Chapter Summaries

Xu Xiaoshou was ambushed by Red Dog, a Throne-level assassin, and discovered that his Master-level body and recovery could not overcome Red Dog’s Domain. Red Dog repeatedly smashed Xu Xiaoshou into the ground, leaving him unable to resist as his vision faded.

• Red Dog revealed he had tracked Xu Xiaoshou for five days and saw through his attempt to stall for time.
• Red Dog struck Xu Xiaoshou with a dagger, but Xu Xiaoshou’s body rebounded the attack and injured Red Dog’s arm.
• Red Dog attacked again and trapped Xu Xiaoshou inside his Domain, where he could manipulate and restrain him.
• Xu Xiaoshou launched Hidden Pain at Red Dog, but Red Dog easily knocked the sword away and seized him.
• Red Dog repeatedly slammed Xu Xiaoshou into the ground, and Xu Xiaoshou lost consciousness as he could no longer resist.

Xu Xiaoshou’s berserk transformation let him stomp and strike Red Dog, a Throne, hard enough to crack the Domain trapping them, while Red Dog laughed and fought back. The battle shook Tiansang City as Chong Dong evacuated its residents and Xin Gugu raced to help Xu Xiaoshou.

• Red Dog battered Xu Xiaoshou and prepared to kill him with Heaven Thorn, but Xu Xiaoshou’s giant golden foot struck first and crushed him into the ground.
• Red Dog laughed after being wounded, but Xu Xiaoshou stomped him repeatedly and slapped him into the wall of his Domain, causing it to crack and leak energy.
• The battle shook Tiansang City, and Chong Dong recognized that two Thrones were fighting within the city.
• Chong Dong ordered the Imperial Guards to evacuate everyone ten li from the Pill Tower and spread his own Domain to contain the leaking energy.
• Outside the city, Xin Gugu sensed the fight, realized Xu Xiaoshou was in danger, and rushed toward him.

Xu Xiaoshou’s Berserk Giant battered Red Dog inside the domain, then used Explosive Stance to overwhelm his Heavenly Dao power and severely injure him. Red Dog briefly escaped the giant’s palms, but Xu Xiaoshou prepared a black-gold energy sphere in front of his mouth.

• Xu Xiaoshou’s Berserk Giant repeatedly smashed Red Dog and sent shockwaves through his domain, drawing Chong Dong toward the battle.
• Red Dog forced open the giant’s palms with Heavenly Dao power and taunted Xu Xiaoshou, believing the Innate could not kill a Throne.
• Xu Xiaoshou roared and activated Explosive Stance, breaking through Red Dog’s defenses and crushing him between the giant’s palms.
• Red Dog was blown apart by the blasts and briefly escaped as the giant’s palms opened.
• Xu Xiaoshou’s separating palms sucked away the air and pinned Red Dog in front of a trembling black-gold energy sphere.

Xu Xiaoshou’s unconscious attack forced Red Dog into the exploding qi bead, shattering the Domain and unleashing a golden torrent across Tiansang City. As Chong Dong struggled to shield the city, Xin Gugu rushed toward the battlefield and an unidentified figure entered the inner Domain.

• Xu Xiaoshou pierced Red Dog with a black-gold qi bead, then shoved him into its landing point.
• The qi bead exploded, collapsing part of the Domain and sending a destructive golden torrent through the city.
• Chong Dong’s Domain turned the torrent away from fleeing residents, while onlookers watched and tried to comprehend the battle.
• Xin Gugu sensed Greed God’s aura had vanished and charged toward the Throne Domain, threatening to destroy Tiansang City if Greed God had died.
• Chong Dong summoned three guards for reinforcements but told City Lord Fu to stay away and continue researching spirit arrays.
• Chong Dong noticed an unidentified figure carrying what looked like a sack enter the inner Domain.

Xu Xiaoshou regained his senses after devastating the old street with the Annihilation Qi Orb and believed he had killed Red Dog, but Red Dog survived and recovered. With Xu Xiaoshou exhausted and unable to defend himself, Red Dog approached with a blade and threatened to cut away his flesh until he reached Xu Xiaoshou’s true form.

• Xu Xiaoshou recovered his rationality in Berserk Giant form, surveyed the destruction, and wondered whether he was becoming resistant to its loss of control.
• Xu Xiaoshou used Perception to find Red Dog mangled at the bottom of the crater and sensed no sign of life.
• Red Dog suddenly revived, healed under the power of Heaven’s Dao, and praised Xu Xiaoshou’s strength.
• Red Dog recounted how Black Snake had tortured and trained him, then said he had repaid her with even crueller methods.
• Red Dog pulled a blood-red bead from his chest, turned it into a thin blade, and threatened to slice Xu Xiaoshou’s flesh away piece by piece.

