Chapter Summaries

Fang Hai managed only a two-inch sword mark, so Lin Baoyu prepared to end the low-level group's assessment. Lin Bai stepped forward to try despite Nie Xiaoxian's objections, while Dugu Yun bet Pei Ji that Lin Bai would finish first.

• Fang Hai failed to mark the Sword Testing Stone with his first strike, then left a two-inch mark with his second and was told he had not passed.
• Lin Baoyu suggested ending the assessment early, and Nie Xiaoxian agreed until Lin Bai called out that he had not taken his turn.
• Nie Xiaoxian warned Lin Bai that he could not have mastered Sword Heart Clarity in one night, but Lin Bai insisted he wanted to try.
• Wu Enli and Fang Hai mocked Lin Bai and urged him to take the assessment, and Lin Baoyu allowed him to approach the Sword Testing Stone.
• Dugu Yun bet Pei Ji that Lin Bai would place first in the assessment, while Pei Ji wagered that Lin Bai would leave no sword mark.

Lin Bai’s second strike on the Sword Testing Stone left an eighteen-inch mark, stunning the crowd and surpassing every martial artist in the advanced group. Wu Enli dismissed the assessment and challenged Lin Bai to prove himself at the rookie martial arts tournament in two months.

• Lin Bai’s first strike left a one-inch sword mark, prompting the crowd, Wu Enli, and Fang Hai to mock him.
• Lin Bai entered a state of transcendent emptiness and gathered an immense power of heaven and earth for his second strike.
• Lin Bai’s second strike shook the Sword Dao Institute arena and left an eighteen-inch mark on the Sword Testing Stone.
• Lin Baoyu announced the result, and the martial artists, including Fang Hai and Wu Enli, reacted with disbelief.
• Lin Bai declared that he had overwhelmed the advanced group, while Wu Enli challenged him to face the rookie martial arts tournament in two months.

Lin Bai won the monthly examination with an eighteen-inch sword mark, revealing that he had cultivated Sword Heart Clarity while still holding back. After the assessment, Pei Ji summoned him to meet Dean Dugu Yun, who believed Lin Bai could carry on Mo Wen Sword’s legacy.

• Lin Bai left an eighteen-inch mark on the Sword Testing Stone and told Tang Bufan he had barely reached the great accomplishment stage of Sword Heart Clarity.
• Lin Baoyu announced Lin Bai as the monthly examination’s first-place winner, ahead of Ye Jianqiu and Long Qingfeng, and distributed reward points to the top ten.
• Ye Jianqiu admitted he had held back, while Long Qingfeng threatened to kill Lin Bai at the newcomers' martial competition in two months.
• Pei Ji conceded his bet to Dugu Yun and brought him the Spring Day Brew; Dugu Yun then sent Pei Ji to fetch Lin Bai, saying Mo Wen Sword had someone to inherit his legacy.
• Pei Ji found Lin Bai as he was about to celebrate with Nie Xiaoxian and Tang Bufan, then escorted him away to meet Dugu Yun.

Lin Bai met with Dugu Yun, who discussed the hidden South Ridge geniuses and revealed the Sword Dao Institute’s supreme treasure, the Mo Wen Sword Art. Dugu Yun noted that its creator, Ye Jinghong, shared Lin Bai’s Yellow Rank One martial soul.

• Pei Ji brought Lin Bai to Dugu Yun’s home, where Dugu Yun invited Pei Ji to leave and shared wine with Lin Bai.
• Dugu Yun told Lin Bai that outstanding disciples from South Ridge had secretly entered Divine Relic Ridge, and that the Nine Academies’ Tournament might reveal them.
• Dugu Yun explained that each of the nine academies had a treasure capable of elevating its standing if a disciple could master it.
• Dugu Yun revealed that the Sword Dao Institute’s Supreme Sword Art was called Mo Wen and had been created by Ye Jinghong five hundred years earlier.
• Dugu Yun told Lin Bai that Ye Jinghong, like Lin Bai, had a Yellow Rank One martial soul.

Dugu Yun told Lin Bai the tragic story of Ye Jinghong, a mocked disciple with a Yellow Rank One Martial Soul who became a legendary sword cultivator after reaching enlightenment beneath a cliff. Lin Bai learned that Sword Heart Clarity was the first move of Ye Jinghong’s Do Not Ask Sword Art, and Dugu Yun offered to show him the sealed technique.

