Chapter Summaries

Zhang Wuji, posing as Zeng A Niu, defended Yin Tianzheng and defeated champions from several sects, turning the battle at Bright Summit against the six sects. With the other leaders beaten or discredited, Miejue and the gathered heroes pressured Xiao Xuan to fight Zhang Wuji.

• Zhang Wuji intervened when an attacker nearly struck the exhausted Yin Tianzheng, then challenged the gathered heroes for taking turns fighting an injured man.
• Xiao Xuan declined to fight and said Wudang would withdraw if Zhang Wuji dealt with the other sects, while Kongwen ordered the sects to attack and destroy the Ming Cult.
• He Taichong and Ban Shuxian joined forces against Zhang Wuji, and two Mount Hua elders then joined them, but Zhang Wuji defeated all four after adapting to their techniques.
• Xiao Xuan memorized the Orthodox and Inverted Two Forms saber and sword techniques while Zhang Wuji defeated Kongwen and learned the Shaolin Dragon Claw Hand from him.
• Zhang Wuji exposed Xian Yutong's crimes, and the Ming Cult celebrated as the other sects looked down on Mount Hua.
• Miejue and the other sect leaders begged Xiao Xuan to fight Zhang Wuji, claiming the fate of the Orthodox Dao martial world depended on him.

Xiao Xuan fought Zhang Wuji to a draw, then watched Zhang Wuji defeat Abbess Miejue. He warned the assembled sects that the imperial court had manipulated the siege and set ambushes to destroy them on their way down Bright Summit.

• Xiao Xuan and Zhang Wuji exchanged martial arts, and Xiao Xuan used the Purple Star Soft Sword and unpredictable attacks to match Zhang Wuji.
• Xiao Xuan and Zhang Wuji ended their duel in a draw, after which Abbess Miejue challenged Zhang Wuji and was defeated.
• He Taichong and Mount Hua’s representatives questioned Xiao Xuan about learning their techniques, and he said he had memorized them by watching their earlier fights.
• Xiao Xuan warned the sects not to descend separately because imperial forces had set ambushes along the paths down the mountain.
• Xiao Xuan revealed that the imperial court had manipulated the siege to weaken Yuan opponents and planned to wipe out all six sects.

Xiao Xuan helped the six sects escape the court’s ambush at Bright Summit, then returned to Wudang, where Zhang Sanfeng taught him Tai Chi Fist and learned that Zhang Wuji was alive. Song Yuanqiao later reported that the court had captured leaders and disciples from several sects and that Zhang Wuji had become the Ming Cult’s master, leaving Wudang bracing for trouble.

• Xiao Xuan urged the martial artists to unite, and the six sects descended Bright Summit together before joining the Ming Cult in fighting off the court’s forces.
• Xiao Xuan returned to Wudang and learned that Zhang Sanfeng had perfected Tai Chi and named its new martial art Tai Chi Fist.
• Xiao Xuan gave Zhang Sanfeng the Nine Yang Manual, Great Shift of the Universe, Medical Classic, and Poison Classic, and told him that Zhang Wuji was alive and had helped the Ming Cult.
• Xiao Xuan studied martial arts and cultivation methods at Wudang while Zhang Sanfeng continued his secluded training.
• Song Yuanqiao reported that court forces had breached several sects’ gates and captured many leaders and disciples, and that Zhang Wuji had become the Ming Cult’s master.

Zhang Sanfeng and Xiao Xuan prepared Wudang for the court’s schemes while discussing Xiao Xuan’s plan to travel the land and seek a worthy ruler. A disguised Zhang Wuji arrived as Wudang faced a false Shaolin messenger and an attacking force in Ming Cult uniforms.

• Song Yuanqiao learned that the young man they had seen was Zhang Wuji, and Zhang Sanfeng ordered him to strengthen Wudang’s defenses.
• Xiao Xuan told Zhang Sanfeng he planned to travel among the people and assess potential rulers, and Zhang Sanfeng supported his choice.
• Kong Xiang claimed the Demon Cult had destroyed Shaolin and brought Kongxing’s severed head, but Zhang Sanfeng recognized him as an attacker and killed him when he struck.
• A group in Ming Cult uniforms attacked Wudang, and Zhang Sanfeng identified the disguised young Daoist as Zhang Wuji.
• Zhang Wuji greeted Zhang Sanfeng and Xiao Xuan, who teased him for trying to disguise himself before an expert.

