Chapter Summaries

The Northern Region martial artists launched a sudden attack, triggering a full-scale clash with the Eastern Region. Lin Bai was surrounded by elite disciples from the Northern Region’s four Flourishing Sects and struggled to break their coordinated assault.

• A Northern Region martial artist attacked Lin Bai, who struck him down, prompting martial artists from both territories to begin a melee despite Bu Junfeng’s attempt to stop them.
• More than a dozen Superior-Grade Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm martial artists from the Northern Region’s four Flourishing Sects targeted Lin Bai, hoping to kill him and collapse the Eastern Region alliance.
• Lin Bai used his four flying swords, the Heaven Measuring Ruler, and Azure Lotus Sword Intent to repel attacks from the Corpse Refinement Sect, Soul Refinement Sect, Soul Refining Sect, and Heavenly Dao Clan disciples.
• The Corpse Refinement Sect disciple unleashed three Corpse Demons while the other Northern Region martial artists regrouped and resumed their attacks.
• Lin Bai remained trapped in a relentless siege, unable to kill any of his attackers as they coordinated their strikes and used secret arts to disrupt his mind.

Lin Bai faced a coordinated assault from the Northern Region’s four Flourishing Sects and hidden warriors, then used his flying swords and other attacks to isolate the Heavenly Dao Clan warrior. As he charged at his chosen target, the others seized what they believed was an opening to strike him from behind.

• Lin Bai sensed hidden warriors disrupting his Dao heart and realized they were supporting the Northern Region attackers from the shadows.
• Lin Bai used the Heaven Measuring Ruler, demonic sword, and four flying swords to hold off the enemies and decided to break through them one by one.
• Lin Bai sent his four flying swords to restrain the Soul Refining Sect warrior, then forced back the Corpse Refinement Sect and Soul Refinement Sect disciples.
• Lin Bai charged the Heavenly Dao Clan warrior, whom the others identified as his target, while the Soul Refinement Sect and Corpse Refinement Sect disciples prepared to exploit his openings.
• The Soul Refinement Sect disciple and Corpse Refinement Sect disciple launched attacks at Lin Bai’s exposed openings, and Lin Bai answered with a mysterious smile.

Lin Bai outmaneuvered the Corpse Refinement Sect and Soul Refinement Sect disciples, killing both before turning his attention to the remaining enemies. The Heavenly Dao Clan disciple fled after realizing Lin Bai had dismantled their attack.

• Lin Bai tricked the Corpse Refinement Sect and Soul Refinement Sect disciples into abandoning their defenses, then heavily wounded the Soul Refinement Sect disciple and killed the Corpse Refinement Sect disciple.
• Lin Bai pursued and killed the wounded Soul Refinement Sect disciple despite the man praising him as Wolf Marquis.
• Lin Bai left the Soul Refining Sect disciple entangled by his four flying swords and focused on the Heavenly Dao Clan disciple.
• The Heavenly Dao Clan disciple recognized Lin Bai's trap, admitted defeat, and fled.

Lin Bai killed the Heavenly Dao Clan martial artist and the Soul Refining Sect disciple, then fought off the Northern Region martial artists who emerged from hiding. After the immediate threat passed, he saw that the Eastern Region fighters were suffering heavy losses, with more than half of the group dead.

• Lin Bai caught and killed the fleeing Heavenly Dao Clan martial artist, then turned on the Soul Refining Sect disciple.
• The Soul Refining Sect disciple tried to rally hidden Northern Region martial artists, but Lin Bai pierced his defenses and cut his throat.
• Lin Bai used his four flying swords to hold off the newly emerged attackers while he finished the Soul Refining Sect disciple.
• Lin Bai fought through the attackers and killed more than twenty martial artists, clearing the immediate crisis.
• Qian Hen led Shui Mo Dan to safety, while Meng Qinxian and Yi Heze continued fighting through the battlefield.
• Lin Bai saw that Bai Yifei, Zhou Xinjin, Yi Zien, and other Eastern Region martial artists were badly wounded, and more than half of the group had died.

