Chapter Summaries

After Zhao Pei left Sword Pool Palace, he plotted to kill An Le and take his Invincible Momentum. An Le prepared to sharpen Qingshan by learning sword forging, then stunned Wang Yansheng with his first hammer strike.

• The Old Sword Saint drove Li Qingchuan away with a glance, warned Zhao Pei that the Purple Qi Golden Lotus belonged to the fated, and let King of Jiangling take Zhao Pei from Sword Pool Palace.
• Outside the palace, Zhao Pei decided to spread news of An Le’s thirty-six bell rings and kill him himself, while King of Jiangling reminded him that An Le remained under Sword Pool Palace’s protection.
• The Old Sword Saint gave Zhao Huangting Sword Qi to help him reach Yuan Meng Great Capital, then arranged for An Le to forge a sword with Wang Yansheng before attempting to sharpen Qingshan.
• News of An Le’s thirty-six bell rings spread throughout the world as he settled in Jinguan City, stabilized his cultivation, and studied Sword Pool Palace disciples’ sword-forging memories.
• At Wang Yansheng’s workshop, An Le swung the Thousand Jin Great Iron Hammer with sudden mastery, denting the red-hot Primordial Spirit Refined Iron Billet and leaving Wang Yansheng speechless.

An Le began forging a sword for the first time and, with Wang Yansheng’s help, hammered a Primordial Spirit Refined Iron Billet for five days and nights as his momentum and Sword Qi kept rising. When An Le neared his limit, Wang Yansheng used another molten sword billet to drive the forging toward a First-Rank Supreme Sword.

• An Le surprised Wang Yansheng and Wan Jieliu by deforming the Primordial Spirit Refined Iron Billet with his first hammer strike, then continued forging with extraordinary confidence and skill.
• An Le’s hammering stirred the Earth Immortal Fire and Sword Qi, while Wang Yansheng joined him and changed the plan to let An Le lead the forging.
• Sword Pool Palace disciples and sword forgers gathered outside the workshop as An Le hammered for five days and nights, drawing attention from Lu Shisan, Lu Ziwei, Su Muzhe, and Zhao Huangting.
• After nearly ten thousand strikes, An Le’s strength began to fail, so Wang Yansheng struck alongside him to sustain the forging momentum.
• Wang Yansheng sensed An Le’s rare affinity for swords and declared that he would forge the sword regardless of success or ownership.
• Wang Yansheng shattered a second, burning sword-forging furnace and sent its molten billet beneath An Le’s hammer, unleashing an even more powerful surge of Sword Qi and sword intent.

An Le and Wang Yansheng risked everything to forge a First-Rank Extreme Sword, with Wang Yansheng sacrificing the furnace and his decades-tempered sword blank to help An Le. The blade was completed and named Swallow Returns Home, leaving it ready to enter Sword Lake for tempering.

• King of Jiangling, Second Prince Zhao Pei, and True Person Li Qingchuan witnessed a surge of heat and Sword Qi from Sword Pool Palace, and King of Jiangling realized Wang Yansheng was attempting to forge a First-Rank Extreme Sword.
• Wang Yansheng exploded his furnace and merged his decades-tempered sword blank into An Le's blade, while Wan Jieliu controlled the Earth Immortal Fire and An Le struck the sword under intense pressure.
• An Le and Wang Yansheng hammered together until the sword was complete, and the blade flew into the sky amid lightning as people across Jinguan City watched.
• Wang Yansheng joined An Le in the sky, asked permission to name their sword, and called it Swallow Returns Home.

An Le and Wang Yansheng tempered Swallow Returns Home in Sword Lake, where it endured Seven Star Dragon Abyss’s Sword Qi and became a First-Rank Extreme sword. As An Le prepared to sharpen Green Mountain, Cheng Ying and Seven Star Dragon Abyss rose alongside the newly forged sword, leaving three peerless swords ready to test its edge.

