Chapter Summaries

Li Hao entered the Sword Tower with Ancestor Yao’s token, displayed his painting, and recorded cultivation methods across its first three floors while deepening his sword intent. As he continued toward the upper floors, the Sword Master sensed that the alchemist had condensed ninety-seven layers of Dao Domain.

• Ancestor Yao invited Li Hao to place his painting in the Sword Tower and gave him a token granting access to every floor.
• Li Hao and Jiang Yingyue met the Sword Master, who approved the painting and invited Li Hao to fish with him afterward.
• Li Hao displayed the Sword God's First Battle Painting, and the Sword Attendants hung it inside the Sword Tower.
• Li Hao recorded every cultivation manual on the first three floors, condensing eighty-nine layers of Dao Domain before heading to the fourth floor.
• The Sword Master arrived outside the tower and sensed that Li Hao had ninety-seven layers of Dao Domain, marveling that he was an alchemist.

Li Hao visited the Sword Tower, where the Sword Master discovered his ninety-seven Dao Domains and gave him a personal Sword Token. After recording many cultivation methods and choosing the Great Dao Sword Art, Li Hao returned to the alchemists’ quarters and secretly cultivated his Dao Domains to 167 layers, still short of the Extreme Realm.

• The Sword Master detected Li Hao’s ninety-seven Dao Domains, learned he was twenty-eight and from outside the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land, and agreed not to involve the Sacred Land in his affairs.
• Li Hao recorded cultivation methods throughout the Sword Tower, mastered the Great Dao Sword Art, and chose its manual to take with him.
• The Sword Master gave Li Hao his personal Sword Token, astonishing Jiang Yingyue and the two Sword Attendants.
• Jiang Yingyue took Li Hao to Yao Pool Peak, where Ancestor Yao asked him to practice the Great Dao Sword Art for ten days and show her his progress.
• Li Hao returned to the Alchemy Courtyard, where Lin Qingying doubted his commitment to swordsmanship after he cooked and ate instead of practicing.
• Li Hao concealed himself and resumed cultivation, increasing his Dao Domains from ninety-seven to 167 without yet reaching the Extreme Realm.

Li Hao advanced his fishing and sword skills while the selection rounds continued, and Ancestor Yao offered to take him as her disciple. The Top Hundred Battle began with the Sword Saint and several Half-Saints in attendance, as Lin Qingying headed to compete.

• Li Hao fished with the Sword Master at Sword Cliff, repeatedly catching the dragon demon Ao Jie before Qiu Wuhen joined them.
• Li Hao demonstrated his progress in the Great Dao Sword Art to Ancestor Yao, who invited him to become her disciple, but he asked for time to consider.
• After twenty days of selection, the top hundred were announced, and the Top Hundred Battle began with Lin Qingying joining the competitors.
• The Sword Saint and three additional Half-Saints arrived above the battle stages, making the Saint Children and Saint Daughters take the competition seriously.

At the Hundred-Battle Tournament, Qiu Wuhen and Lin Qingying defeated powerful opponents, while Yuwen Haoyue offered Lin Qingying a path to Sagehood if she married him and she refused. After the matches ended, Li Hao offered to draw the flaws in Lin Qingying’s Sword Dao, and she agreed.

• Qiu Wuhen used his Thousand Threads Sword intent to defeat Luo Cheng without revealing an extreme realm.
• Lin Qingying defeated the Dragon Slayer Saint Child despite his Heaven and Earth Dharma Form and five extreme realms.
• Yuwen Haoyue asked Lin Qingying to marry him and offered her a path to Sage Entry, but she rejected his proposal and defended her Sword Dao.
• Lin Qingying won all five of her matches and advanced to the final sixteen alongside the other Saint Children and Saint Daughters.
• Li Hao offered to draw the flaws in Lin Qingying’s Sword Dao, and she agreed after asking about his own cultivation.

Li Hao gave Lin Qingying three paintings that helped her perfect her Supreme Gentle Sword Intent, and the round of sixteen began with the Bright Moon Saint Child defeating Qiu Wuhen. Lin Qingying then faced Bian Ruxue, whose icy sword arts countered her style, and their battle was still underway when the chapter ended.

