Chapter Summaries

Bei Tangsu forged a short saber from Crimson Ore and demonstrated how the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques could elevate a basic saber move to extraordinary power. Though he coveted Yanzhou, the threat of the Pudu Cult and Great Yong’s weakness kept him from acting openly.

• Bei Tangsu carved a blue-green short saber from Crimson Ore using his palm and qi.
• Bei Tangsu tested the saber with a slash that split the mountain mist, then reflected on the power of the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques.
• The chapter revealed Bei Tangsu’s rise within the Divine Saber Hall, his connection to the Demonic Saber Jingqing, and his powerful demonic-path backer.
• Bei Tangsu had long planned to claim Yanzhou but held back because provoking the Pudu Cult could destabilize the three Northern Territory provinces and hasten Great Yong’s collapse.

Bei Tangsu questioned Gong Huai about Old Blade Zhao’s victory over Gu Li and speculated that a powerful saber expert or a hidden practitioner of the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques had aided Zhao. He suspected someone within the Divine Saber Hall, while Gong Huai kept Meng Zhao’s intervention secret.

• Bei Tangsu summoned Gong Huai to Saber Peak and asked him to describe Old Blade Zhao’s performance in the duel.
• Gong Huai reported that Zhao’s wooden saber broke the Heavy Gang Fist Gauntlets and overcame the power of Demonic Saber Jingqing, but claimed he had failed to discover the saber’s origins.
• Bei Tangsu proposed that the wooden saber carried the Martial Dao of either a Great Grandmaster or Celestial Being, or a Grandmaster with divine saber attainment and knowledge of the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques.
• Bei Tangsu favored the second explanation and began suspecting hidden practitioners within the Divine Saber Hall.

Bei Tangsu learned that Beitang Xing had come to Yanzhou and feared the Twelfth Prince’s arrival might be a warning from Beitang Sheng. After hearing that Beitang Xing traveled discreetly with Old Daoist Liu, Bei Tangsu concluded he had come on his own and explained that rumors about the prince’s imperial destiny could endanger him.

• Bei Tangsu suspected Divine Saber Hall had blocked his ambitions while keeping him under observation to see whether he would master the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques and control Demonic Saber Jingqing.
• Gong Huai reported that he had encountered the Twelfth Prince, Beitang Xing, in Kaiming City and that the prince wanted to meet Bei Tangsu.
• Bei Tangsu reacted with fear and asked who accompanied Beitang Xing, whether his identity was known, and whether he had come under the Emperor’s orders.
• Gong Huai said Beitang Xing traveled discreetly with an old Daoist called Master Liu, whom Bei Tangsu recognized as a famous Daoist School prodigy.
• Bei Tangsu concluded that Beitang Xing had likely traveled for his own amusement and warned that rumors claiming he bore the qi of a Son of Heaven could make the Emperor view him as a threat.

Bei Tangsu questioned Gong Huai about the Twelfth Prince’s invitation and weighed the risks of leaving Divine Saber Hall. After examining the Chilong Jade Disk, he concluded that Beitang Xing sought to win him over but refused to meet him, leaving Gong Huai struggling to hide his predicament.

• Bei Tangsu warned Gong Huai to keep their conversation secret and asked whether the Twelfth Prince had provided a token.
• Gong Huai presented the Chilong Jade Disk, and Bei Tangsu accepted it as proof that Beitang Xing’s identity was genuine.
• Bei Tangsu asked Gong Huai whether leaving Divine Saber Hall could expose him to assassination or traps, and Gong Huai admitted that danger was possible.
• Bei Tangsu explained that Beitang Xing likely wanted to recruit him, but compared him unfavorably with the Ninth Prince and dismissed his chances of taking the throne.
• Bei Tangsu refused to meet Beitang Xing, while Gong Huai pretended to agree despite fearing Meng Zhao’s reaction.

Bei Tangsu decided to leave Divine Saber Hall for his appointment with Beitang Xing, using the trip to draw out the people targeting him. He weighed the risks of befriending the Twelfth Prince and prepared to rely on Demonic Saber Jingqing against the hidden enemy.

• Bei Tangsu told Gong Huai he would keep his appointment and leave Divine Saber Hall to lure his enemies into the open.
• Gong Huai concealed his alliance with Meng Zhao and urged Bei Tangsu to be careful, while privately hoping Meng Zhao would kill him.
• Bei Tangsu dismissed Gong Huai after insisting that he could handle the danger with Demonic Saber Jingqing.
• Bei Tangsu considered whether to befriend Beitang Xing, recognizing the Prince’s weakness but also the significance of Old Daoist Liu’s support and reputation.
• Bei Tangsu decided to meet Beitang Xing and judge him for himself, while planning to rely on Demonic Saber Jingqing for protection against the hidden expert.