• Zhao Huangting heard Swallow Returns Home’s name, understood his reason for journeying north, and began rebuilding his strength while Su Muzhe protected him.
• Wang Yansheng explained how to temper and sharpen swords, then used An Le’s blood to bind Swallow Returns Home to him.
• An Le and Wang Yansheng submerged Swallow Returns Home in Sword Lake, where its tempering drew out the power of Seven Star Dragon Abyss.
• When Swallow Returns Home could not pass the final inch, An Le struck its hilt with Green Mountain, driving the blade fully into the lake and completing its rise to First-Rank Extreme.
• Cheng Ying and Seven Star Dragon Abyss emerged beside Swallow Returns Home as An Le prepared to sharpen Green Mountain with the three swords.

An Le plunged into Sword Lake as Cheng Ying, Dragon Abyss, and Swallow Returns Home lent their Sword Qi to sharpen Green Mountain, while Zhao Huangting recovered and chose to support Li You'an’s northern expedition. The chapter ended with Zhao Huangting flying to King of Jiangling’s estate and unleashing a sword strike that erased it from Jinguan City.

• An Le used the Green Mountain Ancient Scripture to withstand the pressure of three First-Rank Extreme swords, then plunged into Sword Lake with Green Mountain as the swords followed to sharpen it.
• Wang Yansheng invited Lu Ziwei, Lu Shisan, and the other cultivators to comprehend the Sword Qi surrounding Sword Lake while An Le underwent the sharpening beneath it.
• Zhao Huangting recovered from the Nirvana Fire, declared his support for Li You'an, Ye Longsheng, and Zhong Shi Ji’s northern expedition, and said An Le could become a spark of hope for the world.
• Wang Yansheng lent Zhao Huangting the First-Rank sword She Niudou, and Zhao Huangting flew toward King of Jiangling’s estate to take revenge on the Celestial Master's Mansion Daoist who had attacked him in Jiangling Prefecture.
• King of Jiangling escaped with Zhao Pei as Zhao Huangting struck Li Qingchuan’s estate with Bamboo Branch Song, engulfing it in Sword Qi bamboo and wiping it from Jinguan City.

Zhao Huangting recovered his strength long enough to defeat Li Qingchuan with one sword strike, while Sword Pool Palace discussed placing its hopes on An Le. At the bottom of Sword Lake, Green Mountain’s sharpening turned on An Le himself, and the chapter ended with his aura vanishing as Zhao Huangting and Wang Yansheng believed he had died.

• Zhao Huangting erased the King of Jiangling’s estate with a sword strike and left Li Qingchuan alive only because a Golden Lotus seed protected him.
• Zhao Huangting returned to Sword Pool Palace, where Wang Yansheng urged him and the others to persuade An Le to join, saying Sword Pool Palace was placing its bet on him.
• An Le faced the First-Rank Supreme Swords Chengying, Dragon Sparrow, and Swallow Returns Home at the bottom of Sword Lake as they sharpened Green Mountain by attacking its wielder.
• The Old Sword Saint realized that Green Mountain’s sharpening tested the person holding it, not the sword itself.
• Sword Qi shredded An Le’s body and swallowed his remains into Green Mountain, leaving his aura undetectable.
• Zhao Huangting and Wang Yansheng rushed to Sword Lake and concluded that An Le was dead.

Li You'an, the Sixth Mountain Lord, and the Sword Pool Palace elders realized An Le's aura had vanished but suspected Green Mountain's sharpening had concealed him rather than killed him. Inside Green Mountain, An Le resisted an immortal's attempt to make him submit, slew it with Future Sword Qi, and found an Imperial Stone Effigy waiting at the mountain's foot.

