Recaps

Yi Xuan returned to the Azure Cloud Sect after more than a year away and attended its celebration, where the leaders discussed the missing Mu Anqing and rumors about the Qianyuan Sect’s supreme elder. The Qianyuan Sect’s invitation confirmed Chu Longcheng would hold an ascension ceremony the following month, and the Azure Cloud Sect agreed to attend.

• Yi Xuan visited No. 1 Base and saw that Liang Shi had moved its research equipment to the Xia Kingdom, leaving only the grenade production lines and Nüwa units.
• Shi Zhenghao brought Yi Xuan to meet the three supreme elders, who had worried about his long absence.
• Xiao Anhe guessed that Yi Xuan had gone to the Eternal Sea, and Yi Xuan confirmed he had found no news of Mu Anqing.
• Shi Zhenghao raised rumors that the Qianyuan Sect’s supreme elder was about to ascend, and the old supreme elder explained how Chu Longcheng had helped the sect rise to power.
• The Qianyuan Sect’s disciples delivered an invitation to Chu Longcheng’s ascension ceremony, and the old supreme elder pledged that the Azure Cloud Sect would attend.

At the Azure Cloud Sect’s hundred-year celebration, Cui Yan announced that the senior grand elder had advanced to Spirit Transformation, prompting neighboring sects to react to the Azure Cloud Sect’s rise. Yi Xuan and Xiao Anhe arranged to visit the Qianyuan Sect to witness its grand elder’s ascension, and Yi Xuan went to No. 2 Base.

• Cui Yan announced the senior grand elder’s advancement to Spirit Transformation at the Azure Cloud Sect’s celebration.
• Representatives from neighboring sects began leaving and sending messages as the Azure Cloud Sect became a second-rate sect.
• The senior grand elder said he would remain in the sect and sent Xiao Anhe to witness the Qianyuan Sect grand elder’s ascension with Yi Xuan.
• Yi Xuan and Xiao Anhe agreed to depart for the Qianyuan Sect in half a month so Xiao Anhe could consult its grand elder.
• Yi Xuan went to No. 2 Base after leaving the sect.

Yi Xuan brought Starlink’s second stage into view, adding laser and space-based weapons to the planetary satellite network. In the control room, he examined a strange, doughnut-shaped satellite made of eight space capsules.

• Yi Xuan reviewed Starlink, which had expanded rapidly with resources from the Blood Asura Gate.
• Yi Xuan deployed high-energy laser satellites capable of striking ground targets and groups.
• Yi Xuan tested a space-based weapon in a Xia Kingdom desert and found it could devastate a limited area but could not cause mass destruction or reliably hit moving targets.
• Yi Xuan kept the space-based satellites for precision strikes against formations and buildings, while Starlink also supported planetary monitoring and future interstellar communication.
• Yi Xuan zoomed in on a huge doughnut-shaped satellite and recognized its eight cylindrical sections as space capsules.

Yi Xuan used the Seeking Immortality Space Station to test equipment and prepare to observe the Qianyuan Sect grand elder’s ascension, hoping to learn whether immortals entered the cosmos. On a trip with Xiao Anhe, Yi Xuan thanked his master for protecting the Xia Kingdom from neighboring sects.

• Yi Xuan named his eight-module station the Seeking Immortality Space Station and used robots and instruments to search for Immortal Qi, but detected nothing.
• Yi Xuan arranged for No. 01 to monitor the Qianyuan Sect grand elder’s imminent ascension while the station tested equipment for use in space.
• Yi Xuan returned to the Azure Cloud Sect, where Xiao Anhe said they were leaving at once, and Yi Xuan took his master aboard the Firmament.
• Yi Xuan thanked Xiao Anhe for suppressing neighboring sects’ interest in the Xia Kingdom after they grew envious of its rapid development and heard rumors of a Spirit Stone mine.

Xiao Anhe brought Yi Xuan to the Qianyuan Sect for Chu Longcheng’s ascension ceremony, then revealed that the Qianyuan Sect’s supreme elder was his former senior brother from the Azure Cloud Sect. He explained how Chu Longcheng left after his cultivation stalled because the sect lacked a compatible Nascent Soul method, and left Yi Xuan poised to meet him.

