Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai defeated Ye Jianqiu by using his Flying Sword to break the Sword River and knock him from the arena. Losing cleared Ye Jianqiu’s mental obstacle, and he condensed a Divine Core, breaking through to the Human Core Realm.

• Lin Bai and his Flying Sword shattered Ye Jianqiu’s Sword River and defeated him with a strike that sent him off the arena.
• Ye Jianqiu admitted defeat as the sword cultivators in Sword Assembly City cheered for Lin Bai.
• A vortex drew in spiritual energy from across a vast area, and Dugu Yun realized Ye Jianqiu was condensing a Divine Core.
• Dugu Yun explained that Ye Jianqiu’s defeat had dissolved the obstacle created by his attachment to fame and glory.
• After half an hour, Ye Jianqiu broke through to the Human Core Realm, and Lin Bai reflected on how a Divine Core transformed true qi into spiritual power.

Lin Bai defeated Ye Jianqiu and was declared East Ridge's Premier Sword Cultivator, earning rewards from Famous Sword Manor and Dugu Yun. As the competition ended, Lin Zier vowed to defeat him, while Lin Bai prepared to use his rewards and study Famous Sword Manor's legendary sword technique.

• Ye Jianqiu broke through to the Human Core Realm after losing to Lin Bai and urged him not to let fame and fortune lead him astray.
• Jian Qianqiu declared Lin Bai East Ridge's Premier Sword Cultivator, prompting celebrations across the Divine Martial Nation.
• Lin Zier said Lin Bai was now qualified to fight her but vowed to crush him when he came to Azure Cloud Terrace Palace.
• Jian Qianqiu ended the competition and awarded Lin Bai fifty million spirit stones, the Wood Sword Spring Grass, and an hour to study Famous Sword Manor's unmastered sword technique; Dugu Yun gave him the Heavenly Net Pill.
• Lin Bai accepted the pill and herb, explaining that he needed the Wood Sword Spring Grass to complete the five elements of the Grand Five Elements Art, then began his one-hour opportunity to comprehend the sword technique.

Lin Bai discovered that the Myriad Swords Technique was a Flying Sword Technique, learned it, and demonstrated its first move to Jian Qianqiu and the others. He left Ye Jianqiu stunned after forcing him back with nine flying swords.

• Jian Qianqiu explained that Famous Sword Manor had been unable to master the Myriad Swords Technique, and Lin Bai examined its manual.
• Lin Bai recognized the technique as a Flying Sword Technique and said that he was among the few people capable of learning it.
• Lin Bai cultivated the Myriad Swords Technique for an hour and told Jian Qianqiu that he had learned it.
• Lin Bai challenged Ye Jianqiu and unleashed One Sword Transforms into Nine, making nine flying swords attack him.
• Ye Jianqiu blocked the first three swords but was driven back more than ten paces by the remaining six, shocking Jian Qianqiu, Dugu Yun, and Jian Ruohan.

After Lin Bai’s Myriad Swords Technique forced back Ye Jianqiu, Jian Qianqiu traded him a copy of the complete technique for a promise to give Jian Ruohan a flying sword if Lin Bai could forge one. Lin Bai returned to Sword River Palace as East Ridge’s Premier Sword Cultivator and found Ji Bei anxiously waiting for him.

• Lin Bai explained that the Myriad Swords Technique required a flying sword and that its rare materials made forging one extremely difficult.
• Jian Qianqiu asked Lin Bai to teach Famous Sword Manor the Flying Sword Technique, but Lin Bai explained that the required materials were nearly impossible to find and his master would not forge swords for them.
• Lin Bai agreed to give Jian Ruohan a flying sword if he later forged an extra one, and Jian Qianqiu gave Lin Bai a copy of the complete Myriad Swords Technique in exchange.
• Lin Bai listed the Destiny Stone, Eternal Sand, and Soaring Sky Divine Iron on a Jade Slip, and Jian Qianqiu promised to search for them.
• Lin Bai returned to Sword River Palace, where Li Shu'an and the palace maids congratulated him on becoming East Ridge’s Premier Sword Cultivator.
• Ji Bei anxiously paced while waiting for Lin Bai, and Bai Zhiyuan, Ye Guxing, and Nan Lidao watched him with exasperation.

