Chapter Summaries

Xu Yan explained True Martial Dao to Seven Stars Academy’s Martial Scholars, leaving them shaken by how their own cultivation compared. He left for Seven Stars City to refine his True Qi and, after meeting Leng Qiu, secured a secluded courtyard belonging to Sword Venerate Cliff.

• Xu Yan listened to the Martial Scholars describe Inner Domain cultivation and recognized that their system lacked the deeper foundations of True Martial Dao.
• Xu Yan taught the Martial Scholars about Skin Tempering, Bone Refining, Organ Refining, the Qi and Blood Realm, and the Innate Realm; their discussion left them questioning their own Martial Dao.
• Xu Yan left Seven Stars Academy, where crowds mistook him for Xie Lingfeng, and headed toward Seven Stars City to complete the separation of his True Qi.
• Leng Qiu of Sword Venerate Cliff confronted Xu Yan for using Xie Lingfeng’s name, but Xu Yan insisted that he had permission and asked Leng Qiu to tell Xie he had made him famous.
• Leng Qiu brought Xu Yan to a secluded Sword Venerate Cliff courtyard in Seven Stars City, where Xu Yan planned to cultivate while waiting for Xie Lingfeng.

Xie Lingfeng visited Peerless Pavilion, learned that Xu Yan had gone to the Seven Stars Academy, and rushed there to reclaim his name after Xu Yan used it to enter the academy’s Repository. Meanwhile, Xu Yan refined his True Qi, reached the peak of the Innate Realm, and prepared to break through to Innate Great Completion.

• Xie Lingfeng met the woman in plain clothes at Peerless Pavilion and resisted her strange bewitching technique before leaving without learning Xu Yan’s whereabouts.
• Xie Lingfeng received a Flying Kite Communication letter revealing that Xu Yan had passed the Seven Stars Academy’s nine levels, defeated ten Peak Grandmasters, and used Xie Lingfeng’s name to enter the Repository.
• Xie Lingfeng set off for the Seven Stars Academy to clarify his identity, while the woman in plain clothes asked Granny Yao to accompany her there.
• Du Yuying learned that Young Master Xie had arrived at the Seven Stars Academy and sent Cui’er to find him.
• Xu Yan successfully split and recombined his True Qi, increasing its purity and strengthening his Dragon Subduing Palm.
• Xu Yan absorbed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy and advanced directly to the peak of the Innate Realm, judging that he could now defeat Fu Yuntian.

Xu Yan reached the peak of the Innate Realm, taught Leng Qiu an improved Ten Thousand Rivers Sword Technique, and studied at the Seven Stars Academy’s Sutra Repository. After Xie Lingfeng’s name was mistaken for his own, Xu Yan announced himself as Sword God Xu Yan, then faced Yin Hong’s accusation and challenge.

• Xu Yan taught Leng Qiu his improved Ten Thousand Rivers Sword Technique and told her he would be at the Seven Stars Academy’s Sutra Repository.
• Yin Hong returned to the Seven Stars Academy after breaking through to the Grandmaster Realm and went to the Sutra Repository, still resentful toward Xie Lingfeng.
• Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan waited outside the Repository, where Du Yuying and others mistook Xie Lingfeng for an impostor until Xu Yan emerged and recognized him.
• Xu Yan revealed his identity as Sword God Xu Yan after Xie Lingfeng encouraged him to build a reputation, surprising Du Yuying and the gathered students.
• Yin Hong accused Xu Yan of deceiving the academy and tried to attack him, but Fu Yuntian suppressed his aura; Xu Yan then challenged Yin Hong to strike him.

Xu Yan challenged Yin Hong to a wager and blew the Grandmaster apart with one palm at Seven Stars Academy. He claimed Yin Hong’s Canglan Island as his prize and left with Xie Lingfeng and Du Yuying to celebrate.

• Xu Yan mocked Yin Hong and proposed wagering that he could kill him with one palm, while Fu Yuntian agreed not to punish him if he succeeded.
• Xu Yan demanded Yin Hong’s Spirit Notes as the wager, then learned that Yin Hong’s Canglan Island held more than a million Spirit Crystals.
• Yin Hong unleashed his full strength, but Xu Yan’s golden Dragon Subduing Palm shattered him and ground his remains to ash.
• Fu Yuntian recognized that Xu Yan had broken through in strength, and Xu Yan confirmed that the martial principles he had discussed with the Martial Scholar were genuine.
• Xu Yan agreed to join Xie Lingfeng and Du Yuying at a quiet place in Seven Stars City and asked Du Yuying to tell him where Canglan Island was.

