Chapter Summaries

Pill Demon trapped the martial artists in a sealed square and declared that only the strongest person would be released. As the trapped fighters began battling to prove their strength, Lin Bai was targeted by a black-clad martial artist.

• Lin Bai followed Tong Yang into a passage, where a stone gate sealed the entrance behind him.
• Lin Bai reached a square where several thousand martial artists read Pill Demon's message announcing the contest and warning they would remain trapped unless the strongest emerged within half a month.
• The martial artists failed to break through the arrays, while Lin Bai watched Tong Yang, Yan Geng, and Long Gang and waited for a chance to act.
• A bald burly Dao Realm expert proposed settling the contest through battle, and clashes erupted across the square.
• A black-clad martial artist attacked Lin Bai with a powerful punch.

Lin Bai fought off attackers in the chaotic melee, then tried to prevent Tong Yang and his allies from waiting out the battle and taking control. He left the Dao Realm fighters reconsidering their clashes and turning their attention toward Tong Yang’s group.

• Lin Bai killed the Apex Realm man pursuing him with Three Thousand Lightning Annihilations, then used the lightning from his horn to repel hundreds of attackers and escape the eastern corner.
• Lin Bai saw Tong Yang, Yan Geng, and Long Gang staying out of the fighting with their group, and realized he needed to separate Tong Yang from his protectors to reclaim his Storage Bag.
• Lin Bai approached two battling Dao Realm experts and warned them that Tong Yang’s group planned to attack after the other fighters had weakened each other.
• Lin Bai repeated his warning to other Dao Realm fighters, and the bald man and his opponent agreed to deal with Tong Yang’s group before settling their own fight.

Lin Bai provoked the Dao Realm experts into attacking Tong Yang and his companions, then used the chaos to approach Tong Yang. After Tong Yang revealed his family’s powerful talisman and killed two opponents, Lin Bai struck him with lightning and moved in for the kill.

• Lin Bai incited the Dao Realm experts to turn against Tong Yang and his group, triggering a battle among the fifteen fighters.
• Long Gang and Yan Geng fought multiple Dao Realm experts while Lin Bai slipped toward Tong Yang.
• Tong Yang crushed a Celestial Light Holy Sword Talisman, killing the two Dao Realm experts who had cornered him.
• Lin Bai attacked Tong Yang from behind, striking him with five-colored lightning and sending him crashing into a stone wall.
• Lin Bai thrust the black-cloth-wrapped horn toward Tong Yang’s chest.

Lin Bai failed to kill Tong Yang after a protective pendant saved him, then fled and killed Ling Ru to reclaim the Immaculate Flying Sword. He used the sword against Tong Yang, but another jade talisman blocked the attack and burned away.

• Tong Yang survived Lin Bai’s attack with a protective pendant, healed himself with a pill, and drove Lin Bai into retreat.
• Lin Bai fled through the battlefield as Tong Yang pursued him, then spotted Ling Ru, who had received the Immaculate Flying Sword from Tong Yang.
• Ling Ru attacked Lin Bai, but he broke through her sword light and killed her with the horn before taking her Storage Bag.
• Lin Bai retrieved the Immaculate Flying Sword from Ling Ru’s Storage Bag and activated the Primal Chaos Unification Sword Formation against Tong Yang.
• Tong Yang blocked the flying sword with another jade talisman, which crumbled to ash and left Lin Bai frustrated.

Lin Bai tried to escape Tong Yang and seize his green jade storage ring, but Tong Yang’s talismans and Dao Realm strength kept him at bay. Lin Bai used Three Variations of Plum Blossoms to exploit Tong Yang’s defenses and severed his arm.

• Lin Bai realized Tong Yang’s green jade ring was likely a storage space holding his treasures and Lin Bai’s own Storage Bag.
• Tong Yang crushed a Hammer Mountain Talisman, but Lin Bai used Five-Colored Divine Lightning and his Golden Dragon Ring to survive the blow as the ring cracked.
• Lin Bai stopped fleeing and baited Tong Yang into shattering a Dharma Body, then attacked with Three Variations of Plum Blossoms.
• Tong Yang blocked Lin Bai’s sword with another protective talisman, but Lin Bai redirected the Immaculate Flying Sword and severed Tong Yang’s arm.

Lin Bai severed Tong Yang’s left arm, took his green jade ring, and tried to leave Skywind Cliff. Pill Demon offered him a secret and an opportunity if he returned to kill Tong Yang, but Lin Bai refused, broke through the stone gate, and escaped as Pill Demon decided he might be more suitable than Gu Chuan.

