Chapter Summaries

Duàn Yì took charge of the negotiation with Gao Zhewu and demanded proof that Qin Xin's younger brother was alive. When Gao Zhewu hesitated, Qin Xin's Heavenly Demonic Qin resonated on its own, unleashing Killing Intent that drove Gao Zhewu to attack Duàn Yì.

• Duàn Yì recognized Gao Zhewu and suspected the white-robed swordsman was Liu Jinghong before assessing the courtyard and taking charge of the exchange.
• Duàn Yì demanded that Gao Zhewu bring out Zhang Ping An so they could confirm he was safe.
• Gao Zhewu hesitated, and Qin Xin feared that something had happened to her brother.
• Qin Xin's Heavenly Demonic Qin resonated without being played, filling the courtyard with Killing Intent that affected everyone except Duàn Yì, who quickly resisted it.
• Gao Zhewu lost control and attacked Duàn Yì with the Merciful Thousand Leaf Palm, its palms transforming into a hundred azure butterflies.

Duàn Yì revealed his Five-Petal Plum Blossom sword technique and nearly killed Gao Zhewu before Lin Zhongxiong intervened. After Duàn Yì recognized Lin Zhongxiong’s Bixie Swordplay and wondered why the Lin family served Ruyi Tower, Gao Zhewu apologized for attacking him while bewitched by the demonic music.

• Duàn Yì used Five-Petal Plum Blossom to shatter Gao Zhewu’s Thousand-Leaf Compassion Hand and send sword qi toward him.
• Lin Zhongxiong intervened with Bixie Swordplay, striking the sword qi more than a hundred times before dispelling it.
• Duàn Yì recognized Lin Zhongxiong’s sword art and inferred that he was the younger brother of Lin Bohui and heir to the Lin family’s Bixie Swordplay.
• Duàn Yì questioned why Lin Zhongxiong and possibly the Lin family had joined Ruyi Tower.
• Gao Zhewu recovered from the Heavenly Demonic Qin’s influence and apologized to Duàn Yì for attacking him.

Duàn Yì pressed Gao Zhewu to explain why he would not produce Zhang Ping An, while Qin Xin feared for her younger brother. Gao Zhewu continued to withhold the boy, and Duàn Yì and Qin Xin grew convinced that something was wrong.

• Duàn Yì accepted Gao Zhewu's apology and asked why he had hesitated to hand over Zhang Ping An.
• Gao Zhewu claimed Zhang Ping An was safe but hidden, and said he feared Duàn Yì and Qin Xin would seize him.
• Duàn Yì demanded to see Zhang Ping An before negotiating for the Heavenly Demonic Qin, then demanded the heads of Song Gaoxuan, Gao Zhewen, and Wu Dewei as additional payment.
• Gao Zhewu refused both demands, making Duàn Yì and Qin Xin suspect that Zhang Ping An was in danger.

Duàn Yì challenged Gao Zhewu to prove that Zhang Ping An was alive, and Qin Xin chose to trust Duàn Yì despite her fear for her brother. As the two sides prepared to fight, Liu Rumei entered the courtyard and Gao Zhewu and Liu Jinghong showed her great deference.

• Gao Zhewu tried to stop Qin Xin from leaving by threatening Zhang Ping An and demanding the Heavenly Demonic Qin.
• Duàn Yì challenged Gao Zhewu to bring Zhang Ping An before them and promised they would surrender if he did.
• Duàn Yì asked Qin Xin to trust him, and she followed his judgment despite her concern for her younger brother.
• Duàn Yì and Qin Xin prepared to leave as both sides faced off and their Qi Auras clashed.
• Liu Rumei entered the Buddhist courtyard with a skilled maid, causing the tense standoff to subside.
• Gao Zhewu bowed humbly to Liu Rumei, and Liu Jinghong addressed her as “Aunt,” surprising Duàn Yì and Qin Xin.

