Chapter Summaries

After the Demon Suppressing Pagoda fell and Shu Mountain was besieged, Lingxu returned in a crippled state and turned the battle against the Ascension Great Emperor and the invading forces. He declared that none of Shu Mountain’s attackers would leave alive.

• Wen Yuan realized Lingxu had spared his life to keep Burial Soldier City standing against the Eastern Wasteland Demon Domain.
• Yao Chong sent Star Palace cultivators after the wounded Ling Xuanxiao, but poisonous miasma erupted and Ling Xuanxiao vanished.
• The Demon Suppressing Pagoda collapsed, releasing ancient demons as invading forces overwhelmed Shu Mountain and drove its disciples back to the Sword Tomb.
• Lingxu returned, punched the Ascension Great Emperor into the ground, and rescued Wushangzi.
• Lingxu struck down a Tribulation Crossing Great Power and announced that no one would leave Shu Mountain that day.

Lingxu fought off the forces attacking Shu Mountain, but the coffin’s seal broke and Outer Realm Devil qi began spreading across the Central Continent. As Li Xuanxiao urged him to evacuate the surviving disciples, Lingxu faced the choice between escape and confronting the threat, while his disciple asked whether protecting the world had any meaning if the Heavenly Dao was unjust.

• Lingxu broke through the Ascension Great Emperor’s defenses, fought the encircling powers, seized the Immortal Slaying Sword, and struck down many attackers.
• Lingxu battled the Buddhist Saint and demons from the Demon Suppressing Pagoda while the coffin from the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss began to open.
• Outer Realm Devil qi poured from the coffin, drove demons into a frenzy, and spread from Shu Mountain as the Buddhist Saint and other forces fled.
• Li Xuanxiao asked Lingxu to lead the surviving Shu Mountain disciples away through a transportation formation in the Sword Tomb.
• Lingxu refused to abandon the demons and the people in danger, and Li Xuanxiao asked him to explain how good deeds could matter under an unjust Heavenly Dao.

Li Xuanxiao asked Lingxu why Shu Mountain had fallen, and Lingxu entrusted the future to him before sacrificing himself to destroy the escaping demons. Happy Old Man returned, but divine lightning shattered Lingxu’s final strike; Wushangzi rallied the Shushan Disciples from the Sword Tomb to fight the demons.

• Li Xuanxiao knelt among the dead and asked Lingxu to dispel his doubts about Shu Mountain’s destruction.
• Lingxu comforted Li Xuanxiao, told him the future was his to change, and ordered the Shushan Disciples to withdraw to the Sword Tomb.
• Lingxu sacrificed his body and became a crimson torrent of fire that burned demons and surged toward the coffin sealing the Outer Realm Demons.
• Happy Old Man returned from the River of Time as Purple Firmament Divine Lightning struck and severed Lingxu’s fire, letting the demons escape.
• Wushangzi called for the Shushan Disciples, and they answered from the Sword Tomb before charging the demons with their swords.

After Shu Mountain fell, Li Xuanxiao was struck by lightning while trying to escape and collapsed, while looters flooded the ruins. Di Nüfeng secretly saved him, but Happy Old Man blocked her way and declared that no living Shu Mountain Disciple could leave.

• Li Xuanxiao fled toward the Sword Tomb after witnessing Ling Xuanxiao's master's remnant soul be destroyed, but lightning struck him and left him unconscious.
• Treasure hunters rushed into Shu Mountain's ruins, fighting, ambushing, and killing one another to seize the spoils.
• Di Nüfeng searched among the rubble and corpses, pretending to hate the Shu Mountain Disciples so others would not suspect her intentions.
• Di Nüfeng found the badly burned Li Xuanxiao still breathing, protected his soul with qi, and pretended she planned to revive and torture him.
• As Di Nüfeng tried to carry Li Xuanxiao away, Happy Old Man blocked her path and insisted that no living Shu Mountain Disciple could leave.

