Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai learned from Nan Lidao and Ye Guxing where he might find spiritual objects, then discussed his plans and the famed sword gathering at Famous Sword Manor. After rewarding Elder Zhang, Lin Bai learned that the Sword Mound was the only place in the sect with weapons above Grade Three, leaving him poised to seek a replacement for Evil Wind Sword there.

• Nan Lidao explained that he and Ye Guxing had learned about three spiritual objects while traveling through neighboring nations, and Lin Bai paid them three million spirit stones for the information.
• Ye Guxing invited Lin Bai to join them at Famous Sword Manor in Heaven Sword Dynasty for a gathering of sword cultivators, and Lin Bai said he would go if he could not find a wood-attribute spiritual object in time.
• Lin Bai gave Elder Zhang five hundred thousand spirit stones as thanks, and Elder Zhang accepted after explaining that he needed the resources for a breakthrough.
• Lin Bai told Elder Zhang he planned to secure a Royal Hunting Garden quota and visit the Armory Pavilion to replace Evil Wind Sword.
• Elder Zhang told Lin Bai that the Armory Pavilion had no weapons above Grade Three and that the Sword Mound held higher-grade spirit tools, including legendary Grade Six weapons.

Lin Bai learned that the Sword Burial Ground held powerful spirit swords and then asked the Second Elder to let him join the Divine Martial Nation’s Year-End Ceremony. Despite the danger to Spirit Sword Sect disciples at the Royal Hunting Garden, the Second Elder agreed to secure Lin Bai a place.

• Elder Zhang explained that Spirit Sword Sect disciples could enter the Sword Burial Ground, where Lin Bai might gain a stronger spirit sword.
• Lin Bai visited the Sword Alliance and asked Li Jianxing to take him to the Second Elder.
• Lin Bai asked about the Year-End Ceremony and learned that Spirit Sword Sect disciples had repeatedly been killed by rival sects in the Royal Hunting Garden.
• Lin Bai insisted on attending this year to obtain the Beacon Fire City Flower, despite being only at the eighth stage of the Earth Martial Realm.
• The Second Elder agreed to get Lin Bai a place and said he would notify him when the sect’s group departed for the imperial capital.

The Spirit Sword Sect's elders debated whether to attend Divine Martial Nation's Year-End Ceremony despite years of losses at the Royal Hunting Garden. Su Cang proposed Lin Bai as their representative, and the Grand Elder approved the choice while the Second Elder agreed, leaving the Sword Alliance elders alarmed.

• The Second Elder arrived at the Elders Council, where Su Cang revealed Bai Huatian's invitation to the Year-End Ceremony and Royal Hunting Garden.
• The elders recalled how Spirit Sword Sect disciples had been crippled or killed in past competitions, and the Third Elder argued that the sect should not participate.
• The Grand Elder insisted that the Spirit Sword Sect had to attend and asked whom they should send.
• Su Cang nominated Lin Bai, citing his rapid cultivation, victories, and growing reputation, while presenting him as expendable.
• The Grand Elder selected Lin Bai to represent the sect, and the Second Elder agreed despite the Sword Alliance elders' shock.

Lin Bai visited Sword Burial Mountain to choose a spirit sword and learned how the swords’ grades corresponded to the mountain’s heights. After watching Zhu Ziling settle for a Grade Four Spirit Tool, Lin Bai prepared to make his own ascent.

• Lin Bai asked an inner-sect disciple how to gain a spirit sword’s recognition and learned that he had to fly up the mountain and draw a sword.
• Zhu Ziling climbed to the mountainside, drew the Grade Four Wandering Sword, and descended despite having hoped to reach the summit.
• An elder comforted Zhu Ziling and recalled how Jian Xuan had obtained a Grade Six Spirit Tool before defecting with the sect’s sword techniques.
• Lin Bai observed that Grade Three swords were at the foot, Grade Four swords at the mountainside, Grade Five swords near the mountaintop, and Grade Six swords at the summit.
• Lin Bai walked toward the mountain as disciples gathered to watch and speculate about the sword he would obtain.

