Chapter Summaries

Ye Zhen escaped Yu Ruhai’s ambush as Spirit Sword Burial Mountain erupted, unleashing countless broken swords and sword qi. Yu Ruhai rushed toward a purple sword light rising from the mountain, convinced it matched a legend left by Sword Origin Sect’s founding ancestor.

• Ye Zhen flew from Spirit Sword Burial Mountain as the mountain began to shake and split apart, releasing immense sword qi.
• Yu Ruhai and other Sword Origin Sect experts pursued Ye Zhen, but Ye Zhen struck Yu Ruhai with two Soul Shocking Heavenly Lightnings and escaped south on Cloud Winged Tiger King Xiao Mao.
• After Ye Zhen left the mountain’s range, a pulse shook the Sword Origin Sect elders and their Sword Origin Banner, and Ye Zhen turned back after understanding its meaning.
• Spirit Sword Burial Mountain burst apart, sending tens of thousands of broken swords and hundreds of thousands of sword qis into the surrounding area, killing many Sword Origin Sect members.
• Yu Ruhai tried to protect the sect members with the Sword Origin Banner, then pursued the purple sword light rising from the mountain and reached it within three breaths.

Ye Zhen escaped after the Purple Sword Light answered his summons, pierced Yu Ruhai, and entered Ye Zhen’s First Sword Meridian. Seeing the Sword Origin Sect crippled, Ye Zhen realized the disaster created a rare opportunity for an eastern campaign and wondered whether anyone would believe him.

• Yu Ruhai used his sword-path fluctuation to draw the Purple Sword Light close, but Ye Zhen recognized it and summoned it to him.
• The Purple Sword Light pierced Yu Ruhai’s chest and entered Ye Zhen’s First Sword Meridian, while the surviving Sword Origin Sect elders rushed to attack Ye Zhen.
• Ye Zhen escaped on Cloud Winged Tiger King Xiao Mao as the Purple Sword Light fell silent inside him; Yu Ruhai survived but was gravely wounded.
• The returning elders found the Spirit Sword Burial Mountain surrounded by corpses, and Wu Hao blamed Kong Shan for the sect’s losses until Kong Shan fainted.
• As Ye Zhen flew away, he realized the Sword Origin Sect’s weakened state created a rare opportunity for an eastern campaign.

Ye Zhen returned to the Eastern Expeditionary Army camp and reported that the Sword Origin Sect had suffered devastating losses, but Gu Zhaoge dismissed his intelligence and rejected his call to attack early. Ye Zhen left with the Left Route Army to prepare for the expedition, while Gu Zhaoge remained convinced he was bluffing.

• During a strategy meeting, Gu Zhaoge demanded that Zhou Zhen guarantee Ye Zhen's return, but Zhou Zhen defended the Left Route Army's independent command authority.
• Ye Zhen arrived at the staff tent and proposed launching a full-scale offensive the next day instead of waiting ten days.
• Ye Zhen reported that Spirit Sword Burial Mountain's eruption had killed most of the Sword Origin Sect's powerful fighters and gravely wounded its Sect Leader, Yu Ruhai.
• Gu Zhaoge accused Ye Zhen of fabricating the intelligence, and the two men exchanged angry threats.
• Ye Zhen left with the Left Route Army generals to prepare for the expedition, while Gu Zhaoge dismissed his warning as a bluff.

Ye Zhen led the Left Route Army toward Great Leaf City while entrusting Duke Ming Zhou Zhen with full command, and he continued communicating with the mysterious sword spirit he named Zi Ling. After the army reached the city, Ye Zhen and the Qi Yun Sect elders swiftly killed its commanders, and Great Leaf City fell.

