Chapter Summaries

Lu Feng and Xiong Erlian escorted Bai Yifei toward Azure Mountain Sword Sect after his parents entrusted him to them, while the three became close. Elsewhere, Qin Tianliang learned that the Sun Family suspected the Qin Family of conspiring against them, and Lu Feng grew suspicious that Xiong Erlian had a hidden reason for joining the sect.

• Bai Yifei’s parents entrusted him to Lu Feng and Xiong Erlian, and the three set off for Azure Mountain Sword Sect.
• Xiong Erlian comforted Bai Yifei when he finally cried over leaving his parents, and the three exchanged names.
• Yu Ruyan confronted Qin Tianliang about the Sun Family’s suspicions, and Qin Tianliang denied that the mysterious Cloth-Clad Guest belonged to his family.
• Yu Ruyan told Qin Tianliang that Lian Taihe was dead and that someone intended to frame Lu Feng for the killing.
• Lu Feng, Xiong Erlian, and Bai Yifei settled into the sect’s temporary recruitment courtyard, where Lu Feng wondered why Xiong Erlian was hiding her considerable abilities.

Lu Feng met with the Azure Mountain Sword Sect elders to discuss the Hundred Valleys Sword Ruins and the sect’s preparations for its return. He learned that a powerful array had occupied his assigned courtyard, and Huang Helou hinted that its creator had a formidable background.

• Lu Feng met Huang Helou and the elders in the Council Hall and asked about the Hundred Valleys Sword Ruins.
• Bi Kongjing and Huang Helou explained that powerful factions had taken control of the ruins’ entrance, while two Heaven Soul Realm investigators had been missing for two days.
• Huang Helou revealed that the sect planned to select ten young disciples, including Mei Zisu and Zhuo Shixin, based on their performance in Xiafeng Valley.
• Lu Feng and the elders agreed to delay the Sect Founding Assembly until after the ruins were explored and to announce the sect’s return openly.
• Huang Helou told Lu Feng that an array laid by a Senior had occupied his assigned courtyard and could not be dismantled, leaving Lu Feng curious about the visitor’s identity.

Lu Feng hurried to inspect the formation Artisan Hero had left in the Sect Leader's Courtyard and learned that it was a dangerous domain guarded by nine Humanoid Figures. Gu Tianlao began explaining how the figures had beaten him, leaving Lu Feng ready to hear which three had attacked.

• Huang Helou told Lu Feng that Artisan Hero had left a formation in the courtyard and would know if anyone broke it.
• Lu Feng went to the courtyard and saw nine Humanoid Figures scattered across the open ground amid the collapsed walls and displaced pavilion.
• Ru Jijie and Qian Meng arrived to observe, and Lu Feng greeted them and asked for their guidance after he broke the formation.
• Gu Tianlao warned Lu Feng that the courtyard had become an independent domain and that its Humanoid Figures attacked intruders.
• Gu Tianlao showed Lu Feng his soul-level injuries and explained that three Humanoid Figures had beaten him.
• Lu Feng asked Gu Tianlao to identify which three figures had attacked.

Lu Feng investigated the courtyard array after hearing how its Humanoid Figures had defeated Gu Tianlao and Huang Helou. He discovered that the array tested each entrant’s strength and was drawn into its domain, where he encountered one of the figures.

• Gu Tianlao described how the Great Strength Figurine, Palm Fan Old Man Figurine, and Scholar Figurine had defeated him on repeated attempts to enter the array.
• Huang Helou said he had fought the Great Strength Figurine before being ambushed by another figure, while Ru Jijie and Qian Meng admitted they could not understand the array.
• Lu Feng sent two jade beads into the courtyard, and the array destroyed them with power reaching the Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage.
• Lu Feng stepped into the courtyard and sensed invisible strands linking him to the Humanoid Figures as they tested his strength.
• The array transported Lu Feng into its domain, where he saw an old man reclining in a rattan chair before a Bamboo House.

