Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai accompanied Old Drunkard Su Jin to a bathhouse, where Prefect Guards tried to capture Su Jin after poisoning the bath. Lin Bai defeated them, and Su Jin recognized him as Lin Bai, the person he had searched for across East Continent.

• Lin Bai refused to bathe and waited for Su Jin to tell him what he wanted to know.
• The bathhouse attendant secretly poisoned the bath on the orders of several men, intending to seal Su Jin’s meridians and dantian.
• The Prefect Guards confronted Su Jin and demanded that he go with them, revealing that the bath had been poisoned.
• Lin Bai blocked the guards when they tried to take Su Jin, then drew his sword after they attacked him.
• Lin Bai knocked the dozen guards down with one sword strike, and Su Jin recognized his Dragon Slayer Swordplay and realized he was Lin Bai.

Lin Bai fought the Prefect Guards and learned from Su Jin that entering the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau would require his help. After Su Jin escaped, Lin Bai fought his way out of the secluded residence, only to find the Mo family and Dragon Wolf Gang blocking his departure.

• Lin Bai drove off the Prefect Guards, and Su Jin explained that their leader was the Prefect's brother-in-law and that the guards had attacked because of their powerful connections.
• Su Jin said he knew how Lin Bai could enter the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau, escaped despite the poison, and invited Lin Bai to meet him outside Qing Yun City at dusk the next day.
• A woman tried to keep Lin Bai at the secluded residence over an exorbitant bill, and Lin Bai killed the seven Apex Realm martial artists sent to stop him.
• Lin Bai left the residence, but Mo Qingshu of the Mo family and more than a hundred Dragon Wolf Gang martial artists blocked his way out of Qing Yun City.

After Qin Yun enlisted the Mo Family and Dragon Wolf Gang to stop Lin Bai, Lin Bai fought through their ambush in Qing Yun City. He slaughtered dozens of gang members and wounded the gang’s second-in-command, leaving Mo Qingshu astonished by Lin Bai’s mastery of two sword paths.

• Qin Yun asked the Mo Family and Dragon Wolf Gang to keep Lin Bai in Qing Yun City, and Mo Qingshu and the gang’s second-in-command cornered Lin Bai in a narrow street.
• Lin Bai challenged them to explain why they were blocking his way, but the Dragon Wolf Gang’s second-in-command ordered his men to attack and break Lin Bai’s legs.
• Lin Bai drew his demon sword and killed dozens of charging gang members, prompting Mo Qingshu to suspect he was from Sword Lake.
• The Dragon Wolf Gang’s second-in-command attacked Lin Bai with two heavy copper hammers, but Lin Bai dodged his blows and drew the Heaven Measuring Ruler.
• Lin Bai struck the second-in-command with the Heaven Measuring Ruler, sending him flying and leaving his hands bloodied, while Mo Qingshu realized Lin Bai practiced both the Spirit Sword Dao and the Overlord Sword Dao.

Lin Bai defeated Mo Qingshu and the Dragon Wolf Gang's second-in-command in Qing Yun City, then escaped the city and met the Slovenly Old Man, Su Jin. Su Jin revealed that he was from Sword Lake and had been searching for Lin Bai, but Lin Bai insisted that he only wanted directions to the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau.

• Lin Bai defeated Mo Qingshu with the Heaven Measuring Ruler after exchanging hundreds of sword strikes, and the Dragon Wolf Gang and Mo family let him leave.
• Mo Qingshu asked Lin Bai's name and whether he came from Sword Lake, and Lin Bai identified himself before leaving Qing Yun City.
• Lin Bai traveled through the night to a desolate mountain range, where the Slovenly Old Man, Su Jin, greeted him and recounted his past achievements.
• Su Jin said he had searched the Eastern Continent for Lin Bai and revealed that he was from Sword Lake.
• Lin Bai said he had come only to learn how to reach the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau, and Su Jin answered with a mysterious smile.

