Chapter Summaries

Liu Xiaolou learned that Lin Shuangyu needed the Three Xuan Sect’s Sect Master token so the South Sea Sword Sect could enter an Ancient Cave Dwelling, and he agreed to help. He accompanied her to Zhanglong Mountain to pay respects, where he sounded the sect’s mountain-gate drum.

• Lin Shuangyu told Liu Xiaolou that only ancient sects with a Sect Master token could enter the Ancient Cave Dwelling, so her sect needed to join the Three Xuan Sect.
• Liu Xiaolou retrieved the Three Xuan Sect token and showed it to Lin Shuangyu, who confirmed it was the one they needed.
• Lin Shuangyu told Liu Xiaolou to pay respects at Zhanglong Mountain, and they traveled there from Wulong Mountain.
• At Zhanglong Mountain’s gate, Liu Xiaolou struck the old drum with a bamboo pole until it sounded.

Liu Xiaolou returned to Zhanglong Mountain with Lin Shuangyu to visit Elder Bai, and his Foundation Establishment surprised the stewards who remembered him from Wulong Mountain. He sat in Elder Bai’s reception hall as a guest, a stark change from his last visit, when he had been sent away after delivering a report.

• Steward Liu greeted Liu Xiaolou and recalled the Wulong Mountain conflict, then mistook Lin Shuangyu for his new companion.
• Lin Shuangyu revealed her Foundation Establishment sword skill and nearly struck Steward Liu, but Liu Xiaolou intervened and explained the steward’s familiar manner was not meant as an insult.
• Steward Liu realized Liu Xiaolou had also reached Foundation Establishment and led him and Lin Shuangyu to Elder Bai’s courtyard.
• Steward Liu told another steward that Liu Xiaolou was the first person from Wulong Mountain to reach Foundation Establishment in thirty years.
• Liu Xiaolou sat in Elder Bai’s reception hall and savored the tea, unlike his previous visit when he had waited at the entrance and been dismissed.

Liu Xiaolou and Lin Shuangyu met with Elder Bai to register the Three Xuan Sect for the coming battle at Dongting. Elder Bai recognized Lin Shuangyu’s ties to his fellow martial uncle and ordered the sect placed under Zhanglong Mountain’s jurisdiction, leaving the number of combatants to be settled.

• Elder Bai welcomed Liu Xiaolou back to the region and praised his Foundation Establishment cultivation.
• Lin Shuangyu revealed that she had become a guest elder of Liu Xiaolou’s Three Xuan Sect and said she would follow his orders for the next half year.
• Elder Bai asked Lin Shuangyu about her Third Martial Uncle and learned that he remained on West Qiao Mountain and was unlikely to come out.
• Elder Bai inferred that Lin Shuangyu’s teacher had acted as a mediator, then ordered an officer to register the Three Xuan Sect under Zhanglong Mountain’s jurisdiction for the battle at Dongting.
• Liu Xiaolou first said the sect would send three people, then changed the number to four after Lin Shuangyu signaled him.

Liu Xiaolou brought Lin Shuangyu to Wulong Mountain, where his spirit-beast companions cooked dinner and showed her how he lived. Lin Shuangyu settled in as a guest elder of the Three Xuan Sect, but she could not say who else might join them.

• Liu Xiaolou and Lin Shuangyu saw the Zang family moving rice from its manor, then bought one hundred jin of new spirit rice, wine, and seasonings in Wu Chao Town.
• Liu Xiaolou explained that he preferred handling his own needs rather than taking disciples or hiring a servant.
• Big White and Little Black gathered ingredients and cooked a feast, leaving Lin Shuangyu astonished by their skills.
• Liu Xiaolou returned from inspecting the Thunderfire Primordial Essence and Thunder Leopard Bone Flute, and he and Lin Shuangyu ate with the two beasts.
• Lin Shuangyu chose to stay at the Three Xuan Sect's abandoned Half Pine Flat and admitted she did not know which other people she had invited would come.

Liu Xiaolou welcomed Wu Changgeng as the Three Xuan Sect’s second Guest Elder, and their reunion quickly turned into a chaotic encounter involving Big White and Little Black. Afterward, Wu Changgeng shared his gold bracelet to replace the sect’s supposedly stale spirit rice, while the two beasts vanished over a cliff to catch fish.

