Chapter Summaries

After a year of cultivation, Xie Yuan reviewed his growing strength and learned that he and Lin Cheng would join Lin Zhen and Pei Yu on a trial beyond the mountain. Meanwhile, Lu Lao San planned to exploit an approaching opening in the Western Desert, with Su Xing still investigating him.

• Xie Yuan reflected on the year since his awakening, reviewed his cultivation progress, and resolved to keep improving while remaining hidden from his pursuers.
• News spread that the Yunshan Sword Sect had risen in prestige after the Cloud Mountain Sword Discourse, while the Golden Dragon Merchant Company had been destroyed and Mu Chaoyun was suspected of killing Wang Jinlong.
• Instructor Sun announced that Lin Zhen, Pei Yu, Lin Cheng, and Zhang Shan would descend the mountain for training, with the possibility of entering the inner sect or gaining insight at Ascend Sword Peak.
• Su Xing confronted Lu Lao San outside Oasis City and questioned him about the missing fugitives and the Golden Dragon Merchant Company, but Lu Lao San cursed him and left.
• Lu Lao San returned to his hideout, planned to draw his bandit riders away from the place about to open, and vowed to kill anyone who approached before the New Year.

Xie Yuan escaped the Torchbearer Envoy's first pursuit with layered illusions, but she tracked him down and forced him into a losing fight. Meanwhile, Situ Wan killed the Emperor and battled Cui Cheng as Xie Yi faced Chu King; Situ Wan's deadly zither attack trapped Cui Cheng, and Xie Yi prepared to break the stalemate despite the sacrifice it might require.

• The Torchbearer Envoy told Xie Yuan that the dying Emperor planned to weaken the great clans and kill the independent cultivators, then tried to capture him.
• Xie Yuan used three interlocking Heaven Illusion Arts and the Heaven Concealing Art to escape, but the Torchbearer Envoy tracked him with the Palm-Sized World and caught up.
• Xie Yuan fought the Torchbearer Envoy with his Daylily Great Axe, but she easily disarmed him and held her sword to his neck.
• Cui Cheng and Xie Yi confronted Situ Wan, who killed the Emperor and fought Cui Cheng while Chu King arrived with the Human Emperor Sword to challenge Xie Yi.
• Situ Wan unleashed a relentless zither attack that drove Cui Cheng into a defensive stalemate, and Xie Yi realized he had a way to break it.

Xie Yuan and his companions discovered the heavenly ladder to the Sky Immortal Sect and watched the Flame Igniter Envoy overpower the great families’ fighters to ascend it. Xie Yuan led Xie Lingyun and Wang Qishi toward the ladder, but their attempt to sneak past a giant ape ended with the beast spotting him on the second step.

• The Flame Igniter Envoy pursued Xie Yuan, Xie Lingyun, and Wang Qishi through the forest, but Xie Yuan used the Heaven Concealing Art and an illusion to mislead her.
• Xie Yuan and the two women saw the heavenly ladder above Ten Thousand Demons Mountain and watched Wang Qiwen and Cui Lei fight Demonic Cultists on its floating steps.
• The Flame Igniter Envoy returned, defeated the great families’ fighters, and led her two subordinates up the ladder as its steps stabilized beneath them.
• Xie Lingyun identified the woman as the Flame Igniter Envoy, one of the Demonic Cult’s Four Envoys competing to become its next Holy Maiden.
• Xie Yuan agreed to bring Xie Lingyun and Wang Qishi along, and the three crossed Second Transformation Mountain under the Heaven Concealing Art.
• The three sneaked past a giant ape and stepped onto the ladder, but the ape noticed Xie Yuan when he leaped onto the second step.

Xie Yuan seized control of the Seven Stars Illusion Formation and helped the surviving heirs corner the Flame Igniter Envoy, but she escaped to the tower’s sealed top floor. Unable to break the restriction, Xie Yuan left with Xie Lingyun to attempt an overnight breakthrough to the Third Transformation Realm so he could withstand its backlash.

• Xie Yuan took the formation core, used its illusions to fight the Flame Igniter Envoy, and killed her last subordinate while the heirs arrived to help.
• The Flame Igniter Envoy killed a Taiyuan Li Family expert and escaped up to the eighth floor, where a blue barrier sealed the stairs to the top floor.
• Xie Yuan deduced that the upper-floor restriction could be opened through five mechanisms, and Wang Qishi identified them as a Five Elements Lockdown requiring five simultaneous Grandmaster strikes.
• Xie Yuan said he would find a way to endure the backlash, then revealed to Xie Lingyun that he planned to break through to the Third Transformation Realm overnight.
• Xie Lingyun agreed to guard Xie Yuan while he cultivated with the pure Demon Beast Blood Qi stored in his Jade Bracelet.