Xu Xiaoshou unleashed a fully charged Passive Fist against Red Dog as the assassin attacked him with his Throne weapon and technique. The punch shattered the domain and devastated the old street, leaving Chong Dong to order the city to retreat.

• Red Dog used the Cicada-Wing Blade to shred Xu Xiaoshou's Berserk Giant calf and continued attacking as Xu Xiaoshou fell.
• Xu Xiaoshou saw the Passive Fist's charge value had reached 3.18% and decided to unleash it on Red Dog.
• Red Dog used Blood-Bathed Ghost Spirit: Thousand Forms, but Xu Xiaoshou's ordinary-looking fist overwhelmed his attack and annihilated him.
• Chong Dong sensed a sudden disturbance, and the domain around the old street exploded apart.
• Chong Dong ordered everyone to retreat as Xu Xiaoshou's punch blasted buildings into the air and lifted a vast slab of earth into the sky.

Yuan Sandao and two other Thrones saved the thousands of people blasted into the air, then Yuan noticed a distorted patch of space hiding someone with sword intent. As Xu Xiaoshou lay dying from his own Passive Fist, the slovenly uncle arrived and killed Red Dog with a single sweep.

• Xu Xiaoshou’s Passive Fist blasted tens of thousands of people into the air, and Yuan Sandao arrived with two Thrones to freeze them and coordinate their rescue.
• Yuan Sandao examined the distorted space at the center of the blast and sensed faint sword intent within it.
• Xu Xiaoshou lay near death after the Passive Fist destroyed his body, while Red Dog survived and crawled toward him with a dagger fragment.
• A slovenly uncle entered the battlefield, and Red Dog’s Domain shattered when it touched him.
• The uncle swept his four-fingered hand and beheaded Red Dog.

Xu Xiaoshou watched the scruffy uncle kill Red Dog with two fingers and began to suspect he was the Masked Man. As Xu Xiaoshou collapsed from his injuries, the uncle offered to save him and placed a thick ancient tome before him, urging him to blink if he wanted to live and grow stronger.

• Red Dog tried to reattach his severed head, but the scruffy uncle cut off his arm and leg with two finger movements, killing him.
• Xu Xiaoshou realized the scruffy uncle wielded sword intent and noticed clues linking him to the Masked Man.
• Xu Xiaoshou cried out, asking if the uncle was the Masked Man, but the uncle denied it and said Xu Xiaoshou was about to die.
• The scruffy uncle said he could save Xu Xiaoshou, then remarked that his vitality was strong but his strength was too weak.
• The scruffy uncle set a thick ancient tome before Xu Xiaoshou and urged him to blink if he wanted to live and become stronger.

The uncle revived Xu Xiaoshou by sending an ancient tome into his mind and using sword qi to repair his body, then hid him in a sack as the City Lord's Manor guards arrived. Xin Gugu reached the devastated battlefield, mistook the uncle for a peak Acquired cultivator, and prepared to rescue Xu Xiaoshou if necessary.

• The uncle covered Xu Xiaoshou's eyes, sent an ancient tome into his mind, and used sword qi to restore his shattered body.
• The uncle noticed Xu Xiaoshou's powerful life force and put his twitching body into a sack.
• The City Lord's Manor guards, led by the Four Great Thrones, surrounded the battlefield as spectators watched from a distance.
• Xin Gugu arrived and saw Xu Xiaoshou alive in the sack, then struggled to understand the devastation and the uncle's apparent strength.
• Xin Gugu counted the Four Thrones and the uncle as five threats and resolved to kill them swiftly if he had to rescue Xu Xiaoshou.

Yuan Sandao and the other Throne-level experts confronted the uncle amid the ruined battlefield, but he dismissed their questions and warned Chong Dong against provoking him. When Chong Dong mocked him and refused to lower his finger, the uncle’s sudden sword strike severed it, and Chong Dong recognized his opponent as a Throne-level expert.

• Yuan Sandao approached the uncle cautiously, suspecting he concealed formidable power.
• The uncle offered the group three chances to ask questions before he left, but Chong Dong angrily challenged him.
• The uncle denied causing the destruction of Tiansang City, admitted he had killed Red Dog, and ordered Chong Dong to put his finger down.
• Chong Dong pointed at the uncle and insulted his age and cultivation, ignoring his warnings.
• The uncle’s sword energy severed Chong Dong’s finger, and Chong Dong identified him as a Throne-level expert and ordered an attack.

