Chapter Summaries

Ye Mingyang and the Ye Family feared Tong Lie might seize their hereditary Cheng Jun Divine Sword, so they planned to conceal it before their closed-door duel. Fatty Xia helped arrange the match, leaving Ye Mingyang preparing to face Tong Lie without risking the family treasure.

• Ye Mingyang's uncle doubted Tong Lie would dare take the Cheng Jun Divine Sword, but Ye Mingyang warned that the changing times and Tong Lie's strength made the threat real.
• Ye Mingyang argued that the Savage Tribes might covet the Cheng Jun Divine Sword and could escape with it to the Arctic Ice Plains.
• The Ye Family decided to hide the Cheng Jun Divine Sword and have Ye Mingyang fight Tong Lie with an ordinary sword and the Divine Thought Sword Technique.
• Ye Mingyang looked forward to learning from Tong Lie's Great Grandmaster cultivation, despite his concerns about the duel.
• Fatty Xia heard of the Ye Family's decision and worked to facilitate the closed-door sparring match.

Tong Lie defeated Ye Mingyang in a private sparring match, then demanded to see the Cheng Jun Divine Sword after finding the Ye Family’s Divine Thought Sword Technique ordinary. Ye Mingyang refused and threatened that a future descendant would avenge the family, prompting Tong Lie to unleash his murderous aura and leave him gravely injured.

• Fatty Xia brought Tong Lie to the Ye Family estate for a confidential sparring match, where Ye Mingyang, his father, and his uncle watched.
• Tong Lie defeated Ye Mingyang using only equal-level Innate True Qi and his own Fist and Foot Skills.
• Tong Lie judged Ye Mingyang’s Divine Thought Sword Technique to be an ordinary sword technique and demanded a rematch with the Cheng Jun Divine Sword.
• Fatty Xia tried to dissuade Tong Lie, but Ye Mingyang refused to surrender the sword and vowed that a future Ye Family descendant would avenge them.
• Tong Lie responded to Ye Mingyang’s threat by releasing his murderous aura, badly injuring him and disrupting his true qi and meridians.

Tong Lie nearly attacked the Ye Family after Ye Mingyang threatened his tribe, but Fatty Xia persuaded him to leave. The Ye Family prepared to scatter its descendants, while Ye Mingyang insisted on staying behind as family head and his relatives considered striking back.

• Tong Lie's killing intent subsided when Fatty Xia warned that attacking the Ye Family would endanger the Bronze Hammer Tribe, and Tong Lie left with him.
• Fatty Xia criticized Ye Mingyang for escalating the confrontation, while Ye Mingyang's father and brothers treated his injuries.
• Ye Mingyang defended his hard stance, and the Ye Family members agreed to relocate descendants and leave the Cheng Jun Divine Sword in the ancestral ground.
• Ye Mingyang refused to leave the family and told his relatives to support Jie'er as his successor if he died.
• Ye Mingyang's father, furious over the insult, called for teaching Tong Lie a harsh lesson, though his Great Grandmaster strength made retaliation difficult.

The Ye Family decided to turn public resentment against Tong Lie into an open scheme, portraying him as a threat to humanity and seeking a peerless human powerhouse to defeat him. They agreed to spread the warning while concealing their involvement, especially because Tong Lie’s ability to wield his full strength in Liang Prefecture suggested that someone might be backing him.

• Second Brother Ye proposed using the Ye Family’s connections to rally the Jianghu against Tong Lie, a Barbarian whose strength and identity could provoke widespread opposition.
• Ye Mingyang argued that Tong Lie might be probing Divine Land’s martial strength for the Savage Tribes and weakening humanity’s spirit before a future invasion.
• Ye Mingyang’s father and Second Uncle agreed that they could spread this claim across the Northern Lands to draw out powerful human opponents.
• Ye Mingyang’s father warned that a Human Dao Supreme Divine Artifact should suppress foreigners in Divine Land, so Tong Lie’s unrestricted strength might mean he had an ally.
• Ye Mingyang promised to hide the Ye Family’s role in the scheme.

