Chapter Summaries

Xie Yuan mastered the axe strike Sweep Through a Thousand Armies and used it with Mu Chaoyun’s help to wound Deng Wan. Mu Chaoyun finished Deng Wan, leaving the two of them alive after the battle.

• Xie Yuan’s axe technique advanced his Moon Slaying Axe and gave him the power to threaten a grandmaster.
• Xie Yuan concealed himself with the advanced Heaven Concealing Art and approached Deng Wan while Mu Chaoyun kept him occupied.
• Mu Chaoyun drew Deng Wan’s attention as Xie Yuan struck his lower back twice, breaking through his defenses and severely injuring him.
• Deng Wan tried to flee, but Mu Chaoyun struck his wound and knocked him down.
• Deng Wan crawled away before dying from his injuries.

Xie Yuan reclaimed the former Soaring Dragon Escort Agency and confronted Yu Chunsheng, using his strange movement technique to evade the authorities and terrify the County Commandant. Yu Chunsheng fled into the street, where Xie Yuan faced him and declared that his day of death had come.

• Xie Yuan killed the personal disciples who attacked him and cleared One Blade Martial Hall from the escort agency.
• Xie Yuan restored the memorial tablet of Chief Escort Leader to the Ancestral Hall and told Qin Hai he would settle their grudges.
• Xie Yuan slipped past the constables searching the escort agency and entered Yu Chunsheng's guarded residence unnoticed.
• Xie Yuan confronted Yu Chunsheng in his study, then used his strange movement technique to appear among the guards and make Yu Chunsheng panic.
• Yu Chunsheng accidentally killed one of his guards while mistaking him for Xie Yuan, then fled through the side gate into the street.
• Xie Yuan stood in Yu Chunsheng's path and told him that today was his day of death.

Xie Yuan learned that Situ Qin had defied the Stove Sect’s leaders in Heaven Beyond Heaven and was now in danger after killing three Grandmasters. Yun Xing brought him through a secret passage to the Holy Maiden’s Residence, where they arrived face-to-face with a crowd of armed believers.

• Yun Xing told Xie Yuan that the Stove Sect’s leaders were fighting over authority and that Situ Qin had opposed their plan to burn a provincial city.
• Situ Qin killed three Grandmasters sent to trouble her, causing the factions in Heaven Beyond Heaven to grow quiet and turn their attention toward her.
• Yun Xing revealed that she had left Heaven Beyond Heaven to find Xie Yuan and help Situ Qin, then led him to a hidden passage near Yun Province Prefecture.
• Yun Xing activated the Holy Maiden’s secret formation, and she and Xie Yuan teleported directly to the Holy Maiden’s Residence.
• Xie Yuan opened his eyes inside a chamber and saw a dense formation of armed Stove Sect believers waiting outside the door.

Su Xing pursued Lu Lao San from Yun Zhao City into the Western Desert but stopped outside Oasis City, while Xie Yuan heard rumors about his own exploits as Zhang Shan on Yunshan Mountain. The chapter ended with Zhang Shan being transferred to the main peak to help with renovations before visiting sects arrived.

• Su Xing confronted Lu Lao San after he killed Yu Dalan, and Lu Lao San fled when Su Xing proved stronger.
• Su Xing chased Lu Lao San for days across the western border, but stopped outside Oasis City rather than enter the dangerous city.
• Su Xing identified Lu Lao San, Xie Yuan, and the Mu Family Grandmaster as people connected to Deng Wan before his death.
• Xie Yuan reviewed his progress in Yunshan Sword Style and overheard handyman disciples discuss the Mu Family’s destruction, Su Xing’s failed pursuit, and Xie Yuan’s rumored battle against a Grandmaster.
• Xie Yuan continued chopping wood under his Zhang Shan identity while the supervisor scolded the gossiping handymen.
• The supervisor told Zhang Shan to pack and report to the main peak to help renovate the main hall before other sects arrived.

