Chapter Summaries

Shi Yongheng left Lu Xueqi to continue training and returned to Tongtian Peak after learning that Caomiao Village had been destroyed. At Yuqing Hall, Qingyun Sect leaders heard the surviving orphans’ accounts and discussed taking them into the sect.

• Mu Yina told Shi Yongheng that Daoxuan had summoned the peak heads and elders after Song Daren found two Caomiao Village orphans.
• Shi Yongheng advised Lu Xueqi to temper her body and continue training toward wielding the Tianya Divine Sword before returning to Tongtian Peak.
• Daoxuan questioned Lin Jingyu and Zhang Xiaofan, who said they remembered nothing about how they escaped the massacre.
• Song Daren reported that 247 villagers had died, leaving only the two children and one person who had gone mad.
• Daoxuan and Cangsong agreed to take the orphans into Qingyun Sect, and Tian Buyi volunteered to take Lin Jingyu as his disciple.

Cangsong took Lin Jingyu as his disciple at Longshou Peak, where Shi Yongheng confronted him about his ties to the Demonic Cult and Caomiao Village’s destruction. Cangsong learned Wan Jianyi was still alive and denied killing the villagers, but admitted he had injured Puzhi while trying to seize the Bloodthirsty Bead.

• Daoxuan assigned Lin Jingyu to Cangsong and Zhang Xiaofan to Tian Buyi, then discussed Cangsong’s resentment and the Founder Ancestral Hall with Shi Yongheng.
• Cangsong brought Lin Jingyu to Longshou Peak, where Lin Jingyu kowtowed nine times and became Cangsong’s thirty-sixth personal disciple.
• Shi Yongheng arrived at Discipline Hall, sent the gathered disciples away, and warned Cangsong not to mislead Lin Jingyu or continue his ties to the Demonic Cult.
• Shi Yongheng told Cangsong that Wan Jianyi was alive and living in seclusion at the Founder Ancestral Hall.
• Cangsong denied destroying Caomiao Village but admitted he had injured Puzhi while attempting to take the Bloodthirsty Bead.
• Shi Yongheng concluded that Cangsong was an indirect culprit in the village’s destruction and urged him to make amends to Lin Jingyu.

Shi Yongheng tested Lin Jingyu and Lu Xueqi’s skills, then learned that Daoxuan had expanded the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament to include sixty-four disciples. As the tournament began on Tongtian Peak, Qi Hao and Wen Min discussed their chances and Lu Xueqi’s rising talent.

• Cangsong confessed to Daoxuan, who let the matter rest and left Cangsong to resolve the consequences with Lin Jingyu if the truth emerged.
• After two years of sweeping, Shi Yongheng tested Lin Jingyu, whose sword was shattered before he conceded defeat.
• Shi Yongheng tested Lu Xueqi with a water sword, praised her ability to withstand more than ten attacks, and said she could contend for the tournament title.
• Daoxuan doubled the tournament field to sixty-four disciples, with nine entrants from each branch and one extra from Tongtian Peak.
• As the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament gathered on Tongtian Peak, Qi Hao and Wen Min discussed their participation and Wen Min hinted that Lu Xueqi was a contender.

As Qingyun Sect disciples gathered for the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament, Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Jingyu crossed Rainbow Bridge and learned about the Zhu Xian Sword Formation. The Water Qilin suddenly attacked the disciples, but Shi Yongheng stopped it and revealed that Zhang Xiaofan’s magic treasure had provoked the beast.

• A Daoist summoned the tournament participants to Yuqing Hall for a meeting.
• Lin Jingyu told Zhang Xiaofan that disciples could not fly near Tongtian Peak because of the Zhu Xian Sword Formation.
• Zhang Xiaofan and the other disciples passed the sleeping Water Qilin beside Jade Water Pool.
• The Water Qilin awakened and attacked the disciples with a huge column of water, but Shi Yongheng blocked it with a Taiji Diagram.
• Shi Yongheng said Zhang Xiaofan’s magic treasure had put the Water Qilin on guard and explained that treasures themselves had no good or evil.

Qingyun Sect began the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament with an expanded field of sixty-four contestants, though Dazhu Peak had only eight disciples and left one place empty. Zhang Xiaofan drew lot number one and received a bye in the first round, while the disciples prepared to learn their matchups.

• Daoxuan agreed that Zhang Xiaofan could keep the pitch-black magic treasure as a trial, and the disciple became a topic of discussion.
• Cangsong explained the tournament's sixty-four-person bracket and revealed that Dazhu Peak's shortage of one disciple meant only sixty-three lots were available.
• Daoxuan ordered the disciples to draw lots, and Lin Jingyu casually took his number.
• Cangsong asked who had drawn number one, and Zhang Xiaofan timidly identified himself.
• Lin Jingyu congratulated Zhang Xiaofan, while Du Bishu regretted not betting on the draw and Tian Ling'er jokingly asked to take his lot.
• Tian Ling'er revealed that she had only been teasing Zhang Xiaofan, and Cangsong told the disciples to report their numbers so the match list could be posted.

