Chapter Summaries

Li Hao arrived at abandoned Heaven's Gate Pass as the Blood Fiend Army withdrew, then raised a battle flag bearing the name Haotian. Li Hongzhuang discovered that he had reached the heaven and man realm.

• Li Hongzhuang ordered the 9,623 surviving Blood Fiend Army soldiers to return home while she stayed behind with Li Hao and Ren Qianqian.
• Li Hao and Ren Qianqian visited the burial mounds, and Li Hao resolved to do more than repay his debt during his three years at the frontier.
• Li Hao hunted a demonic creature, prepared its meat for a meal, and used its blood to write on a new battle flag.
• Li Hao raised the flag marked Haotian, and Li Hongzhuang was stunned when he revealed he was in the heaven and man realm.

Li Hao cooked for Li Hongzhuang and explained that he intended to return advanced versions of dozens of Li Family techniques to sever his family ties. When demons approached the isolated camp, Li Hongzhuang went out to confront Chi Tiger Lord, while Li Hao followed with swords gathered at his side.

• Li Hongzhuang marveled that fourteen-year-old Li Hao had reached the Heaven and Man Realm, and Li Hao modestly dismissed his talent.
• Li Hao served roast meat to Li Hongzhuang, Ren Qianqian, and Little White Fox, then planted four crude battle flags around the camp.
• Li Hao began writing down advanced versions of dozens of techniques from the Listening Rain Pavilion to return to the Li Family, and Li Hongzhuang questioned his plan to sever family ties.
• Li Hongzhuang sensed demons approaching after the army withdrew and went out to meet them, while Li Hao gave the technique papers to Ren Qianqian and followed.
• Chi Tiger Lord taunted Li Hongzhuang and revealed that Flying Roc was with him, as Li Hongzhuang prepared to fight.

Li Hongzhuang fought the demon horde and three Great Demons at the pass until Li Hao arrived to support her. Li Hao revealed overwhelming strength, killed or wounded several Great Demons, and upgraded his movement technique to pursue the fleeing survivors.

• Chi Tiger Lord led the demon horde in an assault on the pass while Li Hongzhuang fought the Flying Roc and Chi Tiger Lord, then was struck by the Six-Tusked Hibernating Pig.
• Li Hao came out to support Li Hongzhuang, and Chi Tiger Lord ordered the demons to tear down the camp’s tents.
• Li Hao killed a giant ape Great Demon with one punch, shocking the other demons into revealing their true forms and attacking him together.
• Li Hao’s sword qi killed the Multi-Eyed Giant Deer, split the Qing-scale viper in two, and badly wounded the Violet-Eyed Mad Bull Demon.
• Li Hao pursued the fleeing demons and spent an Art Skill Point to advance his movement technique, raising White Phoenix Travel to True State.

Li Hao used his newly created techniques and Heaven and Earth Dharma Form to slaughter the demon horde and drive back Flying Roc, a Three Immortalities great demon. He pursued the fleeing demons after they withdrew, leaving Li Hongzhuang alarmed.

• Li Hao killed the Violet-Eyed Mad Bull Demon and Azure Scale Viper, then unleashed his Heaven and Earth Dharma Form against the demons attacking the camp and graveyard.
• Li Hao created and used Blizzard Sword Art and divine might to devastate the demon horde and protect the graveyard.
• Flying Roc left Li Hongzhuang's battle to attack Li Hao, but Li Hao struck it down with his newly created Wrathful Star fist technique.
• Flying Roc fled, and Chi Tiger Lord and the Six-Tusked Hibernating Pig followed; Li Hao set off after them while Li Hongzhuang watched in alarm.

Li Hao pursued and killed two Three Immortalities Great Demons, then returned to camp with their tusks and began making a sword. After discovering that carving the tusks could improve his new Path of Carving, he used his Purple Firmament Palm to soften one, leaving the carving underway.

• Li Hao chased the Six-Tusked Hibernating Pig and Chi Tiger Lord into the wilderness, where he wounded the boar demon and killed Chi Tiger Lord with a concealed sword strike.
• Li Hao killed the injured Six-Tusked Hibernating Pig, took its tusks, and rested while the demon horde retreated from Li Hongzhuang's camp.
• Li Hongzhuang saw the two dead Great Demons and learned from Li Hao that he had killed them himself.
• Li Hao returned to camp, prepared roast meat, and began carving a boar tusk with a demon horn, gaining his first Path of Carving rank and an Art Skill Point.
• Li Hao used his Purple Firmament Palm to heat the tusk after learning that brute-force grinding would not shape it effectively.