• Yi Xuan and Xiao Anhe reached the Qianyuan Sect aboard the Firmament in less than three days and settled into an assigned courtyard.
• As the ascension ceremony approached, Xiao Anhe spent days lost in thought before telling Yi Xuan they would visit Chu Longcheng the next morning.
• Yi Xuan realized Xiao Anhe spoke of Chu Longcheng with unusual familiarity, and Xiao Anhe revealed they were fellow disciples and Chu Longcheng had been his senior brother.
• Xiao Anhe recounted how Chu Longcheng rose quickly to Nascent Soul but could not advance because the Azure Cloud Sect’s method did not suit him.
• Chu Longcheng left the Azure Cloud Sect, disappeared for a time, and later reemerged as a supreme elder of the Qianyuan Sect.

Yi Xuan learned that Xiao Anhe planned to ask Chu Longcheng for a Spirit Transformation Realm Cultivation Method to help the Azure Cloud Sect’s old supreme elder. As Xiao Anhe struggled to secure one, Yi Xuan gave him two methods from his own collection, leaving his master numb with shock.

• Yi Xuan realized the Azure Cloud Sect’s old supreme elder lacked a suitable Spirit Transformation Realm Cultivation Method and decided to use his system to optimize the sect’s higher-level methods after returning.
• Xiao Anhe explained that he planned to ask his former senior brother Chu Longcheng for a method and showed Yi Xuan the five hundred Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones he had brought as payment.
• Seeing Xiao Anhe’s predicament, Yi Xuan handed him the Blood God Scripture, which Xiao Anhe recognized as a genuine Spirit Transformation Realm Cultivation Method.
• Xiao Anhe stored the scripture, searched the courtyard with his Divine Sense, and warned Yi Xuan about the danger of carrying such a valuable method.
• Yi Xuan revealed a second Spirit Transformation Realm Cultivation Method, and Xiao Anhe examined and hid it before discovering Yi Xuan had another one ready.

Yi Xuan gave two Spirit Transformation realm Cultivation Methods to the Azure Cloud Sect, and Xiao Anhe insisted that he accept compensation in Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones. Their discussion was interrupted by a visit from Chu Longcheng, Xiao Anhe’s former senior brother, who recognized Yi Xuan as a Rootless Person and brought up their old conflict.

• Xiao Anhe accepted one of Yi Xuan’s three Spirit Transformation realm Cultivation Methods and returned the other two to him, insisting the Azure Cloud Sect compensate him with Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Yi Xuan accepted the Cultivation Methods and Spirit Stones after realizing Xiao Anhe would not let the sect take his contribution without payment.
• Chu Longcheng, the Qianyuan Sect’s grand elder and Xiao Anhe’s former senior brother, arrived at Yi Xuan and Xiao Anhe’s room.
• Chu Longcheng probed Yi Xuan and asked why a Rootless Person was a Sect Protector.
• Xiao Anhe rebuked Chu Longcheng for questioning Azure Cloud Sect affairs, and Chu Longcheng said he had had no choice in the past.

Chu Longcheng offered the Azure Cloud Sect a Spirit Transformation cultivation method as atonement for leaving, but Xiao Anhe refused to accept it on his deceased master's behalf. Chu Longcheng then tried to recruit Yi Xuan with promises of help for his Rootless Person condition, and left insisting he had no regrets.

• Xiao Anhe accused Chu Longcheng of betraying the Azure Cloud Sect and reminded him that their master had believed he would return.
• Chu Longcheng offered Xiao Anhe a Jade Slip containing a cultivation method suited to the old grand elder, but Xiao Anhe refused to accept it because he could not forgive Chu Longcheng on his master's behalf.
• Chu Longcheng insisted that he had left to pursue the summit and could not bear to remain in a sect where his cultivation would stagnate.
• Yi Xuan refused Chu Longcheng's offer to join the Qianyuan Sect, saying he would not act against his conscience.
• Chu Longcheng left the room declaring that he did not regret his choices and that reaching the summit had made them worthwhile.