Lin Bai followed Su Jin to the ruins of Sword Lake, where Su Jin revealed that the Central Sacred Nation had ordered the sect’s destruction based on a prophecy. Su Jin admitted his wounds and poison left him with at most a month to live, and Lin Bai asked how many Sword Lake survivors remained.

• Su Jin mistook Lin Bai for a descendant of the Peach Mountain Eighteen Immortals and offered to show him how to enter the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau.
• Lin Bai followed Su Jin toward Sword Lake, and they avoided the Prefect Guards while traveling for seven days.
• At Sword Lake’s ruined mountain gate, Su Jin explained that the Dragon Slaying Bureau had slaughtered the sect’s thirty-five thousand disciples after the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau predicted one of them would threaten the Imperial Lord.
• Su Jin killed several Prefect Guards who appeared among the ruins, then revealed that his injuries and poison would likely kill him within a month.
• Lin Bai asked Su Jin how many Sword Lake martial artists had survived the slaughter.

Su Jin brought Lin Bai through the ruins of Sword Lake and explained why he had chosen Lin Bai to inherit its fragment of the Sword Scripture. They reached an ordinary-looking lake where the scripture was hidden, but Lin Bai still had to pass its trial.

• Su Jin told Lin Bai about the Five Great Scriptures and explained that Sword Lake had possessed only a fragment of the Sword Scripture.
• Su Jin revealed that he had sought Lin Bai as a worthy inheritor after Sword Lake was destroyed, and urged him to preserve the sect’s Dao Tradition.
• Su Jin warned Lin Bai that he would receive the Sword Scripture only if he passed its trial.
• Su Jin killed two Prefect Guards as he and Lin Bai traveled through Sword Lake’s ruins, despite his worsening injuries.
• Su Jin led Lin Bai to an unremarkable lake and revealed that the Sword Scripture was hidden inside it.

Su Jin explained that the Sword Scripture was dispersed throughout Sword Lake and urged Lin Bai to comprehend it before his remaining month ran out. As Su Jin protected him, the Dragon River Prefect learned they had returned and led troops to Sword Lake to capture Su Jin and claim the sect’s sword techniques.

• Su Jin explained that Sword Lake’s water contained the Sword Scripture, while its three written-down sword-technique divine abilities were forbidden from being recorded or passed on outside the sect.
• Su Jin revealed that he was one of Sword Lake’s eighteen Sword-Holding Elders and gave Lin Bai one month to comprehend the Sword Scripture before he died.
• Lin Bai plunged into the lake and began comprehending the Sword Scripture as Su Jin guarded him from the shore.
• Over half a month, Su Jin killed nearly all the Prefect Guards stationed near Sword Lake’s ruins.
• After Qin Yun reported Su Jin’s return, the Dragon River Prefect blamed him for failing to act sooner, then learned Lin Bai and Su Jin had escaped Qing Yun City.
• The Dragon River Prefect decided Su Jin would return to Sword Lake and led his martial artists there to capture him and obtain the sword techniques.

Lin Bai comprehended the sword scripture Tears of the Jianghu in Sword Lake, then used his Devouring Sword Soul to draw out the lake’s remaining insights. He discovered a hidden message from the South Clarity Dao Lord directing him to Red Leaf Valley in the Celestial God Realm, while the Dragon River Prefect’s Prefect Guards arrived at Sword Lake.

• Lin Bai merged his senses with the lake water and comprehended the sword technique Tears of the Jianghu, along with passages describing its creator’s life and teachings.
• Su Jin noticed the lake water had decreased and praised Lin Bai’s talent, then saw the Dragon River Prefect’s Prefect Guards approaching Sword Lake.
• Lin Bai continued comprehending until the lake water began rejecting him, so he summoned his Devouring Sword Soul to drain it and collect more scripture.
• Lin Bai found a hidden message in the scripture inviting him to seek the South Clarity Dao Lord at Red Leaf Valley in the Celestial God Realm.

Lin Bai absorbed Sword Lake’s Dao Tradition inheritance and learned twelve sword technique mystic arts. Su Jin asked him to preserve and eventually rebuild Sword Lake, then prepared to demonstrate its three signature techniques before the Dragon River Prefect and his guards.