Xie Yuan left the woodshed and began working at the Main Peak Great Hall, where he learned that the Hidden Sword Pavilion was coming to challenge the Yunshan Sword Sect in a major sword discussion. Near the rear hall, he sensed Sword Peak’s sword qi and the Black Heaven Book’s progress increased, leaving him eager to stay close and learn more.

• Xie Yuan left the woodshed after the steward transferred him to help at the Main Peak Great Hall.
• The steward told Xie Yuan that the Hidden Sword Pavilion was visiting after hearing of the Sect Master's renewed insight into the Fleeting Light Shadow Sword.
• Xie Yuan settled into repair and carpentry work, and a few days later he was assigned to the rear hall.
• Near Sword Peak, Xie Yuan sensed a streak of sword qi enter the lotus petals in his arm and lost track of time.
• Qin Zhenyang and other Main Peak disciples questioned Xie Yuan, but he gave an ambiguous answer and learned Qin's identity after they left.
• Xie Yuan saw that the Black Heaven Book had advanced to 86/200 and decided that staying near Sword Peak might help him comprehend sword arts.

Xie Yuan continued improving his swordsmanship while working as a menial disciple, and Tian Zhuang praised his rapid progress and hoped they would both enter the outer sect. As the Hidden Sword Pavilion’s visit approached, Xie Yuan was summoned to help receive two guests, including the daughter of the former Prince of Western Peace.

• Tian Zhuang asked Xie Yuan whether he could sense Sword Peak’s sword qi, then marveled at how quickly Xie Yuan had advanced in the Yunshan Sword Style.
• Tian Zhuang expressed his hope that he and Xie Yuan would soon become outer sect disciples before a steward sent them back to work.
• Xie Yuan kept practicing and concealed the full extent of his progress while stewards took notice of him amid preparations for the Hidden Sword Pavilion’s visit.
• Xie Yuan wondered about his approaching Qi and Blood Transformation Realm and recalled Miss Mu, who was away investigating in Wild Goose Province.
• A steward summoned Xie Yuan to help receive guests and told him that Xue Yanwen and the daughter of the former Prince of Western Peace had arrived.

Xie Yuan was sent to Jinling to investigate the assassination of the Yunshan Sword Sect’s estate steward and possible ties to the great families’ schemes at Black River. As he prepared to descend the mountain with the sect’s delegation, Huijue and Zhang Junyi also set out on journeys of their own.

• Ning Zi brought Xie Yuan to Li Xingtuo, who assigned Qin Zhenyang, Ning Zi, Huang Zifeng, and Lin Zhen to attend the Little Hidden Dragon Meet in Jinling.
• Li Xingtuo privately told Xie Yuan that Wang Zhiyi, steward of the Jinling Estate, had been assassinated and asked him to investigate possible links to the Yao Family and the Black River case.
• Li Xingtuo gave Xie Yuan a small sword containing a thread of his Fleeting Light Shadow Sword intent and promised him a chance to enter Sword Peak if his investigation uncovered the secret.
• Xie Yuan packed his medicines, weapons, and artifacts, then joined the others to depart for Jinling the next morning.
• At Prajna Temple, Huijue left to pursue his karmic destiny, while Zhang Junyi received talismans and a copper coin from his master before descending Luofu Mountain.

Xie Yuan reunited with Situ Qin on Yunshan Mountain, where she returned Moon-Slayer and gave him three Blood Dragon Pills. After he left, Situ Qin admitted her uneasy feelings about Mu Chaoyun, and Red Aunt urged her to win Xie Yuan’s affection while she was near him.

• Situ Qin asked Xie Yuan whether he and Mu Chaoyun had pledged themselves to each other, and he denied it.
• Situ Qin returned Moon-Slayer to Xie Yuan and gave him three Blood Dragon Pills to aid his cultivation.
• Xie Yuan and Situ Qin shared food, tea, conversation, and music before he left her courtyard.
• Situ Qin told Red Aunt that she felt uncomfortable about Xie Yuan’s bond with Mu Chaoyun and denied that she liked him.
• Red Aunt reassured Situ Qin that her proximity, youth, talent, and resources gave her an advantage, and advised her to use them to draw Xie Yuan closer.