At Chu Longcheng’s ascension ceremony, Xiao Anhe made peace with his lingering resentment as Chu prepared to face the Heavenly Tribulation. Two men from the Mystic Gate interrupted the tribulation and asked Chu whether he would undergo Liberation by Violence and become a Loose Immortal instead.

• Xiao Anhe watched Chu Longcheng’s ascension ceremony and finally let go of his resentment toward his former senior martial uncle.
• Chu Longcheng addressed the gathered cultivators, then flew beyond Qianyuan Sect’s mountain gate to summon the Heavenly Tribulation.
• Yi Xuan had No. 01 monitor Chu Longcheng through Starlink while the Seeking Immortality Space Station and its robots prepared to observe his ascension.
• As dark clouds gathered, two young men from the Mystic Gate arrived and dispersed the tribulation clouds with a pillar of light.
• The young men explained that the Mystic Gate had previously intervened in an ascension and asked Chu Longcheng whether he would undergo Liberation by Violence and cultivate as a Loose Immortal.

Chu Longcheng rejected two mysterious men’s offer to abandon his tribulation and become a Loose Immortal, then resumed facing the heavenly lightning. He cleaved through successive bolts with his Azure Dragon Saber, and the sixth bolt hesitated.

• Two men claiming to be from the Mystic Gate asked Chu Longcheng to use Liberation by Violence and become a Loose Immortal.
• Chu Longcheng struck the men with his saber, but they emerged unharmed and pressed him for an answer.
• Chu Longcheng demanded a reason, then refused their proposal and told them to leave.
• The men moved away but stayed to watch as Chu Longcheng’s tribulation clouds gathered again.
• Chu Longcheng cleaved apart the first five bolts of lightning, and the sixth bolt began to hesitate.

Chu Longcheng endured the final bolts of tribulation lightning and successfully transcended, while Yi Xuan overheard the Mystic Gate envoys hinting at a hidden danger tied to immortal cultivation. Chu Longcheng began ascending to the Immortal Realm after bidding farewell, glancing down as Xiao Anhe nodded to him.

• The sixth bolt shattered Chu Longcheng’s Azure Dragon Saber and drove him into a crater, but he emerged unharmed and met the seventh bolt head-on.
• Chu Longcheng seized the seventh bolt with his hands and tore it apart as Bai Mian and his companion watched and discussed the Mystic Gate’s rules.
• Yi Xuan’s microrobots recorded the envoys’ conversation, leading him to connect their advice to the High Antiquity Artifact Sect’s warning against cultivating immortality.
• Chu Longcheng survived the eighth bolt and the final black bolt, then recovered as the tribulation clouds disappeared.
• Chu Longcheng announced that he had completed Tribulation Transcendence and began ascending toward the Immortal Realm, while Xiao Anhe nodded up at him.

After Chu Longcheng ascended, Yi Xuan used Starlink to observe his journey into space and discovered that an unknown force devoured the Spiritual Qi around him. Chu Longcheng traveled to the moon and sat motionless, while Yi Xuan left monitoring to No. 01 and flew with Xiao Anhe toward the Azure Cloud Sect.

• Chu Longcheng vanished into the sky, and the Qianyuan Sect held a feast after his ascension ceremony.
• Xiao Anhe reflected on how his loyalty to the Azure Cloud Sect might eventually lead him to the same fate as his master, while Yi Xuan watched Chu Longcheng's ascension through Starlink.
• Yi Xuan observed Chu Longcheng accelerate through the atmosphere and stop absorbing Spiritual Qi as he neared its edge.
• When Chu Longcheng entered space, a mass of Spiritual Qi burst from him and was rapidly devoured by an unknown force.
• Chu Longcheng flew to the moon, searched his surroundings, then sat motionless; Yi Xuan assigned No. 01 to monitor him and left with Xiao Anhe for the Azure Cloud Sect.

Yi Xuan returned to the Azure Cloud Sect, copied its Cultivation Methods for No. 01 to optimize, and continued his research at No. 2 Base. Liang Shi summoned him to Imperial University to show him a major breakthrough, where Yi Xuan recognized the creature in the projection as the Scorpion King.