After Li Hao learned about the demon forces surrounding Heaven's Gate Pass, he hunted down the lairs of the demons whose leaders he had killed and wiped them out. He returned to camp and practiced two powerful body-refining arts, drawing enough energy from the surroundings to alarm Li He.

• Li Hongzhuang explained the three Demon Kings near Heaven's Gate Pass, their boundaries, and how the Northern Cold Kingdom secretly offered them living sacrifices.
• Li Hao learned where the slain demons' lairs were, shaped a Boar Tusk Sword, and left camp before dawn to hunt them down.
• Li Hao attacked a lair, killed its demons, learned that the Dragon Lord used Heaven's Gate Mountain to keep the Li Family occupied, and destroyed every living creature and water source around the mountain.
• Li Hao raided the Six-Tusked Hibernating Pig's lair, then returned to camp and briefly spoke with Li Hongzhuang, Ren Qianqian, and Old Feng.
• Li Hao practiced the Five Viscera Primal Chaos Body and Bright Jade True Devil Art, rapidly strengthening his body as Li He watched in alarm.

Li Hao perfected two body-refining arts, confronted Li He over his attitude toward Li Tiangang, and continued writing a cultivation manual at Heaven's Gate Pass. In Qingzhou City, Li Tiangang argued with Li Muxiu about secretly protecting Li Hao, while the court debated Li Hao's punishment and the Hanlin Academy defended his character.

• Li Hao perfected the Five Viscera Primal Chaos Art and the Bright Jade True Devil Art, raising his pure physical strength to around 550,000 jin.
• Li Hao struck Li He after the old man spoke disrespectfully about Li Tiangang, then told Li Hongzhuang to keep her distance as he resumed writing his manual.
• Li Tiangang read Li He's letter and went to Blackwater Demon Lake to confront Li Muxiu about arranging secret protection for Li Hao.
• Li Muxiu challenged Li Tiangang's harsh treatment of Hao'er and reminded him that he had forced his son out during the previous snowfall.
• At court, officials argued over Li Hao's fight with Li Tiangang, and the Hanlin Academy's Grand Preceptor claimed Li Hao was neither spoiled nor dissolute and said they had evidence.

In court, Zhao Shugong used Li Hao’s poems to defend him and persuade the Yu Emperor to question the accusations against him. At Heaven’s Gate Pass, Li Hongzhuang warned Li Hao and Li He that powerful demons were coming, and towering figures appeared beyond the camp.

• Zhao Shugong presented Li Hao’s poetry collection and argued that its verses showed his loyalty to the country and concern for soldiers.
• The Liang Province Commander reconsidered his anger after hearing Li Hao’s lines about dying on the battlefield, but other officials continued to challenge Zhao Shugong’s defense.
• The Yu Emperor praised Li Hao’s poetry, then asked Chu Jiuyue about Li Hao and ordered her to deliver him the famous sword Dragon Firmament.
• The Yu Emperor also permitted Li Hao to return to Great Yu Province and study in the outer hall of Qian Dao Palace if he tired of the pass.
• At Heaven’s Gate Pass, Li Hongzhuang warned Li Hao and Li He that demons from Dragon Mountain Dojo would likely retaliate for the Chi Tiger Lord’s death.
• The ground shook, and several enormous figures appeared beyond the camp.

Six demons attacked the camp, but Li Hao, Li He, and Li Hongzhuang fought back with help from Feng Boping, who revealed himself as a Four Establishments Realm expert. A mysterious azure-haired woman arrived after defeating the Dragon Lord and returned with Niu Demon and Peacock as prisoners.

• Li Hao warned Li Hongzhuang and Li He that two more demons were hidden nearby, but refused to retreat when the demons entered the camp.
• The Giant Frog attacked, and Li Hao countered its roar and began fishing for it while Li Hongzhuang fought Peacock Young Master and Li He faced Niu Demon and the corpse demon.
• Feng Boping hooked and captured a giant wolf demon from an ambush, revealing his Four Establishments Realm cultivation and frightening the other demons into fleeing.
• Li Hao hooked the escaping Giant Frog and struggled to hold it as the Dragon Lord arrived and confronted Feng Boping beyond the camp.
• A mysterious azure-haired woman walked back to the camp with Niu Demon and Peacock bound in water chains after apparently defeating the Dragon Lord.