Qiu Xuan and Liu Jing attacked the scruffy uncle, but he restrained them with sword aura and revealed overwhelming power. After rejecting Yuan Sandao’s guess that he came from Moon-Joining Immortal City, the uncle killed Chong Dong with a strike that appeared to manipulate time.

• Qiu Xuan and Liu Jing launched their signature techniques at the uncle, who stopped both attacks with streams of sword aura that pierced and pinned them.
• Chong Dong halted his own charge and warned the others to be cautious after seeing the uncle overpower the two Thrones.
• The uncle told Yuan Sandao he had no intention of hurting anyone, while Yuan Sandao questioned his identity and asked if he was from Moon-Joining Immortal City.
• The uncle denied Yuan Sandao’s guess and told Chong Dong that he was not qualified to ask about his cultivation stage.
• The uncle unleashed an azure greatsword and slowed time, then split Chong Dong in two with a half-moon slash.

A scruffy uncle killed Chong Dong with a sword strike that sparked arguments over whether it resembled the Eighth Sword Immortal’s Great Buddha Slash. After Chong Dong revived through a Heavenly Secrets Box, the uncle told Yuan Sandao he had come to Tiansang City to save the young cultivator in the sack.

• The scruffy uncle split Chong Dong in two with a sword strike, and sword cultivators argued over whether it was the Eighth Sword Immortal’s Great Buddha Slash.
• A purple box restored Chong Dong’s body, prompting the uncle to identify it as Dao Qiongchang’s Heavenly Secrets Box.
• Yuan Sandao asked why the uncle had acted in Tiansang City, warning that the laws against Sovereign-level experts applied.
• The uncle claimed he was only an Acquired cultivator and blamed the destruction on the young cultivator in the sack.
• The uncle said he had come to save the kid in the sack.

The scruffy uncle confronted Yuan Sandao, then identified Xin Gugu as a Ghost Beast host and offered him a chance to live openly. When Xin Gugu refused to stay with Xu Xiaoshou for a year, the uncle announced his identity to Yuan Sandao.

• The uncle overpowered two Thrones and walked away from Yuan Sandao, then asked Xin Gugu if he was the reinforcement Xu Xiaoshou had called.
• Xin Gugu denied knowing the uncle, while Chong Dong identified him as a blood-attributed Throne and Yuan Sandao watched him suspiciously.
• The uncle privately recognized Xin Gugu as a Ghost Beast host from Grey Palace of the Xu Moon and tempted him with the chance to reveal himself and gain a day of freedom.
• The uncle ordered Xin Gugu to stay by Xu Xiaoshou's side for a year as punishment for arriving late, but Xin Gugu refused because he had his own mission.
• The uncle told Yuan Sandao that Xin Gugu was indeed a Ghost Beast host.

Uncle forced Xin Gugu to accept a deal to assist Xu Xiaoshou when needed, then confronted Yuan Sandao as a devastating slash struck the City Lord’s Manor. The chapter ended with Uncle telling Yuan Sandao he could go save his people.

• Uncle made Xin Gugu experience a vision of the bloody fate awaiting him if he attacked, then woke him with a slap.
• Xin Gugu agreed to help Xu Xiaoshou block opponents above the Throne realm whenever needed, and Uncle said the sack nearby was his.
• Uncle asked Yuan Sandao whether his stalling had worked, while Yuan Sandao realized the City Lord and reinforcements had not arrived.
• Uncle restrained Yuan Sandao and said his own people should arrive soon.
• A black slash destroyed the formation around the City Lord’s Manor, and Uncle told Yuan Sandao he could go save them.

After waking from a day-long coma, Xu Xiaoshou learned that Xin Gugu and Mu Zixi had brought him back to the inn, though Xin Gugu's account of the battle was dubious. He discovered a powerful strand of sword intent within himself that granted him a flood of knowledge and became the tome called the Canon of Sword Observation.

• Xu Xiaoshou woke abruptly, accidentally knocking Mu Zixi into the wall and scalding Xin Gugu with the basin of hot water.
• Xin Gugu claimed he had saved Xu Xiaoshou by fighting five Thrones, and explained that Mu Zixi had brought him to the inn.
• Xu Xiaoshou healed Mu Zixi's forehead wounds with his life force, embarrassing her and prompting her to flee.
• Xin Gugu told Xu Xiaoshou that he had been unconscious for one day and that half of Tiansang City had been destroyed.
• Xu Xiaoshou found an unfamiliar strand of sword intent above his Dantian, received a vast surge of sword knowledge, and saw it form the tome named Canon of Sword Observation.

Xu Xiaoshou experienced the terrifying sword intent sealed in the Canon of Sword Observation and discovered it had injured his body in reality. He learned the book offered him the Sword Worship Technique, but it threatened to detonate the sword intent in his dantian if he refused to open it.

