Chapter Summaries

Gu Hui defeated the Upper Realm’s strongest warrior and repelled later invaders, leading to the Upper Realm’s destruction and the unification of the Human Realm under Northern Li. After his Primordial Spirit grew powerful beneath Northern Li’s vast fate, Gu Hui mysteriously vanished a hundred years later.

• Gu Hui caught the old man’s Void-Breaking Sword and used the Five Mountains’ forms to withstand his eighty-one strikes.
• Gu Hui struck the old man with a mountain-like palm, but the old man detonated his remaining life force and collapsed the surrounding space.
• Gu Hui cut apart the destructive energy, returned to the city wall, and later resumed playing dead in the imperial palace.
• The Upper Realm was destroyed after its warriors repeatedly failed to defeat Gu Hui, and the people’s cultivation improved as the realms merged.
• Northern Li destroyed Southern Jue and the Northern Barbarians, unified the Human Realm, and its immense fate strengthened Gu Hui’s Primordial Spirit.
• After a hundred years, Gu Hui vanished mysteriously before reaching the end of his natural lifespan.

Master Daoxuan, also known as Gu Hui, broke through to the Taiqing Realm after two centuries of cultivation. As he left Huanyue Cave Abode, he sensed the Zhu Xian Ancient Sword stirring within and chose not to approach it.

• Daoxuan broke through to the Taiqing Realm inside Huanyue Cave Abode, and Wan Jianyi sensed the immense pressure from outside.
• Gu Hui reflected on his reincarnation, his cultivation, and how he had secretly collected three volumes of the Heavenly Book.
• Wan Jianyi watched over Gu Hui's seclusion, knowing that he was attempting to reach the Taiqing Realm.
• Gu Hui dispelled the cave's restrictions and emerged after completing his breakthrough.
• Gu Hui sensed the Zhu Xian Ancient Sword awakening deep inside the cave abode, recognized the danger of its baleful energy, and left without approaching it.

Gu Hui emerged from seclusion after breaking through to the Taiqing Realm and returned to lead the Qingyun Sect. He urged Wan Jianyi to overcome his heart’s burden and began addressing sect affairs with the six branch chiefs and elders.

• Gu Hui visited Wan Jianyi at the Founder Ancestral Hall, revealed his breakthrough, and offered incense with him.
• Gu Hui asked Wan Jianyi when he would overcome the barriers in his heart, then flew toward Yuqing Hall as Wan Jianyi reflected on his past and resumed sweeping.
• Gu Hui considered helping Wan Jianyi and a talented Dazhu Peak elder reach the Taiqing Realm while riding through the Sea of Clouds.
• Gu Hui reached Yuqing Hall, handled routine Qingyun Sect affairs, and ordered messages sent to summon the six branch chiefs and senior elders.
• The six branch chiefs and dozens of elders arrived and bowed to Gu Hui, who raised them and began the meeting.

Gu Hui managed the Qingyun Sect, trained in its powerful sword arts, and spent ten years cultivating his understanding of the Heavenly Book while maintaining peace within the sect. Seeking further insight, he left the sect’s affairs with the elders and wandered south from Qingyun Mountain.

• Gu Hui assessed the six peak masters, settled the sect’s pressing affairs with them, and considered turning Daoist Cangsong away from the Devil Dao by bringing Wan Jianyi back into the open.
• Gu Hui traveled to a secluded valley and practiced the Qingyun Sect’s sword arts, including the Divine Sword Controlling Lightning True Formula, the Slay Ghosts and Gods True Formula, and the Seven-Star Sword Art.
• Over the next ten years, Gu Hui balanced sect duties with cultivation and found that applying the Heavenly Book’s principles to the Hunyuan True Scripture slightly weakened the Heavenly Dao’s rejection of him.
• Gu Hui contemplated the Heavenly Book in the Back Mountain of Tongtian Peak, then entrusted sect affairs to the elders and left without telling the six peak masters.
• Gu Hui traveled through Heyang City and wandered south in search of insight, dressed like an ordinary scholar.