• Dugu Yun explained that Ye Jinghong was bullied at the Sword Dao Institute for his weak Martial Soul and inability to master its sword techniques.
• Ye Jinghong’s childhood sweetheart and another disciple crippled his cultivation and pushed him off a cliff, but he survived and attained enlightenment beneath it.
• Ye Jinghong returned and defeated the Sword Dao Institute’s nine institutes, five peaks, and leading experts before dying seven days after his return.
• Before he died, Ye Jinghong left behind the Do Not Ask Sword Art, which became the Sword Dao Institute’s Supreme Sword Art and remained unmastered for five hundred years.
• Dugu Yun revealed that Sword Heart Clarity was the first move of the Do Not Ask Sword and offered to take Lin Bai to see it in Mystic Art Valley.

Dugu Yun showed Lin Bai Mystic Art Valley and explained its graded mystic arts, Mo Wen Sword, and King Grade Martial Skills. Lin Bai reached the nine steles recording Mo Wen Sword and discovered that its second form cost one hundred thousand contribution points per attempt.

• Dugu Yun led Lin Bai through Mystic Art Valley and explained how the institute divided mystic arts into low, middle, and high grades.
• Dugu Yun told Lin Bai that Mo Wen Sword was the institute’s sole Supreme Sword Art and had helped Ye Jinghong sweep across Divine Relic Ridge.
• Lin Bai learned that one comprehension attempt cost ten thousand contribution points for a low-grade mystic art and fifty thousand for a middle-grade one.
• Dugu Yun explained that King Grade Martial Skills drew on the power of heaven and earth and stood between Heaven-grade and Emperor-grade martial skills.
• Lin Bai found that the first form of Mo Wen Sword, Sword Heart Clarity, was free, but the second form, Sweep of a Thousand Armies, cost one hundred thousand contribution points per attempt.

Lin Bai weighed the cost and strict eligibility rules for comprehending Mo Wen Sword before accepting Dugu Yun’s special privilege to study it. Dugu Yun explained that he chose Lin Bai because he reminded him of Ye Jinghong.

• Lin Bai learned that each remaining move of Mo Wen Sword cost one hundred thousand points and that only the Sword Dao Institute’s First Senior Disciple or dean could normally comprehend it.
• Dugu Yun offered Lin Bai a special privilege on the condition that he continue studying Mo Wen Sword despite any difficulties.
• Lin Bai accepted, aiming to master Mo Wen Sword and use it to contend for the Five Peaks Holy Son position and defeat Su Yanhua.
• Lin Bai asked why Dugu Yun had chosen him, and Dugu Yun said Lin Bai reminded him of Ye Jinghong and seemed capable of comprehending Mo Wen Sword.

Dugu Yun explained why he believed Lin Bai could comprehend Mo Wen Sword and offered him one hundred thousand points if he won the newcomer tournament. Lin Bai accepted the challenge, received the dean’s token, and went with Tang Bufan to the Sword Arts Pavilion to choose sword arts.

• Dugu Yun compared Lin Bai’s rise to Ye Jinghong’s and said he believed Lin Bai was the person Mo Wen Sword had awaited.
• Lin Bai promised to do his best to master Mo Wen Sword, and Dugu Yun offered him one hundred thousand points for taking first place in the newcomer tournament.
• Dugu Yun gave Lin Bai the dean’s token, allowing him to enter Mystic Art Valley’s restricted area, and escorted him out.
• Lin Bai returned to Shadow Mountain and met Tang Bufan, who had exchanged spirit stones for five hundred points to buy sword arts.
• Lin Bai and Tang Bufan went to the busy Sword Arts Pavilion to look for sword arts to cultivate.

Lin Bai and Tang Bufan searched the Sword Arts Pavilion for its monthly discounted sword art, a Heaven Grade Five technique. Lin Bai spotted a black scroll inside a stone lion and realized it might be the hidden prize.

• Lin Bai and Tang Bufan examined the first level’s sword arts but found them too expensive and unimpressive.
• Tang Bufan told Lin Bai that the Pavilion hid a powerful discounted sword art each month, so they split up to search for it.
• After two hours of searching, Lin Bai reasoned that the sword art was not on the shelves and began studying the Pavilion’s layout.
• Lin Bai learned that the stone lion at the center of the first level had appeared only a few days earlier.
• Lin Bai looked into the stone lion’s open mouth and saw a black scroll inside its belly.

Lin Bai discovered that the discounted sword manual was hidden inside the stone lion and retrieved the Nirvana Sword Manual, a Heaven-grade fifth-rank manual discounted to three thousand points. As Lin Bai and Tang Bufan headed to the counter to buy it, Liu Xuan ordered him to hand over the scroll.

• Liu Xuan searched the Sword Arts Pavilion with his lackeys for the rumored discounted Nirvana Sword Manual, hoping to use it to surpass his rivals.
• After learning the stone lion had recently been placed in the pavilion, Liu Xuan led his lackeys over to investigate it.
• Tang Bufan found Lin Bai examining the stone lion, and Lin Bai revealed that he had found the discounted manual inside it.
• Lin Bai pulled the black scroll from the stone lion and confirmed that it was the Nirvana Sword Manual, discounted from twenty-five thousand points to three thousand.
• Lin Bai and Tang Bufan headed to the counter, but a man shouted for Lin Bai to stop and hand over the scroll.

