Chapter Summaries

Deng Wuzong revealed that the lost Divine Sword Embryo, Regret, came from the Seven Treasures artifact Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold, which had brought Sword Forging Manor both glory and disaster. Tu Xiong then linked Zhang Chu's missing master to another divine artifact, the Nine Nether Wishing Stone, and warned that the master had entered the deadly region known as the Ghost Realm.

• Zhang Chu emerged from seclusion with half-white, half-gold hair and joined Deng Wuzong and the others in the council hall, where they still had no leads on the missing sword embryo.
• Deng Wuzong explained that the embryo was called Regret and recounted how his grandfather had used Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold to forge the Qingcheng Sword before dying mysteriously and losing the sword.
• Deng Wuzong revealed that the lost embryo was the golden tear trace left behind when Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold disappeared, and said its loss might free Sword Forging Manor from its ominous legacy.
• Deng Wuzong told Zhang Chu that the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens were connected to his missing master, and Tu Xiong confirmed that the master had gone alone to Mobei after the Nine Nether Wishing Stone appeared there.
• Tu Xiong said Zhang Chu's master may have sought the Nine Nether Wishing Stone to resurrect someone, warned Zhang Chu against traveling north, and revealed that the region was anciently called the Ghost Realm.

Zhang Chu prepared to leave Sword Forging Manor and continue searching for his missing master, but the Southern Border Three Absolutes arrived and challenged him over his new Earth Ranking position. The chapter ended with Zhang Chu calmly warning them that everyone who had sought trouble with him had died.

• Zhang Chu thanked Tu Xiong for telling him about the Ghost Realm and decided to return to True Martial Temple before investigating it.
• Deng Wuzong tried to persuade Zhang Chu to stay, then presented him with fifty thousand taels in silver notes and precious medicinal herbs, which Zhang accepted.
• Poisonous miasma swept into Sword Forging Manor, and Zhang Chu used Gang Qi to help the poisoned attendants as the Southern Border Three Absolutes arrived.
• Tu Xiong identified the newcomers as Poison Old Man Wan Du, the Insect King, and Miasma Mother, while four Southern Ridge Earth Ranking grandmasters gathered to watch.
• The Southern Border Three Absolutes condemned Zhang Chu for taking Master Longshu's former tenth-place Earth Ranking position and vowed to kill him.
• Zhang Chu dismissed their threats and warned that everyone who had challenged him since he entered the Jianghu had died.

Zhang Chu annihilated the Southern Border Three Absolutes at Sword Forging Manor, earning the title Yellow Court Dao Master and setting off to search for his master. As Ma Wuji tried to part ways, Zhang Chu demanded the Divine Sword Embryo or the truth about his identity.

• Zhang Chu stepped forward and challenged the Southern Border Three Absolutes, who attacked him with poison, insects, and miasma.
• Zhang Chu crushed the trio with his Gang Qi and killed the Insect King, the Miasma Mother, and Poison Old Man.
• Zhang Chu silenced the Jianghu masters at Sword Forging Manor, and the crowd acclaimed him as the Yellow Court Dao Master.
• Zhang Chu bade farewell to Deng Wuzong and the others, then rode away from the manor with Ma Wuji.
• Ma Wuji tried to leave Zhang Chu, but Zhang Chu stopped him and demanded the Divine Sword Embryo or his real identity.

Zhang Chu exposed Ma Wuji as a Demonic Cult infiltrator who had stolen the Divine Sword Embryo, then revealed he had kept Ma Wuji close to draw out more enemies. The chapter ended with Zhang Chu calling for Bai to emerge from the mountain forest.

• Ma Wuji denied stealing the Divine Sword Embryo, but Zhang Chu clarified that the thief had only been disguised as Ma Wuji.
• Zhang Chu explained that a woman's voice had exposed the impostor as a Demonic Cult expert spying on his cultivation.
• Zhang Chu revealed he had recognized the Red Dust Envoy's role in helping the Divine Sword Embryo disappear and had kept the impostor nearby out of curiosity.
• Ma Wuji praised Zhang Chu's cleverness and asked why he had waited until the wilderness to expose him.
• Zhang Chu said he had wanted to cast a wide net, then called for Bai to show himself.

