Chapter Summaries

Xie Xuanyi reunited with Deng Baiyi in Glow City, where Junshan Zhenren urged him to spare Li Chen and prevent conflict between the Daoist sects and the Great Grain Sword Palace. On Tai Ridge, Miao Zhen confronted Special Enforcement Envoy Copper Bone after Copper Bone tried to detain the sect delegations, and struck at him with the Singing Sand Staff.

• Junshan Zhenren brought Xie Xuanyi to meet Deng Baiyi in a tavern in Glow City.
• Junshan Zhenren warned that Xie Xuanyi could kill Li Chen and asked him to avoid turning the conflict into a war between the Daoist sects and the Great Grain Sword Palace.
• Xie Xuanyi said he would spare Li Chen if Junshan Zhenren could make him abandon his killing intent, and Junshan Zhenren insisted that Li Chen would do so.
• After the barrier on Tai Ridge fell, Copper Bone tried to detain the surviving Daoist and Buddhist delegations while investigating the deaths of the Southern Borderlands envoys.
• Miao Zhen arrived, questioned Copper Bone about detaining the delegations, and attacked him with the Singing Sand Staff.

Xie Xuanyi, Deng Baiyi, and Junshan Zhenren discussed the coming Demon Suppression campaign and the contest for fortune between the Daoist sect and Brahma Sound Temple. Junshan revealed that Miao Zhen would soon preach at Great Salvation Temple and asked Xie Xuanyi to fight him, leaving Xie to recognize that Junshan had been trying to recruit him all along.

• Xie Xuanyi and Junshan Zhenren reached an understanding that Junshan would settle Li Chen and their Northern Hunt grievances would be put aside.
• Junshan Zhenren explained to Deng Baiyi why the Great Chu imperial clan and the major sects avoided the dangerous Southern Borderlands, despite plans for a Demon Suppression campaign.
• Junshan Zhenren said Miao Zhen and the Brahma Sound Temple delegation would arrive at Great Salvation Temple to preach, giving Miao Zhen a chance to claim Great Chu's fortune.
• Junshan Zhenren admitted he had about a thirty percent chance of defeating Miao Zhen because Miao had reincarnated earlier and retained powerful abilities from his past life.
• Junshan Zhenren offered to teach Xie Xuanyi Jade Purity Sanctuary's sword arts if Xie fought Miao Zhen and won fortune for the Great Grain Sword Palace.

Xie Xuanyi negotiated with Junshan over Miao Zhen’s challenge and a possible journey to Li State, then reunited with Deng Baiyi at Glow Lake. Their conversation showed how much Deng Baiyi had advanced and how Xie Xuanyi’s outlook had changed; the chapter left them together at dawn, with Xie Xuanyi recognizing his renewed vitality.

• Xie Xuanyi told Junshan he wanted to duel Miao Zhen but would not take on the challenge at Great Salvation Temple without conditions.
• Xie Xuanyi offered to accompany Junshan to Li State, and Junshan considered joining him as the Great Chu escort for Miao Zhen’s delegation.
• Junshan departed before dawn and left Deng Baiyi behind to spend time with Xie Xuanyi.
• Deng Baiyi told Xie Xuanyi she could control a sword with talismans, and he praised her progress after only a few months of cultivation.
• Deng Baiyi observed that Xie Xuanyi seemed different, and he recognized his smile and growing openness to the world around him.

After the deaths of the Southern Borderlands delegation drew little public attention, Xie Xuanyi returned to Chen Estate and learned how the crisis at Tai Ridge had ended. He agreed to shelter Deng Baiyi amid rumors that Tang Fengshu had been confined in the Daoist sect’s Back Mountain, then traded teasing remarks with Huang Su about marriage and unofficial rumors.

• Duan Zhao complained that Xie Xuanyi had left him behind at Tai Ridge, while Huang Su explained that Copper Bone had tried to detain the cultivators and was now recovering from Miao Zhen’s staff strike.
• Xie Xuanyi told Huang Su that Junshan had spoken with him and explained why Junshan had not fought him over the old grievances.
• Huang Su welcomed Deng Baiyi and invited her to visit Lotus Peak, while Xie Xuanyi arranged for Duan Zhao to take her to a guest room at Chen Estate.
• Xie Xuanyi and Huang Su discussed rumors that Tang Fengshu had been confined in the Back Mountain by Grandmaster Chongkan, and Xie Xuanyi wondered whether Chen Jingxuan’s recent troubles were connected.
• Huang Su teased Xie Xuanyi about marrying Tang Fengshu, and he countered by asking when she planned to marry before she cursed and flew away.