Liu Rumei offered Qin Xin a chance to see her younger brother in five days in exchange for the Heavenly Demonic Qin, promising to bring Song Gaoxuan and two others’ heads as well. Though Duàn Yì distrusted her offer, he agreed to meet again, and he and Qin Xin left the Buddhist courtyard unharmed.

• Duàn Yì and Qin Xin wondered why Liu Rumei commanded such respect from Ruyi Tower’s powerful figures.
• Liu Rumei explained that Zhang Ping An was too frail to meet Qin Xin and asked for five days to nurse him back to health.
• Liu Rumei promised to bring Zhang Ping An and the heads of Song Gaoxuan and two others in exchange for the Heavenly Demonic Qin.
• Duàn Yì doubted Liu Rumei’s sincerity and worried that five days would give Ruyi Tower time to prepare an ambush.
• Qin Xin trusted Duàn Yì to decide, and he agreed to meet Liu Rumei again in five days.
• Duàn Yì took Qin Xin away, and Liu Rumei’s presence kept Gao Zhewu and the others from stopping them.

After Duàn Yì and Qin Xin left, Liu Rumei’s group assessed how badly Duàn Yì outclassed them and weighed their chances of taking the Heavenly Demonic Qin. Liu Rumei decided to seek her lord’s personal intervention and ordered Gao Zhewu to keep the two targets from leaving Lin'an County.

• Liu Rumei rebuked Gao Zhewu for nearly provoking Duàn Yì and warned that he would have died if Lin Zhongxiong had not intervened.
• Liu Jinghong admitted that the group could restrain Qin Xin with the Great Luo Brahma Sound but had no confidence against Duàn Yì’s formidable sword qi.
• Lin Zhongxiong proposed that he, Liu Jinghong, and Gu Lihua could kill Duàn Yì by combining their techniques, while Gu Lihua warned that his true strength might be far greater than he had shown.
• Liu Rumei decided to contact her lord and ordered Gao Zhewu to watch Zhang Yan and the other person so they could not leave Lin'an County.

Duàn Yì suspected Ruyi Tower had manipulated the search for Zhang Ping An to seize the Heavenly Demonic Qin, and warned Qin Xin that her brother might already be dead. He proposed returning to Yixin Temple in five days with Demon Cult allies, leaving Qin Xin in despair as the qin stirred ominously.

• Duàn Yì and Qin Xin left Yixin Temple and discussed how Ruyi Tower might have controlled the events surrounding them.
• Qin Xin worried about her injured brother and what would happen to her if she traded the Heavenly Demonic Qin for his treatment.
• Duàn Yì reasoned that Ruyi Tower might have deceived even Song Gaoxuan and his companions, and that Zhang Ping An could already be dead.
• Duàn Yì told Qin Xin they would return to Yixin Temple in five days to learn the truth and seek Demon Cult helpers in case Ruyi Tower attacked.
• Qin Xin broke down in despair as the Heavenly Demonic Qin emitted a dark, ominous glow.

Duàn Yì and Liu Rumei prepared for their meeting at Yixin Temple while Qin Xin anxiously awaited news of her younger brother. At the temple, Liu Rumei reunited with a powerful former lover, who revealed that Ruyi Tower had grown from the now-defunct Phantom Shadows organization.

• Duàn Yì contacted Captain Yan, a Huaxiu Merchant Association agent in Lin'an County, and then waited for the agreed day while Liu Rumei monitored him and sought aid from her superiors.
• Five days later, Qin Xin prayed before her family’s spirit tablets, troubled by the possibility of finding or losing Ping'an.
• Liu Rumei’s forces and several powerful martial artists gathered in Yixin Temple, where the monks had disappeared.
• After Liu Rumei and a powerful man were alone together, he asked her to return to his side once he obtained the Heavenly Demonic Qin.
• Liu Rumei warned that the Master remained too powerful to challenge and said she was content with her place in Ruyi Tower.
• The man and Liu Rumei reflected on how Ruyi Tower had risen from the former Phantom Shadows organization.

