Chapter Summaries

Pei Qian and Pei Zhizhen discovered hundreds of slaughtered bodies on the road to Shang Jing and learned the Town Protector King had carried out a massacre across ten thousand li. In Shang Jing, Fang Xuan, living under the name Long Jing, met Lin Yang, who asked him to help deal with a persistent suitor.

• Pei Qian asked Pei Zhizhen to take him to find Long Jing, but she insisted he continue toward Shang Jing and enter the Martial Temple.
• Pei Zhizhen and Pei Qian found hundreds of corpses beside the road, and a dying man revealed that the Town Protector King had slaughtered across ten thousand li.
• Pei Zhizhen and Pei Qian decided to go to Shang Jing after recognizing the political significance of the massacre.
• Fang Xuan continued cultivating at the Martial Temple while concealing his identity as Long Jing.
• Lin Yang asked Long Jing whether he could defeat a martial artist at the peak of the Fourth Heavenly Gate and offered to grant him a favor if he helped with her suitor.
• Sun Temple Keeper summoned Lin Yang and Long Jing into the great hall.

Li Yixuan received the task of gathering the Nine Provinces Dragon Veins and a Golden Pill from Xuan Yi King, then prepared to break through to the Fifth Heavenly Gate. Mister Wei identified several contenders for the imperial throne and warned that the Dragon Whale Army’s Dragon Qi was difficult to understand.

• Li Yixuan reclaimed wasteland with the commoners of Hidden Abyss City despite Daoist Xuan Sheng urging him to focus on the succession struggle.
• Xuan Yi King summoned Li Yixuan and explained that the Great Yang Dynasty was nearing collapse and the Dragon Veins would scatter after an upcoming event at the Martial Temple.
• Mister Wei instructed Li Yixuan to gather as many Dragon Veins as possible, and Xuan Yi King gave him a Golden Pill capable of helping him reach the Fifth Heavenly Gate.
• After Li Yixuan left, Mister Wei named Red Brow, Xuan Yi King, Gu Chengxuan, and the Dragon Whale as leading contenders, and said the Dragon Whale Army’s Dragon Qi was strange.
• Li Yixuan asked Daoist Xuan Sheng to mobilize the Secret Guards as he prepared to enter seclusion and break through to the Fifth Heavenly Gate.

Fang Xuan visited the Martial Temple, where Sun Temple Keeper returned his reforged saber and Lin Yang named it Ink Abyss. After Fang Xuan left, Lin Yang learned that Great Yang’s damaged Dragon Vein would require someone to bear its burden and insisted on taking Li Chengqian’s place; Sun Temple Keeper said the process could begin within half a month and told her to get to know Long Jing.

• Lin Yang teased Fang Xuan as they entered the Martial Temple and met Li Chengqian practicing with a spear.
• Sun Temple Keeper praised Fang Xuan’s progress to the Fifth Heavenly Gate and gave him a reforged black saber whose Dragon Soul might awaken into a fourth-grade Spirit Item.
• Lin Yang handled the saber, named it Ink Abyss, and promised to give Fang Xuan a scabbard.
• After Fang Xuan left, Lin Yang asked Sun Temple Keeper whether Li Chengqian had to bear the burden of Great Yang’s damaged Dragon Vein.
• Sun Temple Keeper warned Lin Yang that bearing the Dragon Vein would turn her into a furnace cauldron that would shatter after ten years, but she insisted on taking the burden.
• Sun Temple Keeper said the process could begin within half a month and told Lin Yang to get to know Long Jing.

Fang Xuan learned that Great Yang's Dragon Vein was about to shatter, throwing the Nine Provinces into chaos, and Xiang Jie asked him to help absorb the scattered Dragon Qi. The chapter ended with Fang Xuan realizing that helping the Great Yang Imperial Family was a pretext for him to claim the Dragon Qi.

• Li Yuanzheng spoke with the Imperial Preceptor about Great Yang's crisis and learned that the Martial Temple's debt would be repaid once the Dragon Vein was relocated.
• Fang Xuan reviewed his cultivation progress and found that the Primordial Chaos Dragon Transformation Art had reached completion while his other arts had also improved.
• Xiang Jie returned from Yue Province and asked Fang Xuan to wait while he reported in.
• Xiang Jie told Fang Xuan that Great Yang's Dragon Vein was about to shatter and that upper-realm experts might join the effort to gather its scattered Dragon Qi.
• Xiang Jie explained that Lord Martial God wanted Fang Xuan to absorb as much Dragon Qi as possible, and Fang Xuan questioned whether helping the Imperial Family was only a smokescreen.