After reaching one hundred points in Chopping Wood, Xie Yuan gained the Cleaving technique and used it to fell an Iron Poplar. He traded the firewood for a mountain chicken and planned to bring more warmth and food to Li Lan and the others.

• Xie Yuan reached one hundred points in Chopping Wood, gained the skill Cleaving, and split a log and its chopping block with one powerful strike.
• Xie Yuan tested his technique on an Iron Poplar and felled the tree, then processed some of its wood into firewood.
• Xie Yuan packed a basket of Iron Poplar firewood to deliver to Li Lan and the others, but first visited Zhu Dongming.
• Xie Yuan traded the firewood to Zhu Dongming for a mountain chicken, and Zhu Dongming agreed to buy more of his good firewood.
• Zhu Dongming carried the firewood inside after his wife called for him, while Xie Yuan left with the mountain chicken.

Grandmasters from Great Li and the Western Regions negotiated over the newly emerged Floating Pagoda and sent their disciples inside when it opened. Xie Yuan found himself moving through a strange, half-real pagoda while everyone else was frozen, rescued Lin Zhen and the others, and climbed toward the fourth floor.

• Li Xingtuo and Ming Wang argued over who could enter the Floating Pagoda, then agreed to let each faction send one disciple to explore its first three levels.
• After two days, the pagoda opened, and the young disciples from both sides jumped into the entrance under plans to fight their rivals inside.
• Xie Yuan woke alone on the pagoda’s vast first floor and found Lin Zhen and Lu Lao San’s bandits frozen into its pillars and walls.
• Xie Yuan used the Heaven Concealing Art to free Lin Zhen, then found Lin Cheng and the others and brought them to safety in a pill-refining chamber.
• Xie Yuan explored the first three floors, discovered their rooms contained increasingly valuable martial arts supplies, and found that the items vanished when carried outside their rooms.
• Xie Yuan concluded that the first three floors corresponded to Qi and Blood transformations and stepped onto the stairs toward the fourth floor.

Xie Yuan cleared all thirty-two divisions on the first four floors of the Xie Family Martial Repository in one day, astonishing the guards and clan members. He returned the next morning and reached the fifth floor, where he prepared to challenge its guards for access to a stronger External Training technique.

• Xie Yuan defeated the first-floor guards across all eight divisions, then cleared the second floor just as quickly.
• Xie Yuan struggled more on the third and fourth floors but passed every division, using the Heaven Concealing Art to overcome the Heavenly Secrets Division's illusion trial.
• The Martial Guardian Elder and Xie Yi discussed Xie Yuan's extraordinary abilities, while news of his four-floor achievement spread through the clan.
• Thirteenth Uncle learned that Xie Yuan had cleared thirty-two manuals, then found his wife Zhi Lan dead; the Clan Law Hall arrested Xie Cheng for running a gambling den connected to her death.
• Xie Yuan returned to the repository with Xie Lingyun, passed through the first four floors, and reached the fifth floor to begin its trials.

Divine Catcher Su Xing investigated Yu Chunsheng’s murder and connected Xie Yuan to Deng Wan’s death and the Mu Family Grandmaster’s escape. After narrowly passing Xie Yuan at a noodle stall, Su Xing recognized him in the suspect’s portrait, leaving their identities known to each other only on one side.

