Recaps

Zhang Guangmu persuaded Tang Lanshan to join the impoverished Feihong Sect by presenting her trading record and promising to protect her. Eight or nine days later, Feihong arrived at the globally broadcast Golden Autumn Sword Competition Festival, where an unfamiliar face drew the crowd’s attention.

• Zhang Guangmu introduced Tang Lanshan as a financial rising star whose trading account had grown to 714 percent of its principal in a month.
• Li Xiaoxiao reviewed Tang Lanshan’s records, changed his judgment of her, and admitted that she was impressive.
• Tang Lanshan refused at first to risk joining Feihong, but Zhang Guangmu vowed to defend her, and she agreed to sign a contract with the sect.
• Eight or nine days passed, and the Golden Autumn Sword Competition Festival began as media outlets broadcast it worldwide.
• An unfamiliar face appeared at the opening ceremony and attracted the attention of more than half the audience.

Zhang Guangmu represented the Feihong Swordsmanship Club at the Golden Autumn Sword Competition, impressing the crowd with his extravagant appearance and bearing. His arrival drew the attention of competition chief Cao Guan, while the Feihong Sect’s finances had improved under Tang Lanshan’s management.

• Zhang Guangmu arrived at the competition in a luxurious sedan and approached the torch with Ethereal Blue Ice Flames appearing beneath his steps.
• Cao Guan praised Zhang Guangmu’s appearance and bearing and hoped he would attract attention and perform well, while Lin An said he would watch if Zhang overcame his physical deficiencies.
• Cao Guan and other swordsmen wondered how the famously poor Feihong Sect could afford Zhang Guangmu’s costly outfit.
• Zhang Guangmu credited Tang Lanshan for Feihong’s turnaround, explaining that she had multiplied the sect’s funds through divination-guided short-term trades and negotiated revised debt terms.
• Tang Lanshan modestly praised Zhang Guangmu’s ability to carry the outfit and urged him to make the competition his stage.

Tang Lanshan pursued endorsement fees while Li Xiaoxiao's publicity made Zhang Guangmu a focus at the Golden Autumn Sword Competition Festival. Zhang Guangmu drew Shi Lie for the first match, and after Shi Lie taunted him, Zhang's ceremonial entrance unnerved his opponent.

• Tang Lanshan told Zhang Guangmu she planned to seek endorsement fees for his outfit, and he entrusted her with the task ahead.
• Li Xiaoxiao's hype-building plan drew attention to Zhang Guangmu, whose luxurious outfit impressed some swordsmen and irritated Hans Dekson.
• The Golden Autumn Sword Competition Festival began, and Zhang Guangmu was selected for its first official match against Shi Lie, a former Feihong Sect member who had led a walkout.
• Shi Lie boasted that he would defeat Zhang Guangmu within twenty moves, while Zhang ignored his provocation.
• Zhang Guangmu entered the Yi Jian Platform in a formal sword ceremony, and Shi Lie felt an unexplained discomfort as Zhang drew the Mirage Sword.

At the Golden Autumn Sword Competition, Zhang Guangmu faced Shi Lie in a life-and-death duel and provoked him while appearing distracted. The fight ended with Shi Lie charging unarmed into Zhang Guangmu’s raised Mirage Sword.

• Shi Lie taunted Zhang Guangmu, who called him a traitor and warned him to treasure his final moments.
• As the duel began, Zhang Guangmu calmly parried Shi Lie’s rapid sword attacks while thinking about how to disrupt the Golden Autumn Sword Competition.
• The host pointed out that Zhang Guangmu seemed distracted, enraging Shi Lie as he realized his opponent had been ignoring him.
• Zhang Guangmu declared that Shi Lie had no further value and challenged him to come meet his death.
• Shi Lie abandoned his spirit sword and charged directly toward the Mirage Sword with a twisted smile.

Zhang Guangmu defeated Shi Lie when Shi Lie hallucinated a glorious future and impaled himself on the Mirage Sword, while secretly spreading its Water Spirit Sword Power across the venue. After the competition ended, Lin Chimou appeared and pointed his sword at Zhang Guangmu.