• Li Hao painted three scenes of Lin Qingying's sword practice and battle, revealing flaws and guiding her toward Great Accomplishment Sword Intent.
• Lin Qingying studied the paintings, grasped perfected Supreme Gentle Sword Intent, and resumed her sword practice.
• The Bright Moon Saint Child defeated Qiu Wuhen with his Sun Moon Divine Eyes and powerful sword techniques, forcing the elders to intervene before Qiu Wuhen was killed.
• Bian Ruxue and Lin Qingying began their round-of-sixteen match, and Bian Ruxue spread ice across the battlefield to counter Lin Qingying's sword style.
• Lin Qingying broke through Bian Ruxue's freezing attack, entered Return to the Ruins, and struck from behind using the mist of Bian Ruxue's breath as guiding threads of sword qi.

Lin Qingying defeated Bian Ruxue with her perfected Supreme Gentle Sword Intent, then spent several days relaxing and fishing with Li Hao. While painting the Sword Master at Sword Cliff, Li Hao glimpsed and captured the Sword Dao in his portrait, advancing his Painting Dao to ninth dan.

• Lin Qingying used her perfected Supreme Gentle Sword Intent and innate supreme yin Dao embryo to defeat Bian Ruxue, who conceded and fell into the Losers Group.
• Lin Qingying advanced to the final eight, while Li Hao recorded the Saint Children’s supreme arts and spent the following days fishing with her at Sword Cliff.
• The Sword Master shared insights into the Supreme Gentle Sword Dao, giving Lin Qingying a glimpse of the level beyond perfected sword intent.
• Li Hao asked to paint the Sword Master, and his attempt to capture the Sage’s spirit caused sword power to cut his eyes as he painted.
• Li Hao finished the portrait, healed his eyes, and comprehended the Heart of Painting Dao, advancing his Painting Dao to ninth dan.

Li Hao advanced his Painting Dao and Sword Dao to the ninth dan, then developed his carving skill while the Sword God Battle narrowed to its final contestants. When the Bright Moon Saint Child trapped Lin Qingying and tried to destroy her Dao Embryo, Li Hao rushed toward the battlefield and shouted for him to stop.

• Li Hao reached the ninth dan of Painting Dao by painting the Sword Master, then used his Heart of Painting Dao to advance his Sword Dao to the ninth dan and his carving to the sixth dan.
• Qiu Wuhen and Bian Ruxue fought their way into the top ten, while Lin Qingying defeated Bian Ruxue and the Red River Saintess to reach the top three.
• Lin Qingying told Li Hao she would give everything in her match against the Bright Moon Saint Child, and the two shared pastries beneath the moon before the final battles.
• The Bright Moon Saint Child defeated the Spirit Illusion Saint Child and then attacked Lin Qingying, overpowering her and revealing that he intended to cripple her to deepen his emotional attachment and sever it.
• The Bright Moon Saint Child pierced Lin Qingying's abdomen and shattered her Dao Embryo, and Li Hao rushed to the magic array and shouted for him to stop.

Bright Moon Saint Child crippled Lin Qingying and shattered her Sword Intent to strengthen his own, while the elders and Sword Saint watched without intervening. Li Hao challenged him in her defense and revealed Sword Qi powerful enough to split the clouds above Saint Mountain, leaving everyone stunned.

• Bright Moon Saint Child destroyed Lin Qingying's Dao Embryo and Supreme Gentle Sword Intent, then declared that she had lost as the disciples cheered his victory.
• Li Hao rushed to Lin Qingying after the Magic Array fell, examined her injuries, and offered her sword back when she said she no longer deserved it.
• Li Hao challenged Bright Moon Saint Child to exchange a sword strike, but Bright Moon Saint Child dismissed him as an ignorant alchemist and turned away.
• Li Hao casually slashed with the green sword, sending Sword Qi through the sky that split the clouds above Saint Mountain and stopped Bright Moon Saint Child in his tracks.

Li Hao defeated Bright Moon Saint Child with the Supreme Gentle Sword Dao, restoring Lin Qingying’s sword intent while revealing his extraordinary skill. When Ancestor Yao considered whether he might join the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land, Li Hao revealed that a Sage was his enemy, and the Sword Master arrived to identify him as a Disciple of the Supreme Saint.

• Li Hao used one gentle sword strike to shatter Bright Moon Saint Child’s Sun Moon Sword Intent and wound him through his Dao Domains.
• Lin Qingying’s Sun Moon Sword Intent broke apart, and Li Hao guided her toward understanding the Supreme Gentle Sword Dao and rebuilding her sword intent.
• Bright Moon Saint Child accused Li Hao of infiltrating the sacred land, but Ancestor Yao spoke in his defense and asked about his plans.
• Li Hao said his enemy was not a Half-Saint, leading Ancestor Yao, Lin Qingying, Bright Moon Saint Child, and the disciples to realize that a Sage pursued him.
• The Sword Master arrived with two masked Sword Attendants and declared that Li Hao was a twenty-eight-year-old Disciple of the Supreme Saint whom the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land could not accommodate.