Xu Yan watched Xie Lingfeng defeat Seven Stars Academy’s young Grandmasters, including its foremost prodigy Ping Dong, and collected a fortune from a wager. At a gathering afterward, Xu Yan heard a rumor about a bald Sword Venerate Cliff martial artist being hunted and recognized that the news concerned his junior brother Meng Chong.

• Xu Yan left Seven Stars Academy, but Xie Lingfeng challenged every student under thirty after they mocked him.
• Xu Yan and Hu Shan arranged a wager, and Seven Stars Academy’s students bet that Xie Lingfeng would lose.
• Xie Lingfeng defeated several Grandmasters and then beat Ping Dong, the academy’s foremost young prodigy.
• Xu Yan collected the winning Spirit Crystals and exchanged them for larger-denomination notes, bringing his total to eight hundred thousand Spirit Crystals.
• At a teahouse, martial artists discussed outdated rumors that a bald Sword Venerate Cliff member was being hunted by a Grandmaster.
• Xu Yan realized the rumors referred to Meng Chong and angrily demanded to know what Grandmaster would dare hunt his junior brother.

Xu Yan learned that Meng Chong was being hunted and rushed toward the Yan Kingdom border, while Meng Chong and Meng Shushu reached the medicine haven at Heavenly Hammer Mountain. After Meng Chong killed the Grandmasters guarding its entrance, he faced a Half-step Grandmaster as the fight continued.

• Xu Yan learned that Meng Chong was being hunted under Hu Shan's name, accepted intelligence tokens from Xie Lingfeng and the woman in plain clothes, and flew toward the Yan Kingdom border.
• Du Yuying returned Xie Lingfeng's letter, resolved to become wealthy enough to win Xu Yan's attention, and watched him leave with Hu Shan.
• Meng Chong and Meng Shushu traveled to Heavenly Hammer Mountain, where Meng Shushu said a medicine haven containing rare Spiritual Medicines lay hidden inside the mountain.
• Meng Chong entered the forest guarding the haven and killed five Grandmasters who tried to stop him.
• A Half-step Grandmaster arrived with two black-robed figures, and Meng Chong killed one of them while withstanding the Half-step Grandmaster's attack.
• Meng Chong unleashed repeated Heaven and Earth Hegemonic Saber strikes against the Half-step Grandmaster, who drew a curved saber and attacked him with a storm of saber radiance.

Meng Chong drove off a Half-step Grandmaster by claiming to be Xie Lingfeng, then helped Meng Shushu uncover eight Earth Spirit Roots. When a black-robed Grandmaster tied to Su Lingxiu’s enemy arrived, Meng Chong fled with Meng Shushu and used him to block the pursuer’s attacks.

• Meng Chong endured the Half-step Grandmaster’s saber attacks, then claimed to be Xie Lingfeng of Sword Venerate Cliff and frightened the man into retreating.
• Meng Chong and Meng Shushu unearthed eight Eighth-grade Earth Spirit Roots near the grotto.
• A black-robed Grandmaster arrived with the Half-step Grandmaster, and Meng Chong recognized the newcomer as an enemy of Su Lingxiu.
• Meng Chong fled with Meng Shushu as the Grandmaster pursued them, then carried Meng Shushu on his back to intercept a saber strike.
• Meng Shushu shattered the weakened blade-ray with his brush but was injured by its shockwave, while Meng Chong widened the gap and continued fleeing.

Meng Chong fled a relentless black-robed Grandmaster with Meng Shushu, using Earth Spirit Roots and pills to keep moving until his Great Sun Golden Body reached minor mastery. As they headed toward the Great Yue Kingdom, Xu Yan received news of the chase and found Meng Chong’s golden radiance approaching.

• Meng Chong tied Meng Shushu to his back and fled the black-robed Grandmaster, repeatedly making Meng Shushu block the weakened force of the Grandmaster’s attacks.
• Meng Chong escaped through cities by invoking the names Hu Shan and Xie Lingfeng, then broke through his movement technique and used Earth Spirit Roots to sustain his flight.
• After three days of pursuit, Meng Chong reached minor mastery of the Great Sun Golden Body and struck the Grandmaster with a powerful slash, but failed to injure him.
• Meng Chong decided to keep fleeing toward the Great Yue Kingdom in case more Grandmasters joined the hunt, while worrying about his junior sister’s powerful enemies.
• Xu Yan learned that Meng Chong was being hunted, gathered intelligence from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, and hurried toward the Great Yue Kingdom.
• Xu Yan spotted Meng Chong’s golden radiance from a lofty peak and rushed to meet him.

