Chapter Summaries

Chen Fei and Chu Yushuang rushed to find Ji Ruiqing, but discovered that she was unreachable and Elder Su was away. Chen Fei rang Sinking Water Pavilion’s alarm bell, exposed Qu Yuexiu as tainted by a Chang-Strange, and captured the creature, while Ji Ruiqing and Elder Chen remained missing.

• Chu Yushuang led Chen Fei to the main peak, where neither Ji Ruiqing nor Elder Su could be found.
• Chen Fei asked where to ring the alarm bell, and Chu Yushuang pointed him toward Bell Mountain Peak.
• Chen Fei outmaneuvered Qu Yuexiu and rang the bronze bell to alert Sinking Water Pavilion.
• Qu Yuexiu attacked Chen Fei with a tainted Mind Skill, but Chen Fei broke through her defenses and knocked a Chang-Strange from her Sea of Consciousness.
• Chen Fei wounded and trapped the Chang-Strange with three Severing God Swords, then told Chu Yushuang to help locate Ji Ruiqing and Elder Chen.

Chen Fei and the Sinking Water Pavilion cultivators learned that the Chang-Stranges were gathered beneath Bitter Water Peak and rushed there to stop their scheme. After breaking into a hidden cavern, Chen Fei encountered the possessed Chen Xiangyu, who attacked him with a mind strike.

• Qu Yuexiu woke and told Chu Yushuang that Elder Chen and the sect master were at Bitter Water Peak.
• Chen Fei destroyed the Chang-Strange on Bell Mountain Peak, then entered Sinking Water Pavilion with Chi Shuqing and hurried toward Bitter Water Peak.
• Chen Fei used the Stargazing Art to find a concealed cave entrance, and the gathered Sinking Water Pavilion elders helped break its array formation.
• Chen Fei led the way through the cavern, leaving markings for the others as he followed the path deeper underground.
• Chen Xiangyu attacked Chen Fei with a sword intent aimed at his Sea of Consciousness.

Chen Fei destroyed the Chang-Strange possessing Chen Xiangyu, then confronted Ji Ruiqing, who was also possessed and wielded Late Aperture Refining Realm power. After Ji Ruiqing blasted apart Chen Fei’s body and attacked the Sinking Water Pavilion elders, Chen Fei reappeared behind her and struck the Chang-Strange out.

• Chen Fei shattered the Chang-Strange controlling Chen Xiangyu and cut it apart with the Severing God Sword.
• Chen Fei found Ji Ruiqing possessed by another Chang-Strange, while her own mind struggled against its control.
• Ji Ruiqing ordered the Sinking Water Pavilion members to kill Chen Fei, but he inferred that she was resisting the Chang-Strange and approached her.
• Ji Ruiqing unleashed sword essence that blasted Chen Fei’s body apart, then swept away the elders who charged to save her.
• Ji Ruiqing immobilized Chu Yushuang and other cultivators and swung her sword at them, but Chen Fei reappeared behind her and struck a black shadow out of her body.

Chen Fei saved Sinking Water Pavilion by helping Ji Ruiqing break free of the Chang-Strange, then hurried back toward the Yuan Chen Sword Sect. At Big Dipper Pavilion, Zhou Zixun discovered that a sacrifice had already destroyed the sect and feared the same fate might have befallen his own.

• Chen Fei’s true body arrived in time to strike the Chang-Strange from Ji Ruiqing, and Ji Ruiqing killed it with sword essence.
• Ji Ruiqing thanked Chen Fei for saving Sinking Water Pavilion, while Chen Fei declined her invitation to stay and set off for his sect.
• Zhou Zixun sensed danger at Big Dipper Pavilion and sent his Escaping Heavens Travel clone inside while he confronted Zhong Shizheng.
• Zhou Zixun’s clone saw that Big Dipper Pavilion’s disciples were dead or slaughtering one another as the elders powered a sacrificial formation with their bodies.
• Zhou Zixun retreated after his clone was destroyed, realizing the Chang-Strange had wiped out Big Dipper Pavilion and wondering whether the Yuan Chen Sword Sect would have suffered the same fate without Chen Fei.