• Cao Guan watched Zhang Guangmu and Shi Lie’s duel with excitement, while Lin An doubted Zhang Guangmu’s strength was enough.
• Shi Lie used the Qianmo Sword’s Spirit Sword Skill but remained outmatched as Zhang Guangmu controlled their fight.
• Shi Lie hallucinated his future success, lunged into the Mirage Sword, and died despite the medical team’s efforts.
• Zhang Guangmu claimed the Qianmo Sword and revealed that he had spread the Mirage Sword’s Water Spirit Sword Power throughout the venue.
• After the competition ended, Lin Chimou arrived, ignored Lin Zitong, drew his Spirit Sword, and aimed it at Zhang Guangmu.

At the Golden Autumn Sword Competition, Lin Chimou challenged Li Xiaoxiao and defeated him, then tried to kill him. Zhang Guangmu noticed something unusual about Lin Chimou’s lightning-struck-wood scabbard and stopped him by threatening to expose his secret.

• Lin Chimou ignored Zhang Guangmu and challenged Li Xiaoxiao, whom he called the Star of Feihong.
• Li Xiaoxiao accepted, and Lin Chimou attacked him immediately while Zhang Guangmu moved Chu Fan and Lin Zitong to safety.
• Li Xiaoxiao and Lin Chimou fought fiercely, but Lin Chimou adapted to Li Xiaoxiao’s sword skills and knocked the Feihong Sword from his hand on their seventieth exchange.
• Lin Chimou tried to kill Li Xiaoxiao, but the body he struck dissolved into smoke, revealing that Zhang Guangmu had moved him.
• Lin Chimou prepared to attack Zhang Guangmu, but Zhang Guangmu pointed out the lightning-struck-wood scabbard and threatened to reveal Lin Chimou’s secret, making him stop.

Zhang Guangmu exposed Lin Chimou’s Soul-Seizing Sword Sheath and learned how it had helped him absorb Sword Souls and master sword skills. Lin Chimou left rather than fight, while Zhang Guangmu resolved to build his own fame and status quickly.

• Zhang Guangmu noticed Lin Chimou’s unusual sword sheath, and narration revealed that it was his true reliance, drawing the souls of swordsmen he killed and refining them into Sword Souls.
• The narration explained that Lin Chimou had used the sheath to seek a path to becoming a singular Sword Emperor, and that consuming many Sword Souls had driven him mad while making him stronger.
• Lin Chimou grew wary of Zhang Guangmu’s insight, sheathed his sword, and left after warning Lin Zitong with a cold look.
• Zhang Guangmu let Lin Chimou go, judging that a fight would be too risky with Lin An present and his own combat ability still limited.
• Zhang Guangmu decided to pursue resources, status, and fame by making big news.

Zhang Guangmu challenged the nineteen sword sects to face him in twenty consecutive matches, provoking the competitors while captivating the spectators. Cao Guan endorsed the idea and proposed a new sword-fighting format called Sword No Second.

• Zhang Guangmu flew above the venue and announced that he would fight twenty consecutive matches to secure Feihong's place in the league.
• Hans Dekson resisted his anger and decided to study Zhang Guangmu's Spirit Sword Skill before challenging him.
• Zhang Guangmu taunted the nineteen sects, invited them to attack together, and promised to remain on the Yi Jian Platform without flying.
• The sect elites argued over Zhang Guangmu's challenge as spectators and viewers responded with growing excitement.
• Cao Guan explained the origins of Yi Jian and Discussing Swords, then proposed Sword No Second as a possible third format.

At the Golden Autumn Sword Competition, Cao Guan praised Zhang Guangmu as a peer of the ancient Sword Emperors, prompting nineteen sects to send fighters against him. Zhang Guangmu turned their group assault to his advantage and ended the battle with Sword Like Prison, leaving all nineteen swordsmen pinned to the platform.

• Cao Guan publicly called Zhang Guangmu a Mad Lord and compared him to the ancient Heaven, Earth, and Human Three Sword Emperors.
• Zhang Guangmu’s challenge forced the nineteen top sword sects to send ruthless representatives onto the Yi Jian Platform.
• The nineteen swordsmen attacked Zhang Guangmu together, and he fought among their blades as their coordination improved.
• After sweeping his opponents aside, Zhang Guangmu threw the Mirage Sword into the air and called out Sword Like Prison.
• Hundreds of mist swords rained down, piercing all nineteen swordsmen and pinning them to the ground.