Lin Bai reached the summit of Sword Burial Mountain and drew the Grade Six Azure Song Sword. Its paired sword, Startling Dream, followed him from the mountain, and Lin Bai took it with him as well.

• Lin Bai passed over the Grade Five Spirit Swords and climbed into the clouds to reach the summit of Sword Burial Mountain.
• Lin Bai found Azure Song and Startling Dream, then read Jian Xuan’s warning that the paired swords were bound by fate.
• Lin Bai drew Azure Song, unleashing Sword Intent that shattered the clouds and alerted martial artists and elders throughout the Spirit Sword Sect.
• Elder Zhang concluded that Lin Bai had obtained the paired swords and decided to side with the Sword Alliance against Su Cang’s succession plans.
• Startling Dream pulled itself free and pleaded to leave with Lin Bai, who agreed and put it in his Storage Bag.

Lin Bai obtained the Azure Song Sword and Startling Dream Sword, and Li Jianxing explained their tragic history and the legend tying their masters together. Lin Bai wondered whether Ye Suxin would become the Startling Dream Sword’s chosen master.

• Lin Bai landed at the foot of Sword Burial Mountain with the Azure Song Sword, where Li Jianxing congratulated him on obtaining the Grade Six Spirit Tool.
• Li Jianxing told Lin Bai that Li Qingge, a gifted weapon forger, had fallen in love with the Spirit Sword Sect’s Holy Daughter, Su Lan, and left for ten years to forge her a sword.
• Li Jianxing explained that Su Lan killed herself with the Azure Song Sword rather than marry the sect’s Sect Master, and Li Qingge later slew the Sect Master before taking his own life with the Startling Dream Sword.
• Li Jianxing recounted that the two swords had appeared together three times, each time leading their masters to become Dao companions, and said their bond was believed to be decreed by Heaven.
• Lin Bai thought of Ye Suxin as he looked at the Startling Dream Sword, then said he hoped the sword would choose the person he wanted.

Lin Bai confronted Zhu Ziling for mistreating the Wandering Sword, and Azure Song Sword’s Grade Six power let him defeat Zhu Ziling with one strike. Lin Bai was left astonished by his sword’s strength.

• Lin Bai learned that Azure Song Sword had been reforged into a Grade Six Spirit Tool and that it was paired with Startling Dream Sword.
• Lin Bai saw Zhu Ziling pinning Wandering Sword beneath his foot and warned him to respect the sword that had chosen to follow him.
• Zhu Ziling refused Lin Bai’s demand to leave the sword and attacked him with his own sword.
• Lin Bai unleashed Azure Song Sword’s power with Surging Wind Swordplay, Mountains and Rivers Eternal Silence, and knocked Zhu Ziling unconscious with one strike.
• Lin Bai realized that Azure Song Sword’s strength could let him defeat Murong Yeshen without using a sword-intent divine ability.

Lin Bai freed the Wandering Sword, crippled Zhu Ziling, and learned he had a place in the Royal Hunting Garden, where he would face powerful Heaven Martial Realm opponents. He trained with the Azure Song Sword and hunted in the Falling Goose Mountain Range, where more than a hundred king demonic beasts were found drained of their blood.

• Lin Bai returned the Wandering Sword to Sword Burial Mountain and severed Zhu Ziling's meridians instead of killing him.
• Li Jianxing told Lin Bai that the Second Elder had reserved him a place in the Royal Hunting Garden, and warned him about its powerful participants.
• Lin Bai returned to White Cloud Peak, practiced with the Azure Song Sword for three days, then entered the Falling Goose Mountain Range to hunt and improve his cultivation.
• Martial artists discovered the Purple-Eyed Blood Lion Beast dead and drained of its demonic blood, then found other king demonic beasts killed the same way.
• Over ten days, more than a hundred king demonic beasts in the Falling Goose Mountain Range were slaughtered and drained of blood, while the killer remained unknown.

