Chapter Summaries

Daoist Master Lingxu failed to convince anyone in a small town that he was the Shushan Sect Leader, while the Monster Extermination Assembly ended with Shen Chujian defeating Ye Yunzhou. The celebration was interrupted when Great Xia’s Dragon Vein came under attack, leaving the capital in chaos.

• Daoist Master Lingxu tried to prove his identity to a Golden Core female cultivator, but Shushan’s Deputy Sect Leader dismissed his letter as a fake and sent back an angry reply.
• Shen Chujian defeated Ye Yunzhou in the final match of the Monster Extermination Assembly, though Yuyangzi worried that Ye Yunzhou had fought while injured.
• Ye Yunzhou messaged Ling Xuanxiao and secretly smelled the bandage Ling Xuanxiao had once wrapped around him, making Ling Xuanxiao realize Ye Yunzhou’s feelings seemed far from ordinary.
• A tremendous rumble shook the capital, and the Old Emperor and Yuyangzi called for help as the streets descended into chaos.
• A sorcerer from the Imperial Observatory reported that Great Xia’s Dragon Vein had been damaged and urged the Old Emperor to send people to protect it.

Liu Qiushui and the Old Emperor attempted to seize Great Xia’s Dragon Vein, disabling the capital’s defenses and leaving its defenders outmatched. Shen Chujian activated a mysterious Sect Leader’s Sword Token, summoning four Shushan elders whose sword formation halted Asura Hall’s assault.

• Liu Qiushui drew Great Xia’s Dragon Qi into a blood-red gourd while the Old Emperor’s allies helped her prepare to seize the Dragon Vein.
• The city-protecting formation failed, and Asura Hall’s forces battled the capital’s defenders near Baohe Hall as Yuyangzi joined the fight.
• The Old Emperor feigned weakness and prompted Shen Chujian to call Shushan for help, while a barrier blocked Shen Chujian’s first sword token.
• Shen Chujian found an unfamiliar second Shushan Sword Token and activated it, breaking through the barrier and summoning the Shushan Sword Formation.
• Four Shushan elders unleashed their sword formation, driving back Asura Hall’s Left and Right Protectors and forcing Liu Qiushui to stop draining the Dragon Vein.

Asura Hall launched an attack on the capital, but Shen Chujian, Li Xuanxiao, and the city’s forces countered while Shu Mountain elders confronted Liu Qiushui and Asura Hall’s protectors. When the Old Emperor chose not to reveal himself or use the Myriad Souls Banner, Li Xuanxiao summoned two more Shu Mountain elders, bringing the gathering of Tribulation Crossing Stage cultivators to ten.

• Li Xuanxiao warned Shen Chujian that the capital’s upheaval could endanger civilians, and Shen Chujian urged the Emperor to evacuate the people.
• Asura Hall believers attacked the capital, but Shushan Disciples and forces from the Monster Suppressing Division, Imperial Observatory, Fahua Temple, and government offices fought back.
• Li Xuanxiao used clones to watch Zhao Lu, Ye Yunzhou, Su Wan, and Qin Wenke while monitoring the fighting and Baohe Hall.
• Four Shu Mountain elders discovered Liu Qiushui and fought her and Asura Hall’s Left and Right Protectors as Li Xuanxiao worried the Old Emperor might join the battle.
• The Old Emperor decided against using the Myriad Souls Banner, and Li Xuanxiao crushed a dark token to summon two more Shu Mountain elders to the capital.

Six Shushan elders cornered the Left Protector while the Right Protector summoned a Dharma Idol Golden Body, and Liu Qiushui attacked Li Xuanxiao amid the chaos. Li Xuanxiao trapped her in a spatial domain and convinced her that the Great Xia Emperor may have betrayed her, but he called out to her as she prepared to leave.

• The six Shushan elders joined forces against the Left Protector, who refused to retreat from their Sword Formation.
• The Right Protector summoned a towering Dharma Idol Golden Body, while Qin Wenke tried to shield himself and kowtowed to avoid a fight.
• Liu Qiushui recognized Li Xuanxiao's decoy, found his true body, and charged at him.
• Li Xuanxiao used his Master's whisk to pull himself and Liu Qiushui into a spatial domain where she could not reach him.
• Li Xuanxiao denied plotting against Liu Qiushui and suggested the Great Xia Emperor had betrayed her by revealing her movements to Shushan.
• Liu Qiushui decided to leave, but Li Xuanxiao suddenly called out to her.