Lin Bai learned that the old woman who took Bai Zhiyuan was his martial aunt and heard her warning about the Giant God Nine Strikes. He returned toward the Divine Martial Nation with Ji Bei and the others, while Hua Yuxian ordered a Five Venoms Sect branch to kill him and seize a key from his Storage Bag.

• Ji Bei and the Spirit Sword Sect elders congratulated Lin Bai, who then met the old woman seeking to take Bai Zhiyuan as her disciple.
• The old woman claimed to be Ling Tianzi’s old friend and Lin Bai’s martial aunt, gave him a golden flower that could restore his injuries, and left with Bai Zhiyuan.
• The old woman warned Lin Bai to withstand the Giant God Nine Strikes, prompting him to return to the Spirit Sword Sect to question Ling Tianzi about her identity and his Devouring Sword Soul.
• Lin Bai, Ji Bei, Nan Lidao, and Ye Guxing left Famous Sword Manor and traveled toward the Divine Martial Nation.
• Hua Yuxian learned Lin Bai had left and ordered a Five Venoms Sect branch hall to pursue him, kill him, and seize the key in his Storage Bag.

Lin Bai and his companions stopped at Kuye Inn on their journey toward Divine Martial Nation, where a poisoned meal and a hundred armed attackers revealed a trap for Lin Bai. After fighting off the ambush, Lin Bai stayed behind to face a Human Core Realm expert while Ye Guxing and Nan Lidao carried the injured Ji Bei away.

• Ji Bei led Lin Bai, Ye Guxing, and Nan Lidao to Kuye Inn to rest after seven days of travel.
• Lin Bai sensed a trap in the food and exposed that it contained Five Venom Soul-Reaping Powder, prompting more than a hundred martial artists to attack.
• Lin Bai and Ji Bei fought through the attackers, while Ye Guxing and Nan Lidao struggled to defend themselves.
• A Blue-Faced Brute at the first level of the Human Core Realm arrived and sent Ji Bei crashing into a wall with one palm.
• Lin Bai told Ye Guxing and Nan Lidao to take the injured Ji Bei away as he stayed to face the Blue-Faced Brute.

Lin Bai fled the Blue-Faced Brute and was ambushed by three Human Core Realm experts who demanded the item he had taken. Ji Xiang arrived wielding the Demon Sword and faced the attackers, leaving their clash about to begin.

• Lin Bai killed the inn's pursuers with his flying sword while Ye Guxing and Nan Lidao escaped with Ji Bei.
• The Blue-Faced Brute wounded Lin Bai and destroyed the inn, forcing Lin Bai to flee toward the forest on his flying sword.
• A black-robed Human Core Realm expert ambushed Lin Bai, and two more joined him, revealing that all three had come to recover an item for the Holy Daughter.
• The three Black-Robed Men prepared to kill Lin Bai, but a crimson Sword Qi forced them back and Ji Xiang emerged from the forest carrying the Demon Sword.
• Ji Xiang ignored the Black-Robed Men's warnings and continued toward Lin Bai, so the three attacked him from behind.
• Ji Xiang stopped and turned his blood-red eyes toward the three attackers as they reached his back.

Ji Xiang killed three Human Core Realm pursuers and revealed to Lin Bai that he was Ling Tianzi’s former nominal disciple. After recounting how the old monk’s massacre of his lineage kept him from completing Ling Tianzi’s trial, Ji Xiang asked Lin Bai to take him to see Master, and Lin Bai agreed once his wounds healed.

• Ji Xiang casually killed the three Human Core Realm experts pursuing Lin Bai.
• Ji Xiang told Lin Bai that Ling Tianzi had chosen him as a nominal disciple a hundred years earlier, but he had failed to inherit the Flying Sword Dao.
• Ji Xiang explained that an old monk wielding the Demon Sword had massacred more than 7,500 members of the Ji Lineage while Ji Xiang was away completing Ling Tianzi’s final trial.
• Ji Xiang said Ling Tianzi had later given him the means to kill the old monk, destroying the divine temple and ending the Headless Knight.
• Lin Bai agreed to take Ji Xiang to find Ling Tianzi after recovering from his injuries, and Ji Xiang promised to guard him.