• Lin Shuangyu welcomed Wu Changgeng to Banshanping and gave him a Guest Elder plaque.
• Lin Shuangyu introduced Wu Changgeng to Sect Leader Liu Xiaolou, who recognized him as the deaf-mute man from Cloud Cliff Waterfall.
• Hungry Wu Changgeng mistook Big White and Little Black for food, and a scuffle broke out before Liu Xiaolou recognized his swordsmanship as the Yellow Dragon Sword Art.
• Wu Changgeng gave Liu Xiaolou a gold bracelet to buy fresh spirit rice, saying the rice was stale.
• Lin Shuangyu said Big White and Little Black had gone over the cliff to catch fish.

After Wu Changgeng and Lin Shuangyu settled on Wulong Mountain, Liu Xiaolou continued cultivating the Yellow Dragon Sword Art and saw progress in his flying sword. Han Gao arrived to visit Liu Xiaolou, and the chapter left them meeting over tea.

• Wu Changgeng's newly repaired Bamboo Building collapsed overnight, so he rebuilt it while Lin Shuangyu helped gather the bamboo.
• After breakfast, Lin Shuangyu and Wu Changgeng went to explore nearby sights, leaving Liu Xiaolou to cultivate his flying sword.
• Liu Xiaolou reflected on his defeat by Wu Changgeng and practiced the Yellow Dragon Sword Art, then chased Big White and Little Black while writing on them with red mud.
• The ghost banyan alerted Liu Xiaolou to a visitor, and Han Gao arrived at the Bamboo Forest courtyard after searching for him at Ghost Dream Cliff.
• Liu Xiaolou welcomed Han Gao, learned he had come looking for him, and served him tea on the wooden platform.

Liu Xiaolou learned that Han Gao sought help with his inability to continue his family line despite healing his kidney meridian, and offered to treat him with a formation and cultivation methods. Han Gao repeatedly avoided entering the formation, so Liu Xiaolou gave him a passage from the Yin Yang Technique and told him to practice for seven days before testing the result.

• Han Gao told Liu Xiaolou that his Foot Shaoyin Meridian had been damaged during Foundation Establishment, leaving him unable to have descendants even after it was healed.
• Liu Xiaolou promised to keep Han Gao’s problem secret and invited him to stay at Qianzhu Ridge for treatment.
• Han Gao fed dried snake meat to Big White and Little Black, then repeatedly hesitated to enter Liu Xiaolou’s formation.
• Han Gao used the Han family’s Seal Spirit Step to evade Liu Xiaolou’s attempts to trap him in the formation.
• Liu Xiaolou gave Han Gao a practical passage from the Yin Yang Technique and instructed him to cultivate it for seven days before testing the result.

Liu Xiaolou taught Han Gao the Three Xuan Sect’s Yin Yang Technique before Lin Shuangyu and Wu Changgeng returned and revealed plans to join the Battle of Dongting. Han Gao tried to become a guest elder and waited to learn who the third prospective elder would be, but Lin Shuangyu rejected his request.

• Liu Xiaolou taught Han Gao the Yin Yang Technique and explained that righteous cultivation benefited both yin and yang.
• Lin Shuangyu and Wu Changgeng returned, and Han Gao recognized them as prominent Sword Cultivators of the South Sea Sword Sect.
• Wu Changgeng told Han Gao that the Three Xuan Sect would join the Battle of Dongting, prompting Han Gao to request a guest elder position.
• Lin Shuangyu refused Han Gao because the opportunity was reserved for the South Sea Sword Sect line, while Wu Changgeng questioned Han Gao’s battlefield ability.
• Han Gao argued that his Spirit Sealing Steps could help him survive and agreed to wait for the third prospective guest elder.
• Liu Xiaolou returned with Golden Ring Honey, and Lin Shuangyu confirmed that Han Gao could not become a guest elder.

Han Gao tried to secure a place in the Three Xuan Sect’s delegation, but Lin Shuangyu settled him as Liu Xiaolou’s alternate and acting guest official. Su Jing arrived injured after passing Bai’s trial, and Song Axi’s return from seclusion expanded the lineup, leaving Han Gao as the alternate.