Ling Xuanxiao sent Liu Qiushui to Divine Grass Mountain, where she brought the remnants of Asura Hall to regroup after its defeat. As the followers discovered the mountain’s resources, a golden Sword Qi crashed down from the sky.

• Ling Xuanxiao offered Liu Qiushui refuge on Divine Grass Mountain, and she left after hearing his affectionate words.
• Liu Qiushui learned that Asura Hall had lost its protectors, territory, and followers, while Di Nüfeng’s Heavenly Fiend Hall hunted its survivors.
• Liu Qiushui considered using Ling Xuanxiao for intelligence but struggled with her feelings for him, then ordered scouts to check Divine Grass Mountain for danger.
• Liu Qiushui led her remaining followers to the mountain, where they found spirit springs, medicinal herbs, and ancient trees.
• A blazing golden Sword Qi struck Divine Grass Mountain as the Sword Spirit roared, “Take my sword!”

The Monster Extermination Assembly ended with Asura Hall suffering devastating losses, while Li Xuanxiao remained disappointed that the Old Emperor’s identity had not been exposed. As the disciples parted, Ye Yunzhou revealed that he recognized Li Xuanxiao as the person who had secretly helped him.

• The Sword Spirit told Liu Qiushui that Ling Xuanxiao had been soul-searched and left an idiot, driving her to vow revenge on the Great Xia Imperial Family.
• Shushan’s ambush devastated Asura Hall: one of its Tribulation Crossing Stage experts died, another was captured, and the Old Emperor was injured while protecting the capital.
• Li Xuanxiao regretted that his plan to expose the Old Emperor had failed and that Asura Hall had taken the blame instead.
• Ye Yunzhou declined a Xuantian Sword Sect cultivator’s contact request, then walked past Zhao Lu to greet Li Xuanxiao.
• Ye Yunzhou touched Li Xuanxiao’s earlobe and said he knew Li Xuanxiao had secretly helped him, calling his recognition a feeling and fate.

Li Xuanxiao left Great Xia with Zhao Lu and reassured her that he would care for her even if her Imperial Father could not. Back at Shu Mountain, Lingxu discovered that the sect had credited him with a successful mission he knew nothing about, then learned Li Xuanxiao had used his token, fly-whisk, and handwriting.

• Li Xuanxiao asked Zhao Lu whether her Imperial Father had ever seemed like a different person, and she said he had always treated her well.
• Zhao Lu spoke of her hope that her parents would raise their future children while she and Li Xuanxiao traveled, and Li Xuanxiao promised to take care of her.
• Lingxu returned to Shu Mountain and heard disciples praise him for leading the mission that defeated Asura Hall.
• The elders returned with Asura Hall’s Right Protector and a Tribulation Crossing Stage skeleton, and Lingxu agreed to celebrate the victory despite not knowing he had arranged the mission.
• The Deputy Sect Leader showed Lingxu a secret letter in his handwriting, which Lingxu could not read because it used Shu Mountain’s cipher.
• Lingxu found Li Xuanxiao kneeling in his cave, admitting he had taken Lingxu’s Sect Leader’s Sword Token and fly-whisk and imitated his handwriting.

Li Xuanxiao admitted that he had engineered the ambush that destroyed Asura Hall, then secretly reviewed Shushan’s paperwork while Lingxu slept. After preparing for trouble and receiving two letters, Li Xuanxiao realized his unease concerned Fifth Senior Brother’s pregnant Dao Companion and the couple’s plan to use their child as a medicinal catalyst.