Meng Chong and the wounded Meng Shushu fled two black-robed Grandmasters until Xu Yan arrived and killed both with his new sword technique. Xu Yan joined them on their way back to the Spiritual Medicine treasure land at Heavenly Hammer Mountain, eager to claim its medicines and any wealth guarded there.

• Meng Chong carried the badly wounded Meng Shushu while two black-robed Grandmasters pursued them, and Meng Chong worried that more enemies might appear.
• Xu Yan arrived, killed the first pursuing Grandmaster with Myriad Phenomena of Mountains and Rivers, Sword of All Life, then intercepted and killed the second.
• Xu Yan collected both Grandmasters’ valuables and learned that Meng Shushu was a renowned spiritual medicine scout, then asked him to earn money for a Storage Bag.
• The three turned back toward Heavenly Hammer Mountain, and Meng Shushu explained that its treasure land might contain rare Fifth-grade or half-step Fifth-grade Spiritual Medicine.
• After traveling at full speed, Xu Yan, Meng Chong, and Meng Shushu reached the Yan Kingdom and saw the mountain shaped like an iron hammer.

Xu Yan and Meng Chong killed the Grandmaster guarding Heavenly Hammer Mountain and his six men, then entered the hidden grounds of a spirit-medicine sect. They found fields of rare Spiritual Medicines and began harvesting them.

• Xu Yan confronted the mid-stage Grandmaster, while Meng Chong killed the six black-robed martial artists guarding the grotto.
• Xu Yan defeated the Grandmaster despite his secret martial art, took his spirit notes, and wondered where the man's organization was based.
• Meng Shushu used a tiny hammer key to open the grotto's hidden stone door, and the three entered the passageway.
• Xu Yan, Meng Chong, and Meng Shushu discovered the mountain's concealed spirit-medicine fields and confirmed that the medicines included rare varieties.
• Meng Shushu dug up an Earth Moon Bamboo Shoot and began explaining how to harvest and preserve Spiritual Medicines.

Xu Yan, Meng Chong, and Meng Shushu harvested a hidden treasure of spiritual medicines, including the rare Fifth-grade Heavenly Dew Marrow, which Xu Yan planned to refine into pills. They prepared to return to the borderlands with their haul, while Xu Yan intended to collect stored medicines, buy more, and visit Canglan Island before heading home.

• Meng Shushu explained how to harvest spiritual medicines as the three of them collected twenty-three kinds from the first medicine field.
• Meng Shushu opened a hidden medicine field and identified its Heavenly Dew Marrow as a rare Fifth-grade Spiritual Medicine with nine drops of marrow.
• Xu Yan and Meng Chong refused to trade or eat the Heavenly Dew Marrow, and Meng Shushu carefully dug it up and sealed it after Meng Chong promised him a pill.
• The three harvested several Sixth-grade Spiritual Medicines, wrapped two that they could not seal, and packed the haul into Xu Yan's sack.
• Xu Yan and Meng Chong decided to return toward the borderlands, with Xu Yan planning to collect stored medicines, buy more, and visit Canglan Island first.

Xu Yan escorted Meng Chong and Meng Shushu toward Lanping Commandery with the Spiritual Medicines, but Killing Skeleton, a Grandmaster under Fire Slaughter Demon Venerable, confronted them at the border. Xu Yan fought back after learning Killing Skeleton’s robe had destroyed his spirit tickets, and the battle turned deadly.

• Xu Yan and his companions traveled toward Lanping Commandery, discussing Heavenly Treasure Pavilion’s Flying Kite communications and how Meng Shushu could contact them later.
• At the commandery border, Xu Yan stopped the group when a scarlet-robed Grandmaster approached, and Meng Shushu identified him as Killing Skeleton, an expert under Fire Slaughter Demon Venerable.
• Killing Skeleton attacked Xu Yan with Blood Prison Fire, but Xu Yan countered it with his Dragon Subduing Palm and Mountain River sword techniques.
• Killing Skeleton tried to flee and then unleashed a blood-powered attack, while Xu Yan discovered that his spirit tickets had been destroyed with his robe.
• Xu Yan grew furious over the lost money and unleashed a terrifying killing intent as Killing Skeleton prepared to fight to the death.