Xie Xuanyi stayed out of Great Salvation Temple’s contests, drinking tea while he waited to study Miao Zhen and choose the right moment to challenge him. After Miao Zhen defeated every challenger for seven days, the Brahma Sound Temple delegation announced that he would face only Grotto-Heaven Perfection opponents on the final day and would count as defeated if anyone broke his Golden Body within three moves.

• Xie Xuanyi told Junshan that he would challenge Miao Zhen only after observing him, and Junshan agreed not to rush him.
• Xie Xuanyi spent his days at a teahouse with Deng Baiyi while the Lin Estate case resumed its investigation and the Northern Prefecture youths apologized to him.
• Miao Zhen defeated Wu Yue on the second day and a Qin Household expert on the third day, then continued winning against Great Chu challengers in ten moves or fewer.
• The Brahma Sound Temple delegation announced that on the final day Miao Zhen would accept challenges only from Grotto-Heaven Perfection opponents and would use only his Golden Body.
• The delegation declared that Miao Zhen would lose if an opponent broke his Golden Body within three moves.

Qi Lie delivered Zhao Tongtian’s Golden Box to Yan Xin and learned that the fortune inside was meant to help investigate whether the Lotus Revered One’s soul sense remained in the world. Yan Xin invited Qi Lie to witness the Celestial Globe’s divination, leaving him to decide whether to see the result.

• Qi Lie brought the Golden Box from the Great Grain Sword Palace to Yan Xin in the Imperial City and asked him to inspect it.
• Yan Xin explained that the fortune from the holy lands sustained the Celestial Globe, which required fortune or flesh and blood to use its Heaven Monitoring arts.
• Yan Xin revealed that Zhao Tongtian had privately sent extra fortune so Yan Xin could investigate the Lotus Revered One’s whereabouts.
• Yan Xin suggested that the Lotus Revered One might have survived through reincarnation or the Annihilation Chapter, comparing her disappearance to Xie Xuanyi’s fall into the North Sea.
• Yan Xin told Qi Lie that the accumulated Golden Boxes were sufficient to search for the Lotus Revered One’s soul sense and asked him to witness the divination on Zhao Tongtian’s behalf.

Qi Lie learned that Miao Zhen intended to retrieve Tanluan’s Buddha bone, while Yan Xin urged him to look beyond the public matches at Great Salvation Temple. On the final day of the preaching, Miao Zhen drew a huge crowd by daring Great Chu’s young cultivators to break his golden body, but the temple’s formation blocked their way in.

• Qi Lie declined Yan Xin’s proposal concerning Zhao Tongtian, then discussed Great Grain Sword Palace’s fortunes and Miao Zhen’s reincarnation with him.
• Yan Xin explained that Miao Zhen sought to retrieve Tanluan’s Buddha bone from Great Salvation Temple and told Qi Lie to look farther than the public matches.
• At Great Salvation Temple, Miao Zhen’s novice attendant worried that his challenge would damage Brahma Sound Temple’s reputation, but Miao Zhen said bringing the Buddha bone back to Li State mattered most.
• Wu Yue and a large crowd gathered to challenge Miao Zhen after he promised to defend his golden body and accept defeat if it was broken in three moves.
• Great Salvation Temple’s abbot barred the crowd with a golden formation and announced that challengers had to find a way to break through and enter.

The Golden Light Array barred challengers from Great Salvation Temple until Shang Yi revealed its weak points, allowing several powerful figures to enter and face Miao Zhen. As Great Salvation Temple’s fortune gathered beneath darkening skies, Xie Xuanyi finally decided to go see Miao Zhen.

• The Great Salvation Temple abbot demonstrated that the Golden Light Array repelled brute force, then let a broadsword-wielding Rogue Cultivator enter, only for him to be defeated and thrown back outside by Miao Zhen.
• Yuwen Zhong arrived and prepared to challenge Miao Zhen, while Shang Yi identified the array’s eight weak points and entered the temple by breaking through its barrier directly.
• More than a dozen challengers entered through the revealed weak points, but Wu Yue waited for Xie Zhen, believing he would arrive on the final day.
• At the teahouse, Xie Xuanyi watched the golden light around the Buddhist pagoda grow brighter as Great Salvation Temple accumulated fortune, while Junshan Zhenren and the others discussed the challenges.
• Xie Xuanyi rose and asked whether the others wanted to come with him to see Miao Zhen.