In Three Creeks, Gu Hui learned more about mysterious blood-draining deaths in the Southern Lands from a fortune-teller named Zhou Yixian. After receiving Zhou Yixian’s warning to avoid traveling alone at night, Gu Hui continued south with the danger still unresolved.

• Gu Hui overheard escort guards describe healthy people in the Southern Lands being drained of blood and essence, with tiny red marks on their necks.
• Zhou Yixian approached Gu Hui, claimed to see misfortune on his journey south, and accepted five copper coins for his reading.
• Gu Hui listened as Zhou Yixian shared more details about the deaths and tales of sword immortals fighting demons.
• Zhou Yixian solemnly warned Gu Hui against traveling alone through the wilderness at night, and Gu Hui thanked him.
• Gu Hui paid for Zhou Yixian’s meal before leaving the eatery.

Gu Hui tracked reports of bloodsucking monsters to Mountainback Market and followed their deathly aura into the mountains, where he discovered an ancient cavern and evidence that a sealed fiend had escaped. He found the fiend’s lair and its broken sealing artifact, but the fiend itself remained unseen.

• Gu Hui traveled south from Three Creeks Town toward Mountainback Market, where rumors of bloodsucking monsters had spread.
• Gu Hui sensed lingering traces of death in the village and followed a stronger evil aura into the mountain forest.
• Gu Hui found a concealed cave and recognized that its ancient aura resembled that of sealed demonic caverns.
• Gu Hui entered the cavern and discovered more than ten corpses drained of blood essence beside a sinister stone altar.
• Gu Hui examined a black fragment near the altar, resisted its devouring will, and concluded that a sealed fiend had escaped after its seal was broken.

Gu Hui waited outside the ancient cavern for the Ghostblood Shade to return, then attacked it with Taiji Origin Force. After surviving its assault, he sealed and purified the evil creature, leaving the mountain forest calm once more.

• Gu Hui hid in an Ancient Tree near the cavern and waited for the evil thing to return to its nest.
• The Ghostblood Shade entered the cavern and began feasting, so Gu Hui struck the entrance with a sword aura that destroyed some of its black mist.
• Gu Hui confronted the weakened Ghostblood Shade as it gathered outside the cavern and attacked him with yin-fiend arrows.
• Gu Hui evaded the arrows with the Seven-Star Step and used Taiji Xuanqing, Demon-Sealing to purify the Ghostblood Shade completely.

Gu Hui followed signs of sinister activity across the Southern Border and discovered that a secretive group in black was tied to the Beast God. He tracked them to an ancient cave and killed the cultivators and black-clad men gathered there.

• Gu Hui found that several villages had been drained of blood essence by a sinister force linked to the ancient cave at Mountainback Market.
• At Baxiong, Gu Hui heard reports of strange events among the Black Witch Tribe, the White Miao, and in Death Marsh, along with sightings of men in black.
• Five black-clad men entered the tavern, and Gu Hui sensed their unfamiliar cultivation and suspected their activities were connected to the Beast God.
• Gu Hui followed the men to an ancient cave with a stone statue and altar, where four cultivators comparable to Peak Shangqing and dozens of black-clad men were gathered.
• Gu Hui attacked the cave, pierced through the cultivators with his sword aura, and killed the black-clad men.

Gu Hui suppressed the dark entity emerging from the Blood Soul Crystal and reinforced its seal before traveling west through the wilderness. He reached the Withered Silence Mountains near Echo Valley as dawn approached.

• A dark figure emerged from the shattered Blood Soul Crystal and attacked Gu Hui, but Gu Hui shattered its strike, reinforced the seal, and made the entity vanish.
• Gu Hui sealed the cave and left the Southern Lands, choosing not to return to Qingyun.
• Gu Hui traveled west through the desolate wilderness and entered Black Wind Pass Gorge, enduring its destructive astral winds and spiritual disturbances.
• Gu Hui rested in a small cave in the gorge before continuing through the Withered Silence Mountains.
• Gu Hui crossed the final ridge and saw Echo Valley on his map as dawn approached.