Zhang Chu confronted Ma Wuji and Bai Feiyu, revealed his Jade Liquid Manifestation, and accepted Ma Wuji’s offer of information in exchange for their lives. Ma Wuji escaped with Bai Feiyu after revealing her true identity and telling Zhang Chu that his master’s last destination was the Western Regions Ancient City.

• Zhang Chu exposed Bai Feiyu’s feigned injury and confronted him and Ma Wuji in the forest.
• Ma Wuji displayed astonishing Lightness Skill, but Zhang Chu restrained him with Gang Qi and revealed his Jade Liquid Manifestation.
• Ma Wuji offered his Lightness Skill and information about Zhang Chu’s master in exchange for their lives, and Zhang Chu agreed to hear him out.
• Ma Wuji said Zhang Chu’s master had traveled with someone else and had visited only one place before disappearing, then demanded permission to leave before naming it.
• Zhang Chu let Ma Wuji go after asking to see his true face, and Ma Wuji revealed she was a young woman in disguise.
• Ma Wuji left with Bai Feiyu, tossed Zhang Chu a piece of material, and revealed that his master’s last destination was the Western Regions Ancient City.

Zhang Chu discovered that the cloth he had obtained contained the Divine Ability Cloud Dragon Nine Manifestations, but lacked the Merit Points to enhance it. Returning to Linjiang, he found the city under the Three Rivers Alliance’s violent conscription drive and encountered the fleeing Situ Junwen.

• Zhang Chu found that the cloth recorded Cloud Dragon Nine Manifestations, and the system revealed that enhancing the Divine Ability required five hundred thousand Merit Points.
• Zhang Chu resolved to gather more Merit Points amid the growing chaos and rode back toward True Martial Temple in Linjiang.
• The Three Rivers Alliance forcibly conscripted sect members for the Southern Border Battlefield, and a scar-faced enforcer killed Zhang Tie and his father after Zhang Tie denounced the Alliance.
• The Three Rivers Alliance massacred sects that resisted and sent survivors to the Southern Border Battlefield as cannon fodder.
• Zhang Chu returned to a desolate Linjiang and recognized Situ Junwen fleeing pursuers; Situ Junwen urged him to leave the city.

Situ Junwen told Zhang Chu that the Three Rivers Alliance had forcibly conscripted sect disciples and killed Situ Ying for refusing, while Zhang Chu’s fellow disciples had also been captured. When Chu Bai threatened Zhang Chu over the Alliance Leader’s order, Zhang Chu killed him on the spot, leaving the Alliance’s forces stunned and threatening revenge.

• Situ Junwen told Zhang Chu that the Three Rivers Alliance was using the Southern Border invasion as a pretext to conscript disciples and had beheaded Situ Ying.
• Situ Junwen revealed that Daoist Priest Li Minghuai and Zhang Chu’s other fellow disciples had been captured.
• Three Rivers Alliance experts surrounded Zhang Chu and Situ Junwen, and Chu Bai arrived and ordered Zhang Chu not to interfere.
• Zhang Chu demanded to know where his fellow disciples were, but Chu Bai dismissed them as worthless and insisted no one could defy the Alliance Leader’s order.
• Zhang Chu blasted Chu Bai apart, shocking the assembled Three Rivers Alliance disciples, who vowed that the Great Elder and the Alliance would retaliate.

Zhang Chu killed Chu Bai and the Three Rivers Alliance disciples holding the sect captives, then faced Protector Wu Longlie, who arrived to threaten him. After Zhang Chu demanded to know where his fellow disciples were, he killed Wu Longlie, and another Alliance figure cried out in grief.

• Zhang Chu killed Chu Bai and more than thirty Three Rivers Alliance disciples with his Gang Qi, freeing the sect disciples they had held captive.
• The freed disciples celebrated Zhang Chu’s revenge for Situ Junwen’s father, then warned him that the Three Rivers Alliance would seek vengeance.
• Protector Wu Longlie arrived, acknowledged that Zhang Chu was stronger, and threatened to eradicate the True Martial Temple.
• Zhang Chu demanded that Wu Longlie reveal where his fellow disciples were, but Wu Longlie refused and began invoking the Great Elder.
• Zhang Chu struck Wu Longlie with a palm that bypassed his Body Protection Qi and killed him, prompting an agonized cry from down the street.