As Eastern Region warriors suffered heavy casualties, Lin Bai tried to turn the battle by targeting Northern Region commander Bu Junfeng, but the Corpse Refinement Sect's Holy Son, Luan Tang, joined Bu Junfeng against him. Chen Yule and Lu Qingjun arrived to support Lin Bai, leaving the confrontation poised to become a three-on-two fight.

• Lin Bai saw the Eastern Region warriors being overwhelmed and decided to kill Bu Junfeng to disrupt the Northern Region's command.
• Lin Bai confronted Bu Junfeng, who acknowledged the plan but questioned whether Lin Bai could defeat him.
• Luan Tang appeared beside Bu Junfeng and declared that they had joined forces against Lin Bai.
• Chen Yule and Lu Qingjun arrived and joined Lin Bai after learning where he had gone.
• Bu Junfeng recognized Chen Yule and Lu Qingjun as Eastern Region warriors who had repeatedly killed Northern Region fighters.

Lin Bai, Chen Yule, and Lu Qingjun joined forces to attack Bu Junfeng, hoping to end the Northern Domain’s assault by killing its commander. Bu Junfeng held his own against all three, and a powerful force arrived from the west as their battle continued.

• Chen Yule and Lu Qingjun arrived and apologized to Lin Bai for being late, but Lin Bai told them to focus on Bu Junfeng, whose orders had directed the attacks on Eastern Domain martial artists.
• Lin Bai, Chen Yule, and Lu Qingjun attacked Bu Junfeng together, while Luan Tang summoned corpse demons to support him.
• Chen Yule cut through the corpse demons with the Dragon Gate Sword as Lin Bai and Lu Qingjun engaged Bu Junfeng and the Son of Saint of the Corpse Refinement Sect.
• Lin Bai broke Bu Junfeng’s Cangming God Severing Palm with the Heaven Measuring Ruler, then joined Chen Yule and Lu Qingjun in repeatedly attacking Bu Junfeng.
• Bu Junfeng defended himself against the three sword cultivators for several hundred moves without being injured, until a powerful force arrived from the west.

Lin Bai, Chen Yule, and Lu Qingjun battered Bu Junfeng but failed to defeat him before the Black Tortoise Battalion arrived. Bu Junfeng withdrew with the Northern Region martial artists, leaving Lin Bai surprised as the confrontation remained unresolved.

• Lin Bai, Chen Yule, and Lu Qingjun attacked Bu Junfeng together, and he defended against their sword strikes without counterattacking.
• Lu Qingjun shattered Bu Junfeng’s defensive light screen, but Bu Junfeng’s wounds healed immediately as he announced that the playing was over.
• Lin Bai, Chen Yule, and Lu Qingjun prepared to use their trump cards against Bu Junfeng.
• Chu Zimo led the Black Tortoise Battalion into the battlefield, with Chu Tinghan and Chu Tingxue following, and their soldiers drove back the Northern Region martial artists.
• Luan Tang urged Bu Junfeng to withdraw, and Bu Junfeng led the Northern Region forces toward the Great Snow Mountain after promising Lin Bai they would meet again.

After the Northern Region martial artists retreated, Lin Bai reflected on his failure to command the army and Chu Tinghan took charge of securing the island and investigating the enemy. The Eastern Region survivors rested as Chu Tinghan prepared to plan a counterattack once the remaining allies arrived.

• Chu Tinghan stopped Chu Zimo from pursuing the retreating Northern Region martial artists, then checked on Lin Bai and heard him lament the many deaths.
• Chu Tinghan ordered the Black Tortoise Battalion to secure a nearby island with fortifications and formations while scouts investigated Great Snow Mountain.
• Lin Bai recounted how the clash began, and Qian Hen filled in the details for the others.
• Chu Zimo blamed the dead martial artists for leaving their formation, while Chu Tingxue mocked Lin Bai’s lack of military knowledge and Chu Tinghan defended him.
• Lin Bai said that Nie Shang, Yi Song, Mo Nan, Li Xuanqiu, and others had yet to return, and Chu Tinghan ordered everyone to rest before planning a counterattack and investigating the Northern Region’s retreat.