Gu Hui explored dangerous places for more than a decade, reaching the peak of the Taiqing Realm before returning to the Ten Thousand Mountains to test himself against the Beast God. After a brutal fight, Gu Hui escaped the seal and fled as the Earthly Fiend Barrier vanished and a massive storm gathered.

• Gu Hui spent more than a decade exploring the wilderness, collecting treasures and advancing to the peak of the Taiqing Realm.
• Gu Hui undid the seal in the Ten Thousand Mountains and fought the Beast Tide, but the Beast God struck him through the mountains.
• Gu Hui unleashed Heavenly Ice Annihilation, and the Beast God shattered it with baleful energy before the two fought through the night.
• The Beast God overwhelmed Gu Hui in their physical battle, but Gu Hui declared that he would return after cultivating further.
• Gu Hui turned into Xu Wu and escaped the restriction, leaving Five-Element Divine Thunder to trap and attack the Beast God.
• Gu Hui fled the Demon-Suppressing Ancient Cave as the Earthly Fiend Barrier disappeared and a vast thunderstorm formed overhead.

Gu Hui survived a Lightning Tribulation in the Ten Thousand Mountains, gaining insight and solidifying his cultivation before returning to Qingyun after nearly twenty years away. He shared his knowledge with the sect and gave Wan Jianyi the three volumes of the Heavenly Book to study.

• Gu Hui summoned a fire dragon from his understanding of the three volumes of the Heavenly Book, which destroyed the gathered Immortal-Slaying Heavy Thunder.
• Gu Hui fled the Ten Thousand Mountains, recovered, and realized he had reached the pinnacle of the Primordial Spirit Realm and would need to pass further Lightning Tribulations to advance.
• Gu Hui returned to Qingyun Mountain, where he found that Wan Jianyi had broken through to the Taiqing Realm and the other sect members had also advanced.
• Gu Hui urged the branch chiefs to recruit promising younger disciples and shared his cultivation insights and knowledge of the three volumes of the Heavenly Book.
• Gu Hui visited Wan Jianyi at the Founder Ancestral Hall and gave him the written contents of the three volumes to study.

Gu Hui engraved the Heavenly Book in Huanyue Cave Abode and learned that the Enlightenment Stone Cluster was the Dao Mirror, which greatly accelerated his cultivation. When Tian Buyi and Shui Yue brought three new disciples to Qingyun Sect, Gu Hui recognized Dongfang Bai, Gu Xi, and Gu Lin from his past and secretly confirmed their identities, leaving him determined to grow stronger and uncover why they had appeared.

• Gu Hui placed the Enlightenment Stone Cluster in Huanyue Cave Abode and engraved the three scrolls of the Heavenly Book on its walls.
• Xiao Yicai told Daoxuan that Tian Buyi and Shui Yue had arrived with three children, and Daoxuan recognized their faces and names from his past memories.
• Tian Buyi introduced Gu Lin as his third disciple, while Shui Yue registered Gu Xi and Dongfang Bai as disciples for her and Su Ru.
• Gu Hui used the Samsara Secret Art to investigate the children and confirmed they were the people he remembered, though he hid his shock from the others.
• Gu Hui urged the Qingyun elders to recruit disciples and strengthen the sect, then sent Xiao Yicai to summon Cangsong to Yuqing Hall.

Gu Hui brought Cangsong to the Founder Ancestral Hall, where Wan Jianyi revealed that Daoxuan had secretly saved him and had never betrayed him. Cangsong confessed his schemes and attempted to take his own life, but Wan Jianyi stopped him, and Gu Hui ordered him to manage Longshou Peak as atonement.

