Chapter Summaries

Yan Xingci and Li Chengjie were saved from Qian Wanguan and his men by the old farmer, Long Yuan, whose martial arts and cultivation far surpassed anything they knew. Li Chengjie scanned Long Yuan and upgraded his replication system, but the upgrade converted his points and discarded the remainder, leaving him with only 58.

• Long Yuan killed Qian Wanguan's eight subordinates, shattered Qian Wanguan's wrist, and destroyed his inner force after Qian tried to flee.
• Yan Xingci and Li Chengjie thanked Long Yuan, who recognized Li Chengjie's many martial arts techniques and criticized his weak inner force.
• Long Yuan introduced himself as a peerless martial arts master, and Li Chengjie used his system to scan him.
• The system revealed Long Yuan's Spirit Transformation cultivation, martial arts mastery, and sealed status, then demanded an upgrade to replicate his abilities.
• Li Chengjie confirmed the upgrade, which converted his points at a 1:100 ratio and discarded the fractional remainder, leaving him with 58 points.

Li Chengjie and Long Yuan revealed that the Northwest Bay was cursed by the Witch Curse Talisman, an ancient treasure that sealed cultivators’ spiritual power and cultivation. Long Yuan began explaining the Ten Great Ancient Treasures and said the Soul Lamp ranked second, leaving Li Chengjie to recognize the name from a damaged lamp in his Storage Bag.

• Li Chengjie realized Long Yuan’s spiritual power and cultivation were sealed, and Long Yuan confirmed that both he and Li Chengjie had lost their powers to a curse.
• Long Yuan explained that mundane martial arts could rival low-level cultivation and praised Yan Xingci’s Star River Sword Canon.
• Long Yuan said he had come to the Song Kingdom to ask Yan Xingci for help investigating an ancient ruin that might offer a way to lift the curse.
• Long Yuan identified the curse as the Witch Curse Talisman, ranked third among the Ten Great Ancient Treasures, and explained that it cursed everyone entering Northwest Bay.
• Long Yuan began describing the Ten Great Ancient Treasures, naming the Ascension Talisman first and the Soul Lamp second, which Li Chengjie recognized from his Storage Bag.

Long Yuan described ten legendary treasures and explained that the Witch Curse Talisman had trapped him in Witch Curse Sea for seven hundred years. He revealed that he had spent six centuries practicing martial arts and had found ancient ruins that might lift the curse, though he could not be certain.

• Long Yuan listed the ten most widely known ancient treasures, including the Witch Curse Scepter, the Purple Gold Banner, and the Profound Heaven Pearl; Li Chengjie realized he already owned the Soul Lamp and Profound Heaven Pearl.
• Li Chengjie asked whether the ancient ruins could lift the curse, and Long Yuan admitted he could not be certain they held a solution.
• Long Yuan recounted how he had entered Witch Curse Sea seven hundred years earlier as a Spirit Transformation cultivator and become trapped despite his cultivation and formation skills.
• Long Yuan explained that after giving up on escaping, he spent six hundred years practicing mortal martial arts and created a method that approached entering Dao through martial arts.
• Long Yuan said he had finally found the ancient ruins after seven hundred years of searching, and Li Chengjie asked whether he had entered them.

Long Yuan recruited Yan Xingci, Li Chengjie, and Gao Chen to help explore a dangerous ancient ruin and gave them martial manuals to aid their cultivation. He parted from them in the Western Territory, setting a reunion in Tianxi City five years later.

• Long Yuan explained that the ancient ruin was too dangerous for him to enter alone and invited Yan Xingci to join him, while praising Li Chengjie and Gao Chen as potential companions.
• Long Yuan gave Yan Xingci the Martial Way General Outline and presented Li Chengjie and Gao Chen with martial insights suited to their abilities.
• Long Yuan said he would wait five years for Yan Xingci to reach the pinnacle realm before they attempted the ruin together.
• Long Yuan told the three to return to Prince Rui's residence and arranged to meet them in Tianxi City in five years.
• Long Yuan left the boat to seek other reclusive pinnacle experts, bidding farewell to Yan Xingci, Li Chengjie, and Gao Chen.

After Long Yuan departed, Li Chengjie explained the Cultivation World to Yan Xingci, who became eager to learn whether he could cultivate and see the world beyond the Song Kingdom. Li Chengjie told him he had the talent, but warned that the curse prevented cultivation there.

• Long Yuan left the boat after giving Li Chengjie his Martial Way General Outline, and Li Chengjie considered how its teachings might combine with cultivation.
• Yan Xingci asked Li Chengjie about cultivators, cultivation realms, Xiao Qianshan, and Gao Chen’s age.
• Li Chengjie explained the cultivation realms and revealed that Xiao Qianshan and Gao Chen were Golden Core cultivators, while Gao Chen was around one hundred eighty or ninety years old.
• Yan Xingci asked whether he could cultivate and said he wanted to travel by Sword Flight and see the outside world.
• Li Chengjie told Yan Xingci he could cultivate, then explained that the curse made cultivation impossible in that place.