After the Eastern Region martial artists suffered a crushing defeat, Lin Bai brooded on the island while Chu Tinghan tried to comfort him. Chen Yule explained that Lin Bai was dejected because he had lost to Bu Junfeng, leaving Chu Tinghan to understand his mood.

• Chu Tinghan had the Black Tortoise Battalion secure the island, and the soldiers reported that 232 Eastern Region martial artists had died while just over thirty survived.
• Lin Bai sat alone on a cliff, feeling helpless as he replayed the choices that had led to the defeat.
• Chu Tinghan joined Lin Bai, offered him Dragon Blood Wine, and told him not to blame himself for the deaths.
• Chu Zimo and Chu Tingxue speculated that Chu Tinghan and Lin Bai had grown close and joked that Lin Bai might become their brother-in-law.
• At dawn, Chen Yule told Chu Tinghan that Lin Bai was upset because he had lost to Bu Junfeng, not because the martial artists had died.

Chen Yule reassured Princess Tinghan that Lin Bai would recover in time for the battle against the Northern Territory martial artists, and she began organizing the island’s defenses. At sunrise, Lin Bai emerged from his despair with a Sword Heart that stunned the watching cultivators.

• Chen Yule told Princess Tinghan that Lin Bai had recovered from past defeats before and would regain his strength in time for the coming battle.
• Princess Tinghan left to arrange the island’s defenses and investigate the Great Snow Mountain’s movements.
• Chu Tingxue and Chu Zimo teased Princess Tinghan about her relationship with Lin Bai, then Chu Tingxue scolded Chu Zimo for failing to shoulder responsibility.
• As the sun rose, Lin Bai’s Sword Heart unleashed a powerful aura across the island, making nearby swords tremble.
• Chen Yule, Lu Qingjun, and Yi Heze sensed that Lin Bai’s Sword Heart had reached the fourth or fifth revolution and marveled that he had recovered in one night.

Lin Bai stabilized his Sword Heart at the Four Revolution level and resolved to leave Chu if Prince Chen could not change the forces’ opposition to his departure. As the Eastern Region prepared for a decisive battle, scouts reported that Nie Shang and the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s martial artists were approaching the island, led by Yi Jinyun.

• Lin Bai’s Sword Heart stabilized at the Four Revolution level, strengthening his Sword Dao attainments.
• Lin Bai decided to wait until Prince Chen ascended the throne before deciding how to escape Chu and the Demon Realm’s control.
• Yi Heze and Chen Yule congratulated Lin Bai, then reported that Chu Tinghan and the Black Tortoise Battalion had fortified the island while scouts investigated the Northern Region martial artists.
• Lin Bai and the Eastern Region martial artists rested as the Black Tortoise Battalion built arrays and scouts explored Great Snow Mountain.
• Two days later, scouts reported that Nie Shang and the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s martial artists were approaching the island, and Lin Bai and the others went to meet them.

Lin Bai met Yi Jinyun and the other leaders of the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s territory, whose forces had gathered to discuss the Northern Region’s invasion. Tensions among the assembled sects surfaced, and Meng Qinxian’s insult provoked Shen Haoyue and Ji Ruoci.

• Lin Bai recognized Yi Jinyun and considered how the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s internal turmoil left it vulnerable to the Northern Region’s invasion.
• Yi Jinyun introduced the gathered leaders, including Azure Lotus Sect Holy Daughter Miss Yun Ke, Pure Yang Sect Holy Son Shen Haoyue, and Phoenix Valley Holy Daughter Ji Ruoci.
• Shen Haoyue mocked Lin Bai for greeting only the women, and Yi Jinyun rebuked him and Ji Ruoci when she intervened.
• Lin Bai noticed the apparent alliance between the Pure Yang Sect and Phoenix Valley, and Meng Qinxian described it as a bond between a cuckold-maker and an adulteress.
• Shen Haoyue and Ji Ruoci angrily challenged Meng Qinxian over his insult.

Chu Tinghan welcomed Yi Jinyun and the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s forces, who pledged to support Chu against the Northern Region. After they entered the island, tensions erupted when Shen Haoyue and Ji Ruoci disparaged the mission, and Meng Qinxian exposed rumors about Ji Ruoci’s past before Yi Jinyun stopped the quarrel.