Bei Tangsu reflected on the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques, which had made him powerful but bound him ever more tightly to Demonic Saber Jingqing. Unable to take the saber with him when he left the Divine Saber Hall, he decided to absorb and store its power in his eight major acupoints before heading into danger.

• Bei Tangsu recalled that Demonic Saber Jingqing had fueled his rapid rise to Grandmaster and feared that he was becoming the saber’s puppet.
• He reviewed how the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques formed eight demonic saber projections in his acupoints and drove his cultivation forward beyond his control.
• Bei Tangsu concluded that the projections connected him to Jingqing’s immense power, but drawing on it deepened the saber’s influence over him.
• Unable to take Demonic Saber Jingqing from the Divine Saber Hall, Bei Tangsu decided to absorb its power into his body for future battles.
• Bei Tangsu vanished from the saber peak and headed to the Blade Sharpening Pool to absorb the Demonic Saber’s power.

Xue Zihou saw Bei Tangsu’s departure from the Divine Saber Hall as a chance to have him killed, but lacked the strength to do it himself. His mother rejected his plan to ask the Purple Lightning Saber Lord to intervene, leaving Xue Zihou rebuked and without a clear way to strike.

• News that Bei Tangsu planned to leave the mountain drew attention from factions within the Divine Saber Hall, some hoping to protect him and others hoping he would be exposed to danger.
• Xue Zihou’s jealousy of Bei Tangsu deepened because Bei Tangsu had mastered the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques while Xue Zihou’s father, the Purple Lightning Saber Lord, had failed to master them.
• Xue Zihou considered using his father’s strength to eliminate Bei Tangsu, since Bei Tangsu far surpassed him in martial arts.
• Xue Zihou told his mother about his plan, but she slapped him twice and harshly scolded him.

Purple Lightning Saber Lord’s wife rejected Xue Zihou’s attempt to enlist his father against Bei Tangsu, explaining that her husband would not resort to assassination and was absorbed in creating a higher realm of the Purple Lightning Saber Scripture. Xue Zihou left Divine Saber Hall and sought help from his father’s reclusive, powerful old friend in a mountain village.

• Purple Lightning Saber Lord’s wife judged that killing Bei Tangsu would bring political and personal consequences, and she knew her husband would insist on an open duel rather than a covert attack.
• Purple Lightning Saber Lord’s wife explained that her husband was risking injury to create a Great Grandmaster realm of the Purple Lightning Saber Scripture, and she refused to let Xue Zihou disrupt his work.
• Xue Zihou left in dejection after his mother rebuked him, then decided to seek help from outside Divine Saber Hall.
• Xue Zihou secretly departed Divine Saber Hall ahead of Bei Tangsu and traveled day and night to a remote mountain village.
• Xue Zihou sought out Purple Lightning Saber Lord’s old friend, a reclusive martial artist who concealed his peerless abilities while farming and hunting.

Xue Zihou asked Uncle Chang to help him deal with Bei Tangsu, but Uncle Chang refused, criticizing Xue Zihou for creating the conflict and arguing that the Purple Lightning Saber Lord could protect himself. Xue Zihou then pleaded for Uncle Chang to capture Bei Tangsu and force him to reveal the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques.

• Xue Zihou recalled that Uncle Chang was a former Hidden Sword Palace expert whose martial arts surpassed even the Purple Lightning Saber Lord's.
• Xue Zihou told Uncle Chang about Bei Tangsu, their conflict, and his plan to attack him before he left the Divine Saber Hall.
• Uncle Chang refused to help, saying Xue Zihou had provoked Bei Tangsu and that the Purple Lightning Saber Lord had no need to fear him.
• Xue Zihou admitted his mistake but pleaded for Uncle Chang to capture Bei Tangsu and extract the secrets of the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques for his father.

Xue Zihou explained why he sought Demonic Saber Jingqing, and Uncle Chang revealed that Purple Lightning Saber Lord knew how to approach the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques. Uncle Chang warned that Divine Saber Hall kept this knowledge quiet because mastering the techniques and wielding the Demonic Saber would bring the Hall serious trouble.

• Uncle Chang advised Xue Zihou to pursue the Way of the Saber diligently instead of chasing Demonic Saber Jingqing.
• Xue Zihou said he had chosen the Demonic Saber because he believed it was his only chance to surpass Purple Lightning Saber Lord, and he wanted to follow Bei Tangsu's example.
• Uncle Chang suggested Xue Zihou ask his father about the Demonic Saber, then explained that he had learned from Purple Lightning Saber Lord how to approach the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques.
• Uncle Chang said the techniques required understanding both the demonic path and the Way of the Saber, and that Divine Saber Hall's upper ranks already knew this method.
• Uncle Chang warned that someone mastering the techniques and wielding Demonic Saber Jingqing would cause Divine Saber Hall serious trouble, leaving Xue Zihou baffled.