Qin Hai recruited Xie Yuan into the powerful Soaring Dragon Escort Agency after its leaders learned of his talent and Vajra Gate’s attempt to block his prospects. Xie Yuan accepted, received Liu Heshang’s parting gift, and left with Qin Hai for the agency.

• Qin Hai introduced the Soaring Dragon Escort Agency and invited Xie Yuan to join, explaining that Head Guard Zhao admired his skills and had heard Vajra Gate was trying to bar him from martial arts schools.
• Xie Yuan accepted the offer, seeing the agency as protection from the County Commandant and a chance to improve his cultivation.
• Qin Hai confirmed Xie Yuan’s membership and said they would leave at once to meet the chief.
• Liu Heshang congratulated Xie Yuan and gave him a booklet containing insights into the final two levels of Iron Cloth.
• Xie Yuan packed his belongings, and Qin Hai led him away toward the Soaring Dragon Escort Agency.

Xie Yuan learned how the County Magistrate’s rivalry with Yu Chunsheng protected the Soaring Dragon Escort Agency, then strengthened his martial arts through secluded training. After gaining fame for defeating Xiang Zhuo, he was assigned to escort Staff Lin’s daughter to Yun Province Prefecture City.

• Shen Longteng explained that the County Magistrate opposed Yu Chunsheng’s control of Cloudshine County and quietly helped shield the escort agency from him.
• Xie Yuan learned that Yu Chunsheng and Vajra Gate had forced Xu Mo into betraying the escort agency, and Shen Longteng vowed to rescue Xu Mo’s son.
• Three days later, Yu Chunsheng blamed Xiang Zhuo’s bandit dealings on Xiang Zhuo alone, but suspicion of Yu Chunsheng and Vajra Gate eased pressure on the escort agency and helped Xie Yuan win his team’s respect.
• Xie Yuan trained for ten days, advanced Eight Trigrams Mountain Shaking Fist and Moon Slaying Axe to Proficient, and demonstrated his increased strength by smashing a training post with a punch.
• Shen Longteng told Xie Yuan that Staff Lin had hired him to escort Staff Lin’s daughter to Yun Province Prefecture City, and Xie Yuan considered the journey worthwhile.

After nine days on Sword Peak, Xie Yuan tried to understand the Yunshan Sword Sect’s intentions and explain his unusual cultivation, while Li Xingtuo let him leave for the Lantern Festival without revealing what he knew. Xie Yuan reunited with Situ Qin and recounted the Western Desert ruins, but she ended their conversation by forbidding him to take such risks again.

• Xie Yuan reasoned that the lingering sword intent of Yunshan Sword Sect’s predecessors had helped him enter the Black Heaven Book’s Heavenly Book World and rapidly complete his breakthrough.
• Li Xingtuo questioned Xie Yuan about his nine days on Sword Peak, and Xie Yuan blamed his endurance on a mysterious pill from the ruins; Li Xingtuo let him go and warned him to be careful around the elders.
• Xie Yuan received Situ Qin’s letter, obtained leave for the Lantern Festival, and found that no one stopped him from leaving Yunshan Mountain.
• Xie Yuan met Situ Qin and recounted his adventures in the Western Desert ruins, including fighting the Western Regions’ experts and claiming a treasure.
• Situ Qin praised Xie Yuan’s accomplishments but scolded him for taking risks and told him she would not allow him to do so again.

Xie Yuan defeated Miao Yun but was injured and discovered that divination against him could provoke a powerful hidden expert. He continued to Golden City in disguise to seek the Golden Mandala, where the Sky Garden was about to open and several powerful figures had gathered.

• Xie Yuan used his stored Blood Qi and sword techniques to wound Miao Yun, who fled with Ayina.
• Xie Yuan removed Miao Yun's lingering purple energy, decided to continue seeking the Golden Mandala for Xie Yi, and disguised himself as Lu Lao San.
• Miao Yun's attempt to divine Xie Yuan's location through the Kucha Kingdom's Luck Divination Crystal triggered a backlash, so she planned to request a treasure and recruit Ji Xuan.
• Xie Yuan arrived in Golden City and learned that the Sky Garden would open in ten days, drawing powerful experts from across the regions.
• Ji Xuan met with Miao Yun and planned to confront Xie Yuan, while a curious young traveler entered Golden City and wondered how to find him.