• Gu Hui questioned Cangsong about his cultivation and Jade Dynasty's secret, then took him to the Founder Ancestral Hall.
• Gu Hui summoned Wan Jianyi and left the two disciples to speak, shocking Cangsong with the revelation that Wan was alive.
• Wan Jianyi told Cangsong that he had killed Tian Chengzi and that Daoxuan had secretly saved him.
• Cangsong realized he had misunderstood Daoxuan, confessed his hatred and collusion with the Demonic Cult, and tried to kill himself.
• Wan Jianyi stopped Cangsong and urged him to reform, but Gu Hui rejected his plan to confine himself and ordered him to manage Longshou Peak.

Gu Hui appointed Shui Yue to oversee Qingyun Sect’s punishments after Cangsong stepped down, and urged the peak heads to find more talented disciples. At Dazhu Peak, Dongfang Bai and Gu Lin continued training as they wondered about the coming Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament.

• Wan Jianyi refused to help Cangsong reclaim his position, and Gu Hui chose Shui Yue to oversee Qingyun’s punishments.
• Gu Hui announced Shui Yue’s appointment at a gathering of the seven peak heads and elders, and joked that Xiaozhu Peak’s female disciples would now be arresting misbehaving male disciples.
• Gu Hui urged the peak heads to recruit talented disciples, prompting several to plan trips down the mountain; Xiao Yicai later brought Chang Jian to Tongtian Peak.
• Dongfang Bai and Gu Lin trained by chopping Black-Jointed Bamboo at Dazhu Peak and worried about their prospects in the upcoming Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament.

Four years after Gu Xuan secretly watched over the three reincarnated youths, Gu Lin entered the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament and faced Sun Hao of Chaoyang Peak. Gu Lin disrupted Sun Hao’s swordsmanship with precise attacks and faint violet lightning, impressing the spectators as their match continued.

• Gu Xuan overheard Dongfang Bai and the boy discussing their past-life experiences, then left without revealing himself and visited Gu Xi at Xiaozhu Peak.
• Four years passed, and Gu Lin, Dongfang Bai, and Gu Xi reached the Sixth Layer of the Yuqing Realm, earning praise across Qingyun.
• The Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament began at Tongtian Peak, and Gu Lin drew Sun Hao of Chaoyang Peak as his first opponent.
• Sun Hao attacked with his crimson broadsword, but Gu Lin used faint violet lightning to disrupt his sword’s spiritual power and struck him with the sheathed Ink Snow Sword.
• Sun Hao pressed his assault, but Gu Lin evaded and countered by targeting weaknesses in his sword momentum, astonishing the watching disciples and drawing Daoxuan’s attention.

Gu Lin recovered from the injuries he suffered challenging Xiao Yicai and accepted a dangerous fragment of the Divine Sword Controlling Lightning True Formula from Daoxuan. More than a decade later, Gu Lin, Gu Xi, and Dongfang Bai had all reached the peak of the ninth level of Yuqing, poised to enter Shangqing.

• Gu Lin defeated Sun Hao with a precise thrust from Ink Snow, while Gu Xi swiftly defeated her opponent; the tournament later ended with Xiao Yicai first, Qi Hao second, Wen Min third, and Lin Yuan fourth.
• After recklessly drawing divine lightning against Xiao Yicai, Gu Lin awoke badly injured in Tongtian Peak's Back Mountain chamber, where Daoxuan explained how his unusual soul and Ink Snow had helped save him.
• Daoxuan gave Gu Lin a fragment of the Divine Sword Controlling Lightning True Formula and warned that practicing it could prove fatal, but Gu Lin accepted it to help Qingyun and all living beings face an approaching calamity.
• Daoxuan instructed Shui Yue, Tian Buyi, and Su to pass cultivation methods to Gu Lin, Gu Xi, and Dongfang Bai, while telling Gu Xi and Dongfang Bai to wait before studying the true formulas.
• More than a decade later, Gu Lin, Gu Xi, and Dongfang Bai had reached the peak of the ninth level of Yuqing, while the three Orthodox Dao sects maintained a fragile balance and the Demonic Dao forces stayed hidden.