Lin Bai and Ji Xiang identified the attackers as members of the Five Venoms Sect’s Scorpion Altar and suspected they wanted the Vermillion Bird Seal. Lin Bai returned to the Spirit Sword Sect, where the sect had mobilized to rescue him after hearing he was being hunted.

• Lin Bai recovered from his wounds and learned from Ji Xiang that the three attackers bore the Scorpion Altar’s tattoo, linking them to the Five Venoms Sect.
• Lin Bai suspected the Scorpion Altar was after the Vermillion Bird Seal and vowed to destroy the Five Venoms Sect if it continued pursuing him.
• Lin Bai searched Master Yishan’s Storage Bag but found no other half of the Vermillion Bird Seal, then flew toward the Spirit Sword Sect with Ji Xiang.
• Ji Bei, Ye Guxing, and Nan Lidao reached the Spirit Sword Sect, and Ji Bei warned Su Jiannan that Lin Bai was being hunted by Human Core Realm experts.
• Su Jiannan rallied the Spirit Sword Sect to rescue Lin Bai, but Lin Bai arrived safely on his flying sword and found the disciples ready for battle.

Lin Bai returned to the Spirit Sword Sect with Ji Xiang, who had helped him defeat the Human Core Realm experts. As Lin Bai went to meet Ling Tianzi and seek answers about his destiny, Ji Xiang waited outside, hoping to see his master again.

• Su Jiannan welcomed Lin Bai back and learned that Ji Xiang had helped him escape the Human Core Realm experts.
• Su Jiannan recognized Ji Xiang and recalled his past rivalry with Jian Xuan, whose whereabouts remained unknown.
• Ling Tianzi told Li Shanqing that he would reveal part of Lin Bai's destiny because the hundred-year deadline had arrived.
• Li Shanqing allowed Lin Bai to enter Ling Tianzi's study but blocked Ji Xiang, who chose to wait until his master would see him.
• Ji Xiang told Li Shanqing he regretted failing Ling Tianzi's efforts, and Li Shanqing contrasted Ji Xiang's approach to revenge with Lin Bai's.

Lin Bai asked Ling Tianzi about the giant from his temple vision and learned that it belonged to the Giant God Race, the ancient enemy of the Heaven Swallowing Race. The chapter ended with Lin Bai realizing that his Devouring Sword Soul carried the same fate as all Heaven Swallowing Race martial artists: an unending hunt by the Giant God Race and the Myriad Realms.

• Lin Bai returned from the Heaven Sword Dynasty, and Ling Tianzi congratulated him on becoming East Ridge's Premier Sword Cultivator.
• Lin Bai asked whether his strength could let him touch the heavens and how he could defeat the giant from his vision; Ling Tianzi warned him that everything had weaknesses.
• Ling Tianzi identified the giant as a member of the Giant God Race and explained its ancient war against the Heaven Swallowing Race.
• Ling Tianzi said the Giant God Race hunted Devouring Spirit martial artists and used the Giant God Compass to find and exterminate those who reached the Divine Core Realm.
• Lin Bai learned that his Devouring Sword Soul was fated to face the Giant God Race's ongoing hunt, and his expression darkened.

Ling Tianzi explained the Heaven Swallowing Race’s ancient persecution and how the Giant God’s Will hunted its members. He directed Lin Bai to seek the Heaven Blessing Stone Mirror at the Four Great Sects Tournament, and Lin Bai resolved to face his fate alone and grow strong enough to survive.

• Ling Tianzi explained that the Other Shore Flower could create a Transcendent Soul and that martial artists had hunted the Heaven Swallowing Race for it until the race was wiped out.
• Ling Tianzi told Lin Bai that the Giant God’s Will would descend when his true qi became spiritual power and could attack nine times before shattering.
• Ling Tianzi revealed that Azure Cloud Terrace Palace’s treasury held the damaged Heaven Blessing Stone Mirror, which could withstand two or three attacks from the Giant God’s Will.
• Ling Tianzi urged Lin Bai to face the Giant God Race’s pursuit on his own because he could not protect him indefinitely.
• Lin Bai accepted that he must face his tribulations alone and vowed to win the Heaven Blessing Stone Mirror and become strong enough to survive.