Happy Old Man confronted Di Nüfeng over Li Xuanxiao and overwhelmed her with his power. As Shangguan Suiyun tried to escape with Feng Liuli, Happy Old Man attacked them too, giving Di Nüfeng a chance to flee with Li Xuanxiao before he declared that she would not escape.

• Happy Old Man blocked Di Nüfeng from taking Li Xuanxiao and demanded that she hand him over.
• Di Nüfeng tried to flee, but Happy Old Man crushed her Crimson Phoenix Plumes and struck her with a giant hand.
• Di Nüfeng fought back with flames that scorched Happy Old Man’s giant hand, then was blasted backward.
• Shangguan Suiyun tried to escape with Feng Liuli, but Happy Old Man attacked them with a chess piece and a falling star phantom.
• Di Nüfeng seized the chance to flee with Li Xuanxiao, but Happy Old Man warned that she would not get away.

Di Nüfeng and Shangguan Suiyun escaped after Lingxu’s final ember shattered Happy Old Man’s Dao Domain. While Ascension Great Emperor and Happy Old Man searched Shu Mountain’s treasure vault for the missing Myriad Souls Banner, Di Nüfeng brought Li Xuanxiao back to Heavenly Fiend Hall, and his awakening stirred the sealed banner beneath Divine Grass Mountain.

• Happy Old Man’s Dao Domain began destroying Shangguan Suiyun’s treasure and draining the cultivators’ power, but Lingxu’s final ember shattered the domain and allowed Di Nüfeng and Shangguan Suiyun to flee.
• Ascension Great Emperor asked Happy Old Man about the Myriad Souls Banner, and Happy Old Man agreed to let him search Shu Mountain’s treasure vault.
• Ascension Great Emperor found the vault’s records but discovered the spot where the Myriad Souls Banner had been stored was empty.
• Di Nüfeng returned to Heavenly Fiend Hall with Li Xuanxiao and placed him on a lotus platform, whose formation enveloped him in a cocoon of light.
• Li Xuanxiao opened his eyes as the Myriad Souls Banner, sealed in a treasure box beneath Divine Grass Mountain, began to tremble.

Thirty-one years into the Chaotic Ancient Era, Ling Xuanxiao wandered through a devastated Central Continent, burdened by hatred. After rescuers brought him to Cold Mountain Temple, the abbot led him to a Buddha statue and left him alone with the temple’s scriptures.

• After Shu Mountain fell, Central Continent descended into famine and disorder as demons, monsters, and rival factions overwhelmed the land.
• In heavy snow, Ling Xuanxiao encountered a group who were dragging refugees and accepted their offer of food and shelter.
• The group brought Ling Xuanxiao and the other refugees to Cold Mountain Temple, where monks gave them porridge and steamed buns.
• The abbot noticed Ling Xuanxiao’s distress and took him through the temple, where Ling Xuanxiao admitted that hatred troubled him.
• The abbot spoke to Ling Xuanxiao about letting go of attachment, showed him a Buddha statue and shelves of scriptures, then left him alone in the room.

While staying at Cold Mountain Temple, Ling Xuanxiao listened to the abbot’s teachings and saw the temple’s Buddhist hell before unleashing the Myriad Souls Banner and setting the temple ablaze. He thanked the abbot for helping him find his purpose, then awoke on a lotus platform at Heavenly Fiend Hall with Di Nüfeng beside him.

• The abbot told Ling Xuanxiao that his hatred and desire for revenge were based on illusions, and urged him to let go of them.
• Ling Xuanxiao followed Buddhist practices at Cold Mountain Temple, and the abbot showed him the eighteen levels of hell beneath the Buddhist prison.
• Ling Xuanxiao took up the Myriad Souls Banner and attacked the hell, absorbing the tortured sinners to strengthen himself as he fought the monks.
• Ling Xuanxiao used the sinners as shields while battling the monks, and Cold Mountain Temple was set ablaze as the soul banner pierced the abbot.
• Ling Xuanxiao thanked the abbot for helping him understand his purpose, then awoke at Heavenly Fiend Hall, where Di Nüfeng greeted him.

