Chapter Summaries

Li Hen Pavilion Elder Hao Shuang gathered leaders of four other Evil Sects in Flying Waterfall City to plan how to kill Lin Heng. They agreed to monitor him and strike after he left Cloud Sword Palace, while Lin Heng remained unaware of their plot.

• Hao Shuang convened representatives of the Divine Doctor Sect, Mad Blood Gang, Nether Palace, and Limitless Hall aboard Li Hen Pavilion’s painted boat.
• Hao Shuang rejected an attack during Lin Heng’s upcoming Grandmaster Ceremony, saying Li Hen Pavilion’s failed assassination had made infiltration too difficult.
• Hao Shuang proposed that the factions share intelligence and wait until Lin Heng left Cloud Sword Palace to travel through the Jianghu.
• The gathered leaders approved the plan and developed schemes for attacking Lin Heng once he descended from the mountain.

Lin Heng reached the fourth level of the Grandmaster Realm and made a strong impression at his Grandmaster Ceremony, winning twenty sparring matches in a row. After the ceremony, Xiao Rang gave him Jade Sword Grass, and Lin Heng began cultivating with it.

• Lin Heng broke through to the fourth level of the Grandmaster Realm, then prepared for his ceremony.
• Lin Heng toasted the guests at the Grandmaster Ceremony and met Cloud Sword Palace experts and envoys from other factions.
• Lin Heng sparred with Grandmasters, adapted quickly, and finished with twenty consecutive victories.
• Wei Xuan reported the ceremony's gifts, and Xiao Rang selected Jade Sword Grass for Lin Heng and promised Li Yang's descendants places as Inner Disciples in return for his gift.
• Lin Heng swallowed the Jade Sword Grass and began cultivating as its medicinal power tempered his body and formed an image of the grass in his mind.

Lin Heng completed the nine bodily transformations of the Grandmaster Realm, reaching the peak of the human Physique and greatly increasing his cultivation speed. Xiao Rang gave him eight costly Essence Pills and planned to train his combat experience after he refined them.

• After cultivating diligently for a year and a half, Lin Heng reached the Grandmaster Ninth Level and underwent a complete bodily transformation.
• Lin Heng developed the Ethereal Aura and an indestructible vajra Physique, completing the Grandmaster Realm’s first cultivation goal.
• Lin Heng discovered that his Internal Breath could now accumulate far faster and calculated that he could reach Grandmaster Realm Great Completion in about five years.
• Xiao Rang gave Lin Heng eight Essence Pills and told him to refine them before beginning combat training with the Hundred Schools Martial Arts.

Lin Heng refined eight Essence Pills overnight, reaching Grandmaster Thirteenth Heaven and greatly improving his cultivation speed. He then joined Xiao Rang for combat training, where Xiao Rang began attacking him with Heavenly Star Valley’s Heavenly Star Sword Technique.

• Xiao Rang arranged for Lin Heng to leave the Cold Pool and hone his combat skills through actual combat.
• Lin Heng returned to Empty Bright Hall and swallowed the eight Essence Pills, rapidly filling his Acupoints with Internal Breath.
• Lin Heng reached Grandmaster Thirteenth Heaven and found that the pills had increased his cultivation speed by more than thirty percent.
• Lin Heng met Xiao Rang at Cloud Sword Palace, and Xiao Rang attacked him with the Heavenly Star Sword Technique while explaining its origin.

Lin Heng trained with Xiao Rang, repeatedly sparring against Heavenly Star Valley sword techniques and improving his combat skill while cultivating an Artistic Conception at the cliffside. Two and a half years passed as his cultivation and ethereal aura steadily deepened.

• Xiao Rang sparred with Lin Heng using the Heavenly Star Sword Technique, defeated him, and explained the flaws in his technique.
• Lin Heng and Xiao Rang repeated their sparring and review, until Lin Heng mastered counters and could fight Xiao Rang to a standstill.
• Xiao Rang ended the day's practice and promised to teach Lin Heng the Stars Sword Technique the next day.
• Lin Heng took a Snow Heart Pill and watched the sea of clouds, beginning to elevate his sword intent toward a Sword Domain.
• Xiao Rang demonstrated the Stars Sword Technique, and Lin Heng eventually learned to counter it before returning to the cliffside to watch the clouds.
• Lin Heng settled into daily sparring, cultivation, and rest, and two and a half years passed as his strength and ethereal aura grew.

Fourteen-year-old Lin Heng broke through from the Grandmaster Realm to become a Great Grandmaster, shaking Cloud Sword Palace with a vast sword intent and heavenly phenomena. Xiao Rang congratulated his disciple and declared that Lin Heng had completed his training.