Xilian True Person unleashed Chang-Strange that corrupted the sects and cities around Immortal Cloud City, while the strongest forces chose whether to intervene or stay out of the conflict. Chen Fei focused on cultivation after the disaster, opening three Apertures in ten days and beginning to sense resonance among them.

• Xilian True Person used Chang-Strange to corrupt forces that had sent people to Shangwu City, causing sects and cities across the Dynasty to suffer blood sacrifices.
• Tong Zhongqiu received Xilian True Person's warning, while Yu Shoucheng chose not to interfere and Jian Jinsheng briefly confronted Xilian True Person through a Chang-Strange.
• Big Dipper Pavilion was wiped out, while Yuan Chen Sword Sect and Sinking Water Pavilion escaped without losses and kept Chen Fei's role quiet.
• Chen Fei resumed intensive cultivation, opened three Apertures in ten days, and reached seventy-one Apertures.
• Chen Fei began sensing resonance among his Apertures, surprising Chi Shuqing with the speed of his progress.

Chen Fei visited Immortal Cloud City as he approached a breakthrough to the Late Aperture Refining Realm, while the Chang-Strange calamity deepened residents’ fears. At Endless Sea Pavilion, he encountered Yu Shijin, who challenged him to exchange moves.

• Chi Shuqing recognized signs that Chen Fei was nearing the Late Aperture Refining Realm and fainted after trying to outlast him during their cultivation together.
• Chen Fei visited Chi Defeng and reassured him about the danger facing Immortal Cloud City.
• Chen Fei returned several Heart Strange Stones to Si Yuanhai, but Si Yuanhai refused to accept them.
• Chen Fei went to Endless Sea Pavilion to buy cultivation pills for his planned breakthrough.
• Yu Shijin recognized Chen Fei at the pavilion and challenged him to exchange moves.

Chen Fei declined Yu Shijin’s challenge, then returned to the Yuan Chen Sword Sect and broke through to the Late Aperture Refining Realm. He continued absorbing pills and Primordial Qi, pushing his cultivation onward.

• Yu Shijin challenged Chen Fei at Endless Sea Pavilion, but Chen Fei politely refused and bought the pills he needed.
• Chen Fei encountered Yu Shijin and several Yu Family members on the road, and they dismissed Chen Fei and the Yuan Chen Sword Sect as having limited potential.
• Chen Fei returned to the sect, prepared pills and Primordial Stones in his secret chamber, and began cultivating with his clone standing guard.
• Chen Fei opened his seventy-second aperture and linked all seventy-two apertures, reaching the Late Aperture Refining Realm.
• Chen Fei consumed more pills as Primordial Qi from several li around him surged into his body.

Chen Fei broke through to the Late Aperture Refining Realm and used the resulting spiritual inspiration to advance several techniques. He emerged with eighty-two Apertures and Chi Shuqing witnessed the astonishing speed of his breakthrough.

• Chen Fei absorbed pills and Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, filling his seventy-second Aperture and opening the seventy-third as he broke through.
• Chen Fei used his Sudden Enlightenment to raise the Great Thunderclap Sword to the Great Perfection Realm and the Stargazing Art to the Great Perfection Realm, then began comprehending the Thousand Thread Art before the inspiration ended.
• Chen Fei finished with eighty-two Apertures and mind and spirit capable of controlling eighty-three Apertures, surpassing the Heavy Yuan Sword's limit.
• Chi Shuqing entered the Secret Chamber and realized Chen Fei had already broken through to the Late Aperture Refining Realm.