• Li You'an sensed An Le's aura disappear and ordered his troops to remain alert while praising Luo Qingchen's recovery on the battlefield.
• The First Mountain Lord divined An Le's fate for the Sixth Mountain Lord and found the word "Victory" on the paper.
• Zhao Huangting, Su Muzhe, and Wang Yansheng concluded that Green Mountain's sharpening had likely hidden An Le, and Zhao Huangting left for Dali Kingdom.
• An Le awoke inside Green Mountain, where the Sword Qi of three First-Rank Supreme Sword Artifacts appeared and helped him withstand the descending sword and its crushing pressure.
• An Le forged his Heart Sword, tore apart the mist, and used the Sacred Master's Future Sword Qi to behead the immortal trying to claim him.
• The mist cleared, revealing Green Mountain and an Imperial Stone Effigy standing among countless immortal corpses.

An Le carried the Imperial Stone Effigy up Qingshan, absorbing Purple-Gold Time Qi and witnessing the First Emperor’s war against Heaven. He emerged from Sword Lake with Green Mountain sharpened by immortal blood, leaving the people of Sword Pool Palace awed by the force of his sword.

• An Le greeted the Imperial Stone Effigy, which spoke to him, and Bamboo Sword Green Mountain settled at its waist as he lifted the effigy onto his shoulder.
• An Le climbed ten steps of Qingshan, where the effigy’s Sword Intent slew an immortal phantom at each step and forged a Sword Intent Golden Core within his dantian.
• An Le absorbed a strand of Purple-Gold Time Qi and witnessed the First Emperor declare war on Heaven, leading human soldiers and demon armies against the immortals.
• After three days and nights, An Le’s sword light erupted from Sword Lake, and the Old Sword Saint recognized the immense meaning carried by Green Mountain.
• An Le emerged from Sword Lake wielding Green Mountain and Swallow Returns Home as the swords around him rang in submission.

An Le unsealed Green Mountain and gained the Emperor Dao Fruit, whose power could enhance all his other Dao Fruits. After Zhao Huangting witnessed Green Mountain’s memories, he resolved to pursue his own heroic path and asked An Le to travel with him to Yuan Meng Great Capital.

• An Le’s sword light shook the stars and drew the attention of powerful figures across the human world, including Zhao Tianyan, the Yuan Meng Emperor, and Hell Manor.
• The Zhao Family Emperor ordered Tong Diao Temple to seek the Celestial Master’s Mansion’s support and personally kill An Le, allowing cooperation with Hell Manor if necessary.
• An Le emerged from Sword Lake with Green Mountain unsealed and acquired the Emperor Dao Fruit from the Purple-Gold Time Qi in the Imperial Stone Effigy.
• Zhao Huangting arrived and learned that An Le had wiped away eleven drops of immortal blood; he then viewed Green Mountain’s memories of An Le and the stone effigy fighting immortals.
• Moved by the memories, Zhao Huangting accepted that he was not the one destined to sharpen Green Mountain and asked An Le to accompany him on an eight-thousand-li journey to Yuan Meng Great Capital.

Zhao Huangting fulfilled his regrets at Sword Pool Palace and challenged the Yuan Meng Emperor, then set out north with An Le to cross the Canglang River. They reached the northern bank despite the Yuan Meng generals’ blockade, while Wan Jieliu followed to protect An Le.

• Zhao Huangting sent a Flood Dragon of Sword Qi eight thousand li north to challenge the Yuan Meng Emperor, and the Yuan Meng Emperor remembered his former duel with Zhao Huangting.
• An Le prepared for the journey and told Lu Shisan that seeing the Central Plains was necessary before he could speak of reclaiming it.
• Zhao Huangting entrusted Wan Jieliu with bringing An Le home if he failed to return, and Wang Yansheng gave Wan Jieliu a sword case containing eighteen swords.
• Zhao Huangting and An Le departed Sword Pool Palace as swords across Jinguan City flew skyward and pointed north; Wan Jieliu followed them.
• At the Canglang River, Zhao Huangting and An Le greeted Ye Longsheng and Ye Wenxi, then Zhao Huangting broke through the Yuan Meng generals’ Blood Qi Wall and crossed to the northern bank.