• Ye Zhen told Duke Ming Zhou Zhen to prepare the Left Route Army to march and gave him authority to direct the campaign and deploy the marshal's sword.
• Duke Ming Zhou Zhen organized the army, which set out at first light for Great Leaf City, while Grand Marshal Gu Zhaoge decided to wait two days for intelligence from Spirit Sword Burial Mountain.
• As he traveled with the army, Ye Zhen communicated with the Purple Sword Light, which accepted the name Zi Ling, and considered how to learn more about its origins.
• The Left Route Army reached Great Leaf City on the third day of the ninth month and began its assault after resting overnight.
• Ye Zhen, Zhong Li Jing, and Wen Guang quickly defeated the city's guards, and Ye Zhen killed the military commander with Soul Shocking Heavenly Lightning.
• The deputy commander was killed, and after thirty thousand Vanguard Army soldiers attacked, Great Leaf City fell within a quarter-hour.

Gu Zhaoge’s Eastern Expeditionary Army stalled at Beichang Army Town and formally asked Ye Zhen for help. Ye Zhen arrived with the Battle Soul Blood Banner, led the renewed assault, and confronted Sword Origin Sect elder Kong Shan.

• Gu Zhaoge learned that Ye Zhen’s Left Route Army had taken Daye Army City without using the Battle Soul Blood Banner, while Spirit Sword Burial Mountain had been devastated and the Sword Origin Sect weakened.
• The Eastern Expeditionary Army attacked Beichang Army Town but suffered heavy casualties against its defenders, reinforcements, and Spirit Breaking Crossbow Cannons.
• Gu Zhaoge sent Talisman Signals asking Ye Zhen to bring the Battle Soul Blood Banner and help the main force.
• Ye Zhen arrived before sunrise, agreed to attack, and offered to face the Sword Origin Sect elder at Beichang Army Town.
• Ye Zhen released the Battle Soul Blood Banner to empower the siege troops, then charged toward Kong Shan when the elder challenged him.

Ye Zhen defeated Kong Shan with his newly formed Clear Heart Sword Intent, then helped Black Water Country’s forces rout the Sword Origin Empire’s troops at Beichang Army Town. As the battle ended, Ye Zhen was left bewildered by how powerful the Heart Sword had proved to be.

• Kong Shan blocked Ye Zhen’s Soul Shocking Heavenly Lightning and attacked with the White Tiger Sword Formation, but Ye Zhen broke it with Floating Cloud Finger.
• Ye Zhen used Heart Sword to destroy Kong Shan’s sword and wound him, then exploded the Crimson Jade Seal and killed him with a second Heart Sword strike.
• Ye Zhen challenged the defenders, and his forces advanced on Beichang Army Town as its martial artists and soldiers lost morale.
• Ye Zhen’s forces stormed the town’s walls, killed its commander, and sent the Sword Origin Empire’s troops into a rout.
• Ye Zhen watched the battle from Xiao Mao and wondered why his Clear Heart Sword Intent was so powerful.

Ye Zhen’s Heart Sword revealed a connection to Zi Ling as he aided the Black Water Country’s advance against the Sword Origin Empire. After the Sword Origin Empire’s main force collapsed, Ye Zhen discovered Black Water Country soldiers killing civilians for military merit and executed their commander, ordering the troops to stop.

• Ye Zhen realized Zi Ling’s trembling transformed the Heart Sword’s power and received Gu Zhaoge’s signal requesting help for the Eastern Expeditionary Army.
• The Sword Origin Empire issued a Blood Conscription Edict, but Ye Zhen repeatedly reinforced Black Water Country armies with the Battle Soul Blood Banner as its stored power dwindled.
• Three months later, the Sword Origin Empire’s main force suffered a decisive defeat after Guo Qijing, Chu Taiping, and Liao Feibai drove off its Pulse Forging Realm Imperial Court Consecrate.
• Ye Zhen inspected a county town and found Black Water Country soldiers slaughtering civilians to claim military merit.
• When the dark-faced general refused Ye Zhen’s order to stop, Ye Zhen killed him and warned the soldiers to halt or suffer the same fate.