• Liu Xiaolou told Han Gao that Su Jing was likely the person Lin Shuangyu had reserved the third guest official position for.
• Su Jing arrived at the courtyard and collapsed from a rebounding sword tide injury after passing Bai’s trial, so Lin Shuangyu and Wu Changgeng treated him.
• Han Gao asked to join the four-person delegation, but Lin Shuangyu assigned him as Liu Xiaolou’s alternate and an acting guest official.
• Han Gao offered to demonstrate a Great Seal Mountain cooking secret, then Song Axi arrived from Crane Mountain after emerging from seclusion.
• Lin Shuangyu made Song Axi a guest official and told Liu Xiaolou to report the expanded lineup to Zhanglong Mountain, while keeping Han Gao as the alternate.

After Lin Shuangyu excluded Han Gao from the expedition, Han Gao’s frustration unexpectedly helped him advance the Seal Spirit Step. He revealed the Han Clan’s secret training method to Liu Xiaolou, leaving the two drinking together beneath the moon.

• Han Gao complained to Liu Xiaolou that Lin Shuangyu had unfairly kept him from joining the fight and entering the Ancient Cave Dwelling, but Liu Xiaolou persuaded him to stay at Qianzhu Ridge.
• Unable to calm himself while cultivating, Han Gao practiced in the Bamboo Forest and broke through to the third level of the Seal Spirit Step.
• Liu Xiaolou tested Han Gao with the Three Xuan Sword, which could not strike him, and Han Gao explained how the third level evaded spiritual power.
• Han Gao described the Seal Spirit Step’s four levels and revealed that its secret method required eating July Fragrant Orchid seeds and applying Purple Gold Lotus Incense Paste.
• Han Gao gave the secret method to Liu Xiaolou as a gift, and they shared Bamboo Leaf Green spirit wine beneath the moon.

Liu Xiaolou learned Han Gao's Seal Spirit Step and enjoyed a lively stretch of life at the Bamboo Forest courtyard before Zang Qianli arrived with orders to travel to Dongting Lake. The Three Xuan Sect party reached the lake and learned that Sect Master Qu was already on Junshan Island.

• Liu Xiaolou mastered the basics of Seal Spirit Step and practiced dodging flying swords with Han Gao.
• Liu Xiaolou, Han Gao, Lin Shuangyu, and the others shared meals and studied their techniques together at the Bamboo Forest courtyard.
• Zang Qianli arrived and told Lin Shuangyu that Elder Bai had gone ahead to Dongting Lake and called for the group to join him.
• Liu Xiaolou secured permission to bring Han Gao, and the group held a farewell meal before setting out with Zang Qianli.
• The six members of the Three Xuan Sect traveled to Dongting Lake, where an Azure Jade Sect Officer told them Sect Master Qu had arrived on Junshan Island.

Liu Xiaolou and Three Xuan Sect arrived at Junshan and settled into their assigned pavilion mountain as the factions prepared to negotiate over an Ancient Cave Dwelling. Elder Bai gave Three Xuan Sect extra healing pills and a bottle of Tianmu Mountain’s Heart Foundation Immortal Blood Pill before the battle began.

• Liu Xiaolou traveled by boat to Junshan, sensed its hidden mountain-protecting formation, and entered the breathtaking inner landscape within the mountain.
• The Officer led Liu Xiaolou and his companions through Junshan’s Thirty-six Pavilion Mountain and assigned Three Xuan Sect rooms at Langyin Pavilion Mountain.
• Liu Xiaolou invited Han Gao to stay with him, then considered what Three Xuan Sect might gain from the coming negotiations and how it could restore its standing at Wulong Mountain.
• Zang Qianli explained that the dispute over the Ancient Cave Dwelling was likely to involve bargaining rather than a major, unrestricted battle.
• Elder Bai instructed Zang Qianli to give Three Xuan Sect extra healing pills and a bottle of Tianmu Mountain’s Heart Foundation Immortal Blood Pill.

Liu Xiaolou received healing pills and talismans from the Zhanglong Sect, then learned that the rival Lingqiu Sect had brought more cultivators than the Three Xuan Sect. He resolved to help his sect compete for another place, but the others showed little interest in discussing the threat.

• Liu Xiaolou collected fourteen bottles of spirit pills and talismans, including three rare Heart Foundation Immortal Blood Pills, from the Zhanglong Sect.
• Su Jing explained that the South Sea Sword Sect relied on its own pills and swords, so Liu Xiaolou kept the supplies they declined.
• Liu Xiaolou gave Han Gao a bottle of Heart Nurturing Pills and two Sound Transmission flying talismans, and Han Gao reported that the Lingqiu Sect had brought twelve people, including eight Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Liu Xiaolou realized the Lingqiu Sect could challenge the Three Xuan Sect for its five places in the Ancient Cave Dwelling and rallied Han Gao to compete for another place.
• Liu Xiaolou tried to gather the others to discuss the Lingqiu Sect, but Lin Shuangyu told him Su Jing was meditating, Song Axi kept sewing, and Wu Changgeng said one sword would be enough.