Zhang Chu learned that his martial brothers had been taken to Hundred Leaf Forest, then killed Duan He despite the Great Elder’s arrival. The Jade Liquid Grandmaster confronted Zhang Chu as the Three Rivers Alliance disciples celebrated their apparent advantage.

• Duan He arrived, mourned Wu Longlie, and demanded to know whether Zhang Chu meant to fight the Three Rivers Alliance to the death.
• Zhang Chu pressed Duan He for his martial brothers’ whereabouts, and Duan He revealed that the Alliance Leader had sent them to Hundred Leaf Forest.
• Duan He tried to bargain for his life, but Zhang Chu refused to spare him and prepared to kill him.
• The Great Elder arrived above Linjiang County, prompting the Three Rivers Alliance disciples to taunt Zhang Chu and urge him to surrender.
• Zhang Chu shattered Duan He’s head before the Great Elder could intervene, and the Great Elder shouted at him from afar.

Zhang Chu overwhelmed the Three Rivers Alliance’s Great Elder and his forces, revealing a Martial Dao Manifestation that left the Jade Liquid Grandmaster helpless. He seized the kneeling Great Elder by the neck, leaving his fate in Zhang Chu’s hands.

• The Great Elder charged Zhang Chu, but Zhang Chu rushed into the Three Rivers Alliance crowd and killed its disciples with his Gang Qi.
• A hidden True Gang Realm assassin attacked Zhang Chu with a steel needle, but Zhang Chu destroyed the needle and killed the assassin without turning around.
• Zhang Chu attacked the Great Elder with Northern Cold Flame True Hand, and their clash left Zhang Chu unharmed while half the Great Elder’s body was destroyed.
• Zhang Chu summoned the Phenomenon: Sea of Bitterness Sows Golden Lotus, forcing the Great Elder to his knees under its pressure.
• Zhang Chu grabbed the Great Elder by the neck, dislocated his bones, and lifted him into the air.

Zhang Chu killed the Three Rivers Alliance’s Great Elder and learned that the alliance had fled while pursuing the Nine Secrets and a possible breakthrough to the supreme realm. After organizing the recovery of its plundered wealth, Zhang Chu sensed that a mysterious force had destroyed the tracking energy he had planted in Fake Ma Wuji.

• Zhang Chu killed the Great Elder after he refused to explain why the Three Rivers Alliance had attacked the Southern Border, then urged the gathered sects to rescue their captured people.
• Tu Xiong arrived and reported that Alliance Leader Ye Qingshan and the entire Three Rivers Alliance had fled before the Sky Patrol Guard could surround their headquarters.
• Tu Xiong told Zhang Chu that the Imperial Court suspected the Divine Sword Embryo was connected to a divine artifact among the Nine Secrets, which could reveal how to break through the Upper Three Realms.
• Zhang Chu claimed the Three Rivers Alliance’s plunder for True Martial Temple and directed the gathered people to recover its wealth, reserving its precious medicines for himself.
• Zhang Chu sensed that a mysterious power had destroyed the Cold Flame Phenomenon Gang Qi he had planted in Fake Ma Wuji, severing his means of tracking the Demonic Cult.

Zhang Chu headed for Hundred Leaf Forest after learning that four Town Generals and numerous Demonic Cult masters were converging there over the emergence of the Nine Secrets. On the way, he enhanced Northern Cold Flame True Hand to its third layer, Samsara, and discovered its terrifying power.

• Zhang Chu decided to travel to Hundred Leaf Forest, and Tu Xiong told him that four Town Generals had been dispatched there.
• Zhang Chu mounted his horse and set out for Hundred Leaf Forest, also known as Lost Track Valley.
• Zhang Chu spent 60,000 Merit Points to enhance Northern Cold Flame True Hand to its second layer, Yin Yang Annihilation, and tested it by blasting apart a mountainside.
• Zhang Chu spent another 120,000 Merit Points to enhance Northern Cold Flame True Hand to its third layer, Samsara.
• Zhang Chu's newly enhanced Gang Qi froze his horse and then burned it to charcoal as he sensed the power of the third layer.