Zhao Min led an assault on Wudang while posing as the Ming Cult Leader, but the real Ming Cult leaders arrived and exposed her scheme. Zhang Wuji agreed to Zhao Min’s challenge to fight her retainers without using his strongest techniques, and Ah San boasted of killing Master Kongxing as the confrontation began.

• Zhao Min emerged from her sedan chair disguised as the Ming Cult Leader and demanded Zhang Sanfeng submit to the imperial court.
• Zhang Sanfeng refused Zhao Min’s demand, and she ordered her followers to leave none alive at Wudang.
• Wei Yixiao, Yang Xiao, Yin Tianzheng, and other Ming Cult experts arrived to support Zhang Sanfeng and Xiao Xuan.
• Zhao Min mocked Zhang Wuji and demanded he refrain from using the Nine Yang Divine Skill and the Great Shift of the Universe while fighting her retainers; Zhang Wuji agreed.
• Ah San boasted that he had killed Master Kongxing with his Great Strength Vajra Finger.

Zhang Sanfeng taught Zhang Wuji Taiji swordsmanship, and Zhang Wuji used its principles to defeat Ah San and Ah Er. The chapter left Zhang Wuji facing Ah Da, who wielded the Heaven Sword, with the Purple Star Soft Sword from Xiao Xuan.

• Yu Daiyan recognized Ah San as the man who had crippled him with the Great Strength Finger years earlier.
• Zhang Sanfeng demonstrated Taiji swordsmanship to Zhang Wuji, who claimed to have forgotten the forms but grasped their principles.
• Zhang Wuji used Taiji to turn Ah San's strength against him and crippled him.
• Zhao Min sent Ah Er to fight Zhang Wuji, who defeated him and severed all his meridians.
• Ah Da drew the Heaven Sword and challenged Zhang Wuji, so Xiao Xuan gave Zhang Wuji the Purple Star Soft Sword.

After defeating Zhao Min’s forces at Wudang, Xiao Xuan spent five years supporting Zhu Yuanzhang as the Ming Cult and martial sects prepared to overthrow the Yuan Court. Their alliance launched a major assault near Yingtian, where Xiao Xuan and Song Yuanqiao advanced toward the Yuan command tent.

• Zhang Wuji defeated A Da, and Xiao Xuan killed the three men Zhao Min had been ordered to keep behind before she withdrew from Wudang.
• After spending several more months at Wudang, Xiao Xuan disguised himself and began traveling through the martial world.
• Over the next five years, Zhu Yuanzhang’s forces grew stronger, Zhang Wuji retired to Ice-Fire Island, and Zhu Yuanzhang became the Ming Cult’s leader as the Bright King.
• Zhu Yuanzhang proposed joining with martial sects to attack the Yuan Court, and the major sects agreed to meet in Yingtian to plan their campaign.
• The Ming rebel army and allied martial heroes attacked Yuan reinforcements near Yingtian, while Song Yuanqiao led Wudang disciples toward the Yuan command tent and Xiao Xuan rushed ahead.
• The Yuan general ordered his Right Vanguard to destroy the approaching martial artists and bring back their heads.

Xiao Xuan helped the Wudang fighters defeat the Yuan army, kill its general, and capture Dadu, after which Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Great Ming dynasty. Fifty years later, Xiao Xuan still lived quietly on Wudang Mountain, having secretly reached the Innate realm.

• Xiao Xuan and the Wudang fighters fought through the Yuan cavalry, suffering heavy casualties as they broke its charge.
• Xiao Xuan cut through the Yuan army's defenses and killed its general, turning the battle and routing the demoralized soldiers.
• Zhu Yuanzhang took control of Dadu, founded the Great Ming dynasty, and bestowed titles and rewards on Xiao Xuan and the Wudang heroes.
• Fifty years later, Xiao Xuan practiced on Wudang Mountain while the older Wudang heroes had died or grown old.
• Xiao Xuan had secretly entered the Innate realm twenty years earlier after creating the Taiyi Xuanyuan Scripture, but most people knew him only as an old sweeper.

