Chapter Summaries

Xiao Chen swept through ten thousand attendants in the Dragon Transformation Arena and secured an outer sect disciple position. After the competition ended, he announced that he still wanted to challenge the inner sect, but an old man warned that he was not strong enough.

• Xiao Chen defeated all ten thousand attacking attendants, leaving only Niu Feng, Ye Qingxuan, Qing Yumei, Lin Bao, and Zhang Qinlong in the arena with him.
• Xiao Chen knocked Ye Qingxuan from the arena despite her pleading, then questioned Zhang Qinlong about Liu Si's order to kill him; Zhang Qinlong swore he had refused.
• The old man announced that Xiao Chen, Niu Feng, Lin Bao, Zhang Qinlong, and Qing Yumei had advanced as outer sect disciples.
• Xiao Chen interrupted the hall masters' selection and said he still wanted to challenge, declaring his goal of becoming a True Disciple.
• The old man rebuked Xiao Chen, warning that inner sect disciples were in the General Realm while Xiao Chen was only a half-step Sword General.

Xiao Chen challenged and killed Wang Yang, a Black Kill Hall inner sect disciple, with one sword. He then challenged Liu Si directly, escalating the conflict with Black Kill Hall.

• Elder Zhang warned Xiao Chen against challenging inner sect disciples, but Xiao Chen insisted on exercising his right to fight.
• Wang Yang provoked Xiao Chen into a duel, and Xiao Chen accepted despite Wang Yang being a second-level Martial General.
• Xiao Chen killed Wang Yang with a single sword strike, shocking the arena and the watching elders.
• Liu Si accused Xiao Chen of acting viciously and threatened him with Black Kill Hall's future revenge.
• Xiao Chen told Liu Si to fight him now and issued a challenge to him.

Xiao Chen faced Liu Si on the Dragon Transformation Arena despite warnings from the hall masters and Liu Si’s brother, Liu Wu. He unleashed the Ascension-to-Immortality Swordplay and soared into the sky, leaving the watching experts stunned as his attack began.

• The hall masters debated recruiting Xiao Chen and worried Liu Si might kill him, while Wu Qinglong expected Xiao Chen to cause a sensation.
• Xiao Chen declared that one sword would kill Liu Si, and Liu Si accepted the challenge.
• Liu Wu arrived, warned Liu Si to leave because of a foretold deadly calamity, but Liu Si jumped onto the Dragon Transformation Arena anyway.
• Xiao Chen announced the Ascension-to-Immortality Swordplay, vanished in a streak of purple light, and sent Sword Qi tearing through the clouds and sky.
• The hall masters watched in shock as Xiao Chen rose into the nine heavens despite not having reached the Grandmaster Realm.

Xiao Chen killed Liu Si with one sword and challenged Liu Wu, revealing his ambition to become a True Disciple. News of his feats spread through the Sacred-Wheel Zone, where Tai Xu Hall figures learned he was cursed and abandoned plans to recruit him.

• Xiao Chen killed Liu Si with a single sword, and Liu Si died after telling Liu Wu not to seek revenge.
• Liu Wu mourned his brother, revealed his eighth-level Martial General cultivation and superior-grade Martial Core, then confronted Xiao Chen.
• Xiao Chen challenged Liu Wu and confirmed that he wanted to advance to True Disciple.
• News of Xiao Chen’s performance spread through the Sacred-Wheel Zone, but Tai Xu Hall figures withdrew their interest after learning he bore the Ten Thousand Calamities Curse.
• A young man in Golden Armor told Fire Phoenix about Xiao Chen’s fight and invited her to watch.

Huang Yelang, the Tai Xu Sect’s Holy Son, arrived at the Dragon Transformation Arena with Fire Phoenix to watch Xiao Chen fight Liu Wu. The chapter left the crowd stunned when Fire Phoenix urged Xiao Chen to leave the arena, revealing that she knew him, while Liu Wu called her Huang Yelang’s fiancée.