• Yi Xuan fended off questioning from the Azure Cloud Sect's supreme elders by claiming he had found his Cultivation Method in a cave, and Xiao Anhe helped bring the matter to a close.
• Yi Xuan copied the Cultivation Methods in the sect's scripture repository for No. 01 to optimize, then spent nearly half a month working on the Seeking Immortality Space Station and monitoring other projects.
• Liang Shi reported a critical technological breakthrough, prompting Yi Xuan to hurry to the Xia Kingdom's capital and visit Imperial University.
• Liang Shi showed Yi Xuan his underground research base, where Yi Xuan saw cultivation pods holding death-row criminals and a team of university students.
• Liang Shi led Yi Xuan to an observation room, where Yi Xuan saw a projected creature and asked if it was the Scorpion King.

Liang Shi showed Yi Xuan the mass-producible Demon Scorpion Soldiers, a hybrid of human and Purple Flame Demon Scorpion genes that could reach Nascent Soul Late Stage and cultivate by both methods. Their strength came with a serious control problem, and Yi Xuan considered implantable chips as a solution.

• Liang Shi revealed a human-bodied creature with scorpion claws and a tail, while a projection showed a giant Purple Flame Demon Scorpion.
• Liang Shi explained that he had combined human and Purple Flame Demon Scorpion genes to create the Demon Scorpion Soldier and could mass-produce it.
• Liang Shi told Yi Xuan that an adult Demon Scorpion Soldier could reach Nascent Soul Late Stage and practice human Cultivation Methods without losing its instinctive Demon Beast cultivation.
• Liang Shi warned that the soldiers were difficult to control, bloodthirsty, and possessed small, violence-filled seas of consciousness.
• Yi Xuan considered using implantable chips to control the Demon Scorpion Soldiers.

Yi Xuan and Liang Shi developed a brain control chip to control the Demon Scorpion Soldiers, overcoming design and manufacturing obstacles. The first chip was completed just as Yi Xuan's Spirit Refining Instruction broke through again, raising his Divine Sense to the Nascent Soul Late Stage level.

• Yi Xuan watched Liang Shi's videos and saw how Soul Control made a Demon Scorpion Soldier obedient but stripped it of its instincts and ability to cultivate.
• Yi Xuan and Liang Shi spent a month designing the brain control chip, then another month using No. 01's simulations to resolve problems and finalize the model.
• Yi Xuan used his Divine Sense to boost the lithography machine's precision because the chip required more accuracy than the machine could normally provide.
• As manufacturing drained Yi Xuan's Divine Sense, Liang Shi's knocking startled him, and Yi Xuan circulated the Spirit Refining Instruction to replenish it faster.
• The brain control chip was completed, and Yi Xuan's Spirit Refining Instruction broke through, strengthening his Divine Sense to the Nascent Soul Late Stage level.

Yi Xuan and Liang Shi successfully implanted the brain-control chip in the Demon Scorpion Soldier and confirmed that simple commands could override its attacks without suppressing its instincts. Yi Xuan left Liang Shi to test the chip’s other functions and went to examine his newly strengthened Divine Sense.

• Yi Xuan and Liang Shi completed the brain-control chip’s final tests and confirmed it performed as designed.
• Liang Shi used smoke to subdue the Demon Scorpion Soldier, then placed the chip by its mouth, where miniature robots carried it into the creature’s brain.
• The chip anchored itself to the Demon Scorpion Soldier’s brain, and Liang Shi woke the creature to test its control.
• The Demon Scorpion Soldier attacked the Black Tortoises and stopped immediately when Liang Shi ordered it to stop attacking.
• Yi Xuan asked Liang Shi to send him the final test results, then went to an empty laboratory to examine his Divine Sense.

Yi Xuan’s Divine Sense reached Nascent Soul Late Stage strength, allowing him to abandon No. 01’s simplified Spirit Refining Instruction and begin cultivating its original form by forging parts of his Divine Sense Barrett. After Liang Shi reported that the brain-control chip worked but was difficult to mass-produce, Yi Xuan said he had tasked No. 01 with upgrading the lithography machine and turned to question the Demon Scorpion Soldier.