Ling Xuanxiao awoke in Heavenly Fiend Hall after thirty years unconscious and learned that Shu Mountain had fallen. After recovering for three months, he tried to leave to pursue his duty, but Di Nüfeng made him her strategist and gave him a necklace so she could track him.

• Ling Xuanxiao woke in Heavenly Fiend Hall and learned from Zhang Tianxin that Shu Mountain had fallen and its leaders had died.
• Ling Xuanxiao reflected on his master and the destruction of Shu Mountain, then began recovering his injuries in seclusion.
• Three months later, Ling Xuanxiao encountered Yin Lingzi, who recalled their past connection to Shu Mountain's Demon Suppressing Pagoda.
• Ling Xuanxiao told Di Nüfeng he intended to leave, but she demanded that he become her strategist.
• Ling Xuanxiao agreed to return after a short trip, and Di Nüfeng placed a tracking necklace around his neck.

Li Xuanxiao traveled to Divine Grass Mountain after escaping an assassination attempt and witnessing the devastation across Great Sui. Troubled by revenge and his inability to cultivate, he opened the seal hiding the Myriad Souls Banner and discovered it was gone.

• Li Xuanxiao left the valley for Divine Grass Mountain, but four attackers ambushed him and destroyed his body before he resurrected and marked them.
• Half a month later, Li Xuanxiao entered Great Sui and saw widespread death, ruined cities, and starving people, including a child offered for food.
• Li Xuanxiao reached Divine Grass Mountain and reunited with the Sword Spirit, who noticed that something seemed missing from him.
• Li Xuanxiao admitted he intended to cultivate and take revenge, but later struggled with doubts about whether he could defeat the world and avenge Shu Mountain.
• Li Xuanxiao opened the seal around the hidden magic treasure and found that the Myriad Souls Banner was gone.

Ling Xuanxiao discovered that the Myriad Souls Banner had vanished and returned to the ruins of Shu Mountain, where he found recently erected graves for its disciples. After killing three scavengers who ambushed him, he questioned the surviving woman about her boss’s warning.

• Ling Xuanxiao asked the Sword Spirit about the missing Myriad Souls Banner, and it claimed the banner had disappeared despite its control of Divine Grass Mountain.
• The Sword Spirit told Ling Xuanxiao that Jia Sidao had left Great Sui for Great Xia, and Ling Xuanxiao set out for Shu Mountain with it the next day.
• Ling Xuanxiao crossed the desolate Evernight Forbidden Zone and encountered scavengers sheltering from black rain; their old leader decided not to provoke him.
• At the ruins of Shu Mountain, Ling Xuanxiao found recently erected gravestones bearing the names of Shushan Disciples.
• The female scavenger and two Martial Artists ambushed Ling Xuanxiao, but he shattered her flying swords, killed the two men, and captured her.
• The surviving scavenger told Ling Xuanxiao that her boss had warned he was not someone to provoke and seemed familiar.

Ling Xuanxiao confronted the yellow dog that had tyrannized Baiyun County and demanded tribute from its starving people. After trapping the dog with the Myriad Souls Banner, he left the villagers with his name: Shushan Disciple, Ling Xuanxiao.

• The yellow dog demanded offerings from Baiyun County’s villagers, beat Master Zhang, and ordered him to send his pregnant daughter to drink with it.
• Ling Xuanxiao challenged the yellow dog, but its attacks overwhelmed him and left him badly wounded.
• Ling Xuanxiao trapped the yellow dog’s arm with his magic treasure and summoned two monks who captured it in the Myriad Souls Banner.
• The villagers knelt to thank Ling Xuanxiao, who departed after declaring himself a Shushan Disciple named Ling Xuanxiao.