• Chu Tinghan asked Yi Jinyun and the Seven Nights Divine Sect to support Chu, and Yi Jinyun agreed to commit the sect’s forces to the battle.
• Shen Haoyue and Ji Ruoci complained that they had been forced to aid Chu, prompting Nie Shang to warn that Chu’s fall would endanger the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s territory too.
• Shen Haoyue and Ji Ruoci insulted Nie Shang, and Meng Qinxian challenged Shen Haoyue and rebuked Ji Ruoci.
• Meng Qinxian told Lin Bai rumors about Ji Ruoci’s marriage, her husband’s family being massacred, and her rise to become Phoenix Valley’s Holy Daughter.
• Ji Ruoci attacked Meng Qinxian with a flaming sword, but Meng Qinxian shattered it and mocked how she had gained her status.
• Yi Jinyun ordered everyone to stop fighting, and the argument quieted after Ji Ruoci denied the rumors and threatened to settle accounts with Meng Qinxian.

Lin Bai and the Prince Liang’s Estate siblings debated whether to keep Shen Haoyue and Ji Ruoci in the alliance, then Chu Tinghan showed Lin Bai a scout map of the Northern Region’s defenses on Great Snow Mountain. The map revealed a vast linked formation, which Chu Tingxue identified as likely being the Soul Refinement Sect’s Demonic Refinement of All Living Things Formation.

• Lin Bai discussed Meng Qinxian’s concerns about Shen Haoyue and Ji Ruoci with Chu Tinghan, Chu Zimo, and Chu Tingxue.
• Chu Zimo urged Chu Tinghan to drive the two sect representatives out, while Chu Tingxue argued that doing so would provoke trouble and Chu Tinghan chose to keep them for now.
• Chu Tinghan told Lin Bai that scouts had returned with information from Great Snow Mountain and gave him their detailed map of the Northern Region’s defenses.
• Lin Bai examined the map and saw that formations covered nearly the entire region.
• Chu Tingxue explained that the formations were linked around a central Great Snow Mountain and identified the arrangement as likely the Soul Refinement Sect’s Demonic Refinement of All Living Things Formation.

Lin Bai asked Emperor Chu to obtain the Zhao Xing Office’s records on the Soul Refinement Sect’s Demonic Refinement of All Living Things Formation to help the Eastern Region prepare to breach the Great Snow Mountain defenses. Emperor Chu relayed the order, and a Zhao Xing Office martial artist asked Miss Wu Chang to retrieve the records.

• Chu Tingxue explained that the grand formation covering the Great Snow Mountain consisted of many smaller formations that had to be attacked simultaneously to prevent the Northern Region from repairing them.
• Chu Tinghan and Lin Bai agreed that the Eastern Region had time to prepare, but lacked access to the Zhao Xing Office archives while inside the Hunting Realm.
• Lin Bai went alone to a cliff and quietly asked Emperor Chu to obtain the formation records.
• Emperor Chu decided to help the Eastern Region and secretly sent an order through Eunuch Gui to the Zhao Xing Office.
• A Zhao Xing Office martial artist reached the archives chamber and asked Miss Wu Chang to retrieve records about the formation.

Emperor Chu told Lin Bai how Soul Refinement Sect’s Demonic Refinement of All Living Things Formation was organized and how it might be broken. Lin Bai relayed the information to Chu Tinghan, and the other major sects began arriving as the battle approached.

• Emperor Chu explained the formation’s army, general, guardian, auxiliary, and main formations to Lin Bai, warning him to divide forces and attack from several directions.
• Lin Bai memorized Emperor Chu’s explanation and brought it to Chu Tinghan at Prince Liang’s Estate’s camp.
• Lin Bai advised Chu Tinghan that the forces should attack the formation from every direction at once, and she recognized that Emperor Chu had supplied his knowledge.
• Chu Zimo reported that the forces from Ten Thousand Saints Mountain, Qi Tian Sect, and other major Chu sects had arrived.