• Lin Bai finished absorbing the sword scripture’s twelve Great Mystic Arts from Sword Lake and emerged from the drained lake.
• The Dragon River Prefect confronted Su Jin and demanded Sword Lake’s three sword technique mystic arts in exchange for sparing him.
• Su Jin celebrated Lin Bai’s success and asked him to preserve the inheritance and rebuild Sword Lake when he could.
• Su Jin promised to demonstrate Sword Lake’s three signature sword techniques, warning Lin Bai to flee afterward regardless of the outcome.

Su Jin unleashed three deadly sword techniques against the Dragon River Prefect and urged Lin Bai to escape, but Lin Bai rescued him and fled. As the Prefect pursued them, Lin Bai turned to face him with the fourth layer of the Invincible Sword Art and unleashed the Azure Heavens Demon Execution Sword.

• Su Jin used Tears of the Jianghu and Boundless Falling Leaves to kill more than half of the Dragon River Prefect's guards.
• Su Jin wounded the Dragon River Prefect with Great River Eastward, then collapsed after completing his three sword moves and urged Lin Bai to flee.
• Lin Bai used the third layer of the Invincible Sword Art with the Demon Sword and Heaven Measuring Ruler to knock back the Dragon River Prefect, then carried Su Jin away.
• Su Jin admitted he had lied about knowing how to enter the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau, but Lin Bai insisted on saving him anyway.
• When the Dragon River Prefect caught up, Lin Bai set Su Jin down and used the fourth layer of the Invincible Sword Art to unleash the Azure Heavens Demon Execution Sword, draining his spiritual power and cracking his body.

Lin Bai used a devastating Sword Scripture technique to escape the Dragon River Prefect with the badly wounded Su Jin, then brought him to Thousand Leaf City for shelter. The Dragon River Prefect ordered a province-wide hunt, while Su Jin and Lin Bai reached the Zhang family and reunited with Zhang Tianye.

• Lin Bai severed one of the Dragon River Prefect's arms with the Azure Heavens Demon Execution Sword and fled with Su Jin into the Sword Lake Mountains.
• The Dragon River Prefect recognized the sword as another Sword Scripture art and offered a huge reward for Lin Bai's capture.
• Lin Bai revealed that the sword was the Scripture's tenth divine Sword Art and that using it had badly damaged his body, so he and Su Jin headed to Thousand Leaf City to seek refuge with Zhang Tianye.
• At the Zhang family residence, Zhang Zhengqing recognized Su Jin and discreetly brought him and Lin Bai into the estate.
• Zhang Tianye arrived and exclaimed that Su Jin had survived, while Su Jin replied that being alive felt no different from being dead.

Lin Bai and Su Jin recovered in Thousand Leaf City while Su Jin confronted the choice between dying from his injuries and abandoning his cultivation. After Su Jin chose to live as an ordinary man, Lin Bai began learning Sword Lake’s Tears of the Jianghu technique.

• Zhang Tianye welcomed Su Jin and Lin Bai to the Zhang Clan residence and provided healing pills before leaving them to recover.
• After five days, Su Jin told Lin Bai his injuries would kill him within half a month unless he dispersed his cultivation.
• Lin Bai urged Su Jin to choose survival, and Su Jin decided to abandon his cultivation rather than die.
• Half a month later, Lin Bai’s injuries had nearly healed, while Su Jin spent his days drinking and watching Lin Bai practice.
• Su Jin explained the cultivation requirements of Sword Lake’s three Sword Canon techniques, and Lin Bai decided to begin with Tears of the Jianghu.

Lin Bai learned that practicing Sword Canon techniques could advance his cultivation and suspected the sword art was South Clarity Dao Lord’s inheritance, linked to Red Leaf Valley and the Celestial God Tomb. Su Jin explained spirit crystals and revealed that the Central Sacred Nation’s Eternal Sky Defense Formation relied on a powerful seven-colored spirit crystal kept inside the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau.