Liu Xiaolou refused Ba Tianyou’s request to give Lingqiu Sect one of the Three Xuan Sect’s slots in the Ancient Cave Dwelling. He then visited Dongyang Sect with Han Gao, where Han Wuwang and Su Zhenjiu welcomed him and offered support against Tianmu Mountain, before Su Zhenjiu asked about news from Shenwu Mountain.

• Ba Tianyou asked Liu Xiaolou to let a Lingqiu Sect member enter the Ancient Cave Dwelling using a Three Xuan Sect slot, but Liu Xiaolou refused.
• Ba Tianyou suspected Liu Xiaolou’s guest elders held power in the Three Xuan Sect and ordered his junior brother to investigate them.
• Liu Xiaolou and Han Gao visited Dongyang Sect’s Banzhu Pavilion Mountain, where Han Wuwang welcomed them and Liu Xiaolou gave him local gifts.
• Liu Xiaolou told Han Wuwang that he had obtained the complete continuation of his cultivation technique and could resume cultivating.
• Su Zhenjiu offered to speak for Liu Xiaolou if Tianmu Mountain troubled him, and Han Wuwang promised to accompany him there.
• Su Zhenjiu asked Liu Xiaolou whether he had heard any recent news from Shenwu Mountain, leaving Liu Xiaolou puzzled.

Liu Xiaolou and Han Gao explored the pavilion mountains, learned that Gengsang Cave had arrived, and returned to find Song Axi had injured a Lingqiu Sect elder. Liu Xiaolou agreed to deliver a Heart Foundation Immortal Blood Pill as a conciliatory gesture, though he wondered if a Heart Nurturing Pill would convey the same attitude.

• Liu Xiaolou and Han Gao discussed Su Zhenjiu’s cryptic remarks and decided to postpone investigating the Dongyang Sect’s connection to him until their business was finished.
• Liu Xiaolou and Han Gao spotted the Lu family’s residence and discussed how few people the Zhanglong Sect had brought before Qingyu Sect stewards announced Gengsang Cave’s arrival with more than thirty people.
• A flash of sword light appeared over the Three Xuan Sect’s courtyard, and Wu Changgeng explained that Song Axi had struck and injured a Lingqiu Sect elder who had come to provoke them.
• Zang Qianli told Liu Xiaolou that Tianmu Mountain had supplied only a few Heart Foundation Immortal Blood Pills and asked the Three Xuan Sect to offer one to the injured elder to prevent internal strife.
• Lin Shuangyu sent Liu Xiaolou to deliver the pill, and he asked Zang Qianli whether a Heart Nurturing Pill would be enough because the important thing was the attitude.

Liu Xiaolou reconciled the Three Xuan Sect’s dispute with the Lingqiu Sect by offering Heart Nurturing Pills and warning Ba Tianyou about the sword experts among his guest elders. After three days on Langyin Pavilion Mountain, Liu Xiaolou took a seat at a Zhanglong Sect gathering alongside Ba Tianyou, marking a new standing for the Three Xuan Sect.

• Liu Xiaolou apologized to Ba Tianyou for Elder Song wounding Bo Buping and offered the Lingqiu Sect three Heart Nurturing Pills.
• Liu Xiaolou invoked the bond between Guest Elders Su, Lin, and Song to persuade Ba Tianyou to consider the dispute settled.
• Zang Qianli told Liu Xiaolou to stay on Langyin Pavilion Mountain because his profile resembled Jing Zhao’s and had caused people to mistake him for the famous cultivator.
• Liu Xiaolou stayed on the mountain and cultivated the Seal Spirit Step and Yellow Dragon Sword Art for three days.
• Elder Bai summoned Liu Xiaolou and Ba Tianyou to the Zhanglong Sect’s main grounds, where they took seats at a gathering led by Sect Master Qu.

Liu Xiaolou and the Zhanglong Sect prepared to join the Qingyu Sect’s surprise attack on Jinting Mountain, despite concerns that their force was too small to win before Jiangnan reinforcements arrived. The fleet landed north of the river and settled in a forest to wait for the assault.

