Chapter Summaries

Xie Yuan gained permission to study the Heaven Burning World Destroying Spear after comprehending its forbidden final move and impressing Xie Fu with his grasp of the first form. Three days later, he returned to demonstrate it before a crowd of Xie Family Grandmasters.

• Xie Yuan told Xie Fu that he could not teach his secret arts, so Xie Fu took him to the eighth floor and gave him a phantom copy of the Heaven Burning World Destroying Spear to study.
• Xie Yuan saw the spear art’s final move and the eyes beyond the pierced sky, and Xie Fu warned him that practitioners who cultivated that move had met disastrous ends.
• Xie Fu recounted how Xie An created the spear art to strike against Heaven and allowed Xie Yuan to practice it, while forbidding him from cultivating its final move.
• Xie Yuan comprehended all seven moves of the first form in a day, astonishing Xie Fu, who told him to rest and return to demonstrate them.
• Xie Lingyun waited for Xie Yuan, and he agreed to let her remain by his side as his sister despite recognizing her feelings for him.
• After recovering, Xie Yuan returned to the eighth floor, where more than ten Grandmasters gathered to watch him demonstrate the spear art.

At the New Year Banquet, Xie Yuan won broader acceptance as family head, and Great-Grandfather Xie Yu gave him a rare pill before entering seclusion after hearing him recite the preface to the Pre-Qin Alchemist's Notes. As the new emperor took the throne and the Wang and Cui Families began contending, Xie Yuan swallowed the Snow Dragon Pill to strengthen himself for the challenges ahead.

• Xie Bing unexpectedly attended Xie Yuan's New Year Banquet, and the arrival of Xie Yu, Xie Lei, and other Grandmasters helped fill nearly every seat and strengthen Xie Yuan's standing.
• Xie Yu told Xie Yuan about the Xie Family's history of more than four thousand years, gave him the Snow Dragon Pill, and asked about his Daoist cultivation.
• Xie Yuan recited the preface of the Pre-Qin Alchemist's Notes, prompting Xie Yu to leave in a sudden rush and enter seclusion.
• The Fourteenth Prince ascended the throne as the new emperor, named Wang Yunzhi chancellor, and appointed the reign title New Origin.
• Xie Yuan and Cui Pingjun discussed the growing conflict between the Wang and Cui Families, and Xie Yuan ordered the Xie Family to preserve its strength rather than get involved.
• Xie Yuan swallowed the Snow Dragon Pill in his cultivation chamber to improve his strength.

At the Little Hidden Dragon Meet in Jinling, the Yunshan Sword Sect’s Lin Zhen and Huang Zifeng impressed the crowd with victories, while Yao Tianchuan revealed a terrifyingly fast sword. The chapter left Yao Tianchuan staring toward Lin Zhen and Huang Zifeng as the riverbank fell silent.

• The Yao Family’s Yao Qinglai opened the crowded Little Hidden Dragon Meet, while spectators’ whispers about Yao Yilong’s defeat overshadowed his speech.
• Qin Zhenyang explained that Xie Yuan’s fight with Yao Yilong had exposed the Yao Family’s weakened strength and could make them regard Xie Yuan as an enemy.
• The Yao Family announced that the First Transformation Realm champion would receive a quota for the See Truth Lake Relic, drawing the contestants’ attention.
• Lin Zhen defeated Meng Fang of the Mad Blade Sect with her Moon Invitation Swordplay, and Huang Zifeng forced his opponent to yield by displaying the Flying Sword Technique.
• Yao Tianchuan defeated a Qu Ning Academy disciple with a single swift sword strike, then looked toward Lin Zhen and Huang Zifeng as the crowd fell silent.

Xie Yuan, Huijue, and Zhang Junyi captured Mister Qian after defeating him with their combined attacks, but Yao Yilong pursued them and tried to seize Xie Yuan. The three fought the Grandmaster together, and Xie Yuan’s surprise axe strike wounded Yao Yilong before the clash ended.

• Xie Yuan, Huijue, and Zhang Junyi attacked Mister Qian together, and Xie Yuan disarmed him before the trio subdued him and escaped with their captive.
• Yao Yilong caught up with the three and identified Xie Yuan, but he refused to let him leave with Huijue and Zhang Junyi.
• Huijue and Zhang Junyi stood with Xie Yuan against Yao Yilong, who wounded Xie Yuan with a swift sword strike.
• Xie Yuan used the Heaven Concealing Art to disappear from Yao Yilong’s senses, while Huijue and Zhang Junyi distracted the Grandmaster with their techniques.
• Xie Yuan ambushed Yao Yilong with a massive axe strike, and the Grandmaster blocked it but suffered a deep wound to his sword hand.