• Lingxu scolded Li Xuanxiao for summoning Shushan elders to ambush Liu Qiushui, then let him go without punishment after hearing his explanation.
• Li Xuanxiao returned to Lingxu’s cave abode and corrected Shushan’s documents while Lingxu slept, then rested in his Crystal Spirit Coffin and planned to prepare Divine Grass Mountain as a refuge for Shushan’s disciples.
• Li Xuanxiao worried about the romantic troubles among Silver Sword Peak’s disciples, sensed that trouble was coming, and sent his clone to monitor Shushan.
• Two anonymous letters arrived for Li Xuanxiao; one was from Di Nüfeng, while the other contained a pill said to restore foolish cultivators’ intelligence.
• Li Xuanxiao traced his unease to Fifth Senior Brother’s pregnant Dao Companion and learned that Fifth Senior Brother intended to use their child as a medicinal catalyst for the woman he loved.

Yan Zidong considered sacrificing his unborn child with Bai Ling to cure Li Mengyun, but a storybook with a similar plot and a recurring nightmare unsettled them. He finally confessed his original intentions to Bai Ling, leaving their relationship shattered by his betrayal.

• Yan Zidong recalled that he had once planned to take Bai Ling’s child to treat Li Mengyun’s cultivation condition, though he had repeatedly delayed acting on the plan.
• Yan Zidong suggested not keeping the child, but Bai Ling insisted she believed their child would soon be born.
• Yan Zidong bought a storybook about a man who sacrificed his child for his former love and ended in disgrace, making him question whether it was a warning from Heaven.
• Bai Ling dreamed that Yan Zidong betrayed her by taking their baby from her to use as medicine, and she began watching him closely.
• Drunk and overcome with guilt, Yan Zidong confessed that he had pursued Bai Ling for her Yang Spiritual Root and intended to use their child to save Li Mengyun.

Yan Zidong confessed that he had planned to take Bai Ling’s unborn child for Li Mengyun, then claimed he had faked his remorse because someone was watching him. As Yan Zidong prepared to use a formation to take the child, Li Xuanxiao intervened and freed Bai Ling, leaving her despairing and indifferent to being saved.

• Yan Zidong confessed his original plan to use Bai Ling’s unborn child as medicine for Li Mengyun, and Bai Ling forgave him after he said he loved her.
• Yan Zidong and Bai Ling left Shu Mountain and later prepared for their child’s birth in a secluded place.
• During Bai Ling’s labor, Yan Zidong bound her with a formation and revealed that he had only pretended to repent because an unseen observer knew of his plans.
• Yan Zidong chose to proceed with taking the child for Li Mengyun despite Bai Ling’s suffering, but the child’s Dao essence resisted the formation.
• Li Xuanxiao kicked Yan Zidong unconscious, broke the formation, and freed Bai Ling, who remained despairing despite his intervention.

Li Xuanxiao witnessed Bai Ling give birth to an Innate Dao Embryo, whose arrival stirred a terrifying heavenly phenomenon and threatened to overwhelm his Dao Heart. As Bai Ling begged him to save the child, Ling Xuanxiao rejected fate and prepared to carve out a chance for the infant to live.

• The golden Dao Charm pouring from Bai Ling triggered a violent storm of Dao insights in Li Xuanxiao, who steadied his Dao Heart.
• Li Xuanxiao saw the newborn Innate Dao Embryo and realized the child’s extraordinary nature made him a target who might never reach adulthood.
• Bai Ling lamented the betrayals and tragedies that had ruined her family, then pleaded with Ling Xuanxiao to weaken the infant’s Dao Body and save his life.
• Ling Xuanxiao told Bai Ling he did not believe in fate and declared that Shu Mountain would make hope for people whom Heaven’s mandate failed to protect.
• Ling Xuanxiao pointed his sword fingers at the Innate Dao Embryo.

Li Xuanxiao destroyed Bai Ling’s Innate Dao Embryo and restored its life force, while Yan Zidong’s Dao Heart shattered and Bai Ling disappeared. Months later, Happy Old Man discovered his scheme against Shu Mountain had been broken, and Li Mengyun was kicked before she could reach Yan Zidong.

• Li Xuanxiao burned away Bai Ling’s Dao Bone, returned its life force to her, and urged her not to lose hope in the world.
• Yan Zidong’s Dao Heart shattered, leaving him deranged, and Shu Mountain failed to find the missing Bai Ling.
• Months later, Bai Ling arrived in a remote Central Province town with an infant and opened a charitable medical clinic.
• Happy Old Man spent one hundred thousand years of lifespan divining the Dao Embryo’s fate, learned his game against Shu Mountain had been broken, and placed a chess piece.
• Li Mengyun decided to go to Shu Mountain to push Yan Zidong into sacrificing his child, but Li Xuanxiao struck her with a flying kick.

