Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai reunited with Chu Jiangliu at Chu King Manor after returning as the Eastern Continent Academy’s Holy Son. Chu Jiangliu welcomed him and prepared to share a drink, leaving their discussion of recent affairs for later.

• Lin Bai drank wine while guiding Chu Xuan'er in swordsmanship, and the Fifth Princess explained Old Li’s background.
• Old Li met Chu Jiangliu returning to the manor and told him that a mysterious young man was waiting with the Fifth Princess and Xuan'er.
• Chu Jiangliu entered the pavilion, recognized Lin Bai, and bowed with his soldiers to greet the Sword King.
• Lin Bai teased Chu Jiangliu about visiting Fengyue Brothel, and Chu Jiangliu awkwardly denied that the old story was his fault.
• Chu Jiangliu dismissed the soldiers and Old Li, then sat down with Lin Bai to drink and talk.

Lin Bai and Chu Jiangliu discussed the Divine Martial Nation’s unrest after its conquest of the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner. Lin Bai explained Emperor Xiao’s indecision over how to govern the territories, leaving Chu Jiangliu reassured that his policy of benevolence would prevail.

• Lin Bai asked Chu Jiangliu why he was troubled despite his victories and noble titles.
• Chu Jiangliu described the risks of rebellion in the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner, led by the Southern Corner Divine Nation, and the challenge of governing the conquered territories.
• Chu Jiangliu recounted how Imperial Advisor Shang Lang failed to send reinforcements when the Chu Family Army was ambushed in the Flying Dragon Domain.
• Chu Jiangliu explained that he favored treating the 180 Domains with benevolence, while Shang Lang urged harsh rule, and Emperor Xiao had told them to discuss the matter further.
• Lin Bai said Emperor Xiao favored Shang Lang’s hardline instincts but knew benevolence was necessary for now, and he advised Chu Jiangliu that she would ultimately choose his proposal.

Lin Bai advised Chu Jiangliu on how the Divine Martial Nation could suppress rebellions and contain the Southern Corner Divine Nation, then learned about the nation's military forces and Emperor Xiao's cultivation. The chapter ended with Lin Bai revealing that Emperor Xiao's martial soul had become a Transcendent Soul.

• Lin Bai proposed sending the domain envoys home to suppress rebels and forming an alliance of experts to occupy the Southern Corner Divine Nation while the Divine Martial Nation reorganized its military.
• Chu Jiangliu revealed that the Divine Martial Nation had three public legions: the Immaculate Army, the Chu Family Army, and the Iron-Blood Sword God Battalion.
• Chu Jiangliu described the secret Divine Division, Shadow Division, and Sword Division, explaining that the Divine Division contained fewer than a thousand elite martial artists.
• Chu Jiangliu said Emperor Xiao had reached the Death Reversal Realm using the Divine Creation Palace, while he had only reached the fifth stage of the Life Extinction Realm.
• Lin Bai told Chu Jiangliu that Emperor Xiao's martial soul was a Transcendent Soul, surpassing the Heavenly Dao and the world's rules.

Lin Bai returned to Lingnan Imperial City and agreed to attend court with Chu Jiangliu, where they planned to surprise Emperor Xiao. In the Golden Hall, Chu Jiangliu announced Lin Bai’s return, leaving Emperor Xiao and the court officials stunned as Lin Bai entered.

• Lin Bai and Chu Jiangliu discussed Emperor Xiao’s military ambitions and agreed she should focus on governing the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner.
• Chu Jiangliu arranged for Lin Bai’s return to remain secret and prepared to bring him to court the next morning.
• Lin Bai declined the royal robes and went to the imperial city with Chu Jiangliu.
• In the Golden Hall, Shang Lang and the civil officials criticized Chu Jiangliu, while the military officials defended him.
• Emperor Xiao ordered the court to be quiet and asked Chu Jiangliu why he had laughed.
• Chu Jiangliu announced that his backer had returned and called for the Sword King, as Lin Bai entered the Golden Hall.

