Chapter Summaries

After the Old Emperor’s death, Zhao Lu read his letter urging her to trust Li Xuanxiao, while Li Xuanxiao considered the aftermath and his unstable cultivation. Lingxu sent him into five years of confinement at Buxianxian, where the Water Qilin’s two young were assigned to watch over him.

• A tiny black Gu Worm emerged from Zhao Lu’s head as she opened her father’s letter, and Li Xuanxiao noted that the Old Emperor had left hidden plans behind.
• Zhao Lu woke on a swing and read her father’s letter, which comforted her and repeatedly urged her to listen to Li Xuanxiao while warning her against pursuing him romantically.
• Li Xuanxiao assessed the losses and political consequences of the Old Emperor’s death, then worried about his rushed advancement to Nascent Soul and searched his body for his true Nascent Soul.
• Li Xuanxiao received Lingxu’s order to go into confinement and left Silver Sword Peak with his luggage.
• At Buxianxian, Li Xuanxiao met the two young Water Qilins assigned to guard him and learned that he would spend five years confined in the pond pavilion.

Lin Wanqing learned from Baili that Fanyue had died and heard the story of their past lives and repeated separations. When Fanyue’s lingering divine sense appeared and began to fade, Lin Wanqing broke through from Golden Core to Spirit Transformation, determined to keep him from dying.

• Lin Wanqing met Baili at an underwater array after being told she knew where Fanyue was.
• Baili told Lin Wanqing that Fanyue was dead and recounted their past lives, including their repeated attempts to live together.
• Baili used a golden bead to summon Fanyue’s surviving divine sense, and Fanyue told Lin Wanqing that a Shushan Disciple named Li Xuanxiao had destroyed his soul in his second reincarnation.
• Lin Wanqing learned Fanyue’s remaining time was short and cried out as his divine sense began to fade.
• Lin Wanqing disappeared briefly, then reappeared after breaking through from Golden Core to Spirit Transformation, with white hair and frost spreading across the water.
• Li Xuanxiao noticed that the Gu Worm on Lin Wanqing had briefly lost its aura and wondered what had happened.

Lin Wanqing reached Spirit Transformation and sacrificed three hundred years of witnessing heaven and earth to open the Heavenly Gate and reincarnate Fanyue. She returned to Shu Mountain with a newly sharpened Sword Dao, while Ling Xuanxiao struggled to understand what had happened.

• Lin Wanqing offered to bear witness to heaven and earth for three hundred years, restored Fanyue's body, and sent him through the Heavenly Gate to be reborn.
• Fanyue was born in another place, but his mother died during childbirth, leaving Ling Xuanxiao baffled by his unexpected return.
• Baili warned Lin Wanqing to keep their involvement secret and to be wary of Ling Xuanxiao, while Lin Wanqing promised to repay the favor and defend Shu Mountain.
• Ling Xuanxiao worried that Lin Wanqing might seek revenge as he tried to calculate how the Fanyue incident had gone wrong.
• Lin Wanqing returned to Shu Mountain as a Spirit Transformation cultivator, impressing the sect with her powerful Sword Qi and clear sword heart, and greeted Liu Yidao.

Lin Wanqing returned to Shu Mountain after reaching Spirit Transformation and confronted Li Xuanxiao about Fanyue’s attempted Soul Possession. Believing Li Xuanxiao had been wronged, she cut off her own hand to apologize, while he tried to keep his true cultivation hidden.

• Lin Wanqing returned to Shu Mountain, where Lingxu sensed her Spirit Transformation cultivation and her pure sword heart.
• Lin Wanqing visited Li Xuanxiao at Tongtian Peak and asked what he remembered about Fanyue’s disappearance and Soul Possession attempt.
• Li Xuanxiao gave Lin Wanqing an altered account, claiming a mysterious soul had tried to possess him during his tribulation and caused him to fail.
• Lin Wanqing drew her sword and cut off her own left hand, apologizing to Li Xuanxiao on Fanyue’s behalf.
• Lin Wanqing prepared to strike at her remaining arm, and Li Xuanxiao tried to stop her without revealing his cultivation, pretending to be knocked away when she blocked him.