Yan Xingci brought Li Chengjie and Gao Chen to Prince Rui's Residence in the orderly Western Territory, where Prince Rui welcomed them. Yan Xingci confronted An Changling about being a cultivator, and An Changling revealed he had been trapped for sixty-three years as the story left the cultivators comparing their stages and fates.

• Yan Xingci led Li Chengjie and Gao Chen from Pingyang Ferry through Pingyang City to Prince Rui's Residence.
• Prince Rui Jiang Rui welcomed Yan Xingci and met Li Chengjie and Gao Chen, whom Yan Xingci said the Imperial Advisor had branded as demons.
• Yan Xingci challenged An Changling to reveal who he was and accused him and the Imperial Advisor of being cultivators.
• An Changling admitted he was a late Golden Core cultivator who had been trapped in the land of witchcraft curses for sixty-three years.
• Li Chengjie and Gao Chen introduced themselves as early Nascent Soul and mid Golden Core cultivators, respectively, and An Changling lamented that they were trapped and had lost their spiritual power.

Jiang Rui learned that Song and Wei were at war and decided to lead his forces against Lingling while Xiao Qianshan was distracted. Three days later, he set out from Pingyang City with thirty thousand soldiers to clear the sovereign's side and execute Xiao Qianshan.

• Yan Xingci read a report that Song and Wei had suffered heavy losses in ten days of fighting, leaving Lingling undefended and the armies weakened.
• Jiang Rui rallied his retainers by recounting Xiao Qianshan's past crimes and declared that they would return to Lingling and execute him.
• Jiang Rui assigned vanguard, supply, scouting, and escort duties to his commanders, and Yan Xingci, An Changling, Li Chengjie, and Gao Chen agreed to accompany the campaign.
• Three days later, Jiang Rui addressed thirty thousand soldiers outside Pingyang City and promised to reward them if they defeated Xiao Qianshan.
• Jiang Rui drew his saber and ordered the army to march east toward Lingling.

Jiang Rui led thirty thousand troops to attack Lingling City and reached the royal palace after breaching the city gates. As the rebels closed in, Xiao Qianshan tried to rally the generals with claims that Heaven had bestowed immortal pills upon him.

• Jiang Rui ordered Wang Hu to feint at the East Gate, Zhao Lie to attack the South Gate, and led Yan Xingci, An Changling, Li Chengjie, and Gao Chen toward the West Gate.
• At midnight, the South and East Gate attacks drew away defenders while Jiang Rui's force overwhelmed the West Gate and opened it for three thousand elite troops.
• Xiao Qianshan awoke to learn that the rebels had breached the city, then gathered his protectors and went to the royal palace.
• Xiao Qianshan claimed the Heavenly Emperor had sent a Longevity Pill and a Magic Power Immortal Pill, stirring the kneeling generals with hope and excitement.

Xiao Qianshan gave the generals and soldiers pills that temporarily boosted their strength, concealing that the pills would drain their Qi and Blood and could shorten their lives. The pill-fueled defenders stalled Jiang Rui’s larger army, leaving the battle at a stalemate as Wang Hu narrowly survived a soldier who kept attacking after being mortally wounded.

• Xiao Qianshan promised rewards to anyone who fought Jiang Rui and distributed Magic Power Immortal Pills to the generals, soldiers, and five protectors.
• The generals and pill-taking defenders surged into battle, using their boosted strength and disregard for pain to hold back Jiang Rui’s army.
• Li Chengjie identified the pills as defective Berserk Pills and explained that their effects would eventually deplete the users’ Qi and Blood.
• A pill-taking general attacked Jiang Rui, but Li Chengjie exposed the man’s weakness and Yan Xingci killed him with a sword thrust through the throat.
• The defenders’ suicidal attacks stalled Jiang Rui’s three thousand elite soldiers, and a pill-taking soldier nearly strangled Wang Hu before collapsing.

Jiang Rui stopped his soldiers’ rout by forcing them back into battle and ordered them to endure until the Berserk Pills wore off. Xiao Qianshan then sent five pill-enhanced protectors after Jiang Rui, and Li Chengjie stepped in to defend him as the battle turned against them.