Xiao Xuan learned that Zhang Sanfeng had ascended beyond the world, then reunited with Zhang Wuji and watched Wudang’s older generation pass away. As the Ming changed and Wudang entered a new era, Xiao Xuan quietly left the mountain.

• Xiao Xuan sensed Zhang Sanfeng’s departure into the heavens and congratulated his master on breaking free of the world’s constraints.
• Zhang Wuji returned to Wudang, and Xiao Xuan told him and the others that Zhang Sanfeng had likely ascended to a higher realm.
• Zhang Wuji’s sons and grandchildren visited Wudang, where the grandchildren trained in their family’s martial arts before later venturing into the martial world.
• Yin Liting, Mo Shenggu, Gu Xuzi, and eventually Zhang Wuji died, leaving Xiao Xuan increasingly isolated.
• Xiao Xuan left Wudang, while the Ming court expanded its surveillance of martial artists and high-yield crops became staples across the realm.

Xiao Xuan, reborn in the world of the Bad People, continued training at the Sword Hut while hiding his true cultivation and his ties to the Bad People. As he practiced through a storm, he bantered with Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan, unaware that they still believed he was only at the Middle Star Rank.

• Xiao Xuan left the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber world by abandoning his body, but a broken iron shard intervened and he awoke as a child in a new world.
• After surviving as a homeless child in Yuzhou City, Xiao Xuan was taken to the Sword Hut on Mount Qingcheng with Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan.
• Xiao Xuan recovered memories of his past lives, secretly joined the Bad People, and advanced to the Middle Heaven Rank while concealing his strength from his companions and master.
• Xiao Xuan practiced swordsmanship in the rain as Lu Linxuan and Li Xingyun watched from beneath the eaves.
• Li Xingyun complained that Yang Shuzi made him study medical books, and Xiao Xuan and Lu Linxuan teased him about being caught badmouthing their master.

Xiao Xuan decided to leave the Sword Hut and travel down the mountain after the Commander tested his strength and urged him not to shield Li Xingyun from experience. Before departing, Xiao Xuan asked Yang Shuzi for permission and told Li Xingyun to look after Lu Linxuan, leaving Li Xingyun to face his stern teacher.

• Xiao Xuan joked with Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan, then sensed the masked Commander and evaded his sudden attack with the Xuan Yuan Steps.
• The Commander praised Xiao Xuan's speed, revealed he intended to send Li Xingyun down the mountain, and asked how Li Xingyun could gain experience while Xiao Xuan protected him.
• Xiao Xuan agreed he needed to travel and asked Yang Shuzi for permission to leave the Sword Hut, which Yang Shuzi granted.
• Xiao Xuan met Li Xingyun carrying his medicine basket, told him to stop slacking and look after Lu Linxuan, then departed.
• Li Xingyun watched Xiao Xuan leave before Yang Shuzi called him into the courtyard in a foul mood.

Xiao Xuan met the deranged former Heavenly Master Zhang Xuanling in Yuzhou City and fought him to learn the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula. After promising to help Zhang Xuanling find his son, Xiao Xuan began treating his memory loss with acupuncture.

• Xiao Xuan recognized Zhang Xuanling at an inn and bought him wine in exchange for a meal and a chance to talk.
• Zhang Xuanling tried to tell Xiao Xuan's fortune, then revealed that he was searching for his son.
• Xiao Xuan offered to help locate Zhang Xuanling's son and challenged him to a fight outside the city.
• Xiao Xuan studied and memorized Zhang Xuanling's Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula while struggling against his superior strength.
• Xiao Xuan offered to treat Zhang Xuanling's memory loss, then returned with him to the inn and inserted silver needles into his acupoints.

Xiao Xuan treated Zhang Xuanling until he recovered his sanity, while studying and partly mastering the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula. Zhang Xuanling learned why Li Siyuan had targeted his family, and Xiao Xuan offered to develop a Thunder Dao palm technique for Heavenly Master Manor.