Lin Bai returned to the Divine Martial Nation and was welcomed by the Emperor Xiao as the Sword King, prompting a clash with officials who challenged his place in court. After the Emperor Xiao executed two officials for objecting, Lin Bai left with him to discuss the nation’s troubled government, while Shang Lang resolved to oppose Lin Bai and Chu Jiangliu.

• Chu Jiangliu announced that Lin Bai had returned, and Lin Bai entered the Golden Hall and paid his respects to the Emperor Xiao.
• The Emperor Xiao welcomed Lin Bai, gave him a seat beneath the dragon throne, and ignored civil officials’ objections to the arrangement.
• After Wen Hai and Liang Yu protested, the Emperor Xiao ordered them executed, and soldiers beheaded them outside the Golden Hall.
• Lin Bai criticized the Emperor Xiao for neglecting the imperial court, and the Emperor Xiao dismissed court and summoned Lin Bai to go with him.
• Shang Lang told his allies he would not fear the Sword King and intended to deal with Lin Bai and Chu Jiangliu.

Lin Bai reunited with Bai Xiaoxiao in her private bedchamber, where she explained that she had expanded the Divine Martial Nation to prepare for the Giant God Race and support him. They set aside their political worries for the night, while Chu Jiangliu said Bai Xiaoxiao would rest from court before returning to her campaigns.

• Lin Bai followed Emperor Xiao to her secluded bedchamber and reunited with Bai Xiaoxiao.
• Bai Xiaoxiao told Lin Bai that conquering the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner was part of her plan to strengthen the Divine Martial Nation against the Giant God Race.
• Lin Bai promised to help Bai Xiaoxiao manage the new territories and deal with the opposing Southern Corner Divine Nation.
• Bai Xiaoxiao asked Lin Bai to avoid acting rashly and said she wanted a child with him; they chose to spend the night together rather than discuss their burdens.
• At Chu King Manor the next morning, Chu Jiangliu taught Xuan'er swordsmanship and said Emperor Xiao would miss court while she rested with Lin Bai.

After seven days away from court, Emperor Xiao summoned Chu Jiangliu to the Star Observation Hall and ordered a gathering of the envoys from the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner. Chu Jiangliu prepared an elite army for the next day’s martial arts competition, which he expected would bring the domains under Divine Martial Nation.

• Chun Han announced that Emperor Xiao would skip court again and ordered Chu Jiangliu to go to the Star Observation Hall in the coming days.
• At Shang Lang’s residence, the civil officials proposed sending handsome men to Emperor Xiao, but Shang Lang warned them that the plan would get them killed and urged them to wait.
• Qiu Luo delivered Emperor Xiao’s decree for Shang Lang to gather the envoys from the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner at the imperial city’s Martial Arts Arena the next day.
• Shang Lang ordered the envoys to assemble, and Chu Jiangliu ordered that 100,000 elite Chu Family Army soldiers accompany him to the arena.
• Chu Jiangliu told the Fifth Princess that the Sword King’s plan would bring the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner under Divine Martial Nation after the next day.

The envoys of the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner gathered in the imperial city as Emperor Xiao prepared to receive them. Lin Bai sat beside her on the imperial dais, prompting the envoys to speculate that he was her male favorite.

• The Nine Nations Domain's King Chu, Crown Prince, and princess discussed Emperor Xiao's rise and entered the imperial city with the other envoys.
• Shang Lang welcomed the envoys before Chu Jiangliu arrived with the Chu Family Army and intimidated the assembled delegates.
• Emperor Xiao entered the Martial Arts Arena with Lin Bai and four women, and the officials and envoys paid their respects.
• Emperor Xiao ordered everyone to rise, and Lin Bai took the seat Chun Han had placed beside her.
• The envoys questioned why Lin Bai sat beside Emperor Xiao and whispered that he was her male favorite.

At a banquet for envoys from the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner, Lin Bai discussed the territory with the Sect Leader Sword Reverent and assured him that he and Emperor Xiao had a plan. Chu Jiangliu then proposed a martial competition, and Emperor Xiao offered ten King-Grade Ten Thousand Qi Convergence Pills as prizes under rules forbidding killing.