Reverend Daoxuan announced the Six Harmony Mirror as the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament’s prize, and Zhang Xiaofan later got caught up in Zeng Shushu’s attempts to trade for Xiao Hui. Shi Yongheng unexpectedly joined them and inspected Zeng Shushu’s erotic picture book before the group headed to watch another match.

• Reverend Daoxuan announced that the tournament’s final victor would receive the Six Harmony Mirror, a powerful sect treasure.
• After Zeng Shushu won his match, he tried to trade for Zhang Xiaofan’s Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey, Xiao Hui, offering unusual creatures and an erotic picture book.
• Shi Yongheng appeared, examined the book, criticized its drawings, and assured the others he would not report them.
• When another match began, Zeng Shushu invited Zhang Xiaofan and Shi Yongheng to watch the tournament’s most popular match.

Lu Xueqi defeated Fang Chao at the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament, while Zhang Xiaofan surprised the sect by reaching the final with his black staff. After the tournament, Daoxuan sent the disciples to prepare for reports of Demonic Cult activity, and Shi Yongheng learned the staff was the Soul Eater, an accursed treasure bound to Zhang Xiaofan by blood.

• Lu Xueqi overwhelmed Fang Chao with Tianya Sword, breaking through his ice walls and defeating him.
• The tournament ended with Qi Hao in first place, Zhang Xiaofan and Lu Xueqi sharing second, and Zeng Shushu in third.
• Daoxuan gave the Six Harmony Mirror to Qi Hao and sent the disciples down the mountain to prepare for Demonic Cult activity.
• Shi Yongheng asked about Zhang Xiaofan's black staff, and a martial uncle identified it as the Soul Eater, a treasure capable of devouring souls.

Shi Yongheng encountered You Ji at Qingyun Sect, then broke through to condense Indestructible Spiritual Light and transformed his Primordial Spirit. His breakthrough made him look like a teenager, and when Wan Jianyi and You Ji saw him, his embarrassment ended with Wan Jianyi kicked across the room.

• Shi Yongheng settled the dispute over Zhang Xiaofan and Qi Hao before leaving Yuqing Hall.
• Shi Yongheng met You Ji at the Founder Ancestral Hall, where he dismissed the conflict between the Orthodox Dao and the Demonic Cult and left her with Wan Jianyi.
• Shi Yongheng meditated and condensed Indestructible Spiritual Light, transforming his Golden Core into a miniature version of himself that merged with his Primordial Spirit.
• Shi Yongheng discovered that his body had shrunk until he looked thirteen or fourteen years old.
• Wan Jianyi and You Ji entered Shi Yongheng's room, mistook his changed appearance for a younger relative, and Wan Jianyi was kicked more than ten meters away.

Shi Yongheng revealed his breakthrough had made him younger and opened new paths for the Taiji Xuanqing Dao, then destroyed the Beast God's escaped spirit body before it could devastate Yuzhou City. He returned to seclusion, while Wan Jianyi reassured You Ji that he generally did not favor either orthodox or demonic factions.

• Shi Yongheng told Wan Jianyi and You Ji that he had discovered three new directions for cultivation, including realms beyond taiqing, and explained that his breakthrough had increased his lifespan.
• Shi Yongheng sensed the Beast God's spirit body escaping in Kongsang Mountain and saw that it planned to use Zhang Xiaofan as a vessel to return to life.
• The Beast God's spirit body appeared in Yuzhou City, where the city lord, Zhou Yixian, and Zhou Xiaohuan faced it as the orthodox and demonic factions' young talents emerged from the Blood-Drop Cave.
• Shi Yongheng addressed the Beast God's spirit body through a vortex in the sky and struck it with azure light, destroying it before it could harm the city.
• Shi Yongheng went into seclusion to develop the new cultivation realms, and Wan Jianyi reassured You Ji that he rarely intervened based on the distinction between orthodox and demonic factions.

During seven years of seclusion, Shi Yongheng developed new realms for the Taiji Xuanqing Dao, triggering heavenly phenomena and a surge in Qingyun’s cultivation. After emerging, he taught Qingyun’s leaders his framework and learned how events had unfolded in his absence.