King of Jiangling and Second Prince Zhao Pei saw Zhao Huangting and An Le leave for the northern lands, while Li Qingchuan redirected his hatred toward An Le. Zhao Huangting brought An Le to Yuan Meng Great Capital, showed him the Central Plains’ suffering under the Yuan Meng Emperor’s use of its Dragon Veins, and challenged the emperor to fight.

• King of Jiangling and Second Prince Zhao Pei welcomed Zhao Huangting’s departure across the Canglang River as an opportunity to attack An Le, while Li Qingchuan vowed to take revenge on Zhao Huangting’s inheritor.
• Zhao Huangting and An Le crossed into the northern lands on sword light, and Wan Jieliu followed them across the river.
• Zhao Huangting showed An Le the northern landscapes and recounted memories from his youth as they traveled toward Yuan Meng Great Capital.
• Zhao Huangting explained that the Yuan Meng Emperor drew upon the Central Plains’ Dragon Veins, causing disasters for its people while strengthening the empire.
• Zhao Huangting told An Le that the Yuan Meng Emperor was not invincible and urged him to one day drive the invaders from the Central Plains.
• Zhao Huangting drew out Master Suzhu’s Seven-Colored Glaze Heart Sword, charged toward Dadu in a blaze of Nirvana flames, and challenged Emperor Yuan to fight.

Zhao Huangting fought the Yuan Meng Emperor in Yuan Meng Great Capital, using his Three Swords of Ci Pai after burning away his Nirvana to wound the emperor. As Zhao Huangting leapt from the city wall to his death, An Le cast his battered bamboo sword toward the battlements.

• Zhao Huangting ignited his Nirvana Fire, broke through to a rare Double Tenth Realm, and charged Yuan Meng Great Capital while An Le and Wan Jieliu watched.
• Zhao Huangting defeated three Yuan Meng royals and confronted the Yuan Meng Emperor, who crushed his Giant Sword and dismissed the battle as boring.
• Zhao Huangting unleashed Bamboo Branch, Fragrant Grass, and Youthful Wanderer, driving the Yuan Meng Emperor into the sea of clouds and wounding him across the chest.
• An Le copied the Three Swords of Ci Pai and learned from Wan Jieliu that Zhao Huangting would die once his Nirvana Fire burned out; An Le hesitated to leave him behind.
• Zhao Huangting’s Nirvana Fire faded, and he stood bloodied and spent on the city wall; the Yuan Meng Emperor spared him the indignity of being attacked by his followers.
• Zhao Huangting leapt from the battlements, and An Le threw his battered bamboo sword toward Yuan Meng Great Capital.

Zhao Huangting tried to die after his battle with the Yuan Meng Emperor, but An Le rushed back to save him and fought his way through the Yuan Meng Great Capital. As the Yuan Meng Emperor confronted An Le, Mo Pool transformed into the Sixth Mountain Lord, whose arrival stopped the falling snow.

• After Zhao Huangting leaped from the city wall, An Le returned and used Qingshan and his Heroic Spirit to catch him, despite Zhao Huangting's protests.
• An Le carried Zhao Huangting away and blocked a Ninth Realm expert's Dharma-image punch with a sword strike, while Wan Jieliu joined him rather than retreating alone.
• Wan Jieliu opened his sword box and used its eighteen swords to hold back the pursuing Yuan Meng experts, but the Yuan Meng Emperor shattered the formation and drove him back.
• The Yuan Meng Emperor confronted An Le, noted that his Invincible Momentum had become a heavenly dragon, and reached out to seize him because An Le's power disturbed the Dragon Veins.
• Mo Pool flew from An Le's sword box and transformed into the Sixth Mountain Lord, whose sword stroke halted the wind and snow.