Xu Yan killed the Killing Skeleton after the Demon Cult Grandmaster destroyed the Spirit Notes in his robe, then set out to claim the bounty and spread word of his victory. Meanwhile, Du Yuying resolved to earn money for Xu Yan, and the Peerless Grandmaster and her disciple discussed their interest in him.

• The Killing Skeleton tried to unleash his Killing Life Secret Art, but Xu Yan killed him with one sword after the Skeleton destroyed his money pouch and enraged him.
• Xu Yan took the Skeleton Staff for his junior sister and planned to claim the bounty, using a robe fragment as proof and asking Meng Shushu to publicize his feat.
• Xu Yan and Meng Chong reached Iron Mountain County, then split up; after waiting three days, Xu Yan headed to collect the bounty while rumors of his victory spread across the Inner Domain.
• Du Yuying heard that Xu Yan had killed the Killing Skeleton and decided to open a trading house to earn money for a Storage Bag for him.
• The Peerless Grandmaster discussed Xu Yan with her disciple, who planned to win his favor with Spirit Crystals, Spiritual Medicines, and a Storage Bag.

Li Xuan traveled through the Border Wasteland looking for another disciple, then returned to Yunshan County as Xu Yan and Meng Chong killed Grandmasters in the Inner Domain. Su Lingxiu advanced her Medicinal Dao and Martial cultivation, while Li Xuan gained new techniques and left her studying the Bagua.

• Li Xuan visited Xu Yan’s parents in Donghe Commandery, toured Qi Kingdom, Wu Kingdom, and the Northern Barbarians, and returned without finding a suitable disciple.
• Xu Yan killed the Grandmasters pursuing Meng Chong, earning Li Xuan enhanced Mountain River Sword Intent and Nirvana Sword Intent.
• Su Lingxiu successfully refined pills barehanded, granting Li Xuan the Void Alchemy Technique, then comprehended the embryonic Medicinal Dao Martial Codex and gave him its complete beginner version.
• Li Xuan taught Su Lingxiu the Bagua and encouraged her to study it while cultivating; he also helped Zhou Ying complete Organ Refining and enter the Martial Dao.
• Meng Chong killed Grandmaster Martial Artists, enhancing Li Xuan’s God Slaying Saber experience, while Xu Yan slew another Grandmaster and strengthened Li Xuan’s Nirvana Sword Intent.
• Su Lingxiu broke through to the minor accomplishment of the Qi and Blood Realm, and Li Xuan’s Medicinal Dao Martial Dao reached major accomplishment in the Innate Realm.

Meng Chong returned with a haul of spiritual medicines, including the Fifth-grade Heavenly Dew Marrow, and recounted how he and Xu Yan fought their way through the Inner Domain. His discovery that the enemies pursuing him wore the same attire as Su Lingxiu’s enemies left her and Zhou Ying alarmed.

• Li Xuan received feedback that Xu Yan had killed another Grandmaster, while Meng Chong returned with a large sack of spiritual medicines and a bundle containing the Heavenly Dew Marrow.
• Su Lingxiu identified the Heavenly Dew Marrow as a rare Fifth-grade Spiritual Medicine and arranged for jade boxes to store it and the other valuable medicines.
• Meng Chong told Su Lingxiu, Zhou Ying, and Shi Er how he had helped Meng Shushu gather medicines and how Xu Yan had killed several Grandmasters, including the Killing Skeleton and Yin Hong.
• Meng Chong revealed that the faction employing Meng Shushu and the Grandmasters who had hunted him wore the same attire as the faction connected to Su Lingxiu’s enemies, alarming her and Zhou Ying.

Su Lingxiu told Meng Chong and Li Xuan about her unknown father, her mother's death, and the shadowy force pursuing her, then devoted herself to studying pills. Li Xuan demonstrated Void Alchemy to make Golden Body Pills for Meng Chong, and Su Lingxiu later received the Medicinal Dao Martial Codex and improved her alchemy.

• Su Lingxiu explained that her mother had been a Grandmaster who died after giving birth to her, and that her grandfather, the Medicine King Su Zhen, had died protecting her from the force pursuing her.
• Zhou Ying revealed that Su Zhen had spent his favors obtaining spiritual medicine to treat Su Lingxiu's mother, while Meng Chong promised to help defeat the black-robed men.
• Su Lingxiu experimented with spiritual medicine and developed Body Strengthening Pills, but Meng Chong found their effects modest for his powerful physique.
• Li Xuan used Void Alchemy to refine Golden Body Pills for Meng Chong and told Su Lingxiu she was not yet strong enough to learn the technique.
• Su Lingxiu refined many kinds of pills for her companions and the Xu Family, then received Li Xuan's Medicinal Dao Martial Codex and advanced her alchemy skills.