• Xiao Xuan treated Zhang Xuanling over several weeks and used the nursery rhyme and Zhang Xuanling's demonstrations to work out most of the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula.
• Xiao Xuan mastered the fifth and sixth extraordinary meridians and reached the Great Heavenly Position.
• Xiao Xuan completed Zhang Xuanling's treatment, and Zhang Xuanling recovered his memories and advanced to the peak of the Great Heavenly Position.
• Xiao Xuan advised Zhang Xuanling to protect his son and suggested Li Siyuan had destroyed the family to obtain the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula.
• Zhang Xuanling offered to demonstrate the full formula, but Xiao Xuan declined and said he was developing a Thunder Dao palm technique to give to Heavenly Master Manor.
• Zhang Xuanling asked Xiao Xuan which Daoist tradition he came from.

After befriending Zhang Xuanling and reaching Fengxiang, Xiao Xuan caught the attention of the Empress, who disguised herself as a man and tested him over a meal. He left without revealing much, while the Empress and her hidden attendants discussed the Prince of Qi.

• Xiao Xuan and Zhang Xuanling discussed Daoist classics, became friends, and then parted ways.
• A man in black at Weapon Repository Valley learned that Xiao Xuan had met Zhang Xuanling and warned that he would treat Xiao Xuan as a disposable pawn if he interfered with his plans.
• Xiao Xuan traveled to Fengxiang City, where the Empress heard reports of his arrival and decided to meet him herself.
• The Empress disguised herself as a man and invited Xiao Xuan to a meal, probing him about his origins and his impressions of Fengxiang.
• Xiao Xuan praised Fengxiang’s livelihood under the Prince of Qi, then left the restaurant as several women emerged from the shadows.

Xiao Xuan continued his travels after a masked attacker destroyed his horse, while the appearance of Millennium Fire Lingzhi on Mount Qingcheng drew the major factions into a race to claim it. At the mountain, Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan intervened when they found a veiled woman under attack by the Black and White Impermanences.

• The Empress ordered an investigation into Xiao Xuan, and he later left Fengxiang after half a month of rest.
• A masked man attacked Xiao Xuan and killed his horse; Xiao Xuan fought him with the Green Lotus Sword Song until the attacker fled.
• The masked man revealed himself as the man who had called Xiao Xuan brother and recognized him as Yang Shuzi's disciple.
• The discovery of Millennium Fire Lingzhi on Mount Qingcheng prompted the Empress, Meng Po, and Li Siyuan to send people to retrieve it.
• Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan encountered the Black and White Impermanences while traveling and followed them to a sparsely populated area.
• Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan rescued a veiled woman from Dark Nether Cult members, then faced the Black and White Impermanences, who recognized them as Yang Shuzi's disciples.

Xiao Xuan returned to the Sword Hut and rescued Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan from the Dark Nether Cult before traveling to Weapon Repository Valley to confront Yuan Tiangang. He urged Yuan Tiangang to spare Yang Shuzi and reconsider his plan to put Li Xingyun on the throne.

• Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan fought the Dark Nether Cult’s Yama Kings and Black and White Impermanence until Xiao Xuan appeared and protected them.
• Xiao Xuan struck down the four Yama Kings, while Black and White Impermanence escaped.
• Xiao Xuan told Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan that Yang Shuzi was safe, then left for Weapon Repository Valley.
• After reaching Weapon Repository Valley, Xiao Xuan met Yuan Tiangang and demanded that Yang Shuzi be allowed to live.
• Xiao Xuan challenged Yuan Tiangang’s plan to force Li Xingyun to restore the Li Tang realm and urged him to let events take their natural course.

Xiao Xuan defied Yuan Tiangang to protect Yang Shuzi, then swallowed a Great Return Pill and broke through to the Lesser Primordial Position. After proving himself in a clash with Yuan Tiangang, he secured Yang Shuzi’s release and planned to establish a sect on Mount Qingcheng.