• Lin Bai felt he had reached the peak of the first stage of the Apex Realm through practicing “Tears of the Jianghu,” and Su Jin explained that Sword Canon techniques could also advance cultivation.
• Lin Bai connected clues in the Sword Canon to South Clarity Dao Lord and wondered whether the Celestial God Realm was related to the Celestial God Tomb.
• Su Jin described the two ways Apex Realm martial artists could break through and explained that spirit crystals were the Central Sacred Nation’s exclusive trade currency.
• Su Jin told Lin Bai that the Central Sacred Nation’s Eternal Sky Defense Formation consumed vast amounts of spiritual energy and had once relied on treasury reserves to remain active.
• Su Jin revealed that a seven-colored spirit crystal brought back from the Celestial God Tomb could power the formation for three years and was guarded inside the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau.

Lin Bai resolved to raise his cultivation so he could enter the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau and uncover the truth about the past, but he lacked the spirit crystals to advance quickly. After deciding to learn more about the Central Sacred Nation, he left Su Jin in the courtyard and went to seek someone from the Zhang Lineage.

• Lin Bai decided to strengthen his cultivation because reaching the Apex Realm's peak could give him a chance to enter the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau.
• Lin Bai considered using demon blood or buying pills to advance, but he had too little spirit liquid and feared attracting attention by hunting demonic beasts.
• Su Jin suggested robbery as the quickest way to obtain spirit crystals and described earning a stipend through service to a lineage, the Prefectural Governor's Mansion, or business.
• Lin Bai learned that the Dragon River Prefect wanted to capture him alive for the Sword Canon's divine abilities, while Lin Bai was not yet on the Central Sacred Nation's wanted list.
• Lin Bai asked Su Jin for a map of the Central Sacred Nation, and Su Jin directed him to Zhang Tianye and the Zhang Lineage.
• Lin Bai left the courtyard to find someone from the Zhang Lineage, while Su Jin stayed behind and asked him to bring back wine.

Lin Bai borrowed books from Zhang Zhengqing to learn about the Central Province, the Central Sacred Nation, and Dragon River Prefecture. After building a friendship with Zhang Zhengqing, Lin Bai returned to the courtyard with more books and wine for Su Jin.

• Lin Bai met Zhang Zhengqing at the Zhang residence and asked to borrow books about the Central Province and the Central Sacred Nation.
• Zhang Zhengqing gave Lin Bai books and a Voice Transmission Token, and Lin Bai spent two days reading them.
• Lin Bai contacted Zhang Zhengqing for more books, this time about spirit medicines, ores, treasures, and artifacts, and spent five or six days studying them.
• Lin Bai asked Zhang Zhengqing for a map of Dragon River Prefecture and biographies of its important figures, as well as wine for Su Jin.
• Zhang Zhengqing reassured Lin Bai that he would be safe in Thousand Leaf City, then gave him the books and wine to take back to the courtyard.

Lin Bai sought a way to obtain Saint Blood Pills to improve his cultivation, but lacked the spirit crystals to buy them and could not hunt suitable Demon Race beasts. While waiting for Zhang Zhengqing to ask about the pill formula, he learned the Zhang Family was in a martial contest against the Zhao Family and Hunyuan Sect, and saw a cyan-robed sword cultivator defeat a Zhang Family fighter.

• Lin Bai learned that Saint Blood Pills suited first-level Apex Realm martial artists but cost a thousand spirit crystals each, far beyond his means.
• Lin Bai realized the mountain ranges lacked Apex Realm Demon Race beasts and decided to ask Zhang Zhengqing whether the Zhang Family possessed the Saint Blood Pill formula.
• Lin Bai waited outside the Scripture Repository for Zhang Zhengqing, then discovered Zhang Family disciples were gathering at the Martial Arts Arena because the Zhao Family and Hunyuan Sect had challenged them.
• A Zhang Family martial artist told Lin Bai that Zhang Zhengqing and Zhao Zhou had fought at a banquet and that the Zhang Family had already lost three matches.
• Lin Bai followed the crowd to the Martial Arts Arena, where a cyan-robed sword cultivator struck his opponent off the martial platform and left him coughing blood.