• Lin Bai used the Immaculate Flying Sword to sever Tong Yang’s left arm and fled while Tong Yang ordered Long Gang and Yan Geng to kill him.
• Pill Demon watched the battles through mirrors and considered Lin Bai and Gu Chuan the only candidates worthy of his attention.
• Lin Bai took Tong Yang’s green jade ring and continued toward the passageway, intent on leaving rather than seeking the Rakshasa Pill.
• Pill Demon offered Lin Bai an opportunity and a secret if he returned to kill Tong Yang, but Lin Bai refused and explained that he wanted to avoid dangerous entanglements.
• Lin Bai cleaved open Pill Demon’s stone gate and escaped, prompting Pill Demon to decide that Lin Bai might be more suitable than Gu Chuan.

Lin Bai refused to hear Pill Demon's secret, but Pill Demon overpowered him and took him to a hidden valley. There, Lin Bai agreed to listen, and Pill Demon declared that Lin Bai would have regretted leaving without hearing the secret.

• Lin Bai tried to leave Skywind Cliff, but Pill Demon appeared and insisted that Lin Bai was the person he had been seeking.
• Pill Demon knocked away Lin Bai's Immaculate Flying Sword, seized him, and carried him across Blackwood Forest Sea to a hidden valley.
• Pill Demon said the restrictions at Skywind Cliff would eventually be opened by Silver Moon City's powerhouses, who would likely kill the martial artists trapped inside.
• At the valley, Lin Bai questioned Pill Demon about the Alchemy Furnace and the rumor that he had refined Rakshasa Pills using living people.
• Lin Bai reasoned that the rumor had been spread to justify killing Pill Demon, earning his approval and prompting him to compare Lin Bai favorably with Gu Chuan.
• Lin Bai agreed to hear the secret, and Pill Demon said Lin Bai would have regretted leaving because he was the stupidest person in the world.

Pill Demon told Lin Bai that the Celestial God Tomb originated from a battle between the Heaven Swallowing Race and thousands of Dao Lords, whose techniques and treasures were hidden there. He revealed that array master Kong Lu once found the treasure trove and left behind a map in his tomb residence, which Pill Demon had discovered and entered.

• Pill Demon explained that a battle involving the Heaven Swallowing Race and three thousand Dao Lords caused the Celestial God Tomb to sink into the void.
• Pill Demon said the Heaven Swallowing Race member subdued the wounded Dao Lords and made them record their techniques before hiding their scriptures and treasures in the tomb.
• Pill Demon told Lin Bai that lower-realm martial artists had long searched for the rumored treasure trove.
• Pill Demon explained that Kong Lu spent three thousand years searching the Celestial God Tomb and found the treasure trove, but was betrayed and gravely wounded before he could retrieve its contents.
• Pill Demon said Kong Lu built a tomb residence, hid his possessions there, and left a map to the treasure trove.
• Pill Demon revealed that he had found Kong Lu's tomb residence and entered it.

Pill Demon told Lin Bai how he discovered Kong Lu's Tomb and revealed that Seventh Sister and Tong Xiuyun had betrayed him to learn its location. He began explaining that Seventh Sister had secretly poisoned him, leaving his story unfinished.

• Pill Demon said he had found the outskirts of Kong Lu's Tomb, where he collected Storage Bags containing the Rakshasa Pill recipe, but had not dared enter.
• Pill Demon agreed to tell Lin Bai the tomb's location after explaining how its location had leaked.
• Pill Demon recounted meeting Seventh Sister, helping her, and becoming her partner before he learned of Kong Lu's Tomb.
• After Pill Demon returned from searching for the tomb, he kept its exact location from Seventh Sister and began refining Rakshasa Pills to prepare for an expedition.
• Pill Demon caught Seventh Sister with Tong Xiuyun, who attacked him and tried to force him to reveal the tomb's location, so Pill Demon fled to Blackwood Forest Sea.
• Pill Demon said Seventh Sister had secretly poisoned him after he returned from Kong Lu's Tomb.

Pill Demon revealed that Tong Xiuyun had poisoned him with Ninefold Cold Return to Spirit and offered Lin Bai the location of Kong Lu Tomb in exchange for an oath of revenge. Lin Bai swore to kill Tong Xiuyun and Seventh Sister before leaving the Celestial God Tomb, received the map, and recovered his Storage Bag.

• Pill Demon told Lin Bai that Tong Xiuyun had poisoned him and that he had only about half a month to live.
• Pill Demon offered to share the route to Kong Lu Tomb if Lin Bai swore to take revenge on Tong Xiuyun and Seventh Sister, but Lin Bai refused to promise to destroy the Tong family.
• Pill Demon explained the Demonic Heart Oath, and Lin Bai vowed to kill Tong Xiuyun and Seventh Sister before leaving the Celestial God Tomb, unless they died first.
• Pill Demon gave Lin Bai a map to Ziwei Mountain in the Fallen Star Mountain Range, where Kong Lu Tomb could be found.
• Lin Bai asked Pill Demon to remove the restriction from Tong Yang's green jade ring, and Pill Demon returned it so Lin Bai could retrieve his Storage Bag.