Lu Feng entered Artisan Hero’s array to find a way to break it, but the Old Man Figurine matched his rising strength and beat him out of the courtyard. He realized the array had merged him into itself and reentered the courtyard to test his theory.

• Lu Feng carefully surveyed the Bamboo House but found no obvious way to break its array as Huang Helou, Gu Tianlao, Qian Meng, and Ru Jijie discussed their hopes for him.
• A pebble shifted beneath Lu Feng’s foot, triggering the Old Man Figurine to attack him at close range.
• Lu Feng unsealed the Seven Souls Array, but the Old Man Figurine’s aura rose in step with his strength and the figurine struck him out of the courtyard.
• Gu Tianlao caught Lu Feng and laughed, while Ru Jijie urged the others not to disturb him as he pondered what had happened.
• Lu Feng realized the array had merged him into itself and asked Huang Helou how long after entering the courtyard the attack began.
• Lu Feng reentered the courtyard to test his theory.

Lu Feng entered the formation to test his theory, only to face a childlike Humanoid Figure whose contemplation produced powerful evil martial arts. After Lu Feng destroyed the Prayer Mat, the figure absorbed the cultivation arts streaming from it, leaving Lu Feng desperate to escape.

• Lu Feng entered the formation and found a childlike Humanoid Figure in a temple courtyard, then realized Artisan Hero’s Soul Consciousness was watching over the formation.
• The Humanoid Figure used the Twin Serpent Evil Python Palm, and Lu Feng recognized the sinister lost art before countering it with the Great Compassion Sword.
• The figure returned to contemplation and emerged with the Thirteen Paths Bone Crushing Demonic Hand, confirming Lu Feng’s suspicion that it was attaining Sudden Enlightenment into new martial arts.
• Lu Feng attacked the Prayer Mat with the Extreme Star Sky Evolution Art, hoping to interrupt the figure’s contemplation and find a way to break the formation.
• Streams of powerful, vicious cultivation arts burst from the damaged Prayer Mat, and the Humanoid Figure hovered above it, absorbing them as Lu Feng lost hope of fighting back.

Lu Feng failed to break Artisan Hero’s formation by force and realized its altered time flow made his earlier plan impossible. He revealed a new method involving the Withered Sea Essence Stone, but Ru Jijie and Qian Meng warned that it was considered worthless jade.

• Lu Feng entered the formation again, took blows from the Humanoid Figures, and learned that time inside passed faster than outside.
• Lu Feng realized Artisan Hero’s formation manipulated time and began considering how to preserve the Humanoid Figures’ powerful Soul Power.
• Ru Jijie and Qian Meng prepared to leave, but Lu Feng invited them to stay and promised they could meet Artisan Hero if they helped break the formation.
• Lu Feng revealed that he planned to use the Withered Sea Essence Stone, which Huang Helou said had cost ten High-Grade Source Stones.
• Ru Jijie identified the stone, and Qian Meng said Array Masters considered it worthless jade.

Lu Feng revealed that he could use the Withered Sea Essence Stone to form an array that lasted only an instant, and planned to use it to blast open Senior Artisan Hero's Nine Figurines Array. He borrowed Qian Meng's engraving tool and ordered Huang Helou and Gu Tianlao to guard the courtyard against the array's force.

• Ru Jijie and Qian Meng explained that the Withered Sea Essence Stone absorbed vast spiritual energy but was too fragile and uncontrollable for ordinary arrays or cultivation.
• Lu Feng said he had deliberately bid for the stone after noticing a mysterious young man beside Sun Liuliu competing for it.
• Lu Feng explained that an instant-long array powered by the stone could unleash enough force to break Senior Artisan Hero's Nine Figurines Array.
• Ru Jijie and Qian Meng lent Lu Feng their engraving tools, and he chose Qian Meng's Sui Xin Ru Yi Brush.
• Lu Feng told Huang Helou and Gu Tianlao to take positions behind the courtyard and contain any force that spilled out.

Lu Feng used the Hundred Rivers Return to the Sea technique to build a formation around the Withered Sea Essence Stone and nine High-Grade Source Stones. Qian Meng and Ru Jijie realized he was preparing to use the stone’s power to destroy the nine Humanoid Figures, and the formation was close to completion.