Xie Yuan killed Yelü Chu for the Golden Mandala, then fought A Xin and Mu Bo as they pursued him through Sky Garden. Cornered and running low on strength, he used Huijue’s Buddhist Talisman to suppress A Xin’s curse and fortified his Indestructible Golden Bell Cover, then began eating the spirit herbs before him.

• Xie Yuan killed Yelü Chu with a surprise sword strike and took the Golden Mandala and his other treasures.
• A Xin and Mu Bo attacked Xie Yuan, broke through his illusions, and chased him as he tried to escape.
• Xie Yuan used the Fleeting Light Shadow Sword to fight both Great Grandmasters, but his strength waned and neither opponent could be defeated quickly.
• Xie Yuan activated Huijue’s Buddhist Talisman, driving away A Xin’s eerie eyes, then poured his remaining cultivation into the Indestructible Golden Bell Cover.
• Xie Yuan laid out his spirit herbs, defied A Xin’s threats, and swallowed the herbs in one go while A Xin and Mu Bo stared in shock.

Xie Yuan defeated Ji Xuan with the Thousand Army Breaker, but the Eight Mystic Maidens arrived and tried to capture him for the Joyous Union Elder. Just as they subdued him, Rui Ji severed their formation and revealed a familiar smile.

• After seven days of pursuit, Xie Yuan and Ji Xuan fought in the forest, and Ji Xuan’s Mountain Splitting Style drove Xie Yuan back despite his defenses.
• Xie Yuan transformed the Hundred Transformations Mystic Weapon into an axe and used the Thousand Army Breaker to shatter Ji Xuan’s Heaven Piercing Style, leaving Ji Xuan badly injured.
• Ji Xuan began forcing a breakthrough, but the Eight Mystic Maidens appeared and he withdrew after learning they had come for Xie Yuan.
• The Eight Mystic Maidens used their linked formation and music to subdue Xie Yuan, explaining that the Joyous Union Elder wanted him brought back alive.
• Xie Yuan killed the leading maiden with his axe after Rui Ji secretly severed the formation, then Rui Ji broke the remaining links and addressed him with a familiar smile.

Mu Chaoyun earned the Xie clan’s trust by repairing Xie Yuan’s Hundred Transformations Mystic Weapon, helping improve the Divine Weapon Hall, and crafting treasures for Xie Lingyun. As the clan accepted her as its future mistress and Xie Yuan’s strength and reputation grew, a figure in the Ancestral Hall examined the Family Tree and condemned Xie Yi.

• Xie Yuan introduced Mu Chaoyun to Xie Tiexin, who doubted that the young array grandmaster could repair the Hundred Transformations Mystic Weapon until she studied its inscriptions and promised a diagram.
• Mu Chaoyun offered to help develop the Divine Weapon Hall’s magical treasure and spirit talisman production, then worked with Xie Tiexin to restore Xie Yuan’s weapon and craft a complete set of treasures for Xie Lingyun.
• Xie Yuan advanced rapidly in cultivation while Mu Chaoyun supported the clan, and she gave him a reforged, transformable mystic weapon during the winter solstice gathering.
• The Xie clan used Mu Chaoyun’s array expertise to strengthen its branches and communications as the Ji Family retaliated and the Wang Clan and Royal Family renewed pressure on Xie Yuan with a marriage decree.
• A dignified figure in the Ancestral Hall stopped at a page in the Family Tree and accused Xie Yi of having too much nerve.

Xie Yuan and his companions breached the Eye Demon blockade, climbed Heaven Pillar Peak, and found the Demon Suppression Cauldron sealing the Devil Master. As Xie Yuan recited the Demon-Sealing Sacrificial Text, the thunder stopped and he vanished before the others’ eyes.

• Xie Yuan, Mu Chaoyun, Situ Qin, and Xie Lingyun fought and killed the Thousand Eyes Commander, whose death caused the nearby Eye Demons to fall from the sky.
• The group crossed the Eye Demon blockade and entered the demon-free forbidden zone around Heaven Pillar Peak, while three other demons followed through the gap.
• Xie Yuan and the others climbed the peak and found the Demon Suppression Cauldron, with the sealing spear nearly slipping free.
• Xie Yuan approached the cauldron and began reciting the Demon-Sealing Sacrificial Text, whereupon the thunder stopped and he disappeared.