Xie Yuan reunited with Situ Qin in Immortal Abyss, where she revealed that an ancient immortal’s remnant had left behind Immortal Essence and an Immortal Score. As Situ Qin played the qin, a mysterious vision appeared and Xie Yuan began recovering lost passages from an ancient cultivation text, ending as an enchanting figure emerged and addressed him.

• Xie Yuan and Yun Xing escaped the chaotic main city after Xie Yuan fought Ji Hong and killed BeiTang Feng and Ji Ling.
• Xie Yuan played a bamboo flute at Immortal Abyss, summoning Situ Qin from the clouds, and the three descended into the valley together.
• Situ Qin explained that Immortal Abyss held Immortal Essence and that she had come to understand an Immortal Score passed down by Situ Wan.
• Situ Qin played the ancient qin, causing the apparition of an ancient cultivator to appear and a ball of white light to take the form of a book.
• Xie Yuan’s ancient text began filling with lost passages as he studied the light, and an enchanting woman appeared before him and said she had finally waited for him.

Xie Yuan entered Heavenly Fragrance Mountain Manor with Long Qianqiu and learned that the Jade Disc fragment was part of a key to a secret land shared by three martial forces. Two days later, Long Qianqiu told him that he and Luo Dong Sheng had agreed to enter the secret realm together and divide its gains equally.

• Long Qianqiu stopped Luo Dong Sheng from taking Xie Yuan’s Jade Disc fragment and invited Xie Yuan to Heavenly Fragrance Mountain Manor.
• Xie Yuan accepted Long Qianqiu’s invitation, while Luo Dong Sheng followed them to the manor; Mu Chaoyun secretly accompanied Xie Yuan.
• Long Qianqiu offered Xie Yuan the vacant Vice Manor Master position and explained that the Jade Disc was a missing piece of the key to a secret land founded by the ancestors of three forces.
• Long Qianqiu showed Xie Yuan his matching Jade Disc fragment and offered pills, martial arts, and a place in the manor in exchange for Xie Yuan’s fragment.
• Xie Yuan pretended to weigh the offer while planning to enter the secret realm, and Long Qianqiu later told him that he and Luo Dong Sheng had agreed to divide its gains equally.

Xie Yuan fought off the Ghost Race and Nine Hells Demons while pursuing Wu Daoji, then faced a coordinated assault from four peak Grandmasters. As the encirclement tightened, he revealed four identical selves and charged at his opponents.

• Xie Yuan killed the Demon Dragon with a single sword strike, then pursued the retreating Wu Daoji through the attacking Grandmasters.
• Wu Daoji escaped Xie Yuan's thrust by switching places with a ghostly substitute, and the Ghost General blocked Xie Yuan's next strike.
• Xie Yuan fought the Ghost General, destroyed its armor with a combination of sword and axe attacks, and forced the weakened ghost to retreat.
• Xie Yuan killed a four-armed demon with Dragon Soul and threw its burning corpse toward the Black-Skinned Female Demon.
• Ming Wang, Xue Zongtao, the Martial Transmission Elder, and the Joyous Union Elder joined forces to surround Xie Yuan, while the other factions held the perimeter.
• Xie Yuan dismissed their confidence in victory, declared that he had not used half his strength, and split into four identical selves that charged the four peak Grandmasters.

Xie Yuan and Situ Qin survived the sword qi in the hidden cave, then discussed the Yunshan Sword Competition before Situ Qin left to replace her shattered protective treasure and study her insight. Xie Yuan planned to cultivate in seclusion for a month and use his final pill to break through.

• Situ Qin released Xie Yuan and used a jade pendant to shield them from the sword qi, then teased him for trying to save her at the cost of himself.
• Xie Yuan and Situ Qin left the cave and discussed how they would protect each other in future dangers, agreeing that Xie Yuan would protect her once his cultivation surpassed hers.
• Xie Yuan and Situ Qin returned to the Half-Mountain Guest Courtyard and speculated that the cave held the source of Sword Peak's sword qi; Red Aunt then told Situ Qin to return home because her protective pendant had broken.
• The next day, Xie Yuan and Situ Qin discussed the coming Yunshan Sword Competition and the relative strength of Yunshan Sword Sect and Hidden Sword Pavilion.
• Situ Qin said she would leave to replace her pendant and study the insight she had gained from the sword qi, and promised to return for the competition in a month.
• After seeing Situ Qin off, Xie Yuan resolved to cultivate in seclusion and take his final pill to break through.