Liu Rumei recalled how Phantom Shadow abducted and trained her, and how she helped the man she loved rise before the organization dissolved. After marrying Song Gaoxuan, she was drawn back into the Lord’s rebuilt Ruyi Tower, where she again encountered her former love.

• As a sixteen-year-old, Liu Rumei was abducted and forced to join Phantom Shadow, where she learned seduction, poisoning, concealment, and investigation, and lost the ability to bear children.
• Liu Rumei served more than seventy men of influence as part of Phantom Shadow’s efforts to build connections, while falling in love with a low-ranking man close to the Lord.
• Liu Rumei used her connections to help the man rise, and after Phantom Shadow dissolved, she returned to her family and later married Song Gaoxuan.
• Ruyi Tower rebuilt itself on Phantom Shadow’s foundations, and its leaders recruited Liu Rumei as a hidden pawn; her influence helped Liu Jinghong enter the Divine Sword Sect.
• Liu Rumei found herself back in a turbulent life alongside Song Gaoxuan and encountered the man she still loved but could never have.

Zhang Qingshan revealed that he had secretly plotted to seize the Heavenly Demonic Qin for himself and hoped to reunite with Liu Rumei. As their targets arrived at Yixin Temple, he ordered his experts to proceed with the capture.

• Zhang Qingshan recalled how he had recruited young experts to restrain the Heavenly Demonic Qin, but Duàn Yì’s strength had forced him to intervene personally.
• Zhang Qingshan told Liu Rumei he hoped to marry her and accused her of staying with him because of Song Gaoxuan.
• Liu Rumei admitted she felt familial affection for Song Gaoxuan and warned Zhang Qingshan not to harm him, while urging caution about Zhang Yan's Lineage and the Demon Sect.
• Zhang Qingshan assured Liu Rumei that his people had watched their targets and that he had gathered enough experts at Yixin Temple to capture them.
• A messenger announced that the targets had arrived up the mountain, and Zhang Qingshan ordered his people to follow the plan without mistakes.

Duàn Yì and Qin Xin climbed toward Yixin Temple while Ruyi Tower’s experts watched them, and Duàn Yì suspected that Zhang Ping An was already dead. At the Great Hero Hall, Gao Zhewu claimed Qin Xin’s younger brother was nearby, but Duàn Yì stopped her from entering what he believed was a trap.

• Duàn Yì detected watchers on the mountain path and warned Qin Xin to prepare for a fight and the possibility that she would not see Zhang Ping An.
• A white-haired man named Xue Yang killed a concealed Ruyi Tower expert before heading up the mountain with a companion.
• Duàn Yì sensed danger inside Yixin Temple’s Great Hero Hall but found no obvious ambush.
• Gao Zhewu emerged and invited Qin Xin to meet her younger brother in a side room.
• Duàn Yì held Qin Xin back and demanded that Gao Zhewu bring her brother into the hall, warning that the room might be a trap.

Duàn Yì discovered that the child Ruyi Tower presented as Zhang Ping An was already dead and being made to appear alive. He challenged Gao Zhewu to honor the full exchange, leaving Qin Xin's reunion and the deal unresolved.

• Gao Zhewu tried to persuade Qin Xin to enter the room alone, but Duàn Yì insisted that Zhang Ping An be brought into the Great Hero Hall.
• Gao Zhewu had two men carry out a child on a bed, and Qin Xin recognized him as her younger brother.
• Duàn Yì examined the child and realized that Zhang Ping An had been dead for a long time and that something was disguising the absence of his breath.
• Duàn Yì grew furious at Ruyi Tower for using the dead child as a pawn.
• Gao Zhewu demanded the Heavenly Demonic Qin, but Duàn Yì reminded him that the deal also required the heads of Song Gaoxuan and the other two, then asked that Zhang Ping An be woken.

