Chapter Summaries

Yun Shu let Liu Chuan handle the Myriad Sword Pavilion’s affairs while he weighed his enemies and the looming destruction of the sect. With the Spirit Stones from his sold items, he began preparing to improve his strength using the Spirit Sword Art.

• Liu Chuan told Yun Shu that his items and Demonic Blade had earned three hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones, and that the ten million Spirit Stones he had provided were spent repairing the sect’s Formation Arrays.
• Yun Shu accepted Liu Chuan’s management of the sect and decided it could grow gradually while he focused on strengthening himself.
• Yun Shu considered his enemies, including Situ Kong, the Qin Family, and the Wuji Immortal Sect, but chose to deal with them only if they came after him.
• Yun Shu recalled that about two years remained before Chu Huangyue left the sect and its destruction, and resolved to improve his strength to prepare for what lay ahead.
• Yun Shu took out the Spirit Sword Art and began studying its cultivation method and accompanying spell technique, Myriad Swords Return to Origin.

Yun Shu advanced his cultivation, reviewed the Hall of Life and Death’s intelligence network, and promised Old Lei a path to the Golden Core Stage. He assigned Yuan Xi to train the Hall’s disciples as they prepared for a coming opportunity, leaving Yuan Xi to ask whether Yun Shu planned to strike the Golden Cauldron Sect.

• Yun Shu pushed the Spirit Sword Art to the Nascent Soul Realm and resolved to strengthen his Mental Energy and other skills.
• Old Lei reported that the Hall of Life and Death had infiltrated the Golden Cauldron Sect and gathered extensive intelligence on its affairs.
• Yun Shu promised to arrange Empowerment for Old Lei to reach the Golden Core Stage, and Old Lei gratefully accepted.
• Yun Shu met with Yuan Xi, who had reached the Second Level of Foundation Establishment and was being trained as a versatile assassin.
• Yuan Xi reported the Death Hall’s growing ranks, and Yun Shu ordered him to train its disciples for a coming opportunity.
• Yuan Xi asked Yun Shu whether he intended to move against the Golden Cauldron Sect.

Yun Shu directed Yuan Xi to make the Hall of Life and Death secret, disciplined, and ready to target the Golden Cauldron Sect. As the year ended, Yun Shu reviewed his immense cultivation progress and joked with Liu Chuan about ascending in a few years.

• Yun Shu told Yuan Xi to strengthen the Hall of Life and Death, keep its intelligence confidential, and prepare its disciples to reach Foundation Establishment.
• Yuan Xi resolved to reorganize the hall and use severe punishments to prevent information from leaking, while Yun Shu kept the organization under his own surveillance.
• Yun Shu considered the Golden Cauldron Sect a suitable first target but decided the hall still needed stronger killing techniques and formation arts.
• At year's end, Yun Shu reviewed his cultivation, noting that his Nine Great Sword Intents and Mental Energy had reached the Nascent Soul Level and that his combat ability had grown through daily battles with Chen Hong.
• Yun Shu observed the Sect's disciples and instructors making progress, then urged Liu Chuan to cultivate faster and joked that he would ascend in a few years.
• Liu Chuan dismissed Yun Shu's claim that he would ascend so soon.

Yun Shu gathered and cultivated a vast collection of techniques so he could create his own cultivation methods. After two months of rapid study, he reached the peak of the Soul Infant Stage and felt he had grasped cultivation’s fundamental principles.

• Yun Shu asked Liu Chuan to collect copies of every cultivation method in the Sect because he wanted to study them and create his own.
• Liu Chuan obtained more than a thousand low-grade manuals and arranged for Hundred Treasures Pavilion Spirit Stones to be exchanged for another 160 common techniques.
• Liu Chuan gave Yun Shu a Black Gold Token that secured a forty-percent discount at Hundred Treasures Pavilion.
• Yun Shu cultivated the techniques, finishing the Qi Condensation methods in three days and pushing the Foundation Establishment methods and Spirit Sword Art to their limits by the tenth day.
• Yun Shu reached the peak of the Soul Infant Stage after a month, completed the Golden Core techniques, and mastered the Soul Infant techniques the following month.
• Yun Shu felt that the countless techniques had revealed the fundamental truth of cultivation to him.