Song Qiumo arrived at Heaven’s Gate Pass, helped Li Hao defeat the Giant Frog, and delivered Sandalwood Palace’s supreme sword manual to him. She stayed to share food with Li Hao after learning the city had been destroyed.

• Song Qiumo arrived at Heaven’s Gate Pass dragging two demons, and Li Hao recognized her as the Water Kirin from Sandalwood Palace.
• Li Hao demanded the Giant Frog’s cultivation method, then attacked it, but Song Qiumo blocked its poison and killed it with a stream of water.
• Song Qiumo explained that she had tried to ambush the Dragon Lord and came to deliver the Taiji Qiankun Sword as Li Hao’s promised reward for teaching at Tan Palace Academy.
• Li Hao accepted the Sword Manual, while Li Hongzhuang and Li He realized Sandalwood Palace had made a significant effort to support him.
• Li Hao fished in the crippled Peacock demon and gained experience, then offered to cook for Song Qiumo if she bought supplies.
• Song Qiumo teased Li Hao for trying to get her to procure supplies, and he joked that he would shoulder the hardship.

Li Hao rebuilt the frontier camp, studied Song Qiumo’s sword manual, and refused the Yu Emperor’s invitation to study at Qian Dao Palace. He sent 124 improved Li Family techniques and three supreme arts back to the Divine General Residence, leaving Li Tiangang and the elders stunned by his talent and the reason behind his repayment.

• Li Hao welcomed Song Qiumo to the pass, rebuilt the camp into a Hedge-Enclosed Courtyard, and shared a meal with her, Ren Qianqian, Li Hongzhuang, Li He, and Feng Boping.
• Li Hao mastered the Taiji Qiankun Sword, advanced his Painting Dao to Sixth Dan by painting demon corpses, and spent two days developing and transcribing techniques.
• Chu Jiuyue delivered the Yu Emperor’s Dragon Firmament sword and invitation for Li Hao to study at Qian Dao Palace, but Li Hao refused because he intended to remain at the pass; he gave Dragon Firmament to Ren Qianqian.
• Li Hao wrote 124 improved Li Family techniques and three supreme arts, then sent them to the Li Family as repayment for the techniques he had learned.
• Li Tiangang examined Li Hao’s manuals and ordered the Listening Rain Pavilion elders to inspect them; they confirmed that the techniques were sound, leaving Li Tiangang conflicted and Li Muxiu asking whether he was satisfied now.

Li Tiangang revealed that demons were preparing to invade Great Yu through Liang Prefecture and arranged for Li Xuanli to assess the crisis. The family accepted Li Hao’s three supreme arts under conditions that prevented Li Qianfeng from both learning them and inheriting the True Dragon position.

• He Jianlan, Li Xuanli, Li Fenghua, and Jiang Xian'er urged Li Tiangang to reconcile with Li Hao, but Li Tiangang remained angry over their estrangement.
• Li Tiangang disclosed that three Nether Capital Tier Mo Rivers had appeared in Liang Prefecture, demons were gathering beyond its borders, and two Demon Kings had crossed into Great Yu.
• Li Muxiu rebuked Li Tiangang for sending Li Hao into danger, and Li Tiangang argued with him before appointing Li Xuanli to oversee Liang Prefecture.
• Li Tiangang told Li Xuanli to prepare for the mission while Li Fenghua was instructed to hold Cang Province; Li Tiangang said Li Hao would return if threatened.
• The elders revealed that Li Hao would allow the family to collect his three supreme arts only if Li Qianfeng could not both practice them and inherit the True Dragon position.
• The family agreed to add the arts to the Listening Rain Pavilion and leave the decision to practice them to Li Qianfeng.

Li Tiangang judged Liu Yuerong for trying to poison Li Hao, sparing her from execution but confining her to the Water Bloom Courtyard while giving Li Qianfeng another chance to compete for the True Dragon Position. Meanwhile, Li Hao swept demons from around Heaven's Gate Pass as Dragon Mountain Dojo learned that the demon army would bypass the pass and attack Liang Prefecture by another route.