Chen Fei broke through to the Late Aperture Refining Realm, obtained the ninth level of the Thousand Thread Art, and advanced his Mind Power by hunting a second-rank heart strange. After sensing a hostile presence in the Heart Strange Realm, he returned to the Yuan Chen Sword Sect and announced that he would reclaim its inheritance from Sword Return Pavilion.

• Chen Fei broke through to the Late Aperture Refining Realm and demonstrated his mastery of the Great Thunderclap Sword to Chi Shuqing.
• Chen Fei visited the Pill Refiner Alliance to exchange for the ninth level of the Thousand Thread Art, and Alliance Leader Wei Xingshan gave him guidance.
• Chen Fei raised his Mind Power until first-rank heart stranges no longer helped, then absorbed a second-rank heart strange's source essence and felt hostility closing in on him.
• Chen Fei avoided the Heart Strange Realm for more than ten days, then told Qu Qingsheng that he intended to reclaim the Yuan Chen Sword Sect's inheritance from Sword Return Pavilion.
• Qu Qingsheng watched Chen Fei's Aura rise from the Initial Aperture Refining Realm through the Mid Aperture Refining Realm to the Late Aperture Refining Realm.

Chen Fei revealed that he had reached the Late Aperture Refining Realm and demonstrated his mastery of four Yuan Chen Sword Canon techniques, convincing Qu Qingsheng that he could face Sword Return Pavilion alone. After resting and exchanging his remaining Primordial Stones for a few pills, Chen Fei prepared to continue his journey.

• Qu Qingsheng worried that attacking Sword Return Pavilion would endanger the Yuan Chen Sword Sect’s Late Aperture Refining Realm cultivators and refused to let Chen Fei go alone.
• Chen Fei demonstrated that he had mastered and fused the Heavy Yuan Sword, Giant Strength Sword, Escaping Heavens Travel, and Great Thunderclap Sword into the Yuan Chen Sword Canon.
• Qu Qingsheng recognized that Chen Fei could defeat most Late Aperture Refining Realm cultivators and agreed that he could go to Sword Return Pavilion alone, while warning him to be careful.
• Chen Fei rested for two days at the Yuan Chen Sword Sect and exchanged his remaining Primordial Stones for a few pills, leaving him with little to support further cultivation.

Chen Fei discovered that refining Tier 2 Mind Wraith Sources intensified the Heart Strange Realm’s hostility toward him, making continued cultivation there dangerous. He left to test a way to handle the source and arrived outside Sword Return Pavilion, preparing to attack its main peak.

• Chen Fei left the Yuan Chen Sword Sect and entered the Heart Strange Realm more than a thousand li away to investigate the hostility he had sensed.
• Chen Fei concluded that the Heart Strange Realm itself might be hostile to him after he refined a second-rank mind wraith, and he found that killing one did not worsen the hostility unless he refined its source.
• Chen Fei refined another Tier 2 Mind Wraith Source inside a fourfold Heart Refining Formation and confirmed that doing so multiplied the Heart Strange Realm’s hostility toward him.
• Chen Fei left the Heart Strange Realm and headed toward West Cloud City, considering how to use the Thousand Thread Art to bring Mind Wraith Sources into reality.
• Chen Fei reached a mountain outside Sword Return Pavilion, nocked a refined-iron arrow, and began charging it with thunder as he aimed at the pavilion’s main peak.

Chen Fei gathered immense power into an arrow and fired it at Sword Return Pavilion from several li away. The arrow struck the sect’s main peak as its defenders raised their formation, leaving the damage unclear.

• Chen Fei used the Great Thunderclap Sword and Thousand Thread Art to charge a bow and arrow with power beyond his usual limits.
• Sui Wengong and Xing Xin Zhao sensed a growing threat and activated Sword Return Pavilion’s formation.
• Xing Xin Zhao linked the elders’ Sword Return Eyes, revealing that the distant attacker wielded Peak Aperture Refining Realm power.
• Sui Wengong gathered the sect’s strength through the formation as Chen Fei aimed at the main peak.
• Chen Fei released the arrow, which crossed several li and struck Sword Return Pavilion’s main peak in a burst of light and force.