Lin Bai and Chu Tinghan welcomed the arriving forces from Qi Tian Sect, Ten Thousand Saints Mountain, and Chu’s allied sects as they gathered to discuss the threat from Great Snow Mountain. The visiting leaders entered the island to rest, while Lin Bai was left facing several Holy Sons who still held grudges against him.

• Chu Tinghan joined Lin Bai and the others in greeting the warriors who had gathered above their camp.
• Qi Lingyu and Wang Zhengyang greeted Lin Bai, agreed to help defend against the Northern Region, and discussed the coming war.
• Lin Bai introduced Chu Tinghan to the two Holy Sons, and she directed the visiting forces to camps on the island before a later discussion about Great Snow Mountain.
• Lin Bai noticed Holy Sons from Chu’s Five Great Families and Seven Sects, including Zhao Xiantu and Li Mo, whose sects’ Grand Yi Divine Weapons remained in his possession.
• Shangguan Tong greeted Lin Bai, and Lin Bai thanked the gathered warriors and invited them into the island to rest.

Lin Bai realized that the Eastern Region’s gathered young prodigies could all be wiped out if the Northern Region won, leaving their sects weakened and Chu Kingdom blamed for their deaths. Chu Tingxue recognized that Chu Kingdom might sacrifice the operation’s leader to appease the enraged sects.

• Lin Bai welcomed Shangguan Tong, Zhao Xiantu, and Li Mo, who said they had come to resist the Northern Region despite their grudges against him.
• Chu Tingxue arranged camps for the gathered Eastern Region martial artists and told Lin Bai and Chu Tinghan to let everyone rest before beginning the operation.
• Lin Bai surveyed the island’s large gathering of Eastern Region martial artists, including many Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm experts and Jiang Xuansu.
• Lin Bai warned Chu Tinghan, Chu Tingxue, and Chu Zimo that defeat could kill nearly all the Eastern Region’s younger-generation prodigies and leave their sects without successors.
• Lin Bai explained that the deaths would also make Chu Kingdom responsible, and Chu Tingxue realized the kingdom might blame the operation’s leader to quell public outrage.

Lin Bai and Chu Tinghan recognized that casualties among the Eastern Region’s sect-raised geniuses could provoke a major backlash, but the Chu Emperor decided the battle could not be avoided and ordered them not to lose. As Lin Bai and the princesses prepared to minimize losses, the Chu Emperor addressed the gathered sect leaders, and a Soul Refinement Sect ancestor blamed Bu Junfeng’s provocation on his recklessness.

• Chu Tinghan asked Lin Bai to consult the person behind him after she and Chu Tingxue realized the battle’s deaths could anger powerful sects and lineages.
• Lin Bai contacted the Chu Emperor, who spent two and a half hours considering the danger before ordering, “Then don’t lose.”
• The Chu Emperor warned Lin Bai that the Northern Region warriors seemed prepared and that their provocation might be part of a larger plan.
• Lin Bai told Chu Tinghan and Chu Tingxue the Chu Emperor’s decision and urged him to prepare for the fallout if the Eastern Region lost; the princesses resolved to minimize casualties.
• The Chu Emperor addressed the Ascension Celestial Palace, and a Soul Refinement Sect ancestor apologized for Bu Junfeng’s conduct while claiming it was not the sect’s intention.

The Chu Emperor decreed that any martial artist in the Hunting Realm could leave by admitting defeat and surrendering their prey, while declaring that those who stayed would bear responsibility for their own deaths. The order reached the Hunting Realm as the Eastern and Northern Regions prepared for battle.

• The Chu Emperor offered every martial artist in the Hunting Realm a chance to leave by saying “I admit defeat” and forfeiting all their prey.
• The martial artists present, including the Northern Region representatives, agreed to the Chu Emperor’s decree despite their objections.
• The Chu Emperor ordered Eunuch Gui to announce the decree throughout the Hunting Realm.
• As the Eastern Region gathered on the islands and the Northern Region held the Great Snow Mountain, the Chu Emperor’s order echoed across the realm, warning those who refused to leave that the Chu Empire would not be responsible for what followed.