After defeating the Bright Moon Saint Child, Li Hao learned that Lin Qingying’s destroyed Dao Embryo could not be rebuilt, but offered her a path to form an acquired Sword Intent Dao Embryo. He left the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land to qualify for the Supreme Heaven Pride Battle and reached the Azure Sea Divine Dynasty’s selection, where Li Qingyi prepared to face him.

• The Sword Master revealed that Li Hao was twenty-eight and a Disciple of the Supreme Saint, and the Sword Saint ended the duel by calling it sparring.
• Li Hao returned Green Edge to Lin Qingying, learned her Dao Embryo could not be restored, and heard the Sword Saint offer her a Gathering Dao Art.
• The Sword Saint explained how Li Hao could enter the Supreme Heaven Pride Battle as a Rogue Person, and Li Hao agreed to seek a place through a dynasty’s selection.
• Li Hao suggested Lin Qingying could form an acquired Sword Intent Dao Embryo by comprehending nothingness, then left for Dao Sacrifice Mountain after saying farewell.
• On the way, Li Hao absorbed resentment from slain martial artists and continued to the selection, where Zhao Xiulin arranged his entry into the ten-thousand-person round.
• Li Qingyi entered the arena under a concealed appearance, intending to advance to the top hundred and then lose, while her companions warned her not to hurt her opponent.

Li Hao, using the alias Qing Feng, defeated Li Qingyi with a sword strike formed from a breeze and advanced through the Rogue Persons’ tournament to the top hundred. He accepted the Azure Sea Divine Dynasty’s offer to become its Attendant, while the dynasty also negotiated with other prodigies for their support in the coming Azure Wave Battle.

• Li Hao defeated Li Qingyi on Battle Stage Eight, revealing enough swordsmanship to convince her that his technique had likely reached Entering the Dao.
• Li Qingyi returned to her companions and said she would watch the Top Hundred Battle to see whether anyone could force Li Hao to reveal his true strength.
• Li Hao won his subsequent matches over three days and advanced to the top hundred, attracting invitations from several factions.
• Li Hao accepted the Azure Sea Divine Dynasty’s invitation to become its Attendant in exchange for the incense of ten cities and cultivation methods.
• The Azure Sea Great Emperor learned that Qing Feng had accepted and discussed the incense offered to other gifted contestants, including Red Light, who demanded Princess Yun Ji’s hand in marriage.

Li Hao and three other prodigies became Azure Sea Divine Dynasty Attendants, receiving incense allotments based on their strength. Red Light defeated a rival who challenged his twelve-city share, while the emperor revealed that Li Hao received ten cities for his Dao-Entering Sword Art; the chapter ended with Li Hao painting the group and assessing the experience he gained.

• Crown Prince Gui Haifeng brought Li Hao and three other prodigies to meet the Azure Sea Great Emperor, who bound them as Attendants with the Imperial Stone Dragon Seal and granted them titles and waist tags.
• The Azure Sea Great Emperor promised temples, Golden Bodies, and incense to the new Attendants, while Red Light arranged to marry Princess Yun Ji after the battle.
• A purple-robed young man objected to Red Light receiving twelve cities' incense and challenged him, but Red Light's Supreme Heart Flame overwhelmed him and left him badly burned.
• The Azure Sea Great Emperor healed the purple-robed young man and explained that incense allotments could rise with performance; he revealed Li Hao received ten cities because his Sword Art had entered the Dao.
• Li Hao painted the other Attendants and the Azure Sea Great Emperor, gaining different amounts of Painting Dao experience from each subject.

Li Hao recorded the Azure Sea Divine Dynasty’s cultivation methods in the Vast Sea Pavilion and raised his dao domains to 210 layers while preparing for the Top Hundred Battle. He defeated Prince Luo Jia in a single strike, while other contestants learned that Red Light was another formidable contender.