• After Sect Master Qu ordered an attack on Jinting Mountain, Liu Xiaolou explained to his companions that the Jinting Sect held the key to the Ancient Cave Dwelling and had summoned few Jiangnan allies.
• Liu Xiaolou worried that Zhanglong Sect had brought too few cultivators, leaving it unable to deploy its field formation, but the expedition proceeded under cover of darkness.
• Lin Shuangyu led the group down Langyin Pavilion Mountain, and more than forty Zhanglong Sect members boarded four boats for the journey northeast.
• Liu Xiaolou and Ba Tianyou discussed a dispute between their sects aboard the boat, while Elder Wu clarified that he had not shoved a Lingqiu Sect disciple.
• The fleet traveled downstream, landed on a stony beach, and rushed into a dense forest, where the sects were ordered to stay quiet and rest.

Liu Xiaolou and the allied sects traveled through the night under Qingyu Sect’s orders, enduring long waits and hurried marches toward Jinting Mountain. The chapter ended as the expedition reached the approach to Jinting Mountain Blessed Land and Sect Master Qu ordered the weaker Zhanglong Sect members to take spiritual pills.

• Liu Xiaolou and Ba Tianyou argued over whether their sects should follow the main family’s orders, before Zang Qianli and Yun Xingwu intervened.
• Han Gao told Liu Xiaolou that he had sold July Fragrant Orchid Seeds to a buyer from Yin family manor for nine Spirit Stones per pound.
• Liu Xiaolou watched the lavish meal Zhanglong Sect had brought in its Storage Artifacts, then waited through the day before Qingyu Sect ordered the expedition onward.
• While passing Taiping Lake, Liu Xiaolou reminisced about his friend Liu Daoran and Fengqi Wu, prompting Ba Tianyou to threaten to expose the story to Liu Daoran’s wife.
• Dongfang Yuying of Qingyu Sect contacted Sect Master Qu and greeted Liu Xiaolou, who praised him to Han Gao; Ba Tianyou hurried ahead after overhearing.
• The expedition reached the approach to Jinting Mountain Blessed Land, where Sect Master Qu told weaker Zhanglong Sect members to take spiritual pills.

The Zhanglong Sect joined the Jingxiang sects’ surprise assault on Jinting Mountain using the Crimson Scale Formation, and Liu Xiaolou spotted a weakness in the formation’s rigid advance. As Jinting’s defenses stirred, he directed Elder Qu toward a hidden path around a cliff, and Elder Qu trusted him to lead the way.

• The Jingxiang sects launched a rushed nighttime assault before Jinting Sect could gather its forces, and Dongfang Yuying led the Qingyu Sect’s attack on the right.
• Elder Qu organized the Zhanglong Sect into the Crimson Scale Formation, assigning Zang Qianli and Yun Xingwu to control its two fins.
• The attackers broke through Jinting Mountain’s weak warning and illusion formations, while Liu Xiaolou recognized Dongfang Yuying’s powerful Golden Armored Divine General.
• The Zhanglong force advanced through North Valley, but Elder Qu hesitated when a sheer cliff blocked their route and Jinting’s cultivators began investigating.
• Liu Xiaolou told Elder Qu about a small path to the right that led around the cliff toward Dongbai Peak, and Elder Qu turned the formation that way.

The Zhanglong Sect reached Dongbai Peak but chose to bypass it and continue toward the other forces. Elder Wanxian Slope held them back with the mountain formation, while the South Sea Sword Sect struck the Dongbai Seven Swords Formation and severely wounded Wanqiu Ai.

• The Zhanglong Sect arrived at Dongbai Peak and decided to bypass it rather than attack its mountain-protecting formation.
• Elder Wanxian Slope confronted Sect Master Qu, then attacked the Zhanglong Sect as it tried to go around the peak.
• Elder Qu used the Crimson Scale Formation to block Wanxian Slope's sword barrage, but the formation could not break Dongbai Peak's defenses.
• Wanxian Slope launched another attack while seven Dongbai Peak cultivators formed the Dongbai Seven Swords Formation against the Crimson Scale Formation's left flank.
• Liu Xiaolou and Han Gao defended themselves as the South Sea Sword Sect members launched five swords at Wanqiu Ai, severely wounding him.