The Zhao Lineage challenged the Zhang Lineage at a martial contest, and Zhao Yang won five matches in a row. Lin Bai noticed that Zhao Yang gained an outside power after three hundred rounds and warned Zhang Zhengqing that the Zhang Lineage had to defeat him quickly.

• The Zhao Lineage used the contest to flaunt its strength and taunt Zhang Zhengqing as its juniors defeated four Zhang Lineage fighters.
• Zhang Tian challenged Zhao Yang but lost after several hundred rounds, and Zhao Yang then won another match for five consecutive victories.
• Lin Bai noticed an unfamiliar power appearing inside Zhao Yang after three hundred rounds and suspected it was responsible for his increased strength.
• Lin Bai told Zhang Zhengqing that Zhao Yang's strength and swordsmanship surged after three hundred rounds, so the Zhang Lineage needed to end the fight swiftly.

Lin Bai recognized that Zhao Yang’s sudden increases in strength came from a formation empowering him with the strength of others. Zhang Zhengqing identified it as the Hunyuan Sect’s Seven Sons United Heart Formation, leaving the Zhang family facing Zhao Zhou’s concealed advantage.

• After Lin Bai warned Zhang Zhengqing that Zhao Yang was delaying before suddenly growing stronger, Zhang Zhengqing sent Zhang Hu to fight him using Lin Bai’s advice.
• Zhao Zhou and the six others activated their formation, and Zhao Yang defeated Zhang Hu after only a hundred exchanges.
• Lin Bai concluded that Zhao Yang was drawing strength from the Zhao family members behind him and warned Zhang Zhengqing that further fights would be pointless.
• Zhang Zhengqing identified the formation as the Hunyuan Sect’s Seven Sons United Heart Formation and explained its history to the Zhang family martial artists.

Zhang Zhengqing challenged Zhao Yang after the Zhang Family’s young martial artists suffered repeated defeats, but Zhao Yang used the Seven Sons United Heart Formation to win. Zhang Zhengqing exposed the formation, and after the Zhang Family admitted defeat, Zhao Zhou taunted them as Zhang Zhengqing left with Lin Bai.

• Zhang Zhengqing stepped onto the fighting platform as the Zhang Family’s last challenger, and Zhao Yang mocked him before the duel began.
• Zhang Zhengqing drove Zhao Yang back after nearly a hundred exchanges, but Zhao Zhou and the other six activated the Seven Sons United Heart Formation and empowered Zhao Yang.
• Zhao Yang counterattacked and knocked Zhang Zhengqing off the platform, giving the Zhang Family seven straight losses.
• Zhang Zhengqing named the formation and said the Zhang Family had lost to the Hunyuan Sect’s technique, while Zhao Zhou argued that its use had not broken any rules.
• Zhang Tianye told Zhang Zhengqing to accept the loss and focus on cultivation before the White Dragon Secret Realm opened in half a month.
• Zhang Zhengqing left with Lin Bai, and Zhao Zhou shouted insults at the Zhang Family, enraging its martial artists.

Lin Bai entered the arena to answer Zhao Zhou’s insults against the Zhang Family and challenged Zhao Yang, who was empowered by the Seven Sons United Heart Formation. After fighting him to a draw, Lin Bai unleashed the Dragon Slayer Swordplay and defeated him, leaving the contest’s outcome to the Zhang Family.

• Zhao Zhou mocked the Zhang Family as useless trash, enraging its martial artists and Zhang Zhengqing.
• Lin Bai offered to teach the Zhao Family a lesson, and Zhang Zhengqing promised him access to the Scripture Repository if he helped.
• Lin Bai challenged Zhao Yang and initially fought him without drawing the Demonic Sword.
• Zhao Zhou and the other six members activated the formation to lend Zhao Yang their strength, but Lin Bai still matched him in combat.
• Lin Bai drew the Demonic Sword and used the Dragon Slayer Swordplay to break Zhao Yang’s defenses and knock him from the arena.