• Xu Xiaoshou entered the Canon of Sword Observation and encountered a blurry figure in white who said he would draw one sword.
• The figure pulled a half-formed sword hilt from his crown, shattering the illusory world and leaving Xu Xiaoshou’s body covered in sword-intent wounds.
• Xu Xiaoshou withdrew the sword intent from his wounds and watched his body heal, then suspected the sword intent and book had been given to him by the scruffy uncle.
• Xu Xiaoshou read the book’s offer to learn the Sword Worship Technique and its warning that opening it meant he could never turn back.
• Xu Xiaoshou saw the sword intent in his dantian swelling toward an explosion and realized the book had forced him to choose.

Xu Xiaoshou studied the Canon of Sword Observation and discovered that it taught an age-spanning form of Ancient Sword Arts centered on Sword Thought. The Sword Thought left by the scruffy uncle remained inside Xu Xiaoshou, and he turned to the tome to learn how to control or remove it.

• Xu Xiaoshou used the ancient book to absorb the Canon of Sword Observation into his Origin Mansion, where its contents revealed it was a cultivation method for Ancient Sword Arts.
• Xu Xiaoshou learned that the Canon gathered the essence of sword cultivation across the ages and could cultivate endless Sword Thought.
• Xu Xiaoshou wondered whether the Eighth Sword Immortal, Ba Zunan, had created the Canon and whether the scruffy uncle was connected to him or the masked man.
• Xu Xiaoshou found that the uncle's Sword Thought had settled above his dantian and resisted his attempts to expel it with the Breathing Method.
• Xu Xiaoshou returned his attention to the Canon, hoping to learn how to produce Sword Thought and remove, devour, or fuse the strand inside him.

Xu Xiaoshou learned that the Canon of Sword Observation could help him cultivate sword intent and improve Hidden Pain, but warned that observing a sword caused extraordinary pain. Determined to grow stronger after facing Red Dog, he began practicing the method with Hidden Pain, though the sword kept wriggling instead of staying still.

• Xu Xiaoshou read that the Canon of Sword Observation cultivated sword intent by observing swords and that the process could cause severe pain.
• When Xu Xiaoshou considered avoiding the painful cultivation, the sword intent above his dantian swelled until he pleaded with it to stop.
• Xu Xiaoshou resolved to cultivate the Canon of Sword Observation, Elder Sang's Emberlight Heavenly Flame: White Flame, and Dragon-Fusion Realm because Red Dog had shown him how far he was from a Throne-level enemy.
• Xu Xiaoshou chose his sentient tenth-grade sword, Hidden Pain, to cultivate with, hoping the method would raise its quality without reforging it.
• Xu Xiaoshou drew Hidden Pain and began observing it, but the sword bashfully curled up and refused to lie still.

Xu Xiaoshou cultivated Sword Observation with Hidden Pain, discovered sword thought, and accidentally sliced through the inn with it. Xin Gugu rushed in to investigate, while Xu Xiaoshou faced the approaching waiter and worried about explaining the damage.

• Xu Xiaoshou realized that Ordinary Mental Force and Sword Mastery let him overcome Sword Observation's cultivation thresholds.
• Xu Xiaoshou saw a wisp of sword thought emerge from Hidden Pain and guided it back into the blade.
• Xu Xiaoshou tried to draw the sword thought into his body, but it pierced his finger and escaped his control.
• The sword thought shot through the air and split the inn's barrier and ceiling.
• Xin Gugu charged into Xu Xiaoshou's room with a golden monk's staff, mistaking the disturbance for an enemy attack.
• Xu Xiaoshou noticed the waiter rushing over and worried about how to explain the destruction.

After Xu Xiaoshou damaged the inn while cultivating, he decided to buy a secluded house and persuaded Xin Gugu to find one, hoping to keep the powerful Sovereign nearby. The three famed-sword wielders across the hall recognized Xu Xiaoshou’s sword will, leaving the two sides staring at one another.

• Xu Xiaoshou promised to pay for the inn’s damage and decided a private house would be cheaper and safer for cultivation.
• Xu Xiaoshou gave Xin Gugu his gold card and asked him to buy a secluded house with rooms for himself and his sister.
• Xin Gugu was tempted by the prospect of a courtyard and left to shop for the house.
• Xu Xiaoshou hoped that a private base would keep Xin Gugu nearby and help him counter the danger posed by Zhang Taiying’s assassins.
• Gu Qingyi and the two parrots emerged from the opposite room, recognized Xu Xiaoshou’s sword will, and exchanged startled looks with him.