Zhang Guangmu defeated nineteen swordsmen with his Spirit Sword Skill, Sword Like Prison, while secretly using the battle to gather experimental data. Back at Feihong Swordsmanship Club, Chu Fan gave him a precious gourd of Dufa Wine to help his body.

• Zhang Guangmu used Sword Like Prison to pin all nineteen swordsmen in place and draw them into visions that tested their sword hearts.
• The swordsmen survived the attack, and Li Xiaoxiao praised the technique for refining the mind rather than harming the body.
• The audience recognized Zhang Guangmu as the winner, though they noted that the move exhausted his stamina and the Mirage Sword’s Spirit Sword Power.
• Zhang Guangmu revealed to himself that the challenge had been an experiment to collect bodily data and materials from the swordsmen.
• Chu Fan brought Zhang Guangmu a gourd of sixty-year-brewed Dufa Wine, made from precious medicinal ingredients, and urged him to drink it.

Zhang Guangmu drank a gourd of Dufa Wine that Chu Fan and their companions had bought to strengthen his body and Spirit Sword Power. After absorbing its effects almost instantly, Zhang Guangmu said the prerequisites for his “Nightmare Plan” had been met, leaving Chu Fan horrified.

• Chu Fan explained that he, Tang Lanshan, and Li Xiaoxiao had spent over two million Sword Coins on Jiazi Brew for Zhang Guangmu.
• Chu Fan described Zhang Guangmu’s weak physical stamina and limited Spirit Sword Power, and urged him to drink the wine to address those problems.
• Zhang Guangmu accepted the gift and drank the entire gourd of Dufa Wine in a few breaths.
• Zhang Guangmu rapidly absorbed the wine’s effects, restoring his qi and blood and strengthening his body while growing more familiar with the Mirage Sword.
• Zhang Guangmu announced that the prerequisites for his “Nightmare Plan” had been met, and Chu Fan turned deathly pale.

Zhang Guangmu began his dangerous Nightmare Plan after drinking Dufa Wine, leaving Chu Fan, Li Xiaoxiao, and Tang Lanshan unable to stop or predict what would happen. Inside the training room, he used his last Usable Ability Point to raise Imperial Body Forging Technique to level 22, sensing an unexpected improvement as the plan began.

• Zhang Guangmu drank Dufa Wine and immediately announced that he would begin the Nightmare Plan, despite Chu Fan's attempts to discourage him.
• Chu Fan called Li Xiaoxiao to intervene, but Li Xiaoxiao realized the plan had already started and warned that interrupting Zhang Guangmu could cause cultivation deviation.
• Tang Lanshan used her Yizhi Sword to divine Zhang Guangmu's fate, but the vision was a blur and the backlash left her weak and unable to calculate an outcome.
• Li Xiaoxiao told Chu Fan and Tang Lanshan to prepare to rescue Zhang Guangmu, while Chu Fan went to the infirmary to gather supplies.
• Zhang Guangmu summoned the Mad Lord Sword Canon as a façade, used his last Usable Ability Point, and increased Imperial Body Forging Technique from level 21 to level 22.

Zhang Guangmu mastered the Heavenly Eye through the Imperial Body Forging Technique and used it to examine the dangerous Spirit Sword Power lodged in his spine. He removed the corrupted material and cured his high-level spinal cord injury, leaving him better able to conserve Spirit Sword Power as he pursued the Nightmare Plan.

• Zhang Guangmu raised his Imperial Body Forging Technique to level 22 and discovered it had granted him a transcendent ability usable in the Real World.
• Zhang Guangmu awakened the Heavenly Eye, which let him observe souls and see inside his own body.
• Zhang Guangmu saw that pitch-black Spirit Sword Power was alive and was corrupting his spine, then considered ways to adapt his body and make use of it.
• Zhang Guangmu used the Water Spirit Sword to force the corrupted Spirit Sword Power and blood out through his wound.
• Zhang Guangmu walked without the Water Spirit Sword’s assistance after his spinal injury healed, and realized he could conserve Spirit Sword Power for the Nightmare Plan.

