Chapter Summaries

Li Huaiyuan tried to persuade Li Wei to leave the Western Frontier front line, but learned she was eager to fight despite the army’s heavy casualties. Yun Heng intervened and allowed her to stay, leaving Li Huaiyuan worried about her safety.

• Li Huaiyuan asked Li Wei how she felt about her first battlefield, and she enthusiastically said she loved fighting Abyssal Monsters.
• Li Huaiyuan told Li Wei that the 52nd Army had suffered more than fifteen thousand casualties and urged her to grow stronger before returning to the front line.
• Li Wei pointed out that Grandmasters were not allowed to act freely on the Western Frontier battlefield, stalling Li Huaiyuan’s attempt to persuade her.
• Yun Heng appeared in the office, overruled Li Huaiyuan, and agreed that Li Wei could remain on the front line.
• Li Huaiyuan accepted Yun Heng’s decision but asked him to protect Li Wei, whom he called the hope of Hua Nation and humanity.

Li Wei chose a unit that would keep her fighting on the front line and was assigned to the depleted 19th Army Martial Artist Corps. After arriving at her barracks, she discovered a shrine of photographs and offerings before a woman addressed her as a newcomer.

• Li Wei rejected the attached Martial Artist and regular Martial Artist Corps options, asking Li Huaiyuan for a unit that could fight monsters on the front line every day.
• Li Huaiyuan assigned Li Wei to the 19th Army Martial Artist Corps, and a female staff officer explained that it was an understrength, expendable unit made up of Substitute Service members.
• Li Wei welcomed the unit’s constant frontline combat and flew with the staff officer to its station near the mountain fortress.
• The corps registrar assigned Li Wei to the 4th Brigade, 2nd Company, 7th Squad, and told her to find her own dormitory in Area C, Unit 17.
• Li Wei entered the filthy Barracks C17 and found a clean corner with photographs of a smiling uniformed girl, incense, and offerings.
• A hoarse, mature female voice behind Li Wei asked whether she was a newcomer.

Li Wei, who introduced herself to Qin Lan as Jiang Xue, settled into the Seventh Squad barracks and learned about the squad’s lax routine and absent roommate Yuan Xiaoli. She ended the chapter with a bed and cabinet of her own, while still hungry and without a meal.

• Qin Lan mistook Li Wei for an inspecting officer, then relaxed when Li Wei introduced herself as Jiang Xue and said she was a new Substitute Service member.
• Qin Lan apologized for her blunt remark about Li Wei’s looks, and the two women cleaned the filthy barracks together.
• Qin Lan told Li Wei that the 19th Army’s Quartermaster Department was unstaffed and offered Yuan Xiaoli’s unused supplies.
• Qin Lan explained that Yuan Xiaoli had died on a combat mission; Li Wei spoke to her photograph and asked to use her belongings.
• Qin Lan helped Li Wei make her bed and gave her Yuan Xiaoli’s cabinet key, then ate leftover food while Li Wei realized the cafeteria had no food left.

Li Wei questioned Qin Lan about the Abyssal Monsters and battle patterns at the 19th Army, then spent 40,000 Abyss Essence awakening the four lotus seeds. She gained the Four Seasons Sword Array and discovered that its four swords included a Summer Sword she did not want.

• Li Wei shared expensive snacks with Qin Lan and asked about battle frequency, revealing that minor fights occurred daily while large battles were less common.
• Qin Lan explained that the 19th Army's Substitute Service personnel were treated as cannon fodder and described underground combat as sporadic infiltration that intensified during major pushes against the Abyssal Monsters.
• Li Wei concluded that remaining below the Middle Third Order would let her gain more essence from plentiful lower-order monsters, and she decided to save enough essence to advance directly to Sixth Order.
• Li Wei returned to her bunk and invested 40,000 Abyss Essence in the Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter Lotus Seeds.
• Li Wei received knowledge of the Four Seasons Sword Array and sensed a vast presence, then recoiled when she realized the array included a Summer Sword.