Su Lingxiu reached the peak of the Qi and Blood Realm, and Li Xuan taught her an assembly-line approach to pill production to prepare Evergreen Pavilion for future expansion. In the Inner Domain, Xu Yan collected rewards, accepted Du Yuying’s gifts, and set out for Canglan Island with Xie Lingfeng, where they encountered the Peerless Pavilion’s woman in white.

• Su Lingxiu broke through to the peak of the Qi and Blood Realm, and Li Xuan advised her to divide pill refinement into separate production steps.
• Su Lingxiu began working out the methods and equipment needed for assembly-line pill production while continuing her studies.
• Xu Yan collected rewards in the Inner Domain, returned the Flying Kite Token to Hu Shan, and agreed to travel with Xie Lingfeng to the Borderland.
• Xie Lingfeng gave Xu Yan the chest of gifts from Du Yuying, including Cloud Mist Spiritual Tea, and Xu Yan accepted it for his master.
• Du Yuying gave Xu Yan two hundred thousand Spirit Crystals as thanks for killing the Killing Skeleton, and Xu Yan told her how to contact him about a Storage Bag.
• Xu Yan and Xie Lingfeng left for Canglan Island and encountered the Peerless Pavilion’s woman in white outside Seven Stars City.

Xu Yan reached Canglan Island, where two perfected Grandmasters ambushed him and demanded Su Lingxiu’s whereabouts. After taking their meager money bags, Xu Yan fought back, using the battle to deepen his understanding of the Profound Understanding Realm.

• The plain-clothed woman thanked Xu Yan for killing the Killing Skeleton, gave him three hundred thousand Spirit Crystals and Spiritual Medicine, and invited him to visit the Peerless Pavilion.
• Xu Yan, Xie Lingfeng, and Hu Shan traveled to Canglan Island, which Xu Yan intended to claim as his territory.
• Xu Yan sensed an ambush near the island and sent Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan away before confronting two black-robed perfected Grandmasters.
• The black-robed men demanded that Xu Yan reveal Su Lingxiu’s whereabouts, while Xu Yan insisted they hand over their money bags first.
• Xu Yan took the men’s bags, mocked their small haul, and provoked them into attacking.
• Xu Yan fought both Grandmasters with Mountain River Dragon’s Roar as their battle stirred the Cang River into towering waves.

Xu Yan defeated and killed two perfected Grandmasters who attacked Canglan Island, earning a reputation across the Inner Domain. After collecting Yin Hong’s hidden treasures, he remained on the island to pursue insights into reaching the Profound Understanding Realm.

• Xu Yan fought two black-robed perfected Grandmasters alone and killed them with his Mountain River Sword Dao and Dragon Subduing Palm, while declaring that anyone who coveted Canglan Island would die.
• Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan joined Xu Yan on Canglan Island, where they searched Yin Hong’s residence and found Spirit Crystals, Seventh-grade Spiritual Medicines, and spirit notes in a hidden chamber.
• Xu Yan took the medicines and spirit notes, left the Spirit Crystals behind, and told Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan to stay while he sought insights on the island.
• Xu Yan sat beneath an ancient tree and reviewed his understanding of true qi, True Essence, and the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth as he studied the method for reaching the Profound Understanding Realm.

Xu Yan comprehended the Profound Understanding Realm method and set out for home with Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan, carrying spiritual medicines for Su Lingxiu. After Xu Yan reached the Border Wilderness, his breakthrough triggered Li Xuan’s own advancement to the Profound Understanding Realm.

• Xu Yan comprehended the Profound Understanding Realm method and resolved to strengthen himself and investigate the forces pursuing Su Lingxiu.
• Xu Yan bought spiritual medicines at Lanping Commandery’s capital, and he, Xie Lingfeng, and Hu Shan fended off several groups of robbers, including six Grandmasters who recognized Xu Yan and fled.
• Su Lingxiu devised an assembly-line process for making pills, gained Li Xuan’s approval, and prepared to teach Evergreen Pavilion members.
• Su Lingxiu gave Meng Chong Golden Body Pills, while Li Xuan continued training Red Cat and received word that Xu Yan had killed Grandmasters.
• Xu Yan comprehended the Profound Understanding Realm method, causing Li Xuan to break through to the realm and demonstrate his control over the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.