Yun Shu ran out of Spirit Stones and began creating original cultivation methods from the arts he had mastered. He completed a comprehensive Qi Condensation method and spent a month deriving the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core methods.

• Yun Shu decided to keep the copied techniques as a foundation for the sect and considered creating original techniques to earn Spirit Stones.
• Yun Shu used the Spirit Sword Art as the basis for organizing and simplifying his insights into a systematic cultivation method.
• Yun Shu completed the Great Five Elements Qi Cultivation Method, a straightforward technique for cultivators with any combination of the Five Spiritual Roots.
• Yun Shu decided not to derive Body Tempering or Mental Energy methods because he lacked sufficient knowledge and materials.
• Yun Shu built on the Qi Condensation method and his cultivation insights to complete the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core techniques after a month.

Yun Shu completed the first four levels of the Cloud Departure Cultivation Technique and gave a copy to Chu Huangyue before she left to pursue her own path. Afterward, he shared the technique with Liu Chuan and discussed Mu Qing’s possible future as the Sect’s successor.

• Yun Shu finished deriving the Cloud Departure Cultivation Technique after half a year of work.
• Yun Shu met Chu Huangyue as she prepared to leave, gave her the first four levels of his technique, and promised to meet her again for a fair fight.
• Liu Chuan told Yun Shu that Chu Huangyue had reached the Nascent Soul Stage and had asked about the Wuji Immortal Sect before departing.
• Yun Shu suggested that Mu Qing might inherit the Sect one day, while Liu Chuan questioned how long Yun Shu’s own ascension might take.
• Yun Shu gave Liu Chuan a copy of the Cloud Departure Cultivation Technique, then returned to his room after hearing about the Sect’s circumstances.

Yun Shu’s newly derived cultivation method helped Liu Chuan rapidly strengthen his Spiritual Energy, and the two discussed how its techniques worked. Liu Chuan then asked Yun Shu where he could sell the Spirit Arts he had finished practicing.

• Yun Shu reflected that he had given his new cultivation method to Chu Huangyue and Liu Chuan so it could be tested, and considered the risks of his own suppressed Demonic Cultivator cultivation.
• Liu Chuan spent a month relearning the Qi Refining Stage method, which brought his Spiritual Energy close to the False Core Stage.
• Liu Chuan showed Yun Shu his progress, and Yun Shu explained that the method’s meridian circulation and optional Spiritual Energy-seizing technique were designed to suit all cultivators.
• Yun Shu explained that the technique for seizing Spiritual Energy came from Devouring Sword Intent rather than the Demonic Path and would not incur karmic debt.
• Liu Chuan asked Yun Shu where to sell the Spirit Arts he had mastered, and Yun Shu learned Liu Chuan could not return them to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

Liu Chuan planned to sell the discounted cultivation techniques through Rogue Cultivators and the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, while Yun Shu refined his own Spell Techniques and continued strengthening his cultivation. Far away, Chu Huangyue reached Nascent Soul Middle Stage and found that thoughts of Yun Shu drove her to keep advancing.

• Liu Chuan proposed trading the techniques to Rogue Cultivators for goods that could be sold at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, and Yun Shu entrusted him with the techniques and his written insights.
• Liu Chuan warned that selling the stock would take at least three months and said he would avoid black markets until later because they could expose the goods' source.
• Yun Shu reviewed his work, having perfected a fist technique and a palm technique, and realized that one more Lightning Tribulation would let him break through to the Nascent Soul Stage.
• Chu Huangyue sneezed while cultivating in a lavish manor, then advanced to Nascent Soul Middle Stage after a month of progress.
• Chu Huangyue compared herself with Yun Shu and treated thoughts of his overwhelming strength as motivation to pursue cultivation.

Yun Shu created practical Spell Technique systems for the Life Hall and Death Hall, then assessed the rapidly growing force’s strength. Yuan Xi reported that the Death Hall had hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators, leaving Yun Shu struck by how its numbers compared with his sect’s younger generation.