Gao Zhewu triggered a trap hidden in Zhang Ping An’s body, but Duàn Yì destroyed the poisonous centipede before it could harm him or Qin Xin. Seeing her younger brother’s corpse used as bait drove Qin Xin into a rage, and she summoned the Heavenly Demonic Qin to take revenge on Ruyi Tower.

• Gao Zhewu seized Zhang Ping An and hurled his body toward Duàn Yì and Qin Xin, revealing a Three-Colored Poisonous Centipede concealed inside him.
• Duàn Yì moved Qin Xin out of the centipede’s path and cut the creature in two with Severing Pulse Sword Qi.
• Centipede blood killed one of the men who had carried Zhang Ping An into the Great Hero Hall, while Duàn Yì realized the trap had been designed to target Qin Xin and seize the Heavenly Demonic Qin.
• Qin Xin broke down after seeing her brother’s corpse used as bait and vowed to kill everyone at Ruyi Tower.
• The case on Qin Xin’s back shattered, and she took up the Heavenly Demonic Qin as it returned to the world.

Qin Xin used the Heavenly Demonic Qin to kill Gao Zhewu and slaughter Ruyi Tower experts throughout Yixin Temple, leaving the temple in ruins. Duàn Yì discovered that the qin’s music caused its victims’ true qi and blood qi to reverse and explode, and he grew more wary of the weapon as they continued toward Liu Rumei.

• Qin Xin killed Gao Zhewu with the Heavenly Demonic Qin as Duàn Yì watched in horror.
• Qin Xin played the Eight Dragon Sounds, destroying the Great Hero Hall and killing hidden Ruyi Tower experts.
• Qin Xin and Duàn Yì left the collapsing hall and headed toward the Buddhist courtyard where they had last seen Liu Rumei.
• Qin Xin slaughtered Ruyi Tower fighters along the way, while Duàn Yì observed and deduced how the qin made their qi and blood explode.
• Duàn Yì grew wary of the Heavenly Demonic Qin as nearly a hundred corpses and ruined buildings covered Yixin Temple, and snow began to fall.

Duàn Yì and Qin Xin confronted Liu Jinghong, Lin Zhongxiong, Gu Lihua, and the surviving Ruyi Tower forces, but two men used the Great Luo Brahma Sound and a consecrated Buddhist bell to suppress Qin Xin’s Heavenly Demonic Qin. The clash left Qin Xin and the bell-bearers injured, and she recognized the countermeasure that had enabled Ruyi Tower’s scheme.

• Liu Jinghong, Lin Zhongxiong, Gu Lihua, two bell-bearing men, and the remaining azure-robed experts appeared before Duàn Yì and Qin Xin.
• Qin Xin plucked the Heavenly Demonic Qin to attack the group before them.
• The two middle-aged men rang their Buddhist bell and used the Great Luo Brahma Sound to suppress the qin’s sound, injuring Qin Xin and themselves.
• Duàn Yì realized the bell had blocked Qin Xin’s attack but saw that the two men had suffered even worse injuries.
• Qin Xin identified the Great Luo Brahma Sound as a method capable of countering the Heavenly Demonic Qin and explained the Buddhist bell’s history and requirements.

Gu Lihua offered Duan Yi and Qin Xin a chance to leave, but Qin Xin chose to avenge her family and urged Duan Yi to escape. Duan Yi refused to abandon her, and Liu Jinghong launched the attack.

• Gu Lihua revealed that the Great Luo Brahma Sound could suppress the Heavenly Demonic Qin and offered to let Duan Yi and Qin Xin go if they surrendered it.
• Qin Xin resolved to kill everyone from Ruyi Tower, told Duan Yi to leave, and asked him to avenge her by killing Song Gaoxuan, Wu Dewei, and Gao Zhewen.
• Duan Yi judged that their situation was not hopeless because they had already defeated many enemies and reinforcements from the demon cult might arrive, so he refused to retreat.
• Liu Jinghong attacked Duan Yi and Qin Xin with flying stone slabs and his Heaven's Wrath Sword technique, Raging Flames Soaring to Heaven.