• Shi Yongheng concluded that the cultivation path progressed from qi cultivation and Foundation Establishment through golden core, nascent soul, primordial spirit, and indestructible spiritual light, with two further realms beyond.
• Heavenly phenomena swept across the Qingyun Mountain Range, granting merit and rapid breakthroughs to Qingyun’s elders, disciples, and the Water Qilin, who gained human form.
• Qingyun’s leaders gathered at the Founder Ancestral Hall, where Daoxuan revealed Wan Jianyi’s identity and Wan Jianyi explained that Shi Yongheng had entered seclusion seven years earlier.
• Shi Yongheng emerged from the Huanyue Ancient Cave, explained merit, and announced that he had added the Nine Turns of Tongtian, Xuan Qing Immortality, and the theoretical Supreme Purity Eternality to the cultivation method.
• Shi Yongheng taught the assembled Qingyun members his cultivation framework, then asked what had happened during his retreat.
• Tian Buyi told Shi Yongheng that the Demonic Cult had invaded Qingyun, Tianyun and Shang Zhengliang had died, and Cangsong had handed his position to Qi Hao; Shi Yongheng learned that his earlier interventions had also changed key events.

Shi Yongheng spread a new cultivation method across Shenzhou Haotu, became revered as the Dao Ancestor, and discovered that his Little Bell held power over the world before it carried him elsewhere. He awakened in the injured body of Feng Xing Tian in the Haotian world and began investigating the vast underground structure around him.

• Daoxuan ordered the Qingyun Sect to teach core condensation while keeping later stages secret, and announced that Shi Yongheng would preach on Tongtian Peak in ten years.
• Shi Yongheng preached the cultivation realms to gathered orthodox, demonic, Buddhist, and shaman cultivators, then gained enough merit to reach Tribulation Transcendence.
• A century later, Zhang Xiaofan became Shenzhou Haotu’s only other Primordial Spirit Realm cultivator and took charge of the Zhu Xian Sword as Qingyun Sect’s guardian.
• The Little Bell enveloped Shenzhou Haotu, expanded the world, gave Shi Yongheng authority over it, and carried him through the nothingness.
• Shi Yongheng awoke in the badly wounded body of Feng Xing Tian, a sixteen-year-old Demon Sect genius in the Haotian world, and resolved to recover and explore the enormous hollowed mountain.
• Feng Xing Tian examined the stone beams around him and noticed that their carved lines formed a simple drawing.

After rebuilding his cultivation in a sealed space, Shi Yongheng emerged onto Tianjue Island and met Fuzi, who exchanged knowledge of their cultivation systems with him. He traveled to Zhishou Abbey in the Song Kingdom to study the Dao Sect’s classics, offering the abbey a favor in return.

• Shi Yongheng cultivated in the dim space until he regained his Nascent Soul and the ability to move freely, then found a doorway leading out.
• Shi Yongheng emerged onto Tianjue Island, where he met Fuzi and learned that the island lay deep in the East Sea.
• Fuzi explained his cultivation realms, and Shi Yongheng described his own system, earning Fuzi’s respect and an invitation to visit the Academy in Chang'an.
• Shi Yongheng followed Fuzi to the shore, learned he was in the Song Kingdom, and traveled to Zhishou Abbey on Peach Mountain.
• A middle-aged Daoist welcomed Shi Yongheng and said Fuzi had informed the abbey of his arrival; Shi Yongheng asked to study its classics and offered the abbey a favor.

Shi Yongheng visited Zhishou Abbey, read its Heavenly Books and library, and spent two months studying. He saved Ye Hongyu from a masked attacker, leaving her safe in the Library Pavilion.

• Shi Yongheng gave the Abbey Master a cultivation system and was welcomed to read the Heavenly Books at Zhishou Abbey.
• Shi Yongheng met Chen Pipi and Ye Hongyu before entering the huts and reading the Heavenly Books.
• Shi Yongheng memorized useful techniques from the Falling and Sand Scrolls, examined the other books, and asked Chen Pipi where the abbey kept its library.
• Shi Yongheng spent two months reading in the Library Pavilion until he sensed Ye Hongyu in danger.
• Shi Yongheng wounded the masked man with a thought, drove him away, and brought Ye Hongyu to the Library Pavilion in new clothes.

Shi Yongheng took Ye Hongyu as his disciple, taught her swordsmanship, and then traveled with her across the kingdoms. In a mountain village, Ye Hongyu heard how mounted bandits had destroyed the community and volunteered to hunt them down.

• Ye Hongyu accepted Shi Yongheng as her master after he promised to teach her a sword technique capable of challenging powerful cultivators.
• Shi Yongheng gave Ye Hongyu swords to practice with, and she trained while he remained in the Library Pavilion.
• After Ye Hongyu reached the Dongxuan level and a young man in gray tried to kill her, Shi Yongheng took her from Zhishou Abbey to travel across the kingdoms.
• On their way toward Southern Jin, Shi Yongheng and Ye Hongyu met an old man in Liu Family Village, who described how mounted bandits had raided the village and left its people ruined.
• Ye Hongyu asked where the mounted bandits lived and promised to clear them out.