Xie Yuan escaped his captors, discovered that Lu Lao San’s bandits were guarding an ancient ruin, and destroyed the temple entrance with a Thunderbolt Grenade before fleeing. As the bandits responded to an attack by Sword Sect disciples, Xie Yuan revealed that he had returned to the camp disguised as Li Gou Er and confronted the leader.

• Xie Yuan overheard the bandits discussing a guarded ruin and learned that Lu Lao San’s son watched over its temple entrance.
• Xie Yuan infiltrated the ruins, sensed a Qi Blood Three Transformations expert guarding the temple, and decided to keep the ruin from Lu Lao San rather than enter it himself.
• Xie Yuan toppled a broken pillar to draw Lu Xiao San away, hurled a Thunderbolt Grenade into the temple, and fled as it collapsed.
• Xie Yuan revealed himself to Lu Xiao San from a distance and taunted him before Lu Xiao San turned back to the collapsing temple.
• Lin Zhen, Lin Cheng, Huang Zifeng, and their companion tried to rescue Junior Brother Zhang, but the bandits discovered them and raised the alarm.
• The bandit leader found Jia Lao Er dead in the tent and realized that the man posing as Li Gou Er was Xie Yuan.

Xie Yuan used illusions, secret arts, and divine weapons to break the Xie Hunt Assembly, killing Ming Wang and scattering the gathered experts. As Xie Yuan turned his attention toward Wu Daoji and the ghost clan, a Taoist priest appeared atop an earthen mound.

• Xie Yuan deceived the four peak grandmasters with illusions, ambushed Ming Wang, and pursued him into a crater.
• Xie Yuan suppressed Ming Wang with the Mountains and Rivers Cauldron and killed him with the Black Heaven Divine Sword.
• Xie Yuan fought Xue Zongtao, the Martial Transmission Elder, and the Joyous Union Elder while wielding several weapons at once, then wounded Joyous Union and drove her from the battlefield.
• Xie Yuan struck the Demon Beasts and the Royal Family's grandmasters, killing and injuring several as the encirclement fell apart.
• The Martial Transmission Elder withdrew, and Xue Zongtao fled after attacking Xie Yuan; Xie Yuan then fixed his attention on the ghost clan and Wu Daoji.
• Wu Daoji searched for the source of a sigh and spotted a Taoist priest standing on a small earthen mound.

Zhao Xingyang fought to protect his escort team from Boss Song and the bandits, forcing a breakthrough to the Fourth Level but failing to turn the tide of the battle. As the escort line neared collapse, he seemed to see Xiao Xie on the hillside.

• Zhao Xingyang killed the stronghold's Second Leader, but the bandits soon surrounded the convoy and blocked the escort team's escape.
• Zhao Xingyang ordered the escorts to topple their carriages into barricades and held the bandits back with arrows and threats.
• Boss Song charged, and Zhao Xingyang fought him while the bandits broke through the escort team's defenses and inflicted heavy casualties.
• Zhao Xingyang broke through to the Fourth Level during the fight and briefly matched Boss Song, but his strength began to fade as the escorts were overwhelmed.
• Fearing the escort team would be wiped out, Zhao Xingyang thought of Xiao Xie and seemed to see him standing on the hillside.

Xie Yuan learned from the Old Taoist Priest that the Martial God Wu Wudi had become the Heavenly Dao of another world and was trying to recover the Source of Dao by harvesting Great Grandmasters. The priest revealed that Xie Yuan carried the true Source of Dao and left him to face Wu Wudi, who was sure to come to this world.

• Xie Yuan found Spring River Restaurant closed and learned from an old man that Boss Wu had retired after completing his mission.
• Xie Yuan told his parents he was traveling, entrusted Wang Yibing with the tutoring center, and departed for Heaven's Gate Mountain.
• Xie Yuan met the Old Taoist Priest, who identified himself as the former Heavenly Dao and recounted how the Martial God had seized control of his world.
• The Old Taoist Priest explained that Wu Wudi had sealed the world and harvested Great Grandmasters to restore the Source of Dao, and intended to cross into Xie Yuan's world.
• The Old Taoist Priest revealed that Xie Yuan's Supreme Purity Moral Scripture and abilities were the true Source of Dao, and told him to stop Wu Wudi.

