Chapter Summaries

Hong Su learned that her godfather, Master Ji, had been connected to the Peach Mountain Eighteen Immortals and killed him with the Hé Míng Zither. After Hong Su collapsed, an assassin tried to kill her and steal the zither, but Lin Bai intervened before the concealed sword cultivator attacked again.

• Master Ji told Hong Su that her godfather had been one of the Peach Mountain Eighteen Immortals and explained how the Sacred Nation had hunted them down.
• Master Ji asked Hong Su to kill him with the Hé Míng Zither, and she plucked its string, destroying him and the nearby buildings.
• Hong Su collapsed after using the last of her spiritual power to kill Master Ji.
• A black-robed sword cultivator attacked Hong Su and reached for the Hé Míng Zither, but Lin Bai arrived and knocked his sword away.
• The sword cultivator vanished into the wind and launched another concealed attack as Hong Su warned Lin Bai to be careful.

Lin Bai defeated Cold Sword’s assassination attempt and brought the wounded Hong Su back to Dongjia Alley, where she said Master Ji was dead. The Crimson Alliance investigated Lin Bai and paid Su Xiaotian for information, learning that he and Hong Su were Mu Ye and Mu Honghua from Beiliang Prefecture.

• Cold Sword attacked Lin Bai from the darkness, but Lin Bai blocked the strike with his flying swords and severed Cold Sword’s left arm as he fled.
• Lin Bai learned from Hong Su that Master Ji was dead, then carried the injured Hong Su back to Dongjia Alley.
• The Crimson Alliance Leader questioned Liu Hai and Zhang Tianzheng about Lin Bai, and Zhang Tianzheng said Lin Bai had once subdued him with a single sword.
• The Crimson Alliance Leader paid Su Xiaotian two hundred thousand spirit crystals for information about Lin Bai and Hong Su.
• Su Xiaotian identified the pair as Mu Ye and Mu Honghua, a married couple from Beiliang Prefecture, and offered another piece of information for an additional fee.

Su Xiaotian sold the Crimson Alliance Leader information revealing that Mu Ye was Mu Lang’s younger brother, then explained Mu Lang’s history as a three-way spy. The Crimson and Black Alliance Leaders agreed to join forces and kill Mu Ye before he could seek revenge.

• Su Xiaotian told the Crimson Alliance Leader that Mu Ye was Mu Lang’s younger brother and received two hundred thousand spirit crystals.
• The Crimson Alliance Leader recounted how Mu Lang had infiltrated both alliances and secretly served the Hanging Sword Bureau before the alliance leaders killed him three years earlier.
• Elder Liu Hai explained that Mu Lang had played the Crimson Alliance and Black Alliance against each other while reporting their movements to the Hanging Sword Bureau.
• The Black Alliance Leader contacted the Crimson Alliance Leader and proposed killing Mu Ye before he learned the truth about Mu Lang’s death.
• The Crimson and Black Alliance Leaders agreed to send their Grand Elders and hundreds of Apex Realm martial artists to kill Mu Ye that night.

Lin Bai sensed an attack coming and waited in his courtyard while Hong Su recovered from her injuries. Hundreds of Black Alliance and Crimson Alliance warriors attacked him, and after Lin Bai slaughtered many with his sword techniques, their eight sixth-stage leaders joined the fight.

• Lin Bai warned the injured Hong Su to stay inside because the wind was strong, then waited in the courtyard with his Demonic Sword.
• Hundreds of masked Apex Realm warriors surrounded Lin Bai, and he recognized them as two separate groups from the Black Alliance and Crimson Alliance.
• Lin Bai killed the first attacker and fought off the crowd with his Demonic Sword and flying swords while Hong Su watched helplessly from her window.
• Lin Bai unleashed Sword Scripture: Boundless Falling Leaves, killing or wounding more than half the attackers.
• The eight sixth-stage leaders recognized Lin Bai's technique as Sword Lake's secret art and charged into the battle.

Lin Bai fought off a joint attack by the Crimson Alliance and the Black Alliance, killing their elders and the remaining attackers. He left Hong Su at the courtyard and went to find someone to clean up the corpses.

• The elders of the Crimson Alliance and Black Alliance attacked Lin Bai after their forces were routed, and Liu Hai revealed that both alliances had joined forces to kill him.
• Lin Bai used the Soul Refining Banner and the second layer of the Invincible Sword Art to kill the eight elders, including Liu Hai.
• Lin Bai ordered his flying swords to pursue and kill the fleeing martial artists, leaving no survivors.
• Lin Bai told the frightened Hong Su to be careful and said he was going to find someone to clean up the courtyard.

After learning the Black Alliance’s location from Su Xiaotian, Lin Bai infiltrated its leader’s estate and killed the leader with a single sword strike. He appointed Chen Feiying as the new leader and left the surviving Black Alliance martial artists to decide whether to accept it.