• Lu Feng instructed Huang Helou and Gu Tianlao to take positions at the rear of the courtyard, then inscribed formation materials with the Hundred Rivers Return to the Sea technique.
• Qian Meng recognized Lu Feng’s formation-integration method, while Ru Jijie explained that techniques were not inherently good or evil and compared Lu Feng’s bearing to Senior Artisan Hero’s.
• Lu Feng reached for the Withered Sea Essence Stone and added nine High-Grade Source Stones, alarming Qian Meng and Ru Jijie.
• Ru Jijie deduced that Lu Feng would shape the nine Source Stones into sharp arrows and use the Withered Sea Essence Stone’s force to destroy the nine Humanoid Figures.
• Qian Meng and Ru Jijie prepared to respond as the formation took shape around Lu Feng.

Lu Feng used the Withered Sea Essence Stone’s brief moment of indestructibility to inscribe a Spirit Impact Pattern and complete a Spirit Gathering Array, then used the diverted spiritual-energy tides to form a loop around the courtyard. He left Huang Helou and Gu Tianlao to maintain the Spring Spirit Stream until he returned the next morning.

• Lu Feng drew the nine High-Grade Source Stones’ spiritual energy into the Withered Sea Essence Stone and hurriedly engraved a basic Spirit Impact Pattern onto it.
• The Withered Sea Essence Stone absorbed the energy and then shattered, releasing a vast tide of spiritual energy that Lu Feng’s array sent toward the courtyard.
• The courtyard formation blocked the incoming energy and diverted it into two streams, which Huang Helou and Gu Tianlao pressed down at Lu Feng’s signal.
• Lu Feng directed Huang Helou and Gu Tianlao to join the streams into a closed loop around the courtyard, forming the Spring Spirit Stream.
• Lu Feng told the two elders to handle the site while he rested and returned the next morning to clean up the aftermath.

Lu Feng used the Withered Sea Essence Stone and Hundred Rivers Return to the Sea to slowly dissolve Artisan Hero’s courtyard formation, leaving others to realize his Spirit Gathering Array was wearing it down. After returning to Gu Lingling’s courtyard, he went back to the Newcomer Courtyard as Feng Sanlu to check on Bai Yifei and Xiong Erlian, who immediately asked where he had gone.

• Ru Jijie and Qian Meng realized Lu Feng had used the Withered Sea Essence Stone and Hundred Rivers Return to the Sea to make spiritual energy circulate around Artisan Hero’s courtyard and slowly dissolve its formation.
• Gu Tianlao and Huang Helou sensed that Lu Feng’s arrangement was gradually flooding the courtyard formation, though it would take until dawn to break it.
• Ru Jijie, Qian Meng, and Huang Helou worried that Artisan Hero might be angered if Lu Feng broke his prized formation with a Spirit Gathering Array.
• Lu Feng returned to Gu Lingling’s courtyard, set up a soundproof Auxiliary Array, and decided to check on Bai Yifei and Xiong Erlian at the Newcomer Courtyard.
• Lu Feng put on his Snowy Jade Soft mask and returned as Feng Sanlu, where Xiong Erlian asked him where he had gone in the dead of night.

Lu Feng investigated Xiong Erlian after she secretly sought directions to the Azure Mountain Sect Leader’s courtyard. When he confronted her there, Xiong Erlian identified him as the Sect Leader and attacked, accusing him of killing her father.

• Xiong Erlian visited Lu Feng’s room and asked him to draw a map to the Sect Leader’s courtyard.
• Lu Feng returned to Gu Lingling’s courtyard, disguised himself, and waited for Xiong Erlian to arrive.
• Xiong Erlian entered the courtyard with a flimsy excuse, and Lu Feng sealed the area with an array.
• Lu Feng demanded to know who had sent Xiong Erlian and what she wanted.
• Xiong Erlian recognized Lu Feng as the Azure Mountain Sect Master and charged at him, demanding that he repay her father’s life.