Zhang Chu raced toward Hundred Leaf Forest, where Ye Qingshan tried to recruit the four Town Generals against the Red Dust Envoy. The Red Dust Envoy turned on the Town Generals, and Qian Zhen ordered a warning arrow as the attack began.

• Zhang Chu leaped across the wilderness toward the canyon where he had left his horse, drawing closer to Hundred Leaf Forest.
• Ye Qingshan confronted the Red Dust Envoy over the sword embryo and the key to the Nine Secrets Treasury.
• Ye Qingshan asked the four Town Generals to join him against the Demonic Cult, but they withdrew to observe rather than risk fighting the two Grandmasters.
• Ye Qingshan urged the Red Dust Envoy to attack the Town Generals before Imperial Court reinforcements arrived.
• The Red Dust Envoy released a strange aura and rushed Qian Zhen, who ordered a warning arrow too late to stop him.

Yuan Shidu shattered the Four Town Generals’ formation and grievously wounded them with his emotion-disturbing Thread Play. As he moved to kill them before the Marshal arrived, Zhang Chu thundered into the battlefield and confronted him.

• Qian Zhen and the other three Town Generals formed the Four Absolute Sword Formation, but Yuan Shidu passed through their sword net and broke it with a single palm strike.
• Yuan Shidu used Thread Play to throw the Four Town Generals’ emotions and Gang Qi into chaos, knocking away their swords and leaving them gravely wounded.
• Qian Zhen and You Jin warned Yuan Shidu that the Marshal had received their signal and would soon arrive, prompting Yuan Shidu to vow to kill them first.
• A tremendous shock interrupted Yuan Shidu’s attack as Zhang Chu crossed several li and landed in the battlefield.
• Zhang Chu surveyed the wounded Town Generals and faced Yuan Shidu, telling him he had not learned his lesson.

Zhang Chu arrived at Hundred Leaf Forest just as Ye Qingshan revealed his scheme to open the Nine Secrets of Southern Ridge and his Jade Liquid Perfection strength. Zhang Chu killed Ye Qingshan with one palm strike, then turned to confront the Red Dust Envoy.

• Yuan Shidu and the Four Town Generals were shocked to find Zhang Chu had reached the Jade Liquid Realm in less than a day.
• Ye Qingshan confessed that he had massacred sects and manipulated Yuan Shidu to gather the keys needed to open the Nine Secrets.
• Ye Qingshan revealed that Zhang Chu's Yellow Court Inner Strength was the missing key and unleashed his Jade Liquid Perfection power.
• The Four Town Generals urged Zhang Chu to retreat, but he stepped forward and overwhelmed Ye Qingshan with his presence.
• Zhang Chu struck Ye Qingshan once, killing him and blasting the Red Dust Envoy and Four Town Generals backward.
• Zhang Chu faced the pale Red Dust Envoy and asked whether he had any last words.

Zhang Chu exposed Yuan Shidu’s hidden corpse-clone and killed him, earning 120,000 merit points. The Sword Embryo then flew to Zhang Chu and reacted with his Yellow Court Inner Strength, causing Boundless Light to emerge from the canyon.

• Zhang Chu revealed that Yuan Shidu had hidden a clone in a dead Sky Patrol Guard and explained how he had uncovered the deception.
• Yuan Shidu tried to escape behind a net of scarlet Gang Qi, but Zhang Chu killed him with Samsara and gained 120,000 merit points.
• The Four Town Generals thanked Zhang Chu for saving them, and he said that eliminating evil was his duty as a member of the Sky Patrol Guard.
• The pale-blue Sword Embryo flew into Zhang Chu’s hand and began drawing power from him as his Yellow Court Inner Strength circulated on its own.
• A golden light emerged from beneath the canyon, and Zhang Chu realized that the Sword Embryo and his Yellow Court Inner Strength had opened the way for Boundless Light.