Fang Xuan reunited with Pei Qian and Pei Zhizhen in Shang Jing, returned an ancient book to them, and brought them to the Martial Temple. After learning he could freely enter the Scripture Pavilion, he went there while Pei Zhizhen wondered whether the Tai Xuan Sect was preparing to place its bet.

• Fang Xuan encountered Pei Qian in Shang Jing and shared a meal with him, learning that Pei Qian had come with his aunt, Pei Zhizhen.
• Pei Qian revealed that the Tai Xuan Sect had sent them to visit the Martial Temple because a major event and great opportunity were expected across the Nine Provinces.
• Fang Xuan returned an ancient book to Pei Qian, and Pei Zhizhen thanked him before the three headed to the Martial Temple.
• Qian Yue told Fang Xuan that the Temple Keeper had arranged lodging for Pei Zhizhen and that Sun Temple Keeper had granted Fang Xuan access to the Scripture Pavilion.
• Fang Xuan settled Pei Qian and Pei Zhizhen in his courtyard, then went to the Scripture Pavilion.
• Pei Zhizhen studied the ancient book and wondered whether the Tai Xuan Sect was truly going to place its bet, then left the room to head outside the Martial Temple.

Li Yuanzheng secretly heard the Town Protector King's proposal to join forces against Thunder Province, while Fang Xuan entered the Martial Temple's Scripture Pavilion and received a new cultivation art. The chapter left Fang Xuan ready to begin cultivating the Divine Fire Profound Heaven Transformation.

• Dong Zhiwen told Li Yuanzheng that the Town Protector King wanted the imperial clan to help reclaim Thunder Province, and Li Yuanzheng agreed to discuss the details later.
• Fang Xuan entered the Scripture Pavilion through its teleportation formation and asked to browse its cultivation arts.
• Pu Yingnan advised Fang Xuan to build his foundation with lower-grade arts, but Sun Temple Keeper led Fang Xuan to a private cultivation room instead.
• Sun Temple Keeper gave Fang Xuan the Divine Fire Profound Heaven Transformation and said he would guide him to better arts after Fang Xuan entered the upper realm.
• Fang Xuan used the Crimson King Eyes to inspect the Jade Slip and saw that the art required him to condense pure divine fire and temper his Martial God body.

Fang Xuan cultivated the Divine Fire Profound Heaven Transformation while the Martial God and Sun Temple Keeper discussed the Dragon Vein crisis and plans to send him to Leizhou. Pei Zhizhen learned that Li Yuanzheng had summoned Tai Xuan Sect to Leizhou, and she and Pei Qian waited for the Martial Temple’s response.

• Fang Xuan cultivated the Divine Fire Profound Heaven Transformation and discovered its first transformation could raise his strength to the middle stage of the Fifth Heavenly Gate.
• Sun Temple Keeper warned the Martial God that Fang Xuan might suffer backlash, while they discussed the Dragon Vein preparations and the danger of releasing the Demonic Beast.
• Sun Temple Keeper proposed sending Xiang Jie and Fang Xuan to Leizhou, and the Martial God agreed that Fang Xuan needed experience.
• A palace eunuch summoned Pei Zhizhen to Leizhou over Blood Slaughter of Ten Thousand Li, and Pei Qian condemned Li Yuanzheng for the demand.
• Pei Zhizhen told Pei Qian they would wait for the Martial Temple’s response and expected Martial Temple Disciples to accompany them.

Fang Xuan agreed to look after Pei Qian while Pei Zhizhen prepared to go to Thunder Province to confront Chu Yuanzhen’s Blood Slaughter of Ten Thousand Li. The Martial Temple ordered Xiang Jie to lead a mission there with Fang Xuan and members of the Tai Xuan Sect, leaving Fang Xuan bound for Thunder Province sooner than expected.

• Pei Zhizhen asked Fang Xuan to keep Pei Qian out of danger while she went to Thunder Province, and Fang Xuan agreed.
• Pei Zhizhen told Fang Xuan she distrusted him but accepted his closeness to Pei Qian because Pei Qian trusted and admired him.
• Li Yuanzheng discussed stopping Chu Yuanzhen with Yang Pu, who advised sending the Martial Temple to handle the crisis.
• Sun Temple Keeper ordered Xiang Jie to travel to Thunder Province with the Tai Xuan Sect and Fang Xuan, emphasizing that Fang Xuan’s safety mattered most.
• Xiang Jie told Fang Xuan to prepare to leave for Thunder Province the next day and to notify the Tai Xuan Sect members.