Lin Bai found the discounted Nirvana Sword Manual in a stone lion, but Liu Xuan tried to claim it and challenged him to a wager. Lin Bai accepted a ten-thousand-point bet and prepared to buy the manual before meeting Liu Xuan at the Form and Spirit Arena.

• Lin Bai retrieved the Heaven Grade, Fifth Rank Nirvana Sword Manual from the stone lion before Liu Xuan and his lackeys arrived.
• Liu Xuan demanded that Lin Bai hand over the manual, but Lin Bai refused and said it belonged to whoever found it first.
• Liu Xuan challenged Lin Bai to spar at the Form and Spirit Arena, wagering ten thousand points against the manual.
• Lin Bai accepted the wager despite Tang Bufan's warning, then said he would buy the manual before going to the arena.

Lin Bai entered the Form and Spirit Arena for the first time and learned how it let martial artists spar and earn points without harming their real bodies. After Liu Xuan challenged him for ten thousand points and the Nirvana Sword Manual, Lin Bai accepted and was transported to their dueling ground, where Liu Xuan’s sword struck first.

• Lin Bai paid three thousand points to unlock the Nirvana Sword Manual and went with Tang Bufan to the Form and Spirit Arena.
• Liu Xuan met Lin Bai at the arena and told him to enter the tower, insert his Identity Token into a room’s stone platform, and meet him inside.
• Lin Bai entered the arena and heard Artifact Spirit Sibao explain its sparring, challenge, and cultivation functions.
• Liu Xuan challenged Lin Bai for a wager of ten thousand points and the Nirvana Sword Manual, and Lin Bai accepted.
• The arena placed the Nirvana Sword Manual as Lin Bai’s stake and transported him to a mountain battlefield, where Liu Xuan’s sword light charged toward him.

Lin Bai struggled to control his spiritual energy in the Form and Spirit Arena as Liu Xuan repeatedly battered him, but he eventually adapted and turned the fight around. After severing Liu Xuan’s arm, Lin Bai prepared to counter his Sword Heart Clarity with an even stronger version of the technique.

• Liu Xuan ambushed Lin Bai and demanded the Nirvana Swordplay formula, sending him flying with repeated sword strikes.
• Lin Bai endured Liu Xuan’s attacks while adjusting to circulating spiritual energy in his illusory body.
• Lin Bai adapted, caught Liu Xuan’s sword with one hand, and counterattacked with Mountains and Rivers Eternal Silence, hurling Liu Xuan into a mountain.
• Lin Bai appeared before Liu Xuan and severed his left arm, taunting him for threatening to torture him.
• Liu Xuan unleashed Sword Heart Clarity, and Lin Bai declared that his own Sword Heart Clarity and Mo Wen Sword were superior before releasing a far stronger technique.

Lin Bai defeated Liu Xuan in the Form and Spirit Arena and won ten thousand points, then left with Tang Bufan. Liu Xuan threatened revenge for the lost points, while Lin Bai focused on earning enough points to learn the remaining Mo Wen Sword techniques.

• Lin Bai's grand mastery of Sword Heart Clarity overcame Liu Xuan's stronger Sword Intent, and Lin Bai defeated him with a sword strike that split the mountain.
• The arena awarded Lin Bai one hundred points for his first challenge and transferred Liu Xuan's ten thousand points to his Identity Token.
• Lin Bai left the arena and showed Tang Bufan his balance of 20321, claiming he had won by half a move.
• Liu Xuan demanded his ten thousand points back, but Lin Bai refused and dismissed his threats as he left with Tang Bufan.
• Tang Bufan warned Lin Bai that Liu Xuan might retaliate, while Lin Bai said he needed far more points to comprehend the other eight Mo Wen Sword moves.

Lin Bai studied the Nirvana Sword Manual and realized the Three Immortal Fingers were modeled on its techniques, then began cultivating the manual. Meanwhile, Liu Xuan persuaded his uncle Liu Tian to help reclaim the lost points and threaten Lin Bai, while an unwelcome visitor approached Lin Bai and Tang Bufan at night.

• Lin Bai compared the Nirvana Sword Manual with the Three Immortal Fingers and concluded that the finger technique had been copied from the sword manual.
• Liu Xuan begged Liu Tian to recover the ten thousand points he had lost to Lin Bai and keep the loss secret from the Liu Family.
• Liu Tian agreed to confront Lin Bai, promising to make him return the points and kneel before the newcomers at their martial competition.
• Lin Bai and Tang Bufan drank together on Shadow Mountain until Lin Bai sensed someone approaching and called on the visitor to reveal themself.