Chen Fei attacked Sword Return Pavilion with devastating charged arrows, forcing its elders to leave their formation and destroying the sect’s Guardian Formation. As Sui Wengong and Xing Xin Zhao closed in, Chen Fei began fighting them with ordinary arrows.

• Sui Wengong and Xing Xin Zhao realized Chen Fei was attacking from afar and led Sword Return Pavilion’s elders out to stop him.
• Chen Fei fired another charged arrow at Sword Return Pavilion’s main peak, shattering the Guardian Formation and killing Yuan Nanyun.
• Sword Return Pavilion’s disciples fled as the arrow tore through the main peak, while Sui Wengong and Xing Xin Zhao found Chen Fei alone nearby.
• Chen Fei used a fresh Fine Iron Longbow to shoot down one of the pursuing elders, blowing him apart in midair.

Chen Fei killed more Sword Return Pavilion cultivators with his electromagnetic arrows, then used his movement technique to outflank the group as Sui Wengong intercepted him. Sui Wengong trapped Chen Fei with the Town Yuan Mirror while Xing Xin Zhao's mental attack backfired, leaving Chen Fei's fate unresolved.

• Chen Fei shot Fan Zeguang dead after Fan Zeguang failed to evade his arrow.
• Sui Wengong blocked Chen Fei's arrows as Sword Return Pavilion's cultivators charged, but Chen Fei used an explosive movement technique to reach their flank.
• Chen Fei targeted He Yunrui, and Sui Wengong rushed over to intercept the arrow and protect him.
• Xing Xin Zhao attacked Chen Fei's Sea of Consciousness while Sui Wengong used the Town Yuan Mirror to pin Chen Fei in place.
• Xing Xin Zhao spat blood when his mental attack failed to affect Chen Fei.

Chen Fei overcame the Town Yuan Mirror’s suppression and killed Sui Wengong and Xing Xin Zhao, then hunted down the fleeing Sword Return Pavilion elders. He entered Sword Return Pavilion’s Main Hall after finding Yuan Nanyun dead, with the sect in chaos.

• Sui Wengong led the Sword Return Pavilion elders in an array assault while the Town Yuan Mirror tried to restrain Chen Fei.
• Chen Fei unleashed the Qian Yuan Sword’s power, broke through the mirror’s restraint, and killed Sui Wengong with one strike.
• Xing Xin Zhao burned his Essence, Qi, and Spirit to attack Chen Fei, but Chen Fei killed him with a sweeping sword strike.
• Chen Fei used his Fine Iron Longbow to kill the fleeing elders, then sent his avatar to collect their belongings.
• Chen Fei took the Town Yuan Mirror and entered Sword Return Pavilion, where he found Yuan Nanyun dead and stepped into the Main Hall.

Chen Fei searched Sword Return Pavilion’s Secret Chamber after destroying its defenders and found only modest supplies, including medicinal liquid that had been used to heal Xing Xin Zhao. He took the remaining resources for the Yuan Chen Sword Sect and examined an ordinary-looking meditation cushion before leaving.

• Chen Fei sent a clone to find Sword Return Pavilion’s True Inheritance Disciples who had practiced the Yuan Chen Technique while he entered the Main Hall.
• Chen Fei pushed aside the Cyan Steel Stone blocking the Secret Chamber and found its destructive array had never been activated.
• Chen Fei identified the medicinal liquid in the chamber as a powerful treatment for Apertures that Sword Return Pavilion had used to stabilize Xing Xin Zhao’s injuries.
• Chen Fei found fewer than three hundred Primordial Stones and little else, then decided to bring the remaining medicinal liquid back to the Yuan Chen Sword Sect.
• Chen Fei considered the value of the Town Yuan Mirror and the spiritual essence empowering the Qian Yuan Sword, then stored the chamber’s supplies in the Space Grid.
• Chen Fei inspected the ordinary-looking meditation cushion with the Stargazing Art but found no abnormality.