• Yi Xuan discovered that his sea of consciousness had more than doubled in size and that he had formed his thirty-first Divine Sense Flying Needle.
• No. 01 told Yi Xuan that his Divine Sense was now strong enough to cultivate the original Spirit Refining Instruction, so he no longer needed his old grinding method.
• Yi Xuan dismantled his Divine Sense Barrett and used an iron hammer to forge one of its parts until the strain forced him out of his sea of consciousness.
• Liang Shi showed Yi Xuan the brain-controlled Demon Scorpion Soldier and reported that the chip worked but could not yet be mass-produced.
• Yi Xuan told Liang Shi he had assigned No. 01 to upgrade the lithography machine, then turned his attention to the Demon Scorpion Soldier.

Yi Xuan and Liang Shi worked to make the brain-control chip easier to manufacture while No. 01 upgraded the lithography machine. Yi Xuan then watched Chu Longcheng leave the moon at immense speed and apparently use spatial technology, leaving Yi Xuan questioning how the Cultivation Realm had obtained it.

• Yi Xuan explained that upgrading the lithography machine and removing redundant functions from the brain-control chip would let them meet in the middle on manufacturing requirements.
• No. 01 upgraded the lithography machine while Yi Xuan and Liang Shi simplified the chip design, and Liang Shi remained in the laboratory when Yi Xuan left.
• Yi Xuan used Starlink to watch Chu Longcheng awaken on the moon, search space, and fly away while accelerating to one percent of the speed of light.
• Chu Longcheng's body distorted and vanished from Starlink's surveillance, and No. 01 detected a faint spatial fluctuation suggesting he had used something like a wormhole.
• Yi Xuan reflected that cultivators used spatial formations without understanding them and suspected that space technology had been introduced into the Cultivation Realm.

After Chu Longcheng vanished through a wormhole, Yi Xuan devised a plan to detect the mysterious force in space by creating a semi-mechanical Demon Scorpion Soldier. He finished developing its implantable equipment and left the secret chamber, where he unexpectedly encountered Zhuo Ning.

• Yi Xuan ordered Starlink to scan Chu Longcheng's route and decided that sending a cultivator into space would reveal nothing about the mysterious force.
• Yi Xuan proposed improving the Demon Scorpion Soldier with monitoring equipment, and Liang Shi agreed to help while continuing work on the brain-control chip.
• Yi Xuan gave Liang Shi ten simplified brain-control chips, then went to the imperial palace and expanded his portable research center in the secret chamber.
• Yi Xuan spent more than three months developing equipment that combined integrated circuits with formations to detect and calculate Spiritual Qi.
• Yi Xuan left the secret chamber after packing up his research center and unexpectedly came face-to-face with Zhuo Ning.

Yi Xuan learned that Zhuo Ning’s father, the emperor of the Blazing Sun Immortal Kingdom, had entered the Five Major Decays and was nearing death. Zhuo Ning revealed that he had been named a contender for the throne and had decided to compete, so Yi Xuan agreed to see him off in three days.

• Yi Xuan encountered Zhuo Ning and his powerful guard, Uncle Lin, who warned Zhuo Ning to leave with him within three days.
• Zhuo Ning told Yi Xuan that his father had entered the Five Decays of a Celestial Person after a past injury damaged his foundation and shortened his lifespan.
• Zhuo Ning explained that his father’s spirit medicines had stopped working and that the emperor’s death was approaching.
• Yi Xuan offered to keep the throne for Zhuo Ning, but Zhuo Ning said he might not return because he had been named a contender for the throne.
• Zhuo Ning said a letter from Uncle Lin had given him a reason to compete, and Yi Xuan accepted his decision and promised to see him off in three days.

Zhuo Ning left the Xia Kingdom for the Blazing Sun Immortal Kingdom to compete for its throne, while Pangu took his place as emperor. Yi Xuan and Liang Shi completed a modified Demon Scorpion Soldier and sent it to the Seeking Immortality Space Station for future experiments.