After Lin Wanqing cut off her arm and returned to Silver Sword Peak, Li Xuanxiao organized his many unfinished tasks while secretly overseeing Shu Mountain. Zhao Lu left to take the throne of Great Xia, and Li Xuanxiao appeared at the capital to support her.

• Lin Wanqing severed her left arm after testing Li Xuanxiao, then returned to Silver Sword Peak as sect leaders and disciples questioned him about what had happened.
• Li Xuanxiao used his clones to handle Shu Mountain's affairs, study the Poison Scripture, watch Lin Wanqing, and pursue several unresolved goals.
• Half a year later, Zhao Lu prepared to leave Shu Mountain and asked Li Xuanxiao whether she would become a good emperor.
• Zhao Lu confessed her affection, but Li Xuanxiao dodged her kiss, and she departed for Great Xia's capital in tears.
• Zhao Lu arrived at the capital and found Li Xuanxiao waiting there, prompting her to ask why his shoulder hurt.

The Great Sui Emperor died after asking Jia Sidao to protect Great Sui and fulfill his wish to destroy Great Xia. Under house arrest after her father’s death, Zhao Lu chose to become emperor, and Li Xuanxiao agreed to help her.

• The Great Sui Emperor asked Jia Sidao to assist Ye Yunzhou and protect Great Sui, then died after Jia Sidao agreed.
• Jia Sidao accepted the Great Sui Emperor’s request to destroy Great Xia, despite also needing to help his junior sister there.
• The Empress kept Zhao Lu under house arrest and ordered her to mourn her father for three years.
• Zhao Lu asked Li Xuanxiao what she should do, and he told her she alone had to choose between becoming a Shushan Disciple and ruling Great Xia.
• After thinking for a night, Zhao Lu decided to become emperor and said she wanted to be a good emperor like her father.

The Empress decided to prevent Zhao Lu from taking the throne and send her to live in Jiangnan, while Zhao Lu insisted she would accept the throne or return to Shu Mountain. The Empress arranged for Zhao Lu to publicly renounce her claim at the enthronement ceremony in ten days and dismissed Li Xuanxiao's plans to support her.

• The Empress discussed the succession with Wei Wuyuan, favoring Fourth Brother over Zhao Lu because she thought Zhao Lu was too steadfast to control.
• The Empress met Zhao Lu in the mourning hall and told her she would not support her becoming Emperor.
• Zhao Lu offered to return to Shu Mountain, but the Empress said she could not and had arranged a residence for her in Jiangnan.
• The Empress ordered Zhao Lu to declare herself unfit to rule before the officials at the enthronement ceremony in ten days.
• Wei Wuyuan told the Empress that Li Xuanxiao had secretly followed Zhao Lu into the palace and intended to support her ascension.
• The Empress dismissed Li Xuanxiao as an inconsequential Shushan Disciple and ordered that he be left alone.

At Zhao Lu’s coronation, the Empress’s supporters tried to block her ascent, but Lingxu and seven other Shushan Tribulation Crossing Great Powers arrived and disrupted their opposition. Zhao Lu resumed climbing the steps as Lingxu publicly challenged the officials over her Princess’s crown and the ceremony’s irregularities.

• During Zhao Lu’s coronation, officials protested her rule, the Deputy Director of the Imperial Observatory cited an ill omen, and an imperial censor killed himself.
• As the Empress prepared to speak, Lingxu, Li Xuanxiao, and seven other Tribulation Crossing Great Powers descended into the capital.
• Lingxu greeted the Empress, then sat down with the seven visitors, while Li Xuanxiao reminded him to observe ceremony etiquette.
• The Deputy Director and protesting officials fell silent under the visitors’ intimidating presence, and Zhao Lu resumed climbing the jade steps.
• Lingxu questioned why Zhao Lu wore a nine-tassel crown and called attention to the blood, divided officials, and other improprieties as Li Xuanxiao prompted him.

Two years after helping Zhao Lu ascend the throne, Li Xuanxiao was betrayed during a mission and captured by demons in Xuzhou. As Blood Disciple Hand prepared to devour him, Li Xuanxiao called on the Supreme Emperor Weapon.