After slaying more than a hundred Heaven Martial Realm demon beasts and reaching the ninth level of the Earth Martial Realm, Lin Bai was summoned to join Spirit Sword Sect’s delegation to the Royal Hunting Garden. He arrived at Side Cloud Peak, where he learned that the sect’s disciples were often ambushed there and met Lu Yuan and Zhang Lingdao before the elders and Su Cang arrived.

• Lin Bai learned that Spirit Sword Sect was organizing a hunt for the blood-drinking monster he had been while killing demon beasts in the Falling Goose Mountain Range.
• Lin Bai reflected on his improved cultivation and prepared to travel to the imperial capital for the Royal Hunting Garden.
• A disciple summoned Lin Bai to Side Cloud Peak, where other disciples warned him that Azure Cloud Terrace Palace and Blazing Fire Palace had repeatedly attacked Spirit Sword Sect members in the Royal Hunting Garden.
• Lin Bai arrived at the plaza and met Lu Yuan, who said the Second Elder had sent him to protect Lin Bai, and Zhang Lingdao, who had been forced to go after offending Zhao Mao.
• The Grand Elder and Second Elder arrived with the other elders, and Lin Bai saw Su Cang watching him with a smug smile.

The Spirit Sword Sect sent Lin Bai, Lu Yuan, and Zhang Lingdao to the Imperial Capital for the Royal Hunting Garden, though the Grand Elder and Su Cang expected the journey to kill them. Before departing, Lin Bai wagered with Su Cang that he would place in the top three, then left with the others aboard a Flying Roc.

• The Grand Elder announced that Lin Bai, Lu Yuan, and Zhang Lingdao would represent the Spirit Sword Sect at the Royal Hunting Garden.
• The Grand Elder praised the three disciples while secretly relishing the danger they faced, and Lin Bai and Lu Yuan spoke confidently about the journey.
• Su Cang challenged Lin Bai to place in the top three, wagering that the loser would receive three slaps; Lin Bai accepted.
• The Grand Elder assigned Chen Gong to escort the group, partly to punish him for refusing to join the Divine Alliance.
• Chen Gong led Lin Bai, Lu Yuan, and Zhang Lingdao onto a Flying Roc and set out for the Imperial Capital as the sect disciples wished them victory.

Lin Bai and the Spirit Sword Sect disciples arrived in the imperial capital for the Royal Hunting Garden, where they learned that Azure Cloud Terrace Palace and Blazing Fire Palace had threatened to kill them. Su Cang also sent Qi Yang to ensure Lin Bai did not return alive.

• After Lin Bai departed, Su Cang ordered Qi Yang to go to the imperial capital and bring back Lin Bai's head, whether Lin Bai died there or survived.
• Lin Bai, Zhang Lingdao, and the others saw the imperial capital after flying for three days, and Chen Gong warned them not to kill anyone there without permission.
• The Spirit Sword Sect's arrival drew mockery from people throughout the imperial capital, and the disciples landed at Hidden Dragon Pavilion.
• Xu Changfeng welcomed Chen Gong and told him that Azure Cloud Terrace Palace and Blazing Fire Palace had threatened to kill every Spirit Sword Sect disciple who came to the Royal Hunting Garden.

Xu Changfeng showed Chen Gong, Lin Bai, Lu Yuan, and Zhang Lingdao around Hidden Dragon Pavilion and warned them about the powerful geniuses sent by the rival sects. When the Fifth Princess challenged Spirit Sword Sect to a swordsmanship spar, Zhang Lingdao stepped forward to fight her.

• Xu Changfeng told Chen Gong that Azure Cloud Terrace Palace and Blazing Fire Palace had sent far more disciples than Spirit Sword Sect, and named Wan Xia, Luo Qixing, and Yi Han as dangerous opponents.
• Chen Gong recognized Yi Han as one of Azure Cloud Terrace Palace's Seven Kings and grew concerned for Lin Bai and Lu Yuan.
• The Fifth Princess defeated a Blazing Fire Palace martial artist in the plaza and then challenged Spirit Sword Sect's disciples to a swordsmanship match.
• Chen Gong blocked the Fifth Princess's attack, but Zhang Mo taunted Spirit Sword Sect for refusing her challenge.
• Zhang Lingdao volunteered to spar with the Fifth Princess, and Chen Gong accepted to protect Spirit Sword Sect's reputation.