After Tong Lie’s clash with the Ye Family, Fatty Xia warned him to keep a low profile until they completed the Heavenly Demon Palace Lord’s task. Rumors then spread that Tong Lie was a Savage Tribes spy, turning Liang Prefecture’s martial artists and commoners against him.

• Fatty Xia reproached Tong Lie for attacking Ye Mingyang and warned that provoking the Ye Family could endanger their mission.
• Tong Lie dismissed the Ye Family as no threat, but agreed to stay put and leave Liang Prefecture for Yanzhou after their task was complete.
• The Ye Family made no immediate public move against Tong Lie, and he and Fatty Xia rented a house to wait.
• Fatty Xia learned that rumors accused Tong Lie of being an Arctic Ice Plains spy sent to weaken the human race ahead of a future invasion.
• The accusations spread among martial artists, ordinary people, clans, and great families, making Tong Lie’s position increasingly perilous.

Fatty Xia warned Tong Lie that rumors about his displays of strength could turn the people of Liang Prefecture against him, and urged him to leave for Yanzhou before the backlash grew. Tong Lie agreed to go but wanted one night to retaliate against the Ye Family, leaving Fatty Xia to stop him.

• Fatty Xia returned to the rented courtyard and warned Tong Lie that public opinion in Liang Prefecture was turning against him.
• Tong Lie dismissed the rumors and boasted that his martial arts and hidden Flying Sickle Axe could let him challenge even a great army's battle formation.
• Fatty Xia insisted that powerful experts or a battle formation could threaten Tong Lie and ordered him to leave Liang Prefecture for Yanzhou.
• Tong Lie agreed to leave but asked for one night to act against the Ye Family, whom he suspected of spreading the rumors.
• Fatty Xia grabbed Tong Lie's arm and forbade him from attacking the Ye Family, warning that it would intensify the conflict and confirm suspicions about him.

Tong Lie and Fatty Xia traveled toward Yanzhou as the Ye Family’s rumors turned the Jianghu against them, and Tong Lie responded to attacks by slaughtering Liang Prefecture martial artists. The conflict peaked when a reclusive Great Grandmaster from the Xie Family of Thunder Prefecture stepped forward to challenge Tong Lie to a life-and-death duel.

• Tong Lie agreed to delay his revenge on the Ye Family until after their mission to Yanzhou, and he and Fatty Xia left the city at night.
• As the two crossed county towns, Tong Lie endured poisoned food and repeated assassinations while Fatty Xia realized the Ye Family’s rumors had made them targets.
• Tong Lie began killing assassins and poisoners and challenged renowned local martial artists, while Fatty Xia failed to restrain him.
• Tong Lie killed eighteen famous experts in Liang Prefecture and destroyed the families and forces behind two of them, provoking the prefecture’s martial world to seek an opponent who could defeat him.
• A reclusive Great Grandmaster challenged Tong Lie to a life-and-death duel, and people learned that he was a hidden expert of the Xie Family who had once fought Hui Kong.

Liang Prefecture welcomed the news that the Xie Family Great Grandmaster Xie Wanzhi would face Tong Lie, though opinions differed over who would win. After learning what was known of Xie Wanzhi’s life and mysterious return to the martial world, Tong Lie eagerly accepted the coming battle.

• Liang Prefecture’s martial artists reacted to Xie Wanzhi’s challenge with optimism, caution, or claims that Tong Lie was unbeatable.
• Fatty Xia secretly gathered information about Xie Wanzhi and told Tong Lie about his past and martial reputation.
• Fatty Xia explained that Xie Wanzhi had been crippled after fighting Hui Kong, left the Xie Family to seek a cure, and later vanished from public view.
• Tong Lie heard that much about Xie Wanzhi’s recovery, techniques, and treasures remained unknown.
• Tong Lie welcomed Xie Wanzhi as his strongest opponent yet and accepted the battle.