The Sixth Mountain Lord arrived through Ink Pool’s Sword Shifting Technique to rescue An Le and Zhao Huangting, but the Yuan Meng Emperor refused to let An Le leave with his bamboo sword. As the Sixth Mountain Lord fought the empire’s experts, An Le awakened the ancient sword intent within Green Mountain, and the Imperial Stone Effigy began to come alive.

• Yun Rou recognized that the Sixth Mountain Lord had exchanged places with Ink Pool and trusted that his departure would resolve her problem.
• The Sixth Mountain Lord appeared before the Yuan Meng Emperor, explained that An Le’s choice to save Zhao Huangting had completed his third trial, and declared that he would take them away.
• The Yuan Meng Emperor allowed Zhao Huangting and the Ninth Realm Swordsman to leave but demanded An Le’s bamboo sword, so the Sixth Mountain Lord fought the empire’s experts with his Three Thousand Sword Treasury.
• The Yuan Meng Emperor approached An Le, who drew a wisp of golden Time Qi from him and smiled, making the Emperor’s expression turn grave.
• An Le’s consciousness entered Green Mountain, where he awakened the Sword Intent Golden Core; golden sword-intent rain fell and began restoring the Imperial Stone Effigy.

An Le awakened the ancient emperor’s sword intent within Green Mountain and used it to withstand the Yuan Meng Emperor, who let him leave and vowed that their successors would contend. The sword intent sent An Le and Zhao Huangting to Mount Li, where An Le found the name carved on an ancient stele.

• An Le called the spirit within the Imperial Stone Effigy to witness the mountains and rivers, and the ancient figure shared the first principles of his sword art as his remaining Sword Intent was consumed.
• An Le’s golden Sword Intent awakened across the world, prompting the Old Sword Saint, True Martial Temple, the Old Celestial Master, and Kunpeng Mountain to react to the ancient figure’s revival.
• An Le struck the Yuan Meng Emperor with Green Mountain, drove him back, and declared that foreign tribes could not rightfully call themselves emperors of the Central Plains.
• The Yuan Meng Emperor exchanged another blow with An Le, recognized the sword’s dwindling power, and let him depart while declaring that Yuan Meng’s geniuses would aim to defeat him.
• An Le swept Zhao Huangting away from the battlefield with his sword, and the Yuan Meng Emperor raised a bow made from the dragon vein toward the Heavenly Gate.
• The Imperial Stone Effigy’s final Sword Intent carried An Le and Zhao Huangting to the Central Plains, where An Le cleared the snow from a stele bearing the words “Mount Li.”

An Le carried the weakened Zhao Huangting from Mount Li, where the Imperial Stone Effigy revealed that an underground palace containing a path toward the Eleventh Realm would soon open. As they headed south toward the Canglang River, Ye Longsheng learned where they would cross and ordered the Ye family army to help them.

• An Le spoke with the Imperial Stone Effigy inside Bamboo Sword Green Mountain and learned he needed to reach the Sixth Realm to climb farther and reclaim the sword intents on Green Mountain.
• The Imperial Stone Effigy revealed that Mount Li suppressed the final Dragon Vein and that its underground palace would soon open; An Le carried Zhao Huangting away before they could enter.
• The Yuan Meng Emperor searched Mount Li, sensed the final Dragon Vein beneath it, and resolved to devour all eight Dragon Veins to open the sleeping palace.
• An Le carried Zhao Huangting south toward the Canglang River while Yuan Meng forces searched for them and concentrated troops along the river defense line.
• Ye Longsheng received word of where An Le and Zhao Huangting would cross, ignored the Zhao Family Emperor's arriving edict, and ordered the Ye family army to prepare boats and cover their crossing.

The Great Zhao armies crossed the Canglang River to draw Yuan Meng’s attention while An Le and Zhao Huangting slipped south toward a guarded crossing. Boyan let them proceed, and the chapter ended as An Le confronted the Yuan Meng camp alone.