Ye Zhen enforced discipline in the Eastern Expeditionary Army and later persuaded its commanders not to destroy the weakened Sword Origin Empire, warning that the Ancient An Empire and Illusory God Empire would intervene. After a major battle at Yi Mountain, Black Water Country and the Sword Origin Empire made peace, while the army began fortifying its new frontier and awarding military merit.

• Ye Zhen rebuked Deputy Marshal Sheng Zirong for defending Ma Dabao’s abuses, and Grand Marshal Gu Zhaoge backed strict discipline with the Thirty-Seven Kill Order.
• Over the next eight months, the Eastern Expeditionary Army advanced nearly seventy thousand li and conquered nearly half of the Sword Origin Empire’s territory before taking Yi Mountain’s three passes at heavy cost.
• At a military conference, Staff Officer Wang Ji urged the army to finish conquering the Sword Origin Empire, but Ye Zhen warned that the Ancient An Empire and Illusory God Empire were preparing to intervene.
• Ye Zhen urged the commanders to hold Yi Mountain, negotiate peace, and preserve the Sword Origin Empire as a buffer while Black Water Country strengthened itself.
• Guo Qijing and Liao Feibai fought Yu Ruhai and Huang Jing above Yi Mountain for a day and a night, and the Sword Origin Empire and Black Water Country formally made peace the next day.
• Chu Taiping announced his breakthrough to the Pulse Forging Realm as Black Water Country fortified Yi Mountain and began tallying and awarding military merit.

After the Eastern Expedition, Ye Zhen declined the Empire’s grandest rewards and arranged honors and protection for his family, then represented the Qi Yun Sect at Chu Taiping’s Pulse Forging celebration. The ceremony was interrupted when Little Yue Meng presented Chu Taiping with a challenge, a life-and-death contract, and a coffin.

• The Empire rewarded the Eastern Expedition’s officers, promoting Ye Zhen to hereditary Duke Wu in absentia and granting Zhou Zhen, Liu Hu, and Chu He’s family honors.
• Ye Zhen asked Guo Qijing to establish a martial dojo in Jincheng County with a Soul Sea Realm expert stationed there to protect his parents, and Guo Qijing agreed.
• Guo Qijing sent Ye Zhen and Zhong Li Jing to represent the Qi Yun Sect at Chu Taiping’s Pulse Forging celebration.
• Chu Jun welcomed Ye Zhen and Zhong Li Jing, though Ye Zhen’s status and reputation eclipsed his own.
• As Ye Zhen listened to the congratulations, Little Yue Meng presented Chu Taiping with a letter of challenge, a life-and-death contract, and a coffin.

Little Yue Meng challenged Li Shui Sect at Chu Taiping’s congratulations banquet, but Ye Zhen arranged for the challenge to be accepted without sparking an immediate conflict. After the banquet, Li Shui Sect offered compensation and sought a peaceful settlement, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• Little Yue Meng arrived with a coffin, a challenge letter, and a life-and-death pledge, prompting Li Yu to attack her until Instructor Liao Feibai appeared and stopped him.
• Chu Taiping recognized Instructor Liao Feibai as the Profound Ice Fairy and hesitated to confront her and Ye Zhen.
• Ye Zhen persuaded Li Yu to accept Little Yue Meng’s challenge letter and told her to congratulate Chu Taiping before the challenge was addressed after the banquet.
• Chu Jun agreed to accept the challenge but said he would also consider making peace, while Li Yu relayed Chu Taiping’s preference for reconciliation.
• After the banquet, Ye Zhen asked Chu Taiping about the challenge letter, and Li Shi offered Miss Meng compensation and proposed settling the matter peacefully.

Little Yue Meng demanded a life-and-death duel with Chu Jun to avenge her family, and the confrontation nearly ignited a clash between the Qi Yun Sect and Li Shui Sect. After both sides agreed to accept the duel’s outcome without retaliation, Little Yue Meng and Chu Jun prepared to fight.