Liu Tian attacked Lin Bai and demanded that he repay Liu Xuan and apologize at the newcomers' tournament, or face death. Lin Bai spent two months cultivating, reached the Human Core Realm fourth level, and headed to the tournament with Tang Bufan, ready to settle his grudges.

• Liu Tian revealed that he was Liu Xuan's clan uncle and demanded Lin Bai return ten thousand points and kneel to apologize at the newcomers' tournament.
• Liu Tian struck Lin Bai and Tang Bufan, then threatened to kill Lin Bai if he refused his demands.
• Lin Bai helped Tang Bufan back to his residence, then vowed to cultivate Nirvana Swordplay and raise his cultivation before facing Liu Tian again.
• Lin Bai spent two months cultivating in seclusion while the Sword Dao Institute's newcomers grew stronger ahead of the tournament.
• Tang Bufan called Lin Bai out of seclusion, and Lin Bai emerged at the Human Core Realm fourth level.
• Lin Bai washed and changed, then left Shadow Mountain with Tang Bufan for the newcomers' tournament.

Lin Bai attended the Sword Dao Institute’s final newcomer assessment after two months of seclusion, intent on settling matters with Liu Tian and Yuan Qing himself. The disciples departed for New Green Mountain in the Primordial Wilds, where the competition would determine who became an official disciple.

• Lin Bai returned to the arena at the fourth level of the Human Core Realm and warned Nie Xiaoxian not to interfere in his personal feud with Liu Tian and Yuan Qing.
• Lin Baoyu announced that newcomers would compete at New Green Mountain by hunting Ferocious Beasts for points, with a fifth-level beast required to pass and rewards offered to the top ten.
• Lin Baoyu led the disciples aboard three spirit airships bound for the Primordial Wilds.
• Lin Bai and Tang Bufan watched the airship pass beyond the Great Wall, while Nie Xiaoxian warned the low-level group about the dangers and powerful beasts beyond it.

Lin Bai and Tang Bufan entered New Green Mountain for the Sword Dao Institute’s day-long assessment and began hunting demon beasts. They encountered a fourth-level Human Core Realm wild boar, which knocked Tang Bufan aside as Lin Bai prepared to act.

• Xue Qing welcomed Lin Baoyu and the Sword Dao Institute’s spirit boats at the Great Wall, reporting that New Green Mountain held no demon beasts above the fifth level of the Human Core Realm.
• Lin Baoyu led the disciples into New Green Mountain and warned them to beware of both demon beasts and other martial artists.
• Lin Bai and Tang Bufan split from the larger crowd, then agreed to hunt fifth-level Human Core Realm demon beasts together and pursue a place in the top ten.
• A fourth-level Human Core Realm wild boar charged at Lin Bai and Tang Bufan, and Tang Bufan attacked it with his sword.
• The wild boar’s tough hide deflected Tang Bufan’s strike, and it knocked him to the ground as he called for Lin Bai’s help.

Lin Bai and Tang Bufan forced a wounded Black Hide Boar to lead them to an Essence Core Realm fifth-layer beast for their examination. The boar brought them to the White-Haired Divine-Armed Ape’s canyon, where the ape confronted them.

• Lin Bai struck the Black Hide Boar with his sword and severely wounded it.
• Tang Bufan bullied the boar into surrendering, and Lin Bai and Tang Bufan decided to use it to locate a stronger beast.
• The Black Hide Boar offered to guide them to the White-Haired Divine-Armed Ape, hoping the ape would kill them.
• Tang Bufan and Lin Bai rode the boar to the canyon and forced it to lead them inside.
• The White-Haired Divine-Armed Ape sensed the intruders and challenged them from within the canyon.

Lin Bai confronted the White Fur Ape, a Human Core Realm fifth-level demonic beast, in a valley and killed it with one sword. After absorbing the beast’s blood with the Devouring Sword Soul, Lin Bai felt his cultivation advance and looked forward to hunting more beasts in the Primordial Wilds.

• Lin Bai entered the valley while Tang Bufan stayed with Black Hide Boar, which secretly hoped the White Fur Ape would kill them.
• The White Fur Ape emerged from its cave while eating a martial artist’s corpse and charged at Lin Bai.
• The White Fur Ape’s punches sent Lin Bai flying, but Lin Bai’s Golden War Body let him withstand the beast’s attempt to tear him apart.
• Lin Bai kicked the White Fur Ape away, then decapitated it with One Sword, Limitless.
• Lin Bai used the Devouring Sword Soul to refine the White Fur Ape’s blood into spiritual power and felt his cultivation advance.