• Li Hao impressed the Azure Sea Great Emperor and the dynasty’s chief painter with his paintings, then entered the Vast Sea Pavilion with the Crown Prince to record its cultivation methods.
• Li Hao returned to Dao Sacrifice Mountain and cultivated the methods he had recorded, raising his dao domains to 210 layers and suspecting that their extreme realm lay at 360 layers.
• Li Hao considered the need to reach the dao domain extreme realm so he could face Void Saint and potentially contend with a Sage.
• Li Hao defeated Prince Luo Jia with a single sword strike in the Top Hundred Battle, then left the stage to continue pondering his dao domains.
• Li Qingyi and her companions watched Li Hao’s victory, and the young man with the folding fan told them that Red Light had emerged as a powerful contender from the Magnificent Light Grotto-Heaven.

Li Hao defeated his Top Hundred Battle opponents and drew attention by revealing a second Sword Dao before securing a place in the Top Ten. He joined the Flower Wandering Society, a gathering founded by two Supreme Saints, and learned that its members exchanged artistic and martial insights through a Mind Domain Space.

• Li Hao considered the obligations attached to faction offers, then heard Gui Qinshuang invite him to join the Flower Wandering Society because of his painting skill.
• Li Hao defeated the purple-robed young man with the Sun and Moon Sword Dao, revealing that he had mastered another Sword Dao, and both advanced to the Top Ten.
• Li Hao completed the cultivation methods he had collected at the Vast Sea Pavilion, bringing his Dao domain to 220 layers.
• Gui Qinshuang delivered Li Hao's Flower Wandering Token after the vice president approved his membership, and Li Hao learned the society's history, rules, and life-saving token abilities.
• Li Hao entered the society's Mind Domain Space, introduced himself as Qing Feng, and met members including Night Ancestor and Azure Ancestor.
• A young member explained that the society restricted membership to cultivators partly to enable martial exchanges, and recounted the Supreme Saint's words that inspired its founding.

Li Hao learned that the Supreme Saints were seeking a way to become immortal by opening every extreme realm, then impressed the Flower Wandering Society with his age, cultivation, painting, and sword art. After leaving the gathering, he prepared for the Supreme Heaven Pride Battle, where the top-ten ranking matches began and Red Light emerged as another championship favorite.

• The Night Ancestor and Azure Ancestor told Li Hao that the Immortal Road was sealed and the Supreme Saints were reincarnating to pursue a second path to immortality that required attaining all nine extreme realms.
• Li Hao revealed that cooking and painting were his specialties, and Zhan Tan praised his painting while the White Ancestor eagerly arranged to visit him for a cooking exchange.
• After learning Li Hao was not yet thirty and had reached the Dao Inquiry Realm with sword art that had entered the Dao, the Flower Wandering Society members offered to watch his battles and discuss their pursuits with him.
• The Azure Ancestor introduced Li Hao to Qing Jiu, who agreed to spar with him someday and discussed the competition among their respective realms.
• Two days later, the Supreme Heaven Pride Battle's top-ten ranking matches began, drawing Li Qingyi, Lin Qingying, Bian Ruxue, Qiu Wuhen, and the Bright Moon Saint Child to scout the competitors.
• Spectators recognized Li Hao and Red Light as leading championship favorites, while the Bright Moon Saint Child watched from the crowd.

Li Hao defeated Su Yun and another opponent with ease before facing Red Light in the Top Ten final, where he countered Red Light’s Fire-Type Divine Ability and forced him to concede. The contest ended with Li Hao as champion, while the competitors prepared for the Azure Wave Realm’s battle against the Three Great Sacred Lands in three months.

• Li Hao defeated Su Yun with a single Cloudmist Sword Qi strike, then painted portraits of the Heavenly Prodigies while waiting for his next match.
• Li Hao shattered his next opponent’s Heaven and Earth Dharma Form with a single strike and returned to painting.
• Lin Qingying and Bian Ruxue disagreed over whether freedom or reaching the pinnacle mattered more as they watched Li Hao.
• Li Hao fought Red Light in the final, severed the influence of Red Light’s Fire-Type Divine Ability, and struck him with the Sun and Moon Sword Dao.
• Red Light conceded, and the ten Divine Dynasties’ Half-Saints concluded the contest and announced the battle against the Three Great Sacred Lands in three months.
• Su Yun, Lin Qingying, Bian Ruxue, and the other competitors left to prepare for the coming battles, while Red Light urged Li Hao to improve.

After winning the independent cultivators’ tournament, Li Hao visited Zhan Tan at the Literary Ancestor Sacred Land and advanced his Painting Dao through their lessons. With her help, he gathered cultivation methods from ten Divine Dynasties and reached 360 Dao Domain layers, where his domains began merging and he sensed the power of time.