Fang Xuan sailed toward Thunder Province with Pei Zhizhen, Pei Qian, and Xiang Jie, while Pei Qian joined the voyage despite his aunt’s objections. A military officer then asked Fang Xuan to spare his brother, Chu Yuanzhen, offering an Ancient Treasure Map in return, and Fang Xuan left the possibility open.

• Fang Xuan discovered that Pei Qian had secretly boarded the ship, and Pei Zhizhen angrily confronted him before leaving in a huff.
• Pei Qian explained to Fang Xuan that he wanted to experience the martial world for himself, then questioned the suspicious-looking man traveling with Xiang Jie.
• Pei Zhizhen visited Fang Xuan that night, and he agreed to watch over Pei Qian during the journey.
• After three peaceful days at sea, Chu Xin told Fang Xuan that his brother, Thunder Province Governor Chu Yuanzhen, had betrayed Great Yang and offered an Ancient Treasure Map if Chu Yuanzhen’s life was spared.
• Fang Xuan said he could consider the request only if it fell within his authority and did not interfere with the mission.

Fang Xuan, Xiang Jie, and Pei Qian traveled to Leizhou to confront the Blood Slaughter of Ten Thousand Li, while Chu Xin confirmed that Chu Yuanzhen was behind it. In Three Emperors City, a general gathered troops and ordered them to locate and seize the blood essence Chu Yuanzhen had collected.

• Xiang Jie told Fang Xuan that if Chu Yuanzhen reached the higher realm, they should flee rather than risk fighting him.
• Chu Xin learned from a man in luxurious robes that Chu Yuanzhen had used the Blood Slaughter of Ten Thousand Li to gather life essence and martial artists' blood for a breakthrough, but had not yet reached the higher realm.
• Chu Xin said the Huaiyang King might help Chu Yuanzhen break through if he returned to Great Yang, and warned that Martial Temple envoys had arrived in Leizhou.
• A general in a short blue shirt learned that three thousand veteran troops were assembled, then ordered his men to find Chu Yuanzhen's slaughter site and seize the blood essence.
• After the men left the roadside shelter, passersby discovered that the shelter owner had been killed.

A woman in white agreed to help Bei Yue seek the Blood Slaughter of Ten Thousand Li, while Fang Xuan and Pei Qian traveled through Lei Province gathering clues. In the provincial army camp, Yang Hao and Qian Yan prepared to protect a secret site and carry out the General’s plan.

• A man in black asked the woman in white to honor an old favor, and she agreed to find the Blood Slaughter’s location and ordered her tribe into Lei Province.
• Fang Xuan continued tempering his body and set out for the next city with Pei Qian, who claimed he could not walk and was carried on Fang Xuan’s back.
• Yang Hao inspected a Lei Province camp holding eighty thousand troops, then warned Qian Yan that the General valued loyalty to the Chu Family.
• Qian Yan told Yang Hao to minimize military activity and keep a secret site hidden from rival forces seeking control of Lei Province.
• Qian Yan said the General’s recovery was nearly complete and that the plan could begin once the force energy in his body was suppressed.

Fang Xuan and Pei Qian encountered a massive Bei Yue army secretly moving through Lei Province. Fang Xuan forced the commander to reveal that the barbarians sought essence blood to help their chieftain break through, then made the army let them pass.

• Pei Qian teased Fang Xuan about whether he liked Pu An Yu as they walked toward the nearest city.
• Fang Xuan and Pei Qian discovered a huge Bei Yue army advancing through the mountains on demonic beasts.
• Fang Xuan confronted the army's commander, then swiftly defeated him and held a saber to his throat.
• The commander revealed that the barbarians were waiting for the princess to locate Chu Yuanzhen's blood slaughter and wanted the essence blood as a catalyst for their chieftain's breakthrough.
• Fang Xuan learned that the commander did not know where Chu Yuanzhen had carried out the slaughter, then ordered the army to make way and walked on with Pei Qian.

Xiang Jie searched Leizhou for the Blood Slaughter of Ten Thousand Li but found no trace of it, while Wanyan Lie learned that the slaughter site had been found and ordered his people to retrieve the essence blood. In Yangchang County, Pei Qian and Fang Xuan heard a supposed survivor’s account, and Fang Xuan summoned Xiang Jie.