• Huang Yelang and Fire Phoenix arrived at the Dragon Transformation Arena, where disciples and hall masters greeted the Holy Son with awe.
• Huang Yelang recognized Wu Qinglong and watched Xiao Chen face Liu Wu; Xiao Chen judged Huang Yelang far stronger than himself and resolved to gather the Dual Core.
• Fire Phoenix recognized Xiao Chen, and Huang Yelang asked about their connection; she said they had met once but were not close.
• After learning Xiao Chen had killed Liu Si, Huang Yelang predicted that Liu Wu would retaliate with all his strength, while Fire Phoenix questioned why Xiao Chen had killed someone.
• Fire Phoenix told Xiao Chen to leave the arena and warned him against forcing what was beyond his reach, stunning the crowd; Liu Wu declared that she was Huang Yelang’s fiancée.

Xiao Chen declared his ambition to defeat Liu Wu and rise to the top, but the Ten Thousand Calamities Curse suddenly flared and left him unable to fight. Liu Wu attacked with his Dark Extinction Slash as Xiao Chen stood defenseless, and the chapter ended as a startling scene began to unfold.

• Xiao Chen proclaimed that he would defeat Liu Wu and tread the sun, moon, and stars beneath his feet, stunning the crowd and impressing Fire Phoenix.
• The Calamity Mark on Xiao Chen's chest erupted with black qi, and the Evil Curse's backlash sealed his blood qi and martial essence.
• Niu Feng and Gu Lanlan urged Xiao Chen to surrender, while Wu Qinglong and others recognized that the curse had put him in grave danger.
• Liu Wu drew his saber and unleashed the Dark Extinction Slash, intending to destroy Xiao Chen's body and soul.
• As Liu Wu's attack descended toward the helpless Xiao Chen, a startling scene unfolded.

Xiao Chen called upon the Star God while Liu Wu was about to kill him, and the stars answered by crushing Liu Wu. The daylight returned, leaving Xiao Chen to wonder why the Star God had helped him so powerfully.

• Xiao Chen tried to summon starlight with Starlight Fist, but Liu Wu's black mist destroyed the weak radiance.
• The Star God answered Xiao Chen, turning the daytime sky into night and sending a star crashing into Liu Wu's attack.
• The star overcame Liu Wu's blood tide and beastly phantom, sending Liu Wu flying and stunning the arena spectators.
• Liu Wu angrily challenged the Star God, which responded by sending countless stars down upon him.
• The stars annihilated Liu Wu without harming anything else, then vanished as daylight returned and Xiao Chen partially recovered from the Evil Curse.
• Xiao Chen asked Lord Yellow why the Star God had helped him so much.

After Xiao Chen’s victory drew the Tai Xu Sect’s elders, they debated his talent and whether he deserved a chance to enter the Dao Heaven Sacred Pool. Sect Master Zhao Changhe offered to take him as a disciple, but warned the pool’s divine liquid might run out after Huang Yelang and Fire Phoenix’s baptisms; Xiao Chen said he had to enter within a year.

• Qiongqi admitted he feared the Star God Hall and could not explain Xiao Chen’s origins.
• Tai Xu Sect elders praised Xiao Chen’s talent, while Black Kill Hall allies condemned him for killing three people and opposed giving him access to the Dao Heaven Sacred Pool.
• Wu Qinglong argued that Xiao Chen should be allowed to undergo the pool’s baptism to cleanse his Evil Curse, but others insisted the opportunity belonged to Huang Yelang, a Dual Core warrior.
• Zhao Changhe arrived, praised Xiao Chen’s physique and swordsmanship, and asked him to become his disciple.
• Xiao Chen agreed to consider becoming Zhao Changhe’s disciple only if he could enter the Dao Heaven Sacred Pool; Zhao Changhe said the remaining divine liquid might run out after Huang Yelang and Fire Phoenix’s baptisms.
• Xiao Chen told Zhao Changhe that he had a reason he absolutely needed to enter the pool within one year.