Zhang Guangmu recovered from his spinal injury and refined the parasitic Spirit Sword Fiends into fragile Nightmare Sword Gu, completing the hardest part of his plan and greatly increasing his power. Outside the training room, Li Xiaoxiao and Tang Lanshan sensed his recovery, while Chu Fan worried that the strange voices inside meant something had gone wrong.

• Zhang Guangmu expelled the parasitic Spirit Sword Power, restored the damaged section of his spinal cord, and named the surviving entities Spirit Sword Fiends.
• Zhang Guangmu trapped the Spirit Sword Fiends in a Water Spirit Sword Power furnace and refined them despite their attacks and pleas for mercy.
• Zhang Guangmu created the Nightmare Sword Gu, which could strengthen his Spirit Sword Power and recovery while serving as an invisible network of external organs.
• Li Xiaoxiao sensed that Zhang Guangmu had recovered and become stronger, and Tang Lanshan's anxiety eased.
• Chu Fan worried that the voices he heard from the training room suggested Zhang Guangmu might have developed a split personality.

Zhang Guangmu discovered Isabelle Christina, a Gold Medal Reporter who had secretly entered the Feihong Sect, and intimidated her into backing down. As the Feihong Sect prepared to meet the Yaksa Platform, Isabelle struggled downstairs after Zhang Guangmu’s Nightmare Sword Gus began draining her strength, where she encountered Hans Dekson.

• Zhang Guangmu noticed Isabelle Christina hiding invisibly in the Feihong Sect and questioned whether they could kill an intruder without legal consequences.
• Isabelle identified herself as a Gold Medal Reporter and demanded an interview, but Zhang Guangmu’s intimidating gaze made her soften her attitude.
• Chu Fan sent Isabelle away and led Zhang Guangmu, Li Xiaoxiao, and Tang Lanshan downstairs to meet the Yaksa Platform.
• Nightmare Sword Gus parasitized Isabelle and her Invisible Sword, draining their Spirit Sword Power and transmitting most of it to Zhang Guangmu.
• Isabelle struggled down to the interview hall, where she saw the Yaksa Platform reporters and Hans Dekson staring at Zhang Guangmu.

At a Feihong Sect interview, Hans Dekson challenged Zhang Guangmu to a duel, convinced his preparations and analysis gave him the advantage. Zhang Guangmu accepted on the spot, and Hans believed the Mad Lord had fallen into his trap.

• Chu Fan explained that Yaksha Platform belonged to the Buddha Sect's direct lineage and had Buddha Sword Emperor Jonah Ackerman's support.
• Chu Fan and Tang Lanshan deflected reporters' difficult questions while Zhang Guangmu and Li Xiaoxiao served mostly as mascots.
• Li Xiaoxiao warned Zhang Guangmu that Hans Dekson was a meticulous, dangerous swordsman who was stronger than her.
• Hans Dekson challenged Zhang Guangmu to a duel, offering to let him choose the time and place.
• Zhang Guangmu accepted the challenge and set it for immediately at the interview location, leaving Hans convinced his trap had worked.

Hans Dekson challenged Zhang Guangmu to a civilized duel, confident that the stormy weather and his countermeasures would give him the advantage. Zhang Guangmu defeated him without drawing his sword, and the chapter ended with Zhang Guangmu sensing that he had received Usable Ability Points.

• Hans Dekson proposed that he and Zhang Guangmu take turns attacking, and Zhang Guangmu agreed.
• Hans Dekson prepared his Wind Domain Sword and unleashed Pascal's Blade and Storm Charge, believing he had countered Zhang Guangmu's techniques.
• Zhang Guangmu snapped his fingers, and Hans Dekson discovered that his Wind Domain Sword had become partly transparent.
• Hans Dekson attacked Zhang Guangmu, but the slash beheaded Hans himself while Zhang Guangmu's Mirage Sword remained sheathed.
• The onlookers realized Hans Dekson had killed himself, and Zhang Guangmu sensed that his Usable Ability Points had arrived.