• Lin Bai reunited with the Sect Leader Sword Reverent, who congratulated him on becoming the Holy Son and asked how the Divine Martial Nation would manage the Southern Corner Domains.
• Lin Bai said he and Emperor Xiao had a countermeasure to secure the 180 Domains, and the Sect Leader Sword Reverent offered the Reaching Heaven Sword Sect's support.
• After the banquet continued for most of the day, Chu Jiangliu stood and proposed a martial competition between members of the Chu Family Army.
• Emperor Xiao offered ten Ten Thousand Qi Convergence Pills as prizes and limited the competition to Yang God Realm martial artists, forbidding killing.

Emperor Xiao held ten martial arts matches for the Chu Family Army, awarding a King-Grade Pill to each victor and stirring envy among the envoys from the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner. After Zhuo Lian challenged the fairness of limiting the matches to the Chu Family Army, Emperor Xiao ordered Chun Han to bring out twenty more Ten Thousand Qi Convergence Pills.

• Lei Biao defeated Zhao Lian in the first match and received a King-Grade Pill from Emperor Xiao.
• The Chu Family Army won nine more matches, and Emperor Xiao awarded all ten King-Grade Pills to the victors.
• The envoys from the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner watched the soldiers receive the pills and grew envious.
• Zhuo Lian approached Emperor Xiao and argued that Iron-Blood Sword God Battalion martial artists had not been allowed to compete.
• Emperor Xiao ordered Chun Han to bring out twenty Ten Thousand Qi Convergence Pills.

Emperor Xiao offered more Ten Thousand Qi Convergence Pills to draw the Southern Corner envoys into the Martial Arts Arena. After the envoys, including those of the Chu Dynasty, asked to participate, Emperor Xiao allowed them to enter, and Lin Bai’s plan proceeded as intended.

• Emperor Xiao awarded twenty pills to the Iron-Blood Sword God Battalion and the Immaculate Army, whose soldiers prepared to fight in the arena.
• The Southern Corner envoys grew eager to compete for King-Grade Pills, while Lin Bai watched and waited for them to take the bait.
• The Flying Dragon Domain and Hundred Flowers Domain asked Emperor Xiao to let their martial artists participate, prompting other envoys to make the same request.
• The Chu Dynasty’s imperial uncle requested permission for its martial artists to compete, and the Crown Prince and princess prepared to fight for pills.
• Chu Jiangliu and Imperial Advisor Shang Lang urged Emperor Xiao to admit the envoys’ martial artists, and Emperor Xiao agreed to let the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner participate.
• Lin Bai and the leaders of Divine Martial Nation recognized that events were unfolding according to plan.

Lin Bai’s plan used the King-Grade Pills to draw the Southern Corner envoys into a series of arena matches, where Divine Martial Nation fighters won nearly every bout. In the final match, Xiao Jian deliberately lost to Chu Yungong, allowing the Chu Dynasty to claim a pill and leaving the other envoys coveting it.

• Lin Bai told Sword Reverent that he wanted the envoys to desire the King-Grade Pills without obtaining them.
• The Immaculate Army and Iron-Blood Sword God Battalion defeated the Southern Corner challengers through the first nineteen matches.
• Chu Yungong entered the final match, and Zhuo Lian secretly instructed Xiao Jian to lose.
• After three hundred moves, Xiao Jian revealed an opening and Chu Yungong defeated him to win the final King-Grade Pill.
• The Chu Dynasty’s imperial uncle examined the pill and said it would strengthen the dynasty’s standing, while the other envoys watched with greed.

Lin Bai revealed the Divine Martial Nation’s plan to govern the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner by appointing a loyal force in each domain as its administrator. He left the Chu Dynasty facing destruction if it refused to obey an administrator chosen by the Divine Martial Nation.

• After the Crown Prince of the Chu Dynasty won the final martial contest, Emperor Xiao rewarded him with a King-Grade Pill.
• Lin Bai stood up, and Chu Jiangliu and the Divine Martial Nation’s troops greeted him as Sword King.
• Emperor Xiao revealed that Lin Bai was her husband, the Iron-Blooded Sword King, and the Eastern Continent Academy’s Holy Son.
• Lin Bai told the Southern Corner envoys that the Divine Martial Nation would choose one loyal force in each domain to govern it, while all other forces would have to obey.
• Lin Bai warned Chu He that if the Zhao Dynasty became administrator of the Nine Nations Domain and the Chu Dynasty refused to submit, the Divine Martial Nation would destroy the Chu Dynasty.