• Li Tiangang revisited the training ground in the Mountains and Rivers Courtyard, remembered his brothers and childhood, then went to confront Liu Yuerong.
• Li Tiangang stripped Liu Yuerong of her title, confined her to the Water Bloom Courtyard, and told Li Qianfeng he could compete with Li Hao for the True Dragon Position again in three years.
• Li Xuanli prepared to leave for Liang Prefecture, agreed to bring Li Wushuang with him, and planned to warn Li Hao about the danger near Heaven's Gate Pass.
• Li Hao took Song Qiumo out to hunt demons, using the Dragon Sky Sword and his fishing ability to clear every demon within a hundred li of Heaven's Gate Pass.
• At Dragon Mountain Dojo, a seductive woman told the Dragon Lord that the demon army would avoid Heaven's Gate Pass and attack Liang Prefecture by another route.

Li Hao learned that demons were stirring around Liang Prefecture, but their forces had vanished from the area around Heaven's Gate Pass. After acquiring new painting attributes and hearing of a famous painting in Great Yue City, he decided to travel there with Ren Qianqian, leaving Song Qiumo to guard the pass.

• A veteran delivered Li Hongzhuang a report and family letter from her fifth brother, warning that demons were infiltrating Liang Prefecture and might launch coordinated attacks; Li Hao joked that they would meet the demons with a big pot.
• Li Hao and Song Qiumo hunted demons while he continued developing his grandmaster understanding, but they found that the nearby Three Immortalities demons had fled and the surrounding wilderness was growing quiet.
• Song Qiumo brought Li Hao the Chess Classic New Studies and two famous paintings, which gave him bonuses to Object Manipulation, water affinity, and a small chance of a fatal concealed attack.
• Song Qiumo told Li Hao that a grandmaster carrying another famous painting was headed to a gathering of grandmasters in Great Yue City, and Li Hongzhuang refused to travel there for him.
• Li Hao decided to go to Great Yue City with Ren Qianqian so she could receive Soul Inheritance, while Song Qiumo agreed to guard Heaven's Gate Pass and Li Hao asked where Little White Fox could receive its inheritance.

Li Hao and Ren Qianqian arrived in Great Yue City, where Li Hao learned he had been ranked fifth on the Heaven Dragon Rankings and brought Ren Qianqian to the Martial Temple for Soul Inheritance. Meanwhile, Li Wushuang and Song Yueyao arrived for the Grandmaster gathering, while a disguised demon prince prepared to infiltrate the city ahead of an attack.

• Li Hao promised the Little White Fox he would seek a way for her to inherit a Demon King’s soul, then left camp with Ren Qianqian while Old Feng and Li He followed secretly.
• Li Wushuang traveled to Great Yue City for the gathering and reflected on Li Hao’s fifth-place Heaven Dragon Ranking and Heaven and Man Realm cultivation.
• Song Yueyao and Lin Feifei arrived with their convoy, and Song Yueyao declined to visit Li Hao at Heaven’s Gate Pass until they were stronger.
• A Purple-Gold-Robed Youth and the Gray-Robed Elder approached Great Yue City, concealed their identities, and prepared to enter before coordinating an attack on the city.
• Li Hao and Ren Qianqian entered Great Yue City, where Li Hao heard people discussing his ranking and took Ren Qianqian to the Martial Temple.
• The temple keeper verified Ren Qianqian’s identity and admitted her to seek Soul Inheritance while Li Hao waited outside.

Li Hao left Ren Qianqian waiting at the Martial Temple and searched for Grandmaster Bai Chunhai, impressing a restaurant crowd by retrieving a jeweled dagger without disturbing its candle flame. Guided to Grandmaster Zhou Haitang, he declined an offer to become his disciple and revealed that he wanted to buy a painting from Bai Chunhai.

• Li Hao heard two temple attendants mock him, placed five stones on their Go board to reveal a new path, then asked an elderly attendant to tell Ren Qianqian to wait for him.
• At a restaurant, Li Hao overheard Zhou Ling'er and her companions discussing Bai Chunhai and agreed to retrieve a dagger in exchange for being shown where to find him.
• Li Hao completed the dagger challenge without making the candle flame sway, then handed the dagger to Zhou Ling'er.
• The young man led Li Hao and the others to the grandmasters' Martial Dao Platform, where they found their master, Zhou Haitang.
• Zhou Haitang offered to take Li Hao as his disciple, but Li Hao said he wanted to buy a painting from Bai Chunhai.