• Little Yue Meng rejected Li Shi’s offer of compensation and condemned Chu Jun for his role in the Meng Family’s suffering.
• Chu Jun entered the hall and challenged Little Yue Meng, who drew her sword and revealed a profound man-and-sword-as-one state.
• Li Shi stepped between the two as the sect elders, Instructor Liao Feibai, Chu Taiping, and Ye Zhen readied themselves for a possible battle.
• Chu Taiping reconsidered after seeing Ye Zhen’s Soul Shocking Heavenly Lightning, and Li Shi proposed a written agreement accepting either duelist’s death without further retaliation.
• Instructor Liao Feibai and Chu Taiping accepted the terms, but Little Yue Meng refused to withdraw, and she and Chu Jun readied their swords.

Little Yue Meng defeated Chu Jun with a Heart Sword that destroyed his dantian, fulfilling her revenge without killing him. Ye Zhen and his companions left Li Shui Sect after warning Chu Taiping, who ultimately let them go.

• Chu Jun attacked Little Yue Meng with his Five Viscera Spiritual Fire, but she shattered the flames with Ice Sword Lights.
• Little Yue Meng concealed a Heart Sword among her attacks and pierced Chu Jun’s dantian, crippling him and destroying his cultivation.
• Little Yue Meng told Chu Jun to endure the hardships of mortal life as punishment for killing her grandmother.
• Chu Taiping prepared to attack, but Instructor Liao Feibai blocked him while Little Yue Meng challenged him to honor their agreement.
• Ye Zhen warned Chu Taiping that his actions had brought about Chu Jun’s downfall, then left Li Shui Sect with Little Yue Meng, Instructor Liao Feibai, and Zhong Li Jing.
• Chu Taiping let his Li Shui Divine Sword disperse as Chu Jun collapsed in despair.

Ye Zhen stayed at the Qi Yun Sect, helped arrange the Jincheng Martial Dojo’s leadership, and gave the sect a powerful Heavenly Spirit Boat. After a year stalled at the late fourth level of the Spirit Transformation Realm, he finally broke through to the fifth level on Fairy Maiden Peak.

• Ye Zhen agreed to remain at the sect while tensions with the Li Shui Sect and the Sword Origin Empire kept the Qi Yun Sect on alert.
• Guo Qijing appointed Zhong Li Jing to guard the Jincheng Martial Dojo for five years, and Ye Zhen approved the plan to support and protect the Ye Family there.
• Ye Zhen gave Guo Qijing the General-class Heavenly Spirit Boat from the Tiannan Hua Family, and Guo Qijing revealed that the Great Elder was close to reaching the Pulse Forging Realm.
• Hai Luoshuang invited Ye Zhen to Starfall City, but he postponed the visit so he could focus on cultivation and attend a grand event two months later.
• Ye Zhen broke through the bottleneck on Fairy Maiden Peak and reached the fifth level of the Spirit Transformation Realm, beginning to advance his Crimson Jade Battle Body toward perfection.

Ye Zhen visited Hai Luoshuang in Starfall City and agreed to represent the Black Dragon Domain’s Myriad Stars Tower in a future young expert selection competition. After learning how far the Black Dragon Domain lagged behind other domains, he resolved to draw on the Mirage Dragon Pearl’s power, then asked Hai Luoshuang why a pill he needed remained out of stock.

• Ye Zhen traveled to Starfall City before the Five Nations Grand Assembly and waited three days to meet Hai Luoshuang, who had been in seclusion.
• Hai Luoshuang asked Ye Zhen to represent the Black Dragon Domain’s Myriad Stars Tower in a selection competition that the main tower might hold in two or three years, and Ye Zhen agreed.
• Hai Luoshuang explained that the competition would include Pulse Forging Realm experts and warned Ye Zhen that the Black Dragon Domain had far fewer resources than other domains.
• Ye Zhen dismissed his doubts about the power gap and decided he could use the Mirage Dragon Pearl to turn the power of King-level Monster Beasts to his advantage.
• Ye Zhen asked Hai Luoshuang why the Talent Bloodline Augmentation Pill had been out of stock on the Myriad Stars Plate for two years, and she responded with a bitter smile.