Lin Bai learned that the Heaven Swallowing Race was fated to be hunted by the Giant God Race and resolved to resist the Giant God's Will and eventually confront them. After a tense exchange about Ji Xiang, Lin Bai learned the Four Great Sects Tournament would begin in half a month, and committed to attending.

• Lin Bai calculated that he needed three more defensive treasures to withstand the Giant God's Will, and Ling Tianzi reassured him that Bai Zhiyuan's departure with his Martial Aunt was a great opportunity for her.
• Lin Bai declared that he would face the Giant God Race rather than fear them, and Ling Tianzi warned him to use the roughly ten years before they could find him.
• Lin Bai tried to ask Ling Tianzi about Ji Xiang, but Ling Tianzi angrily ordered him out of the study.
• Ji Xiang thanked Lin Bai for speaking up for him, then chose to wait for Ling Tianzi while Lin Bai returned to his room.
• The next morning, Li Jianxing told Lin Bai that the Four Great Sects Tournament would take place in half a month at Azure Cloud Terrace Palace, and Lin Bai insisted that he would attend.

Lin Bai used the Wooden Sword Spring Grass and Heavenly Net Pill to complete his Wood Spirit Vortex, reach Third-Order Sword Intent, and advance to the perfected Half-Step Divine Core Realm. As the Four Great Sects Tournament approached, he asked Ling Tianzi for help comprehending the Cold Moon Sword, and Ling Tianzi ordered Li Shanqing to set up a Ninefold Celestial Mountain Formation to force a breakthrough under life-or-death pressure.

• Lin Bai consumed the Wooden Sword Spring Grass, completed his Wood Spirit Vortex, and broke through to Third-Order Sword Intent.
• Lin Bai swallowed the Heavenly Net Pill and advanced to the perfected Half-Step Divine Core Realm.
• Two days later, Lin Bai visited Ling Tianzi and found Li Shanqing in his study.
• Lin Bai told Ling Tianzi that he could not comprehend the Cold Moon Sword before the Four Great Sects Tournament.
• Ling Tianzi said life-or-death pressure could help Lin Bai comprehend the divine ability and asked Li Shanqing to set up a Ninefold Celestial Mountain Formation.

Ling Tianzi and Li Shanqing tested Lin Bai in the Ninefold Celestial Mountain Formation, where he discovered its pressure could strengthen his true qi and Golden War Body. Though the first eight formations crushed and bloodied him, Lin Bai refused to quit, and Ling Tianzi ordered Li Shanqing to activate the ninth.

• Li Shanqing demonstrated the Ninefold Celestial Mountain Formation and explained that its nine stages exerted increasing gravity, while Ling Tianzi told Lin Bai not to use the Martial Soul Secret Method.
• Lin Bai entered the formation and endured its first stage, discovering that the pressure purified his true qi and strengthened his Golden War Body.
• Lin Bai adapted to the first two stages, and Ling Tianzi ordered Li Shanqing to activate the stages through the eighth.
• The eighth stage pinned Lin Bai beneath eight hundred thousand jin of gravity, rupturing his blood vessels and breaking his bones, but he refused to give up.
• Despite Li Shanqing's warning that Lin Bai might die, Ling Tianzi insisted, and Li Shanqing activated the ninth formation.

Lin Bai endured Ling Tianzi’s crushing formation until he awakened the Golden War Body at great completion and shattered it with his sword. After Lin Bai began recovering, Ling Tianzi ordered Ji Xiang to go down and kill him.

• Li Shanqing warned Ling Tianzi that Lin Bai was near death beneath the Ninth Formation, but Ling Tianzi refused to stop it, saying Lin Bai had to endure hardship to face the Giant God Race.
• As Lin Bai lost consciousness, he saw Lin Zier, who mocked and humiliated him; Lin Bai swore he would destroy Azure Cloud Terrace Palace and everyone who had scorned him.
• Lin Bai’s rage brought the Golden War Body to great completion, and his Azure Song Sword shattered the Ninefold Celestial Mountain Formation.
• Ling Tianzi and Li Shanqing recognized Lin Bai’s breakthrough, and Ling Tianzi told Li Shanqing that Lin Bai would need to give everything he had to fight Lin Zier.
• Ling Tianzi summoned Ji Xiang and ordered him to go down and kill Lin Bai.