Ye Hongyu set out for Mount Laojun to confront the bandits after seeing the misery they had caused in Liu Family Village. The chapter left her approaching a desolate building on the mountainside, while the bandits prepared to scout for another target.

• Ye Hongyu and her teacher accepted the old man's offer to rest in his home before heading to Mount Laojun the next day.
• Ye Hongyu vowed to wipe out the bandits, and her teacher told her to get blood on her hands and show them no mercy.
• The First Chief and his brothers worried that dwindling travelers and repeated attacks threatened the stronghold, while the First Chief reflected on how exploitation and banditry had emptied the villages.
• The bandits celebrated through the night, then the First Chief led his men out after dawn to scout for their next target.
• Ye Hongyu left Liu Family Village and walked into the increasingly dark, decaying forest toward Mount Laojun.
• Ye Hongyu reached the mountainside, where a desolate building appeared before her.

Ye Hongyu tracked a band of raiders to their mountain stronghold and confronted their chief, who admitted they robbed people for money. As the chief ordered his men to attack, Ye Hongyu prepared to fight them all.

• Ye Hongyu paid her respects at an abandoned Mountain God Temple before continuing toward the bandits’ stronghold.
• She waited in hiding until the bandits returned and heard their chief announce plans to raid a nearby target and leave the area.
• Ye Hongyu revealed herself at the stronghold and said the people below the mountain, including Liu Family Village, had hired her to deal with the bandits.
• The chief said he had become a bandit for money and warned Ye Hongyu that other cultivators had died fighting them.
• Ye Hongyu said she wanted to kill the chief and all his men, and the chief ordered his bandits to attack her.

Ye Hongyu defeated the mounted bandits and escorted their dying chief to a mountain god temple. There, he revealed how his wife's death and his resentment toward the wealthy had led him to become a bandit, and he challenged the mountain god's power to save lives.

• Ye Hongyu defeated the mounted bandits, and their chief asked her to take him to the mountain god temple before he died.
• The chief killed the remaining survivors, then struggled alongside Ye Hongyu to reach the temple.
• The chief thanked Ye Hongyu for burning incense and explained that he had once lived as a farmer in Liu Family Village.
• The chief told Ye Hongyu that his wife had died because he could not afford her treatment, driving him to hate the wealthy and become a mounted bandit.
• The chief recalled how he had questioned the mountain god after his first killing and said he wanted the statue to see that he could live well without it.

Ye Hongyu wiped out the Mount Laojun bandits and returned to Liu Family Village, where the villagers eagerly celebrated her victory. When she revealed that the bandit chief had been Liu Da, the village elder showed a subtle reaction, leaving the truth about the village’s connection to the bandits unresolved.

• Liu Da died in the Mountain God Temple after asking Ye Hongyu to light incense for him.
• Ye Hongyu left Mount Laojun and returned to Liu Family Village, wondering why no one there had reacted to the bandits’ presence.
• The village elder welcomed Ye Hongyu and gathered the remaining elderly villagers, who thanked her and invited her to a banquet.
• Ye Hongyu agreed to stay until the next day and asked the elder whether he knew Liu Da.
• The elder said Liu Da had been an honest villager who disappeared after his wife died, and Ye Hongyu told him that Liu Da had led the Mount Laojun bandits.

Ye Hongyu and Eternal attended Liu Family Village’s celebration after Ye Hongyu defeated the bandits, but she grew wary of the villagers and their feast. When she tried to leave, the village leader and the other elders surrounded them and demanded that they stay.

• Ye Hongyu told the old man that Liu Da had died at Mountain God Temple, and his reaction changed when she said the villagers should offer sacrifices there again.
• As night fell, the old man escorted Ye Hongyu and Eternal to the village celebration while Eternal silently watched over her.
• Fuzi and Chen Mou each sensed trouble connected to Eternal, and Fuzi lamented Haotian’s world.
• The village leader praised Ye Hongyu for defeating the bandits, and the villagers toasted her as they ate.
• Ye Hongyu announced that she and Eternal would leave the next morning, but the villagers surrounded them and insisted they stay.

Ye Hongyu and Shi Yongheng learned that Liu Family Village’s elders had been murdering visitors and serving their flesh to later guests. After revealing that Ye Hongyu had been poisoned upon entering the village, the elders advanced on the pair, intending to kill them.

• The village elder revealed that visitors to Liu Family Village were captured, killed, and served as food to later guests.
• He explained that the villagers used the visitors’ silver to lure more people to the village and claimed the victims also protected them from mounted bandits.
• Ye Hongyu challenged the villagers’ confidence, and the village elder brought in a physician who had helped poison her.
• Ye Hongyu discovered that she had been given a slow-acting poison when she entered the village.
• The village elder drew a cleaver and approached Ye Hongyu and Shi Yongheng, saying he planned to kill them and serve Ye Hongyu to future visitors.