Yun Xing delivered the Black Heaven Book, Ten Thousand Weapons Candlelight Shadow, to Xie Yuan in exchange for a future favor, and he used its insights to advance his martial cultivation. As the year ended, Xie Yuan won respect at the Dragon Martial Academy by demonstrating his skill and honoring his uncle’s promise to train Yao Family disciples, while tensions within the Xie Family persisted; on New Year’s Eve, several elders arrived for his sparsely attended banquet, and Xie Bing arrived last.

• Yun Xing brought Xie Yuan the Black Heaven Book on Situ Wan’s behalf and asked him to agree to help her with an unspecified future matter; Xie Yuan accepted the book and gained two points of progress.
• Xie Jun told Xie Yuan and Cui Pingjun that several clan branches had stopped submitting their reports to him, while Cui Pingjun urged Xie Yuan to focus on cultivation.
• At the Dragon Martial Academy, Xie Bing made Xie Yuan wait, but Xie Yuan impressed the disciples by correcting their techniques and defeating Xie Jun’s spear attacks with ease.
• Xie Yuan trained three Yao Family exchange students in swordsmanship and Inner Strength, explaining that he was honoring Xie Yi’s promise despite disliking the Yao Family.
• Xie Yuan hosted a sparsely attended New Year’s Eve banquet, where Xie Yu, Xie Lei, and Xie Qian arrived before a servant announced Xie Bing.

Xie Yuan fought Jade Serenity with his strongest axe strike but was killed when Jade Serenity’s Clear Light struck him. Six months later, Situ Qin and Mu Chaoyun prepared a formation in Heaven Beyond Heaven to bring Xie Yuan back.

• Xie Yuan used the copper coin Zhang Junyi had given him, but Jade Serenity caught it and tossed it aside without any effect.
• Xie Yuan recovered control of his True Qi and struck Jade Serenity with Strength, Splits, Mount Hua, injuring him but failing to defeat him.
• Jade Serenity blasted Xie Yuan into a pit with Clear Light, and Xie Yuan died as Jade Serenity gathered all nine pages of the Black Heaven Book.
• Mu Chaoyun subdued Situ Qin and escaped with her, while Jade Serenity pursued Wu Daoji before abruptly returning to examine the pit and the copper coin.
• Six months later, Situ Qin held an infant as Mu Chaoyun activated a formation, insisting she would bring Xie Yuan back.

Xie Yuan and Situ Qin fought their way into the Prince of Western Peace Residence, where Ji Hong and the Right Dharma King tried to stop them. With Situ Qin's music and Xie Yuan's artifacts and techniques, they gained the upper hand, until Ji Hong called on Yun Xing to act.

• Xie Yuan, Situ Qin, and Yun Xing entered the guarded main city and approached the Prince of Western Peace Residence to reclaim its formation and protect Xue Minghe's coffin.
• Xie Yuan broke through the residence gate and fought the Right Dharma King, while Situ Qin's zither music weakened him and restrained his two guards.
• Ji Hong arrived and attacked Situ Qin, but her bronze bell blocked his axe, and Xie Yuan's Splitting Mount Hua clashed with Ji Hong's Heaven Piercing Style.
• Xie Yuan used the Eight Trigrams Lotus, Illusion Dream Heavenly Crystal, and other treasures to fight both Dharma Kings, while Situ Qin defeated the two grandmasters and supported him with her music.
• Ji Hong saw that he and the Right Dharma King were losing ground and called on Yun Xing to act.

Xie Yuan protected Wang Lei from the restaurant’s scheme and prepared a logging operation while Zhang Yu Feng continued pursuing his plans against them. By the time the first Phoebe Wood log reached Xie Yuan’s courtyard, his Iron Cloth had broken through to the third level.

• Xie Yuan caught Wang Er Gou after the restaurant dismissed him, then brought him and Wang Lei back toward the village.
• Zhang Yu Feng learned that Xie Yuan had foiled the attempt to take Wang Lei’s land, then faced pressure from the County Commandant to fill a position in the Judicial Office.
• Xie Yuan told Wang Lei that reporting Zhang Yu Feng would be useless and recruited him to help fell trees, with three hunters joining the logging team.
• Xie Yuan arranged for the men to cut Phoebe Wood while he trained, and they delivered an intact log to his courtyard after two days.
• Xie Yuan’s Iron Cloth advanced from the completed second level to the third level.

Xie Yuan arrived at the Holy Maiden's Residence and found BeiTang Feng and three other Church Grandmasters occupying it, but Situ Qin was nowhere to be seen. After BeiTang Feng insulted Situ Qin, Xie Yuan defeated him and battered the others, then demanded once more that they reveal where she was.