Ye Zhen learned that his green Myriad Stars Plate sharply limited his access to rare Purple Spirit Jade, leaving him with no easy way to cultivate the Purple Jade Spirit Seed. He then arrived at Demon Soul Mountain as the Demon Soul Battlefield prepared to open, where the rival nations had assembled for the Four Nations Grand Assembly and the struggle for the Battle Soul Blood Banner.

• Hai Luoshuang explained that the Talent Bloodline Augmentation Pill was listed to attract members to Myriad Stars Tower, but access to it depended on a higher-ranked Myriad Stars Plate.
• Ye Zhen tried to exchange for five hundred pieces of Purple Spirit Jade, but Hai Luoshuang told him his green plate allowed only ten pieces per exchange and two exchanges per year.
• Ye Zhen asked how to raise his plate's rank, and Hai Luoshuang said he might improve it through the main tower's selection competition, while the Black Dragon Domain branch lacked authority to raise ranks.
• Ye Zhen rode Cloud Winged Tiger King Xiao Mao to Demon Soul Mountain five years after his previous visit, as the Demon Soul Battlefield neared opening and no Black Water Empire martial artists had arrived.
• Shen Yi and the Sword Origin Empire contingent prepared to claim the Battle Soul Blood Banner, while Gu An Kingdom, the Illusory God Empire, and the Southern Barbarian Tribe also fielded forces seeking it.
• Ye Zhen surveyed the Southern Barbarian Tribe's twelve martial artists and more than fifty Monster Beasts, then sent Xiao Mao diving toward the mountainside.

Ye Zhen arrived alone at the Five Nations Grand Assembly, where Cloud Winged Tiger King Xiao Mao cowed the Southern Barbarian Tribe’s Demonic Servants. Ye Zhen declared that the Battle Soul Blood Banner belonged to the Black Water Empire, forbade the Central Plains nations from entering the Demon Soul Battlefield, and left the assembled elders questioning his intentions as Wu Wei urged them to attack him.

• Ye Zhen arrived at Demon Soul Mountain alone, and the Southern Barbarian martial artists reacted with fury over their fallen elites.
• Cloud Winged Tiger King Xiao Mao silenced and terrified the Southern Barbarian Tribe’s Demonic Servants, astonishing the assembled martial artists and elders.
• Ye Zhen displayed the Battle Soul Blood Banner and announced that the Five Nations Grand Assembly would end and the banner would belong to the Black Water Empire.
• After the elders protested, Ye Zhen said he had only notified them and warned the Central Plains martial artists not to enter the Demon Soul Battlefield.
• Wu Wei urged the assembled martial artists to attack Ye Zhen and seize the Battle Soul Blood Banner.

Ye Zhen crushed the Southern Barbarian Tribe’s attempt to seize the Battle Soul Blood Banner, killing Elders Ye Wang and Jida with lightning and the Crimson Jade Seal. He spared Wu Wei to carry a warning back to the tribe, then had Xiao Mao slaughter their Monster Beasts as the other nations watched.

• Wu Wei called on the other nations to join the Southern Barbarian Tribe in attacking Ye Zhen, but they did not respond, and Xiao Mao killed a Lightning Leopard whose owner had threatened Ye Zhen.
• Ye Zhen killed Elder Ye Wang with Soul Shocking Heavenly Lightning, while Xiao Mao slaughtered Ye Wang’s Demonic Servants.
• Elder Jida sent his Monster Beasts after Ye Zhen, who crippled him with the Crimson Jade Seal before killing him with a sword strike; Xiao Mao devoured the beasts.
• Ye Zhen spared Wu Wei and ordered him to warn the Southern Barbarian Tribe that he would retaliate against any incursions into the Black Water Empire.
• Xiao Mao continued killing the Southern Barbarian Tribe’s Monster Beasts while Wu Wei and the other martial artists stood frozen in fear.