After learning that Xiao Chen bore the Ten Thousand Calamities Curse, Zhao Changhe refused to give him a Dao Heaven Sacred Pool spot directly. Huang Yelang agreed to a challenge within one year, but Xiao Chen was left without a hall willing to take him in.

• Xiao Chen explained how he had acquired the Ten Thousand Calamities Curse, and Zhao Changhe confirmed the mark and said he could not give Xiao Chen a spot in the Dao Heaven Sacred Pool.
• Huang Yelang offered to compete fairly with Xiao Chen, and Zhao Changhe ruled that whoever won their challenge within one year would receive the Sacred Pool qualification.
• Zhao Changhe left without accepting Xiao Chen as his disciple, while Huang Yelang and Fire Phoenix departed the Dragon Transformation Arena.
• Hall masters selected Qing Yumei, Niu Feng, and other disciples, but none chose Xiao Chen because they believed he would lose to Huang Yelang and die.
• Xiao Chen vowed that everyone would regret underestimating him, and Zhang Zhishi asked the hall masters to select him, but no one responded.

Xiao Chen was accepted by Wu Qinglong as the Sword King Hall’s second True Disciple after the other halls rejected him. He settled into his new status amid suspicion from the disciples, while First Senior Brother Zhu Yijian learned that the hall had gained a new True Disciple.

• Wu Qinglong intervened before Zhang Zhishi could announce Xiao Chen’s rejection and accepted him as his second True Disciple after hearing his resolve to defeat Huang Yelang within a year.
• Wu Qinglong brought Xiao Chen to the Sword King Hall and introduced him to its disciples as their Second Senior Brother, but they suspected he had entered through connections.
• Liu Zhishi arrived to process Xiao Chen’s admission, trembled with fear when he saw him, and gave him his jade token and True Disciple benefits.
• Xiao Chen collected his monthly spirit stones and Tai Xu Pills and headed to the Blazing-Sun Zone to choose an independent palace as rumors and complaints about him spread through the Sword King Hall.
• A disciple told Zhu Yijian that Wu Qinglong had accepted another True Disciple, and Zhu Yijian wondered what peerless talent the new disciple possessed.

Zhu Yijian learned that Xiao Chen was Wu Qinglong’s new disciple and suspected his master was betting Sword King Hall’s future on him despite his deadly curse and challenge against Huang Yelang. Xiao Chen settled into a True Disciple’s palace and went to the Ancient Texts Hall to search for knowledge about condensing a Dual Core.

• Zhu Yijian heard the conflicting accounts of Xiao Chen’s feats, believed the more extraordinary version, and grew angry that Wu Qinglong had taken him on despite his Ten Thousand Calamities Curse.
• Zhu Yijian suspected Wu Qinglong was staking Sword King Hall on Xiao Chen’s chance to challenge Huang Yelang, then decided he must make other plans.
• Xiao Chen chose a palace in the southern Blazing-Sun Zone and discovered that its Spirit Gathering Arrays greatly accelerated cultivation.
• Xiao Chen decided to search the Ancient Texts Hall for records on Dual Core so he could prepare to defeat Huang Yelang within a year.
• The Ancient Texts Hall’s old man recognized Xiao Chen’s jade token and was astonished that Xiao Chen had risen from attendant to True Disciple in half a month.

Xiao Chen searched the Martial Core Section for records on condensing a dual core and obtained half of Bian Shantian’s notes. The notes revealed a possible method involving the Big Dipper Constellation, but ended just as Bian Shantian was about to explain it, while Xiao Chen wondered how he could acquire the missing half at an auction in Archaic City.