Lu Feng fought Xiong Erlian, who accused him of killing her father, Lian Taihe, and suspected that someone had framed him. After Xiong Erlian vanished from the courtyard, Lu Feng went to investigate, then pursued her when she failed to return to the Newcomer Courtyard.

• Lu Feng recognized Xiong Erlian's giant scythe techniques and suspected she was Lian Taihe's daughter, while she declared she would avenge her father.
• Xiong Erlian used a secret art to raise her cultivation and attacked Lu Feng with several scythe techniques, but he evaded and countered her moves.
• Xiong Erlian unleashed her blood-powered Scythe Evil attack, and Lu Feng blocked it with the Five Elements Profound Origin Shield, causing damage to the courtyard.
• Xiong Erlian disappeared after the clash, and Lu Feng suspected someone had used Lian Taihe's death to frame him for murder.
• Lu Feng returned to the Newcomer Courtyard to look for Xiong Erlian, then set out to pursue her when she did not come back.

Lu Feng rescued the gravely injured Xiong Erlian after learning she had tried to assassinate the Sect Leader, then carried her back to his courtyard and treated her wounds. Elder Xia Weiyang investigated the traces of battle and ordered heightened patrols while Lu Feng wondered who had manipulated Xiong Erlian.

• Lu Feng found Xiong Erlian hiding beneath rubble, badly hurt by the backlash from a secret technique.
• Xiong Erlian told Lu Feng she had tried to assassinate the Sect Leader and warned him to leave, but he insisted on saving her.
• Lu Feng carried the weakened Xiong Erlian back to the courtyard, where she cried that she missed her father and fainted.
• Xia Weiyang found signs of a battle at Gu Lingling's courtyard, suspected Giant Scythe Manor, and ordered the sect to increase its vigilance.
• Lu Feng laid Xiong Erlian on his bed, gave her pills, and guided her energy until her injuries were no longer life-threatening.

Xiong Erlian told Lu Feng she had tried to kill the Azure Mountain Sect Master to avenge her father, whom she believed had been murdered with A Sword Through the Heart. Lu Feng realized the evidence might be part of a plot to frame him and the Azure Mountain Sword Sect, while Xiong Erlian hid beneath the covers as someone knocked at the door.

• Xiong Erlian woke in Lu Feng’s room, discovered he had removed her bloodstained outer garment, and teased him about romance and visiting a Flower Boat.
• Lu Feng pressed Xiong Erlian to explain why she had tried to assassinate the Azure Mountain Sect Master, and she initially avoided answering.
• Lu Feng threatened to call in the patrolling disciples, prompting Xiong Erlian to reveal that she sought revenge for her father’s murder.
• Xiong Erlian said her father had been killed by A Sword Through the Heart, convincing Lu Feng that someone had staged evidence to implicate him and the Azure Mountain Sword Sect.
• Lu Feng wondered who was behind the plot and learned that Xiong Erlian had acted on her own; when someone knocked, she darted beneath the covers.

Lu Feng, disguised as Feng Sanlu, evaded suspicion when Xia Weiyang and a steward found Xiong Erlian in his room. After learning that Iron Toad of Bone Toad Manor had helped identify the sword scars linked to her father's death, Lu Feng asked Xiong Erlian to let him investigate, but she mistook his concern for romantic interest.

• Lu Feng opened the door to Xia Weiyang and the steward, who found Xiong Erlian hiding beneath his blankets and warned the pair to behave properly if they joined the sect.
• Lu Feng tested whether Xia Weiyang could see through his Snowy Jade Soft mask and was relieved that the disguise fooled him.
• Xiong Erlian told Lu Feng that her uncles and Iron Toad of Bone Toad Manor had identified the sword scars connected to her father's death.
• Lu Feng suspected Bone Toad Manor was involved and asked Xiong Erlian to stop pursuing the Azure Mountain Sect Master while he investigated her father's death.
• Xiong Erlian asked whether Lu Feng had fallen for her, then angrily refused his help after he said he did not like someone foolish.