• Lin Bai paid Su Xiaotian ten thousand spirit crystals for the locations of the Crimson Alliance and Black Alliance headquarters.
• Lin Bai entered the Black Alliance leader’s estate and announced that he had killed the guards outside.
• Chen Feiying recognized Lin Bai at the banquet as the man he had encountered in Dead Man’s Alley.
• Lin Bai revealed that the Black Alliance leader had sent people to kill him and said he had come to kill the leader.
• Lin Bai raised his cultivation to the sixth stage of the Apex Realm and beheaded the eighth-stage leader with one sword strike.
• Lin Bai declared Chen Feiying the new Black Alliance leader and asked the surviving martial artists whether they objected.

Lin Bai went to the Crimson Alliance after killing its rival leader and appointing Chen Feiying to lead the Black Alliance. At the Crimson Alliance headquarters, its members refused to attack him, and Cold Sword revealed his grudge against the alliance leader.

• Lin Bai appointed Chen Feiying as the new Black Alliance leader and warned the elders not to disturb his courtyard.
• Lin Bai entered the Crimson Alliance headquarters, where thousands of armed members stood ready but were too afraid to attack him.
• Lin Bai confronted the Crimson Alliance leader, rejected his offer of treasures and an apology, and demanded the leader's head.
• The Crimson Alliance leader ordered his members to attack Lin Bai, but no one moved.
• Cold Sword refused to obey, revealed that the Crimson Alliance had destroyed his family, and vowed to seek revenge once he repaid his debt to the leader.
• Lin Bai told the Crimson Alliance leader that his members would not obey because they knew his orders would get them killed.

Lin Bai killed the Crimson Alliance Leader, installed Han Zong as his successor, and returned to Dead Man’s Alley Twenty-Eight. At dawn, Han Zong and Chen Feiying arrived together at Lin Bai’s residence, apparently ready to discuss their new authority over Badlands Prefecture.

• Lin Bai explained why the Crimson Alliance martial artists had refused to obey their leader, then killed the Crimson Alliance Leader with a single sword strike.
• Lin Bai appointed Han Zong as the new Crimson Alliance Leader and ordered him to have the corpses removed from Residence Twenty-Eight.
• Han Zong sent martial artists to clear the corpses and bloodstains from Lin Bai’s courtyard, and Lin Bai later confirmed the cleanup to Hong Su.
• Lin Bai told Hong Su that he had killed the Crimson Alliance Leader, then rested through the night.
• At dawn, Han Zong and Chen Feiying met outside Lin Bai’s residence, acknowledged their new positions as alliance leaders, and knocked on his door.

Chen Feiying and Han Zong visited Lin Bai to apologize and persuade him to lead their respective alliances. After Chen Feiying gave Hong Su a treasured zither, both alliance leaders knelt and asked Lin Bai to become their Alliance Master, leaving him to consider their competing offers.

• Han Zong and Chen Feiying waited outside Lin Bai's residence and offered apologies and gifts for the previous night's attack.
• Hong Su refused Han Zong's weapons and treasures but accepted Chen Feiying's Crescent Moon zither, recognizing it as a King Grade Spirit Artifact once bestowed by the Sacred Emperor.
• Lin Bai emerged and praised Chen Feiying's gift while asking why the alliance leaders had come.
• Chen Feiying knelt and asked Lin Bai to become the Black Alliance's Alliance Master, pledging lifelong loyalty.
• Han Zong also knelt and asked Lin Bai to become the Crimson Alliance's Alliance Master.
• Lin Bai laughed at their competing requests and said he faced a difficult choice.

Lin Bai learned that Quan Guang, the steward of the Right Prime Minister's Residence, and other officials controlled the Crimson Alliance and the Black Alliance, taking most of their profits and forcing the Crimson Alliance into abusive trafficking. The chapter ended with Han Zong preparing to disclose every business the Crimson Alliance operated.

• Chen Feiying offered Lin Bai fine wine while he and Han Zong tried to persuade him to lead their alliances.
• Han Zong and Chen Feiying revealed that Quan Guang, Imperial General Hua Zu, and the Badlands Prefecture's Prefectural Assistant stood behind the two alliances and took most of their earnings.
• Han Zong disclosed that Quan Guang had made the Crimson Alliance arrange for women to be sent to officials and their descendants, where almost none survived.
• Lin Bai demanded a full account of the Crimson Alliance's dealings, and Han Zong began listing its businesses.

Lin Bai learned about the Crimson Alliance and Black Alliance’s vast businesses and the pressure their leaders faced from powerful patrons. He agreed to lead them by merging both groups into a new force, the Sword Alliance, and ordered Chen Feiying and Han Zong to prepare the merger and root out spies.