Lin Bai announced that Divine Martial Nation would appoint administrators to rule the Southern Corner's 180 Domains and introduced the resource-rich Son of Heaven Palace as an incentive for submission. As the envoys considered the offer and its political consequences, one asked how a faction could gain Divine Martial Nation's recognition as a domain administrator.

• Lin Bai declared that martial artists in each domain would have to obey Divine Martial Nation's appointed administrator, with the Chu Family Army ready to enforce its rule.
• Lin Bai announced that the Son of Heaven Palace would open in Lingnan Imperial City, and Chun Han listed its vast collection of cultivation techniques, pills, and other resources.
• Lin Bai explained the palace's disciple ranks and said that administrators would control recommendations, while Core Disciples who made major contributions could change a domain's administrator.
• The Chu Dynasty's imperial uncle and Crown Prince worried that accepting Divine Martial Nation's support would make them its subjects and feared the Zhao Dynasty might secure authority over the Nine Nations Domain first.
• A martial artist from one of the domains asked Lin Bai how a faction could earn Divine Martial Nation's recognition as administrator.

Lin Bai explained how forces could earn domain administrator authority by proving loyalty to the Divine Martial Nation and suppressing rebels. The Li Family received control of the Flying Dragon Domain, prompting more than a hundred domains to pledge allegiance.

• Lin Bai told the envoys that administrators had to pledge loyalty and demonstrate their ability to rule, and he gave them three days to decide.
• The Chu Dynasty's imperial uncle asked what would happen if the other eight dynasties united against his dynasty, and Lin Bai promised Divine Martial Nation support for a loyal effort.
• The head of the Li Family pledged allegiance, and Emperor Xiao appointed the Li Family administrator of the Flying Dragon Domain and granted it authority to recommend ten candidates to the Son of Heaven Palace each year.
• Chun Han gave the Li Family head an authority token, and he returned to the Flying Dragon Domain to organize a campaign against rebels and send ten Li Family disciples to the Son of Heaven Palace.
• More than a hundred domains declared allegiance, including the Hundred Flowers Domain's Ten Thousand Flowers Sect, which gained the Divine Martial Nation's recognition as the domain's new overlord.

Lin Bai’s scheme persuaded envoys from the Southern Corner domains to declare allegiance to Divine Martial Nation, and the Chu Dynasty joined them after recognizing the advantage of submitting. After the Sect Leader Sword Reverent praised Lin Bai’s plan, Lin Bai asked him to join Divine Martial Nation as the first palace master of the Son of Heaven Palace.

• The Imperial Uncle of the Chu Dynasty explained that Lin Bai’s banquet had revealed which domains were rebellious and would help Divine Martial Nation consolidate control over the Southern Corner.
• The Crown Prince of Chu, Chu Yungong, declared allegiance to Divine Martial Nation on his father’s orders and received the Manager Token for the Nine Nations Domain.
• Lin Bai told the Sect Leader Sword Reverent that the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner now belonged to Divine Martial Nation.
• The Sect Leader Sword Reverent described how domain managers and the Son of Heaven Palace would draw the domains’ forces toward Divine Martial Nation.
• Lin Bai invited the Sect Leader Sword Reverent to join Divine Martial Nation and become the first palace master of the Son of Heaven Palace.

Lin Bai persuaded Sect Leader Sword Reverent to merge the Reaching Heaven Sword Sect into the Son of Heaven Palace and become its first Palace Lord as the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner pledged allegiance to the Divine Martial Nation. The Emperor Xiao ordered Chu Jiangliu to bring the domains under control within three months, while Lin Bai remained behind with the Emperor Xiao.