• Yun Shu deduced two sets of Spell Techniques, including intelligence and stealth arts for the Life Hall and killing techniques for the Death Hall.
• The Hall of Life and Death trained its members in the new techniques while enforcing harsh punishments and requiring those who left to pay five times the Spirit Stones and have their memories erased.
• After six months, Yuan Xi reported that the Death Hall had 230 Foundation Establishment cultivators and about 700 Qi Condensation cultivators.
• Yuan Xi said about 200 Foundation Establishment cultivators were at the first or second layer, 15 were at the third layer, and he had reached the fifth layer.
• Yun Shu reflected that the Death Hall’s Foundation Establishment numbers rivaled the entire younger generation of genius disciples in his sect.

Yun Shu prepared to destroy Golden Cauldron Sect, ordering Hall of Life and Death to gather intelligence and announcing an attack in ten days. He planned to claim the sect’s resources and confront any forces that intervened, including Wuji Immortal Sect.

• Yun Shu told Yuan Xi and the others to prepare for a major battle, then ordered Old Lei to investigate Golden Cauldron Sect and gave him a million Spirit Stones.
• Yun Shu decided to use Hall of Life and Death and the two great Immortal Sects to attack Golden Cauldron Sect, hoping to pressure Canglan Sect and Danxia Sect into choosing a side.
• Yun Shu ordered Liu Chuan to announce that Golden Cauldron Sect would be destroyed in ten days, insisting its members would not escape and its resources would go to Myriad Sword Pavilion.
• Liu Chuan warned that Wuji Immortal Sect might intervene, but Yun Shu said he welcomed the chance to settle matters with them.
• Yun Shu told Liu Chuan that if Golden Cauldron Sect disbanded, Senior Brother Chen Hong should eliminate its Three Elders if they fled toward Wuji Immortal Sect.

Yun Shu watched the nearby sects’ reactions to the planned attack on the Golden Cauldron Sect, while considering how to bring Canglan Sect and Danxia Sect into the Myriad Sword Pavilion’s orbit. He empowered Old Lei to the Golden Core Stage, then traveled in disguise to Canglan Sect.

• Liu Chuan guessed that Yun Shu planned to use the Golden Cauldron Sect conflict to influence the region’s major powers.
• News of the planned attack spread, and Myriad Sword Pavilion disciples eagerly volunteered to fight.
• Yun Shu decided to protect most of the sect’s disciples and noted that Canglan Sect and Danxia Sect were staying neutral.
• Yun Shu considered bringing the two neutral sects and their Mortal Dynasties into the fold to strengthen the Myriad Sword Pavilion.
• Yun Shu empowered Old Lei to the Golden Core Stage, changed into prepared black robes, and arrived at Canglan Sect.

Yun Shu attacked Nie Lingshuang and her fellow Canglan Sect disciple after they had exhausted themselves hunting a Demonic Beast, overwhelming them and leaving them close to death. A woman in pale green arrived in time to stop his final strike, and Yun Shu escaped by using a Talisman Seal.

• Yun Shu found Nie Lingshuang and another Foundation Establishment disciple wounded and exhausted after their hunt, then attacked them with powerful Demonic Energy.
• Nie Lingshuang and her junior used pills and Secret Techniques to boost their strength, but Yun Shu's black palmprint gravely injured them.
• The junior offered to hold Yun Shu back so Nie Lingshuang could escape, while Yun Shu taunted them and kept them stalled.
• Yun Shu sensed someone approaching and rushed to strike Nie Lingshuang, but a thunderous voice stopped him just before his hand reached her heart.
• Yun Shu vanished with a Talisman Seal, and a woman in pale green arrived to check on Nie Lingshuang and her junior.

After the Canglan Saintess rescued Nie Lingshuang and Hu Jun, reports of attacks on Canglan Sect and the disappearance of Hong Qing turned public opinion against Wuji Immortal Sect. Yun Shu revealed that Hong Qing was trapped in an illusion array and explained to Liu Chuan how the Myriad Sword Pavilion was using the rumors to pressure the Two Great Immortal Sects into choosing sides.