Duàn Yì defeated Liu Jinghong’s Heaven’s Wrath Sword attack and criticized his lack of true sword intent. He then saw through Lin Zhongxiong’s Bixie Swordplay and stopped its assault with a few precise counters.

• Liu Jinghong attacked Duàn Yì with the Heaven’s Wrath Sword, and Duàn Yì shattered his swordplay with three finger strikes.
• Duàn Yì’s Severing Pulse Sword Qi blasted Liu Jinghong backward and injured him, forcing him to suppress a mouthful of blood.
• Duàn Yì told Liu Jinghong that his sword and swordplay were good but that he lacked the skill to comprehend the wrathful sword’s true intent.
• Lin Zhongxiong attacked Duàn Yì with the seventy-two forms of Bixie Swordplay, creating a host of afterimages and sword strikes.
• Duàn Yì closed his eyes, read Lin Zhongxiong’s movements with his mind, and disrupted the key links in his swordplay with several taps.

After Duàn Yì defeated Liu Jinghong and Lin Zhongxiong, Xue Yang and Northern Demonic Cult reinforcements arrived to support him against Ruyi Tower. Ding Ran explained that Ding Ling could not come because she was occupied, but had gathered every nearby expert she could send.

• Lin Zhongxiong suffered severe backlash, and Gu Lihua ordered Ruyi Tower experts to protect him and Liu Jinghong as they withdrew.
• Xue Yang arrived and challenged Duàn Yì's claim that he could handle the Ruyi Tower fighters alone.
• Xue Yang, Ding Ran, and several other powerful Northern Demonic Cult experts joined Duàn Yì and Qin Xin, shifting the numbers and strength in their favor.
• Ding Ran told Duàn Yì that Ding Ling was handling an important matter and had sent all the nearby experts who could reach Lin'an County in time.
• Duàn Yì accepted that Ding Ling could not come and judged that the reinforcements were more than enough to face Ruyi Tower.

Zhang Qingshan arrived with an overwhelming display of power and offered Duàn Yì a high position in Ruyi Tower. The chapter ended with the others wondering whether Duàn Yì would accept, while Qin Xin trusted him without reservation.

• A terrifying aura swept over Duàn Yì and the others before Zhang Qingshan approached the Ruyi Tower group.
• Zhang Qingshan noticed the injured Liu Jinghong and Lin Zhongxiong, then praised Duàn Yì's cultivation.
• Zhang Qingshan offered Duàn Yì the position of deputy tower lord and promised him a chance to become one of Ruyi Tower's 108 lords.
• Xue Yang resented Duàn Yì's repeated praise and good fortune, while Ding Ran worried that he might accept the offer.
• Qin Xin continued to trust Duàn Yì, confident that he would not abandon her.

Duàn Yì rejected Zhang Qingshan’s offer to join Ruyi Tower and condemned his use of Zhang Ping An’s corpse to scheme against Qin Xin. Zhang Qingshan attacked him, and their clash revealed that Duàn Yì could withstand his power despite being slightly outmatched.

• Liu Jinghong, Lin Zhongxiong, and other Ruyi Tower experts resented Zhang Qingshan’s praise and recruitment offer to Duàn Yì after their defeat, while Gu Lihua watched with interest.
• Duàn Yì declined Zhang Qingshan’s offer, said he would not betray his friends, and criticized him for using Zhang Ping An’s corpse to ambush Qin Xin.
• Zhang Qingshan grew furious and unleashed a sonic attack at Duàn Yì, who answered with a burst of true qi.
• The clash shattered the stone ground and erased the falling snow nearby; Zhang Qingshan held his ground while Duàn Yì was forced back three steps.
• Ruyi Tower’s experts recognized Duàn Yì’s strength, the Demon Sect’s experts felt less threatened by Zhang Qingshan, and Xue Yang remained jealous of Duàn Yì’s progress.