Murong Qiuhan with his Dragon Slaying Staff, shattering her domain and preventing her from reassembling her dragon body.
• The hooded cultivator caught the staff before it hit Murong Qiuhan, then told her she had grown stronger and offered to spare the Old Devil if he killed Qin.

After more than ten years in secluded cultivation, Yang Yuanhong confronted Luo Mo and the cultivator surnamed Qin in the Sea of Ten Thousand Demons. He killed the Eighteen Sons of Yin-Yang, but Luo Mo suppressed his dragon body, leaving Qin eager to seize him.

• The cultivator surnamed Qin considered betraying Luo Mo, but the two decided to join forces against the hooded Yang Yuanhong.
• Yang Yuanhong seized one of the Eighteen Sons of Yin-Yang and crushed him, causing the other seventeen to die through their shared-life technique.
• Yang Yuanhong dismissed the technique as a trick and crushed the demonic cultivator with his dragon-claw arm.
• Luo Mo recognized Yang Yuanhong's dragon body and used a black-and-white pill to suppress it, severing Yang Yuanhong's connection to its power.
• The cultivator surnamed Qin praised Luo Mo and urged him to capture Yang Yuanhong while his strength was diminished.