• Xiang Jie entered Clearwater County with a group of martial artists and continued investigating the Blood Slaughter of Ten Thousand Li, finding Leizhou unnaturally peaceful.
• Xiang Jie discussed the missing slaughter site with a burly man, who wondered whether the witnesses’ memories had been erased.
• A messenger told Wanyan Lie that the princess had found the site of the Leizhou blood slaughter, and Wanyan Lie ordered his people to bring back the essence blood at any cost.
• Pei Qian questioned a beggar in Yangchang County who claimed to be the sole survivor of the massacre and then reported the account to Fang Xuan.
• Pei Qian suggested that a formation grandmaster could have enabled the survivor’s escape, and Fang Xuan sent Xiang Jie a message asking him to come to Yangchang County.

Fang Xuan, Xiang Jie, and Pei Qian investigated reports that Chu Yuanzhen had slaughtered civilians across three counties and discovered evidence of an array in Yangxuan County. Xiang Jie used the Martial Temple’s Soul Searching Technique on witness Zhao Hui, whose memories confirmed the massacre, leaving Fang Xuan and Xiang Jie horrified by what they saw.

• Fang Xuan told Xiang Jie that the Blood Slaughter of Ten Thousand Li covered Qing Shui, Yangxuan, and Jindu counties, and they wondered how the massacre could have gone unnoticed.
• Pei Qian reported traces of an array in Yangxuan County and asked Xiang Jie to use the Martial Temple’s memory-peering method on a witness.
• Zhao Hui described seeing Chu Yuanzhen’s soldiers gather and slaughter Yangxuan County’s civilians, but insisted that the county had seemed unchanged afterward.
• Xiang Jie used the Soul Searching Technique to project Zhao Hui’s memories onto a bronze mirror while Pei Qian kept watch.
• The mirror showed Chu Yuanzhen’s army driving civilians into a square and killing them, while Zhao Hui survived after being swept into a water channel.

Fang Xuan, Xiang Jie, and Pei Qian fled Yangxuan County with the unconscious Zhao Hui, but three enemies ambushed them on the Official Road. Fang Xuan killed one Bone Asura and wounded another, while Xiang Jie killed the Blood Martial Saint, and the group set out for Lei Province City.

• Fang Xuan returned to the inn and urged Xiang Jie and Pei Qian to leave with Zhao Hui.
• Xiang Jie spotted three pursuers, including a Blood Martial Saint, and the attackers brought down the group’s two Demon Horses with a barrage of arrows.
• Xiang Jie engaged the three attackers while Fang Xuan guarded Zhao Hui and Pei Qian.
• Fang Xuan killed one Late Fourth Heavenly Gate Bone Asura and severely wounded the other with Ink Abyss.
• Xiang Jie returned with the Blood Martial Saint’s head, and the group headed for Lei Province City.

Bei Yue forces and their allies moved against Lei Province City to seize essence blood and target Chu Yuanzhen, while Chu Yuanzhen prepared the city’s defenses. The battle began with the Lei Guards repelling the demonic beasts, and Chu Yuanzhen ended the chapter by crushing three giant apes with one strike.

• The Bei Yue commander received confirmation that the essence blood was in Lei Province City, and Wanyan Lifu brought ten thousand Wanyan warriors as reinforcements before the princess ordered the attack.
• Mister Wei and Zhu Jiuyin arranged for a Tai Xuan Sect elder to turn against Chu Yuanzhen and set out to target the formation, while Bei Yue began its advance.
• Yang Hao ordered eighty thousand Lei Guards to abandon their baggage and hurry to Lei Province City, where Chu Yuanzhen learned of the approaching barbarian army and the Martial Temple’s discovery of the Blood Slaughter.
• The Bei Yue army reached Lei Province City, and the Lei Guards used cannons and Dao Pattern ballistae to devastate the attacking demonic beasts.
• Chu Yuanzhen leaped from the city wall and struck down three golden-furred giant apes with one blow, raising the Lei Guards’ morale.

Chu Yuanzhen’s massacre of Lei Province’s million civilians was exposed as a forbidden array refined their life essence into a Blood Essence Pill, while Pei Zhizhen realized a traitor had aided him. As the Barbarian Army attacked to seize the pill, Bei Yue’s maiden arrived to claim it and a black-clad man observed the array’s deception from a nearby mountain.