• Xiao Chen searched through the Martial Core Section’s ancient books for information about dual cores, but found none after hours of reading.
• The old man confronted Xiao Chen about his intention to condense a dual core and warned him that the attempt would be fatal for someone from the mundane world.
• The old man gave Xiao Chen half of a beast-hide manuscript, explaining that the other half had been separated and was likely still in Archaic City.
• Xiao Chen recognized the manuscript as Bian Shantian’s notes and read that Bian had failed 182 attempts before discovering a possible method involving the Big Dipper Constellation.
• Xiao Chen found that the notes ended at the crucial moment and realized he would need to seek the missing half, possibly at the upcoming Archaic City auction.

Xiao Chen went to Archaic City to acquire Bian Shantian's handwritten notes, hoping to learn how to condense a Dual Core. He learned the notes would not be auctioned because the Bian Family had already found a buyer, and he asked who had bought them.

• Xiao Chen left the library frustrated after spending most of his merit points, then resolved to travel to Archaic City for Bian Shantian's notes.
• Xiao Chen flew to Archaic City aboard a Flying Demon Ship and went to the Archaic Auction House.
• Old Liu respectfully welcomed Xiao Chen after sensing his half-step Sword General cultivation.
• Xiao Chen learned the Bian Family wanted at least ten thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones for the notes, far more than he could raise by selling his Longevity Blossom.
• Old Liu told Xiao Chen that the Bian Family had already found a buyer and would not send the notes to the auction, and Xiao Chen demanded to know who the buyer was.

Xiao Chen went to the Bian residence to obtain the second half of Bian Shantian’s manuscript and found Demon God Hall members violently forcing the Bian Family to surrender it. He rescued the family and revealed his identity, but the cloaked figures refused to hand over the manuscript because a powerful figure in Demon God Hall wanted it.

• Old Liu warned Xiao Chen that the manuscript’s buyers were powerful General Realm cultivators, but Xiao Chen insisted on going to the Bian residence.
• Xiao Chen sensed demonic aura at the Bian residence and overheard three blood-cloaked Demon Generals threatening the Bian Family over the manuscript.
• When one Demon General attacked Xiao Can, Xiao Chen appeared and sent the attacker flying with a punch.
• Xiao Chen demanded the half manuscript, then used a sword strike to subdue a Demon General when the cloaked figures refused.
• Xiao Chen identified himself as Tai Xu Sect’s True Disciple and Sword Demon, prompting the cloaked figures to apologize and back down.
• The cloaked figures refused to give Xiao Chen the manuscript, saying a great figure of Demon God Hall wanted it and they would be killed if they surrendered it.

Xiao Chen recovered the latter half of Bian Shantian’s notes and returned to the Tai Xu Sect to attempt a Dual Core breakthrough. The notes revealed how taiji could let opposing Martial Core energies coexist, and Xiao Chen prepared to test the method with his Sword Core and Body Core.

• Xiao Chen killed one cloaked figure, took the ancient book from the other two, and forced them to pay the Bian Family elder ten thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones.
• The two surviving Demon Generals fled Archaic City and discussed how the Demon Race’s Mountain Lord would lead its prodigies to challenge the Tai Xu Sect in one month.
• Xiao Chen returned to the Tai Xu Sect, entered his palace’s sealed secret chamber, and began secluded cultivation.
• Xiao Chen read Bian Shantian’s notes and learned that taiji intent could help opposing energies coexist when forming Dual Core.
• Xiao Chen decided to shape embryonic Sword Core and Body Core and test the taiji method.

Xiao Chen successfully formed a Dual Core by balancing his Body Core and Sword Core, which took the forms of a yellow fish and a battered purple sword. Qiongqi identified them as manifestations of Kunpeng and the Extinction Dao Sword, leaving Xiao Chen shocked by their origins.

• Xiao Chen used a Taiji diagram to harmonize the clashing energies of his Body Core and Sword Core.
• Xiao Chen visualized the two seeds until they formed a xuanhuang fish and a battered purple sword engraved with the characters Dao Annihilation.
• Qiongqi recognized the cores as manifestations of Kunpeng and the Extinction Dao Sword and marveled at their terrifying origins.
• Xiao Chen complained that the cores looked unimpressive, and Qiongqi rebuked him for failing to appreciate his good fortune.
• Xiao Chen asked Qiongqi about the yellow fish, and Qiongqi identified it as Kunpeng's true form.