Zhang Guangmu killed Hans Dekson in a single move and used the Wind Domain Sword to nourish and evolve the Nightmare Sword Gu. After learning that powerful healing could revive the dead, he left to strengthen the Sword Net and forge his Sword Bone before the celebratory dinner.

• Zhang Guangmu decapitated Hans Dekson, then absorbed the Wind Domain Sword into the Nightmare Sword Gu as nourishment.
• Li Xiaoxiao concealed Zhang Guangmu’s method from Chu Fan, while reporters debated whether Zhang Guangmu had surpassed the Seven Sword Stars.
• Chu Fan exchanged pleasantries with a Buddhist reporter who recognized Zhang Guangmu as the Fourth Sword Emperor of the Feihong Sect.
• Zhang Guangmu saw Hans Dekson’s body and head sealed in an ice coffin and asked whether someone could survive decapitation.
• Li Xiaoxiao and Lin Zitong explained that the Buddha Emperor Sword had revived a swordsman whose heart was destroyed, and Lin Zitong identified him as Jonah Ackerman.
• Tang Lanshan invited Zhang Guangmu to celebrate new business deals, and Zhang Guangmu left to strengthen the Sword Net and forge his Sword Bone.

After defeating Hans Dekson, Zhang Guangmu used the new ability point from his Scroll of Sword Prison to advance Imperial Body Forging Technique to 23, improving his soul and Heaven’s Eye. He repaired and strengthened his Sword Net, then began the dangerous final step of his Nightmare Plan: forging a Sword Bone inside his body.

• Zhang Guangmu reflected on Hans Dekson’s possible resurrection and wondered how advanced the world’s medical technology and Spirit Swords were.
• Zhang Guangmu formed the Scroll of Sword Prison from the Mad Lord Sword Canon and used its Usable Ability Point to raise Imperial Body Forging Technique to 23.
• Zhang Guangmu reached the Cast Yang Shen stage, gained stronger soul power, and became able to activate the Heaven’s Eye by stirring his qi and blood.
• Zhang Guangmu used the Heaven’s Eye to repair and strengthen his Sword Net while the Nightmare Sword Gu matured.
• Zhang Guangmu compared the physical data of the nineteen defeated swordsmen, brought the miniature Nightmare Sword Gu into his body, and began forging a Sword Bone.

Zhang Guangmu endured the painful process of forging the Mad Lord Bone Sword from his spine, gaining a bone shield and enhanced healing. After the Nightmare Sword Gu absorbed the Wind Domain Sword and upgraded the Sword Net, Zhang Guangmu became a Transcendent and his achievement changed to Martial Arts (Jun).

• Zhang Guangmu endured twenty-three minutes of agony while shaping his spine into a spirit sword and preserving its normal functions.
• Zhang Guangmu named the sword hidden in his spine Mad Lord Bone and discovered it could summon a bone shield and strengthen his body's healing.
• The narrator explained that a Sword Forger's reputation and materials determined a spirit sword's grade, while forging techniques mattered little.
• The Nightmare Sword Gu devoured the remaining Wind Domain Sword, upgrading the Sword Net to version 2.0 and letting Zhang Guangmu control Water- and Wind-type Spirit Sword Power.
• Zhang Guangmu recognized himself as a Transcendent, and his achievement changed to Martial Arts (Jun).

Zhang Guangmu reflected on his goal of becoming powerful enough to protect Earth, then demonstrated his mastery of Spirit Sword Power at a celebratory dinner. After realizing he could use the Sword Net to reproduce rare medicines, he destroyed the Marrow Refining Pill and Steel Skin Ointment and declared that he himself was now the fortuitous encounter.

• Zhang Guangmu resolved to pursue the highest achievements in every Subconscious Film World so he could help protect Earth in the coming civilization war.
• Tang Lanshan announced that the Lingfeng Sect and Shadow Moon Sect had offered Feihong two rare secret medicines, and Lin Zitong identified them as the Marrow Refining Pill and Steel Skin Ointment.
• Chu Fan offered the medicines to Zhang Guangmu and Li Xiaoxiao, but Li Xiaoxiao refused hers and urged Zhang Guangmu to take both.
• Zhang Guangmu used his Heaven's Eye to examine the medicines and realized the Sword Net could use samples to derive more of their kind.
• Zhang Guangmu crushed both medicines with Spirit Sword Power, sent them into the Sword Net, and declared that he was now the fortuitous encounter.