• Han Zong and Chen Feiying described their alliances’ businesses, reach, and the wealth and information available in Badlands Prefecture.
• Han Zong and Chen Feiying explained that powerful officials could remove them and that most alliance profits went to their patrons, leaving their members with little.
• Lin Bai questioned why he should trust them, then agreed to take charge after hearing their explanation.
• Lin Bai proposed merging the Crimson Alliance and Black Alliance into a new force called the Sword Alliance.
• Lin Bai told Han Zong and Chen Feiying to assemble the senior martial artists, explain the merger, and capture agents working for the Imperial General and the Left Prime Minister’s Residence.

Lin Bai merged the Crimson Alliance and Black Alliance into the Sword Alliance and began recruiting Cold Sword to help him build power in the Badlands Prefecture. Cold Sword pledged loyalty after Lin Bai promised to help him kill the Badlands Prefecture’s Prefectural Assistant within three months.

• Lin Bai made Chen Feiying and Han Zong branch leaders of the Sword Alliance’s Crimson Gate and Black Gate, then asked Chen Feiying to make him a mask and Han Zong to summon Cold Sword.
• Lin Bai told Hong Su he needed support and people for his plans, and she admired the crescent-shaped zither he let her keep.
• Mo Xiansheng delivered Chen Feiying’s rose-carved mask and Falling Pearl Wine to Lin Bai, who then invited the one-armed Cold Sword into his courtyard.
• Cold Sword explained that the Badlands Prefectural Assistant had helped kill his family, and Lin Bai promised he would help Cold Sword take revenge within three months.
• Cold Sword pledged lifelong loyalty to Lin Bai, who ordered him to investigate the hidden agents within the Crimson and Black Alliances and provide a list.

Lin Bai planned to merge the Crimson Alliance and Black Alliance into the Sword Alliance so he could build support and secure cultivation resources in Badlands Prefecture. Hong Su left the Divine Capital, and Cold Sword brought Lin Bai records of the alliances’ spies and senior figures, including news of an elder who wanted to leave.

• Lin Bai told Cold Sword to identify the spies in the Crimson Alliance and Black Alliance and list their senior figures, because he wanted to assess whether the spies could be useful.
• Lin Bai explained to Hong Su that he intended to merge the two alliances into the Sword Alliance and use their resources and people to support his plans.
• Hong Su offered to gather intelligence by playing the qin in the pleasure quarters, but Lin Bai refused and urged her to leave the Divine Capital.
• Three days later, Hong Su said she had finished what she came to do and left alone through Dead Man’s Alley.
• Cold Sword delivered a registry of more than a thousand spies and a list of the alliances’ experts, explaining that he had used the Yaksha organization’s investigative methods.
• Cold Sword told Lin Bai that most Crimson Alliance elders had submitted to Han Zong, while Elder White Crane wanted to leave; Lin Bai agreed to leave White Crane alone for now and asked about the Black Alliance.

Lin Bai ordered the Crimson Alliance and Black Alliance to prepare a martial competition as he worked to strengthen the newly formed Sword Alliance. The news spread through the Badlands Prefecture before Han Zong and Chen Feiying could make arrangements, revealing that Lin Bai had other agents at work.

• Cold Sword explained that powerful Apex Realm martial artists had left the Badlands Prefecture because the Crimson Alliance and Black Alliance offered too few benefits.
• Han Zong and Chen Feiying gave Lin Bai lists of hidden agents and reported their factions’ treasury reserves and expenses.
• Lin Bai ordered the hidden agents monitored and summoned the alliances’ higher-ups to meet at the Drunken Dream Pavilion in five days.
• Lin Bai told Han Zong and Chen Feiying to hold a martial competition open to Apex Realm martial artists, with spirit crystal prizes for the winners.
• Cold Sword agreed to spread the competition announcement, while Han Zong and Chen Feiying privately questioned Lin Bai’s plans.
• News of the Sword Alliance and its competition spread across the Badlands Prefecture, prompting Han Zong to realize Lin Bai had other people serving him.

Lin Bai held a tournament at the Drunken Dream Pavilion to attract Apex Realm martial artists and asserted control over the Sword Alliance. He announced that he would break away from the Imperial General and the Right Prime Minister’s Residence, leaving the alliance’s members time to decide whether to stay.

• The Drunken Dream Pavilion tournament drew Apex Realm martial artists from across Badlands Prefecture with large spirit-crystal rewards.
• Lin Bai arrived at the pavilion, announced registration for the tournament, and killed a challenger with his flying sword after the man questioned the rewards.
• Lin Bai introduced himself to the Crimson Gate and Black Gate leaders as the Sword Alliance’s leader and said he would free the alliance from the Imperial General and the Right Prime Minister’s Residence.
• Lin Bai declared that the Sword Alliance would decide Badlands Prefecture’s future and gave its members until the tournament ended to decide whether to leave.