• Li Hao arranged to visit Zhan Tan to discuss painting, while Qing Jiu warned him about the Twin Buddha Child and the coming Supreme Heaven Pride Battle.
• Gui Qinshuang told Li Hao that the Azure Sea Divine Dynasty had increased his incense offerings from ten cities to fifteen, and Yue Ying escorted him to the Literary Ancestor Sacred Land.
• Li Hao and Zhan Tan painted an Earth Fiend Dragon; Zhan Tan was startled by the force in Li Hao’s painting and sought his guidance, which also earned him Painting Dao experience.
• Li Hao asked Zhan Tan for cultivation methods, and she arranged access to the treasuries of ten Divine Dynasties and the Literary Ancestor Sacred Land’s Book of Sages.
• After visiting the ten Divine Dynasties, Li Hao cultivated their methods until his Dao Domains reached 360 layers and began merging, allowing him to sense and influence space and time.

Li Hao completed the eternal Dao Domain, consulted Zhan Tan about advancing beyond an extreme realm, and gained a powerful codex attribute from a masterpiece. After months of study and painting, he prepared for the Azure Wave Realm battle for places as rival prodigies emerged from seclusion.

• Li Hao completed his 360-layer eternal Dao Domain but failed to form any further domains, then learned from Zhan Tan that breaking an extreme realm was rare and difficult.
• Zhan Tan took Li Hao to the Literary Heart Pavilion, where he recorded its books and chose the Benevolent Emperor Collection, gaining the attribute Benevolent One Is Invincible.
• Li Hao recited books of sages until his Poetry and Books Dao advanced to Sixth Dan, then spent three months discussing Painting Dao with Zhan Tan and raised his Painting Dao experience to 920,000.
• As the battle for places approached, Li Hao left Heavenly Sandalwood Peak while prodigies across the sacred lands emerged from seclusion and displayed their growing power.
• The Bright Moon Saint Child and Red Light learned that Li Hao had spent his time painting; Red Light grew angry, believing Li Hao's earlier victory had made him arrogant.

Li Hao and the other contestants gathered at the Buddhist Sect Sacred Land for the Azure Wave Realm qualifying contest, where the Twin Buddha Child and the other major Heavenly Prodigies drew attention. The first round began as a race to retrieve Spirit Pearls from the Floating Life Demon Territory, and Zhao Qing Shu emerged long after the Twin Buddha Child.

• The Azure Sea Great Emperor offered Li Hao, Red Light, and Su Yun weapons or divine pills and explained that qualifying contestants would receive the Azure Wave Realm's incense power.
• Li Hao and the other contestants arrived at the Buddhist Sect Sacred Land, where the Thousand Lifetimes Buddha and the projected incarnations of the Sword Saint and Literary Saint gathered to oversee the contest.
• The Literary Ancestor and Sword Ancestor Sacred Lands arrived, and Red Light studied Lin Shuhai while Li Hao reunited with familiar faces including Zhan Tan and Lin Qingying.
• The Twin Buddha Child appeared, and Red Light sensed the terrifying demonic image concealed behind him.
• The Thousand Lifetimes Buddha announced that contestants would retrieve Spirit Pearls from demons in the Floating Life Demon Territory, with the twenty fastest advancing; the Twin Buddha Child was selected first and returned in one minute and thirty-four seconds.
• Zhao Qing Shu entered the Floating Life Demon Territory next and eventually staggered back out after about a quarter of an hour.

The contestants raced to retrieve Spirit Pearls, and Lin Qingying and Red Light posted the standout times behind the Twin Buddha Child. When Li Hao entered the trial, he absorbed Slaughter Resentment before confronting a demon Half-Saint guarding his Spirit Pearl; the Half-Saint’s illusion failed against Li Hao’s Eternal Dao Domain.

• Lin Shuhai retrieved his Spirit Pearl in one minute and fifty-eight seconds, while Lin Qingying finished in four minutes and fifteen seconds and the Bright Moon Saint Child took two minutes and thirty seconds.
• Red Light completed the trial in one minute and forty-seven seconds, placing second behind the Twin Buddha Child.
• Li Hao painted the Literary Saint and gained 160,000 experience points before his turn to enter the trial.
• Li Hao absorbed Slaughter Resentment in the Floating Life Demon Territory, then found the Spirit Pearl beside a Half-Saint Spider Demon.
• The Half-Saint Spider Demon tried to bargain for Li Hao’s secret, stole the Spirit Pearl, and attacked him with Dream Weaving.
• Li Hao manifested his Eternal Dao Domain, which annihilated the demon’s laws and dispelled its illusion.