Li Xuanxiao secretly reviewed Shushan’s documents while Sect Leader Lingxu believed he processed them in his sleep, then worried that new developments might threaten Shushan. When a Great Sui prince invited Li Xuanxiao to a birthday banquet, he decided to avoid attending and send a polite gift instead.

• The Deputy Sect Leader praised Lingxu’s ridiculous poem and accepted his claim that a divine ability let him process Shushan’s documents while asleep.
• Li Xuanxiao sneezed at the Deputy Sect Leader’s suspicions, continued secretly reviewing documents in Lingxu’s cave, and inspected the Shushan Sword Formation with the big yellow dog keeping watch.
• Li Xuanxiao considered the Old Emperor and the unexpected Innate Dao Embryo, then divined that something had happened to Shushan Two.
• The Sword Spirit told Li Xuanxiao that Great Sui’s Third Prince, Ye Yuntai, had invited the master of Divine Grass Mountain to his birthday banquet.
• Li Xuanxiao imagined the danger of refusing the invitation, but chose not to attend and planned to send a courteous gift instead.

Huang Jiu and Third Prince Ye Yuntai schemed to seize Divine Grass Mountain, first sending Hua Shengdou to challenge its sect leader. After the Sword Spirit defeated him, Huang Jiu arrived with the Royal Gazette to manufacture a justification for another challenge, but she abruptly slammed him into the ground.

• Huang Jiu explained Divine Grass Mountain's cultivation benefits to Ye Yuntai and agreed to take it by sending his disciple Hua Shengdou to issue a sword challenge.
• Hua Shengdou confronted the white-clad protector and threatened Divine Grass Mountain, but the Sword Spirit defeated him in one strike.
• Huang Jiu decided to visit the mountain himself, while Ye Yuntai proposed faking an insult involving a birthday gift to justify the challenge and gain publicity.
• The Sword Spirit noticed Huang Jiu approaching as she played whack-a-mole with the groundhog spirits.
• Huang Jiu addressed the Royal Gazette's Image Stone and accused Divine Grass Mountain's master of arrogance and assaulting his disciple, but the Sword Spirit suddenly drove him headfirst into the ground.

After learning that the Sword Spirit had beaten Great Sui’s top expert and prince, Li Xuanxiao feared the consequences and tried to hand Divine Grass Mountain to the Earth Rat Leader. The Great Sui Emperor arrived, and Li Xuanxiao met him under the name Jia Sidao, leaving the purpose of the visit unresolved.

• Li Xuanxiao read a report about the Sword Spirit beating Great Sui’s top expert and watched the censored footage.
• Li Xuanxiao hurried to Divine Grass Mountain, where the Sword Spirit said the prince’s defeat was a trivial matter and vowed to stand by him against anyone.
• When Great Sui made no immediate move, Li Xuanxiao sent the Earth Rat Leader to gather information and tried to transfer the mountain to him.
• The Great Sui Emperor, Elder Sun, and the prince arrived to meet Divine Grass Mountain’s master, whom they suspected was a Tribulation Crossing expert.
• Li Xuanxiao greeted them as the Daoist Jia Sidao and invited them into his hut, where he asked what had brought them.

Ling Xuanxiao maintained his Jia Sidao disguise before the Great Sui Emperor and Elder Sun, who mistook him for a Tribulation Crossing Stage expert. After they left, he began planning Divine Grass Mountain’s defenses while Great Sui investigated his identity and kept the mountain under surveillance.

• Ling Xuanxiao reassured the Great Sui Emperor and Elder Sun that he did not take Huang Jiu’s offense to heart, and avoided revealing where he had cultivated.
• The Great Sui Emperor invited Jia Sidao to the capital for his sect’s five-year investiture, then departed with Elder Sun.
• Elder Sun told the Great Sui Emperor that Jia Sidao’s cultivation was at least as high as his own, and they agreed to investigate the mysterious expert.
• Ling Xuanxiao returned to his true appearance and realized that Great Sui was watching Divine Grass Mountain.
• Ling Xuanxiao reviewed plans to conceal and fortify the sect with talismans, arrays, spirit treasures, traps, weapons, and an escape teleportation array.