Xie Xuanyi broke Great Salvation Temple’s Golden Light Array with the Principle of Annihilation and entered with Deng Baiyi and Duan Zhao. As they climbed the mountain, they sensed the temple’s fortune gathering and learned that Miao Zhen was waiting for Xie Xuanyi at the summit.

• Wu Yue waited for Xie Zhen, who arrived at Great Salvation Temple with Deng Baiyi and Duan Zhao.
• Fayan used prayer beads to seal the Golden Light Array’s apparent weak points, while Xie Xuanyi explained that they were traps.
• Xie Xuanyi pierced the array and Fayan’s prayer beads with a thread of black sword intent, revealing that he had comprehended the Principle of Annihilation.
• Fayan let Xie Xuanyi, Deng Baiyi, and Duan Zhao enter, then rebuilt the array with its weak points exposed for the other visitors.
• Xie Xuanyi told Deng Baiyi and Duan Zhao that Miao Zhen was waiting for him, and showed them through the Mountain-Viewing Lantern that Great Salvation Temple’s fortune was gathering.

Xie Xuanyi discovered that Great Salvation Temple’s mountain path separated invited guests from challengers under the temple’s rules, while Deng Baiyi and Duan Zhao continued toward the summit. The chapter ended with Xie Xuanyi alone on the path as challengers appeared and Brahma chants rose from the bamboo grove.

• Atop the Golden Body Pagoda, Miao Zhen told Mi Yun to discuss the scriptures with whoever reached him, while Mi Yun prepared to guard the way and debate the Dao.
• Xie Xuanyi, Deng Baiyi, and Duan Zhao realized they had been walking in circles and found that the mountain path had no visible array patterns.
• Xie Xuanyi explained that the temple’s rules treated Deng Baiyi and Duan Zhao as invited guests, while he was an uninvited challenger, so they separated and the two continued toward the summit.
• Deng Baiyi and Duan Zhao reached the mountaintop after only a few steps, and Duan Zhao teased Deng Baiyi by calling her his Shifu’s wife.
• Xie Xuanyi remained alone on the path as hazy figures appeared and Brahma chants sounded through the bamboo grove.

Deng Baiyi and Duan Zhao learned that Great Salvation Temple’s challengers had been tested by Red Mountain’s Brahma Sound Forest, while Xie Xuanyi remained on the mountain path. Xie Xuanyi realized that the temple and its trials existed within a complete Buddhist Kingdom and questioned whether Fali could measure his consciousness.

• Duan Zhao and Deng Baiyi met Northern Prefecture disciples on Red Mountain and learned that Fali sent challengers who failed the Brahma Sound Forest to the summit by a second route.
• Lin Yu emerged from a gate after failing the forest, and Fali advised him to pause and reflect; Fali said Lin Yu’s senior brother Wu had already reached the Grotto-Heaven realm’s perfection.
• Duan Zhao asked Fali where Xie Zhen was and learned that he remained halfway up Red Mountain; Fali revealed that three people had passed the Bronze Guardian Wall, but none had met the Buddhist Son.
• Fali recognized Duan Zhao’s Wind-Thunder Bracelet as belonging to a descendant of Forgetful Worry Island, while Xie Xuanyi spoke to him from the mountain path.
• Xie Xuanyi deduced that Great Salvation Temple had become a complete Buddhist Kingdom whose laws created Red Mountain’s trials, then challenged Fali’s ability to measure his sea of consciousness.

Xie Xuanyi entered Brahma Sound Forest and let Fali examine his Divine Sea, while Qi Lie asked Chen Jingxuan to use the Celestial Globe to learn whether Xie Xuanyi survived the North Sea. Fali’s attempt to look into Xie Xuanyi’s past ended with him blinded and injured.

• Fali challenged Xie Xuanyi to enter Brahma Sound Forest and measure his Divine Sea.
• Qi Lie asked Chen Jingxuan whether the Celestial Globe could find Xie Xuanyi and learned that his fate lay beyond its reach.
• Chen Jingxuan showed Qi Lie the Celestial Globe’s image of Xie Xuanyi’s broken sword sinking into the North Sea, and Qi Lie reached for it.
• Xie Xuanyi crossed Brahma Sound Forest by using a bamboo branch to deflect the Sanskrit characters and presented it to Fali.
• Fali seized the branch and invaded Xie Xuanyi’s consciousness, but saw only blankness before blood streamed from his eyes and he fell into the mud.