Ling Xuanxiao returned to Baiyun County and killed the dog demon left guarding it, then used the Myriad Souls Banner to absorb its power. Old Yellow Dog retaliated by slaughtering the county, drawing the attention of Elephant Mountain Academy, whose disciples arrived under Bai Jing.

• Old Yellow Dog threatened Baiyun County and hung the heads of Master Zhang's family from the flagpole to lure Ling Xuanxiao back.
• After waiting for Ling Xuanxiao, Old Yellow Dog left a junior dog demon in the county and led the others back to their cave.
• Ling Xuanxiao entered the shrine, defeated the junior dog demon in a fierce fight, and absorbed its power with the Myriad Souls Banner.
• Old Yellow Dog returned after learning another junior had been killed, but Ling Xuanxiao had vanished and had slaughtered the Lineage's old and young.
• Old Yellow Dog began massacring Baiyun County's residents, including the magistrate's family, prompting Elephant Mountain Academy to send Bai Jing and other disciples.
• Bai Jing's fellow disciples questioned why the dog demon had suddenly gone berserk as they looked down toward Baiyun County.

Bai Jing and Xiangshan Academy's disciples arrived in Baiyun County and fought the Dog Demon, who had massacred the county and killed Li Xuanxiao's family. Li Xuanxiao saved Bai Jing from the Dog Demon's attack, and she brought him back to Xiangshan Academy to recover.

• Bai Jing led Xiangshan Academy's disciples to Baiyun County and found the wounded Li Xuanxiao facing the Old Yellow Dog.
• Bai Jing attacked the Dog Demon, but he fought back and gained an opening when she hesitated to trade injuries.
• Li Xuanxiao took the Dog Demon's punch meant for Bai Jing, allowing her and the other disciples to kill the Dog Demon.
• Before fainting, Li Xuanxiao apologized for failing to protect Baiyun County's people, moving Bai Jing.
• Li Xuanxiao woke at Xiangshan Academy, where Bai Jing told him to rest and learned his name.

Bai Jing brought Lan Qing to visit the recovering Li Xuanxiao, and Lan Qing invited him to a banquet that became a display of the guests’ prestigious family backgrounds. As Li Xuanxiao struggled to answer their questions about his humble upbringing, Bai Jing’s affection for him faded because she saw their social standing as mismatched.

• Bai Jing visited Li Xuanxiao with Lan Qing, who questioned the rogue cultivator’s background and invited him to a banquet.
• Bai Liu teased Bai Jing about her feelings for Li Xuanxiao and warned her that their family status did not match.
• Lan Qing introduced Li Xuanxiao to young men from prominent lineages at the banquet, emphasizing their families’ prestigious histories.
• Nansun Chao and Lan Qing questioned Li Xuanxiao about his master, home, and education, exposing his humble background.
• Bai Jing realized Lan Qing had arranged the banquet to embarrass Li Xuanxiao, and her affection for him diminished.

At a banquet at Xiangshan Academy, Li Xuanxiao stunned the gathered disciples by reciting several celebrated poems before leaving with Bai Jing. As they walked, Bai Jing explained the Academy’s role in Shu Mountain’s destruction, while memories revealed her jealousy and betrayal of her younger sister, a Shu Mountain disciple.

• Bai Liu repeatedly toasted Li Xuanxiao, and Lan Qing challenged him to compose a poem and match couplets.
• Li Xuanxiao recited several poems, including lines about the moon, wine, and making merry, then left the pavilion; Bai Jing followed him.
• Bai Jing watched Li Xuanxiao walk through Xiangshan Academy and wondered how he knew such poetry.
• Li Xuanxiao asked about more than twenty skeletons bound to wooden frames, and Bai Jing said they were Shu Mountain disciples killed by Xiangshan Academy thirty years earlier.
• Bai Jing recalled her younger sister’s arrival at Shu Mountain and her own jealousy, then told Li Xuanxiao that Shu Mountain had deserved its downfall.
• Bai Jing reassured Li Xuanxiao that Lan Qing had embarrassed himself, and Li Xuanxiao glanced back coldly at the skeletons.