Li Wei examined the newly matured Lotus Swords and learned the Four Seasons Sword Array’s capabilities, then decided to level up after eating. As Qin Lan warned her about the 19th Army’s soldiers, a bugle sounded before Li Wei could leave.

• Li Wei confirmed that the four Lotus Swords had entered the Infancy Period and sensed that she could summon the distant array base.
• Li Wei learned that the array had a weaker mode using only the four swords and a powerful complete mode requiring the array base and four simultaneous attackers to break.
• Li Wei regretted naming the swords after the seasons and resolved to eat before going to battle for Experience Points.
• Qin Lan warned Li Wei to avoid the cafeteria at regular mealtimes because male soldiers in the 19th Army might target her, and offered to get food for her.
• Li Wei asked whether any Middle Third Order opponents were present, declared she would stand alone through the ages, and heard a bugle blare over the loudspeakers.

After Qin Lan urged Li Wei to prepare for a combat mission, she passed Li Wei the Seventh Squad leader’s insignia, and Li Wei was appointed temporary brigade commander of the understrength 4th Brigade. Aboard the helicopter on the way to defend the Northeast Sector’s trench network, Li Wei summoned the Spring Sword and delivered an absurd pre-battle speech that left the brigade bewildered.

• Qin Lan told Li Wei to gear up for a combat mission, then insisted they take the Seventh Squad’s traditional photograph before leaving.
• Qin Lan gave Li Wei the squad leader’s insignia, and Li Wei signed the photo as Jiang Xue before accepting the role.
• Li Wei learned that Tang Dou, Su Meng, and Lin Wanrou were recovering from injuries and reassured Qin Lan that no one in the squad would die.
• At the assembly ground, an officer appointed Li Wei temporary brigade commander of the 4th Brigade, which had only thirty-eight personnel.
• Aboard the helicopter, Li Wei summoned the Spring Sword to silence the brigade and announced their mission to defend the Northeast Sector’s trench network, Northeast 1-02.
• Li Wei told the brigade to shout “666” loudly and express their admiration sincerely, leaving the members confused.

Zhang Yansheng explained his plans concerning Jiang Xue and warned Zhang Luye that the Western Frontier might soon fall into chaos. He urged his father to quietly move the Zhang Family’s people and valuables east, leaving the story with Zhang Yansheng’s wife chosen to lead the evacuation.

• Zhang Luye confronted Zhang Yansheng about sending Zhang Pengcheng to the battlefield, and Zhang Yansheng revealed that Zhang Pengcheng had joined to pursue Jiang Xue.
• Zhang Yansheng explained that he had tried to assign Jiang Xue to the Third Army to improve the Zhang Family’s standing with her, hoping she would target Zhang Luye’s Nineteenth Army instead.
• Zhang Luye told Zhang Yansheng that Yun Heng had warned him the Western Frontier was about to fall into chaos.
• Zhang Yansheng asked whether Zhang Luye had watched Jiang Xue’s battle, then called her a variable and advised his father to move the family and its valuables east quietly.
• Zhang Yansheng chose his wife to lead the evacuation and told Zhang Pengcheng that his mother had only pretended to be foolish while playing with him.

Li Wei organized the 4th Brigade to defend the salient and prepared her Four Seasons Sword Array ahead of the Arctic Alliance’s counterattack. When the bombardment began and the Wall of Gray Mist surged, she spotted a shadow and readied her Lotus Swords.

• Li Wei inspected the salient and tested the range of her illusory Lotus Sword, confirming that the Four Seasons Sword Array could cover the 4th Brigade’s defensive zone.
• Li Wei assigned Qin Lan and the other thirty-six brigade members to defend the left, center, and right sections, then warned them to hold off Abyssal monsters until she could support them.
• At two o’clock, the Arctic Alliance began its counterattack with a massive artillery barrage and waves of aircraft.
• The first shell awakened the Wall of Gray Mist, and Li Wei spotted a black shadow near its edge and drew her Cicada-Wing Soft Sword as four Lotus Swords prepared to strike.