• Xiao Xuan argued that Yuan Tiangang had mishandled Li Xingyun’s upbringing and demanded that he spare Yang Shuzi, but Yuan Tiangang refused.
• Xiao Xuan revealed that Yuan Tiangang intended to make Yang Shuzi give up his life, then swallowed a Great Return Pill while Yuan Tiangang watched.
• Xiao Xuan used the pill’s energy to open his Ren and Du Meridians and reach the Lesser Primordial Position.
• Xiao Xuan attacked Yuan Tiangang, withstood a punch powered by eighty percent of Yuan Tiangang’s strength, and earned his respect.
• Yuan Tiangang agreed to spare Yang Shuzi and sent Shangguan Yunque to take Xiao Xuan to read his collected texts.
• Xiao Xuan invited Yang Shuzi to join him as an elder at a sect on Mount Qingcheng, and promised Yuan Tiangang he would remain a member of the Bad People while the Commander lived.

Xiao Xuan was sent from Weapon Repository Valley to Luoyang Imperial Palace, where Zhu Yougui confronted Zhu Wen over a plot to replace him as Crown Prince and have him killed. Zhu Yougui killed Zhu Youwen, while Zhang Zhenniang revealed she had sided with her husband.

• Xiao Xuan told Yang Shuzi he had joined the Bad People after Yuan Tiangang taught him the Huayang Acupuncture Technique, then left with Shangguan Yunque.
• Xiao Xuan spent a year in Weapon Repository Valley stabilizing his cultivation before Yuan Tiangang sent him to Luoyang Imperial Palace.
• Meng Po told Zhu Wen that Yang Yan and Yang Miao had betrayed the Dark Nether Cult and that she had imprisoned them.
• Zhu Yougui arrived at Jiaolan Hall and confronted Zhu Wen about intending to appoint Zhu Youwen Crown Prince.
• Zhu Yougui killed Zhu Youwen after Zhu Wen denied the succession plot, then accused Zhu Wen of sending Meng Po to arrange his murder.
• Zhang Zhenniang admitted that she had told Zhu Yougui about Zhu Wen's plan and declared her loyalty to her husband.

Zhu Yougui killed Zhang Zhenniang and his father, Zhu Wen, then let Li Xingyun’s group enter the palace so he could frame them. Li Xingyun and the others reached Jiaolan Hall and discovered Zhu Wen’s corpse alongside the bodies of Zhu Youwen and Zhang Zhenniang.

• Zhu Yougui slapped Zhang Zhenniang to death, then confronted Zhu Wen and rejected his pleas to be spared.
• Zhu Yougui killed Zhu Wen, declaring that his death avenged the former dynasty, and ordered his men to let Li Xingyun enter the palace.
• Li Xingyun and his companions noticed the palace had no guards and suspected Zhu Yougui had set a trap, but they proceeded to Jiaolan Hall.
• The group entered Jiaolan Hall and found Zhu Wen slumped on the dragon throne and the bodies of Zhu Youwen and Zhang Zhenniang nearby.
• Wen Tao identified the two bodies as Zhu Youwen and Zhang Zhenniang.

Li Xingyun and his companions discovered Zhu Wen had been dead for hours and were surrounded by Zhu Yougui’s forces in Jiaolan Hall. Zhu Yougui revealed his scheme to frame Li Xingyun, seized the Longquan Sword through Wen Tao, and left Li Xingyun facing a powerful enemy with Ji Ruxue captive.

• Shangguan Yunque startled Zhu Wen’s corpse into falling, and Wen Tao determined Zhu Wen had been dead for over six hours.
• Li Xingyun and his companions rushed from Jiaolan Hall but were surrounded by Dark Nether Cult members and palace guards.
• Zhu Yougui appeared with Ji Ruxue bound and gagged, and Li Xingyun recognized that Zhu Yougui had framed him for the palace murders.
• Zhu Yougui admitted that he planned to blame Li Xingyun for killing his father, wife, and younger brother so he could claim the throne.
• Zhu Yougui ordered Wen Tao to take Li Xingyun’s Longquan Sword and revealed that Wen Tao had served him for more than ten years.
• Li Xingyun and Shangguan Yunque attacked Zhu Yougui but were easily defeated, and Li Xingyun prepared to use his Small Heavenly Rank martial arts.