Tong Lie defeated Xie Wanzhi in a day-long battle, revealing a power that shook the Jianghu Martial Arts World. With Xie badly injured and no Human Clan challenger stepping forward, Liang Province’s people feared the Hundred Clans Allied Army and began to flee.

• Xie Wanzhi and Tong Lie fought for a day and a night, and Xie lost by a single move.
• Xie announced that Tong Lie had won through genuine strength and identified his extraordinary physique and the Dutian God Fiend Bronze Man Scripture as the sources of his power.
• News spread that Xie had suffered severe injuries and could not challenge Tong Lie again soon.
• The Jianghu Martial Arts World grew pessimistic, and some Liang Province residents took their families and fled to Ji Prefecture or Yanzhou.
• No Human Clan expert stepped forward to fight Tong Lie, leaving people to fear that the Human Clan’s fortunes were declining.

After defeating Xie Wanzhi, Tong Lie recovered from lingering injuries while Fatty Xia proposed challenging the Divine Saber Hall to aid their investigation into Bei Tangsu’s murder. Tong Lie instead planned to challenge the Peerless Twin Prodigies first, leaving Fatty Xia alarmed by the risks.

• Fatty Xia asked Tong Lie about the palm mark and bleeding elbow that had not healed ten days after his battle with Xie Wanzhi.
• Tong Lie explained that Xie Wanzhi’s Star Plucking Hand had injured him, but the fight had also improved his cultivation.
• Fatty Xia suggested using Tong Lie’s victory and growing reputation to challenge the Divine Saber Hall while investigating Bei Tangsu’s murder.
• Tong Lie said he would first challenge Meng Zhao and Shen Tianci, then suppress Ji Prefecture’s martial world before facing the Divine Saber Hall.
• Fatty Xia warned that challenging the Peerless Twin Prodigies could provoke the entire Divine Land, especially if Tong Lie won.

Tong Lie planned to challenge Meng Zhao and Shen Tianci to protect himself from human experts and damage the human race’s fortunes. Fatty Xia advised targeting Meng Zhao, and they devised a plan to use public pressure to make him accept the fight.

• Tong Lie explained that defeating Meng Zhao and Shen Tianci would undermine the human race’s prodigies and discourage their backers from attacking him before the duels.
• Fatty Xia warned Tong Lie that Shen Tianci was secluded and suggested challenging Meng Zhao, who was nearby but might refuse.
• Tong Lie proposed spreading rumors to pressure Meng Zhao into fighting, inspired by the Ye Family’s campaign against him.
• Fatty Xia agreed and suggested presenting Meng Zhao as the defender of human martial arts, while Tong Lie promised to join the human race if Meng Zhao defeated him.

Fatty Xia proposed using a wager to provoke Meng Zhao into a duel with Tong Lie, but Tong Lie rejected staking his Savage Tribe identity because he feared Meng Zhao’s hidden strength. They settled on a wager that Tong Lie would serve Meng Zhao for ten years if he lost, and Tong Lie agreed.

• Fatty Xia urged Tong Lie to wager his Savage Tribe identity to rally Northern Lands martial artists and pressure Meng Zhao into accepting a fair duel.
• Tong Lie refused, explaining that Meng Zhao’s Dragon Body, mysterious rise, and undefeated record made victory uncertain.
• Fatty Xia worried that losing would also prevent Tong Lie from challenging the Divine Saber Hall, but Tong Lie maintained he had an eighty or ninety percent chance of winning.
• Fatty Xia proposed that Tong Lie acknowledge human martial arts as supreme and serve Meng Zhao for ten years if he lost.
• Tong Lie accepted the revised wager, deciding that ten years of service was bearable compared with abandoning his Savage Tribe identity.

News spread that Tong Lie had challenged Meng Zhao, and Northern Lands forces turned the duel into a contest over the region’s fate. Public opinion elevated Meng Zhao into a child of destiny while rumors also suggested that someone was trying to provoke the Great Yong Dynasty against him; the chapter left everyone awaiting his decision.