• Ye Longsheng led the Ye Family Army across the Canglang River, while Zhong Shi Ji, Di Zang, and Li You'an also launched crossings to draw Yuan Meng forces toward the river.
• Boyan ordered his five generals to drill the navy rather than pursue An Le, warning that the First Emperor’s Will and An Le’s hidden strength made attacking him dangerous.
• An Le and Zhao Huangting hid in a reed marsh and planned to cross at a dangerous stretch guarded by about three hundred Yuan Meng soldiers.
• An Le carried Zhao Huangting toward the camp, released his concealed Primordial Spirit to scout it, and alerted the Sixth Realm general.
• An Le drew his sword and advanced alone through the rain as the Yuan Meng soldiers prepared to meet him.

An Le carried Zhao Huangting across the Canglang River after killing three hundred Yuan Meng soldiers and their Sixth Realm commander, while the Sixth Mountain Lord and other allies kept the pursuing forces occupied. As An Le examined the Flowing Gold Time Qi aboard the boat, Tong Diao Temple and a fleet of ghostly boats emerged from the fog and closed in.

• An Le used Swallow Returns Home, his sword techniques, Invincible Momentum, and rain-formed Sword Qi to slaughter the three hundred armored soldiers and kill their Sixth Realm commander.
• The Sixth Mountain Lord blocked the Ninth Realm pursuers while Ye Longsheng, Zhong Shi Ji, and other generals tied down Yuan Meng's forces, allowing An Le and Zhao Huangting to escape across the river.
• Yuan Meng's experts saw An Le sailing away and decided to leave his pursuit to the empire's Hunter Falcon Ranking geniuses, who hoped to contend for the Seventh Mountain Lord position.
• An Le learned from Zhao Huangting about the Hunter Falcon Ranking, then tended to the weakened old man and examined the Flowing Gold Time Qi he had obtained from the Yuan Meng Emperor.
• Ghostly boats emerged from the river fog and approached An Le's vessel, with Tong Diao Temple watching from the leading boat.

An Le faced Tong Guan and Hell Manor’s Evil Ghost Navy on the Canglang River while allies struggled to reach him. Rather than flee with Bamboo Sword Green Mountain, he crushed the Blood Guanyin Dao Fruit and unleashed a vast blood-red Guanyin over the river.

• King of Jiangling, Zhao Pei, and Li Qingchuan watched Xiliang’s Evil Ghost Navy approach and concluded that someone in the Imperial Court had let it through.
• Zhao Huangting told An Le that Bamboo Sword Green Mountain had once allowed him to survive the Canglang River and could let An Le travel through it safely.
• An Le rejected Zhao Huangting’s suggestion to escape into the river and went out to face the Evil Ghost Navy, while the Sixth Mountain Lord, Ye Longsheng, and Li You'an tried to break free from their battles and reach him.
• Tong Guan and a Hell Manor Ghost Messenger charged toward An Le’s boat as the Evil Ghost skiffs closed in.
• An Le crushed the Blood Guanyin Dao Fruit, releasing blood-red light that engulfed Tong Guan, the Ghost Messenger, and the Evil Ghost Navy and formed an enormous Guanyin above the Canglang River.

An Le unleashed Blood Guanyin against Tong Guan and Hell Manor’s cultivators, turning their attacks against themselves and crippling Tong Guan. When Tong Guan mistook the real An Le for another illusion, An Le used the opening to kill him.

• An Le crushed the Blood Guanyin Dao Fruit, engulfing the Canglang River and the Evil Ghost Boats in crimson mist.
• Blood Guanyin drove Hell Manor’s cultivators to kill themselves and shattered Tong Guan’s Immortal Terrace when his attack rebounded on him.
• Li You'an arrived at the river and chose to wait outside the blood mist while powerful figures watched An Le’s trump card unfold.
• Tong Guan mistook the approaching An Le for an illusion and held back until Swallow Returns Home cut into his neck.
• An Le struck Tong Guan with his seven-colored heart sword, then repeatedly hacked off his head with Swallow Returns Home.