Zhang Lingdao lost to the Fifth Princess, and the gathered martial artists mocked Spirit Sword Sect’s decline. After recalling how the sect and its elders had supported him, Lin Bai stepped into the arena to defend its reputation and accepted the Fifth Princess’s challenge.

• The Fifth Princess defeated Zhang Lingdao with a seventh-grade Earth-level sword technique, and he admitted defeat.
• Lin Bai told Zhang Lingdao that his swordsmanship was superior but his weaker technique had cost him the match.
• The Fifth Princess insulted Spirit Sword Sect, while martial artists from Blazing Fire Palace and Azure Cloud Terrace Palace joined in challenging and mocking its disciples.
• Lin Bai told Chen Gong how Spirit Sword Sect and its elders had supported him and declared that he would not let others trample on the sect’s name.
• Lin Bai entered the arena and offered to compare swordsmanship with the Fifth Princess, who sneered at him.

Lin Bai defeated the Fifth Princess with one punch after she challenged him, then invited the other martial artists to fight him. He remained in the arena as Chen Gong worried that Lin Bai’s challenge would provoke further trouble.

• Lin Bai offered to fight the Fifth Princess and refused to draw his sword, asking her to use her full strength.
• The Fifth Princess attacked Lin Bai with Autumn Wind Ruthless, but Lin Bai shattered her Sword Qi and struck her with one punch.
• Lin Bai told the injured Fifth Princess that she was unqualified to make him draw his sword, and she was carried to the Imperial Hospital.
• Chen Gong offered Xu Changfeng a gift of atonement, while Xu Changfeng warned that the emperor might punish the Spirit Sword Sect.
• Lin Bai stayed in the arena and challenged anyone who wanted to fight a Spirit Sword Sect disciple.

Lin Bai challenged the martial artists gathered around him and easily defeated Xu Zhiduo, Jiang Junwei, Li Xiaoyun, and Zhang Mo, boosting the Spirit Sword Sect’s prestige. After the defeated trio surrendered, they ambushed Lin Bai from behind as he turned away, leaving him in danger.

• Lin Bai invited the gathered martial artists to challenge him, and Jiang Junwei, Yang Difei, Li Xiaoyun, Xu Zhiduo, and Zhang Mo stepped forward.
• Xu Zhiduo attacked Lin Bai alone, but Lin Bai caught his punch, pinned him down, and warned the others to attack together.
• Jiang Junwei, Li Xiaoyun, and Zhang Mo attacked as a group, but Lin Bai used the Azure Song Sword to injure all three and force them to surrender.
• As Lin Bai turned to rejoin Chen Gong, Jiang Junwei, Li Xiaoyun, and Zhang Mo suddenly attacked him from behind.
• Zhang Lingdao and Lu Yuan shouted a warning as Lin Bai sensed the ambush and turned in alarm.

Lin Bai survived the three sect disciples’ sneak attack by leaving an afterimage, then killed Jiang Junwei, Li Xiaoyun, and Zhang Mo in the square. He left with the Spirit Sword Sect, while rumors spread through the imperial capital that the sect was poised to rise again.

• After Lin Bai appeared unharmed, the crowd realized the three disciples had attacked his afterimage, and he warned them to run.
• Lin Bai killed Jiang Junwei with a single slash, then pursued and killed Li Xiaoyun and Zhang Mo.
• Lin Bai challenged the crowd, and the onlookers shrank back in fear as Chen Gong and Xu Changfeng discussed the sects’ coming conflict.
• Chen Gong led the Spirit Sword Sect group away, and news of Lin Bai’s killings and rumors of the sect’s resurgence spread through the imperial capital.

The Fifth Princess asked Bai Xiaoxiao to avenge her after Lin Bai injured her, and Bai Xiaoxiao went to confront the Spirit Sword Sect. The confrontation ended with Bai Xiaoxiao recognizing Lin Bai and greeting him warmly, while Qi Rui demanded that he kneel and apologize.