• Tong Lie challenged Meng Zhao to a duel, wagering ten years of service if he lost and accepting that people would call Meng Zhao a coward if he refused.
• Northern Lands forces, including Fatty Xia, spread praise of Meng Zhao and rumors that he bore the Northern Lands’ Martial Dao Destiny.
• Martial artists and commoners came to see the duel as a struggle between the Northern Lands human race and the Arctic Ice Plains’ Hundred Clans.
• Stories portraying Meng Zhao as a destined king and future emperor circulated, raising suspicion that someone was trying to draw the Great Yong Dynasty’s attention to him.
• The Northern Lands waited anxiously for Meng Zhao to respond, as victory promised enormous gains while defeat threatened a disastrous fall.

Liang Muqiu and Meng Zhao’s allies weighed the pressure on Meng Zhao to accept Tong Lie’s challenge and the political dangers surrounding it. Liang sent Lü Yue to deliver the challenge letter and their assessment to Meng Zhao, while preparing to guard Lingwu City; she suspected Meng Zhao would accept rather than retreat.

• Lü Yue reported that forces across Ji, Liang, and Yanzhou urged Meng Zhao to accept Tong Lie’s challenge, while Meng Jizu advised him to delay.
• Liang Muqiu told Lü Yue to take the challenge letter to Yanzhou, explain the situation to Meng Zhao, and tell him to refuse if necessary.
• Lü Yue warned that crowds of martial artists had gathered outside the Yangwu Grand Barracks and Meng Family Manor, while Han Pu urged martial law and closer scrutiny of Beitang Ang and Beitang He.
• Liang Muqiu said she would monitor Lingwu City and revealed that Meng Zhao had secretly won over most officers in the Beitang father and son’s army.
• Liang Muqiu concluded that Meng Zhao was ambitious enough to face Tong Lie and might see the challenge as a chance to win the Northern Lands’ support.

Meng Zhao visited the Divine Saber Hall with Xue Zihou, cultivated his Forging Soldier Art, and built ties with the Hall’s factions. After five days of gains, he left without meeting the Purple Lightning Saber Lord, but had personally sensed the power of Demonic Saber Jingqing.

• On the journey, Xue Zihou repeatedly challenged Meng Zhao and improved his mastery of the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques, while Meng Zhao developed the Forging Soldier Art.
• Xue Zihou led Meng Zhao into the Divine Saber Hall, where the Purple Lightning Lineage welcomed him but restricted which areas he could visit.
• Xue Zihou’s mother promised that the Purple Lightning Lineage would support Meng Zhao’s actions in Yanzhou, except rebellion.
• Meng Zhao met Second Generation Saber Users from other factions, guided their cultivation, and arranged resource exchanges with the Divine Saber Hall.
• Meng Zhao visited the Blade Sharpening Pool with Xue Zihou and judged Demonic Saber Jingqing’s might to be below the Heaven-Illuminating Divine Mirror and the Sheji Cauldron.
• After five days, Meng Zhao left without meeting the Purple Lightning Saber Lord, who remained in secluded cultivation.

Meng Zhao met Xue Zilei, the Purple Lightning Saber Lord, and learned that the young saber master had just entered the Great Grandmaster Realm by creating the Purple Lightning Saber Scripture. After Xue Zilei challenged him to a spar, Meng Zhao proposed a contest of spiritual essences instead, leaving the two ready to compare their Great Daos without damaging the Divine Saber Hall.

• Meng Zhao sensed the Blade Sharpening Pool’s powerful weapons and the experts monitoring it from afar.
• Two days later, Xue Zihou led Meng Zhao to a cave where he met the Purple Lightning Saber Lord, Xue Zilei.
• Meng Zhao recognized that Xue Zilei had entered the Great Grandmaster Realm after carefully deducing a complete cultivation path for it.
• Xue Zilei sent Xue Zihou out of the cave and challenged Meng Zhao to test his newly created Purple Lightning Saber Scripture.
• Meng Zhao welcomed the chance to compare their martial paths but proposed that they contend through their spiritual essences to avoid a destructive clash.