• Lin Bai invited Sect Leader Sword Reverent to lead the Son of Heaven Palace and offered to merge the Reaching Heaven Sword Sect into it.
• Sect Leader Sword Reverent accepted, and the Reaching Heaven Sword Sect became part of the Son of Heaven Palace.
• The 180 Domains of the Southern Corner formally pledged complete allegiance to the Divine Martial Nation after a daylong banquet.
• Lin Bai, the Emperor Xiao, Chu Jiangliu, and Sect Leader Sword Reverent discussed taking control of the domains, and the Emperor Xiao confirmed Sect Leader Sword Reverent as Palace Lord with the status of a first-rank prince.
• The Emperor Xiao ordered Chu Jiangliu to deploy the Chu Family Army and seize the 180 Domains within three months, killing anyone who refused to submit.
• Chun Han escorted Sect Leader Sword Reverent to see the site chosen for the Son of Heaven Palace, leaving Lin Bai and the Emperor Xiao alone in the hall.

Lin Bai helped Emperor Xiao strengthen Divine Martial Nation by arranging for Sect Leader Sword Reverent to lead Son of Heaven Palace and advising her on the Southern Corner’s conflicts. After a month of war, the situation had begun to stabilize, but Lin Bai said he was leaving, and Emperor Xiao showed her reluctance.

• Lin Bai reassured Bai Xiaoxiao that Sect Leader Sword Reverent could be trusted to manage Son of Heaven Palace and explained the palace’s importance to Divine Martial Nation.
• Lin Bai and Bai Xiaoxiao were intimate in the Star Observation Hall while Qiu Luo and two hidden guards kept others away.
• After a month of fighting across the 180 Domains of the Southern Corner, Emperor Xiao told Lin Bai that more than a hundred territories had reported victory.
• Lin Bai advised Emperor Xiao to focus on the fifty-odd unsettled territories and to destroy the other dynasties in the Nine Nations Domain while sparing Zhao Dynasty.
• Lin Bai said the Southern Corner’s situation was nearly stable and announced that he would leave, prompting Emperor Xiao to ask if he was leaving.

Lin Bai left Lingnan Imperial City for Eastern Ridge before planning to travel to Kunxu, despite having no confidence that he would survive its dangers. At Lin Bai’s Tomb, he discovered that Ye Suxin had disappeared and the guards inside had been killed, leaving him searching for the culprit.

• Lin Bai told Bai Xiaoxiao he had to go to Kunxu to find his parents and prepare for the coming Giant God Race, and refused her offer to accompany him.
• Lin Bai gathered with the seventy-two sword cultivators from Immortal Cave Mountain, then left Lingnan Imperial City for Eastern Ridge.
• Lin Bai entered his tomb in the Ten Thousand Mountains to visit Ye Suxin, but found her Jade Platform empty and more than a hundred bodies inside the stone door.
• Lin Bai summoned the guards, who said the core-region guards had vanished two years earlier and that only Bai Xiaoxiao had visited the tomb since then.
• Lin Bai ruled out Bai Xiaoxiao as Ye Suxin’s enemy and demanded to know who had killed the guards and taken Ye Suxin.

Lin Bai suspected Ye Suxin had awakened after discovering that the guards at the Ten Thousand Mountains had been killed, then left for Kunxu after a month of searching brought no news. Bai Xiaoxiao learned that Ye Suxin was alive and leading powerful unknown experts in the Northern Wilderness Domain, and decided to go there herself.

• Lin Bai concluded that Ye Suxin had likely awakened and killed the guards at the Ten Thousand Mountains, then asked the Emperor Xiao to search for her.
• The Emperor Xiao mobilized the Shadow Division, but after a month without news, Lin Bai left the Myriad Kingdoms Domain for Kunxu.
• After Lin Bai departed, the Emperor Xiao received a report that a White-Haired Woman resembling Ye Suxin was leading powerful unknown experts in the Northern Wilderness Domain.
• The Emperor Xiao admitted she had withheld the report because she was unsure whether she could accept another woman beside Lin Bai.
• The Emperor Xiao ordered Chu Jiangliu to assemble three million Chu Family Army soldiers and place five hundred thousand Immaculate Army soldiers under his command for a journey to the Northern Wilderness Domain.