• Su Xing questioned witnesses and studied the case files, linking the Soaring Dragon Escort Agency’s destruction to Deng Wan and the Mu Family Grandmaster.
• Su Xing deduced that Xie Yuan had helped kill Deng Wan and then returned to Cloudshine to take revenge on Yu Chunsheng.
• Su Xing visited Xie Yuan’s home in Small Stone Village, examined the banknotes, and concluded that Xie Yuan had returned that morning.
• Su Xing searched the area but found no trace of Xie Yuan, whose trail-concealing method made Su Xing suspect the Mu Family Grandmaster had aided him.
• Xie Yuan ate noodles by the roadside as Su Xing passed without recognizing him.
• Su Xing returned to the County Office, unfolded Xie Yuan’s portrait, and realized the suspect was the man he had just passed.

Xie Yuan remained on Sword Peak for nine days, absorbing its sword intent until the Black Heaven Book broke through and granted him Sword Heart and Minor Mastery of the Cloud Dragon Nine Forms. After descending, he was excused to rest while Li Xingtuo and other grandmasters gathered to discuss him.

• Xie Yuan encouraged Lin Zhen to climb to the Eleventh Level, then sat beside her and began comprehending the dense sword intent.
• Lin Zhen, Pei Yu, Lin Cheng, and Huang Zifeng eventually descended, while Xie Yuan continued meditating as Qin Zhenyang and Li Xingtuo watched over him.
• Word spread throughout Yunshan Mountain that Zhang Shan had stayed on Sword Peak for days, drawing the attention of disciples and grandmasters.
• Xie Yuan entered a vision of sword arts, filled the Black Heaven Book's progress, gained initial-stage Sword Heart, and advanced the Cloud Dragon Nine Forms to Minor Mastery.
• After nine days, Xie Yuan woke and descended; Li Xingtuo praised his talent, accepted his claim that he was tired, and sent him away to rest.
• Li Xingtuo met with several grandmasters in the tea room and asked what they thought of Zhang Shan.

After earning Third-Class Merit Points for his work on the escort run, Xie Yuan used a Superior Medicinal Bath to break through to the Second Level of Practice. He prepared to return to Small Stone Village for the New Year, planning to visit his old friends at the Iron Clothes Gate along the way.

• Zhao Xingyang treated the escort team to a celebration banquet and told Xie Yuan he would receive Third-Class Merit Points.
• Xie Yuan exchanged the merit points for a Superior Medicinal Bath and reached the Second Level of Practice by completing Flesh Tempering.
• Xie Yuan credited the medicinal baths and Golden Jade Pill for helping him advance, and wondered whether to change cultivation techniques.
• Xie Yuan packed for the New Year trip to Small Stone Village and decided to stop in Coiling Dragon Town to visit the Iron Clothes Gate.

After discovering that he could improve skills through practice, Xie Yuan chopped wood to build proficiency and earn food. He reached Chopping Wood (100/100), while Wang Lei and Li Lan worried over their finances and the Zhang brothers’ offer to take him under their wing.

• Xie Yuan realized his fortune-stick verse suggested he could learn any skill and began chopping wood, raising his Chopping Wood proficiency to 14/100.
• Li Lan brought the hungry, cold Xie Yuan to eat with her family, learned that his clothes had been stolen, and had Wang Lei give him a padded coat.
• Xie Yuan brought firewood to Wang Lei and Li Lan in gratitude, while Wang Lei and Li Lan discussed their poor harvest and the Zhang brothers’ offer to find Xie Yuan work in the county town.
• Xie Yuan chopped and sold Laizi Tree firewood for three days, earning enough to trade for food and steadily increasing his proficiency.
• Xie Yuan split another log and reached Chopping Wood (100/100).

Xie Yuan practiced the Cloud Dragon Step and spent time exploring Yunshan Mountain with Situ Qin, who shared memories of her father. Their outing ended when sword qi erupted from a cliff crevice and surged toward them.