Qi Lie failed to use the Celestial Globe to uncover Xie Xuanyi’s fate, while Fali went blind after probing it in Brahma Sound Forest. Xie Xuanyi reached the Bronze Guardian Wall and destroyed its array, leaving the way to the Golden Body Pagoda open.

• Qi Lie’s Heaven’s Mandate Golden Threads shattered when he tried to see what had happened to Xie Xuanyi in the North Sea, and Chen Jingxuan warned him that Xie Xuanyi’s fate could not be viewed directly.
• Fali went blind after attempting to pry into Xie Xuanyi’s fate, and he told Fayan not to blame Xie Xuanyi before urging him to continue toward the Bronze Guardian Wall.
• Xie Xuanyi realized that an influence from the Buddhist realm had pushed Fali into the incident, then left Brahma Sound Forest and found Shang Yi and Wu Yue outside the next trial.
• Wu Yue was thrown out of the Bronze Guardian Wall after failing his challenge, and Xie Xuanyi entered the temple in anger.
• Xie Xuanyi hurled the eighteen Vajra Arhats out of the temple one after another, dismantling the Bronze Guardian Wall and clearing the path to the Golden Body Pagoda.

Xie Xuanyi reached Great Salvation Temple’s final trial, the Entwining Fate Sea, where Mi Yun tested visitors through scripture debate and karma-bound golden threads. As Mi Yun asked Xie Xuanyi what fate was, Xie Xuanyi raised his head and looked toward him.

• Xie Zhen demolished the Bronze Guardian Wall, allowing the waiting cultivators to enter the temple and continue toward the Golden Body Pagoda.
• Mi Yun explained that Yuwen Zhong and two other cultivators could not cross the Entwining Fate Sea, which had originally been prepared to test Junshan Zhenren.
• Mi Yun revealed that Miao Zhen was waiting for Xie Zhen, whose arrival he anticipated because he sensed their fates were intertwined.
• Xie Xuanyi entered the Entwining Fate Sea and sensed its sharp golden threads, while Mi Yun warned him not to move rashly.
• Mi Yun asked Xie Xuanyi, “What is fate?” and Xie Xuanyi raised his head to look toward him after the question echoed across the sea.

Xie Xuanyi forced his way through Mi Yun’s Entwining Fate Sea with a devastating sword strike, then stopped before killing the young monk. Mi Yun recognized Xie Xuanyi as the man who had saved him in the Southern Borderlands, repaid his debt of gratitude, and opened the way to the Golden Body Pagoda.

• Xie Xuanyi used the Principle of Annihilation to cut through the golden threads of the Entwining Fate Sea and advanced toward Mi Yun.
• Xie Xuanyi repaired the sealed world around two trapped Great Chu royal retainers, then continued toward the sea’s exit.
• Xie Xuanyi unleashed a massive sword that shattered the Entwining Fate Sea and broke the threads binding Yuwen Zhong.
• Xie Xuanyi stopped his sword above Mi Yun, who revealed that he recognized Xie Xuanyi as the man who had saved him in the Southern Borderlands.
• Mi Yun bowed to repay his debt of gratitude and opened a golden gate allowing Xie Xuanyi to enter the Golden Body Pagoda.

Xie Xuanyi reached the summit of the Golden Body Pagoda to face Miao Zhen, while Junshan worried that Miao Zhen’s accumulated Buddhist fortune would make his Golden Body impossible to break in three moves. Xie Xuanyi rejected the agreed terms and declared that one sword strike would break the Golden Body, demanding that Miao Zhen do something for him if he succeeded.

• Mi Yun welcomed Xie Xuanyi into the Golden Body Pagoda, and the Entwining Fate Sea healed beneath the Buddhist kingdom’s golden light.
• Junshan told Yan Xin he feared Xie Xuanyi would lose because Miao Zhen’s Golden Body had grown stronger through seven days of preaching.
• Yan Xin praised Xie Xuanyi’s swordsmanship and encouraged Junshan to travel to Li State, while privately lamenting that his own remaining time was short.
• As Xie Xuanyi climbed the pagoda, Miao Zhen allowed the cultivators gathered at Great Salvation Temple to watch their confrontation.
• Xie Xuanyi met Miao Zhen at the summit, rejected the three-move challenge, and claimed one sword strike would break his Golden Body in exchange for a favor.