Ling Tianzi ordered Ji Xiang to kill Lin Bai as a test of their strength, while explaining that Lin Zier’s ancient martial soul made her a formidable opponent. Ji Xiang and Lin Bai began a fierce duel beneath the cliff, and Ji Xiang’s powerful strike sent Lin Bai crashing into the stone wall.

• Ling Tianzi told Ji Xiang that killing Lin Bai would restore his place as a disciple and ordered him to fight, while Li Shanqing protested.
• Ling Tianzi explained that Lin Zier’s fifth-grade Heaven-ranked martial soul dated back to the Primordial Era and said the duel would test Ji Xiang and Lin Bai without letting either be injured.
• Lin Bai recovered beneath the cliff and reflected that his perfected Golden War Body and Grand Five Elements Art, along with his Third-Order Sword Intent, made him ready to face Lin Zier.
• Ji Xiang arrived wielding the Demon Sword and told Lin Bai that he had to kill him to become Ling Tianzi’s disciple again.
• Lin Bai and Ji Xiang fought beneath the cliff, trading powerful sword techniques that scarred the surrounding stone.
• Ji Xiang struck Lin Bai into a stone wall, alarming Li Shanqing, but Lin Bai grinned and faced him with a cold expression.

Lin Bai defeated Ji Xiang in a fierce sword battle but spared his life. Ling Tianzi then explained that Lin Zier’s Primordial Goddess Path could make her a formidable opponent.

• Lin Bai countered Ji Xiang’s Soul Severing Swordplay with his Flying Sword and Myriad Swords Technique, pinning Ji Xiang and winning the duel.
• Lin Bai recalled his Flying Swords and refused Ji Xiang’s request to kill him.
• Ling Tianzi said Lin Bai’s victory qualified him to fight Lin Zier, whose strength came from her Primordial Goddess Path.
• Ling Tianzi explained that the Primordial Goddess Path held the Primordial Altar secret method, which let ancient goddesses summon powerful spirits to possess them.
• Ling Tianzi described how humanity burned the goddesses after defeating the Demon Race and reflected on the Primordial Era’s brutal survival and lost mystic arts.

After Lin Bai defeated Ji Xiang, Ling Tianzi revealed that the fight had been a test and urged Ji Xiang to stop grieving and value his life. Ji Xiang set out to reclaim his place at the peak of the sword dao, while Lin Bai prepared for the Four Great Sects Tournament and his confrontation with Lin Zier.

• Lin Bai learned that Ling Tianzi had arranged his fight with Ji Xiang to test whether he could defeat Lin Zier, then returned to White Cloud Peak to consolidate his cultivation.
• Ling Tianzi reminded Ji Xiang that he had avenged his family and still had his life and sword, urging him to stop wasting away.
• Ji Xiang thanked Ling Tianzi, vowed to return to the peak of the sword dao, and departed carrying the Demon Sword.
• Over the next five days, Lin Bai stabilized his cultivation as the Four Great Sects Tournament drew near.
• Li Jianxing summoned Lin Bai to the Spirit Sword Sect's meeting hall to discuss the tournament, and Lin Bai declared that he was coming for Lin Zier.

Lin Bai attended a Spirit Sword Sect meeting where Su Jiannan outlined the formidable contestants expected at the Four Great Sects Tournament. The revelation that the legendary assassin Bloodedge had arrived left Lin Bai and the other competitors facing a dangerous new rival.

• Lin Bai descended White Cloud Peak with Li Jianxing and met Duan Qinghong, Li Xuanqing, and Sun Qiaomei at the council hall.
• Su Jiannan named Lin Bai, Duan Qinghong, Li Xuanqing, and Sun Qiaomei as the Spirit Sword Sect's tournament entrants and warned that Blazing Fire Palace had strengthened Fire Spirit and Fire Lord for the contest.
• Su Jiannan explained that a Sect Master of Divine Relic Ridge would watch the tournament, prompting Blazing Fire Palace and Edgeless Sect disciples to vie for a chance to enter Divine Relic Ridge.
• Su Jiannan announced that Bloodedge, Edgeless Sect's undefeated premier assassin, had arrived, and Lin Bai recognized the feared name.
• The chapter identified Bloodedge, Lin Zier, and Duan Canghai as the tournament's most formidable potential opponents.