Uncle Chang explained that Demonic Saber Jingqing could be mastered only by someone with a connection to the Heavenly Demon Palace or a suitable art derived from Chiyou’s techniques. Xue Zihou learned that his father had once encountered the Nine Heavens Ten Lands God Slaying Saber, but was left grappling with his own shortcomings and his father’s decision not to pass it on.

• Uncle Chang told Xue Zihou that Divine Saber Hall had concealed Jingqing’s existence because the Demonic Path would use covert schemes to seize it.
• Xue Zihou explained Jingqing’s origins in the Tiger Soul Saber fragment and Chiyou’s legacy, and Uncle Chang said its Eight Demonic Saber Techniques required the Great Heavenly Demon Technique or a related art.
• Xue Zihou wondered whether Bei Tangsu was the Heavenly Demon Palace’s inheritor, but Uncle Chang said Bei Tangsu might instead know a derived technique or have some other connection to the Palace.
• Uncle Chang revealed that Xue Zihou’s father had once been offered the Nine Heavens Ten Lands God Slaying Saber, a lesser art derived from one of Chiyou’s fundamental techniques.
• Uncle Chang said Xue Zihou’s father had withheld the information because he wanted his son to create his own path, then advised Xue Zihou to cultivate steadily.

Xue Zihou insisted on confronting Bei Tangsu, so Uncle Chang gave him a dangerous martial method for protection instead of accompanying him. Xue Zihou left with the power hidden in his brow, while Uncle Chang considered visiting the Divine Saber Hall after the Purple Lightning Saber Lord emerged from seclusion.

• Xue Zihou told Uncle Chang he would pursue Bei Tangsu even if it cost him his life.
• Uncle Chang agreed to help Xue Zihou but refused to accompany him, and placed a mysterious power in the center of his brow.
• Xue Zihou experienced a blink that lasted from dawn until nightfall, then asked Uncle Chang about the power.
• Uncle Chang explained that the power could briefly withstand the Demonic Saber and help Xue Zihou escape, but warned him not to rely on it or investigate its method.
• Xue Zihou left, saying he hoped to return after his father completed the next level of the Purple Lightning Saber Scripture.

Bei Tangsu was ambushed at Jade Lake Mountain by three Innate experts who had poisoned the spring with Hundred Flowers Blooming. Though the poison entered his body, he remained unaffected, leaving the attackers in danger as he prepared to face them.

• Bei Tangsu reached the spring at Jade Lake Mountain after surviving several assassination attempts and waited for Beitang Xing.
• Three Innate experts surrounded Bei Tangsu, and he considered subduing them for his own use.
• The ugly man revealed that they had poisoned the spring with the Yunzhou Hua Family's Hundred Flowers Blooming.
• The tiger-eyed man realized that Bei Tangsu was unaffected by the poison, possibly because of the Demonic Saber.
• Bei Tangsu confirmed that he had been poisoned but remained unharmed, and warned the three men that they might not escape alive.

Bei Tangsu revealed that the poison had no effect on him and subdued the three assassins, demanding their submission and the identity of their mastermind. A saber cry broke his mental technique, and Xue Zihou appeared before him.

• Bei Tangsu explained that his Demonic Saber projections had neutralized the Hundred Flowers in Bloom poison.
• Bei Tangsu stopped the tiger-eyed man’s attack with a precise saber-qi slash, proving he was unharmed.
• Bei Tangsu offered the three brothers their lives if they submitted and revealed who had sent them.
• Bei Tangsu used Demonic Sound Filling the Ears to pressure the brothers into surrendering.
• A thunderous saber cry and blazing righteous qi broke Bei Tangsu’s mental technique and freed the brothers.
• Bei Tangsu challenged Xue Zihou, who emerged from the forest.

Bei Tangsu confronted Xue Zihou, who challenged his treatment of three would-be assassins, and attacked him. Xue Zihou escaped with an unfamiliar power that also carried the three men away, leaving Bei Tangsu to wonder who had helped him.

• Xue Zihou confronted Bei Tangsu and criticized him for humiliating the three men who had tried to assassinate him.
• Bei Tangsu explained that the three men valued survival above dignity and said he would kill Xue Zihou, whom he blamed for bringing trouble to Purple Lightning Saber Lord.
• Bei Tangsu used Shifting Form and Shadow to reach Xue Zihou and struck him with a palm-saber attack infused with Yin Lightning.
• Xue Zihou awakened a strange power that made Bei Tangsu's strike miss and left the surroundings seeming dreamlike and illusory.
• Xue Zihou and the three men vanished, and Bei Tangsu chose to investigate the power's origins rather than pursue them blindly.