• Zhao Lu winked at Li Xuanxiao during her enthronement, and he wondered if helping her had been a mistake.
• Two years later, Li Xuanxiao was bound in a demon gathering place after his companions betrayed him.
• Blood Disciple Hand arrived and demanded revenge, blaming Li Xuanxiao for the slaughter of its centipede family.
• Li Xuanxiao reminded Blood Disciple Hand that his grandmaster had killed the centipedes, then learned the demon had eaten the couple who adopted it.
• Blood Disciple Hand killed a demon that offered to attack Li Xuanxiao and opened its jaws to eat him.
• Li Xuanxiao called for the Supreme Emperor Weapon.

Di Nüfeng rescued Li Xuanxiao by killing Blood Disciple Hand and the demons in his cave, then traveled with Li Xuanxiao to search for Fanyue’s reincarnation. The search remained uncertain, and they set out for another location.

• Di Nüfeng descended into the cave and severely wounded Blood Disciple Hand, who begged her to spare his life.
• Di Nüfeng ordered Blood Disciple Hand to kill every demon in the cave, and he slaughtered them, including his own children.
• Blood Disciple Hand tried to pledge himself to Liu Qiushui, but Di Nüfeng revealed her identity and killed him before freeing Li Xuanxiao.
• Several days later, Di Nüfeng and Li Xuanxiao sat at a tea stall, where Li Xuanxiao explained that they needed to find Fanyue before planning how to reclaim Heavenly Fiend Hall.
• Di Nüfeng used the Starfall Compass to search for Fanyue’s aura, but the search failed, so she and Li Xuanxiao traveled north to try again.

Li Xuanxiao and Di Nüfeng took shelter in a mountain temple, where Li Xuanxiao treated a poisoned disciple of the Nine Palaces Mausoleum and Di Nüfeng instantly killed the Nascent Soul old demon pursuing them. After learning of a four-year-old Foundation Establishment genius in the Kingdom of Rong, Li Xuanxiao became keenly interested.

• Li Xuanxiao and Di Nüfeng entered an abandoned mountain god temple during a storm after failing to find what they sought.
• A group of Nine Palaces Mausoleum disciples arrived with a poisoned young woman, and Li Xuanxiao treated her until she regained consciousness.
• The Second Prince of the Kingdom of Rong revealed his identity and explained that a Nascent Soul old demon had nearly killed the group.
• Di Nüfeng left the temple and killed the pursuing old demon after Li Xuanxiao promised to tell her a story.
• The Second Prince told the group about a four-year-old Foundation Establishment genius who had slain a demon, and Li Xuanxiao listened with interest.

Cheng Tianyou advanced his cultivation while trying to live differently from his previous lives and grow strong enough to reunite with Lin Wanqing. In the city, he helped the poor and rescued two sisters from Cheng Family bullies, drawing the attention of Li Xuanxiao.

• Cheng Tianyou reached the Foundation Establishment Late Stage at four years old, and Father Cheng prayed that his dead wife would protect him.
• Cheng Tianyou cultivated on a hillside, recalled that Fanyue had been reborn and that Wanqing had given him another chance, and resolved to delay visiting her until he was stronger.
• Cheng Tianyou visited Aunt Liu, then ordered the Cheng Family to serve meat to the disaster-stricken commoners at its porridge shed.
• Cheng Tianyou intervened when Cheng Family youths terrorized two sisters, beat one youth badly, and sent the others fleeing.
• Li Xuanxiao watched Cheng Tianyou from a roadside tea stall and wondered how he had become so upstanding.

Li Xuanxiao confirmed that Cheng Tianyou was Fanyue reincarnated and tried several times to kill him, but unseen forces thwarted his plans. When Li Xuanxiao finally attacked Cheng Tianyou openly, heavenly lightning and a protective phantom intervened, leaving him facing a gathering lightning tribulation.