Xie Yuan let the horse bandits capture him so he could uncover Lu Lao San’s real plans, while Huang Zifeng and the others escaped and planned to seek help. After being taken to a heavily guarded ancient city ruin, Xie Yuan broke free and disguised himself as a guard to investigate.

• Huang Zifeng led Lin Zhen, Pei Yu, and Lin Cheng away from the pursuing horse bandits, and Pei Yu used a Thunderbolt Grenade to help them escape.
• Lin Cheng, Lin Zhen, and Pei Yu wanted to return for Xie Yuan, but Huang Zifeng told them to seek reinforcements while he went alone.
• Xie Yuan revealed that he was a Yunshan Sword Sect disciple, then provoked the horse bandits into binding and taking him with them.
• Xie Yuan overheard that Lu Lao San’s main force was gathered at a separate camp, and the bandits carried him there after deciding to move him from Wind Sand Market.
• Xie Yuan saw that the camp surrounded the ruins of an ancient city and its temple, broke his ropes, knocked out a guard, and put on the guard’s clothes.

Xie Yuan learned Red Lotus Spear Flame, but the medicine he gave Xie Yi showed no effect, leaving the family worried and Xie Yuan searching for another way to wake him. After remembering that Xie Yi had left something for him in the Ancestral Hall once he became a Grandmaster and secured his position, Xie Yuan went there and confirmed with Fifth Ancestor that it was waiting for him.

• Xie Yuan left Xie Yi's bedside and practiced the Heaven Burning World Destroying Spear, resolving to ask Elder Fu about spear flames.
• Xie Yuan met Xie Wen and learned alongside him as Xie Fu explained that Red Lotus required the will to burn heaven and earth.
• Xie Wen failed to advance beyond Azure Flame, while Xie Yuan ignited Red Lotus Karma Fire on Dragon Soul and impressed Xie Fu and Xie Wen.
• Xie Yuan cultivated for several days, but Xie Yi remained unchanged, and Xie Lingyun worried that their mother might despair.
• Xie Yuan recalled Xie Yi's promise of something in the Ancestral Hall, visited it, and asked Fifth Ancestor, who confirmed that Xie Yi had left something there.

Su Xing investigated Yao Zhizhang’s murder and the Black River trafficking case, then resolved to keep probing despite pressure from Spring Rain Pavilion. On Yunshan Mountain, Xie Yuan learned that the Hidden Dragon Ranking had placed him seventy-second and decided he would not make it easy for anyone to knock him off.

• Su Xing examined the sealed study, questioned the County Clerk, and learned from his spy that Yao Zhizhang and the Boat Gang were tied to the missing-persons case and that a hidden force seemed to be behind them.
• Su Xing inspected the Heaven Rank Assassin’s body and the riverside battlefield, concluded that Xie Yuan had reached the Qi and Blood Second Transformation Realm, and ordered his danger rating raised while directing his spy to continue investigating the manor and the case.
• At Yunshan Sword Sect, Instructor Lu praised Zhang Shan’s sword practice, while Xie Yuan’s cultivation of the Yunshan Sword Intent Scripture had reached the Fourth Layer.
• Xie Yuan overheard disciples say the latest Hidden Dragon Ranking placed him at seventy-second for helping kill a Heaven Rank Assassin, and he confirmed his name in the Scripture Pavilion.
• Xie Yuan suspected Su Xing had put him on the ranking to draw challengers, but decided to remain on the list and resist anyone trying to remove him.

Xie Yuan returned to Heaven's Gate Mountain, where a fortune-teller’s words and a blank Tao Te Ching notebook helped him uncover the second line of the Supreme Purity Moral Scripture. He used modern knowledge to cultivate, built a successful tutoring business, and decided to visit Boss Wu before returning to the other world.

• Xie Yuan traveled to Heaven's Gate Mountain with Xie GuoLiang and Wang YaFang, where an old priest gave him a blank fortune stick and a Tao Te Ching notebook.
• Xie Yuan recorded cultivation techniques from his dreams, recovered his memories of them, and discovered that he could not cultivate through them directly in the modern world.
• Xie Yuan dreamed of the second sentence of the Supreme Purity Moral Scripture and realized that studying modern science could also help him comprehend the Dao.
• Xie Yuan began tutoring a graduate-school exam candidate, grew his work into a successful tutoring center, and repaid his family’s debts.
• Xie Yuan used scientific knowledge to cultivate and decided to visit Boss Wu before heading to Heaven's Gate Mountain and seeking the other world.