Lu Feng reassured Xiong Erlian that he would help investigate her father's suspicious death, then made arrangements to protect Bai Yifei and prepare for Bone Toad Manor. When Artisan Hero arrived, Lu Feng claimed the nine Humanoid Figures from his broken formation and faced the legendary formation master, who demanded to know how his array had been defeated.

• Lu Feng told Xiong Erlian he would help investigate her father's death, and she thanked him before offering him her place to sleep.
• Lu Feng sought out Xia Yangzhou, explained the courtyard fight, and tasked him with investigating Bone Toad Manor's strength and secretly protecting Bai Yifei.
• Lu Feng sensed Artisan Hero approaching the Sect Leader's Courtyard and hurried there as Artisan Hero's formation nearly collapsed.
• Lu Feng swept the nine Humanoid Figures into his Kirin Ring just before Artisan Hero arrived.
• Artisan Hero questioned Lu Feng about breaking the Nine Humanoid Array, and Qian Meng said Lu Feng had used a Spirit Gathering Array.

Lu Feng discovered that Artisan Hero recognized his ties to Exquisite Valley and had trapped Liu Su in a Deep Mountain Forest. Artisan Hero seized Lu Feng’s nine Humanoid Figures and remained unmoved by Lu Feng’s accusation that he would become a laughingstock.

• Artisan Hero sensed the intricate formations in Lu Feng’s Spirit Gathering Array and questioned Lu Feng about his origins and teachers through Soul Consciousness.
• Artisan Hero threatened to search Lu Feng’s soul, but Lu Feng insisted that the Black and White Two Elders had only taught him for a time.
• Artisan Hero revealed that he had trapped Lu Feng’s Senior Brother Liu Su in a Deep Mountain Forest after Liu Su resisted a soul search.
• Lu Feng offered his nine Humanoid Figures in exchange for Liu Su’s whereabouts, but Artisan Hero swept them away with spiritual energy.
• Lu Feng rebuked Artisan Hero for taking back the figures, and Artisan Hero laughed that he had always acted as he pleased and did not fear what others said.

Lu Feng bargained with Artisan Hero for the nine Humanoid Figures by claiming he knew the method of Guiding Stars into Jade. After confirming Artisan Hero had no mortal grudge against Exquisite Valley, Lu Feng negotiated an exchange that would leave him with help building three sect-protecting formations.

• Artisan Hero reclaimed the Humanoid Figures, but Lu Feng threatened to destroy the method of Guiding Stars into Jade if Artisan Hero tried to search his soul.
• Artisan Hero returned the nine Humanoid Figures to Lu Feng in exchange for the method, and Lu Feng stored them in the Kirin Ring.
• Lu Feng asked whether Artisan Hero held a grudge against Exquisite Valley, and Artisan Hero blamed two old fellows for cutting off his Dragon Whiskers.
• Lu Feng claimed he had learned the method from the Star Chess Strategy in the Star Chess Saint's secret realm, convincing Artisan Hero that he knew it.
• Lu Feng offered the method in exchange for a rare offensive technique and Artisan Hero's help with three grand formations, and Artisan Hero asked whether Lu Feng had prepared the materials.

Lu Feng learned Artisan Hero’s Object Manipulation Style array attack technique at a glance, then accused him of using Lu Feng’s own method as a bargaining chip. Artisan Hero nearly killed him for refusing to hand over Guiding Stars into Jade, but suddenly let him go and demanded to know who his parents were.

• Artisan Hero demonstrated the Object Manipulation Style array attack technique with a jade sword, and Lu Feng caught and controlled it after watching once.
• Lu Feng accused Artisan Hero of trying to bargain with a technique Lu Feng had originally given Senior Brother, provoking Artisan Hero to seize him and demand Guiding Stars into Jade.
• Huang Helou and Gu Tianlao begged Artisan Hero to spare Lu Feng, but Lu Feng refused to yield even as Artisan Hero’s restraint nearly suffocated him.
• Artisan Hero abruptly released Lu Feng, then grabbed him by the collar and asked who his parents were.