After breaking through to the General Realm, Xiao Chen discovered that his Martial Cores were extraordinary and his body had grown stronger. He went to Sword King Hall seeking a Five-Colored Spirit Fruit, but learned the Demon Race would challenge Tai Xu Sect a month early, bringing three Young Grandmasters.

• Qiongqi told Xiao Chen that his yellow Martial Core was Kunpeng and that his broken sword had an even more terrifying origin.
• Xiao Chen examined how his Martial Cores’ radiant clouds nourished his body and strengthened his organs and flesh.
• Xiao Chen decided to seek a Supreme Five-Colored Spirit Fruit from Wu Qinglong and went to Sword King Hall.
• A Sword King Hall disciple told Xiao Chen the Demon Race would arrive a month early to challenge Tai Xu Sect with three peerless Demon Race prodigies at the Demon Sect Leader level.
• The disciple warned that Tai Xu Sect had lost for a hundred years and that defeat would lead to a city’s people being sacrificed and a hundred prodigies handed over as blood food.

Xiao Chen reached the General Realm and received the Supreme Five-Colored Spirit Fruit Wu Qinglong had reserved for him, angering Zhu Yijian. In a secret chamber, Wu Qinglong examined Xiao Chen’s Martial Core and discovered the broken-looking Dao Annihilation Sword held a terrifying power, while Xiao Chen kept his second core hidden and asked where to find another fruit.

• Xiao Chen searched for Wu Qinglong and found Zhu Yijian asking unsuccessfully for the Supreme Five-Colored Spirit Fruit.
• Wu Qinglong gave the fruit to Xiao Chen, and Zhu Yijian left with hatred toward him.
• Xiao Chen showed Wu Qinglong his Martial Core in a secret chamber, where the Dao Annihilation Sword revealed a vision of its overwhelming power.
• Xiao Chen concealed his second Martial Core and asked Wu Qinglong where he could find another Supreme Five-Colored Spirit Fruit.

Xiao Chen learned that Wu Qinglong had little hope of avenging his daughter against the Demon Race, then went to Strength Barbarian Hall to ask Niu Feng about the Supreme Five-Colored Spirit Fruit. He discovered Niu Feng was being beaten by an inner sect disciple and set out to intervene.

• Wu Qinglong told Xiao Chen that the sect had no Supreme Five-Colored Spirit Fruit left, then privately lamented that Xiao Chen might not be strong enough to avenge his daughter, Wu Qingqing, by killing Xue Can.
• Xiao Chen recalled that Niu Feng was well informed and went to Strength Barbarian Hall to ask him about the fruit.
• A disciple told Xiao Chen that Niu Feng had grown close to a female disciple, whose older brother opposed the match and insulted Niu Feng's parents.
• The older brother challenged Niu Feng to a contest that was really a beating, and Xiao Chen demanded to know where Niu Feng was so he could help him.

Xiao Chen rushed to the Strength Barbarian Hall after learning Zhou Gang was beating Niu Feng, then defeated Zhou Gang and revealed his identity as a True Disciple of Sword King Hall. The hall elder confronted him but changed expression when Xiao Chen showed his identity jade token.

• Xiao Chen heard Zhou Gang beating Niu Feng and rushed into the side hall to save him.
• Niu Feng told Xiao Chen to punish Zhou Gang enough to keep him bedridden for half a month, despite Zhou Li being Zhou Gang's sister.
• Xiao Chen overwhelmed Zhou Gang with a series of attacks, leaving him bruised and unable to fight back.
• Xiao Chen and Niu Feng prepared to leave after Niu Feng said the beating was enough.
• An elder confronted Xiao Chen for injuring someone in Strength Barbarian Hall, and Xiao Chen showed his True Disciple identity token.