Zhang Guangmu used the Sword Net and Nightmare Sword Gu to turn secret medicines and the meal’s essence into a medicinal mist that strengthened everyone from Feihong. The chapter left Li Xiaoxiao celebrating his rise toward the top of the Seven Sword Stars while Zhang Guangmu encouraged him.

• Zhang Guangmu absorbed ninety-seven portions of Marrow Refining Pill and Steel Skin Ointment, improving his body and his affinity with Spirit Sword Power.
• Zhang Guangmu drew power from the Sword Net and used the Nightmare Sword Gu to create a medicinal mist that enhanced Chu Fan, Li Xiaoxiao, Tang Lanshan, and Lin Zitong.
• Lin Zitong tested his strengthened skin with a dinner knife and found it resisted the cut, while Chu Fan cut his hand and revealed his jade-colored bones.
• The medicinal mist drained the food’s essence, leaving the dishes gray and unfit to eat, but Li Xiaoxiao said the permanent enhancements were worth more than another meal.
• Li Xiaoxiao said the secret medicines would help him become the foremost of the Seven Sword Stars, and Zhang Guangmu praised his talent.

After Zhang Guangmu strengthened the Feihong Sect and encouraged Lin Zitong, Black and White Impermanence appeared to seize his soul. Zhang Guangmu struck them down with a glance, and they begged him to spare their lives.

• Tang Lanshan said her divination had improved, while Lin Zitong vowed to challenge his brother after adapting to his new strength.
• Zhang Guangmu praised Lin Zitong’s talent and urged him to become steadier and prioritize intelligence about his enemies.
• Black and White Impermanence appeared in the private room and tried to seize Zhang Guangmu’s soul and scatter his living soul.
• Chu Fan attacked the spirits unsuccessfully and declared war on the Ghost Sword Sect, while Li Xiaoxiao explained their standing and lineage.
• Zhang Guangmu knocked Black and White Impermanence down with a glance, and the injured pair begged him for mercy.

Zhang Guangmu spared Black and White Impermanence after demonstrating overwhelming Sword Emperor-level strength and sent them back to the Ghost Sword Sect with a demand for compensation. Learning that the sect had also previously tried to kill him, he arrived at its main hall as its leaders discussed how to handle him.

• Zhang Guangmu told Black and White Impermanence he would cripple them, let them return to the Ghost Sword Sect, and demand compensation.
• Black and White Impermanence fled, and Li Xiaoxiao called Feihong outer and nominal disciples to gather.
• Black and White Impermanence reported Zhang Guangmu's Sword Emperor-level strength to the Ghost Sword Sect's leaders before collapsing.
• The Ghost Sword Sect's sect master revealed that the sect had tried to silence Zhang Guangmu a month earlier by severing his spine.
• Shi Jianyü admitted he could not defeat Zhang Guangmu in a single move, while the sect master said he would contact their Sword Emperor.
• Zhang Guangmu appeared in the Ghost Sword Sect's main hall before the sect master could finish speaking.

Zhang Guangmu confronted the Ghost Sword Sect and demanded compensation for its attacks, threatening to wipe out the sect if it refused. After he killed ten disciples to enforce his ultimatum, Li accepted Zhang Guangmu’s conditions.

• Zhang Guangmu arrived at the Ghost Sword Sect after allowing the wounded Black and White Impermanence to flee there.
• Zhang Guangmu demanded 3.3 billion Sword Coins or sufficient compensation, and Li considered ordering the sect’s forces to attack him.
• Li saw Chu Fan, Li Xiaoxiao, Tang Lanshan, Lin Zitong, and Feihong Sect disciples behind Zhang Guangmu, while Shi Jianyü declined to intervene.
• Zhang Guangmu demanded the Ghost Sword Sect’s inherited sword manual and a top-grade Netherworld System spirit sword, giving Li ten seconds to decide.
• Zhang Guangmu’s Mirage Sword killed ten Ghost Sword Sect disciples, and Li accepted the conditions.