• The civilians of Lei Province crumbled into white light, revealing that they were dead souls whose memories had been used to conceal the massacre.
• Pei Zhizhen confronted three Tai Xuan Sect elders, concluded that a sect traitor had helped Chu Yuanzhen, and ordered them to prepare the Heaven and Earth United Array.
• Wanyan Lifu led sixty thousand Barbarian Army soldiers in an assault on Lei Province City to obtain the Blood Essence Pill.
• A white-dressed maiden accompanied by a Crimson Python appeared above the battle and announced that Bei Yue would take the pill.
• A black-clad man watched from a mountain and recognized that Chu Yuanzhen had used the forbidden art Shift the Five Elements, invert Heaven and Earth to conceal the slaughter and refine the pill.

Xuan Yangzi revealed his betrayal and fought the woman in white while trying to secure the Blood Essence Pill for General Chu. When Pei Zhizhen and three Tai Xuan Sect elders moved to arrest him, he transformed with the Evil Blood Bull Demon Formation, prompting Pei Zhizhen to order his capture at any cost.

• Xuan Yangzi appeared above Lei Province City and trapped the woman in white with a Tai Xuan Sect formation as they fought.
• Pei Zhizhen recognized Xuan Yangzi as the traitor and ordered the three elders to capture him alive and return him to the sect.
• Xuan Yangzi said he planned to use Wanyan Lifu's blood essence to complete the Blood Essence Pill once General Chu killed him.
• Pei Zhizhen and the three elders trapped Xuan Yangzi with Light Arrays, but he shattered them and declared that the Nine Provinces should belong to the Tai Xuan Sect.
• Xuan Yangzi used the Evil Blood Bull Demon Formation to transform and struck the woman in white, while Pei Zhizhen ordered the elders to bring him back, life or death irrelevant.

Chu Yuanzhen, the Tai Xuan Sect, and the barbarian leaders fought over the Blood Essence Pill as their forces clashed around Lei Province City. The Barbarian Princess retreated with the surviving barbarians, leaving Chu Yuanzhen facing White Yun Divine Nun, who had taken the pill for the Xuan Yi King.

• Chu Yuanzhen broke off his fight with Wanyan Lifu and rushed toward the Blood Essence Pill, while Xuan Yangzi remained trapped by the Tai Xuan Sect's four members.
• The Barbarian Princess and Chu Yuanzhen both tried to seize the pill, and Wanyan Lifu led the barbarian troops through a breach in Lei Province City's wall.
• Wanyan Lifu fought Chu Yuanzhen while the Barbarian Princess picked up the Blood Essence Pill, but White Yun Divine Nun appeared and severed her right hand to take it.
• Chu Yuanzhen defeated Wanyan Lifu and learned that White Yun Divine Nun had joined the Xuan Yi Army and claimed the pill for the Xuan Yi King.
• The Barbarian Princess declared defeat, used a formation to evacuate the barbarians, and threatened White Yun Divine Nun with vengeance.
• Chu Yuanzhen demanded that White Yun Divine Nun leave the Blood Essence Pill behind.

White Yun Divine Nun unleashed Eternal Night over Lei Province City, empowering herself as she fought Chu Yuanzhen, while Pei Zhizhen defeated Xuan Yangzi and suffered backlash. As Pei Zhizhen began recovering and Pei Qian agreed to return to the Tai Xuan Sect later, Xiang Jie declared the Martial Temple’s resolve to stand against Eternal Night.

• Chu Yuanzhen summoned more than ten powerful martial artists to attack White Yun Divine Nun, and the two Blood Martial Saints clashed again.
• Pei Qian recognized the forbidden Tai Xuan Sect art in the arrays above Lei Province City as Xiang Jie, Fang Xuan, and Zhao Hui approached by carriage.
• White Yun Divine Nun revealed an illusory head formed from her Dao companion’s origin and cast Myriad Phenomena: Eternal Night, shrouding the city and empowering herself.
• Pei Zhizhen and three Tai Xuan Sect elders restrained Xuan Yangzi, and Pei Zhizhen destroyed his Dantian Sea before carrying him to the carriage.
• Pei Zhizhen suffered backlash and urged Pei Qian to return to the Tai Xuan Sect with her; he agreed to go after Xiang Jie and Fang Xuan finished their business.
• Xiang Jie declared that the Martial Temple would stand before the people when Eternal Night descended and told Fang Xuan to remember that faith.