Lin Bai stayed with Pill Demon until he died, then gathered Tong Yang’s stored treasures and used them to strengthen himself and the Demon Sword. Meanwhile, Tong Xiuyun arrived too late to find Pill Demon and ordered Tong Liang to return to Silver Moon City.

• Pill Demon died in the wooden hut, and Lin Bai buried him after confirming that his Storage Bag held no treasures.
• Lin Bai swore to fulfill his Demonic Heart Oath by killing the poisonous woman and Tong Xiuyun, then recovered his own Storage Bag from Tong Yang’s Green Jade Ring.
• Lin Bai fed Tong Yang’s spirit tools and Emperor Artifacts to the Demon Sword and refined more than twenty thousand Vermillion Bird Pills, bringing his cultivation close to the peak of the Apex Realm.
• Lin Bai left the wooden hut and returned to Blackwood Forest Sea to cultivate.
• Tong Xiuyun arrived at Skywind Cliff with several elders, learned from Tong Liang that Pill Demon had escaped, and sent his injured son back to Silver Moon City.

Lin Bai left Blackwood Forest Sea for Silver Moon City, hoping to find information and abundant demon beasts so he could improve his cultivation. He reached the city but lacked the Vermillion Bird Pills needed for a Residence Token, and a soldier offered to recommend him somewhere to stay.

• Lin Bai hunted and refined hundreds of demon beasts in Blackwood Forest Sea but failed to break through to the Quasi-Dao Realm, while avoiding Dao Realm foes.
• Lin Bai decided to leave the forest and travel to Silver Moon City to seek information about nearby demon-beast grounds.
• After seven days of flight, Lin Bai reached Silver Moon City and found its barrier preventing him from entering without a token.
• A soldier explained that visitors could stay only for a few days, while a Residence Token cost three thousand Vermillion Bird Pills per month.
• Lin Bai admitted that he had no Vermillion Bird Pills, and the soldier offered to recommend him a place to stay.

Lin Bai chose to seek work at Microstar Hall after learning it offered lower-realm martial artists temporary shelter and paid tasks in Silver Moon City. There, he met an elderly man whose ancestors came from the Barren Ancient Continent, and the old man revealed their connection to the Sword God Family.

• A city-gate soldier explained Microstar Hall's shelter and employment arrangement and led Lin Bai toward it.
• Lin Bai decided Microstar Hall was his best option and followed the soldier's directions to the hall.
• Lin Bai told the elderly man at Microstar Hall that he had come from the Barren Ancient Continent and needed work.
• The elderly man said his grandfather had come from the Northern Continent's Sword God Family.
• Lin Bai asked whether the elderly man's surname was Ye or Dugu.

Lin Bai met Dugu Xu at Microstar Hall and learned that newcomers were assigned to mission groups in exchange for lodging and Vermillion Bird Pills. Dugu Xu was about to place him in Profound Rank Group Nine when Lei Lin arrived to request a replacement for a member who had died on a mission.

• Dugu Xu introduced himself to Lin Bai and spoke with him about the Sword God Family and the Savage Ancient World.
• Lin Bai asked for lodging and an Identity Token, and Dugu Xu explained Microstar Hall's mission system and its rules.
• Dugu Xu chose Profound Rank Group Nine, led by Liang Kun, as a suitable group for Lin Bai.
• Lei Lin arrived at Microstar Hall and asked Dugu Xu to fill the vacancy left by Ji Yang's death during a mission.
• Dugu Xu took Lei Lin's bloodstained token and agreed to find a replacement as soon as possible.

Lei Lin recognized Lin Bai as a true sword cultivator and insisted that he join Heaven Rank Fifth Squad. After Dugu Xu warned Lin Bai that the squad's missions were exceptionally dangerous, Lin Bai focused on the reward for their current mission.

• Lei Lin sensed Lin Bai's sword intent, tested him with a thunderous voice, and asked what kind of sword he cultivated.
• Lin Bai said he cultivated the sword of slaughter and argued that the human heart, not the sword, killed people.
• Lei Lin decided he wanted Lin Bai for Heaven Rank Fifth Squad despite Dugu Xu's objections about Lin Bai's low cultivation.
• Dugu Xu warned Lin Bai that the squad's dangerous mission to investigate a demonic force had cost many lives, including Ji Yang's.
• Lin Bai learned the mission offered ten thousand Vermillion Bird Pills and asked whether each squad member could receive two thousand.

Lin Bai agreed to join Lei Lin’s Heaven Rank Fifth Squad after learning about its missions and explaining his combat strength. Lei Lin brought him to the squad’s residence, where he found three members drunk and mourning Ji Yang.