• Li Chengjie told Jiang Rui the Berserk Pills would wear off soon, so Jiang Rui ordered his battle-supervision squad to stop the fleeing soldiers and drive them back into the fight.
• Jiang Rui, Yan Xingci, An Changling, and Li Chengjie joined the battle, with Li Chengjie protecting Gao Chen.
• Xiao Qianshan gave Magic Power Immortal Pills to five protectors and promised an imperial title and rewards to whoever killed Jiang Rui.
• The five pill-enhanced protectors entered the battle, overwhelmed Jiang Rui’s soldiers, and forced Yan Xingci and An Changling to fight them.
• The leading protector knocked Jiang Rui down, and Li Chengjie stepped between them and dodged the protector’s attacks.

Li Chengjie copied the martial arts and combat knowledge of five protectors, using their weaknesses to help his allies gain the upper hand. The protectors regrouped and launched a coordinated attack against Li Chengjie and Jiang Rui’s defenders.

• Li Chengjie copied Qin Guang’s fist and saber arts, then exposed a flaw in Qin Guang’s saber technique and wounded him before another protector intervened.
• Li Chengjie copied Song Que’s hook techniques and told Yan Xingci to attack Song Que’s left ribs, forcing Song Que to dodge.
• Li Chengjie copied Niu Jin’s cudgel and body-tempering arts, then directed An Changling to strike Niu Jin’s vulnerable lower back.
• Li Chengjie copied Yan Qi’s sword and movement techniques, then copied Yin Wuhen’s Netherworld Palm and hidden-weapon skills as Yin Wuhen vanished into the night.
• Yin Wuhen attacked Jiang Rui, but Wei Lie intercepted him and was chilled by the palm strike; the five protectors then regrouped and attacked Jiang Rui’s defenders together.
• Yan Xingci, An Changling, and Wei Lie were forced back as Yan Qi’s fast sword pressed Li Chengjie into a frantic defense.

The punitive army broke into the royal palace after the Berserk Pills wore off, turning the battle against the defenders. Li Chengjie exploited the five protectors’ weaknesses to help the army kill them, and Jiang Rui looked toward the main hall after the victory.

• The punitive army charged into the palace as the pill-takers collapsed, forcing Yin Wuhen to abandon his attack on Jiang Rui.
• Li Chengjie waited for Yan Qi’s strength to fade, struck him down, and watched the soldiers kill him.
• Li Chengjie exploited Qin Guang’s old wound, and the soldiers killed him and claimed his head.
• Li Chengjie struck Niu Jin’s weak point, allowing Wei Lie to cut him down, while An Changling killed the wounded Song Que.
• The Berserk Pills’ power ran out, and the surrounded Yin Wuhen collapsed, leaving all five protectors dead.
• Jiang Rui surveyed the battlefield and looked toward the royal palace’s main hall.

As Jiang Rui’s forces seized the royal palace, Xiao Qianshan escaped through a hidden passage and tried to hide in the city. Li Chengjie and Yan Xingci found him, and Yan Xingci killed him to avenge his sister and fiancée.

• Xiao Qianshan fled the palace through a secret tunnel as Jiang Rui ordered a citywide search for him.
• Jiang Yuanping begged Jiang Rui for mercy and offered to abdicate, but Jiang Rui ordered Wei Lie to kill him.
• Xiao Qianshan hid in alleys and tried to evade the soldiers searching for him.
• Li Chengjie and Yan Xingci tracked Xiao Qianshan to a dilapidated courtyard using Li Chengjie's familiarity with his aura.
• Xiao Qianshan offered pills and treasures to save his life, but Li Chengjie exposed the pills as harmful fakes.
• Yan Xingci killed Xiao Qianshan, avenging his sister and fiancée.

Five years after the palace battle, Yan Xingci and Li Chengjie both reached the realm of absolute master as the Five-Year Agreement approached. Long Yuan and three formidable elders waited outside Tianxi City for the three young men to arrive.

• Jiang Rui ordered the Storage Bags taken from Xiao Qianshan’s palanquin and stored in the royal treasury.
• After five years studying Long Yuan’s Martial Way General Outline, Yan Xingci broke through to become an absolute master and tested his sword’s power.
• Li Chengjie replicated Yan Xingci’s breakthrough experience and the Nine Forms of the Star River, then reached the realm of absolute master himself.
• Three days later, Long Yuan and three old masters waited at the Ten-Mile Pavilion outside Tianxi City for the three young men.
• The broad elder with the massive sword asked Long Yuan whether the three young men were truly worth their wait.

After five years apart, Li Chengjie, Yan Xingci, An Changling, and Gao Chen reunited with Long Yuan and three peerless experts for their promised journey to ancient ruins. Long Yuan revealed the ruins lay beneath Luoxia Mountain in the war-torn borderlands between Song and Wei, and warned that they held serious dangers.