Xie Xuanyi accepted Miao Zhen’s challenge to break his perfected golden body with one sword, while spectators across Great Chu watched in suspense. After revealing his mastery of the Principles of Life and Annihilation, Xie Xuanyi struck Miao Zhen with Chronic Ailment, leaving the monk wounded as the Golden Body Pagoda’s connection to the outside remained severed.

• Xie Xuanyi challenged Miao Zhen to let him break the golden body with one sword, and Miao Zhen agreed, staking an apology, a favor, and a turn of service against Xie’s failure.
• Spectators across Great Chu watched the duel, while Duan Zhao and Deng Baiyi admitted they did not know how Xie Xuanyi planned to win.
• Xie Xuanyi gathered sword intent for hundreds of breaths as Miao Zhen waited, then Miao Zhen struck with his staff and sealed the Golden Body Pagoda from the outside world.
• Miao Zhen offered Xie Xuanyi some of the fortune earned by the Brahma Sound Temple delegation, but Xie refused and revealed that his Sword Qi Grotto-Heaven contained the Principles of both Life and Annihilation.
• Xie Xuanyi drew Chronic Ailment and launched a sword strike that split Miao Zhen’s Buddhist defenses, tore his robes, and wounded his shoulder.

Xie Xuanyi defeated Miao Zhen by breaking his golden body with a sword formed from the Principles of Annihilation and Life. Miao Zhen then revealed that Brahma Sound Temple had gathered fortune to summon Buddha bones, and Xie Xuanyi realized the duel had helped build the momentum for that purpose.

• Xie Xuanyi pierced Miao Zhen’s golden body with a sword strike, leaving Miao Zhen’s right arm disabled and winning their contest.
• Miao Zhen forced the Principle of Annihilation from his wound, acknowledged his defeat, and offered Xie Xuanyi an apology and a request.
• On Red Mountain, Mi Yun said he hoped Xie Zhen would win, and the gathered fortune around the Golden Body Pagoda continued to intensify.
• Xie Xuanyi questioned Miao Zhen’s motives and concluded that Brahma Sound Temple had gathered fortune for someone other than itself or the Li Kingdom.
• Miao Zhen confirmed Xie Xuanyi’s deduction as Buddhist light and fortune gathered atop the pagoda to form a broken skeletal torso of Buddha bones.

Xie Xuanyi learned that Miao Zhen sought to gather luck so Holy Monk Tanluan’s lingering divine consciousness could live again through Mi Yun. After Miao Zhen recognized Xie Xuanyi’s identity and warned that his growing fame could expose him, Xie Xuanyi accepted that he could not escape the causes and consequences surrounding his second life.

• Miao Zhen explained that Tanluan’s Buddha bones could absorb luck and that the westward delegation intended for Mi Yun to absorb the holy monk’s remaining divine consciousness.
• Miao Zhen said Mi Yun had awakened a strand of divine consciousness and had begun to comprehend karma, which he connected to Tanluan’s legacy.
• Xie Xuanyi considered how reincarnation could resemble possession, leaving him uncertain whether a reincarnated person was truly the same person as before.
• Miao Zhen recognized Xie Xuanyi as the man who had thrown himself into the North Sea and praised his mastery of the Annihilation Chapter.
• Miao Zhen released Xie Xuanyi from their agreement and warned that the battle’s fame could soon expose his identity.
• Xie Xuanyi accepted that he could not avoid the world’s causes and consequences, and Miao Zhen urged him to follow his Dao without fear.

In the Golden Body Pagoda, Miao Zhen explained that Buddhism needed the Buddha bone to awaken Mi Yun as a second reincarnator and revealed Brahma Sound Temple’s perilous situation in Great Li. He asked Xie Xuanyi to escort the delegation west and ally with Buddhism, offering to help him confront his enemies once they left Chu.

• Miao Zhen explained that Mi Yun needed the spiritual essence in Tanluan’s Buddha bone to become a powerful reincarnator, and that the summit-climber’s fortune had helped draw it out.
• Miao Zhen revealed that Brahma Sound Temple faced mounting pressure from Nalan Xuance and Chen Chong while the Chan Master grew old, prompting the temple’s urgent westward mission.
• Miao Zhen asked Xie Xuanyi to escort the delegation back to Great Li and join Buddhism, while Xie Xuanyi realized the escort task had already been arranged through Chen Jingxuan.
• Miao Zhen offered Brahma Sound Temple’s protection and promised to fight alongside Xie Xuanyi against his hidden enemies after they left Chu.
• Miao Zhen declared that his offer was his sincerity, as Buddhist script around the pagoda rippled with killing intent.