• Dugu Xu warned Lin Bai that Heaven Rank Fifth Squad’s dangerous missions might not suit his cultivation and offered to help him avoid joining.
• Lei Lin explained the squad’s mission schedule, and Lin Bai agreed to join so he could earn rewards while leaving time for cultivation.
• Lin Bai said he could defeat any opponent below the Dao Realm and hold off a One Tribulation Dao martial artist if he risked his life.
• Dugu Xu assigned Lin Bai to Heaven Rank Fifth Squad on his Identity Token, and Lin Bai thanked him before leaving with Lei Lin.
• Lei Lin led Lin Bai to the squad’s residence on Prosperous Star Street, where two men and a woman were drunk and mourning Ji Yang.

Lin Bai joined Lei Lin’s squad and moved into the room of Ji Yang, whose recent death had left his companions grieving and resentful. Lei Lin introduced Lin Bai to the team and explained that their mission was to investigate the Tiangang Sect in Silver Moon City’s western district, where possessed martial artists had been killing people.

• Lei Lin introduced Lin Bai to Xu Le, Ye Lu, and Zhuo Qing, who reacted coldly to the new recruit because Ji Yang had recently died.
• Lei Lin assigned Lin Bai Ji Yang’s former room, but Xu Le lashed out before Lei Lin stopped him.
• Lin Bai listened as Lei Lin tried to persuade Xu Le and Ye Lu to accept his arrival, then joined the squad for a briefing.
• Lei Lin told Lin Bai that Microstar Hall’s investigation mission had claimed nearly every squad sent to pursue it.
• Lei Lin explained that martial artists in Silver Moon City’s western district had been going mad and killing people, and that the victims had joined the Tiangang Sect.

Lin Bai learned why Microstar Hall had been assigned to investigate Tiangang Sect and how Tiangang Sect ambushed the Heaven Rank Fifth Squad in the Western City, killing Ji Yang. He suspected a Tiangang Sect informant within Starmoon Prefecture and proposed entering the Western City unnoticed; Lei Lin seemed to have a plan.

• Lei Lin explained that Starmoon Prefecture had passed the Tiangang Sect investigation to Microstar Hall after failing to find the sect, and that earlier squads sent to the Western City never returned.
• Lei Lin recounted how Tiangang Sect ambushed his squad soon after they entered the Western City, and Xu Le said Ji Yang had died holding the attackers back.
• Lin Bai reasoned that Tiangang Sect had learned the squads’ plans through an informant connected to Starmoon Prefecture and Microstar Hall.
• Despite Xu Le and Ye Lu’s objections, Lin Bai said they should investigate but first find a way to enter the Western City without being noticed.
• Lei Lin’s eyes brightened as Lin Bai suggested blending into the city, and he appeared to have devised a plan.

Lin Bai and Lei Lin’s squad decided to enter West City openly to investigate the Tiangang Sect’s headquarters, despite the danger and evidence that someone was leaking Microstar Hall’s movements. After splitting into separate groups, Lin Bai and Zhuo Qing rode toward West City, while Lin Bai wondered who was backing the Tiangang Sect.

• Lin Bai and Lei Lin concluded that the Tiangang Sect was being informed of Microstar Hall’s movements and that sneaking into West City would be difficult.
• Lei Lin proposed charging into West City openly, and Ye Lu, Xu Le, Zhuo Qing, and Lin Bai agreed to go.
• Lin Bai suggested splitting up, so Lei Lin assigned Xu Le and Ye Lu together, Lin Bai and Zhuo Qing together, and himself alone.
• Lei Lin told Zhuo Qing to look after Lin Bai on his first dangerous mission, and Zhuo Qing passed his message on to Lin Bai.
• Lin Bai and Zhuo Qing collected demon horses and headed toward West City as Lin Bai considered who supported the Tiangang Sect.

Lin Bai and Zhuo Qing entered West City to investigate the Tiangang Sect and captured a scout who was tracking them. After the scout died using the Tiangang Blood Ignition Art, Lin Bai learned that an elder named Wang Li had sent him and headed for a tavern to pursue the lead.

• Lin Bai and Zhuo Qing rode through West City and discussed how the Tiangang Sect had ambushed them during their previous visit.
• Lin Bai led Zhuo Qing into a remote alley, where they lost the young scout who had been following them.
• Lin Bai and Zhuo Qing ambushed the scout and demanded to know the Tiangang Sect's headquarters, but he refused to reveal it.
• The scout used the Tiangang Blood Ignition Art to burn himself to ash, and Lin Bai glimpsed memories identifying Wang Li as the elder who sent him.
• Lin Bai suggested they visit a tavern to gather information, planning to investigate Wang Li's Paradise Tavern.