Li Wei and Qin Lan faced a massive tide of Abyss “Sea Urchins” sweeping toward the Hua Nation’s positions. As the creatures reached the salient, Li Wei opened the Four Seasons Sword Array and began destroying them while gaining essence faster than the array consumed it.

• Qin Lan warned Li Wei that more divisions and troops were gathering near Dragon Tooth Bunker, but Li Wei reassured her.
• Countless “Sea Urchins” poured from the gray mist and formed a river that swept north along the front of the salient.
• The Hua Nation’s forces opened fire, and Li Wei rapidly accumulated Abyss Essence as the monsters approached the defensive line.
• The “Sea Urchins” attacked the fortifications with their spikes and surged close enough that the martialer company commander ordered everyone to prepare for close combat.
• Li Wei summoned the four swords and opened the Four Seasons Sword Array, which covered the salient and turned the “Sea Urchins” within its range to ash.
• Li Wei calculated that the essence gained from the monsters exceeded the array’s blood qi cost and decided to keep it running.

Yun Heng explained to Li Guitang that he had placed Jiang Xue on the front line to disrupt the Western Frontier’s long stalemate and create an opening against the Abyssal Monsters. As a massive monster tide advanced toward her position, a mysterious black figure appeared and warned Yun Heng that high-tier experts were forbidden from intervening.

• Li Guitang confronted Yun Heng about sending Jiang Xue to the front line, and Yun Heng played a recording showing that she had chosen to stay.
• Yun Heng asked Li Guitang whether Yun Sheng had shared his theories about the Abyssal Monsters, then explained that he wanted to use Jiang Xue as a variable to break the thirty-year stalemate.
• Yun Heng reassured Li Guitang that Li Huaiyuan was waiting nearby to rescue Jiang Xue if she faced danger, while the three of them watched a huge Abyssal Monster tide advance toward her position.
• Zhang Luye realized Yun Heng had left an empty seat for Jiang Xue, but a pitch-black human-shaped figure appeared there instead.
• The black figure warned Yun Heng that high-tier experts could not act under the rule agreed upon by both sides and asked whether he could bear the consequences of breaking it.

Yun Heng negotiated with Master Beiku over the humans caught in the Abyss, then drew his attention to the battle where Li Wei was fighting. Master Beiku promised to spare a promising human prodigy for ten years, but Yun Heng sprayed tea over him when four sword lights suddenly cleared the battlefield.

• Yun Heng assured Master Beiku he would save the trapped humans without harming them, and Master Beiku agreed not to interfere.
• Yun Heng clarified that he had meant to invite the Ghost Lord, not Master Beiku, but Master Beiku saw through his attempt to sow discord.
• Yun Heng and the others watched Li Wei's battle, where Jiang Xinyue's unusual enjoyment of fighting amused Master Beiku.
• Master Beiku offered to keep his faction from harming the human prodigy for ten years if she proved worthy, and Yun Heng toasted his promise.
• Four sword lights pinned the void and invisible Sword Qi wiped out the enemies, causing Yun Heng to spray tea across Master Beiku's face.

Li Wei sustained the Four Seasons Sword Array on the battlefield far longer than anyone thought possible, holding back the abyssal monsters while eating sunflower seeds. Master Beiku ended the fighting for ten days after testing her limits, and Li Huaiyuan praised the Zhang family as the monster tide retreated.

• Master Beiku dismissed Yun Heng and Li Guitang’s fears that he would stop them from rescuing Li Wei, while Yun Heng placed an ordinary wooden sword on the table.
• Zhang Luye realized Li Wei had kept the Four Seasons Sword Array active for nearly a minute, and the others watched her casually eat sunflower seeds as it continued to sweep through the monsters.
• Li Wei’s sword array held off the advancing monsters for several more minutes as reinforcements arrived and the Hua Nation defensive line stabilized.
• Master Beiku summoned more monsters to test Li Wei and promised to cease fighting for ten days if her performance satisfied him.
• After twenty minutes, Master Beiku knocked Alesheni away, ordered him to stop the counterattack, and withdrew with a promise to fight again in ten days.
• Li Huaiyuan watched the monsters retreat and praised Zhang Yansheng’s Zhang family for their bravery.