Lin Bai held a martial competition at the Drunken Dream Pavilion to select skilled fighters, and he took a particular interest in Liu Dao, a lone saber cultivator. The first match began with Liu Dao facing Gu Tong, whose attacks Liu Dao evaded before drawing his saber and revealing a chilling killing intent.

• Cold Sword brought Lin Bai a list of hundreds of registered Apex Realm contestants, and Lin Bai ordered the competition to begin.
• Han Zong announced the rules and called Liu Dao and Gu Tong to fight in the first match.
• Gu Tong attacked Liu Dao with powerful punches while Liu Dao repeatedly dodged.
• Cold Sword explained Liu Dao's reputation as a formidable bounty-hunting saber cultivator and Gu Tong's role as the master of a small gang.
• Liu Dao drew his saber, chilling the arena, and Lin Bai recognized that the frost came from Liu Dao's killing intent rather than the weapon.

Liu Dao defeated Gu Tong with one saber strike and received a Night Raven Feather from Lin Bai. Ye Liang later defeated Yi Ersan by outlasting him, and Lin Bai awarded feathers to both men before the next match began.

• Liu Dao defeated Gu Tong with a single strike, and Gu Tong left Drunken Dream Pavilion in humiliation.
• Lin Bai judged Liu Dao worthy and gave him a Night Raven Feather.
• While Ye Liang and Yi Ersan fought, Cold Sword told Lin Bai about Ye Liang's expulsion from Yasha and Yi Ersan's reputation as a thief and gambler.
• After more than an hour of fighting, Yi Ersan ran out of spiritual energy and conceded to Ye Liang.
• Lin Bai awarded a Night Raven Feather to Ye Liang for his swordsmanship and gave one to Yi Ersan despite his loss.
• Han Zong announced that skilled contestants could receive feathers even if they lost, then called Hua Meiren and Si Ce to the arena.

Lin Bai watched the martial contests continue, awarding Night Raven Feathers to several unusual fighters as the top twenty were decided. He announced that the top twenty could come to the private pavilion to receive their prizes.

• Hua Meiren and Si Ce fought thousands of moves without either gaining the upper hand, so Lin Bai awarded them both Night Raven Feathers.
• Lin Bai awarded Daoist Tianxin a Night Raven Feather after he defeated his opponent, then gave one to the Drunken Monk after the monk won with a single punch.
• Lin Bai watched the remaining matches until the contests ended at midnight and the top twenty were determined, with Liu Dao first, Ye Liang second, and the Drunken Monk third.
• Lin Bai announced that the Sword Alliance would award the prizes and invited the top twenty martial artists to the private pavilion.

After distributing the martial contest rewards, Lin Bai recruited the top warriors into the Sword Alliance and promised to meet their demands. The chapter ended with eleven people, including Cold Sword, agreeing to serve him as he prepared to make the Sword Alliance independent of powerful imperial interests.

• Lin Bai distributed spirit crystals to the top twenty warriors and invited them to join the Sword Alliance or leave.
• Several warriors returned their Night Raven Feathers and left, but Lin Bai urged Liu Dao to stay and revealed his plan to free the Sword Alliance from the Prefectural Assistant, the Imperial General, and the Right Prime Minister's Residence.
• Lin Bai named Liu Dao, Ye Liang, Drunken Monk, Daoist Tianxin, Hua Meiren, Si Ce, Yi Ersan, Di Zhou, Ren You, and Su Zhi as the warriors he wanted to recruit.
• The warriors stated their demands, including cultivation resources for Si Ce and wine for Drunken Monk, and Lin Bai agreed to provide for them in return for their service and loyalty.
• Lin Bai gave Cold Sword his Night Raven Feather, and the eleven warriors pledged to serve him.

Lin Bai secured the allegiance of nearly all the Crimson Gate and Black Gate martial artists and persuaded White Crane to join the Sword Alliance. The chapter ended with White Crane accepting a Night Raven Feather and becoming one of Lin Bai’s trusted confidants.

• Almost all the gathered martial artists pledged allegiance to Lin Bai, while White Crane asked permission to leave.
• Lin Bai asked White Crane to stay and help him manage the Sword Alliance and win the martial artists’ trust.
• White Crane warned that the Imperial General and the Right Prime Minister’s Residence would interfere with the alliance, but Lin Bai declared his intention to resist them.
• Cold Sword and Ye Liang urged White Crane to stay, and Lin Bai promised him everything within the Sword Alliance in return for his help.
• White Crane accepted the Night Raven Feather, becoming the twelfth person Lin Bai counted among his trusted confidants.