Chen Fei found that an unusual cattail mat helped him calm his mind and develop insights while cultivating, then plundered Sword Return Pavilion’s techniques and treasures. After studying its three inheritances, he discovered the Sword Return Eye, which could trace past visitors and potentially draw out their Auras.

• Chen Fei sat on the cattail mat in Sword Return Pavilion’s Secret Chamber and found that it calmed his thoughts while helping him comprehend the Slaughtering Edge Sword.
• Chen Fei stored the mat, took Sword Return Pavilion’s three Inheritance Stones, and sent his avatar to search the Scripture Pavilion and Treasure Pavilion.
• Chen Fei left Sword Return Pavilion without killing its ordinary disciples, and the sect erupted into chaos when its elders failed to return.
• Chen Fei read the Mind Techniques he had taken but found little substantial help in them.
• Chen Fei studied Sword Return Pavilion’s Movement Technique and main cultivation technique, finding little he needed in either.
• Chen Fei examined the final Inheritance Stone and discovered Sword Return Eye, which could trace someone who had passed by and might even draw out an Aura from the past.

Chen Fei simplified the Sword Return Eye into drawing visualization diagrams and rapidly advanced his mastery of it. He planned to travel to the imperial city to sell the Town Yuan Mirror and continued cultivating, leaving the technique close to Great Perfection.

• Chen Fei spent forty Primordial Stones to simplify the Sword Return Eye into drawing visualization diagrams, then destroyed the three Inheritance Stones he had recorded.
• Chen Fei decided to head to the imperial city rather than Black City Market so he could find a suitable buyer for the High-Grade Town Yuan Mirror.
• Chen Fei refined medicinal pills and cultivated his techniques as his Late Aperture Refining Realm cultivation continued to advance.
• Chen Fei drew nearly two hundred visualization diagrams at once and absorbed their Sword Return Eye insights, adapting to the influx of comprehension.
• Chen Fei cultivated Sword Return Eye through the night, reaching the Proficient Realm and estimating he could attain Great Perfection in fewer than ten days.

Chen Fei discovered that the Space Grid could be opened inside the Heart Strange Realm and used it to remove a Mind Wraith Source without worsening the realm’s hostility toward him. He returned to reality with the Source stored safely and began refining it in a Heart Refining Formation.

• Chen Fei realized that the wooden cabinet stored in the Space Grid had prevented him from opening it inside the Heart Strange Realm.
• Chen Fei entered the Heart Strange Realm, opened the Space Grid, and sensed a distant third-tier mind wraith reacting to the realm’s hostility toward him.
• Chen Fei found a second-tier mind wraith hiding in a puddle and fought it despite its ability to reflect his attacks.
• Chen Fei slew the mind wraith with dozens of Severing God Swords and stored its Source in the Space Grid.
• Chen Fei returned to reality and placed the Mind Wraith Source in a quadruple Heart Refining Formation.

Chen Fei purified Mind Wraith Source and absorbed it, then traveled to the imperial city in disguise. After arriving, he asked an inn assistant about the Origin Spirit Tide and Tianyang True Person.

• Chen Fei used the Heart Refining Formation to purify Mind Wraith Source, but found that neither Spirit Grass nor pills reacted with it.
• Chen Fei absorbed the source and began a gradual improvement in his mind that would take two or three days to finish.
• Chen Fei traveled toward the imperial city, avoiding other Aperture Refining Realm martial artists along the way.
• Before entering the city, Chen Fei changed his appearance and concealed his Late Aperture Refining Realm cultivation as Mid Aperture Refining Realm.
• Chen Fei entered the imperial city, stayed at an inn, and asked the shop assistant about the Origin Spirit Tide and Tianyang True Person.