• Li Chengjie, Yan Xingci, An Changling, and Gao Chen arrived in Tianxi City to fulfill their five-year agreement with Long Yuan.
• Long Yuan introduced the three peerless experts he had gathered: Dugu Lie, Poison Hand Yan Luo, and Master Lakong.
• Long Yuan confirmed that the ancient ruins were beneath Luoxia Mountain, where Song and Wei's armies had fought five years earlier.
• Long Yuan explained that a concealed cave beneath rubble led into the ruins and warned Gao Chen that the dangers within were severe.

Long Yuan led Li Chengjie and the others into the Luoxia Mountain sinkhole to reach an ancient ruin, warning them about eyeless beasts that hunted by sound. Gao Chen accidentally made a noise in the dark, bringing a horde of beasts down on the group, who were left surrounded and fighting for their lives.

• Long Yuan led the group down the sinkhole and showed them the entrance to the ancient ruin beneath it.
• Long Yuan warned that the ruin's eyeless, thick-skinned beasts relied on their sharp hearing and attacked in groups.
• The group entered the dark passage quietly, but Gao Chen stepped on a pebble and alerted the beasts.
• Long Yuan led the group into a desperate flight as the beasts pursued them, and Yan Xingci, Dugu Lie, Yan Luo, and Master Lakong fought to hold them back.
• After An Changling was knocked aside, Li Chengjie caught him and struck a beast's throat, but dozens more surrounded the group as their strength waned.

The group escaped the giant beasts by entering a region filled with deadly Netherworld Qi, where Long Yuan revealed they had only three days to find a way out. They entered the Yin Yang Path and faced Shadow Selves that could only be overcome by seeing their true hearts and removing the yin within them.

• Li Chengjie sensed a chilling aura and led the group toward it, allowing them to escape the giant beasts into a region of Netherworld Qi.
• Long Yuan warned that the sealed group could survive the corrosive yin aura for only three days and explained that a formation lay ahead.
• The group reached the Yin Yang Path, where Long Yuan explained that the Yin Yang Formation created a Shadow Self that matched each entrant and attacked their weaknesses.
• The formation manifested seven Shadow Selves, and each member of the group was forced to fight their own counterpart.
• Master Lakong explained that the Shadow Selves could not be killed through combat and that the formation could be broken only by letting go of obsession and seeing one's true heart.

On the Yin Yang Path, the travelers faced Shadow Selves that could be overcome only by confronting what they could not let go of. Several passed through, while An Changling fled and Dugu Lie discovered the meaning of his bond with his sword.

• Liao Kong, Yan Xingci, and Long Yuan accepted their inner truths and dispelled their Shadow Selves before continuing through the fog.
• Yan Luo was killed by Shadow Yan Luo, while Gao Chen and Dugu Lie remained unable to defeat their doubles.
• An Changling failed to overcome Shadow An Changling, retreated from the Yin Yang Path, and escaped to the surface.
• Dugu Lie let his greatsword fall, then told Shadow Dugu Lie that the sword was already in his heart.

Dugu Lie defeated his Shadow Self and heart demon on the Yin Yang Path, but collapsed after glimpsing the way forward. Li Chengjie faced his own shadow, which challenged his desire to ascend, and he admitted that he wanted to discover what lay at the end of the path.

• Dugu Lie defeated Shadow Dugu Lie with a simple strike that carried his own heart, then faced his heart demon.
• Dugu Lie fought the heart demon until its sword pierced his chest, then let go of his greatsword and walked toward a faint light before collapsing.
• Master Lakong observed Dugu Lie's fall while Gao Chen continued fighting Shadow Gao Chen, and Li Chengjie turned to face Shadow Li Chengjie.
• Shadow Li Chengjie accused Li Chengjie of wanting to ascend out of greed and of never truly regarding others highly.
• Li Chengjie agreed that he wanted many things but said he sought ascension to learn what lay at the end of the path.

Li Chengjie sent Gao Chen out of the Yin Yang Path, but his Shadow Self returned because he could not let go of his responsibility for Gao Chen. After a grueling fight, Li Chengjie defeated the Shadow Self and continued toward the end of the road.

• Li Chengjie told Gao Chen to leave the Yin Yang Path and wait for him at Luoxia Peak, and Gao Chen departed after urging him to come out alive.
• Master Lakong explained to Yan Xingci that Li Chengjie's Shadow Self had returned because Li Chengjie was carrying the burden of Gao Chen's life rather than letting go.
• Shadow Li Chengjie challenged Li Chengjie and matched his martial arts, overpowering him through hundreds of exchanges.
• Li Chengjie abandoned his familiar techniques and fought with chaotic movements, exposing the Shadow Self's lack of a heart of its own.
• Li Chengjie struck Shadow Li Chengjie with a Fist Seal, and the Shadow Self dissipated after telling him to see what lay at the end of the road.