• The Canglan Saintess took Nie Lingshuang and Hu Jun back to the sect for treatment and ordered them to stay there while she investigated the attack.
• News spread that Wuji Immortal Sect disciples had attacked Nie Lingshuang, and rumors linked the sect to the earlier death of Canglan Sect's young daughter.
• Cultivators learned that Hong Qing had vanished and that Wuji Immortal Sect was competing with Wankong Temple over mineral veins, deepening suspicions against it.
• Liu Chuan told Yun Shu that rumors spread by Rogue Cultivators had turned public opinion against Wuji Immortal Sect.
• Yun Shu told Liu Chuan that Hong Qing was alive but trapped in an Illusion Array, and said the Myriad Sword Pavilion would increase pressure if the Two Great Immortal Sects stayed silent.
• Yun Shu explained that the accusations would force the Two Great Immortal Sects to take sides while leaving Wuji Immortal Sect unable to defend itself convincingly.

Yun Shu gathered Canglan Sect, Danxia Sect, Death Hall, and Myriad Sword Pavilion’s forces to attack the Golden Cauldron Sect, while the Wuji Immortal Sect stayed silent. The alliance prepared to move against the Golden Cauldron Sect the next day, and Liu Chuan reflected on how the spoils might strengthen Yun Shu and the sect.

• Yun Shu learned that the Golden Cauldron Sect had dismissed most of its disciples, while its Three Elders kept a small group to remain with the sect.
• Canglan Sect publicly joined the campaign and pledged fifty disciples, four False Core cultivators, and one Golden Core cultivator.
• Danxia Sect and Old Lei’s fifteen Death Hall disciples arrived to offer support, and the other sects wondered about Death Hall’s origins and strength.
• Myriad Sword Pavilion sent Elder Emeritus Ji Wanfeng, a Nascent Soul cultivator, to join the assault.
• Yun Shu learned that the Wuji Immortal Sect had made no move and suspected it had sought to seize Su Lin because of her Special Physique.
• Liu Chuan told Yun Shu that the Golden Cauldron Sect’s resources could help the sect develop, while Yun Shu’s cultivation insights already supported its disciples.

Yun Shu discussed his cultivation worries and the Hall of Life and Death with Liu Chuan before turning his attention to the attack on the Golden Cauldron Sect. As the sect’s defenses came under assault, he watched from afar and waited to see whether the Wuji Immortal Sect would intervene.

• Yun Shu told Liu Chuan that Chu Huangyue’s departure had left him without a target to chase in cultivation, while Liu Chuan prepared to pursue his own breakthrough.
• Yun Shu explained that he had forged the Hall of Life and Death and that its rapid growth relied on uniform methods and ruthless sacrifices the Sect could not make.
• Yun Shu said he trusted Senior Brother Chen Hong to handle the battle at the Golden Cauldron Sect, then watched the sect’s mountain-protecting array come under attack at dawn.
• Yun Shu observed the assault through a long-distance Talisman and waited to see whether the attackers would draw forces from the Wuji Immortal Sect.

Yun Shu watched the forces he had assembled destroy the Golden Cauldron Sect while reflecting on his cultivation and the Myriad Sword Pavilion’s rise. After the sect’s defenses fell, the Sect Master recognized Yun Shu’s black-clad fighters as a powerful force he had forged and warned him to keep control of them.

• Yun Shu watched three Golden Core Stage cultivators and Ji Wanfeng break through the Golden Cauldron Sect’s Mountain Protecting Array.
• Yun Shu and the Sect Master discussed the Myriad Sword Pavilion’s rapid rise and the possibility that Yun Shu might leave to travel the world.
• The Mountain Protecting Arrays around the four Immortal Peaks shattered, and the attackers slaughtered the Golden Cauldron Sect’s disciples and leaders.
• The Sect Master noticed that Yun Shu’s black-clad fighters used coordinated, lethal Spell Techniques, and Yun Shu said they were a blade he had forged.
• The Sect Master praised the force’s potential and warned Yun Shu to guard its core power, keep its members’ identities secret, and enforce harsh rules.

Yun Shu’s allies destroyed the Golden Cauldron Sect, whose Three Elders and disciples fought to the death, while the Wuji Immortal Sect stayed out of the battle. Afterward, Yun Shu planned to press his advantage carefully as the Golden Cauldron Sect vanished from the Crimson Cloud Domain.