Li Wei lamented that the abyssal monsters had fled before she could gather more essence, while the defenders celebrated their victory. Later, Zhang Yansheng questioned Zhang Luye about old family secrets and warned him not to antagonize Jiang Xue.

• Li Wei watched the abyssal monsters retreat with only 2.13 million Abyss Essence, while Qin Lan and the soldiers celebrated the victory.
• Zhang Yansheng asked Zhang Luye whether Martial Immortals were suspicious of Jiang Xue's abnormal strength, and Zhang Luye recalled Xiang Tianming's strange request to watch her.
• Zhang Yansheng challenged Zhang Luye's account of how he learned about Kirill's betrayal and the Zhang family's history, and Zhang Luye said his grandfather had told him in a dream.
• Zhang Yansheng told Zhang Luye to stop blaming Gu Jinzhi for the Zhang family's decline and warned that Jiang Xue's future strength made antagonizing her dangerous.

After the 4th Brigade returned to base, Li Wei considered how to spend her growing store of Abyss Essence and found that her sword techniques could not be upgraded as expected. She noticed Qin Lan writing a birthday letter to a daughter named Xiao Ying and realized Qin Lan had a twenty-two-year-old child.

• Li Wei refused to leave the position until a major explained that Headquarters expected no fighting for ten days, and she returned to base with the 4th Brigade.
• After dinner, Li Wei checked her 2.13 million Abyss Essence and weighed spending it on cultivation, the Lotus Swords, or combat methods.
• Li Wei spent over twenty thousand essence on the first three forms of the Nine Moon Reflection Swords, raising each to Greater Accomplishment, but the system marked them Cannot Upgrade.
• Li Wei missed Gu Jinzhi and her family, then looked for her phone so she could tell Aunt Liang and Grandma she was safe.
• Li Wei found Qin Lan writing a birthday letter to Xiao Ying and read that her daughter was turning twenty-two.

After comforting Qin Lan as she grieved over the young daughter she had left behind, Li Wei promised that she would not die. The next morning, Li Wei tried to call home, and Second Lieutenant Sun bent the rules to let her use the communications room.

• Li Wei asked about Qin Lan's unfinished letter, prompting Qin Lan to break down and reveal that her daughter was only two and a half and that she was writing letters for the child to receive after her death.
• Li Wei stayed beside Qin Lan, listened to her grief, and promised that Qin Lan would not die while she was there.
• Li Wei slept through the night and woke to breakfast Qin Lan had left for her; Qin Lan said the army normally arranged family calls collectively but suggested asking Second Lieutenant Sun.
• On her way to the communications room, Li Wei saw more than forty human-shaped bodies wrapped in waterproof bags beside the camp hospital.
• Second Lieutenant Sun initially pointed to the rules against unscheduled calls, then panicked at Li Wei's frown and escorted her to a communications room to call her family.

Li Wei called Jiang Xinyue, who scolded her for shaking the Four Seasons Sword Array and warned her to focus on martial arts cultivation. Unable to reach the unconscious Gu Jinzhi, Li Wei sought advice from Yun Heng and successfully contacted him through her perception.

• Li Wei called Jiang Xinyue and learned that the Four Seasons Sword Array had shaken violently after the lotus seeds hatched and Li Wei used it on the battlefield.
• Li Wei teased Jiang Xinyue about her strength and progress, then listened as her grandmother warned her to stop cultivating the Lotus Sword and be more careful in battle.
• Jiang Xinyue threatened to hang Li Wei from the pomegranate tree before ending the call.
• Li Wei tried calling Gu Jinzhi but remembered his phone had been destroyed and he remained unconscious.
• Restless over how to spend her Abyss Essence, Li Wei decided to ask Yun Heng for guidance and called out to him using her perception.
• Yun Heng answered Li Wei directly in her mind and asked what she wanted.