Meng Zhao and Xue Zilei secretly tested their Martial Dao against each other as Xue demonstrated the seven forms of the Purple Lightning Saber Technique. Meng Zhao used his Primordial Spirit to overcome the technique, and the two parted with mutual respect after Meng Zhao gained insight into the saber moves and a trace of Divine Thunder Fortune.

• Meng Zhao and Xue Zilei entered the cave to compare their Martial Dao away from the eyes of Xue Zilei's faction.
• Xue Zilei showed Meng Zhao the seven forms of the Purple Lightning Saber Technique, each carrying his Martial Dao Divine Charm.
• Meng Zhao studied the linked saber forms and concluded that he could overcome them through superior force rather than technique.
• Meng Zhao manifested his Primordial Spirit and erased the Divine Charm within all seven forms without damaging the stone wall.
• Xue Zilei admitted defeat, and Meng Zhao praised his generosity for sharing the technique and Divine Thunder Fortune.

Meng Zhao explained to the Purple Lightning Saber Lord how rare circumstances had allowed him to cultivate a Primordial Spirit as a Great Grandmaster. The Purple Lightning Saber Lord then revealed his secret Heavenly Thunder Altar and offered it to Meng Zhao, leaving Meng Zhao wondering what he wanted in return.

• The Purple Lightning Saber Lord asked Meng Zhao how he had cultivated a Primordial Spirit before reaching the Celestial realm, and Meng Zhao described the exceptional conditions and fortune behind his achievement.
• The Purple Lightning Saber Lord concluded that Meng Zhao's accomplishment was nearly impossible to reproduce and that he stood above his celebrated peers.
• The Purple Lightning Saber Lord opened a hidden chamber and led Meng Zhao down to a purple altar filled with immense lightning energy.
• The Purple Lightning Saber Lord explained that the Heavenly Thunder Altar had helped him create the Purple Lightning Saber Scripture but had now served its purpose.
• The Purple Lightning Saber Lord offered the Heavenly Thunder Altar to Meng Zhao, who was stunned and suspected there was another reason for the gift.

Purple Lightning Saber Lord explained that he gave Meng Zhao the Heavenly Thunder Altar in hopes that Meng Zhao would help Xue Zihou avoid becoming a saber slave. He refused to control his son’s choices and said that loving his family did not weaken his devotion to the Way of the Saber.

• Purple Lightning Saber Lord told Meng Zhao that Xue Zihou had inherited Bei Tangsu’s legacy and might follow the same path toward becoming a saber slave.
• Purple Lightning Saber Lord asked Meng Zhao to help Xue Zihou in the future and offered him the Heavenly Thunder Altar as a token of gratitude.
• Meng Zhao refused the altar but promised to help Xue Zihou if the chance arose.
• Meng Zhao asked why Purple Lightning Saber Lord had married and had a son despite his devotion to the saber.
• Purple Lightning Saber Lord said he loved his wife and son, and that focus on the saber did not require abandoning everything else.

Meng Zhao reflected on Purple Lightning Saber Lord’s family and character, then declined the Heavenly Thunder Altar and raised concerns about the Divine Continent’s future. The chapter ended with Purple Lightning Saber Lord considering how political upheaval might coincide with a great transformation of the Divine Continent.

• Meng Zhao concluded that Ximen Chuixue and Purple Lightning Saber Lord had followed paths suited to their different natures, and recognized Purple Lightning Saber Lord as a devoted husband and father.
• Meng Zhao considered meeting Purple Lightning Saber Lord’s friend, who had given Xue Zihou a method involving the power of time, but held back because their relationship was not close enough.
• Purple Lightning Saber Lord repeatedly offered Meng Zhao the Heavenly Thunder Altar, but Meng Zhao declined and said he had an idea to discuss.
• Meng Zhao asked whether the Divine Saber Hall could protect Purple Lightning Saber Lord’s wife and son if the realm fell into chaos.
• Purple Lightning Saber Lord suggested that Meng Zhao was warning of widespread war, and Meng Zhao asked him to consider what would happen if upheaval in the realm coincided with a great transformation of the Divine Continent.