Gu Hui, now Daoxuan and a powerful Taiqing Realm cultivator, received Puzhi of the Heavenly Sound Temple and refused his request to exchange cultivation arts. After Puzhi left, Gu Hui decided to act to protect the innocent villagers caught in the coming tragedy.

• Xiao Yicai told Gu Hui that Puzhi had arrived at Qingyun Sect for a visit.
• Gu Hui used Shrinking Earth to an Inch to reach Yuqing Hall and meet Puzhi.
• Puzhi asked Gu Hui to let the Qingyun Sect and Heavenly Sound Temple study each other's cultivation arts, but Gu Hui refused.
• Puzhi declined Gu Hui's invitation to stay and left the mountain.
• Gu Hui resolved to intervene to save the innocent villagers and returned to the cliff platform on the Back Mountain.

Gu Hui sent Tian Buyi to investigate demonic activity beneath Qingyun Mountain, where a mysterious attacker massacred villagers and escaped. The surviving Caomiao Village youths sought refuge with Qingyun Sect, and Gu Hui recognized Lin Jingyu and Zhang Xiaofan among them.

• Gu Hui summoned Tian Buyi and ordered him to deal with the Demonic Cult fiends active at the foot of the mountain.
• Tian Buyi found a village under attack, drove off the bloodlit assailant, and returned to find more than half the residents dead.
• Five Qingyun peak heads and Xiao Yicai gathered at Caomiao Village while Tian Buyi comforted the survivors and reported the attack.
• Gu Hui ordered Zeng Shuchang to mobilize Qingyun Sect to hunt down the demon and asked the surviving youths whether they wished to join the sect.
• Lin Jingyu and the other youths knelt to ask Qingyun Sect to take them in, and Gu Hui recognized Lin Jingyu and Zhang Xiaofan.

Gu Hui arranged the new Caomiao Village disciples among Qingyun Sect’s peaks, then continued cultivating until Qingyun’s strength had grown substantially. As the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament approached, the Spirit Venerable suddenly attacked the gathered disciples, and Gu Hui intervened at the last moment.

• Gu Hui admitted the youths seeking discipleship and assigned Zhang Xiaofan to Dazhu Peak and Lin Jingyu to Longshou Peak, while Shui Yue took two girls to Xiaozhu Peak.
• Gu Hui gave Tian Buyi a jade slip of cultivation insights, then questioned him about the killer before arranging instruction for Tongtian Peak’s new disciples.
• Several years later, Gu Hui reached a new cultivation insight, and Xiao Yicai reported that Tongtian Peak’s tournament participants had been selected.
• Gu Hui received the peak heads and elders in Yuqing Hall, where they discussed their disciples’ progress and the breakthroughs of several younger cultivators.
• The Spirit Venerable raised a towering pillar of water and sent it crashing toward the tournament disciples, but Gu Hui’s voice calmed their terror as the attack struck.

Daoxuan stopped the Water Qilin’s attack before it could kill the Qingyun Sect disciples and sent everyone back to Yuqing Hall. He confirmed to the peak masters that he had reached the Taiqing Realm many years earlier, then appeared on a cliff platform on Tongtian Peak’s Back Mountain.

• Daoxuan used a Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram to turn the Water Qilin’s torrent back into the Jade Water Pool and calmed the disciples.
• Daoxuan reassured the Water Qilin that he would handle the matter, and the beast returned to the Jade Water Pool.
• The peak masters and elders saw Daoxuan flying without a treasure and realized he had reached the Taiqing Realm.
• Daoxuan returned with the disciples to Yuqing Hall, addressed them, and oversaw the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament draw; Zhang Xiaofan drew a bye.
• Daoxuan explained the Water Qilin’s anger and arranged for the winning disciples to visit the Myriad Bat Ancient Cave.
• Daoxuan told the six peak masters that he had broken through to the Taiqing Realm many years earlier, then appeared on a cliff platform on Tongtian Peak’s Back Mountain.