• Xie Yuan rapidly improved his Cloud Dragon Step while practicing at Waterfall Cliff.
• Xie Yuan and Situ Qin climbed a steep cliff together, teased each other, and discussed Red Aunt and the secret of Xie Yuan's background.
• Situ Qin recalled her father as a cheerful, joking man and grew quiet when Xie Yuan asked about her mother.
• A strand of sword qi burst from the crevice where Xie Yuan and Situ Qin had rested, nearly sending Situ Qin over the cliff.
• Xie Yuan recognized the sword qi as the same kind found on Sword Peak, then a violent gale drove a tide of sword qi toward them.

Xie Yuan killed Li Mazi after Li Mazi tried to attack him and threatened the people he cared about. He buried the body and returned home, where he decided to seek martial arts training from Zhu Dongming to protect himself from the Zhang Family Brothers.

• Xie Yuan dodged Li Mazi’s attack with a pointed stone, knocked him down, and pinned him to the ground.
• Li Mazi threatened Xie Yuan and the people around him, prompting Xie Yuan to kill him with his axe.
• Xie Yuan covered the bloodstains and buried Li Mazi, including the stolen cotton-padded coat, to hide what had happened.
• A dark-faced man in a fur coat watched the woods, trampled some remaining bloodstains, and left carrying a wild rabbit.
• Xie Yuan returned home with firewood and decided to ask Zhu Dongming about learning martial arts.

After earning a large reward for helping Situ Qin, Xie Yuan bought a new saber and improved his Galloping Wolf Saber Art to Mastery. He then went to Coiling Dragon Town for the Three Families Martial Gathering, where Liu Heshang appeared at the Iron Clothes Gate Martial Hall.

• Xu Mo awarded Xie Yuan Second-Class Merit Points and one hundred taels of silver for his mission.
• Xie Yuan spent most of his reward on a Precious Steel Blade and had his Tiger Bone Axe reforged, while saving his merit points for a possible Iron Cloth training method.
• Xie Yuan practiced with his new saber until his Galloping Wolf Saber Art advanced to Mastery.
• Xie Yuan traveled to Coiling Dragon Town for the Three Families Martial Gathering and found the town crowded with spectators.
• Liu Heshang emerged from the Iron Clothes Gate Martial Hall, confirming he had come to the gathering.

Xie Yuan entered the Yunshan Sword Sect’s outer sect, moved in with Lin Cheng, and discovered that the Yunshan Sword Qi Art could combine with his Nourishing Body Skill. As he trained and helped Lin Cheng improve, Luo Shuang and Song Qingping visited the disciples, and Song Qingping stopped before Xie Yuan to ask his name.

• The chief steward promoted Zhang Shan to the outer sect and gave him the complete Yunshan Sword Style and the Yunshan Sword Qi Art.
• Xie Yuan chose Lin Cheng as his courtyard companion and helped him understand the Yunshan Sword Style through a series of sword formulas.
• Xie Yuan began cultivating the Yunshan Sword Qi Art and discovered that his Nourishing Body Skill could transform into Sword Breath and back again.
• Xie Yuan and Lin Cheng trained diligently in the outer sect, drawing praise from instructors and complaints from their tired fellow disciples.
• Luo Shuang and Song Qingping visited the training field, where Song Qingping stopped before Xie Yuan and asked his name.

Xie Yuan confronted Li Mazi, who tried to force him to work for Zhang Lao Er and take his coat. After Xie Yuan beat Li Mazi and learned why Zhang Lao Er wanted him, he turned to leave the woods, unaware that Li Mazi was attacking him from behind.

• Li Mazi grabbed Xie Yuan's padded coat and demanded that he agree to work for Zhang Lao Er.
• When Xie Yuan refused, Li Mazi attacked him, but Xie Yuan struck him with an axe and beat him down.
• Xie Yuan forced Li Mazi to explain that Zhang Lao Er wanted to offer him to a government Master for martial arts training, as Li Mazi believed Zhang Da had once done.
• Xie Yuan reclaimed his coat and warned Li Mazi to stay away before heading deeper into the woods.
• Li Mazi picked up a stone and swung it at the back of Xie Yuan's head.