• Zhuo Ning prepared to leave the Xia Kingdom, and Yi Xuan arranged for Pangu to impersonate him as emperor.
• Liang Shi gave Zhuo Ning a Storage Bag of supplies before a Greater Teleportation Talisman carried him and Uncle Lin to the Blazing Sun Immortal Kingdom.
• Yi Xuan lifted his Soul Control over Zhuo Ning as he arrived, restoring Zhuo Ning's freedom.
• After half a month, Yi Xuan confirmed that Pangu could govern the Xia Kingdom under its existing political system.
• Yi Xuan and Liang Shi completed the modified Demon Scorpion Soldier, while No. 01 finished the lithography machine and produced a simplified brain-control chip.
• Yi Xuan launched the Demon Scorpion Soldier to the Seeking Immortality Space Station, where it docked and went dormant as robots began preparing for experiments.

Yi Xuan tested what happened when Cultivation Realm air exposed the Demon Scorpion Soldier to Immortal Qi. The Soldier was consumed, confirming Yi Xuan’s theory about Immortal Qi and explaining why newly ascended immortals had to leave the Cultivation Realm.

• Yi Xuan had No. 01 prepare a laboratory module and pump Cultivation Realm air rich in Spiritual Qi into its chambers.
• Yi Xuan opened the chambers to the laboratory, and after ten minutes the Demon Scorpion Soldier began showing signs of pain as Immortal Qi appeared around him.
• Yi Xuan’s instruments revealed that the Immortal Qi first devoured the Spiritual Qi in the Demon Scorpion Soldier’s meridians and Dantian, then destroyed his body.
• The Demon Scorpion Soldier vanished, while devices powered by Spiritual Power were ruined and the other equipment remained intact.
• Yi Xuan concluded that Immortal Qi instinctively consumed Spiritual Qi and that an Immortal Body became a target of the Cultivation Realm, forcing newly ascended immortals to leave.

Yi Xuan discovered that Immortal Qi was dark matter, which reacted with Spiritual Qi and could threaten the Cultivation Realm. He decided to postpone studying it until the undersea base was finished and set off for the Eternal Sea.

• Yi Xuan used his improvised observation device to reveal black points of light in the experimental chamber, and No. 01 identified them as dark matter.
• Yi Xuan concluded that Immortal Qi was dark matter and that Spiritual Qi acted as a catalyst for its energy reaction.
• No. 01 suggested that each wisp of Immortal Qi could absorb only a limited amount of Spiritual Qi, while Yi Xuan speculated that dark matter might have destroyed Earth's ancient cultivation civilization.
• Yi Xuan decided to conduct dark matter research at the unfinished undersea base, where he could also seek news of Junior Sister Mu.
• Yi Xuan arranged work at No. 2 Base, messaged Liang Shi, and boarded the Firmament for the Eternal Sea.

Yi Xuan returned to the Eternal Sea and completed a fortified research base beneath the transformed trench. As the Good Corpse led Lü Huang’s merchant caravan into the depths to seek news of Junior Sister Mu and trade for materials, Yi Xuan brought Dark Matter to the base for research.

• Yi Xuan returned to the transformed trench and rejected Xing Qi’s suggestion to establish another city there.
• Yi Xuan inspected the undersea base as construction continued, then entered it in person after it was completed and ordered No. 01 to install defenses comparable to the aerospace carrier’s.
• Yi Xuan sent the Good Corpse to North Wave City to seek news of Junior Sister Mu, and Xing Qi reported that Hai Qing Song had left Sea Emperor City and Hai Yue’s Tribulation Transcendence master remained in seclusion.
• The Good Corpse reassured Xing Qi about the lack of an imminent threat, then led Lü Huang’s merchant caravan into the depths of the Eternal Sea.
• Yi Xuan brought Dark Matter from space to the undersea base and placed it in a Spiritual Qi shielding chamber.

Emperor Lin emerged from a year of seclusion and learned that his disciple Qing Song had been killed. He summoned his personal disciples, condemned them for failing to seek revenge, and left them awaiting his judgment.

• Emperor Lin emerged from his palace to the welcome of the Sea Clan and asked what had happened during his seclusion.
• A disciple told Emperor Lin that Qing Song had died, and explained that Qing Song had gone home after completing his assigned task.
• Emperor Lin hurled the eldest disciple aside, then threatened to kill him if he failed again to protect a junior disciple.
• Emperor Lin summoned the personal disciples in Sea Emperor City and demanded an account of Qing Song's death.
• Emperor Lin reprimanded the gathered disciples for waiting for him to avenge Qing Song, and they accepted blame.