Bai Jing helped Li Xuanxiao gain the chance to study at Xiangshan Academy, but he refused and left. Three months later, she rescued him from Chang Lei Sect pursuers, learned he was a Remnant of Shu Mountain, and killed the men who hunted him.

• Wang Tingzhi agreed to accept Li Xuanxiao as an unregistered disciple after Bai Jing praised his poem and character.
• Bai Jing told Li Xuanxiao about the opportunity, but he declined, citing hardships he could not discuss.
• Li Xuanxiao left the academy, and Bai Jing discovered a handkerchief bearing his farewell poem after he had gone.
• Three months later, Bai Jing caught Li Xuanxiao as he fell from a cliff, badly wounded and pursued by four Chang Lei Sect disciples.
• The Chang Lei Sect disciples identified Li Xuanxiao as a Remnant of Shu Mountain and showed Bai Jing his Jade Token.
• Bai Jing recognized the token and killed the pursuing disciples with a sweep of her sword.

Bai Jing hid the wounded Li Xuanxiao, a former Shushan disciple, and grew close to him as he recovered and returned to his family. When Xiangshan Academy ordered her to kill him, a memory wipe made her obey, and she regained her memories only after stabbing him.

• Bai Jing discovered Li Xuanxiao was a Shushan Remnant but withdrew her sword and let him recuperate in a secluded residence.
• Bai Jing visited Li Xuanxiao often, grew fond of him, and learned that he planned to live quietly with his family.
• Bai Jing introduced Li Xuanxiao to her family and continued visiting him to cultivate together.
• Wang Tingzhi ordered Bai Jing to kill Li Xuanxiao, struck her down, and used a Memory Wipe Technique to make her forget what had happened.
• Lan Qing accompanied Bai Jing to Li Xuanxiao's home, where she killed his family and stabbed him through the throat.
• Bai Jing's memories returned, and she cried out Li Xuanxiao's name as he told her to move forward.

After finding Li Xuanxiao’s final gift, Bai Jing attacked Xiangshan Academy in grief and rage, wielding the Myriad Souls Banner against her teacher Wang Tingzhi. As the banner’s power consumed her, she saw Li Xuanxiao approaching.

• Bai Jing found Li Xuanxiao’s letter and the Myriad Souls Banner beneath the tree in Baiyun County.
• Bai Jing stormed Xiangshan Academy and killed disciples and two Nascent Soul Realm elders.
• Wang Tingzhi restrained Bai Jing and fought back with his enormous brush as she struggled to control the banner.
• Bai Jing drove the Myriad Souls Banner through her heart, channeling its power through her body and transforming as its backlash threatened her life.
• Bai Jing saw a figure approach and recognized Li Xuanxiao.

Li Xuanxiao killed Bai Jing, then reunited with Zhao Lu after awakening thirty years after Shu Mountain's fall. He entered the imperial palace with her, where the National Teacher requested an audience.

• Li Xuanxiao reclaimed the Myriad Souls Banner from Bai Jing, killed her, and absorbed her into the banner.
• Rumors spread that Shu Mountain's remnants had returned for revenge after Xiangshan Academy was destroyed and its disciples' bodies appeared where Shu Mountain's corpses had been.
• Li Xuanxiao traveled to Heavenly Fiend Hall, then met Zhao Lu, who had become Great Xia's Empress.
• Li Xuanxiao told Zhao Lu that Di Nüfeng had saved him and that he had only recently awakened; he concealed his search for the Myriad Souls Banner and agreed to enter the imperial palace with her.
• A secret guard informed Zhao Lu that the National Teacher had requested an audience, and she warned Li Xuanxiao that he monitored Shu Mountain.