Li Xuanxiao traveled to the Great Sui capital disguised as Jia Sidao and attended the imperial banquet while keeping his identity concealed. He offered ordinary salted fish and cured pork as gifts, leaving the Great Sui Emperor wondering whether they carried a hidden message.

• Li Xuanxiao decided to keep hiding his identity while preparing arrangements for Divine Grass Mountain, though he still lacked Fate-Severing Sand and Uncaused Wood for a Heaven-Deceiving Talisman.
• Two months later, Li Xuanxiao traveled to the Great Sui capital as Jia Sidao, relying on the Sword Spirit's sword intent to protect his disguise.
• The Minister of Rites escorted Jia Sidao into the palace, where the Great Sui Emperor seated him opposite Elder Sun and the gathered sect leaders tried to probe his background.
• The sects presented valuable treasures at the banquet, turning their offerings into a contest for status and rewards.
• Jia Sidao placed salted fish and cured pork among the gifts, and Elder Sun confirmed they were ordinary food.
• The Great Sui Emperor wondered whether Jia Sidao's fish and pork meant that Great Sui was fish and meat on the chopping block.

At the Great Sui banquet, Jia Sidao tried to avoid attention as Su Wan and Ye Yunzhou arrived and both focused on him. Ye Yunzhou confided in Jia Sidao about his strained messages with his Mirror Friend, and Jia urged him to let go, leaving Ye Yunzhou with advice to stop pursuing the relationship.

• Huang Jiu and his disciples apologized to Jia Sidao for their earlier fight, while Ye Yuntai resented being made to apologize.
• Su Wan arrived at the banquet, followed by Ye Yunzhou, and both noticed Jia Sidao.
• Ye Yunzhou sat beside Jia Sidao and asked for his Daoist name, then described his distress over his Mirror Friend's brief and delayed replies.
• Jia Sidao advised Ye Yunzhou to accept that he could not have everything and to let go of what he could not attain.

Jia Sidao used an illusion to push Ye Yunzhou to choose between saving one person and saving the masses, but Ye Yunzhou rejected the choice and awakened his Innate Sword Body. Ye Yunzhou resolved to become strong enough to save both, leaving Jia Sidao alarmed by the prince’s newfound devotion to him.

• Jia Sidao guided Ye Yunzhou into a heart-lake illusion and challenged him to choose between one person and the people of Great Sui.
• Ye Yunzhou resisted Jia Sidao’s argument that a ruler had to sacrifice one innocent person for the masses, and declared that both deserved kindness.
• Ye Yunzhou’s heart-lake illusion collapsed as his sword intent erupted and his state of mind reached a transcendent realm.
• Ye Yunzhou thanked Jia Sidao and vowed to reach the highest point so he could save both one person and everyone under heaven.
• The Great Sui Emperor and Elder Sun praised Jia Sidao for helping Ye Yunzhou, while Jia Sidao worried that Ye Yunzhou had fallen in love with him.
• Ye Yuntai revised his prepared apology and readied himself to ingratiate himself with Jia Sidao.

Jia Sidao received Uncaused Wood in the Great Sui capital and left without revealing his cultivation level. In Supreme City, Shangguan Suiyun received a fabricated, tear-stained letter from Feng Liuli, while Li Xuanxiao and Feng Liuli prepared more letters for him.

• The Great Sui Emperor gave Jia Sidao Uncaused Wood, a material needed to refine the Sky-Covering Talisman.
• Jia Sidao left the capital on foot to avoid exposing his cultivation level to the Tribulation Crossing Stage powerhouse.
• Shangguan Suiyun killed a messenger while demanding news from his sister, then ordered his subordinates to find more messengers and painters.
• Shangguan Suiyun received Feng Liuli's letter and imagined her writing it in grief, moved to tears by its words and tearstains.
• Feng Liuli asked Li Xuanxiao whether their letter was convincing, and Li Xuanxiao told her to add a few tears.