• Yun Xing identified BeiTang Feng, Ji Ling, Xin Meier, and Gongsun Ming as powerful Church figures who had brought their forces into the Holy Maiden's Residence.
• BeiTang Feng declared that the Church had ordered Situ Qin captured and the residence requisitioned, then called her a bastard who should never have existed.
• Xie Yuan asked where Situ Qin was, then used the Mountains and Rivers Cauldron and Dragon Soul to defeat BeiTang Feng in one exchange.
• Gongsun Ming and Ji Ling attacked Xie Yuan, but his illusion caused them to strike BeiTang Feng instead, fatally wounding him.
• Xie Yuan unleashed Split Mount Hua, severely injuring Ji Ling, scattering the disciples, and forcing Gongsun Ming to flee.
• Xie Yuan faced Gongsun Ming and Xin Meier and demanded to know where Situ Qin was.

Xie Yuan and Mu Chaoyun defeated the Ji Family's Soul Extinguishing Three Elders and settled into a quiet life while waiting to see whether the Ji Family would retaliate. Situ Qin arrived unexpectedly, and after a tense, teasing exchange with Mu Chaoyun, the two women seemed to reach an understanding and planned their next journey together.

• Xie Yuan defeated the Soul Extinguishing Three Elders, searched their remains, and took their pills and two Blood Axe mystic weapons.
• Mu Chaoyun told Xie Yuan that Xie Bing had come, and Xie Yuan decided to stay in the courtyard briefly to draw out any Ji Family pursuers.
• Xie Yuan cultivated and practiced the Heaven Burning World Destroying Spear while he and Mu Chaoyun lived quietly; the Ji Family sent no one, and Xie Lingyun stayed away after her Madam forbade her from traveling.
• Situ Qin arrived at the courtyard, and she and Mu Chaoyun exchanged pointed remarks about their affection for Xie Yuan before agreeing to live together harmoniously.
• Situ Qin shared a meal and a room with Mu Chaoyun, and the next morning the two women emerged hand in hand and told Xie Yuan they had chosen where to go.

Xie Yuan used the Snow Dragon Pill to advance the Great Golden River Skill and emerged from a second long seclusion with his cultivation impossible for Xie Lingyun to read. He learned that the Wang Family had proposed a marriage between him and Wang Qishi, setting the Cui and Wang Families’ rivalry on the verge of escalating.

• Xie Yuan swallowed the Snow Dragon Pill, whose medicinal power accelerated his cultivation and helped him break through to the tenth layer of the Great Golden River Skill.
• After more than half a month in seclusion, Xie Yuan emerged and reassured Xie Lingyun that he would find a way to awaken Xie Yi; he then told Cui Pingjun and Xie Fu that he planned to cultivate again.
• Xie Yuan returned to seclusion while Xie Lingyun, Yun Zhu, and Shi Jian kept watch, and he eventually came out with an aura so restrained that Xie Lingyun could not sense his realm.
• Xie Lingyun gave Xie Yuan a letter from Situ Qin and another from the Wang Family proposing that he marry Wang Qishi, with Wang Qiwen planning to bring her to visit.
• Xie Yuan concluded that the Wang Family was trying to seize the initiative in its rivalry with the Cui Family and said he would discuss the matter with Cui Pingjun and Seventh Uncle.

After returning from Heaven's Gate, Xie Yuan found the world in chaos and reunited with old friends in Yun Zhao, where he learned Yu Ping had died defending the people. He destroyed the Western Barbarian Allied Army's main camp and set out for Chen Commandery to cultivate at the martial arts repository.

• Xie Yuan passed through Heaven's Gate Cave and returned to North Capital Mountain, where he paid his respects at the Mu Family graves before finding Small Stone Village abandoned.
• Xie Yuan saved Yun Zhao City by summoning lightning to destroy a Western Regions Raiders camp and killing its grandmaster with a dead branch, then reunited with Liu Heshang, Qin Hai, and Li Lan's family.
• Xie Yuan learned that the world had descended into widespread war and that Yu Ping had died saving Yun Province Prefecture from the barbarians.
• Xie Yuan left Yun Zhao and destroyed the Western Barbarian Allied Army's main camp in Wild Goose Province, forcing the survivors to retreat beyond Wild Goose Gate Pass.
• Xie Yuan decided to seek out the martial arts repository in Chen Commandery to study its books and strengthen his cultivation.