Li Wei asked Yun Heng about advancing to the Fourth Order, but he warned her that middle-level martial artists had few chances to fight abyssal monsters. He then revealed that he needed her help, and their talk ended with Yun Heng discovering that Yun Xi had sponsored Li Wei and wondering how the two rivals in love had become best friends.

• Li Wei greeted Yun Heng, learned that he was Yun Sheng's father, and flattered him before asking about her impending breakthrough.
• Yun Heng urged Li Wei to strengthen her foundations and delay advancing, but she demanded to know what he wanted from her and refused to help without a benefit.
• Yun Heng guessed that Li Wei wanted to know whether she could keep killing abyssal monsters after reaching the middle level, then explained that such battles were scarce because middle-order martial artists outnumbered their enemies.
• Yun Heng said he needed Li Wei's help with a matter that could benefit them both, and Li Wei requested three hundred thousand Martial Arts Alliance contribution points.
• Li Wei said Yun Xi had sponsored her four hundred thousand points and was her closest friend, leaving Yun Heng stunned that the two rivals in love had become best friends.

Li Wei learned that Yun Heng wanted her to remain on the Lower Third Order battlefield and kill Abyssal monsters, though he hinted that her rank mattered more than even Grandmasters unless the rules were broken. She declined to serve as a trial opponent at the Genius Training Camp but eagerly accepted a chance to join Hua Nation’s legion supporting the Arctic Alliance’s next counteroffensive.

• Yun Heng asked Li Wei to kill Abyssal monsters continuously on the Lower Third Order battlefield and warned her that her importance exceeded that of high-level fighters unless the rules were broken.
• Li Wei asked whether her importance was connected to mutual restraint among high-level experts, and Yun Heng confirmed the connection without explaining further.
• Yun Heng invited Li Wei to serve as an opponent in the Genius Training Camp’s Western Frontier graduation trial, but she refused because she did not want to bully children.
• Yun Heng told Li Wei that Hua Nation would send at least one thousand Third-order Martial Artists to support the Arctic Alliance’s next counteroffensive.
• Li Wei enthusiastically accepted Yun Heng’s offer to join the temporary legion and declared that supporting friendly nations and fighting the Abyss was her duty.

Li Wei expected to leave for the support force, but learned she was instead being honored at a medal-awarding and rank-promotion ceremony. Meanwhile, Shen Yaochi traveled with martial university students to Mingsha Fort and sensed a newcomer through a mysterious Jade Token.

• Li Wei asked Yun Heng to keep the Seventh Squad from receiving missions while she supported the Arctic Alliance, and he agreed.
• Qin Lan returned from visiting three wounded squad members at a rear field hospital and reassured Li Wei that she would introduce them properly later.
• Li Wei mistook a staff officer’s arrival as a call to join the support force, but the officer told her she was due at a medal and rank-promotion ceremony.
• A convoy carrying martial university students approached Mingsha Fort, where students argued over the soldiers who would train them.
• Shen Yaochi sensed her Jade Token warming and trembling, then asked whether a newcomer had arrived.

Li Wei was promoted to major and awarded an Individual First-Class Merit, then learned that her deployment with the Arctic Alliance support troops remained undecided. Meanwhile, Yun Heng and Li Guitang argued over whether Li Wei should be sent, as Master Beiku watched from beside the abyssal passage.

• Li Wei received a promotion to major and an Individual First-Class Merit, then was surrounded by enthusiastic officers led by Uncle Zhang.
• Li Wei asked Li Huaiyuan when the martial artist support troops would assemble, and he said they had begun assembling but the Martial Immortals had not agreed on whether she could go.
• Li Wei returned to the barracks, found Qin Lan training, and decided to wait before asking Grandpa Yun about the deployment decision.
• Yun Heng and Li Guitang argued above the clouds about whether Li Wei should be allowed to go, while Zhang Luye watched the abyssal passage.
• Master Beiku appeared and said he wanted to observe Yun Heng's intentions; Li Guitang attacked him, but the figure reappeared and then vanished.
• Yun Heng told Li Guitang that another top-level being would have come regardless, and that Master Beiku was relatively rule-abiding.