• After months of investigation, Li Xuanxiao confirmed that Cheng Tianyou was Fanyue reincarnated and retained his former memories.
• Li Xuanxiao failed to kill Cheng Tianyou through staged accidents and poison, then decided to attack him directly.
• Cheng Tianyou and his two Nascent Soul guards entered Li Xuanxiao's layered formation, which separated one guard and trapped Cheng Tianyou.
• As Cheng Tianyou escaped the formation, Li Xuanxiao kicked him and attacked, but heavenly lightning forced Li Xuanxiao back.
• Li Xuanxiao's Crane-Top Silver Needles were repelled by a phantom protecting Cheng Tianyou as the lightning tribulation gathered overhead.

Ling Xuanxiao tried to kill Fanyue, but Heaven’s protection and a crowd of civilians repeatedly obstructed him. After escaping a lightning tribulation, Ling Xuanxiao used his Nascent Soul to behead Fanyue, leaving the crowd behind as Fanyue died.

• Fanyue’s phantom froze Ling Xuanxiao and shifted them into a market, where townspeople gathered to protect Cheng Tianyou.
• Fanyue confessed to his past-life atrocities and appealed for another chance, while the crowd condemned Ling Xuanxiao for trying to kill him.
• Ling Xuanxiao attacked through the crowd, but Heaven’s lightning struck him to protect Fanyue under Lin Wanqing’s oath.
• As the lightning threatened the market, Ling Xuanxiao flew away from the district and was engulfed by the tribulation.
• Fanyue celebrated his survival until Ling Xuanxiao’s distant Nascent Soul controlled a flying sword that beheaded him.

A wave of crazed monks infiltrated Central Continent as Li Xuanxiao destroyed Fanyue’s soul and endured heavenly punishment by taking cover behind Big Fool Feng. Back at Shu Mountain, he found Lin Wanqing unaware of Fanyue’s death and worried that an unknown force was behind her sudden power and might target Shu Mountain.

• A crazed monk crippled himself to evade Shu Mountain’s surveillance and enter Central Continent, while similar monks crossed the borders in batches.
• After cutting off Fanyue’s head, the tiny Nascent Soul pinned down his soul and destroyed it with Soul-Suppressing Nails, a Soul Annihilation Pearl, and True Fire.
• Li Xuanxiao faced heavenly punishment, then hid behind Big Fool Feng and let the Supreme Emperor Weapon take the lightning strikes.
• Lingxu taught his disciples a sleeping cultivation method, and Li Xuanxiao dismissed the lesson as nonsense.
• Li Xuanxiao observed that Lin Wanqing showed no sign of sensing Fanyue’s death and suspected an unknown force was guiding her and preparing to strike Shu Mountain.

Li Xuanxiao and Di Nüfeng waited for Heavenly Fiend Hall to recruit followers, hoping to learn more about the Deputy Cult Master. Li Xuanxiao infiltrated the cult’s forest camp and, after tricking Zhang Tianxin into posing as the boss, watched her get exposed as a spy.

• Li Xuanxiao explained that he wanted to use Great Sui and Great Xia to strengthen his position, then disguised Di Nüfeng so they could investigate Poison Bodhisattva and Heavenly Fiend Hall.
• Li Xuanxiao questioned a Heavenly Fiend Hall scout and learned the cult planned to recruit followers nearby and had set up a temporary branch in a dense forest.
• Di Nüfeng read a storybook, asked Li Xuanxiao whether he would lie to her, and went to sleep trusting him, leaving him feeling guilty.
• Li Xuanxiao changed his appearance and infiltrated the forest camp, where Zhang Tianxin challenged him for the password.
• Li Xuanxiao slapped Zhang Tianxin and told her the boss needed no password; Zhang Tianxin repeated the trick to a patrol, which identified her as a spy, and Li Xuanxiao recognized her.

Li Xuanxiao rescued Zhang Tianxin, who revealed that the Deputy Cult Master had taken control of Heavenly Fiend Hall and was purging dissenters. As Li Xuanxiao planned their response, the Deputy Cult Master spoke with a mysterious contact before disappearing and appearing at Shu Mountain.