Bei Tangsu failed to kill Xue Zihou after a mysterious protective power rescued him, then left to meet Beitang Xing. Xue Zihou tried to depart after warning the three would-be assassins about Bei Tangsu, but a mysterious stranger suddenly stopped him.

• Bei Tangsu studied the strange power that had thwarted his attack on Xue Zihou, suspected it came from the Purple Lightning Saber Lord's connections, and headed to meet Beitang Xing.
• Xue Zihou led the three surviving assassins away and realized that Uncle Chang's protective technique had drained his strength.
• The three men thanked Xue Zihou, who warned them that Bei Tangsu's strength surpassed that of ordinary grandmasters and declined to help with their troubles.
• Xue Zihou decided to recover before continuing to investigate Bei Tangsu, hoping to expose him to the Divine Saber Hall's elders.
• A mysterious person appeared behind Xue Zihou and placed a hand on his shoulder, leaving him unable to move.

Meng Zhao revealed himself at Jade Lake Mountain and killed the three men who had tried to assassinate Bei Tangsu. Xue Zihou realized Meng Zhao might also be targeting Bei Tangsu, and his excitement at that possibility overcame some of his fear.

• Meng Zhao revealed that he had watched Bei Tangsu and Xue Zihou at Jade Lake Mountain.
• Meng Zhao killed the three tiger-eyed, thick-browed brothers with a glance, destroying their brains without harming their bodies.
• Meng Zhao released Xue Zihou and said he would spare him because of his connection to Divine Saber Hall and his feud with Bei Tangsu.
• Xue Zihou inferred that Bei Tangsu had come to meet Meng Zhao and guessed that Meng Zhao intended to kill him.
• Xue Zihou became exhilarated at the possibility that Meng Zhao would bring misfortune to Bei Tangsu.

Meng Zhao revealed his identity to Xue Zihou and demonstrated that he had reached the Great Grandmaster realm, astonishing him with his rapid advancement. Meng Zhao explained that he had spared Xue not only for the mysterious power within him, but also for his influence and opposition to Bei Tangsu.

• Meng Zhao identified himself, and Xue Zihou realized he had mistaken the young martial artist’s strength and status.
• Xue Zihou probed Meng Zhao’s realm, and Meng Zhao confirmed he had gained insight while noting the strange power in Xue’s body.
• Meng Zhao described the vast distance between Great Grandmasters and those who transcend the world, leaving Xue Zihou stunned by his ambition and attainment.
• Xue Zihou asked why Meng Zhao had spared him, and Meng Zhao explained that the power within him involved the Dao of time and space.
• Meng Zhao said he valued Xue Zihou’s identity, influence, and opposition to Bei Tangsu, which could help him secure a foothold in Yanzhou.

Xue Zihou learned that Meng Zhao hoped to expand his influence into Yanzhou and offered to connect him with the Tan Family, whose power shaped the region. Meng Zhao revealed he and Tan Cai'er had pledged themselves to each other, leaving Xue Zihou dispirited as he reflected on his own shortcomings.

• Xue Zihou insisted that Meng Zhao must never act against the Divine Saber Hall, and Meng Zhao promised he had no such intention.
• Xue Zihou explained that Tan Changming and the Tan Family held the real influence over Yanzhou affairs and offered to introduce Meng Zhao to them.
• Meng Zhao told Xue Zihou that he and Tan Cai'er had pledged to grow old together and that he wanted to secure more initiative for himself.
• Xue Zihou recalled his own past admiration for Tan Cai'er and congratulated Meng Zhao, while privately feeling dejected beside Meng Zhao's achievements.

Meng Zhao questioned Xue Zihou about the mysterious force that had saved him from Bei Tangsu, suspecting it involved the Dao of time and space and might be connected to Emperor Yao's lost Yao Dian. Xue Zihou explained that Uncle Chang had given him the power for protection, and Meng Zhao concluded that he could overcome it by exploiting its flaws.

• Meng Zhao recalled how the mysterious force had disrupted Bei Tangsu's attack and transported Xue Zihou and his three dead brothers away, leading him to suspect it involved time and space.
• Meng Zhao considered whether the power came from Emperor Yao's lost Yao Dian and reflected on the immense potential of mastering the Dao of time and space.
• Xue Zihou told Meng Zhao that Uncle Chang had given him the force to protect him because of his father's relationship with Uncle Chang.
• Meng Zhao warned Xue Zihou that Bei Tangsu could adapt to the power and explained that its mismatch with Xue Zihou's body left exploitable weaknesses.
• Xue Zihou asked whether the force could affect Meng Zhao, and Meng Zhao said he could resist it because he had observed its flaws.