After Li Xingtuo left, Xie Yuan consolidated his authority over the Xie clan and spent months cultivating while the clan held off the Wang family’s gradual pressure. When the Wang clan secured an imperial marriage decree pairing him with Wang Qishi, Xie Yuan announced an indefinite seclusion to delay the match; after the New Year, Cui Pingjun told him Xie Yi’s condition had changed.

• Li Xingtuo refused compensation and a formal disciple exchange, left after helping resolve the Xie clan’s crisis, and Xie Yuan’s standing as family head strengthened.
• Xie Yuan delegated clan affairs, cultivated with abundant resources, advanced his spear forms, and brought his Indestructible Golden Bell Cover close to completion while considering how to break through to Grandmaster.
• Xie Yuan rejected proposed ways to evade the imperial marriage decree, exchanged letters with Situ Qin, and announced he had entered indefinite seclusion to seek a Grandmaster breakthrough.
• The Xie clan held its New Year’s Eve banquet with former rivals gathered together, while Xie Yuan’s cultivation progress stood at 2998 of 3000 for the Third Layer of the Indestructible Golden Bell Cover.
• After the Lantern Festival, Cui Pingjun summoned Xie Yuan and told him that Xie Yi’s condition had changed.

Xie Yuan and his companions traveled to Luoyang to search for the Black Heaven Book, where they reunited with former escort leaders Zhao Xingyang and Lu Zhenyu. After learning Golden Gate Escort Agency was pressuring their Star Universe Escort Agency, Xie Yuan agreed to help, while Mu Chaoyun began setting up a Spirit Gathering Array at their compound.

• Mu Chaoyun proposed that Xie Yuan, Situ Qin, and she search for the Black Heaven Book, and the three chose Luoyang as their destination.
• Xie Lingyun arrived at the hillside courtyard and persuaded Xie Yuan to let her join their journey.
• In Luoyang, Xie Yuan recognized Zhao Xingyang and Lu Zhenyu as they faced pressure from Golden Gate Escort Agency to sell Star Universe Escort Agency or fight in an arena match.
• Xie Yuan reunited with Zhao Xingyang and Lu Zhenyu, learned about their troubles, and promised to handle Golden Gate Escort Agency; he and Situ Qin gave them valuable pills.
• Mu Chaoyun and Xie Lingyun began setting up a Spirit Gathering Array at the escort agency, and Zheng Ling confronted them before the activated formation concealed the women in white mist.

Xie Yuan followed Long Qianqiu and Luo Dong Sheng to a hidden tomb, where Long betrayed Luo and tried to control Xie with poison. After Xie defeated Long and killed Old Tong, he gathered the Jade Disc fragments and prepared to open the stone door, asking Mu Chaoyun what they should do if the Black Heaven Book was inside.

• Long Qianqiu led Xie Yuan and Luo Dong Sheng to a hidden tomb, while Mu Chaoyun secretly followed them.
• Luo Dong Sheng attacked Xie Yuan, but Xie struck him down, and Long revealed that he had betrayed his childhood friend to seize the hidden land.
• Long tried to control Xie with poison, but Xie refined it away and defeated him with a palm strike.
• Old Tong appeared and revealed that he had used the Jade Disc fragment as bait to lure Long and Luo to the hidden land.
• Xie killed Old Tong with a sword strike, then questioned Long and collected all three Jade Disc fragments.
• Mu Chaoyun confirmed that their method would open the damaged restriction, and Xie prepared to unlock the stone door.

Xie Yuan was trapped by the Joyous Union Elder in the Heavenly Devil Lust Array, but used the Eight Trigrams Lotus to reverse it and turn it into a defensive formation. With the array’s lingering desire affecting them both, Xie Yuan and Situ Qin went behind a boulder together, leaving the furious Joyous Union Elder and Yun Xing outside.

• The Joyous Union Elder ambushed Xie Yuan and trapped him in the Heavenly Devil Lust Array, intending to use her secret art to drain his strength over eighty-one days.
• Xie Yuan summoned the Mountains and Rivers Cauldron and attacked, but the Joyous Union Elder evaded him and left him imprisoned inside the array.
• Xie Yuan used the Eight Trigrams Lotus to reverse the array, weakening its mist and revealing Situ Qin in an adjoining space.
• Xie Yuan explained the situation to Situ Qin, then tried to retreat behind a boulder to control the desire still affecting him.
• Situ Qin told Xie Yuan that she too had been affected, and they went behind the boulder together after Xie Yuan made the array opaque.
• Yun Xing teased the Joyous Union Elder, who protested that she had not activated the desire array on Situ Qin’s side.