• The Old Man shattered his Golden Core in a final explosion, but the Grey-robed Elder survived with only minor injuries, and Yun Shu gave the Sect Master medicine for his wounded master.
• Hall of Life and Death assassins killed enemies swiftly as the Three Great Sects overwhelmed the Golden Cauldron Sect and collected the dead on Yun Shu’s orders.
• The Wuji Immortal Sect sent no help, and Yun Shu accepted the Sect Master’s advice to avoid rushing into a larger conflict.
• Liu Chuan returned and told Yun Shu that the Golden Cauldron Sect’s disciples had lost heart and repeatedly self-destructed after their elders fell.
• Yun Shu said he would take the largest share of the spoils and looked forward to using the many bodies, while the Golden Cauldron Sect’s legacy was erased from the Crimson Cloud Domain.

After the Golden Cauldron Sect fell, Yun Shu divided the seized wealth and ordered Myriad Sword Pavilion to take control of the Two Great Immortal Sects’ three Mortal Dynasties and test their populations for potential disciples. He then assessed the battle’s losses and left Liu Chuan to exchange the spoils for Spirit Stones.

• Liu Chuan brought Yun Shu the seized Storage Bags, which held corpses, resources, and an estimated thirty million Spirit Stones’ worth of goods.
• Yun Shu divided the proceeds, allocating ten million Spirit Stones to Myriad Sword Pavilion and twenty million to himself.
• Yun Shu ordered Myriad Sword Pavilion to test everyone in the three Mortal Dynasties controlled by the Two Great Immortal Sects and station its people there.
• Yun Shu told Liu Chuan to recruit disciples despite the cost, saying he would find a solution when the sect ran short of Spirit Stones.
• Liu Chuan reported that Danxia Sect had lost nearly half its people, while the Hall of Life and Death had only two injured.
• Yun Shu told Liu Chuan to exchange the seized goods for Spirit Stones.

Liu Chuan sold the spoils from the Golden Cauldron Sect to Gu Chen, who offered Hundred Treasures Pavilion’s protection to Myriad Sword Pavilion. Back at the Sect, Yun Shu absorbed the captured cultivators’ energy, read Liu Chuan’s message, and saw Little Jiu’er’s strength and beauty continuing to grow.

• Gu Chen’s Hundred Treasures Pavilion finished appraising Liu Chuan’s goods and valued them at thirty-three million Spirit Stones.
• Gu Chen offered to send two Nascent Soul Stage Guards to aid Myriad Sword Pavilion in a crisis, and Liu Chuan decided to inform Yun Shu.
• Yun Shu absorbed the captured Golden Cauldron Sect cultivators and gained around twenty thousand Cultivation Points, then stored their corpses to bury later.
• Liu Chuan returned to the Sect with the Spirit Stones and sent Yun Shu a black-gold Talisman about Gu Chen’s offer.
• Yun Shu read the Talisman, considered Hundred Treasures Pavilion’s offer, and noted that Little Jiu’er had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage.

Yun Shu took Little Jiu'er to the Snow Mountain for his Spirit Transformation tribulation and watched as the young Heavenly Demon Fox fought through the lightning. Little Jiu'er endured the first three rounds with the help of Yun Shu’s formation, leaving Yun Shu worried about how he would afford the Spirit Stones needed to raise him further.

• Yun Shu recalled the conflicting histories of the Heavenly Demon Fox Clan and admired Little Jiu'er’s beauty and growing independence, while tallying the millions of Spirit Stones he had eaten.
• Little Jiu'er sensed his Heavenly Tribulation and clung to Yun Shu, who took him to the Snow Mountain and formed a protective array before withdrawing to avoid drawing the lightning.
• Little Jiu'er revealed his silver-white, nine-tailed true form and met the unusually powerful tribulation with Heavenly Demon arts.
• An old man on the Snow Mountain remarked that Little Jiu'er had reached Spirit Transformation at three and compared his rapid progress with Yun Shu’s.
• The formation survived until the third round before the lightning destroyed it, and Yun Shu worried that he could not afford Little Jiu'er’s future cultivation costs without wiping out the Two Great Immortal Sects.