• The Fifth Princess went to Bai Xiaoxiao in tears and said a Spirit Sword Sect martial artist had injured her at the Hidden Dragon Pavilion.
• Bai Xiaoxiao took the Fifth Princess to the Spirit Sword Sect's residence, where Chen Gong tried to explain that the injury was a misunderstanding.
• Qi Rui arrived and insisted that the Spirit Sword Sect produce the person who had injured the Fifth Princess.
• Lin Bai came out despite Chen Gong's warning, and the Fifth Princess identified him as her attacker.
• Qi Rui ordered Lin Bai to kneel and apologize, but Bai Xiaoxiao ignored him and greeted Lin Bai with delight.

Bai Xiaoxiao reunited warmly with Lin Bai after he defeated the Fifth Princess, then explained how the Xu Family and Qi King Manor had left the imperial family close to collapse. She and Lin Bai parted after discussing Qi Rui’s crimes, the Ninth Princess, and Lin Bai’s plans for the Year-End Ceremony.

• Bai Xiaoxiao told the Fifth Princess to thank Lin Bai for sparing her life, but the Fifth Princess refused and ran off in tears.
• Bai Xiaoxiao apologized to Lin Bai for the Fifth Princess, invited herself inside, and sent Qi Rui away when he tried to stay.
• Bai Xiaoxiao told Lin Bai that the Xu Family dominated the court and Qi King Manor controlled much of the military, leaving the imperial family nearly powerless.
• Bai Xiaoxiao revealed that Qi Rui had led massacres in more than a hundred towns and said she hated him but could not kill him.
• Bai Xiaoxiao asked whether Lin Bai would visit the Ninth Princess and discussed his participation in the Year-End Ceremony; Lin Bai said he would focus on cultivation and adapt to circumstances.

After hearing Bai Xiaoxiao describe the royal family's precarious position, Lin Bai considered the threats posed by the Qi King Manor and the Xu Family. Chen Gong then explained the three stages of the Year-End Ceremony and its reward system, leaving Lin Bai determined to earn enough points for the Beacon Fire City Flower.

• Bai Xiaoxiao confided her grievances about the royal family to Lin Bai before leaving Hidden Dragon Pavilion late at night.
• Lin Bai assessed how the Qi King Manor controlled the military and the Xu Family controlled the court, then decided the royal family would have to resolve its own crisis.
• Chen Gong summoned Lin Bai, Lu Yuan, and Zhang Lingdao and explained that the Year-End Ceremony would begin with the Heaven Worship Ceremony and spirit pearl contest.
• Chen Gong described the one-day hunt in the Qi Tian Mountains, where participants would earn points by killing demonic beasts and face dangers from other sects.
• Lin Bai read the reward list and saw that the Beacon Fire City Flower cost one million points, then considered how difficult it would be to earn enough in one day.
• Chen Gong explained that martial artists could challenge one another and seize their opponents' points during the Imperial Banquet Martial Competition, and said the ceremony would begin in three days.

As the Year-End Ceremony approached, Qi Rui received orders from King Qi to capture the descendants of rival vassal kings, while Xu Jiangsheng prepared to take revenge on Lin Bai. At dawn, the ceremony began, and Spirit Sword Sect’s delegation set out for the Temple of Heaven.

• Qi Rui ordered an investigation into Lin Bai and learned that King Qi wanted him to capture more than six hundred vassal kings’ descendants during the Royal Hunting Garden event.
• Xu Jiangsheng revealed that he had returned from the dead with a Demonic Martial Soul and vowed to kill Lin Bai in the Royal Hunting Garden.
• Wan Xia and Yi Han wagered three hundred thousand spirit stones on which sect would kill Lin Bai, Lu Yuan, and Zhang Lingdao first.
• The Heaven Bell rang three days later, marking the start of the Year-End Ceremony, and Chen Gong, Lin Bai, Lu Yuan, and Zhang Lingdao followed a eunuch to the Temple of Heaven.