• During Morning Practice, Lin Heng's sword intent surged from the rear mountain, drawing clouds, lightning, and Heaven and Earth Origin Energy.
• Transmission Elder Jin Ming told the disciples that the Young Sect Master had broken through, and they celebrated Lin Heng's achievement.
• After two and a half years of refinement, Lin Heng transformed his Internal Breath, Physique, and Spiritual Power and reached the Great Grandmaster Realm.
• Lin Heng sensed his new power and recognized that he had become a Peerless Expert who could influence conflicts between great powers.
• Xiao Rang approached Lin Heng, congratulated him on becoming a Great Grandmaster, and said his training was complete.

After Lin Heng reached the Great Grandmaster realm at fourteen, Cloud Sword Palace celebrated his breakthrough while rival factions feared his future power. The Anti-Cloud Sword Palace Alliance reorganized as the Kill Heng Society and prepared to kill Lin Heng, even if they had to storm Cloud Sword Palace.

• Lin Heng thanked Xiao Rang and the Elders for their support, and Xiao Rang called for a feast to celebrate his breakthrough.
• Cloud Sword Palace held celebrations and planned a joint event to mark Lin Heng becoming a Great Grandmaster.
• Spies spread news of Lin Heng's breakthrough, alarming rival factions and prompting some to consider abandoning the alliance against Cloud Sword Palace.
• Hao Shuang learned that the Alliance's plans to kill Lin Heng on the road had become useless and considered gathering overwhelming force instead.
• Several shadowy figures joined Li Hen Pavilion, and the Anti-Cloud Sword Palace Alliance reorganized into the Kill Heng Society, which planned to attack Lin Heng or storm Cloud Sword Palace.

Lin Heng asked Xiao Rang to explain the path beyond the Great Grandmaster Realm, learning how intent enabled further breakthroughs and hearing about the legendary Heaven-Human Realm. Xiao Rang then brought him to a hidden library where he could study the sect’s martial arts and generations of insights into intent.

• Lin Heng declined Xiao Rang’s suggestion to travel down the mountain and asked for guidance on cultivation beyond the Great Grandmaster Realm.
• Xiao Rang explained that Great Grandmasters advanced by sublimating their intent, and described Patriarch Ling Yun’s rise to the Seventh Heaven.
• Lin Heng asked about Xiao Rang’s realm and the path to the Heaven-Human Realm; Xiao Rang said he had reached the Fourth Heaven and that the number of transformations required was unknown.
• Xiao Rang led Lin Heng through a hidden passage into an underground library containing martial arts manuals and the sect’s accumulated insights into intent.

Lin Heng studied the sword intents and martial arts collected beneath Cloud Sword Palace, building the knowledge he needed to create a cultivation art suited to himself. After integrating the Hundred Schools Martial Arts, he began testing and refining his new art, which was still approaching perfection.

• Xiao Rang explained that the underground stone chambers held the remains and sword marks of past Cloud Sword Palace masters, and identified Zhang Qing as Lin Heng's grandmaster and Zhang Yuan's ancestor.
• Lin Heng paid his respects to Zhang Qing, then contemplated the sword marks while cultivating underground for a month until he had comprehended all the sword intents there.
• Lin Heng studied tens of thousands of martial arts manuals, combining their teachings with his experience and gaining the foundation to create martial arts of his own.
• Lin Heng decided his new cultivation art should prioritize cultivation speed, survivability, and combat power, and designed it around martial arts he had practiced for years.
• Lin Heng tested his new cultivation art and repeatedly revised it, removing unsuitable techniques and strengthening it as it moved closer to perfection.

Five months after Lin Heng became a Great Grandmaster, the Kill Heng Society learned that he remained in seclusion at Cloud Sword Palace and decided to attack the mountain gate on New Year's Eve. The society began recruiting allies and preparing to draw away Cloud Sword Palace's experts before launching its assault.

• Hao Shuang told the Kill Heng Society that Lin Heng was still cultivating at Cloud Sword Palace and that his strength continued to grow.
• The Kill Heng Society agreed to storm Cloud Sword Palace rather than abandon its plan to kill Lin Heng.
• A masked figure proposed attacking on New Year's Eve, when fewer people would be guarding the mountain gate, and the society approved the timing.
• Hao Shuang, Shu Qiu, and others proposed creating trouble across Cloud Sword Palace's territories to draw its experts away.
• The society agreed to recruit more forces, gather additional combat strength, and train in the Three Talents Formation.
• The Kill Heng Society began secretly recruiting allies and preparing distractions ahead of its New Year's Eve assault.