Li Hao declined Zhou Haitang’s offer of discipleship and returned to find Ren Qianqian had received Soul Inheritance from a four establishments realm Heroic Soul. While waiting for the Grandmaster Assembly, they attended a ranking contest, where Ren Qianqian defeated Zhou Ling'er and several other opponents before losing to a stronger fighter; the chapter ended as she asked Li Hao how he would have fared at her cultivation level.

• Li Hao asked Zhou Haitang to introduce him to Bai Chunhai so he could buy a painting, then left without accepting Zhou Haitang’s offer to become his disciple.
• Ren Qianqian told Li Hao that a four establishments realm Heroic Soul had chosen her for Soul Inheritance, and they decided to explore the city while awaiting the Grandmaster Assembly.
• Li Hao and Ren Qianqian attended a ranking contest, where Zhou Ling'er challenged Li Hao and Ren Qianqian took her place.
• Ren Qianqian defeated Zhou Ling'er with a single sword strike, then won four more bouts before losing to a woman at the eighth level of the soul succession realm.
• Ren Qianqian asked Li Hao how many moves he would need to win if he fought at the first level of the soul succession realm, and he began to answer.

Li Hao entered the Grandmaster Assembly with Ren Qianqian and Han Wu, where his identity as the fourteen-year-old grandmaster drew the attention of the gathered martial world. After reuniting with the White Hall disciples and meeting Li Wushuang, he left the Divine General Residence’s reputation behind him as she asked whether he was doing well.

• Li Hao told Ren Qianqian he could defeat even a newly entered spirit wandering realm cultivator in one move, then spent three days exploring the city while she sparred at the Soul Succession Platform.
• Li Hao gained Han Wu’s admiration, entered the Grandmaster Assembly by making the Dragon Pattern Drum resonate, and tried unsuccessfully to trade for Bai Chunhai’s famous painting.
• Zhou Haitang pointed Li Hao toward Bai Chunhai, while Zhou Ling'er remained resentful over Ren Qianqian’s earlier victory.
• Li Hao reunited with Shen Yunqing, Zhao Zongyuan, Su Yehua, Song Yueyao, Zhou Zheng, and the White Hall disciples at the gathering.
• The grandmasters learned Li Hao was the famed teenage grandmaster, and Zhou Haitang, Zhou Ling'er, and Xu Wan'er reacted with shock at his identity.
• Li Wushuang hurried over to Li Hao and asked if he was doing all right, while recognizing that the Divine General Residence had lost him rather than the other way around.

Li Hao attended the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s Dao Discussion Assembly and searched the grandmasters’ teachings for the common principle behind all things. When Qin Wuque provoked him over the Divine General Residence scandal, Li Hao answered with a single Go stone that overwhelmed and pinned him to the Martial Dao Platform.

• Li Wushuang warned Li Hao about the demons near Liang Prefecture and returned to her seat after their restrained farewell.
• Heaven's Mystery Mountain Man opened the assembly and announced its prizes, including a supreme art from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s scripture repository for the foremost grandmaster.
• Li Hao listened to several grandmasters debate their Daos and realized that a simple, perfected Dao could be more effective than pursuing ever greater complexity.
• Qin Wuque expounded the Anger Dao, then challenged Li Hao and mocked his conflict with his father, angering Li Wushuang and the gathering.
• Li Hao summoned his Heaven and Earth Dharma Form and struck Qin Wuque with a Go stone, crushing his divine palms and pinning him flat to the platform.

Li Hao pinned Qin Wuque with a stone and defeated a succession of Grandmasters who tried to help Boundless Mountain or claim its promised treasure. After Zhou Haitang also fell, Li Hao remained seated and untouched, while the gathered onlookers confronted the scale of his strength.

• Heaven's Mystery Mountain Man intervened to keep Li Hao from killing Qin Wuque, but Li Hao demanded that Qin Wuque concede and apologize himself.
• Three Boundless Mountain venerables attacked Li Hao in turn, and he injured or repelled all of them while keeping Qin Wuque pinned.
• The middle-aged Arhat offered a precious treasure to any Grandmaster who could defeat Li Hao, and challenger after challenger was knocked from the platform.
• Lin Qingfeng failed to reach the stone beneath Li Hao's finger and was hurled from the platform with his arms badly wounded.
• Zhou Haitang challenged Li Hao and was struck down by the vast Martial Dao intent, then reassured Zhou Ling'er that he was fine.