Ye Zhen drove the Southern Barbarian Tribe and the other nations’ forces away from Demon Soul Mountain, then entered the Demon Soul Battlefield Secret Realm to claim the Demon Soul Hall. As Ye Zhen disappeared through the vortex gate, Shen Yi sent an urgent message to the Sword Origin Empire, hoping its sect leader would confront him when he emerged.

• Ye Zhen and Cloud Winged Tiger King Xiao Mao slaughtered the Southern Barbarian Tribe’s Monster Beasts, forcing Wu Wei and the surviving Spirit Users to flee.
• Ye Zhen pressured the three nations’ guard elders, and Xie Lu announced that the Illusory God Empire was withdrawing from the Five Nations Grand Assembly.
• Huo Changdong withdrew Gu An Kingdom’s forces, and Shen Yi reluctantly withdrew the Sword Origin Empire’s forces after Ye Zhen locked onto him with his aura.
• Ye Zhen let the delegations depart, then waited as a bloody vortex gate formed atop Demon Soul Mountain.
• The Battle Soul Blood Banner wrapped Ye Zhen and carried him through the gate into the Demon Soul Battlefield Secret Realm.
• Shen Yi sent an urgent message to the Sword Origin Empire, hoping its sect leader would confront Ye Zhen when he came out.

Ye Zhen entered the Demon Soul Hall with the Battle Soul Blood Banner and searched its shifting rooms for the Cardinal Hall, the fortress’s control center. After leaving his Soul Imprint there, he gained control of the Demon Soul Hall, but a massive surge of bloody radiance gathered outside and formed a terrifying vortex.

• Ye Zhen found the Demon Soul Battlefield empty of Demon Soul Soldiers and used the Battle Soul Blood Banner to open the Demon Soul Hall.
• Ye Zhen searched the interconnected rooms for the Cardinal Hall, hoping to find it before it shifted to a new location.
• After hours of searching, Ye Zhen entered the Cardinal Hall and used the Battle Soul Blood Banner to leave his Soul Imprint on its control platform.
• Ye Zhen gained awareness of all 1,608 rooms and the Demon Soul Hall’s formations and passages.
• Bloody radiance rushed from the platform and the surrounding battlefield toward the Demon Soul Hall, forming a huge vortex that stunned Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen escaped the shrinking Demon Soul Hall only to be swallowed by a blood-colored vortex that consumed the Demon Soul Battlefield and vanished. Days later, Qingyang Palace fighters besieged Luo Yingzi in the Gloomy Secret Realm as they prepared to pursue an object behind a blood-red barrier, but a sudden appearance in the sky startled them.

• Ye Zhen activated the Demon Soul Hall’s Lesser Teleportation Array and was pulled into the blood-colored vortex, which swallowed the Demon Soul Hall and the Demon Soul Battlefield before disappearing.
• An Old Turtle surfaced in the Endless Dead Sea, sensed that events had become complicated, and returned beneath the waves.
• Demon Soul Mountain collapsed, and Yu Ruhai later arrived to find its ruins and realized the Sword Origin Sect and Sword Origin Empire had lost the Battle Soul Blood Banner’s aid.
• News spread that Ye Zhen had destroyed the Demon Soul Battlefield, one of the Black Dragon Domain’s public Secret Realms.
• In the Gloomy Secret Realm, Qingyang Palace disciples led by Wei Lianchuan and Sha Congqian besieged Luo Yingzi while preparing to enter through a gate and seek an object behind a blood-red barrier.
• A blood-colored light appeared overhead with the sound of thunder, and Wei Lianchuan’s expression changed as he looked up.