Cloud Sword Palace's elders investigated a wave of Demonic Heretic crimes and attacks on the sect's businesses, suspecting a coordinated plot to draw their experts away from the Mountain Gate. The chapter left Xiao Rang wondering whether the attackers were targeting Heng'er and whether Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City were involved.

• Law Enforcement Elder Li Yan reported that five Demonic Heretic factions had unleashed violent crimes across Cloud Sword Palace's territories.
• Finance Elder Wei Xuan reported that masked experts had attacked Cloud Sword Palace businesses and merchant caravans throughout Lan Continent.
• Xiao Rang proposed asking Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City to help investigate the attacks and capture the Local Tyrants.
• Spirit Plant Elder Zhang Ya warned that the disturbances seemed designed to lure Cloud Sword Palace experts away from the Mountain Gate.
• The elders concluded that the attacks shared a hidden purpose, but Yu Rong and Li Yan questioned why the plotters would act despite the Mountain Gate's strong defenses.
• Xiao Rang speculated that the mastermind might be targeting Heng'er and that Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City could be involved.

Xiao Rang argued that Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City were behind the disturbances and planned to weaken Cloud Sword Palace before attacking its mountain gate to kill Lin Heng. The Elders debated whether Lin Heng should leave the sect for safety, and Xiao Rang went to ask him what he wanted to do.

• Xiao Rang explained that Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City might be using the disturbances to draw away Cloud Sword Palace's experts and prepare a surprise attack on the mountain gate.
• Xiao Rang told the Elders that Lin Heng's rise had disrupted the balance among the three Martial Arts Holy Lands and given the other two a reason to join forces against Cloud Sword Palace.
• Li Yan proposed that Cloud Sword Palace ignore outside turmoil and concentrate its strength on guarding the mountain gate until Lin Heng matured.
• Xiao Rang rejected Li Yan's proposal and suggested that Lin Heng leave the sect temporarily to avoid an attack while cultivating elsewhere.
• Wei Xuan warned that sending Lin Heng away could expose him to danger, while Xiao Rang argued that Lin Heng could travel safely and benefit from seeing the world.
• Zhang Ya suggested asking Lin Heng's opinion, so Xiao Rang paused the meeting and went underground to consult him.

Lin Heng completed the Boundless Sea Divine Art and rapidly rose to Great Grandmaster Eighth Heaven, surpassing Cloud Sword Palace’s Patriarch Ling Yun. Xiao Rang told him that petty villains might target the Cloud Sword Palace Mountain Gate soon, and Lin Heng would be needed to quell the trouble.

• Lin Heng used the Boundless Sea Divine Art to absorb Heaven and Earth Origin Energy and break through several Great Grandmaster levels.
• Xiao Rang arrived and watched Lin Heng’s cultivation rise beyond his own and approach the level of a Supreme Great Grandmaster.
• Lin Heng reached Great Grandmaster Eighth Heaven and explained that his new art would let him continue advancing rapidly toward the Heaven-Human Realm.
• Xiao Rang brought Lin Heng food and warned him that enemies might watch the Cloud Sword Palace Mountain Gate, asking him to help quell the coming chaos.

Lin Heng learned that Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City planned to draw Cloud Sword Palace’s experts away before attacking and luring him out. He proposed using his Supreme Great Grandmaster strength to ambush their forces, and Xiao Rang began preparing the sect for the coming battle.

• Lin Heng questioned Xiao Rang about the unrest and learned that Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City were behind a plot to weaken Cloud Sword Palace and kill him.
• Lin Heng deduced that the enemy might be waiting near the mountain gate to ambush him if he tried to flee.
• Lin Heng proposed sending sect experts to address the unrest while secretly gathering allies near the mountain gate to counterattack during the New Year.
• Xiao Rang accepted Lin Heng’s plan, and Lin Heng returned to cultivation to grow stronger before the battle.
• Xiao Rang told the Elders that Lin Heng had reached Great Grandmaster Eighth Heaven, then began issuing preparations for the coming conflict.

Xiao Rang prepared the Cloud Sword Palace for a decisive battle while Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City advanced a plot to destroy it. As New Year's Eve approached, the enemy forces gathered near the mountain gate, believing their plan was unfolding smoothly.

• Xiao Rang ordered Li Yan to eliminate hostile forces targeting the Cloud Sword Palace and tasked Jin Ming with recruiting retired experts.
• Xiao Rang directed the other Elders to discreetly contact Neutral Faction experts while he organized supplies and logistics.
• Feng Yue and Cang Chengyu monitored the Cloud Sword Palace Mountain Gate and planned to attack after the Demonic Heretics weakened its defenders.
• Over the final three days, more Cloud Sword Palace experts and core disciples left the mountain gate, leaving only a few hundred people there.
• Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City assembled more than two thousand Grandmasters and over twenty Great Grandmasters near the Cloud Sword Palace.

Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City joined forces with the Kill Heng Society to attack Cloud Sword Palace and kill Lin Heng. The Kill Heng Society launched its surprise assault during the New Year’s Eve reunion dinner, with Lin Heng surrounded as the attack began.

• An Nian and Shui Wenzhao led more than two thousand experts toward Cloud Sword Palace after Feng Yue reported that the Kill Heng Society was ready to attack.
• The Kill Heng Society gathered near Cloud Sword Palace and rallied its members with the promise of treasures and manuals from the sect’s Treasure Vault.
• The Kill Heng Society infiltrated Cloud Sword Palace’s mountain gate and reached the Training Ground, where Lin Heng was dining with the remaining experts.
• The Kill Heng Society surrounded the hall, hurled concealed weapons toward Lin Heng, and charged at him with their weapons drawn.

The Kill Heng Society isolated Lin Heng and attacked him with a formation-powered strike, but his Ethereal True Aura absorbed and returned their force. Lin Heng left the society’s thousands of fighters incapacitated and revealed a strength that threatened to ruin their entire scheme.

• The Cloud Sword Palace experts withdrew with their servants, leaving Lin Heng alone as the Kill Heng Society attacked.
• The society’s seven Great Grandmasters and thousands of fighters channeled their power through the Three Talents Formation and struck Lin Heng together.
• Lin Heng calmly received the attack, then unleashed a force that scattered the formation, injured the seven Great Grandmasters, and left the other fighters unable to move.
• Hao Shuang and the other attackers sensed Lin Heng’s overwhelming aura, while an Ice Frost City Great Grandmaster realized the society’s plan was doomed.
• Lin Heng explained that his Ethereal True Aura and Boundless Sea Divine Art had dissolved and returned the attack with added force.

Lin Heng’s allies captured the Kill Heng Society members and revealed that Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City had fallen into a trap. Their forces arrived expecting to defeat a weakened Cloud Sword Palace, only to be surrounded by reinforcements loyal to Lin Heng.

• Cloud Sword Palace experts chained and poisoned the captured Kill Heng Society members to suppress their inner force and hold them for questioning.
• Lin Heng sensed Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City approaching, and Xiao Rang sent several hundred streams of sword qi into the sky as a signal.
• An Nian led more than two thousand Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City experts to the Cloud Sword Palace Mountain Gate, expecting to take advantage of a weakened enemy.
• An Nian’s forces found the Kill Heng Society captured and the Cloud Sword Palace calm, then realized that roughly two thousand experts had arrived and surrounded them.
• An Nian recognized that Cloud Sword Palace veterans and allied leaders had joined forces in support of Lin Heng, and a Cloud Sword Palace expert praised Lin Heng while mocking the attackers.

Lin Heng faced the forces of Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City after revealing himself as a Supreme Great Grandmaster. He fought their leaders and twenty-one Great Grandmasters alone, while Cloud Sword Palace stood ready to support him.

• An Nian realized Lin Heng was a Supreme Great Grandmaster and asked whether they could reconcile, but Lin Heng refused to negotiate.
• An Nian ordered the allied forces to fight and charged Lin Heng, who unleashed his Sword Domain and severed An Nian’s limbs.
• Twenty-one Great Grandmasters attacked Lin Heng with secret arts, but he held his ground and severed Shui Wenzhao’s sword arm.
• Lin Heng released the force he had accumulated with Ethereal Aura, blasting the Great Grandmasters away, then cut down dozens of Grandmasters supporting their array.
• Li Yan worried that Lin Heng might be injured or exhaust his lifespan, but Xiao Rang explained that Lin Heng had chosen the battle to gain experience and ordered the others to stand ready to help.

Lin Heng overwhelmed the forces of Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City at the Cloud Sword Palace Mountain Gate, while Cloud Sword Palace’s fighters sealed off every escape route. With their Great Grandmasters and disciples trapped, the two factions were annihilated, leaving Cloud Sword Palace victorious.

• Lin Heng killed four of the twenty-one enemy Great Grandmasters and decimated the Grandmaster Martial Artists maintaining their array.
• The remaining seventeen enemy Great Grandmasters split up, with seven holding Lin Heng back and ten leading their disciples in an attempted breakout.
• Cloud Sword Palace’s experts joined the fight and blocked the breakout, trapping the fleeing forces inside the mountain gate.
• Lin Heng exploited a moment of distraction to kill the seven Great Grandmasters holding him back.
• Lin Heng and the Cloud Sword Palace experts attacked the trapped enemies, killing the remaining ten Great Grandmasters and wiping out the forces of both factions.