Zhang Chu merged with Boundless Light and saw a primordial chaos, but returned with no clear understanding of the Nine Secrets. Wuchang, a protector of the Prison Dao Master, then appeared, killed Qian Zhen, and threatened Zhang Chu and the surviving Town Generals.

• The Four Town Generals urged Zhang Chu to use his Gang Qi to merge with the Nine Secrets’ Boundless Light before it vanished.
• Zhang Chu entered Boundless Light, saw a world of primordial chaos, and returned to the gorge without noticing any change to his body.
• The Four Town Generals warned Zhang Chu not to reveal what he had seen and explained that the Nine Secrets reflected his innate attributes.
• Wuchang appeared and revealed that Zhang Chu had lost his chance to cultivate according to the Nine Secrets.
• Wuchang killed Qian Zhen with a casual wave, and You Jin warned Zhang Chu that her Seal Yin Lock Soul art could seal inner strength and lock Gang Qi.

Wuchang, the Prison Dao Master, used her technique to seal Zhang Chu’s martial arts and ordered him to return with her for punishment. Zhang Chu revealed that his Ninefold Metamorphosis had left him with fearsome physical strength, and his punch cracked Wuchang’s Gang Qi barrier.

• Wuchang told Zhang Chu that he had to return with her because he had killed someone from the Sacred Cult.
• Wuchang sealed Zhang Chu’s Dao, leaving him unable to use his martial arts or Gang Qi.
• Zhang Chu smiled and explained that Wuchang had overlooked the physical strength he gained through Yellow Court Inner Strength.
• Zhang Chu struck Wuchang with a punch powered by pure physical strength, forcing her back and cracking her Gang Qi barrier.
• You Jin and the three Grandmasters recognized Zhang Chu as the Yellow Court Dao Master.

Wuchang used her sealing art to overwhelm Zhang Chu, but he fused Chaos with North Sea Sown Golden Lotus and broke free with greatly enhanced Spiritual Power. After injuring Wuchang with [Samsara], Zhang Chu heard that she was severely weakened and fled rather than face her at full strength.

• Wuchang unleashed her sealing power, rendering You Jin and the others unconscious and trapping Zhang Chu in an illusion of Chaos.
• A system prompt let Zhang Chu fuse Chaos with North Sea Sown Golden Lotus for 200,000 Merit Points, creating the Chaos Sown Golden Lotus phenomenon and greatly increasing his Spiritual Power.
• Zhang Chu shattered Wuchang's seal and wounded her with [Samsara], shocking her with his ability to injure someone from the Upper Three Realms.
• An old man called from afar and warned Zhang Chu that Wuchang was severely injured and could use only thirty percent of her strength.
• Zhang Chu stopped attacking and fled, deciding not to risk fighting Wuchang further.

Zhang Chu met Hong Yue after Wuchang fled, and Hong Yue explained the Upper Three Realms and the power of Dharma Bone Attributes. He also revealed that Zhang Chu’s Yellow Court Inner Strength was once part of a lost twelve-chapter technique, and that Zhang Chu’s master, Huang Xugu, had guarded the scripture pavilion when its final chapters disappeared.

• Wuchang fled while Zhang Chu awaited the newcomer, and Hong Yue arrived, overwhelming the area with his presence.
• Hong Yue praised Zhang Chu’s Ninefold Metamorphosis and explained that the Upper Three Realms began with the Bone Law Realm, where practitioners wielded Dharma Bone Attributes.
• Hong Yue demonstrated his mountain Attribute, letting Zhang Chu feel its crushing weight on both body and spirit.
• Hong Yue explained the three Upper Realms and told Zhang Chu that Upper Three Realm experts cared little for the Nine Secrets, though the Eight Profound of Heaven and Earth could provoke them.
• Hong Yue revealed that Yellow Court Inner Strength was once the Twelve Chapters of the Yellow Court, a supreme technique said to enable twelve Shape-Shifting transformations.
• Hong Yue told Zhang Chu that Huang Xugu had guarded the Daoist Sect’s scripture pavilion on the night the technique’s final three chapters were lost.