• Li Xuanxiao rescued Zhang Tianxin from an attack and brought her to Di Nüfeng at the inn.
• Zhang Tianxin told Di Nüfeng that the Deputy Cult Master had seized control of Heavenly Fiend Hall, killed dissenters, and overturned Di Nüfeng's rules.
• Li Xuanxiao warned Di Nüfeng and Zhang Tianxin that the Deputy Cult Master controlled much of the hall and urged them to follow his plan to take her down.
• The Deputy Cult Master told a person in a mirror that Di Nüfeng was still alive and suspected someone was advising her.
• The Deputy Cult Master vanished from Heavenly Fiend Hall and appeared before Shu Mountain, where the gatekeeping disciples greeted her as Martial Uncle.

Li Xuanxiao prepared Zhang Tianxin for her infiltration of Heavenly Fiend Hall, but the Shu Mountain Peak Masters’ expedition failed to find the Deputy Cult Master. As Zhang Tianxin waited for her next contact with Li Xuanxiao, the Deputy Cult Master gathered Heavenly Fiend Hall’s prospects and announced that one of them had betrayed her.

• Zhang Tianxin agreed to use her standing with the Deputy Cult Master to gather intelligence, and Li Xuanxiao gave her an infiltration manual and countermeasures.
• Six months later, Wushangzi and Lingxu informed the Seven Peaks’ masters that Heavenly Fiend Hall’s Deputy Cult Master had seized power and that they had learned her whereabouts.
• At Lingxu’s request, six Peak Masters secretly left Shu Mountain to pursue the Deputy Cult Master, but they returned empty-handed.
• Li Xuanxiao worried that Zhang Tianxin might have been discovered when the expected monthly report was nearly due.
• The Deputy Cult Master formed from scattered bones in a secluded valley, appeared before seventy-eight Heavenly Fiend Hall prospects, and declared that one of them had betrayed her.
• Zhang Tianxin controlled her nervous reactions using the composure techniques Li Xuanxiao had taught her.

Zhang Tianxin resisted confessing during the Cult Master’s crackdown on suspected traitors, while the Cult Master’s staged accusations drew out three real spies. After learning that the Deputy Cult Master knew of Shu Mountain’s planned ambush, Li Xuanxiao tried to work out how the secret had leaked.

• The Cult Master tortured several disciples and used fabricated accusations to pressure the gathered Heavenly Fiend Hall members into confessing.
• Three undercover agents came forward and were forgiven and rewarded, while Zhang Tianxin stayed silent despite believing her identity had been exposed.
• The Cult Master revealed that she had killed four unlucky initiates to flush out traitors and planned to interrogate the three who confessed about Shu Mountain’s ambush.
• Zhang Tianxin exchanged information with a waiter through a note, and Li Xuanxiao learned that the Deputy Cult Master had received advance warning of the ambush.
• Li Xuanxiao reasoned that the leak had to come from someone at Shu Mountain who knew about the plan, though he believed only Lingxu and the Seven Peaks’ Peak Masters had that information.

Li Xuanxiao suspected that Great Bamboo Peak Master Wang Yushu was Heavenly Fiend Hall’s Deputy Cult Master after learning about the woman’s false face and shared past with Di Nüfeng. Meanwhile, Liu Yidao went to rescue Wang Yushu after receiving a danger signal, only to encounter Di Nüfeng at the valley.

• Di Nüfeng told Li Xuanxiao that the Deputy Cult Master had disappeared for a long time, returned with an irreparably injured face, and often wore a false face.
• Li Xuanxiao deduced that Wang Yushu was the only Seven Peaks Peak Master who matched the Deputy Cult Master’s age, gender, and history.
• Liu Yidao and Wang Yushu paused their Go game, and Su Wan encouraged her master to openly pursue Wang Yushu.
• Liu Yidao remembered meeting Wang Yushu when they were young Shu Mountain disciples and how her kindness had stayed with him.
• Liu Yidao went to Great Bamboo Peak to see Wang Yushu but learned that she had gone down the mountain on a Sect Master’s task.
• After receiving a danger signal from Wang Yushu’s paired life transmission talisman, Liu Yidao hurried to a valley and encountered Di Nüfeng, who addressed him as Deputy Cult Master.